Before five o’clock, the hour set for the show, everyone was on hand except Veve McGuire.
“What’s keeping her?” Jane demanded impatiently. “She thought up the circus, and since she’s to be master of ceremonies she should be here right now.”
Connie was worried about Veve’s absence, for she knew her next-door playmate would not miss the circus deliberately.
Just as Jane spoke, she chanced to glance up toward Veve’s bedroom window. She was startled to see her friend there, dressed in pajamas.
“Why, Veve isn’t even dressed!” she exclaimed.
Seeing Connie gazing up at her, Veve raised the sash and leaned far out. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Why, Veve,” Connie said, moving directly under the window. “Can’t you be in the Brownie circus?”
Veve shook her head. She told Connie she had to stay in her room until six o’clock as punishment for falling into the lily pond.
“Oh, Veve! The circus will be ruined without you! We need everyone.”
“I want to be in it too.”