"They don't let anybody in the poor farm go to the circus," was Darn's
unexpected reply.

"That's not got nothin' to do with Jerry!" cried Danny hotly. "I guess
he ain't in no poor farm."

"He's goin' to be, though," pursued Darn calmly, in that restrained,
superior, informative manner which sometimes can be so maddening.

"I ain't either, am I, Danny?" Jerry appealed dolefully.

"No, you ain't," Danny assured him. "Darn's jest tryin' to make you cry.
Don't you let him scare you."

"Jerry Elbow's goin' to the poor farm before the circus gets here,"
stated Darn.

"I ain't!" cried Jerry in a shaky voice. "I won't go! So there!"

"They'll take you," Darn informed him, "and you won't have anything to
say about it."

"Mother 'Larkey won't let them take me, will she, Danny?" asked Jerry in
a voice that was becoming shrill and high from fear.

"No, she won't," asserted Danny. "Darn Darner, you jest let Jerry be.
You ain't got no right to scare a orfum boy like that."

"We won't let them take you," comforted Celia Jane, suddenly