The Circus of Adventure Read online

  The Boss had watched everything from his caravan window. He was most impressed and extremely thankful. Pedro told Philip that the Boss had sent for him, and he and Jack and Philip went up the steps of the Boss’s big caravan.

  The Boss poured out praise and thanks in a mixture of several languages. Pedro interpreted with a grin. ‘He says, what can he do for you? He says you’ve saved the bears from being shot. He says, ask anything you like and you can have it, if he can give it to you!’

  Jack answered quickly. ‘There’s only one thing we want. Now that there is this upset in Borken, can we all stay with the circus? Philip will be glad to look after the bears, as long as Fank is ill – but he has girls with him, our sisters – can they stay too? We don’t like to let them go off by themselves, in case civil war starts up in Tauri-Hessia.’

  Pedro interpreted. The Boss quite thought that these ‘sisters’ were circus performers too. He nodded his head. ‘Yes – you may let them stay. If they have tricks or shows of their own, they may get a chance here. But we must strike camp tomorrow – it will be dangerous to stay here in Borken any longer. The Count Paritolen owns this land, and as it is probably he who has something to do with the King’s disappearance, it would be best for us to leave before trouble starts.’

  ‘What does he say?’ asked Jack, anxiously. Pedro translated all this into English, and the two boys were much relieved. Good! They could all stay with the circus, and would leave almost immediately with the circus folk! They would soon be out of the danger zone – and then perhaps they could get a message to Bill.

  The boys went down the steps of the van with Pedro. They made their way to Pedro’s own little van, feeling that they simply must have a good long talk. It was about two o’clock in the morning now, but none of the three boys felt tired – they were far too strung up with the happenings of the night.

  The circus folk as they passed clapped Philip on the back. He smiled and nodded, and then at last all three were in the little van with the two girls and Kiki.

  ‘Shut the door,’ said Kiki at once. ‘Wipe your feet. Fetch the King!’

  ‘I wish we could, Kiki,’ said Jack, with a laugh, as the parrot flew on to his shoulder. ‘But don’t you start talking about the King. Oh – Lucy-Ann – you nearly had me over! What a hug! It reminds me of the bears!’

  ‘I can’t help it!’ said Lucy-Ann, and gave Philip a hug too. ‘I was so anxious about you and Philip, with those bears. It all seems like a horrid dream. I was longing for you to come back to us. Gussy’s gone too. Is he really going to be a girl?’

  ‘He is,’ said Jack, sitting down on the mattress. ‘Now, we’ve got to talk and make plans. First of all, because of Philip’s grand performance with the bears, the Boss has said that we can all stay with the circus. We couldn’t have a better hiding place!’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Dinah. ‘But suppose the Count makes a search for us – and his men are sent here to look, among other places. Gussy might not be recognized if he’s dressed up as a girl – but what about me and Lucy-Ann and Philip? We’re all dressed in the English way – we’d soon be noticed.’

  ‘Yes. I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Jack. ‘I’m too English, as well. Pedro – I’ve got some money saved up that I made out of Kiki’s performances – could you buy some Hessian clothes for us early today?’

  ‘Ma will fix you all up,’ said Pedro. ‘She’s a wonder with her needle! She’ll get some cloth from old Lucia, the woman who’s in charge of the circus clothes. And we’ll borrow some grease paint from Toni and give you all tanned Tauri-Hessian faces! But don’t go speaking English!’

  ‘No, we won’t. We’ll talk a wonderful gibberish of our own!’ said Philip, with a laugh. ‘We’ll come from Jabberwocky, and talk the Jabberwock language! It goes like this – Goonalillypondicherrytapularkawoonatee!’

  Everyone laughed. ‘Good!’ said Pedro. ‘I’ll tell any searchers that you are Jabberwockians, and then you can talk like that if they ask you anything. By the way, where is Jabberwocky?’

  Kiki suddenly launched with delight into the Jabberwockian language. They all listened to her and roared. ‘You’re a very fine specimen of a Jabberwockian parrot!’ said Jack, stroking her. ‘Go to the top of the class!’

  Dinah gave an enormous yawn, at once copied by Kiki. It made everyone begin to feel terribly sleepy. ‘Come on – we’ll be striking camp fairly early,’ said Pedro, getting up. ‘Sleep in peace, girls. We three boys will be just under the van, on a couple of rugs. As for Gussy, I expect he’s snoring in Ma’s extra bunk, looking like a beautiful little girl!’

  Gussy was not asleep, however. He lay in the small bunk, listening to Ma’s deep breathing and sudden snorts. He was very angry and very humiliated. Ma had seen to him properly! She had tried his hair this way and that, and had finally decided that he looked more like a girl with a small bow at each side rather than with one big one on top.

  She had also looked out some clothes – a longish skirt, rather large, very highly coloured, and decidedly ragged – and a small red blouse with a green scarf tied skittishly round the waist. Gussy could have cried with shame.

  It wasn’t the slightest bit of good arguing with Ma. In fact, when Gussy refused to stand still while his bows were being tied, Ma had given him a hefty slap on a very tender place, which had given Gussy such a tremendous shock that he couldn’t even yell.

  ‘You know I’m a Prince, don’t you?’ he said, fiercely, under his breath.

  ‘Pah!’ said Ma. ‘You’re just a boy. I’ve no time for Princes.’ And she hadn’t.

  Now Gussy was trying to go to sleep, his hair still tied with bows, and a peculiar sort of garment on him that looked half like a night gown and half like a long coat. He went over the exciting escape in his mind, and shuddered. No – he wouldn’t think about that awful rope and the trapeze swing. He wondered about his uncle and shuddered again. Was he killed? Poor Gussy’s thoughts were not pleasant ones at all.

  The morning came all too soon for the five tired children. Philip went across at once to the bears’ cage to see how they were. The bars had been mended and strengthened. The bears, looking extremely well fed, were half asleep – but as soon as they saw Philip they padded to the bars and grunted amiably. One bear tried to reach him with his paw.

  ‘Good – they’re quite all right,’ said Philip, and gave them a little talk to which they listened entranced, as if they understood every word!

  Fank was better – but still could not stand up. Philip went to see him, and the little man took his hand and poured out a stream of completely unintelligible words. Philip knew what he was saying, though! Here was a grateful man if ever there was one! Fank loved his bears as if they were his brothers, and he had been almost mad with anxiety the night before, when he heard they had escaped.

  ‘I’ll take them on till you’re well,’ said Philip, and Fank understood, and shook Philip’s hand fervently.

  The next thing was clothes. The camp was to set off in three hours, so Ma had got to hurry if she was going to get the four of them clothes that would disguise the fact that they were English.

  She went to Lucia, an old bent woman who kept the clothes of the circus folk in order – not the ordinary ones they wore every day, but their fine ones, worn in the ring – their glittering capes and skirts, their silken shirts and magnificent cloaks. These were valuable, and old Lucia’s needle was always busy. So was her iron. Nobody could press fine clothes as well or as carefully as Lucia.

  By the time the circus folk were ready to strike camp, nobody would have recognized Dinah, Lucy-Ann, Philip and Jack! Toni had lent them grease paint and each of them was tanned and looked like a Tauri-Hessian – face, neck, legs, and hands! The girls wore the Tauri-Hessian dress – long skirts and shawls, and bright ribbons in their hair.

  The boys looked just like normally brought up boys of the country, and seemed to have grown older all of a sudden. Lucy-Ann stared at Jack in surprise, hardly recognizing this
brown youth, whose teeth gleamed suddenly white in his tanned face.

  Ma was pleased with her efforts, but most of all she was delighted with Gussy. Nobody, nobody could possibly think that Gussy was anything but a girl. He looked really pretty! All five of them, Pedro too, roared with laughter when poor Gussy came down Mas caravan steps, looking very red in the face, very angry, and very ashamed.

  ‘Dis is my little grandchild, Anna-Maria!’ said Ma, with a broad smile. ‘Be kind to her, plizz!’

  Gussy looked as if he was about to burst into tears. ‘Yes, go on, cry!’ said Philip, teasing him. ‘That’ll show people you aren’t Anna-Maria!’

  Dinah gave him a punch. ‘Some girls do cry!’ she said. ‘Oh dear – doesn’t Gussy – I mean Anna-Maria – look priceless?’

  ‘Smashing!’ said Jack. ‘Honestly, he’s as pretty as a picture. Thank goodness for his long hair – that’s what helps him look like a girl more than anything!’

  ‘I cut it short soon, soon, soon,’ said poor Gussy, furiously. ‘Snip-snip – like that!’

  ‘You can’t. You told us that Princes of this country have to wear it long, like you do,’ said Dinah.

  ‘I will not be a Prince then,’ said Gussy. He looked suddenly very forlorn, and gazed at Lucy-Ann beseechingly, feeling that she had the kindest heart of the lot.

  ‘Do not tizz me,’ he begged. ‘I hate zis. I am full of shamefulness.’

  ‘All right, Gussy, er – Anna-Maria,’ said Jack. ‘We won’t tizz you. Cheer up – you’ll be a Prince again before long, I’m sure.’

  ‘If my uncle is alive, I will be,’ said Gussy, soberly. ‘If he is dead – I must be King!’

  ‘God save the King,’ said Kiki, devoutly, and raised her crest impressively. ‘Fetch the doctor and save the King!’

  25

  The camp is searched

  Soon a long procession of vans was going down the winding road that led away from Borken. The two girls and Gussy were in Pedro’s little van, and he was driving the small skewbald horse that belonged to him.

  Jack was driving Mas van for her, and the old lady looked really happy. She loved a bit of excitement, and she roared with laughter whenever she caught sight of poor Gussy.

  Philip, of course, was driving the van in which the bears’ cage was built. Toni was driving Fank’s little living-van, whistling cheerfully. Fank lay on his mattress inside, glad to feel better, and to know that ‘that wonder boy’ Philip had got his bears in charge. He felt full of gratitude to Philip – and to Toni too for so cheerfully driving his van for him. The circus folk were always ready to help one another. That was one of the nicest things about them.

  The vans rumbled along the road, going very slowly, for neither the bears nor the chimpanzees liked going fast. They were all excited at being on the move again. Feefo and Fum chattered away together, looking through the window of their van.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Dinah asked Pedro, through the open window of the van. Pedro shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea.

  ‘We must get away from Borken, where a lot of trouble may start,’ he said, ‘and try to find somewhere more peaceful. We shall probably make for some country road, and keep away from all the main roads. Soldiers will use those, if trouble starts.’

  Dinah went back into the van. The Tauri-Hessian dress suited her well, and she looked exactly right in it. ‘We’re making for some country road,’ she told Lucy-Ann. ‘It’s a pity we still can’t get in touch with Mother or Bill. They really will be dreadfully worried about us by now.’

  ‘I suppose the police will have been told and will be hunting everywhere for us – but in England instead of here!’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Well, anyway, we’re safe for the moment, and out of that tower room. I was getting tired of that! Nothing to do all day but to play games with those funny cards they brought us!’

  They all stopped for a meal at about one o’clock. The vans stood at one side of the road, and the circus folk sat beside them and ate. It was like summer, although it was only April. The sun was very hot, and masses of brilliant flowers were out everywhere.

  Philip’s little dormouse came out to share the meal with him. He had had it with him all the time. It was scared by the noisy talk of the circus folk, and only appeared when things were quiet. It sat on the palm of Philip’s hand, enjoying a nut, its big black eyes now and again glancing up at the boy.

  ‘I don’t know what we’d have done without you, Snoozy, when we were shut up in that tower room,’ said Philip, softly. ‘You kept us all amused with your little games and antics, didn’t you? And you told Jack where we were, the other night – you ran under the door to him!’

  Soon they were on the way again. The bears settled down to sleep, happy to know that Philip was driving them. He had fed them himself again when the procession halted for a meal, and the bears grunted at him happily. Fank heard them and was happy too.

  The procession wound down the road, came out into a main road, and went down that, intending to turn off at a country road about two miles on. But halfway down something happened.

  Three powerful military cars swept by the procession, and drove right up to the head of it. Then they stopped, and soldiers leapt down from the cars, with a captain in command.

  ‘Halt!’ he said to the front driver, and the whole procession came to a stop. The circus folk looked worried. What was this? Soldiers already? And why were they being halted? They had done nothing wrong!

  They jumped down from their vans, and gathered together in little knots, waiting. Jack poked his head back into Ma’s van, which he was driving. ‘This is it, Ma,’ he said. ‘I think the vans are going to be searched. Give Gussy something to do, and scold him as if he was your grandchild. Gussy, you’re a girl, remember – so don’t answer back, or even say a word, when the men come along. Look shy if you can.’

  Pedro also knew what was about to happen. He called to the two girls, ‘Come out, and mix with the circus folk. Go with Toni and Bingo. I’ll come too. I’ll put my arms round you both as if you were my sisters or my friends.’

  Philip, however, didn’t move. He decided that he was in a very good place, driving the bears’ van! The men would be sure to upset the bears and he would have to pacify them. He would appear to the men to be a bear trainer!

  The captain found the Boss. Pedro heard him talking to him in sharp tones.

  ‘We are going to search your vans. We suspect you have someone here we want. It will be the worse for you, if you have. I warn you to give him up now, at once, because when we find him you will be severely punished.’

  The Boss looked surprised. He was sitting in his great chair inside his van. ‘I do not know what you mean,’ he said. ‘Search my vans! You are welcome!’

  The Boss thought that the soldiers were looking for a deserter, a young man, perhaps. He did not know they were hunting for a small boy, and certainly had no idea they were after the little Prince Aloysius!

  The captain gave a sharp command. His soldiers marched down the sides of the vans, keeping a watch for anyone who might try to hide in the wayside bushes. Then they began to search carefully, probing each van, lifting up piles of rugs or clothes to see if anyone could be hidden there.

  They stopped at the sight of Philip. They had been told that although they must at all costs find Gussy, there were three other children, too, to look for. Children whose presence in the camp would tell them the Prince was somewhere about too.

  They came up to the bears’ van, their heels clicking sharply. Their loud voices angered the three bears, and they growled and flung themselves at the bars.

  Toni came up and spoke to them, telling them to keep out of sight of the bears.

  ‘We had trouble with them yesterday,’ he said, ‘and this boy, who helps the trainer, only just managed to keep them under control. As you see, the bars of the cage were broken and had to be mended. Keep out of sight, please, or they will break the bars again.’

  Philip didn’t understand what Toni w
as saying, but guessed. He decided that the best thing he could do to avoid being questioned was to get inside the bears’ cage, and pretend to quieten them. So in he went, and the bears fawned round him in delight.

  The soldiers watched from a safe distance. The captain was satisfied. Obviously this boy belonged to the circus, and travelled as a helper with the bears. He could not be one of the boys they had been told to look out for. They went on to the next van, and Toni winked at Philip.

  ‘Good!’ he said. ‘Keep there. You are safer with the bears than anywhere else!’

  The soldiers went from van to van. They hardly glanced at Dinah or Lucy-Ann, who, with Pedro’s arms round them, were standing watching the two chimpanzees. Madame Fifi had taken the opportunity of giving them a little airing.

  The captain, however, glanced sharply at Pedro. Could he be one of the boys they sought? He beckoned to him. Pedro came over, still with the girls, smiling, and at ease.

  The captain snapped something at him in Tauri-Hessian. Pedro answered smoothly, pointing to his mother’s van. He was saying that he travelled with his mother, and his little cousin, Anna-Maria.

  ‘And these two girls?’ said the captain, sharply.

  ‘They are with the circus too,’ said Pedro. ‘They belong to the boy who manages the bears – you have seen him. They are Jabberwockians, and speak very little Hessian. But they speak French if you would like to ask them anything.’

  Dinah heard Pedro say the word ‘Jabberwockians’ and guessed that he was saying that she and Lucy-Ann belonged to Jabberwocky! Dinah immediately poured out a string of utter gibberish to the captain, waving her hands about, and smiling broadly. Lucy nodded her head now and again as if she agreed with her sister!

  ‘All right, all right,’ said the captain, in his own language. ‘It’s all nonsense to me, this. I can’t understand a word! What is she saying?’

  Pedro grinned. He told the captain that Dinah thought him very magnificent, much grander than captains in Jabberwocky. He was pleased. He saluted the two smiling girls smartly, and went away, satisfied that they were certainly not English. He really must find out where the Land of Jabberwocky was – he didn’t seem to have heard of it. These circus folk came from queer places!