A FEW HOOFED ANIMALS 171 



band played fortissimo all the time, the "Hee 

 haws" of the donkey worked in very well 

 and in many cases brought down the house. 

 This proved such a success that the trainer 

 was constantly asking that his salary should 

 be raised, until at last he was fast becoming 

 a well-to-do man, for no one else could make 

 the donkey bray when told and no other don- 

 key could be found who would even try. 



When the season was over and the Circus 

 went into winter quarters, a request came 

 from some vaudeville show in New York for 

 some "attractions." The proprietors sug- 

 gested the "Singing Donkey" for one thing, 

 but the sum asked seemed very high. Ac- 

 cordingly before making a final agreement the 

 owner of the vaudeville show asked to be 

 shown the act first. So he traveled down to 

 the winter quarters and the donkey sang his 

 hardest to the delight of the newcomer. 



A contract was signed, the trainer and his 

 donkey came to New York and the very next 

 morning a rehearsal was called. But for 

 some reason or other, when the time came for 



