Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1899-10-21


with my three elephants TRUNKS
swinging shout behind me as they wait
ed my word to so in; and 1 watched,
straining my eyes in hopeless effort
to read line OF doubt or fear upon
zenobe's pale young face.
watched her slip her little foot INTO
the hoop of the hosting rope unhesi-
tatingly. 1 saw her pirouettiRg in the
/ air, until she reached and stepped upon
the landing-stage. She seemed herself
that night. She knew her audience and
. kept them waiting just long enough for
] their sensation Then, picking up the
balancing-pole she slid her foot upon
the rope.
It was not much beyond mere walk
ing that the girl could do. The feat of
walking with a sack over her head ap-
! peared very sensational and went down
with the audience that night But, as
4 most people know, the sack-trick is a
: very tame one in reality, the sack being
guide, rather than an obstacle to prop
er balance.
Zenobe was crossing the rope for the
third time, carrying a big japanese
| parasOi, when saw that the rope was
swaying rather peculiarly and Zenobe
commencing to walk back to the start
ing-stage. At first 1 could not understand
i the situation. There was nothing suf-
| ficientiy violent in Zenobe's move
ments to so agitate the rope, and we all
knew that she had the greatest objec-
ton to walking backwards.
whats up?" muttered in The ring
| masters ear
shes walking back because she
can't turn on the rope" he replied
but why she doesn't go on and turn on
the other stage"
At this moment a sudden fear seemed
to possess the audience; half-stihed
murmur went round the hall, swelling
into mighty groan. Then the audi
ence rose like an army, and stood SPELL
bound, hushed to paralyzed silence by
the dawning knowledge of the tragedy
that was being enacted.
Then / saw, and seeing, understood.
| With uncertain, backward STEPS. Zen
ODE was retreating, with her long bal
ancing pole dipping first on one side
then on the other, like a see-saw; and
the rope was Shaking violently, not
from her movements, but from the far
Their end. And there, perched upon the
little, narrow landing-shelf, sat Goble,
the great gorilla, its long, ugly hands
| clenched round the rope, which it was
shaking with all its strength.
uttered a cry of horror. The cry
was echoed by a thousand throats as
something whirled through the air, and
Zenobe-our Zenobe-lay upon her
| haclr II, Tho ,,,fIII., &c A.
1t was not that / loved her less than
ali the others, but I alone Of all kept
my head at that hideous moment. With
a sob, I turned and fled as fast as my
feet could patter 20 the nearest door
of the staircase that led to the closed
gallery. To reach this door had to
pass through the menagerie, between
the rows of horse-stalls and the rows
of Gags. And as L ran, the beasts,
seeming to catch the fire that burned
within me, set up their own wild cries.
Passing the leopards on my right, 1
threw flying glance at the cage OF
the great gorilla, and-stooped.
Breathless, with the sweat of heat and
horror thick upon my neck and brow,
/ stood and gazed an mute amazement
at the great gorilla, as he stood up in
front of his cage and stretched his long,
muscular arms through the bars to-
wards me.
In his cagel The great gorilla in his
cage, when 20 seconds before my own
eyes had seen him swinging from the
lattice-girding of the roof so feet above
my head on the other side of the great
building!
| What could it mean? dashed the
sweat from off my brow as if TO free
my brain from the weight of my agony.
/ tried the iron cage door, and saw that
the bolt was shot-shot firmly home.
Could the gorilla have done that ? II was
possible. Could he have got back TO his
cage in 90 seconds and done it? That
also was just possible. But was it prob
able that the wild beast, having gained
his freedom would make such violent
haste to be a captive once again? No
no!
turned quickly TO the foot of the gal.
lery stairs aud, with my hand upon the
rail, / paused. Pausing. heard some.
one bounding down fight after fight;
and sudden thought struck me. Step
ping behind huge heap of canvas GOV.
erings, 1 waited, noiselessiy painting
all eyes and ears.
| / heard someone bounding down the
last flight of gallery stairs, 1 saw the
slight, 1.-the form of q man, clad in flesh.
tint tights, spring up to the gorilla'I
cage and dash himself against the door.
1t was Stavartai
| ''Oh, beast! Oh, son of evil" he cried
in voice quivering with hatred and
terror. Would that my hands were
strong enough to pluck your life from
out your hideous bodyl But wait, wait
watt"
He sprang down from the cage, and
with searching glance around him
bounded away and disappeared. / sat
down on bale of canvas, pressing nv
head between my hands. and tried to
think what it could mean. But before
I could collect my senses a score of men
came rushing up, painting and white