fair to show them for prizes.

Then there were to be automobile races and horse races, and there were
many amusements from the big merry-go-round to the little tents and
booths where one could throw baseballs at dolls or toss rings over
canes. There were also booths and tents where candy, ice-cream, lemonade
and cider were sold, as well as places to eat.

"Oh, it's wonderful!" cried Nan, as she and her brothers, her sister,
Harry and her father got out of their automobile and walked through the
big gates into the fair grounds. "Don't you like it, Bert?"

"Sure! It's fine!"

"Let's go over and look at the airship," proposed Harry.

"And the balloon," added Bert. "Do you s'pose I could go up in the
balloon?" he asked his father.

"No, I don't suppose you could--I wouldn't like you to," said Mr.
Bobbsey.

"But why, Dad? The balloon is fast to the ground. It can't get away!"

"I'm not so sure about that. I don't want you to go up. You'll have
plenty of other fun."

"I wanted to go up in the balloon," and Bert sighed in disappointment.

"We'll go look at it, anyhow," suggested Harry.

"I want a ride on a lion!" insisted Freddie.

"So do I!" added Flossie.

"All right, I'll take you children to the merry-go-round," said Mr.
Bobbsey. "You come there and meet us after you finish looking at the
balloon and the airship," he said to Bert and Harry.

"I'll stay with you, Daddy," said Nan. "I want a ride on the
merry-go-round, too," and she laughed.

They could hear the music of the "carrousel," as a merry-go-round is
sometimes called.

"Come on!" urged Flossie and Freddie, tugging at their father's hands.

He led them over to the crowd that surrounded the machine on which a
whirling ride could be had for five cents.

"This way! This way for the merry-go-round!" cried a boy's voice. "Only
five cents a ride! Get your tickets and take a ride! On an elephant or a
tiger!"

"I want a lion!" cried Freddie.

"All right! This way for your lions!" cried the voice.

Mr. Bobbsey, pushing his way through the crowd with the children, saw
Bob Guess on the merry-go-round. The boy was helping children to their
seats on the wooden animals, strapping them safely so they would be
ready when the machinery started. The organ kept on playing all the
while.

"Hello, Bob!" called Nan, as she climbed up on a wooden horse, while
Flossie and Freddie, with their father, looked for lions.

The strange boy glanced up in some surpri