Frank Merriwell's Own Company; Or, Barnstorming in the Middle West

by Burt L. Standish

Not a person left the theater, although there was a buzz of talk. Frank had not announced that he was the person who would give the entertainment, therefore there was considerable speculation among those present as to who would attempt to perform Zolverein's most difficult and marvelous feats.

Frank found the magician's costumes in a dressing room, and it happened that they fitted him very well, as Zolverein had been a well-built man, so he made haste to get into one of the suits.

The magician's assistant was present, and Frank had a talk with him. The man agreed to assist Merry that evening, although he was thoroughly broken up by the knowledge of his employer's sudden death, having been sent to the theater by Zolverein to get everything ready for the evening performance, and not having entertained an idea that the magician would not recover and appear that night as advertised.

By the time Prof. Pombal had played two selections, Frank was ready to go on.

Naturally Merriwell was nervous, but he braced himself for the task before him. Having practiced amateur magic and studied the famous feats of noted conjurers and necromancers, he believed himself capable of amusing and pleasing the audience, even though not capable of giving such a finished performance as one who was practicing the feats night after night.

Frank walked out onto the stage immediately upon the rising of the curtain. He started in at once by telling a story about two Irishmen, one of whom was down in a well, into which he had fallen while looking at the reflection of the moon, which he had mistaken for a cheese, being slightly intoxicated. His friend at the mouth of the well was trying to get him out, and the talk of the two was very laughable. The voice of the intoxicated man in the well seemed to issue from deep down beneath the stage floor, and was a very clever piece of ventriloquism. A good portion of the audience was amused, but some pretended to be bored at the very start.

Merry told four stories in rapid succession, and the last one was the best of them all, giving him an opportunity to imitate the sounds produced by fowls, birds, animals and so forth. At the finish the audience burst into a round of applause, and Frank saw he had them in a good humor at last.

Then he proceeded to do a number of his own tricks, beginning with the spinning of an egg on a shallow japanned tray. To do this trick it is necessary to use a hard-boiled egg, and, having started the egg spinning on its small end, the tray should be kept moving in a small circle in the opposite direction to that in which the egg is spinning.

Then Merry produced a short, sharp sword, which he passed round for the audience to examine, warning them to be careful not to cut themselves with it. The sword was very keen, as was easily ascertained.

When the sword was returned to him, Frank proceeded to slice some sheets of paper with it, to further demonstrate its keenness. Then he took a potato and passed it to the assistant.