for
produce, and the machinery sections where steam threshers and earth
scoops hummed and buzzed and thundered unnoticed. Crowds of sightseers
wandered past the cattle stalls to gape at the fat bullocks; side-shows
flourished, a blase goose drew marbles out of a tin canister, and a
boxing showman displayed his muscles outside his tent, while his partner
urged the youth of the district to come in and be thumped for the
edification of the spectators.

Suddenly a gate opened at the end of the show ring, and horses, cattle,
dogs, vehicles, motor-cars, and bicyclists crowded into the arena. This
was the general parade, but it would have been better described as a
general chaos. Trotting horses and ponies, in harness, went whirling
round the ring, every horse and every driver fully certain that
every eye was fixed on them; the horses--the vainest creatures in the
world--arching their necks and lifting their feet, whizzed past in
bewildering succession, till the onlookers grew giddy. Inside the
whirling circle blood stallions stood on their hind legs, screaming
defiance to the world at large; great shaggy-fronted bulls, with dull
vindictive eyes, paced along, looking as though they were trying to
remember who it was that struck them last. A showground bull always
seems to be nursing a grievance.

Mixed up with the stallions and bulls were dogs and donkeys. The dogs
were led by attendants, apparently selected on the principle of the
larger the dog the smaller the custodian; while the donkeys were the
only creatures unmoved by their surroundings, for they slept peaceably
through the procession, occasionally waking up to bray their sense of
boredom.

In the centre of the ring a few lady-riders, stern-featured women for
the most part, were being "judged" by a trembling official, who feared
to look them in the face, but hurriedly and apologetically examined
horses and saddles, whispered his award to the stewards, and fled at
top speed to the official stand--his sanctuary from the fury of spurned
beauty. The defeated ladies immediately began to "perform"--that is, to
ask the universe at large whether anyone ever heard the like of that!
But the stewards strategically slipped away, and the injured innocents
had no resource left but to ride haughtily round the ring, glaring
defiance at the spectators.

All this time stewards and committee-men were wandering among the
competitors, trying to find the animals for judgment. The clerk