Jack strong, out of work, was engaged as handyman with the famous circus directed by Captain Helga Hoffman (in private the Baroness Helga von Klausen). In spite of his blunders and amorous adventures, Strong, serving in many capacities, is favourable regarded by Captain Helga and her feminine executives; but Sadie Stamper, the lady lion-tamer, it appears, had no further use for him! The show has been touring Germany and, with this instalment, has reached Cologne.
(For obvious reasons, all names mentioned in these chronicles are fictitious.)
"Well, good-bye to all that," quietly observed Sadie Stamper, slipping an engagement ring from, her finger and handing it back to her crestfallen, shame-faced lover. "I can stand a lot; but you're a little too hot, even for me," she smiled. "I think, after all, I had better have a dog or a lion-cub for a domestic pet!"
Jack had recently disgraced himself beyond forgiveness.
During Sadie's absence from the circus, when she had been broadcasting from Berlin, Jack had become infatuated with her deputy, Isabelita Istar, a bewildering vampire woman upon whom he had spend all his savings and who, in return, had nearly sent him to his death.
when Jack had offended in a similar manner on a previous occasion, Sadie had flown into a violent rage and had chased him all round the circus compound with a rhino-whip; but she acted different now, and with ominous calm.
"You know that a woman often hurts most those she loves best?" she queried. "I slugged you once with a bull-whip, but I would not so far lower myself as to do it again. Love is said to be akin to hate, but I am not sufficiently stirred by either emotion to hurt you any more.
But I do cordially commend to your future paramours the lethal notion of the charming Isabelita - if any of them can make you chuck yourself into the river they would be doing me a favour and themselves a service!"
Jack was crimson with embarrassment, and found himself without a vestige of excuse, but he was by no means such a shoddy and vacillating character as the circumstances seemed to indicate. Presentable, intelligent, well-educated, good-hearted and of proved courage, he was, nevertheless, far too impressionable, and readily susceptible to feminine charms, to be able to keep his balance - financial or physical - amidst such a galaxy of beauty as that for whom he worked in Captain Helga's circus.
As he embarked on some forlorn apology he tried not to take back the ring, put it to one side of Sadie's dressing-table.
Observing this, Sadie picked up the ring and slung it out of the caravan window.
"Finis, my boy," she said, glacially cool. "Hereafter we meet as acquaintances and, I trust, not too often!"
All the star turns of Captain Helga's mammoth circus were women, excepting only, in fact, the clowns who invaded the ring during the intervals, or when there was a slight lapse of time between the "striking" and erection of caging and apparatus used by the successive entertainers.
And these lovely performers in their gaily coloured, shimmering tights, elegant boots and seductive trappings, gave an amazing, thrilling entertainment, lacking nothing in impressiveness, and of extraordinary variety, for there were few things done by their masculine rivals that these gifted women could not do equally well, if not a great deal better.
A startling newcomer to the programme, which already included acrobats, animal trainers, stunt riders, trapeze artistes, snake charmers, knife throwers, wire-walkers, and the like, all feminine, was a dainty little lady from London - Veronica Nugent the Spinning Lady Solopede, as, may be inferred from the description, was a remarkable young woman with only one leg, who performed sensational toe-spinning gyrations at an incredible speed and with perfect balance.
Some authorities, alluding to a person with this physical peculiarity refer to him or her as a "monopede," but Veronica Nugent preferred to style herself as "solopede," doubtless for the sake of the alliterative "spinning" qualification. Both, of course, are coined wards, and may readily be understood to describe a person with one leg, although the letter syllable, "pede," is derived from the Latin "pedes," the feet.
So far from appearing to suffer from any physical disability, Veronica Nugent, a happy, healthy looking girl, looked upon her single, shapely limb as her fortune - as indeed it was; nor was there the slightest incongruity in the apparent deficiency, for she had been a solopede from birth, and there was no distressing indication of a stump alongside her right leg, which tapered beautifully from her body to her tiny foot - a foot which would seem to be of steel so much reliance could she place upon it!
When Jack Strong first met her she nearly sent him flying, suddenly rounding one of the tents at tremendous speed in her elegant little two-wheeled hand-driven runabout.
"You should ring your bell, or toot your horn, or something! exclaimed Jack, rubbing an injured knee, but smiling.
"And you should have periscope eyes that see round corners!" retorted the pretty, vivacious young solopede.
"Do you always rush about like that - to the public danger?" asked Jack. "You won't leave us even one leg to stand on!"
"From all I've heard of you even one leg is more than you deserve!" laughed Veronica Nugent. "I'm rehearsing my act this morning, and I'm there if you like, you can come and give me a hand - or perhaps a "leg-up" would be better! Not that I need it - don't you think that," she added, with challenging vigour, for she rarely allowed anyone to aid her and indeed, she stood in little need of it.
She did not always use the runabout, sometimes contenting herself with the use of a most artistic-looking crutch, a slender, tapering stick inlaid with a gold and silver encircling motif, with a slightly dazzling effect which deprived it entirely of any appearance of a prop being used by a cripple.
The shoulder of the crutch, over which Veronica's left arm would rest, with her hand in the grip recess lower down, was padded with rich, red Morocco leather, a fetish that had been respectfully saluted by more than one lover.
Unlike most lady solopedes, she did not conceal her lack of a second limb with a short skirt or long, at any rate in public although, oddly enough, she did so to some extent, when appearing on the stage or in the ring, as will be described.
When Jack first saw her she was wearing a charming white silk blouse secured with tiny red buttons, tucked into the tightly encircling waistband of what can only be described as a solo breech in pale grey face-cloth, giving her a pear-shaped figure to the knee, above which the leg-band was secured with a decorative strap and buckle. Her dimpled knee and shapely calf were encased, from the leg-band to her little high-heeled grey suede shoe, in a perfectly matched grey silk stocking, with the neat straight line of the hem-stitch in rear following the seductive contour of her limb from leg-band to the provocative heel.
"Why should I hide my figure? It is not my fault, and I am not ashamed of it," she would say to her girl friends when attending some social function; and certainly there was nothing about her to excite the faintest repulsion of pity; but an the contrary, she was so greatly admired wherever she went, especially by masculine bipeds, that the said girl friends often thought twice before inviting her to any occasion where their own swains were dancing attendance.
Jack, of course, smarting badly from his recent disgrace, was ripe for another fall, and fell heavily, true to form, at the adorable suede-shod foot of a new divinity!
* * *
There was a hum of anticipation from the packed seats of the circus ring as Veronica Nugent's number went up and a rustling of programmes as members of the audience turned over to glance at her bill-matter.
"Veronica Nugent - Spinning Lady Solopede - The Whirling Human Top - A Lovely Rose with a Slender Stem!"
Veronica made her entry into the ring on the back of a dapple-grey horse, seated side-saddle, as only she could air, but maintaining a perfect balance, with her leg extended to the side her toe pointed and her arms raised in the air in graceful greeting.
Her lovely little body was clad in gleaming pink satin, tight around the gently heaving bosom, with one white rose at the fragrant corsage, fitting tightly into the waist, and then flowing and fluttering around the hips in a number of pink satin petals.
Underneath, from the waist to her single tapering foot, she wore green silk tights, representing the stem of the beautiful rose, which was far from blushing! Her foot was encased in a green ballet shoe of green kid, secured around her ankle and around the calf of the leg with criss-cross ribbons of green silk.
On her hands she wore tight-fitting green kid gloves, here dazzling white arms bare to the shoulders of her pink satin bodice, and over the golden aureole of her hair she wore a crescent of green leaves, interspersed with formidable thorns, which would seem to indicate that she might not too easily be plucked.
When she had ridden twice round the ring she rested her hands on the front of the saddle, and in the next moment was lightly poised on her foot, standing easily and gracefully in the centre of the saddle with her arms outflung.
Twice round the ring again, rising up and down on the point of her toe, while the audience clapped and applauded, and then she had resumed her seat in the saddle before anyone had quite realised how she had done it.
An attendant approached, carrying under his arm what looked like a pair of ski-sticks, and in his hands a shooting-seat. This was a type of stick sometimes carried by sportsmen, with a handle which opens out into a seat. The attendant opened it out and embedded its ferrule into the earth and sawdust of the ring.
He then stood until Veronica's drew near him, when the little solopede quietly slid from the saddle resting momentarily on the attendants arm while she took from him the "ski-sticks." With these she supported herself while the man led off the horse.
Another attended had placed in the centre of the ring a small rostrum of highly polished oak, raised about 6 inches from the ground, and Veronica hopped lightly on to the revolving top of it, still retaining her "ski-sticks." A ski-stick, of course, is encircled a few inches from the ferrule by a sort of "fixed wheel" about 8 inches in diameter, to prevent the stick from sinking in the snow.
The 8 inch wheels of Veronica's sticks were situated at the extreme ends, and were provided with tiny wind-vanes which, when Veronica was in motion, would cause the wheels to spin rapidly round against opposite flints, sending out a picturesque shower of sparks.
Elsie Lebonne the conductress of the feminine orchestra, dressed as Lady Hussars, with baton raised, brings the music to an appropriate period and, catching Veronica's smiling glance, summons a tattoo from the kettledrum.
With the tympanic effect, Veronica instantly goes into rapid spin on her pointed toe, the ski-sticks looped to her wrists for safety, whirling round her with a shower of vivid blue sparks from the whirring wheels.
The pink petals from her rose-bud frock fly out, increasing the flower-like effect, with the further revelation of the lovely green silk stem spinning beneath - the whirling rose - the human top - or the Spinning Lady Solopede!
Roars of applause greeted the end of her act and, rarest occurrence in the sawdust ring, flowers were thrown at the foot of the loveliest of them all, which may be taken as a verbatim report of Jack Strong's thoughts and subsequent expressions!
In between the afternoon and evening performances, while she was resting in the bunk of her touring wagon, Veronica said to Jack:
"I absolutely must go to the pharmacy, the one in the Wilhelmstrasse, but I'm too tired to walk, and I don't want to exhibit myself in that go-cart of mine."
There was only one answer to that and, as the pharmacy was very near the circus pitch, barely ten minute's walk, our unfortunate hero - or villain - with his usual fatal gallantry, made the answer expected of him.
"Oh, do let me carry you there!" he exclaimed eagerly. "You are very light, and it's a trifling distance. You wouldn't mind?"
"I wouldn't mind!" laughed Veronica. "I am not at all sensitive at the notion of a single-legged girl been seen in the arms of a double-dyed villain; a girl must go places!"
"Right, then," said Jack enthusiastically; and so it was arranged.
It certainly was no distance at all, and he carried her down the quiet Wilhelmstrasse with ease and pleasure. One or two people starring a little, but in a manner entirely sympathetic or approving.
They made an agreeable picture - the tall, good-looking young Englishman striding along with a small, wriggling bundle of feminine grace nestling in his arms. Casual observers needed no other assurance or evidences as to why she should be thus publicly carried than the sight of a solitary, neatly breeched, silk-clad limb swinging jauntily over the young man's lower elbow.
That Veronica had been transported hither and thither in the same manner many times before, was quite evident from the way she settled herself in his arms as though he were some sort of fixed pattern of armchair-saddle, and composing herself as one prepared for a long but uneventful ride.
It would not have surprised Jack in the least if she had pulled out a novel and started to read, treating him completely as some kind of open carriage; but, instead of that, she entertained him with cute remarks, amusing him a little and embarrassing him a whole lot.
Inside the chemist's shop he set her down gently, and the white-coated chemist's assistant came hurling round the counter to place a chair at her disposal.
Then, in the prettiest way imaginable, Veronica started ordering what she wanted, but in a manner that showed that she clearly knew precisely what it was she did want.
"She may only have one foot," thought Jack, deeply admiring it, "but she seems to make up for it in other directions!"
Veronica, indeed, was ordering enough for a beauty chorus face-powder, rouge, lip-stick, eye-shadow, mascara, shampoo-powder, bath-salts, orange-stick, finger-nail lacquer, lavender-water, tooth-paste, attar of roses, foundation-cream, face-cream, cleansing cream, scented toilet soaps, and a host of other delicacies which are not for me to epitomise, even if I could.
"Gosh!" thought the shameless Jack."She ought to smell lovely after that lot!" One of those ambiguous sentiments that are better left unexpressed! He wondered also whether she was trying to make a large enough parcel which might be humiliating or difficult to carry; but when she had spent about 6 Pounds it turned out to be quite a small parcel!
Jack does not know to this day whether the subsequent meeting was planned or accidental; but as he was very contentedly carrying the vivacious Veronica back to the circus compound, with a fairly heavy parcel dangling from his wrist, they came face to face with Sadie Stamper.
She was looking heart-breakingly lovely, cool and refreshing in a trim, close-fitting, tailor-made costume, with a pleated skirt unbuttoned over one well-turned, silk-sheathed calf. The suit was a very light grey face-cloth with a faint vertical pin-stripe, the kind that Sadie greatly favoured and which, with proper reciprocity, greatly favoured her!
"Hullo, darling!" she cried. Where have you been? Or is it my business?"
The two girls were on kissing terms, so they kissed; and it was hard to believe that Jack was anywhere about, although he was still holding Veronica in his arms.
When Sadie did happen to glance in his direction, her expression was as unchanging as though she were looking across the empty street. He just wasn't there, that was all, and he had to reconcile himself to this chilly circumstance as best as he might.
Nothing would do, then, but that the two girls must undo the parcel, opening it up in Veronica's lap, checking up on everything and comparing notes as to why they liked a number one, or a number two, or a lighter shade, or a much finer powder.
And as the animated discussion waxed and waned, and they had got as far as eye-black which ran easily, eye-black that didn't, and eye-black that coated too hard or clogged the lashes, Veronica had settled herself for duration in the aching arms which were holding her, carrying on as though Jack were an inanimate arm-chair or some equally enduring but lifeless object.
Ten minutes' walk to and from the circus, carrying a light-weight as the little solopede, was no great tax on any man's strength; but standing still with the same charming burden for half-an-hour or so was quite another matter.
When one girl treats you as the invisible man, and the other as a piece of furniture, it is a little difficult to know the correct course to pursue; and Jack, by now, was fairly staggering with eight stone more than he usually carried.
"What is the matter with the man?" said Sadie, irritably, apparently aware of him at last. "Can't you stand still?"
"I don't think I can stand at all much longer!" gasped Jack.
"Oh, what a shame!" cried Veronica. "I was forgetting all about my nice, kind pony-man! Of course we must get along - he must be tired out, poor thing!"
"Rubbish!" exclaimed Sadie. "He's as strong as a horse!" And she managed to prolong the conversation for some minutes longer.
Jack was red in the face, perspiring, and desperate; but he simply dared not to put a one-legged girl down in the street. It would be just another of those terrible episodes of which he would never hear the last so long as Sadie retained her power of speech.
Then there were a few agonising minutes when the girls kept saying good-bye to each other and never quite bringing it off; but at last Sadie with a sly, wicked smile released them.
Jack just managed to carry Veronica back to her caravan, where, having deposited her on the steps, he collapsed ignominiously, with the fair Veronica sympathising and soothing him with a stimulant.
What had started out to be a gallant and enjoyable little venture had terminated in a humiliating breakdown, thanks to the ingenuity and enterprise of Sadie Stamper; and where is the man who can tell how deeply Veronica Nugent was implicated?