This day passed, so far as Toby was concerned, very much as had the others; he could not satisfy either of his employers, try as hard as he might, and, as usual, he met with two or three kindly disposed people, who added to the fund that he was accumulating for his second venture of running away, by little gifts of money, each one of which gladdened his heart, and made his troubles a trifle less hard to bear.
During that entire week one day was very much like another. Each day he added something to his fund, and each night it seemed to him that he was one day nearer the freedom for which he so ardently longed.
The skeleton, the fat lady, old Ben, the Albino Children, little Ella, and even the sword-swallower, each gave him a kindly word as they passed him while he was at his work, or saw him as the preparations for the grand entrée were being made.
The time had passed slowly to Toby, and yet Sunday came again, as Sundays always come; and on this day old Ben hunted him up, made him wash his face and hands until they fairly shone from very cleanliness, and then took him with him to church. Toby was surprised to find that it was really a pleasant thing to be able to go to church after being deprived of it, and he was more light-hearted than he had been since he left Guilford when he returned to the tent at noon.
The skeleton had invited him to another dinner party; but Toby had declined the invitation, agreeing to present himself in time for supper instead. He hardly cared to go through the ordeal of another state dinner, and, besides, he wanted to go off to the woods with the old monkey, where he could enjoy the silence of the forest, which ever seemed like a friend to him, because it reminded him of home.
Taking the monkey with him as usual, he inquired the nearest way to some grove, and without waiting for dinner, started off for an afternoon's quiet enjoyment.
[to be continued.]
[THE STORY OF THE DIGITS, AND WHAT THEY REPRESENT.]
1 is the lord of the manor,
2 is his swan-like bride,
3 is his gentle daughter,
And 4 is the pony to ride;
5 is young Jack, so nimble,
6 is the careful maid,
7 the priest so humble,
And 8 is the church where he staid;
9 is the palace castle,
And 10 the poor around—
This is the story of Numbers,
While the whirl of Time goes round.