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of spring in his legs, he leaped headfirst into the basket.

"That was close," he breathed.  And he settled back under the groceries to wait for the danger to pass.

Each time the large woman stopped at a store Bitsy could hear the cash rigister ring; and then something else would be added to the pile on top of him.  Soon, only his feet and the ends of his red scarf were visible between two cabbages and a turkey.

It was a foolish position to be in, he felt. What would he say if the large woman found him in her basket.

The sound of music finally made Bitsy struggle up and stick his head out of the basket. It was not just music--it was music made by wires. He knew the voice of a wire when he heard it.

From the basket all he could see were the backs of people looking into the street.

"Ahhh, wonderful," he heard a man say.

"Ohhh, marvelous," cried a woman.

" Ha,ha, ha..." laughed the children.

He could not control his curiousity. Leaping out of the basket he crawled between the legs of the people who lined the sidewalk. 

Then he saw.

A circus had come to town. He was just in time to see the very end of the parade: a band riding on a big float. And the wires were a part of the band. They were working hard on the bass fiddles. Their wonderful voices sounded above the horns and the drums.

"Hurrah, hurrah for the wires," yelled Bitsy.

The wires all looked. It was the first time anyone had ever cheered them, the wires in a circus parade. One of the bass wires nodded to Bitsy.

"That is the life for me," cried Bitsy, "making music in a circus parade."

And with that he danced along in the street, following the band.

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