ti | No.30 | FEB. 22,1913 5 CENTS NEWTIPTOP WEEKLY AN IDEAL PUBLICATION FOR THE AMERICAN YOUTH & SMITH PUBLISHERS — Ame A/ “TOUCH!” CALLED CLANCY WHEN SILVER DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE IT. VP wee Mie (Ly An Ideal Publication For The American Youth Issued Weekly. Entered as Second-class Matter at the New York Post Office according to an act of Congress, March 3,1819. Published by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Ave., New York. Copyright, 1913, by STREET & SMITH. O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors. ; : t Fe TERMS TO NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIBERS. ese (Postage Free.) a Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each. How to Send Money—By post-office or express money order, registered letter. bank check or draft, at our risk. At your own risk if sent by currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter. PLO DIS ss beth dds 0b 5rd ba din oe e550 80% G6; OG GEA a a's cine sks dhe ceva ede asc $2.50 Receipts—Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper change 4 MONTHS, «000s cecee seeeedecenscces BOC. 2 COPIES ONO VEAL. «sees vecses coves 4.00 of number on your label. If not correct you have not been properly credited, : GS. MONEDS, «cece covcee scceve seceveces C1,25: 1 CODY SWOOPS OAIK 6855-540 3ds ae eseed 4.00 and should let us know at once. ”% . * ‘ - No. 30. NEW YORK, February 22, 1913. Price Five Cents. | Frank Merriwell, Junior’s, Clew; Or, THE SECRET OF THE WICKIUP. cast CHAPTER I. tk A NIGHT’ S¢ MYSTERY. f “What's that?” The startled words broke from the lips of young Frank Merriwell, junior. He was sitting straight up in bed and listening intently. ok For a long time his mind had been wrestling with a | question which would give him no peace. Although eA: tired and sleepy, his thoughts had continued to pester |. him and he could not close his eyes. Inside the hotel all was quiet; and outside, a peaceful calm had fallen over the sleeping town of Blyfield. And then, without warning, the stillness was broken by a sound that had brought Merry bolt upright with the words that were more of an exclamation than a question. . The noise resembled an explosion, not loud but smoth- ered and apparently near at hand. It had not come from inside the hotel, that was clear, but possibly from the building next door. The sodden jar had caused a slight shaking of the window of the room jointly occupied by Get and his two chums, Owen Clancy and Billy- Bal- a. ard. There were three iron beds in the room and each lad had one to himself. Frank’s bed was nearest the open window, and as he sat up and listened he peered through the gloom at the other two occupants of the Toon. ‘ ~~ Both Clancy and Ballard were sleeping soundly. They had not been bothered by any unpleasant reflections, and - their regular breathing proved that they had forgotten the events of a strenuous and important day and were sunk in profound slumber. It was Saturday night, or rather very early Sunday By BURT L. STANDISH. It was after midnight, but Merry had not been asleep. | “ionizing” by very generously and very thoroughly pass- morning. » The boys had spent the preceding afternoon in the neighboring town of Trawlee, to which place they. had gone with the Blyfield hockey team and half a hun-’ dred Blyfield rooters for a game with the rival school. There had been many exciting incidents connected with that Blyfield victory, and the victors had been given a “spread” by their defeated opponents, so that the home- ward journey had been delayed until late in the evening. Then, upon reaching Blyfield, the academy boys had celebrated the success of their team with a bonfire and general jubilation. It was eleven o’clock before Frank and his chums had reached their hotel and turned in. , To Merriwell, more than to any one else, Blyfield’s victory was due. Realizing this, the boys of Blyfield had tried to lionize the young athlete—very much to the young athlete’s embarrassment. Merry had escaped the ing the credit around. Thus, by sharing the “bouquets” — with his teammates, he had dodged the marks of particu- lar favor and incidentally endeared himself more strongly than ever to the hearts of the academy lads. Something had happened to Merriwell in Trawlee; something that smacked of treachery and high-handed lawlessness. Merry had suspicions regarding the author of his misfortunes of the afternoon, and his thoughts per- sisted in revolving around the event until that smothered explosion broke in upon his reflections. Se He strained his ears but heard nothing more. Getting — quietly out of bed, he walked to the open window and | looked down on the roof of a one-story building that stood next to the hotel on that side. The stars were bright and clear in the cold February sky, and the town seemed as calm and peaceful as it had been before that dull, sodden sound had smote on Merry’s NEW ears. Mystery had dropped into the winter’s night, how- ever, and Frank’s reflections went off at another angle. He returned to bed, but not to sleep. After a few minutes he got up again, slipped into his clothes, and left the room without. disturbing his chums. A dim light burned in the hall and in the little office below stairs. There was no one connected with the hotel on. duty, and Frank unlocked the front door and let himself out into the chill air, “I’m going daffy, I guess,” he muttered to himself. “That racket with Silver started it, and now I’m fooling around hunting trouble when I ought to be catching my forty winks under the blankets. I-——” He broke off his remarks suddenly, Halting on the walk in front of the hotel, he had seen a dusky figure emerge into the starlight from beyond the one-story structure. The figure gained the walk, evidently caught sight of young Merriwell, and the two stood at pause, staring at each other, Then, after a moment, the form in front of the other building came briskly on toward Frank. When it was close enough to pass, Merry ut- tered an exclamation of astonishment and put out his hand, “Belize!” he exclaimed. Chip! Jock Belize was fully. as much surprised by that meet- ing as was Merry. “What are you wandering around for at this time of night, Jock?” Frank asked, “Somebody will be in your hair, over at the school.” “Not if they don’t find it out,” Belize answered grimly, “and I don’t believe you'll give me away,’ “Not if I know myself, but you want to be careful, Jock, If you get too many demerits you won't be al- lowed to come out for the track team. There'll he a notice on the bulletin board, this coming week, for all track-team candidates to report at the gymnasium Satur- on afternoon at three- thirty.” “Tl be there, all right,” said’ Belize confidently, “T should think you'd be in a hurry to ‘hit the hay’ What’s the trouble ?” “No trouble.” There was a constraint in Jock’s man- ner which Merry could not help noticing. “I’m just on my way back to my room now.’ “How did you get out of it?” “T haven’t been in it since we got back from. Traw- _. lee, My roommate has. borrowed a rope ladder from Twofers, and I'll bet it has been hanging out of our window for an hour.” Belize was a quarter-blood Indian. He had been his way and started him on a better road,’ That was a service Jock Belize would never forget. Chip Merri- — well was his pattern, his idol, ‘the object of his whole- souled devotion. _ Merry’s interest in Belize sade him anxious to learn _. why he was abroad at that hour of the night. quarter-blood realized this instinctively, and as he did not intend to explain, the situation was somewhat strained for both of them. a “Well, get back as soon as you can,’ + gata Frank. «y want you to be on the Blyfield track team and clean up ‘on the long-distance event with Trawlee, next sees ight pees like this isn’t going to help ie ieee Sie-? LG WEY however, ‘after the time we had during the afternoon and evening, headed wrong, but Merry had shown him the error of The . selize started off, but paused and turned back before he had taken half a dozen steps, “Seems to me, Chip,” said he, night prowling yourself.” “I’m not breaking any rules if I am, Jock. There’s no one to report me for being absent without leave. But, say,’did you-hear a noise a little while ago—a sound like a muffled explosion?” “Sure I did. I was on my way to the dormitory and , turned back to see if I could find out what it was.” “Did you find out ?” “No. I guess it wasn’t anything much. people stirring around if it was important, for the downy. Good night, Chip.” “It’s almost time to say good morning,” laughed Frank. “So long, Jock, and, for the love of Mike, don’t fall off that rope ladder.” Merry stood on the walk and watched the shadowy | figure of Belize until it was lost in the shifting shadows well toward the foot of the street; then he reéntered the hotel, locked the door, and retr aced his way softly upstairs to his sleeping quarters. “What the deuce is Belize up to?” he kept asking him- self. “It isn’t like him to go gallivanting around at the dead of night. What’s more, ‘he didn’t want to explain anything, It’s none of my business, of course, but it* doesn’t look right.” Without awakening his chums, Merry undressed and — crawled back into bed. Whatever of mystery there § might be about that apparently calm and peaceful night, : he had failed to get to the bottom of it. The muffled explosion and the odd meeting with Belize, had distracted his mind from the events in | Trawlee, and it was not. long before he fell into a | | sound slumber. He was awakened by Ballard, dropping _ a trickle of cold water in his face from a pitcher, / He got out of betl with a whoop, ran Ballard down — in a closet, pulled him into the room, and gave him a : little of his own medicine. ; “It’s seven o'clock,” explained Ballard, as he got to “you're doing a little We'd see if Well, I’m ‘. his feet and swabbed his face with a towel. “You ' were | acting as though you intended to sleep all day.” | P “There was*a reason’ for that,” said Merry, thinking of what had happened during the night. : ae} | ve “What reason, Chip?” } * ing away, “come around and thample thith idea of mine. - It ith a world beater, Thilver.” Still frowning, Silver thrust his hands into his pockets and strode on to the gym. In the locker room he quite unexpectedly found Merriwell. The latter, stripped to shirt, trousers, and belt, was just lacing on a pair of Bi ‘rubber-soled canvas shoes. There was an embarrassing |} ~~ moment as the two lads surveyed each other. Then Frank cut the embarrassment short by stepping forward with outstretched hand. — “How are you, Silver?” he asked, smiling. Te aha SORE SAAT answered Silver, giving the hand a } ___ perfunctory grasp. “How are you?” met “Tf I felt better, as Clancy says, I’d have to take some- ae. oe thing tor it. 7 T'm ‘about to have a little exercise with the BES ratte Every fence any?” Ee A gleam darted through Silver’s face. | a “That’s about the only thing I have ever done in an ie eed athletic way,’ said he. - >. “Come on, then, and we’ll have a bout.” 1 | Silver was in no mood that afternoon to fence, espe- ie cially with Chip Merriwell. He regretted certain things he had done, but there still slumbered in his breast a Silver ae nN ewe wT HN _ to him if only Fate had shuffled the cards a little dif- __, ferently. _ Merry’s invitation to a bout had been pleasantly given, _ in the hope that it might, like the handshake, do its part ‘toward healing the breach between him and Silver, was eager to show Merry his prowess with the foils. “Tl be with yousin a nalouste, wid he, as Merry left the locker room. ‘general locker where odds and ends of gymnasium togs ‘re kept. Among this plunder there was a pair of rench ae shoes which | pivet had used ne NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 5 ng feeling that all Merriwell's popularity might have come - _ well this work of the foils. Sil- ver, although he knew he should not fence at that time, Silver had no locker of his own, but ‘there was a rm stripped to his shirt, carefully adjusted his belt, put on the shoes, and, w ith a face iat was somewhat "flushed, stepped out into the big exercise room. It was early, and there were not more than half a- dozen fellows scattered about the place. Merry was in the farther end of the room. He had put on a fencing jacket and, with foil under his arm, was drawing on a pair of gauntlet gloves. Not far from Merry, Jock Belize was swinging a pair of light ‘Indian clubs. Jock had been crippled on the football field so that he would have to go through life with a stiffened arm. Because of this there were not many sports in which he could take part, but Merry knew that he would make a phenomenal performer on the — | cinder track. In working with the clubs, Jock’s arm | bothered him but he kept pluckily at it. . Silver was rather nettled at the sight of Belize. The quarter-blood, he knew, heartily hated hima, and Jock’s glittering eyes followed Silver as he stepped toward Merry. Owen Clancy was near by, too. the. chest weights. “Here I am,” said Silver, with some uneasiness, taking a foil from the rack. “Good!” exclaimed Frank, conscious of a little of the uneasiness that was so evident in Silver, When suggesting the bout to Silver, Frank had not known that Belize was on the floor. The quarter-blood | was hot-headed and impulsive, and his hostility might at | any moment take a disagreeable turn. Nor did Merriwell dare present Clancy to the former coach of the hockey team. He feared his red-headed oo could not properly hide his true feelings toward ilver. 2% While Belize glared at the newcomer, Clancy watched proceedings with surprise and annoyance. Silver quietly began getting into his fencing paraphernalia. “Going to use the. masks?” he asked. “IT never fence without a mask,” Frank answered, “even for fun or practice. It’s too dangerous.” so Perhaps Silver thought Merriwell owercautious. One who is careless himself is quite apt to credit others with — lack of courage when mere common’sense suggests cau- tion. Silver’s lip started to curl scornfully but straight- ened when he remembered his own shortcomings. = Finally both were ready and facing each other. “On guard!” called Frank. Gracefully the foils rose, dropped slowly, swung to the left, rose again, and fell easily into the position of guard. The left arm assumed a curved position’ behind — the head, the knees bent and the right foot advanced. Silver showed admirable form in taking position, Frank marveled a little as he watched him. Silver took no active part in atliletics and yet he seemed to knOW, He was busy with “Engage!” Frank commanded. _ The steel whispered as it touched, and the lithe, suite movements of a bout ‘between skilled fencers were thrown into play. There was nothing exciting at the start-off. The toa. were carefully “feeling each ot out”—probing the depth of his knowledge and skill. ‘One method of attack after another was suggested rather than actually tried, and the slight move to check was enough to show that ‘another method was ne if an attack was to succeed. . \ All this was otha more than “jockeying” ‘pr y Frank experienced surprise after surprise as he noted Silver's knowledge and dexterity. Silver was cool and collected at the beginning. As the foils clashed and rang, however, his calmness van- ished. He made a sweeping lunge, met instantly by a swift parry. For an instant Silver’s breast was left “open to attack. Merry took advantage of it and his button reached his opponent’s breast. The latter did not acknowledge the touch. ”Touch!” called Clancy, who had left the chest weights and drawn close to watch the bout. “Tt wasn’t a touch,” answered Silver angrily, “it was too high.” Merry knew that Silver had made a deliberate mis- statement, and he went after the fellow in earnest. Sil- |. ver parried and attempted to riposte. The thrust was checked; then, quick as a flash, Merriwell scored in tory to the real work. tierce. Silver’s face was white behind his mask. Again he failéd to announce his antagonist’s success. “Touch!” called Clancy. Then Silver’s temper gave way completely. He leaped -backward and sideways and aimed a sweeping blow of his foil at Clancy. | “You're too blamed mouthy to suit me!” he flared. The blow would have struck Clancy full on his un- protected face had Merry not interposed his own foil. The slender steel weapons gave off sparks as they clashed together. - Again Silver leaped backward. Lifting his foil once more he struck Merry viciously across the ‘mask with it. He was about to strike again when an Indian club came sailing through the air and struck Silver’s right arm. The arm dropped as though hit by a bolt of light- ning and the foil clattered on the floor. A groan of “pain was wrenched from Silver’s lips. Whirling, he started toward the locker room. “You mongrel curi!’”’ he shouted, pausing and turning to shake his left fist at Belize, “I’ll be even with you for that! By thunder, I’ll get even with all of you! Merriwell got me into this! You can bet your life I will keep that in mind!” Gis : He strode on the length of the big.room, tearing off his fencing gear as he went and tossing it right and left. Finally the door closed on him and Merriwell, astounded, pulled off his mask and stared blankly at - Clancy and Belize. i _ “He’s a skunk,” scowled Clancy. | “Now I guess you'll take my word for it,” said Belize grimly. CHAPTER “IN. BLYFIELD BEGINS TRAINING. — Tom Dowling, Toby Harkness, and Art Benning, all candidates for the track team, had been in the gym and performance. They watched Silver in amazement as he flung his fencing equipment away and left the gym floor ; then, when the door had closed on him, they came toward the little group at the other end of the room. “Well, I'll be hanged!” grunted Hark. that for an exhibition, fellows?” “Tt’s about what you might expect—from Silver,” said Belize. i ; “I can’t understand it,” spoke up Dowling, who was “How was NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. had witnessed Silver’s flash of temper and his caddish~ inclined to be Silver’s friend. at you, Clancy?” “He failed to call when Chip ‘touched’ him,” Clancy answered, “‘so I did the calling for him. I guess,” the red-headed chap drawled, “he didn’t like it.” Andy Beals, the instructor, appeared from somewhere and joined the little group of boys. “IT saw it all,’ said he, “and that’s the last time I'll let him on this floor. He never comes here without mak- ing a fool of himself.” “Why the deuce did you fence with the fellow, Chip?” demanded Clancy. “I extended him an invitation for a bout,’ Merry answered. “Thought I’d make him show his hand—if he had any hand to’show.” “Satisfied, aren’t you?” “T don’t know,” mused Merry. “I think Silver was looking for trouble. Whenever a chap goes looking for trouble, he’ll generally find it even if he has to start it himself.” “I had an idea that Silver was trying to be white,” muttered Dowling, “but I’m beginning to change my opinion. Looks as though he had tried deliberately to kick up a row.” “Give him the benefit of the doubt,” urged Frank. “He. was a little bit ‘off,’ I think, when he came to the gym. Then, somehow, he got the notion that we were all trying to ‘do’ him, and that was the spark that set off the powder.” “Probably,” -came sarcastically from Art Benning, “he'll write another letter and apologize as soon as he cools off.” Ae oe “He can write and be darned,” said Harkness, ‘I’ve had enough of his letters.” “Let’s forget it,” suggested Frank; “there’s more im- portant work on for this afternoon.” | “We can overlook it for now,” answered Hark, “but I’ll be blessed if we forget it.” A lot of fellows were crowding upon the floor from the dressing rooms. Crew candidates got busy with the rowing machines, the baseball squad got into the cage and practiced and slid around on the canvas, pole vaulters were warming up, and the indoor track filled with runners jogging leisurely around the oval. Active training had commenced, and the ice was still thick on the river and snow covered the ground. Some twenty-five youngsters reported for prospective “Why did he make a slash honors of the track. Thin, lugubrious Lon Greef, who had played left end on the hockey team, was captain of the track squad. There was power and speed in Greef’s long legs. for material for the spring house cleaning against Trawlee. é With Merry and Beals, Greef went over his twenty- five candidates carefully. To the surprise of all, little Tully Perkins had offered himself as a candidate for the cinder path. Ailes Perk was a wishy-washy youngster who was constantly seeking to ally himself with the rich students, from whom a little servility would bring a reward of favors. Norris Coddington, the preceding year, had been Perk’s particular “meat.” But’ when Coddington had turned squarely about and set his face toward a different and more laudable line of conduct, Perk had been cut off from his emoluments. ) ing and no one liked him. \ t He knew what he wanted and was hungry | The lad was treacherous and design- _ “You couldn’t do a hundred The tiddledywinks team is hollow, sepulchral tone. yards in a hundred minutes. about your size.” “Anyhow,” spoke up Twofers, who was given to puns, “this is the wrong place to look for Perk-wisits, Perk.” “Meaning,” explained Toby Harkness, “perquisites. Perquisites are profits, or pectiniary gains, or benefits. Twofers makes a play on the first syllable of Perkins’ name, you understand. I hope everybody realizes that this is a joke.” Hark had a maddening way of soberly and sadly ex- plaining Twofers’ puns. “That’s the meaning,’ said Twofers. “It’s a fine thing ‘to have a private explainer tag you around. Hark is quick to catch every meaning, no matter) how obscure. In fact, he’s so full of meanness that he’s trying to hog what little I have got. You realize that I am joking, Perk ?” : “Yes, sir,” said Perk. “Well,” said Twofers, “go out and show your athletic prowess by playing jack straws with Dan Silver.” -- “But I can run,’ said Perk. ‘Honest I can.” “Run away and find Silver,’ said Greef. ‘We can’t bother with you, Perk.” He turned to Nod Coddington. . “What are you out for the track team for, Nod?” he asked. “You've got too much beef. You made the winning goal for Blyfield in that hockey game, but you ought to be looking for something where you can use your arms instead of your legs.” Coddington, because of his record the eas before, had made himself unpopular. Now, with Merriwell ‘back of him, he was just beginning to win a place in the hearts of the school. “What do you think, Chip?’ Cod asked, apaoaline to ~ Merry. “Throwing the hammer, or putting the shot, old man,” said Frank. “Or you might try for the crew—perhaps for the nine. What is your idea, Beals: ?” he added, turn- ing to the instructor. “You’ ve hit it off about right, Mer riwell,” Beals an- swered. “I think throwing the hammer might be Cod- be dington’s long suit. Come around after the floor is cleared, Cod,” he finished, “and we'll have a try-out.” “All right, Andy,” said Coddington, “Track team, Belize?” inquired Greef, turning to the - quarter-blood. Belize nodded, his eyes on Merriwell. Greef looked . dubious, ; / “T've been watching his work pretty close, here in - j the gym,” said Beals, “and I want to tell you, Greef, that Merriwell has Belize sized up about right. He'll make a star sprinter, or long-distance runner,’ OTL Hep something handsome on it,” added i with firm conviction, { f When through with the weeding-out process tiie were ‘some sixteen fellows left to go into training for the track. A few were experienced, and it was not diffi- —eult to pick these out at a glance. A development of the chest muscles was noticeable in those who had sprinted, or hurdled, or jumped, or done any pole vault- ing. But there were no veteran long-distance men, and _ Greef was eager for new material in this branch of sport. _ He hoped Belize would make good, but had his doubts. t tn fact, there were two or three otners on nee: he was NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. : ; 7 “You’re in the wrong pew, Perk,” said Greef, in his Merry,“ sleep,” : counting for distance runners more than he was counting on the quarter-blood. When the candidates had been parceled in the dif- ferent departments of track sports to which they seemed most fitted, Beals set them to work. Some were sent to , the indoor track for a half mile, with a warning not to go too fast. Others were told to exercise with the chest weights, and still others to work with the dumb-bells. Merriwell jogged around the track for a little while, setting the pace for a number of lads, and then he juggled the Indian clubs back and forth with Ballard, who had © come in with the crowd of track candidates. “What's this I hear about Silver smashing you over the. head with a foil, Chip?” Ballard asked. “Tell you about it later, Pink,” Frank answered. “Where were you when Claney and I started for the yin?” “Had a little seance with ‘Professor’ Borrodaile. Had to go over a recitation that I fell down on yesterday.” It was between four and five o’clock when Merry, Clancy, and Ballard took a cold shower and a brisk rub in the bathrooms and then got into their outdoor clothes. In the dressing room Merry was telling Ballard about | Silver’s queer actions, “T can’t understand that chap,” finished, “I'll be hanged if I can.” “He’s not much of a problem,” said Ballard, with a frown. ‘You gave him a chance at you, Chip, by in- viting him to a bout with the foils.” ho “He acted friendly enough when we met in the locker # room.’ : “He was acting, that’s all. Silver. is two-faced, and you want to look out for him. He was crossing the campus as I came toward the gym, and he looked savage enough to eat somebody, I saw him go into Dens-_ more,’ “He doesn’t room in Densmore.” i “No, but Hal Dalrymple does. They say. that ‘Silver - and Dalrymple are as thick as thieves.” . “They were a while ago,” put in Clancy, “but head haven’t been lately. Hark was telling me that Silver has been acting as though he had a fit of the blues.” “Nursing a grouch, Red,” said Ballard. “Probably.” an “Tf he was nursing a grouch against me,” spoke up why the deuce did he shake hands with me in| the locker room?” “Why,” returned Ballard, “by pretending to be frien t with you he could catch you off your guard.” E “What did he gain, then, by winding up that fenek bout in such a foolish way? If he was plotting to the advantage of me, he wouldn't have acted like th No, Pink, I believe Silver wanted to play square wh we came together with the foils, and “Why didn’t he call the touches, then deman« Clancy. ) “He has the devil of a temper + and T believe te go’ mad,” said Merry. “After he flew off the handle, o course, he was apt to do anything.” “The last thing he said was that he’d get even" Belize, Chip, and all the rest of us.” os Merriwell laughed lightly. “He was crazy mad when he said that, Clan,” a answered, “and he wasn’t responsible. Even if he mez what he said I ieee it. won't cause Us to lo | said Merry, as he oo Ae -NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. “No, we won't lose any sleep,” said Clancy, “but we don’t want to forget what happened at Trawlee. A fel- low who could pull off a dirty deal of that kind will bear watching.” CHAPTER V. THE PLOTTERS. For two or three days previous to rounding up can- didates for the track team in the gym, Dan Silver had felt the gnawings of remorse. The ugly suspicion that he hada guilty part in what happened to Merriwell in Trawlee was only too well founded. In this treachery Hal Dalrymple had a passive but none the less impor- tant part. He advised, and Silver executed. These two were helped in their scheming by four law- less men from the coal mines. Nagged on by Dal, Silver had first hired these four thugs to waylay Merriwell and “beat him up.” The waylaying had been carried out successfully, but it happened that the thugs were beaten up, and not Merriwell. This rough and unexpected treatment had the effect of enlisting the four sluggers for the war against Mer- riwell. They were anxious to retaliate and to balance the account. For this reason Silver had no difficulty in getting them to ambush Merriwell in Trawlee, ren- der him helpless with rope and a gag, and then stow him away in an old barn pending the conclusion of the hockey game. The thugs had done gtheir work quickly and well. Merry was found, however, and reached the rink in time to play in the second half of the game. Silver, overcome with rage and chagrin, had hired a rig to take him back to Blyfield. v3 He had had a few days to think over his actions. He loved old Blyfield and wanted to see her victorious in every competition she entered. By working against Mer- riwell, as he had done, he had come near causing Bly- field’s defeat. This realization made him heartily ashamed of his treacherous conduct. Silver was a “hot spark,” however. It needed only a flash of temper to overturn all his good resolutions and fling him headlong into actions he was sure to regret later. With the best intentions in the world’he had started for the gymnasium that Saturday afternoon. He had been glad enough to shake hands with Merriwell, and to face him with a foil. It was the comparative ease with which Merriwell reached him that had aroused his ill nature. Merry was popular, and Silver wanted to be. In that bout with the foils Silver saw a reason for Merriwell’s popularity. This angered him. And it riled him still more to learn that at fencing, the only sport in which he took an active part, Merriwell was his master. Clancy brought the bad blood to an issue by interfer- ing. When Silver flung away his fencing togs and burst from the gymnasium, he was fairly boiling. poing. That was to 12 Densmore, where he could find alrymple. Dislike of Merriwell brought the two lads together on common ground. © “Who ith it?” Dalrymple called when Silver’s fist banged at his door. “Tt’s Silver,” answered the raging fellow in the hall. “Come in, Thilver.” Dal, in lounging. robe and slip- pre was taking his comfort in an easy-chair. He was g - There was but one place where he could think of: whiffing lazily at a cigarette, and through the smoke he regarded his caller with a supercilious smile. “I wath expecting you,’ Dal said confidently. ‘“‘Thit down and tell me what Merriwell hath done now.” But Silver did not sit down—at least, not just#then. He strode up and down-the room in front of Dal, mut- tering to himself, “Thomething terrible mutht have happened in the gymnathium,” remarked Dal, daintily knocking the ashes from his Turkish destroyer. into a silver tray. “Noth- ing ith ever tho bad, Thilver, but that it might be worthe. Don't you know that ? Thigaretteth are great for quiet- ing the nerveth. Try one.” Silver took one out of a box on the table, lit it with a shaking hand and then flung himself upon a couch. “I feel as though I’d like to kill somebody!” he said, between his teeth. “That ith an awful way to feel. If you killed any- body, Thilver, you would get hung. And getting hung ithn’t pleathant. Trying to be ‘white’ doethn’t theem to agree with you. What hath Merriwell done?” “Tt wasn’t Merriwell altogether, although he was the one that roped me into it. Hang it all! If I hadn’t been such a fool I’d have smelled a rat and kept away from him. It was a put-up job to make a show of me!” “That ith about what I would expect of Merriwell. What thort of a put-up job wath it, Thilver?” “When I got into the gym he was in the locker room. He offered.to shake hands with me.’ “And you thlapped hith fathe for him, didn’t you?” “No, I didn’t slap his face! After the way he-and Belize handled those four sluggers I wasn’t taking any chances. He sprung the handshake on me so suddenly that I didn’t have time to think. I took his hand.” “That ith the limit,” remarked the horrified Dal. smbothing his pompadour, “after the way he hath treated you.’ As a matter of fact, Merriwell had treated Silver with the utmost consideration. Dalrymple would not admit it, of course, for he did not like Merry and was anxious to keep him and Silver at swords’ points. “Well,” apologized Silver, “Merriwell has a deucedly friendly way with him. he manages to make it work.” “After you thook handth with him, then what?” “He asked me to fence with him. I think I’m pretty good at, and it occurred'to me that. I could make a showing by getting the better of him | in a bout with the foils. I ought to have suspected foul play of some kind, but I didn’t. When I went out on the floor, he had Belize and that red-headed eae of his close at hand.” “He wath afraid of you!” exclaimed Dal. fully. “I think he had them there more to, make trouble. But I made the best of it and jgot ready for the bout. Then——” Silver hesitated. "Then what happened?” urged Dal. “Is there anything on earth,” Silver exploded, ina pas-__ : : sion, “that this Chip Merriwell can’t do? Confound He went right after me and touched me twide. “ors him! Then that redhead, butted in. He didn’t wait to give me time to call the ‘touches’ but called them himself. He wanted a row. Well,” Silver addgc his wish. I struck him across 6 ths face George !” with the foil, Py It’s all put on, of course, but) — That’s one thing © “T don’t know about that,’ answered Silver doubt- grimly, “he got Si jail—perhaps send him over the road. “VY ou—thtruck—Clanthy ?” Dal palpitated, leaning for- ward in his chair with breathless interest. “Maybe I. didn’t exactly hit him,” parried Silver, “but I would have done so if Merriwell hadn’t caught the blow on his own foil.” “Ah! That ith different.” with a look of disappointment. “But I whirled on Merriwell himself,” boasted Silver, “and I banged my foil across his mask so that I bet. I made his ears ring. I would have struck him-again, for I was mad clear through, but the ‘breed’ threw an Indian club at me. My right arm dropped, and the foil fell. to the floor. It was a nasty blow, and my arm hasn’t got over it yet.” Silver felt his right arm gingerly as he spoke. A furious look swept across his face as he added: “T’ll balance accounts with the ‘breed’ for that blow! By thunder, you watch my smoke.” “That ith the way to talk, Thilver,” approved Dal. “You're a regular thyclone when you get your mad up. There ith only one way to drive Merriwell and hith crowd out of Blyfield.” “You're full of schemes, Dalrymple,” “but they don’t seem to pan out. You suggested set- ting the four sluggers on Merriwell. That was a devilish long way from panning out. Then you told me how to have the sluggers lay for him near that old barn, over in Trawlee. That was another bobble.” » “The Trawlee buthineth would not have been a bob- Dal fell back in his chair growled Silver, ble, Thilver, if Belize and Clanthy had not found Mer-_ riwell,” explained Dal. “They found him, though, and that cooked our goose. What’s this scheme you’ve got in imind now? You might tell me what it is, anyhow.” j “In getting rid of Merriwell and his crowd, Thilver, you want to begin getting rid of the crowd firtht.” “But how ?” “There wath a robbery in Blyfield latht Thaturday night.” “What has that got to do with it?” “T happen to know that there wath a rope ladder hanging from the window of Belize’s room, and that Belize got into the dormitory a long time after mid- night.” | Silver, catching the ugly drift of Hal Dal’s sat straight up on the couch. “Who told you about the ladder and about Belize _ being out?” he demanded huskily. “Belize’s roommate. He ith a ‘breed,’ like Belize, but he ith out for the coin. I paid him two dollarth for the information.” Silver, white to the lips and with his eyes glowing \ recklessly, stared hard at Dalrymple. Some treachery was taking form in his mind; some villainous plot aimed at the good name of Jock Belize, “Say,” whispered Silver hoarsely, “these ‘breeds’ are all alike. Belize’s roommate sold him out for two dol- lars. A fellow who would do that would do anything. He would steal, by thunder! Wouldn’t he, now?” . “Potthibly,” answered Dal. “I never tried to hire Lathcoro to thteal.” “Belize isn’t any better than Pedro Lascoro. me, I’ve got a plan that will land Belize in the county The cur! Fill show him what it means to treat me as he has been NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. how are you going to work the thing?” remarks, So help © Silver doubled up his fist and brought it down on his knee to emphasize his decision. “I gueth I catch your drift, Thilver,” said Dal, “but “You don’t have to know any more. What you don’t . know, Dal, won’t bother you—or me. But I’m going to square accounts with Jock Belize, mark that! The mis- erable ‘breed’ ought never to have been allowed in a school like this, anyhow. Oh, I'll take care of Merri- well’s pet. You see, Dal, I happen to be next to a few things that you don’t know anything about. I’m going to use that knowledge to ‘fix’ Jock Belize. In beginning this clean-up on Mer riwell’s crowd I'll start off with the ‘breed.’ ”’ He sprang up, door. ‘“What’th the rush?” demanded Dal. “T haven’t got any time to lose in putting the thing through, that’s all,’ was the vigorous reply. “It’s got to be done at once—to-night. Something’s going to drop, Dalrymple, and drop good and hard. You'll hear it, all right, and before long, too.” With that Dan Silver hurried out of the room. seized his hat, and started for the CHAPTER VI. THE PLOT BEGINS TO WORK. Merry and his two chums and the professor had very pleasant\ quarters in Mrs. Blakeslee’s boarding house. The professor had a large room on the first floor and the boys had three connecting rooms with bath on the 4oor above. Merry, Clancy, and Ballard were in Merry’s room about seven in the evening. They were discussing Dan Silver and his hostile actions of the afternoon. Clancy’s one regret was that he had not laid violent hands on Silver | and pounded a lesson on deportment into him before he | left the gymnasium: Clancy was reproaching himself, and Merry was con-_ | gratulating him because he had not carried out his de- | sire and made a bad matter worse, when Minnie, the | pretty seventeen-year-old daughter of the landlady, © knocked at the door and announced a visitor. The newcomer was Nod Coddington. “You'll like this a whole lot better than the hotel,” observed Nod, looking around with approving eyes. “The Blakeslees are fine people, and a lot of fellows over at the school are ‘gone’ on Minnie.” “The fellows at Blyfield might just as well get off the earth,” said Clancy, a grin crossing his homely face. “I’m here with all my blandishments, and Minnie has already looked upon me Se eae See there is no mistaking.” “Go on!” jeered Ballard. ati t “She looked at both of you,” chuckled Merry, “and the ‘ expression there was no mistaking’ said plainly you were out of it.” “Meaning, I suppose,’ ’ said Caice feigning enitschs sarcasm, “that you alone are the lucky dog. Bah! and again, bah !” “Well,” laughed Cod, “TI didn’t come over here to start a row. We're going out to the old wikiup some day. Why not to-morrow? The place has been locked up for several weeks, but it is furnished just as I left i “It was me she was looking We can take along a stipply of grub and cook otir dinner there.” “Fine!” approved Clancy. “Chip has told us so much about that old cabin of yours, Cod, that Pink and I are hungry to see it.” ; “I thought the program would about hit you, so I packed a sled with all thé provender we can possibly “need, atid we'll skate down thé river to-morrow and drag it after us.” “Bully!” exclaimed Ballard delightedly. “I’d like to hang out in that cabin all the time we’re to be around Blyfield. That’s the kind of life that makes a hit with me, Now——” ; Again Minnie knocked at the door. Frank opened it, and he was told that Mr. Terry, the deputy sheriff, was waiting downstairs. ‘ “Tell him to come tight tp, Minnie,” said Frank. “What do you suppose he wants, fellows?” he asked, turning away from the door. : “Something doing, all right,” returned Clancy. ‘‘May- be he has picked up a clew in that Hampton tobbery ?” “Gosh!” came excitedly from Ballard. “Who knows but he’s bringing back ty watch?” _ “Howdy, boys,” said the little, sharp-eyed man as he entered the room briskly a few minutes later. “Just a Won't bother you long. ~ few words with you, Merriwell. He paused, casting a dubiotts look at Codding- T 33 “If I’m in the way,”’ said Cod, getting up, “I'll pull out.” co “T don’t know whether you'll be in the way of not. That’s for Merriwell to say. Only the friends he can depend on ought to know about this business of mine.” “Then Coddington stays, Terry,” returtied Frank. _ “FHe’s one of the best friends I’ve gotan Blyfield.” : “You can bet on that,” declared Cod emphatically. “Still, I don’t want to intrude, Chip, or-——” _ “Sit down, old man,” broke in Frank. - Coddington dropped back into his chair. Terry care- pocket, and handed it to Merry. | “That,” said he, “was pushed under my front door ate this afternoon. Haven’t the ghost of a notion who left it. I got hold of it not more’n half an hour ago and thought I’d run over here and talk with you before I started proceedings. It may be a clew, and a good one; and then, again, it may not be worth the paper it’s written on. letters. A fellow who hasn’t the courage to. sign his name to whatever he writes is a pretty poor stick, and far from reliable. But read it, Merriwell, and see’ what you think, Read it aloud.” Sie te 3 _ The envelope bore a typewritten address: “Andrew Terry, Deputy Sheriff.” Down in one corner, in capital tters, was the word “IMPORTANT.” Merry drew out e sheet inside, unfolded it, and read as follows: “ chair. “‘We’re here for a cotincil of war.. The fact had slipped my mind for a moment, and— He paused, _ listened, and then turned to Coddington. “What’s that?” he inquired. ’ . “Sounds like a clock striking one,” said Merry. It was a muffled stroke and seemed to come from far away. Coddington’s face was the picture of bewilder-— ment. si “Tt also sounds like the clock was outdoors, some- — where,” said Clancy. “Where the deuce do you keep — your clocks, Coddington?” i ae “There’s the only clock I know of about the place,” — said Nod, indicating a timepiece on the wall. “It isn’t — going—it has run down. If there’s another clock here, then the fellows who have been making free use.of this place must have brought it. I’m going to take a look for that clock.” The cabin was searched from one end to the other, but fruitlessly, After that, just to make sure they had not neglected some nook or cranny where the clock might be concealed, another and more thorough search was made. The second attempt was no more successful than the first. | or cl ae Just as all four of the searchers came together in the living room and eyed each other blankly, that mysterious clock struck another note. a be “There she goes again!” whispered Clancy. ' “What kind of a clock is it, anyhow? It strikes one all the time. 99 9 wikiup is haunted by a timepiece that has been foully dealt with. Probably it was massacred on the stroke of one, its wheels cast to the winds, and its wooden ca thrown on the fire. Now the ghost of that clock strikes 16 “Come off!” said Ballard. “You’re the one that has wheels, Red. Who ever heard of a spook clock? There’s a real clock around here somewhere, and it’s running!” “What the deuce does it mean by striking in that fool way?” “That’s easy, Clan,” put in Merry. “When we heard it the first time, it struck one. Then, the second time, it struck the half hour—one again.” | “You're a great explainer, Chip,” said Clancy humbly. “Part of this striking mystery is made plain. Now, if you'll clear up the rest of it, I will experience a biz relief.” “The sound comes from the direction of the bed- ? rooms,” observed Merry. “We've searched ’em twice,’ returned the puzzled Coddington, “and we knoz there’s no clock in that patt of the cabin.” “It must be there,” insisted Frank. the bedrooms and wait till it strikes two.” “T’ll be umpire and call the strikes,” joked Clancy. “Let’s go into There were three bedrooms, and Merry put Clancy in one, Ballard in another, and he and Coddington posted themselves in the third. a “Now,” called Frank, “keep quiet and listen. When |, the clock strikes two, see if you can’t locate the place : where the sound comes from.” In the silence it seemed to the boys as though they waited hours. Then, suddenly, a clear and resonant double “note, still sounding in - distance, beat on their ears: Ping, ping! When the faint echo had died away, Merry leaped to the wall of the bedroom in which he and Coddington had taken'their places. It was the bedroom adjoining the living room, with a board partition separating the two. The boards had been papered with cheap. wall- paper showing crisscross lines. Merry pushed against the partition. A section of it gave way under his hands, flew backward, and he came within one of tumbling into a yawning black cavity that _ was suddenly disclosed.. As he regained his balance, he _ hung over the dark space, astonished and speechless. “Listen!” whispered Coddington. Out of the gloom, from somewhere below, came the faitn but unmistakable tick tock of that mysterious time- piece. ; CHAPTER X. 4 AN AMAZING DISCOVERY, To say that Merriwell was surprised would state the case too mildly. He had, not only figuratively but liter- ally as well, been almost carried off his feet. Every- body was astounded, for Clancy and Ballard had also hurried to join Merry and C oddington. _ “What the dickens is that?” gasped Clancy. “You tell us iat, Nod,” said Merry, turning to Cod- “This is a new one on me,” answered the wondering owner of the wikiup. “I never dreamed that there was a place like that about this cabin, I always knew, of course, hat the partition between this bedroom and the living oom was rather thick, but supposed it had been made at way to aecommodate the closet in the corner, there.”’ “The closet doesn’t extend this far,” returned Merry. ‘This space is entirely separate from the closet.” Gee; si this is a stunner | . exclaimed Ballot: ee with silver and Paper money, NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. “The clock is down there,” said Coddington: “Who put it down there?” queried Clancy.) “What's the use of having a clock in a hole like that, anyhow?” “The whole thing is too many for me,” said Codding- ton. “In all the time I have been acquainted with this cabin I don’t appear to have been on intimate terms with it, at all.” “Somebody has certainly been on intimate terms with it,’ declared Merry. “Must have been the gang that left those cards, cigar stumps, and whisky bottles scattered. around,” suggested Clancy. “Do you suppose they’re down there?’ “Probably not, Red,” replied Ballard. “If they were down there we 'd be hearing from them.” “The best way to settle the matter is to investigate,” said Merry. “There’s a narrow stairway here. Have you a candle anywhere around the shack, Nod?” es a lamp,’ was the response. “We can use that.” , Nod lighted the lamp and handed it to Merry, who cautiously descended the first step of the narrow flight. The stairway was short and led into an earthen room ex- cavated under the cabin. square, by seven or eight in height. “It’s a cellar!” laughed Clancy. “Coddington, didn’t you ever suspect that there was such a thing as a cellar under your wikiup?” “Never thought of such a thing,” said Nod. “Why the dickens did any one want to hide the cellar stairs with a concealed panel in the wall?” queried Bal- lard. “This place has been used for something besides a cellar.” “There’s the clock,” niche in the earthen wall. The clock stood in the niche, and its ticking boomed loudly in the earthen room, The timepiece had a ma- hogany case, and both case and dial oe bright and new. “An eight-day clock, I suppose,” said Merry. that is correct, then some one must have been here to wind it before it could run down,” “The fellows that took possession of /the place must have done that,’ came from Coddington. “But why in blazes do they need a clock down here? They didn’t even take the tréuble to wind the one upstairs.” re “What are those?” As he put the question, Frank lowered the lamp and pointed to three bulky canvas bags leaning against one e the walls. “Bags of potatoes,” hazarded Ballard. “Tf this is really a cellar, that is what it would be used for.” Coddington untied one of the bags and drew out a box. It wwas a white box, small and flat. “No potatoes here,” said he. tents and presently lifted his startled eyes to the faces of his companions. “Spoons!” he whispered, and held the box so that all could see. Excitement gripped all the boys as Nod, putting aside - the box of spoons, drew a small clock from the be then a silver mug, another box containing a carving set, a little bag filled with gold rings, a case containing a~ number of gold spectacles, and then another small bag — ! ‘ The room was some six feet. aL said Coddington, pointing to a — Vi Then, on opéning the box, he stared as at its con- Ballard gave a shout. The truth had dawned on him as it had on all the rest. “Tt’s the loot from Hampton’s store! We've blundered on the very spot where the thieves hid their plunder!” It was certainly a most bewildering—almost an in- credible—idea. And yet, the proof that it was true lay under their eyes. Merry put down the lamp and leaned against the wall. “T'll be hanged,” he murmured, “if this doesn’t beat anything I ever heard of.” “Tt’s the biggest surprise I ever had!’ solemnly. “Wonder if it’s a dream?” eyes. “No dream about it!” exclaimed the delighted Codding- ton. ‘The scoundrels who came here and made free with my wikiup are the men who robbed Hampton’s jewelry store. They knew of this cabin, and of the hidden cellar, and it struck them that this would be a good place to hide their loot until they were able to dispose of it.” “No matter how clever a thief may be,” averred Ballard asked Clancy, rubbing his said Merry, ’ warming up to the good fortune that had come their way, “he is always liable to overreaclt himself. If those robbers hadn’t left that clock running we'd never have heard it strike the hours, and this cellar would have concealed the plunder securely until the thieves got ready to take it away. By George, this is fine! Why, every- thing appears to be here, even to the money! ‘This will make a happy man out of poor old Hampton!” “Tt will also be the’ saving of Jock Belize!’ declared Coddington. / Frank’s face clouded. “Tt will help Jock, of course,” said he, settle the matter. We've got to know thieves are. We——” He was interrupted, at that juncture, by sounds from above that filled all the lads with alarm. The outside door of the cabin was flung open and steps could be heard on the floor overhead. Then the door slammed. Clancy put out a nervous hand and gripped Merri- “but it won’t who the real well’s arm. All four of the lads exchanged glances of consternation. Mihey're:: here!” whidoered Coddington hoarsely. “Those scoundrels have come back.” closed the swinging panel in the wall. “Here’s a go!” fluttered Ballard. “Put out the light, one of you!’’ said Merry quickly, and in a low tone. “I’m going up and close the panel at the head of the stairs so it won’t give us away. Be quiet, now, all of you.” Coddington, with a quick breath, extinguished the light. Merry crept carefully up the narrow stairs and Then he re- turned, and the boys strained their ears so that they should miss as little as possible of what was going on alave. ~. Only the thickness of the floor separated those in the _secret cellar from the men who had just come into the wikiup. Heavy. feet were moving about in the living room, and presently a husky voice was heard. “Them sled tracks mean somethin’, you take it from me!” almost shouted the voice. “Who's been here? D’you reckon it was. Terry?” ee Another voice answered: “What'd he come with a sled fer, Burns?” ese might bring it for the plunder, Casey,” answered ; eS . NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 17 the voice of Burns, “if so be he got next to where we'd hid it.” “T’ll take a look in the other room,” voice, “Go ahead, Bicknell,” approved Burns. Bicknell was heard as he moved into the bedroom. Frank and his friends felt sure that they were about to be discovered, but Bicknell evidently merely looked at the closed panel and went back to his companions, satis- hed. “T reckon the cache hasn’t been tampered with,” he reported. “Did ye go down and look at. them bags?” still another voice, “What was the use? The door in the wall is closed and it’s a cinch that everything is all right.” “It wasn’t Terry who was here,” went on the voice of Burns. “He wouldn’t have gone to work and tidied things up, like we see. Nor he wouldn’t have cooked a big dinner fer four. A party has been here, cleaned up and built a fire. Where’s that party now?’ “Sloped, I reckon,” answered Casey, evidently drop- ping into a chair, from the sound. “Take it easy, boys. We're safe.” “I think we ort to go down and get that plunder,” said Burns. “I got a feelin’ we ought to tote it as fur from Blyfield as possible.” “Does that chap Silver know where it’s hid?” the fourth member of the rascally quartet. > “He don’t know a thing except that we turned the trick at Hampton’s and are hidin’ out some’rs in the neigh- borhood,” answered Burns. “He knowed what we was up to the night we pulled off the robbery. I was to meet him at Doniphan’s and git the money he promised us fer capturin’ Merriwell and hidin’ him away in that barn at Trawlee. But I was too blamed busy to see him that night. He left word with Doniphan that I was to see him yesterday arternoon.” “That's Ww hen you took that watch to him and that box OQ’ Spoons,” said Bicknell, “Fle paid me fer ’em,” said Burns, with a husky laugh. “All I had to do was to skate out here and git the plun- der. He wanted me to be sure and bring the watch that was marked ‘William Ballard.’ That’s what I done.” “What did he waht of'the stuff?” “Blamed if I know—or care. He paid me more’n it. was worth.” “What if he’s tryii” to double cross us?” asked the voice of Casey. “He’s a good deal of a sneak, and I wouldn’t trust him around the block. How do we know, Burns, he didn’t git that stuff fer evidence ag’inst us?” Just there something happened in the secret cellar. Clancy, in moving around in the darkness, kicked over the lamp. The-crash was heard in the living room, and all four of the scoundrels could be heard jumping ex- citedly to their feet. “What’s ‘that ?” demanded the husky voice of Burns. “Tt was a noise,” a frightened voice answer€d, “and it come from the cache !” “Then, by thunder,’ in the cache ! This way, boys! % Heavy feet could be heard running into the bedroom and excited hands pushed open the panel. A. situation had developed that boded no good to the lads in the secret cellar. In that moment Frank’s friends looked to him to take charge of the crisis and save the day. said a third queried asked ” shouted Burns, “we'll, see what’s 9 rounded!” NEW TIP TOP CHAPTER XI. MERRIWELL’S RUSE. The danger was great. Merry was alive to that fact no less than Clancy, Ballard, and Coddington. The information that had developed during the con- versation of the thieves in the living room was vitally important to Jock Belize. His entire innocence was proved. But in order to make use of their knowledge for Jock’s benefit, Frank and his friends must get away from the wikitip. That, of course, was something the four thieves would try to prevent. That these were the four thugs who had waylaid him and Belize one night in Blyfield, and had tried to “beat them up,” appeared quite clear. That they were also the men who had made trouble for Merry in’ Trawlee was proved by their own. talk. ‘These expetiences with Merriwell had not heightened their regard for the young athlete. If they found him and his friends hiding in that secret earthen room with ' the plunder from Haimpton’s store, the desperate scoun- drels would go far with their lawlessness, Merry’s mind was always quick in an emergency. In spite of his excitement he had a clear head for planning. A fuse occurred to hit. ; In the scrap of daylight at the head of the stairs could be seen the silhouette of a head and a pair’ of burly shoulders. the secret cellar until he had first sounded its perils. “Say you, down there!” he boomed. “Come up! Come up, I say, or I'll turn loose at ye with my gatling!” He flourished a hand in the light. And it was plainly to be seen that the hand held a revolver. _ Frank, right at that moment, called on’ his powers of ventriloquism. He threw his voice to the outside of . the house. “They’re our ineat, Terry! We’ve got ’em all sur- ‘Then, from the other side of the house, in what seemed like a. different voice, came this: “Give the word, Terry, arid we'll close in!” _. With yet another change of voice, Merry bellowed in the cellar: “Up the stairs with ye, Terry! We'll be right at yer pees) A little quick work and we'll bag the four of { em! 99 > “AIL right, boys!” shouted Frank, in a good imitation of the deputy sheriff. “Up the stairs. Shoot first, that! 5 all! We want every man jack of them!” These many voices, and all indicating that the thieves were in a trap, caused a panic among those in the wikiup. “It’s a surround! Terry has played it on us!” _ “There’s more’n a dozen outside the hotise !” - “An’ the cellar is full of ’em!” _ The head and shoulders withdrew hastily “gee the patch of daylight at the top of the stairs. “Keep yer nerve!” roared the voice of Burns. “Make a rush fer the river! Don’t fergit the skates! Use yer giins and fight yer way out! It’s neck or nothin’, boys! We'll make a get-away, though, if we hang together.” The robbers could be heard dashing out of the bed- ‘ into the living room, then across the living room ward the door. — The cabin shook under the rush of feet, ‘here they come os It was a voice apparently. out- | Burns, it seemed, was not coming into | he began shooting at the cabin wall. skates and bore away at top speed downriver, coming from different quarters, WEEKLY. side the cabin. “Now, then take ‘em as they come through the door!” “Shoot first!” bellowed another voice, side. There followed a crack of weapons. It was evident that Burns and his men, frightened and excited, were shooting wildly and at foes they could not see. “Upstairs, fellows!” said Frank, “and make all the noise you can. Yell! Whoop it ip! : Frank led in the yelling and, between them, the boys nearly raised the roof. A shock as of a fall came from the living room. As Frank plunged through the open panel and leaped through the swinging door of the large room, he saw a rough-looking man struggling to get up from the floor. In his frantic haste the fellow had fallen over a morris chair, He had a revolver in his hand, but he was tangled up with the chair and had difficulty in gaining his feet. His three companions were streaking it toward the river. Merry threw himself on the man and bore him down at full length. The thief fought like a madman and tried to use his weapon. Merry, getting both hands on the revolver, twisted it out of the gripping fingers. “Hold this chap, fellows!” he cried. Clancy, Ballard, and Coddington hurled themselves on the man, who continued to fight furiously, blindly, and to give even three of them a pretty good handful. Stepping to the door, Merry looked down the slope in the direction of the river. were rushing toward the ice had slackened pace. Undoubt- edly they were wondering where the men were who had been threatening them “from outside the cabin, Per-- haps, too, they were considering their missing comrade, and thinking of returning to rescue him. “We've got one of ’em, Terry!” Merry yelled, still playing on his powers of ventriloquism and making a whole posse of officers out of himself. “One of you hang on to that chap,” “and the rest of you take after the others! seemingly out- shouted Frank, Sharp's the word, now!” ‘In order to make his work as spectacular as possible and to keep the panic alive in the hearts of the thieves, This had its effect. The three who had paused on the slope turned and began running once more. They reached the ice, and Merry — was continuing to shoot and yell as they buckled on ee " He turned from the open door with a laugh. But the | laugh died on his lips, and he jumped just in time tO escape a hamlike fist. A than in a leather jacket, his face red with rage and desperation, had aimed the blow at him. Before Merty could interfere, the fellow had flung through — the door, calling furiously to his feeing companions, = “Why did you let him get away} ?” demanded F rank, ah of the other three. 4 “Hanged if we could help it, Chip answered Clancy, nursing a brttise on the side of his face, ; “Might as well tty to handle a grizzly!” add ed Code dington, feeling gingerly of one of his arms. “He hit me once,” grunted Ballard, * ‘and bine ail : seeing red lights.” Frank jumped through the door and started in. pur- suit. The fellow whirled, plunged a hand into his be Reh, an Bike out another revolver. ; The three scoundrels who. NEW Bang! went the firearm, and Merry dodged back into the cabin. “T’m out of ammunition,” said he, “or I’d keep after him. I emptied the revolver into the log wall just to make it sound as though we were having a terrible row in here,” “Where are the rest of the villains?” queried Cod- dington. “That fellow will overhaul them and bring them back. We’re not out of this yet!” “He'll have to go some if he overhauls them,” Merry answered. “The man is putting on his skates. He'll be on the wing in half a minute.” “Jingo, but that was close!” said Clancy, breathing hard and dropping into a chair. “Chip, if it hadn’t been for you throwing your voice, like that, we’d have been in a deuce of a hole!” “We may be in a hole yet,” returned Frank vigorously, “if we don’t act quickly. We've got to get Hampton’s goods out of that cache, load them on the sled, and make tracks for town. When the last man finally comes up with the others, he’ll tell them how they were fooled, and the chances are the whole party will come back here. Before that happens we must be on the way to Blyfield.” This was sound logic and the boys hurriedly made ready for the start. In-less than fifteen minutes they were sliding swiftly toward town, hauling the sled with its load of recovered goods. The eight-day clock was on top of the load. “That’s a great old clock,” remarked Clancy joyfully. “I wish to thunder, Chip, that we could keep it for a souvenir |” ? ? CHAPTER XII. JUSTICE ! ' Merry and his friends made a quick and safe journey up the river to Blyfield. They watched the ‘ice care- fully behind them for signs of pursuit, but saw noth- ing of the baffled Burns and his crowd, On reaching town they were somewhat undecided as to whether they should go first to Terry’s house, or to Pro- fessor Pettigrew’s. call should be on ‘the deputy sheriff. The officer, fortunately, was at home. Belize was being well cared for. He sat in the sitting room with the rest of the family. He had been reading, but started quickly to his feet when Merry and his companions en- tered the house. ; “Any luck?” asked Terry, in a tone that made it evi-“ dent he did not think they had had any luck, or would have any. “We've got the stolen goods on a sled in front of the house,” Merry answered. “What's that?” demanded Terry, with popping eyes. Frank repeated his words and went on to tell where the plunder had been found, and how it had been found. It was a strange yarn, and Belize followed: the telling with sparkling eyes. Terry drew a long breath and rubbed his chin reflectively. “Well, by the piper that played before Moses!’ he murmured. “It beats all how kids like you will blunder into luck like that, while I’m right on the job all the time and nothing, comes my way. I’ve got to get busy and see if we can’t land that passel of freebooters. . In an hour I'll have half a dozen men out at that cabin r Tir: TOP... WEBRLY, yet, and can har dly realize how They finally decided that their first 19 He sprang into instant action, and began getting into his overcoat. “You don’t need to keep Belize here any longer, do your” Merry asked. “Belize can go whenever he wants to, and I’m glad as blazes he comes out of this so well.” “What shall we do with the plunder, Terry?” “Leave that to me, Merriwell; I’ll look after tit. You boys have done a fine stroke of work. I’m kind of dazed you managed to do so much and in such short ordér. Chance had a lot to do with it, but the time came when nerve was needed, and you were right there with ‘the goods. You’ve saved Hampton from ruin, and you’ve saved the good name of a friend. I think you ought to shake hads with yourselves. But I’m in a hurry, now, and I’ll see you later.” The boys were in a hurry, too. They were anxious to get to Professor Pettigrew and lay the whole matter before him. gos In less than an hour they had repeated to the principal the story they had already related for Terry’s benefit. Professor Pettigrew was absorbed in the recital and asked many questions designed to give him a perfectly clear understanding of the exciting events. He ex- pressed his gratification and congratulated the boys heartily on their success. “What you overheard those rascals say in the cabin, said he, “is prima facie evidence of Jock’s innocence, and of Silver's despicable efforts to get him into trouble. It seems very strange to me,’ he added, with a look of deep regret, “that any boy could try to injure another as Silver tried to injure Belize. But a hot temper has proved the undoing of many a youth, and of many a mature man, as well. This,” he finished, “should be a lesson to all of you in the matter of self-restraint. I shall send for Silver at once, and talk with him.” As they were leaving, Professor Pettigrew called out: “Study hours for a week, Belize. You left Bolton for a laudable purpose, but you left without permission, Don’t do it again.” Although Professor Pettigrew sent’for Dan Silver, the latter did not come. Next morning it was discovered that he had hastily left Blyfield. He had taken “French leave” rather than stay and face the music. “There’s one point that isn’t clear to me yet,” ob- parting with Coddington and Belize. “What’s that?” Merry asked. “Why, who put my watch and that box of spoons under Jock’s mattress?” “Perhaps it was Silver?” suggested Coddington. “He couldn’t have done it,” said Belize thoughtfully, “but I'll find out who it was and let you know later.” Tt was that evening that Belize came to Mrs. Blakeslee’s and brought the solution of the mystery. “Pedro put that stuff where Terry found it,’ nounced. “What made you suspect him?” asked Frank. > he an- “Why, I learned that he had told Hal Dalrymple © about my being out of the room on the Saturday night ~of the robbery. he’d be treacherous once, he’d be treacherous again. I put it right up to him, and he said that Silver had paid — him five dollars to hide the watch and the spoons. under If Dalrymple gave him money for it. my mattress.’ ie Be. _— served Ballard, as they paused in front of Bolton before — 20 NEW “The two-faced cur!” “What did you do to him?” “Nothing,”’ answered -Jock quietly. .“I remembered -what Old Pet told us about self-restraint. 1 need a lot of ‘that, and thought I'd begin practicing it with Las- coro.” “Good for you, old man!” and grabbing the quarter-blood’s gritted Ballard. cried Merry, reaching out hand, THE END. ; “Frank Merriwell, Junior’s, Adversary; or Dan Sil- ver’s Repentance,” is the title of the story that will be found in the next issue of this weekly. You will read in this story, among other exciting incidents, about a race on skates. Young Merriwell is a competitor. An ice trap is laid for him, and he skates into it. Dan Silver throws him a rope, and Merry gets out of his predicament in time to have still a fighting chance to win the race. Does he win it?’ Get the next.issue, No. 31, out March Ist, and find the answer. THE TROLLEY MAN. By ROLAND ASHFORD PHILLIPS. SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING, CHAPTERS. Lee Blake recovers from a thief the purse of Mrs, Carter, and, as. a result, obtains a place as extra on the Denyer City Railroad, of which her husband is general manager. Blake is initiated in the work of a motorman as well as conductor, and quickly distinguishes himself by averting a collision of his car, known as the “hoodoo,” with another, and saving many lives. \ CHAPTER VII. FOWLER APPEARS. To say that Blake won the instant respect of all the men, from the division superintendent to the trainmen, would be putting it mildly, indeed. For a long time, around the barns, and whenever a number of employees gathered, the: smash- -up of the old hoodoo car was the sole topic of conversation. What pleased Blake the most, however,. was a long personal letter from Mr. Carter, the general manager of the com- Dany complimenting him on his courage and coolness. Perhaps a month passed, when one day Bob Holland, calling at the house to pay his attentions to Sadie, Blake's ‘sister, suggested he break in as a conductor. ee You’ re well acquainted with a motorman’s duties now, Blake,” he went on, “and it will increase your chances of work on the extra list if, you’re able to run both ends of the car.’ _ Acting on this advice, Blake put in his application, and within a fortnight was initiated into the mysteries of “picking nickels,” as the men designated the conductor’s calling. He found this position to be fully as difficult as his former one, and began to realize the strain under which the men worked during their long shifts. Fully qualified in both these services, Blake rarely found himself out of work, and rather ettjoyed the shift- about, the irregular hours, and the change of runs. ch evening when he came in he looked at the board noted what run he was to take out, or, in case he ‘hot shop ue at all, learned the time Be was to TIP TOP ,WEEKLY. As the weather was beginning to grow warm, and the resorts were opening their gates, there were ball games and other occasions requiring more cars and consequently a greater number of men to operate them. Blake soon found his name gradually crawling up the extra list. One day, reporting at four o’clock to run the back end of a baseball extra, he found his motorman to be Murphy. This was Murphy’s eighth day—so called be- cause each of the regular men had one day in eight as a vacation—but, owing to the scarcity of men, he had been compelled to take out this three-hour extra. They made two regular trips, and were then’ side- tracked at the ball park to wait for the finish of the game. It was here that Blake was able to pay close attention to Fowler, an undersized, coarse-featured man, dressed , in plain clothes, who had, previous to this, been pointed | out as inspector. Fowler had a method of popping up at unexpected mo- ments—like the wicked fairy in a storybook—counting the passengers, comparing the number with the register, watching to see if the bells were properly given, if the conductors failed to keep on the back platform when not collecting fares, and if the streets were called out. Needless to state, Fowler was not well liked by the majority of the trainmen. This day he oa ordered Murphy to clean up his headlight, although the car was to be run in the barn before dark, “Never you mind what time you are to be sent to the barn,’ he snapped, when Murphy informed him of the short run. “Something might happen, and you'll be caught napping. Get some waste, and shine her up— and be civil about it, too! “And you”—he turned to Blake—‘“there’s been com- — plaints made against you for not calling the streets prop- | erly. I don’t want to have to tell you again. Name’s _ Blake, isn’t it?” he added. bis Blake said it was. “Ever run a baseball extra buboea ee “No! )?? j “Then look alive. Watch out that you don’t slip up on any fares, and © hand out transfers only when you get the nickel! Une derstand ?” After he had gone, Murphy savagely bit off a big shew of tobacco. “Tl see him in a warmer place than this before I get down and polish that headlight!” he growled, for the men at the barn to attend to!” qa ha se “Won’t he report you?” Blake asked. i Mie “Let him report! I know Fowler better than any man _ on the force, I do. makes a big play at standing in with the boys—taking their parts now and then; but I knew him back in Iowa, where he was a strike breaker. He turned two or three dirty tricks, and had to skip ott before breakfast. Say,” - | he grinned, “if any of the boys back there in Brownville caught him here——” He broke of with a suggestive - shrug of his big shoulders. da Later that afternoon, after they hae ia the trip’ to % the city, carrying the baseball crowd, and had returned — to the barn, and Blake was im the conductor’ s room bal- — ancing | his ‘trip sheet and. making) his” turn in, he was. interrupted by Holland. wee Ni Blake ’e-Hiqtland appeared il ill at ease, and c They pack your car like cattle. his “That's ie i And Fowler knows it, too. He _ i NEW hardly face the other—‘‘could you loan me a five-spot until Monday ?” ac “Surest thing you know, Bob,” Blake answered, dig- | ging into his wallet and passing one over. “J—I hated to ask you,’ Holland resumed, taking the note and quickly thrusting it into his pocket, “but the fact is—I—well, I’ve played a few games on the side, and a “Games?” Blake interrupted, frowning. “Yes. A bunch of us fellows have been in the habit of meeting several evenings a week and having a quiet Pee party. I’ve been unlucky, that’s all!” “See here, Bob,” Blake said pleasantly, “I don’t like to see you in that class. I’m not only speaking for your- self, but for my sister, Sadie. She likes you, and | want her always to respect you, too. Nothing would please me better than to see you two married. But you've got to be straight, Bob.” Holland sank dejectedly on the long bench. “T’m a fool, Blake, and I admit it,” he said. “I’ve been afraid Sadie would find out about it, and—and She’s one little woman in a Seana and I want to be worthy of her.” “T like to hear you talk that way,” Blake said, plac- ing a hand to the other’s shoulder. “Promise me you'll cut this out from now on. “T will,” Bob returned. “I sure will!” They shook hands. Holland started for the door, hesi- tated, and came ‘back. “Then you—you are willing that I ask Sadie—to marry me, Blake?” . "Yes, if she is willing.” “Thanks, old man—I Holland made as if to say, something more—but gave it up. With suspiciously moist eyes, he turned and walked quickly out of the door, ering Blake alone. i a ta ” CHAPTER VIII. A PUZZLE FOR BLAKE, ‘ One night, a week afterward, when bringing his car into the barn, Blake caught sight of Holland standing in the shadow of one of the big ddors. He was on the point of calling to him when he became aware of another form. beside the conductor. When he came out and started for the conductor’s room, the two were still in earnest conversation. Blake frowned, but did not let on that he had seen anything. While he was counting out his money, preparatory to dropping it, sealed in the canvas sgck, into the long chute that led down to the safe, Holland came into the room. the other answered, rather indifferently. to the monthly board, and appeared to be studying it. Blake could not help wondering at the man’s appearance ; he seemed nervous, upset, and his fa¢e had an unnatural Not sick, are you, Bob?” Blake asked, when they Ww Te alone in the long room. Holland made an effort to laugh. tt. What gave yot that idea?” “Why, of per,’ Blake went on. “Work to-day, did you?” Only a supper relief. This is my eighth day!” ake eer a turn in, ou * his rho rtin Vie OPW Blake spoke, and cup of coffee. Instead of coming toward him, Holland walked over controller, ran the car the remainder of the distance : on ve about as much color in your face as a piece of ‘light in the darkness, something blocked his path. er: and ne eo flew v wildly into, Pe air. wt ete 21 who just came in from the barn, dropped his trip sheets in the proper box, and turned to Holland. “I’ve got a six-thirty report in the morning, so I'll have to be hitting the feathers. If you like, I'll walk as far as the corner with you.” “Sorry, but I’m not going your way to-night,” Holland answered. “Good night!’” All the way home Blake racked his brain for a solu- tion of the other’s actions. Something had happened— must have happened. Bob Holland was not himself. He was laboring under a strain; that much Blake was certain of. To this be added the fact that this was Bob’s eighth day! Arriving home, he stepped into the hall just in time to hear the telephone bell ringing. He hurried to answer it. It was the night foreman of the barn who spoke. “That you, Blake?” : “Ves 1 “Got any objections to running the Tremont owl to- night?” “I guess not!” . “Moore was taken sick about an hour ago, and you're the only extra man I can get hold of now. Will you come right over to the barn? The owl leaves here) at twelve-thirty !” Blake hung up the receiver, called upstairs to Sadie, told her of the unexpected summons, and went into the kitchen for a bite of lunch. Finishing this, he turned out the lights, made sure the door was locked, and started back to the barn, reaching there fifteen minutes before his expected departure. , “Front or back end?” he asked the foreman. “Back!” f In a quarter of an hour the ow] left the terminal, with Blake on the back platform. It was the first time since breaking in that he had had an all-night run. CHAPTER ‘IX; THE STRUGGLE AT THE Y!/ The early trips of the owl were full of excitement. Until at least three o'clock the car was crowded in both _ directions. A number of late dances helped to swell the © total of passengers, and Blake had no time in which to | become sleepy, even had he felt so inclined. As no transfers were accepted after one a. m., Blake soon found his pockets sagging with silver. Toward four o’clock _ the traffic became lighter, and Blake ventured to sit down inside the car. Approaching the terminal on the four-fifteen trip, Riggs, his motorman, asked him to rurf the car to the and back while he dropped off at a lunch counter for a 3y this time Blake was growing some- ~~ what sleepy and was glad to have this chance to stir 4) himself. 3 At the restaurant Riggs swung off, and Blake, at the to the terminal. As it was against the rules to back the | car up without turning the trolley, and as he rather © feared, even at that hour, some spotter might be watch- | ing him, he set his brakes and walked around to the rear., He gripped the trolley rope, pulled. it down, and — was thidway of the car, when, as abruptly as a flash of | Blake reeled back, startled; the rope slipped from hi: hs NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. were no lights at the Y—or, if there had been, they were out—and the car’s bulbs were, of course, extinguished, so it was impossible to’ see barely a foot before one’s face. “Stick up your hands!” came a gruff, disguised voice. “Be quick about it, too!” Blake’s hands lifted when he became conscious of a gun pointed very near his head. He could barely dis- tinguish the shadowy form of the other man, so intense was the gloom. “As long as you keep quiet, you won't get hurt,” the holdup continued, in the same voice. .“‘Shell out that silver in your pockets !”’ “ff Realizing that he was “up against it,” Blake put his hands slowly into his pockets and began dropping the silver into the other’s hat. His eyes were becoming ac- customed to the gloom now, and he had a better view of the stranger. The man was clad in a dark suit and had a white handkerchief tied ‘about his face, just below the eyes. Blake worked as slowly as he dared, praying for time and a method of outwitting the thief. Yet all the time the wicked-looking revolver was pointing straight into his eyes. “Ts that all?” the man broke out impatiently, evidently becoming nervous over his job. Without answering, Blake dug up another handful of silver, but, in reaching out, let some of it slip to the ground. This gave him an excuse for bending over. He took it instantly, heart pounding. As he stooped, and the gun was out of range, he threw himself forward, using every ounce of his strength. __ As he did so, he gripped his arms about the other’s knees, and the revolver fell from his hand. There fol- lowed a short, determined struggle, but taken so suddenly and at such a disadvantage, the thief seemed unable to free himself. With a sharp twist, Blake bent his knees and sent him toppling to the earth. — The man fell heavily, and lay quite still. Blake came erect, breathing thickly. The first thing he did was to pick up the hat and transfer the silver still in it back to his pockets. Still the other did not move. “Must have stunned him,’ Blake muttered, half to himself. After a moment’s hesitation, he stooped, lifted the limp form, and placed it inside the car, and laid it on a seat. Then he ran around, once more got hold of the trolley rope, put the wheel on the wife, and allowed the lights to flash up. Leaping inside the car to where his man lay, he found him struggling to rise. In the attempt the handkerchief dropped from his face. “You—Holland!” Blake reeled back as if he had received a heavy blow. - ; te “Blake!” Holland’s jaw fell. — ‘The two men, both taken by surprise, stared blankly into each other’s faces. * CHAPTER X. BLAKE SHIELDS HOLLAND. “For Heaven’s sake, Bob, explain yourself.” was the first to regain his speech, ~~ “TT didn’t know—it was you,” the other faltered, passing a limp hand across his white face. “I thought Moore was marked up—for the owl to-night !” ‘winning. Blake “He was—but I took his place about fifteen minutes before the car was sent out! But you—Bob—this rob- bery ” “T haven’t any excuses to make, Blake! money! I had to have it before morning! upon this—this.trick !” “But why—how? Blake. Holland wet his lips. “It was Fowler! He got me in a game. He kept I lost all I had—fifty dollars. I told him I couldn’t pay up, and he—he threatened to put me in bad with the company. You know he could do that easy enough: So I got desperate, and—and——” “Oh, Bob!’ broke in Blake, more-in pity than anger. “You promised to keep away from those poker games. You promised it for my sake, and—and for Sadie’s.” Holland groaned. “I know. Just give me one more chance, Blake,” he pleaded. “One more! If you only knew how much it meant to——” “How am I to believe you? You gave me your word once before—and broke it!” : “IT know—but this is different,” Holland struggled. “I was forced into the job—I : Hurrying footfalls sounded in the still night. an exclamation, Blake turned. “It’s my motorman, Riggs,” he broke out. “Don’t let him—see me—know of this! You’ve got to give me another chance—for Sadie’s sake!” Blake came back sharply: “You have no right to Holland stood erect, and put a hand to Blake’s arm. “I have a right—now,” he said, his eyes lihting in spite of his tremulous voice. ; “What do you mean?” - ; “T asked her—to be my wife to-night, Blake,” he an- swered softly. “And she said—yes!” rach Blake stared dumbly into the other’s face. Sadie and Holland engaged! He'knew it would come, one day or another, but now that he had heard it from the man’s lips The footfalls sounded nearer and nearer. Something had to be done—and instantly. It would be right to make Holland suffer for his act, but now that Sadie was to marry him—believed in him, looked forward to the supreme moment of her life, it was to be looked at in a different light. Riggs, the motorman, swung aboard the car, frowning. © “What’s the matter, Blake? Do you know you've been down here fifteen minutes?. We'll have to do some tall running ‘to make up for it! Did you have some trouble ?” ° Blake hesitated for the moment, his eyes fastened upon Holland’s bloodless face. Then, when the silence grew | awkward, he spoke: se Phase “Yes, we djd have some trouble here! While I was’ turning the trolley a man tried to hold me up. Hol- | land, here, happened along just in time. Ill go out and_ pick up the rest of the coin that was dropped in the scuffle.” . , I needed the So I decided Explain to me, Bob!” begged With ” CHAPTER XI., A REGULAR RUN. The next day Blake forced Holland to accept the needed money from his own slim bank account, and, al- though the latter shrank from taking it, finally agreed to | do so, in order to appease Fowler. Also, he promised faithfully to repay every cent as quickly as possible. a NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. “Fifty dollars is a whole lot to me, Blake, and I know it must be to you, too. There are mutterings among the _ boys—it is growing stronger and stronger every day— - cOricerning our wages.” “T know it,” said Blake, “and I dread to see a strike, or a lockout, because it will play havoc with not only the men concertied in it, but their families and the city in _ getieral. It will demoralize business and give us a bad natne. I trust, when the time comes, as it surely must, that things can be settled in a peaceful way, without force or ill feeling.” . “But if the company refuses to listen,” returned Hol- land, “there is only one course left open to us!” Although Blake had been with the company but a few months, he had not failed to observe, in that short , time, the constantly growing feeling of unrest. If he -shared it with the other men, it was mitigated on the first of the month, when he learned that he had at last received a regular run. On the board he found him- self marked up as conductor for the second “split” on Myrtle Hill. _ Over the entire system the runs were divided into “day- lights,” “nights,” and “splits.” The daylight and split runs took the cars out in the morning. At eleven _ o'clock the night crews relieved the daylight men, who, tanlagicd from lunch, relieved in turn the split men. These latter hatl the afternoon for sleep, and catné on shift again at six, taking the daylight crews’ places. - As soon as he left the extra list, A man was. given a split run, this being the least desirable and often the hardest, as their rest was divided, As they advanced, they were given night runs, and finally graduated to the _ daylight shifts. Twice a year the men were allowed to vote. as to preference of runs on their division—the system being divided into four divisions—North, South, East, and West—each one having its own barn and governed over by a division superintendent. Thus, as far as possible, and according to length of service and good standing, the men were given the runs desired. Blake reported at the barn at 6:15 a. m., worked cee T1:15, and was off for the afternoon. At 6: i§.p he took the car again, and remained until it was ens to the barn, generally around midnight. Two nights a week he was sent in early, sometimes by eight panes giving him time for a longer sleep. It was during this run that Blake gave up his cor- : spondence course in electrical engineering, and began attending classes from two until five, at the Y. M. C. A. school. This cost him but a few dollars a month, and began to derive immediate benefit from it. Since his 100! days Blake had thirsted for a knowledge of? elec- city, and the practical expetierice gained from his car, coup ed with the sttidies taken during the afternoon, was to fit him for a higher position later on, Frequently, during Saturday afternoons and on his shih day, Blake worked in the shops, learning the de- Is of the profession thoroughly, from the winding armatures to the cleaning of motors. The men in e different departments, apparently. pleased by his ‘nestness, took considerable time ahd patience in, ex- ng the countless little things that went to make up complete knowledge of the mysterious “juice. ome of the boys guyed him occasionally when they: cross him laboring in the pits. Don't tp get eau work on your car, seven n days and the wailing is vet 23 a week, without sweating down here on your day off?” they asked. “I’m thinking of the next round on the ladder, boys,” he would announce, wiping at his black hands. “I might never reach it—but if something should put it my way, I’m going to be ready!” All during the winter Blake worked his split run on Myrtle Hill, attended classes in the afternoons, and, whenever he could, continued his labors and his search for knowledge in the noisy shops. -CHAPTER XII. COINERS FRUIT. Soon after the first year, Blake came in one night to find a crow d of the boys gathered in the big, warm conductors’ room, After signing in his car, he went over and. joined them. “What's up?” One of the conductors answered him: “Green just had a shortage slip sent him from the office for two dollars!” “For smooth money ?” “No!” The conductor shook his head. half dollars!” “Counterfeits ?” “Tust that!” It seemed, in some previous turn in, Green had in- cluded these four bad pieces without noticing it. Now he had received a shortage slip for the amount, and had to stand for it. The coins, of course, were not returned, for the company always handed over tuat sort of stuff to the secret-service agents. “They must have been birds, to ébeape me,’ Green. spoke up finally. “I’ve been picking nickels for ten years, and I thought I knew queer money when I got hold of it. Seems I don’t though,” he added gloomily. The rest of the evening the momentous question was discussed by twos and threes, and all the partictilars gone over and over when a new tember joined the throng. Before midnight more than half the men were informed, The night following, two other men received shortage slips, with the announcement that among the coins turned in for such and such a date there had been found cer- tain counterfeit half dollars. Indignation ran high, and the men began to lay plans to get hold of the culprit or culprits who were responsible for this bit of dirty work. As the loss came out of their pockets, and not the comm-— pany’s, and as they could ill afford to refund it, ‘they were keen to detect the guilty person. ‘The frequency with which these coins were turned in by the conductors during the next fortni ht led the street- car company to post a warning in the bulletin book. This useful volume, one in each division, was placed in a cori- “Four bad - $picuous place, where all the . gathered, and each new bulletin had to be signed all employees. This on insured a reading and proof that it was understood. Fail- ufe to read this resulted in a lay off. The Ai boned | one read: (| “BULLETIN NO, 2123, “AT conductors are watned against a particularly clever i counterfeit half dollar, bearing various dates, vizi: 1903, 1904, and 1907. By some method the coins are given a well-worn appearance, the ring of them is exceptional, The eee seal Me which they 24 - NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. can be spotted seems to be by the fact that the thirteen stars around the head of the goddess are not well cut. _ “The secret-service men are working on the case, but so far have discovered nothing of importance. In order to run this matter to its source, the Denver City Railroad Company offers a reward of two hundred dollars for the arrest, or a clew leading to the arrest, of the perpetrator. “THe DenveR City RAILROAD Co., “J, E. Carter, General Mgr.” a A week later Blake was handed a shortage slip for two bad half dollars. “That’s a couple on me, all right,” he said to him- self, with a smile, as he paid over the money. But he went home that night with a determination not to be caught napping dain. CHAPTER XIII. A QUEER PASSENGER. It so happened that for the past month or more Blake had wondered at a queer-looking old man who always took his car at a ‘certain street and left it within a few blocks of the terminal. Sometimes this passenger car- ried a bag, which he seemed to watch with great care. For the first few instances, when this person came aboard, Blake had not given him any more than slight attention ; but as, day after day, the same man, sometimes with the bag and sometimes without it, stopped the car at the same point and left it at the same crossing, his interest became aroused. This strange character, of uncertain age, was dwarfed rather than of natural stature, with a colorless, seamy face, and pale-gray, watery eyes, under reddish lids. His clothes were wretched; his walk was a shuffle, and, out of pity, Blake often helped him on and off the steps. Only his hands seemed to be different from the rest of his person, as though they belonged to another being. They were extremely white, the fingers were long, and the nails well kept. , _ Blake had never heard the man’ speak, nor had he ever spoken to him, although, very often, so near the end of the line, the two would be alone in the car. . _ That this odd person had any possible connection with _ the passing of the counterfeit coins never entered Blake’s mind until the night after he had paid his first shortage. _ What power it was that led him to connect the two was beyond his reasoning; but, whatever it was, the tiny seed of suspicion was planted and took firm root. The following day passed, however, without a sight of the desird passenger. The next, also, But on the third evening, at the usual time of about 8:15, Blake, sitting alone inside his car, for passengers were few and far between after seven o’clock, on his run, felt his motor- man apply the air. Throwing open the door, he looked out, to see the crabbed old man laboriously climbing _ aboard. | : _ Gripped in his white hand, he carried the same leather bag. | , | ~ Blake nodded to him, but gained no response, other ‘than a quick flash from the half-opened eyes. Approach- ing him for fare, the old man held out a ten-dollar bill. “Sorry,” Blake announced, “but I can’t break that to- night. . I’m short on change.” ; | _ The old man frowned, and put the note back into his ocket. Then he fumbled slowly through his vest. Ab- prey ; baie, | - flash of dismay cross.the inspector’s face. ruptly his fingers came out with a half dollar. Blake took it, counted out the forty-five cents change, and, with throbbing heart, sat down in the corner. The car rolled on. At the accustomed street: the old man lifted a finger, and Blake reached for the bell cord. The passenger alighted, still clutching his bag. Once the car had started, and not until then did Blake dig into his pocket to produce the silver half dollar which the queer passenger had offered him. Carefully he ex- amined it, turning it over and over in his palm. It bore the date of 1903; the milling was perfect, as was the lettering. Then, looking closer, he caught his breath, The stars about the head of the goddess were decidedly imperfect! ! Beyond all doubt, this was a counterfeit! But did the old man know it? Or had he likewise been taken in? How was Blake to know? All the rest of the evening he puzzled his head_ over the discovery. He resolved to keép everything to himself, not even informing his motorman. The queer old passenger might prove to be the key to the whole situation—or, again, he might turn out to be harmless. Until he was certain, Blake determined to keep his eyes very wide open, and his lips sealed. The reward of two hundred dollars offered by the company suddenly flashed to him. Why, that was just what*he needed to take an extra course in the technical school, Graduating from there would fit him for.a prac- — tical engineer. If Fate would only throw this bit o good fortune in his path! On the last trip, as his car left the terminal of the < — line and headed straight for the barn, Fowler got in at the same corner the queer passenger had left the car. There was nothing startling in that fact alone, and Blake might have suspected nothing at all had not the inspector carried a bag with him, . And it was the identical bag carried by the former passenger ! Blake was positive on that point by the fact that a 4 red-and-green hotel label was pasted #n one end; also, that this same label was marked in heavy pencil with the number—45. “What's the matter with you?” voice that brought Blake abruptly to his senses. It was the inspector’s — “You're — _staring as if you saw a ghost!” “Why—why——” Blake replied, forcing a laugh, “I was just looking at the label on your bag! It’s familiar!” — Without appearing to be aware of it, Blake saw a Following up his first remark,in a natural manner, Blake came closer and read the !printing on the red-and-green label. “Why, yes. Lookout Mountain Hotel, at Golden. When I was going to school I used to hop bells there. - Let’s see, that was eight years ago. Remember I used to paste those red-and-green labels on all the bags. Funny how thesethings come back to a fellow, eh?” Fowler seemed to appear more at ease now. “This bag belongs to my sister. She was up there last summer.” /*Golden is a dandy little town,” went on Blake. “Jolly bunch of people there, too.” Bee sas Pe ane Then he busied himself with his trip sheets. His fingers trembled so, his writing was all but a scrawl. What sort of a mystery had he stumbled upon? How had Fowler come into possession of that bag? And why — had he lied about it? , ; es. _ The inspector left the car a few squares this ‘side of | NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 25 the barn, bidding the conductor a cheery good night. Blake watched him swing off into the darkness, and then, rolling up the matting on the car floor, prepared to sweep out the dirt. A folded bit of paper caught his eye. It hadn’t been theré before Fowler entered the car. The inspector must have dropped it. %, With puzzled, yet expectant, eyes, Blake opened and read the inscription on it—a meaningless jumble of type- written figures: 92434 2844 =@’'3 9:3= 8: =@#'’3$ 59:8*=—5., F43% DYH@AS P49$ $46 This was all the paper contained. TO BE CONTINUED. LOST ON THE PLAINS. By EDWARD MINTURN. Those who have not ridden, as I have, day after day over the great plains of the Far West, where not a tree meets your eye, though you scan the circling horizon ever so closely, can scarcely imagine the danger to which a traveler may be exposed, who, without a compass, in cloudy weather, may stray away from a camp or a train with which he may be traveling. The following incident. occurred to me many years ago before I had learned many a matter of wood-and- _ prairie craft, which, now knowing, make me at home there in all weathers and at all times. I was going to Santa Fe with a new acquaintance, I, X. Aubrey, the great trader. We had been out from St. Joe ten or twelve days— his train divided into three sections, about a half day apart in travel, so that the stock would have good grass at each stopping place and get along all the faster for the division into similar columns. One morning, being with the middle section, I took it into my head, as it was bright and fair, to go on and join those who were in front. So, with my tin cup at my saddle skirt and a cold bite in my haversack, I started on at a lope, expecting long before night to reach the wagons ahead. The trail was plain, the air fresh and bracing, and my horse in prime order. We had seen no hostile Indians—in truth, our route was not supposed to be at all endangered by them then, - in consequence of recent treaties, et cetera. So I left my heavy rifle, and with only a light revolver in my belt, dashed away. For three hours I rode along through the buffalo grass, avoiding the branches of cactus which were plentifully sprinkled about the plains, and had begun to look ahead often and expectantly to see the white tops of the wagons whose tracks were becoming fresher to the eye every mile. A sudden*rumble of, distant thunder called my atten-— tion, and looking off to the northwest I saw a black mass of clouds coming up with strange rapidity. _ I have heard the trader§ talk of these sudden storms on the plains—outrivaling those which sweep the ocean, and now I was to witness and feel the effects of one. _ Never did I.see change come over a sky more swiftly. Tn a little while an almost ebony darkness obscured the aby. While loud thunder faly shook the earth and made the air tremulgus with its deafening vibrations, the wind moaned and soughed over the wide plains as if grieved at being rent from its mountain caves so far away. Then came pelting, driving rain, and, almost blinded, I sought to move forward on the trail. At last, when I could not see a track, I halted, dismounted and draw- ing my blanket about me waited for the storm to cease. I held my horse by the bridle rein, not dreaming that he would try to leave me. But he was of the treacherous mustang breed, and suddenly, with only a startling peal of thunder for an apparent cause, he broke away, and in an instant was out of sight and hearing. What could I do. I could not follow, for I knew not which way he had gone. When the storm passed by, the sun was yet two hours high, and I thought by my memory of its position I could at once resume my course, and, finding the trail, press on even on foot until I over- took the leading train, where most likely I would find my missing horse. But I looked in vain for the trail. To and fro, this way and that, crossing the direction as I thought, but lower and lower sank the sun, and yet the trail was not discovered, nor even a sign of my treacherous mustang. * A night alone on the prairie, with my blanket around me, was not so terrible, so I lay down and slept an un- easy, dream-troubled slumber. Dawn came, and once more I commenced my jour- ney. I was not used to walking; my feet were tender, and my heart was very heavy. Hoping and believing that I was taking a right course, I staggered on. The sun went higher and higher, the air became hot and heavy; I was fearfully thirsty, but not a drop of water could I now find, for I was moving over a succession of sandy ridges that seemed to have drunk up all the water which had fallen on the day before. On I staggered, looking from every elevation for some sign of life, and seeing nothing but an antelope here and there which went from me as if lifted on the wind when I came near. Why must I prolong, even in memory, the horrors of that part of my life? I lived a year in forty-eight hours —and then, almost dead, in truth the agony “of. death could not be greater than I had endured, I was picked up by men sent in search of me after. my horse had got to the train, dragging his bridal rein, which told the old traders that he had broker from me. It was a hard trial, and though I was young it plowed furrows in my brow which ; are there yet. +404 + —____ FOLLOWING NATURE. The earliest approach to the pen, which is sure of its kingdom yet in spite of the typewriter, was the stylus of the ancient Romans. It was a pointed bodkin, which traced letters and words on a tablet covered with wax, the writing being obliterated by smoothing over, much as a schoolboy cleans his slate. Occasionally, in the hands of a petulant mistress, the stylus served also as a dagger to punish her slaves. The wretched victims would doubtless have agreed that the pen was “mightier than the sword,” and, to their sor- row, very much handier! Known as a kalamos to the Greeks, and to the Romans 26. NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. as a calamus or arundo, the hollow stalk of a marsh grass served as another ancient represéntative of the pen we know to-day. Thouglt, as a matter of fact, reeds and canes are used even now among Orientals, who are won- derfully clever with these primitive implements. It must have exacted careful choosing and nice cutting if one wanted.a good reed pen, and if nothing better were in use nowadays the tale of ready writers turned out by our schools would be appreciably lessened. Much of the laborious practice necessary before good work could be done with the calamus was due to its im- perfect point; and, while a clever penman rarely—per- haps !—perpetrated a blot, there was always the uncom- fortable possibility that his point would catch in the papyrus and make a terrible mess of testament or epistle. It was the same in varying degree with the pens that - followed for long century after century—nearly nineteen of them—until a series of inventions culminated in “cir- cular-pointed” pens. It is a far cry from such an implement as the sions to the finished product of the modern pen maker. Re- garded in the light of its recent development ana the per- fection of that development, the steel pen is nothing less than a marvel of manufacturing skill. \ Every pen may be, said with truth to possess a per- sonality of its own, and one has to discover this by trial. The pen which really suits one’s hand is one’s other “affinity.” old shoes in the matter of luxury and ease. _ The bold, hard pen which arrogantly signs prodigious | checks; the indurated specimen which daily resists the destructive efforts of learning boys and girls; the courtly nib which impels dainty scribes to indite epistles without ‘end and postscripts without number; the conscientious pen which aids the toil of the bookkeeper : each of these, in a remarkable degree, follows the lines of nature’s own, writing instrument, the reed. _ The man who has little writing to do may not be very critical, but those who write daily require a pen which responds with the least friction—and with total absence of scratching or spurting—to the ey considerable de- mands made upon it. - Such pens as these have been made hossible by an in- -— vention which rounds off the points, which otherwisé have the nasty habit of digging inté the paper, and turn- _ ing impassioned periods into impassioned blots. | | j ¥ it : ‘CHARACTER TOLD BY TONGUE. Germany has taken up the pastime of reading charac- ter and telling fortunes by the tongue. A long tongue is said to denote openness of character; it suggests gen- _ erosity and free-handedness. Its possessor makes friends _ and enemies easily, but does not save money. } “When the tongue is long and thick the openness de- i generates into a tendency to gossip ‘and scandal. The’ of his own 7 future of the owner is beset with troubl making. It also indicates flightiness and inconsistency. ~ Short tongues indicate secretiveness and dissimulation. _ Their owners make good detectives and attorneys. The owner may acquire some money by economy and guile, but has not largeness of spirit to, make a great fortune. ‘Very thin, pointed tongues are found in different people ee. are supposed not to succeed in life. . Short and broad ones accompany | craft did: falen Bi ey ae who has’ stich a tongue | is eotnpelie by, It is desirable as the traditional old chair and ° it to deceive and betray, whatever effort he may make to keep straight. The vibrant, quivering tongue denotes the artistic tem- perament. Brilliant carmine hue ts a sign of long life; pale-pink tongue denotes both weakness of character and heey of constitution. However, like most fads and newfangled amusements of this sort, these theories can be taken with a large pinch of salt! a ce, oe TREATMENT OF BURNS. The ser thing to do, writes a medical gentleman, whether the burn is large or small, is to submerge it in water, which will keep the air away from it and alleviate the smarting; then, as soon as possible, apply a paste made of carbonate of soda and water. Spread it on the burned surface, cover with cloths, and keep saturated with water. This mode of treatment destroys the pain, expedites recovery, and prevents blistering. There is no better remedy known, If it is applied. promptly and properly, the skin will form a hard, dry covering over the burn, and no blistering will occur. If a blister is formed, it should be carefully punctured to let the water out and let the skin down upon the raw surface. If a burn is treated antiseptically—and this manner of treat- ment is antiseptic—there will be no suppuration, The dressing need not be changed, but more of the carbonate - 4 of soda may be added, if washed away by the application of water. The less the dressing is moved the better. o.~< or,t@ > SOME ROYAL MASCOTS. Most people possess a mascot of some kind or other to which they pin their faith, and it is said that royalty is no exception to the rule. The present King of Engtand is said to possess a little brass figure of Britannia, with a crown in her outstretched | hands and at her feet a crouching lion; this he considers a mascot, and, although it is only about four inches in — height, he insists on having it placed on the radiator Gs whatever motor car in which he may ride. fia Queen Mary, of England, is said not to be supersti- e tious, but, even so, she possesses one or two charms. for which she has a great liking. One of these is a little _i¥ory dog given her many years ago, and she wears it on a bangle. Emperor William, of Germany, has a ring vehteh’ hes wears at all times, and he regards it as a particular talis- man. ‘There is a curious history attached to this ring, and, whether it is all superstition or not, the ring seems — In the time to possess value in the eyes of the kaiser. of Elector John, of Brandenburg, one of the kaiser’s an cestors, a’ toad entered his room and left a small stone on his bed; this stone was of no particular value, but ever since then it has been treasured by the house Hohenzollerns, and the present emperor wears the. ti in which that stone is set. _ Few people know that the late King Bdward wore a : gold bangle or bracelet on his left wrist. He was ne without it, and it became quite a familiar object to th in close contact with him. This mascot has tragic ie ciations, as it belonged to the ill-fated Emperor Max milian, of Mexico, who wore it always and from” “arm it was removed after his execution; later ‘it into the Spleen at King Edward, - ae Pile ata Se ae ae ee oS oe Oe . ae os “2s mee Re Effort Made to Discover Cause of High Mor- tality Among Children. In an effort to discover the cause of the high mortality among children in the United States, the children’s bureau of the department of commerce and labor have begun the new year with a nation-wide, house-to-house canvass. The information gathered will be care- fully scanned in the hope that some remedy may ,be, found to overcome the mortality, which is higher than in most other coun- tries, Mothers will be interrogated concern- ing the housing and feeding of their chil- dren, the sanitary conditions of the neigh- borhood, and other questions that might lead to ‘discovery of the causes of illness and death among juveniles. Women in- vestigators will be employed for the most part, according to Miss Julia Winthrop, chief of the bureau. Shoots Sea Gull 43 Years Old. M. Blondeau, of Quimperle, Brittany, was out shooting a short time ago when he brought down a sea gull. Attached to one of its legs was a ring with the inscrip- tion in English: “1869. Return to the Zoological Station at Heligoland.” In 1869 Heligoland (now Helgoland) was a British possession. M. Blondeau has preserved the bird in the hope of as- certaining whether it was as old as the date on the ring would indicate. Use Perfume to Catch Thief, Perfume was used by detectives in Chi- cago in solving the mysterious disappear- ances of small sums of money from the vaults of the University of Chicago press building. For six weeks money has been taken from the safe where postage stamps and change from the cash register are kept. . A few weeks ago detectives were put to work to catch the thief. They suggested perfuming the money with a strong scent and posed as workmen remodeling the building. When William Mahler, seventeen years old, a shipping clerk, entered the vault to put the postage stamps away for the night he ignored the presence of the detectives and opened the compartment where the change from the cash register was kept. He took $2.25 from the vault, according to the detectives, and was leaving with the money when they noticed the odor of the perfume as Mahler passed them. They stopped the boy and demanded the money. This frightened Mahler, who handed over the $2.25 which he still held in his hand, and was then arrested. Later in a confession made to the police, ' the boy said he was induced. to steal to gratify his desire to own an aéroplane. Law Unable to Stop “Shadow.” _ A remarkable story\was related at the Highgate, London, police court by a young _ man who applied for a summons against another man. _ He told the magistrate that some months ago he summoned the man for threatenin him, and. the man was then Ete Since that time the man had persistently NEW TIP TOP. WEEKLY. NEWS TEEMS OF INTEREST. followed him and his wife about wherever they -went, although they lived at Finchley and he at Crouch End. The man never said anything to them, but simply followed them, and when they went indoors he walked up and down outside, watching the house. “It’s not that I mind much,” added the applicant, “but it’s not very nice for my wife.” The magistrate professed himself quite unable to assist the applicant. “The man is quite entitled to the use of the road,” he added, “and in following you and your wife he is offending against no statute. He is quite within the ‘limits of the law.” Plays in Cage to Foil Assassin. The “Black Hand” sent M. Mitnitzky, the celebrated Russian violinist, a letter re- cently threatening him with death if he did not forward $250. M. Mitnitzky is so ter- ror-stricken that he has armed _ himself with two Browning pistols, and only ap- pears on the platform in a solid iron and steel cage, with only a few loopholes through which the sound of his violin, can be heard. Sugar Crop Now Has New Pest to Fight. The country’s principal sugar supply is in danger of being attacked by dangerous plant diseases and insect pests, according to a bulletin of the department of agri- culture. To consider the advisability of establishing a quarantine against these dan- gers to cane sugar the department of ag- riculture held a hearing on January 7th. Santa Claus Killed by His Big’ Fur Coat. Alderman James Mackay, manager of one of the biggest business concerns in Hamilton, Canada, is dead because he played Santa Claus at a children’s enter- tainment at St. Joseph’s Church. Becoming overheated while wearing a heavy fur coat, he took ill suddenly. As he reached home in a cab, he said: “I feel sick and think I am dying.” In a few minutes he was dead. Latest Story About Pitcher “Crazy” Schmidt. Fred (“Crazy”) Schmidt} who pitched for Baltimore in 1901, when/John McGraw was manager for the Orioles, has been the hero of many stories during his eccentric diamond career. Here is the latest: Last summer Schmidt did some scouting for McGraw in the Wis- consin-Illinois League. Incidentally he a a few games for the Fond du Lac club. One day the team was playing Rockford, the leaders in the pennant race. Schmidt's team were the tailenders. Along about the seventh inning, with Rockford leading by 4 to 0, the first man up got on. Schmidt pitched out three times in an attempt ‘to get the runner going down to second base, but the runner made no attempt to purloin the sack. With the count three and nothing on the batter he proured the next one only to \ \ have the batter lean on it and drive it over the left-field fence for a home run. After’ the runners had circled the bases , the umpire threw up another ball. Schmidt’ took it, shook his head, and walked over to Bobby Lynch, who was playing third base, and was captain and manager:of the team, and said to him: “Say, Bobby, no wonder I can’t beat these fellows: I won’t pitch against them any longer. I quit right now. They don’t know how to play baseball, and yet they are lead- ing in this league. The runner that was on first base just let me waste three balls and yet he does not attempt to steal. Then when I put one over for the batter, who has three balls and no strikes, he hits it, Tell me, how can a man of my intelligence and baseball knowledge pitch a game of baseball against such bonehead and unscien- tific playing of the game?” Banana to Reduce Living Cost. The humble but nutritious banana, in the opinion of American Consul Julius D. Dreher, at. Port Antonio, Jamaica, must be reckoned with as a real factor in re- ducing the “high cost of living.” The United States consumes five times as much of the fruit as any other single country. “It is encouraging in this day of the ‘high cost of living,” says Mr. Dreher, in his report to the bureau of foreign and do- mestic commerce, “to have good reasons for believing that the banana is destined to play no small part in meeting the world’s demand for a larger and cheaper supply of wholesome food.” Drought and, hurricanes, however, have worked havoc with the Jamaican crop, al- though Consul Dreher believes that in- creased yields in the other West Indian islands and in Central America may make up the deficiency. In the fiscal year end- ing June 30 last the bananas exported from Jamaica alone, according to Mr. Dreher, totaled 44,520,539 bunches. Expel College Boys for Smoking. Two students at West Virginia* Wesleyan College have been expelled for smoking cigarettes, and others reported as having violated the college order against cigarettes are on the anxious seat. The names of the expelled students have not been given out, but Jesse B. Small, of Weston, and Arthur P. Howard, of Bluefield, are men- tioned. When the present term began President Carl Doney announced that. cigarette smokin& would not be tolerated, and that students violating this order would — be dismissed. Seven Chargers Killed Under General Custer. There was, perhaps, no more picturesque cavalry commander engaged in the Civil War, North or South, and most certainly none with a more remarkable career, writes General James Grant Wilson in the Bulletin of the ;Society~for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, than George Armstrong — Custer (1839-187 6), who was graduated at the United States Military Academy of | West Point in’ 1861. Entering the army. as — a second lieutenant in that year, he rode ' wasp’s nest. 28 at the head of his cavalry division in the famous Washington review of May,’ 1865, as a major general! While in less than four years’ service he had seven horses killed under him—a greater number it is believed than was lost by any other leader of Union troops who participated in the war—he miraculously escaped both death and wounds.' Among the numerous chargers owned by Custer, his four favorites were Don Juan, Jack Rucker, Dandy, and Vic. The first mentioned was a thoroughbred stallion of great speed, strength, and spirit, on which the dashing young sabreur appeared with his celebrated Third Cavalry division in the grand review at the close of the war. When approaching the reviewing stand on which were assembled President John- son and his cabinet, Grant, Sherman, Meade, and many other prominent generals, Don Juan became excited and frightened at the bouquets and wreaths showered upon him and his rider, as well as the wild tempest of cheers that greeted them, and tan away in spite of the efforts of one of the most accomplished horsemen in the army to control him. The youthful major general at length stopped the stallion, and rejoined his command a season to appear with it as the division swept past the re- - viewing stand. Wasps Show Much Industry. Wasps appear to be well-nigh as indus- trious as ants or bees. One authority has declared that the cardinal doctrine of the wasps is: “If any wasp will not work, neither shall he eat.” ; Division of labor is clearly seen in the Some of the workers seem to be specially employed as foragers and soldiers, others appear to be told off as nurses and guardians, while yet others are engaged as papermakers and masons. Wasps are at all times particularly fond of honey. .Toward the end of summer, as all beekeepers know, they will force their way into beehives and carry off by force as much as they can gorge of their winged |\ neighbors’ honey. “ _ The drones of theywasp world, instead of being idle and luxurious, are sober, indus- - trious, and well-behaved members of the community. They clean the streets oftheir town with exemplary. diligence, acting as _ public scavengers’ or sanitary officers. And they have their reward, for, unlike the bee _ drones, they live their allotted life in peace and quietness until winter involves both them and their maiden sisters in one com- mon cataclysm of death and destruction. | Naming of Ships a Hard Job. Some recent efforts have shown that the choice of suitable names for steamships is by no means always an easy matter. We know that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” but we also know that many persons not blessed at the outset with ae happy patronymics have considered it to their advantage to effect a change. Cer- tainly, the names of some ships seem to carry good fortune with them; others only bring ill luck. There are one or two ames that could be mentioned which no ritish shipowner is likely to use again, ey have been used persistently, but the vessels so-called have always closed their areers abruptly. The selection of the name important on other grounds. rs Passen- NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. gers, for instance, would never be en- couraged to travel. in vessels quite unsuit- ably described. ‘The TJoiler, for instance, the name of the new British cargo vessel fitted with oil engines, is thoroughly well adapted for a ship destined to spend her career toiling through the waters with heavy cargoes of iron ore, but it would be quite out of place on the bows of a pleas- ure-cruising steamer. The Arcadian, as the Royal Mail Company think, is a fitting name for such a craft. The ideal name for the liner, at any rate, should be em- blematic of strength, grace, and the sea through which she is to plow; it should, for telegraphic purposes, not exceed 10 letters, and it should be distinctive. Boy is Born to Kaiser’s Son. © A son was born recently to Prince August William, the fourth son of the emperor, and Princess August William, who was Prin- cess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Hol- stein. The marriage of Prince August William and the princess occurred October 22, 1908, and this is the first child born of the union. Famous Woman Pioneer Dead. Mrs. Mary Ann Robinson, a pioneer, who had many thrilling experiences during the early history of Kansas, died at Leaven- worth recently, aged 87 years. Her husband, who was an abolitionist, was once captured by a band of proslavery men, who set about hanging him in his own yard. Just as the noose was slipped over his head, Mrs. Robinson covered his cap- tors with a shot gun, and demanded that her husband be released. The demand was granted, and the men also obeyed her order to get off the premises. Golf Records in 1912, Hundreds of course records have been broken by the golfers during the season of 1912, and in many instances the same golfers have established new figures for more than one links. An instance of this may be cited in Charles Evans, junior, the Western champion and runner-up in the National, Evans\ has placed six to his credit, which compares interestingly with the one long record set up at Lake Mo- hopac by Jerome D. Travers, the National champion, although Travers played much less than his Western rival. The lewest figures recorded during the year were those of Walter J. Travis last spring at Palm Beach, where he went round in 62 strokes. Miss Lillian B. Hyde, former Metropoli- tan champion, made the lowest mark among |the women, covering the Palm Beach course in 76, The principal record-breaker among } he fair ones, however, was Mrs. Ronald H. Barlow, of the Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia, who set three marks. Mrs. Barlow. was the winner of the Eastern championship for the second cession, but had to bow to Miss Margaret ‘Curtis in the National. Among the professionals, who seemed to have a particular delight in breaking rec- ords, the name of Tom McNamara, the Boston home-bred, who won the Metropoli- tan open title at Apawamis, stands out con- lspicutously, for he has placed four to his credit—at Crow Point, Buffalo, Framing- ham, and Maplewood. Gilbert Nicholls, former Metropolitan champion, and John J, McDermott, the National open champion, }com Tom Anderson, junior,' Wilson. } each have two, ear in stc- - Jeffersonian simplicity is to ma the western. Pennsylvania open title holder, established a 36-hole record at St. Augus- tine, as well as one for 18 holes. Aviatots Can Discover Presence of Subma- - tines at Great Depth. The navy department is bowing to the signal corps, which has announced that aeroplanes can be used for the purpose of discovering the whereabouts and move- ments of submarines. It is said that experiments at Annapolis have developed the fact that the operators in the air craft can discover the presence ' of the under-water. terrors without glasses, although they may be at a considerable depth. This, in the opinion of naval officers, may advance the plan of having aéroplanes as a part of the equipment of all the fight- ing craft in the United States navy.. 750 Bad Railroad Ties in 150,000. The public service commission of the second district, after an investigation of the ties-and rails of the New Haven road within this State reports: “The principal defects found were in the chestnut ties which were laid in the track about the year 1908. Approximately 750° — of these ties were found to be bad, out of 150,000, or practically one-half of 1 per cent. As these ties were scattered in the track and were practically all on straight line, they did not occasion a dangerous condition at any spot, and the amount of the tie renewals. which your company contem- plates making will cover much more than the number of seriously defective ties which were found. Inspectors noticed that many ties were being renewed which, in | their judgment, would last at least another _ year. ord “Certain defects in rails were observed | which are embodied in the report, and we _ feel that some of these rails should have | been discovered and removed earlier by the section men. 0% “The general conclusions are that it is— the opinion of the inspectors that your tracks are in safe condition, and that the standards of construction and material are of a high order, but it is thought that the tie renewals; should have been made earlier, and that considerable improvement is possible in the detailed supervision of the maintenance work.” ihe J End of Another New York Landmark, — Like so many old teeth, New York is © pulling out one by one most of the few old landmarks that are left among the newer. buildings. : ; Oe ee The passing of the old Grapevine, a little gable-roofed ale house at Sixth Avenue and Eleventh Street was announced for the New Year to give place to a modern struc ture for other purposes. gi oty - Alec McClelland, a Scot, who has pre sided over its musty ale and mutton pie — for 40 years, is going into retirement. old two-story frame house has many tions, and in its time has been visited b many distinguished persons. The last m of ale was served across its bar when old year passed out. gai Jeffersonian Simplicity Will Mark the In- augutation of Wilson, . wif coming inauguration of President lec st ‘There will probably be the gr ‘ ff Tae vie ee “Dean MeClenahan with est outpouring of people that has ever -marked the inauguration of any president, but, according to Chairman William C. Eustis, of the committee, there will be no ostentations. He contends that true democracy de- mands that there be no display, and he is upheld by Thomas Nelson Page, who is quoted as saying: “President Jefferson’s act of riding up Pennsylvania Avenue on horseback has been derided, but: the people who have studied history have realized that he did it in’a dignified manner and his inaugura- tion had at least as much real dignity and true simplicity as that of any president.” The subscriptions to the $150,000 fund for the inaugural affair is growing ‘fast, notwithstanding the Christmas season. It undoubtedly will be oversubscribed. Praise for Subway Guard. Subway guard No. 02528 established a Christmas precedent in New York, which is receiving considerable publicity. While down the long course of subway stations the guards were pursuing their usual tac- tics in moving the Christmas crowds and shouting “step lively; let ’em off; stop yout pushing” in fretful mood because they had to work during the holiday, No. 02528 introduced an innovation that was conspicu- ous in the crush at the Grand Central sub- way station. “Give your fellow men a chance,” he pleaded to the crowd. “Just a little peace and good will now. Remember it’s the Merry Christmas.” ~ It was a remarkable effect his words seemed to have, for men and women stood politely and in many instances stopped to compliment the unknown for his courtesy and to wish him many returns of the day. Stadium for Princeton. The big football stadium which is being _ planned for Princeton will, according to the statement credited to Dean Howard Mc- Clenahan, chairman of the athletic control of the university, rival the Harvard Sta- dium and the amphitheater contemplated by. Yale. é' the committee - composed of three members of the faculty and three members of the alumni and three _ undergraduates, compose the body govern- ing athletics ab Tigertown. The plan is to _ build a stadium to seat 50,000 persons. The - project will cost more than $300,000, and already pledges for’ more than $100,000 _ have been received from Princeton adher- ents. According to the statement credited to Dean McClenahan, this amount is suf- _ ficient to assure the building of the stadium. ‘The committee of athletic control will soon take the matter up with the graduate coun- cil of Princeton for its approval. . “The stadium,” said Dean McClenahan, “will be of steel and concrete, oval in shape, and open at one end, and similar in shape to the Harvard Stadium. We own he necessary land adjoining the baseball jiamond. Plans have been made and esti- mates prepared, aud our committee will shortly meet with the graduate council to go over this important matter, and I hope 1 definitely settle the details. This mat- thas very recently taken shape, and I am ‘sure Princeton’s sons will respond to the a Bory. Hog . SM Dean McClenahan stated that there was general Teorgamization of athletics at beh NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. Princeton, and that hereafter the supreme control would rest with the graduate com- mittee. Keene Fitzpatrick, the Tiger trainer, has signed for a term of years, and Bill Clarke, the baseball coach, will probably do the same, “The stadium,” said Dean McClenahan, “will be an inspiration, and before another year has passed I hope to see it under way.” English Aviator Killed Attemping a Non- stop Flight. The airman, Edward Petre, was killed re- cently while attempting a nonstop flight from Weybridge to Edinburgh, a distance of 420 miles. He had covered two-thirds of the jour- ney and had reached a Yorkshire seaside resort, Marske-by-the-Sea, when he was overtaken by a gale, which overpowered the machine and brought it to the ground, smashing it to pieces. The airman’s neck was broken. Petre was the twenty-second British air victim and the fifteenth in the past year. Aéroplane fatalities have decreased in the last couple of months. Since the begin- ning of the month of December five air- men have lost their lives, and in the previ- ous month six were killed, as compared to thirteen killed in October and eighteen in September, III. \ The death of Mr. Petre brings the num- ber of aéroplane fatalities since 1908 to 217, 107 of these having occurred in 1912, Big Drydock for Boston, Three million dollars has been appro- priated by the directors of the port of Boston for one of the largest drydocks in North America. It will accommodate a ship 1,000 feet long ‘and 120 feet wide. The directors’ actiom followed the reading of a letter from P. A. S. Franklin, vice president of the White Star Line. He ex- pressed the willingness of certain steamship companies to unite in paying $50,000 a year for twenty years to provide for a drydock at this port capable of receiving a steam- ship of the largest size, World’s Crop Figures. The international institute of agriculture; at Rome, has reported to the department of agriculture on the 1912 crop figures. Ac- cording to the institute the production of wheat in Germany was 160,227,000 bushels; rye, 456,608,000 bushels; oats, 586,999,000 bushels, and barley 159,927,000 bushels. Austria ‘produced: wheat, 69,640,000 bush- els; rye, 117,114,000 bushels; oats, 167,425,- 000 bushels, and barley, 78,384,000 bushels. In tén European countries and Canada‘ the production of sugar beets was 136 per cent of last year’s production. | The production of cotton is estimated by the institute to be more than 9,000,000,000 pounds in the United States, India, Japan, and Egypt, or nearly four per cent less than last year’s crop. gah ie ‘Walks With Neck Broken. Waldorf ‘Miller, who contrary to the pre- dictions of many physicians has lived for nearly eighteen months with a broken neck, celebrated Christmas by going for his first walk in the street since the night of July 3, 1911, when he dived from the rocks at Hudson Park, New Rochelle, and broke ; Jimm his;neck. For several weeks before Christ-| who hac played with many Paster mas he had been walking on crutches in the house, and recently he led the grand march, supported by two friends, at a ball given for his benefit in New Rochelle. Long after his accident he was unable to move a muscle below his shoulders, but his legs have become stronger and he has better control over all his muscles. Waldorf Miller’s case has attracted much attention. He has had letters from many victims of accidents similar to his, and he has sent Christmas greetings to them all. . John M. Zimmer, of Irwin, Iowa, wrote: “T read of your dccident in a paper, and, as given there, your experience up to a cer- tain point was exactly like my own.” He was injured seven years ago. Walter B. Lawrence, of 44 Woodland Avenue, Summit, N. J., who broke his neck in August, 1911, and who is now able to walk a little, has exchanged experiences with young Miller. Miller’s letters to Doc- tor Faulkner, of 200 King Street, Kinston, N. C., who broke his neck diving in April, 1911, have cheered the young physician so that there is hope for his recovery where there was none before they began to cor- respond, Doctor Faulkner, who up to a short time ago was unable to move, accord- ing to his letters, has improved greatly. Jim Thorpe Chief Athletic Star of the Year. Looking back over the past year, sport- ing authorities have no trouble in seeing _ one athlete who has risen to fame within — the twelve months. Jim Thorpe easily © ranks first, head and shoulders above the rest. Early in the summer the Indian shone at the intercollegiate track meet and won the all-around championship of the Amateur Athletic Union. Then he went to Stockholm, Sweden, and in the Olympic games proved himself to be the greatest: | all-around athlete in the world. Last fail he starred on the gridiron, being the great- est score maker among the college foot- ball players. “Smoky Joe” Wood is another hero of 1912. As pitcher for the Boston Red Sox he made a remarkable record during the season, and contributed largely to the vic- tory of the American Leaguers in the world’s series. Christy Mathewson, of the New York Giants, also earned a place. The year’s losses among the active play- ers and old-time stars of the diamond in- cluded the following: Arthur (“Bugs”) Raymond, formerly pitcher for the New | York Giants; Jimmy, Doyle, third baseman — of the Chicago Cubs; Clarence (“Cupid”) Childs, who made his greatest reputation with the Cleveland Nationals; Sam _ Bar- clay, a star player with the St. Louis Browns in the early ’80s; Charles (“Lefty”) Marr, who played with the Cincinnati Reds — in 1890-1; Frank Gray Ward, another old — National Leaguer; William J. Finley, who | caught for the New York Giants in 1889; Al Barker, who umpired for the National League in the early 7os; Edward Ashe bach, a scout for the Cincinnati club, and the reputed discoverer of Pitcher Mathew- son; “Ace” Stewart, once a player ‘with the Chicago Nationals; “Tug” Arundel, who caught for Indianapolis and were fon in the old National League; H. H. Blakeley, at one time a pitcher for the Athletics; George Amole, for several year a star twirler in the old Atlantic League; Edward Sdles, at one time a player with the Pittsburgh Nationals; Knowles and later in his “7% by 7 career managed teams 39° Elmira and Atlanta; Steve Lambert, an old-time player and later a big-league’ um- pire; Pembroke Finlayson, formerly of the Brooklyn team; “Heiny” Heitmuller, of the Los Angeles Pacific Coast League team; James Frick, of the Oakland Pacific Coast League team; Henry Gehring, a pitcher for the Kansas City team; Frank Murphy and Gus Eng, both players with the Rock Island team of the Three I League last season; Frank Rhoton, second baseman of the Knoxville team of the Appalachian League ; ok T. Beach, of the Baltimore team of the Eastern League, and William Craig, pitcher for the Steubenville, Ohio, team. / Gus Ruhlin, ‘the old-time heavyweight fighter, and Johnny Reagan, the former lightweight champion, were the conspicu- ous losses in pugilism. Other fighters and ex-fighters who died during the year were Jack O’Keefe, an old-time Chicago light- weight; Dave Holly, a colored lightweight well known a decade or more ago; Paul Kohler, a Cleveland welterweight of prom- ise; Jack Flannigan, the Cambridge light- weight, and Charles Ellis, a negro welter- weight, who met death in a bout in Cleve- land on February 22. Well-known horsemen, included among the dead of the year were William Jen- nings, of Baltimore; Samuel Bell, senior, of Wooster, Ohio; Peter V. Johnston, a well-known driver, of Kalamazoo, and Horace W. Wilson, for many years secre- ‘tary of the Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders’ Association. -and Henry Spencer, both famous old-time jockeys, passed away during the year. Training at Annapolis. _ With a view to increasing the efficiency of the marine corps, Major General Wil- liam P. Biddle, commandant of the organi- zation, has recommended that the officers of the corps be trained at the naval acad- emy at Annapolis. His recent recommendation urged that such officers have training in the academy on the ground that it would serve to in- crease the efficiency of the service. It is also recommended by General Biddle that civilian appointees shall be between the age of 19 and 23 years. Goats to Reduce Living Cost, “El Paso people and all other people in these United States:who complain of the high price of beef in the retail markets should eat more goat meat. It is cheaper and just as good when properly prepared -and properly cooked,” is a remark which is heard in cattle circles at times, and one _ which is becoming more frequent. + “Cattle prices are going to come down - with a crash pretty soon if these continued sky-high figures are not checked, because the people will quit buying beef,” is another remark heard at times. An answer is given to that by other cowmen, who say that it is true already that many people have quit buying beef, but at the same time cattle are growing scarcer, and: that portion of the public which continues and will continue to eat beef is keeping prices up. _ “Goats—eat goat meat,” says the goat man, and he declares that folks ought to read their Bibles more, and they would re- member that in the patriarchal days, those times when Abraham went down into the lower country, and later, when Isaac and Jacob had great flocks and herds mowing NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. grass, that the kid was the piece de résist- ance of those people, and they were people who were epicures, even if they did live a nomadic life. On the Kansas City market a few weeks ago a bunch of 3906 New Mexico yearling sheep, which averaged 79 pounds, sold for $5.35 a hundred. On the same day, in the same market, a shipment of 124 goats, which averaged 74 pounds, sold for $3.10 a hundred. It will be observed that the weights were practically the same. Now, why this wide difference in price, may be asked—the mutton at $5.35 a hundred and the goat meat at $3.10? Some _ persons would say the reason for the big dif- ference in price is that a great. majority of people will not eat goat meat—if they know it to be such. Gem Imbedded in Flesh, A man who gave his name as Hitchcock had a diamond weighing a karat and a half cut out of the flesh of his arm, at San Bernardino, Cal., recently. He said that the gem was sewed in his flesh in South Africa. Hitchcock asked the surgeon to do the job in a hurry because he wanted to give the diamond to his wife. Hitchcock re- “Monk”: Coburn fused to give his reason for having the gem imbedded in his flesh. ‘ Swimming’s Odd Showing for 1912, Probably the most curious feature of the year of 1912 in swimming was the in- ability of the record-breakers in free-style swimming to win the championship title—a rather remarkable state of affairs, though most gratifying, inasmuch as it shows that progress was great and that several men are close rivals for every event on the calendar. While Kenneth Huzzagh, of the Chicago Athletic Association, lowered Heb- ner’s fifty-yard standard from 0:24 4-5 to 0:23 3-5, it was his clubmate, Phil Mallen, who took the National title, and although Harry Hebner, of the Illinois Athletic Club, rswam the fastest indoor hundred of the ssason, Duke Kahanamoku, of Hawaii, won the championship, and notwithstand- ing the latter’s creation of a 220-yard open-water standard of 2:40, national hon- ors at the distance went to Perry Mc- Gillivray, of the Illinois Athletic Club. ‘In spite of McGillivray’s having negotiated the quarter mile in 5:23 2-5, which per- formance ousted Daniels’ reigning figures of 5:31 2-5, the championship event was captured by Richard Frizell, of the City Athletic Club of New York. And in all but one instance the record holders com- peted in the titular races, | 3ud Goodwin, of the New York Athletic Club, was the only crack who made an ex- ception to the general rule, He not only placed both the 880-yard and one-mile em- blems of supremacy to his credit, but he covered the longer distance across tidal former mark of 25:40 3-5. In other branches of the sport the line was distinctly drawn, Harry Hebner had no worthy rival in backstroke swimming, and, besides winning everything at home and at Stockholm, he established a 150-yard tecord which brought down his own best’ time from 1:56 4-5 to 1:52, Michael Mc- Dermott, of the Chicago A. A., proved in a class by himself in breast-stroke swimming, and bettered his own 200-yard standard from 2:43 2-5 to 2:38 4-5. B. F. Willis, of water in 25:36 1-5, robbing Reilly of the) Pennsylvania, was easily the peer of plungers for distance, and boosted Millard Kaiser’s mark from 75 feet I1 inches to 80 feet. Similarly, in relay racing, the sprinters of the Illinois A. C.’ discounted the best efforts of their nearest opponents. Winans, McGillivray, Raithel, and Hebner reduced the 160-yard record from 1:21 to 1:18 3-5, and, though the performance was not officially recognized, there is small doubt of its correctness, for later this same quartet pulled the New York A. C.’s 4o0- yard figures from 3:55 3-5 to 3:51 2-5, and with Foster completing 500 yards, put down the Mercury Footers’ time from 4:57 to 4:52 3-5. The foregoing performances give a clear idea of what was done by the topnotchers, but far more significant of the rapid strides being made in swimming was the work of the budding material, Five hundred en- tries were received for the elementary school championship meet in New York alone. High-school boys by the dozen are covering 50 yards around 0:26, 100 yards in or under one minute, 220 yards in about 2:40, and showing from 60 to 65 feet in the plunge. Among the most worthy achievements of the year are to be classed the introduction of an up-to-date, complete code for fancy diving in the books of the Amateur Ath- letic Union, the formulation of new rules for rescuing and resuscitating the appar- ently drowned based on the latest scientific discoveries of all nations, and the adoption of soccer water polo, instead of the Ameri- can game as the recognized national form of aquatic pastime. - \ Competitive, performances were not the only noteworthy happenings in swimming this year, for the greatest feat of endur- ance ever accomplished in this country was the Delaware Bay swim of Charles Dur- borow, of the Philadelphia S. C. Dur- borow negotiated it in 14 hours and 15 minutes, during which he used the trudgeon stroke continuously, 191% miles of charted water, but over forty miles, according to the course that tides and currents forced him to follow. Experts assert that both in distance and difficulty of conditions the journey is equal to the crossing of the English Channel. This Boxer Does Training on the Desert. George V. Brown, of the Boston Athletic Associatfon, has received a letter from Ed- mund Beley, junior, the former New Eng- land amateur 158-pound boxing champion, saying that he is attached to the Seventh Groupe Autonome d’Artillerie a Pied d’Africa, and will compete in the French military boxing championship to be held in Paris, January 22. Beley is now at Bizerte Tunis, Africa, and has enlisted for two years in the French army. He claims the unique honor of being the only amateur to have competed in amateur boxing in America, Europe, and Africa. He writes of ‘his training experiences, and says that his running, over the desert sand causes the Arabs to. wonder if he is crazy. Beley an- nounces that he will be back to compete in the National A. A. U. championships. in 1914. Forced to Cut Rates by Parcel Post. Cea Boarding-house keepers all over the coun- try may celebrate, for the express com- panies have been compelled by the govern- _ ment to cut down the rate on prunes. It — f j pact was brought about through the of ’ the parcel post. Doetor Charles F. Grandfield, ant postmaster general, recently received from a San Diego, Cal., grower the an- nouncement ‘that the latter proposed to send by* parcel post two carloads of prunes to New York, It was a “freak” shipment, and was to be sent in eight-pound boxes, The rate would have been 96 cents. The ex- press companies promptly cut their rate to 35 cents. b, Doctor Grandfield believes that the parcel ' post eventually will force express rates down to “rock bottom.” In the meantime, prunes probably will be more popular than ever on boarding-house. tables. agency first assist- a a ee cere ae Seat een ere Experienced Horsemen Will Direct Govern- ment’s Breeding Farm. The secretary of ‘agriculture has an- nounced the appointment of a board of ex- perienced horsemen to direct the govern- ment in breeding horses for military purposes, provision for which was made recently by the appropriation of $50,000 by Congress. ‘The men selected by Secretary Wilson and Secretary Stimson are: Henry Fairfax, of Virginia, for thor- oughbreds; C. L. Railey, of Kentucky, for American saddle horses; Walter Palmer, of Illinois, for. standard breeds; Maxwell 2. Eyarts, of Vermont, for Morgans; Lieu- yt ~~ tenant Colonel D. S, Stanley, quartermas- a ter corps, to represent the army, ae George at M. Rommel, chief of the animal husbandry division, to represent the department of agriculture, iF Thirteen stallions have been bought and +a others will be secured during the winter, q Those already bought by the ee are: Thoroughbreds, Gold Heels and Charcot; saddle horses, YoungBill, Fair Acre King, and Richmond Choice; standard « breds. MacNyme Sidler, Begue, Twilight M., and Lord Rion; Morgans, Daniel Webster Lambert, Madison Lambert, and Prince M., all of which have conspicuous records in _ the show ring or on the turf. Distinguished Dead of 1912, Among kings and statesmen who de- partie this world during the year just closed, José Canalejas, premier of Spain, - was assassinated, and Count Alois Lexa d’Aehrenthal, Austria- Hungary’s minister bet aie: foreign affairs, alied before the war ‘ cloud in the Balkans began to flash its —lightnings over Europe. Frederick VIII. of Denmark.reealled by his demise the ex- istence of that peaceful little realm. Mut- - suhito, emperor of mightiest Japan, passed suki Nogi, a suicide, his great general and supreme councilor, Luitpold, venerable _ prince regent of Bavaria, died at ninety- one. Whitelaw Reid, ambassador to Great Britain, was the last of our statesmen dy- ing, following Vice President James ~Schooleraft Sherman, and United States Senator Isidor Rayner. James Baird Weaver headed the short-lived People’s Party in 1880, William Bayard Cutting was a lawyer and civic leader in New York. Finally ‘the foreign minister of ‘the German empiré, Alfred von Kiderlen- . Waechter died as the year was closing, Of military and naval men General Frederick Dent, Grant, Rear Admiral Rob- ley .D. Evans, Rear Admiral George Wal- lace e Melville, and Lieutenant General Ar to his ancestors, followed by Count (reaee NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. thur MacArthur were of note in this coun- try. William Booth, founder and general of the Salvation Army, represented the militancy of: the soul. Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, brought healing to. battlefields of men at war with each other and with nature. Doctor Horace Howard Furness was a great. Shakespearean scholar, ranked with Walter W. Skeat, the British philologist. William Watson Goodwin, of Harvard, was known to every student of Greek. Henry Labouchere was founder of the London Truth and a brilliant orator, and Andrew Lang was the Scotch poet, critic, and essayist. Abbé Charles Loyson, known s “Pére Hyacinthe,” was a pulpit orator and religious dissenter. Margaret E, Sang- ster wrote books exalting the home, Justin McCarthy was the Irish novelist and his- torian. John Henry Holmes was a noted Boston journalist, and . William Penn Nixon published the Chicago I/nterocean. Sir Laurence Alma-Tadema, the painter, and Daniel Hudson Burnham; the architect, lived to a ripe age, So did Norman Shaw, one of the largest figures in British archi- tectural history. Francis D. Millet, artist and author, was drowned in the Titanic, with William Stead, the British journalist; Charles Melville Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railway; Benjamin Guggen- heim, the mine owner; John Jacob Astor, and Isidor Straus, the merchant and phi- lanthropist, and his devoted wife. Annie Yeamans, the aged actress, and Minnie Hauk, the opera singer, are remembered by the older generation. Baron Joseph Lister, the surgeon, discovered the anti- septic treatment that revolutionized hospi- tal practice. Henry Fink, the railroad manager; Ed- win Hawley, railroad president and finan- cier, and Gustav H, Schwab, retired ship merchant, were prominent in public affairs. The spirit of Paul Smith, the Adirondack guide and hotel keeper, may still haunt his native woods. Parachute to Save Airmen, Baron Odkolok, who has invented a new acroplane parachute, designed to reduce to a minimum the dangers encountered by aviators while in flight, is making a series of experiments in France with the ap- paratus near Paris. sists of a parachute of new design, which is attached to the flyer. The weight of the parachute is but 12 pounds, The plan is to attach it to a small cannon, from which a string is tied to the aviator. When the moment of danger arrives, the aviator arises and the cannon goes off, throwing the parachute and the aviator free from. the machine; the baron jis conducting. his experiments with dum- mies, sending them up in miniature aéro- planes of which are placed cannon so arranged as to be discharged automatically when. high in the air, Ballers Cost Mote ihe United States Government. — According to a bulletin issued by the in- terstate commerce commission recently, it costs more to the public to maintain rail- ‘roads in the United States in one year than it does to run the United States government for two years. - Between July, 1911, and. May, 1 the ‘total operating revenues of steam Sed in py States was Ha.5a7 208 aN. 18, a pie The contrivance con- $ 31 The total operating expenses amounted to $1,747,083,672.65.. The net revenues were $779,314,832.53, In May. last, railroads earned $226,563,- 028.47, spending $161,680,372.88 for mainte- nance, and derived a profit of $64,882,- 372.88. Will Have $40,000,000 Surplus from Our Prosperity, The prosperity of the country was re- flected in the condition of the United States treasury at the close of the calendar year 1912, which also marked the end of the first half of the fiscal year 1913. Secretary MacVeagh. estimates that on June 30 next ~ there will be a surplus of $40,000,000 in the ordinary receipts of the government. At the close of business on the last day of 1912 the ordinary receipts of the gov- ernment for the first half of the current fiscal year aggregated $346,964,022.45, while the ordinary disbursements during the same period were $349,781,886.25. This repre- sented a deficit of $2,816,963.80 in the ordi- nary operations of the Federal treasury. It is estimated that the corporation tax SO eer: tions this year will aggregate about $29 000,000, of which about $27,000,000 is yet % be collected. The bulk of this tax will not be paid until June 30 next, but it is just as certain a collection as if it were all in the treasury at this moment, and will wipe out the present deficit of $2,816,963 in the ordinary account, leaving a surplus in ordinary receipts and disbursements of about $25,000,000 as of December 30, 1912, During the balance of the fiscal year, it is estimated, the receipts will exceed disburse- ments by about $15,000,000, which, added to the surplus of $25,000,000 already in sight, gives Secretary MacVeagh’s estimate of a surplus of $40,000,000 in rotind numbers on June 30 next. Up to the close of business in the treas- ury on the last day of 1912 the revenue col- lected from customs amounted to $162,545,- 210.56, as compared with a customs collec- tion of $147,142,849.77 during the first six months of the fiscal year 1912, ended with December, 1911. So far this year the cus- toms revenue is $15,302,370.79 ahead of what it was this time last year. It is esti- mated that the total collection from cus- toms during the fiscal year 1913 -will be 328,000,000, and this leaves $165, 500,000, in round numbers, to be gathered in from the customhouses between January 1 and July | I next. Internal revenue receipts are also increas- ing. The total collection from ordinary in- ternal revenue receipts up to the close of — business for 1912 was $159 ,302,358.73, as compared with $147,75 S 975.58 collected dur- ing the same period last year. Exclusive of the corporation tax, which does not have to be paid before June 30, 1913, the internal revenue collections during the first half of the current fiscal year are therefore $0,606, 383.15 greater than for the same period a year ago, Already there an tees collected $2,203, 332.58 from the corporation tax for the current year, as compared with $1,811,- 845.89 taken in during the first half of the last fiscal year. The bulk of this tax will be paid during the last few days of n June, and the treasury officials are count on not less than $29,000,000 as ‘this fi year’s corporation tax contribution, collections in previous years from the | noe fam which has been collected { i 32 since the Payne law went into effect, in 1909, have been $20,951,000 in the fiscal year 1910, $32,516,000 in the fiscal year 1911, $29,583,000 in the fiscal year 1912, and $20,- 000,000 as the estimated collection to be made during the fiscal year 1913. These figures show the success of the corporation tax as a revenue producer, and indicate that, for the first four years of its operation, it will have increased Uncle Sam’s wealth by $112,050,000, The total amount spent on the purchase and construc- tion of the Panama Canal to this date has been’ $296,818,291.43. At the present rate of collection the corporation taxes paid to the Federal government within ten years will be sufficient to meet all the bills thus far incurred in the canal work. The grand total of the ordinary receipts of the government up to the close of busi- ness for 1912 from customs, internal rev- enue, corporation tax, and miscellaneous sources was $346,964,922.45, as compared with $322,377,787.41 during the same period a year ago. The total ordinary receipts therefore show an increase of $24,587,135 for the first six months of the current year, as compared with the same months last year. The total ardinary disbursements have been $349,781,886.25, as compared with $345,836,357.23 last year, an increase in dis- bursements this year of $3,945,520. The excess of ordinary disbursements over ordinary receipts December 30, 1912, was $2,316,963.80, as compared with a def- icit of $23,458,560.82 in the ordinary opera- tiors of the government one year ago. This is a gain of over $20,000,000 over last year. Although expenditures have been heavier during the past six months than a year ago by $3,945,520, the treasury report showing is far ahead of last year’s because of an increase of $24,908,753 in customs and internal revenue receipts. The disbursements on account of the Panama Canal in 1912 were $20,330,878.32, which have been met entirely out-of the general fund of the treasury, with no sale of Panama Canal bonds. Last year for the same period disbursements for the camal amounted to $18,054,233.53, wholly met by drafts upon the proceeds of Panama Canal bonds, amounting to $33,180,104.15, issued during the past year. The result is a def- -icit of $20,330,878.32 in this year’s Panama - Canal account, as compared with a surplus of $15,134,870.62 in the Panama Canal ac- count on this day last year. The public debt account shows a deficit of $2,807,473 so far this year, as compared | with a deficit of $7,170,067 this time last year. Public debt receipts up to December 30, 1912, amounted to $8,378,187 for the past six months, as compared with $6,617,787 last year. The public debt receipts this year in- clude $854,860 received from the sale of postal savings bank ‘bonds, as compared with receipts of $41,900 from: this source a year ago. Ice-skating Records Made in 1912. Saranac Lake, N. Y., January 4—Ed- ward Lamy made a world’s record of nine seconds for 100 yards, standing start. ote Mass., January 13—Miss Maggie A. Graham, of Ludlow, won the half-mile women’s national skating cham- ee euent, defeating Mrs. Frank McMillan m 1°44 4-5. Cuicaco, January 28—Robert McLean, international amateur skating champion, was defeated by Charles Fischer, of Mil- waukee, in the one-mile invitation race, in NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 3:03. Herman. Leweck tied the world’s record for the backward jump, 3 feet 6 inches. SARANAC Lake, N, Y., January 31—Ed- mund Lamy wrested the ‘title of profes- sional skating champion from Morris Wood, defeating Wood in the half-mile race in 1:57 1-5 and the two-mile race: in 6:55 3-5. Wood won the quarter-mile race in 39 I-5 seconds. StocKHOLM, Sweden, February 11—Oscar Mathieson, the Norwegian skater, was de- clared champion of Europe, having won the 500-meter race in 44 I-5. seconds (a new record), and 5,000-meter race on February 10, and on February 11 the 1,500-meter race in 2:20:6; 10,000-meter match in 18 :03 :8. STOCKHOLM,’ Sweden, February 12—Go- esca Sandahl, of Sweden, won the Euro- pean championship for fancy skating. CLEVELAND, Ohio, February 24—Robert McLean was declared international cham- pion of Canada and the United States after winning all the events in a series of meets, which ended at Cleveland the week of February 24. f Boy Lost October 14 Regains Senses, Norman Willets, five years old, of Phila- delphia, who was knocked senseless on October 14 last and has been unconscious |. ever since, has regained his senses and recognized his’ mother in St. Timothy’s Hospital, He told her that he was hit on the head with a stone by an older boy. It was at first supposed that the youngster had been struck by an automobile. He suffered a compound fracture of the skull, and his mental faculties were so shocked that it was feared he never would regain them. Phosphorous Match Law Called “Godsend.” A “godsend to humanity” was the way Assistant, Secretary of the Treasury Allen described the Esch law, prohibiting the use in this country of the white (poisonous) phosphorous match, after January 1. The new law prohibits the manufacture of the match. It also prohibits traffic in poison- ous phosphorous. “The new law will be a godsend, as it will not only prevent ‘phossy jaw, but stop the source of hundreds and hundreds of fires, and lessen other dangers that accompany the use of the old- -style match,” said Secretary Allen. Lord Kitchener Recruits Village. Lord Kitchener’s practical little way with the natives has just been exemplified by the following incident: A little while ago some officers of the Egyptian army had trouble with the in- habitants of a village in upper Egypt. Inthe ordinary course of events the natives at fault would have been brought before the magistrate and sentenced to a term of im- prisonment. But that is not Lord Kitchener’s way of punishing the Gyppie. He has arranged for one of the officers concerned to proceed to the village in. question in order to re- cruit all the able-bodied men for service in the army. Apart from the Btactichl side of this decision, which consists in giving the wrongdoers healthy drill and exercise, as well as a stern term of discipline in ‘lieu of confinement in prison, a new principle is set up—or rather an old one is revived —thereby, for it makes a whole village re- } tLutz’s sponsible for the behavior of its inhabit- ants. In fact, this is nothing more than put- ting into operation an extension of the old principle of frank pledge, which was so successful in bygone, times. It may be that if this principle is set up in Egypt, it will have more effect on the repression of crime than all the criminal legislation that has been and is being in- troduced. Miscellaneous Records Made in 1912, SKI JUMPING. Ironwoop, Mich., February 18—Sigard Hansen, of Fergus, Minn., equaled the American record_in the tournament of the Ironwood Ski Club, jumping 52 feet. Mopum, Norway, February 18—At the annual tournament of the Gusta Bakken Ski Club, Oscar Gunderson, of Chippewa Falls, Wis., established a new world’s rec- ord by making a standing jump of 163 feet. DOG RACE. Nome, Alaska, April 8—A. A, Allen, driving the team of malamute dogs owned by Mrs. C. E. Darling, of Berkeley, Cal., won the All-Alaska sweepstakes, a distance of 472 miles, from Nome to Candle and return, in 87 hours and 32 minutes. HOMING PIGEONS. Battimore, Md., August 18—Charles bird, six months’ old, flew 1,000 miles from New Orleans in 17 dayS,, DUCKPINS. Battrmore, Md., ge August 17—J. E. Quandt defeated C. Simonds in a duckpin contest with a score of 195 falls. This is believed to be the highest official roll made. LARIAT. Catcary, Alberta, Canada, September 6 —Miss Florence la Due, of Calgary, won the woman’s world’s championship for fancy roping, by defeating Miss Lucile Mulhall, of Oklahoma, former champion. . GOLF. MANCHESTER, Mass., October 5—Miss Margaret Curtis captured the women’s na- tional golf title for the third time when she defeated Mrs. Roland H. Barlow, of Philadelphia, 3 to 2. Automobiles Kill Many in New York, © According to the report of the National Highways Protective Society, of New York, made public recently, automobiles were responsible for 221 deaths in Greater New York during the past year, as against 142 deaths in 1911. The report also shows, that 532 persons, 230 of whom were chil- | dren, were killed in street accidents in the city in 1912, Of. the children killed, 103 . were ruin over by automobiles, 38 were struck by street cars, and 85 were run over by wagons. The report shows that the great majority of automobile accidents | were due to reckless driving. mr Eggs by Parcel Post Expensive. ne A dozen eggs shipped by parcel post . from Harrisburg to Philadelphia—1o4 miles—cost their recipient 83 cents, but ar- rived in good condition. The.eggs cost 38 cents, 15 cents was paid for the package in which they were mailed, and the postage _ was 30 cents, the weight being seven © pounds. The trip took seven hours. A > pound of scrapple sent from Coatesville, Pa., to Philadelphia—39 miles—cost 8 cents postage, the cost of the Seer te vate 15 cents, ae nea ———ALL, OF THE BACK NUMBERS OF TIP TOP WEEKLY THAT CAN NOW BE SUPPLIED ~—Dick Merriwell’s “Double Squeeze.” 596—-Dick Merriwell’s Vanishing. 597—Dick Merriwell Adrift. 598—Dick Merriwell’s Influence. 599—Frank Merriwell’s Worst Boy. 600—F rank Merriwell’s Annoyance. 601—I’rank Merriwell’s Restraint. 602—Dick Merriwell Held Back. 603—Dick Merriwell in the Line. 604—Dick Merriwell’s Drop Kick. 606—F rank Merriwell’s Auto Chase, 607—Irank Merriwell’s Captive. 608—Dick Merriwell’s Value. 609—Dick Merriwell Doped. 610—Dick Merriwéll’s Belief. 611—Frank Merriwell in the Mar- 612—F Fortune. 613—F rank Merriwell on Top. 614—Dick Merriwell’s Trip West. 615—Dick Merriwell’s Predicament. 616—Dick Merriwell in Mystery Valley. 617—Frank Merriwell’s Proposition. 618—Frank Merriwell Perplexed. 619—Frank Merriwell’s Suspicion. 620—Dick Merriwell’s Gallantry. 621—Dick Merriwell’s Condition. a 22_Dick Merriwell’s Stanchness, 23—Dick Merriwell’s Match. 6: °24——Frank Merriwell’s Hard Case. 625—Frank Merriwell’s Helper. 626—F rank Merriwell’s Doubts. 627—F rank Merriwell’s "*Phenom. 628—Dick Merriwell’s Stand. 629—Dick Merriwell’s Circle. 630—Dick Merriwell’s Reach. 631—Dick Merriwell’s Money. 632—Dick Merriwell Watched. 633—Dick Merriwell Doubted. 634—Dick Merriwell’s Distrust. 635—Dick Merriwell’s Risk. 636—Irank Merriwell’s Favorite. 637—lrank Merriwell’s Young Clippers. 640—Dick Merriwell’s Shoulder. 641—Dick Merriwell’s Desperate Work 642—Dick Merriwell’s Example. 643—Dick Merriwell at Gale’s Ferry. 644—Dick Merriwell’s Inspiration. 645—Dick Merriwell’s Shooting. 646—Dick Merriwell in the Wilds. 647—Dick Merriwell’s Red Comrade. 649—F rank Merriwell in the Saddle. 651—F rank Merriwell’s Red Guide, 652—Dick Merriwell’s Rival, 653—Dick Merriwell’s Strength. 654—Dick Merriwell’s Secret Work. 656—lFrank Merriwell’s Red Visitor. 657—F rank Merriwell’s Rope. 658—F rank Merriwell’s Lesson. 659—Frank Merriwell’s Protection. 660—Dick Merriwell’s Reputation. 661—Dick Merriwell’s Motto. 662—Dick Merriwell’s Restraint. 663—Dick Merriwell’s Ginger. 664—Dick Merriwell’s Driving. 665—Dick Merriwell’s Good Cheer, 666—Frank Merriwell’s Theory. 167—F rank Merriwell’s Diplomacy. 668—I rank Merriwell’s Encourage- ment. 669—Frank Merriwell’s Great Work. 670—Dick Merriwell’s Mind, 671—Dick Merriwell’s ‘‘Dip.” 672—Dick Merriwell’s Rally. eri 3—Dick Merriwell’s Flier. 674—F rank Merriwell’s Bullets. 675—Frank Merriwell’s Cut Off. 376—Frank Merriwell’s Ranch Boss. 677—Dick Merriwell’s Equal. 678—Dick Merriwell’s Development. 679—Dick Merriwell’s Eye. 580—F rank Merriwell’s Zest. 681—Frank Merriwell’s Patience. rank Merriwell’s Fight for ” *688—Dick Merriwell, Driver. Grit. 719—Frank 751 wes (92— Dick Merriwell’s Pick-ups. -Dick Merriwell on the ing R. —Dick Merriw ell’s Penetration. Dick Merriwell’s Intuition. Dick Merriwell’s Vantage. 56—Dick Merriwell’s Advice. 757—Dick Merriwell’s Rescue. 7 58- _Dic k Merriwell, American. 759—Dick Merriwell’s Understand- ing. 760—Dick Merriwell, Tutor. 761—-Dick Merriwell’s Quandary. 762—Dick Merriwell on the Boards. 763—Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker. 764—Frank Merriwell’s Sway. 765—Frank Merriwell’s Compre- hension. 766—Frank Merriwell’s Acrobat. 767—Frank Merriwell’s Tact. 768—F rank Merriwell’s Unknown. 769—F rank Merriwell’s Acuteness. 770—Frank Merriwell’s Young Canadian. 71—F rank Merriwell’s Coward. a rank Merriwell’s Perplexity. —Frank Merriwell’s Interven- tion. —Frank Merriwell’s Daring Deed —Frank Merriwell’s Succor. —Frank Merriwell’s Wit. —Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty. -Frank Merriwell’s Bold Play. _ rank Merriwell’s Insight. -Frank Merriwell’s Guile. -Frank Merriwell’s Campaign. 2—Frank Merriwell in the Na- tional Forest. 783—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity. 784—Dick Merriwell’s Self-sacrifice. 785—Dick Merriwell’s Close Shave. 786—Dick Merriwell’s Perception. 787T—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious Disappearance. T88—Dick Merriwell’s Work. -Dick Merriwell’s Proof, Dick Merriwell’s Brain Work. 791—Dick Merriwell’s Queer Case. Always 792—Dick Merriwell, Navigator, 793—Dick Merriwell’s-Good Fellow- ship. 794—Dick Merriwell’s Fun. Desperate 795—Dick Merriwell’s Commence- ment. Ter--796—Dick Merriwell Point. Again on the 797—Dick Merriwell, Mediator. Slab. 798—Dick Merriwell’s Decision. oe om rank Merriwell’s Hard Game 799—Dick Merriwell on the —Frank Merriwell’s Six-in-hand Lakes. -Frank Merriwell’s Duplicate, oe Merriwell Caught Nap- —Hrank Merriwell on Rattle- ping. snake Ranch. 801—Dic k Merriwell in the Copper -~Frank Merriwell’s Sure Hand. Country. —_Ft ‘ank Merriwell’s Treasure 802—Dick Merriwell Strapped. Map. 803-—Dick Merriwell’s Coolness. ‘rank Merriwell, of 804—Dick Merriwell’s Reliance. the Rope. 805—Dick Merriwell’s College Mate. 736—Dick Merriwell, Captain of 806—Dick Merriwell’s Young the Varsity. Pitcher. 87—Dick Merriwell’s Control. 807—Dick Merriwell’s Prodding. oe k Merriwell’s Back Stop. SO8—Frank Merriwell’s Boy. 9—Dick Mérriwell’s Masked En-809—Frank Merriwell’s Interfer- emy. ence. 0—Dick Merriwell’s Motor Car. 810—F rank Merriwell’s ‘ 41 —- Dick Merriwell’s Hot Pursuit. Warriors. —Dick Merriwell at Forest Lake 811—Frank Merriwell’s Appraisal. 8—Dick Merriwell in Court. 812—F rank Merriwell’s Forgiveness —Dick Merriwell’s Silence. 815—Frank Merriwell’s Lads. 5—Dick Merriwell’s Dog. 814—F rank Merriwell’s —Dick Merriwell’s Subterfuge. Aviators. —Dick Merriwell’s Enigma. 815—Frank Merriwell’s Hot-head. 8—Dick Merriwell Defes ited. 816—Dick Merriwell, Diplomat. Dick Merriwell’s “Wing.” 817—Dick Merriwell in Panama. 0—Dick Merriwell’s Sky Chase. 818—Dick Merriwell’s Perseverance. Frank Merriwell’s Fighters. 684—Dick Merriwell at the ‘‘Meet.” 685—Dick Merriwell’s Protest. 686—Dick Merriwell in the thon. 687—Dick Merriwell’s Colors. 683 Mara- 7 689—Dick Merriwell on the Deep. 690—Dick Merriwell in the North Woods. 691—Dick Merriwell’s Dandies. 692—Dick Merriwell’s Skyscooter. 693—Dick Merriwell in the Elk Mountains. 694—Dick Merriwell in Utah. 695—Dick Merriwell’s Bluff. 696—Dick Merriwell in the Saddle. 697—Dick Merriwell’s Ranch Friends. rank Merriwell Lake. Young 698—Fr at Phantom 699—F rank Merriwell’s Hold-back. 700—F'rank Merriwell’s Lively Lads 701—Frank Merriwell as Instructor. 702—Dick Merriwell’s Cavuse. 703—Dick Merriwell’s Quirt. 704—Dick Merriwell’s Freshman Friend. 705—Dick Merriwell’s Best Form. 706—Dick Merriwell’s Prank. ane —Dick Merriwell’s Gambol, —Dic k Merriwell’s Gun. —Dic k Merriwell at His Best. Merriwell’s Master Mind. c Merriwell’s Dander, < Merriwell’s Hope. < Merriwell’s Standard. - < Merriwell’s Sympathy. —Dick Merriwell in Lumber Land. -Frank Merriwell’s Fairness. 7—Frank Merriwell’s Pledge. 8—Irank Merriwell, the Man of 72 vé 7 ih 7 £ 77 ak 5- 6— q- go. 79 O— Fis 78 78 782 Merriwell’s Return Blow. oe rank Merriwell’s Quest. -I'rank Merriwell’s Ing ‘ots, —Frank Merriwell’s Assistanive. 33. — Ft rank Merriwell at the Throttle. 724—Frank Merriwell, Ready. 725—F rank Merriwell 726—Fr 20 Detective 754 22 789- TOO— the in Diamond Land. rank Merriwell’s Chance. 727—Frank Merriwell’s Black TOry 28—Frank Merriwell Great Prince Young Young Rock- 8 819—Dick 20—Dick 821—Dick 822—Dick 8238—Dick 824—Dick Coach. Merriwell, 825— 826- 827- 828—Dick bility. Merriwell Triumphant. Merriwell’s Betrayal. Revolutionist. Merriwell’s Fortitude. Merriwell’s Undoing. Merriwell, Universal] Dick Merriwell’s Snare. —~Dick Merriwell’s Star Pupil. -Dick Merriwell’s Astuteness. Merriwell’s Responsi- 829—Dick Merriwell’s Plan. 830—Dick Merriwell’s Warning. oo ie 36 7—Dick Merriwell 82 g! 8: g: g: Ss 8! 8: Blue. 839- R40 841- 842— 843— 844- 845 846— 847- 848 849—Dick Merriwell ish Stadium. 850—Dick NEW TIP TOP ponents. Dick Clew. —~Dick Merriwell ics. 1—F rank Merriwell, 2—F rank Merriwell, Box. —Frank Merriwell, 4 -Frank Merriwell, a Frank Merriwell, -Frank Merriwell, ce Shave. ing Orders. 8 Marathon. 10—Frank Merriwell, Jr at Montauk , Bar Z Ranch. 1—Frank Merriwell, ¢ Trail. 12—Frank Merriwell, itor. lisle Warriors. 38—Dick Merriwell’s Battle for the Dick Merriwell’s Foreign and Dick Merriwell’s Sixth Merriwell’s i—I dick Merriwell’s Counsel. 2—Dick Merriwell’s Champions. 3—Dick Merriwell’s Marksmen. 3 Dick Merriwell’s Enthusiasm. 35—Dick Merriwell’s Solution. Foe. the Car: Dick Merriwell’s Evidence. Dick Merriwell’s Device. —Dick Merriwell’s Princeton Op: Sense. Strange —~Dick Merriwell Comes Back. -Dick Merriwell’s Heroic ~Dick Merriwell Looks Ahead, at Crew. the Olym- ~Dick Merriwell in Stockholm. in the Swed: Merriwell’s Marathon. WEEKLY OTs a tks Jr.” ene ars, OTs. {- Frank Merriwell, . Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, 9—Frank Merriwell, 13—Frank Merriwell, . ance. 14—F rank Merriwell, 7 mage. 15—F rank Merriwell, . 16—Frank Merriwell, - Te in the s, Struggle. s, Skill. in Idaho, s Close on Wait- Danger. Relay at the Golden Compet- Guid- Scrim- *., Misjudged WR, Star ay. 17—Frank Merriwell, - Chase. 18— tion 19— tute. 20—Frank Merriwell, Frank Merriwell, ‘ank Merriwell, 21 22—F 1 Issue. 23—Frank Merriwell, Eve. 24—Frank Merriwell, less Risk. Frank Merriwell, . Frank Me rriwell, « tay ar. Oy Jr.’ oe, r 25—Frank Merriwell, ¢ 26—F rank Merriwell, ¢ Chase. 27—F rank Merriwell, bushed Foes. tis, ra 935 Bling , Discre- Ss, Substi- Justified. , Incog. Meets the A, Raman e€ a Tj } *., on Skis. ’.’s, Ice-boat . Psy Am - PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from your news-dealer, they can be obtained direct from this office. Postage-stamps taken the same as money. STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVE., NEW YORK