United labor bulletin., 1913-12-06
CRIME OF THE GORILLA
BY c. PoEHLMAN.

because Oh ner gentleneSS ana KlnQ
heart.
Politeness and consideration are
rare articles in a circus crowd, but
Senobia, the queen of tightrope walk
ers," as she was billed, had no reason
to complain in this respect. Every
body treated her with the greatest
politeness and respect, though she was
the youngest and poorest paid of US
all.
Strange 1t was, however, the one
who showed her least respect was
the smartest of the whole company.
1t was not because he thought him
he loved her more than any of US
did, passionately. and therefore sell
fiishly. The rest of us could feel
happy a whole day when Senobia had
spoken a few kind words to US, but
he, Stavarta. champion juggler of the
world" would not even have been
satisfied had she given him her whole
soul
We were in Pittsburgh. The circus
was crowded with people, and every
body was anxiously watching for the
appearance of Senobia.
When we arrived in town, the direc-
tor of the circus. greatly to his an
noyance, had discovered that it was
impossible to fix Senobia's rope proper
ly with the safety curtain underneath.
Then came the fatal night. As
usual, / was standing underneath
was just ready to walk across the
rope the third time, carrying a JAP
anese parasol. when l suddenly discov-
cred that the rope was sagging and
that Senobia walked backwards to
the place from where she had started.
At this MON mt the audience shud-
dered. l looked up. the rope had be-
gun to swing violently. 1t was not
Senobia who did this-she had all she
could do to keep her balance. 1t was
caused by something at the other end
of the rope, and true enough, there on
the other platform sat "Goble," the
big gorilla, crouching and shaking
the rope with its big powerful fists.
AS fast as my legs could carry me
ran TO the nearest door leading to
the Cutlery. To get to this l had to
pass oy the monkey cage, and here l
u
1 must have gone mad. for in the cage.
VIII 'rh was strongly bolted. sat the big
gorilla And still 1 had seen it only
a few seconds before at the other end
of the building.
/ rushed towards the stairs leading
% the gallery and suddenly l heard
somebody coming down in mad haste
A suspicion entered my mind. l hid
myself quickly and watched. A mo-
ment later a figure in red tights ran
past my hiding place towards the
gorillas cage. II was Stavarta.
You miserable BEAST" he roared at
the ape. 4 wish 1 could kill you'll"
He ran away from the cage. looked
about cautiously and disappeared a
moment later a number OF people
came running towards the cage, pale
and excited.
What hero Stavarta is cried the
ringmaster. But for his courage and
presence of mind the mad beast might
have attacked the audience"
''Stavarta!'' blurted out What did
he do?"
He says he was standing in the
gallery waiting for his turn when he
heard the cries from the audience. At
the same moments he saw Senobia
falling and caught a glimpse of the
gorilla. Without thinking of his own
peril he made a rush for the beast,
but 1t was too quick for him. It ran
back into its cage and he bolted the
door behind it"
''Stavarta is liar said.
At the same moment he struck me
violent blow in the face with his
fist
How dare you call me a liar, you
cowardly curl" he cried. You have
always been jealous because she loved
me and did not care for you"
i, jealous of you, You know very
well that Senobia was not. in love
with any of us. and least of all with
you. And you know yourself that you
are lying. for at the moment l saw
Senobia ran to the gallery stairs. /
had only one thought-to kill the
gorilla, but as / passed the cage saw
it sitting in there"
What is the good of calling one an
other liars" said the ringmaster.
1T means that Stavarta must ex-
plain what he was doing in the gallery
and how it happened that we saw
gorilla while Goble was in his cage"
Il will kill you for this?" screamed
Stavarta-
Easy. easy. Stavarta.' said the ring.
master. and turned to me.
Then you saw n gorilla, too? How
do you explain that?'
Il believe can explain. Follow
me-
l walked up the stairs. The others
and Stavarta followed. He turned
paler with every step. At the top
there were six little rooms. They
were all open but one.
'.Where is the key?" | asked