"Oh, Freddie! I hope you weren't in any danger!" his mother cried.
"What an escape he had!" sighed Aunt Sarah. "Suppose an elephant had eaten him!"
"Pooh! Elephants don't eat anything but hay," said Freddie, who, of course, did not mean to be impolite, speaking to his aunt that way. "Frank told me so," he went on, "and I saw them eat hay. They eat a awful lot, and one of them took all my peanuts."
"Well, I'll buy you some more," said Uncle Daniel with a laugh. "You deserve it after the trouble you have had—getting lost and all that."
"I—I wasn't losted!" declared Freddie again. "I knew—"
"Oh, look at the balloons!" cried Flossie, as she saw a man outside the circus grounds selling the red, green and yellow gas-bags. "I want one, mamma!" cried the little girl.
"And so do I!" added Freddie, forgetting what he was going to say about not being lost "I want a balloon!"
They each had one, and then the children and older folks took their places in the wagon, and soon were on their way to Meadow Brook farm again, talking over the wonderful good time they had had.
"I'm coming to the circus to-morrow," announced Freddie, as though going to circuses was all there was to do in this world.
"The circus won't be there," said Bert.