"Gee, but I'm hungry," he said and sniffed again.

"Wasn't there anything you could do for a ticket?" Chris asked.

"No. The man said the early bird got the worm at the circus as well as
in the garden."

After a time Jerry woke to the fact that Danny was looking at him out of
the corners of his eyes in a peculiar, questioning manner that made him
feel uneasy. He turned his glance away.

"I'll give you both my tops an' the shiny horseshoe nail an' baseball
for your circus ticket," Danny proposed.

Jerry's hand flew protectingly to the pocket of his blouse. "No!" he
cried loudly. "I won't! I earned it myself!"

"Well, I ain't tryin' to take it away from you, am I?" Danny asked,
aggrieved. "I jest offered you some of my things for it. There ain't no
law against offerin' to trade, I guess. I'll teach you to skate and let
you use the skates I got at Christmas if you will. An' I'll feed your
white rabbit for you."

"No," said Jerry, edging away from him, ready to run to the house if
Danny should try to grab the ticket. "I earned the ticket and I'm
a-goin' to see the circus."

"Dinner's ready, children," called Mrs. Mullarkey. "You'll have to hurry
to get a good place to see the parade."