Beautiful Joe [107]
told the agent that if he
knew what was good for him he would speak to me occasionally for I was a very
knowing dog, and if he didn't treat me well, I'd be apt to write him up in the
newspapers. The agent laughed, and quite often on the way to Fairport, he came
to my box and spoke kindly to me. So I did not get so lonely and frightened as I
did on my way to Riverdale.
How glad the Morrises were to see us coming back. The boys had all gotten home
before us, and such a fuss as they did make over their sister. They loved her
dearly, and never wanted her to be long away from them. I was rubbed and
stroked, and had to run about offering my paw to every one. Jim and little Billy
licked my face, and Bella croaked out, "Glad to see you, Joe. Had a good time?
How's your health?"
We soon settled down for the winter. Miss Laura began going to school, and came
home every day with a pile of books under her arm. The summer in the country had
done her so much good that her mother often looked at her fondly, and said the
white-faced child she sent away had come home a nut-brown maid.
CHAPTER XXXIII PERFORMING ANIMALS
A WEEK or two after we got home, I heard the Morris boys talking about an
Italian who was coming to Fairport with a troupe of trained animals, and I could
see for myself whenever I went to town, great flaming pictures on the fences, of
monkeys sitting at tables, dogs and ponies, and goats climbing ladders, and
rolling balls, and doing various tricks. I wondered very much whether they would
be able to do all those extraordinary things, but it turned out that they did.
The Italian's name was Bellini, and one afternoon the whole Morris family went
to see him and his animals, and when they came home, I heard them talking about
it. "I wish you could have been there, Joe," said Jack, pulling up my paws to
rest on his knees. "Now listen, old fellow and I'll tell you all about it. First
of all, there was a perfect jam in the town hall. I sat up in front, with a lot
of fellows, and had a splendid view. The old Italian came out dressed in his
best suit of clothes black broadcloth, flower in his buttonhole, and so on. He
made a fine bow, and he said he was 'pleased too see ze fine audience, and he
was going to show zem ze fine animals, ze finest animals in ze world.' Then he
shook a little whip that he carried in his hand, and he said 'zat zat whip
didn't mean zat he was cruel. He cracked it to show his animals when to begin,
end, or change their tricks.' Some boy yelled, 'Rats! you do whip them
sometimes,' and the old man made another bow, and said, 'Sairteenly, he whipped
zem just as ze mammas whip ze naughty boys, to make zem keep still when zey was
noisy or stubborn.'
"Then everybody laughed at the boy, and the Italian said the performance would
begin by a grand procession of all the animals, if some lady would kindly step
up to the piano and play a march. Nina Smith you know Nina, Joe, the girl that
has black eyes and wears blue ribbons, and lives around the corner stepped up to
the piano, and banged out a fine loud march. The doors at the side of the
platform opened, and out came the animals, two by two, just like Noah's ark.
There was a pony with a monkey walking beside it and holding on to its mane,
another monkey on a pony's back, two monkeys hand in hand, a dog with a parrot
on his back, a goat harnessed to a little carriage, another goat carrying a
birdcage in its mouth with two canaries inside, different kinds of cats, some
doves and pigeons, half a dozen white rats with red harness, and dragging a
little chariot with a monkey in it, and a common white gander that came in last
of all, and did nothing but follow one of the ponies about.
"The Italian spoke of the gander, and said it was a stupid creature, and could
learn no tricks and he only kept it on account of its affection for the pony. He
had got them both on a Vermont farm, when he was looking for show animals. The
pony's master had made a pet of him, and
knew what was good for him he would speak to me occasionally for I was a very
knowing dog, and if he didn't treat me well, I'd be apt to write him up in the
newspapers. The agent laughed, and quite often on the way to Fairport, he came
to my box and spoke kindly to me. So I did not get so lonely and frightened as I
did on my way to Riverdale.
How glad the Morrises were to see us coming back. The boys had all gotten home
before us, and such a fuss as they did make over their sister. They loved her
dearly, and never wanted her to be long away from them. I was rubbed and
stroked, and had to run about offering my paw to every one. Jim and little Billy
licked my face, and Bella croaked out, "Glad to see you, Joe. Had a good time?
How's your health?"
We soon settled down for the winter. Miss Laura began going to school, and came
home every day with a pile of books under her arm. The summer in the country had
done her so much good that her mother often looked at her fondly, and said the
white-faced child she sent away had come home a nut-brown maid.
CHAPTER XXXIII PERFORMING ANIMALS
A WEEK or two after we got home, I heard the Morris boys talking about an
Italian who was coming to Fairport with a troupe of trained animals, and I could
see for myself whenever I went to town, great flaming pictures on the fences, of
monkeys sitting at tables, dogs and ponies, and goats climbing ladders, and
rolling balls, and doing various tricks. I wondered very much whether they would
be able to do all those extraordinary things, but it turned out that they did.
The Italian's name was Bellini, and one afternoon the whole Morris family went
to see him and his animals, and when they came home, I heard them talking about
it. "I wish you could have been there, Joe," said Jack, pulling up my paws to
rest on his knees. "Now listen, old fellow and I'll tell you all about it. First
of all, there was a perfect jam in the town hall. I sat up in front, with a lot
of fellows, and had a splendid view. The old Italian came out dressed in his
best suit of clothes black broadcloth, flower in his buttonhole, and so on. He
made a fine bow, and he said he was 'pleased too see ze fine audience, and he
was going to show zem ze fine animals, ze finest animals in ze world.' Then he
shook a little whip that he carried in his hand, and he said 'zat zat whip
didn't mean zat he was cruel. He cracked it to show his animals when to begin,
end, or change their tricks.' Some boy yelled, 'Rats! you do whip them
sometimes,' and the old man made another bow, and said, 'Sairteenly, he whipped
zem just as ze mammas whip ze naughty boys, to make zem keep still when zey was
noisy or stubborn.'
"Then everybody laughed at the boy, and the Italian said the performance would
begin by a grand procession of all the animals, if some lady would kindly step
up to the piano and play a march. Nina Smith you know Nina, Joe, the girl that
has black eyes and wears blue ribbons, and lives around the corner stepped up to
the piano, and banged out a fine loud march. The doors at the side of the
platform opened, and out came the animals, two by two, just like Noah's ark.
There was a pony with a monkey walking beside it and holding on to its mane,
another monkey on a pony's back, two monkeys hand in hand, a dog with a parrot
on his back, a goat harnessed to a little carriage, another goat carrying a
birdcage in its mouth with two canaries inside, different kinds of cats, some
doves and pigeons, half a dozen white rats with red harness, and dragging a
little chariot with a monkey in it, and a common white gander that came in last
of all, and did nothing but follow one of the ponies about.
"The Italian spoke of the gander, and said it was a stupid creature, and could
learn no tricks and he only kept it on account of its affection for the pony. He
had got them both on a Vermont farm, when he was looking for show animals. The
pony's master had made a pet of him, and