He went to his room, made a bundle of his worldly possessions,
and crept out of the back door, down the road to the circus.
Mr. Lord saw him as soon as he arrived on the grounds, and as he
passed another ticket to Toby he took his bundle from him, saying,
as he did so: "I'll pack up your bundle with my things, and then
you'll be sure not to lose it. Don't you want some candy?"
Toby shook his head; he had just discovered that there was possibly
some connection between his heart and his stomach, for his grief
at leaving home had taken from him all desire for good things. It
is also more than possible that Mr. Lord had had experience enough
with boys to know that they might be homesick on the eve of starting
to travel with a circus; and in order to make sure that Toby would
keep to his engagement he was unusually kind.
That evening was the longest Toby ever knew. He wandered from one
cage of animals to another; then to see the performance in the
ring, and back again to the animals, in the vain hope of passing
the time pleasantly.
But it was of no use; that lump in his throat would remain there,
and the thoughts of what he was about to do would trouble him
severely. The performance failed to interest him, and the animals
did not attract until he had visited the monkey cage for the third
or fourth time. Then he fancied that the same venerable monkey
who had looked so knowing in the afternoon was gazing at him with
a sadness which could only have come from a thorough knowledge of
all the grief and doubt that was in his heart.
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