The acrobats varied in skill although their tricks were always the same.
Some were young and agile, some were growing old and the mere act of swinging on a trapeze was quite an effort.
The better circuses would have teams of horses either white or piebald, their manes and tails would be long and well cared for and the Earl knew by the shine on their coats and the manner in which they moved that they were properly fed.
But in the smaller and poorer circuses the horses were as inferior as the performers and some seemed hardly capable of bearing the three men climbing on their backs and up on to one another’s shoulders.
Some made the Earl feel that death would be a merciful release for them when it came.
But in every circus the laughter and gaiety depended on the clowns, there were alway
