Bybee bellowed with laughter, so that the crowd veered suddenly toward them. He stooped to whisper closer to her little brown-stained ear: "Don't you worry, sister. As old P. T. Barnum used to say, 'There's a sucker born every minute,' and old Winfield Bybee knows that they like to be fooled. You just kid 'em along and send 'em away happy and I reckon the good Lord ain't going to waste any black ink on your record tonight. It's worth a quarter to be told a lot of nice things about yourself, ain't it?"
As she tripped swiftly across the dusty lot toward the Palace of Wonders, the crowd following her grew larger and larger. Becoming bolder because she felt that she was really "Princess Lalla" and not timid little Sally Ford, she deliberately flirted with the men who pressed close upon her, even waved a little brown hand invitingly toward the big tent.
When she reached the tent door, the barker leaned down from his booth, behind which was set a small platform, and beckoned her to mount the narrow steps. Smilingly she did so, and the barker introduced her:
"Here she is, boys--the Princess Lalla of Con-stan-ti-no-ple, the prettiest girl that ever escaped from the Sultan's harem! Princess Lalla, favorite crystal-gazer to the Sultan of Turkey before she escaped from his harem, will tell your fortunes, la-dees and gen-tle-men! Princess Lalla sees all, knows all! Just one of the scores of attractions in the Palace of Wonders! Admission 25 cents, one quarter of a dollar, two bits!"
Sally bowed, her little brown hands spreading in an enchanting gesture; then she skipped down the steps, the great ropes of black hair, wound with strands of imitation pearls, flapping against the vivid green satin tunic.
She was very tired when the supper hour came, but the thought that she would soon see David again lent wings to her sandaled feet. She was about to hurry out of the Palace of Wonders, released at last by the apparently indefatigable spieler, Gus, when a tiny, treble voice called to her:
"Princess Lalla! Princess Lalla! Would you mind carrying me to the cars?"
Sally, startled, looked everywhere about the tent that was almost emptied of spectators before it dawned on her that the tiny voice had come from "Pitty Sing," "the smallest woman in the world," sitting in a child's little red rocking chair on the platform.