The other performers went through their work
mechanically while Polly rode, for they knew the audience was
watching her only.
As for Polly, her work had never lost its first interest. Jim
may have been right when he said that the spirit of the dead
mother had got into her; but it must have been an unsatisfied
spirit, unable to fulfil its ambition in the body that once held
it, for it sometimes played strange pranks with Polly. To-night,
her eyes shone and her lips were parted in anticipation, as she
leaped lightly over the many coloured streamers of the wheel of
silken ribbons held by Barker in the centre of the ring, and by
Toby and the "tumblers" on the edge of the bank.
With each change of her act, the audience cheered and frantically
applauded. The band played faster; Bingo's pace increased; the
end of her turn was coming. The "tumblers" arranged themselves
around the ring with paper hoops; Bingo was fairly racing. She
went through the first hoop with a crash of tearing paper and
cheers from the audience.
"Heigh, Bingo!" she shouted, as she bent her knees to make ready
for the final leap.
Bingo's neck was stretched. He had never gone so fast before.
Barker looked uneasy. Toby forgot to go on with his accustomed
tricks.
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