"And these are sea-lions," he said, pointing out Freddie's hop-toads.
At each announcement everybody laughed, but Bert went on as seriously as if he were deaf.
"In this separate tank," he declared, "we have our boa-constrictors, the largest and fiercest in the world. This is the first time one of this specimen has ever been captured alive. Note the dangerous stripe on his back!"
It was Jack's snakes that came in for this description, and the girls were quite afraid of them, although they were in a glass jar.
"Well, I declare!" said Mrs. Burns. "If this isn't a sure-enough circus. I often paid a half-dollar when I went to see things no better than these!"
Everybody thought everything was splendid, and the boys were well paid for their efforts.
"Now," said Bert, "here are our crystal fish from the deep sea!" (These were Tom's goldfish.) "You will notice how bespangled they are. They say this comes from the fish eating the diamonds lost in shipwrecks."
"What a whopper!" called someone back of the scenes whose voice sounded like Tom Mason's.
Snap! went Bert's whip, and the boys did not interrupt him again.
"The last part of our menagerie is the cage of prize butterflies," said Bert. "These butterflies are rare and scarce and—"