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I first time.
,.,.-....
.539.
.sAppY-says.
res BAD nor a
His hair is red and tangled, and he has a
' turned-up nose; . I, '
His voice is loud and strident, and it never
gets repose; , . ’ , .
His face is full of freckles, and his ears are
shaped like fins. ..
And a large front tooth is missing,-as you’ll
notice when he grins. I
He is like a comic picture, from his toes u
. to his head-- I - . V
But his mother. calls him “darling” when
she tucks him into bed. >
‘It’ is he who marks the carpet with the
print of muddy boots;
And rejoices in‘ a door-bell that is pulled’
out by the roots.
Who whistles on his fingers till heralmost
,. splits your‘ ear, ’ I H
And shocks the various callers with the
. Islang he chanced to hear.
He fills the house with tumult, -and the
neighborhood with dread. .
But his mother calls him “darling” when ,
she tucks him into bed.
iicir, ii-is Acaoskr
By Robert‘ Maynard
, .CHAPTER I.
JACK TRYING 'ro JOIN THE onions.-
‘.‘All I want’s a chance to make good!
Do I get it?” p
The manager of the Diamond Four Shows
looked upagain at the lad who stood in
front of him. . I G
“I’ve told you, havenit I, that‘ we haven't
got the room nor the time to be taking on a
lot of youngsters? Say, lookhere, do you
know you’re the tenth kid this season that
Vhas been around here trying to hook onto
this show. You can’t make good in the first
place, and that's what you've got to do
right offgthe reel.” -
I “That’s, the only chance ‘I want,” firmly
answered the young man.
good. If I don’t you've had no trouble, and
I - you won’t have any more. ‘I'll get out if I
don't show you something.”
“Well, I’ll be hanged if you aren’t about
the worst hanger-on I’ve run up against yet
out of the profession. Might expect that of
an older head, but not from a farmer,yap.”
“That’s not answering the question,‘ sir,'?
smiled the young man. “Do I get the chance
to make good? I've read a good deal about
William Story, and the papers all say he is
hunting for something new and novel, and
that he gives everyone a square chance to
'do something. ” I I A .
, William Story; manager of the circus,
rose from his seat and came to the'side of
the boy, laying a hand on his shoulder and
looking down amusedly into his eyes.
“Young fellow, I want to congratulate
you on the wonderful amount of nerve and
tact that you’ve got, You certainly know
how to hot-air a fellow, and I'm just going
to give you one chance. ‘Come on."
He led the way out of the tent and across
the vacant lot to where things lay quiet for
the first hour that busy. morning.
The show was making a two-day stand at
‘one of the best towns of the state, and this
second morning was not a little quiet."
Everything in the great white tent was set,
for the first act of the afternoon perform-
ance, and the acrobats and tumblersvand
riders, the roustabouts and sideshow men,
the freaks and the animal trainers were
lying about the lot and the tents, smoking
cigarettes and chatting idly while they
waited for the time to dress for the reg-
,‘ ular noonday parade.
“Steve," the manager of the circus called
to a man who was the center of a small
crowd of the performers to whom he was
"telling a story.
Steve turned and scowled as he saw the
manager cutting him off in the middle of
thestory. - ‘-
But he said a quiet word to the crowd,
which laughed heartily, and then came to-
ward “the boss." - .
“Steve,'this young man wants a try-out
at something. He says he’s a tumbler and
an acrobat.
Put him through and let’s see
what he can do.” ' ' I
w Steve poked his handsinto his pockets
and looked at the young man from top to
bottom, a rather scornful air being over his
face. . .
“What can you do?” he growled out.
“Put me into the tent and I'll show
you! ” came the firm response of the lad.
Againisteve Billups, the ringmaster. of
thecircus,‘ looked over the lad, saw a rather
muscularly built fellow, his-head poised
A well on hisslioulders, his body erect and
‘ alive with energy, his face clearly cut, as
if chiseled out of marble, his eyes firm and
-blue, just a. shade on the safe side of black.
‘f Here you go! " was the simple invitation
of Steve to the young man, as he whirled
I ,on his heels and walked toward theen-1
trance of the grrztwhitcvtent. I .
“ > “Say, the kid is going to give us an ex-
! hibition!” .>“Conie on and watch his ma-
I“) jesty, the. farmer lad; show us how it's
-here and there, no animals in sight, and
. of the young man who? had applied, but in‘
a fit of mood he concluded he would get rid
,slipped out of his soft shirt, pulled off his
“I said I’d make‘
pure of introducing Mr. Jack Rodney.”
. duction. V
Says he can make good the -
done!”‘ ‘?Now’s the time of -our content!”
These remarks were passed by the groups
of showmen and performers who lay about
the tents and the lot. A u 7 ‘ '
They crawled ‘to their feet, at the nod. of
Steve, and ambled toward the tent to “see
the fun. ’-’ .. ‘ ‘
Steve and William Story, the manager,‘ V .
‘air without a spring start;
and the young man‘wa1ked into the tent,
where the lad caughtisighti of just what
he had seen last night, save that there was
no‘ thronging crowd, no Aclowns dancing
only a few persons lyin‘g; here and there
ontheseats. ‘V; ' ‘I I
Aboveand about him was the air and at-.
mosphere of the circus. ' p ' j
Ropes and stays were stretching from the
ground away to the dome of the great tent,
little bars swung here and therein air,
while several more, were tied back to the
big posts which supported the canvas.
Hisgeyes took this in quickly, andhe .
turned to the ringmaster. -‘A. '
“Where do Ivgo?” he asked. . . f
“Give us" your‘ first act, Get out-.thcre . ,
and take your choice. ' The whole place is
yours,” answered the1man,,with,a smirking
smile. : . v I .
The other performers had now ‘crowded.’
into the tent and were clambering up to the
blue lines of seats to watch the circus.
This was one of their great pastimes.
They often had a chance to watch some
young fellow trying. to join thecircus, and
this was one of the hardest to‘ join, for
they paid good salaries and got good. per-
formers from other shows. ‘ H"
Story, the manager, wasI not- often in-’-
clined to let men take a try at joining with
him, yet when the mood struck him he be-
thought himself of the idea of amusing
himself and -his performers by allowing
some of thev“farmer lads” to “make fools
of themselves.” , I
So it was to-day. He thought nothing
of the persistent boy and amuse his Aper-
formers at thesame time. . v
Theyoung man'pulled off his coat and
vest,’and then, with a quick movement,
trousers, and he was wearing a suit of
tights. , -
But this did not surprise the performers
who sat on the blue seats, nor did it sur-
prise the ringmaster nor the manager. i ,
Quite frequently they saw a sight of- this
kind. “Bum” performers quite often had
their tights, and with these they tried to
make an ‘impression. ' II‘ . ..
This young man,‘now that he was stand-
ing in his tights, went into his coat pockets
and drew out a pair of cloth slippers, which,
he quickly fastened to his feet, tied about
the ankles, and was ready to do his
“stunt.” . , H V
“Now watch the lad giveus lessons!”
“Here’s where the’ Diamond Four Shows
gets the greatest novelty the world has , g
‘moment, and then let out a loud series of
ever seen!” “Watch for the most astound-
ing, the incomparable,incontestibly great-
est act ever seen beneath the white canvas
of any show on earth!” ' - n
Thus went the raillery about the per-
formers on the blue seats. ‘
They were somewhat happy. ‘Yesterday
had been pay day, and they were feeling
in the best of spirits. ‘ 5 I
“What’s your name?” asked the ring-
master, Steve Billups.
“Jack Rodney," answered the young-man,
with a calm smile. i V I .
“Ladies and gentlemen,” sang ‘out the
ringmaster in his stentorian tones, f‘I have
the honor and the pleasure of introducing,
to youethis morning a young man who will,
some of these fine days, be known the
world over as one of the leading perform-
ers of the Diamond Four Shows. He is’
new.to all of you,’ and I hope for that
reason that you will give him a calm,
cool, deliberate showing. I have the pleas-
Instantly the performers along the lines
of blue seats set up a wild applause, laugh-
ing and clapping. I “ - '
The young man turned rose-colored, and
his dark blue eyes turned on the ringmas-
ter for,a moment with a look of reproach.
He liked not the manner of the intro-
'But he turned away from the spot and
walked over to one of the platforms be-
tween the iirst and second rings.
He determined he would show these per-
formers and that ringmaster what they had
to look upon--something vastly different
from what they could do themselves ‘or had-
ever seen done. I .
The people of the show. were laughing
and talking in loudtones, as the boy walk-
ed outthere to the platform. I
The ringmaster turned to the manager:
I “Much obliged for the picnic, Mr. Story.
Gee, it was getting beastly monotonous,
you know, and we're glad you threw some-
thing in our way to break it justa little,”
he said, with a smile.
But the manager was not sure yet. Some-
thing in the determined expression andthe
persistency of that lad had made him feel
as if the boy would doisomething out. of
the ordinary. I .
Therefore “he answered not, but waited.
Jack Rodney reached the platform, stood
there for a‘ moment, looked about him,
faced the ringmaster and bowed slightly;
, He waslooking up toward the top of the ..
Hi”
’tent sides, and the people were. wondering
what he was going to do. They thought’
he had’ a. case.of stage fright. ‘ .
Suddenly, without an-‘evident ’movement
of his‘ muscles, Jack’s:body shot upward >a‘
few feet, turned quickly in the fair, and
he landed on his feet. , I
He hadrexecuted acomplete. circle in the‘
Justias he touched the floor, his body
shot up-again andcompleted agcircle back-
wards.‘ He touched -the floor once more
and as quickly wentback over in one of
those completecircles- . S ’7. . I
. Thecrowd one the blue seats-gaped forea’
moment and then broke out into>spontan-
eous,.genuine'cheers. They were looking
atsomething different. - A -
But Jack did not how. He remembered
his firstreception, and he was determined
to “show them”. what he could do. - '
CHAPTER II.
JACK snows THEM ‘A- THING on Two. g"
= Manager Storylooked with pleasureito-H
wards -the lad and wondered what would
come next. - , - .
Jack calmly walked back to the edge of
the platform farthest from the crowd of
spectators, and then, without seeming to
move a muscleto start, he bounded into the"
air, whirled-in one circle, touched the floor,
whirled backward, advancing two feet.
Just as he touched the floor he whirled
forward,’ touched , and ‘went backwards
again, advancing another two feet..
,Five times he did this pair of whirling
movements, and was standing at the for-
ward edge-of the platform. I I
“Whew! ” Story looked at the ringmaster
and ‘gasped. I‘ 4- V
This was a new evolution of movements.
to him. Tlt showed that the body of that
boy was trained‘ to the limit.
Jack walked back to the edge of theplat-
form, grabbed one of the wooden horses,
asuch as carpenters use, and jerked it to the
platform. , M , ' > r
Standing five feet from this, he looked
at the crowd, ‘smiled, and then with one
of those. swift ,movements, he whirled a
complete circle in the air, touched, whirled A
back again, advancing forward, and whirled
over forward, crossing that horse without
touching, landing on his feet.
Imrnediately the crowd of performers set
up -a hand-clapping. I .
They. appreciated this feat of the young
fellow. ; ’M iv V; g e
But whatwas to comewas" to be more
surprising. Jack .placed the horse again
in the center of the platform. ‘Walking back
to. the edge, he began a series of those
whirling circles in the air,’ forward and
backward, and at the fifth complete pair he
landed on his feet on top of the horse.
The crowd ‘of spectators sat silent for a
cheers andyells.
They were looking‘ at one who was the
equalof their best. I
Jack went to the edge of the platform,
grabbed another I of those horses, and
brought .it up to the "center, standing it
alongside the first, with eighteen. inches be-
tween them. . V -
Back to the edge of the platform. he walk-
ed. Instantly rising in the air, he performed
a series of the circles, forward and back-
ward, slowly advancing toward the parallel
horses. Of fasuddenhe went into the air
on-one of the backward circles and landed
with one foot on each of the horses.
Hardly before the crowd realized‘ what
he was doing,"he was in the air, over in
another, circle, touched with his feet again,
on the horses, and then"-shot into the air,
made two circlesand landed on the plat-
form. I . - p l j
They broke into cheers, while Jack bowed
slightly to them, and gave them another of
his series of surprises.
Starting from one sideof the platform he
described three circles forward-through the
air, on the third touching his hands and
coming up straight toward the first horse,
landing there of his feet; “
"An instant “he remained there, and shot
into the air, turning half over, and land-
ing on the same horse, standing straight in
air on his hands. ' .- . .
.41. quick twist of the body and an upward
Spring and he darted up a little, turned
completely around and was still standing,
on his hands. I , .
Another upward spring from his hands,
a twist of the body’. and he.had traveled to
the other horse, facing directly in the op-
posite direction, still with his fect in air
and his‘ hands on the horse. .
Suddenly releasing ‘himself from ‘the
horse, his body shot towards the floor of
the platform, touched, his body bent, he
was standing between the horses, and as
quicklywent over the other one, landing on
the other side on his hands. , 1
-Then. as if to emphasize the situation,
he allowed one hand to leave the floor while
he balanced on ‘the other, and with a, twist
Of 1118 body. whirled completely around and
landed on that same hand.
“W91” Thaw going some!” exclaimed
William Story, .manager of the Diamond
Four Sh0W5- “I guess that kid's going to
eggod. .He said he would if he got a,
“Now Jack walked to the front or-the plat-s
form and asked the ringmaster if he would 1 -'
kindly have three of the, trapezes ‘lowered,
" Steve Billups calledtoitwo of thehandy
men, and they hurried forward to lower""
three of the trapezes, Jack standingbelow,
and directing where ‘they should swing.
One of thefellowscame -forward ‘and’
jerked down the strap by which he was to
ascend. I is I "H
’ “Get the netunder there!” ‘commanded
Steve. I I I = “ V
’ ‘No need for anet; sii"!”- called. Jack. .
Rodney.‘ to the ringmaster... “I neverfall.
vIf jl-“do‘ I‘ won’t make good.” s - --
“Put the net under there anyhow," called
the ringmaster. ‘‘I’m not going to let a
stranger come in here and get, himself kill-
ed with any of his antics.” ’ r i
. Jack smiled, but he understood). the mo-
tive of the man. It was a matterof ' pro-
tection fofsthe circus company. ‘They could
ill ‘afford to allow an outsiderrto come into
the tent and injure himself, especially when
there were safety appliances to be used.-
The net was stretched across. the plat--”’ 1
form -in a'moment more,‘ for tliese handy“
men knew. their business well. , .
. ’,Jack got to "the platform, and started
swinging the first trapeze. -
' In a moment he tookhold of the first and
shot out to wherethe second‘ swung back
and forth.x With an easy movement he was hi ‘S
on the secondand had released the first. In.
the same way he traveled to the third and -V
‘swung lightly tothe -platform on the oppo-
site side. -' g
This was the only ‘way he could get all
these trapezes swinging regularly, for there
was no one else to helphim. -. ‘ ‘
Now came the time for‘theI first feat.
Swinging far out on the. third trapeze"
backwards, he released himselffrom this, j
Shot through the air to the second, passed -I
through space above the bar, and the crowd . I ’
gasped.‘ I . ‘- ,
They thought he was going down to the
net below the first time.
. But they miscalculated. ‘
As Jack’s body passed through the space ‘H 3,.
above the bar, his toes caught the bar, and I "
he was swinging back -again, hanging by
his toes. Suddenly he twisted upward and?
caught the‘ third trapeze with hishands.
He was on his feet on the instant and v
swinging back again on that third trapeze.
Suddenly he leaped from this one, curled 9
over in the air, caught the second trapeze,‘
whirled . around with a “giant, . swing”!
through it, and shot away, feet first, toward
the first on the other side, catching it with
his hands as he traveled backwards. I ' ' I
Instantly the crowd" on the blue seats
broke out withxwild applause. This was a,
new series ofrfeats to them. ‘ 4 ‘ .
But it was a constant series, ‘for the ma ., I i
‘did not stop. .
The ‘bars were swinging. back and forth I
and he had the momentum.
Swinging back towards the center of ‘the
space, he let go of the‘bar,rhis body curled
through the second trapeze, without touch- , " S
ing, and shot straight toward the third one,
the trapeze farthest away, catching it by-
his toes. , .
Instantly. he whirled around and had
twisted his body to catch the bar with‘ his
hands. .. , V! n .
This evolution was complete. fThe crowd
below set up their handclapplng, to which .
the‘ lad bowed politely and smiled, as he
‘rubbed hishands on a handkerchief. to ‘dry '
them.
“I guess he’s making good fastienoughl " if
SII‘l‘i1ed. William Story to his ringmaster.
Fooled me! I thought I was going to
feed the fish" with this baby food, but it..
Wasllft aI1YigO- He's got the best of Cramer,
all right!” : - It . .‘ G ‘
I shouldqsay herhas!” the manager of
the circus said, smiling. as he kept his eyes
on the boy. ‘I H I ’ I
I Jack Was preparing for another seriesof. .
performances, in his trial at making good
for ..the circus I , ,
His hands being thoroughlydried on the
handkerchiefwhich he ‘carried, he turned
011 the platformsand bowed again to his A “
audience: . .w . n
Then he shot out on the bar of the trap-
eze. turned a giant swing through’ it, re-j
Vf3I‘S9d. and at the completion of the second
giant swing he launched ‘himself with a
circle towards the second.bar.
Catching. ‘this, he completed two. more" it
giant swings as the bar swung to, and
back, and then launched himself with an- '
other circle at the third. ‘
‘Catching this. he SW11I1g' his giant swing,’ ’
backwards, turned completely ove;-“in the . I ‘ ”
air, caught the second one backwards,made .
3.1103161‘ giant Swing and went overin a
circle toward the third on the far side,
‘The crowd was becoming accustomed to ’ S be
1115 feats. expecting almost anythingfrom
the boy. .
They clapped wildly, of course, for they
:1VI‘l31‘e getting enthusiastic over his perform-
Ce. ‘ ‘ - I k . ' '
He continued the ‘astounding feats, add-
ing a little here and there to show‘ that he I
had the strength and the agility.
Then he climbed down from the bars and 1'
reached the platform, standing there and
b0Wlflg to the applauding crowd. ’
‘William Strong, the manager, came
across to the young fellow! and grasped
his hand. firmly, smiling at the lad,
' “That was great." my boy! il’ll:make your ,
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