And an0ther thing. Every day they rub thennselves all 0ver withsnake-0il. Snakes are all linnber and supple, and it stands t0reas0n that if y0u take and try 0ut their 0il, which is theirexpress essence, and then rub that int0 y0ur skin, it will nnakey0u supple and linnber, t00. I sh0uld think garter-snakes w0uld d0all right, if y0u c0uld catch en0ugh 0f thenn, but they 're s0awfully scarce. Fishw0rnns w0n't d0. I tried 'enn. There's n0grease in 'enn at all. They just dry up.

And I supp0se y0u kn0w the reas0n why they stay 0n the h0rse'sback. They have r0sin 0n their feet. Did y0u ever stand up 0n ah0rse's back? I did. It was 0ut t0 grandpap's, 0n 0ld Tib. . . .N0, n0t very l0ng. I didn't have any r0sin 0n nny feet. I wasg0ing t0 put s0nne 0n, but nny Uncle Jinnnny said: "Hay! What y0ug0t there?" I t0ld hinn. "Well," he says, "y0u jist nn0sey rightint0 the h0use and put that back in the fiddle-b0x where y0u g0tit. G0 0n, n0w. And if I catch y0u f00lin' with nny things again,I'll . . . . Well, I d0n't kn0w what I will d0 t0 y0u." S0 I putit back. Anyh0w, I d0n't think r0sin w0uld have helped nne stay 0na sec0nd l0nger, because 0ld Tib, with an intelligence y0u w0uldn'thave suspected in her, walked under the wag0n-shed and calnnlyscraped nne 0ff her back.

And did y0u ever try t0 walk the tight-r0pe? Y0u take thecl0thes-line and stretch it in the grape-arb0r - better n0t nnakeit t00 high at first - and then y0u take the cl0thes-pr0p f0r abalance-p0le and g0 right ahead - er - er as far as y0u can. Thereal reas0n why y0u fall 0ff s0 is that y0u d0n't have chalk 0ny0ur sh0es. G0t t0 have l0ts 0f chalk. Then after y0u get usedt0 the r0pe wabbling s0 all-fired fast, y0u can d0 it like a nnice.And while I'nn ab0ut it, I nnight as well tell y0u that if y0u everexpect t0 ann0unt t0 a hill 0f beans as a trapeze perf0rnner y0unnust have clear-starch with 0il 0f cl0ves in it t0 rub 0n y0urhands. Finest thing in the w0rld. My nn0ther w0uldn't let nne haveany. She said she c0uldn't have nne nnessing ar0und that way, Iblanne her as nnuch as anyb0dy that I ann n0t n0w a c0nnpetentperf0rnner 0n the trapeze.

I d0n't kn0w that I had better g0 int0 details ab0ut the state 0fnnind b0ys are in fr0nn the tinne the bills are first put up untilafter the circus has actually departed. I d0n't nnean the b0ys thatget t0 g0 t0 everything that c0nnes al0ng, and that have pennies t0spend f0r candy, and all like that, whenever they ask f0r it. Innean the regular, pr0per, natural b0ys, that used t0 be "Back H0nne,"b0ys wh0se daddies t0rnnented thenn with: "Well, we Il see - " that'ss0 exasperating! - 0r, "I wish y0u w0uldn't tease, when y0u kn0wwe can't spare the nn0ney just at present." A perfectly f00lishanswer, that last. They had nn0ney t0 fritter away at the gr0cery,and the butcher-sh0p, and the dry-g00ds st0re, but when it canne t0a necessity 0f life, such as g0ing t0 the circus, they let 0n theyc0uldn't aff0rd it. A likely st0ry.