The L'Anse sentinel., 1908-06-20

when 1t comes to the trundle beds.
"The upshot of 1t all was l hustled
back to Ell Paso, where we had some
green-room effects of q new opera
stored, and as fieet-footed as possible
l hiked back to Chihuahua, accompa-
MED by two big trunks. Meanwhile
Tib had sent our bill poster to Quelta
to hang up few valentines, advertis-
ing the coming Of the show, and incl
dentally to slip into Murphy's hand a
note Of minute instructions.
This done, Tib tried to get me to
go north and sit on the farther bank
of the Rio and await the last curtain.
blessed me and said we would proba-
bly, wind up as salt miners. Then he
directed me to throw some hardware
and cartridges into the cages, and on
Saturday morning, with two closed
animal wagons, we started for Quelta.
We had one man who could drive
chain-lightning, let alone the most
erratic Mexican mule, and. best of all,
we could trust him.
1T took us day to cover the short
stretch over their rotten roads, but
at last we arrived at Quelta amid q
Toltec buzz Of excitement, and pitched
the side-show tent, as IL preparing for
the Sunday performance.
my plans are built like watch,
and II 1t don't happen in five minutes
I've missed fire. groaned Tib, as we
unlocked the covers to the carts.
Then it happened. First we heard
yell; then half dozen champagne
bottles opened in quick succession, and
the little chapel bell began ding-dong-
ing excitedly.
Next, with fierce painting, four men
burst through the chaparral that came
up to the rear of our tent and plunged
inside the white walls. / had just
time to notice they were haggard and
unkempt and then In second the
wooden covers were down to allow
them to enter the cages, and then
snapped back in place again.
"I'm afraid, Billy declared Tib,
calmly, as he began sorting out some
posters, that the rest of the show
won't arrive in time for to-morrow's
performance
"Just as he said this bevy Of vii
layers, headed by our trusty driver,
Collins, burst through the canvas,
yelling and brandishing carbines and
other impedimenta.
-Four men escaped from the SOL
diers, Mr.. Smith, and told the guard :
thought they came this way painted
Collins, with an expressive wink.
"'What?' roared Tib, In Spanish.
Law-breakers escaped! Free passes
to the brave men who capture 'em.
believe they did pass this way behind
the tent in the brush. heard q
crashing and thought 1t was mule.
My lion growled fiercely. Hark! He
is growing now!"
"The gang paused In running away
to hear the growl and Tiberius, stand
ing near Murphy's cage, hissed:
'Growl, you villain. growl!'
"And thereat most blood-chilling
roar came from Murphy's den, and the
others, to make sure, began to throw
in series of yells that would cause a
Bowery gallery-god to go home and
through sheer envy take lessons. The
crowd fell back in wave; 1t simply
swept 'em Of their feet, sir. To cap
the climax Collins cried: Don't let 'em
get excited, Mr.. Smith! Remember
the three men mauled to death In El
Paso!'
AFTER they'd gone, Tib turned to
me and grinned. 4 think we'll win the
trick. And isn't that Collins q
jewell
Nov each cage was divided by a
grating of bars. and in each cosy
nook was one Of the comic opera suits
I'd brought from FL Paso. In de-
signing these animal make-ups Tib had
made use Of air chambers, 80 that
when man got tucked into one and
the bicycle pump had been agitated
for padding you had real, life-like
beast, with muscles standing out like
barnacles on a forRottAn drod9e. OF