Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-02-24

for the task. Billy cast fond look
in the direction of his wife and child.
A shiver ran through his heart as
he asked:
ssShall I ever see them again ?''
He looked again, resolving to
make it his last. He feared to repeat
it, for the sight and his thoughts
might unman him at some critical
moment. He turned away choking
down his agony.
Hand in hand the brothers adj
vancod, until directly beneath the
trapeze. With a bow as graceful
and profound as they would have
bestowed on a Fifth Avenue audi
ence, they took their places on the
bar.
Lucy and the child were seated
in the shadow, not far distant, and
i'm full view of the trapeze. The
savages reclined on the ground be-
tween her and the fire.. She WAS
tortured between the salvation of
her child and the desertIon of her
dearly-loved husband. She could
not decide the question strike as
she would, she could not summon
Resolution sufficient TO leave Billy
20 his fate. When she thought of
4hat, which was more cruel than
death, she dared not stay. If she
could but yield her own life and save
her husband and child, how will
ingly, she thought, she would go to
her death.
The performance began. AS the
brothers passed from the simpler
feats to the more astonishing, the
applause grew more and more We
hement among the savages. A sen.
sation the like of this they had new
er known. Feats OF activity and
strength appeal with irresistible
force to the wild men, and create
respect and veneratiOn where the
higher qualities of mind would fail
entirely.
Most eagerly they devoured the
swift contOrtiOns of the acrObats, as
their shapely white limbs flashed
in and out the ropes, now hanging
from the bar or swinging through
the air.
1t was wonderful! amazing! The
vocabulary of Indian gutturais was
Justice to the performance.
Conscious of the sensation they
created, the brothers, during brief
intervals of rest, were busily en-
ployed in devising some plan to
take advantage of it.
Billy hoped that Lucy and the
boy, ere this, had found propitious
moment to steal unobserved from
the camp, but it was impossible to
be sure of it.
He expected every minute to hear
the shout which would follow the
announcement of her escape He
knew they could not continue their
exertions much longer. Already
they felt the stram and fatigue
which must soon be followed by ut
ter exhaustion.
"Shall we cut and run for it, Bill
ly? / can't keep the mill going
much longer" whispered Dave.
There was no answer to the ques-
ton, for the next instant the In
dians were upon their feet, scram-
bling like mad towards their ponies,
and giving vent to EXPLANATIONS of
fear.
Heaven, it seemed, interposed to
rescue the prisoners. Lurid balls OF
green and red fire fell flying among
the retreatIng host.
Was it some curious electrical
phenomenon, with special ven
geance for their cruel foes ? for the
flaming balls followed them alone.
Several times they flashed quite
near the dismayed braves, and sue
ceeded in filling their souls with in
finite terror, and the air with ago
niZing yells. ...-
1t seemed but an instant before
the hoOf beats began to sound more
like echoes than realities, telling
how rapidly the discounted redmen
were putting grass between them
and a haunted camp.
The acrObats themselves were
startled, and knew not what tc
make of it until a woman's laugh
was heard.
Mrs. Lucy sprang into her hus-
bands arms, and with a woman's
inconsistency, exchanged the laugh
for sobbing explanations.
81 couldn't leave you, Billy-I
JuSA COuIui u Auu WIICH IldpDcIlCu
to think Of that package of S age
bombs which we brought with US
for one of our acts, knew what to
do. | found them fortunately with
out trouble, and fired them right
among the crowd. l never saw a
house cleared out so quickly: did
you?
But it was not the time to discuss
the subject. In the flight and fren-
zy of the red foes retreat, they
stopped not to think of plumber or
prisoners, hence the coach horses
remained to carry the whilOm cap
tives to small settlement, where
they arrived the next afternoon.
From thence they made their
way East, resolved to avoid the
regions frequented by practical In
dians.