“In Section C,” added Miss Gordon. “Well, run along before someone picks up Veve’s hat.”
The two girls had a difficult time getting out of the long row of seats because people seemed unwilling to move. One fat man took up so much space Veve barely could squeeze past his knees.
Taking care not to slip on the plank steps, the girls went down beneath the stand. Veve’s straw hat lay in the dust, but it had not been damaged.
Gazing upward into the stand, the girls could see hundreds of shoes above them. They wondered which ones belonged to Miss Gordon and the Brownies. Of course they could not tell.
Lying on the ground beneath the stand was a strange assortment of articles—pop bottles, scraps of paper, empty boxes and a lady’s belt.
Bending down to pick up the belt, Veve saw a round, shiny object half covered by a piece of colored candy paper. For an instant she thought it might be a cap to a pop bottle. But as she kicked the paper away, she saw that it was a fifty cent piece.
Never before had Veve found so much money. She knew it had fallen from the pocket of someone in the stand above. But in the crowd she never could hope to find the owner.
Tying the coin into her handkerchief, Veve searched for other money. However, she could not find any, so finally she and Connie returned to their seats.
“You missed the best part of the circus,” Rosemary whispered as they sat down.
“Who cares?” answered Veve, displaying the belt and the fifty cent piece. “See what I found.”