a ay ‘No. 32 SS 8,1913 5 CENTS ) B | AN IDEAL PUBLICATION For THE AMERICAN YouTH | PUBLISHERS ean cos | eS ww NEW YORK «. “ER : S SLOWLY; SOFTLY, MERRY CREPT TOWARD THE RIFLE,WHILE THE SNAKE o HELD ITS VICTIMS PARALYZED. = IP 12 y i An Ideal Publication For TheAmericanYouth | Nu J V weLY tssued 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. TERMS TO NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIBERS. ( Postage’ Free.) 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 ifsent by currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter. ere torch 0). Pe ep ey BD PL wer etene= G5G. OMG WORM aces ade co ouessl dy ace cee ,+ +. $2.50 Receipts—Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper change 4 MOMENS, ose. vecceeeccceecceccetes 85c. 2 copies one year..........+ Posi seas 4.00 of number on your label. If not correct you have not been properly credited, 6 MONTHS, coos ceweee veevac tees ceeed $1.25 1 COPY: TWO YEarS.: os .0 se cvecscceene 4.00 and should let us know: at once. No. 32. NEW YORK, March 8, 1913. Price Five Cents. Frank Merriwell, Junior’s, Timely Aid; Or, THE PRANK THAT WENT WRONG. By BURT L. : CHAPTER I. ENTERTAINING TRAWLEE. “I suppose you fellows know what’s on for to-night, don’t you?” asked Toby Harkness. It was early evening of a day that had been filled with excitement and danger for Frank Merriwell, junior. In the afternoon Frank had skated a ten-mile race with Lee Trent, of Trawlee. The boys of* Trawlee Hall, chafing under a defeat at ice hockey for which Merriwell was largely responsible, had challenged for Trent. Merry _had accepted the challenge, and the race had been the result. Trawlee Hall was Blyfield Academy’s bitterest rival on the field of sport. Up to the time Frank had inter- ested himself in Blyfield athletics, Trawlee had had all the best of it. A “chip of the old block” in every sense of the word, and lacking only years and experience to come near equal- _ ing his noted father’as an amateur athlete, young Frank had been fighting Blyfield’s battles with all the Merriwell skill and vigor. Trawlee, recognizing in him the source and inspiration of Blyfield’s growing power, had “gone after his scalp.” With the utmost confidence the Traw- lee fellows had arranged for the race, and they had come over from their own town by train, full fifty strong, to exult in Trent’s victory, which they were positive was a foregone conclusion. he | Merriwell, of course, was not a student at Blyfield. But neither was Trent enrolled at Trawlee Hall, captains of the two sevens. Both lads were nearly the ‘Same age, and both were identified with the athletic affairs of the rival schools. So it followed that a ‘race x Mer- . _riwell and Trent, however, had played in the opposing hockey teams by an arrangement between the respective STANDISH. 4 on skates, with Merry championing Blyfield and Trent standing for the honor and glory of Trawlee, filled the afternoon with a perfect riot of school partizanship and loyalty. . . Merriwell, equipped with a pair of old English skates which had been presented to him by a grateful admirer, led Trent from the start. At the lower end of the course, five miles downriver, Merry had skated into an ice trap, which had been treacherously laid for him. A lad named Dan Silver had, by a fortunate coincidence, been at hand to witness Merry’s plight and to fling him a, rope. Trent had come and turned back on the return course, in the lead for the first time because of his rival’s mishap. But more than a ducking in ice water was needed to defeat Chip Merriwell! With his clothes congealing in the frosty air, Merry had rushed off after Trent and had won the event handily. Trawlee did not exult. The glee-club singers, brought along to tune up the moment victory perched on the Trawlee banners, kept their pzeans of rejoicing to them- selves. In gloomy silence, most of the rooters caught the first train back to their home town. A few remained; . and this, as it presently transpired, was because of an invitation extended to them by some of the Blyfield crowd. , Merriwell had escaped the ill effects of his ducking and was ina complacent mood. The cause of his pleasure was not so much the defeat of Trent as the winning over to his side of a chap who had been his enemy. This lad was Dan Silver. tee , Silver, because of a quick temper, had allowed him- self to do several things which he now regretted. Hark- ness had brought him to Merriwell, that evening, and there had been a reconciliation. ° ~ NEW »TIP Silver had left Frank’s room at Mis. Blakeslee’s board- ing house, happy in spite of ‘the fact that he had been ~ suspended for a month by Professor Pettigrew, principal vof the academy. At midnight Silver was to take the train for his home in Iowa, and time was needed for packing and getting ready. Harkness reniained with Merry, and Merry’s loyal chums, Owen Clancy and Billy Ballard. Some time after Silver had left, Hark had put his question regarding pros- pective events for the evening. “T know what’s on for Chip, Hark,” said Ballard. “He's going to hit the hay and : sleep off his weariness and the effects of that cold plunge.” a guess I’m not so weary as all that, Pink,” Merry laughed... ‘As for the cold' plunge, it did me more good than harm. I’m fit as a fiddle, right this minute, and hungry enough to eat Mrs. Blakeslee out of house and home. Why the deuce doesn’t that gong ring for sup- per? I’ve been straining my ears for half an hour.” “Strain your ears and be hanged,” said Hark, with a chuckle. “I told Mr. Blakeslee that her boarders wouldn’t be here for their last ‘square’ of the day. There are other arrangements.” Clancy groaned. “You've got a lot of nerve, strikes me,’ “to butt into our eating schedule like that.” “You're, going to eat, but not here,” answered Hy, “You-remember the spread Trawlee put up for us when -we won that last hockey game?” All the others remembered it. ing at that spread, and Clancy, for one, had eaten not wisely but too well. “Well,” beamed Hari, “we're to entertain the fellows of the Trawlee hockey squad and a few more at Hackel- myer’s. There’s a big feed planned, with all: the sweet and toothsome trimmings. Two members of our own glee club. will pick a guitar and a mandolin and sing pleasantly. while. we mow away the provender. Trent will be there, and, of course, Chip, you'll have to be there, too, Pink and Clan are also invited.” a look at a clock on the wall. ‘“We’ll have to hustle,” he added. “I happened to. pick up Silver, on my way to _ summon you to the feast, and his talk has delayed us.” “Let us be toddling along then,” said Ballard, starting for his own room to get his cap and ulster. “That Traw- lee bunch is liable to clean up on the bill of fare if we give them too long a start.” “After the feed,” Hark went on, as Merry and Clancy followed Ballard’s lead and began getting ready for out- doors, “and just to show that we’re princely entertainers, we’re taking the Trawlee crowd to the movies. Be- "he remarked, an outfit of Amazon reptiles. - twenty feet long.” “Some snake, that, ” said Clancy, drawing on his gloves, “only VIL bet that it's nearer two feet long that twenty.” . “When do the Trawlee fellows go home} ee queried Frank, “Midnight train, ” answered Hark; “same one Silver leaves on. We're going to stay right with that crowd of them. up. Say, but they’re a gloomy crowd!”. “What will Old Pet say to that, Hark?” “Old Pet is a brick. He has given us leave to stay ‘out until one a. m., providing we behave ourselves.” TOP WEEKLY. There had been gorg- Hark stole — tween reels a greaser from South America performs with | One of ’em, they say, is \ has-beens until the train leaves, and do our best to cheer “You couldn’t behave yourselves on a bet,” declared Clancy. “Well, we can try.” A few moments later the four: boys were on their way to Hackelmyer’s. It was the best restaurant in Bly- field, and a favorite rendezvous: for academy fellows. As the boys moved along the street they passed the glittering front of an old store building that had been remodeled into a moving-picture theater. There was the usual ornate entrance with the ticket-seller’s booth in the center, and the asbestos-lined little room above, where, a sweating operator ran the reels through the lantern. Boards with lurid placards’ stood around the entrance, each containing a scene from moving-picture plays to be flashed on the screen that evening. A. larger bulletin board than any of the others bore a’ picture of a man in tights and spangles wrestling with a serpent. of 'tre- mendous length and savage aspect. “Sefior de Males,” ran the insc ription on the picture, “the fearless master of South. America’s most deadly reptiles. This week only!” “Senor de Males must be bad medicine,” said Ballard, with a laugh. ‘Judging by the picture, I should say that snake he’s juggling with is about as long as the Amazon.” ‘Paper won't refuse ink,” commented Merriwell sagely. “It'll. be a good show, all right,” put in. Toby Hark- ness, who was evidently very eager for the evening's festivities. As they drew near Hackelmyer’s, a bedlam of voices broke on the ears of the four lads. Twenty or thirty roystering students were plainly .doing their best to have a good time. “We're ‘way late,” remarked Clancy, “but they don't’ seem to. be missing us a whole lot.” ‘Listen,’ said Hark. “The Blyfield troubadours ‘are ' getting busy.” He chuckled, “TI guéss they'll add to the enjoyment, all right.” At first it was difficult to distinguish the sounds of guitar and mandolin, so great was the confusion of voices. Then, presently, the commotion died away somewhat, and the voicés of the troubadours could be heard in song. The two singers tinctly, and it was evident they did not want the Traweloe contingent to miss a syllable. . : “Eat, drink, ana don’t worry, The race to-day was a flurry, Some time, oh, some time, poor Trawlee may win! ~Gloom to- night you must bury, nh Forget, if you can, about Merry— Forget, and now is the time to begin.” By the time this first verse was finished, the sihhana in” Hackelmyer’s had become painful. “That’s a soothing melody, I don’ t think, ” said Clancy, with a laugh. “Wonder how the Trawlee eat like that sort of entertaining, Hark?” asked Merriwell. er “They brought it on themselves,” chuckled Hark. ty “Their glee club came over here with a lot of songs that | beat that one two ways for Sondas: There goes ihe sec- ee ond spasm, fellows!” “Eat, drink, and be jolly— Patey What harm is a little folly— i \ Folly is better than. sorrow or tears! Setar Some day ina duel see ce You'll give us our gruel, Seine Seeranenee in- a thousand . hele “yeats— Meir were careful to speak their words dis- _ is no—eh, eh—no malice. hanging fire. The singsong doggerel came to an abrupt finish. Some- body must have thrown something. “Pass the pickles!’ yelled a voice, followed by a roar of laughter. “T guess we had better go in, to be getting interesting.” With that he led the rush for the front door of Hackel- myer’s. , said Hark, ‘this seems CHAPTER II THE ENTERTAINING CONTINUES. The restaurant presented a scene of uproar and dis- order. There were some twenty fellows seated at the tables, or standing in their chairs and waving napkins or water bottles. Hackelmyer, the proprietor, was waddling back and forth, waving his arms frantically and begging his patrons to “rememper dot you vas chentlemen.” At the end of the room‘the two Blyfield boys who had been playing and sing- ing had crouched behind the cigar counter—evidently for safety. “Py shinks,” roared Hackelmyer desperately, as the hubbub continued to. increase, “I vill telephone by Bro- fessor Bettigrew! I vill findt oudt, I bet you, oof you can make some riots in my blace!” This was a very sobering remark, especially to the Bly- field contingent. “Bear down on the soft pedal, fellows!” came dismally from Lon Greef, who was always sad, no matter how hard he was enjoying himself. “Old Hack means what he says.” \“Let up or it'll be all up with the festivities,” put in the lad known as Twofers. “Don’t kill the singers!” pleaded Tom Dowling. “They’re only doing what Toby Harkness told them to ® do a9 “Somebody hit me with a—eh, eh, a-choo! Some- some—a-choo!”’ It was Loring, who played the mandolin, who rose cautiously from behind the counter and tried to talk. A series of sneezes interrupted his flow of language, and _ he found it impossible to finish. Vinton, who picked the guitar, bobbed up beside him. “Some ruffan hit Loring with a pepper box,” said Vin- ton. “We’re doing our best to—eh, eh—entertain. There We—eh, eh, eh—aim to, please.” f “You aim to sneeze, Vint,” yelled Twofers, “but you’re Let ’er go.” Vinton sneezed several times. ihe “Cut out the rough stuff,” he begged, as Loring, with streaming eyes, staggered gropingly back to his chair. “You cut out the sarcastic stuff, then,” shouted Plain- well, of Trawlee. “All the while you ask us to forget ' you're rubbing it in-..Say, where’d you get that line of © dope?” _ “Got it from Harkness,”’ said Loring. “Where did Hark get it?” _ “Ask him; there he is.” All eyes were turned on the four lads who had just ntered. : . x “Hoop-a-la, Merriwell,”’ chanted the Blyfield fellows, “Merriwell, Merriwell, who did the bjisiness very well !” Then a voice howled, “Speech from Merry!” The sug- \ NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 3 gestion was immediately taken up by a dozen voices, all shouting “Speech! Speech!” 5 “I’m too hungry to make a speech,” said Merriwell,’ “and I couldn’t make one if I wasn’t hungry.” “Go on!” “Don’t be so darned bashful !’’ “Make a noise like a speech, anyhow.” “Just a word, then,” said Merry. “Trawlee gave us a fine spread, not so very long ago, and I can’t recall that there was any rough-house connected with it. We 2 “Hear! hear!” yelled the Trawlee crowd. “We ought to copy their style of entertaining,” went on Frank. “I managed to slip across the finish line a little ahead of Trent, but if he’d had on those English skates the chances are that I’d have been left:a mile down the river. Lee Trent is a skater, you take it from me. Now, let’s eat.” : Some of the Blyfield boys began to remember what their duties were as hosts; but all of them, both enter- tainers and entertained, were full of animal spirits that wanted to explode. A measure of quiet prevailed, how- ever, and Lee Trent got up as Merry sat down. “T’ve got to butt in,” said Trent. “Chip Merriwell is too generous. That talk about English skates winning’ the race is all bosh. He won in spite of the skates. If he'd had on runners of a modern vintage, he’d have gone so fast, by thunder, that he’d have met himself coming up the river while he was going down “That will do you, Trent,” interrupted Plainwell, pull- ing the Trawlee champion into his chair by, the coat- tails; “come down yourself. What I want to know iS, he went on, directing his gaze at Harkness, “where the blooming blazes did that song come from?” “Some song, eh, Plainwell?” smiled Hark. “R-r-rotten! Show it to your English ‘prof’ and I'll bet he drops in his tracks. As poetry it won’t scan worth adarn. As for sentiment—well, that’s an outrage.” “Plainwell,” said Hark sadly, “we picked that song out of the pockets of a member of yout glee club. Of course _we had to change it a little, but you brought: that song over here to use in case Trent won the race. We thought it would please you to have it sung, but since Chip has so thoughtfully reminded us of our duty as enter- tainers, why . “Oh, sit down!” howled Plainwell, and there was a roar from everybody as Hark dropped into his seat. Loring and Vinton, to an accompaniment of rattling cutlery and plates, went on with the musical program. But the music was not an unqualified success. There was pepper in Loring’s clothes, and as he picked away at his - mandolin he kept dislodging some of it and it kept inter- fering with him. “Way down in Arizony, where the boys are slick—eh, eh—and tony, / And put grease upon their brogans every day—eh, eh, eh— And when the guns are pop—eh, eh—popping, and when the knives are chopping, They go—ker-choo!—at it in a gentlemanly way. “It’s ‘Excuse me if I—eh, eh—kill you,’ or ‘Your pardon if Ifill” you \ Full of—eh, eh, eh—full of shot, for I regret it very much!” There a pistol’s call a—a-choo!—popper, and a knife is called a chopper, And—eh, eh—they have to chop and pop to keep in tough— ker-choo!” ‘ Bill Durkee, of Trawlee, arose. ; 8 ' 4 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. _ “Have we got to stand this?” he explained. “If those fellows are bound to sing, | move that somebody takes Loring outdoors and fises a whisk broom on him. He’s, too full of pepper to be pleasing.” “We'd rather—eh, eh—we’d rather—eh—a-choo.” Loring tried to talk, but gave up and wept into his mandolin. “What he wants to say,” said Vinton, rather eat than sing, anyhow.” “is that we'd “For the love of Mike,” cried Plainwell, “come and eat!” “You understand, of course,’ remarked Harkness, rising and addressing Plainwell as the orchestra put away their instruments and rushed for seats, “that we're try- ing to entertain you Trawlee fellows regardless of trouble or expense.” “Sure we understand, Hark,” appreciate your efforts a lot more trouble.” Hark pretended to get on his dignity. “Do I understand you to complain,” being 5 “Our only complaint is that you’re treating us too well,” broke in Bill Durkee. ‘“‘We’re suffering with comfort. What have we got to endure after the feed?” “Moving pictures,” said Lon Greef sadly. “And snakes,’ added Twofers. “Snakes have no terrors for me—after this,’ Whitson, goal tend on the Trawlee seven. “Bring ‘em on!” . The joking continued throughout the meal. Merri- well knew that events were ripening toward a grand finale of some sort. The Trawlee crowd saw what they had dropped into, and they would not have been human if they hadn’t dug down into their ingenuity for some way to retaliate. © Merry, Ballard, and Clancy exchanged opinions in low voices. They rather expected the Trawlee lightning to strike before the crowd left the restaurant, but i in this hey were disappointed. er “They're hatching something, Chip !” whispered Clancy, ny smothering a chuckle. “Plainwell and Whitson are the village cut-ups over at Trawlee. Look at ’em! They’ ve had their heads together for the last /ten minutes.’ Oe Ae counterplot comes hard,” murmured Ballard, grin- ning. “They’ re thinly so hard it hurts—but there’s nothing doing.” “You can bet there will be something doing, Pink,” de- elared Merry, “before that midnight train comes sbaoughy “We'll be present when it happens,” said Ballard. “Sure,” added Clancy. ‘ i “Couldn't think of missing it,” remarked Merriwell. _“Those chaps are worked up to go the limit.” “T knew Hark couldn’t behave,” went on Clancy. “His idea of fun is pretty broad, ” said Ballard. ‘“The _ Trawlee bunch were hit mighty hard by the way that race concn pet, and here Hark keeps handing it to them right along.” ; “Hark’s all right, at that, | averted the red- headed chap. “Adl he’s done is to steal their thunder. They brought: that doggerel over to sing it to Blyfield, so our crowd is _only giving them a dose of their own medicine.” ! _.“That, makes it hurt worse,” said Merriwell. ‘or the big play, fellows. Sooner or later Plainwell and eee are pao to re it, AE ata a cried Plainwell, ‘but we'd if you made less he began, “of ’ said Sandy theater. eral empty rows of chairs enabled them to keep in mass the man on the stage. “Cut it out!” ay Ae persisted in keeping their feet and singing. picture was being run through the lantern, and six dark shadows blotted out some of the details. i bt “Watch ‘lifted and six pairs of hands began making _ graphs. The meal was finished in comparative peace and order. | Hackelmyer began to feel easy for the first time when i the crowd of youngsters lined up and started for the . door. j Harkness, who had received the Blyfield donations for => the spread, settled the score with Hackelmyer with elabo- rate politeness. “Mr. Hackelmyer,” said he, as he pocketed the change, “vou have given us a swell feed. You have acted like a gentleman. In spite of some provocation, | am glad to say that you did not forget yourself and become rude.” Hackelmyer cackled knowingly. ‘Ven I do pusiness mit you school fellers, py shinks,” he said, with a wink, “I don’t peen sooch a fool as 1 look.” “That would be impossible, sir, impossible,’ answered Hark grandly. “Forward, march!” he added to the row. of lads behind him. Hackelmyer looked after his retreating patrons with a puzzled frown. “Now, vat der tickens dit he m’an by dot?” he was asking himself. The march was down the street to the moving-picture show. When the man at the door took the tickets, he did it with dismay and foreboding. A very small spark © would cause a crowd like that to explode with damaging effect on his establishment. But he had no real cause for worry. Plainwell and gf Whitson were still wrapped in thought. The happy idea for which they were groping had not yet occurred to them. But it was going to occur, and very soon. ' CHAPTER III. THE Ue Re F Ue There was plenty of room for the boys in the little When they filed in the place, the first show of - the evening had been finished and the second one. was” just starting. The usual illustrated song was meine flashed on the screen. The students took seats pretty well ound: aud sev- formation. When the chorus of the song appeared’ on | the curtain, the lads arose and very decorously sang with There were a number of Beads voices in the crowd, and the effect was really fine. Spectators in the rear of the room applauded emai. The chorus was repeated, and there was more applause. Most of the meet sat down, after that, and kept still, but Toby Harkness, Lon Greef, Twofers, Plainwell, What A son and Dowling’refuused to be quieted. ft pone words of the chorus were no longer on the screen but oe six youngsters remembered it and kept it — Pri Rete “Down in front !” ‘ “Police ! 1? These were some of the bial hurled at the sik. A Weste rf The singers’ voices died into siJence, but their activities | merely went off ate another angle. Twelve ae eae seca tith on the neath aereres an NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 5 their ears and nibbled, and many other handmade imita- tions of the animal kingdom appeared and disappeared on the curtain, Some of the patrons of the theater laughed; others, who wanted to see the pictures, got mad. The proprietor of the establishment, not feeling strong enough to cope with the students, merely hung around the back part of the ‘long room and hoped for the best. It was Merry who started proceedings that ultimately brought the obstreperous six to time. Fach one of the hard chairs had a thin leather cushion. Merry got up and threw his cushion at Hark, A moment later the gloom was still further darkened with flying cushions, and the trouble makers had to drop into their chairs. After that comparative quiet prevailed. There were jocose remarks about: the pictures, but all the lads re- _ mained in their seats. Hark got up just as the pictures were snapped off, and _the room flooded with light, preparatory to the perform: ance with the snakes. “Are you Trawlee fellows having a good time?” he asked anxiously. “Best ever!” came an answering chorus. “Thank you, answered Hark, apparently vastly re- lieved. “As a representative of Blyfield, I want to’ say Ro we are proud, happy, and glad that you are enjoy- ing yourselves. We are sparing no expense, no expense whatever, to smooth over your disappointment of the Aas afternoon. We want you to remember us with kind- “ness, and to——” es Hark broke off with a startled yell and dived head first _ over the row of chairs in front of him. “He had been standing with his back to the stage. The curtain had rolled up and Sefior de Males had, walked out from the wings with a very long serpent. twindd about his body. Coming to the front of the stage he had swung the head of the snake out over the piano, and _ Hark had suddenly looked around to see the glittering none and, open mouth of the nee: reptile almost hanging above his shoulder, ~~) A shout of laughter went up. Hark was standing on his head, heels in the air, and was yelling wildly for some one to “Take it away! Take it away!” The snake was withdrawn by a movement of the arm that supported it, and Hark was up-ended and pushed into his chair. the side of the stage opposite the snake charmer. He was an attaché of the theater and had a short lecture ‘regarding the Stents “Ladies and gentlemen,” said he, ‘ ‘the management of this moying-picture house, at considerable expense, has provided for your entertainment one of the most inter- esting and instructive attractions on the road to-day. It gives me pleasure to introduce to you Sefior de ae and his boa constrictor Chico. “On the great Amazon River, where this huge aie dan-_ -gerous reptile has his haunts, his. ‘species is known as_ -sucuruju. So powerful is the sucuruju that this mam- moth snake could, but for the power exercised over it ny Sefior de Males, twist about his owner and crush him ein eats its prey, the sucuruju first charms with its i deadly eyes; then, while the victim is paralyzed and un- ble to aes + the a Pews F smears it with saliva and swallows ship’s Another man stepped from the wings on. “There are sucurujus in that great pestilential Ama- zonian forest which measure upward of seventy-nine palmas, or fifty-two feet, in length. They often attain a girth of eleven palmas, or twenty-eight inches, while the mouth will measure sixteen inches when open. “I wish now, my friends, to touch upon a weird and astounding power of the sucuruju. They have the ability to hypnotize, and even man does ‘not escape the uncanny and demoralizing influence. “Hiding in the forest, these great reptiles will mark their prey. If it should be a native, coming through those dank and mysterious aisles of gloom, that native may pass the reptile without seeing it, but invariably the native will turn back again, without knowing why he turned. With a mind filled with vague and disquieting thoughts, the. native will circle around the fatal spot, powerless to tear himself away; then, presently, the ugly head of the sucuruju will uprear itself, catch his eye, and hold him spellbound. The long, sinuous body of the reptile moves forward through the air, and lays coil upon coil about the luckless wretch : then the coils c@nstrict, the bones snap, the hapless victim is crushed into a shape- less mass “Ow, wow!” wailed Hark, with a shudder. The man on the stage cast a look of violent disapproval at Hark. “Senor de Males,” the lecturer Wiseecded: “has not. only conquered this hypnotic power of the sucuruju, but he is able to worst the reptile at its own game. Now, at this minute, he has the serpent. under absolute control. Were this not so, his life would pay the forfeit in a few seconds of time. “Often Chico becomes unruly and refuses to be hyp- notized. In that case five cents’ worth of chloroform is put on a piece of cotton and dropped into his snake- box. This will keep the reptile in a state of com- plete lethargy for two hours. After that period Chico gradually revives and comes easily under fhe power of Sefior de Males. The sefior will now put away this deadly serpent and bring forth others of various sorts, . which I will explain to you while he exhibits them.” It was probably an instructive performance—although a few might be inclined to doubt the lecturer’s state- ments here and there—but it was certainly not very pleasant. Merry, for one,,was \glad when ‘the curtain fell and more pictures flasl ied from the lantern. ‘The last two reels of pictures were something really good. Conan Doyle's story of “The Speckled Band”— one of Sherlock Holmes’ adventures—was the subject. A poisonous serpent was used for the purpose of slay- ing innocent persons, and the black-hearted plotter was — himself finally killed by the reptile. In the final scene the villain was lyi ing. on the floor, with the snake cae: over his breast. “Oh, gee!” abel Toby Harkness, when the ghia: had been turned on andthe people were leaving, “there” was too much of this*snaky business. I'll probably be | deraming of sucurujus® for a’month. Where’s Plain-— well?” he asked suddenly. “And Sa Whitson ang Bill Durkee?’ - 7 “They skipped out,” sitsied. one of the Trawlee fellows. “Ts that any way to treat our hospitality ?” denliiaes Hark, affronted. “Who told ’em they could duck ?”? _ “T guess the snakes were too much for ’em,” laughed 6 | NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. John team. “Where’ll we find them?’ “They said they'd round up at the office of the Lansing House.” “All right; then we’ll move on the hotel.” As the lads trooped out of the theater Merry nudged Clancy with his /elbow. “The Trawlee cut-ups have hatched their plot, Clan,” Merry whispered. “Now, if we watch, we'll see some- thing.” « “What kind of a plot is it?” “Search me. ‘Whatever it is, though, you can bet it will go the limit. The Trawlee crowd are ready to do anything to get a good laugh on Hark.” Merriwell had guessed correctly. While the last pic- ture was being shown, Plainwell had had a daring but rather gruesome idea unfold in his brain. He nudged Whitson and gave him a tip, and Whitson passed the tip along to Durkee. The three occupied seats next the aisle, and it was easy for them to leave silently and un- observed through the darkened room. “What’s up, Plainwell?” queried Durkee, when they were ott of the theater. “We're going to get even with Hark and his crowd,” was the answer. “They’ve been throwing it into us about that race ever since we got to Hackelmyer’s. Honest, fellows, I’d go home and be sick abed if we couldn’t even things up with Toby Harkness.” ‘\Now you are shouting!” said Whitson, in enthusiastic approval. “What are you going to do, though? That’s the point. I’ve been racking my wits for two hours and haven’t been able to dig up a blooming idea.” “Don’t fret, Whit. I’ve got a whale of a fine notion. Watch my smoke. The first thing is to get arotind into the alley and come into the moving-picture place by the rear, Tell me, though,’ Plainwell added, by an after- thought, “how much coin have you fellows about your clothes? It will take a little money to swing this.” “I’ve got about three dollars,” said Durkee. “Something like five is the ‘size of my pile,” Whitson. “T can find seven mani in my jeans. That ssiaichs fif- .teen dollars, all told, and we have our return tickets and can use every cent. I guess we have sufficient capital to finance this little undertaking. Now for the rear en- trance to the building.” _ _ They went around the block andgeame back down the alley. There was little difficulty in. locating the rear of the store building that housed the moving-picture estab- lishment, for a bright light was burning in the windows. Quietly the lads stepped to the rear door and tried it. It was locked. They drummed softly with their knuckles and the door was opened by Sefior de Males himself. “Hello, sefior !”’ eta Plainwell. ‘“This is a case of luck, for you’re just the fellow we want to see.” Thayer, who played right end on the Trawlee hockey added * CHAPTER IV. os RECKLESS PRANK, ¢ One often reads about the “psychological moment.” It is supposed to be that fraction of time when the stars ’ are in such an agreeable combination that undertakings can be pushed through with success Plainwell’s idea would ill luck—however, had brought ‘ him to Sefior de Males at the psychological moment. Under ordinary circumstances, have failed. Luck—or De Males had no money. There was not one copper cent in his pockets. Furthermore, he would receive no money until his engagement in Blyfield was finished. Sad to relate, De Males had a thirst for strong drink. Such a thirst came upon him periodically, and he ,had passed the point where strength of will could keep ‘him from the liquid poison. All. that prevented him from assuaging this regretable thirst was the lack of money. “The manager of the picture j‘house’”’ knew the sefior’s failing and was deaf to every plea for an “advance” of a dollar or two.. So De Males, gloomy and. dissatis- fied, was sitting on one of his blue snake ,boxes in a little room back of the picture show when Plainwell knocked. “What would ze sefior wish?” inquired De Males, when the three Trawlee lads had entered the room. “We want to rent the big snake,” answeréd Plainwell seriously. | De Males flung up his hands in amazement and col- lapsed on one of the boxes. He was not the only one to be astonished. Whitson and Durkee had also been taken by surprise. “Rent ze snake?” eyes. “Madre mia! You mean to borrow ze beeg Chico? He ees muy malo. Zere ees 2e gr-r-reat. danger. Eet ees impossib’.” ; uti, “We won’t hurt him any,” argued Plainwell. “Ou, ah! Zat ees not ze questions, sefior. hur-r-t heem, no, but Chico fanaybeso shur-r-t. you. Caramba! I cannot.” “Listen,” pleaded Plainwell, “we'll pay for the use of Chico. We only want him for an hour or two. It is nearly eleven o’clock now. At one—in just two hours— you can have him back.” q f “Not for feefty pesos would I rent ze snake!” de- clared De Males, ene around and around the room — in his excitement. “T guess that lets us out, Plain,” any Durkee. “If he wouldn’t rent the snake for fifty bones we can’t make a dicker. I guess it’s just as well.” “T think so, too,” added Whitson. around with that reptile?” “Don’t get cold feet, fellows,’ one’s going to get hurt. here, sefior,’ the South American, for exhibition purposes. Academy ist tomy sefior. Zat ees ze school by ze river.” “Well, we're going to take the snake to nuinber went six Bolton Hall. can get it. We'll give you ten dollars.” Nothing could have prevailed upon Sefior de Males, ’ growled Plainwell. “No I know what I’m doing, , Look ordinarily, to part with the choice specimen of his col-. lection. But now he needed money, and he was in a state of mind that rendered him heedless of risks, His little eyes glittered. As the temptation grew ‘stronger and stronger, his thin nostrils dilated, and ng ‘soe mumbled to himself and shook his head. “Fifteen dollars!” offered Plainwell. have him back by one o ‘clock. (4 whispered De Males, with popping, x You not— “Who wants to fool Vn ‘ghe went on, turning confidentially back to a “we want to borrow the big reptile You know where the Blyfield You go there at one o'clock and you — “We'll give you. fifteen dollars for the use of Chico! Remember, you can : fide J NEW: TIP De Males stretched out both hands, his fingers trem- bling. “Geev me ze dinero!” tie said huskily. Afterthe boys had paid over the money they still had a little left. “Where’s the box?” asked Plainwell. “Zat ees eet,’ answered De Males, pointing. He was excited, but not over the idea of “renting” . Chico for exHibition purposes. His mind was upon other be things. . . Whitson and Durkee liftec { the box by the rope handles and started for the rear door and the alley. Their minds were’ troubled. It looked to them as though Plainwell’s & — joke was'to go a little too far. - “Now mind, sefior,” said Plainwell, pausing in the door- way, “twenty-six Bolton. 3e there promptly at one.” “Sure I be’zere,” answered the nervous De Males. He intended to, probably ;, but the melancholy fact re- mains that he did not keep his engagement. For two days after receiving that money from Plainwell he wasn’t able to keep any engagements at all. As soon as the boys were in the dark alley, Whitson _and Durkee put down the box. “We've got to know about this, Plain,” said Whitson, “before we go any farther. I don’t mind kissing, that five good-by, but I do mind pulling off a joke that’s going to hurt anybody.” “Same here,” added Durkee. What do you take me for?” grunted Plainwell. “We're not going to hurt any one. Durk, you hustle for a drug store and get ten cents’ worth of chlorororm and a little absorbent cotton. You: know how to get to Bolton? Well, Whit and I will be waiting for you there.” Then it dawned .on the other two lads just what Plain- well'was planning to do. He had'taken his cue from what the lecturer had said. The big reptile was to be chloro- formed so that it would be’as harmless as a garter snake for two hours. Before the two hours had passed; De Males would be at Hark’s room to claim his property. Oh, it was carefully planned! But the best-laid plans, as so often happens, gang aft agley. Whitson and Durkee laughed joyfully. AN tight, fellows,” said Dirkee, starting away. can count on me.’ ed “Keep out of sight as much as you can,” warned Plain- well. “We don’t want anybody to catch on to what we are doing.” ~“T should say not’ _, Whitson and Plainwell, the blue tek swinging between tM them, skulked toward the academy buildings. Presently _they arrived safely in the dark shadow of Bolton, hiding at the side of the frowning structure, close to the water pipe which Hark so often uped 3 in his ee pias com- ings and goings. . e “How are we to get the mn up to Febventi -six ?” queried itson, a fresh difficulty appealing to him, _ “To-night,” answered Plainwell, “the front doors will be open ‘till one in the morning. Hark and thé rest will come directly back here from the train! That ought to bring him to his room by twelve-thirty.; IT guess half an _ hour’s experience with the chloroformed ‘snake will be long enough... While we're waiting for Durk, I'll slip into ‘the building and make sure the coast is clear? _ “Make sure. Har k's ‘door is unlocked, er said Whit- — “Tf it isn’twe're all aa in ae air. wy “Vou TOP _ ing a trail of chloroform through corridor and halls. you know.” be WEEKLY. . Plainwell made his investigations and got back safely. 3y then Durkee had arrived with the bottle of chloro- form and the cotton. Plainwell reported deserted halls and corridors and Hark’s room unlocked, and the three. proceeded into the building and up the stairs as noise- lessly as wraiths. , Once inside of 26, they turned on the light. While Durkee emptied the anesthetic on the cotton, Plainwell was carefully removing the iron pin that fastened the hasp of the box cover to the’staple. ‘“Where’s the cotton?” whispéred Plainwell excitedly. q “Here! Look out for yourself now!’ : Plainwell was about to open the lid’ when a sudden noise in the hall startled all three of them. Durkee turned out the light and hurried to the door, Plainwell and Whitson followed Durkee, and all three stepped into the hall. For several minutes they waited and listened. Meanwhile, Chico had been busy. The lid of his box was unlocked. It began to rise, and some fifteen feet of snake glided clear of the box and moved sluggishly toward a dark corner under Hark’s bed... Chico .was used to a tropical climate, and he had become. chilled while the box was being transported through: the frosty air. He was content to coil up and remain quietly in his dark retreat while the warmth of the room slowly. thawed him out. “False alarm,” whispered Plainwell, as he atid his tvro confederates returned to the box. “Now to hand Chico a little dope.” He lifted the box cover an inch and ginger ly pushed the cotton inside. Then the three lads waited. “How long does it take to chloroform a snake?” asked Whitson. “I’m beginning to feel drowsy myself.” “Not long,” answered Plainwell. “T’ll take a look and see how he’s coming.” : “Wait till we get to the door,” said Durkee frantically, as he and Whitson hustled toward the entrance. Plainwell stole a cautious look into the box, then he threw back the lid and gave an exclamation of disgust. a “That darned South American has double crossed us, = fellows!” he muttered. = “How’ s that?” came breathlasaly from Durkee. “No snake here. I'll be hanged if we haven’t toted an a empty box clear from town, and—oh, blazes, this: 1 is the haa lirnit !” 4 “Toke’s on us,’ “Fifteen dollars’ hike ‘and forget hes They “hiked,” carrying the box with them. and ak As. soon as they were outside, they shoved the blue box under some bushes at one side of the building and started glumly back to town. “We're a lot of dubs!’ fumed Plainwell. “Now that the dust has settled,” said Durkee, “Tm glad we lost out. Something might have gone wrong, > ’ grunted Durkee. worth,” muttered Whitson. pibets Meds joint capital of fifteen cold, hard plunks has gone wrong,” wailed Whitson. “Oh, we're prize cong * heads, and no mistake.” | Fs “For the love of Mike,” cautioned Plainwell, “don’ fi let it get out. We'd be the laughingstock of Blyfield. f. And Chico, all this time, was getting comfortably warmed up in Hark’s room. The joke had ceased “to: be a joke,-so’far’as Hark was concerned. It was. hedged around with too many dangerous’ contingencies. youn ¢ 8 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. CHAPTER V. A TROUBLED N IGHT. Perhaps ‘there is nothing! in this world that does so much to help a boy relieve himself safely of an excess of animal spirits as a harmless prank. But there are pranks and pranks. The really vicious practical joke, naturally, is a most reprehensible thing. Only slightly better, from a moral point of view, is the thoughtless joke ‘that may have vicious results. The prank Plainwell had planned was of this second variety. He had meant well enough, but he and his two companions had erred through criminal carelessness. They had jumped. to the conclusion that the sucuruju was not in the box at the time De Males had turned the box over to them. In their chagrin they failed to make use of their wits. ; They did not stop to think, that the lid of the box had been left unfastened during the time they had been in the hall. Furthermore, when they carried the box out of Bolton they did not notice that it was vastly lighter than when they had-borne it into the building. Here, perhaps, was the point where their carelessness was most in evidence. Their prank had gone wrong, but the plotters were hurrying toward town in complete ignorance of the fact. It\was almost midnight, and nearly time for their train. They would not be able to go to the hotel, but would have to make a bee line for the railroad station. ‘Whitson suggested that they stay over the ight in Blyfield and make Sefior de Males give up the fifteen dollars. Had this idea found favor with Plainwell and Durkee the mistake the Trawlee fellows had made would probably have been discovered—and rectified. “Hang the fifteen plunks!” exclaimed Plainwell. ‘“Let’s charge the money up to experience account and for- get A “Drop the whole matter, that’s the best way,” said Durkee. “If we get to stirring it up some one will find out about it. I wouldn’t have that happen for a hun- dred dollars.” | - “Blyfield wouldn’t get over it for a year,” went on Plainwell. “They’d make up a song about it, and wwe d hear it every time we showed our noses in the town.’ “We'd probably hear about it in Trawlee, too,” pal- pitated Durkee. ‘“Let’s make the best of a bad business, Whit. That will be easier for us.’ _The logic of the situation, was not lost upon Whit. _ He grumbled his assent and the three youngsters has- _tened on to the depot. The fellows were all there, pounding up and down the platform and wrestling with each other to keep warin. “Here,” shouted Hark, grabbing Plainwell by the arm, “give an account of yourselves! What have you chumps been up to?” _ | “We've been running around and trying to forget the _ way wane been entertained, ’\said Durkee. “And we find it’s impossible,” “we can never forget it.” ’ “We hope,” supplemented Plainwell earnestly, “that you fellows will come over to Trawlee some time soon and give us a chance to return your hospitality. We'll ode. it-right.” “[’m afraid of you,” laughed Hark. “You don’t seem _ to appreciate all the trouble. we have taken on your ac- count this “evening.” selves for a good while. added Whitson grimly 5 “Oh, yes,” returned Plainwell trouble.” Just at that moment the train rolled up to the efit. form and the Trawlee lads hustled aboard: The Bly- field fellows got together and, with. Vinton and Loring leading, let:go a parting shot: “we appreciate the “Fare thee well and don’t worry, The race to-day was a flurry, ‘ Some time, oh, some time, poor Trawlee may win! Gloom to- night you must bury, Forget, if you can, about Merry— Forget, and now is the time to: begin.” » Shrill whoops of derision came from far up the track, sounding above the roar and clatter of the train. “It’s been a great night,” murmured Hark, with a sigh of satisfaction, as he turned to walk with Merry and his chums in the direction of the school. “T had a hunch,” said Merry, “that the Trawlee crowd would play even with you, in some way.” “They couldn’t think of anything—that’s the reason they didn’t.” “Plainwell, Durkee, and arhiteon were flocking by them- turned the tables on you, Hark.” “What could they do?” asked Hark, a little anxiously. “You'll have to bat up an easier one. the way you fellows kept at them.” “We were giving them a little of their own medicine,” protested Hark. “What would they have done. to us if Trent had beaten you in that race?” They had reached Mrs. Blakeslee’s, and here Merry and his chums separated from Harkness. Hark,. after cheery good nights had been exchanged, ran on to join Twofers and Greef, who were a little way ahead. “T guess that outfit from Trawlee won’t compose any — more songs for our benefit,” remarked Lon Greef heavily. “We sang ’em to a standstill to-night,” exulted Two- fers. “They hadn’t a word to say, either,” went on Greef, “Maybe they'll have something to say later,” said Hark. Pigs rs They turned in at Bolton and climbed the stairs. Two- fers and Greef occupied 32, while Toby Harkness roomed alone. “Sweet dreams, Hark,” called Twofers, as he aad Greef passed along the hall. “They'll be sweet—I don’t think,” Hark grumbled. “If I don’t see snakes all night, I’m no prophet. Ugh!” he shuddered. “I always did hate a snake.” He walked into his room and closed and locked the door. ready for bed. Suddenly he lifted his head and sniffed. " “Smells like a drug store in here,” floor, P'll bet a picayune. that’s the, way the smell got in. Whoosh! n Hark had no.more than got into his pajamas when he realized that he was feeling strangely. He had not the least notion what was the matter with him, and there was no part of his strong young pegy that felt se : slightest pain. The discomfort he experienced was mental rather than physical. A crushing weight seemed to be hanging over him. Don’t be too sure they haven't . It was scandalous . Then he turned on the light and began to get ~ he muttered. “Somebody’s been using chloroform liniment on this — My transom’s wide open, and. It was as though, while he knew the weight | was, ee Bhs in bed in his new position, NEW above his head and about to fall, he had neither the power nor the inclination to get away from it. “Great guns!”.he exclaimed, repressing a shiver. “I must be going daffy. That snake show certainly got me going. What I need is sleep.” With that he jumped into bed. More than half the night was gone, and Hark ought to have been asleep within half a minute after his head touched the pillow. But he wasn’t. . The odor of chloroform continued to annoy him. He had already raised his window, and the cold air was rush- ing into the room. For some reason or other it did not eliminate the druggy smell. “T’ll have to make a draft through here,’ Hark mut- ered. sounding out of bed, he opened the hall door and braced it in that position with a chair; then, once more, he got under the blankets. | A whispering sound manifested itself. He was doz- ing a little, and thought the wind must be rustling some of the papers in his room. Something seemed to be Eraditng against the bed. It was a soft sound, as though a light hand was moving back and forth across the footboard. 4 A. few moments ‘later he went to sleep, and he had about the most hair-raising dream he ever had in his life.” He thought he saw the head of that big boa con- strictor swaying gracefully back and forth over the foot of the bed. The eyes glittered like diamonds, the great mouth opened, And the red/ ‘tongue flashed out and in like - streaks of lightning. Hark let off a howl and sat disuiglit up in bed. The cold sweat was beading his forehead and every nerve was in a tremor. With wild, distended eyes Hark stared over the footboard of the bed into the half gloom of the room. . That horrible head was not in evidence. a trembling hand across his brows. “I’m the prize lunkhead, all right, ” he muttered. ‘But talk about your dreams! Say, you couldn’t beat that He brushed one in a crazy house!” Jock Belize and Pedro Lascoro roomed across the hail, Jock had heard Hark’s gurgling yell. “What’s the matter?” Belize asked, his voice floating over an open transom and through the door of 26. “Nothing but a nightmare, Belize,” called Hark. “I’ve got.a bad case of delirium tremenjus, and I’m seeing snakes.” Hark turned over and went to sleep again. As he lay his face was toward the open door. - Then hé had more dreams, The whispering continued. It was like a continuous rustling. A long, shining body, with graceful undulations was moving through the door. The whole monstrous length slid through, and then the _end of the tail curved along the door casing and flipped out, of sight. For a second time Hark shot bolt upright i in bed.. He was so quick in rising that he caught and smothered. in his throat the terrified yell that had almost reached his lips. “T’ll be darned if this isn’t the limit!” he faltered. “I never had a dream that seemed so real.” _... After that Hark had no more dreams. farther down the hall, had them. A muffled howl came Some one else, Da TIP TOP WEEKLY. : 9 from a distance. It awoke Hark and he. thought he had better investigate. Belize was also in the hall. “What’s going on here, anyhow?” “I was just going into your room, Hark, to gag you.” “You’d have gagged the wrong fellow, Jock,” said Hark. “Some one farther down the hall must be seeing things. Suppose we inquire?” They trailed along until they got to 32. There was talk on the other side of the door. Hark knocked. “Who's getting killed in there?” he asked. Lon Greef threw open the door. “No such good luck, Hark,” groaned Greef. “Two- fers has gone crazy. Come in-and see for yourself. You too, Belize. He’s violent and I don’t know but I'll need your help.” CHAPTER VI. MORE DREAMS. Harkness and Belize entered the chamber occupied by Greef and Twofers. The latter was sitting up in bed and he certainly looked wild. “Tt came on him all at once,” said Greef, in a hollow voice. “He went.to bed an hour or two ago just as rational as anybody, then all at once he woke up with a war whooop and I had to sit on him to keep him from jumping out of the window. Do you, know who’s come to see you, Twofers?” Greef went on. “Try now and see if you can remember who these fellows are.’ “Go to blazes!” grunted Twofers. \ Greef turned sadly to Hark and Belize. “He isn’t any better,” said he. “When he isn’t call- ing me names, Hark, he’s raving about snakes. He sees so many that you’d almost think he had the jimjams.” “Greef is a wooden-headed chump,” declared Two- fers. ‘He says I’ve been dreaming, but I'll be hanged if I don’t believe I ‘was just as w vide awake as I am this minute.” : Greef sighed and shook his head. “Now listen to him,” said he. the brainstorm.” elt anything would drive a fellow to drink,” glowered Twofers, “it’s having a roommate like Skinny. So long as he’s around I always carry my load of Greef.” “Stow the funny business, Twofers,” grumbled Hark, “and tell us what you thought you saw.’ “What I ‘thought’ I saw, Neh? Say, you’re taking Lon’s word for it before you hear my side of the story.” “You see how he w anders,” put in Greef. “You can’t pin him down to anything.’ “T'll pin you down. to something. real hard in about a minute, you long-legged. hiderack!” exclaimed Two- fers. “What I saw, Hark, was a snake. I guess it was a mile long,” \ “It’s growing,” :commented Greef. hundred feet long, the first time he told it.’ The sec- ond time he thought it might reach from Bolton to the gym. Now, he’s stretching it a mile.” “Well,” proceeded Twofers, “maybe it wasn’t so long as that, but, by gee, it was long enough. thé transom over the door.” “It was an athletic snake,” explained Greef wearily. “It liked to wriggle over the high places for exercise. You get the details, so far? 3elize demanded.’ ‘“‘Here’s where he has ~ or was only a- It came through Don’t forget that it was 3 a mile long and that it cathe through the transom. For — a snake of that-length it was pretty slim waisted. . But never mind. Go on, Twofers.”’ “That. kind of talk would make a fellow crazy if he wasn’t crazy before,” said Twofers. “Wouldn’t it, now?” “Don’t pay any attention to Lon, Twofers,” returned Hark, “It’s getting along toward morning, and Id like to sleep. Go ahead.” “Well,” proceeded Twofers, “this snake crawled across the. room and went through the open window.’ “Made.a straight shoot right across the room,” said Greef, “and didn’t knock over a stick of furniture. Wanted to get outdoors, you know. Why the dickens a snake wanted to get outdoors when it had a comfortable place to stay inside, Twofers can’t explain.” “I jumped out of bed to,see where the snake -went, and Greef grabbed me.and sat down on me.” “He did just right, Twofers,” said Hark. same snake.” “You -did?” queried Twofers excitedly. “Yes; and I saw it just as you did—in my dreams.” “You. think it was.a dream, then?” “Of course, you saphead ! started the visions.” 3 “Gteef saw the show and he hasn’t had any of these visions.’ “He hasn’t the right temperament,” said Hark, with a yawn. “If Lon had any imagination he’d have’ seen just as many snakes as we did.” “It’s.a good thing, Belize,” remarked Greef, “that two or three of us on this floor have a little common sense.”’ Belize laughed and ieft the room. “I’m off to my downy,” went on Hark, following Belize. “Go to sleep, a wofers, and don’t let the snakes bother you any more.’ - Hark shut his door when he got back into his room, and was conscious that the queer, creepy feeling had left him entirely. He laughed a little at Twofers taking a _dream so seriously, and then dropped away into slumber. It was about eleven o’clock the following forenoon that Merriwell dropped in to see Harkness. Twofers was “T saw. the fully detailing their dreams of the night before. went over them for Merry’s benefit. _ “That’s.a funny row of stumps,” said Frank, “Funny, eh?’ echoed Twofers. ‘Somehow, Chip, I _ missed the humor entirely. That dream of mine was. the best imitation of the real thing that I ever heard of.” “Tt couldn’t have been anything else but a dream.” “Sure, not. I know that, now that my brain is tolerably clear and I can use a little reason.’ _ “What’s queer about it is this: Hark did his dream- ing before you did, Twofers.” ’ te bigs Weel yes,’ admitted Twofers. ahead of ine,” _ “And Hark, in his dream, saw the big snake crawling throu ugh the door, on the way to pay a visit to you.’ “What do you think of that!” gulped Twoters. They through your transom, crossed the room, and. went out at the open window.” “That is queer!” murmured Hark, “Twofers and I seem to work together in our dreams. When I. get through with the snake I pags it along to him, and then he very obligingly picks it up where I dropped. tio a Coit idence,’ said Frank, “and a peculiar one.” 10 } NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. fellow’s banging his everlasting wits against-a stone wall. | That show we saw is what. a chap. I never heard of before. with Hark, at the time, and both lads were very care-_ that letter and mail it so it would come to hand thisi) 3) ‘want to. get éven with me? to be a joke on the lot of us,” said Hark earnestly. “That's once ta got other crowd,” .get back at you for what happened last night. “Pretty soon after that you dreamed the snake came pene Leen ONES asserted eae “that it ae can’t be explained. Let’s drop it. I don’t/believe in a What have you got'on the program for the afternoon? 7 I’m going up the river to call on a friend, and I’d like to have you, and Clancy, and Ballard go along,’ “Pink went to the post office this morning,” Merry an- swered, “arid he got a letter for me. That letter gives me something to do this afternoon... If it wasn’t for that, I'd be glad to go with you, Hark. ' Pink and’/Clan may be able to accept your invitation, though.” “I'd like to have the three of you,’ grumbled Hark. 4 “What have you got to do that’s so important?” : “T don’t mind telling you.about that. You see, I heard from Whittaker, the fellow who rented Coddington’s wikiup, and g “T get you. Whittaker was the detective who rented the wikitrp to lay for one of the fellows that robbed Hampton’ s store. “He’s the man. Well, I heard from him that my ‘uncle, Dick Merriwell, is somewhere in this part of the country.” Both Hark and Twofers straightened excitedly in their chairs. a6) 2h, “Dick Merriwell ” breathed Hark, a glow in his eyes. “Say,” said Twofers, “I wish he’d come on here! That's one of your relatives, Chip, that I'd give a good deal to meet.” “I'd give a good deal to see Uncle Dick myself,” went ot Merry., “The letter I got this morning was from He ae to see me at the wikiup at four, this afternoon. Says he brings a message from Dick Merriwell, and that it is very im- portant. He wants me to come alone.” Ta “sounds fishy,” commented Hark shortly. ae “Rather,” agreed 1] Merry. “For all that, though, bape i may be something ih it. I'm going to find out.” “Better take some fellows along with you, CNP ee hie “Why: O77 ot if “That Trawlee bunch may be putting. up some sort of a job on you. Where was the letter’ mailed from ?” “From Trawlee.” | “There’s circumstantial evidence. Plainwell and bits i gang had time, when they got home last night, to write. morning, .There’s a joke in it. . You know, Chip, you said yourself that the Trawlee fellows would try to. get even with us.’ a “With you, Hark,” laughed Merry. “Why ‘Should: they “Tl bet there’s something brewing that will turn out. Te: ‘Leave it alone, that’s. my advice. Don’t go near’ the © wikiup this afternoon and we'll have the. laugh on the “T can’t just get the connection between that Trawlee ie push and myself,” A ai Merry, “if they’re trying to Of course, — though, you may be right. If it’s a Trawlee trap, I'm going to drop into it. On the other hand, the writer of that letter may really have something important from Uncle Dick to, tell me. | Don’t you see, Has that I cant leave the thing alone? .I—— ' Twofers, at that moment, began Liieseicies sacity sowed ‘ the hall door. ‘Merry and Hark. watched him carefully. They were on the point .of asking what he was abou when Twofers lifted a ae finger and laid: it ‘on. hi Ban a sas SS Se character became unstable. ina pretty had way. In another moment Twofers had reached the door and laid a soft hand on the knob; then, quick as a flash, he jerked the door open and leaped into the hall. few moments with the station agent. He gave the agent a dollar bill and a letter. After’ that the man got back on the train again and went on.’ “What hath that to do with you?” “A whole lot. When I came down the platform the agent stopped me. He knows I belong over here at _ Blyfield Academy. It seems that the passenger on the train wanted the letter delivered at once to a fellow in town. Thé agent gave me the dollar and asked me to do the delivering. Say, Dal, that letter was for Chip Mer- -riwell!” At last Perk had captured Dalrymple’s interest. ’ “Why didn’t the man mail hith letter?” Dal inquired. “He wrote it on the train ant he wanted it delivered at once.’ “That wath quite carly thith morning,” commented Dal, with a show of disappointment. “I apy oS you hurried right over to Merriwell with the letter?’ “IT went to his boarding house, but I was told there that he had gone over to Bolton to call on Toby Hark- ness. That sent me to Bolton. Just as I got to Hark’s The transom was open and— and I heard all that, was said.” ail “TH bet you heard all that wath thaid,” remarked Dal, “if, you had a chanthe. You found Merriwell, did _ you, and gave him the letter?” “No,” said Perk, with a look of indignation, ‘‘T Aid ¢ not » give Merriwell the letter. I was just going to knock os when. the door was jerked open and Twofers grabbed me and hauled me into the room. Hark was there, and ‘so was Merriwell. Twofers,” and ,here. Perk showed much anger, “called me a sneak.” i he e! tt didn’t give the letter to Mer riwell > No,” : “Lory ve got it with you now?” “Sure I have.” “Why did you bring it here, Perk BP z 73 ae didn’t know but it might be worth something to et , bee NEW TIP TOP. WEEKLY. “spite against 1 we rs Dal smiled. Perky,” said he. ‘“There’s a chance it’s worth something,” urged Perk. “You don’t like Merriwell, and the man who gave the letter to the station agent said it was important.” “Oh, yeth, there ith a chanthe. What were Merriwell, and Hark, and Twoferth talking about ?” “Hark wanted Merry to go with him up the river this afternoon, and Merry said he couldn’t—that he’d just received a letter from Trawlee asking him to be at Cod- dington’s old wikiup down the river at four this after- noon. Some one wants to see Merriwell, and to see him alone. The man, whoever he is, says he brings an important message from Dick Merriwell, Chip’s uncle. That was the reason Merry couldn’t go with Hark.” “My goodneth!” exclaimed the horrified Dal. “I ther- tainly hope we’re not going to have any more Merriwellth in Blyfield. One ith more than enough. Do you want me to deliver that letter, Perk?” ‘You can do what you please with it,’ “Hand it over.” “Sure, Dal, but how much are you going to hand over ?” \ “Tho that ith your game, eh? over a quarter.” Perk laughed. “I guess you don’t want the letter, Dal,” said he, get- ting up and moving toward the door. , “I gueth not,” Dal dnsweged, yand this caused Perk to halt. “Gime five dollars,” he dickered. “Not if I know mythelf, Perk.’ “Four dollars!” “Tl give you one dollar, You already have a dollar from the agent at the depot, and that maketh two dol- larth you’re getting out of that letter. That ith enough.” “All right,’ said Perk moodily, “but you’re skinning me, Dal.” . “You ought to be thkinned,” returned Dal, handing over the dollar and taking the letter. ‘Now, then, keep your mouth shut about thith, Perk, or I'll teu everybody what you’ve done.” Se uf keep still—you can bank on that. have to keep mum, J guess. the letter you can use, Dal.” “T don’t thee how you figure. that out, ’ Perk answered. “ae Perk, I will hand We’ ll both With that Perk left the room, pocketing his money ty as he went. CHAPTER VIII. ene THE INTERCEPTED LETTER, Dalrymple was not so unscrupulous but that a sense of - shame rushed over him as he sat with the letter'in his hand after Perk had gone. from Tully Perkins. Hope there’s something in — It was a very shabby per- formance, this buying an important letter of Merriwell’s — Now that Dal was by himself, and_ BO set gah th Hct SRC acta Bilis SOP tera ices a had a chance to think over the transaction, he was not. very proud of the part he had played in it. pulse. bike otdered Perk out of his room. Then, gradually, his. reflections flowed into another’ charinet, i So they were saying eatind the school that he was | the one who had nagged Dan Silver on in wreakin his In paying a dollar for the letter he had acted under the whip of im- For a few moments he wished Prt that he, He wis seis all Bi b ame , for Silver’s treachery.. Some of the blame, no doubt, be- longed to Dal, but not all of it, by any means. Probably Merriwell was behind the talk. Silver had repented, had pulled Merriwell out of the river, and had finally made friends with his enemy. No } doubt, Dal thought, Silver and Merriwell, between them, had planned to make Dal bear most of the responsibility for the treacherous work Silver had done. “That ith a nithe how do you do,’ scowled Dal, rub- bing his pompadour nervously. “I won’t be anybody’th a goat, by Jove! If Merriwell ith playing it low-down on me, why shouldn’t I do the thame by him? I’d be a *® fool if I didn’t ‘meet him at hith own game.” 4 This was faulty reasoning. In the first place, Perk had not stated the matter correctly. The school talk did i not blame Dalrymple nearly so much as Perk had let on. ey Furthermore, Merriwell had nothing whatever to do with . what little rumors were going the rounds about Dal. Merry had his own private opinions, but he was not air- _' ing them for the benefit of Blyfield. Being guilty of colltision, with Silver, Dal imagined . matters were worse than fhey really were. This, of course, is always the failing of a fellow with a bad conscience. What shame Dal had felt in securing Merriwell’s let- ‘ter faded away under this train of false reasoning. He justified himself. He succeeded in making it plain to the inner Hal Dal that he was within his rights when he intercepted the letter. Furthermore, he felt that he had warrant for doing whatever he pleased with the letter. As Dal lounged in his chair he decided on a course of action and proceeded to carry it out. Lighting a gas jet, he: secured a tin cup of water my held it over» the flame until the water began to steam. Then he held the letter fap side down in the moist vapor. The effect of this was to loosen the gum that sealed ee Sey sg an paigites Witt: \y injury to the envelope. Dal would read the letter. If there was anything in it he could use against Merriwell, then he would use it; if the contents of the letter could not be used, then he w vould seal up the envelope and have Perk pass it along to the one for whom it was designed. _ For several minutes, however, Dal sat at his table _ with the opened letter in his hand. Something still lurked in his mind that made it difficult for him to proceed hi with this treacherous act. The letter was addressed in lead pencil to “Frank Mer- _ riwell, junior, care of Mrs. Blakeslee’s boarding house, Blyfield. ” It was a cheap yellow envelope, and there was “no card in the corner to indicate who the ane might be from. “Oh, the deuth!” muribled Hal Dal. “Now that I have gone tho far I might ath well go the limit.” So he went the limit. Removing the inclosed sheets from the envelope, he spread them out on the table. . It was a rough, penciled scrawl. It was just such a : “scrawl, perhaps, as one would make in trying to write on a. bouncing, jarring train. The letter ran as follows: “My Dear Younc Frienp: You will remember me as the man who called at your boarding housé, some ys ago, and rented the wikiup from Norris Coddington, ou have since learned from young Silver, I make no renting the pase were td secure a criminal who called NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 13 the letter so that it was possible to lift the flap without favor. doubt, that I am a-detective, and that my reasons for himself Burns. Of course, likewise from Silver, you know that I succeeded, and that Burns is now in custody. At © this moment I am on the train with Burns, taking him to the scene of one of his crimes for trial and punishment. “Burns, aS you are aware, was one of a gang of four ruffians from the coal mines. This gang tried to injure you—and suffered in the attempt. It was not strange that they resented the plucky way in which you defended yourself and gave them the worst of it on several occa- sions; nor is it strange that they should try to do some- thing to you by way of breaking even. “Burns tried to get even by means of that ice trap, at the time you raced with Trent, of Trawlee. appily, that scheme failed. Since taking the train with Burns, however, he has told me that his three pals, who are still at large, are planning some underhand work against a you. Burns is a braggart, and he had the idea that be- 4 cause we were on the train and leaving the country would not be able to do a thing to protect you. That's where he is wrong. I have secured paper and envelope from the conductor of the train and am writing this. At a Blyfield I will find some one to get this warning into your hands. Briefly, as I gather from Burns, the scheme is as) follows: “You will receive a letter, early this morning, asking you to come alone to ae Ww ikiup to receive an important message from your Uncle Dick. I do not think you will bite at such a trafsparent frame-up. Still, to head off any possibility of it, | want you to pay no attention to that letter, shottld you think of doing so. Three scoun- | drels are lying in wait for you. I haven’t any idea what | they intend to do, but it is certainly something lawless and brutal. “A word to the wise, my lad! Hastily, Ge “Samurt AGAMEMNON WHITTAKER.” ee After reading the scrawl, Hal Dal sank back in his chair with a gasp. Important? Certainly it was im- portant. In connection with what Tully Perkins had overheard outside of Hark’s room, it was easy for Dal to understand the vital importance of that warning to. Chip Merriwell. Mentally, Dal reviewed the operations of the four thugs from the coal mines—and the review was all the more interesting because Dal had himself sug- gested that Silver get the scoundrels to help “eliminate” Merriwell from Blyfield. . _ First, these four had been paid money by Silver to “lay” for Merriwell and put him in line for a hospital. | This was along at the very beginning of Silver’s enmity for Merriwell, and the treachery was planned to retire Merry as coach from the hockey team—a position de- — sired by Silver. The four thugs had encountered Merry and Jock Belize, and the two lads had given such a good account of themselves that the four thugs had got very much the worst of the set-to. 2 After that the coal miners were eager for reprisal against Merry. Still in Silver’s pay, they had captured © Merry on the day of the last hockey game with ‘Traw- lee—the game in which, by arrangement, Merry was to- play with Blyfield and Trent with Trawlee. Merry was resctied so that he was able to take part in the last half” of the game—and the score was changed’ in Blyfield’s Then came the robbery of Hesidpiaee s jewelry store. The coal miners, led by Burns, a cracksman, had com- mitted that robbery, It had allen to Merriwell to. re- 14 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. cover the stolen goods, and to clear Jock Belize of all suspicion of complicity. Silver had tried to weave a ~ net of guilt about Belize, but had failed. This recovery of the stolen goods by Merriwell in- censed the thieves against the daring lad more than ever. They were eager to retaliate, and it was Burns who prepared the ice trap near the wikiup—and was captured by Whittaker for his pains! Now, it seemed, Burns’ three lawless pals had taken up the matter of “getting even” with Merriwell; and they were working the scheme so cleverly that Merriwell was about to fall into it. “Jove,” whispered Dalrymple, “that will fix him! If Merriwell doeth not rethieve thith warning he will go alone to the wikiup thith afternoon. That meanth that I will balance accounth with him, and he will be out of Blyfield for good. Thay, thith ith fine!’ Dal rubbed his white, soft hands gleefully together. Then, suddenly, the smile vanished from his face. As always, when nervous or perplexed, he began rubbing his pompadour. Could he do this thing? It was a depth of treachery to which he had not yet descended. His better nature stirred in rebellion’ He disliked Merriwell, but did he dislike him to that extent? Dal got to his feet and traveled up and down the room. What he should do, under the circumstances, was something that called for reflection. He did not want to make himself legally liable. In buying the letter and making use of it, he was sure he had broken no law. He had transgressed a moral law, perhaps, but he had not overstepped any law on the statute books. If the letter had been mailed, and he had intercepted it, he might have been liable for tampering with it. But that had not been the case. Yes, he was fairly sure he could hold out that letter on Merriwell and not incur any legal liabilities. It would be his conscience alone that he would have to deal with. By noon Dal was still undecided. He went out to his dinner. At the rather exclusive eating club where he took his meals he was moody and preoccupied. Re- turning to his room, he unlocked his door and passed into the familiar surroundings in a frame of mind that was far from pleasant. Sitting down at a desk he wrote his usual weekly let- ter.to his mother. That was one thing which he never neglected, and, of course, it was vastly to his credit. Oddly enough, when he had finished writing the letter he had all but made up his mind to take Whittaker’s letter personally to Merriwell. But he did not start at once. He would mail the letter home first. When he hurried downstairs to the mail box he left the door of his room open. He was gone only a few moments, but a terrible thing happened during that brief space of time. Perhaps the thing itself was not so terrible as the tragic possibilities to which it gave rise. _ There were several empty packing cases piled in the hall near Dal’s door. Out of this litter; the moment Dal had left,/appeared an ugly head, with glittering, in- quisitive eyes. It swayed back and forth, and up and down, and finally drew farther and farther out of the heap of boxes. Gradually a long and hideous shape dis- closed itself, crawling with a queer, whispering sound toward the open door. Slowly but steadily it moved, bent itself gracefully, and glided into Dal’s room. The hall had been chilly. Wot } ‘ ' » sleeves, that’s a cinch. The warmth in the student’s room must have been most agreeable to the hideous, shining thing that had so sud- denly preempted it. A couch, covered with a Navaho blanket, stood near a steam radiator. Under this couch the long, writhing form disappeared, to,coil up close to the heat. When Dalrymple returned and closed his door, the coiled, sinuous body was not in evidence. Dal flung him- self into a chair. The wish to do the right thing, which had come to the lad while writing the letter home, was being obscured by the darker side of his nature. It was half past two. If Merriwell reached the wikiup by three, he would soon have to be on the way. “He will take hith skateth and go by the river, I thup- pothe,” said Dal, half aloud. “Well, let him ‘go. It ith hith own affair, and I am not going to interfere. I gueth Blyfield will thoon thee the latht of him.” The dangers that threatened Merriwell at the wikiup were as nothing compared with the perils which, at that moment, menaced Hal Dalrymple in his own room. These he might have escaped hagl he taken Merry’s letter and left at once for Mrs. Blakeslee’s boarding house. In planning evil, a fellow is quite apt to lose sight of the workings of Fate! CHAPTER IX. MERRY STRIKES A TRAIL. “T don’t like this business a little bit,” grumbled Clancy. “My sentiments to a t, y, ty,” added Ballard. The two lads were in Merry’s room, each with his skates in hand and ready to leave for the upriver ex- cursion with Toby Harkness, Frank was sitting in an eagy-chair, reading a paper. “What business is that, Clan?” asked Merry. “Why, you’re going alone to the wikiup this after- noon. That Trawlee bunch have got something up their You may be getting into a lot of hot water, Chip.” “That will be a lot better than getting into cold water —as I did on my last trip to the cabin,” Merry answered with a laugh. | “You know what Red means, Chip,” said Ballard. “By going off by ourselves, like this, it looks as though we were abandoning you to your fate.” “Oh, splash! © Say, Pink, you’re getting rather flighty in your old age. The Trawlee fellows won’t come down very hard on me, I guess. didn’t write that letter, anyhow.” ‘Maybe not, but there’s a hen on, somewhere.”/ “That’s what I think,’ added Clancy. “Trouble is going to be hatched. Chip, I think that Pink and I had better call off this trip with Hark and trail along to the a wikiup with you.” “T wouldn’t stand for that,” said Merriwell decidedly. “The letter says I’m to come alone. And that is the way I am going.” “It’s that request that makes the business look so — darned fishy,” growled Clancy. “Tf it’s a trap, I’ll go into it with my eyes open. But I can’t think of any one who would want to do any trap- ping—so far as I’m concerned. That Trawlee crowd may — be playing some sort of a joke, but if that’s the way it turns out I guess I can stand it. Toddle along, fellows. f Hark is probably waiting for you.” Far from easy in their minds, Clancy and Ballard left \ Possibly Trawlee fellows | NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. | “rg to join Harkness. As soon as they were gone, Merriwell ithrew aside the newspaper and fell into a brown study. He was-not thinking about his trip to the wikiup, but about the “dreams” Hark and Twofers had had: the night before. That they-were really dreams he.did not doubt, although they had. offered a weird sequence of events which it was difficult to understand. The “visions” had begun with Hark, and then Twofers had taken them up at the exact point where. Hark had left off. This, on the face of it, was rather. too logical a procedure where dreams were concerned. It was a queer little problem, and Merry was at a loss to understand why it had taken such a hold on him. He could make nothing out of it, however, except a plain case of coincidence. Shortly before three he took his skates and started for the river.. His course carried him along one side of the academy campus and past Densmore and Bolton. In front of Bolton he came to an abrupt halt. The dreams of Hark and Twofers had popped into his head again. Twofers had thought he saw the big snake cross his room and crawl through a window. Merry walked back to the side of the building that faced the long wall of Densmore and lifted his eyes to the sec- ond-story windows. After a few moments he located the window of the room occupied by Twofers and Greef. A stocky vine, leafless at that time of year, of course, climbed high on the brick wall. The vine was as thick as Merry’s wrist and Was anchored firmly to the bricks. It did not pass close enough to Twofers’ window so that he could make use of it in breaking rules and getting out of his room by night, but a long snake might have covered the gap be- tween the widnow and the vine very easily. The idea:caused Merry to chuckle humorously. He was not seriously considering the fact that a snake had made such an exit from Twofers’ room, but that it might have done so. The notion interested him, in a way ; enough, at least, so that he carried his investigations a little further. As he left the walk and moved toward the side wall of the build- ing, he was hailed suddenly. Papmng. around, he saw Twofers. “What're you topling around here ear Chip?” Twofers _ inquired. Merry was caught red- fiacided, He laughed lightly, “Why, Twofers,” he answered, “I was just. trying to i figure out how that snake of yours got out of the win- . dow.” My eye!” cried Twofers. “Darned if I. don’t think you half believe in that snake yourself, Chip.” — “I’m wasting my timé, I suppose, but somehow the ‘way you and Hark got to seeing things in the night “sort of keeps pestering me. If the snake was Jong enough it could reach that vine and get down safely.” — “Sure it could. Say, I’ve been planning to look the _I’ve only just been able to sidetrack Greef. Let's in- i “vestigate avers Chip, and trail down that iad snake.” They walked. closer to the wall. a it in pushing through some low-growing evergreens, barked his shins on some-object. Oe ta nner What s that ?” Papen demanded. frame. eo over under our window ever since morning, but | “Some chump has dropped a lot of rubbish out-of his. window, I guess,’ grumbled Twofers, rubbing his shins. The “rubbish,” ‘however, proved to be a blue box with rope handles. Merry pulled it clear of the brush. “This is beginning to get mighty interesting, Twofers,” said he. ‘Does that box belong to anybody in Bolton?” “Not that I know of,” returned the puzzled Twofers. “Some fellow might have used it for a trunk, but why the dickens should it be here?’ “It looks a good deal like one of Sefior de Males: snake boxes.” At that Twofers gave an excited jump. “By thunder,” he muttered, “the plot thickens! How did the box come here? If there was a snake in it, how did the snake get out? What business did any one have bringing a snake on the academy grounds, anyway?” “There’s a mystery about it. The inside of the box has -a faint odor of chloroform.” Frank had opened the lid. “Ah!” he murmured, and reached into the box and took out a little ball of cotton. ‘‘This. cotton,” he added, a moment later, “was saturated with chloroform.” “Why?” queried Twofers. “Remember what the fellow said at the moving-pic- ture show? When Chico refused to be ‘controlled’ by De Males, he was sometimes chloroformed in order to bring him to time.” “I remember that,” ‘answered the wondering Twofers. “Something has been going on around here, that’s a cinch. What it was, though, is too big a conundrum for me,’* ‘ There was a good deal of snow on the ground, and between Bolton and Densmore it had been trampled con- siderably. Frank began a search, and he started it di- rectly under the window of the room occupied by Two- fers and Greef. Presently he uttered an exclamation of astonishment. “What's to pay now?” asked Twofers. “There’s a trail running between here and the other dormitory,” replied Frank. “It looks like the mark a fellow would leave by dragging a small, heavy sack through the snow. Look there, Twofers.” Merry indicated the long, narrow depression. fers, by that time, was wildly excited. “T’ve got it on Greef, and no mistake!” he declared. Nees ey saw that snake, I really did. Greef had about con- vinced me that it was a dream, but I’ll be hanged if it © was! That’s the trail left /by ‘that big reptile. .Wow! | .My skin is beginning to get up and walk all over me with cold feet.” ‘Frank, tremendously interested now, was following. the strange trail through the snow. It led directly to a basement window in the other dormitory. That base- ment window was open! It had been covered by a wire screen, but the screen had rotted through exposure to the weather, and had been broken almost entirely from its” Fragments of the rusted screen were. tying at around the window in the snow. “Why is this window open?” Frank thaniers bay “Vegetable cellar in the basement,” said Twofers. “The 3 heating plant is down there, too, and the window is kept open for ventilation and the good of the tubers. Do you think, Chip,” and Twofers’ eyes widened with fear and apptehension, “that the snake crawled into the: Ree: 3 ment?” | . oe don’t know what to think.” w ¥; Merriwell was: in 4 16” NEW quandary. “That queer trait ends at this basement win- dow. Something seems to have gone in here.” » He laid aside his skates. ‘I’m going to keep right on following the trail,” he added. “Td better go and get somebody to help,” suggested Twofers. “You don’t want to come company front with a loose boa constrictor and have only your bare hands to fight with! What we want, Chip, is a crowd of fellows with guns.” “No,” was the answer, ‘we don’t want a crowd—not just now. The laugh would be on us if we didn’t find anything. We'll keep this to ourselves until we know what we’re up against.”’ In spite of Twofers’ protests, Merry crawled through the window and into the basement. When he dropped, he landed on a pile of potatoes. The basement was fairly light, and he was able to look around and get his bear- ings. In one end of the cellar was the heating plant. pipes and pipes for water and gas hung overhead. Twofers, although a bit fearful of consequences, wormed his way into the basement and dropped at Merry’s side. “See anything suspicious?” he asked. “Not a thing,” Frank answered. They hunted cautiously through the cellar, but without result. Finally they came to a stairway. The door at the top was open. “If a snake really c came into this basement, Twofers,” Frank observed, “it has had a chance to get out and roam all through the dormitory. Somebody w ould have seen it before now. We'll go up and take a look, but I don’t think there’s much use.” . Nothing was found in the halls or corridors. On the second: floor, however, Frank became aware of strange noises that issued from one of the rooms. Some one behind the closed door was breathing gaspingly, and oc- casionally stifling a groan. “Whose room is this?” queried Merry. _ “Hal Dalrymple’s,” Twofers answered. Frank stepped closer to the door and listened intently. Steam CHAPTER X. UNDER A SPELL. Dalrymple had finally settled it in his own mind that he would not interfere with Merriwell’s plans for the afternoon. Let him gd\on to the wikiup and fall into the trap! And then let him get out of it—if he could. A )weird uneasiness was creeping along Dal’s nerves. His skin was like goose flesh. A feeling which he was’ utterly at a loss to comprehend had taken a grip on him. _ Some one knocked at the door. Dal was glad to have a caller at that moment. A sehsation of relief ran through him as he called out a loud “Come in.” Perk entered the room. “Th-thit down,” said Dal, speaking with difficulty. “What ails you, Dal?” demanded Perk, staring into the other’s face. “You're as white as a ghost.” By an effort Dal regained control of himself. “Tl be hanged if I know what ith the matter with “me, Perk,” he returned. “Nothing, I gueth.” ~ Perk seated himself. “Find anything in that deter that you could use?” he ‘queried Fie Lor riw ell and it has got on your nerves. WEEKLY. “Don’t talk about the letter,” said Dal sharply. “That ith my buthineth, now. You haven't a thing to do with a. “You might tell -a fellow what you found in it,’ grumbled Perk. “T wish you'd never brought the confounded thing here ! I’m doing, thomething I may be thorry for—but I’m doing it, jutht the thame.” 4 “Getting even with Merriwell?” asked the other, cock- ing his head on one side and blinking his faded eyes. “Shut up about it!” grunted Dal crossly. “That’s what’s the matter with you, then!” murmured Perk, chuckling. ‘“You’ve made a move against Mer- Say, Dal, I never thought you could get all worked up like that over amy- thing. 1—I ’ Perk paused and lifted a hand to his forehead. ‘‘What in blazes is the matter here?” he asked. “Nothing ith the matter,” said Dal, in a half whisper. “I know better! There’s something w rong—some- thing in this room. Why, Dal, I can almost feel 1. Dal stared at Perk curiously. “T__] wath wondering about that mythelf,” he mut- tered, “You feel ‘1t too, do you? Thort of a—thort of a—well, like you were being hypnotized: You feel ath though the point of a sword wath coming straight at you, and—and you can’t get away from it. Br-r-r!"_ “I don’t know what it is,” returned Perk, “but it gives me a queer feeling in the head, I don’t seem to have any strength. Let’s get out of here, Dal!” he cried, rising. “Something 1s going to happen. Come on! ‘Let’s hike while there’s time.” In his eagerness and trepidation he caught Dalrytiple by an arm and tried to pull him out of his chair. “I don’t want to thtay heré,” whimpered Dal, “and I don’t want to go. Wonder if I’m getting looney ?” “Come on, come on!” begged Perk wildly. ~ ‘Leave me alone, Perk.” “T’m going, if you don’t.” “T wish you'd thtay, but you can go if you want to.” Perk turned and moved with halting steps toward the door. With one hand on the knob he paused. Then he turned and slowly, very slowly, retraced his way to the chair he had just vacated. “T_T can’t go!” he whined, “What's the matter with me? Dal, haven’t you any notion what ails us?” “Why couldn't you go?” Dal asked, not like a person who asks in the hope of securing information, but me-~ chanteally, as though talking in a daze. “Something dragged me back! It was like a big mag- net pulling me! This is awful!” Perk dropped his face in his trembling hands and be- gan to blubber. . . Dalrymple shook himself. By a fierce effort of the will. he seemed to recover a little of his courage and sanity. “Thtop that!” he exclaimed. “Get a grip on your- thelf. I read thomewhere, Perk, that when a. fellow planth to do a deed that ith very black or very treacherous, he ith liable to become paralythed.. It wath in a book — of tales—Hindoo mythology. Can it be that that ith what ith the matter with uth?” “You—you're crazy,” said Perk. such a thing as that? There'd be a mighty lot of fel- lows paralyzed, if it was true.” “We're under a thpell, pet ith no doubt about that, fi. i ci heard ofy: ~ with stony eyes. head appeared from under the couch, NEW TIP. TOP WEEKLY’ £7. We don’t want to thtay here, and yet we can’t go ’way. You tried to leave, and—and you had to come back. Thomebody ith bewitching us!” Dal’s reading had been along occult lines. Perhaps he really Believed that some person was working a spell for the undoing of himself and Perk, or perhaps he had not full control of his faculties and vas talking at random, ‘‘Maybe we're getting it handed to us for the way we’re treating Merriwell,” suggested Perk, with a shiver. “Merriwell couldn't do a thing like thith!” protested Dal... Lithen!” Both of them bent their heads. What they heard was a sound that resembled a soft rustling of leaves in a wind. They stared about them with distended eyes, but could see nothing. The'weird noise filled the room—apparently it came from everywhere at once. “I must be going mad!” gulped Perk, clutching his fore- head with both hands. “We're both going mad,” whispered Dal hoarsely. “I am in a cold thweat. I’d yell if I could, but I theem to be losing my voithe.” “I’m going for help,” sobbed Perk. “I’ve got to go. We're going to die right here if something isn’t done. Come on, Dal! Try to come, can’t you?” Dalsshook his head hopelessly. . “Shall -T go?” “Yeth—go and bring thomebody, quick!” Again Perk got out of his chair. that had interfered with him before had increased ten- fold, “There’s a weight on me, pushing me down!” he gasped. “I can hardly stagger, Dal!’ No use—/ can’t get away from here!” Perk collapsed into his chair. Breathing hard, the two lads sat peering frenziedly into each other’s face. The rustling seemed to.grow in volume. It was every- where and beat on their ears like the roar of mighty winds. Presently, in a queer, lifeless voice, Dalrymple spoke : ; “Thomebody ith hypnotithing us! I don’t know how it can be done, when we’re here, all by ourthelveth, but it ith being done. I know it. We can’t move; we jutht have to thit here and wait for what ith coming. The lads continued to sit and to stare at each other Then, in a few moments, a flat, ugly It glided for- ward, elevated and swinging in a kind of hideous rhythm. _ Two diamond eyes, which seemed to cast off sparks, were fixed upon the two.lads. “Look!” breathed Dal, through tense, bloodless lips. A low groan was wrenched from Perk. He struggled feebly to ‘get up from his chair, but found it impossible. His gaze, and that of Hal Dal; sought the ugly head with its gleaming eyes. Horror filled their glances, yet it was impossible for them to look away. Swaying and gyrating, . yet always poinking in their direction, the head with its dragging length of body gained the ‘middle of the ‘room. ‘There’ the. reptile pyramided itself, coil upon coil, so that its head and arched * neck reared upward to the height of a man. | _ In the benumbed brains of the two lads no question formed itself as to the terrible mystery of that great serpent’s presence in the room. _Helplessly they watched, | The uncanny power . the breath gurgling in their throats—watched and waited for a miserable doom to come upon them. Some one knocked at the door. Perk made an almost inperceptible but futile movement. Dal, neither by word nor sign, gave any heed to the knock. Perk tried to speak, but his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he made no sound. Again the knock fell on the door, louder this time. It was repeated two or three times, and voices could be heard in the hall.. Then a light, quick hand touched the knob, turned it, and the door swung slowly inward. _ The face of Chip Merriwell appeared in the opening. He looked casually, and then, as the horror of the spec- tacle before him dawned on his consciousness, his face went white. Some one behind him pushed the door wider. Twofers appeared at Merry’s side. A startled cry burst from - Twofers’ lips. “There it is! back !” Twofers, in frantic haste, dodged backward. Merry, however held his place. The serpent was between him and Dalrymple and Per- kins. Its glittering, hypnotic eyes were turned the other way. The reptile paid no heed to the intrusion. As soon as the first shoek had passed, Merry realized that something would have to be done instantly. Yet, unarmed as he was, what was there that he could do?” If he hada rope! He turned to Twofers who had hold of his arm and was trying to pull him back, “Get out of this!” begged Twofers. “What can you do, Chip?” “We've got to do something for Perkins and Dal- rymple,’ answered Merriwell, “and we’ve got to do it now. Is there a rope anywhere ?’ ‘ “There’s a gun in Dal’s room—in the corner by the door,” said Twofers. “I just saw it. It’ s as much as your life is worth, though, to try and get it.” Merry whirled around. Following Twofers’ trembling, pointing finger with his eyes, he located the rifle. It was perhaps . four long steps from the door, leaning in one corner. Merry stepped farther into the room. Slowly; softly he worked his way along until he came close enough to grasp the rifle and lift it in his hands. Probably it wasn’t loaded! This terrible thought / Good heavens! Get back, Chip, get passed through Merry’s mind at that moment, Why should Hal Dal keep a loaded rifle in his room?” But Merry knew that he must take a chance. Swing- ing the gun to his shoulder, he airhed across the sights at the back of the fat, ugly, swaying head. The next moment he realized that he could not shoot from that position—it would endanger Dalrymple too much. He stepped a little to one side and again took careful aim. The range was short. The next instant a_ loud report cracked through the confined quarters and the ugly head dropped and the sinuous body began to twist and writhe about on the floor. CHAPTER XI. MERRIWELL GETS HIS LETTER. The spell was broken. The moment the shot rang through theroom Dalrymple and Perkins collapsed. Perk fell to the floor and lay there, while Dal, deathly nei and — with closed eyes, lay back in his big chair. — was on the right track! Fowler, the queer passenger, and Crossly are partners in this affair! Crossly is a man on thé job, and the others are middlemen!” He crumpled the note in his fingers. “Miss Mills, I owe all of this to you. When you learn the whole story you will appreciate the value of this little note.” _ The gérl suddenly.stooped to the wastebasket beside her desk. Her slim arm went down and brought up some torn white scraps of paper. “This must have been something Mr. Crossly whole to-night,” she said, after the pause. “The basket wai empty when I left the office !” “What luck!” Blake bent over, and between. ‘tens When it was completed Blake breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, just translate that, Miss Mills!” She inserted a fresh sheet of paper in the machine and started the first word. Then she hesitated. . “Is—it right that we should read this man’s letters?” “T must tell you,” Blake explained quickly, “that this f Crossly is a criminal! He is defrauding the government. It is necessary that we do this. Believe me, Miss AMID: eens | Blake took the paper from her fingers and read the line: age if, le - Later, I-will-tell you everything. Until then you must sy _ trust me!” sh i His earnest declaration evidently appealed to the girl. S, She swept her questioning eyes from his face back to the in keys of the writing machine. n “Vil trust you,” she said simply. She fell to work, al her white fingers fluttering over the keyboard. Finish- ni _ ing, she withdrew the paper and handed it to Blake! It yn (van: - _..“Cree: Plant starts again to-morrow. Dies for the silver dollars all O. K. Will have a few hundred dollars i _. ready by Saturday. Get rid of the halves as fast as pos- 1s sible, as.I think the secret-service men are getting wise. Will expect you here Saturday morning. Come right up ly to the mine. Auto will be waiting. CROSSLY.” t. That: night, long after he had left the girl, Blake kept - ee light burning i in his room, laying out a course that - would result in the capture of the counterfeiters. Be- iC fore he closed his eyes he had determined upon a plan, of action. j g / ' CHAPTER XXII, ‘- THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. , The first thing early the following morning Blake made his way to the nearest telegraph station and sent a long, S carefully worded message to Mr. Rice, the division super- es _intendent: : : “Communicate with the police at once. Brig half.a g dozen plain-clothes men to Lookout Mountain Hotel, a i Golden, by seven a. m. Saturday. Will leave further and more. ‘definite particulars with the clerk, Mr. Walker. Arrest and a hold a small, dwarfed old man who will * arrive on eight-thirty train, and who will attempt to leave ‘hotel by atito. Use machine and drive three miles i up Yankee Creek Cafion. I will be there. ° “LEE BLAKE.” : ‘This bibs, Blake hurried back to the Hotel to find Ctossly just preparing to leave. The big machine was . chugging outside the door. Blake eee to him and « te pokes), Y p “Good morning, Great day for a spin, isn’t it?” ats “Yes, indeed!” Crossly tossed his bag into the rear : f the car Nonane i a Colorado morning for a bracer !” } y ~ “Staying long} aa _ “Going to remain up at the mine until Saturday after- noon. Am expecting a friend then. fortable up there, but I’ve got to straighten out a lot of Beet ie can’t afford to waste the time traveling back and fort ‘I see. What sort of property have you?” Silver,” Crossly paused, with one foot on the step. ou a'stranger in the West?” ah ‘Tm. out here in the hills for a sort of— vet 4 ‘vacd n,” Blake said. | “Lungs, eh?” Crossly smiled. “Well, you inale get outdoors as much as possrible. I say;’ hé went on, ’ “how'd you like to take the trip “out and back i the © machine?” Blake managed to conceal his dcliont Ae won't ask you into the tunnel—as te air is very’ bac rossly ‘continued ; “but the ride out and iy al will you: a ee of good!” . . pe see = oO et - Rather uncom- ; NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 23 “Why, this is extremely nice of you, Mr. Crossly.” Blake forced himself to appear confused. “But I’m afraid to trouble ; “Not at all! Step right in! “Guess I’d better get my overcoat. won't be a moment.’ Half in a daze at this unexpected turn of fortune, 7? If you'll wait—I ‘Blake hurried into the lobby and up to his room, return- ing with his coat. to the clerk, Walker. “A Mr. Rice will drop in to-morrow early—and with some secret-service men. Give him this note. I will not return until Saturday.” A moment later he had stepped into the machine at thé door, and, with Crossly beside him, was whirled away up the street. Adventure was ‘ahead of him! capital A, Where would Saturday’s dawn find him? Passing the desk, he slipped a letter Adventure with a CHAPTER XXIII. CROSSLY SCORES. Once out,of the little town, the wide road wound in many intricate curves, following the creek. ‘The barren foothills gradually gave away to greener, higher eleva- tions, pine-covered and wild. Abruptly they entered the cafion itself. On one side the granite walls arose sheer and. inaccessible; on the other the narrow, foaming stream roared, as if fretting at the cramped space. Overhead the sky was perfect and cloudless. The air was clear, and cool, and invigorating. It acted like a tonic on one’s blood. For the moment, forgetting his position and the future, Blake threw back his. shoul- ders and drew in great, quivering breaths of the pine- scented breeze. es nerve in his body responded. »As the car proceeded deeper into the cafion, Blake f brought his mind to bear upon his present position. Crossly, blissfully unaware. of the situation, puffed calmly on a black cigar, hands folded in his lap. He seemed at peace with the whole world. It seemed diffi- cult to Blake tq force himself to realize that this man be- side him, so calm and unperturbed, was ringleader in a . big counterfeiting plot. A turn of a hand, a carelessly dropped word, might send the man to life imprisonment! “What success are you having with your property, Mr. - Crossly?” Blake said, by way of opening the conversa- tion. “Fair! exceptionally high. We have stumbled across some good veins lately, and I hope within the next month to be shipping the ore into Denver smelters.” j Blake chuckled to himself. It was a tee a mine, well enough, but the stuff that came out was already coined! He began to admire Crossly’s nerve and his ready con- TP ohana | “Both men were silent for a while. -and occasionally stole ‘side glances at his companion - stolid face. “Tust around this next shoulder is the place, ” Chesaly a » spoke up suddenly. Blake took in a- deep: breath: and 4 ee ie she? the car, swept around the clump: of oon 6 be- af Silver ore isn’t ptofitable unless the values run -Crossly stated» ‘otc ahead of him; Blake admired the ss a 24 | NEW TIP TOP. WEEKLY. held, on the slope ofthe cafion wall, a low, log-built cabin. Beside it loomed the mouth of a tunnel. Below -this mouth, and spreading out in a fan shape, lay the dump. The waste spilled there was far from being fresh. Over the top of the tunnel, painted in big white letters on a black board, were the words: “Yankee Creek Tunnel.” The machine stopped. Crossly opened the door and stepped out. # “Better come up to the cabin and stretch your legs, Mr. Blake,” he said. “I can offer -you a drink of the finest spring water that Nature ever brewed!” “All right,” said Blake. They walked carefully up the narrow trail that wound from the road to the cabin. Reaching the door, Crossly took out a key’ and unlocked the heavy padlocky “The men are working in the Brest of the tunnel,” ' he observed. ‘‘So, to keep the curious away, I generally have this house of-mine locked up? He stepped back and allowed Blake to enter first. The conductor found himself in a low-roofed, single room. On one side was a bunk, in the middle of the floor a table and a few chairs. An old cooking stove stood in a far corner, above it a row of dirty cooking utensils. Two windows gave faint light, two windows that, were high, narrow, ‘and destitute of glass. A short, grim laugh behind him caused Blake to whirl like a flash,every muscle alert, his fingers, clenched. As he did this, Crossly sprang back and slammed the heavy log door. With an-exclamation of rage, Blake threw himself against this barrier—only to hear the lock snap.' He was trapped! Blake made for the nearest window—the one opening toward the road. crushed upon him: it was far too narrow for exit! Crossly, standing outside, smiled at him through the space, a gleam of triumph on his thin face. “Don’t be nervous, my gum-shoe friend,” he called, a sneer in his tone. ‘Take things coolly! You'll find that fine spring water I told you about in a jug under the— bunk! I do hate to treat:a guest in this fashion—par- ticularly one with weak lungs’”—he laughed—“‘but I fear the little game you had framed up agaifist me will end in a different manner from what you expected!’ He turned and waved a hand toward the chugging machine. With a roar and a cloud of dust, it shot off down the road in the direction of the hotel. “Tl pay-you a visit a little later in the day, Mr. Blake,” Crossly resumed. “Meanwhile, please don’t destroy any of the furniture in my apartments !” He bowed, still laughing, turned on his heel, and dis- appeared into the mouth: of the tunnel. CHAPTER XXIV, 3 BLAKE KEEPS HIS NERVE, / Blake turned from the window and gazed bewilderedly about the cabin room. had been so confident of success until this moment, and now, after all his work and worry, it looked as if things were dead against him. . At what stage of the game had Crossly begun Susy since then, pecting? Was it in_Denver or up at Golden? Was his last letter, the one > Miss Mills atsconrsd in the waste- : e i aloud. ‘the cabin. Before reaching it the realization | a_six-shooter. This turning of the tables had come so suddenly and unexpectedly as to daze him. He. basket, a ruse? In that case, Rice and the police would be duped in the same manner ! Finally, after the first excitement had worn away, Blake composed himself, and began a careful inspection of the room: was, out of the question. The cabin was built of gredt. logs, immovable as iron; the windows. were mere slits, while the door itself might as well have been chilled steel for all the chance he had of forcing it. Blake sat down in a chair, put his elbows on the table, and stared reflectively at the o opposite wall. . This was a moment when his brain must have a chance to work. Here he was at the very threshold of victory, the culprits within calling distance at least, all the needed evidence — somewhere beyond that tunnel mouth;,and yet he seemed to be utterly helpless. The situation maddened him—the ease with. which Crossly had trapped him at this eleventh hour was almost beyond belief. “Tt must be neat noon,” he reasoned at last, ‘tally “Rice and the officers will be here early in the morning—Saturday | I’ve got to get out of here to pre- vent their falling into~Crossly’s ‘hands !” The hours dragged along as one plan after another sug- gested itself and was discarded. Toward dusk—for the twilight descends early in a narrow-walled cafion—he ~ suddenly heard footsteps. . Peering from the nearest win- dow, he saw Crossly and three men leaving the tunnel mouth, Crogsly had changed his clothes, and was wear- ing a pair of overalls and a black shirt. “As Blake watched they came along the path dninaea As the lock on the door was being ane Crossly’s voice sang out: “Hello in there, Blake! be hurt.” In five minutes’ time he realized that escape Don’t try any tricks on us. of ‘We're four, and we’re armed. Act decent, and you won't’ ~ Understanding the position he was /placed in—utterly unarmed and with four men opposing him, Blake went back to his chair, and remained thete ytntil all had come in. Ni The first thing Crossly did was to light a big oil lamp — that hung in the center of the cabin over the table. e three other men, silent, shifty-eyed, and aepek nervous, moved about the room like shadows. One of the number began preparations for supper, starting a fire in the stove and getting down the pans from the wall. Another, at Crossly’s command, took a: chair, placed it against the door, and sat in it. No explanation was needed. “Hate to do it, Blake,” Crossly finally said, “but we'll have to tie you up a little!” Breathing hard, but offering no objection—simply be- cause a fight would have been useless, Blake suffered one of the men to securely tie his legs and arms. who in turn were relieved from guarding him. During . the supper preparations, tony came over and eee the conversation. | “T got wise to your. ame last night i in the hotel,” i! faa commenced. “Knew. I’d seen you. somewhere before, but couldn’t place the thing until I happened to remem- ber our collision in Denver! Been following 1 me SNGK ve you?” ce ae cei ee. ace aula \? eS. E r since! “Too bad yon trouble went for nothing! But. - to My At his hip airung ye | Then he | was lifted bodily and carried over to the nearest bunk, Here, half sitting, half reclining, he could watch the men, tp SA ee oe te NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 25 as you’re my guest, and you’ve weak lungs’’—here Crossly chuckled. again——“‘nothing serious will happen to you. “You mean—mean "you'll keep me locked up in this cabin?” Blake asked. |” “And what-else? Have the machine call for you and take you back to the hotel? I guess not. I’m too soft- hearted to murder you—although I doubt very much if my men are of the same frame of mind, so all that I can do is to keep you here until our affairs are settled!” “What do you mean by—settled °” * “Well, I guess another month—if we can turn out as much stuff right along as we did to-day—will end it! I don’t mind telling you that I’ve been in this game all over ~ the country and under a dozen names, work so long and then move on.” Blake’s heart would have dropped lower—if such a thing had been possible. ca thought it best to nab you when I did,” Crossly went My policy is to on calmly, “before you learned too much and put the. police wise to the game. You're not a regular gum-shoe man, are you?” “T said I’d run you down, and I’m going to do it,” Blake came back as quietly as he could. “Very good indeed.” . Crossly’s thin face wreathed itself. in sMiles. “And you’ve done so, haven’t you? You didn’t only run me down, but I actually asked you right into my home!” “The first chance I get I’lI—— “You'll do.nothing of the sort.” Crossly leaned nearer. “You're not such a fool. You're lucky to be alive. Did you see that man who came in last and who sat down ” Blake began. before the door—the one with a six-shooter at his hip? Well, from to-day on he stays in with you. As long as you’re quiet he’s harmless. If you make trouble he'll shoot—and the fellow shoots quick and straight, too. “And another thing, Blake. I don’t know how far you've gone in this matter—whether .you’ve communi- cated with any other parties or not, but I want you to remember this warning! The first stranger who comes up this trail will be shot. It’s no place for them. If you knew the location of this plant and arranged for some one to coie here, it’ll be to their death!” The two men stared straight into each other’s eyes. Blake understood. The euand was to watch him and the road as well. If Rice and the officers approached near , enough, it meant ‘ _ “The guard is a mute—he can’t talk, but he has ears like a cat. I’m not anxious to have trouble. If you've any message you'd like to send into Golden, I'll let one of the men oblige you!” ~“You mean that——” © “You know what I mean, Blake,” interruption. chance to prevent trouble—serious trouble ! came Crossly’s sharp “Tf you’re expecting any help, this is a 1»? Blake took in a deep breath. Should’ he take this method of warning Rice and the men not -to approach the tunnel? A message to the hotel to-night would do the trick. Was it fair that tie should allow the men to rush head- long into danger, perhaps death, when his word would prevent it? He opened his lips to speak, but at the same moment a new thought struck him, Dawn was yet twelve hours away—and in twelve hours a thousand ,things might happen. To keep the ‘officers away, now when everything depended upon their coming, meant cer- tain and utter failure. He lifted his eyes and found Crossly’s upon him.* A mute, determined challenge glowed there. “Pye no message to send, Crossly,” neither his lips nor his eyes faltered. TO BE CONTINUED. Blake said, and A BALD-HEADED BOY. By OLIVER OPTIC. Jason Glassbrook. That was my name, and is now; but no one ever called me by it. Perhaps I looked like a certain great man with the same initials, though, as I never saw the other J. G., I am utterly incompetent to judge. Doubtless the people where I boarded in my earliest and most impressible years saw from my linea- ments that I was destined to become a millionaire, and therefore called me Jay. I did not object to the name; and if I had it would have madé no difference to them, for they, were not in the habit of consulting me in re- gard tothe disposition of my body and soul. If they had called me “Blue Jay” the name would have fitted my case in a general way, for I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and my hard lot sometimes gave an azure lining to my reflections. At the house where I boarded in my earlier. boyhood I gave the people a great deal to think about, not in regard to my moral, spiritual, and intellectual welfare, but on account of my bald head. I was only ten years old, and during the year that I attained that age the hair on the summit of my cranium came off, and it would never grow there again as it ought to have grown. This loss beset me while I had the measles. I don’t mean to say that my hair all came off and did not grow again, so that I looked like those venerable young gentlemen who occupy the front seats at comic operas, for the hair- less desert was only about three inches in diameter. How- © ever, I was bald enough to excite a good deal of com- ment among the people at the boarding house. The old \doctor considered the dermatological and the hirsutical questions, but he had to “give it up.” I am not, and never was, a fighting character, and | don’t know the difference between the prize ring and the ring in a hog’s snout; but when the little children spoken of in the Scripture ‘shouted to me, as to the Prophet Elisha: “Go up, thou bald head!” there was some un- pleasantness, especially to the little children, though not to me, for I obtained what duelists call “satisfaction.” But after a while people got used to my bald head, and did not bother me about it, which was the especial reason that I did not develop into a young man 1 of belligerent dis- position. My hair is gray at this writing, but I am no more bald now than I was then, and I conclude that the bare spot was like a volcano, and eased off some sub- epidermic fire which might otherwise have burned off a greater area of hair on my head; but I leave the matter to the shocky-headed philosophers: : I believe I have thus far neglected to say that the boarding establishment in which I passed my ante- teen years‘was the poorhouse. As in most of the events of my eventful life, I did not reside there from choice, — for I should have preferred to live at the Hotel Bellevue, though it was,not a first-class house. My fate ‘was or- are by others, mainly by my father, whe was a sailor, 26 went off to sea, and was never heatd from afterward. I have been told that he -was bald-headed;, but there was no record or tradition as to when he became: so. _ My poor mother grubbed against adverse fate and an unfortunate tendency to drown her troubles in over- frequent doses of New England rum, the cheapest and most common tipple of the unhappy period in which [ bloomed into existence. Possibly she drowned her troubles, but unfortunately or otherwise, she drowned herself at the same time, for she fell overboard while picking up chips on the wharf. As I regard it, she was saved from the miseries I had to confront. My full biography would compass a volume, and I give only a few facts to introduce a single incident which was the turning point in my career. When I was twelve years old, I was sent to live with the Widow Tuffit. It ought to have been written “Toughun,” but it was not, and I must,follow the leadings of true history, and romance not at all, even with proper names, a liberty which is sometimes extended to more distinguished autobiographists than myself. She had a little place, consisting of two acres of land and a ten-foot shanty ’ called, by courtesy, a house. She lived alone till I was added to her household, and it was a sorry day to me when that event occurred. She was reputed to have considerable money out at interest, but she was the mean- est individual to whom an experience of five and sixty years in the world has introduced to me. I have no space for details, but when I went from the poorhouse to her shanty I went out of the frying pan into the fire; and the poorhouse was a refrigerator compared with her hovel. To sum it all up, I had to work from daylight in the morning till dark on the two acres of land. My room in the attic admitted the rain and the. snow very freely, and, worse than either of these, the biting blasts of the winter winds. Squire Blany’s fat hogs were about ten times better lodged than I was. I lived on salt fish and baked beans from one end of the week to the other. I have nothing to say against either of these viands, but they needed to have about five other elements of alimentation stirred in between them on as many different days. Both were miserably cooked, except when the old lady was sick, and the department of the cuisine had to’ be delegated to me; and then she kept up a lively can- nonading from the embrasure between her peaked nose and her peaked chin because I wasted so much salt pork. I was almost literally clothed in sackcloth and ashes, of which she provided the former, and I the latter in trying - to get my feet warm at the fireplace, but not as a peni- tent, for I had none of the fittings out of such except the garbage. I went to school in the winter for three months, for the selectmen insisted upon it; I kept warm in the schoolhouse, for the town provided the fuel, and the boys put it on the fire; but I had to thrash half the boys, and make faces at half the girls for calling me “bald — It is a wonder to me that I did not become a > head.” fighting character. The only friend I had was Rosalie Spinner, and I used to think of her and dream of her, for she was as pretty as she was kind and gentle, and did what she could to fight my battles for me. as I got into the shanty I was miserable and mad as a hog, and I made up my mind to run away and become — a millionaire, for I thought that would be pleasanter than being the white slave of the Widow Tuffit. , One. mpeg in ane time, buna @y rent was. || ‘fault. that. ever existed, or ever will exist, I imagine. As soon NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. particularly hard on me,, 1 got so mad that I boiled over. I had worked like a dog all the forenoon, but a shower came on at dinner time and wet the hay. She always told me just what to do, bat the shower was my I ought not to have had that shower, but some- how I could not help it, and the hay got wet. Her jaw was terrible; her peaked nose and her peaked chin, seemed to come together and strike fire. She gave me no din- ner, though I was half starved, and said so. Nota mouthful, I had let the hay spoil. I should have its value taken out of my board. I told her it would take » a thousand years for her to get her.money back in that way. I left, I fled, I skipped. I had ten cents Squire Blany had given me for doing an errand. I spend it all for gingerbread, and ate up my fortune. — % “Jay Glassbrook!” called a gentleman, when I took off my tagged palm leaf to scratch my head in the store. He was talking to the proprietor. ety “That is Jason Glassbrook, commonly called Jay added the storekeeper. It was not necessary to exhibit any moles or cran- berries on my skin, and I did not happen to have any; but that gentleman was my Uncle Stephen. a merchant in Valparaiso, had made his fortune, and had come home to spend it. " “T am glad to see you, Jay,” said he, and jhe took rte by the hand. “You look as though the world needed a little greasing to let you slip through easier. Your father and I both had that bald spot after the measles, -and you look as'your father did when he was a boy.” * J Blessings on my bald head! It had saved'me from the |} My ‘uncle bought me some clothes at + I really thought After the shower we went — up to say good-by to the widow; and she was the’mad- dest widow that ever. howled over wet hay. She would — Uncle Ste- Widow Tuffit. the store, and fitted me out like a prince. I was a millionaire then. not let me go; but I went all the same. phen was a widower, and he laid himself out on me. He — dressed me like a young lord; he sent me to college, and I have always been the most grateful bald-headed boy T had no fear that he would marry the Widow Tuffit at sev- enty, and I am likely to be his sole heir, unless he leaves his fortune for the benefit of bald- headed boys i in general A rte FARMERS AND BEGGARS. _ - Codperative farms are probably to be established in England for the benefit of those women who expect to enter farming after emigrating to one of the colonies, and — also to furnish congenial employment td’ women who like agricultural work but lack experience and facilities. Of the 800,000 odd persons in receipt of poor-law relief in England and Wales twenty per: cent come from London. One of the most ancient and picturesque callings) « Spain, that of the professional beggar, is in jeopardy. decree has been issued for the suppression. of mendi ancy. Llane gine ria t A NEW INVENTION! To cure ringing noises in the ears, due to the displabe: ment of tiny bones in the organs, a French. scientist. has invented an electrical apparatus | which Uses 's to replace the PONE, pe : He had been q 4 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY: NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST. Young Girl a Painter of Lofty Smokestacks, Miss Mayme Pixley, of Jeffersonville, Ind., is the only one of her sex in her pro- _ fession, that of painter of smokestacks. -~When asked why she chose this perilous job she replied: “I don’t know. I reckon it’s because I have tagged after pappy ever since I was a little girl. I was raised on a farm and _ have always worked side by side with pappy _ since I was twelve. I had six sisters, and g they took the housework and the cooking upon themselves, for my mother was too Ese of an invalid to work. There was six to help her and not one to help pappy. “Finally I began to help him plow and hoe and shoe the horses on the farm. _ When I was nineteen we came’to Jefferson- ville, Ind., to live. Then he again took up. his trade of painter—painter of smoke- tacks. “One day he fell, and unless the contract Was fulfilled he would lose money. I went > out, to his helper and I told him we must finish the job. We did. That was my first ttempt at smokestack painting. + “Now I am quicker than he is, and he often stays down and pulls me up and _ keeps his eyes on the rope. But when we are called to a distant city we work together on the same smokestack—it’s company for s both then. And, too, he-would be very onesome if J did not go around with him.” Blast on Steamer Claims 17 Victims. Checking up \a list of passengers and rew of the Témbigbee River steamboat P ames T. Staples, which sank after. an ex- _ plosion of her boilers at Bladen Springs, Ala., shows seventeen persons were killed _ and twenty-two injured. Only ten bodies |. ve been accounted for. ‘Get National, Parks Ready for Fevouitiont wT order to have the national parks of he West in shape to care for tourists ex- pected during the year of the Panama-Pa- fic Exposition, Secretary of the Interior ‘Fisher estimates that an expenditure ‘ of 733,000 will be needed, in addition to the oo that Congress granted for use this eat. “The. ational parks,” says the secretary, ‘constitute ideal recreation grounds for usands of people, but the development d use of the parks are seriously retarded the lack of adequate roads and trails.” Day. eee cents df day is all 17,000 men if tm o have:to live on, according to Mal- cDowell, who runs the bread line 1oboes there each winter. He spoke at icheon of theMtish Fellowship Club. he cheap lodging houses for “bums” arometers of the conditions nee eS Ti eae kipart issued recently of the k done on the Panama Canal to Janu- showg that 24,000,000 to 25,000,000 cubic yards are yet to be excavated. This is one-eighth of the entire excavation. En- gineers says that the work will probably be completed by July. There is a ‘slide at Culebra, however, which is moving rapidly, and will probably deposit 1,000,000 cubic yards in the cut within a very short time, and cause the loss of several buildings. First-class Naval Base to be Established at ‘Guantanamo Bay. More land for the naval station at Guan- tanamo Bay is assured through an agree- ment signed in Havana by the United States and Cuba. The consideration was lands owned by the United States on the north coast of Cuba, together with a cash payment. The proposition has been under consid- eration for some time. The additional land will enable the United States to establish a first-class naval base in Cuba. These cipal anee Robbers Were the Real Thing. Two Paris constables: stood by Sid laughed while thieves pretending to be mov- ing-picturé men, ransacked the country ‘villa of a banker and made off with $30,000 in loot. A. well-dressed stranger gave a. letter from the bank to the constable on the beat. The. letter was purported to be signed by the banker, saying that permission had been given to a cinemetograph company to use the villa for a robbery film. The letter added that the actors didn’t want to be disturbed ‘and asked the local constable to keep. the public away from the grounds. — Accordingly thé constables guarded the entrance to the banker’s place, while they watched one man operate a supposed moy- ing-picture camera. Several companions broke into the house, while others, dressed as policemen, prepared to catch the bur- glars when they came out. The constables laughed at it all until they read in ‘the ar that the robbery was real—not ree / "i - Ships Brought ee Persons s New According to the table given out by the commer aalak division. of the department of and labor, at Ellis Island, there were 146,905 first cabin, 198,041 second class, and) 721,389 | steerage passengers _ | brought over by Atlantic liners in 2,235 trips in 1912. The North Gétiian Lioyd was at the top of the list for passengers carried, the Cu- ‘nard Line second, the Hamburg-American Line hint; and. the Red Star Line fourth. 4,000,000 Pastas phat Packages i First Week. ‘Nearly 4,000,000 ® parcel-post packages were sent through the post offices of the €| fifty leading cities of the country during the first week “of the operation of the new service, according to telegraphic re- ports received by ~ Postmaster General Hitchcock. The exact ‘ninaten Re the. fifty Geis was I 989,687, an as these cities handle about one-half of the postal business of the coun- try, postal officials estimate that between 3,000,000 and. 4,000,000 parcel-post packages were mailed from January 1 to January 7. New York City led with a record of 448,- 000 packages, Chicago following with 438,- 000 packages, and Boston was third with 174,000 packages. Although the volume of parcel-post busi- ness was greater during the first week of the service than officials had expected, the packages were received, dispatched, and de- livered without confusion or delay. In or- der to provide the necessary equipment and personnel to accomplish this, the postmas- ter general utilized nearly all of the $75,000 originally appropriated by Congress, and he has asked for another appropriation of the same amount for expenditure during the re- mainder of the current fiscal year. Representative Anderson, of Minnesota, introduced a bill as an amendment to the parcel-post act which provides that in no instance shall rates on parcel-post matter be greater than the old rates on fourth- class matter. He says that the rates on packages weighing from one ounce to thir- ty-two ounces are now too high. Says Health Rules Make the Cost of Living ’ ~—High Rigid rules enforced by health authorities are held responsible in.a measure for the “high cost of living,’ in a report published by the department of agriculture. Of milk inspection, which the department always has held scarcely - could be too rigorous, the report said: ‘Health authorities of the country generally are seeking to give the. public a higher grade of milk than the pub- fic is demanding or is willing to pay for, and the attempt is too often made to put the entire cost of improvement on the pro- ducer.” The department is seeking means to over- come the nation’s losses from bad eggs, the result of improper handling, and un- . wise. packing, which cost annually , $45,- 000,000. The department found that during the past year there\was little attempt on the part of packers to market unfit goods. For the most part, meats found to be question- able were merely unsavory because of the use of rancid oils or fats used in prepara- tion. \ ' gFavors Granting Credits to Indians, An agricultural credit system similar to that advocated by President Taft, for the farmers of the country, whereby they could borrow money) on their prospective crops, is being successfully tested in a small way among- certain Indian tribes, according to F. H. Abbott, acting commissioner of Indian affairs. He favors the insertion in the Indian appropriation bill now under discussion in the House of an item grant- ing $250,000 for this purpose. “Much of the grafting from the Indians,” he declared, “has been, due to the fact that — many are ‘land poor,’ owning good-sized — allotments, and yet unable, because of lack of funds with which to farm them, to make a living. For this reason they have fallen an easy prey to unstrupulous land lJeasers. This gave them ready money, but it made them lazy and was a bad thing for them in many ways.” The only way to save allotted Indians from the blight of the rental system, Mr. Abbott believes, is to provide .resources sufficient to make self-support possible. Reads Bible Through in 67 Hours. The Reverend Fred Bousch, of Tacoma, Wash., a retired evangelical preacher, has finished a reading of the Bible which is} thought to be a. record in point of time. Mr. Bousch read the complete Scriptires in 67 hours and 6 minutes. A member of Mr. Bousch’s Sunday-school class, which consists of 20 young women, instituted the contest. . Their teacher was the first to finish. _ Organized Band of Gold Robbers at Work in Europe. ; The theft of another box of gold coin— this valued at $25,000, and disappearing on its way from. eee to Hamburg—invites a review of similar thefts that have re- cently occurred in’ See The similarity of the cases leaves little. doubt that they are the work of a gang wh® receive the news of gold shipments frém constant and. trustworthy sources, The most famous’ and mysterious rob- bery occurred last November, when $50,- 000 was taken from a consignment of £200,000 in sovereigns that was . being shipped by the Bank of England to the Alexandria branch of the Credit Lyonnais. This theft brought the‘ total similarly lost in the last few months to considerably over $1,000,000. Early in the afternoon of November 12 a, closely guarded pair-horse van drew up ins, side the courtyard of the Bank of England: A check for £200,000 ($1,000,000) had been handed in by the London headquarters of the hg Lyonnais, and the | bank]. was paying out in gold as requested, ° as simply as a £10. check is cashed’ over the counter for an ordinary customer. } * The £200,000 was neatly packed in ob- long wooden casks. Each contained £5,000 in sovereigns, and each. weighed exactly , 96 pounds. The 40. ‘wooden cases were dragged out from the vaults by their rope handles by bank porters... They were counted and checked by representatives of, the underwriters, who insure these consign- | ments of gold, which leave the city banks ‘many tirhes a week for foreign countries, When the boxes were all checked the . pair-horse van drove out guarded by detec- tives, and passed unnoticed through. the city to St. Katherine dock. Here the cases, all carefully sealedgand “gnarked. with the Credit Lyonnais numbers, were placed in the safes adjoining the cap- tain’s cabin in the steamship Schwalbe, a cargo steamer of the Argo Steam Naviga- Be Company, running from London to remen. — _ On board the Schwalbe there ‘were only ola: first-class passengers, two second, and five third, and only the owners, the captain, | and the chief officers knew the contents of the oblong wooden boxes, not unlike cham-]} ee which - contained this fortune in go ee Schwalbe left it) Wathel ine deel :30 p. m., and arrived without incident a remen, where the 40 boxes were lifted from the cid 8 oe ae as nae anything was wrong. | sover ei ‘from He exman NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. to a special guard’s yan of the waiting Ger- man train for the cross-Continental jour- ney to Trieste. At Bremen the cases were welghed and examined, as is the custom, by the Ger- man post office authorities. Each was found to scale 96 poutds, the scheduled weight, and a glance at the heavy seais gave not the slightest suspicion that there had been any tampering with the contents. From Bremen there is a 26 hours’ rail- way journey right across’ Germany and Austria to the seaport of Trieste, and al- though the van containing the money went right through the guards were changed four times. . At Trieste the boxes were weighed again. Everything still seemed to be right, and they were shipped on board the twin-screw steamer Helouan, of the Austrian Lloyd Shipping line, a large boat of more than 7,000 tons, for the voyage to Alexandria. When the Helouan reached Alexandria on November 18 the 40 boxes, apparently just as they were dispatched from London six days before; were brought out and placed” on the quay in the presence of the representative of the Credit Lyonnais. There was nothing whatever to show The seals were in- tact, and the boxes had the same private rumbers and marks, ‘As they were being lifted, however, the cgntents of two of the boxes. rattled as though a little loose. The boxes’ were broken open, and then, to the astonishment of the onlookers and the bank officials, it was. found. that these two con- tained lead—not gold. The other 38 boxes when burst ‘open had inside: their proper complement of 5,000 is each. It was clear that. ie thieves/who had opened or replaced’ th boxes on the journey had not been able ‘0 carry away any more than 200 pounds weight of gold, and had thus been forced |; to leave the remainder of the fortune be- hind. The’ police theory was that the thieves carried out their carefully planned coup somewhere’ on the long railway journey | from Btemen to Trieste. The frequent change of guards would there have facili- tated the work of the thieves, who during the two voyages from London to Bremen and Trieste to Alexandria would have had | no chance whatever of. forcing the ship’s StROBE OOM) be ET Nat | i eas Me + ii'Ts Hicae Big River, TN To inn ies the current of the Columbia River two miles above the lower entrance of the Celilo Canal, thus developing a. ‘minimum of 100,000 horse naar proj- | ject to be Bens and operated by the States of Oregon and Washington for the benefit of the municipalities in the two States tributary to the river, is the aim of a bill to be introduced i in re Oregon legis- |" lature. dressed to the Washington legislature ask- ing ‘that body to appoint a commission to work with the Oregon commission in the Beye lopeicnt oe the. Speae To Have. Exhibit! of Tombstones. Details of what’ is. ptobably one of the most lugt exploited are send a teport to the bureau of foreignyan domestic commerce . Spahr, consul, at Breslau, The bill will einpeia a Mhemoriat ad-| brious exposition | features ever | cabs That a fates ‘to, celebrate the centennial of the King of Prussia’s call - to arms, which resulted in the independence of the kingdom, and one of the chief fea- tures of the observance will be a showing of examples of cemetery art. ‘The’ grue- some graveyard exhibition is to be a fea- ture, however, and the United States is . invited to visit the exposition between May 1 and October 31 next. White Star Line’s Insurance Rate Nees ae ‘Doubled, The London Times says a beginning was made in the London market with the in- | of the White Star fleet for oe As was\to be ex- > surance ensuing twelve months. pected, the terms are considerably more — favorable to the underwriters than ese secuted before the loss of the Titanic, and in fact, the very low rate of 15 shillings per cent then accepted has been nearly dou- — bled. A large interest is retained by the company on each vessel, and only those ships, about fifteen in number, whose value exceeds $1,000,000 are insured, The total amounts involved are very large inde It may be some days yet before the insur ance is completed. England’s King Reads His Bible Every Day. At a recent meeting at Westminster England, Bishop Ryle and the Marquis of Northampton expressed the candid opinion. that all .the industrial unrest in England ‘is. due to the fact that while we distribute millions of copies of the. Bible among the heathen, we ho longer read it ourselves, but have substituted cheap sensational novels. in its place.. But there is still hope th the English people may reform, for Kin, George’s private secretary, Lord | Knolly : has written an open asserts that in observance of a promis: given to Queen Alexandria in 1881 King George daily reads a full chapter of t Bible, no matter how busy, he may be. Dogs’ Restaurant Well Patrohized. The proprietress of a Chelsea, Englai restaurant has established: a. dining roon for dogs. While their mistresses are ing luncheon or dinner the dogs are pl in another room in charge: ot, a at ee beef. A dete ‘dinner costs 6 cot as he' allowed to eat his fill of the food whic suits him the best. Vise eo “IT found,” said the prbpieietveas . many of my customers had their dogs the same table, and in some cases allowe if them to eat from their plates on the “I am a dog lover myself, but I draw line at eating from plates used by oes therefore started a separate dining for dogs, and hotly the dogs and their n tresses are delighted Englishman ab Treated in Mexica wit his body showing. evidences. 0} ture, T. W. towkins, son of a British edie and a graduate ° University, who said he was s indignities and suffering at the han | Mexican authorities while held as. Joner in Mexico’ recently, is i e|of police surgeons at Los ele “Hawkins was it eaghit from Calexico, Cal., to, face forgery preferred at the ins local banks. Cuts and_ bruises} body, he gait were evil ences letter in which e a on “| the provincial authorities, ment inflicted upon him when he dared as- sert his right while in custody of the Mexi- can authorities. His wrists were swollen - almost twice their normal size. This, he declared, was the result of being chained to a prison wall for days. He accounted for the absence of several teeth by stating that a Mexican chief ‘of police Be struck him in the mouth with the butt of a revolver as he was being led through the streets of a small town in chains. The Mexican authorities accused him of _ filibustering, but of this he said he was Innocent, Drive 39 Lepets into Grave to Kill Them. Thirty-nine lepers recently were put to death in an atrocious manner by order of the provincial authorities of Nanning, province of Kwangsi, China. The suf- ferers from the dread disease first were shot and then their bodies were burned in a huge trench, ‘These advices were received in letters - from the Catholic mission at Nanning, The letters were dated December 14. They stated that the lepers lived in the woods a few miles outside of the city of Nanning. The mission sought permission to build at its own expense a lazaretto for them, and pretending to consent, dug a pit, in which was placed wood soaked with kerosene. At the point of the bayonet the lepers then were driven into the pit and shot and the pyre was lighted and_ their bodies burned in the presence of a large crowd, ‘The authorities offered rewards for the discovery of other lepers, and this offer resulted in the shooting of one more man afflicted with the disease. is The governor, after the massacre, issued -a proclamation in which he accused the lepers of having committed outrages. The letters from the mission say there is no foundation for this charge. » _ Pretended Monks Strip Belgian Castle of its Valuables. The Belgian police are looking for a pair pot clever rascals who stole pictures and art - works valued at more than $25,000 from an ree castle on the outskirts - of Brussels. M. Resmond, the steward of the castle, was alone when two wayfarers, in the guise of n abbott and a monk, asked for shelter. In the middle of the night the supposed bbott came to Resmond’s room and told m that he could not sleep. “I sinned to lrink wine last night, and must needs ray,” he said. he steward, a pious man, prayed long nd earnestly with the abbott. During the rayer he heard a tremendous racket, but ought it thunder. Soon the abbott went ck to his room. In the morning the sup- posed priests and the treasures had yan- ished. Loans on Farms by the Government. Government loans on farm mortgages at ow interest rates have been proposed in a 1 by Representative Bathrick, of Ohio. he plan outlined is to attain the same ject as the “rural-credits” system pro- osed by President) Taft. . he bill would provide for) the estab- shment of a. bureau of farm loans in the Treasury department with a loan commis- ioner appointed by the president. The secretary of the treasury would be author- ed to raise funds for loaning to “bona- NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. fide tillers of the soil” on farm mortgages |c by the issue of government bonds at not to exceed four per cent interest, The loans would be made on farms of which at least one-half must be under cultivation, Applications for loans would be made to the commissioner who would certify to value of the property to be ascertained by the owner and appraisers appointed by the commissioner to the secretary of the treas- ury, who would loan not to exceed sixty per cent of the value of the land on a mortgage made out to the secretary of the treasury at not more than 4% per cent interest. The bill would exempt both mortgages and bonds issued under the act from taxa- tion and proposes an appropriation of $100,- ooo for the installation of the plan. Columbia River Was Dammed and Had 400-foot Fall. That one of the greatest natural wonders in the world was lost with the melting of the Okanogan glacier in the State of Wash- ington is the opinion of government geolo- gists who recently have studied a portion of the river bed of the Columbia River in connection. with the Gtand Coulee, the great gation that at one time was the river bed. When the Columbia River flowed through the Grand Coulee it made Niagara insignificant by comparison. This great river plunged from the upper to the lower valley in a sheer fall of 4oo feet over great cliffs. Moses Lake is believed to have been at one time part of an old channel of the Columbia River. During the glacial -period recently, as time is measured by the geol- ogist, the valleys of the Northern Cascades and of the Okanogan Highlands were filled with enormous glaciers, the largest of which reached the plains before they were melted in the warmer air of the lower country! The greatest of these ice rivers of east- ern Washington flowed down the Okano- gan Valley, which it filled to the depth of}. hundreds of feet. On ‘reaching the Columbia River Valley this glacier expanded and seems not only to have dammed the Columbia, but to have filled its great cafion for some distance. War Less Deadly in Modern Times. That the Balkan w ar has shown that de- spite the improvement in arms, modern ie is less deadly than battles in times past, i the opinion of German medical men. This is attributed, a to long-range fighting, and, ‘second, modern surgery. It 1s also claimed thes the improved engines of warfare of to-day are less deadly than those used in past conflicts. _In thé wars fought by Frederick the Great the casualties averaged 25 per cent jand in the wars since then it+has rarely exceeded 15 per cent. While it has not yet been made known what the exact losses were in the Balkan war, the Bulgarian government has announced that they were considerably less than 20 per cent on the Bulgarian side: One of ,the chief causes of the reduction in casualties is modern surgery and sani- tation in the care of the wounded, accord- ing to Professor Doctor Hermann "Kuttner. Professor Kuttner has had practical experi- ence in several wars and campaigns. Where proper sanitation is absent in a war, dis- ease is far more deadly than rifle and dick, cannon, as was again illustrated by the condition and disorganization of the Turk- ish army in the Balkan struggle. “Modern surgery,” said Professor Kutt- ner, in an article in a German publication, “has robbed war of much of its terror. The wounds of the modern small-caliber bullets are less dangerous than the chunks of lead used in past wars. While in general practice the scope of operative sur- gery is constantly being extended, war sur- gery on the battle fields and in field hospi- tals is becoming more and more conserva- tive in every way so far as operations are concerned, “Where formerly the chief concern of army surgeons was ‘to remove bullets, a bullet in the body is given little attention now. Operations are only resorted to when absolutely necessary to save life, Amputa- tions are decreasing still more. Experi- ence has taught field surgeons that wounds need, above everything else, rest—that na- ture may have an opportunity. Certainty of operative results depends much upon favorable conditions and surroundings which seldom obtain in a field hospital. “Despite the wonderful development of artillery, the wounds from this arm have not increased to any great extent. Infantry fire still is the great factor and makes work for the field surgeons.’ To Erect Monument to Wireless Heroes. A public fountain as a memorial to wire- less operators who have stuck to their posts and gone down with their ships, particularly Jack Phillips, of the Titanic, is to be erected in Battery Park, by the Phil- lips Titanic Memorial Committee, accord- ing to announcement of its plans, A sum of $3,700, collected from the public, mostly from passengers on steamships, is in the hands of the committee, and it.is proposed to devote a part of this fund to the foun- tain if the city consents to its’ erection at the Battery. . f Children Sing as They Flee Fite. Singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” 200 children, members of a Sunday school, — marched out of their classroom, at Chicago, © through smoke from a fire that destroyed the Lorimer Memorial Baptist Church. Mrs. Elmer Anderson, organist, and Miss Martha Marquardt, teacher of a primary class, played the music and led the singing until all the children were in safety. By that time the flames were so close to the two women that they were forced to flee, abandoning their coats and furs. The fire was discovered by a policeman while the Sunday school was in session. Finding that the entire basement of the church was on fire, he ran upstairs, and asked the teachers of the Sunday school to play something the children could march to. The entire structure was in flames by the time the last child was out and the two teachers had escaped. To Study Police Systems of Europe, Police conditions in Europe are to be — studied in the interests of John D, feller, junior, and other citizens who have lately taken up an independent investi; an tion of police affairs in New York, cording to announcement, Raymond D, és. ormer commissioner of accounts, of — New York, has sailed for Europe for purpose of making an extensive mide - Rocke- — c- J % 30 the police systems in London, Paris, Ber- lin, Vienna, and other large cities. The results are later to be placed at the’ dis- posal of the aldermanic committee which is investigating police affairs, it is said, for ‘use in framing a comprehensive scheme for the reorganization of the New York police department, if such a reorganization is deemed advisable. Mr., Fosdick will _ probably be absent for about three months on his mission. Made Same Speech for 13 Years. M. D. Andrimont, a member of the 3elgian Chamber, celebrated for his speeches on questions of the consular serv- ice, was appealing eloquently for a reor- ganization of the service recently when the foreign minister said: “That is the same speech you made last year.” “Just so,” replied the deputy calmly, “J have made it annually, word for word, for thirteen years. Nobody noticed it before.” Lighthouses Now Made Fireproof. The annual report of the bureau of light- houses, which has just been issued, reviews the steps that have been taken during the year 1912 to facilitate the work of saving lives and vessels. The revision of the service and the efforts to put it on a high plane are pointed out. Included are figures showing the disbursements and estimates on. improvements for the year 1913. “During 1912 the reorganization of the service,’ the bulletin says, “was practically completed. All of the lighthouse districts, with the exception of the three river dis- tricts, are now in charge of civilian inspec- tors, who have been appointed under civil service rules, by promotion of men in the lighthouse service or other branches of the government having similar work, with an average length of previous service of about sixteen years. “The desirable qualificationg for a light- house inspector include a knowledge of nautical affairs, training in engineering as required in connection with the construc-~’ tion and repair of lighthouse works, ves- sels, and machinery, business experience and ability to judge and handle men. “The United States lightship service maintains aids to navigation on all coasts under the jurisdiction of the United States, except the Philippine Islands and Panama, -and also on the principal interior rivers. This service is charged with the mainte- nance of aids to navigation along 46,828 an miles of coast line and river chan- ne “On June 30, 1912, there were 5,534 per- sons employed in the lighthouse service, including 81 technical force, 140 clerical and office force, and 5,313 employees con- nected with depots, lighthouses, and vessels. “During the fiscal year there was a net increase of 582 in the number of aids to navigation maintained, the total at the end of the year being 12 824 lights and buoys. “In all new, lighthouses fireproof con- struction has been employed and perishable materials eliminated as far as practicable. Standard designs and specifications have been prepared for small towers and other lighthouse structures, Steps have been taken to insure the regular testing of coal and other supplies for use in the service. Service tests have been made of an auto- matic submarine bell buoy, operated by the sea. Various other improvements in the / “4 NEW : “FIP TOP. WEEKLY, details of light and fog signal apparatus and other equipments have been made. “A system of efficiency stars and pen- nants has been established for keepers who have shown commendable efficiency during the year. “During the fiscal year 1912 services in saving life and property were rendered and acts of heroism performed by employees of, the lighthouse service on vessels or at stations on thirty-seven occasions. “Recommendation was. renewed for leg- islation authorizing the retirement of em- ployees of the lighthouse service on vessels on account of age or disability incident to their work, which is the practice in the lighthouse service of most other countries. “Lighthouse efficiency. pennants have been awarded in each district to the light station showing highest general efficiency during the year.” “Old Ironsides’? Has Centennial. Old Ironsides, most famous of all the war vessels that have flown the United States flag, now a battered hulk, seemed to ride the waters of her berth at the Charlestown Navy Yard with a certain amount of pardonable pride one day re- cently, as if challenging the attention of the neighboring spick-and-span ironclads, the Nebraska, the Georgia, and the others of the present-day navy. There was ground for the old frigate to have felt proud. The day was the tooth anniversary of one of the most important days in American naval history, when the Constitution fought and conquered the British frigate Java in the waters of the southern Atlantic. That victory of the Constitution was one of the first great blows that the infant American navy dealt to the tradition of British naval supremacy. Pays $2,500 for Board Bill Incurred by Father 58 Years Ago. Believing that one John Slocum, a pros- pector, who was befriended by Doctor and Mrs. William H. Felton in 1855, was her father, the wealthy Mrs. Russell Sage, of New York, has sent Mrs. Felton a check for $2,500 to cover with interest a board bill which John Slocum was ‘obliged to leave unpaid when he left Cartersville, Ga. The check will be used’ in establishing a school for mountain girls. During the Ducktown copper craze John Slocum came to Cartersville as a prospec- tor. He was not fortunate, and for: six months Doctor and Mrs. Felton gave him food and lodging for nothing. The bit of family history was brought to Mrs. Sage’s attention in the course of correspondence between herself and the Feltons in regard to the school. Pay Fancy Price for Ball Pitcher. The Cleveland Ainepican League Club has signed Nick Cullep, New Orleans’ left- handed pitcher, it was announced recently. The price paid for him was not given out, but managers of other clubs had made of- fers of $10, 000 or $12,000 for his services, it is said. The Cleveland club now has four “southpaws.” Heir to $3,000 Fund Starving. A search for Miss Julia Deats, fifty-three years old, who is named as legatee to the amount of $3,000 under the will of her uncle, Henry Wills, of Mount Clemens, Mich., reve that she was on the point of starvation in a hovel near the railroad yards at New Albany, Ind., where she lived Fidck She was moved to a hospital, where she will be cared for until the money ar- rives. On account of her mental condition a guardian has been appointed. Chicago Automobile Club to Hold a Non- stop Run to Boston, Plans for what is expected will be the longest and most arduous “joy ride” on record are being made by the Chicago Au- tomobile Club, which is to hold a nonstop — run from Chicago to Boston, by way of New York. The 1,236-mile journey, ac- cording to club officials, will be accom- plished in sixty-seven hours. The com-— mittee in charge has planned to hold the event from June 25 to 28. Accompanying the motorists will be a special train, it being the plan to map out a course paralleling one of the railroads be- tween Chicago, New York, and Boston. Drivers of the contesting cars are to be relieved at intervals, but the motors must be kept running day and night during the entire journey. The route, as tentatively laid out, will take the cars through South Bend, Ind.; Toledo, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pa.; Rochester, N. Y.; Albany, N. Y.: Pough- keepsie, N.. Y.; New York: City, New Haven, Conn.; Springfield, Mass., and Bos- ton. A committee consisting of Harry Vis- sering and Frank X. Mudd has been in-. structed to negotiate with railroad officials for the special train, on which will be stored various parts which may be needed for repairs, and on which will ride officials | of the run, relief drivers, and “specta- tOrs7> >. It has been decreed by the board of governors of the club that no one driver will be permitted to pilot his car the entire distance. This measure was adopted as a safeguard against the possibility of accident which might result from the exhaustion of an overzealous pilot. Drivers and ob- servers, therefore, will be changed at each control, which, according to present plans, will be at Toledo, Erie, Pa.; Rochester, t. Y.; Albany, N. Y.; New York City, and Boston. The awards of prizes are to be announced immediately, after the run is finished, and the entir& party will return — by rail to Chicago. To Send Explorers Relief. The Norwegian government has guaran- teed the expenses of a relief expedition to Spitzbergen for the German explorers under Lieutenant Schroeder» Stranz, who | started out last year in the steamer He sog Ernest and are reported to be in” dire straits. The last advices from the expedition came from Captain Ritschel, who reached Advent Bay in a deplorable condition and seeking aid. Gives Advice to Millionaires. At a conference of leaders of the Pro- hibition Party, Virgil G. Hinshaw, of Chi- cago, national chairman, presented a plea for a more efficient organization. In only sixteen States, he said, was the party or-_ ganized, te In asking for more money to carry on the work of the party the chairman sug- gested that it would be better for million- — aire philanthropists to give money to the , Prohibition Party to stamp out the liquor ) traffic than to give it to the Young Men’s ristian. Association and libraries. He re- tted the fact that the party had never een endowed. To increase the vote cast for prohibition in coming elections, Mr. Hinshaw urged the adoption of some plan which electors could be pledged. _ A plan to begin at once to secure pledges or a $1,000,000: campaign fund for use in 916 was presented. by ‘Eugene W. Chafin, of Tucson, Ariz., the Prohibition candidate or president at the last election. The plan Was at once adopted. The national com- mittee of the party will meet at Indianapolis to decide whether or not the publication f the patty’s newspaper, The Advance, at hicago, shall be discontinued. Witeless from Germany. The wireless station at Nauen_ reports lat it was in wireless communication with w York recently. This, it.is*stated, is the first time direct wireless -communication has been. estab- shed between Germany and America. ‘ools These Farmers and Lives as Rich Man Without a Dollar. William J. Graham, of Indianapolis, was high-roller during his sojourn in the larlem Valley, near Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and farmers who foregathered in the hitch- ng shed of the meeting house on a recent unday said they felt sure that by the time he reached the Waldorf-Astoria. Hotel in New York. he'd be “a regular feller.” The only: ‘criticism of Graham’s high olling was based-on the fact that the good olk of. Dover Plains had to grease the wheels.” Graham didn’t spend a cent in all the time he was in the valley, One reason ras that the kindly Doverites wouldn't let im, The other was that he didn’t have it. fet throughout his stay he chummed_ with he most prosperous men in the village and acquired large popularity, in spite of he fact that he was a deaf mute. And when it came to a show-down the villagers iked him so much that they cheerfully nade: up-a purse of $3.15 to help him out of town. Graham took a pad and pencil into the osee House after he dropped off a train n Dover Plains. He scribbled a request for the best room in the hotel, explain- g his baggage would arrive on the next} ‘ain. The clerk assigned him to the ducal ite—the string of rooms set apart for the rst duke who might visit the village. Gra- nam didn’t pretend to be a duke, but he had ie bearing-of a coal baron. The clerk elt he had made no mistake when a supple- mental scrawl on the pad conveyed the in- ormation that the stranger had come to Dover ,'Plains to :invest $50,000 in real es- and that his uncle was “one of the Western. Rockefellers.” Graham explained he intended to establish a farm on which 0 raise high-class angoras. Developments howed he spoke the truth—at least to the tent that his visit had something to do yith goats. hen the news spread that there was a nan at Losee’s eager to spend $50,000 for lirt and marble outcroppings on the soil yf the Taghkanic Hills, there.was a bar- ‘tush. All the paint was scraped off he door sills of the Losee House. Sherman. Farm, owned. by Mrs. 1 contractor, suited Graham pretty well, he: Brice, Pee was more at he imbedded in t The i tt, whose husband is a wealthy Mexi- Zeigiand, then a hand of Matilde NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. cared to pay. Graham smiled and wrote encouraging messages on his pad to big landowners. He ran a bill for postage stamps, telegrams, messengers, buses, motor cars, meals, lodging, and tips. Even the bootblack gave him credit. It would be a dreary world, wrote Gra- ham, as he quaffed Losee’s champagne, if there weren't good sports in it to splash the murky gloom with rays of cheer. Well there were plenty of good sports in Dover Plains ready to be nice to a man with $50,- 000 to spend. Wealthy men such as Gilbert Harris and Frank Meade kept appoint- ments with the deaf mute and talked back to him on his pad. Graham looked their country place over, also the Mabbett prop- erty. Strangely, Graham never asked for a-loan, though he had chances enough to borrow. Graham agreed to buy George V. Ben- son’s place for $32,000. Squire William Downing sat up all night making out con- tracts and deeds. The mute wired to his uncle to send on the money. Losee knows he did that, because Losee paid for the telegram. Graham told his Western rela- tive to make the amount $50,000, as he wanted loose change to plant chestnut trees after buying the ground. The draft was to have arrived in a few days, but it didn’t come. Then pressing demand for money brought, Graham to a show-down, and then he confessed he didn’t have a cent, and had no prospects. Deputy. Sheriff Mort Walker broke the news gently to Losee, who bore the shock with his absorbers in good working order. Losee said he couldnt’ bear malice against a deaf mute, but perhaps it would be just as well for Graham to move on without waiting to say good-by. And he did. Oklahoma Demands $13,767,990 from United States. An appropriation of $11,767,990 to equal- ize the grant of lands to the State of Oklahoma for common schools and. other purposes is asked in a bill introduced in the House’ by Representative Morgan, of Oklahoma. Much of the proposed appro- priation would be used to compensate the people of Oklahoma for the loss of its public-school fund brought about, accord- ing to Representative Morgan, by the re- fusal of Congress to grant to Oklahoma when that Territory was admitted as a State, the land then known as Indian Ter- ritory. An appropriation of $5,000,000 was made to the State in lieu-of granting the land, and Representative Morgan says the appropriation was not a fair recompense to the people, because the Indian Territory land was not taxable. | Killed by Bullet Fired Twenty Years Ago. Death from a bullet fired at him twenty years ago was the strange fate of Henry Zeigland, a rich planter, killed near Fort Worth, Texas, cutting timber, Finding a tree which they had cut was too tough for splitting, they used a small charge of dynamite, The force of the ex- plosion alonged a bullet which had been e tree, and it pierced Zeig- land’s head. He while he and his son were died an hour later, but before the end came he told his son the story of the bullet. Twenty years ago, bear Honey Grove, Ae farmer, won the ichnor, but, jilted ar a few days before the marriage date. The girl committed suicide., Her brother, Phil, went to Zeigland’s home, and, after de- nouncing him bitterly, fired at him. The bullet grazed Zeigland’s cheek and buried itself in a near-by tree. Supposing he had killed the man, Tichnor put a bullet into his own head, dying instantly. The two tragedies caused a big sensation in north Texas, but finally were forgotten. Zeig- land married a rich widow. The bullet that grazed his cheek twenty years ago was the one that killed Zeig- land. This Doctor to Devote His Life to Lepers. Although Sir George Turner, of England, is afflicted with leprosy as the result of his heroic self-sacrifice in working among lepers in South Africa, he has no intention of abandoning his active work among the sufferers from that disease, but has de- cided to devote the remainder of his life to lepers. He has offered his services to the mis- sion to lepers in India and the East, but it is felt that there is greater scope for his work in South Africa, where he knows all the conditions, and he will probably re- turn to that field of labor. He is full :of brave hope that he may be able to do some- thing more for his fellow sufferers. ° In. an interview Sir George said that his treatment of lepers thus far had been on the general principles of making lepers more comfortable and retarding the advance of the disease. There was a great possibility, he thought, that some remedy might be found. “Generally speaking,” he said, “people have a very erroneous idea with regard to the contagiousness of leprosy. In my opinion leprosy is usually, if not always, spread by contagion, but most lepers are not nearly so dangerous to the public as a person suffering ‘from phthisis.” Since the terrible day that he made the dread discovery that he was a victim of leprosy, Sir George has lived in compara- tive retirement near Exeter, He has re- ceived numerous invitations to social func- tions, and has invariably replied: “a will come if you don’t mind my being a leper.” Boy Plays Girl for 18 Years. After masquerading as a girl for eighteen years, the sex of Irene Moynahan, of Vic- tor, Colo., was_learned recently. He was arrested in La Junta by Sheriff A. H. Wei- necke, who, because of his masculine ap- pearance, decided that he was a boy in girl’s clothes. Irene was on his way to visit his father in Bisbee, Ariz. Until the holidays Irene had been a stu- dent in the Victor High School and all his life had been passed off as a girl. Mrs. Moynahan, when told that her son had been arrested, and that his sex had been discovered, stated that she had always passed him off as a girl because of her dis- appointment in haying two sons. Not even her husband was aware of the boy’s sex. This was borne out by the discovery of a- letter in the boy’s effects by, the sheriff at La Junta. The letter was addressed to his father — in Bisbee and declared that the mother was eeneing a son to him as a New Year’s gift.’ La Junta, and together they will continue | the journey to Bisbee. [rene is now dressed e Mrs. Moynahan will join her son at 3 in boy’s clothes, furnished by the police, for the first time in his life. Mr. Moyna- han is a leaser of the Independence mine in the Cripple Creek district. Wants Tobacco. Tax to Build Roads. Representative Stanton Warburton, of Washington, has a national roads plan which contemplates trunk lines connectirig the capitals of every State with the national . capital, and with each other, and also with the principal national parks, the govern- ment to locate the lines between the capi- tals along the most feasible routes, . with the States granting to the government the selected roadways, together with the im- provements thereon. In his announcement the congressman says : “I propose to raise the fund by restoring the internal revenue tax of 1879 on to- bacco, and set aside the additional income from this source as a national road fund. The additional tax so provided would amount to about $80,000,000 per year, a little more than double the present internal revenue tax on tobacco. If the proposed 15,000 miles of road system should cost $20,000 per mile, it would be paid for in about four years, and in about) five years at a cost of $25,000 per mile. “In 1910, according to the reports of the internal revenue department, the receipts from \the tobacco tax were $58,000,000, as opposed to $138,000,000 had the law of 1879 then been enforced. While the proposed increased tax on tobacco might seem heavy, - as a matter of fact, it will not be noticed by the consumer. For instance, it would raise the tax on a ten-cent cigar three- tenths of one cent, and the manufacturer of that cigar would decrease the weight one-thirtieth, and the consumer could not tell the difference in size. The manufac- turer of smoking tobacco would decrease the size of the package about one-twelfth, and the consumer would not know the difference, During the Spanish-American War the tax on tobacco was increased to the amount of tax suggested, and I venture to say not one consumer out of a dozen ever knew the tax was raised, and never knew when it was taken off. The proposed raise in the tax will not affect the producer of tobacco, for one-half of our tobacco is exported. England imports one- half of her tobacco from us, France one- half; Italy nearly all of hers. The price is regulated by the foreign market, much more than is the price of wheat and corn, and is not affected by the tax.” Modern William Tell Kills Target Holder, Jack Coleman, a Harrodsburg, Ky., “Wil- liam Tell,” bet Henry Marshall that he could put a rifle bullet through Marshall’s | hat without touching his scalp. Marshall accepted the wager and won it. The bullet went through the hat and Marshall’s skull, _ killing him instantly. Coleman was ar- rested, Few Children in Boston’s Fashionable District, More than three-fourths of Boston’s Back Bay families are childless, while the} children of the remainder are mostly -be- oe the age of 17. This condition became nown through the action of the Reverend Austin Kennedy de Blois, pastor of the Iirst Baptist Church, who detailed four investigators to collect statistics from fam- ilies in the Back Bay. They went through the aristocratic residential rectangle formed NW TIP’ TOP “WEEKLY, by Arlington Street, Massachusetts Avenue, Boylston Street, and the Charles River, a territory five blocks’ wide and eight blocks long, or forty blocks in all. The investigators reported that of the 772 families questioned 599 had no chil- dren, and there there were 372 children in the remaining 173 homes, or a proportion of over two children to each family. Commenting on this result, Doctor de Blois said: “It appeers that less than one-quarter of these Back Bay families have children in their homes. It should be said, also, that in many of these cases the ‘children’ are almost young men and young women, being of or beyond the age of 17. A closer analysis and a limitation of the term ‘children’ to those below the age of 17 would reduce the number by about one- third, “There is no Sunday-school territory in the Back Bay.” No Army Flunkyism for Uncle Sam. Despite the personal appeal of President Taft to have Congress detail a colonel of the army on his personal staff, the House recently repudiated such a request. Chair- man Hay, in charge of the military appro- priation bill, read in the House a letter from President Taft asking such a detail. “President Lincoln, Grant, and Cleveland had no such details,” said Representative Prince, of Illinois, a member of the mili- tary committee. “I do not see the neces- sity for such a detail, and I make a point of order against the amendment. Such a law, in my opinion, smacks of flunkyism in the army, and I am opposed to it.” The’ amendment went out on the point of order. Glory of Chinese Emperor Gone. A pathetic picture is drawn by a special correspondent of. foreign papers of the plight of the ex-Emperor of China, The immense precincts of the winter palace in the Forbidden City, he says, are abso- lutely deserted save for the empress dow- ager, the child emperor, and a few hundred eunuchs. _ All the princesses, all the occupants of the imperial harem, all the blood relatives of the imperial clan have disappeared, leav- ing the empress and her child alone. The same hundreds of sheep, pigs, and fowls stipulated by the imperial household ordinances are still daily slaughtered, but, being uneaten, are sold outside. The eunuchs, left uncontrolled, are rapidly stripping the palaces of all their valuables, | and if nothing is dgne they will soon empty. The emperor is a dull, listless cliild, fot knowing what has happened. He plays ceaselessly with toy soldiers in the hails and flagged courtyards that were trodden by the feet not only of his illustrious an- cestors, but by Kublai Khan himself, and which once rang to the hurrahs of horse- men returning from the conquest of half Asia. Electric Light Magnified a Thousandfold. M. Dussaud, a French* scientist, who has discovered a means for the production of what he terms “cold light,” has given out some details of his discovery, which, it is thought, may revolutionize electric lighting. Starting on the principle that rest is as essential to matter as to animal organisms, electric Dussaud has constructed an 4 lamp in which the light is concentrated on — a single point by filaments working succes- M. sively ; thence the light is projected through a lens magnifying a thousandfold. The he has succeeded in concentrating a 2,000 candle-power light on one point, and in passing thirty-two volts into an eight-volt yiamp, which with the ordinary light would burst. Experiments with this lamp, have showed that the new light is absolutely without danger, as no heat is given off, and it re-_ quires a hundred times less current than the ordinary lamp. It can be worked by — a tiny battery, or sufficient motive power — can be obtained from a jet of water from — an ordinary faucet, or even a squirrel turn- 7 ing a cage, ae The light, it is said, offers great ad- 4] 7 vantages in photography, as its photogenic . power is four times that of the magnesium ff 7 flash light. It has been tried with pi . success at the Biarritz lighthouse, and M. Dussaud is working on its application to, searchlights for the ministry of war. Boy Awes a Burglar With Unloaded Pistol, 4 oat With an empty revolver, a relic of taste a & Fourth of July, Edward McCarthy, thir- teen years of age, caught a burglar recently. in his home at No. 455 East One Hundred — and Fifty-sixth Street, New York. He had been left by his mother, Mrs. Alice Mc- Carthy, to take care of his two younger brothers while she did some shopping in the neighborhood. He was playing with them in the dining room of the flat when he saw a strange man emerging from the bed-— room with a bundle in his” hand. Jumping to a sideboard, the boy took the empty revolver from a drawer, and, pointing it at the astonished intruder, or- dered him to drop the bundle. Just then Mrs. McCarthy walked in. Taking in th situation quickly, she grabbed the man, and throwing him down, sat upon him until neighbors, attracted by her cries for help, reached her. ; At the Morrisania police station $50. worth of jewelry, which Mrs. McCarthy — identified as hers, was found in his pockets, ree was held on a charge of burglary, Warns’ Women Against Forced Beauty. The struggle for beauty will bring forth a race of women whose homeliness will be painful to behold, according to Doctor S. J. Crumbine, dean of the school of medi- cine of the University of Vermont. “If natural methods for the improvement and refinement of the complexion and the lines of the face were used,’ Doctor Crum- bine said, “American women in a coupl of generations would be the most beau ful on earth. It is the unnatural methods they are using that are roughening the lin of the face, and absolutely destroying the complexions, The women are using en- tirely too much rouge and paint, and too many preparations which are destructive to. the tissues. i “Paint and powder on the face are like so much dirt. They clog the pores of the face, and the poison in some of them is absorbed. “Cleanly habits are the greatest aid beauty. Bathe often, massage the face gently with the hands, always dry the skin thoroughly after washing, and be sparin of highly seasoned food, and you can help having a good complexion.” arn eA OF THE BACK NUMBERS OF TIP TOP WEERLY THAT CAN NOW BE SUPPLIED 602- 603— Dick Wortiwall Heid Back Dick Mearriwell im the Line 604—_ Dick Merriwelt’s Drop Kick 691- 606- _Framik Mermiwell's tute Chase. 692 607—F rank Merriwell’s Captive 693— 608—Dick Merriwell’s Value. 609—Dick Merriwell Doped. 694— 610—Dick Merriwell’s Belief. 695- 611—Frank Merriwel!l in the Mar- 696 697 ike. 612—Tirank Weriwelits Fight for 698— Fortune. 613—Frank Merriwell on T 614—Dick Merriwell’s T "rip West. 699 615—Dick Merriwell’s Predicament. 700 616—Dick Wierriwell im Mystery 701—Frank Merriwell as Instructor. Valley. 702—Dick Merriwell’s Cayuse. 617—Frank Mertiwell’s Prepesition. 703—Dick Merriwell’s Quirt. 618—Frank Merriwell Perplexed. 704—Dick Merriwell’s Freshman 619—TI'rank Merriwell's Suspicion. Friend. 620—Dick Merriwell’s Gallantry. 705—Dick Merriwell’s Best Form. 621—Dick Merriweill's Cemdition. 706—Dick Merriwell’s Prank, 622—Dick Merriwell's Stanchness. 707—Dick Merriwell’s Gambol. §23—Dick Memiwell's Miatcis 708—Dick Merriwell’s Gun. 624Trrank Mertiwell'’s Fard Case. 709- -Dick Merriwell at His Best. 623—Frank Wertiwelli's Helper. 710—Dick Merriwell’s Master Mind. ‘626—Trank Mertiwelf's Doubts. 1—Dick Merriwell’s Dander. 627—Frank Meriiwell'’s “Phenom.” 2 Dick Merriwell’s Hope. 628—Dick Mertiwell’s Stand. $—Dick Merriwell’s Standard. '629—Dick Meniiwelll ts Circle. 4—-Dick Merriwell’s Sympathy. 630—Dick Merriwell's Reach. 5—Dick Merriwell in Lumber 631—Dic& Merriwell's Meney_ Land. 632—Dick Merriwell Watched. 716—F rank Merriwell’s Fairness. 633—Dick Merriwell Dewbted. 717—F rank Merriwell’s Pledge. 634— Dick Merriwell's Distrast. 718—Frank Merriwell, the ‘Man of €33— Dick Mersiimel = Risk. Grit. ‘636— Drank Mertinveli’s Favecite. 719—F rank Merriwell’s 637—Frank Mernmel's Young Blow. ‘Clippers. 720—F rank Merriwell’s Quest. 640—Dick Merriwell’s Shoulder. 721—F rank Merriwell’s Ingots, 641—Dick Merriwells Desperate 722—Frank Merriwell’s Assistance. Wark. 723—Frank Merriwell at the 642—__ Dick Mertiwell's Exampte. Throttle. 643— Dick Merriwell at Gale's Ferry. 724—Frank Merriwell, $44— Dick Merriwell’s Inspiration. Ready 645— Dick Mertiwell s Shooting. oe re Merriwell in Diamond 646— Dick Mecriwell im the Wilds. nd. 647— Dick Merniwell’s Red Comrade. 726—Frank Merriwell’s 649—F rank Meriqvell im thee Saddle. Chance. 651—F rank Memtiwell’s Red Guide. 727—Frank Merriwell’s Black 65 a Jick Menriiwefll's Rival. ror. —Dick Merriwells Stremg tit. 728—Frank Merriwell Again on the —Dick Mermtiinwell’s Secret Work. Slab. —lFramk Merviwell’s Red. Visitor. 729—Frank Merriwell’s Hard Game —Prank Merriwell’s Rope. 730—F rank Merriwell’s Six-in-hand —Frank Merriwell's Lessem. 731—F rank Merriwell’s Duplicate. Kronk Mermtiwelll’s Pretection. 732—Frank Merriwell on Rattle- Dick Mantiwell's Reputation. snake Ranch. —Dick Merriwell's Matte. 733—Frank Merriwell’s Sure 2—Dick Merriwell's Restraint. 734—Frank Merriwell’s 3—Dick Merriwell's'Girger. Map. —Dick Merriwell's Driving. 735—Frank Merriwell, —Dick Merriweils Good Cheer. the Rope. Frank Mertiwell's Theory. 736—Dick Merriwell, Tirank Merriwell’s Diplomacy. the Varsity. —Firnavk ‘Merriwell’s Hncourage- 737—Dick Merriwell’s Control. 738—Dick Merriwell’s Back Stop. 39—Dick Merriwell’s .Masked emy Dick axrhwsittk Motor Car. 690—Dick Merriwell North oods. -Dick Merriwell’s Dandies. -Dick Merriwell’s Skyscooter. Dick Merriwell in the Elk Mountains. Dick Merriwell in Utah. Dick Merriwell’s Bluff. 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