et been brought to a close.

It was only after the greatest difficulty that Jet rose to his feet,
looked around for an instant as if expecting another attack, and then
staggered toward the stage entrance.

He spent ten minutes covering a distance of twenty yards, and, on
opening the door, was greeted by one of the company, who had evidently
come out for a breath of fresh air.

"You had better not let the manager see you until after he cools off a
little more, for---- What is the matter, lad?"

This last question after the boy's pale and blood-stained face could be
seen.

"Somebody struck me."

"Struck you? It looks more as if they had been trying to kill you."

"Perhaps that was what they did want to do," and Jet half-seated
himself, half-fell on a trunk.

However aggrieved the members of the company may have felt because of
Jet's failure, none of them were so hard-hearted as to ignore the fact
of his suffering. Those not on the stage were immediately summoned by
the boy's questioner, and in a very few seconds a messenger had been
sent in search of a surgeon.

"Don't bother about me; I'll be all right in a little while," Jet
managed to say, and then he fainted.

It was soon found that the boy's injuries, while severe, were not
dangerous.

The scalp had been laid open to such an extent that half a dozen
stitches were necessary to close the wound, and the surgeon said,
reassuringly, as he bandaged the cut:

"He has lost considerable blood, which accounts for his weak condition.
It will be some time before he feels all right again; but he'll come
around in good shape."

"Will it do him any harm to keep on traveling with us?" the manager
asked.

"Let him be quiet, and I don't anticipate any evil results. Do you
know how it happened?"

"No. He was very anxious to see some one in the audience, and I fancy
he went out immediately after breaking down in his act."

"Then send around at once and learn if anybody left the hall just
before the assault."

This suggestion was acted upon immediately, and the doorkeeper stated
that two men, one tall and the other of medium height, went out very
soon after Jet ran off the stage.

"It must have been some fellow who had a grudge against him, and he
broke down from fright at seeing the man; but I don't fancy it will do
much good to attempt to trace the matter. Show people can't afford to
fool around a town waiting for the delays of the law when they are
bill