aused a little delay, and there was a slight feeling as of panic
in the audience. The elephants were near Joe's tank, and for a while
the boy fish was afraid lest they knock it over and smash it. In this
case there would be a serious delay in getting another, though one
spare glass side was always carried.

"And I don't want anything to happen when I'm going to try to make a
record," Joe thought.

He had said nothing to Jim Tracy about the attempt he was going to
make, preferring not to have the public expect too much through an
announcement by the ring-master.

Joe did his usual work, swimming about in the midst of the shimmering
goldfish, showing different strokes, turning graceful somersaults and
doing a longitudinal whirl that made him look like the propeller of
some water craft.

Then Joe performed his tricks, those with the celluloid cards seeming
especially to please the audience.

"Mr. Strong will now show you how long it is possible for him to stay
under water," announced the ring-master, "and if any of you think it is
an easy thing to do, just take out your watches and time him, holding
your own breaths as long as does the boy fish. We challenge the world
to produce his equal!"

The band blared as Joe made his bow, and then, having inflated his
lungs to their capacity, he slipped into the tank, and began "eating."

This was one of the tricks he did to keep the audience amused while the
seconds of his underwater endurance were ticked off. It would have been
rather monotonous for the crowd merely to look at Joe staying in the
tank. He must keep up some kind of action. Then, too, when he was busy,
it kept his mind from thinking of the passage of time, and the four
minutes, or whatever part of them he remained under the surface, seemed
to pass more quickly.

Finally he had done the last of his "water stuff," he had eaten the
banana, had pretended to drain his cup of tea and then, yawning and
stretching, he prepared for a "nap" under water.

"Now comes the real test!" thought Joe grimly.

Already he was beginning to feel the strain. His temples were throbbing
from the retained breath and the water pressure, and his head felt big
and stuffy. It was aching, too. Joe had placed outside the tank an
alarm clock with big figures so he could keep track of the time. Three
minutes and a half had passed, and Joe knew that every second, from now
on, would be agony for him, agony that the watching crowd little
sus