e. "That fire juggling was a great
trick. That's the sensation you promised us, I suppose."

"No, it isn't," was the answer. "I'm not ready for that yet. But I'm
glad you liked the trick. No, what I have up my sleeve is something even
better, I think."

"Well, I hope you haven't any blazing torches up your sleeve," remarked
Helen, with a laugh. "You'll need a new coat, if you have."

"No danger," laughed Joe. "I think I'll be ready soon. By the way, any
news of the bogus tickets--I mean the detectives haven't found out
anything positive, have they?"

"Not yet," answered Mr. Moyne, who had joined the little party. "And
it's keeping all of us who have to do with the financial end guessing as
to where the trouble will break out next."

"It is an unpleasant state of affairs," agreed Joe. "But I don't see
what we can do except to wait. You haven't noticed any more of the
counterfeit tickets of late, have you?"

"No," answered the treasurer. "It's only when we hit the big mill cities
that they are worked in on us. That's why I believe there is some system
to it all."

"Well, we'll have to break up the system," declared Joe. "As soon as I
get this new act of mine perfected I'm going to take a day or two off,
over Sunday say, and visit the detective agency. They may need stirring
up."

"I wish something could be done," declared the treasurer.

About a week after this conversation, during which time the circus had
moved from place to place, doing good business, Mrs. Watson, meeting
Helen on the lot, said:

"Who are Joe's new friends?"

"New friends? I didn't know he had any specially new ones," remarked the
young bareback rider. "Has he been befriending some more poor
broken-down circus men, like Ham Logan?"

"These aren't men," said the clown's wife. "They are three pretty girls.
I saw Joe coming back from downtown with them. They seemed
jolly--laughing and talking."

"Three pretty girls!" murmured Helen. And then she quickly added, with
an air of indifference: "Oh, I suppose they may be some cousins he
hasn't seen for a long while."

"I thought Joe said he had no relatives in this country," went on Mrs.
Watson.

"I'm sure I don't know," and Helen's voice was very cool.

"There's something behind all this," mused Mrs. Watson, as Helen walked
away. "I hope those two haven't quarreled. Maybe I shouldn't have said
anything."

However, it was too late now. The seeds of jealousy seemed to have been
sown, thou