CHAPTER X
IN THE TANK
"Are you really serious in that?" asked Joe of the old clown, after a moment's consideration.
"Of course I am, Joe. Why? Would it be strange to have some one leave you money?"
"It certainly would! But it would be a nice sort of strangeness," replied the young performer. "I never dreamed that such a thing might happen."
"Oh, I don't say it will," Bill Watson reminded him. "But the fact remains that your mother came from what is sometimes called 'the landed gentry' of England, and the estates there, or property, descend to eldest sons differently than property does in this country. It may be worth looking into, Joe."
"But I don't know much about my mother," Joe said. "I hardly ever meet any one who knew her. My foster-parents would never speak of her—they were ashamed of her calling."
"More shame to them!" exclaimed the clown. "There never was a finer woman than your mother, Joe Strong. And as for riding—well, I wish we had a few of her kind in the show now. I don't mean to say anything against your riding, my dear," he said to Helen. "But Janet Strong did a different sort, for she was a powerful woman, and could handle a horse better than most men."
"I guess I must get my liking for horses from her," Joe remarked.