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                                THE LITTLE CLOWN

                                 BY THOMAS COBB

             AUTHOR OF 'THE BOUNTIFUL LADY,' 'COOPER'S FIRST TERM,' ETC.


LONDON: GRANT RICHARDS
1901




_CONTENTS_


1. _How it began_

2. _Jimmy goes to London_

3. _At Aunt Selina's_

4. _Aunt Selina at Home_

5. _At the Railway Station_

6. _The Journey_

7. _Jimmy is taken into Custody_

8. _Jimmy runs away_

9. _The Circus_

10. _On the Road_

11. _Jimmy runs away again_

12. _Jimmy sleeps in a Windmill_

13. _The Last_




The Little Clown




CHAPTER I

HOW IT BEGAN


Jimmy was nearly eight years of age when these strange things happened
to him. His full name was James Orchardson Sinclair Wilmot, and he had
been at Miss Lawson's small school at Ramsgate since he was six.

There were only five boys besides himself, and Miss Roberts was the only
governess besides Miss Lawson. The half-term had just passed, and they
did not expect to go home for the Christmas holidays for another four or
five weeks, until one day Miss Lawson became very ill, and her sister,
Miss Rosina, was sent for.

It was on Friday that Miss Rosina told the boys that she had written to
their parents and that they would all be sent home on Tuesday, and no
doubt Jimmy might have felt as glad as the rest if he had had a home to
be sent to.

But the fact was that he had never seen his father or mother--or at
least he had no recollection of them. And he had never seen his sister
Winnie, who was born in the West Indies. One of the boys had told Jimmy
she must be a little black girl, and Jimmy did not quite know whether to
believe him or not.

When he was two years of age, his father and mother left England, and
although that was nearly six years ago, they had not been back since.

Jimmy had lived with his Aunt Ellen at Chesterham until he came to
school, but afterwards his holidays were spent with another uncle and
aunt in London.

His mother wrote to him every month, nice long letters, which Jimmy
always answered, although he did not always know quite what to say to
her. But last month there had come no letter, and the month before that
Mrs. Wilmot had said something about seeing Jimmy soon.

When he heard the other boys talk about their fathers and mothers and
sisters it seemed strange that he did not know what his own were like.
For you cannot always tell what a person is like from her photograph;
and although his mother looked young and pretty in hers, Jimmy did not
know whether she was tall or short or dark or fair, but sometimes,
especially after the gas was turned out at night, he felt that he should
very much like to know.

On Monday evening, whilst Jimmy was sitting at the desk in the
school-room sticking some postage-stamps in his Album, he was told to go
to the drawing-room, where he found Miss Rosina sitting beside a large
fire.

'Is your name Wilmot?' she asked, for she had not learnt all the boys'
names yet.

'James Orchardson Sinclair Wilmot,' he answered.

'A long name for such a small boy,' said Miss Rosina. 'It is very
strange,' she continued, 'that all the boys' parents have answered my
letters but yours.'

'Mine couldn't answer,' said Jimmy.

'Why not?' asked Miss Rosina.

'Because they live such a long way off.'

'I remember,' said Miss Rosina; 'it was to your uncle that I wrote. I
asked him to send someone to meet you at Victoria Station at one o'clock
to-morrow. But he has not answered my letter, and it is very
inconvenient.'

'Is it?' asked Jimmy solemnly, with his eyes fixed on her face.

'Why, of course it is,' said Miss Rosina. 'Suppose I don't have a letter
before you start to-morrow morning! I shall not know whether any one is
coming to meet you or not. And what would Miss Roberts do with you in
that case?'

'I don't know,' answered Jimmy, beginning to look rather anxious.

'I'm sure I don't know either,' said Miss Rosina. 'But,' she added, 'I
trust I may hear from your uncle before you start to-morrow morning.'

'I hope you will,' cried Jimmy; and he went back to the school-room
wondering what would happen to him if his Uncle Henry did not write.
Whilst the other boys were saying what wonderful things they intended to
do during the holidays, he wished that his father and mother were in
England the same as theirs.

He could not go to sleep very early that night for thinking of
to-morrow, and when the bell rang at seven o'clock the next morning he
dressed quickly and came downstairs first to look for Miss Rosina.

'Please, have you had a letter from Uncle Henry yet?' he asked.

'No, I am sorry to say I have not,' was the answer. 'I cannot understand
it at all. I am sure I don't know what is to be done with you.'

'Couldn't I stay here?' cried Jimmy.

'Certainly not,' said Miss Rosina.

'Why not?' asked Jimmy, who always liked to have a reason for
everything.

'Because Miss Lawson is not going to keep a school any more. But,'
exclaimed Miss Rosina, 'go to your breakfast, and I will speak to you
again afterwards.'




CHAPTER II

JIMMY GOES TO LONDON


As he sat at breakfast Jimmy saw a large railway van stop at the door,
with a porter sitting on the board behind. The driver climbed down from
his high seat in front, and the two men began to carry out the boxes.
Jimmy saw his clothes-box carried out, then his play-box, so that he
knew that he was to go to London with the rest, although Miss Rosina had
not heard from his uncle.

'Jimmy,' said Miss Roberts after breakfast, 'Miss Rosina wants to see
you in the drawing-room. You must go at once.'

So he went to the drawing-room, tapped at the door, and was told to
enter.

'It is very annoying that your uncle has not answered my letter,' said
Miss Rosina, looking as angry as if Jimmy were to blame for it.

'He couldn't answer if he didn't get it,' cried Jimmy.

'Of course not,' said Miss Rosina, 'but I sincerely hope he did get it.'

'So do I,' answered Jimmy.

'Perhaps he will send to meet you although he has not written to say
so,' said Miss Rosina.

'Perhaps he will,' replied Jimmy thoughtfully.

'But,' Miss Rosina continued, 'if he doesn't send to meet you, Miss
Roberts must take you to his house in Brook Street in a cab.'

'Only suppose he isn't there!' exclaimed Jimmy.

'At all events the servants will be there.'

'Only suppose they're not!'

'Surely,' said Miss Rosina, 'they would not leave the house without any
one in it!'

'If Uncle Henry and Aunt Mary have gone to France they might.'

'Do they often go to France?' asked Miss Rosina.

'They go sometimes,' said Jimmy, 'because Aunt Mary writes to me, and
I've got the stamps in my Album. And then they leave the house empty and
shut the shutters and put newspapers in all the windows, you know.'

Whilst Jimmy stood on the hearth-rug, Miss Rosina sat in an arm-chair
staring seriously at the fire.

'Have you any other relations in London?' she asked, a few moments
later.

'No,' said Jimmy.

'Think, now,' she continued. 'Are you sure there is nobody?'

'At least,' cried Jimmy, 'there's only Aunt Selina.'

'Where does your Aunt Selina live?' asked Miss Rosina, looking a great
deal more pleased than Jimmy felt. He put his small hands together
behind his back, and took a step closer.

'Please,' he said, 'I--I don't want to go to Aunt Selina's.'

'Tell me where she lives,' answered Miss Rosina.

'I think it's somewhere called Gloucester Place,' said Jimmy;' but,
please, I'd rather not go.'

'You silly child! You must go somewhere!'

'Yes, I know,' said Jimmy, 'but I'd rather not go to Aunt Selina's.'

'What is her number in Gloucester Place?' asked Miss Rosina.

'I don't know the number,' cried Jimmy much more cheerfully, because he
thought that as he did not know the number, Miss Rosina could not very
well send him to the house.

'What is your aunt's name? Is it Wilmot?' Miss Rosina asked.

'No, it isn't Wilmot,' said Jimmy.

'Do you know what it is?' she demanded, and Jimmy began to wish he
didn't know; but Aunt Selina always wrote on his birthday, although it
wasn't much use as she never sent him a present.

'Her name's Morton,' he answered.

'Mrs. Morton or Miss Morton?'

'Miss Morton, because she's never been married,' said Jimmy.

'Very well then,' was the answer, 'if nobody comes to meet you at
Victoria Station, Miss Roberts will take you in a cab to Brook Street,
and if your Uncle Henry is not there----'

'I hope he will be!' cried Jimmy.

'So do I,' Miss Rosina continued, 'because Miss Roberts will not have
much time to spare. She will take you to Brook Street; but if the house
is empty, then she will go on to Miss Morton's in Gloucester Place.'

'But how can she if she doesn't know the number?' said Jimmy.

'Miss Roberts will easily be able to find your aunt's house,' was the
answer.

'Oh!' cried Jimmy in a disappointed tone, and then he was sent back to
the other boys.

When it was time to start to the railway station Miss Rosina went on
first in a fly to take the tickets, and they found her waiting for them
on the platform. They all got into a carriage, and Jimmy sat next to
Miss Roberts, who asked him soon after the train started, why he looked
so miserable.

'I do hope that Uncle Henry will send some one to meet me,' he answered.

'I hope so too,' said Miss Roberts, who was