Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1909-01-01
JIM'S
HOT FINISH.
By COLIN S. COLLINS.


Jim Petite his partner, and the other
half of the Affair Brothers, emerged
from the red ticket wagon, where Rich
ard Clute was counting up" the after
noon receipts.
Worst sort of luck" was the reply.
II thought If l tackled the old man
after a good matinee could catch him
in a fine humor, but 1t seems that the
sheriff held him up just before l got
there. One Of the grafters he pinched
told that the old man got q rakeoff,
and the sheriff came around to get his
and l got mine. The old mans going
to send Daisy to boarding school. and
he mentioned place l might go to-
but it's nowhere near Daisy's school.
You can bet on that"
Cant you two hook itr' suggested
Ben. ats pretty close to the end Of
the season. If we lose a couple Of
weeks, I can stand my share of the
loss II don't get a chance to work
single act at some Of the late fairs.
See what the kid thinks"
IT don't have to see," was the gloomy
response II know now what her an
swer would be. She won't beat It.
She's going to have regular wedding,
with the old man giving her away or
there won't be a wedding She's told
me that dozen times, and she means
1T when she says It,"
Strome nodded. Ever since they had
Joined the Clute show In midseason
Petite had been making violent love to
Daisy Clute, the owners daughter. 1t
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 a
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 their
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 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 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.
Str0me did the Clearing" catching
Jim as he leaped from his own trapeze
to Stromc's hands. He was reliable
worker, but Daisy always feared that
some night those steady nerves would
fall and that Jims body would go hurl-
Ing through the air until It struck the
ring bank or the seats, limp and
lifeless mass. She had seen one acct
dent. and It had remained vivid I'm 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.
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 Pettle's atten-
ton, and he glanced at the lamps. A
cluster Of gasoline fares 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 q leak, and In some way
the escaping gas had caught fire from
the flames below The heat was va
porlzing the inhammable liquid more
rapidly than usual, and 1t was only
matter Of minutes before the heat
would cause an explosion that would
send the blazing fluid flying over the
crowd below and the tinderllke tent.
There had been no rain for several
days, and, on the other hand, the blaz-
Ing sun had been pouring Its 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 mass Of fame.
There was no time to signal below
to lower the lights. It 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
ment and hurried TO reverse on the trs-
peze. Jim took the count from his
swing, and Strome could not under
stand the move. As the long swing