Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-08-08

met with an accident which as The
i newspapers put. ii, cessitated hia
temp orary wiithd rawal from the stage
1 and MI. Iegget renenl bering Frank'a
/ skill, sent him an offer through Harris
Of the vacant situation, with salary
i Of fifty dol liars q week. SIS
1 wouldn't do it for q hundred Z! was
tue 7 Indignant answer, duly repeated 10
4 Legget. ii5S2
Gymnasts were at premium just
then, and it was difficult to- secure a
star performe 81 Very vel, a. them
said Mr.. Legget, g. ell him i will make
1t q hundred and ten. |, tSsS
When this offer reach him, Frank
was shaken. A hundred and ten dol
lars q week &c seelned like q fortune
to him. Given that for SIX mo- tbs he
could pay the mortag for d rear, and
he might go home, marry jamie, and set.
tie down on the Did place. II ..lfs
For there is q woman in the case, Ia
| pretty Virginia girl to whom he was en-
gagged and who had been his sweet.
fSheart ever since they were children.
He could not remember the time when
he was not in love with jamie i. But
matrimony seemed hopelessly far off;
how could they marry on ten dollars a
week and hermitage of debt? IA IS
| This offer; however, seemed to open
the door to hope. Still, such a door
| a Beverly, circus-actor! That was
what it was in plain lang neither
more nor less. Angels and ministers
of grace defend usi What would his
lady other say? And his father?
Not to spenk of the howl of horror
which would surely be raised by all his
friends and relatives to the remotest de-
gree. But a hundred and ten dollars a
week for an hours work every night
The bare thought made his head swim
"Give me until tomorrow to think
it over" he said And since "the man, !"
no less than the woman, "who hesita tes
is lost" the next day he signed the
contract with Leonidas Legget for the
season. He made but one stipulation,
viz, that his incognito should be strict
ly preserved; condition which his en-
ployer was perfectly willing to grant.
Slgnor francesca was a much better
figure for a programme than Frank
Beverly, Esq. First families in Vir-
ginia meant nothing to him nor to the
people who ps.tronized his show.
The rest o. the matter was easily man
aged. since, being on an afternoon pa
per, his evenings were his own.
A curly black wig over his closely.
cropped blonde hair, a heavy black
moustache, and on olive stain on face
and hands formed a disguise so complete
that his own. mother would not have
recognized him, 1.-The more that sh.
would never have expected to find him
on the stage Of a variety theater.
As already stated, he was success in
his new calling, He assembled dangling
ropes hand over hand, hung head down
ward from giddy heights, turned somer
saults almost in air; and, browning feat
of all, made flying leap through the
air from one trapeze to another twenty
feet away, without even the poor pro-
tection of net spread underneath to
catch him in case Of an accident, piece
of fool-hardiness which added fifteen
dollars a week to his salary.
At this point, Will Harris who regard
ed him somewhat in the light Of a pro-
tege, was moved to demonstrate at the
reckless risk to Life and limb, but Frank
laughed at the well-meant remonstrance.
"You are very good to care about it,
he said, "bIt really there is no danger;
it is only the height that makes it seem
so. If the trapeze were five feet from the
ground instead Of forty, you would not
think it anything at all. It is the ap-
parent danger, the chance of seeing me
killed, that alarms you, and pieases the
people; but, in fact, it does not exist.
1t is all a matter of nerve and GOODNESS,
and I have both, [ think" -.:
eyes, YES" said Harris, "but for all
that you ought to be CAREFUL"
Careful? So I am. I diet myself
like ize-fghter, take no stimulants,
except one glass OF beer after the per-
formance, and sleep my eight hours
every night, regularity" r ..s..,.
So Will Harris yielded the point, 81
fenced but not convinced. .s#5
Weeks passed on, growing into
months, with nothing to mark them
save the steadily increasing bank ao-
count which Signor Francesca placed to
Frank Beverly's credit. As before, he
lived on his reporters salary, and the
gymnast's wages were sacredly set apart
for the future. When it should reach a
fixed amount, he promised himself he
would joyfully turn his face homeward,
and the episode of The Grecian Gardens
should be as though it had never been.
Late in August, cousin of Franks
who had married all aunt of Janie's came
north On his yearly "trip to buy good
for his fourishing store, in a country
town. The fiscal year just ended had
been prosperous one for him, and he
decided to bring his wife with hi1a,
and combine pleasure with business by
taking peep at some Of the great
watering places. Moreover, in a burst
of generosity, he insisted that JAMIE.
who was visiting her aunt at the time,
should accompany them. !.
saddle" (his ,yife) s's"will be lonesome
at the hotels by herself" he urged.
II can't take her round everywhere with
me, you know; so: you can go for COM
pany. Then, besides, you'll see Frank.
Isn't that enough inducement /? Hey,
Miss, what do you say to that? Ella, ha,
hal" And jamie brushing Like rose,
answered that the trip would be 9 charm.
ing one, and that he and Aunt Addie.
were as good as they could be. +
Il Reaching the city, the country mar
chants first deed was toseek Frank at
the Office Of the Evening Message,
which he had no difficulty in finding.
It was late in the afternoon, however,
and the newshoys were crying the sixth
edition on the streets; the local rooms
we're deserted, and the clerk IN the
counting room was unable to give Mr..
Beverly's address. The city editor