Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 36 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

The Boy Clown. 5 along. ‘There was no time to halt, for there was a duty to perform, and they must per- form it or entail heavy loss upon the man- ager. While the storm was at its very hight, the train, leaving the open country over which it had been passing for some time, again entered the forest, at the foot of a long hill, over which the road wound. The wearied horses toiled painfully up the steep grade, and at length reached the level summit, where a halt was called to al- low of a momentary rest before commencing the almost equally difficult descent upon the other side. Upon either side of the road the tall forest trees lifted their heads, their long arms reaching far out over the road, in some places meeting and interlacing one with the other. It was in such a place that the vans con- taining the animals were halted. If the storm was violent in the valley be- low, # was found to be much more so upon the summit of the ridge, where the wind, having full sweep, roared and crashed amid the timber with fearful fury. ‘ ‘Whew! whata night! And just listen to them animiles,” said old Jake, as he crouched upon the box and drew his water- proof more closely about his person. - He certainly had cause for the last re- mark. Even above the din of thunder, as peal after peal, with hardly an instant’s intermis- sion, rolled. from out the blacked. space above, the horrid yells and screeches of the animals, well-nigh maddened with terror, could. be heard. “J don’t like the looks of that tree yon- der,” said Jake, pointing to an. enormous -oak, whose leafless branches, seen by a -Jightning-flash, told of the decay that was _sapping its strength. The words were scarcely out of his mouth before a blinding flash, instantly followed _by a report like that of a heavy piece. of ordnance discharged close by, told. the watchers that the bolt had struck in their immediate vicinity. ; ‘Great Heavens! See there!” shouted the watchful old man, pointing, wildly, to- ward the dead oak. A. quick, sharp snapping of seasoned wood was heard, a louder crash, and then they saw, bythe fitful gleam..of, the light- ning, the great tree rushing earthward, and directly across the panther’s cage, that un- ‘fortunately stood in its path. With a deafening roar, the mighty tree struck the earth, but, fortunately, only the near end of the van, was_touched, but this was cut off almost as smoothly as though it had been done with ax and saw, The panther, a huge and exceedingly fierce animal of its kind, finding itself at liberty by the destruction of its cage, al- _ hough sorely frightened, sprung from the opening, and, with a roar of mingled terror and delight, bounded away into .the, sur rounding darkness. The situation now. became frightful, and _the alarm spread rapidly along. the line. |. The animal was known to be exceedingly fierce, and it might reasonably be expected that it would soon recover from its moment- ary fright and attack whatever might chance to attract its hungry gaze. Besides this the other animals, especially the large tiger and cage of lions, already maddened by the storm, had, on hearing the peculiar yell of the panther as he found himself free, become entirely uncontrollable, and were using every effort to force their dens. Such firearms as were in the company were quickly produced, and the men dis- tributed along the line of wagons to pre- vent an attack upon the horses until the broken van could be put in condition to be taken forward. Old Jake and his ‘‘ pardner” were stand- ing beside their van, the former holding a cocked pistol in his hand, talking over the singular event that had just transpired. ** You see how it is. I knowed that the third thing was bound to happen, and now—” Then abruptly pausing, as though struck by a sudden thought, he as suddenly exclaimed: ‘“Great Heavens! the boy! He is wound. ed and bleedin’ yet, it may be, and that beast will scent him a mile off. Stay here, Ned; I.must see to this!” and, without pausing further, the brave old fellow ran rapidly back to where the canvas covered wagon that contained Henry had halted, directly beneath a wide-spreading. tree, whose thick. branches. served. in some _man- ner to shelter it from the driving rain. As he approached the spot, a broad glare of lightning momentarily lit up the scene, and, instinctively glancing up into the dense foliage, overhead, he beheld a sight that al- most petrified him with horror. In that brief moment while the lightning lasted, he saw the panther crouched upon a limb directly above the canvyas-covered wagon, and just in the act of making his spring! Quick as thought he leveled his pistol, and, waited for the next flash so as.to make certain of his aim. A moment later it came, blinding in its intense brightness, and, as once before, that night accompanied by acrash of thunder so powerfully loud that he was stunned for an instant. He saw the bright bolt as it leaped from the bosom of the black cloud, and darting downward with inconceivable rapidity, bury _itself amid the dense foliage of the tree-top near which he stood. He heard the.rend- ing of splintered wood, and instantly, there- after, a dark object was hurled downward, striking the earth almost at his very feet. It was the dead body .of the panther, killed by the lightning which had. struck the tree! CHAPTER IV, | THE BOY. CLOWN AND THE QUEEN OF THE ARENA, A YEAR had now elapsed_ since the inci- dents in the last. chapter occurred. Time has brought its changes to our group of characters, . Again the scene of our story is in the arena, where the crashing of the band, more “noisy than aes the clapping of hands, the shoutings and bravos, prove that a tri- umph has been achieved. A young girl has gone through the ordeal of a first appearance in the ring, as an equestrienne, and has passed it, nobly. ‘‘ What beauty, grace and elegance she has!” is the exclamation of one and all. Behind that curtain of rough canvas stood one whom the fair young debutante was more anxious to please than the crowd- ed assembly, and, when he clasped her hands, and told her that she was, indeed, the Queen of the Arena, a brighter color glow- ed on her cheek, and a more powerful beauty passed over her countenance. ‘©Ah! Henry,” exclaimed the girl, ‘‘ this night, to me, has long been a dreaded one. Who could have guessed that, a year ago to-night, I should now be a member of this troupe, and that you would be the first one to congratulate me on my triumph?” ‘You know not how happy it makes me to do so, dear Jessie,” replied our hero, with a bright smile and hightened color. ~~~ . ‘How strange, how very strange it all seems,” said the young girl, musingly. “This night, one year ago, they took me from the roadside, a wanderer without home or friends. me now I have both, and am so happy.” ‘God grant you may ever be so,” said the Boy Clown, for he was now dressed 1 in the points and bells, his remarkable talent in that line having been discovered and quick- ly developed by the shrewd manager. Besides, Henry had taken a strong dislike ‘to the trapeze since that eventful night when the villain, Murker, had sent him to the earth, crushed and bleeding, and so it fell out that the change was a very agreea- ble one to the young performer. ” ‘Oh! was not that a terrible night, that of the storm, when the panther got loose?” continued Jessie. ‘‘ And to think how nar- rowly you escaped, for your old friend Juke says that a moment more and the ficree beast would have torn his way through the canvas covering,” and the girl shuddered at the memory. “Truly, I was in the hands of a good Providence that night,” replied the Boy Clown. . The snapping of the ring-master’s whip, and the call from his voice of ‘‘ This way, Mr. Merryman,” here interrupted the con versation, and Master Henry, popping his head from the opening of the canvas, ex- claims: ‘“Do you want the whole of me, or only my brains, which I notice you are sadly in need of?” The audience stamp and shout, and yell with delight. “Well, Mr. Ring-master, here I am; and now what do you want of me!” ‘« ¥ desire you to try to make a fool of yourself.” -** You had better do it, have to try at all.” What's that you say, sir?” with @ snap of the whip. ‘‘T was merely remarking that I knew of a young lady who would like to have you for.a husband very much.” “ How’s that?” ke “Oh! I offered myself to her once, anc You wouldn't Eomichvooks.co