"There's your friend, the detective," remarked Joey, later on, jerking
his head in the direction of the animal tent. Sure enough, Blake was
standing at the end of the tier of seats, talking with Thomas
Braddock. "But he doesn't reckernize you, David, so don't turn any
paler than you are already."
The new clown, wretchedly unsuited to his new occupation, managed to
get through the performance without mishap. He followed instructions
blindly but faithfully, barking his shins twice and tripping over an
equestrian banner once with almost direful results. The audience
laughed with glee, and Grinaldi congratulated him on the hit he was
making.
"Hit?" moaned David, rubbing his elbow in earnest. "Good heaven! Was
that a hit?"
"My boy, they'd laugh if you were to break your neck," said the clown
gravely.
Christine Braddock came on for her turn early in the program. David
was told that her mother, who persistently though vainly opposed a
ring career for her loved one, compromised with Braddock on the
condition that she was to appear early in the performance.
"Brad was a circus rider in his younger days, before he took to
drink," explained Joey, as he and David sat together at the edge of
the ring while Briggs, the ringmaster, announced the approach of "the
world-famed child marvel, Little Starbright, and Monseer Dupont, in
the great-est eques-trian feats evah attempted by mor-tal crea-tuah!"
"When Christie was a wee bit of a thing he took 'er into the ring with
'im.
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