The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-10-27
JIM'S
HOT FINISH.
By COLIN S. COLLINS
Copyrighted. 1908, by Associated
Literary Press.


ard Clute was counting up" the after
noon receipts.
worst sort of luck" was the reply
IT thought If l tackled the old mai
after 4 good matinee could catch hin
| in a fine humor, but 1t seems that tn
sheriff held him up just before 1 go
there. One of the grafters he pincheC
told that the old man got a rakeoff
and the sheriff came around to get hi
and 1 got mine. The old mans goini
to send Daisy to boarding school, anC
he mentioned a place l might go to-
but it's nowhere near Daisy's school
You can bet on that"
Cant you two hook itT' suggested
Ben. "Its pretty close to the end o.
the season. If we lose a couple o.
weeks, 1 can stand my share Of the
loss If l don't get chance to work {
single act at some of the late fairs
See what the kid thinks"
II don't have to see" was the gloomy
response Il know now what her an
swer would be. She won't beat 1t
She's going to have a regular wedding
with the old man giving her away Oh
there won't be a wedding. She's told
me that dozen times, and she means
it when she says it."
Strome nodded Ever since they had
joined the Clute show in midseasor
Petite had been making violent love tc
Daisy Clute, the owners daughter. II
was not large circus-a one ring af
fair-though they Travelled by railroad
instead of by wagon.
The performers all lived in a single
car and in theory formed one large
family Daisy and her father had q
car to themselves, but she was much
around the tents, and her preference
for the clean limbed young gymnast
had soon become a matter for com
ment
By supper time the fact that the old
man had refused his consent to theil
marriage was all over the dressing
tent, and you'd not need Daisy's red
trimmed eyes and Pettie's frown to con-
firm the report.
Daisy was standing near the en-
trance when Petite came out for the
double act. He did a turn on the fly
ing rings earlier on the bill, while
Strome did strong man act in the
ring. Their double act In the air was
the ring feature of the show-"the hot
test act in the business" they claimed
and Daisy always tried to be near
In case of accident, though she could
not bear to watch them.
Strome did the "bearing," catching
Jim as he leaped from his own trapeze
to Strome's hands. He was reliable
worker, but Daisy always feared that
some night those steady nerves would
fail and that Jim's body would go hurl-
ing through the air until It struck the
ring bank or the seats, a limp and
lifeless mass She had seen one acct
dent, and it had remained vivid in her
memory.
Presently Strome joined the pair as
they stood talking, and an instant later
the four horses used in the double
riding act dashed into the tent, followed
by Paul and Lefty Murphy, who boast
ed very different names on the bill.
The band struck up their music, and
the two men ran into the ring 1t was
the work of moment to climb to their
perches The apparatus consisted of
two trapeze swings, one long one
used by Petite for the leaps and the
shorter one from which Strome hung
when he made the catches. On Pettie's
end there was platform from which
he leaped to gain momentum, and this
was but few feet from the center
pole which held up the tent.
The first two swings were made
without trouble, and then Strome did
some single work to give Petite an
opportunity to rest. Jim leaned against
the ropes to steady himself and glanced
below at the well filed tent. A sea
Of faces, white In the flare of the
lamps, gazed intently upward as
Strome hung by his toes from the
short swing.
An odd roar caught Pettie's atten-
ton, and he glanced at the lamps. A
cluster of gasoline flares hung from the
center pole and supplied light for the
tent.
Two huge reservoirs were fastened
together to form ring about the pole.
and from these radiated the burners.
Clute was old fashioned In many of
his ideas, and his fondness for the old
fashioned light amounted to hobby.
Jim could see that one Of the tanks
had sprung a leak, and in some way
the escaping gas had caught fire from
the flames below. The heat was va
PORTING the inf1ammable liquid more
rapidly than usual, and 1t was only a
matter of minutes before the heat
would cause an explosion that would
send the blazing fluid flying over the
crowd below and the tinderlike tent
There had been no rain for several
days, and, on the other hand, the blaz-
ing sun had been pouring It's rays on
the tent since early morning. The
flames would run to the guy ropes, and
when these gave way the crowd below
would be enveloped in a mass of flame.
There was no time to signal below
to lower the lights. 1t was too far to
jump to the pole. Strome was just
climbing to the trapeze bar for a mo-
ment's rest, and Jim seized his own
swing
Strome gasped as he saw the move
merit and hurried to reverse on the ira
peze. Jim took the count from his
swing, and Strome could not under
stand the move AS the long swinS
reached the limit of its fight Strome
caught Jim's voice.
He heard only the words Elmer
gency lights" but he guessed the rest
and as coolly as though it was part
Of the act he dropped to the net below
as being the quickest way down.
The big swing reached the platform
and went beyond, then with increased
momentum swung toward the opposite
side again. A second time 1t swung
toward the platform, and as 1t reached
the farthest point Jim let go and kept
on toward the pole.
straight through the Hi ne new uhIA
his arms clasped the blue pole, and fol-
a moment he hung there, the breath
forced from his body by the shock OF
the impact. Then he began to climb
upward.
The lights dazzled his eyes, and the
heat was terrific, but he did not realize
it. He knew only that seconds were
precious, and right into the very heart
of the blaze he climbed to reach the
valve wheels that regulated the supply
for the burners.
In a second the place was in dark
ness, but the band played its noisiest
and the ring attendants were patrolling
the ring and shouting that there was
NO danger. even while they kept thei1