A NARROW ESCAPE
Joe Strong was in two minds as he heard this warning and observed the face of the man he was befriending. His first thought was that Ham had broken his promise and was indulging in intoxicants. Naturally the man would want to conceal this as long as possible. The other thought was that the tramp fire-eater was up to some trick—perhaps he was jealous of Joe's success and his own failure and wanted to spoil some of Joe's apparatus. Yet Joe did not recognize as any of his property the brown bottle, which when broken emitted such a queer smell.
Joe decided to investigate further, and so, not heeding the warning call of the former circus star, he walked closer to the broken flask.
"Keep away from that!" cried Ham sharply. "Keep away!"
"Why?" asked Joe, with equal insistence.
"Because it's dangerous," was the answer. "Very dangerous."
"Dangerous for you or me?" Joe wanted to know. "Look here, Ham," he said earnestly, "are you up to—any of your old tricks? You know what I mean. Are you?"
The man flushed. Then, looking Joe straight in the face, he said:
"You have a right to ask that, and I'll answer you as straight. I haven't broken my promise—that is, only the times you know about. I haven't broken it this time. I found that bottle in among your things, and I was mighty sure it didn't belong there."
"What's in the bottle?" asked Joe, for, though he had dabbled in chemistry, he did not recognize the queer odor.