Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-06-15


| upon his God.
81 don't 'spose she would know us
| now" young member of the foothi,l
delegation opined, watching with en-
vious eyes the figure upon whom every
| thought was centered in awesome won
der
Il wonder if she remembers how her
! pa ulster lick her for catching up@the
colts, staggered another member.
Il guess them circus people just live
| on popcorn and saltwater, and has
F., all the balloons they want" the junior
! member sighed. mea dring Babies
| short cut from wild horses to grandeur,
and planning disastrous future flights
| for her own chubby limbs
| Easy, Pedro, easy, old boy Mile
Babette whispered, STOPPING to pat his
| flying name Before her arose a sea
J of blurred and swaying faces-men
and women bending eagerly to witness
her peril, drunk with the excitement
| of the desperate chances she was TAX
| ing. Gently, C. fellow she crooned;
''you don't understand, but oh, Pedro,
can't do it over again." And the
holiday-minded throng did not know
| that the gayly bedizened arms, flung
out in wild appeal for help from some
unknown source, was not throwing the
customary kisses they had seen.
Again the band swung into it's rolling
''Heave-Ho;" again the One and Only
refined in the two horses; again she
| crouched, sprang, described her rose
hued semi-circle and lit, slipped, threw.
out her arms-and fell
| On plunged the horses, not noticing
| the loss of their light burden. Before
Beppo could leap over the ropes they
were back and almost upon the pros
| trate little figure. Like a flash he
sprang between them, but even when
the ringmaster came up the curly head,
bound with it's gay flowers, did not
rise. The spangled form lay limp in
| the sawdust and as Jim gathered her
up in his arms she did not answer his
| caress.
| Mile. Babette is not hurt" the ring
master FASTENED to announce "She
presents her compliments tc her indul-
| gent audience, and says she will re-
turn after the next act and do it bet
| ter. l have now the pleasure of pre-
senting to you one of the greatest
mirth-makers on this earth, Bcppo
The Famous Funny-Fellow will give
| an exhibition of his company of fools,
| full of fun and frolic"
| "Beppo! Beppo!" a chorus of voices
started up in anticipation Of their
! promised fun. The swinging platform
was Immediately thronged with merry
| andrews. lined up for their guips and
| Jokes. The crack of the ringmaster's
whip reached the little group of terror
stricken faces that hung over the un-
| conscious Babette and BeppO answered
it's summons, springing mechanically
into the ring in revolt against this
thrOng of bloOdSuckers who had been
RECALLED by Babette's fall
Signaling to them to stop their
cIamor of applause, he raised his hand
She's dying!" he cried wildly; cant
you stop your noise!"
ItVwas Beppo, the funny man, who
turned his grinning mask toward them
and spoke. The first outburst of ap-
plause had not ceased sufficiently for
the import of his words to reach them,
but he was always funny, so the
crowds answered back with volley
OF cheers. The merriment of the even
ing had reached it's highest pitch, and
the audience was in that happy frame
of mind, ready to laugh at anything
"Babette, she's dead. l say" Beppo's
anguished tones repeated.
Sure, she's dead one!' a fat boy
cried from the front seat. Whereupon
the audience seeing, as it supposed,
the point of Beppo's joke, laughed up
roariously at this reference to the
riders failure, and the fun went on.
The other clowns took their cues
from each other, and did their tum-
bling and sprawling stunts to the edifi-
cation OF the crowd, but Beppo's effort
at sadness was tremendously funny,
the people thought
At the end of the act. Beppo slid
backward off the platform, and made
Tor the greenroom tent, but not before
the people had discovered him, and
arose to call him back Three cheers
for Beppo!" rang above the general
clamor of stamping, whistling, and
cat-calling. Bully old Beppo!" shout
ed. the patronizing fat boy.
Peanuts! popcorn! lemonade."
again shrilled through the audience.
WAL, now. them clowns is dread
fully funny, amt they?' commended
the hayseed citizen.
She must make lots of money" the
foothill supervisor rrminated,. his
fancy still clinging to the forlorn lit
tie figure he had known a few years
before flying over the Timbuc' hills on
wild colts. and taking her licking
tor the offense while devising another
feat. But the spirits of the junior
member had fallen out of step with the
times. The glitter and glory of the
life that was Babies had turned her
own little nankeen existence into bit
terness. Some people get all the fun.