the road.

"Hello!" Squinty finally exclaimed. "Who are you?"

"Why, I am Mappo, the merry monkey," was the answer, as he curled his
long tail around a stick of wood. "But I don't need to ask who you are.
You are a pig, I can see that, for we have one in our circus, and the
clown rides him around the ring, and it is too funny for anything."

[Illustration: "Why, I am Mappo, the merry monkey," was the answer.]

"Ha, so you are a monkey?" asked Squinty. "But what do you mean by a
circus?"

"That's a circus," answered Mappo, pointing with one paw through a hole
in the bush, at the queer animals, and the red, gold and green wagons.
"That is, it will be a circus when they put up the big tent, and all the
people come. Didn't you ever see a circus?"

"Never," answered Squinty. "Did you ever ride in a balloon?"

"Never," answered Mappo.

"Well, then we are even," said Squinty. "Now you tell me about a circus,
and I'll tell you about the balloon."

"Well," said the monkey, "a circus is a big show in a tent, to make
people laugh. There are clowns, and animals to look at. I am one of the
animals, but I ran out of my cage when the door flew open."