fortably before the season is over.

You see, it was this way. Once a week it is the custom to feed all the
animals that are vegetarians a mess of ground white turnips, 'cause it
opens up the pores, and makes the animals feel good, like a politician
who goes to French Lick springs, and has the whisky boiled out of him.
After the animals have eaten the turnip mush, they become agreeable, and
will rub against the keepers, and eat out of your hand.

I had been with pa a dozen times to find a place where we could get a
few barrels of turnips ground up fine, and so yesterday, when the boss
animal keeper was sick, and turned his job over to pa, pa told me to go
out in town, at Lynchburg, Va., and get a couple of washtubs full of
ground turnips, and have the stuff sent in to the menagerie tent in time
for the afternoon performance. I got a boy to go with me. We hunted all
the groceries and couldn't find turnips enough to make a first payment,
but we found a place where they grate horseradish and bottle it for the
market, and I ordered two washtubs full of horseradish grated nicely,
and sent to the tent, but I made the man bill it as ground turnips.

The boy and I played all the forenoon, and when the man started with the
ground horseradish for the tent, we went along, and I introduced the man
to pa, and pa O. K.'d the bill, and sent him to the treasurer after the
money. I was going to get on a back seat and watch the animals eat, but
pa said: "Here, you boys, get out those pans and portion out the turnips
and pass 'em around just as the crowd comes in, 'cause after the animals
have had a mess of cut feed they are better natured, and show off
better."

I was pretty leery about feeding the animals horseradish, and would have
preferred to have some one else do it, who did not care to live any
longer, but I said: "Yes, sir," just like that, and touched my hat to
pa, and he said to the boss canvasman: "There's a boy you can swear by."

The boss canvasman said: "You are right, old man, but if he was mine, I
would kill him so quick it would make your head swim," and he and pa
went off laughing, but I think they laughed too soon.

Well, we took a spud and put about a quart of horseradish in each pan,
and put the pans in front of each animal, and you ought to have seen
them rush for the supposed turnips, like a drove of cattle after salt.

The boy and I got up on the platform with the freaks, to be in a safe
place, and watch the