Dickie looked up with a twinkling smile as Nurse came bustling in.
“Andoo tell Dickie pitty story,” she said.
“Ho, indeed!” said Nurse with a sharp glance at Andrew’s silent figure. “Mr Martin keeps all his conversation for you, Miss Dickie, I think; he don’t favour other people much with it.”
On their way to the house Dickie did her best to tell Nurse all she had heard from Andrew; but it was not very clear, and left her hearer in rather a confused state of mind. There was something about a ’ittle gal, and red boots, and a circus, and something that was lost; but whether it was the red boots that were lost, or the little girl, was uncertain. However, Nurse held up her hands at proper intervals and exclaimed, “Only fancy!” “Gracious me!” and so on, as if she understood perfectly; and when Dickie came to the last sentence this was really the case, for she said in a decided voice:
“Dickie will go to the circus too.”
“No, no,” replied Nurse; “Dickie is too little to go—she will stay at home with poor Nursie and baby.”
It seemed to Dickie that they always said she was too little when she wanted to do anything nice, but if ever she cried or was naughty they said she was too big: “Oh, fie, Miss Dickie! a great girl like you!” If she was a great girl she ought to go to the circus; and she repeated firmly, “Me will go,” adding a remark about “Andoo’s ’ittle gal,” which Nurse did not hear.
At dinner-time there was nothing spoken of but the circus; the children came in from their walk quite full of it, and of all the wonderful things they had seen in the village. Outside the blacksmith’s forge there was a great bill pasted, which showed in bright colours the brilliant performance of “Floretta the Flying Fairy” on horseback; there was also a full-length portrait of Mick Murphy the celebrated clown.
Even more exciting were the strange caravans and carts arriving in the field where the large tent had already been put up; and Ambrose had caught sight of a white poodle trimmed like a lion, which he felt quite sure was one of the dancing-dogs.
The circus was to stop two days—might the children go to-morrow afternoon?