In marked contrast to the popular notions of the rank and file of circus men is the practice of Mr. James A. Bailey, who founds his business conduct along lines tending to discourage superstition. Friday is his accepted choice upon which to make an important move--the Barnum & Bailey show left America on Friday--and he welcomes the figure 13 in any transaction. His marvellously successful career perplexes credulous associates. * * * * * The slang and colloquialisms of the circus form a secret language in themselves, a collection of jargon, racy, pungent, and pregnant of meaning, and always used in familiar conversation. “Stall,” as noun or verb, is a popular and widely employed expression. It indicates anything tending to conceal real intention, a confederate who diverts attention, an accomplice under cover. For instance, “I am stalling for a walkaway,” if I refrain from notifying a customer that he has forgotten his change. The “walkaway,” a flurried, absent-minded, or hurrying person who leaves his return money behind, is legion and a constant source of joy to the ticket-seller. “Nix” is a significant circus watchword, whose utterance generally is the signal announcing the approach of some one in authority or who is not a confidant. It is used, too, as the curt form of request to desist from word or deed. The exhibition place is never anything but a “lot” in circus parlance, and the organization itself is referred to as the “show.” A “snack-stand” is the improvised structure at railroad depot or show ground where a hasty bite of food can be obtained. The men who sell candy, popcorn, lemonade and the like are “butchers.” The tents are “tops” in the circus vocabulary. The canvas under which the performance is given is known as the “big top,” the eating tent as the “cook top,” and so on. One might travel a season with a circus and not hear the word tent mentioned. The side-show is the “kid show,” as the vernacular of the profession has it. Employees are “working” whether driving stakes, throwing somersaults, or sitting on exhibition as a curiosity. The broad license of the word is amusing to the stranger who hears the Albino, whose sole occupation is to receive the stares of side-show visitors, remark that “she didn’t work yesterday,” but remained in the car all day. The rallying-cry, “Hey Rube!” has become a vague memory among modern circuses. Ample police protection is assured nowadays, the character of circus employees is higher and the discipline is sterner, and the days of sanguinary encounters among themselves or with town rowdies are gone forever. The inaugural procession around the tent is the circus man’s “tournament.” A “grafting” show is the circus with dishonest motives, as described in another chapter, and its “fixer” or “squarer” is the man who makes the corrupt arrangement with town officials. In circus dialect “yap” and “simp” indicate a credulous rustic who is easy prey for sharpers.