ming to
grasp it in his hands and swing in a great arc to the other little
elevated place, close under the top of the tent.

There was a thrill about it--a thrill not only to the performer but to
the audience as well--and Joe could hear the gasps that went up from
thousands of throats as he made his big swing.

But, for the time being, he gave his whole attention to the platform and
its fastenings. The platforms were not very likely to slip, being caught
on to the main tent poles, which themselves were well braced.

The real danger was in the long trapeze. Not only must the thin wire
ropes of this be strong enough to hold Joe's weight, but an added
pressure, caused by the momentum of his jump. And not only must the
cables be strong, but there must be no defect in the wooden bar and in
the place where the upper ends of the ropes were fastened to the top of
the tent.

"Well, this platform is all right," remarked Joe, as he looked it over.
"Now for the other and the trapeze."

He went down the rope ladder and climbed up another to the second
platform. The show would not start for several hours yet, and the tent
was filled with men putting in place the stage for Joe's magic tricks
and other apparatus for various performers. The parade was just forming
to proceed down town.

Joe found that Harry Loper had done his work well, at least as far as
the platforms were concerned. They were firmly fastened. The one to
which Joe leaped after his swing needed to be considerably stronger than
the one from which he "took off."

The next act of the young circus performer was to climb up to the very
top of the tent, and there to examine the fastenings of the trapeze
ropes. He spent some time at this, having reached his high perch by a
third rope ladder.

"I guess everything is all right," mused Joe. "Perhaps I did Harry an
injustice. He might have taken some stimulant for a cold--they all got
wet through the other night. But still he ought to be careful. He was a
little too talkative for a man to give his whole attention to fastening
a trapeze. But this seems to be all right. I'll do the big swing this
afternoon and to-night, in addition to the box trick and the vanishing
lady. Helen works exceedingly well in that."

Having seen that his aerial apparatus was all right, Joe next went to
his tent where his magical appliances were kept. Many stage tricks
depend for their success on special pieces of apparatus, and Joe's acts
were