"Does Rosebud want any sugar?" he asked, smiling.
"No, thank you! He"s had his share to-day. But it was good of you to remember. I must introduce you to my horse."
"I shall be happy to meet him," returned Joe, with his best "stage bow."
Helen laughed merrily, as she walked across the grounds with Joe and Benny.
"It"s almost supper time," she said, "and I"m starved. Can"t we all eat together?"
"I don"t see why not," Ben answered, and they were soon at a table where many other performers sat, all, seemingly, talking at once. Joe was very much interested.
He was more than interested in two dark-complexioned men who regarded him curiously. One was the person who had spoken to Jim Tracy. The other Joe had not seen before.
"They"re the Lascalla Brothers," Ben informed him. "That is, there are two of them. The third----"
"I"m to be the third," Joe broke in.
"You are?" asked Ben, and he regarded his friend curiously. "Well, look out for yourself; that"s all I"ve got to say."
"Why has he to look out for himself?" inquired Helen, who had caught the words. "Are you going to eat all there is on the table, Ben, so there won"t be any for Mr. Strong? Is that why he must look out?"
"No, not that," Ben answered. "It--it was something else."
"Oh, secrets!" and Helen pretended to be offended.
"It wasn"t anything," Joe a.s.sured her. And he tried to forget the warning Ben had so kindly given him.
Joe attended the performance that night as a sort of privileged character. He went behind the scenes, and also sat in the tent. He was most interested in the feats of the two Lascalla Brothers, and he decided that, with a little practice, he could do most of the feats they presented.
That night, at the hotel, Joe was introduced to Sid and Tonzo. They bowed and shook hands, and, as far as Joe could see, they did not resent his joining their troupe. They seemed pleasant, and Joe felt that perhaps the difficulties had been exaggerated. Nothing was said of Sim Dobley, and though Joe had been on the watch for the deposed performer that afternoon and evening, he had not seen him.
"You will, perhaps, like to practise with us?" suggested Tonzo, after a while.
"I think it would be wise," agreed Joe.
"Very well, then. We will meet you at the tent in the morning."
Bright and early Joe was on hand. Jim Tracy found him a pair of pink tights that would do very well for a time, and ordered him a new, regular suit.
At the request of Tonzo Lascalla, Joe went through a number of tricks, improvising them as he progressed. Next the two Spaniards did their act, and showed Joe what he was to do, as well as when to do it, so as to make it all harmonize.
Then hard practice began, and was kept up until the time for the afternoon show. Joe did not feel at all nervous as he prepared for his entrance. His work on the stage with Professor Rosello stood him in good stead.
In another moment he was swinging aloft with his two fellow-performers, in "death-defying dives," and other alliterative acts set down on the show bills.
"Can you catch me if I jump from the high-swinging trapeze, and vault toward you, somersaulting?" Joe asked Tonzo, during a pause in their act.
"Of a certainty, yes, I can catch you. But can you jump it?"
"Sure!" declared Joe. "I"ve done it before."
"It is a big jump, Mr. Strong," Tonzo warned him. "Even your predecessor would have hesitated."
"I"ll take the chance," Joe said. "Now this is the way I"ll do it.
I"ll get a good momentum, swinging back and forth. You stand upon the high platform, holding your trapeze and waiting. When I give the word and start on my final swing, you jump off, hang by your knees, hands down. I"ll leap toward you, turn over three times, and grab your hands. Do you get me?"
"Of a certainty, yes. But it is not an easy trick."
"I know it--that"s why I"m going to do it. Do you get me?"
"If he doesn"t "get you," as you call it, Mr. Strong," put in Sid, "you will have a bad fall. Of course there is the life net, but if you do not land right----"
"Oh, I"ll land all right," said Joe, though not boastingly.
The time for the new trick came. Joe climbed up to a little platform near the top of the tent and swung off, swaying to and fro on a long trapeze. On the other side of the tent Tonzo took his place on a similar platform, fastened to a pole. He was waiting for Joe to give the word.
To and fro, in longer and longer arcs, Joe swung. He hung by his hands. Carefully his eye gauged the distance he must hurl himself across. Finally he had momentum enough.
"Come on!" he cried to Tonzo.
The latter leaped out on his trapeze, swinging by his knees. Right toward Joe he swung.
"Here I come!" Joe shouted, amid breathless silence among the spectators below him. They realized that something unusual was going on.
"Go!" shouted Sid, who was waiting down on the ground for the conclusion of the trick.
Joe let go. He felt himself hurling through the air. Quickly he doubled himself in a ball, and turned the somersaults. Then he straightened out, dropped a few feet, and his hands squarely met those of Tonzo. The latter clasped Joe"s in a firm grip, and, holding him, swung to and fro on the long trapeze.
A roar of applause broke out at Joe"s daring feat. He had made a hit--a big hit, for the applause kept up after he had dropped to the life net. He stood beside Tonzo and Sid, all three bowing and smiling.
CHAPTER VII
JOE TURNS A TRICK
"That"s the idea!" exclaimed Jim Tracy, hurrying over to where the three gymnasts stood. "Give "em some more of that, Joe!"
"I haven"t any more like that--just now," answered the young circus performer, panting slightly, for he was a bit out of breath from his exertion and the anxiety lest his trick should fail.
"Well, do it again at to-night"s performance, then," urged the ring-master, and Joe nodded in agreement.
"It was a good trick, my boy," said Tonzo Lascalla, "but don"t try it too often."
"Why not?" Joe asked.
"Because it is risky. I might not catch you some day."