The black horse, with its magnificent rider, came through the opening,
and Derrick, as he caught the bridle, looked up and nodded his
congratulations. Sidcup approached also, and began to praise her; but
she merely glanced at him. Her eyes fixed themselves on Derrick, and she
rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment as she slipped from her
horse. Sidcup noticed her little action, and his face darkened. At this
moment Mr. Bloxford's hand waved towards him; his turn had come, and he
sprang into the ring with the acrobat's conventional bow and gesture.
After trying his ropes carefully, he swarmed up to the trapeze; the
music of the band slowed down, and became impressive. In almost
breathless silence, Derrick and the audience watched the man as he went
through his performance. It was an extremely clever and daring one, and
he brought it to a close by turning a double somersault as he left one
trapeze and caught the other, a feat which made all who watched it hold
their breath.
The audience roared at him, Mr. Bloxford waved him on twice to bow his
acknowledgments, and Derrick, as Sidcup came tripping out of the ring,
met him and held out a hand.
"Simply stunning!" said Derrick. "Cleverest thing of the kind I ever
saw. You must have the pluck of the devil. You made my heart turn over.
Wonderful, wasn't it, Miss Devigne?"
She took her eyes from Derrick for an instant, and smiled at Sidcup, but
her gaze returned to Derrick's face, and Sidcup's smile vanished as he
passed them without a word.
Alice, too, got her share of the applause for her very pretty and
refined act of horsemanship. The rest of the company, heartened by the
previous successes, did their best, and an evidently well-pleased
audience streamed out into the cool, clear air. Sent for by Mr.
Bloxford, Derrick went to the manager's tent or office.
"Congratulations, sir!" he said.
"Here, help me count this," commanded Mr. Bloxford, nodding to the heap
of notes and coin. "Yes, it's been a good start, and a jolly good thing
for us that they were pleased. I've heard since I've been here that if
they don't ketch on, if they don't cotton to the show, they're apt to
cut up rough. A man at the hotel told me that the last circus was
wrecked, clean wrecked. Something they didn't like got their monkey up."
"Oh, we're all right, anyhow," said Derrick. "Our people are all very
pleased. They're going to have a kind of beano over the supper. You'll
come along, Mr. Bloxford; they'll want you."