“N-n-no,” sobbed Celia Jane.

“Then there ain’t no chance at all of your gettin’ in, is there?”

“I ain’t never seen no circus,” moaned Celia Jane.

“Come on, Jerry,” said Chris; “let’s go in now, so’s we won’t miss anything if they start early.”

At that Celia Jane started crying harder than ever and Jerry stood still, a curious something making his heart beat faster and his throat growing all choky.

“Let’s go home, Celia Jane,” proposed Nora, in a soothing tone.  “Mebbe next time we can go.  They might let us carry water for the elephants and earn a ticket to the circus, even if we are girls.”

“I want to see it now,” sobbed Celia Jane.

Jerry began to feel sort of shuddery inside and his mouth puckered up the way it did when he felt like crying.

He was awfully sorry that Celia Jane didn’t have a ticket too.  He knew he would be crying out of sympathy if Celia Jane kept on that way, and started towards Chris, who had gone halfway towards the entrance to the tent and then had stopped to wait for him.  His joy at the thought of what he was going to witness was clouded through the fact that Celia Jane could not see and enjoy it too.  He walked very slowly towards Chris and looked back at Celia Jane.

“Oh, J-J-Jerry!” cried the weeping girl, “I-I-I want to see the circus too.”

At that appeal Jerry felt as though his heart had stopped beating and was sinking down into his bare feet.  He winked hard to keep the tears from coming.  He just couldn’t bear to see Celia Jane so heartbroken about not being able to see the circus.

“You can have my t-t-ticket,” he said slowly and pulled the treasured bit of blue cardboard out of his pocket.  There were tears in his eyes but he walked slowly to Celia Jane, holding out the ticket to her.

“Oh, Jerry!” cried Celia Jane.  “Will you really give it to me of your own free will?”

Jerry couldn’t speak at first.  He nodded his head, but Celia Jane just took one end of the ticket between her fingers.

“Do you give it to me, Jerry?” she asked, in a voice in which there was no trace of weeping.  Yet the tears stood on her face.

“Yes,” said Jerry at last and let go of the ticket.  “You can have it, Celia Jane.”

“Then I give it to Danny,” said Celia Jane and straightway handed the ticket to Danny, who snatched it and ran to the entrance of the main tent.

Jerry was so surprised at the treachery of Celia Jane after her recent evidences of affection and at the suddenness of it all that he could not even cry out,—­could do nothing but stare after Danny.  He saw the precious bit of pasteboard taken from Danny’s outstretched hand by the ticket-taker and dropped into a box and then saw Chris give up his ticket and go in.

“Celia Jane!” he heard Nora cry, “I’m going to tell mother what you did to Jerry.  You’ll catch it.”