"That man's so mean," she told herself, "I don't see how he gets along with anybody."

To her dismay, Kroon stopped at Cinderella's carriage. Reaching inside, he grabbed Teddy up in his arms and planted him firmly in front of him on the horse.

"You crazy kid!" he shouted. "What are you trying to do? Ruin my circus?"

Unceremoniously he lifted Teddy out of the saddle and plunked him down on the curb. Nancy started to tell the irate ringmaster that his actions were quite unwarranted, since Lolita had said the child might ride with her, but Kroon rode off in a hurry. There were so many animals and circus people to look at—riders, clowns, giants, and midgets—that both Nancy and Teddy soon forgot the unpleasant incident.

Both were eager to attend the afternoon performance and arrived early at the circus grounds. Nancy wore an attractive blue sports dress and had slipped the horse-charm bracelet over her wrist. Bess and George, who had her young nephew with her, joined Nancy and Teddy. They had front-row seats in one of the center boxes.

The performance began with a second parade for the benefit of those who had not seen the one on the street. When it was over, the entrance gate opened and seven clowns came running in Teddy shrieked in delight.

One clown, dressed as a tattered hobo, had a little fox terrier with him which did tricks. Another clown, who was dressed as a farmer, was wearing a beard that reached to his knees. With it, he tickled the ears of a comical-looking cow, composed of two clowns. The fifth clown represented a barrel and did all sorts of tricks rolling around quite like one.

The last two were dressed in Pierrot clown suits. One carried a tall ladder. Just before he reached the spot where Nancy and her friends were seated, he planted the ladder upright in the ground and held onto it. The other clown named Pietro, began to climb up. When he reached the top, the clown below suddenly let go and walked off.