The Circus of Adventure

  And down the endless corridor went the two of them. It was lighted by lamps, and was too bright for Jack’s liking. The doors he passed now were shut. Perhaps they were bedrooms. He certainly wasn’t going to look in and see!

  He came to a sturdy oak door set in the inside wall. He paused. The tower ought to be about here. Would that door lead up to it? It looked different from the other doors he had passed. He tried the handle gently. It was a thick ring of iron and as he turned it sideways the door opened.

  Jack pushed it wide. Stone steps led upwards, lighted by a dim lamp. He stood and debated with himself. Should he risk it and go up? Yes – he felt sure this was the way to the tower.

  He tiptoed up and came to the top. He looked round in surprise. He was on another floor now, and the layout here was different from the one below. He was in what looked like a great hall, draped with magnificent curtains. A gallery overhung one end. There was a small platform at the other end, and on it stood music stands. The floor was highly polished, and Jack suddenly realized what the hall was.

  ‘It’s a ballroom!’ he thought. ‘My word – what grand dances they must hold here! But now I seem to have lost my way to the tower again. Perhaps there’s another stair somewhere!’

  He went round the ballroom. On the other side, behind some curtains, he came to a door. He opened it and found that it led to a kind of ante-chamber. Opening off this was a stone staircase – a spiral stair that wound upwards.

  ‘This is the tower staircase!’ thought Jack, excited. ‘It must be. Hallo – what’s that?’

  He could hear the sound of nailed boots on stone! Quick as lightning he slid behind a nearby curtain. The footsteps came nearer, stamped, turned and went back again. How extraordinary!

  Jack put his head carefully round the curtain. Going down a stone passage opposite was a soldier, gun on shoulder. He must be on guard – guarding the tower! He disappeared down the passage, his footsteps sounding farther and farther away till Jack could hear them no longer. Then back he came again to the foot of the tower stairway.

  Stamp-stamp! The sentry turned round once more and marched into the passage. Jack watched him again. He was dressed in Hessian uniform, very smart and decorative. Jack had seen many of these soldiers while he had been with the circus. Perhaps this soldier was Hela’s father?

  He waited till the sound of footsteps had completely died away again, then made a dart for the entrance to the spiral staircase. He ran up it swiftly, knowing that he had about half a minute before the return of the sentry.

  Round and round wound the stairway, and at the top it grew so steep that Jack could no longer run up the steps, but had almost to climb!

  He came to a little stone landing with a round window. A chest stood beneath the window, and an old chair stood beside it. Opposite Jack was a big, sturdy door, made of dark oak, and studded with great nails. He looked at it. Was Lucy-Ann behind that door? Dare he call her name?

  He tiptoed to the door. He pushed. It was fast shut. He turned the great handle, but still it would not open. There was a keyhole there, but no key. He bent down to look through the keyhole, but could see nothing.

  He could hear nothing either. Jack wished he knew what to do for the best. If he knocked on the door and called, he might find that the children were not there after all but that somebody else was. And the somebody might not be at all pleased to see him! Also, the sentry downstairs might hear him and come rushing up – and there was no way of escape up on this little landing!

  And then he saw something in the light of his torch – something very surprising – something that told him for certain that the children were inside that room on the other side of the oak door!

  A tiny creature had slipped under the wide space at the bottom of the door, and sat there, looking up at Jack with large black eyes.

  ‘Philip’s dormouse!’ whispered Jack, and knelt down slowly. ‘Snoozy! You are Snoozy, aren’t you! You’re Philip’s dormouse! Then Philip is in there!’

  The dormouse was very tame. It had lived for some time with four children who adored it, petted it and had never once frightened it. Even Dinah had fallen under its spell, and loved it, though she would not let it run all about her as the others did.

  And now here it was, on Jack’s hand, its whiskers twitching, its big eyes watching him and Kiki. Kiki looked at it in surprise, but made no attempt to hurt it.

  ‘Did you hear me, outside the door?’ whispered Jack. ‘Did you leave Philip and come to see who the midnight visitor was? How can I wake Philip? Tell me!’

  An owl hooted somewhere outside the castle. The dormouse leapt from Jack’s hand in fright and scuttled under the door. The hoot of the owl gave Jack an idea. The sentry would take no notice of an owl’s hoot – but if he, Jack, gave a hoot just under the crack of the door, it would certainly wake up Philip. It would sound far away to the sentry, but very near to Philip! Far far better than banging on the door, which was a noise that might echo down the stairs and make the sentry come bounding up!

  Jack lay down on his tummy. He put his face to the door, and placed his hands together to blow through his thumbs and hoot like an owl. This was the way to make a quavering hoot, so like an owl’s that no one, not even an owl, could tell the difference!

  ‘Hoooo! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!’ hooted Jack, and the noise went under the door and into the room beyond.

  Jack listened. Something creaked – was it a bed? Then a voice spoke – and it was Philip’s!

  ‘Gussy! Did you hear that owl? It might have been in the room!’

  But Gussy, apparently, was asleep, for he made no answer. Jack got up and put his mouth to the door, trembling in his excitement.

  ‘Philip! Philip!’

  There was an astonished exclamation. Then Philip’s voice came, amazed. ‘Who’s that? Who’s calling me?’

  ‘It’s me – Jack! Come to the door!’

  There was a pattering of feet the other side and then an excited breathing at the keyhole.

  ‘Jack! Good gracious! How did you get here? Jack, how wonderful!’

  ‘No time to tell you my story,’ whispered Jack. ‘Are you all all right? How’s Lucy-Ann?’

  ‘We’re all well and cheerful,’ said Philip. ‘We flew here . . .’

  ‘I know,’ said Jack. ‘Go on – what happened?’

  ‘And we were taken here by car,’ said Philip, his mouth close to the keyhole. ‘And Gussy was sick, of course. Madame Tatiosa, who met us in the car, was furious with him. She’s here, in the castle – and her brother too, Count Paritolen. We don’t know what’s happening, at all – have you heard? Gussy keeps worrying about his uncle.’

  ‘His uncle is still safely on his throne as far as I know,’ said Jack. ‘But I expect they’ll have a bust-up soon – everyone’s expecting it. Then Gussy will find himself in the limelight!’

  ‘Jack – can you rescue us, do you think?’ asked Philip, hopefully. ‘How did you get here? Gosh, I’ve been thinking you were miles away, at Quarry Cottage! And here you are, outside the door of our room. Pity it’s locked!’

  ‘Yes. If I only knew where the key was, it would be easy,’ whispered Jack. ‘Where does your window face? East or north?’

  ‘North,’ said Philip. ‘It’s just opposite a peculiar tower built all by itself – a bell-tower, with a bell in it. Gussy says it’s an alarm-tower – the bell used to be rung when enemies were sighted in the old days. Our window is just opposite that. Now that we know you’re here we’ll keep looking out.’

  ‘Give my love to Lucy-Ann,’ said Jack. ‘Is she in the same room as you?’

  ‘No – the girls have another room,’ said Philip. ‘Look – let me go and wake them. They’d be so thrilled to speak to you.’

  ‘All right,’ said Jack, and then he stiffened. Footsteps! Footsteps at the bottom of the spiral stairway. ‘Someone coming!’ he whispered, hurriedly. ‘Goodbye! I’ll try and come again and we’ll make plans.’

  He stood up, and listened. Y
es – that sentry was coming up the stairway. Had he heard anything? Jack looked round desperately. How could he possibly hide on this small landing? It was impossible.

  The chest! He ran to it and flashed his torch on it. He lifted the lid. There was nothing inside except an old rug. He stepped inside the chest, Kiki fluttered in too, and Jack shut down the lid. Only just in time! A lantern flashed at the last turn of the stairs and the sentry came on to the landing. He held up the lantern and looked round. All was in order. He clumped downstairs again, his nailed boots making a great noise. Jack’s heart slowed down and he heaved an enormous sigh. He got out of the chest and listened.

  Philip’s voice at the keyhole again made him jump. ‘He’s gone! He always comes up every hour. Jack – I never asked you. Have you got old Kiki?’

  ‘Rather! She’s been with me all the time,’ said Jack, longing to tell Philip what a success Kiki was at the circus. But Philip didn’t know about that either, of course. He didn’t even know how Jack had got to Tauri-Hessia. What a lot there would be to tell him and the others!

  Kiki began to whisper too. ‘Blow your nose, shut the door, ding-dong-bell, Polly’s got a cold. God save the King!’

  Philip chuckled. ‘It’s good to hear her again. Shall I get the girls now?’

  ‘No,’ said Jack. ‘I’d better go while it’s safe. Goodbye, Philip.’

  He went very quietly down the spiral stairway. He stood and listened. Where was the sentry? He must have gone down the passage again, on his regular beat. Jack slipped across the ante-room, and into the great ballroom.

  He stood there for a moment, looking round the dimly lighted room. And then something caught his eye and he jumped.

  On the far side was a great picture – and as Jack looked at it, it moved! It moved sideways across the wall, and behind it appeared a black hole.

  Good gracious! Whatever was happening now?

  20

  The way out

  A man’s face suddenly appeared in the hole. Jack would not have been able to recognize it but for one thing – the man wore an eyeglass in one eye!

  ‘The Count!’ thought Jack. ‘My word – what’s he doing, popping up in secret places in the middle of the night?’

  The man jumped down to the floor. A door at once opened near him and a woman came out. Jack recognized her, too. Madame Tatiosa, the pretty woman who had pretended to be ill at Quarry Cottage – the wife of the Prime Minister!

  This was evidently a secret meeting between her and her brother. Where had he come from? Why was he so excited? The two of them spoke rapidly together and Madame Tatiosa seemed very pleased. She kissed her brother on both cheeks and patted him on the back.

  ‘Her plans seem to be going well, whatever they are!’ thought Jack. ‘I bet it’s something to do with the King. They’ve probably arranged to capture him soon. That means that Gussy will be hauled out of that room and made to sit on the throne. I don’t like the look of Count Paritolen. He’s a nasty bit of work – and it’s quite plain he’s been up to something tonight!’

  The brother and sister, still talking excitedly, went into the room from which Madame Tatiosa had appeared. The door shut. Jack heard the clink of glasses. They were going to celebrate something, perhaps? Things were obviously moving.

  Jack wished fervently that Bill was there with him. But Bill probably didn’t even guess that the five of them were in Tauri-Hessia. He had no means of knowing that they had come over by plane. He was probably hunting for them all over the place in England!

  Jack looked at the hole in the wall. Where did it lead to? He felt impelled to go and look at it. He could still hear clinking and talking in the room nearby. He ran across to the hole, clambered on a chair and looked inside. He could see nothing, so he felt for his torch.

  Then he saw the door of the room opening! There was only one thing to do – he must tumble inside that hole and hope for the best!

  So in went Jack, almost falling over himself in his hurry. He found that there were steps there, and he slid down them, landing with a bump at the bottom. He sat there and listened, full of alarm.

  But it seemed as if the Count and his sister hadn’t heard anything. He heard their voices in the distance. And then he heard something else! He heard a slight scraping noise, and the light that came into the hole where he was hiding was abruptly cut off.

  ‘Gosh – the picture’s gone back into place. I’m trapped!’ said Jack, in alarm. He went up the steps and felt about at the back of the picture. The back was of stout wood, and fitted tightly over the hole. It wouldn’t move even when he pushed it. He didn’t like to do anything violent in case the Count heard him.

  He put on his torch. He looked down the steps and saw a passage at the bottom. Well – it must lead to somewhere! It might even lead out of the castle! The only thing to do was to try it and see.

  So Jack went down the steps again, and into a narrow little passage. He came to the conclusion that the passage must run just inside the walls of the room, at a little below the level of the floor. It went round at right angles quite suddenly – then there were more steps, very steep indeed.

  Down them climbed Jack, thankful for his torch. It was very musty in the passage. He came to a place where there seemed to be a little light shining behind the left-hand wall. What was it?

  Jack soon discovered! It was a small hole made in the wooden panelling there, and through it he could see into a dimly lit room – a room where people apparently met to discuss things, for there was a round table with chairs pulled up to it, and blotting pads and papers were set out neatly.

  ‘Hm – a nice little spy hole,’ thought Jack. ‘Well – on we go. Wherever does this lead to, Kiki?’

  Kiki didn’t know – she only knew she was getting rather tired of this trip. She clung to Jack’s shoulder and grumbled in his ear.

  The passage went downwards again, not by steps this time, but in a steep slope. Jack found himself in a much narrower, lower passage now – he had to bend his head down. Two people would have found it difficult to pass one another. Kiki protested, because the ceiling kept brushing the top of her head.

  ‘I wish I knew where this is all leading to, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘I don’t like it any more than you do! Hallo – here’s a cellar, or something!’

  The passage suddenly ended in a round cellar-like place, full of old junk. The entrance to this was only a round hole, through which Jack climbed, glad he wasn’t as fat as the old ‘Boss’ of the circus.

  ‘Now where do we go from here?’ he thought. He flashed his torch all round. Nothing much to see but junk. Then he flashed his torch on the ceiling above his head – it was only about two inches higher than he was.

  ‘A trap door! Surely that’s a trap door! If only I can open it!’ thought Jack.

  He pushed hard – and it opened! It swung right back and landed flat with a tremendous crash. It startled Jack horribly and made Kiki screech like a barn owl!

  Nobody came rushing up. Nobody shouted ‘Who’s there?’ Jack waited a minute and then clambered out. Where was he now? He began to feel he must be in a kind of nightmare, where nothing really led anywhere – only just on and on, steps, passages, holes, cellars, trapdoors – what next?

  Again he shone his torch round. He was in a very tall, very narrow building of stone. Great ropes hung round him. He turned his torch upwards, and then he knew where he was!

  ‘The bell tower! The tower that is just opposite Philip’s room! That passage I’ve come down must be a secret way into the castle. Well – what a discovery!’

  He went to the doorway of the bell tower. There was no door there, merely an archway. The place was apparently built just to hold the great bell and nothing else.

  And then Jack discovered something that filled him with relief and joy. The bell tower was built outside the castle wall and not inside! He could run down the slope of the hill to the circus with nothing to prevent him – no walls to climb – no windows to jump from – there he w
as, outside the castle, walls and all.

  ‘That’s a bit of luck!’ thought the boy. ‘Come on, Kiki. We’re out. Now we’ll go back and get a bit of sleep!’

  It wasn’t long before Jack was creeping into Pedro’s caravan. The floor creaked loudly, but Pedro did not awake. Jack stripped off his things, thinking hard.

  He felt pleased. Lucy-Ann and the others were safe. They had come to no harm. They were safe as long as Gussy wasn’t King – then they might be held as hostages if the British Government sided with the present King, and demanded that he be put back on the throne. Jack could quite well imagine that Count Paritolen and Madame Tatiosa would delight in threatening all kinds of dreadful things where the children were concerned, if the British Government made things too uncomfortable for them.

  ‘The thing to do is to rescue them quickly before Gussy’s uncle is captured and Gussy’s put on the throne,’ thought Jack. ‘I really must try and get in touch with Bill. But it will be difficult, because probably the people in this part of the country are on the side of the Count – and if I try to get news through to Bill, I’ll be captured myself!’

  He fell asleep thinking of it all. He had had a night of real adventure and he was tired out. He didn’t even wake when Mr Fank’s bears created a great disturbance in the early morning, and tried to break their cage down!

  Pedro told him about it at breakfast time. ‘Nobody dares to go near them,’ he said. ‘They haven’t come to fighting each other yet, but they will. And then they won’t be any use in the circus.’

  ‘Isn’t Mr Fank better then?’ asked Jack.

  ‘No. Worse,’ said Pedro. ‘The Boss is really worried. Pity that friend of yours you told me about isn’t anywhere near here. If he’s as clever as you say, he might be able to quieten the bears and manage them!’

  Pedro was joking, of course – but Jack sat up straight, and began considering the matter at once. He was sure that Philip could manage the bears, of course. Could he possibly tell Pedro where Philip was – and say that if Pedro would help him to rescue the children, Philip would try to do his best for the bears?