He
winked back at the monkey in the most emphatic and grave manner
possible, and then went on his way, feeling wonderfully comforted.
The work inside the tent was far different and much harder than
it was outside. He was obliged to carry around among the audience
trays of candy, nuts, and lemonade for sale, and he was expected
to cry aloud the description of that which he offered. The partner
of Mr. Lord, who had charge of the stand inside the tent, showed
himself to be neither better nor worse than Mr. Lord himself. When
Toby first presented himself for work he handed him a tray filled
with glasses of lemonade, and told him to go among the audience,
crying, "Here's your nice cold lemonade, only five cents a glass!"
Toby started to do as he was bidden; but when he tried to repeat
the words in anything like a loud tone of voice they stuck in his
throat, and he found it next to impossible to utter a sound above
a whisper. It seemed to him that everyone in the audience was
looking only at him, and the very sound of his own voice made him
afraid.
He went entirely around the tent once without making a sale, and
when he returned to the stand he was at once convinced that one of
his masters was quite as bad as the other. This one -- and he knew
that his name was Jacobs, for he heard someone call him so -- very
kindly told him that he would break every bone in his body if he
didn't sell something, and Toby confidently believed that he would
carry out his threat.
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