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diff --git a/old/69477-0.txt b/old/69477-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6aaf445..0000000 --- a/old/69477-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6354 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Joe Strong, the boy wizard, by Vance -Barnum - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Joe Strong, the boy wizard - or The mysteries of magic exposed - -Author: Vance Barnum - -Release Date: December 4, 2022 [eBook #69477] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from - images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE STRONG, THE BOY -WIZARD *** - - - - - - JOE STRONG - THE BOY WIZARD - OR - _THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC EXPOSED_ - - - BY - VANCE BARNUM - - Author of “Joe Strong on the Trapeze,” “Joe Strong, the Boy Fish,” “Joe - Strong on the High Wire,” “Joe Strong and His Wings of Steel,” etc. - - - WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO. - RACINE, WISCONSIN - - - - - BOOKS FOR BOYS - BY - VANCE BARNUM - - - THE JOE STRONG SERIES - - JOE STRONG, THE BOY WIZARD - _Or, The Mysteries of Magic Exposed_ - - JOE STRONG ON THE TRAPEZE - _Or, The Daring Feats of a Young Circus Performer_ - - JOE STRONG, THE BOY FISH - _Or, Marvelous Doings in a Big Tank_ - - JOE STRONG ON THE HIGH WIRE - _Or, Motor-Cycle Perils of the Air_ - - JOE STRONG AND HIS WINGS OF STEEL - _Or, A Young Acrobat in the Clouds_ - - JOE STRONG—HIS BOX OF MYSTERY - _Or, The Ten Thousand Dollar Prize Trick_ - - JOE STRONG, THE BOY FIRE EATER - _Or, The Most Dangerous Performance on Record_ - - COPYRIGHT, 1916 - GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY - - Printed by - WESTERN PRINTING & LITHOGRAPHING CO. - Racine, Wisconsin - - Printed in U. S. A. - - - - - JOE STRONG, THE BOY WIZARD - - - - - CHAPTER I - JOE SOLVES A PUZZLE - - -“How did he do it? That’s what I’d like to know.” - -“So would I. It sure was a queer trick all right—and it looked so easy, -too.” - -“Well, I’ve tried to guess, but I can’t. The more I think of it the more -I believe that the professor really is a magician, in a certain way.” - -“Pooh! It couldn’t be anything like that! It was just a trick, like all -the others he did. But I’d like to know how to do it.” - -Four boys sat under the shade of a big willow tree in a grassy meadow on -the bank of a stream. They were earnestly discussing something, the -import of which may be gathered from their talk. - -“I tried to do the trick after I got home last night,” confessed Harry -Martin. - -“You didn’t do it, did you?” asked Charlie Ford, rumpling up his red -hair. Charlie was not at all ashamed of his red hair. His sister Mazie -called it “auburn,” but Charlie himself stuck to plain “red.” - -“Do it? I should say not!” cried Harry. “I didn’t come within a mile of -it, and our folks just laughed at me.” - -“And yet how easy Professor Rosello did it,” observed Henry Blake. - -“Yes, and he didn’t have any machinery or truck on the stage to do it -with, as he had for his other tricks,” remarked Tom Simpson. “All he had -was a plain slate, same as the little kids use in our school.” - -“It must have been a trick slate,” said Harry. “That’s the only way I -can account for the figures getting on it.” - -“No, there wasn’t any trick about the slate,” declared Charlie Ford. “I -was sitting right up front, and he passed the slate to me first, to look -at. There wasn’t a sign of a number on it when I had it.” - -“And you handed it right over to Mr. Burton to hold, didn’t you?” asked -Tom. - -“Yes; and Mr. Burton held it until the figures came out on it—under the -handkerchief, of course. It sure was a good trick.” Charlie shook his -head in wonderment. - -“I’d like to know how it was done,” said Henry Blake. “But I don’t -s’pose he’d tell us if we asked him. He’s in town yet. I saw him around -the hotel when I came past a little while ago.” - -“It isn’t very likely he’d tell us how he did it,” said Harry. “That’s -the way he makes his living—by doing magical tricks—and it isn’t to be -supposed that he’d give away his secrets. But all the same——” - -“Hello, fellows! What’s up now?” asked a new voice. “Talking secrets -that you don’t want me to hear?” - -The four boys, gathered under the willow tree, looked up quickly. Looks -of welcome accompanied by smiles greeted the newcomer. - -“Hello, Joe!” shouted Charlie Ford. - -“Say, you’re looking good!” added Tom. - -“I’m feeling good,” was the response. “What’s up?” - -“Oh, we’re just talking about the show last night. You were there, -weren’t you?” - -“Yes, I saw the great Professor Alonzo Rosello give his world-mystifying -exhibition of black and allied arts,” and Joe smiled as he quoted from -the circulars that had been scattered broadcast over the town of -Bedford, advertising the exhibition given in the Opera House the -previous evening. - -“What did you think of him?” asked Henry Blake. - -“Why, he was pretty fair in some things,” said Joe, slowly. - -“Pretty fair? Why, say! he was great!” cried Tom Simpson. “I’d like to -see you do even the simplest trick that he did!” - -“Perhaps I can,” replied Joe, quietly. - -His chums looked curiously at him. And, for the moment, we can do no -better than to observe this boy, who had sunk down in an easy position -on the grass. A moment’s study of him now will help greatly in -understanding the nature of a youth destined to have many curious and -thrilling adventures. And he was a lad well adapted by nature for a life -of daring excitement. - -Briefly, Joe Strong was a remarkable boy. From the time of his early -infancy he had never known what it was to be ill or ailing. Even the -simplest childish diseases seemed to pass him by as one too strong and -sturdy to try to weaken. He had a superb physical form, and as soon as -he was old enough to take regular exercise he added to his suppleness -and strength in a systematic way. - -There was no better runner, jumper, swimmer, diver or all-around athlete -in Bedford than Joe Strong. Added to this he could ride any horse he -ever saw; he could climb to the roof of the church and walk the ridge -pole, with never a qualm of dizziness; he was an excellent shot with a -rifle; and he could juggle with stones, baseball bats, balls—in fact -with almost anything that he could handle. Taking it all in all, Joe was -rather remarkable. - -Another point in his favor, and one that was destined to stand him in -good stead in after life, was the fact that he seemed absolutely without -nerves. Rather be it said that his nerves were under such perfect -control that he was their master, not their slave. It took high-strung -but perfectly controlled nerves to do some of the things Joe did. - -The secret of his abilities, if secret it was, lay in the fact that his -mother, now dead some years, had been one of the most daring bareback -riders in any circus that ever toured the country. She was billed as -Madame Hortense, though her name was Mrs. Janet Strong. She was an -English woman, and Joe dimly remembered hearing that before her marriage -her name had been Willoughby. Beyond that fact he knew little of his -mother’s early history. - -But it was not alone from his mother that Joe inherited certain health, -nerve, daring, ability to ride a horse and to take risks higher up off -this solid earth than most persons care to go. He also was indebted to -his father for many of his talents and abilities. - -Professor Morretti—known in private life as Alexander Strong—had been in -his day, one of the best-known and best-drawing (from a theatrical -standpoint) magicians that ever brought a live rabbit out of a silk hat, -or locked himself up in a solid box, only to be found missing when the -box was opened, the professor himself afterward walking coolly down the -aisle of the playhouse. - -Thus Joe inherited two totally different sets of talents. And that was -about all he had inherited from his parents. For they had both died when -he was about five years old, the professor first, following a severe -attack of pneumonia contracted when one of his water tricks went wrong, -and he received a drenching on a zero night. - -Mrs. Strong did not long survive her husband. Perhaps she lost her -nerve, following news of his sudden death. At that they were traveling -in different shows, Joe being with his mother. Usually, however, -Professor Morretti and Madame Hortense went about together, caring for -little Joe between them. - -Only a few months after the professor died, Madame Hortense had a bad -fall from a new horse she was trying, and she received injuries which -resulted in her death in a few weeks. - -Joe was left alone in the world, with only an inheritance of a superb -set of muscles, nerves, hawklike eyes and an active brain. - -The circus people were kind to him, and did what they could, but a -circus is not the best place in the world for an orphan boy, and the -manager soon realized this. - -Consequently he was glad to read an advertisement of a couple who wanted -to adopt a strong, healthy boy of about Joe’s age. Letters were written, -and Mr. Amos Blackford came on with his wife to have a look at Joe. - -Mr. Beeze, the circus manager, had artfully neglected to state, in his -early letters, the fact that Joe was the orphan of a bareback rider and -a “Professor of Black Art and Magic”; and when Mr. and Mrs. Blackford -discovered this they were well-nigh horrified. For they were -old-fashioned persons, with very strict ideas about right and wrong, and -to them a woman who rode a horse in a circus was a person not to be -admitted to the best society, and they regarded the dead Professor -Morretti in about the same light as they would an outlaw. - -At first they were going back without Joe. But Mrs. Blackford could not -resist the heart-appeal of the attractive little chap, and so he was -taken, and carried to the Blackford home in Bedford by his -foster-parents, who had since brought him up. - -They had done well by Joe, as far as their rather narrow minds let them. -They treated Joe harshly at times, without understanding that they did -so. They wanted him to forget that he was ever in a circus, that his -mother ever rode bareback, and that his father juggled Indian clubs and -produced live rabbits from the vest pockets of innocent persons in the -audience. - -But Joe could not forget those things. He had been born in a circus, and -the smell of the sawdust, the jungle odor from the animal tent, always -brought back to him, most vividly, his early days. - -He had not lived long in Bedford before he became known as a daring -little fellow. Mrs. Blackford nearly fainted when once she saw him -walking the back fence like a tight rope, with a clothes pole as a -balancer in his chubby hands. - -And from then on, by gradual stages, Joe advanced to more and more -daring tricks, until one day on a challenge he walked the ridgepole of -the church. - -His foster-father whipped him for that—whipped him cruelly—and from that -time Joe came to dislike, with a dislike that never ceased, the man who -had brought him up. From then on his life was more or less miserable. -But he did not give up what was born to him in his blood. In secret he -imitated the acts of circus performers, remembering some of them from -his childhood days, seeing pictures of others on the gaudy fence bills, -and, rarely, getting into a show himself. That was his seventh heaven of -delight. - -As the years went on, Joe gained in health, strength, nerve and daring. -Joe was not a paragon—far from it. But he was certainly a remarkable -youth, and perhaps “daring” is the best word to use in describing him. -He seemed never to be afraid to take a chance, but, if the truth were -known, his keen eye and active brain had already figured the chances out -in his favor before he undertook any feat. - -And now, on this sunny day, he was sitting under a willow tree with his -companions, discussing a show given the night before by Professor -Rosello. - -“Do you mean to tell me, Joe,” asked Tom Simpson, “that you can do _any_ -of those tricks the professor did?” - -“Some of ’em, yes,” answered Joe. “Of course I can’t do those that need -a whole lot of trick apparatus, a darkened stage, and all that. I could -if I had the stuff. But I think I can do the one you were talking about -as I came up,” and Joe regarded his companions with sparkling eyes. - -“You mean the slate trick?” asked Harry. - -“Yes. Adding up a sum and making the answer come on the slate. I could -do that now, if I had the slate. That was the only trick thing about it -all.” - -“Was that slate a trick one?” asked Charlie, rumpling up his red hair. - -“Yes. It was a trick slate, but not very complicated. Now just watch a -moment and I’ll do the trick, as nearly like the professor as is -possible. I guess I’ve got some papers and a pencil.” - -From his pocket Joe brought out some white slips and a stub of a pencil. - -“Now you fellows just sit in a row a little way apart, and I’ll pretend -this is the stage,” went on Joe, as he stood beside a flat stump near -the willow tree. “Here, Charlie, you put down a number on this slip of -paper. Any number of four figures, say 1,876, or anything you like.” - -“All right,” said Charlie, and he wrote a number. - -“Now, Harry, you set down a number under Charlie’s,” directed Joe, “and -then it will be Henry’s turn. This is the way the professor did it, -isn’t it?” - -“Yes, only he talked more,” replied Tom. - -“Well, I could sling the ‘patter,’ as they call it, if I wanted to,” -said Joe. “Only as I’m going to show you how the trick is worked I don’t -need a lot of talk.” - -“Are you really going to show us?” asked Harry. - -“Sure I am! Now, Harry, if you’ve got your number written pass the paper -to Henry. You set down a number of four figures, Henry, and draw a line -under the sum. Tom, you’re pretty good at addition, aren’t you?” - -“Pretty fair, yes.” - -“Well, I don’t want any mistake made,” Joe, with a smile, warned them. -“Here you go now. Add up those figures Tom, and get ’em right,” and he -passed a slip of paper to the boy who had not set down any of the -numbers. “Add ’em up, and set the result down in pencil under the line -Henry drew. When you’ve done that I’ll make the answer appear on this -flat piece of stone. Here, you hold it, Charlie,” and picking up a flat -stone from the ground, Joe threw his handkerchief over it and passed it -to Charlie to hold. “Don’t take off the handkerchief until I tell you -to,” he warned the lad. - -“Is the sum added, Tom?” asked Joe, a moment later. - -“Yes.” - -“What is it?” - -“Ten thousand, four hundred and sixty-seven.” - -“Good!” cried Joe, and, unconsciously perhaps, he imitated the language, -manner and gestures of Professor Rosello. “Now then,” went on the boy -wizard, “you three boys each set down a separate number. None of you -knew what the others wrote, and Tom, who didn’t write any figures, -announces the sum of the other three fellows’ numbers to be ten thousand -four hundred and sixty-seven. Am I right, Tom?” - -“That’s right Here’s the paper. I’m sure I added ’em up right.” - -“Well, I’ve no doubt but you did, Tom. Now then, I think you’ll agree -that I didn’t know beforehand what numbers you fellows were going to -write, so, of course, I couldn’t tell what they’d add up to. Could I?” - -“I don’t see how you could,” admitted Henry, but a little doubtfully. - -“Well, now comes the magic part. I’m going, without touching it, to -cause this sum, which Tom announces as ten thousand four hundred and -sixty-seven, to appear on that flat stone Charlie holds under the -handkerchief. I won’t touch the stone, which answers the same purpose as -the professor’s slate. But I’ll take the paper you have, Tom, with the -sum of ten thousand four hundred and sixty-seven on it,” and Joe did so. - -“Now to make the trick more simple I’ll just burn this paper with the -sum on, where you can all see it,” Joe went on. He held up the paper in -plain sight and set fire to it with a match. - -“I will now pronounce the magic words: _oshkalaloolu presto, smacko!_ -The sum has now vanished in smoke, and will appear on the flat stone. -Charlie, lift the handkerchief and hold up the stone so we can all see -it.” - -Charlie did so, and there, in black pencil on the gray surface of the -stone, was the answer to the little sum—10,467! - -“Whew!” whistled Charlie. “How under the sun did you do it, Joe?” - -“And right under our very noses, too!” added Tom, in amazement. - - - - - CHAPTER II - A FIREWORKS FIRE - - -Joe Strong smiled at the puzzled looks on the faces of his chums. They -were eagerly watching him now, as if asking what he would do next. - -“No, I can’t do anything more just now,” he said in answer to the -implied request. “I can’t produce a guinea pig from Tom’s ear, nor a -bowl of gold fish from under my shirt; though I might if I were loaded -for those tricks.” - -“Loaded?” asked Charlie, curiously. - -“Yes, that is what a magician calls it when he comes out on the stage, -with the secret pockets of his dress suit filled with the things he -needs for tricks. He may ‘load’ himself with a bowl of gold fish or a -couple of rabbits.” - -“Alive?” asked Henry. - -“Sure! Wasn’t the rabbit alive Professor Rosello took out of dad’s hat -last night?” asked Tom. - -“How did he do that?” Charlie interrogated “Can you tell us, Joe?” - -“Yes, I can, but——” - -“Say, I’d rather have him tell us how he did this trick with the -figures,” interrupted Harry. “Go on, Joe.” - -“Well, it’s really very simple when you know,” said Joe. “You see the -sum I made appear on the stone wasn’t the sum of the numbers you three -fellows wrote down.” - -“It wasn’t?” cried Tom, surprised. - -“No,” went on Joe Strong, with a twinkle in his bright eyes. “I let -Harry, Charlie and Henry each set down four figures on a piece of paper. -Then I handed a piece of paper to Tom to add up the sum, only it didn’t -happen to be the same piece that you three fellows used,” and Joe -laughed. - -“I just substituted one of my own,” resumed the boy wizard. “I had it in -my pocket all ready, for I thought maybe I’d get a chance to play this -trick to-day. I wadded up in a little ball the paper with the figures -you boys set down, and slipped Tom one of my own. Of course I knew what -my numbers were going to add up to—I had put down the figures myself, so -I ought to know. They were like this:” - - 4,004 - 2,821 - 3,642 - ————— - -Joe showed the little sum, rapidly scribbling it on another piece of -paper. - -“Those figures add up to ten thousand four hundred and sixty-seven,” he -resumed, “and of course I knew that before Tom announced the sum. And I -knew I was safe in letting Tom have the list of figures I wrote, for he -had not seen those you fellows had set down. I made my set of figures -look as though a different person had set down each one, and Tom wasn’t -familiar enough with you boys’ way of making figures to detect the -change. - -“Then, when I took the piece of paper from him, I burned that and with -it the one that Charlie, Henry and Harry had written their figures on, -so there wouldn’t be any chance of being found out later.” - -“But how did you get the sum, ten thousand four hundred and sixty-seven, -on the piece of stone?” asked Charlie. “You didn’t touch that after you -took the paper from Tom, I can vouch for that.” - -“No, I didn’t touch it,” affirmed Joe. - -“Then how did the figures get on? There must have been some magic about -that.” - -“It’s very simple when you know how,” laughed Joe. “When I was talking -here to you fellows, I just put the sum, ten thousand four hundred and -sixty-seven on the flat side of the stone with a pencil. Then I turned -it over and left it lying on the ground until I wanted it. Then it was -easy enough for me to pick it up, cover it with a handkerchief and hand -it to Charlie to hold. The sum was there on it all the while, and when -Tom announced what my three figures added up to, a result that I, of -course, knew beforehand, I simply had Charlie lift the handkerchief, -and—there you were!” - -For a moment there was silence among the boys. Then they burst out with: - -“Well, I’ll be jiggered!” - -“As easy as that!” - -“It’s a wonder we didn’t think of that!” - -“Two papers—one with our numbers on, and one with his!” - -“That’s the whole secret,” explained Joe. “That is, all but the stone. -Of course if I had had a slate to use that would have been a little -different.” - -“That’s what I don’t understand,” observed Charlie. “That professor last -night passed the slate around for inspection, and there wasn’t any -number written on it.” - -“Oh, yes there was,” said Joe with a smile. “Only you didn’t see it. It -was a trick slate. On one side, covered by a piece of black stiff paper, -which looked almost like the slate, was the number written in chalk—a -number that was the sum of three figures previously known to the -professor, and on the piece of paper he gave out to be added up. - -“When he took back the slate, after having passed it around for -inspection, he walked up on to the stage and quietly slipped out the -piece of black paper. That left the chalk sum exposed. He could either -do that before he covered the slate with the handkerchief and gave it to -some one to hold, or afterward, as he took it from the person and raised -the handkerchief covering. In his case he did it before, since he let -the person holding the slate lift the handkerchief.” - -“Then the number was there all the while!” cried Tom. - -“Yes.” - -“And if the one who held the slate had lifted the handkerchief it would -have been seen?” - -“Yes. And for that reason it’s safer to lay the slate on a table or on -the stage in plain sight, but where no one can inspect it. Then the -magician can ask some one to come up and lift the handkerchief, so it -can’t be said he wrote the number down himself. That’s all there is to -it.” - -“Say, it does sound easy now,” commented Charlie. “But how did you ever -figure it out, Joe?” - -“Yes, you surely did the trick smoothly!” was Tom’s compliment. - -“Oh, I’ve studied it a little,” admitted Joe, modestly. “It needs a -little practice in ‘palming,’ that is in holding two or more things in -your hand without letting the audience suspect you have them; or in -changing one thing for another by sleight-of-hand, as I changed the -papers. You see it’s very easy—like this.” - -He picked up a small stone, held it on the back of his left hand, passed -his right quickly over it and closed both fists. - -“In which hand is the stone now?” he asked. - -“There,” said Tom, indicating the right fist. - -“No, there,” said Charlie, quickly, touching the left. - -“Neither one, it’s there on Henry’s knee,” announced Joe with a laugh, -and so it was, the same stone, for it was peculiarly marked. - -“How did you do it?” cried Henry, in frank amazement. - -“Oh, just by making the action of my hands quicker than your eyes,” was -the answer. “I made a couple of false motions, and you followed them -with your eyes instead of watching the stone. That’s how I managed to -substitute the paper with my figures on for the one Tom thought you boys -had prepared. It’s very simple.” - -“Yes, to hear you tell it,” came from Henry. “But say, Joe, how did the -professor do that trick with the live rabbit? I was close to him when he -came down off the platform, and I couldn’t see where he had the bunny. -And yet, in plain view, he pulled it out of somebody’s inside coat -pocket. How in the world did he do it?” - -“It was easy—for him,” Joe stated. “When he finished the hat and egg -trick he went behind the scenes for a second and slipped the live rabbit -in a secret pocket in his coat. - -“After some hocus-pocus work, and a lot of ‘patter,’ or talk made up to -keep you from watching him too sharply, he went close to the man from -whose pocket he was going to produce the rabbit. He held the lapel of -the man’s coat close against his own for a second, and with his other -hand he reached in the secret pocket and got hold of the rabbit’s ears. -Then, when he lifted the bunny up, it looked just as if the animal came -out of the man’s pocket, but, all the while, it came from the -professor’s.” - -“Huh!” exclaimed Tom. “It all sounds very easy.” - -“It is, and again it isn’t,” explained Joe. “It takes lots of practice, -and one’s got to have his nerve with him all the while, to know how to -act in case anything goes wrong.” - -“Then _you_ ought to be a good wizard,” declared Henry, “for you sure -have nerve!” - -“That’s right,” added Harry Martin. “But say now, Joe, in that trick -where the professor took——” - -Harry did not finish his sentence. His words were cut short by an -explosion which came from a group of buildings located near a railroad -siding about a quarter of a mile away. Following the explosion a cloud -of black smoke billowed up to the sky. - -“Look, fellows!” cried Tom. “It’s the fireworks factory!” - -“It’s on fire!” added Henry. - -“It’s blown up!” yelled Charlie. - -“Come on, boys! Come on!” shouted Joe, and he led the way toward the -cloud of smoke, which was now pierced here and there by darting tongues -of fire. As the boys rushed onward there came other and smaller -explosions, like the popping of guns. - - - - - CHAPTER III - TO THE RESCUE - - -For a few moments after the excitement caused by the explosion and fire, -the five boys rushed on together, saying nothing. Their eyes were fixed -on the distant group of burning buildings, which, being of light and -flimsy construction (as is always the case with fireworks factories and -powder mills), were burning rapidly. They occupied quite an extent of -territory, being well separated so that if one blew up or caught fire -there would be less likelihood of all being consumed. - -“She sure is a hummer!” cried Harry, as he raced along beside Charlie -Ford. - -“That’s right!” joined in the red-haired lad. - -“The whole thing’s likely to go up if the wind doesn’t shift,” commented -Henry Blake. “It’s blowing the flames right toward the main building -now.” - -“Yes, and they’re all pretty well filled,” said Joe Strong. “This is -their busy season, getting ready for the Fourth, you know. There’ll -likely be a lot more explosions, and a final big one.” - -“There goes one now!” cried Tom Simpson. - -As he spoke there was a burst of flame and smoke from one of the -buildings that had not before caught fire, and then followed an -explosion louder than any of the previous ones. - -“There she goes!” shouted Harry. - -“And look at the rockets!” added Joe. - -A sheaf of sky rockets, part of a shipment just finished, had become -ignited and now were whizzing up in the air, bursting with loud reports -far above the earth, for they were large-sized pyrotechnics. - -“If this were only night it would be a grand sight!” murmured Charlie, -narrowly missing a fall as he stumbled over a stone. - -“Too bad they couldn’t wait,” commented Joe, grimly. “Say! I wonder if -any one’s hurt. It came so suddenly that a lot of the workers may be -trapped in there.” - -“That’s so,” agreed his chums. They increased their pace. They could now -see others running to the fire—men, boys, and some women and children, -coming from the direction of the town. Others were leaving their work in -fields, gardens, or in houses to view the unusual sight. - -There was not a little alarm, too, for many of the men and some girls -and boys of the town worked in the Universal Fireworks Factory, -particularly at this season of the year. - -The factory was located close to the freight station of the Bedford and -Point Barrow Railroad, a spur, or short track, running in among the -factory buildings. On the sidings were a number of freight cars, which -carried big red signs, marked: “Dangerous! Explosive! Keep all lights -away!” - -But there was plenty of light now, even though the glaring sun took away -the effect that would have prevailed had there been darkness—plenty of -light and fire. - -“She sure is a hummer!” cried Tom. - -“A hum-dinger,” added Harry. “Listen to that!” - -Another explosion occurred, lifting a roof off one of the frail -buildings, and depositing the blazing mass over on the railroad tracks, -and rather dangerously near the passenger depot, which was not far from -the freight station. - -“There goes the fire alarm!” cried Harry. - -“They’ll be here in no time. It’s a general alarm when anything like a -fireworks factory goes up,” said Joe. “There they come,” he added, as he -looked back toward the town, and pointed to an automobile fire-fighting -apparatus coming along the road. The auto-engine was a new purchase for -Bedford. Besides that, there was an old steamer, drawn by hand whenever -horses could not be requisitioned in a hurry. - -The five boys had to cross the small stream, known locally as Bedford -Creek, in order to reach the scene of the fire. As they rushed along -across the fields toward the water, all but Joe bore off to the left. He -kept straight on. - -“Where you going?” asked Harry. - -“To the fire, of course,” was the answer. - -“The bridge is over this way,” stated Tom, indicating a white structure -that crossed the stream some distance to the left of where the boys then -were. - -“Bridge!” cried Joe. “Do you think I’d waste time crossing a bridge when -there’s a fire like this straight ahead of me?” - -“How are you going to get across the creek?” Harry queried. - -“Wade or swim, of course. It’s a hot day!” - -And while Tom, Harry and the others ran on toward the bridge, Joe -Strong, coming to the edge of the creek, which at this point was deeper -and wider than at any other, waded out without a moment’s hesitation. - -For a moment his chums watched him, fascinated. Then they shook their -heads, and kept on toward the bridge. - -“He sure has got nerve!” asserted Henry. - -“Yes, Joe’s there with it every time,” added Tom. “I wish I dared do -that. But if I got wet with all my clothes on, I’d be in for a good -scolding when I got home.” - -“Joe may be, too—or worse,” said Charlie. “I hear that he and Deacon -Blackford don’t get along any too well of late. He’s given Joe several -touches of the whip and strap, and Joe’s not a fellow to stand much of -that sort of treatment.” - -“I wouldn’t blame him for not standing it,” commented Henry. “Deacon -Blackford may mean all right, but we all know he’s totally ashamed to -have it known what Joe’s father and mother were. As if it could be a -disgrace to have had a mother who was a dandy circus rider, and a father -who was a top-notcher when it came to magic. I’d be proud of it if my -folks were that sort.” - -“So would I,” added Harry. - -“That’s where Joe gets his nerve,” remarked Tom. “Nerve to do just what -he did now—swim the creek.” - -“Yes, and that’s where he gets his liking for magic tricks and for his -circus stunts,” added Charlie. “He sure is a great boy, and strong. Why, -say! you ought to have seen him on the trapeze I put up in our barn the -other day. He did one giant swing and then he slid down a rope in a way -that——” - -“Look, there goes another building!” interrupted Henry, and the boys, -racing for the bridge, forgot, for the time, to discuss Joe and his -doings, in watching the progress of the fire, to which they were much -nearer now. They could hear the crackle of the flames and the popping of -small pieces of fireworks. - -Charlie turned back to look at Joe. The young wizard, for such he later -became, had waded out until he found himself getting beyond his depth, -then he plunged into the water, fully clothed as he was, and began to -swim. - -Joe was a good swimmer, and he had on a light summer suit and tennis -shoes, so he was not as hampered as otherwise he might have been. But -swimming in a full suit was nothing for Joe. He had done it before in a -camping contest, and he had plunged in once, in midwinter, in a heavy -suit, to rescue a little girl from the icy stream. - -Joe was a wonderful swimmer, though he could not yet do any fancy -tricks. He was just doing the plain Australian crawl stroke, which puts -one through the water in wonderfully good time. On and on he swam, -gaining the other side, and was very close to the fire before his -companions had reached the bridge. That was where Joe’s nerve and daring -stood him in good stead. - -In the beginning he had no particular object in getting to the fireworks -fire in such a hurry. It was just curiosity on his part, as it was on -the part of his companions. Then another thought came to Joe. - -As he climbed up the bank on the other side, water dripping from every -part of him, the youth thought: - -“I wouldn’t be surprised but what somebody got hurt in this fire. It -came so suddenly they can’t all have escaped. It isn’t going to be any -easy job to put it out, either. They’ll need all the help they can get -together. There go some of the railroad men to give a hand.” - -Joe was out on level ground now, near the railroad tracks, and he -utilized them as the shortest way to the fire. He looked back to see his -chums who had crossed the bridge and were now laboriously racing onward. -Their long run had tired them, whereas the swim Joe had taken had -refreshed him, as the day was warm. - -The shrill sound of the fire apparatus siren could now be heard, -mingling with the whistle of the steamer, for the engineer, seeing the -smoke and blaze from afar, and knowing the need, had started a fire -under the boiler, ready for quick work when he should have reached the -scene of the conflagration. - -Joe joined the running, panting throng of men and boys that now came -swarming from all directions to the fire. The crew of a freight train, -drawn up at the Bedford station, had come over to do what they could, -and the fire-fighting force of the factory itself was busy. They had a -small steamer on the premises, and lines of hose were connected to the -steam pump in the boiler room. Water was soon being poured on the blaze, -and when the auto-apparatus and the old-fashioned steamer arrived, they, -too, were put into service. - -By this time Joe’s chums had joined him. - -“You beat us to it,” panted Charlie. - -“Sure I did!” exclaimed Joe. “Why didn’t you fellows take a chance in -the creek?” - -“We didn’t want to spoil our clothes,” said Charlie. - -“That’s right. It didn’t improve mine any,” admitted the young wizard, -as he looked down at his sodden garments. “I expect dad will ask me to -step out to the woodhouse when I get home,” Joe said grimly. He called -Mr. Blackford “dad,” and, as a matter of fact, up to the time he was -eight years old Joe had not appreciated the fact that “the deacon,” as -he was often called, was only his foster-parent. Joe had but a hazy idea -of his real father and mother, and the change at his early age failed to -impress him. Later he heard the real story, however. - -“Yes, I guess I’ll get a talking to, anyhow,” he went on. “But I -couldn’t wait to come over the bridge. Say, she’s going some! isn’t -she?” - -“That’s what!” commented Tom. “Look, there goes the big building!” - -The main structure, which up to now had suffered neither from explosion -nor from fire, was seen to be smoking on one side. Hoarse orders came -from the fire chief to play streams on that in an effort to save it, and -the fire-fighters drew closer. - -“Anybody hurt, did you hear?” asked Charlie of Joe. - -“No, but some had narrow escapes. A few of the girls had to jump, but it -wasn’t far, for most of the buildings are only two stories high.” - -This was true of all, in fact, save the main structure, where most of -the fireworks were stored. That was four stories high, and constructed -partly of brick. It was an old mill turned into a fireworks factory, the -other structures being built around it. - -“If that main building catches—good-night! I’m going to leave this -spot!” said Henry. - -“Yes, it will be healthier a bit farther on,” agreed Tom. - -“Oh, look!” suddenly cried Harry. “There’s a man on the top floor of the -store-house! Look!” - -He pointed. The others followed the direction of his outstretched -finger. They saw a small door open near the roof of the main building. -It was a door with a projecting beam above it—a beam such as in barns -and mills is used for hoisting bags of grain or bales of hay. And, for -the moment, a man stood outlined in this small, open door. - -Then, suddenly, the man was seen to crumple up and fall in a heap on the -very edge of the opening. So close to the edge did he fall that there -came a gasp of horror from the throng, for it looked for an instant as -if he would topple out and fall to the ground below. - -“Why—why, that’s the professor—Professor Rosello, who did the magic -tricks last night!” cried Harry. - -“So it is!” agreed Tom. They had recognized him in that brief instant. -What he was doing on the top floor of the main building of the fireworks -factory could only be guessed then. - -“If he hadn’t fainted, or been overcome by smoke or flames, or whatever -happened to him,” said Henry, “he might have slid down the rope and been -saved. As it is now, he’s in danger.” - -A rope dangled from the beam above the door to the ground below. It ran -through a pulley, and was evidently used to hoist and lower materials -into and out of the factory. - -Joe Strong, with an exclamation, suddenly darted forward toward the -building, which, in spite of the streams of water poured against it, was -now on fire. - -“What are you going to do?” cried Harry, reaching out his hand to hold -back his chum. - -“Get that man—the professor!” answered Joe. - -“But you—you can’t do it!” protested Henry. - -“Can’t I? You just watch me!” cried Joe, as he broke into a run. He was -headed straight for the dangling rope that hung from the beam. It was -right in front of the open door, where the motionless form of the -magician lay. - -Joe Strong was going to the rescue. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - JOE’S FEAT - - -There was so much going on—firemen and eager volunteers working at the -hose and apparatus, railroad men and factory employees endeavoring to -get out of the danger zone a car loaded with explosives, others removing -from the factory and store-houses some of the powder, still others -rushing here and there, uselessly shouting—there was so much of this -sort of thing going on that, for a moment, no one noticed Joe Strong -except his four chums. - -But the lad had no sooner reached the foot of the dangling rope than -others saw him, among them some firemen. - -“Come back from there!” they shouted. - -“Not just yet!” coolly answered Joe. - -“What are you going to do?” a railroad man inquired. - -“Get him!” replied Joe, briefly, as he pointed to the huddled figure -lying in the low doorway up above. - -“You can’t do it! That place is all on fire inside. It may go up any -minute.” - -“Well, I figure that I’ve got a minute to spare, and a minute is about -all I want,” answered Joe calmly. - -By this time he was going up the rope hand over hand, not an easy feat, -but Joe seemed to make nothing of it. Now, if ever, he blessed the time -he had spent in acrobatic work, in emulating the tricks of circus -performers, his own mother included. Now, if ever, he was glad of his -strong and supple muscles, his cool head and eyes that never faltered. - -Up and up he went, hand over hand, climbing the rope like a veritable -monkey, and with a skill that would have caused applause to break forth -at any other than this critical time. As it was, there was a murmur of -admiration for Joe’s coolness and daring. For it was a daring feat. - -All this while the fighting of the fire was going on at other parts of -the plant. There had been no loud explosions for some time, though small -ones were constantly to be heard. And inside the factory’s flimsy -buildings, most of which were in flames, could be heard the hissing and -spluttering of various forms of pyrotechnics. - -Up and up went Joe until in a very short time he swung in through the -small door, and stood beside the prostrate man, whom some of the boys -had recognized as Peter Crabb, otherwise known as Professor Rosello, the -magician. - -“He’s there!” cried Charlie Ford. - -“Yes, Joe’ll get him down if there’s any way to do it!” chimed in Henry -Blake. - -“And if there isn’t a way, Joe will make one!” declared Tom Simpson. - -Joe’s chums and others in the crowd could see the young wizard now -bending over the huddled form of the professor. They saw Joe hauling up -the rope to get at the free end which was on the ground. - -Just then came a burst of flames and smoke from a window in the second -story, directly past which Joe had climbed a moment before, and past -which he must lower the unconscious form of the magician; for that, -evidently, was his intention. Could it be done? - -“He’ll never do it!” some one said. - -“They’re both goners!” was the general comment. - -“The place is all on fire inside. No chance to save it,” a fireman -remarked. “We’d all better get back, for she’ll explode soon.” - -“Come on down, Joe!” a voice cried. “Save yourself!” - -Joe answered something. What it was no one could hear above the crackle -of the flames and the puffing of the engines. - -“Joe won’t come down without him,” said Henry Blake in a low voice. - -“That’s what he won’t,” agreed Harry Martin. - -But how was Joe to lower the man past that outburst of flame? Even a -momentary passage through it would likely cause death if the man inhaled -the fire. At best, he would be terribly burned. - -But Joe Strong knew what he was doing. As the crowd watched, they saw -him take off his soaking wet coat and trousers, wet from his swim across -the creek. In another instant Joe had wrapped and twisted the sodden -garments around the form of the magician, covering his head and face. - -It was then the work of but an instant for Joe to fasten the rope about -Professor Rosello. Joe was an expert in tying knots, and soon he swung -the form, encased in wet garments, free of the window ledge. Down he -lowered the man, swiftly, right through the outburst of flame. The rope -was charred but not burned through. - -“I knew Joe’d think of a way!” shouted Tom. - -“But how’s he going to get down himself?” gasped Harry. “He can never do -it!” - -This was a puzzling question for his chum. Joe seemed doomed. But the -lad himself never seemed to give this a thought. He stood in the open, -upper doorway, attired in only his wet undergarments. - -The flames, spurting out from the window below him, seemed fiercer than -ever. The rope would never stand another trip past them. And now a -series of small explosions in the building on the upper floor of which -Joe stood indicated that that building soon would go in a burst of fire -and smoke. - -But Joe knew there was a life net carried on the auto fire engine, and -he depended on this. - -The chief of the Bedford department had not lost his head, and Joe had -no sooner lowered the form of the magician to the ground when the quick -mind of the chief was directed to saving the boy. - -“Bring up that life net!” he shouted through his trumpet. It had been -made ready some time before, but had not been used, since most of the -employees had been rescued from the first floors. - -“Stand here with it!” directed the chief, indicating a spot out in front -of, and directly in line with, the open doorway in which Joe still -stood. Now the smoke was swirling more thickly about the lad, and back -of him could be seen dancing tongues of fire. - -“Can you jump it, Joe?” called the chief through his trumpet - -“All right! Hold her steady! I’m coming!” cried Joe, shrilly, above the -crackle of the flames. - -A fire department life net consists of a big iron ring, which can be -folded in half upon itself. Around the circumference of the ring is -woven a strong rope net, sagging toward the middle. Firemen stand in a -circle about the iron ring, grasping it with their hands, and holding it -as high as possible to allow for the recoiling impact of the falling -body. - -“Are you ready down there?” cried Joe. - -“All ready!” answered the chief. “Brace yourselves now, men!” - -Joe poised for an instant on the edge of the doorway. It was a -sixty-foot jump, but he hesitated only an instant. With his hands to his -sides, standing as straight as an arrow, his superb form beautifully -outlined, clad as he was only in his underclothes, Joe jumped. - -Straight as a plummet he came down, feet first, into the life net. It -sagged with his weight, and the men holding it were jerked forward, but -there were so many of them that the elasticity of the apparatus was -preserved, and Joe bounced up like a rubber ball. - -Another bounce and he turned a somersault, landing on the turf at one -side. - -A cheer went up from the rescuers. Joe had been saved, and he had saved -the life of the magician in a thrilling manner. Another cheer rang out. -But there was no time for more. There was still the fire to fight. - -Joe’s chums gathered about him, eager to clasp his hand, to clap him on -the back, to utter words of praise. But he had but one thought—or, -rather, two. - -“Is the professor all right?” he asked eagerly. - -“Yes,” some one answered. “He’d only fainted. He’s all right now, and -not burned a bit, thanks to your wet clothes.” - -“Where are my clothes?” demanded Joe. “This isn’t exactly a bathing -beach.” - -“You can’t wear your things,” a fireman informed our hero. “They’re -badly scorched. Here, wrap yourself in this blanket until you can get -home,” and he extended one of the horse-coverings. Joe accepted it -gratefully. - -“Better get back from here,” another fireman advised. “This place is -going, and it’s full of powder.” - -The crowd, as well as Joe and his chums, took the hint. - -But the main factory did not go up. The fire-fighters rallied in force -around it, seeing that the other buildings were doomed, and the bigger -part of the plant was saved. Luckily enough, too, as had it exploded the -force would have been felt a long distance. The light and flimsy -buildings burned quickly into ashes, and the explosions of fireworks -grew less frequent. The material in the main building was spoiled by -water, but that was better than having the fire reach it. - -Little remained to do now, but to guard against stray sparks in the -building that had been saved at such risk. The crowd began to disperse. - -“Where’s the professor?” asked Joe, moving about in his blanket like -some pale-faced Indian. - -“They took him to the hotel,” said Tom. “Say, Joe, don’t you want to -stop at our house and get some of my clothes? It’s nearer than going to -yours.” - -“Good idea. Thanks. I guess I will. I don’t feel exactly like showing up -at home in this rig.” - -Some one who knew Joe offered to drive him in his automobile to the -Simpson house. Tom, of course, went with his friend, and Joe was soon -clothed in ordinary garments, having first taken a bath at Tom’s house, -for the smoke had made him black and grimy. - - - - - CHAPTER V - JOE’S AMBITION - - -“Where are you going now, Joe?” asked Tom, as his chum, after having -thanked Mrs. Simpson for her hospitality, stood, ready to leave the -house. “Going home?” - -“Not right away,” Joe answered. “I had an idea I’d like to call on the -professor to see if he was all right. It isn’t every day I help rescue a -man that way, you know.” - -“Help rescue him!” exclaimed Tom, with an accent on the first word. -“Why, you did it all, Joe! And, say, I never saw anything done slicker. -Using your wet clothes was just the thing.” - -“It was the _only_ thing,” said Joe. “I knew the fire wouldn’t get -through my soaking wet coat and trousers in the little while he was -exposed to the flames. But say, Tom, are my clothes too badly burned to -wear?” - -“I’m afraid so, Joe. I had a look at them, and they seem to be ruined.” - -“Too bad!” and Joe sighed. Mr. Amos Blackford had the reputation in town -of being rather close, and Joe realized this better than any one else. - -“The professor ought to get you a new suit,” Tom asserted, “since you -ruined yours saving him.” - -“Oh, that wasn’t the reason I wanted to see him,” hastily interposed the -young wizard. “And if you go with me, Tom, don’t you dare mention my -burned clothes.” - -Joe looked so stern as he said this, and Tom so well knew the firmness -of his chum, that he readily promised to do as Joe wished. - -“I think I’ll just give him a call at the hotel,” Joe went on. “There’s -time enough for me to go home—and take what’s coming to me—later,” he -added grimly. “I’ve got another suit, Tom, my best one. I can put that -on and give you back yours.” - -“Oh, I’m not worrying about that, Joe. But come on, we’ll go to the -hotel. I wonder what the professor was doing up on the top floor of that -fireworks factory, anyhow.” - -“That’s one of the things that’s been puzzling me, Tom. And I don’t mind -admitting that it is one of the reasons why I’d like to meet that -prestidigitator.” - -“Come along then,” went on Tom. “I’m with you. You may learn some more -of his tricks, Joe.” - -“Oh, I know quite a few already.” - -“You do? You never told us fellows.” - -“Oh, well, I sort of had to keep them under cover. You know my -foster-parents aren’t any too proud of what my father and mother did for -a living.” - -“So I’ve heard, Joe.” - -“But I’m proud of them!” Joe exclaimed, with flashing eyes. “I wish I -could be such a rider as I’ve heard my mother was, and as good a -magician as my father. But, as I said, I’ve had to sort of keep my -ambitions under cover. - -“I have done a little practicing on the side, though, and I have some -books on magic I’m studying. There’s more to it than most persons -suppose. No, I don’t want to get to the bottom of any of Professor -Rosello’s tricks. I fancy I know most of them anyhow. But I would like -to know what he was doing in that factory, especially up where he was -when the fire broke out.” - -“Maybe he’ll tell us,” said Tom. - -As the two young men went through the town the signs of excitement about -the fire were still pretty much in evidence. On all street corners -little groups were talking about it. Several persons had been overcome -with smoke, and one or two employees were slightly burned, one man -seriously, it was feared. - -As Joe walked along he and Tom heard more than once a murmur of voices, -which could be heard commenting on Joe’s brave act. - -“There he goes now!” some one exclaimed. “The nerviest fellow in seven -counties! I don’t believe there’s a thing Joe Strong doesn’t dare do!” - -“You’re getting famous, Joe,” commented his chum. - -Joe smiled, but said nothing. - -They soon found themselves at the one hotel of Bedford, and, after -stating their errand, a bell-boy came back with the information that -Professor Rosello would see them in his room. - -“He’s a little knocked out,” the clerk informed Joe. “Nothing serious, -though. He’ll be glad to see you.” - -And the professor was. He looked from Joe to Tom as the two lads entered -his room. - -“To whom am I indebted so greatly for the saving of my life?” asked -Professor Rosello, in a rather formal and old-fashioned manner, which -well became him. - -“He did it!” said Tom, quickly, indicating Joe. - -“Then permit me, my dear young sir, to give you my most heartfelt and -sincere thanks.” He shook hands gravely with Joe, and resumed: “I am -well aware that mere words are futile at a time like this, and so I will -refrain from uttering many of them. But, none the less, I do thank you. -I did not realize my danger until after I had been rescued. Then I was -told it was you who had done it. Even yet I hardly realize what I went -through and my escape from a great danger. I dare say it will come to me -as a shock, later.” - -“I hope you’re feeling better,” said Joe, who was anxious to get the -“thanking business,” as he called it, over with. - -“Yes, I am almost myself again, thank you,” was the reply. “I did -swallow a little smoke, but not much. I really had no business to go -where I did. You see it was this way.” - -Tom looked at Joe, as much as to say: - -“Now you’ll get your explanation all right.” - -“I am, as perhaps you know, a sleight-of-hand performer; a magician, as -we are sometimes called. I gave an exhibition in your town last night.” - -“I was there, and liked it first rate!” broke in Tom. “And Joe here—he -showed us——” - -Tom stopped suddenly, for Joe administered an unseen, but none the less -swift, warning kick, under cover of a table. - -“I am glad you liked my little entertainment,” the professor went on, -not appearing to notice the little side-play between Joe and his chum, -if, indeed, he saw it. “As I was saying, I am a modern magician. As you -young gentlemen probably know, we are always on the lookout for new -tricks, new effects, illusions and so on. Perhaps I need not tell you -that there is really no so-called Black Art—nothing really supernatural -in my work, or in that of my fellow artists. We can not overcome nature, -we merely adapt her to our needs. The old truth of the hand being -quicker than the eye still holds good. In fact it is very easy to -deceive the eye, as you doubtless noticed at my little entertainment. -You see——” - -The professor pulled a red handkerchief from his pocket, flourished it -in the air, stuffed it into his clenched fist. Pulled out one end to -disclose a blue flag. Then, with a rapid motion, he stuffed it back into -his clenched fist again, to bring it out pure white, and a moment later, -rolling it up into a ball, he smoothed it out to disclose a miniature -United States flag. - -This he held out to Tom, who, when he took it, found that he was -grasping a lemon. - -“Why—what—how did you——?” he stammered. - -“Merely demonstrating that the hand is quicker than the eye,” said the -professor, smiling. - -“Joe can do——” began Tom, when he was again stopped by a swift kick -under the table. - -“As I said,” resumed the magician, with a smile, “I am always on the -lookout for new effects. This morning, when I was waiting for my train -at the station to take me and my effects on to the next town, where I -show night after to-morrow, I noticed the fireworks factory. It occurred -to me that I might use some simple little piece of fireworks in -demonstrating one of my tricks, so, as I had time enough, I went over to -the office. - -“They had just what I wanted, and the manager took me up to the store -room to show me different styles of it. While we were on the second -floor there was an explosion in one of the distant buildings. The -manager rushed away at once, leaving me there in the factory. - -“I realized that the fire was somewhere near me, but I had no idea that -it might spread to the building in which I then was. Left to myself, I -strolled about, looking at the different pieces of fireworks. I was very -much interested. I even went up to the top story, all alone. Those in -the factory must have rushed out at the first alarm. - -“I realized that there was a fire, but I fairly lost myself in working -out the details of a new illusion that came to me while in the factory. -I sat down amid the store of pyrotechnics and became involved in -thought. Then, before I knew it, I was trapped. I rushed to the opening -and must have fainted. The rest you young gentlemen know better than I.” - -Joe had received the information he wanted. The explanation was a -perfectly natural one. Perhaps, though, no one but a man like Professor -Rosello would have sat down in a fireworks factory, with a blaze near -him, to work out the details of a trick. But, as he said, he fairly lost -himself in a maze of thought, and when he did realize his danger it was -almost too late. - -“And now, once more, permit me to thank you for saving my life. I can -offer you no adequate reward, nor, I imagine, do you want one, Joe -Strong.” - -Joe shook his head negatively. - -“But if ever you are in need of a friend—that is such a friend, with -such limited talents as I possess—don’t fail to call on Peter Crabb, -otherwise known as Professor Rosello,” he added earnestly. “I am going -to travel on to-night,” he resumed. “I shall feel well enough then. I -can not get the fireworks I desired, but they will do later. - -“As I said, if ever you want a friend, don’t forget me. I may not be -able to do much for you, but such as I can do, I will do gladly. I know -many men and women in such lines of public life as I, myself, follow, -and it may be I can help you to gratify some ambition.” - -“I wonder if you could?” asked Joe, boldly. “I have only one -ambition—that is at present—and that is, to be what you are.” - -“A magician?” cried Professor Rosello, somewhat surprised. - -“Yes,” answered Joe. - -The professor was silent a moment. - -“Young man,” he said, “it is not an easy life. There are many hardships, -and not every one can stand them, nor is every one fitted to attempt to -amuse the public as I do. I say that in all modesty, but there is a -certain manual dexterity required, a certain quickness of motion—of the -eye—a certain amount of nerve——” - -“Joe’s got that!” cried Tom, moving away to escape an expected kick. -“And he can do some tricks, too. You ought to see him do the number -trick you worked last night!” - -The professor looked strangely at Joe. - -“You are, perhaps, an amateur?” he asked, slowly. - -“Sort of,” admitted Joe, diffidently. - -“Then perhaps you can master the art, after many years’ practice. If you -like, I will test you. Let me see——” - -“My father was Professor Morretti,” said Joe in a low voice. - -The magician started. - -“Professor Morretti!” he murmured. “Are you his son?” - -“Yes,” said Joe, simply. - -Professor Rosello bowed as to an equal. - -“My dear young man,” he said, “I am greatly interested in you—more so -than before. If you are the true son of Professor Morretti, and if you -have even a small part of his talents, I can predict for you a brilliant -future. He was one of the greatest of us. I never met him, but it was -something even to know him by reputation. I am indeed glad to meet his -son—proud to have been saved by him. - -“And to think I talked to you of years of preparation—that I had an idea -of showing you a few simple tricks, just to discourage you! For I did -not want you to learn by too bitter experience the sorrow of failure. -And you are Professor Morretti’s son! I am proud to know you!” - - - - - CHAPTER VI - A FAMILY JAR - - -The meeting between Joe Strong and the magician had quite a different -result from the one our young wizard had expected. He had not been sure -that his father would be known, even by reputation, to Professor -Rosello, and it was a source of pride and joy to Joe to see the esteem -in which his parent was held. - -“There was no more brilliant performer in the business,” said the -magician. “His box trick is unrivalled to-day, and his mystery of the -ringing bells, while it is done by several, including myself, lacks the -brilliancy and smoothness which he gave it. I wish I had known him, but, -failing in that, I am glad to know his son.” - -“And I am glad to know you,” replied Joe. “It isn’t often I meet any one -who appreciates the profession of a magician, or of a circus rider. My -mother was that, you know.” - -“So I have heard. She, too, was famous in her day. So you are an orphan. -May I inquire with whom you live?” - -Joe gave the details of his bringing up by his foster-parents. Professor -Rosello was much interested, and asked many questions. - -“Are you serious in wishing to adopt the profession, or calling, of a -prestidigitator?” he asked. - -“I certainly am!” answered Joe. “But I know Mr. and Mrs. Blackford will -object to it. They are even ashamed to have folks know what my father -and mother were.” - -“A foolish pride!” murmured the professor. “There are as fine and noble -men and women in the circus, or in any theatrical line, as in any other -calling of life. It is hard that such a prejudice exists against them. I -have met it myself. - -“But, Joe—I am going to call you that, for I feel as if I had known you -a long time. Joe, you realize, perhaps, that you will have to begin at -the bottom of the ladder in this?” - -“Yes,” Joe answered the question eagerly. “Oh, I don’t suppose I could -start in now. I’ve got to work up to it gradually. It’s just my -ambition, that’s all.” - -“Well, I hope you succeed,” said the magician. “I wish I could help you. -Perhaps I can, later. I will give you my card, with the names of the -places where I shall be playing for the next month or two. If you find -that you can begin this life, let me know, and I may find an opening for -you with some of my friends.” - -“Oh, I don’t imagine I can,” and Joe spoke hopelessly. - -“Let me see your hands,” said the professor suddenly. - -Joe held them out. Firm, muscular hands they were, well formed, and -giving an idea of great strength. - -“Good!” murmured the magician. “Here, let me see you palm this,” and -from an unseen portion of his clothing he produced a billiard ball. - -Joe, nothing abashed, at once proceeded to manipulate the ball. He first -exhibited it in one hand, and then in the other. Finally, showing both -hands empty, he reached over and seemingly took the ball from off Tom’s -head! - -“Bravo! Very good! Much better than I expected!” cried the professor. -“You have a natural ability to palm articles. I presume you must have -practiced, also.” - -“A little,” admitted Joe. He did not state that many and many a night, -in his room, he had gone through this and other necessary fundamentals -in the magical art, getting ready for the time when he hoped his -ambition should be realized. Now he was reaping the fruits of his secret -practice. - -“Yes, you are a better palmer than many who are on the stage to-day,” -said the professor. “It would not be fair to you, though, to say that -you have not yet something to learn. But I can see you have great -promise. I sincerely hope I can assist you. I will now write out my -different addresses for you. It may be that, some day, I can help you.” - -The professor sat down at a table, and began making out a list of towns -where he would play in rotation. - -Just here it may be stated for the benefit of readers unacquainted with -the prestidigitator’s art, that “palming,” as it is known in the -profession, is the act of holding an egg, billiard ball, lemon, coin, or -some similar object, in the palm of the hand, by a slight contraction of -the ball of the thumb, in such a manner that the hand, when the back of -it is held out in front of an audience, appears perfectly empty. Passing -of articles from one hand to another, involves palming, as does causing -to “disappear” certain articles apparently taken from a person’s hat, -clothes and so on. - -Palming is the basis of many tricks. The explanation of these tricks is -very simple, involving in most cases the exercise of but three -principles—palming, the use of special and secret apparatus, and the old -trick of deceiving the eye by making certain motions with the hands. - -The professor talked for some little time longer with Joe and Tom, and -did some tricks there, in the hotel room, with simple articles, that -even Joe admitted afterward he could not explain. - -“But I’ll soon learn how they’re done,” he said to Tom, as they came -away. “I’m not going to be stumped by them!” - -“Then your going to keep at this ambition of yours, Joe?” - -“I certainly am! I guess it’s in my blood, Tom.” - -“I wouldn’t be surprised.” - -Professor Rosello had again expressed his profound gratitude to Joe for -saving his life. The magician had almost fully recovered from the shock -and said he would go on that night to the next town where he would, -later, give a performance. Joe left with a list of the succeeding places -where Professor Rosello would “play.” - -“And now I guess I’d better get home,” said Joe to Tom. “The folks may -be worried about me, after hearing about the fire. I’ll send your suit -back as soon as I can.” - -“No hurry about that, Joe.” - -On the way to the residence of his foster-parents Joe heard more talk of -the fire, and his own brave act was often mentioned. How the fire -started was not known, but the conjecture was that spontaneous -combustion was the cause. Fires in factories where Fourth of July -articles are made are not rare occurrences. As a matter of fact, they -are rather to be expected. - -In this case, the saving of the main building prevented what might have -been a calamity with great loss of life. Most of the fire apparatus was -returning as Joe turned down the street where he made his home with Mr. -and Mrs. Blackford. - -“I wonder if he’ll raise a row about my clothes,” thought Joe. To -himself he always thought of Mr. Blackford as “he” and Mrs. Blackford as -“she,” though in conversation with others Joe called them “dad” and -“mother.” - -As has been mentioned before, Mr. and Mrs. Blackford did not intend to -be unkind. They had lived hard and strict lives when they were young, -and they did not see why others should not tread the same path. In -consequence they curtailed Joe’s pleasures, they frowned at every -mention of his parents, and they were, at times, actually harsh and -cruel to him. They excused themselves on the plea that it was “for his -good.” But, undoubtedly, they were very short-sighted. - -Joe would have been much better off had he had kinder treatment and -greater liberty. In fact, at times, he was treated as a child, though he -was, at the opening of this story, nearly eighteen years old. - -“Yes, I reckon I’m in for a wigging,” mused Joe, as he approached the -house. “Might as well get it over with.” - -He vaulted over the gate, landing easily, though it was not a low -barrier by any means. - -“Oh, Joe! Don’t do that!” cried Mrs. Blackford. She had seen him from -the window. “You might spoil your shoes!” - -“Oh, I guess not,” he answered easily. - -“And what has happened to you?” she went on. “That isn’t your suit! -Where have you been? Did you hear about the fire?” - -“Yes. I was there. It was quite a blaze.” - -“And what about your suit?” went on the elderly woman. “This isn’t -yours.” - -“I know it.” - -“Whose is it?” - -“Tom Simpson’s. He lent it to me.” - -“But where’s your own?” - -“Burned.” - -“Burned?” Mrs. Blackford’s voice was shrill. - -“Yes. At the fire. I—er—well, I helped get a man out, and my suit was -scorched. I had to borrow Tom’s to wear home. Couldn’t wear mine.” - -Mrs. Blackford raised her hands in surprise, and pushed her spectacles -to the top of her head in order better to look at Joe. - -“Well, of all things!” she cried. “I never heard tell of such goings on! -The very idea!” - -“What’s the matter? What has happened?” asked the rather harsh voice of -Deacon Blackford, as he came up the walk on his way home from the office -of his feed and grain business. “Has that boy been doing something -again?” he asked. - -“Doing something! I should say he had!” cried Mrs. Blackford. “He’s got -his good suit burned up at the fire!” - -“What?” cried the deacon. - -“I couldn’t help it,” said Joe, in self-defense. “I had to save that -man. It was the only way.” - -Then Joe told briefly and modestly what he had done. He did not bring -out his true worth in the matter of the rescue, and he hardly made it -plain that, had it not been for his soaking wet suit, Professor Rosello -might have been fatally burned. - -“Professor Rosello?” queried Mr. Blackford. “Is he a school teacher, -Joe?” - -“No, sir, he’s a professor of magic.” - -“Magic! You mean one of those worthless characters who go about giving -silly exhibitions, like the one that was here last night?” - -“Yes, he was the one I saved,” Joe answered. “I’m sorry about my suit, -but it couldn’t be helped.” - -“The idea!” cried Mrs. Blackford. - -Mr. Blackford looked stern. - -“A low, public performer!” he murmured. “Was there no one else to save -him—no one who is paid to do such things—firemen with suits that would -not easily burn? Could not one of them save him?” - -“There wasn’t time,” Joe answered. “I just ran in, climbed up the rope, -and lowered him down, after I tied my wet suit about him.” - -“How did you get your suit wet?” the deacon questioned. - -“Swimming the creek.” - -“Swimming the creek! Why did you do that?” - -“To get to the fire quicker. I didn’t want to wait to go around over the -bridge.” - -“Humph!” - -Deacon Blackford fairly grunted out the word. He looked sharply at Joe. - -“Well, I must say,” he exclaimed sharply, “that you have made a pretty -exhibition of yourself! The idea of first spoiling a suit of clothes by -swimming the creek, and then burning it up!” - -“And he had worn that suit only a little over two years!” put in Mrs. -Blackford. “It was his second best. Oh, what a wasteful and careless boy -you are! It’s a shame!” - -“That’s what I say!” thundered the deacon. “And, what’s more, you’ll -suffer for this, Joe! You have some money saved up. I shall take this to -pay for the suit you ruined.” - -“I didn’t ruin it!” Joe retorted, desperately enough. “I had to save the -man’s life. It was the only way!” - -“Stuff and nonsense!” snapped the deacon. - -“No nonsense at all!” cried Joe, his temper now thoroughly aroused. “I -just had to do it!” - -“Don’t talk back to me!” cried his foster-father. “I’ll teach you not to -be impudent to me!” He drew back his hand as though to strike Joe, but -the latter, after an involuntary closing of his fist, stepped back out -of the way. Joe’s face was pale. - -“I’ll not take a blow from you, sir. Not any more,” he said in a quiet -voice. - -“You won’t, eh?” stormed the deacon. “We’ll see what you’ll take and -won’t take! You’ll pay for that suit, that’s sure! And we’ll see who’s -boss here! I’ll strike you if I like! You’re not of age yet! Now go to -your room. I don’t want to act hastily. Go to your room at once, before -I get angry,” and, with a stamp of his foot, the old man raised a stern -hand and pointed to the stairway. - -Joe turned aside without a word. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - MR. BLACKFORD’S TROUBLE - - -Bitter at heart was Joe Strong as he walked slowly into his room and -shut the door. This was a common form of punishment with the deacon, -since he had given up his frequent whippings of Joe. - -Just what effect the old man thought it had on the youth to send him to -his room it is hard to tell. But Joe had often been sent there to sit in -loneliness, often without a meal, or at best with bread and water. At -times the deacon declared bread and water was all Joe could have, but -Mrs. Blackford had a kinder heart, and she would butter the slices she -brought up to Joe. - -“Well, I had the row all right,” mused Joe, as he sat down in the chair -near a window. “It was just as I expected. As if I could help getting my -suit scorched!” - -From his window Joe could look across the fields to the fireworks -factory, now mostly a heap of ruins. He thought of the professor he had -saved, and he also thought of what Mr. Crabb had said of Joe’s father -and mother. - -“If you were only alive now,” thought Joe, with a sigh, “things would be -different. I’d be with you in the circus, and what great times we’d have -together!” - -With shining eyes, in which there was a small trace of tears, Joe gazed -off into the distance. He realized that his feelings were getting the -best of him. - -“Come, come, old man!” he told himself. “This won’t do! Not at all! Not -for a minute! You’ve got to brace up!” - -He arose, raised his arms, and, taking off his coat, began to go through -some simple gymnastic exercises. Even under his shirt one could see the -ripple and play of his superb muscles. Joe was not the sort of athlete -that develops into a “strong man.” He was more of the all-around type, -though he did possess unusual strength for a youth of his age. He could -use it to advantage, too. The trapeze was his favorite, though he could -do some startling feats on the flying rings and the horizontal bars. - -“There, I feel better!” Joe announced, as he sat down, breathing a -little faster because of the rapid exercise he had taken. “But I do wish -I had a regular gym. I could work myself up in better shape. But what’s -the use of wishing.” - -He could hear, from downstairs, the murmur of the voices of his -foster-father and mother. - -“Talking about me, I suppose,” mused Joe. “Trying to decide what -punishment to inflict. Well, I know one thing, and that is if he tries -to give me a whipping I won’t stand it! No, sir! That’s the limit! He -scolded me enough, and he humiliates me by sending me up here, as if I -were some five-year-old child. But that’s as far as I’ll let him go! He -shan’t beat me! - -“If he does—if he does, I’ll——” - -Joe paused in his thinking. Again his gaze wandered off toward the -burned factory, and again he saw, in fancy, the huddled form of the -magician. “That’s what I’ll do!” exclaimed Joe, this time half aloud. “I -won’t wait for him to give me a beating, which I think he’s planning to -do. No, sir, I won’t wait for that. I’m glad I thought of it. It’s about -the only thing left for me to do. I’ve about reached the limit.” - -Joe went to his closet and took out a suit of clothes. It was his -“best,” kept for Sundays and special occasions. Then he went to his -bureau and began to look among the drawers. - -“The only thing is about getting this suit back to Tom,” mused Joe. -“I’ll have to do that. If I left it here they might not give it to him.” - -He paused to listen once more to the murmur of voices below him. The -deacon’s dull and rumbly and his wife’s shriller. - -“Still at it!” said Joe grimly. - -From a far and dark corner of the closet Joe brought out an old valise. -It had not often been used, for Joe seldom traveled. Deacon Blackford -had no money to waste on such “foolishness.” - -“That’ll hold about all I’ll want to take with me,” Joe mused. “Now, the -next question is, can I get out of here without their suspecting? Of -course, I’ll have to do it after dark.” - -Joe went to a window and looked out. What he saw satisfied him. - -“I wouldn’t be much of a climber if I couldn’t get down that,” he -murmured with a smile. - -“It isn’t as if this were the first trouble we’d had,” mused Joe, “nor -the first time he’d punished me unjustly.” - -Joe spoke the truth. Though doing what he thought was the best for his -foster-son, Mr. Blackford was a harsh man. And he did not seem to -realize that Joe was growing up. He made no allowances for that. - -“I’m going to quit,” Joe told himself. “I’m going to light out. I -haven’t much money,” and he looked at the sum in a box that, since he -was a little fellow, had served him as a “bank.” - -“It won’t take me far,” Joe mused. “I can’t travel in a Pullman car, -that’s sure. That is, not one of the regular ones. A side-door Pullman -for mine!” and Joe smiled as he thought of the tramp’s designation of a -freight car. - -“And after I quit here—well, I guess I can find something to do. I ought -to be able to make my living.” - -Joe laid out his money, and then, rather idly, he began palming coins, -doing various tricks with them, sending them spinning up in the air -seemingly to vanish. - -“A little out of order,” Joe said, as he missed one trick. “I’ll have to -practice.” - -As Joe put the money in his pocket his fingers came in contact with a -paper. He drew it out. It was the list of towns where Professor Rosello -would play. - -“That’s what I’ll do,” decided the young wizard. “I’ll go to him. He -said he’d help me if he could. I don’t imagine he is very rich, but he’s -good. And if he can’t give me anything else he can advise me. I need -that, I’m thinking.” - -It was now late afternoon, almost time for supper, and Joe wondered -whether he would get anything to eat. - -“I’ll go whether I do or not,” he said. “I can buy something after I’m -away from here, for I sure am going.” - -He could not hear his foster-parents talking now, and he wondered -whether his fate had been decided on. In such case the deacon might come -upstairs with the whip he occasionally used on Joe. - -“If he comes I won’t let him in,” thought our hero, as he locked his -room door. “He’ll have to break that down to get me, and I don’t believe -he’ll do it—cost him too much for repairs. As soon as it’s dark enough, -I’ll slip out the window. No, I guess I’d better wait until they’re in -bed and asleep. No use taking chances, and I’ve got plenty of time. I’ll -wait until about midnight.” - -Joe went on with his preparations for leaving home. He had no regrets, -for, after all, it had not been much of a home of late. - -“If only my father and mother were alive!” Joe said softly. “It sure -would be great to travel around the country with them. My father could -show me all his new tricks, and my mother would teach me more about -horses. But there’s no use wishing.” - -As Joe stood looking out through the window he saw Deacon Blackford -pass, walking down the street in the direction of the feed and grain -store which he owned. - -“That’s queer,” mused Joe. “I wonder what he’s going back to the store -for at this hour. He never does that so near supper time. He must have -forgotten something. Or maybe he’s got something new in his head about -me. I wonder what he’s going back for?” - -Joe might have wondered still more could he have looked into the feed -store a little later. For Deacon Blackford was in close consultation -with two men—in such close consultation that it was necessary to shut -and lock the office door. - -“Well, you’ve come back, I see,” remarked one of the men. He had shifty -eyes that did not gaze straight at the person with whom he was talking. - -“Yes, Denton, I’ve come back, as I said I would,” replied Mr. Blackford. -“But I tell you now, it’s no use! I’m not going to give up another -cent.” - -“Will you give us the papers then?” asked the man called Denton. He -seemed to be pleading, rather than demanding. - -“Give us the papers,” he went on. “We can get a little back from the -investment then. We won’t lose it all. If you won’t give us the money -give us the papers.” - -“He’ll give us both, Burke, that’s what he’ll give us!” broke in the -other man. This man had a hard face, and his eyes, unlike those of his -companion, met his opponent’s boldly. But they did not have a pleasant -or safe look—those eyes. “He’ll give us both, that’s what he’ll give -us!” said this man again. “If he doesn’t he’ll suffer for it!” and he -banged his fist down on the deacon’s desk. - -“Oh, go easy now, Harrison,” advised Burke Denton. “Go a bit easy.” - -“No, that’s not my way!” exclaimed Jake Harrison. “What I want I’ll get, -if I have to take it out of his hide. He went into this investment with -us and——” - -“But you said it would be successful, and that we’d all make money,” -whined the deacon. “I didn’t think I’d lose.” - -“I told you it wasn’t a dead sure thing,” said Harrison. “You knew it -was a risk when you went into it. Now we’re in a hole, and you will have -to help us out.” - -“And if I refuse?” - -“Then you’ll be in more trouble. What we want is money enough to tide us -over, or else those papers, so we can use ’em to raise money on from -some one else. Come now, you’ve got the money and we know it. We’re -going to have it, too!” And again Harrison banged his fist down on the -desk, so that Mr. Blackford jumped. - -There was a worried look on his face as he looked at the two men—one -shifty, and inclined to temporize, merely through fear of getting into -too-deep water, the other a bolder and more hardened character, it -seemed. - -“Come, what do you say?” asked Harrison. “The papers or the money?” - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE RUNAWAY - - -Deacon Blackford did not answer at once. He remained in his seat at his -desk, looking first at one man and then at the other. Often his fingers -would beat a drumming tattoo on the top of the desk, as though he were -too nervous to keep still. - -“Well!” said Harrison, sharply, “what’s it to be? We can’t wait all -night!” - -“Oh, we might give him a little more time,” suggested Denton. “I know -what it is——” - -“You keep still!” fiercely interrupted Harrison. “I know what I’m -talking about! We’ve given him too much time as it is. We need the -papers or the money, and we’re going to get what we want!” - -“Well, I s’pose it’ll have to be as you say,” weakly agreed the other. - -“That’s what it will!” was the prompt comment. “Come now, Blackford, -settle up with us about this investment business. What’s it to be—the -papers or the money?” - -“Neither one!” said the deacon sharply. “I won’t give you any more -money. And if you think I’m going to give up the valuable papers, which -represent the only claim I have on you, you’re very much mistaken. -You’ll get neither, and that’s my last word!” - -This time he banged his fist down on the desk with a sudden energy that -seemed to surprise even Harrison. An ugly look came over the face of the -hardened man. He half closed his bold eyes and leaned forward toward the -deacon, craning his neck forward like some big snake about to strike its -victim. - -“So that’s your answer, is it?” he asked. - -“That’s what it is!” declared Joe’s foster-father. “You’ll get neither -the money nor the papers!” - -“Oh, come now,” began Denton, in rather pleading tones. “You’d better -think again, Deacon. Take a little more time, and——” - -“I’ve had all the time I want,” said Mr. Blackford. “That’s my last -answer—neither the money nor the papers!” - -“Well now, if I were you——” began Denton, when Harrison stopped him with -a fierce gesture. - -“That’s enough,” he cried. “If that’s his last word, it’s ours, too. -Come on, Denton.” - -He arose as if to leave. - -“But I thought we were going to get——” - -“Oh, we’ll get what we want, all right!” broke in Harrison. - -“Not from me, you won’t!” declared the deacon. - -“We’re not through with you yet, and don’t you forget it, Amos -Blackford,” retorted Harrison, and his voice was cool and cutting now. -“You’ll hear from us again, and in a way you least expect. Come on, -Denton,” and, turning, the bold-faced rascal started from the office of -the feed and grain dealer. - -Denton hesitated as though he wanted to stay and argue the matter -further, but Harrison caught him fiercely by the arm and fairly pulled -him outside. - -When the two men were gone, Deacon Blackford sat in the now dim office, -for dusk was falling. The grain dealer sat still for about a minute. -Then he said, aloud: - -“Well, I’m well rid of those rascals. I’m glad I stood out firm against -them, or they’d have made me lose more money. No, indeed, I’ll not give -up those papers, and I won’t sink any more of my hard-earned cash in -their investment schemes. I’m glad I’m through with them, even if I do -lose what I put into their business. Yes, indeed! And I’m glad this talk -is over.” - -The deacon locked his desk, and prepared to leave. He had come down to -his place of business at this unusual hour, when all his employees were -gone, on purpose to be alone with the two men to whom he had granted an -interview. - -“Yes, I’m glad it’s over,” he said again. “Now I can give my mind over -to dealing with Joe. That boy is certainly a trial to me! It’s the bad -blood of his foolish parents cropping out, I suppose. I almost wish I -had not adopted him, but I thought he would outgrow the circus and -magician instincts. But they are coming out, in spite of all we have -done. And to think of burning his suit just to rescue one of those -good-for-nothing sleight-of-hand performers!” - -The deacon shook his head, walked slowly from his office, and, after -locking the door, started down the street in the direction of his home. - -“Yes, I really must punish Joe,” he murmured. “He needs a severe -lesson.” - -“You’re late, Amos,” said Mrs. Blackford, as her husband came in to -supper. “You’re very late. The victuals are all spoiled, but it’s a pity -to cook anything else.” - -“Oh, yes, don’t throw ’em away,” said the old man quickly. “We can’t -afford to waste anything. I don’t mind if the potatoes are dried up. I -can eat ’em. I haven’t much appetite, anyhow.” - -The interview with the two rascals had upset the deacon more than he -thought. He sat heavily down in his place at the table, while his wife -began to serve the meal. - -“What made you so late?” she asked. “And why did you have to go back to -the store? You never did that before.” - -“Oh, I had some business to look after,” Mr. Blackford answered. “It was -important, but it’s all settled now. I won’t have to do it again.” - -He began to eat his supper, and then he happened to think of Joe. -Perhaps the sight of the vacant chair on the opposite side of the table -brought the boy to his mind. - -“Did you take him up anything?” he asked his wife, nodding his head -toward Joe’s upper room. - -“I gave him some bread, just as you told me to.” - -“Anything else?” asked the old man sharply. - -“Well—er—I had plenty of milk so I thought he might as well have a glass -of that instead of water.” - -“Um!” grunted the deacon, but that was all he said just then. Mrs. -Blackford did not add that she had buttered the bread, and that the -slices were unusually thick, and that she had put one extra on the plate -she handed into Joe’s room. Mrs. Blackford was a little afraid of the -deacon, but Joe had, on this occasion, profited by her slight kindness -to him. - -She had taken Joe’s simple meal up to him at the usual supper time, and -he had unlocked his door while taking in the plate of bread and butter -and the glass of milk. He did not speak, nor did Mrs. Blackford. It was -the regular form of procedure on such unpleasant occasions as this. - -Joe was glad when he saw the milk and the extra slice of bread. - -“If I’m going to run away,” he thought, “I’ll need all the food they -give me. I won’t be able to get anything at midnight, which is about the -time I leave. I suppose I might raid the pantry,” he added to himself -after a moment’s thought, “but then they might hear me and stop me. No, -I’ll just have to make this do.” - -He ate the bread and drank the milk, thinking the while of his future. -It was a bold step he was taking, and yet Joe did not regret having -decided on it. He had reached the limit of patience as far as his -foster-parents were concerned. True, he owed something to them, but he -felt he had more than paid the debt. - -For when Joe’s real parents died there was a little sum of money -realized from the sale of Professor Morretti’s effects, and this the -deacon had taken charge of. He used it to clothe and educate Joe, taking -out a certain sum each year for “board and lodging.” - -In consequence the money was all used up, the last of it about two years -prior to the opening of this story, so that Joe’s little inheritance had -paid his way for some years. - -Then, when the lad was old enough, the deacon, before and after school -hours, had called on Joe’s strength in the feed and grain business, Joe -being an efficient helper. - -The deacon was honest in his way, and he allowed Joe money for this -help. But he did not overpay the lad and part of what he gave, the -deacon took back for board and lodging, though allowing Joe a certain -sum each week. Joe had saved most of this, and it was from this horde -that the deacon proposed deducting the money to pay for the burned suit. - -“But he shan’t do it!” said Joe fiercely, as he felt of the money he had -put in the pocket of his best suit. He was going to wear that when he -left, carrying Tom’s suit, which he intended leaving on the door-step of -the Simpson home, with a note explaining the circumstances. - -After his supper, if one could call it that, Joe undressed, and lay down -on the bed. He was tired from the day’s excitement, and he realized that -he had a hard night before him. His plans, as yet, were rather hazy. All -he was sure of was that he was going to run away. - -Deacon Blackford did not eat much supper. His wife was rather nervously -anticipating another scene between him and Joe, but the deacon did not -mention the lad’s name. Mr. Blackford sat in glum silence after the -meal. Finally Mrs. Blackford could stand it no longer. She wanted to -know the worst. - -“What are you going to do to—him?” she finally asked. - -“Who? Joe?” - -“Yes. Are you going to—to whip him?” - -“I think likely I shall,” answered the old man. “He’s got to be taught a -lesson. But I’ll wait until morning to do it. I want to do it without -getting angry at him.” - -Mrs. Blackford breathed a silent sigh of relief. She felt that if the -deacon put off the whipping until the next day he might not do it at -all. And she dreaded to have it happen. She realized, if her husband did -not, that Joe was too big now to be whipped. - -The evening began to lengthen into night, and the deacon prepared for -bed. Joe was listening in his room for a cessation of sounds that would -indicate it would be safe for him to attempt to leave. Finally all was -still. - -Joe cautiously arose and dressed in the dark. There was a half-moon, and -it gave him illumination enough to see without making a light in his -room. Putting on his best suit, Joe made a bundle of Tom’s clothing. The -lad had already packed a valise with his few belongings. - -With a length of strong fish-line he lowered his valise from the window -to the ground below. He was glad the deacon’s bedroom was on the other -side of the house. Next Joe lowered the bundle, and then he prepared to -make his way down to the ground. - -To do this he was going to lower himself, hand over hand, on the -lightning rod. The deacon was old-fashioned enough to have one of these -contrivances on his house, and the twisted, galvanized rod, in its glass -insulating supports, was close to Joe’s window. - -To a youth of Joe’s muscle and ability in gymnastics it was no feat at -all to climb down the lightning rod. On the contrary, Joe thought it -fun—or he would have under pleasanter circumstances. - -“I’ll just give this a pull or two, to make sure it will hold me,” Joe -mused. “I don’t want to come a cropper.” - -Leaning out of his window, he exerted his strength against the lightning -rod. To his dismay it was loose, and a little stronger pull would have -torn it away from the side of the house. - -“Whew!” whistled Joe, softly. “That’s bad. I’ll never dare trust my -weight to that. I’d come down all at once. I wouldn’t mind the fall so -very much, but I’d make a racket, and he’d sure wake up. Now what can I -do? I ought to have tested that rod this afternoon, and then I could -have begun tearing up the sheets into a rope. Maybe I can do that now.” - -Joe was about to do this, then decided on a more straightforward plan. - -“They’re both sound asleep,” he reflected. “I can easily slip down the -stairs and go out the front door. I won’t make any noise, and it will be -safer even than going down by a bed-sheet rope. That might break or slip -off what I tied it to, and I’d fall anyhow. Yes, I’ll go out the front -way, but I’ll have to be very quiet.” - -Joe took off his shoes, unlocked his door with great caution, and went -softly down the stairs. To his delight they did not creak much, and he -soon found himself in the lower hall. - -As he was at the front door turning the key, he heard a sudden noise -behind him in the darkness. - -“Jinks! He’s heard me!” reflected Joe quickly. “I’ve got to run for it!” - -He opened the door and fairly leaped off the steps in his stocking-feet. -It was the work of but an instant to run around the side path, pick up -the bundle of Tom’s clothes and the valise, and then leap over the fence -to the sidewalk. Then, still carrying his shoes and other things, Joe -sped on, running away, fearful lest the awakened deacon should run after -him. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - THE OVERTURNED LAMP - - -The noise which Joe Strong had heard was not caused, as he had feared, -by the rousing of Deacon Blackford. All things considered, it might have -been well for Joe had it been. - -While the youth was running away as fast as he could, considering the -fact that he had on no shoes, but had to carry them, as well as his -valise and a bundle of clothes, something was taking place back in the -deacon’s house that was destined to have quite an effect on Joe’s life. - -He had heard a noise, that was certain, and it had come from the -interior of the dark house. - -But the noise was not made by the deacon. Instead it came from one of -two men who were cautiously entering the Blackford homestead through a -rear door, which they had opened by the simple but effective method of -“nippering the key.” - -That is one of them, with a pair of peculiarly shaped pincers, or -nippers, had reached the little projecting round end of the key that -extends beyond the flat, or ward, part. This is the little end one -sometimes sees sticking partly out of the keyhole, if on the opposite -side of the door from the key itself. - -Grasping this little end in a pair of nippers that held it securely, one -of the men easily turned the key—almost as easily as if he had been on -the other side of the door using his fingers to twist the opener in the -manner intended by law for it to turn. - -As the back door of the deacon’s house softly and slowly swung open, two -men, wearing masks, quietly entered. And then one of them, as he reached -in his pocket for an electric flash lamp, knocked against a chair. - -“Keep still! What’s the matter with you, Denton, banging about in that -way?” demanded the other of the men in a fierce whisper, which, however, -was a most guarded whisper. The sound of it did not carry two feet. -“What are you doing, anyhow?” - -“I couldn’t help it,” answered Denton. “How was I to know, Jake, that -the confounded chair was in the road?” - -“You ought to be able to see in the dark,” was the retort. “You’ve been -up to enough shady work of late.” - -“No more than you!” - -The reply came sharply. The men were on the verge of a quarrel, and at a -time when they needed to work in harmony. All this had passed in a -second, the echo of the noise made by the chair hardly having had time -to die away. - -“Come, this won’t do—scrapping,” remarked Harrison, in more conciliatory -tones. “We’ve got to get busy. Listen and see if you think that racket -roused him.” - -The men stood still in the darkness, tensely waiting. They did not hear -a sound. They did not hear Joe open the front door, close it and run -away. This was because they were at the very back of the house, and also -because Joe moved very softly. Thinking, as he did, that the deacon had -awakened and was coming after him, Joe determined not to betray himself -by any sound. - -So, having made a noise themselves, the intruders, listening to -determine if it had roused the inmates, did not hear Joe’s escape. - -“I guess it’s all right,” came from Denton, still whispering. - -“We can’t afford to take chances on guessing,” was the remark of his -companion. “We’ve got to make sure. We can’t risk being caught, for what -we’re going to do is a state-prison offense.” - -“How? It is? We’re only taking what we have at least half a right to.” - -“Never mind! Wait until we get through.” - -“You’re not going to do anything desperate, are you?” asked Denton, and -he seemed to fear his bolder and rasher companion. - -“Keep still. You’ll see,” was the reply. “Listen for a sound. If we -don’t hear any in three minutes we’ll go on and do the job.” - -The men waited, tense, silent and anxious, standing there in the -darkness, ready to run at the slightest sound. But none came. The noise -made by one of them in the collision with the chair, seemed not to have -aroused any one in the house. - -“All right, come on,” whispered Harrison. “You know where he keeps the -papers, don’t you?” - -“Yes. In his desk. It’s in what he calls the ‘back parlor.’ I was in -there a couple of times when we were putting the deal through, and I -know the very drawer he keeps the papers in. That is, if he hasn’t taken -them out.” - -“Oh, I don’t think he has, Burke.” - -“He might have, Jake. You put it on a bit strong this afternoon, telling -him we’d get the best of him anyhow. He may be expecting something like -this.” - -“Never! He thinks we’ve given up. But of course we won’t!” - -“I should say not! We need those papers.” - -“Yes, and we need cash, too!” - -“You’re not going to do that are you—rob him of money?” - -Burke Denton seemed much alarmed. - -“Oh, keep still and come on,” roughly ordered the other. “We are -chinning away here like a couple of women. There’s work to be done. -Everybody’s asleep, it’s perfectly safe.” - -“Where does that lad sleep—Blackford’s son?” - -“Upstairs on the top floor, I think. But he isn’t Blackford’s son—only -adopted.” - -“Think he’ll make any trouble?” - -“No. We can take care of him.” - -But Joe Strong was then too far off to make any trouble for the -intruders. They were now cautiously moving through the house, one of -them occasionally flashing a beam from his electric torch to show the -way through the rooms. - -“Here’s the back parlor,” announced Denton, who seemed to know the plan -of the house. - -“All right! Now we’ll get busy,” whispered his companion. “Get out your -keys. We may have to try a lot of ’em before we find one that fits.” - -“And I sure hope we do find one,” murmured Denton. “I don’t want to have -to force open the desk. It makes too much noise.” - -“You’re right there.” - -The two criminals seemed on better terms now, and were working in -harmony. Advancing by the intermittent flashes of the electric torch, -they approached a large, old-fashioned desk where Deacon Blackford kept -books, papers and many other things, partly connected with his business, -and partly with his home life. - -The desk was one of those old-fashioned ones, with an upper part made in -the form of a bookcase, with two glass doors. Below this was a sort of -flap, that could be let down. This formed a writing table, and when the -flap was down it disclosed rows of pigeonholes, small drawers and -compartments for books and papers. Still below this section, and on -either side of a hollowed-out place, were more drawers. - -“Come on, get busy!” directed Harrison. “You’re better at opening desks -than I am. Get out your keys. I’ll hold the torch.” - -Denton passed the flashing torch over, and while his companion held it, -having slipped the switch to a permanent place, so that there was a -steady beam of light, the man with the keys proceeded to try one after -another in the keyhole of the desk. He was attempting to lower the -writing flap, to come to the compartments and drawers inside. - -Key after key he tried, making none but the slightest sounds. But the -lock did not give. - -“Guess we’ll have to jimmy it after all,” said Denton. “Hold the light -nearer, can’t you? Can’t see a thing.” - -“The light’s as near as I can get it, and not be in your way,” was the -retort. “Oh, look! Hang it all! the battery’s giving out!” - -As he spoke the light quickly began to fade from a bright, white glow of -the tungsten filament to a dull yellow. From this it became only a -little red streak, and the two men were suddenly left in darkness. - -“This is a nice pickle!” said Harrison, angrily. “Why didn’t you put in -a fresh battery?” - -“I did. You must have been flashing it too often.” - -“Go on! This is the first time I’ve held the light to-night. It’s all -your fault! Now we’ve either got to call it off or work by the use of -matches. We can’t see to get the right papers in the dark.” - -“Wait a minute. I have a scheme,” suggested Denton. “I saw a lamp on the -table right here. I’ll light that.” - -“If it’s got any oil in it,” half-sneered Harrison. - -“Oh, they keep their lamps filled I reckon. Stand still now, and I’ll -light it.” - -Denton struck a match, found the lamp and presently had the wick aglow. - -“Turn it down, you chump!” hoarsely whispered Harrison. “That can be -seen from outside.” - -Denton lowered the wick until the light was dim, but even then it was -better to work by than had been the electric torch, for the illumination -was more diffused. - -Denton went to work with the keys again, and luck seemed to be with him, -for after two trials the desk was opened. It was the work of but a few -minutes for the men to sort over the papers and pick out those they -wanted. - -“Now we’ve got ’em!” exclaimed Denton. “I guess he’ll talk business to -us now!” - -“We won’t bother to talk business, now we’ve got what we want,” answered -Harrison. “We’ll just light out. But before we go we might as well have -this. No use passing up a chance like this.” - -He reached over his companion’s shoulder and took a roll of bills from a -drawer that had been opened in the course of the search for the papers. - -“You’re not going to take that, are you?” asked Denton. “Why, we’ve got -the papers.” - -“Yes; and we’re going to have some money, too. I told the deacon we’d -get even with him, and I’m doing it. This will come in handy.” - -He pocketed the money. The other shook his head. - -“That’s wrong!” he said. “It’s risky, too. We ought to be satisfied with -the papers.” - -“Maybe you are, but I’m not. I’ll take all the cash I can lay my hands -on. And while we’re here we might as well see if there’s any more. -There’s a clock over there. Lots of country folks stick bills in clocks. -I’m going to have a look.” - -Despite the protests of his companion, Harrison went over to a mantel -where stood a large wooden clock. As he opened the door he exclaimed: - -“Talk about luck! Here’s another roll. Say, I’m glad we came!” - -“Put that back!” commanded the other. “We have enough.” - -“Never can have enough cash,” chuckled the other. “This makes the haul -worth while. Now we’ll go!” - -The talk had been done in whispers, and every move of the men was a -silent one. Denton, who was not quite such a rascal as Harrison, -protested against taking the money, but in vain. - -“I’ve got it, and I’m going to keep it!” was the last word of Harrison. - -“Well, it’ll get us into trouble, you see if it won’t,” declared the -more timid of the intruders. - -“If it does, it’ll help us out of trouble, too. I’m going to keep the -money, and you don’t have to take your share if you don’t want to. Now -we’ll just take another look through the desk, for we may have missed -something, and then——” - -But what else Harrison was going to propose was not made manifest, for -at that instant Denton exclaimed: - -“Keep still! I hear a noise!” - -There was no doubt of it. Some one could be heard coming down the front -stairs. - -“Come on!” hoarsely whispered Harrison. “We’ve got to beat it!” - -Denton turned to go out the way they had come in, by the rear door, but -his companion caught him by the arm. - -“Not that way!” he whispered in his ear. “We’d be caught sure! This -window—the one by the desk—come on!” - -It was the work of but an instant to slip the catch and raise the -window. Harrison jumped out followed by Denton, and as the latter -cleared the sill his foot knocked the lamp off the desk to the floor. - -There was a crash of glass, and as Denton and Harrison ran off in the -darkness they saw a flash of flame, and they smelled burning kerosene. - -“What’s that?” asked Harrison, turning for a swift backward glance. - -“I kicked over the lamp—accidental,” gasped Denton. “It’s exploded and -started a fire. We—we’ll have to go back and put it out!” - -Harrison laughed in a low chuckle. - -“Go back nothing!” he whispered fiercely. “Let it burn!” - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE SIDE-DOOR PULLMAN - - -Joe Strong, unaware of the exciting events that were taking place in the -home of his foster-parents—a home he had deserted for what, to him, were -good and sufficient reasons—hurried on down the silent and dark streets -of Bedford. It was unusual in such a small town for any one to be out -after midnight, unless there were some special occasion, and the young -wizard had the place to himself. - -“Well, I got out of that all right,” he said, half aloud, as he stopped, -when safely around the corner, to put on his shoes. “I got away without -the deacon’s seeing me. But he was right after me, and I didn’t think I -made much noise. - -“Let’s see now,” went on our hero, musingly, as he straightened up after -lacing his shoes. “What had I better do? Say, it’s great to feel free to -do just as one pleases for the first time in years!” - -Joe flung up his arms and gazed at the silent, blinking stars which -sprinkled the sky overhead. - -“It sure does feel good to be your own boss! I can go when I please, and -come when I please, and I don’t have to stand the shame of a beating -just because I burned a suit in saving a man’s life! It sure is good to -be free!” - -Joe was to learn that it is not all joy and happiness to be “free,” and -to be one’s “own boss,” but, just at present, he felt only a sense of -exultation. - -“First I’ve got to leave this bundle at Tom’s house,” thought Joe, as he -picked up the suit which had been loaned him. “I’ll leave it there with -a note that will explain. I wish I could see some of the boys to bid ’em -good-bye, but maybe it’s just as well not to. They might laugh at me, -and I wouldn’t want that. Some day, when I’m a well-known magician, I’ll -come back and give ’em a show that will open their eyes!” - -Joe next picked up his valise. It was rather heavy, for he had stuffed -in it belongings that had accumulated for years—little mementos and -keepsakes of younger days. He also had in it what clothes he felt he -would need. But Joe did not feel the weight of his satchel now. It was -as light as a feather to him. - -And to prove it Joe tossed it up in the air, also the bundle of Tom’s -clothes, and there in the darkness of midnight, standing in the middle -of one of Bedford’s principal streets, he juggled the objects in the -most approved style, using a small stone he had picked up for the third -piece to make a symmetrical act. - -“I’ll be able to do some juggling if I have to, when I want to fill in -between tricks,” thought Joe. “I do hope I can get work in some sort of -a show. Professor Rosello ought to be able to give me a letter, -introducing me to some of his friends in the business. - -“Well, standing here juggling and thinking about it won’t get me -anywhere,” said Joe, in a sort of stage whisper. “I’d better be moving -if I’m to get a berth in my side-door Pullman,” and he laughed in a -silent fashion at the idea. - -Joe had made up his mind to go to the town of Lorilard, distant about -fifty miles from Bedford, where Professor Rosello was to give a -performance the next day, and for two or three days following. This much -the magician had told Joe in the interview at the hotel, when he gave -him a list of his stopping places. - -“Yes, I’ll go to see the professor at Lorilard,” decided Joe. “He can’t -any more than turn me down. But he promised to help me, and he was -grateful to me. I believe he’ll be able to do something.” Now for Tom’s -house, and then my ‘berth!’” - -Joe had made up his mind to take the midnight freight that stopped at -Bedford, and which arrived in Lorilard some time in the early morning. -Joe was not particular as to time. - -“I’ll have to save what money I have,” thought the boy, “so I won’t have -any to waste on railroad fare. A freight car will suit me.” - -Joe Strong walked on through the dark and silent streets. He kept on the -grass as much as possible, for his footsteps rang out loudly in the -quietness, and Joe knew that “Hen” Sylvester and Tim Donovan, the two -policemen of Bedford, did not spend quite all the night in sleep. - -“I just wouldn’t like ’em to see me going away like this,” thought Joe. -“They’d be sure to stop and ask me questions. And if I make too much -noise walking on the sidewalks they may hear me. It’s me for the green -grass.” - -And so he went on until he came to the Simpson house. Joe there came to -a pause, and looked at the dwelling. No light showed. - -“Guess they’re all asleep,” he mused. “I wouldn’t want any of the family -to see me sneaking up and leaving a bundle on the steps. They might take -me for a burglar, and raise a row.” - -Silently and cautiously he opened the front gate, and tiptoed up the -brick walk, leaving his valise outside. He laid the suit of clothes, -with a little note he had written, in plain view on the door-step, and -then with a whispered good-bye to Tom, which that sound-sleeping lad did -not hear, Joe set off again. - -“Now I’m really on my way,” he told himself. “The whole world lies -before me, as we used to see in our school readers, and I have my own -fortune to make. And I hope I begin to make it soon,” mused the lad, -whimsically. “At least I hope Dame Fortune allows me to draw a few -dollars a week in advance.” - -As Joe turned into a street that led to the freight station and caught -sight of what was left standing of the fireworks factory, he could but -think of the stirring events in which he had played such a prominent -part—the discussion with his chums of the professor’s tricks, the alarm -of the explosion, the swimming of the creek, and the sensational rescue -of Professor Rosello. - -There was no sign of the fire as Joe passed the scene of it now. It had -all died out, and the main building was surrounded by heaps of ashes -which marked where the smaller structures had stood. - -Two loud, shrill whistles broke the midnight stillness. - -“The freight!” cried Joe, breaking into a run. “She’s getting ready to -leave! I wonder if I can make it. - -“She’s leaving ahead of time,” Joe went on. The freight arrived in -Bedford at midnight and left an hour later, an event which Joe had -counted on in making his calculations to leave by it. But the train was -getting ready to pull out now, fully twenty minutes early, the two -whistles Joe heard being the signal for “off brakes;” though with the -modern air apparatus this was really only a starting signal, the -brakemen being no longer required to run along the tops of the cars to -loosen the wheels. - -“I’ll have to hustle!” Joe told himself, as he increased his pace. - -The youth was in fine physical condition, and he knew he could easily -reach the freight train before it passed entirely beyond the station, -for it was a long one. - -“But I counted on having time to pick out a car,” thought Joe, still -running toward the railroad. “I wonder what I can do now?” - -The matter worried him. It is not easy to “jump” a moving freight train. -There are no cars with steps, such as passenger coaches have, with -convenient hand rails. Jumping a moving freight train is a risky matter, -even for a trained railroad brakeman. - -“And how I’m to do it with this valise I don’t know,” thought Joe. “But -it’s got to be done!” - -He was glad he was in such good physical trim. - -“I see what the trouble is,” Joe went on. “There wasn’t any shipment of -fireworks to-night, and that’s why the freight pulled out earlier. I -didn’t think of that.” - -As he ran on down the street he heard a voice behind him calling: - -“Here! Hold on! Stop! Who are you?” - -“Hen Sylvester!” gasped Joe. “He’s seen me and he’s suspicious. Well, -I’ve no time to stop and explain now. I’d miss the train sure!” - -He ran on, faster than before. He heard the patter of feet behind him, -and again the hail: - -“Hold on, or I’ll shoot!” - -“He’ll only shoot in the air if he does,” Joe told himself. “I’ll take a -chance. I guess he doesn’t know who I am.” - -He was near the freight depot now. Another few steps and he was on the -long covered platform along which the train was moving. None of the -trainmen or depot freight handlers were in sight. It was a “light” -night, and they had gotten through early. - -Joe watched the train gliding along in front of him, rapidly acquiring -speed. The platform was on a level with the floor of the freight cars. - -“If I could only see one with an open door,” mused Joe. “Then I could -dive into it. I don’t dare take a chance of jumping in between two cars. -I might slip down between the buffers.” - -Eagerly he watched the gliding train. Oh, for an open door! - -Joe heard other feet now pounding along the wooden platform. - -“It’s Hen coming to see who I am!” thought Joe. - -He looked for a hiding place. And yet to hide meant to lose the chance -of taking the freight out of town. - -“I saw him come up here!” some one said. - -“We’ll get him,” said another. “He’s probably a burglar!” - -“Tim Donovan is with Hen now,” thought Joe. “They’re both after me—the -whole Bedford police force,” and in spite of his predicament he -chuckled. - -Just then there glided past him a freight car with a wide open door. - -“Here’s my chance!” cried Joe half aloud. And the next second he made a -flying leap into the moving “side-door Pullman.” - -Joe Strong was on his way—whither? - - - - - CHAPTER XI - A SURPRISED DEACON - - -Deacon Blackford had certainly heard a noise. It was not the slight -sound made by Joe Strong, when that young magician made his escape from -the house, but it was the louder noise made by the two rascals in taking -the papers and money. - -“What’s that, Amos?” asked Mrs. Abigail Blackford, as she too heard the -suspicious sound. - -“I don’t know,” he answered sleepily enough. He had lain awake the early -part of the night, tossing restlessly, for the memory of the scene in -the afternoon with the two men had bothered the deacon. - -“But, Amos,” persisted his wife, “it _is_ a noise.” - -“Yes,” he admitted, after listening a moment, “it surely is.” - -“Hadn’t you better get up and see what it is?” she suggested. - -He waited a moment before replying, meanwhile listening intently. The -sound was plainer now. - -“Couldn’t be cats, could it?” the deacon asked, and his voice was -hopeful. He did not like to get up, for he was tired and sleepy. - -“Cats! No, the idea!” his wife exclaimed. “It’s somebody downstairs -inside the house, Amos, and you’ve got to get up and see who it is.” - -“Queer time for anybody to be calling,” grumbled Joe’s foster-father. - -“Calling! It isn’t anybody calling!” exclaimed Mrs. Blackford in a -shrill whisper. “It’s burglars if it’s anybody. Get up, Amos, and drive -’em out. Call Joe to help you. He’s good and strong. He can handle -almost as much as you can.” - -But without waiting to call Joe, Mr. Blackford gave a jump out of bed -and hurried down the stairs in the darkness. As he went down he became -aware of a light in the back parlor—the room where stood his desk, which -was like a safe to him, and the old clock where his wife insisted on -keeping her small roll of bills, on the theory that burglars would never -think of money being in a clock. - -“It is some one,” muttered the deacon. “I’m glad I got up.” - -He hurried on, taking no pains to muffle the “clap-clap” of the heels of -his slippers, into which he had hurriedly thrust his feet. “Clap-clap” -they went, down the stairs. - -Just as he reached the door of the back parlor the deacon saw a form -disappearing through the window. Who it was he could not see, as just -then the heel of the person making an egress in this queer fashion hit -and knocked over the lamp, which exploded with a slight noise, the -burning oil setting fire to the carpet and the lace curtains. - -For the moment the fear of fire was uppermost in the mind of the deacon. -He saw the stream of blazing oil spreading, and he knew that in a few -moments more the whole room would be ablaze. - -But the deacon was quick, and, fortunately did not lose his presence of -mind. He caught up a heavy rug, and, not going near enough the blaze to -let his own thin night garments catch, he tossed the rug over the blaze, -smothering it. - -Then with a quick motion he tore down the burning lace curtains, and -tossed them out of the open window, where they could harmlessly consume -themselves on the grass. The deacon burned his hands slightly in pulling -down the curtains, but he did not notice that in the excitement of the -moment. - -The fire was out almost as soon as it had started, for he had tossed the -rug over burning lamp and all, and now only some dense black smoke -remained to tell what had happened. - -“Whew!” panted the deacon, “that was a close call! It’s a good thing I -got up when I did, or the whole house would have gone! A narrow shave!” - -He got a pail of water to toss on the smouldering carpet. After he had -lifted the smothering rug, and as he doused out the few remaining sparks -his wife called to him. - -“Anybody down there, Amos?” - -“No, nobody now,” grimly answered the old man. - -“Well, it smells like some one was smoking down there. I smell smoke, -Amos. There _must_ be somebody there!” - -“No! They’ve gone,” he answered. “It was the lamp you smelled smoking. -It blew up!” - -“Blew up! Deacon Blackford what ails you? What’s happened, anyhow?” - -“I don’t rightly know yet, myself. Seems quite considerable must have -happened, and it might have been worse. You can come down if you want -to. There’s nobody here now but me, and the fire’s out.” - -“The fire’s out!” cried his wife from the head of the stairs. “What -fire? Who started the fire?” - -“Come down and you’ll see it all,” he answered, looking about to make -sure there were no stray sparks anywhere. - -Mrs. Blackford lost no time in descending, and her surprise was as great -as was the deacon’s. But it was the loss of her curtains, the burned -hole in the carpet, the broken lamp and the charred rug that surprised -Joe’s foster-mother. She had not seen the intruder go out of the window, -as had her husband. - -“What in the world—how did it—who——?” she began, hardly knowing what -question to ask first. But the deacon cut in with: - -“I don’t know any more about it than you do. I came down in time to see -somebody go through the window and kick over the lamp. Then the fire -started and I had to hustle to put it out.” - -“Some one went through the window! Who in the world could it have been? -Did you speak to him?” - -“Burglars don’t generally leave a card, nor stop to talk,” answered the -old man grimly. “But I guess——” - -The deacon did not finish, but crossed the room to his desk. He noticed -that the flap was down, and he knew he had closed and locked it the -night before. Hurriedly he ran through his papers, and then straightened -up with a queer look on his face. - -“They’re gone!” he gasped. “Gone!” - -“What?” asked his wife. “What’s gone?” - -“My investment papers—the securities—the only thing I had to show what -money was due me. They’re gone and whoever has ’em can make use of ’em! -I’ve been robbed!” - -Turning again to the desk he opened a small drawer. - -“He took the money too!” he muttered. “Every cent of it, and there was -nigh on to a hundred dollars there!” - -He fairly moaned out the words, and putting his hand to his head sank -weakly into a chair. Mrs. Blackford regarded her husband pityingly and -darted toward him, fearing he was going to faint, though he had never -done it in his life. Then a sudden idea came to her. - -She rushed over to the clock, opened it and fell back, raising her hands -in the air in astonishment. - -“Mine’s gone too!” she cried! “The thirty-nine dollars I had in the -clock! The burglar took that too! Oh, this is terrible! You must call -the constables, Amos! We’ve been robbed! They took my money! Call Joe, -and send him after Hen Sylvester. I’ll call him,” for the deacon seemed -incapable of action just then. - -Mrs. Blackford hurried upstairs, and called: - -“Joe! Joe! Get up! There’ve been burglars in the house! They’ve robbed -your pa and me, and set fire to the place! Get up and go for the -constables!” - -“Is he coming?” asked the deacon, whose heart was not beating quite so -fast now. - -“I can’t seem to make him hear,” said Mrs. Blackford. - -“I’ll rout him out,” said the old man. “I guess he’d better go after the -constable. He can go quicker than I can.” - -But Joe did not answer to this summons either, and when the door of his -room was opened, showing his undisturbed bed, and when a quick search -revealed that he had taken most of his belongings the deacon jumped to -the most natural conclusion. - -“He’s gone, Abigail!” he cried. “Joe’s run away, and it was him that -robbed us and set fire to the place!” - -“Oh, no, Deacon! _He_ wouldn’t do such a thing!” - -“Woman, I tell you he did!” cried the deacon in his most thundering -tones. “He’s robbed us and run away! I’ll get the law after him! The -thief!” and with a face flushed with wrath the deacon proceeded to -dress, muttering the while: - -“He robbed us! Joe robbed us and ran away! I always knew that the circus -and magician blood in him would tell! Now it’s come out with a -vengeance!” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE PROFESSOR’S ASSISTANT - - -Joe Strong slid half-way across the “side-door Pullman,” as he had -called the freight car into which he had jumped from the station -platform. One cause for his sliding was the force of his jump, the -momentum carrying him. Another reason was because the floor of the car -was covered with bits of dried hay, which is always slippery. - -“A hay car!” exclaimed Joe, as his nose caught the odor that was so -familiar to him. “Been loaded with baled hay. I’m glad I struck -something as clean as that. Might just as well have jumped into a car -that had been filled with fertilizer, or something else not nice to -smell all night. Yes, I guess I’m in luck.” - -The train was now swinging along at a good pace, and Joe proceeded to -make himself comfortable for his long ride which, at best, was not going -to be any too easy for him. - -The youth chuckled to himself as he thought of the two town policemen -vainly seeking him. - -“That’s another time I gave Hen Sylvester the slip,” murmured Joe with a -smile in the darkness. - -Though the hay car had been unloaded there still remained on the floor a -quantity of the fodder. With his feet Joe made this into a pile in one -corner, and there he intended to lie down to get some sleep if he could. -The night was warm, and he needed no covering. But he slid the door -partly shut to keep out some of the dirt and cinders. - -“This isn’t going to improve the appearance of my clothes—sleeping in -’em,” he mused. “Guess I’ll take off my coat and vest. I can save them a -little that way, anyhow.” - -Then Joe stretched out on his improvised bed and drew a long breath. - -“Well, so far so good,” he told himself. “I’m on my way. Now the rest is -up to Professor Rosello. I’ll see him in the morning.” - -Joe did not easily go to sleep, though he was tired. He had a burden on -his mind, and he was not a little worried. - -“I wonder what the deacon will think when he wakes up and finds me -gone?” thought Joe. “I guess it will surprise him.” - -If Joe only knew! - -Finally drowsiness came, and he slumbered through the rest of the night. -The train rattled on, stopping now and then at stations to pick up or -leave freight, but Joe knew nothing of this. He had thought that perhaps -he might be put off the car by some brakeman, but he decided he must -take chances on this. And, as it happened, he was not disturbed. - -Joe was awakened by the sudden jolting stop of the train, and, as he -opened his eyes he saw, through the partly shut door, that the sun was -brightly shining. - -“Good-morning—morning!” cried the lad. “I wonder what you have up your -sleeve for me?” - -Though he tried to be jolly with himself, he was not in very good shape -for joking. He was lame and stiff from sleeping on the hay-bed, and he -felt the need of washing, as any one does, even if he travels in a real -Pullman. Then, too, he was hungry. - -“Wonder if we hit anything then?” Joe asked himself, for the train -seemed to have stopped with unusual suddenness. “Guess I’ll take a look -out.” - -He peered from the door, and saw that the train was in a large railroad -yard. On several adjoining tracks were lines of freight cars, and, as -Joe looked out, he saw the engine that had been pulling his train going -off toward the round house. - -“This must be Lorilard,” thought Joe. “It’s the end of the run. That -bump must have been some other cars they switched on to the end of this -train. Well, I’ve arrived, it seems. Now to get busy, find the professor -and——But first I guess I’d better get a wash and have something to eat,” -he reflected. “I can’t look very presentable.” - -Joe put on his vest and coat, picked up his valise and was about to jump -down out of the freight car into the yard, when he saw a trainman -approaching. - -“I’d better wait until he passes,” Joe thought. “He might make it hot -for me.” - -There is a law against unauthorized persons riding on freight trains, -and though some brakemen often let tramps and other persons “steal” a -ride, still most railroad men are not as lenient, and not infrequently -throw off, or “beat-up,” those who “ride the brake-rods,” or crawl into -the empty cars. - -Joe drew back, but the man did not pass on. Instead he busied himself -tacking up shipping cards on several cars near the one Joe was in. - -“I wish he’d go!” reflected our hero. “I want to get out. I’m almost -starved.” - -Finally the man moved farther down the track, and Joe took this chance -to emerge. He dropped to the ground, but, unluckily, just then the -yard-master, for he it was, turned and saw the young wizard. - -“Here, you!” he roared. “What do you mean? Stealing a ride? I’ll fix -you!” and he started to run after Joe. - -But Joe was a good sprinter, and, though he was rather stiff from his -uncomfortable bed, he was more than a match for the yard-master. Seeing -that the “tramp,” as he supposed him to be, was distancing him, the man -caught up an iron coupling pin and threw it at Joe. - -If it had hit the youth it might have hurt him badly, but the -yard-master’s aim was no better than his running, and Joe was soon -safely out of his reach. There came a break in the line of freight cars, -and Joe slipped through this, thus getting out of sight. - -“And I’d better stop running, I reckon,” he thought, “or some other -trainman may think it suspicious to see me in such a hurry.” - -He slowed down to a walk, and presently emerged from the yard into a -street. - -“Will you kindly direct me to a hotel?” asked Joe of the first man he -met. “I’m a stranger in town. I don’t want an expensive place.” - -“There’s the Railroad House, just down at the foot of this street,” the -man said, looking at Joe curiously. “I can’t recommend it, though it’s -cheap enough. Then there’s the Boswell, three blocks up that way and two -over,” and he indicated the directions. “I stop there myself. It’s good -and not expensive.” - -“Thank you,” Joe said. “I’ll try that.” - -“Just get in?” asked the man, and he smiled. - -“Yes,” answered the young magician. “My special car was just switched -off for me!” and he laughed as he turned away. - -He found the Boswell to be just about the kind of hotel that came within -his limited means. He did not want to engage a room until after he had -seen Professor Rosello, and he was not sure where the magician was -stopping. But he could easily inquire. - -The hotel clerk was friendly, and agreed to look after Joe’s valise -while our hero had breakfast. Joe indulged in a good wash and ate a -hearty meal. - -On inquiry at the hotel desk when he claimed his satchel, he found that -the professor was going to give a performance that night. The clerk did -not know where Professor Rosello was staying, but Joe thought he could -find out by inquiring at the Opera House, as the local amusement place -was called. - -As Joe made his way thither he saw, posted in various parts of the town, -large announcements of the “world-wide famous and renowned magician, -prestidigitator and sleight-of-hand artist, Professor Alonzo Rosello.” - -“He’s the one I’m looking for all right,” thought Joe. “Now to see -what’s doing.” - -He inquired his way to the Opera House and entered the lobby. There was -no one in the ticket office, for it was early yet. - -A woman was scrubbing the oilcloth on the floor of the entrance. - -“Is Professor Rosello about?” asked Joe. - -“Who’s he?” inquired the woman, who appeared to be slightly deaf, if her -loud tones counted for anything. - -“He’s the prestidigitator—the magician——” - -The old woman shook her head. - -“I don’t know none of them foreign languages,” she said. “You’ll have to -speak plain English. And my name ain’t Maggie, neither.” - -“I didn’t say Maggie—I said magician,” and Joe spoke louder. “I’m -looking for Professor Rosello. Him!” he exclaimed, as he saw, hanging on -the wall one of the magician’s bills, containing what was supposed to be -a likeness of him in evening clothes, with a little red imp whispering -secrets in his ear. - -“Oh, him! That feller what does tricks? He’s back on the stage,” said -the old woman, resuming her scrubbing. - -Taking this as an invitation to go back, Joe made his way to the rear of -the theatre. There was a single light on the stage, and Joe could see -the professor moving about, arranging some of his apparatus in -anticipation of the evening’s performance. And Joe heard the magician -talking loudly, and as if very much disturbed about something. - -“It couldn’t have happened at a much worse time!” exclaimed the -professor. “I don’t see what possessed him to run away and leave me just -when I needed him. I don’t know what I’m to do. I’ll have to omit some -of my best illusions! It’s too bad!” - -Joe kept on down the aisle, and, passing through one of the boxes, -reached the stage, which was not yet “set” for the performance. - -He then saw Professor Rosello talking to a stage-hand, and went over to -speak to him. - -“Well, what is it?” asked the professor, not recognizing Joe, for the -place was dark. - -“Don’t you remember me?” our hero questioned. “I’m Joe Strong who——” - -“Well met! Say, but I _am_ glad to see you!” cried the magician, -heartily. “Perhaps you’re just the very one who can help me out!” - -“Well, I’ll be very glad if I can,” said Joe. “I came to you to ask you -to help me. I want a place where I can earn my living. I’ve run away -from home, and I’m going to learn to be a magician. I thought perhaps——” - -“Tell me the details later!” cut in the professor. “I’m in a peck of -trouble now. My assistant, whom I always have with me when I play in the -larger towns, left me in a fit of anger, and just when I needed him -most. He wanted more money than I could afford to pay, and I’m left in -the lurch. Now you know something about illusions, so, perhaps, with a -little coaching, you can help me out. Will you do it?” - -“Will I?” Joe cried. “Just give me the chance! It’s what I’ve been -hoping for all along!” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - JOE’S HELP NEEDED - - -Joe could hardly believe his good luck. When he decided to run away he -had no settled plans in mind. All he expected to do was to seek out -Professor Rosello, and ask him what would be the best means of starting -in on the chosen career. But to be engaged without any delay as an -assistant was beyond Joe’s wildest hopes. - -It had come about by a curious trick of fate, and Joe was very much -pleased. - -“Do you really mean it?” he asked the professor, as they stood on the -dimly lighted stage. - -“Mean it? Of course I do. My assistant who was to help me with -to-night’s performance suddenly left, and I didn’t know what to do. - -“As soon as I recognized you, I remembered that you had some knowledge -of our way of doing things. Then, too, as I told you before, you have in -you naturally, and because of practice, the makings of a magician. So I -think you can very easily fill the shoes of my late assistant. He was -clever, but not reliable. Of course I can not pay you much money. I will -begin on ten dollars a week, and I’ll pay all your expenses. Later on, -if you do well, as I’m sure you will, I’ll increase the amount, for you -may be able to help me do more elaborate tricks, and so we will draw -better houses. Does that satisfy you?” - -“Indeed it does!” cried Joe. - -This was luck in truth, for this, too, was more than he had hoped for. -He would have been glad to work with the professor to earn merely his -expenses for a while, until he learned something of the inside workings -of magic. - -“Now,” said Professor Rosello, “we’ll have to do some quick work, Joe. -I’ll call you that, for I feel as if I had known you a long time. I’ll -never forget how you saved my life, and you will never want a friend as -long as I am alive. Where are you stopping?” - -“No place, just at present,” replied Joe. “I came in on a freight train, -after I ran away from home, and I looked you up as soon as I could after -I had breakfast.” - -Then Joe told the story of how he had left the home of his -foster-parents. - -“You had better put up at my hotel,” said the professor. “I’m stopping -at a boarding house. It’s better for me than a regular hotel. I can get -you a room there. I had planned to give a three nights’ show here, but -when my assistant left I thought I’d have to cut it down to one. Now -I’ll go ahead as originally planned, thanks to you. - -“Now suppose we just run over what I do in the evening’s performance, so -you’ll know what is expected of you.” - -Professor Rosello hastily described to Joe the program—how he came out -on the stage, rolling in his hands a red handkerchief, which he caused -suddenly to vanish. Of course this was done by “palming.” While palming -the handkerchief, which thus seemed to vanish into air, the professor -would keep up a “patter,” or running line of talk, concerning the tricks -he was to show that night. - -“Of course you know,” said the professor to Joe, “that we have to depend -on outside aid in doing what the public calls ‘tricks.’ That is, we have -as our three main helpers, the table, the wand and the clothes we wear. -I need not tell the son of Professor Morretti that the evening dress of -a modern magician has in it many hiding places—_pochettes_, the French -call them. They are secret pockets, placed where the performer finds he -has best use for them. Into these pockets a borrowed watch, ring, -handkerchief—anything not too large, in fact—may be concealed. - -“Of course we bring the hidden things out at the proper time. But, as I -say, the dress of a magician is important. I haven’t time to get you -one, and my assistant took his away with him, so you won’t be able to do -much for me in that line. - -“Another great aid to us is our wand. From time immemorial a wand has -been the symbol of magic. Ordinarily it is but a stick, a bit of ebony -or ivory, and of course with that it is not possible to do any tricks. -But the wand is valuable in that you can wave it in the air, or before a -person’s face. Naturally their eyes follow the motion of the wand, their -attention is taken from your other hand, in which you may have palmed, -or concealed, something. And while their eyes are thus off that hand you -can get rid of the palmed article, or put it in the place where you wish -it next to appear.” - -“Yes, I have read of that in some books treating of magic,” said Joe. - -“The books don’t tell you everything,” said the professor with a smile, -“but of course they are valuable. I want to tell you that nowadays we -have two wands, instead of one. One is an ordinary piece of ebony, -solid, and not prepared in any way. Then we have a combined hollow wand, -in one end of which is concealed a small pistol, so that by a mere -pressure on a spring, which is all but invisible, we can produce a shot. -On the other end of the wand is a concealed claw and spring, so that I -can draw into the hollow a silk handkerchief or light piece of cloth, -making it disappear before the very eyes of the audience. Of course the -substitution of the trick wand for the solid one must be made unseen by -the audience.” - -“Yes, I should think so,” commented Joe. - -“The tall hat is another great aid to us who work in magic,” went on the -professor. “But of late years it is hard to borrow one in an ordinary -audience, so I don’t often use it. Years ago, when more men wore tall, -silk hats, it was easy to borrow one from somebody in the audience, and -do all sorts of tricks with it—or, rather, with one of my own which I -substituted unseen. My hat, of course, was made for my purpose. It had -secret compartments in it and the lining being black, they did not show -when I held it up to show that, apparently, it was empty. - -“I might state, Joe, that of course nothing ever comes out of a tall -hat, or any other kind of a hat, my own, or that of any one else, unless -it has first been put there. ‘Loaded’ is the term we use. That is to -say, I must first put into the hat a live rabbit, a cannon ball, a piece -of cheese, an egg—anything, in fact, that I wish to produce I must first -put in the prepared hat. Then I can bring it out. - -“So much for the hat. Only, as I said, tall hats are rather hard to -borrow, so I often work with an ordinary derby, having one of my own -made with a secret compartment. Only it has to be small, as derbies -haven’t much spare space.” - -“It would be great if we could work with a straw hat—especially if we -gave a show in summer!” exclaimed Joe. - -“Why, it would, yes. I never thought of that!” exclaimed Professor -Rosello. “I believe we could have a trick straw hat made. Say, Joe, I’m -glad to see you taking an interest this way.” - -“Oh, I’m going to be a magician!” cried the youth. “I want to find out -all I can about it.” - -“It’s too bad your father didn’t live to tell you about his tricks,” -said the magician. “He was a real artist, while the most of us are but -imitators. However, it can’t be helped. I will teach you all I know if -you want to learn.” - -“I surely do!” murmured the boy. - -“Now to finish my little preliminary talk,” went on the sleight-of-hand -artist, “I will mention the table. That, or in fact several tables or -little stands, are of great aid to a magician. In the early days the -performers used a big table, all draped about with velvet, and concealed -under this velvet was an assistant. - -“When the magician wanted to cause an object to disappear he would place -it on the table just over a hole, which was not in view because it was -hidden by a trap-door. Then he would put a hollow cone or hollow block -over the object, which would at once drop through the hole in the table, -into the hands of the concealed assistant. - -“But as performers became more clever they used simpler tables. Some, of -course, seemed to be just spindle-legged affairs, but mirrors fitted in -made a place where objects could be concealed, though it seemed as -though the audience could look right through the legs of the table. But -there are some tables which are not at all mechanical, except that they -have a place at the back for a _servante_, or shelf, below the level of -the table, and on this shelf objects can be placed when the performer -has to get rid of them for the time being.” - -“It sounds complicated,” murmured Joe. - -“It’s simple when you understand it,” said the professor. “I sometimes -use as a _servante_ a little mesh bag, which I can fasten to the back of -a chair—that is if the back can’t be seen through. Then of course I have -little tables—_console_ tables they were called in the days of -Robert-Houdin. - -“These tables stand close to the draperies which are back of the stage, -and above the tables is a slit cut in the curtain, the fall of the -draperies concealing it. Through this slit my assistant can thrust his -hand and take away or substitute certain articles. That will be part of -your work. - -“So then, with the wand, with a suit having in it many secret pockets, -and with the help of a _servante_ in one form or another we do most of -our tricks, never forgetting that palming is one vital need. Of course I -have elaborate pieces of apparatus—that is elaborate for me, some -performers carry much more than I do. But the tendency in these days is -to get away from big mechanical effects, since the audience knows there -is some trick about them, even though it can’t be seen. - -“Of course you know some of what I have told you, Joe, but I thought it -no harm to repeat it. Now I’ll give you a little drill, and we’ll be -ready for to-night.” - -The professor told Joe the principal tricks he proposed performing that -night. In comparatively few of them was Joe’s aid needed, except that he -was to be on the stage to hand the professor articles when wanted, or to -remove them—passive sort of work. - -But in one trick—that of making a young man disappear when seated in a -chair on the stage in full view of the audience—Joe took an active part. - -Having gone over as much as he thought necessary, Professor Rosello took -Joe to the boarding house, where they would stay for at least three -nights. There, too, the magician gave Joe more instructions, and had him -practice some palming and card tricks. Joe was naturally good at these. - -“I’m almost glad my regular assistant failed me,” the professor said, -“for I think you are going to be better, Joe. You have a natural -aptitude for learning this art.” - -“I’m glad you think so,” remarked the youth, “for I want very much to -perfect myself in it.” - -That afternoon Joe and the professor went through several tricks for -practice, taking care that no small boys or other unauthorized persons -were secretly in the theatre to see how the tricks were done, and so -reveal them. - -The night of the performance came at last, and Joe went to the Opera -House with the professor. They went back on the stage to see that all -was in readiness for the curtain to rise. - -“A good house,” remarked Professor Rosello, as he peered through the -peep-hole of the curtain. “We’ll make a little money to-night, Joe.” - -“I’m glad of it. I wouldn’t want to bring you bad luck.” - -“Oh, I think you’ll bring me good luck. Now we’re ready, I guess.” - -The curtain went up, the professor came out, bowing and smiling and -making the handkerchief disappear by cleverly palming it, then slipping -it into one of his secret pockets, afterward seeming to draw it from the -end of his wand. To do this, of course, he merely palmed it again, and -let it gradually appear as he wished. - -Then he did several stock tricks; one of them being the bringing forth -of a small jar of goldfish seemingly from a man’s derby hat. - -There was no trick about the hat. The professor went down off the stage -and borrowed it, but, on his way back, while his back was toward the -audience, he slipped into the hat a flat dish filled with water and live -goldfish. This dish Joe had passed to him a moment before from behind -the scenes, through one of the slits in the curtain. - -The professor concealed the flat jar of goldfish, water and all, under -his vest, but the dish had over it a tightly fitting cover, made of a -thin sheet of rubber. - -As he walked back on to the stage Professor Rosello slipped the dish -into the hat, and, as he lifted it out, in full view of the audience, -he, unseen by the spectators, snapped off the rubber cover with his -thumb. Thus he seemed to bring out a jar of fish in real water, and -there was no doubt about the realness of the water, nor the life of the -fish. They could be seen swimming about, and the professor dipped his -hand in the water, sprinkling it about the stage. Then he passed the hat -back to the man. - -The goldfish had been purchased in a store that day, and kept in water -until needed, Joe putting them in the flat dish, and slipping over the -rubber cover just before they were to be used. - -“Now for my next trick,” began Professor Rosello, “I shall want to -borrow a boy or young man. I don’t want one who has any friends, as I am -going to cause him to disappear, and of course no one wants that to -happen to a friend. I am going to make him totally disappear. Who will -lend me a young man for that purpose? - -“Come now,” he went on, as there was a pause. “I see several young -ladies here with young men. Surely one of them can be spared. No? No one -will volunteer?” - -There were smiles and some laughter. - -“I see a nice young man right here,” the professor said, coming down the -steps, and standing close to a young girl and her escort. He laid his -hand on the youth’s shoulder. - -“You haven’t any use for him, have you?” he asked the blushing girl. -“May I not make him disappear?” - -“No!” she laughed. - -“Very well, then I must find some one else.” - -There was a movement in the back of the house as if some one intended to -volunteer, but, as the professor did not want this, he forestalled it by -quickly saying: - -“Never mind. I see you are all afraid. Well, I will call on my young -assistant. He is not of much use to me, or to the world either, so I -will make him disappear.” - -This was Joe’s signal to come forward for one of the more elaborate -tricks. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - JOE’S DISAPPEARANCE - - -“You’re not afraid to be made to vanish into thin air, are you?” asked -Professor Rosello of Joe, that being part of the “patter” of this trick. -“You don’t mind being made to vanish?” - -“No,” answered Joe, “not if it doesn’t hurt.” The audience laughed. Joe -was getting on surprisingly well. He had feared he would be stricken -with stage fright on this, his first appearance in public. But there was -not the least sign of it, though there was a packed house. One reason -was that, of course, the magician occupied the center of the stage most -of the time, and all eyes were focused on him. Joe had only a minor part -as yet. - -But, also, there must have been something inherited by him from his -parents, who fairly lived in the public eye. Joe took to it naturally. - -“You see he doesn’t mind in the least,” the professor said to the -audience. “He’ll never be missed, and if I used some boy from the -audience this might not be the case.” - -“For this trick,” went on the professor, “I need a young man. I have -this—er—useless specimen——” and he tapped Joe on the shoulder. There was -more laughter from the audience. “I also need,” proceeded Professor -Rosello, “a chair, a sheet and a piece of paper. They are here,” and he -brought forward a chair, a black cloth and a sheet of a newspaper. -“There is nothing extraordinary about any of these articles except about -my young assistant. And he will feel most extraordinary when he starts -to vanish into thin air. - -“The paper, as you can see, is the front page of your local publication, -_The Herald_,” and the performer held up a sheet of paper. Every one in -the audience could see that it was what it purported to be—at least on -one side, and that was the only side held up to the crowd in the Opera -House. - -“This sheet of paper I will place on the stage,” went on the professor, -and he suited the action to the words. “On top of the paper I will place -this chair, on which my young assistant is going to sit,” and seemingly -without any special preparation the magician set the chair on the paper, -one leg being near each of the four corners of the sheet. - -“Now if you will kindly take your seat in the chair, we shall proceed,” -said Mr. Crabb, otherwise Professor Rosello. Joe sat down, his heart -beating a little faster than usual, for he wanted the trick to work -perfectly, and much depended on him. - -“Good-bye,” said the professor with mock solicitude, as he shook hands -with Joe. “This is the last we shall see of you,” and he pretended to be -distressed. Several boys in the gallery shouted their farewells to Joe -in laughing tones. He waved his hands to the audience, which was -curiously expectant. - -“I will now cover my assistant, chair and all with this sheet,” said the -professor. “I do that because the disappearance of a person sometimes is -attended by painful scenes, and I do not wish to make you suffer. This -sheet was once white,” he went on, as he shook out a black cloth, -turning it about so that both sides could be seen. There was nothing -tricky about that, it was evident. - -“It used to be white, but in traveling about the sheet lost its original -color, and, as I do not carry a laundress with me, it has never been -washed.” - -As a matter of fact the cloth had always been black. It had to be, so -the audience could not see through it to witness the details of the -trick. - -“I will now cover my assistant in the chair with this white-black -sheet,” continued Professor Rosello, “and when I raise it he will -be—gone!” - -He draped the cloth over Joe’s head and shoulders, letting it fall to -the floor of the stage on all sides of the chair. He then took up his -“pistol” wand, which fired a blank shot. - -“Are you ready?” he called to Joe, after a dramatic pause. - -“Ready,” was the muffled reply. - -“Then go!” cried the professor. He pointed his wand at the covered -chair, there was a loud report, and a moment later, when the professor -whisked the black sheet off the chair was empty. The professor lifted -the sheet of paper from under the chair. Apparently there was not a -break in it. - -There was a gasp of astonishment from the crowd. - -“You see,” said the professor, bowing and smiling when the applause had -subsided, “he has disappeared—vanished into thin air. I am glad it -happened to none of you, though of course I might be able to reincarnate -you again, as——” - -He appeared greatly astonished at the sight of some one in the back of -the theatre. - -“Why, look who’s here!” he cried, pointing with his wand. “My young -assistant has not waited for me to call him back to life. He came of -himself.” - -The audience turned to behold Joe calmly walking down the middle aisle, -and up the stage by means of the temporary steps which the professor -used to descend and ascend. - -There was more applause at Joe’s unexpected appearance in this fashion, -and the trick made a big hit. - -And now to let you into the secret. - -The trick consisted of several parts. A trap-door was in the stage -through which Joe could disappear. This trap, directly under the chair -and paper, was operated by a theatre employee, who of course would not -tell, at least beforehand, how the trick was done. After Joe had gone -down through the trap, into the room that exists under all theatrical -stages, it was an easy matter for him to slip out through the stage -door, run around an alley, and enter the front of the theatre, to walk -calmly down the aisle. - -But how could he disappear through the seat of the chair, and through -the sheet of paper, without making a break, at least in the paper? - -There was a trick about the paper, although it seemed to be perfectly -ordinary. It was a sheet from the local paper, but it had been prepared -in advance by the professor. On the back was pasted a square of -cardboard, a quarter of an inch smaller each way than the trap-door in -the stage. This paper trap, for such it was, was divided in the middle, -the two flaps being hinged to the sheet of newspaper. The reason the -cardboard did not show when held up to the audience was that the whole -sheet of newspaper was double, one half being folded over the cardboard -trap. - -When Professor Rosello laid the paper down in the stage he was guided by -certain small marks, so that it went exactly over the trap in the floor. -This trap was hinged at the back, opening downward, but kept in place -when not in use by a strong iron bar underneath. Next he placed the -chair over the piece of paper, the legs going into exact positions -previously marked on the paper, but the marks were too small to be seen -by the audience. - -The object in placing the paper on the stage was to get the audience to -believe that there was no hole in the wooden floor through which Joe -could disappear, it being the natural inference that such was the method -used. But when the crowd saw what they thought was the unbroken sheet of -paper, they would not suppose Joe had gone down through that, as he -really had. - -The chair was also a trick one. The seat of it was on hidden hinges so -it could be lifted up and folded back. There were also secret springs on -it which, when released, shot out and extended certain thin steel -projections, which distended the black sheet into such shape that they -made the rough outline of a person sitting on the chair. - -When Joe took his seat on the chair, under cover of the black cloth, he -pressed the secret springs, and a ring appeared above his head to -support the black cloth, exactly as if it were supported by his head. -Other projections appeared at his knees, and as the bottom of the cloth -was arranged by the professor some distance away from the legs of the -chair, Joe was as if he were under a sort of tent, held out and away -from him, so he could move about a little without being seen. - -As soon as he was covered, and had worked the secret springs, he lifted -up the false seat of the chair, supporting himself by his hands on the -framework, into which the seat fitted. - -This seat Joe carefully folded back, taking care to make no noise and -not to disturb the black cloth all around him. Meanwhile the professor -had with his foot given a rap on the floor of the stage. This was a -signal to the man below to open the trap in the floor. - -Joe, hidden under the black cloth, felt for the opening in the floor -with his feet. A stepladder was hurriedly put into place by the -stage-hand, and Joe lowered himself down through the chair, the prepared -hole in the paper and the hole cut in the stage, to the ladder. - -The ladder was quickly taken away, the stage-hand reached up and lowered -the seat of the chair back in place. Also, when this had been done he -closed the trap-door in the stage, and the newspaper with its trap was -in place above it, seemingly unbroken. - -Then the professor fired the shot and whisked off the black cloth, as he -did so touching the secret springs, so that the projections snapped back -out of sight, and when the cloth was lifted off the chair looked as it -did at first, only Joe was not on it. - -Then he came running down the aisle, and persons who suspected that he -had gone down through the stage did not know what to make of the piece -of newspaper. It did not fit their theory. - -That paper, appeared to be an ordinary sheet, and no one, or at least -very few, would have thought of a trap being cut in that. - -And thus was the “disappearing” trick worked. - -“Very good! You did splendidly!” said the professor in a low voice as -Joe came up on the stage. “It went off to perfection!” - -After Joe made his bow in acknowledgment of the applause he received for -his part in the trick, he prepared for the next “experiment,” as the -professor often called his acts. - -That first night of Joe’s assistance went off well, a number of acts -being done after the “disappearance,” all being well received. - -“A very satisfactory evening,” remarked Professor Rosello, as he and Joe -went to their boarding house, after having put away their apparatus. “I -hope we shall do as well the two remaining nights.” - -“So do I,” agreed Joe. - -He was very tired, for he had not rested well in the freight car, but a -good night’s sleep made him feel like a new person. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - INVOKING THE LAW - - -While Joe Strong was thus making his first public appearance as a -wizard, or, rather, as a magician’s assistant, quite different scenes -were being enacted in his home town and at his former residence. - -Deacon Blackford had discovered the fire, found out that he had been -robbed, and noted the disappearance of Joe. With these facts confronting -himself and his wife, the deacon at once began to act. - -“What you going to do?” asked Mrs. Blackford, as he dressed for the -street. - -“I’m going out,” he answered grimly. - -“What! At this time of night?” - -“Can’t help it,” was the reply. “I’m going to get the law after him.” - -“You mean Joe?” - -“I don’t mean anybody else! He robbed me and you, and he’s got to take -the consequences! I’m going to look for the constables. Joe can’t have -gone very far. I saw him jumping out of the window, but at the time I -didn’t know who it was. He robbed me, and he set fire to the place.” - -“But he didn’t mean to do _that_,” said Mrs. Blackford defensively. -“According to your tell, he accidentally kicked the lamp with his foot.” - -“Accident or no accident, he did it, and I’m going to have the law on -him! I’ll get the constables. He’s took a lot of money, and papers worth -more. He may have been in league with those rascals, Denton and -Harrison,” murmured the deacon. “But, no. I don’t hardly believe that. -He didn’t know them. He just did this out of natural badness. Couldn’t -expect much else from the son of a circus performer and a worker of the -black art.” - -He spoke harshly and angrily. - -“Maybe there’s _some_ good circus women, and men too, for that matter, -Deacon,” said his wife softly. - -“No, not one—they’re all dishonest!” Mr. Blackford declared. “But I’ll -get the law after Joe.” - -He made ready for the street, though it was a most unusual hour for -Deacon Blackford to be out. But the occasion was unusual. - -“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he told his wife. - -Out into the night went the deacon, his brain rather in a whirl over the -recent events. He walked down the silent streets, his footsteps echoing -loudly. He headed for the center of the town where the police station -was located, for the two constables reported at this place once or twice -during the night. - -Hen Sylvester and Tim Donovan had been having adventures of their own in -chasing Joe. But they had missed him, and when they saw him fling -himself, rather rashly, into the open freight car, which quickly bore -him away from them, they turned back much chagrined. - -“He got away!” exclaimed Hen. - -“That’s what he did,” agreed his companion officer. “I wonder who he -was? I wish we could have caught him. He was a burglar.” - -“That’s right,” chimed in Hen. “Now we’ll have to go back to town, and -find out who was robbed.” - -Back to the police station went the two constables, panting somewhat -after their fruitless run. They reached the lockup about the same time -Deacon Blackford did. There were no prisoners in the jail then, so the -services of a watchman were temporarily dispensed with. - -Hen and Tim saw a figure walking along the street near the little -building that contained a few cells. Their previous experience had made -them suspicious of any one abroad at this hour. - -“There’s another one of ’em!” exclaimed Hen. - -“Another who?” asked his fellow officer. - -“Burglar. We’ll get him. Come on!” - -Determined that this second midnight prowler should not get away the two -constables made a rush for him. - -“We’ve got you!” cried Hen. - -“Surrender!” yelled Tim, drawing his revolver. - -“Here! Let me go! What does this mean?” cried Joe’s foster-father. - -At the sound of his voice the two constables released their holds and -stepped back. - -“Deacon Blackford!” they gasped. - -“That’s who I am,” was the response. “But what does this mean?” - -“We—we took you for a burglar,” explained Hen. “We chased one a while -ago, and missed him, and we were suspicious when we saw you.” - -“What are you doing out so late?” asked Tim. - -“I came to report a robbery.” - -“Where?” asked both officers eagerly. - -“At my house. I’ve been robbed of some money and valuable papers. Some -of my wife’s money was also taken.” - -“What did I tell you!” wailed Hen Sylvester. “I knew that burglar who -got away took something! If we had only caught him!” - -“Did you see him?” quickly inquired the deacon. - -“Yes, but we couldn’t see his face—couldn’t tell who he was,” explained -Tim. - -“I can tell you who he was!” announced the deacon, importantly. - -“You?” gasped both constables. - -“Yes! He was Joe Strong!” - -“Joe Strong? What! Not your——” - -“My foster-son,” broke in the deacon. “I regret to say that he has run -away with money and valuable papers belonging to me. I want him -arrested. I’ll swear out a warrant in the morning. But if you look for -him now you may find him. Arrest him on sight!” - -“No use looking now,” said Hen, despondently. - -“Why not?” - -“Because he took the midnight freight. We saw him jump into an empty car -as the train was pulling out of the station. I knew he must have been up -to some mischief, or he wouldn’t have run the way he did.” - -Then Tim and Hen, by turns, told of their fruitless chase after Joe. - -“We didn’t know who he was until you told us,” said Hen to the deacon, -“but we suspected he was a burglar. Did he get much?” - -The deacon told the details of the robbery, the fire and its -extinguishment, and how he had set out to invoke the law on his runaway -foster-son. - -“I want him arrested and locked up,” he told the constables. - -“We’ll have to catch him first,” said Tim, with a shake of his head, -“and there’s no telling where he might jump off the freight. We’ll have -to send out posters with his picture on, same as the regular police do. -Were you thinking of offering a reward?” he asked. - -“No,” answered the deacon. “At least not yet. We’ll try to catch him -without one first. Later on—well, I’ll see.” - -There was nothing more to be done that night, and in the morning Deacon -Blackford swore out a warrant for Joe’s arrest. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE SMASHED WATCH - - -Even larger crowds than attended on the first evening, greeted Joe -Strong and Professor Rosello at the two following performances. The -wonder of the disappearing trick, as well as the marvels of others, had -been well spread throughout Lorilard by the small boys, and by grown -persons as well, and many bought tickets determined to “see how it was -done.” - -But the stage-hand who let Joe down through the trap in the floor kept -his own counsel, and though many persons said they were sure they knew -how the feat was performed and that Joe _must_ go down through the -stage, since it was obvious he did not go up in the air, still they -could not understand how the piece of paper was not broken. - -“Well, you certainly brought me good luck,” said the professor to Joe at -the conclusion of the third night’s performance. “We took in good money. -You have more than earned your salary.” - -“I’m glad to know that,” answered Joe, much gratified. “Do you think I -shall succeed as a magician?” - -“I’m sure of it! You learn quickly, and you have natural and inherited -ability. Practice will make you perfect. I will help you all I can.” - -Joe had worked much more smoothly the third night than on either of the -two previous ones. The “disappearance” trick had gone off well, and the -professor had let Joe do one or two simple mystification acts himself. - -“As we go along I will gradually let you do more and more on the stage,” -said Professor Rosello, “until you get so you can sometimes take my -place.” - -“You are very kind,” returned Joe. - -“I should think I ought to be,” the magician went on. “I owe my life to -you, and it will take a good while to pay that debt.” - -During the next few weeks Joe traveled about from town to town with -Professor Rosello, helping him in many ways aside from on the stage. For -there were many details to look after in hiring theatres, sending on -posters in advance, transporting the baggage and so on. - -Joe’s work was so successful, and his working of what tricks he did so -smooth, that Professor Rosello let him take a certain specified part in -the performances now. - -“We’ll add some new tricks, too,” said the magician. “I can afford to do -that now, as we are taking in a good deal of money.” - -So some new apparatus was bought, and a young man, or rather an -overgrown boy, hired to relieve Joe of some of the detail work. Thus Joe -could devote more time to the tricks and to practice. The professor’s -“show” was not a large one, and he did not play in the big cities, or, -if he did, it was in the small theatres or in halls. But Joe was in good -company, and he was getting valuable experience. He often wondered what -was going on in Bedford, and whether his disappearance had caused any -stir. - -It had. The robbery at the deacon’s house became known, and also the -fact of the accusation against Joe, who was being sought by the police. - -“Well, Joe may have run away, because he couldn’t stand it any longer,” -said Tom Simpson, when he found his suit of clothes and the note the -morning after Joe had left them on the door-step. “Joe Strong may have -run away, but he never stole!” - -“That’s right!” agreed his other chums. - -But of all this Joe knew nothing. - -The young wizard, which he was rapidly becoming in earnest, kept at his -chosen work. He practiced sleight-of-hand at every opportunity. Nor did -he neglect his physical welfare. In many of the places he visited there -were Y. M. C. A. gymnasiums, and there Joe paid a small fee for the -privilege of using the trapeze or the bars. This he did during the day, -while waiting for the night’s performance. He would end his exercise -with a shower bath, and be in fine trim for the evening’s work. He did -the disappearing trick every night of the show, and it always went well. - -Joe also did considerable studying, for the professor had a number of -books on magic. And one evening after a successful performance Joe -approached Professor Rosello, and said: - -“I think I have invented a new trick.” - -“Good!” exclaimed the professor. “Let’s hear about it.” - -“I say _think_,” Joe reminded him, “for, though I haven’t seen you do -it, you may know about it.” - -He then described the feat, explaining what apparatus would be necessary -to have it properly worked. - -“Say, that’s a good one!” cried Professor Rosello. “It’s great, Joe! And -I’ll let you do it yourself, as is your right. I’ll order what you want, -and you can practice it, for remember this: a new trick requires lots of -practice to make it run smoothly. There’s nothing worse for a magician’s -reputation than to have a slip-up when he is working a piece of magic. -So practice the new trick well.” - -Joe promised that he would, and when the three simple pieces of -apparatus were received he devoted much time to perfecting the details -of his little bit of mysticism. - -The evening came on which Joe was to do his new trick. The ones the -professor did were successfully worked, and while Mr. Crabb went behind -the scenes to “load” himself for his next act, Joe stepped forward, and, -addressing the audience, said: - -“For this trick I should like to borrow a gold gentleman’s watch—I -should say a gentleman’s gold watch.” The audience laughed at his -pretended slip, and this is always a good beginning. There was a -moment’s hesitation, and Joe added: “I will return it safely. Come now, -can’t I get one gold watch from some one in this large and -intelligent-looking audience? Ah, thank you, here is a trusting -gentleman,” and he accepted a gold watch which a man in the front row -held up. He was not a confederate. Joe had never seen him before, but he -took this watch because it was an open-faced one, of just the size he -wanted. - -“Now before I go on with this trick,” resumed Joe, as he took his place -in the center of the stage, “I will, for safe keeping, place the watch -in this paper bag.” He held up what seemed to be an ordinary paper bag -such as grocers use. The watch went into it, and Joe then twisted the -bag up around the watch, the paper assuming a circular form the shape of -the watch being plainly visible. - -“I’ll just lay the watch, in the bag, on the floor here for a moment,” -the young wizard went on. “It will be perfectly safe, I’m sure. I just -want to ask a few questions of the owner.” - -Joe then went through some “patter” improvised for the occasion, asking -the man who had lent him the watch, how long he had had it, whether it -kept good time, if it were valuable, and so on. - -In the midst of this talk Joe walked about, and then, seemingly by -accident, he stepped on the paper bag. There was an instant crunch as if -of a broken crystal, and a gasp came from the audience. The man who -owned the watch looked rather startled. - -“Dear me! This is quite too bad!” exclaimed Joe, stooping to pick up the -paper bag and the stepped-on watch. “I am very sorry, sir, but you know -accidents will happen. You should have warned me that I was going to -step on your watch, my dear sir.” - -“I—I—you——” began the man, rather red in the face. - -“Keep still!” his wife cautioned him. “It’s only a trick, you know.” - -The man became silent, but wore a worried look. - -“Well, let us see just how bad the damage is,” Joe went on. He took the -watch from the bag and held it up. The crystal was cracked in all -directions, and a slight pressure from Joe’s thumb sent it into -fragments of glass. - -“Oh, dear! Worse and worse!” Joe exclaimed. “Well, since I have broken -this much of the watch, I might as well finish it. I’ll put it in this -mortar,” and he brought forward a small wooden one, shaped as all -druggists’ mortars are. - -“There’s nothing in it, you see,” he went on holding it so the audience -could look into the interior. “Quite empty,” and Joe rattled his wand -inside. “So it can’t hurt your watch to go in there.” He shook the -fragments of glass on the now smoothed-out paper bag, and carefully -lowered the watch, with its back toward the audience, into the mortar. - -“Now we’ll see what we can do,” Joe went on, taking up the pestle. This, -as you know, is the object with which a druggist grinds up in the mortar -any medicine requiring crushing. - -“We’ll make a thorough job of this while we’re at it,” Joe went on, as -he proceeded to grind away with the pestle on the bottom of the mortar. - -“Come! This is too slow. I shall have to use something heavier, I think, -to make mince-meat of this watch. It is a very tough one. I’ll use this -poker,” and he picked up an iron one, laying aside the pestle on a -table. With the poker Joe jabbed away at the bottom of the mortar, -wherein, a few moments previous, the audience had seen him place the -watch. - -A rattling, grinding sound was heard, a clink of metal, and Joe -exclaimed: - -“Ah, now we are getting on famously! You will hardly know your watch -again, my dear sir. It is all in pieces.” - -The man did not seem to know whether to look amused or angry. - -“There we are!” Joe exclaimed, as he held the mortar slantingly so the -audience could look inside. They, as well as the gentleman who had lent -the watch, saw the crushed and bent wheels, springs and pinions of a -watch, all massed together. - -“Well, I couldn’t do much worse to your watch. I think you’ll agree to -that, my dear sir?” said Joe to the man. - -“That’s right,” he admitted, rather ruefully. - -“And now to try what a little magic will do,” said Joe. “Since I have -destroyed your watch, I’ll do my best to restore it.” - -He poured from the mortar the fragments of a watch, putting them on the -paper bag together with the pieces of glass. He then wadded them all up -together, and crammed them into the mouth of a large, old-fashioned -pistol. - -“Now watch me closely,” Joe said. - -And one may well believe the audience, as well as the man who owned the -watch, did watch. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - JOE LEARNS SOMETHING - - -The young wizard made a few “magical” passes in the air over the pistol -he held up in front of the audience, which was now keyed up to a point -of nervous anticipation. The man whose watch had been borrowed was half -out of his seat. He seemed about to protest against the liberties being -taken with his property, but his wife, cooler headed than he, whispered -to him: - -“It’s all right. You’ll get your watch back.” - -“But how can I when he——” - -“Hush!” she cautioned him. - -“If agreeable to you,” went on Joe, smiling, “I will fire the fragments -of the watch from this pistol, and cause it to appear, whole, reunited -and undamaged, in that flower.” - -As he spoke he aimed the pistol at a small, potted, flowering plant on a -table at the back of the stage. - -“I’ll cause the watch to appear hanging from a pink ribbon among the -roots of that plant. And here is the ribbon I will use,” and Joe rammed -down the barrel of the pistol a small length of silk ribbon which he -picked up from a table near him. - -He aimed his weapon at the plant and fired. There was the usual jumping -and screaming from some of the women in the audience, as Joe walked over -to the plant. In plain view of the audience he lifted it, roots, earth -and all from the pot, and there, as he had said, dangling from a pink -ribbon, was a watch. - -“I believe this is your property, sir,” he said to the man who had lent -the timepiece, and Joe detached it, ribbon and all, from a short branch -of the plant over which the ribbon was looped. - -“Is it your watch?” Joe asked. - -“Why—er—yes, it is! But I don’t see how in the world you made it whole -again.” - -“That’s one of the secrets of magic,” returned Joe, smiling, and bowing -to the applause that followed. His trick had been a great success, as he -had hoped. - -Professor Rosello now came on the stage to work one of his feats, and -Joe retired to get ready for his part in it. And while he is doing that -the explanation of the watch trick will be given. - -It stands to reason that no one can take a perfectly good watch, step on -it, break the crystal, beat it to pieces, ram it into a pistol and by -firing it at a plant cause the timepiece to appear whole again among the -roots. This is how it is done. - -In the first place Joe had provided himself with the following articles -for his trick: A paper bag, ordinary, except that inside it were some -small lumps of hard sugar, held from rattling about by small strips of -paper pasted over them. Also on one side of the bag was pasted a -triangular piece of paper forming a sort of pocket, which was not -visible when the bag was quickly held up in front of the audience. In a -secret pocket of his suit Joe had a watch crystal which had been scored -in crisscross fashion by a diamond, so that it appeared to be cracked in -every direction. The cuts made by the diamond were so deep in the glass -that a slight pressure would cause the crystal to break into scores of -pieces. - -The other piece of apparatus was a trick mortar and pestle. The mortar -had a false inside bottom which fitted closely but not too tightly. -Below this bottom Joe had placed, beforehand, the fragments of a cheap -watch—wheels, springs and so on. - -The pestle was also a trick one. In the large end there was a hollow, -large enough to hold a watch, and the opening was closed by a piece of -wood exactly the same shape and size as the false inside bottom of the -mortar. The end of the pestle and the bottom of the mortar were -interchangeable. - -The pistol Joe used was the regular stage kind. That is it had two -barrels. Into the larger the objects, in this case the fragments of a -watch, were placed. The other barrel fired a light charge of powder. - -The flowering plant was a real one—there was no trick about that except -that the earth around the roots had been previously made loose, so it -would pull up easily. - -Joe, with all these things, was ready for his trick. He borrowed the -watch and placed it in the paper bag. - -That is, he seemed to do so, but, in reality, he slipped it into the -little outside triangular pocket he had pasted there for it. He could -now hold the bag up, with the side containing the watch away from the -audience, and, as he showed both hands empty, every one thought the -watch was in the bag. It was, in a sense. - -Joe then twisted the bag up, making it conform to the shape of the -watch, and when this point was reached he quietly slipped the watch out -from the pocket into his hand, cleverly “palming” the timepiece. With -the watch safe in his hand, he laid the bag on the floor of the stage. -The paper still retaining its round shape, and no one suspected that the -watch was not in it. - -Then Joe stepped on the paper bag. Of course it sounded as if he had -broken the watch crystal, but, in reality, what the audience heard was -the crunching of the lumps of sugar. - -Joe pretended to be much exercised as he picked up the bag, and as he -did this, he slipped the watch into his secret pocket, and managed to -put over its glass face the crystal he had previously prepared by -scoring and criss-crossing with the diamond. When this was done Joe -again palmed the real watch, but now it had over its face a glass that -seemed to be cracked in all directions. - -Reaching his hand, in which the watch was palmed, inside the bag, Joe -seemingly brought out the cracked watch. Again he manifested much -concern, and more so when a pressure of his thumb really broke the -prepared glass. - -Then he was ready for the mortar and pestle part of the trick. He put -the fragments of glass on the paper bag, and lowered the watch, with its -back toward the audience, into the pestle. This was done so that no one -would see that the crystal was still whole and uncracked, which was the -case. - -The real watch was now in the mortar, but it did not actually rest on -the bottom. Instead it rested on the false piece of wood, and beneath -this wood, in a hollowed-out place, were the pieces of a cheap watch. - -As Joe looked down into the pestle, as though to see that the watch was -all ready to be pounded up, he “palmed” off the false head of the -pestle. This left that instrument with a hollow head, inside which would -fit the real watch, to be concealed from view by the loose false bottom -of the mortar, when the pestle was lifted. - -Joe now put the pestle into the mortar, slipping the opening in the -pestle over the watch and false bottom, and by a slight rotary motion -causing the false bottom of the mortar to fit itself into the pestle and -stick there. The real watch was now concealed in the hollow head of the -pestle, while the fragments of the cheap watch were exposed in the -bottom of the mortar. - -Joe now pretended that the pestle was not strong enough to smash up the -watch as he wanted it, and used a poker. He laid the pestle on the -table, which was a signal for the boy assistant to take it out behind -the scenes. And while he had the pestle there the boy took out the real -watch, quickly tied a pink ribbon through the ring, and then, going to -one of the curtains, in which was a slit, he reached through this slit -and suspended the ribbon on a short branch of the flower, letting it -hang down out of sight behind the pot. Of course the audience did not -see this, for the folds of the curtain concealed the slit. Besides, all -eyes were on Joe. - -The young wizard had now gotten the real watch just where he wanted it, -on the plant, where he could “produce” it whenever he wanted to. But the -trick was not yet finished. Joe ground away with the poker at the pieces -of the cheap watch already in the pestle. He then showed the pieces to -the audience, poured them out on the paper bag, where the pieces of -glass already were. The whole was then wadded up, put into the trick -pistol, and the rest was a mere matter of detail. Joe walked over, -picked up the pot, pulled the plant up by the roots, the watch of course -seeming to have been down in the dirt. And, naturally, the watch was not -in the least damaged, though it seemed to have gone through all sorts of -misfortunes. - -The real secret of the trick, aside from the sleight-of-hand work -necessary, lay in the prepared paper bag and the mortar and pestle, -which were made for just such mystification as this. - -“It went very well, Joe,” said the professor, at the conclusion of the -performance. “That little piece of ribbon added to it.” For Joe had -thought to put into the pistol a bit of ribbon such as that by which the -watch was suspended. Otherwise he could not have accounted for the piece -on the ring of the watch. - -“Do you think they liked it?” Joe asked. - -“I’m sure they did. You may do that trick at each place where we -perform. And if you can work up any new ones, do so.” - -“I will!” promised Joe, much delighted with his progress. - -Inventing new tricks is not as easy as might be supposed, and for the -next few days Joe suggested feats to Professor Rosello only to have them -refused as not being effective enough or as too old. But Joe was not -discouraged. - -At a performance one night in the town of Cardiff, Joe had occasion to -walk down among the audience to exhibit some pieces of apparatus, to -show that there was nothing concealed about it. As he passed one row of -seats he was surprised to hear a boyish voice say: - -“Hello, Joe!” - -He looked around and saw Harry Martin, one of his chums from Bedford. - -“Why, hello, Harry!” Joe ejaculated. “What in the world are you doing -here?” - -“I’m visiting my uncle who lives here. But I never expected to see you -in a show like this. I never was so surprised as when you came out on -the stage. I couldn’t believe my eyes.” - -“Oh, I’ve been with the professor some time,” said Joe quickly. “Ever -since I—er—I came away from home. But come back of the scenes after the -show, Harry. I’d like to have a talk with you.” - -“And I with you, Joe. I want to tell you I don’t believe what they are -saying about you, either.” - -“Saying about me, Harry?” - -“Yes. I’ll tell you later.” - -Joe was puzzled as he went on with the trick, and he eagerly awaited the -advent of his chum behind the scenes after the show was over. - -“What is it they’re saying about me, Harry?” asked the young wizard. “Do -they blame me for leaving a home I couldn’t stand any longer?” - -“Not that so much, Joe. But don’t you know you are accused of robbing -Deacon Blackford and setting fire to his place?” - -“What?” cried Joe. “You don’t mean that!” - -“Yes I do,” said Harry. “I mean that’s what you’re accused of, but I -don’t believe it!” - -Joe sank into a chair. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE MAGIC EGG - - -“Don’t take it so to heart, Joe,” begged Harry, after a moment’s pause. -“I didn’t mean to spring it on you this way. I thought maybe you knew -something about it.” - -“I didn’t know a thing!” exclaimed Joe. Professor Rosello and the boy -helper were busy putting away their apparatus, so Joe and Harry could -talk together for a time. “How did they come to accuse me?” Joe asked, -after a pause. - -“Well, you ran away, you know,” began Harry. “Of course that wasn’t so -bad, considering what you had to put up with. And the same night you -went off, the deacon was robbed.” - -“Of much?” - -“To hear him tell it you’d think it was. About a hundred dollars of his -money and nearly forty dollars of his wife’s.” - -“She kept hers in the clock and his was in the desk,” said Joe. - -“Better not let any one else hear you say that,” Harry cautioned him. - -“Why not?” - -“Because they’ll only be more suspicious of you, seeing you knew where -the money was kept.” - -“Oh, that isn’t anything. I couldn’t very well help knowing, being in -the house all the while. But was anything else taken?” - -“Yes, some valuable papers.” - -“And what about a fire?” asked Joe. - -“Well, the deacon says he heard a noise, got up to see what it was, and -saw some one getting out of the window near his desk. Whoever it was -kicked over the lamp, which exploded. The deacon says he knows you -didn’t mean to start the fire.” - -“What made him think it was I getting out the window?” - -“He didn’t—that is, not at the time. But when he went to call you, and -found you weren’t in your room, then he jumped to the conclusion that -you had taken the money and papers and climbed out of the window.” - -“I didn’t do either,” Joe said. “I went out the door in a hurry when I -heard the deacon after me. That is, I thought I heard him. I’m beginning -to believe now it was the noise made by the real burglars that -frightened me. But is that all the evidence they have against me?” - -“No, Hen Sylvester and Tim Donovan saw you running away in the middle of -the night, and jump the midnight freight. They chased after you and -fired some shots, but you wouldn’t stop.” - -“By Jove! That’s right!” cried Joe. “That _will_ look suspicious.” - -“Then you _did_ run away from them?” asked Harry. - -“Yes, but not because I had robbed the deacon. I was late for the -freight. You see it pulled out earlier than usual because there wasn’t -so much of the fireworks to load, on account of the fire. I didn’t want -to miss it, and I ran. I wouldn’t stop when the constables called to me. -Yes, that sure will look suspicious;” and Joe shook his head. - -“But we don’t believe you did it,” said Harry. “Tom, Charlie, Henry and -I will stick to you, Joe.” - -“Thanks. Did Tom get his suit all right?” - -“Oh, yes. But I sure was surprised when I saw you come out on the stage -to-night. We hadn’t any idea where you’d gone, though Deacon Blackford -said he guessed you’d join some circus.” - -“This isn’t quite a circus,” said Joe. “But I like it,” and then he told -his chum his experiences since joining his fortunes with those of -Professor Rosello. - -“Say, it’s great!” cried Harry, with sparkling eyes. “I wish I were a -magician.” - -“Oh, I’m not one yet,” replied Joe. “It takes a lot more experience than -I’ve had. But I’m learning. How did you like the show?” - -“Fine! That watch trick of yours was a dandy. You didn’t really smash -the watch and put it together again, did you, Joe?” - -“Of course not. There was a trick about it, but I don’t feel at liberty -to tell you how it’s done. You see the trick, in a way, belongs to -Professor Rosello.” - -“Oh, I don’t want you to tell me. It would spoil it for me when I saw it -again. I’m coming to-morrow night.” - -“Come on,” urged Joe. “Here, I’ll write you out a pass. It isn’t often I -get a chance to do that for a friend.” - -They were showing two nights in this particular town, and Professor -Rosello gladly allowed Joe to give Harry a free ticket. - -“Say, you’re sure making out better than you ever would in Bedford, -Joe,” commented his chum, as they parted that evening. - -“Yes, I couldn’t stand it there. The deacon wasn’t fair to me.” - -“Well, we boys miss you,” Harry said. - -“Give ’em my regards when you go back,” Joe suggested, “and tell the -deacon I never took his money.” - -“I sure will, Joe.” - -A few nights later, Joe, in his capacity as assistant, was helping the -professor, who was doing an egg trick—balancing the egg on the end of a -straw. The straws were genuine ones, as were the eggs. The secret lay in -a little piece of apparatus, so small as to be readily palmed almost -before the very eyes of the audience. It consisted of a little celluloid -cup, so shallow as to be almost flat, but concave enough to hold the end -of an egg. There was a little stem, half an inch long, on the lower side -of this celluloid cup. - -After the professor had invited some one in the audience to make an egg -stand up on end on the point of a straw, which the person, of course, -could not do, the professor did it himself, deftly slipping the -projection of the celluloid cup into the hollow of the straw. The egg -then stood up in the little piece of celluloid, which, being the exact -color of an egg and as thin as the shell, was never noticed. - -As Joe watched this familiar trick being done, there came into his mind -the idea for another one, even more simple, and requiring no apparatus -whatever except an ordinary glass jar. He spoke to the professor about -it the next day, and was given permission to work it. - -Just before he “put on” his watch trick the next night, Joe announced -that he would try a little experiment with an egg. - -“You all know that a perfectly fresh egg will sink in water,” he said. -“In fact, that is a test for a fresh egg. Now I have here three -perfectly good and fresh eggs. I know they are fresh because I bought -them this afternoon from your popular grocer, Mr. McCabe, and he told me -he never sold any _but_ fresh eggs.” - -There was a laugh at this, and every one turned to look at the grocer, -who was in the audience, a fact that Joe knew, for he had really -purchased the eggs at the grocery. Thus he had his audience with him at -the start, a reference to a local personage from the stage by a -traveling performer invariably producing an effect. - -“Now as you all know,” Joe went on, “a fresh egg sinks in water. You can -prove it at home, and I’ll prove it here for you. Just pick out any one -of these eggs,” he said, and, extending them on a plate to a woman in -the audience, he took from her the egg she picked up. - -“The lady looks like a good cook, she ought to know good eggs,” said -Joe, and again there was a laugh. - -“Now I’ll just put this egg in this jar of water,” went on the young -magician; “but instead of sinking, when I speak the magic word, it will -remain floating half-way between the top of the water and the bottom of -the jar. Now watch me closely.” - -Joe gently lowered the egg into the jar of water that stood on a table -near him. Slowly the egg settled through the limpid fluid. - -“By the magic of this wand, I command you to stop!” cried Joe, as the -egg was half-way down, and as he waved his stick the egg did stop -midway. - -“You see how easy it is,” the young performer continued. “I did not -touch the egg after I placed it in the water, nor did I approach the -glass jar. You may examine both in a moment. I will now dissolve the -magic spell I have cast about the egg. With my wand I make some -passes—so——” - -Joe put his wand into the water and stirred it about the egg, but did -not touch it. In a second the egg slowly sank to the bottom of the jar, -to the mystification of the audience. - -“You may think there is some trick about it,” said Joe. “But any one of -you is at liberty to try and make the egg halt half-way down, as I did. -Will you try it?” he said to the woman who had picked out the egg. - -She blushed and shook her head. - -“Then you, please,” and Joe indicated a young man, who, sheepishly -enough, came up on the stage. Joe handed him the jar of water, the young -man reached down into it, got the egg and put it in the jar as Joe had -done. But the egg at once sank to the bottom, and though the young man -tried again, he had no success. - -“You see, it’s magic,” laughed Joe, as he made ready for his smashed -watch trick. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - THE CIRCUS - - -And now for the explanation of the egg trick. It is so simple that any -of you may do it at home, with just an ordinary egg, a fruit jar and -some salt. Don’t forget the salt. - -You have all heard the story, told to children, about putting salt on a -bird’s tail in order to tame it. Well, a fresh egg that one wishes to -make float half-way submerged in a jar of water, must be treated in the -same way. It must be salted. - -Just as Joe said, a fresh egg will sink in water. But it will float in -strong brine, or salt water, the reason being that salt water is denser, -and has a greater specific gravity, than fresh water. - -But the trick lies in combining fresh and salt water so that the egg -will sink only half-way. - -Make a strong brine solution by dissolving common table salt in water. -It may be necessary to experiment a little before getting the solution -just the right strength. Fill a glass fruit jar, or any jar with a wide -opening, half full of the brine. Now, with a funnel, pour fresh water in -on top of the salt water. Be careful not to let the two kinds of water -mix. The salt water, being heavier, will be on the bottom of the jar, -and the fresh, being lighter, on top. If you do it carefully enough, -pouring in a little fresh water at a time, you will have, as Joe had, a -jar with two layers of different kinds of water—one salt, the other -fresh. The audience, of course, can not see this, as they could if you -had two differently colored fluids, for the salt and fresh water are of -the same color. - -When Joe put the egg in the water he lowered it carefully, so as not to -disturb the two water layers. The egg sank through the strata of fresh -water, but when it came to the layer of dense, salt water, it would not -sink in that, and came to a stop, half-way down, just as Joe, who knew -at what point this would occur, uttered the command to stop. - -And when Joe pretended, to dissolve the “spell,” he merely, with his -wand, stirred together the fresh and salt water. This made a mixture of -salt water, but it was not dense, or heavy, enough to support the egg, -which of course sank to the bottom. - -And, as the waters were well mixed when Joe let the young man try the -experiment, of course the latter could not make the egg float as the boy -wizard had done. - -“That was a good trick, Joe,” was the professor’s compliment when Joe -came off the stage. “In fact I think the simpler the trick is, the -better, but there are very few that can be worked with so little -apparatus as your egg experiment. We’ll keep that on our list.” - -Joe had told his employer about the news brought by Harry, to the effect -that our hero was accused of robbery by his foster-parent. - -“What are you going to do about it, Joe?” asked the professor. - -“I don’t see that I can do anything. I didn’t take a dollar of his -money, or Mrs. Blackford’s either, nor did I touch the valuable papers. -It’s all a mistake, but I’m not going back there to tell him so. I sent -word by Harry. If he won’t believe him, he won’t believe me.” - -“No, perhaps not. And, as you say, you can’t go back there just to -convince your foster-father. You don’t think, do you, that he will make -trouble for you?” - -“I don’t imagine so.” - -When Joe said this he knew nothing of the warrant having been sworn out -for his arrest. Harry had not told his chum of this detail. - -“Then I don’t see that you need do anything,” said Mr. Crabb. “I, -myself, don’t believe the accusation against you. And until you are put -to some real trouble over it you may as well ignore it. We’ll just go on -as usual. You are doing well, and our show is succeeding better than I -hoped for. I am glad you came to me.” - -Joe was grateful for this trust, and resolved to do his best in his -future work. He worked up several new and simple tricks, many of them, -such as dancing cards, the nodding skull and others, being adaptations -from other stage illusions. - -You have, most of you, perhaps, seen a magician suspend a card, -apparently in mid-air, and cause it to go up or down as some one in the -audience requests. Sometimes a metal ball on a rod is used. These tricks -are worked by means of a black thread which is attached to the card or -ball and is pulled by a confederate behind the scenes. - -Indeed, the black silk thread has been called the magician’s best -friend. It is absolutely invisible on the lighted stage against the -proper background, and the right kind is strong enough to lift -considerable weight. - -A card chosen from the pack is made to rise or fall as follows: the -magician gets possession of the card selected by some one in the -audience, either by keeping his finger in the place in the pack into -which it is thrust, or by “forcing” a certain card on the person in the -audience. The performer knows what card he is going to “force” and, -later, can readily pick it out of the pack as he shuffles it. To “force” -a card, the operator rapidly spreads out a pack of cards, face down, in -front of a person, and quickly thrusts one card out farther than the -others, literally “forcing” it into the hand. It is a predetermined -card, but not one in a hundred realizes that. - -At any rate, having the card, the performer goes back to the stage and -adroitly contrives to fasten the card to the unseen black silk thread -with a tiny bit of beeswax. Then, with the card apparently suspended in -mid-air, but in reality hung by an unseen thread, which runs through -screw-eyes on the stage floor, the card is made to go up or down or stop -midway, just as the audience calls for, by the pulling of the thread by -the assistant behind the scenes. When the trick is over the performer -slyly takes the card off the pellet of wax, no trace of which shows, and -passes the card around for examination. Of course it is an ordinary -card. The trick was all in the string. - -Joe made a variation of that trick by using a round-bottomed little -papier-maché figure, bought in a toy store. There was no trick about the -figure. It was one of those which can not be made to lie down, but -continually bob up, because of a weight of lead in the rounded bottom. - -Joe laid a glass shelf across the backs of two chairs, and after passing -the little round-bottomed figure about for inspection, returned with it -to the stage, placing it on the glass shelf. - -“This little figure, by bowing to the right or to the left, will now -answer questions without assistance from me,” Joe announced. “A bow to -the left will mean ‘no,’ and a nod to the right will mean ‘yes.’ Or you -may have it the other way if you like. Which shall it be?” - -The choice being thus left to the audience it seems impossible that -there can be any prearrangement. - -“Right bow for ‘no,’” some one called. - -“Very well,” agreed Joe, smiling. “It’s all the same to me. A bow to the -right will stand for ‘no,’ and the nod to the opposite direction will -mean ‘yes.’” - -All this while the little figure rested on the glass shelf. Not a bit of -mechanism was to be observed, and Joe walked down from the stage and -stood in the audience after placing the figure on the glass. - -“Now we will ask questions,” announced the young performer. “Is the lady -on my right married?” - -“No,” nodded the figure. - -“Is she willing to be?” he went on, amid laughter, while the young lady -blushed. - -“Yes,” nodded the figure, amid still heartier laughter. - -Joe asked many other questions, easily answered by no or yes. He did not -take the trouble to find out if the answers were correct. The questions -followed one another quickly, and the audience was interested in noting -the movements of the figure, with no one on the stage, with Joe far away -from it, and with nothing but a plain glass shelf on which the figure -rested. - -When Joe had caused enough fun and mystification with this trick, he -walked back to the stage, picked up the figure and tossed it to a little -boy in a front seat. - -“Take it home with you, youngster,” he said. “See if you can make it -behave as I did.” - -Several interested ones around the boy examined the figure. There was no -deception about it, and the giving of it away proved this. In fact Joe -found that a good climax to the trick. - -And now—how was it done? - -Beforehand two black threads were passed from behind the scenes up -through the rounds of the chairs, over the backs and up on the glass -shelf, where they met in the middle, each thread ending in a little -pellet of wax. When Joe apparently carelessly placed the figure on the -glass shelf he fastened one of the waxed ends of thread to either side -of the half-rounded bottom. - -He then went entirely away from the stage, and all that remained was for -the assistant behind the scenes to pull one thread to make the figure -bow to the right, and another to cause it to nod to the left. Of course -the assistant heard all that was said, and could govern himself -according to the choice of the audience. It was an effective trick, and -beautifully simple. You might even try it yourself, but be sure the -black threads do not show. It is for this reason that most magicians -have dark draperies for a stage background. - -“Where do we go next?” asked Joe of the professor the night after he had -first introduced his magic figure trick, which had gone so well with the -audience. - -“Hillsburg is the next town, and we ought to make quite some money -there, Joe.” - -“You deserve more money,” proceeded Mr. Crabb, “and I am going to give -it to you. You are certainly a valuable addition to my show, and in time -you will be able to carry on a whole performance yourself. You still -have something to learn in palming, in making substitutions, and in -manipulating cards. But that takes practice and time. I have great hopes -of you.” - -But alas for the hopes of doing a good business in Hillsburg! When they -reached that town, they found that a circus was playing there on the -same date as Professor Rosello’s show. - -“No use trying to compete with a circus,” observed the professor, as he -heard the news at the small hotel where they put up. “We’ll just wait -over a couple of days, Joe, and perhaps we can think up some new tricks -in the meanwhile. A rest will do us no harm. I’ll just cancel to-day’s -engagement here, and put the show on two nights later. By that time we -can get a crowd.” - -“Then you haven’t anything for me to do?” - -“No, Joe.” - -“I guess, then, I’ll go out and see them get ready for the circus. I may -take in the show, too.” - -“Please yourself, Joe,” said the professor, as his young helper went -out. “I didn’t think he could resist the attraction of the sawdust rings -of a circus,” he murmured to himself with a smile. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - SOME TRAPEZE TRICKS - - -Joe did not have to ask his way to the circus grounds. He had only to -follow the crowd, mostly made up of small boys, though with a goodly -sprinkling of young men, all of whom were stringing their way out to the -big, vacant lots where the tents were being put up, and where the big -cages, wagons, horses, and animals were getting ready for the parade -that was to follow. - -“They’ll likely have the horse and animal tents up by this time,” mused -Joe, “but I can see ’em fixing the main top.” - -The largest tent, or the one where the performance is given, is called -in circus language the “main top.” - -Joe knew something of circuses from having read of them and having seen -one or two, but also he remembered a very little, and seemed, too, to -have inherited a certain knowledge. - -It would have been strange had he not had a hankering for a tent show, -for the son of Madame Hortense, one of the greatest circus riders of her -day, ought to have something of a liking for that strange life. - -“I wonder if, by any chance, I’d meet some one who used to know my -mother,” mused Joe, as he walked onward. “It isn’t so very many years -ago that she was with a show, and there might be some old-time -performers who would know her. But it’s hardly likely, though possible. -Of course my father, having been mostly in theatre shows, wouldn’t be so -apt to know circus people. Say, it almost makes me want to be with ’em!” -Joe murmured enthusiastically, as he came in sight of the circus lots on -which lively scenes were being enacted. - -Men were running about, straightening out the big folds of canvas, -lacing up the parts of the big tent preparatory to raising it, for the -“main top” comes in several sections for easier transportation. - -Gay banners were fluttering from the animal tent, already up, and from -the one where the performers were to eat and dress. - -Breakfast had already been served to the now busy workers; and from the -wagons, on which were the big stoves, there arose appetizing odors, as a -second meal was being gotten ready—a breakfast for the performers who -did not have to get up as early as did the laborers. Most of the circus -stuff had been brought from the railroad trains, and was on the grounds. - -“I don’t see how they ever straighten things out,” mused Joe. But -somehow it was done. Every one had a certain part to perform. And while -one gang of men were putting up the tents, others were feeding the -horses and other animals, and those in charge of the parade were getting -that ready to march through the streets in order to entice the small boy -and his parent to come to the show. - -Joe strolled past the place where, outside one of the performers’ tents, -men were pasting paper on the hoops through which the riders would leap -later. He did not stop to peer in at the animals, though many small boys -were feasting their eyes on such glimpses of the sights as they could -see. Joe did not care much for this. - -“I wish I could see some of the trapeze and high wire fellows at -practice,” he mused. “I might pick up a few stunts myself.” - -Joe passed a place where some of the performers’ trunks had been heaped -up in readiness to be taken into the dressing tents. Near them stood a -tall, slim, young fellow, of about Joe’s age. He did not seem very -muscular, and he was tugging away at a heavy trunk, which he could not -move. - -“Shan’t I give you a hand?” asked Joe pleasantly. “That looks pretty -heavy.” - -“It is,” was the answer, given with a smile. “I ought to have some of -the men help me, but they’re all too busy. My trunk is under this one, -and I want to get at it. There’s a hole in my suit I want to get mended -before the show opens.” - -From that Joe knew the lad to be one of the performers. - -“I guess I can get it down for you,” said the young wizard, and with a -heave of his powerful arms he lifted down the top trunk. - -“My, but you’re strong!” exclaimed the other, somewhat enviously. - -“Strong is my last name,” laughed Joe. - -“Is it, really?” - -“It sure is. Can I help you carry it to your dressing room?” - -“Well, if you don’t mind, it would be a favor. I generally have one of -the men help me, but we’re a bit late to-day, on account of a train -wreck that held us up, and everybody is doing double work. My place is -right over there,” and he indicated the tent where he had his dressing -room, or, rather, space, for all do not have separate rooms in a circus. - -As Joe took hold of one end of the trunk he noticed that it bore, in -big, white letters the words: - - HUMAN FISH - -Joe’s face must have showed his surprise, for the circus lad noticed it, -and with a laugh, said: - -“It isn’t an aquarium you’re helping to carry. This just has my clothes -and some other things in it—the suit I wear—I’m the ‘human fish,’ you -know.” - -“You are—a fish?” - -“Yes. Turton’s my right name, Benny Turton, but I’m billed as the ‘human -fish.’ I do an act in a tank of water—swimming, diving, staying under a -long time, picking coins up in my mouth and all that. It isn’t a bad act -they tell me. - -“Last night I ripped the suit I wear—sort of fish-scale arrangement, you -know, and I wanted to get it out of my trunk early, to have it mended. -I’m much obliged to you,” he went on, as Joe set his end of the trunk -down in the dressing tent, which was now becoming thronged with other -performers who were getting ready for the parade. - -“Oh, you’re welcome, I’m sure,” Joe answered. “I guess I’ll come and see -you perform.” - -“I’d be glad to have you. Say, if you’d like to look about a bit now I -can fix it up for you.” - -“I’d like to see the trapeze fellows at practice.” - -“All right. I’ll speak to the ring-master. Oh, I say Jim—Jim Tracy!” -called the “human fish” to a big, red-faced and black-mustached man who -entered the tent just then. - -“Hello, Ben, what is it now?” was the answer. - -“Here’s a friend of mine,” went on the “fish,” with a smile. “His name -is Strong. You ought to see him juggle trunks. He wants to watch the -trapeze fellows doing some try-outs.” - -“All right, Ben. As long as he’s a friend of yours it goes. Make -yourself at home, Strong,” went on the ring-master, “and if anybody asks -you what you’re doing, tell ’em Jim Tracy said it was all right. How you -making out, Benny? Need any help?” His voice seemed to take on a kinder -tone as he spoke to the rather frail looking lad. - -“Oh, I’m all right now. He gave me a hand just when I needed it,” and he -nodded to Joe. “Got to get my suit mended, or I’ll be full of water -before my act’s half over.” - -“That’s right—don’t spoil the act,” admonished the ring-master. “It’s -too good to have that happen. Well, I’ve got about a thousand things to -do. See you later,” and with a nod to the two young men he hurried off. - -“Now you can go about as you like,” said Benny. “He’s the head boss, and -one of the owners of Sampson Brothers’ Gigantic Aggregation of Circus -and Hippodrome,” said Ben with a laugh, as he quoted part of the show -bills. “What he says goes!” - -Benny Turton, the “human fish,” had unlocked his trunk, and was taking -out a queer suit, made, it seemed, of rubber, covered with shimmering -green scales like those of a fish. - -“This is supposed to be water-tight,” Benny explained, “and it is, when -it doesn’t leak. I’ve got to put a patch on one elbow,” and he showed -where a rip would let water in. “I mend it with a rubber cement,” he -added, “and it takes a little time to dry. That’s why I was in a hurry -to get at it. You’ll see some of the trapeze men at work soon, I think. -Come back when you’re through watching them.” - -A little later Joe found himself in the main tent, which was now almost -completely erected, and as soon as this had been done men began putting -in place the trapezes, flying rings and other pieces of apparatus on -which the acrobats performed their feats. - -While this was going on a man came strolling in, and from the anxious -orders he gave, and from the manner in which he watched the arranging of -some of the trapezes, Joe surmised that he was one of the performers. He -made sure of this a little later when the man swung himself up on the -bar, tested it, and then began to go through a few simple exercises in -his street clothes, as though to test the ropes and fastenings. - -“All right,” he called to the workmen. “That’ll do.” - -“The Lascalla Brothers are mighty particular,” murmured one of the -workmen, as the performer went out. - -“I should say so!” was the comment of another. Then Joe knew he had seen -one of the most famous of trapeze performers, whose name was in large -letters on the bills. - -One or two men questioned Joe’s presence, but when he mentioned Jim -Tracy he was made welcome. - -Most of the trapezes were in place, and the workmen had gone to another -part of the big tent. Joe strolled over toward one of the swinging bars. - -“Say, wouldn’t I like to try it just once!” he murmured. “I’ve never -been on a real circus trapeze.” He looked about him. No one seemed to be -noticing him. “Here goes!” he exclaimed. - -Lightly he sprang and grasped the bar. The feel of it seemed natural to -his hands, and he felt his springy muscles contracting for the upward -pull. He swung lightly to the bar, and sat there, moving to and fro. - -Then, in a sort of reckless spirit Joe went through a number of -evolutions, such as he had often practiced alone at home or in some -chum’s barn. - -Joe was hampered by his street shoes and clothes from doing very much, -but what he did he did well. Daring indeed were one or two of the feats -he attempted, for there was no life net below him. He worked rapidly and -then, giving a final swing on the bar he shot off it, turned a -somersault, and landed on his feet on a pile of canvas some distance -off. - -“Say, that wasn’t bad! Better work in a little of that new stuff -to-day,” said a voice behind Joe. The young wizard turned quickly to -behold Jim Tracy looking at him. - -“Hello! Oh, it’s you, is it?” asked the ring-master. “Blessed if I -didn’t think it was one of our regular performers doing a try-out. Say, -Ben didn’t tell me you belonged to the profesh.” - -“I don’t. That is I’m an assistant to Professor Rosello, a magician. I’m -not a circus performer.” - -“Well, it’s too bad you aren’t,” was the comment. “I’ve seen some good -tricks on a trapeze, but you’ve got a few of your own. I don’t s’pose -you’d like to join the show, would you? I could use an extra trapeze and -ring act. Now if you’d like to consider it, I’ll make you an offer.” - -Joe’s heart beat high for a moment. He was almost tempted to accept. -Then he realized that he had not yet perfected himself in the working of -magic, and he wanted to do this. So he shook his head. - -“No, thank you,” he said, gratefully. “I guess I’ll stick to Professor -Rosello for the present.” - -“Well, you know your own business best,” answered the ring-master, “and -I sure don’t want to take you away from the man you’re with. But if ever -you think of joining a circus, why drop me a line. You’ll find us——” - -But the ring-master was suddenly interrupted. - -“Oh, Jim!” cried a voice, and Joe turned to behold, what he afterward -declared was, a “vision in pink,” hurrying into the main tent. The -“vision” was a young girl, with a laughing face, merry brown eyes and a -vivacious manner. - -“Oh, Jim!” she cried. “I am in _such_ trouble!” - -“Well now, Miss Helen, what’s the trouble?” asked Jim in a good-natured -voice, as though he were speaking to some child. “We sure will have to -have it fixed for you.” - -“Oh, thank you, Jim,” and the “vision” turned and gazed full at Joe. - -Joe blushed. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - ALMOST CAUGHT - - -“Well, now, Miss Helen, what’s the trouble?” asked the ring-master, -while Joe continued to gaze at the “vision.” - -“Oh, I can’t get any lump sugar for Rosebud, and you know he won’t eat -the other kind.” Her lips pouted prettily, and then she smiled—Joe -declared at him, though it may have been at both of them. - -“No lump sugar, eh? Well, that sure _is_ a calamity!” laughed Jim Tracy. -“I’ll have to see to that. Rosebud must have his sugar.” - -“If he doesn’t, you know he won’t do his tricks well,” went on the girl, -now smiling broadly. “Please get some for me, Jim.” - -“I sure will, if I have to rob the breakfast table! I’ll be back in a -minute,” he added to Joe. “You might wait here.” - -Joe was perfectly willing to wait. He hoped the “vision” would return. - -“Is he a new performer?” asked the girl, nodding and smiling at Joe, as -she walked off with the ring-master. - -“Well, no, not exactly, Miss Helen. I’ve made him an offer—I just had -to, after I saw him doing some stunts on a trapeze—but he seems to think -he likes magic better.” - -“Then he doesn’t like our circus?” The girl stopped, and once more she -pouted prettily. - -“Oh, it isn’t that, I assure you!” exclaimed Joe quickly. “But you see I -am under some obligations to Professor Rosello, and I don’t want to -leave him in the middle of the season.” - -“That’s right,” chimed in Jim. “It’s best to play fair. But come along, -Miss Helen, and I’ll see if I can rustle some sugar for Rosebud.” - -“Good-bye!” she called to Joe. “But I should think you’d like a circus -better than doing those queer tricks. Though they _are_ nice,” she -added, with a little nod. - -The sun seemed to have gone under a cloud to Joe as she went out of the -tent. Brightness had vanished. - -“I—I almost wish I had taken his offer,” mused the lad. “I wonder——” he -paused as he remembered the flash of her brown eyes and her smile. “No, -I’d better stick to the professor. Maybe—later——Oh, well, I’ll have to -think about it.” - -He walked about, looking at the preparations still going on to get the -main tent in readiness for the show. He saw Jim coming back, alone. - -“Did you get the sugar?” he asked the ring-master. - -“Yes. Rosebud won’t starve to-day.” - -“Who’s Rosebud?” - -“Her trick horse, and a dandy, too.” Then, though Joe did not ask, Jim -went on. “She’s one of our biggest drawing cards. Her name is Helen -Morton, but she’s billed as Mademoiselle Mortonti. It looks better on -paper.” - -“What does she do?” Joe found himself asking. - -“Fancy riding, and on a trick horse. She makes Rosebud do all sorts of -tricks—amuses the young folks, and some of the old ones too. She makes a -great pet of her horse and gives him lump sugar as a reward. I generally -have a supply on hand for her, but it must have got side-tracked on -account of the mix-up. However, I found some for her. - -“She’s one of the finest little girls in the world,” went on the -ring-master earnestly. “We all love her. She’s an orphan, but she -doesn’t lack friends. Some folks sort of look down on circus -performers,” went on Jim, with a flash of his eyes, “but I want to tell -you, right now, that——” - -“You don’t need to tell _me_ anything,” said Joe in a low voice. “My -mother was a circus performer. Madame Hortense was the name she rode -under.” - -Jim stared at Joe with open mouth. - -“Your mother in the profesh?” he asked. - -“Yes.” - -“Well, I can’t say I ever heard of her—but that’s not strange,” said the -ring-master slowly. “I haven’t been in the business all my life. But if -your mother was a circus rider then you know. Shake!” - -He held out a powerful hand. Joe gripped it none the less powerfully. - -“Say, you’ve got some hold!” exclaimed the ring-master with admiration -in his voice. “Better think my offer over.” - -“I’d like to,” answered Joe, “but I’d better stick where I am for the -present.” - -“Well, you know best. But if you ever decide to join—you can always find -our advance route bookings in one of the theatrical papers. Drop me a -line.” - -Joe promised to do so, and went outside, perhaps hoping for a sight of -Miss Morton. But he did not see her. He did, however, see much that -interested him in the way of circus life, and he understood something of -the fascination it had for his mother, especially as she was such an -accomplished horsewoman; and feats of horsemanship are nowhere better -appreciated than in a circus. - -“Well, did you see all you wanted?” asked Benny Turton, as Joe rejoined -him. - -“Yes, I saw lots. Even got an offer to go with the show.” - -“You didn’t!” - -“Yes I did,” and Joe narrated his experience. - -“Say, I think maybe you’d make out good in a circus,” said Benny, -holding up his scaly suit for a close examination. He wanted no more -leaks in it. - -“No, I’ll stick to magic for a while yet,” Joe answered. “But I think -you’ll be busy soon, getting ready for the performance, so I’ll leave -you. Remember, I’m coming to see you do your stunt.” - -“I hope you do.” - -As Professor Rosello was not going to give a show that evening, Joe was -free. He went to the afternoon and evening circus performances, and he -tried to tell himself that it was to watch the “human fish” and some -other special acts. But though Benny’s act was interesting and -startling, Joe paid more attention to the riding of Miss Helen Morton -and the tricks of her horse, Rosebud, than he did to Benny. And the -performance of Mademoiselle Mortonti was well worth watching. It was a -beautiful exhibition of horsemanship on the part of a refined young -girl, and it brought forth round after round of applause, in which Joe -joined enthusiastically. - -The circus moved out of town after the final performance, and Joe and -the professor gave their show. - -They did not draw as large crowds as they would have done had not the -counter attraction of the circus operated against them, but they did -fairly well. - -Joe introduced a new trick, which made an instant hit. It was very -simple, too. - -When his turn came to occupy the stage he advanced with a candle and a -box of matches in his hand. - -“Fire is a mysterious element,” he stated. “It is a good servant but a -bad master. Well controlled, fire and light are very useful. Now I have -here a candle which is exceptionally well educated. That is it can be -lighted, extinguished and lighted again by the mere movement of my wand. - -“Now I don’t say every one can do this, for you have not all of you -magic wands. But, lest some of you think the trick is easy, I am going -to ask one of you to come up here and light this candle. Will you come?” -and he indicated a young man in a front seat. After some hesitation the -youth ascended the stage. - -“Do you know which end of a match to light?” asked Joe. The youth -grinningly admitted that he did. Joe then handed him a candle and bade -him light it. When it was aglow Joe handed the youth the wand, and told -him to point it at the candle. - -“Just point it at the flame, and order it to go out—vamoose!” Joe -ordered. The youth tried this, but the candle still burned on. “I guess -you’ll have to speak louder,” observed Joe with a smile, “the candle may -be deaf.” - -Accordingly the youth shouted, but still the candle burned. - -“Louder!” urged Joe, and the youth fairly yelled. But still the candle -burned brightly. “You see not every one has the magic power,” stated the -young performer. “Now let me show you how it is done.” - -“Just help this young man down the steps,” Joe directed his assistant, -the boy previously referred to. “I am afraid he may have strained -himself shouting.” - -There was a laugh at this, and the audience watched Joe’s helper -solicitously assisting the volunteer down the steps. - -While this was going on Joe had taken the lighted candle and had walked -back with it to one of his tables, on which he placed it. - -“Now I will show you how it is done,” he said. “Ah, the wind has blown -out the candle, but as the wind can not light it again I will first do -so with a match, and we will then call on the forces of magic to do the -rest.” - -Joe lighted the candle, and then, standing some little distance from the -table on which the glowing taper stood, he pointed his wand at it, and -cried: - -“Out, candle!” - -Immediately the candle was extinguished. - -“No, I didn’t blow it out.” Joe said, pretending that some one in the -audience had said that. “To prove it I will, without moving, light it -from where I stand.” Then he exclaimed: - -“Candle, light!” - -At once the candle leaped into a glow. There were surprised exclamations -at this, and Joe repeated the trick several times. - -“It is very easy when you know how,” he said, “and to prove there is no -trick about it I will pass the candle down to you for examination.” Joe -tossed a candle among the audience. Several examined it. There was no -doubt that it was just an ordinary candle. - -“How did he do it?” every one asked. - -The secret lay in a trick candle. The first one Joe lighted for the -young man was an ordinary taper. Once blown out it could not be lighted -except with a match. - -But when Joe had his helper assist the young man down off the stage, the -young magician took advantage of the fun and confusion over this to -substitute on his table a trick candle for the ordinary one. - -This trick candle consisted of a metal tube, painted white, and made to -look exactly like a candle, with a metal point at the top to represent a -wick. Inside the hollow metal tube was a small wax taper, a miniature -candle, and it was held up near the top by an inside, spiral spring. The -spring was strong enough to carry up the taper as fast as it burned, but -could be pulled down by a black silk thread, coming out at the bottom of -the candle stick, and extending across the stage through the draperies, -where it was held by Professor Rosello, who helped Joe in this illusion. - -Joe quickly substituted the trick candle for the real one and lighted -it, pretending that the wind had blown that one out as he walked to the -table. - -With the trick candle aglow, Joe only had to take his position where he -pleased, and order the candle to go out. At once Professor Rosello, -behind the scenes, pulled the black thread, invisible to the audience. -The taper, still lighted, was pulled down inside the hollow metal candle -stick, and, of course, it seemed just as if it went out. It was still -burning, however, some small air holes on the back of the tube, where -they could not be seen, providing the oxygen. - -When Joe, pointing the other end of his wand at the candle, ordered it -to light, Professor Rosello released the string, and the concealed -spring raised the still lighted taper into view, so that the candle -appeared to light itself in a mysterious manner. - -Thus Joe did the trick, which was received very well, causing quite a -sensation. Professor Rosello complimented him on its success. - -It was toward the close of the performance. Joe was about to step down -off the stage to pass through the audience with a vase for examination, -when he looked to the back of the hall, and there, to his great -surprise, he saw the vindictive face of his foster-father, Deacon -Blackford. Joe gasped, and quickly turned back. Under pretense of -arranging the trick with the professor, Joe whispered: - -“My foster-father is out in the audience. He must have been following me -and he has come here to arrest me. He thinks I stole that money, but I -didn’t. I don’t want to be falsely arrested. What shall I do?” - -The professor thought quickly. - -“It was a narrow escape,” he said. “He almost caught you. He is probably -waiting for you to come down in the crowd so he can grab you. Quick now. -Go behind the scenes. I’ll hold the audience with some patter. Then you -tell the boy to come out and help me with this trick. He can do it as -well as you, as it is very simple. I’ll finish the rest of the show -alone.” - -“But what shall I do?” asked Joe. - -“Slip out by the stage door, go to the hotel, get your things and take -the first train for Seneca. We show there next. I’ll come on as soon as -I can pack up after the show. We’ll fool the deacon. There is no need of -being arrested if you are innocent, and it is evident he came here to -take you into custody. It’s a good thing you saw him in time.” - -Joe hurried back of the scenes, while Professor Rosello held the -attention of the audience, including that of Deacon Blackford. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - STRANGE NEWS - - -Because of what had happened and the trouble that might be caused to Joe -should his foster-father cause his arrest, Professor Rosello made a -change in the end of his show. He substituted some simple tricks for the -more elaborate feats of magic in which he needed Joe’s help. - -Still he kept the audience amused, and that was the main point. -Professor Rosello even saw Deacon Blackford laughing at some of the -tricks and the “patter” which accompanied them. But immediately after he -smiled, the stern man became more stern, as though ashamed of himself -for having given way to mirth. - -“I guess he’ll find out, if he lives long enough,” thought the -performer, “that circus people and magicians aren’t as black as they are -painted.” - -The professor was thoroughly impressed with the belief in Joe’s -innocence, and he did not want to see him subjected to the humiliation -of an arrest. - -“Innocent as he is, and as I believe him to be,” thought the professor, -“it would take time to prove it, and it would delay my show. It may make -him look guilty to run away in this fashion, but I believe it the best -way. Later on, if necessary, Joe can give himself up and explain.” - -Meanwhile Joe, having the same idea, was making his way out of the stage -door of the theatre. He hurried to the hotel, packed up his belongings -and took a train to the next town. The professor and the baggage would -come by a later train. - -“That was a narrow escape,” mused Joe, as he hurried away. “I wonder how -he found me?” - -The answer to that question was not difficult. - -Professor Rosello went on with the performance. Among other tricks was -the one of making the arithmetic sum appear on the slate—the trick Joe -had explained to his chums the day the fireworks factory burned. - -Another was the producing of hundreds of feet of colored paper, in the -shape of a ribbon, and scores of paper flowers from a hat borrowed from -some one in the audience. The hat was shown empty, and immediately -thereafter the performer, putting in the end of his wand, proceeded to -wind out on it yard after yard of paper ribbon. Next he shook out paper -flowers, so that with the ribbon, they made quite a pile on the table—a -pile much larger than the hat itself. - -“I didn’t know you carried all that stuff with you, sir,” said the -professor to the man whose hat he had borrowed. “You must find it quite -a burden. - -“And that isn’t all, either,” went on the performer. He looked closely -into the hat, a puzzled look came over his face, and he asked: “Have you -a permit to carry live stock about with you?” - -“Live stock?” repeated the man, wonderingly. - -“Yes. I see something alive in here. Here it is,” and, putting in his -hand, which was seen to be empty, while the other grasped the hat by the -brim, the professor pulled out a live and kicking guinea pig. - -The audience laughed heartily at this, and the professor tried to put -back into the hat the heap of paper ribbon, flowers and the live animal. -Of course, they would not fit. - -“Well,” went on the performer, with a puzzled air, “_you_ may be able to -get all those things in your hat, my dear sir, but _I_ can’t, though I -was able to get them out.” - -He then piled the paper ribbon and flowers on the head covering and -passed it to the man. The guinea pig was taken in charge by the young -assistant to be used on the next occasion. - -It need hardly be explained that Professor Rosello put all the articles -in the hat (“loaded” it, to use the magician’s term) as he walked back -with it from where he had borrowed it to the stage. The guinea pig, -which had been used so often in the trick that it was very tame, and -would lie quietly where placed, was first put in the bottom of the hat -while it was held close to the lower part of the performer’s vest. He -had the little animal under there, putting it in its hiding place just -before he was ready to work the trick. - -The paper ribbon and flowers he had concealed in a secret pocket, and -these he slipped into the hat with the pig on his way up the stage -steps. He was now ready for the trick. - -Paper ribbon for this purpose comes wound in tight rolls, and can be -bought in any conjuring-goods store. It rolls up into a very compact -mass, but when unwound, and fluffed up, occupies much greater space, so -that what seems to be a bushel or more can be taken from an ordinary -derby. - -The paper flowers are in the same class. They come in compact form, in -bundles. A bundle, which can easily be palmed, is dropped into the hat. -A pressure of the thumb breaks the binding, and the tiny wire springs in -the petals of the flowers cause them to expand, thus occupying a much -larger space than before, so that the hat seems to be overflowing with -them. Under the paper ribbon and the flowers was the guinea pig. The -outside wrapping of the compact bundles of ribbon and flowers is made -black, so that it is not seen against the dark background of the hat’s -interior. - -And it might be stated here that no matter what trick of this character -is done by a magician, it may be set down as a safe rule that nothing -ever comes out of a hat, a vase, a box or anything else, unless it has -first gone in. So if a magician takes a live pig out of a hat, it is -very certain he first put it there. Of course, how he gets it there is -his trick—he does it so quickly and deftly that one fails to see him. -Certainly, one cannot fold a guinea pig up into a packet the size of a -pill box, as one can yards and yards of paper ribbon, but there are ways -of getting it in a hat which differ with each conjurer. - -The show was over, the audience departed, having passed an enjoyable -evening, and Professor Rosello was putting away his apparatus when he -saw a man walking down the aisle toward the stage. He suspected this was -Joe’s foster-father and the suspicion was made a certainty a moment -later. - -“You had a young man working for you on the stage, didn’t you?” asked -the deacon. “He was here a while ago.” - -“Yes, I have an assistant. Here, boy!” Professor Rosello called. - -“No, I don’t mean that one,” said the deacon, as the small lad came out. -“I mean the other. Joe Strong his name is.” - -“Oh, Joe. Yes,” said the professor slowly. “Well, he’s gone.” - -“Gone?” The deacon looked startled. “I was waiting for him.” - -“Well, he’s gone,” went on the professor. “He’s far away from here now. -Perhaps if he had known you wanted him he would have waited.” - -“Oh, no, he wouldn’t!” exclaimed the deacon. “He knew what I wanted all -right—that is if he saw me, which I didn’t think he did. I want him on a -charge of robbery. He also set fire to my place, though I don’t say he -did that on purpose. However, he’s got to pay for the damage. But where -is he? I’ve got a warrant for him.” - -“He’s gone, I tell you,” insisted the professor. - -“Well, I’ll find him,” stormed the old man. “I traced him here and I’ll -trace him farther. One of the boys from our town saw him a few weeks -ago, and Joe sent a message to me, saying he didn’t take the money. But -I know he did. I made up my mind I’d get him, and I heard your show was -coming here. So I came here to wait for Joe. He may have run away again, -but I’ll get him. I’ll have him locked up for robbing me!” - -“Well, you’ll have to settle that with him,” observed the professor, -coolly. “I know nothing about it, except that I believe Joe is -innocent.” - -“Well, I don’t!” exclaimed the deacon. “And I’ll get him yet! You tell -him that for me!” and he shook his fist as he went out of the now dark -theatre. - -“I think he means trouble,” mused the professor, as he prepared to take -the train. - -As arranged, Joe and the professor met later that night in the town -where they were next to show. Professor Rosello told of his interview -with the deacon. - -“He surely is after you, Joe,” he added. - -“Well, I’ll have to be on the lookout; that’s all,” decided the boy -wizard. “I’m not going to be punished for something I didn’t do.” - -Three days after this, having arrived at a large town where they were to -remain two nights, Professor Rosello came to the theatre in the -afternoon to see if Joe had everything in readiness for the evening’s -show. - -“Joe,” remarked the magician, as he noted that his young helper had left -nothing undone, “Joe, did your foster-father ever have any business -dealings with two men whose first names were Burke and Jake?” - -“Burke and Jake,” repeated Joe, thoughtfully. “I don’t know that he did. -You see he was in the feed business, and lots of men came to sell to -him, or buy. I wouldn’t know half of them, though I often helped about -the store. Why do you ask that, Professor?” - -“Well, it’s a strange sort of thing, and there may be nothing in it,” -went on the professor. “But I was just down at the hotel, having a bit -of lunch, and at the table next to mine were two men. They called each -other Burke and Jake, and in the course of their talk they mentioned -Deacon Blackford’s name several times.” - -“They did?” - -“Yes, and not only that, but they knew about the theft of the money from -him and Mrs. Blackford.” - -“Well, I suppose the deacon has pretty well advertised the loss,” said -Joe, “so there isn’t anything so strange in that.” - -“No, perhaps not,” admitted the professor, slowly. “But here is the -strange part of it, Joe. - -“Those two men—I didn’t catch their last names—not only seemed to know -about the loss, but they laughed over it as though it were a good joke. -In fact, I should say, just from a casual observation and from what I -heard, that they knew more about the theft than even the deacon -himself.” - -“You think they do?” - -“That’s my impression.” - -“Maybe they were detectives,” Joe suggested. “The deacon would call in -the police, and they might be on my trail. I wonder if I had better get -out while I have the chance?” - -“I wouldn’t do that,” said the professor. “These men weren’t detectives, -I’m sure of that. But they certainly laughed about the deacon’s loss in -a knowing way.” - -“I wonder who they are,” mused Joe. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - “I’VE GOT YOU!” - - -Joe had been reading a letter when Professor Rosello came in with the -strange news about the two men. The letter was from Benny Turton, the -“human fish,” of Sampson Brothers’ Circus, and was in response to a -souvenir postcard Joe had sent the lad, hardly expecting a reply. Joe -had just done it as a kind remembrance to the lad to whom he had given a -little help. - -But Benny wrote rather a long letter in reply, Joe having given his -future address. In the letter Benny said that he was not feeling well, -but that he still had to go on with his tank act. - - -“I rather wish, some days, that I had your work,” he wrote. “I gave your -regards, as you requested, to Jim Tracy and Miss Morton. They wish to be -remembered to you. Miss Morton wants to know if you are ever going to -join a circus.” - - -Joe smiled in reflective fashion as he folded the letter and put it in -his pocket. So Helen Morton, “Mademoiselle Mortonti,” had not forgotten -him, nor had the ring-master, though their acquaintanceship was of the -briefest. Joe was glad they had remembered him—particularly glad in the -case of Helen. - -But, for the time being, the letter was put aside. Joe’s mind was busy -trying to conjecture who the two men at the hotel could be. - -“I wonder if I’d better go down and see if I can’t get a look at them -without their seeing me?” he asked Professor Rosello. - -“I wouldn’t, Joe,” was the advice. “If I’m any judge they’ll be at the -show to-night, and you can see them then.” - -“What makes you think they’ll be here?” - -“Because I heard one of them ask what sort of show ours was. There are -posters in the hotel you know. The other man said it wasn’t half -bad—quite a compliment to us, Joe. And the first one remarked, as they -had nothing to do to-night, they might as well take in our performance. -So we may see them in the audience.” - -“Do you think they know I’m with you?” - -“I don’t see how they can. You don’t recall them, and it isn’t likely -they’d know you.” - -“All right, then I’ll be on the lookout for them,” Joe decided. “It sure -is queer, though, that they should make a joke about the deacon’s loss.” - -“That’s the way it struck me,” agreed the professor. “Now how about the -tricks to-night? Have you the pigeons and the canary?” - -“Yes,” answered Joe. “But I’m not just sure of what I am to do.” - -“Then we’ll have a little rehearsal.” - -Joe was a little nervous that evening as the time for the performance -drew near and the theatre began to fill. He was not at all alarmed at -the part he was to play on the stage, for he had become used to that -now. But he wanted to see the strange men, to ascertain if, by any -possible chance, they could be some of the customers of his -foster-father—customers he might have seen about the feed and grain -place. - -“I’ll point them out to you if I see them,” said the professor, as he -was getting into his dress suit—the suit that had about it so many -pockets, hidden in various places, so that articles could be gotten rid -of or produced at will. Joe now had a suit like this, since he did -almost as many tricks as Professor Rosello himself. - -“I may not be able to see them very well from the stage,” Joe remarked. - -“Well then, you can invent some excuse to go down in the audience. Work -one of the simple card tricks, or something like that.” For Joe was -becoming adept in manipulating cards, allowing persons to choose cards, -thrust them back into the pack without his seeing them, and picking them -out again. Of course, this was all done either by “forcing” certain -cards, known in advance, or by clever cutting, shuffling the cards -falsely, or by prepared trick cards. - -“Well, that might do,” agreed Joe. “We’ll just have to trust to luck.” - -The curtain went up, and the usual procedure was gone through with. Joe -noticed that the professor was paying more attention than usual to the -audience, carefully scrutinizing every section of the hall. But if he -saw the two suspicious men he gave no sign to Joe. - -There were two new tricks to be performed that evening. One was the -production of two doves in a seemingly empty cage, causing them to -materialize from guinea pigs. - -Another illusion was to seemingly burn up a canary bird, and bring it to -life again. - -The first trick went off well. A large bird cage was shown on a table. -There was nothing in it, as far as could be seen. Professor Rosello took -two small, live guinea pigs, which he said he would put into a tin -cylinder on a second table, and at the firing of a pistol the guinea -pigs would disappear, being changed into doves in the empty cage. - -He did just as he said he would do. The guinea pigs were put in the tin -cylinder and the cover clapped on. The performer aimed a stage pistol at -the tin, fired, and with the flash and report two white doves were seen -fluttering in the cage. The tin cylinder, being opened, was seen to be -empty. - -The trick was mechanical, of course. As soon as the guinea pigs were put -in the cylinder, they slipped down through a false bottom, and through a -trap in the table, to a little box made to receive them. That left the -cylinder empty. - -The bird cage was a trick one. As the audience looked at it while it -stood on the table, it seemed to be an ordinary cage. But behind it was -a black velvet curtain which concealed from view the fact that the back -of the cage was double. It was as if the bottom of the cage had been -folded up against the rear, and in between the false bottom and the -back, was a place large enough to hold two white doves. - -When the pistol was fired Joe, behind the scenes, pulled a black silk -thread that let the false side fall down, and become a second bottom of -the cage. The falling away of the side allowed the doves to flutter from -their concealed hiding place into the cage, where they seemed to appear -so miraculously. - -The trick with the canary was worked differently. A live canary, was -shown. It was placed in a light paper bag, the mouth tied, and the bag -and canary were hung in the center of a target suspended on the stage by -wires. After the usual “patter” a rifle was fired at the suspended bag. -To make the trick more effective some one in the audience was allowed to -shoot at the canary in the bag. As he did so the bag burst into flames, -disappeared and, where the target had been, there suddenly appeared a -bird cage with a live canary in it. - -The trick was worked as follows: - -Two canaries were used. Before the trick was performed one was put into -a trick cage which, when suspended from the stage with its top toward -the audience, seemed to be a target. There was a paper target and -bull’s-eye in fact, but it closed up by springs at the proper time, and -did not show on top of the cage, which contained a live canary in a -secret compartment. - -This piece of apparatus was in place before the trick started. The -professor put a live canary in a paper bag. That is, he seemed to do so. -In reality the canary was safely hidden in a compartment of a table near -which the professor stood with the bag. This was sleight-of-hand work. -The bag was made of a special kind of paper which would burn instantly, -with a flash of fire when ignited, something like flash-light powder. - -Professor Rosello appeared to hang the paper bag, inside of which was -the canary, in front of the bull’s-eye. As a matter of fact, there was -nothing in the paper bag. But it was hung near a little electrical -device, from which ran wires back of the rear stage draperies. Behind -the curtains Joe was concealed. - -When all was ready the professor handed some one in the audience a stage -gun that fired no missile—only making a report. The man was told to aim -at the paper bag in front of the target, and did so. - -“Fire!” called the professor, after some talk in which he professed -uneasiness for the safety of the audience. - -At the sound of the report the paper bag disappeared in a flash of flame -and smoke. The target also disappeared, and there, hanging from its -supporting wires, was a bird cage with a live canary in it. - -When the gun was fired Joe, behind the scenes, pressed the button of the -electrical device. A tiny flame appeared, set fire to the prepared bag, -which at once went up in smoke. At the same time Joe pulled a black silk -thread connected with the birdcage which, with its top presented to the -audience, looked like a target. The target was folded away out of sight, -and the bird cage, which was a collapsible one, expanded to its regular -shape, the second canary fluttering about as soon as released from the -secret compartment where it had been hidden all the while. - -Thus was a bird seemingly burned, only to be reincarnated. It was an -effective illusion. - -It was now time for Joe’s disappearing trick, and while he was taking -his place on the prepared chair over the trap-door in the stage, and -while the professor was putting the black sheet over him, he managed to -whisper to Joe: - -“Look at the two men in the seventh row in the two end seats on your -right.” - -“I see them,” said Joe in a low voice. - -“They are the ones I heard talking at the hotel. Do you know them?” - -The professor asked this in between his “patter” which went with the -disappearing trick. - -“Their faces seem familiar,” Joe said, as the veil went over his head. -“But I’m not sure I know them. I’ll see them after the show.” - -There were a few more illusions, and the performance came to a close. -Joe, not stopping to change his clothes, started down the aisle. - -“I’ll follow those men,” he said to the professor, who nodded a -permission. - -But as Joe reached the lobby of the theatre, intending to question the -men, if he could stop them, he fell back in astonishment at the sight of -his foster-father and Hen Sylvester, one of the Bedford constables. - -“Ha! There he is!” cried the deacon. “I’ve got you now!” and he made a -grab for Joe. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - CAUGHT - - -Joe did not know what to do. He could not very well run away through -that crowd. To do so would be such a confession of guilt that almost any -officer would arrest him. And Hen Sylvester certainly would take after -him, creating a scene. - -On the other hand, if Joe was delayed the men would get away. And he -wanted to know more about them. He looked hurriedly around but did not -see them. The deacon misinterpreted this look, for he cried in angry -tones. - -“Look out for him, Hen! He’s trying to escape. Grab him!” - -“Oh, I’ll grab him all right!” cried the constable. “He got away from me -once, on the freight, but he won’t now.” - -The officer made a grab for Joe and an excited crowd gathered about. Joe -made up his mind quickly. - -“Look here, Dad,” he said, giving his foster-parent the name he often -used. “Don’t make a scene here. There’s no use using violence. I’ll go -with you quietly. You’re making a big mistake, for I can explain -everything.” - -“You can’t explain away about my——” - -“Hush,” cautioned Hen. For he liked Joe, and did not want it published -to the crowd that the lad was suspected of theft. - -“Gentlemen, will you come with me?” interrupted Professor Rosello, who -had followed Joe to the lobby. “Come to my dressing room, where we can -talk matters over quietly,” he went on. “It’s all right,” he said to the -crowd and to the theatrical employees who had gathered about. “Just a -mistake, that’s all. This way, gentlemen.” - -“But those men!” exclaimed Joe. “They’ll get away!” - -“We’ll have to take chances on that,” the professor whispered to him. -“Maybe they’ll stay at the hotel all night. But you must take the deacon -and the officer out of this. We’ll talk to them in my room.” - -Joe saw the wisdom of this, and a little later he was facing the angry -dealer and the constable. - -“Now then,” began the professor, “what’s it all about?” - -“It’s about this boy,” said the deacon, sternly. “He robbed me of -considerable money. He robbed my wife, too, and set fire to the place, -but I put it out. That’s what the matter is!” - -“And I have a warrant for his arrest,” went on Hen Sylvester. “He is -charged with robbery.” - -“I never took a cent of yours, nor Mrs. Blackford’s either!” cried Joe, -“and I don’t know anything about a fire. I did run away from your house, -because I could stand it no longer.” - -Then, in impassioned tones, he told the story of that eventful night—how -he had caught the freight and met the professor. He spoke briefly of his -work as a magician. - -“What makes you think he robbed you?” asked the magician of the deacon. - -“Why, I saw him leaving by the window, and right after that I missed the -papers and the money.” - -“Did you see Joe’s face?” - -“No. But I know it was him.” - -“It wasn’t,” said Joe. “I never stole in my life. Listen, Deacon -Blackford. You were robbed—of that there’s no doubt—but it was by some -one else. When you stopped me just now, I was on the trail of some men -who undoubtedly know something about the crime.” - -Rapidly, earnestly, Joe told about the two men—the men who had joked -about the deacon’s loss, the men he had tried to follow from the -theatre. - -“Their names were Burke and Jake,” he said. “Do you know who they were?” -and he turned to his foster-father. - -“Burke and Jake! Burke Denton and Jake Harrison!” murmured the deacon. -“I—I never thought of them! The papers—the investment papers—they were -taken with the money—why—why——” - -He seemed lost in thought for a moment. - -“Look here!” he finally said. “I’m not saying you didn’t rob me, Joe, -but I’m a Christian, and I don’t want to accuse anybody unjustly. It is -true that the men you speak of might have done it. Where can they be -found?” - -“I don’t know—now,” answered Joe. - -Joe pleaded his case earnestly. He went over every detail of his escape -from the deacon’s house that night, and described every movement so -minutely that an unprejudiced listener could not help believing him. - -“You and Jim chased me,” he said to Hem Sylvester. “I didn’t want to -stop for fear of missing the train. I suppose that did look sort of -guilty.” - -“It sure did,” agreed Hen. - -“But you know what time the train left. You saw me jump in the box car,” -went on Joe. “And you,” turning to the deacon, “know what time it was -when you saw some one getting out of the window. Now could I have gotten -from the house to the train in that difference of time?” - -The deacon and the constable thought a moment. The deacon mentioned the -time he had seen the robber escaping, and it was evident that Joe could -not have been in two places at once. - -“Well, I guess that practically clears you,” admitted Sylvester. “I -don’t see as we have any use for this warrant, Deacon,” and he produced -the paper. - -“Save it,” said Joe with a smile. “Maybe you can change the names and -use it on those two men. We’ll see if we can catch them. What kind of -investment papers did they take from you?” he asked the deacon. - -“Some like this,” and the deacon produced a bond. “It’s the only one -they overlooked.” - -“May I borrow it?” asked Joe. - -The deacon let him take it, and then all four of them left the theatre, -it not being necessary to take away any of the “props,” as another -performance was to be given the next night. - -“We’ll go to the hotel,” suggested Joe. “It’s just possible the men may -be there. They haven’t anything to suspect unless they saw you,” he said -to the deacon. - -“No, I don’t believe they saw us,” said Hen. “We didn’t get here until -after dark. The deacon read in the paper that your show was here, so he -got me, and we took the late afternoon train from Bedford.” - -A glance in the hotel lobby did not disclose the two men, but in the -cafe they were seen sitting at a table. A look through the swinging -doors showed this. - -“Have you authority to make arrests here?” asked Joe of the constable. - -“Yes, this is in the same county as Bedford.” - -“Then go in and arrest those two men. I’m sure they’re guilty.” - -“And I am too,” said the deacon. “Take ’em in, Hen. I’ll swear out a -warrant against ’em!” - -That was all the constable needed. He had authority for his act now. He -marched into the cafe, the deacon, Joe and the professor fallowing. - -“I arrest you in the name of the law!” exclaimed Sylvester, laying a -hand each on the two men’s shoulders. “You’re caught and you’ve got to -come with me!” - -Denton and Harrison started up, but at the sight of the deacon sank back -in their chairs. Before they could move the constable had snapped -handcuffs on them. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - JOE’S CLEVER TRICK - - -“What’s the joke?” demanded Jake Harrison, with a sort of sneer as he -looked at the handcuffs on his wrists. “If this is one of your conjuring -tricks, you’ve come to the wrong shop,” and he glared at the professor. - -“It isn’t any trick,” put in Joe, “except that we’ve turned a trick -against you. You’re both under arrest.” - -“There! What did I tell you!” whined Burke Denton. “I said if we——” - -“Stop your noise!” savagely ordered his companion. “Now then, what does -all this mean?” he went on. “What right have you to arrest us?” - -“The right of the law,” put in Sylvester, who seemed to enjoy the role -he was playing. “I’m constable all over Folsom county, and you’re my -prisoners!” - -“On what charge?” demanded Harrison. “You keep still!” he directed his -companion as he saw Denton about to speak. “I’ll run this end of the -show. What’s the charge against us?” he asked fiercely. - -“Robbing me and my wife of money—about one hundred and forty dollars,” -said the deacon. - -“What proof have you?” asked Harrison, sneeringly. “Did you see us take -the money?” - -“I saw one of you getting out of the window after the money was gone,” -went on the deacon. This was practically admitting that Joe was not -guilty. - -“Which one of us did you see?” asked Harrison. - -“I—er—I er——” the deacon hesitated. He could not positively state which -of the twain it was. He had seen no face, and the room was not well -lighted. - -“It wasn’t only money that was taken, was it, Deacon?” asked Joe, for he -was now ready to take a hand in the proceedings. - -“No. It was securities—papers that you two alone knew the value of,” -said the deacon, quickly. “You took the investment papers, Denton and -Harrison, I’m sure you did!” - -Harrison laughed. - -“You’ll have to have some better proof than just being sure we did it,” -he said. “That won’t go in law. Now you’d better take these ornaments -off us, and let us go,” he ordered Hen Sylvester. “You haven’t a single -bit of evidence against us, and if you persist in arresting us we’ll sue -for false imprisonment. You haven’t a bit of evidence!” - -“Haven’t we? What’s this?” cried Joe Strong, suddenly. - -With a quick motion, he drew from an inner pocket of Burke Denton’s coat -a folded bond paper. At the sight of it Denton’s jaw dropped, and even -Harrison’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. - -“There’s one of the stolen securities now in your possession,” said Joe -calmly. “Isn’t that evidence enough?” - -“How—how did that get in my pocket?” asked Denton. “I thought you had -’em all, Harrison. I told you not to be so careless with ’em, and now——” - -“Keep still, can’t you!” fairly yelled the other. “Do you want to put us -in——” - -Then he himself stopped, as if conscious that he was saying too much. - -Denton had collapsed in his chair. Harrison, also, seemed to have -wilted. There was now practically no doubt of the men’s guilt. Hen -Sylvester locked them up in the local jail until such time as he could -arrange to transfer them to Bedford. Neither of the prisoners protested -any further. - -“Say, Joe, how did you know that investment bond was in his pocket?” -asked the constable a little later. - -“Because I put it there,” was the reply. “It was the one I took from the -deacon. I thought I might have a use for it. It was just a little -sleight-of-hand work, making it seem as if it came from his pocket.” - -“Well, it—it was a good trick,” grudgingly admitted Mr. Blackford. - -“Then you don’t think I’m guilty; do you?” asked Joe. - -The deacon shook his head. He seemed quite ashamed of himself. - -“If I was you, Deacon,” said Hen, in a whisper to the old man, “I’d sort -of beg Joe’s pardon for suspecting him. You know he could make it hot -for you if he wanted to.” - -“How?” - -“Sue you for false arrest, for humiliating him in a crowd, and all that. -You’d better conciliate him.” - -This the deacon did, not altogether willingly. - -“I—I’m sorry I tried to have you arrested, Joe,” he said. “I admit I was -wrong in thinking you robbed me.” - -“Oh, that’s all right,” said Joe, easily. He could afford to forgive -now. “It did look a bit suspicious against me for a while. But I’m glad -you have the right men. I don’t want to be in fear of arrest as I travel -about with the professor. And I don’t suppose you want to take me home, -do you?” - -“Well, no, perhaps not, under the circumstances,” replied the deacon, -slowly. “I admit that maybe I wasn’t altogether right in the way I -treated you, Joe. But I meant it for the best. You can stay with the -professor, if you like. You seem to be doing well.” - -“Indeed he is!” exclaimed Mr. Crabb. “He’s a wonder!” - -“Then stay,” the deacon said. The truth was he felt he would be made fun -of if he brought Joe back, after having stated as publicly as he had in -Bedford that he believed his foster-son guilty of the robbery. Besides, -the deacon had to admit that Joe was doing better away from him than -with him. - -“Yes, I guess you’d better stay and be one of them trick performers, -though I don’t think much of——” - -There is little more to tell of this story. The next morning the deacon -and Hen Sylvester went back to Bedford, taking the two prisoners with -them. Eventually the rascals were convicted of the crime and sent to -jail. The deacon recovered his valuable papers, but not the money. That -had been spent. - -“Well, I suppose you will avail yourself of your foster-father’s -permission and remain with me, won’t you?” asked Professor Rosello, at -the conclusion of the next night’s performance, when they were getting -ready to move on to the next town. - -“Oh, yes, I’ll stay for a while,” said Joe. “I still have much to -learn.” But, as he said this, he saw in fancy a certain pretty face, and -he beheld a girl riding about a circus ring on a beautiful horse. Joe -thought of Helen Morton, of Benny Turton, the “human fish,” and of the -kind ring-master. Joe was beginning to feel a new and strange pull at -his heart strings. - -And how it resulted may be learned by reading the next volume of this -series, to be entitled: “Joe Strong on the Trapeze; or, The Daring Feats -of a Young Circus Performer.” - -“What are you thinking of, Joe?” asked the professor as they sat in the -train that night. - -“A new trick,” was the answer. “You take a horse named Rosebud and -you——” - -“What! A horse on the stage?” cried the professor, in wonder. - -“Oh—er—I—I was thinking of something else,” murmured Joe. And so for a -while we will take leave of Joe Strong. - - - The End - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - 3. 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