They crept downstairs and through the hall in silence. Fortune favoured them. No one came out. Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown, Ethel and Aunt Lilian were playing bridge in the drawing-room. The hall door stood open.
Outside Grandfather Moore gave a wicked chuckle.
"Lilian—she thinks I'm in bed," he said.
"Sh! Come on!" whispered William.
Outside the tent door he remembered suddenly that he possessed no money. His last penny had been spent on a bag of popcorn the day before. Grandfather Moore was crestfallen. He said he had no money, but a systematic search revealed a shilling in the corner of his coat pocket, and his face lit up.
"It's all right, William," he said gleefully.
THEY CREPT DOWNSTAIRS AND THROUGH THE HALL
IN SILENCE.
A stream of people were entering the tent. There was the ring, the sawdust, the stands for the horses, the sea of people, the smell that is like no other smell on earth—the smell of the circus! William's heart was too full for words. He could hardly believe his eyes. It was all too wonderful to be true. And there in the ring was a clown—a jolly, red-nosed, laughing clown. Grandfather Moore clutched his arm.
"The clown, William!" he gasped in ecstacy.