second
on the tips of her toes, then shook the hair out of her eyes with the
old familiar movement, and took a sharp run forward. The next minute, the
slim scarlet form was flying backwards and forwards, with graceful,
regular movements. The onlookers gazed and admired, wondering with
some curiosity what her exercise was going to be; and their interest
increased when she uttered a sharp 'Now!' just as she was sweeping
backwards from her highest swing. Only one person in the room failed
to notice that it was Miss Burleigh who let the trapeze drop forward
instantly, so that it hung ready for the small performer to grasp on
her return swing.

The music-master had been wholly absorbed in watching the little
Fraeulein, from the first moment she had begun to swing. He thought he had
never seen anything so graceful as the way she swept to and fro, nor
anything so _huebsch_ as the expression and the rose-red complexion of
the youngest girl in the school. It was truly _grossartig_! His eyes
followed her closely all the time, from end to end of her swing; and that
was how he contrived to be looking away at the precise moment when
Hurly-Burly let down the trapeze. The murmur that rose from the people who
surrounded him, as they realised what Barbara was going to do, made him
look round; and he saw the thing hanging there, as though it had
dropped from the roof by accident, and in another second would get in
the way of the child who was swinging so deliciously. Viewed afterwards
in the light of ordinary common-sense, it seemed to him _wunderbar_
that he could so have deceived himself. At the time, not a doubt was in
his mind as to what he thought had happened. The trapeze had fallen
down by accident and was going to embarrass the little Fraeulein, if
not to hurt her; and the people around him were all exclaiming aloud,
because they too had realised her danger. Nevertheless, nobody seemed to
know what to do, and the little Fraeulein was already sweeping straight
towards it on her downward swing. All these reflections rushed through
his brain in the flash of a moment. There was no time to hesitate. He
must be the one to rush out and come to her aid. With a loud German
exclamation, the music-master hurled himself forward and snatched back
the trapeze just as the child let go of the rings.

He had a dim recollection afterwards of being gripped by Hurly-Burly
just an instant too late, and of seeing the little scarlet figure twist in