at big constrictor which you let twine about your waist. Some
day he will squeeze you too hard--Poof! You are dead!"

"Well, I must say you are not very cheerful!" exclaimed Senorita
Tanlozo.

"Oh, well, what matter?" asked the trapeze performer, with a shrug of
his shoulders.

The circus parade was over. The procession had returned to the grounds
and dinner was being served. The afternoon performance would soon be
under way.

"Well, Joe, all ready for another swim?" asked Helen, as she passed the
"boy fish" (as he had been dubbed by some) on her way to look after
Rosebud.

"Yes, all ready to get wet again," he answered. "How's the nice horse?"

"All right. He was asking for you," and she laughed at her little
joke.

Joe's trapeze work went off well, and, hurrying to the dressing tent,
he donned the green suit. Again the ring-master made his announcement
about Joe, and the youth, inflating his lungs to their capacity,
plunged in.

Joe knew the value of a laugh, even in a thrilling scene, and this time
he had prepared a few simple but laughable tricks to perform under
water. They all worked well, and Joe brought the act to a close with
his "sleep," which again won him applause.

That afternoon Joe paid another visit to the hospital where Benny was a
patient. The "human fish" was in great pain, and Joe could only see
him for a few minutes.

"I think we shall have to operate on him, eventually," the doctor said.

Joe wrote Benny a cheering message, and hurried back to the tent to get
ready for the evening performance.

The tank act went off well, and to add to it Bill Watson, the veteran
clown, rigged up a pole and line, and pretended to be fishing in the
big glass box. Joe, who entered into the spirit of the occasion, caught
the hook as he was lying on the sandy bottom, and fastened on it a
rubber boot, which Bill pulled up and regarded with comical gravity.

When amid applause Joe came up out of the tank after an immersion of
nearly three and a quarter minutes, Jim Tracy gave orders to have the
water emptied out, and the tank packed for transportation. The glass
sides were removable.

"I don't know whether we'll have any use for it again or not," said the
ring-master. "How about it, Joe?"

"I'll tell you later," was the answer.

"Say, what about Benny Turton?" asked Tom Jefferson, the strong man, as
the performance came to a close and the crowd was filing out. "Can he
travel on with us?"

"No," an