The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1898-05-19
with a laugh: aOut Of my way. YOU

pitiful pigmy!!2"'
AesOp uttered a roar of rage and an-
ger, then suddenly calming himself,
returned to the meter, and after hav-
ing followed with an eye Of hatred the
ascent Of Icarus, began fumbling with
the mechanism of the stopcocks.
A great clapping Of hands. A fran
tic ovation. Two hundred pretty
women dropped their fans and leyeled
their opera glasses, and, a trife pale,
smiled with delicious dread Icarus
was up there--high up at the top Of
the circus-hanging to the last trapeze,
and turning over and over in it, slowly
and without an effort.
At times he paused, and his face
was seen radiant in the foolish pride
OF triumph. Below, in the ring, the
clowns were stretching circular net,
and in all the. circus reigned deep 81
lence, broken only by feminine whis-
per: How graceful! What handsome
fellow!"
The gymnast then, finding his public
sufficiently warmed up, raised himself
at one pull, stiffening himself on his
wrists aEas: p.
The trapeze, violently thrown back,
described great arc, and, letting go
the bar, the man shot forward like an
arrow into space.
There was a feeling of apprehension
IN the crowd, and an "Oh!" of alright
uttered by a thousand breasts. The
acrobat reached the second trapeze, and
calmly let himself swing in it's decreas-
ing oscillations.
Slowly he thus darted eleven times,
calm and smiling, as he made the tour
OF the circus, and rejoicing at feeling
beneath him the immense painting of
the throng :. --&. -
At this eleventh trapeze he paused
to prolong this emotion-his glory
and his eyes sought out Rita. The
equestrienne saw him, and with the
handle of her whip threw him a kiss.
The elated Icarus, hanging by one
hand, saluted her; then he brought his
trapeze to rest. He was about to COM
plete his task
Enough" said some voices.
mo! Bravo! Encore!'' cried the
ladies', eager to feel once more the per-
verse JOY of an enticing pain
For the twelfth time the handsome
gymnast, stiffening his muscular arms,
essayed his terrible fight.
But an appalling cry of terror, a
frantic shout arose.
In an instant, suddenly-like a can
die put out by the flap of bats wing
the thousand glistening lights of the
circus were extinguished all together
at the precise and fatal moment when
the man was darling into space
-, At the same instant there rose from
the ring a laugh, terrible, vibrating
with hate. ., -.
Then in the black and hideous OBJ
security, in the pitchy darkness that
hlled the circus lately so blazing. poig-
nant shrieks rolled from row to row,
Women tainted and the spectators with
their hearts crushed in hopeless terror,
shudderingly sat as if petrified in their
places, and :peered into the night that
filled the dome! The net was empty,
the acrobat must be looked for in the
gloom. In the search lanterns were
brought and carried toward the TOD Of
the circus. Five minutes-fye CEN
turtles, elapsed. Some one cried: "Den-
gal lights"
Then, while here and there people
were trying to relight the burners. a.
blaze OF violet and red. of green and
azure, flashed out and with a powerful
illumination lit up at one flash every
corner of the circus with it's fantastic
and trembling CLEANS.
And suddenly, as in the flames CT q
transformation scene was seen. rigid
clamped to the trapeze, Prince Icarus,
hanging <motionless.. =.
An unheard-of horror paralyzed him
in supernatural frenzy. His hair
stood out. His distorted mouth grlnned
an idiot grin terrible to see, and his
face, whittier than that of corpse. his
haggard eyes, protruding from their
sockets, rolled convulsively.
SooE his comrades were near him
With the handle of his Knife Aesop
struck the gymnast's hands. and with
great difficulty detached from the bar
the clenched- hands of the miserable
man.
The gas was relighted and the crowd
silently and without a breath, watched,
as it slowly lowered down, the descent
of the living corpse. ."
There is today near Marseilles in the
asylum of Saint Pierre a poor mailman
who stalks straight forward, his arms
held in front and contracted in an i'm
aginary grip. 1t is frightful sight.
1t is @Prince Icarus'' ..
do not know what Jail holds Aesop.
AS to that fairy Rita, she is now prin-
cess somewhere in Germany.-(Adapt-
ed from the French of Paul Bonnetain.l