“Gringo?” said Jo. “That rings a bell! Let’s see now—Gringo!”

She frowned as she thought hard. Then she nodded. “Oh yes, I remember now. A Fair came to the town a few weeks back — the big town not far from our village. It was called Gringo’s Great Fair.”

“Where did it go?” asked Dick, eagerly.

“It was going to Fallenwick, then to Granton,” said Jo. “I made friends with the boy whose father owned the roundabout, and gosh, I had about a hundred free rides.”

“You would!” said both boys together, and Jo grinned.

“Do you suppose this Gringo, who runs the Fair, could be anything to do with the name Gringo that George wrote on this paper?” said Julian.

“I dunno!” said Jo. “But if you like I can go and find the Fair and get hold of Spiky — that’s the roundabout boy — and see if I can find out anything. I know Spiky said Gringo was a real horror to work for, and thought himself as good as a lord!”

“Had he a car — a big car?” asked Dick, suddenly.

“I dunno that either,” said Jo. “I can find out. Here — I’ll go now! You lend me a bike and I’ll bike to Granton?”

“Certainly not,” said Julian, startled at the idea of Jo biking the twelve miles to Granton in the middle of the night.

“All right,” said Jo, rather sulkily. “I just thought you’d like me to help. It might be that this Gringo has got George somewhere. He was the kind of fellow who was a go-between, if you know what I mean.”

“How?” asked Dick.

“Well, Spiky said that if anyone wanted something dirty done, this Gringo just held out his hand, and if a wad of notes was put into it, he’d do it, and nothing said!” said Jo.

“I see,” said Julian. “Hm — it sounds as if kidnapping would be right up his street, then.”

Jo laughed scornfully. “That would be nothing to him — chicken-feed. Come on, Julian — let me have a lend of your bike.”

“No,” said Julian. “Thanks very very much, but I’m not letting anyone ride to a Fair in the middle of the night to find out if a fellow called Gringo has anything to do with George. I can’t believe he has, either — it’s too far-fetched.”

“All right. But you asked me if the name meant anything to me,” said Jo, sounding offended. “Anyway, it’s a common enough nickname in the Circus world, and the Fair world too. There’s probably a thousand Gringos about!”

“It’s time you went back home,” said Julian, looking at his watch. “And be decent to Berta — I mean Jane—please, Jo. You can come over tomorrow to see if there’s any more news. How did you get here tonight, by the way?”

“Walked,” said Jo. “Well — ran, I mean. Not by the roads, though — they take too long. I go like the birds do — as straight as I can, and it’s much shorter!”