give added momentum to the long ropes.

"Ready down there?" asked Joe of Sid.

"Ready," he answered.

"Then go!"

Sid swung off, as Tonzo hung head downward with outstretched hands.
Sid easily caught them, for this was a trick they often did together.
Now must come Joe's second leap, and it was not so easy as the first,
nor did he have as good a chance of catching Sid's legs as he would
have had at Tonzo's hands.

However, it was "all in the day's work," and he did not hesitate at
taking chances.

He reached the height of his swing and started downward in a long sweep.

"Here I come!" he called.

He let go the trapeze bar, and made a dive for Sid's dangling legs.
For the fraction of a second Joe thought he was going to miss. But he
did not. He caught Sid by the ankles and the three hung there,
swinging in mid-air, Tonzo, of course, supporting the dragging weight
of the bodies of Joe and Sid. But Tonzo was a giant in his strength.

There was a burst of music, a rattle and boom of drums, as the feat
came to a successful and startling finish. Then, as Joe dropped
lightly into the life net, turning over in a succession of somersaults,
the applause broke out in a roar.

Sid and Tonzo dropped down beside Joe, and the three stood with arms
over one another's shoulders, bowing and smiling at the furor they had
caused.

"A dandy stunt!" cried Jim Tracy, highly pleased, as he went over to
another ring to make an announcement. "Couldn't be better!"

This ended the work of Joe and his partners for the afternoon, the new
feat being a climax. They ran out of the tent amid continuous
applause, and Joe saw Helen waiting for him.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" she whispered. "So glad!"

It was about a week after this, the show meanwhile having moved on from
town to town, that one of the trapeze performers who did a "lone act,"
that is all by himself, was taken ill.

"I'll just shift you to his place, Joe," said Jim. "You can easily do
what he did, and maybe improve on it."

"But what about my Lascalla act?"

"Oh, I'm not going to take you out of that. You'll do the most
sensational things with them, but they can have some one else for the
ordinary stunts. I want you to have some individual work."

Joe was glad enough for this chance, for it meant more money for him,
and also brought him more prominently before the public. But the
Lascalla Brothers were not so well pleased. They did not say anything,
but Joe was