After a few minutes of further conversation, Nancy asked the woman if she had been with the circus long.
"Several years."
Nancy then inquired if the seamstress had ever known anyone who owned a horse-charm bracelet.
"No, I haven't," she replied. "Why? Does it have something to do with this circus?"
"It might," Nancy replied. "Where can I find Mr. Sims?"
The seamstress said that Mr. Sims was rarely at the circus. In fact, he had not traveled with them for several weeks. Mr. Kroon was apparently in charge now. She suggested that Nancy ask him about the bracelet.
"Oh, please don't go back to him," Teddy begged.
Since Nancy did not wish to upset the boy, she decided to question the ringmaster later. She thanked the seamstress for her information, then she and Teddy walked away.
"We'd better go home now," Nancy told him, "I'm ready for breakfast myself. Suppose I pick you up at nine o'clock and we'll go watch the parade together."
"That'll be swell," Teddy agreed eagerly.
When Nancy reached home, she found Hannah Gruen preparing breakfast and asked whether her father had returned. The housekeeper shook her head.
"Your father did telephone, though," Hannah reported. "He was disappointed that you weren't here."
"Did he have anything special to tell me?" Nancy asked.
"No, except to say that he would have to be away for a while—he didn't know just how long."
Nancy looked wistful. She missed her father very much when his legal work took him out of town. She enjoyed discussing his cases with him and also getting his advice on any mysteries which she happened to be working on at the moment.
"Well, I guess we're ready to sit down," said Mrs. Gruen. "Did you find out anything about your bracelet at the circus, Nancy?"
"No, I didn't. But I'll talk to more of the people later. The circus will be here for two or three days, I believe."
At nine o'clock Nancy and Teddy were on their way to the main street of River Heights along which the circus parade would come. Although the parade was not due to arrive for another half-hour, the street already was lined with hundreds of people. Nancy and Teddy had to walk four blocks from the center of town before they could find a place on the curb.
A few minutes later they heard a band. The music grew louder and louder, and presently they could see the marching players. Teddy clapped his hands and jumped up and down gleefully.
Nearer and nearer the band came. Suddenly the trumpet player let out a blast directly opposite the little boy, who clapped his hands over his ears. But in a moment he was laughing.
"Here come the elephants," Nancy announced, and Teddy craned his neck to see the enormous animals swinging up the street.
Men and women attired in gay costumes accompanied the elephants. The men were seated astride the animals' backs, but the girls were walking alongside them. Occasionally they would seat themselves on the elephants' curled-up trunks and ride for half a block before jumping off.
"Gee, I bet that would be fun," said Teddy. "Oh, here comes Cinderella in a gold carriage."
"She's the main attraction in the circus, I understand," Nancy remarked. "Her name is Lolita. She does a very daring aerial act."
As the carriage glided by, drawn by four beautiful white horses, Lolita waved to the people, who clapped their hands and shouted. But the lovely, dark-haired circus star did not smile in return.
"Why is she so sad?" Teddy asked. "She looks like Cinderella did after her carriage turned into a pumpkin."
"I wonder myself," Nancy said.
A moment after the girl had passed, the parade suddenly halted. Without warning Teddy left Nancy. He dashed into the street and ran down to Cinderella's carriage. Reaching up, he opened the door and hopped inside.
Nancy was at the boy's heels. No sooner had Teddy seated himself beside Lolita, than Nancy opened the door and requested him to come out.
For the first time Lolita smiled. She put her arm around Teddy and said, "Let him stay. He's the only one who has ever done this. I think it's kind of cute."
Nancy closed the door. Smiling, she said, "As soon as you want Teddy to leave, don't hesitate to say so. I'll walk along beside the carriage and take care of him when he gets out."
Teddy, meanwhile, looked wistfully at Cinderella. "Why do you look so sad?" he asked.
"Do I really?" the girl countered, then added, "You've heard how unhappy the real Cinderella was because she lost her prince, haven't you? Well, I guess I'm sad for the same reason."
Lolita said no more. And Teddy, not understanding the implication in her words, turned to watch the people on the sidewalk.
The little boy was so thrilled that he stood up and waved to the cheering crowd. Many people concluded that he was part of the circus and wondered what he did in the Cinderella act.
Everything went smoothly for about two blocks, then Nancy heard the sudden, sharp clop of horses' hoofs behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the ringmaster galloping toward her. Quickly she jumped to the sidewalk to avert being run down.
"That man's so mean," she told herself, "I don't see how he gets along with anybody."
To her dismay, Kroon stopped at Cinderella's carriage. Reaching inside, he grabbed Teddy up in his arms and planted him firmly in front of him on the horse.
"You crazy kid!" he shouted. "What are you trying to do? Ruin my circus?"
Unceremoniously he lifted Teddy out of the saddle and plunked him down on the curb. Nancy started to tell the irate ringmaster that his actions were quite unwarranted, since Lolita had said the child might ride with her, but Kroon rode off in a hurry. There were so many animals and circus people to look at—riders, clowns, giants, and midgets—that both Nancy and Teddy soon forgot the unpleasant incident.
Both were eager to attend the afternoon performance and arrived early at the circus grounds. Nancy wore an attractive blue sports dress and had slipped the horse-charm bracelet over her wrist. Bess and George, who had her young nephew with her, joined Nancy and Teddy. They had front-row seats in one of the center boxes.
The performance began with a second parade for the benefit of those who had not seen the one on the street. When it was over, the entrance gate opened and seven clowns came running in Teddy shrieked in delight.
One clown, dressed as a tattered hobo, had a little fox terrier with him which did tricks. Another clown, who was dressed as a farmer, was wearing a beard that reached to his knees. With it, he tickled the ears of a comical-looking cow, composed of two clowns. The fifth clown represented a barrel and did all sorts of tricks rolling around quite like one.
The last two were dressed in Pierrot clown suits. One carried a tall ladder. Just before he reached the spot where Nancy and her friends were seated, he planted the ladder upright in the ground and held onto it. The other clown named Pietro, began to climb up. When he reached the top, the clown below suddenly let go and walked off.
"Oh!" everyone under the tent cried.
To their amazement, the clown on the ladder did not fall. He balanced himself skillfully, swaying back and forth above the green tanbark. As everyone realized that this was a trick of great cleverness, and not just a clownish act, they clapped loudly.
"It's going to be even harder for him to climb down," George observed tensely.
The audience watched breathlessly as the clown slowly lowered himself without falling. He turned in a complete circle to acknowledge the loud applause.
As he bowed low before Nancy's group, a startled look came over his face. The clown walked forward and stared at Nancy's bracelet.
"Where did you get this, miss?" Pietro asked in a low voice.
Before the startled girl could reply, a whistle sounded and the band began to play. The clown hurriedly said, "I must speak to you after the show. Please meet me beside King Kat's cage."