The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-15
THE EVENING STORY
The Night at the Frolic.
IBy Carl Williams.1


| PROF. Burke, the worlds greatest
animal trainer. and his unreliable mule
were the attraction at the Frolic thea
! ter. The stories of that mules idiosyn-
| crasies had travelled far uptown and
people were thronging the dingy the
alter nightly.
| To increase the attraction, an offer
| Of five dollars to the man who could
ride the mule for three minutes had
been posted. At the stage door Prof.
Burke himself, heavy of frame and
black Of mustache. chewed on an I'M
lighted cigar and surveyed with anus
ed glance the wiry. rather slender fig
ure of the young man facing him.
| us that offer Of yours on the level?"
demanded Harvey Dillon.
| Prof. Burke removed his much
chewed cigar to emphasize his answer
adequately.
ION the level?" he repeated. why,
kiddo. this is the only act in the whole
business that makes good. This is the
real thing, kiddo. en- you rider"
! Some" was the modest reply. II
have ridden range-but just for fun"
there'll be more than five spot in it,
promised Burke. Here's quarter.
Get gallery seat. an when I call for
| some one to ride YOU come down
L
| to you afterward.''
| 81 just want to make one stake" ex-
| planned Harvey; but Burke nodded his
| head wisely as he followed Harvey
that the quarter was applied to its
proper purpose. He needed young
man to act as assistant, and he liked
the alert air of this somewhat seedy
appearing young fellow.
Burke went back to the stage door,
content that the young man would not
go away. Harvey Dillon climbed the
steep stairs to the gallery and huddled
into a seat, glad to have a place to
rest where it was warm
Ever since he had quarreled with his
father over his marriage to Bessie
Boynton and had set out to earn his
own living he had been existing in a.
world of establishment. He had
and nothing had been offered to un-
skilled labor, unbacked by recommen-
dations.
Harvey was too proud to ask recon-
mendations of his former friends-it
seemed too much like confession of
failure. The last Of his money had gone
the day before and the announcement
that Prof. Burke would give a dollar a
mule, or IS to one who could remain
on her back for three minutes, had
caught his eye.
When, almost at the end of the per-
fOrmdnC0. Burke CaliGQ 1Or TlQ6TS, ne
rose in his seat and made his way down
the steps to the orchestra floor and
back of the boxes to the stage. Two
others volunteered-typica1 residents Of
the uuarter--and Harvey hung back to
watch their frantic attempts to mount
the mule.
They soon gave up. Only one had
mounted the animals back, to be
thrown over her head with disconcert-
ing promptness. Burke turned to Har-
vey:
money" he Kissed. Make some sort
of a show, or I'll kick you off the
stage"
Harvey gritted his teeth and went
out On the stage. He felt violent shame
for making a spectacle of himself, but
there was the five dollars If he could
hold out for three minutes.
Burke headed the mule and Harvey
made a dive for the brute's neck. The
crowd shrieked its joy as he caught
hold for the last man had been drag
ged three times around the stage before
the mule had brushed MIN OH against
the rope.
I They looked to see Harvey share his
fate But before the first circuit of the
stage had been completed Harvey
and with his feet firmly braced against
the fore legs and a firm grip on the
cropped name, he kept his balance.
Even in the rush of events he
thought longingly of the big Mcclellan
saddle that he had used in the west.
1t was a vastly different proposition to
stick here without saddle, stirrups or
reins But, on the other hand, he had
the mule at disadvantage. The ami
NAL was unused to riders who sat
straight and rode straight.
The beast could not dislodge this
new style of rider. Though she buck
ed and plunged and did pirouettes all
over the stage, Dillon only clasped her
JC1, h lie
clutched more desperately at her name.
Out in the misty smoke-hung audi
forum the crowd was yelling itself
hoarse. Already one minute had been
second. Harvey's fingers ached and |
his legs felt the terrific strain of their |
tight grip. The shaking up he was re-
ceiving made him faint, for he had not |
eaten since morning.
It seemed to him that above the bell
low of encouragement from the crowd
he could hear a voice that sounded |
oddly like his fathers, It seemed to
give him strength to hold out. 1t /
meant five dollars, money that would |
give fresh sinews of war in his fight for |
a living.
Round and round whirled the mule. |
An occasional leap into the air varied |
the rnonotony. Harvey's head began to /
swim and the bright lights were
blurred and indistinct- 1t seemed that
he could hold on no longer, but over
the din of the shouts he still seemed /
to hear the same stentorian Hold on, /
boy" which brought fresh courage, and /
he chung desperately to the puzzled /
beast
Then came shout louder than all
the Others and he was conscious that /
some one had caught the creatures |
head and that some one else was lifting /
him down.
Burke caught him by the shoulder
and turned him toward the footlights, |