The others were about to follow , when a shrill `` Hi , hi , boys , hold on ! '' made them turn about to behold Billy Barton tearing down the street like a runaway colt , waving a long strip of paper as he ran . `` Now , then , what 's the matter ? '' demanded Ben , as the other came up grinning and puffing , but full of great news . `` Look here , read it ! I 'm going ; come along , the whole of you , '' panted Billy , putting the paper into Sam 's hand , and surveying the crowd with a face as beaming as a full moon . `` Look out for the big show , '' read Sam . `` Van Amburgh & Co. 's New Great Golden Menagerie , Circus and Colosseum , will exhibit at Berryville , July 4th , at 1 and 7 precisely . Admission 50 cents , children half-price . Do n't forget day and date . H. Frost , Manager . '' While Sam read , the other boys had been gloating over the enticing pictures which covered the bill . There was the golden car , filled with noble beings in helmets , all playing on immense trumpets ; the twenty-four prancing steeds with manes , tails , and feathered heads tossing in the breeze ; the clowns , the tumblers , the strong men , and the riders flying about in the air as if the laws of gravitation no longer existed . But , best of all , was the grand conglomeration of animals where the giraffe appears to stand on the elephant 's back , the zebra to be jumping over the seal , the hippopotamus to be lunching off a couple of crocodiles , and lions and tigers to be raining down in all directions with their mouths , wide open and their tails as stiff as that of the famous Northumberland House lion . `` Cricky ! would n't I like to see that , '' said little Cyrus Fay , devoutly hoping that the cage , in which this pleasing spectacle took place , was a very strong one . `` You never would , it 's only a picture ! That , now , is something like , '' and Ben , who had pricked up his ears at the word `` circus , '' laid his finger on a smaller cut of a man hanging by the back of his neck with a child in each hand , two men suspended from his feet , and the third swinging forward to alight on his head . `` I 'm going , '' said Sam , with calm decision , for this superb array of unknown pleasures fired his soul and made him forget his weight . `` How will you fix it ? ''
asked Ben , fingering the XXXXX with a nervous thrill all through his wiry limbs , just as he used to feel it when his father caught him up to dash into the ring .
Admission Circus Colosseum bill car ears lions tails tigers zebra