"Come now," Connie exclaimed, "get out of all this, Jessica," giv- ing me the name that I bear til today. "Get over to the cook tent all of you, the show starts in another hour!" She stayed behind and helped me get out of the costume, remarking the while, "You really enjoyed this little play-acting didn't you hon? You know, you make a very nice looking girl, I can hardly believe my eyes. With a nice hairdo you could fool anybody." "But enough of this, get dressed now and have something to eat, you haven't much time." Reluctantly I drew on my corduroys and army shoes and walked over to the cook tent, too ex- cited to eat more than a mere snack.

That night I lay awake in my trailer bunk for a long time. I wondered what had happened to me that morning, why I was so strangely thrilled and excited. Would I ever experience this wonderful thrill again? I drifted off into a fitful sleep and dreamed that I was in the "line," tossing my hips and smiling at the men in the audience pro- vocatively. Aunt Effie came into the trailer after closing and tenderly put her hand on my head, "You are a real doll" I heard her murmur.

And next week my dream became a reality! A boy delivered a note to Aunt Effie from Sue, one of the six girls on the show. She had found romance with one of the local boys and was going to get married, they were on their way to the local Gretna Green! A family conference was quickly called, for a replacement could just not be found on such short notice. What to do! The routines required six girls to execute! And then they all looked at me at the same time, and broke into roars of delight! I was sitting on the studio couch eating an apple and looked up at them in puzzlement.

"Jessica" they all exclaimed at once! "Would you take Sue's place, just for today?" asked Connie. I stared at them dumbfounded! Yet a little thrill was crowding my breath so that I could not answer. “You can do the routines," said Connie, “just watch the rest of us and follow along. You have watched us enough to know what it is all about." I still could not answer! "Please, just this once," she begged, sitting on the couch beside me with her hands stroking my arm. I nodded dumbly, having no words in my mouth.

"Let's get busy, Mother" said Connie. "Go take a bath now Jess, and you start on his hair Mother, while I go for the costume." With that she tore out of the trailer door while I stumbled over to the shower tent.

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