JOE WONDERS
Rather exhausted, not so much physically as mentally, by the nervous
strain of performing so thrilling an act before a big crowd for the
first time, Joe Strong did not at first realize just what he ought to
do on hearing his mother's name mentioned by some one in the throng.
Then, as he thought of how important it might be for him to see who
had spoken, and, perhaps, question him, Joe looked eagerly among the
persons in front of him to see who the man might be.
He saw no one he knew, which was not to be wondered at. At first he had
an idea it might be some former circus acquaintance of Mrs. Strong's.
"But he must have known her in England, to speak of her as a girl, and
of her riding and by her maiden name," reflected Joe. "And if he knew
her----"
He paused a moment, almost overwhelmed by the idea that suddenly came
to him.
"Why," he thought, "that person might know something of mother's
family, whether she had inherited any property or not, and if any was
due me. I must find out who it was."
Joe started toward the crowd held back by the rope. The people were
still cheering and applauding, for the thrilling ride of the young lad
in white tights had made a great impression on them. But Joe saw no one
he knew.
"How can I find out who it was?" he asked himself.
"Come on to your tent," Ryan was urging him. "You're in a perspiration
and you'll take cold."
"Wait a minute," said Joe, but his assistant threw a blanket over the
shoulders of the young motor-cycle rider.
Then an idea came to Joe.
"That was an Englishman who spoke," he reflected. "I could tell that by
his accent. And if he knew my mother he must have lived in England near
her. It's queer, too, but I've heard that same voice somewhere before.
I wonder where it was. I'll see what this will bring about."
Stepping close to the rope that held back the crowd, Joe asked in a
loud voice:
"Are there any Englishmen here?"
It was rather a strange question, and the throng must have felt as
much, for they stared curiously at Joe. But he took what was perhaps
the only method open to him of discovering who had made the remark
about Janet Willoughby.
"Englishmen?" repeated a man in the crowd.
"Yes," went on Joe. "I just heard a remark made by a man with an
English accent, and I want to find out who it was."
"I guess we're all pretty much English here," said another man with a
laugh. Indeed there were very few foreigners at the fair.
"You mean you're all Americans," said Joe, with a smile. "But I mean
an Englishman from England. Are there any such here--any one who knew
a Miss Janet Willoughby, of Surrey," for Joe had learned that his
mother's people lived in that part of England. He decided that he might
as well ask boldly the question he wanted to know.
But no one answered, though one man said:
"There was an Englishman standing near me a minute ago, just as you
rode down the wire."
"Are you sure he was English?" Joe asked.
"Sure! He had the accent all right. But he went off through the crowd
that way."
"Would you know him if you saw him again?" Joe eagerly inquired. "I'd
like to find him to ask about a lady he knew in England, for I heard
him mention her name a minute ago," Joe went on, not thinking it
necessary to say that the lady was his mother.
"I might know him if I saw him," said the man. "Though I didn't take
much notice of him."
"Just take a look around, and if you see him while I'm dressing, bring
him to my tent," said Joe, for he did not want to go about in the crowd
in his rather scanty suit. "I'll pay you for your trouble," he added.
"Oh, it's no trouble," said the speaker, a young lad about Joe's age.
"I'm glad to do it for you, but I'm not sure I can find him."
"Try, anyhow," urged Joe. It was a slender clue but worth following.
Joe went to his tent to dress, while the young searcher began to
circulate in the throng. Joe's questions had caused a little stir, and
there was much curiosity as to what his object could be, but he did not
mind the attention he had attracted.
"I wonder if that man who made the chance remark could have really
meant my mother," mused the boy on his way to his dressing tent. "Of
course there might be more than one Janet Willoughby, but when he spoke
of her as a girl in England, and what a daring horsewoman she was, it
makes a combination that would be hard to duplicate unless my mother
was meant. It would be strange if I should meet some of her former
English friends after all these years."
Bill Watson, the veteran clown, had known Joe's mother as Mrs. Strong,
and our hero, during his stay with the circus, had met several
other persons who had known his father and his mother during their
professional careers, but he had yet to meet one who had known Mrs.
Strong as a girl in England.
"If I could only find him," thought Joe, "he might put me on the
track of my inheritance, provided there is one. I wish I had acted
more quickly--as soon as I heard his remark. But it struck me all so
suddenly that I didn't know what to do. Yet I ought to know that voice.
I wonder where I have heard it before?"
Joe racked his brains in an effort to remember, but he could not. He
had met so many persons, and he had been so busy of late, perfecting
himself for his thrilling act, that events, faces, voices and
happenings overlapped each other.
"It went great!" said Jeroleman, coming in with the motor-cycle.
"Yes, it went off all right," agreed Joe.
"You're not going to work it to-night, are you?" asked Ryan.
"No, the fair closes at night. We don't have to do anything until
to-morrow, when we give two performances, one in the morning and
another in the afternoon. You two can do as you please with yourselves,
as long as you're on hand in the morning."
His helpers thanked him. As for Joe, he knew what he was going to
do--ride over to the circus, and see--but there, you can guess who it
was he wanted most to see.
Joe had donned his street attire when the man who had spoken about the
Englishman came to the tent.
"Did you find him?" asked Joe eagerly.
"Not a sign of him, I'm sorry to say. I went all through the crowd,
too. But he must have slipped away just after I noticed him. He was
standing right close to me."
Joe's hope vanished.
"Thanks," he said to the young fellow. "Are you going to be here
to-morrow?"
"That's what I am! I wouldn't miss your act for a whole lot! It's
great!"
"I'm glad you think so. Well, if you're in the crowd, and you hear any
one speak who you are sure is an Englishman, I wish you would tell him
I'd like to see him in my tent after my act is over."
"I sure will do that, Mr. Strong."
"And here's something for your trouble," said Joe, handing him a bill.
The young fellow did not want to take it, but Joe knew that service
paid for is the best rendered, and insisted. Then, as he could do
nothing more, he had Ryan change the wheels of the motor-cycle and he
rode over to the town where the circus was showing.
The afternoon performance was over when Joe reached the lots, but he
saw Helen making her way to the tent where her horse, Rosebud, was
kept, and he walked across to her.
"Well, well!" she exclaimed, blushing prettily as she shook hands with
him, "I am so glad to see you!"
"Not half as glad as I am to meet you again!" cried Joe, and he did not
let go of her hand, though Helen tried gently to withdraw it from his
clasp. "How are you, and how is Rosebud?"
"Fine! And how about yourself? Is your motor-cycle act going?"
"I've just come from my first public appearance, and, to judge by the
applause, I did well. I'll tell you all about it. I'm going to stay
for the night performance here. There's something I want to ask Bill
Watson."