The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1912-10-11

ahead. Heavy feet. ORA gginE ike nun
dredWeights, carried them over the
last weary mile. Into the outskirts Of
the little town they skunk. The streets
We're deserted. muddy and lighted but
meagerIy from widely separated oil
lamps set at the tops Of as many un-
stable posts. The rollicking quickstep
OF a circus band came dancing over
the night to meet the footsore men.
Slowly they approached the vacant
lots beyond the business section,
known as the show grounds. Now
they began to encounter struggling,
envious atoms Of the populace, wan
derers who could not produce the adj
mission fee and who were not permit
ted by the rough canvasmen to ven
ture inside the charmed circle laid
down by the guy ropes. At the cor
ner OF the tented common stood the
ticket wagon, the muddy plaza In
front OF 1t torn by the footprints Of
many human beings and lighted by a
great gasoline lamp swung from n pole
hard by. Beyond was the main en-
trance OF the animal tent. presided
over by uniformed ticket takers.
Here and there in the gloomy back
ground stood the canvas and pole wag-
ons, shining in their wetness against
the feeble light hat oozed through
the opening between the side wall and
the edge Of the Tapping main top, or
glistening with sudden brightness in
response to the passing lantern or torch
In the hand Of a rubber coated minion
who belonged TO the circus, a vast
honor, no matter how lowly his posi-
ton may have been. Costume and
baggage wagons, their white and gold
glory swallowed up In the NAV of the
night, stood backed up against the
dressing tent off to the right. The
horse tent beyond was even now being
lowered by Shadowy, mystic figures
who swore and shouted to each other
across spaces wide and spaces small
without regulating the voice to either
effort. Horses with their clanking trace
chains, in twOs and fours. slipped in
and out of the shadows, drawing great
vehicles which rumbled and Jared
with the noise peculiar to circus wag-
ons. Tired, underfed horses that paid
little heed to the curses or the blows
of the men who handled them. so ac-
customed were they to the proddings OF
life.
And inside the big tent the band
played as only a circus band can play,
jangling an accompaniment to the
laughter and the shouts of the de-
lighted multitude sitting in the blue
boarded tiers about the single ring
with it's earthern circumference, It's
sawdust carpet and its dripping lights.
The smell Of the thing, Who has
ever forgotten it: The smell Of the
sawdust. the smell of the cleaning
lights, the smell Of animals and the
smell Of the canvas top. The smell of
the damp handhills. the programs and
the bags of roasted peanuts,
Blake and his companion. standing
apart from the lank. wide eyed guide,
We're conyersing in low tones.
Wed better make the circuit Of the
fonts said Blake. evidently the leader,
- TO the right and III take the
We 'Jtb Nf'A lti1ll'i. Aill !GfFt tiPt =,
Keep yotIr eye peeled. lie may be
under the wagons whore its dry,
Then he turned to the guide.
We wont need YOU amy longer" he
said. This is as far as we 70. Here's
pay
Vas. r. said the smilcloss guide.
\ brief good night" 10 his employers
and the lean lnountaineor purchased n
ticket and hurried into the tent. We
DO not see him again. He has served
purpose.
His late employers mace off on their
circuit OF the tents. s3tfr eyed hut
casual, doing nothing that might lead
Tie circus men to suspect that they
searching for one among them.
In the good old days of the road circus
there were thieves as Wcll as giants;
4 ulan WAS not a thief himself he at
bad Il friend who was. There
was honor among them.
A snaHt hour before The three men
t. the show grounds their quar-
~ arrived there. That Blake and
cOmDaniUu were man hunters goes
without saying. Dut that the person for
whom they searched should be a hun
cry. wan faced. terrified boy Of eigh-
cen seems hardly in keeping with the
nature Of the chase.
Tie ring performance in the main
tent had been in progress for fifteen
Dr twenty minutes when the fugitive.
exhausted. drenched and shivering,
into the protected nook which
the junction Of the circus and
tops. Here it was compare
lively dry. the wind did not send it's
hin mist into thi, canvas Granny. Not
SO dark as he may have desired. if one
were to Judge by the expression in his
eyes az he peered back at the
darkness out of which he had skunk,
)ut 50 cramped In shadow that only
he eye Of a ferret could have distin-