IX
A CORNER IN JURISDICTION
"AFTER carefully examining every hem-stitched vista, I come to the conclusion that the following is one of the most pleasing in the whole catalogue. Just as we were leaving Beanville we got a wire saying the circus boss was weary of waiting for us to arrive and had skipped away to Europe for a few days. However, he left a handsome check behind for our approval, and in the interim of waiting for him to return Tib decided we should pay another visit to old Vermont. To my best knowledge it was his second trip there since his infancy. If he could be here to-day I believe he would refuse to make a third. For on this last occasion he played the part of a sixty-horse-power auto in the midst of his homeland, and I reckon he would feel a bit skittish about appearing in the guise of a twenty-eight-dollar bicycle. Again, there is the sheriff to consider. But above all sordid deterrents he climbed high on the pedestal on this sojourn, and for a brief period wore the ermine.
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