"We may even have to omit the afternoon session," Joe stated.
"Who said so?" Helen demanded.
"Mr. Tracy."
"Well, it's better to lose that than to have the whole show wrecked," said the snake charmer. "I remember being in a circus wreck once, and I never want to see another."
"Did any of the animals get loose?" asked Joe.
"I should say they did! We lost a lion and a tiger, and for weeks afterward we had to keep men out hunting for the creatures, which the excited farmers said were taking calves and lambs. No indeed! I don't want any more circus wrecks. This one was near enough."
This brought up a fund of recollected circus stories, and from then on, until the train stopped on the siding near the grounds, the performers took turns in telling what they had known of wrecks and other accidents to the shows with which they had been connected. Joe listened eagerly. It was all new to him.
"I only hope my glass tank isn't cracked," said Benny again. He seemed quite worried about this.
"Well, if it's broken they'll have to get you another," Joe told him. The tank was carried in one of the cars of the derailed train.
"They might, and they might not," said Benny. "My act hasn't been going any too well of late, and maybe they'd be glad of a chance to drop it from the list. I only hope they don't, though, for I need the money."