‘Well, that’s because I wash it with soap and water four or five times a day,’ said Julian. ‘Yours would smell nice too, if you did the same.’
The little girl sniffed at Julian’s hand. Then she shouted loudly to the old fellow sitting on the steps of a nearby caravan. ‘Grandad! Here’s folks to see you!’
Grandad was looking at a beautiful chestnut-brown horse, tethered close to him. He had one of the horse’s hooves in his hand. The children stood and gazed at him - black beard, frowning eye-brows - and, oh dear! thought Anne, only one ear, poor man. What could have happened to the missing one?
‘GRANDAD!’ called the girl again. FOLKS TO SEE YOU!’
Mr Tapper looked round, his eyes very bright under his black eye-brows. He set the horse’s hoof down, and gave the lovely creature a pat. ‘You don’t need to limp any more, my beauty,’ he said. ‘I’ve taken out the stone that was in your hoof. You can dance again!’
The horse lifted up its magnificent head and neighed as if it were saying thank you. Tinker almost jumped out of his skin, and Mischief slipped from his shoulder and cuddled under his arm in terror.
‘Now, now, little monkey, don’t you know a horse’s voice when you hear one?’ said Grandad, and Mischief poked his head out from under Tinker’s arm to listen.
‘Does that horse really dance?’ said Anne, longing to stroke its long, smooth nose.
‘Dance? It’s one of the finest horse-dancers in the world!’ said Grandad, and began to whistle a gay little tune. The horse pricked up its ears, gazed at Grandad, and then began to dance! The children watched in astonishment.
There it went, round and round, nodding its head to the tune, its feet tapping the grass in perfect time to Grandad’s whistling.
‘Oh, the lovely thing!’ said George. ‘Do all your horses dance as well as this one?’
‘Yes. Some a good deal better,’ said Grandad. ‘This one has a fair ear for music, but not as good an ear as some. You wait till you see them dressed up with feathery plumes nodding on their heads. Horses - there’s nothing in the world as beautiful as a good horse.’
‘Mr Tapper - we come from the house over the fence there,’ said Julian, feeling that it was time to explain their visit. ‘As you probably know, Tinker’s father owns this field, and...’
‘Yes, yes - but we have an old right to come every so often,’ said the old man, raising his voice. ‘Now don’t you start arg...’
‘I haven’t come to argue with you,’ said Julian, politely. ‘I’ve only just come to say that we - that is my friends here and I - would like to come and camp in this field, but we shouldn’t annoy you in any way, and...’
‘Oh well - if that’s what you want, you’re more than welcome!’ said the old man. ‘More than welcome! I thought maybe you’d think you could turn us out - like that youngster there would like to do!’ And he nodded at Tinker.
Tinker went red and said nothing. The old man laughed. ‘Ha! My grandson didn’t think much of that idea, did he, youngster? He hit out, and down you went on your back. He’s got a temper, he has, young Jeremy. But another time maybe he’ll find himself on his back, eh?’
‘Yes. He will,’ said Tinker, at once.
‘Right. Well, you’ll be even with one another then, and you can shake hands like gentlemen,’ said the old man, his eyes twinkling. ‘Now - what about you bringing your gear right into the field, and setting up your tents? I’ll get old Charlie the Chimp to help you. He’s as strong as ten men!’
‘The chimpanzee! Is he tame enough to help us to put up our tents?’ said Anne, disbelievingly.
‘Old Charlie is cleverer than all of you put together, and as tame as you are!’ said Grandad. ‘And he could beat you three boys at cricket any day! You bring your bat along one morning, and watch him. I’ll call him to help you. CHARLIE! CHARLIE! Where are you? Snoozing I suppose!’
But no Charlie came. ‘You go and fetch him,’ said the old man, pointing to a corner of the field where stood a big, strong cage, with a tarpaulin roof to keep out the rain. ‘He’ll do anything you want him to do, so long as you give him a word of praise now and again!’
‘Let’s get him, Ju,’ said Dick, eagerly. ‘My word - fancy having a chimpanzee to help us!’
And off they all went to the great cage. CHARLIE! CHARLIE! Wake up, you’re wanted! CHARLIE!
Chapter Eight
CHARLIE THE CHIMP IS A HELP!
Tinker came to the big cage first. He peered inside. Charlie the Chimp was there all right, sitting at the back of his cage, his brown eyes looking at the children with curiosity. He got up and went over to where Tinker was peering in, and pressed his nose against the strong wire, almost against Tinker’s. Then he blew hard, and Tinker backed away, surprised and cross.
‘He blew at me!’ he said to the others, who were laughing at Tinker’s disgust. The chimp made a funny noise that Mischief the monkey immediately tried to imitate. The chimpanzee stared at Mischief, then he grew very excited. He rattled his cage, jumped up and down, and made some very queer noises indeed.
A boy came running up at once. It was the boy who had knocked Tinker down. ‘Hey - what are you doing to the chimp?’ he called. ‘Oh - aren’t you the boy who shouted at my Grandad - the one I knocked down?’
‘Yes. And don’t you dare try that on again, or you’ll be sorry!’ said Tinker, in a fierce voice.
‘Shut up, Tinker,’ said Julian. He turned to the boy. ‘Your name’s Jeremy, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Well, we’ve just been talking to your Grandad over there, and he said we could get the chimpanzee to help us with our camping gear. It’s all right for him to come out of his cage, isn’t it?’
‘Oh yes - I take him out two or three times a day,’ said Jeremy. ‘He gets bored in his cage. He’d love to help put up your tents - he’s always helping us circus folk with things like that. He’s as strong as a lion.’
‘Is he - er - is he safe?’ asked Dick, eyeing the big animal doubtfully.
‘Safe? What do you mean - safe?’ asked Jeremy, surprised. ‘He’s as safe as I am! Charlie, come on out! Go on, you can undo your cage perfectly well, you know you can!’
The chimpanzee made a funny little chuckling noise, put his hand through the wire, reached the bolt, pulled it, took his hand back - and pushed open the cage door.
‘See? Easy, isn’t it?’ said Jeremy, grinning. ‘Charlie boy, come along. Your help’s wanted!’
Charlie lumbered out of his cage, and went with the children to where they had left their tents and ground-sheets and the rest. He walked with his fists on the ground in a most inelegant manner, making a funny little groaning noise all the time. Mischief was rather afraid of him, and kept well to the back - but the chimpanzee suddenly turned round, caught hold of Mischief, and sat him up on his shoulder! Mischief held on, not knowing whether to be scared or jubilant!
‘I wish I had my camera here,’ said Anne to George. ‘Just look at them - Mischief is as pleased as can be!’
They arrived at the pile of camping gear. ‘Carry this, Charlie, and follow us,’ ordered Jeremy. The chimp grabbed at this, that and the other, and, with his great arms full, followed the children to where they thought they could camp, with the great hedge to shelter them from the wind.
‘Drop those things, Charlie,’ said Jeremy, ‘and go back for the rest. Buck up. Don’t stand there staring! You’ve got work to do!’
But Charlie still crouched there, staring straight at Mischief. ‘Oh! He wants Mischief the monkey to go with him!’ cried George. ‘Go on, Mischief, have a ride again!’
Mischief leapt up on to the chimpanzee’s shoulders. Charlie put up a great paw to steady him and then lumbered off to fetch the rest of the things. One of the ground-sheets came undone, and slithered over his head like a tent, so that he couldn’t see where he was going. In a rage he leapt on it and began to jump up and down, up and down, growling most terrifyingly. The children felt rather scared.
‘Charlie, don’t be an ass!?
?? said Jeremy, and pulled it away from him, rolling it up swiftly. The chimpanzee could manage it then, and his good temper immediately came back again.
Everything was soon piled up in one place, and Julian and Dick began to put up the tents. Charlie watched them with the greatest interest, and helped most intelligently when he saw that he could.
‘He’s a good sort, isn’t he?’ said Jeremy, proud that his friend the chimpanzee could show off like this. ‘Did you see him put that tent-pole in exactly the right place? And you ought to see him fetch the pails of water for the horses each day. He carries a full pail in each hand!’
‘He ought to get wages,’ said Tinker.
‘He does!’ said Jeremy. ‘He gets eight bananas a day and as many oranges as he likes. And he LOVES sweets!’
‘Oh! I think I’ve got some!’ said Tinker and delved into one of his pockets. He brought up a peculiar mixture of things, among which was a screwed-up sweet bag. Inside was a mess of half-melted boiled sweets.
‘You can’t give him those!’ said Anne. ‘They’re old and sticky and messy!’
But Charlie thought differently. He took the paper bag straight out of Tinker’s hand, sniffed it - and then put the whole thing into his mouth at once!
‘He’ll choke!’ said Julian.
‘Not Charlie!’ said Jeremy. ‘Let him be. He’ll go straight back to his cage, get in, shoot the bolt and sit there sucking sweets till they’re gone. He’ll be as happy as can be.’
‘Well - he certainly deserved a reward,’ said George. ‘He did all the heavy work! Come on, let’s finish putting everything straight. I say - won’t it be fun sleeping out in tents tonight! We’d better have supper first.’
‘You can come and join us, if you like,’ said Jeremy. ‘We don’t have posh food like you, of course - but it’s good food, all the same. Old Grandma cooks it in her pot. She’s two hundred years old.’
The children laughed in disbelief. ‘Two hundred! Nobody lives as long as that!’ said George.
‘Well, that’s what she tells everyone,’ said Jeremy. ‘And she looks it, too! But her eyes are as sharp as needles still! Shall I tell her you’ll be here to supper?’
‘Well - would there be enough for so many extra?’ said Julian. ‘We meant to bring our own meal. Should we bring that and share everything with you? We’ve more than enough. Our cook Jenny said she would have it all ready for us to bring down tonight - a meat-pie - cold sausages - and apples and bananas.’
‘Sh! Don’t say bananas in front of Charlie,’ said Jeremy. ‘He’ll worry you for them all the time. All right - you bring your food and we’ll share with you round our camp-fire. I’ll tell old Grandma. We’re having a sing-song tonight, and Fred the Fiddler’s playing his fiddle. Ah, that fiddle! Its tunes get into your feet and away you go!’
This all sounded very exciting. Julian thought they ought to go back home before anyone began to be worried about their complete disappearance, and pack up the food for supper that night.
‘We’ll be back as soon as we can,’ said he. ‘And thanks awfully for all your help. Come on, Mischief. Say good-bye to Charlie for the moment, and don’t look so gloomy. We’re coming back here tonight!’
They all went back over the fence, feeling a little tired now, but full of their plans for the evening. ‘It’s almost like belonging to the circus, going back to sit round a camp-fire and eat supper from that old black stewpot on the fire,’ said Tinker. ‘I bet the supper will taste delicious. I say - I hope Dad won’t mind us popping off to the circus camp.’
‘I don’t expect he’ll even notice that we’ve gone,’ said George. ‘My father never notices things like that. Sometimes he doesn’t even notice when people are there, in front of his nose!’
‘Well, that must be useful at times if they’re people he doesn’t like,’ said Tinker. ‘Now - let’s see what Jenny’s got that we can take back with us.’
Jenny listened wide-eyed to all they had to say. ‘Well, well, well!’ she said. ‘Camping out with the circus-folk! Whatever next? I’d like to know what your parents would think of that, Master Julian!’
‘We’ll ask them, next time we see them,’ said Julian, with a grin. ‘What have you got for our supper? We’re taking it down to our camp.’
‘I thought maybe you’d do that,’ said Jenny. ‘It’s all cold. A meat pie - cold sausages - a cucumber and lettuce hearts and tomatoes, rolls - and apples and bananas. Will that be enough?’
‘Gosh, yes,’ said Tinker, thrilled. ‘What about something to drink?’
‘You can take lemonade or orangeade with you, whichever you please,’ said Jenny. ‘But listen now - don’t go bursting into your father’s workroom. He’s worked hard all day, and he’s tired.’
‘And cross, I expect,’ said Tinker. ‘People are always cross when they’re tired. Except you, dear, dear Jenny.’
‘Ha! You want something else out of my cupboard, calling me your dear, dear Jenny,’ she said with a twinkle.
‘Could we have some sugar-lumps?’ asked Tinker. ‘Oh, Jenny, there are the loveliest horses you ever saw down in the circus field. I want to give them a sugar lump each.’
‘And yourself a few as well!’ said Jenny. ‘All right. I’ll pack up everything for you, and give you a few enamel plates and mugs and knives. What about Timmy? Doesn’t he want a meal too?’
‘Wuff!’ said Timmy, glad that someone had remembered him. Jenny patted his big head. ‘It’s all ready in the larder for you,’ she said. ‘George, you go and get it. He must be hungry.’
George fetched a plate of meat and biscuits from the larder and Timmy fell on it with happy little barks. Yes - he was very, VERY hungry!
At last all the food was ready-packed to take down the garden to the field. What a lot there seemed! Well, they would certainly have plenty to spare for their circus friends. They said good night to Jenny, and set off down the garden again. They thought they had better not disturb Professor Hayling.
‘He might be cross and forbid us to go and feed with the circus-folk,’ said Tinker. ‘Mischief, come off that basket, and don’t pretend you weren’t fishing in it for a banana. And please put on your best table-manners tonight, or Charlie the Chimp will be ashamed of you!’
It was fun going back down the garden and over the fence into the field again. The sun was sinking fast and soon the shadows would fall. How lovely to sit round a fire and eat supper with the kindly circus-folk - and perhaps to sing old songs with them - and hear Fred the Fiddler fiddle his old, old tunes! What fun to creep into a tent, and sleep with the cries of owls around, and stars shining in at the tent opening!
There they go, over the fence, handing the food one to another. Take your paw out of that basket, Mischief! That’s right, Timmy, nibble his ear if he’s as mischievous as his name! You’re all going to have some fun tonight!
Chapter Nine
A WONDERFUL EVENING
As soon as Jeremy saw the visitors climbing over the fence, he ran to help them. He was very excited at the thought of having guests. He took them over to old Grandad first, to be welcomed.
‘Now I expect your friends will like to see round a bit,’ said Grandad. ‘Charlie the Chimp can go with you. We’ve a rehearsal on tonight, so the ring has been set up. You can watch some of the show.’
This was grand news. The children saw that curved pieces of painted wood had been set together to make a great ring in the field, and as they went across the grass, the Musical Horses began to troop into the ring, the leading one ridden by Madelon, a lovely girl, dressed in shimmering gold.
‘How beautiful they are!’ thought Anne, as she watched. ‘Look at their great feathery plumes, nodding on their magnificent heads.’
The Bonzo Band struck up just then, and the horses at once trotted in perfect time to the music. The band looked a little peculiar as the bandsmen had not put on their smart uniforms. They were saving those for the opening night!
The horses trotted prettily out of the
ring after two or three rounds, the beautiful Madelon on the leading horse.
Then in came Fred the Fiddler and played his violin for a few minutes. First the music was slow and solemn, then Fred began to play quickly, and the children found themselves jiggling about, up and down and round about. ‘I can’t keep still!’ panted Anne. ‘The tune’s got into my feet.’
Charlie the Chimp came up just then, walking on hind legs, and looking unexpectedly tall. He usually walked on all fours. He began to jig about too, looking very funny. He ran right into the ring and put his arms round Fred the Fiddler’s legs. ‘He loves Fred,’ said Jeremy. ‘Now he’s going to rehearse his cricket act. I must go and bowl to him.’
And off went Jeremy into the ring. The chimpanzee rushed over to him and hugged him. A bat was thrown into the ring, and Charlie picked it up, and made a few swipes into the air with it, making delighted noises all the time.
Then a cricket ball was thrown to Jeremy, who caught it deftly. A small girl appeared from somewhere and set up three stumps for a wicket. ‘Can’t find the bails, Jeremy!’ she called. ‘Have you got them in your pocket?’
‘No,’ said Jeremy. ‘Never mind, I’ll knock the stumps right over!’
But that wasn’t so easy with Charlie the Chimp at the wicket! He took a terrific swipe at the ball, and it went right over Jeremy’s head, too high to catch.
The chimp lost his balance and sat down on the wicket, knocking the stumps out of the ground.
‘OUT!’ yelled Jeremy, but the chimp wasn’t having that. He carefully put up the stumps again, and then set himself in front once more, waggling the bat.
It was the funniest cricket that the children had ever seen! The chimpanzee was very, very clever with the bat, and sent poor Jeremy running all over the place. Then finally he chased the boy all round the ring with the bat making curious chortling noises. The children didn’t know if he was amused or angry! Finally he threw the bat at Jeremy and walked off, scratching himself under one arm.