general decorations, until it seemed to Toby that there must have
been a smash up, and that he now beheld ruins rather than systematic
disorder.

How different everything looked now, compared to the time when
the cavalcade marched into Guilford, dazzling everyone with the
gorgeous display! Then the horses pranced gayly under their gaudy
decorations, the wagons were bright with glass, gilt, and flags, the
lumbering elephants and awkward camels were covered with fancifully
embroidered velvets, and even the drivers of the wagons were
resplendent in their uniforms of scarlet and gold. Now, in the
gray light of the early morning, everything was changed. The horses
were tired and muddy, and wore old and dirty harness; the gilded
chariots were covered with mud bespattered canvas, which caused
them to look like the most ordinary of market wagons; the elephants
and camels looked dingy, dirty, almost repulsive; and the drivers
were only a sleepy looking set of men, who, in their shirt sleeves,
were getting ready for the change which would dazzle the eyes of
the inhabitants of the town.

Toby descended from his lofty bed, rubbed his eyes to thoroughly
awaken himself, and, under the guidance of Ben, went to a little
brook near by and washed his face. He had been with the circus
not quite ten hours, but now he could not realize that it had ever
seemed bright and beautiful. He missed his comfortable bed, the
quiet and cleanliness, and the well spread table; even although
he had felt the lack of parents' care, Uncle Daniel's home seemed
the very abode of love and friendly feeling compared with this
condition, where no one appeared to care even enough for him to
scold at him. He was thoroughly homesick, and heartily wished that