He felt in his blouse pocket every now and then to make sure that he
really had a dime and also that it had not grown wings and flown out of
his pocket, or made a hole in it and dropped out. It was always there
and his feeling of exhilaration at his good fortune kept up, despite the
hard work of carrying that pailful of water from the pump across the
street to the back of the second biggest tent, where he and Chris
emptied it into a kind of a tub. There were half a dozen of the tubs to
be filled, and before the third one was full Jerry's arms and back
ached, but he gritted his teeth and kept on. He would show them that he
wasn't too little to carry water for the elephants.

Under the ache in his arms and back, his exhilaration at the possession
of the dime and the prospect of a ticket to the circus wilted but did
not die. When the fourth tub was about full he sat down on the pump
platform while Sam filled their pail with water.

"El'funts must drink a nawful lot of water," he said.

"Gettin' tired, ain't you?" asked Sam.

"No, I could carry water all day, I guess. It makes my back ache some
because I ain't used to it."

"You kids have made more trips than the other boys," said Sam, "and I
ain't going to fill your pail clear full any more. Don't try to go so
fast with it. There's plenty of time."

"We want to carry enough for two tickets," said Jerry quickly. "Chris
wants to see the circus, too, don't you, Chris?"