stage, Collins released a sandbag cleat, sending the giant Floating Lady device into motion with a sudden grinding of wood and springs. The apparatus may have been ineffective as a means of causing a lady to float in mid-air, but it was a wondrously expedient method of removing my brother from the lion’s clutches. The enormous pendulum cleaved through the air like a mighty scythe, describing a broad arc through the center of the stage at the precise spot where Harry stood. He calmly reached out and snatched at the heavy bag as it sailed past. In the blink of an eye it scooped him up and carried him heavenward into the dome of the theater. The motion, I noted, was decidedly jerky, but sufficient to our purposes.
At the same instant, I yanked hard at the rope I held in my hands, tripping the release lever in the wings. The drop of a fitted trap door—such as might once have been used to produce the ghost of Hamlet’s father—fell open beneath the forepaws of the lion. The creature tumbled forward into a makeshift pen beneath the stage, where a leash-lead and ether-bag were deployed in a smooth coordination by a pair of wranglers. The lion roared once and lashed out with a vicious paw, but the powerful narcotic did its work almost instantly. The entireoperation could not have lasted more than five seconds—about as long as it took for my brother to swing up to the dome of the theater and back again—but they were the longest five seconds I have ever known.
“Dash!” Harry shouted, as the pendulum brought him swooping over the stage like a trapeze artist. “I was marvelous, was I not?” He leapt from the pendulum as it passed over the stage and nimbly trotted to my side.
“Harry!” I cried. “You’re not hurt? You’re all right?”
“Why should I be otherwise?” he called, throwing open the lid of the substitution trunk. “There, there, my dear,” he said, freeing Bess from the tangle of ropes and fabric inside. “I am perfectly all right, as you can see. Yes, the lion has been captured. Yes. No. No, I have not been eaten by the lion. He would have found me a bit stringy in any case. I’m quite all right.”
“You—you’re certain?” Bess stammered. “I couldn’t hear—I couldn’t make out what—” She was as pale as I have ever seen her, and her lips were trembling uncontrollably.
“Bess,” my brother said, gently, “I am fine. Here, let me show you.” He lifted her out of the trunk and carried her to the edge of the open trap door. Peering down, we could see the prostrate form of the lion and hear its labored breathing. “There you are,” Harry said. “He’s sleeping like a kitten. I don’t see why—”
But Bess had thrown her arms about his neck and pressed her lips to his with such ardent force that his face went bright scarlet. At this, the scattered members of the company burst from the wings and swarmed onto the stage to offer Harry their congratulations, and it was some moments before the noisy back-slapping and hand-pumping subsided. At length Mr. McAdow forced himself into the center of the throng and threw his arm around my brother’s shoulders.
“My boy!” he cried, thrusting a panatella between Harry’s lips, “that was quite the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! So long as Dudley McAdow has anything to say about it, there willalways be a home for you here with the Kellar show!”
A loud cheer went up from the multitude.
Harry removed the cigar from his lips with obvious distaste. “Thank you,” he said. “That is most kind. But I am afraid I cannot possibly accept that generous offer.”
“Pardon?” cried Mr. McAdow, as dissenting noises were heard from the throng. “What are you saying, young man? You came here looking for work, didn’t you?”
“Of course, but—”
“Well, then, that’s all there is to it! You’ll come with us to Albany on tomorrow’s train!”
“But I—”
“If it’s money, young man, I’m afraid I can’t help you
At the same instant, I yanked hard at the rope I held in my hands, tripping the release lever in the wings. The drop of a fitted trap door—such as might once have been used to produce the ghost of Hamlet’s father—fell open beneath the forepaws of the lion. The creature tumbled forward into a makeshift pen beneath the stage, where a leash-lead and ether-bag were deployed in a smooth coordination by a pair of wranglers. The lion roared once and lashed out with a vicious paw, but the powerful narcotic did its work almost instantly. The entireoperation could not have lasted more than five seconds—about as long as it took for my brother to swing up to the dome of the theater and back again—but they were the longest five seconds I have ever known.
“Dash!” Harry shouted, as the pendulum brought him swooping over the stage like a trapeze artist. “I was marvelous, was I not?” He leapt from the pendulum as it passed over the stage and nimbly trotted to my side.
“Harry!” I cried. “You’re not hurt? You’re all right?”
“Why should I be otherwise?” he called, throwing open the lid of the substitution trunk. “There, there, my dear,” he said, freeing Bess from the tangle of ropes and fabric inside. “I am perfectly all right, as you can see. Yes, the lion has been captured. Yes. No. No, I have not been eaten by the lion. He would have found me a bit stringy in any case. I’m quite all right.”
“You—you’re certain?” Bess stammered. “I couldn’t hear—I couldn’t make out what—” She was as pale as I have ever seen her, and her lips were trembling uncontrollably.
“Bess,” my brother said, gently, “I am fine. Here, let me show you.” He lifted her out of the trunk and carried her to the edge of the open trap door. Peering down, we could see the prostrate form of the lion and hear its labored breathing. “There you are,” Harry said. “He’s sleeping like a kitten. I don’t see why—”
But Bess had thrown her arms about his neck and pressed her lips to his with such ardent force that his face went bright scarlet. At this, the scattered members of the company burst from the wings and swarmed onto the stage to offer Harry their congratulations, and it was some moments before the noisy back-slapping and hand-pumping subsided. At length Mr. McAdow forced himself into the center of the throng and threw his arm around my brother’s shoulders.
“My boy!” he cried, thrusting a panatella between Harry’s lips, “that was quite the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! So long as Dudley McAdow has anything to say about it, there willalways be a home for you here with the Kellar show!”
A loud cheer went up from the multitude.
Harry removed the cigar from his lips with obvious distaste. “Thank you,” he said. “That is most kind. But I am afraid I cannot possibly accept that generous offer.”
“Pardon?” cried Mr. McAdow, as dissenting noises were heard from the throng. “What are you saying, young man? You came here looking for work, didn’t you?”
“Of course, but—”
“Well, then, that’s all there is to it! You’ll come with us to Albany on tomorrow’s train!”
“But I—”
“If it’s money, young man, I’m afraid I can’t help you
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