Toby Tyler; Or, Ten Weeks with a CircusOtis, James
General
Toby Tyler; Or, Ten Weeks with a Circus
Otis, James
Circus -- Fiction; Runaways -- Fiction
At first Toby stoutly refused to take the money; but they both insisted
to such a degree that he was actually forced to, and then he stood up to
go.
"I'm goin' to try to slip off after Job packs up the outside booth if I
can," he said, "an' it was to say good-bye that I come around here."
Again Mrs. Treat took the boy in her arms, as if it were one of her own
children who was leaving her, and as she stroked his hair back from his
forehead she said, "Don't forget us, Toby, even if you never do see us
again; try an' remember how much we cared for you, an' how much comfort
you're taking away from us when you go; for it was a comfort to see you
around, even if you wasn't with us very much. Don't forget us, Toby, an'
if you ever get the chance come an' see us. Good-bye, Toby, good-bye."
And the kind-hearted woman kissed him again and again, and then turned
her back resolutely upon him, lest it should be bad luck to him if she
again saw him after saying good-bye.
The skeleton's parting was not quite so demonstrative. He clasped Toby's
hand with one set of his fleshless fingers, while with the other he
wiped one or two suspicious-looking drops of moisture from his eyes, as
he said, "I hope you'll get along all right, my boy, and I believe you
will. You will get home to Uncle Daniel, and be happier than ever, for
now you know what it is to be entirely without a home. Be a good boy,
mind your uncle, go to school, and one of these days you'll make a good
man. Good-bye, my boy."
The tears were now streaming down Toby's face very rapidly; he had not
known, in his anxiety to get home, how very much he cared for this
strangely assorted couple, and now it made him feel very miserable and
wretched that he was going to leave them. He tried to say something
more, but the tears choked his utterance, and he left the tent quickly
to prevent himself from breaking down entirely.
In order that his grief might not be noticed, and the cause of it
suspected, Toby went out behind the tent, and, sitting there on a stone,
he gave way to the tears which he could no longer control.
While he was thus engaged, heeding nothing which passed around him, he
was startled by a cheery voice which cried, "Halloo! down in the dumps
again? What is the matter now, my bold equestrian?"
Looking up, he saw Ben standing before him, and he wiped his eyes
hastily, for here was another from whom he must part, and to whom a
good-bye must be spoken.
Looking around to make sure that no one was within hearing, he went up
very close to the old driver, and said, in almost a whisper, "I was
feelin' bad 'cause I just come from Mr. and Mrs. Treat, an' I've been
say in' good-bye to them. I'm goin' to run away to-night."
Ben looked at him for a moment, as if he doubted whether the boy knew
exactly what he was talking about, and then said, "So you still want to
go home, do you?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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