“Don’t you dare to stwike my bwother!” said Diana, running across the arena.

Some girls, who had just come in, and several men, all burst out laughing.

“You had best come back, miss; you had best not anger him,” said a fair-haired girl, stretching out her hand to the little child as she spoke.

“Anger him?” said Diana.  “I doesn’t know what you mean.  Does you think I are going to let Orion be hurted?  Listen to me, man.  You had best let Orion jump off this morning, ’cos he’s tired.  I’ll talk to him all about widing to-morrow.  Let him get down now, p’ease, big man.”

“Not until he has been twice round the circus,” said Uncle Ben.  “You stand aside, missy, or Greased Lightning may tread on you.”

But Diana was not to be so easily restrained.  She now flew up to Uncle Ben and tried to pull his big whip from his hand.

“You don’t dare to stwike my bwother!” she repeated, her eyes flashing.  Her determined attitude, the fearlessness of her whole little nature induced Uncle Ben to yield to her for the nonce.  This he did more, particularly as he saw that the little boy was really incapable of keeping his seat another moment.

“Well, then, look here, little miss,” he said; “you has behaved very well indeed yourself, and so I’ll let the little chap off this morning.  Now you know, sir, it is ’cos of your sister, for she’s a plucky ’un; so you may go back to my wife.  Here, Sarah; take the pair of ’em.  You can go and sit on one of them chairs over there, children, and see us as we go through our rehearsal.”

The rest of the morning was a truly exciting, not to say breathless, time to Diana.  She had not an instant to regret her absence from Iris and Apollo.  The exploits, the feats performed by the three circus girls, and by Tom the clown, to say nothing of the advent of the elephant and of the donkey who could perform numberless tricks, and finally, the performances of the troop of dogs, who seemed more human than most human beings, all fascinated the little girl.  Even Orion forgot his terrors as he looked on; his cheeks flamed through their walnut dye, and his dark eyes grew brighter than ever.

When the rehearsal was at last over, the whole party rushed back to their rooms, where a hasty meal was served; and little Diana sat between two of the circus girls and was petted, and laughed at, and made much of, and Orion kept close to Aunt Sarah, who took care that he should have as many tit-bits as she could manage to secure for him.

At three o’clock there was a public performance, but now neither Diana nor Orion was allowed to be present.  They found themselves shut up once more in the ugly little room, where Mother Rodesia had first taken them.  From this place they could hear as a sort of distant echo the shouts of the men and women who were performing, and the cheers of the people who were looking on.

At six o’clock the performance came to an end, and then, indeed, began a fearful bustle and excitement.  People were running here, there, and everywhere, and, two hours later, the great vans were all packed, the animals properly secured, and the party, with the exception of Aunt Sarah, Diana, and Orion, had started en route for the west of England.