'But when I was only four--ages and ages ago--I used to stand on one leg on my father's hand when he was galloping round the ring on his Araby steed. Then he would jerk his arm, and I would spring high in the air, turn a somersault, and alight in the hand again with my arms turned up and my eyes looking to heaven. And the people cheered, and I used to be handed round for the ladies to kiss. I hated that part. Heigh-ho! We've only a little show now, and if it wasn't for the merman we couldn't live.' 'Have you a real merman?' 'Father must tell you all about that,' she answered hurriedly. 'But mind, Mr Blake, you must never ask me anything about the show. You promise?' 'I promise.' 'Never--never--_never_?' 'Never--never--never,' said Antony. She quickly put about the boat. 'You see the flag half-mast, don't you? Well, that is my recall. It will only be an hour's rehearsal to-day. Then, if you please, Mr Blake, we'll go for a walk with Wallace.' CHAPTER V. THE QUEEREST SHOW.--A DAY IN THE WILDS. Had Frank Antony Blake not been one of the least inquisitive young fellows in the world several things connected with Biffins Lee's Queerest Show on Earth might have struck him as curious. He might have asked himself why the show should have settled down here, in this comparatively out-of-the-way part of a wild north coast. He might have wanted to find out the secret of the merman which Lee advertised so freely as the only creature of its kind ever captured. Why didn't this business-like showman journey south with _it_, or rather _him_ or _her_, whichever sex the animal may have represented? If such questions did present themselves to Antony's mind they were very speedily dismissed again. 'It is no business of mine,' he told himself. 'I like a little mystery so long as there is poetry and romance in it, and so long as I am not asked to solve it. Elucidation is a hateful thing. Let me see now. I used to be good at transposing letters and turning words into something else. "Elucidation?" The first two syllables easily make "Euclid," and the last four letters "not I." There it is: "Elucidation--Euclid. Not I." Suits me all to pieces, for I never could stand old Euclid, and I was just as determined as any mule not to cross the _pons asinorum_' (the bridge of asses). There was a quiet but heavy footstep on the back stairs, and when Antony opened the door the beautiful Newfoundland walked solemnly in and lay down on the saloon carpet. 'Hallo! Wallace, old man, aren't you at rehearsal?' Wallace never moved, nor did he wag even the tip of his tail; but not for one moment did he take his wise brown eyes off Antony. The dog was watching him, studying him, and without doubt trying to get a little insight into his character. The scrutiny grew almost painful at last, and Antony, to relieve the intensity of it, went and fetched a milk-biscuit from his little cupboard. 'Wallace hungry, eh? Poor dog then!'