ON THE ROAD
It all seemed very strange to Jimmy, and he would not have felt very
much surprised if he had suddenly awakened to find himself back in the
dormitory at Miss Lawson's, and all his adventures a dream.
The bed did not look very clean, and Jimmy thought at first that he
should not care to lie down on it. He felt too tired to waste much time,
however, and he did not even take off his clothes, but lay down just as
he was, and in half a minute he fell fast asleep.
And though the horse was put between the shafts, and there was a loud
shouting as the long line of carts and vans began to move, Jimmy did not
open his eyes for some time.
He might not have opened them even then if Nan, who had also been
asleep, had not risen and opened the door and let in a whiff of cold
air. As Jimmy sat up in the dark and rubbed his eyes, he thought at
first that he must be in a boat, because whatever he might be in, it
rolled about from side to side. Remembering presently where he really
was, he got off the bed, and peeped into the other half of the van.
Seeing that Nan was not there, he went to the door, the upper half of
which she had left open. The rain had quite left off, and the night was
very beautiful. A great many stars shone in the sky; Jimmy had never
looked out so late before, he had never seen the heavens such a dark
blue nor the stars so large and bright. It was four o'clock in the
morning, the air felt very cold, and he could see that they were going
slowly along a country road.
About a yard from the back of his own van, a grey horse jogged along
between the shafts of another van, with a rough brown pony tied beside
it. Feeling curious to see as much as he could, Jimmy opened the door,
and climbed carefully down the steps. Then he ran to the side of the
road, although he always took care to keep close to the clown's van.
In front he saw ever so many carts and vans, and behind there were as
many more. There were horses in groups of five or six, and men walking
sleepily along by the hedge. Now and then the lion roared, but not very
loudly; now and then one of the men spoke to his horses; now and then a
match was struck to light a pipe. But for the most part it seemed
strangely silent as the long line wound slowly along the country road.
For a good while Jimmy scarcely heard a sound, but presently, after he
had been in the road a few minutes, he did hear something, and that was
the clown's voice.
'Hullo,' it said, 'what are you doing out here? Just you get inside
again'; and Jimmy scampered away and ran up the steps and lay down on
the bed. He was soon asleep again, and when he re-opened his eyes it was
broad daylight. He found that the caravan had come to a standstill, but
when he looked out at the door everything seemed as quiet as when they
were on the march. It was not so quiet inside the house, for the clown
lay on the bed which Nan had occupied earlier, and he was snoring
loudly. Jimmy wondered where Nan had gone, but whilst he stood shivering
by the door he saw her carrying a wooden pail full of water.
'Is that for me to wash in?' asked Jimmy, for he was surprised to find
that there were no basins and towels in the van.
'Not it,' answered Nan. 'That's to make some tea for breakfast.' He
watched whilst she brought out three pieces of iron like walking-sticks,
tied together at the ends and forming a tripod. Having stuck the other
ends in the ground, Nan collected some sticks, and heaping these
together, she soon made a good fire.
'Can I warm my hands?' asked Jimmy; and leaving the van, he crouched
down to hold his small hands over the blaze. Then Nan hung a kettle over
the fire and stood watching whilst it boiled. And men and women
gradually came out of the other vans, which stood about anyhow, and they
all looked very sleepy and rather dirty, especially the children who
soon began to collect round Jimmy as if he were the most extraordinary
thing in the caravan. If he had felt less cold and hungry Jimmy might
have enjoyed it all, for there was certainly a great deal to see.
They seemed to have stopped on another common, but there were small
houses not very far away. The worst of it was that wherever he went he
was followed by a small crowd of children who made loud remarks about
him. Still he wandered in and out amongst the vans, and stopped a long
time before the cage which contained the lion. The lion was lying down
licking his fore-paws, but he left off to stare at Jimmy, who quickly
drew farther away from the cage. A little farther he met two elephants,
a big one and a little one, with three men who were taking them down to
a pond to drink. Jimmy saw some comical-looking monkeys too; and what
interested him almost more than anything were the men who had already
begun to fix the large tent in an open space. It looked rather odd at
present, because they had only fixed the centre pole, and the canvas
hung loosely in the shape of the cap which the clown had worn last
night. On returning to the van, still followed by the boys, Jimmy saw
the clown sitting on the steps eating an enormous piece of bread and
cheese, and drinking hot tea out of a mug.
'Come along,' said the clown, 'come and have some breakfast'; and Jimmy
sat down on the muddy ground, and Nan gave him another mug and a thick
slice of bread; but Jimmy was by this time so hungry that he could have
eaten anything. Still he felt very anxious to hear how he was to reach
Chesterham without meeting Coote again.
'I _should_ like to see my father and mother to-day,' he said, as he ate
his breakfast.
'Not to-day,' answered the clown, 'but it won't be long, so don't you
worry yourself. We're working that way, and we're going to have a
performance there.'
'At Chesterham!' cried Jimmy, feeling extremely relieved.
'You'll be there before the end of the week,' said the clown; 'and I
should think your father would come down handsome.'
Now Jimmy began to feel quite contented again, and there was so much to
look at that he forgot everything else.
When he was at school at Ramsgate he had seen a circus going in a
procession through the town, and now Nan told him that this circus was
going in a procession, and that it would start at half-past twelve.
Everybody seemed very busy making ready for it, men were attending to
the horses, and the gilded chariots were being prepared, and presently
Nan began to dress.
'What are you going to be?' asked Jimmy, as she took a bright-looking
helmet from under her bed.
'Don't you know?' she answered. 'Why, I'm Britannia.'
A little later she left the van with the helmet on her head, and a large
thing which looked like a pitchfork in one hand. In the other she
carried a shield, and her white dress had flags all over it. By this
time one of the gilded chariots had been made very high; it seemed to be
almost as high as a house, and on the top was a seat. Nan climbed up to
this seat and sat down, and then a black man led Billy the lion out of
his cage with a chain round his neck, and it was funny to see the lion
climb up to the place where Nan was sitting and quietly lie down by her
side.
The clown was standing on a white horse, with a long pair of reins
driving another white horse; but the black man who had led the lion
drove eight horses, and then there was a band, in red, and two
elephants, and everybody in the circus except some of the children and a
few women formed a part of the long procession.