The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-03-23
The
jeff Twins
BY HUBERT RAY

~opyTisht' is<z' western Newspaper Unior
Its matter of split seconds il
= the ring, and calculation of spill
: lnillimeters. / don't know just wha
those are, but I'm told they're some
! thing pretty small. Anyway, th,
: jeff twins knew that-and, by. the
: way, Tom and Bill weren't twins, nol
q even. brothers, I'm glad to say.
/, They weren't relations at all, in
fact, but they'd agreed to work to-
, gether, and they took that title for
+ business purposes. They'd been do
ing circus work ever since they could
. remember. Grew up in the ring. and
so did Maisie Harlow, though 1t wasn't
until three months before my story
opens that the jeff twins met Maisie
"She surely was a peach And by
peach | mean peach not nectarine or
apricot. Pink and white skin, blue
eyes, soft, fluffy hair-every one was
In love with her. But it was the jeff
twins that she favored. And they
had the biggest part in Broxtons.
"They did the trapeze stunt In the
middle ring, which never failed to
bring down the house. Imagine two
trapezes, yards and yards apart, at
opposite sides of the tent. One of
the twins hangs by his feet; the other,
after getting up speed, lets the trap
exc swing him off and shoot him
clear across the ring. Now was
saying it's matter of split MILNE
| tiers, and that's what 1t was. They'd
| got 1t down so fine that, Just at the
second when the upward movement
of the flying body stops, and the
downward plunge begins, Tom, hang |
ing by his feet, with his arms down, |
catches Bills hand, and holds him.
There's Tom, hanging from the
trapeze, with Bill swinging under
meath. A strain? Not at all, sir.
You see there's the momentum, as
they call 1t, and no, l can't figure it
out. A professor did once, and he
said 1t was the prettiest thing he'd
ever seen.
$50 Bill catches Toms hand, and
then the upward swing brings him to
the trapeze He gets his feet on it,
the twins hang side by side a second
or two, and then the audience, that
had pictured Bits body hitting it with
the force of cyclone, rises and
shouts.
ut wasn't long before Maisie be-
gan to show which of the Jelfs she pre- !
ferred, and that was Bill. AS soon :
as Tom knew for sure he walked :
about all day in a black rage. He !
was crazed over pretty Maisie, and |
don't blame him.
But when he was heard threaten 4
ing Bill, things began to look serious. !
You see, you can't have bad blood :
among circus folk Never saw one !,
Of them in rage, did you? In gen. .
erab it's understood that their minds :,
have got to be free, so that they can !
do their jobs properly. Naturally, !,
with Tom and Bill doing their stunt !,
and bad blood between them, old Brox- :
ton began to worry.
"At last he went to Tom-it was !.
common talk by then-and told him !,
he'd fire the pair of them unless he !,
made up with Bill. Tom pulled the !,
wool over the old mans eyes, all q,
light; took him to Bits tent and ~
shook hands with him. But Maisie :,
,ame to Bill that night -
I don't want you to act with Tom ca
he said, crying. L don't trust him. IN
lie was threatening me this morning, ~
nd
''Bill was an easy-going fellow, and
aughed at her. I guess Toms all -
lght,' he said. Anyway, we're hiking 80
omorrow, and we can't spoil tonights g.,
how, now that old Broxton's salts ~;
ed.' -
II heard about all this afterward. ~,
" part Is bringing In the sawdust ~,
nd helping out where I'm wanted / ~,
sed to be-but never mind me. | ~,
1T sick that night as / watched from -
lie runway and saw Tom and Bill, ~,
ich on his trapeze, smiling and blow 49,
g kisses to the audience, and pretty ~
aisle, riding her two horses round
e ring, and looking up and-well, / ne
ought she'd fall, and that's a thing a.
at nobody ever forgives. WI
Something told me what was COM aii
g, and yet I had a sort of Instinct 'iie
- a. ,ro,,Id he ~, 49, - he
dt IL WOulu De all rlSnt IN the emu
waited for the big dive. 1t came. eis
Ii shot like lightning through the air ti'e
ross the ring to where Tom was an
nging by his feet, head downward. M
'.And then / saw-mind, sir. my ~
e's trained-how Tom deliberately Aep
wed his hand a couple of inches ans
de. And Bill flew on and-missed!
1t was a matter of split seconds, as nor
e said. Next instant Bill had shot ana
his other arm and grabbed Tom .Hri
Ind the thigh. For just an instant lini
y hung there, In a silence of death. mp
j could feel death In the air. sir. trHo
Then Tom dropped. And holding ever
h other locked. they went whlrling 0hat
nd and round, down to the saw reia
It. lhat
And Tom was underneath. ~
Dead? The minute he hit the '"es
und Smashed to pieces But anu