They soon exhausted each other’s conversation relative to circuses and their knowledge and guesses about what they would see, and fell silent.  And the minutes dragged their slow length out towards eleven o’clock.

They could smell the mush and potatoes frying for their early dinner when Danny returned from the circus ground.  They knew at once that he hadn’t succeeded in getting a “ticket to paradise”, as Mother ’Larkey had called their circus passes, nevertheless Chris asked: 

“Did you get a ticket?”

“No,” replied Danny, sitting down dejectedly.  After a while they knew he didn’t intend to say any more.  Jerry waited as long as he could and then asked in turn: 

“Didn’t the el’funts want any water for dinner?”

“No,” stated Danny glumly.

That little word “No” seemed to be all that Danny cared to say about his experience, and the following silence lasted fully ten minutes.  Danny was the first to break it.  He did so after apparently awakening to the fact that dinner was preparing.  He sniffed the penetrating odor of frying potatoes and mush that had got a little burned, and sat up.

“Gee, but I’m hungry,” he said and sniffed again.

“Wasn’t there anything you could do for a ticket?” Chris asked.

“No.  The man said the early bird got the worm at the circus as well as in the garden.”

After a time Jerry woke to the fact that Danny was looking at him out of the corners of his eyes in a peculiar, questioning manner that made him feel uneasy.  He turned his glance away.

“I’ll give you both my tops an’ the shiny horseshoe nail an’ baseball for your circus ticket,” Danny proposed.

Jerry’s hand flew protectingly to the pocket of his blouse.  “No!” he cried loudly.  “I won’t!  I earned it myself!”

“Well, I ain’t tryin’ to take it away from you, am I?” Danny asked, aggrieved.  “I jest offered you some of my things for it.  There ain’t no law against offerin’ to trade, I guess.  I’ll teach you to skate and let you use the skates I got at Christmas if you will.  An’ I’ll feed your white rabbit for you.”

“No,” said Jerry, edging away from him, ready to run to the house if Danny should try to grab the ticket.  “I earned the ticket and I’m a-goin’ to see the circus.”

“Dinner’s ready, children,” called Mrs. Mullarkey.  “You’ll have to hurry to get a good place to see the parade.”

Jerry was ready to start without having anything to eat.  He was too excited to be hungry, but Mother ’Larkey made him eat so he “wouldn’t get too faint to enjoy the circus.”  It was a race between the boys to see who would finish first.  Chris won.  Danny, who confessed to being hungry, ate twice as much as Jerry and Chris.

“Now you children keep together at the parade,” admonished Mrs. Mullarkey, as they were ready to start.  “You can follow the parade out to the circus grounds for the free show outside, but Danny, you keep with Nora and Celia Jane and see that they get home all right.”