mrs. larue laughed and said she thought that even if they missed the next ride, it would not be a serious matter.
"i see a number of comfortable benches over there in the shade," she announced, "and they look as though they had been placed there especially for patient parents. we'll go over there and wait for you."
the entrancing music grew slower, the platform of prancing beasts began to revolve more slowly and at last stopped. there was a wild scramble of children to get on their favorite mounts.
"i want the giraffe!" cried jess, who never rode anything else.
"i like a lion!" this from ward.
polly and fred chose cream-colored horses and artie was delighted with an elephant while margy climbed into a red plush car and sat on the high seat like a queen in a gondola.
[pg 115]
with a suddenness that made mrs. marley jump, the music started, the merry-go-round began to move, and the blissful ride was well under way.
when the music stopped, jess took another giraffe, on the outside of the platform this time, ward deserted his lion for a friendly-looking bear and fred and polly tried the zebras. artie stuck to his elephant and margy refused to budge from her car, though the others urged her to ride an animal.
"it's lots more fun than that silly old car," said fred, with brotherly disapproval.
"i like it here," margy retorted.
when the second ride was over, they trooped off. margy pulled polly aside as they were walking over to the benches where the mothers were waiting.
"polly, look!" said margy.
she held out her little pink hand, palm up, and there twinkled a ring with two white stones.
"diamonds!" polly said. "where did you get that?"
"i found it," explained margy. "you know when i sit on a sofa or in a stuffed chair, i run my fingers down along the edges of the seat. i don't even know when i do it—i just do, that's all. and that's what i did in that car on the merry-[pg 116]go-round. and i felt something hard and pulled out this."
as soon as margy showed the ring to her mother, mrs. williamson declared that some one must have lost it.
"we'll hunt up the man in charge of the merry-go-round and he will know if any inquiries have been made," she said.
"you don't want a parade following you," mrs. larue declared; "so the rest of us will wait here for you."
"let polly and jess come," begged margy. but mrs. marley said that was too many; so mrs. williamson and margy went in search of the man who was in charge of the merry-go-round.
they found him—after some questioning—in a queer little cubbyhole so surrounded by odds and ends of lumber and tent rigging and paint pots that margy wondered how he ever got in or out of his tiny office without breaking his neck.
mrs. williamson explained that her little girl had found a ring in one of the cars on the merry-go-round. she had hardly explained, before the manager was greatly excited.
"you don't say!" he cried in a hoarse voice. "so that's where it was! a lady lost it last night and she's offered a reward of a hundred dollars.[pg 117] has the ring got two diamonds, ma'am? yes, that's it. then your little girl gets the money."
"oh, she doesn't want any money for finding the ring," mrs. williamson said quickly. "she's only too glad to return it to the owner. no, we won't leave any name or address. that isn't necessary either."
the manager tugged at his mustache and seemed distressed.
"i wish you'd let me do something for you, ma'am," he said wistfully. "if you don't want the little girl to take the money, how about a pass? i own most of this show and i'll write her out a pass in a minute that will take her into most anything she wants to see."
mrs. williamson laughed and explained that margy was one of a party of six children who had come to the carnival.
"that's all right—i'll be glad to give 'em all passes," said the manager heartily. "you say the word and these kids can have the run of the show. we've got as fine a side show over on the other lot as you'll see in the best circus going."
he was so anxious to do something for margy that mrs. williamson did not want to decline the passes. so she said that the children would be delighted, and within a few moments margy had six bright-colored bits of pasteboards that would,[pg 118] the manager told her, "let her in free" to any of the carnival attractions.
"and don't miss the side show, or you'll always regret it," he finished earnestly.
mrs. williamson and margy went back to the rest of their party, and maybe those children's eyes didn't pop out when margy showed them the passes and explained what they meant.
"can you get ice cream cones with 'em?" ward wanted to know.
"are they good for any time?" demanded fred. "then, let's come every day and see something different."
mrs. williamson laughed and shook her head.
"make the most of your fun while you're here," she said warningly. "this is positively the last trip we'll make. besides, fred, these traveling carnivals seldom stay long in one place. the whole thing may move on to-morrow."
"what do you want to do, polly?" margy asked.
"i'd perfectly love to have my fortune told," said polly, her eyes dancing.
"but maybe nobody tells fortunes," margy objected.
"oh, you'll find that in the side show," mrs. larue interposed. "i never yet saw a good side[pg 119] show that didn't reveal a fine future for any curious person who asked."
"goodness, he said we mustn't miss it, either," said margy eagerly. "the side show, i mean. we'll always regret it, if we do."
"probably," agreed mrs. larue. "but i think any one over sixteen who does see a side show regrets it. i think we can wait here for you in this quiet, shady place."
"i think so, too," mrs. marley said. "the children will be all right—there isn't a large crowd and they all seem to be nice people. so if you'll promise to keep together and not get lost you may investigate this wonderful side show and then come back and tell us everything you see."
margy gave each child a pass, and they set gayly out for the side show. the manager had said it was on "the other lot," and they found this to mean a lot across the road from the one where the merry-go-round was put up. on the way ward saw a peanut and popcorn stand, and he could not resist trying the magic of his pasteboard.
"could i have some peanuts—i mean buy them with this?" he asked the little fat man behind the stand.
"sure! a quart enough?" was the answer, and ward managed to say he thought a quart would be enough.
[pg 120]
"here, what are you trying to do?" asked the man, as ward took the bag of peanuts and started to walk away. "fifteen cents, young feller."
"but i have a pass," ward said, his face scarlet. "i showed it to you and you said it was all right."
"i thought it was a dollar bill," declared the fat man. "what's a pass to me? i don't care if the manager did give it to you, he doesn't own my peanuts and popcorn. i pay him rent for this stand, and what i sell is my own. see?"
ward never, by any chance, having a cent in his pockets, fred paid for the peanuts and as several people had stopped to listen, ward was glad to get away.
"i'm awfully sorry, ward," margy apologized, feeling she was responsible for the fat boy's trouble. "i thought he said it was good for everything."
"refreshment stands are different, i guess," said jess. "i don't believe you can ever get anything to eat on a pass. here's the place to have your fortune told, polly."
polly looked eagerly. she saw a black tent, the front plastered with queer signs cut out of red cloth. suns and stars and moons were freely sprinkled over the sides of the tent, too. the[pg 121] signs on the front flaps were the zodiac signs, though polly did not know that.
"i don't believe you can go in on a pass," said ward. "you'd better not try."
boys are seldom as eager to have their fortunes told as girls, for some reason, and fred and artie declared that nothing would induce them to go in and see "madame zelda orlando," who would, so her announcement said, "read your past, present and future for fifty cents."
"huh, i know my past and the present is what is happening to me right now," artie sniffed. "and i can get along without the future till it happens."
but polly and margy and jess were filled with curiosity and they held out their yellow, blue and white passes to the strange turbaned man who stood on guard at the tent door.
"enter!" he said, and held back the mysterious curtain.
polly gave one startled backward glance at the boys and went in, followed by jess and margy. the turbaned guard dropped the curtain back into place.
"say, i didn't think they could get in on their passes," said fred. "i wonder if we ought to have gone in with them."
"they're all right," ward declared carelessly.[pg 122] "come on and let's see the snakes while we're waiting."
"no, we said we'd keep together and we'll stay right here," said fred firmly. "the girls will want to see the snakes, too. i don't suppose it takes very long to tell your past and present and future."
madame orlando evidently agreed with fred, for in less than fifteen minutes polly and jess and margy came out. madame had read their palms, they said, and she said that good fortune awaited them all through life.
"i could have said that," complained ward. "hurry up and let's see the snakes. they're over here."
their passes admitted them into the inky darkness of the snake tent where the reptiles, in glass tanks, writhed back and forth in the glare of electric lights turned full upon them.
"wait a minute, i dropped my pass," whispered ward.
the next moment a woman began to shriek and to jump up and down and wring her hands.
