The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-08-30

the satois clattered in one direction to.
ward the great sduare, where busy hands
were putting up the tent. Every town
in Brittany has its distinctive c0if, OF
women's head dress, and every variety was
fere represented. The men came with
their huge pockets stuffed with great buck.
wheat cakes, and women brought loaves
| as big as the top of pail, by way Of
slight refreshment at midday. Every
man and woman who had children
brought them all. from the carefully
wrapped-up infant to the gawky Buys and
girls who are always timblihg over their
own or somebody else's sdbots.
And the beggars! 1t was "corn in
Egypt for them. They came like bees
round cask. There were blind beggars
at least they said they were blind.
There were lame beggars, and sick beg
gars, and palsied beggars-in fact, every
Kind of beggars but clean beggars. They
beset one at the doors. They peered into
windows, followed carriages, and stuck
to every stranger until he was forced to
empty his pocket Of coppers 10 be rid Of
them.
And the boysl some of them had saved
theft sUiis till the necessary franc had been
reached, and they WERE happy. Some Of
them hadn't sou 10 their name, and they
were plunged into the depths of misery.
In an unlucky moment, remembering that
some half century back was boy my
self, gave a franc to bright-eyed little
Breton to 60 to the circus. In front of
my window is a low wall, about fifteen
inches high. 1t is about one hundred
feet long, and is good place to sit; no.
body can go In or out of the hotel without
being seen by persons sitting on that wall.
l gave the franc at three O'Clock, at half
past three that wall was covered with
boys from end to end. You couldn have
wedged in one anywhere without showing
one off at one end or the other. What
were they there for? l found out when l
left the house. Each one had done me
some service-or imagined he had-and
came to ask for q franc in consequence.
It's astonishing what memories these boys
had-upon what pretenses they dared to
ask me for franc. One had handed me
a chair in church, another had asked to go
rowing with me, and having volunteered
to pull an oar for while, had just
thought to ask pay for it; another had
brought me daily plate of Strawberries,
for which his mo her had already charged
me twice their market pfice. Those boys
were too much for me. fled.
AT last the hour of performance came,
and such scene as 1 witnessed within
that tent-which, by the way, was re-
markably handsome tent never expect
to see again. On tiers of seats, one above
the other, were rows of the broad, velvet
banded hats, and snowy colts. and under
meath them ful1.hushed healthy faces of
old men and children, young men and
maidens, who waited anxiously for the
entrance of the ring. inaster. 1t was to US,
Americans, simply a very good circus-to
them it was fairy. land. We saw only
spangles and bullion lace-they saw gold
and gems. We saw only panied clowns
they saw mysterious and wonderful be-
ings. They were a lot of grown-up chill
dren. They screamed with delight at
the antics of the clown, and they yelled
with admiration when Mile. Bell rode
around the ring on her fiery charger
They would have enjoyed themselves a
good deal more but tor one drawback.
They couldn' tunderstahdt the clowns jokes
Such thing as French clown is all but
an impossibility and II seems almost
equally impossible for an English clown
to learn French. So we few Americans
and English gathered there were obliged
to explain the jokes over and over again
for the benefit of our Quimperle friends,
who laughed, but did not understand.
were patriotic enough to wish the best
impression should be left by the American
circus in Brittany.-Wm.. M. r.. Round,
IN st. Nicholas for SEPTEMBER.