The Adventures of Diggeldy Dan

by Edwin P. Norwood

“Never had Gray Ears taken such stupendous strides,” said Diggeldy Dan, as he once more went on with his story. “So fast did he move that in less than a minute we had reached the edge of the light that spread like a fan round the tents. And then we plunged into the midst of it to find ourselves in the very back yard of the circus.

“Through the maze of red wagons the two of us went, past little white tents that shimmered with light, and next—in much slower and more methodical fashion—picked our way through the groups of playful, plumed ponies, each decked with trappings that shone like the stars. Past these went the both of us—past these and strange men and strange women, too, all dressed in gay costumes of every color and hue. But at sight of the latter, Gray Ears warned me to drop down on his back and hide quickly away in the long, winding vines. And when I had done so—without once being seen—he headed straight for the rear of the greatest of tents, from whence came the sound of the circus.

“How it fell on the air and fell on the ear—a mingling of music and the hum of the crowd, blended with hoof-beats and laughter! Now naught save a curtain divided us from the all of it, and this Gray Ears thrust back with a swing of his trunk. And then, in the space of much less than a wink, what wonders came into view!

“There were people to the left of us, people to the right of us, and still more across from us, all terraced in masses around a tent so tremendous that its far ends were lost in a shadowy haze. There were pretty ladies to the left of us, pretty ladies to the right of us, and pretty ladies in front of us, all mounted on horses that ran round the rings. There was a ringmaster to the left of us, another to the right of us, and a third just before us, each arrayed in the latest of fashionable dress. And, high up above us, were splashes of red and dashes of blue that were reflected from the sides of the massive round poles that held the huge tent in its place. There was the sheen of the sawdust and the gray of the roof; the clusters of golden lights that flooded the air and flooded the ground, and the clusters of silver lights over the rings at the ends that looked in the distance like bits of the moon.

“And into the midst of this hoopla and whirl, into the heart of the Very Biggest Circus stepped Gray Ears, with me hidden away on his back. So quickly, indeed, had he come through the doorway that those in the rings and those in the crowd did not know of his presence until he was well into the tent. And then he was discovered from all sides at once.

“‘Hey, lookit! Hey, lookit!’ cried those to the left and those to the right.

“‘Well, of all unheard-of things!’ the pretty ladies exclaimed as they brought their mounts to a halt.

“‘Now tell us at once,’ the three ringmasters demanded, each stamping his foot as if to resent it, ‘what’s the meaning of this strange interruption!’

“‘Yes, do so, right now!’ every fair rider protested as she gave a toss of her head to prove that she meant it.

“But for answer Gray Ears merely kept on his way, down the track that circled the tent. Still onward he went around the most distant ring—one of those with the cluster of silvery lights that looked like bits of the moon. And trailing behind in most persistent fashion came the trio of ringmasters all talking at once and urging that Gray Ears begone to his station.