HAM IS MISSING
Surprise and astonishment held the audience silent and spellbound for a moment. Then a woman screamed, and, ready for this emergency and fearing a panic, than which nothing is more dreaded by circus men, Jim Tracy cried:
"Sit still! Keep your seats! There is no danger! This is all part of the show. We are merely showing you how to eat your meals in case any of you ever get caught in a blazing volcano. Watch the ladies and gentlemen eat their stuff hot—right off the fire!"
There was a laugh at this sally, and a laugh was what the ringmaster wanted more than anything else just then. He knew the tide of fear had been changed to one of wondering admiration.
And so, sitting on the stage in sight of the thrilled audience, Joe Strong and his guests, in the shape of pretty girls and manly young fellows fancifully attired, continued to eat the blazing food.
The very pieces of bread seemed to be on fire, there was a dancing flame over the butter, and each bit of meat or other food Joe and the performers lifted on their forks was alive with leaping fire.
Then the daring feature of the act was borne home to the audience and the applause broke forth—applause loud and long. There were yells and whistles from the younger and more enthusiastic portion of the circus crowd.
And then the fires died away. The table seemed emptied of victuals, and the young men and women, imitating Joe's example, leaned back in their chairs as though well satisfied with their hot meal.
"There you are, ladies and gentlemen!" declaimed the ringmaster. "They have come to no harm from eating living fire. If any of you are tired of cold victuals, kindly step forward and you will be treated to a free, hot lunch by Professor Strong."
"Not any in mine, thank you," murmured a man, and that seemed to be the general opinion.
As Joe and his new associates arose to bow to the renewed applause, the ringmaster made an announcement.
"A blazing banquet, such as you have just witnessed, will take place at each and every performance," he declared. "Come and bring your friends! Nothing like it ever seen before on any stage or in any circus in the world!
"Remember, you will see the same and identical act at each and every performance and all for the price of one admission. Professor Strong and his gifted salamander associates will eat fire as they did just now, at each and every show in the big tent. I thank you!"
"Well, Joe, it went all right!" said Jim Tracy when the performers had left the stage and the young fire-eater was alone on the platform. "It went like a house afire!"
"Yes," said Joe, "it seemed to. I guess it went better than if we had made a lot of preliminary notices. The suddenness of it took them by surprise."
"But we can advertise it big now," said the ringmaster. "We don't need to specify exactly what it is. Of course those who have seen it will tell their friends who are coming and who haven't seen it. But the big majority of the audiences will be as much surprised as this one was. It went big."
"Yes," agreed Joe, "it did. And I'm glad of it. This is the sensation I was planning, but I didn't want to go into details until I was sure it would work. I had to engage my helpers in the dark, so to speak, and I didn't even tell you what I was planning until the last minute."
"No, you didn't," said Jim.
Helen Morton came slowly across the arena. Her act was over, and she had seen the blazing banquet and Joe's part in it.
Her cheeks were unusually red as she approached holding out her hand, and there was a rather misty look about her eyes as she said:
"Will you forgive me, Joe?"
"For what?" he asked tantalizingly.
"Oh, you know perfectly well!" she exclaimed. "It was very silly of me, but—"
"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. "I suppose I might have told you that the pretty girls were those I had engaged to help in the banquet scene, together with the young fellows. We had only a few rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't want to spread the news too generally, even among the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I suppose I might have told you."
"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if you had," she murmured.
"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said Joe. "But it's all right now. And may I come to lunch with you, or would you rather that I should go with—one of the pretty girls?"
"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared Helen, blushing more than ever. And so the little quarrel ended.
As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet helpers secretly, and they had met him at the city where the circus was to remain three days and nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting the performers for Joe, since the old circus man knew the best theatrical agency at which to apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women to act the part of guests at the "banquet." He had guessed that Helen's actions denoted her jealousy, but he could not forbear teasing her.
"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, when she and Joe were together again. "Of course I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly of me to ask such a question. But it was very realistic."
"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't actually 'eat' the fire, any more than I eat it. And I may say that I had quite a little trouble in getting them to put it near enough their mouths to make it seem as if they did.
"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar kind, which Ham Logan and I worked out together. It can be made to look like almost any food, and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily and quickly. The flames go out as soon as they come near enough our mouths to feel the effects of certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell you all the secrets, but that is enough to show you how we worked it.
"There was no more danger than there is when I 'eat' fire, and the trick is done in much the same way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could have done this trick without him."
The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other cities. As Jim Tracy had said, the feat was shown at each and every performance, Joe cutting out some of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer stay than usual in the city where the fiery food was first "eaten," and played to record-breaking business.
"And the best of it is that we haven't seen a bogus ticket!" said the treasurer, much elated.
Joe, as one of the chief owners of the circus, was able to hire the "fire-eaters" unknown to any of his associates until the last minute, and thus the surprise was all the greater.
Joe's fire tricks were now the talk of the theatrical and circus worlds, and he received many offers to leave Sampson Brothers' Show and star by himself. But he refused them all, saying he wanted to build up his own show to a point never before reached.
As he had said, Ham Logan proved a valuable helper. The man, a fire-eater of the old school, knew many valuable secrets, and he held himself under such obligation to Joe that he revealed many of them to the young magician.
"Have you learned anything more about who left that bottle of powerful acid in among my things?" asked Joe of Ham, one afternoon when the fire banquet had been unusually successful.
"No, not exactly," was the answer. "But I'm on the trail, I think I am working along the right lines, but it is too early to make any statement."
"Well, take your time," said Joe. "Only I don't want to get mixed up with any of the deadly stuff."
"Don't worry. I'm on the watch," declared the old performer.
That night, when the time for Joe to prepare for his acts, including the fire tricks, came, he did not see Ham in the dressing tent, where the assistant was usually to be found.
"Have you seen him?" asked Joe of Harry Loper.
"Yes, about half an hour ago," was the answer. "He said he was going in to town."
"Going in to town—and so near performing time?" cried Joe. "I wonder what for! He ought to be here!"
Joe was worried, and when his signal for going on came Ham Logan was still missing. Joe Strong shook his head dubiously. It had been found necessary to get another man to help with the act.
"I don't like this," he murmured. "I don't like it for a cent!"