the acrobat and Bunny went out to the little barn, and there, with
ropes and straps, Mart made a trapeze, such as you have often seen on
the stage or in a circus. On the floor of the barn Mart spread a pile of
hay.

"Is that for our pony to come out and eat?" Bunny wanted to know.

"Oh, no," answered Mart. "That's to make something soft for me to fall
on, in case I slip. In the circus the performers have nets under them to
catch them in case they slip. But you can't have nets in a garage very
well, so I use the hay."

Bunny watched his friend swing to and fro, sometimes by his hands and
sometimes by his toes, on the trapeze in the barn. And Mart was so sure
and careful that he didn't slip once. So he didn't fall down on the hay.

"Did you ever fall?" asked Bunny, as he watched the young acrobat swing
to and fro, with his head down.

"Oh, yes indeed! More than once. And once I broke my leg so I couldn't
go on the stage for over a month."

"I don't want to break my leg," said Bunny.

"I hope you never do," answered Mart. "But, of course, as you aren't
going on a trapeze you won't fall and break anything."

"I wish I could go on a trapeze," murmured Bunny. "I could do some of
the things you do I guess."

"I'm afraid not," laughed Mart, with a shake of his head. "It isn't as
easy as it looks, and you are not big enough. If you do your somersaults
and part of a flipflop in the play, as you are going to do, you'll make
a hit, Bunny."

"Do you mean I'll hit the floor?" asked the little boy.

"No," laughed Mart. "Though if you aren't careful that may happen. But
when I say you'll make a 'hit' I mean that the audience will like the
tricks you do and they'll clap."

"Like they did in the circus?" asked Bunny.

"Just like that," said Mart.

Bunny sat and watched his friend. It looked so easy when Mart swung to
and fro on the rope, twisting and turning this way and that.

"I could do it," said Bunny to himself.

When Mart was called to the house by his sister he forgot to take down
the ropes and straps that made the trapeze in the barn. They hung right
before Bunny Brown's eyes.

"I believe I can do it!" said Bunny to himself, as he looked at the
swinging trapeze. "Anyhow, if I do fall, there's some soft hay."

And then Bunny did what he should not have done. He pulled some boxes
and rolled a barrel over to the middle of the barn floor until he had a
sort of platform under the trapeze Mart had put up to pract