“Well, Johnnie, where are you going this morning?” asked Mrs. Jones as
her little boy started towards the gate.
“I’m goin’ over to Jaky’s, mamma; you know I must go over to Jaky’s
every day.”
“What do you find at Jaky’s to make you so anxious to go over there
every day almost before you are out of bed good?”
“Oh, mamma, Jaky has the nicest playmates over to his house you ’most
ever saw.”
“Who else goes over to Jaky’s besides you?” asked Mrs. Jones.
“Jaky don’t have no reg’lar visitor but me,” said Johnnie proudly. “Me
an’ Jaky is the whole thing.”
“Well, you are saying a good deal for yourself when you say that Jaky
has the nicest playmates in the world--don’t you think so?”
[Illustration: “I’M GOING OVER TO JAKY’S, MAMMA.”]
“I didn’t mean me,” explained Johnnie. “Jaky’s playmates ain’t folks at
all. Jaky’s playmates is animals--just animals, but I do believe that
they have got as much sense as some folks I know.”
“What kind of animals?” asked Mrs. Jones, becoming interested.
Then Johnnie went on to explain. He said:
“Jaky’s got chickens and dogs and cats and birds. He’s got names for all
of ’em, and they all know their names and they just run to Jaky when he
calls them. The chickens and birds, too, will just walk right up and eat
out of Jaky’s hand. And his trained dogs and cats are just the funniest
things I ever saw. His little dog, Trip, can carry a gun and obey the
commands, “Carry arms!” “Present arms!” “Parade rest!” just like a
little soldier. One time at a fair he saw trained dogs and horses,
elephants, and even lions. Then he decided that he would train some
animals himself. And, mamma, he has done well. Why, he’s got a cat that
can spell some words. Jaky printed some letters of the alphabet on
separate cards, and he’s got a cat that will pick out the right ones
every time. One of his little dogs can play the fiddle. It may seem
strange, but he certainly can do it. He can hold the fiddle, and draw
the bow across it just the right way, and he can play a little tune.
Jaky calls it a dog tune, and I think he ought to know.
“You just ought to see Jaky’s chickens--he’s got six of ’em. He calls
them and they all come running. Then he holds out his arm, and calls
them by name, and they will jump up on his little arm, one after the
other, and will sit there until Jaky tells them to jump down. And Jaky
is so kind to his two birds that they won’t fly away when he lets them
out of their cages for a little while. He can take them up in his arms
and pat them gently, and then he puts them down, and they will lie still
right by Jaky until Jaky calls them by name and tells them to go into
the house--that is, I mean, into their cages.
“By the way, mama, I forgot to tell you. Jaky is getting up an animal
show, and he says that I am to be his manager. He’s going to print the
cards to-day. He’s going to call his circus, “JAKY TOLBERT’S GREAT
ANIMAL SHOW--THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH,” and he’s going to make me the
manager of his circus. Won’t that be fine? You’ll come and see it--won’t
you? We’re going to charge only one cent for you to come in. Oh, it’s
going to be great, and I don’t want you to miss it.”
“To be sure, I’ll come,” said Mrs. Jones. “Tell Jaky I’m glad to hear
about how much he loves the dumb animals--every manly boy ought to love
and protect them.”
“I tell you,” said Johnnie, as he hurried out of the gate, “Jaky will
fight anybody who hallooes at one of his pets or mistreats one in the
least. He’s just as kind to them as he can be. Don’t you forget the
show. It’ll come off next week.”