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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10579-0.txt b/10579-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c07cba0 --- /dev/null +++ b/10579-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5636 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10579 *** + +JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER + +OR + +_THE MOST DANGEROUS PERFORMANCE ON RECORD_ + +BY VANCE BARNUM + +Author of "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard," "Joe Strong and His Wings of +Steel," "Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery," etc. + +1916 + + + +JOE STRONG, THE BOY FIRE-EATER + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE VANISHING LADY + + +"Ladies and gentlemen, if you will kindly give me your attention for a +few moments I will be happy to introduce to your favorable notice an +entertainer of world-wide fame who will, I am sure, not only mystify you +but, at the same time, interest you. You have witnessed the +death-defying dives of the Demon Discobolus; you have laughed with the +comical clowns; you have thrilled with the hurrying horses; and you have +gasped at the ponderous pachyderms. Now you are to be shown a trick +which has baffled the most profound minds of this or any other +city--aye, I may say, of the world!" + +Jim Tracy, ringmaster and, in this instance, stage manager of Sampson +Brothers' Circus, paused in his announcement and with a wave of his hand +indicated a youth attired in a spotless, tight-fitting suit of white +silk. The youth, who stood in the center of a stage erected in the big +tent, bowed as the manager waited to allow time for the applause to die +away. + +"You have all seen ordinary magicians at work making eggs disappear up +their sleeves," went on the stage manager. "You have, I doubt not, +witnessed some of them producing live rabbits from silk hats. But +Professor Joe Strong, who will shortly have the pleasure of entertaining +you, not only makes eggs disappear, but what is far more difficult, he +causes a lady to vanish into thin air. + +"You will see a beautiful lady seated in full view of you. A moment +later, by the practice of his magical art, Professor Strong will cause +the same lady to disappear utterly, and he will defy any of you to tell +how it is done. Now, Professor, if you are ready--" and with a nod and a +wave of his hand toward the youth in the white silk tights, Jim Tracy +stepped off the elevated stage and hurried to the other end of the +circus tent where he had to see to it that another feature of the +entertainment was in readiness. + +"Oh, Joe, I'm actually nervous! Do you think I can do it all right?" +asked a pretty girl, attired in a dress of black silk, which was in +striking contrast to Joe Strong's white, sheeny costume. + +"Do it, Helen? Of course you can!" exclaimed the "magician," as he had +been termed by the ringmaster. "Do just as you did in the rehearsals and +you'll be all right." + +"But suppose something should go wrong?" she asked in a low voice. + +"Don't be in the least excited. I'll get you out of any predicament you +may get into. Tricks do, sometimes, go wrong, but I'm used to that. I'll +cover it up, somehow. However, I don't anticipate anything going wrong. +Now take your place while I give them a little patter." + +This talk had taken place in low voices and with a rapidity which did +not keep the expectant audience waiting. Joe Strong, while he was +reassuring Helen Morton, his partner in the trick and also the girl to +whom he was engaged to be married, was rapidly getting the stage ready +for the illusion. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Joe, as he advanced to the edge of the +stage, "I am afraid our genial manager has rather overstated my powers. +What I am about to do, to be perfectly frank with you, is a trick. I lay +no claim to supernatural powers. But if I can do a trick and you can't +tell how it is done, then you must admit that, for the moment, I am +smarter than you. In other words, I am going to deceive you. But the +point is--how do I do it? With this introduction, I will now state what +I am about to do. + +"Mademoiselle Mortonti will seat herself on a stage in a chair in full +view of you all. I will cover her, for a moment only, with a silken +veil. This, if I were a real necromancer, I should say was to prevent +your seeing her dissolve into a spirit as she disappears. But to tell +you the truth, it is to conceal the manner in which I do the trick. +You'd guess that, anyhow, if I didn't tell you," he added. + +There was a good-natured laugh at this admission. + +"As soon as I remove the silken veil," went on Joe, "you will see that +the lady will have disappeared before your very eyes. What's that? +Through a hole in the stage did some one say?" questioned Joe, appearing +to catch a protesting voice. + +"Well, that's what I hear everywhere I go," he went on with easy +calmness. "Every time I do the vanishing lady trick some one thinks she +disappears through a hole in the stage. Now, in order to convince you to +the contrary, I am going to put a newspaper over that part of the stage +where the chair is placed. I will show you the paper before and after +the trick. And if there is not a hole or a tear in the paper, either +before or after the lady has disappeared, I think you will admit that +the lady did not go through a hole in the stage floor. Won't you?" asked +Joe Strong. "Yes, I thought you would," he added, as he pretended to +hear a "yes" from somewhere in the audience. + +"All ready now, Helen," he said in a low voice to the girl, and an +attendant brought forward an ordinary looking chair and a newspaper. + +Joe, who had done the trick many times before, but not often with Helen, +was perfectly at ease. Helen was very frankly nervous. She had not done +the trick for some time, and Joe had introduced into it some novel +features since last presenting it. Helen was afraid she would cause some +hitch in the performance. + +"You'll be all right," Joe said to her in a low voice. "Just act as +though you had done this every day for a year." + +Placing the chair in the center of the stage and handing Joe the +newspaper, the attendant stepped back. Joe addressed the audience. + +"You here see the paper," said the "magician," as he held it up. "You +see that there is no hole in it. I'll now spread it down on the stage. +If the lady disappears down through the stage she will have to tear the +paper. You shall see if she does." + +Joe next placed the chair directly over the square of paper and motioned +to Helen. Her plain black dress, of soft, clinging silk, swayed about +her as she took her place. + +"I might add," said Joe, pausing a moment after Helen had taken her +seat, "that in order to prevent any shock to Mademoiselle Mortonti I am +going to mesmerize her. She will then be unconscious. I do this for two +reasons. In totally disappearing there is sometimes a shock to a +person's mentality that is unpleasant. To avoid indicting that on +Mademoiselle Mortonti I will hypnotize her. + +"The other reason I do that is that she may not know how or when she +disappears. Thus she will not be able to see how I do the trick, and so +cannot give away my secret." + +Of course this was all "bunk" or "patter," to use names given to it by +the performers. It kept the attention of the audience and so enabled Joe +to do certain things without attracting too much attention to them. As a +matter of fact he did not mesmerize Helen, and she knew perfectly well +how the trick was done. Those who have read previous books of this +series are also in the secret. + +Joe waved his hands in front of Helen's face. She swayed slightly in her +chair. Then her eyes closed as though against her will, and she seemed +to sleep. + +"She is now in the proper condition for the trick," said Joe. "I must +beg of you not to make any sudden or unnecessary noise. You might +suddenly awaken her from the mesmeric slumber, and this might be very +serious." + +As Joe said this with every indication of meaning it, there was a quick +hush among the audience. Even though many knew it was only a trick, they +could not help being impressed by the solemn note in Joe's voice. Such +is the psychology of an audience, and the power over it of a single +person. + +"She now sleeps!" said Joe in a low voice. As a matter of fact, Helen +was wide awake, and as Joe stood between her and the circus crowd she +slowly opened one eye and winked at him. He was glad to see this, as it +showed her nervousness had left her. + +"Now for the mystic veil!" cried Joe, as he took from his helper a thin +clinging piece of black silk gauze. He tossed this over Helen and the +chair, completely covering both from sight. He brought the veil around +behind Helen's head, fastening it there with a pin. + +"To make sure that Mademoiselle Mortonti sleeps, I will now make the few +remaining mesmeric passes," said Joe. "I must be positive that she +slumbers." + +He waved his hands slowly over the black robed figure. A great hush had +fallen over the big crowd. Every eye was on the black figure in the +center of the raised stage in the middle of the big circus tent. All the +other acts had temporarily stopped, to make that of Joe Strong, the boy +magician, more spectacular. + +As Joe continued to wave one hand with an undulating motion over the +silent black-covered figure in the chair, he touched, here and there, +the drapery over Helen. He seemed very solicitous that it should hang +perfectly right, covering the figure of the girl and the chair +completely from sight in every direction all around the stage. + +The music, which had been playing softly, suddenly stopped at a wave of +Joe's hand. He stood for a moment motionless before the veiled figure. + +"Her spirit is dissolving into thin air!" he said in a low voice, which, +nevertheless, carried to every one in the crowd. + +Suddenly Joe took hold of the veil in the center and directly over the +outlined head of the figure in the chair. Quickly the young magician +raised the soft, black silk gauze, whisking it quickly to one side. + +The audience gasped. + +The chair, in which but a moment before Helen Morton had been seated, +was empty! The girl had disappeared--vanished! Joe stooped and raised +from the stage the newspaper. It showed not a sign of break or tear. + +Then, before the applause could begin, the girl appeared, walking out +from one of the improvised wings of the circus stage. She smiled and +bowed. The act had been a great success. Now the silent admiration of +the throng gave place to a wave of hand clapping and feet stamping. + +"Was it all right, Joe?" asked Helen, as he held her hand and they both +bowed their appreciation of the applause. + +"Couldn't have been better!" he said. "We'll do this trick regularly +now. It takes even better than my ten thousand dollar box mystery. You +were great!" + +"I'm so glad!" + +The two performers were bowing themselves off the stage when suddenly +there came the unmistakable roar of a wild beast from the direction of +the animal tent. It seemed to shake the very ground. At the same time a +voice cried: + +"A tiger is loose! One of the tigers is out of his cage!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A DANGEROUS SWING + + +There is no cry which so startles the average circus audience as that +which is raised when one of the wild animals is said to be at large. Not +even the alarm that the big tent is falling or is about to be blown over +will cause such a panic as the shout: + +"A tiger is loose!" + +There is something instinctive, and perfectly natural, in the fear of +the wild jungle beasts. Let it be said that a tiger or a lion is loose, +and it causes greater fear, even, than when it is stated that an +elephant is on a rampage. An elephant seems a big, but good-natured, +creature; though often they turn ugly. But a lion or a tiger is always +feared when loose. + +But the chances are not one in a hundred that a circus lion or a tiger, +getting out of its cage, would attack any one. The creature is so +surprised at getting loose, and so frightened at the hue and cry at once +raised, that all it wants to do is to slink off and hide, and the only +harm it might do would be to some one who tried to stop it from running +away. + +Joe Strong, Jim Tracy, and the other circus executives and employees +knew this as soon as they heard the cry: "A tiger is loose." Who raised +the cry and which of the several tigers in the Sampson show was out of +its cage, neither Joe nor any of those in the big tent near him knew. +But they realized the emergency, and knew what to do. + +"Keep your seats! Don't rush!" cried Joe, as he released Helen's hand +and hurried to the front of the platform. "There is no danger! The +animal men will catch the tiger, if one is really loose. Stay where you +are! Keep your seats! Don't rush!" + +It is the panic and rush that circus men are afraid of--the pushing and +"milling" of the crowd and the trampling under foot of helpless women +and children. + +There was some commotion near the junction of the animal tent and that +in which the main performance took place. What it was, Joe did not +concern himself about just then. He felt it to be his task to prevent a +panic. And to this he lent himself, aided by Helen, Jim Tracy, and +others who realized the danger. + +And while this is going on and while the expert animal men are preparing +to get back into its cage the tiger which, it was learned afterward, had +got out through an imperfectly fastened door, time will be taken to tell +new readers something about Joe Strong and the series of books in which +he is the central character. + +Joe Strong seemed destined for a circus life and for entertaining +audiences with sleight-of-hand and other mystery matters. His father, +Alexander Strong, known professionally as Professor Morretti, was a +stage magician of talents, and Joe's mother, who was born in England, +had been a rider of trick horses. + +His parents died when Joe was young. He did not have a very happy +boyhood, and one day he ran away from the man with whom he was living +and joined a traveling magician, who called himself Professor Rosello. +With him Joe, who had a natural aptitude for the business, learned to +become a sleight-of-hand performer. + +In the first book of the series, entitled "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard; +Or, the Mysteries of Magic Exposed," is told how Joe got on in life +after his first start. Joe was not only a stage magician, but he had +inherited strength, skill and daring, and he liked nothing better than +climbing to great heights or walking in lofty and dizzy places where the +footing was perilous. So it was perhaps natural that he should join the +Sampson Brothers' Show. And in the second book is related, under the +title, "Joe Strong on the Trapeze; Or, the Daring Feats of a Young +Circus Performer," what happened to our hero under canvas. + +Joe loved the circus life, even though he made some enemies. But he had +many friends. There was Helen Morton. Then there was Benny Turton, who +did a "tank act," and was billed as a "human fish." Jim Tracy, the +ringmaster, Bill Watson, the veteran clown, and his wife, the circus +"mother," Tom Layton, the elephant man who taught the big creatures many +tricks, were only a few of Joe's friends. + +Among others might be mentioned Señor Bogardi, the lion tamer, Mrs. +Talfo, the professional "fat lady," Señorita Tanzalo, the pretty snake +charmer, and Tom Jefferson, the "strong man." Joe loved them all. The +circus was like one big family, with, as might be expected, a "black +sheep" here and there. + +Joe became an expert on the trapeze, and, later, when Benny Turton was +temporarily in a hospital, Joe "took on" the tank trick. In the third +volume some of his under-water feats are related, while in the fourth +book Joe's acts on a motor cycle on the high wire are dealt with. + +With his "Wings of Steel," Joe caused a sensation, and after an absence +from the circus for a time he joined it again, bringing this act to it. + +Eventually Joe was made one of the circus owners, and now controlled a +majority of the stock. He had also inherited considerable money from his +mother's relatives in England, so that now the youth was financially +well off for one who had started so humbly. + +The book immediately preceding this one is called "Joe Strong and His +Box of Mystery; Or, the Ten Thousand Dollar Prize Trick." In that volume +is related how Joe constructed a trick box, out of which he made his way +after it was locked and corded about with ropes. Helen Morton helped him +in this trick, which was very successful. + +The circus management offered a prize of ten thousand dollars to +whomsoever could fathom how the trick was done. Bill Carfax, an enemy of +Joe's and a former circus employee, tried to solve the problem but +failed. + +The box trick was a great attraction for the circus, and Joe was in +higher favor than before. + +He had been on the road with the show for some time when the events +detailed in the first chapter of this book took place. + +By dint of much shouting and urging the people to retain their seats and +not rush into danger, Joe Strong and the others succeeded in calming the +circus crowd. Meanwhile there was much suppressed excitement. + +"Is the tiger caught? Is he back in his cage?" was asked on every side. + +While Joe and his fellow showmen were calming the crowd, the animal men +were having their own troubles. Burma, one of the largest of the +tigers, had got loose, having taken advantage of the open door of his +cage. He rushed out with a snarl of delight at his freedom. His jungle +cry was echoed by the roar of a lion in the next cage, and this was +followed by the cries and snarls of all the wild jungle beasts in the +tent. + +Fortunately the animal tent was deserted by all save the keepers, the +audience having filed into the tent where the main show was going on. + +"Head him off now! Head him off!" cried Tom Layton, the elephant man, as +he saw the tiger dart out of its cage--a flash of yellow and black. +"Head him off! Don't let him get in the main top!" + +"That's right! Head him off!" cried Señor Bogardi, the lion tamer. "He +won't hurt any one--he's too scared!" + +This was true, but it was difficult to believe, and some of the people +seated in the "main top," or big tent, who were nearest the animal tent, +hearing the cries and learning what had occurred, spread the alarm. + +Burma, the tiger, slunk around in behind the cages of the other animals. +All about him were men with clubs and pointed goads, with whips and +pistols. The circus men had had to cope with situations like this +before. They surrounded the tiger, advancing on him in an ever-narrowing +circle, and in a short time they drove him into an emergency cage which +was pushed forward with the open door toward him. Burma had no choice +but to enter, to get away from the cracking whips and the prodding +goads. And, after all, he was glad to be barred in again. + +So, without causing any harm except for badly frightening a number of +people in the audience, the tiger was caged again, and the circus +performance went on. + +Joe Strong did his Box of Mystery trick. The usual announcement of a +reward of ten thousand dollars to whomsoever could solve it was made, +and there was great applause when Joe managed to get out of the big box +without disturbing the six padlocks or the binding ropes. + +"I'm glad Bill Carfax isn't here to make trouble, trying to show how +much he knows about this trick," said Joe to the ringmaster, as he +stepped off the stage at the conclusion of the trick. + +"Yes, you put several spokes in Bill's wheels when you turned the laugh +on him that time," said Jim Tracy. "I don't believe he'll ever show up +around our circus again." + +But they little knew Bill Carfax. Those who have read the book just +before this will recall him and remember how unscrupulous he was. But +his plans came to naught then. Any one who wishes to learn how the +wonderful box trick was worked will find a full explanation in the +previous volume. + +Helen Morton received much applause at the conclusion of her act with +her trick horse, Rosebud. Joe Strong's promised wife was an accomplished +bareback rider, as well as one of her fiancé's helpers in his mystery +tricks. + +"Well, I'm glad to-day is over," said Helen to Joe that night, as they +went to the train that was to take them to the next city where the +circus performance would be given. "What with doing the vanishing lady +act for the first time in a long while and the tiger getting loose, we +have had quite a bit of excitement." + +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But everything came out all right. I'm going to put +on a new stunt next week." + +"What's that?" asked Helen. "Something in the mystery line?" + +"No. I'm going back to some of my high trapeze work. You know, since we +lost Wogand there hasn't been any of the big swing work done." + +"That's so," agreed Helen. "But I've been so busy practicing the +vanishing lady act with you on top of my other work that I hadn't given +it a thought. But you aren't going to do that dangerous trick, are you?" + +"I think I am," Joe answered. "It's sensational, and we need sensational +acts now to draw the crowds. I used to do it, and I can again, I think, +with a little practice. I'm going to start in and train to-morrow." + +"I wish you wouldn't," said Helen, in a low voice, but Joe did not seem +to hear her. + +The big swing was a trapeze act performed on the highest of the circus +apparatus. Part of this apparatus consisted of two platforms fastened to +two of the opposite main poles, and up under the very roof of the big +top. + +Midway between the platforms, which were just large enough for a man to +stand on, was a trapeze with long ropes, capable of being swung from one +resting place to the other. It was, in reality, a "big swing." + +Joe's act, which he had often done, but which of late had been performed +by a man billed as "Wogand," was to stand on one platform, have the long +trapeze started in a long, pendulumlike swing by an attendant, and then +to leap down, catch hold of the bar with his hands, and swing up to the +other platform. If he missed catching the bar it meant a dangerous fall; +a fall into a net, it is true, but dangerous none the less. Its danger +can be judged when it is said that Wogand had died as an indirect result +of a fall into the net. He missed the trapeze, toppled into the net, +and, by some chance, did not land properly. His back was injured, his +spine became affected, and he died. + +When circus performers on the high trapezes fall or jump into the safety +nets, they do not usually do it haphazardly. If they did many would be +killed. There is a certain knack and trick of landing in a net. + +Joe Strong, ever having the interest of the circus at heart, had decided +to do this dangerous swing. He was an acrobat, as well as a stage +magician, and he had decided to take up some of his earlier acts which +had been so successful. + +"But I wish he wouldn't," said Helen to herself. "I have a premonition +that something will happen." Helen was very superstitious in certain +ways. + +But to all she said, Joe only laughed. + +"I'm going to do the big swing," he replied simply. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TOO MANY PEOPLE + + +Hundreds of men toiling and sweating over stiff canvas and stiffer +ropes. The thud of big wooden sledge hammers driving in the tent stakes. +The rumble of heavy wagons, and a cloud of dust where they were being +shoved into place by the busy elephants. + +On one edge of the big, vacant lot were wisps of smoke from the fires in +the stove wagons, and from these same wagons came appetizing odors. + +Here and there men and women darted, carrying portions of their costumes +in their hands. Clowns, partly made up, looked from their dressing tents +to smile or shout at some acquaintance who chanced to be passing by. + +All this was the Sampson Brothers' Circus in preparation for a day's +performance. + +Joe Strong, having had a good breakfast, without which no circus man or +woman starts the day, strolled over to where Helen Morton was just +finishing her morning meal. + +"Feeling all right?" he asked her. + +"Well, yes, pretty well," she answered. + +"What's the matter?" asked Joe quickly, as he detected an under note of +anxiety in the girl's voice. "Is your star horse, Rosebud, lame or off +his feed?" + +"Oh, no," she answered. "It's just--Oh, here comes Mother Watson, and I +promised to help her mend a skirt," said Helen quickly, as she turned to +greet the veteran clown's wife. "See you later, Joe!" she called to him +over her shoulder as she started away. + +The young magician moved away toward his own private quarters. + +"I wonder what's the matter with Helen," he said. "She doesn't act +naturally. If that Bill Carfax has been around again, annoying her, I'll +put him out of business for all time. But if he had been around I'd have +heard of it. I don't believe it can be that." + +Nor was it. Helen's anxiety had to do with something other than Bill +Carfax, the unprincipled circus man who had so annoyed her before Joe +discharged him. And, as Joe had said, the man had not been seen publicly +since the fiasco of his attempt to expose Joe's mystery box trick. + +"Well, I suppose she won't tell me what it is until she gets good and +ready," mused Joe. "Now I'll go in and have a little practice at the big +swing before the parade." + +Joe did not take part in the street pageant, though Helen did, riding +her beautiful horse to the admiration, not only of the small boys and +their sisters, but the grown-up throng in the highways as well. Helen +made a striking picture on her spirited, but gentle, steed. + +It was not that Joe Strong felt above appearing in the parade. That was +not his reason for not taking part. He had done so on more than one +occasion, and with his Wings of Steel had created more than one +sensation. + +But now that he did a trapeze act, as well as working the +sleight-of-hand mysteries, his time was pretty well occupied. He had +not, as yet, done the big swing in public since that act was abandoned +on the death of the man who had been injured while doing it. But Joe had +been perfecting himself in it. He had had a new set of trapezes made, +and had ornamented them and the two platforms in a very striking manner. +In other words, the trick had a new "dress," and Joe, as one of the +circus proprietors, hoped it would go well and attract attention. + +This was from a business standpoint, and not only because Joe was +himself the performer. Of course it was natural that he should like +applause--all do, more or less. But Joe was one of the owners of the +circus--the chief owner, in fact--and he wanted to make a financial +success of it. Nor was this a purely selfish reason. Many persons owned +stock in the enterprise, and Joe felt it was only fair to them to see +that they received a good return for their investment. Any trick he +could do to draw crowds he was willing to attempt. + +So, while the parade was being gotten ready, Joe went inside the main +top, which by this time was erected, to see about having his platforms +and trapeze put in place. In this he was always very careful, as is +every aerial performer. The least slip of a rope may cause disaster, and +no matter how careful the attendants are, the performers themselves +always give at least a casual look to their apparatus. + +"All right, Harry?" asked Joe of one of the riggers who had charge of +putting up the platforms and the big swing. + +"Sure, it's all right, Mr. Strong!" was the answer. "I should say so! I +don't make no mistakes when I'm putting up trapezes. You'll find +everything shipshape and proper. Going to have a big crowd to-day, I +guess." + +Joe looked at Harry Loper closely. The young man had never talked so +much before, being, on the whole, rather close-mouthed. As the man +passed Joe, after giving a pull on the last rope, the young magician +became aware that Harry had been drinking--and something stronger than +pink lemonade. + +"I'm sorry about that!" mused Joe, as the rope rigger passed on. "If +there's any place a man ought not to drink it's in a circus, and +especially when he has to rig up high flying apparatus for others. It +was drink that put Bill Carfax out of business. I didn't know Harry was +that kind, I never noticed it before. I'm sorry. And I'll take extra +precautions that my ropes won't slip. You can't trust a man who drinks." + +Joe shook his head a bit sadly. He was thinking of Bill Carfax, and of +the fact that he had had to discharge the man because, while under the +influence of liquor, he had insulted Helen. Then Bill had tried to get +revenge on Joe. + +"I hope it doesn't turn out this way with Harry Loper," mused Joe, as he +began climbing up a rope ladder that led to one of the high platforms. +And as Harry had to do with the placing of this ladder, Joe tested it +carefully before ascending. + +"I don't want to fall and be laid up in the middle of the circus +season," mused the young circus man, with a frown. + +However, the ladder appeared to be perfectly secure, and as Joe went up, +finally reaching the high platform, he felt a sense of exhilaration. +Heights always affected him this way. He liked, more than anything else, +to soar aloft on his Wings of Steel. And he liked the sensation when he +leaped from one platform toward the swinging trapeze bar, aiming to +grasp it in his hands and swing in a great arc to the other little +elevated place, close under the top of the tent. + +There was a thrill about it--a thrill not only to the performer but to +the audience as well--and Joe could hear the gasps that went up from +thousands of throats as he made his big swing. + +But, for the time being, he gave his whole attention to the platform and +its fastenings. The platforms were not very likely to slip, being caught +on to the main tent poles, which themselves were well braced. + +The real danger was in the long trapeze. Not only must the thin wire +ropes of this be strong enough to hold Joe's weight, but an added +pressure, caused by the momentum of his jump. And not only must the +cables be strong, but there must be no defect in the wooden bar and in +the place where the upper ends of the ropes were fastened to the top of +the tent. + +"Well, this platform is all right," remarked Joe, as he looked it over. +"Now for the other and the trapeze." + +He went down the rope ladder and climbed up another to the second +platform. The show would not start for several hours yet, and the tent +was filled with men putting in place the stage for Joe's magic tricks +and other apparatus for various performers. The parade was just forming +to proceed down town. + +Joe found that Harry Loper had done his work well, at least as far as +the platforms were concerned. They were firmly fastened. The one to +which Joe leaped after his swing needed to be considerably stronger than +the one from which he "took off." + +The next act of the young circus performer was to climb up to the very +top of the tent, and there to examine the fastenings of the trapeze +ropes. He spent some time at this, having reached his high perch by a +third rope ladder. + +"I guess everything is all right," mused Joe. "Perhaps I did Harry an +injustice. He might have taken some stimulant for a cold--they all got +wet through the other night. But still he ought to be careful. He was a +little too talkative for a man to give his whole attention to fastening +a trapeze. But this seems to be all right. I'll do the big swing this +afternoon and to-night, in addition to the box trick and the vanishing +lady. Helen works exceedingly well in that." + +Having seen that his aerial apparatus was all right, Joe next went to +his tent where his magical appliances were kept. Many stage tricks +depend for their success on special pieces of apparatus, and Joe's acts +were no exception. + +Joe saw that everything was in readiness for his sleight-of-hand work, +and then examined his Box of Mystery. As this was a very special piece +of apparatus, he was very careful about it. His ability to get out of +it, once he was locked and roped in, depended on a delicate bit of +mechanism, and the least hitch in this meant failure. + +But a test showed that it was all right, and as by this time it was +nearly the hour for the parade to come back and the preliminaries to +begin, Joe went over to the circus office to see if any matters there +needed his attention. + +As he crossed the lot to where the "office" was set up in a small tent, +the first horses of the returning parade came back on the circus +grounds. Following was a mob of delighted small boys and not a few men. + +"Looks as if we'd have a big crowd," said Joe to himself. "And it's a +fine day for the show. We'll make money!" + +He attended to some routine matters, and then the first of the afternoon +audience began to arrive. As Joe had predicted, the crowd was a big one. + +The young performer was in his dressing room, getting ready for the big +swing, which he would perform before his mystery tricks, when Mr. Moyne, +the circus treasurer, entered. There was a queer look on Mr. Moyne's +face, and Joe could not help but notice it. + +"What's worrying you?" asked Joe. "Doesn't this weather suit you, or +isn't there a big enough crowd?" + +"That's just it, Joe," was the unexpected answer. "There's too big a +crowd. We have too many people at this show, and that's what is worrying +me a whole lot!" + +Joe Strong looked in surprise at the treasurer. What could Mr. Moyne +mean? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE RUSTED WIRE + + +"Yes," went on the circus treasurer, as he rubbed his chin reflectively, +"it's a curious state of affairs, and as you're so vitally interested I +came to you at once. There's going to be trouble!" + +"Trouble!" cried Joe with a laugh. "I can't see that, Mr. Moyne. You say +there's a big crowd of people at our circus--too much of a crowd, in +fact. I can't see anything wrong in that. It's just what we're always +wanting--a big audience. Let 'em fill the tent, I say, and put out the +'Straw Seats Only' sign. Trouble! Why, I should say this was good luck!" +and Joe hastened his preparations, for he wanted to go on with the big +swing. + +"Ordinarily," said Mr. Moyne, in the slow, precise way he had of +speaking, brought about, perhaps, by his need of being exact in money +matters, "a big crowd would be the very thing we should want. But this +time we don't--not this kind of a crowd." + +"What do you mean?" asked Joe, beginning to feel that it was more than a +mere notion on the part of the treasurer that something was wrong. "Is +it a rough crowd? Will there be a 'hey rube!' cry raised--a fight +between our men and the mill hands?" + +"Oh, no, nothing like that!" the treasurer hastened to assure Joe. "The +whole thing is just this. There are a great many more people in the main +top now than there are admission prices in the treasurer's cash box. The +books don't balance, as it were." + +"More people in the tent than have paid their way?" asked Joe. "Well, +that always happens at a circus. Small boys will crawl in under the +canvas in spite of clubs." + +"Oh, it isn't a question of the small boys--I never worry about them," +returned Mr. Moyne. "But there are about a thousand more persons at the +performance which will soon begin than we have admission prices for. In +other words there are a thousand persons occupying fifty cent seats that +haven't paid their half dollar. It isn't the reserve chairs that are +affected. We're all right there. But fully a thousand persons have come +into the show, and we're short five hundred dollars in our cash." + +"You don't tell me!" cried Joe. He saw that Mr. Moyne was very much in +earnest. "Have the ticket men and the entrance attendants been working a +flim-flam game on us?" + +"Oh, no, it isn't that," said the treasurer. "I could understand that. +But the men are perfectly willing to have their accounts gone over and +their tickets checked up. They're straight!" + +"Then what is it?" asked Joe. + +"That's what we've got to find out," went on Mr. Moyne. "In some way the +thousand people have come in without paying the circus anything. And +they didn't sneak in, either. A few might do that, but a thousand +couldn't. They've come in by the regular entrance." + +"Did they force themselves past without tickets?" + +"No, each one had the proper coupon." + +"Has there been a theft of our tickets?" demanded the young magician and +acrobat. + +"No, our ticket account is all right, except there are a thousand extra +entrance coupons in the box--coupons taken in by the entrance +attendants. It's a puzzle to me," confessed the treasurer. "There is +some game being played on us, and we're out to the tune of five hundred +dollars by it already." + +"Is there any way of finding out who these persons are who have come in +without paying us and having them ejected?" asked Joe. + +"I don't see how," admitted Mr. Moyne. "If they were in reserved seats +it could be done, but not in the ordinary un-numbered fifty cent +section. The whole situation is that we have a thousand persons too many +at the show." + +"Well, we'll have a meeting of the executive body and take it up after +the performance," said Joe, as he quickly prepared to get into his +aerial costume. "We'll have to go on with the performance now; it's +getting late. If we're swamped by people coming along who hold our +regular tickets we'll have to sit 'em anywhere we can. If we lose five +hundred dollars we'll make it up by having a smashing crowd, which is +always a good advertisement. I'll see you directly after the show, Mr. +Moyne." + +"I wish you would," said the harassed treasurer. "Something must be done +about it. If this happens very often we'll be in a financial hole at the +end of the season." + +He departed, looking at some figures he had jotted down on the back of +an envelope. + +Joe Strong was puzzled. Nothing like this had ever come up before. True, +there had been swindlers who tried to mulct the circus of money, and +there were always small boys, and grown men, too, who tried to crawl in +under the tent. But such a wholesale game as this Joe had never before +known. + +"Well, five hundred dollars, for once, won't break us," he said grimly, +as he fastened on a brightly spangled belt, "but I wouldn't want it to +happen very often. Now I wonder what luck I'll have in my big swing. I +haven't done it in public for some time, but it went all right in +practice." + +Joe looked from his dressing room. He was all ready for his act now, +but the time had not yet come for him to go on. He saw Helen hastening +past on her way to enter the ring with her horse, Rosebud, which a groom +held at the entrance for her. + +"Good luck!" called Joe, waving his hand and smiling. + +"The same to you," answered Helen. "You'll need it more than I. Oh, +Joe," she went on earnestly, "won't you give up this big swing? Stick to +your box trick, and let me act with you in the disappearing lady stunt. +Don't go on with this high trapeze act!" she pleaded. + +"Why, Helen! anybody would think you'd been bitten by the jinx bug!" +laughed Joe. "I thought you were all over that." + +"Perhaps I am foolish," she said. "But it's because--" + +She blushed and looked away. + +"I suppose I should take it as a compliment that you are so interested +in my welfare," said Joe, with a smile. "And, believe me, I am. But, +Helen, I can't back out of this act now. It's been advertised big. I've +got to go on!" + +"Then do be careful, won't you?" she begged. "Oh, do be careful! +Somehow, I have a feeling that--Oh, well, I won't set you to worrying by +telling you," she said quickly, with a laugh, in which, however, there +was no mirth. She smiled again, trying to make it a bright one; but Joe +saw that she was under a strain. + +"I'll be careful," he promised. "Really, there's no danger. I've done +the stunt a score of times, and I can judge my distance perfectly. +Besides there's the safety net." + +"Yes, I know, but there was poor--Oh, well, I won't talk about it! Good +luck!" and she hurried on, for it was time for her act--the whistle of +the ringmaster having blown. + +Joe looked after the girl he loved. He smiled, and then a rather serious +look settled over his face. Like a flash there had come to him the +memory of the too loquacious Harry Loper, who had fitted up his aerial +apparatus. + +"There can be nothing wrong with that," mused Joe. "I went over every +inch of it. I guess Helen is just nervous. Well, there goes my cue!" + +He hurried toward the entrance, and then he began to ponder over the +curious fact of there being a thousand persons too many at the +performance. + +"We'll have to straighten out that ticket tangle after the show," mused +Joe. "It's likely to get serious. I wonder--" he went on, struck by a +new thought. "I wonder if--Oh, no! It couldn't be! He hasn't been around +in a long while." + +Out into the tent, filled with a record-breaking crowd, went Joe to the +place where his high trapeze was waiting for him. The band was playing +lively airs, on one platform some trained seals were juggling big balls +of colored rubber, and on another a bear was going about on roller +skates. In one end ring Helen was performing with Rosebud, while in +another a troupe of Japanese acrobats were doing wonderful things with +their supple bodies. + +Joe waved his hand to Helen in passing, and then he began to ascend to +his high platform. When he reached it and stood poised ready for his +act, there came a shrill whistle from Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, who +wore his usual immaculate shirt front and black evening clothes--rather +incongruous in the daytime. + +The whistle was the signal for the other acts to cease, that the +attention of all might be centered on Joe. This is always done in a +circus in the case of "stars," and Joe was certainly a star of the first +magnitude. + +"Ladies and gentlemen!" cried Jim Tracy, with the accented drawl that +carried his voice to the very ends of the big tent. "Calling your +attention to one of the most marvelous high trapeze acts ever performed +in any circus!" + +He pointed dramatically to Joe, who stood up straight, ready to do his +act. + +"Are you ready?" asked the man who was to release the trapeze, which +was caught up at one side of the platform opposite Joe. + +"Ready," answered the young acrobat. + +The man pulled a rope which released a catch, letting the trapeze start +on its long swaying swing. The man pulled it by means of a long, thin +cord, until it was making big arcs, like some gigantic pendulum. + +Joe watched it carefully, judging it to the fraction of an inch. He +stood poised and tense on the gayly decorated platform, himself a fine +picture of physical young manhood. The band was blaring out the latest +Jazz melody. + +Suddenly, from his perch, the young acrobat gave a cry, and Jim Tracy, +on the ground below, hearing it, held up his white-gloved hand as a +signal for the music to cease. + +Then Joe leaped. Full and fair he leaped out toward the swinging bar of +the big trapeze, the snare drum throbbing out as he jumped. He was dimly +conscious of thousands of eyes watching him--eyes that looked curiously +and apprehensively up. And he realized that Helen was also watching him. + +As true as a die, Joe's hands caught and gripped the bar of the swinging +trapeze. So far he was safe. The momentum of his jump carried him in a +long swing, and he at once began to undulate himself to increase his +swing. He must do this in order to get to the second platform. + +As the young performer began to do this, he looked up at the wire ropes +of his trapeze. + +It was a look given instinctively and for no particular purpose, as +Joe's eyes must rest, most of all, on the second platform where he +needed to land, to save himself from a bad fall. + +As his eyes glanced along the steel cables on which his life depended, +he saw, to his horror, a spot of rust on one. And at the spot of rust +several of the thin strands of twisted wire were loose and frayed. + +The cable seemed about to give way! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A FIRE SENSATION + + +Joe Strong had to think quickly. Every acrobat, every person who does +"stunts" in a circus, must; for something is always happening, or on the +verge of taking place. And when Joe looked up and saw the rusted wire +and noted the fraying strands, several thoughts shot through his mind at +once. + +"That rust spot wasn't there this morning when, I looked at the +trapeze," he mused. "And it hasn't rained since. How did it get there?" + +He thought of the too talkative Harry Loper, and an ugly suspicion +associated itself with him. But Joe had no time for such thoughts then. +What was vital for him to know was whether or not the thin wire cable +would remain unbroken long enough for him to reach the maximum of his +swing, and land on the platform. Or would he fall, spoiling the act and +also endangering himself? + +True he might land in the net in such a way as to come to no harm, as he +had done many times, and as many performers before him had done. But +the danger was that in a sudden and unexpected drop downward he might +not be able to get his limbs in the proper landing position. + +Joe Strong had nerve. If he had lacked it he would never have been so +successful. And at once he decided on a courageous proceeding. + +"I'll bring all my weight suddenly on that left hand cable," he mused, +as he swung to and fro, from side to side of the big tent. "If it's +going to break it will do so then. And I'll be ready for it. I'll then +keep hold of the trapeze bar, which will be straight up and down instead +of crosswise, and swing by that. The other cable seems all right." This +was a fact which Joe ascertained by a quick inspection. + +There was no time for further thought. As he swung, Joe suddenly shifted +his weight, bringing it all on the frayed and strangely rusted cable. As +he half expected, it gave way, and he dropped in an instant, but not +far. + +The watching crowd gasped. It looked like an accident. And it was, in a +way, but Joe had purposely caused it. As the wire broke Joe held tightly +to the wooden bar, which was now upright in his hands instead of being +horizontal. And though it slipped through his fingers, perhaps for the +width of his palm, at last he gripped it in a firm hold and kept on with +his swing. + +And then the applause broke forth, for the audience thought it all a +part of the trick--they thought that Joe had purposely caused the cable +to break to make the act more effective. + +To and fro swung Joe, nearer and nearer to the second platform, and +then, reaching the height of the long arc, he turned his body and +stepped full and fair on the little square of velvet-covered boards. + +With a lithe contortion, Joe squirmed to an upright position, recovering +his balance with a great effort, for he had been put out in his +calculations of distance, and then, turning, he bowed to the crowds, +revolving on the platform to take in every one. + +Again the applause broke forth, to be drowned in the boom and ruffle of +the drums as the band began to play. There is little time in a circus, +where act follows act so quickly, for long acknowledgments. + +The other performers came into the rings or on to the raised platforms, +and Joe descended by means of the rope ladder. Helen met him, and they +walked toward the dressing rooms. + +"That was a wonderful trick, Joe," she said. "But I didn't see you +practice that drop." + +"I didn't practice it," he remarked dryly. "I did it on the spur of the +moment." + +"Joe Strong! wasn't it dangerous?" + +"Well, a little." + +"What made you do it?" + +"I couldn't help it." + +"You couldn't help it? Joe--do you mean--?" She sensed that something +was wrong, but walking around the circus arena, with performers coming +and going, was not the place to speak of it. Joe saw that she +understood. + +"I'll tell you later," he said. "We have to get ready for the trick box +and the vanishing lady stunt now." + +"Oh, Joe! were you in much danger?" she asked in a low voice. + +"Oh, not much," he answered, and he tried to speak lightly. Yet he did +not like to think of that one moment when he saw the rusted and broken +wire. + +While Joe and Helen are preparing for the box act, which has been +treated fully in the previous volume, the explanation of how the +vanishing lady trick was accomplished will be given, though that, too, +has been explained in an earlier volume. + +A large newspaper is put on the stage and the chair set on the paper, +thus, seemingly, precluding the possibility of a trap door being cut in +the stage through which the lady in the chair might slip. The word +"seemingly" is used with a due sense of what it means. The newspaper was +not a perfect one. On one of its sides which was not exhibited to the +audience, there was cut an opening, or trap, that exactly corresponded +in size with a trap door on the stage. The paper, as explained in the +previous book, is strengthened with cardboard, and the trap is a double +one, being cut in the center, the flaps being easily moved either way. + +The audience thinks it sees a perfect newspaper. But there is a square +hole in it, but concealed as is a secret trap door. + +When Joe laid the paper on the stage he placed it so that the square, +double flap in it was exactly over the trap in the stage floor. He then +drew the page of the paper that he had held out to the audience toward +himself, exposing the trap for use, but because it was so carefully +made, and the cut was so fine, it was not visible from the front. + +Helen took her place in the chair, which, of course, was a trick one. It +was fitted with a concealed rod and a cap, and it was over this cap, +brought out at the proper moment, that Joe carefully placed the black +veil, when he was pretending to mesmerize Helen. There was a cross rod, +also concealed in the chair, and on either end of this, something like +the epaulettes of a soldier, so that when these ends were under the veil +and the cap was in place it looked as though some one sat in the chair, +when, really, no one did. + +Helen was in the chair at the start. But as soon as she was covered by +the veil she began to get out The seat of the chair was hinged within +its frame As Helen sat on it, and after she had been covered with the +veil, she rested her weight on her hands, which were placed on the +extreme outer edges of this seat frame. She pulled a catch which caused +the seat to drop, and at the same time the trap beneath her, including +the prepared newspaper, was opened by an attendant. The black veil all +about the chair prevented the audience seeing this. + +Helen lowered herself down through the dropped seat of the chair, +through the trap, and under the stage. And while she was doing this it +still looked as if she were in the chair, for the false cap and the +extended cross rod made outlines as if of a human form beneath the black +veil. + +As soon as Helen was out of the chair and beneath the stage an attendant +closed the newspaper and wooden floor traps. Joe then suddenly raised +the veil, taking in its folds the false cap and the cross piece which +had represented Helen's shoulders. They were thin and light--these +pieces of trick apparatus--and no one suspected they were in the veil. +The hinged seat of the chair snapped back in place by means of a spring, +and when Joe stepped aside, holding the veil, there was the empty chair; +and the newspaper, which he picked up, seemed to preclude the +possibility of there having been a trap in the stage. But Joe was +careful how he exhibited this paper to his audience. + +And so it was that the lady "vanished." + +"And now, Joe, tell me all about it!" demanded Helen, when the circus +was over for the afternoon, and the box and vanishing tricks had been +successfully performed. "What happened to your trapeze?" + +"Some one spilled acid on one of the wire ropes, and it ate into the +metal, corroding it and separating a number of the strands so that a +little extra weight broke them," said Joe. + +"Acid on the cable?" cried Helen. "How did you find out?" + +"I just examined the wire. I knew it couldn't have rusted naturally in +such a short time. There was a peculiar smell about the wire, and I know +enough of chemistry to make a simple acid test! What kind of acid was +used I don't know, but it was strong enough to eat the steel." + +"Who could have put it on?" + +"That I've got to find out!" + +"Was it Harry Loper?" + +"I taxed him with it, but he swears he knew nothing of it," said Joe. +"I'm inclined to believe him, too. I charged him with drinking, and he +could not deny that. But he said he met some old friends and they +induced him to have a little convivial time with them. No, I don't +believe he'd do it. He's weak and foolish, but he had no reason to try +to injure me." + +"Who would, Joe? Of course there's Bill Carfax, but he hasn't been seen +near the circus of late." + +"No, I don't believe it could have been Bill. I'll have to be on my +guard." + +"Do, Joe!" urged Helen. "Oh, I can't bear to think of it!" + +"Don't then!" laughed Joe, trying to make light of it. "Let's go down +town and I'll buy you some ice cream." + +"But you're not going to give up trying to find out who put acid on the +trapeze, are you?" + +"No, indeed!" declared the young performer. "I have two problems on my +hands now--that and trying to learn how too many persons came to the +circus this afternoon," and he told Helen about the extra tickets. + +"That's queer!" she exclaimed. "Some jinx bug must be after us!" + +"Don't get superstitious!" warned Joe. "Now we'll forget our troubles. +They may not amount to anything after all." + +But, though he spoke lightly, Joe was worried, and he was not going to +let Helen know that. They went into an ice-cream parlor and "relaxed," +as Helen called it. + +The two were on their way back to the circus lot, intending to go to +supper and prepare for the evening entertainment, when there was a +sudden alarm down the street, and, in an instant, the fire engines and +other apparatus dashed past. + +"A fire!" cried Joe. "Come on, Helen! It's just down the street!" + +They could see smoke pouring from a small building and a crowd rushing +toward it. Thither, also, the fire apparatus was dashing. Joe and Helen +were among the early arrivals. + +"What is it?" asked Joe of an officer. "I mean what sort of place is +that?" and he pointed to the building, which was now obscured by smoke. + +"Dime museum," was the answer. "Lot of fakes. I sent in the alarm. A +fire-eater was trying some new stunt and he set the place ablaze, so the +boss yelled to me. Come now, youse all have to git back!" and he +motioned to the crowd, which was constantly increasing, to get beyond +the fire lines. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOMETHING NEW + + +What with the clanging of the gongs on the engines and on the red +runabouts that brought two battalion chiefs to the fire; the pall of +smoke, with, here and there, the suggestion of a red blaze; the swaying +excitement of the crowd; the yells of harassed policemen; the scene at +the blaze of the dime museum was one long to be remembered by Joe Strong +and Helen Morton--particularly in the light of what happened afterward. + +"Joe, did you hear what he said?" asked Helen, as she moved back with +the young acrobat in conformity with the officer's order. + +"You mean that we've got to slide?" + +"No, that a fire-eater started the blaze. Does he mean a professional +'fire bug,' as I have heard them called?" + +"Oh, not at all!" exclaimed Joe. "A fire-eater is a chap who does such +stunts in a museum, theater, or even in a circus. Sampson Brothers used +to have one, I understand, from looking over the old books. But it +wasn't much of an act. Golly, this is going to be some blaze!" + +That was very evident from the increased smoke that rolled out and the +crackle of fire that now could be heard above the puffing of the engines +and the shouts of the mob. + +"A regular tinder box!" muttered the officer who had told Joe the origin +of the blaze. "Place ought to have been pulled down long ago. Git back +there youse!" he yelled to some venturesome lads. "Want to git mushed +up?" + +The blaze was a big one, considerable damage was done, and several +persons were injured. But quick work by an efficient department +prevented the flames from spreading to the buildings on either side of +the one where it had started. + +Joe and Helen stayed long enough to see the menace gotten under control, +and then they departed just as the ambulance rolled away with the last +of the victims. + +"That's the fire-eater they're taking to the hospital now," said the +policeman who had first spoken to the young circus performers. "They +took him into a drug store to wrap him in oil and cotton batting." + +"Will he live?" asked Helen. + +"Just a chance," was the answer. "Say, if I had to get my living eating +fire I'd starve," confided the policeman. "It must be some stunt! I +always thought it was a fake, but this fire burned real enough." + +"Oh, it isn't all fake," said Joe, "though of course there's a trick +about it." + +"You seem to know," said the policeman, and he smiled at Joe and Helen. +His chief troubles were about over with the departure of the ambulance +and the knowledge that filtered through the crowd that the most of the +excitement was over. + +"Oh, I'm in the circus business," confessed Joe. "I never ate fire," he +went on, "but--" + +"Oh, I know you now!" cried the officer. "I was on duty out at the +circus grounds this afternoon, and I went into the tent when you did +that box act. Say, that's some stunt! Do they really pay ten thousand +dollars to the fellow who tells how it's done?" + +"Well, we've never paid out the money yet," said Joe, with a smile. "But +it's there, waiting for some one to claim it." + +"Then I'm coming to-night to watch you," said the officer, who appeared +delighted that he had recognized one of the "profesh." + +"Come along," replied Joe. "Here, wait a minute! There are a couple of +passes. Come and bring a friend. If you tell how I do the trick you'll +get the ten thousand. Only you'll have to post a hundred dollars as a +forfeit to the Red Cross in case you don't guess right. That's included +in the offer." + +"Oh!" The officer did not seem quite so pleased. "Well, I'll come +anyhow," he went on, accepting the passes Joe handed him. The policeman +had allowed Joe and Helen to stay in an advantageous place where they +could watch the fire. + +"Where are they taking the man who did the dangerous trick that caused +all the trouble?" asked Helen, as she prepared to walk on with Joe. + +"To the City Hospital, Miss. He's a bad case, I understand." + +"Poor fellow," murmured Helen. "Do you think we could go to see him, and +do something for him, Joe?" she asked solicitously. "He's in almost the +same line of business as ourselves." + +"Well, I don't know," was the slow answer. + +"I can fix it up if you want to see him--that is, if the doctors and +nurses will let you," said the policeman. "I know the hospital +superintendent. You just tell him that Casey sent you and it will be all +right." + +"Thanks; perhaps we will," said Joe. + +There was a little time after supper before the performers had to go on +with their acts, and Helen prevailed on Joe to take her to the hospital +whither the injured fire-eater had been removed. They found him swathed +in bandages, no objection being made to their seeing him after the magic +name of "Casey" had been mentioned to the superintendent. + +"We came in to see if you needed any help," said Joe to the pathetic +figure in the bed. "We're in the same line of business, in a way." + +"Are you a fire-eater?" slowly asked the man. + +"No," Joe told him. "But I'm in the circus--Sampson Brothers'." + +"Oh, yes, I've heard about it. A partner of mine was with 'em for years. +Gascoyne was his name." + +"That was before my time," said Joe. "But how are you getting on? Can we +be of any help to you? We professionals must help one another." + +"That's right. We get knocked often enough," was the reply. "Well, I'm +doing as well as can be expected, the doctor says. And I'm not really in +need of anything. The museum folks were pretty good to me. Thank you, +just the same." + +"How did it happen?" asked Helen. + +"Oh, just my carelessness," said the man. "We get careless after playing +with fire a bit. I put too much alcohol on the tow, and there was a +draft from an open door, some draperies caught, and it was all going +before I knew it. I tried to put it out--that's how I got burned." + +"Then you really didn't eat fire?" asked Helen. + +Joe and the man swathed in bandages looked at one another and a +semblance of a wink passed between them. + +"Nobody can eat fire, lady," said the museum performer. "It's all a +trick, same as some your husband does in the circus." + +Joe blushed almost as much as did Helen. + +"We're not married yet, but we're going to be," explained Joe, smiling. + +"Lucky guy!" murmured the man. "Well, as I was saying, it's all a +trick," he went on. "Strong alum solution in your mouth, just a dash of +alcohol to make a blaze that flares up but goes out quickly if you +smother it right. You know the game," and he looked at Joe. + +"Well, not exactly," was the reply. "I've read something of it. But, +somehow, it never appealed to me." + +"Oh, it makes a good act, friend!" said the man earnestly. "I've done a +lot of museum and circus stunts, and this always goes big. There's no +danger if you handle it right. I'll be more careful next time." + +"You don't mean to say you'll go back to it, do you?" asked Helen. + +"Sure, lady! I've got to earn my living! And this is the best thing I +know. I'll be out in a week. I didn't swallow any, thank goodness! Oh, +sure I'll go at it again." + +Joe and Helen cheered the sufferer up as much as they could, and then +departed. Joe privately left a bill of substantial denomination with the +superintendent to be used for anything extra the patient might need. + +On the way back to the circus, where they were soon to give their +evening performance, Joe was unusually quiet. + +"What's the matter?" asked Helen. "Are you thinking of that accident on +the trapeze?" + +"No," was the answer. "It's something different. I've got to get up a +new act for the show. That trapeze act, even the way I had to do it this +afternoon, isn't sensational enough. I've got to have something new, and +I've about decided on it." + +"What?" asked Helen. + +"I'm going to become a fire-eater!" was the unexpected, reply. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PAPER EXPERT + + +For a moment Helen Morton stared at Joe Strong as though not quite sure +whether or not he was in his proper mind. Then, seeing plainly that he +was in earnest, she seemed to shrink away from him, as he had noticed +her shrink away, for a moment, from the burned man suffering there in +the hospital. + +"What's the matter, Helen?" asked Joe, trying to speak lightly. "Don't +you want to see some more sensational acts in the show?" + +"Yes, but not that kind," she answered with a shudder she could not +conceal. "Oh, Joe, if you were to--" She could not go on. Her breast +heaved painfully. + +"Now look here, Helen!" he exclaimed with good-natured roughness, "that +isn't any way to look at matters; especially when we both depend on +sensations for making our living. + +"You know, as well as I do, that in this business we have to take risks. +That's what makes our acts go. You take a risk every time you perform +with Rosebud. You might slip, the horse might slip, and you'd be hurt. +Now is this new act I am thinking of perfor--" + +"Yes, I may take risks, Joe!" interrupted Helen. "But they are perfectly +natural risks, and I have more than an even chance. You might just as +well say you take a risk walking along the street, and so you do. An +elevated train might fall on you or an auto run up on the sidewalk. The +risks I take in the act with Rosebud are only natural ones, and really +shouldn't be counted. But if you start to become a fire-eater--Oh, Joe, +think of that poor fellow in the hospital!" + +"He didn't get that way from eating fire--or pretending to eat it--for +the amusement of the public. He might just as easily have been burned +the way he is by lighting the kitchen stove for his wife to get +breakfast. His accident was entirely outside of his act, you might say. +Why, I use lighted candles in some of my tricks. Now, if some one +knocked over a candle, and it caused a fire on the stage and I was +burned, would you want me to give up being a magician?" + +"Oh, no, I suppose not," said Helen slowly. "But fire is so dangerous. +And to think of putting it in your mouth! How can you do it, Joe? Oh, it +can't be done!" + +"Oh, there's a trick about it. I haven't mastered all the details yet, +so as to give a smooth performance, but I can make an attempt at it." + +"Joe Strong! do you mean to say you know how to eat fire?" demanded +Helen, and now her eyes showed her astonishment. + +"Well, not exactly eat it, though that is the term used. But I do know +how to do it. I learned, in a rudimentary way, when I was with Professor +Rosello--the first man who taught me sleight-of-hand. He had one +fire-eating act, but it didn't amount to much. He told me the secret of +it, such as it was. + +"But if I put on that stunt I'm going to make it different. I'm going to +dress it up, make it sensational so that it will be the talk of the +country where circuses are exhibited." + +"And won't you run any danger?" questioned the girl quickly. + +"Oh, I suppose so; just as I do when I work on the high trapeze or ride +my motor cycle along the high wire. But it's all in the day's work. And +now let's talk about something pleasant--I mean let's get off the shop." + +Helen sighed. She was plainly disturbed, but she did not want to burden +Joe with her worries. She knew he must have calm nerves and an +untroubled mind to do his various acts in the circus that night. + +After supper and before the evening performance Joe made a careful +examination of his trapeze apparatus. Beyond the place where the acid +had eaten into the wire strands, causing them to become weakened so that +they parted, the appliances did not appear to have been tampered with. +Nor were there any clews which might show who had done the deed. That it +could have happened by accident was out of the question. The acid could +have gotten on the wire rope in one way only. Some one must have climbed +up the rope ladder to the platform and applied the stuff. + +"But who did it?" asked Jim Tracy, when Joe had told him of the +discovery of the acid-eaten cable. + +"Some enemy. Perhaps the same one who was responsible for our loss in +tickets this afternoon," answered the young magician. + +"Carfax?" asked the ringmaster. + +"It might be, and yet he isn't the only man who's been discharged or who +has a grudge against me. There was Gianni with whom I had a fight." + +"You mean the Italian? Yes, he was an ugly customer. But I haven't heard +of him for years. I don't believe he's even in this part of the +country." + +"And we haven't any reason to suppose that Carfax is, either, after his +fiasco in trying to expose my Box of Mystery trick. But we've got to be +on our guard." + +"I should say so!" exclaimed the ringmaster. "And now about your +trapeze act, Joe! Are you going to put it on again to-night?" + +"Of course. It's billed." + +"Then you'll have to hustle to rig up a new rope." + +"I'm not going to put on a new rope," declared Joe. "The act went so +well when I seemed about to fall, that I'm going to keep that feature +in. I'll rig up a catch on the severed cable. At the proper time I'll +snap it loose, seem to fall, swing by the dangling bar as I did before, +and land on the platform that way. It will be more effective than if I +did it in the regular way." + +"But won't it be risky?" + +Joe shrugged his shoulders. + +"No more so than any trapeze act. Now that I'm ready for the sudden drop +I'll be on my guard. No, I can work it all right. And now about these +extra admissions? What are we going to do about them?" + +"Well," said the ringmaster, "maybe we'd better talk to Moyne about +them. If they ring an extra thousand persons in on us again to-night the +thing will be getting serious." + +The treasurer was called in consultation with Joe and Tracy and other +circus officials, and it was decided to keep a special watch on the +ticket wagon and the ticket takers that night. + +Joe quickly made the change in his trapeze and tested it, finding that +he could work it perfectly. Then he began to think of his new +fire-eating act. He was determined to make that as great a success as +was his now well advertised ten thousand dollar mystery box act. + +The evening performance had not long been under way, and Joe had done +his big swing successfully, when he was sought out by Mr. Moyne. + +"The same thing has happened again," said the treasurer. + +"You mean more people coming in than we have sold tickets for?" + +"That's it." + +"Well, where do the extra admissions come from? I mean where do the +people get their admission slips from--the extra people?" + +"That's what we can't find out," the treasurer aid. "As far as the +ticket takers can tell only one kind of admission slip for the fifty +cent seats is being handed them. But the number, as tallied by the +automatic gates, does not jibe with the number of ordinary admissions +sold at the ticket office. To-night there is a difference of about eight +hundred and seventy-five." + +"Do you mean," asked Joe, "that that number of persons came in on +tickets that were never sold at the ticket wagon?" + +"That's just what I mean. There is an extra source from which the +ordinary admission tickets come. As I told you this afternoon, we are +having no trouble with our reserved seats. There have been no duplicates +there. But there is a duplication in the fifty cent seats, where one may +take his pick as to where he wants to sit." + +"Don't we have tickets on sale in some of the downtown stores?" Joe +asked. + +"Oh, yes, several of the stores sell tickets up to a certain hour. Then +they send the balance up here for us to dispose of." + +"How about their accounts? Have you had them gone over carefully?" + +"They tally to a penny." + +"How about the unsold tickets these agents send back to us? Isn't there +a chance on the way up for some one to slip out some of the pasteboards, +Mr. Moyne?" + +"There is a chance, yes, but it hasn't been done. I have checked up the +accounts of the stores, and there is the cash or the unsold tickets to +balance every time. But somehow, and from some place, an extra number of +the ordinary admission tickets are being sold, and we are not getting +the money for them." + +"It is queer," said Joe. "I have an idea that I want to try out the +first chance I get. Save me a bunch of these ordinary admission tickets. +Take them from the boxes at random and let me have them." + +"I will," promised the treasurer. "There is nothing we can do to-night +to stop the fraud, is there?" he asked. Mr. Moyne was a very +conscientious treasurer. It disturbed him greatly to see the circus lose +money. + +"I don't see what we can do," said Joe. "If we start an inquiry it may +cause a fight. Let it go. We'll have to charge it to profit and loss. +And don't forget to let me have some of those tickets. I want to examine +them." + +Mr. Moyne promised to attend to the matter. Joe then had to go on in his +Box of Mystery trick, and when this was finished, amid much applause, he +caused Helen to "vanish" in the manner already described. + +The circus made considerable money in this town, even with the bogus +admissions, and as the weather was fine and as the show would exhibit +the next day in a big city for a two days' stand, every one was in good +humor. Staying over night in the same city where they exhibited during +the day was always a rest for the performers. They got more sleep and +were in better trim for work. + +The last act was finished, the chariot races had taken place, and the +audience was surging out. The animal tent had already been taken down +and the animals themselves were being loaded on the railroad train. + +As Joe, Helen, and the other performers started for their berths, to +begin the trip to the next town, the "main top" began coming down. The +circus was on the move. + +Soon after breakfast the next morning, having seen that all his +apparatus had safely arrived, Joe visited Mr. Moyne in the latter's +office. + +"Have you a bunch of tickets for me?" asked the young magician. + +"Yes, here they are--several hundred picked at random from the boxes at +the entrance. I can't see anything wrong. If you're looking for +counterfeit tickets I don't believe you'll find them," added Mr. Moyne. + +"I don't know that I am looking for counterfeits," said Joe. "That may +be the explanation, or it may be there is a leak somewhere in the ticket +wagon." + +"I'm almost sure there isn't," declared the treasurer. "But of course no +one is infallible. I hope you get to the bottom of the mystery." + +"I hope so myself," replied Joe, with a smile, as he put the tickets in +a valise. + +A little later he was on his way downtown. He had several hours before +he would have to go "on," as he did not take part in the parade, and he +had several matters to attend to. + +Joe made his way toward a large office building, carrying the valise +with the circus tickets. A little later he might have been seen entering +an office, the door of which bore the name of "Herbert Waldon, +Consulting Chemist." + +"Mr. Strong," said Joe to the boy who came forward to inquire his +errand. "Mr. Waldon is expecting me, I believe." + +"Oh, yes," said the boy. "You're to come right in." + +Joe was ushered into a room which was filled with strange appliances, +from test tubes and retorts to electrical furnaces and X-ray apparatus. +A little man in a rather soiled linen coat came forward, smiling. + +"I won't shake hands with you, Mr. Strong," he said, "for I've been +dabbling in some vile-smelling stuff. But if you wait until I wash I'll +be right with you." + +"All right," assented Joe. And then, as he caught sight of what seemed +to be a number of canceled bank checks on a table, he smilingly asked: +"Have you been paying your income tax?" + +"Oh, no," answered the chemist with a laugh. "Those are just some +samples of paper sent in for me to test. An inventor is trying to get up +an acid-proof ink. I'm a sort of paper expert, among my other chemical +activities, and I'm putting these samples through a series of tests. +But you'll not be interested in them." + +"I don't know but what I shall be," returned Joe, with sudden energy. +"Since you are a paper expert I may be able to set you another task +besides that of showing me the latest thing in fire-resisting liquids. +Yes, I may want your services in both lines." + +"Well, I'm here to do business," said Mr. Waldon, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JOE EATS FIRE + + +The chemist led the way into a little office. This opened off from the +room in which was the apparatus, and where, as Joe had become more and +more keenly aware, there was a most unpleasant odor. + +"I'll open the window, close the laboratory door, and you won't notice +it in a little while," said Mr. Waldon, as he observed Joe's nose +twitching. "I'm so used to it I don't mind, but you, coming in from the +fresh air--" + +"It isn't exactly perfume," interrupted Joe, with a laugh. "But don't be +uneasy on my account. I can stand it." + +However, he was glad when the fresh air came in through the window. The +chemist washed his hands and then sat down at a desk, inviting Joe to +draw up his chair. + +"Now, what can I do for you?" asked Mr. Waldon. "Is it fire or paper?" + +"Well, since I know pretty well what I want to ask you in the matter of +fire," replied Joe, "and since I've got a puzzling paper problem here, +suppose we tackle the hardest first, and come to the known, and easier, +trick later." + +"Just as you say," assented Mr. Waldon. "What's your paper problem?" + +Joe's answer was to take from the valise several hundreds of the circus +tickets. They were the kind sold for fifty cents, or perhaps more in +these days of the war tax. They entitle the holder to a seat on what, at +a baseball game, would be called the "bleachers." In other words they +were not reserved-seat coupons. + +However, these tickets were not the one-time blue or red pieces of stiff +pasteboard, bearing the name of the circus and the words "ADMIT ONE," +which were formerly sold at the gilded wagon. These were handed in at +the main entrance, and the tickets were used over and over again. +Sometimes the blue ones sold for fifty cents, and a kind selling for +seventy-five cents entitled the purchaser to a seat with a folding back +to it, though it was not reserved. + +But Joe had instituted some changes when he became one of the circus +proprietors, and one was in the matter of the general admission tickets. +He had them printed on a thin but tough quality of paper, and each +ticket was numbered. In this way it needed but a glance at the last +ticket in the rack and a look at the memorandum of the last number +previously sold at the former performance, to tell exactly how many +general admissions had been disposed of. + +These numbered tickets were not used over again, but were destroyed +after the day's accounts had been made up. At first Joe and some others +of the officials had had an idea that the man who was charged with the +work of destroying the tickets, instead of doing so, had kept some out +and sold them at a reduced price. But an investigation proved that this +was not the case. + +"Some one is ringing in extra tickets on us," stated Joe to the chemist. +"We want to find out who it is and how the trick is worked. So far, we +haven't been able to find this out. As a matter of fact, we don't know +whether there are bogus tickets in our boxes or not. We haven't been +able to detect two kinds. They all seem the same." + +"Some numbers must be duplicated," said Mr. Waldon, as he picked up a +handful of the slips Joe had brought. "That's very obvious. The numbers +must be duplicated in some instances." + +"Yes, we have discovered that," returned Joe. "But the queer part is, +taking even two tickets with the same number, we don't know which was +sold at our ticket wagon and which is the bogus one. Here's a case in +point." + +He picked up two of the coupons. As far as eye or touch could tell they +were identical, and they bore the same red number, one up in the +hundred thousands. + +"Now," continued Joe, "can you tell which of these two is the official +circus ticket and which is the bogus one?" + +The chemist thought for a moment. + +"Have you a ticket--say one issued some time ago--which you are positive +is genuine?" he asked. + +"I'm ready for you there," answered Joe. "Here's a coupon that happened +to escape destruction. It was one sold several weeks ago at our ticket +wagon, before we noticed this trouble. I bought the ticket myself, so I +know. I happened to be passing the wagon, and a boy was trying to reach +up to buy a fifty cent seat. He wasn't quite tall enough, so I reached +for him. + +"Then, when I looked at him, I saw that fifty cents meant a lot to him. +I gave him back his half dollar out of my own pocket, and passed him in +to a reserved seat. But I forgot to turn the ticket in to the wagon, and +it's been in my pocket ever since. Now I'm glad I saved it, for it will +serve as a tester." + +"Yes," admitted the chemist, "it will. It's a good thing you have this. +But, Mr. Strong, this is going to take some time. I'll have to compare +all these tickets with the admittedly genuine one, and I'll have to make +some intricate tests." + +"Well, I hoped you might be able to tell me right off the reel which of +these coupons were good and which bad," said Joe. "But I can appreciate +that it isn't easy. We certainly have been puzzled. So I'll leave them +with you, and you can write to me when you have any results. I'll leave +you a list of the towns where we'll be showing for the next two weeks. +And now suppose we get at the fire-eating business." + +"All right," was the reply of the chemist. "But with the understanding +that you do all the eating. I haven't any appetite that way myself." + +They both laughed, and then, for some hours, Joe Strong was closeted +with the chemist. + +When Joe emerged from the office of Mr. Waldon there was a look of +satisfaction on the face of the young magician. + +"I think I can make quite an act, after what you've told me," he said. +"As soon as I get it perfected I'll send you word and you can come to +see me." + +"I will, if you aren't too far away," promised the chemist. + +That night, following the closing of the performance, Joe invited Helen, +Jim Tracy, and a few of his more intimate friends and associates into +his private dressing tent. + +"I have the nucleus of a new act," he said, when they were seated in +chairs before a small table, on which were several pieces of apparatus. +"Just give me your opinion of this." + +Joe lighted a candle, picked up on a fork what seemed to be a piece of +bread, and touched it to the candle flame. In an instant the object that +was on the fork burst into a blaze, and, before the eyes of his friends, +Joe calmly put the flaming portion into his mouth. + +He closed his lips, seemed to be chewing something, opened his mouth, +and showed it empty. + +"A little light lunch!" he remarked, but his smile faded as Helen +screamed in horror. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CHEMIST'S LETTER + + +"Oh, Joe, you'll surely burn yourself!" exclaimed the startled bareback +rider. + +"Did you get burned?" questioned Mrs. Watson. + +"Some trick!" declared the snake charmer. + +For the moment there was some excitement, for this was a new act for the +circus people. + +Helen soon recovered her customary composure, and then she explained the +cause of her excitement and the startled cry she had given. She had, of +course, expected some trick with fire when Joe had summoned her and the +others to his own private part of the dressing tents. But she had not +expected to see him actually put the blazing material in his mouth. + +"I thought there was some sleight-of-hand performance about it," she +said. "I had an idea that you only pretended to put the blazing stuff in +your mouth, Joe. And when I saw it I was afraid you'd breathe in the +flames and--and--" + +She did not need to go on, they all understood what she meant, for +every one in the circus knew that Helen and Joe were engaged. + +"I once saw a little boy burned at a bonfire at which he was playing," +went on Helen. "He died. Since then the sight of fire near a human being +has always a bad effect on me. But I suppose I can get over it, if I +know there is no danger," she said with a slight smile at Joe. + +"Well, I can assure you there isn't the slightest danger," he declared. +"If there was, I should be the first to give it up. I am as fond of +living as any one." + +"You don't show it, young man, in some of the tricks you do," commented +Mrs. Watson, with the freedom befitting a "circus mother," and the +privilege of an old friend. "You must remember that you don't live only +for yourself," and she looked significantly at Helen. + +"Oh, I'll be careful!" promised Joe. "And now I'll do the trick again +for you, and let you see that it's absolutely harmless. Any of you could +do it--if you knew how." + +"Excuse me!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "Not for mine!" + +However they all watched Joe eagerly and interestedly, even Helen. He +did not seem to make any unusual preparations. He merely took a drink of +what seemed to be water. Then he ignited something in the flame of the +candle and placed the burning stuff in his mouth, seeming to chew it +with gusto. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Helen. But beyond that and a momentary placing of one +hand over her heart, she did not give way to emotion. Then, as Joe did +the fire-eating trick again, Helen forced herself to watch him closely. +As he had said, he took no harm from the act. + +"Tell us how you do it," begged Bill Watson. "When I get over being +funny--or getting audiences to think I am--I may want to live on +something hot. How do you work it?" + +"Well," said Joe, "if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not tell. It +isn't that I'm afraid of any of my friends giving the trick away, and so +spoiling the mystery of it for the crowds. It's just as it was in my box +act. If any of you are asked how I do this fire trick you can truly say +you don't know, for none of you will know by my telling, not even Helen, +though she is in on the box secret. I'll only say that I protect my face +and mouth, as well as hands, in a certain way, and that I do, actually, +put the blazing material into my mouth. I am not burned. So if any one +asks you about the act you may tell them that much with absolute truth. +Now the question is--how is it going to go with the audiences? We need +something--or, at least, I do--to create a sensation. Will this answer?" + +"I should say so!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "That ought to go big when it's +dressed up." + +"Oh, this is only the ground work," said Joe. "I'm going to elaborate +this fire act and make it the sensation of the season. I've only begun +on it. I got from a chemist the materials I want with which to protect +myself, and I have shown, to my own and your satisfaction, that I can +eat fire without getting harmed. So far all is well. Now I'm going to +work the act up into something really worth while." + +"But you'll still be careful, won't you, Joe?" asked Helen. + +"Indeed I will," he assured her. + +"Do the trick once more, Joe," suggested Bill Watson. "I'm coming as +close as you'll let me, and I want to criticize it from the standpoint +of a man in the audience." + +"That's what I'm after," said Joe. "If there are any flaws in the act, +now is the time to find it out." + +Once more he set the material ablaze and put it into his mouth. Bill +Watson watched closely, and, at the end, the old clown shook his head. + +"I saw you actually put the fire in your mouth," he testified. "No one +can do more than that. It takes nerve!" + +Of course, no one can actually swallow fire and live. The slightest +breath of flame on the lungs or on the mucous membrane of the throat +and passages is fatal. So when the terms "fire-eating" or "fire-eater" +are used it will be in the sense of its being a theatrical act. There is +a trick about it, and the trick is this: + +In the first place, the flame itself is produced by blazing alcohol. +This produces a blaze, and a hot one, too, but there is no smoke. In +other words, the combustion is almost perfect, there being no residue of +carbon to remain hot after the actual flame is extinguished. + +And now as to the actual putting into one's mouth something that is +blazing hot: It all depends on a very simple principle. + +If the hand be thoroughly wet in water it may be safely thrust for a +fraction of a second into a flaming gas jet. But mark this--for the +_fraction of a second only_. The water forms a protecting film for the +skin, and before it is evaporated the hand must be taken out of danger. +In other words, there is needed an appreciable time for the fire to beat +the skin to the burning point. + +This immunity from burns, to which the professional fire-eaters owe +their success, comes from this film of moisture on their skin. They do +not always use water--in fact, this is only serviceable for a momentary +contact with flame, and, at that, on the hands or face. In case a longer +contact is desired, a fire-resisting chemical liquid is used. + +It is about the contact of flame with the tender mucous membrane +surfaces of the mouth and throat that Joe, as a fire-eater, was most +concerned. + +In the first place, there is a constant film of the secretion called +saliva always flowing in the mouth. It comes from glands in the throat +and mouth, and is very necessary to good digestion. + +Now, for a very brief period this saliva, which is just the same as a +film of water on the hand, resists the fire. But professional +fire-eaters do not depend on saliva alone. They use a chemical solution, +and this is what Joe did when he drank something from a glass. + +What that chemical solution was, Joe kept as a closely guarded +professional secret. He feared, too, that some boy might make it, rinse +his mouth out with it, and then, getting an audience of his chums +together, might try to eat some blazing coals. He might, and very likely +would, be severely burned, and his parents or those in charge of him +would blame Joe for allowing such dangerous information to leak out. + +So, though he guarded all his secrets of magic, he was particularly +careful to keep this one to himself. + +But Joe protected his mouth and throat with a fire-resisting liquid, the +formula for which was given him by the chemist to whom he submitted the +circus tickets. + +The success of Joe and others of his kind depends also in this on a +well known natural law. It is that there can be no combustion in the +ordinary sense where there is no oxygen. As a candle will surely go out +if enclosed in an air-tight receptacle--that is, it will go out as soon +as it has burned up all the oxygen--just so surely will flame of any +kind go out when a person closes his mouth on it. And as there is +scarcely any air in the closed mouth--all of it going down the bronchial +tubes into the lungs--it follows that the flame dies out almost +instantly. That fact being considered, and the mouth and throat having +been previously treated with the secret chemical, there is really not so +much danger as appears. + +As a matter of fact, a person inadvertently swallowing hot tea or coffee +will burn or scald his mouth or tongue much more painfully than will a +professional fire-eater. Most people know how painful a burned tongue +is. + +Joe told something of the history of fire-eating "champions" to his +audience of friends, for it appeared that he had been reading up on the +subject and was well informed. Then he announced that the private +rehearsal was over. + +"But I'm going to work this fire-eating up into something that will +cause a sensation," he said. And he made good his promise. + +It was about a week after this, and the circus had been traveling +about, playing to good business, when Joe received a letter. In the +upper left-hand corner was the imprint of Herbert Waldon, Chemist. + +"I hope he has some news about the circus tickets!" exclaimed Joe. For +the show had been losing money steadily by means of the bogus coupons; +not as much as at first, but enough to make it necessary to discover the +fraud. And, so far, Mr. Moyne had not been successful. + +"Perhaps this explains the mystery," mused Joe as he opened the letter. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PET CAT + + +The typewritten sheet of the letter from Mr. Waldon enclosed two of the +engraved circus coupons. They fluttered to the floor of Joe's private +tent as he tore open the envelope. + +"Well, either he has discovered something, or he has sent them back and +given up," mused the young magician. "Let's see what he says." + +Joe quickly took in the contents of the letter. In effect it stated that +Mr. Waldon had discovered which were the bogus and which were the real +circus tickets. He first gave an explanation of the chemical tests he +used. Joe read this hastily, but carefully, then passed to the +conclusions arrived at by the expert, who was an authority on various +kinds of paper, as well as chemicals. + +"The ticket I have marked No. 1 is a genuine coupon, issued by your +circus corporation," said Mr. Waldon in his letter. "The slip marked by +me as No. 2 is a counterfeit. You will observe that they both bear the +red ink serial number 356,891. + +"If you were a paper expert you would observe that the paper used in +the two tickets is different. There is not a very great difference, and +I am inclined to think that both the genuine and the counterfeit tickets +were made on paper from the same mill, but of a different 'run.' That +is, it was made at a different time. + +"The printer who manufactured your tickets bought his paper from a +certain mill making a specialty of this particular kind. Then some one, +who must know something of your financial and business interests, had +the bogus tickets made, and on the same kind of paper. But there is a +slight difference, which I was able to detect by means of chemical +reactions. The coloring matter used varied slightly, though the texture +of the two kinds of paper is almost exactly similar. + +"Now, having settled that point, the solution of the remaining equations +of the problem rests with you. I can not tell who had the bogus tickets +printed. You will have to go to the mill making the paper and find out +to whom they sold this kind. In that way you will learn the names of all +printers, using it, and by a process of elimination you will get at the +one who printed the counterfeits. + +"This printer may be an innocent party, or he may be guilty. That is for +you and the detectives to determine. I hope I have started you on the +right track. I shall be interested to hear, my dear Mr. Strong, how you +make out in your fire-eating act." + +"I'll tell him as soon as I try it on a real audience," said Joe, with a +smile, as he folded the letter. "And so counterfeit tickets have been +rung in on us! Well, I suspected that, since our own men were thoroughly +to be trusted. Now to get at the guilty ones. And I shouldn't be +surprised if I could name one of the men involved. But I'll call a +meeting, and lay this before the directors." + +The Sampson Brothers' Show was incorporated and was run strictly on +business lines. There was a board of directors who looked after all +business matters, and Joe was soon in consultation with them, laying +before them Mr. Waldon's letter and the two marked tickets. + +"It would take an expert to tell them apart," said Mr. Moyne, as he +examined the coupons closely. "Well, what are we to do?" + +"In the first place," declared Joe, "we must change our form of general +admission tickets at once. That will stop the fraud, graft, or whatever +you want to call it. Then we must do as Mr. Waldon says--look for the +guilty parties. We'll have to hire some detectives, I think." + +This plan was voted a good one, and steps were at once taken to change +the form and style of the general admission tickets. Joe also wired for +a man from a well known detective agency to meet the show at the next +town. Then the printing shop which made the circus tickets was +communicated with. + +That was all that could be done at present, and Joe gave his attention +to perfecting his new fire-eating act. + +He did not give up his mystery box trick, and he still presented the +vanishing lady illusion, Helen assisting in both of these. Joe also did +the big swing, which always caused a thrill on account of the danger +involved. Careful watch was kept over the trapeze and other apparatus so +that no more dangerous tampering could he attempted, and Joe always +looked over everything with sharp eyes before trusting himself high in +the air. + +"Some one evidently has a grudge against me as well as against the +circus in general," he said to Jim Tracy. + +"Maybe it's the same person," suggested the ringmaster. + +"Perhaps. Well, as soon as we get some word from the detectives we can +start on the trail." + +The circus had arrived at a large city, where it was to show three days +and nights, and preparations were made for big crowds, as the city was +the center of a large number of industries, where many thousands of men +were employed at good wages. + +"We'll play to 'Straw Room Only' at every performance," said Mr. Moyne, +rubbing his hands with glee as he thought of the dollars that would be +taken in. "And I'm glad we discovered the bogus tickets in time. We'd be +out a lot of money if the counterfeits were to be used here." + +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But we aren't out of the woods yet. The same man who +imitated the light green tickets may have the bright blue ones which we +now use for general admission duplicated and sell them." + +"We'll have to take that chance," said the treasurer. "But I'll instruct +the ticket takers to be unusually careful." + +That was all that could be done. The detective had reported that he was +making an examination, starting at the paper mill, and was endeavoring +to learn where the bogus tickets had been made. + +The circus parade had been held and witnessed by enthusiastic crowds +lining the streets. Then was every prospect of big business, and it was +borne out. + +Joe wished he had prepared his fire act earlier but it could not be +helped. + +"I'll have it ready for to-morrow, though," he said to Jim Tracy, at the +conclusion of the first afternoon in the big city where they were to +stay three days. + +"Then I'm going to have it advertised," said the ringmaster, who also +sometimes acted as assistant general manager. "We'll bill it big. You're +sure of yourself, are you?" + +"Oh, yes," answered Joe with a laugh. "I'll give 'em their money's worth +all right, but it won't be the big sensation I'm planning for later on. +That will take time." + +"Well, as long as it's a fire act it will be new and novel, and it will +draw," declared Jim Tracy. + +It was later in the afternoon, when the circus performance was over, +that Joe and Helen strolled downtown, as was their custom. Some +convention was being held in the city, and across one of the principal +streets was stretched a big banner of the kind used in political +campaigns. + +It was hung from a heavy, slack wire from the brick walls of two +opposite buildings, and the banner attracted considerable attention +because of a novel picture on it. + +Joe and Helen were standing in the street, looking up at the swaying +creation of canvas and netting, when a woman's cry came to their ears. + +"Look! Look! The cat! The cat is walking the wire!" she exclaimed. + +Joe and Helen turned first to see who it was that had cried out. It was +a woman in the street, and with her parasol she pointed upward. + +There, surely enough, half way out on the thick, slack wire, and high +above the middle of the street was a large white cat. It was walking +the wire as one's pet might walk the back fence. But this cat seemed to +have lost its nerve. It had got half way across, but was afraid to go +farther and could not turn around and go back. + +As Joe and Helen looked, a woman appeared at the window of one of the +buildings from the front walls of which the banner was suspended, and, +pointing at the cat, cried: + +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat! A hundred dollars reward!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE RESCUE + + +The tumult which had arisen in the street beneath the banner when the +crowd caught sight of the cat was hushed for a moment after the woman's +frantic cry. Before that there had been some laughter, and not a few +cat-calls and exaggerated "miaows" from boys in the street. But now +every one, even the mischievous urchins, seemed to sense that something +unusual was about to take place. + +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" cried the woman, stretching out her arms +to the cat from the window out of which she leaned. "Come back to me!" + +The white cat on the wire heard the voice of the woman and seemed to +want to return to its mistress. But either the cat was not an adept at +turning on such a narrow support, or it was afraid to try. + +And, likewise, it was afraid to go forward. There it stood, about in the +middle of the wire, high above the street, and it clung to its perch by +its claws. + +The banner was hung from the cross wire by means of several loops of +rope, and it was in some of these loops that the cat had stuck its +claws, and so hung on. + +As the cat remained there, suspended, the crowd in the street below +increased in size. But from the time the woman had so frantically called +there had been no more of the cries from the crowd that might be +expected to frighten the animal. + +"Will some one get my cat?" cried the woman in a shrill voice, which +could easily be heard by Joe, Helen, and nearly every one else. "I'll +give one hundred dollars in cash to whoever saves him!" she went on. +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" she appealed. + +There was a thoughtless laugh from some one at the woman's anxiety, and +some one cried: + +"There's lots of cats! Let Peter go!" + +"The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ought to get after +whoever that was," said Helen indignantly, and there was an approving +murmur from some of those near her. + +"Does any one know that lady?" asked Joe, pointing at the figure in the +window. A pathetic figure it was, too, of an old woman clad in black, as +though she had lost all her friends. + +"Yes, she's a queer character," said some one who seemed to know. "Lives +up there all alone in the old house that, except for the upper part +where she is now, has been turned into offices. + +"She's rich, they say. Owns that building and a lot of others on this +street. But she lives all alone in a few rooms, and has a lot of pet +cats. I guess that's one which got away." + +"It got away all right," said another man. "And I don't believe she'll +ever get it back. The cat's scared to death." + +"Why doesn't it jump?" asked some one. "I heard that cats always land on +their feet, no matter how far they fall." + +"A fall from there would kill any cat," said Joe, as he handed Helen a +small package he had been carrying--a purchase he had made at one of the +stores. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, sensing that Joe Strong had some +object in mind. + +"I'm going to get that cat," he said in a low voice. "I can't bear to +see it harmed, and it can't cling there much longer. Night's coming on, +too, and if it isn't rescued soon it won't be until morning. I know what +it is to have a pet suffer. I'm going to get that cat!" + +"Oh, mister, you can't!" cried a small girl who was standing near by and +overheard this remark. + +"I should say not!" exclaimed the man who had given a little personal +sketch of the woman in black. "The longest ladder in the fire department +won't reach up to that wire, and they can't use extension ones, or +scaling ones as they could on a building. You can't get that cat, sir, +though I wish some one could. I don't like to see dumb brutes suffer. +But you can't get it!" + +"Perhaps I can!" said Joe modestly. + +He started toward the street entrance of the old building, from the +upper window of which leaned the pathetic figure of the woman calling to +her cat out on the swaying wire. + +"Oh, Joe," Helen began, "are you really going to--" and then she +stopped. + +"I am!" he answered, for he knew she understood. "Wait here for me. I +won't be long." + +Only a few in the crowd had heard what Joe said, or understood his +intentions as he made his way through the press of people. The woman at +the window was unaware of the fact that some one had heard her and was +about to heed her appeal. + +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat!" she cried again. + +This time no one laughed. + +Joe Strong, acrobat, athlete, magician, and possessed of many other +muscular accomplishments started up the stairs. The lower part of the +office building was deserted at this hour, but he made his way to the +place where he judged the woman lived alone. He was confirmed in this +belief by hearing from behind a closed door the barking and whining of +dogs. + +"She must keep a regular menagerie," mused Joe. "Probably these are all +the friends she has, poor old lady!" + +He knocked on a door that seemed to be the entrance to the living +apartments. There was a cessation of the barking and whining, and a +moment later a querulous voice asked: + +"Who is there? What do you want?" + +"Is that your cat out on the wire?" asked Joe. + +"Yes! Oh, yes! That's Peter! My favorite cat! Oh, have you saved him? +Have you got him down? No, you can't have! He's out on that wire yet!" +she cried. And then she opened the door. + +Joe was confronted by the same woman he had observed leaning from the +window. Her face was pale, and she was quite elderly. But there was a +kind and pathetic look about her eyes. Once, she must have been +beautiful. + +Joe had no time to speculate on what might have been the romantic +history of the woman. She looked eagerly at him. + +"What do you want?" she demanded. "I never see any one. I live here +alone. I must beg you to excuse me. I have to see if some one will not, +save my cat." + +"That is just what I came up for," said Joe, smiling. "I am a lover of +animals myself. I'd like to save your pet." + +"Oh, if you will, I'll pay you the hundred dollars!" cried the woman. "I +have it!" she went on eagerly. "It's in here," and she motioned to the +rooms. They were tastefully, but not lavishly, furnished. + +"We'll talk about that later," said Joe, with a smile. "The point is let +me get the cat first." + +"But you can't get him from here--from these rooms!" the woman in black +exclaimed. "He's out on the wire! You'll have to climb up in some way! +Oh, I don't know how you can do it!" There were tears in her eyes and +she clasped her hands imploringly. + +"I can't get your cat from the street," said Joe. "That's why I came up +here. I must walk out on the wire from your window. Have you a pair of +slippers? The older and softer the better--slippers with thin, worn +soles." + +"Why, yes, I have. But you--you can't walk out on the wire! It is too +small, almost, for my cat! You can't do it! It is impossible!" + +"Oh, no," answered Joe gently, "it isn't impossible. I have done it +before. If you'll let me get to a window near which the wire is +stretched, and if you will let me take a pair of old slippers." + +"Come in!" interrupted the eccentric old woman, opening wide the door. +"I don't in the least know what you intend to do, but something seems to +tell me I can trust you. And if only you can save Peter--" + +"I'll try," said Joe simply. + +The woman began to search frantically in a closet, throwing out shoes, +dresses, and other feminine wearing apparel. As she delved among the +things, a shout arose from the street, the noise of the voices floating +in through the open window. Joe looked out. + +"Oh, has Peter fallen?" cried the woman. + +That, too, had been Joe's thought. + +"No," he answered, as he took an observation. "Your cat has only changed +his position a little. I suppose the crowd thought it was going to fall, +but it's all right. I'll soon have it back to you. Is it a vicious cat?" + +"Oh, no indeed. He's as gentle as can be. But perhaps he might be so +scared now that he wouldn't know what he was doing. I see what you mean. +Here, I'll give you an old pair of gloves for your hands." + +"That's what I want," said Joe. "I can't afford to have my hands +scratched, as I do some legerdemain tricks. But I need some soft-soled +slippers more than I need gloves." + +"Here is a pair," said the woman. "They're mine. I wear large ones, for +I like to be comfortable." + +"They'll fit me," decided Joe, after an inspection. "Just what I want, +too!" + +He began to take off his shoes. + +"Do you really mean you are going to walk out on that wire and get my +cat?" asked the woman, comprehending his intention as she saw Joe +putting on the slippers and drawing on the old gloves she had given him. +They were a man's size, and he judged she must have used them in rough +work about the house. + +"I'm going out on the wire to get your cat," he said. + +"Oh, but I ought not to let you! You may fall and be killed! When I said +I'd give a hundred dollars to whoever would save Peter, I did not mean +that any one should risk his life. Much as I love my cat, I couldn't +allow that." + +"I'll be all right," said Joe easily. "Walking wires is part of my +business. Now don't worry. And please don't scream if you are going to +watch me." + +She looked at him curiously. + +"I am not in the habit of screaming," she said quietly. + +"Well, I thought it best to mention it," said Joe. + +He was now ready for his most novel form of walking the wire. He moved +toward the window from which the woman had leaned. It was the same +casement whence the cat had started on its perilous journey. Joe felt +sure of himself. The slippers were just what he needed, with soft, +pliable soles, worn thin. They were the best substitute he could have +found for his circus shoes. + +The wire from which the banner was suspended was fast to an eye-bolt +set in the brick wall of the building a little below the sill of the +window. It had been easy for the cat to step out and get on the cable. + +Joe appeared at the window. He had taken off his coat and, in his white +shirt, blue tie, and black trousers, he made a striking figure in the +brilliant sunset light. + +Instantly the crowd in the street saw him and divined his intention. Joe +doubted not that Helen was looking up at him. + +It was an easy step for him from the window sill to the wire from which +was suspended the banner. He knew it would support his weight in +addition to the big net affair. The size of the cable and the manner in +which it was fastened told him that. Still he cautiously tried it with +one foot before trusting all his weight to it. The spring of the wire +told him all he needed to know. + +Pausing a moment to make sure of himself, Joe Strong started to walk +across the wire toward the clinging cat. The crowd gave one roar of +welcome and approval, and then became hushed. This was what Joe wanted. + +Now it was just as if he were doing the act in the circus. Only there +was this difference--there was no safety net below him. But it was not +the first time Joe had taken this risk. True, beneath him were the hard +stones of the street, but a fall from the height at which he now was +would be fatal, no matter what the character of ground under him. He +dismissed all such thoughts from his mind. + +Slowly, and with the caution he always used, Joe started on his journey +across the wire. The cat felt his coming, and turned its head, as it +crouched down, and looked at him. But it did not move. The creature was +literally "scared stiff." + +Foot by foot Joe progressed. Below him the crowd watched breathlessly. +Joe knew Helen was there, praying for him, though he could not see her. +In the window stood the figure in black, a silent, hopeful but much +worried woman. She kept her promise not to scream, but Joe realized that +the crucial moment was yet to come. + +On and on he went nearer and nearer to the crouching cat. If only the +animal would have sense enough to lie still and not make a fuss when he +picked it up, Joe felt that all would be well. + +But would Peter behave? That was the question. + +Joe was now almost over the middle of the street. Far below him was the +crowd--a sea of upturned faces, reddened by the reflected rays of the +setting sun. The throng was silent. Joe was glad of that. + +"Keep still now, Peter, I'm coming for you!" said Joe in a low voice. + +"That's right, Peter!" added the woman. "Be a good cat now. You are +going to be saved! Keep still and don't scratch!" + +Whether the cat heard and understood it is hard to say. But it uttered a +pitiful: + +"Mew!" + +Inch by inch, foot by foot Joe advanced. He was quite sure of himself +now. He felt that he could easily have walked across the wire from +building to building, with the street chasm below him, and even could +have made the return trip. But picking up the cat and carrying it back +was another thing. It would have been easier for Joe to have carried a +man across on his back. He could direct the motions of the man. Could he +those of the cat? + +Still he was going to try. + +On and on he went. The woman in black was leaning from the window, +holding out her arms as though to catch Joe should he fall. + +But he did not think of falling. + +In another few seconds he was standing right over the cat. He could see +the animal's claws tensely clinging to the rope strands that held the +banner. Now came ticklish work. + +"Easy, Peter! Go easy now!" said Joe soothingly. + +He slowly and carefully stooped down. It was a trick he had often +performed in the circus on the high wire. But never under circumstances +like this. + +Joe's hands came in contact with the fur of the cat's back. He gently +stroked the animal, murmuring: + +"Come on now, Peter! Let go! Loosen your claws! I'm not going to hurt +you. Let me pick you up!" + +Again it is hard to say that the cat knew what Joe was saying, but it +certainly made its body less tense. The claws were loosed. Joe +straightened up, holding the cat in his arms. He could feel its heart +beating like some overworked motor. + +A roar arose from the crowd, but it was instantly hushed. The throng +seemed to realize that the return journey was infinitely more perilous +than the outward one had been. + +Joe could not turn. He must walk backward to the window, carrying the +cat, which at any moment might become wild and scramble from his arms, +upsetting his balance. + +Yet Joe Strong never faltered. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FIRE ACT + + +Realizing that he must use every caution, Joe Strong had two things to +think of. One was himself, and the other the cat. He could not carry the +creature in his arms, as he needed to extend them to balance himself. He +had walked short distances along slack wires without doing this, but in +those cases he had been able to run, and his speed made up for the lack +of balancing power of the extended arms. Now, however, he needed to +observe this precaution. + +What could he do with the cat? + +In that moment of peril a boyhood scene arose to Joe's mind. He recalled +that on the farm where he had lived there was a pet cat which liked to +crawl up his back and curl on his shoulders, stretching out completely +across them and snuggling against the back of his head. + +"If I can get this cat to do that I'll be all right," thought Joe. "I'll +try it." + +Balancing himself, he changed the cat's position and put it up on his +shoulder. Even if it rested on only one it would leave his hands free +and he could extend his arms and balance himself. But Peter seemed to +know just what was wanted of him. With a little "mew," the animal took +the very position Joe wanted it to--extended along his back, close to +his head. + +And not until then did Joe begin to step backward. Breathlessly the +crowd watched him. Step by step he went, feeling for the wire on which +he placed his feet. And each step made him more confident. + +The crowd was silently watching. It was reserving its wild applause. + +Step by step Joe walked backward until he heard the low voice of the +woman at the open window. + +"Shall I take Peter now?" she asked. + +"Can you reach him?" asked Joe. He knew he was close to the building. + +"Yes," she answered. + +"Then do," said Joe. "He may try to spring off when he sees himself so +close to you. Take him. I'll stand still a moment." + +He felt the cat stirring. The next instant he was relieved of Peter's +weight, and then, with a quick turning motion, Joe himself was half way +within the window and sitting on the sill. + +He had walked out on the wire, stretched a hundred feet above the +street, and rescued the cat. The pet was now in the arms of the woman in +black. + +And then such a roar as went up in the crowd! Men thumped one another +on the back, and then shook hands, wondering at their foolishness and +why there was such a queer lump in their throats. + +"Oh! Oh!" gasped the woman, as she hugged Peter to her. "I can never +thank you enough--not in all my life. It may be foolish to care so much +for a cat. But I can't help it. It isn't all that. I couldn't have borne +it to have seen him fall and be killed." + +"He's all right now--after he gets over being scared," said Joe, as he +stroked the cat in the arms of the woman in black. + +"And now will you let me know to whom I am indebted?" she asked. "Please +come in, and I'll pay you the reward." + +"Well, I'll come in and put on my shoes," said Joe, with a smile. "I +didn't need the gloves," he added. "Peter was very gentle." + +"Oh, he's a good cat!" said his mistress. "And now," she added, when Joe +had resumed his shoes and coat, "will you please tell me your name and +how you learned to walk wires and rescue cats?" + +"I never rescued cats before," Joe returned, smiling. "It's something +new. But walking wires is my trade--or one of 'em. I'm with the circus. +I do some tricks and--" + +"Oh, are you the man who gets out of the box?" she cried. "I have read +about that trick." + +"It is one of mine," said Joe modestly. + +"I'm so glad to know you!" exclaimed the woman. She seemed less of a +recluse than at first. "I haven't been to a circus for years--not since +I was a child," she continued, half sadly, Joe thought. "But I'm coming +to-night!" she exclaimed. "I'll have the janitor look after my cats and +dogs, and I'll go to the circus. I want to see you act. It will bring +back my lost youth--or part of it," she murmured. + +"Allow me to make sure that you will be there," said Joe. "Here is a +reserved ticket. I will look for you." + +"And now let me give you the reward I promised," begged the woman, as +Joe was about to leave. "I have the money here--in cash," she added +quickly. She went to a bureau, putting Peter down on a cushion. The cat +observed Joe intently. The woman came back with a roll of bills. + +"No, really, I couldn't take it!" protested Joe. "I didn't save your cat +for money. I was glad enough to do it for the animal's sake." + +"Please take it!" she urged. "I--I am well off, even if I live here," +she said hesitatingly. "I shall feel better if you take it." + +"And I shall feel better if you give it to the Red Cross," said Joe. +"That needs it, to help the stricken, more than I do. I make pretty good +money myself," he added. "And I didn't do this for a reward." + +"But I promised it!" + +"Well, then consider that I took it, and you, in my name, may pass it on +to the Red Cross," said Joe. "And now, may I ask your name?" + +The woman told him. It was Miss Susan Crawford. The name meant nothing +to Joe, though he afterward learned she was a member of an old, wealthy +and aristocratic family. She had had an unfortunate love affair, and, +her family having all died, she made for herself a little apartment in +one of her many buildings and lived there with her pets--a recluse in +the midst of a big city. It was a pathetic story. + +"I wish you would let me reward you in some way," said Miss Crawford +wistfully, as Joe left. "You did so much, and you get nothing out of +it." + +"Oh, yes I do," returned the young acrobat. "I'll get a lot of +advertising out of this, and it will be the best thing in the world for +the circus." + +And Joe was right. The next day the papers all carried big stories of +his wire-walking feat to save the cat that had ventured out over the +street and was afraid to go back. Bigger crowds than ever came to the +circus. + +As she had promised, Miss Crawford was at the evening performance, and +Joe introduced a little novelty in one of his "magic stunts," producing +a cat instead of a rabbit from a man's pocket. As he held it up he +looked over and smiled at the old lady in black, for he had given her a +seat near his stage. She smiled back. + +Joe never saw her again. She was found dead a few months later in her +lonely rooms, with her cats and dogs around her. But Joe always +remembered her. + +The street wire-walking feat was the talk of the city, and when, the +following day, Joe announced that he was ready to put on his fire act, +which had been well advertised, every one was on figurative tiptoes to +see what it would be. + +Joe had made all his preparations, and he had taken care to provide +against danger and accidents. He realized the risk he was running in +handling fire in a circus tent before crowds of people. But +extinguishers were provided, and one of the fire-fighting force of the +circus was constantly on hand. + +After the preliminary whistle of the ringmaster which ended the other +acts and prepared for Joe's new one, the young magician advanced to the +platform and gave a little "patter." + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "in introducing my new act I wish, +first of all, to assure you that there is no danger. Even though I seem +to be in the midst of fire, do not be alarmed. I shall be safe, and no +harm will come to you." + +Joe did this to forestall a possible panic. + +"You have all heard of the ancient salamanders," he went on. "It is +reputed that this animal was able to live in the midst of fire. As to +the truth of that I can not say. I never saw a salamander, that I know +of. But that fire may safely be handled by human beings, and not at the +risk of being burned, I am about to demonstrate to you. I shall first +show you how to carry fire about in your hands, so that if you run short +of matches at any time you will not lack means of igniting the gas, +starting your kitchen range, or enjoying your smoke. While the stage is +being made ready for my main act, I will show you how to carry fire in +your hands." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A SENSATIONAL DIVE + + +Striking a match, Joe ignited two candles that stood on a little table +at one side of his stage. On the other side his assistants were setting +up the apparatus he intended to use in his more elaborate experiments. + +"You observe that the trick has not yet begun," said Joe, with a laugh, +as he blew out the match. "In other words, I am lighting these candles +in the ordinary way--just as any one of you would do it, if he needed +to. In a moment I will show you how to light the candles in case one is +accidentally blown out and you have no match." + +Allowing both candles to burn up well, with clear, bright flames, Joe +suddenly blew out one. + +"Now," he said, "I will show you how to carry fire in your hands from +the lighted to the unlighted candle. Watch me closely!" + +Joe cupped his hands around the lighted candle, seeming to take the +flame up in his fingers. When he removed his hands, which he still held +in cup, or globular, shape, the second candle had been extinguished. +Both were now out. + +"You will notice that I am carrying the flame in my hands from one +candle to the other," said Joe, in a loud voice, as he walked across the +stage. + +For an instant he spread his hands, cup fashion, around the candle he +had first blown out. Suddenly he withdrew his hands, holding them wide +apart and in full view of the audience, and, lo! the unlighted candle +was glowing brightly. + +There was a moment of silence, and then the applause broke forth. Joe +bowed and said: + +"That is how to carry fire in your hands. But please don't any of you +try it unless you get the directions from me." + +"Tell us how to do it!" piped up a small boy. + +"Come and see me after the show!" laughed Joe. + +And, while on this subject, it might be well to explain how Joe did the +trick. It is very simple, but it takes practice, and an amateur may +easily be fatally burned in the attempt, simple as it is. + +Joe lighted the candles in the usual way, with a match, as already +explained. There was no trick about this, nor about blowing out one. But +immediately after that the trick started. Joe placed a little piece of +waxed paper between the first and second fingers of his left hand as +soon as he had blown out the first candle. This paper was a slender +strip, and could not be seen by the audience. + +When he cupped his hands around the remaining lighted candle Joe +ignited this waxed strip, taking care to work it away from his palms and +fingers. It burned with a tiny flame and with scarcely any heat in the +middle of the hollow cup formed by his hands. + +As soon as he had ignited the paper Joe, by pressing the lower edges of +his palms against the blazing wick of the candle, extinguished it. This +had the same effect as though he had "pinched" out the flame with finger +and thumb, as many country persons put out, or "snuff," candles +to-day--for candles are still much used in some places. + +Now we have Joe with a little blazing taper concealed in his cupped +hands, advancing to the candle he first blew out. He placed his hands +around this, lighted the wick from the taper, which he at once crushed +between his fingers, and the trick was done. + +The candle was lighted, the remains of the little taper were concealed +between Joe's fingers, and it looked as though he had really carried +fire in his hands. The quickness with which he pinched out the candle +flame, and also smothered the taper after he had used it, prevented him +from being burned in the slightest. But it is best for a boy unpracticed +and without the dexterity of a professional prestidigitator not to +undertake to play with fire. + +Joe Strong believed in doing his tricks and acts artistically and +elaborately. He had watched other performers "dress their act," and he +had often improved on what even stage veterans had done. His +apprenticeship had been a stern but good one. + +And now he was going to introduce something novel in his fire-eating +tricks, but he was also going to add to that. He had read considerable +of late about the fire-eating tricks of the old "magicians" and had +delved into many curious old books. Now he was going to give his +audience some of this information. + +"There is a trick in everything," said Joe, as he faced his audience in +readiness for the fire-eating act. "If I told you that I actually +swallowed blazing fire, any physician would know that I was not telling +the truth. I do not really eat the fire. I only seem to do so. But if in +doing so I can deceive you into thinking I do, and you are thrilled and +amused, you get your money's worth, I earn mine, and we are all +satisfied. So don't be alarmed by what you see. + +"The resistance of the human body to heat is greater than many persons +suppose," said Joe. "And there is a vast difference between wet heat and +dry heat. Water, above one hundred and fifty degrees, would be +unbearable. It would really burn you badly. Water, as you know, boils at +two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. But before this point is +reached it is capable of ending life. + +"Dry heat, however, is different. Men have frequently borne without +permanent discomfort dry heat up to three hundred degrees. This heat is +often reached in the drying rooms of oilcloth and oiled silk factories. + +"Now the fire I handle is dry heat. I would no more think of pouring +boiling water over my hands than I would of taking poison. And yet I +will show you that I can thrust my hand into a blazing fire and suffer +no harm. + +"In an old book I read that to enable one to thrust one's hands into the +fire all you had to do was to anoint them with a mixture of _bol +armenian_, quicksilver, camphor and spirits of wine. I should prefer to +leave that mixture alone, though in the book it is said that if one puts +that mixture on his hands he may handle boiling lead. + +"Perhaps some ancient magician did this, but I think he depended more on +water than on anything else. If your hands are wet there is formed on +them a film of moisture which, for a moment, will enable you to +withstand high degrees of dry heat. + +"In another old book I read that if one prepared himself with 'liquid +stortax,' which is juice from a certain tree growing in Italy, he could +enter fire, bathe in fire, put a burning coal on his tongue, and even +swallow fire. + +"Now I am not going to let you into all my secrets. You shall see--what +you shall see!" concluded Joe. + +As intimated before, the method Joe Strong used is not going to be +printed here. You have been given some genuine ancient formulae, safe in +the knowledge that some of the ingredients can not be obtained. And the +modern substitutes are not going to be told. Enough to say that Joe had +"prepared himself." + +The young magician looked to see that all was in readiness. Perceiving +that it was, he retired for a moment to a cabinet set up on the stage, +and when he came out he was ready for his tricks. + +Joe advanced to what seemed to be an elaborate candelabra in which seven +tapers were set. He stood in front of this a moment, and then he +announced: + +"Having lived on a fire diet so long I have a bit to spare. I will light +these candles without using a match." + +He waved his hand over the candelabra. Sparks were seen to shoot from +his finger tips, and in an instant the seven lights were glowing. That +was an electrical trick. In reality the candles were gas jets, made to +look like wax tapers, and Joe lighted them from an electric current +produced by a dry battery he carried on his person. + +He then proceeded to his main trick. He picked up a plate. It seemed to +contain pieces of bread. Joe touched the edge of the plate to a flame +of one of the candles. In an instant the plate was ablaze, and Joe +calmly began putting the blazing stuff on it into his mouth. + +Cube after cube of the blazing "bread" he lifted up on a fork and thrust +between his lips. And he seemed to enjoy the "eating" of it. + +The audience was spellbound. Every one's eyes were on Joe Strong doing +his fire-eating trick. + +The plate was empty. Joe looked about as though for something else hot +to eat. He caught up an article from a table. Holding it to the flame of +a candle, it was at once ablaze. + +And then, with a thrilling cry, Joe Strong leaped from the stage, his +two hands, held high above his head, seeming to be enveloped in a mass +of fire. And with this fire held over him, he ran toward the tank in +which Benny Turton did his "human fish" act. + +The next instant Joe Strong, apparently ablaze all over, dived into the +tank. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +HEAD FIRST + + +Which was the more surprised--Benny Turton, who had just finished his +fish act in his tank, the spellbound audience, or Jim Tracy, who was, in +a way, directing Joe's performance--it would be hard to say. All three +were thrilled by the unexpected outcome of the fire-eating act. Joe +Strong alone seemed perfectly at his ease, and, it might be mentioned +incidentally, perfectly at home in the water. He had, as told in a +previous volume, entitled "Joe Strong, the Boy Fish," perfected himself +in this sort of work, and could remain submerged for an unusually long +time. + +Of course the fire which seemed to envelop the young magician was +instantly put out when he leaped into the tank. He was wearing a rather +fancy suit, and as he came up, wet and bedraggled, Jim Tracy could not +help wondering what Joe meant by his performance. + +"Joe! Joe! was that part of the act or an accident?" asked Jim in a low +voice, as he ran over to where Joe was now climbing out of the tank. +For one instant Joe hesitated. The audience was wildly applauding now. +Clearly there was but one thought in their minds. The whole thing was a +trick--Joe had only pretended to be on fire and had taken that +sensational means of appearing to extinguish the blaze. + +But the ringmaster noted a queer look on his friend's face. It was not +the look it usually wore when Joe had completed some hazardous or +sensational trick. + +"Are you hurt, Joe--burned?" asked Jim Tracy anxiously. + +"No," was the answer. "It was all part of the act!" + +The ringmaster looked satisfied, and it was not until some time +afterward that he learned what a narrow escape Joe had had. + +"This will be part of the fire-eating stunt at every show," said Joe to +the ringmaster. "You might make the announcement so the people won't be +scared." + +"I will! Say, it's some stunt all right!" And then Jim began with his +sonorous "Ladies and gentlemen!" He stated that the young fire-eater +would show his familiarity with, and mastery over, fire by setting +himself ablaze and leaping into the tank to extinguish the flames. The +ringmaster added that there would be no danger to either the audience or +the performer in this feature. + +Joe bowed to the applause that followed, and then hurried to his +dressing room to don dry clothes for his mystery box trick. + +"I should think, if you were going to do tank work, you'd wear a suit +better adapted to it--like mine," said Benny Turton, whose apartment was +next to Joe's in the dressing tent. + +"I'm going to," Joe announced, looking around to make sure no one +overheard. "The fact of the matter is, Benny, I didn't count on pulling +off this stunt. It was an accident. Some of the alcohol I use on the tow +was spilled on my sleeves and caught fire. Then more flames burst out. +Luckily they were at my back, so when I ran the flames were fanned away +from me. But I knew the tank was the safest place to go, and in I +jumped." + +"But I heard you tell Jim it was all arranged." + +"I did that so the crowd wouldn't get into a panic. However I am going +to work the trick at each performance after this, only I'm going to wear +a different suit." + +And Joe did. He had a garment partly made of asbestos, though outwardly +it did not resemble that fire-resisting material any more than do the +asbestos curtains in theaters. And at the conclusion of his fire-eating +act Joe would seemingly burst into fire and run blazing across the stage +to leap into the tank of water. + +This finish to the act never failed to win great applause. And once in +the tank Joe did some of the under-water tricks that had brought him +fame. He was careful, however, not to duplicate anything that Benny +Turton did, for he did not want to "crab" the act of his friend. + +But Joe's fire and water act was one of the big features on the circus +bill. + +"Is this the sensation you were speaking of?" asked Helen one day, when +they had concluded an afternoon's performance. + +"No," answered Joe. "This only came about by accident. I'm working on +something more sensational yet, and I am going to ask you to help me." + +"I'm sure I'll do anything I can," said she. + +"You won't be in any danger," the young magician went on. "I'm beginning +to understand fire better the more I study it. I'm not getting too +familiar, either, let me tell you. Even a little scorch is very +painful." + +"I glanced through one of your books the other day," remarked Helen. "Do +you really suppose some of those old magicians actually handled fire in +the way it is stated?" + +"Well, at least they pretended to," said her friend. "There are tricks +in all trades, you know." + +As the circus went on its way business kept up well, and it was seen +that the season was going to be an excellent one from a financial +standpoint. + +"Any more bogus tickets coming in?" asked Joe one day of the treasurer. + +"Not since we adopted the new style," was the answer. + +"Have the detectives gotten on the trail of the man, or the men, who +cheated us?" asked Helen. + +"Not yet," reported Mr. Moyne. "The last report I had from them was that +they were getting nearer and nearer to a certain person whom they +suspected. They promise an arrest soon." + +"That's the usual story," remarked Joe. "However, we don't so much care +about an arrest now if we have stopped the counterfeit tickets from +being worked off on us." + +"Well, there's always a chance that the same thing will happen again," +returned Mr. Moyne. "It's too easy money for the criminals to give up, +I'm afraid. I'm on the lookout every day for more counterfeits." + +"Well, I'll leave it to you," remarked Joe. "Whenever anything happens +let me know and we'll take some action." + +Joe Strong was now kept very busy in the circus. In fact he was what +would be called a "star." He did his mystery box trick, and, with Helen, +worked the "vanishing lady" trick so neatly that no one guessed how it +was done. The ten thousand dollars was not claimed, successfully, though +several tried it, with the result that several local Red Cross +organizations were enriched by the hundred dollar forfeit. + +In addition to these mystery acts, and some more ordinary +sleight-of-hand tricks which he used to fill in with, Joe did his +fire-eating trick, ending that act with the plunge into the tank. This +never failed to create a sensation. + +"But it isn't the big sensation I'm after!" said Joe, when his friends +congratulated him. "Wait until you see that!" + +Another feature of Joe's performance was his wire-walking. Since he had +rescued the lady's cat he had added this to his share of the program, +and it was a thriller enjoyed by many audiences. + +"But it's a little tame," said Joe one day to Jim Tracy. "I want to put +a little more pep into it." + +"How are you going to do it?" asked the ringmaster. + +"I think I know a way," was the answer. + +And a few days later Joe gave a demonstration. + +The wire on which he performed was a high one, stretched between two +well-braced poles. On each pole was fastened a small platform, somewhat +like those high up in the tent where the big swing was fastened. + +Joe walked across the wire from one platform to the other, doing various +"stunts" on the slender support. One day Jim Tracy noticed that a long +to the ground between one of the rings and a wooden platform. + +"What's that, Joe?" asked the ringmaster, "Looks like an extra guy wire +for the pole." + +"No, that's for my new stunt," said Joe. "I'll show you at this show." + +The audience watched him performing on the high wire. Jim Tracy was +watching, too, for he remembered what Joe had said. Suddenly, at the +conclusion of the usual wire-walking feats, Joe stooped, placed his head +on the slanting wire, raised himself until he was standing with his legs +up and spread apart. Then he quickly flung wide his hands and slid on +his head down the slanting win to the ground, stopping himself just +before he reached it by grasping the wire in his gloved hands. + +Jim Tracy, who was sitting on a box, leaped to his feat. + +"Head first!" he cried. "That's some stunt!" + +And the audience seemed to think so, too, from the way it applauded. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SWINDLERS AGAIN + + +Joe Strong, having checked his rapid, head-first and head-on slide down +the slanting wire by grasping it in his gloved hands, gave a "flip-flop" +and stood up, bowing to the loud applause. Jim Tracy and some of the +other circus employees surrounded the young man. + +"Why didn't you tell us you were going to pull off something like this?" +demanded the ringmaster. + +"Because I wasn't sure until the last minute that I would do it," +answered Joe. "I hadn't practiced it as much as I should have liked, but +when I got up there on the platform I felt pretty sure I could do it. I +wasn't running much risk anyhow, except that of failure. I knew I +wouldn't fall, for I could have grabbed the wire in my hands if I had +started to topple over." + +"But how did you do it?" asked some one, who came up to join the +wondering throng after Joe's feat had been performed. "I've seen you +stand on your head before, but to slide down a wire--say, what sort of +scalp have you, anyhow?" + +Joe laughed and held out a close-fitting skull-cap of leather. Fastened +to the leather was a small steel framework, and in this frame were two +small grooved wheels, like the wheels of a trolley by means of which +street cars receive the electric current from the wire. Joe put the cap +on his head to show how it enabled him to do the trick. The big races +were on now, as the close of the performance was close at hand, and the +crowd was paying attention to the contests and not to the group of +performers surrounding the young magician. + +Once they had seen the cap with the grooved wheels on top placed on +Joe's head, his friends understood how the trick was done. He had simply +to balance himself on his head on the wire, a feat he had often +performed before. The natural attraction of gravitation did the rest. He +simply slid down on the wheels, his extended arms and legs steadying +him. + +"It's just as if you had a roller skate on your head," said Señorita +Tanlozo, the snake charmer, who had strolled into the main tent after +her act in the side show was over. + +"Exactly," said Joe, with a smile. "Would you like to try it?" + +"Not while my snakes are alive!" she assured him. + +"Well, it's another drawing card for the Sampson Brothers' Show," said +Jim Tracy that night when the receipts were being counted and +preparations being made for moving on to the next city. "How long are +you going to keep it up, Joe?" + +"As to that, I can't say," was the answer. "But I like the game, and I +want to see the circus a success." + +"It's a big one now, thanks in a large part to you," observed the +ringmaster. "But you'd better take a rest now, Joe, my boy. Don't try to +pull off any more spectacular stunts." + +"Oh, I haven't pulled off my big one yet," replied the young magician. +"I mean the one with the fire. I'm working on that. If it comes out the +way I think it will we'll have to give three performances a day instead +of two." + +"Oh, we can't do that!" protested Mr. Moyne, the treasurer. "It's hard +enough keeping account of the money and tickets now, with two shows a +day. If we have three--" + +He paused, for it was very evident Joe was only joking, and there were +smiles on the faces of the other circus folk. + +"Don't worry!" said Joe to the treasurer. "I don't want to act three +times a day any more than you want to count the tickets and cash. And, I +suppose, if we could, by some means, give three performances, it would +only give our swindling ticket friends more chance to work their scheme. +By the way, there are no further signs of their putting bogus tickets +on sale, are there?" + +"Not since we started the detectives at work," the treasurer answered. +"But I'm always on the watch, and so are the men at the entrances." + +"It's about time those detectives got results, I think," declared Jim +Tracy. "I wonder what they think we're paying them for?" + +"It takes time for a thing like that to be cleaned up," said Joe. + +"Well, I know what I'd do if I were detecting," half-growled the +ringmaster. + +"What?" inquired the treasurer. + +"I'd round up and arrest a certain few worthless men I know who used to +be in the circus business--some with this show!" declared Jim. "It's +queer, but our outfit seems to be the only one that they pick on. That's +what makes me think it was some one who used to work for us." + +"Who?" the treasurer wanted to know. + +"Well, I'm not mentioning any names," declared the ringmaster, as he +prepared to divest himself of his dress suit in readiness for the trip +to the circus train. "But I have my suspicions." + +"What makes you say ours is the only circus to have lost money on bogus +tickets?" asked Joe. + +"Read it in _Paste and Paper_," was the answer. That was the name of the +trade journal devoted to the interests of circus folk, tent shows, and +the like. "The last number had a piece in it about our losing money on +fake tickets," went on the ringmaster, "and it said it was the first +case of its kind to appear in several years. There have been no +complaints of circuses in other parts of the country being cheated that +way, this article said. So I know it's some one picking specially on +us." + +"Well, perhaps you're right," assented Joe. "But as long as we have +changed our style of tickets and they haven't tried their tricks again, +maybe we've settled them." + +"All the same I'm going to be on the watch," declared the treasurer. + +The city where the circus showed the following day and night was a large +one. A new automobile industry employing many hands had located there +within the last six months. It was decided to make a stay of two days in +this place, since the advance agent reported that many of the men worked +overtime and nights, and otherwise they could not see the performance. + +"Well, I'm glad we're to be here two days," remarked Helen, as she +passed Joe's private quarters, where he was going over some of his +apparatus, costumes, and effects. + +"Yes, we'll have a good night's rest," he agreed, though, truth to tell, +the circus folk were so used to traveling that the train journey almost +every night did not bother them. Still they always welcomed a stay in a +city over night. + +"You seem busy," remarked Helen, as she sat down on a box and watched +Joe. + +"Yes, I'm going to introduce a little novelty in the slide down the +slanting wire," he answered. "I'm going to work in a fire stunt." + +"A fire stunt!" exclaimed Helen. "Surely you aren't going to--" + +"Oh, it won't be dangerous!" Joe assured her, guessing her thoughts. +Helen had learned that the jump into Benny's tank the first time was due +to an accident. "It's just a bit spectacular and will liven things up a +bit, I think. If it goes well I have an idea you can work one of the +features in your bareback act." + +"Oh, Joe, I never could walk a wire, nor slide down on my head, the way +you do. And I don't see how Rosebud could, either." And Helen gave a +merry little laugh at the vision she raised. + +"Oh, I'm not going to have your horse walk the tight rope nor the high +wire!" laughed Joe. "It would be a corking good stunt if we could, +though. No, this is simpler. I'll tell you about it later." + +Mrs. Watson, wife of the veteran clown, called for Helen just then, +asking her to go to see one of the women performers who was ill. + +"I'll see you later, Joe," Helen called out, as she left him. + +Joe was busy mixing up some chemicals in a pail on the ground outside +his tent when he was accosted by a rather hoarse voice asking: + +"Any chance for a job here, boss?" Joe looked up to see a somewhat +disreputable figure of a man observing him. The fellow looked like the +typical tramp, perhaps not quite so ragged and dirty, but still in that +class. However, there was something about the man that attracted Joe's +attention. As he said afterward, his visitor had about him the air of +the "profesh." + +Joe's first impulse was to say that he knew of no job, or else to refer +his accoster to the head canvas man, who hired transient help in putting +up the main top and in pulling or driving stakes. But as Joe observed +the man curiously watching him, he had another idea. Before he could act +on it, however, the man exclaimed: + +"You do a fire-eating stunt, don't you?" + +"Yes," Joe answered. And then it occurred to him to wonder how the man +knew. True he might have observed Joe in some of the many performances, +but the man did not look like one who would spend money on circus +tickets. He might have crawled under the tent, but it did not seem +exactly probable. And, of course, some of the circus employees plight +have pointed Joe out to the man as the actor who handled fire. But, +again, Joe did not believe this. So he asked: + +"How did you know?" + +For answer the man pointed to the pail of chemicals into which Joe was +about to dip a suit of tights. + +"Smelled the dope," was the brief answer. "You're using tungstate of +soda, aren't you?" + +"Yes," answered Joe, surprised that a man, evidently of such a class, +should recognize the not very common chemical. + +"We used to use alum in the old days," the man went on. "I guess the new +dope's better, though I never tried it." + +"Are you in the business?" asked Joe. + +"Well, I--er--I used to be," and the man straightened himself up with an +air of forgotten pride. "I was with a circus once--used to do a +fire-eating act and jump into a fake bonfire. I doped my clothes with +alum water though. That's great stuff for preventing the fire taking +hold if you don't stay in the blaze too long. But, as I say, they've +discovered something new." + +"You used to be a fire-eater?" asked Joe curiously. + +"Yes. And I was counted a pretty good one. But I lost my nerve." + +"How?" + +"Well--er--not to put too fine a point on it, I got too fond of the +fire-water. Couldn't stay on the water-wagon long enough, got careless +in my act, went down and out. Oh, it's the old story. You've probably +heard it lots of times. But I would like a job now. I'm actually hungry, +and I've seen the time I could blow the bunch to champagne and lobster." + +Joe, on impulse, and yet, too, because he had an object, was just going +to offer the man help when he saw Mr. Moyne coming across the lot toward +him from the ticket wagon. The afternoon performance was about to start. + +"They're here again!" cried the treasurer. + +"Who?" asked Joe. + +"The ticket swindlers!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RINGS OF FIRE + + +Instantly Joe Strong lost interest in the "tramp fire-eater," as he +afterward came to call the man. All the attention of the young magician +was centered on what the treasurer had said. + +"Are you certain of this?" asked Joe. + +"Positive!" was the answer. "We've been keeping careful watch, paying +special attention to the red serial numbers, and some duplicates have +been taken in at the main entrance. The swindlers are at work again." + +"But our new tickets!" exclaimed Joe. "The new style of paper and the +precautions we have taken! What of that?" + +In answer Mr. Moyne held out two tickets, both bearing the same serial +number in red ink. + +"Which is the bogus and which is the genuine?" he asked. + +Joe looked carefully at the two. He examined them for a full minute. + +"I can't tell!" he admitted. + +"And no one else can, either," declared the treasurer. "We're up +against it again! Those fellows are too clever for us. Now we'll lose a +lot of money!" + +"Well, it won't break us," said Joe easily. "Though, of course, no one +likes to be cheated. The only thing to do is to get the detectives busy. +Let them know the new turn affairs have taken, and I'll send these two +tickets to our chemist friend. He can tell which is printed from our +regular stock, and which is the counterfeit. + +"Then, too, it ought to be easier to catch the rascals now than it was +at first. You see, we didn't know how long the old tickets had been +counterfeited. Now we're warned, first shot out of the box, about the +new ones. And since the paper mill hasn't been supplying our printer +with the new kind of paper very long, it ought to be easy to trace where +the new and clever counterfeit supply is coming from." + +"Well, I hope they can catch the scoundrels," said Mr. Moyne. "I +certainly hate to see money lost." + +Mr. Moyne was an ideal treasurer. He always had the interests of the +circus at heart, and one would think that the money came out of his own +pocket to hear him talk about the counterfeit tickets. In a way he did +lose, personally, since he was one of the owners of the show, and the +less money that came in the less his stock dividends would amount to. + +"I'll write to Mr. Waldon to-night," said Joe, as he took the two +tickets. "And we'll notify the detectives. Now I must get ready for my +act. That can't be dropped." + +"Having trouble, eh?" asked the tramp, who had moved a little to one +side. + +"Oh, well, just a little," admitted Joe, who was not altogether pleased +that this talk should have been overheard by a stranger. + +"Did you say there was any chance for a job?" asked the ragged man. + +"Well, I don't know," said Joe, rather doubtfully. "Is that straight +goods, about your being a fire-eater?" + +"I was once. But I'm not looking for that kind of a job now," was the +quick answer. "I lost my nerve, I tell you. Handling stakes or driving a +wagon would be my limit." + +"What sort of an act in the fire line did you have?" asked Joe, for a +certain idea was beginning to form in his mind. + +"It was a good act!" was the response, and again the spark of pride +seemed about to be fanned into a flame. "Got any old-timers in this here +circus of yours?" + +"Yes," answered Joe. "There's Jim Tracy and Bill Watson and--" + +"Bill Watson who used to clown it?" cried the man eagerly. + +"He clowns it yet." + +"Old Bill!" murmured the tramp. "Him still making good in the business, +and me a bum! Well, it's all my own fault. If I'd stuck to the +fire-eating and not drinking fire-water I'd be somewhere to-day. Just +ask Bill Watson what sort of an act Ham Logan had--'Coal-fire Logan!'" +exclaimed the man. "That was my title. Hamilton Logan is my name, but I +haven't told any one in--not in a long time," he added, and he looked +away. "But ask Bill Watson about me." + +"Here he comes now," said Joe, as he observed the veteran clown +approaching. "Suppose you ask him yourself." + +For an instant Ham Logan hesitated. Then he stepped forward and +confronted the old clown. The latter paid no attention at first, +evidently thinking the man one of the many hangers-on about a circus +ground. + +"Joe," began Bill Watson, "Helen sent me to ask you if you have any +ammonia in your kit--I mean the kind they give the ladies when their +hearts are weak, or something like that. One of the girls has some kind +of a little spell, and we can't find the doctor." + +"Yes, I have some ammonia," said Joe. "I'll get it." + +Ham Logan looked Bill Watson in the face, and asked: + +"Don't you remember me?" + +"Can't say that I do," was the somewhat cool response of the veteran +clown. "Is there any reason why I should?" + +"Do you remember Coal-fire Logan?" + +Bill Watson started, looked more closely at the man, and then slowly +asked: + +"Are you Ham Logan?" + +"What's left of me--yes." + +"Well, I'll be gum swizzled!" exclaimed Bill. "Say, did the elephant +step on you or one of the tent wagons roll over you?" + +"Neither one. I'm down and out, that's all--and it's enough, too." + +"Well, that's enough, I should say," commented the clown, as he took the +bottle of stimulant Joe handed him. "Last I heard of you you'd gone on a +theater circuit. That was just after you'd quit the Dobling show." + +"Yes, I did do a theater circuit," admitted Ham Logan. "But it didn't +last. Or rather, I didn't last. I was just asking the young man here for +a job. I said you'd remember me." + +"Well, I certainly do," returned the old clown, who was not to do his +act until later in the day. + +"And I'm sorry to see you in this state, Ham. You did me a good turn +once, and I haven't forgotten. Stick around a while, and I'll see you +as soon as I play first-aid. Joe, if it isn't asking too much, will you +look after Ham for a while? He used to be a good sort, and--" + +"Better say too much of a 'good _sport_,'" paraphrased the man. + +"I'll take care of him," promised Joe. "Did you say you were hungry?" +asked the young magician, as the old clown turned and hurried away with +the ammonia. + +"You said it! But I'm not altogether a grafter. I can work for what I +eat." And again there was a flash of pride. + +"We'll talk of that later," said Joe. "Just now I want to get you +something to eat. Here, take that over to the dining tent," and he +scribbled a few words on one of his cards. "After you've eaten all you +want, and after the show this afternoon, look me up." + +"Do you think you can give me work?" asked the man eagerly. "I don't +mean to act," he hastened to say. "I'm past that--down and out. But I'm +strong. I can pull on the ropes or drive stakes." + +"We'll talk of that later," replied Joe gently. "Go and eat now." + +"Well, I sure can feed my face!" exclaimed the man. "I--I don't know how +to thank you. Bill will tell you that I wasn't a bad fellow in my day. +I just lost my nerve--that's all. False friends and fire-water--" + +"See me later," said Joe, with a friendly wave of his hand. And the man +hurried toward the dining tent, next to the cook wagons. Already he +seemed imbued with more hope and pride, something that filled Joe with +pleasure. + +Joe busied himself with mixing the chemicals in the pail. As Ham Logan +had guessed, the young fire-eater was mixing up a solution of tungstate +of soda. This chemical is a salt, made by roasting wolfram with soda +ash, and wolfram is a native tungstate of iron and manganese. This soda +preparation is used commercially in making garments fire-proof, and Joe +had learned this from Mr. Herbert Waldon, the chemist. He had decided to +use this instead of an alum solution, which is credited with great +fire-resisting qualities. It has them, too, to a certain extent, but by +experimenting Joe had found the tungstate of soda best. + +It was the evening of the circus in the city in which the show was to +remain two days. Ham Logan had returned to Joe after having eaten a good +meal, and later Bill Watson formed the third member of a trio that +talked for some time in a corner of Joe's tent. + +As already said, it was the evening performance, and as Helen finished +her act on Rosebud she looked over toward the place where Joe was +preparing to do his slide down the slanting wire. + +"I wonder what he had in mind as a new act for me," mused Helen. "I do +hope it isn't anything to do with fire. That sort of stunt creates a +sensation, but it's dangerous, in spite of what Joe does to himself. I +don't like it! Not after what happened to Joe that day!" + +She had seen that Rosebud was given in charge of the groom who always +looked after the clever steed, and now Helen moved over where she could +watch Joe's comparatively new wire act. + +As she approached this part of the circus tent Helen was startled to see +several men carrying large hoops on long poles, take their positions on +either side of the slanting wire down which the daring performer was +soon to slide on his head, by means of the wheeled cap. + +"That's something new!" exclaimed Helen, as she saw the men with the big +hoops. "I wonder if Joe is going to jump through them, as I jump through +the paper hoops from Rosebud's back?" + +Joe was up on the little platform now, having finished his wire act. He +was adjusting to his head the leather cap. + +"Ladies and gentlemen!" began Jim Tracy in his sonorous voice, as he +pointed to Joe on his high perch, thus calling attention to the +performer. + +All eyes were turned in his direction. Then, as Joe stooped over and +stood on his head, preparatory to sliding down the wire, the hoops, +which the men held over the cable by means of long poles, suddenly burst +into flame. Held over the wire, down which Joe would in a moment slide, +was a row of fiery circles! + +Helen held her hand over her lips to stifle a scream. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BROKEN BOTTLE + + +So still was it in the big circus tent after the band stopped playing, +while Joe prepared to do his head slide, that the whirr of the steel +wheels in his leather cap could plainly be heard as he slid down the +wire. + +And as Helen and the others watched, the intention of the daring young +performer became evident. + +He was going to coast through the blazing hoops of fire which the men +held in such a position that Joe could slide through them without +touching them. Though they were called "hoops," in reality they were not +completely closed, there being a slight opening to enable them to be +slipped over the slanting wire. If a gigantic letter "C" with a long +pole fastened to the lower curved part, can be imagined, it; will give +an exact idea of what is meant. + +As to the fire itself, it was caused by blazing bits of tow fastened to +the circumference of the big wire hoops. And thus through the blazing +circles Joe Strong slid down the slanting wire on his head. At the lower +end of the wire, where it was fast to a stake in the ground, he caught +hold of the cable in his gloved hands and so slowed his speed. Then he +leaped to his feet and bowed in acknowledgment of the applause. + +"Oh!" murmured Helen, as she watched. "It was only another of his +sensational acts. When I first saw the blazing hoops I half thought that +some one was trying to injure Joe, as they did when the acid was used on +his high trapeze. Oh, it was only a trick!" + +And so it was. Joe had planned it that day after meeting Ham Logan. The +latter, talking about the time when he, too, had been a fire-eater, had +mentioned an act where a performer leaped through blazing hoops, and Joe +determined to use the idea, varying it to suit his purpose. That it was +effective was evidenced by the long-continued applause. + +"But, Joe," asked Helen, when the performance was over and she and Joe +had received another ovation at the conclusion of the box mystery and +the vanishing lady trick, "wasn't there danger of setting your clothes +on fire when you went through the blazing hoops?" + +"None at all," Joe assured her. "I have been planning a stunt like this +for some time, and my garments were fire-proofed. Of course I wouldn't +have done it otherwise. Look here!" + +He took up a fancy jacket he had worn in his wire slide. Taking a match +Joe lighted it and held it against the cloth. It did not take fire. + +"There was that day--" + +"But I have perfected the act since then, Helen. Of course the tungstate +of soda that I soaked the clothes in wouldn't keep them from catching +fire if I put the suit in a furnace. But the solution will make cloth +resist a blaze temporarily, as will alum under some circumstances. I use +alum on the suit I wear when I pretend to set myself on fire and then +jump into the tank of water," went on Joe. "But after this I'm going to +use the soda. It's more certain." + +Joe worked the trick of seeming to set himself ablaze in this way. As he +said, his suit was made as nearly fireproof as possible. Then on the +back of his jacket were placed some bunches of tow saturated with +alcohol. When this tow was set on fire it burned quickly, but Joe knew +the flame would not last long. And the fact that the garments on which +the burning material was fastened were as nearly fireproof as was +possible to make them gave him additional safety. He really ran little +risk, as the fire was at his back, and, as he ran toward the tank, his +speed carried the flames away from him. + +Joe, and all others who do a fire-eating act, calculate to a nicety just +how long a certain fire will burn. And they do not place the blazing +material into the mouth until the flames are almost on the point of +going out of themselves. This, added to the fact that a chemical +solution protects the tongue and lips, makes the act comparatively safe. +But one word of caution. _Do not try to fire-proof the mouth with +tungstate of soda_. This warning cannot be made too strong! + +In fact, it is well not to try any fire-eating _at all_. It is too risky +unless one is a professional. + +"Well, Joe," remarked Jim Tracy, later that night when most of the +circus folk were asleep, "if you want to add this fellow to our show, go +ahead. You have the say, you know." + +"Well, I don't want to do it in just that way," replied the young +fire-eater. "Bill Watson says that Ham Logan was once a good man. He is +down and out now, but he knows a lot about circus life and this handling +of fire. I believe I can work him up into something useful--use him in a +new act I'm thinking of putting on. If we can only keep him away from +intoxicants he'll be all right, and I'd like to give him a chance." + +"Well, Joe, as I said, it's up to you. Go to it! But remember, while he +means all right, he may not have the spunk to keep his promise not to +drink." + +"I think he'll keep it," said Joe. "Anyhow, I'd like to give him a +trial. He helped me with that fire hoop stunt, and it would be an act of +charity to give him work." + +"All right--you can be the charity," said the ringmaster. "What do you +say, Bill Watson?" + +"Oh, give him a chance," replied the old clown good-naturedly. "We all +have our troubles. He can't do much harm, anyhow." + +"I don't know about that," said Jim, with a shake of his head. "This +playing with fire by a man who can't keep away from fire-water, is +risky." + +"Well, I'll take the chance," said Joe. And that was characteristic of +him--taking chances. + +Ham Logan was deeply grateful to Joe for what the young performer did. +That is, he hired the former fire-eater as a sort of handy man in the +circus, Ham to be subject to Joe's direction day and night. + +"And let the fire-water alone!" demanded Joe. "I will! I really will!" +said the old circus performer. He seemed to mean it. + +Joe advanced him money enough to get some better clothes, to have a bath +and be shaved, and it was quite a different person who appeared at the +tent the following day, ready to help Joe. As Ham knew more about fire +than any assistant Joe had yet been able to train, the new man was given +charge of the various apparatus Joe used in his sensational acts, +including the one of sliding down the wire on his head through the +blazing hoops. + +One matter bothered Joe and his friends, in spite of the great success +the circus was having, and this was the bogus tickets. Several hundred +of them were presented at the performances in the city where the two-day +stay was made--the city already mentioned as being the location of a big +automobile industry. And where the tickets came from remained a mystery. +They were so nearly like the ones issued from the ticket wagon that not +until duplicate numbers had been observed could the fraud be detected. + +And as the men at the main entrances had no time in the rush to compare +serial numbers, there seemed no way of stopping the cheating. It was +impossible to see to it that every one who came to the show purchased +admission tickets at the wagon. The surging crowds around prevented +this. + +Men engaged by the circus circulated through the throngs about the tent, +seeking to learn whether any unauthorized persons were selling bogus +tickets. But none was seen. + +"It is evident," said Mr. Moyne, "that the counterfeiters get a bunch of +the fake tickets and sell them in large lots to some men. These men, in +turn, dispose of them at reduced prices to others, and perhaps the +persons who use the tickets do not know they are counterfeits. I believe +the swindlers go to the big factories and stores, and sell the tickets +at a slightly lower price than we ask." + +"We ought to be able to put a stop to that," said Joe. + +"We'll try it!" said the treasurer. "It seems the only way--that and +having the detectives stop the fraud at the source. You see, we can't +tell which are the counterfeit tickets until after we check up the +serial numbers--that's what makes it so hard." + +And so, in spite of the success of Joe's acts and The success of the +show in general, there was this element of annoyance. Joe wished the +mystery could be cleared up. He had received back from the chemist the +two tickets sent on last, and the counterfeit was marked. This was sent +to the paper mill and the detectives notified. That was all that could +be done for the present. + +"Well, how's Coal-fire Logan making out?" asked Bill Watson of Joe one +day, just before an afternoon performance. + +"Very good," was the answer. "He's faithful and steady, and he's good +help to me. He certainly knows the fire-eating stunt." + +"Well, as long as he doesn't do any fire-drinking maybe he'll be all +right," said the old clown. + +"I haven't noticed any lapse," said Joe. "I have great hopes of him." + +But that very afternoon, during the performance, Joe felt doubt +beginning to creep over him. He caught Ham in several mistakes--slight +ones--but enough, if not noticed in time, to have spoiled the act. + +"I wonder what the matter is with him?" mused Joe. "He doesn't seem to +have been drinking, and yet he acts queer. I wonder if he can be using +drugs." + +It was at the close of the act and the wind-up of the circus for the +afternoon that Joe told Ham to put away some of the apparatus until +evening. Joe was called away from his dressing room for a moment and +when he came back he saw Ham hastily throw away a dark brown bottle +which struck on a stone and broke. Immediately a queer odor filled the +air. + +"I wonder if that was liquor he was taking, and if he threw away the +empty bottle," thought Joe quickly. "I'm going to find out, I've got to +stop this thing at the start." + +He hurried to the place where Ham had tossed the bottle. The fragments +lay there, and the queer odor was more pronounced. + +"Don't touch that! Let that bottle alone!" suddenly cried Ham Logan, as +he became aware of Joe's intention. "Don't touch it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A NARROW ESCAPE + + +Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this warning and observed the +face of the man he was befriending. His first thought was that Ham had +broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. Naturally the man +would want to conceal this as long as possible. The other thought was +that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick--perhaps he was jealous +of Joe's success and his own failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's +apparatus. Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property the brown +bottle, which when broken emitted such a queer smell. + +Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not heeding the warning call +of the former circus star, he walked closer to the broken flask. + +"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. "Keep away!" + +"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence. + +"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very dangerous." + +"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to know. "Look here, Ham," he +said earnestly, "are you up to--any of your old tricks? You know what I +mean. Are you?" + +The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in the face, he said: + +"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer you as straight. I +haven't broken my promise--that is, only the times you know about. I +haven't broken it this time. I found that bottle in among your things, +and I was mighty sure it didn't belong there." + +"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though he had dabbled in +chemistry, he did not recognize the queer odor. + +"A combination of the strongest acids ever known!" was the answer of Ham +Logan. "A drop of it makes a terrible burn, and it will eat through +solid steel and iron. I knew that if it broke where it was, among your +trick things, a lot of them would be ruined. And I knew you couldn't +have left the bottle there by mistake, as it wasn't there the last time +I packed away your duds. And I knew if you knew what it was you wouldn't +have left it around in that careless way. So, taking no chances, I threw +it away, and I meant to break the bottle. That acid is awful stuff. It's +best to let it soak into the ground. Come over and see what it does even +to earth and stones." + +He led the way to where the fluid had escaped from the broken flask, +the fragments of which were scattered about. The odor was less strong +now, as the acid was soaking into the earth. But there was a fuming and +bubbling at the spot, and the very stones and earth seemed to be burning +up in a small area. + +"Don't step in it!" warned Ham Logan. "It will eat right through your +shoes. Glass is the only thing it won't hurt--glass and porcelain. They +mix it in porcelain retorts. I'll throw some loose earth over this +place. The effects of the acid will soon be lost, but while it's active +it's terrible stuff, believe me!" + +"And you say you found that bottle in my baggage?" asked Joe. + +"Yes," answered Ham Logan. "And am I right in saying you didn't know it +was there?" + +"I certainly didn't," declared Joe. "Who in the world could have put it +there?" + +"Have you any enemies?" asked Ham. "I mean some one who would like to +see your circus acts spoiled, or even see you laid up for a while?" + +"Well, I guess perhaps there are some I've made enemies of by having to +discharge them, or something like that," admitted Joe, his thoughts +going naturally to Bill Carfax. "There's one man, but he hasn't been +seen around for a good while." + +"That doesn't count. He may have gotten some one to do his trick for +him," asserted Ham. "You'd better look out, Mr. Strong." + +"I will!" declared Joe. "And thank you for your watchfulness. As you +say, I didn't know that bottle was there, and I might have broken it by +accident or have opened it and spilled some out. How did you come to +discover it?" + +"Just by accident. The smell is something you never forget. It comes up +even around the glass stopper. As soon as I began overhauling your +things, as you told me to, I smelled the stuff and I went on a still +hunt for it. + +"I was careful, too. I knew what it meant to get any of that acid on +you, or on any of the things about you. I used to work in the chemical +plant where they made the stuff--that was after I left the circus. Well, +it can't do any harm now," he said as he got a shovel and covered with +clean earth the bits of broken glass and the still fuming drops of add. + +"Thank you," said Joe fervently. + +He went into his private tent. Presently he came out with a bit of wire +cable, such as is used in making circus trapezes. One end was blackened +and partly fused, as though it had been in the fire. Joe held out this +bit of wire rope. It was part of the trapeze he used in his big swing. + +"What would you say had eaten through these strands?" he asked. + +Ham Logan looked carefully at the cable. He sniffed it cautiously. He +held it up to the light and again smelled it. + +"It was this same acid that ate those strands," he declared. "I know how +it used to eat metal out at the chemical works, and it does so in a +queer way. This wire rope is eaten through just like that. There isn't +any odor left, though sometimes it lasts a long time. But I'm sure the +same kind of acid was used. You don't mean to tell me you have been +experimenting with it!" and he looked in surprise at Joe. + +"No indeed!" and the young fire-eater shook his head. "I never handle +the acid. And the fact that the cable was eaten through nearly caused an +accident." He then explained how he had discovered the partly severed +wire rope just in time. + +"They must have put on a weak solution of the acid," declared Ham. +"Otherwise it would have eaten the rope through in jig time. So that's +the game, is it? Well, they may have been trying it on a larger scale. +Did you find out who doped the rope?" + +"There was a man who might have done it," said Joe, thinking of Harry +Loper. "But I don't believe he did." + +"Is he still with the show?" + +"Yes. I'll tell you all the circumstances," which Joe did, mentioning +Loper by name. + +"Well, we won't say anything," declared Ham Logan; "but I'll just keep +my eyes on this Loper. As you say, he may not have done it, but he may +know who did. I'll keep my eyes on him. Meanwhile be careful in +overhauling your things. Look out for bottles that smell as this one +did." + +"I will!" promised Joe. "I guess I won't forget that odor. I can't tell +you how I thank you, Ham. You've done me a good turn!" + +"Well, you did me one," was the answer. "I was down and out when you +gave me work, and I won't forget that in a hurry." + +Joe pondered over what had happened as he performed his circus acts the +remainder of that day and evening. He shuddered at the narrow escape he +had had, and, when he had a chance, he carefully noted the conduct of +Harry Loper. But that young fellow did not seem at all to act like one +who had tried to do a dastardly trick. He was jolly and good-natured, as +he always was, albeit somewhat of a weak character. + +The circus performances went off well, Joe and the other actors +receiving wild applause as they did their specialties. Joe's fire-eating +was eagerly watched, and when he slid down the rope on his head, through +the blazing hoops, the crowd went wild, as they did when, seemingly all +afire, he leaped into the tank. + +"When you going to spring that sensation you've been talking of, Joe?" +asked Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of one afternoon show. + +"Oh, pretty soon now," was the reply. "Ham Logan and I are working on +it." + +"Ham Logan! Is he going to be in it with you?" asked the ringmaster in +some surprise. + +"Of course!" answered Joe. "It's partly his idea. He's an old +fire-actor, you know, and he's given me some good suggestions. Yes, he's +going to help me. I think we'll put the act on next week. We've got to +train some new performers first." + +"New performers! Say, what are you going to do, Joe, take a troupe of +fire-eating actors out on the road?" + +"Something like that, yes," answered the young magician, with a laugh. +"You'll see." + +Joe Strong varied his acts in the circus tent Sometimes he would omit +the "vanishing lady" act, as Helen wanted to put through some extra work +with Rosebud, and there was not time for both. Again he would leave out +some of his acrobatic work, or perhaps not do the trick of seeming to +catch fire and extinguishing the flames in Benny Turton's tank. Once in +a while he would omit the ten thousand dollar mystery box trick. + +But on the day when he had the above conversation with Jim Tracy they +were showing in a large factory town. There had been good business in +the afternoon, and Joe had not done the box trick. But just before the +evening show Jim came to Joe and said: + +"There've been several requests, Joe, that you put the box trick on +to-night." + +"Requests from whom?" Joe asked. + +"One of the newspaper men was telling me they received a lot of +telephone calls to-day asking if the box trick would be done and the +reward paid in case some one discovered the way it was done." + +"What did you say?" + +"I said I thought you'd put the trick on in that case. Don't you think +you'd better? We didn't advertise it specially for to-night, but there +might be a lot of sore-heads if we don't pull it off." + +"Oh, I'll do it all right!" declared Joe. "I thought it was getting a +bit stale. But if the crowd wants to see it I'll do it." + +"I guess it will be better," said the ringmaster. + +Accordingly, at the proper time, Joe, in his dazzling white suit, took +his place in the silk-curtained enclosure. Helen, in her black dress, +was ready to help him. The fireman, with his gleaming ax, ready to chop +Joe out of the box in case anything should go wrong, was also on the +stage. + +As has been related in the other book, this last was done only for +effect. Joe well knew that he could get out of the box. The manager made +the usual offer of ten thousand dollars to be paid to any one who would +disclose how the trick was done. + +"You will all be given a chance to claim the reward under the usual +conditions after the trick has been performed by Professor Strong," was +the announcement made. + +As the description of the manner in which Joe and Helen did the trick is +given in all its details in the volume preceding this, suffice it here +to say that Joe got into the box, which was locked and roped, and, at +the proper time, he appeared outside. + +"Is there any one who can tell how the trick was done, and so earn the +ten thousand dollar reward?" asked the manager. He had made this +announcement many times. Seldom, of late, had any one come forward. But +now, somewhat to the surprise of Joe and his friends, a man's voice +called from a location near the platform: + +"I can tell how it was done!" + +"Will you please come forward," invited Joe, now taking charge of the +proceedings. + +A fairly well-dressed man stepped across the arena and approached the +stage. Joe and Jim Tracy and the others vitally interested looked +closely at him. He was not Bill Carfax--that was certain. And Joe did +not know the man, nor, as Jim Tracy admitted afterward, did he. + +"You say you can tell how I get out of the box?" asked Joe, and the +audience listened intently. + +"Yes. I know the secret." + +"Are you willing to post a hundred dollars to be forfeited to the Red +Cross in case you fail?" went on the young magician. + +"I am. Here is the money!" was the cool response. This quick compliance +with the terms of the offer rather staggered Joe. But he had no fear as +to the outcome. + +"Very well," went on the originator of the box trick. "The ringmaster +will hold your money. If you are successful in telling how I get out of +the box the cash will be handed back to you, and you will receive, in +addition, a check for ten thousand dollars. Now then, how do I get out +of the box? Tell the audience." + +There was a moment of suspense, and then the man, with an air of +confidence, stepped close to the big, heavy box and, pointing to a +certain corner, said: + +"Right there is a secret panel. You slip it back and get out that way!" + +The man seemed so triumphantly confident and so sure of his statement, +that several in the audience cried: + +"Is that right? Is that how you do the trick? If it is pay him the ten +thousand dollars!" + +Joe looked at Jim Tracy. This was the first time any one had ever come +so close to the truth. Helen, standing at one side of the stage, began +to be fearful that, after all, Joe's secret was discovered. It would +mean an end of the box trick. + +Then Joe smiled, and stepped forward. And there was something in the +smile that reassured Helen. + +"Has he guessed it?" she asked in a low voice, as Joe passed her. + +"No. But it was a narrow escape," was the answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +JUGGLING WITH FIRE + + +Smilingly the man who had made claim to the ten thousand dollars waited +for Joe Strong. The fellow seemed already to have the money in his +grasp. + +"You say there is a sliding panel in that corner?" asked Joe. + +"Positive." + +"And that I get out that way?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I say you are wrong, and I am going to prove it," returned Joe +easily, and also smiling. "Now I'm going to let you, and any one you may +select from the audience, paste sheets of paper over that corner. Then +I'll do the trick over again. If I get out of the box, and the paper you +paste on remains unbroken, you'll have to admit that I didn't come out +through the place where you say is a sliding panel, won't you?" + +"Well, if you don't break the paper, I guess I'll have to admit you +didn't get out that way," said the man, with a grin. "But I want to see +you do it first." + +"Very well. I'll send for some paste and paper," went on Joe. "Meanwhile +call upon any of your friends you like to help." + +"Come on up here, Bill!" called out the man. + +For an instant Joe, and Helen also, as she admitted later, feared it +might be Bill Carfax to whom he referred. But an altogether different +individual shuffled up to the stage. + +"We'll paste paper over this end where the trick panel is," went on the +man who had claimed the reward. "He won't get out then!" + +"Sure he won't," agreed his companion. "Do we get the ten thousand +then?" + +"Naturally, if you have guessed right," said Joe. "But that remains to +be seen." + +There was no trouble in getting paste and paper. That is part of a +circus, for, even though it is old-fashioned, paper hoops are still used +for the clowns and some bareback riders to leap through. + +A plentiful supply of large, white sheets and a pail of paste with a +brush were brought up to the stage. Then the men were invited to begin +their work, which was to seal up the corner the man had picked out as +the location of the secret panel. + +Before pasting on the paper the men looked closely at the joinings of +the box. They seemed rather puzzled in spite of the cock-sureness of +the first individual. + +The pasting was not a work of art, but it was effective. The corner of +the box was plastered over with sheets of white paper, in which there +was no break. + +"If I get out of the box without cracking, tearing, or disturbing the +paper you have pasted on, without moving it in any way, you'll admit +that you're wrong, won't you?" asked Joe, as he prepared to do the trick +again. + +"Yes," was the answer. "I will. But I've got you sewed up!" + +"Pasted up would be a better word," returned Joe, with a smile. "But +that remains to be seen." + +The box was placed in position, and Joe took his place in it. The lid +was slammed down, locked, and the rope was knotted about it. The two men +who had done the pasting assisted in this. + +Then the curtains were drawn, and Helen and the firemen took their +places. There was a period of waiting. The tense suspense of the +audience was manifest. Even Jim Tracy and Bill Watson, veteran circus +men though they were, seemed a bit worried. The man who had claimed the +ten thousand dollars and his companion seemed a bit ill at ease. + +Then, suddenly, the curtains parted and Joe Strong stood in plain view, +outside the box, bowing to the applause that greeted him. When it had +subsided, he said: + +"Will you two gentlemen kindly look at the paper seals you placed on one +corner of the box? If they are unbroken and undisturbed I take it you +have lost. Kindly look and announce what you find." + +The men shuffled to the case and bent down over the corner that was +covered with the pasted sheets. Look as they did, they could find no +evidences of a break or tear in the paper. And it had not been removed +and put back again. The men admitted that. + +"Then you have to admit that I didn't get out of the box by means of a +secret panel in that corner, don't you?" asked Joe, when the two had +asserted that the paper was intact. + +"Yes, I guess you win," said the first man. "But there's some trick +about it!" + +"Oh, I admit that!" laughed Joe. "It is a trick, and if you discover it +you get ten thousand dollars. But not to-night. Red Cross is richer by a +hundred dollars." + +"Um!" grumbled the man, as he walked off, and many in the audience +laughed. Joe had won. + +The circus performance went on to its usual exciting close in the +chariot races, and when preparations were being made to travel on to the +next city, Helen had a chance to speak to Joe. + +"It was a narrow escape," she said. + +"Just what it was!" he replied. "If he had picked the other corner--the +left instead of the right--he would have had me. But luck was with us." + +"I'm glad," said Helen. "But how did he happen to select any corner? +Some one must know more about your trick box than you think." + +"I'm afraid so," admitted Joe ruefully. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised +but what this was some of the work of Bill Carfax." + +"Has he been around again?" asked Helen, and there was a note of +annoyance in her voice. + +"He hasn't been seen," said Joe. "But this man may have been in +communication with him. Bill may have been studying the trick out since +his last failure, and I must admit that he's on the right trail--that +is, if it was Bill who put this man up to making the claim." + +"What makes you think Bill had anything to do with it?" asked Helen. + +"Well, for the reason that this is just the kind of town where Bill +would be likely to have friends--I mean in a big manufacturing center. +Bill may have found a man who is willing to act to help pull down the +reward for him. But this time they failed." + +"He may succeed next time," remarked Helen. + +"No, I'll take care of that," Joe said. "I'm going to make a change in +the box." + +As the mechanism of the trick box has been explained in the preceding +volume, it will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that Joe's +method of getting out of the box could be changed, so that if a person +thought he had discovered the secret panel it could be shifted to +another part of the case. + +It was two or three days after this, and Joe had made a change in his +box which satisfied him that the secret would not soon be discovered, +that Helen, coming over to where he sat in his private tent, saw him +making what seemed to be torches. + +"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you think our electric lights or +gasoline flares are going to fail?" she went on jokingly. The Sampson +Brothers' Show was a modern one, and carried a portable electric light +plant. + +"Oh, no, I'm not worrying about that!" answered Joe. "But I have a new +idea for my wire act, and I want to see if it will work out." + +That night, at the proper time, when Joe was introduced as about to +perform his wire act, Helen noticed Ham Logan come out with the young +fire-eater, carrying a number of the torches Joe had made. + +Joe started across the high, slack wire, and on it performed many of his +usual feats. They were not specially sensational, and Helen wondered +what he had planned. + +But, after a daring run across the slender support, following some risky +side swinging, Helen saw Joe lower from the high platform where he +stood a flexible wire. Standing on the ground below, Ham Logan received +it and fastened on the end several of the metal torches Joe had made. +The young magician hauled them up to him by means of the wire. + +Then, as Helen and the audience watched, Joe set the torches ablaze. +They were made of hollow cones of sheet iron, in which were placed bits +of tow, soaked in alcohol. + +With four blazing torches, two in either hand, Joe Strong started out to +cross the high, slack wire. And then, to the wonder and amazement of the +audience, no less than that of his friends in the show, Joe began +juggling with fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BLAZING BANQUET + + +Across the wire walked the young performer, and as he walked he tossed +into the air, catching them as they came down, the flaming torches. When +it is remembered that the fire was of the real, blazing sort, and hot at +that, also when it is recalled that if Joe happened to catch hold of the +wrong end of any of the whirling torches, and when it is evident that he +must "watch his step," it will be seen that he was performing no easy +feat. + +Yet to watch him one would have thought that he had been doing it right +along for many performances, instead of this being his first in public, +though he and Ham Logan had practiced in private. + +Across the wire walked Joe, juggling with fire, and when he reached the +other platform he walked backward along the swaying wire. + +Then the applause broke out, loud and long. The crowd appreciated the +trick, with all its dangers. True, Joe Strong was an expert on the wire, +and he was also a good juggler. But juggling with torches while on a +swaying cable was not as easy as handling harmless rubber balls or +Indian clubs, and the circus throng seemed to appreciate this. + +Getting back to the platform whence he had started, Joe dropped the +still blazing torches into a tub of water where they went out hissingly. +This provided a fitting climax to the act, as showing that the flames +were real ones. + +And then Joe donned his cap of leather, with the little grooved wheels +fastened in the top, and on his head he slid down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. It was a good end to a good trick; and the +crowd went wild. + +"Well, Joe, you sure did put another one over for us," said Jim Tracy, +at the conclusion of the performance. "That fire juggling was a great +trick. That's the sensation you promised us, I suppose." + +"No, it isn't," was the answer. "I'm not ready for that yet. But I'm +glad you liked the trick. No, what I have up my sleeve is something even +better, I think." + +"Well, I hope you haven't any blazing torches up your sleeve," remarked +Helen, with a laugh. "You'll need a new coat, if you have." + +"No danger," laughed Joe. "I think I'll be ready soon. By the way, any +news of the bogus tickets--I mean the detectives haven't found out +anything positive, have they?" + +"Not yet," answered Mr. Moyne, who had joined the little party. "And +it's keeping all of us who have to do with the financial end guessing as +to where the trouble will break out next." + +"It is an unpleasant state of affairs," agreed Joe. "But I don't see +what we can do except to wait. You haven't noticed any more of the +counterfeit tickets of late, have you?" + +"No," answered the treasurer. "It's only when we hit the big mill cities +that they are worked in on us. That's why I believe there is some system +to it all." + +"Well, we'll have to break up the system," declared Joe. "As soon as I +get this new act of mine perfected I'm going to take a day or two off, +over Sunday say, and visit the detective agency. They may need stirring +up." + +"I wish something could be done," declared the treasurer. + +About a week after this conversation, during which time the circus had +moved from place to place, doing good business, Mrs. Watson, meeting +Helen on the lot, said: + +"Who are Joe's new friends?" + +"New friends? I didn't know he had any specially new ones," remarked the +young bareback rider. "Has he been befriending some more poor +broken-down circus men, like Ham Logan?" + +"These aren't men," said the clown's wife. "They are three pretty girls. +I saw Joe coming back from downtown with them. They seemed +jolly--laughing and talking." + +"Three pretty girls!" murmured Helen. And then she quickly added, with +an air of indifference: "Oh, I suppose they may be some cousins he +hasn't seen for a long while." + +"I thought Joe said he had no relatives in this country," went on Mrs. +Watson. + +"I'm sure I don't know," and Helen's voice was very cool. + +"There's something behind all this," mused Mrs. Watson, as Helen walked +away. "I hope those two haven't quarreled. Maybe I shouldn't have said +anything." + +However, it was too late now. The seeds of jealousy seemed to have been +sown, though unwittingly, by Mrs. Watson. Helen walked on with her head +high in the air, and as the clown's wife passed Joe's official tent a +little later she heard, issuing from it, the jolly laughter and talk of +several girlish voices. + +"I wonder what Joe Strong is up to," thought Mrs. Watson. "He never +acted like that before--going off with other girls and neglecting Helen. +I'm going to speak to him. No, I won't either!" she decided. "I'll just +keep still until I know I can help. It's better that way." + +It was perhaps an hour after this that Joe, meeting Helen, called to +her: + +"Oh, I say! don't you want to do me a favor?" + +"What sort?" asked the rider of Rosebud, and if Joe had not been +thinking of something else he would have noticed the danger signs about +Helen's countenance. + +"The fancy jacket I use in one of my tricks is torn," went on Joe. +"Would it be asking too much to request you to mend it?" + +Helen tossed back her head and there was a snap to her eyes as she +answered: + +"Why don't you get one of the three pretty girls to do your mending? I'm +afraid I'm not clever enough!" And with that she walked on haughtily. + +For an instant Joe was so surprised that he could not speak. His face +plainly showed how taken aback he was. Then, after a moment, he managed +to stammer: + +"Oh, but I say! Helen! Wait a moment! Let me explain. I--er I--I only--" + +But Helen did not pause, she did not look back, and she did not answer. +Joe stood staring after her in blank amazement. Then he gave utterance +to a low whistle and exclaimed: + +"Oh, ho! I see! Well, it will be my turn later!" and he laughed +silently. + +"He's either playing a mean trick or else he's up to some joke," +declared Mrs. Watson, who, from a distance, had watched this little +scene. "And," she added with a shake of her head, "I can't be sure what +it is. Young folks are so foolish! So foolish!" and she sighed as she +walked away. + +Joe, with the torn jacket in his hand, turned back toward his own tent, +and presently there came from it the sounds of several young persons, +including girls, in conversation and laughter. + +It was later, that same afternoon, when Helen noticed Joe in one part of +the big tent. He was surrounded by three pretty young ladies and three +good-looking young men. They were on one of the platforms seated about a +table, and Joe seemed to be entertaining them, for there were plates, +cups, knives and forks on the board--all the outward indications of a +meal. + +The time was late afternoon, following the day performance and prior to +the evening show. Helen looked curiously over at the gay little scene, +and something tugged at her heart-strings. Then she looked away, and +Mrs. Watson, observing her from the other side of the tent, shook her +gray head. + +"I can't understand Joe Strong," murmured the clown's wife. "What has +come over him?" + +It was just before the opening of the evening performance that night +when Joe, meeting Helen in the dressing tent, said: + +"I shan't need you in the box trick, to-night, nor in the vanishing lady +stunt, either." + +"Oh, I suppose you're going to use one of the new, pretty girls," +snapped Helen. + +Joe looked at her quietly. + +"No," he said, "I am not. But I am not going to put on either trick. I +thought you'd like to know, so if you want to introduce any of your +extras you'll have a chance." + +"Thank you!" she said coldly, and passed on. + +Joe smiled as he looked after her. + +With a blare of trumpets, a boom and ruffle of drums, the gay procession +started around the circus arena. The stately elephants, the hideous +camels and the beautiful horses went around to be looked at, wondered +at, and admired. Then, when the last of the cavalcade had passed out, +the various acts began. Helen had a new costume for her bareback act, +and as she started it she looked over to where Joe was busy on his +stage. She saw the young men and women around him. They wore fancy +costumes and seemed a part of the circus. Helen wondered what act they +were going to appear in, since none including them had been announced. + +She danced about on the back of Rosebud, and thought bitterly that Joe +had never noticed her new dress. She was wearing it for the first time, +too. + +The whistle blew. All acts stopped and Jim Tracy advanced toward Joe's +platform. + +"A most marvelous and striking act!" he cried, not stating what it was +to be. + +All eyes, even those of Helen Morton, turned in the direction of Joe +Strong. + +He acted quickly. With a wave of his hand he invited the three pretty +girls and the three well-appearing young men to be seated. They took +their places around a table, with Joe acting as host. The table appeared +to be well laden, and at first the act seemed to be only a rather +elaborate meal being served in public. + +"What is it all about?" mused Helen. "I can't see anything very +wonderful in that." + +But, even as she thus mused, something strange happened. The banquet +table seemed to burst into flames. The dishes of food blazed up, and the +audience gasped. + +But the young men, the young women, and Joe Strong did not seem in the +least surprised. They kept their seats and went right on eating. + +And then, with a thrill of surprise, it was noticed that Joe Strong and +his guests were devouring the blazing food itself! The girls and young +men put portion after portion of the blazing viands into their mouths! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HAM IS MISSING + + +Surprise and astonishment held the audience silent and spellbound for a +moment. Then a woman screamed, and, ready for this emergency and fearing +a panic, than which nothing is more dreaded by circus men, Jim Tracy +cried: + +"Sit still! Keep your seats! There is no danger! This is all part of the +show. We are merely showing you how to eat your meals in case any of you +ever get caught in a blazing volcano. Watch the ladies and gentlemen eat +their stuff hot--right off the fire!" + +There was a laugh at this sally, and a laugh was what the ringmaster +wanted more than anything else just then. He knew the tide of fear had +been changed to one of wondering admiration. + +And so, sitting on the stage in sight of the thrilled audience, Joe +Strong and his guests, in the shape of pretty girls and manly young +fellows fancifully attired, continued to eat the blazing food. + +The very pieces of bread seemed to be on fire, there was a dancing flame +over the butter, and each bit of meat or other food Joe and the +performers lifted on their forks was alive with leaping fire. + +Then the daring feature of the act was borne home to the audience and +the applause broke forth--applause loud and long. There were yells and +whistles from the younger and more enthusiastic portion of the circus +crowd. + +And then the fires died away. The table seemed emptied of victuals, and +the young men and women, imitating Joe's example, leaned back in their +chairs as though well satisfied with their hot meal. + +"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" declaimed the ringmaster. "They +have come to no harm from eating living fire. If any of you are tired of +cold victuals, kindly step forward and you will be treated to a free, +hot lunch by Professor Strong." + +"Not any in mine, thank you," murmured a man, and that seemed to be the +general opinion. + +As Joe and his new associates arose to bow to the renewed applause, the +ringmaster made an announcement. + +"A blazing banquet, such as you have just witnessed, will take place at +each and every performance," he declared. "Come and bring your friends! +Nothing like it ever seen before on any stage or in any circus in the +world! + +"Remember, you will see the same and identical act at each and every +performance and all for the price of one admission. Professor Strong and +his gifted salamander associates will eat fire as they did just now, at +each and every show in the big tent. I thank you!" + +"Well, Joe, it went all right!" said Jim Tracy when the performers had +left the stage and the young fire-eater was alone on the platform. "It +went like a house afire!" + +"Yes," said Joe, "it seemed to. I guess it went better than if we had +made a lot of preliminary notices. The suddenness of it took them by +surprise." + +"But we can advertise it big now," said the ringmaster. "We don't need +to specify exactly what it is. Of course those who have seen it will +tell their friends who are coming and who haven't seen it. But the big +majority of the audiences will be as much surprised as this one was. It +went big." + +"Yes," agreed Joe, "it did. And I'm glad of it. This is the sensation I +was planning, but I didn't want to go into details until I was sure it +would work. I had to engage my helpers in the dark, so to speak, and I +didn't even tell you what I was planning until the last minute." + +"No, you didn't," said Jim. + +Helen Morton came slowly across the arena. Her act was over, and she had +seen the blazing banquet and Joe's part in it. + +Her cheeks were unusually red as she approached holding out her hand, +and there was a rather misty look about her eyes as she said: + +"Will you forgive me, Joe?" + +"For what?" he asked tantalizingly. + +"Oh, you know perfectly well!" she exclaimed. "It was very silly of me, +but--" + +"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. "I suppose I might have +told you that the pretty girls were those I had engaged to help in the +banquet scene, together with the young fellows. We had only a few +rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't want to spread the news too +generally, even among the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I +suppose I might have told you." + +"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if you had," she murmured. + +"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said Joe. "But it's all right +now. And may I come to lunch with you, or would you rather that I should +go with--one of the pretty girls?" + +"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared Helen, blushing more than +ever. And so the little quarrel ended. + +As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet helpers secretly, and +they had met him at the city where the circus was to remain three days +and nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting the performers +for Joe, since the old circus man knew the best theatrical agency at +which to apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women to act the +part of guests at the "banquet." He had guessed that Helen's actions +denoted her jealousy, but he could not forbear teasing her. + +"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, when she and Joe were +together again. "Of course I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly +of me to ask such a question. But it was very realistic." + +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't actually 'eat' the fire, +any more than I eat it. And I may say that I had quite a little trouble +in getting them to put it near enough their mouths to make it seem as if +they did. + +"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar kind, which Ham +Logan and I worked out together. It can be made to look like almost any +food, and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily and quickly. +The flames go out as soon as they come near enough our mouths to feel +the effects of certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell you +all the secrets, but that is enough to show you how we worked it. + +"There was no more danger than there is when I 'eat' fire, and the trick +is done in much the same way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable +helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could have done this trick +without him." + +The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other cities. As Jim Tracy +had said, the feat was shown at each and every performance, Joe cutting +out some of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer stay +than usual in the city where the fiery food was first "eaten," and +played to record-breaking business. + +"And the best of it is that we haven't seen a bogus ticket!" said the +treasurer, much elated. + +Joe, as one of the chief owners of the circus, was able to hire the +"fire-eaters" unknown to any of his associates until the last minute, +and thus the surprise was all the greater. + +Joe's fire tricks were now the talk of the theatrical and circus worlds, +and he received many offers to leave Sampson Brothers' Show and star by +himself. But he refused them all, saying he wanted to build up his own +show to a point never before reached. + +As he had said, Ham Logan proved a valuable helper. The man, a +fire-eater of the old school, knew many valuable secrets, and he held +himself under such obligation to Joe that he revealed many of them to +the young magician. + +"Have you learned anything more about who left that bottle of powerful +acid in among my things?" asked Joe of Ham, one afternoon when the fire +banquet had been unusually successful. + +"No, not exactly," was the answer. "But I'm on the trail, I think I am +working along the right lines, but it is too early to make any +statement." + +"Well, take your time," said Joe. "Only I don't want to get mixed up +with any of the deadly stuff." + +"Don't worry. I'm on the watch," declared the old performer. + +That night, when the time for Joe to prepare for his acts, including the +fire tricks, came, he did not see Ham in the dressing tent, where the +assistant was usually to be found. + +"Have you seen him?" asked Joe of Harry Loper. + +"Yes, about half an hour ago," was the answer. "He said he was going in +to town." + +"Going in to town--and so near performing time?" cried Joe. "I wonder +what for! He ought to be here!" + +Joe was worried, and when his signal for going on came Ham Logan was +still missing. Joe Strong shook his head dubiously. It had been found +necessary to get another man to help with the act. + +"I don't like this," he murmured. "I don't like it for a cent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A SUDDEN WARNING + + +Only the fact that he had strong nerves and that he possessed the +ability of concentrating his mind on whatever was uppermost at the time, +enabled the young circus man to get through his various circus acts with +credit at that performance. He began with the worry over Ham Logan's +disappearance before him. And he was actually worried--a bad state of +affairs for one whose ability to please and deceive critical audiences +depends on his snappy acting, his quickness of hand and mind, and his +skill. + +But, as has been said, Joe possessed the ability to concentrate on the +most needful matter, and that, for the time being, was his box trick, +his fire-eating, and his slide on his head down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. + +Then came the blazing banquet, and this created the usual furor in the +audience. Joe managed to get through it with credit, though his rather +strange manner was noticed and commented on afterward by the young +people associated with him. + +"I wonder what's bothering the boss?" asked one of the young +fire-eaters of another. "He nearly made a slip when he was lifting up +that fake fried oyster." + +"Maybe the circus is losing money and he's got to cut out this act--let +some of us go--can't pay our salaries," was the reply. + +"Don't you believe it!" declared the other. "The circus is making more +money than it ever did--more even when the fake tickets are worked off +on it." + +"Well, it's none of our affair." + +"I wouldn't like my salary to be cut off." + +"Oh, neither would I." + +"Fake tickets? I hadn't heard of them." + +"Oh, yes," explained the first speaker, and he went into the details of +the affair. + +"But there's surely something worrying the boss," commented still +another of the young men, and his associates, including the "pretty +girls," agreed with him. + +And what really was worrying Joe was speculation over the fate of Ham +Logan. Not since Joe had first taken the old and broken circus actor +into his employ had Ham been away more than a few hours at a time, and +then Joe knew where he was. This time Ham had left no word, save the +uncertain one that he was going into the city, on the outskirts of +which the circus was at the time showing. + +"But don't you think he'll come back?" asked Jim Tracy, when, after the +performance, Joe had spoken of the missing Ham. + +"I wish I could think so," was the reply. "I sure will hate to lose him. +I depend a lot on him in my fire tricks." + +"What makes you think you will lose him?" asked Tracy curiously. + +"Well, his going off this way, for one," declared Joe. "What I'm really +afraid of is that he may have gone back to his bad habits. You know how +it is. A man starts to reform, and he keeps the pledges he makes until +he meets some of his boon companions who used to help him on the +downward road. They invite him to come along for a good time, and he +goes." + +"And you think that's what's happened to Ham?" + +"I'm afraid so. I'm going down town and see if I can get any trace of +him." + +And this Joe did as soon as he was relieved of his duties in the circus. +The show was to remain in town over night, and this gave him just the +chance he wanted. + +It was an unpleasant errand, but Joe went through with it. He had to +call at many places that were distasteful to him, but in none of them +did he get a trace of Ham Logan. Joe saw in the more brilliant parts of +the city a number of the circus men, including some of the chief +performers. They were taking advantage of the two-days' stay, and were +meeting old friends and making some new acquaintances. + +Of these Joe inquired for news of Ham, but no one had seen him. The old +fire-eater had endeared himself to more than one member of the Sampson +Brothers' Show, for he was always ready to do a favor. So more than Joe +were interested in seeing that Ham kept on the good road along which he +had started. But all of Joe's efforts were of no avail. + +It was after midnight when he ended his search, and, rather than go back +to the sleeping car where the other performers spent their night, Joe +put up at a hotel, sending word to Jim Tracy of what he intended to do. + +"I want to find Ham," Joe wrote in the note he sent to the ringmaster by +a messenger boy, "and I've asked the police to be on the quiet lookout +for him. If I stay at the hotel I can help him more quickly, in case +he's found, than if I am away out at the railroad siding where the +circus train is. I'll see you in the morning." + +But Joe's night at the hotel was spent in vain, for there was no word of +Ham Logan, and the morning which Joe put in, making inquiries, was +equally fruitless. + +"I guess Ham is gone for good," sighed Joe, and his regret was genuine, +and almost as much for the sake of the man himself as for his own loss +of a good assistant. + +For Ham Logan was that and more to Joe. The former tramp had much +valuable information regarding the old style fire-eating tricks, and +though he was not up to the task of doing them himself, he gave Joe good +advice. It was by his help and advice that Joe had staged the blazing +banquet scene, which was such a success and which the newspapers +mentioned constantly. + +True, Joe did not actually need Ham to go on with his acts. He could +break in another man to help him, to hand him the proper article at just +the right time, to see to the mixing of the fire-resisting chemicals and +to the preparation of the viands that seemed to be composed of fire +itself. + +"And that's what I'll have to do," mused Joe, when he became convinced +some days later that Ham was not to be found. + +He wished that Helen was able to act as his assistant in the fire +scenes, as she did in the box trick and the vanishing lady act. But she +could spare no more time from her own act with Rosebud, since she was +billed as one of the "stars." Then, too, Helen had a fear of fire, and +though she had succeeded in overcoming part of it, still she would not +have made the proper sort of assistant in those acts. Besides, she +would not have been able to mix the chemicals Joe required to render +himself immune from such fire as he actually came in contact with, +though momentarily. + +"I've got to train in a new man," decided Joe. He mentally considered +various circus employees, rejecting one after another, and finally +selected one of the young men who acted in the blazing banquet scene. +This youth was a bright, manly fellow, and had introduced some new +"business" in the act which made it more interesting. + +"I'll train him in," decided Joe, "with the understanding that if Ham +comes back he'll get his old place. If he comes back! I wonder if he +ever will, and if he'll be in a condition to help me." + +Joe shook his head dubiously. + +The circus moved on. It had played to good business, and there was more +good business in prospect. Mr. Moyne, the treasurer, was on the anxious +seat much of the time, fearing another flood of bogus tickets, but the +efforts mentioned, on the part of the swindlers, following the use of +new paper, was all they had to complain of so far. + +"Either the detectives are too close to the trail of the cheats to allow +them to work in safety, or they've given it up altogether," decided the +treasurer. + +"I hope so," said Joe. "Still it won't do to relax our vigilance. I +wrote to the detective firm, as I said I would, jacking them up a bit. +Maybe they are ready to make an arrest, and that would stop the +swindlers." + +The young man Joe had picked out to act as his chief assistant in the +fire scenes was Ted Brown. Ted was about eighteen years old, and this +was his first position with a circus. But he was making good, and he had +not yet been afflicted with the terrible disease known as "swelled +head," something which ruins so many performers. + +Ted learned rapidly, and Joe felt that it would be safe to trust him +with some of the secrets of the tricks--the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemicals and the like. Joe's choice seemed to be a good one, for Ted +did well, and his part in the banquet scene was made even better by his +knowledge of the inner workings of the material used. + +But though Joe did not lose materially by the desertion of Ham, if that +was what it was, since he could now depend on Ted, the young circus man +many times found himself wondering if he would ever see the old +fire-eater again. + +The circus opened one afternoon in a large city--one in which lived many +thousands of men employed in a large ship-building plant. + +"There'll be big crowds here," said Mr. Moyne, as he walked toward the +ticket wagon in preparation for the rush. "And it's here we'll have to +look out for bogus coupons." + +"Why?" asked Joe, who was getting ready for his acts. + +"Because in every other case the swindlers have worked their game where +there was a big plant engaging many men of what you might call rough and +ready character--ready to take a chance on scalped admission tickets, +and rough enough to fight if they were discovered. So I'm going to be on +the watch." + +"It's just as well to be," decided Joe. He turned back into the tent +which was his combined dressing room and a storage place for his various +smaller bits of apparatus and the chemicals he used in his fire act. + +Before giving his last act Joe always washed his hands and face and +rinsed his mouth out with a chemical preparation that would, for a time, +resist the action of fire. It was a secret compound, rather difficult to +handle and make, and Joe had taught Ted Brown how to do it. + +The young fellow was handing Joe this mixture, some of which was also +used by all who took part in the blazing banquet scene, when the flap of +the tent was suddenly pushed aside and Harry Loper entered. + +"Stop!" he cried, raising a restraining hand. "Don't use that solution, +Mr. Strong! It's doped! Don't use it!" + +Joe, who had been about to apply some of the stuff to his hands, turned +in surprise. He was alarmed at the strange look on the face of the youth +who acted as his helper in the high wire and in some of the trapeze +acts. + +"Don't use that stuff!" cried Harry. "It's doped!" and then he sank down +on a chair and, burying his face in his hands, burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A STRANGE SUMMONS + + +Joe Strong looked from the sobbing Harry Loper to the amazed Ted Brown. +The latter's face showed his great surprise. For an instant Joe had an +ugly suspicion that his new assistant had played him false--that, +because of jealousy or from some other motive, he had mixed the +chemicals in some way to make them ineffective. This would spoil the +illusion, or it might even cause injury. + +"Look here, Harry! what's the matter?" cried Joe, purposely using a +rough voice, so as to stop, if possible, the display of emotion on the +part of the youth. "Act like a man, can't you! If you've done some mean +trick tell me about it. What do you mean when you say this mixture is +doped?" + +"Just that!" exclaimed Harry, looking up with haggard face. "I can't +stand it any longer. I promised not to tell, but I've got to. I--I can't +see any harm come to you." + +"Harm!" cried Joe. "Do you mean this is poison?" + +"No, not that. He said it wouldn't do you any harm--that it would only +make the act turn out wrong--that you, nor anybody, would not be hurt. +But I don't believe him. I believe he wants to harm you, and I'm going +to tell all I know. I can't stand it any longer." + +"Look here, Harry!" said Joe sternly, "are you perfectly sober? Do you +know what you're saying?" + +"Yes, I know that, all right, Mr. Strong," whined the lad. "I won't say +I haven't been drinking, for I have. I did it to try to forget, but it +wouldn't work. I'm plenty sober enough to know what I'm saying." + +"And you tell me this chemical preparation will work harm to me and +those who help me in the fire acts?" + +"I don't know as to that, Mr. Strong. He told me that it wouldn't harm +you. But I don't believe him! I won't trust him any more." + +"Who do you mean?" asked Joe. "Do you know anything about this?" he +demanded sternly of Ted Brown. "You prepared this mixture, didn't you?" + +"Yes, Mr. Strong, I did. I made it just the way you told me. If you +think--" + +"No, he doesn't know anything about it," murmured Harry, who seemed to +have recovered some of his composure, now that the worst of his +confession was over. "He didn't have a hand in it. I'm to blame. If I +hadn't let him into your tent he couldn't have doped the stuff. Oh, I'm +sorry! I was a fool to believe him, but he promised me a lot of money +just to keep still, and I've done it up to now. But I'm through with +him!" + +"Look here!" cried Joe. "How long has this been going on? Was this +mixture ever doped, as you call it, before?" + +"Oh, no, not that I know," was the answer. Joe knew this much, at least, +was true. The mixture had always worked perfectly before, and if it had +been tampered with that would not have been the case. + +"Then what do you mean?" cried the young magician. "Speak up, can't you? +Be a man! If you haven't done anything really wrong you won't be +punished. I'm after the person back of you. Speak up! Who is he?" + +He realized that Harry Loper was but a weak tool in the hands of some +one else, and many things that had seemed strange came back to Joe with +a sudden rush now. He might be able to learn who it was that had such +enmity against him and the circus. + +"Are you going to tell me?" demanded Joe. + +"Yes! Yes! I'll tell you everything!" was the answer. "I can't stand it +any longer. I can't eat in comfort any more, and I can't sleep! First he +promised to pay me for letting him come to your tent when you were out. +Then he threatened to kill me if I told. But I'm going to tell. I don't +care what he does!" + +"But if this is the first time my chemical mixture has been doped, what +do you mean about 'him,' whoever he is, coming to my tent at other +times?" asked Joe. "What other times were they?" + +"Don't you remember when the bottle of acid was found?" asked the +abashed youth. + +"Yes! Was that some of your doings too?" cried Joe hotly. + +"No, I didn't do it. He did. But I--I looked the other way when he did +it. And then there was the time when the trapeze wire broke. It was acid +that did that. He put it on." + +"Who is this mysterious person you call 'he' all the while?" asked Joe. +"I want to get after him." + +"I'll tell you!" promised Harry. "But you'll protect me, won't you, Mr. +Strong?" + +"As far as I can with decency, yes. Now tell me!" + +But there came another interruption. A man thrust his head into the tent +and exclaimed: + +"Mr. Tracy wants to know if you can advance the fire scenes about ten +minutes, Mr. Strong. One of the men acrobats has sprained his wrist and +they've got to cut out his act. Can you go on ten minutes sooner than +usual?" + +"Guess I'll have to," said Joe. "Quick, Ted, make up some new solution. +I'll help you. As for you, Harry, you stay right here. I'll talk to you +later. Haven't time now. And I'm going to have some one stay with you, +to make sure you don't weaken and run away. It is as much for your own +sake as mine. If you've decided to leave the man who got you to help in +this work I'll stand by you. But I want to be sure your repentance is +genuine. So stay right here, and we'll talk about this later. Don't say +anything outside," he cautioned Ted. + +"I won't," was the answer. "Say, I hope you don't think I had any hand +in this?" + +"No," Joe answered, "I don't. I'm trusting you--that's my best +evidence." + +"Thank you," said the young fellow, and he breathed a sigh of relief. + +Quick work was needed on the part of Joe and his new helper to get ready +for the act. New chemicals had to be mixed, to render it safe to handle +fire. This was in the acts where Joe seemed to swallow flames and where +he and the others "dined" on blazing food. + +In the other acts, where Joe juggled on the slack wire with the flaming +torches, where he slid down the wire through the blazing hoops, and +where he jumped into the tank of water with his garments apparently in +flames, no change was needed. In these feats Joe's costume was +fireproofed, and, as they had been treated some time before, he knew +there was only a remote possibility that they had been tampered with. + +Still he was taking no chances, and while he was waiting for Ted to +complete the mixing of the fire-resisting chemical mixture, Joe tested +his garments with a blazing bit of paper. They did not catch fire, which +assured him of safety during his sensational acts. + +"How about you, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, thrusting his head into the tent +a little later. "Are you going to be able to make it?" + +"Oh, sure. I'll be there!" + +"Sorry to have to make the change," went on the ringmaster. "But Baraldi +is hurt, and his act had to be cut out completely. So I had to move you +up." + +"Oh, that's all right," Joe assured him. + +"Hello, what are you doing here--and what's the matter with you?" cried +Jim, seeing Harry Loper sitting dejectedly in a chair. "Why aren't you +out fixing the trapezes? You know Mr. Strong goes on them soon." + +"I--I--he told me to stay here," Loper stammered, indicating Joe. + +"Yes," supplemented Joe Strong, "there's something doing, Jim. I'll tell +you later. I want some one to stay in here with Harry. Some one we can +trust," he added significantly. + +"I'll send Paddy Flynn," promised the ringmaster. As he went out he +looked curiously at Harry. + +"How's the stuff coming on, Ted?" asked Joe, when the doctored mixture +had been thrown away and new made. + +"All right, I guess. I'll try it." + +He put some on one finger, thrust the member into the flame of a candle, +and held it there longer than usual. + +"Look out!" Joe warned him. "You can't be too familiar with fire." + +"The stuff's all right," was the answer. "It's better than the last we +used." + +"Good! Well, let's get busy!" + +In spite of the strain of what he had gone through in listening to the +partial confession of Harry Loper, Joe did some of his best work in the +fire acts that day. The blazing banquet was most effective. + +Having changed to his costume for his magical box and other tricks, and +learning that Harry was still safe under the watchful eye of Paddy +Flynn, Joe hurried out to his stage, where Mr. Tracy was already making +the ten thousand dollar offer. + +As Joe hurried across the arena one of the tent men thrust into his hand +a scrap of paper. + +"What is it?" asked Joe. + +"I don't know," was the reply. "A boy just brought it and told me to +give it to you." + +Joe had a half minute to wait while the ringmaster was talking. Quickly +he read the note--it was really a scrawl. But it said: + +"Please forgive me and still believe in me. I am suffering! I can't come +to you in the condition I'm in now. But I have something to tell you if +you could come to me. The boy will bring you." + +The note was signed "Hamilton Logan." + +"Whew!" whistled Joe. "Worse and more of it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE TRAP IS SET + + +Pausing only long enough to tell the man who had given him the note to +be sure and detain the boy who had brought it, Joe Strong hurried over +to the stage to begin his box trick. That was to be followed by the +"disappearing lady" act. + +And here again Joe had to use all his reserve nerve to enable him to go +on with the performance as smoothly as he usually did. He had to dismiss +from his mind, for the time being, all thoughts of Ham Logan, and he +steeled himself not to think of what the strange summons might mean. + +"If Ham is in trouble I'm going to help him--that's all!" declared Joe. + +Following the usual announcement by Jim Tracy, Joe got into the box. It +was locked and roped and then Helen took her place, as did the fireman +with his gleaming ax. + +Joe worked unusually quickly that night in getting out of the box. He +knew this haste would not spoil the illusion of the trick. In fact it +really heightened it. For he was out of the heavy box in much shorter +time than it had taken the volunteer committee to lock him in. + +And Joe was glad no one came forward at this performance to claim the +ten thousand dollars. That would have taken up time, and time, just +then, was what Joe wanted most. + +"Evidently none of you know how the trick is done," commented the +ringmaster, when his offer of ten thousand dollars was not taken +advantage of. "We will now proceed to the next illusion, that of causing +a beautiful lady to disappear and vanish into thin air before your very +eyes. There is no reward offered for the solution of this mystery." + +Helen then took her place on the trick chair over the trap in the stage. +The silk shawl was placed over her, and, in due time, the chair was +shown empty. + +The usual applause followed and Joe was glad his acts were over for the +time. Bowing to acknowledge the fervor of the audience, Joe started +toward his dressing apartment. + +"I want to see you as soon as I can," he quickly told Helen. "But I have +to go away. It's about Ham," he added. "I've heard from him." + +"Where is he?" + +"I don't know. Just a scrawled note. The messenger who brought it is +going to take me to him." + +"Oh, Joe, I'm so glad you've heard from him. I liked him." + +"I did too. I hope I can continue to like him. But I'm afraid, from the +tone of his note, that he's broken his pledge. However, we can't expect +too much. Don't go away for an hour or so. I'll be back as soon as I can +and I'll tell you all about it." + +"I'll wait for you," promised Helen. + +As Joe hurried across the arena he saw the tent man who had given him +the note. + +"Where's the boy?" he asked. + +"I took him to your tent. Paddy Flynn is there and Loper. Is anything +the matter, Mr. Strong?" + +"Oh, nothing that can't be made right, I hope." + +Joe found a red-haired boy sitting on the edge of a folding chair in the +dressing tent. The lad was looking wonderingly about the place. + +"Did you bring this note?" asked Joe, showing the crumpled paper. + +"Sure I did! And say, I wish I could see the show!" + +"You can to-night after you take me to Mr. Logan," replied Joe. "You +know where he is, don't you?" + +"Sure I do! Didn't he give me the note to bring youse?" + +"Where is he?" + +"Down in Kelly's joint. I live next door." + +"What is Kelly's joint?" + +"A saloon," answered the red-haired boy. "De name on de winders is café, +but they don't pronounce it that way--anyhow some of 'em don't. It +oughter be cave I guess. It sure is a joint!" + +"Is Mr. Logan there?" asked Joe. + +"Sure he is. Upstairs in one of de rooms. He's been on a terrible spree +he said, but he's sober now and sick--gee, mister, but he sure was sick. +Me mudder helped take care of him." + +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "We'll go to him at once. Where is +Kelly's--er--café?" + +"Down by de river near de shipyards," answered the red-haired lad. + +For an instant Joe hesitated, but only for an instant. The district +named, as he well knew, was a bad one. It was also dangerous. + +But it was still afternoon, though growing late. It would not be dark +for some time, however, and Joe felt that he would be safe enough in +going alone. At night he would have taken some one with him. + +But there were two reasons why he did not want to do this now. One was +that no one whom he felt he could trust to be discreet could be taken +away from the circus, which was not yet over, though Joe's acts were +finished. Another reason was that he did not want the possible +degradation of Logan seen by any of his former associates. Possibly he +might come back to the show, and he would always have a feeling of shame +if he knew that those with whom he worked had seen him recovering from +a "spree," as the red-haired lad called it. + +"I've got to go away," said Joe to Paddy Flynn. Joe and the lad had +talked at one side of the tent and in low tones, so the young circus man +knew their voices had not been overheard by Paddy and the man he was +guarding, Harry Loper. "I'll be back as soon as I can," went on the +young fire-eater. "Meanwhile you stay here, Loper. Paddy will take care +of you, and when I come back I'll have a talk with you." + +"All right," assented the other wearily. "I feel better now I've told +you." + +Joe and Micky Donlon, which the red-haired boy said was his name, though +probably Michael was what he had been christened, were soon on their way +toward the river and the location of one of the shipyards. + +"Are youse sure I can see de show to-night?" asked Micky eagerly, as +they walked along. + +"Positive," said Joe. "Here's a reserved seat ticket now. Two, in fact, +in case you want to take some one." + +"I'll take me mudder," declared the lad. "I got a girl, but she's goin' +wit another feller. He bought two tickets, but dey wasn't reserved +seats. I didn't have the dough--dat's why she shook me, I guess. But +when I flash dese on her--say, maybe she won't want to shine up at me +again! But nothin' doin'! I'll take me mudder. She needs a change after +waitin' on dat guy what's been on a spree." + +"How long has Mr. Logan been ill?" asked Joe. + +"Oh, he's been in Kelly's joint for a week." + +"He must have been waiting for the circus to arrive," thought Joe. "He +knew we were booked for here. Poor fellow!" + +Joe was glad it was still light when he entered the district where +Kelly's café, or saloon, to be more exact, was situated. For the place +was most disreputable in appearance, and the character of men loitering +about it would have made it a place to stay away from after dark. + +Suspicious eyes looked at Joe as he entered the place with his young +guide. + +"He's come to see de sick guy," Micky explained to the bartender. + +"Well, I hope he's come to pay what's owin'," was the surly comment. + +"I'll settle any bills that Mr. Logan may owe for board or lodging," +said Joe. + +"Board! He don't owe much for _board_!" sneered the barkeeper. "He +hasn't eaten enough to keep a fly alive. But he does owe for his room." + +"I'll pay that," offered Joe. Then he was guided upstairs to a squalid +room. + +"Come in!" called a weak voice, and Joe, pushing back the door, saw, +lying on a tumbled bed, the form of the old fire-eater. It was a great +change Ham Logan was in even worse condition than when he had applied +to Joe for work. He was utterly disreputable. But in spite of that there +was something about his face and eyes that gave Joe hope. The man was +sober--that was one thing. + +As Joe looked at him, Ham turned his face away. + +"I--I'm ashamed to have you see me," he murmured. "I fought it off as +long as I could, but I just had to see you. 'Tisn't for my own sake!" he +added quickly. "I know you're through with me. But it's for your +own--and the good of the show. I've got something to tell you, and, when +I've done that, you can go away again and forget me. That's all I'm fit +for--to be forgotten!" + +A dry sob shook his emaciated frame. + +"Son, here's a quarter," said Joe to the red-haired Micky. "You go out +and get yourself an ice-cream soda and come back in half an hour." + +And after he had thus delicately removed a witness to the sad scene Joe +closed the door, and, going over to the bed, held out both his hands to +the man. + +And then tears--tears to which he had long been stranger--coursed down +the sunken cheeks of Hamilton Logan. + +Just what Joe said to the man whom he had befriended and who had gone +back to his old ways and what Ham Logan said to his young benefactor +will never be known. Neither would tell, and no one else knew. As a +matter of fact, it did not matter. Afterward, though, following some +sensational happenings which did become known, Joe told his closest +friends enough of Ham's story to make clear the trend of events. + +Punctually on the time agreed, Micky Donlon was back at his post. Joe +was coming out of the room. + +"Are you engaged for the rest of the day?" asked the young circus +performer of his guide. + +"Engaged?" + +"I mean have you anything to do?" + +"Not so's you could notice! Me mudder's goin' to dress up to see de +show, but me--I'm all ready!" + +"Good! Then you can help me. I'll pay you for your time. Can we get an +automobile in this part of the city?" + +"Gee, no, mister! Dere's jitney buses about two blocks up, though." + +"Well, perhaps they'll do for a time. I've got a lot to do, and you can +help me." + +"I sure will, mister!" cried Micky. "Are youse in de circus--I mean does +youse ride a horse or jump over de elephants?" + +"Well, something like that--yes," answered Joe with a smile. "You'll see +to-night if you come." + +"Oh, I'll be dere! Don't forgit dat!" + +Joe and his guide took a jitney to the nearest public hack stand, where +a number of automobiles were waiting, and Joe entered one of these with +Micky. + +"Gee, if me girl could see me _now_!" murmured the red-haired lad, as +he sank back in the deep seat. + +Joe was too preoccupied to more than smile at the lad. There was much +that remained to be done. The circus was to remain in this city two days +more, over Saturday night, in fact, leaving on Sunday for a distant +city. + +"There's time enough to trap them!" mused Joe. "Time enough to trap +them!" + +And, getting back to the show lot, he dismissed the automobile, and, +taking Micky with him, sought out Jim Tracy, Mr. Moyne, and some of the +other circus executives. + +And then the trap was set. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A BLAZE OF GLORY + + +"Well," remarked Joe, after having talked rapidly and said considerable +to his friends, "what do you think of my news?" + +"Great!" declared the ringmaster. "I didn't think things would take just +that turn, but after Loper's confession and what Ham told you, I believe +it all. That scoundrel ought to be sent away for life." + +"He'll go for a long time if I have anything to say," declared the +treasurer. "Did you know we spotted more bogus tickets to-day?" he asked +Joe. + +"No." + +"Well, we did. I found it out just after you left. There were only a +few. The rush will come to-night." + +"Unless we stop it," put in Jim Tracy. + +"We'll stop it!" decided Joe. "That's why I wanted to get things started +in a hurry. The trap is all ready to spring. The detectives will be here +at eight o'clock, just when the rush is at its height at the ticket +wagon." + +"Are you going to bring Ham back?" asked Jim, when the conference was +over. + +"I certainly am," was the answer. "I think he's been on his last spree. +And he wouldn't have gone on this one only that he was tempted by some +person. Put this tempter out of the way, and it will mean Ham's safety. +Now we've got to work." + +There was an exceedingly busy time at the circus from then on, and very +little of it concerned the show itself. The performance was delayed half +an hour that night to enable the trap to be sprung. + +Joe and Jim Tracy met a certain train that came in from a large city, +and saw alight from it two quiet, unassuming men. + +"There they are," said Joe. "Now things will move!" And he and the +ringmaster were soon in conversation with the two new arrivals. + +A little later the four entered Joe's dressing tent at the circus +grounds. And some time after that four men, whose faces were black from +the smudge of machine oil and grease and whose clothes carried like +marks, left Joe's quarters. + +"Down near the shipyards when the last of the day shift comes off will +be the time and place," said one of the four smudge-faced men. + +"Right!" declared another. + +From the big shipyard poured hundreds of men. As they began to emerge +from the gate the four soiled-faced individuals who had come from Joe's +dressing tent mingled with them. They heard some one ask: + +"Are you sure the tickets'll be good?" + +"Sure," was the answer. "This fellow and his pal are part of the show. +He sells 'em this way so there won't be such a crowd at the wagon, and +that's why he makes such a big discount. It sort of guarantees a pretty +big crowd, too. Oh, the tickets are good, all right. There's the ticket +guy now." + +The crowd of men turned down a side street, and the four +smutty-countenanced men went with them. One of the four said: + +"Wait till he sells a few tickets and then nab him." + +"There's two of 'em," said another voice. + +"Nab 'em both! They work together." + +Soon the men from the shipyard surrounded the two men, one of whom had +been designated by the sentence: "There's the ticket guy now." + +Money began to change hands, and tickets were passed around. The four +men who had kept together shoved their way through the crowd of ship +workers. + +"How much are the tickets?" one asked. + +"Thirty-five cents," was the answer. "They'll cost you fifty or +seventy-five at the wagon. The only reason we sell 'em this way is to +avoid the rush. Then, too, you're really buying 'em at wholesale." + +"I'll take four," said the man of the quartette. + +"Here you are! Four." + +There was another clink of money and a rustle of slips of paper. Then +the man who had passed over the tickets, said: + +"Here's your change. That was a five you gave me, wasn't it? Take your +change." + +"And you take yours, Bill Carfax!" suddenly cried one of the four. "It's +quite a sudden change, too!" + +There was a flash of something bright, a metallic click--two of them, in +fact--and the ticket seller tried to break away. But he was held by the +handcuffs on his wrists, one of the four grasping them by the connecting +chain. + +"Get the other!" cried a sharp voice. + +There was a scuffle, another flash of something bright, two more clicks, +and one of the four cried: + +"That'll be about all from you, Jed Lewis, _alias_ Inky Jed." + +The two handcuffed men seemed to know that the game was up. They +shrugged their shoulders, looked at each other, and grew quiet suddenly. +The set trap had been successfully sprung. + +"Hey! what's the big idea?" + +"What's it all about?" + +"Don't we get our tickets?" + +Thus cried the men from the shipyards. + +"You don't want these tickets," said Joe Strong, for as Bill Carfax +looked more closely at one of the four he recognized him as the young +circus man. "You don't want any tickets these men could sell you." + +"Why not?" demanded a man who had bought one. + +"Because they're counterfeit," was Joe's answer. "This man, Bill +Carfax," and he nodded toward the one first handcuffed, "used to work +with the Sampson show. He was discharged--ask him to tell you why--and +soon after that we began to be cheated by the use of counterfeit +tickets. We have been trying ever since to find out who sold them, and +now we have." + +"You think you have!" sneered the man who had been called "Inky Jed." + +"We know it," said Joe decidedly. "Ham Logan overheard your plans +discussed, and he's told everything." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Bill Carfax, and there was a world of meaning in that +simple interjection. + +"And who might you guys be?" asked one of the shipyard men. + +"I'm one of the circus owners," said Joe quietly, "and this is the +ringmaster," he went on, indicating Jim Tracy. "These other two +gentlemen are detectives who have been working on the case since we +discovered the counterfeits. We disguised ourselves in this way in +order to trap these two," and he pointed to the handcuffed men. + +The ship workers nodded. One of them asked: + +"And aren't they with your show, and can't they sell tickets at reduced +prices?" + +"Never!" exclaimed Joe. "You might get in on the tickets you bought from +them, but it would be illegally. The counterfeits are clever ones," he +said, holding up four he had bought for evidence. "But we can detect the +difference by means of the serial numbers. And now, if you men really +want to see the show, go up to the lot and get your tickets from the +wagon, or buy them at one of the authorized agencies." + +There were many questions fired at Joe and his friends by the shipyard +men, but they had time to answer only a few. + +"We've got to get back to the performance," said Joe to the detectives. +"You can take them with you," and he nodded toward Bill Carfax and his +crony. "Jim and I will see you later." + +"Oh, we'll take them with us all right!" laughed one of the detectives. +"Move lively, boys!" he added to the two prisoners. "The jig is up!" + +And the two counterfeiters seemed to know it. + +"What does it all mean?" asked Helen of Joe, when he got back a little +before the time to go on with his acts. He had washed his face and +changed to his circus costume. The two prisoners had been locked up. + +"Well, it means we killed two birds with one stone," said Joe. "We got +rid of the men who have been making us lose money my means of the +counterfeit tickets, and we have also under lock and key Bill Carfax, +who tried several times to injure me, or at least to spoil my act, by +means of acid on the trapeze rope and by changing the fireproof +mixture." + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Helen. "Then you were in danger?" + +"I suppose so--danger of injury, perhaps, but hardly death. I think +Carfax, desperate as he was, would stop at that." + +"How did you find out about him and the other man?" + +"I'll just have time to tell you before my first act," said Joe. "It was +Harry Loper who gave me the first idea. When he broke down it was +because of what he had done, and on account of what Bill Carfax wanted +him to do again. It was Bill who got into the tent once and put acid on +my trapeze wire. And it was because he bribed poor Loper that he was +able to do it. Bill pretended it was only a trick to make me slip, +because he wanted to get even with me for discharging him. So poor, weak +Harry let him sneak into the tent, disguised so none of our men would +know him. Bill climbed up, put acid on the wire, and the fiery stuff did +the rest. + +"Well, that preyed on Harry's mind, but he kept putting it away. But +finally, knowing the hold he had on him, Bill came back and gave him a +bottle of acid to work some further harm to me or my apparatus. But Ham +discovered that in time. + +"Bill was provoked over his failure, and, when he wasn't helping Inky +Jed get out the bogus tickets, he followed the show and tried to prevail +on Harry to play another trick on me. Just what it was Harry doesn't +know. He refused to do it, and then he came and confessed to me. So much +for Harry. He's a sorry boy, and I think he'll turn over a new leaf. + +"Now about Ham. Just as I feared, he got to drinking again. But it was +because Bill met him when poor Ham's nerves were on edge, and Bill +induced him to take liquor. Then Ham went all to pieces and started on a +spree which lasted until now. He managed to get from place to place, +always under Bill's eye, and at last he landed here, very weak and ill. +Mrs. Donlon looked after him. + +"And it was here that Ham first heard Bill and his crony plotting about +the bogus circus tickets. The two counterfeiters planned to make a big +strike here with the shipyard workers. Then Ham sent the warning to me. +I called on him, learned the plans of Bill and Jed, and we sent for the +detectives. The latter, we learned, were about to make an arrest +anyhow, but it was of the men who really printed the bogus tickets. They +hadn't a clew, as yet, to Bill and Jed, who were the real backers of the +game. The detectives came on, disguised themselves with us, and we +caught the scoundrels in the very act. Now they're locked up." + +"Oh, Joe, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Helen. "I'm so glad it's all over. +And are you going to bring Ham back to the show?" + +"Just as soon as he's able to travel. Micky Donlon wants to join too, +and I may give him a chance later. Well, our troubles seem to be over +for a time, but I suppose there'll be more." + +"Oh, look on the bright side!" exclaimed Helen. "Why be a fire-eater if +you can't look on the bright side?" she laughed. + +"That's so," agreed her admirer. "Well, I've got to get ready to eat +some fire right now." + +As Joe had said, everything was cleared up. Bill Carfax was at the +bottom of most of the personal troubles of the young circus man, and his +acts were actuated by a desire for vengeance. As to the ticket trick, +Bill was only a sort of agent in that. Jed Lewis, alias Inky Jed, was an +expert counterfeiter. He had already served time in prison for trying to +make counterfeit money, and when he fell in with Bill, and heard the +latter tell of some of his circus experiences, the more skillful +scoundrel became impressed with the chance of making money by selling +spurious tickets. + +They had some printed and worked the scheme among crowds of men coming +from factories, just as they were doing when they were caught. + +As Ham told Joe, the old fire-eater had overheard the plots and saw his +chance to do Joe a favor. Carfax, it was surmised, hoped to get Ham +Logan under his influence through drink, so that he might use him in +order to injure Joe, after having failed with Harry Loper. + +It developed, afterward, that the paper mills had, innocently enough, +furnished the swindlers with the paper for the counterfeit tickets. The +material was secured through a trick, and Inky Jed knew an unscrupulous +printer who did the work for him. + +It was Bill Carfax who had sent the man who so nearly exposed Joe's box +trick. But fortune was with the young circus man. + +The music played, the horses trotted about, clowns made laughter, and +Helen performed graceful feats on Rosebud. Joe did some magical tricks, +walked the wire, slid down on his head, and then prepared for the +blazing banquet. + +In order to show what he could do, Ted Brown had introduced some +novelties. After Joe and the guests had devoured the blazing food there +was a pause, and then, suddenly, from the center of the table spouts of +red fire burst out, so that the banquet ended in a blaze of glory. +Joe's new helper had used some fireworks effectively. + +In due time Bill and his crony were tried, convicted, and sent away to +prison for long terms. Harry Loper changed his rather loose and weak +ways and became one of Joe's best friends. Ted Brown was continued as an +"assistant assistant," for in a few weeks Ham Logan was able to rejoin +the show, and he again became Joe's chief helper. + +"Well, what are you going to spring next on the unsuspecting public as a +sensation?" asked Helen, when the show had reached a city where two days +were to be spent. "Have you other acts as good a the fire-eating?" + +"Well, perhaps I can think up some," was the answer. + +And so, with Joe Strong thinking what the future might hold for him and +the circus, we will take our leave for a time. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater, by Vance Barnum + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10579 *** diff --git a/10579-h/10579-h.htm b/10579-h/10579-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..54d87dc --- /dev/null +++ b/10579-h/10579-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8633 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" + content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of + Joe Strong the Boy Fire-Eater, + by Vance Barnum. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + body {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 12pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced; } + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10579 ***</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h1>JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER</h1> +<h3> +OR +</h3> +<h2> +<i>THE MOST DANGEROUS PERFORMANCE ON RECORD</i> +</h2> +<h2> +BY VANCE BARNUM +</h2> +<h3> +Author of "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard," "Joe Strong and +His Wings of Steel," "Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery," etc. +</h3> +<p> </p> +<h3> +1916 +</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr> +<p> </p> +<p> +<b>TABLE OF CONTENTS</b> +</p> +<p> </p> +<p><a href="#CH1">CHAPTER I</a> — THE VANISHING LADY</p> +<p><a href="#CH2">CHAPTER II</a> — A DANGEROUS SWING</p> +<p><a href="#CH3">CHAPTER III</a> — TOO MANY PEOPLE</p> +<p><a href="#CH4">CHAPTER IV</a> — THE RUSTED WIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH5">CHAPTER V</a> — A FIRE SENSATION</p> +<p><a href="#CH6">CHAPTER VI</a> — SOMETHING NEW</p> +<p><a href="#CH7">CHAPTER VII</a> — THE PAPER EXPERT</p> +<p><a href="#CH8">CHAPTER VIII</a> — JOE EATS FIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH9">CHAPTER IX</a> — THE CHEMIST'S LETTER</p> +<p><a href="#CH10">CHAPTER X</a> — THE PET CAT</p> +<p><a href="#CH11">CHAPTER XI</a> — THE RESCUE</p> +<p><a href="#CH12">CHAPTER XII</a> — THE FIRE ACT</p> +<p><a href="#CH13">CHAPTER XIII</a> — A SENSATIONAL DIVE</p> +<p><a href="#CH14">CHAPTER XIV</a> — HEAD FIRST</p> +<p><a href="#CH15">CHAPTER XV</a> — THE SWINDLERS AGAIN</p> +<p><a href="#CH16">CHAPTER XVI</a> — RINGS OF FIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH17">CHAPTER XVII</a> — THE BROKEN BOTTLE</p> +<p><a href="#CH18">CHAPTER XVIII</a> — A NARROW ESCAPE</p> +<p><a href="#CH19">CHAPTER XIX</a> — JUGGLING WITH FIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH20">CHAPTER XX</a> — THE BLAZING BANQUET</p> +<p><a href="#CH21">CHAPTER XXI</a> — HAM IS MISSING</p> +<p><a href="#CH22">CHAPTER XXII</a> — A SUDDEN WARNING</p> +<p><a href="#CH23">CHAPTER XXIII</a> — A STRANGE SUMMONS</p> +<p><a href="#CH24">CHAPTER XXIV</a> — THE TRAP IS SET</p> +<p><a href="#CH25">CHAPTER XXV</a> — A BLAZE OF GLORY</p> +<p> </p> +<hr> + +<a name="CH1"><!-- CH1 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER I +</h2> + +<h3> +THE VANISHING LADY +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen, if you will kindly give +me your attention for a few moments I will be +happy to introduce to your favorable notice an +entertainer of world-wide fame who will, I am sure, +not only mystify you but, at the same time, interest +you. You have witnessed the death-defying dives +of the Demon Discobolus; you have laughed with +the comical clowns; you have thrilled with the hurrying +horses; and you have gasped at the ponderous +pachyderms. Now you are to be shown a trick +which has baffled the most profound minds of this +or any other city—aye, I may say, of the world!" +</p> +<p> +Jim Tracy, ringmaster and, in this instance, stage +manager of Sampson Brothers' Circus, paused in his +announcement and with a wave of his hand indicated +a youth attired in a spotless, tight-fitting suit +of white silk. The youth, who stood in the center +of a stage erected in the big tent, bowed as the +manager waited to allow time for the applause to +die away. +</p> +<p> +"You have all seen ordinary magicians at work +making eggs disappear up their sleeves," went on +the stage manager. "You have, I doubt not, witnessed +some of them producing live rabbits from +silk hats. But Professor Joe Strong, who will +shortly have the pleasure of entertaining you, not +only makes eggs disappear, but what is far more +difficult, he causes a lady to vanish into thin air. +</p> +<p> +"You will see a beautiful lady seated in full view +of you. A moment later, by the practice of his +magical art, Professor Strong will cause the same +lady to disappear utterly, and he will defy any of +you to tell how it is done. Now, Professor, if you +are ready—" and with a nod and a wave of his +hand toward the youth in the white silk tights, Jim +Tracy stepped off the elevated stage and hurried to +the other end of the circus tent where he had to see +to it that another feature of the entertainment was +in readiness. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, I'm actually nervous! Do you think I +can do it all right?" asked a pretty girl, attired in +a dress of black silk, which was in striking contrast +to Joe Strong's white, sheeny costume. +</p> +<p> +"Do it, Helen? Of course you can!" exclaimed +the "magician," as he had been termed by the ringmaster. +"Do just as you did in the rehearsals and +you'll be all right." +</p> +<p> +"But suppose something should go wrong?" she +asked in a low voice. +</p> +<p> +"Don't be in the least excited. I'll get you out +of any predicament you may get into. Tricks do, +sometimes, go wrong, but I'm used to that. I'll +cover it up, somehow. However, I don't anticipate +anything going wrong. Now take your place while +I give them a little patter." +</p> +<p> +This talk had taken place in low voices and with +a rapidity which did not keep the expectant audience +waiting. Joe Strong, while he was reassuring +Helen Morton, his partner in the trick and also the +girl to whom he was engaged to be married, was +rapidly getting the stage ready for the illusion. +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Joe, as he advanced +to the edge of the stage, "I am afraid our +genial manager has rather overstated my powers. +What I am about to do, to be perfectly frank with +you, is a trick. I lay no claim to supernatural powers. +But if I can do a trick and you can't tell how +it is done, then you must admit that, for the moment, +I am smarter than you. In other words, I +am going to deceive you. But the point is—how do +I do it? With this introduction, I will now state +what I am about to do. +</p> +<p> +"Mademoiselle Mortonti will seat herself on a +stage in a chair in full view of you all. I will cover +her, for a moment only, with a silken veil. This, +if I were a real necromancer, I should say was to +prevent your seeing her dissolve into a spirit as she +disappears. But to tell you the truth, it is to conceal +the manner in which I do the trick. You'd +guess that, anyhow, if I didn't tell you," he added. +</p> +<p> +There was a good-natured laugh at this admission. +</p> +<p> +"As soon as I remove the silken veil," went on +Joe, "you will see that the lady will have disappeared +before your very eyes. What's that? +Through a hole in the stage did some one say?" +questioned Joe, appearing to catch a protesting +voice. +</p> +<p> +"Well, that's what I hear everywhere I go," he +went on with easy calmness. "Every time I do the +vanishing lady trick some one thinks she disappears +through a hole in the stage. Now, in order +to convince you to the contrary, I am going to put +a newspaper over that part of the stage where the +chair is placed. I will show you the paper before +and after the trick. And if there is not a hole or +a tear in the paper, either before or after the lady +has disappeared, I think you will admit that the +lady did not go through a hole in the stage floor. +Won't you?" asked Joe Strong. "Yes, I thought +you would," he added, as he pretended to hear a +"yes" from somewhere in the audience. +</p> +<p> +"All ready now, Helen," he said in a low voice +to the girl, and an attendant brought forward an +ordinary looking chair and a newspaper. +</p> +<p> +Joe, who had done the trick many times before, +but not often with Helen, was perfectly at ease. +Helen was very frankly nervous. She had not done +the trick for some time, and Joe had introduced +into it some novel features since last presenting it. +Helen was afraid she would cause some hitch in the +performance. +</p> +<p> +"You'll be all right," Joe said to her in a low +voice. "Just act as though you had done this every +day for a year." +</p> +<p> +Placing the chair in the center of the stage and +handing Joe the newspaper, the attendant stepped +back. Joe addressed the audience. +</p> +<p> +"You here see the paper," said the "magician," +as he held it up. "You see that there is no hole in it. +I'll now spread it down on the stage. If the lady +disappears down through the stage she will have +to tear the paper. You shall see if she does." +</p> +<p> +Joe next placed the chair directly over the square +of paper and motioned to Helen. Her plain black +dress, of soft, clinging silk, swayed about her as she +took her place. +</p> +<p> +"I might add," said Joe, pausing a moment after +Helen had taken her seat, "that in order to prevent +any shock to Mademoiselle Mortonti I am going to +mesmerize her. She will then be unconscious. I +do this for two reasons. In totally disappearing +there is sometimes a shock to a person's mentality +that is unpleasant. To avoid indicting that on +Mademoiselle Mortonti I will hypnotize her. +</p> +<p> +"The other reason I do that is that she may not +know how or when she disappears. Thus she will +not be able to see how I do the trick, and so cannot +give away my secret." +</p> +<p> +Of course this was all "bunk" or "patter," to +use names given to it by the performers. It +kept the attention of the audience and so enabled +Joe to do certain things without attracting too +much attention to them. As a matter of fact he +did not mesmerize Helen, and she knew perfectly +well how the trick was done. Those who have read +previous books of this series are also in the secret. +</p> +<p> +Joe waved his hands in front of Helen's face. +She swayed slightly in her chair. Then her eyes +closed as though against her will, and she seemed +to sleep. +</p> +<p> +"She is now in the proper condition for the trick," +said Joe. "I must beg of you not to make any +sudden or unnecessary noise. You might suddenly +awaken her from the mesmeric slumber, and this +might be very serious." +</p> +<p> +As Joe said this with every indication of meaning +it, there was a quick hush among the audience. +Even though many knew it was only a trick, they +could not help being impressed by the solemn note +in Joe's voice. Such is the psychology of an audience, +and the power over it of a single person. +</p> +<p> +"She now sleeps!" said Joe in a low voice. As +a matter of fact, Helen was wide awake, and as Joe +stood between her and the circus crowd she slowly +opened one eye and winked at him. He was glad to +see this, as it showed her nervousness had left her. +</p> +<p> +"Now for the mystic veil!" cried Joe, as he took +from his helper a thin clinging piece of black silk +gauze. He tossed this over Helen and the chair, +completely covering both from sight. He brought +the veil around behind Helen's head, fastening it +there with a pin. +</p> +<p> +"To make sure that Mademoiselle Mortonti +sleeps, I will now make the few remaining mesmeric +passes," said Joe. "I must be positive that she +slumbers." +</p> +<p> +He waved his hands slowly over the black robed +figure. A great hush had fallen over the big crowd. +Every eye was on the black figure in the center of +the raised stage in the middle of the big circus tent. +All the other acts had temporarily stopped, to make +that of Joe Strong, the boy magician, more spectacular. +</p> +<p> +As Joe continued to wave one hand with an undulating +motion over the silent black-covered figure +in the chair, he touched, here and there, the drapery +over Helen. He seemed very solicitous that it +should hang perfectly right, covering the figure of +the girl and the chair completely from sight in every +direction all around the stage. +</p> +<p> +The music, which had been playing softly, suddenly +stopped at a wave of Joe's hand. He stood +for a moment motionless before the veiled figure. +</p> +<p> +"Her spirit is dissolving into thin air!" he said in +a low voice, which, nevertheless, carried to every +one in the crowd. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly Joe took hold of the veil in the center +and directly over the outlined head of the figure in +the chair. Quickly the young magician raised the +soft, black silk gauze, whisking it quickly to one +side. +</p> +<p> +The audience gasped. +</p> +<p> +The chair, in which but a moment before Helen +Morton had been seated, was empty! The girl had +disappeared—vanished! Joe stooped and raised +from the stage the newspaper. It showed not a +sign of break or tear. +</p> +<p> +Then, before the applause could begin, the girl +appeared, walking out from one of the improvised +wings of the circus stage. She smiled and bowed. +The act had been a great success. Now the silent +admiration of the throng gave place to a wave of +hand clapping and feet stamping. +</p> +<p> +"Was it all right, Joe?" asked Helen, as he +held her hand and they both bowed their appreciation +of the applause. +</p> +<p> +"Couldn't have been better!" he said. "We'll do +this trick regularly now. It takes even better than +my ten thousand dollar box mystery. You were +great!" +</p> +<p> +"I'm so glad!" +</p> +<p> +The two performers were bowing themselves off +the stage when suddenly there came the unmistakable +roar of a wild beast from the direction of the +animal tent. It seemed to shake the very ground. +At the same time a voice cried: +</p> +<p> +"A tiger is loose! One of the tigers is out of his +cage!" +</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH2"><!-- CH2 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER II +</h2> + +<h3> +A DANGEROUS SWING +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +There is no cry which so startles the average circus +audience as that which is raised when one of +the wild animals is said to be at large. Not even +the alarm that the big tent is falling or is about to +be blown over will cause such a panic as the shout: +</p> +<p> +"A tiger is loose!" +</p> +<p> +There is something instinctive, and perfectly +natural, in the fear of the wild jungle beasts. Let +it be said that a tiger or a lion is loose, and it causes +greater fear, even, than when it is stated that an +elephant is on a rampage. An elephant seems a big, +but good-natured, creature; though often they turn +ugly. But a lion or a tiger is always feared when +loose. +</p> +<p> +But the chances are not one in a hundred that a +circus lion or a tiger, getting out of its cage, would +attack any one. The creature is so surprised at getting +loose, and so frightened at the hue and cry at +once raised, that all it wants to do is to slink off and +hide, and the only harm it might do would be to +some one who tried to stop it from running away. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, Jim Tracy, and the other circus +executives and employees knew this as soon as they +heard the cry: "A tiger is loose." Who raised the +cry and which of the several tigers in the Sampson +show was out of its cage, neither Joe nor any of +those in the big tent near him knew. But they realized +the emergency, and knew what to do. +</p> +<p> +"Keep your seats! Don't rush!" cried Joe, as he +released Helen's hand and hurried to the front of +the platform. "There is no danger! The animal +men will catch the tiger, if one is really loose. Stay +where you are! Keep your seats! Don't rush!" +</p> +<p> +It is the panic and rush that circus men are afraid +of—the pushing and "milling" of the crowd and the +trampling under foot of helpless women and children. +</p> +<p> +There was some commotion near the junction of +the animal tent and that in which the main performance +took place. What it was, Joe did not +concern himself about just then. He felt it to be his +task to prevent a panic. And to this he lent himself, +aided by Helen, Jim Tracy, and others who +realized the danger. +</p> +<p> +And while this is going on and while the expert +animal men are preparing to get back into its cage +the tiger which, it was learned afterward, had got +out through an imperfectly fastened door, time will +be taken to tell new readers something about Joe +Strong and the series of books in which he is the +central character. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong seemed destined for a circus life and +for entertaining audiences with sleight-of-hand and +other mystery matters. His father, Alexander +Strong, known professionally as Professor Morretti, +was a stage magician of talents, and Joe's +mother, who was born in England, had been a +rider of trick horses. +</p> +<p> +His parents died when Joe was young. He did +not have a very happy boyhood, and one day he +ran away from the man with whom he was living +and joined a traveling magician, who called himself +Professor Rosello. With him Joe, who had a +natural aptitude for the business, learned to become +a sleight-of-hand performer. +</p> +<p> +In the first book of the series, entitled "Joe +Strong, the Boy Wizard; Or, the Mysteries of +Magic Exposed," is told how Joe got on in life +after his first start. Joe was not only a stage magician, +but he had inherited strength, skill and daring, +and he liked nothing better than climbing to +great heights or walking in lofty and dizzy places +where the footing was perilous. So it was perhaps +natural that he should join the Sampson Brothers' +Show. And in the second book is related, under the +title, "Joe Strong on the Trapeze; Or, the Daring +Feats of a Young Circus Performer," what happened +to our hero under canvas. +</p> +<p> +Joe loved the circus life, even though he made +some enemies. But he had many friends. There +was Helen Morton. Then there was Benny Turton, +who did a "tank act," and was billed as a "human +fish." Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, Bill Watson, the +veteran clown, and his wife, the circus "mother," +Tom Layton, the elephant man who taught the big +creatures many tricks, were only a few of Joe's +friends. +</p> +<p> +Among others might be mentioned Señor Bogardi, +the lion tamer, Mrs. Talfo, the professional +"fat lady," Señorita Tanzalo, the pretty snake +charmer, and Tom Jefferson, the "strong man." +Joe loved them all. The circus was like one big +family, with, as might be expected, a "black sheep" +here and there. +</p> +<p> +Joe became an expert on the trapeze, and, later, +when Benny Turton was temporarily in a hospital, +Joe "took on" the tank trick. In the third +volume some of his under-water feats are related, +while in the fourth book Joe's acts on a motor +cycle on the high wire are dealt with. +</p> +<p> +With his "Wings of Steel," Joe caused a sensation, +and after an absence from the circus for a time +he joined it again, bringing this act to it. +</p> +<p> +Eventually Joe was made one of the circus owners, +and now controlled a majority of the stock. +He had also inherited considerable money from his +mother's relatives in England, so that now the youth +was financially well off for one who had started so +humbly. +</p> +<p> +The book immediately preceding this one is called +"Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery; Or, the Ten +Thousand Dollar Prize Trick." In that volume is +related how Joe constructed a trick box, out of +which he made his way after it was locked and +corded about with ropes. Helen Morton helped him +in this trick, which was very successful. +</p> +<p> +The circus management offered a prize of ten +thousand dollars to whomsoever could fathom how +the trick was done. Bill Carfax, an enemy of Joe's +and a former circus employee, tried to solve the +problem but failed. +</p> +<p> +The box trick was a great attraction for the circus, +and Joe was in higher favor than before. +</p> +<p> +He had been on the road with the show for +some time when the events detailed in the first +chapter of this book took place. +</p> +<p> +By dint of much shouting and urging the people +to retain their seats and not rush into danger, Joe +Strong and the others succeeded in calming the +circus crowd. Meanwhile there was much suppressed +excitement. +</p> +<p> +"Is the tiger caught? Is he back in his cage?" +was asked on every side. +</p> +<p> +While Joe and his fellow showmen were calming +the crowd, the animal men were having their own +troubles. Burma, one of the largest of the tigers, +had got loose, having taken advantage of the open +door of his cage. He rushed out with a snarl of +delight at his freedom. His jungle cry was echoed +by the roar of a lion in the next cage, and this was +followed by the cries and snarls of all the wild +jungle beasts in the tent. +</p> +<p> +Fortunately the animal tent was deserted by all +save the keepers, the audience having filed into the +tent where the main show was going on. +</p> +<p> +"Head him off now! Head him off!" cried Tom +Layton, the elephant man, as he saw the tiger dart +out of its cage—a flash of yellow and black. "Head +him off! Don't let him get in the main top!" +</p> +<p> +"That's right! Head him off!" cried Señor Bogardi, +the lion tamer. "He won't hurt any one—he's +too scared!" +</p> +<p> +This was true, but it was difficult to believe, and +some of the people seated in the "main top," or big +tent, who were nearest the animal tent, hearing the +cries and learning what had occurred, spread the +alarm. +</p> +<p> +Burma, the tiger, slunk around in behind the +cages of the other animals. All about him were +men with clubs and pointed goads, with whips and +pistols. The circus men had had to cope with situations +like this before. They surrounded the tiger, +advancing on him in an ever-narrowing circle, and +in a short time they drove him into an emergency +cage which was pushed forward with the open door +toward him. Burma had no choice but to enter, to +get away from the cracking whips and the prodding +goads. And, after all, he was glad to be barred in +again. +</p> +<p> +So, without causing any harm except for badly +frightening a number of people in the audience, the +tiger was caged again, and the circus performance +went on. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong did his Box of Mystery trick. The +usual announcement of a reward of ten thousand +dollars to whomsoever could solve it was made, and +there was great applause when Joe managed to get +out of the big box without disturbing the six padlocks +or the binding ropes. +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad Bill Carfax isn't here to make trouble, +trying to show how much he knows about this +trick," said Joe to the ringmaster, as he stepped +off the stage at the conclusion of the trick. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, you put several spokes in Bill's wheels +when you turned the laugh on him that time," said +Jim Tracy. "I don't believe he'll ever show up +around our circus again." +</p> +<p> +But they little knew Bill Carfax. Those who +have read the book just before this will recall him +and remember how unscrupulous he was. But his +plans came to naught then. Any one who wishes +to learn how the wonderful box trick was worked +will find a full explanation in the previous volume. +</p> +<p> +Helen Morton received much applause at the +conclusion of her act with her trick horse, Rosebud. +Joe Strong's promised wife was an accomplished +bareback rider, as well as one of her fiancé's +helpers in his mystery tricks. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm glad to-day is over," said Helen to +Joe that night, as they went to the train that was to +take them to the next city where the circus performance +would be given. "What with doing the +vanishing lady act for the first time in a long while +and the tiger getting loose, we have had quite +a bit of excitement." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But everything came out all +right. I'm going to put on a new stunt next week." +</p> +<p> +"What's that?" asked Helen. "Something in +the mystery line?" +</p> +<p> +"No. I'm going back to some of my high trapeze +work. You know, since we lost Wogand there +hasn't been any of the big swing work done." +</p> +<p> +"That's so," agreed Helen. "But I've been so +busy practicing the vanishing lady act with you on +top of my other work that I hadn't given it a +thought. But you aren't going to do that dangerous +trick, are you?" +</p> +<p> +"I think I am," Joe answered. "It's sensational, +and we need sensational acts now to draw the +crowds. I used to do it, and I can again, I think, +with a little practice. I'm going to start in and train +to-morrow." +</p> +<p> +"I wish you wouldn't," said Helen, in a low voice, +but Joe did not seem to hear her. +</p> +<p> +The big swing was a trapeze act performed on +the highest of the circus apparatus. Part of this +apparatus consisted of two platforms fastened to +two of the opposite main poles, and up under the +very roof of the big top. +</p> +<p> +Midway between the platforms, which were just +large enough for a man to stand on, was a trapeze +with long ropes, capable of being swung from one +resting place to the other. It was, in reality, a "big +swing." +</p> +<p> +Joe's act, which he had often done, but which of +late had been performed by a man billed as "Wogand," +was to stand on one platform, have the long +trapeze started in a long, pendulumlike swing by +an attendant, and then to leap down, catch hold of +the bar with his hands, and swing up to the other +platform. If he missed catching the bar it meant +a dangerous fall; a fall into a net, it is true, but dangerous +none the less. Its danger can be judged +when it is said that Wogand had died as an indirect +result of a fall into the net. He missed the +trapeze, toppled into the net, and, by some chance, +did not land properly. His back was injured, his +spine became affected, and he died. +</p> +<p> +When circus performers on the high trapezes fall +or jump into the safety nets, they do not usually do +it haphazardly. If they did many would be killed. +There is a certain knack and trick of landing in a +net. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, ever having the interest of the circus +at heart, had decided to do this dangerous swing. +He was an acrobat, as well as a stage magician, and +he had decided to take up some of his earlier acts +which had been so successful. +</p> +<p> +"But I wish he wouldn't," said Helen to herself. +"I have a premonition that something will happen." +Helen was very superstitious in certain ways. +</p> +<p> +But to all she said, Joe only laughed. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to do the big swing," he replied simply. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH3"><!-- CH3 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER III +</h2> + +<h3> +TOO MANY PEOPLE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Hundreds of men toiling and sweating over stiff +canvas and stiffer ropes. The thud of big wooden +sledge hammers driving in the tent stakes. The +rumble of heavy wagons, and a cloud of dust where +they were being shoved into place by the busy elephants. +</p> +<p> +On one edge of the big, vacant lot were wisps of +smoke from the fires in the stove wagons, and from +these same wagons came appetizing odors. +</p> +<p> +Here and there men and women darted, carrying +portions of their costumes in their hands. Clowns, +partly made up, looked from their dressing tents +to smile or shout at some acquaintance who chanced +to be passing by. +</p> +<p> +All this was the Sampson Brothers' Circus in +preparation for a day's performance. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, having had a good breakfast, without +which no circus man or woman starts the day, +strolled over to where Helen Morton was just finishing +her morning meal. +</p> +<p> +"Feeling all right?" he asked her. +</p> +<p> +"Well, yes, pretty well," she answered. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter?" asked Joe quickly, as he +detected an under note of anxiety in the girl's voice. +"Is your star horse, Rosebud, lame or off his +feed?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no," she answered. "It's just—Oh, +here comes Mother Watson, and I promised to help +her mend a skirt," said Helen quickly, as she turned +to greet the veteran clown's wife. "See you later, +Joe!" she called to him over her shoulder as she +started away. +</p> +<p> +The young magician moved away toward his +own private quarters. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what's the matter with Helen," he +said. "She doesn't act naturally. If that Bill Carfax +has been around again, annoying her, I'll put +him out of business for all time. But if he had +been around I'd have heard of it. I don't believe +it can be that." +</p> +<p> +Nor was it. Helen's anxiety had to do with +something other than Bill Carfax, the unprincipled +circus man who had so annoyed her before Joe discharged +him. And, as Joe had said, the man had +not been seen publicly since the fiasco of his attempt +to expose Joe's mystery box trick. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I suppose she won't tell me what it is until +she gets good and ready," mused Joe. "Now I'll +go in and have a little practice at the big swing +before the parade." +</p> +<p> +Joe did not take part in the street pageant, though +Helen did, riding her beautiful horse to the admiration, +not only of the small boys and their sisters, but +the grown-up throng in the highways as well. Helen +made a striking picture on her spirited, but gentle, +steed. +</p> +<p> +It was not that Joe Strong felt above appearing +in the parade. That was not his reason for not +taking part. He had done so on more than one occasion, +and with his Wings of Steel had created +more than one sensation. +</p> +<p> +But now that he did a trapeze act, as well as +working the sleight-of-hand mysteries, his time was +pretty well occupied. He had not, as yet, done the +big swing in public since that act was abandoned +on the death of the man who had been injured while +doing it. But Joe had been perfecting himself in +it. He had had a new set of trapezes made, and had +ornamented them and the two platforms in a very +striking manner. In other words, the trick had a +new "dress," and Joe, as one of the circus proprietors, +hoped it would go well and attract attention. +</p> +<p> +This was from a business standpoint, and not +only because Joe was himself the performer. Of +course it was natural that he should like applause—all +do, more or less. But Joe was one of the +owners of the circus—the chief owner, in fact—and +he wanted to make a financial success of it. +Nor was this a purely selfish reason. Many persons +owned stock in the enterprise, and Joe felt it was +only fair to them to see that they received a good +return for their investment. Any trick he could +do to draw crowds he was willing to attempt. +</p> +<p> +So, while the parade was being gotten ready, Joe +went inside the main top, which by this time was +erected, to see about having his platforms and +trapeze put in place. In this he was always very +careful, as is every aerial performer. The least +slip of a rope may cause disaster, and no matter +how careful the attendants are, the performers +themselves always give at least a casual look to their +apparatus. +</p> +<p> +"All right, Harry?" asked Joe of one of the riggers +who had charge of putting up the platforms +and the big swing. +</p> +<p> +"Sure, it's all right, Mr. Strong!" was the answer. +"I should say so! I don't make no mistakes +when I'm putting up trapezes. You'll find +everything shipshape and proper. Going to have +a big crowd to-day, I guess." +</p> +<p> +Joe looked at Harry Loper closely. The young +man had never talked so much before, being, on +the whole, rather close-mouthed. As the man +passed Joe, after giving a pull on the last rope, +the young magician became aware that Harry had +been drinking—and something stronger than pink +lemonade. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sorry about that!" mused Joe, as the rope +rigger passed on. "If there's any place a man ought +not to drink it's in a circus, and especially when he +has to rig up high flying apparatus for others. It +was drink that put Bill Carfax out of business. I +didn't know Harry was that kind, I never noticed +it before. I'm sorry. And I'll take extra precautions +that my ropes won't slip. You can't trust a +man who drinks." +</p> +<p> +Joe shook his head a bit sadly. He was thinking +of Bill Carfax, and of the fact that he had had to +discharge the man because, while under the influence +of liquor, he had insulted Helen. Then Bill +had tried to get revenge on Joe. +</p> +<p> +"I hope it doesn't turn out this way with Harry +Loper," mused Joe, as he began climbing up a rope +ladder that led to one of the high platforms. And +as Harry had to do with the placing of this ladder, +Joe tested it carefully before ascending. +</p> +<p> +"I don't want to fall and be laid up in the middle +of the circus season," mused the young circus man, +with a frown. +</p> +<p> +However, the ladder appeared to be perfectly +secure, and as Joe went up, finally reaching the +high platform, he felt a sense of exhilaration. +Heights always affected him this way. He liked, +more than anything else, to soar aloft on his Wings +of Steel. And he liked the sensation when he +leaped from one platform toward the swinging +trapeze bar, aiming to grasp it in his hands and +swing in a great arc to the other little elevated place, +close under the top of the tent. +</p> +<p> +There was a thrill about it—a thrill not only to +the performer but to the audience as well—and Joe +could hear the gasps that went up from thousands +of throats as he made his big swing. +</p> +<p> +But, for the time being, he gave his whole attention +to the platform and its fastenings. The platforms +were not very likely to slip, being caught on +to the main tent poles, which themselves were well +braced. +</p> +<p> +The real danger was in the long trapeze. Not +only must the thin wire ropes of this be strong +enough to hold Joe's weight, but an added pressure, +caused by the momentum of his jump. And not +only must the cables be strong, but there must be +no defect in the wooden bar and in the place where +the upper ends of the ropes were fastened to the top +of the tent. +</p> +<p> +"Well, this platform is all right," remarked Joe, +as he looked it over. "Now for the other and the +trapeze." +</p> +<p> +He went down the rope ladder and climbed up +another to the second platform. The show would +not start for several hours yet, and the tent was +filled with men putting in place the stage for Joe's +magic tricks and other apparatus for various performers. +The parade was just forming to proceed +down town. +</p> +<p> +Joe found that Harry Loper had done his work +well, at least as far as the platforms were concerned. +They were firmly fastened. The one to +which Joe leaped after his swing needed to be +considerably stronger than the one from which he +"took off." +</p> +<p> +The next act of the young circus performer was +to climb up to the very top of the tent, and there +to examine the fastenings of the trapeze ropes. He +spent some time at this, having reached his high +perch by a third rope ladder. +</p> +<p> +"I guess everything is all right," mused Joe. +"Perhaps I did Harry an injustice. He might have +taken some stimulant for a cold—they all got wet +through the other night. But still he ought to be +careful. He was a little too talkative for a man to +give his whole attention to fastening a trapeze. But +this seems to be all right. I'll do the big swing this +afternoon and to-night, in addition to the box trick +and the vanishing lady. Helen works exceedingly +well in that." +</p> +<p> +Having seen that his aerial apparatus was all +right, Joe next went to his tent where his magical +appliances were kept. Many stage tricks depend +for their success on special pieces of apparatus, and +Joe's acts were no exception. +</p> +<p> +Joe saw that everything was in readiness for +his sleight-of-hand work, and then examined his +Box of Mystery. As this was a very special piece +of apparatus, he was very careful about it. His +ability to get out of it, once he was locked and +roped in, depended on a delicate bit of mechanism, +and the least hitch in this meant failure. +</p> +<p> +But a test showed that it was all right, and as by +this time it was nearly the hour for the parade to +come back and the preliminaries to begin, Joe went +over to the circus office to see if any matters there +needed his attention. +</p> +<p> +As he crossed the lot to where the "office" was set +up in a small tent, the first horses of the returning +parade came back on the circus grounds. Following +was a mob of delighted small boys and not a +few men. +</p> +<p> +"Looks as if we'd have a big crowd," said Joe +to himself. "And it's a fine day for the show. We'll +make money!" +</p> +<p> +He attended to some routine matters, and then +the first of the afternoon audience began to arrive. +As Joe had predicted, the crowd was a big +one. +</p> +<p> +The young performer was in his dressing room, +getting ready for the big swing, which he would +perform before his mystery tricks, when Mr. +Moyne, the circus treasurer, entered. There was +a queer look on Mr. Moyne's face, and Joe could not +help but notice it. +</p> +<p> +"What's worrying you?" asked Joe. "Doesn't +this weather suit you, or isn't there a big enough +crowd?" +</p> +<p> +"That's just it, Joe," was the unexpected answer. +"There's too big a crowd. We have too many people +at this show, and that's what is worrying me a +whole lot!" +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong looked in surprise at the treasurer. +What could Mr. Moyne mean? +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH4"><!-- CH4 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER IV +</h2> + +<h3> +THE RUSTED WIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Yes," went on the circus treasurer, as he rubbed +his chin reflectively, "it's a curious state of affairs, +and as you're so vitally interested I came to you at +once. There's going to be trouble!" +</p> +<p> +"Trouble!" cried Joe with a laugh. "I can't +see that, Mr. Moyne. You say there's a big crowd +of people at our circus—too much of a crowd, in +fact. I can't see anything wrong in that. It's +just what we're always wanting—a big audience. +Let 'em fill the tent, I say, and put out the 'Straw +Seats Only' sign. Trouble! Why, I should say +this was good luck!" and Joe hastened his preparations, +for he wanted to go on with the big swing. +</p> +<p> +"Ordinarily," said Mr. Moyne, in the slow, precise +way he had of speaking, brought about, perhaps, +by his need of being exact in money matters, +"a big crowd would be the very thing we should +want. But this time we don't—not this kind of a +crowd." +</p> +<p> +"What do you mean?" asked Joe, beginning to +feel that it was more than a mere notion on the +part of the treasurer that something was wrong. +"Is it a rough crowd? Will there be a 'hey rube!' +cry raised—a fight between our men and the mill +hands?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, nothing like that!" the treasurer hastened +to assure Joe. "The whole thing is just this. +There are a great many more people in the main +top now than there are admission prices in the +treasurer's cash box. The books don't balance, as +it were." +</p> +<p> +"More people in the tent than have paid their +way?" asked Joe. "Well, that always happens at +a circus. Small boys will crawl in under the canvas +in spite of clubs." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it isn't a question of the small boys—I never +worry about them," returned Mr. Moyne. "But +there are about a thousand more persons at the +performance which will soon begin than we have +admission prices for. In other words there are a +thousand persons occupying fifty cent seats that +haven't paid their half dollar. It isn't the reserve +chairs that are affected. We're all right there. +But fully a thousand persons have come into the +show, and we're short five hundred dollars in our +cash." +</p> +<p> +"You don't tell me!" cried Joe. He saw that +Mr. Moyne was very much in earnest. "Have the +ticket men and the entrance attendants been working +a flim-flam game on us?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, it isn't that," said the treasurer. "I +could understand that. But the men are perfectly +willing to have their accounts gone over and their +tickets checked up. They're straight!" +</p> +<p> +"Then what is it?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"That's what we've got to find out," went on Mr. +Moyne. "In some way the thousand people have +come in without paying the circus anything. And +they didn't sneak in, either. A few might do that, +but a thousand couldn't. They've come in by the +regular entrance." +</p> +<p> +"Did they force themselves past without tickets?" +</p> +<p> +"No, each one had the proper coupon." +</p> +<p> +"Has there been a theft of our tickets?" demanded +the young magician and acrobat. +</p> +<p> +"No, our ticket account is all right, except there +are a thousand extra entrance coupons in the box—coupons +taken in by the entrance attendants. It's +a puzzle to me," confessed the treasurer. "There +is some game being played on us, and we're out to +the tune of five hundred dollars by it already." +</p> +<p> +"Is there any way of finding out who these persons +are who have come in without paying us and +having them ejected?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"I don't see how," admitted Mr. Moyne. "If +they were in reserved seats it could be done, but not +in the ordinary un-numbered fifty cent section. The +whole situation is that we have a thousand persons +too many at the show." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we'll have a meeting of the executive +body and take it up after the performance," said +Joe, as he quickly prepared to get into his aerial +costume. "We'll have to go on with the performance +now; it's getting late. If we're swamped by +people coming along who hold our regular tickets +we'll have to sit 'em anywhere we can. If we lose +five hundred dollars we'll make it up by having +a smashing crowd, which is always a good advertisement. +I'll see you directly after the show, Mr. +Moyne." +</p> +<p> +"I wish you would," said the harassed treasurer. +"Something must be done about it. If this happens +very often we'll be in a financial hole at the +end of the season." +</p> +<p> +He departed, looking at some figures he had jotted +down on the back of an envelope. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong was puzzled. Nothing like this had +ever come up before. True, there had been swindlers +who tried to mulct the circus of money, and +there were always small boys, and grown men, too, +who tried to crawl in under the tent. But such a +wholesale game as this Joe had never before known. +</p> +<p> +"Well, five hundred dollars, for once, won't +break us," he said grimly, as he fastened on a +brightly spangled belt, "but I wouldn't want it to +happen very often. Now I wonder what luck I'll +have in my big swing. I haven't done it in public +for some time, but it went all right in practice." +</p> +<p> +Joe looked from his dressing room. He was all +ready for his act now, but the time had not yet +come for him to go on. He saw Helen hastening +past on her way to enter the ring with her horse, +Rosebud, which a groom held at the entrance for +her. +</p> +<p> +"Good luck!" called Joe, waving his hand and +smiling. +</p> +<p> +"The same to you," answered Helen. "You'll +need it more than I. Oh, Joe," she went on earnestly, +"won't you give up this big swing? Stick to +your box trick, and let me act with you in the disappearing +lady stunt. Don't go on with this high +trapeze act!" she pleaded. +</p> +<p> +"Why, Helen! anybody would think you'd been +bitten by the jinx bug!" laughed Joe. "I thought +you were all over that." +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps I am foolish," she said. "But it's because—" +</p> +<p> +She blushed and looked away. +</p> +<p> +"I suppose I should take it as a compliment that +you are so interested in my welfare," said Joe, with +a smile. "And, believe me, I am. But, Helen, I +can't back out of this act now. It's been advertised +big. I've got to go on!" +</p> +<p> +"Then do be careful, won't you?" she begged. +"Oh, do be careful! Somehow, I have a feeling +that—Oh, well, I won't set you to worrying +by telling you," she said quickly, with a laugh, in +which, however, there was no mirth. She smiled +again, trying to make it a bright one; but Joe saw +that she was under a strain. +</p> +<p> +"I'll be careful," he promised. "Really, there's +no danger. I've done the stunt a score of times, and +I can judge my distance perfectly. Besides there's +the safety net." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I know, but there was poor—Oh, well, +I won't talk about it! Good luck!" and she hurried +on, for it was time for her act—the whistle of the +ringmaster having blown. +</p> +<p> +Joe looked after the girl he loved. He smiled, +and then a rather serious look settled over his face. +Like a flash there had come to him the memory of +the too loquacious Harry Loper, who had fitted up +his aerial apparatus. +</p> +<p> +"There can be nothing wrong with that," mused +Joe. "I went over every inch of it. I guess Helen +is just nervous. Well, there goes my cue!" +</p> +<p> +He hurried toward the entrance, and then he +began to ponder over the curious fact of there being +a thousand persons too many at the performance. +</p> +<p> +"We'll have to straighten out that ticket tangle +after the show," mused Joe. "It's likely to get serious. +I wonder—" he went on, struck by a new +thought. "I wonder if—Oh, no! It couldn't be! +He hasn't been around in a long while." +</p> +<p> +Out into the tent, filled with a record-breaking +crowd, went Joe to the place where his high trapeze +was waiting for him. The band was playing lively +airs, on one platform some trained seals were juggling +big balls of colored rubber, and on another a +bear was going about on roller skates. In one end +ring Helen was performing with Rosebud, while in +another a troupe of Japanese acrobats were doing +wonderful things with their supple bodies. +</p> +<p> +Joe waved his hand to Helen in passing, and then +he began to ascend to his high platform. When he +reached it and stood poised ready for his act, there +came a shrill whistle from Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, +who wore his usual immaculate shirt front +and black evening clothes—rather incongruous in +the daytime. +</p> +<p> +The whistle was the signal for the other acts to +cease, that the attention of all might be centered +on Joe. This is always done in a circus in the case +of "stars," and Joe was certainly a star of the first +magnitude. +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen!" cried Jim Tracy, with +the accented drawl that carried his voice to the very +ends of the big tent. "Calling your attention to +one of the most marvelous high trapeze acts ever +performed in any circus!" +</p> +<p> +He pointed dramatically to Joe, who stood up +straight, ready to do his act. +</p> +<p> +"Are you ready?" asked the man who was to +release the trapeze, which was caught up at one +side of the platform opposite Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Ready," answered the young acrobat. +</p> +<p> +The man pulled a rope which released a catch, +letting the trapeze start on its long swaying swing. +The man pulled it by means of a long, thin cord, +until it was making big arcs, like some gigantic +pendulum. +</p> +<p> +Joe watched it carefully, judging it to the fraction +of an inch. He stood poised and tense on the +gayly decorated platform, himself a fine picture of +physical young manhood. The band was blaring +out the latest Jazz melody. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly, from his perch, the young acrobat +gave a cry, and Jim Tracy, on the ground below, +hearing it, held up his white-gloved hand as a +signal for the music to cease. +</p> +<p> +Then Joe leaped. Full and fair he leaped out +toward the swinging bar of the big trapeze, the +snare drum throbbing out as he jumped. He was +dimly conscious of thousands of eyes watching him—eyes +that looked curiously and apprehensively up. +And he realized that Helen was also watching him. +</p> +<p> +As true as a die, Joe's hands caught and gripped +the bar of the swinging trapeze. So far he was +safe. The momentum of his jump carried him in +a long swing, and he at once began to undulate himself +to increase his swing. He must do this in order +to get to the second platform. +</p> +<p> +As the young performer began to do this, he +looked up at the wire ropes of his trapeze. +</p> +<p> +It was a look given instinctively and for no +particular purpose, as Joe's eyes must rest, most of +all, on the second platform where he needed to +land, to save himself from a bad fall. +</p> +<p> +As his eyes glanced along the steel cables on +which his life depended, he saw, to his horror, a +spot of rust on one. And at the spot of rust several +of the thin strands of twisted wire were loose +and frayed. +</p> +<p> +The cable seemed about to give way! +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH5"><!-- CH5 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER V +</h2> + +<h3> +A FIRE SENSATION +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong had to think quickly. Every acrobat, +every person who does "stunts" in a circus, +must; for something is always happening, or on the +verge of taking place. And when Joe looked up +and saw the rusted wire and noted the fraying +strands, several thoughts shot through his mind at +once. +</p> +<p> +"That rust spot wasn't there this morning when, +I looked at the trapeze," he mused. "And it hasn't +rained since. How did it get there?" +</p> +<p> +He thought of the too talkative Harry Loper, +and an ugly suspicion associated itself with him. +But Joe had no time for such thoughts then. What +was vital for him to know was whether or not the +thin wire cable would remain unbroken long enough +for him to reach the maximum of his swing, and +land on the platform. Or would he fall, spoiling +the act and also endangering himself? +</p> +<p> +True he might land in the net in such a way as +to come to no harm, as he had done many times, +and as many performers before him had done. But +the danger was that in a sudden and unexpected +drop downward he might not be able to get his +limbs in the proper landing position. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong had nerve. If he had lacked it he +would never have been so successful. And at once +he decided on a courageous proceeding. +</p> +<p> +"I'll bring all my weight suddenly on that left +hand cable," he mused, as he swung to and fro, +from side to side of the big tent. "If it's going to +break it will do so then. And I'll be ready for it. +I'll then keep hold of the trapeze bar, which will +be straight up and down instead of crosswise, and +swing by that. The other cable seems all right." +This was a fact which Joe ascertained by a quick +inspection. +</p> +<p> +There was no time for further thought. As he +swung, Joe suddenly shifted his weight, bringing +it all on the frayed and strangely rusted cable. As +he half expected, it gave way, and he dropped in +an instant, but not far. +</p> +<p> +The watching crowd gasped. It looked like an +accident. And it was, in a way, but Joe had purposely +caused it. As the wire broke Joe held tightly +to the wooden bar, which was now upright in +his hands instead of being horizontal. And though +it slipped through his fingers, perhaps for the +width of his palm, at last he gripped it in a firm hold +and kept on with his swing. +</p> +<p> +And then the applause broke forth, for the audience +thought it all a part of the trick—they thought +that Joe had purposely caused the cable to break +to make the act more effective. +</p> +<p> +To and fro swung Joe, nearer and nearer to the +second platform, and then, reaching the height of +the long arc, he turned his body and stepped full +and fair on the little square of velvet-covered boards. +</p> +<p> +With a lithe contortion, Joe squirmed to an upright +position, recovering his balance with a great +effort, for he had been put out in his calculations of +distance, and then, turning, he bowed to the crowds, +revolving on the platform to take in every one. +</p> +<p> +Again the applause broke forth, to be drowned in +the boom and ruffle of the drums as the band began +to play. There is little time in a circus, where act +follows act so quickly, for long acknowledgments. +</p> +<p> +The other performers came into the rings or on +to the raised platforms, and Joe descended by +means of the rope ladder. Helen met him, and they +walked toward the dressing rooms. +</p> +<p> +"That was a wonderful trick, Joe," she said. +"But I didn't see you practice that drop." +</p> +<p> +"I didn't practice it," he remarked dryly. "I +did it on the spur of the moment." +</p> +<p> +"Joe Strong! wasn't it dangerous?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, a little." +</p> +<p> +"What made you do it?" +</p> +<p> +"I couldn't help it." +</p> +<p> +"You couldn't help it? Joe—do you mean—?" +She sensed that something was wrong, but walking +around the circus arena, with performers coming +and going, was not the place to speak of it. Joe +saw that she understood. +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell you later," he said. "We have to get +ready for the trick box and the vanishing lady stunt +now." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe! were you in much danger?" she asked +in a low voice. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, not much," he answered, and he tried to +speak lightly. Yet he did not like to think of that +one moment when he saw the rusted and broken +wire. +</p> +<p> +While Joe and Helen are preparing for the box +act, which has been treated fully in the previous +volume, the explanation of how the vanishing lady +trick was accomplished will be given, though that, +too, has been explained in an earlier volume. +</p> +<p> +A large newspaper is put on the stage and the +chair set on the paper, thus, seemingly, precluding +the possibility of a trap door being cut in the stage +through which the lady in the chair might slip. +The word "seemingly" is used with a due sense +of what it means. The newspaper was not a perfect +one. On one of its sides which was not exhibited +to the audience, there was cut an opening, +or trap, that exactly corresponded in size with a +trap door on the stage. The paper, as explained +in the previous book, is strengthened with cardboard, +and the trap is a double one, being cut in the center, +the flaps being easily moved either way. +</p> +<p> +The audience thinks it sees a perfect newspaper. +But there is a square hole in it, but concealed as is +a secret trap door. +</p> +<p> +When Joe laid the paper on the stage he placed +it so that the square, double flap in it was exactly +over the trap in the stage floor. He then drew the +page of the paper that he had held out to the +audience toward himself, exposing the trap for +use, but because it was so carefully made, and the +cut was so fine, it was not visible from the front. +</p> +<p> +Helen took her place in the chair, which, of +course, was a trick one. It was fitted with a concealed +rod and a cap, and it was over this cap, +brought out at the proper moment, that Joe carefully +placed the black veil, when he was pretending +to mesmerize Helen. There was a cross rod, also +concealed in the chair, and on either end of this, +something like the epaulettes of a soldier, so that +when these ends were under the veil and the cap +was in place it looked as though some one sat in the +chair, when, really, no one did. +</p> +<p> +Helen was in the chair at the start. But as soon +as she was covered by the veil she began to get out +The seat of the chair was hinged within its frame +As Helen sat on it, and after she had been covered +with the veil, she rested her weight on her hands, +which were placed on the extreme outer edges of +this seat frame. She pulled a catch which caused +the seat to drop, and at the same time the trap beneath +her, including the prepared newspaper, was +opened by an attendant. The black veil all about +the chair prevented the audience seeing this. +</p> +<p> +Helen lowered herself down through the dropped +seat of the chair, through the trap, and under the +stage. And while she was doing this it still looked +as if she were in the chair, for the false cap and +the extended cross rod made outlines as if of a +human form beneath the black veil. +</p> +<p> +As soon as Helen was out of the chair and beneath +the stage an attendant closed the newspaper +and wooden floor traps. Joe then suddenly raised +the veil, taking in its folds the false cap and the +cross piece which had represented Helen's shoulders. +They were thin and light—these pieces of trick apparatus—and +no one suspected they were in the +veil. The hinged seat of the chair snapped back in +place by means of a spring, and when Joe stepped +aside, holding the veil, there was the empty chair; +and the newspaper, which he picked up, seemed to +preclude the possibility of there having been a trap +in the stage. But Joe was careful how he exhibited +this paper to his audience. +</p> +<p> +And so it was that the lady "vanished." +</p> +<p> +"And now, Joe, tell me all about it!" demanded +Helen, when the circus was over for the afternoon, +and the box and vanishing tricks had been successfully +performed. "What happened to your +trapeze?" +</p> +<p> +"Some one spilled acid on one of the wire ropes, +and it ate into the metal, corroding it and separating +a number of the strands so that a little extra +weight broke them," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Acid on the cable?" cried Helen. "How did you +find out?" +</p> +<p> +"I just examined the wire. I knew it couldn't +have rusted naturally in such a short time. There +was a peculiar smell about the wire, and I know +enough of chemistry to make a simple acid test! +What kind of acid was used I don't know, but it +was strong enough to eat the steel." +</p> +<p> +"Who could have put it on?" +</p> +<p> +"That I've got to find out!" +</p> +<p> +"Was it Harry Loper?" +</p> +<p> +"I taxed him with it, but he swears he knew +nothing of it," said Joe. "I'm inclined to believe +him, too. I charged him with drinking, and he +could not deny that. But he said he met some old +friends and they induced him to have a little convivial +time with them. No, I don't believe he'd do +it. He's weak and foolish, but he had no reason to +try to injure me." +</p> +<p> +"Who would, Joe? Of course there's Bill Carfax, +but he hasn't been seen near the circus of +late." +</p> +<p> +"No, I don't believe it could have been Bill. I'll +have to be on my guard." +</p> +<p> +"Do, Joe!" urged Helen. "Oh, I can't bear to +think of it!" +</p> +<p> +"Don't then!" laughed Joe, trying to make light +of it. "Let's go down town and I'll buy you some +ice cream." +</p> +<p> +"But you're not going to give up trying to find +out who put acid on the trapeze, are you?" +</p> +<p> +"No, indeed!" declared the young performer. "I +have two problems on my hands now—that and +trying to learn how too many persons came to the +circus this afternoon," and he told Helen about the +extra tickets. +</p> +<p> +"That's queer!" she exclaimed. "Some jinx bug +must be after us!" +</p> +<p> +"Don't get superstitious!" warned Joe. "Now +we'll forget our troubles. They may not amount +to anything after all." +</p> +<p> +But, though he spoke lightly, Joe was worried, +and he was not going to let Helen know that. They +went into an ice-cream parlor and "relaxed," as +Helen called it. +</p> +<p> +The two were on their way back to the circus lot, +intending to go to supper and prepare for the evening +entertainment, when there was a sudden alarm +down the street, and, in an instant, the fire engines +and other apparatus dashed past. +</p> +<p> +"A fire!" cried Joe. "Come on, Helen! It's just +down the street!" +</p> +<p> +They could see smoke pouring from a small +building and a crowd rushing toward it. Thither, +also, the fire apparatus was dashing. Joe and Helen +were among the early arrivals. +</p> +<p> +"What is it?" asked Joe of an officer. "I mean +what sort of place is that?" and he pointed to the +building, which was now obscured by smoke. +</p> +<p> +"Dime museum," was the answer. "Lot of +fakes. I sent in the alarm. A fire-eater was trying +some new stunt and he set the place ablaze, so the +boss yelled to me. Come now, youse all have to git +back!" and he motioned to the crowd, which was +constantly increasing, to get beyond the fire lines. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH6"><!-- CH6 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER VI +</h2> + +<h3> +SOMETHING NEW +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +What with the clanging of the gongs on the +engines and on the red runabouts that brought two +battalion chiefs to the fire; the pall of smoke, with, +here and there, the suggestion of a red blaze; the +swaying excitement of the crowd; the yells of harassed +policemen; the scene at the blaze of the dime +museum was one long to be remembered by Joe +Strong and Helen Morton—particularly in the light +of what happened afterward. +</p> +<p> +"Joe, did you hear what he said?" asked Helen, +as she moved back with the young acrobat in conformity +with the officer's order. +</p> +<p> +"You mean that we've got to slide?" +</p> +<p> +"No, that a fire-eater started the blaze. Does he +mean a professional 'fire bug,' as I have heard them +called?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, not at all!" exclaimed Joe. "A fire-eater +is a chap who does such stunts in a museum, +theater, or even in a circus. Sampson Brothers used +to have one, I understand, from looking over the +old books. But it wasn't much of an act. Golly, +this is going to be some blaze!" +</p> +<p> +That was very evident from the increased smoke +that rolled out and the crackle of fire that now +could be heard above the puffing of the engines and +the shouts of the mob. +</p> +<p> +"A regular tinder box!" muttered the officer who +had told Joe the origin of the blaze. "Place ought +to have been pulled down long ago. Git back there +youse!" he yelled to some venturesome lads. "Want +to git mushed up?" +</p> +<p> +The blaze was a big one, considerable damage +was done, and several persons were injured. But +quick work by an efficient department prevented the +flames from spreading to the buildings on either +side of the one where it had started. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen stayed long enough to see the +menace gotten under control, and then they departed +just as the ambulance rolled away with the last of +the victims. +</p> +<p> +"That's the fire-eater they're taking to the hospital +now," said the policeman who had first spoken +to the young circus performers. "They took him +into a drug store to wrap him in oil and cotton +batting." +</p> +<p> +"Will he live?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Just a chance," was the answer. "Say, if I had +to get my living eating fire I'd starve," confided the +policeman. "It must be some stunt! I always +thought it was a fake, but this fire burned real +enough." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it isn't all fake," said Joe, "though of course +there's a trick about it." +</p> +<p> +"You seem to know," said the policeman, and he +smiled at Joe and Helen. His chief troubles were +about over with the departure of the ambulance +and the knowledge that filtered through the crowd +that the most of the excitement was over. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm in the circus business," confessed Joe. +"I never ate fire," he went on, "but—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I know you now!" cried the officer. "I +was on duty out at the circus grounds this afternoon, +and I went into the tent when you did that +box act. Say, that's some stunt! Do they really pay +ten thousand dollars to the fellow who tells how it's +done?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, we've never paid out the money yet," said +Joe, with a smile. "But it's there, waiting for +some one to claim it." +</p> +<p> +"Then I'm coming to-night to watch you," said +the officer, who appeared delighted that he had recognized +one of the "profesh." +</p> +<p> +"Come along," replied Joe. "Here, wait a minute! +There are a couple of passes. Come and +bring a friend. If you tell how I do the trick you'll +get the ten thousand. Only you'll have to post a +hundred dollars as a forfeit to the Red Cross in +case you don't guess right. That's included in the +offer." +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" The officer did not seem quite so pleased. +"Well, I'll come anyhow," he went on, accepting the +passes Joe handed him. The policeman had allowed +Joe and Helen to stay in an advantageous place +where they could watch the fire. +</p> +<p> +"Where are they taking the man who did the +dangerous trick that caused all the trouble?" asked +Helen, as she prepared to walk on with Joe. +</p> +<p> +"To the City Hospital, Miss. He's a bad case, I +understand." +</p> +<p> +"Poor fellow," murmured Helen. "Do you think +we could go to see him, and do something for him, +Joe?" she asked solicitously. "He's in almost the +same line of business as ourselves." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I don't know," was the slow answer. +</p> +<p> +"I can fix it up if you want to see him—that is, +if the doctors and nurses will let you," said the +policeman. "I know the hospital superintendent. +You just tell him that Casey sent you and it will +be all right." +</p> +<p> +"Thanks; perhaps we will," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +There was a little time after supper before the +performers had to go on with their acts, and Helen +prevailed on Joe to take her to the hospital whither +the injured fire-eater had been removed. They +found him swathed in bandages, no objection being +made to their seeing him after the magic name of +"Casey" had been mentioned to the superintendent. +</p> +<p> +"We came in to see if you needed any help," said +Joe to the pathetic figure in the bed. "We're in +the same line of business, in a way." +</p> +<p> +"Are you a fire-eater?" slowly asked the man. +</p> +<p> +"No," Joe told him. "But I'm in the circus—Sampson Brothers'." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes, I've heard about it. A partner of mine +was with 'em for years. Gascoyne was his name." +</p> +<p> +"That was before my time," said Joe. "But how +are you getting on? Can we be of any help to you? +We professionals must help one another." +</p> +<p> +"That's right. We get knocked often enough," +was the reply. "Well, I'm doing as well as can +be expected, the doctor says. And I'm not really +in need of anything. The museum folks were pretty +good to me. Thank you, just the same." +</p> +<p> +"How did it happen?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, just my carelessness," said the man. "We +get careless after playing with fire a bit. I put too +much alcohol on the tow, and there was a draft +from an open door, some draperies caught, and it +was all going before I knew it. I tried to put it out—that's +how I got burned." +</p> +<p> +"Then you really didn't eat fire?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +Joe and the man swathed in bandages looked at +one another and a semblance of a wink passed between +them. +</p> +<p> +"Nobody can eat fire, lady," said the museum +performer. "It's all a trick, same as some your husband +does in the circus." +</p> +<p> +Joe blushed almost as much as did Helen. +</p> +<p> +"We're not married yet, but we're going to be," +explained Joe, smiling. +</p> +<p> +"Lucky guy!" murmured the man. "Well, as +I was saying, it's all a trick," he went on. "Strong +alum solution in your mouth, just a dash of alcohol +to make a blaze that flares up but goes out quickly +if you smother it right. You know the game," +and he looked at Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, not exactly," was the reply. "I've read +something of it. But, somehow, it never appealed +to me." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it makes a good act, friend!" said the man +earnestly. "I've done a lot of museum and circus +stunts, and this always goes big. There's no danger +if you handle it right. I'll be more careful next +time." +</p> +<p> +"You don't mean to say you'll go back to it, do +you?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Sure, lady! I've got to earn my living! And +this is the best thing I know. I'll be out in a +week. I didn't swallow any, thank goodness! Oh, +sure I'll go at it again." +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen cheered the sufferer up as much +as they could, and then departed. Joe privately +left a bill of substantial denomination with the +superintendent to be used for anything extra the +patient might need. +</p> +<p> +On the way back to the circus, where they were +soon to give their evening performance, Joe was +unusually quiet. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter?" asked Helen. "Are you +thinking of that accident on the trapeze?" +</p> +<p> +"No," was the answer. "It's something different. +I've got to get up a new act for the show. +That trapeze act, even the way I had to do it this +afternoon, isn't sensational enough. I've got to have +something new, and I've about decided on it." +</p> +<p> +"What?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to become a fire-eater!" was the unexpected, +reply. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH7"><!-- CH7 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER VII +</h2> + +<h3> +THE PAPER EXPERT +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +For a moment Helen Morton stared at Joe +Strong as though not quite sure whether or not he +was in his proper mind. Then, seeing plainly that +he was in earnest, she seemed to shrink away from +him, as he had noticed her shrink away, for a moment, +from the burned man suffering there in the +hospital. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter, Helen?" asked Joe, trying +to speak lightly. "Don't you want to see some more +sensational acts in the show?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, but not that kind," she answered with a +shudder she could not conceal. "Oh, Joe, if you +were to—" She could not go on. Her breast +heaved painfully. +</p> +<p> +"Now look here, Helen!" he exclaimed with +good-natured roughness, "that isn't any way to look +at matters; especially when we both depend on sensations +for making our living. +</p> +<p> +"You know, as well as I do, that in this business +we have to take risks. That's what makes our acts +go. You take a risk every time you perform with +Rosebud. You might slip, the horse might slip, and +you'd be hurt. Now is this new act I am thinking +of perfor—" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I may take risks, Joe!" interrupted Helen. +"But they are perfectly natural risks, and I have +more than an even chance. You might just as well +say you take a risk walking along the street, and +so you do. An elevated train might fall on you or +an auto run up on the sidewalk. The risks I take +in the act with Rosebud are only natural ones, and +really shouldn't be counted. But if you start to +become a fire-eater—Oh, Joe, think of that +poor fellow in the hospital!" +</p> +<p> +"He didn't get that way from eating fire—or +pretending to eat it—for the amusement of the public. +He might just as easily have been burned the +way he is by lighting the kitchen stove for his wife +to get breakfast. His accident was entirely outside +of his act, you might say. Why, I use lighted +candles in some of my tricks. Now, if some one +knocked over a candle, and it caused a fire on the +stage and I was burned, would you want me to +give up being a magician?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, I suppose not," said Helen slowly. "But +fire is so dangerous. And to think of putting it in +your mouth! How can you do it, Joe? Oh, it can't +be done!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, there's a trick about it. I haven't mastered +all the details yet, so as to give a smooth performance, +but I can make an attempt at it." +</p> +<p> +"Joe Strong! do you mean to say you know how +to eat fire?" demanded Helen, and now her eyes +showed her astonishment. +</p> +<p> +"Well, not exactly eat it, though that is the term +used. But I do know how to do it. I learned, in a +rudimentary way, when I was with Professor +Rosello—the first man who taught me sleight-of-hand. +He had one fire-eating act, but it didn't +amount to much. He told me the secret of it, such +as it was. +</p> +<p> +"But if I put on that stunt I'm going to make it +different. I'm going to dress it up, make it sensational +so that it will be the talk of the country +where circuses are exhibited." +</p> +<p> +"And won't you run any danger?" questioned the +girl quickly. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I suppose so; just as I do when I work on +the high trapeze or ride my motor cycle along the +high wire. But it's all in the day's work. And now +let's talk about something pleasant—I mean let's +get off the shop." +</p> +<p> +Helen sighed. She was plainly disturbed, but +she did not want to burden Joe with her worries. +She knew he must have calm nerves and an untroubled +mind to do his various acts in the circus +that night. +</p> +<p> +After supper and before the evening performance +Joe made a careful examination of his trapeze apparatus. +Beyond the place where the acid had eaten +into the wire strands, causing them to become weakened +so that they parted, the appliances did not appear +to have been tampered with. Nor were there +any clews which might show who had done the deed. +That it could have happened by accident was out +of the question. The acid could have gotten on the +wire rope in one way only. Some one must have +climbed up the rope ladder to the platform and applied +the stuff. +</p> +<p> +"But who did it?" asked Jim Tracy, when Joe +had told him of the discovery of the acid-eaten +cable. +</p> +<p> +"Some enemy. Perhaps the same one who was +responsible for our loss in tickets this afternoon," +answered the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"Carfax?" asked the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"It might be, and yet he isn't the only man who's +been discharged or who has a grudge against me. +There was Gianni with whom I had a fight." +</p> +<p> +"You mean the Italian? Yes, he was an ugly +customer. But I haven't heard of him for years. +I don't believe he's even in this part of the country." +</p> +<p> +"And we haven't any reason to suppose that Carfax +is, either, after his fiasco in trying to expose +my Box of Mystery trick. But we've got to be on +our guard." +</p> +<p> +"I should say so!" exclaimed the ringmaster. +"And now about your trapeze act, Joe! Are you +going to put it on again to-night?" +</p> +<p> +"Of course. It's billed." +</p> +<p> +"Then you'll have to hustle to rig up a new +rope." +</p> +<p> +"I'm not going to put on a new rope," declared +Joe. "The act went so well when I seemed about +to fall, that I'm going to keep that feature in. I'll +rig up a catch on the severed cable. At the proper +time I'll snap it loose, seem to fall, swing by the +dangling bar as I did before, and land on the platform +that way. It will be more effective than if I +did it in the regular way." +</p> +<p> +"But won't it be risky?" +</p> +<p> +Joe shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> +"No more so than any trapeze act. Now that +I'm ready for the sudden drop I'll be on my guard. +No, I can work it all right. And now about these +extra admissions? What are we going to do about +them?" +</p> +<p> +"Well," said the ringmaster, "maybe we'd better +talk to Moyne about them. If they ring an extra +thousand persons in on us again to-night the thing +will be getting serious." +</p> +<p> +The treasurer was called in consultation with Joe +and Tracy and other circus officials, and it was decided +to keep a special watch on the ticket wagon +and the ticket takers that night. +</p> +<p> +Joe quickly made the change in his trapeze and +tested it, finding that he could work it perfectly. +Then he began to think of his new fire-eating act. +He was determined to make that as great a success +as was his now well advertised ten thousand dollar +mystery box act. +</p> +<p> +The evening performance had not long been under +way, and Joe had done his big swing successfully, +when he was sought out by Mr. Moyne. +</p> +<p> +"The same thing has happened again," said the +treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"You mean more people coming in than we have +sold tickets for?" +</p> +<p> +"That's it." +</p> +<p> +"Well, where do the extra admissions come +from? I mean where do the people get their admission +slips from—the extra people?" +</p> +<p> +"That's what we can't find out," the treasurer +aid. "As far as the ticket takers can tell only one +kind of admission slip for the fifty cent seats is being +handed them. But the number, as tallied by the +automatic gates, does not jibe with the number of +ordinary admissions sold at the ticket office. To-night +there is a difference of about eight hundred +and seventy-five." +</p> +<p> +"Do you mean," asked Joe, "that that number of +persons came in on tickets that were never sold at +the ticket wagon?" +</p> +<p> +"That's just what I mean. There is an extra +source from which the ordinary admission tickets +come. As I told you this afternoon, we are having +no trouble with our reserved seats. There have +been no duplicates there. But there is a duplication +in the fifty cent seats, where one may take his +pick as to where he wants to sit." +</p> +<p> +"Don't we have tickets on sale in some of the +downtown stores?" Joe asked. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes, several of the stores sell tickets up to +a certain hour. Then they send the balance up here +for us to dispose of." +</p> +<p> +"How about their accounts? Have you had them +gone over carefully?" +</p> +<p> +"They tally to a penny." +</p> +<p> +"How about the unsold tickets these agents send +back to us? Isn't there a chance on the way up for +some one to slip out some of the pasteboards, Mr. +Moyne?" +</p> +<p> +"There is a chance, yes, but it hasn't been done. +I have checked up the accounts of the stores, and +there is the cash or the unsold tickets to balance +every time. But somehow, and from some place, +an extra number of the ordinary admission tickets +are being sold, and we are not getting the money for +them." +</p> +<p> +"It is queer," said Joe. "I have an idea that I +want to try out the first chance I get. Save me a +bunch of these ordinary admission tickets. Take +them from the boxes at random and let me have +them." +</p> +<p> +"I will," promised the treasurer. "There is nothing +we can do to-night to stop the fraud, is there?" +he asked. Mr. Moyne was a very conscientious +treasurer. It disturbed him greatly to see the circus +lose money. +</p> +<p> +"I don't see what we can do," said Joe. "If we +start an inquiry it may cause a fight. Let it go. +We'll have to charge it to profit and loss. And don't +forget to let me have some of those tickets. I want +to examine them." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Moyne promised to attend to the matter. Joe +then had to go on in his Box of Mystery trick, and +when this was finished, amid much applause, he +caused Helen to "vanish" in the manner already +described. +</p> +<p> +The circus made considerable money in this town, +even with the bogus admissions, and as the weather +was fine and as the show would exhibit the next +day in a big city for a two days' stand, every one +was in good humor. Staying over night in the same +city where they exhibited during the day was always +a rest for the performers. They got more +sleep and were in better trim for work. +</p> +<p> +The last act was finished, the chariot races had +taken place, and the audience was surging out. The +animal tent had already been taken down and the +animals themselves were being loaded on the railroad +train. +</p> +<p> +As Joe, Helen, and the other performers started +for their berths, to begin the trip to the next town, +the "main top" began coming down. The circus +was on the move. +</p> +<p> +Soon after breakfast the next morning, having +seen that all his apparatus had safely arrived, Joe +visited Mr. Moyne in the latter's office. +</p> +<p> +"Have you a bunch of tickets for me?" asked the +young magician. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, here they are—several hundred picked at +random from the boxes at the entrance. I can't +see anything wrong. If you're looking for counterfeit +tickets I don't believe you'll find them," added +Mr. Moyne. +</p> +<p> +"I don't know that I am looking for counterfeits," +said Joe. "That may be the explanation, or +it may be there is a leak somewhere in the ticket +wagon." +</p> +<p> +"I'm almost sure there isn't," declared the treasurer. +"But of course no one is infallible. I hope +you get to the bottom of the mystery." +</p> +<p> +"I hope so myself," replied Joe, with a smile, +as he put the tickets in a valise. +</p> +<p> +A little later he was on his way downtown. He +had several hours before he would have to go "on," +as he did not take part in the parade, and he had +several matters to attend to. +</p> +<p> +Joe made his way toward a large office building, +carrying the valise with the circus tickets. A little +later he might have been seen entering an office, the +door of which bore the name of "Herbert Waldon, +Consulting Chemist." +</p> +<p> +"Mr. Strong," said Joe to the boy who came forward +to inquire his errand. "Mr. Waldon is expecting +me, I believe." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes," said the boy. "You're to come right +in." +</p> +<p> +Joe was ushered into a room which was filled +with strange appliances, from test tubes and retorts +to electrical furnaces and X-ray apparatus. A +little man in a rather soiled linen coat came forward, +smiling. +</p> +<p> +"I won't shake hands with you, Mr. Strong," he +said, "for I've been dabbling in some vile-smelling +stuff. But if you wait until I wash I'll be right with +you." +</p> +<p> +"All right," assented Joe. And then, as he caught +sight of what seemed to be a number of canceled +bank checks on a table, he smilingly asked: "Have +you been paying your income tax?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no," answered the chemist with a laugh. +"Those are just some samples of paper sent in for +me to test. An inventor is trying to get up an acid-proof +ink. I'm a sort of paper expert, among my +other chemical activities, and I'm putting these +samples through a series of tests. But you'll not be +interested in them." +</p> +<p> +"I don't know but what I shall be," returned Joe, +with sudden energy. "Since you are a paper expert +I may be able to set you another task besides +that of showing me the latest thing in fire-resisting +liquids. Yes, I may want your services in both +lines." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm here to do business," said Mr. Waldon, +smiling. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH8"><!-- CH8 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER VIII +</h2> + +<h3> +JOE EATS FIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +The chemist led the way into a little office. This +opened off from the room in which was the apparatus, +and where, as Joe had become more and +more keenly aware, there was a most unpleasant +odor. +</p> +<p> +"I'll open the window, close the laboratory door, +and you won't notice it in a little while," said Mr. +Waldon, as he observed Joe's nose twitching. "I'm +so used to it I don't mind, but you, coming in from +the fresh air—" +</p> +<p> +"It isn't exactly perfume," interrupted Joe, with +a laugh. "But don't be uneasy on my account. I +can stand it." +</p> +<p> +However, he was glad when the fresh air came +in through the window. The chemist washed his +hands and then sat down at a desk, inviting Joe +to draw up his chair. +</p> +<p> +"Now, what can I do for you?" asked Mr. Waldon. +"Is it fire or paper?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, since I know pretty well what I want to +ask you in the matter of fire," replied Joe, "and +since I've got a puzzling paper problem here, suppose +we tackle the hardest first, and come to the +known, and easier, trick later." +</p> +<p> +"Just as you say," assented Mr. Waldon. "What's +your paper problem?" +</p> +<p> +Joe's answer was to take from the valise several +hundreds of the circus tickets. They were the kind +sold for fifty cents, or perhaps more in these days +of the war tax. They entitle the holder to a seat +on what, at a baseball game, would be called the +"bleachers." In other words they were not reserved-seat +coupons. +</p> +<p> +However, these tickets were not the one-time +blue or red pieces of stiff pasteboard, bearing the +name of the circus and the words "ADMIT ONE," +which were formerly sold at the gilded wagon. +These were handed in at the main entrance, and +the tickets were used over and over again. Sometimes +the blue ones sold for fifty cents, and a kind +selling for seventy-five cents entitled the purchaser +to a seat with a folding back to it, though it was not +reserved. +</p> +<p> +But Joe had instituted some changes when he became +one of the circus proprietors, and one was in +the matter of the general admission tickets. He +had them printed on a thin but tough quality of +paper, and each ticket was numbered. In this way +it needed but a glance at the last ticket in the rack +and a look at the memorandum of the last number +previously sold at the former performance, to tell +exactly how many general admissions had been disposed +of. +</p> +<p> +These numbered tickets were not used over again, +but were destroyed after the day's accounts had +been made up. At first Joe and some others of the +officials had had an idea that the man who was +charged with the work of destroying the tickets, +instead of doing so, had kept some out and sold +them at a reduced price. But an investigation +proved that this was not the case. +</p> +<p> +"Some one is ringing in extra tickets on us," +stated Joe to the chemist. "We want to find out +who it is and how the trick is worked. So far, we +haven't been able to find this out. As a matter of +fact, we don't know whether there are bogus tickets +in our boxes or not. We haven't been able to detect +two kinds. They all seem the same." +</p> +<p> +"Some numbers must be duplicated," said Mr. +Waldon, as he picked up a handful of the slips Joe +had brought. "That's very obvious. The numbers +must be duplicated in some instances." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, we have discovered that," returned Joe. +"But the queer part is, taking even two tickets with +the same number, we don't know which was sold at +our ticket wagon and which is the bogus one. Here's +a case in point." +</p> +<p> +He picked up two of the coupons. As far as eye +or touch could tell they were identical, and they +bore the same red number, one up in the hundred +thousands. +</p> +<p> +"Now," continued Joe, "can you tell which of +these two is the official circus ticket and which is +the bogus one?" +</p> +<p> +The chemist thought for a moment. +</p> +<p> +"Have you a ticket—say one issued some time +ago—which you are positive is genuine?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +"I'm ready for you there," answered Joe. +"Here's a coupon that happened to escape destruction. +It was one sold several weeks ago at our +ticket wagon, before we noticed this trouble. I +bought the ticket myself, so I know. I happened +to be passing the wagon, and a boy was trying to +reach up to buy a fifty cent seat. He wasn't quite +tall enough, so I reached for him. +</p> +<p> +"Then, when I looked at him, I saw that fifty +cents meant a lot to him. I gave him back his half +dollar out of my own pocket, and passed him +in to a reserved seat. But I forgot to turn the +ticket in to the wagon, and it's been in my pocket +ever since. Now I'm glad I saved it, for it will +serve as a tester." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," admitted the chemist, "it will. It's a good +thing you have this. But, Mr. Strong, this is going +to take some time. I'll have to compare all +these tickets with the admittedly genuine one, and +I'll have to make some intricate tests." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hoped you might be able to tell me right +off the reel which of these coupons were good and +which bad," said Joe. "But I can appreciate that +it isn't easy. We certainly have been puzzled. So +I'll leave them with you, and you can write to me +when you have any results. I'll leave you a list of +the towns where we'll be showing for the next two +weeks. And now suppose we get at the fire-eating +business." +</p> +<p> +"All right," was the reply of the chemist. "But +with the understanding that you do all the eating. +I haven't any appetite that way myself." +</p> +<p> +They both laughed, and then, for some hours, +Joe Strong was closeted with the chemist. +</p> +<p> +When Joe emerged from the office of Mr. Waldon +there was a look of satisfaction on the face of +the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"I think I can make quite an act, after what +you've told me," he said. "As soon as I get it perfected +I'll send you word and you can come to see +me." +</p> +<p> +"I will, if you aren't too far away," promised the +chemist. +</p> +<p> +That night, following the closing of the performance, +Joe invited Helen, Jim Tracy, and a few +of his more intimate friends and associates into his +private dressing tent. +</p> +<p> +"I have the nucleus of a new act," he said, when +they were seated in chairs before a small table, on +which were several pieces of apparatus. "Just give +me your opinion of this." +</p> +<p> +Joe lighted a candle, picked up on a fork what +seemed to be a piece of bread, and touched it to the +candle flame. In an instant the object that was on +the fork burst into a blaze, and, before the eyes +of his friends, Joe calmly put the flaming portion +into his mouth. +</p> +<p> +He closed his lips, seemed to be chewing something, +opened his mouth, and showed it empty. +</p> +<p> +"A little light lunch!" he remarked, but his smile +faded as Helen screamed in horror. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH9"><!-- CH9 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER IX +</h2> + +<h3> +THE CHEMIST'S LETTER +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, you'll surely burn yourself!" exclaimed +the startled bareback rider. +</p> +<p> +"Did you get burned?" questioned Mrs. Watson. +</p> +<p> +"Some trick!" declared the snake charmer. +</p> +<p> +For the moment there was some excitement, for +this was a new act for the circus people. +</p> +<p> +Helen soon recovered her customary composure, +and then she explained the cause of her excitement +and the startled cry she had given. She had, of +course, expected some trick with fire when Joe had +summoned her and the others to his own private +part of the dressing tents. But she had not expected +to see him actually put the blazing material in his +mouth. +</p> +<p> +"I thought there was some sleight-of-hand performance +about it," she said. "I had an idea that +you only pretended to put the blazing stuff in your +mouth, Joe. And when I saw it I was afraid you'd +breathe in the flames and—and—" +</p> +<p> +She did not need to go on, they all understood +what she meant, for every one in the circus knew +that Helen and Joe were engaged. +</p> +<p> +"I once saw a little boy burned at a bonfire at +which he was playing," went on Helen. "He died. +Since then the sight of fire near a human being has +always a bad effect on me. But I suppose I can +get over it, if I know there is no danger," she said +with a slight smile at Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I can assure you there isn't the slightest +danger," he declared. "If there was, I should be +the first to give it up. I am as fond of living as +any one." +</p> +<p> +"You don't show it, young man, in some of the +tricks you do," commented Mrs. Watson, with the +freedom befitting a "circus mother," and the privilege +of an old friend. "You must remember that +you don't live only for yourself," and she looked +significantly at Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'll be careful!" promised Joe. "And now +I'll do the trick again for you, and let you see that +it's absolutely harmless. Any of you could do it—if +you knew how." +</p> +<p> +"Excuse me!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "Not for +mine!" +</p> +<p> +However they all watched Joe eagerly and interestedly, +even Helen. He did not seem to make +any unusual preparations. He merely took a drink +of what seemed to be water. Then he ignited something +in the flame of the candle and placed the +burning stuff in his mouth, seeming to chew it with +gusto. +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" exclaimed Helen. But beyond that and a +momentary placing of one hand over her heart, she +did not give way to emotion. Then, as Joe did +the fire-eating trick again, Helen forced herself to +watch him closely. As he had said, he took no harm +from the act. +</p> +<p> +"Tell us how you do it," begged Bill Watson. +"When I get over being funny—or getting audiences +to think I am—I may want to live on something +hot. How do you work it?" +</p> +<p> +"Well," said Joe, "if it's all the same to you, I'd +rather not tell. It isn't that I'm afraid of any of +my friends giving the trick away, and so spoiling +the mystery of it for the crowds. It's just as it +was in my box act. If any of you are asked how +I do this fire trick you can truly say you don't know, +for none of you will know by my telling, not even +Helen, though she is in on the box secret. I'll only +say that I protect my face and mouth, as well as +hands, in a certain way, and that I do, actually, +put the blazing material into my mouth. I am not +burned. So if any one asks you about the act you +may tell them that much with absolute truth. Now +the question is—how is it going to go with the audiences? +We need something—or, at least, I do—to +create a sensation. Will this answer?" +</p> +<p> +"I should say so!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "That +ought to go big when it's dressed up." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, this is only the ground work," said Joe. +"I'm going to elaborate this fire act and make it +the sensation of the season. I've only begun on it. +I got from a chemist the materials I want with +which to protect myself, and I have shown, to my +own and your satisfaction, that I can eat fire without +getting harmed. So far all is well. Now I'm +going to work the act up into something really +worth while." +</p> +<p> +"But you'll still be careful, won't you, Joe?" +asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Indeed I will," he assured her. +</p> +<p> +"Do the trick once more, Joe," suggested Bill +Watson. "I'm coming as close as you'll let me, +and I want to criticize it from the standpoint of +a man in the audience." +</p> +<p> +"That's what I'm after," said Joe. "If there +are any flaws in the act, now is the time to find it +out." +</p> +<p> +Once more he set the material ablaze and put it +into his mouth. Bill Watson watched closely, and, +at the end, the old clown shook his head. +</p> +<p> +"I saw you actually put the fire in your mouth," +he testified. "No one can do more than that. It +takes nerve!" +</p> +<p> +Of course, no one can actually swallow fire and +live. The slightest breath of flame on the lungs +or on the mucous membrane of the throat and passages +is fatal. So when the terms "fire-eating" or +"fire-eater" are used it will be in the sense of its +being a theatrical act. There is a trick about it, +and the trick is this: +</p> +<p> +In the first place, the flame itself is produced by +blazing alcohol. This produces a blaze, and a hot +one, too, but there is no smoke. In other words, +the combustion is almost perfect, there being no +residue of carbon to remain hot after the actual +flame is extinguished. +</p> +<p> +And now as to the actual putting into one's mouth +something that is blazing hot: It all depends on +a very simple principle. +</p> +<p> +If the hand be thoroughly wet in water it may +be safely thrust for a fraction of a second into a +flaming gas jet. But mark this—for the <i>fraction +of a second only</i>. The water forms a protecting +film for the skin, and before it is evaporated the +hand must be taken out of danger. In other words, +there is needed an appreciable time for the fire to +beat the skin to the burning point. +</p> +<p> +This immunity from burns, to which the professional +fire-eaters owe their success, comes from this +film of moisture on their skin. They do not always +use water—in fact, this is only serviceable for a +momentary contact with flame, and, at that, on the +hands or face. In case a longer contact is desired, +a fire-resisting chemical liquid is used. +</p> +<p> +It is about the contact of flame with the tender +mucous membrane surfaces of the mouth and throat +that Joe, as a fire-eater, was most concerned. +</p> +<p> +In the first place, there is a constant film of the +secretion called saliva always flowing in the mouth. +It comes from glands in the throat and mouth, and +is very necessary to good digestion. +</p> +<p> +Now, for a very brief period this saliva, which is +just the same as a film of water on the hand, resists +the fire. But professional fire-eaters do not +depend on saliva alone. They use a chemical solution, +and this is what Joe did when he drank +something from a glass. +</p> +<p> +What that chemical solution was, Joe kept as a +closely guarded professional secret. He feared, too, +that some boy might make it, rinse his mouth out +with it, and then, getting an audience of his chums +together, might try to eat some blazing coals. He +might, and very likely would, be severely burned, +and his parents or those in charge of him would +blame Joe for allowing such dangerous information +to leak out. +</p> +<p> +So, though he guarded all his secrets of magic, +he was particularly careful to keep this one to himself. +</p> +<p> +But Joe protected his mouth and throat with a +fire-resisting liquid, the formula for which was +given him by the chemist to whom he submitted the +circus tickets. +</p> +<p> +The success of Joe and others of his kind depends +also in this on a well known natural law. +It is that there can be no combustion in the ordinary +sense where there is no oxygen. As a candle +will surely go out if enclosed in an air-tight receptacle—that +is, it will go out as soon as it has burned +up all the oxygen—just so surely will flame of any +kind go out when a person closes his mouth on it. +And as there is scarcely any air in the closed +mouth—all of it going down the bronchial tubes +into the lungs—it follows that the flame dies out +almost instantly. That fact being considered, and +the mouth and throat having been previously treated +with the secret chemical, there is really not so much +danger as appears. +</p> +<p> +As a matter of fact, a person inadvertently swallowing +hot tea or coffee will burn or scald his +mouth or tongue much more painfully than will +a professional fire-eater. Most people know how +painful a burned tongue is. +</p> +<p> +Joe told something of the history of fire-eating +"champions" to his audience of friends, for it appeared +that he had been reading up on the subject +and was well informed. Then he announced that +the private rehearsal was over. +</p> +<p> +"But I'm going to work this fire-eating up into +something that will cause a sensation," he said. And +he made good his promise. +</p> +<p> +It was about a week after this, and the circus had +been traveling about, playing to good business, when +Joe received a letter. In the upper left-hand corner +was the imprint of Herbert Waldon, Chemist. +</p> +<p> +"I hope he has some news about the circus tickets!" +exclaimed Joe. For the show had been losing +money steadily by means of the bogus coupons; not +as much as at first, but enough to make it necessary +to discover the fraud. And, so far, Mr. Moyne +had not been successful. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps this explains the mystery," mused Joe +as he opened the letter. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH10"><!-- CH10 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER X +</h2> + +<h3> +THE PET CAT +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +The typewritten sheet of the letter from Mr. +Waldon enclosed two of the engraved circus coupons. +They fluttered to the floor of Joe's private +tent as he tore open the envelope. +</p> +<p> +"Well, either he has discovered something, or he +has sent them back and given up," mused the young +magician. "Let's see what he says." +</p> +<p> +Joe quickly took in the contents of the letter. In +effect it stated that Mr. Waldon had discovered +which were the bogus and which were the real circus +tickets. He first gave an explanation of the +chemical tests he used. Joe read this hastily, but +carefully, then passed to the conclusions arrived at +by the expert, who was an authority on various +kinds of paper, as well as chemicals. +</p> +<p> +"The ticket I have marked No. 1 is a genuine +coupon, issued by your circus corporation," said Mr. +Waldon in his letter. "The slip marked by me as +No. 2 is a counterfeit. You will observe that they +both bear the red ink serial number 356,891. +</p> +<p> +"If you were a paper expert you would observe +that the paper used in the two tickets is different. +There is not a very great difference, and I am inclined +to think that both the genuine and the counterfeit +tickets were made on paper from the same +mill, but of a different 'run.' That is, it was made +at a different time. +</p> +<p> +"The printer who manufactured your tickets +bought his paper from a certain mill making a specialty +of this particular kind. Then some one, who +must know something of your financial and business +interests, had the bogus tickets made, and on +the same kind of paper. But there is a slight difference, +which I was able to detect by means of +chemical reactions. The coloring matter used varied +slightly, though the texture of the two kinds +of paper is almost exactly similar. +</p> +<p> +"Now, having settled that point, the solution of +the remaining equations of the problem rests with +you. I can not tell who had the bogus tickets printed. +You will have to go to the mill making the +paper and find out to whom they sold this kind. In +that way you will learn the names of all printers, +using it, and by a process of elimination you will +get at the one who printed the counterfeits. +</p> +<p> +"This printer may be an innocent party, or he +may be guilty. That is for you and the detectives +to determine. I hope I have started you on the right +track. I shall be interested to hear, my dear Mr. +Strong, how you make out in your fire-eating act." +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell him as soon as I try it on a real audience," +said Joe, with a smile, as he folded the letter. +"And so counterfeit tickets have been rung +in on us! Well, I suspected that, since our own +men were thoroughly to be trusted. Now to get at +the guilty ones. And I shouldn't be surprised if +I could name one of the men involved. But I'll +call a meeting, and lay this before the directors." +</p> +<p> +The Sampson Brothers' Show was incorporated +and was run strictly on business lines. There was a +board of directors who looked after all business +matters, and Joe was soon in consultation with +them, laying before them Mr. Waldon's letter and +the two marked tickets. +</p> +<p> +"It would take an expert to tell them apart," +said Mr. Moyne, as he examined the coupons closely. +"Well, what are we to do?" +</p> +<p> +"In the first place," declared Joe, "we must +change our form of general admission tickets at +once. That will stop the fraud, graft, or whatever +you want to call it. Then we must do as Mr. Waldon +says—look for the guilty parties. We'll have +to hire some detectives, I think." +</p> +<p> +This plan was voted a good one, and steps were +at once taken to change the form and style of the +general admission tickets. Joe also wired for a +man from a well known detective agency to meet +the show at the next town. Then the printing shop +which made the circus tickets was communicated +with. +</p> +<p> +That was all that could be done at present, and +Joe gave his attention to perfecting his new fire-eating +act. +</p> +<p> +He did not give up his mystery box trick, and +he still presented the vanishing lady illusion, Helen +assisting in both of these. Joe also did the big +swing, which always caused a thrill on account of +the danger involved. Careful watch was kept over +the trapeze and other apparatus so that no more +dangerous tampering could he attempted, and Joe +always looked over everything with sharp eyes before +trusting himself high in the air. +</p> +<p> +"Some one evidently has a grudge against me +as well as against the circus in general," he said to +Jim Tracy. +</p> +<p> +"Maybe it's the same person," suggested the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps. Well, as soon as we get some word +from the detectives we can start on the trail." +</p> +<p> +The circus had arrived at a large city, where it +was to show three days and nights, and preparations +were made for big crowds, as the city was +the center of a large number of industries, where +many thousands of men were employed at good +wages. +</p> +<p> +"We'll play to 'Straw Room Only' at every performance," +said Mr. Moyne, rubbing his hands with +glee as he thought of the dollars that would be taken +in. "And I'm glad we discovered the bogus tickets +in time. We'd be out a lot of money if the counterfeits +were to be used here." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But we aren't out of the +woods yet. The same man who imitated the light +green tickets may have the bright blue ones which +we now use for general admission duplicated and +sell them." +</p> +<p> +"We'll have to take that chance," said the treasurer. +"But I'll instruct the ticket takers to be unusually +careful." +</p> +<p> +That was all that could be done. The detective +had reported that he was making an examination, +starting at the paper mill, and was endeavoring to +learn where the bogus tickets had been made. +</p> +<p> +The circus parade had been held and witnessed +by enthusiastic crowds lining the streets. Then +was every prospect of big business, and it was borne +out. +</p> +<p> +Joe wished he had prepared his fire act earlier +but it could not be helped. +</p> +<p> +"I'll have it ready for to-morrow, though," he +said to Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of the first +afternoon in the big city where they were to stay +three days. +</p> +<p> +"Then I'm going to have it advertised," said the +ringmaster, who also sometimes acted as assistant +general manager. "We'll bill it big. You're sure +of yourself, are you?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes," answered Joe with a laugh. "I'll +give 'em their money's worth all right, but it won't +be the big sensation I'm planning for later on. That +will take time." +</p> +<p> +"Well, as long as it's a fire act it will be new +and novel, and it will draw," declared Jim Tracy. +</p> +<p> +It was later in the afternoon, when the circus +performance was over, that Joe and Helen strolled +downtown, as was their custom. Some convention +was being held in the city, and across one of the +principal streets was stretched a big banner of the +kind used in political campaigns. +</p> +<p> +It was hung from a heavy, slack wire from the +brick walls of two opposite buildings, and the banner +attracted considerable attention because of a +novel picture on it. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen were standing in the street, looking +up at the swaying creation of canvas and netting, +when a woman's cry came to their ears. +</p> +<p> +"Look! Look! The cat! The cat is walking +the wire!" she exclaimed. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen turned first to see who it was that +had cried out. It was a woman in the street, and +with her parasol she pointed upward. +</p> +<p> +There, surely enough, half way out on the thick, +slack wire, and high above the middle of the street +was a large white cat. It was walking the wire +as one's pet might walk the back fence. But this +cat seemed to have lost its nerve. It had got half +way across, but was afraid to go farther and could +not turn around and go back. +</p> +<p> +As Joe and Helen looked, a woman appeared at +the window of one of the buildings from the front +walls of which the banner was suspended, and, +pointing at the cat, cried: +</p> +<p> +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat! +A hundred dollars reward!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH11"><!-- CH11 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XI +</h2> + +<h3> +THE RESCUE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +The tumult which had arisen in the street beneath +the banner when the crowd caught sight of the +cat was hushed for a moment after the woman's +frantic cry. Before that there had been some laughter, +and not a few cat-calls and exaggerated +"miaows" from boys in the street. But now every +one, even the mischievous urchins, seemed to sense +that something unusual was about to take place. +</p> +<p> +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" cried the +woman, stretching out her arms to the cat from +the window out of which she leaned. "Come back +to me!" +</p> +<p> +The white cat on the wire heard the voice of +the woman and seemed to want to return to its +mistress. But either the cat was not an adept at +turning on such a narrow support, or it was afraid +to try. +</p> +<p> +And, likewise, it was afraid to go forward. There +it stood, about in the middle of the wire, high above +the street, and it clung to its perch by its claws. +</p> +<p> +The banner was hung from the cross wire by +means of several loops of rope, and it was in some +of these loops that the cat had stuck its claws, and +so hung on. +</p> +<p> +As the cat remained there, suspended, the crowd +in the street below increased in size. But from the +time the woman had so frantically called there had +been no more of the cries from the crowd that +might be expected to frighten the animal. +</p> +<p> +"Will some one get my cat?" cried the woman +in a shrill voice, which could easily be heard by +Joe, Helen, and nearly every one else. "I'll give +one hundred dollars in cash to whoever saves him!" +she went on. "Come back, Peter! Come back!" +she appealed. +</p> +<p> +There was a thoughtless laugh from some one +at the woman's anxiety, and some one cried: +</p> +<p> +"There's lots of cats! Let Peter go!" +</p> +<p> +"The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to +Animals ought to get after whoever that was," said +Helen indignantly, and there was an approving murmur +from some of those near her. +</p> +<p> +"Does any one know that lady?" asked Joe, pointing +at the figure in the window. A pathetic figure +it was, too, of an old woman clad in black, as though +she had lost all her friends. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, she's a queer character," said some one +who seemed to know. "Lives up there all alone +in the old house that, except for the upper part +where she is now, has been turned into offices. +</p> +<p> +"She's rich, they say. Owns that building and +a lot of others on this street. But she lives all +alone in a few rooms, and has a lot of pet cats. I +guess that's one which got away." +</p> +<p> +"It got away all right," said another man. "And +I don't believe she'll ever get it back. The cat's +scared to death." +</p> +<p> +"Why doesn't it jump?" asked some one. "I +heard that cats always land on their feet, no matter +how far they fall." +</p> +<p> +"A fall from there would kill any cat," said Joe, +as he handed Helen a small package he had been +carrying—a purchase he had made at one of the +stores. +</p> +<p> +"What are you going to do?" she asked, sensing +that Joe Strong had some object in mind. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to get that cat," he said in a low voice. +"I can't bear to see it harmed, and it can't cling +there much longer. Night's coming on, too, and if +it isn't rescued soon it won't be until morning. I +know what it is to have a pet suffer. I'm going +to get that cat!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, mister, you can't!" cried a small girl who +was standing near by and overheard this remark. +</p> +<p> +"I should say not!" exclaimed the man who had +given a little personal sketch of the woman in black. +"The longest ladder in the fire department won't +reach up to that wire, and they can't use extension +ones, or scaling ones as they could on a building. +You can't get that cat, sir, though I wish some one +could. I don't like to see dumb brutes suffer. But +you can't get it!" +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps I can!" said Joe modestly. +</p> +<p> +He started toward the street entrance of the old +building, from the upper window of which leaned +the pathetic figure of the woman calling to her cat +out on the swaying wire. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe," Helen began, "are you really going +to—" and then she stopped. +</p> +<p> +"I am!" he answered, for he knew she understood. +"Wait here for me. I won't be long." +</p> +<p> +Only a few in the crowd had heard what Joe +said, or understood his intentions as he made his +way through the press of people. The woman at +the window was unaware of the fact that some one +had heard her and was about to heed her appeal. +</p> +<p> +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat!" +she cried again. +</p> +<p> +This time no one laughed. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, acrobat, athlete, magician, and possessed +of many other muscular accomplishments +started up the stairs. The lower part of the office +building was deserted at this hour, but he made +his way to the place where he judged the woman +lived alone. He was confirmed in this belief by +hearing from behind a closed door the barking and +whining of dogs. +</p> +<p> +"She must keep a regular menagerie," mused +Joe. "Probably these are all the friends she has, +poor old lady!" +</p> +<p> +He knocked on a door that seemed to be the entrance +to the living apartments. There was a cessation +of the barking and whining, and a moment +later a querulous voice asked: +</p> +<p> +"Who is there? What do you want?" +</p> +<p> +"Is that your cat out on the wire?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes! Oh, yes! That's Peter! My favorite +cat! Oh, have you saved him? Have you got him +down? No, you can't have! He's out on that wire +yet!" she cried. And then she opened the door. +</p> +<p> +Joe was confronted by the same woman he had +observed leaning from the window. Her face was +pale, and she was quite elderly. But there was a +kind and pathetic look about her eyes. Once, she +must have been beautiful. +</p> +<p> +Joe had no time to speculate on what might have +been the romantic history of the woman. She looked +eagerly at him. +</p> +<p> +"What do you want?" she demanded. "I never +see any one. I live here alone. I must beg you +to excuse me. I have to see if some one will not, +save my cat." +</p> +<p> +"That is just what I came up for," said Joe, smiling. +"I am a lover of animals myself. I'd like to +save your pet." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, if you will, I'll pay you the hundred dollars!" +cried the woman. "I have it!" she went on +eagerly. "It's in here," and she motioned to the +rooms. They were tastefully, but not lavishly, furnished. +</p> +<p> +"We'll talk about that later," said Joe, with a +smile. "The point is let me get the cat first." +</p> +<p> +"But you can't get him from here—from these +rooms!" the woman in black exclaimed. "He's out +on the wire! You'll have to climb up in some way! +Oh, I don't know how you can do it!" There were +tears in her eyes and she clasped her hands imploringly. +</p> +<p> +"I can't get your cat from the street," said Joe. +"That's why I came up here. I must walk out on +the wire from your window. Have you a pair of +slippers? The older and softer the better—slippers +with thin, worn soles." +</p> +<p> +"Why, yes, I have. But you—you can't walk out +on the wire! It is too small, almost, for my cat! +You can't do it! It is impossible!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no," answered Joe gently, "it isn't impossible. +I have done it before. If you'll let me get +to a window near which the wire is stretched, and +if you will let me take a pair of old slippers." +</p> +<p> +"Come in!" interrupted the eccentric old woman, +opening wide the door. "I don't in the least know +what you intend to do, but something seems to tell +me I can trust you. And if only you can save +Peter—" +</p> +<p> +"I'll try," said Joe simply. +</p> +<p> +The woman began to search frantically in a closet, +throwing out shoes, dresses, and other feminine +wearing apparel. As she delved among the things, +a shout arose from the street, the noise of the voices +floating in through the open window. Joe looked +out. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, has Peter fallen?" cried the woman. +</p> +<p> +That, too, had been Joe's thought. +</p> +<p> +"No," he answered, as he took an observation. +"Your cat has only changed his position a little. +I suppose the crowd thought it was going to fall, +but it's all right. I'll soon have it back to you. Is +it a vicious cat?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no indeed. He's as gentle as can be. But +perhaps he might be so scared now that he wouldn't +know what he was doing. I see what you mean. +Here, I'll give you an old pair of gloves for your +hands." +</p> +<p> +"That's what I want," said Joe. "I can't afford +to have my hands scratched, as I do some legerdemain +tricks. But I need some soft-soled slippers +more than I need gloves." +</p> +<p> +"Here is a pair," said the woman. "They're +mine. I wear large ones, for I like to be comfortable." +</p> +<p> +"They'll fit me," decided Joe, after an inspection. +"Just what I want, too!" +</p> +<p> +He began to take off his shoes. +</p> +<p> +"Do you really mean you are going to walk out +on that wire and get my cat?" asked the woman, +comprehending his intention as she saw Joe putting +on the slippers and drawing on the old gloves she +had given him. They were a man's size, and he +judged she must have used them in rough work +about the house. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going out on the wire to get your cat," he +said. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, but I ought not to let you! You may fall +and be killed! When I said I'd give a hundred dollars +to whoever would save Peter, I did not mean +that any one should risk his life. Much as I love +my cat, I couldn't allow that." +</p> +<p> +"I'll be all right," said Joe easily. "Walking +wires is part of my business. Now don't worry. +And please don't scream if you are going to watch +me." +</p> +<p> +She looked at him curiously. +</p> +<p> +"I am not in the habit of screaming," she said +quietly. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I thought it best to mention it," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +He was now ready for his most novel form of +walking the wire. He moved toward the window +from which the woman had leaned. It was the +same casement whence the cat had started on its +perilous journey. Joe felt sure of himself. The +slippers were just what he needed, with soft, pliable +soles, worn thin. They were the best substitute +he could have found for his circus shoes. +</p> +<p> +The wire from which the banner was suspended +was fast to an eye-bolt set in the brick wall of the +building a little below the sill of the window. It +had been easy for the cat to step out and get on +the cable. +</p> +<p> +Joe appeared at the window. He had taken off +his coat and, in his white shirt, blue tie, and black +trousers, he made a striking figure in the brilliant +sunset light. +</p> +<p> +Instantly the crowd in the street saw him and +divined his intention. Joe doubted not that Helen +was looking up at him. +</p> +<p> +It was an easy step for him from the window +sill to the wire from which was suspended the banner. +He knew it would support his weight in addition +to the big net affair. The size of the cable +and the manner in which it was fastened told him +that. Still he cautiously tried it with one foot before +trusting all his weight to it. The spring of +the wire told him all he needed to know. +</p> +<p> +Pausing a moment to make sure of himself, Joe +Strong started to walk across the wire toward the +clinging cat. The crowd gave one roar of welcome +and approval, and then became hushed. This +was what Joe wanted. +</p> +<p> +Now it was just as if he were doing the act in +the circus. Only there was this difference—there +was no safety net below him. But it was not the +first time Joe had taken this risk. True, beneath +him were the hard stones of the street, but a fall +from the height at which he now was would be +fatal, no matter what the character of ground under +him. He dismissed all such thoughts from his +mind. +</p> +<p> +Slowly, and with the caution he always used, Joe +started on his journey across the wire. The cat +felt his coming, and turned its head, as it crouched +down, and looked at him. But it did not move. +The creature was literally "scared stiff." +</p> +<p> +Foot by foot Joe progressed. Below him the +crowd watched breathlessly. Joe knew Helen was +there, praying for him, though he could not see her. +In the window stood the figure in black, a silent, +hopeful but much worried woman. She kept her +promise not to scream, but Joe realized that the crucial +moment was yet to come. +</p> +<p> +On and on he went nearer and nearer to the +crouching cat. If only the animal would have sense +enough to lie still and not make a fuss when he +picked it up, Joe felt that all would be well. +</p> +<p> +But would Peter behave? That was the question. +</p> +<p> +Joe was now almost over the middle of the street. +Far below him was the crowd—a sea of upturned +faces, reddened by the reflected rays of the setting +sun. The throng was silent. Joe was glad of that. +</p> +<p> +"Keep still now, Peter, I'm coming for you!" +said Joe in a low voice. +</p> +<p> +"That's right, Peter!" added the woman. "Be +a good cat now. You are going to be saved! Keep +still and don't scratch!" +</p> +<p> +Whether the cat heard and understood it is hard +to say. But it uttered a pitiful: +</p> +<p> +"Mew!" +</p> +<p> +Inch by inch, foot by foot Joe advanced. He was +quite sure of himself now. He felt that he could +easily have walked across the wire from building +to building, with the street chasm below him, and +even could have made the return trip. But picking +up the cat and carrying it back was another thing. +It would have been easier for Joe to have carried +a man across on his back. He could direct the +motions of the man. Could he those of the cat? +</p> +<p> +Still he was going to try. +</p> +<p> +On and on he went. The woman in black was +leaning from the window, holding out her arms as +though to catch Joe should he fall. +</p> +<p> +But he did not think of falling. +</p> +<p> +In another few seconds he was standing right +over the cat. He could see the animal's claws tensely +clinging to the rope strands that held the banner. +Now came ticklish work. +</p> +<p> +"Easy, Peter! Go easy now!" said Joe soothingly. +</p> +<p> +He slowly and carefully stooped down. It was +a trick he had often performed in the circus on the +high wire. But never under circumstances like this. +</p> +<p> +Joe's hands came in contact with the fur of the +cat's back. He gently stroked the animal, murmuring: +</p> +<p> +"Come on now, Peter! Let go! Loosen your +claws! I'm not going to hurt you. Let me pick +you up!" +</p> +<p> +Again it is hard to say that the cat knew what +Joe was saying, but it certainly made its body less +tense. The claws were loosed. Joe straightened up, +holding the cat in his arms. He could feel its heart +beating like some overworked motor. +</p> +<p> +A roar arose from the crowd, but it was instantly +hushed. The throng seemed to realize that the return +journey was infinitely more perilous than the +outward one had been. +</p> +<p> +Joe could not turn. He must walk backward +to the window, carrying the cat, which at any moment +might become wild and scramble from his +arms, upsetting his balance. +</p> +<p> +Yet Joe Strong never faltered. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH12"><!-- CH12 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XII +</h2> + +<h3> +THE FIRE ACT +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Realizing that he must use every caution, Joe +Strong had two things to think of. One was himself, +and the other the cat. He could not carry +the creature in his arms, as he needed to extend +them to balance himself. He had walked short +distances along slack wires without doing this, but +in those cases he had been able to run, and his +speed made up for the lack of balancing power of +the extended arms. Now, however, he needed to +observe this precaution. +</p> +<p> +What could he do with the cat? +</p> +<p> +In that moment of peril a boyhood scene arose +to Joe's mind. He recalled that on the farm where +he had lived there was a pet cat which liked to crawl +up his back and curl on his shoulders, stretching +out completely across them and snuggling against +the back of his head. +</p> +<p> +"If I can get this cat to do that I'll be all right," +thought Joe. "I'll try it." +</p> +<p> +Balancing himself, he changed the cat's position +and put it up on his shoulder. Even if it rested +on only one it would leave his hands free and he +could extend his arms and balance himself. But +Peter seemed to know just what was wanted of him. +With a little "mew," the animal took the very position +Joe wanted it to—extended along his back, +close to his head. +</p> +<p> +And not until then did Joe begin to step backward. +Breathlessly the crowd watched him. Step +by step he went, feeling for the wire on which he +placed his feet. And each step made him more +confident. +</p> +<p> +The crowd was silently watching. It was reserving +its wild applause. +</p> +<p> +Step by step Joe walked backward until he heard +the low voice of the woman at the open window. +</p> +<p> +"Shall I take Peter now?" she asked. +</p> +<p> +"Can you reach him?" asked Joe. He knew he +was close to the building. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," she answered. +</p> +<p> +"Then do," said Joe. "He may try to spring off +when he sees himself so close to you. Take him. +I'll stand still a moment." +</p> +<p> +He felt the cat stirring. The next instant he +was relieved of Peter's weight, and then, with a +quick turning motion, Joe himself was half way +within the window and sitting on the sill. +</p> +<p> +He had walked out on the wire, stretched a hundred +feet above the street, and rescued the cat. The +pet was now in the arms of the woman in black. +</p> +<p> +And then such a roar as went up in the crowd! +Men thumped one another on the back, and then +shook hands, wondering at their foolishness and +why there was such a queer lump in their throats. +</p> +<p> +"Oh! Oh!" gasped the woman, as she hugged +Peter to her. "I can never thank you enough—not +in all my life. It may be foolish to care so +much for a cat. But I can't help it. It isn't all +that. I couldn't have borne it to have seen him fall +and be killed." +</p> +<p> +"He's all right now—after he gets over being +scared," said Joe, as he stroked the cat in the arms +of the woman in black. +</p> +<p> +"And now will you let me know to whom I am +indebted?" she asked. "Please come in, and I'll +pay you the reward." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll come in and put on my shoes," said +Joe, with a smile. "I didn't need the gloves," he +added. "Peter was very gentle." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, he's a good cat!" said his mistress. "And +now," she added, when Joe had resumed his shoes +and coat, "will you please tell me your name and +how you learned to walk wires and rescue cats?" +</p> +<p> +"I never rescued cats before," Joe returned, smiling. +"It's something new. But walking wires is +my trade—or one of 'em. I'm with the circus. I +do some tricks and—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, are you the man who gets out of the box?" +she cried. "I have read about that trick." +</p> +<p> +"It is one of mine," said Joe modestly. +</p> +<p> +"I'm so glad to know you!" exclaimed the woman. +She seemed less of a recluse than at first. +"I haven't been to a circus for years—not since I +was a child," she continued, half sadly, Joe thought. +"But I'm coming to-night!" she exclaimed. "I'll +have the janitor look after my cats and dogs, and +I'll go to the circus. I want to see you act. It will +bring back my lost youth—or part of it," she murmured. +</p> +<p> +"Allow me to make sure that you will be there," +said Joe. "Here is a reserved ticket. I will look +for you." +</p> +<p> +"And now let me give you the reward I promised," +begged the woman, as Joe was about to leave. +"I have the money here—in cash," she added quickly. +She went to a bureau, putting Peter down on +a cushion. The cat observed Joe intently. The +woman came back with a roll of bills. +</p> +<p> +"No, really, I couldn't take it!" protested Joe. +"I didn't save your cat for money. I was glad +enough to do it for the animal's sake." +</p> +<p> +"Please take it!" she urged. "I—I am well off, +even if I live here," she said hesitatingly. "I shall +feel better if you take it." +</p> +<p> +"And I shall feel better if you give it to the Red +Cross," said Joe. "That needs it, to help the +stricken, more than I do. I make pretty good +money myself," he added. "And I didn't do this +for a reward." +</p> +<p> +"But I promised it!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, then consider that I took it, and you, in +my name, may pass it on to the Red Cross," said +Joe. "And now, may I ask your name?" +</p> +<p> +The woman told him. It was Miss Susan Crawford. +The name meant nothing to Joe, though he +afterward learned she was a member of an old, +wealthy and aristocratic family. She had had an +unfortunate love affair, and, her family having all +died, she made for herself a little apartment in one +of her many buildings and lived there with her pets—a +recluse in the midst of a big city. It was a +pathetic story. +</p> +<p> +"I wish you would let me reward you in some +way," said Miss Crawford wistfully, as Joe left. +"You did so much, and you get nothing out of it." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes I do," returned the young acrobat. "I'll +get a lot of advertising out of this, and it will be +the best thing in the world for the circus." +</p> +<p> +And Joe was right. The next day the papers all +carried big stories of his wire-walking feat to save +the cat that had ventured out over the street and +was afraid to go back. Bigger crowds than ever +came to the circus. +</p> +<p> +As she had promised, Miss Crawford was at the +evening performance, and Joe introduced a little +novelty in one of his "magic stunts," producing a +cat instead of a rabbit from a man's pocket. As +he held it up he looked over and smiled at the old +lady in black, for he had given her a seat near his +stage. She smiled back. +</p> +<p> +Joe never saw her again. She was found dead +a few months later in her lonely rooms, with her +cats and dogs around her. But Joe always remembered +her. +</p> +<p> +The street wire-walking feat was the talk of the +city, and when, the following day, Joe announced +that he was ready to put on his fire act, which had +been well advertised, every one was on figurative +tiptoes to see what it would be. +</p> +<p> +Joe had made all his preparations, and he had +taken care to provide against danger and accidents. +He realized the risk he was running in handling +fire in a circus tent before crowds of people. But +extinguishers were provided, and one of the fire-fighting +force of the circus was constantly on hand. +</p> +<p> +After the preliminary whistle of the ringmaster +which ended the other acts and prepared for Joe's +new one, the young magician advanced to the platform +and gave a little "patter." +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "in introducing +my new act I wish, first of all, to assure you that +there is no danger. Even though I seem to be in +the midst of fire, do not be alarmed. I shall be +safe, and no harm will come to you." +</p> +<p> +Joe did this to forestall a possible panic. +</p> +<p> +"You have all heard of the ancient salamanders," +he went on. "It is reputed that this animal was +able to live in the midst of fire. As to the truth of +that I can not say. I never saw a salamander, that +I know of. But that fire may safely be handled by +human beings, and not at the risk of being burned, +I am about to demonstrate to you. I shall first +show you how to carry fire about in your hands, +so that if you run short of matches at any time you +will not lack means of igniting the gas, starting +your kitchen range, or enjoying your smoke. While +the stage is being made ready for my main act, I +will show you how to carry fire in your hands." +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH13"><!-- CH13 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XIII +</h2> + +<h3> +A SENSATIONAL DIVE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Striking a match, Joe ignited two candles that +stood on a little table at one side of his stage. On +the other side his assistants were setting up the +apparatus he intended to use in his more elaborate +experiments. +</p> +<p> +"You observe that the trick has not yet begun," +said Joe, with a laugh, as he blew out the match. +"In other words, I am lighting these candles in the +ordinary way—just as any one of you would do it, +if he needed to. In a moment I will show you how +to light the candles in case one is accidentally blown +out and you have no match." +</p> +<p> +Allowing both candles to burn up well, with clear, +bright flames, Joe suddenly blew out one. +</p> +<p> +"Now," he said, "I will show you how to carry +fire in your hands from the lighted to the unlighted +candle. Watch me closely!" +</p> +<p> +Joe cupped his hands around the lighted candle, +seeming to take the flame up in his fingers. When +he removed his hands, which he still held in cup, or +globular, shape, the second candle had been extinguished. +Both were now out. +</p> +<p> +"You will notice that I am carrying the flame in +my hands from one candle to the other," said Joe, +in a loud voice, as he walked across the stage. +</p> +<p> +For an instant he spread his hands, cup fashion, +around the candle he had first blown out. Suddenly +he withdrew his hands, holding them wide apart +and in full view of the audience, and, lo! the unlighted +candle was glowing brightly. +</p> +<p> +There was a moment of silence, and then the +applause broke forth. Joe bowed and said: +</p> +<p> +"That is how to carry fire in your hands. But +please don't any of you try it unless you get the +directions from me." +</p> +<p> +"Tell us how to do it!" piped up a small boy. +</p> +<p> +"Come and see me after the show!" laughed Joe. +</p> +<p> +And, while on this subject, it might be well to +explain how Joe did the trick. It is very simple, but +it takes practice, and an amateur may easily be fatally +burned in the attempt, simple as it is. +</p> +<p> +Joe lighted the candles in the usual way, with a +match, as already explained. There was no trick +about this, nor about blowing out one. But immediately +after that the trick started. Joe placed +a little piece of waxed paper between the first and +second fingers of his left hand as soon as he had +blown out the first candle. This paper was a slender +strip, and could not be seen by the audience. +</p> +<p> +When he cupped his hands around the remaining +lighted candle Joe ignited this waxed strip, taking +care to work it away from his palms and fingers. +It burned with a tiny flame and with scarcely any +heat in the middle of the hollow cup formed by +his hands. +</p> +<p> +As soon as he had ignited the paper Joe, by pressing +the lower edges of his palms against the blazing +wick of the candle, extinguished it. This had +the same effect as though he had "pinched" out the +flame with finger and thumb, as many country persons +put out, or "snuff," candles to-day—for candles +are still much used in some places. +</p> +<p> +Now we have Joe with a little blazing taper concealed +in his cupped hands, advancing to the candle +he first blew out. He placed his hands around this, +lighted the wick from the taper, which he at once +crushed between his fingers, and the trick was done. +</p> +<p> +The candle was lighted, the remains of the little +taper were concealed between Joe's fingers, and it +looked as though he had really carried fire in his +hands. The quickness with which he pinched out +the candle flame, and also smothered the taper after +he had used it, prevented him from being burned +in the slightest. But it is best for a boy unpracticed +and without the dexterity of a professional prestidigitator +not to undertake to play with fire. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong believed in doing his tricks and acts +artistically and elaborately. He had watched other +performers "dress their act," and he had often improved +on what even stage veterans had done. His +apprenticeship had been a stern but good one. +</p> +<p> +And now he was going to introduce something +novel in his fire-eating tricks, but he was also going +to add to that. He had read considerable of +late about the fire-eating tricks of the old "magicians" +and had delved into many curious old books. +Now he was going to give his audience some of +this information. +</p> +<p> +"There is a trick in everything," said Joe, as he +faced his audience in readiness for the fire-eating +act. "If I told you that I actually swallowed blazing +fire, any physician would know that I was not +telling the truth. I do not really eat the fire. I +only seem to do so. But if in doing so I can deceive +you into thinking I do, and you are thrilled +and amused, you get your money's worth, I earn +mine, and we are all satisfied. So don't be alarmed +by what you see. +</p> +<p> +"The resistance of the human body to heat is +greater than many persons suppose," said Joe. "And +there is a vast difference between wet heat and dry +heat. Water, above one hundred and fifty degrees, +would be unbearable. It would really burn you +badly. Water, as you know, boils at two hundred +and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. But before this +point is reached it is capable of ending life. +</p> +<p> +"Dry heat, however, is different. Men have +frequently borne without permanent discomfort dry +heat up to three hundred degrees. This heat is +often reached in the drying rooms of oilcloth and +oiled silk factories. +</p> +<p> +"Now the fire I handle is dry heat. I would no +more think of pouring boiling water over my hands +than I would of taking poison. And yet I will +show you that I can thrust my hand into a blazing +fire and suffer no harm. +</p> +<p> +"In an old book I read that to enable one to +thrust one's hands into the fire all you had to do +was to anoint them with a mixture of <i>bol armenian</i>, +quicksilver, camphor and spirits of wine. I should +prefer to leave that mixture alone, though in the +book it is said that if one puts that mixture on his +hands he may handle boiling lead. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps some ancient magician did this, but +I think he depended more on water than on anything +else. If your hands are wet there is formed +on them a film of moisture which, for a moment, +will enable you to withstand high degrees of dry +heat. +</p> +<p> +"In another old book I read that if one prepared +himself with 'liquid stortax,' which is juice from a +certain tree growing in Italy, he could enter fire, +bathe in fire, put a burning coal on his tongue, and +even swallow fire. +</p> +<p> +"Now I am not going to let you into all my +secrets. You shall see—what you shall see!" concluded +Joe. +</p> +<p> +As intimated before, the method Joe Strong used +is not going to be printed here. You have been +given some genuine ancient formulae, safe in the +knowledge that some of the ingredients can not be +obtained. And the modern substitutes are not going +to be told. Enough to say that Joe had "prepared +himself." +</p> +<p> +The young magician looked to see that all was +in readiness. Perceiving that it was, he retired for +a moment to a cabinet set up on the stage, and when +he came out he was ready for his tricks. +</p> +<p> +Joe advanced to what seemed to be an elaborate +candelabra in which seven tapers were set. He +stood in front of this a moment, and then he announced: +</p> +<p> +"Having lived on a fire diet so long I have a bit +to spare. I will light these candles without using +a match." +</p> +<p> +He waved his hand over the candelabra. Sparks +were seen to shoot from his finger tips, and in an +instant the seven lights were glowing. That was +an electrical trick. In reality the candles were gas +jets, made to look like wax tapers, and Joe lighted +them from an electric current produced by a dry +battery he carried on his person. +</p> +<p> +He then proceeded to his main trick. He picked +up a plate. It seemed to contain pieces of bread. +Joe touched the edge of the plate to a flame of one +of the candles. In an instant the plate was ablaze, +and Joe calmly began putting the blazing stuff on +it into his mouth. +</p> +<p> +Cube after cube of the blazing "bread" he lifted +up on a fork and thrust between his lips. And +he seemed to enjoy the "eating" of it. +</p> +<p> +The audience was spellbound. Every one's eyes +were on Joe Strong doing his fire-eating trick. +</p> +<p> +The plate was empty. Joe looked about as though +for something else hot to eat. He caught up an +article from a table. Holding it to the flame of a +candle, it was at once ablaze. +</p> +<p> +And then, with a thrilling cry, Joe Strong leaped +from the stage, his two hands, held high above his +head, seeming to be enveloped in a mass of fire. +And with this fire held over him, he ran toward +the tank in which Benny Turton did his "human +fish" act. +</p> +<p> +The next instant Joe Strong, apparently ablaze +all over, dived into the tank. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH14"><!-- CH14 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XIV +</h2> + +<h3> +HEAD FIRST +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Which was the more surprised—Benny Turton, +who had just finished his fish act in his tank, the +spellbound audience, or Jim Tracy, who was, in a +way, directing Joe's performance—it would be hard +to say. All three were thrilled by the unexpected +outcome of the fire-eating act. Joe Strong alone +seemed perfectly at his ease, and, it might be mentioned +incidentally, perfectly at home in the water. +He had, as told in a previous volume, entitled "Joe +Strong, the Boy Fish," perfected himself in this +sort of work, and could remain submerged for an +unusually long time. +</p> +<p> +Of course the fire which seemed to envelop the +young magician was instantly put out when he +leaped into the tank. He was wearing a rather +fancy suit, and as he came up, wet and bedraggled, +Jim Tracy could not help wondering what Joe meant +by his performance. +</p> +<p> +"Joe! Joe! was that part of the act or an accident?" +asked Jim in a low voice, as he ran over to +where Joe was now climbing out of the tank. +For one instant Joe hesitated. The audience was +wildly applauding now. Clearly there was but one +thought in their minds. The whole thing was a +trick—Joe had only pretended to be on fire and had +taken that sensational means of appearing to extinguish +the blaze. +</p> +<p> +But the ringmaster noted a queer look on his +friend's face. It was not the look it usually wore +when Joe had completed some hazardous or sensational +trick. +</p> +<p> +"Are you hurt, Joe—burned?" asked Jim Tracy +anxiously. +</p> +<p> +"No," was the answer. "It was all part of the +act!" +</p> +<p> +The ringmaster looked satisfied, and it was not +until some time afterward that he learned what a +narrow escape Joe had had. +</p> +<p> +"This will be part of the fire-eating stunt at every +show," said Joe to the ringmaster. "You might +make the announcement so the people won't be +scared." +</p> +<p> +"I will! Say, it's some stunt all right!" And +then Jim began with his sonorous "Ladies and gentlemen!" +He stated that the young fire-eater would +show his familiarity with, and mastery over, fire +by setting himself ablaze and leaping into the tank +to extinguish the flames. The ringmaster added +that there would be no danger to either the audience +or the performer in this feature. +</p> +<p> +Joe bowed to the applause that followed, and then +hurried to his dressing room to don dry clothes for +his mystery box trick. +</p> +<p> +"I should think, if you were going to do tank +work, you'd wear a suit better adapted to it—like +mine," said Benny Turton, whose apartment was +next to Joe's in the dressing tent. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to," Joe announced, looking around +to make sure no one overheard. "The fact of the +matter is, Benny, I didn't count on pulling off this +stunt. It was an accident. Some of the alcohol I +use on the tow was spilled on my sleeves and caught +fire. Then more flames burst out. Luckily they +were at my back, so when I ran the flames were +fanned away from me. But I knew the tank was +the safest place to go, and in I jumped." +</p> +<p> +"But I heard you tell Jim it was all arranged." +</p> +<p> +"I did that so the crowd wouldn't get into a panic. +However I am going to work the trick at each performance +after this, only I'm going to wear a different +suit." +</p> +<p> +And Joe did. He had a garment partly made of +asbestos, though outwardly it did not resemble that +fire-resisting material any more than do the asbestos +curtains in theaters. And at the conclusion of +his fire-eating act Joe would seemingly burst into +fire and run blazing across the stage to leap into +the tank of water. +</p> +<p> +This finish to the act never failed to win great +applause. And once in the tank Joe did some of +the under-water tricks that had brought him fame. +He was careful, however, not to duplicate anything +that Benny Turton did, for he did not want to +"crab" the act of his friend. +</p> +<p> +But Joe's fire and water act was one of the big +features on the circus bill. +</p> +<p> +"Is this the sensation you were speaking of?" +asked Helen one day, when they had concluded an +afternoon's performance. +</p> +<p> +"No," answered Joe. "This only came about by +accident. I'm working on something more sensational +yet, and I am going to ask you to help me." +</p> +<p> +"I'm sure I'll do anything I can," said she. +</p> +<p> +"You won't be in any danger," the young magician +went on. "I'm beginning to understand fire +better the more I study it. I'm not getting too familiar, +either, let me tell you. Even a little scorch +is very painful." +</p> +<p> +"I glanced through one of your books the other +day," remarked Helen. "Do you really suppose +some of those old magicians actually handled fire +in the way it is stated?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, at least they pretended to," said her friend. +"There are tricks in all trades, you know." +</p> +<p> +As the circus went on its way business kept up +well, and it was seen that the season was going +to be an excellent one from a financial standpoint. +</p> +<p> +"Any more bogus tickets coming in?" asked Joe +one day of the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"Not since we adopted the new style," was the +answer. +</p> +<p> +"Have the detectives gotten on the trail of the +man, or the men, who cheated us?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Not yet," reported Mr. Moyne. "The last report +I had from them was that they were getting +nearer and nearer to a certain person whom they +suspected. They promise an arrest soon." +</p> +<p> +"That's the usual story," remarked Joe. "However, +we don't so much care about an arrest now +if we have stopped the counterfeit tickets from being +worked off on us." +</p> +<p> +"Well, there's always a chance that the same +thing will happen again," returned Mr. Moyne. +"It's too easy money for the criminals to give up, +I'm afraid. I'm on the lookout every day for +more counterfeits." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll leave it to you," remarked Joe. "Whenever +anything happens let me know and we'll take +some action." +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong was now kept very busy in the circus. +In fact he was what would be called a "star." He +did his mystery box trick, and, with Helen, worked +the "vanishing lady" trick so neatly that no one +guessed how it was done. The ten thousand dollars +was not claimed, successfully, though several +tried it, with the result that several local Red Cross +organizations were enriched by the hundred dollar +forfeit. +</p> +<p> +In addition to these mystery acts, and some more +ordinary sleight-of-hand tricks which he used to +fill in with, Joe did his fire-eating trick, ending that +act with the plunge into the tank. This never failed +to create a sensation. +</p> +<p> +"But it isn't the big sensation I'm after!" said +Joe, when his friends congratulated him. "Wait +until you see that!" +</p> +<p> +Another feature of Joe's performance was his +wire-walking. Since he had rescued the lady's cat +he had added this to his share of the program, and +it was a thriller enjoyed by many audiences. +</p> +<p> +"But it's a little tame," said Joe one day to Jim +Tracy. "I want to put a little more pep into it." +</p> +<p> +"How are you going to do it?" asked the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"I think I know a way," was the answer. +</p> +<p> +And a few days later Joe gave a demonstration. +</p> +<p> +The wire on which he performed was a high one, +stretched between two well-braced poles. On each +pole was fastened a small platform, somewhat like +those high up in the tent where the big swing was +fastened. +</p> +<p> +Joe walked across the wire from one platform to +the other, doing various "stunts" on the slender +support. One day Jim Tracy noticed that a long +to the ground between one of the rings and a wooden +platform. +</p> +<p> +"What's that, Joe?" asked the ringmaster, +"Looks like an extra guy wire for the pole." +</p> +<p> +"No, that's for my new stunt," said Joe. "I'll +show you at this show." +</p> +<p> +The audience watched him performing on the +high wire. Jim Tracy was watching, too, for he +remembered what Joe had said. Suddenly, at the +conclusion of the usual wire-walking feats, Joe +stooped, placed his head on the slanting wire, raised +himself until he was standing with his legs up and +spread apart. Then he quickly flung wide his +hands and slid on his head down the slanting win +to the ground, stopping himself just before he +reached it by grasping the wire in his gloved hands. +</p> +<p> +Jim Tracy, who was sitting on a box, leaped to +his feat. +</p> +<p> +"Head first!" he cried. "That's some stunt!" +</p> +<p> +And the audience seemed to think so, too, from +the way it applauded. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH15"><!-- CH15 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XV +</h2> + +<h3> +THE SWINDLERS AGAIN +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong, having checked his rapid, head-first +and head-on slide down the slanting wire by grasping +it in his gloved hands, gave a "flip-flop" and +stood up, bowing to the loud applause. Jim Tracy +and some of the other circus employees surrounded +the young man. +</p> +<p> +"Why didn't you tell us you were going to pull +off something like this?" demanded the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"Because I wasn't sure until the last minute that +I would do it," answered Joe. "I hadn't practiced +it as much as I should have liked, but when I got +up there on the platform I felt pretty sure I could +do it. I wasn't running much risk anyhow, except +that of failure. I knew I wouldn't fall, for I could +have grabbed the wire in my hands if I had started +to topple over." +</p> +<p> +"But how did you do it?" asked some one, who +came up to join the wondering throng after Joe's +feat had been performed. "I've seen you stand on +your head before, but to slide down a wire—say, +what sort of scalp have you, anyhow?" +</p> +<p> +Joe laughed and held out a close-fitting skull-cap +of leather. Fastened to the leather was a small +steel framework, and in this frame were two small +grooved wheels, like the wheels of a trolley by +means of which street cars receive the electric current +from the wire. Joe put the cap on his head +to show how it enabled him to do the trick. The +big races were on now, as the close of the performance +was close at hand, and the crowd was paying +attention to the contests and not to the group of +performers surrounding the young magician. +</p> +<p> +Once they had seen the cap with the grooved +wheels on top placed on Joe's head, his friends understood +how the trick was done. He had simply +to balance himself on his head on the wire, a feat +he had often performed before. The natural attraction +of gravitation did the rest. He simply slid +down on the wheels, his extended arms and legs +steadying him. +</p> +<p> +"It's just as if you had a roller skate on your +head," said Señorita Tanlozo, the snake charmer, +who had strolled into the main tent after her act +in the side show was over. +</p> +<p> +"Exactly," said Joe, with a smile. "Would you +like to try it?" +</p> +<p> +"Not while my snakes are alive!" she assured +him. +</p> +<p> +"Well, it's another drawing card for the Sampson +Brothers' Show," said Jim Tracy that night when +the receipts were being counted and preparations +being made for moving on to the next city. "How +long are you going to keep it up, Joe?" +</p> +<p> +"As to that, I can't say," was the answer. "But +I like the game, and I want to see the circus a success." +</p> +<p> +"It's a big one now, thanks in a large part to +you," observed the ringmaster. "But you'd better +take a rest now, Joe, my boy. Don't try to pull off +any more spectacular stunts." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I haven't pulled off my big one yet," replied +the young magician. "I mean the one with the fire. +I'm working on that. If it comes out the way I +think it will we'll have to give three performances a +day instead of two." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, we can't do that!" protested Mr. Moyne, +the treasurer. "It's hard enough keeping account +of the money and tickets now, with two shows a +day. If we have three—" +</p> +<p> +He paused, for it was very evident Joe was only +joking, and there were smiles on the faces of the +other circus folk. +</p> +<p> +"Don't worry!" said Joe to the treasurer. "I +don't want to act three times a day any more than +you want to count the tickets and cash. And, I +suppose, if we could, by some means, give three +performances, it would only give our swindling +ticket friends more chance to work their scheme. +By the way, there are no further signs of their +putting bogus tickets on sale, are there?" +</p> +<p> +"Not since we started the detectives at work," +the treasurer answered. "But I'm always on the +watch, and so are the men at the entrances." +</p> +<p> +"It's about time those detectives got results, I +think," declared Jim Tracy. "I wonder what they +think we're paying them for?" +</p> +<p> +"It takes time for a thing like that to be cleaned +up," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I know what I'd do if I were detecting," +half-growled the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"What?" inquired the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"I'd round up and arrest a certain few worthless +men I know who used to be in the circus business—some +with this show!" declared Jim. "It's queer, +but our outfit seems to be the only one that they +pick on. That's what makes me think it was some +one who used to work for us." +</p> +<p> +"Who?" the treasurer wanted to know. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm not mentioning any names," declared +the ringmaster, as he prepared to divest himself of +his dress suit in readiness for the trip to the circus +train. "But I have my suspicions." +</p> +<p> +"What makes you say ours is the only circus to +have lost money on bogus tickets?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Read it in <i>Paste and Paper</i>," was the answer. +That was the name of the trade journal devoted to +the interests of circus folk, tent shows, and the +like. "The last number had a piece in it about our +losing money on fake tickets," went on the ringmaster, +"and it said it was the first case of its kind +to appear in several years. There have been no +complaints of circuses in other parts of the country +being cheated that way, this article said. So I know +it's some one picking specially on us." +</p> +<p> +"Well, perhaps you're right," assented Joe. "But +as long as we have changed our style of tickets and +they haven't tried their tricks again, maybe we've +settled them." +</p> +<p> +"All the same I'm going to be on the watch," declared +the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +The city where the circus showed the following +day and night was a large one. A new automobile +industry employing many hands had located there +within the last six months. It was decided to make +a stay of two days in this place, since the advance +agent reported that many of the men worked overtime +and nights, and otherwise they could not see +the performance. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm glad we're to be here two days," remarked +Helen, as she passed Joe's private quarters, +where he was going over some of his apparatus, +costumes, and effects. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, we'll have a good night's rest," he agreed, +though, truth to tell, the circus folk were so used +to traveling that the train journey almost every +night did not bother them. Still they always welcomed +a stay in a city over night. +</p> +<p> +"You seem busy," remarked Helen, as she sat +down on a box and watched Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I'm going to introduce a little novelty in +the slide down the slanting wire," he answered. +"I'm going to work in a fire stunt." +</p> +<p> +"A fire stunt!" exclaimed Helen. "Surely you +aren't going to—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it won't be dangerous!" Joe assured her, +guessing her thoughts. Helen had learned that the +jump into Benny's tank the first time was due +to an accident. "It's just a bit spectacular and will +liven things up a bit, I think. If it goes well I +have an idea you can work one of the features in +your bareback act." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, I never could walk a wire, nor slide +down on my head, the way you do. And I don't +see how Rosebud could, either." And Helen gave a +merry little laugh at the vision she raised. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm not going to have your horse walk the +tight rope nor the high wire!" laughed Joe. "It +would be a corking good stunt if we could, though. +No, this is simpler. I'll tell you about it later." +</p> +<p> +Mrs. Watson, wife of the veteran clown, called +for Helen just then, asking her to go to see one of +the women performers who was ill. +</p> +<p> +"I'll see you later, Joe," Helen called out, as she +left him. +</p> +<p> +Joe was busy mixing up some chemicals in a pail +on the ground outside his tent when he was accosted +by a rather hoarse voice asking: +</p> +<p> +"Any chance for a job here, boss?" +Joe looked up to see a somewhat disreputable +figure of a man observing him. The fellow looked +like the typical tramp, perhaps not quite so ragged +and dirty, but still in that class. However, there +was something about the man that attracted Joe's +attention. As he said afterward, his visitor had +about him the air of the "profesh." +</p> +<p> +Joe's first impulse was to say that he knew of +no job, or else to refer his accoster to the head +canvas man, who hired transient help in putting +up the main top and in pulling or driving stakes. +But as Joe observed the man curiously watching +him, he had another idea. Before he could act on +it, however, the man exclaimed: +</p> +<p> +"You do a fire-eating stunt, don't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," Joe answered. And then it occurred to +him to wonder how the man knew. True he might +have observed Joe in some of the many performances, +but the man did not look like one who would +spend money on circus tickets. He might have +crawled under the tent, but it did not seem exactly +probable. And, of course, some of the circus employees +plight have pointed Joe out to the man as +the actor who handled fire. But, again, Joe did not +believe this. So he asked: +</p> +<p> +"How did you know?" +</p> +<p> +For answer the man pointed to the pail of chemicals +into which Joe was about to dip a suit of +tights. +</p> +<p> +"Smelled the dope," was the brief answer. +"You're using tungstate of soda, aren't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," answered Joe, surprised that a man, evidently +of such a class, should recognize the not +very common chemical. +</p> +<p> +"We used to use alum in the old days," the man +went on. "I guess the new dope's better, though I +never tried it." +</p> +<p> +"Are you in the business?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I—er—I used to be," and the man +straightened himself up with an air of forgotten +pride. "I was with a circus once—used to do a +fire-eating act and jump into a fake bonfire. I doped +my clothes with alum water though. That's great +stuff for preventing the fire taking hold if you don't +stay in the blaze too long. But, as I say, they've +discovered something new." +</p> +<p> +"You used to be a fire-eater?" asked Joe curiously. +</p> +<p> +"Yes. And I was counted a pretty good one. +But I lost my nerve." +</p> +<p> +"How?" +</p> +<p> +"Well—er—not to put too fine a point on it, I +got too fond of the fire-water. Couldn't stay on the +water-wagon long enough, got careless in my act, +went down and out. Oh, it's the old story. You've +probably heard it lots of times. But I would like +a job now. I'm actually hungry, and I've seen the +time I could blow the bunch to champagne and +lobster." +</p> +<p> +Joe, on impulse, and yet, too, because he had an +object, was just going to offer the man help when +he saw Mr. Moyne coming across the lot toward +him from the ticket wagon. The afternoon performance +was about to start. +</p> +<p> +"They're here again!" cried the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"Who?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"The ticket swindlers!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH16"><!-- CH16 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XVI +</h2> + +<h3> +RINGS OF FIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Instantly Joe Strong lost interest in the "tramp +fire-eater," as he afterward came to call the man. +All the attention of the young magician was centered +on what the treasurer had said. +</p> +<p> +"Are you certain of this?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Positive!" was the answer. "We've been keeping +careful watch, paying special attention to the +red serial numbers, and some duplicates have been +taken in at the main entrance. The swindlers are +at work again." +</p> +<p> +"But our new tickets!" exclaimed Joe. "The new +style of paper and the precautions we have taken! +What of that?" +</p> +<p> +In answer Mr. Moyne held out two tickets, both +bearing the same serial number in red ink. +</p> +<p> +"Which is the bogus and which is the genuine?" +he asked. +</p> +<p> +Joe looked carefully at the two. He examined +them for a full minute. +</p> +<p> +"I can't tell!" he admitted. +</p> +<p> +"And no one else can, either," declared the treasurer. +"We're up against it again! Those fellows +are too clever for us. Now we'll lose a lot of +money!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, it won't break us," said Joe easily. +"Though, of course, no one likes to be cheated. +The only thing to do is to get the detectives busy. +Let them know the new turn affairs have taken, +and I'll send these two tickets to our chemist friend. +He can tell which is printed from our regular stock, +and which is the counterfeit. +</p> +<p> +"Then, too, it ought to be easier to catch the +rascals now than it was at first. You see, we didn't +know how long the old tickets had been counterfeited. +Now we're warned, first shot out of the +box, about the new ones. And since the paper mill +hasn't been supplying our printer with the new kind +of paper very long, it ought to be easy to trace +where the new and clever counterfeit supply is coming +from." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hope they can catch the scoundrels," +said Mr. Moyne. "I certainly hate to see money +lost." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Moyne was an ideal treasurer. He always +had the interests of the circus at heart, and one +would think that the money came out of his own +pocket to hear him talk about the counterfeit tickets. +In a way he did lose, personally, since he was +one of the owners of the show, and the less money +that came in the less his stock dividends would +amount to. +</p> +<p> +"I'll write to Mr. Waldon to-night," said Joe, +as he took the two tickets. "And we'll notify the +detectives. Now I must get ready for my act. That +can't be dropped." +</p> +<p> +"Having trouble, eh?" asked the tramp, who had +moved a little to one side. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, well, just a little," admitted Joe, who was +not altogether pleased that this talk should have been +overheard by a stranger. +</p> +<p> +"Did you say there was any chance for a job?" +asked the ragged man. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I don't know," said Joe, rather doubtfully. +"Is that straight goods, about your being a fire-eater?" +</p> +<p> +"I was once. But I'm not looking for that kind +of a job now," was the quick answer. "I lost my +nerve, I tell you. Handling stakes or driving a +wagon would be my limit." +</p> +<p> +"What sort of an act in the fire line did you +have?" asked Joe, for a certain idea was beginning +to form in his mind. +</p> +<p> +"It was a good act!" was the response, and again +the spark of pride seemed about to be fanned into +a flame. "Got any old-timers in this here circus of +yours?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," answered Joe. "There's Jim Tracy and +Bill Watson and—" +</p> +<p> +"Bill Watson who used to clown it?" cried the +man eagerly. +</p> +<p> +"He clowns it yet." +</p> +<p> +"Old Bill!" murmured the tramp. "Him still +making good in the business, and me a bum! Well, +it's all my own fault. If I'd stuck to the fire-eating +and not drinking fire-water I'd be somewhere to-day. +Just ask Bill Watson what sort of an act +Ham Logan had—'Coal-fire Logan!'" exclaimed +the man. "That was my title. Hamilton Logan is +my name, but I haven't told any one in—not in a +long time," he added, and he looked away. "But +ask Bill Watson about me." +</p> +<p> +"Here he comes now," said Joe, as he observed +the veteran clown approaching. "Suppose you ask +him yourself." +</p> +<p> +For an instant Ham Logan hesitated. Then he +stepped forward and confronted the old clown. The +latter paid no attention at first, evidently thinking +the man one of the many hangers-on about a circus +ground. +</p> +<p> +"Joe," began Bill Watson, "Helen sent me to ask +you if you have any ammonia in your kit—I mean +the kind they give the ladies when their hearts are +weak, or something like that. One of the girls has +some kind of a little spell, and we can't find the doctor." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I have some ammonia," said Joe. "I'll get +it." +</p> +<p> +Ham Logan looked Bill Watson in the face, and +asked: +</p> +<p> +"Don't you remember me?" +</p> +<p> +"Can't say that I do," was the somewhat cool +response of the veteran clown. "Is there any reason +why I should?" +</p> +<p> +"Do you remember Coal-fire Logan?" +</p> +<p> +Bill Watson started, looked more closely at the +man, and then slowly asked: +</p> +<p> +"Are you Ham Logan?" +</p> +<p> +"What's left of me—yes." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll be gum swizzled!" exclaimed Bill. +"Say, did the elephant step on you or one of the +tent wagons roll over you?" +</p> +<p> +"Neither one. I'm down and out, that's all—and +it's enough, too." +</p> +<p> +"Well, that's enough, I should say," commented +the clown, as he took the bottle of stimulant Joe +handed him. "Last I heard of you you'd gone on a +theater circuit. That was just after you'd quit the +Dobling show." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I did do a theater circuit," admitted Ham +Logan. "But it didn't last. Or rather, I didn't last. +I was just asking the young man here for a job. +I said you'd remember me." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I certainly do," returned the old clown, +who was not to do his act until later in the day. +</p> +<p> +"And I'm sorry to see you in this state, Ham. You +did me a good turn once, and I haven't forgotten. +Stick around a while, and I'll see you as soon as I +play first-aid. Joe, if it isn't asking too much, will +you look after Ham for a while? He used to be a +good sort, and—" +</p> +<p> +"Better say too much of a 'good <i>sport</i>'" paraphrased +the man. +</p> +<p> +"I'll take care of him," promised Joe. "Did you +say you were hungry?" asked the young magician, +as the old clown turned and hurried away with the +ammonia. +</p> +<p> +"You said it! But I'm not altogether a grafter. +I can work for what I eat." And again there was +a flash of pride. +</p> +<p> +"We'll talk of that later," said Joe. "Just now +I want to get you something to eat. Here, take that +over to the dining tent," and he scribbled a few +words on one of his cards. "After you've eaten all +you want, and after the show this afternoon, look +me up." +</p> +<p> +"Do you think you can give me work?" asked +the man eagerly. "I don't mean to act," he hastened +to say. "I'm past that—down and out. But +I'm strong. I can pull on the ropes or drive +stakes." +</p> +<p> +"We'll talk of that later," replied Joe gently. "Go +and eat now." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I sure can feed my face!" exclaimed the +man. "I—I don't know how to thank you. Bill +will tell you that I wasn't a bad fellow in my day. +I just lost my nerve—that's all. False friends and +fire-water—" +</p> +<p> +"See me later," said Joe, with a friendly wave +of his hand. And the man hurried toward the dining +tent, next to the cook wagons. Already he +seemed imbued with more hope and pride, something +that filled Joe with pleasure. +</p> +<p> +Joe busied himself with mixing the chemicals in +the pail. As Ham Logan had guessed, the young +fire-eater was mixing up a solution of tungstate of +soda. This chemical is a salt, made by roasting +wolfram with soda ash, and wolfram is a native +tungstate of iron and manganese. This soda preparation +is used commercially in making garments +fire-proof, and Joe had learned this from Mr. Herbert +Waldon, the chemist. He had decided to use +this instead of an alum solution, which is credited +with great fire-resisting qualities. It has them, too, +to a certain extent, but by experimenting Joe had +found the tungstate of soda best. +</p> +<p> +It was the evening of the circus in the city in +which the show was to remain two days. Ham Logan +had returned to Joe after having eaten a good +meal, and later Bill Watson formed the third member +of a trio that talked for some time in a corner of +Joe's tent. +</p> +<p> +As already said, it was the evening performance, +and as Helen finished her act on Rosebud she looked +over toward the place where Joe was preparing to +do his slide down the slanting wire. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what he had in mind as a new act +for me," mused Helen. "I do hope it isn't anything +to do with fire. That sort of stunt creates a +sensation, but it's dangerous, in spite of what Joe +does to himself. I don't like it! Not after what +happened to Joe that day!" +</p> +<p> +She had seen that Rosebud was given in charge +of the groom who always looked after the clever +steed, and now Helen moved over where she could +watch Joe's comparatively new wire act. +</p> +<p> +As she approached this part of the circus tent +Helen was startled to see several men carrying large +hoops on long poles, take their positions on either +side of the slanting wire down which the daring performer +was soon to slide on his head, by means of +the wheeled cap. +</p> +<p> +"That's something new!" exclaimed Helen, as she +saw the men with the big hoops. "I wonder if Joe +is going to jump through them, as I jump through +the paper hoops from Rosebud's back?" +</p> +<p> +Joe was up on the little platform now, having +finished his wire act. He was adjusting to his head +the leather cap. +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen!" began Jim Tracy in his +sonorous voice, as he pointed to Joe on his high +perch, thus calling attention to the performer. +</p> +<p> +All eyes were turned in his direction. Then, as +Joe stooped over and stood on his head, preparatory +to sliding down the wire, the hoops, which the men +held over the cable by means of long poles, suddenly +burst into flame. Held over the wire, down +which Joe would in a moment slide, was a row of +fiery circles! +</p> +<p> +Helen held her hand over her lips to stifle a +scream. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH17"><!-- CH17 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XVII +</h2> + +<h3> +THE BROKEN BOTTLE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +So still was it in the big circus tent after the band +stopped playing, while Joe prepared to do his head +slide, that the whirr of the steel wheels in his leather +cap could plainly be heard as he slid down the wire. +</p> +<p> +And as Helen and the others watched, the intention +of the daring young performer became evident. +</p> +<p> +He was going to coast through the blazing hoops +of fire which the men held in such a position that +Joe could slide through them without touching them. +Though they were called "hoops," in reality they +were not completely closed, there being a slight +opening to enable them to be slipped over the slanting +wire. If a gigantic letter "C" with a long pole +fastened to the lower curved part, can be imagined, +it; will give an exact idea of what is meant. +</p> +<p> +As to the fire itself, it was caused by blazing +bits of tow fastened to the circumference of the +big wire hoops. And thus through the blazing +circles Joe Strong slid down the slanting wire on +his head. At the lower end of the wire, where it +was fast to a stake in the ground, he caught hold +of the cable in his gloved hands and so slowed his +speed. Then he leaped to his feet and bowed in +acknowledgment of the applause. +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" murmured Helen, as she watched. "It +was only another of his sensational acts. When I +first saw the blazing hoops I half thought that some +one was trying to injure Joe, as they did when the +acid was used on his high trapeze. Oh, it was only +a trick!" +</p> +<p> +And so it was. Joe had planned it that day after +meeting Ham Logan. The latter, talking about the +time when he, too, had been a fire-eater, had mentioned +an act where a performer leaped through +blazing hoops, and Joe determined to use the idea, +varying it to suit his purpose. That it was effective +was evidenced by the long-continued applause. +</p> +<p> +"But, Joe," asked Helen, when the performance +was over and she and Joe had received another +ovation at the conclusion of the box mystery and +the vanishing lady trick, "wasn't there danger of +setting your clothes on fire when you went through +the blazing hoops?" +</p> +<p> +"None at all," Joe assured her. "I have been +planning a stunt like this for some time, and my +garments were fire-proofed. Of course I wouldn't +have done it otherwise. Look here!" +</p> +<p> +He took up a fancy jacket he had worn in his +wire slide. Taking a match Joe lighted it and held +it against the cloth. It did not take fire. +</p> +<p> +"There was that day—" +</p> +<p> +"But I have perfected the act since then, Helen. +Of course the tungstate of soda that I soaked the +clothes in wouldn't keep them from catching fire +if I put the suit in a furnace. But the solution +will make cloth resist a blaze temporarily, as will +alum under some circumstances. I use alum on +the suit I wear when I pretend to set myself on +fire and then jump into the tank of water," went +on Joe. "But after this I'm going to use the soda. +It's more certain." +</p> +<p> +Joe worked the trick of seeming to set himself +ablaze in this way. As he said, his suit was made +as nearly fireproof as possible. Then on the back +of his jacket were placed some bunches of tow +saturated with alcohol. When this tow was set on +fire it burned quickly, but Joe knew the flame would +not last long. And the fact that the garments on +which the burning material was fastened were as +nearly fireproof as was possible to make them gave +him additional safety. He really ran little risk, as +the fire was at his back, and, as he ran toward the +tank, his speed carried the flames away from him. +</p> +<p> +Joe, and all others who do a fire-eating act, calculate +to a nicety just how long a certain fire will +burn. And they do not place the blazing material +into the mouth until the flames are almost on the +point of going out of themselves. This, added to +the fact that a chemical solution protects the tongue +and lips, makes the act comparatively safe. But +one word of caution. <i>Do not try to fire-proof the +mouth with tungstate of soda</i>. This warning cannot +be made too strong! +</p> +<p> +In fact, it is well not to try any fire-eating <i>at all</i>. +It is too risky unless one is a professional. +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe," remarked Jim Tracy, later that night +when most of the circus folk were asleep, "if you +want to add this fellow to our show, go ahead. +You have the say, you know." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I don't want to do it in just that way," +replied the young fire-eater. "Bill Watson says that +Ham Logan was once a good man. He is down +and out now, but he knows a lot about circus life +and this handling of fire. I believe I can work him +up into something useful—use him in a new act +I'm thinking of putting on. If we can only keep +him away from intoxicants he'll be all right, and +I'd like to give him a chance." +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe, as I said, it's up to you. Go to it! +But remember, while he means all right, he may +not have the spunk to keep his promise not to drink." +</p> +<p> +"I think he'll keep it," said Joe. "Anyhow, I'd +like to give him a trial. He helped me with that +fire hoop stunt, and it would be an act of charity +to give him work." +</p> +<p> +"All right—you can be the charity," said the ringmaster. +"What do you say, Bill Watson?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, give him a chance," replied the old clown +good-naturedly. "We all have our troubles. He +can't do much harm, anyhow." +</p> +<p> +"I don't know about that," said Jim, with a shake +of his head. "This playing with fire by a man +who can't keep away from fire-water, is risky." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll take the chance," said Joe. And that +was characteristic of him—taking chances. +</p> +<p> +Ham Logan was deeply grateful to Joe for what +the young performer did. That is, he hired the +former fire-eater as a sort of handy man in the +circus, Ham to be subject to Joe's direction day and +night. +</p> +<p> +"And let the fire-water alone!" demanded Joe. +"I will! I really will!" said the old circus performer. +He seemed to mean it. +</p> +<p> +Joe advanced him money enough to get some +better clothes, to have a bath and be shaved, and +it was quite a different person who appeared at the +tent the following day, ready to help Joe. As Ham +knew more about fire than any assistant Joe had +yet been able to train, the new man was given +charge of the various apparatus Joe used in his sensational +acts, including the one of sliding down the +wire on his head through the blazing hoops. +</p> +<p> +One matter bothered Joe and his friends, in spite +of the great success the circus was having, and this +was the bogus tickets. Several hundred of them +were presented at the performances in the city where +the two-day stay was made—the city already mentioned +as being the location of a big automobile +industry. And where the tickets came from remained +a mystery. They were so nearly like the +ones issued from the ticket wagon that not until +duplicate numbers had been observed could the +fraud be detected. +</p> +<p> +And as the men at the main entrances had no time +in the rush to compare serial numbers, there seemed +no way of stopping the cheating. It was impossible +to see to it that every one who came to the show +purchased admission tickets at the wagon. The +surging crowds around prevented this. +</p> +<p> +Men engaged by the circus circulated through the +throngs about the tent, seeking to learn whether any +unauthorized persons were selling bogus tickets. +But none was seen. +</p> +<p> +"It is evident," said Mr. Moyne, "that the counterfeiters +get a bunch of the fake tickets and sell +them in large lots to some men. These men, in +turn, dispose of them at reduced prices to others, +and perhaps the persons who use the tickets do not +know they are counterfeits. I believe the swindlers +go to the big factories and stores, and sell the +tickets at a slightly lower price than we ask." +</p> +<p> +"We ought to be able to put a stop to that," said +Joe. +</p> +<p> +"We'll try it!" said the treasurer. "It seems the +only way—that and having the detectives stop the +fraud at the source. You see, we can't tell which +are the counterfeit tickets until after we check up +the serial numbers—that's what makes it so hard." +</p> +<p> +And so, in spite of the success of Joe's acts and +The success of the show in general, there was this +element of annoyance. Joe wished the mystery +could be cleared up. He had received back from +the chemist the two tickets sent on last, and the +counterfeit was marked. This was sent to the paper +mill and the detectives notified. That was all that +could be done for the present. +</p> +<p> +"Well, how's Coal-fire Logan making out?" asked +Bill Watson of Joe one day, just before an afternoon +performance. +</p> +<p> +"Very good," was the answer. "He's faithful +and steady, and he's good help to me. He certainly +knows the fire-eating stunt." +</p> +<p> +"Well, as long as he doesn't do any fire-drinking +maybe he'll be all right," said the old clown. +</p> +<p> +"I haven't noticed any lapse," said Joe. "I have +great hopes of him." +</p> +<p> +But that very afternoon, during the performance, +Joe felt doubt beginning to creep over him. +He caught Ham in several mistakes—slight ones—but +enough, if not noticed in time, to have spoiled +the act. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what the matter is with him?" mused +Joe. "He doesn't seem to have been drinking, and +yet he acts queer. I wonder if he can be using +drugs." +</p> +<p> +It was at the close of the act and the wind-up +of the circus for the afternoon that Joe told Ham +to put away some of the apparatus until evening. +Joe was called away from his dressing room for a +moment and when he came back he saw Ham hastily +throw away a dark brown bottle which struck on +a stone and broke. Immediately a queer odor filled +the air. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder if that was liquor he was taking, and +if he threw away the empty bottle," thought Joe +quickly. "I'm going to find out, I've got to stop +this thing at the start." +</p> +<p> +He hurried to the place where Ham had tossed +the bottle. The fragments lay there, and the queer +odor was more pronounced. +</p> +<p> +"Don't touch that! Let that bottle alone!" suddenly +cried Ham Logan, as he became aware of +Joe's intention. "Don't touch it!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH18"><!-- CH18 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XVIII +</h2> + +<h3> +A NARROW ESCAPE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this +warning and observed the face of the man he was +befriending. His first thought was that Ham had +broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. +Naturally the man would want to conceal +this as long as possible. The other thought was +that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick—perhaps +he was jealous of Joe's success and his own +failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's apparatus. +Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property +the brown bottle, which when broken emitted +such a queer smell. +</p> +<p> +Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not +heeding the warning call of the former circus star, +he walked closer to the broken flask. +</p> +<p> +"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. +"Keep away!" +</p> +<p> +"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence. +</p> +<p> +"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very +dangerous." +</p> +<p> +"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to +know. "Look here, Ham," he said earnestly, "are +you up to—any of your old tricks? You know +what I mean. Are you?" +</p> +<p> +The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in +the face, he said: +</p> +<p> +"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer +you as straight. I haven't broken my promise—that +is, only the times you know about. I haven't +broken it this time. I found that bottle in among +your things, and I was mighty sure it didn't belong +there." +</p> +<p> +"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though +he had dabbled in chemistry, he did not recognize +the queer odor. +</p> +<p> +"A combination of the strongest acids ever +known!" was the answer of Ham Logan. "A drop +of it makes a terrible burn, and it will eat through +solid steel and iron. I knew that if it broke where +it was, among your trick things, a lot of them would +be ruined. And I knew you couldn't have left the +bottle there by mistake, as it wasn't there the last +time I packed away your duds. And I knew if you +knew what it was you wouldn't have left it around +in that careless way. So, taking no chances, I threw +it away, and I meant to break the bottle. That acid +is awful stuff. It's best to let it soak into the ground. +Come over and see what it does even to earth and +stones." +</p> +<p> +He led the way to where the fluid had escaped +from the broken flask, the fragments of which were +scattered about. The odor was less strong now, +as the acid was soaking into the earth. But there +was a fuming and bubbling at the spot, and the +very stones and earth seemed to be burning up in +a small area. +</p> +<p> +"Don't step in it!" warned Ham Logan. "It will +eat right through your shoes. Glass is the only +thing it won't hurt—glass and porcelain. They +mix it in porcelain retorts. I'll throw some loose +earth over this place. The effects of the acid will +soon be lost, but while it's active it's terrible stuff, +believe me!" +</p> +<p> +"And you say you found that bottle in my baggage?" +asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," answered Ham Logan. "And am I right +in saying you didn't know it was there?" +</p> +<p> +"I certainly didn't," declared Joe. "Who in the +world could have put it there?" +</p> +<p> +"Have you any enemies?" asked Ham. "I mean +some one who would like to see your circus acts +spoiled, or even see you laid up for a while?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, I guess perhaps there are some I've made +enemies of by having to discharge them, or something +like that," admitted Joe, his thoughts going +naturally to Bill Carfax. "There's one man, but +he hasn't been seen around for a good while." +</p> +<p> +"That doesn't count. He may have gotten some +one to do his trick for him," asserted Ham. "You'd +better look out, Mr. Strong." +</p> +<p> +"I will!" declared Joe. "And thank you for your +watchfulness. As you say, I didn't know that bottle +was there, and I might have broken it by accident +or have opened it and spilled some out. How +did you come to discover it?" +</p> +<p> +"Just by accident. The smell is something you +never forget. It comes up even around the glass +stopper. As soon as I began overhauling your +things, as you told me to, I smelled the stuff and +I went on a still hunt for it. +</p> +<p> +"I was careful, too. I knew what it meant to +get any of that acid on you, or on any of the things +about you. I used to work in the chemical plant +where they made the stuff—that was after I left +the circus. Well, it can't do any harm now," he +said as he got a shovel and covered with clean earth +the bits of broken glass and the still fuming drops +of add. +</p> +<p> +"Thank you," said Joe fervently. +</p> +<p> +He went into his private tent. Presently he came +out with a bit of wire cable, such as is used in making +circus trapezes. One end was blackened and +partly fused, as though it had been in the fire. Joe +held out this bit of wire rope. It was part of the +trapeze he used in his big swing. +</p> +<p> +"What would you say had eaten through these +strands?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +Ham Logan looked carefully at the cable. He +sniffed it cautiously. He held it up to the light +and again smelled it. +</p> +<p> +"It was this same acid that ate those strands," he +declared. "I know how it used to eat metal out at +the chemical works, and it does so in a queer way. +This wire rope is eaten through just like that. +There isn't any odor left, though sometimes it lasts +a long time. But I'm sure the same kind of acid +was used. You don't mean to tell me you have been +experimenting with it!" and he looked in surprise +at Joe. +</p> +<p> +"No indeed!" and the young fire-eater shook his +head. "I never handle the acid. And the fact that +the cable was eaten through nearly caused an accident." +He then explained how he had discovered +the partly severed wire rope just in time. +</p> +<p> +"They must have put on a weak solution of the +acid," declared Ham. "Otherwise it would have +eaten the rope through in jig time. So that's the +game, is it? Well, they may have been trying it +on a larger scale. Did you find out who doped the +rope?" +</p> +<p> +"There was a man who might have done it," said +Joe, thinking of Harry Loper. "But I don't believe +he did." +</p> +<p> +"Is he still with the show?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes. I'll tell you all the circumstances," which +Joe did, mentioning Loper by name. +</p> +<p> +"Well, we won't say anything," declared Ham +Logan; "but I'll just keep my eyes on this Loper. +As you say, he may not have done it, but he may +know who did. I'll keep my eyes on him. Meanwhile +be careful in overhauling your things. Look +out for bottles that smell as this one did." +</p> +<p> +"I will!" promised Joe. "I guess I won't forget +that odor. I can't tell you how I thank you, Ham. +You've done me a good turn!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, you did me one," was the answer. "I +was down and out when you gave me work, and I +won't forget that in a hurry." +</p> +<p> +Joe pondered over what had happened as he performed +his circus acts the remainder of that day +and evening. He shuddered at the narrow escape +he had had, and, when he had a chance, he carefully +noted the conduct of Harry Loper. But that +young fellow did not seem at all to act like one who +had tried to do a dastardly trick. He was jolly +and good-natured, as he always was, albeit somewhat +of a weak character. +</p> +<p> +The circus performances went off well, Joe and +the other actors receiving wild applause as they did +their specialties. Joe's fire-eating was eagerly +watched, and when he slid down the rope on his +head, through the blazing hoops, the crowd went +wild, as they did when, seemingly all afire, he leaped +into the tank. +</p> +<p> +"When you going to spring that sensation you've +been talking of, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, at the conclusion +of one afternoon show. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, pretty soon now," was the reply. "Ham +Logan and I are working on it." +</p> +<p> +"Ham Logan! Is he going to be in it with you?" +asked the ringmaster in some surprise. +</p> +<p> +"Of course!" answered Joe. "It's partly his idea. +He's an old fire-actor, you know, and he's given me +some good suggestions. Yes, he's going to help me. +I think we'll put the act on next week. We've got +to train some new performers first." +</p> +<p> +"New performers! Say, what are you going to +do, Joe, take a troupe of fire-eating actors out on +the road?" +</p> +<p> +"Something like that, yes," answered the young +magician, with a laugh. "You'll see." +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong varied his acts in the circus tent +Sometimes he would omit the "vanishing lady" act, +as Helen wanted to put through some extra work +with Rosebud, and there was not time for both. +Again he would leave out some of his acrobatic +work, or perhaps not do the trick of seeming to +catch fire and extinguishing the flames in Benny +Turton's tank. Once in a while he would omit the +ten thousand dollar mystery box trick. +</p> +<p> +But on the day when he had the above conversation +with Jim Tracy they were showing in a large +factory town. There had been good business in +the afternoon, and Joe had not done the box trick. +But just before the evening show Jim came to Joe +and said: +</p> +<p> +"There've been several requests, Joe, that you put +the box trick on to-night." +</p> +<p> +"Requests from whom?" Joe asked. +</p> +<p> +"One of the newspaper men was telling me they +received a lot of telephone calls to-day asking if the +box trick would be done and the reward paid in case +some one discovered the way it was done." +</p> +<p> +"What did you say?" +</p> +<p> +"I said I thought you'd put the trick on in that +case. Don't you think you'd better? We didn't +advertise it specially for to-night, but there might +be a lot of sore-heads if we don't pull it off." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'll do it all right!" declared Joe. "I thought +it was getting a bit stale. But if the crowd wants +to see it I'll do it." +</p> +<p> +"I guess it will be better," said the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +Accordingly, at the proper time, Joe, in his dazzling +white suit, took his place in the silk-curtained +enclosure. Helen, in her black dress, was ready to +help him. The fireman, with his gleaming ax, ready +to chop Joe out of the box in case anything should +go wrong, was also on the stage. +</p> +<p> +As has been related in the other book, this last +was done only for effect. Joe well knew that he +could get out of the box. The manager made the +usual offer of ten thousand dollars to be paid to +any one who would disclose how the trick was done. +</p> +<p> +"You will all be given a chance to claim the reward +under the usual conditions after the trick has +been performed by Professor Strong," was the announcement +made. +</p> +<p> +As the description of the manner in which Joe +and Helen did the trick is given in all its details in +the volume preceding this, suffice it here to say that +Joe got into the box, which was locked and roped, +and, at the proper time, he appeared outside. +</p> +<p> +"Is there any one who can tell how the trick was +done, and so earn the ten thousand dollar reward?" +asked the manager. He had made this announcement +many times. Seldom, of late, had any one +come forward. But now, somewhat to the surprise +of Joe and his friends, a man's voice called from +a location near the platform: +</p> +<p> +"I can tell how it was done!" +</p> +<p> +"Will you please come forward," invited Joe, now +taking charge of the proceedings. +</p> +<p> +A fairly well-dressed man stepped across the +arena and approached the stage. Joe and Jim Tracy +and the others vitally interested looked closely at +him. He was not Bill Carfax—that was certain. +And Joe did not know the man, nor, as Jim Tracy +admitted afterward, did he. +</p> +<p> +"You say you can tell how I get out of the box?" +asked Joe, and the audience listened intently. +</p> +<p> +"Yes. I know the secret." +</p> +<p> +"Are you willing to post a hundred dollars to +be forfeited to the Red Cross in case you fail?" +went on the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"I am. Here is the money!" was the cool response. +This quick compliance with the terms of +the offer rather staggered Joe. But he had no fear +as to the outcome. +</p> +<p> +"Very well," went on the originator of the box +trick. "The ringmaster will hold your money. If +you are successful in telling how I get out of the +box the cash will be handed back to you, and you +will receive, in addition, a check for ten thousand +dollars. Now then, how do I get out of the box? +Tell the audience." +</p> +<p> +There was a moment of suspense, and then the +man, with an air of confidence, stepped close to the +big, heavy box and, pointing to a certain corner, +said: +</p> +<p> +"Right there is a secret panel. You slip it back +and get out that way!" +</p> +<p> +The man seemed so triumphantly confident and so +sure of his statement, that several in the audience +cried: +</p> +<p> +"Is that right? Is that how you do the trick? If +it is pay him the ten thousand dollars!" +</p> +<p> +Joe looked at Jim Tracy. This was the first time +any one had ever come so close to the truth. Helen, +standing at one side of the stage, began to be fearful +that, after all, Joe's secret was discovered. It +would mean an end of the box trick. +</p> +<p> +Then Joe smiled, and stepped forward. And +there was something in the smile that reassured +Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Has he guessed it?" she asked in a low voice, +as Joe passed her. +</p> +<p> +"No. But it was a narrow escape," was the answer. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH19"><!-- CH19 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XIX +</h2> + +<h3> +JUGGLING WITH FIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Smilingly the man who had made claim to the +ten thousand dollars waited for Joe Strong. The +fellow seemed already to have the money in his +grasp. +</p> +<p> +"You say there is a sliding panel in that corner?" +asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Positive." +</p> +<p> +"And that I get out that way?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I say you are wrong, and I am going to +prove it," returned Joe easily, and also smiling. +"Now I'm going to let you, and any one you may +select from the audience, paste sheets of paper over +that corner. Then I'll do the trick over again. If +I get out of the box, and the paper you paste on +remains unbroken, you'll have to admit that I didn't +come out through the place where you say is a +sliding panel, won't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, if you don't break the paper, I guess I'll +have to admit you didn't get out that way," said +the man, with a grin. "But I want to see you do +it first." +</p> +<p> +"Very well. I'll send for some paste and paper," +went on Joe. "Meanwhile call upon any of your +friends you like to help." +</p> +<p> +"Come on up here, Bill!" called out the man. +</p> +<p> +For an instant Joe, and Helen also, as she admitted +later, feared it might be Bill Carfax to whom +he referred. But an altogether different individual +shuffled up to the stage. +</p> +<p> +"We'll paste paper over this end where the trick +panel is," went on the man who had claimed the +reward. "He won't get out then!" +</p> +<p> +"Sure he won't," agreed his companion. "Do +we get the ten thousand then?" +</p> +<p> +"Naturally, if you have guessed right," said Joe. +"But that remains to be seen." +</p> +<p> +There was no trouble in getting paste and paper. +That is part of a circus, for, even though it is old-fashioned, +paper hoops are still used for the clowns +and some bareback riders to leap through. +</p> +<p> +A plentiful supply of large, white sheets and a +pail of paste with a brush were brought up to the +stage. Then the men were invited to begin their +work, which was to seal up the corner the man had +picked out as the location of the secret panel. +</p> +<p> +Before pasting on the paper the men looked closely +at the joinings of the box. They seemed rather +puzzled in spite of the cock-sureness of the first individual. +</p> +<p> +The pasting was not a work of art, but it was +effective. The corner of the box was plastered over +with sheets of white paper, in which there was no +break. +</p> +<p> +"If I get out of the box without cracking, tearing, +or disturbing the paper you have pasted on, +without moving it in any way, you'll admit that +you're wrong, won't you?" asked Joe, as he prepared +to do the trick again. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," was the answer. "I will. But I've got +you sewed up!" +</p> +<p> +"Pasted up would be a better word," returned +Joe, with a smile. "But that remains to be seen." +</p> +<p> +The box was placed in position, and Joe took +his place in it. The lid was slammed down, locked, +and the rope was knotted about it. The two men +who had done the pasting assisted in this. +</p> +<p> +Then the curtains were drawn, and Helen and the +firemen took their places. There was a period of +waiting. The tense suspense of the audience was +manifest. Even Jim Tracy and Bill Watson, veteran +circus men though they were, seemed a bit +worried. The man who had claimed the ten thousand +dollars and his companion seemed a bit ill at +ease. +</p> +<p> +Then, suddenly, the curtains parted and Joe +Strong stood in plain view, outside the box, bowing +to the applause that greeted him. When it had subsided, +he said: +</p> +<p> +"Will you two gentlemen kindly look at the paper +seals you placed on one corner of the box? If they +are unbroken and undisturbed I take it you have +lost. Kindly look and announce what you find." +</p> +<p> +The men shuffled to the case and bent down over +the corner that was covered with the pasted sheets. +Look as they did, they could find no evidences of a +break or tear in the paper. And it had not been +removed and put back again. The men admitted +that. +</p> +<p> +"Then you have to admit that I didn't get out +of the box by means of a secret panel in that corner, +don't you?" asked Joe, when the two had asserted +that the paper was intact. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I guess you win," said the first man. "But +there's some trick about it!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I admit that!" laughed Joe. "It is a trick, +and if you discover it you get ten thousand dollars. +But not to-night. Red Cross is richer by +a hundred dollars." +</p> +<p> +"Um!" grumbled the man, as he walked off, and +many in the audience laughed. Joe had won. +</p> +<p> +The circus performance went on to its usual +exciting close in the chariot races, and when preparations +were being made to travel on to the next +city, Helen had a chance to speak to Joe. +</p> +<p> +"It was a narrow escape," she said. +</p> +<p> +"Just what it was!" he replied. "If he had picked +the other corner—the left instead of the right—he +would have had me. But luck was with us." +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad," said Helen. "But how did he happen +to select any corner? Some one must know more +about your trick box than you think." +</p> +<p> +"I'm afraid so," admitted Joe ruefully. "I +wouldn't be a bit surprised but what this was some +of the work of Bill Carfax." +</p> +<p> +"Has he been around again?" asked Helen, and +there was a note of annoyance in her voice. +</p> +<p> +"He hasn't been seen," said Joe. "But this man +may have been in communication with him. Bill +may have been studying the trick out since his last +failure, and I must admit that he's on the right trail—that +is, if it was Bill who put this man up to +making the claim." +</p> +<p> +"What makes you think Bill had anything to do +with it?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Well, for the reason that this is just the kind +of town where Bill would be likely to have friends—I +mean in a big manufacturing center. Bill may +have found a man who is willing to act to help pull +down the reward for him. But this time they +failed." +</p> +<p> +"He may succeed next time," remarked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"No, I'll take care of that," Joe said. "I'm going +to make a change in the box." +</p> +<p> +As the mechanism of the trick box has been +explained in the preceding volume, it will not be repeated +here. Suffice it to say that Joe's method +of getting out of the box could be changed, so +that if a person thought he had discovered the secret +panel it could be shifted to another part of the case. +</p> +<p> +It was two or three days after this, and Joe had +made a change in his box which satisfied him that +the secret would not soon be discovered, that Helen, +coming over to where he sat in his private tent, saw +him making what seemed to be torches. +</p> +<p> +"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you +think our electric lights or gasoline flares are going +to fail?" she went on jokingly. The Sampson +Brothers' Show was a modern one, and carried a +portable electric light plant. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, I'm not worrying about that!" answered +Joe. "But I have a new idea for my wire act, and +I want to see if it will work out." +</p> +<p> +That night, at the proper time, when Joe was +introduced as about to perform his wire act, Helen +noticed Ham Logan come out with the young fire-eater, +carrying a number of the torches Joe had +made. +</p> +<p> +Joe started across the high, slack wire, and on it +performed many of his usual feats. They were +not specially sensational, and Helen wondered what +he had planned. +</p> +<p> +But, after a daring run across the slender support, +following some risky side swinging, Helen saw Joe +lower from the high platform where he stood a flexible +wire. Standing on the ground below, Ham +Logan received it and fastened on the end several +of the metal torches Joe had made. The young magician +hauled them up to him by means of the wire. +</p> +<p> +Then, as Helen and the audience watched, Joe +set the torches ablaze. They were made of hollow +cones of sheet iron, in which were placed bits of +tow, soaked in alcohol. +</p> +<p> +With four blazing torches, two in either hand, +Joe Strong started out to cross the high, slack wire. +And then, to the wonder and amazement of the +audience, no less than that of his friends in the +show, Joe began juggling with fire. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH20"><!-- CH20 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XX +</h2> + +<h3> +THE BLAZING BANQUET +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Across the wire walked the young performer, and +as he walked he tossed into the air, catching them +as they came down, the flaming torches. When it +is remembered that the fire was of the real, blazing +sort, and hot at that, also when it is recalled that if +Joe happened to catch hold of the wrong end of any +of the whirling torches, and when it is evident that +he must "watch his step," it will be seen that he was +performing no easy feat. +</p> +<p> +Yet to watch him one would have thought that +he had been doing it right along for many performances, +instead of this being his first in public, +though he and Ham Logan had practiced in private. +</p> +<p> +Across the wire walked Joe, juggling with fire, +and when he reached the other platform he walked +backward along the swaying wire. +</p> +<p> +Then the applause broke out, loud and long. The +crowd appreciated the trick, with all its dangers. +True, Joe Strong was an expert on the wire, and +he was also a good juggler. But juggling with +torches while on a swaying cable was not +as easy as handling harmless rubber balls or Indian +clubs, and the circus throng seemed to appreciate +this. +</p> +<p> +Getting back to the platform whence he had started, +Joe dropped the still blazing torches into a tub +of water where they went out hissingly. This provided +a fitting climax to the act, as showing that +the flames were real ones. +</p> +<p> +And then Joe donned his cap of leather, with the +little grooved wheels fastened in the top, and on his +head he slid down the slanting wire through the +blazing hoops. It was a good end to a good trick; +and the crowd went wild. +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe, you sure did put another one over +for us," said Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of the +performance. "That fire juggling was a great trick. +That's the sensation you promised us, I suppose." +</p> +<p> +"No, it isn't," was the answer. "I'm not ready +for that yet. But I'm glad you liked the trick. +No, what I have up my sleeve is something even +better, I think." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hope you haven't any blazing torches up +your sleeve," remarked Helen, with a laugh. "You'll +need a new coat, if you have." +</p> +<p> +"No danger," laughed Joe. "I think I'll be ready +soon. By the way, any news of the bogus tickets—I +mean the detectives haven't found out anything +positive, have they?" +</p> +<p> +"Not yet," answered Mr. Moyne, who had joined +the little party. "And it's keeping all of us who +have to do with the financial end guessing as to +where the trouble will break out next." +</p> +<p> +"It is an unpleasant state of affairs," agreed Joe. +"But I don't see what we can do except to wait. +You haven't noticed any more of the counterfeit +tickets of late, have you?" +</p> +<p> +"No," answered the treasurer. "It's only when +we hit the big mill cities that they are worked in +on us. That's why I believe there is some system +to it all." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we'll have to break up the system," declared +Joe. "As soon as I get this new act of mine +perfected I'm going to take a day or two off, over +Sunday say, and visit the detective agency. They +may need stirring up." +</p> +<p> +"I wish something could be done," declared the +treasurer. +</p> +<p> +About a week after this conversation, during +which time the circus had moved from place to +place, doing good business, Mrs. Watson, meeting +Helen on the lot, said: +</p> +<p> +"Who are Joe's new friends?" +</p> +<p> +"New friends? I didn't know he had any specially +new ones," remarked the young bareback +rider. "Has he been befriending some more poor +broken-down circus men, like Ham Logan?" +</p> +<p> +"These aren't men," said the clown's wife. "They +are three pretty girls. I saw Joe coming back from +downtown with them. They seemed jolly—laughing +and talking." +</p> +<p> +"Three pretty girls!" murmured Helen. And then +she quickly added, with an air of indifference: "Oh, +I suppose they may be some cousins he hasn't seen +for a long while." +</p> +<p> +"I thought Joe said he had no relatives in this +country," went on Mrs. Watson. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sure I don't know," and Helen's voice was +very cool. +</p> +<p> +"There's something behind all this," mused Mrs. +Watson, as Helen walked away. "I hope those two +haven't quarreled. Maybe I shouldn't have said +anything." +</p> +<p> +However, it was too late now. The seeds of jealousy +seemed to have been sown, though unwittingly, +by Mrs. Watson. Helen walked on with her head +high in the air, and as the clown's wife passed Joe's +official tent a little later she heard, issuing from it, +the jolly laughter and talk of several girlish voices. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what Joe Strong is up to," thought +Mrs. Watson. "He never acted like that before—going +off with other girls and neglecting Helen. +I'm going to speak to him. No, I won't either!" +she decided. "I'll just keep still until I know I can +help. It's better that way." +</p> +<p> +It was perhaps an hour after this that Joe, meeting +Helen, called to her: +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I say! don't you want to do me a favor?" +</p> +<p> +"What sort?" asked the rider of Rosebud, and if +Joe had not been thinking of something else he +would have noticed the danger signs about Helen's +countenance. +</p> +<p> +"The fancy jacket I use in one of my tricks is +torn," went on Joe. "Would it be asking too much +to request you to mend it?" +</p> +<p> +Helen tossed back her head and there was a snap +to her eyes as she answered: +</p> +<p> +"Why don't you get one of the three pretty girls +to do your mending? I'm afraid I'm not clever +enough!" And with that she walked on haughtily. +</p> +<p> +For an instant Joe was so surprised that he could +not speak. His face plainly showed how taken +aback he was. Then, after a moment, he managed +to stammer: +</p> +<p> +"Oh, but I say! Helen! Wait a moment! Let +me explain. I—er I—I only—" +</p> +<p> +But Helen did not pause, she did not look back, +and she did not answer. Joe stood staring after her +in blank amazement. Then he gave utterance to +a low whistle and exclaimed: +</p> +<p> +"Oh, ho! I see! Well, it will be my turn later!" +and he laughed silently. +</p> +<p> +"He's either playing a mean trick or else he's up +to some joke," declared Mrs. Watson, who, from a +distance, had watched this little scene. "And," she +added with a shake of her head, "I can't be sure +what it is. Young folks are so foolish! So foolish!" +and she sighed as she walked away. +</p> +<p> +Joe, with the torn jacket in his hand, turned back +toward his own tent, and presently there came from +it the sounds of several young persons, including +girls, in conversation and laughter. +</p> +<p> +It was later, that same afternoon, when Helen +noticed Joe in one part of the big tent. He was surrounded +by three pretty young ladies and three +good-looking young men. They were on one of the +platforms seated about a table, and Joe seemed to be +entertaining them, for there were plates, cups, +knives and forks on the board—all the outward indications +of a meal. +</p> +<p> +The time was late afternoon, following the day +performance and prior to the evening show. Helen +looked curiously over at the gay little scene, and +something tugged at her heart-strings. Then she +looked away, and Mrs. Watson, observing her from +the other side of the tent, shook her gray head. +</p> +<p> +"I can't understand Joe Strong," murmured the +clown's wife. "What has come over him?" +</p> +<p> +It was just before the opening of the evening performance +that night when Joe, meeting Helen in the +dressing tent, said: +</p> +<p> +"I shan't need you in the box trick, to-night, nor +in the vanishing lady stunt, either." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I suppose you're going to use one of the +new, pretty girls," snapped Helen. +</p> +<p> +Joe looked at her quietly. +</p> +<p> +"No," he said, "I am not. But I am not going +to put on either trick. I thought you'd like to know, +so if you want to introduce any of your extras you'll +have a chance." +</p> +<p> +"Thank you!" she said coldly, and passed on. +</p> +<p> +Joe smiled as he looked after her. +</p> +<p> +With a blare of trumpets, a boom and ruffle of +drums, the gay procession started around the circus +arena. The stately elephants, the hideous camels +and the beautiful horses went around to be looked +at, wondered at, and admired. Then, when the last +of the cavalcade had passed out, the various acts +began. Helen had a new costume for her bareback +act, and as she started it she looked over to where +Joe was busy on his stage. She saw the young men +and women around him. They wore fancy costumes +and seemed a part of the circus. Helen wondered +what act they were going to appear in, since +none including them had been announced. +</p> +<p> +She danced about on the back of Rosebud, and +thought bitterly that Joe had never noticed her new +dress. She was wearing it for the first time, too. +</p> +<p> +The whistle blew. All acts stopped and Jim Tracy +advanced toward Joe's platform. +</p> +<p> +"A most marvelous and striking act!" he cried, +not stating what it was to be. +</p> +<p> +All eyes, even those of Helen Morton, turned +in the direction of Joe Strong. +</p> +<p> +He acted quickly. With a wave of his hand he +invited the three pretty girls and the three well-appearing +young men to be seated. They took their +places around a table, with Joe acting as host. The +table appeared to be well laden, and at first the act +seemed to be only a rather elaborate meal being +served in public. +</p> +<p> +"What is it all about?" mused Helen. "I can't +see anything very wonderful in that." +</p> +<p> +But, even as she thus mused, something strange +happened. The banquet table seemed to burst into +flames. The dishes of food blazed up, and the +audience gasped. +</p> +<p> +But the young men, the young women, and Joe +Strong did not seem in the least surprised. They +kept their seats and went right on eating. +</p> +<p> +And then, with a thrill of surprise, it was noticed +that Joe Strong and his guests were devouring the +blazing food itself! The girls and young men put +portion after portion of the blazing viands into +their mouths! +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH21"><!-- CH21 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXI +</h2> + +<h3> +HAM IS MISSING +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Surprise and astonishment held the audience silent +and spellbound for a moment. Then a woman +screamed, and, ready for this emergency and fearing +a panic, than which nothing is more dreaded +by circus men, Jim Tracy cried: +</p> +<p> +"Sit still! Keep your seats! There is no danger! +This is all part of the show. We are merely showing +you how to eat your meals in case any of you +ever get caught in a blazing volcano. Watch the +ladies and gentlemen eat their stuff hot—right off +the fire!" +</p> +<p> +There was a laugh at this sally, and a laugh was +what the ringmaster wanted more than anything else +just then. He knew the tide of fear had been +changed to one of wondering admiration. +</p> +<p> +And so, sitting on the stage in sight of the +thrilled audience, Joe Strong and his guests, in the +shape of pretty girls and manly young fellows fancifully +attired, continued to eat the blazing food. +</p> +<p> +The very pieces of bread seemed to be on fire, +there was a dancing flame over the butter, and each +bit of meat or other food Joe and the performers +lifted on their forks was alive with leaping fire. +</p> +<p> +Then the daring feature of the act was borne home +to the audience and the applause broke forth—applause +loud and long. There were yells and whistles +from the younger and more enthusiastic portion +of the circus crowd. +</p> +<p> +And then the fires died away. The table seemed +emptied of victuals, and the young men and women, +imitating Joe's example, leaned back in their chairs +as though well satisfied with their hot meal. +</p> +<p> +"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" declaimed +the ringmaster. "They have come to no harm from +eating living fire. If any of you are tired of cold +victuals, kindly step forward and you will be treated +to a free, hot lunch by Professor Strong." +</p> +<p> +"Not any in mine, thank you," murmured a man, +and that seemed to be the general opinion. +</p> +<p> +As Joe and his new associates arose to bow to the +renewed applause, the ringmaster made an announcement. +</p> +<p> +"A blazing banquet, such as you have just witnessed, +will take place at each and every performance," +he declared. "Come and bring your friends! +Nothing like it ever seen before on any stage or +in any circus in the world! +</p> +<p> +"Remember, you will see the same and identical +act at each and every performance and all for the +price of one admission. Professor Strong and his +gifted salamander associates will eat fire as they +did just now, at each and every show in the big +tent. I thank you!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe, it went all right!" said Jim Tracy +when the performers had left the stage and the +young fire-eater was alone on the platform. "It +went like a house afire!" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," said Joe, "it seemed to. I guess it went +better than if we had made a lot of preliminary +notices. The suddenness of it took them by surprise." +</p> +<p> +"But we can advertise it big now," said the ringmaster. +"We don't need to specify exactly what it +is. Of course those who have seen it will tell their +friends who are coming and who haven't seen it. +But the big majority of the audiences will be as +much surprised as this one was. It went big." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," agreed Joe, "it did. And I'm glad of it. +This is the sensation I was planning, but I didn't +want to go into details until I was sure it would +work. I had to engage my helpers in the dark, so +to speak, and I didn't even tell you what I was +planning until the last minute." +</p> +<p> +"No, you didn't," said Jim. +</p> +<p> +Helen Morton came slowly across the arena. Her +act was over, and she had seen the blazing banquet +and Joe's part in it. +</p> +<p> +Her cheeks were unusually red as she approached +holding out her hand, and there was a rather misty +look about her eyes as she said: +</p> +<p> +"Will you forgive me, Joe?" +</p> +<p> +"For what?" he asked tantalizingly. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, you know perfectly well!" she exclaimed. +"It was very silly of me, but—" +</p> +<p> +"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. +"I suppose I might have told you that the pretty +girls were those I had engaged to help in the banquet +scene, together with the young fellows. We +had only a few rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't +want to spread the news too generally, even among +the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I suppose +I might have told you." +</p> +<p> +"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if +you had," she murmured. +</p> +<p> +"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said +Joe. "But it's all right now. And may I come to +lunch with you, or would you rather that I should +go with—one of the pretty girls?" +</p> +<p> +"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared +Helen, blushing more than ever. And so the little +quarrel ended. +</p> +<p> +As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet +helpers secretly, and they had met him at the +city where the circus was to remain three days and +nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting +the performers for Joe, since the old circus +man knew the best theatrical agency at which to +apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women +to act the part of guests at the "banquet." He had +guessed that Helen's actions denoted her jealousy, +but he could not forbear teasing her. +</p> +<p> +"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, +when she and Joe were together again. "Of course +I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly of me +to ask such a question. But it was very realistic." +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't +actually 'eat' the fire, any more than I eat it. And +I may say that I had quite a little trouble in getting +them to put it near enough their mouths to +make it seem as if they did. +</p> +<p> +"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar +kind, which Ham Logan and I worked out together. +It can be made to look like almost any food, +and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily +and quickly. The flames go out as soon as they +come near enough our mouths to feel the effects of +certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell +you all the secrets, but that is enough to show you +how we worked it. +</p> +<p> +"There was no more danger than there is when +I 'eat' fire, and the trick is done in much the same +way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable +helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could +have done this trick without him." +</p> +<p> +The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other +cities. As Jim Tracy had said, the feat was shown +at each and every performance, Joe cutting out some +of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer +stay than usual in the city where the fiery food +was first "eaten," and played to record-breaking +business. +</p> +<p> +"And the best of it is that we haven't seen a bogus +ticket!" said the treasurer, much elated. +</p> +<p> +Joe, as one of the chief owners of the circus, was +able to hire the "fire-eaters" unknown to any of his +associates until the last minute, and thus the surprise +was all the greater. +</p> +<p> +Joe's fire tricks were now the talk of the theatrical +and circus worlds, and he received many offers +to leave Sampson Brothers' Show and star by himself. +But he refused them all, saying he wanted +to build up his own show to a point never before +reached. +</p> +<p> +As he had said, Ham Logan proved a valuable +helper. The man, a fire-eater of the old school, +knew many valuable secrets, and he held himself +under such obligation to Joe that he revealed many +of them to the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"Have you learned anything more about who left +that bottle of powerful acid in among my things?" +asked Joe of Ham, one afternoon when the fire banquet +had been unusually successful. +</p> +<p> +"No, not exactly," was the answer. "But I'm on +the trail, I think I am working along the right +lines, but it is too early to make any statement." +</p> +<p> +"Well, take your time," said Joe. "Only I don't +want to get mixed up with any of the deadly stuff." +</p> +<p> +"Don't worry. I'm on the watch," declared the +old performer. +</p> +<p> +That night, when the time for Joe to prepare for +his acts, including the fire tricks, came, he did not +see Ham in the dressing tent, where the assistant +was usually to be found. +</p> +<p> +"Have you seen him?" asked Joe of Harry Loper. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, about half an hour ago," was the answer. +"He said he was going in to town." +</p> +<p> +"Going in to town—and so near performing +time?" cried Joe. "I wonder what for! He ought +to be here!" +</p> +<p> +Joe was worried, and when his signal for going +on came Ham Logan was still missing. Joe Strong +shook his head dubiously. It had been found necessary +to get another man to help with the act. +</p> +<p> +"I don't like this," he murmured. "I don't like it +for a cent!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH22"><!-- CH22 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXII +</h2> + +<h3> +A SUDDEN WARNING +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Only the fact that he had strong nerves and that +he possessed the ability of concentrating his mind +on whatever was uppermost at the time, enabled the +young circus man to get through his various circus +acts with credit at that performance. He began +with the worry over Ham Logan's disappearance +before him. And he was actually worried—a bad +state of affairs for one whose ability to please and +deceive critical audiences depends on his snappy +acting, his quickness of hand and mind, and his +skill. +</p> +<p> +But, as has been said, Joe possessed the ability +to concentrate on the most needful matter, and that, +for the time being, was his box trick, his fire-eating, +and his slide on his head down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. +</p> +<p> +Then came the blazing banquet, and this created +the usual furor in the audience. Joe managed to +get through it with credit, though his rather strange +manner was noticed and commented on afterward +by the young people associated with him. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what's bothering the boss?" asked one +of the young fire-eaters of another. "He nearly +made a slip when he was lifting up that fake fried +oyster." +</p> +<p> +"Maybe the circus is losing money and he's got +to cut out this act—let some of us go—can't pay our +salaries," was the reply. +</p> +<p> +"Don't you believe it!" declared the other. "The +circus is making more money than it ever did—more +even when the fake tickets are worked off on +it." +</p> +<p> +"Well, it's none of our affair." +</p> +<p> +"I wouldn't like my salary to be cut off." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, neither would I." +</p> +<p> +"Fake tickets? I hadn't heard of them." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes," explained the first speaker, and he +went into the details of the affair. +</p> +<p> +"But there's surely something worrying the +boss," commented still another of the young men, +and his associates, including the "pretty girls," +agreed with him. +</p> +<p> +And what really was worrying Joe was speculation +over the fate of Ham Logan. Not since Joe +had first taken the old and broken circus actor into +his employ had Ham been away more than a few +hours at a time, and then Joe knew where he was. +This time Ham had left no word, save the uncertain +one that he was going into the city, on the +outskirts of which the circus was at the time showing. +</p> +<p> +"But don't you think he'll come back?" asked +Jim Tracy, when, after the performance, Joe had +spoken of the missing Ham. +</p> +<p> +"I wish I could think so," was the reply. "I sure +will hate to lose him. I depend a lot on him in my +fire tricks." +</p> +<p> +"What makes you think you will lose him?" asked +Tracy curiously. +</p> +<p> +"Well, his going off this way, for one," declared +Joe. "What I'm really afraid of is that he may +have gone back to his bad habits. You know how +it is. A man starts to reform, and he keeps the +pledges he makes until he meets some of his boon +companions who used to help him on the downward +road. They invite him to come along for a good +time, and he goes." +</p> +<p> +"And you think that's what's happened to Ham?" +</p> +<p> +"I'm afraid so. I'm going down town and see +if I can get any trace of him." +</p> +<p> +And this Joe did as soon as he was relieved of +his duties in the circus. The show was to remain +in town over night, and this gave him just the +chance he wanted. +</p> +<p> +It was an unpleasant errand, but Joe went through +with it. He had to call at many places that were +distasteful to him, but in none of them did he get +a trace of Ham Logan. Joe saw in the more +brilliant parts of the city a number of the circus men, +including some of the chief performers. They were +taking advantage of the two-days' stay, and were +meeting old friends and making some new acquaintances. +</p> +<p> +Of these Joe inquired for news of Ham, but no +one had seen him. The old fire-eater had endeared +himself to more than one member of the Sampson +Brothers' Show, for he was always ready to do a +favor. So more than Joe were interested in seeing +that Ham kept on the good road along which he +had started. But all of Joe's efforts were of no +avail. +</p> +<p> +It was after midnight when he ended his search, +and, rather than go back to the sleeping car where +the other performers spent their night, Joe put up +at a hotel, sending word to Jim Tracy of what he +intended to do. +</p> +<p> +"I want to find Ham," Joe wrote in the note he +sent to the ringmaster by a messenger boy, "and I've +asked the police to be on the quiet lookout for him. +If I stay at the hotel I can help him more quickly, +in case he's found, than if I am away out at the +railroad siding where the circus train is. I'll see +you in the morning." +</p> +<p> +But Joe's night at the hotel was spent in vain, +for there was no word of Ham Logan, and the +morning which Joe put in, making inquiries, was +equally fruitless. +</p> +<p> +"I guess Ham is gone for good," sighed Joe, and +his regret was genuine, and almost as much for +the sake of the man himself as for his own loss of +a good assistant. +</p> +<p> +For Ham Logan was that and more to Joe. The +former tramp had much valuable information regarding +the old style fire-eating tricks, and though +he was not up to the task of doing them himself, +he gave Joe good advice. It was by his help and +advice that Joe had staged the blazing banquet +scene, which was such a success and which the newspapers +mentioned constantly. +</p> +<p> +True, Joe did not actually need Ham to go on +with his acts. He could break in another man to +help him, to hand him the proper article at just the +right time, to see to the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemicals and to the preparation of the viands that +seemed to be composed of fire itself. +</p> +<p> +"And that's what I'll have to do," mused Joe, +when he became convinced some days later that +Ham was not to be found. +</p> +<p> +He wished that Helen was able to act as his assistant +in the fire scenes, as she did in the box trick +and the vanishing lady act. But she could spare +no more time from her own act with Rosebud, since +she was billed as one of the "stars." Then, too, +Helen had a fear of fire, and though she had succeeded +in overcoming part of it, still she would not +have made the proper sort of assistant in those acts. +Besides, she would not have been able to mix the +chemicals Joe required to render himself immune +from such fire as he actually came in contact with, +though momentarily. +</p> +<p> +"I've got to train in a new man," decided Joe. +He mentally considered various circus employees, +rejecting one after another, and finally selected one +of the young men who acted in the blazing banquet +scene. This youth was a bright, manly fellow, and +had introduced some new "business" in the act which +made it more interesting. +</p> +<p> +"I'll train him in," decided Joe, "with the understanding +that if Ham comes back he'll get his old +place. If he comes back! I wonder if he ever will, +and if he'll be in a condition to help me." +</p> +<p> +Joe shook his head dubiously. +</p> +<p> +The circus moved on. It had played to good business, +and there was more good business in prospect. +Mr. Moyne, the treasurer, was on the anxious seat +much of the time, fearing another flood of bogus +tickets, but the efforts mentioned, on the part of the +swindlers, following the use of new paper, was all +they had to complain of so far. +</p> +<p> +"Either the detectives are too close to the trail +of the cheats to allow them to work in safety, or +they've given it up altogether," decided the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"I hope so," said Joe. "Still it won't do to relax +our vigilance. I wrote to the detective firm, as I +said I would, jacking them up a bit. Maybe they +are ready to make an arrest, and that would stop +the swindlers." +</p> +<p> +The young man Joe had picked out to act as his +chief assistant in the fire scenes was Ted Brown. +Ted was about eighteen years old, and this was his +first position with a circus. But he was making +good, and he had not yet been afflicted with the terrible +disease known as "swelled head," something +which ruins so many performers. +</p> +<p> +Ted learned rapidly, and Joe felt that it would +be safe to trust him with some of the secrets of the +tricks—the mixing of the fire-resisting chemicals +and the like. Joe's choice seemed to be a good one, +for Ted did well, and his part in the banquet scene +was made even better by his knowledge of the inner +workings of the material used. +</p> +<p> +But though Joe did not lose materially by the +desertion of Ham, if that was what it was, since he +could now depend on Ted, the young circus man +many times found himself wondering if he would +ever see the old fire-eater again. +</p> +<p> +The circus opened one afternoon in a large city—one +in which lived many thousands of men employed +in a large ship-building plant. +</p> +<p> +"There'll be big crowds here," said Mr. Moyne, +as he walked toward the ticket wagon in preparation +for the rush. "And it's here we'll have to look +out for bogus coupons." +</p> +<p> +"Why?" asked Joe, who was getting ready for his +acts. +</p> +<p> +"Because in every other case the swindlers have +worked their game where there was a big plant +engaging many men of what you might call rough +and ready character—ready to take a chance on +scalped admission tickets, and rough enough to fight +if they were discovered. So I'm going to be on the +watch." +</p> +<p> +"It's just as well to be," decided Joe. He turned +back into the tent which was his combined dressing +room and a storage place for his various smaller +bits of apparatus and the chemicals he used in his +fire act. +</p> +<p> +Before giving his last act Joe always washed his +hands and face and rinsed his mouth out with a +chemical preparation that would, for a time, resist +the action of fire. It was a secret compound, rather +difficult to handle and make, and Joe had taught +Ted Brown how to do it. +</p> +<p> +The young fellow was handing Joe this mixture, +some of which was also used by all who took part +in the blazing banquet scene, when the flap of the +tent was suddenly pushed aside and Harry Loper +entered. +</p> +<p> +"Stop!" he cried, raising a restraining hand. +"Don't use that solution, Mr. Strong! It's doped! +Don't use it!" +</p> +<p> +Joe, who had been about to apply some of the +stuff to his hands, turned in surprise. He was +alarmed at the strange look on the face of the youth +who acted as his helper in the high wire and in +some of the trapeze acts. +</p> +<p> +"Don't use that stuff!" cried Harry. "It's doped!" +and then he sank down on a chair and, burying his +face in his hands, burst into tears. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH23"><!-- CH23 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXIII +</h2> + +<h3> +A STRANGE SUMMONS +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong looked from the sobbing Harry +Loper to the amazed Ted Brown. The latter's face +showed his great surprise. For an instant Joe had +an ugly suspicion that his new assistant had played +him false—that, because of jealousy or from some +other motive, he had mixed the chemicals in some +way to make them ineffective. This would spoil +the illusion, or it might even cause injury. +</p> +<p> +"Look here, Harry! what's the matter?" cried Joe, +purposely using a rough voice, so as to stop, if possible, +the display of emotion on the part of the youth. +"Act like a man, can't you! If you've done some +mean trick tell me about it. What do you mean +when you say this mixture is doped?" +</p> +<p> +"Just that!" exclaimed Harry, looking up with +haggard face. "I can't stand it any longer. I promised +not to tell, but I've got to. I—I can't see any +harm come to you." +</p> +<p> +"Harm!" cried Joe. "Do you mean this is poison?" +</p> +<p> +"No, not that. He said it wouldn't do you any +harm—that it would only make the act turn out +wrong—that you, nor anybody, would not be hurt. +But I don't believe him. I believe he wants to +harm you, and I'm going to tell all I know. I can't +stand it any longer." +</p> +<p> +"Look here, Harry!" said Joe sternly, "are you +perfectly sober? Do you know what you're saying?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I know that, all right, Mr. Strong," whined +the lad. "I won't say I haven't been drinking, for +I have. I did it to try to forget, but it wouldn't +work. I'm plenty sober enough to know what I'm +saying." +</p> +<p> +"And you tell me this chemical preparation will +work harm to me and those who help me in the fire +acts?" +</p> +<p> +"I don't know as to that, Mr. Strong. He told +me that it wouldn't harm you. But I don't believe +him! I won't trust him any more." +</p> +<p> +"Who do you mean?" asked Joe. "Do you know +anything about this?" he demanded sternly of Ted +Brown. "You prepared this mixture, didn't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, Mr. Strong, I did. I made it just the way +you told me. If you think—" +</p> +<p> +"No, he doesn't know anything about it," murmured +Harry, who seemed to have recovered some +of his composure, now that the worst of his confession +was over. "He didn't have a hand in it. I'm +to blame. If I hadn't let him into your tent he +couldn't have doped the stuff. Oh, I'm sorry! I +was a fool to believe him, but he promised me a lot +of money just to keep still, and I've done it up to +now. But I'm through with him!" +</p> +<p> +"Look here!" cried Joe. "How long has this +been going on? Was this mixture ever doped, as +you call it, before?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, not that I know," was the answer. Joe +knew this much, at least, was true. The mixture +had always worked perfectly before, and if it had +been tampered with that would not have been the +case. +</p> +<p> +"Then what do you mean?" cried the young magician. +"Speak up, can't you? Be a man! If you +haven't done anything really wrong you won't be +punished. I'm after the person back of you. Speak +up! Who is he?" +</p> +<p> +He realized that Harry Loper was but a weak +tool in the hands of some one else, and many things +that had seemed strange came back to Joe with a +sudden rush now. He might be able to learn who +it was that had such enmity against him and the +circus. +</p> +<p> +"Are you going to tell me?" demanded Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes! Yes! I'll tell you everything!" was the +answer. "I can't stand it any longer. I can't eat +in comfort any more, and I can't sleep! First he +promised to pay me for letting him come to your tent +when you were out. Then he threatened to kill me +if I told. But I'm going to tell. I don't care what +he does!" +</p> +<p> +"But if this is the first time my chemical mixture +has been doped, what do you mean about 'him,' +whoever he is, coming to my tent at other times?" +asked Joe. "What other times were they?" +</p> +<p> +"Don't you remember when the bottle of acid was +found?" asked the abashed youth. +</p> +<p> +"Yes! Was that some of your doings too?" cried +Joe hotly. +</p> +<p> +"No, I didn't do it. He did. But I—I looked the +other way when he did it. And then there was the +time when the trapeze wire broke. It was acid that +did that. He put it on." +</p> +<p> +"Who is this mysterious person you call 'he' all +the while?" asked Joe. "I want to get after him." +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell you!" promised Harry. "But you'll protect +me, won't you, Mr. Strong?" +</p> +<p> +"As far as I can with decency, yes. Now tell +me!" +</p> +<p> +But there came another interruption. A man +thrust his head into the tent and exclaimed: +</p> +<p> +"Mr. Tracy wants to know if you can advance +the fire scenes about ten minutes, Mr. Strong. One +of the men acrobats has sprained his wrist and +they've got to cut out his act. Can you go on ten +minutes sooner than usual?" +</p> +<p> +"Guess I'll have to," said Joe. "Quick, Ted, make +up some new solution. I'll help you. As for you, +Harry, you stay right here. I'll talk to you later. +Haven't time now. And I'm going to have some one +stay with you, to make sure you don't weaken and +run away. It is as much for your own sake as +mine. If you've decided to leave the man who got +you to help in this work I'll stand by you. But I +want to be sure your repentance is genuine. So +stay right here, and we'll talk about this later. Don't +say anything outside," he cautioned Ted. +</p> +<p> +"I won't," was the answer. "Say, I hope you +don't think I had any hand in this?" +</p> +<p> +"No," Joe answered, "I don't. I'm trusting you—that's +my best evidence." +</p> +<p> +"Thank you," said the young fellow, and he +breathed a sigh of relief. +</p> +<p> +Quick work was needed on the part of Joe and his +new helper to get ready for the act. New chemicals +had to be mixed, to render it safe to handle +fire. This was in the acts where Joe seemed to swallow +flames and where he and the others "dined" on +blazing food. +</p> +<p> +In the other acts, where Joe juggled on the slack +wire with the flaming torches, where he slid down +the wire through the blazing hoops, and where he +jumped into the tank of water with his garments apparently +in flames, no change was needed. In these +feats Joe's costume was fireproofed, and, as they +had been treated some time before, he knew there +was only a remote possibility that they had been +tampered with. +</p> +<p> +Still he was taking no chances, and while he was +waiting for Ted to complete the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemical mixture, Joe tested his garments +with a blazing bit of paper. They did not catch +fire, which assured him of safety during his sensational +acts. +</p> +<p> +"How about you, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, thrusting +his head into the tent a little later. "Are you +going to be able to make it?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, sure. I'll be there!" +</p> +<p> +"Sorry to have to make the change," went on the +ringmaster. "But Baraldi is hurt, and his act had +to be cut out completely. So I had to move you up." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, that's all right," Joe assured him. +</p> +<p> +"Hello, what are you doing here—and what's the +matter with you?" cried Jim, seeing Harry Loper +sitting dejectedly in a chair. "Why aren't you out +fixing the trapezes? You know Mr. Strong goes +on them soon." +</p> +<p> +"I—I—he told me to stay here," Loper stammered, +indicating Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," supplemented Joe Strong, "there's something +doing, Jim. I'll tell you later. I want some +one to stay in here with Harry. Some one we can +trust," he added significantly. +</p> +<p> +"I'll send Paddy Flynn," promised the ringmaster. +As he went out he looked curiously at Harry. +</p> +<p> +"How's the stuff coming on, Ted?" asked Joe, +when the doctored mixture had been thrown away +and new made. +</p> +<p> +"All right, I guess. I'll try it." +</p> +<p> +He put some on one finger, thrust the member +into the flame of a candle, and held it there longer +than usual. +</p> +<p> +"Look out!" Joe warned him. "You can't be too +familiar with fire." +</p> +<p> +"The stuff's all right," was the answer. "It's +better than the last we used." +</p> +<p> +"Good! Well, let's get busy!" +</p> +<p> +In spite of the strain of what he had gone +through in listening to the partial confession of +Harry Loper, Joe did some of his best work in the +fire acts that day. The blazing banquet was most +effective. +</p> +<p> +Having changed to his costume for his magical +box and other tricks, and learning that Harry was +still safe under the watchful eye of Paddy Flynn, +Joe hurried out to his stage, where Mr. Tracy was +already making the ten thousand dollar offer. +</p> +<p> +As Joe hurried across the arena one of the tent +men thrust into his hand a scrap of paper. +</p> +<p> +"What is it?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"I don't know," was the reply. "A boy just +brought it and told me to give it to you." +</p> +<p> +Joe had a half minute to wait while the ringmaster +was talking. Quickly he read the note—it was +really a scrawl. But it said: +</p> +<p> +"Please forgive me and still believe in me. I am +suffering! I can't come to you in the condition I'm +in now. But I have something to tell you if you +could come to me. The boy will bring you." +</p> +<p> +The note was signed "Hamilton Logan." +</p> +<p> +"Whew!" whistled Joe. "Worse and more of it!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH24"><!-- CH24 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXIV +</h2> + +<h3> +THE TRAP IS SET +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Pausing only long enough to tell the man who +had given him the note to be sure and detain the +boy who had brought it, Joe Strong hurried over +to the stage to begin his box trick. That was to be +followed by the "disappearing lady" act. +</p> +<p> +And here again Joe had to use all his reserve +nerve to enable him to go on with the performance +as smoothly as he usually did. He had to dismiss +from his mind, for the time being, all thoughts of +Ham Logan, and he steeled himself not to think of +what the strange summons might mean. +</p> +<p> +"If Ham is in trouble I'm going to help him—that's +all!" declared Joe. +</p> +<p> +Following the usual announcement by Jim Tracy, +Joe got into the box. It was locked and roped and +then Helen took her place, as did the fireman with +his gleaming ax. +</p> +<p> +Joe worked unusually quickly that night in getting +out of the box. He knew this haste would not +spoil the illusion of the trick. In fact it really +heightened it. For he was out of the heavy box +in much shorter time than it had taken the volunteer +committee to lock him in. +</p> +<p> +And Joe was glad no one came forward at this +performance to claim the ten thousand dollars. That +would have taken up time, and time, just then, was +what Joe wanted most. +</p> +<p> +"Evidently none of you know how the trick is +done," commented the ringmaster, when his offer of +ten thousand dollars was not taken advantage of. +"We will now proceed to the next illusion, that of +causing a beautiful lady to disappear and vanish +into thin air before your very eyes. There is no +reward offered for the solution of this mystery." +</p> +<p> +Helen then took her place on the trick chair over +the trap in the stage. The silk shawl was placed +over her, and, in due time, the chair was shown +empty. +</p> +<p> +The usual applause followed and Joe was glad +his acts were over for the time. Bowing to acknowledge +the fervor of the audience, Joe started +toward his dressing apartment. +</p> +<p> +"I want to see you as soon as I can," he quickly +told Helen. "But I have to go away. It's about +Ham," he added. "I've heard from him." +</p> +<p> +"Where is he?" +</p> +<p> +"I don't know. Just a scrawled note. The messenger +who brought it is going to take me to him." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, I'm so glad you've heard from him. I +liked him." +</p> +<p> +"I did too. I hope I can continue to like him. +But I'm afraid, from the tone of his note, that he's +broken his pledge. However, we can't expect too +much. Don't go away for an hour or so. I'll be +back as soon as I can and I'll tell you all about it." +</p> +<p> +"I'll wait for you," promised Helen. +</p> +<p> +As Joe hurried across the arena he saw the tent +man who had given him the note. +</p> +<p> +"Where's the boy?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +"I took him to your tent. Paddy Flynn is there +and Loper. Is anything the matter, Mr. Strong?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, nothing that can't be made right, I hope." +</p> +<p> +Joe found a red-haired boy sitting on the edge +of a folding chair in the dressing tent. The lad was +looking wonderingly about the place. +</p> +<p> +"Did you bring this note?" asked Joe, showing +the crumpled paper. +</p> +<p> +"Sure I did! And say, I wish I could see the +show!" +</p> +<p> +"You can to-night after you take me to Mr. Logan," +replied Joe. "You know where he is, don't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Sure I do! Didn't he give me the note to bring +youse?" +</p> +<p> +"Where is he?" +</p> +<p> +"Down in Kelly's joint. I live next door." +</p> +<p> +"What is Kelly's joint?" +</p> +<p> +"A saloon," answered the red-haired boy. "De +name on de winders is café, but they don't +pronounce it that way—anyhow some of 'em don't. It +oughter be cave I guess. It sure is a joint!" +</p> +<p> +"Is Mr. Logan there?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Sure he is. Upstairs in one of de rooms. He's +been on a terrible spree he said, but he's sober now +and sick—gee, mister, but he sure was sick. Me +mudder helped take care of him." +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "We'll go to him +at once. Where is Kelly's—er—café?" +</p> +<p> +"Down by de river near de shipyards," answered +the red-haired lad. +</p> +<p> +For an instant Joe hesitated, but only for an instant. +The district named, as he well knew, was a +bad one. It was also dangerous. +</p> +<p> +But it was still afternoon, though growing late. +It would not be dark for some time, however, and +Joe felt that he would be safe enough in going +alone. At night he would have taken some one +with him. +</p> +<p> +But there were two reasons why he did not want +to do this now. One was that no one whom he felt +he could trust to be discreet could be taken away +from the circus, which was not yet over, though +Joe's acts were finished. Another reason was that +he did not want the possible degradation of Logan +seen by any of his former associates. Possibly he +might come back to the show, and he would always +have a feeling of shame if he knew that those with +whom he worked had seen him recovering from a +"spree," as the red-haired lad called it. +</p> +<p> +"I've got to go away," said Joe to Paddy Flynn. +Joe and the lad had talked at one side of the tent +and in low tones, so the young circus man knew +their voices had not been overheard by Paddy and +the man he was guarding, Harry Loper. "I'll be +back as soon as I can," went on the young fire-eater. +"Meanwhile you stay here, Loper. Paddy will +take care of you, and when I come back I'll have a +talk with you." +</p> +<p> +"All right," assented the other wearily. "I feel +better now I've told you." +</p> +<p> +Joe and Micky Donlon, which the red-haired boy +said was his name, though probably Michael was +what he had been christened, were soon on their +way toward the river and the location of one of the +shipyards. +</p> +<p> +"Are youse sure I can see de show to-night?" +asked Micky eagerly, as they walked along. +</p> +<p> +"Positive," said Joe. "Here's a reserved seat +ticket now. Two, in fact, in case you want to take +some one." +</p> +<p> +"I'll take me mudder," declared the lad. "I got +a girl, but she's goin' wit another feller. He bought +two tickets, but dey wasn't reserved seats. I didn't +have the dough—dat's why she shook me, I guess. +But when I flash dese on her—say, maybe she won't +want to shine up at me again! But nothin' doin'! +I'll take me mudder. She needs a change after +waitin' on dat guy what's been on a spree." +</p> +<p> +"How long has Mr. Logan been ill?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, he's been in Kelly's joint for a week." +</p> +<p> +"He must have been waiting for the circus to arrive," +thought Joe. "He knew we were booked for +here. Poor fellow!" +</p> +<p> +Joe was glad it was still light when he entered +the district where Kelly's café, or saloon, to be +more exact, was situated. For the place was most +disreputable in appearance, and the character of men +loitering about it would have made it a place to stay +away from after dark. +</p> +<p> +Suspicious eyes looked at Joe as he entered the +place with his young guide. +</p> +<p> +"He's come to see de sick guy," Micky explained +to the bartender. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hope he's come to pay what's owin'," was +the surly comment. +</p> +<p> +"I'll settle any bills that Mr. Logan may owe for +board or lodging," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Board! He don't owe much for <i>board</i>!" sneered +the barkeeper. "He hasn't eaten enough to keep a +fly alive. But he does owe for his room." +</p> +<p> +"I'll pay that," offered Joe. Then he was guided +upstairs to a squalid room. +</p> +<p> +"Come in!" called a weak voice, and Joe, pushing +back the door, saw, lying on a tumbled bed, the +form of the old fire-eater. It was a great change +Ham Logan was in even worse condition than when +he had applied to Joe for work. He was utterly disreputable. +But in spite of that there was something +about his face and eyes that gave Joe hope. The +man was sober—that was one thing. +</p> +<p> +As Joe looked at him, Ham turned his face away. +</p> +<p> +"I—I'm ashamed to have you see me," he murmured. +"I fought it off as long as I could, but I just +had to see you. 'Tisn't for my own sake!" he +added quickly. "I know you're through with me. +But it's for your own—and the good of the show. +I've got something to tell you, and, when I've done +that, you can go away again and forget me. That's +all I'm fit for—to be forgotten!" +</p> +<p> +A dry sob shook his emaciated frame. +</p> +<p> +"Son, here's a quarter," said Joe to the red-haired +Micky. "You go out and get yourself an ice-cream +soda and come back in half an hour." +</p> +<p> +And after he had thus delicately removed a witness +to the sad scene Joe closed the door, and, going +over to the bed, held out both his hands to the man. +</p> +<p> +And then tears—tears to which he had long been +stranger—coursed down the sunken cheeks of +Hamilton Logan. +</p> +<p> +Just what Joe said to the man whom he had befriended +and who had gone back to his old ways and +what Ham Logan said to his young benefactor will +never be known. Neither would tell, and no one else +knew. As a matter of fact, it did not matter. Afterward, +though, following some sensational happenings +which did become known, Joe told his closest +friends enough of Ham's story to make clear the +trend of events. +</p> +<p> +Punctually on the time agreed, Micky Donlon was +back at his post. Joe was coming out of the room. +</p> +<p> +"Are you engaged for the rest of the day?" asked +the young circus performer of his guide. +</p> +<p> +"Engaged?" +</p> +<p> +"I mean have you anything to do?" +</p> +<p> +"Not so's you could notice! Me mudder's goin' +to dress up to see de show, but me—I'm all ready!" +</p> +<p> +"Good! Then you can help me. I'll pay you for +your time. Can we get an automobile in this part +of the city?" +</p> +<p> +"Gee, no, mister! Dere's jitney buses about two +blocks up, though." +</p> +<p> +"Well, perhaps they'll do for a time. I've got +a lot to do, and you can help me." +</p> +<p> +"I sure will, mister!" cried Micky. "Are youse +in de circus—I mean does youse ride a horse or +jump over de elephants?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, something like that—yes," answered Joe +with a smile. "You'll see to-night if you come." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'll be dere! Don't forgit dat!" +</p> +<p> +Joe and his guide took a jitney to the nearest public +hack stand, where a number of automobiles were +waiting, and Joe entered one of these with Micky. +</p> +<p> +"Gee, if me girl could see me <i>now</i>!" murmured +the red-haired lad, as he sank back in the deep seat. +</p> +<p> +Joe was too preoccupied to more than smile at +the lad. There was much that remained to be done. +The circus was to remain in this city two days more, +over Saturday night, in fact, leaving on Sunday for +a distant city. +</p> +<p> +"There's time enough to trap them!" mused Joe. +"Time enough to trap them!" +</p> +<p> +And, getting back to the show lot, he dismissed +the automobile, and, taking Micky with him, sought +out Jim Tracy, Mr. Moyne, and some of the other +circus executives. +</p> +<p> +And then the trap was set. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH25"><!-- CH25 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXV +</h2> + +<h3> +A BLAZE OF GLORY +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Well," remarked Joe, after having talked rapidly +and said considerable to his friends, "what do +you think of my news?" +</p> +<p> +"Great!" declared the ringmaster. "I didn't think +things would take just that turn, but after Loper's +confession and what Ham told you, I believe it all. +That scoundrel ought to be sent away for life." +</p> +<p> +"He'll go for a long time if I have anything to +say," declared the treasurer. "Did you know we +spotted more bogus tickets to-day?" he asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"No." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we did. I found it out just after you left. +There were only a few. The rush will come to-night." +</p> +<p> +"Unless we stop it," put in Jim Tracy. +</p> +<p> +"We'll stop it!" decided Joe. "That's why I +wanted to get things started in a hurry. The trap +is all ready to spring. The detectives will be here +at eight o'clock, just when the rush is at its height +at the ticket wagon." +</p> +<p> +"Are you going to bring Ham back?" asked Jim, +when the conference was over. +</p> +<p> +"I certainly am," was the answer. "I think he's +been on his last spree. And he wouldn't have gone +on this one only that he was tempted by some person. +Put this tempter out of the way, and it will +mean Ham's safety. Now we've got to work." +</p> +<p> +There was an exceedingly busy time at the circus +from then on, and very little of it concerned the +show itself. The performance was delayed half an +hour that night to enable the trap to be sprung. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Jim Tracy met a certain train that came +in from a large city, and saw alight from it two +quiet, unassuming men. +</p> +<p> +"There they are," said Joe. "Now things will +move!" And he and the ringmaster were soon in +conversation with the two new arrivals. +</p> +<p> +A little later the four entered Joe's dressing tent +at the circus grounds. And some time after that +four men, whose faces were black from the smudge +of machine oil and grease and whose clothes carried +like marks, left Joe's quarters. +</p> +<p> +"Down near the shipyards when the last of the +day shift comes off will be the time and place," said +one of the four smudge-faced men. +</p> +<p> +"Right!" declared another. +</p> +<p> +From the big shipyard poured hundreds of men. +As they began to emerge from the gate the four +soiled-faced individuals who had come from Joe's +dressing tent mingled with them. They heard some +one ask: +</p> +<p> +"Are you sure the tickets'll be good?" +</p> +<p> +"Sure," was the answer. "This fellow and his +pal are part of the show. He sells 'em this way so +there won't be such a crowd at the wagon, and +that's why he makes such a big discount. It sort of +guarantees a pretty big crowd, too. Oh, the tickets +are good, all right. There's the ticket guy now." +</p> +<p> +The crowd of men turned down a side street, +and the four smutty-countenanced men went with +them. One of the four said: +</p> +<p> +"Wait till he sells a few tickets and then nab +him." +</p> +<p> +"There's two of 'em," said another voice. +</p> +<p> +"Nab 'em both! They work together." +</p> +<p> +Soon the men from the shipyard surrounded the +two men, one of whom had been designated by the +sentence: "There's the ticket guy now." +</p> +<p> +Money began to change hands, and tickets were +passed around. The four men who had kept together +shoved their way through the crowd of ship +workers. +</p> +<p> +"How much are the tickets?" one asked. +</p> +<p> +"Thirty-five cents," was the answer. "They'll +cost you fifty or seventy-five at the wagon. The +only reason we sell 'em this way is to avoid the +rush. Then, too, you're really buying 'em at wholesale." +</p> +<p> +"I'll take four," said the man of the quartette. +</p> +<p> +"Here you are! Four." +</p> +<p> +There was another clink of money and a rustle +of slips of paper. Then the man who had passed +over the tickets, said: +</p> +<p> +"Here's your change. That was a five you gave +me, wasn't it? Take your change." +</p> +<p> +"And you take yours, Bill Carfax!" suddenly +cried one of the four. "It's quite a sudden change, +too!" +</p> +<p> +There was a flash of something bright, a metallic +click—two of them, in fact—and the ticket seller +tried to break away. But he was held by the handcuffs +on his wrists, one of the four grasping them +by the connecting chain. +</p> +<p> +"Get the other!" cried a sharp voice. +</p> +<p> +There was a scuffle, another flash of something +bright, two more clicks, and one of the four cried: +</p> +<p> +"That'll be about all from you, Jed Lewis, <i>alias</i> +Inky Jed." +</p> +<p> +The two handcuffed men seemed to know that the +game was up. They shrugged their shoulders, +looked at each other, and grew quiet suddenly. The +set trap had been successfully sprung. +</p> +<p> +"Hey! what's the big idea?" +</p> +<p> +"What's it all about?" +</p> +<p> +"Don't we get our tickets?" +</p> +<p> +Thus cried the men from the shipyards. +</p> +<p> +"You don't want these tickets," said Joe Strong, +for as Bill Carfax looked more closely at one of +the four he recognized him as the young circus man. +"You don't want any tickets these men could sell +you." +</p> +<p> +"Why not?" demanded a man who had bought +one. +</p> +<p> +"Because they're counterfeit," was Joe's answer. +"This man, Bill Carfax," and he nodded toward the +one first handcuffed, "used to work with the Sampson +show. He was discharged—ask him to tell you +why—and soon after that we began to be cheated +by the use of counterfeit tickets. We have been trying +ever since to find out who sold them, and now +we have." +</p> +<p> +"You think you have!" sneered the man who had +been called "Inky Jed." +</p> +<p> +"We know it," said Joe decidedly. "Ham Logan +overheard your plans discussed, and he's told everything." +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" exclaimed Bill Carfax, and there was a +world of meaning in that simple interjection. +</p> +<p> +"And who might you guys be?" asked one of the +shipyard men. +</p> +<p> +"I'm one of the circus owners," said Joe quietly, +"and this is the ringmaster," he went on, indicating +Jim Tracy. "These other two gentlemen are detectives +who have been working on the case since +we discovered the counterfeits. We disguised +ourselves in this way in order to trap these two," and +he pointed to the handcuffed men. +</p> +<p> +The ship workers nodded. One of them asked: +</p> +<p> +"And aren't they with your show, and can't they +sell tickets at reduced prices?" +</p> +<p> +"Never!" exclaimed Joe. "You might get in on +the tickets you bought from them, but it would be +illegally. The counterfeits are clever ones," he said, +holding up four he had bought for evidence. "But +we can detect the difference by means of the serial +numbers. And now, if you men really want to see +the show, go up to the lot and get your tickets from +the wagon, or buy them at one of the authorized +agencies." +</p> +<p> +There were many questions fired at Joe and his +friends by the shipyard men, but they had time to +answer only a few. +</p> +<p> +"We've got to get back to the performance," said +Joe to the detectives. "You can take them with +you," and he nodded toward Bill Carfax and his +crony. "Jim and I will see you later." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, we'll take them with us all right!" laughed +one of the detectives. "Move lively, boys!" he added +to the two prisoners. "The jig is up!" +</p> +<p> +And the two counterfeiters seemed to know it. +</p> +<p> +"What does it all mean?" asked Helen of Joe, +when he got back a little before the time to go on +with his acts. He had washed his face and changed +to his circus costume. The two prisoners had been +locked up. +</p> +<p> +"Well, it means we killed two birds with one +stone," said Joe. "We got rid of the men who have +been making us lose money my means of the counterfeit +tickets, and we have also under lock and +key Bill Carfax, who tried several times to injure +me, or at least to spoil my act, by means of acid on +the trapeze rope and by changing the fireproof +mixture." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Helen. "Then you were +in danger?" +</p> +<p> +"I suppose so—danger of injury, perhaps, but +hardly death. I think Carfax, desperate as he was, +would stop at that." +</p> +<p> +"How did you find out about him and the other +man?" +</p> +<p> +"I'll just have time to tell you before my first +act," said Joe. "It was Harry Loper who gave me +the first idea. When he broke down it was because +of what he had done, and on account of what Bill +Carfax wanted him to do again. It was Bill who +got into the tent once and put acid on my trapeze +wire. And it was because he bribed poor Loper +that he was able to do it. Bill pretended it was only +a trick to make me slip, because he wanted to get +even with me for discharging him. So poor, weak +Harry let him sneak into the tent, disguised so none +of our men would know him. Bill climbed up, put +acid on the wire, and the fiery stuff did the rest. +</p> +<p> +"Well, that preyed on Harry's mind, but he kept +putting it away. But finally, knowing the hold he +had on him, Bill came back and gave him a bottle +of acid to work some further harm to me or my +apparatus. But Ham discovered that in time. +</p> +<p> +"Bill was provoked over his failure, and, when +he wasn't helping Inky Jed get out the bogus tickets, +he followed the show and tried to prevail on Harry +to play another trick on me. Just what it was +Harry doesn't know. He refused to do it, and then +he came and confessed to me. So much for Harry. +He's a sorry boy, and I think he'll turn over a new +leaf. +</p> +<p> +"Now about Ham. Just as I feared, he got to +drinking again. But it was because Bill met him +when poor Ham's nerves were on edge, and Bill +induced him to take liquor. Then Ham went all to +pieces and started on a spree which lasted until +now. He managed to get from place to place, always +under Bill's eye, and at last he landed here, +very weak and ill. Mrs. Donlon looked after him. +</p> +<p> +"And it was here that Ham first heard Bill and +his crony plotting about the bogus circus tickets. +The two counterfeiters planned to make a big strike +here with the shipyard workers. Then Ham sent +the warning to me. I called on him, learned the +plans of Bill and Jed, and we sent for the detectives. +The latter, we learned, were about to make +an arrest anyhow, but it was of the men who really +printed the bogus tickets. They hadn't a clew, as +yet, to Bill and Jed, who were the real backers of +the game. The detectives came on, disguised themselves +with us, and we caught the scoundrels in the +very act. Now they're locked up." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Helen. "I'm +so glad it's all over. And are you going to bring +Ham back to the show?" +</p> +<p> +"Just as soon as he's able to travel. Micky Donlon +wants to join too, and I may give him a chance +later. Well, our troubles seem to be over for a +time, but I suppose there'll be more." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, look on the bright side!" exclaimed Helen. +"Why be a fire-eater if you can't look on the bright +side?" she laughed. +</p> +<p> +"That's so," agreed her admirer. "Well, I've got +to get ready to eat some fire right now." +</p> +<p> +As Joe had said, everything was cleared up. Bill +Carfax was at the bottom of most of the personal +troubles of the young circus man, and his acts were +actuated by a desire for vengeance. As to the ticket +trick, Bill was only a sort of agent in that. Jed +Lewis, alias Inky Jed, was an expert counterfeiter. +He had already served time in prison for trying to +make counterfeit money, and when he fell in with +Bill, and heard the latter tell of some of his circus +experiences, the more skillful scoundrel became +impressed with the chance of making money by selling +spurious tickets. +</p> +<p> +They had some printed and worked the scheme +among crowds of men coming from factories, just +as they were doing when they were caught. +</p> +<p> +As Ham told Joe, the old fire-eater had overheard +the plots and saw his chance to do Joe a favor. +Carfax, it was surmised, hoped to get Ham +Logan under his influence through drink, so that he +might use him in order to injure Joe, after having +failed with Harry Loper. +</p> +<p> +It developed, afterward, that the paper mills had, +innocently enough, furnished the swindlers with the +paper for the counterfeit tickets. The material was +secured through a trick, and Inky Jed knew an unscrupulous +printer who did the work for him. +</p> +<p> +It was Bill Carfax who had sent the man who +so nearly exposed Joe's box trick. But fortune was +with the young circus man. +</p> +<p> +The music played, the horses trotted about, +clowns made laughter, and Helen performed graceful +feats on Rosebud. Joe did some magical tricks, +walked the wire, slid down on his head, and then +prepared for the blazing banquet. +</p> +<p> +In order to show what he could do, Ted Brown +had introduced some novelties. After Joe and the +guests had devoured the blazing food there was a +pause, and then, suddenly, from the center of the +table spouts of red fire burst out, so that the banquet +ended in a blaze of glory. Joe's new helper had +used some fireworks effectively. +</p> +<p> +In due time Bill and his crony were tried, convicted, +and sent away to prison for long terms. +Harry Loper changed his rather loose and weak +ways and became one of Joe's best friends. Ted +Brown was continued as an "assistant assistant," for +in a few weeks Ham Logan was able to rejoin the +show, and he again became Joe's chief helper. +</p> +<p> +"Well, what are you going to spring next on the +unsuspecting public as a sensation?" asked Helen, +when the show had reached a city where two days +were to be spent. "Have you other acts as good a +the fire-eating?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, perhaps I can think up some," was the +answer. +</p> +<p> +And so, with Joe Strong thinking what the future +might hold for him and the circus, we will take our +leave for a time. +</p> +<center> +THE END +</center> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10579 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f652378 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10579 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10579) diff --git a/old/10579-8.txt b/old/10579-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92dd244 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10579-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6055 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater, by Vance Barnum + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater + The Most Dangerous Performance on Record + +Author: Vance Barnum + +Release Date: January 2, 2004 [EBook #10579] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER + +OR + +_THE MOST DANGEROUS PERFORMANCE ON RECORD_ + +BY VANCE BARNUM + +Author of "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard," "Joe Strong and His Wings of +Steel," "Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery," etc. + +1916 + + + +JOE STRONG, THE BOY FIRE-EATER + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE VANISHING LADY + + +"Ladies and gentlemen, if you will kindly give me your attention for a +few moments I will be happy to introduce to your favorable notice an +entertainer of world-wide fame who will, I am sure, not only mystify you +but, at the same time, interest you. You have witnessed the +death-defying dives of the Demon Discobolus; you have laughed with the +comical clowns; you have thrilled with the hurrying horses; and you have +gasped at the ponderous pachyderms. Now you are to be shown a trick +which has baffled the most profound minds of this or any other +city--aye, I may say, of the world!" + +Jim Tracy, ringmaster and, in this instance, stage manager of Sampson +Brothers' Circus, paused in his announcement and with a wave of his hand +indicated a youth attired in a spotless, tight-fitting suit of white +silk. The youth, who stood in the center of a stage erected in the big +tent, bowed as the manager waited to allow time for the applause to die +away. + +"You have all seen ordinary magicians at work making eggs disappear up +their sleeves," went on the stage manager. "You have, I doubt not, +witnessed some of them producing live rabbits from silk hats. But +Professor Joe Strong, who will shortly have the pleasure of entertaining +you, not only makes eggs disappear, but what is far more difficult, he +causes a lady to vanish into thin air. + +"You will see a beautiful lady seated in full view of you. A moment +later, by the practice of his magical art, Professor Strong will cause +the same lady to disappear utterly, and he will defy any of you to tell +how it is done. Now, Professor, if you are ready--" and with a nod and a +wave of his hand toward the youth in the white silk tights, Jim Tracy +stepped off the elevated stage and hurried to the other end of the +circus tent where he had to see to it that another feature of the +entertainment was in readiness. + +"Oh, Joe, I'm actually nervous! Do you think I can do it all right?" +asked a pretty girl, attired in a dress of black silk, which was in +striking contrast to Joe Strong's white, sheeny costume. + +"Do it, Helen? Of course you can!" exclaimed the "magician," as he had +been termed by the ringmaster. "Do just as you did in the rehearsals and +you'll be all right." + +"But suppose something should go wrong?" she asked in a low voice. + +"Don't be in the least excited. I'll get you out of any predicament you +may get into. Tricks do, sometimes, go wrong, but I'm used to that. I'll +cover it up, somehow. However, I don't anticipate anything going wrong. +Now take your place while I give them a little patter." + +This talk had taken place in low voices and with a rapidity which did +not keep the expectant audience waiting. Joe Strong, while he was +reassuring Helen Morton, his partner in the trick and also the girl to +whom he was engaged to be married, was rapidly getting the stage ready +for the illusion. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Joe, as he advanced to the edge of the +stage, "I am afraid our genial manager has rather overstated my powers. +What I am about to do, to be perfectly frank with you, is a trick. I lay +no claim to supernatural powers. But if I can do a trick and you can't +tell how it is done, then you must admit that, for the moment, I am +smarter than you. In other words, I am going to deceive you. But the +point is--how do I do it? With this introduction, I will now state what +I am about to do. + +"Mademoiselle Mortonti will seat herself on a stage in a chair in full +view of you all. I will cover her, for a moment only, with a silken +veil. This, if I were a real necromancer, I should say was to prevent +your seeing her dissolve into a spirit as she disappears. But to tell +you the truth, it is to conceal the manner in which I do the trick. +You'd guess that, anyhow, if I didn't tell you," he added. + +There was a good-natured laugh at this admission. + +"As soon as I remove the silken veil," went on Joe, "you will see that +the lady will have disappeared before your very eyes. What's that? +Through a hole in the stage did some one say?" questioned Joe, appearing +to catch a protesting voice. + +"Well, that's what I hear everywhere I go," he went on with easy +calmness. "Every time I do the vanishing lady trick some one thinks she +disappears through a hole in the stage. Now, in order to convince you to +the contrary, I am going to put a newspaper over that part of the stage +where the chair is placed. I will show you the paper before and after +the trick. And if there is not a hole or a tear in the paper, either +before or after the lady has disappeared, I think you will admit that +the lady did not go through a hole in the stage floor. Won't you?" asked +Joe Strong. "Yes, I thought you would," he added, as he pretended to +hear a "yes" from somewhere in the audience. + +"All ready now, Helen," he said in a low voice to the girl, and an +attendant brought forward an ordinary looking chair and a newspaper. + +Joe, who had done the trick many times before, but not often with Helen, +was perfectly at ease. Helen was very frankly nervous. She had not done +the trick for some time, and Joe had introduced into it some novel +features since last presenting it. Helen was afraid she would cause some +hitch in the performance. + +"You'll be all right," Joe said to her in a low voice. "Just act as +though you had done this every day for a year." + +Placing the chair in the center of the stage and handing Joe the +newspaper, the attendant stepped back. Joe addressed the audience. + +"You here see the paper," said the "magician," as he held it up. "You +see that there is no hole in it. I'll now spread it down on the stage. +If the lady disappears down through the stage she will have to tear the +paper. You shall see if she does." + +Joe next placed the chair directly over the square of paper and motioned +to Helen. Her plain black dress, of soft, clinging silk, swayed about +her as she took her place. + +"I might add," said Joe, pausing a moment after Helen had taken her +seat, "that in order to prevent any shock to Mademoiselle Mortonti I am +going to mesmerize her. She will then be unconscious. I do this for two +reasons. In totally disappearing there is sometimes a shock to a +person's mentality that is unpleasant. To avoid indicting that on +Mademoiselle Mortonti I will hypnotize her. + +"The other reason I do that is that she may not know how or when she +disappears. Thus she will not be able to see how I do the trick, and so +cannot give away my secret." + +Of course this was all "bunk" or "patter," to use names given to it by +the performers. It kept the attention of the audience and so enabled Joe +to do certain things without attracting too much attention to them. As a +matter of fact he did not mesmerize Helen, and she knew perfectly well +how the trick was done. Those who have read previous books of this +series are also in the secret. + +Joe waved his hands in front of Helen's face. She swayed slightly in her +chair. Then her eyes closed as though against her will, and she seemed +to sleep. + +"She is now in the proper condition for the trick," said Joe. "I must +beg of you not to make any sudden or unnecessary noise. You might +suddenly awaken her from the mesmeric slumber, and this might be very +serious." + +As Joe said this with every indication of meaning it, there was a quick +hush among the audience. Even though many knew it was only a trick, they +could not help being impressed by the solemn note in Joe's voice. Such +is the psychology of an audience, and the power over it of a single +person. + +"She now sleeps!" said Joe in a low voice. As a matter of fact, Helen +was wide awake, and as Joe stood between her and the circus crowd she +slowly opened one eye and winked at him. He was glad to see this, as it +showed her nervousness had left her. + +"Now for the mystic veil!" cried Joe, as he took from his helper a thin +clinging piece of black silk gauze. He tossed this over Helen and the +chair, completely covering both from sight. He brought the veil around +behind Helen's head, fastening it there with a pin. + +"To make sure that Mademoiselle Mortonti sleeps, I will now make the few +remaining mesmeric passes," said Joe. "I must be positive that she +slumbers." + +He waved his hands slowly over the black robed figure. A great hush had +fallen over the big crowd. Every eye was on the black figure in the +center of the raised stage in the middle of the big circus tent. All the +other acts had temporarily stopped, to make that of Joe Strong, the boy +magician, more spectacular. + +As Joe continued to wave one hand with an undulating motion over the +silent black-covered figure in the chair, he touched, here and there, +the drapery over Helen. He seemed very solicitous that it should hang +perfectly right, covering the figure of the girl and the chair +completely from sight in every direction all around the stage. + +The music, which had been playing softly, suddenly stopped at a wave of +Joe's hand. He stood for a moment motionless before the veiled figure. + +"Her spirit is dissolving into thin air!" he said in a low voice, which, +nevertheless, carried to every one in the crowd. + +Suddenly Joe took hold of the veil in the center and directly over the +outlined head of the figure in the chair. Quickly the young magician +raised the soft, black silk gauze, whisking it quickly to one side. + +The audience gasped. + +The chair, in which but a moment before Helen Morton had been seated, +was empty! The girl had disappeared--vanished! Joe stooped and raised +from the stage the newspaper. It showed not a sign of break or tear. + +Then, before the applause could begin, the girl appeared, walking out +from one of the improvised wings of the circus stage. She smiled and +bowed. The act had been a great success. Now the silent admiration of +the throng gave place to a wave of hand clapping and feet stamping. + +"Was it all right, Joe?" asked Helen, as he held her hand and they both +bowed their appreciation of the applause. + +"Couldn't have been better!" he said. "We'll do this trick regularly +now. It takes even better than my ten thousand dollar box mystery. You +were great!" + +"I'm so glad!" + +The two performers were bowing themselves off the stage when suddenly +there came the unmistakable roar of a wild beast from the direction of +the animal tent. It seemed to shake the very ground. At the same time a +voice cried: + +"A tiger is loose! One of the tigers is out of his cage!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A DANGEROUS SWING + + +There is no cry which so startles the average circus audience as that +which is raised when one of the wild animals is said to be at large. Not +even the alarm that the big tent is falling or is about to be blown over +will cause such a panic as the shout: + +"A tiger is loose!" + +There is something instinctive, and perfectly natural, in the fear of +the wild jungle beasts. Let it be said that a tiger or a lion is loose, +and it causes greater fear, even, than when it is stated that an +elephant is on a rampage. An elephant seems a big, but good-natured, +creature; though often they turn ugly. But a lion or a tiger is always +feared when loose. + +But the chances are not one in a hundred that a circus lion or a tiger, +getting out of its cage, would attack any one. The creature is so +surprised at getting loose, and so frightened at the hue and cry at once +raised, that all it wants to do is to slink off and hide, and the only +harm it might do would be to some one who tried to stop it from running +away. + +Joe Strong, Jim Tracy, and the other circus executives and employees +knew this as soon as they heard the cry: "A tiger is loose." Who raised +the cry and which of the several tigers in the Sampson show was out of +its cage, neither Joe nor any of those in the big tent near him knew. +But they realized the emergency, and knew what to do. + +"Keep your seats! Don't rush!" cried Joe, as he released Helen's hand +and hurried to the front of the platform. "There is no danger! The +animal men will catch the tiger, if one is really loose. Stay where you +are! Keep your seats! Don't rush!" + +It is the panic and rush that circus men are afraid of--the pushing and +"milling" of the crowd and the trampling under foot of helpless women +and children. + +There was some commotion near the junction of the animal tent and that +in which the main performance took place. What it was, Joe did not +concern himself about just then. He felt it to be his task to prevent a +panic. And to this he lent himself, aided by Helen, Jim Tracy, and +others who realized the danger. + +And while this is going on and while the expert animal men are preparing +to get back into its cage the tiger which, it was learned afterward, had +got out through an imperfectly fastened door, time will be taken to tell +new readers something about Joe Strong and the series of books in which +he is the central character. + +Joe Strong seemed destined for a circus life and for entertaining +audiences with sleight-of-hand and other mystery matters. His father, +Alexander Strong, known professionally as Professor Morretti, was a +stage magician of talents, and Joe's mother, who was born in England, +had been a rider of trick horses. + +His parents died when Joe was young. He did not have a very happy +boyhood, and one day he ran away from the man with whom he was living +and joined a traveling magician, who called himself Professor Rosello. +With him Joe, who had a natural aptitude for the business, learned to +become a sleight-of-hand performer. + +In the first book of the series, entitled "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard; +Or, the Mysteries of Magic Exposed," is told how Joe got on in life +after his first start. Joe was not only a stage magician, but he had +inherited strength, skill and daring, and he liked nothing better than +climbing to great heights or walking in lofty and dizzy places where the +footing was perilous. So it was perhaps natural that he should join the +Sampson Brothers' Show. And in the second book is related, under the +title, "Joe Strong on the Trapeze; Or, the Daring Feats of a Young +Circus Performer," what happened to our hero under canvas. + +Joe loved the circus life, even though he made some enemies. But he had +many friends. There was Helen Morton. Then there was Benny Turton, who +did a "tank act," and was billed as a "human fish." Jim Tracy, the +ringmaster, Bill Watson, the veteran clown, and his wife, the circus +"mother," Tom Layton, the elephant man who taught the big creatures many +tricks, were only a few of Joe's friends. + +Among others might be mentioned Señor Bogardi, the lion tamer, Mrs. +Talfo, the professional "fat lady," Señorita Tanzalo, the pretty snake +charmer, and Tom Jefferson, the "strong man." Joe loved them all. The +circus was like one big family, with, as might be expected, a "black +sheep" here and there. + +Joe became an expert on the trapeze, and, later, when Benny Turton was +temporarily in a hospital, Joe "took on" the tank trick. In the third +volume some of his under-water feats are related, while in the fourth +book Joe's acts on a motor cycle on the high wire are dealt with. + +With his "Wings of Steel," Joe caused a sensation, and after an absence +from the circus for a time he joined it again, bringing this act to it. + +Eventually Joe was made one of the circus owners, and now controlled a +majority of the stock. He had also inherited considerable money from his +mother's relatives in England, so that now the youth was financially +well off for one who had started so humbly. + +The book immediately preceding this one is called "Joe Strong and His +Box of Mystery; Or, the Ten Thousand Dollar Prize Trick." In that volume +is related how Joe constructed a trick box, out of which he made his way +after it was locked and corded about with ropes. Helen Morton helped him +in this trick, which was very successful. + +The circus management offered a prize of ten thousand dollars to +whomsoever could fathom how the trick was done. Bill Carfax, an enemy of +Joe's and a former circus employee, tried to solve the problem but +failed. + +The box trick was a great attraction for the circus, and Joe was in +higher favor than before. + +He had been on the road with the show for some time when the events +detailed in the first chapter of this book took place. + +By dint of much shouting and urging the people to retain their seats and +not rush into danger, Joe Strong and the others succeeded in calming the +circus crowd. Meanwhile there was much suppressed excitement. + +"Is the tiger caught? Is he back in his cage?" was asked on every side. + +While Joe and his fellow showmen were calming the crowd, the animal men +were having their own troubles. Burma, one of the largest of the +tigers, had got loose, having taken advantage of the open door of his +cage. He rushed out with a snarl of delight at his freedom. His jungle +cry was echoed by the roar of a lion in the next cage, and this was +followed by the cries and snarls of all the wild jungle beasts in the +tent. + +Fortunately the animal tent was deserted by all save the keepers, the +audience having filed into the tent where the main show was going on. + +"Head him off now! Head him off!" cried Tom Layton, the elephant man, as +he saw the tiger dart out of its cage--a flash of yellow and black. +"Head him off! Don't let him get in the main top!" + +"That's right! Head him off!" cried Señor Bogardi, the lion tamer. "He +won't hurt any one--he's too scared!" + +This was true, but it was difficult to believe, and some of the people +seated in the "main top," or big tent, who were nearest the animal tent, +hearing the cries and learning what had occurred, spread the alarm. + +Burma, the tiger, slunk around in behind the cages of the other animals. +All about him were men with clubs and pointed goads, with whips and +pistols. The circus men had had to cope with situations like this +before. They surrounded the tiger, advancing on him in an ever-narrowing +circle, and in a short time they drove him into an emergency cage which +was pushed forward with the open door toward him. Burma had no choice +but to enter, to get away from the cracking whips and the prodding +goads. And, after all, he was glad to be barred in again. + +So, without causing any harm except for badly frightening a number of +people in the audience, the tiger was caged again, and the circus +performance went on. + +Joe Strong did his Box of Mystery trick. The usual announcement of a +reward of ten thousand dollars to whomsoever could solve it was made, +and there was great applause when Joe managed to get out of the big box +without disturbing the six padlocks or the binding ropes. + +"I'm glad Bill Carfax isn't here to make trouble, trying to show how +much he knows about this trick," said Joe to the ringmaster, as he +stepped off the stage at the conclusion of the trick. + +"Yes, you put several spokes in Bill's wheels when you turned the laugh +on him that time," said Jim Tracy. "I don't believe he'll ever show up +around our circus again." + +But they little knew Bill Carfax. Those who have read the book just +before this will recall him and remember how unscrupulous he was. But +his plans came to naught then. Any one who wishes to learn how the +wonderful box trick was worked will find a full explanation in the +previous volume. + +Helen Morton received much applause at the conclusion of her act with +her trick horse, Rosebud. Joe Strong's promised wife was an accomplished +bareback rider, as well as one of her fiancé's helpers in his mystery +tricks. + +"Well, I'm glad to-day is over," said Helen to Joe that night, as they +went to the train that was to take them to the next city where the +circus performance would be given. "What with doing the vanishing lady +act for the first time in a long while and the tiger getting loose, we +have had quite a bit of excitement." + +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But everything came out all right. I'm going to put +on a new stunt next week." + +"What's that?" asked Helen. "Something in the mystery line?" + +"No. I'm going back to some of my high trapeze work. You know, since we +lost Wogand there hasn't been any of the big swing work done." + +"That's so," agreed Helen. "But I've been so busy practicing the +vanishing lady act with you on top of my other work that I hadn't given +it a thought. But you aren't going to do that dangerous trick, are you?" + +"I think I am," Joe answered. "It's sensational, and we need sensational +acts now to draw the crowds. I used to do it, and I can again, I think, +with a little practice. I'm going to start in and train to-morrow." + +"I wish you wouldn't," said Helen, in a low voice, but Joe did not seem +to hear her. + +The big swing was a trapeze act performed on the highest of the circus +apparatus. Part of this apparatus consisted of two platforms fastened to +two of the opposite main poles, and up under the very roof of the big +top. + +Midway between the platforms, which were just large enough for a man to +stand on, was a trapeze with long ropes, capable of being swung from one +resting place to the other. It was, in reality, a "big swing." + +Joe's act, which he had often done, but which of late had been performed +by a man billed as "Wogand," was to stand on one platform, have the long +trapeze started in a long, pendulumlike swing by an attendant, and then +to leap down, catch hold of the bar with his hands, and swing up to the +other platform. If he missed catching the bar it meant a dangerous fall; +a fall into a net, it is true, but dangerous none the less. Its danger +can be judged when it is said that Wogand had died as an indirect result +of a fall into the net. He missed the trapeze, toppled into the net, +and, by some chance, did not land properly. His back was injured, his +spine became affected, and he died. + +When circus performers on the high trapezes fall or jump into the safety +nets, they do not usually do it haphazardly. If they did many would be +killed. There is a certain knack and trick of landing in a net. + +Joe Strong, ever having the interest of the circus at heart, had decided +to do this dangerous swing. He was an acrobat, as well as a stage +magician, and he had decided to take up some of his earlier acts which +had been so successful. + +"But I wish he wouldn't," said Helen to herself. "I have a premonition +that something will happen." Helen was very superstitious in certain +ways. + +But to all she said, Joe only laughed. + +"I'm going to do the big swing," he replied simply. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TOO MANY PEOPLE + + +Hundreds of men toiling and sweating over stiff canvas and stiffer +ropes. The thud of big wooden sledge hammers driving in the tent stakes. +The rumble of heavy wagons, and a cloud of dust where they were being +shoved into place by the busy elephants. + +On one edge of the big, vacant lot were wisps of smoke from the fires in +the stove wagons, and from these same wagons came appetizing odors. + +Here and there men and women darted, carrying portions of their costumes +in their hands. Clowns, partly made up, looked from their dressing tents +to smile or shout at some acquaintance who chanced to be passing by. + +All this was the Sampson Brothers' Circus in preparation for a day's +performance. + +Joe Strong, having had a good breakfast, without which no circus man or +woman starts the day, strolled over to where Helen Morton was just +finishing her morning meal. + +"Feeling all right?" he asked her. + +"Well, yes, pretty well," she answered. + +"What's the matter?" asked Joe quickly, as he detected an under note of +anxiety in the girl's voice. "Is your star horse, Rosebud, lame or off +his feed?" + +"Oh, no," she answered. "It's just--Oh, here comes Mother Watson, and I +promised to help her mend a skirt," said Helen quickly, as she turned to +greet the veteran clown's wife. "See you later, Joe!" she called to him +over her shoulder as she started away. + +The young magician moved away toward his own private quarters. + +"I wonder what's the matter with Helen," he said. "She doesn't act +naturally. If that Bill Carfax has been around again, annoying her, I'll +put him out of business for all time. But if he had been around I'd have +heard of it. I don't believe it can be that." + +Nor was it. Helen's anxiety had to do with something other than Bill +Carfax, the unprincipled circus man who had so annoyed her before Joe +discharged him. And, as Joe had said, the man had not been seen publicly +since the fiasco of his attempt to expose Joe's mystery box trick. + +"Well, I suppose she won't tell me what it is until she gets good and +ready," mused Joe. "Now I'll go in and have a little practice at the big +swing before the parade." + +Joe did not take part in the street pageant, though Helen did, riding +her beautiful horse to the admiration, not only of the small boys and +their sisters, but the grown-up throng in the highways as well. Helen +made a striking picture on her spirited, but gentle, steed. + +It was not that Joe Strong felt above appearing in the parade. That was +not his reason for not taking part. He had done so on more than one +occasion, and with his Wings of Steel had created more than one +sensation. + +But now that he did a trapeze act, as well as working the +sleight-of-hand mysteries, his time was pretty well occupied. He had +not, as yet, done the big swing in public since that act was abandoned +on the death of the man who had been injured while doing it. But Joe had +been perfecting himself in it. He had had a new set of trapezes made, +and had ornamented them and the two platforms in a very striking manner. +In other words, the trick had a new "dress," and Joe, as one of the +circus proprietors, hoped it would go well and attract attention. + +This was from a business standpoint, and not only because Joe was +himself the performer. Of course it was natural that he should like +applause--all do, more or less. But Joe was one of the owners of the +circus--the chief owner, in fact--and he wanted to make a financial +success of it. Nor was this a purely selfish reason. Many persons owned +stock in the enterprise, and Joe felt it was only fair to them to see +that they received a good return for their investment. Any trick he +could do to draw crowds he was willing to attempt. + +So, while the parade was being gotten ready, Joe went inside the main +top, which by this time was erected, to see about having his platforms +and trapeze put in place. In this he was always very careful, as is +every aerial performer. The least slip of a rope may cause disaster, and +no matter how careful the attendants are, the performers themselves +always give at least a casual look to their apparatus. + +"All right, Harry?" asked Joe of one of the riggers who had charge of +putting up the platforms and the big swing. + +"Sure, it's all right, Mr. Strong!" was the answer. "I should say so! I +don't make no mistakes when I'm putting up trapezes. You'll find +everything shipshape and proper. Going to have a big crowd to-day, I +guess." + +Joe looked at Harry Loper closely. The young man had never talked so +much before, being, on the whole, rather close-mouthed. As the man +passed Joe, after giving a pull on the last rope, the young magician +became aware that Harry had been drinking--and something stronger than +pink lemonade. + +"I'm sorry about that!" mused Joe, as the rope rigger passed on. "If +there's any place a man ought not to drink it's in a circus, and +especially when he has to rig up high flying apparatus for others. It +was drink that put Bill Carfax out of business. I didn't know Harry was +that kind, I never noticed it before. I'm sorry. And I'll take extra +precautions that my ropes won't slip. You can't trust a man who drinks." + +Joe shook his head a bit sadly. He was thinking of Bill Carfax, and of +the fact that he had had to discharge the man because, while under the +influence of liquor, he had insulted Helen. Then Bill had tried to get +revenge on Joe. + +"I hope it doesn't turn out this way with Harry Loper," mused Joe, as he +began climbing up a rope ladder that led to one of the high platforms. +And as Harry had to do with the placing of this ladder, Joe tested it +carefully before ascending. + +"I don't want to fall and be laid up in the middle of the circus +season," mused the young circus man, with a frown. + +However, the ladder appeared to be perfectly secure, and as Joe went up, +finally reaching the high platform, he felt a sense of exhilaration. +Heights always affected him this way. He liked, more than anything else, +to soar aloft on his Wings of Steel. And he liked the sensation when he +leaped from one platform toward the swinging trapeze bar, aiming to +grasp it in his hands and swing in a great arc to the other little +elevated place, close under the top of the tent. + +There was a thrill about it--a thrill not only to the performer but to +the audience as well--and Joe could hear the gasps that went up from +thousands of throats as he made his big swing. + +But, for the time being, he gave his whole attention to the platform and +its fastenings. The platforms were not very likely to slip, being caught +on to the main tent poles, which themselves were well braced. + +The real danger was in the long trapeze. Not only must the thin wire +ropes of this be strong enough to hold Joe's weight, but an added +pressure, caused by the momentum of his jump. And not only must the +cables be strong, but there must be no defect in the wooden bar and in +the place where the upper ends of the ropes were fastened to the top of +the tent. + +"Well, this platform is all right," remarked Joe, as he looked it over. +"Now for the other and the trapeze." + +He went down the rope ladder and climbed up another to the second +platform. The show would not start for several hours yet, and the tent +was filled with men putting in place the stage for Joe's magic tricks +and other apparatus for various performers. The parade was just forming +to proceed down town. + +Joe found that Harry Loper had done his work well, at least as far as +the platforms were concerned. They were firmly fastened. The one to +which Joe leaped after his swing needed to be considerably stronger than +the one from which he "took off." + +The next act of the young circus performer was to climb up to the very +top of the tent, and there to examine the fastenings of the trapeze +ropes. He spent some time at this, having reached his high perch by a +third rope ladder. + +"I guess everything is all right," mused Joe. "Perhaps I did Harry an +injustice. He might have taken some stimulant for a cold--they all got +wet through the other night. But still he ought to be careful. He was a +little too talkative for a man to give his whole attention to fastening +a trapeze. But this seems to be all right. I'll do the big swing this +afternoon and to-night, in addition to the box trick and the vanishing +lady. Helen works exceedingly well in that." + +Having seen that his aerial apparatus was all right, Joe next went to +his tent where his magical appliances were kept. Many stage tricks +depend for their success on special pieces of apparatus, and Joe's acts +were no exception. + +Joe saw that everything was in readiness for his sleight-of-hand work, +and then examined his Box of Mystery. As this was a very special piece +of apparatus, he was very careful about it. His ability to get out of +it, once he was locked and roped in, depended on a delicate bit of +mechanism, and the least hitch in this meant failure. + +But a test showed that it was all right, and as by this time it was +nearly the hour for the parade to come back and the preliminaries to +begin, Joe went over to the circus office to see if any matters there +needed his attention. + +As he crossed the lot to where the "office" was set up in a small tent, +the first horses of the returning parade came back on the circus +grounds. Following was a mob of delighted small boys and not a few men. + +"Looks as if we'd have a big crowd," said Joe to himself. "And it's a +fine day for the show. We'll make money!" + +He attended to some routine matters, and then the first of the afternoon +audience began to arrive. As Joe had predicted, the crowd was a big one. + +The young performer was in his dressing room, getting ready for the big +swing, which he would perform before his mystery tricks, when Mr. Moyne, +the circus treasurer, entered. There was a queer look on Mr. Moyne's +face, and Joe could not help but notice it. + +"What's worrying you?" asked Joe. "Doesn't this weather suit you, or +isn't there a big enough crowd?" + +"That's just it, Joe," was the unexpected answer. "There's too big a +crowd. We have too many people at this show, and that's what is worrying +me a whole lot!" + +Joe Strong looked in surprise at the treasurer. What could Mr. Moyne +mean? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE RUSTED WIRE + + +"Yes," went on the circus treasurer, as he rubbed his chin reflectively, +"it's a curious state of affairs, and as you're so vitally interested I +came to you at once. There's going to be trouble!" + +"Trouble!" cried Joe with a laugh. "I can't see that, Mr. Moyne. You say +there's a big crowd of people at our circus--too much of a crowd, in +fact. I can't see anything wrong in that. It's just what we're always +wanting--a big audience. Let 'em fill the tent, I say, and put out the +'Straw Seats Only' sign. Trouble! Why, I should say this was good luck!" +and Joe hastened his preparations, for he wanted to go on with the big +swing. + +"Ordinarily," said Mr. Moyne, in the slow, precise way he had of +speaking, brought about, perhaps, by his need of being exact in money +matters, "a big crowd would be the very thing we should want. But this +time we don't--not this kind of a crowd." + +"What do you mean?" asked Joe, beginning to feel that it was more than a +mere notion on the part of the treasurer that something was wrong. "Is +it a rough crowd? Will there be a 'hey rube!' cry raised--a fight +between our men and the mill hands?" + +"Oh, no, nothing like that!" the treasurer hastened to assure Joe. "The +whole thing is just this. There are a great many more people in the main +top now than there are admission prices in the treasurer's cash box. The +books don't balance, as it were." + +"More people in the tent than have paid their way?" asked Joe. "Well, +that always happens at a circus. Small boys will crawl in under the +canvas in spite of clubs." + +"Oh, it isn't a question of the small boys--I never worry about them," +returned Mr. Moyne. "But there are about a thousand more persons at the +performance which will soon begin than we have admission prices for. In +other words there are a thousand persons occupying fifty cent seats that +haven't paid their half dollar. It isn't the reserve chairs that are +affected. We're all right there. But fully a thousand persons have come +into the show, and we're short five hundred dollars in our cash." + +"You don't tell me!" cried Joe. He saw that Mr. Moyne was very much in +earnest. "Have the ticket men and the entrance attendants been working a +flim-flam game on us?" + +"Oh, no, it isn't that," said the treasurer. "I could understand that. +But the men are perfectly willing to have their accounts gone over and +their tickets checked up. They're straight!" + +"Then what is it?" asked Joe. + +"That's what we've got to find out," went on Mr. Moyne. "In some way the +thousand people have come in without paying the circus anything. And +they didn't sneak in, either. A few might do that, but a thousand +couldn't. They've come in by the regular entrance." + +"Did they force themselves past without tickets?" + +"No, each one had the proper coupon." + +"Has there been a theft of our tickets?" demanded the young magician and +acrobat. + +"No, our ticket account is all right, except there are a thousand extra +entrance coupons in the box--coupons taken in by the entrance +attendants. It's a puzzle to me," confessed the treasurer. "There is +some game being played on us, and we're out to the tune of five hundred +dollars by it already." + +"Is there any way of finding out who these persons are who have come in +without paying us and having them ejected?" asked Joe. + +"I don't see how," admitted Mr. Moyne. "If they were in reserved seats +it could be done, but not in the ordinary un-numbered fifty cent +section. The whole situation is that we have a thousand persons too many +at the show." + +"Well, we'll have a meeting of the executive body and take it up after +the performance," said Joe, as he quickly prepared to get into his +aerial costume. "We'll have to go on with the performance now; it's +getting late. If we're swamped by people coming along who hold our +regular tickets we'll have to sit 'em anywhere we can. If we lose five +hundred dollars we'll make it up by having a smashing crowd, which is +always a good advertisement. I'll see you directly after the show, Mr. +Moyne." + +"I wish you would," said the harassed treasurer. "Something must be done +about it. If this happens very often we'll be in a financial hole at the +end of the season." + +He departed, looking at some figures he had jotted down on the back of +an envelope. + +Joe Strong was puzzled. Nothing like this had ever come up before. True, +there had been swindlers who tried to mulct the circus of money, and +there were always small boys, and grown men, too, who tried to crawl in +under the tent. But such a wholesale game as this Joe had never before +known. + +"Well, five hundred dollars, for once, won't break us," he said grimly, +as he fastened on a brightly spangled belt, "but I wouldn't want it to +happen very often. Now I wonder what luck I'll have in my big swing. I +haven't done it in public for some time, but it went all right in +practice." + +Joe looked from his dressing room. He was all ready for his act now, +but the time had not yet come for him to go on. He saw Helen hastening +past on her way to enter the ring with her horse, Rosebud, which a groom +held at the entrance for her. + +"Good luck!" called Joe, waving his hand and smiling. + +"The same to you," answered Helen. "You'll need it more than I. Oh, +Joe," she went on earnestly, "won't you give up this big swing? Stick to +your box trick, and let me act with you in the disappearing lady stunt. +Don't go on with this high trapeze act!" she pleaded. + +"Why, Helen! anybody would think you'd been bitten by the jinx bug!" +laughed Joe. "I thought you were all over that." + +"Perhaps I am foolish," she said. "But it's because--" + +She blushed and looked away. + +"I suppose I should take it as a compliment that you are so interested +in my welfare," said Joe, with a smile. "And, believe me, I am. But, +Helen, I can't back out of this act now. It's been advertised big. I've +got to go on!" + +"Then do be careful, won't you?" she begged. "Oh, do be careful! +Somehow, I have a feeling that--Oh, well, I won't set you to worrying by +telling you," she said quickly, with a laugh, in which, however, there +was no mirth. She smiled again, trying to make it a bright one; but Joe +saw that she was under a strain. + +"I'll be careful," he promised. "Really, there's no danger. I've done +the stunt a score of times, and I can judge my distance perfectly. +Besides there's the safety net." + +"Yes, I know, but there was poor--Oh, well, I won't talk about it! Good +luck!" and she hurried on, for it was time for her act--the whistle of +the ringmaster having blown. + +Joe looked after the girl he loved. He smiled, and then a rather serious +look settled over his face. Like a flash there had come to him the +memory of the too loquacious Harry Loper, who had fitted up his aerial +apparatus. + +"There can be nothing wrong with that," mused Joe. "I went over every +inch of it. I guess Helen is just nervous. Well, there goes my cue!" + +He hurried toward the entrance, and then he began to ponder over the +curious fact of there being a thousand persons too many at the +performance. + +"We'll have to straighten out that ticket tangle after the show," mused +Joe. "It's likely to get serious. I wonder--" he went on, struck by a +new thought. "I wonder if--Oh, no! It couldn't be! He hasn't been around +in a long while." + +Out into the tent, filled with a record-breaking crowd, went Joe to the +place where his high trapeze was waiting for him. The band was playing +lively airs, on one platform some trained seals were juggling big balls +of colored rubber, and on another a bear was going about on roller +skates. In one end ring Helen was performing with Rosebud, while in +another a troupe of Japanese acrobats were doing wonderful things with +their supple bodies. + +Joe waved his hand to Helen in passing, and then he began to ascend to +his high platform. When he reached it and stood poised ready for his +act, there came a shrill whistle from Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, who +wore his usual immaculate shirt front and black evening clothes--rather +incongruous in the daytime. + +The whistle was the signal for the other acts to cease, that the +attention of all might be centered on Joe. This is always done in a +circus in the case of "stars," and Joe was certainly a star of the first +magnitude. + +"Ladies and gentlemen!" cried Jim Tracy, with the accented drawl that +carried his voice to the very ends of the big tent. "Calling your +attention to one of the most marvelous high trapeze acts ever performed +in any circus!" + +He pointed dramatically to Joe, who stood up straight, ready to do his +act. + +"Are you ready?" asked the man who was to release the trapeze, which +was caught up at one side of the platform opposite Joe. + +"Ready," answered the young acrobat. + +The man pulled a rope which released a catch, letting the trapeze start +on its long swaying swing. The man pulled it by means of a long, thin +cord, until it was making big arcs, like some gigantic pendulum. + +Joe watched it carefully, judging it to the fraction of an inch. He +stood poised and tense on the gayly decorated platform, himself a fine +picture of physical young manhood. The band was blaring out the latest +Jazz melody. + +Suddenly, from his perch, the young acrobat gave a cry, and Jim Tracy, +on the ground below, hearing it, held up his white-gloved hand as a +signal for the music to cease. + +Then Joe leaped. Full and fair he leaped out toward the swinging bar of +the big trapeze, the snare drum throbbing out as he jumped. He was dimly +conscious of thousands of eyes watching him--eyes that looked curiously +and apprehensively up. And he realized that Helen was also watching him. + +As true as a die, Joe's hands caught and gripped the bar of the swinging +trapeze. So far he was safe. The momentum of his jump carried him in a +long swing, and he at once began to undulate himself to increase his +swing. He must do this in order to get to the second platform. + +As the young performer began to do this, he looked up at the wire ropes +of his trapeze. + +It was a look given instinctively and for no particular purpose, as +Joe's eyes must rest, most of all, on the second platform where he +needed to land, to save himself from a bad fall. + +As his eyes glanced along the steel cables on which his life depended, +he saw, to his horror, a spot of rust on one. And at the spot of rust +several of the thin strands of twisted wire were loose and frayed. + +The cable seemed about to give way! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A FIRE SENSATION + + +Joe Strong had to think quickly. Every acrobat, every person who does +"stunts" in a circus, must; for something is always happening, or on the +verge of taking place. And when Joe looked up and saw the rusted wire +and noted the fraying strands, several thoughts shot through his mind at +once. + +"That rust spot wasn't there this morning when, I looked at the +trapeze," he mused. "And it hasn't rained since. How did it get there?" + +He thought of the too talkative Harry Loper, and an ugly suspicion +associated itself with him. But Joe had no time for such thoughts then. +What was vital for him to know was whether or not the thin wire cable +would remain unbroken long enough for him to reach the maximum of his +swing, and land on the platform. Or would he fall, spoiling the act and +also endangering himself? + +True he might land in the net in such a way as to come to no harm, as he +had done many times, and as many performers before him had done. But +the danger was that in a sudden and unexpected drop downward he might +not be able to get his limbs in the proper landing position. + +Joe Strong had nerve. If he had lacked it he would never have been so +successful. And at once he decided on a courageous proceeding. + +"I'll bring all my weight suddenly on that left hand cable," he mused, +as he swung to and fro, from side to side of the big tent. "If it's +going to break it will do so then. And I'll be ready for it. I'll then +keep hold of the trapeze bar, which will be straight up and down instead +of crosswise, and swing by that. The other cable seems all right." This +was a fact which Joe ascertained by a quick inspection. + +There was no time for further thought. As he swung, Joe suddenly shifted +his weight, bringing it all on the frayed and strangely rusted cable. As +he half expected, it gave way, and he dropped in an instant, but not +far. + +The watching crowd gasped. It looked like an accident. And it was, in a +way, but Joe had purposely caused it. As the wire broke Joe held tightly +to the wooden bar, which was now upright in his hands instead of being +horizontal. And though it slipped through his fingers, perhaps for the +width of his palm, at last he gripped it in a firm hold and kept on with +his swing. + +And then the applause broke forth, for the audience thought it all a +part of the trick--they thought that Joe had purposely caused the cable +to break to make the act more effective. + +To and fro swung Joe, nearer and nearer to the second platform, and +then, reaching the height of the long arc, he turned his body and +stepped full and fair on the little square of velvet-covered boards. + +With a lithe contortion, Joe squirmed to an upright position, recovering +his balance with a great effort, for he had been put out in his +calculations of distance, and then, turning, he bowed to the crowds, +revolving on the platform to take in every one. + +Again the applause broke forth, to be drowned in the boom and ruffle of +the drums as the band began to play. There is little time in a circus, +where act follows act so quickly, for long acknowledgments. + +The other performers came into the rings or on to the raised platforms, +and Joe descended by means of the rope ladder. Helen met him, and they +walked toward the dressing rooms. + +"That was a wonderful trick, Joe," she said. "But I didn't see you +practice that drop." + +"I didn't practice it," he remarked dryly. "I did it on the spur of the +moment." + +"Joe Strong! wasn't it dangerous?" + +"Well, a little." + +"What made you do it?" + +"I couldn't help it." + +"You couldn't help it? Joe--do you mean--?" She sensed that something +was wrong, but walking around the circus arena, with performers coming +and going, was not the place to speak of it. Joe saw that she +understood. + +"I'll tell you later," he said. "We have to get ready for the trick box +and the vanishing lady stunt now." + +"Oh, Joe! were you in much danger?" she asked in a low voice. + +"Oh, not much," he answered, and he tried to speak lightly. Yet he did +not like to think of that one moment when he saw the rusted and broken +wire. + +While Joe and Helen are preparing for the box act, which has been +treated fully in the previous volume, the explanation of how the +vanishing lady trick was accomplished will be given, though that, too, +has been explained in an earlier volume. + +A large newspaper is put on the stage and the chair set on the paper, +thus, seemingly, precluding the possibility of a trap door being cut in +the stage through which the lady in the chair might slip. The word +"seemingly" is used with a due sense of what it means. The newspaper was +not a perfect one. On one of its sides which was not exhibited to the +audience, there was cut an opening, or trap, that exactly corresponded +in size with a trap door on the stage. The paper, as explained in the +previous book, is strengthened with cardboard, and the trap is a double +one, being cut in the center, the flaps being easily moved either way. + +The audience thinks it sees a perfect newspaper. But there is a square +hole in it, but concealed as is a secret trap door. + +When Joe laid the paper on the stage he placed it so that the square, +double flap in it was exactly over the trap in the stage floor. He then +drew the page of the paper that he had held out to the audience toward +himself, exposing the trap for use, but because it was so carefully +made, and the cut was so fine, it was not visible from the front. + +Helen took her place in the chair, which, of course, was a trick one. It +was fitted with a concealed rod and a cap, and it was over this cap, +brought out at the proper moment, that Joe carefully placed the black +veil, when he was pretending to mesmerize Helen. There was a cross rod, +also concealed in the chair, and on either end of this, something like +the epaulettes of a soldier, so that when these ends were under the veil +and the cap was in place it looked as though some one sat in the chair, +when, really, no one did. + +Helen was in the chair at the start. But as soon as she was covered by +the veil she began to get out The seat of the chair was hinged within +its frame As Helen sat on it, and after she had been covered with the +veil, she rested her weight on her hands, which were placed on the +extreme outer edges of this seat frame. She pulled a catch which caused +the seat to drop, and at the same time the trap beneath her, including +the prepared newspaper, was opened by an attendant. The black veil all +about the chair prevented the audience seeing this. + +Helen lowered herself down through the dropped seat of the chair, +through the trap, and under the stage. And while she was doing this it +still looked as if she were in the chair, for the false cap and the +extended cross rod made outlines as if of a human form beneath the black +veil. + +As soon as Helen was out of the chair and beneath the stage an attendant +closed the newspaper and wooden floor traps. Joe then suddenly raised +the veil, taking in its folds the false cap and the cross piece which +had represented Helen's shoulders. They were thin and light--these +pieces of trick apparatus--and no one suspected they were in the veil. +The hinged seat of the chair snapped back in place by means of a spring, +and when Joe stepped aside, holding the veil, there was the empty chair; +and the newspaper, which he picked up, seemed to preclude the +possibility of there having been a trap in the stage. But Joe was +careful how he exhibited this paper to his audience. + +And so it was that the lady "vanished." + +"And now, Joe, tell me all about it!" demanded Helen, when the circus +was over for the afternoon, and the box and vanishing tricks had been +successfully performed. "What happened to your trapeze?" + +"Some one spilled acid on one of the wire ropes, and it ate into the +metal, corroding it and separating a number of the strands so that a +little extra weight broke them," said Joe. + +"Acid on the cable?" cried Helen. "How did you find out?" + +"I just examined the wire. I knew it couldn't have rusted naturally in +such a short time. There was a peculiar smell about the wire, and I know +enough of chemistry to make a simple acid test! What kind of acid was +used I don't know, but it was strong enough to eat the steel." + +"Who could have put it on?" + +"That I've got to find out!" + +"Was it Harry Loper?" + +"I taxed him with it, but he swears he knew nothing of it," said Joe. +"I'm inclined to believe him, too. I charged him with drinking, and he +could not deny that. But he said he met some old friends and they +induced him to have a little convivial time with them. No, I don't +believe he'd do it. He's weak and foolish, but he had no reason to try +to injure me." + +"Who would, Joe? Of course there's Bill Carfax, but he hasn't been seen +near the circus of late." + +"No, I don't believe it could have been Bill. I'll have to be on my +guard." + +"Do, Joe!" urged Helen. "Oh, I can't bear to think of it!" + +"Don't then!" laughed Joe, trying to make light of it. "Let's go down +town and I'll buy you some ice cream." + +"But you're not going to give up trying to find out who put acid on the +trapeze, are you?" + +"No, indeed!" declared the young performer. "I have two problems on my +hands now--that and trying to learn how too many persons came to the +circus this afternoon," and he told Helen about the extra tickets. + +"That's queer!" she exclaimed. "Some jinx bug must be after us!" + +"Don't get superstitious!" warned Joe. "Now we'll forget our troubles. +They may not amount to anything after all." + +But, though he spoke lightly, Joe was worried, and he was not going to +let Helen know that. They went into an ice-cream parlor and "relaxed," +as Helen called it. + +The two were on their way back to the circus lot, intending to go to +supper and prepare for the evening entertainment, when there was a +sudden alarm down the street, and, in an instant, the fire engines and +other apparatus dashed past. + +"A fire!" cried Joe. "Come on, Helen! It's just down the street!" + +They could see smoke pouring from a small building and a crowd rushing +toward it. Thither, also, the fire apparatus was dashing. Joe and Helen +were among the early arrivals. + +"What is it?" asked Joe of an officer. "I mean what sort of place is +that?" and he pointed to the building, which was now obscured by smoke. + +"Dime museum," was the answer. "Lot of fakes. I sent in the alarm. A +fire-eater was trying some new stunt and he set the place ablaze, so the +boss yelled to me. Come now, youse all have to git back!" and he +motioned to the crowd, which was constantly increasing, to get beyond +the fire lines. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOMETHING NEW + + +What with the clanging of the gongs on the engines and on the red +runabouts that brought two battalion chiefs to the fire; the pall of +smoke, with, here and there, the suggestion of a red blaze; the swaying +excitement of the crowd; the yells of harassed policemen; the scene at +the blaze of the dime museum was one long to be remembered by Joe Strong +and Helen Morton--particularly in the light of what happened afterward. + +"Joe, did you hear what he said?" asked Helen, as she moved back with +the young acrobat in conformity with the officer's order. + +"You mean that we've got to slide?" + +"No, that a fire-eater started the blaze. Does he mean a professional +'fire bug,' as I have heard them called?" + +"Oh, not at all!" exclaimed Joe. "A fire-eater is a chap who does such +stunts in a museum, theater, or even in a circus. Sampson Brothers used +to have one, I understand, from looking over the old books. But it +wasn't much of an act. Golly, this is going to be some blaze!" + +That was very evident from the increased smoke that rolled out and the +crackle of fire that now could be heard above the puffing of the engines +and the shouts of the mob. + +"A regular tinder box!" muttered the officer who had told Joe the origin +of the blaze. "Place ought to have been pulled down long ago. Git back +there youse!" he yelled to some venturesome lads. "Want to git mushed +up?" + +The blaze was a big one, considerable damage was done, and several +persons were injured. But quick work by an efficient department +prevented the flames from spreading to the buildings on either side of +the one where it had started. + +Joe and Helen stayed long enough to see the menace gotten under control, +and then they departed just as the ambulance rolled away with the last +of the victims. + +"That's the fire-eater they're taking to the hospital now," said the +policeman who had first spoken to the young circus performers. "They +took him into a drug store to wrap him in oil and cotton batting." + +"Will he live?" asked Helen. + +"Just a chance," was the answer. "Say, if I had to get my living eating +fire I'd starve," confided the policeman. "It must be some stunt! I +always thought it was a fake, but this fire burned real enough." + +"Oh, it isn't all fake," said Joe, "though of course there's a trick +about it." + +"You seem to know," said the policeman, and he smiled at Joe and Helen. +His chief troubles were about over with the departure of the ambulance +and the knowledge that filtered through the crowd that the most of the +excitement was over. + +"Oh, I'm in the circus business," confessed Joe. "I never ate fire," he +went on, "but--" + +"Oh, I know you now!" cried the officer. "I was on duty out at the +circus grounds this afternoon, and I went into the tent when you did +that box act. Say, that's some stunt! Do they really pay ten thousand +dollars to the fellow who tells how it's done?" + +"Well, we've never paid out the money yet," said Joe, with a smile. "But +it's there, waiting for some one to claim it." + +"Then I'm coming to-night to watch you," said the officer, who appeared +delighted that he had recognized one of the "profesh." + +"Come along," replied Joe. "Here, wait a minute! There are a couple of +passes. Come and bring a friend. If you tell how I do the trick you'll +get the ten thousand. Only you'll have to post a hundred dollars as a +forfeit to the Red Cross in case you don't guess right. That's included +in the offer." + +"Oh!" The officer did not seem quite so pleased. "Well, I'll come +anyhow," he went on, accepting the passes Joe handed him. The policeman +had allowed Joe and Helen to stay in an advantageous place where they +could watch the fire. + +"Where are they taking the man who did the dangerous trick that caused +all the trouble?" asked Helen, as she prepared to walk on with Joe. + +"To the City Hospital, Miss. He's a bad case, I understand." + +"Poor fellow," murmured Helen. "Do you think we could go to see him, and +do something for him, Joe?" she asked solicitously. "He's in almost the +same line of business as ourselves." + +"Well, I don't know," was the slow answer. + +"I can fix it up if you want to see him--that is, if the doctors and +nurses will let you," said the policeman. "I know the hospital +superintendent. You just tell him that Casey sent you and it will be all +right." + +"Thanks; perhaps we will," said Joe. + +There was a little time after supper before the performers had to go on +with their acts, and Helen prevailed on Joe to take her to the hospital +whither the injured fire-eater had been removed. They found him swathed +in bandages, no objection being made to their seeing him after the magic +name of "Casey" had been mentioned to the superintendent. + +"We came in to see if you needed any help," said Joe to the pathetic +figure in the bed. "We're in the same line of business, in a way." + +"Are you a fire-eater?" slowly asked the man. + +"No," Joe told him. "But I'm in the circus--Sampson Brothers'." + +"Oh, yes, I've heard about it. A partner of mine was with 'em for years. +Gascoyne was his name." + +"That was before my time," said Joe. "But how are you getting on? Can we +be of any help to you? We professionals must help one another." + +"That's right. We get knocked often enough," was the reply. "Well, I'm +doing as well as can be expected, the doctor says. And I'm not really in +need of anything. The museum folks were pretty good to me. Thank you, +just the same." + +"How did it happen?" asked Helen. + +"Oh, just my carelessness," said the man. "We get careless after playing +with fire a bit. I put too much alcohol on the tow, and there was a +draft from an open door, some draperies caught, and it was all going +before I knew it. I tried to put it out--that's how I got burned." + +"Then you really didn't eat fire?" asked Helen. + +Joe and the man swathed in bandages looked at one another and a +semblance of a wink passed between them. + +"Nobody can eat fire, lady," said the museum performer. "It's all a +trick, same as some your husband does in the circus." + +Joe blushed almost as much as did Helen. + +"We're not married yet, but we're going to be," explained Joe, smiling. + +"Lucky guy!" murmured the man. "Well, as I was saying, it's all a +trick," he went on. "Strong alum solution in your mouth, just a dash of +alcohol to make a blaze that flares up but goes out quickly if you +smother it right. You know the game," and he looked at Joe. + +"Well, not exactly," was the reply. "I've read something of it. But, +somehow, it never appealed to me." + +"Oh, it makes a good act, friend!" said the man earnestly. "I've done a +lot of museum and circus stunts, and this always goes big. There's no +danger if you handle it right. I'll be more careful next time." + +"You don't mean to say you'll go back to it, do you?" asked Helen. + +"Sure, lady! I've got to earn my living! And this is the best thing I +know. I'll be out in a week. I didn't swallow any, thank goodness! Oh, +sure I'll go at it again." + +Joe and Helen cheered the sufferer up as much as they could, and then +departed. Joe privately left a bill of substantial denomination with the +superintendent to be used for anything extra the patient might need. + +On the way back to the circus, where they were soon to give their +evening performance, Joe was unusually quiet. + +"What's the matter?" asked Helen. "Are you thinking of that accident on +the trapeze?" + +"No," was the answer. "It's something different. I've got to get up a +new act for the show. That trapeze act, even the way I had to do it this +afternoon, isn't sensational enough. I've got to have something new, and +I've about decided on it." + +"What?" asked Helen. + +"I'm going to become a fire-eater!" was the unexpected, reply. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PAPER EXPERT + + +For a moment Helen Morton stared at Joe Strong as though not quite sure +whether or not he was in his proper mind. Then, seeing plainly that he +was in earnest, she seemed to shrink away from him, as he had noticed +her shrink away, for a moment, from the burned man suffering there in +the hospital. + +"What's the matter, Helen?" asked Joe, trying to speak lightly. "Don't +you want to see some more sensational acts in the show?" + +"Yes, but not that kind," she answered with a shudder she could not +conceal. "Oh, Joe, if you were to--" She could not go on. Her breast +heaved painfully. + +"Now look here, Helen!" he exclaimed with good-natured roughness, "that +isn't any way to look at matters; especially when we both depend on +sensations for making our living. + +"You know, as well as I do, that in this business we have to take risks. +That's what makes our acts go. You take a risk every time you perform +with Rosebud. You might slip, the horse might slip, and you'd be hurt. +Now is this new act I am thinking of perfor--" + +"Yes, I may take risks, Joe!" interrupted Helen. "But they are perfectly +natural risks, and I have more than an even chance. You might just as +well say you take a risk walking along the street, and so you do. An +elevated train might fall on you or an auto run up on the sidewalk. The +risks I take in the act with Rosebud are only natural ones, and really +shouldn't be counted. But if you start to become a fire-eater--Oh, Joe, +think of that poor fellow in the hospital!" + +"He didn't get that way from eating fire--or pretending to eat it--for +the amusement of the public. He might just as easily have been burned +the way he is by lighting the kitchen stove for his wife to get +breakfast. His accident was entirely outside of his act, you might say. +Why, I use lighted candles in some of my tricks. Now, if some one +knocked over a candle, and it caused a fire on the stage and I was +burned, would you want me to give up being a magician?" + +"Oh, no, I suppose not," said Helen slowly. "But fire is so dangerous. +And to think of putting it in your mouth! How can you do it, Joe? Oh, it +can't be done!" + +"Oh, there's a trick about it. I haven't mastered all the details yet, +so as to give a smooth performance, but I can make an attempt at it." + +"Joe Strong! do you mean to say you know how to eat fire?" demanded +Helen, and now her eyes showed her astonishment. + +"Well, not exactly eat it, though that is the term used. But I do know +how to do it. I learned, in a rudimentary way, when I was with Professor +Rosello--the first man who taught me sleight-of-hand. He had one +fire-eating act, but it didn't amount to much. He told me the secret of +it, such as it was. + +"But if I put on that stunt I'm going to make it different. I'm going to +dress it up, make it sensational so that it will be the talk of the +country where circuses are exhibited." + +"And won't you run any danger?" questioned the girl quickly. + +"Oh, I suppose so; just as I do when I work on the high trapeze or ride +my motor cycle along the high wire. But it's all in the day's work. And +now let's talk about something pleasant--I mean let's get off the shop." + +Helen sighed. She was plainly disturbed, but she did not want to burden +Joe with her worries. She knew he must have calm nerves and an +untroubled mind to do his various acts in the circus that night. + +After supper and before the evening performance Joe made a careful +examination of his trapeze apparatus. Beyond the place where the acid +had eaten into the wire strands, causing them to become weakened so that +they parted, the appliances did not appear to have been tampered with. +Nor were there any clews which might show who had done the deed. That it +could have happened by accident was out of the question. The acid could +have gotten on the wire rope in one way only. Some one must have climbed +up the rope ladder to the platform and applied the stuff. + +"But who did it?" asked Jim Tracy, when Joe had told him of the +discovery of the acid-eaten cable. + +"Some enemy. Perhaps the same one who was responsible for our loss in +tickets this afternoon," answered the young magician. + +"Carfax?" asked the ringmaster. + +"It might be, and yet he isn't the only man who's been discharged or who +has a grudge against me. There was Gianni with whom I had a fight." + +"You mean the Italian? Yes, he was an ugly customer. But I haven't heard +of him for years. I don't believe he's even in this part of the +country." + +"And we haven't any reason to suppose that Carfax is, either, after his +fiasco in trying to expose my Box of Mystery trick. But we've got to be +on our guard." + +"I should say so!" exclaimed the ringmaster. "And now about your +trapeze act, Joe! Are you going to put it on again to-night?" + +"Of course. It's billed." + +"Then you'll have to hustle to rig up a new rope." + +"I'm not going to put on a new rope," declared Joe. "The act went so +well when I seemed about to fall, that I'm going to keep that feature +in. I'll rig up a catch on the severed cable. At the proper time I'll +snap it loose, seem to fall, swing by the dangling bar as I did before, +and land on the platform that way. It will be more effective than if I +did it in the regular way." + +"But won't it be risky?" + +Joe shrugged his shoulders. + +"No more so than any trapeze act. Now that I'm ready for the sudden drop +I'll be on my guard. No, I can work it all right. And now about these +extra admissions? What are we going to do about them?" + +"Well," said the ringmaster, "maybe we'd better talk to Moyne about +them. If they ring an extra thousand persons in on us again to-night the +thing will be getting serious." + +The treasurer was called in consultation with Joe and Tracy and other +circus officials, and it was decided to keep a special watch on the +ticket wagon and the ticket takers that night. + +Joe quickly made the change in his trapeze and tested it, finding that +he could work it perfectly. Then he began to think of his new +fire-eating act. He was determined to make that as great a success as +was his now well advertised ten thousand dollar mystery box act. + +The evening performance had not long been under way, and Joe had done +his big swing successfully, when he was sought out by Mr. Moyne. + +"The same thing has happened again," said the treasurer. + +"You mean more people coming in than we have sold tickets for?" + +"That's it." + +"Well, where do the extra admissions come from? I mean where do the +people get their admission slips from--the extra people?" + +"That's what we can't find out," the treasurer aid. "As far as the +ticket takers can tell only one kind of admission slip for the fifty +cent seats is being handed them. But the number, as tallied by the +automatic gates, does not jibe with the number of ordinary admissions +sold at the ticket office. To-night there is a difference of about eight +hundred and seventy-five." + +"Do you mean," asked Joe, "that that number of persons came in on +tickets that were never sold at the ticket wagon?" + +"That's just what I mean. There is an extra source from which the +ordinary admission tickets come. As I told you this afternoon, we are +having no trouble with our reserved seats. There have been no duplicates +there. But there is a duplication in the fifty cent seats, where one may +take his pick as to where he wants to sit." + +"Don't we have tickets on sale in some of the downtown stores?" Joe +asked. + +"Oh, yes, several of the stores sell tickets up to a certain hour. Then +they send the balance up here for us to dispose of." + +"How about their accounts? Have you had them gone over carefully?" + +"They tally to a penny." + +"How about the unsold tickets these agents send back to us? Isn't there +a chance on the way up for some one to slip out some of the pasteboards, +Mr. Moyne?" + +"There is a chance, yes, but it hasn't been done. I have checked up the +accounts of the stores, and there is the cash or the unsold tickets to +balance every time. But somehow, and from some place, an extra number of +the ordinary admission tickets are being sold, and we are not getting +the money for them." + +"It is queer," said Joe. "I have an idea that I want to try out the +first chance I get. Save me a bunch of these ordinary admission tickets. +Take them from the boxes at random and let me have them." + +"I will," promised the treasurer. "There is nothing we can do to-night +to stop the fraud, is there?" he asked. Mr. Moyne was a very +conscientious treasurer. It disturbed him greatly to see the circus lose +money. + +"I don't see what we can do," said Joe. "If we start an inquiry it may +cause a fight. Let it go. We'll have to charge it to profit and loss. +And don't forget to let me have some of those tickets. I want to examine +them." + +Mr. Moyne promised to attend to the matter. Joe then had to go on in his +Box of Mystery trick, and when this was finished, amid much applause, he +caused Helen to "vanish" in the manner already described. + +The circus made considerable money in this town, even with the bogus +admissions, and as the weather was fine and as the show would exhibit +the next day in a big city for a two days' stand, every one was in good +humor. Staying over night in the same city where they exhibited during +the day was always a rest for the performers. They got more sleep and +were in better trim for work. + +The last act was finished, the chariot races had taken place, and the +audience was surging out. The animal tent had already been taken down +and the animals themselves were being loaded on the railroad train. + +As Joe, Helen, and the other performers started for their berths, to +begin the trip to the next town, the "main top" began coming down. The +circus was on the move. + +Soon after breakfast the next morning, having seen that all his +apparatus had safely arrived, Joe visited Mr. Moyne in the latter's +office. + +"Have you a bunch of tickets for me?" asked the young magician. + +"Yes, here they are--several hundred picked at random from the boxes at +the entrance. I can't see anything wrong. If you're looking for +counterfeit tickets I don't believe you'll find them," added Mr. Moyne. + +"I don't know that I am looking for counterfeits," said Joe. "That may +be the explanation, or it may be there is a leak somewhere in the ticket +wagon." + +"I'm almost sure there isn't," declared the treasurer. "But of course no +one is infallible. I hope you get to the bottom of the mystery." + +"I hope so myself," replied Joe, with a smile, as he put the tickets in +a valise. + +A little later he was on his way downtown. He had several hours before +he would have to go "on," as he did not take part in the parade, and he +had several matters to attend to. + +Joe made his way toward a large office building, carrying the valise +with the circus tickets. A little later he might have been seen entering +an office, the door of which bore the name of "Herbert Waldon, +Consulting Chemist." + +"Mr. Strong," said Joe to the boy who came forward to inquire his +errand. "Mr. Waldon is expecting me, I believe." + +"Oh, yes," said the boy. "You're to come right in." + +Joe was ushered into a room which was filled with strange appliances, +from test tubes and retorts to electrical furnaces and X-ray apparatus. +A little man in a rather soiled linen coat came forward, smiling. + +"I won't shake hands with you, Mr. Strong," he said, "for I've been +dabbling in some vile-smelling stuff. But if you wait until I wash I'll +be right with you." + +"All right," assented Joe. And then, as he caught sight of what seemed +to be a number of canceled bank checks on a table, he smilingly asked: +"Have you been paying your income tax?" + +"Oh, no," answered the chemist with a laugh. "Those are just some +samples of paper sent in for me to test. An inventor is trying to get up +an acid-proof ink. I'm a sort of paper expert, among my other chemical +activities, and I'm putting these samples through a series of tests. +But you'll not be interested in them." + +"I don't know but what I shall be," returned Joe, with sudden energy. +"Since you are a paper expert I may be able to set you another task +besides that of showing me the latest thing in fire-resisting liquids. +Yes, I may want your services in both lines." + +"Well, I'm here to do business," said Mr. Waldon, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JOE EATS FIRE + + +The chemist led the way into a little office. This opened off from the +room in which was the apparatus, and where, as Joe had become more and +more keenly aware, there was a most unpleasant odor. + +"I'll open the window, close the laboratory door, and you won't notice +it in a little while," said Mr. Waldon, as he observed Joe's nose +twitching. "I'm so used to it I don't mind, but you, coming in from the +fresh air--" + +"It isn't exactly perfume," interrupted Joe, with a laugh. "But don't be +uneasy on my account. I can stand it." + +However, he was glad when the fresh air came in through the window. The +chemist washed his hands and then sat down at a desk, inviting Joe to +draw up his chair. + +"Now, what can I do for you?" asked Mr. Waldon. "Is it fire or paper?" + +"Well, since I know pretty well what I want to ask you in the matter of +fire," replied Joe, "and since I've got a puzzling paper problem here, +suppose we tackle the hardest first, and come to the known, and easier, +trick later." + +"Just as you say," assented Mr. Waldon. "What's your paper problem?" + +Joe's answer was to take from the valise several hundreds of the circus +tickets. They were the kind sold for fifty cents, or perhaps more in +these days of the war tax. They entitle the holder to a seat on what, at +a baseball game, would be called the "bleachers." In other words they +were not reserved-seat coupons. + +However, these tickets were not the one-time blue or red pieces of stiff +pasteboard, bearing the name of the circus and the words "ADMIT ONE," +which were formerly sold at the gilded wagon. These were handed in at +the main entrance, and the tickets were used over and over again. +Sometimes the blue ones sold for fifty cents, and a kind selling for +seventy-five cents entitled the purchaser to a seat with a folding back +to it, though it was not reserved. + +But Joe had instituted some changes when he became one of the circus +proprietors, and one was in the matter of the general admission tickets. +He had them printed on a thin but tough quality of paper, and each +ticket was numbered. In this way it needed but a glance at the last +ticket in the rack and a look at the memorandum of the last number +previously sold at the former performance, to tell exactly how many +general admissions had been disposed of. + +These numbered tickets were not used over again, but were destroyed +after the day's accounts had been made up. At first Joe and some others +of the officials had had an idea that the man who was charged with the +work of destroying the tickets, instead of doing so, had kept some out +and sold them at a reduced price. But an investigation proved that this +was not the case. + +"Some one is ringing in extra tickets on us," stated Joe to the chemist. +"We want to find out who it is and how the trick is worked. So far, we +haven't been able to find this out. As a matter of fact, we don't know +whether there are bogus tickets in our boxes or not. We haven't been +able to detect two kinds. They all seem the same." + +"Some numbers must be duplicated," said Mr. Waldon, as he picked up a +handful of the slips Joe had brought. "That's very obvious. The numbers +must be duplicated in some instances." + +"Yes, we have discovered that," returned Joe. "But the queer part is, +taking even two tickets with the same number, we don't know which was +sold at our ticket wagon and which is the bogus one. Here's a case in +point." + +He picked up two of the coupons. As far as eye or touch could tell they +were identical, and they bore the same red number, one up in the +hundred thousands. + +"Now," continued Joe, "can you tell which of these two is the official +circus ticket and which is the bogus one?" + +The chemist thought for a moment. + +"Have you a ticket--say one issued some time ago--which you are positive +is genuine?" he asked. + +"I'm ready for you there," answered Joe. "Here's a coupon that happened +to escape destruction. It was one sold several weeks ago at our ticket +wagon, before we noticed this trouble. I bought the ticket myself, so I +know. I happened to be passing the wagon, and a boy was trying to reach +up to buy a fifty cent seat. He wasn't quite tall enough, so I reached +for him. + +"Then, when I looked at him, I saw that fifty cents meant a lot to him. +I gave him back his half dollar out of my own pocket, and passed him in +to a reserved seat. But I forgot to turn the ticket in to the wagon, and +it's been in my pocket ever since. Now I'm glad I saved it, for it will +serve as a tester." + +"Yes," admitted the chemist, "it will. It's a good thing you have this. +But, Mr. Strong, this is going to take some time. I'll have to compare +all these tickets with the admittedly genuine one, and I'll have to make +some intricate tests." + +"Well, I hoped you might be able to tell me right off the reel which of +these coupons were good and which bad," said Joe. "But I can appreciate +that it isn't easy. We certainly have been puzzled. So I'll leave them +with you, and you can write to me when you have any results. I'll leave +you a list of the towns where we'll be showing for the next two weeks. +And now suppose we get at the fire-eating business." + +"All right," was the reply of the chemist. "But with the understanding +that you do all the eating. I haven't any appetite that way myself." + +They both laughed, and then, for some hours, Joe Strong was closeted +with the chemist. + +When Joe emerged from the office of Mr. Waldon there was a look of +satisfaction on the face of the young magician. + +"I think I can make quite an act, after what you've told me," he said. +"As soon as I get it perfected I'll send you word and you can come to +see me." + +"I will, if you aren't too far away," promised the chemist. + +That night, following the closing of the performance, Joe invited Helen, +Jim Tracy, and a few of his more intimate friends and associates into +his private dressing tent. + +"I have the nucleus of a new act," he said, when they were seated in +chairs before a small table, on which were several pieces of apparatus. +"Just give me your opinion of this." + +Joe lighted a candle, picked up on a fork what seemed to be a piece of +bread, and touched it to the candle flame. In an instant the object that +was on the fork burst into a blaze, and, before the eyes of his friends, +Joe calmly put the flaming portion into his mouth. + +He closed his lips, seemed to be chewing something, opened his mouth, +and showed it empty. + +"A little light lunch!" he remarked, but his smile faded as Helen +screamed in horror. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CHEMIST'S LETTER + + +"Oh, Joe, you'll surely burn yourself!" exclaimed the startled bareback +rider. + +"Did you get burned?" questioned Mrs. Watson. + +"Some trick!" declared the snake charmer. + +For the moment there was some excitement, for this was a new act for the +circus people. + +Helen soon recovered her customary composure, and then she explained the +cause of her excitement and the startled cry she had given. She had, of +course, expected some trick with fire when Joe had summoned her and the +others to his own private part of the dressing tents. But she had not +expected to see him actually put the blazing material in his mouth. + +"I thought there was some sleight-of-hand performance about it," she +said. "I had an idea that you only pretended to put the blazing stuff in +your mouth, Joe. And when I saw it I was afraid you'd breathe in the +flames and--and--" + +She did not need to go on, they all understood what she meant, for +every one in the circus knew that Helen and Joe were engaged. + +"I once saw a little boy burned at a bonfire at which he was playing," +went on Helen. "He died. Since then the sight of fire near a human being +has always a bad effect on me. But I suppose I can get over it, if I +know there is no danger," she said with a slight smile at Joe. + +"Well, I can assure you there isn't the slightest danger," he declared. +"If there was, I should be the first to give it up. I am as fond of +living as any one." + +"You don't show it, young man, in some of the tricks you do," commented +Mrs. Watson, with the freedom befitting a "circus mother," and the +privilege of an old friend. "You must remember that you don't live only +for yourself," and she looked significantly at Helen. + +"Oh, I'll be careful!" promised Joe. "And now I'll do the trick again +for you, and let you see that it's absolutely harmless. Any of you could +do it--if you knew how." + +"Excuse me!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "Not for mine!" + +However they all watched Joe eagerly and interestedly, even Helen. He +did not seem to make any unusual preparations. He merely took a drink of +what seemed to be water. Then he ignited something in the flame of the +candle and placed the burning stuff in his mouth, seeming to chew it +with gusto. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Helen. But beyond that and a momentary placing of one +hand over her heart, she did not give way to emotion. Then, as Joe did +the fire-eating trick again, Helen forced herself to watch him closely. +As he had said, he took no harm from the act. + +"Tell us how you do it," begged Bill Watson. "When I get over being +funny--or getting audiences to think I am--I may want to live on +something hot. How do you work it?" + +"Well," said Joe, "if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not tell. It +isn't that I'm afraid of any of my friends giving the trick away, and so +spoiling the mystery of it for the crowds. It's just as it was in my box +act. If any of you are asked how I do this fire trick you can truly say +you don't know, for none of you will know by my telling, not even Helen, +though she is in on the box secret. I'll only say that I protect my face +and mouth, as well as hands, in a certain way, and that I do, actually, +put the blazing material into my mouth. I am not burned. So if any one +asks you about the act you may tell them that much with absolute truth. +Now the question is--how is it going to go with the audiences? We need +something--or, at least, I do--to create a sensation. Will this answer?" + +"I should say so!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "That ought to go big when it's +dressed up." + +"Oh, this is only the ground work," said Joe. "I'm going to elaborate +this fire act and make it the sensation of the season. I've only begun +on it. I got from a chemist the materials I want with which to protect +myself, and I have shown, to my own and your satisfaction, that I can +eat fire without getting harmed. So far all is well. Now I'm going to +work the act up into something really worth while." + +"But you'll still be careful, won't you, Joe?" asked Helen. + +"Indeed I will," he assured her. + +"Do the trick once more, Joe," suggested Bill Watson. "I'm coming as +close as you'll let me, and I want to criticize it from the standpoint +of a man in the audience." + +"That's what I'm after," said Joe. "If there are any flaws in the act, +now is the time to find it out." + +Once more he set the material ablaze and put it into his mouth. Bill +Watson watched closely, and, at the end, the old clown shook his head. + +"I saw you actually put the fire in your mouth," he testified. "No one +can do more than that. It takes nerve!" + +Of course, no one can actually swallow fire and live. The slightest +breath of flame on the lungs or on the mucous membrane of the throat +and passages is fatal. So when the terms "fire-eating" or "fire-eater" +are used it will be in the sense of its being a theatrical act. There is +a trick about it, and the trick is this: + +In the first place, the flame itself is produced by blazing alcohol. +This produces a blaze, and a hot one, too, but there is no smoke. In +other words, the combustion is almost perfect, there being no residue of +carbon to remain hot after the actual flame is extinguished. + +And now as to the actual putting into one's mouth something that is +blazing hot: It all depends on a very simple principle. + +If the hand be thoroughly wet in water it may be safely thrust for a +fraction of a second into a flaming gas jet. But mark this--for the +_fraction of a second only_. The water forms a protecting film for the +skin, and before it is evaporated the hand must be taken out of danger. +In other words, there is needed an appreciable time for the fire to beat +the skin to the burning point. + +This immunity from burns, to which the professional fire-eaters owe +their success, comes from this film of moisture on their skin. They do +not always use water--in fact, this is only serviceable for a momentary +contact with flame, and, at that, on the hands or face. In case a longer +contact is desired, a fire-resisting chemical liquid is used. + +It is about the contact of flame with the tender mucous membrane +surfaces of the mouth and throat that Joe, as a fire-eater, was most +concerned. + +In the first place, there is a constant film of the secretion called +saliva always flowing in the mouth. It comes from glands in the throat +and mouth, and is very necessary to good digestion. + +Now, for a very brief period this saliva, which is just the same as a +film of water on the hand, resists the fire. But professional +fire-eaters do not depend on saliva alone. They use a chemical solution, +and this is what Joe did when he drank something from a glass. + +What that chemical solution was, Joe kept as a closely guarded +professional secret. He feared, too, that some boy might make it, rinse +his mouth out with it, and then, getting an audience of his chums +together, might try to eat some blazing coals. He might, and very likely +would, be severely burned, and his parents or those in charge of him +would blame Joe for allowing such dangerous information to leak out. + +So, though he guarded all his secrets of magic, he was particularly +careful to keep this one to himself. + +But Joe protected his mouth and throat with a fire-resisting liquid, the +formula for which was given him by the chemist to whom he submitted the +circus tickets. + +The success of Joe and others of his kind depends also in this on a +well known natural law. It is that there can be no combustion in the +ordinary sense where there is no oxygen. As a candle will surely go out +if enclosed in an air-tight receptacle--that is, it will go out as soon +as it has burned up all the oxygen--just so surely will flame of any +kind go out when a person closes his mouth on it. And as there is +scarcely any air in the closed mouth--all of it going down the bronchial +tubes into the lungs--it follows that the flame dies out almost +instantly. That fact being considered, and the mouth and throat having +been previously treated with the secret chemical, there is really not so +much danger as appears. + +As a matter of fact, a person inadvertently swallowing hot tea or coffee +will burn or scald his mouth or tongue much more painfully than will a +professional fire-eater. Most people know how painful a burned tongue +is. + +Joe told something of the history of fire-eating "champions" to his +audience of friends, for it appeared that he had been reading up on the +subject and was well informed. Then he announced that the private +rehearsal was over. + +"But I'm going to work this fire-eating up into something that will +cause a sensation," he said. And he made good his promise. + +It was about a week after this, and the circus had been traveling +about, playing to good business, when Joe received a letter. In the +upper left-hand corner was the imprint of Herbert Waldon, Chemist. + +"I hope he has some news about the circus tickets!" exclaimed Joe. For +the show had been losing money steadily by means of the bogus coupons; +not as much as at first, but enough to make it necessary to discover the +fraud. And, so far, Mr. Moyne had not been successful. + +"Perhaps this explains the mystery," mused Joe as he opened the letter. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PET CAT + + +The typewritten sheet of the letter from Mr. Waldon enclosed two of the +engraved circus coupons. They fluttered to the floor of Joe's private +tent as he tore open the envelope. + +"Well, either he has discovered something, or he has sent them back and +given up," mused the young magician. "Let's see what he says." + +Joe quickly took in the contents of the letter. In effect it stated that +Mr. Waldon had discovered which were the bogus and which were the real +circus tickets. He first gave an explanation of the chemical tests he +used. Joe read this hastily, but carefully, then passed to the +conclusions arrived at by the expert, who was an authority on various +kinds of paper, as well as chemicals. + +"The ticket I have marked No. 1 is a genuine coupon, issued by your +circus corporation," said Mr. Waldon in his letter. "The slip marked by +me as No. 2 is a counterfeit. You will observe that they both bear the +red ink serial number 356,891. + +"If you were a paper expert you would observe that the paper used in +the two tickets is different. There is not a very great difference, and +I am inclined to think that both the genuine and the counterfeit tickets +were made on paper from the same mill, but of a different 'run.' That +is, it was made at a different time. + +"The printer who manufactured your tickets bought his paper from a +certain mill making a specialty of this particular kind. Then some one, +who must know something of your financial and business interests, had +the bogus tickets made, and on the same kind of paper. But there is a +slight difference, which I was able to detect by means of chemical +reactions. The coloring matter used varied slightly, though the texture +of the two kinds of paper is almost exactly similar. + +"Now, having settled that point, the solution of the remaining equations +of the problem rests with you. I can not tell who had the bogus tickets +printed. You will have to go to the mill making the paper and find out +to whom they sold this kind. In that way you will learn the names of all +printers, using it, and by a process of elimination you will get at the +one who printed the counterfeits. + +"This printer may be an innocent party, or he may be guilty. That is for +you and the detectives to determine. I hope I have started you on the +right track. I shall be interested to hear, my dear Mr. Strong, how you +make out in your fire-eating act." + +"I'll tell him as soon as I try it on a real audience," said Joe, with a +smile, as he folded the letter. "And so counterfeit tickets have been +rung in on us! Well, I suspected that, since our own men were thoroughly +to be trusted. Now to get at the guilty ones. And I shouldn't be +surprised if I could name one of the men involved. But I'll call a +meeting, and lay this before the directors." + +The Sampson Brothers' Show was incorporated and was run strictly on +business lines. There was a board of directors who looked after all +business matters, and Joe was soon in consultation with them, laying +before them Mr. Waldon's letter and the two marked tickets. + +"It would take an expert to tell them apart," said Mr. Moyne, as he +examined the coupons closely. "Well, what are we to do?" + +"In the first place," declared Joe, "we must change our form of general +admission tickets at once. That will stop the fraud, graft, or whatever +you want to call it. Then we must do as Mr. Waldon says--look for the +guilty parties. We'll have to hire some detectives, I think." + +This plan was voted a good one, and steps were at once taken to change +the form and style of the general admission tickets. Joe also wired for +a man from a well known detective agency to meet the show at the next +town. Then the printing shop which made the circus tickets was +communicated with. + +That was all that could be done at present, and Joe gave his attention +to perfecting his new fire-eating act. + +He did not give up his mystery box trick, and he still presented the +vanishing lady illusion, Helen assisting in both of these. Joe also did +the big swing, which always caused a thrill on account of the danger +involved. Careful watch was kept over the trapeze and other apparatus so +that no more dangerous tampering could he attempted, and Joe always +looked over everything with sharp eyes before trusting himself high in +the air. + +"Some one evidently has a grudge against me as well as against the +circus in general," he said to Jim Tracy. + +"Maybe it's the same person," suggested the ringmaster. + +"Perhaps. Well, as soon as we get some word from the detectives we can +start on the trail." + +The circus had arrived at a large city, where it was to show three days +and nights, and preparations were made for big crowds, as the city was +the center of a large number of industries, where many thousands of men +were employed at good wages. + +"We'll play to 'Straw Room Only' at every performance," said Mr. Moyne, +rubbing his hands with glee as he thought of the dollars that would be +taken in. "And I'm glad we discovered the bogus tickets in time. We'd be +out a lot of money if the counterfeits were to be used here." + +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But we aren't out of the woods yet. The same man who +imitated the light green tickets may have the bright blue ones which we +now use for general admission duplicated and sell them." + +"We'll have to take that chance," said the treasurer. "But I'll instruct +the ticket takers to be unusually careful." + +That was all that could be done. The detective had reported that he was +making an examination, starting at the paper mill, and was endeavoring +to learn where the bogus tickets had been made. + +The circus parade had been held and witnessed by enthusiastic crowds +lining the streets. Then was every prospect of big business, and it was +borne out. + +Joe wished he had prepared his fire act earlier but it could not be +helped. + +"I'll have it ready for to-morrow, though," he said to Jim Tracy, at the +conclusion of the first afternoon in the big city where they were to +stay three days. + +"Then I'm going to have it advertised," said the ringmaster, who also +sometimes acted as assistant general manager. "We'll bill it big. You're +sure of yourself, are you?" + +"Oh, yes," answered Joe with a laugh. "I'll give 'em their money's worth +all right, but it won't be the big sensation I'm planning for later on. +That will take time." + +"Well, as long as it's a fire act it will be new and novel, and it will +draw," declared Jim Tracy. + +It was later in the afternoon, when the circus performance was over, +that Joe and Helen strolled downtown, as was their custom. Some +convention was being held in the city, and across one of the principal +streets was stretched a big banner of the kind used in political +campaigns. + +It was hung from a heavy, slack wire from the brick walls of two +opposite buildings, and the banner attracted considerable attention +because of a novel picture on it. + +Joe and Helen were standing in the street, looking up at the swaying +creation of canvas and netting, when a woman's cry came to their ears. + +"Look! Look! The cat! The cat is walking the wire!" she exclaimed. + +Joe and Helen turned first to see who it was that had cried out. It was +a woman in the street, and with her parasol she pointed upward. + +There, surely enough, half way out on the thick, slack wire, and high +above the middle of the street was a large white cat. It was walking +the wire as one's pet might walk the back fence. But this cat seemed to +have lost its nerve. It had got half way across, but was afraid to go +farther and could not turn around and go back. + +As Joe and Helen looked, a woman appeared at the window of one of the +buildings from the front walls of which the banner was suspended, and, +pointing at the cat, cried: + +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat! A hundred dollars reward!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE RESCUE + + +The tumult which had arisen in the street beneath the banner when the +crowd caught sight of the cat was hushed for a moment after the woman's +frantic cry. Before that there had been some laughter, and not a few +cat-calls and exaggerated "miaows" from boys in the street. But now +every one, even the mischievous urchins, seemed to sense that something +unusual was about to take place. + +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" cried the woman, stretching out her arms +to the cat from the window out of which she leaned. "Come back to me!" + +The white cat on the wire heard the voice of the woman and seemed to +want to return to its mistress. But either the cat was not an adept at +turning on such a narrow support, or it was afraid to try. + +And, likewise, it was afraid to go forward. There it stood, about in the +middle of the wire, high above the street, and it clung to its perch by +its claws. + +The banner was hung from the cross wire by means of several loops of +rope, and it was in some of these loops that the cat had stuck its +claws, and so hung on. + +As the cat remained there, suspended, the crowd in the street below +increased in size. But from the time the woman had so frantically called +there had been no more of the cries from the crowd that might be +expected to frighten the animal. + +"Will some one get my cat?" cried the woman in a shrill voice, which +could easily be heard by Joe, Helen, and nearly every one else. "I'll +give one hundred dollars in cash to whoever saves him!" she went on. +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" she appealed. + +There was a thoughtless laugh from some one at the woman's anxiety, and +some one cried: + +"There's lots of cats! Let Peter go!" + +"The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ought to get after +whoever that was," said Helen indignantly, and there was an approving +murmur from some of those near her. + +"Does any one know that lady?" asked Joe, pointing at the figure in the +window. A pathetic figure it was, too, of an old woman clad in black, as +though she had lost all her friends. + +"Yes, she's a queer character," said some one who seemed to know. "Lives +up there all alone in the old house that, except for the upper part +where she is now, has been turned into offices. + +"She's rich, they say. Owns that building and a lot of others on this +street. But she lives all alone in a few rooms, and has a lot of pet +cats. I guess that's one which got away." + +"It got away all right," said another man. "And I don't believe she'll +ever get it back. The cat's scared to death." + +"Why doesn't it jump?" asked some one. "I heard that cats always land on +their feet, no matter how far they fall." + +"A fall from there would kill any cat," said Joe, as he handed Helen a +small package he had been carrying--a purchase he had made at one of the +stores. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, sensing that Joe Strong had some +object in mind. + +"I'm going to get that cat," he said in a low voice. "I can't bear to +see it harmed, and it can't cling there much longer. Night's coming on, +too, and if it isn't rescued soon it won't be until morning. I know what +it is to have a pet suffer. I'm going to get that cat!" + +"Oh, mister, you can't!" cried a small girl who was standing near by and +overheard this remark. + +"I should say not!" exclaimed the man who had given a little personal +sketch of the woman in black. "The longest ladder in the fire department +won't reach up to that wire, and they can't use extension ones, or +scaling ones as they could on a building. You can't get that cat, sir, +though I wish some one could. I don't like to see dumb brutes suffer. +But you can't get it!" + +"Perhaps I can!" said Joe modestly. + +He started toward the street entrance of the old building, from the +upper window of which leaned the pathetic figure of the woman calling to +her cat out on the swaying wire. + +"Oh, Joe," Helen began, "are you really going to--" and then she +stopped. + +"I am!" he answered, for he knew she understood. "Wait here for me. I +won't be long." + +Only a few in the crowd had heard what Joe said, or understood his +intentions as he made his way through the press of people. The woman at +the window was unaware of the fact that some one had heard her and was +about to heed her appeal. + +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat!" she cried again. + +This time no one laughed. + +Joe Strong, acrobat, athlete, magician, and possessed of many other +muscular accomplishments started up the stairs. The lower part of the +office building was deserted at this hour, but he made his way to the +place where he judged the woman lived alone. He was confirmed in this +belief by hearing from behind a closed door the barking and whining of +dogs. + +"She must keep a regular menagerie," mused Joe. "Probably these are all +the friends she has, poor old lady!" + +He knocked on a door that seemed to be the entrance to the living +apartments. There was a cessation of the barking and whining, and a +moment later a querulous voice asked: + +"Who is there? What do you want?" + +"Is that your cat out on the wire?" asked Joe. + +"Yes! Oh, yes! That's Peter! My favorite cat! Oh, have you saved him? +Have you got him down? No, you can't have! He's out on that wire yet!" +she cried. And then she opened the door. + +Joe was confronted by the same woman he had observed leaning from the +window. Her face was pale, and she was quite elderly. But there was a +kind and pathetic look about her eyes. Once, she must have been +beautiful. + +Joe had no time to speculate on what might have been the romantic +history of the woman. She looked eagerly at him. + +"What do you want?" she demanded. "I never see any one. I live here +alone. I must beg you to excuse me. I have to see if some one will not, +save my cat." + +"That is just what I came up for," said Joe, smiling. "I am a lover of +animals myself. I'd like to save your pet." + +"Oh, if you will, I'll pay you the hundred dollars!" cried the woman. "I +have it!" she went on eagerly. "It's in here," and she motioned to the +rooms. They were tastefully, but not lavishly, furnished. + +"We'll talk about that later," said Joe, with a smile. "The point is let +me get the cat first." + +"But you can't get him from here--from these rooms!" the woman in black +exclaimed. "He's out on the wire! You'll have to climb up in some way! +Oh, I don't know how you can do it!" There were tears in her eyes and +she clasped her hands imploringly. + +"I can't get your cat from the street," said Joe. "That's why I came up +here. I must walk out on the wire from your window. Have you a pair of +slippers? The older and softer the better--slippers with thin, worn +soles." + +"Why, yes, I have. But you--you can't walk out on the wire! It is too +small, almost, for my cat! You can't do it! It is impossible!" + +"Oh, no," answered Joe gently, "it isn't impossible. I have done it +before. If you'll let me get to a window near which the wire is +stretched, and if you will let me take a pair of old slippers." + +"Come in!" interrupted the eccentric old woman, opening wide the door. +"I don't in the least know what you intend to do, but something seems to +tell me I can trust you. And if only you can save Peter--" + +"I'll try," said Joe simply. + +The woman began to search frantically in a closet, throwing out shoes, +dresses, and other feminine wearing apparel. As she delved among the +things, a shout arose from the street, the noise of the voices floating +in through the open window. Joe looked out. + +"Oh, has Peter fallen?" cried the woman. + +That, too, had been Joe's thought. + +"No," he answered, as he took an observation. "Your cat has only changed +his position a little. I suppose the crowd thought it was going to fall, +but it's all right. I'll soon have it back to you. Is it a vicious cat?" + +"Oh, no indeed. He's as gentle as can be. But perhaps he might be so +scared now that he wouldn't know what he was doing. I see what you mean. +Here, I'll give you an old pair of gloves for your hands." + +"That's what I want," said Joe. "I can't afford to have my hands +scratched, as I do some legerdemain tricks. But I need some soft-soled +slippers more than I need gloves." + +"Here is a pair," said the woman. "They're mine. I wear large ones, for +I like to be comfortable." + +"They'll fit me," decided Joe, after an inspection. "Just what I want, +too!" + +He began to take off his shoes. + +"Do you really mean you are going to walk out on that wire and get my +cat?" asked the woman, comprehending his intention as she saw Joe +putting on the slippers and drawing on the old gloves she had given him. +They were a man's size, and he judged she must have used them in rough +work about the house. + +"I'm going out on the wire to get your cat," he said. + +"Oh, but I ought not to let you! You may fall and be killed! When I said +I'd give a hundred dollars to whoever would save Peter, I did not mean +that any one should risk his life. Much as I love my cat, I couldn't +allow that." + +"I'll be all right," said Joe easily. "Walking wires is part of my +business. Now don't worry. And please don't scream if you are going to +watch me." + +She looked at him curiously. + +"I am not in the habit of screaming," she said quietly. + +"Well, I thought it best to mention it," said Joe. + +He was now ready for his most novel form of walking the wire. He moved +toward the window from which the woman had leaned. It was the same +casement whence the cat had started on its perilous journey. Joe felt +sure of himself. The slippers were just what he needed, with soft, +pliable soles, worn thin. They were the best substitute he could have +found for his circus shoes. + +The wire from which the banner was suspended was fast to an eye-bolt +set in the brick wall of the building a little below the sill of the +window. It had been easy for the cat to step out and get on the cable. + +Joe appeared at the window. He had taken off his coat and, in his white +shirt, blue tie, and black trousers, he made a striking figure in the +brilliant sunset light. + +Instantly the crowd in the street saw him and divined his intention. Joe +doubted not that Helen was looking up at him. + +It was an easy step for him from the window sill to the wire from which +was suspended the banner. He knew it would support his weight in +addition to the big net affair. The size of the cable and the manner in +which it was fastened told him that. Still he cautiously tried it with +one foot before trusting all his weight to it. The spring of the wire +told him all he needed to know. + +Pausing a moment to make sure of himself, Joe Strong started to walk +across the wire toward the clinging cat. The crowd gave one roar of +welcome and approval, and then became hushed. This was what Joe wanted. + +Now it was just as if he were doing the act in the circus. Only there +was this difference--there was no safety net below him. But it was not +the first time Joe had taken this risk. True, beneath him were the hard +stones of the street, but a fall from the height at which he now was +would be fatal, no matter what the character of ground under him. He +dismissed all such thoughts from his mind. + +Slowly, and with the caution he always used, Joe started on his journey +across the wire. The cat felt his coming, and turned its head, as it +crouched down, and looked at him. But it did not move. The creature was +literally "scared stiff." + +Foot by foot Joe progressed. Below him the crowd watched breathlessly. +Joe knew Helen was there, praying for him, though he could not see her. +In the window stood the figure in black, a silent, hopeful but much +worried woman. She kept her promise not to scream, but Joe realized that +the crucial moment was yet to come. + +On and on he went nearer and nearer to the crouching cat. If only the +animal would have sense enough to lie still and not make a fuss when he +picked it up, Joe felt that all would be well. + +But would Peter behave? That was the question. + +Joe was now almost over the middle of the street. Far below him was the +crowd--a sea of upturned faces, reddened by the reflected rays of the +setting sun. The throng was silent. Joe was glad of that. + +"Keep still now, Peter, I'm coming for you!" said Joe in a low voice. + +"That's right, Peter!" added the woman. "Be a good cat now. You are +going to be saved! Keep still and don't scratch!" + +Whether the cat heard and understood it is hard to say. But it uttered a +pitiful: + +"Mew!" + +Inch by inch, foot by foot Joe advanced. He was quite sure of himself +now. He felt that he could easily have walked across the wire from +building to building, with the street chasm below him, and even could +have made the return trip. But picking up the cat and carrying it back +was another thing. It would have been easier for Joe to have carried a +man across on his back. He could direct the motions of the man. Could he +those of the cat? + +Still he was going to try. + +On and on he went. The woman in black was leaning from the window, +holding out her arms as though to catch Joe should he fall. + +But he did not think of falling. + +In another few seconds he was standing right over the cat. He could see +the animal's claws tensely clinging to the rope strands that held the +banner. Now came ticklish work. + +"Easy, Peter! Go easy now!" said Joe soothingly. + +He slowly and carefully stooped down. It was a trick he had often +performed in the circus on the high wire. But never under circumstances +like this. + +Joe's hands came in contact with the fur of the cat's back. He gently +stroked the animal, murmuring: + +"Come on now, Peter! Let go! Loosen your claws! I'm not going to hurt +you. Let me pick you up!" + +Again it is hard to say that the cat knew what Joe was saying, but it +certainly made its body less tense. The claws were loosed. Joe +straightened up, holding the cat in his arms. He could feel its heart +beating like some overworked motor. + +A roar arose from the crowd, but it was instantly hushed. The throng +seemed to realize that the return journey was infinitely more perilous +than the outward one had been. + +Joe could not turn. He must walk backward to the window, carrying the +cat, which at any moment might become wild and scramble from his arms, +upsetting his balance. + +Yet Joe Strong never faltered. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FIRE ACT + + +Realizing that he must use every caution, Joe Strong had two things to +think of. One was himself, and the other the cat. He could not carry the +creature in his arms, as he needed to extend them to balance himself. He +had walked short distances along slack wires without doing this, but in +those cases he had been able to run, and his speed made up for the lack +of balancing power of the extended arms. Now, however, he needed to +observe this precaution. + +What could he do with the cat? + +In that moment of peril a boyhood scene arose to Joe's mind. He recalled +that on the farm where he had lived there was a pet cat which liked to +crawl up his back and curl on his shoulders, stretching out completely +across them and snuggling against the back of his head. + +"If I can get this cat to do that I'll be all right," thought Joe. "I'll +try it." + +Balancing himself, he changed the cat's position and put it up on his +shoulder. Even if it rested on only one it would leave his hands free +and he could extend his arms and balance himself. But Peter seemed to +know just what was wanted of him. With a little "mew," the animal took +the very position Joe wanted it to--extended along his back, close to +his head. + +And not until then did Joe begin to step backward. Breathlessly the +crowd watched him. Step by step he went, feeling for the wire on which +he placed his feet. And each step made him more confident. + +The crowd was silently watching. It was reserving its wild applause. + +Step by step Joe walked backward until he heard the low voice of the +woman at the open window. + +"Shall I take Peter now?" she asked. + +"Can you reach him?" asked Joe. He knew he was close to the building. + +"Yes," she answered. + +"Then do," said Joe. "He may try to spring off when he sees himself so +close to you. Take him. I'll stand still a moment." + +He felt the cat stirring. The next instant he was relieved of Peter's +weight, and then, with a quick turning motion, Joe himself was half way +within the window and sitting on the sill. + +He had walked out on the wire, stretched a hundred feet above the +street, and rescued the cat. The pet was now in the arms of the woman in +black. + +And then such a roar as went up in the crowd! Men thumped one another +on the back, and then shook hands, wondering at their foolishness and +why there was such a queer lump in their throats. + +"Oh! Oh!" gasped the woman, as she hugged Peter to her. "I can never +thank you enough--not in all my life. It may be foolish to care so much +for a cat. But I can't help it. It isn't all that. I couldn't have borne +it to have seen him fall and be killed." + +"He's all right now--after he gets over being scared," said Joe, as he +stroked the cat in the arms of the woman in black. + +"And now will you let me know to whom I am indebted?" she asked. "Please +come in, and I'll pay you the reward." + +"Well, I'll come in and put on my shoes," said Joe, with a smile. "I +didn't need the gloves," he added. "Peter was very gentle." + +"Oh, he's a good cat!" said his mistress. "And now," she added, when Joe +had resumed his shoes and coat, "will you please tell me your name and +how you learned to walk wires and rescue cats?" + +"I never rescued cats before," Joe returned, smiling. "It's something +new. But walking wires is my trade--or one of 'em. I'm with the circus. +I do some tricks and--" + +"Oh, are you the man who gets out of the box?" she cried. "I have read +about that trick." + +"It is one of mine," said Joe modestly. + +"I'm so glad to know you!" exclaimed the woman. She seemed less of a +recluse than at first. "I haven't been to a circus for years--not since +I was a child," she continued, half sadly, Joe thought. "But I'm coming +to-night!" she exclaimed. "I'll have the janitor look after my cats and +dogs, and I'll go to the circus. I want to see you act. It will bring +back my lost youth--or part of it," she murmured. + +"Allow me to make sure that you will be there," said Joe. "Here is a +reserved ticket. I will look for you." + +"And now let me give you the reward I promised," begged the woman, as +Joe was about to leave. "I have the money here--in cash," she added +quickly. She went to a bureau, putting Peter down on a cushion. The cat +observed Joe intently. The woman came back with a roll of bills. + +"No, really, I couldn't take it!" protested Joe. "I didn't save your cat +for money. I was glad enough to do it for the animal's sake." + +"Please take it!" she urged. "I--I am well off, even if I live here," +she said hesitatingly. "I shall feel better if you take it." + +"And I shall feel better if you give it to the Red Cross," said Joe. +"That needs it, to help the stricken, more than I do. I make pretty good +money myself," he added. "And I didn't do this for a reward." + +"But I promised it!" + +"Well, then consider that I took it, and you, in my name, may pass it on +to the Red Cross," said Joe. "And now, may I ask your name?" + +The woman told him. It was Miss Susan Crawford. The name meant nothing +to Joe, though he afterward learned she was a member of an old, wealthy +and aristocratic family. She had had an unfortunate love affair, and, +her family having all died, she made for herself a little apartment in +one of her many buildings and lived there with her pets--a recluse in +the midst of a big city. It was a pathetic story. + +"I wish you would let me reward you in some way," said Miss Crawford +wistfully, as Joe left. "You did so much, and you get nothing out of +it." + +"Oh, yes I do," returned the young acrobat. "I'll get a lot of +advertising out of this, and it will be the best thing in the world for +the circus." + +And Joe was right. The next day the papers all carried big stories of +his wire-walking feat to save the cat that had ventured out over the +street and was afraid to go back. Bigger crowds than ever came to the +circus. + +As she had promised, Miss Crawford was at the evening performance, and +Joe introduced a little novelty in one of his "magic stunts," producing +a cat instead of a rabbit from a man's pocket. As he held it up he +looked over and smiled at the old lady in black, for he had given her a +seat near his stage. She smiled back. + +Joe never saw her again. She was found dead a few months later in her +lonely rooms, with her cats and dogs around her. But Joe always +remembered her. + +The street wire-walking feat was the talk of the city, and when, the +following day, Joe announced that he was ready to put on his fire act, +which had been well advertised, every one was on figurative tiptoes to +see what it would be. + +Joe had made all his preparations, and he had taken care to provide +against danger and accidents. He realized the risk he was running in +handling fire in a circus tent before crowds of people. But +extinguishers were provided, and one of the fire-fighting force of the +circus was constantly on hand. + +After the preliminary whistle of the ringmaster which ended the other +acts and prepared for Joe's new one, the young magician advanced to the +platform and gave a little "patter." + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "in introducing my new act I wish, +first of all, to assure you that there is no danger. Even though I seem +to be in the midst of fire, do not be alarmed. I shall be safe, and no +harm will come to you." + +Joe did this to forestall a possible panic. + +"You have all heard of the ancient salamanders," he went on. "It is +reputed that this animal was able to live in the midst of fire. As to +the truth of that I can not say. I never saw a salamander, that I know +of. But that fire may safely be handled by human beings, and not at the +risk of being burned, I am about to demonstrate to you. I shall first +show you how to carry fire about in your hands, so that if you run short +of matches at any time you will not lack means of igniting the gas, +starting your kitchen range, or enjoying your smoke. While the stage is +being made ready for my main act, I will show you how to carry fire in +your hands." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A SENSATIONAL DIVE + + +Striking a match, Joe ignited two candles that stood on a little table +at one side of his stage. On the other side his assistants were setting +up the apparatus he intended to use in his more elaborate experiments. + +"You observe that the trick has not yet begun," said Joe, with a laugh, +as he blew out the match. "In other words, I am lighting these candles +in the ordinary way--just as any one of you would do it, if he needed +to. In a moment I will show you how to light the candles in case one is +accidentally blown out and you have no match." + +Allowing both candles to burn up well, with clear, bright flames, Joe +suddenly blew out one. + +"Now," he said, "I will show you how to carry fire in your hands from +the lighted to the unlighted candle. Watch me closely!" + +Joe cupped his hands around the lighted candle, seeming to take the +flame up in his fingers. When he removed his hands, which he still held +in cup, or globular, shape, the second candle had been extinguished. +Both were now out. + +"You will notice that I am carrying the flame in my hands from one +candle to the other," said Joe, in a loud voice, as he walked across the +stage. + +For an instant he spread his hands, cup fashion, around the candle he +had first blown out. Suddenly he withdrew his hands, holding them wide +apart and in full view of the audience, and, lo! the unlighted candle +was glowing brightly. + +There was a moment of silence, and then the applause broke forth. Joe +bowed and said: + +"That is how to carry fire in your hands. But please don't any of you +try it unless you get the directions from me." + +"Tell us how to do it!" piped up a small boy. + +"Come and see me after the show!" laughed Joe. + +And, while on this subject, it might be well to explain how Joe did the +trick. It is very simple, but it takes practice, and an amateur may +easily be fatally burned in the attempt, simple as it is. + +Joe lighted the candles in the usual way, with a match, as already +explained. There was no trick about this, nor about blowing out one. But +immediately after that the trick started. Joe placed a little piece of +waxed paper between the first and second fingers of his left hand as +soon as he had blown out the first candle. This paper was a slender +strip, and could not be seen by the audience. + +When he cupped his hands around the remaining lighted candle Joe +ignited this waxed strip, taking care to work it away from his palms and +fingers. It burned with a tiny flame and with scarcely any heat in the +middle of the hollow cup formed by his hands. + +As soon as he had ignited the paper Joe, by pressing the lower edges of +his palms against the blazing wick of the candle, extinguished it. This +had the same effect as though he had "pinched" out the flame with finger +and thumb, as many country persons put out, or "snuff," candles +to-day--for candles are still much used in some places. + +Now we have Joe with a little blazing taper concealed in his cupped +hands, advancing to the candle he first blew out. He placed his hands +around this, lighted the wick from the taper, which he at once crushed +between his fingers, and the trick was done. + +The candle was lighted, the remains of the little taper were concealed +between Joe's fingers, and it looked as though he had really carried +fire in his hands. The quickness with which he pinched out the candle +flame, and also smothered the taper after he had used it, prevented him +from being burned in the slightest. But it is best for a boy unpracticed +and without the dexterity of a professional prestidigitator not to +undertake to play with fire. + +Joe Strong believed in doing his tricks and acts artistically and +elaborately. He had watched other performers "dress their act," and he +had often improved on what even stage veterans had done. His +apprenticeship had been a stern but good one. + +And now he was going to introduce something novel in his fire-eating +tricks, but he was also going to add to that. He had read considerable +of late about the fire-eating tricks of the old "magicians" and had +delved into many curious old books. Now he was going to give his +audience some of this information. + +"There is a trick in everything," said Joe, as he faced his audience in +readiness for the fire-eating act. "If I told you that I actually +swallowed blazing fire, any physician would know that I was not telling +the truth. I do not really eat the fire. I only seem to do so. But if in +doing so I can deceive you into thinking I do, and you are thrilled and +amused, you get your money's worth, I earn mine, and we are all +satisfied. So don't be alarmed by what you see. + +"The resistance of the human body to heat is greater than many persons +suppose," said Joe. "And there is a vast difference between wet heat and +dry heat. Water, above one hundred and fifty degrees, would be +unbearable. It would really burn you badly. Water, as you know, boils at +two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. But before this point is +reached it is capable of ending life. + +"Dry heat, however, is different. Men have frequently borne without +permanent discomfort dry heat up to three hundred degrees. This heat is +often reached in the drying rooms of oilcloth and oiled silk factories. + +"Now the fire I handle is dry heat. I would no more think of pouring +boiling water over my hands than I would of taking poison. And yet I +will show you that I can thrust my hand into a blazing fire and suffer +no harm. + +"In an old book I read that to enable one to thrust one's hands into the +fire all you had to do was to anoint them with a mixture of _bol +armenian_, quicksilver, camphor and spirits of wine. I should prefer to +leave that mixture alone, though in the book it is said that if one puts +that mixture on his hands he may handle boiling lead. + +"Perhaps some ancient magician did this, but I think he depended more on +water than on anything else. If your hands are wet there is formed on +them a film of moisture which, for a moment, will enable you to +withstand high degrees of dry heat. + +"In another old book I read that if one prepared himself with 'liquid +stortax,' which is juice from a certain tree growing in Italy, he could +enter fire, bathe in fire, put a burning coal on his tongue, and even +swallow fire. + +"Now I am not going to let you into all my secrets. You shall see--what +you shall see!" concluded Joe. + +As intimated before, the method Joe Strong used is not going to be +printed here. You have been given some genuine ancient formulae, safe in +the knowledge that some of the ingredients can not be obtained. And the +modern substitutes are not going to be told. Enough to say that Joe had +"prepared himself." + +The young magician looked to see that all was in readiness. Perceiving +that it was, he retired for a moment to a cabinet set up on the stage, +and when he came out he was ready for his tricks. + +Joe advanced to what seemed to be an elaborate candelabra in which seven +tapers were set. He stood in front of this a moment, and then he +announced: + +"Having lived on a fire diet so long I have a bit to spare. I will light +these candles without using a match." + +He waved his hand over the candelabra. Sparks were seen to shoot from +his finger tips, and in an instant the seven lights were glowing. That +was an electrical trick. In reality the candles were gas jets, made to +look like wax tapers, and Joe lighted them from an electric current +produced by a dry battery he carried on his person. + +He then proceeded to his main trick. He picked up a plate. It seemed to +contain pieces of bread. Joe touched the edge of the plate to a flame +of one of the candles. In an instant the plate was ablaze, and Joe +calmly began putting the blazing stuff on it into his mouth. + +Cube after cube of the blazing "bread" he lifted up on a fork and thrust +between his lips. And he seemed to enjoy the "eating" of it. + +The audience was spellbound. Every one's eyes were on Joe Strong doing +his fire-eating trick. + +The plate was empty. Joe looked about as though for something else hot +to eat. He caught up an article from a table. Holding it to the flame of +a candle, it was at once ablaze. + +And then, with a thrilling cry, Joe Strong leaped from the stage, his +two hands, held high above his head, seeming to be enveloped in a mass +of fire. And with this fire held over him, he ran toward the tank in +which Benny Turton did his "human fish" act. + +The next instant Joe Strong, apparently ablaze all over, dived into the +tank. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +HEAD FIRST + + +Which was the more surprised--Benny Turton, who had just finished his +fish act in his tank, the spellbound audience, or Jim Tracy, who was, in +a way, directing Joe's performance--it would be hard to say. All three +were thrilled by the unexpected outcome of the fire-eating act. Joe +Strong alone seemed perfectly at his ease, and, it might be mentioned +incidentally, perfectly at home in the water. He had, as told in a +previous volume, entitled "Joe Strong, the Boy Fish," perfected himself +in this sort of work, and could remain submerged for an unusually long +time. + +Of course the fire which seemed to envelop the young magician was +instantly put out when he leaped into the tank. He was wearing a rather +fancy suit, and as he came up, wet and bedraggled, Jim Tracy could not +help wondering what Joe meant by his performance. + +"Joe! Joe! was that part of the act or an accident?" asked Jim in a low +voice, as he ran over to where Joe was now climbing out of the tank. +For one instant Joe hesitated. The audience was wildly applauding now. +Clearly there was but one thought in their minds. The whole thing was a +trick--Joe had only pretended to be on fire and had taken that +sensational means of appearing to extinguish the blaze. + +But the ringmaster noted a queer look on his friend's face. It was not +the look it usually wore when Joe had completed some hazardous or +sensational trick. + +"Are you hurt, Joe--burned?" asked Jim Tracy anxiously. + +"No," was the answer. "It was all part of the act!" + +The ringmaster looked satisfied, and it was not until some time +afterward that he learned what a narrow escape Joe had had. + +"This will be part of the fire-eating stunt at every show," said Joe to +the ringmaster. "You might make the announcement so the people won't be +scared." + +"I will! Say, it's some stunt all right!" And then Jim began with his +sonorous "Ladies and gentlemen!" He stated that the young fire-eater +would show his familiarity with, and mastery over, fire by setting +himself ablaze and leaping into the tank to extinguish the flames. The +ringmaster added that there would be no danger to either the audience or +the performer in this feature. + +Joe bowed to the applause that followed, and then hurried to his +dressing room to don dry clothes for his mystery box trick. + +"I should think, if you were going to do tank work, you'd wear a suit +better adapted to it--like mine," said Benny Turton, whose apartment was +next to Joe's in the dressing tent. + +"I'm going to," Joe announced, looking around to make sure no one +overheard. "The fact of the matter is, Benny, I didn't count on pulling +off this stunt. It was an accident. Some of the alcohol I use on the tow +was spilled on my sleeves and caught fire. Then more flames burst out. +Luckily they were at my back, so when I ran the flames were fanned away +from me. But I knew the tank was the safest place to go, and in I +jumped." + +"But I heard you tell Jim it was all arranged." + +"I did that so the crowd wouldn't get into a panic. However I am going +to work the trick at each performance after this, only I'm going to wear +a different suit." + +And Joe did. He had a garment partly made of asbestos, though outwardly +it did not resemble that fire-resisting material any more than do the +asbestos curtains in theaters. And at the conclusion of his fire-eating +act Joe would seemingly burst into fire and run blazing across the stage +to leap into the tank of water. + +This finish to the act never failed to win great applause. And once in +the tank Joe did some of the under-water tricks that had brought him +fame. He was careful, however, not to duplicate anything that Benny +Turton did, for he did not want to "crab" the act of his friend. + +But Joe's fire and water act was one of the big features on the circus +bill. + +"Is this the sensation you were speaking of?" asked Helen one day, when +they had concluded an afternoon's performance. + +"No," answered Joe. "This only came about by accident. I'm working on +something more sensational yet, and I am going to ask you to help me." + +"I'm sure I'll do anything I can," said she. + +"You won't be in any danger," the young magician went on. "I'm beginning +to understand fire better the more I study it. I'm not getting too +familiar, either, let me tell you. Even a little scorch is very +painful." + +"I glanced through one of your books the other day," remarked Helen. "Do +you really suppose some of those old magicians actually handled fire in +the way it is stated?" + +"Well, at least they pretended to," said her friend. "There are tricks +in all trades, you know." + +As the circus went on its way business kept up well, and it was seen +that the season was going to be an excellent one from a financial +standpoint. + +"Any more bogus tickets coming in?" asked Joe one day of the treasurer. + +"Not since we adopted the new style," was the answer. + +"Have the detectives gotten on the trail of the man, or the men, who +cheated us?" asked Helen. + +"Not yet," reported Mr. Moyne. "The last report I had from them was that +they were getting nearer and nearer to a certain person whom they +suspected. They promise an arrest soon." + +"That's the usual story," remarked Joe. "However, we don't so much care +about an arrest now if we have stopped the counterfeit tickets from +being worked off on us." + +"Well, there's always a chance that the same thing will happen again," +returned Mr. Moyne. "It's too easy money for the criminals to give up, +I'm afraid. I'm on the lookout every day for more counterfeits." + +"Well, I'll leave it to you," remarked Joe. "Whenever anything happens +let me know and we'll take some action." + +Joe Strong was now kept very busy in the circus. In fact he was what +would be called a "star." He did his mystery box trick, and, with Helen, +worked the "vanishing lady" trick so neatly that no one guessed how it +was done. The ten thousand dollars was not claimed, successfully, though +several tried it, with the result that several local Red Cross +organizations were enriched by the hundred dollar forfeit. + +In addition to these mystery acts, and some more ordinary +sleight-of-hand tricks which he used to fill in with, Joe did his +fire-eating trick, ending that act with the plunge into the tank. This +never failed to create a sensation. + +"But it isn't the big sensation I'm after!" said Joe, when his friends +congratulated him. "Wait until you see that!" + +Another feature of Joe's performance was his wire-walking. Since he had +rescued the lady's cat he had added this to his share of the program, +and it was a thriller enjoyed by many audiences. + +"But it's a little tame," said Joe one day to Jim Tracy. "I want to put +a little more pep into it." + +"How are you going to do it?" asked the ringmaster. + +"I think I know a way," was the answer. + +And a few days later Joe gave a demonstration. + +The wire on which he performed was a high one, stretched between two +well-braced poles. On each pole was fastened a small platform, somewhat +like those high up in the tent where the big swing was fastened. + +Joe walked across the wire from one platform to the other, doing various +"stunts" on the slender support. One day Jim Tracy noticed that a long +to the ground between one of the rings and a wooden platform. + +"What's that, Joe?" asked the ringmaster, "Looks like an extra guy wire +for the pole." + +"No, that's for my new stunt," said Joe. "I'll show you at this show." + +The audience watched him performing on the high wire. Jim Tracy was +watching, too, for he remembered what Joe had said. Suddenly, at the +conclusion of the usual wire-walking feats, Joe stooped, placed his head +on the slanting wire, raised himself until he was standing with his legs +up and spread apart. Then he quickly flung wide his hands and slid on +his head down the slanting win to the ground, stopping himself just +before he reached it by grasping the wire in his gloved hands. + +Jim Tracy, who was sitting on a box, leaped to his feat. + +"Head first!" he cried. "That's some stunt!" + +And the audience seemed to think so, too, from the way it applauded. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SWINDLERS AGAIN + + +Joe Strong, having checked his rapid, head-first and head-on slide down +the slanting wire by grasping it in his gloved hands, gave a "flip-flop" +and stood up, bowing to the loud applause. Jim Tracy and some of the +other circus employees surrounded the young man. + +"Why didn't you tell us you were going to pull off something like this?" +demanded the ringmaster. + +"Because I wasn't sure until the last minute that I would do it," +answered Joe. "I hadn't practiced it as much as I should have liked, but +when I got up there on the platform I felt pretty sure I could do it. I +wasn't running much risk anyhow, except that of failure. I knew I +wouldn't fall, for I could have grabbed the wire in my hands if I had +started to topple over." + +"But how did you do it?" asked some one, who came up to join the +wondering throng after Joe's feat had been performed. "I've seen you +stand on your head before, but to slide down a wire--say, what sort of +scalp have you, anyhow?" + +Joe laughed and held out a close-fitting skull-cap of leather. Fastened +to the leather was a small steel framework, and in this frame were two +small grooved wheels, like the wheels of a trolley by means of which +street cars receive the electric current from the wire. Joe put the cap +on his head to show how it enabled him to do the trick. The big races +were on now, as the close of the performance was close at hand, and the +crowd was paying attention to the contests and not to the group of +performers surrounding the young magician. + +Once they had seen the cap with the grooved wheels on top placed on +Joe's head, his friends understood how the trick was done. He had simply +to balance himself on his head on the wire, a feat he had often +performed before. The natural attraction of gravitation did the rest. He +simply slid down on the wheels, his extended arms and legs steadying +him. + +"It's just as if you had a roller skate on your head," said Señorita +Tanlozo, the snake charmer, who had strolled into the main tent after +her act in the side show was over. + +"Exactly," said Joe, with a smile. "Would you like to try it?" + +"Not while my snakes are alive!" she assured him. + +"Well, it's another drawing card for the Sampson Brothers' Show," said +Jim Tracy that night when the receipts were being counted and +preparations being made for moving on to the next city. "How long are +you going to keep it up, Joe?" + +"As to that, I can't say," was the answer. "But I like the game, and I +want to see the circus a success." + +"It's a big one now, thanks in a large part to you," observed the +ringmaster. "But you'd better take a rest now, Joe, my boy. Don't try to +pull off any more spectacular stunts." + +"Oh, I haven't pulled off my big one yet," replied the young magician. +"I mean the one with the fire. I'm working on that. If it comes out the +way I think it will we'll have to give three performances a day instead +of two." + +"Oh, we can't do that!" protested Mr. Moyne, the treasurer. "It's hard +enough keeping account of the money and tickets now, with two shows a +day. If we have three--" + +He paused, for it was very evident Joe was only joking, and there were +smiles on the faces of the other circus folk. + +"Don't worry!" said Joe to the treasurer. "I don't want to act three +times a day any more than you want to count the tickets and cash. And, I +suppose, if we could, by some means, give three performances, it would +only give our swindling ticket friends more chance to work their scheme. +By the way, there are no further signs of their putting bogus tickets +on sale, are there?" + +"Not since we started the detectives at work," the treasurer answered. +"But I'm always on the watch, and so are the men at the entrances." + +"It's about time those detectives got results, I think," declared Jim +Tracy. "I wonder what they think we're paying them for?" + +"It takes time for a thing like that to be cleaned up," said Joe. + +"Well, I know what I'd do if I were detecting," half-growled the +ringmaster. + +"What?" inquired the treasurer. + +"I'd round up and arrest a certain few worthless men I know who used to +be in the circus business--some with this show!" declared Jim. "It's +queer, but our outfit seems to be the only one that they pick on. That's +what makes me think it was some one who used to work for us." + +"Who?" the treasurer wanted to know. + +"Well, I'm not mentioning any names," declared the ringmaster, as he +prepared to divest himself of his dress suit in readiness for the trip +to the circus train. "But I have my suspicions." + +"What makes you say ours is the only circus to have lost money on bogus +tickets?" asked Joe. + +"Read it in _Paste and Paper_," was the answer. That was the name of the +trade journal devoted to the interests of circus folk, tent shows, and +the like. "The last number had a piece in it about our losing money on +fake tickets," went on the ringmaster, "and it said it was the first +case of its kind to appear in several years. There have been no +complaints of circuses in other parts of the country being cheated that +way, this article said. So I know it's some one picking specially on +us." + +"Well, perhaps you're right," assented Joe. "But as long as we have +changed our style of tickets and they haven't tried their tricks again, +maybe we've settled them." + +"All the same I'm going to be on the watch," declared the treasurer. + +The city where the circus showed the following day and night was a large +one. A new automobile industry employing many hands had located there +within the last six months. It was decided to make a stay of two days in +this place, since the advance agent reported that many of the men worked +overtime and nights, and otherwise they could not see the performance. + +"Well, I'm glad we're to be here two days," remarked Helen, as she +passed Joe's private quarters, where he was going over some of his +apparatus, costumes, and effects. + +"Yes, we'll have a good night's rest," he agreed, though, truth to tell, +the circus folk were so used to traveling that the train journey almost +every night did not bother them. Still they always welcomed a stay in a +city over night. + +"You seem busy," remarked Helen, as she sat down on a box and watched +Joe. + +"Yes, I'm going to introduce a little novelty in the slide down the +slanting wire," he answered. "I'm going to work in a fire stunt." + +"A fire stunt!" exclaimed Helen. "Surely you aren't going to--" + +"Oh, it won't be dangerous!" Joe assured her, guessing her thoughts. +Helen had learned that the jump into Benny's tank the first time was due +to an accident. "It's just a bit spectacular and will liven things up a +bit, I think. If it goes well I have an idea you can work one of the +features in your bareback act." + +"Oh, Joe, I never could walk a wire, nor slide down on my head, the way +you do. And I don't see how Rosebud could, either." And Helen gave a +merry little laugh at the vision she raised. + +"Oh, I'm not going to have your horse walk the tight rope nor the high +wire!" laughed Joe. "It would be a corking good stunt if we could, +though. No, this is simpler. I'll tell you about it later." + +Mrs. Watson, wife of the veteran clown, called for Helen just then, +asking her to go to see one of the women performers who was ill. + +"I'll see you later, Joe," Helen called out, as she left him. + +Joe was busy mixing up some chemicals in a pail on the ground outside +his tent when he was accosted by a rather hoarse voice asking: + +"Any chance for a job here, boss?" Joe looked up to see a somewhat +disreputable figure of a man observing him. The fellow looked like the +typical tramp, perhaps not quite so ragged and dirty, but still in that +class. However, there was something about the man that attracted Joe's +attention. As he said afterward, his visitor had about him the air of +the "profesh." + +Joe's first impulse was to say that he knew of no job, or else to refer +his accoster to the head canvas man, who hired transient help in putting +up the main top and in pulling or driving stakes. But as Joe observed +the man curiously watching him, he had another idea. Before he could act +on it, however, the man exclaimed: + +"You do a fire-eating stunt, don't you?" + +"Yes," Joe answered. And then it occurred to him to wonder how the man +knew. True he might have observed Joe in some of the many performances, +but the man did not look like one who would spend money on circus +tickets. He might have crawled under the tent, but it did not seem +exactly probable. And, of course, some of the circus employees plight +have pointed Joe out to the man as the actor who handled fire. But, +again, Joe did not believe this. So he asked: + +"How did you know?" + +For answer the man pointed to the pail of chemicals into which Joe was +about to dip a suit of tights. + +"Smelled the dope," was the brief answer. "You're using tungstate of +soda, aren't you?" + +"Yes," answered Joe, surprised that a man, evidently of such a class, +should recognize the not very common chemical. + +"We used to use alum in the old days," the man went on. "I guess the new +dope's better, though I never tried it." + +"Are you in the business?" asked Joe. + +"Well, I--er--I used to be," and the man straightened himself up with an +air of forgotten pride. "I was with a circus once--used to do a +fire-eating act and jump into a fake bonfire. I doped my clothes with +alum water though. That's great stuff for preventing the fire taking +hold if you don't stay in the blaze too long. But, as I say, they've +discovered something new." + +"You used to be a fire-eater?" asked Joe curiously. + +"Yes. And I was counted a pretty good one. But I lost my nerve." + +"How?" + +"Well--er--not to put too fine a point on it, I got too fond of the +fire-water. Couldn't stay on the water-wagon long enough, got careless +in my act, went down and out. Oh, it's the old story. You've probably +heard it lots of times. But I would like a job now. I'm actually hungry, +and I've seen the time I could blow the bunch to champagne and lobster." + +Joe, on impulse, and yet, too, because he had an object, was just going +to offer the man help when he saw Mr. Moyne coming across the lot toward +him from the ticket wagon. The afternoon performance was about to start. + +"They're here again!" cried the treasurer. + +"Who?" asked Joe. + +"The ticket swindlers!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RINGS OF FIRE + + +Instantly Joe Strong lost interest in the "tramp fire-eater," as he +afterward came to call the man. All the attention of the young magician +was centered on what the treasurer had said. + +"Are you certain of this?" asked Joe. + +"Positive!" was the answer. "We've been keeping careful watch, paying +special attention to the red serial numbers, and some duplicates have +been taken in at the main entrance. The swindlers are at work again." + +"But our new tickets!" exclaimed Joe. "The new style of paper and the +precautions we have taken! What of that?" + +In answer Mr. Moyne held out two tickets, both bearing the same serial +number in red ink. + +"Which is the bogus and which is the genuine?" he asked. + +Joe looked carefully at the two. He examined them for a full minute. + +"I can't tell!" he admitted. + +"And no one else can, either," declared the treasurer. "We're up +against it again! Those fellows are too clever for us. Now we'll lose a +lot of money!" + +"Well, it won't break us," said Joe easily. "Though, of course, no one +likes to be cheated. The only thing to do is to get the detectives busy. +Let them know the new turn affairs have taken, and I'll send these two +tickets to our chemist friend. He can tell which is printed from our +regular stock, and which is the counterfeit. + +"Then, too, it ought to be easier to catch the rascals now than it was +at first. You see, we didn't know how long the old tickets had been +counterfeited. Now we're warned, first shot out of the box, about the +new ones. And since the paper mill hasn't been supplying our printer +with the new kind of paper very long, it ought to be easy to trace where +the new and clever counterfeit supply is coming from." + +"Well, I hope they can catch the scoundrels," said Mr. Moyne. "I +certainly hate to see money lost." + +Mr. Moyne was an ideal treasurer. He always had the interests of the +circus at heart, and one would think that the money came out of his own +pocket to hear him talk about the counterfeit tickets. In a way he did +lose, personally, since he was one of the owners of the show, and the +less money that came in the less his stock dividends would amount to. + +"I'll write to Mr. Waldon to-night," said Joe, as he took the two +tickets. "And we'll notify the detectives. Now I must get ready for my +act. That can't be dropped." + +"Having trouble, eh?" asked the tramp, who had moved a little to one +side. + +"Oh, well, just a little," admitted Joe, who was not altogether pleased +that this talk should have been overheard by a stranger. + +"Did you say there was any chance for a job?" asked the ragged man. + +"Well, I don't know," said Joe, rather doubtfully. "Is that straight +goods, about your being a fire-eater?" + +"I was once. But I'm not looking for that kind of a job now," was the +quick answer. "I lost my nerve, I tell you. Handling stakes or driving a +wagon would be my limit." + +"What sort of an act in the fire line did you have?" asked Joe, for a +certain idea was beginning to form in his mind. + +"It was a good act!" was the response, and again the spark of pride +seemed about to be fanned into a flame. "Got any old-timers in this here +circus of yours?" + +"Yes," answered Joe. "There's Jim Tracy and Bill Watson and--" + +"Bill Watson who used to clown it?" cried the man eagerly. + +"He clowns it yet." + +"Old Bill!" murmured the tramp. "Him still making good in the business, +and me a bum! Well, it's all my own fault. If I'd stuck to the +fire-eating and not drinking fire-water I'd be somewhere to-day. Just +ask Bill Watson what sort of an act Ham Logan had--'Coal-fire Logan!'" +exclaimed the man. "That was my title. Hamilton Logan is my name, but I +haven't told any one in--not in a long time," he added, and he looked +away. "But ask Bill Watson about me." + +"Here he comes now," said Joe, as he observed the veteran clown +approaching. "Suppose you ask him yourself." + +For an instant Ham Logan hesitated. Then he stepped forward and +confronted the old clown. The latter paid no attention at first, +evidently thinking the man one of the many hangers-on about a circus +ground. + +"Joe," began Bill Watson, "Helen sent me to ask you if you have any +ammonia in your kit--I mean the kind they give the ladies when their +hearts are weak, or something like that. One of the girls has some kind +of a little spell, and we can't find the doctor." + +"Yes, I have some ammonia," said Joe. "I'll get it." + +Ham Logan looked Bill Watson in the face, and asked: + +"Don't you remember me?" + +"Can't say that I do," was the somewhat cool response of the veteran +clown. "Is there any reason why I should?" + +"Do you remember Coal-fire Logan?" + +Bill Watson started, looked more closely at the man, and then slowly +asked: + +"Are you Ham Logan?" + +"What's left of me--yes." + +"Well, I'll be gum swizzled!" exclaimed Bill. "Say, did the elephant +step on you or one of the tent wagons roll over you?" + +"Neither one. I'm down and out, that's all--and it's enough, too." + +"Well, that's enough, I should say," commented the clown, as he took the +bottle of stimulant Joe handed him. "Last I heard of you you'd gone on a +theater circuit. That was just after you'd quit the Dobling show." + +"Yes, I did do a theater circuit," admitted Ham Logan. "But it didn't +last. Or rather, I didn't last. I was just asking the young man here for +a job. I said you'd remember me." + +"Well, I certainly do," returned the old clown, who was not to do his +act until later in the day. + +"And I'm sorry to see you in this state, Ham. You did me a good turn +once, and I haven't forgotten. Stick around a while, and I'll see you +as soon as I play first-aid. Joe, if it isn't asking too much, will you +look after Ham for a while? He used to be a good sort, and--" + +"Better say too much of a 'good _sport_,'" paraphrased the man. + +"I'll take care of him," promised Joe. "Did you say you were hungry?" +asked the young magician, as the old clown turned and hurried away with +the ammonia. + +"You said it! But I'm not altogether a grafter. I can work for what I +eat." And again there was a flash of pride. + +"We'll talk of that later," said Joe. "Just now I want to get you +something to eat. Here, take that over to the dining tent," and he +scribbled a few words on one of his cards. "After you've eaten all you +want, and after the show this afternoon, look me up." + +"Do you think you can give me work?" asked the man eagerly. "I don't +mean to act," he hastened to say. "I'm past that--down and out. But I'm +strong. I can pull on the ropes or drive stakes." + +"We'll talk of that later," replied Joe gently. "Go and eat now." + +"Well, I sure can feed my face!" exclaimed the man. "I--I don't know how +to thank you. Bill will tell you that I wasn't a bad fellow in my day. +I just lost my nerve--that's all. False friends and fire-water--" + +"See me later," said Joe, with a friendly wave of his hand. And the man +hurried toward the dining tent, next to the cook wagons. Already he +seemed imbued with more hope and pride, something that filled Joe with +pleasure. + +Joe busied himself with mixing the chemicals in the pail. As Ham Logan +had guessed, the young fire-eater was mixing up a solution of tungstate +of soda. This chemical is a salt, made by roasting wolfram with soda +ash, and wolfram is a native tungstate of iron and manganese. This soda +preparation is used commercially in making garments fire-proof, and Joe +had learned this from Mr. Herbert Waldon, the chemist. He had decided to +use this instead of an alum solution, which is credited with great +fire-resisting qualities. It has them, too, to a certain extent, but by +experimenting Joe had found the tungstate of soda best. + +It was the evening of the circus in the city in which the show was to +remain two days. Ham Logan had returned to Joe after having eaten a good +meal, and later Bill Watson formed the third member of a trio that +talked for some time in a corner of Joe's tent. + +As already said, it was the evening performance, and as Helen finished +her act on Rosebud she looked over toward the place where Joe was +preparing to do his slide down the slanting wire. + +"I wonder what he had in mind as a new act for me," mused Helen. "I do +hope it isn't anything to do with fire. That sort of stunt creates a +sensation, but it's dangerous, in spite of what Joe does to himself. I +don't like it! Not after what happened to Joe that day!" + +She had seen that Rosebud was given in charge of the groom who always +looked after the clever steed, and now Helen moved over where she could +watch Joe's comparatively new wire act. + +As she approached this part of the circus tent Helen was startled to see +several men carrying large hoops on long poles, take their positions on +either side of the slanting wire down which the daring performer was +soon to slide on his head, by means of the wheeled cap. + +"That's something new!" exclaimed Helen, as she saw the men with the big +hoops. "I wonder if Joe is going to jump through them, as I jump through +the paper hoops from Rosebud's back?" + +Joe was up on the little platform now, having finished his wire act. He +was adjusting to his head the leather cap. + +"Ladies and gentlemen!" began Jim Tracy in his sonorous voice, as he +pointed to Joe on his high perch, thus calling attention to the +performer. + +All eyes were turned in his direction. Then, as Joe stooped over and +stood on his head, preparatory to sliding down the wire, the hoops, +which the men held over the cable by means of long poles, suddenly burst +into flame. Held over the wire, down which Joe would in a moment slide, +was a row of fiery circles! + +Helen held her hand over her lips to stifle a scream. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BROKEN BOTTLE + + +So still was it in the big circus tent after the band stopped playing, +while Joe prepared to do his head slide, that the whirr of the steel +wheels in his leather cap could plainly be heard as he slid down the +wire. + +And as Helen and the others watched, the intention of the daring young +performer became evident. + +He was going to coast through the blazing hoops of fire which the men +held in such a position that Joe could slide through them without +touching them. Though they were called "hoops," in reality they were not +completely closed, there being a slight opening to enable them to be +slipped over the slanting wire. If a gigantic letter "C" with a long +pole fastened to the lower curved part, can be imagined, it; will give +an exact idea of what is meant. + +As to the fire itself, it was caused by blazing bits of tow fastened to +the circumference of the big wire hoops. And thus through the blazing +circles Joe Strong slid down the slanting wire on his head. At the lower +end of the wire, where it was fast to a stake in the ground, he caught +hold of the cable in his gloved hands and so slowed his speed. Then he +leaped to his feet and bowed in acknowledgment of the applause. + +"Oh!" murmured Helen, as she watched. "It was only another of his +sensational acts. When I first saw the blazing hoops I half thought that +some one was trying to injure Joe, as they did when the acid was used on +his high trapeze. Oh, it was only a trick!" + +And so it was. Joe had planned it that day after meeting Ham Logan. The +latter, talking about the time when he, too, had been a fire-eater, had +mentioned an act where a performer leaped through blazing hoops, and Joe +determined to use the idea, varying it to suit his purpose. That it was +effective was evidenced by the long-continued applause. + +"But, Joe," asked Helen, when the performance was over and she and Joe +had received another ovation at the conclusion of the box mystery and +the vanishing lady trick, "wasn't there danger of setting your clothes +on fire when you went through the blazing hoops?" + +"None at all," Joe assured her. "I have been planning a stunt like this +for some time, and my garments were fire-proofed. Of course I wouldn't +have done it otherwise. Look here!" + +He took up a fancy jacket he had worn in his wire slide. Taking a match +Joe lighted it and held it against the cloth. It did not take fire. + +"There was that day--" + +"But I have perfected the act since then, Helen. Of course the tungstate +of soda that I soaked the clothes in wouldn't keep them from catching +fire if I put the suit in a furnace. But the solution will make cloth +resist a blaze temporarily, as will alum under some circumstances. I use +alum on the suit I wear when I pretend to set myself on fire and then +jump into the tank of water," went on Joe. "But after this I'm going to +use the soda. It's more certain." + +Joe worked the trick of seeming to set himself ablaze in this way. As he +said, his suit was made as nearly fireproof as possible. Then on the +back of his jacket were placed some bunches of tow saturated with +alcohol. When this tow was set on fire it burned quickly, but Joe knew +the flame would not last long. And the fact that the garments on which +the burning material was fastened were as nearly fireproof as was +possible to make them gave him additional safety. He really ran little +risk, as the fire was at his back, and, as he ran toward the tank, his +speed carried the flames away from him. + +Joe, and all others who do a fire-eating act, calculate to a nicety just +how long a certain fire will burn. And they do not place the blazing +material into the mouth until the flames are almost on the point of +going out of themselves. This, added to the fact that a chemical +solution protects the tongue and lips, makes the act comparatively safe. +But one word of caution. _Do not try to fire-proof the mouth with +tungstate of soda_. This warning cannot be made too strong! + +In fact, it is well not to try any fire-eating _at all_. It is too risky +unless one is a professional. + +"Well, Joe," remarked Jim Tracy, later that night when most of the +circus folk were asleep, "if you want to add this fellow to our show, go +ahead. You have the say, you know." + +"Well, I don't want to do it in just that way," replied the young +fire-eater. "Bill Watson says that Ham Logan was once a good man. He is +down and out now, but he knows a lot about circus life and this handling +of fire. I believe I can work him up into something useful--use him in a +new act I'm thinking of putting on. If we can only keep him away from +intoxicants he'll be all right, and I'd like to give him a chance." + +"Well, Joe, as I said, it's up to you. Go to it! But remember, while he +means all right, he may not have the spunk to keep his promise not to +drink." + +"I think he'll keep it," said Joe. "Anyhow, I'd like to give him a +trial. He helped me with that fire hoop stunt, and it would be an act of +charity to give him work." + +"All right--you can be the charity," said the ringmaster. "What do you +say, Bill Watson?" + +"Oh, give him a chance," replied the old clown good-naturedly. "We all +have our troubles. He can't do much harm, anyhow." + +"I don't know about that," said Jim, with a shake of his head. "This +playing with fire by a man who can't keep away from fire-water, is +risky." + +"Well, I'll take the chance," said Joe. And that was characteristic of +him--taking chances. + +Ham Logan was deeply grateful to Joe for what the young performer did. +That is, he hired the former fire-eater as a sort of handy man in the +circus, Ham to be subject to Joe's direction day and night. + +"And let the fire-water alone!" demanded Joe. "I will! I really will!" +said the old circus performer. He seemed to mean it. + +Joe advanced him money enough to get some better clothes, to have a bath +and be shaved, and it was quite a different person who appeared at the +tent the following day, ready to help Joe. As Ham knew more about fire +than any assistant Joe had yet been able to train, the new man was given +charge of the various apparatus Joe used in his sensational acts, +including the one of sliding down the wire on his head through the +blazing hoops. + +One matter bothered Joe and his friends, in spite of the great success +the circus was having, and this was the bogus tickets. Several hundred +of them were presented at the performances in the city where the two-day +stay was made--the city already mentioned as being the location of a big +automobile industry. And where the tickets came from remained a mystery. +They were so nearly like the ones issued from the ticket wagon that not +until duplicate numbers had been observed could the fraud be detected. + +And as the men at the main entrances had no time in the rush to compare +serial numbers, there seemed no way of stopping the cheating. It was +impossible to see to it that every one who came to the show purchased +admission tickets at the wagon. The surging crowds around prevented +this. + +Men engaged by the circus circulated through the throngs about the tent, +seeking to learn whether any unauthorized persons were selling bogus +tickets. But none was seen. + +"It is evident," said Mr. Moyne, "that the counterfeiters get a bunch of +the fake tickets and sell them in large lots to some men. These men, in +turn, dispose of them at reduced prices to others, and perhaps the +persons who use the tickets do not know they are counterfeits. I believe +the swindlers go to the big factories and stores, and sell the tickets +at a slightly lower price than we ask." + +"We ought to be able to put a stop to that," said Joe. + +"We'll try it!" said the treasurer. "It seems the only way--that and +having the detectives stop the fraud at the source. You see, we can't +tell which are the counterfeit tickets until after we check up the +serial numbers--that's what makes it so hard." + +And so, in spite of the success of Joe's acts and The success of the +show in general, there was this element of annoyance. Joe wished the +mystery could be cleared up. He had received back from the chemist the +two tickets sent on last, and the counterfeit was marked. This was sent +to the paper mill and the detectives notified. That was all that could +be done for the present. + +"Well, how's Coal-fire Logan making out?" asked Bill Watson of Joe one +day, just before an afternoon performance. + +"Very good," was the answer. "He's faithful and steady, and he's good +help to me. He certainly knows the fire-eating stunt." + +"Well, as long as he doesn't do any fire-drinking maybe he'll be all +right," said the old clown. + +"I haven't noticed any lapse," said Joe. "I have great hopes of him." + +But that very afternoon, during the performance, Joe felt doubt +beginning to creep over him. He caught Ham in several mistakes--slight +ones--but enough, if not noticed in time, to have spoiled the act. + +"I wonder what the matter is with him?" mused Joe. "He doesn't seem to +have been drinking, and yet he acts queer. I wonder if he can be using +drugs." + +It was at the close of the act and the wind-up of the circus for the +afternoon that Joe told Ham to put away some of the apparatus until +evening. Joe was called away from his dressing room for a moment and +when he came back he saw Ham hastily throw away a dark brown bottle +which struck on a stone and broke. Immediately a queer odor filled the +air. + +"I wonder if that was liquor he was taking, and if he threw away the +empty bottle," thought Joe quickly. "I'm going to find out, I've got to +stop this thing at the start." + +He hurried to the place where Ham had tossed the bottle. The fragments +lay there, and the queer odor was more pronounced. + +"Don't touch that! Let that bottle alone!" suddenly cried Ham Logan, as +he became aware of Joe's intention. "Don't touch it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A NARROW ESCAPE + + +Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this warning and observed the +face of the man he was befriending. His first thought was that Ham had +broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. Naturally the man +would want to conceal this as long as possible. The other thought was +that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick--perhaps he was jealous +of Joe's success and his own failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's +apparatus. Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property the brown +bottle, which when broken emitted such a queer smell. + +Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not heeding the warning call +of the former circus star, he walked closer to the broken flask. + +"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. "Keep away!" + +"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence. + +"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very dangerous." + +"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to know. "Look here, Ham," he +said earnestly, "are you up to--any of your old tricks? You know what I +mean. Are you?" + +The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in the face, he said: + +"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer you as straight. I +haven't broken my promise--that is, only the times you know about. I +haven't broken it this time. I found that bottle in among your things, +and I was mighty sure it didn't belong there." + +"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though he had dabbled in +chemistry, he did not recognize the queer odor. + +"A combination of the strongest acids ever known!" was the answer of Ham +Logan. "A drop of it makes a terrible burn, and it will eat through +solid steel and iron. I knew that if it broke where it was, among your +trick things, a lot of them would be ruined. And I knew you couldn't +have left the bottle there by mistake, as it wasn't there the last time +I packed away your duds. And I knew if you knew what it was you wouldn't +have left it around in that careless way. So, taking no chances, I threw +it away, and I meant to break the bottle. That acid is awful stuff. It's +best to let it soak into the ground. Come over and see what it does even +to earth and stones." + +He led the way to where the fluid had escaped from the broken flask, +the fragments of which were scattered about. The odor was less strong +now, as the acid was soaking into the earth. But there was a fuming and +bubbling at the spot, and the very stones and earth seemed to be burning +up in a small area. + +"Don't step in it!" warned Ham Logan. "It will eat right through your +shoes. Glass is the only thing it won't hurt--glass and porcelain. They +mix it in porcelain retorts. I'll throw some loose earth over this +place. The effects of the acid will soon be lost, but while it's active +it's terrible stuff, believe me!" + +"And you say you found that bottle in my baggage?" asked Joe. + +"Yes," answered Ham Logan. "And am I right in saying you didn't know it +was there?" + +"I certainly didn't," declared Joe. "Who in the world could have put it +there?" + +"Have you any enemies?" asked Ham. "I mean some one who would like to +see your circus acts spoiled, or even see you laid up for a while?" + +"Well, I guess perhaps there are some I've made enemies of by having to +discharge them, or something like that," admitted Joe, his thoughts +going naturally to Bill Carfax. "There's one man, but he hasn't been +seen around for a good while." + +"That doesn't count. He may have gotten some one to do his trick for +him," asserted Ham. "You'd better look out, Mr. Strong." + +"I will!" declared Joe. "And thank you for your watchfulness. As you +say, I didn't know that bottle was there, and I might have broken it by +accident or have opened it and spilled some out. How did you come to +discover it?" + +"Just by accident. The smell is something you never forget. It comes up +even around the glass stopper. As soon as I began overhauling your +things, as you told me to, I smelled the stuff and I went on a still +hunt for it. + +"I was careful, too. I knew what it meant to get any of that acid on +you, or on any of the things about you. I used to work in the chemical +plant where they made the stuff--that was after I left the circus. Well, +it can't do any harm now," he said as he got a shovel and covered with +clean earth the bits of broken glass and the still fuming drops of add. + +"Thank you," said Joe fervently. + +He went into his private tent. Presently he came out with a bit of wire +cable, such as is used in making circus trapezes. One end was blackened +and partly fused, as though it had been in the fire. Joe held out this +bit of wire rope. It was part of the trapeze he used in his big swing. + +"What would you say had eaten through these strands?" he asked. + +Ham Logan looked carefully at the cable. He sniffed it cautiously. He +held it up to the light and again smelled it. + +"It was this same acid that ate those strands," he declared. "I know how +it used to eat metal out at the chemical works, and it does so in a +queer way. This wire rope is eaten through just like that. There isn't +any odor left, though sometimes it lasts a long time. But I'm sure the +same kind of acid was used. You don't mean to tell me you have been +experimenting with it!" and he looked in surprise at Joe. + +"No indeed!" and the young fire-eater shook his head. "I never handle +the acid. And the fact that the cable was eaten through nearly caused an +accident." He then explained how he had discovered the partly severed +wire rope just in time. + +"They must have put on a weak solution of the acid," declared Ham. +"Otherwise it would have eaten the rope through in jig time. So that's +the game, is it? Well, they may have been trying it on a larger scale. +Did you find out who doped the rope?" + +"There was a man who might have done it," said Joe, thinking of Harry +Loper. "But I don't believe he did." + +"Is he still with the show?" + +"Yes. I'll tell you all the circumstances," which Joe did, mentioning +Loper by name. + +"Well, we won't say anything," declared Ham Logan; "but I'll just keep +my eyes on this Loper. As you say, he may not have done it, but he may +know who did. I'll keep my eyes on him. Meanwhile be careful in +overhauling your things. Look out for bottles that smell as this one +did." + +"I will!" promised Joe. "I guess I won't forget that odor. I can't tell +you how I thank you, Ham. You've done me a good turn!" + +"Well, you did me one," was the answer. "I was down and out when you +gave me work, and I won't forget that in a hurry." + +Joe pondered over what had happened as he performed his circus acts the +remainder of that day and evening. He shuddered at the narrow escape he +had had, and, when he had a chance, he carefully noted the conduct of +Harry Loper. But that young fellow did not seem at all to act like one +who had tried to do a dastardly trick. He was jolly and good-natured, as +he always was, albeit somewhat of a weak character. + +The circus performances went off well, Joe and the other actors +receiving wild applause as they did their specialties. Joe's fire-eating +was eagerly watched, and when he slid down the rope on his head, through +the blazing hoops, the crowd went wild, as they did when, seemingly all +afire, he leaped into the tank. + +"When you going to spring that sensation you've been talking of, Joe?" +asked Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of one afternoon show. + +"Oh, pretty soon now," was the reply. "Ham Logan and I are working on +it." + +"Ham Logan! Is he going to be in it with you?" asked the ringmaster in +some surprise. + +"Of course!" answered Joe. "It's partly his idea. He's an old +fire-actor, you know, and he's given me some good suggestions. Yes, he's +going to help me. I think we'll put the act on next week. We've got to +train some new performers first." + +"New performers! Say, what are you going to do, Joe, take a troupe of +fire-eating actors out on the road?" + +"Something like that, yes," answered the young magician, with a laugh. +"You'll see." + +Joe Strong varied his acts in the circus tent Sometimes he would omit +the "vanishing lady" act, as Helen wanted to put through some extra work +with Rosebud, and there was not time for both. Again he would leave out +some of his acrobatic work, or perhaps not do the trick of seeming to +catch fire and extinguishing the flames in Benny Turton's tank. Once in +a while he would omit the ten thousand dollar mystery box trick. + +But on the day when he had the above conversation with Jim Tracy they +were showing in a large factory town. There had been good business in +the afternoon, and Joe had not done the box trick. But just before the +evening show Jim came to Joe and said: + +"There've been several requests, Joe, that you put the box trick on +to-night." + +"Requests from whom?" Joe asked. + +"One of the newspaper men was telling me they received a lot of +telephone calls to-day asking if the box trick would be done and the +reward paid in case some one discovered the way it was done." + +"What did you say?" + +"I said I thought you'd put the trick on in that case. Don't you think +you'd better? We didn't advertise it specially for to-night, but there +might be a lot of sore-heads if we don't pull it off." + +"Oh, I'll do it all right!" declared Joe. "I thought it was getting a +bit stale. But if the crowd wants to see it I'll do it." + +"I guess it will be better," said the ringmaster. + +Accordingly, at the proper time, Joe, in his dazzling white suit, took +his place in the silk-curtained enclosure. Helen, in her black dress, +was ready to help him. The fireman, with his gleaming ax, ready to chop +Joe out of the box in case anything should go wrong, was also on the +stage. + +As has been related in the other book, this last was done only for +effect. Joe well knew that he could get out of the box. The manager made +the usual offer of ten thousand dollars to be paid to any one who would +disclose how the trick was done. + +"You will all be given a chance to claim the reward under the usual +conditions after the trick has been performed by Professor Strong," was +the announcement made. + +As the description of the manner in which Joe and Helen did the trick is +given in all its details in the volume preceding this, suffice it here +to say that Joe got into the box, which was locked and roped, and, at +the proper time, he appeared outside. + +"Is there any one who can tell how the trick was done, and so earn the +ten thousand dollar reward?" asked the manager. He had made this +announcement many times. Seldom, of late, had any one come forward. But +now, somewhat to the surprise of Joe and his friends, a man's voice +called from a location near the platform: + +"I can tell how it was done!" + +"Will you please come forward," invited Joe, now taking charge of the +proceedings. + +A fairly well-dressed man stepped across the arena and approached the +stage. Joe and Jim Tracy and the others vitally interested looked +closely at him. He was not Bill Carfax--that was certain. And Joe did +not know the man, nor, as Jim Tracy admitted afterward, did he. + +"You say you can tell how I get out of the box?" asked Joe, and the +audience listened intently. + +"Yes. I know the secret." + +"Are you willing to post a hundred dollars to be forfeited to the Red +Cross in case you fail?" went on the young magician. + +"I am. Here is the money!" was the cool response. This quick compliance +with the terms of the offer rather staggered Joe. But he had no fear as +to the outcome. + +"Very well," went on the originator of the box trick. "The ringmaster +will hold your money. If you are successful in telling how I get out of +the box the cash will be handed back to you, and you will receive, in +addition, a check for ten thousand dollars. Now then, how do I get out +of the box? Tell the audience." + +There was a moment of suspense, and then the man, with an air of +confidence, stepped close to the big, heavy box and, pointing to a +certain corner, said: + +"Right there is a secret panel. You slip it back and get out that way!" + +The man seemed so triumphantly confident and so sure of his statement, +that several in the audience cried: + +"Is that right? Is that how you do the trick? If it is pay him the ten +thousand dollars!" + +Joe looked at Jim Tracy. This was the first time any one had ever come +so close to the truth. Helen, standing at one side of the stage, began +to be fearful that, after all, Joe's secret was discovered. It would +mean an end of the box trick. + +Then Joe smiled, and stepped forward. And there was something in the +smile that reassured Helen. + +"Has he guessed it?" she asked in a low voice, as Joe passed her. + +"No. But it was a narrow escape," was the answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +JUGGLING WITH FIRE + + +Smilingly the man who had made claim to the ten thousand dollars waited +for Joe Strong. The fellow seemed already to have the money in his +grasp. + +"You say there is a sliding panel in that corner?" asked Joe. + +"Positive." + +"And that I get out that way?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I say you are wrong, and I am going to prove it," returned Joe +easily, and also smiling. "Now I'm going to let you, and any one you may +select from the audience, paste sheets of paper over that corner. Then +I'll do the trick over again. If I get out of the box, and the paper you +paste on remains unbroken, you'll have to admit that I didn't come out +through the place where you say is a sliding panel, won't you?" + +"Well, if you don't break the paper, I guess I'll have to admit you +didn't get out that way," said the man, with a grin. "But I want to see +you do it first." + +"Very well. I'll send for some paste and paper," went on Joe. "Meanwhile +call upon any of your friends you like to help." + +"Come on up here, Bill!" called out the man. + +For an instant Joe, and Helen also, as she admitted later, feared it +might be Bill Carfax to whom he referred. But an altogether different +individual shuffled up to the stage. + +"We'll paste paper over this end where the trick panel is," went on the +man who had claimed the reward. "He won't get out then!" + +"Sure he won't," agreed his companion. "Do we get the ten thousand +then?" + +"Naturally, if you have guessed right," said Joe. "But that remains to +be seen." + +There was no trouble in getting paste and paper. That is part of a +circus, for, even though it is old-fashioned, paper hoops are still used +for the clowns and some bareback riders to leap through. + +A plentiful supply of large, white sheets and a pail of paste with a +brush were brought up to the stage. Then the men were invited to begin +their work, which was to seal up the corner the man had picked out as +the location of the secret panel. + +Before pasting on the paper the men looked closely at the joinings of +the box. They seemed rather puzzled in spite of the cock-sureness of +the first individual. + +The pasting was not a work of art, but it was effective. The corner of +the box was plastered over with sheets of white paper, in which there +was no break. + +"If I get out of the box without cracking, tearing, or disturbing the +paper you have pasted on, without moving it in any way, you'll admit +that you're wrong, won't you?" asked Joe, as he prepared to do the trick +again. + +"Yes," was the answer. "I will. But I've got you sewed up!" + +"Pasted up would be a better word," returned Joe, with a smile. "But +that remains to be seen." + +The box was placed in position, and Joe took his place in it. The lid +was slammed down, locked, and the rope was knotted about it. The two men +who had done the pasting assisted in this. + +Then the curtains were drawn, and Helen and the firemen took their +places. There was a period of waiting. The tense suspense of the +audience was manifest. Even Jim Tracy and Bill Watson, veteran circus +men though they were, seemed a bit worried. The man who had claimed the +ten thousand dollars and his companion seemed a bit ill at ease. + +Then, suddenly, the curtains parted and Joe Strong stood in plain view, +outside the box, bowing to the applause that greeted him. When it had +subsided, he said: + +"Will you two gentlemen kindly look at the paper seals you placed on one +corner of the box? If they are unbroken and undisturbed I take it you +have lost. Kindly look and announce what you find." + +The men shuffled to the case and bent down over the corner that was +covered with the pasted sheets. Look as they did, they could find no +evidences of a break or tear in the paper. And it had not been removed +and put back again. The men admitted that. + +"Then you have to admit that I didn't get out of the box by means of a +secret panel in that corner, don't you?" asked Joe, when the two had +asserted that the paper was intact. + +"Yes, I guess you win," said the first man. "But there's some trick +about it!" + +"Oh, I admit that!" laughed Joe. "It is a trick, and if you discover it +you get ten thousand dollars. But not to-night. Red Cross is richer by a +hundred dollars." + +"Um!" grumbled the man, as he walked off, and many in the audience +laughed. Joe had won. + +The circus performance went on to its usual exciting close in the +chariot races, and when preparations were being made to travel on to the +next city, Helen had a chance to speak to Joe. + +"It was a narrow escape," she said. + +"Just what it was!" he replied. "If he had picked the other corner--the +left instead of the right--he would have had me. But luck was with us." + +"I'm glad," said Helen. "But how did he happen to select any corner? +Some one must know more about your trick box than you think." + +"I'm afraid so," admitted Joe ruefully. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised +but what this was some of the work of Bill Carfax." + +"Has he been around again?" asked Helen, and there was a note of +annoyance in her voice. + +"He hasn't been seen," said Joe. "But this man may have been in +communication with him. Bill may have been studying the trick out since +his last failure, and I must admit that he's on the right trail--that +is, if it was Bill who put this man up to making the claim." + +"What makes you think Bill had anything to do with it?" asked Helen. + +"Well, for the reason that this is just the kind of town where Bill +would be likely to have friends--I mean in a big manufacturing center. +Bill may have found a man who is willing to act to help pull down the +reward for him. But this time they failed." + +"He may succeed next time," remarked Helen. + +"No, I'll take care of that," Joe said. "I'm going to make a change in +the box." + +As the mechanism of the trick box has been explained in the preceding +volume, it will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that Joe's +method of getting out of the box could be changed, so that if a person +thought he had discovered the secret panel it could be shifted to +another part of the case. + +It was two or three days after this, and Joe had made a change in his +box which satisfied him that the secret would not soon be discovered, +that Helen, coming over to where he sat in his private tent, saw him +making what seemed to be torches. + +"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you think our electric lights or +gasoline flares are going to fail?" she went on jokingly. The Sampson +Brothers' Show was a modern one, and carried a portable electric light +plant. + +"Oh, no, I'm not worrying about that!" answered Joe. "But I have a new +idea for my wire act, and I want to see if it will work out." + +That night, at the proper time, when Joe was introduced as about to +perform his wire act, Helen noticed Ham Logan come out with the young +fire-eater, carrying a number of the torches Joe had made. + +Joe started across the high, slack wire, and on it performed many of his +usual feats. They were not specially sensational, and Helen wondered +what he had planned. + +But, after a daring run across the slender support, following some risky +side swinging, Helen saw Joe lower from the high platform where he +stood a flexible wire. Standing on the ground below, Ham Logan received +it and fastened on the end several of the metal torches Joe had made. +The young magician hauled them up to him by means of the wire. + +Then, as Helen and the audience watched, Joe set the torches ablaze. +They were made of hollow cones of sheet iron, in which were placed bits +of tow, soaked in alcohol. + +With four blazing torches, two in either hand, Joe Strong started out to +cross the high, slack wire. And then, to the wonder and amazement of the +audience, no less than that of his friends in the show, Joe began +juggling with fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BLAZING BANQUET + + +Across the wire walked the young performer, and as he walked he tossed +into the air, catching them as they came down, the flaming torches. When +it is remembered that the fire was of the real, blazing sort, and hot at +that, also when it is recalled that if Joe happened to catch hold of the +wrong end of any of the whirling torches, and when it is evident that he +must "watch his step," it will be seen that he was performing no easy +feat. + +Yet to watch him one would have thought that he had been doing it right +along for many performances, instead of this being his first in public, +though he and Ham Logan had practiced in private. + +Across the wire walked Joe, juggling with fire, and when he reached the +other platform he walked backward along the swaying wire. + +Then the applause broke out, loud and long. The crowd appreciated the +trick, with all its dangers. True, Joe Strong was an expert on the wire, +and he was also a good juggler. But juggling with torches while on a +swaying cable was not as easy as handling harmless rubber balls or +Indian clubs, and the circus throng seemed to appreciate this. + +Getting back to the platform whence he had started, Joe dropped the +still blazing torches into a tub of water where they went out hissingly. +This provided a fitting climax to the act, as showing that the flames +were real ones. + +And then Joe donned his cap of leather, with the little grooved wheels +fastened in the top, and on his head he slid down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. It was a good end to a good trick; and the +crowd went wild. + +"Well, Joe, you sure did put another one over for us," said Jim Tracy, +at the conclusion of the performance. "That fire juggling was a great +trick. That's the sensation you promised us, I suppose." + +"No, it isn't," was the answer. "I'm not ready for that yet. But I'm +glad you liked the trick. No, what I have up my sleeve is something even +better, I think." + +"Well, I hope you haven't any blazing torches up your sleeve," remarked +Helen, with a laugh. "You'll need a new coat, if you have." + +"No danger," laughed Joe. "I think I'll be ready soon. By the way, any +news of the bogus tickets--I mean the detectives haven't found out +anything positive, have they?" + +"Not yet," answered Mr. Moyne, who had joined the little party. "And +it's keeping all of us who have to do with the financial end guessing as +to where the trouble will break out next." + +"It is an unpleasant state of affairs," agreed Joe. "But I don't see +what we can do except to wait. You haven't noticed any more of the +counterfeit tickets of late, have you?" + +"No," answered the treasurer. "It's only when we hit the big mill cities +that they are worked in on us. That's why I believe there is some system +to it all." + +"Well, we'll have to break up the system," declared Joe. "As soon as I +get this new act of mine perfected I'm going to take a day or two off, +over Sunday say, and visit the detective agency. They may need stirring +up." + +"I wish something could be done," declared the treasurer. + +About a week after this conversation, during which time the circus had +moved from place to place, doing good business, Mrs. Watson, meeting +Helen on the lot, said: + +"Who are Joe's new friends?" + +"New friends? I didn't know he had any specially new ones," remarked the +young bareback rider. "Has he been befriending some more poor +broken-down circus men, like Ham Logan?" + +"These aren't men," said the clown's wife. "They are three pretty girls. +I saw Joe coming back from downtown with them. They seemed +jolly--laughing and talking." + +"Three pretty girls!" murmured Helen. And then she quickly added, with +an air of indifference: "Oh, I suppose they may be some cousins he +hasn't seen for a long while." + +"I thought Joe said he had no relatives in this country," went on Mrs. +Watson. + +"I'm sure I don't know," and Helen's voice was very cool. + +"There's something behind all this," mused Mrs. Watson, as Helen walked +away. "I hope those two haven't quarreled. Maybe I shouldn't have said +anything." + +However, it was too late now. The seeds of jealousy seemed to have been +sown, though unwittingly, by Mrs. Watson. Helen walked on with her head +high in the air, and as the clown's wife passed Joe's official tent a +little later she heard, issuing from it, the jolly laughter and talk of +several girlish voices. + +"I wonder what Joe Strong is up to," thought Mrs. Watson. "He never +acted like that before--going off with other girls and neglecting Helen. +I'm going to speak to him. No, I won't either!" she decided. "I'll just +keep still until I know I can help. It's better that way." + +It was perhaps an hour after this that Joe, meeting Helen, called to +her: + +"Oh, I say! don't you want to do me a favor?" + +"What sort?" asked the rider of Rosebud, and if Joe had not been +thinking of something else he would have noticed the danger signs about +Helen's countenance. + +"The fancy jacket I use in one of my tricks is torn," went on Joe. +"Would it be asking too much to request you to mend it?" + +Helen tossed back her head and there was a snap to her eyes as she +answered: + +"Why don't you get one of the three pretty girls to do your mending? I'm +afraid I'm not clever enough!" And with that she walked on haughtily. + +For an instant Joe was so surprised that he could not speak. His face +plainly showed how taken aback he was. Then, after a moment, he managed +to stammer: + +"Oh, but I say! Helen! Wait a moment! Let me explain. I--er I--I only--" + +But Helen did not pause, she did not look back, and she did not answer. +Joe stood staring after her in blank amazement. Then he gave utterance +to a low whistle and exclaimed: + +"Oh, ho! I see! Well, it will be my turn later!" and he laughed +silently. + +"He's either playing a mean trick or else he's up to some joke," +declared Mrs. Watson, who, from a distance, had watched this little +scene. "And," she added with a shake of her head, "I can't be sure what +it is. Young folks are so foolish! So foolish!" and she sighed as she +walked away. + +Joe, with the torn jacket in his hand, turned back toward his own tent, +and presently there came from it the sounds of several young persons, +including girls, in conversation and laughter. + +It was later, that same afternoon, when Helen noticed Joe in one part of +the big tent. He was surrounded by three pretty young ladies and three +good-looking young men. They were on one of the platforms seated about a +table, and Joe seemed to be entertaining them, for there were plates, +cups, knives and forks on the board--all the outward indications of a +meal. + +The time was late afternoon, following the day performance and prior to +the evening show. Helen looked curiously over at the gay little scene, +and something tugged at her heart-strings. Then she looked away, and +Mrs. Watson, observing her from the other side of the tent, shook her +gray head. + +"I can't understand Joe Strong," murmured the clown's wife. "What has +come over him?" + +It was just before the opening of the evening performance that night +when Joe, meeting Helen in the dressing tent, said: + +"I shan't need you in the box trick, to-night, nor in the vanishing lady +stunt, either." + +"Oh, I suppose you're going to use one of the new, pretty girls," +snapped Helen. + +Joe looked at her quietly. + +"No," he said, "I am not. But I am not going to put on either trick. I +thought you'd like to know, so if you want to introduce any of your +extras you'll have a chance." + +"Thank you!" she said coldly, and passed on. + +Joe smiled as he looked after her. + +With a blare of trumpets, a boom and ruffle of drums, the gay procession +started around the circus arena. The stately elephants, the hideous +camels and the beautiful horses went around to be looked at, wondered +at, and admired. Then, when the last of the cavalcade had passed out, +the various acts began. Helen had a new costume for her bareback act, +and as she started it she looked over to where Joe was busy on his +stage. She saw the young men and women around him. They wore fancy +costumes and seemed a part of the circus. Helen wondered what act they +were going to appear in, since none including them had been announced. + +She danced about on the back of Rosebud, and thought bitterly that Joe +had never noticed her new dress. She was wearing it for the first time, +too. + +The whistle blew. All acts stopped and Jim Tracy advanced toward Joe's +platform. + +"A most marvelous and striking act!" he cried, not stating what it was +to be. + +All eyes, even those of Helen Morton, turned in the direction of Joe +Strong. + +He acted quickly. With a wave of his hand he invited the three pretty +girls and the three well-appearing young men to be seated. They took +their places around a table, with Joe acting as host. The table appeared +to be well laden, and at first the act seemed to be only a rather +elaborate meal being served in public. + +"What is it all about?" mused Helen. "I can't see anything very +wonderful in that." + +But, even as she thus mused, something strange happened. The banquet +table seemed to burst into flames. The dishes of food blazed up, and the +audience gasped. + +But the young men, the young women, and Joe Strong did not seem in the +least surprised. They kept their seats and went right on eating. + +And then, with a thrill of surprise, it was noticed that Joe Strong and +his guests were devouring the blazing food itself! The girls and young +men put portion after portion of the blazing viands into their mouths! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HAM IS MISSING + + +Surprise and astonishment held the audience silent and spellbound for a +moment. Then a woman screamed, and, ready for this emergency and fearing +a panic, than which nothing is more dreaded by circus men, Jim Tracy +cried: + +"Sit still! Keep your seats! There is no danger! This is all part of the +show. We are merely showing you how to eat your meals in case any of you +ever get caught in a blazing volcano. Watch the ladies and gentlemen eat +their stuff hot--right off the fire!" + +There was a laugh at this sally, and a laugh was what the ringmaster +wanted more than anything else just then. He knew the tide of fear had +been changed to one of wondering admiration. + +And so, sitting on the stage in sight of the thrilled audience, Joe +Strong and his guests, in the shape of pretty girls and manly young +fellows fancifully attired, continued to eat the blazing food. + +The very pieces of bread seemed to be on fire, there was a dancing flame +over the butter, and each bit of meat or other food Joe and the +performers lifted on their forks was alive with leaping fire. + +Then the daring feature of the act was borne home to the audience and +the applause broke forth--applause loud and long. There were yells and +whistles from the younger and more enthusiastic portion of the circus +crowd. + +And then the fires died away. The table seemed emptied of victuals, and +the young men and women, imitating Joe's example, leaned back in their +chairs as though well satisfied with their hot meal. + +"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" declaimed the ringmaster. "They +have come to no harm from eating living fire. If any of you are tired of +cold victuals, kindly step forward and you will be treated to a free, +hot lunch by Professor Strong." + +"Not any in mine, thank you," murmured a man, and that seemed to be the +general opinion. + +As Joe and his new associates arose to bow to the renewed applause, the +ringmaster made an announcement. + +"A blazing banquet, such as you have just witnessed, will take place at +each and every performance," he declared. "Come and bring your friends! +Nothing like it ever seen before on any stage or in any circus in the +world! + +"Remember, you will see the same and identical act at each and every +performance and all for the price of one admission. Professor Strong and +his gifted salamander associates will eat fire as they did just now, at +each and every show in the big tent. I thank you!" + +"Well, Joe, it went all right!" said Jim Tracy when the performers had +left the stage and the young fire-eater was alone on the platform. "It +went like a house afire!" + +"Yes," said Joe, "it seemed to. I guess it went better than if we had +made a lot of preliminary notices. The suddenness of it took them by +surprise." + +"But we can advertise it big now," said the ringmaster. "We don't need +to specify exactly what it is. Of course those who have seen it will +tell their friends who are coming and who haven't seen it. But the big +majority of the audiences will be as much surprised as this one was. It +went big." + +"Yes," agreed Joe, "it did. And I'm glad of it. This is the sensation I +was planning, but I didn't want to go into details until I was sure it +would work. I had to engage my helpers in the dark, so to speak, and I +didn't even tell you what I was planning until the last minute." + +"No, you didn't," said Jim. + +Helen Morton came slowly across the arena. Her act was over, and she had +seen the blazing banquet and Joe's part in it. + +Her cheeks were unusually red as she approached holding out her hand, +and there was a rather misty look about her eyes as she said: + +"Will you forgive me, Joe?" + +"For what?" he asked tantalizingly. + +"Oh, you know perfectly well!" she exclaimed. "It was very silly of me, +but--" + +"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. "I suppose I might have +told you that the pretty girls were those I had engaged to help in the +banquet scene, together with the young fellows. We had only a few +rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't want to spread the news too +generally, even among the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I +suppose I might have told you." + +"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if you had," she murmured. + +"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said Joe. "But it's all right +now. And may I come to lunch with you, or would you rather that I should +go with--one of the pretty girls?" + +"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared Helen, blushing more than +ever. And so the little quarrel ended. + +As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet helpers secretly, and +they had met him at the city where the circus was to remain three days +and nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting the performers +for Joe, since the old circus man knew the best theatrical agency at +which to apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women to act the +part of guests at the "banquet." He had guessed that Helen's actions +denoted her jealousy, but he could not forbear teasing her. + +"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, when she and Joe were +together again. "Of course I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly +of me to ask such a question. But it was very realistic." + +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't actually 'eat' the fire, +any more than I eat it. And I may say that I had quite a little trouble +in getting them to put it near enough their mouths to make it seem as if +they did. + +"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar kind, which Ham +Logan and I worked out together. It can be made to look like almost any +food, and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily and quickly. +The flames go out as soon as they come near enough our mouths to feel +the effects of certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell you +all the secrets, but that is enough to show you how we worked it. + +"There was no more danger than there is when I 'eat' fire, and the trick +is done in much the same way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable +helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could have done this trick +without him." + +The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other cities. As Jim Tracy +had said, the feat was shown at each and every performance, Joe cutting +out some of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer stay +than usual in the city where the fiery food was first "eaten," and +played to record-breaking business. + +"And the best of it is that we haven't seen a bogus ticket!" said the +treasurer, much elated. + +Joe, as one of the chief owners of the circus, was able to hire the +"fire-eaters" unknown to any of his associates until the last minute, +and thus the surprise was all the greater. + +Joe's fire tricks were now the talk of the theatrical and circus worlds, +and he received many offers to leave Sampson Brothers' Show and star by +himself. But he refused them all, saying he wanted to build up his own +show to a point never before reached. + +As he had said, Ham Logan proved a valuable helper. The man, a +fire-eater of the old school, knew many valuable secrets, and he held +himself under such obligation to Joe that he revealed many of them to +the young magician. + +"Have you learned anything more about who left that bottle of powerful +acid in among my things?" asked Joe of Ham, one afternoon when the fire +banquet had been unusually successful. + +"No, not exactly," was the answer. "But I'm on the trail, I think I am +working along the right lines, but it is too early to make any +statement." + +"Well, take your time," said Joe. "Only I don't want to get mixed up +with any of the deadly stuff." + +"Don't worry. I'm on the watch," declared the old performer. + +That night, when the time for Joe to prepare for his acts, including the +fire tricks, came, he did not see Ham in the dressing tent, where the +assistant was usually to be found. + +"Have you seen him?" asked Joe of Harry Loper. + +"Yes, about half an hour ago," was the answer. "He said he was going in +to town." + +"Going in to town--and so near performing time?" cried Joe. "I wonder +what for! He ought to be here!" + +Joe was worried, and when his signal for going on came Ham Logan was +still missing. Joe Strong shook his head dubiously. It had been found +necessary to get another man to help with the act. + +"I don't like this," he murmured. "I don't like it for a cent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A SUDDEN WARNING + + +Only the fact that he had strong nerves and that he possessed the +ability of concentrating his mind on whatever was uppermost at the time, +enabled the young circus man to get through his various circus acts with +credit at that performance. He began with the worry over Ham Logan's +disappearance before him. And he was actually worried--a bad state of +affairs for one whose ability to please and deceive critical audiences +depends on his snappy acting, his quickness of hand and mind, and his +skill. + +But, as has been said, Joe possessed the ability to concentrate on the +most needful matter, and that, for the time being, was his box trick, +his fire-eating, and his slide on his head down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. + +Then came the blazing banquet, and this created the usual furor in the +audience. Joe managed to get through it with credit, though his rather +strange manner was noticed and commented on afterward by the young +people associated with him. + +"I wonder what's bothering the boss?" asked one of the young +fire-eaters of another. "He nearly made a slip when he was lifting up +that fake fried oyster." + +"Maybe the circus is losing money and he's got to cut out this act--let +some of us go--can't pay our salaries," was the reply. + +"Don't you believe it!" declared the other. "The circus is making more +money than it ever did--more even when the fake tickets are worked off +on it." + +"Well, it's none of our affair." + +"I wouldn't like my salary to be cut off." + +"Oh, neither would I." + +"Fake tickets? I hadn't heard of them." + +"Oh, yes," explained the first speaker, and he went into the details of +the affair. + +"But there's surely something worrying the boss," commented still +another of the young men, and his associates, including the "pretty +girls," agreed with him. + +And what really was worrying Joe was speculation over the fate of Ham +Logan. Not since Joe had first taken the old and broken circus actor +into his employ had Ham been away more than a few hours at a time, and +then Joe knew where he was. This time Ham had left no word, save the +uncertain one that he was going into the city, on the outskirts of +which the circus was at the time showing. + +"But don't you think he'll come back?" asked Jim Tracy, when, after the +performance, Joe had spoken of the missing Ham. + +"I wish I could think so," was the reply. "I sure will hate to lose him. +I depend a lot on him in my fire tricks." + +"What makes you think you will lose him?" asked Tracy curiously. + +"Well, his going off this way, for one," declared Joe. "What I'm really +afraid of is that he may have gone back to his bad habits. You know how +it is. A man starts to reform, and he keeps the pledges he makes until +he meets some of his boon companions who used to help him on the +downward road. They invite him to come along for a good time, and he +goes." + +"And you think that's what's happened to Ham?" + +"I'm afraid so. I'm going down town and see if I can get any trace of +him." + +And this Joe did as soon as he was relieved of his duties in the circus. +The show was to remain in town over night, and this gave him just the +chance he wanted. + +It was an unpleasant errand, but Joe went through with it. He had to +call at many places that were distasteful to him, but in none of them +did he get a trace of Ham Logan. Joe saw in the more brilliant parts of +the city a number of the circus men, including some of the chief +performers. They were taking advantage of the two-days' stay, and were +meeting old friends and making some new acquaintances. + +Of these Joe inquired for news of Ham, but no one had seen him. The old +fire-eater had endeared himself to more than one member of the Sampson +Brothers' Show, for he was always ready to do a favor. So more than Joe +were interested in seeing that Ham kept on the good road along which he +had started. But all of Joe's efforts were of no avail. + +It was after midnight when he ended his search, and, rather than go back +to the sleeping car where the other performers spent their night, Joe +put up at a hotel, sending word to Jim Tracy of what he intended to do. + +"I want to find Ham," Joe wrote in the note he sent to the ringmaster by +a messenger boy, "and I've asked the police to be on the quiet lookout +for him. If I stay at the hotel I can help him more quickly, in case +he's found, than if I am away out at the railroad siding where the +circus train is. I'll see you in the morning." + +But Joe's night at the hotel was spent in vain, for there was no word of +Ham Logan, and the morning which Joe put in, making inquiries, was +equally fruitless. + +"I guess Ham is gone for good," sighed Joe, and his regret was genuine, +and almost as much for the sake of the man himself as for his own loss +of a good assistant. + +For Ham Logan was that and more to Joe. The former tramp had much +valuable information regarding the old style fire-eating tricks, and +though he was not up to the task of doing them himself, he gave Joe good +advice. It was by his help and advice that Joe had staged the blazing +banquet scene, which was such a success and which the newspapers +mentioned constantly. + +True, Joe did not actually need Ham to go on with his acts. He could +break in another man to help him, to hand him the proper article at just +the right time, to see to the mixing of the fire-resisting chemicals and +to the preparation of the viands that seemed to be composed of fire +itself. + +"And that's what I'll have to do," mused Joe, when he became convinced +some days later that Ham was not to be found. + +He wished that Helen was able to act as his assistant in the fire +scenes, as she did in the box trick and the vanishing lady act. But she +could spare no more time from her own act with Rosebud, since she was +billed as one of the "stars." Then, too, Helen had a fear of fire, and +though she had succeeded in overcoming part of it, still she would not +have made the proper sort of assistant in those acts. Besides, she +would not have been able to mix the chemicals Joe required to render +himself immune from such fire as he actually came in contact with, +though momentarily. + +"I've got to train in a new man," decided Joe. He mentally considered +various circus employees, rejecting one after another, and finally +selected one of the young men who acted in the blazing banquet scene. +This youth was a bright, manly fellow, and had introduced some new +"business" in the act which made it more interesting. + +"I'll train him in," decided Joe, "with the understanding that if Ham +comes back he'll get his old place. If he comes back! I wonder if he +ever will, and if he'll be in a condition to help me." + +Joe shook his head dubiously. + +The circus moved on. It had played to good business, and there was more +good business in prospect. Mr. Moyne, the treasurer, was on the anxious +seat much of the time, fearing another flood of bogus tickets, but the +efforts mentioned, on the part of the swindlers, following the use of +new paper, was all they had to complain of so far. + +"Either the detectives are too close to the trail of the cheats to allow +them to work in safety, or they've given it up altogether," decided the +treasurer. + +"I hope so," said Joe. "Still it won't do to relax our vigilance. I +wrote to the detective firm, as I said I would, jacking them up a bit. +Maybe they are ready to make an arrest, and that would stop the +swindlers." + +The young man Joe had picked out to act as his chief assistant in the +fire scenes was Ted Brown. Ted was about eighteen years old, and this +was his first position with a circus. But he was making good, and he had +not yet been afflicted with the terrible disease known as "swelled +head," something which ruins so many performers. + +Ted learned rapidly, and Joe felt that it would be safe to trust him +with some of the secrets of the tricks--the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemicals and the like. Joe's choice seemed to be a good one, for Ted +did well, and his part in the banquet scene was made even better by his +knowledge of the inner workings of the material used. + +But though Joe did not lose materially by the desertion of Ham, if that +was what it was, since he could now depend on Ted, the young circus man +many times found himself wondering if he would ever see the old +fire-eater again. + +The circus opened one afternoon in a large city--one in which lived many +thousands of men employed in a large ship-building plant. + +"There'll be big crowds here," said Mr. Moyne, as he walked toward the +ticket wagon in preparation for the rush. "And it's here we'll have to +look out for bogus coupons." + +"Why?" asked Joe, who was getting ready for his acts. + +"Because in every other case the swindlers have worked their game where +there was a big plant engaging many men of what you might call rough and +ready character--ready to take a chance on scalped admission tickets, +and rough enough to fight if they were discovered. So I'm going to be on +the watch." + +"It's just as well to be," decided Joe. He turned back into the tent +which was his combined dressing room and a storage place for his various +smaller bits of apparatus and the chemicals he used in his fire act. + +Before giving his last act Joe always washed his hands and face and +rinsed his mouth out with a chemical preparation that would, for a time, +resist the action of fire. It was a secret compound, rather difficult to +handle and make, and Joe had taught Ted Brown how to do it. + +The young fellow was handing Joe this mixture, some of which was also +used by all who took part in the blazing banquet scene, when the flap of +the tent was suddenly pushed aside and Harry Loper entered. + +"Stop!" he cried, raising a restraining hand. "Don't use that solution, +Mr. Strong! It's doped! Don't use it!" + +Joe, who had been about to apply some of the stuff to his hands, turned +in surprise. He was alarmed at the strange look on the face of the youth +who acted as his helper in the high wire and in some of the trapeze +acts. + +"Don't use that stuff!" cried Harry. "It's doped!" and then he sank down +on a chair and, burying his face in his hands, burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A STRANGE SUMMONS + + +Joe Strong looked from the sobbing Harry Loper to the amazed Ted Brown. +The latter's face showed his great surprise. For an instant Joe had an +ugly suspicion that his new assistant had played him false--that, +because of jealousy or from some other motive, he had mixed the +chemicals in some way to make them ineffective. This would spoil the +illusion, or it might even cause injury. + +"Look here, Harry! what's the matter?" cried Joe, purposely using a +rough voice, so as to stop, if possible, the display of emotion on the +part of the youth. "Act like a man, can't you! If you've done some mean +trick tell me about it. What do you mean when you say this mixture is +doped?" + +"Just that!" exclaimed Harry, looking up with haggard face. "I can't +stand it any longer. I promised not to tell, but I've got to. I--I can't +see any harm come to you." + +"Harm!" cried Joe. "Do you mean this is poison?" + +"No, not that. He said it wouldn't do you any harm--that it would only +make the act turn out wrong--that you, nor anybody, would not be hurt. +But I don't believe him. I believe he wants to harm you, and I'm going +to tell all I know. I can't stand it any longer." + +"Look here, Harry!" said Joe sternly, "are you perfectly sober? Do you +know what you're saying?" + +"Yes, I know that, all right, Mr. Strong," whined the lad. "I won't say +I haven't been drinking, for I have. I did it to try to forget, but it +wouldn't work. I'm plenty sober enough to know what I'm saying." + +"And you tell me this chemical preparation will work harm to me and +those who help me in the fire acts?" + +"I don't know as to that, Mr. Strong. He told me that it wouldn't harm +you. But I don't believe him! I won't trust him any more." + +"Who do you mean?" asked Joe. "Do you know anything about this?" he +demanded sternly of Ted Brown. "You prepared this mixture, didn't you?" + +"Yes, Mr. Strong, I did. I made it just the way you told me. If you +think--" + +"No, he doesn't know anything about it," murmured Harry, who seemed to +have recovered some of his composure, now that the worst of his +confession was over. "He didn't have a hand in it. I'm to blame. If I +hadn't let him into your tent he couldn't have doped the stuff. Oh, I'm +sorry! I was a fool to believe him, but he promised me a lot of money +just to keep still, and I've done it up to now. But I'm through with +him!" + +"Look here!" cried Joe. "How long has this been going on? Was this +mixture ever doped, as you call it, before?" + +"Oh, no, not that I know," was the answer. Joe knew this much, at least, +was true. The mixture had always worked perfectly before, and if it had +been tampered with that would not have been the case. + +"Then what do you mean?" cried the young magician. "Speak up, can't you? +Be a man! If you haven't done anything really wrong you won't be +punished. I'm after the person back of you. Speak up! Who is he?" + +He realized that Harry Loper was but a weak tool in the hands of some +one else, and many things that had seemed strange came back to Joe with +a sudden rush now. He might be able to learn who it was that had such +enmity against him and the circus. + +"Are you going to tell me?" demanded Joe. + +"Yes! Yes! I'll tell you everything!" was the answer. "I can't stand it +any longer. I can't eat in comfort any more, and I can't sleep! First he +promised to pay me for letting him come to your tent when you were out. +Then he threatened to kill me if I told. But I'm going to tell. I don't +care what he does!" + +"But if this is the first time my chemical mixture has been doped, what +do you mean about 'him,' whoever he is, coming to my tent at other +times?" asked Joe. "What other times were they?" + +"Don't you remember when the bottle of acid was found?" asked the +abashed youth. + +"Yes! Was that some of your doings too?" cried Joe hotly. + +"No, I didn't do it. He did. But I--I looked the other way when he did +it. And then there was the time when the trapeze wire broke. It was acid +that did that. He put it on." + +"Who is this mysterious person you call 'he' all the while?" asked Joe. +"I want to get after him." + +"I'll tell you!" promised Harry. "But you'll protect me, won't you, Mr. +Strong?" + +"As far as I can with decency, yes. Now tell me!" + +But there came another interruption. A man thrust his head into the tent +and exclaimed: + +"Mr. Tracy wants to know if you can advance the fire scenes about ten +minutes, Mr. Strong. One of the men acrobats has sprained his wrist and +they've got to cut out his act. Can you go on ten minutes sooner than +usual?" + +"Guess I'll have to," said Joe. "Quick, Ted, make up some new solution. +I'll help you. As for you, Harry, you stay right here. I'll talk to you +later. Haven't time now. And I'm going to have some one stay with you, +to make sure you don't weaken and run away. It is as much for your own +sake as mine. If you've decided to leave the man who got you to help in +this work I'll stand by you. But I want to be sure your repentance is +genuine. So stay right here, and we'll talk about this later. Don't say +anything outside," he cautioned Ted. + +"I won't," was the answer. "Say, I hope you don't think I had any hand +in this?" + +"No," Joe answered, "I don't. I'm trusting you--that's my best +evidence." + +"Thank you," said the young fellow, and he breathed a sigh of relief. + +Quick work was needed on the part of Joe and his new helper to get ready +for the act. New chemicals had to be mixed, to render it safe to handle +fire. This was in the acts where Joe seemed to swallow flames and where +he and the others "dined" on blazing food. + +In the other acts, where Joe juggled on the slack wire with the flaming +torches, where he slid down the wire through the blazing hoops, and +where he jumped into the tank of water with his garments apparently in +flames, no change was needed. In these feats Joe's costume was +fireproofed, and, as they had been treated some time before, he knew +there was only a remote possibility that they had been tampered with. + +Still he was taking no chances, and while he was waiting for Ted to +complete the mixing of the fire-resisting chemical mixture, Joe tested +his garments with a blazing bit of paper. They did not catch fire, which +assured him of safety during his sensational acts. + +"How about you, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, thrusting his head into the tent +a little later. "Are you going to be able to make it?" + +"Oh, sure. I'll be there!" + +"Sorry to have to make the change," went on the ringmaster. "But Baraldi +is hurt, and his act had to be cut out completely. So I had to move you +up." + +"Oh, that's all right," Joe assured him. + +"Hello, what are you doing here--and what's the matter with you?" cried +Jim, seeing Harry Loper sitting dejectedly in a chair. "Why aren't you +out fixing the trapezes? You know Mr. Strong goes on them soon." + +"I--I--he told me to stay here," Loper stammered, indicating Joe. + +"Yes," supplemented Joe Strong, "there's something doing, Jim. I'll tell +you later. I want some one to stay in here with Harry. Some one we can +trust," he added significantly. + +"I'll send Paddy Flynn," promised the ringmaster. As he went out he +looked curiously at Harry. + +"How's the stuff coming on, Ted?" asked Joe, when the doctored mixture +had been thrown away and new made. + +"All right, I guess. I'll try it." + +He put some on one finger, thrust the member into the flame of a candle, +and held it there longer than usual. + +"Look out!" Joe warned him. "You can't be too familiar with fire." + +"The stuff's all right," was the answer. "It's better than the last we +used." + +"Good! Well, let's get busy!" + +In spite of the strain of what he had gone through in listening to the +partial confession of Harry Loper, Joe did some of his best work in the +fire acts that day. The blazing banquet was most effective. + +Having changed to his costume for his magical box and other tricks, and +learning that Harry was still safe under the watchful eye of Paddy +Flynn, Joe hurried out to his stage, where Mr. Tracy was already making +the ten thousand dollar offer. + +As Joe hurried across the arena one of the tent men thrust into his hand +a scrap of paper. + +"What is it?" asked Joe. + +"I don't know," was the reply. "A boy just brought it and told me to +give it to you." + +Joe had a half minute to wait while the ringmaster was talking. Quickly +he read the note--it was really a scrawl. But it said: + +"Please forgive me and still believe in me. I am suffering! I can't come +to you in the condition I'm in now. But I have something to tell you if +you could come to me. The boy will bring you." + +The note was signed "Hamilton Logan." + +"Whew!" whistled Joe. "Worse and more of it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE TRAP IS SET + + +Pausing only long enough to tell the man who had given him the note to +be sure and detain the boy who had brought it, Joe Strong hurried over +to the stage to begin his box trick. That was to be followed by the +"disappearing lady" act. + +And here again Joe had to use all his reserve nerve to enable him to go +on with the performance as smoothly as he usually did. He had to dismiss +from his mind, for the time being, all thoughts of Ham Logan, and he +steeled himself not to think of what the strange summons might mean. + +"If Ham is in trouble I'm going to help him--that's all!" declared Joe. + +Following the usual announcement by Jim Tracy, Joe got into the box. It +was locked and roped and then Helen took her place, as did the fireman +with his gleaming ax. + +Joe worked unusually quickly that night in getting out of the box. He +knew this haste would not spoil the illusion of the trick. In fact it +really heightened it. For he was out of the heavy box in much shorter +time than it had taken the volunteer committee to lock him in. + +And Joe was glad no one came forward at this performance to claim the +ten thousand dollars. That would have taken up time, and time, just +then, was what Joe wanted most. + +"Evidently none of you know how the trick is done," commented the +ringmaster, when his offer of ten thousand dollars was not taken +advantage of. "We will now proceed to the next illusion, that of causing +a beautiful lady to disappear and vanish into thin air before your very +eyes. There is no reward offered for the solution of this mystery." + +Helen then took her place on the trick chair over the trap in the stage. +The silk shawl was placed over her, and, in due time, the chair was +shown empty. + +The usual applause followed and Joe was glad his acts were over for the +time. Bowing to acknowledge the fervor of the audience, Joe started +toward his dressing apartment. + +"I want to see you as soon as I can," he quickly told Helen. "But I have +to go away. It's about Ham," he added. "I've heard from him." + +"Where is he?" + +"I don't know. Just a scrawled note. The messenger who brought it is +going to take me to him." + +"Oh, Joe, I'm so glad you've heard from him. I liked him." + +"I did too. I hope I can continue to like him. But I'm afraid, from the +tone of his note, that he's broken his pledge. However, we can't expect +too much. Don't go away for an hour or so. I'll be back as soon as I can +and I'll tell you all about it." + +"I'll wait for you," promised Helen. + +As Joe hurried across the arena he saw the tent man who had given him +the note. + +"Where's the boy?" he asked. + +"I took him to your tent. Paddy Flynn is there and Loper. Is anything +the matter, Mr. Strong?" + +"Oh, nothing that can't be made right, I hope." + +Joe found a red-haired boy sitting on the edge of a folding chair in the +dressing tent. The lad was looking wonderingly about the place. + +"Did you bring this note?" asked Joe, showing the crumpled paper. + +"Sure I did! And say, I wish I could see the show!" + +"You can to-night after you take me to Mr. Logan," replied Joe. "You +know where he is, don't you?" + +"Sure I do! Didn't he give me the note to bring youse?" + +"Where is he?" + +"Down in Kelly's joint. I live next door." + +"What is Kelly's joint?" + +"A saloon," answered the red-haired boy. "De name on de winders is café, +but they don't pronounce it that way--anyhow some of 'em don't. It +oughter be cave I guess. It sure is a joint!" + +"Is Mr. Logan there?" asked Joe. + +"Sure he is. Upstairs in one of de rooms. He's been on a terrible spree +he said, but he's sober now and sick--gee, mister, but he sure was sick. +Me mudder helped take care of him." + +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "We'll go to him at once. Where is +Kelly's--er--café?" + +"Down by de river near de shipyards," answered the red-haired lad. + +For an instant Joe hesitated, but only for an instant. The district +named, as he well knew, was a bad one. It was also dangerous. + +But it was still afternoon, though growing late. It would not be dark +for some time, however, and Joe felt that he would be safe enough in +going alone. At night he would have taken some one with him. + +But there were two reasons why he did not want to do this now. One was +that no one whom he felt he could trust to be discreet could be taken +away from the circus, which was not yet over, though Joe's acts were +finished. Another reason was that he did not want the possible +degradation of Logan seen by any of his former associates. Possibly he +might come back to the show, and he would always have a feeling of shame +if he knew that those with whom he worked had seen him recovering from +a "spree," as the red-haired lad called it. + +"I've got to go away," said Joe to Paddy Flynn. Joe and the lad had +talked at one side of the tent and in low tones, so the young circus man +knew their voices had not been overheard by Paddy and the man he was +guarding, Harry Loper. "I'll be back as soon as I can," went on the +young fire-eater. "Meanwhile you stay here, Loper. Paddy will take care +of you, and when I come back I'll have a talk with you." + +"All right," assented the other wearily. "I feel better now I've told +you." + +Joe and Micky Donlon, which the red-haired boy said was his name, though +probably Michael was what he had been christened, were soon on their way +toward the river and the location of one of the shipyards. + +"Are youse sure I can see de show to-night?" asked Micky eagerly, as +they walked along. + +"Positive," said Joe. "Here's a reserved seat ticket now. Two, in fact, +in case you want to take some one." + +"I'll take me mudder," declared the lad. "I got a girl, but she's goin' +wit another feller. He bought two tickets, but dey wasn't reserved +seats. I didn't have the dough--dat's why she shook me, I guess. But +when I flash dese on her--say, maybe she won't want to shine up at me +again! But nothin' doin'! I'll take me mudder. She needs a change after +waitin' on dat guy what's been on a spree." + +"How long has Mr. Logan been ill?" asked Joe. + +"Oh, he's been in Kelly's joint for a week." + +"He must have been waiting for the circus to arrive," thought Joe. "He +knew we were booked for here. Poor fellow!" + +Joe was glad it was still light when he entered the district where +Kelly's café, or saloon, to be more exact, was situated. For the place +was most disreputable in appearance, and the character of men loitering +about it would have made it a place to stay away from after dark. + +Suspicious eyes looked at Joe as he entered the place with his young +guide. + +"He's come to see de sick guy," Micky explained to the bartender. + +"Well, I hope he's come to pay what's owin'," was the surly comment. + +"I'll settle any bills that Mr. Logan may owe for board or lodging," +said Joe. + +"Board! He don't owe much for _board_!" sneered the barkeeper. "He +hasn't eaten enough to keep a fly alive. But he does owe for his room." + +"I'll pay that," offered Joe. Then he was guided upstairs to a squalid +room. + +"Come in!" called a weak voice, and Joe, pushing back the door, saw, +lying on a tumbled bed, the form of the old fire-eater. It was a great +change Ham Logan was in even worse condition than when he had applied +to Joe for work. He was utterly disreputable. But in spite of that there +was something about his face and eyes that gave Joe hope. The man was +sober--that was one thing. + +As Joe looked at him, Ham turned his face away. + +"I--I'm ashamed to have you see me," he murmured. "I fought it off as +long as I could, but I just had to see you. 'Tisn't for my own sake!" he +added quickly. "I know you're through with me. But it's for your +own--and the good of the show. I've got something to tell you, and, when +I've done that, you can go away again and forget me. That's all I'm fit +for--to be forgotten!" + +A dry sob shook his emaciated frame. + +"Son, here's a quarter," said Joe to the red-haired Micky. "You go out +and get yourself an ice-cream soda and come back in half an hour." + +And after he had thus delicately removed a witness to the sad scene Joe +closed the door, and, going over to the bed, held out both his hands to +the man. + +And then tears--tears to which he had long been stranger--coursed down +the sunken cheeks of Hamilton Logan. + +Just what Joe said to the man whom he had befriended and who had gone +back to his old ways and what Ham Logan said to his young benefactor +will never be known. Neither would tell, and no one else knew. As a +matter of fact, it did not matter. Afterward, though, following some +sensational happenings which did become known, Joe told his closest +friends enough of Ham's story to make clear the trend of events. + +Punctually on the time agreed, Micky Donlon was back at his post. Joe +was coming out of the room. + +"Are you engaged for the rest of the day?" asked the young circus +performer of his guide. + +"Engaged?" + +"I mean have you anything to do?" + +"Not so's you could notice! Me mudder's goin' to dress up to see de +show, but me--I'm all ready!" + +"Good! Then you can help me. I'll pay you for your time. Can we get an +automobile in this part of the city?" + +"Gee, no, mister! Dere's jitney buses about two blocks up, though." + +"Well, perhaps they'll do for a time. I've got a lot to do, and you can +help me." + +"I sure will, mister!" cried Micky. "Are youse in de circus--I mean does +youse ride a horse or jump over de elephants?" + +"Well, something like that--yes," answered Joe with a smile. "You'll see +to-night if you come." + +"Oh, I'll be dere! Don't forgit dat!" + +Joe and his guide took a jitney to the nearest public hack stand, where +a number of automobiles were waiting, and Joe entered one of these with +Micky. + +"Gee, if me girl could see me _now_!" murmured the red-haired lad, as +he sank back in the deep seat. + +Joe was too preoccupied to more than smile at the lad. There was much +that remained to be done. The circus was to remain in this city two days +more, over Saturday night, in fact, leaving on Sunday for a distant +city. + +"There's time enough to trap them!" mused Joe. "Time enough to trap +them!" + +And, getting back to the show lot, he dismissed the automobile, and, +taking Micky with him, sought out Jim Tracy, Mr. Moyne, and some of the +other circus executives. + +And then the trap was set. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A BLAZE OF GLORY + + +"Well," remarked Joe, after having talked rapidly and said considerable +to his friends, "what do you think of my news?" + +"Great!" declared the ringmaster. "I didn't think things would take just +that turn, but after Loper's confession and what Ham told you, I believe +it all. That scoundrel ought to be sent away for life." + +"He'll go for a long time if I have anything to say," declared the +treasurer. "Did you know we spotted more bogus tickets to-day?" he asked +Joe. + +"No." + +"Well, we did. I found it out just after you left. There were only a +few. The rush will come to-night." + +"Unless we stop it," put in Jim Tracy. + +"We'll stop it!" decided Joe. "That's why I wanted to get things started +in a hurry. The trap is all ready to spring. The detectives will be here +at eight o'clock, just when the rush is at its height at the ticket +wagon." + +"Are you going to bring Ham back?" asked Jim, when the conference was +over. + +"I certainly am," was the answer. "I think he's been on his last spree. +And he wouldn't have gone on this one only that he was tempted by some +person. Put this tempter out of the way, and it will mean Ham's safety. +Now we've got to work." + +There was an exceedingly busy time at the circus from then on, and very +little of it concerned the show itself. The performance was delayed half +an hour that night to enable the trap to be sprung. + +Joe and Jim Tracy met a certain train that came in from a large city, +and saw alight from it two quiet, unassuming men. + +"There they are," said Joe. "Now things will move!" And he and the +ringmaster were soon in conversation with the two new arrivals. + +A little later the four entered Joe's dressing tent at the circus +grounds. And some time after that four men, whose faces were black from +the smudge of machine oil and grease and whose clothes carried like +marks, left Joe's quarters. + +"Down near the shipyards when the last of the day shift comes off will +be the time and place," said one of the four smudge-faced men. + +"Right!" declared another. + +From the big shipyard poured hundreds of men. As they began to emerge +from the gate the four soiled-faced individuals who had come from Joe's +dressing tent mingled with them. They heard some one ask: + +"Are you sure the tickets'll be good?" + +"Sure," was the answer. "This fellow and his pal are part of the show. +He sells 'em this way so there won't be such a crowd at the wagon, and +that's why he makes such a big discount. It sort of guarantees a pretty +big crowd, too. Oh, the tickets are good, all right. There's the ticket +guy now." + +The crowd of men turned down a side street, and the four +smutty-countenanced men went with them. One of the four said: + +"Wait till he sells a few tickets and then nab him." + +"There's two of 'em," said another voice. + +"Nab 'em both! They work together." + +Soon the men from the shipyard surrounded the two men, one of whom had +been designated by the sentence: "There's the ticket guy now." + +Money began to change hands, and tickets were passed around. The four +men who had kept together shoved their way through the crowd of ship +workers. + +"How much are the tickets?" one asked. + +"Thirty-five cents," was the answer. "They'll cost you fifty or +seventy-five at the wagon. The only reason we sell 'em this way is to +avoid the rush. Then, too, you're really buying 'em at wholesale." + +"I'll take four," said the man of the quartette. + +"Here you are! Four." + +There was another clink of money and a rustle of slips of paper. Then +the man who had passed over the tickets, said: + +"Here's your change. That was a five you gave me, wasn't it? Take your +change." + +"And you take yours, Bill Carfax!" suddenly cried one of the four. "It's +quite a sudden change, too!" + +There was a flash of something bright, a metallic click--two of them, in +fact--and the ticket seller tried to break away. But he was held by the +handcuffs on his wrists, one of the four grasping them by the connecting +chain. + +"Get the other!" cried a sharp voice. + +There was a scuffle, another flash of something bright, two more clicks, +and one of the four cried: + +"That'll be about all from you, Jed Lewis, _alias_ Inky Jed." + +The two handcuffed men seemed to know that the game was up. They +shrugged their shoulders, looked at each other, and grew quiet suddenly. +The set trap had been successfully sprung. + +"Hey! what's the big idea?" + +"What's it all about?" + +"Don't we get our tickets?" + +Thus cried the men from the shipyards. + +"You don't want these tickets," said Joe Strong, for as Bill Carfax +looked more closely at one of the four he recognized him as the young +circus man. "You don't want any tickets these men could sell you." + +"Why not?" demanded a man who had bought one. + +"Because they're counterfeit," was Joe's answer. "This man, Bill +Carfax," and he nodded toward the one first handcuffed, "used to work +with the Sampson show. He was discharged--ask him to tell you why--and +soon after that we began to be cheated by the use of counterfeit +tickets. We have been trying ever since to find out who sold them, and +now we have." + +"You think you have!" sneered the man who had been called "Inky Jed." + +"We know it," said Joe decidedly. "Ham Logan overheard your plans +discussed, and he's told everything." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Bill Carfax, and there was a world of meaning in that +simple interjection. + +"And who might you guys be?" asked one of the shipyard men. + +"I'm one of the circus owners," said Joe quietly, "and this is the +ringmaster," he went on, indicating Jim Tracy. "These other two +gentlemen are detectives who have been working on the case since we +discovered the counterfeits. We disguised ourselves in this way in +order to trap these two," and he pointed to the handcuffed men. + +The ship workers nodded. One of them asked: + +"And aren't they with your show, and can't they sell tickets at reduced +prices?" + +"Never!" exclaimed Joe. "You might get in on the tickets you bought from +them, but it would be illegally. The counterfeits are clever ones," he +said, holding up four he had bought for evidence. "But we can detect the +difference by means of the serial numbers. And now, if you men really +want to see the show, go up to the lot and get your tickets from the +wagon, or buy them at one of the authorized agencies." + +There were many questions fired at Joe and his friends by the shipyard +men, but they had time to answer only a few. + +"We've got to get back to the performance," said Joe to the detectives. +"You can take them with you," and he nodded toward Bill Carfax and his +crony. "Jim and I will see you later." + +"Oh, we'll take them with us all right!" laughed one of the detectives. +"Move lively, boys!" he added to the two prisoners. "The jig is up!" + +And the two counterfeiters seemed to know it. + +"What does it all mean?" asked Helen of Joe, when he got back a little +before the time to go on with his acts. He had washed his face and +changed to his circus costume. The two prisoners had been locked up. + +"Well, it means we killed two birds with one stone," said Joe. "We got +rid of the men who have been making us lose money my means of the +counterfeit tickets, and we have also under lock and key Bill Carfax, +who tried several times to injure me, or at least to spoil my act, by +means of acid on the trapeze rope and by changing the fireproof +mixture." + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Helen. "Then you were in danger?" + +"I suppose so--danger of injury, perhaps, but hardly death. I think +Carfax, desperate as he was, would stop at that." + +"How did you find out about him and the other man?" + +"I'll just have time to tell you before my first act," said Joe. "It was +Harry Loper who gave me the first idea. When he broke down it was +because of what he had done, and on account of what Bill Carfax wanted +him to do again. It was Bill who got into the tent once and put acid on +my trapeze wire. And it was because he bribed poor Loper that he was +able to do it. Bill pretended it was only a trick to make me slip, +because he wanted to get even with me for discharging him. So poor, weak +Harry let him sneak into the tent, disguised so none of our men would +know him. Bill climbed up, put acid on the wire, and the fiery stuff did +the rest. + +"Well, that preyed on Harry's mind, but he kept putting it away. But +finally, knowing the hold he had on him, Bill came back and gave him a +bottle of acid to work some further harm to me or my apparatus. But Ham +discovered that in time. + +"Bill was provoked over his failure, and, when he wasn't helping Inky +Jed get out the bogus tickets, he followed the show and tried to prevail +on Harry to play another trick on me. Just what it was Harry doesn't +know. He refused to do it, and then he came and confessed to me. So much +for Harry. He's a sorry boy, and I think he'll turn over a new leaf. + +"Now about Ham. Just as I feared, he got to drinking again. But it was +because Bill met him when poor Ham's nerves were on edge, and Bill +induced him to take liquor. Then Ham went all to pieces and started on a +spree which lasted until now. He managed to get from place to place, +always under Bill's eye, and at last he landed here, very weak and ill. +Mrs. Donlon looked after him. + +"And it was here that Ham first heard Bill and his crony plotting about +the bogus circus tickets. The two counterfeiters planned to make a big +strike here with the shipyard workers. Then Ham sent the warning to me. +I called on him, learned the plans of Bill and Jed, and we sent for the +detectives. The latter, we learned, were about to make an arrest +anyhow, but it was of the men who really printed the bogus tickets. They +hadn't a clew, as yet, to Bill and Jed, who were the real backers of the +game. The detectives came on, disguised themselves with us, and we +caught the scoundrels in the very act. Now they're locked up." + +"Oh, Joe, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Helen. "I'm so glad it's all over. +And are you going to bring Ham back to the show?" + +"Just as soon as he's able to travel. Micky Donlon wants to join too, +and I may give him a chance later. Well, our troubles seem to be over +for a time, but I suppose there'll be more." + +"Oh, look on the bright side!" exclaimed Helen. "Why be a fire-eater if +you can't look on the bright side?" she laughed. + +"That's so," agreed her admirer. "Well, I've got to get ready to eat +some fire right now." + +As Joe had said, everything was cleared up. Bill Carfax was at the +bottom of most of the personal troubles of the young circus man, and his +acts were actuated by a desire for vengeance. As to the ticket trick, +Bill was only a sort of agent in that. Jed Lewis, alias Inky Jed, was an +expert counterfeiter. He had already served time in prison for trying to +make counterfeit money, and when he fell in with Bill, and heard the +latter tell of some of his circus experiences, the more skillful +scoundrel became impressed with the chance of making money by selling +spurious tickets. + +They had some printed and worked the scheme among crowds of men coming +from factories, just as they were doing when they were caught. + +As Ham told Joe, the old fire-eater had overheard the plots and saw his +chance to do Joe a favor. Carfax, it was surmised, hoped to get Ham +Logan under his influence through drink, so that he might use him in +order to injure Joe, after having failed with Harry Loper. + +It developed, afterward, that the paper mills had, innocently enough, +furnished the swindlers with the paper for the counterfeit tickets. The +material was secured through a trick, and Inky Jed knew an unscrupulous +printer who did the work for him. + +It was Bill Carfax who had sent the man who so nearly exposed Joe's box +trick. But fortune was with the young circus man. + +The music played, the horses trotted about, clowns made laughter, and +Helen performed graceful feats on Rosebud. Joe did some magical tricks, +walked the wire, slid down on his head, and then prepared for the +blazing banquet. + +In order to show what he could do, Ted Brown had introduced some +novelties. After Joe and the guests had devoured the blazing food there +was a pause, and then, suddenly, from the center of the table spouts of +red fire burst out, so that the banquet ended in a blaze of glory. +Joe's new helper had used some fireworks effectively. + +In due time Bill and his crony were tried, convicted, and sent away to +prison for long terms. Harry Loper changed his rather loose and weak +ways and became one of Joe's best friends. Ted Brown was continued as an +"assistant assistant," for in a few weeks Ham Logan was able to rejoin +the show, and he again became Joe's chief helper. + +"Well, what are you going to spring next on the unsuspecting public as a +sensation?" asked Helen, when the show had reached a city where two days +were to be spent. "Have you other acts as good a the fire-eating?" + +"Well, perhaps I can think up some," was the answer. + +And so, with Joe Strong thinking what the future might hold for him and +the circus, we will take our leave for a time. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater, by Vance Barnum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER *** + +***** This file should be named 10579-8.txt or 10579-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/7/10579/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater + The Most Dangerous Performance on Record + +Author: Vance Barnum + +Release Date: January 2, 2004 [EBook #10579] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h1>JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER</h1> +<h3> +OR +</h3> +<h2> +<i>THE MOST DANGEROUS PERFORMANCE ON RECORD</i> +</h2> +<h2> +BY VANCE BARNUM +</h2> +<h3> +Author of "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard," "Joe Strong and +His Wings of Steel," "Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery," etc. +</h3> +<p> </p> +<h3> +1916 +</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr> +<p> </p> +<p> +<b>TABLE OF CONTENTS</b> +</p> +<p> </p> +<p><a href="#CH1">CHAPTER I</a> — THE VANISHING LADY</p> +<p><a href="#CH2">CHAPTER II</a> — A DANGEROUS SWING</p> +<p><a href="#CH3">CHAPTER III</a> — TOO MANY PEOPLE</p> +<p><a href="#CH4">CHAPTER IV</a> — THE RUSTED WIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH5">CHAPTER V</a> — A FIRE SENSATION</p> +<p><a href="#CH6">CHAPTER VI</a> — SOMETHING NEW</p> +<p><a href="#CH7">CHAPTER VII</a> — THE PAPER EXPERT</p> +<p><a href="#CH8">CHAPTER VIII</a> — JOE EATS FIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH9">CHAPTER IX</a> — THE CHEMIST'S LETTER</p> +<p><a href="#CH10">CHAPTER X</a> — THE PET CAT</p> +<p><a href="#CH11">CHAPTER XI</a> — THE RESCUE</p> +<p><a href="#CH12">CHAPTER XII</a> — THE FIRE ACT</p> +<p><a href="#CH13">CHAPTER XIII</a> — A SENSATIONAL DIVE</p> +<p><a href="#CH14">CHAPTER XIV</a> — HEAD FIRST</p> +<p><a href="#CH15">CHAPTER XV</a> — THE SWINDLERS AGAIN</p> +<p><a href="#CH16">CHAPTER XVI</a> — RINGS OF FIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH17">CHAPTER XVII</a> — THE BROKEN BOTTLE</p> +<p><a href="#CH18">CHAPTER XVIII</a> — A NARROW ESCAPE</p> +<p><a href="#CH19">CHAPTER XIX</a> — JUGGLING WITH FIRE</p> +<p><a href="#CH20">CHAPTER XX</a> — THE BLAZING BANQUET</p> +<p><a href="#CH21">CHAPTER XXI</a> — HAM IS MISSING</p> +<p><a href="#CH22">CHAPTER XXII</a> — A SUDDEN WARNING</p> +<p><a href="#CH23">CHAPTER XXIII</a> — A STRANGE SUMMONS</p> +<p><a href="#CH24">CHAPTER XXIV</a> — THE TRAP IS SET</p> +<p><a href="#CH25">CHAPTER XXV</a> — A BLAZE OF GLORY</p> +<p> </p> +<hr> + +<a name="CH1"><!-- CH1 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER I +</h2> + +<h3> +THE VANISHING LADY +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen, if you will kindly give +me your attention for a few moments I will be +happy to introduce to your favorable notice an +entertainer of world-wide fame who will, I am sure, +not only mystify you but, at the same time, interest +you. You have witnessed the death-defying dives +of the Demon Discobolus; you have laughed with +the comical clowns; you have thrilled with the hurrying +horses; and you have gasped at the ponderous +pachyderms. Now you are to be shown a trick +which has baffled the most profound minds of this +or any other city—aye, I may say, of the world!" +</p> +<p> +Jim Tracy, ringmaster and, in this instance, stage +manager of Sampson Brothers' Circus, paused in his +announcement and with a wave of his hand indicated +a youth attired in a spotless, tight-fitting suit +of white silk. The youth, who stood in the center +of a stage erected in the big tent, bowed as the +manager waited to allow time for the applause to +die away. +</p> +<p> +"You have all seen ordinary magicians at work +making eggs disappear up their sleeves," went on +the stage manager. "You have, I doubt not, witnessed +some of them producing live rabbits from +silk hats. But Professor Joe Strong, who will +shortly have the pleasure of entertaining you, not +only makes eggs disappear, but what is far more +difficult, he causes a lady to vanish into thin air. +</p> +<p> +"You will see a beautiful lady seated in full view +of you. A moment later, by the practice of his +magical art, Professor Strong will cause the same +lady to disappear utterly, and he will defy any of +you to tell how it is done. Now, Professor, if you +are ready—" and with a nod and a wave of his +hand toward the youth in the white silk tights, Jim +Tracy stepped off the elevated stage and hurried to +the other end of the circus tent where he had to see +to it that another feature of the entertainment was +in readiness. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, I'm actually nervous! Do you think I +can do it all right?" asked a pretty girl, attired in +a dress of black silk, which was in striking contrast +to Joe Strong's white, sheeny costume. +</p> +<p> +"Do it, Helen? Of course you can!" exclaimed +the "magician," as he had been termed by the ringmaster. +"Do just as you did in the rehearsals and +you'll be all right." +</p> +<p> +"But suppose something should go wrong?" she +asked in a low voice. +</p> +<p> +"Don't be in the least excited. I'll get you out +of any predicament you may get into. Tricks do, +sometimes, go wrong, but I'm used to that. I'll +cover it up, somehow. However, I don't anticipate +anything going wrong. Now take your place while +I give them a little patter." +</p> +<p> +This talk had taken place in low voices and with +a rapidity which did not keep the expectant audience +waiting. Joe Strong, while he was reassuring +Helen Morton, his partner in the trick and also the +girl to whom he was engaged to be married, was +rapidly getting the stage ready for the illusion. +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Joe, as he advanced +to the edge of the stage, "I am afraid our +genial manager has rather overstated my powers. +What I am about to do, to be perfectly frank with +you, is a trick. I lay no claim to supernatural powers. +But if I can do a trick and you can't tell how +it is done, then you must admit that, for the moment, +I am smarter than you. In other words, I +am going to deceive you. But the point is—how do +I do it? With this introduction, I will now state +what I am about to do. +</p> +<p> +"Mademoiselle Mortonti will seat herself on a +stage in a chair in full view of you all. I will cover +her, for a moment only, with a silken veil. This, +if I were a real necromancer, I should say was to +prevent your seeing her dissolve into a spirit as she +disappears. But to tell you the truth, it is to conceal +the manner in which I do the trick. You'd +guess that, anyhow, if I didn't tell you," he added. +</p> +<p> +There was a good-natured laugh at this admission. +</p> +<p> +"As soon as I remove the silken veil," went on +Joe, "you will see that the lady will have disappeared +before your very eyes. What's that? +Through a hole in the stage did some one say?" +questioned Joe, appearing to catch a protesting +voice. +</p> +<p> +"Well, that's what I hear everywhere I go," he +went on with easy calmness. "Every time I do the +vanishing lady trick some one thinks she disappears +through a hole in the stage. Now, in order +to convince you to the contrary, I am going to put +a newspaper over that part of the stage where the +chair is placed. I will show you the paper before +and after the trick. And if there is not a hole or +a tear in the paper, either before or after the lady +has disappeared, I think you will admit that the +lady did not go through a hole in the stage floor. +Won't you?" asked Joe Strong. "Yes, I thought +you would," he added, as he pretended to hear a +"yes" from somewhere in the audience. +</p> +<p> +"All ready now, Helen," he said in a low voice +to the girl, and an attendant brought forward an +ordinary looking chair and a newspaper. +</p> +<p> +Joe, who had done the trick many times before, +but not often with Helen, was perfectly at ease. +Helen was very frankly nervous. She had not done +the trick for some time, and Joe had introduced +into it some novel features since last presenting it. +Helen was afraid she would cause some hitch in the +performance. +</p> +<p> +"You'll be all right," Joe said to her in a low +voice. "Just act as though you had done this every +day for a year." +</p> +<p> +Placing the chair in the center of the stage and +handing Joe the newspaper, the attendant stepped +back. Joe addressed the audience. +</p> +<p> +"You here see the paper," said the "magician," +as he held it up. "You see that there is no hole in it. +I'll now spread it down on the stage. If the lady +disappears down through the stage she will have +to tear the paper. You shall see if she does." +</p> +<p> +Joe next placed the chair directly over the square +of paper and motioned to Helen. Her plain black +dress, of soft, clinging silk, swayed about her as she +took her place. +</p> +<p> +"I might add," said Joe, pausing a moment after +Helen had taken her seat, "that in order to prevent +any shock to Mademoiselle Mortonti I am going to +mesmerize her. She will then be unconscious. I +do this for two reasons. In totally disappearing +there is sometimes a shock to a person's mentality +that is unpleasant. To avoid indicting that on +Mademoiselle Mortonti I will hypnotize her. +</p> +<p> +"The other reason I do that is that she may not +know how or when she disappears. Thus she will +not be able to see how I do the trick, and so cannot +give away my secret." +</p> +<p> +Of course this was all "bunk" or "patter," to +use names given to it by the performers. It +kept the attention of the audience and so enabled +Joe to do certain things without attracting too +much attention to them. As a matter of fact he +did not mesmerize Helen, and she knew perfectly +well how the trick was done. Those who have read +previous books of this series are also in the secret. +</p> +<p> +Joe waved his hands in front of Helen's face. +She swayed slightly in her chair. Then her eyes +closed as though against her will, and she seemed +to sleep. +</p> +<p> +"She is now in the proper condition for the trick," +said Joe. "I must beg of you not to make any +sudden or unnecessary noise. You might suddenly +awaken her from the mesmeric slumber, and this +might be very serious." +</p> +<p> +As Joe said this with every indication of meaning +it, there was a quick hush among the audience. +Even though many knew it was only a trick, they +could not help being impressed by the solemn note +in Joe's voice. Such is the psychology of an audience, +and the power over it of a single person. +</p> +<p> +"She now sleeps!" said Joe in a low voice. As +a matter of fact, Helen was wide awake, and as Joe +stood between her and the circus crowd she slowly +opened one eye and winked at him. He was glad to +see this, as it showed her nervousness had left her. +</p> +<p> +"Now for the mystic veil!" cried Joe, as he took +from his helper a thin clinging piece of black silk +gauze. He tossed this over Helen and the chair, +completely covering both from sight. He brought +the veil around behind Helen's head, fastening it +there with a pin. +</p> +<p> +"To make sure that Mademoiselle Mortonti +sleeps, I will now make the few remaining mesmeric +passes," said Joe. "I must be positive that she +slumbers." +</p> +<p> +He waved his hands slowly over the black robed +figure. A great hush had fallen over the big crowd. +Every eye was on the black figure in the center of +the raised stage in the middle of the big circus tent. +All the other acts had temporarily stopped, to make +that of Joe Strong, the boy magician, more spectacular. +</p> +<p> +As Joe continued to wave one hand with an undulating +motion over the silent black-covered figure +in the chair, he touched, here and there, the drapery +over Helen. He seemed very solicitous that it +should hang perfectly right, covering the figure of +the girl and the chair completely from sight in every +direction all around the stage. +</p> +<p> +The music, which had been playing softly, suddenly +stopped at a wave of Joe's hand. He stood +for a moment motionless before the veiled figure. +</p> +<p> +"Her spirit is dissolving into thin air!" he said in +a low voice, which, nevertheless, carried to every +one in the crowd. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly Joe took hold of the veil in the center +and directly over the outlined head of the figure in +the chair. Quickly the young magician raised the +soft, black silk gauze, whisking it quickly to one +side. +</p> +<p> +The audience gasped. +</p> +<p> +The chair, in which but a moment before Helen +Morton had been seated, was empty! The girl had +disappeared—vanished! Joe stooped and raised +from the stage the newspaper. It showed not a +sign of break or tear. +</p> +<p> +Then, before the applause could begin, the girl +appeared, walking out from one of the improvised +wings of the circus stage. She smiled and bowed. +The act had been a great success. Now the silent +admiration of the throng gave place to a wave of +hand clapping and feet stamping. +</p> +<p> +"Was it all right, Joe?" asked Helen, as he +held her hand and they both bowed their appreciation +of the applause. +</p> +<p> +"Couldn't have been better!" he said. "We'll do +this trick regularly now. It takes even better than +my ten thousand dollar box mystery. You were +great!" +</p> +<p> +"I'm so glad!" +</p> +<p> +The two performers were bowing themselves off +the stage when suddenly there came the unmistakable +roar of a wild beast from the direction of the +animal tent. It seemed to shake the very ground. +At the same time a voice cried: +</p> +<p> +"A tiger is loose! One of the tigers is out of his +cage!" +</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH2"><!-- CH2 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER II +</h2> + +<h3> +A DANGEROUS SWING +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +There is no cry which so startles the average circus +audience as that which is raised when one of +the wild animals is said to be at large. Not even +the alarm that the big tent is falling or is about to +be blown over will cause such a panic as the shout: +</p> +<p> +"A tiger is loose!" +</p> +<p> +There is something instinctive, and perfectly +natural, in the fear of the wild jungle beasts. Let +it be said that a tiger or a lion is loose, and it causes +greater fear, even, than when it is stated that an +elephant is on a rampage. An elephant seems a big, +but good-natured, creature; though often they turn +ugly. But a lion or a tiger is always feared when +loose. +</p> +<p> +But the chances are not one in a hundred that a +circus lion or a tiger, getting out of its cage, would +attack any one. The creature is so surprised at getting +loose, and so frightened at the hue and cry at +once raised, that all it wants to do is to slink off and +hide, and the only harm it might do would be to +some one who tried to stop it from running away. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, Jim Tracy, and the other circus +executives and employees knew this as soon as they +heard the cry: "A tiger is loose." Who raised the +cry and which of the several tigers in the Sampson +show was out of its cage, neither Joe nor any of +those in the big tent near him knew. But they realized +the emergency, and knew what to do. +</p> +<p> +"Keep your seats! Don't rush!" cried Joe, as he +released Helen's hand and hurried to the front of +the platform. "There is no danger! The animal +men will catch the tiger, if one is really loose. Stay +where you are! Keep your seats! Don't rush!" +</p> +<p> +It is the panic and rush that circus men are afraid +of—the pushing and "milling" of the crowd and the +trampling under foot of helpless women and children. +</p> +<p> +There was some commotion near the junction of +the animal tent and that in which the main performance +took place. What it was, Joe did not +concern himself about just then. He felt it to be his +task to prevent a panic. And to this he lent himself, +aided by Helen, Jim Tracy, and others who +realized the danger. +</p> +<p> +And while this is going on and while the expert +animal men are preparing to get back into its cage +the tiger which, it was learned afterward, had got +out through an imperfectly fastened door, time will +be taken to tell new readers something about Joe +Strong and the series of books in which he is the +central character. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong seemed destined for a circus life and +for entertaining audiences with sleight-of-hand and +other mystery matters. His father, Alexander +Strong, known professionally as Professor Morretti, +was a stage magician of talents, and Joe's +mother, who was born in England, had been a +rider of trick horses. +</p> +<p> +His parents died when Joe was young. He did +not have a very happy boyhood, and one day he +ran away from the man with whom he was living +and joined a traveling magician, who called himself +Professor Rosello. With him Joe, who had a +natural aptitude for the business, learned to become +a sleight-of-hand performer. +</p> +<p> +In the first book of the series, entitled "Joe +Strong, the Boy Wizard; Or, the Mysteries of +Magic Exposed," is told how Joe got on in life +after his first start. Joe was not only a stage magician, +but he had inherited strength, skill and daring, +and he liked nothing better than climbing to +great heights or walking in lofty and dizzy places +where the footing was perilous. So it was perhaps +natural that he should join the Sampson Brothers' +Show. And in the second book is related, under the +title, "Joe Strong on the Trapeze; Or, the Daring +Feats of a Young Circus Performer," what happened +to our hero under canvas. +</p> +<p> +Joe loved the circus life, even though he made +some enemies. But he had many friends. There +was Helen Morton. Then there was Benny Turton, +who did a "tank act," and was billed as a "human +fish." Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, Bill Watson, the +veteran clown, and his wife, the circus "mother," +Tom Layton, the elephant man who taught the big +creatures many tricks, were only a few of Joe's +friends. +</p> +<p> +Among others might be mentioned Señor Bogardi, +the lion tamer, Mrs. Talfo, the professional +"fat lady," Señorita Tanzalo, the pretty snake +charmer, and Tom Jefferson, the "strong man." +Joe loved them all. The circus was like one big +family, with, as might be expected, a "black sheep" +here and there. +</p> +<p> +Joe became an expert on the trapeze, and, later, +when Benny Turton was temporarily in a hospital, +Joe "took on" the tank trick. In the third +volume some of his under-water feats are related, +while in the fourth book Joe's acts on a motor +cycle on the high wire are dealt with. +</p> +<p> +With his "Wings of Steel," Joe caused a sensation, +and after an absence from the circus for a time +he joined it again, bringing this act to it. +</p> +<p> +Eventually Joe was made one of the circus owners, +and now controlled a majority of the stock. +He had also inherited considerable money from his +mother's relatives in England, so that now the youth +was financially well off for one who had started so +humbly. +</p> +<p> +The book immediately preceding this one is called +"Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery; Or, the Ten +Thousand Dollar Prize Trick." In that volume is +related how Joe constructed a trick box, out of +which he made his way after it was locked and +corded about with ropes. Helen Morton helped him +in this trick, which was very successful. +</p> +<p> +The circus management offered a prize of ten +thousand dollars to whomsoever could fathom how +the trick was done. Bill Carfax, an enemy of Joe's +and a former circus employee, tried to solve the +problem but failed. +</p> +<p> +The box trick was a great attraction for the circus, +and Joe was in higher favor than before. +</p> +<p> +He had been on the road with the show for +some time when the events detailed in the first +chapter of this book took place. +</p> +<p> +By dint of much shouting and urging the people +to retain their seats and not rush into danger, Joe +Strong and the others succeeded in calming the +circus crowd. Meanwhile there was much suppressed +excitement. +</p> +<p> +"Is the tiger caught? Is he back in his cage?" +was asked on every side. +</p> +<p> +While Joe and his fellow showmen were calming +the crowd, the animal men were having their own +troubles. Burma, one of the largest of the tigers, +had got loose, having taken advantage of the open +door of his cage. He rushed out with a snarl of +delight at his freedom. His jungle cry was echoed +by the roar of a lion in the next cage, and this was +followed by the cries and snarls of all the wild +jungle beasts in the tent. +</p> +<p> +Fortunately the animal tent was deserted by all +save the keepers, the audience having filed into the +tent where the main show was going on. +</p> +<p> +"Head him off now! Head him off!" cried Tom +Layton, the elephant man, as he saw the tiger dart +out of its cage—a flash of yellow and black. "Head +him off! Don't let him get in the main top!" +</p> +<p> +"That's right! Head him off!" cried Señor Bogardi, +the lion tamer. "He won't hurt any one—he's +too scared!" +</p> +<p> +This was true, but it was difficult to believe, and +some of the people seated in the "main top," or big +tent, who were nearest the animal tent, hearing the +cries and learning what had occurred, spread the +alarm. +</p> +<p> +Burma, the tiger, slunk around in behind the +cages of the other animals. All about him were +men with clubs and pointed goads, with whips and +pistols. The circus men had had to cope with situations +like this before. They surrounded the tiger, +advancing on him in an ever-narrowing circle, and +in a short time they drove him into an emergency +cage which was pushed forward with the open door +toward him. Burma had no choice but to enter, to +get away from the cracking whips and the prodding +goads. And, after all, he was glad to be barred in +again. +</p> +<p> +So, without causing any harm except for badly +frightening a number of people in the audience, the +tiger was caged again, and the circus performance +went on. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong did his Box of Mystery trick. The +usual announcement of a reward of ten thousand +dollars to whomsoever could solve it was made, and +there was great applause when Joe managed to get +out of the big box without disturbing the six padlocks +or the binding ropes. +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad Bill Carfax isn't here to make trouble, +trying to show how much he knows about this +trick," said Joe to the ringmaster, as he stepped +off the stage at the conclusion of the trick. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, you put several spokes in Bill's wheels +when you turned the laugh on him that time," said +Jim Tracy. "I don't believe he'll ever show up +around our circus again." +</p> +<p> +But they little knew Bill Carfax. Those who +have read the book just before this will recall him +and remember how unscrupulous he was. But his +plans came to naught then. Any one who wishes +to learn how the wonderful box trick was worked +will find a full explanation in the previous volume. +</p> +<p> +Helen Morton received much applause at the +conclusion of her act with her trick horse, Rosebud. +Joe Strong's promised wife was an accomplished +bareback rider, as well as one of her fiancé's +helpers in his mystery tricks. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm glad to-day is over," said Helen to +Joe that night, as they went to the train that was to +take them to the next city where the circus performance +would be given. "What with doing the +vanishing lady act for the first time in a long while +and the tiger getting loose, we have had quite +a bit of excitement." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But everything came out all +right. I'm going to put on a new stunt next week." +</p> +<p> +"What's that?" asked Helen. "Something in +the mystery line?" +</p> +<p> +"No. I'm going back to some of my high trapeze +work. You know, since we lost Wogand there +hasn't been any of the big swing work done." +</p> +<p> +"That's so," agreed Helen. "But I've been so +busy practicing the vanishing lady act with you on +top of my other work that I hadn't given it a +thought. But you aren't going to do that dangerous +trick, are you?" +</p> +<p> +"I think I am," Joe answered. "It's sensational, +and we need sensational acts now to draw the +crowds. I used to do it, and I can again, I think, +with a little practice. I'm going to start in and train +to-morrow." +</p> +<p> +"I wish you wouldn't," said Helen, in a low voice, +but Joe did not seem to hear her. +</p> +<p> +The big swing was a trapeze act performed on +the highest of the circus apparatus. Part of this +apparatus consisted of two platforms fastened to +two of the opposite main poles, and up under the +very roof of the big top. +</p> +<p> +Midway between the platforms, which were just +large enough for a man to stand on, was a trapeze +with long ropes, capable of being swung from one +resting place to the other. It was, in reality, a "big +swing." +</p> +<p> +Joe's act, which he had often done, but which of +late had been performed by a man billed as "Wogand," +was to stand on one platform, have the long +trapeze started in a long, pendulumlike swing by +an attendant, and then to leap down, catch hold of +the bar with his hands, and swing up to the other +platform. If he missed catching the bar it meant +a dangerous fall; a fall into a net, it is true, but dangerous +none the less. Its danger can be judged +when it is said that Wogand had died as an indirect +result of a fall into the net. He missed the +trapeze, toppled into the net, and, by some chance, +did not land properly. His back was injured, his +spine became affected, and he died. +</p> +<p> +When circus performers on the high trapezes fall +or jump into the safety nets, they do not usually do +it haphazardly. If they did many would be killed. +There is a certain knack and trick of landing in a +net. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, ever having the interest of the circus +at heart, had decided to do this dangerous swing. +He was an acrobat, as well as a stage magician, and +he had decided to take up some of his earlier acts +which had been so successful. +</p> +<p> +"But I wish he wouldn't," said Helen to herself. +"I have a premonition that something will happen." +Helen was very superstitious in certain ways. +</p> +<p> +But to all she said, Joe only laughed. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to do the big swing," he replied simply. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH3"><!-- CH3 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER III +</h2> + +<h3> +TOO MANY PEOPLE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Hundreds of men toiling and sweating over stiff +canvas and stiffer ropes. The thud of big wooden +sledge hammers driving in the tent stakes. The +rumble of heavy wagons, and a cloud of dust where +they were being shoved into place by the busy elephants. +</p> +<p> +On one edge of the big, vacant lot were wisps of +smoke from the fires in the stove wagons, and from +these same wagons came appetizing odors. +</p> +<p> +Here and there men and women darted, carrying +portions of their costumes in their hands. Clowns, +partly made up, looked from their dressing tents +to smile or shout at some acquaintance who chanced +to be passing by. +</p> +<p> +All this was the Sampson Brothers' Circus in +preparation for a day's performance. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, having had a good breakfast, without +which no circus man or woman starts the day, +strolled over to where Helen Morton was just finishing +her morning meal. +</p> +<p> +"Feeling all right?" he asked her. +</p> +<p> +"Well, yes, pretty well," she answered. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter?" asked Joe quickly, as he +detected an under note of anxiety in the girl's voice. +"Is your star horse, Rosebud, lame or off his +feed?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no," she answered. "It's just—Oh, +here comes Mother Watson, and I promised to help +her mend a skirt," said Helen quickly, as she turned +to greet the veteran clown's wife. "See you later, +Joe!" she called to him over her shoulder as she +started away. +</p> +<p> +The young magician moved away toward his +own private quarters. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what's the matter with Helen," he +said. "She doesn't act naturally. If that Bill Carfax +has been around again, annoying her, I'll put +him out of business for all time. But if he had +been around I'd have heard of it. I don't believe +it can be that." +</p> +<p> +Nor was it. Helen's anxiety had to do with +something other than Bill Carfax, the unprincipled +circus man who had so annoyed her before Joe discharged +him. And, as Joe had said, the man had +not been seen publicly since the fiasco of his attempt +to expose Joe's mystery box trick. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I suppose she won't tell me what it is until +she gets good and ready," mused Joe. "Now I'll +go in and have a little practice at the big swing +before the parade." +</p> +<p> +Joe did not take part in the street pageant, though +Helen did, riding her beautiful horse to the admiration, +not only of the small boys and their sisters, but +the grown-up throng in the highways as well. Helen +made a striking picture on her spirited, but gentle, +steed. +</p> +<p> +It was not that Joe Strong felt above appearing +in the parade. That was not his reason for not +taking part. He had done so on more than one occasion, +and with his Wings of Steel had created +more than one sensation. +</p> +<p> +But now that he did a trapeze act, as well as +working the sleight-of-hand mysteries, his time was +pretty well occupied. He had not, as yet, done the +big swing in public since that act was abandoned +on the death of the man who had been injured while +doing it. But Joe had been perfecting himself in +it. He had had a new set of trapezes made, and had +ornamented them and the two platforms in a very +striking manner. In other words, the trick had a +new "dress," and Joe, as one of the circus proprietors, +hoped it would go well and attract attention. +</p> +<p> +This was from a business standpoint, and not +only because Joe was himself the performer. Of +course it was natural that he should like applause—all +do, more or less. But Joe was one of the +owners of the circus—the chief owner, in fact—and +he wanted to make a financial success of it. +Nor was this a purely selfish reason. Many persons +owned stock in the enterprise, and Joe felt it was +only fair to them to see that they received a good +return for their investment. Any trick he could +do to draw crowds he was willing to attempt. +</p> +<p> +So, while the parade was being gotten ready, Joe +went inside the main top, which by this time was +erected, to see about having his platforms and +trapeze put in place. In this he was always very +careful, as is every aerial performer. The least +slip of a rope may cause disaster, and no matter +how careful the attendants are, the performers +themselves always give at least a casual look to their +apparatus. +</p> +<p> +"All right, Harry?" asked Joe of one of the riggers +who had charge of putting up the platforms +and the big swing. +</p> +<p> +"Sure, it's all right, Mr. Strong!" was the answer. +"I should say so! I don't make no mistakes +when I'm putting up trapezes. You'll find +everything shipshape and proper. Going to have +a big crowd to-day, I guess." +</p> +<p> +Joe looked at Harry Loper closely. The young +man had never talked so much before, being, on +the whole, rather close-mouthed. As the man +passed Joe, after giving a pull on the last rope, +the young magician became aware that Harry had +been drinking—and something stronger than pink +lemonade. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sorry about that!" mused Joe, as the rope +rigger passed on. "If there's any place a man ought +not to drink it's in a circus, and especially when he +has to rig up high flying apparatus for others. It +was drink that put Bill Carfax out of business. I +didn't know Harry was that kind, I never noticed +it before. I'm sorry. And I'll take extra precautions +that my ropes won't slip. You can't trust a +man who drinks." +</p> +<p> +Joe shook his head a bit sadly. He was thinking +of Bill Carfax, and of the fact that he had had to +discharge the man because, while under the influence +of liquor, he had insulted Helen. Then Bill +had tried to get revenge on Joe. +</p> +<p> +"I hope it doesn't turn out this way with Harry +Loper," mused Joe, as he began climbing up a rope +ladder that led to one of the high platforms. And +as Harry had to do with the placing of this ladder, +Joe tested it carefully before ascending. +</p> +<p> +"I don't want to fall and be laid up in the middle +of the circus season," mused the young circus man, +with a frown. +</p> +<p> +However, the ladder appeared to be perfectly +secure, and as Joe went up, finally reaching the +high platform, he felt a sense of exhilaration. +Heights always affected him this way. He liked, +more than anything else, to soar aloft on his Wings +of Steel. And he liked the sensation when he +leaped from one platform toward the swinging +trapeze bar, aiming to grasp it in his hands and +swing in a great arc to the other little elevated place, +close under the top of the tent. +</p> +<p> +There was a thrill about it—a thrill not only to +the performer but to the audience as well—and Joe +could hear the gasps that went up from thousands +of throats as he made his big swing. +</p> +<p> +But, for the time being, he gave his whole attention +to the platform and its fastenings. The platforms +were not very likely to slip, being caught on +to the main tent poles, which themselves were well +braced. +</p> +<p> +The real danger was in the long trapeze. Not +only must the thin wire ropes of this be strong +enough to hold Joe's weight, but an added pressure, +caused by the momentum of his jump. And not +only must the cables be strong, but there must be +no defect in the wooden bar and in the place where +the upper ends of the ropes were fastened to the top +of the tent. +</p> +<p> +"Well, this platform is all right," remarked Joe, +as he looked it over. "Now for the other and the +trapeze." +</p> +<p> +He went down the rope ladder and climbed up +another to the second platform. The show would +not start for several hours yet, and the tent was +filled with men putting in place the stage for Joe's +magic tricks and other apparatus for various performers. +The parade was just forming to proceed +down town. +</p> +<p> +Joe found that Harry Loper had done his work +well, at least as far as the platforms were concerned. +They were firmly fastened. The one to +which Joe leaped after his swing needed to be +considerably stronger than the one from which he +"took off." +</p> +<p> +The next act of the young circus performer was +to climb up to the very top of the tent, and there +to examine the fastenings of the trapeze ropes. He +spent some time at this, having reached his high +perch by a third rope ladder. +</p> +<p> +"I guess everything is all right," mused Joe. +"Perhaps I did Harry an injustice. He might have +taken some stimulant for a cold—they all got wet +through the other night. But still he ought to be +careful. He was a little too talkative for a man to +give his whole attention to fastening a trapeze. But +this seems to be all right. I'll do the big swing this +afternoon and to-night, in addition to the box trick +and the vanishing lady. Helen works exceedingly +well in that." +</p> +<p> +Having seen that his aerial apparatus was all +right, Joe next went to his tent where his magical +appliances were kept. Many stage tricks depend +for their success on special pieces of apparatus, and +Joe's acts were no exception. +</p> +<p> +Joe saw that everything was in readiness for +his sleight-of-hand work, and then examined his +Box of Mystery. As this was a very special piece +of apparatus, he was very careful about it. His +ability to get out of it, once he was locked and +roped in, depended on a delicate bit of mechanism, +and the least hitch in this meant failure. +</p> +<p> +But a test showed that it was all right, and as by +this time it was nearly the hour for the parade to +come back and the preliminaries to begin, Joe went +over to the circus office to see if any matters there +needed his attention. +</p> +<p> +As he crossed the lot to where the "office" was set +up in a small tent, the first horses of the returning +parade came back on the circus grounds. Following +was a mob of delighted small boys and not a +few men. +</p> +<p> +"Looks as if we'd have a big crowd," said Joe +to himself. "And it's a fine day for the show. We'll +make money!" +</p> +<p> +He attended to some routine matters, and then +the first of the afternoon audience began to arrive. +As Joe had predicted, the crowd was a big +one. +</p> +<p> +The young performer was in his dressing room, +getting ready for the big swing, which he would +perform before his mystery tricks, when Mr. +Moyne, the circus treasurer, entered. There was +a queer look on Mr. Moyne's face, and Joe could not +help but notice it. +</p> +<p> +"What's worrying you?" asked Joe. "Doesn't +this weather suit you, or isn't there a big enough +crowd?" +</p> +<p> +"That's just it, Joe," was the unexpected answer. +"There's too big a crowd. We have too many people +at this show, and that's what is worrying me a +whole lot!" +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong looked in surprise at the treasurer. +What could Mr. Moyne mean? +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH4"><!-- CH4 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER IV +</h2> + +<h3> +THE RUSTED WIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Yes," went on the circus treasurer, as he rubbed +his chin reflectively, "it's a curious state of affairs, +and as you're so vitally interested I came to you at +once. There's going to be trouble!" +</p> +<p> +"Trouble!" cried Joe with a laugh. "I can't +see that, Mr. Moyne. You say there's a big crowd +of people at our circus—too much of a crowd, in +fact. I can't see anything wrong in that. It's +just what we're always wanting—a big audience. +Let 'em fill the tent, I say, and put out the 'Straw +Seats Only' sign. Trouble! Why, I should say +this was good luck!" and Joe hastened his preparations, +for he wanted to go on with the big swing. +</p> +<p> +"Ordinarily," said Mr. Moyne, in the slow, precise +way he had of speaking, brought about, perhaps, +by his need of being exact in money matters, +"a big crowd would be the very thing we should +want. But this time we don't—not this kind of a +crowd." +</p> +<p> +"What do you mean?" asked Joe, beginning to +feel that it was more than a mere notion on the +part of the treasurer that something was wrong. +"Is it a rough crowd? Will there be a 'hey rube!' +cry raised—a fight between our men and the mill +hands?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, nothing like that!" the treasurer hastened +to assure Joe. "The whole thing is just this. +There are a great many more people in the main +top now than there are admission prices in the +treasurer's cash box. The books don't balance, as +it were." +</p> +<p> +"More people in the tent than have paid their +way?" asked Joe. "Well, that always happens at +a circus. Small boys will crawl in under the canvas +in spite of clubs." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it isn't a question of the small boys—I never +worry about them," returned Mr. Moyne. "But +there are about a thousand more persons at the +performance which will soon begin than we have +admission prices for. In other words there are a +thousand persons occupying fifty cent seats that +haven't paid their half dollar. It isn't the reserve +chairs that are affected. We're all right there. +But fully a thousand persons have come into the +show, and we're short five hundred dollars in our +cash." +</p> +<p> +"You don't tell me!" cried Joe. He saw that +Mr. Moyne was very much in earnest. "Have the +ticket men and the entrance attendants been working +a flim-flam game on us?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, it isn't that," said the treasurer. "I +could understand that. But the men are perfectly +willing to have their accounts gone over and their +tickets checked up. They're straight!" +</p> +<p> +"Then what is it?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"That's what we've got to find out," went on Mr. +Moyne. "In some way the thousand people have +come in without paying the circus anything. And +they didn't sneak in, either. A few might do that, +but a thousand couldn't. They've come in by the +regular entrance." +</p> +<p> +"Did they force themselves past without tickets?" +</p> +<p> +"No, each one had the proper coupon." +</p> +<p> +"Has there been a theft of our tickets?" demanded +the young magician and acrobat. +</p> +<p> +"No, our ticket account is all right, except there +are a thousand extra entrance coupons in the box—coupons +taken in by the entrance attendants. It's +a puzzle to me," confessed the treasurer. "There +is some game being played on us, and we're out to +the tune of five hundred dollars by it already." +</p> +<p> +"Is there any way of finding out who these persons +are who have come in without paying us and +having them ejected?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"I don't see how," admitted Mr. Moyne. "If +they were in reserved seats it could be done, but not +in the ordinary un-numbered fifty cent section. The +whole situation is that we have a thousand persons +too many at the show." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we'll have a meeting of the executive +body and take it up after the performance," said +Joe, as he quickly prepared to get into his aerial +costume. "We'll have to go on with the performance +now; it's getting late. If we're swamped by +people coming along who hold our regular tickets +we'll have to sit 'em anywhere we can. If we lose +five hundred dollars we'll make it up by having +a smashing crowd, which is always a good advertisement. +I'll see you directly after the show, Mr. +Moyne." +</p> +<p> +"I wish you would," said the harassed treasurer. +"Something must be done about it. If this happens +very often we'll be in a financial hole at the +end of the season." +</p> +<p> +He departed, looking at some figures he had jotted +down on the back of an envelope. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong was puzzled. Nothing like this had +ever come up before. True, there had been swindlers +who tried to mulct the circus of money, and +there were always small boys, and grown men, too, +who tried to crawl in under the tent. But such a +wholesale game as this Joe had never before known. +</p> +<p> +"Well, five hundred dollars, for once, won't +break us," he said grimly, as he fastened on a +brightly spangled belt, "but I wouldn't want it to +happen very often. Now I wonder what luck I'll +have in my big swing. I haven't done it in public +for some time, but it went all right in practice." +</p> +<p> +Joe looked from his dressing room. He was all +ready for his act now, but the time had not yet +come for him to go on. He saw Helen hastening +past on her way to enter the ring with her horse, +Rosebud, which a groom held at the entrance for +her. +</p> +<p> +"Good luck!" called Joe, waving his hand and +smiling. +</p> +<p> +"The same to you," answered Helen. "You'll +need it more than I. Oh, Joe," she went on earnestly, +"won't you give up this big swing? Stick to +your box trick, and let me act with you in the disappearing +lady stunt. Don't go on with this high +trapeze act!" she pleaded. +</p> +<p> +"Why, Helen! anybody would think you'd been +bitten by the jinx bug!" laughed Joe. "I thought +you were all over that." +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps I am foolish," she said. "But it's because—" +</p> +<p> +She blushed and looked away. +</p> +<p> +"I suppose I should take it as a compliment that +you are so interested in my welfare," said Joe, with +a smile. "And, believe me, I am. But, Helen, I +can't back out of this act now. It's been advertised +big. I've got to go on!" +</p> +<p> +"Then do be careful, won't you?" she begged. +"Oh, do be careful! Somehow, I have a feeling +that—Oh, well, I won't set you to worrying +by telling you," she said quickly, with a laugh, in +which, however, there was no mirth. She smiled +again, trying to make it a bright one; but Joe saw +that she was under a strain. +</p> +<p> +"I'll be careful," he promised. "Really, there's +no danger. I've done the stunt a score of times, and +I can judge my distance perfectly. Besides there's +the safety net." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I know, but there was poor—Oh, well, +I won't talk about it! Good luck!" and she hurried +on, for it was time for her act—the whistle of the +ringmaster having blown. +</p> +<p> +Joe looked after the girl he loved. He smiled, +and then a rather serious look settled over his face. +Like a flash there had come to him the memory of +the too loquacious Harry Loper, who had fitted up +his aerial apparatus. +</p> +<p> +"There can be nothing wrong with that," mused +Joe. "I went over every inch of it. I guess Helen +is just nervous. Well, there goes my cue!" +</p> +<p> +He hurried toward the entrance, and then he +began to ponder over the curious fact of there being +a thousand persons too many at the performance. +</p> +<p> +"We'll have to straighten out that ticket tangle +after the show," mused Joe. "It's likely to get serious. +I wonder—" he went on, struck by a new +thought. "I wonder if—Oh, no! It couldn't be! +He hasn't been around in a long while." +</p> +<p> +Out into the tent, filled with a record-breaking +crowd, went Joe to the place where his high trapeze +was waiting for him. The band was playing lively +airs, on one platform some trained seals were juggling +big balls of colored rubber, and on another a +bear was going about on roller skates. In one end +ring Helen was performing with Rosebud, while in +another a troupe of Japanese acrobats were doing +wonderful things with their supple bodies. +</p> +<p> +Joe waved his hand to Helen in passing, and then +he began to ascend to his high platform. When he +reached it and stood poised ready for his act, there +came a shrill whistle from Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, +who wore his usual immaculate shirt front +and black evening clothes—rather incongruous in +the daytime. +</p> +<p> +The whistle was the signal for the other acts to +cease, that the attention of all might be centered +on Joe. This is always done in a circus in the case +of "stars," and Joe was certainly a star of the first +magnitude. +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen!" cried Jim Tracy, with +the accented drawl that carried his voice to the very +ends of the big tent. "Calling your attention to +one of the most marvelous high trapeze acts ever +performed in any circus!" +</p> +<p> +He pointed dramatically to Joe, who stood up +straight, ready to do his act. +</p> +<p> +"Are you ready?" asked the man who was to +release the trapeze, which was caught up at one +side of the platform opposite Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Ready," answered the young acrobat. +</p> +<p> +The man pulled a rope which released a catch, +letting the trapeze start on its long swaying swing. +The man pulled it by means of a long, thin cord, +until it was making big arcs, like some gigantic +pendulum. +</p> +<p> +Joe watched it carefully, judging it to the fraction +of an inch. He stood poised and tense on the +gayly decorated platform, himself a fine picture of +physical young manhood. The band was blaring +out the latest Jazz melody. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly, from his perch, the young acrobat +gave a cry, and Jim Tracy, on the ground below, +hearing it, held up his white-gloved hand as a +signal for the music to cease. +</p> +<p> +Then Joe leaped. Full and fair he leaped out +toward the swinging bar of the big trapeze, the +snare drum throbbing out as he jumped. He was +dimly conscious of thousands of eyes watching him—eyes +that looked curiously and apprehensively up. +And he realized that Helen was also watching him. +</p> +<p> +As true as a die, Joe's hands caught and gripped +the bar of the swinging trapeze. So far he was +safe. The momentum of his jump carried him in +a long swing, and he at once began to undulate himself +to increase his swing. He must do this in order +to get to the second platform. +</p> +<p> +As the young performer began to do this, he +looked up at the wire ropes of his trapeze. +</p> +<p> +It was a look given instinctively and for no +particular purpose, as Joe's eyes must rest, most of +all, on the second platform where he needed to +land, to save himself from a bad fall. +</p> +<p> +As his eyes glanced along the steel cables on +which his life depended, he saw, to his horror, a +spot of rust on one. And at the spot of rust several +of the thin strands of twisted wire were loose +and frayed. +</p> +<p> +The cable seemed about to give way! +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH5"><!-- CH5 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER V +</h2> + +<h3> +A FIRE SENSATION +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong had to think quickly. Every acrobat, +every person who does "stunts" in a circus, +must; for something is always happening, or on the +verge of taking place. And when Joe looked up +and saw the rusted wire and noted the fraying +strands, several thoughts shot through his mind at +once. +</p> +<p> +"That rust spot wasn't there this morning when, +I looked at the trapeze," he mused. "And it hasn't +rained since. How did it get there?" +</p> +<p> +He thought of the too talkative Harry Loper, +and an ugly suspicion associated itself with him. +But Joe had no time for such thoughts then. What +was vital for him to know was whether or not the +thin wire cable would remain unbroken long enough +for him to reach the maximum of his swing, and +land on the platform. Or would he fall, spoiling +the act and also endangering himself? +</p> +<p> +True he might land in the net in such a way as +to come to no harm, as he had done many times, +and as many performers before him had done. But +the danger was that in a sudden and unexpected +drop downward he might not be able to get his +limbs in the proper landing position. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong had nerve. If he had lacked it he +would never have been so successful. And at once +he decided on a courageous proceeding. +</p> +<p> +"I'll bring all my weight suddenly on that left +hand cable," he mused, as he swung to and fro, +from side to side of the big tent. "If it's going to +break it will do so then. And I'll be ready for it. +I'll then keep hold of the trapeze bar, which will +be straight up and down instead of crosswise, and +swing by that. The other cable seems all right." +This was a fact which Joe ascertained by a quick +inspection. +</p> +<p> +There was no time for further thought. As he +swung, Joe suddenly shifted his weight, bringing +it all on the frayed and strangely rusted cable. As +he half expected, it gave way, and he dropped in +an instant, but not far. +</p> +<p> +The watching crowd gasped. It looked like an +accident. And it was, in a way, but Joe had purposely +caused it. As the wire broke Joe held tightly +to the wooden bar, which was now upright in +his hands instead of being horizontal. And though +it slipped through his fingers, perhaps for the +width of his palm, at last he gripped it in a firm hold +and kept on with his swing. +</p> +<p> +And then the applause broke forth, for the audience +thought it all a part of the trick—they thought +that Joe had purposely caused the cable to break +to make the act more effective. +</p> +<p> +To and fro swung Joe, nearer and nearer to the +second platform, and then, reaching the height of +the long arc, he turned his body and stepped full +and fair on the little square of velvet-covered boards. +</p> +<p> +With a lithe contortion, Joe squirmed to an upright +position, recovering his balance with a great +effort, for he had been put out in his calculations of +distance, and then, turning, he bowed to the crowds, +revolving on the platform to take in every one. +</p> +<p> +Again the applause broke forth, to be drowned in +the boom and ruffle of the drums as the band began +to play. There is little time in a circus, where act +follows act so quickly, for long acknowledgments. +</p> +<p> +The other performers came into the rings or on +to the raised platforms, and Joe descended by +means of the rope ladder. Helen met him, and they +walked toward the dressing rooms. +</p> +<p> +"That was a wonderful trick, Joe," she said. +"But I didn't see you practice that drop." +</p> +<p> +"I didn't practice it," he remarked dryly. "I +did it on the spur of the moment." +</p> +<p> +"Joe Strong! wasn't it dangerous?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, a little." +</p> +<p> +"What made you do it?" +</p> +<p> +"I couldn't help it." +</p> +<p> +"You couldn't help it? Joe—do you mean—?" +She sensed that something was wrong, but walking +around the circus arena, with performers coming +and going, was not the place to speak of it. Joe +saw that she understood. +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell you later," he said. "We have to get +ready for the trick box and the vanishing lady stunt +now." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe! were you in much danger?" she asked +in a low voice. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, not much," he answered, and he tried to +speak lightly. Yet he did not like to think of that +one moment when he saw the rusted and broken +wire. +</p> +<p> +While Joe and Helen are preparing for the box +act, which has been treated fully in the previous +volume, the explanation of how the vanishing lady +trick was accomplished will be given, though that, +too, has been explained in an earlier volume. +</p> +<p> +A large newspaper is put on the stage and the +chair set on the paper, thus, seemingly, precluding +the possibility of a trap door being cut in the stage +through which the lady in the chair might slip. +The word "seemingly" is used with a due sense +of what it means. The newspaper was not a perfect +one. On one of its sides which was not exhibited +to the audience, there was cut an opening, +or trap, that exactly corresponded in size with a +trap door on the stage. The paper, as explained +in the previous book, is strengthened with cardboard, +and the trap is a double one, being cut in the center, +the flaps being easily moved either way. +</p> +<p> +The audience thinks it sees a perfect newspaper. +But there is a square hole in it, but concealed as is +a secret trap door. +</p> +<p> +When Joe laid the paper on the stage he placed +it so that the square, double flap in it was exactly +over the trap in the stage floor. He then drew the +page of the paper that he had held out to the +audience toward himself, exposing the trap for +use, but because it was so carefully made, and the +cut was so fine, it was not visible from the front. +</p> +<p> +Helen took her place in the chair, which, of +course, was a trick one. It was fitted with a concealed +rod and a cap, and it was over this cap, +brought out at the proper moment, that Joe carefully +placed the black veil, when he was pretending +to mesmerize Helen. There was a cross rod, also +concealed in the chair, and on either end of this, +something like the epaulettes of a soldier, so that +when these ends were under the veil and the cap +was in place it looked as though some one sat in the +chair, when, really, no one did. +</p> +<p> +Helen was in the chair at the start. But as soon +as she was covered by the veil she began to get out +The seat of the chair was hinged within its frame +As Helen sat on it, and after she had been covered +with the veil, she rested her weight on her hands, +which were placed on the extreme outer edges of +this seat frame. She pulled a catch which caused +the seat to drop, and at the same time the trap beneath +her, including the prepared newspaper, was +opened by an attendant. The black veil all about +the chair prevented the audience seeing this. +</p> +<p> +Helen lowered herself down through the dropped +seat of the chair, through the trap, and under the +stage. And while she was doing this it still looked +as if she were in the chair, for the false cap and +the extended cross rod made outlines as if of a +human form beneath the black veil. +</p> +<p> +As soon as Helen was out of the chair and beneath +the stage an attendant closed the newspaper +and wooden floor traps. Joe then suddenly raised +the veil, taking in its folds the false cap and the +cross piece which had represented Helen's shoulders. +They were thin and light—these pieces of trick apparatus—and +no one suspected they were in the +veil. The hinged seat of the chair snapped back in +place by means of a spring, and when Joe stepped +aside, holding the veil, there was the empty chair; +and the newspaper, which he picked up, seemed to +preclude the possibility of there having been a trap +in the stage. But Joe was careful how he exhibited +this paper to his audience. +</p> +<p> +And so it was that the lady "vanished." +</p> +<p> +"And now, Joe, tell me all about it!" demanded +Helen, when the circus was over for the afternoon, +and the box and vanishing tricks had been successfully +performed. "What happened to your +trapeze?" +</p> +<p> +"Some one spilled acid on one of the wire ropes, +and it ate into the metal, corroding it and separating +a number of the strands so that a little extra +weight broke them," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Acid on the cable?" cried Helen. "How did you +find out?" +</p> +<p> +"I just examined the wire. I knew it couldn't +have rusted naturally in such a short time. There +was a peculiar smell about the wire, and I know +enough of chemistry to make a simple acid test! +What kind of acid was used I don't know, but it +was strong enough to eat the steel." +</p> +<p> +"Who could have put it on?" +</p> +<p> +"That I've got to find out!" +</p> +<p> +"Was it Harry Loper?" +</p> +<p> +"I taxed him with it, but he swears he knew +nothing of it," said Joe. "I'm inclined to believe +him, too. I charged him with drinking, and he +could not deny that. But he said he met some old +friends and they induced him to have a little convivial +time with them. No, I don't believe he'd do +it. He's weak and foolish, but he had no reason to +try to injure me." +</p> +<p> +"Who would, Joe? Of course there's Bill Carfax, +but he hasn't been seen near the circus of +late." +</p> +<p> +"No, I don't believe it could have been Bill. I'll +have to be on my guard." +</p> +<p> +"Do, Joe!" urged Helen. "Oh, I can't bear to +think of it!" +</p> +<p> +"Don't then!" laughed Joe, trying to make light +of it. "Let's go down town and I'll buy you some +ice cream." +</p> +<p> +"But you're not going to give up trying to find +out who put acid on the trapeze, are you?" +</p> +<p> +"No, indeed!" declared the young performer. "I +have two problems on my hands now—that and +trying to learn how too many persons came to the +circus this afternoon," and he told Helen about the +extra tickets. +</p> +<p> +"That's queer!" she exclaimed. "Some jinx bug +must be after us!" +</p> +<p> +"Don't get superstitious!" warned Joe. "Now +we'll forget our troubles. They may not amount +to anything after all." +</p> +<p> +But, though he spoke lightly, Joe was worried, +and he was not going to let Helen know that. They +went into an ice-cream parlor and "relaxed," as +Helen called it. +</p> +<p> +The two were on their way back to the circus lot, +intending to go to supper and prepare for the evening +entertainment, when there was a sudden alarm +down the street, and, in an instant, the fire engines +and other apparatus dashed past. +</p> +<p> +"A fire!" cried Joe. "Come on, Helen! It's just +down the street!" +</p> +<p> +They could see smoke pouring from a small +building and a crowd rushing toward it. Thither, +also, the fire apparatus was dashing. Joe and Helen +were among the early arrivals. +</p> +<p> +"What is it?" asked Joe of an officer. "I mean +what sort of place is that?" and he pointed to the +building, which was now obscured by smoke. +</p> +<p> +"Dime museum," was the answer. "Lot of +fakes. I sent in the alarm. A fire-eater was trying +some new stunt and he set the place ablaze, so the +boss yelled to me. Come now, youse all have to git +back!" and he motioned to the crowd, which was +constantly increasing, to get beyond the fire lines. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH6"><!-- CH6 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER VI +</h2> + +<h3> +SOMETHING NEW +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +What with the clanging of the gongs on the +engines and on the red runabouts that brought two +battalion chiefs to the fire; the pall of smoke, with, +here and there, the suggestion of a red blaze; the +swaying excitement of the crowd; the yells of harassed +policemen; the scene at the blaze of the dime +museum was one long to be remembered by Joe +Strong and Helen Morton—particularly in the light +of what happened afterward. +</p> +<p> +"Joe, did you hear what he said?" asked Helen, +as she moved back with the young acrobat in conformity +with the officer's order. +</p> +<p> +"You mean that we've got to slide?" +</p> +<p> +"No, that a fire-eater started the blaze. Does he +mean a professional 'fire bug,' as I have heard them +called?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, not at all!" exclaimed Joe. "A fire-eater +is a chap who does such stunts in a museum, +theater, or even in a circus. Sampson Brothers used +to have one, I understand, from looking over the +old books. But it wasn't much of an act. Golly, +this is going to be some blaze!" +</p> +<p> +That was very evident from the increased smoke +that rolled out and the crackle of fire that now +could be heard above the puffing of the engines and +the shouts of the mob. +</p> +<p> +"A regular tinder box!" muttered the officer who +had told Joe the origin of the blaze. "Place ought +to have been pulled down long ago. Git back there +youse!" he yelled to some venturesome lads. "Want +to git mushed up?" +</p> +<p> +The blaze was a big one, considerable damage +was done, and several persons were injured. But +quick work by an efficient department prevented the +flames from spreading to the buildings on either +side of the one where it had started. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen stayed long enough to see the +menace gotten under control, and then they departed +just as the ambulance rolled away with the last of +the victims. +</p> +<p> +"That's the fire-eater they're taking to the hospital +now," said the policeman who had first spoken +to the young circus performers. "They took him +into a drug store to wrap him in oil and cotton +batting." +</p> +<p> +"Will he live?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Just a chance," was the answer. "Say, if I had +to get my living eating fire I'd starve," confided the +policeman. "It must be some stunt! I always +thought it was a fake, but this fire burned real +enough." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it isn't all fake," said Joe, "though of course +there's a trick about it." +</p> +<p> +"You seem to know," said the policeman, and he +smiled at Joe and Helen. His chief troubles were +about over with the departure of the ambulance +and the knowledge that filtered through the crowd +that the most of the excitement was over. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm in the circus business," confessed Joe. +"I never ate fire," he went on, "but—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I know you now!" cried the officer. "I +was on duty out at the circus grounds this afternoon, +and I went into the tent when you did that +box act. Say, that's some stunt! Do they really pay +ten thousand dollars to the fellow who tells how it's +done?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, we've never paid out the money yet," said +Joe, with a smile. "But it's there, waiting for +some one to claim it." +</p> +<p> +"Then I'm coming to-night to watch you," said +the officer, who appeared delighted that he had recognized +one of the "profesh." +</p> +<p> +"Come along," replied Joe. "Here, wait a minute! +There are a couple of passes. Come and +bring a friend. If you tell how I do the trick you'll +get the ten thousand. Only you'll have to post a +hundred dollars as a forfeit to the Red Cross in +case you don't guess right. That's included in the +offer." +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" The officer did not seem quite so pleased. +"Well, I'll come anyhow," he went on, accepting the +passes Joe handed him. The policeman had allowed +Joe and Helen to stay in an advantageous place +where they could watch the fire. +</p> +<p> +"Where are they taking the man who did the +dangerous trick that caused all the trouble?" asked +Helen, as she prepared to walk on with Joe. +</p> +<p> +"To the City Hospital, Miss. He's a bad case, I +understand." +</p> +<p> +"Poor fellow," murmured Helen. "Do you think +we could go to see him, and do something for him, +Joe?" she asked solicitously. "He's in almost the +same line of business as ourselves." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I don't know," was the slow answer. +</p> +<p> +"I can fix it up if you want to see him—that is, +if the doctors and nurses will let you," said the +policeman. "I know the hospital superintendent. +You just tell him that Casey sent you and it will +be all right." +</p> +<p> +"Thanks; perhaps we will," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +There was a little time after supper before the +performers had to go on with their acts, and Helen +prevailed on Joe to take her to the hospital whither +the injured fire-eater had been removed. They +found him swathed in bandages, no objection being +made to their seeing him after the magic name of +"Casey" had been mentioned to the superintendent. +</p> +<p> +"We came in to see if you needed any help," said +Joe to the pathetic figure in the bed. "We're in +the same line of business, in a way." +</p> +<p> +"Are you a fire-eater?" slowly asked the man. +</p> +<p> +"No," Joe told him. "But I'm in the circus—Sampson Brothers'." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes, I've heard about it. A partner of mine +was with 'em for years. Gascoyne was his name." +</p> +<p> +"That was before my time," said Joe. "But how +are you getting on? Can we be of any help to you? +We professionals must help one another." +</p> +<p> +"That's right. We get knocked often enough," +was the reply. "Well, I'm doing as well as can +be expected, the doctor says. And I'm not really +in need of anything. The museum folks were pretty +good to me. Thank you, just the same." +</p> +<p> +"How did it happen?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, just my carelessness," said the man. "We +get careless after playing with fire a bit. I put too +much alcohol on the tow, and there was a draft +from an open door, some draperies caught, and it +was all going before I knew it. I tried to put it out—that's +how I got burned." +</p> +<p> +"Then you really didn't eat fire?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +Joe and the man swathed in bandages looked at +one another and a semblance of a wink passed between +them. +</p> +<p> +"Nobody can eat fire, lady," said the museum +performer. "It's all a trick, same as some your husband +does in the circus." +</p> +<p> +Joe blushed almost as much as did Helen. +</p> +<p> +"We're not married yet, but we're going to be," +explained Joe, smiling. +</p> +<p> +"Lucky guy!" murmured the man. "Well, as +I was saying, it's all a trick," he went on. "Strong +alum solution in your mouth, just a dash of alcohol +to make a blaze that flares up but goes out quickly +if you smother it right. You know the game," +and he looked at Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, not exactly," was the reply. "I've read +something of it. But, somehow, it never appealed +to me." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it makes a good act, friend!" said the man +earnestly. "I've done a lot of museum and circus +stunts, and this always goes big. There's no danger +if you handle it right. I'll be more careful next +time." +</p> +<p> +"You don't mean to say you'll go back to it, do +you?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Sure, lady! I've got to earn my living! And +this is the best thing I know. I'll be out in a +week. I didn't swallow any, thank goodness! Oh, +sure I'll go at it again." +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen cheered the sufferer up as much +as they could, and then departed. Joe privately +left a bill of substantial denomination with the +superintendent to be used for anything extra the +patient might need. +</p> +<p> +On the way back to the circus, where they were +soon to give their evening performance, Joe was +unusually quiet. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter?" asked Helen. "Are you +thinking of that accident on the trapeze?" +</p> +<p> +"No," was the answer. "It's something different. +I've got to get up a new act for the show. +That trapeze act, even the way I had to do it this +afternoon, isn't sensational enough. I've got to have +something new, and I've about decided on it." +</p> +<p> +"What?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to become a fire-eater!" was the unexpected, +reply. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH7"><!-- CH7 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER VII +</h2> + +<h3> +THE PAPER EXPERT +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +For a moment Helen Morton stared at Joe +Strong as though not quite sure whether or not he +was in his proper mind. Then, seeing plainly that +he was in earnest, she seemed to shrink away from +him, as he had noticed her shrink away, for a moment, +from the burned man suffering there in the +hospital. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter, Helen?" asked Joe, trying +to speak lightly. "Don't you want to see some more +sensational acts in the show?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, but not that kind," she answered with a +shudder she could not conceal. "Oh, Joe, if you +were to—" She could not go on. Her breast +heaved painfully. +</p> +<p> +"Now look here, Helen!" he exclaimed with +good-natured roughness, "that isn't any way to look +at matters; especially when we both depend on sensations +for making our living. +</p> +<p> +"You know, as well as I do, that in this business +we have to take risks. That's what makes our acts +go. You take a risk every time you perform with +Rosebud. You might slip, the horse might slip, and +you'd be hurt. Now is this new act I am thinking +of perfor—" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I may take risks, Joe!" interrupted Helen. +"But they are perfectly natural risks, and I have +more than an even chance. You might just as well +say you take a risk walking along the street, and +so you do. An elevated train might fall on you or +an auto run up on the sidewalk. The risks I take +in the act with Rosebud are only natural ones, and +really shouldn't be counted. But if you start to +become a fire-eater—Oh, Joe, think of that +poor fellow in the hospital!" +</p> +<p> +"He didn't get that way from eating fire—or +pretending to eat it—for the amusement of the public. +He might just as easily have been burned the +way he is by lighting the kitchen stove for his wife +to get breakfast. His accident was entirely outside +of his act, you might say. Why, I use lighted +candles in some of my tricks. Now, if some one +knocked over a candle, and it caused a fire on the +stage and I was burned, would you want me to +give up being a magician?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, I suppose not," said Helen slowly. "But +fire is so dangerous. And to think of putting it in +your mouth! How can you do it, Joe? Oh, it can't +be done!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, there's a trick about it. I haven't mastered +all the details yet, so as to give a smooth performance, +but I can make an attempt at it." +</p> +<p> +"Joe Strong! do you mean to say you know how +to eat fire?" demanded Helen, and now her eyes +showed her astonishment. +</p> +<p> +"Well, not exactly eat it, though that is the term +used. But I do know how to do it. I learned, in a +rudimentary way, when I was with Professor +Rosello—the first man who taught me sleight-of-hand. +He had one fire-eating act, but it didn't +amount to much. He told me the secret of it, such +as it was. +</p> +<p> +"But if I put on that stunt I'm going to make it +different. I'm going to dress it up, make it sensational +so that it will be the talk of the country +where circuses are exhibited." +</p> +<p> +"And won't you run any danger?" questioned the +girl quickly. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I suppose so; just as I do when I work on +the high trapeze or ride my motor cycle along the +high wire. But it's all in the day's work. And now +let's talk about something pleasant—I mean let's +get off the shop." +</p> +<p> +Helen sighed. She was plainly disturbed, but +she did not want to burden Joe with her worries. +She knew he must have calm nerves and an untroubled +mind to do his various acts in the circus +that night. +</p> +<p> +After supper and before the evening performance +Joe made a careful examination of his trapeze apparatus. +Beyond the place where the acid had eaten +into the wire strands, causing them to become weakened +so that they parted, the appliances did not appear +to have been tampered with. Nor were there +any clews which might show who had done the deed. +That it could have happened by accident was out +of the question. The acid could have gotten on the +wire rope in one way only. Some one must have +climbed up the rope ladder to the platform and applied +the stuff. +</p> +<p> +"But who did it?" asked Jim Tracy, when Joe +had told him of the discovery of the acid-eaten +cable. +</p> +<p> +"Some enemy. Perhaps the same one who was +responsible for our loss in tickets this afternoon," +answered the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"Carfax?" asked the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"It might be, and yet he isn't the only man who's +been discharged or who has a grudge against me. +There was Gianni with whom I had a fight." +</p> +<p> +"You mean the Italian? Yes, he was an ugly +customer. But I haven't heard of him for years. +I don't believe he's even in this part of the country." +</p> +<p> +"And we haven't any reason to suppose that Carfax +is, either, after his fiasco in trying to expose +my Box of Mystery trick. But we've got to be on +our guard." +</p> +<p> +"I should say so!" exclaimed the ringmaster. +"And now about your trapeze act, Joe! Are you +going to put it on again to-night?" +</p> +<p> +"Of course. It's billed." +</p> +<p> +"Then you'll have to hustle to rig up a new +rope." +</p> +<p> +"I'm not going to put on a new rope," declared +Joe. "The act went so well when I seemed about +to fall, that I'm going to keep that feature in. I'll +rig up a catch on the severed cable. At the proper +time I'll snap it loose, seem to fall, swing by the +dangling bar as I did before, and land on the platform +that way. It will be more effective than if I +did it in the regular way." +</p> +<p> +"But won't it be risky?" +</p> +<p> +Joe shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> +"No more so than any trapeze act. Now that +I'm ready for the sudden drop I'll be on my guard. +No, I can work it all right. And now about these +extra admissions? What are we going to do about +them?" +</p> +<p> +"Well," said the ringmaster, "maybe we'd better +talk to Moyne about them. If they ring an extra +thousand persons in on us again to-night the thing +will be getting serious." +</p> +<p> +The treasurer was called in consultation with Joe +and Tracy and other circus officials, and it was decided +to keep a special watch on the ticket wagon +and the ticket takers that night. +</p> +<p> +Joe quickly made the change in his trapeze and +tested it, finding that he could work it perfectly. +Then he began to think of his new fire-eating act. +He was determined to make that as great a success +as was his now well advertised ten thousand dollar +mystery box act. +</p> +<p> +The evening performance had not long been under +way, and Joe had done his big swing successfully, +when he was sought out by Mr. Moyne. +</p> +<p> +"The same thing has happened again," said the +treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"You mean more people coming in than we have +sold tickets for?" +</p> +<p> +"That's it." +</p> +<p> +"Well, where do the extra admissions come +from? I mean where do the people get their admission +slips from—the extra people?" +</p> +<p> +"That's what we can't find out," the treasurer +aid. "As far as the ticket takers can tell only one +kind of admission slip for the fifty cent seats is being +handed them. But the number, as tallied by the +automatic gates, does not jibe with the number of +ordinary admissions sold at the ticket office. To-night +there is a difference of about eight hundred +and seventy-five." +</p> +<p> +"Do you mean," asked Joe, "that that number of +persons came in on tickets that were never sold at +the ticket wagon?" +</p> +<p> +"That's just what I mean. There is an extra +source from which the ordinary admission tickets +come. As I told you this afternoon, we are having +no trouble with our reserved seats. There have +been no duplicates there. But there is a duplication +in the fifty cent seats, where one may take his +pick as to where he wants to sit." +</p> +<p> +"Don't we have tickets on sale in some of the +downtown stores?" Joe asked. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes, several of the stores sell tickets up to +a certain hour. Then they send the balance up here +for us to dispose of." +</p> +<p> +"How about their accounts? Have you had them +gone over carefully?" +</p> +<p> +"They tally to a penny." +</p> +<p> +"How about the unsold tickets these agents send +back to us? Isn't there a chance on the way up for +some one to slip out some of the pasteboards, Mr. +Moyne?" +</p> +<p> +"There is a chance, yes, but it hasn't been done. +I have checked up the accounts of the stores, and +there is the cash or the unsold tickets to balance +every time. But somehow, and from some place, +an extra number of the ordinary admission tickets +are being sold, and we are not getting the money for +them." +</p> +<p> +"It is queer," said Joe. "I have an idea that I +want to try out the first chance I get. Save me a +bunch of these ordinary admission tickets. Take +them from the boxes at random and let me have +them." +</p> +<p> +"I will," promised the treasurer. "There is nothing +we can do to-night to stop the fraud, is there?" +he asked. Mr. Moyne was a very conscientious +treasurer. It disturbed him greatly to see the circus +lose money. +</p> +<p> +"I don't see what we can do," said Joe. "If we +start an inquiry it may cause a fight. Let it go. +We'll have to charge it to profit and loss. And don't +forget to let me have some of those tickets. I want +to examine them." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Moyne promised to attend to the matter. Joe +then had to go on in his Box of Mystery trick, and +when this was finished, amid much applause, he +caused Helen to "vanish" in the manner already +described. +</p> +<p> +The circus made considerable money in this town, +even with the bogus admissions, and as the weather +was fine and as the show would exhibit the next +day in a big city for a two days' stand, every one +was in good humor. Staying over night in the same +city where they exhibited during the day was always +a rest for the performers. They got more +sleep and were in better trim for work. +</p> +<p> +The last act was finished, the chariot races had +taken place, and the audience was surging out. The +animal tent had already been taken down and the +animals themselves were being loaded on the railroad +train. +</p> +<p> +As Joe, Helen, and the other performers started +for their berths, to begin the trip to the next town, +the "main top" began coming down. The circus +was on the move. +</p> +<p> +Soon after breakfast the next morning, having +seen that all his apparatus had safely arrived, Joe +visited Mr. Moyne in the latter's office. +</p> +<p> +"Have you a bunch of tickets for me?" asked the +young magician. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, here they are—several hundred picked at +random from the boxes at the entrance. I can't +see anything wrong. If you're looking for counterfeit +tickets I don't believe you'll find them," added +Mr. Moyne. +</p> +<p> +"I don't know that I am looking for counterfeits," +said Joe. "That may be the explanation, or +it may be there is a leak somewhere in the ticket +wagon." +</p> +<p> +"I'm almost sure there isn't," declared the treasurer. +"But of course no one is infallible. I hope +you get to the bottom of the mystery." +</p> +<p> +"I hope so myself," replied Joe, with a smile, +as he put the tickets in a valise. +</p> +<p> +A little later he was on his way downtown. He +had several hours before he would have to go "on," +as he did not take part in the parade, and he had +several matters to attend to. +</p> +<p> +Joe made his way toward a large office building, +carrying the valise with the circus tickets. A little +later he might have been seen entering an office, the +door of which bore the name of "Herbert Waldon, +Consulting Chemist." +</p> +<p> +"Mr. Strong," said Joe to the boy who came forward +to inquire his errand. "Mr. Waldon is expecting +me, I believe." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes," said the boy. "You're to come right +in." +</p> +<p> +Joe was ushered into a room which was filled +with strange appliances, from test tubes and retorts +to electrical furnaces and X-ray apparatus. A +little man in a rather soiled linen coat came forward, +smiling. +</p> +<p> +"I won't shake hands with you, Mr. Strong," he +said, "for I've been dabbling in some vile-smelling +stuff. But if you wait until I wash I'll be right with +you." +</p> +<p> +"All right," assented Joe. And then, as he caught +sight of what seemed to be a number of canceled +bank checks on a table, he smilingly asked: "Have +you been paying your income tax?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no," answered the chemist with a laugh. +"Those are just some samples of paper sent in for +me to test. An inventor is trying to get up an acid-proof +ink. I'm a sort of paper expert, among my +other chemical activities, and I'm putting these +samples through a series of tests. But you'll not be +interested in them." +</p> +<p> +"I don't know but what I shall be," returned Joe, +with sudden energy. "Since you are a paper expert +I may be able to set you another task besides +that of showing me the latest thing in fire-resisting +liquids. Yes, I may want your services in both +lines." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm here to do business," said Mr. Waldon, +smiling. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH8"><!-- CH8 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER VIII +</h2> + +<h3> +JOE EATS FIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +The chemist led the way into a little office. This +opened off from the room in which was the apparatus, +and where, as Joe had become more and +more keenly aware, there was a most unpleasant +odor. +</p> +<p> +"I'll open the window, close the laboratory door, +and you won't notice it in a little while," said Mr. +Waldon, as he observed Joe's nose twitching. "I'm +so used to it I don't mind, but you, coming in from +the fresh air—" +</p> +<p> +"It isn't exactly perfume," interrupted Joe, with +a laugh. "But don't be uneasy on my account. I +can stand it." +</p> +<p> +However, he was glad when the fresh air came +in through the window. The chemist washed his +hands and then sat down at a desk, inviting Joe +to draw up his chair. +</p> +<p> +"Now, what can I do for you?" asked Mr. Waldon. +"Is it fire or paper?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, since I know pretty well what I want to +ask you in the matter of fire," replied Joe, "and +since I've got a puzzling paper problem here, suppose +we tackle the hardest first, and come to the +known, and easier, trick later." +</p> +<p> +"Just as you say," assented Mr. Waldon. "What's +your paper problem?" +</p> +<p> +Joe's answer was to take from the valise several +hundreds of the circus tickets. They were the kind +sold for fifty cents, or perhaps more in these days +of the war tax. They entitle the holder to a seat +on what, at a baseball game, would be called the +"bleachers." In other words they were not reserved-seat +coupons. +</p> +<p> +However, these tickets were not the one-time +blue or red pieces of stiff pasteboard, bearing the +name of the circus and the words "ADMIT ONE," +which were formerly sold at the gilded wagon. +These were handed in at the main entrance, and +the tickets were used over and over again. Sometimes +the blue ones sold for fifty cents, and a kind +selling for seventy-five cents entitled the purchaser +to a seat with a folding back to it, though it was not +reserved. +</p> +<p> +But Joe had instituted some changes when he became +one of the circus proprietors, and one was in +the matter of the general admission tickets. He +had them printed on a thin but tough quality of +paper, and each ticket was numbered. In this way +it needed but a glance at the last ticket in the rack +and a look at the memorandum of the last number +previously sold at the former performance, to tell +exactly how many general admissions had been disposed +of. +</p> +<p> +These numbered tickets were not used over again, +but were destroyed after the day's accounts had +been made up. At first Joe and some others of the +officials had had an idea that the man who was +charged with the work of destroying the tickets, +instead of doing so, had kept some out and sold +them at a reduced price. But an investigation +proved that this was not the case. +</p> +<p> +"Some one is ringing in extra tickets on us," +stated Joe to the chemist. "We want to find out +who it is and how the trick is worked. So far, we +haven't been able to find this out. As a matter of +fact, we don't know whether there are bogus tickets +in our boxes or not. We haven't been able to detect +two kinds. They all seem the same." +</p> +<p> +"Some numbers must be duplicated," said Mr. +Waldon, as he picked up a handful of the slips Joe +had brought. "That's very obvious. The numbers +must be duplicated in some instances." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, we have discovered that," returned Joe. +"But the queer part is, taking even two tickets with +the same number, we don't know which was sold at +our ticket wagon and which is the bogus one. Here's +a case in point." +</p> +<p> +He picked up two of the coupons. As far as eye +or touch could tell they were identical, and they +bore the same red number, one up in the hundred +thousands. +</p> +<p> +"Now," continued Joe, "can you tell which of +these two is the official circus ticket and which is +the bogus one?" +</p> +<p> +The chemist thought for a moment. +</p> +<p> +"Have you a ticket—say one issued some time +ago—which you are positive is genuine?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +"I'm ready for you there," answered Joe. +"Here's a coupon that happened to escape destruction. +It was one sold several weeks ago at our +ticket wagon, before we noticed this trouble. I +bought the ticket myself, so I know. I happened +to be passing the wagon, and a boy was trying to +reach up to buy a fifty cent seat. He wasn't quite +tall enough, so I reached for him. +</p> +<p> +"Then, when I looked at him, I saw that fifty +cents meant a lot to him. I gave him back his half +dollar out of my own pocket, and passed him +in to a reserved seat. But I forgot to turn the +ticket in to the wagon, and it's been in my pocket +ever since. Now I'm glad I saved it, for it will +serve as a tester." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," admitted the chemist, "it will. It's a good +thing you have this. But, Mr. Strong, this is going +to take some time. I'll have to compare all +these tickets with the admittedly genuine one, and +I'll have to make some intricate tests." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hoped you might be able to tell me right +off the reel which of these coupons were good and +which bad," said Joe. "But I can appreciate that +it isn't easy. We certainly have been puzzled. So +I'll leave them with you, and you can write to me +when you have any results. I'll leave you a list of +the towns where we'll be showing for the next two +weeks. And now suppose we get at the fire-eating +business." +</p> +<p> +"All right," was the reply of the chemist. "But +with the understanding that you do all the eating. +I haven't any appetite that way myself." +</p> +<p> +They both laughed, and then, for some hours, +Joe Strong was closeted with the chemist. +</p> +<p> +When Joe emerged from the office of Mr. Waldon +there was a look of satisfaction on the face of +the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"I think I can make quite an act, after what +you've told me," he said. "As soon as I get it perfected +I'll send you word and you can come to see +me." +</p> +<p> +"I will, if you aren't too far away," promised the +chemist. +</p> +<p> +That night, following the closing of the performance, +Joe invited Helen, Jim Tracy, and a few +of his more intimate friends and associates into his +private dressing tent. +</p> +<p> +"I have the nucleus of a new act," he said, when +they were seated in chairs before a small table, on +which were several pieces of apparatus. "Just give +me your opinion of this." +</p> +<p> +Joe lighted a candle, picked up on a fork what +seemed to be a piece of bread, and touched it to the +candle flame. In an instant the object that was on +the fork burst into a blaze, and, before the eyes +of his friends, Joe calmly put the flaming portion +into his mouth. +</p> +<p> +He closed his lips, seemed to be chewing something, +opened his mouth, and showed it empty. +</p> +<p> +"A little light lunch!" he remarked, but his smile +faded as Helen screamed in horror. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH9"><!-- CH9 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER IX +</h2> + +<h3> +THE CHEMIST'S LETTER +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, you'll surely burn yourself!" exclaimed +the startled bareback rider. +</p> +<p> +"Did you get burned?" questioned Mrs. Watson. +</p> +<p> +"Some trick!" declared the snake charmer. +</p> +<p> +For the moment there was some excitement, for +this was a new act for the circus people. +</p> +<p> +Helen soon recovered her customary composure, +and then she explained the cause of her excitement +and the startled cry she had given. She had, of +course, expected some trick with fire when Joe had +summoned her and the others to his own private +part of the dressing tents. But she had not expected +to see him actually put the blazing material in his +mouth. +</p> +<p> +"I thought there was some sleight-of-hand performance +about it," she said. "I had an idea that +you only pretended to put the blazing stuff in your +mouth, Joe. And when I saw it I was afraid you'd +breathe in the flames and—and—" +</p> +<p> +She did not need to go on, they all understood +what she meant, for every one in the circus knew +that Helen and Joe were engaged. +</p> +<p> +"I once saw a little boy burned at a bonfire at +which he was playing," went on Helen. "He died. +Since then the sight of fire near a human being has +always a bad effect on me. But I suppose I can +get over it, if I know there is no danger," she said +with a slight smile at Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I can assure you there isn't the slightest +danger," he declared. "If there was, I should be +the first to give it up. I am as fond of living as +any one." +</p> +<p> +"You don't show it, young man, in some of the +tricks you do," commented Mrs. Watson, with the +freedom befitting a "circus mother," and the privilege +of an old friend. "You must remember that +you don't live only for yourself," and she looked +significantly at Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'll be careful!" promised Joe. "And now +I'll do the trick again for you, and let you see that +it's absolutely harmless. Any of you could do it—if +you knew how." +</p> +<p> +"Excuse me!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "Not for +mine!" +</p> +<p> +However they all watched Joe eagerly and interestedly, +even Helen. He did not seem to make +any unusual preparations. He merely took a drink +of what seemed to be water. Then he ignited something +in the flame of the candle and placed the +burning stuff in his mouth, seeming to chew it with +gusto. +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" exclaimed Helen. But beyond that and a +momentary placing of one hand over her heart, she +did not give way to emotion. Then, as Joe did +the fire-eating trick again, Helen forced herself to +watch him closely. As he had said, he took no harm +from the act. +</p> +<p> +"Tell us how you do it," begged Bill Watson. +"When I get over being funny—or getting audiences +to think I am—I may want to live on something +hot. How do you work it?" +</p> +<p> +"Well," said Joe, "if it's all the same to you, I'd +rather not tell. It isn't that I'm afraid of any of +my friends giving the trick away, and so spoiling +the mystery of it for the crowds. It's just as it +was in my box act. If any of you are asked how +I do this fire trick you can truly say you don't know, +for none of you will know by my telling, not even +Helen, though she is in on the box secret. I'll only +say that I protect my face and mouth, as well as +hands, in a certain way, and that I do, actually, +put the blazing material into my mouth. I am not +burned. So if any one asks you about the act you +may tell them that much with absolute truth. Now +the question is—how is it going to go with the audiences? +We need something—or, at least, I do—to +create a sensation. Will this answer?" +</p> +<p> +"I should say so!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "That +ought to go big when it's dressed up." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, this is only the ground work," said Joe. +"I'm going to elaborate this fire act and make it +the sensation of the season. I've only begun on it. +I got from a chemist the materials I want with +which to protect myself, and I have shown, to my +own and your satisfaction, that I can eat fire without +getting harmed. So far all is well. Now I'm +going to work the act up into something really +worth while." +</p> +<p> +"But you'll still be careful, won't you, Joe?" +asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Indeed I will," he assured her. +</p> +<p> +"Do the trick once more, Joe," suggested Bill +Watson. "I'm coming as close as you'll let me, +and I want to criticize it from the standpoint of +a man in the audience." +</p> +<p> +"That's what I'm after," said Joe. "If there +are any flaws in the act, now is the time to find it +out." +</p> +<p> +Once more he set the material ablaze and put it +into his mouth. Bill Watson watched closely, and, +at the end, the old clown shook his head. +</p> +<p> +"I saw you actually put the fire in your mouth," +he testified. "No one can do more than that. It +takes nerve!" +</p> +<p> +Of course, no one can actually swallow fire and +live. The slightest breath of flame on the lungs +or on the mucous membrane of the throat and passages +is fatal. So when the terms "fire-eating" or +"fire-eater" are used it will be in the sense of its +being a theatrical act. There is a trick about it, +and the trick is this: +</p> +<p> +In the first place, the flame itself is produced by +blazing alcohol. This produces a blaze, and a hot +one, too, but there is no smoke. In other words, +the combustion is almost perfect, there being no +residue of carbon to remain hot after the actual +flame is extinguished. +</p> +<p> +And now as to the actual putting into one's mouth +something that is blazing hot: It all depends on +a very simple principle. +</p> +<p> +If the hand be thoroughly wet in water it may +be safely thrust for a fraction of a second into a +flaming gas jet. But mark this—for the <i>fraction +of a second only</i>. The water forms a protecting +film for the skin, and before it is evaporated the +hand must be taken out of danger. In other words, +there is needed an appreciable time for the fire to +beat the skin to the burning point. +</p> +<p> +This immunity from burns, to which the professional +fire-eaters owe their success, comes from this +film of moisture on their skin. They do not always +use water—in fact, this is only serviceable for a +momentary contact with flame, and, at that, on the +hands or face. In case a longer contact is desired, +a fire-resisting chemical liquid is used. +</p> +<p> +It is about the contact of flame with the tender +mucous membrane surfaces of the mouth and throat +that Joe, as a fire-eater, was most concerned. +</p> +<p> +In the first place, there is a constant film of the +secretion called saliva always flowing in the mouth. +It comes from glands in the throat and mouth, and +is very necessary to good digestion. +</p> +<p> +Now, for a very brief period this saliva, which is +just the same as a film of water on the hand, resists +the fire. But professional fire-eaters do not +depend on saliva alone. They use a chemical solution, +and this is what Joe did when he drank +something from a glass. +</p> +<p> +What that chemical solution was, Joe kept as a +closely guarded professional secret. He feared, too, +that some boy might make it, rinse his mouth out +with it, and then, getting an audience of his chums +together, might try to eat some blazing coals. He +might, and very likely would, be severely burned, +and his parents or those in charge of him would +blame Joe for allowing such dangerous information +to leak out. +</p> +<p> +So, though he guarded all his secrets of magic, +he was particularly careful to keep this one to himself. +</p> +<p> +But Joe protected his mouth and throat with a +fire-resisting liquid, the formula for which was +given him by the chemist to whom he submitted the +circus tickets. +</p> +<p> +The success of Joe and others of his kind depends +also in this on a well known natural law. +It is that there can be no combustion in the ordinary +sense where there is no oxygen. As a candle +will surely go out if enclosed in an air-tight receptacle—that +is, it will go out as soon as it has burned +up all the oxygen—just so surely will flame of any +kind go out when a person closes his mouth on it. +And as there is scarcely any air in the closed +mouth—all of it going down the bronchial tubes +into the lungs—it follows that the flame dies out +almost instantly. That fact being considered, and +the mouth and throat having been previously treated +with the secret chemical, there is really not so much +danger as appears. +</p> +<p> +As a matter of fact, a person inadvertently swallowing +hot tea or coffee will burn or scald his +mouth or tongue much more painfully than will +a professional fire-eater. Most people know how +painful a burned tongue is. +</p> +<p> +Joe told something of the history of fire-eating +"champions" to his audience of friends, for it appeared +that he had been reading up on the subject +and was well informed. Then he announced that +the private rehearsal was over. +</p> +<p> +"But I'm going to work this fire-eating up into +something that will cause a sensation," he said. And +he made good his promise. +</p> +<p> +It was about a week after this, and the circus had +been traveling about, playing to good business, when +Joe received a letter. In the upper left-hand corner +was the imprint of Herbert Waldon, Chemist. +</p> +<p> +"I hope he has some news about the circus tickets!" +exclaimed Joe. For the show had been losing +money steadily by means of the bogus coupons; not +as much as at first, but enough to make it necessary +to discover the fraud. And, so far, Mr. Moyne +had not been successful. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps this explains the mystery," mused Joe +as he opened the letter. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH10"><!-- CH10 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER X +</h2> + +<h3> +THE PET CAT +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +The typewritten sheet of the letter from Mr. +Waldon enclosed two of the engraved circus coupons. +They fluttered to the floor of Joe's private +tent as he tore open the envelope. +</p> +<p> +"Well, either he has discovered something, or he +has sent them back and given up," mused the young +magician. "Let's see what he says." +</p> +<p> +Joe quickly took in the contents of the letter. In +effect it stated that Mr. Waldon had discovered +which were the bogus and which were the real circus +tickets. He first gave an explanation of the +chemical tests he used. Joe read this hastily, but +carefully, then passed to the conclusions arrived at +by the expert, who was an authority on various +kinds of paper, as well as chemicals. +</p> +<p> +"The ticket I have marked No. 1 is a genuine +coupon, issued by your circus corporation," said Mr. +Waldon in his letter. "The slip marked by me as +No. 2 is a counterfeit. You will observe that they +both bear the red ink serial number 356,891. +</p> +<p> +"If you were a paper expert you would observe +that the paper used in the two tickets is different. +There is not a very great difference, and I am inclined +to think that both the genuine and the counterfeit +tickets were made on paper from the same +mill, but of a different 'run.' That is, it was made +at a different time. +</p> +<p> +"The printer who manufactured your tickets +bought his paper from a certain mill making a specialty +of this particular kind. Then some one, who +must know something of your financial and business +interests, had the bogus tickets made, and on +the same kind of paper. But there is a slight difference, +which I was able to detect by means of +chemical reactions. The coloring matter used varied +slightly, though the texture of the two kinds +of paper is almost exactly similar. +</p> +<p> +"Now, having settled that point, the solution of +the remaining equations of the problem rests with +you. I can not tell who had the bogus tickets printed. +You will have to go to the mill making the +paper and find out to whom they sold this kind. In +that way you will learn the names of all printers, +using it, and by a process of elimination you will +get at the one who printed the counterfeits. +</p> +<p> +"This printer may be an innocent party, or he +may be guilty. That is for you and the detectives +to determine. I hope I have started you on the right +track. I shall be interested to hear, my dear Mr. +Strong, how you make out in your fire-eating act." +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell him as soon as I try it on a real audience," +said Joe, with a smile, as he folded the letter. +"And so counterfeit tickets have been rung +in on us! Well, I suspected that, since our own +men were thoroughly to be trusted. Now to get at +the guilty ones. And I shouldn't be surprised if +I could name one of the men involved. But I'll +call a meeting, and lay this before the directors." +</p> +<p> +The Sampson Brothers' Show was incorporated +and was run strictly on business lines. There was a +board of directors who looked after all business +matters, and Joe was soon in consultation with +them, laying before them Mr. Waldon's letter and +the two marked tickets. +</p> +<p> +"It would take an expert to tell them apart," +said Mr. Moyne, as he examined the coupons closely. +"Well, what are we to do?" +</p> +<p> +"In the first place," declared Joe, "we must +change our form of general admission tickets at +once. That will stop the fraud, graft, or whatever +you want to call it. Then we must do as Mr. Waldon +says—look for the guilty parties. We'll have +to hire some detectives, I think." +</p> +<p> +This plan was voted a good one, and steps were +at once taken to change the form and style of the +general admission tickets. Joe also wired for a +man from a well known detective agency to meet +the show at the next town. Then the printing shop +which made the circus tickets was communicated +with. +</p> +<p> +That was all that could be done at present, and +Joe gave his attention to perfecting his new fire-eating +act. +</p> +<p> +He did not give up his mystery box trick, and +he still presented the vanishing lady illusion, Helen +assisting in both of these. Joe also did the big +swing, which always caused a thrill on account of +the danger involved. Careful watch was kept over +the trapeze and other apparatus so that no more +dangerous tampering could he attempted, and Joe +always looked over everything with sharp eyes before +trusting himself high in the air. +</p> +<p> +"Some one evidently has a grudge against me +as well as against the circus in general," he said to +Jim Tracy. +</p> +<p> +"Maybe it's the same person," suggested the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps. Well, as soon as we get some word +from the detectives we can start on the trail." +</p> +<p> +The circus had arrived at a large city, where it +was to show three days and nights, and preparations +were made for big crowds, as the city was +the center of a large number of industries, where +many thousands of men were employed at good +wages. +</p> +<p> +"We'll play to 'Straw Room Only' at every performance," +said Mr. Moyne, rubbing his hands with +glee as he thought of the dollars that would be taken +in. "And I'm glad we discovered the bogus tickets +in time. We'd be out a lot of money if the counterfeits +were to be used here." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But we aren't out of the +woods yet. The same man who imitated the light +green tickets may have the bright blue ones which +we now use for general admission duplicated and +sell them." +</p> +<p> +"We'll have to take that chance," said the treasurer. +"But I'll instruct the ticket takers to be unusually +careful." +</p> +<p> +That was all that could be done. The detective +had reported that he was making an examination, +starting at the paper mill, and was endeavoring to +learn where the bogus tickets had been made. +</p> +<p> +The circus parade had been held and witnessed +by enthusiastic crowds lining the streets. Then +was every prospect of big business, and it was borne +out. +</p> +<p> +Joe wished he had prepared his fire act earlier +but it could not be helped. +</p> +<p> +"I'll have it ready for to-morrow, though," he +said to Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of the first +afternoon in the big city where they were to stay +three days. +</p> +<p> +"Then I'm going to have it advertised," said the +ringmaster, who also sometimes acted as assistant +general manager. "We'll bill it big. You're sure +of yourself, are you?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes," answered Joe with a laugh. "I'll +give 'em their money's worth all right, but it won't +be the big sensation I'm planning for later on. That +will take time." +</p> +<p> +"Well, as long as it's a fire act it will be new +and novel, and it will draw," declared Jim Tracy. +</p> +<p> +It was later in the afternoon, when the circus +performance was over, that Joe and Helen strolled +downtown, as was their custom. Some convention +was being held in the city, and across one of the +principal streets was stretched a big banner of the +kind used in political campaigns. +</p> +<p> +It was hung from a heavy, slack wire from the +brick walls of two opposite buildings, and the banner +attracted considerable attention because of a +novel picture on it. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen were standing in the street, looking +up at the swaying creation of canvas and netting, +when a woman's cry came to their ears. +</p> +<p> +"Look! Look! The cat! The cat is walking +the wire!" she exclaimed. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Helen turned first to see who it was that +had cried out. It was a woman in the street, and +with her parasol she pointed upward. +</p> +<p> +There, surely enough, half way out on the thick, +slack wire, and high above the middle of the street +was a large white cat. It was walking the wire +as one's pet might walk the back fence. But this +cat seemed to have lost its nerve. It had got half +way across, but was afraid to go farther and could +not turn around and go back. +</p> +<p> +As Joe and Helen looked, a woman appeared at +the window of one of the buildings from the front +walls of which the banner was suspended, and, +pointing at the cat, cried: +</p> +<p> +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat! +A hundred dollars reward!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH11"><!-- CH11 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XI +</h2> + +<h3> +THE RESCUE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +The tumult which had arisen in the street beneath +the banner when the crowd caught sight of the +cat was hushed for a moment after the woman's +frantic cry. Before that there had been some laughter, +and not a few cat-calls and exaggerated +"miaows" from boys in the street. But now every +one, even the mischievous urchins, seemed to sense +that something unusual was about to take place. +</p> +<p> +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" cried the +woman, stretching out her arms to the cat from +the window out of which she leaned. "Come back +to me!" +</p> +<p> +The white cat on the wire heard the voice of +the woman and seemed to want to return to its +mistress. But either the cat was not an adept at +turning on such a narrow support, or it was afraid +to try. +</p> +<p> +And, likewise, it was afraid to go forward. There +it stood, about in the middle of the wire, high above +the street, and it clung to its perch by its claws. +</p> +<p> +The banner was hung from the cross wire by +means of several loops of rope, and it was in some +of these loops that the cat had stuck its claws, and +so hung on. +</p> +<p> +As the cat remained there, suspended, the crowd +in the street below increased in size. But from the +time the woman had so frantically called there had +been no more of the cries from the crowd that +might be expected to frighten the animal. +</p> +<p> +"Will some one get my cat?" cried the woman +in a shrill voice, which could easily be heard by +Joe, Helen, and nearly every one else. "I'll give +one hundred dollars in cash to whoever saves him!" +she went on. "Come back, Peter! Come back!" +she appealed. +</p> +<p> +There was a thoughtless laugh from some one +at the woman's anxiety, and some one cried: +</p> +<p> +"There's lots of cats! Let Peter go!" +</p> +<p> +"The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to +Animals ought to get after whoever that was," said +Helen indignantly, and there was an approving murmur +from some of those near her. +</p> +<p> +"Does any one know that lady?" asked Joe, pointing +at the figure in the window. A pathetic figure +it was, too, of an old woman clad in black, as though +she had lost all her friends. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, she's a queer character," said some one +who seemed to know. "Lives up there all alone +in the old house that, except for the upper part +where she is now, has been turned into offices. +</p> +<p> +"She's rich, they say. Owns that building and +a lot of others on this street. But she lives all +alone in a few rooms, and has a lot of pet cats. I +guess that's one which got away." +</p> +<p> +"It got away all right," said another man. "And +I don't believe she'll ever get it back. The cat's +scared to death." +</p> +<p> +"Why doesn't it jump?" asked some one. "I +heard that cats always land on their feet, no matter +how far they fall." +</p> +<p> +"A fall from there would kill any cat," said Joe, +as he handed Helen a small package he had been +carrying—a purchase he had made at one of the +stores. +</p> +<p> +"What are you going to do?" she asked, sensing +that Joe Strong had some object in mind. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to get that cat," he said in a low voice. +"I can't bear to see it harmed, and it can't cling +there much longer. Night's coming on, too, and if +it isn't rescued soon it won't be until morning. I +know what it is to have a pet suffer. I'm going +to get that cat!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, mister, you can't!" cried a small girl who +was standing near by and overheard this remark. +</p> +<p> +"I should say not!" exclaimed the man who had +given a little personal sketch of the woman in black. +"The longest ladder in the fire department won't +reach up to that wire, and they can't use extension +ones, or scaling ones as they could on a building. +You can't get that cat, sir, though I wish some one +could. I don't like to see dumb brutes suffer. But +you can't get it!" +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps I can!" said Joe modestly. +</p> +<p> +He started toward the street entrance of the old +building, from the upper window of which leaned +the pathetic figure of the woman calling to her cat +out on the swaying wire. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe," Helen began, "are you really going +to—" and then she stopped. +</p> +<p> +"I am!" he answered, for he knew she understood. +"Wait here for me. I won't be long." +</p> +<p> +Only a few in the crowd had heard what Joe +said, or understood his intentions as he made his +way through the press of people. The woman at +the window was unaware of the fact that some one +had heard her and was about to heed her appeal. +</p> +<p> +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat!" +she cried again. +</p> +<p> +This time no one laughed. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong, acrobat, athlete, magician, and possessed +of many other muscular accomplishments +started up the stairs. The lower part of the office +building was deserted at this hour, but he made +his way to the place where he judged the woman +lived alone. He was confirmed in this belief by +hearing from behind a closed door the barking and +whining of dogs. +</p> +<p> +"She must keep a regular menagerie," mused +Joe. "Probably these are all the friends she has, +poor old lady!" +</p> +<p> +He knocked on a door that seemed to be the entrance +to the living apartments. There was a cessation +of the barking and whining, and a moment +later a querulous voice asked: +</p> +<p> +"Who is there? What do you want?" +</p> +<p> +"Is that your cat out on the wire?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes! Oh, yes! That's Peter! My favorite +cat! Oh, have you saved him? Have you got him +down? No, you can't have! He's out on that wire +yet!" she cried. And then she opened the door. +</p> +<p> +Joe was confronted by the same woman he had +observed leaning from the window. Her face was +pale, and she was quite elderly. But there was a +kind and pathetic look about her eyes. Once, she +must have been beautiful. +</p> +<p> +Joe had no time to speculate on what might have +been the romantic history of the woman. She looked +eagerly at him. +</p> +<p> +"What do you want?" she demanded. "I never +see any one. I live here alone. I must beg you +to excuse me. I have to see if some one will not, +save my cat." +</p> +<p> +"That is just what I came up for," said Joe, smiling. +"I am a lover of animals myself. I'd like to +save your pet." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, if you will, I'll pay you the hundred dollars!" +cried the woman. "I have it!" she went on +eagerly. "It's in here," and she motioned to the +rooms. They were tastefully, but not lavishly, furnished. +</p> +<p> +"We'll talk about that later," said Joe, with a +smile. "The point is let me get the cat first." +</p> +<p> +"But you can't get him from here—from these +rooms!" the woman in black exclaimed. "He's out +on the wire! You'll have to climb up in some way! +Oh, I don't know how you can do it!" There were +tears in her eyes and she clasped her hands imploringly. +</p> +<p> +"I can't get your cat from the street," said Joe. +"That's why I came up here. I must walk out on +the wire from your window. Have you a pair of +slippers? The older and softer the better—slippers +with thin, worn soles." +</p> +<p> +"Why, yes, I have. But you—you can't walk out +on the wire! It is too small, almost, for my cat! +You can't do it! It is impossible!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no," answered Joe gently, "it isn't impossible. +I have done it before. If you'll let me get +to a window near which the wire is stretched, and +if you will let me take a pair of old slippers." +</p> +<p> +"Come in!" interrupted the eccentric old woman, +opening wide the door. "I don't in the least know +what you intend to do, but something seems to tell +me I can trust you. And if only you can save +Peter—" +</p> +<p> +"I'll try," said Joe simply. +</p> +<p> +The woman began to search frantically in a closet, +throwing out shoes, dresses, and other feminine +wearing apparel. As she delved among the things, +a shout arose from the street, the noise of the voices +floating in through the open window. Joe looked +out. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, has Peter fallen?" cried the woman. +</p> +<p> +That, too, had been Joe's thought. +</p> +<p> +"No," he answered, as he took an observation. +"Your cat has only changed his position a little. +I suppose the crowd thought it was going to fall, +but it's all right. I'll soon have it back to you. Is +it a vicious cat?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no indeed. He's as gentle as can be. But +perhaps he might be so scared now that he wouldn't +know what he was doing. I see what you mean. +Here, I'll give you an old pair of gloves for your +hands." +</p> +<p> +"That's what I want," said Joe. "I can't afford +to have my hands scratched, as I do some legerdemain +tricks. But I need some soft-soled slippers +more than I need gloves." +</p> +<p> +"Here is a pair," said the woman. "They're +mine. I wear large ones, for I like to be comfortable." +</p> +<p> +"They'll fit me," decided Joe, after an inspection. +"Just what I want, too!" +</p> +<p> +He began to take off his shoes. +</p> +<p> +"Do you really mean you are going to walk out +on that wire and get my cat?" asked the woman, +comprehending his intention as she saw Joe putting +on the slippers and drawing on the old gloves she +had given him. They were a man's size, and he +judged she must have used them in rough work +about the house. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going out on the wire to get your cat," he +said. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, but I ought not to let you! You may fall +and be killed! When I said I'd give a hundred dollars +to whoever would save Peter, I did not mean +that any one should risk his life. Much as I love +my cat, I couldn't allow that." +</p> +<p> +"I'll be all right," said Joe easily. "Walking +wires is part of my business. Now don't worry. +And please don't scream if you are going to watch +me." +</p> +<p> +She looked at him curiously. +</p> +<p> +"I am not in the habit of screaming," she said +quietly. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I thought it best to mention it," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +He was now ready for his most novel form of +walking the wire. He moved toward the window +from which the woman had leaned. It was the +same casement whence the cat had started on its +perilous journey. Joe felt sure of himself. The +slippers were just what he needed, with soft, pliable +soles, worn thin. They were the best substitute +he could have found for his circus shoes. +</p> +<p> +The wire from which the banner was suspended +was fast to an eye-bolt set in the brick wall of the +building a little below the sill of the window. It +had been easy for the cat to step out and get on +the cable. +</p> +<p> +Joe appeared at the window. He had taken off +his coat and, in his white shirt, blue tie, and black +trousers, he made a striking figure in the brilliant +sunset light. +</p> +<p> +Instantly the crowd in the street saw him and +divined his intention. Joe doubted not that Helen +was looking up at him. +</p> +<p> +It was an easy step for him from the window +sill to the wire from which was suspended the banner. +He knew it would support his weight in addition +to the big net affair. The size of the cable +and the manner in which it was fastened told him +that. Still he cautiously tried it with one foot before +trusting all his weight to it. The spring of +the wire told him all he needed to know. +</p> +<p> +Pausing a moment to make sure of himself, Joe +Strong started to walk across the wire toward the +clinging cat. The crowd gave one roar of welcome +and approval, and then became hushed. This +was what Joe wanted. +</p> +<p> +Now it was just as if he were doing the act in +the circus. Only there was this difference—there +was no safety net below him. But it was not the +first time Joe had taken this risk. True, beneath +him were the hard stones of the street, but a fall +from the height at which he now was would be +fatal, no matter what the character of ground under +him. He dismissed all such thoughts from his +mind. +</p> +<p> +Slowly, and with the caution he always used, Joe +started on his journey across the wire. The cat +felt his coming, and turned its head, as it crouched +down, and looked at him. But it did not move. +The creature was literally "scared stiff." +</p> +<p> +Foot by foot Joe progressed. Below him the +crowd watched breathlessly. Joe knew Helen was +there, praying for him, though he could not see her. +In the window stood the figure in black, a silent, +hopeful but much worried woman. She kept her +promise not to scream, but Joe realized that the crucial +moment was yet to come. +</p> +<p> +On and on he went nearer and nearer to the +crouching cat. If only the animal would have sense +enough to lie still and not make a fuss when he +picked it up, Joe felt that all would be well. +</p> +<p> +But would Peter behave? That was the question. +</p> +<p> +Joe was now almost over the middle of the street. +Far below him was the crowd—a sea of upturned +faces, reddened by the reflected rays of the setting +sun. The throng was silent. Joe was glad of that. +</p> +<p> +"Keep still now, Peter, I'm coming for you!" +said Joe in a low voice. +</p> +<p> +"That's right, Peter!" added the woman. "Be +a good cat now. You are going to be saved! Keep +still and don't scratch!" +</p> +<p> +Whether the cat heard and understood it is hard +to say. But it uttered a pitiful: +</p> +<p> +"Mew!" +</p> +<p> +Inch by inch, foot by foot Joe advanced. He was +quite sure of himself now. He felt that he could +easily have walked across the wire from building +to building, with the street chasm below him, and +even could have made the return trip. But picking +up the cat and carrying it back was another thing. +It would have been easier for Joe to have carried +a man across on his back. He could direct the +motions of the man. Could he those of the cat? +</p> +<p> +Still he was going to try. +</p> +<p> +On and on he went. The woman in black was +leaning from the window, holding out her arms as +though to catch Joe should he fall. +</p> +<p> +But he did not think of falling. +</p> +<p> +In another few seconds he was standing right +over the cat. He could see the animal's claws tensely +clinging to the rope strands that held the banner. +Now came ticklish work. +</p> +<p> +"Easy, Peter! Go easy now!" said Joe soothingly. +</p> +<p> +He slowly and carefully stooped down. It was +a trick he had often performed in the circus on the +high wire. But never under circumstances like this. +</p> +<p> +Joe's hands came in contact with the fur of the +cat's back. He gently stroked the animal, murmuring: +</p> +<p> +"Come on now, Peter! Let go! Loosen your +claws! I'm not going to hurt you. Let me pick +you up!" +</p> +<p> +Again it is hard to say that the cat knew what +Joe was saying, but it certainly made its body less +tense. The claws were loosed. Joe straightened up, +holding the cat in his arms. He could feel its heart +beating like some overworked motor. +</p> +<p> +A roar arose from the crowd, but it was instantly +hushed. The throng seemed to realize that the return +journey was infinitely more perilous than the +outward one had been. +</p> +<p> +Joe could not turn. He must walk backward +to the window, carrying the cat, which at any moment +might become wild and scramble from his +arms, upsetting his balance. +</p> +<p> +Yet Joe Strong never faltered. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH12"><!-- CH12 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XII +</h2> + +<h3> +THE FIRE ACT +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Realizing that he must use every caution, Joe +Strong had two things to think of. One was himself, +and the other the cat. He could not carry +the creature in his arms, as he needed to extend +them to balance himself. He had walked short +distances along slack wires without doing this, but +in those cases he had been able to run, and his +speed made up for the lack of balancing power of +the extended arms. Now, however, he needed to +observe this precaution. +</p> +<p> +What could he do with the cat? +</p> +<p> +In that moment of peril a boyhood scene arose +to Joe's mind. He recalled that on the farm where +he had lived there was a pet cat which liked to crawl +up his back and curl on his shoulders, stretching +out completely across them and snuggling against +the back of his head. +</p> +<p> +"If I can get this cat to do that I'll be all right," +thought Joe. "I'll try it." +</p> +<p> +Balancing himself, he changed the cat's position +and put it up on his shoulder. Even if it rested +on only one it would leave his hands free and he +could extend his arms and balance himself. But +Peter seemed to know just what was wanted of him. +With a little "mew," the animal took the very position +Joe wanted it to—extended along his back, +close to his head. +</p> +<p> +And not until then did Joe begin to step backward. +Breathlessly the crowd watched him. Step +by step he went, feeling for the wire on which he +placed his feet. And each step made him more +confident. +</p> +<p> +The crowd was silently watching. It was reserving +its wild applause. +</p> +<p> +Step by step Joe walked backward until he heard +the low voice of the woman at the open window. +</p> +<p> +"Shall I take Peter now?" she asked. +</p> +<p> +"Can you reach him?" asked Joe. He knew he +was close to the building. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," she answered. +</p> +<p> +"Then do," said Joe. "He may try to spring off +when he sees himself so close to you. Take him. +I'll stand still a moment." +</p> +<p> +He felt the cat stirring. The next instant he +was relieved of Peter's weight, and then, with a +quick turning motion, Joe himself was half way +within the window and sitting on the sill. +</p> +<p> +He had walked out on the wire, stretched a hundred +feet above the street, and rescued the cat. The +pet was now in the arms of the woman in black. +</p> +<p> +And then such a roar as went up in the crowd! +Men thumped one another on the back, and then +shook hands, wondering at their foolishness and +why there was such a queer lump in their throats. +</p> +<p> +"Oh! Oh!" gasped the woman, as she hugged +Peter to her. "I can never thank you enough—not +in all my life. It may be foolish to care so +much for a cat. But I can't help it. It isn't all +that. I couldn't have borne it to have seen him fall +and be killed." +</p> +<p> +"He's all right now—after he gets over being +scared," said Joe, as he stroked the cat in the arms +of the woman in black. +</p> +<p> +"And now will you let me know to whom I am +indebted?" she asked. "Please come in, and I'll +pay you the reward." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll come in and put on my shoes," said +Joe, with a smile. "I didn't need the gloves," he +added. "Peter was very gentle." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, he's a good cat!" said his mistress. "And +now," she added, when Joe had resumed his shoes +and coat, "will you please tell me your name and +how you learned to walk wires and rescue cats?" +</p> +<p> +"I never rescued cats before," Joe returned, smiling. +"It's something new. But walking wires is +my trade—or one of 'em. I'm with the circus. I +do some tricks and—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, are you the man who gets out of the box?" +she cried. "I have read about that trick." +</p> +<p> +"It is one of mine," said Joe modestly. +</p> +<p> +"I'm so glad to know you!" exclaimed the woman. +She seemed less of a recluse than at first. +"I haven't been to a circus for years—not since I +was a child," she continued, half sadly, Joe thought. +"But I'm coming to-night!" she exclaimed. "I'll +have the janitor look after my cats and dogs, and +I'll go to the circus. I want to see you act. It will +bring back my lost youth—or part of it," she murmured. +</p> +<p> +"Allow me to make sure that you will be there," +said Joe. "Here is a reserved ticket. I will look +for you." +</p> +<p> +"And now let me give you the reward I promised," +begged the woman, as Joe was about to leave. +"I have the money here—in cash," she added quickly. +She went to a bureau, putting Peter down on +a cushion. The cat observed Joe intently. The +woman came back with a roll of bills. +</p> +<p> +"No, really, I couldn't take it!" protested Joe. +"I didn't save your cat for money. I was glad +enough to do it for the animal's sake." +</p> +<p> +"Please take it!" she urged. "I—I am well off, +even if I live here," she said hesitatingly. "I shall +feel better if you take it." +</p> +<p> +"And I shall feel better if you give it to the Red +Cross," said Joe. "That needs it, to help the +stricken, more than I do. I make pretty good +money myself," he added. "And I didn't do this +for a reward." +</p> +<p> +"But I promised it!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, then consider that I took it, and you, in +my name, may pass it on to the Red Cross," said +Joe. "And now, may I ask your name?" +</p> +<p> +The woman told him. It was Miss Susan Crawford. +The name meant nothing to Joe, though he +afterward learned she was a member of an old, +wealthy and aristocratic family. She had had an +unfortunate love affair, and, her family having all +died, she made for herself a little apartment in one +of her many buildings and lived there with her pets—a +recluse in the midst of a big city. It was a +pathetic story. +</p> +<p> +"I wish you would let me reward you in some +way," said Miss Crawford wistfully, as Joe left. +"You did so much, and you get nothing out of it." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes I do," returned the young acrobat. "I'll +get a lot of advertising out of this, and it will be +the best thing in the world for the circus." +</p> +<p> +And Joe was right. The next day the papers all +carried big stories of his wire-walking feat to save +the cat that had ventured out over the street and +was afraid to go back. Bigger crowds than ever +came to the circus. +</p> +<p> +As she had promised, Miss Crawford was at the +evening performance, and Joe introduced a little +novelty in one of his "magic stunts," producing a +cat instead of a rabbit from a man's pocket. As +he held it up he looked over and smiled at the old +lady in black, for he had given her a seat near his +stage. She smiled back. +</p> +<p> +Joe never saw her again. She was found dead +a few months later in her lonely rooms, with her +cats and dogs around her. But Joe always remembered +her. +</p> +<p> +The street wire-walking feat was the talk of the +city, and when, the following day, Joe announced +that he was ready to put on his fire act, which had +been well advertised, every one was on figurative +tiptoes to see what it would be. +</p> +<p> +Joe had made all his preparations, and he had +taken care to provide against danger and accidents. +He realized the risk he was running in handling +fire in a circus tent before crowds of people. But +extinguishers were provided, and one of the fire-fighting +force of the circus was constantly on hand. +</p> +<p> +After the preliminary whistle of the ringmaster +which ended the other acts and prepared for Joe's +new one, the young magician advanced to the platform +and gave a little "patter." +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "in introducing +my new act I wish, first of all, to assure you that +there is no danger. Even though I seem to be in +the midst of fire, do not be alarmed. I shall be +safe, and no harm will come to you." +</p> +<p> +Joe did this to forestall a possible panic. +</p> +<p> +"You have all heard of the ancient salamanders," +he went on. "It is reputed that this animal was +able to live in the midst of fire. As to the truth of +that I can not say. I never saw a salamander, that +I know of. But that fire may safely be handled by +human beings, and not at the risk of being burned, +I am about to demonstrate to you. I shall first +show you how to carry fire about in your hands, +so that if you run short of matches at any time you +will not lack means of igniting the gas, starting +your kitchen range, or enjoying your smoke. While +the stage is being made ready for my main act, I +will show you how to carry fire in your hands." +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH13"><!-- CH13 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XIII +</h2> + +<h3> +A SENSATIONAL DIVE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Striking a match, Joe ignited two candles that +stood on a little table at one side of his stage. On +the other side his assistants were setting up the +apparatus he intended to use in his more elaborate +experiments. +</p> +<p> +"You observe that the trick has not yet begun," +said Joe, with a laugh, as he blew out the match. +"In other words, I am lighting these candles in the +ordinary way—just as any one of you would do it, +if he needed to. In a moment I will show you how +to light the candles in case one is accidentally blown +out and you have no match." +</p> +<p> +Allowing both candles to burn up well, with clear, +bright flames, Joe suddenly blew out one. +</p> +<p> +"Now," he said, "I will show you how to carry +fire in your hands from the lighted to the unlighted +candle. Watch me closely!" +</p> +<p> +Joe cupped his hands around the lighted candle, +seeming to take the flame up in his fingers. When +he removed his hands, which he still held in cup, or +globular, shape, the second candle had been extinguished. +Both were now out. +</p> +<p> +"You will notice that I am carrying the flame in +my hands from one candle to the other," said Joe, +in a loud voice, as he walked across the stage. +</p> +<p> +For an instant he spread his hands, cup fashion, +around the candle he had first blown out. Suddenly +he withdrew his hands, holding them wide apart +and in full view of the audience, and, lo! the unlighted +candle was glowing brightly. +</p> +<p> +There was a moment of silence, and then the +applause broke forth. Joe bowed and said: +</p> +<p> +"That is how to carry fire in your hands. But +please don't any of you try it unless you get the +directions from me." +</p> +<p> +"Tell us how to do it!" piped up a small boy. +</p> +<p> +"Come and see me after the show!" laughed Joe. +</p> +<p> +And, while on this subject, it might be well to +explain how Joe did the trick. It is very simple, but +it takes practice, and an amateur may easily be fatally +burned in the attempt, simple as it is. +</p> +<p> +Joe lighted the candles in the usual way, with a +match, as already explained. There was no trick +about this, nor about blowing out one. But immediately +after that the trick started. Joe placed +a little piece of waxed paper between the first and +second fingers of his left hand as soon as he had +blown out the first candle. This paper was a slender +strip, and could not be seen by the audience. +</p> +<p> +When he cupped his hands around the remaining +lighted candle Joe ignited this waxed strip, taking +care to work it away from his palms and fingers. +It burned with a tiny flame and with scarcely any +heat in the middle of the hollow cup formed by +his hands. +</p> +<p> +As soon as he had ignited the paper Joe, by pressing +the lower edges of his palms against the blazing +wick of the candle, extinguished it. This had +the same effect as though he had "pinched" out the +flame with finger and thumb, as many country persons +put out, or "snuff," candles to-day—for candles +are still much used in some places. +</p> +<p> +Now we have Joe with a little blazing taper concealed +in his cupped hands, advancing to the candle +he first blew out. He placed his hands around this, +lighted the wick from the taper, which he at once +crushed between his fingers, and the trick was done. +</p> +<p> +The candle was lighted, the remains of the little +taper were concealed between Joe's fingers, and it +looked as though he had really carried fire in his +hands. The quickness with which he pinched out +the candle flame, and also smothered the taper after +he had used it, prevented him from being burned +in the slightest. But it is best for a boy unpracticed +and without the dexterity of a professional prestidigitator +not to undertake to play with fire. +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong believed in doing his tricks and acts +artistically and elaborately. He had watched other +performers "dress their act," and he had often improved +on what even stage veterans had done. His +apprenticeship had been a stern but good one. +</p> +<p> +And now he was going to introduce something +novel in his fire-eating tricks, but he was also going +to add to that. He had read considerable of +late about the fire-eating tricks of the old "magicians" +and had delved into many curious old books. +Now he was going to give his audience some of +this information. +</p> +<p> +"There is a trick in everything," said Joe, as he +faced his audience in readiness for the fire-eating +act. "If I told you that I actually swallowed blazing +fire, any physician would know that I was not +telling the truth. I do not really eat the fire. I +only seem to do so. But if in doing so I can deceive +you into thinking I do, and you are thrilled +and amused, you get your money's worth, I earn +mine, and we are all satisfied. So don't be alarmed +by what you see. +</p> +<p> +"The resistance of the human body to heat is +greater than many persons suppose," said Joe. "And +there is a vast difference between wet heat and dry +heat. Water, above one hundred and fifty degrees, +would be unbearable. It would really burn you +badly. Water, as you know, boils at two hundred +and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. But before this +point is reached it is capable of ending life. +</p> +<p> +"Dry heat, however, is different. Men have +frequently borne without permanent discomfort dry +heat up to three hundred degrees. This heat is +often reached in the drying rooms of oilcloth and +oiled silk factories. +</p> +<p> +"Now the fire I handle is dry heat. I would no +more think of pouring boiling water over my hands +than I would of taking poison. And yet I will +show you that I can thrust my hand into a blazing +fire and suffer no harm. +</p> +<p> +"In an old book I read that to enable one to +thrust one's hands into the fire all you had to do +was to anoint them with a mixture of <i>bol armenian</i>, +quicksilver, camphor and spirits of wine. I should +prefer to leave that mixture alone, though in the +book it is said that if one puts that mixture on his +hands he may handle boiling lead. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps some ancient magician did this, but +I think he depended more on water than on anything +else. If your hands are wet there is formed +on them a film of moisture which, for a moment, +will enable you to withstand high degrees of dry +heat. +</p> +<p> +"In another old book I read that if one prepared +himself with 'liquid stortax,' which is juice from a +certain tree growing in Italy, he could enter fire, +bathe in fire, put a burning coal on his tongue, and +even swallow fire. +</p> +<p> +"Now I am not going to let you into all my +secrets. You shall see—what you shall see!" concluded +Joe. +</p> +<p> +As intimated before, the method Joe Strong used +is not going to be printed here. You have been +given some genuine ancient formulae, safe in the +knowledge that some of the ingredients can not be +obtained. And the modern substitutes are not going +to be told. Enough to say that Joe had "prepared +himself." +</p> +<p> +The young magician looked to see that all was +in readiness. Perceiving that it was, he retired for +a moment to a cabinet set up on the stage, and when +he came out he was ready for his tricks. +</p> +<p> +Joe advanced to what seemed to be an elaborate +candelabra in which seven tapers were set. He +stood in front of this a moment, and then he announced: +</p> +<p> +"Having lived on a fire diet so long I have a bit +to spare. I will light these candles without using +a match." +</p> +<p> +He waved his hand over the candelabra. Sparks +were seen to shoot from his finger tips, and in an +instant the seven lights were glowing. That was +an electrical trick. In reality the candles were gas +jets, made to look like wax tapers, and Joe lighted +them from an electric current produced by a dry +battery he carried on his person. +</p> +<p> +He then proceeded to his main trick. He picked +up a plate. It seemed to contain pieces of bread. +Joe touched the edge of the plate to a flame of one +of the candles. In an instant the plate was ablaze, +and Joe calmly began putting the blazing stuff on +it into his mouth. +</p> +<p> +Cube after cube of the blazing "bread" he lifted +up on a fork and thrust between his lips. And +he seemed to enjoy the "eating" of it. +</p> +<p> +The audience was spellbound. Every one's eyes +were on Joe Strong doing his fire-eating trick. +</p> +<p> +The plate was empty. Joe looked about as though +for something else hot to eat. He caught up an +article from a table. Holding it to the flame of a +candle, it was at once ablaze. +</p> +<p> +And then, with a thrilling cry, Joe Strong leaped +from the stage, his two hands, held high above his +head, seeming to be enveloped in a mass of fire. +And with this fire held over him, he ran toward +the tank in which Benny Turton did his "human +fish" act. +</p> +<p> +The next instant Joe Strong, apparently ablaze +all over, dived into the tank. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH14"><!-- CH14 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XIV +</h2> + +<h3> +HEAD FIRST +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Which was the more surprised—Benny Turton, +who had just finished his fish act in his tank, the +spellbound audience, or Jim Tracy, who was, in a +way, directing Joe's performance—it would be hard +to say. All three were thrilled by the unexpected +outcome of the fire-eating act. Joe Strong alone +seemed perfectly at his ease, and, it might be mentioned +incidentally, perfectly at home in the water. +He had, as told in a previous volume, entitled "Joe +Strong, the Boy Fish," perfected himself in this +sort of work, and could remain submerged for an +unusually long time. +</p> +<p> +Of course the fire which seemed to envelop the +young magician was instantly put out when he +leaped into the tank. He was wearing a rather +fancy suit, and as he came up, wet and bedraggled, +Jim Tracy could not help wondering what Joe meant +by his performance. +</p> +<p> +"Joe! Joe! was that part of the act or an accident?" +asked Jim in a low voice, as he ran over to +where Joe was now climbing out of the tank. +For one instant Joe hesitated. The audience was +wildly applauding now. Clearly there was but one +thought in their minds. The whole thing was a +trick—Joe had only pretended to be on fire and had +taken that sensational means of appearing to extinguish +the blaze. +</p> +<p> +But the ringmaster noted a queer look on his +friend's face. It was not the look it usually wore +when Joe had completed some hazardous or sensational +trick. +</p> +<p> +"Are you hurt, Joe—burned?" asked Jim Tracy +anxiously. +</p> +<p> +"No," was the answer. "It was all part of the +act!" +</p> +<p> +The ringmaster looked satisfied, and it was not +until some time afterward that he learned what a +narrow escape Joe had had. +</p> +<p> +"This will be part of the fire-eating stunt at every +show," said Joe to the ringmaster. "You might +make the announcement so the people won't be +scared." +</p> +<p> +"I will! Say, it's some stunt all right!" And +then Jim began with his sonorous "Ladies and gentlemen!" +He stated that the young fire-eater would +show his familiarity with, and mastery over, fire +by setting himself ablaze and leaping into the tank +to extinguish the flames. The ringmaster added +that there would be no danger to either the audience +or the performer in this feature. +</p> +<p> +Joe bowed to the applause that followed, and then +hurried to his dressing room to don dry clothes for +his mystery box trick. +</p> +<p> +"I should think, if you were going to do tank +work, you'd wear a suit better adapted to it—like +mine," said Benny Turton, whose apartment was +next to Joe's in the dressing tent. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to," Joe announced, looking around +to make sure no one overheard. "The fact of the +matter is, Benny, I didn't count on pulling off this +stunt. It was an accident. Some of the alcohol I +use on the tow was spilled on my sleeves and caught +fire. Then more flames burst out. Luckily they +were at my back, so when I ran the flames were +fanned away from me. But I knew the tank was +the safest place to go, and in I jumped." +</p> +<p> +"But I heard you tell Jim it was all arranged." +</p> +<p> +"I did that so the crowd wouldn't get into a panic. +However I am going to work the trick at each performance +after this, only I'm going to wear a different +suit." +</p> +<p> +And Joe did. He had a garment partly made of +asbestos, though outwardly it did not resemble that +fire-resisting material any more than do the asbestos +curtains in theaters. And at the conclusion of +his fire-eating act Joe would seemingly burst into +fire and run blazing across the stage to leap into +the tank of water. +</p> +<p> +This finish to the act never failed to win great +applause. And once in the tank Joe did some of +the under-water tricks that had brought him fame. +He was careful, however, not to duplicate anything +that Benny Turton did, for he did not want to +"crab" the act of his friend. +</p> +<p> +But Joe's fire and water act was one of the big +features on the circus bill. +</p> +<p> +"Is this the sensation you were speaking of?" +asked Helen one day, when they had concluded an +afternoon's performance. +</p> +<p> +"No," answered Joe. "This only came about by +accident. I'm working on something more sensational +yet, and I am going to ask you to help me." +</p> +<p> +"I'm sure I'll do anything I can," said she. +</p> +<p> +"You won't be in any danger," the young magician +went on. "I'm beginning to understand fire +better the more I study it. I'm not getting too familiar, +either, let me tell you. Even a little scorch +is very painful." +</p> +<p> +"I glanced through one of your books the other +day," remarked Helen. "Do you really suppose +some of those old magicians actually handled fire +in the way it is stated?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, at least they pretended to," said her friend. +"There are tricks in all trades, you know." +</p> +<p> +As the circus went on its way business kept up +well, and it was seen that the season was going +to be an excellent one from a financial standpoint. +</p> +<p> +"Any more bogus tickets coming in?" asked Joe +one day of the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"Not since we adopted the new style," was the +answer. +</p> +<p> +"Have the detectives gotten on the trail of the +man, or the men, who cheated us?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Not yet," reported Mr. Moyne. "The last report +I had from them was that they were getting +nearer and nearer to a certain person whom they +suspected. They promise an arrest soon." +</p> +<p> +"That's the usual story," remarked Joe. "However, +we don't so much care about an arrest now +if we have stopped the counterfeit tickets from being +worked off on us." +</p> +<p> +"Well, there's always a chance that the same +thing will happen again," returned Mr. Moyne. +"It's too easy money for the criminals to give up, +I'm afraid. I'm on the lookout every day for +more counterfeits." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll leave it to you," remarked Joe. "Whenever +anything happens let me know and we'll take +some action." +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong was now kept very busy in the circus. +In fact he was what would be called a "star." He +did his mystery box trick, and, with Helen, worked +the "vanishing lady" trick so neatly that no one +guessed how it was done. The ten thousand dollars +was not claimed, successfully, though several +tried it, with the result that several local Red Cross +organizations were enriched by the hundred dollar +forfeit. +</p> +<p> +In addition to these mystery acts, and some more +ordinary sleight-of-hand tricks which he used to +fill in with, Joe did his fire-eating trick, ending that +act with the plunge into the tank. This never failed +to create a sensation. +</p> +<p> +"But it isn't the big sensation I'm after!" said +Joe, when his friends congratulated him. "Wait +until you see that!" +</p> +<p> +Another feature of Joe's performance was his +wire-walking. Since he had rescued the lady's cat +he had added this to his share of the program, and +it was a thriller enjoyed by many audiences. +</p> +<p> +"But it's a little tame," said Joe one day to Jim +Tracy. "I want to put a little more pep into it." +</p> +<p> +"How are you going to do it?" asked the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"I think I know a way," was the answer. +</p> +<p> +And a few days later Joe gave a demonstration. +</p> +<p> +The wire on which he performed was a high one, +stretched between two well-braced poles. On each +pole was fastened a small platform, somewhat like +those high up in the tent where the big swing was +fastened. +</p> +<p> +Joe walked across the wire from one platform to +the other, doing various "stunts" on the slender +support. One day Jim Tracy noticed that a long +to the ground between one of the rings and a wooden +platform. +</p> +<p> +"What's that, Joe?" asked the ringmaster, +"Looks like an extra guy wire for the pole." +</p> +<p> +"No, that's for my new stunt," said Joe. "I'll +show you at this show." +</p> +<p> +The audience watched him performing on the +high wire. Jim Tracy was watching, too, for he +remembered what Joe had said. Suddenly, at the +conclusion of the usual wire-walking feats, Joe +stooped, placed his head on the slanting wire, raised +himself until he was standing with his legs up and +spread apart. Then he quickly flung wide his +hands and slid on his head down the slanting win +to the ground, stopping himself just before he +reached it by grasping the wire in his gloved hands. +</p> +<p> +Jim Tracy, who was sitting on a box, leaped to +his feat. +</p> +<p> +"Head first!" he cried. "That's some stunt!" +</p> +<p> +And the audience seemed to think so, too, from +the way it applauded. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH15"><!-- CH15 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XV +</h2> + +<h3> +THE SWINDLERS AGAIN +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong, having checked his rapid, head-first +and head-on slide down the slanting wire by grasping +it in his gloved hands, gave a "flip-flop" and +stood up, bowing to the loud applause. Jim Tracy +and some of the other circus employees surrounded +the young man. +</p> +<p> +"Why didn't you tell us you were going to pull +off something like this?" demanded the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"Because I wasn't sure until the last minute that +I would do it," answered Joe. "I hadn't practiced +it as much as I should have liked, but when I got +up there on the platform I felt pretty sure I could +do it. I wasn't running much risk anyhow, except +that of failure. I knew I wouldn't fall, for I could +have grabbed the wire in my hands if I had started +to topple over." +</p> +<p> +"But how did you do it?" asked some one, who +came up to join the wondering throng after Joe's +feat had been performed. "I've seen you stand on +your head before, but to slide down a wire—say, +what sort of scalp have you, anyhow?" +</p> +<p> +Joe laughed and held out a close-fitting skull-cap +of leather. Fastened to the leather was a small +steel framework, and in this frame were two small +grooved wheels, like the wheels of a trolley by +means of which street cars receive the electric current +from the wire. Joe put the cap on his head +to show how it enabled him to do the trick. The +big races were on now, as the close of the performance +was close at hand, and the crowd was paying +attention to the contests and not to the group of +performers surrounding the young magician. +</p> +<p> +Once they had seen the cap with the grooved +wheels on top placed on Joe's head, his friends understood +how the trick was done. He had simply +to balance himself on his head on the wire, a feat +he had often performed before. The natural attraction +of gravitation did the rest. He simply slid +down on the wheels, his extended arms and legs +steadying him. +</p> +<p> +"It's just as if you had a roller skate on your +head," said Señorita Tanlozo, the snake charmer, +who had strolled into the main tent after her act +in the side show was over. +</p> +<p> +"Exactly," said Joe, with a smile. "Would you +like to try it?" +</p> +<p> +"Not while my snakes are alive!" she assured +him. +</p> +<p> +"Well, it's another drawing card for the Sampson +Brothers' Show," said Jim Tracy that night when +the receipts were being counted and preparations +being made for moving on to the next city. "How +long are you going to keep it up, Joe?" +</p> +<p> +"As to that, I can't say," was the answer. "But +I like the game, and I want to see the circus a success." +</p> +<p> +"It's a big one now, thanks in a large part to +you," observed the ringmaster. "But you'd better +take a rest now, Joe, my boy. Don't try to pull off +any more spectacular stunts." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I haven't pulled off my big one yet," replied +the young magician. "I mean the one with the fire. +I'm working on that. If it comes out the way I +think it will we'll have to give three performances a +day instead of two." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, we can't do that!" protested Mr. Moyne, +the treasurer. "It's hard enough keeping account +of the money and tickets now, with two shows a +day. If we have three—" +</p> +<p> +He paused, for it was very evident Joe was only +joking, and there were smiles on the faces of the +other circus folk. +</p> +<p> +"Don't worry!" said Joe to the treasurer. "I +don't want to act three times a day any more than +you want to count the tickets and cash. And, I +suppose, if we could, by some means, give three +performances, it would only give our swindling +ticket friends more chance to work their scheme. +By the way, there are no further signs of their +putting bogus tickets on sale, are there?" +</p> +<p> +"Not since we started the detectives at work," +the treasurer answered. "But I'm always on the +watch, and so are the men at the entrances." +</p> +<p> +"It's about time those detectives got results, I +think," declared Jim Tracy. "I wonder what they +think we're paying them for?" +</p> +<p> +"It takes time for a thing like that to be cleaned +up," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I know what I'd do if I were detecting," +half-growled the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +"What?" inquired the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"I'd round up and arrest a certain few worthless +men I know who used to be in the circus business—some +with this show!" declared Jim. "It's queer, +but our outfit seems to be the only one that they +pick on. That's what makes me think it was some +one who used to work for us." +</p> +<p> +"Who?" the treasurer wanted to know. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm not mentioning any names," declared +the ringmaster, as he prepared to divest himself of +his dress suit in readiness for the trip to the circus +train. "But I have my suspicions." +</p> +<p> +"What makes you say ours is the only circus to +have lost money on bogus tickets?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Read it in <i>Paste and Paper</i>," was the answer. +That was the name of the trade journal devoted to +the interests of circus folk, tent shows, and the +like. "The last number had a piece in it about our +losing money on fake tickets," went on the ringmaster, +"and it said it was the first case of its kind +to appear in several years. There have been no +complaints of circuses in other parts of the country +being cheated that way, this article said. So I know +it's some one picking specially on us." +</p> +<p> +"Well, perhaps you're right," assented Joe. "But +as long as we have changed our style of tickets and +they haven't tried their tricks again, maybe we've +settled them." +</p> +<p> +"All the same I'm going to be on the watch," declared +the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +The city where the circus showed the following +day and night was a large one. A new automobile +industry employing many hands had located there +within the last six months. It was decided to make +a stay of two days in this place, since the advance +agent reported that many of the men worked overtime +and nights, and otherwise they could not see +the performance. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'm glad we're to be here two days," remarked +Helen, as she passed Joe's private quarters, +where he was going over some of his apparatus, +costumes, and effects. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, we'll have a good night's rest," he agreed, +though, truth to tell, the circus folk were so used +to traveling that the train journey almost every +night did not bother them. Still they always welcomed +a stay in a city over night. +</p> +<p> +"You seem busy," remarked Helen, as she sat +down on a box and watched Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I'm going to introduce a little novelty in +the slide down the slanting wire," he answered. +"I'm going to work in a fire stunt." +</p> +<p> +"A fire stunt!" exclaimed Helen. "Surely you +aren't going to—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, it won't be dangerous!" Joe assured her, +guessing her thoughts. Helen had learned that the +jump into Benny's tank the first time was due +to an accident. "It's just a bit spectacular and will +liven things up a bit, I think. If it goes well I +have an idea you can work one of the features in +your bareback act." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, I never could walk a wire, nor slide +down on my head, the way you do. And I don't +see how Rosebud could, either." And Helen gave a +merry little laugh at the vision she raised. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm not going to have your horse walk the +tight rope nor the high wire!" laughed Joe. "It +would be a corking good stunt if we could, though. +No, this is simpler. I'll tell you about it later." +</p> +<p> +Mrs. Watson, wife of the veteran clown, called +for Helen just then, asking her to go to see one of +the women performers who was ill. +</p> +<p> +"I'll see you later, Joe," Helen called out, as she +left him. +</p> +<p> +Joe was busy mixing up some chemicals in a pail +on the ground outside his tent when he was accosted +by a rather hoarse voice asking: +</p> +<p> +"Any chance for a job here, boss?" +Joe looked up to see a somewhat disreputable +figure of a man observing him. The fellow looked +like the typical tramp, perhaps not quite so ragged +and dirty, but still in that class. However, there +was something about the man that attracted Joe's +attention. As he said afterward, his visitor had +about him the air of the "profesh." +</p> +<p> +Joe's first impulse was to say that he knew of +no job, or else to refer his accoster to the head +canvas man, who hired transient help in putting +up the main top and in pulling or driving stakes. +But as Joe observed the man curiously watching +him, he had another idea. Before he could act on +it, however, the man exclaimed: +</p> +<p> +"You do a fire-eating stunt, don't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," Joe answered. And then it occurred to +him to wonder how the man knew. True he might +have observed Joe in some of the many performances, +but the man did not look like one who would +spend money on circus tickets. He might have +crawled under the tent, but it did not seem exactly +probable. And, of course, some of the circus employees +plight have pointed Joe out to the man as +the actor who handled fire. But, again, Joe did not +believe this. So he asked: +</p> +<p> +"How did you know?" +</p> +<p> +For answer the man pointed to the pail of chemicals +into which Joe was about to dip a suit of +tights. +</p> +<p> +"Smelled the dope," was the brief answer. +"You're using tungstate of soda, aren't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," answered Joe, surprised that a man, evidently +of such a class, should recognize the not +very common chemical. +</p> +<p> +"We used to use alum in the old days," the man +went on. "I guess the new dope's better, though I +never tried it." +</p> +<p> +"Are you in the business?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I—er—I used to be," and the man +straightened himself up with an air of forgotten +pride. "I was with a circus once—used to do a +fire-eating act and jump into a fake bonfire. I doped +my clothes with alum water though. That's great +stuff for preventing the fire taking hold if you don't +stay in the blaze too long. But, as I say, they've +discovered something new." +</p> +<p> +"You used to be a fire-eater?" asked Joe curiously. +</p> +<p> +"Yes. And I was counted a pretty good one. +But I lost my nerve." +</p> +<p> +"How?" +</p> +<p> +"Well—er—not to put too fine a point on it, I +got too fond of the fire-water. Couldn't stay on the +water-wagon long enough, got careless in my act, +went down and out. Oh, it's the old story. You've +probably heard it lots of times. But I would like +a job now. I'm actually hungry, and I've seen the +time I could blow the bunch to champagne and +lobster." +</p> +<p> +Joe, on impulse, and yet, too, because he had an +object, was just going to offer the man help when +he saw Mr. Moyne coming across the lot toward +him from the ticket wagon. The afternoon performance +was about to start. +</p> +<p> +"They're here again!" cried the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"Who?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"The ticket swindlers!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH16"><!-- CH16 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XVI +</h2> + +<h3> +RINGS OF FIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Instantly Joe Strong lost interest in the "tramp +fire-eater," as he afterward came to call the man. +All the attention of the young magician was centered +on what the treasurer had said. +</p> +<p> +"Are you certain of this?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Positive!" was the answer. "We've been keeping +careful watch, paying special attention to the +red serial numbers, and some duplicates have been +taken in at the main entrance. The swindlers are +at work again." +</p> +<p> +"But our new tickets!" exclaimed Joe. "The new +style of paper and the precautions we have taken! +What of that?" +</p> +<p> +In answer Mr. Moyne held out two tickets, both +bearing the same serial number in red ink. +</p> +<p> +"Which is the bogus and which is the genuine?" +he asked. +</p> +<p> +Joe looked carefully at the two. He examined +them for a full minute. +</p> +<p> +"I can't tell!" he admitted. +</p> +<p> +"And no one else can, either," declared the treasurer. +"We're up against it again! Those fellows +are too clever for us. Now we'll lose a lot of +money!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, it won't break us," said Joe easily. +"Though, of course, no one likes to be cheated. +The only thing to do is to get the detectives busy. +Let them know the new turn affairs have taken, +and I'll send these two tickets to our chemist friend. +He can tell which is printed from our regular stock, +and which is the counterfeit. +</p> +<p> +"Then, too, it ought to be easier to catch the +rascals now than it was at first. You see, we didn't +know how long the old tickets had been counterfeited. +Now we're warned, first shot out of the +box, about the new ones. And since the paper mill +hasn't been supplying our printer with the new kind +of paper very long, it ought to be easy to trace +where the new and clever counterfeit supply is coming +from." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hope they can catch the scoundrels," +said Mr. Moyne. "I certainly hate to see money +lost." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Moyne was an ideal treasurer. He always +had the interests of the circus at heart, and one +would think that the money came out of his own +pocket to hear him talk about the counterfeit tickets. +In a way he did lose, personally, since he was +one of the owners of the show, and the less money +that came in the less his stock dividends would +amount to. +</p> +<p> +"I'll write to Mr. Waldon to-night," said Joe, +as he took the two tickets. "And we'll notify the +detectives. Now I must get ready for my act. That +can't be dropped." +</p> +<p> +"Having trouble, eh?" asked the tramp, who had +moved a little to one side. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, well, just a little," admitted Joe, who was +not altogether pleased that this talk should have been +overheard by a stranger. +</p> +<p> +"Did you say there was any chance for a job?" +asked the ragged man. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I don't know," said Joe, rather doubtfully. +"Is that straight goods, about your being a fire-eater?" +</p> +<p> +"I was once. But I'm not looking for that kind +of a job now," was the quick answer. "I lost my +nerve, I tell you. Handling stakes or driving a +wagon would be my limit." +</p> +<p> +"What sort of an act in the fire line did you +have?" asked Joe, for a certain idea was beginning +to form in his mind. +</p> +<p> +"It was a good act!" was the response, and again +the spark of pride seemed about to be fanned into +a flame. "Got any old-timers in this here circus of +yours?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," answered Joe. "There's Jim Tracy and +Bill Watson and—" +</p> +<p> +"Bill Watson who used to clown it?" cried the +man eagerly. +</p> +<p> +"He clowns it yet." +</p> +<p> +"Old Bill!" murmured the tramp. "Him still +making good in the business, and me a bum! Well, +it's all my own fault. If I'd stuck to the fire-eating +and not drinking fire-water I'd be somewhere to-day. +Just ask Bill Watson what sort of an act +Ham Logan had—'Coal-fire Logan!'" exclaimed +the man. "That was my title. Hamilton Logan is +my name, but I haven't told any one in—not in a +long time," he added, and he looked away. "But +ask Bill Watson about me." +</p> +<p> +"Here he comes now," said Joe, as he observed +the veteran clown approaching. "Suppose you ask +him yourself." +</p> +<p> +For an instant Ham Logan hesitated. Then he +stepped forward and confronted the old clown. The +latter paid no attention at first, evidently thinking +the man one of the many hangers-on about a circus +ground. +</p> +<p> +"Joe," began Bill Watson, "Helen sent me to ask +you if you have any ammonia in your kit—I mean +the kind they give the ladies when their hearts are +weak, or something like that. One of the girls has +some kind of a little spell, and we can't find the doctor." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I have some ammonia," said Joe. "I'll get +it." +</p> +<p> +Ham Logan looked Bill Watson in the face, and +asked: +</p> +<p> +"Don't you remember me?" +</p> +<p> +"Can't say that I do," was the somewhat cool +response of the veteran clown. "Is there any reason +why I should?" +</p> +<p> +"Do you remember Coal-fire Logan?" +</p> +<p> +Bill Watson started, looked more closely at the +man, and then slowly asked: +</p> +<p> +"Are you Ham Logan?" +</p> +<p> +"What's left of me—yes." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll be gum swizzled!" exclaimed Bill. +"Say, did the elephant step on you or one of the +tent wagons roll over you?" +</p> +<p> +"Neither one. I'm down and out, that's all—and +it's enough, too." +</p> +<p> +"Well, that's enough, I should say," commented +the clown, as he took the bottle of stimulant Joe +handed him. "Last I heard of you you'd gone on a +theater circuit. That was just after you'd quit the +Dobling show." +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I did do a theater circuit," admitted Ham +Logan. "But it didn't last. Or rather, I didn't last. +I was just asking the young man here for a job. +I said you'd remember me." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I certainly do," returned the old clown, +who was not to do his act until later in the day. +</p> +<p> +"And I'm sorry to see you in this state, Ham. You +did me a good turn once, and I haven't forgotten. +Stick around a while, and I'll see you as soon as I +play first-aid. Joe, if it isn't asking too much, will +you look after Ham for a while? He used to be a +good sort, and—" +</p> +<p> +"Better say too much of a 'good <i>sport</i>'" paraphrased +the man. +</p> +<p> +"I'll take care of him," promised Joe. "Did you +say you were hungry?" asked the young magician, +as the old clown turned and hurried away with the +ammonia. +</p> +<p> +"You said it! But I'm not altogether a grafter. +I can work for what I eat." And again there was +a flash of pride. +</p> +<p> +"We'll talk of that later," said Joe. "Just now +I want to get you something to eat. Here, take that +over to the dining tent," and he scribbled a few +words on one of his cards. "After you've eaten all +you want, and after the show this afternoon, look +me up." +</p> +<p> +"Do you think you can give me work?" asked +the man eagerly. "I don't mean to act," he hastened +to say. "I'm past that—down and out. But +I'm strong. I can pull on the ropes or drive +stakes." +</p> +<p> +"We'll talk of that later," replied Joe gently. "Go +and eat now." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I sure can feed my face!" exclaimed the +man. "I—I don't know how to thank you. Bill +will tell you that I wasn't a bad fellow in my day. +I just lost my nerve—that's all. False friends and +fire-water—" +</p> +<p> +"See me later," said Joe, with a friendly wave +of his hand. And the man hurried toward the dining +tent, next to the cook wagons. Already he +seemed imbued with more hope and pride, something +that filled Joe with pleasure. +</p> +<p> +Joe busied himself with mixing the chemicals in +the pail. As Ham Logan had guessed, the young +fire-eater was mixing up a solution of tungstate of +soda. This chemical is a salt, made by roasting +wolfram with soda ash, and wolfram is a native +tungstate of iron and manganese. This soda preparation +is used commercially in making garments +fire-proof, and Joe had learned this from Mr. Herbert +Waldon, the chemist. He had decided to use +this instead of an alum solution, which is credited +with great fire-resisting qualities. It has them, too, +to a certain extent, but by experimenting Joe had +found the tungstate of soda best. +</p> +<p> +It was the evening of the circus in the city in +which the show was to remain two days. Ham Logan +had returned to Joe after having eaten a good +meal, and later Bill Watson formed the third member +of a trio that talked for some time in a corner of +Joe's tent. +</p> +<p> +As already said, it was the evening performance, +and as Helen finished her act on Rosebud she looked +over toward the place where Joe was preparing to +do his slide down the slanting wire. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what he had in mind as a new act +for me," mused Helen. "I do hope it isn't anything +to do with fire. That sort of stunt creates a +sensation, but it's dangerous, in spite of what Joe +does to himself. I don't like it! Not after what +happened to Joe that day!" +</p> +<p> +She had seen that Rosebud was given in charge +of the groom who always looked after the clever +steed, and now Helen moved over where she could +watch Joe's comparatively new wire act. +</p> +<p> +As she approached this part of the circus tent +Helen was startled to see several men carrying large +hoops on long poles, take their positions on either +side of the slanting wire down which the daring performer +was soon to slide on his head, by means of +the wheeled cap. +</p> +<p> +"That's something new!" exclaimed Helen, as she +saw the men with the big hoops. "I wonder if Joe +is going to jump through them, as I jump through +the paper hoops from Rosebud's back?" +</p> +<p> +Joe was up on the little platform now, having +finished his wire act. He was adjusting to his head +the leather cap. +</p> +<p> +"Ladies and gentlemen!" began Jim Tracy in his +sonorous voice, as he pointed to Joe on his high +perch, thus calling attention to the performer. +</p> +<p> +All eyes were turned in his direction. Then, as +Joe stooped over and stood on his head, preparatory +to sliding down the wire, the hoops, which the men +held over the cable by means of long poles, suddenly +burst into flame. Held over the wire, down +which Joe would in a moment slide, was a row of +fiery circles! +</p> +<p> +Helen held her hand over her lips to stifle a +scream. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH17"><!-- CH17 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XVII +</h2> + +<h3> +THE BROKEN BOTTLE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +So still was it in the big circus tent after the band +stopped playing, while Joe prepared to do his head +slide, that the whirr of the steel wheels in his leather +cap could plainly be heard as he slid down the wire. +</p> +<p> +And as Helen and the others watched, the intention +of the daring young performer became evident. +</p> +<p> +He was going to coast through the blazing hoops +of fire which the men held in such a position that +Joe could slide through them without touching them. +Though they were called "hoops," in reality they +were not completely closed, there being a slight +opening to enable them to be slipped over the slanting +wire. If a gigantic letter "C" with a long pole +fastened to the lower curved part, can be imagined, +it; will give an exact idea of what is meant. +</p> +<p> +As to the fire itself, it was caused by blazing +bits of tow fastened to the circumference of the +big wire hoops. And thus through the blazing +circles Joe Strong slid down the slanting wire on +his head. At the lower end of the wire, where it +was fast to a stake in the ground, he caught hold +of the cable in his gloved hands and so slowed his +speed. Then he leaped to his feet and bowed in +acknowledgment of the applause. +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" murmured Helen, as she watched. "It +was only another of his sensational acts. When I +first saw the blazing hoops I half thought that some +one was trying to injure Joe, as they did when the +acid was used on his high trapeze. Oh, it was only +a trick!" +</p> +<p> +And so it was. Joe had planned it that day after +meeting Ham Logan. The latter, talking about the +time when he, too, had been a fire-eater, had mentioned +an act where a performer leaped through +blazing hoops, and Joe determined to use the idea, +varying it to suit his purpose. That it was effective +was evidenced by the long-continued applause. +</p> +<p> +"But, Joe," asked Helen, when the performance +was over and she and Joe had received another +ovation at the conclusion of the box mystery and +the vanishing lady trick, "wasn't there danger of +setting your clothes on fire when you went through +the blazing hoops?" +</p> +<p> +"None at all," Joe assured her. "I have been +planning a stunt like this for some time, and my +garments were fire-proofed. Of course I wouldn't +have done it otherwise. Look here!" +</p> +<p> +He took up a fancy jacket he had worn in his +wire slide. Taking a match Joe lighted it and held +it against the cloth. It did not take fire. +</p> +<p> +"There was that day—" +</p> +<p> +"But I have perfected the act since then, Helen. +Of course the tungstate of soda that I soaked the +clothes in wouldn't keep them from catching fire +if I put the suit in a furnace. But the solution +will make cloth resist a blaze temporarily, as will +alum under some circumstances. I use alum on +the suit I wear when I pretend to set myself on +fire and then jump into the tank of water," went +on Joe. "But after this I'm going to use the soda. +It's more certain." +</p> +<p> +Joe worked the trick of seeming to set himself +ablaze in this way. As he said, his suit was made +as nearly fireproof as possible. Then on the back +of his jacket were placed some bunches of tow +saturated with alcohol. When this tow was set on +fire it burned quickly, but Joe knew the flame would +not last long. And the fact that the garments on +which the burning material was fastened were as +nearly fireproof as was possible to make them gave +him additional safety. He really ran little risk, as +the fire was at his back, and, as he ran toward the +tank, his speed carried the flames away from him. +</p> +<p> +Joe, and all others who do a fire-eating act, calculate +to a nicety just how long a certain fire will +burn. And they do not place the blazing material +into the mouth until the flames are almost on the +point of going out of themselves. This, added to +the fact that a chemical solution protects the tongue +and lips, makes the act comparatively safe. But +one word of caution. <i>Do not try to fire-proof the +mouth with tungstate of soda</i>. This warning cannot +be made too strong! +</p> +<p> +In fact, it is well not to try any fire-eating <i>at all</i>. +It is too risky unless one is a professional. +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe," remarked Jim Tracy, later that night +when most of the circus folk were asleep, "if you +want to add this fellow to our show, go ahead. +You have the say, you know." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I don't want to do it in just that way," +replied the young fire-eater. "Bill Watson says that +Ham Logan was once a good man. He is down +and out now, but he knows a lot about circus life +and this handling of fire. I believe I can work him +up into something useful—use him in a new act +I'm thinking of putting on. If we can only keep +him away from intoxicants he'll be all right, and +I'd like to give him a chance." +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe, as I said, it's up to you. Go to it! +But remember, while he means all right, he may +not have the spunk to keep his promise not to drink." +</p> +<p> +"I think he'll keep it," said Joe. "Anyhow, I'd +like to give him a trial. He helped me with that +fire hoop stunt, and it would be an act of charity +to give him work." +</p> +<p> +"All right—you can be the charity," said the ringmaster. +"What do you say, Bill Watson?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, give him a chance," replied the old clown +good-naturedly. "We all have our troubles. He +can't do much harm, anyhow." +</p> +<p> +"I don't know about that," said Jim, with a shake +of his head. "This playing with fire by a man +who can't keep away from fire-water, is risky." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll take the chance," said Joe. And that +was characteristic of him—taking chances. +</p> +<p> +Ham Logan was deeply grateful to Joe for what +the young performer did. That is, he hired the +former fire-eater as a sort of handy man in the +circus, Ham to be subject to Joe's direction day and +night. +</p> +<p> +"And let the fire-water alone!" demanded Joe. +"I will! I really will!" said the old circus performer. +He seemed to mean it. +</p> +<p> +Joe advanced him money enough to get some +better clothes, to have a bath and be shaved, and +it was quite a different person who appeared at the +tent the following day, ready to help Joe. As Ham +knew more about fire than any assistant Joe had +yet been able to train, the new man was given +charge of the various apparatus Joe used in his sensational +acts, including the one of sliding down the +wire on his head through the blazing hoops. +</p> +<p> +One matter bothered Joe and his friends, in spite +of the great success the circus was having, and this +was the bogus tickets. Several hundred of them +were presented at the performances in the city where +the two-day stay was made—the city already mentioned +as being the location of a big automobile +industry. And where the tickets came from remained +a mystery. They were so nearly like the +ones issued from the ticket wagon that not until +duplicate numbers had been observed could the +fraud be detected. +</p> +<p> +And as the men at the main entrances had no time +in the rush to compare serial numbers, there seemed +no way of stopping the cheating. It was impossible +to see to it that every one who came to the show +purchased admission tickets at the wagon. The +surging crowds around prevented this. +</p> +<p> +Men engaged by the circus circulated through the +throngs about the tent, seeking to learn whether any +unauthorized persons were selling bogus tickets. +But none was seen. +</p> +<p> +"It is evident," said Mr. Moyne, "that the counterfeiters +get a bunch of the fake tickets and sell +them in large lots to some men. These men, in +turn, dispose of them at reduced prices to others, +and perhaps the persons who use the tickets do not +know they are counterfeits. I believe the swindlers +go to the big factories and stores, and sell the +tickets at a slightly lower price than we ask." +</p> +<p> +"We ought to be able to put a stop to that," said +Joe. +</p> +<p> +"We'll try it!" said the treasurer. "It seems the +only way—that and having the detectives stop the +fraud at the source. You see, we can't tell which +are the counterfeit tickets until after we check up +the serial numbers—that's what makes it so hard." +</p> +<p> +And so, in spite of the success of Joe's acts and +The success of the show in general, there was this +element of annoyance. Joe wished the mystery +could be cleared up. He had received back from +the chemist the two tickets sent on last, and the +counterfeit was marked. This was sent to the paper +mill and the detectives notified. That was all that +could be done for the present. +</p> +<p> +"Well, how's Coal-fire Logan making out?" asked +Bill Watson of Joe one day, just before an afternoon +performance. +</p> +<p> +"Very good," was the answer. "He's faithful +and steady, and he's good help to me. He certainly +knows the fire-eating stunt." +</p> +<p> +"Well, as long as he doesn't do any fire-drinking +maybe he'll be all right," said the old clown. +</p> +<p> +"I haven't noticed any lapse," said Joe. "I have +great hopes of him." +</p> +<p> +But that very afternoon, during the performance, +Joe felt doubt beginning to creep over him. +He caught Ham in several mistakes—slight ones—but +enough, if not noticed in time, to have spoiled +the act. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what the matter is with him?" mused +Joe. "He doesn't seem to have been drinking, and +yet he acts queer. I wonder if he can be using +drugs." +</p> +<p> +It was at the close of the act and the wind-up +of the circus for the afternoon that Joe told Ham +to put away some of the apparatus until evening. +Joe was called away from his dressing room for a +moment and when he came back he saw Ham hastily +throw away a dark brown bottle which struck on +a stone and broke. Immediately a queer odor filled +the air. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder if that was liquor he was taking, and +if he threw away the empty bottle," thought Joe +quickly. "I'm going to find out, I've got to stop +this thing at the start." +</p> +<p> +He hurried to the place where Ham had tossed +the bottle. The fragments lay there, and the queer +odor was more pronounced. +</p> +<p> +"Don't touch that! Let that bottle alone!" suddenly +cried Ham Logan, as he became aware of +Joe's intention. "Don't touch it!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH18"><!-- CH18 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XVIII +</h2> + +<h3> +A NARROW ESCAPE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this +warning and observed the face of the man he was +befriending. His first thought was that Ham had +broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. +Naturally the man would want to conceal +this as long as possible. The other thought was +that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick—perhaps +he was jealous of Joe's success and his own +failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's apparatus. +Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property +the brown bottle, which when broken emitted +such a queer smell. +</p> +<p> +Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not +heeding the warning call of the former circus star, +he walked closer to the broken flask. +</p> +<p> +"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. +"Keep away!" +</p> +<p> +"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence. +</p> +<p> +"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very +dangerous." +</p> +<p> +"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to +know. "Look here, Ham," he said earnestly, "are +you up to—any of your old tricks? You know +what I mean. Are you?" +</p> +<p> +The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in +the face, he said: +</p> +<p> +"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer +you as straight. I haven't broken my promise—that +is, only the times you know about. I haven't +broken it this time. I found that bottle in among +your things, and I was mighty sure it didn't belong +there." +</p> +<p> +"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though +he had dabbled in chemistry, he did not recognize +the queer odor. +</p> +<p> +"A combination of the strongest acids ever +known!" was the answer of Ham Logan. "A drop +of it makes a terrible burn, and it will eat through +solid steel and iron. I knew that if it broke where +it was, among your trick things, a lot of them would +be ruined. And I knew you couldn't have left the +bottle there by mistake, as it wasn't there the last +time I packed away your duds. And I knew if you +knew what it was you wouldn't have left it around +in that careless way. So, taking no chances, I threw +it away, and I meant to break the bottle. That acid +is awful stuff. It's best to let it soak into the ground. +Come over and see what it does even to earth and +stones." +</p> +<p> +He led the way to where the fluid had escaped +from the broken flask, the fragments of which were +scattered about. The odor was less strong now, +as the acid was soaking into the earth. But there +was a fuming and bubbling at the spot, and the +very stones and earth seemed to be burning up in +a small area. +</p> +<p> +"Don't step in it!" warned Ham Logan. "It will +eat right through your shoes. Glass is the only +thing it won't hurt—glass and porcelain. They +mix it in porcelain retorts. I'll throw some loose +earth over this place. The effects of the acid will +soon be lost, but while it's active it's terrible stuff, +believe me!" +</p> +<p> +"And you say you found that bottle in my baggage?" +asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," answered Ham Logan. "And am I right +in saying you didn't know it was there?" +</p> +<p> +"I certainly didn't," declared Joe. "Who in the +world could have put it there?" +</p> +<p> +"Have you any enemies?" asked Ham. "I mean +some one who would like to see your circus acts +spoiled, or even see you laid up for a while?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, I guess perhaps there are some I've made +enemies of by having to discharge them, or something +like that," admitted Joe, his thoughts going +naturally to Bill Carfax. "There's one man, but +he hasn't been seen around for a good while." +</p> +<p> +"That doesn't count. He may have gotten some +one to do his trick for him," asserted Ham. "You'd +better look out, Mr. Strong." +</p> +<p> +"I will!" declared Joe. "And thank you for your +watchfulness. As you say, I didn't know that bottle +was there, and I might have broken it by accident +or have opened it and spilled some out. How +did you come to discover it?" +</p> +<p> +"Just by accident. The smell is something you +never forget. It comes up even around the glass +stopper. As soon as I began overhauling your +things, as you told me to, I smelled the stuff and +I went on a still hunt for it. +</p> +<p> +"I was careful, too. I knew what it meant to +get any of that acid on you, or on any of the things +about you. I used to work in the chemical plant +where they made the stuff—that was after I left +the circus. Well, it can't do any harm now," he +said as he got a shovel and covered with clean earth +the bits of broken glass and the still fuming drops +of add. +</p> +<p> +"Thank you," said Joe fervently. +</p> +<p> +He went into his private tent. Presently he came +out with a bit of wire cable, such as is used in making +circus trapezes. One end was blackened and +partly fused, as though it had been in the fire. Joe +held out this bit of wire rope. It was part of the +trapeze he used in his big swing. +</p> +<p> +"What would you say had eaten through these +strands?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +Ham Logan looked carefully at the cable. He +sniffed it cautiously. He held it up to the light +and again smelled it. +</p> +<p> +"It was this same acid that ate those strands," he +declared. "I know how it used to eat metal out at +the chemical works, and it does so in a queer way. +This wire rope is eaten through just like that. +There isn't any odor left, though sometimes it lasts +a long time. But I'm sure the same kind of acid +was used. You don't mean to tell me you have been +experimenting with it!" and he looked in surprise +at Joe. +</p> +<p> +"No indeed!" and the young fire-eater shook his +head. "I never handle the acid. And the fact that +the cable was eaten through nearly caused an accident." +He then explained how he had discovered +the partly severed wire rope just in time. +</p> +<p> +"They must have put on a weak solution of the +acid," declared Ham. "Otherwise it would have +eaten the rope through in jig time. So that's the +game, is it? Well, they may have been trying it +on a larger scale. Did you find out who doped the +rope?" +</p> +<p> +"There was a man who might have done it," said +Joe, thinking of Harry Loper. "But I don't believe +he did." +</p> +<p> +"Is he still with the show?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes. I'll tell you all the circumstances," which +Joe did, mentioning Loper by name. +</p> +<p> +"Well, we won't say anything," declared Ham +Logan; "but I'll just keep my eyes on this Loper. +As you say, he may not have done it, but he may +know who did. I'll keep my eyes on him. Meanwhile +be careful in overhauling your things. Look +out for bottles that smell as this one did." +</p> +<p> +"I will!" promised Joe. "I guess I won't forget +that odor. I can't tell you how I thank you, Ham. +You've done me a good turn!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, you did me one," was the answer. "I +was down and out when you gave me work, and I +won't forget that in a hurry." +</p> +<p> +Joe pondered over what had happened as he performed +his circus acts the remainder of that day +and evening. He shuddered at the narrow escape +he had had, and, when he had a chance, he carefully +noted the conduct of Harry Loper. But that +young fellow did not seem at all to act like one who +had tried to do a dastardly trick. He was jolly +and good-natured, as he always was, albeit somewhat +of a weak character. +</p> +<p> +The circus performances went off well, Joe and +the other actors receiving wild applause as they did +their specialties. Joe's fire-eating was eagerly +watched, and when he slid down the rope on his +head, through the blazing hoops, the crowd went +wild, as they did when, seemingly all afire, he leaped +into the tank. +</p> +<p> +"When you going to spring that sensation you've +been talking of, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, at the conclusion +of one afternoon show. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, pretty soon now," was the reply. "Ham +Logan and I are working on it." +</p> +<p> +"Ham Logan! Is he going to be in it with you?" +asked the ringmaster in some surprise. +</p> +<p> +"Of course!" answered Joe. "It's partly his idea. +He's an old fire-actor, you know, and he's given me +some good suggestions. Yes, he's going to help me. +I think we'll put the act on next week. We've got +to train some new performers first." +</p> +<p> +"New performers! Say, what are you going to +do, Joe, take a troupe of fire-eating actors out on +the road?" +</p> +<p> +"Something like that, yes," answered the young +magician, with a laugh. "You'll see." +</p> +<p> +Joe Strong varied his acts in the circus tent +Sometimes he would omit the "vanishing lady" act, +as Helen wanted to put through some extra work +with Rosebud, and there was not time for both. +Again he would leave out some of his acrobatic +work, or perhaps not do the trick of seeming to +catch fire and extinguishing the flames in Benny +Turton's tank. Once in a while he would omit the +ten thousand dollar mystery box trick. +</p> +<p> +But on the day when he had the above conversation +with Jim Tracy they were showing in a large +factory town. There had been good business in +the afternoon, and Joe had not done the box trick. +But just before the evening show Jim came to Joe +and said: +</p> +<p> +"There've been several requests, Joe, that you put +the box trick on to-night." +</p> +<p> +"Requests from whom?" Joe asked. +</p> +<p> +"One of the newspaper men was telling me they +received a lot of telephone calls to-day asking if the +box trick would be done and the reward paid in case +some one discovered the way it was done." +</p> +<p> +"What did you say?" +</p> +<p> +"I said I thought you'd put the trick on in that +case. Don't you think you'd better? We didn't +advertise it specially for to-night, but there might +be a lot of sore-heads if we don't pull it off." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'll do it all right!" declared Joe. "I thought +it was getting a bit stale. But if the crowd wants +to see it I'll do it." +</p> +<p> +"I guess it will be better," said the ringmaster. +</p> +<p> +Accordingly, at the proper time, Joe, in his dazzling +white suit, took his place in the silk-curtained +enclosure. Helen, in her black dress, was ready to +help him. The fireman, with his gleaming ax, ready +to chop Joe out of the box in case anything should +go wrong, was also on the stage. +</p> +<p> +As has been related in the other book, this last +was done only for effect. Joe well knew that he +could get out of the box. The manager made the +usual offer of ten thousand dollars to be paid to +any one who would disclose how the trick was done. +</p> +<p> +"You will all be given a chance to claim the reward +under the usual conditions after the trick has +been performed by Professor Strong," was the announcement +made. +</p> +<p> +As the description of the manner in which Joe +and Helen did the trick is given in all its details in +the volume preceding this, suffice it here to say that +Joe got into the box, which was locked and roped, +and, at the proper time, he appeared outside. +</p> +<p> +"Is there any one who can tell how the trick was +done, and so earn the ten thousand dollar reward?" +asked the manager. He had made this announcement +many times. Seldom, of late, had any one +come forward. But now, somewhat to the surprise +of Joe and his friends, a man's voice called from +a location near the platform: +</p> +<p> +"I can tell how it was done!" +</p> +<p> +"Will you please come forward," invited Joe, now +taking charge of the proceedings. +</p> +<p> +A fairly well-dressed man stepped across the +arena and approached the stage. Joe and Jim Tracy +and the others vitally interested looked closely at +him. He was not Bill Carfax—that was certain. +And Joe did not know the man, nor, as Jim Tracy +admitted afterward, did he. +</p> +<p> +"You say you can tell how I get out of the box?" +asked Joe, and the audience listened intently. +</p> +<p> +"Yes. I know the secret." +</p> +<p> +"Are you willing to post a hundred dollars to +be forfeited to the Red Cross in case you fail?" +went on the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"I am. Here is the money!" was the cool response. +This quick compliance with the terms of +the offer rather staggered Joe. But he had no fear +as to the outcome. +</p> +<p> +"Very well," went on the originator of the box +trick. "The ringmaster will hold your money. If +you are successful in telling how I get out of the +box the cash will be handed back to you, and you +will receive, in addition, a check for ten thousand +dollars. Now then, how do I get out of the box? +Tell the audience." +</p> +<p> +There was a moment of suspense, and then the +man, with an air of confidence, stepped close to the +big, heavy box and, pointing to a certain corner, +said: +</p> +<p> +"Right there is a secret panel. You slip it back +and get out that way!" +</p> +<p> +The man seemed so triumphantly confident and so +sure of his statement, that several in the audience +cried: +</p> +<p> +"Is that right? Is that how you do the trick? If +it is pay him the ten thousand dollars!" +</p> +<p> +Joe looked at Jim Tracy. This was the first time +any one had ever come so close to the truth. Helen, +standing at one side of the stage, began to be fearful +that, after all, Joe's secret was discovered. It +would mean an end of the box trick. +</p> +<p> +Then Joe smiled, and stepped forward. And +there was something in the smile that reassured +Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Has he guessed it?" she asked in a low voice, +as Joe passed her. +</p> +<p> +"No. But it was a narrow escape," was the answer. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH19"><!-- CH19 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XIX +</h2> + +<h3> +JUGGLING WITH FIRE +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Smilingly the man who had made claim to the +ten thousand dollars waited for Joe Strong. The +fellow seemed already to have the money in his +grasp. +</p> +<p> +"You say there is a sliding panel in that corner?" +asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Positive." +</p> +<p> +"And that I get out that way?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I say you are wrong, and I am going to +prove it," returned Joe easily, and also smiling. +"Now I'm going to let you, and any one you may +select from the audience, paste sheets of paper over +that corner. Then I'll do the trick over again. If +I get out of the box, and the paper you paste on +remains unbroken, you'll have to admit that I didn't +come out through the place where you say is a +sliding panel, won't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, if you don't break the paper, I guess I'll +have to admit you didn't get out that way," said +the man, with a grin. "But I want to see you do +it first." +</p> +<p> +"Very well. I'll send for some paste and paper," +went on Joe. "Meanwhile call upon any of your +friends you like to help." +</p> +<p> +"Come on up here, Bill!" called out the man. +</p> +<p> +For an instant Joe, and Helen also, as she admitted +later, feared it might be Bill Carfax to whom +he referred. But an altogether different individual +shuffled up to the stage. +</p> +<p> +"We'll paste paper over this end where the trick +panel is," went on the man who had claimed the +reward. "He won't get out then!" +</p> +<p> +"Sure he won't," agreed his companion. "Do +we get the ten thousand then?" +</p> +<p> +"Naturally, if you have guessed right," said Joe. +"But that remains to be seen." +</p> +<p> +There was no trouble in getting paste and paper. +That is part of a circus, for, even though it is old-fashioned, +paper hoops are still used for the clowns +and some bareback riders to leap through. +</p> +<p> +A plentiful supply of large, white sheets and a +pail of paste with a brush were brought up to the +stage. Then the men were invited to begin their +work, which was to seal up the corner the man had +picked out as the location of the secret panel. +</p> +<p> +Before pasting on the paper the men looked closely +at the joinings of the box. They seemed rather +puzzled in spite of the cock-sureness of the first individual. +</p> +<p> +The pasting was not a work of art, but it was +effective. The corner of the box was plastered over +with sheets of white paper, in which there was no +break. +</p> +<p> +"If I get out of the box without cracking, tearing, +or disturbing the paper you have pasted on, +without moving it in any way, you'll admit that +you're wrong, won't you?" asked Joe, as he prepared +to do the trick again. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," was the answer. "I will. But I've got +you sewed up!" +</p> +<p> +"Pasted up would be a better word," returned +Joe, with a smile. "But that remains to be seen." +</p> +<p> +The box was placed in position, and Joe took +his place in it. The lid was slammed down, locked, +and the rope was knotted about it. The two men +who had done the pasting assisted in this. +</p> +<p> +Then the curtains were drawn, and Helen and the +firemen took their places. There was a period of +waiting. The tense suspense of the audience was +manifest. Even Jim Tracy and Bill Watson, veteran +circus men though they were, seemed a bit +worried. The man who had claimed the ten thousand +dollars and his companion seemed a bit ill at +ease. +</p> +<p> +Then, suddenly, the curtains parted and Joe +Strong stood in plain view, outside the box, bowing +to the applause that greeted him. When it had subsided, +he said: +</p> +<p> +"Will you two gentlemen kindly look at the paper +seals you placed on one corner of the box? If they +are unbroken and undisturbed I take it you have +lost. Kindly look and announce what you find." +</p> +<p> +The men shuffled to the case and bent down over +the corner that was covered with the pasted sheets. +Look as they did, they could find no evidences of a +break or tear in the paper. And it had not been +removed and put back again. The men admitted +that. +</p> +<p> +"Then you have to admit that I didn't get out +of the box by means of a secret panel in that corner, +don't you?" asked Joe, when the two had asserted +that the paper was intact. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I guess you win," said the first man. "But +there's some trick about it!" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I admit that!" laughed Joe. "It is a trick, +and if you discover it you get ten thousand dollars. +But not to-night. Red Cross is richer by +a hundred dollars." +</p> +<p> +"Um!" grumbled the man, as he walked off, and +many in the audience laughed. Joe had won. +</p> +<p> +The circus performance went on to its usual +exciting close in the chariot races, and when preparations +were being made to travel on to the next +city, Helen had a chance to speak to Joe. +</p> +<p> +"It was a narrow escape," she said. +</p> +<p> +"Just what it was!" he replied. "If he had picked +the other corner—the left instead of the right—he +would have had me. But luck was with us." +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad," said Helen. "But how did he happen +to select any corner? Some one must know more +about your trick box than you think." +</p> +<p> +"I'm afraid so," admitted Joe ruefully. "I +wouldn't be a bit surprised but what this was some +of the work of Bill Carfax." +</p> +<p> +"Has he been around again?" asked Helen, and +there was a note of annoyance in her voice. +</p> +<p> +"He hasn't been seen," said Joe. "But this man +may have been in communication with him. Bill +may have been studying the trick out since his last +failure, and I must admit that he's on the right trail—that +is, if it was Bill who put this man up to +making the claim." +</p> +<p> +"What makes you think Bill had anything to do +with it?" asked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"Well, for the reason that this is just the kind +of town where Bill would be likely to have friends—I +mean in a big manufacturing center. Bill may +have found a man who is willing to act to help pull +down the reward for him. But this time they +failed." +</p> +<p> +"He may succeed next time," remarked Helen. +</p> +<p> +"No, I'll take care of that," Joe said. "I'm going +to make a change in the box." +</p> +<p> +As the mechanism of the trick box has been +explained in the preceding volume, it will not be repeated +here. Suffice it to say that Joe's method +of getting out of the box could be changed, so +that if a person thought he had discovered the secret +panel it could be shifted to another part of the case. +</p> +<p> +It was two or three days after this, and Joe had +made a change in his box which satisfied him that +the secret would not soon be discovered, that Helen, +coming over to where he sat in his private tent, saw +him making what seemed to be torches. +</p> +<p> +"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you +think our electric lights or gasoline flares are going +to fail?" she went on jokingly. The Sampson +Brothers' Show was a modern one, and carried a +portable electric light plant. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, I'm not worrying about that!" answered +Joe. "But I have a new idea for my wire act, and +I want to see if it will work out." +</p> +<p> +That night, at the proper time, when Joe was +introduced as about to perform his wire act, Helen +noticed Ham Logan come out with the young fire-eater, +carrying a number of the torches Joe had +made. +</p> +<p> +Joe started across the high, slack wire, and on it +performed many of his usual feats. They were +not specially sensational, and Helen wondered what +he had planned. +</p> +<p> +But, after a daring run across the slender support, +following some risky side swinging, Helen saw Joe +lower from the high platform where he stood a flexible +wire. Standing on the ground below, Ham +Logan received it and fastened on the end several +of the metal torches Joe had made. The young magician +hauled them up to him by means of the wire. +</p> +<p> +Then, as Helen and the audience watched, Joe +set the torches ablaze. They were made of hollow +cones of sheet iron, in which were placed bits of +tow, soaked in alcohol. +</p> +<p> +With four blazing torches, two in either hand, +Joe Strong started out to cross the high, slack wire. +And then, to the wonder and amazement of the +audience, no less than that of his friends in the +show, Joe began juggling with fire. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH20"><!-- CH20 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XX +</h2> + +<h3> +THE BLAZING BANQUET +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Across the wire walked the young performer, and +as he walked he tossed into the air, catching them +as they came down, the flaming torches. When it +is remembered that the fire was of the real, blazing +sort, and hot at that, also when it is recalled that if +Joe happened to catch hold of the wrong end of any +of the whirling torches, and when it is evident that +he must "watch his step," it will be seen that he was +performing no easy feat. +</p> +<p> +Yet to watch him one would have thought that +he had been doing it right along for many performances, +instead of this being his first in public, +though he and Ham Logan had practiced in private. +</p> +<p> +Across the wire walked Joe, juggling with fire, +and when he reached the other platform he walked +backward along the swaying wire. +</p> +<p> +Then the applause broke out, loud and long. The +crowd appreciated the trick, with all its dangers. +True, Joe Strong was an expert on the wire, and +he was also a good juggler. But juggling with +torches while on a swaying cable was not +as easy as handling harmless rubber balls or Indian +clubs, and the circus throng seemed to appreciate +this. +</p> +<p> +Getting back to the platform whence he had started, +Joe dropped the still blazing torches into a tub +of water where they went out hissingly. This provided +a fitting climax to the act, as showing that +the flames were real ones. +</p> +<p> +And then Joe donned his cap of leather, with the +little grooved wheels fastened in the top, and on his +head he slid down the slanting wire through the +blazing hoops. It was a good end to a good trick; +and the crowd went wild. +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe, you sure did put another one over +for us," said Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of the +performance. "That fire juggling was a great trick. +That's the sensation you promised us, I suppose." +</p> +<p> +"No, it isn't," was the answer. "I'm not ready +for that yet. But I'm glad you liked the trick. +No, what I have up my sleeve is something even +better, I think." +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hope you haven't any blazing torches up +your sleeve," remarked Helen, with a laugh. "You'll +need a new coat, if you have." +</p> +<p> +"No danger," laughed Joe. "I think I'll be ready +soon. By the way, any news of the bogus tickets—I +mean the detectives haven't found out anything +positive, have they?" +</p> +<p> +"Not yet," answered Mr. Moyne, who had joined +the little party. "And it's keeping all of us who +have to do with the financial end guessing as to +where the trouble will break out next." +</p> +<p> +"It is an unpleasant state of affairs," agreed Joe. +"But I don't see what we can do except to wait. +You haven't noticed any more of the counterfeit +tickets of late, have you?" +</p> +<p> +"No," answered the treasurer. "It's only when +we hit the big mill cities that they are worked in +on us. That's why I believe there is some system +to it all." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we'll have to break up the system," declared +Joe. "As soon as I get this new act of mine +perfected I'm going to take a day or two off, over +Sunday say, and visit the detective agency. They +may need stirring up." +</p> +<p> +"I wish something could be done," declared the +treasurer. +</p> +<p> +About a week after this conversation, during +which time the circus had moved from place to +place, doing good business, Mrs. Watson, meeting +Helen on the lot, said: +</p> +<p> +"Who are Joe's new friends?" +</p> +<p> +"New friends? I didn't know he had any specially +new ones," remarked the young bareback +rider. "Has he been befriending some more poor +broken-down circus men, like Ham Logan?" +</p> +<p> +"These aren't men," said the clown's wife. "They +are three pretty girls. I saw Joe coming back from +downtown with them. They seemed jolly—laughing +and talking." +</p> +<p> +"Three pretty girls!" murmured Helen. And then +she quickly added, with an air of indifference: "Oh, +I suppose they may be some cousins he hasn't seen +for a long while." +</p> +<p> +"I thought Joe said he had no relatives in this +country," went on Mrs. Watson. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sure I don't know," and Helen's voice was +very cool. +</p> +<p> +"There's something behind all this," mused Mrs. +Watson, as Helen walked away. "I hope those two +haven't quarreled. Maybe I shouldn't have said +anything." +</p> +<p> +However, it was too late now. The seeds of jealousy +seemed to have been sown, though unwittingly, +by Mrs. Watson. Helen walked on with her head +high in the air, and as the clown's wife passed Joe's +official tent a little later she heard, issuing from it, +the jolly laughter and talk of several girlish voices. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what Joe Strong is up to," thought +Mrs. Watson. "He never acted like that before—going +off with other girls and neglecting Helen. +I'm going to speak to him. No, I won't either!" +she decided. "I'll just keep still until I know I can +help. It's better that way." +</p> +<p> +It was perhaps an hour after this that Joe, meeting +Helen, called to her: +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I say! don't you want to do me a favor?" +</p> +<p> +"What sort?" asked the rider of Rosebud, and if +Joe had not been thinking of something else he +would have noticed the danger signs about Helen's +countenance. +</p> +<p> +"The fancy jacket I use in one of my tricks is +torn," went on Joe. "Would it be asking too much +to request you to mend it?" +</p> +<p> +Helen tossed back her head and there was a snap +to her eyes as she answered: +</p> +<p> +"Why don't you get one of the three pretty girls +to do your mending? I'm afraid I'm not clever +enough!" And with that she walked on haughtily. +</p> +<p> +For an instant Joe was so surprised that he could +not speak. His face plainly showed how taken +aback he was. Then, after a moment, he managed +to stammer: +</p> +<p> +"Oh, but I say! Helen! Wait a moment! Let +me explain. I—er I—I only—" +</p> +<p> +But Helen did not pause, she did not look back, +and she did not answer. Joe stood staring after her +in blank amazement. Then he gave utterance to +a low whistle and exclaimed: +</p> +<p> +"Oh, ho! I see! Well, it will be my turn later!" +and he laughed silently. +</p> +<p> +"He's either playing a mean trick or else he's up +to some joke," declared Mrs. Watson, who, from a +distance, had watched this little scene. "And," she +added with a shake of her head, "I can't be sure +what it is. Young folks are so foolish! So foolish!" +and she sighed as she walked away. +</p> +<p> +Joe, with the torn jacket in his hand, turned back +toward his own tent, and presently there came from +it the sounds of several young persons, including +girls, in conversation and laughter. +</p> +<p> +It was later, that same afternoon, when Helen +noticed Joe in one part of the big tent. He was surrounded +by three pretty young ladies and three +good-looking young men. They were on one of the +platforms seated about a table, and Joe seemed to be +entertaining them, for there were plates, cups, +knives and forks on the board—all the outward indications +of a meal. +</p> +<p> +The time was late afternoon, following the day +performance and prior to the evening show. Helen +looked curiously over at the gay little scene, and +something tugged at her heart-strings. Then she +looked away, and Mrs. Watson, observing her from +the other side of the tent, shook her gray head. +</p> +<p> +"I can't understand Joe Strong," murmured the +clown's wife. "What has come over him?" +</p> +<p> +It was just before the opening of the evening performance +that night when Joe, meeting Helen in the +dressing tent, said: +</p> +<p> +"I shan't need you in the box trick, to-night, nor +in the vanishing lady stunt, either." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I suppose you're going to use one of the +new, pretty girls," snapped Helen. +</p> +<p> +Joe looked at her quietly. +</p> +<p> +"No," he said, "I am not. But I am not going +to put on either trick. I thought you'd like to know, +so if you want to introduce any of your extras you'll +have a chance." +</p> +<p> +"Thank you!" she said coldly, and passed on. +</p> +<p> +Joe smiled as he looked after her. +</p> +<p> +With a blare of trumpets, a boom and ruffle of +drums, the gay procession started around the circus +arena. The stately elephants, the hideous camels +and the beautiful horses went around to be looked +at, wondered at, and admired. Then, when the last +of the cavalcade had passed out, the various acts +began. Helen had a new costume for her bareback +act, and as she started it she looked over to where +Joe was busy on his stage. She saw the young men +and women around him. They wore fancy costumes +and seemed a part of the circus. Helen wondered +what act they were going to appear in, since +none including them had been announced. +</p> +<p> +She danced about on the back of Rosebud, and +thought bitterly that Joe had never noticed her new +dress. She was wearing it for the first time, too. +</p> +<p> +The whistle blew. All acts stopped and Jim Tracy +advanced toward Joe's platform. +</p> +<p> +"A most marvelous and striking act!" he cried, +not stating what it was to be. +</p> +<p> +All eyes, even those of Helen Morton, turned +in the direction of Joe Strong. +</p> +<p> +He acted quickly. With a wave of his hand he +invited the three pretty girls and the three well-appearing +young men to be seated. They took their +places around a table, with Joe acting as host. The +table appeared to be well laden, and at first the act +seemed to be only a rather elaborate meal being +served in public. +</p> +<p> +"What is it all about?" mused Helen. "I can't +see anything very wonderful in that." +</p> +<p> +But, even as she thus mused, something strange +happened. The banquet table seemed to burst into +flames. The dishes of food blazed up, and the +audience gasped. +</p> +<p> +But the young men, the young women, and Joe +Strong did not seem in the least surprised. They +kept their seats and went right on eating. +</p> +<p> +And then, with a thrill of surprise, it was noticed +that Joe Strong and his guests were devouring the +blazing food itself! The girls and young men put +portion after portion of the blazing viands into +their mouths! +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH21"><!-- CH21 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXI +</h2> + +<h3> +HAM IS MISSING +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Surprise and astonishment held the audience silent +and spellbound for a moment. Then a woman +screamed, and, ready for this emergency and fearing +a panic, than which nothing is more dreaded +by circus men, Jim Tracy cried: +</p> +<p> +"Sit still! Keep your seats! There is no danger! +This is all part of the show. We are merely showing +you how to eat your meals in case any of you +ever get caught in a blazing volcano. Watch the +ladies and gentlemen eat their stuff hot—right off +the fire!" +</p> +<p> +There was a laugh at this sally, and a laugh was +what the ringmaster wanted more than anything else +just then. He knew the tide of fear had been +changed to one of wondering admiration. +</p> +<p> +And so, sitting on the stage in sight of the +thrilled audience, Joe Strong and his guests, in the +shape of pretty girls and manly young fellows fancifully +attired, continued to eat the blazing food. +</p> +<p> +The very pieces of bread seemed to be on fire, +there was a dancing flame over the butter, and each +bit of meat or other food Joe and the performers +lifted on their forks was alive with leaping fire. +</p> +<p> +Then the daring feature of the act was borne home +to the audience and the applause broke forth—applause +loud and long. There were yells and whistles +from the younger and more enthusiastic portion +of the circus crowd. +</p> +<p> +And then the fires died away. The table seemed +emptied of victuals, and the young men and women, +imitating Joe's example, leaned back in their chairs +as though well satisfied with their hot meal. +</p> +<p> +"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" declaimed +the ringmaster. "They have come to no harm from +eating living fire. If any of you are tired of cold +victuals, kindly step forward and you will be treated +to a free, hot lunch by Professor Strong." +</p> +<p> +"Not any in mine, thank you," murmured a man, +and that seemed to be the general opinion. +</p> +<p> +As Joe and his new associates arose to bow to the +renewed applause, the ringmaster made an announcement. +</p> +<p> +"A blazing banquet, such as you have just witnessed, +will take place at each and every performance," +he declared. "Come and bring your friends! +Nothing like it ever seen before on any stage or +in any circus in the world! +</p> +<p> +"Remember, you will see the same and identical +act at each and every performance and all for the +price of one admission. Professor Strong and his +gifted salamander associates will eat fire as they +did just now, at each and every show in the big +tent. I thank you!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, Joe, it went all right!" said Jim Tracy +when the performers had left the stage and the +young fire-eater was alone on the platform. "It +went like a house afire!" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," said Joe, "it seemed to. I guess it went +better than if we had made a lot of preliminary +notices. The suddenness of it took them by surprise." +</p> +<p> +"But we can advertise it big now," said the ringmaster. +"We don't need to specify exactly what it +is. Of course those who have seen it will tell their +friends who are coming and who haven't seen it. +But the big majority of the audiences will be as +much surprised as this one was. It went big." +</p> +<p> +"Yes," agreed Joe, "it did. And I'm glad of it. +This is the sensation I was planning, but I didn't +want to go into details until I was sure it would +work. I had to engage my helpers in the dark, so +to speak, and I didn't even tell you what I was +planning until the last minute." +</p> +<p> +"No, you didn't," said Jim. +</p> +<p> +Helen Morton came slowly across the arena. Her +act was over, and she had seen the blazing banquet +and Joe's part in it. +</p> +<p> +Her cheeks were unusually red as she approached +holding out her hand, and there was a rather misty +look about her eyes as she said: +</p> +<p> +"Will you forgive me, Joe?" +</p> +<p> +"For what?" he asked tantalizingly. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, you know perfectly well!" she exclaimed. +"It was very silly of me, but—" +</p> +<p> +"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. +"I suppose I might have told you that the pretty +girls were those I had engaged to help in the banquet +scene, together with the young fellows. We +had only a few rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't +want to spread the news too generally, even among +the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I suppose +I might have told you." +</p> +<p> +"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if +you had," she murmured. +</p> +<p> +"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said +Joe. "But it's all right now. And may I come to +lunch with you, or would you rather that I should +go with—one of the pretty girls?" +</p> +<p> +"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared +Helen, blushing more than ever. And so the little +quarrel ended. +</p> +<p> +As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet +helpers secretly, and they had met him at the +city where the circus was to remain three days and +nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting +the performers for Joe, since the old circus +man knew the best theatrical agency at which to +apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women +to act the part of guests at the "banquet." He had +guessed that Helen's actions denoted her jealousy, +but he could not forbear teasing her. +</p> +<p> +"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, +when she and Joe were together again. "Of course +I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly of me +to ask such a question. But it was very realistic." +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't +actually 'eat' the fire, any more than I eat it. And +I may say that I had quite a little trouble in getting +them to put it near enough their mouths to +make it seem as if they did. +</p> +<p> +"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar +kind, which Ham Logan and I worked out together. +It can be made to look like almost any food, +and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily +and quickly. The flames go out as soon as they +come near enough our mouths to feel the effects of +certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell +you all the secrets, but that is enough to show you +how we worked it. +</p> +<p> +"There was no more danger than there is when +I 'eat' fire, and the trick is done in much the same +way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable +helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could +have done this trick without him." +</p> +<p> +The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other +cities. As Jim Tracy had said, the feat was shown +at each and every performance, Joe cutting out some +of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer +stay than usual in the city where the fiery food +was first "eaten," and played to record-breaking +business. +</p> +<p> +"And the best of it is that we haven't seen a bogus +ticket!" said the treasurer, much elated. +</p> +<p> +Joe, as one of the chief owners of the circus, was +able to hire the "fire-eaters" unknown to any of his +associates until the last minute, and thus the surprise +was all the greater. +</p> +<p> +Joe's fire tricks were now the talk of the theatrical +and circus worlds, and he received many offers +to leave Sampson Brothers' Show and star by himself. +But he refused them all, saying he wanted +to build up his own show to a point never before +reached. +</p> +<p> +As he had said, Ham Logan proved a valuable +helper. The man, a fire-eater of the old school, +knew many valuable secrets, and he held himself +under such obligation to Joe that he revealed many +of them to the young magician. +</p> +<p> +"Have you learned anything more about who left +that bottle of powerful acid in among my things?" +asked Joe of Ham, one afternoon when the fire banquet +had been unusually successful. +</p> +<p> +"No, not exactly," was the answer. "But I'm on +the trail, I think I am working along the right +lines, but it is too early to make any statement." +</p> +<p> +"Well, take your time," said Joe. "Only I don't +want to get mixed up with any of the deadly stuff." +</p> +<p> +"Don't worry. I'm on the watch," declared the +old performer. +</p> +<p> +That night, when the time for Joe to prepare for +his acts, including the fire tricks, came, he did not +see Ham in the dressing tent, where the assistant +was usually to be found. +</p> +<p> +"Have you seen him?" asked Joe of Harry Loper. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, about half an hour ago," was the answer. +"He said he was going in to town." +</p> +<p> +"Going in to town—and so near performing +time?" cried Joe. "I wonder what for! He ought +to be here!" +</p> +<p> +Joe was worried, and when his signal for going +on came Ham Logan was still missing. Joe Strong +shook his head dubiously. It had been found necessary +to get another man to help with the act. +</p> +<p> +"I don't like this," he murmured. "I don't like it +for a cent!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH22"><!-- CH22 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXII +</h2> + +<h3> +A SUDDEN WARNING +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Only the fact that he had strong nerves and that +he possessed the ability of concentrating his mind +on whatever was uppermost at the time, enabled the +young circus man to get through his various circus +acts with credit at that performance. He began +with the worry over Ham Logan's disappearance +before him. And he was actually worried—a bad +state of affairs for one whose ability to please and +deceive critical audiences depends on his snappy +acting, his quickness of hand and mind, and his +skill. +</p> +<p> +But, as has been said, Joe possessed the ability +to concentrate on the most needful matter, and that, +for the time being, was his box trick, his fire-eating, +and his slide on his head down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. +</p> +<p> +Then came the blazing banquet, and this created +the usual furor in the audience. Joe managed to +get through it with credit, though his rather strange +manner was noticed and commented on afterward +by the young people associated with him. +</p> +<p> +"I wonder what's bothering the boss?" asked one +of the young fire-eaters of another. "He nearly +made a slip when he was lifting up that fake fried +oyster." +</p> +<p> +"Maybe the circus is losing money and he's got +to cut out this act—let some of us go—can't pay our +salaries," was the reply. +</p> +<p> +"Don't you believe it!" declared the other. "The +circus is making more money than it ever did—more +even when the fake tickets are worked off on +it." +</p> +<p> +"Well, it's none of our affair." +</p> +<p> +"I wouldn't like my salary to be cut off." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, neither would I." +</p> +<p> +"Fake tickets? I hadn't heard of them." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, yes," explained the first speaker, and he +went into the details of the affair. +</p> +<p> +"But there's surely something worrying the +boss," commented still another of the young men, +and his associates, including the "pretty girls," +agreed with him. +</p> +<p> +And what really was worrying Joe was speculation +over the fate of Ham Logan. Not since Joe +had first taken the old and broken circus actor into +his employ had Ham been away more than a few +hours at a time, and then Joe knew where he was. +This time Ham had left no word, save the uncertain +one that he was going into the city, on the +outskirts of which the circus was at the time showing. +</p> +<p> +"But don't you think he'll come back?" asked +Jim Tracy, when, after the performance, Joe had +spoken of the missing Ham. +</p> +<p> +"I wish I could think so," was the reply. "I sure +will hate to lose him. I depend a lot on him in my +fire tricks." +</p> +<p> +"What makes you think you will lose him?" asked +Tracy curiously. +</p> +<p> +"Well, his going off this way, for one," declared +Joe. "What I'm really afraid of is that he may +have gone back to his bad habits. You know how +it is. A man starts to reform, and he keeps the +pledges he makes until he meets some of his boon +companions who used to help him on the downward +road. They invite him to come along for a good +time, and he goes." +</p> +<p> +"And you think that's what's happened to Ham?" +</p> +<p> +"I'm afraid so. I'm going down town and see +if I can get any trace of him." +</p> +<p> +And this Joe did as soon as he was relieved of +his duties in the circus. The show was to remain +in town over night, and this gave him just the +chance he wanted. +</p> +<p> +It was an unpleasant errand, but Joe went through +with it. He had to call at many places that were +distasteful to him, but in none of them did he get +a trace of Ham Logan. Joe saw in the more +brilliant parts of the city a number of the circus men, +including some of the chief performers. They were +taking advantage of the two-days' stay, and were +meeting old friends and making some new acquaintances. +</p> +<p> +Of these Joe inquired for news of Ham, but no +one had seen him. The old fire-eater had endeared +himself to more than one member of the Sampson +Brothers' Show, for he was always ready to do a +favor. So more than Joe were interested in seeing +that Ham kept on the good road along which he +had started. But all of Joe's efforts were of no +avail. +</p> +<p> +It was after midnight when he ended his search, +and, rather than go back to the sleeping car where +the other performers spent their night, Joe put up +at a hotel, sending word to Jim Tracy of what he +intended to do. +</p> +<p> +"I want to find Ham," Joe wrote in the note he +sent to the ringmaster by a messenger boy, "and I've +asked the police to be on the quiet lookout for him. +If I stay at the hotel I can help him more quickly, +in case he's found, than if I am away out at the +railroad siding where the circus train is. I'll see +you in the morning." +</p> +<p> +But Joe's night at the hotel was spent in vain, +for there was no word of Ham Logan, and the +morning which Joe put in, making inquiries, was +equally fruitless. +</p> +<p> +"I guess Ham is gone for good," sighed Joe, and +his regret was genuine, and almost as much for +the sake of the man himself as for his own loss of +a good assistant. +</p> +<p> +For Ham Logan was that and more to Joe. The +former tramp had much valuable information regarding +the old style fire-eating tricks, and though +he was not up to the task of doing them himself, +he gave Joe good advice. It was by his help and +advice that Joe had staged the blazing banquet +scene, which was such a success and which the newspapers +mentioned constantly. +</p> +<p> +True, Joe did not actually need Ham to go on +with his acts. He could break in another man to +help him, to hand him the proper article at just the +right time, to see to the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemicals and to the preparation of the viands that +seemed to be composed of fire itself. +</p> +<p> +"And that's what I'll have to do," mused Joe, +when he became convinced some days later that +Ham was not to be found. +</p> +<p> +He wished that Helen was able to act as his assistant +in the fire scenes, as she did in the box trick +and the vanishing lady act. But she could spare +no more time from her own act with Rosebud, since +she was billed as one of the "stars." Then, too, +Helen had a fear of fire, and though she had succeeded +in overcoming part of it, still she would not +have made the proper sort of assistant in those acts. +Besides, she would not have been able to mix the +chemicals Joe required to render himself immune +from such fire as he actually came in contact with, +though momentarily. +</p> +<p> +"I've got to train in a new man," decided Joe. +He mentally considered various circus employees, +rejecting one after another, and finally selected one +of the young men who acted in the blazing banquet +scene. This youth was a bright, manly fellow, and +had introduced some new "business" in the act which +made it more interesting. +</p> +<p> +"I'll train him in," decided Joe, "with the understanding +that if Ham comes back he'll get his old +place. If he comes back! I wonder if he ever will, +and if he'll be in a condition to help me." +</p> +<p> +Joe shook his head dubiously. +</p> +<p> +The circus moved on. It had played to good business, +and there was more good business in prospect. +Mr. Moyne, the treasurer, was on the anxious seat +much of the time, fearing another flood of bogus +tickets, but the efforts mentioned, on the part of the +swindlers, following the use of new paper, was all +they had to complain of so far. +</p> +<p> +"Either the detectives are too close to the trail +of the cheats to allow them to work in safety, or +they've given it up altogether," decided the treasurer. +</p> +<p> +"I hope so," said Joe. "Still it won't do to relax +our vigilance. I wrote to the detective firm, as I +said I would, jacking them up a bit. Maybe they +are ready to make an arrest, and that would stop +the swindlers." +</p> +<p> +The young man Joe had picked out to act as his +chief assistant in the fire scenes was Ted Brown. +Ted was about eighteen years old, and this was his +first position with a circus. But he was making +good, and he had not yet been afflicted with the terrible +disease known as "swelled head," something +which ruins so many performers. +</p> +<p> +Ted learned rapidly, and Joe felt that it would +be safe to trust him with some of the secrets of the +tricks—the mixing of the fire-resisting chemicals +and the like. Joe's choice seemed to be a good one, +for Ted did well, and his part in the banquet scene +was made even better by his knowledge of the inner +workings of the material used. +</p> +<p> +But though Joe did not lose materially by the +desertion of Ham, if that was what it was, since he +could now depend on Ted, the young circus man +many times found himself wondering if he would +ever see the old fire-eater again. +</p> +<p> +The circus opened one afternoon in a large city—one +in which lived many thousands of men employed +in a large ship-building plant. +</p> +<p> +"There'll be big crowds here," said Mr. Moyne, +as he walked toward the ticket wagon in preparation +for the rush. "And it's here we'll have to look +out for bogus coupons." +</p> +<p> +"Why?" asked Joe, who was getting ready for his +acts. +</p> +<p> +"Because in every other case the swindlers have +worked their game where there was a big plant +engaging many men of what you might call rough +and ready character—ready to take a chance on +scalped admission tickets, and rough enough to fight +if they were discovered. So I'm going to be on the +watch." +</p> +<p> +"It's just as well to be," decided Joe. He turned +back into the tent which was his combined dressing +room and a storage place for his various smaller +bits of apparatus and the chemicals he used in his +fire act. +</p> +<p> +Before giving his last act Joe always washed his +hands and face and rinsed his mouth out with a +chemical preparation that would, for a time, resist +the action of fire. It was a secret compound, rather +difficult to handle and make, and Joe had taught +Ted Brown how to do it. +</p> +<p> +The young fellow was handing Joe this mixture, +some of which was also used by all who took part +in the blazing banquet scene, when the flap of the +tent was suddenly pushed aside and Harry Loper +entered. +</p> +<p> +"Stop!" he cried, raising a restraining hand. +"Don't use that solution, Mr. Strong! It's doped! +Don't use it!" +</p> +<p> +Joe, who had been about to apply some of the +stuff to his hands, turned in surprise. He was +alarmed at the strange look on the face of the youth +who acted as his helper in the high wire and in +some of the trapeze acts. +</p> +<p> +"Don't use that stuff!" cried Harry. "It's doped!" +and then he sank down on a chair and, burying his +face in his hands, burst into tears. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH23"><!-- CH23 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXIII +</h2> + +<h3> +A STRANGE SUMMONS +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Joe Strong looked from the sobbing Harry +Loper to the amazed Ted Brown. The latter's face +showed his great surprise. For an instant Joe had +an ugly suspicion that his new assistant had played +him false—that, because of jealousy or from some +other motive, he had mixed the chemicals in some +way to make them ineffective. This would spoil +the illusion, or it might even cause injury. +</p> +<p> +"Look here, Harry! what's the matter?" cried Joe, +purposely using a rough voice, so as to stop, if possible, +the display of emotion on the part of the youth. +"Act like a man, can't you! If you've done some +mean trick tell me about it. What do you mean +when you say this mixture is doped?" +</p> +<p> +"Just that!" exclaimed Harry, looking up with +haggard face. "I can't stand it any longer. I promised +not to tell, but I've got to. I—I can't see any +harm come to you." +</p> +<p> +"Harm!" cried Joe. "Do you mean this is poison?" +</p> +<p> +"No, not that. He said it wouldn't do you any +harm—that it would only make the act turn out +wrong—that you, nor anybody, would not be hurt. +But I don't believe him. I believe he wants to +harm you, and I'm going to tell all I know. I can't +stand it any longer." +</p> +<p> +"Look here, Harry!" said Joe sternly, "are you +perfectly sober? Do you know what you're saying?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, I know that, all right, Mr. Strong," whined +the lad. "I won't say I haven't been drinking, for +I have. I did it to try to forget, but it wouldn't +work. I'm plenty sober enough to know what I'm +saying." +</p> +<p> +"And you tell me this chemical preparation will +work harm to me and those who help me in the fire +acts?" +</p> +<p> +"I don't know as to that, Mr. Strong. He told +me that it wouldn't harm you. But I don't believe +him! I won't trust him any more." +</p> +<p> +"Who do you mean?" asked Joe. "Do you know +anything about this?" he demanded sternly of Ted +Brown. "You prepared this mixture, didn't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, Mr. Strong, I did. I made it just the way +you told me. If you think—" +</p> +<p> +"No, he doesn't know anything about it," murmured +Harry, who seemed to have recovered some +of his composure, now that the worst of his confession +was over. "He didn't have a hand in it. I'm +to blame. If I hadn't let him into your tent he +couldn't have doped the stuff. Oh, I'm sorry! I +was a fool to believe him, but he promised me a lot +of money just to keep still, and I've done it up to +now. But I'm through with him!" +</p> +<p> +"Look here!" cried Joe. "How long has this +been going on? Was this mixture ever doped, as +you call it, before?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no, not that I know," was the answer. Joe +knew this much, at least, was true. The mixture +had always worked perfectly before, and if it had +been tampered with that would not have been the +case. +</p> +<p> +"Then what do you mean?" cried the young magician. +"Speak up, can't you? Be a man! If you +haven't done anything really wrong you won't be +punished. I'm after the person back of you. Speak +up! Who is he?" +</p> +<p> +He realized that Harry Loper was but a weak +tool in the hands of some one else, and many things +that had seemed strange came back to Joe with a +sudden rush now. He might be able to learn who +it was that had such enmity against him and the +circus. +</p> +<p> +"Are you going to tell me?" demanded Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes! Yes! I'll tell you everything!" was the +answer. "I can't stand it any longer. I can't eat +in comfort any more, and I can't sleep! First he +promised to pay me for letting him come to your tent +when you were out. Then he threatened to kill me +if I told. But I'm going to tell. I don't care what +he does!" +</p> +<p> +"But if this is the first time my chemical mixture +has been doped, what do you mean about 'him,' +whoever he is, coming to my tent at other times?" +asked Joe. "What other times were they?" +</p> +<p> +"Don't you remember when the bottle of acid was +found?" asked the abashed youth. +</p> +<p> +"Yes! Was that some of your doings too?" cried +Joe hotly. +</p> +<p> +"No, I didn't do it. He did. But I—I looked the +other way when he did it. And then there was the +time when the trapeze wire broke. It was acid that +did that. He put it on." +</p> +<p> +"Who is this mysterious person you call 'he' all +the while?" asked Joe. "I want to get after him." +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell you!" promised Harry. "But you'll protect +me, won't you, Mr. Strong?" +</p> +<p> +"As far as I can with decency, yes. Now tell +me!" +</p> +<p> +But there came another interruption. A man +thrust his head into the tent and exclaimed: +</p> +<p> +"Mr. Tracy wants to know if you can advance +the fire scenes about ten minutes, Mr. Strong. One +of the men acrobats has sprained his wrist and +they've got to cut out his act. Can you go on ten +minutes sooner than usual?" +</p> +<p> +"Guess I'll have to," said Joe. "Quick, Ted, make +up some new solution. I'll help you. As for you, +Harry, you stay right here. I'll talk to you later. +Haven't time now. And I'm going to have some one +stay with you, to make sure you don't weaken and +run away. It is as much for your own sake as +mine. If you've decided to leave the man who got +you to help in this work I'll stand by you. But I +want to be sure your repentance is genuine. So +stay right here, and we'll talk about this later. Don't +say anything outside," he cautioned Ted. +</p> +<p> +"I won't," was the answer. "Say, I hope you +don't think I had any hand in this?" +</p> +<p> +"No," Joe answered, "I don't. I'm trusting you—that's +my best evidence." +</p> +<p> +"Thank you," said the young fellow, and he +breathed a sigh of relief. +</p> +<p> +Quick work was needed on the part of Joe and his +new helper to get ready for the act. New chemicals +had to be mixed, to render it safe to handle +fire. This was in the acts where Joe seemed to swallow +flames and where he and the others "dined" on +blazing food. +</p> +<p> +In the other acts, where Joe juggled on the slack +wire with the flaming torches, where he slid down +the wire through the blazing hoops, and where he +jumped into the tank of water with his garments apparently +in flames, no change was needed. In these +feats Joe's costume was fireproofed, and, as they +had been treated some time before, he knew there +was only a remote possibility that they had been +tampered with. +</p> +<p> +Still he was taking no chances, and while he was +waiting for Ted to complete the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemical mixture, Joe tested his garments +with a blazing bit of paper. They did not catch +fire, which assured him of safety during his sensational +acts. +</p> +<p> +"How about you, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, thrusting +his head into the tent a little later. "Are you +going to be able to make it?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, sure. I'll be there!" +</p> +<p> +"Sorry to have to make the change," went on the +ringmaster. "But Baraldi is hurt, and his act had +to be cut out completely. So I had to move you up." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, that's all right," Joe assured him. +</p> +<p> +"Hello, what are you doing here—and what's the +matter with you?" cried Jim, seeing Harry Loper +sitting dejectedly in a chair. "Why aren't you out +fixing the trapezes? You know Mr. Strong goes +on them soon." +</p> +<p> +"I—I—he told me to stay here," Loper stammered, +indicating Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," supplemented Joe Strong, "there's something +doing, Jim. I'll tell you later. I want some +one to stay in here with Harry. Some one we can +trust," he added significantly. +</p> +<p> +"I'll send Paddy Flynn," promised the ringmaster. +As he went out he looked curiously at Harry. +</p> +<p> +"How's the stuff coming on, Ted?" asked Joe, +when the doctored mixture had been thrown away +and new made. +</p> +<p> +"All right, I guess. I'll try it." +</p> +<p> +He put some on one finger, thrust the member +into the flame of a candle, and held it there longer +than usual. +</p> +<p> +"Look out!" Joe warned him. "You can't be too +familiar with fire." +</p> +<p> +"The stuff's all right," was the answer. "It's +better than the last we used." +</p> +<p> +"Good! Well, let's get busy!" +</p> +<p> +In spite of the strain of what he had gone +through in listening to the partial confession of +Harry Loper, Joe did some of his best work in the +fire acts that day. The blazing banquet was most +effective. +</p> +<p> +Having changed to his costume for his magical +box and other tricks, and learning that Harry was +still safe under the watchful eye of Paddy Flynn, +Joe hurried out to his stage, where Mr. Tracy was +already making the ten thousand dollar offer. +</p> +<p> +As Joe hurried across the arena one of the tent +men thrust into his hand a scrap of paper. +</p> +<p> +"What is it?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"I don't know," was the reply. "A boy just +brought it and told me to give it to you." +</p> +<p> +Joe had a half minute to wait while the ringmaster +was talking. Quickly he read the note—it was +really a scrawl. But it said: +</p> +<p> +"Please forgive me and still believe in me. I am +suffering! I can't come to you in the condition I'm +in now. But I have something to tell you if you +could come to me. The boy will bring you." +</p> +<p> +The note was signed "Hamilton Logan." +</p> +<p> +"Whew!" whistled Joe. "Worse and more of it!" +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH24"><!-- CH24 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXIV +</h2> + +<h3> +THE TRAP IS SET +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +Pausing only long enough to tell the man who +had given him the note to be sure and detain the +boy who had brought it, Joe Strong hurried over +to the stage to begin his box trick. That was to be +followed by the "disappearing lady" act. +</p> +<p> +And here again Joe had to use all his reserve +nerve to enable him to go on with the performance +as smoothly as he usually did. He had to dismiss +from his mind, for the time being, all thoughts of +Ham Logan, and he steeled himself not to think of +what the strange summons might mean. +</p> +<p> +"If Ham is in trouble I'm going to help him—that's +all!" declared Joe. +</p> +<p> +Following the usual announcement by Jim Tracy, +Joe got into the box. It was locked and roped and +then Helen took her place, as did the fireman with +his gleaming ax. +</p> +<p> +Joe worked unusually quickly that night in getting +out of the box. He knew this haste would not +spoil the illusion of the trick. In fact it really +heightened it. For he was out of the heavy box +in much shorter time than it had taken the volunteer +committee to lock him in. +</p> +<p> +And Joe was glad no one came forward at this +performance to claim the ten thousand dollars. That +would have taken up time, and time, just then, was +what Joe wanted most. +</p> +<p> +"Evidently none of you know how the trick is +done," commented the ringmaster, when his offer of +ten thousand dollars was not taken advantage of. +"We will now proceed to the next illusion, that of +causing a beautiful lady to disappear and vanish +into thin air before your very eyes. There is no +reward offered for the solution of this mystery." +</p> +<p> +Helen then took her place on the trick chair over +the trap in the stage. The silk shawl was placed +over her, and, in due time, the chair was shown +empty. +</p> +<p> +The usual applause followed and Joe was glad +his acts were over for the time. Bowing to acknowledge +the fervor of the audience, Joe started +toward his dressing apartment. +</p> +<p> +"I want to see you as soon as I can," he quickly +told Helen. "But I have to go away. It's about +Ham," he added. "I've heard from him." +</p> +<p> +"Where is he?" +</p> +<p> +"I don't know. Just a scrawled note. The messenger +who brought it is going to take me to him." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, I'm so glad you've heard from him. I +liked him." +</p> +<p> +"I did too. I hope I can continue to like him. +But I'm afraid, from the tone of his note, that he's +broken his pledge. However, we can't expect too +much. Don't go away for an hour or so. I'll be +back as soon as I can and I'll tell you all about it." +</p> +<p> +"I'll wait for you," promised Helen. +</p> +<p> +As Joe hurried across the arena he saw the tent +man who had given him the note. +</p> +<p> +"Where's the boy?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +"I took him to your tent. Paddy Flynn is there +and Loper. Is anything the matter, Mr. Strong?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, nothing that can't be made right, I hope." +</p> +<p> +Joe found a red-haired boy sitting on the edge +of a folding chair in the dressing tent. The lad was +looking wonderingly about the place. +</p> +<p> +"Did you bring this note?" asked Joe, showing +the crumpled paper. +</p> +<p> +"Sure I did! And say, I wish I could see the +show!" +</p> +<p> +"You can to-night after you take me to Mr. Logan," +replied Joe. "You know where he is, don't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Sure I do! Didn't he give me the note to bring +youse?" +</p> +<p> +"Where is he?" +</p> +<p> +"Down in Kelly's joint. I live next door." +</p> +<p> +"What is Kelly's joint?" +</p> +<p> +"A saloon," answered the red-haired boy. "De +name on de winders is café, but they don't +pronounce it that way—anyhow some of 'em don't. It +oughter be cave I guess. It sure is a joint!" +</p> +<p> +"Is Mr. Logan there?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Sure he is. Upstairs in one of de rooms. He's +been on a terrible spree he said, but he's sober now +and sick—gee, mister, but he sure was sick. Me +mudder helped take care of him." +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "We'll go to him +at once. Where is Kelly's—er—café?" +</p> +<p> +"Down by de river near de shipyards," answered +the red-haired lad. +</p> +<p> +For an instant Joe hesitated, but only for an instant. +The district named, as he well knew, was a +bad one. It was also dangerous. +</p> +<p> +But it was still afternoon, though growing late. +It would not be dark for some time, however, and +Joe felt that he would be safe enough in going +alone. At night he would have taken some one +with him. +</p> +<p> +But there were two reasons why he did not want +to do this now. One was that no one whom he felt +he could trust to be discreet could be taken away +from the circus, which was not yet over, though +Joe's acts were finished. Another reason was that +he did not want the possible degradation of Logan +seen by any of his former associates. Possibly he +might come back to the show, and he would always +have a feeling of shame if he knew that those with +whom he worked had seen him recovering from a +"spree," as the red-haired lad called it. +</p> +<p> +"I've got to go away," said Joe to Paddy Flynn. +Joe and the lad had talked at one side of the tent +and in low tones, so the young circus man knew +their voices had not been overheard by Paddy and +the man he was guarding, Harry Loper. "I'll be +back as soon as I can," went on the young fire-eater. +"Meanwhile you stay here, Loper. Paddy will +take care of you, and when I come back I'll have a +talk with you." +</p> +<p> +"All right," assented the other wearily. "I feel +better now I've told you." +</p> +<p> +Joe and Micky Donlon, which the red-haired boy +said was his name, though probably Michael was +what he had been christened, were soon on their +way toward the river and the location of one of the +shipyards. +</p> +<p> +"Are youse sure I can see de show to-night?" +asked Micky eagerly, as they walked along. +</p> +<p> +"Positive," said Joe. "Here's a reserved seat +ticket now. Two, in fact, in case you want to take +some one." +</p> +<p> +"I'll take me mudder," declared the lad. "I got +a girl, but she's goin' wit another feller. He bought +two tickets, but dey wasn't reserved seats. I didn't +have the dough—dat's why she shook me, I guess. +But when I flash dese on her—say, maybe she won't +want to shine up at me again! But nothin' doin'! +I'll take me mudder. She needs a change after +waitin' on dat guy what's been on a spree." +</p> +<p> +"How long has Mr. Logan been ill?" asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, he's been in Kelly's joint for a week." +</p> +<p> +"He must have been waiting for the circus to arrive," +thought Joe. "He knew we were booked for +here. Poor fellow!" +</p> +<p> +Joe was glad it was still light when he entered +the district where Kelly's café, or saloon, to be +more exact, was situated. For the place was most +disreputable in appearance, and the character of men +loitering about it would have made it a place to stay +away from after dark. +</p> +<p> +Suspicious eyes looked at Joe as he entered the +place with his young guide. +</p> +<p> +"He's come to see de sick guy," Micky explained +to the bartender. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I hope he's come to pay what's owin'," was +the surly comment. +</p> +<p> +"I'll settle any bills that Mr. Logan may owe for +board or lodging," said Joe. +</p> +<p> +"Board! He don't owe much for <i>board</i>!" sneered +the barkeeper. "He hasn't eaten enough to keep a +fly alive. But he does owe for his room." +</p> +<p> +"I'll pay that," offered Joe. Then he was guided +upstairs to a squalid room. +</p> +<p> +"Come in!" called a weak voice, and Joe, pushing +back the door, saw, lying on a tumbled bed, the +form of the old fire-eater. It was a great change +Ham Logan was in even worse condition than when +he had applied to Joe for work. He was utterly disreputable. +But in spite of that there was something +about his face and eyes that gave Joe hope. The +man was sober—that was one thing. +</p> +<p> +As Joe looked at him, Ham turned his face away. +</p> +<p> +"I—I'm ashamed to have you see me," he murmured. +"I fought it off as long as I could, but I just +had to see you. 'Tisn't for my own sake!" he +added quickly. "I know you're through with me. +But it's for your own—and the good of the show. +I've got something to tell you, and, when I've done +that, you can go away again and forget me. That's +all I'm fit for—to be forgotten!" +</p> +<p> +A dry sob shook his emaciated frame. +</p> +<p> +"Son, here's a quarter," said Joe to the red-haired +Micky. "You go out and get yourself an ice-cream +soda and come back in half an hour." +</p> +<p> +And after he had thus delicately removed a witness +to the sad scene Joe closed the door, and, going +over to the bed, held out both his hands to the man. +</p> +<p> +And then tears—tears to which he had long been +stranger—coursed down the sunken cheeks of +Hamilton Logan. +</p> +<p> +Just what Joe said to the man whom he had befriended +and who had gone back to his old ways and +what Ham Logan said to his young benefactor will +never be known. Neither would tell, and no one else +knew. As a matter of fact, it did not matter. Afterward, +though, following some sensational happenings +which did become known, Joe told his closest +friends enough of Ham's story to make clear the +trend of events. +</p> +<p> +Punctually on the time agreed, Micky Donlon was +back at his post. Joe was coming out of the room. +</p> +<p> +"Are you engaged for the rest of the day?" asked +the young circus performer of his guide. +</p> +<p> +"Engaged?" +</p> +<p> +"I mean have you anything to do?" +</p> +<p> +"Not so's you could notice! Me mudder's goin' +to dress up to see de show, but me—I'm all ready!" +</p> +<p> +"Good! Then you can help me. I'll pay you for +your time. Can we get an automobile in this part +of the city?" +</p> +<p> +"Gee, no, mister! Dere's jitney buses about two +blocks up, though." +</p> +<p> +"Well, perhaps they'll do for a time. I've got +a lot to do, and you can help me." +</p> +<p> +"I sure will, mister!" cried Micky. "Are youse +in de circus—I mean does youse ride a horse or +jump over de elephants?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, something like that—yes," answered Joe +with a smile. "You'll see to-night if you come." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'll be dere! Don't forgit dat!" +</p> +<p> +Joe and his guide took a jitney to the nearest public +hack stand, where a number of automobiles were +waiting, and Joe entered one of these with Micky. +</p> +<p> +"Gee, if me girl could see me <i>now</i>!" murmured +the red-haired lad, as he sank back in the deep seat. +</p> +<p> +Joe was too preoccupied to more than smile at +the lad. There was much that remained to be done. +The circus was to remain in this city two days more, +over Saturday night, in fact, leaving on Sunday for +a distant city. +</p> +<p> +"There's time enough to trap them!" mused Joe. +"Time enough to trap them!" +</p> +<p> +And, getting back to the show lot, he dismissed +the automobile, and, taking Micky with him, sought +out Jim Tracy, Mr. Moyne, and some of the other +circus executives. +</p> +<p> +And then the trap was set. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH25"><!-- CH25 --></a> +<h2> + CHAPTER XXV +</h2> + +<h3> +A BLAZE OF GLORY +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> +"Well," remarked Joe, after having talked rapidly +and said considerable to his friends, "what do +you think of my news?" +</p> +<p> +"Great!" declared the ringmaster. "I didn't think +things would take just that turn, but after Loper's +confession and what Ham told you, I believe it all. +That scoundrel ought to be sent away for life." +</p> +<p> +"He'll go for a long time if I have anything to +say," declared the treasurer. "Did you know we +spotted more bogus tickets to-day?" he asked Joe. +</p> +<p> +"No." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we did. I found it out just after you left. +There were only a few. The rush will come to-night." +</p> +<p> +"Unless we stop it," put in Jim Tracy. +</p> +<p> +"We'll stop it!" decided Joe. "That's why I +wanted to get things started in a hurry. The trap +is all ready to spring. The detectives will be here +at eight o'clock, just when the rush is at its height +at the ticket wagon." +</p> +<p> +"Are you going to bring Ham back?" asked Jim, +when the conference was over. +</p> +<p> +"I certainly am," was the answer. "I think he's +been on his last spree. And he wouldn't have gone +on this one only that he was tempted by some person. +Put this tempter out of the way, and it will +mean Ham's safety. Now we've got to work." +</p> +<p> +There was an exceedingly busy time at the circus +from then on, and very little of it concerned the +show itself. The performance was delayed half an +hour that night to enable the trap to be sprung. +</p> +<p> +Joe and Jim Tracy met a certain train that came +in from a large city, and saw alight from it two +quiet, unassuming men. +</p> +<p> +"There they are," said Joe. "Now things will +move!" And he and the ringmaster were soon in +conversation with the two new arrivals. +</p> +<p> +A little later the four entered Joe's dressing tent +at the circus grounds. And some time after that +four men, whose faces were black from the smudge +of machine oil and grease and whose clothes carried +like marks, left Joe's quarters. +</p> +<p> +"Down near the shipyards when the last of the +day shift comes off will be the time and place," said +one of the four smudge-faced men. +</p> +<p> +"Right!" declared another. +</p> +<p> +From the big shipyard poured hundreds of men. +As they began to emerge from the gate the four +soiled-faced individuals who had come from Joe's +dressing tent mingled with them. They heard some +one ask: +</p> +<p> +"Are you sure the tickets'll be good?" +</p> +<p> +"Sure," was the answer. "This fellow and his +pal are part of the show. He sells 'em this way so +there won't be such a crowd at the wagon, and +that's why he makes such a big discount. It sort of +guarantees a pretty big crowd, too. Oh, the tickets +are good, all right. There's the ticket guy now." +</p> +<p> +The crowd of men turned down a side street, +and the four smutty-countenanced men went with +them. One of the four said: +</p> +<p> +"Wait till he sells a few tickets and then nab +him." +</p> +<p> +"There's two of 'em," said another voice. +</p> +<p> +"Nab 'em both! They work together." +</p> +<p> +Soon the men from the shipyard surrounded the +two men, one of whom had been designated by the +sentence: "There's the ticket guy now." +</p> +<p> +Money began to change hands, and tickets were +passed around. The four men who had kept together +shoved their way through the crowd of ship +workers. +</p> +<p> +"How much are the tickets?" one asked. +</p> +<p> +"Thirty-five cents," was the answer. "They'll +cost you fifty or seventy-five at the wagon. The +only reason we sell 'em this way is to avoid the +rush. Then, too, you're really buying 'em at wholesale." +</p> +<p> +"I'll take four," said the man of the quartette. +</p> +<p> +"Here you are! Four." +</p> +<p> +There was another clink of money and a rustle +of slips of paper. Then the man who had passed +over the tickets, said: +</p> +<p> +"Here's your change. That was a five you gave +me, wasn't it? Take your change." +</p> +<p> +"And you take yours, Bill Carfax!" suddenly +cried one of the four. "It's quite a sudden change, +too!" +</p> +<p> +There was a flash of something bright, a metallic +click—two of them, in fact—and the ticket seller +tried to break away. But he was held by the handcuffs +on his wrists, one of the four grasping them +by the connecting chain. +</p> +<p> +"Get the other!" cried a sharp voice. +</p> +<p> +There was a scuffle, another flash of something +bright, two more clicks, and one of the four cried: +</p> +<p> +"That'll be about all from you, Jed Lewis, <i>alias</i> +Inky Jed." +</p> +<p> +The two handcuffed men seemed to know that the +game was up. They shrugged their shoulders, +looked at each other, and grew quiet suddenly. The +set trap had been successfully sprung. +</p> +<p> +"Hey! what's the big idea?" +</p> +<p> +"What's it all about?" +</p> +<p> +"Don't we get our tickets?" +</p> +<p> +Thus cried the men from the shipyards. +</p> +<p> +"You don't want these tickets," said Joe Strong, +for as Bill Carfax looked more closely at one of +the four he recognized him as the young circus man. +"You don't want any tickets these men could sell +you." +</p> +<p> +"Why not?" demanded a man who had bought +one. +</p> +<p> +"Because they're counterfeit," was Joe's answer. +"This man, Bill Carfax," and he nodded toward the +one first handcuffed, "used to work with the Sampson +show. He was discharged—ask him to tell you +why—and soon after that we began to be cheated +by the use of counterfeit tickets. We have been trying +ever since to find out who sold them, and now +we have." +</p> +<p> +"You think you have!" sneered the man who had +been called "Inky Jed." +</p> +<p> +"We know it," said Joe decidedly. "Ham Logan +overheard your plans discussed, and he's told everything." +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" exclaimed Bill Carfax, and there was a +world of meaning in that simple interjection. +</p> +<p> +"And who might you guys be?" asked one of the +shipyard men. +</p> +<p> +"I'm one of the circus owners," said Joe quietly, +"and this is the ringmaster," he went on, indicating +Jim Tracy. "These other two gentlemen are detectives +who have been working on the case since +we discovered the counterfeits. We disguised +ourselves in this way in order to trap these two," and +he pointed to the handcuffed men. +</p> +<p> +The ship workers nodded. One of them asked: +</p> +<p> +"And aren't they with your show, and can't they +sell tickets at reduced prices?" +</p> +<p> +"Never!" exclaimed Joe. "You might get in on +the tickets you bought from them, but it would be +illegally. The counterfeits are clever ones," he said, +holding up four he had bought for evidence. "But +we can detect the difference by means of the serial +numbers. And now, if you men really want to see +the show, go up to the lot and get your tickets from +the wagon, or buy them at one of the authorized +agencies." +</p> +<p> +There were many questions fired at Joe and his +friends by the shipyard men, but they had time to +answer only a few. +</p> +<p> +"We've got to get back to the performance," said +Joe to the detectives. "You can take them with +you," and he nodded toward Bill Carfax and his +crony. "Jim and I will see you later." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, we'll take them with us all right!" laughed +one of the detectives. "Move lively, boys!" he added +to the two prisoners. "The jig is up!" +</p> +<p> +And the two counterfeiters seemed to know it. +</p> +<p> +"What does it all mean?" asked Helen of Joe, +when he got back a little before the time to go on +with his acts. He had washed his face and changed +to his circus costume. The two prisoners had been +locked up. +</p> +<p> +"Well, it means we killed two birds with one +stone," said Joe. "We got rid of the men who have +been making us lose money my means of the counterfeit +tickets, and we have also under lock and +key Bill Carfax, who tried several times to injure +me, or at least to spoil my act, by means of acid on +the trapeze rope and by changing the fireproof +mixture." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Helen. "Then you were +in danger?" +</p> +<p> +"I suppose so—danger of injury, perhaps, but +hardly death. I think Carfax, desperate as he was, +would stop at that." +</p> +<p> +"How did you find out about him and the other +man?" +</p> +<p> +"I'll just have time to tell you before my first +act," said Joe. "It was Harry Loper who gave me +the first idea. When he broke down it was because +of what he had done, and on account of what Bill +Carfax wanted him to do again. It was Bill who +got into the tent once and put acid on my trapeze +wire. And it was because he bribed poor Loper +that he was able to do it. Bill pretended it was only +a trick to make me slip, because he wanted to get +even with me for discharging him. So poor, weak +Harry let him sneak into the tent, disguised so none +of our men would know him. Bill climbed up, put +acid on the wire, and the fiery stuff did the rest. +</p> +<p> +"Well, that preyed on Harry's mind, but he kept +putting it away. But finally, knowing the hold he +had on him, Bill came back and gave him a bottle +of acid to work some further harm to me or my +apparatus. But Ham discovered that in time. +</p> +<p> +"Bill was provoked over his failure, and, when +he wasn't helping Inky Jed get out the bogus tickets, +he followed the show and tried to prevail on Harry +to play another trick on me. Just what it was +Harry doesn't know. He refused to do it, and then +he came and confessed to me. So much for Harry. +He's a sorry boy, and I think he'll turn over a new +leaf. +</p> +<p> +"Now about Ham. Just as I feared, he got to +drinking again. But it was because Bill met him +when poor Ham's nerves were on edge, and Bill +induced him to take liquor. Then Ham went all to +pieces and started on a spree which lasted until +now. He managed to get from place to place, always +under Bill's eye, and at last he landed here, +very weak and ill. Mrs. Donlon looked after him. +</p> +<p> +"And it was here that Ham first heard Bill and +his crony plotting about the bogus circus tickets. +The two counterfeiters planned to make a big strike +here with the shipyard workers. Then Ham sent +the warning to me. I called on him, learned the +plans of Bill and Jed, and we sent for the detectives. +The latter, we learned, were about to make +an arrest anyhow, but it was of the men who really +printed the bogus tickets. They hadn't a clew, as +yet, to Bill and Jed, who were the real backers of +the game. The detectives came on, disguised themselves +with us, and we caught the scoundrels in the +very act. Now they're locked up." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Joe, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Helen. "I'm +so glad it's all over. And are you going to bring +Ham back to the show?" +</p> +<p> +"Just as soon as he's able to travel. Micky Donlon +wants to join too, and I may give him a chance +later. Well, our troubles seem to be over for a +time, but I suppose there'll be more." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, look on the bright side!" exclaimed Helen. +"Why be a fire-eater if you can't look on the bright +side?" she laughed. +</p> +<p> +"That's so," agreed her admirer. "Well, I've got +to get ready to eat some fire right now." +</p> +<p> +As Joe had said, everything was cleared up. Bill +Carfax was at the bottom of most of the personal +troubles of the young circus man, and his acts were +actuated by a desire for vengeance. As to the ticket +trick, Bill was only a sort of agent in that. Jed +Lewis, alias Inky Jed, was an expert counterfeiter. +He had already served time in prison for trying to +make counterfeit money, and when he fell in with +Bill, and heard the latter tell of some of his circus +experiences, the more skillful scoundrel became +impressed with the chance of making money by selling +spurious tickets. +</p> +<p> +They had some printed and worked the scheme +among crowds of men coming from factories, just +as they were doing when they were caught. +</p> +<p> +As Ham told Joe, the old fire-eater had overheard +the plots and saw his chance to do Joe a favor. +Carfax, it was surmised, hoped to get Ham +Logan under his influence through drink, so that he +might use him in order to injure Joe, after having +failed with Harry Loper. +</p> +<p> +It developed, afterward, that the paper mills had, +innocently enough, furnished the swindlers with the +paper for the counterfeit tickets. The material was +secured through a trick, and Inky Jed knew an unscrupulous +printer who did the work for him. +</p> +<p> +It was Bill Carfax who had sent the man who +so nearly exposed Joe's box trick. But fortune was +with the young circus man. +</p> +<p> +The music played, the horses trotted about, +clowns made laughter, and Helen performed graceful +feats on Rosebud. Joe did some magical tricks, +walked the wire, slid down on his head, and then +prepared for the blazing banquet. +</p> +<p> +In order to show what he could do, Ted Brown +had introduced some novelties. After Joe and the +guests had devoured the blazing food there was a +pause, and then, suddenly, from the center of the +table spouts of red fire burst out, so that the banquet +ended in a blaze of glory. Joe's new helper had +used some fireworks effectively. +</p> +<p> +In due time Bill and his crony were tried, convicted, +and sent away to prison for long terms. +Harry Loper changed his rather loose and weak +ways and became one of Joe's best friends. Ted +Brown was continued as an "assistant assistant," for +in a few weeks Ham Logan was able to rejoin the +show, and he again became Joe's chief helper. +</p> +<p> +"Well, what are you going to spring next on the +unsuspecting public as a sensation?" asked Helen, +when the show had reached a city where two days +were to be spent. "Have you other acts as good a +the fire-eating?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, perhaps I can think up some," was the +answer. +</p> +<p> +And so, with Joe Strong thinking what the future +might hold for him and the circus, we will take our +leave for a time. +</p> +<center> +THE END +</center> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater, by Vance Barnum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER *** + +***** This file should be named 10579-h.htm or 10579-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/7/10579/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater + The Most Dangerous Performance on Record + +Author: Vance Barnum + +Release Date: January 2, 2004 [EBook #10579] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER + +OR + +_THE MOST DANGEROUS PERFORMANCE ON RECORD_ + +BY VANCE BARNUM + +Author of "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard," "Joe Strong and His Wings of +Steel," "Joe Strong and His Box of Mystery," etc. + +1916 + + + +JOE STRONG, THE BOY FIRE-EATER + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE VANISHING LADY + + +"Ladies and gentlemen, if you will kindly give me your attention for a +few moments I will be happy to introduce to your favorable notice an +entertainer of world-wide fame who will, I am sure, not only mystify you +but, at the same time, interest you. You have witnessed the +death-defying dives of the Demon Discobolus; you have laughed with the +comical clowns; you have thrilled with the hurrying horses; and you have +gasped at the ponderous pachyderms. Now you are to be shown a trick +which has baffled the most profound minds of this or any other +city--aye, I may say, of the world!" + +Jim Tracy, ringmaster and, in this instance, stage manager of Sampson +Brothers' Circus, paused in his announcement and with a wave of his hand +indicated a youth attired in a spotless, tight-fitting suit of white +silk. The youth, who stood in the center of a stage erected in the big +tent, bowed as the manager waited to allow time for the applause to die +away. + +"You have all seen ordinary magicians at work making eggs disappear up +their sleeves," went on the stage manager. "You have, I doubt not, +witnessed some of them producing live rabbits from silk hats. But +Professor Joe Strong, who will shortly have the pleasure of entertaining +you, not only makes eggs disappear, but what is far more difficult, he +causes a lady to vanish into thin air. + +"You will see a beautiful lady seated in full view of you. A moment +later, by the practice of his magical art, Professor Strong will cause +the same lady to disappear utterly, and he will defy any of you to tell +how it is done. Now, Professor, if you are ready--" and with a nod and a +wave of his hand toward the youth in the white silk tights, Jim Tracy +stepped off the elevated stage and hurried to the other end of the +circus tent where he had to see to it that another feature of the +entertainment was in readiness. + +"Oh, Joe, I'm actually nervous! Do you think I can do it all right?" +asked a pretty girl, attired in a dress of black silk, which was in +striking contrast to Joe Strong's white, sheeny costume. + +"Do it, Helen? Of course you can!" exclaimed the "magician," as he had +been termed by the ringmaster. "Do just as you did in the rehearsals and +you'll be all right." + +"But suppose something should go wrong?" she asked in a low voice. + +"Don't be in the least excited. I'll get you out of any predicament you +may get into. Tricks do, sometimes, go wrong, but I'm used to that. I'll +cover it up, somehow. However, I don't anticipate anything going wrong. +Now take your place while I give them a little patter." + +This talk had taken place in low voices and with a rapidity which did +not keep the expectant audience waiting. Joe Strong, while he was +reassuring Helen Morton, his partner in the trick and also the girl to +whom he was engaged to be married, was rapidly getting the stage ready +for the illusion. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Joe, as he advanced to the edge of the +stage, "I am afraid our genial manager has rather overstated my powers. +What I am about to do, to be perfectly frank with you, is a trick. I lay +no claim to supernatural powers. But if I can do a trick and you can't +tell how it is done, then you must admit that, for the moment, I am +smarter than you. In other words, I am going to deceive you. But the +point is--how do I do it? With this introduction, I will now state what +I am about to do. + +"Mademoiselle Mortonti will seat herself on a stage in a chair in full +view of you all. I will cover her, for a moment only, with a silken +veil. This, if I were a real necromancer, I should say was to prevent +your seeing her dissolve into a spirit as she disappears. But to tell +you the truth, it is to conceal the manner in which I do the trick. +You'd guess that, anyhow, if I didn't tell you," he added. + +There was a good-natured laugh at this admission. + +"As soon as I remove the silken veil," went on Joe, "you will see that +the lady will have disappeared before your very eyes. What's that? +Through a hole in the stage did some one say?" questioned Joe, appearing +to catch a protesting voice. + +"Well, that's what I hear everywhere I go," he went on with easy +calmness. "Every time I do the vanishing lady trick some one thinks she +disappears through a hole in the stage. Now, in order to convince you to +the contrary, I am going to put a newspaper over that part of the stage +where the chair is placed. I will show you the paper before and after +the trick. And if there is not a hole or a tear in the paper, either +before or after the lady has disappeared, I think you will admit that +the lady did not go through a hole in the stage floor. Won't you?" asked +Joe Strong. "Yes, I thought you would," he added, as he pretended to +hear a "yes" from somewhere in the audience. + +"All ready now, Helen," he said in a low voice to the girl, and an +attendant brought forward an ordinary looking chair and a newspaper. + +Joe, who had done the trick many times before, but not often with Helen, +was perfectly at ease. Helen was very frankly nervous. She had not done +the trick for some time, and Joe had introduced into it some novel +features since last presenting it. Helen was afraid she would cause some +hitch in the performance. + +"You'll be all right," Joe said to her in a low voice. "Just act as +though you had done this every day for a year." + +Placing the chair in the center of the stage and handing Joe the +newspaper, the attendant stepped back. Joe addressed the audience. + +"You here see the paper," said the "magician," as he held it up. "You +see that there is no hole in it. I'll now spread it down on the stage. +If the lady disappears down through the stage she will have to tear the +paper. You shall see if she does." + +Joe next placed the chair directly over the square of paper and motioned +to Helen. Her plain black dress, of soft, clinging silk, swayed about +her as she took her place. + +"I might add," said Joe, pausing a moment after Helen had taken her +seat, "that in order to prevent any shock to Mademoiselle Mortonti I am +going to mesmerize her. She will then be unconscious. I do this for two +reasons. In totally disappearing there is sometimes a shock to a +person's mentality that is unpleasant. To avoid indicting that on +Mademoiselle Mortonti I will hypnotize her. + +"The other reason I do that is that she may not know how or when she +disappears. Thus she will not be able to see how I do the trick, and so +cannot give away my secret." + +Of course this was all "bunk" or "patter," to use names given to it by +the performers. It kept the attention of the audience and so enabled Joe +to do certain things without attracting too much attention to them. As a +matter of fact he did not mesmerize Helen, and she knew perfectly well +how the trick was done. Those who have read previous books of this +series are also in the secret. + +Joe waved his hands in front of Helen's face. She swayed slightly in her +chair. Then her eyes closed as though against her will, and she seemed +to sleep. + +"She is now in the proper condition for the trick," said Joe. "I must +beg of you not to make any sudden or unnecessary noise. You might +suddenly awaken her from the mesmeric slumber, and this might be very +serious." + +As Joe said this with every indication of meaning it, there was a quick +hush among the audience. Even though many knew it was only a trick, they +could not help being impressed by the solemn note in Joe's voice. Such +is the psychology of an audience, and the power over it of a single +person. + +"She now sleeps!" said Joe in a low voice. As a matter of fact, Helen +was wide awake, and as Joe stood between her and the circus crowd she +slowly opened one eye and winked at him. He was glad to see this, as it +showed her nervousness had left her. + +"Now for the mystic veil!" cried Joe, as he took from his helper a thin +clinging piece of black silk gauze. He tossed this over Helen and the +chair, completely covering both from sight. He brought the veil around +behind Helen's head, fastening it there with a pin. + +"To make sure that Mademoiselle Mortonti sleeps, I will now make the few +remaining mesmeric passes," said Joe. "I must be positive that she +slumbers." + +He waved his hands slowly over the black robed figure. A great hush had +fallen over the big crowd. Every eye was on the black figure in the +center of the raised stage in the middle of the big circus tent. All the +other acts had temporarily stopped, to make that of Joe Strong, the boy +magician, more spectacular. + +As Joe continued to wave one hand with an undulating motion over the +silent black-covered figure in the chair, he touched, here and there, +the drapery over Helen. He seemed very solicitous that it should hang +perfectly right, covering the figure of the girl and the chair +completely from sight in every direction all around the stage. + +The music, which had been playing softly, suddenly stopped at a wave of +Joe's hand. He stood for a moment motionless before the veiled figure. + +"Her spirit is dissolving into thin air!" he said in a low voice, which, +nevertheless, carried to every one in the crowd. + +Suddenly Joe took hold of the veil in the center and directly over the +outlined head of the figure in the chair. Quickly the young magician +raised the soft, black silk gauze, whisking it quickly to one side. + +The audience gasped. + +The chair, in which but a moment before Helen Morton had been seated, +was empty! The girl had disappeared--vanished! Joe stooped and raised +from the stage the newspaper. It showed not a sign of break or tear. + +Then, before the applause could begin, the girl appeared, walking out +from one of the improvised wings of the circus stage. She smiled and +bowed. The act had been a great success. Now the silent admiration of +the throng gave place to a wave of hand clapping and feet stamping. + +"Was it all right, Joe?" asked Helen, as he held her hand and they both +bowed their appreciation of the applause. + +"Couldn't have been better!" he said. "We'll do this trick regularly +now. It takes even better than my ten thousand dollar box mystery. You +were great!" + +"I'm so glad!" + +The two performers were bowing themselves off the stage when suddenly +there came the unmistakable roar of a wild beast from the direction of +the animal tent. It seemed to shake the very ground. At the same time a +voice cried: + +"A tiger is loose! One of the tigers is out of his cage!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A DANGEROUS SWING + + +There is no cry which so startles the average circus audience as that +which is raised when one of the wild animals is said to be at large. Not +even the alarm that the big tent is falling or is about to be blown over +will cause such a panic as the shout: + +"A tiger is loose!" + +There is something instinctive, and perfectly natural, in the fear of +the wild jungle beasts. Let it be said that a tiger or a lion is loose, +and it causes greater fear, even, than when it is stated that an +elephant is on a rampage. An elephant seems a big, but good-natured, +creature; though often they turn ugly. But a lion or a tiger is always +feared when loose. + +But the chances are not one in a hundred that a circus lion or a tiger, +getting out of its cage, would attack any one. The creature is so +surprised at getting loose, and so frightened at the hue and cry at once +raised, that all it wants to do is to slink off and hide, and the only +harm it might do would be to some one who tried to stop it from running +away. + +Joe Strong, Jim Tracy, and the other circus executives and employees +knew this as soon as they heard the cry: "A tiger is loose." Who raised +the cry and which of the several tigers in the Sampson show was out of +its cage, neither Joe nor any of those in the big tent near him knew. +But they realized the emergency, and knew what to do. + +"Keep your seats! Don't rush!" cried Joe, as he released Helen's hand +and hurried to the front of the platform. "There is no danger! The +animal men will catch the tiger, if one is really loose. Stay where you +are! Keep your seats! Don't rush!" + +It is the panic and rush that circus men are afraid of--the pushing and +"milling" of the crowd and the trampling under foot of helpless women +and children. + +There was some commotion near the junction of the animal tent and that +in which the main performance took place. What it was, Joe did not +concern himself about just then. He felt it to be his task to prevent a +panic. And to this he lent himself, aided by Helen, Jim Tracy, and +others who realized the danger. + +And while this is going on and while the expert animal men are preparing +to get back into its cage the tiger which, it was learned afterward, had +got out through an imperfectly fastened door, time will be taken to tell +new readers something about Joe Strong and the series of books in which +he is the central character. + +Joe Strong seemed destined for a circus life and for entertaining +audiences with sleight-of-hand and other mystery matters. His father, +Alexander Strong, known professionally as Professor Morretti, was a +stage magician of talents, and Joe's mother, who was born in England, +had been a rider of trick horses. + +His parents died when Joe was young. He did not have a very happy +boyhood, and one day he ran away from the man with whom he was living +and joined a traveling magician, who called himself Professor Rosello. +With him Joe, who had a natural aptitude for the business, learned to +become a sleight-of-hand performer. + +In the first book of the series, entitled "Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard; +Or, the Mysteries of Magic Exposed," is told how Joe got on in life +after his first start. Joe was not only a stage magician, but he had +inherited strength, skill and daring, and he liked nothing better than +climbing to great heights or walking in lofty and dizzy places where the +footing was perilous. So it was perhaps natural that he should join the +Sampson Brothers' Show. And in the second book is related, under the +title, "Joe Strong on the Trapeze; Or, the Daring Feats of a Young +Circus Performer," what happened to our hero under canvas. + +Joe loved the circus life, even though he made some enemies. But he had +many friends. There was Helen Morton. Then there was Benny Turton, who +did a "tank act," and was billed as a "human fish." Jim Tracy, the +ringmaster, Bill Watson, the veteran clown, and his wife, the circus +"mother," Tom Layton, the elephant man who taught the big creatures many +tricks, were only a few of Joe's friends. + +Among others might be mentioned Senor Bogardi, the lion tamer, Mrs. +Talfo, the professional "fat lady," Senorita Tanzalo, the pretty snake +charmer, and Tom Jefferson, the "strong man." Joe loved them all. The +circus was like one big family, with, as might be expected, a "black +sheep" here and there. + +Joe became an expert on the trapeze, and, later, when Benny Turton was +temporarily in a hospital, Joe "took on" the tank trick. In the third +volume some of his under-water feats are related, while in the fourth +book Joe's acts on a motor cycle on the high wire are dealt with. + +With his "Wings of Steel," Joe caused a sensation, and after an absence +from the circus for a time he joined it again, bringing this act to it. + +Eventually Joe was made one of the circus owners, and now controlled a +majority of the stock. He had also inherited considerable money from his +mother's relatives in England, so that now the youth was financially +well off for one who had started so humbly. + +The book immediately preceding this one is called "Joe Strong and His +Box of Mystery; Or, the Ten Thousand Dollar Prize Trick." In that volume +is related how Joe constructed a trick box, out of which he made his way +after it was locked and corded about with ropes. Helen Morton helped him +in this trick, which was very successful. + +The circus management offered a prize of ten thousand dollars to +whomsoever could fathom how the trick was done. Bill Carfax, an enemy of +Joe's and a former circus employee, tried to solve the problem but +failed. + +The box trick was a great attraction for the circus, and Joe was in +higher favor than before. + +He had been on the road with the show for some time when the events +detailed in the first chapter of this book took place. + +By dint of much shouting and urging the people to retain their seats and +not rush into danger, Joe Strong and the others succeeded in calming the +circus crowd. Meanwhile there was much suppressed excitement. + +"Is the tiger caught? Is he back in his cage?" was asked on every side. + +While Joe and his fellow showmen were calming the crowd, the animal men +were having their own troubles. Burma, one of the largest of the +tigers, had got loose, having taken advantage of the open door of his +cage. He rushed out with a snarl of delight at his freedom. His jungle +cry was echoed by the roar of a lion in the next cage, and this was +followed by the cries and snarls of all the wild jungle beasts in the +tent. + +Fortunately the animal tent was deserted by all save the keepers, the +audience having filed into the tent where the main show was going on. + +"Head him off now! Head him off!" cried Tom Layton, the elephant man, as +he saw the tiger dart out of its cage--a flash of yellow and black. +"Head him off! Don't let him get in the main top!" + +"That's right! Head him off!" cried Senor Bogardi, the lion tamer. "He +won't hurt any one--he's too scared!" + +This was true, but it was difficult to believe, and some of the people +seated in the "main top," or big tent, who were nearest the animal tent, +hearing the cries and learning what had occurred, spread the alarm. + +Burma, the tiger, slunk around in behind the cages of the other animals. +All about him were men with clubs and pointed goads, with whips and +pistols. The circus men had had to cope with situations like this +before. They surrounded the tiger, advancing on him in an ever-narrowing +circle, and in a short time they drove him into an emergency cage which +was pushed forward with the open door toward him. Burma had no choice +but to enter, to get away from the cracking whips and the prodding +goads. And, after all, he was glad to be barred in again. + +So, without causing any harm except for badly frightening a number of +people in the audience, the tiger was caged again, and the circus +performance went on. + +Joe Strong did his Box of Mystery trick. The usual announcement of a +reward of ten thousand dollars to whomsoever could solve it was made, +and there was great applause when Joe managed to get out of the big box +without disturbing the six padlocks or the binding ropes. + +"I'm glad Bill Carfax isn't here to make trouble, trying to show how +much he knows about this trick," said Joe to the ringmaster, as he +stepped off the stage at the conclusion of the trick. + +"Yes, you put several spokes in Bill's wheels when you turned the laugh +on him that time," said Jim Tracy. "I don't believe he'll ever show up +around our circus again." + +But they little knew Bill Carfax. Those who have read the book just +before this will recall him and remember how unscrupulous he was. But +his plans came to naught then. Any one who wishes to learn how the +wonderful box trick was worked will find a full explanation in the +previous volume. + +Helen Morton received much applause at the conclusion of her act with +her trick horse, Rosebud. Joe Strong's promised wife was an accomplished +bareback rider, as well as one of her fiance's helpers in his mystery +tricks. + +"Well, I'm glad to-day is over," said Helen to Joe that night, as they +went to the train that was to take them to the next city where the +circus performance would be given. "What with doing the vanishing lady +act for the first time in a long while and the tiger getting loose, we +have had quite a bit of excitement." + +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But everything came out all right. I'm going to put +on a new stunt next week." + +"What's that?" asked Helen. "Something in the mystery line?" + +"No. I'm going back to some of my high trapeze work. You know, since we +lost Wogand there hasn't been any of the big swing work done." + +"That's so," agreed Helen. "But I've been so busy practicing the +vanishing lady act with you on top of my other work that I hadn't given +it a thought. But you aren't going to do that dangerous trick, are you?" + +"I think I am," Joe answered. "It's sensational, and we need sensational +acts now to draw the crowds. I used to do it, and I can again, I think, +with a little practice. I'm going to start in and train to-morrow." + +"I wish you wouldn't," said Helen, in a low voice, but Joe did not seem +to hear her. + +The big swing was a trapeze act performed on the highest of the circus +apparatus. Part of this apparatus consisted of two platforms fastened to +two of the opposite main poles, and up under the very roof of the big +top. + +Midway between the platforms, which were just large enough for a man to +stand on, was a trapeze with long ropes, capable of being swung from one +resting place to the other. It was, in reality, a "big swing." + +Joe's act, which he had often done, but which of late had been performed +by a man billed as "Wogand," was to stand on one platform, have the long +trapeze started in a long, pendulumlike swing by an attendant, and then +to leap down, catch hold of the bar with his hands, and swing up to the +other platform. If he missed catching the bar it meant a dangerous fall; +a fall into a net, it is true, but dangerous none the less. Its danger +can be judged when it is said that Wogand had died as an indirect result +of a fall into the net. He missed the trapeze, toppled into the net, +and, by some chance, did not land properly. His back was injured, his +spine became affected, and he died. + +When circus performers on the high trapezes fall or jump into the safety +nets, they do not usually do it haphazardly. If they did many would be +killed. There is a certain knack and trick of landing in a net. + +Joe Strong, ever having the interest of the circus at heart, had decided +to do this dangerous swing. He was an acrobat, as well as a stage +magician, and he had decided to take up some of his earlier acts which +had been so successful. + +"But I wish he wouldn't," said Helen to herself. "I have a premonition +that something will happen." Helen was very superstitious in certain +ways. + +But to all she said, Joe only laughed. + +"I'm going to do the big swing," he replied simply. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TOO MANY PEOPLE + + +Hundreds of men toiling and sweating over stiff canvas and stiffer +ropes. The thud of big wooden sledge hammers driving in the tent stakes. +The rumble of heavy wagons, and a cloud of dust where they were being +shoved into place by the busy elephants. + +On one edge of the big, vacant lot were wisps of smoke from the fires in +the stove wagons, and from these same wagons came appetizing odors. + +Here and there men and women darted, carrying portions of their costumes +in their hands. Clowns, partly made up, looked from their dressing tents +to smile or shout at some acquaintance who chanced to be passing by. + +All this was the Sampson Brothers' Circus in preparation for a day's +performance. + +Joe Strong, having had a good breakfast, without which no circus man or +woman starts the day, strolled over to where Helen Morton was just +finishing her morning meal. + +"Feeling all right?" he asked her. + +"Well, yes, pretty well," she answered. + +"What's the matter?" asked Joe quickly, as he detected an under note of +anxiety in the girl's voice. "Is your star horse, Rosebud, lame or off +his feed?" + +"Oh, no," she answered. "It's just--Oh, here comes Mother Watson, and I +promised to help her mend a skirt," said Helen quickly, as she turned to +greet the veteran clown's wife. "See you later, Joe!" she called to him +over her shoulder as she started away. + +The young magician moved away toward his own private quarters. + +"I wonder what's the matter with Helen," he said. "She doesn't act +naturally. If that Bill Carfax has been around again, annoying her, I'll +put him out of business for all time. But if he had been around I'd have +heard of it. I don't believe it can be that." + +Nor was it. Helen's anxiety had to do with something other than Bill +Carfax, the unprincipled circus man who had so annoyed her before Joe +discharged him. And, as Joe had said, the man had not been seen publicly +since the fiasco of his attempt to expose Joe's mystery box trick. + +"Well, I suppose she won't tell me what it is until she gets good and +ready," mused Joe. "Now I'll go in and have a little practice at the big +swing before the parade." + +Joe did not take part in the street pageant, though Helen did, riding +her beautiful horse to the admiration, not only of the small boys and +their sisters, but the grown-up throng in the highways as well. Helen +made a striking picture on her spirited, but gentle, steed. + +It was not that Joe Strong felt above appearing in the parade. That was +not his reason for not taking part. He had done so on more than one +occasion, and with his Wings of Steel had created more than one +sensation. + +But now that he did a trapeze act, as well as working the +sleight-of-hand mysteries, his time was pretty well occupied. He had +not, as yet, done the big swing in public since that act was abandoned +on the death of the man who had been injured while doing it. But Joe had +been perfecting himself in it. He had had a new set of trapezes made, +and had ornamented them and the two platforms in a very striking manner. +In other words, the trick had a new "dress," and Joe, as one of the +circus proprietors, hoped it would go well and attract attention. + +This was from a business standpoint, and not only because Joe was +himself the performer. Of course it was natural that he should like +applause--all do, more or less. But Joe was one of the owners of the +circus--the chief owner, in fact--and he wanted to make a financial +success of it. Nor was this a purely selfish reason. Many persons owned +stock in the enterprise, and Joe felt it was only fair to them to see +that they received a good return for their investment. Any trick he +could do to draw crowds he was willing to attempt. + +So, while the parade was being gotten ready, Joe went inside the main +top, which by this time was erected, to see about having his platforms +and trapeze put in place. In this he was always very careful, as is +every aerial performer. The least slip of a rope may cause disaster, and +no matter how careful the attendants are, the performers themselves +always give at least a casual look to their apparatus. + +"All right, Harry?" asked Joe of one of the riggers who had charge of +putting up the platforms and the big swing. + +"Sure, it's all right, Mr. Strong!" was the answer. "I should say so! I +don't make no mistakes when I'm putting up trapezes. You'll find +everything shipshape and proper. Going to have a big crowd to-day, I +guess." + +Joe looked at Harry Loper closely. The young man had never talked so +much before, being, on the whole, rather close-mouthed. As the man +passed Joe, after giving a pull on the last rope, the young magician +became aware that Harry had been drinking--and something stronger than +pink lemonade. + +"I'm sorry about that!" mused Joe, as the rope rigger passed on. "If +there's any place a man ought not to drink it's in a circus, and +especially when he has to rig up high flying apparatus for others. It +was drink that put Bill Carfax out of business. I didn't know Harry was +that kind, I never noticed it before. I'm sorry. And I'll take extra +precautions that my ropes won't slip. You can't trust a man who drinks." + +Joe shook his head a bit sadly. He was thinking of Bill Carfax, and of +the fact that he had had to discharge the man because, while under the +influence of liquor, he had insulted Helen. Then Bill had tried to get +revenge on Joe. + +"I hope it doesn't turn out this way with Harry Loper," mused Joe, as he +began climbing up a rope ladder that led to one of the high platforms. +And as Harry had to do with the placing of this ladder, Joe tested it +carefully before ascending. + +"I don't want to fall and be laid up in the middle of the circus +season," mused the young circus man, with a frown. + +However, the ladder appeared to be perfectly secure, and as Joe went up, +finally reaching the high platform, he felt a sense of exhilaration. +Heights always affected him this way. He liked, more than anything else, +to soar aloft on his Wings of Steel. And he liked the sensation when he +leaped from one platform toward the swinging trapeze bar, aiming to +grasp it in his hands and swing in a great arc to the other little +elevated place, close under the top of the tent. + +There was a thrill about it--a thrill not only to the performer but to +the audience as well--and Joe could hear the gasps that went up from +thousands of throats as he made his big swing. + +But, for the time being, he gave his whole attention to the platform and +its fastenings. The platforms were not very likely to slip, being caught +on to the main tent poles, which themselves were well braced. + +The real danger was in the long trapeze. Not only must the thin wire +ropes of this be strong enough to hold Joe's weight, but an added +pressure, caused by the momentum of his jump. And not only must the +cables be strong, but there must be no defect in the wooden bar and in +the place where the upper ends of the ropes were fastened to the top of +the tent. + +"Well, this platform is all right," remarked Joe, as he looked it over. +"Now for the other and the trapeze." + +He went down the rope ladder and climbed up another to the second +platform. The show would not start for several hours yet, and the tent +was filled with men putting in place the stage for Joe's magic tricks +and other apparatus for various performers. The parade was just forming +to proceed down town. + +Joe found that Harry Loper had done his work well, at least as far as +the platforms were concerned. They were firmly fastened. The one to +which Joe leaped after his swing needed to be considerably stronger than +the one from which he "took off." + +The next act of the young circus performer was to climb up to the very +top of the tent, and there to examine the fastenings of the trapeze +ropes. He spent some time at this, having reached his high perch by a +third rope ladder. + +"I guess everything is all right," mused Joe. "Perhaps I did Harry an +injustice. He might have taken some stimulant for a cold--they all got +wet through the other night. But still he ought to be careful. He was a +little too talkative for a man to give his whole attention to fastening +a trapeze. But this seems to be all right. I'll do the big swing this +afternoon and to-night, in addition to the box trick and the vanishing +lady. Helen works exceedingly well in that." + +Having seen that his aerial apparatus was all right, Joe next went to +his tent where his magical appliances were kept. Many stage tricks +depend for their success on special pieces of apparatus, and Joe's acts +were no exception. + +Joe saw that everything was in readiness for his sleight-of-hand work, +and then examined his Box of Mystery. As this was a very special piece +of apparatus, he was very careful about it. His ability to get out of +it, once he was locked and roped in, depended on a delicate bit of +mechanism, and the least hitch in this meant failure. + +But a test showed that it was all right, and as by this time it was +nearly the hour for the parade to come back and the preliminaries to +begin, Joe went over to the circus office to see if any matters there +needed his attention. + +As he crossed the lot to where the "office" was set up in a small tent, +the first horses of the returning parade came back on the circus +grounds. Following was a mob of delighted small boys and not a few men. + +"Looks as if we'd have a big crowd," said Joe to himself. "And it's a +fine day for the show. We'll make money!" + +He attended to some routine matters, and then the first of the afternoon +audience began to arrive. As Joe had predicted, the crowd was a big one. + +The young performer was in his dressing room, getting ready for the big +swing, which he would perform before his mystery tricks, when Mr. Moyne, +the circus treasurer, entered. There was a queer look on Mr. Moyne's +face, and Joe could not help but notice it. + +"What's worrying you?" asked Joe. "Doesn't this weather suit you, or +isn't there a big enough crowd?" + +"That's just it, Joe," was the unexpected answer. "There's too big a +crowd. We have too many people at this show, and that's what is worrying +me a whole lot!" + +Joe Strong looked in surprise at the treasurer. What could Mr. Moyne +mean? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE RUSTED WIRE + + +"Yes," went on the circus treasurer, as he rubbed his chin reflectively, +"it's a curious state of affairs, and as you're so vitally interested I +came to you at once. There's going to be trouble!" + +"Trouble!" cried Joe with a laugh. "I can't see that, Mr. Moyne. You say +there's a big crowd of people at our circus--too much of a crowd, in +fact. I can't see anything wrong in that. It's just what we're always +wanting--a big audience. Let 'em fill the tent, I say, and put out the +'Straw Seats Only' sign. Trouble! Why, I should say this was good luck!" +and Joe hastened his preparations, for he wanted to go on with the big +swing. + +"Ordinarily," said Mr. Moyne, in the slow, precise way he had of +speaking, brought about, perhaps, by his need of being exact in money +matters, "a big crowd would be the very thing we should want. But this +time we don't--not this kind of a crowd." + +"What do you mean?" asked Joe, beginning to feel that it was more than a +mere notion on the part of the treasurer that something was wrong. "Is +it a rough crowd? Will there be a 'hey rube!' cry raised--a fight +between our men and the mill hands?" + +"Oh, no, nothing like that!" the treasurer hastened to assure Joe. "The +whole thing is just this. There are a great many more people in the main +top now than there are admission prices in the treasurer's cash box. The +books don't balance, as it were." + +"More people in the tent than have paid their way?" asked Joe. "Well, +that always happens at a circus. Small boys will crawl in under the +canvas in spite of clubs." + +"Oh, it isn't a question of the small boys--I never worry about them," +returned Mr. Moyne. "But there are about a thousand more persons at the +performance which will soon begin than we have admission prices for. In +other words there are a thousand persons occupying fifty cent seats that +haven't paid their half dollar. It isn't the reserve chairs that are +affected. We're all right there. But fully a thousand persons have come +into the show, and we're short five hundred dollars in our cash." + +"You don't tell me!" cried Joe. He saw that Mr. Moyne was very much in +earnest. "Have the ticket men and the entrance attendants been working a +flim-flam game on us?" + +"Oh, no, it isn't that," said the treasurer. "I could understand that. +But the men are perfectly willing to have their accounts gone over and +their tickets checked up. They're straight!" + +"Then what is it?" asked Joe. + +"That's what we've got to find out," went on Mr. Moyne. "In some way the +thousand people have come in without paying the circus anything. And +they didn't sneak in, either. A few might do that, but a thousand +couldn't. They've come in by the regular entrance." + +"Did they force themselves past without tickets?" + +"No, each one had the proper coupon." + +"Has there been a theft of our tickets?" demanded the young magician and +acrobat. + +"No, our ticket account is all right, except there are a thousand extra +entrance coupons in the box--coupons taken in by the entrance +attendants. It's a puzzle to me," confessed the treasurer. "There is +some game being played on us, and we're out to the tune of five hundred +dollars by it already." + +"Is there any way of finding out who these persons are who have come in +without paying us and having them ejected?" asked Joe. + +"I don't see how," admitted Mr. Moyne. "If they were in reserved seats +it could be done, but not in the ordinary un-numbered fifty cent +section. The whole situation is that we have a thousand persons too many +at the show." + +"Well, we'll have a meeting of the executive body and take it up after +the performance," said Joe, as he quickly prepared to get into his +aerial costume. "We'll have to go on with the performance now; it's +getting late. If we're swamped by people coming along who hold our +regular tickets we'll have to sit 'em anywhere we can. If we lose five +hundred dollars we'll make it up by having a smashing crowd, which is +always a good advertisement. I'll see you directly after the show, Mr. +Moyne." + +"I wish you would," said the harassed treasurer. "Something must be done +about it. If this happens very often we'll be in a financial hole at the +end of the season." + +He departed, looking at some figures he had jotted down on the back of +an envelope. + +Joe Strong was puzzled. Nothing like this had ever come up before. True, +there had been swindlers who tried to mulct the circus of money, and +there were always small boys, and grown men, too, who tried to crawl in +under the tent. But such a wholesale game as this Joe had never before +known. + +"Well, five hundred dollars, for once, won't break us," he said grimly, +as he fastened on a brightly spangled belt, "but I wouldn't want it to +happen very often. Now I wonder what luck I'll have in my big swing. I +haven't done it in public for some time, but it went all right in +practice." + +Joe looked from his dressing room. He was all ready for his act now, +but the time had not yet come for him to go on. He saw Helen hastening +past on her way to enter the ring with her horse, Rosebud, which a groom +held at the entrance for her. + +"Good luck!" called Joe, waving his hand and smiling. + +"The same to you," answered Helen. "You'll need it more than I. Oh, +Joe," she went on earnestly, "won't you give up this big swing? Stick to +your box trick, and let me act with you in the disappearing lady stunt. +Don't go on with this high trapeze act!" she pleaded. + +"Why, Helen! anybody would think you'd been bitten by the jinx bug!" +laughed Joe. "I thought you were all over that." + +"Perhaps I am foolish," she said. "But it's because--" + +She blushed and looked away. + +"I suppose I should take it as a compliment that you are so interested +in my welfare," said Joe, with a smile. "And, believe me, I am. But, +Helen, I can't back out of this act now. It's been advertised big. I've +got to go on!" + +"Then do be careful, won't you?" she begged. "Oh, do be careful! +Somehow, I have a feeling that--Oh, well, I won't set you to worrying by +telling you," she said quickly, with a laugh, in which, however, there +was no mirth. She smiled again, trying to make it a bright one; but Joe +saw that she was under a strain. + +"I'll be careful," he promised. "Really, there's no danger. I've done +the stunt a score of times, and I can judge my distance perfectly. +Besides there's the safety net." + +"Yes, I know, but there was poor--Oh, well, I won't talk about it! Good +luck!" and she hurried on, for it was time for her act--the whistle of +the ringmaster having blown. + +Joe looked after the girl he loved. He smiled, and then a rather serious +look settled over his face. Like a flash there had come to him the +memory of the too loquacious Harry Loper, who had fitted up his aerial +apparatus. + +"There can be nothing wrong with that," mused Joe. "I went over every +inch of it. I guess Helen is just nervous. Well, there goes my cue!" + +He hurried toward the entrance, and then he began to ponder over the +curious fact of there being a thousand persons too many at the +performance. + +"We'll have to straighten out that ticket tangle after the show," mused +Joe. "It's likely to get serious. I wonder--" he went on, struck by a +new thought. "I wonder if--Oh, no! It couldn't be! He hasn't been around +in a long while." + +Out into the tent, filled with a record-breaking crowd, went Joe to the +place where his high trapeze was waiting for him. The band was playing +lively airs, on one platform some trained seals were juggling big balls +of colored rubber, and on another a bear was going about on roller +skates. In one end ring Helen was performing with Rosebud, while in +another a troupe of Japanese acrobats were doing wonderful things with +their supple bodies. + +Joe waved his hand to Helen in passing, and then he began to ascend to +his high platform. When he reached it and stood poised ready for his +act, there came a shrill whistle from Jim Tracy, the ringmaster, who +wore his usual immaculate shirt front and black evening clothes--rather +incongruous in the daytime. + +The whistle was the signal for the other acts to cease, that the +attention of all might be centered on Joe. This is always done in a +circus in the case of "stars," and Joe was certainly a star of the first +magnitude. + +"Ladies and gentlemen!" cried Jim Tracy, with the accented drawl that +carried his voice to the very ends of the big tent. "Calling your +attention to one of the most marvelous high trapeze acts ever performed +in any circus!" + +He pointed dramatically to Joe, who stood up straight, ready to do his +act. + +"Are you ready?" asked the man who was to release the trapeze, which +was caught up at one side of the platform opposite Joe. + +"Ready," answered the young acrobat. + +The man pulled a rope which released a catch, letting the trapeze start +on its long swaying swing. The man pulled it by means of a long, thin +cord, until it was making big arcs, like some gigantic pendulum. + +Joe watched it carefully, judging it to the fraction of an inch. He +stood poised and tense on the gayly decorated platform, himself a fine +picture of physical young manhood. The band was blaring out the latest +Jazz melody. + +Suddenly, from his perch, the young acrobat gave a cry, and Jim Tracy, +on the ground below, hearing it, held up his white-gloved hand as a +signal for the music to cease. + +Then Joe leaped. Full and fair he leaped out toward the swinging bar of +the big trapeze, the snare drum throbbing out as he jumped. He was dimly +conscious of thousands of eyes watching him--eyes that looked curiously +and apprehensively up. And he realized that Helen was also watching him. + +As true as a die, Joe's hands caught and gripped the bar of the swinging +trapeze. So far he was safe. The momentum of his jump carried him in a +long swing, and he at once began to undulate himself to increase his +swing. He must do this in order to get to the second platform. + +As the young performer began to do this, he looked up at the wire ropes +of his trapeze. + +It was a look given instinctively and for no particular purpose, as +Joe's eyes must rest, most of all, on the second platform where he +needed to land, to save himself from a bad fall. + +As his eyes glanced along the steel cables on which his life depended, +he saw, to his horror, a spot of rust on one. And at the spot of rust +several of the thin strands of twisted wire were loose and frayed. + +The cable seemed about to give way! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A FIRE SENSATION + + +Joe Strong had to think quickly. Every acrobat, every person who does +"stunts" in a circus, must; for something is always happening, or on the +verge of taking place. And when Joe looked up and saw the rusted wire +and noted the fraying strands, several thoughts shot through his mind at +once. + +"That rust spot wasn't there this morning when, I looked at the +trapeze," he mused. "And it hasn't rained since. How did it get there?" + +He thought of the too talkative Harry Loper, and an ugly suspicion +associated itself with him. But Joe had no time for such thoughts then. +What was vital for him to know was whether or not the thin wire cable +would remain unbroken long enough for him to reach the maximum of his +swing, and land on the platform. Or would he fall, spoiling the act and +also endangering himself? + +True he might land in the net in such a way as to come to no harm, as he +had done many times, and as many performers before him had done. But +the danger was that in a sudden and unexpected drop downward he might +not be able to get his limbs in the proper landing position. + +Joe Strong had nerve. If he had lacked it he would never have been so +successful. And at once he decided on a courageous proceeding. + +"I'll bring all my weight suddenly on that left hand cable," he mused, +as he swung to and fro, from side to side of the big tent. "If it's +going to break it will do so then. And I'll be ready for it. I'll then +keep hold of the trapeze bar, which will be straight up and down instead +of crosswise, and swing by that. The other cable seems all right." This +was a fact which Joe ascertained by a quick inspection. + +There was no time for further thought. As he swung, Joe suddenly shifted +his weight, bringing it all on the frayed and strangely rusted cable. As +he half expected, it gave way, and he dropped in an instant, but not +far. + +The watching crowd gasped. It looked like an accident. And it was, in a +way, but Joe had purposely caused it. As the wire broke Joe held tightly +to the wooden bar, which was now upright in his hands instead of being +horizontal. And though it slipped through his fingers, perhaps for the +width of his palm, at last he gripped it in a firm hold and kept on with +his swing. + +And then the applause broke forth, for the audience thought it all a +part of the trick--they thought that Joe had purposely caused the cable +to break to make the act more effective. + +To and fro swung Joe, nearer and nearer to the second platform, and +then, reaching the height of the long arc, he turned his body and +stepped full and fair on the little square of velvet-covered boards. + +With a lithe contortion, Joe squirmed to an upright position, recovering +his balance with a great effort, for he had been put out in his +calculations of distance, and then, turning, he bowed to the crowds, +revolving on the platform to take in every one. + +Again the applause broke forth, to be drowned in the boom and ruffle of +the drums as the band began to play. There is little time in a circus, +where act follows act so quickly, for long acknowledgments. + +The other performers came into the rings or on to the raised platforms, +and Joe descended by means of the rope ladder. Helen met him, and they +walked toward the dressing rooms. + +"That was a wonderful trick, Joe," she said. "But I didn't see you +practice that drop." + +"I didn't practice it," he remarked dryly. "I did it on the spur of the +moment." + +"Joe Strong! wasn't it dangerous?" + +"Well, a little." + +"What made you do it?" + +"I couldn't help it." + +"You couldn't help it? Joe--do you mean--?" She sensed that something +was wrong, but walking around the circus arena, with performers coming +and going, was not the place to speak of it. Joe saw that she +understood. + +"I'll tell you later," he said. "We have to get ready for the trick box +and the vanishing lady stunt now." + +"Oh, Joe! were you in much danger?" she asked in a low voice. + +"Oh, not much," he answered, and he tried to speak lightly. Yet he did +not like to think of that one moment when he saw the rusted and broken +wire. + +While Joe and Helen are preparing for the box act, which has been +treated fully in the previous volume, the explanation of how the +vanishing lady trick was accomplished will be given, though that, too, +has been explained in an earlier volume. + +A large newspaper is put on the stage and the chair set on the paper, +thus, seemingly, precluding the possibility of a trap door being cut in +the stage through which the lady in the chair might slip. The word +"seemingly" is used with a due sense of what it means. The newspaper was +not a perfect one. On one of its sides which was not exhibited to the +audience, there was cut an opening, or trap, that exactly corresponded +in size with a trap door on the stage. The paper, as explained in the +previous book, is strengthened with cardboard, and the trap is a double +one, being cut in the center, the flaps being easily moved either way. + +The audience thinks it sees a perfect newspaper. But there is a square +hole in it, but concealed as is a secret trap door. + +When Joe laid the paper on the stage he placed it so that the square, +double flap in it was exactly over the trap in the stage floor. He then +drew the page of the paper that he had held out to the audience toward +himself, exposing the trap for use, but because it was so carefully +made, and the cut was so fine, it was not visible from the front. + +Helen took her place in the chair, which, of course, was a trick one. It +was fitted with a concealed rod and a cap, and it was over this cap, +brought out at the proper moment, that Joe carefully placed the black +veil, when he was pretending to mesmerize Helen. There was a cross rod, +also concealed in the chair, and on either end of this, something like +the epaulettes of a soldier, so that when these ends were under the veil +and the cap was in place it looked as though some one sat in the chair, +when, really, no one did. + +Helen was in the chair at the start. But as soon as she was covered by +the veil she began to get out The seat of the chair was hinged within +its frame As Helen sat on it, and after she had been covered with the +veil, she rested her weight on her hands, which were placed on the +extreme outer edges of this seat frame. She pulled a catch which caused +the seat to drop, and at the same time the trap beneath her, including +the prepared newspaper, was opened by an attendant. The black veil all +about the chair prevented the audience seeing this. + +Helen lowered herself down through the dropped seat of the chair, +through the trap, and under the stage. And while she was doing this it +still looked as if she were in the chair, for the false cap and the +extended cross rod made outlines as if of a human form beneath the black +veil. + +As soon as Helen was out of the chair and beneath the stage an attendant +closed the newspaper and wooden floor traps. Joe then suddenly raised +the veil, taking in its folds the false cap and the cross piece which +had represented Helen's shoulders. They were thin and light--these +pieces of trick apparatus--and no one suspected they were in the veil. +The hinged seat of the chair snapped back in place by means of a spring, +and when Joe stepped aside, holding the veil, there was the empty chair; +and the newspaper, which he picked up, seemed to preclude the +possibility of there having been a trap in the stage. But Joe was +careful how he exhibited this paper to his audience. + +And so it was that the lady "vanished." + +"And now, Joe, tell me all about it!" demanded Helen, when the circus +was over for the afternoon, and the box and vanishing tricks had been +successfully performed. "What happened to your trapeze?" + +"Some one spilled acid on one of the wire ropes, and it ate into the +metal, corroding it and separating a number of the strands so that a +little extra weight broke them," said Joe. + +"Acid on the cable?" cried Helen. "How did you find out?" + +"I just examined the wire. I knew it couldn't have rusted naturally in +such a short time. There was a peculiar smell about the wire, and I know +enough of chemistry to make a simple acid test! What kind of acid was +used I don't know, but it was strong enough to eat the steel." + +"Who could have put it on?" + +"That I've got to find out!" + +"Was it Harry Loper?" + +"I taxed him with it, but he swears he knew nothing of it," said Joe. +"I'm inclined to believe him, too. I charged him with drinking, and he +could not deny that. But he said he met some old friends and they +induced him to have a little convivial time with them. No, I don't +believe he'd do it. He's weak and foolish, but he had no reason to try +to injure me." + +"Who would, Joe? Of course there's Bill Carfax, but he hasn't been seen +near the circus of late." + +"No, I don't believe it could have been Bill. I'll have to be on my +guard." + +"Do, Joe!" urged Helen. "Oh, I can't bear to think of it!" + +"Don't then!" laughed Joe, trying to make light of it. "Let's go down +town and I'll buy you some ice cream." + +"But you're not going to give up trying to find out who put acid on the +trapeze, are you?" + +"No, indeed!" declared the young performer. "I have two problems on my +hands now--that and trying to learn how too many persons came to the +circus this afternoon," and he told Helen about the extra tickets. + +"That's queer!" she exclaimed. "Some jinx bug must be after us!" + +"Don't get superstitious!" warned Joe. "Now we'll forget our troubles. +They may not amount to anything after all." + +But, though he spoke lightly, Joe was worried, and he was not going to +let Helen know that. They went into an ice-cream parlor and "relaxed," +as Helen called it. + +The two were on their way back to the circus lot, intending to go to +supper and prepare for the evening entertainment, when there was a +sudden alarm down the street, and, in an instant, the fire engines and +other apparatus dashed past. + +"A fire!" cried Joe. "Come on, Helen! It's just down the street!" + +They could see smoke pouring from a small building and a crowd rushing +toward it. Thither, also, the fire apparatus was dashing. Joe and Helen +were among the early arrivals. + +"What is it?" asked Joe of an officer. "I mean what sort of place is +that?" and he pointed to the building, which was now obscured by smoke. + +"Dime museum," was the answer. "Lot of fakes. I sent in the alarm. A +fire-eater was trying some new stunt and he set the place ablaze, so the +boss yelled to me. Come now, youse all have to git back!" and he +motioned to the crowd, which was constantly increasing, to get beyond +the fire lines. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOMETHING NEW + + +What with the clanging of the gongs on the engines and on the red +runabouts that brought two battalion chiefs to the fire; the pall of +smoke, with, here and there, the suggestion of a red blaze; the swaying +excitement of the crowd; the yells of harassed policemen; the scene at +the blaze of the dime museum was one long to be remembered by Joe Strong +and Helen Morton--particularly in the light of what happened afterward. + +"Joe, did you hear what he said?" asked Helen, as she moved back with +the young acrobat in conformity with the officer's order. + +"You mean that we've got to slide?" + +"No, that a fire-eater started the blaze. Does he mean a professional +'fire bug,' as I have heard them called?" + +"Oh, not at all!" exclaimed Joe. "A fire-eater is a chap who does such +stunts in a museum, theater, or even in a circus. Sampson Brothers used +to have one, I understand, from looking over the old books. But it +wasn't much of an act. Golly, this is going to be some blaze!" + +That was very evident from the increased smoke that rolled out and the +crackle of fire that now could be heard above the puffing of the engines +and the shouts of the mob. + +"A regular tinder box!" muttered the officer who had told Joe the origin +of the blaze. "Place ought to have been pulled down long ago. Git back +there youse!" he yelled to some venturesome lads. "Want to git mushed +up?" + +The blaze was a big one, considerable damage was done, and several +persons were injured. But quick work by an efficient department +prevented the flames from spreading to the buildings on either side of +the one where it had started. + +Joe and Helen stayed long enough to see the menace gotten under control, +and then they departed just as the ambulance rolled away with the last +of the victims. + +"That's the fire-eater they're taking to the hospital now," said the +policeman who had first spoken to the young circus performers. "They +took him into a drug store to wrap him in oil and cotton batting." + +"Will he live?" asked Helen. + +"Just a chance," was the answer. "Say, if I had to get my living eating +fire I'd starve," confided the policeman. "It must be some stunt! I +always thought it was a fake, but this fire burned real enough." + +"Oh, it isn't all fake," said Joe, "though of course there's a trick +about it." + +"You seem to know," said the policeman, and he smiled at Joe and Helen. +His chief troubles were about over with the departure of the ambulance +and the knowledge that filtered through the crowd that the most of the +excitement was over. + +"Oh, I'm in the circus business," confessed Joe. "I never ate fire," he +went on, "but--" + +"Oh, I know you now!" cried the officer. "I was on duty out at the +circus grounds this afternoon, and I went into the tent when you did +that box act. Say, that's some stunt! Do they really pay ten thousand +dollars to the fellow who tells how it's done?" + +"Well, we've never paid out the money yet," said Joe, with a smile. "But +it's there, waiting for some one to claim it." + +"Then I'm coming to-night to watch you," said the officer, who appeared +delighted that he had recognized one of the "profesh." + +"Come along," replied Joe. "Here, wait a minute! There are a couple of +passes. Come and bring a friend. If you tell how I do the trick you'll +get the ten thousand. Only you'll have to post a hundred dollars as a +forfeit to the Red Cross in case you don't guess right. That's included +in the offer." + +"Oh!" The officer did not seem quite so pleased. "Well, I'll come +anyhow," he went on, accepting the passes Joe handed him. The policeman +had allowed Joe and Helen to stay in an advantageous place where they +could watch the fire. + +"Where are they taking the man who did the dangerous trick that caused +all the trouble?" asked Helen, as she prepared to walk on with Joe. + +"To the City Hospital, Miss. He's a bad case, I understand." + +"Poor fellow," murmured Helen. "Do you think we could go to see him, and +do something for him, Joe?" she asked solicitously. "He's in almost the +same line of business as ourselves." + +"Well, I don't know," was the slow answer. + +"I can fix it up if you want to see him--that is, if the doctors and +nurses will let you," said the policeman. "I know the hospital +superintendent. You just tell him that Casey sent you and it will be all +right." + +"Thanks; perhaps we will," said Joe. + +There was a little time after supper before the performers had to go on +with their acts, and Helen prevailed on Joe to take her to the hospital +whither the injured fire-eater had been removed. They found him swathed +in bandages, no objection being made to their seeing him after the magic +name of "Casey" had been mentioned to the superintendent. + +"We came in to see if you needed any help," said Joe to the pathetic +figure in the bed. "We're in the same line of business, in a way." + +"Are you a fire-eater?" slowly asked the man. + +"No," Joe told him. "But I'm in the circus--Sampson Brothers'." + +"Oh, yes, I've heard about it. A partner of mine was with 'em for years. +Gascoyne was his name." + +"That was before my time," said Joe. "But how are you getting on? Can we +be of any help to you? We professionals must help one another." + +"That's right. We get knocked often enough," was the reply. "Well, I'm +doing as well as can be expected, the doctor says. And I'm not really in +need of anything. The museum folks were pretty good to me. Thank you, +just the same." + +"How did it happen?" asked Helen. + +"Oh, just my carelessness," said the man. "We get careless after playing +with fire a bit. I put too much alcohol on the tow, and there was a +draft from an open door, some draperies caught, and it was all going +before I knew it. I tried to put it out--that's how I got burned." + +"Then you really didn't eat fire?" asked Helen. + +Joe and the man swathed in bandages looked at one another and a +semblance of a wink passed between them. + +"Nobody can eat fire, lady," said the museum performer. "It's all a +trick, same as some your husband does in the circus." + +Joe blushed almost as much as did Helen. + +"We're not married yet, but we're going to be," explained Joe, smiling. + +"Lucky guy!" murmured the man. "Well, as I was saying, it's all a +trick," he went on. "Strong alum solution in your mouth, just a dash of +alcohol to make a blaze that flares up but goes out quickly if you +smother it right. You know the game," and he looked at Joe. + +"Well, not exactly," was the reply. "I've read something of it. But, +somehow, it never appealed to me." + +"Oh, it makes a good act, friend!" said the man earnestly. "I've done a +lot of museum and circus stunts, and this always goes big. There's no +danger if you handle it right. I'll be more careful next time." + +"You don't mean to say you'll go back to it, do you?" asked Helen. + +"Sure, lady! I've got to earn my living! And this is the best thing I +know. I'll be out in a week. I didn't swallow any, thank goodness! Oh, +sure I'll go at it again." + +Joe and Helen cheered the sufferer up as much as they could, and then +departed. Joe privately left a bill of substantial denomination with the +superintendent to be used for anything extra the patient might need. + +On the way back to the circus, where they were soon to give their +evening performance, Joe was unusually quiet. + +"What's the matter?" asked Helen. "Are you thinking of that accident on +the trapeze?" + +"No," was the answer. "It's something different. I've got to get up a +new act for the show. That trapeze act, even the way I had to do it this +afternoon, isn't sensational enough. I've got to have something new, and +I've about decided on it." + +"What?" asked Helen. + +"I'm going to become a fire-eater!" was the unexpected, reply. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PAPER EXPERT + + +For a moment Helen Morton stared at Joe Strong as though not quite sure +whether or not he was in his proper mind. Then, seeing plainly that he +was in earnest, she seemed to shrink away from him, as he had noticed +her shrink away, for a moment, from the burned man suffering there in +the hospital. + +"What's the matter, Helen?" asked Joe, trying to speak lightly. "Don't +you want to see some more sensational acts in the show?" + +"Yes, but not that kind," she answered with a shudder she could not +conceal. "Oh, Joe, if you were to--" She could not go on. Her breast +heaved painfully. + +"Now look here, Helen!" he exclaimed with good-natured roughness, "that +isn't any way to look at matters; especially when we both depend on +sensations for making our living. + +"You know, as well as I do, that in this business we have to take risks. +That's what makes our acts go. You take a risk every time you perform +with Rosebud. You might slip, the horse might slip, and you'd be hurt. +Now is this new act I am thinking of perfor--" + +"Yes, I may take risks, Joe!" interrupted Helen. "But they are perfectly +natural risks, and I have more than an even chance. You might just as +well say you take a risk walking along the street, and so you do. An +elevated train might fall on you or an auto run up on the sidewalk. The +risks I take in the act with Rosebud are only natural ones, and really +shouldn't be counted. But if you start to become a fire-eater--Oh, Joe, +think of that poor fellow in the hospital!" + +"He didn't get that way from eating fire--or pretending to eat it--for +the amusement of the public. He might just as easily have been burned +the way he is by lighting the kitchen stove for his wife to get +breakfast. His accident was entirely outside of his act, you might say. +Why, I use lighted candles in some of my tricks. Now, if some one +knocked over a candle, and it caused a fire on the stage and I was +burned, would you want me to give up being a magician?" + +"Oh, no, I suppose not," said Helen slowly. "But fire is so dangerous. +And to think of putting it in your mouth! How can you do it, Joe? Oh, it +can't be done!" + +"Oh, there's a trick about it. I haven't mastered all the details yet, +so as to give a smooth performance, but I can make an attempt at it." + +"Joe Strong! do you mean to say you know how to eat fire?" demanded +Helen, and now her eyes showed her astonishment. + +"Well, not exactly eat it, though that is the term used. But I do know +how to do it. I learned, in a rudimentary way, when I was with Professor +Rosello--the first man who taught me sleight-of-hand. He had one +fire-eating act, but it didn't amount to much. He told me the secret of +it, such as it was. + +"But if I put on that stunt I'm going to make it different. I'm going to +dress it up, make it sensational so that it will be the talk of the +country where circuses are exhibited." + +"And won't you run any danger?" questioned the girl quickly. + +"Oh, I suppose so; just as I do when I work on the high trapeze or ride +my motor cycle along the high wire. But it's all in the day's work. And +now let's talk about something pleasant--I mean let's get off the shop." + +Helen sighed. She was plainly disturbed, but she did not want to burden +Joe with her worries. She knew he must have calm nerves and an +untroubled mind to do his various acts in the circus that night. + +After supper and before the evening performance Joe made a careful +examination of his trapeze apparatus. Beyond the place where the acid +had eaten into the wire strands, causing them to become weakened so that +they parted, the appliances did not appear to have been tampered with. +Nor were there any clews which might show who had done the deed. That it +could have happened by accident was out of the question. The acid could +have gotten on the wire rope in one way only. Some one must have climbed +up the rope ladder to the platform and applied the stuff. + +"But who did it?" asked Jim Tracy, when Joe had told him of the +discovery of the acid-eaten cable. + +"Some enemy. Perhaps the same one who was responsible for our loss in +tickets this afternoon," answered the young magician. + +"Carfax?" asked the ringmaster. + +"It might be, and yet he isn't the only man who's been discharged or who +has a grudge against me. There was Gianni with whom I had a fight." + +"You mean the Italian? Yes, he was an ugly customer. But I haven't heard +of him for years. I don't believe he's even in this part of the +country." + +"And we haven't any reason to suppose that Carfax is, either, after his +fiasco in trying to expose my Box of Mystery trick. But we've got to be +on our guard." + +"I should say so!" exclaimed the ringmaster. "And now about your +trapeze act, Joe! Are you going to put it on again to-night?" + +"Of course. It's billed." + +"Then you'll have to hustle to rig up a new rope." + +"I'm not going to put on a new rope," declared Joe. "The act went so +well when I seemed about to fall, that I'm going to keep that feature +in. I'll rig up a catch on the severed cable. At the proper time I'll +snap it loose, seem to fall, swing by the dangling bar as I did before, +and land on the platform that way. It will be more effective than if I +did it in the regular way." + +"But won't it be risky?" + +Joe shrugged his shoulders. + +"No more so than any trapeze act. Now that I'm ready for the sudden drop +I'll be on my guard. No, I can work it all right. And now about these +extra admissions? What are we going to do about them?" + +"Well," said the ringmaster, "maybe we'd better talk to Moyne about +them. If they ring an extra thousand persons in on us again to-night the +thing will be getting serious." + +The treasurer was called in consultation with Joe and Tracy and other +circus officials, and it was decided to keep a special watch on the +ticket wagon and the ticket takers that night. + +Joe quickly made the change in his trapeze and tested it, finding that +he could work it perfectly. Then he began to think of his new +fire-eating act. He was determined to make that as great a success as +was his now well advertised ten thousand dollar mystery box act. + +The evening performance had not long been under way, and Joe had done +his big swing successfully, when he was sought out by Mr. Moyne. + +"The same thing has happened again," said the treasurer. + +"You mean more people coming in than we have sold tickets for?" + +"That's it." + +"Well, where do the extra admissions come from? I mean where do the +people get their admission slips from--the extra people?" + +"That's what we can't find out," the treasurer aid. "As far as the +ticket takers can tell only one kind of admission slip for the fifty +cent seats is being handed them. But the number, as tallied by the +automatic gates, does not jibe with the number of ordinary admissions +sold at the ticket office. To-night there is a difference of about eight +hundred and seventy-five." + +"Do you mean," asked Joe, "that that number of persons came in on +tickets that were never sold at the ticket wagon?" + +"That's just what I mean. There is an extra source from which the +ordinary admission tickets come. As I told you this afternoon, we are +having no trouble with our reserved seats. There have been no duplicates +there. But there is a duplication in the fifty cent seats, where one may +take his pick as to where he wants to sit." + +"Don't we have tickets on sale in some of the downtown stores?" Joe +asked. + +"Oh, yes, several of the stores sell tickets up to a certain hour. Then +they send the balance up here for us to dispose of." + +"How about their accounts? Have you had them gone over carefully?" + +"They tally to a penny." + +"How about the unsold tickets these agents send back to us? Isn't there +a chance on the way up for some one to slip out some of the pasteboards, +Mr. Moyne?" + +"There is a chance, yes, but it hasn't been done. I have checked up the +accounts of the stores, and there is the cash or the unsold tickets to +balance every time. But somehow, and from some place, an extra number of +the ordinary admission tickets are being sold, and we are not getting +the money for them." + +"It is queer," said Joe. "I have an idea that I want to try out the +first chance I get. Save me a bunch of these ordinary admission tickets. +Take them from the boxes at random and let me have them." + +"I will," promised the treasurer. "There is nothing we can do to-night +to stop the fraud, is there?" he asked. Mr. Moyne was a very +conscientious treasurer. It disturbed him greatly to see the circus lose +money. + +"I don't see what we can do," said Joe. "If we start an inquiry it may +cause a fight. Let it go. We'll have to charge it to profit and loss. +And don't forget to let me have some of those tickets. I want to examine +them." + +Mr. Moyne promised to attend to the matter. Joe then had to go on in his +Box of Mystery trick, and when this was finished, amid much applause, he +caused Helen to "vanish" in the manner already described. + +The circus made considerable money in this town, even with the bogus +admissions, and as the weather was fine and as the show would exhibit +the next day in a big city for a two days' stand, every one was in good +humor. Staying over night in the same city where they exhibited during +the day was always a rest for the performers. They got more sleep and +were in better trim for work. + +The last act was finished, the chariot races had taken place, and the +audience was surging out. The animal tent had already been taken down +and the animals themselves were being loaded on the railroad train. + +As Joe, Helen, and the other performers started for their berths, to +begin the trip to the next town, the "main top" began coming down. The +circus was on the move. + +Soon after breakfast the next morning, having seen that all his +apparatus had safely arrived, Joe visited Mr. Moyne in the latter's +office. + +"Have you a bunch of tickets for me?" asked the young magician. + +"Yes, here they are--several hundred picked at random from the boxes at +the entrance. I can't see anything wrong. If you're looking for +counterfeit tickets I don't believe you'll find them," added Mr. Moyne. + +"I don't know that I am looking for counterfeits," said Joe. "That may +be the explanation, or it may be there is a leak somewhere in the ticket +wagon." + +"I'm almost sure there isn't," declared the treasurer. "But of course no +one is infallible. I hope you get to the bottom of the mystery." + +"I hope so myself," replied Joe, with a smile, as he put the tickets in +a valise. + +A little later he was on his way downtown. He had several hours before +he would have to go "on," as he did not take part in the parade, and he +had several matters to attend to. + +Joe made his way toward a large office building, carrying the valise +with the circus tickets. A little later he might have been seen entering +an office, the door of which bore the name of "Herbert Waldon, +Consulting Chemist." + +"Mr. Strong," said Joe to the boy who came forward to inquire his +errand. "Mr. Waldon is expecting me, I believe." + +"Oh, yes," said the boy. "You're to come right in." + +Joe was ushered into a room which was filled with strange appliances, +from test tubes and retorts to electrical furnaces and X-ray apparatus. +A little man in a rather soiled linen coat came forward, smiling. + +"I won't shake hands with you, Mr. Strong," he said, "for I've been +dabbling in some vile-smelling stuff. But if you wait until I wash I'll +be right with you." + +"All right," assented Joe. And then, as he caught sight of what seemed +to be a number of canceled bank checks on a table, he smilingly asked: +"Have you been paying your income tax?" + +"Oh, no," answered the chemist with a laugh. "Those are just some +samples of paper sent in for me to test. An inventor is trying to get up +an acid-proof ink. I'm a sort of paper expert, among my other chemical +activities, and I'm putting these samples through a series of tests. +But you'll not be interested in them." + +"I don't know but what I shall be," returned Joe, with sudden energy. +"Since you are a paper expert I may be able to set you another task +besides that of showing me the latest thing in fire-resisting liquids. +Yes, I may want your services in both lines." + +"Well, I'm here to do business," said Mr. Waldon, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JOE EATS FIRE + + +The chemist led the way into a little office. This opened off from the +room in which was the apparatus, and where, as Joe had become more and +more keenly aware, there was a most unpleasant odor. + +"I'll open the window, close the laboratory door, and you won't notice +it in a little while," said Mr. Waldon, as he observed Joe's nose +twitching. "I'm so used to it I don't mind, but you, coming in from the +fresh air--" + +"It isn't exactly perfume," interrupted Joe, with a laugh. "But don't be +uneasy on my account. I can stand it." + +However, he was glad when the fresh air came in through the window. The +chemist washed his hands and then sat down at a desk, inviting Joe to +draw up his chair. + +"Now, what can I do for you?" asked Mr. Waldon. "Is it fire or paper?" + +"Well, since I know pretty well what I want to ask you in the matter of +fire," replied Joe, "and since I've got a puzzling paper problem here, +suppose we tackle the hardest first, and come to the known, and easier, +trick later." + +"Just as you say," assented Mr. Waldon. "What's your paper problem?" + +Joe's answer was to take from the valise several hundreds of the circus +tickets. They were the kind sold for fifty cents, or perhaps more in +these days of the war tax. They entitle the holder to a seat on what, at +a baseball game, would be called the "bleachers." In other words they +were not reserved-seat coupons. + +However, these tickets were not the one-time blue or red pieces of stiff +pasteboard, bearing the name of the circus and the words "ADMIT ONE," +which were formerly sold at the gilded wagon. These were handed in at +the main entrance, and the tickets were used over and over again. +Sometimes the blue ones sold for fifty cents, and a kind selling for +seventy-five cents entitled the purchaser to a seat with a folding back +to it, though it was not reserved. + +But Joe had instituted some changes when he became one of the circus +proprietors, and one was in the matter of the general admission tickets. +He had them printed on a thin but tough quality of paper, and each +ticket was numbered. In this way it needed but a glance at the last +ticket in the rack and a look at the memorandum of the last number +previously sold at the former performance, to tell exactly how many +general admissions had been disposed of. + +These numbered tickets were not used over again, but were destroyed +after the day's accounts had been made up. At first Joe and some others +of the officials had had an idea that the man who was charged with the +work of destroying the tickets, instead of doing so, had kept some out +and sold them at a reduced price. But an investigation proved that this +was not the case. + +"Some one is ringing in extra tickets on us," stated Joe to the chemist. +"We want to find out who it is and how the trick is worked. So far, we +haven't been able to find this out. As a matter of fact, we don't know +whether there are bogus tickets in our boxes or not. We haven't been +able to detect two kinds. They all seem the same." + +"Some numbers must be duplicated," said Mr. Waldon, as he picked up a +handful of the slips Joe had brought. "That's very obvious. The numbers +must be duplicated in some instances." + +"Yes, we have discovered that," returned Joe. "But the queer part is, +taking even two tickets with the same number, we don't know which was +sold at our ticket wagon and which is the bogus one. Here's a case in +point." + +He picked up two of the coupons. As far as eye or touch could tell they +were identical, and they bore the same red number, one up in the +hundred thousands. + +"Now," continued Joe, "can you tell which of these two is the official +circus ticket and which is the bogus one?" + +The chemist thought for a moment. + +"Have you a ticket--say one issued some time ago--which you are positive +is genuine?" he asked. + +"I'm ready for you there," answered Joe. "Here's a coupon that happened +to escape destruction. It was one sold several weeks ago at our ticket +wagon, before we noticed this trouble. I bought the ticket myself, so I +know. I happened to be passing the wagon, and a boy was trying to reach +up to buy a fifty cent seat. He wasn't quite tall enough, so I reached +for him. + +"Then, when I looked at him, I saw that fifty cents meant a lot to him. +I gave him back his half dollar out of my own pocket, and passed him in +to a reserved seat. But I forgot to turn the ticket in to the wagon, and +it's been in my pocket ever since. Now I'm glad I saved it, for it will +serve as a tester." + +"Yes," admitted the chemist, "it will. It's a good thing you have this. +But, Mr. Strong, this is going to take some time. I'll have to compare +all these tickets with the admittedly genuine one, and I'll have to make +some intricate tests." + +"Well, I hoped you might be able to tell me right off the reel which of +these coupons were good and which bad," said Joe. "But I can appreciate +that it isn't easy. We certainly have been puzzled. So I'll leave them +with you, and you can write to me when you have any results. I'll leave +you a list of the towns where we'll be showing for the next two weeks. +And now suppose we get at the fire-eating business." + +"All right," was the reply of the chemist. "But with the understanding +that you do all the eating. I haven't any appetite that way myself." + +They both laughed, and then, for some hours, Joe Strong was closeted +with the chemist. + +When Joe emerged from the office of Mr. Waldon there was a look of +satisfaction on the face of the young magician. + +"I think I can make quite an act, after what you've told me," he said. +"As soon as I get it perfected I'll send you word and you can come to +see me." + +"I will, if you aren't too far away," promised the chemist. + +That night, following the closing of the performance, Joe invited Helen, +Jim Tracy, and a few of his more intimate friends and associates into +his private dressing tent. + +"I have the nucleus of a new act," he said, when they were seated in +chairs before a small table, on which were several pieces of apparatus. +"Just give me your opinion of this." + +Joe lighted a candle, picked up on a fork what seemed to be a piece of +bread, and touched it to the candle flame. In an instant the object that +was on the fork burst into a blaze, and, before the eyes of his friends, +Joe calmly put the flaming portion into his mouth. + +He closed his lips, seemed to be chewing something, opened his mouth, +and showed it empty. + +"A little light lunch!" he remarked, but his smile faded as Helen +screamed in horror. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CHEMIST'S LETTER + + +"Oh, Joe, you'll surely burn yourself!" exclaimed the startled bareback +rider. + +"Did you get burned?" questioned Mrs. Watson. + +"Some trick!" declared the snake charmer. + +For the moment there was some excitement, for this was a new act for the +circus people. + +Helen soon recovered her customary composure, and then she explained the +cause of her excitement and the startled cry she had given. She had, of +course, expected some trick with fire when Joe had summoned her and the +others to his own private part of the dressing tents. But she had not +expected to see him actually put the blazing material in his mouth. + +"I thought there was some sleight-of-hand performance about it," she +said. "I had an idea that you only pretended to put the blazing stuff in +your mouth, Joe. And when I saw it I was afraid you'd breathe in the +flames and--and--" + +She did not need to go on, they all understood what she meant, for +every one in the circus knew that Helen and Joe were engaged. + +"I once saw a little boy burned at a bonfire at which he was playing," +went on Helen. "He died. Since then the sight of fire near a human being +has always a bad effect on me. But I suppose I can get over it, if I +know there is no danger," she said with a slight smile at Joe. + +"Well, I can assure you there isn't the slightest danger," he declared. +"If there was, I should be the first to give it up. I am as fond of +living as any one." + +"You don't show it, young man, in some of the tricks you do," commented +Mrs. Watson, with the freedom befitting a "circus mother," and the +privilege of an old friend. "You must remember that you don't live only +for yourself," and she looked significantly at Helen. + +"Oh, I'll be careful!" promised Joe. "And now I'll do the trick again +for you, and let you see that it's absolutely harmless. Any of you could +do it--if you knew how." + +"Excuse me!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "Not for mine!" + +However they all watched Joe eagerly and interestedly, even Helen. He +did not seem to make any unusual preparations. He merely took a drink of +what seemed to be water. Then he ignited something in the flame of the +candle and placed the burning stuff in his mouth, seeming to chew it +with gusto. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Helen. But beyond that and a momentary placing of one +hand over her heart, she did not give way to emotion. Then, as Joe did +the fire-eating trick again, Helen forced herself to watch him closely. +As he had said, he took no harm from the act. + +"Tell us how you do it," begged Bill Watson. "When I get over being +funny--or getting audiences to think I am--I may want to live on +something hot. How do you work it?" + +"Well," said Joe, "if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not tell. It +isn't that I'm afraid of any of my friends giving the trick away, and so +spoiling the mystery of it for the crowds. It's just as it was in my box +act. If any of you are asked how I do this fire trick you can truly say +you don't know, for none of you will know by my telling, not even Helen, +though she is in on the box secret. I'll only say that I protect my face +and mouth, as well as hands, in a certain way, and that I do, actually, +put the blazing material into my mouth. I am not burned. So if any one +asks you about the act you may tell them that much with absolute truth. +Now the question is--how is it going to go with the audiences? We need +something--or, at least, I do--to create a sensation. Will this answer?" + +"I should say so!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. "That ought to go big when it's +dressed up." + +"Oh, this is only the ground work," said Joe. "I'm going to elaborate +this fire act and make it the sensation of the season. I've only begun +on it. I got from a chemist the materials I want with which to protect +myself, and I have shown, to my own and your satisfaction, that I can +eat fire without getting harmed. So far all is well. Now I'm going to +work the act up into something really worth while." + +"But you'll still be careful, won't you, Joe?" asked Helen. + +"Indeed I will," he assured her. + +"Do the trick once more, Joe," suggested Bill Watson. "I'm coming as +close as you'll let me, and I want to criticize it from the standpoint +of a man in the audience." + +"That's what I'm after," said Joe. "If there are any flaws in the act, +now is the time to find it out." + +Once more he set the material ablaze and put it into his mouth. Bill +Watson watched closely, and, at the end, the old clown shook his head. + +"I saw you actually put the fire in your mouth," he testified. "No one +can do more than that. It takes nerve!" + +Of course, no one can actually swallow fire and live. The slightest +breath of flame on the lungs or on the mucous membrane of the throat +and passages is fatal. So when the terms "fire-eating" or "fire-eater" +are used it will be in the sense of its being a theatrical act. There is +a trick about it, and the trick is this: + +In the first place, the flame itself is produced by blazing alcohol. +This produces a blaze, and a hot one, too, but there is no smoke. In +other words, the combustion is almost perfect, there being no residue of +carbon to remain hot after the actual flame is extinguished. + +And now as to the actual putting into one's mouth something that is +blazing hot: It all depends on a very simple principle. + +If the hand be thoroughly wet in water it may be safely thrust for a +fraction of a second into a flaming gas jet. But mark this--for the +_fraction of a second only_. The water forms a protecting film for the +skin, and before it is evaporated the hand must be taken out of danger. +In other words, there is needed an appreciable time for the fire to beat +the skin to the burning point. + +This immunity from burns, to which the professional fire-eaters owe +their success, comes from this film of moisture on their skin. They do +not always use water--in fact, this is only serviceable for a momentary +contact with flame, and, at that, on the hands or face. In case a longer +contact is desired, a fire-resisting chemical liquid is used. + +It is about the contact of flame with the tender mucous membrane +surfaces of the mouth and throat that Joe, as a fire-eater, was most +concerned. + +In the first place, there is a constant film of the secretion called +saliva always flowing in the mouth. It comes from glands in the throat +and mouth, and is very necessary to good digestion. + +Now, for a very brief period this saliva, which is just the same as a +film of water on the hand, resists the fire. But professional +fire-eaters do not depend on saliva alone. They use a chemical solution, +and this is what Joe did when he drank something from a glass. + +What that chemical solution was, Joe kept as a closely guarded +professional secret. He feared, too, that some boy might make it, rinse +his mouth out with it, and then, getting an audience of his chums +together, might try to eat some blazing coals. He might, and very likely +would, be severely burned, and his parents or those in charge of him +would blame Joe for allowing such dangerous information to leak out. + +So, though he guarded all his secrets of magic, he was particularly +careful to keep this one to himself. + +But Joe protected his mouth and throat with a fire-resisting liquid, the +formula for which was given him by the chemist to whom he submitted the +circus tickets. + +The success of Joe and others of his kind depends also in this on a +well known natural law. It is that there can be no combustion in the +ordinary sense where there is no oxygen. As a candle will surely go out +if enclosed in an air-tight receptacle--that is, it will go out as soon +as it has burned up all the oxygen--just so surely will flame of any +kind go out when a person closes his mouth on it. And as there is +scarcely any air in the closed mouth--all of it going down the bronchial +tubes into the lungs--it follows that the flame dies out almost +instantly. That fact being considered, and the mouth and throat having +been previously treated with the secret chemical, there is really not so +much danger as appears. + +As a matter of fact, a person inadvertently swallowing hot tea or coffee +will burn or scald his mouth or tongue much more painfully than will a +professional fire-eater. Most people know how painful a burned tongue +is. + +Joe told something of the history of fire-eating "champions" to his +audience of friends, for it appeared that he had been reading up on the +subject and was well informed. Then he announced that the private +rehearsal was over. + +"But I'm going to work this fire-eating up into something that will +cause a sensation," he said. And he made good his promise. + +It was about a week after this, and the circus had been traveling +about, playing to good business, when Joe received a letter. In the +upper left-hand corner was the imprint of Herbert Waldon, Chemist. + +"I hope he has some news about the circus tickets!" exclaimed Joe. For +the show had been losing money steadily by means of the bogus coupons; +not as much as at first, but enough to make it necessary to discover the +fraud. And, so far, Mr. Moyne had not been successful. + +"Perhaps this explains the mystery," mused Joe as he opened the letter. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PET CAT + + +The typewritten sheet of the letter from Mr. Waldon enclosed two of the +engraved circus coupons. They fluttered to the floor of Joe's private +tent as he tore open the envelope. + +"Well, either he has discovered something, or he has sent them back and +given up," mused the young magician. "Let's see what he says." + +Joe quickly took in the contents of the letter. In effect it stated that +Mr. Waldon had discovered which were the bogus and which were the real +circus tickets. He first gave an explanation of the chemical tests he +used. Joe read this hastily, but carefully, then passed to the +conclusions arrived at by the expert, who was an authority on various +kinds of paper, as well as chemicals. + +"The ticket I have marked No. 1 is a genuine coupon, issued by your +circus corporation," said Mr. Waldon in his letter. "The slip marked by +me as No. 2 is a counterfeit. You will observe that they both bear the +red ink serial number 356,891. + +"If you were a paper expert you would observe that the paper used in +the two tickets is different. There is not a very great difference, and +I am inclined to think that both the genuine and the counterfeit tickets +were made on paper from the same mill, but of a different 'run.' That +is, it was made at a different time. + +"The printer who manufactured your tickets bought his paper from a +certain mill making a specialty of this particular kind. Then some one, +who must know something of your financial and business interests, had +the bogus tickets made, and on the same kind of paper. But there is a +slight difference, which I was able to detect by means of chemical +reactions. The coloring matter used varied slightly, though the texture +of the two kinds of paper is almost exactly similar. + +"Now, having settled that point, the solution of the remaining equations +of the problem rests with you. I can not tell who had the bogus tickets +printed. You will have to go to the mill making the paper and find out +to whom they sold this kind. In that way you will learn the names of all +printers, using it, and by a process of elimination you will get at the +one who printed the counterfeits. + +"This printer may be an innocent party, or he may be guilty. That is for +you and the detectives to determine. I hope I have started you on the +right track. I shall be interested to hear, my dear Mr. Strong, how you +make out in your fire-eating act." + +"I'll tell him as soon as I try it on a real audience," said Joe, with a +smile, as he folded the letter. "And so counterfeit tickets have been +rung in on us! Well, I suspected that, since our own men were thoroughly +to be trusted. Now to get at the guilty ones. And I shouldn't be +surprised if I could name one of the men involved. But I'll call a +meeting, and lay this before the directors." + +The Sampson Brothers' Show was incorporated and was run strictly on +business lines. There was a board of directors who looked after all +business matters, and Joe was soon in consultation with them, laying +before them Mr. Waldon's letter and the two marked tickets. + +"It would take an expert to tell them apart," said Mr. Moyne, as he +examined the coupons closely. "Well, what are we to do?" + +"In the first place," declared Joe, "we must change our form of general +admission tickets at once. That will stop the fraud, graft, or whatever +you want to call it. Then we must do as Mr. Waldon says--look for the +guilty parties. We'll have to hire some detectives, I think." + +This plan was voted a good one, and steps were at once taken to change +the form and style of the general admission tickets. Joe also wired for +a man from a well known detective agency to meet the show at the next +town. Then the printing shop which made the circus tickets was +communicated with. + +That was all that could be done at present, and Joe gave his attention +to perfecting his new fire-eating act. + +He did not give up his mystery box trick, and he still presented the +vanishing lady illusion, Helen assisting in both of these. Joe also did +the big swing, which always caused a thrill on account of the danger +involved. Careful watch was kept over the trapeze and other apparatus so +that no more dangerous tampering could he attempted, and Joe always +looked over everything with sharp eyes before trusting himself high in +the air. + +"Some one evidently has a grudge against me as well as against the +circus in general," he said to Jim Tracy. + +"Maybe it's the same person," suggested the ringmaster. + +"Perhaps. Well, as soon as we get some word from the detectives we can +start on the trail." + +The circus had arrived at a large city, where it was to show three days +and nights, and preparations were made for big crowds, as the city was +the center of a large number of industries, where many thousands of men +were employed at good wages. + +"We'll play to 'Straw Room Only' at every performance," said Mr. Moyne, +rubbing his hands with glee as he thought of the dollars that would be +taken in. "And I'm glad we discovered the bogus tickets in time. We'd be +out a lot of money if the counterfeits were to be used here." + +"Yes," agreed Joe. "But we aren't out of the woods yet. The same man who +imitated the light green tickets may have the bright blue ones which we +now use for general admission duplicated and sell them." + +"We'll have to take that chance," said the treasurer. "But I'll instruct +the ticket takers to be unusually careful." + +That was all that could be done. The detective had reported that he was +making an examination, starting at the paper mill, and was endeavoring +to learn where the bogus tickets had been made. + +The circus parade had been held and witnessed by enthusiastic crowds +lining the streets. Then was every prospect of big business, and it was +borne out. + +Joe wished he had prepared his fire act earlier but it could not be +helped. + +"I'll have it ready for to-morrow, though," he said to Jim Tracy, at the +conclusion of the first afternoon in the big city where they were to +stay three days. + +"Then I'm going to have it advertised," said the ringmaster, who also +sometimes acted as assistant general manager. "We'll bill it big. You're +sure of yourself, are you?" + +"Oh, yes," answered Joe with a laugh. "I'll give 'em their money's worth +all right, but it won't be the big sensation I'm planning for later on. +That will take time." + +"Well, as long as it's a fire act it will be new and novel, and it will +draw," declared Jim Tracy. + +It was later in the afternoon, when the circus performance was over, +that Joe and Helen strolled downtown, as was their custom. Some +convention was being held in the city, and across one of the principal +streets was stretched a big banner of the kind used in political +campaigns. + +It was hung from a heavy, slack wire from the brick walls of two +opposite buildings, and the banner attracted considerable attention +because of a novel picture on it. + +Joe and Helen were standing in the street, looking up at the swaying +creation of canvas and netting, when a woman's cry came to their ears. + +"Look! Look! The cat! The cat is walking the wire!" she exclaimed. + +Joe and Helen turned first to see who it was that had cried out. It was +a woman in the street, and with her parasol she pointed upward. + +There, surely enough, half way out on the thick, slack wire, and high +above the middle of the street was a large white cat. It was walking +the wire as one's pet might walk the back fence. But this cat seemed to +have lost its nerve. It had got half way across, but was afraid to go +farther and could not turn around and go back. + +As Joe and Helen looked, a woman appeared at the window of one of the +buildings from the front walls of which the banner was suspended, and, +pointing at the cat, cried: + +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat! A hundred dollars reward!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE RESCUE + + +The tumult which had arisen in the street beneath the banner when the +crowd caught sight of the cat was hushed for a moment after the woman's +frantic cry. Before that there had been some laughter, and not a few +cat-calls and exaggerated "miaows" from boys in the street. But now +every one, even the mischievous urchins, seemed to sense that something +unusual was about to take place. + +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" cried the woman, stretching out her arms +to the cat from the window out of which she leaned. "Come back to me!" + +The white cat on the wire heard the voice of the woman and seemed to +want to return to its mistress. But either the cat was not an adept at +turning on such a narrow support, or it was afraid to try. + +And, likewise, it was afraid to go forward. There it stood, about in the +middle of the wire, high above the street, and it clung to its perch by +its claws. + +The banner was hung from the cross wire by means of several loops of +rope, and it was in some of these loops that the cat had stuck its +claws, and so hung on. + +As the cat remained there, suspended, the crowd in the street below +increased in size. But from the time the woman had so frantically called +there had been no more of the cries from the crowd that might be +expected to frighten the animal. + +"Will some one get my cat?" cried the woman in a shrill voice, which +could easily be heard by Joe, Helen, and nearly every one else. "I'll +give one hundred dollars in cash to whoever saves him!" she went on. +"Come back, Peter! Come back!" she appealed. + +There was a thoughtless laugh from some one at the woman's anxiety, and +some one cried: + +"There's lots of cats! Let Peter go!" + +"The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ought to get after +whoever that was," said Helen indignantly, and there was an approving +murmur from some of those near her. + +"Does any one know that lady?" asked Joe, pointing at the figure in the +window. A pathetic figure it was, too, of an old woman clad in black, as +though she had lost all her friends. + +"Yes, she's a queer character," said some one who seemed to know. "Lives +up there all alone in the old house that, except for the upper part +where she is now, has been turned into offices. + +"She's rich, they say. Owns that building and a lot of others on this +street. But she lives all alone in a few rooms, and has a lot of pet +cats. I guess that's one which got away." + +"It got away all right," said another man. "And I don't believe she'll +ever get it back. The cat's scared to death." + +"Why doesn't it jump?" asked some one. "I heard that cats always land on +their feet, no matter how far they fall." + +"A fall from there would kill any cat," said Joe, as he handed Helen a +small package he had been carrying--a purchase he had made at one of the +stores. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, sensing that Joe Strong had some +object in mind. + +"I'm going to get that cat," he said in a low voice. "I can't bear to +see it harmed, and it can't cling there much longer. Night's coming on, +too, and if it isn't rescued soon it won't be until morning. I know what +it is to have a pet suffer. I'm going to get that cat!" + +"Oh, mister, you can't!" cried a small girl who was standing near by and +overheard this remark. + +"I should say not!" exclaimed the man who had given a little personal +sketch of the woman in black. "The longest ladder in the fire department +won't reach up to that wire, and they can't use extension ones, or +scaling ones as they could on a building. You can't get that cat, sir, +though I wish some one could. I don't like to see dumb brutes suffer. +But you can't get it!" + +"Perhaps I can!" said Joe modestly. + +He started toward the street entrance of the old building, from the +upper window of which leaned the pathetic figure of the woman calling to +her cat out on the swaying wire. + +"Oh, Joe," Helen began, "are you really going to--" and then she +stopped. + +"I am!" he answered, for he knew she understood. "Wait here for me. I +won't be long." + +Only a few in the crowd had heard what Joe said, or understood his +intentions as he made his way through the press of people. The woman at +the window was unaware of the fact that some one had heard her and was +about to heed her appeal. + +"A hundred dollars to whoever saves my cat!" she cried again. + +This time no one laughed. + +Joe Strong, acrobat, athlete, magician, and possessed of many other +muscular accomplishments started up the stairs. The lower part of the +office building was deserted at this hour, but he made his way to the +place where he judged the woman lived alone. He was confirmed in this +belief by hearing from behind a closed door the barking and whining of +dogs. + +"She must keep a regular menagerie," mused Joe. "Probably these are all +the friends she has, poor old lady!" + +He knocked on a door that seemed to be the entrance to the living +apartments. There was a cessation of the barking and whining, and a +moment later a querulous voice asked: + +"Who is there? What do you want?" + +"Is that your cat out on the wire?" asked Joe. + +"Yes! Oh, yes! That's Peter! My favorite cat! Oh, have you saved him? +Have you got him down? No, you can't have! He's out on that wire yet!" +she cried. And then she opened the door. + +Joe was confronted by the same woman he had observed leaning from the +window. Her face was pale, and she was quite elderly. But there was a +kind and pathetic look about her eyes. Once, she must have been +beautiful. + +Joe had no time to speculate on what might have been the romantic +history of the woman. She looked eagerly at him. + +"What do you want?" she demanded. "I never see any one. I live here +alone. I must beg you to excuse me. I have to see if some one will not, +save my cat." + +"That is just what I came up for," said Joe, smiling. "I am a lover of +animals myself. I'd like to save your pet." + +"Oh, if you will, I'll pay you the hundred dollars!" cried the woman. "I +have it!" she went on eagerly. "It's in here," and she motioned to the +rooms. They were tastefully, but not lavishly, furnished. + +"We'll talk about that later," said Joe, with a smile. "The point is let +me get the cat first." + +"But you can't get him from here--from these rooms!" the woman in black +exclaimed. "He's out on the wire! You'll have to climb up in some way! +Oh, I don't know how you can do it!" There were tears in her eyes and +she clasped her hands imploringly. + +"I can't get your cat from the street," said Joe. "That's why I came up +here. I must walk out on the wire from your window. Have you a pair of +slippers? The older and softer the better--slippers with thin, worn +soles." + +"Why, yes, I have. But you--you can't walk out on the wire! It is too +small, almost, for my cat! You can't do it! It is impossible!" + +"Oh, no," answered Joe gently, "it isn't impossible. I have done it +before. If you'll let me get to a window near which the wire is +stretched, and if you will let me take a pair of old slippers." + +"Come in!" interrupted the eccentric old woman, opening wide the door. +"I don't in the least know what you intend to do, but something seems to +tell me I can trust you. And if only you can save Peter--" + +"I'll try," said Joe simply. + +The woman began to search frantically in a closet, throwing out shoes, +dresses, and other feminine wearing apparel. As she delved among the +things, a shout arose from the street, the noise of the voices floating +in through the open window. Joe looked out. + +"Oh, has Peter fallen?" cried the woman. + +That, too, had been Joe's thought. + +"No," he answered, as he took an observation. "Your cat has only changed +his position a little. I suppose the crowd thought it was going to fall, +but it's all right. I'll soon have it back to you. Is it a vicious cat?" + +"Oh, no indeed. He's as gentle as can be. But perhaps he might be so +scared now that he wouldn't know what he was doing. I see what you mean. +Here, I'll give you an old pair of gloves for your hands." + +"That's what I want," said Joe. "I can't afford to have my hands +scratched, as I do some legerdemain tricks. But I need some soft-soled +slippers more than I need gloves." + +"Here is a pair," said the woman. "They're mine. I wear large ones, for +I like to be comfortable." + +"They'll fit me," decided Joe, after an inspection. "Just what I want, +too!" + +He began to take off his shoes. + +"Do you really mean you are going to walk out on that wire and get my +cat?" asked the woman, comprehending his intention as she saw Joe +putting on the slippers and drawing on the old gloves she had given him. +They were a man's size, and he judged she must have used them in rough +work about the house. + +"I'm going out on the wire to get your cat," he said. + +"Oh, but I ought not to let you! You may fall and be killed! When I said +I'd give a hundred dollars to whoever would save Peter, I did not mean +that any one should risk his life. Much as I love my cat, I couldn't +allow that." + +"I'll be all right," said Joe easily. "Walking wires is part of my +business. Now don't worry. And please don't scream if you are going to +watch me." + +She looked at him curiously. + +"I am not in the habit of screaming," she said quietly. + +"Well, I thought it best to mention it," said Joe. + +He was now ready for his most novel form of walking the wire. He moved +toward the window from which the woman had leaned. It was the same +casement whence the cat had started on its perilous journey. Joe felt +sure of himself. The slippers were just what he needed, with soft, +pliable soles, worn thin. They were the best substitute he could have +found for his circus shoes. + +The wire from which the banner was suspended was fast to an eye-bolt +set in the brick wall of the building a little below the sill of the +window. It had been easy for the cat to step out and get on the cable. + +Joe appeared at the window. He had taken off his coat and, in his white +shirt, blue tie, and black trousers, he made a striking figure in the +brilliant sunset light. + +Instantly the crowd in the street saw him and divined his intention. Joe +doubted not that Helen was looking up at him. + +It was an easy step for him from the window sill to the wire from which +was suspended the banner. He knew it would support his weight in +addition to the big net affair. The size of the cable and the manner in +which it was fastened told him that. Still he cautiously tried it with +one foot before trusting all his weight to it. The spring of the wire +told him all he needed to know. + +Pausing a moment to make sure of himself, Joe Strong started to walk +across the wire toward the clinging cat. The crowd gave one roar of +welcome and approval, and then became hushed. This was what Joe wanted. + +Now it was just as if he were doing the act in the circus. Only there +was this difference--there was no safety net below him. But it was not +the first time Joe had taken this risk. True, beneath him were the hard +stones of the street, but a fall from the height at which he now was +would be fatal, no matter what the character of ground under him. He +dismissed all such thoughts from his mind. + +Slowly, and with the caution he always used, Joe started on his journey +across the wire. The cat felt his coming, and turned its head, as it +crouched down, and looked at him. But it did not move. The creature was +literally "scared stiff." + +Foot by foot Joe progressed. Below him the crowd watched breathlessly. +Joe knew Helen was there, praying for him, though he could not see her. +In the window stood the figure in black, a silent, hopeful but much +worried woman. She kept her promise not to scream, but Joe realized that +the crucial moment was yet to come. + +On and on he went nearer and nearer to the crouching cat. If only the +animal would have sense enough to lie still and not make a fuss when he +picked it up, Joe felt that all would be well. + +But would Peter behave? That was the question. + +Joe was now almost over the middle of the street. Far below him was the +crowd--a sea of upturned faces, reddened by the reflected rays of the +setting sun. The throng was silent. Joe was glad of that. + +"Keep still now, Peter, I'm coming for you!" said Joe in a low voice. + +"That's right, Peter!" added the woman. "Be a good cat now. You are +going to be saved! Keep still and don't scratch!" + +Whether the cat heard and understood it is hard to say. But it uttered a +pitiful: + +"Mew!" + +Inch by inch, foot by foot Joe advanced. He was quite sure of himself +now. He felt that he could easily have walked across the wire from +building to building, with the street chasm below him, and even could +have made the return trip. But picking up the cat and carrying it back +was another thing. It would have been easier for Joe to have carried a +man across on his back. He could direct the motions of the man. Could he +those of the cat? + +Still he was going to try. + +On and on he went. The woman in black was leaning from the window, +holding out her arms as though to catch Joe should he fall. + +But he did not think of falling. + +In another few seconds he was standing right over the cat. He could see +the animal's claws tensely clinging to the rope strands that held the +banner. Now came ticklish work. + +"Easy, Peter! Go easy now!" said Joe soothingly. + +He slowly and carefully stooped down. It was a trick he had often +performed in the circus on the high wire. But never under circumstances +like this. + +Joe's hands came in contact with the fur of the cat's back. He gently +stroked the animal, murmuring: + +"Come on now, Peter! Let go! Loosen your claws! I'm not going to hurt +you. Let me pick you up!" + +Again it is hard to say that the cat knew what Joe was saying, but it +certainly made its body less tense. The claws were loosed. Joe +straightened up, holding the cat in his arms. He could feel its heart +beating like some overworked motor. + +A roar arose from the crowd, but it was instantly hushed. The throng +seemed to realize that the return journey was infinitely more perilous +than the outward one had been. + +Joe could not turn. He must walk backward to the window, carrying the +cat, which at any moment might become wild and scramble from his arms, +upsetting his balance. + +Yet Joe Strong never faltered. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FIRE ACT + + +Realizing that he must use every caution, Joe Strong had two things to +think of. One was himself, and the other the cat. He could not carry the +creature in his arms, as he needed to extend them to balance himself. He +had walked short distances along slack wires without doing this, but in +those cases he had been able to run, and his speed made up for the lack +of balancing power of the extended arms. Now, however, he needed to +observe this precaution. + +What could he do with the cat? + +In that moment of peril a boyhood scene arose to Joe's mind. He recalled +that on the farm where he had lived there was a pet cat which liked to +crawl up his back and curl on his shoulders, stretching out completely +across them and snuggling against the back of his head. + +"If I can get this cat to do that I'll be all right," thought Joe. "I'll +try it." + +Balancing himself, he changed the cat's position and put it up on his +shoulder. Even if it rested on only one it would leave his hands free +and he could extend his arms and balance himself. But Peter seemed to +know just what was wanted of him. With a little "mew," the animal took +the very position Joe wanted it to--extended along his back, close to +his head. + +And not until then did Joe begin to step backward. Breathlessly the +crowd watched him. Step by step he went, feeling for the wire on which +he placed his feet. And each step made him more confident. + +The crowd was silently watching. It was reserving its wild applause. + +Step by step Joe walked backward until he heard the low voice of the +woman at the open window. + +"Shall I take Peter now?" she asked. + +"Can you reach him?" asked Joe. He knew he was close to the building. + +"Yes," she answered. + +"Then do," said Joe. "He may try to spring off when he sees himself so +close to you. Take him. I'll stand still a moment." + +He felt the cat stirring. The next instant he was relieved of Peter's +weight, and then, with a quick turning motion, Joe himself was half way +within the window and sitting on the sill. + +He had walked out on the wire, stretched a hundred feet above the +street, and rescued the cat. The pet was now in the arms of the woman in +black. + +And then such a roar as went up in the crowd! Men thumped one another +on the back, and then shook hands, wondering at their foolishness and +why there was such a queer lump in their throats. + +"Oh! Oh!" gasped the woman, as she hugged Peter to her. "I can never +thank you enough--not in all my life. It may be foolish to care so much +for a cat. But I can't help it. It isn't all that. I couldn't have borne +it to have seen him fall and be killed." + +"He's all right now--after he gets over being scared," said Joe, as he +stroked the cat in the arms of the woman in black. + +"And now will you let me know to whom I am indebted?" she asked. "Please +come in, and I'll pay you the reward." + +"Well, I'll come in and put on my shoes," said Joe, with a smile. "I +didn't need the gloves," he added. "Peter was very gentle." + +"Oh, he's a good cat!" said his mistress. "And now," she added, when Joe +had resumed his shoes and coat, "will you please tell me your name and +how you learned to walk wires and rescue cats?" + +"I never rescued cats before," Joe returned, smiling. "It's something +new. But walking wires is my trade--or one of 'em. I'm with the circus. +I do some tricks and--" + +"Oh, are you the man who gets out of the box?" she cried. "I have read +about that trick." + +"It is one of mine," said Joe modestly. + +"I'm so glad to know you!" exclaimed the woman. She seemed less of a +recluse than at first. "I haven't been to a circus for years--not since +I was a child," she continued, half sadly, Joe thought. "But I'm coming +to-night!" she exclaimed. "I'll have the janitor look after my cats and +dogs, and I'll go to the circus. I want to see you act. It will bring +back my lost youth--or part of it," she murmured. + +"Allow me to make sure that you will be there," said Joe. "Here is a +reserved ticket. I will look for you." + +"And now let me give you the reward I promised," begged the woman, as +Joe was about to leave. "I have the money here--in cash," she added +quickly. She went to a bureau, putting Peter down on a cushion. The cat +observed Joe intently. The woman came back with a roll of bills. + +"No, really, I couldn't take it!" protested Joe. "I didn't save your cat +for money. I was glad enough to do it for the animal's sake." + +"Please take it!" she urged. "I--I am well off, even if I live here," +she said hesitatingly. "I shall feel better if you take it." + +"And I shall feel better if you give it to the Red Cross," said Joe. +"That needs it, to help the stricken, more than I do. I make pretty good +money myself," he added. "And I didn't do this for a reward." + +"But I promised it!" + +"Well, then consider that I took it, and you, in my name, may pass it on +to the Red Cross," said Joe. "And now, may I ask your name?" + +The woman told him. It was Miss Susan Crawford. The name meant nothing +to Joe, though he afterward learned she was a member of an old, wealthy +and aristocratic family. She had had an unfortunate love affair, and, +her family having all died, she made for herself a little apartment in +one of her many buildings and lived there with her pets--a recluse in +the midst of a big city. It was a pathetic story. + +"I wish you would let me reward you in some way," said Miss Crawford +wistfully, as Joe left. "You did so much, and you get nothing out of +it." + +"Oh, yes I do," returned the young acrobat. "I'll get a lot of +advertising out of this, and it will be the best thing in the world for +the circus." + +And Joe was right. The next day the papers all carried big stories of +his wire-walking feat to save the cat that had ventured out over the +street and was afraid to go back. Bigger crowds than ever came to the +circus. + +As she had promised, Miss Crawford was at the evening performance, and +Joe introduced a little novelty in one of his "magic stunts," producing +a cat instead of a rabbit from a man's pocket. As he held it up he +looked over and smiled at the old lady in black, for he had given her a +seat near his stage. She smiled back. + +Joe never saw her again. She was found dead a few months later in her +lonely rooms, with her cats and dogs around her. But Joe always +remembered her. + +The street wire-walking feat was the talk of the city, and when, the +following day, Joe announced that he was ready to put on his fire act, +which had been well advertised, every one was on figurative tiptoes to +see what it would be. + +Joe had made all his preparations, and he had taken care to provide +against danger and accidents. He realized the risk he was running in +handling fire in a circus tent before crowds of people. But +extinguishers were provided, and one of the fire-fighting force of the +circus was constantly on hand. + +After the preliminary whistle of the ringmaster which ended the other +acts and prepared for Joe's new one, the young magician advanced to the +platform and gave a little "patter." + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "in introducing my new act I wish, +first of all, to assure you that there is no danger. Even though I seem +to be in the midst of fire, do not be alarmed. I shall be safe, and no +harm will come to you." + +Joe did this to forestall a possible panic. + +"You have all heard of the ancient salamanders," he went on. "It is +reputed that this animal was able to live in the midst of fire. As to +the truth of that I can not say. I never saw a salamander, that I know +of. But that fire may safely be handled by human beings, and not at the +risk of being burned, I am about to demonstrate to you. I shall first +show you how to carry fire about in your hands, so that if you run short +of matches at any time you will not lack means of igniting the gas, +starting your kitchen range, or enjoying your smoke. While the stage is +being made ready for my main act, I will show you how to carry fire in +your hands." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A SENSATIONAL DIVE + + +Striking a match, Joe ignited two candles that stood on a little table +at one side of his stage. On the other side his assistants were setting +up the apparatus he intended to use in his more elaborate experiments. + +"You observe that the trick has not yet begun," said Joe, with a laugh, +as he blew out the match. "In other words, I am lighting these candles +in the ordinary way--just as any one of you would do it, if he needed +to. In a moment I will show you how to light the candles in case one is +accidentally blown out and you have no match." + +Allowing both candles to burn up well, with clear, bright flames, Joe +suddenly blew out one. + +"Now," he said, "I will show you how to carry fire in your hands from +the lighted to the unlighted candle. Watch me closely!" + +Joe cupped his hands around the lighted candle, seeming to take the +flame up in his fingers. When he removed his hands, which he still held +in cup, or globular, shape, the second candle had been extinguished. +Both were now out. + +"You will notice that I am carrying the flame in my hands from one +candle to the other," said Joe, in a loud voice, as he walked across the +stage. + +For an instant he spread his hands, cup fashion, around the candle he +had first blown out. Suddenly he withdrew his hands, holding them wide +apart and in full view of the audience, and, lo! the unlighted candle +was glowing brightly. + +There was a moment of silence, and then the applause broke forth. Joe +bowed and said: + +"That is how to carry fire in your hands. But please don't any of you +try it unless you get the directions from me." + +"Tell us how to do it!" piped up a small boy. + +"Come and see me after the show!" laughed Joe. + +And, while on this subject, it might be well to explain how Joe did the +trick. It is very simple, but it takes practice, and an amateur may +easily be fatally burned in the attempt, simple as it is. + +Joe lighted the candles in the usual way, with a match, as already +explained. There was no trick about this, nor about blowing out one. But +immediately after that the trick started. Joe placed a little piece of +waxed paper between the first and second fingers of his left hand as +soon as he had blown out the first candle. This paper was a slender +strip, and could not be seen by the audience. + +When he cupped his hands around the remaining lighted candle Joe +ignited this waxed strip, taking care to work it away from his palms and +fingers. It burned with a tiny flame and with scarcely any heat in the +middle of the hollow cup formed by his hands. + +As soon as he had ignited the paper Joe, by pressing the lower edges of +his palms against the blazing wick of the candle, extinguished it. This +had the same effect as though he had "pinched" out the flame with finger +and thumb, as many country persons put out, or "snuff," candles +to-day--for candles are still much used in some places. + +Now we have Joe with a little blazing taper concealed in his cupped +hands, advancing to the candle he first blew out. He placed his hands +around this, lighted the wick from the taper, which he at once crushed +between his fingers, and the trick was done. + +The candle was lighted, the remains of the little taper were concealed +between Joe's fingers, and it looked as though he had really carried +fire in his hands. The quickness with which he pinched out the candle +flame, and also smothered the taper after he had used it, prevented him +from being burned in the slightest. But it is best for a boy unpracticed +and without the dexterity of a professional prestidigitator not to +undertake to play with fire. + +Joe Strong believed in doing his tricks and acts artistically and +elaborately. He had watched other performers "dress their act," and he +had often improved on what even stage veterans had done. His +apprenticeship had been a stern but good one. + +And now he was going to introduce something novel in his fire-eating +tricks, but he was also going to add to that. He had read considerable +of late about the fire-eating tricks of the old "magicians" and had +delved into many curious old books. Now he was going to give his +audience some of this information. + +"There is a trick in everything," said Joe, as he faced his audience in +readiness for the fire-eating act. "If I told you that I actually +swallowed blazing fire, any physician would know that I was not telling +the truth. I do not really eat the fire. I only seem to do so. But if in +doing so I can deceive you into thinking I do, and you are thrilled and +amused, you get your money's worth, I earn mine, and we are all +satisfied. So don't be alarmed by what you see. + +"The resistance of the human body to heat is greater than many persons +suppose," said Joe. "And there is a vast difference between wet heat and +dry heat. Water, above one hundred and fifty degrees, would be +unbearable. It would really burn you badly. Water, as you know, boils at +two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. But before this point is +reached it is capable of ending life. + +"Dry heat, however, is different. Men have frequently borne without +permanent discomfort dry heat up to three hundred degrees. This heat is +often reached in the drying rooms of oilcloth and oiled silk factories. + +"Now the fire I handle is dry heat. I would no more think of pouring +boiling water over my hands than I would of taking poison. And yet I +will show you that I can thrust my hand into a blazing fire and suffer +no harm. + +"In an old book I read that to enable one to thrust one's hands into the +fire all you had to do was to anoint them with a mixture of _bol +armenian_, quicksilver, camphor and spirits of wine. I should prefer to +leave that mixture alone, though in the book it is said that if one puts +that mixture on his hands he may handle boiling lead. + +"Perhaps some ancient magician did this, but I think he depended more on +water than on anything else. If your hands are wet there is formed on +them a film of moisture which, for a moment, will enable you to +withstand high degrees of dry heat. + +"In another old book I read that if one prepared himself with 'liquid +stortax,' which is juice from a certain tree growing in Italy, he could +enter fire, bathe in fire, put a burning coal on his tongue, and even +swallow fire. + +"Now I am not going to let you into all my secrets. You shall see--what +you shall see!" concluded Joe. + +As intimated before, the method Joe Strong used is not going to be +printed here. You have been given some genuine ancient formulae, safe in +the knowledge that some of the ingredients can not be obtained. And the +modern substitutes are not going to be told. Enough to say that Joe had +"prepared himself." + +The young magician looked to see that all was in readiness. Perceiving +that it was, he retired for a moment to a cabinet set up on the stage, +and when he came out he was ready for his tricks. + +Joe advanced to what seemed to be an elaborate candelabra in which seven +tapers were set. He stood in front of this a moment, and then he +announced: + +"Having lived on a fire diet so long I have a bit to spare. I will light +these candles without using a match." + +He waved his hand over the candelabra. Sparks were seen to shoot from +his finger tips, and in an instant the seven lights were glowing. That +was an electrical trick. In reality the candles were gas jets, made to +look like wax tapers, and Joe lighted them from an electric current +produced by a dry battery he carried on his person. + +He then proceeded to his main trick. He picked up a plate. It seemed to +contain pieces of bread. Joe touched the edge of the plate to a flame +of one of the candles. In an instant the plate was ablaze, and Joe +calmly began putting the blazing stuff on it into his mouth. + +Cube after cube of the blazing "bread" he lifted up on a fork and thrust +between his lips. And he seemed to enjoy the "eating" of it. + +The audience was spellbound. Every one's eyes were on Joe Strong doing +his fire-eating trick. + +The plate was empty. Joe looked about as though for something else hot +to eat. He caught up an article from a table. Holding it to the flame of +a candle, it was at once ablaze. + +And then, with a thrilling cry, Joe Strong leaped from the stage, his +two hands, held high above his head, seeming to be enveloped in a mass +of fire. And with this fire held over him, he ran toward the tank in +which Benny Turton did his "human fish" act. + +The next instant Joe Strong, apparently ablaze all over, dived into the +tank. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +HEAD FIRST + + +Which was the more surprised--Benny Turton, who had just finished his +fish act in his tank, the spellbound audience, or Jim Tracy, who was, in +a way, directing Joe's performance--it would be hard to say. All three +were thrilled by the unexpected outcome of the fire-eating act. Joe +Strong alone seemed perfectly at his ease, and, it might be mentioned +incidentally, perfectly at home in the water. He had, as told in a +previous volume, entitled "Joe Strong, the Boy Fish," perfected himself +in this sort of work, and could remain submerged for an unusually long +time. + +Of course the fire which seemed to envelop the young magician was +instantly put out when he leaped into the tank. He was wearing a rather +fancy suit, and as he came up, wet and bedraggled, Jim Tracy could not +help wondering what Joe meant by his performance. + +"Joe! Joe! was that part of the act or an accident?" asked Jim in a low +voice, as he ran over to where Joe was now climbing out of the tank. +For one instant Joe hesitated. The audience was wildly applauding now. +Clearly there was but one thought in their minds. The whole thing was a +trick--Joe had only pretended to be on fire and had taken that +sensational means of appearing to extinguish the blaze. + +But the ringmaster noted a queer look on his friend's face. It was not +the look it usually wore when Joe had completed some hazardous or +sensational trick. + +"Are you hurt, Joe--burned?" asked Jim Tracy anxiously. + +"No," was the answer. "It was all part of the act!" + +The ringmaster looked satisfied, and it was not until some time +afterward that he learned what a narrow escape Joe had had. + +"This will be part of the fire-eating stunt at every show," said Joe to +the ringmaster. "You might make the announcement so the people won't be +scared." + +"I will! Say, it's some stunt all right!" And then Jim began with his +sonorous "Ladies and gentlemen!" He stated that the young fire-eater +would show his familiarity with, and mastery over, fire by setting +himself ablaze and leaping into the tank to extinguish the flames. The +ringmaster added that there would be no danger to either the audience or +the performer in this feature. + +Joe bowed to the applause that followed, and then hurried to his +dressing room to don dry clothes for his mystery box trick. + +"I should think, if you were going to do tank work, you'd wear a suit +better adapted to it--like mine," said Benny Turton, whose apartment was +next to Joe's in the dressing tent. + +"I'm going to," Joe announced, looking around to make sure no one +overheard. "The fact of the matter is, Benny, I didn't count on pulling +off this stunt. It was an accident. Some of the alcohol I use on the tow +was spilled on my sleeves and caught fire. Then more flames burst out. +Luckily they were at my back, so when I ran the flames were fanned away +from me. But I knew the tank was the safest place to go, and in I +jumped." + +"But I heard you tell Jim it was all arranged." + +"I did that so the crowd wouldn't get into a panic. However I am going +to work the trick at each performance after this, only I'm going to wear +a different suit." + +And Joe did. He had a garment partly made of asbestos, though outwardly +it did not resemble that fire-resisting material any more than do the +asbestos curtains in theaters. And at the conclusion of his fire-eating +act Joe would seemingly burst into fire and run blazing across the stage +to leap into the tank of water. + +This finish to the act never failed to win great applause. And once in +the tank Joe did some of the under-water tricks that had brought him +fame. He was careful, however, not to duplicate anything that Benny +Turton did, for he did not want to "crab" the act of his friend. + +But Joe's fire and water act was one of the big features on the circus +bill. + +"Is this the sensation you were speaking of?" asked Helen one day, when +they had concluded an afternoon's performance. + +"No," answered Joe. "This only came about by accident. I'm working on +something more sensational yet, and I am going to ask you to help me." + +"I'm sure I'll do anything I can," said she. + +"You won't be in any danger," the young magician went on. "I'm beginning +to understand fire better the more I study it. I'm not getting too +familiar, either, let me tell you. Even a little scorch is very +painful." + +"I glanced through one of your books the other day," remarked Helen. "Do +you really suppose some of those old magicians actually handled fire in +the way it is stated?" + +"Well, at least they pretended to," said her friend. "There are tricks +in all trades, you know." + +As the circus went on its way business kept up well, and it was seen +that the season was going to be an excellent one from a financial +standpoint. + +"Any more bogus tickets coming in?" asked Joe one day of the treasurer. + +"Not since we adopted the new style," was the answer. + +"Have the detectives gotten on the trail of the man, or the men, who +cheated us?" asked Helen. + +"Not yet," reported Mr. Moyne. "The last report I had from them was that +they were getting nearer and nearer to a certain person whom they +suspected. They promise an arrest soon." + +"That's the usual story," remarked Joe. "However, we don't so much care +about an arrest now if we have stopped the counterfeit tickets from +being worked off on us." + +"Well, there's always a chance that the same thing will happen again," +returned Mr. Moyne. "It's too easy money for the criminals to give up, +I'm afraid. I'm on the lookout every day for more counterfeits." + +"Well, I'll leave it to you," remarked Joe. "Whenever anything happens +let me know and we'll take some action." + +Joe Strong was now kept very busy in the circus. In fact he was what +would be called a "star." He did his mystery box trick, and, with Helen, +worked the "vanishing lady" trick so neatly that no one guessed how it +was done. The ten thousand dollars was not claimed, successfully, though +several tried it, with the result that several local Red Cross +organizations were enriched by the hundred dollar forfeit. + +In addition to these mystery acts, and some more ordinary +sleight-of-hand tricks which he used to fill in with, Joe did his +fire-eating trick, ending that act with the plunge into the tank. This +never failed to create a sensation. + +"But it isn't the big sensation I'm after!" said Joe, when his friends +congratulated him. "Wait until you see that!" + +Another feature of Joe's performance was his wire-walking. Since he had +rescued the lady's cat he had added this to his share of the program, +and it was a thriller enjoyed by many audiences. + +"But it's a little tame," said Joe one day to Jim Tracy. "I want to put +a little more pep into it." + +"How are you going to do it?" asked the ringmaster. + +"I think I know a way," was the answer. + +And a few days later Joe gave a demonstration. + +The wire on which he performed was a high one, stretched between two +well-braced poles. On each pole was fastened a small platform, somewhat +like those high up in the tent where the big swing was fastened. + +Joe walked across the wire from one platform to the other, doing various +"stunts" on the slender support. One day Jim Tracy noticed that a long +to the ground between one of the rings and a wooden platform. + +"What's that, Joe?" asked the ringmaster, "Looks like an extra guy wire +for the pole." + +"No, that's for my new stunt," said Joe. "I'll show you at this show." + +The audience watched him performing on the high wire. Jim Tracy was +watching, too, for he remembered what Joe had said. Suddenly, at the +conclusion of the usual wire-walking feats, Joe stooped, placed his head +on the slanting wire, raised himself until he was standing with his legs +up and spread apart. Then he quickly flung wide his hands and slid on +his head down the slanting win to the ground, stopping himself just +before he reached it by grasping the wire in his gloved hands. + +Jim Tracy, who was sitting on a box, leaped to his feat. + +"Head first!" he cried. "That's some stunt!" + +And the audience seemed to think so, too, from the way it applauded. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SWINDLERS AGAIN + + +Joe Strong, having checked his rapid, head-first and head-on slide down +the slanting wire by grasping it in his gloved hands, gave a "flip-flop" +and stood up, bowing to the loud applause. Jim Tracy and some of the +other circus employees surrounded the young man. + +"Why didn't you tell us you were going to pull off something like this?" +demanded the ringmaster. + +"Because I wasn't sure until the last minute that I would do it," +answered Joe. "I hadn't practiced it as much as I should have liked, but +when I got up there on the platform I felt pretty sure I could do it. I +wasn't running much risk anyhow, except that of failure. I knew I +wouldn't fall, for I could have grabbed the wire in my hands if I had +started to topple over." + +"But how did you do it?" asked some one, who came up to join the +wondering throng after Joe's feat had been performed. "I've seen you +stand on your head before, but to slide down a wire--say, what sort of +scalp have you, anyhow?" + +Joe laughed and held out a close-fitting skull-cap of leather. Fastened +to the leather was a small steel framework, and in this frame were two +small grooved wheels, like the wheels of a trolley by means of which +street cars receive the electric current from the wire. Joe put the cap +on his head to show how it enabled him to do the trick. The big races +were on now, as the close of the performance was close at hand, and the +crowd was paying attention to the contests and not to the group of +performers surrounding the young magician. + +Once they had seen the cap with the grooved wheels on top placed on +Joe's head, his friends understood how the trick was done. He had simply +to balance himself on his head on the wire, a feat he had often +performed before. The natural attraction of gravitation did the rest. He +simply slid down on the wheels, his extended arms and legs steadying +him. + +"It's just as if you had a roller skate on your head," said Senorita +Tanlozo, the snake charmer, who had strolled into the main tent after +her act in the side show was over. + +"Exactly," said Joe, with a smile. "Would you like to try it?" + +"Not while my snakes are alive!" she assured him. + +"Well, it's another drawing card for the Sampson Brothers' Show," said +Jim Tracy that night when the receipts were being counted and +preparations being made for moving on to the next city. "How long are +you going to keep it up, Joe?" + +"As to that, I can't say," was the answer. "But I like the game, and I +want to see the circus a success." + +"It's a big one now, thanks in a large part to you," observed the +ringmaster. "But you'd better take a rest now, Joe, my boy. Don't try to +pull off any more spectacular stunts." + +"Oh, I haven't pulled off my big one yet," replied the young magician. +"I mean the one with the fire. I'm working on that. If it comes out the +way I think it will we'll have to give three performances a day instead +of two." + +"Oh, we can't do that!" protested Mr. Moyne, the treasurer. "It's hard +enough keeping account of the money and tickets now, with two shows a +day. If we have three--" + +He paused, for it was very evident Joe was only joking, and there were +smiles on the faces of the other circus folk. + +"Don't worry!" said Joe to the treasurer. "I don't want to act three +times a day any more than you want to count the tickets and cash. And, I +suppose, if we could, by some means, give three performances, it would +only give our swindling ticket friends more chance to work their scheme. +By the way, there are no further signs of their putting bogus tickets +on sale, are there?" + +"Not since we started the detectives at work," the treasurer answered. +"But I'm always on the watch, and so are the men at the entrances." + +"It's about time those detectives got results, I think," declared Jim +Tracy. "I wonder what they think we're paying them for?" + +"It takes time for a thing like that to be cleaned up," said Joe. + +"Well, I know what I'd do if I were detecting," half-growled the +ringmaster. + +"What?" inquired the treasurer. + +"I'd round up and arrest a certain few worthless men I know who used to +be in the circus business--some with this show!" declared Jim. "It's +queer, but our outfit seems to be the only one that they pick on. That's +what makes me think it was some one who used to work for us." + +"Who?" the treasurer wanted to know. + +"Well, I'm not mentioning any names," declared the ringmaster, as he +prepared to divest himself of his dress suit in readiness for the trip +to the circus train. "But I have my suspicions." + +"What makes you say ours is the only circus to have lost money on bogus +tickets?" asked Joe. + +"Read it in _Paste and Paper_," was the answer. That was the name of the +trade journal devoted to the interests of circus folk, tent shows, and +the like. "The last number had a piece in it about our losing money on +fake tickets," went on the ringmaster, "and it said it was the first +case of its kind to appear in several years. There have been no +complaints of circuses in other parts of the country being cheated that +way, this article said. So I know it's some one picking specially on +us." + +"Well, perhaps you're right," assented Joe. "But as long as we have +changed our style of tickets and they haven't tried their tricks again, +maybe we've settled them." + +"All the same I'm going to be on the watch," declared the treasurer. + +The city where the circus showed the following day and night was a large +one. A new automobile industry employing many hands had located there +within the last six months. It was decided to make a stay of two days in +this place, since the advance agent reported that many of the men worked +overtime and nights, and otherwise they could not see the performance. + +"Well, I'm glad we're to be here two days," remarked Helen, as she +passed Joe's private quarters, where he was going over some of his +apparatus, costumes, and effects. + +"Yes, we'll have a good night's rest," he agreed, though, truth to tell, +the circus folk were so used to traveling that the train journey almost +every night did not bother them. Still they always welcomed a stay in a +city over night. + +"You seem busy," remarked Helen, as she sat down on a box and watched +Joe. + +"Yes, I'm going to introduce a little novelty in the slide down the +slanting wire," he answered. "I'm going to work in a fire stunt." + +"A fire stunt!" exclaimed Helen. "Surely you aren't going to--" + +"Oh, it won't be dangerous!" Joe assured her, guessing her thoughts. +Helen had learned that the jump into Benny's tank the first time was due +to an accident. "It's just a bit spectacular and will liven things up a +bit, I think. If it goes well I have an idea you can work one of the +features in your bareback act." + +"Oh, Joe, I never could walk a wire, nor slide down on my head, the way +you do. And I don't see how Rosebud could, either." And Helen gave a +merry little laugh at the vision she raised. + +"Oh, I'm not going to have your horse walk the tight rope nor the high +wire!" laughed Joe. "It would be a corking good stunt if we could, +though. No, this is simpler. I'll tell you about it later." + +Mrs. Watson, wife of the veteran clown, called for Helen just then, +asking her to go to see one of the women performers who was ill. + +"I'll see you later, Joe," Helen called out, as she left him. + +Joe was busy mixing up some chemicals in a pail on the ground outside +his tent when he was accosted by a rather hoarse voice asking: + +"Any chance for a job here, boss?" Joe looked up to see a somewhat +disreputable figure of a man observing him. The fellow looked like the +typical tramp, perhaps not quite so ragged and dirty, but still in that +class. However, there was something about the man that attracted Joe's +attention. As he said afterward, his visitor had about him the air of +the "profesh." + +Joe's first impulse was to say that he knew of no job, or else to refer +his accoster to the head canvas man, who hired transient help in putting +up the main top and in pulling or driving stakes. But as Joe observed +the man curiously watching him, he had another idea. Before he could act +on it, however, the man exclaimed: + +"You do a fire-eating stunt, don't you?" + +"Yes," Joe answered. And then it occurred to him to wonder how the man +knew. True he might have observed Joe in some of the many performances, +but the man did not look like one who would spend money on circus +tickets. He might have crawled under the tent, but it did not seem +exactly probable. And, of course, some of the circus employees plight +have pointed Joe out to the man as the actor who handled fire. But, +again, Joe did not believe this. So he asked: + +"How did you know?" + +For answer the man pointed to the pail of chemicals into which Joe was +about to dip a suit of tights. + +"Smelled the dope," was the brief answer. "You're using tungstate of +soda, aren't you?" + +"Yes," answered Joe, surprised that a man, evidently of such a class, +should recognize the not very common chemical. + +"We used to use alum in the old days," the man went on. "I guess the new +dope's better, though I never tried it." + +"Are you in the business?" asked Joe. + +"Well, I--er--I used to be," and the man straightened himself up with an +air of forgotten pride. "I was with a circus once--used to do a +fire-eating act and jump into a fake bonfire. I doped my clothes with +alum water though. That's great stuff for preventing the fire taking +hold if you don't stay in the blaze too long. But, as I say, they've +discovered something new." + +"You used to be a fire-eater?" asked Joe curiously. + +"Yes. And I was counted a pretty good one. But I lost my nerve." + +"How?" + +"Well--er--not to put too fine a point on it, I got too fond of the +fire-water. Couldn't stay on the water-wagon long enough, got careless +in my act, went down and out. Oh, it's the old story. You've probably +heard it lots of times. But I would like a job now. I'm actually hungry, +and I've seen the time I could blow the bunch to champagne and lobster." + +Joe, on impulse, and yet, too, because he had an object, was just going +to offer the man help when he saw Mr. Moyne coming across the lot toward +him from the ticket wagon. The afternoon performance was about to start. + +"They're here again!" cried the treasurer. + +"Who?" asked Joe. + +"The ticket swindlers!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RINGS OF FIRE + + +Instantly Joe Strong lost interest in the "tramp fire-eater," as he +afterward came to call the man. All the attention of the young magician +was centered on what the treasurer had said. + +"Are you certain of this?" asked Joe. + +"Positive!" was the answer. "We've been keeping careful watch, paying +special attention to the red serial numbers, and some duplicates have +been taken in at the main entrance. The swindlers are at work again." + +"But our new tickets!" exclaimed Joe. "The new style of paper and the +precautions we have taken! What of that?" + +In answer Mr. Moyne held out two tickets, both bearing the same serial +number in red ink. + +"Which is the bogus and which is the genuine?" he asked. + +Joe looked carefully at the two. He examined them for a full minute. + +"I can't tell!" he admitted. + +"And no one else can, either," declared the treasurer. "We're up +against it again! Those fellows are too clever for us. Now we'll lose a +lot of money!" + +"Well, it won't break us," said Joe easily. "Though, of course, no one +likes to be cheated. The only thing to do is to get the detectives busy. +Let them know the new turn affairs have taken, and I'll send these two +tickets to our chemist friend. He can tell which is printed from our +regular stock, and which is the counterfeit. + +"Then, too, it ought to be easier to catch the rascals now than it was +at first. You see, we didn't know how long the old tickets had been +counterfeited. Now we're warned, first shot out of the box, about the +new ones. And since the paper mill hasn't been supplying our printer +with the new kind of paper very long, it ought to be easy to trace where +the new and clever counterfeit supply is coming from." + +"Well, I hope they can catch the scoundrels," said Mr. Moyne. "I +certainly hate to see money lost." + +Mr. Moyne was an ideal treasurer. He always had the interests of the +circus at heart, and one would think that the money came out of his own +pocket to hear him talk about the counterfeit tickets. In a way he did +lose, personally, since he was one of the owners of the show, and the +less money that came in the less his stock dividends would amount to. + +"I'll write to Mr. Waldon to-night," said Joe, as he took the two +tickets. "And we'll notify the detectives. Now I must get ready for my +act. That can't be dropped." + +"Having trouble, eh?" asked the tramp, who had moved a little to one +side. + +"Oh, well, just a little," admitted Joe, who was not altogether pleased +that this talk should have been overheard by a stranger. + +"Did you say there was any chance for a job?" asked the ragged man. + +"Well, I don't know," said Joe, rather doubtfully. "Is that straight +goods, about your being a fire-eater?" + +"I was once. But I'm not looking for that kind of a job now," was the +quick answer. "I lost my nerve, I tell you. Handling stakes or driving a +wagon would be my limit." + +"What sort of an act in the fire line did you have?" asked Joe, for a +certain idea was beginning to form in his mind. + +"It was a good act!" was the response, and again the spark of pride +seemed about to be fanned into a flame. "Got any old-timers in this here +circus of yours?" + +"Yes," answered Joe. "There's Jim Tracy and Bill Watson and--" + +"Bill Watson who used to clown it?" cried the man eagerly. + +"He clowns it yet." + +"Old Bill!" murmured the tramp. "Him still making good in the business, +and me a bum! Well, it's all my own fault. If I'd stuck to the +fire-eating and not drinking fire-water I'd be somewhere to-day. Just +ask Bill Watson what sort of an act Ham Logan had--'Coal-fire Logan!'" +exclaimed the man. "That was my title. Hamilton Logan is my name, but I +haven't told any one in--not in a long time," he added, and he looked +away. "But ask Bill Watson about me." + +"Here he comes now," said Joe, as he observed the veteran clown +approaching. "Suppose you ask him yourself." + +For an instant Ham Logan hesitated. Then he stepped forward and +confronted the old clown. The latter paid no attention at first, +evidently thinking the man one of the many hangers-on about a circus +ground. + +"Joe," began Bill Watson, "Helen sent me to ask you if you have any +ammonia in your kit--I mean the kind they give the ladies when their +hearts are weak, or something like that. One of the girls has some kind +of a little spell, and we can't find the doctor." + +"Yes, I have some ammonia," said Joe. "I'll get it." + +Ham Logan looked Bill Watson in the face, and asked: + +"Don't you remember me?" + +"Can't say that I do," was the somewhat cool response of the veteran +clown. "Is there any reason why I should?" + +"Do you remember Coal-fire Logan?" + +Bill Watson started, looked more closely at the man, and then slowly +asked: + +"Are you Ham Logan?" + +"What's left of me--yes." + +"Well, I'll be gum swizzled!" exclaimed Bill. "Say, did the elephant +step on you or one of the tent wagons roll over you?" + +"Neither one. I'm down and out, that's all--and it's enough, too." + +"Well, that's enough, I should say," commented the clown, as he took the +bottle of stimulant Joe handed him. "Last I heard of you you'd gone on a +theater circuit. That was just after you'd quit the Dobling show." + +"Yes, I did do a theater circuit," admitted Ham Logan. "But it didn't +last. Or rather, I didn't last. I was just asking the young man here for +a job. I said you'd remember me." + +"Well, I certainly do," returned the old clown, who was not to do his +act until later in the day. + +"And I'm sorry to see you in this state, Ham. You did me a good turn +once, and I haven't forgotten. Stick around a while, and I'll see you +as soon as I play first-aid. Joe, if it isn't asking too much, will you +look after Ham for a while? He used to be a good sort, and--" + +"Better say too much of a 'good _sport_,'" paraphrased the man. + +"I'll take care of him," promised Joe. "Did you say you were hungry?" +asked the young magician, as the old clown turned and hurried away with +the ammonia. + +"You said it! But I'm not altogether a grafter. I can work for what I +eat." And again there was a flash of pride. + +"We'll talk of that later," said Joe. "Just now I want to get you +something to eat. Here, take that over to the dining tent," and he +scribbled a few words on one of his cards. "After you've eaten all you +want, and after the show this afternoon, look me up." + +"Do you think you can give me work?" asked the man eagerly. "I don't +mean to act," he hastened to say. "I'm past that--down and out. But I'm +strong. I can pull on the ropes or drive stakes." + +"We'll talk of that later," replied Joe gently. "Go and eat now." + +"Well, I sure can feed my face!" exclaimed the man. "I--I don't know how +to thank you. Bill will tell you that I wasn't a bad fellow in my day. +I just lost my nerve--that's all. False friends and fire-water--" + +"See me later," said Joe, with a friendly wave of his hand. And the man +hurried toward the dining tent, next to the cook wagons. Already he +seemed imbued with more hope and pride, something that filled Joe with +pleasure. + +Joe busied himself with mixing the chemicals in the pail. As Ham Logan +had guessed, the young fire-eater was mixing up a solution of tungstate +of soda. This chemical is a salt, made by roasting wolfram with soda +ash, and wolfram is a native tungstate of iron and manganese. This soda +preparation is used commercially in making garments fire-proof, and Joe +had learned this from Mr. Herbert Waldon, the chemist. He had decided to +use this instead of an alum solution, which is credited with great +fire-resisting qualities. It has them, too, to a certain extent, but by +experimenting Joe had found the tungstate of soda best. + +It was the evening of the circus in the city in which the show was to +remain two days. Ham Logan had returned to Joe after having eaten a good +meal, and later Bill Watson formed the third member of a trio that +talked for some time in a corner of Joe's tent. + +As already said, it was the evening performance, and as Helen finished +her act on Rosebud she looked over toward the place where Joe was +preparing to do his slide down the slanting wire. + +"I wonder what he had in mind as a new act for me," mused Helen. "I do +hope it isn't anything to do with fire. That sort of stunt creates a +sensation, but it's dangerous, in spite of what Joe does to himself. I +don't like it! Not after what happened to Joe that day!" + +She had seen that Rosebud was given in charge of the groom who always +looked after the clever steed, and now Helen moved over where she could +watch Joe's comparatively new wire act. + +As she approached this part of the circus tent Helen was startled to see +several men carrying large hoops on long poles, take their positions on +either side of the slanting wire down which the daring performer was +soon to slide on his head, by means of the wheeled cap. + +"That's something new!" exclaimed Helen, as she saw the men with the big +hoops. "I wonder if Joe is going to jump through them, as I jump through +the paper hoops from Rosebud's back?" + +Joe was up on the little platform now, having finished his wire act. He +was adjusting to his head the leather cap. + +"Ladies and gentlemen!" began Jim Tracy in his sonorous voice, as he +pointed to Joe on his high perch, thus calling attention to the +performer. + +All eyes were turned in his direction. Then, as Joe stooped over and +stood on his head, preparatory to sliding down the wire, the hoops, +which the men held over the cable by means of long poles, suddenly burst +into flame. Held over the wire, down which Joe would in a moment slide, +was a row of fiery circles! + +Helen held her hand over her lips to stifle a scream. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BROKEN BOTTLE + + +So still was it in the big circus tent after the band stopped playing, +while Joe prepared to do his head slide, that the whirr of the steel +wheels in his leather cap could plainly be heard as he slid down the +wire. + +And as Helen and the others watched, the intention of the daring young +performer became evident. + +He was going to coast through the blazing hoops of fire which the men +held in such a position that Joe could slide through them without +touching them. Though they were called "hoops," in reality they were not +completely closed, there being a slight opening to enable them to be +slipped over the slanting wire. If a gigantic letter "C" with a long +pole fastened to the lower curved part, can be imagined, it; will give +an exact idea of what is meant. + +As to the fire itself, it was caused by blazing bits of tow fastened to +the circumference of the big wire hoops. And thus through the blazing +circles Joe Strong slid down the slanting wire on his head. At the lower +end of the wire, where it was fast to a stake in the ground, he caught +hold of the cable in his gloved hands and so slowed his speed. Then he +leaped to his feet and bowed in acknowledgment of the applause. + +"Oh!" murmured Helen, as she watched. "It was only another of his +sensational acts. When I first saw the blazing hoops I half thought that +some one was trying to injure Joe, as they did when the acid was used on +his high trapeze. Oh, it was only a trick!" + +And so it was. Joe had planned it that day after meeting Ham Logan. The +latter, talking about the time when he, too, had been a fire-eater, had +mentioned an act where a performer leaped through blazing hoops, and Joe +determined to use the idea, varying it to suit his purpose. That it was +effective was evidenced by the long-continued applause. + +"But, Joe," asked Helen, when the performance was over and she and Joe +had received another ovation at the conclusion of the box mystery and +the vanishing lady trick, "wasn't there danger of setting your clothes +on fire when you went through the blazing hoops?" + +"None at all," Joe assured her. "I have been planning a stunt like this +for some time, and my garments were fire-proofed. Of course I wouldn't +have done it otherwise. Look here!" + +He took up a fancy jacket he had worn in his wire slide. Taking a match +Joe lighted it and held it against the cloth. It did not take fire. + +"There was that day--" + +"But I have perfected the act since then, Helen. Of course the tungstate +of soda that I soaked the clothes in wouldn't keep them from catching +fire if I put the suit in a furnace. But the solution will make cloth +resist a blaze temporarily, as will alum under some circumstances. I use +alum on the suit I wear when I pretend to set myself on fire and then +jump into the tank of water," went on Joe. "But after this I'm going to +use the soda. It's more certain." + +Joe worked the trick of seeming to set himself ablaze in this way. As he +said, his suit was made as nearly fireproof as possible. Then on the +back of his jacket were placed some bunches of tow saturated with +alcohol. When this tow was set on fire it burned quickly, but Joe knew +the flame would not last long. And the fact that the garments on which +the burning material was fastened were as nearly fireproof as was +possible to make them gave him additional safety. He really ran little +risk, as the fire was at his back, and, as he ran toward the tank, his +speed carried the flames away from him. + +Joe, and all others who do a fire-eating act, calculate to a nicety just +how long a certain fire will burn. And they do not place the blazing +material into the mouth until the flames are almost on the point of +going out of themselves. This, added to the fact that a chemical +solution protects the tongue and lips, makes the act comparatively safe. +But one word of caution. _Do not try to fire-proof the mouth with +tungstate of soda_. This warning cannot be made too strong! + +In fact, it is well not to try any fire-eating _at all_. It is too risky +unless one is a professional. + +"Well, Joe," remarked Jim Tracy, later that night when most of the +circus folk were asleep, "if you want to add this fellow to our show, go +ahead. You have the say, you know." + +"Well, I don't want to do it in just that way," replied the young +fire-eater. "Bill Watson says that Ham Logan was once a good man. He is +down and out now, but he knows a lot about circus life and this handling +of fire. I believe I can work him up into something useful--use him in a +new act I'm thinking of putting on. If we can only keep him away from +intoxicants he'll be all right, and I'd like to give him a chance." + +"Well, Joe, as I said, it's up to you. Go to it! But remember, while he +means all right, he may not have the spunk to keep his promise not to +drink." + +"I think he'll keep it," said Joe. "Anyhow, I'd like to give him a +trial. He helped me with that fire hoop stunt, and it would be an act of +charity to give him work." + +"All right--you can be the charity," said the ringmaster. "What do you +say, Bill Watson?" + +"Oh, give him a chance," replied the old clown good-naturedly. "We all +have our troubles. He can't do much harm, anyhow." + +"I don't know about that," said Jim, with a shake of his head. "This +playing with fire by a man who can't keep away from fire-water, is +risky." + +"Well, I'll take the chance," said Joe. And that was characteristic of +him--taking chances. + +Ham Logan was deeply grateful to Joe for what the young performer did. +That is, he hired the former fire-eater as a sort of handy man in the +circus, Ham to be subject to Joe's direction day and night. + +"And let the fire-water alone!" demanded Joe. "I will! I really will!" +said the old circus performer. He seemed to mean it. + +Joe advanced him money enough to get some better clothes, to have a bath +and be shaved, and it was quite a different person who appeared at the +tent the following day, ready to help Joe. As Ham knew more about fire +than any assistant Joe had yet been able to train, the new man was given +charge of the various apparatus Joe used in his sensational acts, +including the one of sliding down the wire on his head through the +blazing hoops. + +One matter bothered Joe and his friends, in spite of the great success +the circus was having, and this was the bogus tickets. Several hundred +of them were presented at the performances in the city where the two-day +stay was made--the city already mentioned as being the location of a big +automobile industry. And where the tickets came from remained a mystery. +They were so nearly like the ones issued from the ticket wagon that not +until duplicate numbers had been observed could the fraud be detected. + +And as the men at the main entrances had no time in the rush to compare +serial numbers, there seemed no way of stopping the cheating. It was +impossible to see to it that every one who came to the show purchased +admission tickets at the wagon. The surging crowds around prevented +this. + +Men engaged by the circus circulated through the throngs about the tent, +seeking to learn whether any unauthorized persons were selling bogus +tickets. But none was seen. + +"It is evident," said Mr. Moyne, "that the counterfeiters get a bunch of +the fake tickets and sell them in large lots to some men. These men, in +turn, dispose of them at reduced prices to others, and perhaps the +persons who use the tickets do not know they are counterfeits. I believe +the swindlers go to the big factories and stores, and sell the tickets +at a slightly lower price than we ask." + +"We ought to be able to put a stop to that," said Joe. + +"We'll try it!" said the treasurer. "It seems the only way--that and +having the detectives stop the fraud at the source. You see, we can't +tell which are the counterfeit tickets until after we check up the +serial numbers--that's what makes it so hard." + +And so, in spite of the success of Joe's acts and The success of the +show in general, there was this element of annoyance. Joe wished the +mystery could be cleared up. He had received back from the chemist the +two tickets sent on last, and the counterfeit was marked. This was sent +to the paper mill and the detectives notified. That was all that could +be done for the present. + +"Well, how's Coal-fire Logan making out?" asked Bill Watson of Joe one +day, just before an afternoon performance. + +"Very good," was the answer. "He's faithful and steady, and he's good +help to me. He certainly knows the fire-eating stunt." + +"Well, as long as he doesn't do any fire-drinking maybe he'll be all +right," said the old clown. + +"I haven't noticed any lapse," said Joe. "I have great hopes of him." + +But that very afternoon, during the performance, Joe felt doubt +beginning to creep over him. He caught Ham in several mistakes--slight +ones--but enough, if not noticed in time, to have spoiled the act. + +"I wonder what the matter is with him?" mused Joe. "He doesn't seem to +have been drinking, and yet he acts queer. I wonder if he can be using +drugs." + +It was at the close of the act and the wind-up of the circus for the +afternoon that Joe told Ham to put away some of the apparatus until +evening. Joe was called away from his dressing room for a moment and +when he came back he saw Ham hastily throw away a dark brown bottle +which struck on a stone and broke. Immediately a queer odor filled the +air. + +"I wonder if that was liquor he was taking, and if he threw away the +empty bottle," thought Joe quickly. "I'm going to find out, I've got to +stop this thing at the start." + +He hurried to the place where Ham had tossed the bottle. The fragments +lay there, and the queer odor was more pronounced. + +"Don't touch that! Let that bottle alone!" suddenly cried Ham Logan, as +he became aware of Joe's intention. "Don't touch it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A NARROW ESCAPE + + +Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this warning and observed the +face of the man he was befriending. His first thought was that Ham had +broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. Naturally the man +would want to conceal this as long as possible. The other thought was +that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick--perhaps he was jealous +of Joe's success and his own failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's +apparatus. Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property the brown +bottle, which when broken emitted such a queer smell. + +Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not heeding the warning call +of the former circus star, he walked closer to the broken flask. + +"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. "Keep away!" + +"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence. + +"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very dangerous." + +"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to know. "Look here, Ham," he +said earnestly, "are you up to--any of your old tricks? You know what I +mean. Are you?" + +The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in the face, he said: + +"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer you as straight. I +haven't broken my promise--that is, only the times you know about. I +haven't broken it this time. I found that bottle in among your things, +and I was mighty sure it didn't belong there." + +"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though he had dabbled in +chemistry, he did not recognize the queer odor. + +"A combination of the strongest acids ever known!" was the answer of Ham +Logan. "A drop of it makes a terrible burn, and it will eat through +solid steel and iron. I knew that if it broke where it was, among your +trick things, a lot of them would be ruined. And I knew you couldn't +have left the bottle there by mistake, as it wasn't there the last time +I packed away your duds. And I knew if you knew what it was you wouldn't +have left it around in that careless way. So, taking no chances, I threw +it away, and I meant to break the bottle. That acid is awful stuff. It's +best to let it soak into the ground. Come over and see what it does even +to earth and stones." + +He led the way to where the fluid had escaped from the broken flask, +the fragments of which were scattered about. The odor was less strong +now, as the acid was soaking into the earth. But there was a fuming and +bubbling at the spot, and the very stones and earth seemed to be burning +up in a small area. + +"Don't step in it!" warned Ham Logan. "It will eat right through your +shoes. Glass is the only thing it won't hurt--glass and porcelain. They +mix it in porcelain retorts. I'll throw some loose earth over this +place. The effects of the acid will soon be lost, but while it's active +it's terrible stuff, believe me!" + +"And you say you found that bottle in my baggage?" asked Joe. + +"Yes," answered Ham Logan. "And am I right in saying you didn't know it +was there?" + +"I certainly didn't," declared Joe. "Who in the world could have put it +there?" + +"Have you any enemies?" asked Ham. "I mean some one who would like to +see your circus acts spoiled, or even see you laid up for a while?" + +"Well, I guess perhaps there are some I've made enemies of by having to +discharge them, or something like that," admitted Joe, his thoughts +going naturally to Bill Carfax. "There's one man, but he hasn't been +seen around for a good while." + +"That doesn't count. He may have gotten some one to do his trick for +him," asserted Ham. "You'd better look out, Mr. Strong." + +"I will!" declared Joe. "And thank you for your watchfulness. As you +say, I didn't know that bottle was there, and I might have broken it by +accident or have opened it and spilled some out. How did you come to +discover it?" + +"Just by accident. The smell is something you never forget. It comes up +even around the glass stopper. As soon as I began overhauling your +things, as you told me to, I smelled the stuff and I went on a still +hunt for it. + +"I was careful, too. I knew what it meant to get any of that acid on +you, or on any of the things about you. I used to work in the chemical +plant where they made the stuff--that was after I left the circus. Well, +it can't do any harm now," he said as he got a shovel and covered with +clean earth the bits of broken glass and the still fuming drops of add. + +"Thank you," said Joe fervently. + +He went into his private tent. Presently he came out with a bit of wire +cable, such as is used in making circus trapezes. One end was blackened +and partly fused, as though it had been in the fire. Joe held out this +bit of wire rope. It was part of the trapeze he used in his big swing. + +"What would you say had eaten through these strands?" he asked. + +Ham Logan looked carefully at the cable. He sniffed it cautiously. He +held it up to the light and again smelled it. + +"It was this same acid that ate those strands," he declared. "I know how +it used to eat metal out at the chemical works, and it does so in a +queer way. This wire rope is eaten through just like that. There isn't +any odor left, though sometimes it lasts a long time. But I'm sure the +same kind of acid was used. You don't mean to tell me you have been +experimenting with it!" and he looked in surprise at Joe. + +"No indeed!" and the young fire-eater shook his head. "I never handle +the acid. And the fact that the cable was eaten through nearly caused an +accident." He then explained how he had discovered the partly severed +wire rope just in time. + +"They must have put on a weak solution of the acid," declared Ham. +"Otherwise it would have eaten the rope through in jig time. So that's +the game, is it? Well, they may have been trying it on a larger scale. +Did you find out who doped the rope?" + +"There was a man who might have done it," said Joe, thinking of Harry +Loper. "But I don't believe he did." + +"Is he still with the show?" + +"Yes. I'll tell you all the circumstances," which Joe did, mentioning +Loper by name. + +"Well, we won't say anything," declared Ham Logan; "but I'll just keep +my eyes on this Loper. As you say, he may not have done it, but he may +know who did. I'll keep my eyes on him. Meanwhile be careful in +overhauling your things. Look out for bottles that smell as this one +did." + +"I will!" promised Joe. "I guess I won't forget that odor. I can't tell +you how I thank you, Ham. You've done me a good turn!" + +"Well, you did me one," was the answer. "I was down and out when you +gave me work, and I won't forget that in a hurry." + +Joe pondered over what had happened as he performed his circus acts the +remainder of that day and evening. He shuddered at the narrow escape he +had had, and, when he had a chance, he carefully noted the conduct of +Harry Loper. But that young fellow did not seem at all to act like one +who had tried to do a dastardly trick. He was jolly and good-natured, as +he always was, albeit somewhat of a weak character. + +The circus performances went off well, Joe and the other actors +receiving wild applause as they did their specialties. Joe's fire-eating +was eagerly watched, and when he slid down the rope on his head, through +the blazing hoops, the crowd went wild, as they did when, seemingly all +afire, he leaped into the tank. + +"When you going to spring that sensation you've been talking of, Joe?" +asked Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of one afternoon show. + +"Oh, pretty soon now," was the reply. "Ham Logan and I are working on +it." + +"Ham Logan! Is he going to be in it with you?" asked the ringmaster in +some surprise. + +"Of course!" answered Joe. "It's partly his idea. He's an old +fire-actor, you know, and he's given me some good suggestions. Yes, he's +going to help me. I think we'll put the act on next week. We've got to +train some new performers first." + +"New performers! Say, what are you going to do, Joe, take a troupe of +fire-eating actors out on the road?" + +"Something like that, yes," answered the young magician, with a laugh. +"You'll see." + +Joe Strong varied his acts in the circus tent Sometimes he would omit +the "vanishing lady" act, as Helen wanted to put through some extra work +with Rosebud, and there was not time for both. Again he would leave out +some of his acrobatic work, or perhaps not do the trick of seeming to +catch fire and extinguishing the flames in Benny Turton's tank. Once in +a while he would omit the ten thousand dollar mystery box trick. + +But on the day when he had the above conversation with Jim Tracy they +were showing in a large factory town. There had been good business in +the afternoon, and Joe had not done the box trick. But just before the +evening show Jim came to Joe and said: + +"There've been several requests, Joe, that you put the box trick on +to-night." + +"Requests from whom?" Joe asked. + +"One of the newspaper men was telling me they received a lot of +telephone calls to-day asking if the box trick would be done and the +reward paid in case some one discovered the way it was done." + +"What did you say?" + +"I said I thought you'd put the trick on in that case. Don't you think +you'd better? We didn't advertise it specially for to-night, but there +might be a lot of sore-heads if we don't pull it off." + +"Oh, I'll do it all right!" declared Joe. "I thought it was getting a +bit stale. But if the crowd wants to see it I'll do it." + +"I guess it will be better," said the ringmaster. + +Accordingly, at the proper time, Joe, in his dazzling white suit, took +his place in the silk-curtained enclosure. Helen, in her black dress, +was ready to help him. The fireman, with his gleaming ax, ready to chop +Joe out of the box in case anything should go wrong, was also on the +stage. + +As has been related in the other book, this last was done only for +effect. Joe well knew that he could get out of the box. The manager made +the usual offer of ten thousand dollars to be paid to any one who would +disclose how the trick was done. + +"You will all be given a chance to claim the reward under the usual +conditions after the trick has been performed by Professor Strong," was +the announcement made. + +As the description of the manner in which Joe and Helen did the trick is +given in all its details in the volume preceding this, suffice it here +to say that Joe got into the box, which was locked and roped, and, at +the proper time, he appeared outside. + +"Is there any one who can tell how the trick was done, and so earn the +ten thousand dollar reward?" asked the manager. He had made this +announcement many times. Seldom, of late, had any one come forward. But +now, somewhat to the surprise of Joe and his friends, a man's voice +called from a location near the platform: + +"I can tell how it was done!" + +"Will you please come forward," invited Joe, now taking charge of the +proceedings. + +A fairly well-dressed man stepped across the arena and approached the +stage. Joe and Jim Tracy and the others vitally interested looked +closely at him. He was not Bill Carfax--that was certain. And Joe did +not know the man, nor, as Jim Tracy admitted afterward, did he. + +"You say you can tell how I get out of the box?" asked Joe, and the +audience listened intently. + +"Yes. I know the secret." + +"Are you willing to post a hundred dollars to be forfeited to the Red +Cross in case you fail?" went on the young magician. + +"I am. Here is the money!" was the cool response. This quick compliance +with the terms of the offer rather staggered Joe. But he had no fear as +to the outcome. + +"Very well," went on the originator of the box trick. "The ringmaster +will hold your money. If you are successful in telling how I get out of +the box the cash will be handed back to you, and you will receive, in +addition, a check for ten thousand dollars. Now then, how do I get out +of the box? Tell the audience." + +There was a moment of suspense, and then the man, with an air of +confidence, stepped close to the big, heavy box and, pointing to a +certain corner, said: + +"Right there is a secret panel. You slip it back and get out that way!" + +The man seemed so triumphantly confident and so sure of his statement, +that several in the audience cried: + +"Is that right? Is that how you do the trick? If it is pay him the ten +thousand dollars!" + +Joe looked at Jim Tracy. This was the first time any one had ever come +so close to the truth. Helen, standing at one side of the stage, began +to be fearful that, after all, Joe's secret was discovered. It would +mean an end of the box trick. + +Then Joe smiled, and stepped forward. And there was something in the +smile that reassured Helen. + +"Has he guessed it?" she asked in a low voice, as Joe passed her. + +"No. But it was a narrow escape," was the answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +JUGGLING WITH FIRE + + +Smilingly the man who had made claim to the ten thousand dollars waited +for Joe Strong. The fellow seemed already to have the money in his +grasp. + +"You say there is a sliding panel in that corner?" asked Joe. + +"Positive." + +"And that I get out that way?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I say you are wrong, and I am going to prove it," returned Joe +easily, and also smiling. "Now I'm going to let you, and any one you may +select from the audience, paste sheets of paper over that corner. Then +I'll do the trick over again. If I get out of the box, and the paper you +paste on remains unbroken, you'll have to admit that I didn't come out +through the place where you say is a sliding panel, won't you?" + +"Well, if you don't break the paper, I guess I'll have to admit you +didn't get out that way," said the man, with a grin. "But I want to see +you do it first." + +"Very well. I'll send for some paste and paper," went on Joe. "Meanwhile +call upon any of your friends you like to help." + +"Come on up here, Bill!" called out the man. + +For an instant Joe, and Helen also, as she admitted later, feared it +might be Bill Carfax to whom he referred. But an altogether different +individual shuffled up to the stage. + +"We'll paste paper over this end where the trick panel is," went on the +man who had claimed the reward. "He won't get out then!" + +"Sure he won't," agreed his companion. "Do we get the ten thousand +then?" + +"Naturally, if you have guessed right," said Joe. "But that remains to +be seen." + +There was no trouble in getting paste and paper. That is part of a +circus, for, even though it is old-fashioned, paper hoops are still used +for the clowns and some bareback riders to leap through. + +A plentiful supply of large, white sheets and a pail of paste with a +brush were brought up to the stage. Then the men were invited to begin +their work, which was to seal up the corner the man had picked out as +the location of the secret panel. + +Before pasting on the paper the men looked closely at the joinings of +the box. They seemed rather puzzled in spite of the cock-sureness of +the first individual. + +The pasting was not a work of art, but it was effective. The corner of +the box was plastered over with sheets of white paper, in which there +was no break. + +"If I get out of the box without cracking, tearing, or disturbing the +paper you have pasted on, without moving it in any way, you'll admit +that you're wrong, won't you?" asked Joe, as he prepared to do the trick +again. + +"Yes," was the answer. "I will. But I've got you sewed up!" + +"Pasted up would be a better word," returned Joe, with a smile. "But +that remains to be seen." + +The box was placed in position, and Joe took his place in it. The lid +was slammed down, locked, and the rope was knotted about it. The two men +who had done the pasting assisted in this. + +Then the curtains were drawn, and Helen and the firemen took their +places. There was a period of waiting. The tense suspense of the +audience was manifest. Even Jim Tracy and Bill Watson, veteran circus +men though they were, seemed a bit worried. The man who had claimed the +ten thousand dollars and his companion seemed a bit ill at ease. + +Then, suddenly, the curtains parted and Joe Strong stood in plain view, +outside the box, bowing to the applause that greeted him. When it had +subsided, he said: + +"Will you two gentlemen kindly look at the paper seals you placed on one +corner of the box? If they are unbroken and undisturbed I take it you +have lost. Kindly look and announce what you find." + +The men shuffled to the case and bent down over the corner that was +covered with the pasted sheets. Look as they did, they could find no +evidences of a break or tear in the paper. And it had not been removed +and put back again. The men admitted that. + +"Then you have to admit that I didn't get out of the box by means of a +secret panel in that corner, don't you?" asked Joe, when the two had +asserted that the paper was intact. + +"Yes, I guess you win," said the first man. "But there's some trick +about it!" + +"Oh, I admit that!" laughed Joe. "It is a trick, and if you discover it +you get ten thousand dollars. But not to-night. Red Cross is richer by a +hundred dollars." + +"Um!" grumbled the man, as he walked off, and many in the audience +laughed. Joe had won. + +The circus performance went on to its usual exciting close in the +chariot races, and when preparations were being made to travel on to the +next city, Helen had a chance to speak to Joe. + +"It was a narrow escape," she said. + +"Just what it was!" he replied. "If he had picked the other corner--the +left instead of the right--he would have had me. But luck was with us." + +"I'm glad," said Helen. "But how did he happen to select any corner? +Some one must know more about your trick box than you think." + +"I'm afraid so," admitted Joe ruefully. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised +but what this was some of the work of Bill Carfax." + +"Has he been around again?" asked Helen, and there was a note of +annoyance in her voice. + +"He hasn't been seen," said Joe. "But this man may have been in +communication with him. Bill may have been studying the trick out since +his last failure, and I must admit that he's on the right trail--that +is, if it was Bill who put this man up to making the claim." + +"What makes you think Bill had anything to do with it?" asked Helen. + +"Well, for the reason that this is just the kind of town where Bill +would be likely to have friends--I mean in a big manufacturing center. +Bill may have found a man who is willing to act to help pull down the +reward for him. But this time they failed." + +"He may succeed next time," remarked Helen. + +"No, I'll take care of that," Joe said. "I'm going to make a change in +the box." + +As the mechanism of the trick box has been explained in the preceding +volume, it will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that Joe's +method of getting out of the box could be changed, so that if a person +thought he had discovered the secret panel it could be shifted to +another part of the case. + +It was two or three days after this, and Joe had made a change in his +box which satisfied him that the secret would not soon be discovered, +that Helen, coming over to where he sat in his private tent, saw him +making what seemed to be torches. + +"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you think our electric lights or +gasoline flares are going to fail?" she went on jokingly. The Sampson +Brothers' Show was a modern one, and carried a portable electric light +plant. + +"Oh, no, I'm not worrying about that!" answered Joe. "But I have a new +idea for my wire act, and I want to see if it will work out." + +That night, at the proper time, when Joe was introduced as about to +perform his wire act, Helen noticed Ham Logan come out with the young +fire-eater, carrying a number of the torches Joe had made. + +Joe started across the high, slack wire, and on it performed many of his +usual feats. They were not specially sensational, and Helen wondered +what he had planned. + +But, after a daring run across the slender support, following some risky +side swinging, Helen saw Joe lower from the high platform where he +stood a flexible wire. Standing on the ground below, Ham Logan received +it and fastened on the end several of the metal torches Joe had made. +The young magician hauled them up to him by means of the wire. + +Then, as Helen and the audience watched, Joe set the torches ablaze. +They were made of hollow cones of sheet iron, in which were placed bits +of tow, soaked in alcohol. + +With four blazing torches, two in either hand, Joe Strong started out to +cross the high, slack wire. And then, to the wonder and amazement of the +audience, no less than that of his friends in the show, Joe began +juggling with fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BLAZING BANQUET + + +Across the wire walked the young performer, and as he walked he tossed +into the air, catching them as they came down, the flaming torches. When +it is remembered that the fire was of the real, blazing sort, and hot at +that, also when it is recalled that if Joe happened to catch hold of the +wrong end of any of the whirling torches, and when it is evident that he +must "watch his step," it will be seen that he was performing no easy +feat. + +Yet to watch him one would have thought that he had been doing it right +along for many performances, instead of this being his first in public, +though he and Ham Logan had practiced in private. + +Across the wire walked Joe, juggling with fire, and when he reached the +other platform he walked backward along the swaying wire. + +Then the applause broke out, loud and long. The crowd appreciated the +trick, with all its dangers. True, Joe Strong was an expert on the wire, +and he was also a good juggler. But juggling with torches while on a +swaying cable was not as easy as handling harmless rubber balls or +Indian clubs, and the circus throng seemed to appreciate this. + +Getting back to the platform whence he had started, Joe dropped the +still blazing torches into a tub of water where they went out hissingly. +This provided a fitting climax to the act, as showing that the flames +were real ones. + +And then Joe donned his cap of leather, with the little grooved wheels +fastened in the top, and on his head he slid down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. It was a good end to a good trick; and the +crowd went wild. + +"Well, Joe, you sure did put another one over for us," said Jim Tracy, +at the conclusion of the performance. "That fire juggling was a great +trick. That's the sensation you promised us, I suppose." + +"No, it isn't," was the answer. "I'm not ready for that yet. But I'm +glad you liked the trick. No, what I have up my sleeve is something even +better, I think." + +"Well, I hope you haven't any blazing torches up your sleeve," remarked +Helen, with a laugh. "You'll need a new coat, if you have." + +"No danger," laughed Joe. "I think I'll be ready soon. By the way, any +news of the bogus tickets--I mean the detectives haven't found out +anything positive, have they?" + +"Not yet," answered Mr. Moyne, who had joined the little party. "And +it's keeping all of us who have to do with the financial end guessing as +to where the trouble will break out next." + +"It is an unpleasant state of affairs," agreed Joe. "But I don't see +what we can do except to wait. You haven't noticed any more of the +counterfeit tickets of late, have you?" + +"No," answered the treasurer. "It's only when we hit the big mill cities +that they are worked in on us. That's why I believe there is some system +to it all." + +"Well, we'll have to break up the system," declared Joe. "As soon as I +get this new act of mine perfected I'm going to take a day or two off, +over Sunday say, and visit the detective agency. They may need stirring +up." + +"I wish something could be done," declared the treasurer. + +About a week after this conversation, during which time the circus had +moved from place to place, doing good business, Mrs. Watson, meeting +Helen on the lot, said: + +"Who are Joe's new friends?" + +"New friends? I didn't know he had any specially new ones," remarked the +young bareback rider. "Has he been befriending some more poor +broken-down circus men, like Ham Logan?" + +"These aren't men," said the clown's wife. "They are three pretty girls. +I saw Joe coming back from downtown with them. They seemed +jolly--laughing and talking." + +"Three pretty girls!" murmured Helen. And then she quickly added, with +an air of indifference: "Oh, I suppose they may be some cousins he +hasn't seen for a long while." + +"I thought Joe said he had no relatives in this country," went on Mrs. +Watson. + +"I'm sure I don't know," and Helen's voice was very cool. + +"There's something behind all this," mused Mrs. Watson, as Helen walked +away. "I hope those two haven't quarreled. Maybe I shouldn't have said +anything." + +However, it was too late now. The seeds of jealousy seemed to have been +sown, though unwittingly, by Mrs. Watson. Helen walked on with her head +high in the air, and as the clown's wife passed Joe's official tent a +little later she heard, issuing from it, the jolly laughter and talk of +several girlish voices. + +"I wonder what Joe Strong is up to," thought Mrs. Watson. "He never +acted like that before--going off with other girls and neglecting Helen. +I'm going to speak to him. No, I won't either!" she decided. "I'll just +keep still until I know I can help. It's better that way." + +It was perhaps an hour after this that Joe, meeting Helen, called to +her: + +"Oh, I say! don't you want to do me a favor?" + +"What sort?" asked the rider of Rosebud, and if Joe had not been +thinking of something else he would have noticed the danger signs about +Helen's countenance. + +"The fancy jacket I use in one of my tricks is torn," went on Joe. +"Would it be asking too much to request you to mend it?" + +Helen tossed back her head and there was a snap to her eyes as she +answered: + +"Why don't you get one of the three pretty girls to do your mending? I'm +afraid I'm not clever enough!" And with that she walked on haughtily. + +For an instant Joe was so surprised that he could not speak. His face +plainly showed how taken aback he was. Then, after a moment, he managed +to stammer: + +"Oh, but I say! Helen! Wait a moment! Let me explain. I--er I--I only--" + +But Helen did not pause, she did not look back, and she did not answer. +Joe stood staring after her in blank amazement. Then he gave utterance +to a low whistle and exclaimed: + +"Oh, ho! I see! Well, it will be my turn later!" and he laughed +silently. + +"He's either playing a mean trick or else he's up to some joke," +declared Mrs. Watson, who, from a distance, had watched this little +scene. "And," she added with a shake of her head, "I can't be sure what +it is. Young folks are so foolish! So foolish!" and she sighed as she +walked away. + +Joe, with the torn jacket in his hand, turned back toward his own tent, +and presently there came from it the sounds of several young persons, +including girls, in conversation and laughter. + +It was later, that same afternoon, when Helen noticed Joe in one part of +the big tent. He was surrounded by three pretty young ladies and three +good-looking young men. They were on one of the platforms seated about a +table, and Joe seemed to be entertaining them, for there were plates, +cups, knives and forks on the board--all the outward indications of a +meal. + +The time was late afternoon, following the day performance and prior to +the evening show. Helen looked curiously over at the gay little scene, +and something tugged at her heart-strings. Then she looked away, and +Mrs. Watson, observing her from the other side of the tent, shook her +gray head. + +"I can't understand Joe Strong," murmured the clown's wife. "What has +come over him?" + +It was just before the opening of the evening performance that night +when Joe, meeting Helen in the dressing tent, said: + +"I shan't need you in the box trick, to-night, nor in the vanishing lady +stunt, either." + +"Oh, I suppose you're going to use one of the new, pretty girls," +snapped Helen. + +Joe looked at her quietly. + +"No," he said, "I am not. But I am not going to put on either trick. I +thought you'd like to know, so if you want to introduce any of your +extras you'll have a chance." + +"Thank you!" she said coldly, and passed on. + +Joe smiled as he looked after her. + +With a blare of trumpets, a boom and ruffle of drums, the gay procession +started around the circus arena. The stately elephants, the hideous +camels and the beautiful horses went around to be looked at, wondered +at, and admired. Then, when the last of the cavalcade had passed out, +the various acts began. Helen had a new costume for her bareback act, +and as she started it she looked over to where Joe was busy on his +stage. She saw the young men and women around him. They wore fancy +costumes and seemed a part of the circus. Helen wondered what act they +were going to appear in, since none including them had been announced. + +She danced about on the back of Rosebud, and thought bitterly that Joe +had never noticed her new dress. She was wearing it for the first time, +too. + +The whistle blew. All acts stopped and Jim Tracy advanced toward Joe's +platform. + +"A most marvelous and striking act!" he cried, not stating what it was +to be. + +All eyes, even those of Helen Morton, turned in the direction of Joe +Strong. + +He acted quickly. With a wave of his hand he invited the three pretty +girls and the three well-appearing young men to be seated. They took +their places around a table, with Joe acting as host. The table appeared +to be well laden, and at first the act seemed to be only a rather +elaborate meal being served in public. + +"What is it all about?" mused Helen. "I can't see anything very +wonderful in that." + +But, even as she thus mused, something strange happened. The banquet +table seemed to burst into flames. The dishes of food blazed up, and the +audience gasped. + +But the young men, the young women, and Joe Strong did not seem in the +least surprised. They kept their seats and went right on eating. + +And then, with a thrill of surprise, it was noticed that Joe Strong and +his guests were devouring the blazing food itself! The girls and young +men put portion after portion of the blazing viands into their mouths! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HAM IS MISSING + + +Surprise and astonishment held the audience silent and spellbound for a +moment. Then a woman screamed, and, ready for this emergency and fearing +a panic, than which nothing is more dreaded by circus men, Jim Tracy +cried: + +"Sit still! Keep your seats! There is no danger! This is all part of the +show. We are merely showing you how to eat your meals in case any of you +ever get caught in a blazing volcano. Watch the ladies and gentlemen eat +their stuff hot--right off the fire!" + +There was a laugh at this sally, and a laugh was what the ringmaster +wanted more than anything else just then. He knew the tide of fear had +been changed to one of wondering admiration. + +And so, sitting on the stage in sight of the thrilled audience, Joe +Strong and his guests, in the shape of pretty girls and manly young +fellows fancifully attired, continued to eat the blazing food. + +The very pieces of bread seemed to be on fire, there was a dancing flame +over the butter, and each bit of meat or other food Joe and the +performers lifted on their forks was alive with leaping fire. + +Then the daring feature of the act was borne home to the audience and +the applause broke forth--applause loud and long. There were yells and +whistles from the younger and more enthusiastic portion of the circus +crowd. + +And then the fires died away. The table seemed emptied of victuals, and +the young men and women, imitating Joe's example, leaned back in their +chairs as though well satisfied with their hot meal. + +"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" declaimed the ringmaster. "They +have come to no harm from eating living fire. If any of you are tired of +cold victuals, kindly step forward and you will be treated to a free, +hot lunch by Professor Strong." + +"Not any in mine, thank you," murmured a man, and that seemed to be the +general opinion. + +As Joe and his new associates arose to bow to the renewed applause, the +ringmaster made an announcement. + +"A blazing banquet, such as you have just witnessed, will take place at +each and every performance," he declared. "Come and bring your friends! +Nothing like it ever seen before on any stage or in any circus in the +world! + +"Remember, you will see the same and identical act at each and every +performance and all for the price of one admission. Professor Strong and +his gifted salamander associates will eat fire as they did just now, at +each and every show in the big tent. I thank you!" + +"Well, Joe, it went all right!" said Jim Tracy when the performers had +left the stage and the young fire-eater was alone on the platform. "It +went like a house afire!" + +"Yes," said Joe, "it seemed to. I guess it went better than if we had +made a lot of preliminary notices. The suddenness of it took them by +surprise." + +"But we can advertise it big now," said the ringmaster. "We don't need +to specify exactly what it is. Of course those who have seen it will +tell their friends who are coming and who haven't seen it. But the big +majority of the audiences will be as much surprised as this one was. It +went big." + +"Yes," agreed Joe, "it did. And I'm glad of it. This is the sensation I +was planning, but I didn't want to go into details until I was sure it +would work. I had to engage my helpers in the dark, so to speak, and I +didn't even tell you what I was planning until the last minute." + +"No, you didn't," said Jim. + +Helen Morton came slowly across the arena. Her act was over, and she had +seen the blazing banquet and Joe's part in it. + +Her cheeks were unusually red as she approached holding out her hand, +and there was a rather misty look about her eyes as she said: + +"Will you forgive me, Joe?" + +"For what?" he asked tantalizingly. + +"Oh, you know perfectly well!" she exclaimed. "It was very silly of me, +but--" + +"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. "I suppose I might have +told you that the pretty girls were those I had engaged to help in the +banquet scene, together with the young fellows. We had only a few +rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't want to spread the news too +generally, even among the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I +suppose I might have told you." + +"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if you had," she murmured. + +"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said Joe. "But it's all right +now. And may I come to lunch with you, or would you rather that I should +go with--one of the pretty girls?" + +"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared Helen, blushing more than +ever. And so the little quarrel ended. + +As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet helpers secretly, and +they had met him at the city where the circus was to remain three days +and nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting the performers +for Joe, since the old circus man knew the best theatrical agency at +which to apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women to act the +part of guests at the "banquet." He had guessed that Helen's actions +denoted her jealousy, but he could not forbear teasing her. + +"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, when she and Joe were +together again. "Of course I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly +of me to ask such a question. But it was very realistic." + +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't actually 'eat' the fire, +any more than I eat it. And I may say that I had quite a little trouble +in getting them to put it near enough their mouths to make it seem as if +they did. + +"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar kind, which Ham +Logan and I worked out together. It can be made to look like almost any +food, and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily and quickly. +The flames go out as soon as they come near enough our mouths to feel +the effects of certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell you +all the secrets, but that is enough to show you how we worked it. + +"There was no more danger than there is when I 'eat' fire, and the trick +is done in much the same way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable +helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could have done this trick +without him." + +The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other cities. As Jim Tracy +had said, the feat was shown at each and every performance, Joe cutting +out some of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer stay +than usual in the city where the fiery food was first "eaten," and +played to record-breaking business. + +"And the best of it is that we haven't seen a bogus ticket!" said the +treasurer, much elated. + +Joe, as one of the chief owners of the circus, was able to hire the +"fire-eaters" unknown to any of his associates until the last minute, +and thus the surprise was all the greater. + +Joe's fire tricks were now the talk of the theatrical and circus worlds, +and he received many offers to leave Sampson Brothers' Show and star by +himself. But he refused them all, saying he wanted to build up his own +show to a point never before reached. + +As he had said, Ham Logan proved a valuable helper. The man, a +fire-eater of the old school, knew many valuable secrets, and he held +himself under such obligation to Joe that he revealed many of them to +the young magician. + +"Have you learned anything more about who left that bottle of powerful +acid in among my things?" asked Joe of Ham, one afternoon when the fire +banquet had been unusually successful. + +"No, not exactly," was the answer. "But I'm on the trail, I think I am +working along the right lines, but it is too early to make any +statement." + +"Well, take your time," said Joe. "Only I don't want to get mixed up +with any of the deadly stuff." + +"Don't worry. I'm on the watch," declared the old performer. + +That night, when the time for Joe to prepare for his acts, including the +fire tricks, came, he did not see Ham in the dressing tent, where the +assistant was usually to be found. + +"Have you seen him?" asked Joe of Harry Loper. + +"Yes, about half an hour ago," was the answer. "He said he was going in +to town." + +"Going in to town--and so near performing time?" cried Joe. "I wonder +what for! He ought to be here!" + +Joe was worried, and when his signal for going on came Ham Logan was +still missing. Joe Strong shook his head dubiously. It had been found +necessary to get another man to help with the act. + +"I don't like this," he murmured. "I don't like it for a cent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A SUDDEN WARNING + + +Only the fact that he had strong nerves and that he possessed the +ability of concentrating his mind on whatever was uppermost at the time, +enabled the young circus man to get through his various circus acts with +credit at that performance. He began with the worry over Ham Logan's +disappearance before him. And he was actually worried--a bad state of +affairs for one whose ability to please and deceive critical audiences +depends on his snappy acting, his quickness of hand and mind, and his +skill. + +But, as has been said, Joe possessed the ability to concentrate on the +most needful matter, and that, for the time being, was his box trick, +his fire-eating, and his slide on his head down the slanting wire +through the blazing hoops. + +Then came the blazing banquet, and this created the usual furor in the +audience. Joe managed to get through it with credit, though his rather +strange manner was noticed and commented on afterward by the young +people associated with him. + +"I wonder what's bothering the boss?" asked one of the young +fire-eaters of another. "He nearly made a slip when he was lifting up +that fake fried oyster." + +"Maybe the circus is losing money and he's got to cut out this act--let +some of us go--can't pay our salaries," was the reply. + +"Don't you believe it!" declared the other. "The circus is making more +money than it ever did--more even when the fake tickets are worked off +on it." + +"Well, it's none of our affair." + +"I wouldn't like my salary to be cut off." + +"Oh, neither would I." + +"Fake tickets? I hadn't heard of them." + +"Oh, yes," explained the first speaker, and he went into the details of +the affair. + +"But there's surely something worrying the boss," commented still +another of the young men, and his associates, including the "pretty +girls," agreed with him. + +And what really was worrying Joe was speculation over the fate of Ham +Logan. Not since Joe had first taken the old and broken circus actor +into his employ had Ham been away more than a few hours at a time, and +then Joe knew where he was. This time Ham had left no word, save the +uncertain one that he was going into the city, on the outskirts of +which the circus was at the time showing. + +"But don't you think he'll come back?" asked Jim Tracy, when, after the +performance, Joe had spoken of the missing Ham. + +"I wish I could think so," was the reply. "I sure will hate to lose him. +I depend a lot on him in my fire tricks." + +"What makes you think you will lose him?" asked Tracy curiously. + +"Well, his going off this way, for one," declared Joe. "What I'm really +afraid of is that he may have gone back to his bad habits. You know how +it is. A man starts to reform, and he keeps the pledges he makes until +he meets some of his boon companions who used to help him on the +downward road. They invite him to come along for a good time, and he +goes." + +"And you think that's what's happened to Ham?" + +"I'm afraid so. I'm going down town and see if I can get any trace of +him." + +And this Joe did as soon as he was relieved of his duties in the circus. +The show was to remain in town over night, and this gave him just the +chance he wanted. + +It was an unpleasant errand, but Joe went through with it. He had to +call at many places that were distasteful to him, but in none of them +did he get a trace of Ham Logan. Joe saw in the more brilliant parts of +the city a number of the circus men, including some of the chief +performers. They were taking advantage of the two-days' stay, and were +meeting old friends and making some new acquaintances. + +Of these Joe inquired for news of Ham, but no one had seen him. The old +fire-eater had endeared himself to more than one member of the Sampson +Brothers' Show, for he was always ready to do a favor. So more than Joe +were interested in seeing that Ham kept on the good road along which he +had started. But all of Joe's efforts were of no avail. + +It was after midnight when he ended his search, and, rather than go back +to the sleeping car where the other performers spent their night, Joe +put up at a hotel, sending word to Jim Tracy of what he intended to do. + +"I want to find Ham," Joe wrote in the note he sent to the ringmaster by +a messenger boy, "and I've asked the police to be on the quiet lookout +for him. If I stay at the hotel I can help him more quickly, in case +he's found, than if I am away out at the railroad siding where the +circus train is. I'll see you in the morning." + +But Joe's night at the hotel was spent in vain, for there was no word of +Ham Logan, and the morning which Joe put in, making inquiries, was +equally fruitless. + +"I guess Ham is gone for good," sighed Joe, and his regret was genuine, +and almost as much for the sake of the man himself as for his own loss +of a good assistant. + +For Ham Logan was that and more to Joe. The former tramp had much +valuable information regarding the old style fire-eating tricks, and +though he was not up to the task of doing them himself, he gave Joe good +advice. It was by his help and advice that Joe had staged the blazing +banquet scene, which was such a success and which the newspapers +mentioned constantly. + +True, Joe did not actually need Ham to go on with his acts. He could +break in another man to help him, to hand him the proper article at just +the right time, to see to the mixing of the fire-resisting chemicals and +to the preparation of the viands that seemed to be composed of fire +itself. + +"And that's what I'll have to do," mused Joe, when he became convinced +some days later that Ham was not to be found. + +He wished that Helen was able to act as his assistant in the fire +scenes, as she did in the box trick and the vanishing lady act. But she +could spare no more time from her own act with Rosebud, since she was +billed as one of the "stars." Then, too, Helen had a fear of fire, and +though she had succeeded in overcoming part of it, still she would not +have made the proper sort of assistant in those acts. Besides, she +would not have been able to mix the chemicals Joe required to render +himself immune from such fire as he actually came in contact with, +though momentarily. + +"I've got to train in a new man," decided Joe. He mentally considered +various circus employees, rejecting one after another, and finally +selected one of the young men who acted in the blazing banquet scene. +This youth was a bright, manly fellow, and had introduced some new +"business" in the act which made it more interesting. + +"I'll train him in," decided Joe, "with the understanding that if Ham +comes back he'll get his old place. If he comes back! I wonder if he +ever will, and if he'll be in a condition to help me." + +Joe shook his head dubiously. + +The circus moved on. It had played to good business, and there was more +good business in prospect. Mr. Moyne, the treasurer, was on the anxious +seat much of the time, fearing another flood of bogus tickets, but the +efforts mentioned, on the part of the swindlers, following the use of +new paper, was all they had to complain of so far. + +"Either the detectives are too close to the trail of the cheats to allow +them to work in safety, or they've given it up altogether," decided the +treasurer. + +"I hope so," said Joe. "Still it won't do to relax our vigilance. I +wrote to the detective firm, as I said I would, jacking them up a bit. +Maybe they are ready to make an arrest, and that would stop the +swindlers." + +The young man Joe had picked out to act as his chief assistant in the +fire scenes was Ted Brown. Ted was about eighteen years old, and this +was his first position with a circus. But he was making good, and he had +not yet been afflicted with the terrible disease known as "swelled +head," something which ruins so many performers. + +Ted learned rapidly, and Joe felt that it would be safe to trust him +with some of the secrets of the tricks--the mixing of the fire-resisting +chemicals and the like. Joe's choice seemed to be a good one, for Ted +did well, and his part in the banquet scene was made even better by his +knowledge of the inner workings of the material used. + +But though Joe did not lose materially by the desertion of Ham, if that +was what it was, since he could now depend on Ted, the young circus man +many times found himself wondering if he would ever see the old +fire-eater again. + +The circus opened one afternoon in a large city--one in which lived many +thousands of men employed in a large ship-building plant. + +"There'll be big crowds here," said Mr. Moyne, as he walked toward the +ticket wagon in preparation for the rush. "And it's here we'll have to +look out for bogus coupons." + +"Why?" asked Joe, who was getting ready for his acts. + +"Because in every other case the swindlers have worked their game where +there was a big plant engaging many men of what you might call rough and +ready character--ready to take a chance on scalped admission tickets, +and rough enough to fight if they were discovered. So I'm going to be on +the watch." + +"It's just as well to be," decided Joe. He turned back into the tent +which was his combined dressing room and a storage place for his various +smaller bits of apparatus and the chemicals he used in his fire act. + +Before giving his last act Joe always washed his hands and face and +rinsed his mouth out with a chemical preparation that would, for a time, +resist the action of fire. It was a secret compound, rather difficult to +handle and make, and Joe had taught Ted Brown how to do it. + +The young fellow was handing Joe this mixture, some of which was also +used by all who took part in the blazing banquet scene, when the flap of +the tent was suddenly pushed aside and Harry Loper entered. + +"Stop!" he cried, raising a restraining hand. "Don't use that solution, +Mr. Strong! It's doped! Don't use it!" + +Joe, who had been about to apply some of the stuff to his hands, turned +in surprise. He was alarmed at the strange look on the face of the youth +who acted as his helper in the high wire and in some of the trapeze +acts. + +"Don't use that stuff!" cried Harry. "It's doped!" and then he sank down +on a chair and, burying his face in his hands, burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A STRANGE SUMMONS + + +Joe Strong looked from the sobbing Harry Loper to the amazed Ted Brown. +The latter's face showed his great surprise. For an instant Joe had an +ugly suspicion that his new assistant had played him false--that, +because of jealousy or from some other motive, he had mixed the +chemicals in some way to make them ineffective. This would spoil the +illusion, or it might even cause injury. + +"Look here, Harry! what's the matter?" cried Joe, purposely using a +rough voice, so as to stop, if possible, the display of emotion on the +part of the youth. "Act like a man, can't you! If you've done some mean +trick tell me about it. What do you mean when you say this mixture is +doped?" + +"Just that!" exclaimed Harry, looking up with haggard face. "I can't +stand it any longer. I promised not to tell, but I've got to. I--I can't +see any harm come to you." + +"Harm!" cried Joe. "Do you mean this is poison?" + +"No, not that. He said it wouldn't do you any harm--that it would only +make the act turn out wrong--that you, nor anybody, would not be hurt. +But I don't believe him. I believe he wants to harm you, and I'm going +to tell all I know. I can't stand it any longer." + +"Look here, Harry!" said Joe sternly, "are you perfectly sober? Do you +know what you're saying?" + +"Yes, I know that, all right, Mr. Strong," whined the lad. "I won't say +I haven't been drinking, for I have. I did it to try to forget, but it +wouldn't work. I'm plenty sober enough to know what I'm saying." + +"And you tell me this chemical preparation will work harm to me and +those who help me in the fire acts?" + +"I don't know as to that, Mr. Strong. He told me that it wouldn't harm +you. But I don't believe him! I won't trust him any more." + +"Who do you mean?" asked Joe. "Do you know anything about this?" he +demanded sternly of Ted Brown. "You prepared this mixture, didn't you?" + +"Yes, Mr. Strong, I did. I made it just the way you told me. If you +think--" + +"No, he doesn't know anything about it," murmured Harry, who seemed to +have recovered some of his composure, now that the worst of his +confession was over. "He didn't have a hand in it. I'm to blame. If I +hadn't let him into your tent he couldn't have doped the stuff. Oh, I'm +sorry! I was a fool to believe him, but he promised me a lot of money +just to keep still, and I've done it up to now. But I'm through with +him!" + +"Look here!" cried Joe. "How long has this been going on? Was this +mixture ever doped, as you call it, before?" + +"Oh, no, not that I know," was the answer. Joe knew this much, at least, +was true. The mixture had always worked perfectly before, and if it had +been tampered with that would not have been the case. + +"Then what do you mean?" cried the young magician. "Speak up, can't you? +Be a man! If you haven't done anything really wrong you won't be +punished. I'm after the person back of you. Speak up! Who is he?" + +He realized that Harry Loper was but a weak tool in the hands of some +one else, and many things that had seemed strange came back to Joe with +a sudden rush now. He might be able to learn who it was that had such +enmity against him and the circus. + +"Are you going to tell me?" demanded Joe. + +"Yes! Yes! I'll tell you everything!" was the answer. "I can't stand it +any longer. I can't eat in comfort any more, and I can't sleep! First he +promised to pay me for letting him come to your tent when you were out. +Then he threatened to kill me if I told. But I'm going to tell. I don't +care what he does!" + +"But if this is the first time my chemical mixture has been doped, what +do you mean about 'him,' whoever he is, coming to my tent at other +times?" asked Joe. "What other times were they?" + +"Don't you remember when the bottle of acid was found?" asked the +abashed youth. + +"Yes! Was that some of your doings too?" cried Joe hotly. + +"No, I didn't do it. He did. But I--I looked the other way when he did +it. And then there was the time when the trapeze wire broke. It was acid +that did that. He put it on." + +"Who is this mysterious person you call 'he' all the while?" asked Joe. +"I want to get after him." + +"I'll tell you!" promised Harry. "But you'll protect me, won't you, Mr. +Strong?" + +"As far as I can with decency, yes. Now tell me!" + +But there came another interruption. A man thrust his head into the tent +and exclaimed: + +"Mr. Tracy wants to know if you can advance the fire scenes about ten +minutes, Mr. Strong. One of the men acrobats has sprained his wrist and +they've got to cut out his act. Can you go on ten minutes sooner than +usual?" + +"Guess I'll have to," said Joe. "Quick, Ted, make up some new solution. +I'll help you. As for you, Harry, you stay right here. I'll talk to you +later. Haven't time now. And I'm going to have some one stay with you, +to make sure you don't weaken and run away. It is as much for your own +sake as mine. If you've decided to leave the man who got you to help in +this work I'll stand by you. But I want to be sure your repentance is +genuine. So stay right here, and we'll talk about this later. Don't say +anything outside," he cautioned Ted. + +"I won't," was the answer. "Say, I hope you don't think I had any hand +in this?" + +"No," Joe answered, "I don't. I'm trusting you--that's my best +evidence." + +"Thank you," said the young fellow, and he breathed a sigh of relief. + +Quick work was needed on the part of Joe and his new helper to get ready +for the act. New chemicals had to be mixed, to render it safe to handle +fire. This was in the acts where Joe seemed to swallow flames and where +he and the others "dined" on blazing food. + +In the other acts, where Joe juggled on the slack wire with the flaming +torches, where he slid down the wire through the blazing hoops, and +where he jumped into the tank of water with his garments apparently in +flames, no change was needed. In these feats Joe's costume was +fireproofed, and, as they had been treated some time before, he knew +there was only a remote possibility that they had been tampered with. + +Still he was taking no chances, and while he was waiting for Ted to +complete the mixing of the fire-resisting chemical mixture, Joe tested +his garments with a blazing bit of paper. They did not catch fire, which +assured him of safety during his sensational acts. + +"How about you, Joe?" asked Jim Tracy, thrusting his head into the tent +a little later. "Are you going to be able to make it?" + +"Oh, sure. I'll be there!" + +"Sorry to have to make the change," went on the ringmaster. "But Baraldi +is hurt, and his act had to be cut out completely. So I had to move you +up." + +"Oh, that's all right," Joe assured him. + +"Hello, what are you doing here--and what's the matter with you?" cried +Jim, seeing Harry Loper sitting dejectedly in a chair. "Why aren't you +out fixing the trapezes? You know Mr. Strong goes on them soon." + +"I--I--he told me to stay here," Loper stammered, indicating Joe. + +"Yes," supplemented Joe Strong, "there's something doing, Jim. I'll tell +you later. I want some one to stay in here with Harry. Some one we can +trust," he added significantly. + +"I'll send Paddy Flynn," promised the ringmaster. As he went out he +looked curiously at Harry. + +"How's the stuff coming on, Ted?" asked Joe, when the doctored mixture +had been thrown away and new made. + +"All right, I guess. I'll try it." + +He put some on one finger, thrust the member into the flame of a candle, +and held it there longer than usual. + +"Look out!" Joe warned him. "You can't be too familiar with fire." + +"The stuff's all right," was the answer. "It's better than the last we +used." + +"Good! Well, let's get busy!" + +In spite of the strain of what he had gone through in listening to the +partial confession of Harry Loper, Joe did some of his best work in the +fire acts that day. The blazing banquet was most effective. + +Having changed to his costume for his magical box and other tricks, and +learning that Harry was still safe under the watchful eye of Paddy +Flynn, Joe hurried out to his stage, where Mr. Tracy was already making +the ten thousand dollar offer. + +As Joe hurried across the arena one of the tent men thrust into his hand +a scrap of paper. + +"What is it?" asked Joe. + +"I don't know," was the reply. "A boy just brought it and told me to +give it to you." + +Joe had a half minute to wait while the ringmaster was talking. Quickly +he read the note--it was really a scrawl. But it said: + +"Please forgive me and still believe in me. I am suffering! I can't come +to you in the condition I'm in now. But I have something to tell you if +you could come to me. The boy will bring you." + +The note was signed "Hamilton Logan." + +"Whew!" whistled Joe. "Worse and more of it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE TRAP IS SET + + +Pausing only long enough to tell the man who had given him the note to +be sure and detain the boy who had brought it, Joe Strong hurried over +to the stage to begin his box trick. That was to be followed by the +"disappearing lady" act. + +And here again Joe had to use all his reserve nerve to enable him to go +on with the performance as smoothly as he usually did. He had to dismiss +from his mind, for the time being, all thoughts of Ham Logan, and he +steeled himself not to think of what the strange summons might mean. + +"If Ham is in trouble I'm going to help him--that's all!" declared Joe. + +Following the usual announcement by Jim Tracy, Joe got into the box. It +was locked and roped and then Helen took her place, as did the fireman +with his gleaming ax. + +Joe worked unusually quickly that night in getting out of the box. He +knew this haste would not spoil the illusion of the trick. In fact it +really heightened it. For he was out of the heavy box in much shorter +time than it had taken the volunteer committee to lock him in. + +And Joe was glad no one came forward at this performance to claim the +ten thousand dollars. That would have taken up time, and time, just +then, was what Joe wanted most. + +"Evidently none of you know how the trick is done," commented the +ringmaster, when his offer of ten thousand dollars was not taken +advantage of. "We will now proceed to the next illusion, that of causing +a beautiful lady to disappear and vanish into thin air before your very +eyes. There is no reward offered for the solution of this mystery." + +Helen then took her place on the trick chair over the trap in the stage. +The silk shawl was placed over her, and, in due time, the chair was +shown empty. + +The usual applause followed and Joe was glad his acts were over for the +time. Bowing to acknowledge the fervor of the audience, Joe started +toward his dressing apartment. + +"I want to see you as soon as I can," he quickly told Helen. "But I have +to go away. It's about Ham," he added. "I've heard from him." + +"Where is he?" + +"I don't know. Just a scrawled note. The messenger who brought it is +going to take me to him." + +"Oh, Joe, I'm so glad you've heard from him. I liked him." + +"I did too. I hope I can continue to like him. But I'm afraid, from the +tone of his note, that he's broken his pledge. However, we can't expect +too much. Don't go away for an hour or so. I'll be back as soon as I can +and I'll tell you all about it." + +"I'll wait for you," promised Helen. + +As Joe hurried across the arena he saw the tent man who had given him +the note. + +"Where's the boy?" he asked. + +"I took him to your tent. Paddy Flynn is there and Loper. Is anything +the matter, Mr. Strong?" + +"Oh, nothing that can't be made right, I hope." + +Joe found a red-haired boy sitting on the edge of a folding chair in the +dressing tent. The lad was looking wonderingly about the place. + +"Did you bring this note?" asked Joe, showing the crumpled paper. + +"Sure I did! And say, I wish I could see the show!" + +"You can to-night after you take me to Mr. Logan," replied Joe. "You +know where he is, don't you?" + +"Sure I do! Didn't he give me the note to bring youse?" + +"Where is he?" + +"Down in Kelly's joint. I live next door." + +"What is Kelly's joint?" + +"A saloon," answered the red-haired boy. "De name on de winders is cafe, +but they don't pronounce it that way--anyhow some of 'em don't. It +oughter be cave I guess. It sure is a joint!" + +"Is Mr. Logan there?" asked Joe. + +"Sure he is. Upstairs in one of de rooms. He's been on a terrible spree +he said, but he's sober now and sick--gee, mister, but he sure was sick. +Me mudder helped take care of him." + +"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "We'll go to him at once. Where is +Kelly's--er--cafe?" + +"Down by de river near de shipyards," answered the red-haired lad. + +For an instant Joe hesitated, but only for an instant. The district +named, as he well knew, was a bad one. It was also dangerous. + +But it was still afternoon, though growing late. It would not be dark +for some time, however, and Joe felt that he would be safe enough in +going alone. At night he would have taken some one with him. + +But there were two reasons why he did not want to do this now. One was +that no one whom he felt he could trust to be discreet could be taken +away from the circus, which was not yet over, though Joe's acts were +finished. Another reason was that he did not want the possible +degradation of Logan seen by any of his former associates. Possibly he +might come back to the show, and he would always have a feeling of shame +if he knew that those with whom he worked had seen him recovering from +a "spree," as the red-haired lad called it. + +"I've got to go away," said Joe to Paddy Flynn. Joe and the lad had +talked at one side of the tent and in low tones, so the young circus man +knew their voices had not been overheard by Paddy and the man he was +guarding, Harry Loper. "I'll be back as soon as I can," went on the +young fire-eater. "Meanwhile you stay here, Loper. Paddy will take care +of you, and when I come back I'll have a talk with you." + +"All right," assented the other wearily. "I feel better now I've told +you." + +Joe and Micky Donlon, which the red-haired boy said was his name, though +probably Michael was what he had been christened, were soon on their way +toward the river and the location of one of the shipyards. + +"Are youse sure I can see de show to-night?" asked Micky eagerly, as +they walked along. + +"Positive," said Joe. "Here's a reserved seat ticket now. Two, in fact, +in case you want to take some one." + +"I'll take me mudder," declared the lad. "I got a girl, but she's goin' +wit another feller. He bought two tickets, but dey wasn't reserved +seats. I didn't have the dough--dat's why she shook me, I guess. But +when I flash dese on her--say, maybe she won't want to shine up at me +again! But nothin' doin'! I'll take me mudder. She needs a change after +waitin' on dat guy what's been on a spree." + +"How long has Mr. Logan been ill?" asked Joe. + +"Oh, he's been in Kelly's joint for a week." + +"He must have been waiting for the circus to arrive," thought Joe. "He +knew we were booked for here. Poor fellow!" + +Joe was glad it was still light when he entered the district where +Kelly's cafe, or saloon, to be more exact, was situated. For the place +was most disreputable in appearance, and the character of men loitering +about it would have made it a place to stay away from after dark. + +Suspicious eyes looked at Joe as he entered the place with his young +guide. + +"He's come to see de sick guy," Micky explained to the bartender. + +"Well, I hope he's come to pay what's owin'," was the surly comment. + +"I'll settle any bills that Mr. Logan may owe for board or lodging," +said Joe. + +"Board! He don't owe much for _board_!" sneered the barkeeper. "He +hasn't eaten enough to keep a fly alive. But he does owe for his room." + +"I'll pay that," offered Joe. Then he was guided upstairs to a squalid +room. + +"Come in!" called a weak voice, and Joe, pushing back the door, saw, +lying on a tumbled bed, the form of the old fire-eater. It was a great +change Ham Logan was in even worse condition than when he had applied +to Joe for work. He was utterly disreputable. But in spite of that there +was something about his face and eyes that gave Joe hope. The man was +sober--that was one thing. + +As Joe looked at him, Ham turned his face away. + +"I--I'm ashamed to have you see me," he murmured. "I fought it off as +long as I could, but I just had to see you. 'Tisn't for my own sake!" he +added quickly. "I know you're through with me. But it's for your +own--and the good of the show. I've got something to tell you, and, when +I've done that, you can go away again and forget me. That's all I'm fit +for--to be forgotten!" + +A dry sob shook his emaciated frame. + +"Son, here's a quarter," said Joe to the red-haired Micky. "You go out +and get yourself an ice-cream soda and come back in half an hour." + +And after he had thus delicately removed a witness to the sad scene Joe +closed the door, and, going over to the bed, held out both his hands to +the man. + +And then tears--tears to which he had long been stranger--coursed down +the sunken cheeks of Hamilton Logan. + +Just what Joe said to the man whom he had befriended and who had gone +back to his old ways and what Ham Logan said to his young benefactor +will never be known. Neither would tell, and no one else knew. As a +matter of fact, it did not matter. Afterward, though, following some +sensational happenings which did become known, Joe told his closest +friends enough of Ham's story to make clear the trend of events. + +Punctually on the time agreed, Micky Donlon was back at his post. Joe +was coming out of the room. + +"Are you engaged for the rest of the day?" asked the young circus +performer of his guide. + +"Engaged?" + +"I mean have you anything to do?" + +"Not so's you could notice! Me mudder's goin' to dress up to see de +show, but me--I'm all ready!" + +"Good! Then you can help me. I'll pay you for your time. Can we get an +automobile in this part of the city?" + +"Gee, no, mister! Dere's jitney buses about two blocks up, though." + +"Well, perhaps they'll do for a time. I've got a lot to do, and you can +help me." + +"I sure will, mister!" cried Micky. "Are youse in de circus--I mean does +youse ride a horse or jump over de elephants?" + +"Well, something like that--yes," answered Joe with a smile. "You'll see +to-night if you come." + +"Oh, I'll be dere! Don't forgit dat!" + +Joe and his guide took a jitney to the nearest public hack stand, where +a number of automobiles were waiting, and Joe entered one of these with +Micky. + +"Gee, if me girl could see me _now_!" murmured the red-haired lad, as +he sank back in the deep seat. + +Joe was too preoccupied to more than smile at the lad. There was much +that remained to be done. The circus was to remain in this city two days +more, over Saturday night, in fact, leaving on Sunday for a distant +city. + +"There's time enough to trap them!" mused Joe. "Time enough to trap +them!" + +And, getting back to the show lot, he dismissed the automobile, and, +taking Micky with him, sought out Jim Tracy, Mr. Moyne, and some of the +other circus executives. + +And then the trap was set. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A BLAZE OF GLORY + + +"Well," remarked Joe, after having talked rapidly and said considerable +to his friends, "what do you think of my news?" + +"Great!" declared the ringmaster. "I didn't think things would take just +that turn, but after Loper's confession and what Ham told you, I believe +it all. That scoundrel ought to be sent away for life." + +"He'll go for a long time if I have anything to say," declared the +treasurer. "Did you know we spotted more bogus tickets to-day?" he asked +Joe. + +"No." + +"Well, we did. I found it out just after you left. There were only a +few. The rush will come to-night." + +"Unless we stop it," put in Jim Tracy. + +"We'll stop it!" decided Joe. "That's why I wanted to get things started +in a hurry. The trap is all ready to spring. The detectives will be here +at eight o'clock, just when the rush is at its height at the ticket +wagon." + +"Are you going to bring Ham back?" asked Jim, when the conference was +over. + +"I certainly am," was the answer. "I think he's been on his last spree. +And he wouldn't have gone on this one only that he was tempted by some +person. Put this tempter out of the way, and it will mean Ham's safety. +Now we've got to work." + +There was an exceedingly busy time at the circus from then on, and very +little of it concerned the show itself. The performance was delayed half +an hour that night to enable the trap to be sprung. + +Joe and Jim Tracy met a certain train that came in from a large city, +and saw alight from it two quiet, unassuming men. + +"There they are," said Joe. "Now things will move!" And he and the +ringmaster were soon in conversation with the two new arrivals. + +A little later the four entered Joe's dressing tent at the circus +grounds. And some time after that four men, whose faces were black from +the smudge of machine oil and grease and whose clothes carried like +marks, left Joe's quarters. + +"Down near the shipyards when the last of the day shift comes off will +be the time and place," said one of the four smudge-faced men. + +"Right!" declared another. + +From the big shipyard poured hundreds of men. As they began to emerge +from the gate the four soiled-faced individuals who had come from Joe's +dressing tent mingled with them. They heard some one ask: + +"Are you sure the tickets'll be good?" + +"Sure," was the answer. "This fellow and his pal are part of the show. +He sells 'em this way so there won't be such a crowd at the wagon, and +that's why he makes such a big discount. It sort of guarantees a pretty +big crowd, too. Oh, the tickets are good, all right. There's the ticket +guy now." + +The crowd of men turned down a side street, and the four +smutty-countenanced men went with them. One of the four said: + +"Wait till he sells a few tickets and then nab him." + +"There's two of 'em," said another voice. + +"Nab 'em both! They work together." + +Soon the men from the shipyard surrounded the two men, one of whom had +been designated by the sentence: "There's the ticket guy now." + +Money began to change hands, and tickets were passed around. The four +men who had kept together shoved their way through the crowd of ship +workers. + +"How much are the tickets?" one asked. + +"Thirty-five cents," was the answer. "They'll cost you fifty or +seventy-five at the wagon. The only reason we sell 'em this way is to +avoid the rush. Then, too, you're really buying 'em at wholesale." + +"I'll take four," said the man of the quartette. + +"Here you are! Four." + +There was another clink of money and a rustle of slips of paper. Then +the man who had passed over the tickets, said: + +"Here's your change. That was a five you gave me, wasn't it? Take your +change." + +"And you take yours, Bill Carfax!" suddenly cried one of the four. "It's +quite a sudden change, too!" + +There was a flash of something bright, a metallic click--two of them, in +fact--and the ticket seller tried to break away. But he was held by the +handcuffs on his wrists, one of the four grasping them by the connecting +chain. + +"Get the other!" cried a sharp voice. + +There was a scuffle, another flash of something bright, two more clicks, +and one of the four cried: + +"That'll be about all from you, Jed Lewis, _alias_ Inky Jed." + +The two handcuffed men seemed to know that the game was up. They +shrugged their shoulders, looked at each other, and grew quiet suddenly. +The set trap had been successfully sprung. + +"Hey! what's the big idea?" + +"What's it all about?" + +"Don't we get our tickets?" + +Thus cried the men from the shipyards. + +"You don't want these tickets," said Joe Strong, for as Bill Carfax +looked more closely at one of the four he recognized him as the young +circus man. "You don't want any tickets these men could sell you." + +"Why not?" demanded a man who had bought one. + +"Because they're counterfeit," was Joe's answer. "This man, Bill +Carfax," and he nodded toward the one first handcuffed, "used to work +with the Sampson show. He was discharged--ask him to tell you why--and +soon after that we began to be cheated by the use of counterfeit +tickets. We have been trying ever since to find out who sold them, and +now we have." + +"You think you have!" sneered the man who had been called "Inky Jed." + +"We know it," said Joe decidedly. "Ham Logan overheard your plans +discussed, and he's told everything." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Bill Carfax, and there was a world of meaning in that +simple interjection. + +"And who might you guys be?" asked one of the shipyard men. + +"I'm one of the circus owners," said Joe quietly, "and this is the +ringmaster," he went on, indicating Jim Tracy. "These other two +gentlemen are detectives who have been working on the case since we +discovered the counterfeits. We disguised ourselves in this way in +order to trap these two," and he pointed to the handcuffed men. + +The ship workers nodded. One of them asked: + +"And aren't they with your show, and can't they sell tickets at reduced +prices?" + +"Never!" exclaimed Joe. "You might get in on the tickets you bought from +them, but it would be illegally. The counterfeits are clever ones," he +said, holding up four he had bought for evidence. "But we can detect the +difference by means of the serial numbers. And now, if you men really +want to see the show, go up to the lot and get your tickets from the +wagon, or buy them at one of the authorized agencies." + +There were many questions fired at Joe and his friends by the shipyard +men, but they had time to answer only a few. + +"We've got to get back to the performance," said Joe to the detectives. +"You can take them with you," and he nodded toward Bill Carfax and his +crony. "Jim and I will see you later." + +"Oh, we'll take them with us all right!" laughed one of the detectives. +"Move lively, boys!" he added to the two prisoners. "The jig is up!" + +And the two counterfeiters seemed to know it. + +"What does it all mean?" asked Helen of Joe, when he got back a little +before the time to go on with his acts. He had washed his face and +changed to his circus costume. The two prisoners had been locked up. + +"Well, it means we killed two birds with one stone," said Joe. "We got +rid of the men who have been making us lose money my means of the +counterfeit tickets, and we have also under lock and key Bill Carfax, +who tried several times to injure me, or at least to spoil my act, by +means of acid on the trapeze rope and by changing the fireproof +mixture." + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Helen. "Then you were in danger?" + +"I suppose so--danger of injury, perhaps, but hardly death. I think +Carfax, desperate as he was, would stop at that." + +"How did you find out about him and the other man?" + +"I'll just have time to tell you before my first act," said Joe. "It was +Harry Loper who gave me the first idea. When he broke down it was +because of what he had done, and on account of what Bill Carfax wanted +him to do again. It was Bill who got into the tent once and put acid on +my trapeze wire. And it was because he bribed poor Loper that he was +able to do it. Bill pretended it was only a trick to make me slip, +because he wanted to get even with me for discharging him. So poor, weak +Harry let him sneak into the tent, disguised so none of our men would +know him. Bill climbed up, put acid on the wire, and the fiery stuff did +the rest. + +"Well, that preyed on Harry's mind, but he kept putting it away. But +finally, knowing the hold he had on him, Bill came back and gave him a +bottle of acid to work some further harm to me or my apparatus. But Ham +discovered that in time. + +"Bill was provoked over his failure, and, when he wasn't helping Inky +Jed get out the bogus tickets, he followed the show and tried to prevail +on Harry to play another trick on me. Just what it was Harry doesn't +know. He refused to do it, and then he came and confessed to me. So much +for Harry. He's a sorry boy, and I think he'll turn over a new leaf. + +"Now about Ham. Just as I feared, he got to drinking again. But it was +because Bill met him when poor Ham's nerves were on edge, and Bill +induced him to take liquor. Then Ham went all to pieces and started on a +spree which lasted until now. He managed to get from place to place, +always under Bill's eye, and at last he landed here, very weak and ill. +Mrs. Donlon looked after him. + +"And it was here that Ham first heard Bill and his crony plotting about +the bogus circus tickets. The two counterfeiters planned to make a big +strike here with the shipyard workers. Then Ham sent the warning to me. +I called on him, learned the plans of Bill and Jed, and we sent for the +detectives. The latter, we learned, were about to make an arrest +anyhow, but it was of the men who really printed the bogus tickets. They +hadn't a clew, as yet, to Bill and Jed, who were the real backers of the +game. The detectives came on, disguised themselves with us, and we +caught the scoundrels in the very act. Now they're locked up." + +"Oh, Joe, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Helen. "I'm so glad it's all over. +And are you going to bring Ham back to the show?" + +"Just as soon as he's able to travel. Micky Donlon wants to join too, +and I may give him a chance later. Well, our troubles seem to be over +for a time, but I suppose there'll be more." + +"Oh, look on the bright side!" exclaimed Helen. "Why be a fire-eater if +you can't look on the bright side?" she laughed. + +"That's so," agreed her admirer. "Well, I've got to get ready to eat +some fire right now." + +As Joe had said, everything was cleared up. Bill Carfax was at the +bottom of most of the personal troubles of the young circus man, and his +acts were actuated by a desire for vengeance. As to the ticket trick, +Bill was only a sort of agent in that. Jed Lewis, alias Inky Jed, was an +expert counterfeiter. He had already served time in prison for trying to +make counterfeit money, and when he fell in with Bill, and heard the +latter tell of some of his circus experiences, the more skillful +scoundrel became impressed with the chance of making money by selling +spurious tickets. + +They had some printed and worked the scheme among crowds of men coming +from factories, just as they were doing when they were caught. + +As Ham told Joe, the old fire-eater had overheard the plots and saw his +chance to do Joe a favor. Carfax, it was surmised, hoped to get Ham +Logan under his influence through drink, so that he might use him in +order to injure Joe, after having failed with Harry Loper. + +It developed, afterward, that the paper mills had, innocently enough, +furnished the swindlers with the paper for the counterfeit tickets. The +material was secured through a trick, and Inky Jed knew an unscrupulous +printer who did the work for him. + +It was Bill Carfax who had sent the man who so nearly exposed Joe's box +trick. But fortune was with the young circus man. + +The music played, the horses trotted about, clowns made laughter, and +Helen performed graceful feats on Rosebud. Joe did some magical tricks, +walked the wire, slid down on his head, and then prepared for the +blazing banquet. + +In order to show what he could do, Ted Brown had introduced some +novelties. After Joe and the guests had devoured the blazing food there +was a pause, and then, suddenly, from the center of the table spouts of +red fire burst out, so that the banquet ended in a blaze of glory. +Joe's new helper had used some fireworks effectively. + +In due time Bill and his crony were tried, convicted, and sent away to +prison for long terms. Harry Loper changed his rather loose and weak +ways and became one of Joe's best friends. Ted Brown was continued as an +"assistant assistant," for in a few weeks Ham Logan was able to rejoin +the show, and he again became Joe's chief helper. + +"Well, what are you going to spring next on the unsuspecting public as a +sensation?" asked Helen, when the show had reached a city where two days +were to be spent. "Have you other acts as good a the fire-eating?" + +"Well, perhaps I can think up some," was the answer. + +And so, with Joe Strong thinking what the future might hold for him and +the circus, we will take our leave for a time. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joe Strong The Boy Fire-Eater, by Vance Barnum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG THE BOY FIRE-EATER *** + +***** This file should be named 10579.txt or 10579.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/7/10579/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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