JOHN’S ISLAND 97 
see the animals, and then get a good seat. As I walked 
up to the entrance who should I see but Hulda with her 
pa and ma. Hulda had on a white dress and a pink 
ribbon round her waist, with the two ends hanging 
most down to the ground behind. Her cheeks were 
pink too and her blue eyes shining. I tell you she was 
a peacherino all right. 
“Lo, Hulda,’ said I, ‘want to go with me and see 
the show?’ 
‘““So we took in . . . Don’t shoot,’’ said Jimmy, 
“‘those are only fish ducks; they’re mighty swift flyers, 
but you can’t eat them, too tough and fishy.”’ The 
five fish ducks passed by the blind, flying like streaks, 
their sharp-pointed bills showing up plainly as they 
went by. 
‘Tt was a three-ring circus,’’ said Jimmy, ‘“‘something 
going on in every ring all the time. Did you ever see a 
single teal light down close to the blind and start feeding, 
twisting this way and picking up something and then 
turning the other way, never still a minute? Well 
that’s the way Hulda did, trying to see the show in all 
three rings at the same time.”’ 
“‘Did you see everything too?”’ I asked. 
“You bet I did,’’ Jimmy said; ‘‘I bought popcorn, 
peanuts, and red lemonade and saw everything in all 
three rings. The funniest thing in the show was a 
clown that played a game of baseball all by his lone- 
some. He was umpire, catcher, pitcher, and all the 
rest of the nine. I never laughed so much before. ”’ 
“What did Hulda like best?’”’ 
““Hulda? Oh! she liked the barebacked horseback 
riding best, where a girl turned somersaults through a 
paper hoop. I had seen all that before but Hulda 
thought it was wonderful.” 
7 
