The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-01-16
Our Visit to Oxford Circus

The day after our arrival in London
was Thad's birthday, and among the
presents he received was a bright gold
sovereign. which father said he might
spend as he pleased. s.
Now, Thad." observed, with nv
kindest .clder-brotherly" air. '.remeuh
Der this is your day, and that you can
do or buy just what you like"
For an instant or two he made no re-
ply. Then he suddenly broke out:
Say, Max, this is Saturday, isn'tit?'
YES"
s.Well, then. said Thad, drawing q
long breath as he handed me his SOW
ere:gn. II want you to take me to the
Oxford Circus. See, the omnibus that's
Just stopped over there goes right by
it, and we'll be in time for the mat
inee."
.'Oh, what cherub of brother"
was my inward thought. as seizing the
money in one hand and Thad in the
other, started for the bus.
We managed to reach it before it
moved on, and scrambled to the seats
on the roof in high glee. Suddenly it
occurred to me that 1 had not vet in
quired whether we were going in the
proper direction.
..How stupidr' ] reflected. as shout
ed to the conductor to tell me how faF
it was to Oxford Circus.
e Hit the bother way" he replied,
with grin, as he caught me by the left
leg, which was about to plant on va
cancy in my eagerness to descend.
II LII hoN
both stood impatiently on the sidewalk.
waiting for another bus, going the 9TH
or way, with "Oxford Circus on it 10 =
come along. At last we saw one, and
got in.
And now Thad began to grow snx-
ious lest we should be late for the per-
formance, which it was natural to sup
pose would commence at two. 1t was
ten minutes past that hour when We
heard the cry /" Hoxford Circusr'
"Where is it?'' ventured to ask -
we got down.
"Why. ERE" replied the conductor.
swell. don't see anything th1e
looks like q circus building or tent
either; do you. Thad7"
"No; but p'r'aps it's down one OF,
these streets little way" he Suggest
ed. "S'pose you ask somebody, Max. ="
Accordingly stepped in front Of ami
old gentleman who was walking rather
slowly, and said: IF you please. sir.
will you tell ME where the Oxford Cir
Gus is?"
"Just down this street. half square
from here, my son." he answered,
pleasantly.
thanked him, hurried Thad along,
and when we reached the sort of square.
looked carefully at every building.
within sight, but not flaming circus,
poster nor even plain circus sign could
l see.
"Oh, hurry. Maxi" pleaded Thad.
Spurred on to renewed exertions BY
this entreaty. l stopped passer-by and
renewed my query.
Here it is, was the reply; and tho:
man waved his hand carelessly in tho
direction of the building in front Of.
which we had been standing, and
passed on.
] glanced M and saw on the corner
of what 1 had taken for . simple re-
tail store. the words: Oxford Circus. ;"
"A piece of stupidity in me-" / re-
fected, rs we entered the shop. "Of
course mustn't expect to find oyery1
thing exactly as il is in America -
And walking up to one OF the counters
/ threw down the sovereign and asked
for two tickets.
1.-TWO what?" exclaimed the clerk.
who was short young man with . long
head. -
why. two circus tickets" I re-
turned. in a louder tone. ''How much
are theyg'
"Circus tickets"' repeated the,
man, staring at me rs 4 ~
were one of the genie in the Arabian
Nights just coming out of the bottle.
'.What circus?"
"Why. Oxford Circus, of course."
And l tried to look as offended As posi-.
BILE at the disrespectlul manner in
which felt my eleven years were BE-
ing treated.
''Oh, no, no, no! ha, ha. hap be-
suddenly burst forth. This is .
Mourning Goods shop. Jackson's Em-
porium Of Mourning Goods Of your
service. young man. Have you los9
any friends recently? If SO, Wen ~
you out, only we mostly deal with II
dies" and then began stuffing his hand
kerchief down h throat to stop another
fit Of mirth. while he slapped him:eir
on one knee, then on the other, IS Il 20
drive the joke into each side OF h's
body.
Naturally became very indignant.
while Thad, foreseeing that he was
likely to miss the performance entirely
began to cry. l picked up the sover-
eign and gave it back to him. and Wa
about to lead the way out of the stofe
through millions Of yards OF biass
Grape, bombazine, and all the hablli-
ments of woe that ladies wear. wnes
the clerk recovered breath enough q
explain that Oxford Circus meant Sim.
ply the circle formed by the junction o.
Oxford with one or two other streest
and that But /: did not wait 70 ne1
any more.
81 might just as well be in Germany
or France reflected. bitterly. as we
rode back to the hotel; eff l cant un-
derstand my own Language"
Father thought the affair almost !.
good q joke as a former adventure y
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