Urnin' summersets, an' doin' turnovers on swings; an' clowns gettin'
hoss-whipped, an' ev'ry kind of a thing that could be pictered out; an'
how the' was to be a grand percession at ten o'clock, 'ith golden
chariots, an' scripteral allegories, an' the hull bus'nis; an' the gran'
performance at two o'clock; admission twenty-five cents, children under
twelve, at cetery, an' so forth. Wa'al, I hadn't no more idee o' goin'
to that cirkis 'n I had o' flyin' to the moon, but the night before the
show somethin' waked me 'bout twelve o'clock. I don't know how 't was.
I'd ben helpin' mend fence all day, an' gen'ally I never knowed nothin'
after my head struck the bed till mornin'. But that night, anyhow,
somethin' waked me, an' I went an' looked out the windo', an' there was
the hull thing goin' by the house. The' was more or less moon, an' I see
the el'phant, an' the big wagins--the drivers kind o' noddin' over the
dashboards--an' the chariots with canvas covers--I don't know how many
of 'em--an' the cages of the tigers an' lions, an' all. Wa'al, I got up
the next mornin' at sun-up an' done my chores; an' after breakfust I set
off fer the ten-acre lot where I was mendin' fence. The ten-acre was the
farthest off of any, Homeville way, an' I had my dinner in a tin pail
so't I needn't lose no time goin' home at noon, an', as luck would have
it, the' wa'n't nobody with me that mornin'. Wa'al, I got down to the
lot an' set to work; but somehow I couldn't git that show out o' my head
nohow. As I said, I hadn't no more notion of goin' to that cirkis 'n I
had of kingdom come. I'd never had two shillin' of my own in my h
