Circus Days Again Read online

  “Oh no!” said Jimmy, not believing this at all.

  “Well, wait and see,” said Pierre, and he twinkled his bright blue eyes at them. “Now I must see Mr. Galliano and find out where I can put my caravan.”

  He went off to Mr. Galliano’s caravan, and left Jimmy and Lotta watching the seal. It popped its head out again and made a soft noise to Jimmy. He went into the van, reached up to the top of the tank and stroked the seal’s wet nose. In a trice it was right out of the tank, flapping itself round Jimmy’s legs. The boy got a real surprise.

  “Get back!” he cried in alarm, but the seal took no notice. It pushed itself against Jimmy’s legs and nearly knocked him over. Then Jeanne and Lisa came up, and they rapped the top of the tank with a stick.

  “Hup, hup!” they cried in circus language, and the seal “hupped”, and got back into the water.

  “You’ll get into trouble if you make my father’s seal get out of the tank,” said Lisa.

  “I didn’t make it. It got out itself,” said Jimmy crossly.

  “Crosspatch!” said Jeanne, and she pinched Jimmy. The little boy shook himself free and walked off in a huff with Lotta.

  “I wish those girls hadn’t come,” he said. “I’m not going to like them one bit. Promise you won’t make friends with them, Lotta.”

  But that was another promise Lotta wouldn’t make. She laughed at Jimmy and ran off to help Laddo with the horses. Lotta was certainly a little monkey these days.

  The Three New Clowns

  THE circus was not going to open for two weeks,because Mr. Galliano wanted all the new performers to settle down, make friends with one another, and practise their turns in the ring together.

  The three new clowns were to arrive the next day,, and Britomart, the conjurer, was coming the day after. Lotta and Jimmy felt too excited for words.

  “Do go and chatter somewhere else,” said Mrs. Brown, shooing them off the steps of her caravan. “You are much worse than those screeching parrots.”

  The parrots were excited, too, by the arrival of more animals and performers, and they screeched and chattered all day long. Madame Prunella had had to move her caravan a little farther away, for not all the circus-folk would put up with such a dreadful noise!

  “Swee-ee-eep!” cried one parrot mournfully. “Swee-ee-eep!”

  “Sounds as if he thinks Madame Prunella’s chimneys want sweeping,” grinned Jimmy. “Just listen to old Gringle, too!”

  “Sausage and smash, sausage and smash,” said Gringle loudly.

  “You’ve got it wrong, old boy. It’s sausage and mash,” said Jimmy, running his fingers down the parrot’s soft, feathery neck. But Gringle preferred sausage and smash, and said so, at the top of his voice.

  The zebras soon settled down in the camp. Jumbothe elephant was delighted to see them. He trumpeted loudly to them whenever they passed and they whinnied back. Most of the animals like good-tempered old Jumbo, and Sammy the chimpanzee was so fond of him that he scrambled up on Jumbo’s back whenever Mr. Tonks, his keeper, was not there to stop him.

  The performing seal was quite ridiculous with Jimmy. It went completely mad whenever the boy appeared, and made little snickering noises of joy. It always leapt out of the tank at once, and Jimmy had to stop it from following him all over the field.

  The two girls, Jeanne and Lisa, were jealous because their seal loved Jimmy. It took no notice of either of them at all, just as they took no notice of their mother. Jimmy wondered what his mother would say if he wouldn’t come when he was called, or ran off without doing his jobs, or was as rude to her as Jeanne and Lisa were to their mother.

  Jimmy was rather hurt because Lotta went about so much with the two girls. She giggled with them and went to look at two beautiful dolls that someone had once given them. Jimmy felt quite left out, and he went off with Lucky to watch for the arrival of the three new clowns. He sat on the fence alone, with Lucky licking his boots every now and then. He thought it was a great pity that Jeanne and Lisa had come.

  Soon a fine caravan appeared. It was painted red, and on its wooden walls were posters showing the two clowns, Twinkle and Pippi. They looked very funny with their enormous eyebrows, big red noses, wide mouths, and large ears. They grinned out of the pictures at Jimmy, and he was so busy looking at them that he nearly fell off the fence when a tousled head stuck itself out of a caravan window and yelled at him: “Boy! Are we near the circus-camp?”

  It was Twinkle, one of the clowns. But he was notdressed up now, nor was his face painted like a clown’s. He was just a jolly-faced man with big bulging eyes and a shock of yellow hair.

  “Yes. You’re there!” said Jimmy, jumping down. “Are you Twinkle or Pippi?”

  Another head stuck itself out of the window—and to Jimmy’s great surprise it was exactly the same as the first one! It had a shock of yellow hair and big bulging blue eyes with a merry twinkle in them.

  “Hey,” said the first head to the second head. “This boy wants to know if I’m Twinkle or Pippi. Which am I?”

  “Well, if you’re Twinkle, I’m Pippi, and if I’m Pippi, you’re Twinkle,” said the second man solemnly. They looked at one another in such a comical manner, their eyebrows working up and down together, that Jimmy burst into roars of laughter, and Lotta came running up to see what the joke was.

  Twinkle and Pippi came out of their caravan and grinned at the two children. They were exactly alike, even to the dimples in their right cheeks.

  There was a roar of welcome from the circus-field, and Mr. Galliano came striding up. Twinkle and Pippi were old friends of his. He had known them in many circuses and shows. He shook hands with them, slapped them on the back, and took them to his own caravan to see Mrs. Galliano.

  “I like Twinkle and Pippi,” said Jimmy. “We’ll have some fun with them, Lotta.”

  “Pooh! They are not such good clowns as we have often seen in other shows,” said Lisa’s mocking voice. Jimmy turned away. He hated the way that Lisa always mocked at everything. She had even laughed at little dog Lucky, and said that once she had seen a dog who was far cleverer than Lucky.

  “And you’ll see what will happen when she is three years old,” she said. “Her brains will go! She won’t be able to do so well as she does now. You wait and see!”

  “Don’t say such horrid, untrue things,” said Jimmy, picking Lucky up in his arms.

  All four children waited to see if Google, the third clown, would come along. Sure enough he did. He drove a van, with a caravan towed behind it.

  “What’s in the van, I wonder?” said Lotta.

  “That motor-car of his that falls to bits!” guessed Jimmy. “What fun! Do you suppose it’s Google driving the van? He’s got a dear little dog with him.”

  It was Google. But Google out of the circus-ring was quite a different person from Google in the ring! He was a sharp-faced, bad-tempered little man, and the only creature he really loved in the world was his dog Squib. He hated children, and gave all four a scowl as he drove his van carefully in at the gate.

  “I don’t much like the look of him” said Jimmy. “He looks as if he’d like to eat us all.”

  “But his dog is a dear,” said Lotta. “Squib! Squib!”

  The dog in the driving-seat pricked up his ears when he heard his name called, but he did not leave his master’s side. Lucky yelped to him, but he did not yelp back. He was not going to make friends with anyone until he had had a good sniff round the camp, and made surewhom he would like to know! He was a very particular little dog, and so fond of his master that he even went into the ring with him and did his best to help, though he was always frightened by the bang that came when the motor-car burst into bits!

  Britomart was not coming until the next day, so it was no use waiting to see any more people arrive. The children wandered round the camp, saying cheeky things to the parrots, looking admiringly at the zebras, and getting Neptune most excited by telling him that fish, fish, fish was coming for his dinner. He fla
pped out of his tank and flippered himself eagerly around Jimmy—and he would not go back into his water.

  So the little boy walked off—but the seal followed him, working itself along on its flippers quite fast.

  “Oh, do go back, Neptune,” said Jimmy in alarm. “I shall get into trouble if you follow me about like this.”

  The seal looked at Jimmy out of beautiful brown eyes and made little loving noises. It seemed to think that Jimmy was the most marvellous person it had ever met, and for the first time Jimmy wished that an animal didn’t like him so much He tried to dodge it by running round a caravan, diving under a cart, coming up the other side and jumping UP the steps of his own caravan. But the seal followed him faithfully, and heaved itself up the steps of the caravan. Jimmy had shut the door—and the seal hit it hard with its nose.

  “Come in!” cried Jimmy’s mother, who was peeling potatoes. She had no idea there was a seal out there. Neptune hit the door such a bang with his nose that it flew open with a crash—and with many delighted noises the seal flippered itself indoors.

  “Bless us all, what’s this coming in!” cried Mrs. Brown, in a fright. “It’s the seal! Good gracious,

  whatever next? Does it think it’s invited to dinner, or what? Really, what with parrots and monkeys and chimpanzees playing around, I’ve no time for seals! Jimmy, tell it to go out. It’s shaking the caravan to bits, galloping round the floor like that.”

  Jimmy couldn’t help laughing. The seal was doing its best to get on to his knee, it seemed. Jimmy got up and went out of the caravan. “Come on, Neptune,” he said to the seal. “You can’t go rushing about like this. You really must stay in your tank.”

  He met Pierre as he took the seal back to its tank. Pierre was cross.

  “What do you mean by taking Neptune off like that?” he demanded. “He’ll come to harm, and he’s very valuable.”

  “I didn’t take him,” said Jimmy. “He just jumped out and followed me.”

  “Lisa said you took him,” said Pierre, still very cross. The seal had gone to his side and was trying to take its master’s hand in its mouth. It was a very loving, friendly creature, and nobody could help liking it.

  “Well, Lisa told a story then,” said Jimmy indignantly. “She’s a naughty girl. I didn’t take the seal. You had better make Lisa sit by the tank and guard the seal all day long. She hasn’t enough to do.”

  Pierre went off with Neptune, and Jimmy saw Lisa peeping round a van at him, delighted because he was angry. He ran at her and she disappeared at once.

  He went to see Twinkle and Pippi. They had already made friends with Sticky Stanley and were talking eagerly about what they could all do in the ring, for they were to work together. Google was to have a turn to himself. Stanley was pleased about this, for he had not much liked the sulky look of the sharp-faced third clown.

  Jimmy stayed and listened. Twinkle and Pippi were so alike to look at that he still didn’t know which was which—and if he asked them, they pretended not to know either, and asked one another who they were, and scratched their heads and worked their eyebrows up and down till Jimmy went into fits of laughter.

  “They are twins,” said Stanley. “No one has ever found out yet which twin is which—and I certainly don’t know, and never shall know. They even have exactly the same freckles!”

  Only Britomart the great conjurer was to come now—and then, the day after that, the circus was to open again, this time with all its new performers. My goodness, what a show it would be! Jimmy and Lotta could hardly wait for the night!

  Britomart Joins the Circus

  THE conjurer did not arrive till the evening of the day before the circus was due to open again. He drove up in a most magnificent car. It was blue, with silver edgings, and the whole of the inside was blue and silver too.

  Britomart was dressed in ordinary clothes, but he looked a most magnificent man, even in a dark blue suit and grey hat. He was very tall, taller than Mr. Galliano, and he had even more marvellous moustaches. His eyebrows were jet-black, and so bushy that they jutted out over his eyes. His eyes were strange. They were as black as his hair, but they glinted coldly, like steel, whenever he looked at anyone. He never seemed to smile, and all four children felt rather afraid of him.

  He got out of his magnificent car and went to talk to Mr. Galliano. He was very haughty with the ring-master, and did not even shake hands with him. As for kind Mrs. Galliano, he did not even say good-evening to her.

  Soon a marvellous van arrived, carrying the conjurer’s circus belongings. It was blue and silver, like the car, and across it was painted one word, in enormous silver letters:BRITOMART.

  “Golly! Isn’t he grand!” said Jimmy. “Nobody as grand as this ever came to Galliano’s circus before. He must be very rich.”

  “He is,” said Lisa, who always knew everything about everybody—or pretended to, if she didn’t. “I’m surprised he came to a tuppenny-ha’penny circus like this! I can’t imagine why he did!”

  “For the same reason as you did, I suppose,” said Jimmy crossly. “To make some money! To hear you talk, anyone would think you owned all the circuses in the world. Hold your tongue for a little while, Miss Know-All!”

  Lisa put out her tongue at Jimmy, and put out her arm to pinch him slyly. But he was ready for her and skipped out of the way.

  Britomart was not going to sleep in the camp. He was going to stay at the biggest hotel in the town, and would only come out to the circus each evening, when the show began.

  “Good thing too,” said Sticky Stanley. “That man may be made of magic—but he gives me the creeps with those glinting black eyes of his!”

  Everyone was very busy the next day. The enormous new tent was already up, and Brownie and theother men had seen that it was safe as could be. They did not want it to be blown off the ground, like the other one. Many new benches had been bought, and were arranged round the ring.

  Even the ring itself was new, for Mr. Galliano had ordered new plush sections, which, when fitted together, made a bigger ring than before.

  The programme was carefully worked out. It would be longer than usual, because there were more performers, but the tickets were to cost more. Each performer was given his time and his turn, and a rehearsal was planned and carried out in the morning.

  Everyone did well. Only Britomart was not there. He would never come to rehearsals, and as he was so famous, he was allowed to do as he liked. Jimmy and Lotta were in a great state of excitement. Lucky was thrilled to think that the show was beginning again, for she, like all the other animals, loved the excitement of the ring.

  The first night came. The big towns near the camp knew all about the show, for Mr. Galliano had sent his men to paste up enormous circus-posters all over the place. So everyone knew, and hundreds of people came to see the first show. They streamed in at the big gates, where they got their tickets, and made their way to the big tent. Flaring lights lit up the inside, and big shadows danced in the roof. The band tuned up. The drummer rolled his sticks on the drum softly. Jumbo trumpeted somewhere, and some of the parrots screeched joyfully. They loved to go into the ring with Madame Prunella, they loved the clapping and shouting and cheering, just as the circus-folk loved it.

  The show began. The circus-parade went round the ring—horses, performers, dogs, carriages, everything, bowing and waving—and then the first turn began.

  It was Lal and Laddo, with their beautiful horses— and how they waltzed, how they cantered, how they stood up altogether on their hind legs, their heads magnificent with great clusters of ostrich feathers. Jimmy thought they had never done so well before.

  One by one all the turns came on. Sammy and Mr. Wally—Lilliput and his monkeys—Prunella and her parrots—Lotta and Black Beauty—and then Pierre and his performing seal.

  That seal! It was simply marvellous! It galloped in beside Pierre, who was now perfectly wonderful in silver and gold. Neptune was cleverer than a dog! He did everything he was told. He sat
on a stool. He galloped round the plush ring on his flippers. He played cricket with his master, catching the ball every time that Pierre sent it into the air.

  He balanced a long pole on the very tip of his nose, and then Pierre placed a ball on top of the pole. And do you know, Neptune went round the ring with the pole on his nose, and the ball balanced safely on the tip of the pole I Jimmy couldn’t imagine how he did it.

  He had another trick too. Pierre brought in six bells hung on a brass rod—and what do you think Neptune did? He struck those bells with his nose, and played “Jack and Jill went up the hill” on them! How the people cheered!

  “Marvellous!” said Jimmy, as the seal galloped out of the ring beside Pierre, trying to catch hold of his fingers as he went. “How I do like that seal! I’d love one of my own.”

  The zebras were beautiful to watch too. They trotted in, and played a kind of football match, deftly kicking the ball from one to the other.

  “They look just like football players with striped jerseys on!” said Jimmy to Lotta. “Oh, look—Zeno is going to do something else.”

  So he was. The trainer got three of the zebras together, and leapt up to their backs. He put one foot on each of the outside zebras, so that he was straddled over the third one. Then, at words of command, all the other zebras took their places in front of him, and his helper threw him up the reins. And round the ring with his twelve zebras galloped Zeno, standing safely on the backs of two of them, with a third in the middle, below!

  Everyone knew how difficult zebras were to tame and train, and the watching people shouted and cheered Zeno till they were hoarse. The parrots outside the ring got most excited when they heard all the noise, and they joined in the cheering too.

  “Hip-pip-prah!” shouted the parrots, till Madame Prunella scolded them and made them stop. Even then Gringle kept shouting loudly, and Prunella had to take him away for a while, till he became quiet.