" It was
Polly who had dubbed big Jim "Muvver," and the sobriquet had
stuck to him in spite of his six feet two, and shoulders that an
athlete might have envied. Little by little, Toby grew more
stooped and small lines of anxiety crept into the brownish
circles beneath Jim's eyes, the lips that had once shut so firmly
became tender and tremulous, but neither of the men would
willingly have gone back to the old emptiness.
It was a red letter day in the circus, when Polly first managed
to climb up on the pole of an unhitched wagon and from there to
the back of a friendly, Shetland pony. Jim and Toby had been
"neglectin' her eddication" they declared, and from that time on,
the blood of Polly's ancestors was given full encouragement.
Barker was quick to grasp the advantage of adding the kid to the
daily parade. She made her first appearance in the streets upon
something very like a Newfoundland dog, guarded from the rear by
Jim, and from the fore by a white-faced clown who was thought to
be all the funnier because he twisted his neck so much.
From the street parade to Polly's first appearance in the "big
top," had seemed a short while to Jim and Toby. They were proud
to see her circling the ring in bright colours and to hear the
cheers of the people, but a sense of loss was upon them.
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