"You boys beat anything I ever came across in all my circus experience," remarked Mr. Sparling.
"Where do we sleep?" asked Phil.
"The cabins are all on the upper decks. The lower decks will be used wholly for the equipment. I have had all the partitions ripped out, down there, and the deck flooring lowered a little so that the elephants will have room to stand. I have also had smaller wheels put on all the wagons. Had I not done so the wagons would not have gone in through the openings on the sides."
"What about the tent poles?" asked Phil. "You never will be able to drive a pole wagon on board."
"You have an eye to business, I see. Have you noticed that the center poles are spliced this season?"
"Yes, I did observe that."
"It was for the purpose of easier handling. The poles will all be swung to the upper decks in bundles. In the morning they will be lowered to the wagons, which can be done without much difficulty. All the poles, except those belonging to the big top, will go out on the 'Little Nemo,' as you have named her. At first, handling the show will be a little awkward, but we shall soon get the hang of it and fit into the new arrangement just as if we had been always traveling on boats. Traveling on the water, you see, we shall be able to show on both sides of the river all the way down, which we could not do were we traveling by train. That will give us a long season, short runs overnight and a fine outing. Everybody will be delighted with the change, don't you think so?"
"If not, they will be pretty hard to please, I should say," rejoined Phil. "Why, it will be a regular vacation—all summer!"
"How far do we go?" asked Teddy.
"The length of the river."