Two-in-One Show now devastating the same State.

If the advertisements setting forth these attractions were
couched in language somewhat rosier than the facts would warrant,
there were few persons calm enough to perceive it, when once
the glamour of the village parade and the smell of the menagerie
had intoxicated the senses.

The circus had been the sole topic of conversation for a fortnight.
Jot Bascom could always be relied on for the latest and most authentic
news of its triumphant progress from one town to another. Jot was a sort
of town crier; and whenever the approach of a caravan was announced,
he would go over on the Liberty road to find out just where it was and what
were its immediate plans, for the thrilling pleasure of calling at every
one of the neighbors' on his way home, and delivering his budget of news.
He was an attendant at every funeral, and as far as possible at every wedding,
in the village; at every flag-raising and husking, and town and county fair.
When more pressing duties did not hinder, he endeavored to meet the two
daily trains that passed through Milliken's Mills, a mile or two from
Pleasant River. He accompanied the sheriff on all journeys entailing
serving of papers and other embarrassing duties common to the law.
On one occasion, when the two lawyers of the village held an investigation
before Trial Justice Simeon Porter, they waited an hour because Jot
Bascom did not come. They knew that something was amiss, but it was
only on reflection that they remembered that Jot was not indispensable.
He went with all paupers to the Poor Farm, and never missed a town meeting.
He knew all the conditions attending any swapping of horses that
occurred within a radius of twenty miles,--the terms of the trade
and the amount paid to boot. He knew who owed the fish-man and who owed
the meat-man, and who could not get trusted by either of them.