Mr Galliano's Circus Page 11

  “I’m coming too,” said Jimmy. “I’m not a coward, Lotta. I just didn’t think of all that might happen. I do see that we’ve got to go, even if it means disobeying Mr. Galliano. But how shall we go—and where?”

  “I’ll get Laddo to find out where the accident happened,” said Lotto. “If it’s a good way off, we’ll go on Beauty, my own horse. She can take us both quite easily.”

  In a minute or two Lotta had found out where the accident had happened. “It’s not very far off,” she said. “It happened at crossroads at Bentonville. That’s six miles away. Go and get Beauty, Jimmy, and I’ll keep watch and see that no one sees you.”

  Everything went well. The circus-folk were all gathered round Galliano’s caravan, whilst he told them about Mr. Wally and Sammy, and discussed with them what they were to do in the show that night, to take the place of Mr. Wally's turn with Sammy. There was not even a groom with the horses.

  Lotta and Jimmy slipped out of a little gate at the farther end of the field. Beauty was a strong, sleek white horse, Lotta’s very own. She easily carried the two children. Lucky, who had never been on horseback before, was surprised to be jogged up and down, but so long as she felt Jimmy’s arm round her she did not mind anything. They went off quietly down the lane. They came to the main road. There was a grassy edge to the road and Beauty cantered along this happily. When the children came to a sign-post they looked at it to see the way to Bentonville.

  Lotta could not read the name, but Jimmy could, of course. “You’d probably have gone the wrong way, Lotta, if you’d been silly and gone off without me,” said Jimmy. “You wouldn’t have been able to read the sign properly.”

  “I shall do my reading lessons better now,” said Lotta. “It would have been dreadful if I couldn’t have gone the right way.”

  Beauty began to gallop. Jimmy was quite at home on horseback now and he enjoyed the ride. Lucky whined a little. She thought it was all very strange indeed.

  On and on they went to Bentonville and at last they got there. They found themselves at crossroads and then they knew that they had come to the right place, for there, by the side of the road, was Mr. Wally’s lovely new red car, with the side wing bent and broken, and the glass splintered.

  “We needn’t ask anybody anything,” whispered Lotta. “Just get down and let Lucky nose about, Jimmy. She may smell where Sammy went.”

  Jimmy jumped down and let Lucky run round for a while and then he called the little dog to him. He took her head in his hands and looked down into her bright eyes.

  “Lucky,” he said, in the low, gentle voice that always made Lucky listen hard, “I’ve lost Sammy! Sammy! I’ve lost Sammy! Where’s Sammy! I’ve lost Sammy!”

  Lucky cocked her ears and gave a little whine. She understood perfectly. Sammy was gone and had to be found. She could find Jimmy’s handkerchief and his purse and his knife by smelling them out when they were lost—and now she must find Sammy. She nosed about to see if she could find a Sammy-smell. She ran round and about the road. No Sammy-smell there. She ran to the side. No Sammy-smell there! She ran through a hole in the hedge, on the side where the car was—and there, in the field, Lucky found a Sammy-smell! Yes—there was no doubt about it! Sammy had leapt right out of the car, over the hedge and into the field!

  “Lotta! Will you wait here whilst I go after Lucky?” said Jimmy in excitement. “She’s found the right smell, I do believe—and she’ll follow it till she comes to Sammy!”

  “Yes, I’ll wait with Beauty,” said Lotta. “I’ll take her into this field.”

  Jimmy set off after Lucky. Lucky was nosing along, following the strong Sammy-smell. Jimmy was thrilled. This was his own idea! Surely Mr. Galliano would not be very angry with him for being disobedient if only he brought back Sammy safe and sound?

  And now, where was Sammy?

  WHAT HAPPENED TO SAMMY THE CHIMPANZEE

  Lucky had picked up Sammy’s footprints with her clever nose—but the chimpanzee was a long way away! He had jumped right over the hedge, sprinted over the field, got into a lane that led up a hill and had gone down the other side, frightened out of his life.

  Sammy had been sitting quietly in the car beside Mr. Wally when the accident happened. Another car had run into theirs at the crossroads, and there had been such a loud crash that Sammy had got the shock of his life. He did not wait to see what Mr. Wally was doing or saying—he just jumped and fled.

  As he ran up the hill he met two woodmen walking together. When they saw the chimpanzee coming they stared as if they couldn’t believe their eyes. “Ooh! What is it?” said one. “It’s a monkey, isn’t it?” said the other. “No—an ape,” said the first man. “My word—what’s it doing?”

  Sammy stopped when he saw the two men. Into his frightened mind came the thought that perhaps these men would help him. He ambled up to them—but they tore off in terror, dropping their bags behind them.

  Sammy was frightened of their shouts. He did not go after them, but he ran up to their bags. He smelt something good inside—the men’s dinner!

  It was ham sandwiches, buns, and apples. Sammy picked up the food, ran to the hedge and crouched there. He ate everything in the bags, and most of all he liked the apples.

  As he sat there a woman came up the hill. Sammy thought she looked kind, rather like Lotta’s mother, whom he knew very well. He ran out of the hedge towards her, making a funny chattering noise—his way of asking for help. He wanted to get back to Mr. Wally. He felt strange with no friends around him.

  The woman gave a yell and raced down the hill at top speed. She met a man and he asked her what was the matter.

  “Oh, it’s a chimpanzee!” she gasped.

  “Nonsense!” said the man, patting her on the back. “There are no chimpanzees here—only rabbits and foxes.”

  “I tell you it was a chimpanzee,” said the woman. But the man still shook his head. And at that very moment Sammy appeared, trotting down the hill towards them. He thought perhaps the man might be a friend of his. The man gave a shout.

  “You’re right!” he said to the woman. “It is a chimpanzee! Quick! Get into this house!”

  They ran into a house. Poor Sammy! He was so disappointed when they disappeared and shut the door. He was lonely. He wanted Mr. Wally very badly.

  He went into the garden and looked around to see if he could find anyone there. The man and the woman and two other people were watching him from a window.

  “I’ll telephone to the police,” said the man. “It’s an escaped chimpanzee. He ought to be shot.”

  “Poor thing,” said the woman. “I saw him at the circus the other night. I expect the circus-folk are looking for him.”

  “Well, he can’t be allowed to go roaming the countryside,” said the man. “I’ll tell the police to get guns and go after him.”

  Sammy did not hear all this, and he would not have understood it if he had. He sniffed round the doors, tried to open them, decided that he couldn’t, and went off up the hill again. He went over the top and down into a small village. There he ran into some little children. They did not know what he was and they stood and stared at him in surprise. Sammy loved children. He made his little chattering noise and held out his hand to a boy.

  The little chap put his hand into the chimpanzee’s. Sammy was delighted. Here was a friend at last. He stroked the little boy’s hair. Then he began to do some of his tricks. He was still dressed in his trousers and coat, but he had lost his hat. He took off his clothes and pretended to go to sleep under a bush. Then he yawned, stretched himself and got up. He dressed himself and then pretended to wash and clean his teeth and brush his hair.

  The children crowded round him in delight. What a clever animal! Sammy was pleased. He hugged a little girl gently, and began to play with the children.

  But it was not for long. A woman, looking out of the window to see if her children were all right, caught sight of Sammy and stared in astonishment and fear.

  “Johnny—
Ellen—come indoors at once!” she shouted.

  “Oh, Mummy, but we want to play with this queer animal,” cried Johnny.

  “Come in at once" shouted his mother.

  Soon the street was deserted, for all the children ran home and left Sammy. The next thing he saw was a little crowd of men, carrying sticks and iron bars, coming towards him. Sammy did not know that they were coming to hit him. He ran towards them happily, thinking he might play with them too. One of the men stopped and took aim at Sammy. He threw an iron bar at the chimpanzee—but Sammy dodged, held up his hand and neatly caught it. He thought this was a new game, and he threw the iron bar back at the men.

  Luckily it did not hit anyone. The men stopped in surprise. “It’s no good throwing things at him,” said one. “He’ll only throw them back. Try to get him into a corner and then we’ll catch him all right.”

  So the men spread out into a ring and gradually surrounded Sammy. The chimpanzee was not taking any notice of them for a moment. He had seen something standing by a wall that interested him—a bicycle! Sammy rode his own bicycle every night in the circus-ring and he knew bicycles well. Whilst he was looking at this one, the men got nearer and nearer.

  Sammy looked up. He suddenly became frightened. He did not like the look of these silent men coming nearer and nearer. How could he get away? What was he to do?

  And what do you suppose he did? Why, he jumped suddenly on the bicycle, pedalled away hard and rode straight at the men. They were so startled that they got out of his way.

  Through the crowd cycled Sammy, right down the village street and away beyond. He waved his hand to the astonished men. He was pleased with himself. He liked the new bicycle. It was bigger than his own, but he could manage it quite well. On and on he went, and soon came to another village.

  But here a policeman with a gun was waiting for Sammy. Someone had telephoned from the other village and told him to be ready for Sammy. Sammy had no idea what a gun was. He pedalled straight at the blue policeman.

  Bang! The gun went off. It made a sound rather like the crack of Mr. Galliano’s whip. Sammy was used to that—but something warned him that the gun the policeman held was not the same as the circus whip whose sound he knew so well. The chimpanzee jumped off his bicycle and ran into a garden. He crouched as he ran, for he was afraid of the gun. He came to a small shed at the back. He leapt in through a window and hid himself under some sacks. He lay there as still as could be.

  And what was Jimmy doing all this time? Ah, Jimmy was getting hot and out of breath, for Lucky was dragging him on her lead across fields, down a lane, up a hill and down again and into a village. There he met the parents of the children that Sammy had played with, and they told him Sammy had been there. Lucky sniffed down the village street, but lost the scent.

  “My dog can’t seem to smell him anymore,” said Jimmy, in despair. “I wonder why that is.”

  “Well, the chimpanzee went off on my bicycle,” said a butcher’s boy. “So I guess that’s why your dog can’t smell his tracks any more. He went towards the next village. We’ve just telephoned there to the policeman, and he is waiting for the chimp with a gun.”

  Jimmy went pale, though his cheeks were as hot as fire. Oh, surely, surely, no one would shoot dear, gentle clever old Sammy!

  “Come on, Lucky, we must go as fast as we can!” cried Jimmy, and off went the two along the road to the next village. When they came there, Jimmy saw a crowd in the road.

  “Have you seen the chimpanzee?” he panted.

  “Yes,” said a man, pointing towards a nearby garden. “He went there. He’s hiding in a shed. The policeman is just going to undo the door and shoot him.”

  “Oh, he mustn’t—he mustn’t!” cried Jimmy. “He’s a wonderful creature, and wouldn’t harm anyone. Quick, Lucky, quick!”

  They forced their way through the crowd and went round the house to the back. There were five men round a small shed. The policeman was just about to open the door and shoot into the sacks that covered Sammy. The men had looked through the window and had seen that Sammy was hiding under the heap of sacks.

  “You are not to hurt our chimpanzee!” shouted Jimmy. “He’s quite harmless, and is the cleverest in the world! He is worth hundreds of pounds. Let me go to him.”

  The men stared at the little boy in surprise. “What! Go into the shed with that chimpanzee!” said the policeman.

  “Of course,” said Jimmy. “I love him, and so do all the circus-folk. He’s just like a human being!”

  Just then Lucky managed to squeeze herself under the door of the shed. She ran to the heap of sacks and barked happily. Here was Sammy, her friend, at last! Sammy popped his head up, picked up the little dog and cuddled her lovingly. The men looking in through the window saw this and were amazed.

  Jimmy opened the door and went into the shed. “Sammy! Sammy! Here’s Jimmy come for you!” he cried. The chimpanzee leapt up and ran to Jimmy in delight. He chattered away in joy, stroking Jimmy’s head and patting his shoulder. He put his arm round the little boy and hugged him. The men who were watching were full of astonishment.

  “There you are!” said Jimmy happily. “What did I tell you? He is gentle and tame, and as clever as can be. I’ll take him back to the circus with me now.”

  “No, you’d better wait for a van to come,” said the policeman. But Jimmy wouldn’t. He guessed that nobody would try to part him from the chimpanzee. He marched out into the road with Sammy, holding the big chimpanzee by the paw, and back the three of them went up the road—Jimmy, Sammy, and Lucky. Everyone followed them in astonishment.

  “What a boy!” said the policeman. “Never saw anyone like him in my life! Went in and took that chimp’s hand as cool as you please!”

  It took Jimmy and Sammy a good while to get back to Lotta. The little girl was still patiently waiting with Beauty, her horse. She was full of joy when at last she saw Jimmy coming with Sammy and Lucky.

  “I was only just in time, Lotta,” said Jimmy, and he told her the story as they cantered home. Sammy sat between Lotta and Jimmy, perfectly happy and good. He held Lucky in his arms.

  They rode through the circus-gate. “What do you suppose Mr. Galliano will say when he sees us?” said Jimmy nervously, seeing Mr. Galliano in the distance, with his top-hat perfectly straight up on his head.

  JIMMY GOES INTO THE RING

  When the circus-folk saw Jimmy and Lotta riding on Beauty, the lovely white horse, with Sammy in the middle, they were amazed. Mr. Galliano suddenly saw them too, and his big cigar dropped right out of his mouth.

  Jimmy rode up to him. “Please, sir,” he said, “we disobeyed you. You said no one was to leave the camp today, but Lotta and I did, with Lucky. We felt so certain we could find Sammy and bring him back.”

  “You young scamp,” said Mr. Galliano, with a terrible frown—but Jimmy saw that his eyes were twinkling under his eyebrows. “How dare you disobey the great Galliano? And you too, Lotta—you ought to know better—yes?”

  “Wuff, wuff!” said Lucky, trying to get out of Sammy’s arms—but the chimpanzee held her tight.

  “Get down, take Sammy to his cage, give him a few bananas and come to see me in my caravan,” said Mr. Galliano. The two children hurried to do as they were told. No one asked them anything, for they knew that the story must be told to Mr. Galliano first.

  Sammy was soon happily eating bananas in his cage. Lucky was crunching up biscuits beside him. Jimmy and Lotta hurried to Mr. Galliano’s caravan. Mrs. Galliano was there too. She shut the door behind them.

  Jimmy told his story and Mr. Galliano listened.

  “You have a gift for rescuing runaway animals—yes?” he said, with a laugh. “First the elephant, and now the chimpanzee. You are a naughty boy to disobey, Jimmy, but you are a good boy, yes, to save Sammy. But we cannot let Sammy go into the ring alone. He is useless without Wally.”

  A wonderful idea came into Jimmy’s head. “Please, sir, let me go into the ring with him,”
begged the little boy earnestly. “He will do as much for me as he does with Mr. Wally. Really he will. I’ve played games with him and practised with him every day. And I taught him to clean his teeth, though Mr. Wally couldn’t. Do, do let me.”

  Mr. Galliano stared at Jimmy and then looked across at Mrs. Galliano.

  She nodded her head. “Jimmy is a good boy with animals,” she said. “A very good boy. You let him do this, Galliano. I and his mother will begin at once to make him a fine suit for tonight.”

  Jimmy could have hugged Mrs. Galliano. He was wild with joy. To go into the big circus-ring at last! To be there in fine clothes, under the glaring lights, with hundreds of people watching and clapping! Could anything be more exciting!

  “Tell your mother to come here,” said Mr. Galliano, lighting another big cigar. “You know what to do exactly, Jimmy—yes? We will have a practice this afternoon with Sammy. Be ready in ten minutes’ time.”

  Whilst Mrs. Galliano and Mrs. Brown were cutting out red knickerbockers and a fine yellow coat with a blue waistcoat for Jimmy to wear that night, Jimmy was practising with Sammy for that night’s show. He took Sammy into the ring, with all the necessary things—the cot, the chair, the table, the bowl of water, the bicycle and everything—and under Mr. Galliano’s sharp eye the little boy went through the whole turn just as he had so often seen Mr. Wally do.

  Sammy loved doing his tricks with Jimmy. He loved his master, Mr. Wally, but there was something about this little boy, with his bright deep eyes and his low, gentle voice that Sammy understood and adored. He would willingly have died for Jimmy.

  “Good, good, good,” said Mr. Galliano, when the turn was finished. “You are a proper circus-boy—yes.”

  What a scramble it was to get Jimmy’s things finished in time—and how grand he looked when he got into his red knickerbockers, his yellow coat and blue waistcoat. He wore a round gold cap and blue stockings. He looked almost as grand as Mr. Galliano himself. What a good thing he had saved up his money! When Lotta saw him she stared without saying a word.