f-amusedly, half-regretfully. "Very
often when I work the hardest, I seem to do the least good."

"I guess our troubles is pretty much alike." Polly nodded with a
motherly air of condescension. "Only there ain't so much danger in your
act."

"I'm not so sure about that," he laughed.

"Well, you take my tip," she leaned forward as though about to impart
a very valuable bit of information. "Don't you never go in for ridin'.
There ain't no act on earth so hard as a ridin' act. The rest of the
bunch has got it easy alongside of us. Take the fellows on the trapeze.
They always get their tackle up in jes' the same place. Take the
balancin' acts; there ain't no difference in their layouts. Take any of
'em as depends on regular props; and they ain't got much chance a-goin'
wrong. But say, when yer have ter do a ridin' act, there ain't never no
two times alike. If your horse is feelin' good, the ground is stumbly;
if the ground ain't on the blink the horse is wobbly. Ther's always
somethin' wrong somewheres, and yer ain't never knowin' how it's goin'
ter end--especially when you got to do a careful act like mine. There's
a girl, Eloise, in our bunch, what does a SHOWY act on a horse what
Barker calls Barbarian. She goes on in my place sometimes--and say,
them rubes applauds her as much as me, an' her stunts is baby tricks
alongside o' mine. It's enough to make you sick o' art." She shook her
head dolefully, then sat up with renewed interest.

"You see, mine is careful balancin' an' all that, an' you got ter know
your horse an' your ground for that. Now you get wise ter what I'm
a-tellin' yer, and don't you NEVER go into ANYTHIN' what depends on
ANYTHIN' else."

"Thank you, Polly, I won't." Douglas somehow felt that he was very much
indebted to her.

"I seen a church show once," Polly said suddenly.

"You did?" Douglas asked, with new interest.

"Yes," she answered, closing her lips and venturing no further comment.

"Did you like it?" he questioned, after a pause.

"Couldn't make nothin' out of it--I don't care much for readin'."

"Oh, it isn't ALL reading," he corrected.

"Well, the guy I saw read all of his'n. He got the whole thing right out
of a book."

"Oh, that was only his text," laughed Douglas. "Text?"

"Yes. And later he tried to interpret to his congrega----"

"Easy! Easy!" she interrupted; "come again with that, will you?"

"He told them the meaning of what he read." "Well, I don't know what
he to