“Thank you,” said Andy, “I’ll think of what you say.”

Farmer Dale jogged on his way.  Andy faced towards Centreville.  It seemed as if something was pulling him along in that direction.

CHAPTER V

THE CIRCUS

At the first cross-roads a field wagon containing a farmer, his wife and half-a-dozen children whirled into Andy Wildwood’s view.  A merry juvenile chorus told Andy that they were bound for the circus.

“Trace loose, mister,” he called out as he noticed the trailing strap.

“Whoa,” ordered the driver, halting with a jolt, and Andy adjusted the faulty harness and smiled back cheerily at an eager little fellow in the wagon who inquired if he was going to the show, too.

“Jump in, youngster, if ours is your way,” invited the farmer.

Andy promptly availed himself of the offer.  He sat with his feet dangling over the tailboard.  The farther he got from Fairview the less he thought of the manifold troubles and complications he was leaving behind him there.

Andy did not intend to run away from home.  He had business in view which demanded his presence in Fairview the next day.  He was, however, resolved to go to Centreville.  He would at least see the outside of the circus, and could put on the time until evening.

It was only six miles from Fairview to Centreville, and they soon came in sight of the county seat.

Andy caught more and more of the circus fever as they progressed.  At every branch road a new string of vehicles joined the procession.  They passed gay parties of ruralites on foot.  Andy leaped down from the wagon with a “Thank you” to his host, at the first sight of the mammoth white tents over on the village common.

This was the second day of the circus at Centreville.  It was scheduled to remain one more day.  Its coming was a great event for the town, and the place was crowded with pleasure-seekers.

Andy reached the principal street just as the grand pageant went by.  It was a spectacle that dazzled him.  The music, the glitter, the pomp, the fair array of wild animals made him forget everything except that he was a boy enjoying a rare moment of existence.

It was the inner life of the circus people, however, that attracted Andy.  It was his great ambition to be one of them.  He was not content to remain a spectator of the outside veneer of show life.  He wanted to know something of its practical side.

Andy did not dally around the ticket seller’s booth, the side shows or the crowded main entrance of the show.

Once, when a small circus had visited Fairview, he had gotten a free pass by carrying buckets of water to the cook’s tent.

He had now a vague hope that some such fortunate chance might turn up on this new occasion.

Andy soon discovered, however, that the present layout was on a far different scale to the second-class show he had seen at Fairview.