"What's this I hear about you?" asked the ringmaster.
"Nothing bad, I hope," answered Joe with a smile.
"I should say not! Say! this will be the biggest card you ever had, or the circus either. Wait until you see what happens, Joe."
And something did happen.
Jim had the whole story from the early editions of the papers, which sold in great numbers on the circus grounds. Of course, there was a record breaking crowd at the show, for the story had spread that the young rescuer of the imprisoned diver was the boy fish who performed in the glass tank with the seal, and reserved seats near Joe's platform were at a premium.
Joe spoke to the ringmaster, saying he thought he would not try for a very long under-water stay that afternoon, as his chest hurt him a little.
"I should say you wouldn't try!" exclaimed Jim. "I wouldn't let you. And don't work on the trapeze at all. Just do as much of your tank act as you can."
"Oh, I can do all that," Joe said quickly, "and string it out a bit if I cut out the trapeze work."
"Cut it out, then—at least for to-day."
When Jim Tracy made his usual announcement about Joe, before the boy fish entered the tank, there was a burst of applause at the mention of our hero's name, some one called out: