directed. "They will be with the show from now on. Mr. Forrest
here will remain at that table, but the other, the Tucker boy, I
shall probably turn over to you for a coffee boy."

The manager nodded good naturedly, taking quick mental measure of
the two lads.

The boys were directed to their seats, which they took, almost as
if in a dream. It was a new and unfamiliar experience to them.
The odor of the food, the sweet scents from the green grass
underneath their feet, all so familiar to the showman, gave Phil
and Teddy appetites that even a canvasman might have envied.

The performers glanced at them curiously, some of the former
nodding to Phil, having recognized in him the boy who had ridden
the elephant into the arena in the grand entry.

"Not so much after all, are they?" grunted Teddy.

"They are all human beings like ourselves, I guess," replied
Phil.

Stripped of their gaudy costumes and paint, the performers looked
just like other normal beings. But instead of talking about the
show and their work, they were discussing the news of the day,
and it seemed to the two lads to be more like a large family at
supper than a crowd of circus performers.

Rodney Palmer nodded good naturedly to them from further up the
long table, but they had no more than time to nod back when a