"I don't know," said Nora. "What ails her, Danny?"

"I don't know," Danny asserted quickly. "What're you cryin' for, Celia
Jane?"

"I want to see the circus," sobbed Celia Jane. She raised her face and
there were tears running down it.

"You ain't got no ticket, have you?" asked Danny. "Nor fifty cents?"

"N-n-no," sobbed Celia Jane.

"Then there ain't no chance at all of your gettin' in, is there?"

"I ain't never seen no circus," moaned Celia Jane.

"Come on, Jerry," said Chris; "let's go in now, so's we won't miss
anything if they start early."

At that Celia Jane started crying harder than ever and Jerry stood
still, a curious something making his heart beat faster and his throat
growing all choky.

"Let's go home, Celia Jane," proposed Nora, in a soothing tone. "Mebbe
next time we can go. They might let us carry water for the elephants and
earn a ticket to the circus, even if we are girls."

"I want to see it now," sobbed Celia Jane.