"I'll join," said Puss; "here's my paw!"
"And here's my hand," said the clown.
"And here's mine," cried the circus-lady.
"Come with me," said the clown, "and I'll put your name on the program and you shall be a regular circus performer from now on."
And that is how Puss, Jr., joined the circus.
PUSS, JR., PROVES TO BE A WONDERFUL CIRCUS PERFORMER
IT was about eight-thirty o'clock in the evening. The big tent was all aglow with lights. A long line of people reached from the dusty roadway to the ticket-office. Flaring torches threw strange streaks of light over the field, lighting up the circus-wagons with their gleaming red bodies and yellow wheels.
Now and then the roars of the lions and the trumpetings of the elephants could be heard, then the music of the band, a bugle-call, a shrill voice, a snap of whips—all the familiar sounds of a traveling circus, as the evening breeze ruffled the many flags that decked the great white tent. Puss, Jr., stood by the side of the clown in the tan-bark ring and looked about him. On all sides were eager faces. Hundreds of children screamed and yelled as the clown came forward and motioned for silence. When the sounds had died away he spoke, loud and clear:
"Ladies and gentlemen and little children, we have with us to-night the son of the famous Puss in Boots, the well-known nursery character, dearly loved by old and young. Puss, Junior, is in search of his father, but in the meantime has consented to join our circus. I venture to say that no other circus in the world has so wonderful a cat among its performers. You will all be charmed to see him act. His first performance will be to ride around the ring on our beautiful Arabian horse, White Marvel!" As the clown finished Puss jumped nimbly to the horse's back and commenced riding around the ring as if he had been accustomed to this sort of thing all his life.