| CHAPTER | |
| I. | [THE FIRE TRICK] |
| II. | [JOE'S RESPONSIBILITY] |
| III. | [ANOTHER OFFER] |
| IV. | [A CHANCE ENCOUNTER] |
| V. | [OFF TO THE CIRCUS] |
| VI. | [JOE MAKES A HIT] |
| VII. | [JOE TURNS A TRICK] |
| VIII. | [HELEN'S LETTER] |
| IX. | [BILL WATSON'S IDEA] |
| X. | [IN THE TANK] |
| XI. | [HELEN'S DISCOVERY] |
| XII. | [JUST IN TIME] |
| XIII. | [A BAD BLOW] |
| XIV. | [HELEN'S INHERITANCE] |
| XV. | [A WARNING] |
| XVI. | [THE STRIKE] |
| XVII. | [IN BEDFORD] |
| XVIII. | [HELEN'S MONEY] |
| XIX. | [JOE IS SUSPICIOUS] |
| XX. | [A FALL] |
| XXI. | [JOE HEARS SOMETHING] |
| XXII. | [BAD NEWS] |
| XXIII. | [HELEN GOES] |
| XXIV. | [JOE FOLLOWS] |
| XXV. | [THE LAST PERFORMANCE] |
JOE STRONG ON THE TRAPEZE
CHAPTER I
THE FIRE TRICK
"Better put on your pigeon-omelet trick now, Joe."
"All right. That ought to go well. And you are getting ready for——"
"The fire trick," interrupted Professor Alonzo Rosello, as he and his young assistant, Joe Strong, stood bowing and smiling in response to the applause of the crowd that had gathered in the theatre to witness the feats of "Black Art, Magic, Illusion, Legerdemain, Prestidigitation and Allied Sciences." That was what the program called it, anyhow.
"The fire trick!" repeated Joe. "Do you think it will work all right now?"
"I think it will. I've had the apparatus overhauled, and you know we can depend on the electric current here. It isn't likely to fail just at the wrong moment."