Andy's sensational appearance a regularly arranged feature of the
performance.

The oddity of a boy in ordinary dress coming into the act, as Andy had
done, excited the profoundest interest and attention.

The manager in the ring below stood like one petrified, puzzled beyond
all comprehension.

The orchestra checked its music. An intense strain pervaded. The
audience swayed, but that only. There was a profound silence.

"One, two, three," said Thacher, at intervals.

"Come," answered old Benares.

At the end of a long, swift swing of his body, Thacher let go of Andy,
who spun across a ten feet space that looked twenty to the audience
below. Andy felt a light contact, old Benares' double grip caught
under his arms.

The act was the merest novice trick analyzed by an expert, but it set
the audience wild.

A prodigious cheer arose, clapping of hands, juvenile yells of
admiration. The band came in with a ringing march. Old Benares righted
himself, Andy with him.

"Su-paarb!" he said. "Can you hold on alone--one little minute?"