added the woman. "Be a good cat now. You are
going to be saved! Keep still and don't scratch!"

Whether the cat heard and understood it is hard to say. But it uttered a
pitiful:

"Mew!"

Inch by inch, foot by foot Joe advanced. He was quite sure of himself
now. He felt that he could easily have walked across the wire from
building to building, with the street chasm below him, and even could
have made the return trip. But picking up the cat and carrying it back
was another thing. It would have been easier for Joe to have carried a
man across on his back. He could direct the motions of the man. Could he
those of the cat?

Still he was going to try.

On and on he went. The woman in black was leaning from the window,
holding out her arms as though to catch Joe should he fall.

But he did not think of falling.

In another few seconds he was standing right over the cat. He could see
the animal's claws tensely clinging to the rope strands that held the
banner. Now came ticklish work.

"Easy, Peter! Go easy now!" said Joe soothingly.

He slowly and carefully stooped down. It was a trick he had often
performed in the circus on the high wire. But never under circumstances
like this.

Joe's hands came in contact with the fur of the cat's back. He gently
stroked the animal, murmuring:

"Come on now, Peter! Let go! Loosen your claws! I'm not going to hurt
you. Let me pick you up!"

Again it is hard to say that the cat knew what Joe was saying, but it
certainly made its body less tense. The claws were loosed. Joe
straightened up, holding the cat in his arms. He could feel its heart
beating like some overworked motor.

A roar arose from the crowd, but it was instantly hushed. The throng
seemed to realize that the return journey was infinitely more perilous
than the outward one had been.

Joe could not turn. He must walk backward to the window, carrying the
cat, which at any moment might become wild and scramble from his arms,
upsetting his balance.

Yet Joe Strong never faltered.

CHAPTER XII

THE FIRE ACT

Realizing that he must use every caution, Joe Strong had two things to
think of. One was himself, and the other the cat. He could not carry the
creature in his arms, as he needed to extend them to balance himself. He
had walked short distances along slack wires without doing this, but in
those cases he had been able to run, and his speed made up for the lack
of balancing power of the extended arms