Jim watched anxiously from the entrance.
The paper of one hoop was still left unbroken. The attendant
turned his eyes to glance at the oncoming girl; the hoop shifted
slightly in his clumsy hand as Polly leapt straight up from
Bingo's back, trusting to her first calculation. Her forehead
struck the edge of the hoop. She clutched wildly at the air.
Bingo galloped on, and she fell to the ground, striking her head
against the iron-bound stake at the edge of the ring.
Everything stopped. There was a gasp of horror; the musicians
dropped their instruments; Bingo halted and looked back uneasily;
she lay unconscious and seemingly lifeless.
A great cry went up in the tent. Panic- stricken, men, women and
children began to clamber down from their seats, while others
nearest the ground attempted to jump into the ring. Barker,
still grasping his long whip, rushed to the girl's side, and
shouted wildly to Toby:
"Say something, you. Get 'em back!"
Old Toby turned his white face to the crowd, his features worked
convulsively, but he could not speak. His grief was so
grotesque, that the few who saw him laughed hysterically. He
could not even go to Polly, his feet seemed pinned to the earth.
Jim rushed into the tent at the first cry of the audience.
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