Adventure, December 1914 — page 167: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Not Down fixed this ‘‘thriller’? and it gave one audi- ence, at least, a sensation not down on the bill. Pitkin was nuts on electricity—had all sorts of funny notions about what it could do—was always experimenting with the ‘“‘juice,”’ and he certainly knew how to make it do what he wanted it to. He figured that a big act like this, full of blue sparks and things, would make a big hit, and he put it straight up to old man Barnaby himself. At first Barnaby was shy of the thing. Then his need of a new act and the scheme of the thing itself took hold on him. Pitkin assured him that he could make it as safe as a church during Lent, and he fell for the act and had it built. Now in itself, the act is all right—if some- thing don’t go wrong. ‘That’s the whole thing with most of the big stunts, however. It’s the thing which sometimes gives the dear public something not down, and it’s because of the off chance of something going wrong that they all hold their breaths and hope. But they’re not hoping it will. In working, Mitchi wore insulated shoes and her tights were rubber, too. The mouthpiece of her pulley was made of soft rubber into which she bit. Unless she were to brush the wire with her naked arms or her face she was pretty safe. She had to be quick at the net, of course, so as to hit it right and not fall against the wire. But that’s nothing much for the trained acrobat which she was. Still, when it came to getting a woman for the act after it was built, Pitkin and Barnaby had some trouble, until they pick- ed up Mitchi Maya out of an aerial troupe. She’d been with the show for some time and was about the neatest little gymnast you ever saw. She had blue eyes like the flowers of wild flax, and a little straight nose, and a clear, fine skin, with a figure as supple and pliant as a spring. And she had a nerve to match her good looks, which isn’t always the rule by a long shot. The old Hungarian who was head of the aerial troupe had picked her up as a baby, adopted and trained her, and he always . kept her with him. There was some story about a widowed mother in the old country, and I know Mitchi used to send money somewhere over there. Well, when she heard about the “‘Butter- fly” going begging for a woman, I guess she on the Bill 165 got a bug she could save a lot more money out of the job. They pay big for such stunts. She thought if she earned enough she could get the old dame over here and sort of look after her first hand instead of by correspondence. First off she had a long powwow with the old Magyar who had raised her, and though he put up some kick about her leaving his act, he gave in in the end like we all do for a pretty woman. Next she goes to the “old man” and says she'll sign on for the big bill; and the first thing we knew Pitkin and she were working the thing up between shows and before performances, after the big top was up. The act created a good deal of excitement, even among our crowd themselves. I re- member we all stood around mighty shaky the first time it got a try-out. Some of the women got pretty pale the first time that little kid stepped out on that hell-spitting wire in her little pink tights, and I know I felt sort of lumpy in the throat myself. But Mitchi was as cool as a nice icy grapefruit, and she got by with the trial in great shape. Then, too, Pitkin swore there wasn’t any real danger. He explained all about it. It seems that the balancing-wand she carried, with a big brass knob on the end, was a sort of safety device. At least that is what I gathered from his line of talk. He said the knob collected all the surplus electricity which wasn’t taken care of by her shoes and suit. It was something like some sort of jar— Leyden he called it. Anyway, as I under- stood it, it was a sort of fancy lightning-rod she carried, which caught up all the diffused currents and made her safe. As for the slide, it only lasted a few seconds, and the rubber mouthpiece was built so that she couldn’t get hurt. Still, it sure looked fierce to see that kid frolicking around on the thing. It gave me the willies the first time, and it sort of gets me fussed up now and again, even now. You see I can’t just forget what happened —once. @) lated them, and Mitchi laughed, with her little red mouth open so you could see her strong white teeth. She said it was a lot easier in fact than the trapeze act of the old Magyar’s she had AFTER the trial we all congratu- NOOK C@