A NARROW ESCAPE
Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this warning and observed the
face of the man he was befriending. His first thought was that Ham had
broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. Naturally the man
would want to conceal this as long as possible. The other thought was
that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick--perhaps he was jealous
of Joe's success and his own failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's
apparatus. Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property the brown
bottle, which when broken emitted such a queer smell.
Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not heeding the warning call
of the former circus star, he walked closer to the broken flask.
"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. "Keep away!"
"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence.
"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very dangerous."
"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to know. "Look here, Ham," he
said earnestly, "are you up to--any of your old tricks? You know what I
mean. Are you?"
The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in the face, he said:
"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer you as straight. I
haven't broken my promise--that is, only the times you know about. I
haven't broken it this time. I found that bottle in among your things,
and I was mighty sure it didn't belong there."
"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though he had dabbled in
chemistry, he did not recognize the queer odor.
"A combination of the strongest acids ever known!" was the answer of Ham
Logan. "A drop of it makes a terrible burn, and it will eat through
solid steel and iron. I knew that if it broke where it was, among your
trick things, a lot of them would be ruined. And I knew you couldn't
have left the bottle there by mistake, as it wasn't there the last time
I packed away your duds. And I knew if you knew what it was you wouldn't
have left it around in that careless way. So, taking no chances, I threw
it away, and I meant to break the bottle. That acid is awful stuff. It's
best to let it soak into the ground. Come over and see what it does even
to earth and stones."
He led the way to where the fluid had escaped from the broken flask,
the fragments of which were scattered about. The odor was less strong
now, as the acid was soaking into the earth. But there was a fuming and
bubbling at the spot, and the very stones and earth seemed to be burning
up in a small area.
"Don't step in it!" warned Ham Logan. "It will eat right through your
shoes. Glass is the only thing it won't hurt--glass and porcelain. They
mix it in porcelain retorts. I'll throw some loose earth over this
place. The effects of the acid will soon be lost, but while it's active
it's terrible stuff, believe me!"
"And you say you found that bottle in my baggage?" asked Joe.
"Yes," answered Ham Logan. "And am I right in saying you didn't know it
was there?"
"I certainly didn't," declared Joe. "Who in the world could have put it
there?"
"Have you any enemies?" asked Ham. "I mean some one who would like to
see your circus acts spoiled, or even see you laid up for a while?"
"Well, I guess perhaps there are some I've made enemies of by having to
discharge them, or something like that," admitted Joe, his thoughts
going naturally to Bill Carfax. "There's one man, but he hasn't been
seen around for a good while."
"That doesn't count. He may have gotten some one to do his trick for
him," asserted Ham. "You'd better look out, Mr. Strong."
"I will!" declared Joe. "And thank you for your watchfulness. As you
say, I didn't know that bottle was there, and I might have broken it by
accident or have opened it and spilled some out. How did you come to
discover it?"
"Just by accident. The smell is something you never forget. It comes up
even around the glass stopper. As soon as I began overhauling your
things, as you told me to, I smelled the stuff and I went on a still
hunt for it.
"I was careful, too. I knew what it meant to get any of that acid on
you, or on any of the things about you. I used to work in the chemical
plant where they made the stuff--that was after I left the circus. Well,
it can't do any harm now," he said as he got a shovel and covered with
clean earth the bits of broken glass and the still fuming drops of add.
"Thank you," said Joe fervently.
He went into his private tent. Presently he came out with a bit of wire
cable, such as is used in making circus trapezes. One end was blackened
and partly fused, as though it had been in the fire. Joe held out this
bit of wire rope. It was part of the trapeze he used in his big swing.
"What would you say had eaten through these strands?" he asked.
Ham Logan looked carefully at the cable. He sniffed it cautiously. He
held it up to the light and again smelled it.
"It was this same acid that ate those strands," he declared. "I know how
it used to eat metal out at the chemical works, and it does so in a
queer way. This wire rope is eaten through just like that. There isn't
any odor left, though sometimes it lasts a long time. But I'm sure the
same kind of acid was used. You don't mean to tell me you have been
experimenting with it!" and he looked in surprise at Joe.
"No indeed!" and the young fire-eater shook his head. "I never handle
the acid. And the fact that the cable was eaten through nearly caused an
accident." He then explained how he had discovered the partly severed
wire rope just in time.
"They must have put on a weak solution of the acid," declared Ham.
"Otherwise it would have eaten the rope through in jig time. So that's
the game, is it? Well, they may have been trying it on a larger scale.
Did you find out who doped the rope?"
"There was a man who might have done it," said Joe, thinking of Harry
Loper. "But I don't believe he did."
"Is he still with the show?"
"Yes. I'll tell you all the circumstances," which Joe did, mentioning
Loper by name.
"Well, we won't say anything," declared Ham Logan; "but I'll just keep
my eyes on this Loper. As you say, he may not have done it, but he may
know who did. I'll keep my eyes on him. Meanwhile be careful in
overhauling your things. Look out for bottles that smell as this one
did."
"I will!" promised Joe. "I guess I won't forget that odor. I can't tell
you how I thank you, Ham. You've done me a good turn!"
"Well, you did me one," was the answer. "I was down and out when you
gave me work, and I won't forget that in a hurry."
Joe pondered over what had happened as he performed his circus acts the
remainder of that day and evening. He shuddered at the narrow escape he
had had, and, when he had a chance, he carefully noted the conduct of
Harry Loper. But that young fellow did not seem at all to act like one
who had tried to do a dastardly trick. He was jolly and good-natured, as
he always was, albeit somewhat of a weak character.
The circus performances went off well, Joe and the other actors
receiving wild applause as they did their specialties. Joe's fire-eating
was eagerly watched, and when he slid down the rope on his head, through
the blazing hoops, the crowd went wild, as they did when, seemingly all
afire, he leaped into the tank.
"When you going to spring that sensation you've been talking of, Joe?"
asked Jim Tracy, at the conclusion of one afternoon show.
"Oh, pretty soon now," was the reply. "Ham Logan and I are working on
it."
"Ham Logan! Is he going to be in it with you?" asked the ringmaster in
some surprise.
"Of course!" answered Joe. "It's partly his idea. He's an old
fire-actor, you know, and he's given me some good suggestions. Yes, he's
going to help me. I think we'll put the act on next week. We've got to
train some new performers first."
"New performers! Say, what are you going to do, Joe, take a troupe of
fire-eating actors out on the road?"
"Something like that, yes," answered the young magician, with a laugh.
"You'll see."
Joe Strong varied his acts in the circus tent Sometimes he would omit
the "vanishing lady" act, as Helen wanted to put through some extra work
with Rosebud, and there was not time for both. Again he would leave out
some of his acrobatic work, or perhaps not do the trick of seeming to
catch fire and extinguishing the flames in Benny Turton's tank. Once in
a while he would omit the ten thousand dollar mystery box trick.
But on the day when he had the above conversation with Jim Tracy they
were showing in a large factory town. There had been good business in
the afternoon, and Joe had not done the box trick. But just before the
evening show Jim came to Joe and said:
"There've been several requests, Joe, that you put the box trick on
to-night."
"Requests from whom?" Joe asked.
"One of the newspaper men was telling me they received a lot of
telephone calls to-day asking if the box trick would be done and the
reward paid in case some one discovered the way it was done."
"What did you say?"
"I said I thought you'd put the trick on in that case. Don't you think
you'd better? We didn't advertise it specially for to-night, but there
might be a lot of sore-heads if we don't pull it off."
"Oh, I'll do it all right!" declared Joe. "I thought it was getting a
bit stale. But if the crowd wants to see it I'll do it."
"I guess it will be better," said the ringmaster.
Accordingly, at the proper time, Joe, in his dazzling white suit, took
his place in the silk-curtained enclosure. Helen, in her black dress,
was ready to help him. The fireman, with his gleaming ax, ready to chop
Joe out of the box in case anything should go wrong, was also on the
stage.
As has been related in the other book, this last was done only for
effect. Joe well knew that he could get out of the box. The manager made
the usual offer of ten thousand dollars to be paid to any one who would
disclose how the trick was done.
"You will all be given a chance to claim the reward under the usual
conditions after the trick has been performed by Professor Strong," was
the announcement made.
As the description of the manner in which Joe and Helen did the trick is
given in all its details in the volume preceding this, suffice it here
to say that Joe got into the box, which was locked and roped, and, at
the proper time, he appeared outside.
"Is there any one who can tell how the trick was done, and so earn the
ten thousand dollar reward?" asked the manager. He had made this
announcement many times. Seldom, of late, had any one come forward. But
now, somewhat to the surprise of Joe and his friends, a man's voice
called from a location near the platform:
"I can tell how it was done!"
"Will you please come forward," invited Joe, now taking charge of the
proceedings.
A fairly well-dressed man stepped across the arena and approached the
stage. Joe and Jim Tracy and the others vitally interested looked
closely at him. He was not Bill Carfax--that was certain. And Joe did
not know the man, nor, as Jim Tracy admitted afterward, did he.
"You say you can tell how I get out of the box?" asked Joe, and the
audience listened intently.
"Yes. I know the secret."
"Are you willing to post a hundred dollars to be forfeited to the Red
Cross in case you fail?" went on the young magician.
"I am. Here is the money!" was the cool response. This quick compliance
with the terms of the offer rather staggered Joe. But he had no fear as
to the outcome.
"Very well," went on the originator of the box trick. "The ringmaster
will hold your money. If you are successful in telling how I get out of
the box the cash will be handed back to you, and you will receive, in
addition, a check for ten thousand dollars. Now then, how do I get out
of the box? Tell the audience."
There was a moment of suspense, and then the man, with an air of
confidence, stepped close to the big, heavy box and, pointing to a
certain corner, said:
"Right there is a secret panel. You slip it back and get out that way!"
The man seemed so triumphantly confident and so sure of his statement,
that several in the audience cried:
"Is that right? Is that how you do the trick? If it is pay him the ten
thousand dollars!"
Joe looked at Jim Tracy. This was the first time any one had ever come
so close to the truth. Helen, standing at one side of the stage, began
to be fearful that, after all, Joe's secret was discovered. It would
mean an end of the box trick.
Then Joe smiled, and stepped forward. And there was something in the
smile that reassured Helen.
"Has he guessed it?" she asked in a low voice, as Joe passed her.
"No. But it was a narrow escape," was the answer.