The rubber-man obligingly wriggled in and out of the wheel-spokes of his caravan, a most amazing feat. He also doubled himself up, and twisted his arms and legs together in such a peculiar manner that he seemed to be more like a four-tentacled octopus than a human being.

He offered to teach Dick how to do this, but Dick couldn’t even bend himself properly double. He was disappointed because he couldn’t help thinking what a marvellous trick it would be to perform in the playing-field at school.

Mr. Slither gave them a most entertaining talk about snakes, and ended up with some information about poisonous snakes that he said they might find very useful indeed.

“Take rattlers now,” he said, “or mambas, or any poisonous snake. If you want to catch one to tame, don’t go after it with a stick, or pin it to the ground. That frightens it and you can’t do anything with it.”

“What do you have to do then?” asked George.

“Well, you want to watch their forked tongues,” said Mr. Slither, earnestly. “You know how they put them out, and make them quiver and shake?”

“Yes,” said everyone.

“Well, now, if a poisonous snake makes its tongue go all stiff without a quiver in it, just be careful,” said Mr. Slither, solemnly. “Don’t you touch it then. But if its tongue is nice and quivery, just slide your arms along its body, and it will let you pick it up.” He went through the motions he described, picking up a pretend snake and letting its body slither through his arms. It was fascinating to watch, but very weird.

“Thanks most awfully,” said Dick. “Whenever I pick up poisonous snakes, I’ll do exactly as you say.”

The others laughed. Dick sounded as if he went about picking up poisonous snakes every day! Mr. Slither was pleased to have such an appreciative audience. George and Anne, however, had firmly made up their minds that they were not going even to look at a snake’s tongue if it put it out — they were going to run for miles!

There were a few more fair-folk there that the children didn’t know much about — Dacca, the tap-dancer, who put on high boots and tap-danced for the children on the top step of her caravan — Pearl, who was an acrobat and could walk on a wire-rope, dance on it, and turn somersaults over it, landing back safely each time — and others who belonged to the show but only helped with the crowds and the various turns.

Jo didn’t know them all, but she was soon so much one of them that the children began to wonder if she would ever go back to her foster-mother again!

“She’s exactly like them all now,” said George. “Cheerful and dirty, slap-dash and generous, lazy and yet hard-working too! Bufflo practises for hours at his rope-spinning, but he lies about for hours too. They’re queer folk, but I really do like them very much.”