PHIL MAKES A NEW FRIEND
"Tweetle!Tweetle!"
Two rippling blasts from the ringmaster's whistle notified the show people that the performance was on.In moved the procession for the Grand Entry, as the silken curtains separating the paddock from the big top slowly fell apart.
Phil, from his lofty perch on the head of old Emperor, peering through the opening of the bonnet in which he was concealed, could not repress an exclamation of admiration.It was a splendid spectacle--taken from a story of ancient Rome-- that was sweeping majestically about the arena to the music of an inspiring tune into which the big circus band had suddenly launched.
Gayly-caparisoned, nervous horses pranced and reared; huge wagons, gorgeous under their coat of paint and gold, glistened in the afternoon sunlight that fell softly through the canvas top and gave the peculiar rattling sound so familiar to the lover of the circus as they moved majestically into the arena; elephants trumpeted shrilly and the animals back in the menagerie tent sent up a deafening roar of protest.After months of quiet in their winter quarters, this unusual noise and excitement threw the wild beasts into a tempest of anger.Pacing their cages with upraised heads, they hurled their loud-voiced protests into the air until the more timid of the spectators trembled in their seats.
It was an inspiring moment for the circus people, as well as for the spectators.
"Tweetle! Tweetle!" sang the ringmaster's whistle after the spectacle had wound its way once around the concourse.
At this the procession wheeled, its head cutting between the two rings, slowly and majestically reaching for the paddock and dressing tent, where the performers would hurry into their costumes for their various acts to follow.
This left only the elephants in the ring.The huge beasts now begantheir evolutions, ponderous but graceful, eliciting great applause, as did their trainer, Mr.Kennedy.Then came the round-off of the act.This, it will be remembered, was of Phil Forrest's own invention, the act in which Phil, secreted in the elephant's bonnet, burst out at the close of the act, and, by the aid of wires running over a pulley above him, was able to descend gracefully to the sawdust arena.