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Story of the Mazes front
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Maze IV The Circus. One day, when the children had been very good, Papa promised to take them all to the Circus. John, the footman, was sent round to the Theatre before three o’clock to take a private box, and; after tea, they all went off in the highest spirits. The first performance was that of Snip, the balancing dog, and really the tricks that dog played were something wonderful. He went up one side of the ladder and came down on the other. Then he was dressed as a Soldier, and had a gun, but when he ought to have fought he ran away, so he was taken up as a deserter, and was to be shot. Snip stood up quite still, and his master pretended to shoot him, and he fell flat down as if he was dead. Then his master played a jig on the fiddle, and Snip immediately got up and began to dance,but as soon as the music left off Snip pretended to be dead again. |
| Then he was put on the tight-rope and danced on the rope, balancing a stick on the tip of his nose with a plate twirling round on the end of the stick. Then there was a Lady who danced on the back of a Lion, and stood quite on his head, and the Lion stood up on this hind legs, and walked round the Circus with the Lady on his head. After this came two Elephants, who stood on their heads, and one of them lost his balance and rolled over, making everybody laugh. But the most amusing fellow was the Clown, who was just going to his dinner when the Horse popped up his head through a hole in the table and eat up all the dinner, and the Clown didn't have a bit. One man was very strong; he balanced a stick on the end of this chin, and another man climbed up the stick, and stood on this head on the top of it while it was on the other man's chin. Mamma didn't like these games, she turned her head away, and wouldn't look at them, for she was dreadfully afraid that one or other of the men would hurt himself. | |
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