Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
Mirette on the Highwire
By Emily Arnold McCully
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1.One
hundred years ago in Paris, when theaters and music halls
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drew traveling players from all over the world, the best place to stay was at
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the widow Gâteau’s, a boarding house on English Street.
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2Acrobats,
jugglers, actors, and mimes from as far away as Moscow
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and New York reclined on the widow’s feather mattresses and devoured
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her kidney stews.
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3Madame
1.__________
2.__________
Gâteau worked hard to make her guests comfortable, and
3.__________
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so did her daughter, Mirette. 4The girl was an expert at washing linens,
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chopping leeks, paring potatoes, and mopping floors. 5She was a good
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listener too. 6Nothing pleased her more than to overhear the vagabond
5.__________
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players tell of their adventures in this town and that along the road.
6.__________
4.__________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
0301
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7One
evening a tall, sad-faced stranger arrived. 8He told Madame
Gâteau he was Bellini, a retired high-wire walker.
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9“I
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10“I
7.__________
8.__________
am here for a rest,” he said.
9.__________
have just the room for you, Monsieur Bellini: in the back where
10._________
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it’s quiet,” she said.
11“But
it’s on the ground floor, with no view.”
11._________
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12“Perfect,”
said the stranger. 13 “I will take my meals alone.”
12._________
13._________
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14The
next afternoon, when Mirette came for the sheets, there was
15Mirette
16Of
15._________
16._________
feet
17._________
me, Monsieur
18._________
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the stranger, crossing the courtyard on air!
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all the things a person could do, this must be the most magical.
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tingled, as if they wanted to jump on the wire beside Bellini.
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18Mirette
worked up the courage to speak.
was enchanted.
19“Excuse
17Her
Bellini, I want to learn to do that!” she cried.
22“Once
19._________
would not be a good idea,” he said.
20._________
21._________
you start, your feet are never happy again on the ground.”
22._________
20Bellini
sighed.
21“That
14._________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
0506
0507
23“Oh,
please teach me!” Mirette begged.
unhappy on the ground.”
25But
24“My
feet are already
he shook his head.
23._________
24._________
25._________
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26Mirette
watched him every day.
27He
would slide his feet onto the
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wire, cast his eyes ahead, and cross without ever looking down, as if in a
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trance.
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26._________
27._________
28Finally
she couldn’t resist any longer.
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she jumped up on the wire to try it herself.
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windmills.
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look so easy.
31In
29When
30Her
Bellini was gone,
arms flailed like
a moment she was back on the ground.
32Bellini
28._________
29._________
made it
30._________
31._________
33Surely
she could do it if she kept trying.
32._________
33._________
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34In
ten tries she balanced on one foot for a few seconds.
35In
a
34._________
36Finally,
after a week of
35._________
37She
couldn’t wait to
36._________
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day, she managed three steps without wavering.
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many, many falls, she walked the length of the wire.
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show Bellini.
37._________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
0901
38He
was silent for a long time.
39Then
he said, “In the beginning
38._________
39._________
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everyone falls. Most give up.
40
But you kept trying.
41Perhaps
you have
40._________
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talent as well.”
41._________
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42“Oh,
thank you,” said Mirette.
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43She
got up two hours earlier every day to finish her chores before
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the sun shone in the courtyard.
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and the practice.
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rest of the day was for the lessons
45“Never
let your eyes stray,” he told her
day after day. 46“Think only of the wire, and of crossing to the end.”
47When
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turn a somersault.
49“I
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50“Do
45._________
46._________
she could cross dozens of times without falling, he taught
her the wire-walker’s salute.
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43._________
44._________
Bellini was a strict master.
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1006
44The
42._________
48Then
she learned to run, to lie down, and to
will never fall again!” Mirette shouted.
47._________
48._________
49._________
not boast,” Bellini said, so sharply that Mirette lost her
balance and had to jump down.
50._________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
1101
51One
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52He
night an agent from Astley’s Hippodrome in London rented a
51._________
room.
noticed Bellini on his way to dinner.
52._________
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53“What
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54“See
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55“Why,
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a shock to see him here!” he exclaimed.
who?” asked a mime.
54._________
the great Bellini! Didn’t you know he was in the room at the
back?”
55._________
56“Bellini…the
one who crossed Niagara Falls on a thousand-foot
wire in ten minutes?” asked the mime.
57“And
58Then
on a stove full of live coals.
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toasted the crowd,” the agent recalled.
59“My
56._________
on the way back stopped in the middle to cook an omelette
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53._________
he opened a bottle of champagne and
uncle used to talk about that,” said a juggler.
57._________
58._________
59._________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
60“Bellini
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crossed the Alps with baskets tied to his feet, fired a
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cannon over the bullring in Barcelona, walked a flaming wire wearing a
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blindfold in Naples—the man had the nerves of an iceberg,” the agent said
60._________
.
61._________
61Mirette
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raced to Bellini’s room.
62._________
62“Is
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it true?” she cried.
you tell me?
65I
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67“I
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68“But
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69Bellini
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last.
63“You
want to do them too!
did all those things?
66I
64Why
didn’t
want to go with you!”
can’t take you,” said Bellini.
71Mirette
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74“Once
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75“But
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76“I
was astonished.
68._________
70“Because
72“Afraid?”
I am afraid,” he said at
she said.
73“But
why?”
you have fear on the wire, it never leaves,” Bellini said.
you must make it leave!” Mirette insisted.
cannot,” said Bellini.
64._________
65._________
66._________
67._________
why not?” asked Mirette.
hesitated a long time.
63._________
69._________
70._________
71._________
72._________
73._________
74._________
75._________
76._________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
1701
77Mirette
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78She
turned and ran back to the kitchen as tears sprang to her
77._________
eyes.
had felt such joy on the wire.
79Now
Bellini’s fear was like a
78._________
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cloud casting its black shadow on all she had learned from him.
80Bellini
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82By
paced in his room for hours.
was terrible to disappoint
80._________
dawn he knew that if he didn’t face his fear at last, he could
81._________
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Mirette!
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not face Mirette.
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he succeed?
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85That
83He
knew what he must do.
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care of it,” he promised.
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question was, could
night when the agent returned, Bellini was waiting for him.
86The
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84The
agent listened to Bellini’s plan with mounting excitement.
a tidy profit.
82._________
83._________
84._________
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1904
81It
79._________
89What
90Bellini
88To
87“I’ll
take
himself he added, “A big crowd will make me
86._________
87._________
88._________
89._________
luck I just happened to be in Paris now.”
went out to find a length of hemp with a steel core.
85._________
91He
90._________
borrowed a winch and worked until daylight securing the wire.
91._________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
2001
92The
next evening, Mirette heard the commotion in the street.
92._________
2002
.
93“Go
and see what it is,” her mother said.
93._________
94“Maybe
it will cheer
94._________
2003
you up.”
95In
the square was a hubbub.
96The
crowd was so thick she
95._________
2004
2005
2006
couldn’t see, at first, that the agent was aiming a spotlight at the sky.
97“…return
96._________
of the great Bellini!” he was yelling. Could it be?
Mirette’s heart hammered in her chest.
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98Bellini
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a step and then froze.
97._________
stepped out onto the wire and saluted the crowd.
99He
took
98._________
99.________
100The
crowd cheered wildly.
101But
something was
100.________
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wrong. 102Mirette knew at once what it was.
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frozen as Bellini was.
103For
a moment she was as
101.________
102.________
103.________
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104Then
she threw herself at the door behind her, ran inside, up
flight after flight of stairs, and out through the skylight to the roof.
104.________
Typescript for the Dorothy Watson Literacy Center
Park University
C. Miller 2003
105She
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stretched her hands to Bellini.
107She
106He
smiled and began to
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walk toward her.
stepped onto the wire, and with the most intense
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pleasure, as she had always imagined it might be, she started to cross the
105.________
106.________
107.________
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sky.
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108 “Brava!
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109“Protégée
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Bravo!” roared the crowd.
of the Great Bellini!” shouted the agent.
108.________
110He
was
beside himself, already planning the world tour of Bellini and Mirette.
111As
109.________
110.________
for the master and his pupil, they were thinking only of the
wire, and of crossing to the end.
111.________