Norwich bulletin., 1914-10-06
THE LURE OF THE CIRCUS

Little Joe pressed his nose against
 the dirty pane of glass that served
 as A window ip a very small room
 on Columbus avenue. It was dirty
 because no one, even his neat Grand
 ma, could keep the cinders and dust
 from settling everywhere. But Joe
 didn't mind that; there was no cloud
 on this particular day, for Mother was coming to take him to the c1rcuSi
 Mother who lived way off and worked
 hard to earn money so he and Grand
 ma could have butter on their bread
 and an occasional doughnut bought
 from the cruller man who wore such
 a clean white coat She was coming
 and she might never go away again.
 He had been watching for an hour
 with the fve-cent piece he had earn ed tied up in the corner of his hand kerchief This was to buy peanuts for the elephants. What if Mother should mt comet But she would come. She had told him the Sunday before that she surely would for she said she
 ball and the pink ladies" walk the tight rope holding parasols over their heads. Joe was getting a bit discour- aged when he spied a little lady in the crowd who looked pretty good to him just then, a little fair lady with ripply hair and big blue eyes who waved to him and then hurried up the creaking stairs to put her arms around him and assure him there was yet time.
 So off they went together, he dream l ing dreams of all the wonders of the circus she thinking of the days when she was an acrobat herself. Married at fifteen, after running away from home in a mad escapade, to discover that her husband was worthless. Then vaudeville, the circus, and very soon | the little boy to care for. For six -H~ ,.r-I, H~ support herself, the child and the aged grandmother. From city to city | she went until one evening while do- | ing piece of difficult balancing, she 1 fell, the net gave way and she was plunged to the platform with two acrobatic work, for she lost her nerve, | then,-but she was brought to the present by excited pulls from Joe, who wanted her to see the tents and all the sights which loomed up as they reached the entrance. How the lit | tie fellows eyes shone, and how Mothers shone, too, just a little be- cause she had fast hold of Joe's hand 1 They managed somehow to get past l the tents where the fiat la6y'' and | the skeleton dude" were holding re- captions, and in a moment were in the
 animal tent, big, crowded, smelly. | The kangaroos were funny, the l apfrs, too, but the monkeys were asleep and quite disappointing. The ti"ns and tigers, however, made Joe's l hiood jingle and the giraffes held him 1 pell-bound. Mother was dreaming
 t was hard to tell how she felt. First I she hated it all, and tightly held Joe's Tt know what, perhaps it was only l fear that she should lose him-could | it be fear of the lure of the circus? No, oh no, not that They must urry to the elephants, for Joe thought | hem the best of all. He threw pea = | iuts into their mouths, and dropped | them into the end of the funny trunks he threw them into the chair to watch the trunk curl over and suck them up to put them into the big | mouth. How the great backs rolled l and swung. It seemed to Mother
 was almost seasick or was it some thing else:
 1 No, she didn't want to go back into the life. That was over. Now she was l going to take care of Joe and Grand ma, work at her place in the store
 come home at night and mend and l cook. That was better than trapeze
 work-much better. and then there
 was Joe. Everything else should be l given up-but where was Joe?
 l He was nowhere to be seen. She | stood still looking at every little boy | she could see in plaited coat and blue shirtwaist, her head sinking Why hadn't she paid attention? Where
 was he? She heard a sob and turned
 to see the little fellow looking fright. ened and forlorn, while a guard was trying to find out something about him. She stopped where she was ani put her arms around him. which com. forted hin-and her.
 The band began to play and the. hurried into the big tent. She hal
 bought reserved seats for this won.
 derful circus, which were right fl
 front of the stage where they coulC see everything. During the play ana dancing Joe ate popcorn and ic,
 cream, without paying much atten.
 ton to the performers. but when tn,
 animals marched in and the clowns