"I know, Helen. I did tease you a bit," he said. "I suppose I might have told you that the pretty girls were those I had engaged to help in the banquet scene, together with the young fellows. We had only a few rehearsals in my tent, and I didn't want to spread the news too generally, even among the circus crowd, for fear of a leak. But I suppose I might have told you."
"It would have saved me from acting so silly, if you had," she murmured.
"Then it is I who should ask forgiveness," said Joe. "But it's all right now. And may I come to lunch with you, or would you rather that I should go with—one of the pretty girls?"
"If you do I'll never forgive you!" declared Helen, blushing more than ever. And so the little quarrel ended.
As Joe had intimated, he had engaged his banquet helpers secretly, and they had met him at the city where the circus was to remain three days and nights. Ham Logan had been instrumental in getting the performers for Joe, since the old circus man knew the best theatrical agency at which to apply. So Joe had hired the young men and women to act the part of guests at the "banquet." He had guessed that Helen's actions denoted her jealousy, but he could not forbear teasing her.
"But did they actually eat the fire?" Helen asked, when she and Joe were together again. "Of course I know they didn't," she went on. "It's silly of me to ask such a question. But it was very realistic."
"I'm glad of that," said Joe. "No, they didn't actually 'eat' the fire, any more than I eat it. And I may say that I had quite a little trouble in getting them to put it near enough their mouths to make it seem as if they did.
"But the 'food' was only very thin paper of a peculiar kind, which Ham Logan and I worked out together. It can be made to look like almost any food, and yet it is treated chemically so as to burn easily and quickly. The flames go out as soon as they come near enough our mouths to feel the effects of certain chemicals that are on our faces. I can't tell you all the secrets, but that is enough to show you how we worked it.
"There was no more danger than there is when I 'eat' fire, and the trick is done in much the same way. Ham Logan is getting to be an invaluable helper. I hope he stays with me. I never could have done this trick without him."
The blazing banquet was the talk of that and other cities. As Jim Tracy had said, the feat was shown at each and every performance, Joe cutting out some of his less sensational acts. The circus made a longer stay than usual in the city where the fiery food was first "eaten," and played to record-breaking business.