Mr Jones was the manager of a small circus, which used to go from one town to another and give shows to the local people. It was not a rich circus, so Mr Jones was not able to get the best circus people.
In his circus, he had a man who walked on a tightrope stretched high above the floor. But one day this man fell down and hurt himself. He was taken to hospital, and Mr Jones found himself without a tightrope walker.
A few days later, a young man with long hair came to Mr Jones's office and said, 'I'm a tightrope walker. I have heard that you want one.' Mr Jones was very happy and said, 'Yes, I do want one. I shall ask my men to put the rope up, and you can show me what you can do.'
Now, in circuses they sometimes spread a big net under the tightrope so that, if the tightrope walker falls, he does not hurt himself. As this young was new, Mr. Jones ordered his workers to put the net up under the rope.
The young man had gone to change his clothes, and now he came out wearing the clothes which people usually wear for that kind of work. He climbed up to the tightrope and began to walk along it. He danced on the rope and jumped on it and did all kinds of clever things.
Mr Jones was very pleased. He praised the young man and then asked, 'Can you do these clever things without a net?'
'No, sir,' confessed the long-haired young man, 'I daren't. If I didn't wear a net, my hair would fall in my eyes, and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to see what I was doing.