“And the band played ‘From the land of the sky blue water they brought a captive maid!’” cried Mr. Leonard applauding his pupil’s feat. Beth applauded, too, enjoying this part of the game immensely, when a sharp rending sound penetrated the laughter and she saw Mr. Leonard’s face turn ghastly white as he paused with his upraised hands arrested in applause. It was but an instant, too brief to measure, the space of an indrawn breath, and one side of the lofty trapeze parted, the horizontal bar swung down on one end, swaying and twisting violently, and Dirk plunged head downward, clutching at the bar, missing it, falling headlong. As death seemed to grip Beth’s heart in the horrible silence of that instant, Mr. Leonard leaped forward, caught Dirk with his hands and shoulders, sank beneath the boy’s weight, and received his fall, his body a cushion for the impact which he had broken as he clutched Dirk. Another instant, and no one spoke or moved, then the boys rushed forward, shutting the group on the floor from Beth’s eyes. She arose and tried to go toward them, but could not take a step. Then a great shout rang out and the boys pulled Dirk to his feet and Mr. Leonard got up, dusting himself, trying to laugh, but making a sorry failure of it with his lips blue and drawn, his whole body visibly trembling. “No harm done, Captive Maid!” Mr. Leonard called to poor little quivering Beth as she stood clinging to her chair, looking out over the boys’ heads with big eyes staring from a white, pinched face. Dirk went over to her. “Scared, Bethie? Pretty close call. What do you think of Bob Leonard now? Not a bump on me. I guess--I guess mother----” Dirk stopped short. To his disgust he was crying, “in front of the fellows!” But no one seemed to mind. Not an Indian, foe or friendly, but that was choking tearfully, so no one could criticize Dirk for being shaken when he had so narrowly escaped death. “Dirk, oh, Dirk, I was so frightened!” sobbed Beth. She longed to put her arms around her cousin and cry herself quiet, holding him to make sure she actually had him still, but she knew that Dirk would never allow such a display of emotion before an audience. Beth looked at Mr. Leonard. It seemed to her that he loomed tall and marvelous and that she could see glory all around him. “You saved Dirk’s life. What do you suppose Uncle Jim and Aunt Alida will say?” she said, choking back the sob that tried to end her sentence.