Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-06-19
my little arms folded, and standing as
stiff IA a rod %sft'tfe

line fun, feeling all the while as old and
deep as could be, while quite looked
down on boys double my age Then /
was regularly drilled into the life, you
know, working hard every day at the re-
hearsals-and very hard work it is. I've
done almost everything, from the horse
work to the trapeze. I've turned summer
sets over five horses, and gone through
the air like ball almost / got well on
with the tightrope, and have walked up q
rope to . place . hundred feet high, while
the fireworks have been fixing and sput,
tering around me, for always had a good
nerve, and never felt afraid of ANYTHING;
while, though never got to be q regular
crack at any one thing, was sure card,
and useful man to a manager; for, if /
warn't a star, never missed my tip. /
could always be sure of an engagement,
and a pretty good salary; and what fol-
lowed? Why, what always follows!-
why, must take a fancy to one of our
lady riders at Panganai's Classical Cirque
National, and get married. a $50
Now, you know, most people when they
fall in love, do it by taking fancy to q
face. Well, that's natural, p'r'aps, but
didn't, for took fancy to my wifes way
of doing the scarf trick on horseback. /
dare say you know what mean-when
they makes bit of muslin float over
them, and all that sort of thing. Well it
struck me one day as the girl who was so
clever at that, and was always quiet at re-
hearsing, and never stood any chaffln g,
could be clever at other things, and l
said to myself THAT'S settler; if she'll
have me, I'll have She" And the very
next night, when we were going through
the "Flying Indians piece on two
horses, you know, that we'd done dozens
of times before in quiet, business way
I'd gallop after her horse while she was
pretending to flee from me, and me of
course done up in style with feathers and
SO on.
Then, when her horse was so swift
couldn't ketch her. makes lot of dumb
motions and SHES my tomahawk at her
horse, that begins to halt and then limp,
when close up and pass my arm around
her and bring her on to my horse, she pre-
tending to resist; and as she stands going
round backwards she hangs away as Ihold
her.
WE'LL being pretty thing if well done,
the people were very attentive; one night,
after I'd made up my mind, when we'd
got to the point where I'd killed her
horse, when the music was playing so no
one else could hear what said, says :
"Mary, dear''-her name on the bill was
Madcmoiselle Marioni-"Mary, DEAR" l
says, snake that real" III
"What?" she says.
"Let's make this real" says; and then
out loud, "On horseg"
Don't talk NONSENSE" she says. "Put
your arm a little more around my waist
I'm slipping" .-.. .-...,....,-
| SIT 10 II
"You shan't slip. I'll support YOU"
All this time, of course, she was hang
ing away from me, as if in rage of fear !;
but when / said, ON support you," she
half laughed and said: ''Iou won't like
to- eat SO much"
'Try me-" said "I'm in earnest, and
/ mean it, Mind your balance a
Don't, please" she says then, and |
quite started to hear how pitifully she
spoke.
swell, I WON'T" says, "dear, only let's
make it real"
"Well," she says, saucily, 81 will make
| it real" and she hung away from me
fiercer than ever, just like wild Indian
| maid, while the people clapped again.
And she did make it real, for | found
| the tongue to say so much, that that piece
was acted real right through; and when at
| last it came to her coming round and
| resting her arm on my shoulder, and me
with nv arm round her waist holding
+ her right up, and all the time tlourishing
| nv bow in the other, while the horse
went as hard as he could, | felt so happy
and so satisfied with one or two words
that had never been said to me before,
that l finished the piece off with what l
mean to say was real touch of nature. l
drew her little closer to me, and kissed
her, regularly bringing down the house.
As we went off, there was Mary's father,
| who did the sword trick and the rings
Fo-To-Li-No was his name on the bill, be-
cause he was Chinese in the profession,
! though we always called him by his prop
er name, Bodger Dodd. Well, there was
| Mary's father, waiting with shawl and her
| goloshes and he says to me very herce,
SYou're nation fast, Tom French. never
see that last bit in the Flying Indians
| afore''
"No more didn't /, old man." 1 says,
slapping him on the shoulder; "but we're
going to make it real"
The old man and | had it over that
| night-over some stout and oysters, and
| Mary was there, looking as blushing and
| sweet as girl could look; and, month
after, sir, we made it real, very much to
our managers disgust, for l wouldn't let
Mary go into the ring any more after put
ting her finger into the little one bought
| her; and she had lodgings at Camberwell
and we were very happy for six years, all
| the time / could be at home, and then,
after months trip, got back one day TO
find her old father there, for he'd Joined
another troupe, and the old chap had got
the news before did, and he shook hands
with me, and then broke down crying like
a child. sfh so 8@saaE
But couldn't cry; couldn't believe
it, couldn't think that it was real as all
this-thot she was gone-gone forever. 1t
seemed something couldn't understand,
though they told me again and again as
she was dead and had been pu. in the cold
ground two days before.
AT last, though, it all seemed to come
home to me, and sat there, | think, for
three days, doing nothing hardly but look
at the three little ones that were left TO me,
HIT ~ tho and nf those three days nv man.