Read Online The Magnificent Lizzie Brown and the Devil's Hound by Vicki Lockwood - Free Book Online

interrupt. I was wondering if I could check young Erin’s arm.”
    Lizzie leaped to her feet. “This is Dr. Josiah Gladwell, Fitzy! He helped us. We left him a ticket to the show.”
    Fitzy strode over and shook the doctor’s hand, pumping it up and down. “Doctor, welcome. We’re all in your debt. Erin, let’s see your wrist.”
    After the doctor had gently checked the swelling and moved Erin’s wrist back and forth a little, he patted her on the shoulder. “Good girl. You did what you were told, didn’t you?”
    â€œI did, Doctor,” Erin said proudly. “Lots of rest, no messing around.”
    â€œShe’s healing up nicely, sir,” the doctor told Fitzy. But despite his words, Dr. Gladwell looked concerned.
    Relief shone out of the ringmaster’s face. But then he looked puzzled. “What’s the matter now?”
    Dr. Gladwell was peering over his glasses at JoJo. “That clown over there,” he said. “How long has he been ill?”
    â€œA couple of days, possibly longer,” Fitzy said. “Why?”
    â€œI need to remove his makeup.” The doctor stepped forward and looked startled when the clowns closed ranks around JoJo.
    â€œYou’ll do no such thing, mate,” said Didi, sounding cold and menacing.
    Fitzy cleared his throat. “Doctor, it is very much against circus custom to remove a clown’s makeup without his permission.”
    â€œIt certainly is,” Didi said. The clowns muttered in agreement.
    â€œThen I must ask the gentleman to do it himself,” Dr. Gladwell said with a shrug.
    The clowns angrily rallied around JoJo. “You can’t do that!” Didi said. “It’s his face. You can’t make him take it off!”
    â€œI’m afraid it’s a matter of the utmost importance,” the doctor insisted.
    JoJo looked up at Fitzy through pained eyes. “It’s nothing,” he protested. “Just a few spots, that’s all.”
    â€œJoJo,” Fitzy said softly, “please do as the doctor says.”
    With trembling hands, JoJo reached for a sponge and water. He wiped a stripe of white makeup from his forehead. The clowns surrounding him gasped and backed away as they saw what was underneath.
    The clown’s skin was covered with ugly round bumps with little dimples in the center. It was the same disease that had left Becky’s face scarred . . . and had killed her father. No wonder JoJo had been suffering. He’d worn his thick makeup to hide the signs.
    â€œI thought as much. This man has smallpox,” Dr. Gladwell said. “He’s gravely ill.”
    â€œJoJo,” Rice Pudding Pete sputtered, “why didn’t you say something? You could have told us!”
    JoJo coughed. “Didn’t want to be a bother,” he said.
    Lizzie remembered the vision of death she’d seen when she touched JoJo. Ma Sullivan was shaking her head and whispering something to Pa. She looked like she badly wanted to say, “I told you so.”
    â€œHe has to be kept away from other people and given treatment immediately,” the doctor said. “Your whole cast could be infected.”
    â€œRight.” Fitzy nodded “Didi, get JoJo to the hospital right away.”
    â€œOh, you needn’t do that,” Dr. Gladwell said. “The nearest hospital is miles away. I can take him back to my house with me. I’ve been immunized, so I can give him the treatment he needs.”
    â€œAre you sure?” Fitzy looked stunned. “Isn’t it a terrible imposition?”
    â€œMy dear sir, it’s the least I can do. A circus is just the sort of fun we need in this gloomy old place. Let me take JoJo home, and if you like, any of your cast who haven’t had smallpox before can be immunized. What do you say to that?”
    â€œThank you!” Fitzy burst out. “Thank you ten thousand times over.” He