so do n't you spoil it by making a row . '' `` What do you suppose it is ? '' asked every one , and listened with all their might to get a hint , if possible . But what they heard only whetted their curiosity and mystified them more and more . Bab 's voice cried in a loud whisper , `` Is n't Ben beautiful ? '' Then there was a thumping noise , and Miss Celia said , in an anxious tone , `` Oh , do be careful , '' while Ben laughed out as if he was too happy to care who heard him , and Thorny bawled `` Whoa ! '' in a way which would have attracted attention if Lita 's head had not popped out of her box , more than once , to survey the invaders of her abode , with a much astonished expression . `` Sounds kind of circusy , do n't it ? '' said Sam to Billy , who had come out to receive the compliments of the company and enjoy the tableau at a safe distance . `` You just wait till you see what 's coming . It beats any circus I ever saw , '' answered Billy , rubbing his hands with the air of a man who had seen many instead of but one . `` Ready ! Be quick and get out of the way when she goes off ! '' whispered Ben , but they heard him and prepared for pistols , rockets or combustibles of some sort , as ships were impossible under the circumstances , and no other `` She '' occurred to them . A unanimous `` O-o-o-o ! '' was heard when the curtain rose , but a stern `` Hush ! '' from Thorny kept them mutely staring with all their eyes at the grand spectacle of the evening . There stood Lita with a wide flat saddle on her back , a white head-stall and reins , blue rosettes in her ears , and the look of a much-bewildered beast in her bright eyes . But who the gauzy , spangled , winged creature was , with a gilt crown on its head , a little bow in its hand , and one white slipper in the air , while the other seemed merely to touch the saddle , no one could tell for a minute , so strange and splendid did the apparition appear . No wonder Ben was not recognized in this brilliant disguise , which was more natural to him than Billy 's blue flannel or Thorny 's respectable garments .
He had so begged to be allowed to show himself `` just once , '' as he used to be in the days when `` father '' tossed him up on the bare-backed old General , for hundreds to see and admire , that Miss XXXXX had consented , much against her will , and hastily arranged some bits of spangled tarlatan over the white cotton suit which was to simulate the regulation tights .
Bab Ben Billy Celia Lita O-o-o-o Thorny evening gauzy head-stall