The youngest of the two acrobats is mounted upon her [p263] saddle; with eye and muscle strained she watches the trapeze, which advances towards her in waves of rhythmical movements approaching nearer each time.
Suddenly the word is given—
“Go!”
The youthful body launched by the trapeze like a stone from a sling, crosses the whole width of the circus, and the [p264] flying girl clasps the hands of her companion. The shock causes the two bodies to sway together for an instant, then they free themselves, and with a double somersault reach the net. You can imagine how easily a jealous girl can rid herself of a rival in those few minutes. An imperceptible movement of the loins, the delay of one-tenth of a second, and the girl flying through space is condemned to death. This misfortune recently happened through an accident, but there are some criminal cases of it. One of these incidents has been related already. The two heroines were called “Ohia” and “Nella.” The advertisement styled them “sisters,” but they were only companions in their aerial work. They detested each other with the indescribable artist-jealousy, in spite of their entry hand in hand and their stage smiles. It happened that the applause was warmer for Nella, the vaulter, than for Ohia who caught her; and on this [p265] account the miserable girl hated her companion so intensely that she resolved to kill her.
One day, therefore, when after the great spring Ohia grasped Nella by her hands, an abrupt movement suddenly precipitated the young girl outside the net.
Fortunately the shock was not too violent to allow Nella to catch hold of the cord as she fell. She remained suspended, dazzled for one moment, clinging to the saving line.
Ohia was still swinging in the friezes. Warned by the shouts of the audience that her scheme had failed, she made one tremendous spring, traversed the whole width of the circus, and fell shattered upon the palisades of the arena. Thus another proverb, also current in the side-scenes of the circus, was verified, and this time the whole world may take warning from it—“If you value your bones, never work with wine or with a woman.”
I once questioned some celebrated acrobats upon a subject which piques the curiosity of the public.