how, you can
say it was an accident, but if folks know you paid your way, you can't
make 'em believe it was accidental.'

"Parson Page looked mighty troubled, and he thought a while, and says
he: 'Maybe you're right. My payin' won't help the looks of things any,
but I know I'll have a better conscience all my life if I pay as other
people have done. I haven't looked at the show,' says he, 'but I've
heard the music, and I've had a shelter from the storm and a comfortable
seat, and in all common honesty I ought to pay.' So they started out to
find the man that sold tickets. But the ticket stand was gone, and they
stood there lookin' around, the mud nearly ankle-deep, and Mis' Page
said she was holdin' up her silk dress and wishin' to goodness they
could git started toward town.

"Sam said he knew Parson Page's conscience would hold him there on the
show-ground till he'd paid that money, so he says: 'You and Mis' Page
wait here; I'll see if I can find the man you want.' And Sam hunted all
over the grounds till he found the head man of the circus, and he
brought him around to where Parson Page and Mis' Page was waitin' for
him. Mis' Page said he was as fine lookin' and well-mannered a man as
she ever had seen; and he shook hands with her so friendly it seemed
like she'd known him all her life, and then he says to Parson Page, as
kind as you please: 'Well, my friend, what can I do for you?'

"And Parson Page he explained how he'd got into the show tent by
accident when the storm was comin' up, and how he wanted to pay; and the
showman listened mighty polite, and when the parson got through he says:
'Put up your purse, sir. You don't owe me a cent.' Says he: 'The
obligation's all on my side, and it's an honor to this circus to know
that we had a minister of the gospel in our audience, to-day.' The
parson he insisted on payin', but the showman he wouldn't hear to it.
Says he: 'If Mr. Barnum was to hear that I'd charged a preacher anything
for seein' his show, I'd lose my place before you could say "Jack
Robinson!"' And Parson Page said: 'Is that really so?' And the showman
said: 'Upon my word and honor, it is. There's no such thing as a
preacher payin' his way into one o' Mr. Barnum's circuses.'

"Well, Parson Page put his purse back in his pocket and thanked the
showman for his kindness, but he said he felt as if he wanted to make
some sort of a return, and he begun searchin' around in his pockets to
see if he didn't have