he Italian in a big swing, and jumped a rope, and
walked up and down steps--they just went around that stage as handy with
their teeth as two boys would be with their hands, and they seemed to
understand every word their master said to them.

"The best trick of all was telling the time and doing questions in
arithmetic. The Italian pulled his watch out of his pocket and showed it
to the first pony, whose name was Diamond, and said, 'What time is it?'
The pony looked at it, then scratched four times with his forefoot on
the platform. The Italian said, 'Zat's good--four o'clock. But it's a
few minutes after four--how many?' The pony scratched again five times.
The Italian showed his watch to the audience, and said that it was just
five minutes past four. Then he asked the pony how old he was. He
scratched four times. That meant four years. He asked him how many days
in a week there were; how many months in a year; and he gave him some
questions in addition and subtraction, and the pony answered them all
correctly. Of course, the Italian was giving him some sign; but, though
we watched him closely, we couldn't make out what it was. At last, he
told the pony that he had been very good, and had done his lessons well;
if it would rest him, he might be naughty a little while. All of a
sudden a wicked look came into the creature's eyes. He turned around,
and kicked up his heels at his master, he pushed over the table and
chairs, and knocked down a blackboard where he had been rubbing out
figures with a sponge held in his mouth. The Italian pretended to be
cross, and said, 'Come, come; this won't do,' and he called the other
pony to him, and told him to take that troublesome fellow off the stage.
The second one nosed Diamond, and pushed him about, finally bit him by
the ear, and led him squealing off the stage. The gander followed,
gabbling as fast as he could, and there was a regular roar of applause.

"After that, there were ladders brought in, Joe, and dogs came on; not
thoroughbreds, but curs something like you. The Italian says he can't
teach tricks to pedigree animals as well as to scrubs. Those dogs jumped
the ladders, and climbed them, and went through them, and did all kinds
of things. The man cracked his whip once, and they began; twice, and
they did backward what they had done forward; three times, and they
stopped, and every animal, dogs, goats, ponies, and monkeys, after they
had finished their tricks, ran up to the