AN AMATEUR CIRCUS. 



A True Story. 



We were not like ordinary children — 

 in fact as I look back on our younger 

 days it comes to me ever more strongly 

 how very unlike we were. There was 

 Harvey, my older brother, who never 

 did anything that other children did and 

 was always perpetrating some most ex- 

 traordinary thing which certainly no 

 one else ever would have thought of. 

 However, in spite of this trait, or possi- 

 bly in consequence of it, he afterwards 

 becam,e famous. But that is neither here 

 nor there — we were all what the neigh- 

 bors termed ''unexpected," if they were 

 kindly disposed, otherwise it was some 

 word to the same effect though less 

 mild. 



It was always a great blessing to us 

 and one which we received with thank- 

 ful hearts, that our father was a man of 

 science, and his line of work made him 

 the recipient of a varied assortment of 

 animals which he would bring home alive 

 and keep until he was ready to work 

 upon them. It was only natural that we 

 children should become fond of these 

 creatures and beg that they might be 

 spared the eternal ,sleep and left to us 

 to play with. This was often granted. 



So it happened at one time that we 

 were the proud possessors of twenty-five 

 different kinds of birds, animals and rep- 

 tiles and the envy of all the children for 

 blocks around. 



It is so long now since the time of 

 which I write that I may not be able to 

 recall them all, but I give them as I re- 

 member them and by their rank — for 

 they had rank as well as names, the 

 highest in intelligence always going 

 first — as they did at our funerals ; for 

 when any one of the little colony died 

 we would give it a burial in accordance 

 v^,ith its station in life. 



First beside the grave would stand 



Rex, my beautiful dog, whose knowledge 

 was so great it seemed almost human; 

 then would come ''Daisy/' Harvey's 

 little Mexican pony; then "Lorita," the 

 parrot, whose intelligence was really re- 

 markable; after her came "lackie," the 

 monkey, and so on down. The cat, the 

 crow, with his one white tail feather; 

 then the smaller birds ; two love-birds, 

 a brown thrush, a blue jay and the can- 

 arv. Three baby foxes followed the 

 birds and then came the squirrels, gray, 

 red, and flying squirrels; next to these 

 stood the rabbits, a dozen or more of all 

 kinds and colors : B'elgian hares, pure 

 yellows, angoras, whites and blacks, they 

 came, a motley crew. The weasel and 

 muskrat were next, and now the reptiles 

 were beginning; the turtles, a hellbender 

 and the snakes ; black snakes, garter 

 snakes, green snakes, a puffins: adder and 

 last of all came two boa constrictors. 



I have reserved a special place for my 

 own dear, stupid, little hedge hog, 

 Billy. It used to grieve me to always 

 see poor Billy straggling off at the end 

 of the animals — ahead of the reptiles, to 

 be sure — a pathetic little figure of stu- 

 pidity, but Harvey insisted he deserved 

 no better place. Possibly it was because 

 he seemed so lonely and despised by the 

 others, but at any rate, Billy was an es- 

 pecial pet of mine, and in order to dis- 

 prove Harvey's statement that, "it was 

 impossible to teach it anything," I spent 

 much time and pains on Billy, and at 

 last succeeded in teaching him to utter 

 a little grunt when I would scratch his 

 back and ask, "Want your supper, Billy?" 

 But the thing that made me the proud- 

 est was when he at last could go 

 up stairs. It was nearly three years be- 

 fore Billy could accomplish the entire 

 flight, and even then it was a long and 

 weary pilgrimage ; but the patience I 



