e ring on tiptoe
and jumped through the flaming hoops at the behest of the gentleman with
the high silk hat and the long whip; the other lady "without any skirt
to her" flew dizzily through the air from one trapeze to the other, and
the performing elephant went through his time-worn tricks with the air
of a resigned philosopher, and still Lou sat entranced.

Then the dingy curtains parted, and a man loped easily into the ring on
a wiry, little Western horse. He was the same man she had seen in the
poster that afternoon; the one with the funny pants and the big hat and
the red handkerchief knotted around his throat, and he proceeded to do
marvelous things.

It is highly probable that many a better exhibition of rough-riding had
been given beneath the big top, but to Lou, as to the villagers
surrounding her in densely packed rows, it was a supreme display of
horsemanship, and they expressed themselves with vociferous applause
when he uncoiled a rope from the peak of his saddle and dexterously
brought down the bewildered steer which had been chivvied into the ring.

In the row directly in front of Lou sat a quartet who were obviously out
of place among their bucolic neighbors, but as obviously bent on amusing
themselves. The ladies of the party wore brilliant sweaters beneath
their long silk motor coats, and veils floated from their small round
hats, and the gentlemen wore long coats, too, and had goggles pushed up
on their caps.

Bits of their chatter, and low-voiced, well-bred laughter drifted back
to the girl's ears between pauses in the louder comments of her
immediate neighbors and the intermittent din of the band, and Lou was
amazed.

Could it be that they were laughing at this glorious, wonderful thing
that was called a "circus?" Were they ridiculing it, trying to pretend
that they had seen anything more marvelous in all the world?

They didn't laugh at the rough-rider, she noticed. The ladies applauded
daintily, and once the stouter of the two gentlemen called out: "Good
work!" as the rider executed a seemingly daring feat, and the other
gentleman consulted his flimsy play bill.

Then all thought of the four was banished from Lou's mind, for the rider
had cantered from the ring and dropped a large white handkerchief upon
the sawdust of the outer circle just before her. Wasn't that bit of
color in a corner of a handkerchief an American flag? Jim had told her
that he was to do some work outside for the circus