The horse was set going, the cowboy walked slowly in the proper
direction, the audience watching him in intense silence, then, with a
run and a bound, he alighted on the horse's back, performing the trick
to perfection. The audience thundered its applause, and Derrick, to
round off the thing properly, took the cowboy's rough hand, shook it,
and whispered,
"Bow, bow, and get back to your place at once. Off with you!"
Amidst cheers and laughter, the now shy and confused amateur obeyed, and
Derrick, with his hands in his pockets, strolled across the ring, as if
the whole incident had been planned.
A group of persons awaited him; men and women who had paled beneath
their paint, for they had expected trouble. But they were flushed now,
and the women's eyes were sparkling with admiration. Isabel, in all the
glory of her costume, was the first to greet him.
"It was splendid," she said, in her deep contralto, and, as if
involuntarily, she held out her hand. "You saved the show."
Derrick, with the wholesome red of modesty mantling in his cheeks,
gently pushed by them.
"Nonsense! There was no danger, not a bit. Keep it going; we're all
right."
And so it proved; for the audience, highly pleased with itself and the
member who had distinguished himself, received the rest of the bill with
marked satisfaction and pleasure.
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