The two days that followed their arrival seemed to Derrick to be a
succession of hours born of delirium and nurtured by frenzy. Mr.
Bloxford, still in his preposterous fur coat, was everywhere at once,
and waving his hands as usual; Derrick, who had begun by shouting, soon
became hoarse, and discovered why it was that Mr. Bloxford relied, on
such occasions, entirely on gesture.
Derrick followed his example as well as he could, and by dint of
expressive pantomime, and sometimes forcible persuasion with a fist
which had acquired an astonishing readiness, got the motley crew of
quadrupeds and bipeds on dry land, formed up his column, marched it to
the spot outside the handsome city, and then sank on an upturned box,
wiping his brows, and wondering, while he watched the experienced
baggage hands deftly erect the monster tent, whether he should ever get
his voice back.
It was summer in England, but it was like winter here, a bland and mild
winter, with, fortunately for Bloxford's circus, no rain--at any rate,
at present--and all through the day the scene had been lit up by a
brilliant sun which, shining through a singularly clear atmosphere,
seemed to destroy distance and to bestow sharp outlines on every object.
There was something exhilarating in the air, and the bustle and
excitement, and Derrick, having rested, went to his canvas quarters
feeling his blood stir within him, and his past life stretching away
behind him as if it had belonged to another man.
They opened to a big "house," comprising an audience of all classes, and
it might be said all nationalities; for in the din that arose from the
crowd Derrick caught scraps of Italian, Spanish, and French, the thick,
soft tone of the Mexican, the brogue of the Irishman; it was a veritable
Babel. As he passed behind the opening through which the performers
entered, Isabel Devigne stepped out from the women's dressing-room, and
Derrick could not suppress a start of surprise and admiration.
As a kind of compliment to the country, she was made up to represent a
queen of the Incas, and was the personification of barbaric splendour.
Her superb figure glittered and scintillated with silver and gold
tinsel, which, in the garish light, would look like a plate of precious
metal. A scarlet cloak partially draped her. The effect of her height
was increased by a head-dress of waving plumes, and her dark brows and
the natural scarlet of her lips were intensified by her make-up. Of
course, she saw him start and the frank admiration in his eyes, and she
smiled as she drew herself up with a proud consciousness of her beauty.
"Shall I do?" she asked, knowing well what the answer would be.
"You're simply splendacious," Derrick assured her. "That costume suits
you down to the ground. You're magnificent."
She flushed beneath her paint, and her lids drooped.
"I'm glad you like it," she said. "Yes, I think I shall knock them."
"You'll knock them silly," said Derrick, confidently.
Then Alice stepped out from the dressing-room, a very different figure,
in her conventional short skirt and silk-clad legs. She looked very
slight and fragile, very fairy-like, against the gorgeous figure of
Isabel, and she glanced down at herself deprecatingly, then raised her
eyes appealingly to Derrick, who responded promptly.
"You look too beautiful to be real, both of you," he said. "If the rest
are as good as you are, this show's going to be the biggest success on
earth."
The band was now blaring away with all its might; the two clowns had
rolled into the ring, the master was cracking his whip, the horses,
awaiting their turn impatiently, were pawing and breathing loudly. Mr.
Bloxford, still in his fur coat, with a big cigar in full blast, was
seated in a coign of vantage from which he could see everything, his
Simian eyes darting everywhere, his jewelled hand ready to wave on the
various items of the programme. The huge audience received the opening
turns with a kind of judicial silence; but as Isabel, on a big black
horse, came sweeping into the ring, a shout of admiration greeted her,
and as she completed a really clever performance a roar of applause
filled the big tent. Sidcup, who was standing beside Derrick, nodded two
or three times with an air of satisfaction.
"Show's going well," he said. "We're making a good start. I shall give
'em my double somersault act to-night; that ought to fetch 'em," he
added, glancing down his perfectly-formed figure, clad in its skin-like
tights.
"I'm sure it will," said Derrick, who had learned the value of a word of
encouragement. "Give 'em the best you've got. They've taken to Miss
Devigne immensely, haven't they? And no wonder."
Sidcup glanced at him sharply.
"You admire her? She's a great friend of yours, Mr. Green," he said,
with a hint of significance in his tone.
"Oh, yes," assented Derrick, in a matter-of-fact way. "No one could help
admiring her. She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. And
her performance was wonderfully clever. Here she comes!"
The black horse, with its magnificent rider, came through the opening,
and Derrick, as he caught the bridle, looked up and nodded his
congratulations. Sidcup approached also, and began to praise her; but
she merely glanced at him. Her eyes fixed themselves on Derrick, and she
rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment as she slipped from her
horse. Sidcup noticed her little action, and his face darkened. At this
moment Mr. Bloxford's hand waved towards him; his turn had come, and he
sprang into the ring with the acrobat's conventional bow and gesture.
After trying his ropes carefully, he swarmed up to the trapeze; the
music of the band slowed down, and became impressive. In almost
breathless silence, Derrick and the audience watched the man as he went
through his performance. It was an extremely clever and daring one, and
he brought it to a close by turning a double somersault as he left one
trapeze and caught the other, a feat which made all who watched it hold
their breath.
The audience roared at him, Mr. Bloxford waved him on twice to bow his
acknowledgments, and Derrick, as Sidcup came tripping out of the ring,
met him and held out a hand.
"Simply stunning!" said Derrick. "Cleverest thing of the kind I ever
saw. You must have the pluck of the devil. You made my heart turn over.
Wonderful, wasn't it, Miss Devigne?"
She took her eyes from Derrick for an instant, and smiled at Sidcup, but
her gaze returned to Derrick's face, and Sidcup's smile vanished as he
passed them without a word.
Alice, too, got her share of the applause for her very pretty and
refined act of horsemanship. The rest of the company, heartened by the
previous successes, did their best, and an evidently well-pleased
audience streamed out into the cool, clear air. Sent for by Mr.
Bloxford, Derrick went to the manager's tent or office.
"Congratulations, sir!" he said.
"Here, help me count this," commanded Mr. Bloxford, nodding to the heap
of notes and coin. "Yes, it's been a good start, and a jolly good thing
for us that they were pleased. I've heard since I've been here that if
they don't ketch on, if they don't cotton to the show, they're apt to
cut up rough. A man at the hotel told me that the last circus was
wrecked, clean wrecked. Something they didn't like got their monkey up."
"Oh, we're all right, anyhow," said Derrick. "Our people are all very
pleased. They're going to have a kind of beano over the supper. You'll
come along, Mr. Bloxford; they'll want you."
"All right," said Mr. Bloxford. "But it seems to me that you're the
popular man of this crowd. Oh, I don't walk about in my sleep, young
man. I can see as far as a blind horse. You've got through your bit like
a little man; and no nonsense, neither--no side and no frills. And no
fooling about with the women, eh?"
He shot a glance at Derrick who shrugged his shoulders, and Mr.
Bloxford, after another glance, appeared to be satisfied with the shrug.
After they had counted the money as best they could, for some of it was
strange to them, and had locked it in the safe, they joined the company.
Their appearance was hailed with a cheer. Mr. Bloxford was conducted,
with theatrical pomp, to the head of the trestle-board which served as a
table, and Derrick, after some protest, was installed at the bottom. The
simple, almost child-like, folk enjoyed themselves amazingly. Bloxford's
and Derrick's health was drunk, and it was with unfeigned reluctance
that Derrick at last broke up the party and ordered them off to the rest
they had so well earned.
On the second night there was another packed audience; but there was a
larger proportion of the rougher element, and Mr. Bloxford remarked on
the fact somewhat anxiously to Derrick.
"There's always a lot of cowboys in the city," he said, "and there's a
good many of them here to-night. They come in from the plains for a
lark, and they generally see that they get it."
"Oh, they'll be all right," said Derrick. "They're bound to be pleased."
"Well, keep an eye on things," remarked Mr. Bloxford, who was evidently
still rather uneasy. "It there's any disturbance, turn on the band. Make
them play like blazes, the louder the better."
Derrick nodded, and hurried off to overlook things. He found that the
women were rather nervous, for they had heard of the fate of the last
circus; but they, too, were encouraged by his cool and easy manner and
the few words of cheer which seemed to come so easily to him. The early
turns went well, especially those of Isabel, Alice, and Sidcup. Sidcup's
was followed by an exhibition of bareback riding by two men. One of them
on this occasion was Jackman, who was taking the place of a rider who
had strained his ankle on the previous night. Jackman had been drinking,
not heavily, or Derrick would have noticed the fact, but just enough to
make him unsteady and uncertain, and in attempting to leap from the
ground to the horse while it was in motion he missed and sprawled on the
tan.
A roar of ridicule rose from the cheaper part of the house. Jackman
sprang to his feet, ran across the ring, and made another attempt; and
failed again. The roar of mockery rose now like one vast derisive cheer.
Jackman, glaring round the audience, his lips drawn from his teeth in a
snarl, waited till the horse came round, then struck at it, as if to
show that the animal and not he was in fault.
The laughter, derision, gave place suddenly to a yell of objurgation.
Two young men, obviously cowboys, sprang over the low barrier, and
Jackman, after a moment's hesitation, turned and ran. One of the cowboys
caught the horse, and the audience, breathless and silent now, waited
for events. Derrick, who had been watching the scene closely, came
slowly, almost saunteringly, across the ring to the two young men.