But meantime, he, whom all this most chiefly concerned, still slept in
the barn on his bed of hay, a dreamless sleep, unconscious alike of
sorrow and of that which might have changed the whole colour of his
life--the removing of the burden of guilt which had weighed him down.
But it had come too late. Was it better so? Maybe it was.

CHAPTER XVI.

BLEWCOME'S ROYAL MENAGERIE.

A well-matched pair--Harry awakes--New
characters--Introduction--Breakfast--A trifle happier--His new life.

Mr Blewcome and his wife, Mrs Blewcome, were great travellers. There
were few places, large and small, in England, where the forms of Mr and
Mrs Blewcome were unknown.

Mr Blewcome was the proprietor of a travelling menagerie, and was a
very distinguished personage in his own way, a man with a mind far
above your ordinary proprietors of "wild beastesses," as Mrs Blewcome
informed all whom she met. A man who had adopted that profession with
the noble object of raising it to its proper level. Noble and
enthusiastic Blewcome!

Mr Blewcome was tall and thin; Mrs B. was short and stout. The face of
the manager and proprietor of Blewcome's Royal Menagerie was sallow and
cadaverous. The face of his spouse was rubicund to a degree. In fact,
in everything, the pair were admirably suited, according to the
principle, that the more unlike two people are, the better they will
agree; and they led a very prosperous "Jack Sprat and his wife" sort of
life, roaming from place to place, with their caravans of wild beasts
and yellow chariot of unhealthy-looking musicians, whose performance
consisted of a very small quantity of trumpet, and a very great deal of
drum. First-rate things in bands, drums are; they make so much noise,
and hide such a multitude of mistakes. Besides, one tune will last so
much longer with a judicious intermixture of drum. So Mr and Mrs
Blewcome went about England, and Mr Blewcome gave incorrect lectures
about impossible wild beasts, and Mrs Blewcome took the money at the
door; while outside, the band played to delighted audiences, who always
came to hear the music because they had not to pay anything for that
pleasure.

Now it so happened that Blewcome's Royal Menagerie had made a most
successful sojourn in Wilton, and was now on its way to the
neighbouring town of Newbury; and, having reached the third milestone
from Wilton, was passing the barn where Harry slept, fancying himself
miles away from the hated