Stunt Riding

DUMFOUNDED, Nancy reread the warning. It occurred to her that as the would-be strangler had pulled the whip around her neck he probably had slid the note into a pocket of her dress.

«Of course I shan't pay any attention,» she resolved. «But I'd better be on my guard. Now I'm sure someone in the circus is my enemy.»

Nancy examined the note carefully, but as far as she could see, there was nothing to indicate who had written it. She laid it in a desk drawer.

The next morning Nancy was up early and immediately put on her riding habit. She finished breakfast and tidied her room before nine o'clock, hoping that Pietro might show up. Nancy waited until the last moment before leaving for the riding academy, but the circus clown did not put in an appearance.

Nancy enjoyed her lesson with Señ or Roberto, who smiled encouragingly at her performance. When he was summoned to the telephone, she rode around the outdoor ring several times, practicing what she had learned that morning—somersaulting from the mare.

As Nancy halted Belgian Star, she noticed that Dan Webster, the horse trainer from Sims' Circus, was standing in the doorway of the academy. He nodded his head in greeting and called out:

«Very fine riding, Miss Drew.»

Nancy somersaulted from Belgian Star's back and stood smiling at the man from the circus.

«Say,» he said admiringly, «if anything should go wrong in one of our bareback acts, I'll call on you to replace the rider. How about it?»

Nancy was sure that Dan Webster was teasing her, and she laughed gaily, making no reply. But the horse trainer did not smile.

«I'm serious,» he stated. «You do these trick bareback stunts as well as many riders in the circus. I meant it when I said that should we have an unexpected opening I'd like to call on you.»

Before Nancy had a chance to reply, Señ or Roberto returned from his office. Seeing his old friend Dan Webster, he threw his arms about the man and kissed him on each cheek. In his excitement he spoke partly in English and partly in Spanish.

«Si, si, it is so good to see you, amigo mio. And you look so fine. How is everything at Sims'?»

Dan Webster's face clouded. «Not so good, Roberto. Since you left, things have been getting worse. I think the people in the troupe are discouraged.»

«You mean because of Kroon?» Roberto asked.

Webster nodded and murmured something which Nancy did not hear, then said:

«I have been talking with your young rider here. She is an excellent horsewoman. And I see you have been showing her some circus riding.»

«Yes. She is a fine pupil.»

The horse trainer said he had just suggested to Nancy that should Sims' Circus be without a bareback rider at any time he would be delighted to use her as a substitute.

Roberto looked startled, then he laughed. «You'll never be able to get Nancy Drew to substitute as a circus rider,» he said. «She's a detective.»

It was Dan Webster's turn to look surprised.

«You have actually solved cases?» he asked.

Nancy smiled. «I love mysteries,» she said. «And I like nothing better than to have one to work on.»

The horse trainer stared intently at her for a moment. Then he said, «In that case you should solve the mystery of Sims' Circus.»

Looking at Señ or Roberto, Nancy said half-reproachfully, «You never told me there was a mystery in connection with Sims' Circus.»

«I did not know it myself,» Roberto answered.

The riding master said he had left the circus because he could not get along with Reinhold Kroon. But the matter was entirely personal and did not involve any mystery.

«What has happened since I left the circus, Dan?» he asked.

Webster began with the explanation that Kroon's personality was an odd mixture. He could be the most delightful, charming person one would want to meet. The next moment, he could become hard and cruel.

«The circus folks both admire and hate him,» Dan Webster continued. «To some of us, it doesn't make much difference. We do our work and go our way. We don't earn much money, that's true, but when you get to be my age, and you've been in a circus all your life, you don't think about money. The circus takes care of you, and if you have a place to sleep and get three meals a day, the rest doesn't count.»

«Why do the circus people hate and fear Kroon?» Nancy asked, though she knew of some who had good reason to dislike the ringmaster.

«Well, it's hard to say, Miss Drew. Kroon is one of those people who seems to hypnotize everybody around him. He orders them to do impossible things and somehow or other they do them. Take Lolita for instance. I know that girl well. Actually she's scared to death to get up where it's high, but every time her father insists, she goes ahead and does it. Of course, Lolita is plucky and skilled in her own right, too. Poor girl—she's not very happy these days.»

Dan Webster went on to say that Sims, who owned the circus, was like a piece of putty in Kroon's hands. Actually the owner took orders from the ringmaster!

«I can't figure it out,» the horse trainer said. «It almost seems as if the ringmaster has an evil, uncanny hold over Sims and Lolita, and even Mrs. Kroon.»

Nancy asked if Mrs. Kroon were one of the performers.

«She used to be a bareback rider,» Dan Webster replied. «But she got too heavy and had to give it up. Now she just helps her husband and her daughter. Once in a while she speaks up as if she were about to get something off her mind—and man alive! you ought to see the looks her husband gives her. She shuts up like a clam.»

Nancy brought the subject around to Lolita and Pietro.

Webster told her that he thought they were romantically interested in each other, but that Kroon would never let his adopted daughter out of his sight.

«So these two young folks don't have a chance to be alone at all,» he said. «Between you and me, I'm afraid Kroon and the circus would fold up if Lolita should ever leave.»

After a pause, Dan Webster turned to Nancy and asked her if she was game to try another stunt. Just in case he should have to call on her at some time he wanted to make sure that she could do the trick.

«A somersault across the horse's back while it's moving,» Webster told her. «Like to give it a try?»

Nancy hesitated for a moment. Then she decided that actually the stunt might not be as difficult as it sounded. The stunt would depend completely on a matter of correct timing. She asked Dan Webster about it.

«You're absolutely right,» he said. «Watch the rhythm of the horse's gait. Hum a tune to Belgian Star's slow, rhythmical canter. Then decide exactly from which point you should start to run. When you're sure of your timing, take a few steps toward the horse, put your head and shoulders on the mare's back, and over you go.»

Roberto was not sure that even his star pupil should attempt such a trick. Before permitting Nancy to try it, he insisted that she put on a padded jacket and hat in case of a fall. But with precision timing, Nancy did the somersault perfectly.

«Splendid! Splendid!» Webster cried jubilantly.

Just as Nancy was turning a second somersault, Bess and George arrived. George gasped at seeing the stunt, and Bess shrieked. The cry almost made Nancy lose her balance, and Bess apologized profusely for her outburst.

«Oh, don't do that any more,» she pleaded with her friend. «Why, Nancy, you could break your neck!»

«Now, Bess,» said George, «let Nancy alone. If she wants to try these things, more power to her. Hypers, I'd like to do that stunt myself!»

George was an excellent rider and jumper. The day before, Señ or Roberto had begun to teach her a few of the simpler tricks. She was not ready yet, he said, for the more complicated ones, but, with perseverance, she should be able to do them in a short time.

«I wish you'd both give up this stunt riding,» Bess pleaded fearfully. «You can have just as much fun trotting along.»

The others were amused by Bess's remark. Dan Webster did admit, though, that certain people have a natural talent for managing a horse.

«Miss Drew is definitely one of those people,» he said, and then announced that he must get back to the circus.

From his pocket Webster pulled out a ticket to the afternoon performance. He handed it to Nancy, suggesting that she come to the show and watch the bareback riding very intently.

«You can pick up lots of pointers,» he said. Turning to Bess and George, he added, «Sorry I haven't any more tickets.»

«Oh, that's all right,» said Bess. «The trapeze stuff scares me, anyway.»

Since Nancy's lesson was over, she said good-by to the cousins and the two men, and started for her car. Upon reaching home, she found Hannah Gruen busy in the kitchen preparing lunch.

«Oh, that soufflé looks yummy!» Nancy said, watching the housekeeper take the puffy, delicious-looking food from the oven.

«We'll sit right down and eat,» Hannah stated. «Nothing should interrupt a soufflé.»

As if to belie her words, the front doorbell rang. As Nancy hastened to answer it, Hannah called, «Now don't let anything or anybody ruin our lunch, please!»

Nancy laughed sympathetically. She knew that Hannah was only pleading for her own rights. Meals in the Drew household were forever being interrupted by Mr. Drew's law cases and Nancy's mysteries.

As she approached the door, Nancy wondered if the caller might be Pietro.

Opening the door, Nancy saw a young couple she did not recognize. The girl was attractively dressed and wore a small hat with a full-length face veil.

«Let us in quickly!» she said, stepping into the hall.

The man looked nervously over his shoulder toward the street.