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Day at the County Fair, A

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<h3>THE FUN BEGINS</h3> "Did you ever see so many wagons in all your life? Why, there are hundreds of them," declared Jerry, when they had reached the little town and were driving down the main street. "How would you like to go to the fair?" suggested Uncle Billy with his eyes twinkling with merriment. "Oh, do you really mean it?" questioned Mary. "I've always wanted to see a county fair." "So have I," echoed each of the others. "All right; it's a bargain," nodded Uncle Billy. "You all wait here," he told the girls a few minutes later, as he helped them out of the wagon, "while I get some one to bring the car into town." He left the girls chatting together in great excitement over the unexpected treat, and when he returned there were a great many questions to answer as he led the way toward the great entrance gate. "Tickets, tickets to the fair grounds! Here you are, boss! This way to the ticket booth." "I wonder if he thinks you all belong to me?" said Uncle Billy, smiling and nodding to the man in the plaid suit and high hat who had addressed them. "How funny!" laughed Beth. "You don't look a bit like our fathers." "There's the merry-go-round," pointed out Mary when they were inside the grounds, "and there's one of those funny houses you get lost in." "Oh," exclaimed Jerry to Uncle Billy, "look at yourself in that mirror. You're only a foot high and fat as a butter ball." The three girls laughed until they cried, as Uncle Billy bowed and smiled at himself before the mystic mirror that made the tallest person seem short and squatty. "Let's ride on the merry-go-round," proposed Beth; "it's almost ready to start." "Jump aboard," ordered her uncle, "I'll see to the tickets." Jerry had at once chosen a very wild-looking lion to ride upon, but Mary and Beth decided on two beautiful white horses, that rose up and down on the iron rods that ran through their wooden bodies, as the platform circled about. The music was a jolly tune that the girls had heard before, so they laughed and sang and waved each time to Uncle Billy as they sped past him. When the ride was over they walked to the other side of the grounds, where a great crowd had gathered. "What is it?" asked Jerry. "What is the fun about?" for everyone seemed to be laughing. Uncle Billy soon found a place for the girls near the inner circle, and to their great surprise they saw a number of boys trying to catch some very shiny little black pigs within a small enclosure. The crowd roared with delight whenever a pig would slip through the fingers of the boy trying to catch him. "What makes them so shiny?" asked Beth, "and why do they want to catch them?" "Why, grease makes them shiny," replied Uncle Billy, "and the boy who is clever enough to catch one gets the pig, or a prize." "I do hope that boy with the red hair and freckles will catch his," whispered Mary; "he looks just like a boy I know." "Oh, I know whom you mean;—Reddy," said Jerry with a smile. "Isn't it dreadful the way those pigs squeal," and Beth put her hands over her ears to shut out the sound. At last the red-haired boy, whom Mary hoped would win, drove a pig into a corner, and as the crowd watched he managed to grasp it by a fore and hind leg and held it close to him. "Now I've got you, you little rascal!" he cried, and the crowd cheered as the little black pig wriggled in his arms and tried in vain to get away. The boy was now shown a number of prizes from which to choose. He selected a silver watch and chain, with which he started off as proud as a peacock. "You brought him good luck, wishing that he would win," said Beth to Mary as they turned to go. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>CHAPTER V</h2> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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