The Great Farini

Shane Peacock
Biographer, Novelist, Playwright, Journalist, Screenwriter
Author of The Great Farini - The High-Wire Life of William Hunt

The Lives of Farini-Hunt - Sky Walking (Part Five - continued)

 Here is how Shane describes it … “The jerking motion of the rope made the upward climb terribly difficult and at the halfway point, rapidly tiring, he signaled for the men on the steamer to let go of it. Now the jerking stopped and he was left “gently swaying backwards and forwards like a pendulum.” All the time, he had to squeeze the rope in an unusually tight grip, and his hands were turning numb. He began considering a plan for falling: hew had to release at the right moment and hit the water or he would brash into the steamer’s deck. But before he resorted to anything desperate he tried an old gymnast’s trick: wrapping the rope securely around a leg in order to rest his arms. Looking up, the distance to the cable seemed as daunting as the drop beneath him. He tried moving again, and despite his shaking limbs, was able to maintain a slow pace upward, hand over hand, climbing for dear life. Soon he was so close that his nose touched the cable. Desperate to move that inch, unsure he could, he heard nothing, not the crowd, the steamer of the falls, just the sound of his own breathing against the rope. Then, “using every particle of power left…”he raised one leg over the cable and used it to hoist his wilting frame onto the narrow walkway.” Over the season Farini and Blondin tried to out do one another. Farini’s doing headstands, somersaults, hanging by one hand, walking enveloped in a sack. Blondin was just as daring! It was truly a test of great danger and coverage! This, however, was just the start! The Duel was really about to begin and was certainly about to “Get Dangerous”

NOTE: Mr. Peacock has written several books. His latest series is about "The Boy Sherlock Holmes" This is a wonderful look at the legendary Sherlock Holmes, in the beginning! To learn more about Shane and all of his works, please visit his website at www.shanepeacock.ca.

(To Be Continued)