"You've plenty of friends, Rob—all of us like you."
"Yes, you all treat me well."
"You have always been a favorite in the circus, my lad."
"Yes; I never had anything to complain of except that my trainer was sometimes a little rough. But it isn't as if I had somebody belonging to me—a brother, or a cousin, at the least. Have you any relations, Anak?"
"Yes, I've got any number of cousins, and my old mother's living, too, bless her heart."
"In Norway?" asked Robert, slyly.
"Oh go away! they know no more about Norway than you do. It is in Tipperary they all live. I've forty or fifty cousins at the least, and I'll give you a half a dozen with pleasure, if it'll do you any good."
"I don't think they would answer my purpose, Anak," answered the boy, smiling.
"Well, as I was sayin', Robert, I wouldn't stay with the circus always if I was you."
"What else is there for me to do?"