17
　　Borken at last!
　　Kiki was a great success, not only with the circus folk, but with the people who came to visit it.
　　The Boss kept his word, and allowed Jack¹ to show Kiki. Pedro helped him to make a little standwith a gilded² perch³ set on a pole. Kiki was thrilled!
　　‘I believe you think you’re on a throne or something!’ said Jack, grinning. ‘Princess Kiki, thefinest talking parrot in the world! Now – what about a song?’
　　Kiki was always ready to do anything if she could get claps and cheers and laughter. She reallysurpassed herself, and made Fank, the bear trainer, quite jealous because she drew such a lot ofpeople to her little sideshow!
　　She sang lustily, and although she mixed up the rhymes and words she knew in a mostridiculous manner, the Tauri-Hessian folk didn’t know that. They really thought she was singing aproper song.
　　Then she would always answer them if they said anything to her, though as they didn’t speakEnglish they had no idea what she was saying. Still – she answered at once, and usually went offinto such a cackle of laughter afterwards that everyone roared too.
　　‘Tikkopoolinwallyoo?’ somebody would ask Kiki.
　　‘Shut the door, fetch the doctor, Polly’s got a cold!’ Kiki would answer at once. Even Jack hadto grin at her, she enjoyed it all so much.
　　Her noises were the biggest attraction of all. Her sneezes and coughs and her sudden hiccupsmade the village people hold their sides and laugh till the tears fell down their cheeks. They wererather overawed by her express- train- roaring- through- a- tunnel imitation, and they didn’tunderstand the lawn mower⁴ noise because they did not use them; but they really loved the way sheclucked like a hen, grunted⁵ like Fank’s bears, and barked like a dog.
　　Yes – Kiki was a great success. Jack felt that she was getting very spoilt by all this fuss – butshe did bring in money to him, so that he could pay Pedro’s mother for the food she gave him, andfor letting him share Pedro’s little van.
　　The rest of the money he tied carefully up in his handkerchief, thinking that it might come invery useful if he needed any in Borken. He kept his hand on it when Feefo and Fum thechimpanzees were anywhere about. They would pick his pocket if they could – and he would loseall his

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