Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-08

in sleeplessness and weeping. The
pressure against his conscience was be-
coming harder and harder, while the
difficulties Of confession were growing
greater.
He observed that If he had come for.
ward with his information he might
have maintained the peace Of hum
dred farms. AS 1t was. the fields were
deserted, and Jacky concluded that his
reckoning would be something awful.
Added to all this was an awful lone
some feeling which he rightly attrib-
uted to the absence Of Tilda.
His little face was picture Of grief
and escaped no one. but it was set
down to the fact that he loved Tiida,
or, as the neighbors put 1t: "Poor little
Jacky! He did set great store by TIL
da." So they forbore mentioning the
girl in his presence.
But at last it came out. Mrs. Hop
kins had taken to putting him to bed,
"for the little man Is that meachin',"
she said. So after his prayers had been
said he turned himself to the wall In
an agony of tears and blurted out:
"Tilda's runned away ter the circus"
Mrs. Hopkins comprehended it all In
q minute. She did not wait to give
Jacky his deserts and left him in a
storm of tears, in which he sobbed
himself to sleep.
It was hard for the little fellow to
hold up his head during the next few
days. "That Hopkins boy" became
quite as much a part Of the history Of
the town Of Trescott rs Tilda herself.
The world looked very solemn to
Jacky, but it was positively frightful
when the truth became known to him.
It seemed that the circus had q
novel way Of escaping creditors, which
involved IN entire change of name at
stated periods. This generally happen
ed when it moved from one state to
another. So McAlpine's Combined Co.
lossal Hippodrome and Consummation
Of Wonders emerged when it crossed
the Connecticut river into Vermont as
Fontaine's Equine Aggregation and
Grand Galaxy of Marvels.
The circus people said they had
nothing whatever to do with Meal
pines show, which was true as far as
their bills went, and they knew moth
ing of such person as Tilda.
The months grew and the year ended.
Jacky was growing taller and soberer.
This sad episode in his life tad left a
deep impression. and then one by one
the years were added. and all hope Of
ever knowing the fate Of Tilda van
ished from the hearts of Trescott, all
except one.
When the enraptured Tilda had
feasted her heart OIL the wonderful
feats Of the bareback riders and ira
peze performers, she was more COLI
vinced than ever that she was made
ter jine the circus. After the show was
over she asked to see "the man tibet
bosses the show" The attendant smil-
ed and humored her whim.
The manager was also in contented
state of mind and punctuated Tilda's
enthusiastic account of her exploits
with outlaws both loud and hearty.
"Waal, leetle gyrl," he said, with
perceptible southern accent. "Ah kind
er reckon you would amount ter suth-
in ef you's ter be given a chance. You
seem purity peart. Well try you-give
you some trainin' an plenty O. work
ter debut you kyant edzactly jine
this ere show. Well be new COM
bination when we git over the river.
about forty miles In the interior. Now,
you must remember you hain't any
thing ter do with McAlpine's Combina-
ton. VIII you?"
Tilda was ready to do anything, and
she soon found that she had to do ev-
erything. No one seemed to be able to
find time to give her any training, but
she did have something to eat and q
place to sleep. Each night when she
cried herself to sleep her last thought
was Of little Jacky.
The little prisoner Of the caravan as
the years rolled on found herself doing
the things she had fondly dreamed of
in her childish ambitions under high
sounding name. but sometimes in her
sleeping dreams she saw the green hills
and wandered over the fields with little
Jacky, and always when she walked
the tears would come to her eyes.
When Jacky became man. he did
what a great many enterprising New
Englanders have been doing for four
generations u he went west "cause
farmin pays out there" But his heart
told him that it was because he want
ed to be where that Hopkins boy"
was never heard Of.
He not only succeeded, but he also
won q new sobriQuet. He was known
over more than seven states as "Circus
Jack"
Yet he never revealed the real cause
Of his interest in the circus world, and
the cowboys supposed it was his weak
ness.
Circus Jack had been known to 60 as
far as 800 miles to sec circus, and at
last he became known as the most gen.
erous patron Of the trade, and the fra
ternty Of the ring blessed him and
wished there were more like him. In
time he came to be the personal friend
of many of the greatest artists and
gained the reputation Of knowing more
about the inside Of circus than any
man west Of the Mississippi river.
1t was also noted by those who occa-
sionally went with him that his great
est interest was always in the gayly
dressed women who rode the horses,