upon his audience of three,
who were listening in the following attitudes: Ella and Toby were
standing upon the ground at the foot of the platform, looking up with
wide open, staring eyes; and his fleshy wife was seated on a bench which
had evidently been placed in such a position below the speaker's stand
that she could hear and see all that was going on without the fatigue of
standing up, which, for one of her size, was really very hard work--"My
friends," repeated the skeleton, as he held his bundle in front of him
with one hand and gesticulated with the other, "we all of us know that
tomorrow our esteemed and worthy friend Mr. Toby Tyler makes his first
appearance in any ring, and we all of us believe that he will soon
become a bright and shining light in the profession which he is so soon
to enter."

The speaker was here interrupted by loud applause from his wife, and he
profited by the opportunity to wipe a stray drop of perspiration
from his fleshless face. Then, as the fat lady ceased the exertion of
clapping her hands, he continued:

"Knowing that our friend Mr. Tyler was being instructed, preparatory to
dazzling the public with his talents, my wife and I began to prepare for
him some slight testimonial of our esteem; and, being informed by
Mr. Castle some days ago of the day on which he was to make his first
appearance before the public, we were enabled to complete our little
gift in time for the great and important event."

Here the skeleton paused to take a breath, and Toby began to grow more
uncomfortably red in the face. Such praise made him feel very awkward.

"I hold in this bundle," continued Mr. Treat as he waved the package on
high, "a costume for our bold and worthy equestrian, and a sash to match
for his beautiful and accomplished companion. In presenting these little
tokens my wife (who has embroidered every inch of the velvet herself)
and I feel proud to know that, when the great and auspicious occasion
occurs tomorrow, the worthy Mr. Tyler will step into the ring in a
costume which we have prepared expressly for him; and thus, when he
does himself honor by his performance and earns the applause of the
multitude, he will be doing honor and doing applause for the work of our
hands--my wife Lilly and myself. Take them, my boy; and when you
array yourself in them tomorrow you will remember that the only living
skeleton, and the wonder of the nineteenth century in the shape of the
mammoth lady, ar