Now, while he was in the room above, looking out of the window, he saw a very strange sight. Behold, there was a black man walking down the street. He had rings in his ears, and Finn O'Donnell was sure he was a black king. Finn had only seen black men in a picture on the wall of the school and they were described there as kings. The black man walked into Mrs. Foley's shop. Immediately Finn opened the room-door and ran down. There was the black man with a red around his neck and big rings in his ears standing in the middle of the shop while Mrs. Foley weighed out two stone of flour for him. The black man left the money on the counter and put the bag on his back. Then he just walked down the street as simply as a countryman.

"That man's from the circus, Finn," said Mrs. Foley.

Then Tim Rogan came in through the backdoor. "There's a circus in the town," said he, "the procession is going out on the street and your uncle says we may go to the performance. He has given us the money to go, too."

Just then Finn heard such music as he had never heard before—the thumping music of drums and cymbals. Tim and he ran to the door and saw the circus-procession approaching. Marching to the sound of music were high white horses with wonderfully-dressed riders upon them. And then there came a chariot drawn by four horses, the chariot itself glittering with gold, with banners flying from it and covered with wonderful pictures. The four men who made the music were within it. Finn's eyes followed the wonderful chariot and Tim Rogan had to draw his attention to another marvel.

"Look, Finn," he said, "look at the elephant!"

Oh, there was the elephant, with trunk and all as was shown in the picture on the wall of the school. He tramped down the street, swinging his trunk from side to side or lifting an orange-peel from the street and holding it up. An elephant! Why, there might be lions and tigers coming after that! But behind came a herd of little piebald ponies, all with bells on their harness. Then came a beautiful young lady riding on a cream-colored pony. Her pony too had bells on its harness and the young lady held the reins loose in her hands. The whole procession had passed, but Finn watched the chariot with its banners until it turned down the street.

Tim was pulling his sleeve. "Come down to the fair-green," he said, "we'll wait there till the procession comes back."

They ran the whole way. Such a lot of horses! All were not in the procession. There were more high white horses! And look at all the little ponies that were only the size of calves! And there were more piebald horses. The big tent for the circus was already erected. On top of it a green flag was flying and over the entrance was written, "MacConglinne's Great Gaelic Circus."

There was a little tent over which was written, "Birds and Beasts, Admission One Penny." The boys paid their pennies to a black man and went in. Tim was able to tell Finn about the birds and beasts that were in the cages. The big bird that looked so grave and that was turning head over heels on its perch was a cockatoo. The green bird that looked so sleepy was a parrot. It only pretended to be sleepy. The parrot could talk and when the black man came in the parrot would tell him everything one did or said. That terrible-looking bird was an eagle! He was king over all the birds, and if he got out of that cage—Tim wouldn't like to say what he would do to the inhabitants of Ballymore. Finn thought that the eagle certainly looked a revengeful sort of bird.

Then something said, "Hillo," and when the boys looked down they saw a magpie in a cage. He said "hillo" again and cocked an eye at them but still kept very sulky. And beside the magpies there was a cage with white rabbits munching cabbage-leaves. And what were the little animals running about beside the rabbits? They were guinea-pigs, Tim said. They surely looked like pigs as they ate out of their trough, with their ears and skins moving. Finn thought it would be grand to have a guinea-pig. What a delight it would be to show it to Michael!

The thumping music of the drums and cymbals was heard again. The procession had returned. The musicians came down from their glittering chariot; the elephant marched on as if he knew his own way, the riders guided the steeds they had been upon, the little ponies that had been away mingled with the little ponies that remained on the fair-green; the black man stood by the stirrup of the beautiful young lady while she dismounted. The circus would begin in a while.

Finn and Tim were the first to seat themselves on the high benches. While they waited for the show to begin Tim confided to Finn that he knew all about circuses. His father, before he had become a travelling tumbler was one of the acrobats in Beatty's Show. The music began, loud and exciting, and Tim beat time to it. Then the clown entered the ring. He had a white conical hat on the side of his head and as he walked round the ring he flourished his whip and sang:

"That whip's not his. It's the ring-master's. You'll see he'll get into trouble for having it," said Tim to Finn.

Just then the ring-master ran into the circus. He followed up the clown and the two became engaged in a heated discussion:

The ring-master turned round and emitted a long whistle. A horse galloped into the tent, seized the whip in his teeth and pulled it out of the clown's hand.

The clown, having lost his whip threw back-somersaults around the ring. Wonderful feats followed the clown's performance. Men and women stood on each other's shoulders and reached up to swings that were high up in the air. Then they began to throw themselves from one swing to another. Finn gazed with wonder at this performance. Then it was announced that a young woman, in her bare feet, would climb a ladder of swords. The black man put the swords into their places on the ladder. With a sweep of the blade he cut a paper thrown into the air before he put it into the rung. Then the lady put her bare feet to the naked edges and climbed to the top of the ladder. Finn kept wondering how he could tell Bartley and his grandfather and Michael of such marvels.

"They can do anything," said Finn.

"I doubt if they'll be able to do what they have given out for the next turn," said Tim with a professional air.

"What are they going to do?"

"They said on the placards that a young lady is going to walk across a looking-glass like a fly with her head down," said Tim.

"Is it with her head down to the ground," said Finn.

"So they say," said Tim, "but I doubt if we'll see them doing it. They say things on the placards to bring in the country gawks."

But in spite of Tim's skepticism, what appeared to be a large mirror was suspended about twenty feet above the ground with its reflector turned down. The young lady of the procession mounted a ladder and then swung herself round till she put her feet resting on the face of the mirrow. Finn clutched Tim.

"Never fear, she won't fall," said Tim, "she has sticky things on her feet."

Very slowly, putting one foot down after raising the other, the lady crossed the mirror, her head turned towards the ground. When she had finished, the clown started to applaud her and then the whole circus applauded her. She stood beside the ring-master and bowed to all.

Then the clown brought out a donkey and placed him in the middle of the ring.

"This," said the ring-master, "is Jerusalem, the costermonger's donkey. The most remarkable thing about him is his kicking accomplishments. The proprietors of the Circus offer a prize of one pound to the boy who will ride him around the ring three times."

A prize of a pound! Finn thought that if he won that prize he would be able to buy one of the little ponies that he had seen on the fair-green. He felt himself tingling all over at the thought of descending into the ring. Then he saw a boy jumping down from the benches and running across the ring.

"Will you ride, sir? Very well, sir, I hope you'll have a good seat, sir," said the clown. The boy clambered up on its back and the donkey started off. Suddenly it put its head down and kicked. The boy was glad to slip off and everybody laughed at him.

"Thank you,  sir," said the clown. He brought the donkey into the centre of the ring and said, "Will any other young gentleman oblige the circus by riding this donkey round the ring three times?"

Again Finn's heart went thumping. Suppose he did go into the ring and suppose he did ride the donkey round the ring three times? Then he would have his pound, and even if he gave Bartley some of it he would still he able to buy the parrot or a guinea pig at least or a white rabbit. But while he was thinking, Tim slipped down from the bench and ran into the ring.

"Will you ride, sir?" said the clown. "Very well, sir; mount and off with you, sir."

Tim put his hand upon its mane and suddenly jumped on the donkey's back. He did not throw his legs across but sat as if on sidesaddle holding the donkey by the mane and tail. It suddenly started off and went round the ring once in a gallop. Then the clown shouted and the donkey stopped suddenly. But Tim started whistling a loud tune into the donkey's ear. It started off again and half way round the ring stopped, put its head down and kicked as no donkey ever kicked before. But Tim's feet never touched the ground. And now he threw his arm round the donkey's neck and held tightly, whistling into its ear. The donkey finished the second round and then galloped around again for the third time. The whole circus cheered and poor Finn felt very sorry that it was Tim Rogan and not he who had performed the wonderful feat. The ring-master then sent for the black man who came back with a box full of money.

"Hold out your hand, sir," said the clown, and he counted into Tim's hand one pound in big silver pieces. Tim ran across the ring and jumped up the benches beside Finn. "Twenty shillings in my pocket, twenty shillings in my pocket," he kept whispering for a while. The clown was now walking round the ring singing one of his comic songs:

Tim and Finn were too excited to wait for the rest of the performance. They slipped under the benches, passed the black man at the flap of the tent and went out on the fair-green.