stood
all of the servants and farm hands, and as the wagon backed
against
the gate, with the door of Ikey's cage opening against it, the
entire audience, with one accord, moved solidly to the rear.
Herrick, with a pleased but somewhat nervous smile, mounted the
wagon. But before he could unlock the cage Kelly demanded to be
heard. He insisted that, following the custom of all great
artists,
the bears should give a farewell performance."

He begged that Bruno and Clara might be permitted to dance
together. He pointed out that this would be the last time they
could listen to the strains of the "Merry Widow Waltz." He called
upon everybody present to whistle it.

The suggestion of an open-air performance was received coldly. At
the moment no one seemed able to pucker his lips into a whistle,
and some even explained that with that famous waltz they were
unfamiliar.

One girl attained an instant popularity by pointing out that the
bears could waltz just as well on one side of the fence as the
other. Kelly, cheated of his free performance, then begged that
before Herrick condemned the bears to starve on acorns, he should
give them a farewell drink, and Herrick, who was slightly
rattled,
replied excitedly that he had not ransomed the animals only to
degrade them. The argument was interrupted by the French chef
falling out of a tree. He had climbed it, he explained, in order