Now that Jim Bovay has decided to make the circus his life career he moves full speed ahead with his training. Upon meeting Al Bradley, a retired circus acrobat, and his wife Phyllis, these two become his trainers, mentors and surrogate family. After an evening of tales of the circus past, told to him by Al and Phyllis, Jim is all the more convinced that a circus career on the Triple Bars is for him. And despite adversities, objections from his family, and the capriciousness of his fellow gymnasts, Jim learns his trade in earnest, heading all the while toward the mysterious world of the circus.