Thomas County cat., 1885-11-26

lOl lhCIS lCiuCHOCA eCcs
that he lounged good deal about lit
tie closet where gas meter was. and
the door of which was ajar. 1t did not
strike me at the time. but l ofts.h
thought of it afterwards.
"Well, the performance went on, and
soon 'Snowy's' turn came. He went
out in his ii ghts and fnery, mounted
up to the trapeze and was as clever a
usual in his feats. had slipped to the
front of the house again. and was look
ing in &c him when my eyes suddenly
fell on box. 1t was the same l had
seen there before-the young woman
who had tainted there with the naval
chap. looked around for him, but he
was nowhere to be seen.
Just then Snowy got up to the
perch on the gallery, from which he
took the flying swing to 3 little trapeze
above the stage. 1t was a perilous
feat, and there wasn't breath to be
heard in the house, as he prepared for
it. Every eye was watching him. L
saw him in all his glittering spangles
posing himself. grasping the bar be-
tween his fists and then launching out.
1lC 4HSIC stS a -" AlZZ IA
the air, and then, like fash, the house
was IN darkness. Every light had gone
out and you couldn't see the end of
your nose. Heavens! what hubbub
there was. Every soul. worked up as
it was to intense excitement, seemed to
have a voice in that shrek that arose.
Before / knew what to do there was 4
wild Outcry about my ears, and a lot of
people brushed past me. No one knew
what was the matter. and in the panic
some imp cried Fire. l will never
forget the rush. tried to speak. but I
was hustled against a wall, knocked
down. trampled on by &dozen feet. and
by the time l got up the house was al
most clear.
"'Turn on the gasn 1 yelled, hoping
that some of the hands would hear me,
and was making for the meter closet
when l stumbled against some one. /
heard a voice, and man almost drag
ging woman brushed past me. We
were near the door. and a glimmer of
light from the lamp outside fell on
them. Never will forget the face Of
the young woman saw revealed there
the face of the woman who had been
in the box. never saw the like with
fright and agony. Involuntarily lent
hand to help her outside. But she
turned from me-turned to the man be-
side her and cried with voice that rose
above the hubbub: Save him! Save
him! o, God! 1t is my brother"
"Then strange thing happened.
The man beside her stood stock still.
But only for a moment. The next in
the auditorium. l went after him but
it was all dark there and still. Only up
above. near the ceiling, l heard u
strange. scrambling noise, and a clatter
of glass where the big chandelier hung.
l was out in jitfy and cropping about
for the gas-meter closet. l found it
open, and as l felt about me | was
suddenly pushed aside and a voice
cried out:
"A rope here. Give me q rope.
There is one there
81 had seen coil on the floor, and
knew whoever had asked for it had
found it, when, moment after, heard
footsteps hurrying away and heard.
something dragging behind him. But
didn't stop. l turned on the gas, ran
inside and had the gas jets flaming up
as entered the auditor um again.
what Il sight was there! Up near
the ceiling, holding by hand to a
shattered gas fixture and likely to drop
at any moment, with open mouth and
staring eyes. Snowy was hanging.
And just above, climbing along a beam
"a sort of beam-that ran up to an
apex in the primitive little hall, was
man with rope dangling from him.
How he got up l can not tell. have
seen featS in my day. but holding to that
rafter and getting along it beat any.
thing / have ever witnessed. Well. he
reached the top. got hold of the gas fix
tureS, slipped down, and quicker than
can tell you he had the rope about the
trapeze performer, and there were the
two hanging up there by brass rod
that might give way at any moment.
l could hardly breathe as / saw the rope
swim ging down and the man trying 70
fasten it about something in the lantern
in the roof. He seemed to hold on by
a single hand and climb with his feet
about the brass rod as though it was
stout pillar. In another moment
Snowy sank down and fell: but only
few yards. After that l saw the other
end of the rope slip up, and slowly, too,
and down came the body gently to the
ground. In minutes time the other
man was coming down the rope hand
over hand, and soon he was standing
beside me, putting with cxertion and
pale rs death. 1t was only then
looked at Snowy At first l thought !
him some one else. l didn't know the |
man. His black hair was fairly white. |
and there was that look of terror on
his face that has never left it since. |
That is his story
..And who was his rescuer?" asked |
the reporter.
1.-The Young naval fellow. The lover
Of his sister. She had recognized in
the trapeze performer her vagrant
brother whom her father drove away
from home. and the young fellow had
seen her faint at the sight of him. and
the meeting had seen my.
self that moonlight night As said.
he was very spitfire, and became
downright mad with jealousy. She had
never told him who the strange per
former was until the lights had gone
,,,t onl laks ~. ~, <oE |