CIRCUS DAYS 5 



we could find, and we were always so dead tired 

 that we didn't care much where we slept. 



Since those early days in the circus, I've been 

 around the world many times, and I've seen all sorts 

 of men, living and working in all sorts of condi- 

 tions, but I've never found a harder life than that 

 of property-boy, unless, perhaps, it's that of a Malay 

 prisoner. Sometimes I wonder how I stood it and 

 why I liked it. But I did stand it and, what is 

 more, I loved it so much that I persuaded the boss 

 to keep me on when we went into winter quarters. 



The moment we arrived at a town, the head 

 canvas-man rode to the lot on which we were to 

 show and laid it out; that is, he measured it and 

 decided on the location of the tents. The men with 

 him drove small stakes to indicate where the tent- 

 pegs were to be placed. In the meantime, the prop- 

 erty gang unloaded the show. Then we drove the 

 four-foot stakes for the dressing-tent into whatever 

 kind of ground the lot happened to have. A man 

 can work up a good appetite by swinging a fourteen- 

 pound hammer for an hour or so before breakfast, 

 but before we started we had also many other things 

 to do. The dressing-tent had to be spread and 

 hoisted ; then the properties were sorted and placed 

 in their position for the performers to get ready 

 for the parade. Meanwhile the canvas-gang was 

 getting the "big-top" up. Then, when the parade 

 started, we went to the "big-top" and arranged the 

 properties there, made the rings, adjusted the guys, 



