Joe Strong on the Trapeze Part 27

Other circus performers and attendants rushed to aid Joe, and this added to the confusion and excitement. Many in the audience were standing up, trying to see what had happened, and those behind, whose view was obstructed, cried:

"Sit down! Down in front!"

"Give us some music!" ordered Jim Tracy of the band, which had stopped playing when Joe performed his trick in order that it might be more impressive. A lively tune was started, and though it may seem heartless, in view of the fact that a performer possibly was killed, it was the best thing to do under the circ.u.mstances, for it calmed the audience.

Tender hands lifted Joe out of the net, and carried him toward the dressing room.

"Go on with the show!" the ring-master ordered the performers who had left their stations. "Go on with the show. We'll look after him.

There are plenty of us to do it."

And the show went on. It had to.

"Is he--is he badly hurt?" faltered Helen, as she walked beside the four men who were carrying Joe on a stretcher which had been brought from the first aid tent. The circus was always ready to look after those hurt in accidents.

"I don't think so--he took the fall pretty well--only partly on his head," said Bill Watson, who had stopped his laughable antics to rush over to Joe. "He may be only stunned."

"I hope so," breathed Helen.

"You'd better get back to your ring," suggested Bill. "Finish your act."

"It was almost over," Helen objected. "I can't go back--now. Not until I see how he is."

"All right--come along then," said the old clown, sympathetically. He guessed how matters were between Helen and Joe. "I don't believe the boss will mind much. There's enough of the show left for 'em to look at."

He glanced down at Joe, who lay unconscious on the stretcher. They were now in the canvas screened pa.s.sage between the dressing tent and the larger one, where the performance had been resumed. Helen put out her hand and touched Joe's forehead. He seemed to stir slightly.

"Have they sent for a doctor?" she asked.

"They'll get one from the crowd," replied Bill. "There's always one or more in a circus audience."

And he was right. As they placed Joe on a cot that had been quickly made ready for him, a physician, summoned from the audience by the ring-master, came to see what he could do. Silently Helen, Bill and the others stood about while the medical man made his examination.

"Will he die?" Helen asked in a whisper.

"Not at once--in fact not for some years to come, I think," replied the physician with a smile. "He has had a bad fall, and he will be laid up for a time. But it is not serious."

Helen's face showed the relief she felt.

"He'll have to go to a hospital, though," continued the medical man.

"His neck is badly strained, and so are the muscles of his shoulder.

He won't be able to swing on a trapeze for a week or so."

Bill Watson whistled a low note. He knew what it meant for a circus performer to be laid up.

"Please take him to a hospital," cried Helen impulsively, "and see that he has a good physician and a nurse--I mean, you look after him yourself," she added quickly, as she saw the doctor smiling at her.

"And have a trained nurse for him. I'll pay the bill," she went on.

"I'm so glad that money came to me. I'll use some of it for Joe."

"She just inherited a little fortune," explained Bill in a whispered aside to the medical man. "They're quite fond of each other--those two."

"So it seems. Well, he'll need a nurse and medical treatment for a while to come. I'll go and arrange to have him taken to the hospital.

Has he any friends that ought to be notified--not that he is going to die, but they might like to know."

"I guess he hasn't any friends but us here in the circus. His father and mother are dead, and he ran away from his foster-father--a good thing, too, I guess. Well, the show will have to go on and leave him here, I suppose."

"Oh, yes, certainly. He can't travel with you."

The ambulance came and took Joe away. Jim Tracy communicated with the hospital authorities, ordering them to give the young trapeze performer the best possible care in a private room, adding that the management would pay the bill.

"That has already been taken care of," the superintendent of the hospital informed the ring-master. "A Miss Morton has left funds for Mr. Strong's case."

"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Jim Tracy. Then he smiled.

The circus neared its close. The animal tent came down, the lions, tigers, horses and elephants were taken to their cars. The performers donned their street clothes and went to their sleeping cars.

Helen, Benny Turton and Bill Watson paid a visit to the hospital just before it was time for the circus train to leave. Joe had not recovered consciousness, but he was resting easily, the nurse said.

"Tell him to join the show whenever he is able," was the message Jim Tracy had left for Joe, "and not to worry. Everything will be all right."

"Good-bye," whispered Helen close to Joe's ear, But he did not hear her.

And the circus moved on, leaving stricken Joe behind.

It was nearly morning when he came out of his unconsciousness with a start that shook the bed.

"Quiet now," said the soothing voice of the nurse.

Joe looked at her, wonder showing in his eyes. Then his gaze roved around the hospital room. He looked down at the white coverings on his enameled bed and then, realizing where he was, he asked:

"What happened?"

"You had a fall from your trapeze, they tell me," the nurse said.

"Oh, yes, I remember now. Am I badly hurt?"

"The doctor does not think so. But you must be quiet now. You are to take this."

She held a gla.s.s of medicine to his lips.

"But I must know about it," Joe insisted. "I've got to go on with the show. Has the circus left?"

"Hours ago, yes. It's all right. You are to stay here with us until you are better. A Mr. Tracy told me to tell you."

"Oh, yes, Jim--the ring-master. Well I--I guess I'll have to stay whether I want to or not."

Joe had tried to raise his head from the pillow, but a severe pain, shooting through his neck and shoulders, warned him that he had better lie quietly. He also became aware that his head was bandaged.

"I must be in pretty bad shape," he said.