A Missing Billfold
Beholding the courage of the little circus girl, the crowd became quiet
and no longer pushed.
Quickly, circus workmen and animal trainers formed a circle about the
tiger. One of the men, whose name was Jim Carsdale, approached closer
than the others.
He crept cautiously toward the big cat, talking to him as if to a pet.
“Careful, Jim,” warned a companion. “Better shoot him.”
The animal trainer shook his head. He kept moving closer and closer.
A strong cage had been opened up by the circus men. At a command from
Jim Carsdale, the tiger leaped in and the door was bolted.
“Dear me, I feel weak all over,” murmured Mrs. Williams as the men
lifted the cage onto a truck. “That animal trainer was marvelous!”
“One of the best in the circus,” said Eva Leitsall proudly. “Jim
Carsdale.”
“You were very brave yourself,” declared Miss Gordon.
Eva shrugged off the praise. “Oh, I didn’t do anything,” she said. “I
just knew that if folks started screaming, the tiger might attack.”
The little circus girl nodded goodbye and sauntered off down the
platform. After talking for a moment with Jim Carsdale, she swung
aboard the sleeper car again.
“Oh, wouldn’t it be fun to travel with a circus,” sighed Veve. “One
would feel so important!”
“And imagine having your own riding act!” said Rosemary enviously. “I’d
love that.”
“I imagine circus life has its disadvantages,” commented Miss Gordon.
“As a steady diet, one might grow very tired of it.”
The Brownies watched the unloading of the cars for a half hour longer.
Then Connie’s mother looked at her watch.
“We really should be starting home,” she said. “The afternoon
performance begins at one-thirty.”
The Brownies did not mind leaving, for they knew the show that
afternoon would be even more interesting to watch than the unloading.
“Miss Gordon, when will we collect our ticket money?” Connie inquired
as the girls walked along the tracks toward the parked cars.
“At the circus this afternoon,” replied the Brownie leader. “And that
reminds me, we should leave rather early. Shall we meet at my house at
twelve-thirty?”
A strong wind had been blowing. Connie held tightly to her beanie to
keep it from flying from her head, even so it whipped out of her hand
and was carried under the wheels of the circus car.
“Oh, my cap!” Connie exclaimed. She was afraid it might be blown to the
far side of the train. Then she might never recover it.
Not far away stood Jim Carsdale, the animal trainer. Quickly, he
reached under the train to rescue the beanie before it could roll any
farther.
“Here you are, little lady,” he said, offering it to her.
“Oh, thank you, Mr. Carsdale,” replied Connie, speaking his name as if
she knew him. “I saw you make the tiger go into his cage.”
The animal trainer couldn’t keep from showing surprise because the
little girl knew his name. Mrs. Williams explained how Connie had
learned it.
“Eva Leitsall is a smart youngster,” declared the animal trainer
warmly. “She helped to keep the crowd quiet. Tigers are nervous
creatures, easily thrown off balance, Ma’am. We might have had a bad
time of it if folks had lost their heads.”
The Brownies hoped Mr. Carsdale would tell them more about tigers.
Instead, he bowed to Mrs. Williams and walked on.
“I hope we see _him_ again,” declared Connie, as the Brownies returned
to the parked automobiles. “Circus folks are nice, aren’t they?”
“No doubt they’re very much like other people when one becomes
acquainted with them,” replied Mrs. Williams.
“I wish I could be in the circus,” announced Veve enviously. “I’d be an
animal woman. Only I’d train lions instead of tigers.”
At home once more, Veve and Connie did not have long to wait for the
afternoon circus performance.
They played awhile together, had an early lunch, and then it was time
to join the other Brownies at Miss Gordon’s home.
Catching a bus downtown, the girls walked directly to the circus
grounds. Even from a distance they could hear music and it caused them
to quicken their pace. Although it was early, a large crowd already
milled about the entranceway.
“Oh, let’s go right into the big tent,” urged Sunny, skipping along
beside Miss Gordon.
“First of all, I must collect the money for tickets we sold,” replied
the troop leader. “Wait here, girls.”
Leaving the Brownies in a little group, she walked over to the ticket
window. From there she was directed to a man who seemed to be managing
the circus. Nearly twenty minutes elapsed before Miss Gordon finally
returned.
“Did you get the money?” Jane asked anxiously.
“Yes, at last,” sighed Miss Gordon, tapping her billfold. “It’s all
here, and our free tickets as well.”
“Then we’ll get to go to camp,” Connie declared happily. “Now let’s see
the sideshows!”
A man stood on a narrow, high platform in front of a striped green and
white tent.
“Right this way, lay-dees and gentlemen!” he shouted. “Only a dime,
ten cents, to see Bo Bo, the Wild Man. He has hair like a lion and
hands like a gorilla. His teeth are those of that fierce animal of the
frozen north, the polar bear!”
“Are we going in?” asked Rosemary. She was a trifle uneasy. Bo Bo, she
thought, must be a rather horrible person.
“I believe not,” said Miss Gordon. “Let’s move on.”
In the next tent was housed Madam Simla, the snake charmer. She was a
tall, thin woman with long black braids which hung down over her bright
scarlet robe.
“Only ten cents to see the little lady make the python purr,” called
the barker. “Walk right in folks. The show begins in five minutes.”
Miss Gordon did not take the Brownies into Madam Simla’s tent. She
considered snakes rather unpleasant for the girls to see. Instead, they
walked on to the tent of the thin man and the fat lady. The queer pair
were seated on a platform out in front.
“My, isn’t she large!” exclaimed Veve when she saw the fat woman. “Does
she eat too much?”
“I think not,” smiled Miss Gordon. “Probably her glands fail to
function properly.”
“And see the thin man!” squealed Eileen, her gaze upon the walking
skeleton. “He looks starved!”
“Maybe he worries too much,” giggled Belinda.
Miss Gordon and the Brownies moved closer to hear the fat lady make a
little speech.
Other people pressed in about them from all sides. One man shoved
against Miss Gordon, who had to move away.
“Sorry,” the man muttered, slipping off into the crowd.
“May we see just one sideshow?” Jane pleaded.
“Step right up, folks,” called the barker noticing how eager the
Brownies were to buy tickets. “The show is just starting. Ten cents,
one dime, step up, folks.”
“This will be my personal treat,” declared Miss Gordon. “A reward for
earning so much money for our camping trip.”
The troop leader walked over to the booth where a woman sold sideshow
tickets.
“I’ll take eight,” she said.
Then she reached into the inside pocket of her suit, and a queer
expression came over her face.
“Why, Miss Gordon, what is wrong?” asked Belinda.
The Brownie troop leader did not answer until she had searched through
all her pockets.
“My leather billfold is gone!” she exclaimed. “Either I’ve lost it, or
the money was taken by a pickpocket!”