equalled in magnificence by the frocks of his sister's doll; of the
painted clown, whose jokes excited a merriment, somewhat tinged by
an undefined fear, was an effort of language which this pen could but
weakly transcribe, and which no quantity of exclamation points could
sufficiently illustrate. He is not quite certain what followed. He
remembers that almost immediately on leaving the circus it became dark,
and that he fell asleep, waking up at intervals on the corners of the
streets, on front steps, in somebody's arms, and finally in his own bed.
He was not aware of experiencing any regret for his conduct; he does
not recall feeling at any time a disposition to go home; he remembers
distinctly that he felt hungry.

He has made this disclosure in confidence. He wishes it to be respected.
He wants to know if you have five cents about you.




SIDEWALKINGS


The time occupied in walking to and from my business I have always
found to yield me a certain mental enjoyment which no other part of the
twenty-four hours could give. Perhaps the physical exercise may
have acted as a gentle stimulant of the brain, but more probably the
comfortable consciousness that I could not reasonably be expected to
be doing anything else--to be studying or improving my mind, for
instance--always gave a joyous liberty to my fancy. I once thought it
necessary to employ this interval in doing sums in arithmetic,--in which
useful study I was and still am lamentably deficient,--but after one or