mity 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 "dine