Читать книгу Three Boys and a Circus - Enid blyton - Страница 3

CHAPTER 1
THE COMING OF THE CIRCUS

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Dick sat under a hedge, eating his dinner. By him sat his dog, Bouncer, a shaggy-haired sheep-dog, his hair over his eyes. Bouncer was waiting for his share of the dinner.

It wasn’t much of a dinner—two slices of very dry bread and a crumbly bit of cheese! But Dick thought he was lucky to have it. He had found it on the roadway, thrown away by a workman who didn’t want it.

“Here you are, Bouncer—here’s your share,” said Dick, giving the dog half a piece of bread and a few crumbs of cheese. Bouncer gobbled them up in a trice and wagged his tail. He licked his master and whined.

“Oh, you want a drink, do you?” said Dick. “Well, so do I. You must wait till we come to a farm, and we’ll ask for some water.”

“Woof!” said Bouncer—and then he pricked up his ears. He could hear strange sounds. Dick heard them, too.

“What’s that?” he wondered, and he got up to see. The lane turned a corner not far off, and round the bend, over the tops of the hedges, could be seen bright-coloured vans and carts. There was the sound of music, too, and of gay voices calling to one another.

“It’s a fair or a circus,” said Dick. “We’ll watch it pass by us, Bouncer. We don’t often have a treat like this. Look—here they come. It’s a circus!”

So it was. The whole circus was on the move, going to the next town to give a show. The long procession of vans and cages and carts moved slowly by Dick and Bouncer.

Some beautiful horses came first, trotting proudly along in a line. Two men were with them, one on the first horse and one on the last. Behind them came a clown, playing a merry tune on a big concertina. The clown was in his circus suit and his face was painted red and white. Dick laughed to see him for he danced about and round and round as he played, singing a funny song.

“Hie! Look at the elephants!” yelled Dick in excitement. Two enormous grey beasts came plodding heavily into the lane, their backs piled with poles and boards, and their trunks swinging from side to side.

“Woof!” barked Bouncer, who did not like the smell of the elephants at all. Dick put a hand on his collar—and then he grinned for joy.

“The circus is going to have a rest here!” he said. “What luck! Now we can really see everything properly, Bouncer!”

The circus stopped. The horses were led away to a grassy field nearby. The vans pulled up in a line on one side of the lane. Six white goats that also belonged to the circus went to graze on the common behind Dick. The elephants knelt down for a rest.

Dick and Bouncer went to look at everything. They stopped in amazement at the sight of a small woman with five monkeys around her. She was talking to them as if they were children, and was laying a box for dinner.

“And just you see you don’t have more than your fair share of bananas to-day!” she said to a small bright-eyed monkey in a blue coat. Each monkey wore a different coloured coat, and a frilly collar. When they saw Bouncer they all leapt to the top of their caravan and sat there chattering.

“Go away, boy,” said the monkey woman crossly. “Your dog has frightened my monkeys.”

“Oh, can’t I stay and watch them having their dinner?” begged Dick.

One of the monkeys took a flying leap and landed on Dick’s shoulder. It took hold of his ear and pinched it gently. Dick was too surprised to move.

“Look at that!” said the monkey woman with a laugh. “All right—stand still. He won’t hurt you. Let me take him.”

Dick heard Bouncer barking at something, and when the monkey had been safely lifted from his shoulder, he hurried off to see what the noise was about.

Bouncer had found the elephants! He was telling them exactly what he thought about them, and he was being very rude! The elephants took no notice at all. Dick went to pick Bouncer up—and he felt a hand in his pocket! Somebody was feeling to see if he had anything there!

“Hie, stop that!” cried Dick, and clapped his hand to his pocket.

“Hrrrrumph!” said an elephant, and took the end of his trunk out of Dick’s pocket. He held a piece of paper in it, and put it into his big mouth.

“Oh, so it was you, was it?” said Dick, surprised. “Well, you won’t find that paper tastes very nice!”

“Now then, what are you doing here?” cried a loud voice, and a man dressed in riding-breeches and a bright yellow jersey came round a caravan. “Run away! We don’t want a stranger upsetting our animals.”

It was the owner of the circus, Mr. Monty Ravelini, a fine handsome man with black curly hair, bright black eyes, and ruddy cheeks.

“All right sir,” said Dick. He went round the line of caravans till he came to the last one. This was a fine big one, painted yellow and blue. It had blue curtains at the windows, and a bright yellow door at the back. Dick wondered who it belonged to. He thought he really must peep inside. He had never been into a caravan and had always wondered what they were like.

He stood on a wheel and hoisted himself up. Bouncer stood anxiously waiting. Dick parted the curtains and looked inside.

There was somebody there. A boy lay on a bunkbed, his face turned to the wall. He was muttering hard to himself.

“It’s too bad! It’s too bad! I won’t stand it—I won’t, I won’t!”

Dicks’ foot slipped on the wheel, and he made a noise. The boy turned round in the bunk at once and stared at Dick.

“Who are you, and what are you peeping in at me for?” he demanded angrily.

“I didn’t know there was anyone here,” said Dick. “I just wanted to see what the inside of a caravan was like.”

“Grrrrrr!” said Bouncer from below the caravan. The boy in the bunk sat up.

“That’s only my dog,” explained Dick.

“Have you got a dog?” said the boy. “Well, I’d like to see him. Open the door and bring him in. What’s he like?”

“He’s an old English sheep-dog,” said Dick. “Wait a minute and I’ll bring him in!”