"No, I didn't do it. He did. But I—I looked the other way when he did it. And then there was the time when the trapeze wire broke. It was acid that did that. He put it on."
"Who is this mysterious person you call 'he' all the while?" asked Joe. "I want to get after him."
"I'll tell you!" promised Harry. "But you'll protect me, won't you, Mr. Strong?"
"As far as I can with decency, yes. Now tell me!"
But there came another interruption. A man thrust his head into the tent and exclaimed:
"Mr. Tracy wants to know if you can advance the fire scenes about ten minutes, Mr. Strong. One of the men acrobats has sprained his wrist and they've got to cut out his act. Can you go on ten minutes sooner than usual?"
"Guess I'll have to," said Joe. "Quick, Ted, make up some new solution. I'll help you. As for you, Harry, you stay right here. I'll talk to you later. Haven't time now. And I'm going to have some one stay with you, to make sure you don't weaken and run away. It is as much for your own sake as mine. If you've decided to leave the man who got you to help in this work I'll stand by you. But I want to be sure your repentance is genuine. So stay right here, and we'll talk about this later. Don't say anything outside," he cautioned Ted.
"I won't," was the answer. "Say, I hope you don't think I had any hand in this?"
"No," Joe answered, "I don't. I'm trusting you—that's my best evidence."
"Thank you," said the young fellow, and he breathed a sigh of relief.