Leo fully understood his great peril.
The entire canvas above him was in flames, and in a very short while the ropes which supported the bar upon which he had been performing would be burned through.
And then? Leo hardly dared to think of the consequences. The sawdust ring below seemed a terrible distance away.
A leap to it would mean broken limbs, perhaps death.
A panic arose among the audience.
“He can’t escape!”
“He must fall or jump!”
A rope and a net were sent for, but long before they arrived Leo had made a move to save himself.
The smoke rolled around him a second time.
It was fearfully thick, and made him close his mouth and eyes for fear of being either blinded or suffocated.