Joe Strong on the high wire

JOE'S INHERITANCE

The tip which Joe bestowed on that messenger boy was the largest that youth had received in some time. The messenger boy looked at the smiling lad who gave it to him, and then, as if afraid the recipient of the cablegram might change his mind, or find out he had made a mistake, the lad hurried off, forgetting to have Joe sign the book. He had to come back later for that.

Joe read the message over again. Then he perused it for the third time.

"It's too good to be true!" he exclaimed.

"What is?" asked Helen, for, hardly knowing what he was doing, Joe had spoken aloud.

For answer he held out the message to her.

She comprehended it in an instant, and her eyes sparkled as she held her hand out to Joe, saying:

"The best of congratulations!"

"Thanks. I began almost to despair of getting it. But it seems to be coming right along."

"It certainly does, Joe. How long do you think it will be before Mr. Craige will get here?"

"Oh, about two weeks, I imagine. He evidently is returning right away, or he would send the money instead of bringing it."

"Oh, Joe! I'm so glad! How much do you suppose it is?"

"I haven't an idea."

"I hope it is more than mine, though I'm not finding any fault."

Joe slowly refolded the message and put it in his pocket.

"Don't say anything to the others about it," he requested of Helen. "It will be time enough to tell them when I have the actual cash. There may be a slip-up at the last minute."

"Oh, I hope not, Joe!"

Helen seemed unusually thoughtful after that, so much so that Joe asked her:

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, blushing slightly and turning away.

"It must be something," he insisted.

"Oh, well, I was thinking, Joe, that, now you are to become rich, you'll be saying good-bye—leaving the circus again, and this time for good."

Joe considered a moment.

"Well, I may leave the circus," he said, "for I have a new plan I want to try. But if I do say good-bye to the show, there is some one to whom I will not say good-bye."

"Who?" asked Helen quickly, and then she wished she could recall the question.

"You," answered Joe in a low voice, "I'll never say good-bye to you."

Helen turned away, her cheeks reddening, and Joe took her hand.

"You wouldn't want me to say good-bye, would you?" he asked softly.

"No," she replied, and, though it was said very faintly, Joe heard it and was happy.

Whether Joe's good fortune made him nervous, or whether there was some slight defect in his apparatus that night did not disclose itself, but Joe had another accident, though, fortunately, it did him no harm.

He was riding his motor-cycle across the wire for the second time, and had just made the two shots, bursting the lighted toy balloons, when he felt himself swerving to one side.

Joe was guiding his machine, or, rather, holding it to the straight course of the wire, by means of thongs fastened to his knees and attached to either handle bar. The thongs were fastened to Joe's knees by means of clips, something like those cyclists use when they wish to prevent their trousers from catching in the pedals.

"I'm in for another fall," thought Joe in a flash.

It was the work of but an instant to drop the two pistols and make a grab for the handle bars, but Joe was too late. Over went the motor-cycle, but it fell in such a way that one wheel went on one side of the wire and the other on the opposite side, so that as Joe was thrown out of the saddle the machine remained suspended in mid-air.

And Joe fell toward the life-net, his knees pulling free from the steering clips.

There was a shout of alarm at Joe's tumble, but as he felt himself hurtling through the air he reflected:

"I must make this seem part of the act, or there may be a panic!" And a panic is the bugbear of a circus.

Calling to his aid some of his old trapeze tricks, Joe turned a series of somersaults in the air, and when he was a short distance from the life-net he straightened out to land feet first. The flags, which were fastened to his shoulders, fluttered in the breeze his fall created, and, had he but known it, Joe made a pretty picture, in his shimmering white suit, with the stars and stripes fluttering above his head.

He landed safely in the net, and glancing up saw his machine safely suspended on the wire. The accident had turned on the electric lights, probably snapping on the switch, and the motor-cycle was illuminated as it hung suspended.

Then such a roar of applause broke out that Joe knew the audience had taken his fall as part of the act. Even Ryan and Jeroleman were deceived. And when Jim Tracy came bustling up to Joe he said:

"That was great! Going to work that in every performance?"

"Most decidedly not!" exclaimed Joe. "It's too risky! It was an accident."

But so well had he covered it, that for a moment the ring-master believed the lad was joking, and had really planned the feat in advance.

"Well, it was the best-worked accident I ever saw," said Jim. Once more the show moved on. The time was drawing near when the last performance would be given, and then the circus would go into winter quarters.

Already some of the less prominent performers were leaving, for they had engagements elsewhere and must take them at once or lose them. But in the main the circus held together.

"What are your plans for the winter, Helen?" asked Joe, as they were talking on this subject one day.

"I have an offer to go on the same circuit I played last year," she said. "But I don't know that I'll accept. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try out the new plan of mine."

"Build an airship?"

"Not exactly. I——"

Joe was interrupted by an usher who came to tell him a gentleman was outside asking for him.

"Bring him in," instructed Joe. He frequently received visitors, most of whom merely wanted to shake hands, so they could boast of it afterward. But this was no curiosity-seeker, for Joe saw Mr. Craige advancing toward him.

"Well!" cried our hero. "I didn't expect to see you."

"No, I got out sooner than I expected, and, having some business of my own in this neighborhood, I thought I'd call instead of writing."

"I'm glad to see you," said Joe.

"I rather thought you'd be," said the Englishman. "Now in regard to your inheritance."

"I'll see you some other time, Joe," said Helen, getting up to leave.

"Please stay," Joe urged. "I want you to hear all about it."

"There was a lot of red tape about it, as there is about all law matters in England," said Mr. Craige, "but there was no real difficulty, once our solicitor got to work on the case."

"Then there was no trouble about proving my identity?" asked Joe.

"Not at all. One old fogy of a judge wanted our solicitor to produce you in court to show that you were actually living. But I happened to have one of your pictures doing your act, and I showed it to his lordship."

"What did he say?" asked Helen.

"Well, he said Joe might be alive long enough to claim his inheritance, but that he wouldn't live long if he kept on doing tricks like that, and the solicitors laughed at the judge's joke, which pleased him very much, and he gave us a quick decision."

"Then I have real money coming to me?" asked Joe.

"You certainly have. Here is a part of it, in the form of a certified draft. I insisted on bringing some of it with me, and as soon as you sign certain papers there will be more due you."

"I can't thank you enough, Mr. Craige," Joe said. "It is due to your efforts that I have my fortune."

Mr. Craige then went into details. In brief, when Joe's grandfather died he left a large estate. He had cut off his daughter Janet in his will because of her marriage to the magician. But just before he died the old Englishman seemed to repent, and he wanted to change his will, but had no time. He did express a verbal wish, however, to have his daughter, or her heirs, share in his wealth, and left an almost illegible scrawl to this effect, and when the relatives tried to enforce the actual written will there was testimony that offset it.

So a certain sum was set aside for Mrs. Strong, but all trace of her seemed to be lost, and the money remained in the care of the court.

But Fate had acted kindly toward Joe after having given him some hard knocks, and it has been seen how it came about that he was able to claim his inheritance.

"And now how much is your bill?" asked Joe of Mr. Craige. "I feel that I can't pay you enough, but I'll do the best I can."

"You don't owe me a cent," was the answer. "I had to go to England anyhow, and I just turned the matter over to our solicitor. He did all the work, and I think you will get a bill from him in time. But it will not be high."

The tale of Joe's inheritance was made public, and this time he did give a celebration to his wide circle of acquaintances.

"Well, I suppose we'll lose you now," said Jim Tracy mournfully to Joe. "I never heard of a millionaire circus actor."

"I'm not a millionaire by a long shot," said Joe with a smile, "though I think I will leave the circus for a while. But I'll finish out the season with you, and maybe join again in the spring."

"Really?" cried the delighted ring-master. "And will you do your wire act?"

"I hope to have a better turn," said Joe.

He would not tell Jim Tracy or the others what his act was to be, but to Helen Joe said:

"I have an idea for a new kind of flying machine."

And those of you who wish to learn what sort it was, and how our hero utilized it, are referred to the next volume of this series, which will be entitled: "Joe Strong and His Wings of Steel; Or, A Young Acrobat in the Clouds."

Gaily the trumpets sounded. The band blared and the drums boomed. Into the tent swung the elephants, camels, and horses, bearing on their backs the gaily attired men and women.

It was the grand entry, and once more the circus was in full blast. The clowns cracked their merry jokes and went through their mirth-provoking antics.

"There's your call, Joe," said Helen.

"Yes," he answered, "and perhaps for the last time."

In his shimmering white suit the youth was soon flashing across on the high wire, and as he comes down on the other side, amid the applause of the crowd, we will take leave of the circus and of Joe Strong.

THE END

BOOKS FOR BOYS

BY VANCE BARNUM

THE JOE STRONG SERIES