The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1919-09-13
Sammy's
Sudden Shift
~
By JOHN HAMILTON
Copyright 1919, by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate.)


Sammy Edwards, a taxi driver in
a circus town, fell under the spell Of
the sawdust. SO in the autumn. when
the biggest Of the four Circuses came
home to winter quarters, he struck
the menagerle superintendent for q
job. FosdIck sent him to Mcclure,
the "Cat-hOuse" boss, and after talk
ing to Mcclure for fen minutes, Sam
my climbed back into his taxi an ac-
cepted member of the staff Of the
Great and Only, with orders to re-
port Sunday morning.
After it was all settled, Sammy
broke the news to Kitty Elw00d--
and Kitty, without any ado whatever,
broke their engagement.
IF that's all the consideration I
get from you, Sam Edwards" Kitty
Vehemently remarked, "all you get
from me after this is none at all. It's
off-all off, and off for good. Here's
your hat"
But, Kit" expOstulated Sammy,
"y0u don't get It at all. It's only for
one year. LoOk-it. qualify as a
full-fledged keeper in a couple Of
months. Before the show goes out
I'm fancy trainer and go one trip.
with an animal act-see? It'll get us
more than l could save in three years
at the old job--enough to start
right"
1.-TWO pu-pshaws and pu-pittte"
Kitty, you see, worked in paper-b"x
factory. "Do you see much green In
my eye? You're going with the circus
because you've gone nuts on it-like
every little boy in this town. You In
a ring act In five months! You'll
be sweeping out cages the rest of your
Northumberland to smelly lot Of
animated old fur sets. You've lost
out with me- Mr.. Edwards. My hus-
bands gotta have q balance wheel
that can't be Queered by circus char
lots. Goodby!"
There was q f1nality about this that
sent Sammy on his way without fur
ther word. Whereupon Kitty climbed
two flights of stairs and wept c0pi-
ousIy for an hour.
Sammy didn't spend all that winter
Just chambermaidtng to cat animals
He got to be keeper with certain
cage Of peculiarly pernlckety leopards
as his most especial care. He soon
learned however, that he wouldn't be
In any ring act by next spring. 1t
was January before Mcclure would
let him go into the leopard's cage
without a pointed iron bar in his hand,
and February before he felt the least
at home In that environment.
But when March came, Sammy had
got along so far that when he signed
up for the touring season there was
clause in his contract giving him
forty-five dollars month extra for
riding In that cage of spotted cats in
the daily parade-and the show fur
nished the fieshings.
Opening in the Garden" at New
York, where circus parades have long
been thing of the past, the second
booking was in the show's-and Sam
my's-h0me town. AS the fates would
have it, it rained pitchforks at the
first days stand, and there was no
parade. So that Sammy was called
on to make his debut as an animal
king" before the eyes of his own
townspeopIe. Also his first appear
ance In tights.
Now Sammy had never ceased to be
sore in spirit over the detection of
Kitty Elwood. Even among the sylphs
whom he had encountered during the
winter, praticing and rehearsing ami
NAL acts or careering about the ring
in the equestrian pavilion, there had
been none equal to the task Of dis
placing Kitty in his heart--and some
very nice girls there were among
them, at that. Wherefore, as Sammy
climbed into his nest of feline revolu.
tionists it was with mingled emotions
that he assured himself that Kitty
would certainly be somewhere In the
street crowds and that she could not
fall TO see him. What would she think,
he wondered.
It was new cage. Cat animals of
all kinds hate new ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ness Tabby at home. 1t was the first
street parade. Caliph, the head devil
of the leopard clan, detested the noise
of band music. None OF the family
was overly fond Of human beings, and
crowds of them frazzled leopardian
nerves completely.
A leopard with rasped nerves is dan
gerous. To make it worse, the cats,
thanks to delays in the costuming de-
partment, had never before seen
Sammy in pink tights. And to top it
all. Sammy was nervous himself
something a trainer has no earthly
business to be, ever. And the more he
thought of Kitty being somewhere in
the crowd the more nervous he be-
came.
The parade hadn't gone two blocks
before Caliph, sensing the unrest in his