Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-08-06

SAW cltIci VI lucul 81 VIII anu never
knew her to ride with spur before"
"a spur ~ was echoed in astonish.
mont.
"Yes, saw her get one of the ring.
masters, and that she is using it you can
tell by the fiery leaps of the horse. He
never would stand such a thing, and if
he doesn't break her neck he will his
own. BY heavenl just, look at her face
Her eyes are flashing like balls of fire
and her teeth are set hard believe she
is drunk or crazy"
"Pshaw! it is only her hot Spanish,
blood. Something has gone wrong, you
may depend. But if she makes that leap
over the carriers with the horse running
at that mad rate she is gone. No! She
is safe l never saw anything to match
it in all my life"
She was indeed safe, though she had
taken desperate chances sufficient to
break a dozen necks, and as she
sprang lightly from her toaming horse a
flash oftriumph shot from her black eyes,
and scornfully disdaining the bouquets
that had been flung at her feet she rap
idly disappeared, leaving the clown to
appropriate and make merry over them.
Another act or two (very tame after the
LAST and the king of the trapeze-as the
Cuban was the queen of the arena-was
called to take his place. With single
word to the girl he loved he sprang into
the sawdust circle and bowed low to the
storm of applause--one wild enough to
have turned less steady head But coolly,
perfectly collected, he cast his eyes over
the vast assembly, and brighter light
came to them and a truer smile to his
lips as he saw where his Annie was
seated, lookingj at him with be-
concealed pride.
He braced his muscles, drew up his
head, ran his fingers lightly up through
his curling chestnut hair, and thanked
all for their presence. The dress he wore
showed his tinely-knit figure to the great
est advantage and flashed with every
movement as if covered with stars and
diamond dust His face was glowing
with health and hope, and many were the
eyes of admiration that girlhood turned
toward him as he swunglightly from bar
to bar until he had reached the topmost
one, as easily, apparently, as a bird
would have flown.
Feat after feat of the most dangerous
character $50 it appeared to the uniniti-
ated) was performed, and then came the
browning and final one. That it re-
CURED clear head, great precision and
calculation, cool nerves and immense
strength, was evident to all from the mi.
nuteness and carefulness of the prepare
ton
The king of the trapeze stood leaning
against the center-pole, and seemingly
watching the proceedings while he re-
gained his somewhat overtasl ed breath
in reality more intent upon the beam.
ing and anxious face of his love than
anything else.
"The feat now about to be per-
formed" said the master of ceremonies
in explanation, and to do away with
something of the tedium of waiting, sis
one that has never been attempted by
any other man, and upon this occasion
the leap will be greater than ever before.
But as it is perilous beyond all descrip-
ton l must beg the utmost silence"
A net was about to be stretched so as
to save the performer in case of falling
but he motioned that it should not be
done, saying, so as to be heard distinctly
by all:
"There is no use for that desire to
j
that will be long remembered"
Those who understood the matter best
were most thrilled by the words, and the
same groom who had given vent to his
feelings with regard to the dashing
Cuban whispered to his comrade:
" believe they have all gone mad.
Heaven give safety, but wouldn't ven
ture (even if if l could do it as well as
he) for the whole concern"
Is it all ready?" asked Fred, as he
ran his eyes swiftly over the slender
cords and bars that were to be to him as
the spinnings of fate.
Ready"
He kissed his fingers apparently to the
but in reality to the girl he
loved seized a rope, climbed to the first
bar-then another and another, until he
reached the last, cut the others loose,
and performed all the various acts he
had gone through with from that dizzy
height, and with as much certainty and
seeming as careless as if not foot from
the ground in place of nearly hundred.
Then he rested, and braced himself for
the final one-the daring, thrilling, un-
leap in mid-air, from one swing
ing trapeZe to another, and failing to
catch which at the proper instant and
cling to it was death.
Backward and forward he swung,
while breathess silence reigned, pre-
pared himself for the desperate feat,
fixed his eyes upon the treacherous bar
to which he must spring and fasten upon,
shot through the air almost like flash
of light, clutched it safely with his
hands, was struggling to gain seat as
the wild huzzas, that could no longer be
burst from every lip, and then
the supporters gave away, and with a
mighty crash, he fell backward to the
ground!
Women shrieked and tainted in terror,
men were awe stricken and incapable Of