"What do you suppose your mother will say to you?" asked Ben, feeling much reproached by her last words.
"I guess she'll say you led me into mischief," and the sharp child nodded as if she defied him to deny the truth of that.
"You'll catch it when you get home, Ben, so you'd better have a good time while you can," advised Sam, thinking Bab great fun, since none of the blame of her pranks would fall on him.
"What would you have done if you hadn't found us?" asked Billy, forgetting his impatience in his admiration for this plucky young lady.
"I'd have gone on and seen the circus, and then I'd have gone home again and told Betty all about it," was the prompt answer.
"But you haven't any money."
"Oh, I'd ask somebody to pay for me. I'm so little, it wouldn't be much."
"Nobody would do it, so you'd have to stay outside, you see."
"No, I wouldn't. I thought of that and planned how I'd fix it if I didn't find Ben. I'd make Sanch do his tricks and get a quarter that way, so now," answered Bab, undaunted by any obstacle.
"I do believe she would! You are a smart child, Bab, and if I had enough I'd take you in myself," said Billy, heartily; for, having sisters of his own, he kept a soft place in his heart for girls, especially enterprising ones.