Having gained sufficient momentum, the lad, after reaching the point where the rings would start on their backward flight, permitted his legs to slip through the rings, catching them with his feet.
He swept back, head and arms hanging down, as skillfully as if he had been doing that very thing right along.
“You’ll do,” emphasized the clown. “You will need to put a little more finish in your work. I’ll give you a lesson in that next time.”
Teddy, not to be outdone, went through the same exhibition, though not quite with the same speed that Phil had shown.
It being the hour when the performers always gathered in the big top to practice and play, many of them stood about watching the boys work. They nodded their heads approvingly when Phil finished and swung himself to the ground.
Teddy, on his part, overrated his ability when it came to hanging by his feet.
“Look out!” warned half a dozen performers at once.
He had not turned his left foot into the position where it would catch and hold in the ring. Their trained eyes had noted this omission instantly.
The foot, of course, failed to catch, and Teddy uttered a howl when he found himself falling. His fall, however, was checked by a sharp jolt. The right foot had caught properly. As he swept past the laughing performers he was dangling in the air like a huge spider, both hands and one foot clawing the air in a desperate manner.
There was nothing they could do to liberate him from his uncomfortable position until the momentum of his swing had lessened sufficiently to enable them to catch him.