All of Paris was talking Young Mirette had walked on the high wire with the Great Bellini Bellini had invited Mirette to become his partner I will teach you everything I know We must trust each other completely he said We will live our lives on the wire They practiced on a low wire Mirette learned to cross without raising her arms for balance She learned to feel the weight of every suspended part of her body and then to forget it She learned to be utterly still except for her feet carrying her along above the ground
Then Bellini taught her to balance on his shoulders and to do cartwheels
When she had mastered these feats on the low wire they rehearsed on a wire forty feet above the ground Mirette never thought of the danger She was free surrounded by air We are ready to perform Bellini declared at last
