"Cl'ar the track here! Let this 'ere lady take a shoot!" cried a
familiar voice; and a way was opened for Bill Powell and Minny Hart. The
little maiden was placed at the toe mark and a gun given to her. She
handled the weapon like one used to it. She raised it, shut one eye,
took deliberate aim and fired.
"Centre!" roared the marker, as to the sound of a bell the funny little
puppet leaped up and grinned above the target. Every body standing near
laughed and some of the boys cheered vociferously. Minny looked sweeter
than ever. Jack Trout felt famished. He begged a chew of tobacco of a
stranger, and, grinding the weed furiously, walked off to where the
yellow pavilion with its painted air-boats was whirling its cargoes of
happy boys and girls round and round for the "Small sum of ten cents." A
long, lean, red-headed fellow in one of the boats was paying for a ride
of limitless length by scraping on a miserable fiddle. To Jack this
seemed small labor for so much fun. How he envied the fiddler as he flew
round, trailing his tunes behind him!
"Wo'erp there! Stop yer old merchine! We'll take a ride ef ye don't
keer!"
The pavilion was stopped, a boat lowered for Bill Powell and Minny Hart,
who got in side by side, and the fiddler struck up the tune of
"Black-eyed Susie." Jack watched that happy couple go round and round,
till, by the increased velocity, their two faces melted into one, which
was neither Bill's nor Minny's--it was Luck's!
"He's got one outo me," muttered Jack; "I've got no money, can't fiddle
for a ride, nor nothin', and I don't keer a ding what becomes o' me,
nohow!"
With these words Jack wended his way to a remote part of the fair
ground, where, under gay awnings, the sutlers had spread their tempting
variety of cakes, pies, fruits, nuts and loaves. Here were persons of
all ages and sizes--men, women and children--eating at well supplied
tables. The sight was a fascinating one, and, though seeing others eat
did not in the least appease his own hunger, Jack stood for a long time
watching the departure of pies and the steady lessening of huge pyramids
of sweet cakes. He particularly noticed one little table that had on its
centre a huge peach pie, which table was yet unoccupied. While he was
actually thinking over the plan of eating the pie and trusting to his
legs to bear him beyond the reach of a dun, Bill and Minny sat down by
the table and proceeded to discuss the delicious, red-hearted heap of
pastry. At this point Bill caught Jack's eye:
"Come here, Jack," said he; "this pie's more'n we can eat, come and help
us."
"Yes, come along, Jack," put in Minny in her sweetest way; "I want to
tell you what a lot of fun we've had, and more than that, I want to know
why you didn't come back and take me into the show!"
"I ain't hungry," muttered Jack, "and besides I've got to go see a
feller."
He turned away almost choking.
"Bill's got me. 'Taint no use talkin', I'm played out for good. I'm a
trumped Jack!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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