"I am all ready," he said.
"Then we'll be going," said the blacksmith, rising with alacrity.
Kit took his place on the seat beside Mr. Bickford.
"Good-by, uncle!" he said; "it may be some time before we meet again."
"What does the boy mean?" asked Stephen Watson, turning to Ralph with a puzzled look.
"I don't know. He's been acting queer all the morning."
So Kit rode away with Aaron Bickford, but he had not the slightest intention of becoming blacksmith. Instead of blacksmith's forges, visions of a circus ring and acrobatic feats were dancing before his mind.
CHAPTER VIII.
KIT'S RIDE TO OAKFORD.
Oakford was six miles away. The blacksmith's horse was seventeen years old, and did not make very good speed. Kit was unusually busy thinking. He had taken a decisive step; he had, in fact, made up his mind to enter upon a new life. He had not objected to going away with the blacksmith, because it gave him an excuse for packing up his clothes, and leaving the house quietly.
It may be objected that he had deceived Mr. Bickford. This was true, and the thought of it troubled him, but he hardly knew how to explain matters.