CHAPTER XVIII
PLANS FOR THE SOCIETY CIRCUS
"Ralph and Hugh! I am so delighted to see you!" cried Mollie Thurston, afew days later. She was alone in their sitting room writing a letter,when the two friends arrived. "We girls have been dreadfully afraid youwould not arrive in time for our Society Circus. You know the games takeplace to-morrow."
"Oh, it is a 'Society Circus' we have come to! So that is the name Lenoxhas given to its latest form of social entertainment?" laughed Hugh."Sorry we couldn't get here sooner, Mollie; but you knew you could dependon our turning up at the appointed time. Where are the other girls andAunt Sallie?"
"They are over at the Fair Grounds, watching Bab ride," Mollie explained."Ralph, I am awfully worried about Bab. One of the amusements of thecircus is to be a riding contest. Of course, Bab rides very well, but Idon't think mother would approve of her undertaking such dangerous ridingas jumping over hurdles. Ambassador Morton has told Aunt Sallie thatthere will be no danger. He is used to English girls riding across thecountry; and I know, at the riding schools in New York, they give thesesame contests; but we have never had any riding lessons. I can't helpbeing nervous."
"I wouldn't worry, Mollie," Ralph replied kindly. "I am sure Bab is equalto any kind of horseback exercise. Remember the first time we saw her,Hugh? She was riding down the road in the rain, astride an old barebackhorse. We nicknamed her 'Miss Paul Revere' then and there. There isn'tany use trying to keep Bab off a horse, Mollie, when she has the faintestchance to get on one."
"Come on, then," laughed Mollie, smiling at the picture Ralph's remarkhad brought to her mind. "We will walk over to the Fair Grounds. You willfind nearly everybody we know in Lenox over there. You remember that youboys gave Ruth and Bab liberty to put your names down for any of thegames; come and find out what trouble they have gotten you into. Younever dreamed of such absurd amusements as we are to have."
"Oh, we are game for anything," Hugh declared. "Lenox sports are thejolliest I have yet run across. Don't think any other place can produceanything just like them. Certainly the amusements are a bit unconventional,but they are all the more fun. 'Society Circus' is a good name for theentertainment. Anything goes in a 'Society Circus.'"
"What curious amusements people _do_ have for the benefit of charities!"reflected Mollie. "But I expect the Lenox Hospital will receive a greatdeal of money from the sports this year. You see, they are in charge ofthe English Ambassador. That alone would make the entertainment popular."
"Is Mollie growing worldly wise, Hugh?" asked Ralph, with mock horror.
"Looks like it, Ralph," was the reply.
The boys and Mollie found Barbara in the midst of a gay circle of youngpeople. Grace and Ruth were nowhere to be seen.
Aunt Sallie sat with Mrs. Morton in the grandstand. The Ambassador andMr. Winthrop Latham wandered about near them. Many preparations werenecessary for the next day's frolic.
In front of the grandstand stretched a wide, green field, enclosed with alow fence. A little distance off stood the club house.
Bab came forward with both hands extended to greet her friends. She gaveone hand to Ralph, the other to Hugh.
"I am so glad to see you!" she declared. "I can't wait to shake yourhands in the right way. We girls were so afraid you had turned'quitters'! Come, this minute, and see Aunt Sallie. You must beintroduced, too, to Ambassador and Mrs. Morton."
"But where are Ruth and Grace?" inquired Ralph.
"Over yonder," laughed Bab, pointing to the green inclosure in front ofthem.
The boys spied Ruth and Grace some distance off. The two girls were deepin conversation with a farm boy. Strutting around near them were a fatturkey gobbler and a Plymouth Rock rooster.
Just at this moment Ruth was giving her instructions. "Be sure you bringthe turkey and the rooster over to the Fair Grounds by ten o'clockto-morrow morning."
The boy grinned. "I'll have 'em here sure, Miss."
"Ruth," asked Grace, as the two girls started back across the meadow tojoin their friends, "do you suppose it will be unkind for us to try todrive these poor barnyard fowls across a field before so many people? Ipresume the poor old birds will be frightened stiff. Whoever heard ofanything so utterly absurd as a Gymkana race."
"Oh, no, you tender-hearted Grace," Ruth assured her. "I don't think thekind of pets we are to drive to-morrow will be much affected by ourefforts. Indeed they are likely to lead us more of a chase than we shalllead them. And I don't believe the annoyance of being run across thisfield by us for a few yards equals the nervous shock of being scared byan automobile or a carriage. That alarm may overtake poor Brother Turkeyand Mr. Rooster any day. I think our race is going to be the greatest funever! Why! I think I see Ralph Ewing and Hugh over there with the girls.Isn't that great?"
"Miss Morton!" Hugh was protesting gayly, as Grace and Ruth joined thecrowd of their friends. "You don't mean to say that Barbara and Ruth haveput Ralph's name and mine down for three of your performances? How shallwe ever live through such a tremendous strain! Kindly explain to me whatis expected of us."
Dorothy Morton got out her blankbook, where she had written each item ofthe next day's programme. "Well, Mr. Post, you and Mr. Ewing are down forthree of our best events, 'The Egg and Spoon Race,' 'The Dummy Race' and'The Thread and Needle Race.'"
"All right," declared Ralph, meekly accepting his fate, "but will youkindly tell me what a Thread and Needle Race is?"
"It is a very easy task, Ralph, compared with what Grace and I haveundertaken," Ruth assured him. "All you do, in the 'Thread and NeedleRace,' is to ride across this field on horseback carrying a needle. Ofcourse, the real burden is on the woman. It always is. Some fair one iswaiting for you at the end of your ride; she must sew a button on yourcoat. The sooner she can accomplish this, the better; for back you mustride, again, to the starting place, with the button firmly attached toyour coat."
"Will you sew the button on for me, Mollie?" Ralph begged. He saw thatMollie was taking less part in the amusements than the other girls.
"Certainly!" agreed Mollie. "I accept your proffered honor. To tell youthe truth, you stand a better chance of winning with my assistance. I ama much better seamstress than Bab."
"Oh, Bab, will be busy winning the riding prize," declared Ralph underhis breath, smiling at his two friends, Mollie and Barbara.
Maud Warren, the New York girl famous for her skillful riding, wasstanding near them, talking with Reginald Latham. As she overheardRalph's remark, a sarcastic smile flitted across her pale face. She hadignored Bab since their introduction at the Ambassador's; but the thoughtof this poor country girl's really knowing how to ride horseback was toomuch for her.
Barbara caught Maud Warren's look of amusement and blushed furiously.Then she turned to Ralph and said aloud, "Oh, I am not a rider whencompared with Miss Warren."
"I don't believe in comparisons, Miss Thurston," declared the Ambassador,who had walked up to them. "But I think you are an excellent horsewoman.And I much prefer your riding in the old-fashioned way with a sidesaddle. I have observed that it is now fashionable, in Lenox, for theyoung women to ride astride."
"Girls," Miss Stuart declared, "it is luncheon time. We must return tothe hotel."
"Now, does everybody understand about to-morrow?" asked Gwendolin Morton,when the last farewells had been said. "Remember, the Gymkana race isfirst. We started with this spectacle for fear the girls who havepromised to take part might back out. Then, immediately after lunch, weshall have our horseback riding and jumping."
"I don't believe I have been wise in permitting you to engage in thishorseback riding, Barbara," Miss Stuart declared on their way home. "I amafraid this jumping over fences is a dangerous sport. And I am not sureit is ladylike."
"But English girls do it all the time, Aunt Sallie. Jumping hurdles istaught in the best riding schools."
"You have had no lessons, Bab. Are you perfectly sure you do not feelafraid?" queried Miss Stuart.
"Oh,
perfectly, dear Aunt Sallie," Bab assured her.