16

with the circus

jack liked pedro very much. he was a born circus boy, with all their manners and ways, and hewas sensitive enough to know that jack did not want to talk about himself or what he was doing intauri- hessia, wandering about with kiki. so he asked him no questions, and jack was verygrateful.

he couldn’t have told him the truth, and he didn’t want to tell him lies! perhaps when they werein borken, and he knew pedro better, he would be able to tell him a little – perhaps even get hishelp.

the circus went on the road that evening. the vans and lorries creaked out of the fields, andwent clattering down the highway. it was a rough road, and the vans swayed about dangerously.

some of them had caged animals inside, and jack watched them anxiously. what would happen ifa van went over – would the animals escape? there were bears in one van, and two chimpanzeesin another.

kiki was a source of enormous amusement to everyone in the camp. many of the circus folkcould speak a broken english – enough to make themselves understood, anyway! they laughed ateverything kiki said. they brought her all kinds of titbits, and when they found that she was fondof tinned pineapple they raided the shops they passed, and bought tins of it!

jack asked pedro many questions. how far was borken? who owned the castle? was it veryold? could anyone see over it?

pedro laughed. ‘borken castle – and the whole of borken – and all the land we are passingthrough – is owned by the count paritolen. he lives at the castle, and as for letting anyone seeover it – my word, they’d be clapped into a dungeon before they even got through the door!’

‘he sounds rather fierce,’ said jack, gloomily. if the others had been taken to the count’s castlethey wouldn’t have a very nice time, with such a fierce captor!

‘he’s a very strong and determined fellow,’ said pedro. ‘he hates the king, who is too strongfor him. he’d like to make the young prince aloysius king – then he could rule the countryhimself, through the prince, who would have to do as he was told.’

‘i see,’ said jack, his heart sinking. what could he hope to do against a man like countparitolen?

‘is this count the prime minister?’ asked jack, suddenly remembering what gussy had said.

‘no. his brother-in-law, count hartius, is prime minister,’ said pedro. ‘they’re both alike inhating the king – but count hartius is weak, where his brother-in-law is strong. it is his wife whorules him – a very clever woman, so they say – madame tatiosa.’

jack listened to all this intently. he was beginning to have a clearer idea about things. howstrange to be suddenly plunged into the middle of all this – to know the little prince himself – to beso near the castle of borken, and to be on the land of count paritolen, who wanted to depose theking! it sounded like a tale in a book, a tale that had suddenly become real.

‘how do you know all this, pedro?’ he asked.

‘oh, everyone in tauri-hessia knows it,’ said pedro. ‘it may mean civil war, you see, and allthe people fear that. if the king is deposed, and this young prince is put in his place, the peoplewill take sides and will be at one another’s throats in no time – and circus people like us will haveto get out of the country as quick as we can! so we keep our ears to the ground to find out what isgoing on.’

jack was certain that he himself knew the latest news of all! he was sure that as yet no one intauri-hessia knew that prince aloysius had been kidnapped from england, and was even now aprisoner in borken castle. but what was going to happen next? would the plot take one stepfurther, and news come out that the king had been killed – or put into prison?

jack fell into deep thought – so deep that he didn’t even hear ma calling to him to come and eat.

the boy suddenly felt that he had become a very important person in this plot – someonefortunately unknown to the plotters – but who might spoil the plot altogether if only he couldmanage to get into the castle.

‘penny for your thoughts!’ said pedro and gave him a punch. ‘wake up! you look very solemn.

anything on your mind?’

jack shook himself, and smiled. kiki had flown off his shoulder to ma, who was fishing upsome peculiar titbits for her from a big black pot.

‘polly put the kettle on,’ said kiki. she cocked her head on one side and looked at ma.

‘bonnytageloota!’

ma slapped her knees and laughed. she loved kiki. she pointed to kiki. ‘she spik hessian!’ shecalled.

jack was astonished. now how in the world did kiki manage to pick up the hessian language?

really, she was a marvellous mimic. ‘what does “bonnytageloota” mean?’ he asked.

‘top of the morning to you!’ said pedro, with a grin.

the circus stopped at a big village, and set up camp for two days. jack was busy then. he had togive pedro a hand in all kinds of ways – putting up tents, pulling vans into place, setting up thebenches in rows, running here and there for the ‘boss’, whose name jack never could manage topronounce.

the circus folk approved of jack. he was willing and quick, and he had good manners, whichmade him very popular with the women, who had got used to plain ways from the menfolk. jackliked most of the circus people – they were kindly and generous, quick-tempered and cheerful –some were dirty and slovenly, too, not always very honest and sometimes lazy. they were good tojack, and made him one of themselves at once.

they were a curious lot. there was fank, with his three bears, one of the great draws of theshow. the bears were all large, dark brown, and were natural clowns. they boxed, they knockedeach other over, they lumbered round in a laughable dance, and they adored fank, their trainer.

‘don’t you go too near them, though,’ pedro warned him. ‘they’re treacherous. no one butfank can manage them. bad-tempered, bears are – have to be careful of them.’

the two chimpanzees were amusing fellows. they walked about hand in hand with their owner,a tiny woman called madame fifi. she wasn’t much taller than they were! they really loved her.

jack liked them very much, but soon found that they were dreadful pickpockets! they slippedtheir furry hands into his pockets without his knowing, and took his handkerchief, a notebook andtwo pencils.

madame fifi gave them back to him, with a laugh. she poured out something in french – orwas it spanish or italian? she spoke so quickly that jack couldn’t even make out what languageshe was speaking. she saw that jack didn’t understand, and produced a few words of english.

‘bad boys!’ said madame fifi, pointing a tiny finger at the chimpanzees, feefo and fum.

‘smack, smack, smack!’

there were toni and bingo the acrobats. toni was a marvellous rope-walker, and raised aperfect storm of cheers and shouts when he performed on a wire rope high up in the big circustent. he could do anything on it – run, jump, dance – even turn head over heels. jack was alwaysafraid he would fall.

‘why doesn’t he have a safety net?’ he asked pedro. ‘you know, he’d kill himself if he fellfrom that height!’

‘ask him!’ said pedro with a laugh. so jack put the question to toni, when the acrobat cameacross to talk to pedro’s mother. toni was spanish, but he understood english well, though he didnot speak it fluently.

‘pah! safftee net!’ he said, in scorn. ‘onnly in eengland is a safftee net put for me. i do not fall!

i am toni, the grrrrreat toni !

there was tops, too, a clown whose great speciality was stilt- walking. it was absolutelyamazing to see him stalk into the ring, as tall as a giant. he had big boots fitted on to the bottom ofhis stilts, and to most of the children in the audience he seemed a true giant, especially as he had atremendous voice.

he had had a peculiar bicycle built for himself, very tall – and he could ride this when still onstilts. that brought the house down! another thing that made everyone laugh till they cried waswhen someone in the ring wanted to talk to tops. they brought in a long ladder and put it right upto his waist – then up the ladder somebody ran to talk to the clown at the top of it.

tops was a funny little man in himself, always joking. his big voice didn’t fit his small body.

‘that’s why he learnt stilt-walking,’ pedro told jack. ‘to be tall enough for his voice! that’s whathe always says, anyway.’

there was hola, the sword-swallower. jack watched him, shuddering. hola could put a swordright down his throat up to the hilt! he would put back his head, and down would go the sword.

‘i can understand his being able to swallow short daggers or knives,’ said jack. ‘well – notswallow them, exactly, but stick them right down his throat – but pedro, how can he swallow thatlong, long sword of his? it’s awful to see him. it makes me feel quite sick.’

pedro laughed. ‘i’ll take you to hola’s van when he is in a good temper,’ he said. ‘he will showyou how he does that.’

and one evening jack had gone across to hola’s bright yellow van, and had been introduced tohola himself, a tall, thin fellow with sad eyes. pedro spoke to him in german, and hola noddedand produced a small smile. he beckoned jack into his van. in a big stand were all sizes of knives,daggers and swords. jack pointed to a very long sword indeed.

hola took it up. he put back his head, and down went the sword, down, down, down his throatright up to the hilt. it wasn’t possible! how could a man do that?

up came the sword again, and hola took it out of his mouth and smiled, still with his sadexpression. he handed the sword to jack.

and then the boy understood how hola could do such an extraordinary thing. the sword wascollapsible! it could be made to slide into itself, so that it became only the length of a long dagger.

by a most ingenious mechanism, worked by a knob in the handle, hola could make the swordshorter and shorter as he swallowed it.

jack was most relieved. he was allowed to press the little secret knob, and see how the pointedend of the sword slid upwards into the main part, making itself into a curious dagger.

the circus folk were certainly interesting to live with! jack couldn’t help enjoying the strange,happy-go-lucky life, although he worried continually about lucy-ann and the others, and wasimpatient for the circus to go on to borken. he was so afraid that he would be too late, if the circuswas too long on the way.

‘but i must stay with them,’ he thought. ‘it is the best possible hiding place for me. the policewould certainly get me sooner or later if i wandered off on my own. but i wish the circus wouldget on a bit faster. i simply must get to borken soon, and do a bit of prowling round the castle onmy own.’