ning, or on the
verge of taking place. And when Joe looked up and saw the rusted wire
and noted the fraying strands, several thoughts shot through his mind at
once.

"That rust spot wasn't there this morning when, I looked at the
trapeze," he mused. "And it hasn't rained since. How did it get there?"

He thought of the too talkative Harry Loper, and an ugly suspicion
associated itself with him. But Joe had no time for such thoughts then.
What was vital for him to know was whether or not the thin wire cable
would remain unbroken long enough for him to reach the maximum of his
swing, and land on the platform. Or would he fall, spoiling the act and
also endangering himself?

True he might land in the net in such a way as to come to no harm, as he
had done many times, and as many performers before him had done. But
the danger was that in a sudden and unexpected drop downward he might
not be able to get his limbs in the proper landing position.

Joe Strong had nerve. If he had lacked it he would never have been so
successful. And at once he decided on a courageous proceeding.

"I'll bring all my weight suddenly on that left hand cable," he mused,
as he swung to and fro, from side to side of the big tent. "If it's
going to break it will do so then. And I'll be ready for it. I'll then
keep hold of the trapeze bar, which will be straight up and down instead
of crosswise, and swing by that. The other cable seems all right." This
was a fact which Joe ascertained by a quick inspection.

There was no time for further thought. As he swung, Joe suddenly shifted
his weight, bringing it all on the frayed and strangely rusted cable. As
he half expected, it gave way, and he dropped in an instant, but not
far.

The watching crowd gasped. It looked like an accident. And it was, in a
way, but Joe had purposely caused it. As the wire broke Joe held tightly
to the wooden bar, which was now upright in his hands instead of being
horizontal. And though it slipped through his fingers, perhaps for the
width of his palm, at last he gripped it in a firm hold and kept on with
his swing.

And then the applause broke forth, for the audience thought it all a
part of the trick--they thought that Joe had purposely caused the cable
to break to make the act more effective.

To and fro swung Joe, nearer and nearer to the second platform, and
then, reaching the height of the long arc, he turned his body and
stepped full and fair on the little squar