Mystery Penta

10-A CURIOUS CHANGE OF MIND

A CURIOUS CHANGE OF MIND

Nobby felt very much tempted to go and have a meal up in the hills with the children. But he was afraid of meeting Lou and his uncle coming back from their walk.

'We can easily look out for them and warn you if we see or hear them,' said Harry, 'and you can flop under a bush and hide till they go past. You may be sure we'll be on the look-out for them ourselves, because we don't want to meet them either!'

'Well, I'll come,' said Nobby. 'I'll take Barker and Growler too. They'll like to see Fawkes.'

So all five of them, with the two dogs, set off up the hill. They climbed up short cuts at first, but they were soon panting, and decided to take the track, which, although longer, was easier to follow.

They all kept a sharp look-out for the two men, but they could see no sign of them. 'We shall be at our caravans soon,' said James. Then he heard Fawkes squawking in the distance. 'Hallo! What's old Fwakes barking for? I wonder if those fellows have been up to our caravans?'

'Good thing we left Fawkes on guard if so,' said Harry. 'We might have missed something if not.'

Then he went red, remembering that it was Nobby's uncle he had been talking of. Nobby might feel upset and offended to hear someone speaking as if he thought Tiger Dan would commit a little robbery.

But Nobby wasn't at all offended. 'Don't you worry about what you say of my uncle,' he said, cheerfully. 'He's a bad lot. I know that. Anyway, he's not really my uncle, you know. When my father and mother died, they left a little money for me — and it turned out that they had asked Tiger Dan to look after me. So he took the money, called himself my uncle, and I've had to 'be with him ever since.'

'Was he in the same circus, then?' asked James.

'Oh yes. He and my father were both clowns,' said Nobby. 'Always have been clowns, in my family. But wait till I'm old enough, and I'll do a bunk — clear off and join another circus, where they'll let me look after the horses. I'm mad on horses. But the fellow at our circus won't often let me go near them. Jealous because I can handle them, I suppose!'

The children gazed at Nobby in wonder. He seemed an extraordinary boy to them — one who walked about with a tame chimpanzee, exercised hordes of performing dogs, lived with the chief clown in the circus, could turn the most marvellous cart-wheels, and whose only ambition was to work with horses! What a boy! Harry half-envied him.

'Haven't you ever been to school?' he asked Nobby.

The boy shook his head. 'Never! I can't write. And I can only read a bit. Most circus folk are like that, so nobody minds. Jumping Jiminy, I bet you're all clever, though! I bet even little Anne can read a book!'

'I've been able to read for years,' said Anne. 'And I'm up to fractions now in numbers.'

'Coo! What's fractions?' said Nobby, impressed.

'Well — quarters and halves and seven-eighths, and things like that,' said Anne. 'But I'd rather be able to turn a cart-wheel like you can, Nobby, than know how to do fractions.'

'Whatever is Fawkes squawking for?' said Robert as they came near the clump of birch trees. Then she stopped suddenly, for she had seen two figures lying down in the grass below the trees. Lou — and Tiger Dan!

It was too late for Nobby to hide. The men saw him at once. They got up and waited for the children to come near. Robert felt thankful that Fawkes was within whistling distance. He would come at the first call or whistle, she knew.