feat. The reader will observe that, owing to
the length of the rope, and the very limited
space which intervened between its extremity
and the ground, it was necessary to gather up
the body by the mere force of the arms,
exactly in the spot where the strain is most
terrible, to allow the body to elongate gradually as
it passed the centre of the swing, to turn round
in the air when at the end of the sway, there to
"put on" force enough to return, and lastly to
pass back to the ladder, the process of gathering
up and elongating the body having to be again
gone through. The force of the strain depends
upon the position of the performer. When he
has come to either end of the swing, there is a
moment when he is suspended motionless in air,
the body being balanced between the two forces.
It is just that moment which is chosen for shifting
from one side of the trapeze to the other, for
turning in the air, or performing similar feats.
Should the performer loosen his hold at that
instant, he would fall to the ground like a stone.
As the body swings towards the centre, the strain
is gradually increased until it readies the climax,
just under the spot where the ropes are
suspended, appearing to a novice as if it would
tear his arms out of their sockets. It may be
imagined, therefore, what must have been the
difficulty with the single rope, with which there
was never more than an inch to spare, and where
the relaxation of that single inch was sure to
produce disastrous results. I have seen aspiring
novices, whose ambition has overleaped
their prudence, attempt the single rope before
they had subjected the muscles of the arms
and loins to sufficient training, and so make of
themselves a most pitiable example, as a warning
to the thoughtless. It is a very pleasant
thing to perform the feat, to feel the fierce
luxury of the sweep through the air, and the
inward satisfaction of difficulties overcome. But
it is not pleasant to give way just in the centre
of the swing, to be ground ignominiously along
the earth for several yards in a series of spiral
evolutions, impossible to be checked, but causing
an excruciating rasp to the skin, and grinding
to bits that portion of the dress which
happens to be lowest. Neither is the slow
painful walk homeward agreeable, nor is it
very pleasant to be debarred at all times, and
in all companies, the natural use of a chair,
and to be forced to rest in strange and
ungainly attitudes, until the superficial but very
painful injuries are healed.

A second important element in the proper
management of the trapeze is, that the weight shall
be thrown precisely on the centre. If the hands
should grasp the bar on one side, or if the
weight of the body should be thrown to the right
or left, even by a single pound, the result is to
force the trapeze out of the due line, and to
put an immediate stop to the performance. A
side weight on a trapeze is every whit as powerful
as a siding on a billiard-ball, and it is quite
possible for a master of the art to swing round
an obstacle placed directly in his path, or even to
steer his way between two objects that are only just
sufficiently apart to permit the bar to pass
between them.

The third element of success is the exact
timing of the swing, so that the bar shall be
caught just as it poises itself for the return. Of
course, if the performer should be too late, he
is forced either to wait for another swing, or to
throw a somersault, come to the ground, and
start afresh. But should he be too hasty and
meet the bar as it swings towards him, the two
opposing forces neutralise each other, a sharp
stunning jerk ensues, and the performer either
loses his hold and falls to the ground, or finds
himself checked in mid-career, all out of time,
and his arms strained as if they had been
subjected to severe treatment on the rack.

There is not the least difficulty in passing from
the first trapeze to the second; the real difficulty
lies in the passage from the second to the third,
and from the third to the fourth, because in order
to achieve that feat it is needful that the timing
should be accurate as that of a chronometer, and
the weight thrown precisely in the proper place.
I know few disappointments which sting so
sharply at the time as "missing the tip" at this
exercise. You are in full sway, feeling everything
go like clockwork, your trapezes are swinging
to perfection, you get careless of your stroke,
you catch your bar just a trifle on one side,
and away you go out of the line in a horridly
ignominious manner, having suffered a defeat
that cannot by any dexterity be metamorphosed
into a victory. You cannot conceal your
misfortune by throwing a somersault and looking
as if you meant it, because you are swinging
diagonally, and a diagonal somersault is apt to
produce very unpleasant sensations about the
hips, besides the great probability of flinging the
unhappy performer on his back. You cannot
make a dash at the next trapeze, because your
little circuit has lost the time, and you would
be too late. So there you swing between heaven
and earth, a misery to yourself, and an object of
derision to the spectators. We have certainly
seen Leotard commit this error, and force
himself again into the line before reaching the next
trapeze, but the skill and strength required to
do so are of such a nature that none but a
consummate master of the art would dare to
attempt so hazardous a feat. It will be seen that
the error only tends to perpetuate itself. Just
as a rifle-ball that misses a target by a few
inches at a distance of a hundred yards will miss
it by many yards at ten times that distance, so
an error of a foot at the first trapeze will
increase to a yard at the second.

The effect of the second mistake, namely, an
error in point of time, is equally disagreeable.
You meet the second trapeze too soon, and the
fault instantly makes itself felt by the blow of
the bar against the hands, and the succeeding
jerk, which seems to dislocate half the joints in
the body. Your feet get in advance of your
hands; you make a frantic effort to recover the
lost force; you catch the next bar; you reach
the little perch from which you started, and you
flatter yourself that you have just managed to