The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1916-10-27

nouncement Of her ring performance
was just being made. The band had
played the Introduction and momen-
tarily stopped that the voice of the
announcer might be heard through the
interior of the great tent.
''The feature of our performance !;
the worlds greatest equestriene-Peg
o. the Ring"-were the familiar words
that came to Pegs ears. And then her
besetting affliction started to over
come her. AS she ran staggering from
side to side she bumped into several
OF the other performers, knocking
them roughly aside.
Pegs playful this afternoon" said
one Of the clowns she had toppled
over in her rush.
Pegs rough" said another per-
former who failed to appreciate the
way she had jolted him about.
The big white horse was standing
ready In the ring as Peg ran forward
Every instant her senses were becom-
Ing more confused, but in her mental
fight to retain consciousness the girl
more through force of habit than from
a sensible impulse, continued on to the
ring.
In the hurry and excitement Of the
moment the ring master failed to no.
tice anything wrong with the girl, and
1t was not until she was helped onto
her favorite horse that her affection
completely controlled her.
For an instant she sat on the back
OF the horse screaming at the top Of
her voice. The spectators presumed
1t was part Of her act, but the people
with the show were dumbfounded. The
horse frightened, by the sudden out
burst, jumped and reared, throwing
the girl to the ground
There for an instant she writhed
and screamed, not fully controlled by
her strange inheritance The perform
ers had, many Of them. never seen her
under its influence, although it was
matter of common knowledge among
them that the girl had inherited from
her mother the wild instinct Of the
tigers that had caused the death of
La Belle lie Sieur, just after Peg came
into the world.
This was the first time she had been
attacked In public. The spectacle was.
therefore, as unusual to the perform
ers as it was utterly undreamed of by
the now thoroughly excited spectators
who filled the circus seats, tier upon
tier.
Pegs screams had an electrifying
effect upon the crowd. When she
jumped TO her feet and viciously at
tackled the groom who was trying to
quiet her horse. the audience rose to
its feet and pandemonium broke loose.
The wildly excited girl rushed from
man to man, striking and scratching
with her hands, and kicking out with
her feet. Low growls that perfectly
initiated the snarls of a tiger, made
her irresistible progress the more ter
rifying.
Flip had been attracted by the tu-
multi, and was fighting his way
through the excited mob. in an effort
to reach the frantic girl. Performers
tried to surround and overpower her.
But her youthful strength magnified
by the influence that controlled her,
enabled her to Illustrate all attempts
to lay hands upon her.
The scene of terror, az the panic
stricken crowd fed for safety. was be-
yond description. Peg ran here and
there around the arena. dashing into
the crowds or climbing the seats to
assault some person who had unac-
countably invited her maddened at
tack.
The band tried to quell the disturb
ance with a discordant blare of sound.
Performers ran here and there among
the crowd, urging the people toward
the exits. Working men were hur-
riedly ordered to lower the side walls,
and thus clear way for scores Of