any wire tricks over on 'em!"

"But he can do this in a big topless tent, or even out in an open
field, if you like."

"Nope--steel rods run up the middle of a rope has been done before."

"Steel rods in a rope which the people see uncoil from the ground in
front of their eyes?"

"Well, they'd think of somethin' else, then. I'm tellin' ya, it won't
go! Sure, people like to be fooled, but they want it to be done
_right_!"

"Yes!" I sneered. "And a hell of a lot of people have fooled
themselves _right_ about this matter, too!"

He looked at me curiously.

"Say, have ya really got somethin' up y'r sleeve?"

"You'd be surprised!"

Thus he grudgingly gave us a chance for a tryout; and he was surprised
indeed. But on thinking it over, he decided like the vaudeville man.

"Listen!" said Tristan suddenly, in a voice of desperation. "I'll do a
parachute jump into the sky, and land on an airplane!"

"Tristan!" shrieked Alice, in horror.

The circus man nearly lost his cigar, then bit it in two.

"Sa-ay--what the--I'll call that right now! I'll get ya the plane and
chute if y'll put up a deposit to cover the cost. If ya do it, we'll
have the best money in the tents; if ya don't, I keep the money!"

"If I don't," said Tristan distinctly, "I'll have not the slightest
need for the money."

But the airplane idea was out; we could think of no way for him to
make the landing on such a swiftly-moving vehicle.

Again Alice solved it.

"If you absolutely must break my heart and put me in a sanitarium,"
she sobbed, "get a blimp!"

Of course! And that is what we did--on the first attempt coming
unpleasantly close to doing just that to Alice.

* * * * *

The blimp captain was obviously skeptical, and betrayed signs of a
peeve at having his machine hired for a hoax; but money was money and
he agreed to obey our instructions meticulously. His tone was
perfunctory, however, despite my desperate attempts to impress him
with the seriousness of the matter; and that nonchalance of his came
near to having dire consequences.

The captain was supplied with a sort of boat-hook with instructions to
steer his course to reach the parachute ropes as it passed him on its
upward flight. And he was seriously warned of the fact that, after the
chute reached two or three thousand feet, its speed would increase
because of the rarefaction of the air; and in case of a miss, it would
become constantly harder