Jenny and Barnum Read Online Free PDF Page A

a bit of a tough guy under his freewheeling San Francisco charm. Because Tom Thumb loved Barnum, he could accept—enjoy, actually, given the perspective Barnum had taught him—the big humbug’s attempt to cash in on Tom Thumb’s popularity. What Tom Thumb could not accept was that the attempt was also destroying Tom Thumb’s life—or his hopes—and Barnum, with his eye ever on the box office, was unwilling to listen to his little partner’s point of view in the matter.
    Tom Thumb did not care all that much for the carriage’s remaining passengers—or passenger, as they chose to describe themselves, the Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng. They were joined together at the abdomen by a rope of flesh so pulled and stretched like dough over the years that they were able to sit side by side, as they were now (sitting opposite Tom Thumb), Chang to Tom Thumb’s left, Eng to the right, two almost-separate human beings who hated each other, but refused to speak of themselves as anything but a single creature. When Eng dozed off, Chang would say, “I am tired,” but not without contempt, or self-contempt, in his tone. Together they hated Barnum almost as much as they hated themselves, or each other, or himself, as they would have people say—which people didn’t: everybody thought of Chang and Eng as two people, no matter what they— he! —wanted.
    Chang and Eng claimed Barnum paid too low, cheating them of their full share of the receipts. Tom Thumb knew they simply ignored Barnum’s costs of doing business; but more, he knew, too, that Barnum on his side had complaints about Chang and Eng.
    â€œLook at them, a pair of sourpusses old before their time!” Barnum had bellowed. “They don’t do anything! Who wants to pay to see two fellows in suits sitting in chairs? They won’t even put on costumes! I’ll tell you, Charlie, the real reason they’re griping is because they think they should be bigger stars than you. They want the most money, and they want their name up on top of yours.”
    It was all true, but General Tom Thumb knew that Barnum wasn’t above manipulating the argument to his own advantage. Barnum really wasn’t above very much at all, but he spent so much time looking for advantages in dealing with people that he often forgot some of his more fundamental assets—for instance, the loyalty of people who loved him. When others were involved, Barnum’s number one star, General Tom Thumb, was always ready to take Barnum’s side. Tom Thumb really did love Barnum—until recently, Barnum had been the only person on earth to call Tom Thumb “Charlie.” Now there were two, and lately Tom Thumb had been afraid he might be forced to choose between one and the other.
    This afternoon, Tom Thumb was afraid he had just seen more evidence of unreliability in Barnum. First Joe Gallagher; now this.
    Joe Gallagher smoked long, thin cigars. He removed the one in his mouth to speak. “Well? Are you going to tell us what happened up there?”
    Anna Swan shifted around, causing the carriage to rock frighteningly. “What was she like? Was she as beautiful as they say?”
    Tom Thumb pushed his Wellington tricorner hat over his eyes and closed them. “She’s got a nose that’s a round lump of a thing, a real potato,” he squeaked. “Her skin shines. You’d think a big star like her would use a little rouge and powder. And she needs it, she’s so pale and colorless. Gray eyes, dirty blond hair. Slim enough, but she’s bosomy—and short . She’s as plain as a country schoolteacher.”
    Joe Gallagher did not try to conceal his glee. He stared at the little cigar before he clenched it between his teeth. “How much money did Barnum talk you into putting in this? Tell us again how rich you’re going to be!”
    Coming over on the Great Western , Tom Thumb had done