"Hullo, that wasn't on the bill!" cried Ben, as a parti-colored clown
came in, followed by half a dozen dogs.

"I'm so glad; now Sancho will like it. There's a poodle that might
be his ownty donty brother--the one with the blue ribbon," said Bab,
beaming with delight as the dogs took their seats in the chairs
arranged for them.

Sancho did like it only too well, for he scrambled out from under the
seat in a great hurry to go and greet his friends, and, being sharply
checked, set up and begged so piteously that Ben found it very hard
to refuse and order him down. He subsided for a moment, but when the
black spaniel, who acted the canine clown, did something funny and was
applauded, Sancho made a dart as if bent on leaping into the ring to
outdo his rival, and Ben was forced to box his ears and put his feet
on the poor beast, fearing he would be ordered out if he made any
disturbance.

Too well trained to rebel again, Sancho lay meditating on his wrongs
till the dog act was over, carefully abstaining from any further sign
of interest in their tricks, and only giving a sidelong glance at the
two little poodles who came out of a basket to run up and down stairs
on their fore paws, dance jigs on their hind legs, and play various
pretty pranks to the great delight of all the children in the
audience. If ever a dog expressed by look and attitude, "Pooh! I could
do much better than that, and astonish you all, if I was only allowed
to," that dog was Sancho, as he curled himself up and affected to turn
his back on an unappreciative world.

"It's too bad, when he knows more than all those chaps put together.