The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-12-06

1
!. the night before the circus comes I
e TempletOn. Supposng we start fror
I here about / o'clock In the morning
1 We can easily walk three miles a
2 hour, and that Will bring US 10 Rose
} vale at g o'clock. The train does no
? get 10 Rosevale until o, and 1t Wi
take them at least an hour TO unioa'
and get ready to start for Temple
, ton. We can sit around and rest tha
! hour and see them get the elephant
and camels off the cars. Then
wouldn't be n bit surprised IL the cir
Gus people allowed us 10 ride bacl
with them. / guess the other boys
would open their eyes If they should
see us riding into town with the cir
Gus. Don't you tell the boys. Ii yOu
did, a lot Of them would probably
want 10 tag along with US. Maybe
the circus men would let us ride pack
on one of the elephants, seeing that VIC
had come so far to meet thcmw
Lutte was highly imaginative, and
was always inclincd 10 look at things
through rose-colOred glasses.
"They say that circus folks are aw-
| fully gOod-natured," he continued. II
| heard once Of a circus owner who had
the parade go out Of its way so that
IL could 90 by the house Of a little
sick boy. Maybe that If the owner Of
this circus found out that we had
walked all the way from TempletOn
TO ROsevale 10 meet the circus, he
would let us In for nothing. There's
no telling but he might do that very
thing. Or maybe we could get chance
to earn our way, helping 10 unlotd the
circus"
When we unfolded our plan 10 our
parents they said we might carry II
out If we were geese enough" TO do
so.
Lutte came over TO my house 10 stay
the night before the circus. We had a
small alarm clock, and we set the
alarm at / o'clock, but IL was hardly
so excited that although we went TO
bed early, we could not sleep. when
the alarm told the hour Of /, we
sprang out OF bed and were fully
dressed in fifteen minutes. The moon
was full and the sky cloudless when
we left the house. My mother had
left n box Of provisions for us on the
sitting room table, and | carried this
as we set forth on our walk Of fifteen
miles.
Our spirits were not very high as
we walked through the silent streets
OF the town. and we were both n lit
tie depressed when we had left them
behind us, and had entered long
stretch of dense woods. We kept pret-
~ close to each other, and did not talk
much as we went by the town ceme-
terry.
1t was stll dark when we reached
the Blue River bridge, but as the
month was July and the days long
IL began to grow light in the east
before we had gone half the distance
We were to travel We were tired and
hungry when daylight had fully
dawned. and we sut down by little
spring to rest and eat our breakfast.
Lutte was n delicate boy, and our long
walk was telling on him; |, too, felt
iootsore and weary. But we got up
and ploddcd on after resting about
half an hour The day promised TO be
unusually warm, and we began TO feel
the heat even at that early hour. We
had gone about twelve miles, when
Lutte said:
IF we leave the main road here and
take this old road to the left, IL Will
shorten the distance full mile and
bring us back to the main road in
about half an hour. My father and l
went that way when we came over to
Rosevale n few weeks ago"
We left the main road and had gone
about half mile when we came 20 n
clear and sparkling little stream in n
delightfully."- cool and shady place in
the woods. Some people had been
camping near the spring and had gone
away, leaving n pile of hay they had
used for beds.
"Oh, let's have another little rest"
said Lutte. as he flung himself down on
the hay. I'm dead tiredw
$50 am l." said. as l, too, sprawled
cut at fun length
Lutte looked almost exhausted.
81 tell you, joe" he said after a lit
tie while. lets give up going all the
way TO Rosevale. Let's stay here and
rest, and then 60 back 30 the main
road and wait there until the circus
comes along. | don't think we could
any more than get TO Rosevale now
before the circus starts for Temple
ton. What do you say?"
AS / was about To make this propo.
sition myself, IL met with my hearty
approval. and we rolled over on the
soft hay with delightful sense of
rest and comfort. Lutte lay Hat on his
back with his straw hat over his up
turned face. and l was sprawled out
with my head on my arm. | remember
that Lutte said something 20 me that
| did not quite hear. and that mum.
bed a half.intelllgible reply. Then
We were both silent.
l knew nothing more until I felt
Lutte shaking me roughly and saying.
zoe! Joe! For mercy's sake. wake
up"
| sat up, rubbing my eyes and yawu-
ing with a vague sense OF not know
,ng where | was.
What time 90 you suppose IL is?"
asked Lutte.
Il don't know" | said. with another