The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-11-02

him across the tight rope ON his back" !"
There was great silence, broken
presently by voice of those who
press the offer on their neighbors.
The manager repeated his proposal.
81 can assure, ladies and gentle
men," he said, that there is not the
slightest danger If any gentleman
will cross the tightrope on Saladin's s
back, Saladin will absolutely guaran-
tee his safe return
Again there was silence, growing
gradually to murmur; and then a
long tempest of vOciferous cheers as
a man in evening dress was seen to
rise in his place in the stalls and
climb the fight of steps which gave
access to the stage.
"Who is hep
The question passed rapidly from
| mouth to mouth and at first none
| could answer it. But presently q
| man in the front seats whispered to
his neighbors:
by jove! that's the man whose wife
ran away with Saladin."
To which the neighbor replied:
ugly little brute. Pm not surprised
And then after pause: "But what's
his game, I wonder? He means mis-
chief Of some sort, I'll warrant What
| do you think? Oughtn't we to tell
the manager to stop it?"
| whats the use? It's not our bus.
mess. Saladin can stop it himself if
he wants to-"
'True; so he can"
| So they whispered to each other
while the woman's husband was
hoisted, amid ringing rounds OF
cheers, to the platform where stood
the man who had robbed him Of his
wife.
There was nothing heroic, nothing
inspiring about his presence. Looking
at him, one hardly knew whether to
say that he was too ugly to be insig
nificant or too insignificant to be ugly
He was, in short, a miserable scare
crow of a man. Beside the athlete he
locked more contemplate than ever
To anyone who knew the story Il
would have seemed no wonder thai
the athlete had been preferred to him
even by the woman who wore his
wedding ring. He saw and knew al
this himself; he had seen and known
it ever since his rival had come across
his path; and the knowledge added
both to his bitterness and to his hate
i The eyes of the two men met. L
was the first time since the little wo
man had left her home that Saladir
had seen the man whom he hai
wronged; and they looked at eacf
other long and steadfastly. Their.
were two attendants with them on th'
platform, and, in their presence
neither cared to speak the thought,
that were uppermost in his mind
But Saladin's eyes fell at length be
fore the others gaze, and fear wa:
!. visible in his face, and he began t.
!. stammer out a refusal to go furthe
!. with this last item of his entertain
ment
eff you are afraid the other whis
pered beneath his breath, eff you ar
afraid, it does not matter"
Still Saladin hesitated.
every WE'LL" the man said. "Nop
I see that you are a coward"
, The words stung Saladin to tn
quick. He was not used to have hi
/ courage questioned; perhaps ther
| were few men whose courage was les
| questionable. He gripped hold of on
of the ropes by which the platform
was suspended for a moment, Will
, a crowd of thoughts shot through hi
J brain. And foremost among hi
thoughts was the thought that h
/: owed this man some reparation 70
: the wrong that he had done hin
r After all, the man might have shO
or stabbed him unawares. If thi
: was the satisfaction he preferred
) what right had he to refuse it to him
l So he turned to him and said simply
al 81 am no coward. Come"
And the attendant helped the ma
! onto his back and handed him tn
1 balancing-pole, and they passed ou
: together upon the tight rope.
Saladin had no delusions, no falls
hopes. He knew, though the Othe
had whispered no word of his inter
| tions, that he was walking the tigh
l rope for the last time in his life.
surprised him a little that no bruts
| recriminatiors were hissed into hi
ear; he did not understand this silen
vengeal ce. 1t surprised him g little
, too, that he was allowed to travers
the hall once in safety; but even tina
did not buoy him with any expects
, tions of safe return.
He regretted nothing. If he coul
!, have had his life again he would hav
!, done the same with it. What he ha
done still seemed worth while, eve
though this was what the doing of
brought him to. And yet it was a
! awful end! Already the man upo
> his back had knotted his fingers firm
ly around his throat, in readiness t
jerk him from his precarious foo1
hold.
A thought struck him. Since tn
end was inevitable, why wait for it
Since both must die, better to be tn
murderer than the murdered! 1t wa
, the one triumph left for him.
The idea tickled him and he chuck
led to himself.
Then, of a sudden, he dropped tn
balancing pole and threw himsel
into the air just as the band was play
ing the first notes of "See, the Con
guering Hero Comes"
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