The Ringmaster's Secret Read online

  Nancy brought the conversation around to Lolita and Pietro. Webster said he thought they were in love, but that Kroon never let his adopted daughter out of his sight.

  “So the two young folks rarely have a chance to be alone,” he said. “And between you and me, I’m afraid Kroon and the circus would fold up if Lolita should ever leave.”

  After a pause, Dan Webster turned to Nancy and asked if she would try another stunt. “A somersault across the horse’s back while it’s moving,” he said. “Want to try it?”

  Nancy hesitated. Then she said that perhaps the stunt was not so difficult as it looked. It would depend on correct timing.

  “You’re absolutely right,” he said. “Watch the rhythm of the horse’s gait. Hum a tune to Belgian Star’s slow canter. Then decide exactly from which point you should start to run. When you’re sure of your timing, take a few steps toward the horse, place your head and shoulders on the mare’s back, and over you go.”

  Roberto insisted that Nancy put on a padded jacket and hat before attempting the trick. Then, with precision timing, Nancy did the somersault perfectly.

  “Splendid!” Webster cried jubilantly. From his pocket he pulled out a ticket to the afternoon performance of the circus.

  “Come to the show and watch the bareback riding very carefully,” he said.

  Nancy thanked him, said good-by to the two men, and drove home. She found Hannah Gruen busy in the kitchen, preparing lunch.

  “Oh, that soufflé looks yummy!” Nancy exclaimed as the housekeeper took a puffy, delicious-smelling dish from the oven.

  “We’ll sit right down and eat,” Hannah stated. “Nothing should interrupt a soufflé.”

  As if to belie her words, the front doorbell rang. As Nancy hastened to answer it, Hannah called, “Now don’t let anyone ruin our lunch!”

  Nancy laughed sympathetically. Meals in the Drew household were forever being interrupted by Mr. Drew’s law cases and Nancy’s mysteries.

  Opening the door, Nancy saw a young couple she did not recognize. The girl was attractively dressed and wore a scarf that nearly hid her face.

  “Please let us in quickly!” she said, stepping into the hall.

  Suddenly Nancy recognized her caller. “Lolita!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you at first. You look so different in street clothes.”

  “I rarely wear them,” the aerialist replied. Then, seeing that Nancy did not recognize her escort, she said with a laugh, “I’d like to present my fiancé, Pietro.”

  Nancy’s eyes opened wide. The clown was a very handsome man with features quite unlike the garishly painted ones Nancy remembered from his trick act on the ladder.

  “I certainly didn’t know you, Pietro,” she said, smiling. “I think it’s wonderful you two are engaged.”

  Lolita confided that they had just decided to be married. “There are two obstacles in my way, though,” she said. “One is my foster father. He will never consent to my marriage.”

  “What is the other problem?” Nancy asked.

  The young aerialist said that she wanted to learn more about her own father and mother before she married. And if her parents, or one of them, were alive, she wanted them to attend her wedding.

  “The Kroons never legally adopted me,” Lolita continued. “They have always told me I belonged to them. Recently I found out I don’t.”

  “Did the Kroons tell you that?” Nancy asked.

  “Oh, goodness, no,” Lolita replied. “Pietro, you fill Nancy in on the details.”

  The young man explained that his father, a retired clown, had been in Sims’ Circus with The Flying Flanders. He had told Pietro that Lolita’s parents had had an accident in their trapeze act and had been taken to the hospital. There, according to Kroon, they had died. Mr. and Mrs. Kroon had taken Lolita, although they had never really adopted her.

  “Just this morning I had a letter from my father, who lives in England. He said that while attending a circus in the town of Tewkesbury, he had seen a woman in the audience he was sure was Lolita’s mother,” Pietro continued.

  “Isn’t that exciting?” Lolita cried.

  “It certainly is,” Nancy said. “Go on, Pietro.”

  The clown said his father had hurried to speak to the woman but that she had disappeared before he could reach her.

  “As soon as I read this, I told Mr. Kroon,” Pietro said. “But instead of being glad that Lolita’s mother might be alive, he flew into a rage and forbade me to speak to Lolita!”

  His fiancée added, “The only reason we could get away today was because Mr. Sims has returned, and Mr. Kroon is having a conference with him. We have to hurry back. But you will help me to find my mother, won’t you?”

  “I certainly will,” Nancy assured her. “My father is a lawyer. He might be able to learn something through friends in England.”

  Lolita said that would be wonderful. Before the couple left, Nancy said she expected to attend the afternoon performance and asked Lolita if it would be possible to talk to Mrs. Kroon.

  “Do try, Nancy,” Lolita replied. “She’ll probably be in my trailer.”

  As soon as Hannah Gruen heard the front door dose, she burst into a mild tirade about strangers who arrive at mealtime. Nancy laughed and sat down to eat the soufflé, which had not caved in and was delicious.

  The young sleuth arrived early at the circus and went at once to see Mrs. Kroon. She purposely wore her new charm bracelet. Although Mrs. Kroon eyed it, she made no comment.

  After a few general remarks, Nancy asked the woman, “Did your daughter inherit her aerial talent from you?”

  Instantly Mrs. Kroon’s expression changed from pleasantness to anger. Instead of replying, she cried, “How did you get in here? Our private lives are our own business! I do not intend to answer personal questions!”

  “I’m sorry,” Nancy said. “Please forgive me.” She backed out of the trailer.

  Several circus performers were standing around and had evidently overheard the conversation. One of the women spoke in a low voice. “Don’t mind Mrs. Kroon. Lolita’s her adopted daughter and she’s awful touchy on the subject.”

  “I see,” said Nancy. “Are Lolita’s real parents living?”

  The woman hesitated, then said, “There’s a story going around here that Lolita’s mother is alive and the Kroons don’t want anyone to know. Personally, we think there’s something very strange about the whole thing.”

  Nancy thanked her informer and hurried to her seat in the big top. As she waited for the show to begin, Nancy mulled over various angles of the mystery. Had Lola Flanders pawned the bracelet ? Was she the person who needed help? Were the Kroons the cause of her trouble?

  Nancy was brought out of her reverie by the band striking up. The performance began. Leaning forward in her seat, she paid particular attention to the bareback-riding act. The riders were experts in timing themselves to the movements of the horses. One attractive girl rider was more proficient than the others and did a great. deal of solo work.

  This young rider had just completed a midair double somersault and landed on the horse’s back amid tumultuous applause when an object hurtled through the air hit the horse on the nose. The mare reared, throwing the young girl.

  At once there was confusion among the other horses and their riders. In the midst of the chaos, Nancy spotted the object that had struck the horse.

  A whip, exactly like the one her assailant had used, was lying on the tanbark!

  CHAPTER VII

  Meeting a Challenge

  THE injured bareback rider tried to stand, but it was evident at once that her ankle was either badly sprained or broken. Her face was creased with pain. Two riders stepped forward. She put an arm around the shoulders of each man, and they helped her from the ring. Meanwhile, her horse had run to the exit.

  The remaining performers carried on, doing their best, but it was apparent that the mishap had made them nervous. At a signal from the band, inspired by
Kroon, the act came to an abrupt end.

  The whip that had caused the accident had been kicked out of the way and seemed to have been forgotten by everyone but Nancy.

  “I thought the person who tried to strangle me had a grudge against me personally,” she mused. “But what could his motive have been for injuring the circus rider?”

  Recalling her first suspicions of the stableman at Roberto’s riding academy, Nancy wondered if it was possible that Hitch had perpetrated all three bits of mischief.

  “Hitch did warn me not to do any circus riding,” Nancy reminded herself. “Maybe he doesn’t want other girls to, either.”

  As the next act was announced, Nancy saw Chief of Police McGinnis of the River Heights force walk into the box she had occupied the evening before. He was wearing civilian clothes. Getting up, she hurried over and sat beside him.

  “Hello, Nancy,” he said genially. “What’s the mystery this time? Whenever you seek me out, I know something’s in the wind!”

  Nancy smiled and confessed that she did have a problem. She asked if he had reached the circus in time to see what had happened to the young bareback rider.

  “No,” the chief replied, “but the guard outside told me about the accident. Too bad. I was hoping the circus would get through the three days here without any trouble. But I suppose we have to expect such things.”

  “It’s my idea,” Nancy said thoughtfully, “that it was a deliberate attempt to injure the girl and her horse.”

  “What makes you think so?” the officer asked.

  Nancy told him what had happened to her the evening before with the very same kind of whip.

  The chief whistled. “Why didn’t you tell me this before now?” he demanded.

  Nancy explained that Ned had spoken to the circus policeman. “And we did search for the man,” she added.

  Chief McGinnis, who admired Nancy’s ability as a detective, remarked, “If you couldn’t find the man, it was probably because he skipped out.”

  “I also had a threatening note from the strangler,” Nancy went on. “I was going to bring it to you, but so many things have happened since then that I’ve had no chance. I did look it over carefully, Chief, and couldn’t find a clue to the writer.”

  “Well,” he said, smiling, “we’ll call your findings the preliminary investigation. Bring the note to headquarters. I’d like to give it a microscopic test.”

  Nancy promised to do so, then told Chief McGinnis her suspicions about Hitch. After she mentioned the stableman’s ·warning about stunt riding and the incident of the stone throwing, the officer advised Nancy to be wary.

  “I certainly think you have good reason to suspect that fellow Hitch,” he said. “I’ll put a detail on him right away.”

  Nancy returned to her seat and concentrated on Lolita’s act. The performance went off exceedingly well. When it ended and while Nancy was applauding with the enthusiastic crowd, an usher came up to her with a note.

  As she started to open it, Nancy’s breath came a little faster. Was this another warning? Had her unknown enemy seen her talking to the Chief of Police?

  A moment later the girl’s fears were allayed. The note was from Dan Webster, asking her to meet him in his office at once.

  Nancy rose and hurried from the tent. A hundred thoughts flashed through her mind before she reached the office. What could he want of her? As she walked in, Dan Webster smiled and offered her a chair. Then, looking directly at her, he said, “I won’t beat around the bush, Nancy. I want you to take the place of that injured bareback rider.”

  Nancy was so amazed she opened her mouth and closed it again without speaking. Then she managed to exclaim, “You want me to take that girl’s place!”

  “I told you this morning that you ride well enough to be in the circus.”

  “But I can’t perform like that girl!” Nancy objected. “She’s excellent. By the way, how is she?”

  Webster revealed that the young rider’s ankle had been sprained in the fall. The doctor had advised her to keep off her ankle for at least a month.

  “Oh, what a shame!” Nancy cried, then added, “Thank you very much for your compliment, but, really, I’ll have to refuse. Even if I could do the riding, I know Mr. Kroon would never approve of my joining Sims’ Circus.”

  The horse trainer said he did not think the ringmaster would disapprove. Furthermore, Kroon had given an ultimatum that the bareback act was to be filled in before the evening show or the whole troupe would be dismissed.

  “The actors might change their routine, but unfortunately the horses can‘t,” Webster told her. “It takes a long time to train them and there’s no changing ’em.”

  Nancy felt sorry for the group that depended on the act for their livelihood. If she could ride for one or two performances, until they found a replacement, it might help.

  Dan Webster took her silence as a sign of refusal. Leaning toward her, he said in a whisper, “You know, this might be your golden opportunity to solve the mystery of the circus. If you lived with us for a week or so, you could watch the Kroons at close range.”

  This plea did the trick. Laughing, Nancy said she would join the circus, provided her father approved.

  “He’s on a trip, but I’ll try to locate him,” she promised. “I’m not sure where he is staying at present.”

  “If you don’t,” Webster said, “I’ll turn this old earth upside down to find him. Where do we start?”

  He pushed the telephone toward Nancy and insisted that she begin calling. First she tried Mr. Drew’s office, only to learn that they had not heard from him that day and did not know where he was.

  As she put the phone down, Lolita and Pietro walked into the office. Nancy was surprised to see them together, and Lolita must have guessed her thoughts.

  “We’re becoming very bold about being seen with each other.” The circus star laughed happily.

  Pietro frowned. “But look for an explosion if Mr. Kroon sees us!”

  “Let’s not worry,” the aerialist said, adding that all her friends were acting as lookouts and would notify them at once if Lolita’s foster father were close by.

  “Say,” Dan Webster spoke up, “you two will have to help me out. Nancy Drew must take Rosa’s place. I have persuaded her, but she tells me she won’t join the circus unless her father gives his permission, and we can’t locate Mr. Drew. What am I going to do?”

  Lolita walked over to Nancy and put an arm around the girl. “I think it would be nice for you to have your father’s permission,” she said, “but, after all, he doesn’t object to your circus riding at Senor Roberto’s, does he?”

  “No.”

  “Then what’s the difference whether you’re riding in our ring or the one at the riding academy?” Lolita asked persuasively.

  “I don’t suppose there is any,” Nancy agreed, “but I’d still like to get in touch with him. I have an idea. Two friends of mine who often work with me will be glad to try to locate him, I’m sure. In the meantime, I’ll practice some stunt riding. After all, I haven’t ridden with the other members of the bareback troupe. The whole thing might be a flop with me in it.”

  “Oh, no, it couldn’t be!” Lolita cried excitedly.

  Dan Webster said that the members of the equestrian group were meeting in twenty minutes to decide what to do about the act. If Nancy would come to the main tent at that time, he would introduce her and let them see her work.

  “I’ll find you some riding clothes, Nancy,” Lolita offered. “Come on!”

  Before leaving the office, Nancy telephoned Bess and George, who, she knew, were at Roberto’s academy. They were overwhelmed to hear that their friend planned to ride in the circus. Bess begged Nancy to reconsider, but finally she promised to help locate Mr. Drew.

  “Thanks a million,” said Nancy. “And hurry.”

  “Express service.” George laughed as she put down the telephone.

  Nancy and Lolita left Webster’s office with Pie
tro. They had gone only a few steps when one of the midgets rushed up to Lolita.

  “Your father’s coming!” he warned.

  With that, Pietro dodged behind a truck. The two girls went on. A moment later they were confronted by Kroon.

  “Who is this, Lolita?” he asked sternly. Giving Nancy a piercing look, he said, “Aren’t you the girl who let that kid sneak a ride in Cinderella’s carriage during the parade?”

  The ringmaster did not wait for Nancy to answer. His eyes flashing, he ordered her to leave the circus grounds at once. Then, turning to Lolita, he snapped, “Get to your trailer and don’t come out until suppertime!”

  Over Kroon’s shoulder, Nancy spotted Pietro. He was beckoning her. His signal seemed to indicate that she was to pretend to leave and that he would follow and meet her later. After bidding Lolita good-by, Nancy started off. Kroon stood there until he was sure his daughter had obeyed his command; then he stalked away.

  A short distance farther, Pietro caught up with Nancy. He offered to guide her to the trailer where extra costumes were kept, including riding habits.

  Nancy shook her head. “It wouldn’t be safe now, Pietro. I suspect that Mr. Kroon knows who I am. I think he mentioned Teddy as an excuse for ordering me to leave. He doesn’t want me around here and will do anything to keep me away.”

  Pietro looked crestfallen. After a moment of silence, he said, “Even so, Nancy, you must stay and see what you can do for Lolita and me. Listen! I’m going to tell you something that I don’t even dare tell my fiancée. She would be worried sick.

  “I was walking past Mr. and Mrs. Kroon’s trailer a little while ago. I believe they thought nobody was around. Mrs. Kroon was crying and saying to her husband, ‘The money won’t do us any good if people find out where it came from.’ ”

  Nancy was startled. “Have you any idea what Mrs. Kroon meant?” she asked the clown, but he shook his head.

  Nancy’s mind jumped to one possibility. The Kroons may have secretly gained possession of money that did not rightfully belong to them!