He gazed
absently at the pages of his unfinished sermon as he tapped his
idle pen on the desk. "The show has got to go on," he repeated,
and far up the hillside with the slow- moving wagons, Jim and
Toby looked with unseeing eyes into the dim, star-lit distance,
and echoed the thought: "The show has got to go on."
Chapter V
THE church bells were ringing their first warning for the morning
service when Mandy peeped into the spare bedroom for the second
time, and glanced cautiously at the wisp of hair that bespoke a
feminine head somewhere between the covers and the little white
pillow on the four- poster bed. There was no sound from the
sleeper, so Mandy ventured across the room on tiptoe and raised
the shades. The drooping boughs of Autumn foliage lay shimmering
against the window panes, and through them might be seen the grey
outline of the church. Mandy glanced again toward the bed to
make sure that the burst of sunlight had not wakened the invalid,
then crossed to a small, rickety chair, laden with the discarded
finery of the little circus rider.
"Lawdy sakes!" she cried, holding up a spangled dress,
admiringly. "Ain't dat beautiful!" She drew near the mirror,
attempting to see the reflection of the tinsel and chiffon
against her very ample background of gingham and avoirdupois.
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