“Then he doesn’t like our circus?” The girl stopped, and once more she pouted prettily.
“Oh, it isn’t that, I assure you!” exclaimed Joe quickly. “But you see I am under some obligations to Professor Rosello, and I don’t want to leave him in the middle of the season.”
“That’s right,” chimed in Jim. “It’s best to play fair. But come along, Miss Helen, and I’ll see if I can rustle some sugar for Rosebud.”
“Good-bye!” she called to Joe. “But I should think you’d like a circus better than doing those queer tricks. Though they are nice,” she added, with a little nod.
The sun seemed to have gone under a cloud to Joe as she went out of the tent. Brightness had vanished.
“I—I almost wish I had taken his offer,” mused the lad. “I wonder——” he paused as he remembered the flash of her brown eyes and her smile. “No, I’d better stick to the professor. Maybe—later——Oh, well, I’ll have to think about it.”
He walked about, looking at the preparations still going on to get the main tent in readiness for the show. He saw Jim coming back, alone.
“Did you get the sugar?” he asked the ring-master.
“Yes. Rosebud won’t starve to-day.”
“Who’s Rosebud?”