Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-03-04

the seeds in the boxes upon the little
balcony; it was he who twined the ten
drills about the wires, and it was he who
at all seasons, furnished the gided Dor
celain vases that held the flowers
These flowers were a great luxury to
Zette.
This state of things did not long con
tinue, however. The young girl was
now 20 and Jacques 26. One evening he
| presented his friends with tickets to the
circus. 1t was the last day of a long
continued fair and Zette and her mother
had nothing to do. SO they decked them
| selves in their best and went early.
Nine. FlOury was much amused with
the horses, the rOpe-dancers, the clowns,
the trained dogs. Zette thought ONLY of
Jacques, whose name on the programme
occupied line to itself, and whose aD-
paratus was hanging up at the top of
the high tent The latter consisted of
bars, with copper balls that shone, a
maze of trapezes, ropes and pulleys, and
the young girl a little frightened in
| quired if it was all secure.
AT last the first part of the perform
ance was over, and keeping time to a
slow waltz, Jacques appeared. He was
as beautiful as a god in his silk tights
| that displayed to advantage his superbly
moulded form, and for the rest, his
costume consisted of a black satin Gale
| con, Spangled with gold.
After having responded by bow to the
applause of the crowd, and by a smile to
Zette's smile, he darted up a rope to his
| trapeZe.
| i he preliminaries were gone through
| with amid prolonged braves, for the
| handsome gymnaSt was a great favOrite.
and it was truly a pleasure to see him
| act the supple body so plant, yet so
marvelOusly exact in its movements.
! Then there came silence-eyen the or
! cheStra was still.
1t was to be the hit of the evening, and
a new feat that was to give an added
glory to the circus. He was to leap from
one trapeze to another with his face
and head covered, then suddenly drop
from this giddy height upon a net
stretched below him. The two trapezes
were swinging with a regular movement.
! Jacques, standing on a little board his
head envelOped in a black velvet bag,
put forth his hand blindly. The crowd
held its breath. The man was going
to jump-he had jumped!
a piercing cry rent the air.
| Missing the second trapeZe, which had
been badly regulated, Jacques fell to the
net but it proved too frail to support his
weight, and. striking upon the seats, he
rolled to the ground, where he lay mo-
! tionless.
With a cry of horror Zette sprang to
her feet, rigid and pale, her eyes fixed up
on the spot where the men were now car
| fylnS away the apparently uIeIeSS OOuS
! of her friend.
Then suddenly Selling her mothers
! arm, Come" she said in 4 hollow voice.
| Breaking through the crowd the two
! women reached the stables. but were
| there refused admission. For 4 long
while they remained at the entrance,
! listening to what was said around them,
! but no one knew anything. Finally
! Nine. FlOury saw a clown whom she
! recognized as one of Jacques friends.
| He was just coming out of the refresh
| ment room when she called him.
me net broke the force of the fall,
said the man, whose face looked trou
bled even under the paint. 1.-The doctor
says he will be lame for life and that
this ends for him his profession as
gymnast Poor fellow! But be has
something laid up for a rainy day"
Nine. Floury looked at Zette: she was
very pale, and her eyes were fixed upon
the man as he spoke as though trying to
find if he lied. At last she said, LET US
GO
And thanking the clown by a gesture,
| she left the circus.
The two women did not speak as they
! traversed the grounds of the fair, and
they were still silent as they ascended
their own little stairway. But when
Nine. FIoury had lighted the candle she
! saw Zette sitting beside the bed. with
n strange smile on her lips. She felt
| frightened for her, and went to her.
'Of what are you thinking, little
daughter?' she asked, trying to reassure
! herself.
Then Zette laid her head upon her
mothers shoulder, with a child-like gest-
ure.
81 think--that now I can marry
French, in Romance