I felt as though something was wrong 'cause I saw the new moon over my
left shoulder the night before, and now I wish I had died before this
thing happened. When the Japanese jugglers went out of the ring I knew
that was the cue for the elephants to come in, and when the dressing
room curtain was pulled aside and old Bolivar came out at the head of
the herd, and they marched around the outside of the ring, clear around
the tent, my heart jumped up into my throat, and I felt sick.
The senator's son said: "When these rats and things begin to chase your
old elephants, you won't be able to see their tails for the dust they
will kick up."
Then I thought of the money pa had given me to bet, and I offered to bet
it all, and a negro produced funds and took all my bets like a
bookmaker.
Well, after doing a turn around the big ring, the trainer steered the
elephants into the middle ring, and the great audience leaned forward to
catch every trick the elephants did.
Us boys held on to the bags that the mice and things were in, waiting
for our cue. The elephants stood on their heads and hind feet, and fore
feet, laid down, fired pistols, and did everything just right, without
making a mistake. Finally the trainer formed the whole herd into a grand
pyramid, with old Bolivar in the center, each elephant holding an
American flag with his trunk, and waving it, and the audience broke out
into a cheer that fairly ripped the canvas.
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