Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1892-04-29

~ k great "ring trick"
~ -SSsS 81 Hc had been born
-/X--5 ~ in the circus, and
,N-yT-EEY- long before he
% could walk was
used to riding
round and round the ring on the
'.learncd pony" swinging his bare legs
and growing with glec every time he
passed the starting post. He climbed
ladders and poles, holding on by his
chubby little hands, ms soon as he could
toddlc alone, and crept into risky places
where, ms the whole troupe used to say,
watching him with joy and pride, he was
obliged to chang on by his cyelids"
When he was five years old he used to
perform regularly with old Benny, the
famous '.bare- back" rider" in the "wild
Indian act. ALL the glitter, color, stir,
life of the circus was the Joy of the
youngsters existence. He was SO used
to the sight of.cxpert riders and acrobats
going through, their parts he had no
:, thoughts of any possible danger attend
85pg their exploits, and all That Others
Apld do he felt he could do, aud longed
do. His father had been, the wonderful
r, Llewellen, killed, unluckily by a
= from his fayorite horses hoof Just as
z & lessly stopped to feel the .fetloclS.
ss1Hf ySSE when Ted was but two years
5S6lG ,>&nY Ltewe]len had been so much
beloved that the company adopted the
/ boy, as it were, Nand took pride in his
cleverncss and promise, for there could
be no doubt that nature had given him
the true eye, the steady head, the indomi-
= table nerve and the quick, sense Of the
y laws of balance which are needed by a
man whose profession fits to sdanGlc
twixt heaven and earth. His mother
was farmers daughter, who had made
"a. romantic match by running away with
the handsome Llewellen. She had re-
manned in the community after her hus-
bands carly death as n sort'of "wardrobe
woman II was she whorefurbished the
old costumes, braiding them with tinseli
and sewing on fresh spangles. She was
called Mrs. Llewellen, and she and her
boy lived in small compartment OF the
great property van, which, when the
show moved from town to town, was
drawn by six white horses. Few ex-
periences pleased Ted better than this
sort ofroyal progress, which, in spite Of
Its grandeur, was extremely convenient,
9 since his mother could cook their meals
or go on with their sewing while they
were in motion, and Ted could eat his
bread and butter while he nodded aud
waved to the boys gathered at every cor
ner to,welcome the procession.
Ted had learned to read from the
great caring hand-bills 4 HGreatest Show
on the UNIVERSE 1.-THE Unequaled and
h1atehless Troupe" etc., and his heart
( had thrilled with sudden conviction Of
his own pre- eminence when he spelled
out .'Mnster Edward Llewellen, the Re-
malkable Infant Rider and Acrobat
But his pride was in the fact of his
s belonging to the circus, and not. in him
self. For all the members of the troupe
were SO interesting, SO superior. There
: was old Benny-not; that he was old but
: so-called to distinguish him from young
Benny, the lion tanner. Actually there
was nothing that old Benny could not
do, it was he who performed the famous
pumpkin trick, at which Ted was never
tired of gazing; in the first place mount
: ing the horse on the wrong side, aud
holding ON by the name rs if he wer,,
y going to fall off then, after committing
every. possible blunder, suddenly show
ing his real powers and going through a
series Of dazzling transformations, until
9 he emerged the ainimitable Benny, the
King of the Circus. Then there were
y the clown, a. great friend OF Teds; a
quiet melancholy follow who played the
;pahjo, aud the lady riders,.chief of whom
jiEets Mrs. Bill and Miss Fanny, rival
u Queens of the circus. All were SO nc
4, comp lisheds SO splendid in their attire
tat least on occasions), and so kind and
fender TO Ted, 1T was little wonderful he
thought it the finest life in the world.
At times when his mother sighed over
n !. her work az disturbed him to think she
was not thoroughly happy and contented,
e but no doubt, he said to himself, she
sSgAs think ing about his father. :
iStfll mulch rs Ted delighted in The
y Exg snent Of his life, the climbing.
yaufdag, balancing and above all the
riding when he leaned forward ..drink-
ing ia be wind3of his owng speed, !" he
81 was Riest on Sundays when it seemed
the sudden hush as If the very
the world stopped beating.
sd weather he and his mother
themselves up in their own
2if IT. were 3fine were free
& de the town sintp thtt
~; = IS ere She had spcpi
- 3ssa ~ pod Ted Sheail