Three women climbed in, followed by numerous valises
and small bags; their two male companions mounted the seat with the
driver. Off through the still night rattled the mysterious cab,
clattering across the cobbled streets for many minutes until at last
it drew up at the darkest end of the railway station platform. Three
trunks stood against the wall of the station building. One of the men
attended to the checking of these heavy pieces, presenting two railway
tickets for the guidance of the sleepy agent. The other stood guard
over the cab and its occupants.
A train thundered in. The station platform was quite deserted except
for the few belated revelers who had remained in town for the night
performance of Van Slye's circus. When the train pulled out, a woman
and two men stood beside the hack, where tearful farewells had been
uttered and Godspeed spoken. Toward the east sped a tall woman and a
slim, beautiful girl. In the outskirts of the town the train swept
past a string of huge, cumbersome, ghostly wagons, all of them
slinking away into the night-ridden pike that led to another city
where the young and curious were already dreaming of the morning hours
that were to bring the "circus to town.
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