It was very easy for Lotty, after getting gracefully into position, to have Skeleton to leap nimbly on her shoulders and stand there, a trained cat running up his back and sitting down on his head, and finally a white rat to run up over all, and, standing on pussy's back, wave the Union-jack. It was more difficult for Lotty to balance herself with one foot on Wallace's shoulders and one on his rump, her arms extended, and thus permit Skeleton to take his place on her shoulders. But the main feat of strength undoubtedly lay in rising off the stage, on which she had crouched, with all the weight of Mary the fat lady on her back. This was not only wonderful, but it was positive cruelty to the child. Only, it brought down the house, and that was all Biffins Lee cared about. There were performing Shetland ponies at the Queerest Show on Earth, and with these not only Lotty, but Chops, Skeleton, and Mary performed in a marvellous way. One pony was but little bigger than Wallace, and the two together never failed to create quite a sensation, so numerous were the tricks they tried. The strange thing is this: in their play not even Biffins Lee himself knew beforehand exactly what was going to take place. There appeared to be the most complete understanding betwixt dog and pony. Sometimes it was Wallace who suggested a new antic, and sometimes it was evidently the pony. But it was certain that both of them were delighted with the roars of laughter they succeeded in eliciting from the audience. At the conclusion of a performance like this Lee would come to the front of the stage, leading Wallace with his left hand and Tony the pony with his right. Both animals bent low their heads and forelegs by way of making a bow, then Lee would put to his audience the question: 'Which is the nobler animal?' and asked for a show of hands, first for Wallace, and then for Tony. It was not always apparent who had it. Only, Wallace was not yet eighteen months old, while Tony scored ten years. No, it was not Lotty the show-girl whom Antony loved--well, liked, then--but Lotty, his dear, delightful little companion of the woods and wilds. * * * * * Terrible are the squalls that sometimes rise suddenly during the winter over this far northern sea, and frequently they break the weather for days. Probably Lotty had become too confident in the sailing qualities and prowess of her tiny yacht and in her undoubted abilities as skipper; and she thus grew almost foolhardy. But then she was only a child, albeit an infant prodigy.