The night Joe ran away Deacon Blackford was robbed in a strange manner, and, for a time, suspicion was thrown on Joe, a warrant being issued for his arrest. Among the other adventures which Joe had was a meeting with the ring-master of Sampson Brothers' Colossal Circus. Joe had done a favor for Benny Turton, the "human fish," and Benny made it possible for Joe to try some tricks on the circus trapezes. As a result Jim Tracy, the ring-master and one of the owners of the show, made Joe an offer to join the circus. Joe would have liked this, as he had taken quite a fancy for Helen Morton--billed as Mademoiselle Mortonti--a fancy rider on her trick horse, Rosebud. But Joe thought it best to remain with Professor Rosello for a time. The circus went on its way, and Joe and the professor went on theirs. Joe progressed in his chosen work, and he and Mr. Crabb found themselves becoming well-known performers. On the road Joe met several persons who had seen his father's feats of magic, and the youth learned of the great respect in which his parent had been held by the members of the "profession." "And I suppose," Professor Rosello had said, "if you could meet some circus folks they would remember your mother, even if Jim Tracy did not know her." So Joe had became a traveling magician. And it is in that capacity that the readers of this volume first meet him. But, as Joe stood there on the darkened stage, realizing the great danger to which his friend was subjected, and wondering what he could do to relieve him and not have the trick a failure, he, for an instant, wished he had chosen some other calling. It was a great responsibility for a young fellow, for now the fate of the whole remaining performance was in Joe's hands. There was much yet to be done, and it was not to be thought that, after being burned, as he said he was, the professor could go on. There was uneasiness now among the stage hands. The electrician from the wings was cautiously whispering to Joe to let him know what to do. As yet the audience had not realized anything was wrong. "Are you badly hurt?" Joe asked the professor in a whisper, standing near the now dark cabinet. "I'm burned on my back, yes. I'm glad you shut off the current when you did, or I'd have been killed." "I didn't shut off the current," Joe answered. "I just pulled the connecting legs of the cabinet out of the sockets in the stage floor." "That was just as good. The current's off. But something has to be done." "What went wrong?" asked Joe. "One of the wire connections in here. I can feel it now with my fingers. A wire has broken. If I could twist it together----"