SAD NEWS
Joe spent as much time as he could spare before the afternoon
performance in practising with Lizzie. The trained seal seemed to have
taken naturally to the boy fish and was becoming quite friendly. She
would let Joe put his arms around her as they both swam under water,
and she made no attempts to bite. This was one thing Joe had feared,
for he knew that a nip from the sharp teeth of the sea-lion would make
a bad wound.
But Lizzie seemed content with the fish, and the number of them she
could eat and the ease with which she bit them into two pieces when
they were too large to take at one mouthful showed her appetite as well
as the strength of her jaws and the keenness of her teeth.
"Going to put on the new act this afternoon, Joe?" asked the
ring-master at the conclusion of the practice.
"I think I'd better not," was the answer. "Something might go wrong,
and it would queer me, I think. Wait a few days. I want to get her used
to the tent, the crowds and the lights. You see, she has only worked in
theatres up to the present time."
"Well, maybe you're right," agreed the ring-master.
So that afternoon Joe did his usual tank act, with the goldfish placed
in the big glass box. Joe ate his bananas under water, and though he
tried to equal his other record of four minutes and ten seconds he had
to come up two seconds sooner than the day before.
"I guess I've been going it too hard practising with Lizzie," he
reflected. "Then, too, I didn't have a motor-cycle ride. I must get out
the machine."
The trained seal was brought into the tent that evening before the
night performance and allowed to climb up the steps to get a fish. The
gasoline incandescent lights were set aglow, for Joe's object was to
see if the strange surroundings at night would bother the seal any.
But Lizzie did not seem to mind. She flopped her way up the steps, ate
the fish and plunged into the tank of water, from which the goldfish
had again been taken.
"I'll have to think up some way of keeping them in when I work with
Lizzie in the water," mused Joe. "They're too pretty to leave out of
the act, but unless I put a muzzle on her I don't see how I can keep
her from eating them. Well, I'll think of that later."
Joe did not get in the tank with Lizzie for practice that night, as he
wanted her to learn gradually. Then, too, he was rather tired, and he
had his trapeze work to do in addition to his aquatic act.
That night Lizzie, by Joe's orders, was left in her crate in the big
tent while the show went on. Joe's object was to let the seal hear the
music and the various noises, to see the lights, and to grow accustomed
to the general atmosphere of a night performance in the "main top."
"Then she'll understand what she has to go through with six days out of
the week during the season," said Joe.
But something funny happened at that night's performance. Joe was in
the midst of his tank act, and was getting ready to come out, prior to
going in for the endurance test, when he heard the now familiar:
"Hook! Hook! Ook!"
"Lizzie's loose!" he exclaimed, looking around from the platform on
which he stood, inflating his lungs with air to get ready for the
four-minute--and longer--under-water stay.
And there, flapping her way over the ground toward the steps that led
to the tank platform, was the trained seal. She had gotten out of her
crate--though how Joe did not know--and was coming to the place she
remembered as her feeding station.
Joe had to act quickly. The tank contained the goldfish, and to let
Lizzie in now would mean that some of the pretty fish would be eaten.
It would not do to have that happen in public.
"Take her back!" Joe cried to some of the ring attendants. "Don't let
her get on the steps."
For Lizzie moved quickly and she could ascend the steps in a very short
time, hitching herself along by her flippers. And once at the top, Joe
knew a sight of the goldfish swimming around freely in the tank would
be too much for the seal.
But Lizzie did not want to be caught, and she flapped away from the
attendants who ran after her. They laughingly pursued the seal, and a
little boy in the crowd cried:
"Oh, Mamma! What a funny game of tag! They're trying to make the seal
it!"
Those about the youngster laughed, and Joe joined in. But Lizzie, while
agile, was more used to the water than the land, and she was soon
caught and carried, barking protestingly, to her crate. Joe ran over
and saw that the door was securely fastened before he went on with his
act.
"I don't want her to come splashing in after the fish when I'm trying
to hold my breath for an under-water record," reflected Joe.
Lizzie did not get out again, and Joe went through his turn
successfully, though he did not quite equal his former endurance.
"I must be out in the air more and increase my breathing capacity," he
decided. "The motor-cycle for me!"
Joe's life was now a busy one--busier even than when he had traveled
about with Professor Rosello. For the boy fish still kept up his
trapeze work--at least, the greater part of it--he did his usual tank
work, and in addition he rehearsed each day with Lizzie. He was not yet
quite ready to put that act on in public. He wanted to make it a
finished piece of work, with no chance for failure, as far as he could
foresee.
Still Joe found time to practise some on the motor-cycle. He had
mastered the method of controlling and driving it, and all he needed
now was practice. Joe had been a good bicycle rider, and this stood him
in good stead though the motion was much swifter, and the exhilaration
of fairly flying through space with no effort on his part was new to
him.
He found that this swift motion in the open air was doing him good. His
lung power, which was most excellent, was improved, and he began to
have hopes of equalling the world's record of under-water work--four
minutes and thirty-seven seconds.
"And I'll even try to beat it," he thought.
Joe found time to ride immediately after breakfast when his tank was
being set up in the tent. He did not take part in the parade, and
having seen to it that the glass box was being properly put together,
and having fed Lizzie, he would ride off around the country on the
motor-cycle. And as he rode Joe began to turn over in his mind plans
for utilizing the machine in some trick.
"Though I don't just see my way clear to it now," he told himself.
Finally Joe became so well-used to the gasoline bicycle, as he
sometimes called it, that he took Helen out with him, she sitting on
the seat in the rear. Naturally a good equilibrist, the girl took
easily to the motor-cycle, and even when Joe went at top speed on some
smooth road she liked it.
"Oh, it's just great!" she said. "I'll think Rosebud is terribly slow
after this."
The time quickly came when Joe was first to exhibit the seal in public.
Lizzie had been behaving well, and in private she and Joe did all sorts
of tricks under water. Joe took down with him to his table some pieces
of fish. While he ate the bananas he would hold up on a fork a piece of
fish for Lizzie to take.
The seal would curve gracefully downward, take the morsel and eat it
under water, even as Joe ate his fruit. It made a novel scene.
"And now to see how it goes in public!" said Joe.
The big tent was crowded when the boy fish entered his tank that
afternoon, and after going through some preliminary work, showing the
tricks with the celluloid cards and other of his sleight-of-hand
performances, Joe gave the signal, and Lizzie was let out of her cage.
Barking and uttering her peculiar cry, she flapped her way to the
steps. Up them she went, taking the piece of fish left there to tempt
her, and then into the tank she plunged with Joe. Of course the
goldfish were not being used.
Then, while the wondering crowd looked on, Joe and the seal swam about
together, showing off to the best advantage. It was a good act, and the
throng appreciated it, applauding mightily. To cap the climax, Joe and
the seal ate under water. Lizzie behaved perfectly, paying no attention
to the crowd. Nor did the transparent sides of glass annoy her as they
had just a little at first, when she would sometimes unexpectedly bump
her nose against them.
It was one of the best aquatic exploits ever exhibited, and the
ring-master so announced it. Jim Tracy was delighted with Joe's work,
and Joe was pleased himself. Lizzie was certainly a great acquisition.
Back and forth, around and around, up and down, turning, somersaulting
and doing all manner of swimming went Joe and Lizzie.
"I couldn't have a better act unless I got a real live mermaid to
perform with me," Joe decided, as Lizzie shot up out of the water to
breathe.
Joe did not know the length of time the sea-lion could stay under water
without breathing. Doubtless she could rival him, but she never did--at
least, in the glass tank. A minute seemed to be her limit of endurance,
though Joe had no means of making an accurate decision.
At any rate, the act was a big success, and Joe had to bow and bow
again to the applause as he came out after his endurance test. This
time he made it four minutes and eleven seconds, a gain of one, and he
ascribed his better lung power to motor-cycle riding in the open air.
"Good work! Good!" was Jim Tracy's compliment at the conclusion of the
performance.
"I'm glad to hear him say that," said the boy fish. "It will make it
easier to ask for more money, for that's what I'm going to do."
When the mail was distributed just before supper, there was a letter
for Joe.
"Hello! This is too bad!" Joe exclaimed as he read the note.
"What is it?" asked Helen.
"Bad news," Joe answered. "There isn't any hope for Benny after all!"