The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1909-06-05
BY p(ARdAR ct :: M { y @.
COPYRIGHT. 1908. By DoDD. MEAD AND COMPANY

veyed herself in the costume or a
Roman charioteer, &s It'll, III. sss..ss
"About wbat?" asked Polly vacantly.
Leave Poll alone! She's in one Of
her trancesr' called notherly, good
natured woman whose trunk stood
next to Polly's and whose business
was to support son and three daugh-
ters upon stalwart shoulders, both fig
nratively and literally, =
swell, amt IN any trance" answer
Id the dark girl, land think it's pref
~ tough for him to take up with
rank outsider and expect, us to warm
up to her as though he'd married one
Of our own folks She tossed her
head, the pride Of. class distinction
yelling high in her ample bosom. 49,
''He amt askin' us to warm up to
her." contradicted Mile. 'Eloise, a pale,
light haired sprite, who had arrived
late and was making undigni6ed ef-
forts to get out of her clothes by way
of her head. She was Polly's under
study and next in line for the star
place in the bill. ;
"Well, Barker has put her into the
leap Of death stunt, amt he?" con-
tinued the brunette. Course that
amt regular circus act" she added.
somewhat Modified. land so far she's
had to dress with the freaks, but the
next thing we know he'll be ringin'
her in on regular stunt and be put
tin her in to dress with u.s.
mo danger Of that" sneered the
blond. Barker is too old stager to
mix up his sheep and his goats"
Polly had again lost the thread Of
the conversation. Her mind had gone
rowing to the night when the fright
ened girl about whom they were talk
in" had made her first appearance in
thu ircus lot, clinging t1midly to the
hand of the man who had just made
her his wife. Her eyes had met Pol
ly's with look Of appeal that had
gone straight to the child's simple
heart.
A few nights later the newcomer
had allowed herself to be 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 unskilled rider. Gour-
age and steady nerve were the requi
sites for the job, so the manager Had
said, but any physician would hay
told him ttAet only a trained acrobat
could long ehdure the nervous strain,
the muscularstenaionAa nd The physical
rack ofBtch ss=s 5 ss..s
What matter? The few. dollars
earned r. tthis way, would NEAR, a
great deal to the mother, whom the
girls marriage had left desolate. =
Polly had looked on ,hungri}y 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 it 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, gurgling and
prattling and strokfng 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 it upon the sellers cot.
tits allus like this in the end" he
murmured as he drew a 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
| it was inns strong arms that lifted
the mite OF a Polly close to his stall.
wart heart and climbed with her to
the high seat on the head wagon. Un.
Gle Toby was intrusted with the brown
satchel in which the mother had al,
ways carried Polly''s ,scanty wardrobe
It seemed to- these two men that the
eyes Of the woman were fixed steadily
upon them. .::.-.:..,....e,. - :,
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, BIZ
was already under the hypnotic spell
Of the baby's round. conflding eyes
and he eventually contented himself
with an occasional. reprimand to Toby
who was now sometimes late on hi.
cues. Polly wondered 1t these time,
why the old mans stories were SO sud
! denly cut short just as she was 8,