I won't fall.
This cable is attached to the lamp. The other one goes from the lamp to the house on the other side.
If I cross both cables, I'll reach the other side and safety."
The officer raised his gun and took aim.
Tibul walked along the edge of the roof to where the cable began, stepped on to it and began moving along it towards the lamp.
The crowd gasped.
He would move very slowly, then, suddenly, he would take several quick steps, nearly running, but placing his feet carefully and balancing with his outstretched arms.
It looked as if he would fall at any minute.
His shadow now appeared on the wall.
The closer he got to the lamp, the bigger and paler his shadow became, the lower it slid down the wall.
It was a long drop to the ground.
When he was halfway to the lamp, the officer's voice boomed out:
"I'm going to shoot!
He'll fall right into the pool.
One! Two! Three!"
There was a loud bang.
Tibul continued along the cable, but for some strange reason it was the officer who toppled into the pool.
He had been shot.
One of the Guards held a smoking pistol.
He had just killed the officer.
"You dog!" said the Guard. "You wanted to kill a friend of the people, but I stopped you in time.
Long live the people!"
"Long live the people!" the other Guards shouted.
"Long live the Three Fat Men!" their enemies shouted and began shooting at Tibul from all sides.
He was now only two steps from the lamp.
Tibul flapped his cape to keep the blinding light from his eyes.
Bullets whizzed past him.
The crowd below shouted with joy.
Bang!
Bang!
"Missed him!"
"Hooray!
They missed!"
Tibul climbed on to the iron ring of the lamp.
"Just wait!" his enemies threatened. "He wants to cross to the other side.
We'll get him when he goes down the other cable."
Suddenly something quite unexpected happened.
The striped figure, which seemed black against the bright light, crouched on the iron ring and turned a lever. Something clicked, clanged- and the lamp went out!
This took everyone by surprise.
The square became as still and as dark as the inside of a trunk.
The next moment something clanged very high up.
A light patch appeared in the dark top.
Everyone saw a little bit of sky with two twinkling stars.
Then a small black figure climbed through the hatch, and there was the sound of running feet across the glass top.
Tibul the Acrobat had escaped.
The horses had been frightened by all the shooting and the sudden darkness.
The doctor's carriage nearly turned over.
The driver reined in the horses and took another road.
Thus, after a most unusual day and a most unusual evening, Doctor Caspar Arnery finally returned home.
His housekeeper, Auntie Ganimed, met him on the porch.