It was King Cole, who smiled and spoke to him. _King Cole:_ The mend will hold until you reach a wright. Where do you play? _The Showman:_ In Wallingford to-night. _King Cole:_ There are great doings there. _The Showman:_ I know of none. _King Cole:_ The Prince will lay the Hall's foundation stone This afternoon: he and the Queen are there. _The Showman:_ Lord, keep this showman patient, lest he swear. _King Cole:_ Why should you swear? Be glad; your town is filled. _The Showman:_ What use are crowds to me with business killed? _King Cole:_ I see no cause for business to be crosst. _The Showman:_ Counter-attractions, man, at public cost. Fireworks, dancing, bonfires, soldiers, speeches. In all my tour along the river's reaches I've had ill-luck: I've clashed with public feasts. At Wycombe fair, we met performing beasts, At Henley, waxworks, and at Maidenhead The Psyche woman talking with the dead. At Bray, we met the rain, at Reading, flood, At Pangbourne, politics, at Goring, mud. Now here, at Wallingford, the Royal Pair. Counter-attraction killing everywhere, Killing a circus dead: God give me peace; If this be living, death will be release. By God, it brims the cup; it fills the can. What trade are you? _King Cole:_ I am a wandering man. _The Showman:_ You mean, a tramp who flutes for bread and pence? _King Cole:_ I come, and flute, and then I wander thence. _The Showman:_ Quicksilver Tom, who couldn't keep his place. _King Cole:_ My race being run, I love to watch the race. _The Showman:_ You ought to seek your rest. _King Cole:_ My rest is this, The world of men, wherever trouble is. _The Showman:_ If trouble rests you, God! your life is rest. _King Cole:_ Even the sun keeps moving, east to west. _The Showman:_ Little he gets by moving; less than I. _King Cole:_ He sees the great green world go floating by. _The Showman:_ A sorry sight to see, when all is said. Why don't you set to work? _King Cole:_ I have no trade. _The Showman:_ Where is your home? _King Cole:_ All gone, a long time past. _The Showman:_ Your children then? _King Cole:_ All dead, sir, even the last. I am a lonely man; no kith nor kin. _The Showman:_ There is no joy in life when deaths begin, I know it, I. How long is't since you ate? _King Cole:_ It was so long ago that I forget. _The Showman:_ The proverb says a man can always find One sorrier than himself in state and mind. 'Fore George, it's true. Well, come, then, to the van. Jane, can you find a meal for this poor man?