So Joe had became a traveling magician. And it is in that capacity that the readers of this volume first meet him.
But, as Joe stood there on the darkened stage, realizing the great danger to which his friend was subjected, and wondering what he could do to relieve him and not have the trick a failure, he, for an instant, wished he had chosen some other calling. It was a great responsibility for a young fellow, for now the fate of the whole remaining performance was in Joe's hands. There was much yet to be done, and it was not to be thought that, after being burned, as he said he was, the professor could go on.
There was uneasiness now among the stage hands. The electrician from the wings was cautiously whispering to Joe to let him know what to do. As yet the audience had not realized anything was wrong.
"Are you badly hurt?" Joe asked the professor in a whisper, standing near the now dark cabinet.
"I'm burned on my back, yes. I'm glad you shut off the current when you did, or I'd have been killed."
"I didn't shut off the current," Joe answered. "I just pulled the connecting legs of the cabinet out of the sockets in the stage floor."
"That was just as good. The current's off. But something has to be done."
"What went wrong?" asked Joe.
"One of the wire connections in here. I can feel it now with my fingers. A wire has broken. If I could twist it together——"
"I'll do it," volunteered Joe. He had to work the dark, as a glimmer of light would show that the cabinet had been moved, and the audience would suspect that something was wrong. But Joe knew every inch of the cabinet, for he and the professor had worked this trick out between them. In an instant he had twisted the wire ends together, pushing them to one side so they would not come in contact with the professor's body, for the ends were not now insulated.