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Show 3 22 Glib llose anb $IIIler B'UlllortJot Juliet, with a swift change of subject, "and Ullarntno we 'II do stunts on the trapeze." Isabel and Doctor Jack sat side by side on a battered old trunk in stony silence while the twins were donning their gymnasium costumes. Fortunately, it did not take long and the sight of Juliet hanging by her feet furnished the needed topic of conversation. The lithe little body seemed to be made of steel fibres. She swayed back and forth, catching Romeo as he made a flying leap from the other trapeze, as easily as another girl would have wielded a tennis racquet. At length Doctor Jack interposed a friendly word of warning. "Look here, kid," he said, "you 're made of flesh and blood, you know, just like the rest of us. Better cut out that trapeze business." "l don't know why," returned Juliet, resentfully, as she slipped gracefully to the floor, right side up. "I 'm as strong as Ramie is, or almost as strong." "Girls do it in the circus," Romeo observed, wiping his flushed face. "Ever heard of any of 'em living to celebrate their hundredth birthday?" queried Doctor Jack, significantly. The twins admitted that they had not. "I don't care," cried Juliet, "I 'd rather live ten years and keep going, than live to be a hundred and have to sit still all the time." :a l3trtbbap ):lartp "No danger of your sitting still too long," returned Doctor Jack, good-humouredly. "It's hot up here, isn't it?" "Rather warm," Romeo agreed. "You folks can go downstairs until we get on our other clothes, if you like." They had reached the head of the stairs when Isabel changed her mind. "I believe I 'II wait for Juliet," she said, turning back. So the Doctor went down alone, inwardly reviling himself for his unlucky speech, and glad of an opportunity to contemplate the characteristic residence of the twins. The whole house was, frankly, a place where people did as they chose, and the furniture bore marks of having been used not wisely, but too well. Everything was clean, though not aggressively so. He ascribed the absence of lace curtains to Romeo and the Cloisonne vase to Juliet. The fishing rods in one corner were probably due to both. When the others came down, Juliet tied a big blue gingham apron over her white muslin gown and excused herself. She had been cooking for the better part of two days and took a housewifely pride in doing everything herself. They had chosen the things they liked the most, so the dinner was unusual, as dinners go. Isabel, eating daintily, made no effort to conceal her disdain, but Doctor Jack ate 3'3 ... Unu1ual Etnntr |