“Well, I don’t want to do it in just that way,” replied the young fire-eater.  “Bill Watson says that Ham Logan was once a good man.  He is down and out now, but he knows a lot about circus life and this handling of fire.  I believe I can work him up into something useful—­use him in a new act I’m thinking of putting on.  If we can only keep him away from intoxicants he’ll be all right, and I’d like to give him a chance.”

“Well, Joe, as I said, it’s up to you.  Go to it!  But remember, while he means all right, he may not have the spunk to keep his promise not to drink.”

“I think he’ll keep it,” said Joe.  “Anyhow, I’d like to give him a trial.  He helped me with that fire hoop stunt, and it would be an act of charity to give him work.”

“All right—­you can be the charity,” said the ringmaster.  “What do you say, Bill Watson?”

“Oh, give him a chance,” replied the old clown good-naturedly.  “We all have our troubles.  He can’t do much harm, anyhow.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Jim, with a shake of his head.  “This playing with fire by a man who can’t keep away from fire-water, is risky.”

“Well, I’ll take the chance,” said Joe.  And that was characteristic of him—­taking chances.

Ham Logan was deeply grateful to Joe for what the young performer did.  That is, he hired the former fire-eater as a sort of handy man in the circus, Ham to be subject to Joe’s direction day and night.

“And let the fire-water alone!” demanded Joe.  “I will!  I really will!” said the old circus performer.  He seemed to mean it.

Joe advanced him money enough to get some better clothes, to have a bath and be shaved, and it was quite a different person who appeared at the tent the following day, ready to help Joe.  As Ham knew more about fire than any assistant Joe had yet been able to train, the new man was given charge of the various apparatus Joe used in his sensational acts, including the one of sliding down the wire on his head through the blazing hoops.

One matter bothered Joe and his friends, in spite of the great success the circus was having, and this was the bogus tickets.  Several hundred of them were presented at the performances in the city where the two-day stay was made—­the city already mentioned as being the location of a big automobile industry.  And where the tickets came from remained a mystery.  They were so nearly like the ones issued from the ticket wagon that not until duplicate numbers had been observed could the fraud be detected.

And as the men at the main entrances had no time in the rush to compare serial numbers, there seemed no way of stopping the cheating.  It was impossible to see to it that every one who came to the show purchased admission tickets at the wagon.  The surging crowds around prevented this.

Men engaged by the circus circulated through the throngs about the tent, seeking to learn whether any unauthorized persons were selling bogus tickets.  But none was seen.