Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1909-05-14

s.tI,Whst ,afli.a,i aid 50 far she's
Ial - trn>. win Tire freaks. tut the
rr>t j,..a. W. know he'll lie riug!n'
ley in 'a a r'.1.'ar stunt AID he put
;Iu her in +" GarSs with us"
~ danger # that." Snccrrd the
l,".d -I:"rs,v IS too old a S'a-cr to
utv mp his sleep and his goats"
itil hid a~ain - The thread of
Ill" copvor~a'i .. Her mind had gone
rotiuS - tire ni-ht when the fright
caod girl about whom they were talk
ing had made her first appearance In
the circus lot. rliuGinE timidly to the
hand If tie man who had just made
her hi; wife. Her eyes had met Pol
ly'S with 4 look of appeal that had
heart.
\ few nights later the newcomer
had allowed herself to he strapped
into the cumbersome leap Of death
machine which hurled itself through
space at each performance and flung
itself down with force enough to break
the neck Of any unsklled rider Cour-
age and steady nerve were the requi-
sites for the job, so the manager had
said. hut any physician would have
told him that only n trained acrobat
could long endure the nervous strain.
rack Of such an ordeal.
What matter? The few dollars
earned In this way would mean a
great deal to the mother whom the
girls marriage had left desolate
Polly had looked on hungrily the
night that the mother had taken the
daughter in her arms to say farewell
In the little country town where the
| circus had played before her marriage
| She could remember no wOman's arms
| about her. for 1t was fourteen years
since tender hands had carried her
mother from the performers tent into
the moonlit lot to die. The baby was
SO used to seeing "mumsie" throw her
self YEARLY on the ground after COM
ing out Of the big top" exhausted
that she crept to the woman's side, as
usual, that night and gazed laughingly
into the sightless eyes, gurgllng and
prattllng and stroking the unrespon
sive face. There were tears from
those who watched. but no word was
spoken.
Clown Toby and the big 'boss can
vasman" Jim had always taken turns
amusing and guarding little Polly
while her mother rode In the ring. So
Toby now carried the babe to another
side Of the lot, and Jim bore the life
less body Of the mother to the distant
ticket wagon. now closed for the night.
and laid 1t upon the sellers cot
ITS allus like this in the end" he
murmured as he drew piece Of can
vas over the white face and turned
away to give orders to the men who
were beginning to load the props"
used earlier In the performance
When the show moved on that night
1t was Jim's strong arms that lifted
the mite Of Polly close to his stall
the high seat on the head wagon. In
Gle Toby was intrusted with the brown
satchel in which the mother had al
ways carried Polly'S scanty wardrobe
| 1t seemed to these two men that the
eyes Of the woman were fixed steadily
upon them.
| Barker. the manager, a large, noisy,
good natured fellow. at first mumbled
something about the kid being excess
baggage" but his objections; were only
half hearted, for. like the others, he
was already under the hypnotic spell
of the baby's round. confiding eyes.
and he eventually contented himself
with an occasional reprimand to Toby.
who was now sometimes late on his
cues. Polly wondered at these times
why the old mans stories were so sud-
denly cut short just as she was so
comfy" in the soft grass at his feet.
The boys who used to look sharp
because of their boss at loading time
now learned that they might loiter so
long ut "Muvvcr Jim" was "hikin' II
round for the Kid" 1t was Polly who
had dubbed big Jim "Muvver." and
the sobriquet had stuck to him In spite