At each end was a spacious inclosure, formed by a rough board fence, for the use of spectators. M. Blondin--for this was the name of the new aspirant for acrobatic honors--also made an arrangement with the superintendent of the railway bridge for its occupation during what, with a shade of irony, he called his "ascensions." Those who went within the inclosures and upon the bridge paid a certain sum. A contribution was asked of all outsiders. He selected Saturday as the day for fortnightly ascensions, and advertised his intentions very liberally. The speculation was successful and gave great satisfaction to the spectators. He exhibited a variety of rope-walking feats, balancing on the cable, hanging from it by his hands and feet, standing on his head, and lowering himself down to the surface of the water. He also carried a man across on his back, trundled over a loaded wheelbarrow, and did divers other things, and also walked over in a sack. He sprinkled in a few extras to heighten the effect, as the knowing ones declared, such as slipping astride the cable, falling across a stay-rope, or dropping something into the water. In 1860, he gave a special ascension in honor of the Prince of Wales. The Prince and his party occupied a sheltered space on the Canadian side, and Blondin walked to it from the opposite side, performing various feats on the way over. The Prince shook hands with him as he stepped into the shed, and commended his courage and nerve. [Illustration: BLONDIN CROSSING THE NIAGARA] As illustrating the power of the imagination over the nerves it may be noted that, if the great spider's-web had been stretched out anywhere on a level surface, and not more than three feet above the ground, a dozen men in any large community could have been found to walk it as unconcernedly, if not as gracefully, as the famous "ascensionist." After three years of successful labor at Niagara, he sought other air-spaces.