"Get the woman out o' the way," said the owner; "there's goin' to be trouble with this fire-eating Southerner.

We are not a fire-eating lot, you know.

He had one fire-eating act, but it didn't amount to much.

And now suppose we get at the fire-eating business.

Then, as Joe did the fire-eating trick again, Helen forced herself to watch him closely.

Joe told something of the history of fire-eating "champions" to his audience of friends, for it appeared that he had been reading up on the subject and was well informed.

That was all that could be done at present, and Joe gave his attention to perfecting his new fire-eating act.

And now he was going to introduce something novel in his fire-eating tricks, but he was also going to add to that.

He had read considerable of late about the fire-eating tricks of the old "magicians" and had delved into many curious old books.

"There is a trick in everything," said Joe, as he faced his audience in readiness for the fire-eating act.

"This will be part of the fire-eating stunt at every show," said Joe to the ringmaster.

And at the conclusion of his fire-eating act Joe would seemingly burst into fire and run blazing across the stage to leap into the tank of water.

Before he could act on it, however, the man exclaimed: "You do a fire-eating stunt, don't you?"

"I was with a circus onceused to do a fire-eating act and jump into a fake bonfire.

Say, what are you going to do, Joe, take a troupe of fire-eating actors out on the road?"

But, as has been said, Joe possessed the ability to concentrate on the most needful matter, and that, for the time being, was his box trick, his fire-eating, and his slide on his head down the slanting wire through the blazing hoops.

The former tramp had much valuable information regarding the old style fire-eating tricks, and though he was not up to the task of doing them himself, he gave Joe good advice.

"Have you other acts as good a the fire-eating?

"Fire-eating old devil!

The community were left to the more ostentatious information of the defendant's counsel, Messrs. Kitcham and Bilser, that the case was "ridiculous" and "rotten," that the plaintiff would be nonsuited, and the fire-eating Starbottle would be taught a lesson that he could not "bully" the lawand there were some dark hints of a conspiracy.

He had resolved to bring together in active hostility two men of the world, versed in the usages of society, themselves perfectly familiar with the code of social honour, that they might attempt each other's lives beguiled by a delusion gross and palpable as the common tricks of any fire-eating conjurer at a fair.

"That fire-eating, swashbuckling soldier, with his blustering barrack-room ways.

That fire-eating Sir Collingham?" quickly asked the detective, giving rein once more to his hatred.

I am not sure whether the fiercer of the old Charlestonians were not more annoyed at the lack of attention paid by Sherman to the fire-eating little city in which four years back had been fired the gun that opened the War, than they would have been by an immediate and strenuous occupation.

Between the fire-eating Southerners and the meddling Abolitionists we are about to be plunged into a great deal of trouble.