One day after Buddy Pigg had been on a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, who were once in a circus, he came home all excited. He ran out in the yard, began pawing over in the woodpile, and soon he ran into the house, where Brighteyes, his sister, was washing the potatoes for dinner.
"Do you know where there is any wire, Brighteyes?" the little boy guinea pig asked.
"Wire? No, I haven't seen any around the house. What do you want of it? Are you going to wire a tail on to yourself?" and Buddy's sister smiled just the least bit.
"Please don't remind me of that," said Buddy, for he felt a little ashamed of the time he had tried to get a tail for himself and had been nearly dragged into a fox's den, as I told you in the story before this one. "No, Brighteyes, I'm not going to make a tail. I am going to do a circus trick, and you can see me if you want to," he said.
"Oh, Buddy! are you really?" she cried, and she was interested all of a sudden, you see, for she had never seen much of a circus.
"Yes, I'll do the trick, if I can find a bit of wire," went on Buddy. "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow told me how to do it; and I'm sure I can. It's walking a tight rope, and it's very hard to do."
"Oh! then you want rope, not wire," went on Brighteyes, as she put the pan of potatoes on the table.
"Wire is what the circus performers use," insisted her brother, "but if you can't find any I suppose rope will do."
"I saw some up in the attic," said Brighteyes. "I'll get it for you. But, Buddy, isn't it dangerous? Do you s'pose mamma and papa would let you do it?"
"There's not much danger," answered Buddy. "I'll not put the rope up very high, and I'll put some pillows on the ground underneath, so that if I fall I won't get hurt much."