Lebbeus Mitchell

“ First though, we'd better find out how much they weigh?"
"How much do you weigh, Danny?" Jerry called down.
"I don't know," replied Danny.
"If you don't weigh too much, mebbe you and Chris can ride, too."
"Us ride on a el'funt!" exclaimed Danny. "Why, why, I don't weigh much, do I, Chris?"
"No," replied Chris eagerly. "You're not big enough to weigh much and I'm littler than you are."
"I think I can tell near enough," said Whiteface; "Danny weighs about sixty pounds and Chris about forty. That makes one hundred pounds and I weigh one hundred and sixty-five. Helen, how much do you weigh?" ”

“ Jerry produced the small paper bag of cough drops and gave it to Mother 'Larkey.
"They're cough drops with honey in 'em for Kathleen," he said. "I ain't eaten one of them."
"Give me one, Mother," pleaded Celia Jane.
"They're for Kathleen," replied her mother. "She needs them and you don't."
"Jerry's Kathleen's pet! Jerry's Kathleen's little honey cough-drop boy!" chanted Danny.
"Jerry's done more for Kathleen than her own brothers and sisters have ever done, unless it's Nora," declared Mrs. Mullarkey. "It's no wonder she loves him best." ”

“ But playing circus no longer appealed to the Mullarkey children. Darn Darner had had a blighting influence on the power of their imaginations, and Danny in the elephant costume would have been to them now only a little boy in an old green wrapper much too large for him, dragging about a stuffed blue trouser leg for a tail,—a very ridiculous spectacle. Jerry realized that there would never be a next time and that he would never play the elephant. ”

“ At that Celia Jane started crying harder than ever and Jerry stood still, a curious something making his heart beat faster and his throat growing all choky.
"Let's go home, Celia Jane," proposed Nora, in a soothing tone. "Mebbe next time we can go. They might let us carry water for the elephants and earn a ticket to the circus, even if we are girls." ”

“ Chris added, "an' he couldn't tell Danny what he meant by it, could he, Danny?"
"No," Danny replied.
"That clinches it!" exclaimed Whiteface, and took Jerry from his mother's arms. "Don't you cry any more, Gary-boy. Nobody shall hurt you again. O'Queen was what you used to call Sultana, the elephant—'Sult Anna O'Queen,' as though that were her name. It was the way you said a part of one line in my elephant song: 'Great Sultana, Oh, Queen of the jungle!" ”

“ Jerry thought he seemed very much surprised and was afraid he might be angry because he and Chris were so close to the tent. He started to go away, but upon hearing the man speak he stood rooted to the spot.
"What in the world has become of all the small boys?" the black-bearded man had asked the other. "There were hundreds about a few minutes ago. Don't they know they can get to see the circus if they want to carry water for the elephants?"
"I guess the boys in this town never saw a circus before, Mr. Burrows," replied the canvasman. ”

“ Phillips gently. "I didn't know just how Dan Mullarkey left you fixed, but I can do something to help you. Darner can be made to listen to reason and I can bring some influence to bear upon him. I don't see why the county can't let you have as much as it would cost it to keep Jerry at the farm. I belong to the same lodge as Dan did and we'll help you some there. I'll find something for Danny to do. He can be earning a little money in the summer time and help you out that way."
"You're an angel if ever there was one in this world, Mr. Phillips," said Mrs. Mullarkey. ”

“ Whiteface went up to the elephant and began talking to her gently, patting her shoulder. Her keeper approached and ordered her to put Jerry down.
"Down, Sult Anna, down!" cried Jerry.
Hardly were the words out of his mouth when Jerry was literally placed by the elephant in the arms of Whiteface.
"Who are you?" asked the clown of Jerry, looking long into his eyes.
"He's Jerry Elbow," said Danny who, with Chris, had edged in close to the little crowd surrounding the elephant. "He's a orfum and lives with us." [Pg 156]
"When did his parents die?"
"He ain't got no parents," replied Danny. ”

“ Mullarkey gathered him up in her arms and kissed him.
"Good-by, Jerry. You've brought good fortune to this family and put food into the mouths of my children and clothes on their backs when I couldn't see where they were to come from. You must love your mother hard for all the time she has been without you—and your father, too."
"I will," Jerry promised and squeezed her neck very hard and kissed her. Just then Danny came tumbling breathlessly downstairs and thrust a little cloth sack, which was very heavy, into Jerry's hand. ”

“ The free show seemed to Jerry not to have much more than started when the raucous voice of the ballyhoo announced:
"This, ladies and gents, concludes the free show. The main show will not begin for half an hour, thirty minutes—just time enough to see the side show, the world's greatest congress of freaks and monstrosities. See the sword-swallower from India to whom a steel sword is no more than a string of spaghetti to an Italian. Kelilah, the famous dancer of the Nile, whose graceful contortions have delighted the eyes and moved the hearts of kings. ”

“ Bowe, Gary's mother," she said, "and oh, how can I ever thank you for loving him and giving him a home? I never can repay you."
"That we can't, Mrs. Mullarkey," Whiteface interposed. "But what is this about taking Gary away? And Celia Jane?"
"Let's go into the house first," suggested Mrs. Bowe. "We have too big an audience here."
She led the way, her arm still about Mrs. Mullarkey's shoulder. Jerry and his father followed, though Jerry turned at the door to have another look at Sultana and the admiring throng of children gathered about her. ”

“ Chris complained.
"You could take turns about being el'funt," Nora suggested.
Jerry wanted with all his soul to play that sublime elephant jumping the fence and he summoned up all his courage. "I won't play," cried he, with a suspicious quiver of his lips. "I won't! I won't!"
"I'll let you be el'funt part of the time," Danny promised, "just to keep you from cryin'."
"I ain't goin' to cry," returned Jerry hotly. "I ain't!"
"We can't have a circus with just a el'funt," said Celia Jane.
"Of course, we can't," said Danny decisively and turned to Jerry. "What else'll we have?" ”

“ Mullarkey said nothing; her lips were trying to smile though the tears still stood in her eyes.
"Besides which," continued the clown, "Helen and I will help you look out for the children and we want you to call on us any time that you may be in trouble."
"We do, indeed," said Jerry's mother. "You cannot work so hard and take care of your children the way you want to. ”

“ Danny remarked.
Jerry craned his neck to see the elephants.
"Are they going to jump the fence now?" he asked.
Whiteface burst into a joyous laugh.
"Helen, I told you my idea for a circus poster would fetch the children!" he said. "They don't jump a fence," he explained to Jerry.
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Jerry. "The picture shows them doing it!"
"They don't really, Gary," said his mother. "The picture was just drawn that way to fit the old nursery rhyme about the elephant's jumping up to the sky." ”

“ Mullarkey's too poor to keep you any longer. She can't make enough to keep her own kids."
Jerry felt suddenly very little and all alone in a big cold world. Fear had entered his heart. He felt that Mrs. Mullarkey not only hadn't been able to make both ends meet but that she was never going to be able to do it. He some way knew that Darn Darner was telling the truth and that soon he would be torn away from the only home he could remember. ”

“ The days slipped by and none of the children played circus again. Jerry thought of it often and would have liked to be the elephant just once, but he never said anything. That made him dream all the more about the real circus which was coming and wish that he could see it. He was very careful not to put his longing into words, so he wouldn't remind Mother 'Larkey of the ends that wouldn't meet and make her feel badly. One day she came across the old green wrapper elephant skin in the woodshed.
"Why don't you children play circus any more?" she asked Danny. ”

“ Just sneak off to the circus when it comes and buy your ticket. Danny would find some way to get it away from you if he knew you had it."
"I guess mebbe he would," Jerry responded.
"You just keep it to yourself and enjoy the circus," Mr. Barton advised him and went on to the store. [Pg 23]
Jerry trudged slowly back toward Mrs. Mullarkey's, thinking intently.
The gloom that pervaded the house was so deep that Jerry perceived it as soon as he opened the door. Danny sat glowering by the window; Celia Jane was weeping unashamed, while Chris and Nora were trying not to show their disappointment. ”

“ Jerry was torn between desire to watch her graceful whirling and pirouetting and to keep fascinated eyes on the green elephant. He just had to stay and see if the elephant's ears fell off again. But Danny was equal to the occasion and tied the cap on with a piece of string.
"Celia Jane, you just come back here," [Pg 52] he called. "I guess the elephant has to enter the circus ahead of the horse. Horses always get scared of el'funts unless they're behind where they can see them. How do you expect us to parade if you're there already?" ”

“ Jerry interrupted hastily, for he didn't want her to think he thought that. "But it said to ask your mother for fifty cents and I ain't got none to ask."
"Sure and you haven't, you blessed boy," said Mother 'Larkey. "If I had it to give, you wouldn't need a mother to ask it of. I wish I could send all of you to the circus and go myself."
"We never get to go no place," muttered Danny gloomily.
"It costs money to go to places," his mother explained, "and there's no money in the house. ”

“ But a clown is so much more interesting than just an everyday father. [Pg 177]
"You'll see Whiteface often enough," he promised Jerry, "to satisfy even you."
"Nora won't," said Jerry, "nor Kathleen nor Celia Jane."
"The boy's right!" exclaimed Mr. Burrows. "Dress up as the clown to see the woman who's cared for Gary and I'll have Sultana got ready for you to ride on. The boy's a better press agent than the one I pay to advertise the circus. I announced that Sultana had found your stolen child and told the newspaper men all about it. ”

“ Barton saying to the man who had entered:
"That boy's got enough sand to supply all the contractors in town. Plucky as they make 'em."
Jerry was not quite sure that he understood what Mr. Barton meant about the sand, but his saying that he was plucky made him feel glad and uncomfortable at the same time. Somehow it didn't seem quite so hard to have given up seeing the circus. He wouldn't mind not seeing the elephant jump the fence—well, not so very much. He could look at the billboard poster all he wanted to and that would be almost as good. ”

“ You said I could part of the time."
"I'm going to be the el'funt," proclaimed Danny. "The circus ain't even begun yet."
"I won't be a trained seal, so I won't," said Jerry, at last catching up with the parade. "The balloon won't stay on my nose and my neck hurts and I've cut my hand on a piece of glass or a splinter or something [Pg 57] till it bleeds." He held up one hand with a little trickle of blood on it. "I want to be something else. I won't play if I've got to be a trained seal any more." ”

“ Jerry asked hopefully.
"What'd we want with more'n one [Pg 40] el'funt?" Danny queried in scorn. "I guess one el'funt's enough for one circus. Anyway, we want something besides el'funts."
"What?" asked Jerry. "I ain't never seen a circus."
"No more have I," replied Danny.
"Can't you 'maginary something?" asked Celia Jane.
"We could ''maginary things'," interposed Nora, "but they might not be in a circus."
"There's more'n one circus picture up," said Jerry. "Darn Darner said there was one at Jenkins' corner and one on Jeffreys' barn. P'raps they'll tell us what's in a circus." ”

“ Darn remarked. "I'm goin' to the circus. We're goin' to have reserved seats, a dollar and a half apiece. There ain't no better to be had."
"A dollar an' a half for one seat!" exclaimed Celia Jane. "I thought it cost only fifty cents to see the circus."
"That's just to get in and set on an ole board without any back to it," Darn informed her. "We're goin' to have reserved seats in the boxes, with chairs to sit on."
"A fifty-cent seat would suit me all right," observed Danny.
"An' me, too," echoed Chris and Nora and Celia Jane and Jerry.
"Are you kids goin' to see the circus unload?" asked Darn. ”