"An' it rained just before we got to the circus, an' the rain went through the tent an' washed the stripes all off the zebra an' he was all pinky-streaked, an' Dan Rolfe said he wasn't nothin' underneath but just a donkey, an'--" "Don't say 'wasn't nothin',' Susy," said Susy's older sister, Minnie. Minnie was a prim little girl, with black hair parted in the middle, and drawn into two tight pig-tails. "Well, he wasn't," retorted Susy; "an' there were puddles of pink paint all round his feet where the paint washed off, an' Rob Currier touched him, an' got the end of his finger all red, an' Louise Mason said it was zebra blood an' it's deadly poison an' Rob'll have fits an' die!" Susy opened her eyes still wider, and regarded us all with the pleasant feeling that accompanies the disclosure of horrible news. "There were a lot of real donkeys next to the zebra, an' one of 'em had on the saddle that the monkey rode on in the precession,--an' he rode him again in the race, too, an' next to them was a antelope in a cage, an' then a ger-noo--" "A _what_?" inquired Ed Mason, in a tone of deep scorn. "A ger-noo," said Susy; "but he was asleep--" "That ain't ger-noo," Ed returned, "it's '_noo_,'--just like that." "It isn't! It said 'Ger-noo or Horned Horse' right on the cage. I guess I saw it, Ed Mason, and you weren't there, so what do you know 'bout it?" "I don't care," replied Ed, doggedly, "'tain't 'ger-noo.'" Susy puckered up her face and seemed about to cry, but Flossie Mason remarked hurriedly: "Never mind, Susy. What was in the next cage?" "Oh, there was--" and then Susy's mind jumped ahead--"there was a countryman with a big umbreller an' just as the lady was goin' to dive into the water he came along right in front of us an' said he'd give any one three cents for a seat, but of course no one would give him a seat, 'cos they cost seventy-five cents, an' he got into a fight with another countryman who was sittin' in the front row, an' tried to pull him out of his seat, an' a great, big, fat p'liceman came runnin' an' tried to arrest 'em both, an' they grabbed _him_ an' pulled him over to the tank, an' all three of 'em fell into the water, an' the tank was all full of 'em, swimmin' round, an' they had to stop the circus an' get 'em out!" Susy stopped for breath, and Ed Mason found time to ejaculate:-- "Hoh! that was all made up! They were clowns, all of 'em!" "They were _not_ clowns. They were dressed up just like _men_!" "That's all right," I put in, "they were clowns just the same. They go round with the circus doin' that. I saw 'em do somethin' like that last summer, only there wasn't but one countryman, an' they drove 'em off in a wagon with donkeys."