"Oh!" everyone under the tent cried.

To their amazement, the clown on the ladder did not fall. He balanced himself skillfully, swaying back and forth above the green tanbark. As everyone realized that this was a trick of great cleverness, and not just a clownish act, they clapped loudly.

"It's going to be even harder for him to climb down," George observed tensely.

The audience watched breathlessly as the clown slowly lowered himself without falling. He turned in a complete circle to acknowledge the loud applause.

As he bowed low before Nancy's group, a startled look came over his face. The clown walked forward and stared at Nancy's bracelet.

"Where did you get this, miss?" Pietro asked in a low voice.

Before the startled girl could reply, a whistle sounded and the band began to play. The clown hurriedly said, "I must speak to you after the show. Please meet me beside King Kat's cage."

CHAPTER IVAn Amazing Aerialist

"Pietro!" Nancy called as the clown moved off. "Please tell me—"

But the performer did not turn around. I was not until he had completed a full circuit of the ring doing his amusing antics that he stopped to speak to her again.

"Where did you get the bracelet?" Pietro whispered as he completed a triple somersault.

Teddy Brown clapped so loudly he nearly drowned Nancy's answer. "A New York shop. But it came from Europe."

"Do you know where the missing horse charm is?" the clown asked.

"No."

"I do."

"Who has it?" Nancy questioned eagerly.

Pietro had no opportunity to answer, for at that moment a whistle summoned all the clowns from the ring. Several acts followed. Nancy found them intriguing but could not keep her mind entirely on the circus. Her thoughts reverted constantly to the clown's words and his request that she meet him at the end of the show. Certainly there was some secret about her charm bracelet that was not pure legend!