THE MEDFORD DAILY TRIBUNE, MEDFOR1), OREGON", WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMDEU 3. 1000.
BY MARGARET MAY
1
COPYRIGHT. 1 90G, BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
Here is a circus romance red
olent of the fresh sawdust of
the ring, vibrant with the inces
sant clamor of the band, pano
ramic in its ever moving display
of clowns, acrobats, horses and
captive wild animals. You will
read of Polly, the daughter of
the circus, and of Bingo, on
whose broad back she rode ; of
the "leap of death" girl; of
Muvver Jim," the boss canvas
man, and Toby, the clown, who
loved the circus orphan and
cared for her like father and
mother; of Deacon Strong, who
hated a circus, and of Rev. John
Douglas, who grew to love a cir
cus girl You will read of gos
sip that threatened to divide a
pastor and his flock, of Ruth
and Naomi, of a show girl's re
nunciation and of Polly's first
and last ride on Barbarian, the
circus horse.
CHAPTER L .
Dana or tne "Great American
I I Circus" was playing noisily.
I 1 The performance van In full
J swing.
Beside a shabby trunk In the wo
men's dressing tent sat a younj, wist
ful faced girl, chin in hand, unheeding
the chatter of the women about her
t the picturesque disarray of the sur
rounding objects. Her eyes had been
so long accustomed to the glitter and
tinsel of circus fineries that she saw
nothing unusual in a picture that
might have held a painter spellbound.
Circling the inside of the tent and
tormlng a double line down the center
were partially unpacked trunks belch
ing forth impudent masses of satins,
laces, artificial hair, paper flowers and
paste jewels. The scent of moist
earth mingled oddly with the perfumed
odors of the garments heaped on the
grass. Here and there high circles of
lights threw a strong, steady glare
upon the half clad figure of 3 robust
tcrobat or the thin, drooping shoulders.:
of a less stalwart sister. Temporary
ropes stretched from one pole to an
other were laden with bright colored
stockings, gaudy, spangled gowns or
Busty street clothes discarded by the
performers before slipping into their
circus attire. There were no nails or
books, so bats and veils were pinned
to the canvas wails.
The furniture was limited to one
tamp chair in front of each trunk, the
till of which served as a tray for the
paints, powders and other essentials
Df makeup.
A'pall of water stood by the side of
each chair, so that the performers
'
In tiic uomcn'n dramlng Unit sat a young,
wittful faixd QlrU
might wash the delicately shaded
tights, handkerchiefs and other small
articles not to be intrusted to the
Blow, careless process of tho village
laundry. Some of these had been
washed tonight and hung to dry on the
lines between tho dusty street gar
ments.
Women whose "turns" came late snt
ibout, half clothed, reading, crocheting
or sewing, while others milled pen
ciled eyebrows, powder or rouge to
(heir ul ready exaggerated makeups.
Here uml there u child was putting
her sawdust baby to sleep lu th till
jf her trunk before beginning her part
In the evening's entertainment. Young
I md old went about their duties with a
i systematic, businesslike air, and even
:he little knot of excited women near
Polly It seemed that one of the men
bad upset a circus tradition kept a
Bharp lookout for their turns.
"What do you think about It, Polly?"
asked a handsome brunette us she sur
veyed herself In the costume of a
Human charioteer.
"About what?" asked Polly vacantly.
"Leave Poll alone! She's in one of
her trances!" called a motherly, good
natured woman whose trunk stood
next to Tolly's and whose business
was to support a son and three daugh
ters upon stalwart shoulders, both fig
uratively and literally.
"Well, I ain't in any trance," answer
ed the dark girl, "anij I think it's pret
ty tough for him to take up with a
rank outsider and expect us to warm
up to hr as though he'd married one
of our own folks." She tossed her
head, the. pride of class distinction
welling high In her ample bosom.
"He ain't askin' us to warm up to
her," contradicted Mile. Elolse, a pale,
light haired sprite, who hud arrived
late and was making undignified ef
forts to get out of her clothes by way
of her head. She was Polly's under
study and next in line for the star
place In the bill.
Well, Barker has put her into the
leap of death' stunt, ain't he?" con
tinued the brunette. "Cn'.rse that
ain't a regular circus act," sue added.
somewhat mollified, "and so fir she's
had to dress with the freaks, but the
next thing we know he'll be ringln'
her in on a regular stunt and be put-
tin' her In to dress with us."
"No danger of that," sneered the
blond. "Barker is too old a stager to
mix up his sheep and his goats."
Folly bad again lost the thread of '
the conversation. Her mind had gone
roving to the night when the fright
ened girl about whom they were talk
ing had made her first appearance In
the circus lot cllnelne tlmldlv to tho
hand of the man who had Just made '
ner tis wife. Her eyes had met Pol
ly's with a look of appeal that had
gone straight to the child's Simple
'heart.
A few nights later the newcomer
I had allowed herself to be strapped
into the cumbersome "leap of death"
' machine which hurled itself through
space nt each performance and flung
Itself down with force enough to break
the neck of nny unskilled rider. Cour
age and steady nerye were the requi
sites for the job, so the manager had
said, but any physician would have
told him that only a trained acrobat
could long endure the nervous strain,
the muscular tension and the physical
rack of such an ordeaL
What matter? The few dollars
earned In this way would mean a
great deal to the mother whom the
girl's marriage had left desolate.
Polly had looked on hungrily the
night that the mother had taken the
daughter in her arms to say farewell
In the little country town where the
circus had played before her marriage.
She could remember no woman's arms
about her, tor it was fourteen years
since tender bands had carried ber
mother from the performers' tent Into
the moonlit lot to die. The baby was
bo used to seeing "mumsle" throw her
self wearily on the ground after com
ing out of the "big top" exhausted
that she crept to the woman's side, as
usual, that night and gazed laughingly
into the sightless eyes, gurgling and
prattling and stroking the unrespon
sive face. There were tears from
those who watched, but no word was
spoken.
Clown Toby and the big "boss can
vasman" Jim had always taken turns
amusing and guarding little Polly
while bor mother rode In the ring. So
Toby now carried the babe to another
Bide of the lot, nnd Jim bore the life
less body of the mother to the distant
ticket wagon, now closed for the night,
and laid it upon the seller's cot.
"It's alius like this in the end," he
murmured as he drew a piece of can
vas over the white face and turned
nway to give orders to the men who
were beginning to load the "props"
used earlier in the performance.
When the show moved on that night
It was Jim's strong' arms that lifted
the mite of a Polly close to bis stal
wart heart and climbed with her to
the high seat on the head wagon. Un
cle Toby was Intrusted with the brown
satchel In. which, the mother had nl-.
J ways carried Tolly's scanty wardrobe.
It seemed to these two men that the
eyes of the woman were fixed steadily
upon them.
Barker, the manager, a large, noisy,
good natured fellow, at first mumbled
something about the kid being "excess
baggage," but bis objections were only
half hearted, for, like the others, ho
was already under the hypnotic spell
of tho baby's round, confiding eyes,
and he eventually contented himself
with nu occasional reprimand to Toby,
who was now sometimes late on his
ifues. Polly wondered nt these times
why the old man's stories were so sud
denly cut short just as she was so
"comfy" In the soft grass nt his feet.
The boys who used to look sharp
because of their boss at loading time
now learned that they might loiter so
long nt "Muvver Jim" was "hlklu" it
round for the kid." It was Polly who
had dubbed big Jim "Muvver," and
the sobr'nuet had stuck to lilm lu spite
of his six feet two and shoulders that
nu athlete might have envied. Little
by little Toby grew more stooped, and
small lines of anxiety crept Into the
brownish circles beneath Jim's eyes,
the lips that hud once shut so firmly
became tender and tremulous, biit nei
ther of tho men would willingly have
gone back to the old emptiness.
It was a red letter day in tho cir
cus when Tolly first managed to climb
up on the pole of an unhitched wagon
and from there to the back of a friend
ly Shetland pony. Jim and Toby had
been "negloctin' her eddlcatlou," they
declared, and from that time on the
blood of Polly's ancestors was glvta
full encouragement
Barker was quick to grasp tho ad
vantage of adding the kid to the daily
parade. She made her first appear
ance ln the. streets upon somethiiig
very.llko a Newfouuilla'iid d'g, guuril
ed from the rear by Jim and from the
ore by a white faced clown who was
thought to be all the fmmlct because
ho twisted his ueek so much.
Prom the street parade to Polly's
first appearance In tho big top hud
seemed a short while tu Jim and Toby.
They were proud to see her circling
the ring In bright colors' and to hear
the cheers of the people, but n uenso
of loss was upon them.
"I always said she'd do It!" cried
Barker, who now took upon himself
tho credit of Polly's triumph.
And what a triumph it was!
Polly danced as serenely on Bingo's
back as she might have done ou tho
concert boards. She sXvuyed grace
fully with the music. Her tiny san
dals twinkled as she stood first upon
one foot and then upon the other.
Uncle Toby forgot to use uiuny of
bis tricks that night, uiul Jim left tho
loading of tho wagons to take care of
Itself while he hovered near tho en
trance, uuxlous and breathless. Tuo
performers crowded around tho girl
with outstretched bauds and congrat
ulations as she came out of the ring
to cheers nnd applause.
But "Big Jim" stood apart. He was
thinking of the buttons that his clum
sy lingers used to forco Into the stiff,
starchy holes too small for them and
of the pigtails so stubborn at the ends,
and Toby was remembering tho little
shoes that hud once needed to bo
laced In the cold, dark mornings nnd
tho strings that were always snapping.
Something had gone.
They were not philosophers to rea
son, like Kuierson, that for everything
we lose we gulu something. They were
simple souls, these two; they could
only feel.
(To be continued.)
T T T T t I
r
i
. . . i
i tmmmmm- In or, i
t , ' CUf X.'. ,: ; -tsl l 4
t ' Mr. Investor Have you seen the modern home seven rooms In thej
space and cost of four rooms; Icelcss refrigerator, built-in buffets!
and dressers; cabinet kitchen.
J. A. McINTOSII, Architect,
X Third JJloor Meuford National Bank Building.
Sept. 20-25
1909
Admission 50 Cents
THE SECOND ANNUAL
Portland Fair
Oregon's Biggest Show
B HORSE RACES DAILY NATIONAL LIVESTOCK EXHIBITS
BALLOON RACING
CHARIOT RACING FASCINATING MIDWAY ATTRACTIONS
FIREWORKS will be the most gorgeous and mag
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This will interest the whole family.
REDUCED RATES ON ALL ROADS.
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provides an absolutely safe and satis!
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Savoy Theatre
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Selig's Thriller "
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