OCT.19, 1912 5 CENTS

No.12

NEWTIPTOP WEEKLY

AN IDEAL PUBLICATION FOR THE AMERICAN YOUTH

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An Ideal Publication For The American Youth

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Issued Weekly. Entered as second-class matter at the New York Post Office according to an act of Congress, March 3, 1819, Published by STREET & Smitu,
79-89 Seventh Ave., New York. Copyright, 1912, by STREET & SMITH. O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors.

 

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No. £2.

NEW YORK, October 19, 1912.

Price Five Cents.

Frank Merriwell, Junior’s, Competitor;

Or, THE HONOR OF THE GAME.

By BURT L. STANDISH.

CHAPTER I:
A ROUGH DIAMOND.

A young fellow of seventeen or eighteen was danc-
ing around in a circle and swinging a wire. The wire
had a handle on one end and a weight on the other.

- When the lad had jumped twice to an about-face, his
attitude that of a redskin doing the ghost dance, he

stubbed his toe against a piece of barrel stave, and let
the “hammer” fly.

He was black-haired and: black-eyed, and his body
was well-knit, lithe, and muscular. There wotld have

- been something humorous about him and his wofk were
- it not for the saving grace of his intense earnestfiess.
No slave, lashed to the oar of some ancient galley and

with the whip of a driver digging red lines int his bare

back, ever labored more fiercely than this youngstér with

his length of weighted wire.

’ His athletic clothes, like the “hammer’’-he was using,
The field in which he was at practice
was crude in form and primitive in appointments. The

_ seven-foot circle in which he was jumping had been

traced with wood ashes, and now and again a gust of
wind would catch up a handful of the ashes and throw
them in’ his face. Two or three times he had to halt

i a throw in order to knuckle the dust from his eyes. —

two sides with hills.
— “V,” at some distance to the south, sprawled the head-

The field was triangular in’ form and enclosed on
Through the wide opening of the'

quarter$ buildings of the Bar Z cattle ranch in Arizona.

An occasional cowboy rode up to the buildings or gal-

loped away from them, but no one seemed to pay the

least attention to the black-haired youngster and his
_hammer-throwing.

At last, however, there came a rider along the trail
from Ophir. He was jogging along at the steady lope a
cowman assumés on a long ride, his legs straight up in
his stirrups, hat brim flowing against the crown, and
red cotton handkerchief fluttering about his throat. Turn-
ing to give the ranch buildings a wide berth, he swerved
from the trail and led a direct course toward the sweat-
ing lad in the athletic field.

When fairly close, the rider gave a loud yell. The
boy in the cirtle of wood ashes dropped the “hammer”
and looked towafd the fellow on the horse. Then, ap-
parently pleased, he gave an answering yell and walked
over into the shadow of a steep slope at the side of~
the field. He was sitting on one of the low hurdles,
which were seattéred here and there, when the new-
comer fell back on his reins. His mount sat down sud-
denly in the sand and slid to a halt.

“How you makin’ it, Barzy?” grinned the lad onthe
horse. ‘s
The horse bore thé Bar Z brand, for the ridér, like
the lad who had been struggling with the “hammer,”
belonged with that particular outfit.

“I can’t throw for sour grapes, Ben,
response.

“G6 on, pard!” protested Ben Jordan.
any bricks at yourself—I won’t stand for it. You can
cut as many fancy capers on a field 0’ sport as ary other
juniper in short pants, bar none. Y’u hear me!”

“Can that!” was the petulant retort. “Don’t I know
that I’m no good on earth? What can you expect of a
fellow who was brought up in the cow country, cut his
teeth on a pair of spurs, and never saw a league game
of ball or a real athletic meet?” Bitterness crept into
Barzy Blunt’s voice—a bitterness that reached way down

99,

was the moody

“Don’t heave

 
2 NEW TIP ‘TOP ‘WEEKLY.

into..the depths of his soul. “I’m a freak, and, every
time anybody calls me the ‘Cowboy Wonder,’ they know
it’s a joke. An-athlete can’t be self-made—he has to
have money. and help. What help have I ever had?
And money!’ He gave a mirthless, mocking laugh. “I
can’t lay up enough dinero to keep an Apache squaw in
dried. prunes.”

Jordan straightened in his saddle, stared, puffed, out
his tanned cheeks, and gave vent to. a surprised whistle.

“Why, you hootin’, tootin’, old calamity howler!” he
gasped. “I got a notion to fall on you an’ break you
in. two, Quit it! You’re the champeen  ranch-bred
athlete o’ these parts. From the way: you tune up, which
is plumb-daffy an’:scandalous, I opine ye’ve been munchin’
a bunch.o’ loco weed while I been off to town,”

Jordan slid from the saddle, sat down on the hurdle
beside Blunt and put. an affectionate arm around his
shoulders.

“Who's :come. along at’ hung all this crape: on the
front door 0’: ‘your. nerve an’ conf fidence ¢’ he inquired
whimsicalty., “Show the coyote to me; an’: by the junipar
sandhills, ‘Pll fix*him: a-plenty P”

“Talk's cheap,” growled Blunt. “You're my * pard,
Ben, and. you’re doing your best:to keep-me chirped up,
but you know as’ well as’ 1 do what's: happened. -This
-kid’Merriwell,; younger than [ am-by all of a year, comes
fromthe East and puts it all over me at every confounded
test I put him to. They say I’m a sprinter, yet- Merri-
well beats me in a hundred-yard dash. If I’m-a cham-
pion runner, how did he happen to do“me wp in. that
relay. Marathon? I made’ him pitch against me in the
last ranch game, and he made me ldok like what .[
aiti—a has-been. Then, on top -of all: that, Merriwell
‘puts me on my ‘back twice, hand: running, in a bout at
catch-as-catch-can:. I’ve been throwing my head off with
that: chunk of lead, and: can’t come within-a foot of
the mark] set’ six: months ago. II reckon I’ve made
a mistake, Ben,”

Mistake! » How ? |

afWhy, this eaeaiel prig from the Fast is too much
for me.’ ‘The way he hands it to: me right-along makes
me sick. He lords it around like he, knew he was a
little: better than anybody else, and—and—well, I reckon
he is.”

Blunt’s black eyes gleamed savagely, his hands clenthed,
and the slow, mirthless smile that crossed his face when-
ever his temper rose, hovered about his lips: | :

Jordan seemed puzzled. “Why,” said he, “I reckoned
you.an* Merriwell was clost to bein’ friends, Barzy. He
sure seems ace-high as an all-round athlete, and he put
you on: your back twicet, but. right after that didn't you,
an’? Harrison, an’ Lloyd, an’ me turn in an’ help him
keep the shysters’ from stealin’ that perfessor’s claim?”

Blunt flared at that as though Jordan had touched
a match to a powder magazine.

“I’m: square,” said the Cowboy Wonder between his
teeth, “and it was in the bargain that if Merriwell .could
_ throw me, best two out of three, we’d turn in and help
that old ‘fossil keep his claim. Twas paying up. But
Tm not a friend of the Easterner’s.. If I could lay him
out at-something or other I might take to him a little.
_ But he’s stuck ‘on himself; that’s what's the matter. If
I could take him down a peg we might be able to get
. along passably as friends+-but there’s no hope of that.”

The Wonder stifled bis ake as best he java, and |

a ground: ba teeth. '

“Now, Barzy,” and Jordan laid a friendly hand
Blunt’s knee, “I’m your pard, you know tha. We been
blanket mates for more’n a year, and I don’t want: you
to fly off the handle if I tell you somethin’. I reckon
you've made two mistakes ’stead o’ one. First off, I allow
ye’re sizin’ Merriwell up wrong. I thought as you did
for a while, that he was puttin’ on dog an’ had a notion
he was the whole works with the case throwed in, But
l’verchanged my mind. Barzy, that chap’s about as white
as you'll find anywheres.”’

“Pulled the wool over your eyes, too, ent
Blunt.

“Not on your life! I been too long on earth to be
fooled that a way. I opine he’s as squar’ a piece 0’
furniture as ever come out of the factory. That’s your
mistake. number one. Number two’s this: He ain’t so
much, Barzy, and you can give him a dish 0’ crow ’most
any time. you insist on it.”

“How i p?

“Why, with yer fasts:
out gloves.”

‘He won’t have it. Didn’t I propose that: the. time “he
came up with.us out in-the Picket Posts? I suppose,”
sneered Blunt, -‘“the’s too much of a gentleman to go
rowdying with his fists.. Whenever I mention a ‘go’ of
that ‘sort, he shies off. He'd rather w restle. ” .

“Which proves,” said Jordan, with a wag of his pullet-
like head, “that Speer. is his weak p’int; while , all us
punchers at the Bar Z knows it’s where ye’re ‘right to
home. Lay for him, Barzy, an’ make him fight. He'll
give you a squar’ clatter, because I’m dead ysute that
lad’s the clear quill.” |

Blunt seemed to lose a little of his dejection. What
he thought of Jordan’s suggestion, however, he did not
put into words.

‘Did you find out anything about Merriwell in Ophir * o
he asked,

“Picked up a little, Barzy. Bradlaugh has got him
to take over the Ophir Athletic Club’s football team. an’ —
git it in shape to put a few kinks into the Gold Hill = 7
squad. That's one 0’ the things I. found ‘out, Another —
is that Merriwell an’ some of his patds are goin’, off: §
on a week’s campin’ trip, takin’ this perfesser with ‘em.

snarled

Mix, it with him, sparrin’ wir

They say Merriwell has. to keep his eyes.on the perfesser és a

in order to pervent some ’un from beatin’ him out 0’ that is
claim, Another thing I heard is that Merriwell’s. look- ne
in’ around for a saddle’ horse.”

“What does he want of 4 saddle horse?’

mount.’ me
“Did you ride by Gold Hill after the mail?”

., Great gle-ory!” gasped Jordan, starting up suddenly

and reaching a hand tare the breast of his shirt. “Nary

Barzy, but I picked up a letter

I.didn’t go by Gold Hill,
Some queer it cone there,

for you at the Ophir office.

‘eh, seein’ as how we gits most of our mail at Gold Hill? _

‘Now, who do you-all reckon this here letter’s from?”
Jordan handed over the missive, and Bina, face, the —
moment his eyes fell on the cramped, scrawling hand.
writing on the ettvelope, softened and. ee ened. Se
pily. a |
MIt? Ss a the only. mother L ever knew a

 

 

Bradlaugh af Ss
takes him everywhere he warts to go in his atittomobile |
Or" let's him use the motor cycles they soe ‘out at ae
the mine.” nd

Lm wise to that; but, anyways, Merriwell’s huintin’ pe
 

 

vanced in years and in dire need.

_ Barzy. Look-a-here, pard!

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 3

woman who took me in and brought me up—the best
woman on earth, Ben!”

“Mrs. Boorland!” exclairhed Jordan. ‘“She’s the one
you’re sendin’ money to ev’ry month, eh? That’s why
you never have so much as two bits in your clothes,
pard.”

“I’m trying to pay her back for what she and Hilt
Boorland did for me,” was Blunt’s answer.

With eager fingers he tore open the envelope and drew
forth the folded sheet. The letter was not long, and as
Blunt read it, the joy faded from his face and a mist
came into his eyes.

“What's to pay?” demanded Jordan, quick to detect
the change in Blunt’s feelings.

“Mrs. Boorland is—is sick and in a hospital,’ was
the trembling response, “and she’s got to have money
right away. Right away!’ cried the cowboy, bounding
off the hurdle in a sort of fierceness, “and here am I,

“overdrawn with the boss and not a soo in my clothes!
Why is it,” he gritted, “that some people have thousands
more than they need, while some others haven’t enough
to live on?”

Angry because of his own helplessness, Barzy Blunt
strode back and forth, crumpling the letter in his hands.
Suddenly he paused and whirled on Jardan.

“Merriwell wants a horse, does he?” he asked. “Well,
I’ve got one for him. Pit sell him Borak, with all the
riding gear. [’ll—I’1I——

The boy turned away, with his lip quivering.

CHAPTER II
BORAK.

_Each cowboy at the Bar Z Ranch had a string of
horses for his own personal use. For the most part
these were in charge of the Bar Z wrangler and belonged
with the outfit. At the head of each cowboy’s string,
however, was at least one favorite mount, which was his
own property.

Borak, the sleek black charger belonging to Blunt, had
Arabian blood, and for mettle and endurance had. no
equal on that part of the range. Originally, the horse
had come over the line from Mexico, sold for a song

by some wealthy hacendado to a horse trader because

of a blemish that looked like a bone spavin. Blunt had
traded an old, “eight-square” buffalo gun and twenty
dollars for the animal; and then, with a liniment pre-
pared from herbs, had cured the supposed spavin..

» For two years the mettlesome black had been the pride
of Blunt’s life. In that country horses were cheap, yet
Blunt had refused an offer of one hundred dollars for

-. Borak. Ever if the boy had been starving he would

just as firmly have declined an offer of a thousand dol-
lars.

-. Now Hilt Boorland was dead, and his w binge who had
_ been a second mother to Barzy Blunt, was well ad-
It had not Waken
Blunt two minutes to decide that his only valuable pos-

_ session must be ‘sacrificed to help: Mrs. Boorland. But,
although he reached the decision quickly, it was not

without a wrench.
“ “No, you don’t!” shouted Ben Jordan, in violent pro-
test. Mt ou don’t go for to sell Borak on no such grounds,
I ain’t got such a’ blame’

ht myself, but I'll chip in somethin’ an’ pass the hat
among the boys.

 

 

        

-wonderin’ none he hates to sell the critter.

_beraltar.

bridling. Perhaps, Blunt probably thought, it was for:

rll gamble my splirs we can pick

up more’n Borak will bring ye, ridin’ rear an’ all; an’—
an’ Say, what’s wrong with that?”

Blunt had whirled savagely on his friend.
drew back a little and studied him speculatively.

“I’m no beggar,” snapped Blunt. “/’m doing this
for Mrs. Boorland, understand. Nobody has to pass
the hat for me—nor for her, as long as I’ve got a pair
of hands and can work.” .

“Shucks!” deprecated Jordan. “You don’t get me, not
noways. What we'd Pass on to you would only be a
loan. Sabe?” :

“When could I ever pay back a loan?” Blunt demanded,
with more bitterness. “I’m going to sell Borak to Mer-

 

Jordan

' riwell, providing he hasn’t already bought a horse.”

He whirled and started toward one of the ranch
corrals.

“Don’t be in.a flutter, Barzy,” Jordan called after him,
slipping an arm through his looped reins and _ trailing
his horse along as he hastily followed Blunt; “I reckon
there’s somethin’ ye ain’t thought of, pard.”

“What’s that, Ben?” Blunt asked, slowing his pace
until Jordan. reached his side and they could walk on
together.

“No tenderfoot can back that animile o’ yours, Barzy,
an’ it takes a mighty good broncho buster to stick to him
when he starts to cuttin’ didoes. I allow it’ll bé man-.
slaughter if this here Merriwell kid tries to ride Horas.
Don’t want to kill him, do you?”

A glint rose in Blunt's sloe- black eyes.

“If he buys Borak,” said he, “that’s his lookout. What
have I got to do with it? T’ll warn Merriwell, and let
it go at that.”

Jordan had exhausted his protests. He knew that
when Barzy Blunt made up his mind to do a thing
there wasn’t much use trying to head him off.

The superb black horse was nosing a ration of baled
hay in the corral. Standing in the open gate, Blunt
put his fingers to his mouth and gave a peculiar whistle.
Instantly Borak’s head went up and his ears went for-
ward. .The whistle was repeated, and Borak whirled,
trotted up to his master, and rubbed his*muzzle against
the boy’s sweat-stained shirt.

Blunt tried to speak, but could not. With a trembling
hand he stroked the glossy neck of the animal, and then
suddenly flung his arms around the neck and clung to it.

“T'll git the gear, Barzy,” said Jordan, and left his
own horse standing outside the corral while he went for
the trappings. “I'll be gosh-hanged,” he muttered, “if
this ain’t a tough thing for Barzy to do. He thinks
more o’ that Borak hoss than he does of anythin’ on
airth, ’ceptin’ Mrs. Boorland. I mind me, last fiesta ;
day in Phoenix, Borak helped Barzy win the steér-tyin’
contest; an’ how, last year, durin’ the cloud-burst in
Dead Mule Cafton, that black cyclone swum out o’ them
ragin’ waters an’ toted Barzy safe to bank. I ain’t a-
But he’s
plumb sot on it, an’ ye can’t budge him no more’n Jib-.
Hang it!” .

When Jordan returned, blanket, saddle, bridle, and
quirt over his shoulder, Blunt had got a firm grip of
his feelings. He had never allowed any one but him-
self to touch Borak, and even now he refused to let
Jordan have anything to do with the saddling and

the last time. |
After the horse was ready, Blunt bounded lightly into

é
  

ae

on

4 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY, ay

the saddle. Borak immediately went up on his hind legs
and did a little playful plunging. His exuberant spirits
always showed in that way when first put under saddle
and backed by his master. With other knees than Blunt’s
gripping the saddle leather, the bucking was of quite
another sort. a

“I’m going to the bunk house after my clothes, Ben,”
said Blunt. ‘Tell Murgatroyd I’m off for Ophir, and
hitting the high places.” He hesitated, then thrust a
hand into his shirt and drew out Mrs. Boorland’s letter,
“Murg will take it better, maybe,” he finished, “if you
show him that.”

Blunt pointed for the bunk house. As he galloped
away, Jordan called:

“Don’t fergit what I said about a sparrin’ match with
Merriwell, pard! If there’s anythin’ left o’ him arter
he tries ridin’ Borak, you might put him down for the
count.”

To this Blunt made no response. Jordan cared for
his own horse, and did it in a hurry, He hoped to
reach the bunk house before Blunt had shifted from
his athletic ‘clothes to his ordinary puncher rig, but he
failed to do so. Ere he had gained the bunk house, Blunt
was gone.

Murgatroyd, the foreman, and a hatchet-faced man
in rough clothing*were coming down toward a hitching
pole in front of the bunk house. The hatchet-faced man
was Hawkins, a deputy sheriff. Hawkins’ saddle horse
was at the pole, and the deputy had no doubt dropped
in for a little rest and refreshment while on one of
his frequent rides across country.

“Say, Jordan,” called Murgatroyd, “was that Blunt
I seen shackin’ away from here?”

“That was Barzy, Murg,”’ Jordan answered, nodding
to Hawkins. ‘“He’s for Ophir.”

“Darned queer he wouldn’t wait and let me keep him
company,” spoke up Hawkins. “I’m hitting the Ophir
trail myself, but I reckon Barzy didn’t know.”

The foreman frowned. —

“This is too blame’ much of a good thing,” he growled.
“Between whoopin’ it up on that athletic field, over
yon, an’ gallywhackin’ around, Barzy’s doin’ less cow-
punchin’ than ary man on the ranch. What’s he goin’ to
Ophir for?”

“To sell Borak.”

The foreman jumped.

““Sell Borak?” he cried. ‘Has he gone off the jump?

eon Why, that Borak hoss is the apple of his eye. ‘Givin’

it to me straight, Jordan?”

“Barzy’s overdrawn in his pay an’ has got to raise

the dinero, muy pronto.”
“Whyever so pronto, hey? He gits his eats an’ sleeps,

even if he is overdrawed. Then he don’t have any ex-
pensive habits, like tobacco an’ budge, same’s some 0”
the rest o’ the boys.
that nicotine an’ valley tan is bad for the muscles. What-
ever does he want to raise money in a hurry for?”

He claims, an’ mebbyso he’s right,

“Mrs. Hilt Boorland is sick an’ in a hospital, an’ she’s

sent a hurry-up call for money. So Barzy’s goin’ to
sell Borak, along with the gear, an’ send on the pro-
ceeds. Here’s the paper talk from Mrs. Boorland, Murg.
 Barzy said for you to read it, if you started to holler
much about his goin’.” —, | a

The foreman «took the letter, and, with a queer look
his ‘face, opened it out and began to

tA ehh ‘

     

_ hitching pole and swung to the saddle. “If I can over- |

at sp@ed toward the Ophir trail.

read. Hawkins, and that he would like to make it fairly long,

  

Ne erintiedhsihzandl-red

edlcmariinartek nee

 
  
    
   
  
  
   
  
  
    
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
    
  
   
    
 

with the easy freedom of the range, looked over his .
shoulder and read along with him.
“Common thing with Barzy, isn’t it,’ remarked Haw-
kins, when the reading was done, “to send money to the

Widder Boorland?”

“Does it regular,” answered the foreman, “and it keeps
him strapped about all the time. The boy’s right about
it, though. Not many in his place would do the same,
I reckon. Still,’ and the foreman shrugged, “Barzy is—
Barzy.”

“Correct,” remarked Hawkins, with just a little soft-
ness creeping into his voice. “There are not many
punchers on this range like Barzy Blunt. I can re-
member—an’ it’s sixteen year’ ago if it’s a day—how
a kid was left on Hilt Boorland’s front step, right here
at the Bar Z. Hilt was foreman then, A queer old hide-
rack he was, with a grouch at ‘most everything Eastern.
He’d dropped a good-sized wad on Wall Street, I reckon,
or been buncoed by junipers as allowed they were friends.
Hilt was a college man, an’, he taught Barzy about all the
boy could absorb. Gee, man, but he was some hand
with the king’s English, all right! He could round up
words'o’ six syllables easy as pie, run ’em into the home
c’ral, an’ manipulate jem same’s you’d handle a bunch
0’ short horns, Murg.”

‘He was cracked at that,’ said the foreman, “if what
I've heard o’ him is straight talk.’

“Cracked, maybe; anyways, badly soured on life. He
was wrong, I always declare, in drivin’ his false idees
into the head of young Blunt. You see, he soured Blunt,
too. Blunt hates the East, because Hilt Boorland hated 4‘
it; he hates the moneyed class, too, because they were ia
the ones who squeezed all the milk o’ human kindness |
out o’ Hilt. It was because of what Hilt taught him
years ago that Blunt is now so down on young Frank —
Merriwell—a far cry from those times to these, but —
a poisoned mind is a hard thing to get cured of. Poor _
old Hilt is dead and gone, and I reckon we oughtn’t to
find fault with him, but it touches me up some to see
Barzy, young, and with all his life before him, making
a mess of things on account of what Hilt preached to —
him.” sie

‘“Merriwell is a crackajack,”
“T’ve seen some of his doin’s.”

“He's too many for Barzy,” volunteered Jordan, “in —
some ways; but I allow Barzy’ll git him yet,” Ae ae

“It’s a gallopin’ shame,” said Hawkins, “that a younker __
like Merriwell, whom I happen to know, can’t be taken —
for what he is by Barzy. Barzy misses a p’int, and that’s —
the honor of the game.” He pulled his reins from the -

 

 

 

 
   
     
     
     
     
         
  

  

ui Spy Ed
AV yt a

ventured Murgatroyd. i

 
  

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39

haul Barzy,” he finished, “I’m sure going to talk to

him about that.” rt
“You'll have to travel some if you catch up with

Barzy, Hawkins,” said Jordan.
Hawkins rattled his spurs, and his wiry bronco leaped

    
       
       
         
   
    

CHAPTER {1L.;)).:. i

A FEW WORDS FROM THE DEPUTY.

If Barzy Blunt had put Borak through on
to Ophir, not Hawkins’ horse nor any other hor:
part of the country could have overhauled hi
haps Blunt thought that this was his last ride

 
   
 
      
     
  

 
   
   
   

  

 
 
 
   

ey ie %

   

ny

  

  
   

 

the risk of having young Merriwell secure another horse

before he got to town.

At any rate, once in the gulch that led into the cdfion
onthe way to Ophir, Blunt slowed his pace.

“Old sport,’ said the boy, talking to the hor se as he
often did when they were alone together, “we’re coming
to the place where our trails divide. You've been mighty.
good to me, pard,” and his voice quivered as he laid

. a caressing hand on the horse’s neck, “but you're all I’ve
got that’s worth a whoop, and I—I’ve got to sell you.

I’m a blithering fool,’ he muttered, dashing a savage

hand across his eyes. “If a fellow can’t be a man at

a time like this, he’s not worth the powder to blow

him to Ballyhack. I seem to be about as hefty, in a

pinch, as a brush rabbit.”

While Blunt was talking, now to the horse and now
to himself, he heard a pad of hoofs behind him, and
turned to see a rider coming after him at a terrific clip.

“Great horn toads, but you gi’me a run, Barzy,” said
the horseman, pulling rein at the cowboy’s side. “And
you’re not going a whole lot, either,’ he added.

“Just sort of moseying, Hawkins,’ Blunt answered,

.glad of company and the chance it gave him to get away
from himself. “Why didn’t you send on a wireless so

V’'d have known you. were on the way? For the matter

of that, how did you know I was ahead of you? See

me from a ‘rise’ ?”

“TI was at the Bar Z when you pulled out.
saw you go.”

bk a “How did he take it?’

)) | “Atl tight, after Jordan had explained. Murg may
| look Tike a roughneck, Barzy, and he’s got a subsoil

| around his heart that you couldn’t break through with,

a a pickax—but the heart’s there, and somehow that letter

| from old Mrs. Boorland reached it.’

BR: Blunt looked uncomfortable.
oe “What brings you out this way?”
shifting ground.

“Rustling at the Fiddleback Ranch—but it’s all settled.
on [ want a little confab with you, son; I’ve been wanting
fi ne it for several days back, only things didn’t happen to

| fall right for us to meet up.* Now, I reckon, I’ve got
are my wish.”
ae eae Blunt’s discomfort increased. He and the deputy

_} sheriff were jogging leisurely down the trail, stirrup to
stirrup, and there wasn’t any one else within miles of

them. No better place for a private “confab” could. have

_ been found than that Ophir road.

- “Barzy,” and Hawkins crooked a knee comfortably
around his saddle horn as he spoke, “many’s the time I’ ve
_ toted you around on my shoulder when you wasn’t more’n
knee-high to a burro. J used to call frequent at Hilt
‘Boorland’s, fourteen or fifteen years ago, and him and
me were pretty good friends. We had some hot argu-
ments about a few things, principally though the general
_cussedness of the money power and the average East-
erner. Hilt was down on any.man that had more’n
fifty dollars in his clothes and come from t’other side the
_ Mississipp’—and he was down on him so hard I couldn’t
persuade him out of it.”

-_ Blunt scowled.

_ “Hilt Boorland knew a few things, Hawkins,”
“T reckon he wasn’t far wide of his trail.”
“That's you! W hat’s bred in the bone comes out in
the flesh, son, and you're all covered with the Boorland

genes ash.’ ” ,

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 5

The youngster hoisted up in his saddle, and the eyes
he suddenly turned on the deputy sheriff were two points
of fire.

“If you're going to take a few kicks at Hilt Boorland,”
“a man to whom | owe more than to any one
else on earth, we'd better part company right here. |
won't stand for that, Hawkins.”

“Now, don’t get your back up, son. . I’m palavering
with you for your own good. You see, I don’t bother
myself with every youngster that gets a crimp in his
intellect, and I’m going out of my way a lot just to hand
you a few gems of wisdom. I’m three times your age,
Barzy, and I’m fuller’n a pincushion with thorns of ex-
perience. Some of the thorns hurt like Sam Hill when
they were jabbed into me, and I reckon I can show you
how to dodge a few. All I want to say I can rope, down,
and tie under one head, namely, and to wit: The honor
of the game.” .

Blunt said nothing. His eyes were straight ahead,
now, and he kept them there as he rode.
“It’s the game of life I’m referring -to,” proceeded

Hawkins, “although it might as well be any other kind
of game ren-up, or a hurdle race, or a wrestlin’ match.
The finest thing in the world is to be a good loser, and
to stand on your hind legs and cheer the juniper who
proves he’s just a little bit better than what you are.
Say, Barzy,”’ and in his earnestness the deputy leaned
toward the boy, out of his saddle, “a loser of that brand
has got the winner skinned both ways from the middle.
Why? Well, look. Is it any credit for a man to be
cheerful when he comes out on top and everything's just
naturally rosy as far as he can see? Nary, son; not so
you can notice. The real honor comes when you're
crammed full of defeat, and can rise on one foot, spread
out your arms, and sing hallalooyer. That’s the p’int,
and don’t you forget it.’

Blunt was still looking ahead, but a word here and
there had got under his skin.

“You're clubbing me-on Merriwell’s account, Hawkins,”
said he. “Get it off your chest and then let’s talk of
something else.”

“Glad to oblige,’ said the deputy, with a hearty laugh,
“just as soon as I’m done. After that we'll pass the
contribution box, and all be dismissed. .] know what
Hilt Boorland thinks of young Merriwell; I know that
he ‘3

       

 

“You're off the jump!” interrupted Blunt. “Hilt has

been dead several years, and never knew this little tin

god on wheels.”

“Right-o. I don’t reckon Hilt and Chip-of-the-old-
block Merriwell ever came together.”

“Then what do you mean by saying:

“By saying I know what Hilt thinks of Chip Merri-
well? Barzy, you think in the same old Boorland rut.
Notion for notion, you match Hilt to a hair. All I got
to, do to see what ‘sort of a play Hilt would make, is
just to watch you. . You're wrong about Merriwell—and
he never did you a a dirty trick since you knew him. The —

 

_ boy’s straight as a string and——’

“He can make you all walk lame, play dead, and lay
down and roll over,” sneered Blunt. a
a good, hard fall—and one of these days he’s going to —
get it.’ Pore

Hawkins jogged along in ruminative silence. Then,
after whistling a few bars of “Buffalo Girls,” he roused —
up and took the Men. in ase again. ig

  
 

“What he needs is" ay

  
  
   
 

“You ought to know something about that, son,” said
the deputy. “You’ve had many a good, hard fall your-
self, and have been knocked around a considerable ever
since you were left at Boorland’s front door. But it
hasn’t made you see things right.
is to pay a little more attention to the honor of the
game. Think it over. I don’t expect you to agree with

me right off, but by and by the light will break in on.

you. Remember this: Because Merriwell has been run-
ning circles around you at everything you've so far
batted up to him, is no excuse for your getting a
grouch or giving him a wrong sizing.”

For a few minutes there was silence; then Hawkins,
who saw that he was straining Blunt’s temper to the
breaking point, finished his few remarks,with a warning.

“Keep on as you’re going, Barzy,” said he, “and you'll
get in a tangle that'll be some hard to get out of. I can
see it coming. Your high-handed, cowboy methods are
leading up to a bad spill. You went pretty far when
you decoyed Merriwell away from his hotel and kept
him a prisonet at the Bar Z, just to get him to pitch
for the Rustlers when you were in the box for the
Mavericks. I asked Merriwell what he wanted done
about that, and he made me his friend for life by
saying that he wanted the matter todrop. That, I reckon,
was true sportsmanship.”

“Oh, slush!” grunted Barzy Blunt. “If you’re through,
Hawkins, we'll sing the doxology and get on to some-
thing else.”

“That’s me,” laughed the deputy sheriff.
ing to buy Borak?”

“Merriwell—if he hasn’t already bought a horse.
dan told me he was looking for a mount.”

“You're calculating, I reckon, that Borak will break
Merriwell’s neck when he tries to back the brute.”

“If he’s willing to take the chance,” said the cowboy,
with his ugly smile, “he’s welcome.”

“Maybe he'll surprise you. How are you going to
get back to the ranch after you sell Borak?”

“Some of my pards will look out for that.
care to go back for a day or two, anyhow.”

“No. Something in the wind, eh? Careful, Barzy.”

“T’ve looked out for number one for quite a spell, and
I reckon I can keep it up. I want another whack at
this friend of yours.”

“The whack’s to be with bare hands, I suppose, and
for a knockout?” |

The guess came so close to what Blunt had in mind
that he turned a quick, inquiring look at the deputy.

“Has Jordan been talking with you?” he asked sharply.

“Not about that.”

Hawkins was pretty well “up” in human nature. He
was positive that he knew exactly what the Cowboy
Wonder meant when he spoke about wanting ‘another

whack” at Merriwell. |

“T wish you luck, son,” said he, “but [ reckon you’re
in line for a whole lot of surprises. You’re going to
think over what I’ve said this afternoon. The principle
‘back of what I’ve said concernin’ the honor of the game
is sure going to sink in.” ?

For several miles after that the two rode at a gallop
and no words passed. When they slowed pace to mount
the cafion wall and cross the rim, they struck into topics
that had no bearing on young Merriwell or other’ sub-
jects they had been discussing.

It was not until they reached the vlace where a fork

“Who's go-

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

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of the trail led to the clubhouse of the O. A. C. that
Hawkins drew rein and went back to his original theme.

“If you want to find Merriwell, Barzy,’ said he, “you'll
take this fork. He’s at the athletic club, coaching an
eleven to do up Gold Hill next Thanksgiving.”

“Then I'll turn here,” said Blunt. ‘Our talk has been
plumb interesting, Hawkins, even if it didn’t get us
anywhere.”

“It will get you somewhere, son, before you’re many

days older,” smiled the deputy. “Wish I could go on
with you and see the fun when Merriwell tries to back
Borak, but I’m overdue in town. So long.”

“Adios,” called Barzy, setting the black to a gallop
along the clubhouse road.

Hawkins looked after him a moment, then shook his
head as he pushed on toward town. He had professed
confidence that his few remarks, along the way from the
Bar Z Ranch, would bear fruit; but, in his heart he was
not at all sanguine.

“He’s a queer one,” he muttered, “but I’ve given him a
few pretty good ideas and one or two of them ought to
take root.”

CHAPTER IV.
THE HORSE CHANGES MASTERS.

Just at that hour in the afternoon the athletic field was
a busy place. Frank and his two chums, Owen Clancy
and Billy Ballard were all busily engaged with the O.
A. C. football players. Off at one side of the field Clancy
was instructing several fellows in the Farnham Hall way
of falling on the ball.

“Don’t handle the pigskin like it was a basket of eggs,”
he begged, “and don’t go too far the other way and be
careless with it. Cut out the horseplay, please, and re-

member this is important. Every time you fumble the,

ball and it gets away from you, your goal line is in dan-
ger.
other fellow can’t get under you. Here’s what I mean.”

The red-headed chap made a sliding dive, his body
close to the ground, and his knee bent. When he
dropped, the ball went into the hollow formed by his
thighs and stomach, and his hands and arms brought
it snugly to a point where it could not get away from
him.

In another part of the field some of the linesmen, under
Ballard, were getting practice in quick starts; and, in
still another part, Frank was drilling a group of players
in tackling the dummy. j é

There was a good deal of fun in this practice with
the dummy, but Merry was careful not to let it go so
far as to interfere with the earnestness of the work.
He knew, by experience, that the Ophir fellows had a
weakness for letting their gridiron practice degenerate
inte farce, and he kept the situation firmly in hand.

In the; midst of the hard work a black horse vaulted

over the picket fence below the grand stand, taking the

barrier in a clean, lithe, graceful jump. Merriwell, who
happened to be looking in that direction at the moment,
was startled. In just such a way, some weeks before,

he had seen Barzy Blunt make another entry into the —

Ophir athletic field. Now, as then, the Bar Z cowboy
looked around for’ Merriwell; and, when he had located

him, galloped across the open space until he had reached 4 a

the scene of the tackling practice. — -
The grotesque dummy, sliding on a cable between two

No high dives—keep close to the ground, so the —

   

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 7

poles, had a weird effect on Borak. The horse reared
with a frightened snort; and then, coming down on all
fours, began to twist and throw himself in a most
spectacular fashion.

Blunt kept his seat like a centaur, and presently had
the black turned away from the stuffed bag and quieted
somewhat. Thereupon he: proceeded to give his. atten-
tion to Frank.

There was not a lad on the athletic field. who did ‘not
know that the Cowboy Wonder was Merry’s bitter rival.
Blunt was given to reckless and headstrong deeds, and
his coming to the field that afternoon sent a quick thrill
through the nerves of all who witnessed his -arrival.
What was the cowboy thinking of now? What new
device had he planned for forcing Merriwell into a:con-
test of skill or endurance? These questions instantly
presented themselves to the minds of the fellows on the
held, and particularly to Clancy and Ballard. |

While Frank could have liked Blunt if the cowboy
had. given. him the chance, Clancy and. Ballard believed
him tricky. and unscruptilous, and wanted. nothing. to..do
with him. Practice work ceased at once. Instinctively
every One moved in the direction of Blunt and Merriwell.
Clancy and Ballard hustled-to reach their chum’s side.

Frank, in spite of the general excitement, was cool

and smiling...He knew that Barzy Blunt was not so
savage.as some of the Ophir fellows tried to have him
believe...
- “The rest of these junipers needn’t be in such + a rush
_.to come to your rescue,” remarked Blunt, with a curling
“lip. “Tt didn’t come here to shoot you up, Merriwell.
Cutting you off in your youth and blac is about the
last. thing I'd think of.”

“T’m not in very much. of a. quiver becatise you're
here, Blunt,” laughed Merry, “and I don’t think any of
the fellows are worrying on account of what may happen
to me. Your arrival, though, is rather surprising.
What’s on your mind?”

“Do you want to buy a horse?”
boy
i aAN ell, yes,’ answered Frank. ‘We start in the morn-
ing on a.short camping trip, and I thought a mount might
come in handy. I want a horse I can sell easily as soon
| through with him. You. see, I’m not a fixture
here in Ophir, and when I leave [ don’t want to have any
money tied up in live stock,”

. “Then I’ve got the horse you want; you can turn him
into money—every cent you paid for him—at. an. hour’s

demanded the cow-

notice.”

“Where is the horse?”

. “Here.” Blunt flung the reins over. Borak’s head..so
that they hung from the bit rings. With the reins. in

that position, the trained cow horse would stand: as

.. though hitched. “A hundred and fifty dollars takes

providing,” and the ugly

ca grils crept about Blunt’s lips, ‘ men can keep on his
Ase

ae -Frank’s surprise was deepening. ‘This was

.amoney than he had intended paying for a horse, but

4 the,cowboy’s proposition was alluring in more ways. than

. ones Frank had always admired the superb black, and
had. many times longed to take Blunt’s place in the ¢ saddle.
Furthermore, he knew that what the cowboy said was
true, and that Borak could easily be sold at any time,
and for allt hat he had cost. This fact was of the utmost

amore

Clancy and Ballard scented a deep, dark plot in this
proposition of Blunt’s. The cowboy was scheming, they
reasoned, to have Merriwell maimed or severely. injured
by the horse.

“Let him take his black man-killer and get out of here,
Chip, ” said Clancy, in a low voice.

“They say that nobody can ride the brute but Barzy
Blunt, Chip,” supplemented Ballard.

Frank’ s chums knew, even if Blunt did not, how pro-
ficient Frank was as a horseman. They should have
been above worrying over the outcome.

“Give me a chance to see what I can do with Borak,
Blunt,” said Merriwell.

“Your nerve,” remarked the cowboy, sliding from the

saddle, “is a whole lot better than your judgment... Borak
is a devil for any stranger that tries to manhandle - him.
Do you want a pair of spurs?”

“No,” Frank answered.

He started. toward the horse. A young fellow, liming
slightly, stepped in front of him.

“I’m not going to stand here, Merrisell,” “said. he,

“and. see you commit suicide. Blunt. knows- the ere
will kill you, or cripple you. I protest against this.”

“Don’t. annoy. me, Hannibal,” . smiled Merry, ie “—]
wouldn’t lose this chance for a farm, _Borak’s.a bargain,
and I’m going to show the brute that I can master. him.”

Hannibal’s protests were quieted, if not his féars..; He
watched anxiously while. Merriwell passed quietly. but
quickly to the side of the restive black.

Like-a-flash Borak bared his teeth and snapped at him.
Frank dodged and, with a lightninglike ‘move, “grabbed
the looped reins and Sadie: them over the animal's head.
Borak now félt himself free to move, and_s shied ‘side-
ways. He must have been surprised to find that, in-spite
of this jump, Frank had gained the saddle. at a flying Jeap
and was comfortably settled on his back.

A cheer went up from the lads surrounding the horse
and the new rider. The Ophir fellows. realized. that
Merriwell was no novice at the rough art of~broncho,
“busting,” and was probably abundantly able to take care
of himself. Blunt, alone remained silent. .He was puz--
zled, and a disappointed light was deepening in his eyes.

“Look out he don’t nip your leg, Merriwell!” called

a warning voice. 4
Borak had tried it, squealing angrily as the did so. A’

cruel jerk on the opposite rein had. brought, his head back _
to its normal position. He tried to bite.on the. other
side, but Frank swung his leg out of the way.-

Foiled in these attempts, Borak 6 straight. up into
the air, landing with a terrific jolt, his four legs. bunched E
stiffly under him. Frank eased himself -of- the- jar by
judicious use of the stirrups. Then, in a twinkling; the
black reared on his hind hoofs, turned conaptetaly a over,
and came crashing down on his back.

This was vicious work, and by it the cow horse proves
that he intends to kill his rider if possible: Merry was

on the alert, however, and as Borak went over, he: swung

off lightly. With the reins in his hand, he came. down —
on both feet beside Borak’s squirming body and ‘re a
heels. oe

The black was up again in the bat of an eye, ‘and
hardly was he readjusted, before Merriwell had once
more vaulted into the saddle.

A wild roar of applause went up from the stectabre

Many a face had gone white when Borak turned his

 

Se agOeN Fw NOR ani eee Ct
   

   
   
 

  

back somersault, and the relief of the onlookers was
intense.

The horse stood like a statue for a few moments, his
equine mind probably bewildered ,by the skill: of that
strange youth in the saddle. Then, catching another
glimpse of the tackling dummy, shivering and shaking
as some one bumped against one of the poles, Borak
gave a frenzied snort and went into a spasm of bucking
specialties.

He pitched a-plunging, he gave a new and original
version of the “corkscrew whirl,” he flung himself into
the “bed-post buck’ with variations, he stood on his
forward hoofs, and he stood on his rear ones, and he
wriggled and twisted like an eel to get out from under
his rider.

All this he did with astounding swiftness, and some
of his maneuvers were so quickly performed as almost
to defy the eye. But they did not unseat Merriwell.
The lad, with only his rubber-soled gymnasium shoes on
his feet and no spurs at their heels to help him, held to

his place in the saddle with a graceful confidence that
caused Blunt to open his eyes very wide.

At the last, and apparently in despair, Borak set off
across the field at an amazing pace, struck the cinder
track, and flung around it again and again. Merry did
net attempt to check him, but let him race around the
oval until he was thoroughly satisfied. Finally, begin-
hing to tire of the ‘exercise, Borak quieted down, and
Merriwell brought him to a halt with a word. Then,
speaking soothingly, he stroked the horse’s lathered neck
with a light hand, turned from the track, and trotted back
to the cheering crowd in the field. ;

“Well, I'll be hanged!” exclaimed Hannibal. “Say,
Chip, why didn’t you tell us that you’re a broncho buster ?
That was as slick a performance as I ever saw.”

Merry’s eyes were sparkling, and his face was flushed.

“That’s the most fun I’ve had in a month!” he ex-
claimed. “I'll take the horse, Blunt. Hundred and fifty,
gear thrown in, you said? Come over to the clubhouse
while I write a line to Mr. Bradlaugh. Take the note to
his office in town, and he’ll give you the money for me.”

“The horse is yours,’ Blunt answered, a little huskily,
“but I’d like to ask a favor.” :

“Well ?” :

~ ;
“Spar a round with me with bare knuckles! If you

can fight as good as you can ride, I reckon it would be
interesting.”

“No,” answered Frank sharply, “I'll not fight with you.
That would spoil the afternoon for me. Come over to
the clubhouse.”

‘Already he was starting across the field. Blunt made
an angry rush at him, but was caught and held by Clancy,
Ballard, and Hannibal Bradlaugh.

CHAPTER. Vi
THE START FOR TINAJA WELLS.

-Blunt’s temper was always pretty close to the surface,

especially in his dealings with Merry. There can be no
_ doubt but that Frank’s perfect conquest of Borak had
angered the cowboy. While the latter had no desire to
“see Merry seriously injured by the horse, yet it would
have pleased him to see a sharper fight for the supremacy.
_ Blunt was nettled by Frank’s exhibition of clever horse-
-manship..
Because of this, perhaps, and because Hawkins’ talk

o.° | NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

on the trail had left him in no amiable mood, Blunt had
tried to force Merriwell to fight. Frank turned, ‘saw
the cowboy struggling in the hands of ‘Clancy, Ballard,
and. Bradlaugh, and instantly guessed what had ‘hap-
pened.

“Keep him here till I come-back,’’ Merry called.

He was gone only a few minutes, and when he returned
he brought a letter to Mr. Bradlaugh containing the re-
quest that one hundred and fifty dollars be given to Barzy
Blunt. The president of the Ophir Athletic Club and
representative of the Eastern mining syndicate had of
fered to keep Frank’s funds for him in his office safe.

‘“Here’s the letter, Blunt,’ said Merry. “In order that
you may be sure you get the money before giving up the
horse, you'd better ride Borak into town, collect the
hundred and fifty, and then leave the animal at the town
corral, subject to my order.”

“All right,” the cowboy growled, taking the letter and
stuffing it into his pocket. “Ill make you hard to catch
one of these days if I can get you off alone somewhere!”

“You'll catch more than you bargained for,” spoke up
Ballard, “if you ever force Merriwell to fight with you.”

To this Blunt made no reply. Vaulting to the back of
the horse, he rattled his spurs, and darted away.

“I’m beginning to think,” remarked Bradlaugh, looking
after the vanishing cowboy, “that Blunt’s as full pf venom
as a rattlesnake.”

“Why didn’t you give him a pounding, Chip?” de-
manded Clancy angrily. “He deserves it. Hang it all,
he came here just to give the horse a chance to cripple
you—I could see it sticking out of his eyes. ~ 1 don’t
believe he ever intended to sell you the brute at all.”

“And now,” putin Ballard, “you’re trusting him with

the horse and with the order on Bradlaugh for a hundred
and fifty. Suppose he collects, and rides away with
Borak ?”

“What the mischief has got into you, Pink?” asked
“A thing like that would amount to highway |

Merry.
robbery, and while Blunt’s a bit queer, he’s a long way
from being.a thief. He'll collect the money, and he'll
leave the horse, just as I asked him to do.”

“Maybe he will,” said Clancy, “but what the deuce

does he want to sell his horse for?”

“That’s a mystery,” remarked Brad. “They say Blunt
thinks the world and all of that black man-killer.”

“It doesn’t look reasonable to me that he intended —

to sell the horse,” persisted Clancy. “It was all a bluff,
just to get Chip on the brute and to have him thrown
and trampled. Chip called the bluff, and Blunt had’ to
make good.”

“You fellows make me tired!” Frank exclaimed.
“Don’t go so far out of your way to give Blunt the worst
of it. He’s all right, considering the few advantages
he has had. The horse is mine, now, and that. business
is settled. About this camping trip, fellows,” and he
addressed all the boys who had betn at football prac-
tice, “we leave town for Tinaja Wells at seven in the
morning. The grub, tents, and other equipment are
going by pack train, and we'll ride with the train. ~ You

all have mounts, and Brad has found a couple of bronks —

for Clancy and Ballard, and I’ve just bought one for
myself. The professor has been furnished with a nice
mule, through the kindness of Pophagan, proprietor of
the Ophir House. The town has been raked for riding
stock, and I guess that now we're all supplied. There’s
} } /

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plenty of grass at the Wells, and a fine, open mesa, where

we can keep the football work going.’

These remarks were received with cheers, and with
cries of “Bully!” and “We'll have the time of-our lives.”

“We're going to haye as much fun as we can for a
‘week,” Frank went on, “but don’t forget that training
for the eleven is going to be hard work, Our chuck,
while in camp, is going to be training fare—I looked out
for that in buying the provisions. The only man in
camp who can have tea or coffee is Professor Borro-
daile. By ten each night we’re to be tucked away in
our blankets. I guess that’s about all. Seven in the
morning, remember, and each of you is to come to the
Ophir House on the horge that’s to carry him to Tinaja.”

There was another round of cheers, followed by a
rush for the gym. Merriwell, Clancy, B allard, and Brad-
i laugh were among the first to leave the building and start
ie. off on the short walk to town. Clancy and Ballard were

still doubtful of Blunt’s honest intentions, and Ballard

left the party on the outskirts of Ophir to go around by
the corral and find out if Borak had been left there.

Professor Phineas Borrodaile, whose valuable mining
claim seemed to have become the bait for every mining
shark in that part of the country, was sitting on the
hotel veranda as the boys came up the steps. Pophagan,
who had promised to keep watch of the professor while

the boys were at the clubhouse, was also’on the veranda.

Borrodaile’s mind was crammed with knowledge, but
he was entirely destitute of business experience. One
attempt had already been made to cheat him out of his
claim, and Frank had received instructions from his
father, in Bloomfield, not to let the professor out of his
sight. The professor’ s thin face had brightened the mo-
ment Merry hove into view.

“This has been a very long afternoon, Merriwell,” said
he, Mery long, I assure you. I am glad that we are
going into the primitive to-morrow, and that I shall have

a chance to pursue further my geological researches.”

/ “You'll have oodles of chances for that, professor,”
remarked Clancy, waving a hand after Hannibal, who
was going on past the hotel to his father’s office.

_ “Oodles!” exclaimed the professor, dropping his chin,
> and. frowning at Clancy over the tops of his spectacles.
me “A very inelegant expression, Mr. Clancy; in fact, I may
i _— say, a very detestable word, and utterly lacking any root

of detivation. ‘Numerous, I presume, is the meaning

you intended. to. convey. Now——”

But. the professor was cut: short by. Woo Sing, the
Chinaman, who came out on the veranda and pounded
the supper gong. Borrodaile jumped from his chair as
though touched by a live wire.

“Really,” he observed, “it is astonishing how eagerly
I look forward to the strong, rugged food furnished by
this establishment. Let us go in at once.”

They went in.and took their accustomed places in the
dining room, Ballard arrived a moment later, and somie-

_ what sheepishly announced that Borak, together with all

the riding equipment, had been left at the corral, subject

a. he Merriwell’s order.

bres, OT course,” said Merry, “I knew the horse would be

- the ee
The professor, knowing that Frank had been trying

 

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“Are you quite sure, Merriwell,” he asked, “that this—
er—animal I am to ride is perfectly tractable? As an
equestrian, I fear | have much to learn. If this animal
Mr. Pophagan has so kindly offered for my use were
to perform like Borak, I—I believe I should prefer to
walk to Tinaja Wells.”

Merry could’see by the droll gleam in Clancy’s eyes
that he was) making ready to increase the professor’s
fears rather than to dispel them; so he hastened to break
in ahead with a few reassuring ‘words.

That night, before Merriwell went to sleep, he indulged
in a few puzzling reflections regarding Barzy Blunt.
Why he should have disposed of Borak was a mystery;
but perhaps a still greater mystery was why he should
continue to nurse hostility against one who wished him
well, as Merriwell ‘did.

Sound slumber, however, soon drove the Cowboy Won-
der from Frank’s mind; and the following morning was
so busy with preparations for the camping trip and. the
start for Tinaja Wells, that he. had not time to give
Blunt a thought.

Silva, the Mexican packer, had a train of six burros.
Before six he was busy with the packing, nicely balanc-
ing various packages on the sawbuck saddles, covering
each pack with canvas, and then throwing a diamond
hitch over all. The ropes were pulled so tight that they
fairly made. the little burros squeak.

By a quarter to seven the boys had: finished breakfast
and had gone to the corral for their mounts. The rangy
bronchos provided for Clancy and Ballard were about as
homely specimens of horseflesh as the boys had ever
set eyes on; but they proved to be active enough when
mounted—Clancy’ s steed almost scraping him from the
saddle as he shot through the corral gate.

Frank had a short preliminary tussle with Borak before
the horse remembered what had happened on the previous
afternoon. After that, however, everything ran smoothly.

The professor’s mule was a speckled animal, with
abnormally long ears. He was sleepy and lazy, and had
such a lamblike look that the professor took heart and
mounted with a good deal of confidence.

Then, when the professor ‘was all ready to start, Vacle
Sam, as the mule was called, showed no signs of being
ready himself. The professor spoke to him kindly). sug-
gesting that it was imperatively necessary that they be
moving if they ever wanted to reach Tinaja Wells. Kind
words failing, the professor struck Uncle Sam with the
flat of his hand, and then with his heels, but still without
result.

Clancy, having so -much ability with the lasso that tte oe
was sometimes referred to as “Roper,” flung a hempen
noose over Uncle Sam’s head, and managed’ to get him
started by horse power. In that way the professor and |
Uncle Sam reached the front of the Hotel, where a dozens
mounted youngsters were waiting. \ i

There was a good deal of friendly guying, which’ the’ 29
professor took in good part, and then Silva’s six loaded
burros hove into sight, following another burrd with a
bell, which the Mexican rode and kept at the head of
the procession. .

The boys dropped in behind, and, as they trailed out —
of town, made a very formidable cavalcade. With
whoops and yells that brought most of the inhabitants.
of the camp to their front doors, the expedition finally
vanished on its way to Tinaja Wells. i
ee the last rider disappeared to the. southward, Barzy

A

 

 

 
4s

io? NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

Blunt stepped out of the general store and post office, and
looked somberly into the cloud of dust kicked up by the
hoofs of horses and burros.

“You're. not done with me ‘yet, Merriwell!” he mut-
tered. “Tinaja Wells is only a matter of fifteen miles
away, and before many hours get by us, you and I are
going to have it out. You're a better sprinter, a better
long-distance runner, a better wrestler, and as good a
rider as I am; but you're afraid to fight, and you’re
afraid because you know I'd get the best of you. [ll
bring you to it, my buck, or my name’s not Barzy Blunt!”

From which it would appear that Hawkins’ few re-
marks had not, so far, made much of an impression on
the Cowboy Wonder.

CHAPTER VI.
GLEANING INFORMATION.

This idea of a week's camp at Tinaja Wells had been
evolved ‘by Hannibal Bradlaugh. Brad had been laid

up with: a sprained ankle for some. time, and. was, just.

beginning to get around with something like his. usual
briskness.. He felt, as he expressed it, as though he
wanted ‘to cut loose and make up for lost time.” Camp-
ing: at. the: Wells was Brad’s idea of cutting loose.

_-At first Merriwell did not regard. the scheme. with
favor. He and his chums were drilling the football team,
and. it. seemed as though they needed the club grounds
for the work. Then, again, Frank had been instructed
to’keep'close watch of the professor, and, at first thought,
the town appeared like a better place for that than a
camp inthe hills. The weightiest argument against this
trip, however, lay in the fact that Frank expected an im-
portant letter from his father, bearing upon the professor
and the professof’s mining claim, This letter was to ex-
plain various matters regarding which Frank was in the
dark, and presumably it would point a course of future
work which might have to. be taken up at once,
After a little reflection, Frank’s opposition to Han-
_ nibal’s proposed camping trip disappeared, Tackling the
dummy, punts, falling on the ball, and simple signal work
could be practiced on this mesa that lay handily by Tinaja
Wells; and the professor could be kept away from
_Aharpers; and more easily looked after if isolated in the
hills than if at large in the town; and, finally, Pophagan
had agreed to get any mail that came to Frank with
the postmark “Bloomfield” into his hands within two
hours after it arrived.

Borak he
“It wrenched him some, I opine, to cut loose from the
black. - The horse saved his life once when he was caught >

eral extra miles to the journey, while mounted men ust-
ally preferred the short cut through the cajion, |
The camping party comprised seventeen members:
twelve football players, Merry, Clancy, Ballard, Pro-
fessor Borrodaile, and the packery Silva. At the head
of the procession rode Silva on the bell burro. The
pack animals followed, and Uncle Sam plodded along at
the heels of the last loaded burro. The pace was slow,
and now that Uncle Sam had got started, he moved
steadily. The professor, taking a small volume from his
pocket, pulled the brim of his Mexican hat well over his
eyes and read as he rode, Merriwell and Clancy brought
up the rear of the long line, and between them and the
professor were thirteen youngsters, fairly bubbling over
with high jinks. Chaff and good-natured joking flew
thick and fast from end to end of the cavaleade. .
The campers had not been ‘half an hour on the trail
before they were overtaken by two horsemen with ration
bags at their cantles and revolvers strapped about their
waists, They ‘had a distinctly warlike appearance.
“Hello, Merriwell!” laughed one of the riders, pulling
his mount to a slower pace just behind Frank. -“I ‘see
you've annexed Blunt’s black horse.”
‘Howdy, Hawkins,’ Frank answered. “Yes; I’ve
bought Borak. Béen trying to guess why the deuce.
Blunt wanted to sell him, but can’t make it out. Are
you on the warpath?” PUL co, Seay eo
“That’s how it happens. There’s been some rustling at
the Fiddleback Ranch, but I supposed it was all settled.
Got a phone message last night, though, that Pecos
Charley, a local bad man, who. was blotting the brands,
had lost his horse and was loose somewhere in the hills,
We supposed he was safe in Mexico, so we're out to get
Charley if we can. I reckon we can ride faster than
he can walk, and so, Tarkin, here, and I,, have hopes,
Drop back alongside, son; I want a word with you.”
‘Tarkin, Hawkins’ companion, spurred up alongside of.
Claney, while Merry hung back to ride with Hawkins, —
“You're some puzzled, eh, to know why Blunt sold -
Borak?” the deputy sheriff asked. OEE
“Why, yes,’ Frank answered. “It’s generally been —
supposed -that Blunt would sooner sell himself than

”
.

in a cafion durin’ a cloudburst. Fact of the matter is,

Merriwell, Blunt was out,of funds and had to make a_

raise in a hurry.” | i a
“Oh, that’s it, eh? Well, it didn’t take him long to —

 

‘With every difficulty removed, Frank plunged into the
proposed expedition with his usual heartiness and fervor.
Brad .dug up Silva and the burros, borrowed three “A”
tents from a surveying gang on waiting orders, combed
“the town for “tarps,” “so guns,” and riding stock, and
_' was limping Jimmie Spry generally on every matter con-
_ mected with the trip.
- Tinaja Wells was the name given to a group of springs
gushing from the rocks of Mohave Caiion, fifteen miles
to the south and west of Ophir, and on the direct road
to the big Iiddleback cattle ranch, For ten miles—as
far as the mouth of the cafion—the trail was used for
freighting, and was very good., The cafion, however,
was too difficult for wagons, and could only be traversed
by horsemen and pack animals. So the freighters for
the Fiddleback outfit gave the defile a wide berth and
gained the ranch by a roundabout course that added sev-

get ‘a hundred and fifty from me. Fine little horse,
‘Hawkins! I wish it was so I could keep him, but Tl |
have to let him go when I leave Ophir. Blunt hasn’t —
much money, then ?” ; . we
“He gets forty a month at the Bar Z, but sends the —
most of it to Mrs. Boorland. I reckon you sabe that part
of it?’ Brake ¥ be ae
Frank nodded, | ee
“Blunt’s head may go a little wrong now and then,”
said he, “but his heart’s all right. After I heard how.
he was looking out for Mrs. Boorland, I couldn’t haye
got mad at Blunt if I'd tried. There’s something fine
- his make-up, although he manages to bury it pretty
deep.” ! aor eee
“That’s you!” exclaimed Hawkins, with a good deal of
satisfaction. “I had a hunch you weren't so down on
_Barzy as you've got a right to be. , He's a lileable younk

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in his own right, although poor old Hilt Boorland did
him a lot of harm. I happen to know, son, that Blunt
got a letter from Mrs. Boorland yesterday, saying as
how she was sick and in a hospital, and needin’ money
as quick as she could get it. Barzy hadn’t two bits in
his jeans, but he did have Borak and some good riding
gear. That’s why he sold the horse. Last night a hun-
dred and fifty, cold cash, went by express to Mrs. Boor-
land.”

Merry started up in his saddle. For a moment he
fixed his eyes on the grim face of the deputy, then slowly
settled back.

“Tt wish Clancy and Ballard could hear that!” he ex-
“T guess they’d have to revise their estimate of
Barzy Blunt.”

“There are several sides to Barzy, Merriwell, like
there is to most of us. His best side is the Barzy side,
and his worst comes from Hilt Boorland. You know
what he is at his worst, son, and you're liable to know
more. Barzy allows he’s goin’ to take a whack at you.’

“He’s had several whacks at me,’ Frank answered,
“and I’ve been wondering if I shouldn’t lie down and let
If he’d feel better ‘

“Not on your spurs!” interrupted Hawkins. “Meet
him at every p’int with the best that’s in you. . Why do
you dodge him when he tries to fight ?”

Merry flushed.

“It wouldn’t take much,” said he, “to make me go more
than halfway to be friends with Blunt. . Somehow I have
a sneaking regard for the fellow. Giving him a licking
wouldn’t help, would it?”

“Well, he’s itching for it, and sooner or later he’s goin’
to get it. When somethin’ ‘unpleasant has got to be done,
I don’t believe in puttin’ it off. Blunt allows that you
know he can do you up, and that that’s the reason you
won’t spar with him.”

“Well,” grinned Frank, ‘ ‘maybe he can do me up, Haw:

 

_ kins, but I'm not afraid: to give him the chance to try.

It’s only because I half like the fellow that I don’t want

_ anything like a rough-house.”

next time he makes a
His notions about you are tilted at the
wrong angle, and maybe you can pound a little sense
into his head. Hope so, anyways. Blamed if I know
.what’ll become of Barzy if he keeps on like he’s goin’?”

“Til think it over,” said Frank. “By the time we
get back from this camping trip I'll have made up my
mind, one way or the other.”

“You'll do it before then,” declared Hawkins.

“What do you mean by that ?”

“Why, I mean that Blunt’ll force your hand - before
-you’re back from Tinaja. The Wonder is after~Merri-
well’s scalp; and, while he’s willing enough for you to
get Borak, the fact that you’ve got the black don’t make
him any more friendly toward you. Funny row of
*dobies, isn’t it?”

“Blunt’s a crazy old lobster!” Frank onesie “It

“Hand it to him, Merriwell,

he hasn’t a mount, how can he come te our camp?”

“He can borrow a horse, for one thing. If he’s in too

SS much of a hurry to wait for a friend to loan him a

mount, he can walk. Keep your eye skinned for Blunt,
son. Go at him and trim him good, but don’t be mad
3e ready to open your fist and give him the

shouldn’t wonder none,” and Hawkins’ voice grew
el, fe you was to prove the makin’ of Barzy.”

For a while the two rode in-silence, and then Hawkins
stirred and picked up his reins.

“This is too much of a slow march for Tarkin and
me,” he remarked, “and we'll have to be sliding along.
Only trouble with Bak is, Merce, he has side-

                                                       

with Hilt Boorland’s aE it’s lost in the shuffle. Maybe
you can put him on the right track. Here’s hopin’!”

With that Hawkins dug in with the spurs, and swerved
to one side of the trail. Tarkin galloped after him, and
the two passed the line of campers, and vanished ahead
in a smudge of dust.

“What was Hawkins giving you, Chip?’ asked ven
dropping back to his place at Merriwell’s side.
‘A little news,” was the answer, “and a little advice.”

“What’s the deputy got up his sleeve?”

“Well, Clan, the news was surprising, and perhaps the
advice was good.”

With that Frank went on to tell his chum about Blunt’s
reasons for selling Borak.

“Tm a goat,” grunted Clancy, “if I can believe that.
Hawkins has been fooled. 1 don’t think it’s in Blunt to
strip himself of his last soo to help out any old woman
in a hospital.”

“T’d cork about that, old fellow,” suggested Merriwell,

“until I knew for sure. You're so prejudiced against
the Wonder that you can’t believe anything good ef him.
Now, I happen to know that

A clamor of yells came suddenly from well toward
the head of the string of burros and horses. The wild,
confused shouting abruptly died out in a flurry of moy-
ing forms, tangled about one central point. That central
point seemed to be Uncle Sam and the professor,

“What the deuce!” exclaimed Clancy. “This orderly
little procession of ours is all twisted into a snarl. What
do you suppose

‘“Something’s happened to Borrodaile!” cut in Frank
excitedly. ‘‘Let’s go ahead and see what it is.”

They pushed forward at a gallop, straining their eyes
and ears for some clew to the difficulty as they rode.

 

 

CHAPTER VII. ‘
MOHAVE CANON.

The disturbance had been caused by Uncle Sam. He
had suddenly, and without so much as a second’s warn-
ing, gone up behind and down in front. The professor,
lost in Schopenhauer, or a treatise on the higher mathe- -
matics, or something, had been tossed into the air like
a human skyrocket. Ballard, who was just behind him,
vowed that he oe botinded upward as though shot from
a cannon,

The professor’s Mexican hat had gone one way, and
his book another. The tails of his long, black coat spread —
out in a fan-shaped wake, and Ballard also asserted that
he turned two somersaults in the air before he came
down. When he fell, a burro happened to be under him. —
‘Lighting ona pack that was mostly bedding, the pro-
fessor caroomed off gently, and, much to his surprise,
found himself sitting up in the sand at the trailside.

Naturally, the burro was frightened. The little brute
jumped ahead, and disorganized the pack animals. Silva
turned the bell burro and the packers behind began to —

mill”; that is, they began trotting circles, and the
astounded professor happened to be the center of the.
circle,

  
NEW

“What do you mean by throwing the procession all
out of kilter,’ prof?” shouted one of the boys.

“If you wanted to get off the mule,” inquired another,
“why didn’t you get off in the regular way?’

“Nice way to jump on a respectable burro!” exploded
a third. “If you wanted to change mounts, why didn’t
you tell Silva?”

The Mexican, yelling emphatic things in his native
tongue, was trying to bring order out of chaos. He had
a pole with a steel fork tied to the end of it. As he
whooped it up with musical swear words, he reached
over and prodded the circling burros with the tines of
the fork.

“Sangre de diable! Otra ves”—jab—“otra vez!”

Finally, with the help of all the detachment, the burros
were straightened out in the trail. Clancy and Ballard
had dismounted and were lifting the professor to his
tet,

“A cataclysm!” murmured the professor, rubbing his
bald head in a bewildered way. “Young gentlemen,” he
declared, passing his eyes over the grinning faces that
surrounded him, “I distinctly felt a tremor, a paroxysm
of the earth, followed by an upheaval of astounding pro-
portions ! J—I—Mr. Clancy, was it not an earthquake: r

Clancy, stifling his mirth, shook his head. .

“Not a real earthquake, professor,” said he. “Uncle
Sam toék a notion you were too heavy, and tried to trans-
fer you to one of the pack burros.”

The professor’s glasses had bows that curved behind
his ears. One of the bows had been jarred loose, so
that the spectacles had dropped crosswise of his face.

Whenever he was deeply in earnest about anything, the /

professor had the habit of lowering his chin so as to look
over the-tops of his glasses. Unmindful of the fact that
the spectacles were not in his way, he ducked forward
and peered sternly at the mule.

“You obnoxious quadruped!” he cried. “If I were
worldly minded, I should say ‘confound you’ and strike
you with something hard; but—but A smothered
laugh came from somewhere among the ranks of the
_ onlookers. The*professor, with a touch of temper, again
+ swept his glance over the smiling faces that surrounded

him. “If this is a joke,” said he, “it is a joke of doubt-
ful taste. Those idiotic stares, young men, those grins of
reasonless vacuity, are not becoming.”

“We're tickled to death, professor,’ murmured Ballard,
“to find that you're not hurt.”

“*Tickled to death!’” echoed the exasperated pro-
_ fessor. — “Ballatd, that is a physicological possibility, al-
_ though highly improbable. I’d like to tickle that mule
to death! He’s not dependable.”

Frank had also dismounted, and had picked tip the pro-
-fessor’s hat and book.

“T don’t believe I'd do any more reading while we’re
_ hitting the trail, professor,” he suggested respectfully, but
with a humorous wink at the rest of the boys. “Tf you'd
been giving Uncle Sam your full attention, he’d never
have dared take such liberties with you. If you'd like
to change mounts with Clancy——” |
_ “Not at all, Merriwell, not at all!”
justed his spectacles, jammed the hat down on his head,
and thrust the book into a coat-tail pocket. “I insist on
riding this—this barbarous, long-eared animal. I shall
show him, sir, that I am his master.”
~ Uncle Sam’ was as sleepy-looking as ever. To gaze

at him, as nes stood at Ret ‘moment, no one pons: Fare )

EIP:.TOP

Borrodaile ad-

WEEKLY.

have supposed he had life enough to buck the professor
off his back.

The professor mounted with determination.

“Mind,” he explained, settling himself in the saddle,

“is always superior to the unregulated forces of mere
brute obstinacy. Ged ap!”

Contrary to the expectations, and, perhaps, the desires
of most of the boys, Uncle Sam moved ahead with great
docility. The professor watched him carefully for a
mile or two, and then slumped into a more comfortable
attitude. But he did no more reading in the saddle.

It was nine o’clock when the campers trailed up to the
adobe house known as Dolliver’s.| Dolliver had a few
cattle in the hills, and was connected with Ophir by
telephone. His establishment was almost in the mouth
of Mohave Cafion, and just at the point where the horse
trail and the wagon road separated.

After halting at Dolliver’s an hour, to rest and water,
Silva mounted the bell burro and got his packers in mo-
tion. One by one the burros vanished into the mouth of
the cafion, Silva’s tinkling bell growing fainter and fainter
in the distance.

The rest of the lads dotiew ed on in single file. Owing
to the nature of the trail, to proceed in any other forma-
tion was impossible.

A small stream meandered down the gulch. The bed
of the defile was covered with rounded bowlders and
rocks, slippery and sure to precipitate a fall if an animal :
stepped oh one of them. Giant cottonwoods and scrubby —
oaks grew so thick as to conceal the lower parts of the

cliffs which formed the cafion walls. The rim rock
looked mysterious with black, cavelike holes showing
here and there. Tree ferns and long grasses grew in
transverse crevices, picking out the bleak gray of the.

rock with wondrous colors and shapes.

There were places where the walls were not more

han fifty feet apart, and other places where they widened
‘ two or three hundred feet; but the trail, a thin, whitish
line in the half gloom, crawled back and forth between
masses of rock, and never offered room for more than.
one animal to pass at a time. There were one on two
places, in fact, where the rocks came near scraping the
loads from the burros’ backs:

“Great place, this!” exclaimed Clancy, who happened
to be riding just behind Frank. “Nice hang out for a ~
man who’s trying to keep away from the law. I'll bet
there used to be high jinks in Mohave Cafion when the.
Apaches were on the warpath.” es

Frank thought about the fugitive rustler, Pecos
Charley. How long could stich a man live in a place —
like that before hunger drove him out?

“T heard something at Dolliver’s,” called Ballard, who ©
was picking his way through the rocks ahead of Frank,

“and it sounded sort of bloodthirsty.”

“What was it, Pink?’ Frank asked.,

“A cattle thief named Pecos Charley shot a sawtens
at the Fiddleback Ranch the other day, and made’ a
rush for the hills. Who knows but the fellow is harkinig::)
somewhere in ‘this cafion? r

“Bosh!” answered Frank. “Even if he is around
here he'd give us a wide berth. Pecos Charley isn’t look-
ing for company, you can depend on that.”

After possibly an hottr of slow travel up the cafion,
the party rounded a sharp bend, and came suddenly upén-

Tinaja Wells. The wall of the deiile at the ight, broke 2

 
a er a aa EE

 

   
 

Po

Re ate

completely away, giving place to a flat, covered with a

grove of cottonwood, oak, and pifion trees. The springs,
gushing from the rocks at the side of the flat, rilled
“away and dropped in a miniature cascade into the waters
of Mohave Creek. Beyond the flat, and elevated above
it fy perhaps a dozen feet, was the mesa.

Silva’ had already dismounted in the grove, and, lean-
ing against a tree, was rolling a cigarette. He was the
center of a very picturesque group, surrounded as he
was by the browsing burros.

The slow journey had become monotonous to the lads,
but at this glimpse of the Wells and the cool luxury of
& the grove, their spirits suddenly revived. With a cheer
_. they urged their horses to a gallop, and soon reached
the flat, and thrown themselves from their saddles.

“This place is A-one,” said Claney. “If it had been
made to order for a _camping gfound, it couldn’t have
been improved upon.”

“Remarkable!” declared the professor, mildly delighted.
|. “Those rocks, now, will repay investigation, I am posi-
- . tive. TI only hope,” and a little anxiety was manifest in
his voice, “that the dampness will not cause any acute

aq coryza among the members of our party.”
_ “So do I,” said Ballard, winking at Frank. “I had a
Se couple of coryzas on my neck once, and they came near
_ putting me out of business.”

“Well! murmured the professor, blinking at Ballard.
“That is news, indeed,’ he added dryly. “What, may
I ask, do you think acute coryza to be?”

“Boils,” answered Ballard solemnly.
. The professor threw up his hands.
+ Ballard. Cold is the common term.
| have two coryzas on your neck;”
chuckled gleefully.
a Frank and Brad looked over the flat and selected a
site for the camp close to a glassy pool under the springs.
| Silva began the unpacking while the boys were stripping
| _ the gear from their mounts and getting out their picket
| ropes and pins. There was plenty of forage close to
y camp, and the horses were léft knee-deep in it.
Poles were cut for the tents, and while they were being
put up and the plunder stowed, Silva, who Was to re-
ceive extra pay for acting as cook, had got a fire going

-and was making other preparations for dinner.

When the boys had finished their part of the work,
Spink announced the discovery of a second pool, just be-
- low the flat, and just right for a swimming tank. A
\ dip.in clear, cool water was the only thing the boys lacked

_ to put them in fine fettle, With aw hoop of joy they
-scampered off to make the most of Spink’s discovery.
_ The banks of the pool were level and clear of brush
and weeds, and the bed was of sand and gravel, varying
in depth from a few feet to places where only a deep
- dive could find bottom. »While the boys were swimming
and splashing, and yelling to their hearts’ content, a sud-

ay Set

ya

as, a as
Se ——

  

 

 

“You are wrong,
You could hardly
and the professor

   
  
   
   
  

between the high walls and dying into silence far below
the flat and Tinaja Wells.

  
   
 

i himself and getting into his clothes,
“That was a rifle shot,” he announced briefly,
think we'd better find out what it means,’

wa

He ‘was thinking of Pecos Charley, of Hawkins, and
~Tarkin: Somehow he had a feeling that momentous
events | ae: at hand. |

 

“and I

   
  
   
 

   

NEW, TIP TOR WEEKLY.

-off for the first watch.

den harsh note echoed from up the cajion, reverberating |

Merry, bounding up on the bank, began hastily drying

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PROFESSOR IN TROUBLE,

Although Frank and half a dozen of the lads went far
up the cafion in an effort to solve the mystery of that
rifle shot, yet they found nothing that afforded them the
slightest clew. Frank felt relieved to think that his
forebodings had not been borne out by any gruesome
discoveries.

“Nothing to it, Chip,” said Brad, when Frank and
the others had returned to camp and reported. “Some
cowboy was taking a shot at a deer—and the shooting
may have been a couple of miles up the cafion.”

“We might as well think that as to think anything
else,” Frank answered carelessly. “I believe it would
be well, though, not to leave the camp unguarded at any
time. Six of us ought to stick around during the day,
and we should divide the night into watches, so that
three of the fellows can watch the live stock while the
rest are asleep.”

This was agreed to on the spot, and after dinner was
over, the camp was organized along the lines Merry had
stiggested. No matter what excursions were made, or
what other business might be on hand to take most of
the fellows away from the Wells, a guard of six was to
remain on the flat and look after the camp. This guard
was to be changed each day, so that no one would be
kept on duty two days in succession. An alphabetical list
of the members of the party was made, and from this
roster the different squads were to be chosen.

The night was to be divided into three watches: from
seven to eleven, eleven to two, and two to six.

The afternoon of that first day was passed in settling
down, making the camp as comfortable as possible, and
in exploring the flat and the mesa. The mesa was found .
to be free from greasewood, cactus, and other desert
growths, with a surface of fine white sand, almost as
hard as a floor, and admirably adapted to football prac-
tice. It was big enough for half a dozen gridirons, and
the boys would not be cramped for room.

As night approached, the live stock was brought up
into the grove, where it could be more easily watched by
those doing sentry-go; and, after supper, all hands gath-
ered around Silva’s fire, cracking jokes, telling stories, or
singing songs, until Merry announced that it was ten
o'clock, and time to turn in.

Ballard, Bradlaugh, and Clancy were the three checked
3orrodaile, who might have been
summoned, was excused on account of his age and be-
cause of a fear that he might prove unreliable.

The lads of the first watch had an easy time of it, for
three hours of their watch had already been passed at
the camp fire. At eleven o’clock they summonéd the
three who were to relieve them, and crept into the tent
where Merriwell and the professor were soundly sleep-
ing.

T he night passed without an alarm of any sort; and
at six Spink sounded reveille on a battered old bugle.
A general rush followed from the tents to the Senta
hole, . oo

Spink was already in the water, thrashing around like ae
a whale and sputtering joyously.

“What do you fellows think of yourselves?” ‘he dee?

manded, backing off as, one by one, his friends splashed _

into the pool. “From ten to six is eight hours, and_you've ©
NEW
had eight hours’ sleep. Remember what the old. saw
says?”

“No,” answered Hannibal, “what does it say?”

“Six hours’ sleep for a man, seven for a woman, and
eight for a fool—wow!”

Some one grabbed his feet out from under him, and
he reappeared, half strangled, Clancy gripping him by the
hair. /

“You, and Chip, and a few more had eight hours of it,”
said Clancy, “but you can count three hours out for some
of the rest of us.”

“Not for you,” said Kent. Carver. “The first watch
is good for about an hour’s duty. The mid-watch and
morning-watch fellows draw the heavy end of it. I had
four hours of prancing around in the dark, and I ought
to know.”

“And it- was dark, for sure,’ spoke up Lafe Deever.
“You couldn’t see your hand behind your back. I was
scared stiff, one spell. Heard an awful moaning like
some one in pain. Had to investigate, of course, and
got the other ,two fellows of the watch and we-trailed
the noise down.”

“And found it was the greaser,” laughed Carver, “snor-
ing by fits and jerks. I move we make him spend ‘the
nights on the mesa.” ;

“Uncle Sam,” said Handy, “came within one of throw-
ing me into a fit. I happened to be close to him, looking
over the rimvof the cafion at the moon. He let go’a hee-
haw that was enough to raise the dead. 1 move that we
put the mule on the mesa with Silva.”

“What's the use of these night watches anyhow, Chip?”
moaned Ballard. “The gulch is as peaceful as a Quaker
meeting. I like my full eight hours of sleep.”

“We're in training,” seconded Handy, “and entitled
to a full night’s rest.” |

“Suppose we got up some morning and missed a few
of the horses?” asked Merry.

“It would be a good miss,” replied Handy, “if Uncle
Sam turned up absent.’

‘“There’s a rustler loose in the hills,” went on Frank,
“and weican’t take any chances. Hustle into your clothes,
fellows. We've got to water the stock and get every
head out in the grass before breakfast. Silva will be
ready for us before we’re ready for him.”

Following the morning meal, six of the campers were
checked off to remain in camp for the day, and Mer-
riwell and Spink were two of the number. The rest
were to scatter, some up the gulch and some over the
rim, a few to ride and more to try out their legs. Silva,
with a hornspoon and a pick and shovel, went prospecting.
_ “Dinner at twelve, and football practice at three,” an-
nounced Frank, as the fellows began drifting away.
“Mind you're all back to the Wells in time—and don’t
get lost. I say, Clan!”

Clancy, Ballard, and the professor were making for
the mesa. Clancy turned back.

“Going to stay with the prof—you and Pink?” queried
Merry, in a low voice.

“That’s the idea, Chip,” was the answer. “He wants
to find a post-pliocene razmataz in the Roscommon thing-
um-bobs, and Pink and I are going to help him,”

“Well, see that he don’t fall over a cliff, and be sure
and have him back here by noon.”

“What’s a superciliary ridge, Chip?”

“Give it up, Why?”

“Well, the prof says that Spink has one that is most

> § ‘

ps

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LIP. .TOP

<A a A ee RE Re

WEEKLY.

re-mark-able. Never thought that of Spink. So long!
Don’t you wish you’d done guard duty so you could be
on the go with the rest of us?”

“T’ll get what’s coming to me to-night,” Frank laughed,
watching Ballard and the professor scale the bank lead-
ing to the mesa. ®

3orrodaile was like a boy out of school. Now and
then, as he climbed, he’d brace himself, grab at a bit of
rock, scrutinize it with the naked eye, and then with a
pocket microscope, and turn to tell Ballard just to what
period of the world’s making it belonged.

Finally the professor and Ballard, joined by Clancy,
got over the edge of the mesa, and vanished. . Merri-
well turned away and seated himself beside Spink.

“This forenoon is going to be mighty monotonous for
us. fellows in camp,” said Spink. “If my forgettery
hadn’t been at work, I’dehave toted along a pack of cards.
Tell me something, Chip.”

“What?”

“T don’t care what
time. What do you think of Barzy Blunt?
interesting subject.”

“T don’t know just what to think of Blunt, Spink,”
Frank answered. ‘I don’t know that I ever saw a fel-
low just like him.”

“T heard a scientific sharp say once that no two of
us on this whole planet are exactly alike. We differ
somewhere.” es

“It’s a safe bet that your scientific sharp was right.
Blunt is queer, but I guess it’s due to the way he was
brought up.”

“He’s not a good loser, and that, I’ll gamble, is his main
trouble. He can't bear to think that you’re a better man
than he is, and he’s gone daffy on the subject of doing
you up at something or other. Baray Blunt isn’t a true
sportsman.”

“Maybe you're.right, Spink,” said Merriwell, “but we
don’t want to forget that Blunt has lived in this corner
of Arizona -all his life, and that he’s had mighty few
advantages. He has done pretty well at the athletic
game, when you consider what he has had to do with,”

“You're standing up for him, are you?” remarked
Spink curiously,

“Why not?

just anything to help pass the
He’s an

There’s something about the fellow I
can’t help but like.’
“Pity ‘he can’t reciprocate and feel the same toward

you.
streak.” 3
“It isn’t a yellow streak, Spink,” protested Frank
earnestly. “From all I can learn, it’s merely a streak
of Hilt Boorland.” :
“Well, maybe. But you look out for Blunt, Chip? |
He’s like a streak of lightning, and you never know where
he’s. going to strike next. If he——” Spink broke
off his remarks and bent his head in listening attitude.

To my mind, that goes to prove he’s got a yellow

“What was that?” he queried. “Didn’t you hear some-

thing ?”’

Merriwell jumped to his feet.

“Tf did,” he answered. “It sounded like some one hail-
ing us—from the direction of the mesa. Listen!”

The cry was not repeated, but in a few moments Bal-
lard and Clancy appeared at the mesa’s edge, wildly ex-
cited about something, Clancy had the professor by the
arm and was dragging him hurriedly onward. Ballard,
behind the professor, occasionally gave him a push to

a

 
Shes hE su

AR Sor
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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. te

hasten his speed. Borrodaile’s coat was over his arm
and‘his right shirt sleeve was turned up to his elbow,

“What the deuce has happened?” Merriwell muttered.

“Pink and Clancy have a mighty tragic look,” observed
Spink, vastly puzzled.

They ran forward to meet the three from the mésa.

“Say, Chip,” “shouted Ballard, “we've got to do some-
thing for Professor Borrodaile, and do it quick. He has
been bitten by a rattler.”

“I found a piece of conglomerate,’ explained the pro-
fessor, who was by far the least excited of the three, “a
very choice specimen, and when I reached for it, the
reptile struck me on the wrist.”

‘Sure it was a rattler?” gasped Spink.

“No doubt of it,’ answered the professor; “it was a
genuine crotlaus adamanteus, or what is commonly called
a diamond-back rattlesnake. It fastened on my wrist,
and Ballard struck it away and killed it.”

Already the professor’s wrist was swelling, and a wave
of horror swept over Merriwell. Snatching a handker-
chief from his pocket, he leaped at Professor Borro-
daile and began twisting it into a rope and tying it snugly
about his arm, just below the elbow.

”

CHAPTER IX

A RIDE FOR LIFeE.

To keep a clear head in an emergency is a most ad-
mirable trait, and one which ought to be cultivated. Mer-
riwell seldom allowed himself to get “rattled,” but he
came dangerously close to it at that moment. '

It flashed through his mind that, in preparing for that
camping trip, nothing in the nature of an antidote for
snake venom had been provided. In a country like that,
where rattlesnakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other
poisonous vermin were exceedingly plentiful, the over-
sight might be set down ag criminal carelessness.

Silva, trained in the ways of the desert, might have
known ‘of some herb that would overcome the baneful
effects of the snake bite, but he was away, and there was

no time to look for him.

“Get a doctor; get a doctor!” cried Spink, running use-
lessly back and forth,

“Isn't there something, anything, we can give the pro-
fessor?” demanded Ballard. ‘See how his wrist is swell-
ing. Tell me what you want, Chip, and I'll go for it.” ~
-“Vhere’s nothing you can get,’ Frank answered, put-
ting forth a great effort to get his nerves under control.

“But we've just got to do something!” gasped Ballard
helplessly. “The diamond-back had more than a dozen
rattles, and

“Hand me that stick, Clan!” ordered Merriwell, point-

_ Clancy picked up a small section of a dried cotton-
wood branch. Frank thrust it through the handkerchief

and twisted it until the professor gave a cry of pain.

pM Tes tourniquet, professor,” Frank explained, “
keep the poison from getting out of your arm and into
- the rest. of your body. It will help. Put your lips to the
wound, Clan, and draw out the poison. Keep at it, fel-
lows. I'm off. Come along, Ballard. Spink, you stay

| ae help Clancy.”

Frank raced away toward the spot where he had
” pleksted Borak,
“Where are you ne
f “Get’ my riding gear,

Chip?” asked Ballard,
rank called back. “I’ve got to

halfway to Dolliver’s.

Barzy Blunt. .

J
get it on Borak in record time. Pink!
second counts,”

Ballard went stumbling away to the place where the
saddles and bridles had been left, and: when Frank came
up with the horse, Ballard had the gear in readiness.

“Put on the bridle while I get the saddle in place and
cinched up,” Merriwell ordered.

The excitement had its effect on Borak, and the animal
snorted and shied around ina way that made the work
of ‘hoth boys difficult. Finally the bridle was in place
and Frank was tugging at the cinches.

“What are you going to do?” asked Ballard.

“Going to make a ride for life—the professor's life,”
Frank answered. “He’s done for if we can’t get a doc-
tor in short order.” Me

“It'll take you an hour and a half to get to Ophir,
best you can do; then another hour and a half to bring
out the doctor, providing you haven’t any difficulty in
finding him. There’s only one doctor in Ophir,’ you
know, sO EA

“I’m not’ going to Ophir,
liver’s, and use the phone.

Hustle, levery

$3

Pink. I’m going to Dol-
Pil call up Bradlaugh and
have him use his car and rush the doctor out-here, Un-
derstand? If I can make good connections all the way
through, inside of an hour we should have a. doctor ‘on
the ground. Tell the boys, will you?” Merry sprang
into the saddle. “I’m off,” he added, and Borak Jeaped
from the flat and into the cafion trail like a black. streak,

While he was rushing down the defile at breackneck
speed, Frank began to think of things he might have
done. First, -hé Could have sav ed time by mounting the
professor on a horse and taking him to Dolliver’s. “From
there he could have called up Bradlaugh, and then rode
on with Borrodaile and met the carand the doctor,

In therexcitement of the moment this very simple plan,
“would —

had escaped him. To turn back now, however,
have meant a delay which might have more than bal-
anced the gain in having the professor along, _ No, he
would keep on as he was going, and hope for the best.

Then another detail occurred to him. The car could
not bring the doctor all the way to the camp at Tinaja
Wells. It«could bring him to Dolliyer’s, and how was
the doctor to get from Dolliver’s to the camp?

Frank got around this difficulty by: planning to. stay
at Dolliyer’s until:the doctor came, and then having him
ride Borak up.the cafion, He did not. reflect that: the
doctor. might have trouble riding Borak. At such a
time, and in a matter of life or death, the doctor would
have to ride Borak—there was nothing else for it.

With every nerve tingling, and with ominous” fears
tugging at his heart, Merriwell was covering that narrow,
bowlder-strewn trail at reckless. speed,
A glance at the cafion as he raced
along convinced*him of that. And then, with a-sud-
denness that caused his heart to skip a-beat and his
breath to flutter through his lips, he saw a figure spring
out from a shelter of hanging’ vines ane ro ers
directly in his path,

Could ‘he beliéve his eyes? He ducted his Kent across
them and stared again. Yes, there was no doubt. Ahead
of him, blocking his way, stood no less a person: thar

How had the fellow‘come there? | And why?

mind, T Hs deputy sheriff had declared that Blunt wom

Already he’ was

\

In ech #9
ing review, Merriwell’s talk with Hawkins recur red to his

 
NEW "TIP TOP WEEKLY.

come to Tinaja Wells, even if he had to walk. There
he was, and plainly he was making the journey afoot.

Already Borak was close upon his former owner, and
was slackening speed. Frank threw up a hand frantically.

“Clear the way!” he shouted, “I’m in a hurry, Blunt!
It’s a matter of life or death!”

The ugly smile was on Blunt’s ‘face. His sloe-black
eyes were snapping. Not only did he hold to his place in
the trail, but he began waving his arms to bring the horse
to a full stop.

“Don’t use the double tongue in talking to me!’’ he
shouted. ‘We're alone here, and we’re going to have it
out.”

“You're crazy!” cried Merriwell frantically.
of the way or I’ll run you down!”

“Not on that horse, you won't!”
rejoinder.

Frank marshaled all his wits to deal with this unex-
pected emergency. On his right was a huge bowlder,
and on his left the sheer wall of the cafion. Without
hesitating a moment, he put Borak at the bowlder, and
cut him with the quirt.

The blow maddened the horse. With a sqtieal of anger
he flung at the barrier, cleared it easily, and came down
on the other side. Again Frank turned him into the
narrow trail, well beyond the cowboy. Ses

For a moment Frank felt that he was free to continue
his mad ride to Dolliver’s. But the unexpected happened
once more. ney ‘

The cowboy, placing his fingers to his lips, gave vent
to the whistle signal which the black knew so well. In-
stantly the horse slackened pace and began to turn. Frank
plied thé quirt blindly, fiercely, while Blunt continued
whistling.

Borak, maddened by the quirt, and held by the spell
exerted by his former master, began to plunge and rear.
Slipping on one of the wet stones in the trail, he threw
himself forward, the cinches gave way, and Frank, sad-
dle and all, went over his head.

The horse scrambled erect, shivering in every limb;
and, from behind a screen of hanging’ vines, a pair of
villainous, speculating eyes began watching: the horse.
Borak, breathing hard, moved off a little to one side.
The bridle reins were dangling from the bit rings, and
he had been taught to stand when the reins hung in that
way. The owner of the eyes, dropping to hands and
_knees, began creeping stealthily in the direction of the
horse. pn

Frank, partly stunned by his rough fall, lay for a mo-
ment on the slippery rocks. When hé started slowly to
rise, he saw Barzy Blunt facing him.

“Borak hasn’t forgotten me, Merriwell!” exulted the
cowboy. “He wouldn’t run me down, and he wouldn’t
run away from me. Hurt?” |

“No,” answered Frank dazedly, “I’m not hurt.
the horse! Don’t let him get away!”

“Never mind the horse—he’ll do for now. Give me
a little of your atténtion, Merriwell. We’re here, and
there are none of your friends around to interfere with
us. This is a stroke of luck.” } ,

_, “What do you want?”

“You know what I want!” was the fierce response.
“You've bested me at everything we've tackled so far,
and now I’m going to have a try at you with my bare
_ hands.” ae

_ “Wait a minute!” Frank interposed sternly. “I am on

*Get out

was the confident

”

Catch

.

enced a thrill of apprehension on Blunt's account.

my way to Dolliver’s to telephone for a doctor.- The
professor

“Don’t lie to me!” shouted Blunt. “You’ve had. Gne
excuse or another every time I have proposed a sparring
match. If you don’t want me to think you’re a coward,
you'll cut it out.”

“But I tell you,’ cried Frank, “every minute I lose
here is just ”

“Put up your hands!”

Dimly Frank saw the angry cowboy rushing at him.
Before he could lift his hands, a blow fell which sent
him staggering backward. :

“Protect yourself!” gritted the cowboy. “Haven't you
any sand? Is the Chip-of-the-old-block going to let a
miserable homemade athlete knock him out? Do some-
thing! Prove that you're the all-round crackajack ‘those
Ophir junipers think you are.”

Tall was useless. Blunt was plainly beside himself.
His weird attempts to lure Frank into one athletic contest
after another, had finally ended in this, the craziest
scheme of them all. Merriwell might beg and plead, but
not a word would Blunt believe. There was only one
thing to do, and Merriwell proceeded to do it.

His fists went up, and when Blunt danced toward him
again, the blow he aimed fell short. The next blow was
cleverly parried. Frank’s left had turned it, and his right
went out and forward in a swinging, vicious uppercut:
Blunt gasped, and stumbled backward. Frank. waited
until he had recovered a little, and then, taking the of-
fensive, plunged toward hi:m. ;

The cowboy landed a blow. Frank struck Blunt’s hand
to one side, and jumped back. Again. the two. came
together, and Frank parried and struck, feinted and
struck, ducked and side-stepped, avoiding fierce blows
while he gave fierce ones in return. At last, under the
terrific hammering, the cowboy’s defense weakened. One
last blow, which lrank delivered straight from the shoul-
der, settled the bout. Barzy Blunt sank slowly to his
knees, dropped sidewise, and lay crumpled and still on
the wet stones. ; .

Sickened with it all, Merriwell turned gropingly, leaned ~
against a bowlder, and looked around for Borak: He
could not see the horse. -Alarmed, he stepped out of
the trail and passed his eyes swiftly up and down. the
cafion,

Borak had disappeared!

CHAPTER X.
THE PENALTY OF DISHONOR.

In spite of his bitter disappointment, and the hopeless-
ness that filled him for Borrodaile, Merriwell .experi-
He
went to the cowboy and knelt beside him. He was
breathing heavily and there was a trickle of blood flow-
ing from his forehead, down over his bronzed cheek,

Untying the cotton handkerchief from Blunt’s neck,
Frank moistened it in the creek, and passed it over the —
unconscious face. Blunt’s eyes flickered open and he ~
started weakly to a sitting posture. en ee ye

“TI. reckon I got what was coming to me,” muttered
Blunt. “It was fair. I’ve run out my string of tricks,
and you've called ’em all.” oe ee
_“You’ve done something to-day, Blunt,” said Merri-
well huskily, “that you'll regret to the longest day you —
live. There was a chance to save Professor Borrodaile —

 
 

 
  
  
  
  
   

on the wall.

_ erator answered,

 

  

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY» 17.

/
—<did—and you’ve wrecked it. Why couldn't you believe
me? Why couldn’t you take my word?”

Blunt stared at him.

_ “Bo you mean to say that wasn’t a dodge to avoid a
fight?’ he asked.

“Do you think I’d lie to keep from slugging you?
Professor Bor rodaile was bitten by a rattler, and I was
racing for Dolliver’s to phone Mr. Bradlaugh. I wanted
a doctor, and I knew Mr. Bradlaugh would bring him
in his automobile.”

“He couldn’t get through to Tinaja Wells in an auto-
mobile !”

“He could come as far as Dolliver’s,
Borak the rest of the way.”

Blunt’s face contorted with a sudden, fierce regret;
then, as suddenly, it brightened as though with hope.

“Take Borak and ride.on!” he cried. “You haven't
lost much time—maybe it isn’t too late.”

“The horse is gone. While we were pounding each
other, Borak must have taken to his heels.”

“He wouldn't do that!” declared Blunt. “The horsé
might run away from you, Merriwell, but he wouldn’t
run away from me. . I'll whistle him up. You wait—
Ull bring him.”

The cowboy got to his feet and put his fingers to. his
lips. Clear and shrill the whistle echoed up and down
the cafion. They waited and listened, ‘scarcely breathing.
No patter of hoofs answered the call. Blunt tried again
and again, but still without effect.

“I can’t understand this,” he mumbled.

“T can,” said Frank angrily. “The horse ran away.

and then ride

T’'ve got to get to Dolliver’s—and I’m going afoot. It’s

useless, but I must do what I can.”

He turned and started down the narrow trail at a
run. ‘Presently he heard Blunt behind him. He halted
and turned breathlessly.

“Why are you following me?’ he demanded.

“I’m going to see this. thing through,’ was the an-
swer.

“Don’t try to interfere with me! The Hilt Boorland
in you has caused enough disaster for one day.”

“I—I want to help you, Merriwell! Hawkins told
me I'd get in a tangle I’d-be sorry for if I kept after you.
He was:right. If the professor dies I’ll be the one that
killed him.”

Merriwell turned away and went on with his running.
Time and again he slipped on the wet stones, but picked
himself up and continued the race.

He was hoping that he might come upon Borak brows-
ing among the trees. All the way down the cafion he
looked for the horse, but in vain. As he stumbled clear

/
of the gulch and ran toward Dolliver’s adobe, he knew
by the sound behind him that Blunt was still at his
heels.

‘Dolliver was not in sight, and the house was locked.
While Frank was rattling at the door, Blunt was smash-

ing a window.

“Get in here,”’

- sash.

Frank, without a word, climbed into the deep em-
brasure of the window and dropped into Dolliver’s sit-
ting room. The telephone hung directly opposite him,
He darted toward it, rang up the operator,
and asked for the doctor.

. “Doctor Gryce is out in the country on a call,” the op-
“He asked me to tell any one who

he\ panted, clearing away the broken

called him. up that he won't be baok in Ophir before
afternoon.”

Frank stifled a groan, and, in a sratoblisig voice, asked
for Bradlaugh’s office. Here further disappointment
awaited him. Mr. Bradlaugh was not in his office, nor
at the athletic club, nor at the mine. He had gone off
somewhere in the car.

Frank hung up the receiver and turned away. “You,
at least, are playing in luck, Blunt,” said he, dropping
wearily into a chair.

“What do you mean by that?” the cowboy asked.

Frank reported what he had been told over the phone.

“You see,” he added, “that, even if you hadn’t inter-
fered with me, I couldn’t have got the doctor, or Mr.
Bradlaugh, either.” |

“You think that lets me out, do you?” The cowboy’s
voice was savage in its intensity. “Well, it doesn’t. I
see, now, that I’ve missed what Hawkins calls the honor
of the game. My confounded temper is to blame for
it, I reckon.. I was riled by the way you bested me at
everything, and I wanted a whack at you with my fists. I
was a fool. But all that doesn’t help matters now. If
a fellow wants to play square, he’s got to be a good loser.
I’m a lame duck, Merriwell.”

Blunt laughed mirthlessly, went over to the broken
window, and leaned there, looking out moodily at the
empty trail and the rugged mouth of the cafion. Sick
at heart and dejected though he was, Merriwell could
not avoid feeling a touch of surprise at this change
in Blunt. Presently the cowboy faced around once more.

“Whether Borrodaile lives or dies,” said he, “I’ve some-
thing to remember for the rest of my life. I might have
beep the one who killed Borrodaile—even if I wasn’t.
If this professor of yours lives, it won’t be because I
didn’t do everything I could to kill him, That’s enough
for one cow-puncher to shoulder, I reckon. Im paying
the penalty for my devilish temper. It’s the—the penalty
of dishonor.”

Blunt’s voice came near breaking, but he pulled him-
self together with an effort and went on:

“Hawkins told mé his words would sink in. I didn’t
believe him, but now I see that he was right. He knows
a heap about human nature, that’ Hawkins. I reckon

- jt doesn’t make much difference what becomes of me. I’m

not worth a whoop, and that’s the truth.”

A sort of pity for the high-strung youth flickered in
Merriwell’s breast. Blunt, no doubt, had done what he
could do with himself and his slender opportunities. Had
Merriwell been in his place, could he have fought down
circumstances and succeeded any better than Blunt had
done? ;
“Why the mischief didn’t you take my word, there in
the cafion; and let me come on?” Merriwell asked.

“Because I was locoed—because I wasn’t a good loser.
Oh, I’ve got this nailed to me right. I haven’t played the
game as it ought to be played. But let’s not pow-wow
about that. What’s done has gone into the discard, and
jwe’re facing a n¢w deal. Isn’t there something we can
still do for Borrodaile?”

“I don’t know,’ Frank answered gloomily. ‘“There’s.
only one doctor in Ophir.”

“There are two or three in Gold Hill. Why not try _
the Hill?” : ref

 

“Tt’s too far away, and
“There’s a chance, and we might as well work it for
all it’s worth.”

  
i bh ad

Steet beet ena nates o.

  

fe

Blunt himself stepped to the telephone, Before he
could take the receiver from the hooks, however, a sound
of galloping was heard in the trail. The cowboy whirled

~ around.

“Maybe that’s Dolliver,” said he. “Like as not he’s got
something here we can use to help the professor.”

He jumped to the door and flung it open. A man was
dismounting at the well,

‘Tt isn’t Dolliver,” muttered Blunt. “It’s Pophagan,
and he’s from Ophir.”

Frank started up.

“Pophagan?” he demanded. ‘Then he wants me—he’s
got a letter for me, He said he’d bring it if it came.”

Frank hurried out of the houge. Pophagan peered at
him, and gave vent to an asedretad exclamation,

“Merriwell, if it ain't! What’re you doin’ at Dol-
liver’s, when I was allowin’ to meet up with ye at Tinaja
Wells? Hey?” ;

“Borrodaile was bitten by a rattler,’ Frank answered,
“and I came on here to telephone for a doctor; but t

=? “Sufferin’ centipedes!” cried Pophagan. “The old high-
a _ brow has gone an’ got bit by a rattler? What d’you think
. o’ that!” ’ .

“The doctor,” Frank went on, ‘is somewheré in the
country, and won't be back till afternoon.”

“That's no news. to me. Gryce was called to the
Fiddleback Ranch to look after the man that was shot
up by Pecos Charley. He ort to be there this minute. If
he is, he could come down the cafion an’ be at the Wells

- in no time, Say, if you—-—”
ha Frank was in the house and at the telephone in less
Boh than a minute. He discovered, in another minute, that
. the Fiddleback Ranch had no phone. When he came to
the door of the adobe, Pophagan had mounted, and was
ready to ride. His horse, however, was not pointed
toward Ophir but toward the trail through the cafion.
| ~ “YT could ’a’ told ye, Merriwell,” said he, “that there
-- wasn’t no phone at the Fiddleback. I'll ride for the
ranch and hurry Gryce on to Tinaja, Here’s a letter
. sh Bloomfield postmark. Ye might as well take
that, ; .
_ Flinging the letter at’ Merriwell, he rattled his spurs
and galloped into the cafion. Merriwell was not in a
mood to read letters, and pushed the missive into his
pocket. Locking the door of the adobe on the inside,
he climbed out through the broken window and joined
Blunt. , : |
-*Tt’s five miles to the Wells,” said he, “and I’m going
to see how quickly I can cover the ground, This trip
of mine to Dolliver’s has been a failure, and I hayen’t
much hope that Pophagan can find the doctor and bring
him to Tinaja in time to do anything for the poor old

 

back.”

“Tl hike along with you,” remarked Blunt. “I might
as well see this thing through.” .
Side by side they started back oyer the cafion trail.
‘There was no.talk between them, for they needed their
breath for the work ahead. Before they had reached
the point where Blunt had stopped Merriwell, they were
brought up short by a horseman careering toward them
from the Wells. The man was ‘waving his hat and
shouting.

“It's Pophagan again!” exclaimed Blunt, ‘

  

  

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

prof. I’ve done all I could, though, and now I’m going”
a word in feet fust from now on.”

_ “He hasn’t had time to make the round trip to the .

a ee > — ee
Bete ater bccyee eee ccs Ula ew Eee 707)
. é : rasan

     
  
   
 
  
 
   
   
  
   
 
    
   
 
  
  
   
   
  
   
     
  
  
  
  
   
  
 
 
 
    
   
   
   
   
   
 

Fiddleback Ranch!” breathed Merriwell. “Where is he
coming from? And why is he waving his hat?” °—

“We'll know in about a minute,” answered the odw-
boy. v

CHAPTER XI.
A MATTER OF LUCK.

As Pophagan drew nearer, Merriwell and Blunt could
see that his spirit was one of rejoicing; and, ere he had
drawn to a halt, some of the horseman’s happiness had
communicated itself to the two youngsters. Surely, the
lads reasoned, all must be well in the camp on the “flat”
or Pophagan would not ‘be bearing down on them in
that festive manner.

“Chirk up, muchachos!” roared the hotel proprietor.

“Sie

“Tt’s all over.” ,
Merriwell caught his breath at that. 2
“O-over?” he mumbled. P
“Shore!” boomed Pophagan; “that blessed perfesser

is plumb out o’ danger. Ter-morrer he'll be tsin’ jest as h

many big words as what he is to-day--mebby more. He's |

comin’ fine.” |
“How did it happen?” asked Merriwell. He felt dizzy
and weak, now that the suspense was ended, and slumped
down on a bowlder. “Did Silva get back?” a
“Silva nothin’, Gryce happened along from the Fid-
dleback Ranch, an’-you hadn’t much more’n got out o’
sight. Ye see, Gryce was takin’ the cafion trail fer home,
an’ in passin’ the eamp he couldn’t help but see the excite-
ment on the flat. Nach’ral like, he turns in. ‘What's —~
doin’? says doe. ‘Man bit by dimun-back,’ says who-all.
‘Sho!’ says Gryce; ‘I’m a doc—le’me at him.” So he | |
got busy an’ kept the perfesser breathin’. When I was ,
flickerin’ past on my way to the Fiddleback to hurry
Gryce along, I seen the commotion, an’ stopped}; then,
arter I had obsorbed the cheerin’ news, 1 turned my ~~ |
bronk this way, in order to meet up with ye an’ git ye |
to rejoicin’ sooner,”’ | ry
“Much obliged, Pophagan,” said Merriwell gratefully,
“That’s about as big a load as I ever had taken off
my mind.” ey)
*That ain’t all. Hawkins an’ Tarkin blowed in at the He
Wells an’ they ——” ee
Pophagan was interrupted by a sound of approaching
hoofs and a chorus of jubilant yells. Ballard, Clancy,
and Bradlaugh were galloping down the cafion; and—

 

 

 

Merriwell rubbed his eyes and stared-—was it possible? =|
Clancy was leading Borak ! | oe
“There’s your saddler, Merriwell,” remarked Blunt. Nae ae

“Where did Borak come from?” asked Frank, be-
wildered.

“That’s what I was about to tell,” said Pophagan, “but
I reckon them three kids won’t gi’me a chancet to cram

        
       
 

“Merry, you old lobster,” cried Bradlaugh, “what have
you been up to?” / Reed
“Chip! shouted’ Ballard. “Say, we pulled the prof —
through, but Gryce says that handkerchief about his arm |
was what cinched the job.” _ ae eM
“‘Pophagan told us you were coming on afoot,” Clancy =
added, “‘so we chased after him, trailing Borak along.”
“Where did you get Borak?” Frank demanded, |
“Hawkins and Tarkin brought him in, together with —
Pecos Charley, the rustler,” explained Clancy. “The —
deputy sheriff and his partner have been hunting Pecos

th th

        
      
     
      
   

  
  

   
 

7

zs.
ie,

a

ee

 

 

 

  
 
  
   
   
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 

  
 

 
  
 

 

Charley all up and down the cafion. Not more than
an hour ago they found him. He was on Borak, and
was having his hands full trying to stay on. The black
was doing some ground and lofty tumbling, and while
Pecos was busy, Hawkins and Tarkin made a quiet
little surround, and took in their man, horse and all

“That happened between here and the Wells,” said
Ballard. “The deputy sheriff and Tarkin came in with
the prisoner just at the time Gryce was working over
Professor Borrodaile, so in the excitement we didn't pay
much attention to them. Then, when things began to
look rosy for the prof, we sat up and took notice of
Borak. Say, Chip, the sight of that horse, with you
nowhere around, sure had us going. Our worries were
all transferred from the prof to you. While we were
trying to guess what had happened, Pop tumbled in on
us. We knew from him that you were all right and on
the way, so we saddled up and came to meet you. Pop
didn’t have to bother with any saddling, and that’s why
he got ahead of us.”

“Merriwell’s all right,” remarked Pophagan, “an’ he
ain’t moulted a feather so fur’s I can see, but I’d like a
heap to know how Pecos Charley come to git his hoss.”

“T can tell you.”

No one had paid any attention to Blunt, and he had
stood grimly in the background while the talk was going
on. At that moment he stepped forward, and Clancy,
Ballard, and Bradlaugh looked at him in astonishment.

“T’'ll tell about that, Blunt,” put in Frank hastily. “Let
me——”
“No, you won't,” interrupted the cowboy firmly, “that’s

my trail and I’m going to run it out. This is the how
of it,” he went on, facing Merry’s friends, ‘and I’m not
making any bones about felling you. I was laying for
Merriwell in the gulch when he came pounding along
on Borak. I stopped him, although he said he was in
a rush and that it was a matter of life and death that

ras taking him to Dolliver’s.’ I thought he was bluffing.
W hile we were slugging each other, Pecos Charley must
havé got away with the horse. That’s all.”

“What kind of a crazy fool do you call yourself, any-
how ?” demanded Clancy.

“There, there, Clan!” interposed Merriwell.

“Let him pile it on,” said the cowboy. “He can’t hand
me more than I’m entitled to.’ ¥

This attitude of Blunt’s so entirely unexpected, filled

Clancy, Ballard, and Brad with amazement.

“Come on, Blunt/’ said Merriwell. “It won’t be the

first time you and I have ridden double on Borak.”

“Do you mean for me to go to Tinaja Wells?” asked

- Blunt.

“Sure.”

“That crowd hasn’t any use for me.”

“Come and find out. /’m giving you the invitation.”

“T’ll go you,” said the cowboy, after a moment’s hesi-
tation. “I’m tired and banged up a-considerable. I want

a little rest before I hoof it back to town, and—and I’d

like to say ‘howdy’ to the professor, and wish him well.”

Merriwell’s invitation to Blunt left Ballard, Clancy,
and Brad rather dubious and discontented. The cowboy
was a good way from. being popular with the Ophir

‘athletic crowd, and his reception at the Wells might

be somewhat chilly. However, it was too late to alter
the trend of events, and, Frank’s chums had to make the

most of it.

   

NEW. TIP TOP WEEKLY, 19

The little party was soon headed back toward the flat.
It was after twelve o'clock, and all the stragglers had got
into camp and had been told of the morning’s exciting
developments, The place was humming like a swarm of
bees when Frank and those from down the gulch rode
up and dismounted.

There were cheers for Merriwell as the lads flocked
toward him; but when the club members saw that Barzy
Blunt was one of the arriving party, the cheers died into
silence. Looks that were not at all pleasant were cast
in the cowboy’s direction.

“Blunt is here by my invitation, fellows,” called Mer-
riwell. “He’s hungry and tired and needs a rest. I wish
you'd see that he gets it.”

“He'll have plenty of rest so far as I’m concerned,”
muttered Handy.

And this weaned to be the prevailing sentiment. Mer-
riwell and Blunt lost no time in finding Professor Bor-

rodaile. The old professor was in the tent, wrapped in
his blankets. -He smiled and reached out his left hand
to Frank.

‘“Permanganate of potash has preserved my life, Mer-
riwell,” said’ he. “I presume you have heard how the
doctor arrived, quite by chance and in the very nick of
time?”

“l’ve heard all about it, professor,” Frank answered.
“Here’s Blunt. He wants to shake hands with you.”
Blunt bent over and took the professor’s hand. “I

came within one of finishing you off,’ said he. “I’m

sorry for it, professor.”

~“How was that?” Borrodaile inquired. :
“That’s enough talking for now, professor,” inter-

posed the doctor. “Later on you can talk all you wish
to, but just now you’re in my hands and I’ve got some-
thing to say. Clear out, you fellows,” he added to the
visitors, “‘and leave the professor alone.”

Merriwell inquired for Hawkins, but was informed that
the deputy and Tarkin had left for the Fiddleback Ranch,
taking Pecos Charley with them. Then, and not till then,
did Frank think of the letter from Bloomfield. Retir-
ing to a secluded spot, he took it from his pocket and
began to read. Before he had proceeded far, his lips
framed a long, low whistle of amazement. His. surprise
grew as he read, and when the reading was done, he fell
back against a cottonwood, almost stunned by the revela-
tions thade by his father.

Recovering himself, he started up suddenly and shouted
for every one in camp, barring the professor and Gryce,
of course, to gather around ‘him and hear the news from
Bloomfield.

CHAPTER XIL
THE LETTER.

Every one of the fellows in camp, with the possible
exception of Silva, knew how Frank and his chums had
found Borrodaile living in the deserted mining town
called Happenchance, had helped him save his mining —
claim, and had been looking after the impractical old —
fellow ever since. Most of the Ophirites knew, too, that
Merriwell and his friends were acting under instructions
from Merriwell, senior, and that most of these instruc-
tions were a mystery even to Frank himself.

“T’ve got a letter from dad, fellows,” said Frank, “and
I want to read it to you. It’s full of surprises. Where's
Barzy Blunt?” Zs

  
Berens): oP. pear Se NS

Se eradinaitpeidditabiditns aecodige ated base peneee eee

20 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

“Here,” the cowboy called out from the edge of the
crowd. .

“Come up close, Blunt,” requested Frank. “There are
parts of this letter that will be interesting to you,”

When the cowboy was near at hand, Frank began
to read:

”

“*The time has come when I can tell you a few things
about Phineas Borrodaile and the mining claim in the
Picket Post Mountains. You will remember, Frank, that
I asked you to leave Sandstone, California, and go to
Ophir, Arizona, and remain there on waiting orders,
This was because a friend of mine who is an instructor
in a prep school in the middle West heard that you were
on the Pacific slope, and requested that I should do so.
I knew this friend would not make the request unless
it was important. The friend, Doctor Blair, came on to
Bloomfield; and after I had talked with him, I sent you
my second letter, asking you to find the “lost town” of
Happenchance, in the Picket Post Mountains, and see
what you could find in the only building in the place that
remained intact. |

“ ‘What Blair had told me was this: Professor Borro-
daile, of the same institution with which Blair was con-
nected, had been compelled to go to the Southwest for
his health. Borrodaile had shown Blair an old letter, pur-
porting to be from a nephew and locating a gold mine
near the site of the played-out camp in the Picket Posts.
This letter stated that Borrodaile’s nephew, grubstaked
by a man named Hilt Boorland, foreman for a cattle
ranch near Ophir, had discovered this supposed claim,
_ which was very rich in free gold. Borredaile had de-
clared to Blair that he was going to Happenchance, and
would not only regain his health, but make his fortune
as well by living the life of a troglodyte in the deserted
town. ey

“It was Blair’s impression that the old letter was a
hoax, and he did his best to dissuade Borrodaile from
going to Happenchance. He failed to persuade him to
keep away from the place, however. Several weeks had
passed and no word had come from Borrodaile. His
friends, Blair among the number, had begun to worry;
for, while a splendid instructor and one of the best edu-
cated men in the country, Borrodaile is as innocent of
business affairs and as unable to look after himself as
a child. It was at this time that Blair heard that you
and your friends were on the slope; and this caused him

to write to me, and resulted in instructions that sent you

to Ophir.”

“*T wish to congratulate you on your full and com-

plete report, following your visit to the Picket Posts, your
_ finding of the professor, and your saving of the pro-
_fessor’s claims by means of your relay Marathon. This
report was an eye opener for Blair and me. From it we
learned that the letter of /Borrodaile’s nephew was not
a hoax; that there really was a mine, and that the pro-
_ fessor, with your help, had secured possession of it. .
_ “*T immediately wired you, at Blair’s request, not to
let the professor get out of your sight for a moment,
Blair felt sure that, if left to his own devices, Bor-
odaile would be imposed upon by sharpers, and swindled
out of his claim. The message went to you yesterday.
have just come from New York, where I have seen a
oresentative of the Ophir Syndicate, which owns ‘the
Ophir mine, with a view to having the professor’s claim

half interest.

investigated and purchased outright. That investigation
is now going on, and, if it pans out as I hope and believe,
| confidently expect that Borrodaile will receive an offer
of at least one hundred thousand dollars for the claim.
But he is not the only one to be considered. This cattle
foreman, Hilt Boorland, grubstaked the nephew, who
first found the claim, and, according to law, is entitled to
a half interest in the mine. j

“*Your mext work, Frank, will be to find this Hilt
Boorland, It was many years ago that he furnished the
capital on which the professor’s claim was discovered,
and it may be that Boorland is dead. If so, his next-of-
kin must be found, and his or her consent secured to a
transfer of the claim in case the Ophir Syndicate makes
a fair offer.

““T believe, Frank, that you will have every success
in your undertaking. Borrodaile is an old friend of mine,
and I am eager to do everything 1 can for him. He has
no head for business at all, so we must take care of that
part of the work for him,

“Begin at once an active search for Boorland, or his
heirs. Draw on Bradlaugh, Western representative of
the syndicate in Ophir, for any funds that you may
need.’ ” ;

tvery lad in the throng surrounding Merriwell had
been listening intently. Blunt was wide-eyed with aston-
ishment.

“That's all of it,’ Merriwell announced, folding up the
letter and returning it to his pocket. “It’s wonderful
how things will fall out sometimes. This claim, Blunt,

‘ belongs jointly to the professor and Mrs. Boorland; and

I want to stake you to a salary and traveling expenses
while you go to Mrs, Boorland, tell her what you know
about the claim, and get her consent to dispose of her
Will you do it?”

“You—you'll trust me to do that, Merriwell?”
the cowboy, in a low tone.
“Why not? There’s never been a time, Blunt, that I
wouldn’t have trusted you to the limit. Some day you
will know me better and, I hope, have different notions —
regarding me.”

“IT know you well enough now,” said Blunt. “Will you”
shake hands with me? What Hawkins told me on the
trail from the Bar Z to Ophir has worked out just as
he said it would, and I’m going to make an effort to —
change my views somewhat and be different. Will you —
—shake ?” é .

Frank grabbed Blunt’s hand eagerly.

“The honor of the game from now on,’
boy, “is what ’'m going to work for.”

A tumult of cheers went up from the crowd of fel-—
lows surrounding Merriwell and Blunt. They did not
understand all that had transpired between Frank and the
cowboy athlete, but they realized that there had come —
a great awakening for Barzy Blunt. Blunt was Merri-
well’s friend, and any friend of Merriwell’s was a friend
of theirs. ‘ Ogek Hee

| THE END. ,

asked

?

said the cow-_

ey
:

“Frank Merriwell, Junior’s, Guidance; or, The Boy |

from Nowhere,” is the title of the story that will appear ~_

in the next issue of this weekly. In this story Chip -

'Merriwell lends a hand to a young fellow who gets into.
a bad scrape, and Frank proves that a friend in need is

-toW

 

 
 

NEW "FIP TOP ‘WEEKLY.

a friend indeed. This story is a very interesting one,
and you will become so absorbed in reading it that you
will be reluctant to lay it down. Be sure and get this
number. The issue is No. 13, and it will be out. Octo-
ber 26th.

THE YELLOW DOG.

By GEORGE BARTON.

CHAPTER XIX,
A CRASH.

The prodigal, who, following his convalescence, had
been away from the Spencer home for two weeks, now
_ formied a certain resolution, and made up his mind to
_, tell Grace about it. Thus the various characters in this
little drama arrived in New York within forty-eight
hours of one another.

The prodigal, the first to reach the metropolis, lounged

about for two days before he could summon sufficient ,

courage to call on Grace Garland. He went finally, with
a ctirious mingling of timidity and determination. That
he was making the supreme effort of his life was evident
by the bright gleam in the generally dull eyes, by. the
squaring of the stooping shoulders, by the tense lines
about the feeble mouth.
Amy, the maid, greeted him at the door with a w well-
_ bred surprise of the trained servant. Ten minutes later
he was being fondled and questioned by Mrs. Cramer,
who treated him as though he were her long-lost son.
She had the same restful effect on him that she had
upon every one with whom she came in contact. He
_ purposely prolonged the talk with her because it helped
him to steel himself for the impending interview with
Grace Garland. '

He tried to imagine the coming meeting.: He en-
_ deavored to frame the words with which he should greet
her. But the most carefully arranged plans usually gO
astray. While he was talking to Mrs. Cramer, the girl
entered the room. Both were taken by surprise. She
was the first to recover. She put out her hand frankly,
with the one word on her lips:

“Alban!”

He clasped it wereld He tried to form some appro-
priate words, but all he said was:

“Grace!”

He struggled with the problem of how he should begin
the recital of the story he had determined to pour in-her
ear.

was something about his expression which lifted him
in her estimation. She could not tell exactly where the
change lay. It was difficult to name. It was a sort

of manliness that had been absent on their first meeting.

~ “You have been ill?” she said gently.

“Physically, I am the same, but mentally and morally

have had an awakening,” he managed to say.
‘His tone, no less than his words, aroused her.

They
ppeared to be treading on forbidden ground. She en-
eavored to change the conversation.
esmiled feebly. He raised his hand in protest.
First, I want to speak of something that has been

my mind for a long time. But you must promise me

it ou will not hate me.”

She noticed that his face was haggard, but there

At that moment the curtains were drawn aside, and a
man hurried into the room. ‘It was Ralph Sparks. He
looked at the man with whom she had been speaking,
and realized that it was his rival. He appeared to have
been talking confidentially to Grace.

A spasm of pain crossed Ralph’s face. But before
he could speak, she hurried over to him and held out
her hand. He gazed at her intently. The love light in
her eyes reassured him. He took her palm and pressed
it fervently. It was all he could do to resist the desire
to clasp her in his arms. What they said neither could
remember afterward. Presently the prodigal walked
over to where they were standing. All three were pain-
fully embarrassed. The girl managed to speak:

“This is Alban Spencer.”

“Yes,” said Ralph dryly, “you’ve told me about him
in your letter.”

The men shook hands with stiff formality. Mrs.
Cramer, coming in at the moment, relieved the tension.
Grace turned to her as one turns to a life preserver.

“Oh, aunty, Alban is dreadfully fatigued: Please show
him to his room.”

As the prodigal disappeared with the housekeeper,
Ralph turned to Grace eagerly and took both of her hands
in his. He pressed them affectionately, and cried:

“Are you glad I’m back?”

‘Why, of course I am,” she replied, her face the color
of a red carnation, _“‘What makes you ask such a f oolish
question ?”

“T merely wanted to know,” ‘he said, but the look
he gave her made Grace avert her glance.

Suddenly, manlike, he changed the subject.

“What was he doing here?”

He 2?

; “Yes, Alban ‘Spencer ?”

HObY with a sigh of relief, “he’s just returned, Like
you.”

“What did he have to say?”

“Why,” she replied kindly, “he didn’t have the oppor-
tunity of saying anything. “You came in like a par and
frightened him off.”

“Didn’t he say anything about his in Sine what
brought him back?” >»

“No,” she answered, “he did not. He acted very
strangely. And, by the way, you are talking queerly'
yourself.”

“Maybe; did Alban Spencer tell you. anything?”

“No,” ‘said: Grace; “he didn’t.” *

“He didn’t have the chance to tell you anything,”
grinned Ralph, ‘don’t you remember that I frightened
him away.”

“Oh, yes, so you did,” she assented, with ‘feminine
inconsistency.

“The big thing he wanted to tell you,” said Ralph, “is
his willingness to surrender the entire Spencer foraiie®
toyou. He has notified Mr. Mustin of his purpose.”

“Do you really think he means to do it?” she asked. ;

“T haven't the slightest doubt about it.”

“Well,” she said decisively, “I won’t accept the sac- i

rifice, There isn’t any combination of circumstances ‘thas .
would induce me to accept his money.”
Ralph clapped his hands exultingly.
“Brava! I was sure you wouldn’t accept.”
“Thank you for your estimate © of me,” she ani with 7
a mock bow. |

 
es NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

“Now,” he said anxiously, “I want you to go a step
further.”

“How?”

“T want you to turn over your part of the fortune
to Alban Spencer.”

“And how will that leave me?’ |

heoretically you will be penniless.”

“What advantage will that be?”

“It will be everything. Then I can marry you.”

Her face crimsoned so deeply that she could feel it
burning. She managed to speak, however.

“My, what a goose you are!”

“Goose or gander,” he said earnestly,
if you will do as I wish.”

Before she could reply, there was a commotion at the
door.
would find out. Then came a deep bass voice, asserting
that its owner would find out for himself. Grace hur-
ried into the hallway and found herself in the embrace
of her brother, Philip.

Ralph, who was immediately behind her, waceaned a
bearlike hug from the deep-voiced man, who was none
other than Samuel Sykes, of Chicago.

There were introductions and explanations, and pres-
ently the quartet was laughing and chatting as if they
had been friends always, and had never been separated.
Mrs. Cramer came down, and when she saw Philip Gar-
land, she fell on his neck and cried and welcomed him
home as one would the lost sheep that had strayed from
the flock.

After that the old lady was presented to Mr. Sykes, of
Chicago. Presently the conversation. turned to Philip
Garland.

“I’m proud of you, Phil,” said his sister; “and I’m
sure that all of our friends feel the same way about
it. Your story is no secret in this little circle, and when
you begin your fight in New York again, you can count
on every one of us to help you.”

The youth’s face flushed with pleasure.
up to him and grasped his hand.

“Yes, my boy, and if every man, woman, and child
in New York fails you, count upon Sammy Sykes, of
Chicago.”

Ralph Sparks smiled his approval, and, addressing him-
self to young Garland, said:

“Phil, there is one thing I can’t understand.
in the world did you run away under fire?”

“To keep out of prison,” was the blunt reply.

Grace shivered.

“Please don’t talk that way, Phil, even in jest.”

“There’s no jest about it,” said Garland grimly. “I
was afraid of old Mustin, with his rigid ideas of morality.
So, that when he got out a warrant for my arrest, I
thought it was time for disappearing.”

“A warrant?” echoed Ralph. ‘How

“T want to know

Sykes sidled

Why

He

absurd!
surely never told you that he had sworn out a warrant.”

“No, he didn’t. But I got it on very good authority.”
“Who told you?” demanded Ralph.

Philip hesitated for a moment, and then said slowly:
“Jasper Morris.”

Ralph turned to Miss Garland.

“Grace, what do you know of this?”

oot. 8 ‘the first I’ve heard of it,’ she uaeeed won-
f deringly. | it

' and Philip greeted him indifferently.

The voice of Amy was heard saying that she.

A movement at the other end of the room attracted
their attention. Grace walked over to inquire the cause.
She returned in a moment, smiling.

‘It’s my foster brother, Alban Spencer. I watt you
to meet him, Mr. Sykes. I believe you are the only one
that does not know him.”

The prodigal, who was standing in the hallway talk-
ing to Mrs. Cramer, did not hear what Grace had said.
She called to him.

‘Albane’

He came into the room. in his halting way. Ralph
The girl led him
up to the Chicago man.

“Mr. Sykes, Mr. Spencer.”

They halted and gazed at one another. Sykes was
the first to speak. For the first time the twinkle left
his eyes. They became still and cold. He bellowed out
three words with a bull-like shrillness:

“*Red Dan’ Scott!”

Amazement robbed all of the others of the power of
speech. The face of the accused man grew grayish. He
staggered toward a sofa, and dropped upon it heavily.

CHAPTER XX.
' AT BAY,

Mrs. Cramer was the first to go to the fellow’s assist- -
ance. Grace instinctively followed her. The men stood
staring at them stupidly. But the prodigal managed to_
get on his feet and clutch the back of a chair to se
himself.

“I beg pardon,”
well.”

“Sykes;” interrupted Ralph gently, “don’t you think
you’ve made a mistake? This man is Alban Spencer.”

“IT don’t know what you call him,” roared the big fel-
low, the twinkle returning to his eyes, “but I know that
he’s ‘Red Dan’ Scott. I'll stake my eternal existence on
that fact.”

The prodigal smiled feebly and moved his haat
“No argument is necessary. I am ‘Red Dan’ Scott.’
“And you are not Alban Spencer?”

“T am not Alban Spencer.”

Grace gasped:

“And the story you told us is all a lie?”

His glance softened as he looked in her direction.

“Not all a lie, Miss Garland. Part of it was true.
But the vital parts were false.”

Sykes was in a towering rage.
fists.

“IT ought to thrash the life out of you for daring to
deceive these ladies, but I suppose the best thing to do
is to let the law take its course.’

The prodigal shook his head ieashaty.

“The one good intention of my life has been frus-
trated.”’

“What's that?” asked Ralph.

he said huskily, “I haven’t been one

He doubled up his —

“My purpose to voluntarily give up this fortune, ime 1

Miss Garland’s pardon, and go my way. I don’t suppose

you will believe me, but that was my intention.” = =

Mrs, Cramer and Grace ‘exchanged glances. The wire-
less messages said as plainly as spoken words that no-
matter how the men might feel about it, these two women —
believed that the prodigal meant to do as he said.

.

 

 
“See here, Scott,” interjected Ralph abruptly, ‘you've
been placed in a mighty serious position.”

“I know it; conspiring to deceive.”

“No; it’s worse than that; you admit that you’re ‘Red
* Dan’ Scott.”
Bee NT do,”
a, “Then please explain what you know about the mysteri-
| ous death of Carl Spencer.”

ae “T know nothing of the death of that man.”

aS “But you were at the end of the telephone wire at
the moment of his death.”

a The culprit looked straight into the eyes of Grace
%

_ Garland as he answered:

~ “7 swear that I was not.”

“Suppose we let Mr.—Mr. Scott tell his own story in
his own way,’ suggested Grace.

“And give us another pack of lies?” cried Sykes hotly.

“I think he will tell the truth,” said Grace quietly.

“Heaven bless you for saying that, Miss’ Garland,”
erjed Scott fervently. “1 will tell you a truthful story.
It is the only reparation [ can make.”

“This must have beén a conspiracy,” said Ralph; “you
couldn’t have attempted it alone,”

“Gt was a conspiracy,” admitted the derelict, “but I'll
tell you the whole thing without mentioning any other
names. I have no wish to blame any one but myself.”

“Sit down,” said Mrs. Cramer, pushing a chair toward
him. ;

‘He sat. down and began his narrative in the monoto-
nous voice of'a man who had been condemned,

“The story I told you originally,” he said, addressing
his remarks to Grace, ‘about being a failure and a
‘wanderer on the face of the earth was literally true.
The fiction began only when I claimed to be Alban
_ Spencer. My life first twined in with that of young
_ Spencer when I went to the Klondike. We became boon
companions and: spent weeks of dissipation together. It
‘was the period that I was in partnership with Sykes—
and I want to assure him now that it was force of
circumstances that compelled me to leave him so abruptly.
_ “While Alban and I were on a spree, he told me the
story of his unhappy life. The day he got the forgiv-
ing letter from his father we went on a trip down the
Yukon River, as far as Skagway. There was a storm,
and our boat was wrecked. He had a premonition of
death. He gave me-his watch and the letter from his
father, and begged me to find his father and say that
his son, before dying, had expressed sorraw for his life.
Ten minutes later he was swept overboard and drowned.
 “T was saved, taken to Japan, was sick for months,
and finally returned to America and New York. I meant
well, but I got to drinking. I came to this house, though,
to deliver the message from the dead boy, While wait-
ing in the parlor I met a certain person, and that changed
all my plans, I agreed to personate Alban Spencer, The
rest you know.” .
“But,” persisted Sparks, “we are still in the dark con-
cerning the identity of the man who was at the end
of thetelephone wire when Mr. Spencer died. Do you
_ deny that you were the man?’
I do:deny it most emphatically.”

 

 

 

     
   
    
   
     
       
     
   
   
    
      
      
     
      
     
      
        

  

  

      
      
     
   
   

   

 
 

   
 

and the. whole story had to be rehearsed for his benefit.
He seemed greatly chagrined that the bogus Alban, Spen-
cer had imposed upon him so successfully. Indeed, noth-

 
 
   

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

_ At this point Mr. Mustin, the family lawyer, came in, ©

   
    
  
  
   
    
   
   
    
  
   
 
    
  
   
   
  
   
  
    
     
     

ing but the positive assertion of the impostor would con-
vince him of the fraud.

While they talked, Jasper Morris entered the hall-
way and proceeded upstairs to his room.

A poor yellow dog, with the stump of a tail and only
one eye, followed him.

Morris had gained his room and shut the door with
a bang. But the dog was not to be denied. He began
scratching on the panels of the bedroom, and howling
in a dismal manner.

Ralph Sparks and Philip Garland hurried into the hall
to learn the cause of the commotion. As they did so,
the door of Jasper Morris’ room opened on a crack, and
the ugly face of the Klondike miner appeared.

Like a flash of lightning, that one glance revealed his
character. The first and last impression was that of a
masterful man who would go to any lengths to accom-
plish his purpose. His big face was twisted into an ex-
pression of malignant hatred,

He did not see,the two pairs of eyes peering at him
from the landing below. His whole attention was cen-
tered on the howling dog. He lifted up his right leg
with great deliberation, and, aiming his heavy-soled boot
at the neck of the canine, gave it one brutal kick that
fairly lifted the animal from the floor and sent it in a
heap at the foot of the stairs.

The howls ceased as if by magic.
perfectly quiet.
animal. It was dead. The kick and the fall had broken
its neck.

Philip Garland, filled with indignation, ran up the,stair-
way, two steps at a time. He pounded on the doorway.
Jasper poked: his ugly face out. Philip, choking with
anger, cried: ,

“Come and see what you’ve done.”

Mechanically the man followed Garland.
of the stairs Philip pointed to the dog.

“What of it?’ leered the man.

“You brute!” gasped Philip.

Jasper peered into the drawing-room, He saw “Red
Dan” Scott there with all the others grouped about him.
Ralph Sparks understood the questioning gleam in his
eyes, and, in a moment of inspiration, cried suddenly:

“He’s told everything!”

Jasper’s face was purplish with rage. His little eyes
shone through the red rims. ~He shook his fist in the face
of the shrinking prodigal, and shrieked: “

“You coward! You traitor!’

The dog lay there

At the foot

Amazement greeted this unexpected outbreak. The

light that had been smoldering in Ralph Sparks’ brain
burst into a flame. He looked at the dead dog for a

moment and then at Jasper Morris, He spoke with

great deliberation, ie)

“That dog was in the telephone booth when Carl |

Spencer received his death message, It belongs to you,

Jasper Morris. What have you got to say for yourself?”
He waved his —

' Morris burst into a hysterical laugh.
hand dramatically at the little group.
“T can’t do the story justice in spoken words.

work. After that I shall be at your service.” ;

And, with a theatrical bow, he turned and went up-
stairs: into his room, closing and bolting the door after —

him.

Ralph went over and examined the »

 

I shall
_ embalm it in writing. Give me a few minutes for the

«
.¥
NEW. TIP -TOP WEEKEY;

CHAPTER XXI:

CONFESSION.

The moment the key had turned in the bedroom door,

Sparks turned to Ralph Garland.

“See that the rear of the house is guarded.
the front.”

“Shall I call the police?”

“Not until I-give the word.”

The little group waited in silence. The steady scratch-
ing of a pen could be heard. Mr. Mustin pointed to
the impostor,

“This man should be arrested for conspiracy.”

Grace tapped her foot angrily. There was fire in the
lustrous brown eyes. She lost her clinging, confiding

.manner. She became positive, assertive.

“T am the one who has been deceived.
that there shall be no more punishment.”

Such is a woman’s attitude toward the man—however
reprehensible—who has the good taste to love her.

“T agree with Grace,” observed Ralph Sparks dis-
creetly, “only I suggest that Scott stay here in case we
need his testimony against Jasper Morris.”

At that moment there was the noise of a key being
turned in the door of Jasper Morris’ room. He ap-
peared with a manuscript in his hand. The convsummate
self-possession of the man was felt by all of those
who were watching him. He walked downstairs slowly
and faced the little group. Bowing mockingly, he cleared
his throat and began reading his statement with great
declamatory effort. The supreme ‘egotism of the fellow
was manifested in his opening words:

“T begin with an abject admission: I, Jasper Morris,
who have gone through life for sixty-five years fearing
neither God nor man, nor the devil, have been brought
to bay by a cur—a measly, yellow, stub-tailed, one-eyed
dog. It is the irony of fate that the most resourceful
of men should have been vanquished, by the intuition of
the most miserable of animals.

“But here’s my story: Carl Spencer and Ben Beeshore
—‘Big Ben’ we called him—were prospecting together in
Alaska and, they struck a rich find. For many years
they had withstood poverty and adversity together, but
the minute the gold came in ‘the trouble began. They
got into a dispute over a trivial matter.

_ “Beeshore must have been in a devilish humor that day.
He arose, walked over, and gave Spencer a deliberate
punch in the face. Carl Spencer was a good-natured
man. But he was not an angel. The blow from Bee-
shore sent all the blood in his veins atingle. He rushed
at the giant and gave him a shot in the jaw that made
the big fellow stagger. The two men were standing on
a ridge of ground that loomed up on the side of a hollow
some ten or twelve feet deep. Beeshore made for Spen-
cer a second time. As he did so, his foot slipped and
he toppled over into the hollow.

“He lay there, silent. Spencer went over to the
fallen man. He gave a cry of horror.

“ *Fe’s dead!’

“And so it proved. His head had struck on the ledge
of a rock. You can imagine the grief of Carl Spencer.

(ll watch

And I say

» Well, after we had buried the big one, it dawned upon,

Spencer that Beeshore had no kith or kin anywhere. It
was necessary to shut my mouth. Spencer gave me
5 fat sum on condition that I should leave him and fever

| come near the United States. I promised, but, after

}

spending all of the money, I determined to blackmail
him for more.

“IT came to New York for that purpose. I called at his
house, and was told that he had gone out, but was to
be home for dinner in the evening. 1 said I would wait.
But I grew restless, and went out into the street without
giving notice to any one in the house. I wandered down-
town. ;

“It occurred to me that I could get Spencer on the
telephone. I went into a place which I afterward learned
was the Sprague Building. The public telephone booth
was on an upper floor. J went up in the elevator and,
finding the booth occupied, had to wait outside.

“It was at this stage of the game that the little incident
occurred that has proved to be my undoing. The yellow
cur came up the stairs. It was the same dog that now
lies dead. It was such a miserable-looking mongrel that
it awoke in mé@a sense of felldwship. I called it over
and petted it. I had purchased a ham sandwich at a
quick-lunch place. Some fatal impulse prompted me to
give it to the cur. That settled my fate. The dog was
mine for life. The old man of the sea_was a merry jest
compared to that yellow, stub-tailed, one-eyed mongrel.
He followed me into the -telephone booth, licking my
boots, and sniffing at my trousers leg.

“T found Carl Spencer’s name in the book and called |
him on the telephone. While I stood there waiting for |
a response, I happened to look down, and, there in an
adjoining office building, on a lower floor, stood the man
himself. He was about to pick up the phone receiver.
I could see his face distinctly.

“The possibilities of the situation filled me with fiendish
delight. I hated Carl Spencer. Why, it is needless to
mention—possibly it was the tribute that failure always
pays to success. I determined to torture him—to watch
him squirm under my very gaze. My first intention was
to ask him for five or ten thousand dollars. I resolved
to make it a fabulous sum. :

Hello,’ I called.

“‘Flello,’ he answered; ‘who is that?’ .

“ ‘Jasper Morris,’ I said, and I could swear that he
turned pale. : Naan

“*T don’t believe it,’ he answered, and his voice trem-
bled.

“*Vou'll have to believe it, I shouted, ‘and, more
than that, you will have to hand me one hundred thousand
dollars by ten o’clock to-morrow morning. —

“‘Tmpossible,’ he said, ‘my. money is ait tied up in
securities upon which I cannot realize before thirty days.’ —

“«Tf T don’t get the money at ten o’clock in the morn-—
ing,’ I retorted, ‘every newspaper in New York City will
hound you as a murderer.’ eo

“Tt don’t believe you are Jasper Morris,’ he said
faintly. ee ae

“Tf you don’t believe it,’ I ariswered, ‘look up at the —
next floor of the Sprague Building.’ : a

“He lifted his eyes, and the minute he saw me he
fell on the floor of his office—to all intents and. pur-—
poses unconscious. |

“I never dreamed of such a serious sequel. I was —
afraid to go to him at the time. Alarmed at what I~
had done, I hurried back to his house and awaited de-
velopments. The details of the finding of the body and
the inquest you all know about. sete

ey

 

 
“Mo

“Tn ‘the meantime I had made such a hit with the
charming Mrs. Cramer that I determined to stay here
as the dear friend of the departed. In order to throw
suspicion off myself, I cast it in the direction of Philip
} Garland. He told me of forging the name of Carl
Spencer to a check, and I warned him that if he did
not fly, Mr. Mustin would have him ariested. A good
|. joke, by the way, on that old fossil of a lawyer.
ae “While wondering what I should do, this fool of a
1 ‘Red Dan’ Scott came my way. I found him in the

parlor, ready to inform Miss Garland of the death of
7" Alban Spencer. The whole scheme was hatched in my

mind the moment I saw that weakling sitting in the draw-
ing-room. The possibilities were glorious to contemplate.
*I determined that Alban Spencer should live again. Scott
‘was as soft as wax in my hands.

“We arranged his identity down to the smallest detail.
We had the personal features to fool the ladies, and we
had the papers to bamboozle that dried-up old lawyer.
This false Alban Spencer—who is a contemptible coward
and traitor—was to marry Miss Garland under the terms
of the will, and we were to divide the fortune between
us. - The stake I played for was a million dollars. I’ve
lost it through the weakness of that imbecile of a Scott,
and through the undying persistence of a one-eyed, short
tailed dog.

“This is my story, correct in every detail, without a
single omission, absolutely veracious down to the dotting
of every ‘i’ and the crossing of every ‘t.’”

The members of the little group listened to this re-
cital in undisguised amazement. With an ugly leer, Mor-
ris handed the paper to Ralph Sparks.

“You people have two courses before you,” he said
blandly ; “arrest me for connection with the death of Carl
Spencer, in which case his crime in killing Bob, Bee-
shore, which he paid so much to conceal, will become
public property; or to permit me to leave, unmolested, in
which case I may be charitable enough to forget what I
know of the deceased.”

~. Ralph and Grace exchanged glances. The young man
understood. He made his decision instantly. He pointed
~ to the door.

“Get out!” he said.

' The rascal took the hint, bowed mockingly, and, turn-
ing, left the house without a word.

 

 

ae
A F
‘ae
AL.
;

  
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
   
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  

CHAPTER Xx 11.
THE BEST GIFT OF ALL.

  
  

In the morning came an unexpected happening. It be-
gan with a telephone call for Mrs. Cramer. She was
urgently needed at St. Christopher’s Hospital. A patient,
brought in the night before, wished to see her at once.
She hastened there, and on a cot beheld the familiar but
_ forbidding countenance of Jasper Morris.

“Don’t agitate him,” whispered the physician, “he has
only a few minutes to live.”

The burly miner recognized his caller. He smiled
_feebly, and put out his hand. |
Caged knew you'd come,” he said huskily. “I’ve led a
bad “life, and I thought I didn’t care for anybody. But
I’m very lonely now. I longed to have some good per-

son hold my hand at the moment of death.”
He fell back,’ exhausted with the effort of talking.

 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
   
  
  

      
      
    
 

  

NEW TIP TQP WEEKLY. , 2

  
 
 

qn

He looked unlovely as he lay there, making his last futile
struggle for life. All the power that had made him
formidable was gone, and only the ugliness of his per
son remained. The bulldog face was there, but the as-
sumed benevolence was gone. The sharp chin protruded,
but weakly and without the aggressiveness that had made
him feared, if not respected. The narrow eyes lay list-
less in the big face, all the fire dead.

“What caused this?” whispered Mrs. Cramer, her
broad charity covering even his sins.

He sneered in a sickly way. A trace of the old ag-
gressiveness returned. His voice, weak, was yet mock-
ing.

“IT was struck by a trolley car—the doctor tells me it
will prove my deathblow. Could a strong man have a
more ignoble end? Betrayed by'a yellow dog, and killed
by a trolley car?”

He fell back on his pillow. There was silence for a
long time. Mrs. Cramer sat gazing at his drawn face.
The physician came and tapped her on the shoulder. |

“Tt’s all over,” he said, in a low voice, “he’s dead.”

Late in the afternoon Ralph Sparks called at the house.
Amy, who admitted him, said slyly that if he would go
up to the library, she would inform Miss Garland of
his arrival.. He did so, and, as he entered the room,
something about the familiar sights aroused sweet mem-
ories of other days. He recalled that. it was in this
very place that he had parted from Grace on starting
for the Klondike. There was the very chair in which
he sat, and the window from which she had watched him
striding down the street.

Presently he heard some one behind him, and, before
he could turn, a pair of soft hands blindfolded him. ~He
grasped them and held them willing captives in his own
big hands. Presently he drew a legal document from
his inside pocket and gave it to her.

“A deed for the Benson claim,” he said. “I want you
to accept it as a gift from me.”

Her eyes opened in wonder.

“But think of it,’ she gasped, “it’s a fortune!”

“If it were ten times as great it would not-be good
enough for you.”

Her eyes were swimming.

“How can I repay you?”

“You know,” he said, and the two words were charged
with boundless eloquence. . -

She stood silent, her eyes cast to the ground. Again
he spoke. et

“Will you ?” .

Her voice was almost inaudible, but he caught the
answer, and it was the one word in all the language that
he wanted to hear.

THE END.

—_—___—~9 +--+

TO MAKE MONEY FLY.

Sew a half dollar securely in the corner of a silk
handkerchief. Now shake the handkerchief, showing
the back and front of it, holding the secreted coin while
doing so. Borrow a half dollar from one of the audience,
have it marked, and while pretending to tie it in the
center of the handkerchief, palm it, tying up the one
that has been sewn in. Give this to somebody to hold
and ask them to feel, making sure the coin is there. Next

borrow a quarter, and have this marked also. Place this —

  

   
  

cutting. But more can be told by the roots.

 

26 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

coin in the other handkerchief, and when doing so place
the palmed half dollar underneath it. Tie these up
tightly and ask the other assistant to hold it. See that
he holds it flat, when he will only feel the larger coin—
that is, the half dollar. Now go to the one holding the
sewn ‘coin, untie the handkerchief in which the coin is,
shake it, and the half dollar will be found to have van-
ished. Show the hands to be perfectly empty and then
ask the assistant who is holding the other coin to untie
his handkerchief, when the two marked coins will be
discovered inside.

a6 4
— roe

FACTS ABOUT THE HAIR.
Is it possible to tell sex from hair? ‘This recently was

answered by an expert, who explained how the sex could

be determined from the hairs of the head. It was Ber-
tillon, the master criminologist of France, who, after tak-
ing up this special branch of study, proved that more is
‘to: be learned about differences in hair than science ever
dreained of. .

By means of an apparatus known a’ a> photomicfo-
graph, which is so powerful that a person would ap-
pear as tall as Mount Everest if one could see the entire
length magnified to full power upon its ground glass, it
is possible to. get sucha magnified view of the ends of
the hair as to see if they are ragged and torn. If so
the indication is that the hair is from a woman. That
of men is kept flat at the ends on account of continuous
If they are
thin and-attenuated, the signs point to women; if club-
shaped, a man is indicated, and if hair cells are found, his
beard rather than his head was the source.

This hair test has solved many murder mysteries. In
a recent German case, for instance, the life of a sus-
pected murderer literally hung upon a hair. Two men
were suspected of the crime, but only a single hair, found
upon the clothing of the victim, supplied the connecting
link.” It was photomicrographed with samples from the
heads of the suspects, but the pictures when printed
showed matked differences in structure and tint. Then

hairs from other possible suspects were subjected to the -

same test, with equally negative results. y

_ Then the expert referred to his classification, and, after
checking up a series of tests, Ȣoncluded that the hair
found upon the victim was. from an old yellow, slick-
coated dog. Following this clew, he found that one of
the suspects had owned just such a dog, fresh hairs

from which conformed in every detail with that found

upon the corpse, and upon this evidence the owner of

the dog was held to be guilty. He finally confessed that ,

he alone committed the crime.
Tina lip Nid alal dia
SAWDUST COCKTAILS.

There is a story of Mark Twain to the effect that he
was once asked whether he was in favor of prohibition,
and he replied that he was not, adding: “What is the
_ use of prohibition when a man can saw off the leg of a
_ table and get drunk on it?” He was, of course, referring
to the fact that alcohol has been made from sawdust.

For quite a century past chemists have been experi-

_ menting with a view to seeing whether alcohol could

be obtained from wood. and other cellular substances in
commercial quantities. Despite the many experimenters

ae toe tiny

among civilized people, every person would get $30°as _

built at the Baldwin works, at Philadelphia, The ig
including the tender, is two hundred and - sixty-s

who have engaged in the task with a zeal worthier, per- - and forty-three, tons,

  
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  

haps, of a better cause, their efforts have been hitherto |
unsuccessful. All they have been able to do has been a*
to transform the wood into sugar by hydrolysis, and |
to convert the sugar thus obtained into alcohol by fer- 74
mentation; but these processes are too costly to render 4
them practicable from a commercial point of view. ¢

The latest experimenter is Mr. T. Koerner, a Ger- 4}
man chemist, who gives his results in a Continental mag- |
azine. The materials he experimented upon were saw-  —
dust, a paper composition prepared with straw, and a
paper prepared with wood by a bisulphating process.
These different substances were treated with sulphuric
acid, and heated under pressure.

In most cases the percentage of alcohol obtained was
very small—from six to twelve per cent. ®

Such results are practically negative, as it is impos-
sible under such conditions to manufacture alcohol in-
dustrially from wood. Mark Twain was, therefore,
somewhat wide of the mark when he tfeferred to the
possibility of getting drunk on the leg of a table or a
fence rail, though it is, peghaps, not to be regretted that
the manufacture of alcohol from wood is not a com-
mercial success, as the only reason for such a process
would be its cheapness.

 

 

a ad Be. s - CO eee

 

  
        
     
 

$$$ + 00

SMOKING IN CHURCH.

Smoking is common in South American churches, A = |
visitor to Peru records that in the church of La Merced, —
Lima, he noticed one of the congregation enjoying a
cigar. while the service was going, on, and’ through the
open door of the sacristy he caught a glimpse of the
bishop who was about to preach indulging in the same
luxury. The preacher was attired in. full episcopal
robes, and had tucked a handkerchief under his chin to
prevent these being soiled by ashes. In Lima Cathedtal
smoking is so far recognized that a spittoon is placed
in each of the stalls set apart for the chapter. KY

 
 
   

      
    
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
        
      
 

‘
.\

 
 

ODDS AND ENDS. oP aad
If all the money in. the world were equally divided

      
  

  

   

his share. ; | oye
A striking novelty in evening shoes in Paris is the —
highly decorated heel, Ornamentation of the. dancing
slipper has generally been confined to the front, leaving ©
a plainness at the back that has now, for the first time, —
struck the Parisienne as being quite unnecessary. Jewels
and precious metals are brought into play, so that the °
heels of dancers are now a blaze of glittering light, :
Wewanta, a post office in West Virginia, was so named —
because the villagers in their petition to the postal de- —
partment said: “We don’t care what you call it, only we
want a post office.” The request was granted, literally,
In Boston, Massachusetts, many persons are living en-
tirely on vegetavles and nuts.. They dress in white, sleep
in drafts, abjure milk, and remain alone for half an
hour a day. By this means they hope to live one thou-.
sand years, «| , o> sate
The heaviest locomotive engine in the world has’ bec

    
     
 

gel

    
     
       
       
     
  

  

   
 

  

 
       
     
     
 
 

  

Ay

     
     
 

   
  

tons, and without the tender, one hundred and ninety to:
The heaviest British locomotive weighs one h

    
 

 
   
    
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Two Big Slides at Culebra Cut.

Twelve hundred thousand cubic yards of
earth and gravel have been swept into Cule-
bra Cut of the Panama Canal by two great
slides. One, the larger, carrying 900,000
yards of débris, is causing canal engineers
serious embarrassment and bids fair to add
another extension to the time limit of com-
pletion of the big ditch.

The slide partly buried a steam shovel
and endangered a number of workmen. It
also carried down a big observation plat-
form. The earth settled to the bottom of
the canal, causing the latter to bulge up.
The previous slide came six days earlier,

north of Empire, damaging the diversion, ;
or drainage canal, which is considerably |

higher than the big ditch, and letting in a
big volume of water. Much of this had
been pumped out when the second slide
came.

The slides have had another effect which
is causing much distress among canal work-
men. The two-story Y. M. C. A. home,
erected on Culebra Heights, is sliding to-
ward the canal, and the commission has
ordered its use discontinued. Already the
structure is 18 inches nearer the canal than
when it was built, and there seems no way
of stopping it. The older buildings, a flat,

one-story structure, still is fit for use and
will be utilized asa clubhouse.
\

Europe After Canal Trade.

American manufacturers must wake up,
and that speedily, if they are to hold mas-
tery of the Panama Canal trade against
Europe, according to John Barrett, direc-
tor of the Panama-American Union, who
has returned to Washington from an exten-
sive tour of Europe.

“I looked into the ports, the manufac-
tories, and exports in the big cities,” said
Mr. Barrett, “and I am convinced that

unless the people of the United States wake
up they will find the Europeans will be
ready to assume the mastery in trade
through the Panama Canal.

“Business houses and manufacturers are
getting ready on an enormous scale every-
where. It is important to say, however,
that there is a certain element of Ameri-
can business which is right on its toes and
keeping alive for the opening of the canal.
_ But the general field of Europe is far ahead
of the United States and ahead of South
America as a whole. Not only are the
business men, the shippers, exporters, and
_ shipbuilders of Europe humming with ac-
tivity, but the governments of Europe are
doing the same thing.”

Higher Wages in Germany.

A short time ago the British consul
general for Westphalia and the Rhenish
Provinces, in Germany, forwarded a report
to Downing Street, which contained the
following passage, which has been copied
far and wide by the German press:

_ “Wages have rise throughout Germany,
‘the purchasing power of the masses is in-
_ereasing, and turnovers are getting larger
every year. Owing to higher wages, the
public is buying goods of better quality,
and is giving the preference to the higher-

| priced articles and buys better qualities of
food.

| “It will be recalled that because of the

failure of the crops last year and for other
reasons, such as the overproduction of gold,
the price of food and rents rose all over

| Germany.”

) New Marriage Licenses.

| A new form for marriage licenses went
linto use at the marriage license bureaw in
ithe borough hall, in New York. It is pro-
ivided for by a law which was passed by
ithe legislature some time ago, but became
| effective only recently.

, Lhe new form requires the answers of all
the questions put to the bride and groom
by the clerk to be incorporated in the
license. No new questions are required by
the law, but formerly the answers were
recorded only in the records of the bureau.
Now they must appear in the license, where
the clergyman or whoever performs the
ceremony may see them. The contracting
parties must also swear to the truth of
their answers, making the license an affi-
davit.

Christmas Toys by Boatload.

Far down in the deep and capacious hold
of the Dutch steamship Amsteldyk, of the
Holland-American Line, which docked in
Philadelphia, was a large quantity of Christ-
mas toys, which are consigned to several
local firms and which Santa Claus will dis-
tribute among the good little boys and girls
of that city on the night of December 24.

Included among the many new toys are
aéroplanes, ingeniously constructed, which
will remain in the air a long time. For
the girls new kinds of dolls have been in-
vented. They are almost human, as they
talk and sing. The list includes many other
contrivances, the like of which have never
been seen before, and all are likely to create
a furore in the kingdom of childhood.

Aeronauts Frostbitten,

Captain Shelterini, a Swiss aéronaut, and
Armand Console, a photographer, landed
near Unterammergau, Germany, recently,
after crossing the Alps from Interlaken in
a balloon.

They covered 250 miles in fourteen hours
and reached a maximum altitude of 17,500
feet. Both suffered frozen hands. Ger-
man police detained them as spies for a
time.

No Legal Verbiage in this Will.

E. W. German, register of wills of Le-
high County, New York, admitted to pro-
bate recently the most remarkable will of-
fered there in a century. It was written
by Mary Newhard, of Laurys, who left
several hundred dollars in personal prop-
erty. It reads: f

“I guess it is about time I want my things
fixed after I am gone, because I have no-
body to depend on except my sisters. I
hope they see to things and do it the way
I want it done. It is a great task, but it
cannot be fixed ‘otherwise. They always
helped me along. I want them to divide
my clothes among them because I have no
children, so they are nearest. I have a good

 

 

lot of things that have to be sold for ex-
penses, and then I guess it will reach to
bury me decently.

“Such things as*my big copper kettle and
tubs, washing machine, sewing machine,
watch, bedroom suit, bureau, chest, trunk,
waiters (two nice ones), castors, and other
articles are to be sold. There is also a
stove pipe in the garret belonging to the
parlor stove, a dozen sauce dishes I believe
they don’t need, and a white gravy bowl I
paid a quarter for, and two big glass stands
which also are to be sold.

“His bedstead which lays in the garret I
paid a dollar to get it stained and varnished.
He can keep that for Mary if he wants to
keep her, and my new dough trough I also
want sold. I owe a little at Labach’s, and
I want that paid if there is any money left.
I can’t do it in my lifetime any more
Yours in hope.”

German War Dirigible is Damaged.

Another war dirigible came to grief at
Cologne, Germany, recently, when the mili-
tary Zeppelin II. was hurled by a squall,
against a factory chimney.

The airship had just emerged from its
shed with the entire soldier crew on board,
when a violent gust of wind tore the tow
ropes from the hands of the squad of the
balloon corps who were trying to steady
the balloon.

Two of the inside balloonets were ripped
to ribbons and the propellers were much
damaged, while two of the crew were in-
jured slightly.

Port Nelson New Terminus.

The Canadian government annotnces it
has decided on Port Nelson as the terminus
of the Hudson Bay Railway, and will begin
immediately the construction of harbor im-
provements there. Port Nelson is about
the same distance from the Canadian wheat
fields as Fort William, at the head of Lake
Superior, but once there grain will have
an uninterrupted water route to Europe,
the distance saved being equivalent to the
haul from Fort William to Montreal, a little
more than fourteen hundred miles.

Army Aviation Prizes,

The recent army aviation meeting at Sal-
isbury Plain military camp, in England, re-
port shows that S. F. Cody, formerly an
American citizen, now a British subject,
has won the first prize of 4,000° pounds
($20,000) in the competition open to the

|airmen of the entire world. Mr. Cody used

a biplane of his own construction. '
Armond Depordussin, a Frenchman, car-
ried off second prize of 2,000 pounds
($10,000). Hag
Mr. Cody was again the winner in the

contest open to British subjects only, who |

were compelled to fly machines built, with
the exception of the motors, in the United
Kingdom. Mr. Cody won 1,000 pounds
($5,000). 9

Horses Die by Thousands in Kansas.
More than 4,000 horses have died in west-
ern Kansas since a mysterious disease: broke
out, and army veterinarians at Fort Riley —
have established a quarantine, prohibiting

 
vist a

tat

?

ot

the bringing of any horse on the military
reservation. Fort Riley is a cavalry and
artillery post, and there are more than 1,500
horses and mules there.

The great mortality has created a serious
situation in western Kansas, hundreds of
farmers being left without animals to do
necessary work. Fall crops are goitrig un-
harvested, and very little plowing or plant-
ing of spring wheat is being.done.

Poison Squad of Live Stock.

A poison squad of horses and other live
stock at the government experimental
farms at Bethesada, Md., was formed re-
cently and the animals selected for the
tests, Experts of the department of agri-
culture began the feeding of “bleached oats”
and the so-called damaged corn, On the
results of this experiment will depend the
government’s decision in a big $30,000,000
controversy that has been agitating the corn
and grain trade of the Middle Western
States.

The bureau of chemistry ruled that
bleached oats or sulphured oats were dele-
terious, and under. the pure food law per-
sons who shipped them in interstate com-
merce were liable to prosecution. The same
ruling was made on damaged corn. Grow-
ers contended that both of these articles
were useful in feeding stock, and the de-
partment suspended its ruling so as ‘to not
apply to last year’s crops. It will now be
determined to what extent the ruling will
be applied to the crop of the present year.

Getmans to Invade Brazil.

The German-Brazilian congress held a
three days’ session at Berlin, Germany, re-
cently. The object of the conference was
to make Germany the premier trade power
in Brazil. Doctor: Cunha, the Brazilian
minister to Germany, presided over the
meetings. ;

All the delegates to the congress were
Germans who are commercially interested
in Brazil or Brazilian residents in Ger-
many. The work to be done embraces
schemes to promote emigration as well as
trade. The congress aimed among other
things to “remove certain anti-Brazilian
views which are now prevalent in Ger-
many.”

Pump Feeding of Suffragettes is Condemned.
Several members of the British Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science, which
has been in session for three days, attended
a suffragette meeting and condemned pump
feeding of women prisoners.
’ Doctor William Dobinson Halliburton,
professor of physiology at King’s College,
Loridon, said pump feeding even of crim-
inals would not be tolerated if British
statesmen knew what it was. Its horror
and disgust, apart from the physical in-
jury, the professor said, made it a punish-
ment which recalled the worst days of
medieval cruelty.

_ May Give Up Schoolship in New York,
The New York board of education is

considering the advisability of abandoning

the nautical school as a part of the public-

school system on the ground that the cost

is beyond all reason.

_ The number of pape has been decreas-

‘ing year by year. ast year there were

only sixty-six boys. In the previous school

year there were ninety-four. The annual

cost a pupil was $906. The Federal gov-
ernment was asked to give assistance, as

“";

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

the boys were being fitted for a seafaring
life, but no assistance was granted.

It is likely that the board of education
will considerably cut the amount of money
set apart for the schoolship. This would
necessarily curtail the course.

Aviator Rises to 16,400 Feet.

Aviator Roland Garros. regained the
height record recently at Houlgate, France,
in a Bleriot monoplane. He reached an
altitude of 5,000 meters, more than 16,400
feet.

Since his record of 3,950 meters, made on
September 4, 1911, was beaten by an Aus-
trian aviator, who reached a height of
4,500 meters, Garros has been training and
accustoming himself to great heights by
ballooning. He arranged an oxygen ap-
paratus for breathing if it became neces-
sary to use such an appliance.

The wind was strong and the clouds
thick when Garros ascended. He was soon
lost to gight and there was much anxiety
about him until news was received that he
had landed twelve miles away from the
starting point.

Garros says that when the barograph
registered 5,000 he began to descend with-
out the use of the motor.

Plans for Chicago Subway.

The proposed subway system for Chi-
cago, as now planned, will cost. $150,000,000.
No scheme for financing the project has
been decided on as yet, but the system of
routing was practically agreed upon re-
cently.

Figures were shown the aldermen by the
members of the subway commission where-
by the work could be completed for the
above amount, with five arms to the tun-
nel instead of three, as heretofore pro-
posed,

The original plan was for lines directly
south, west, and north from the downtown
district. The new arrangement would add
lines northwest and southwest.

How Latham Was Killed by 4 Buffalo,

What purport to be the details of the
tragic end of Hubert Latham, the pioneer
aviator, who was gored to death by a buf-
falo while shooting big ‘game in French
West Africa in June, have just reached
Paris. They show that to the last fatal mo-
ment he exhibited the imperturbable sang-
froid which he always showed in moments
of danger when he was flying.

Latham left Fort Archambault on June
22 in a canoe for Fort Lamy. On the way
he left the river and plunged into a jungle
in the quest of game.

His first quarry was a rhinoceros, which
he fired on at twenty-five paces. The bar-
rel of the gun, however, was full of sand,
and exploded. The rhinoceros began to
charge him, but coolly handing the use-
less weapon to a native bearer, he seized
another gun and brought down the beast
with a ball in the ear. ,

_Soon afterward Latham encountered an

enormous buffalo, standing alone in a clear-

ing. His first shot, fired at twenty paces,
struck the animal in the breast. The mad-
dened buffalé immediately charged furi-
ously, The airman dropped on one knee,
calmly took aim, and fed. The gun, how-
ever, had not been loaded, and the buffalo
caught the intrepid hunter on his horns
and tossed him thrice high in the air, kill-
ing him instaritly, He died without a cry.

That Latham seemed to possess no sense

 

of danger was shown by an incident earlier
in this fatal expedition. When in’ the
coarse country he fired at twenty paces
on a rhinoceros, which immediately rushed
him. Waiting quite unmoved, the airman
fired a second time at five paces, but
missed. The animal knocked down the
hunter, who was able, however, to avoid
a fatal stroke from its horns, his arms be-
ing only gashed. The rhinoceros was car-
ried beyond him by the impetus of the
charge, and, lying on the ground perfectly
still, Latham simulated death. The ruse
succeeded, for the beast returned, and, hav-
ing sniffed him, went off.

The next day the airman related his ad-
venture to his party with the utmost un-
concern,

Says Difficulties Are Too Great to Produce
Artificial Life.

Artificial production of life, in the opin-
ion of Professor Elie Metchnikoff, director
of the Pasteur Institute, in Paris, is not
within the present range of practical
chemistry. i

“T read a summaty of President Scha-
fer’s speech, given in the Paris edition of
The Daily Mail;’ said he, “but I do not
think such a step will be made in our
epoch, certainly not in my lifetime. Chem-
ists have applied themselves to the task
of synthesizing living matter for man
years, but there are great difficulties whieh
must still be overcome. |

“The composition of living matter is not
yet sufficiently known, and chemists have
yet to complete their analysis of tha al-
buminoids which form the living cell be-
fore ¢hey can hope to build up life.
task is certainly one of the greatest dif-
ficulty.”

To Build Greatest Wireless Station. |

It has been decided that the new high-—
power transoceanic wireless station, which
is to be erected by the Marconi Company, —
under contract with the British post office,
shall be located neat Carnarvon, It will —
be the largest wireless station in the world. _

The building of this station at Carnar-
von ig part of the plan of the Marconi
Company to extend its service so as to
encircle the world. The Carnarvon. sta-
tion is one of several to be erected under —

an agreement with the British postmaster
general in the establishment of a round- |

the-world service under the British flag.

Each of these stations, which will be built he ,

about 2,000 miles apart, will be on British ©
territory. ae a

Carnarvon is a seaport of Wales and the
capital of the County of Carnarvon. It is —

located on the east side of Menai Strait,

which separates Anglesey Island from —
Wales.

Give Party in Hospital to Save a Girl’s Life.

To save the life of a child patient, a
unicue birthday pany, was given in the sur-
gical ward of the Kings County Hospital,
in Brooklyn, by the nurses and internes.

Hilda Schneider, 13 years old, had been
promised a birthday party by her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schneider, of East
New York, and had issued twenty invita-
tions, only to be suddenly taken ill anc
rushed to the Kings County Hospital, »
the doctors diagnosed the case as ap
dicitis. She was operated upon, and
first thing she did on coming out of
ether was to ask about her par
talked about nothing. else ever at ce,

 

 

That.” 7}
   
  

a

*
| had worried so-about it that her tempera-
ay ture went up to 105 degrees.
at: The doctors decided that something
} > would have to be done in a hurry to save

the little girl’s life, so they and the nurses
and internes clubbed together, bought
candy, ice cream, and lemonade, and gave
Hilda a real birthday party in the small
room just off the main ward. Her mother
and six little girl friends were present as
guests.

Of course, Hilda couldn’t eat any of the
goodies herself, being too weak even to
sit up, but, propped high on two mattresses,
she could see everything that went on,
and was so very happy at the pleasure she
was giving to others that her alarming
temperature promptly went down, and the
doctors say she will be well and out in a
month,

Incidentally, little Miss Schneider is the
youngest graduate of Public School 108,

To Reduce Cable Rates,

“Reduced cable rates, applying to several
| “kinds of messages, have been announced

_ by President Theodore N. Vail, of the
i  Weptert Union Telegraph Company, in
the United States and the postmaster gen-
eral of ‘Great Britain. The new rates will
be effective over the Western Union cables
between Great Britain and the United
States and ,Canada. The date when the
reductions will go into effect will be an-
- nounced when all the arrangements of the
plan have been completed.

A new feature of the system will be a
cable night letter for 75 cents for twelve
words and 5 cents for each additional word,
They may be filed at any time up to mid-
night, and will be delivered within the next
twenty-four hours. Week-end letters go

on Saturdays at $1.15 for twenty-four
- words.

The cable company is anxious to increase
‘its plain language business. President Vail
points out that codes are a source of heavy
work for the operators, as they are not
formed with any plan to give ease of trans-
‘mission or to guard the company against
errors. \
The rates apply to all points in Great
Britain and to such points in the United
States and Canada as hitherto have been
within the so-called 25-cent zone. For
points beyond this zone certain land-line
charges will be added as at present. These
reductions will not apply, for the present
at least, to Continental Europe.

Congress Fails to Authorize Loan for Havana
- Owing to the failure of Congress to vote
authority to President Gomez to make an
» $11,000,000 loan for finishing the Havana
- sewers, the government has notified the
Cuban Engineering and Contracting Com-
_ pany, which holds the contract, that all the
money is exhausted, Hereafter the sewer
work must be done with the aid of the cus-
tomhouse receipts, of which 10 per cent
can be used. This mearis the cutting down
of the working force from 1,800 to
en, and the continuation of the work
hrough five years instead of two. Ten per
cent of the customs receipts amounts to

about $150,000 monthly. ,

   
    
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
    
     
 
  
  
  
   
    
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
   

   
   
     
    
   
  
        
     
     
 
 
      
   
    

  

  
  

 
 

  

- Mr. William C. Ferguson, of Laurel Hill,
, Y., contributes an important paper on
the absolute necessity of original research
_ connection with any permanently suc-

       

   

 

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

cessful -manufacturing business having to
do with chemistry. Mr. Ferguson has for
many years been in charge of one of the
largest chemical works in this country, and
his experience has convinced him, not only
of the prime importance of the research
laboratory, but also of the necessity for
having it in close touch with the rest of the
works, as well as with the output of other
laboratories, all over the world. The selec-
tion of the staff of such a laboratory pre-
sents a problem of the greatest difficulty,
and one the solution of which may have
most momentous results in determining the
future of the business.

The thing that has placed Germany so
far in advance of other nations in most
manufacturing lines involving chemical
processes is nothing less than the early
realization of her capitalists of the close
relation between laboratory and factory.
As Professor Armstrong has pointed out,
the Germans now possess a large number
of works “which are simply university
laboratories turned into huge manufactur-
ing establishments.” Mr. Ferguson’s paper
is filled with interesting details and sugges-
tions for the factory owner and manager.
It is printed in the second volume of the
“Original Communications” of the con-
gress.

Artificial Sitk,

Professor ©. Dony-Henault, of the
School of Mines, of Hainaut 4 Mons, Bel-
gium, describes a new process for the fre-
covery of materials employed in making
artificial silk. The manufacture of ar-
tificial silk from various viscid and rapidly
drying substances has become a large in-
dustfy since Chardonnet first described, in
1884, his method of squeezing a solution
of collodion out into fine silk threads by
means of powerful presses. Other sub-
stances besides collodion have been used
successfully.

Some of them appear to be cheaper to
manufacture, and this, combined with the
increased cost of labor, and other items
entering into the question of price-making,
has made it necessary for the Chardonnet
companies to take advantage of every pos-
sible means for cheapening production.
And among these the utilization of wastes
and the recovery of already used chemicals
were naturally first considered. Methods
for the recovery and use again of alcohol
and ether afe of prime importance, and
have been devised. Professor Dony-Hen-
ault’s papet describes a process for fe-
covering the alkaline sulphhydrates used in
the denitration of the collodion thread.
Readers interested in its details, which are
naturally more or less technical, should
consult the author’s paper in volume two
of the “Original Communication” of the
congress.

Army Simplifies Form in its Letters.
The word “respectfully” is drummed otit

of the United States army together with
“T have the honor,” et cétera, and other

900|similar expressions by a new system of

correspondence which is being put into
effect,

To reduce as far as possible the enof-
mous amount of red tape in the army all
ceremonials in correspondence and all sorts
of unnecessary and superfluous expressions
have been barred from all official letters to
be written hereafter, In the list are in-
cluded “Sir,” “I have the honor,” “I would
respectfully,” ‘Very respectfully,” ‘‘Re-

nerd 3 t eS BF

 

spectfully referred,” “Respectfully trans-
mitted,” “Respectfully forwarded,’ and
“Respectfully returned.”

At the head of each letter it will be
stated by whom and to whom the letter
is written, and the subject thereof. Off-
cers signing will put only their names,
without titles, et cetera, as all those are
given in the heading.

Other radical short cuts and reductions
in the army’s letter writing have been af-
fected by the new system, which is ex-
pected to prove a great economy of the
time of officers and clerks, as well as a
saving of a considerable sum of money
each year,

Sends 112-pound Watermelon.

A flatcar was recently shunted down the
Long Island Railroad tracks as far as
Farmingdale. On it, braced on two sides,
was one watermelon.

A truck drew alongside the flatcar. Four —

or five men eased the monster onto the
truck, and the biggest watermelon ever
grown in all Texas sent on its own car
all the way from that State was delivered
at the summer home of Benjamin F,
Yoakum. Yoakum is known in Texas as
the empire builder of the Southwest, and
is head of the Frisco lines. He is re-
garded there much as James J. Hill is in
the Northwest,

The melon weighs 112 pounds, so a dis-
patch to Mr. Yoakum says. It was grown
by Judge Norman G, Tittrell, of Houston,
a personal friend of Mr. Yoakum,

“What are you going to do with a melon
that size?” Mr, Yoakum was asked.

“Fat it,” he replied.

Taft Withdraws Oil Lands for Navy’s Use.

The United States navy is to have for
its exclusive use a vast oil field in Cali-
fornia from which it will obtain fuel for its
oil-burning fighting ships. ;

President Taft has withdrawn 37,000
acres of oil lands in the Elk Hills, Cali-
fornia, for the exclusive | a of serv-
ing as a reserve source of fuel oil for the
navy.

The tract withdrawn is adjacent to the
Midway and McKittrick oil fields, and tests
already made indicate that there is pres-
enit 250,000,000 barrels, or twenty-five years’
supply, at a liberal estimate of the probable
consumption in the navy.

Investigations begun two years ago by

Secretary of the Interior Ballinger at the

suggestion of the navy department have
brought about this reservation of oil lands
in California. Of the fifty-eight sections in
the withdrawn area fifty per cent is undis-
puted public land. Thirty per cent, how-

evér, has already been patented to the

Southern Pacific Railway and others.

The department of justice is now work-—

ing to invalidate six sections patented to
the railroad. Suits are contemplated
against other patentees in this
Twenty per cent of the tract is covered by
claims of oil operators, which will be

wiped out if the government wins its suit —

against the railroad company.

. .

In case the suits against tlie railroad are

decided adversely the land will have to be
acquired for the United States by condem-
nation. This pafticular area was selected

for withdrawal because it is the largest un- _
found

developed tract which could be
among the public oil lands.

It has tot yet been decided how the navy
‘department will operate its oil fields when

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it acquires them. The oil wells may be
opened up by contract or by the navy de-
partment itself. The geological survey’ will
be asked to report on the best method to
be pursued.

The consumption of fuel oil in the navy
is rapidly increasing. Practically all the
torpedo-boat destroyers now burn oil;
many of the battleships burn both coal and
oil, and the newest ones building and au-
thorized will burn oil exclusively.

Tests of Alaskan coal, with a view to
determining its suitability for naval pur-
poses, have been going on for more than
a year. Should these demonstrate that a
satisfactory steaming coal can be obtained
from the Alaskan fields, it is believed likely

that the navy will eventually have its own
coal mines as well as its own oil wells.

A Wonderful New Discovery.

Doctor Gabriel Bertrand, of Paris, direc-
tor of the Pasteur Institute, delivered the
/ principal lecture of an extensive program

f/the Eighth International Congress of

Applied Chemistry. In the great hall of
the College of the City of New York he
told of the results of his ten years of ex-
periment on the biology of plants, and
divulged’ one of the secrets of nature,
which, when applied where needed, is ex-
pected to add infinitely to the profit of the

farmer and the wealth of nations.

Professor Bertrand spoke in French. His
audience composed of both men and
women, among them the most eminent
chemists of the world, applauded time and
again the experiments which he performed
on the large stage of the college audi-
torium, and no less an authority than Sir
William Ramsay, discoverer of argon and
other constituents of the air, lauded the
work of the Frenchman as among the
greatest achievements in the chemical
world.

Professor Bertrand began his work by
questioning the supposed perfection of fer-
tilizers, which are now used the world over
where the soil has become impoverished.
Chemists had found many substances in
the composition of plants, other than the
usual elements of carbon, hydrogen, oxy-
gen, and nitrogen, some of them in such
minute proportions that their weight was
less than 1I-100,000 of the plant’s weight.
One of these minute substances, Professor
Bertrand found, was the element manga-
nese, and he set out to find out whether
this element, in its minute quantity, played
oy. useful part in the plant’s life.

e started with the premise that the
growth of a plant is stunted wher any one
of its natural constituents is wanting, and,
realizing that the crops, in some localities,
are furnishing only half their full yield, he
desired to find out what constituent was
lacking. This, his experiments proved, was
the element manganese. :

Until the. discoveries of Professor Ber-
trand, no other fertilizers were resorted to
other than compounds of nitrogen, phos-
phorous, and potassium. These will still
be used where no other is necessary, but
where, after an examination of the soil,
it is found that the ordinary variety of
saline fertilizer, which was perfected. by
the late Baron Justus Von Liebig, does not
suffice, there the new fertilizer, having a
_ compound of manganese as one of its bases,
must be used. ras
_. The finding of manganese, Professor
Bertrand discovered, was only the solution
of part of the problem. This minute quan-

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

tity of manganese combines with an organic
substance, which plays the part of a weak
acid, and produced, at least in part, that
fixation of the atmospheric oxygen which
is so necessary to, a plant’s full growth.
He named this strange element laccase, be-
cause it was first extracted from the lacker
tree. But the element manganese, the ex-
periments proved, is the physiological ele-
ment, which must be introduced into the
soil with the fertilizer whenever it is miss-
ing.

Actual experiments covering the last five
years have shown, according to Doctor
Bertrand, that the yield of the ordinary
crop has been increased from 25 to 50 per
cent where manganese has been introduced/
into the soil. The process is already known
to French manufacturers, it was said, and
in France preparations are under way to
manufacture the new fertilizer on an ex-
tensive scale.

Major-league Players Organize for Protection.

An organization to be known as the Base-
ball Players’ Fraternity, which is intended
to insure proper relations between the em-
ployers and the players was brought of-
ficially into existence recently. New York
Supreme Court Justice Delany signed the
certificate of incorporation, filed by David
L. Fultz, a lawyer of 41 Wall Street,» and
in. 1905 the crack center fielder of the New
York Americans,

Mr. Fultz explained that the managers
had not been asked for their approval or
opinion as to the formation of the fra-
ternity. From the ‘natural trend of affairs,
however, he deemed it probable that more
opposition than encouragement would ac-
crue from those in executive positions, and
this despite the recent pronunciamento of
President Ban Johnson, of the American
League, approving of the plan.

An organization with analagous inten-
tions was started in 1901 under the name
of the Players’ Protective Association.
Owing to internal dissensions, however,
the scheme fell through after a year’s lease
of life. In those days, Mr. Fultz explained,
the two big leagues were fighting -each
other, and the players thought they should
follow suit. To-day, however, no such con-
dition of dissension exists.

The names of the incorporators of the
Baseball Players’ Fraternity follow: Rob-
ert Byrne, Pittsburgh; William F. Carri-
gan, Boston Americans; Tyrus Cobb, De-
troit; Samuel L. Crawford, Detroit; J. E.
Daubert, Brooklyn; Michael J. Doolan,
Philadelphia Nationals; John J. Evers, Chi-
cago Nationals;'David L. Fultz, formerly
of the New York Americans; Arthur
Griggs, Cleveland; John P. Henry, Wash-
ington; Miller J. Huggins, St. Louis Na-
tionals; Christopher Mathewson, New York
Nationals; D. B. Pratt, St, Louis Ameri-
cans; Edward Sweeney, New York Ameri-
cans, and William J. Sweeney, Boston Na-
tionals,

Long Search for an Heir.

An effort to drop out of sight of his
family, and even to forget his name, has
proved unavailing in the case of James M.
Bailey, lately a fireman in a sawmill at Oak
Creek, Colo. His failure, however, | will
profit him in the neighborhood of $40,000,
for he has been hunted down in order that
he may come into an inheritance.

ailey was the son of a wealthy farmer
near Burlington, Iowa. Ten years ago he
and another brother, William, quarreled

 

with the father, and set out to make
their own fortunes. The father made a
will in which he left most of his fortune,
now valued at about $300,000, to his eldest
son in a family of seven children. The :
sons, who were on the Pacific coast, re-
ceived only $25 each as their share in the
estate. William thereupon went to the
Klondike, and James was so disgusted that
he changed his name to Wilson and shipped
as engineer on a steamer bound for Japan.
He worked his way around the world and
back to San Francisco, and finally came
to Colorado five years ago and took up a
timber-stone claim.

Meanwhile William had prospered in the
Klondike and had returned to Iowa with
a considerable fortune, and a determifia-
tion to do justice to the members of the
family who had not been treated well. He
learned that the father, before his death,
had been declared incompetent, and on this
basis he contested the will, and had it set
aside. He then set out to find James. i
search lasted more than three years. It
was conducted by Detective E. A. Metz, of
Kansas City, Mo., who has made a repu-
tation in tracing lost persons. He learned
of the change of name and followed the
route of Bailey around the world. At San
Francisco he appeared to have come to the
end of his hunt, for he was told that Bailey
had been there at the time of the big earth-
quake, and was accounted as one of the
missing. He was not satisfied, and pushed
his inquiries until he learned that Bailey
had been away from the city during the
catastrophe, and afterward had set out to
take up a land claim somewhere in the
Rocky Mountains.

Patient training at last brought Metz to
Pueblo, Colo., and after a time he heard
of Bailey, who was going under the name
of Houston. Photographs sent to th
Iowa relations convinced them of the man’s
identity, and then he was approached.

When he heard his brother’s message, he © a

was ready to return to Iowa, and has now
gone to claim his share of the estate. ;

High Cost of Living Traced to Farmers,
Crop news, more than presidential pros-
pects, is commanding the attention of busi-
ness men, says the National City Bank cir-
cular, and this oracle of Wall Street pro-
ceeds to point out for the enlightenment of

the bank's clients the relation of the crop

situation to the high cost of living. It is
the high cost of living which has been un-
settling wage agreements, the circular says,
and it goes on to explain that the reasons

for this increase are entirely due to the

failure of our agricultural output to keep

pace with the increase in population:
“While the population of this country
has increased 21 per cent between the last.
two, censuses, the aggregate acreage of all
the cereal crops has increased only 8&5 28
ut

cent, and the actual yield in 1909 was
1.6 per cent greater than in 1889.” a
After amplifying these indications of fail-
ure of food products to grow in propor- —
tion to population, the circular says: — we
“These are facts of very great signifi- —
cance. Indeed, it may be questioned
whether any other set of facts in the world
to-day is of equal social and industrial im- —
portance. Population has spread over the
United States, the free and cheap lands are |
gone, and there is no other equal area on.
the face of the globe comparable in pro-
ductiveness and national wealth to the
United States remaining to be exploited,

 
The. demands for land and the rise in price
of farm products have caused an astonish-
ing advance in land values. The census
shows that between 1900 and Ig1o the aver-
age value per acre of all the farms in the
United States, exclusive of buildings, in-
creased 108 per cent, or more than 10 per
cent per annum for that period. Much was
said two years ago about the dangers of
the land boom in the West. As a result
of the warning and of the attitude of bank-
ers toward speculative loans, the fever of
speculation has subsided; but all reports
are to the effect that there has been no
recession in sellifig prices, but a continual
- advance.

“The situation has its grave features, for
while the change which has come over the
position of the farmer, and particularly of
the farm owner, is a very agreeable one
to him, and perhaps for the present genera-
tion gives only. just recompense for hard-
ships in the.past, we cannot look upon the
relatively diminishing. supplies with other
than. apprehension. In all of the arts of
manufacture and in facilities for transpor-
tation we make constant progress, and the
benefits of that progress are quickly shared
by all. But it is tnmistakably true that in
recent. years. a considerable share of. the
natural. gains of industrial progress have

been offset by higher costs of food, cloth-
ing, and raw materials, A part of the

higher prices. goes to the fortunate pos-
-sessor of land, timber, and other natural

resources, but art is expended in the

greater effort nécessary to. produce the
commodities in the greater amounts. re-
- quired.

“There is only one possible source of re-
lief from. this threatening situation, and
that is by raising the productiveness of our

— lands through more intelligent and_ scien-
tific culture. There is no known limit to
_ the possibilities of nature, and our average
production is far below the results of the
best practice. The average yield of corn
per acre in this country has never reached
‘thirty bushels but once, and that was in
7872. The important question is, if we
have gained nothing in the cultivation of
corn in the last-forty years, how fast will
it be possible to revolutionize farming
methods. in the future.”
‘The interest which bankers all over the
country ate taking in this. problem of in-
creasing the productiveness of the farm is
- pointed out by the National City Bank cir-
gular, which advocates a widening of the
-Hrovement that in some States has made
e education of the farmers in better meth-
ods the chief

_ ciations.
Thirteen Die in Cape Horn Wreck.
A thrilling story of the sufferings of the
crew of the Catnarvon sailing vessel Crio-
_cieth Castle, which was sunk off Cape Horn
jn July, has reached Wales. The. vessel’s
udderpost gave way and damaged the ship
o.such an extent that she had to be aban-
-doned, Captain Thomas and hi’ wife and
their four-year-old son, the second officer,
and thirteen of the crew took to the life-
boat: The first and third officers and five
e crew took a stnaller boat. The latter
eared during the night the ship was
abandoned and was never seen again, That
ign Captain Thomas was washed
he lifeboat, but his ee ane
by his clothes and held on until two
e crew came to her assistance and
him back. Three of the crew died

-work of the bankers’ asso-

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

during the night, and three others before
they reached land seven days later. Thus
thirteen altogether perished.

The sufferings of the survivors in the
winter seas off the Horn were terrible. The
boat leaked all the time and the cold was
intense. They became weaker every day.
Finally they sighted Cape Pembroke light-
house_on July 22, and were able to get near
enough to catch ropes thrown by the light-
house keeper and his assistants. This was
about all they could possibly do and the
effort left every one of the shipwrecked
people exhausted. Some of them, -indeed,
were completely helpless and had to be
dragged out of the boat. .The clothes had
to be cut off the six dead men. The second
officer s00n died, and some of the others
aré in a critical condition.

Captain and Mrs. Thomas and their child
are recovering.

Britain May Not Exhibit.

The American’ embassy, in Lotidon, has
received a reply from: the British foreign
office to President Taft's. invitation to the
3titish government to’ participate it the
Panara-Pacific Exposition.

The foreign office is disposed to accept
the invitation on prin¢iplé, but its final de-
cision in the matter. will, it is stated, be

influenced partly by the question if it is.

possible to arrive at a ‘satisfactory settle-
ment with the exposition authorities in re-
gard to the accommodation to be provided
for British exhibitors.

No hint is given in the reply. of other
influences which may:affect the British de-
cision, but. it is evident that a loophole has
been left for a refusal of the invitation on
account of possible unfavorable Panama
Canal legislation.

Electrical Wat on Rats.

Mayot William Seymour, of Tacoma,
Wash., has approved a new municipal pro-
ject which he believes will be copied by sea-
ports throughout the world. He intends to
rid the Tacoma water front of rats by elec-
tricity.

The city dock superintendent finds that
rats come for miles at low tide to feast at
the refuse dump bepeath the municipal dock
restaurant. An electri¢ gridiron’ will be
placed there, above which will be a peek-
hole and an electric switch, By. turning
the latter several dozen rats can be elec-
trocuted at once.

The tides will carry the bodies away.
Ten dollars will cover the’ expense,

To Beautify Plymouth Rock.

According to plans submitted at the sixth
congress of the General Society of May-
flower Descendants, Plymouth, Mass., will,
in the near future, undergo great changes
along historical lines, ;

Plans are under way to faise by sub-
scription the. sum of $500,000 for the pur-
pose of maintaining a perpetual memorial
to the Pilgrim band which landed here in
1620.

It is the opinion of the majority of the
members that a more fitting memorial than
a shaft would be the improvement of the
property in the vicinity of Plymouth Rock,
which has long been an object of criticism
by summer visitors from all over the coun-
try.

The idea, if carried out, will be to secure
all of the available property strrounding
the Rock and tear down all objectionable

 

3t

buildings, thus giving a clear and unob-
wants view of the harbor from Coles

Till,

Another plan suggested is to do away
with all the ground between the Rock and
the shore, allowing the tide to flood the
Rock,

Woman Lightweight Whips Her Big Husband.

Emil Brand, a teamster, who is six feet
and two inches tall, entered Judge Hop-
kins’ court, in Chicago, with one discolored
eye, a bleeding ear, and two teeth missing.

A few minutes later Mrs. Brand, who
weighs 95 pounds, appeared to prosecute
her husband on a charge of beating-her. -

“She says | beat her, judge,” said Brand.
“Do you think it looks like it?”

“On the face of the evidence,” the court
said, “I would say it doesn’t.”

“Well, I had to defend myself,” spoke
up: Mrs. Brand. “Besides, this is the first’
decision I’ve gotten over him.”

Testimony showed Brand had started th
trouble, and he was fined. ‘

Finds $2.50 Gold in Chicken.

Mrs. Mary Morgan, who lives on Ber-
gen Street, near Burlington, N. J., pur-
chased a chicken at a near-by store, and
when she cleaned it for dinner, she found
a $2.50 gold piece inside of it.

Gitl With Toy Pistol Rowts Burglar.

Miss Rose Phillips, 16 years old, used a
toy pistol to frighten a burglar. from the
home of Mrs, Alfred Schwallensticher, 526
Shelly Street, Alton, Tl. .

With Miss Fannie Anderson, who was @
gtiest in the home, she heard the burglar
working at a window. Picking up 4 toy
pistol, which lay near, she went to the win-
dow and drew the curtain. She saw the
face of 4 man against the pane.

When the pistol was pointed at his face
the man stared. for a moment and then ran,

Miss Phillips said she was so frightened
that she did not know. what she was doing,
but her first impulse was to aim the “gun”
at the intruder. She was surprised when
he ran.

House Committee Inquires into Water Lines.

A comprehensive inquiry into the inter-
relationship of steamship lines has been

instituted by the House committee on
merchant marine and fisheries. Nearly 500
water carriers, embracing practically every
company and firm of any importance in

| this country, will have been asked to an-

swer forty-two inquiries, designed to ob-
tain data regarding ownership, agreementits,
conferences, or the many other methods of
control of alliance, the relation of the
steamship lines to railroads and. other trans-
portation agencies, and the prevailing prac-
tices with reference to fixing rates and_
treatment of shippers. The inquiries are

based upon a resolution recently passed by my

the House directing the investigation. an
Representative Alexander, of Missouri,
chairman of the committee, emphasized that
the committee wished the information as a
basis for constructive legislation, not for
the purpose of bringing any criminal or
civil action against the carriers. :

Novelty in Fight on Tuberculosis, =

The Grand Duchess of Hesse has it-—
duced all the manufacturers of matches in
the grand duchy to have printed on their
paper. wrapping boxes the rules for fighting

 
tibereulosis: ‘This “idea, which seems to
have originated in South America, likely
will be extended in Germany.

Central Park No Lovet’s Lane.

Colby: Waller, 15 years old, who lives at
200 West .124th Street, was arrested in
Central Park, New York, while cutting his
own initials and those of a girl friend in
the bark of a ‘tree.

The boy was tempted by the smooth bark
of a big poplar near the northern: Seventh
Avenue entrance. Within the design of°a
heart he was busy in cutting, the initials
‘when Policeman King came upon him and
charged him with defacing park property.

These Convicts Ruled by Honor.

Instead of chains, shackles, and armed
guards, the “honor system” is being used to
control the fifty convicts in the Bartow
County, Ga., camp, and it is proving a suc-
cess.

Six months ago Warden Land, in charge
of the camp, in an address to the convicts,
notified them that he intended to abolish
chains and shackles and put them on their
honor, and that he expected them to make
good.- The system was at once put into ef-
fect, and the warden’s confidence has not
been abused. Not only has there not been
a single escape from the work upon which
the men have been employed, but there
has never been an attempt at escape. The
men are so grateful that they strive in
every way to justify the confidence placed
in them. Whenever a convict breaks any
rule he is punished by his fellows after
trial.

Warden Land has some advanced ideas
as to treatment of prisoners. He thinks
chains and shackles are barbarous, and be-
lieves the day will come when the “honor’
system” will prevail in all prisons.

Boys Find White Quail.

Boy scientists, whose love for outdoor
life and wild animals has been cultivated
by the Y. M..C. A. in a special course of
study during the past few months, have
discovered a lost species of quail through
their remarkable work with kodaks.

In -an. excursion to Pinon Mesa, Colo.,
two of the boys last March accomplished
a wonderful feat in photography, when they
succeeded in taking the picture of two
snow-white birds. They developed the pic-
ture and sent it to an Eastern museum,
where the birds were identified as members
of a species of mountain quail which had
long been thought extinct. The birds
change to brown in the summer.

’ The young naturalists are continuing
their work with the kodak, and have or-
anized a society to discourage the use of
rearms among boys and young men.

Did it Without Press Agent.

An extraordinary ‘proposal has been
made, apparently in good faith, to exhume
the remains oh Emma, Lady Hamilton,
from her grave in Calais and_ transport
them to Westminster Abbey. The argu-
ment is that Nelson “bequeathed her to
the country,” and sentimentalists think that
some amends for letting her die in poverty
may be made by burying her nearly a cen-
tury later in the “national Valhalla.”
It is argued that it was only through her
_. influence that Nelson went to sea again
and so fought and won his greatest vic-
tory at Trafalgar. He had formed a desire
to settle down-to a country life,. but» Lady

NEW TIP ‘TOP WEEKLY.

Hamilton persuaded.him to make one more
cruise in the service of his country.
Those. who opposé the transfer suggest

»| that: her motive was; not patriotism, but a
desire for a little more limelight, and they

add that although it. is true she ran
through a property of £2,000 a year of her
own, she was not exactly starving when
she died, as she was in the enjoyment of
an annuity of £200 settled upon her by her
daughter, Horatia.

Set Trap of Tar.

Hot tar applied to the sidewalk and
steps leading to the notion store con-
ducted by Mrs. Rachel Fachs, at No. 522
Central Avenue, Brooklyn, by Samuel Rei-
ser, of No. 623 Rockaway Avenue—in a
spirit of revenge, according to the woman’s
statement—caused both fun and trouble.

Reiser went to the store ;early in .the
day, and after some difference of ‘opinion
with Mrs. Fachs.Jeft in a rage. She dis-
missed the man from her mind, but later he
reappeared, bearing, she says, a large bucket
of hot tar in either hand.

The contents went splashing over her
stoop and sidewalk. She was slow to grasp
the meaning of the act, but when it did
dawn upon her she was quick to act. With
a yell she. bounded through the door, but
became motionless, with one foot on the
bottom step and one on the sidewalk. Rei-
ser continued to splash the tar.

The woman’s cries attracted friends, who
rushed to her assistance. Several reached
her, but two or three paused midway in
their rush.

Reiser was having the time of his life
when Policeman Lanning rounded the cor-
ner, At the sight of the bluecoat the man
became flustered and ran into. the trap of
his own setting. Lanning wisely waited
until the tar cooled and then helped the
captured urtie their shoe laces and step
free. In the Gates Avenue police court
Reiser said the tar leaked from the buckets
he was carrying, but Mrs. Fachs has a dif-
ferent story to tell.

Iguana Scares Buffaloes.

Around the three gum trees in the zoo,
in New York, where the big buffaloes slum-
ber at peace or rise taswander among the
few remaining bladés of grass,/ disturb-
ance came recently. It was long and wrig-
gled unnoticed quite up to the tree where
Mrs. Sam Buffalo and her Cousin Mary
were waiting. The visitor was Jim, an
iguana four years from Africa, and awful
to look at.

“O-o-h, mamma! look at the crocodile!”
This was from a bright-eyed human out on
the walk.

In a moment people gathered. The buf-
faloes were pawing and jumping away from
the gum tree, Mrs. Sam quickest of all.
And the iguana curled himself up and took
a nap undisturbed. One by one the buffaloes
came to the accustomed tree, saw and bel-
lowed away. All afternoon a_ crowd
watched,

Keeper John McElroe said Jim had come
a distance of ten city blocks from the reptile
house for that nap.

This State to Go into Oil Trade.

Washington State may later engage in the
oil and natural-gas business. The State
land office is deluged with applications to
lease the school and capitol granted lands
on the Olympic Peninsula for oil and gas
‘prospecting. Applicants include prominent

 

 

men here and in California, At numerous
places oil bubbles to the ‘surface through
sandstone. Natural gas is found in’ well
digging.

Indications are that both lie very deep.
Under the present laws no leases can be.
made. The subject will be referred to the
next legislature.

New $20,000,000 Steel Company.

Incorporation papers ‘have been prepared
for the International Steel Corporation, of
Tacoma, Wash., capitalized at . $20,000,000.
Lawyers say German capitalists are behind
the corporation, which ‘intends to build a
modern steel plant on Puget Sound, bring-
ing ore from Mexico and southern Call-
fornia.

A line of German steamers through the
Panama Canal, and touching Mexican ports,
will provide transportation. The project
has no connection with the Western Steel
Corporation,

Fingers Sewed Back on Again.

Fingers that had been completely severed
from her hand by the blade of an ax, are
growing again on the right. hand of the 6-:
year-old granddaughter of John Benson, of
Chanute, Kan. The little girl was holding
a block of wood while a playmate cut it
with a hand ax. When. the surgeon arrived
to dress the wound he asked where the
fingers were. They had been. cut clean off
and left lying in the barn where the girls
were playing. A lanteyp was lighted and
the dismembered parts Were found in the
hay. The fingers were sterilized and
sewed on.

Has Ridden 140,000 Miles on Bicycle.

Eighty-four years old and a bicycle mile-
age of 140,000 is Thomas W. Davis’ record.
Davis, who lives in Bloomington, IIl.,
was 60 years old before he rode a wheel.
He began with the old-fashioned “ordi-
nary,” one big wheel and a diminutive
trailer, but he cast it aside when the
“safety” came along. ,

Mr. Davis took up cycling at an age when
most men relinguish strenuous. things. —
Since then there has seldom been a day, .
weather conditions permitting, that he has’
not taken a ride, and in many of. these
years he has ridden between 6,000 and 12,-
000 miles. Even now he is doing 3,000 to
4,000 miles each year. He has participated
in endurance contests in this country and —
in Europe. In one of his best years he rode —
eighteen “centuries.” He has a trunkfy!
of medals. In his twenty-four years as a
wheelman he has worn out eleven machines.

It was between his sixtieth and seven-

tieth. year that Mr. Davis reeled off his
largest mileage. In 1907 he rode md

miles, his greatest record. Between 1806

and 1900 he rode 55,000 miles. Since then
his annual mileage has declined, he having
thought it best to drop the strenuous pace ~
of his earlier years.

This Farmer Has Two Pet Snakes.
Ben Oskin, a farmer, living near Oak-
land City, Ill, has two pet blacksnakes
which have lived in his corn crib for Sev-
eral months. The pets come out of the —
crib each morning and go to a near-by well, —
where they wait until Mr. Oskin gives
them water. When a stranger appears-on
the premises the snakes crawl up on the
rafters of the crib. Oskin prizes the snakes
highly as rat killers, and will not allow
any one to harm them. rN

 
 
ALL, OF THE BACK NUMBERS OF

TiP. TOP WEEKL®

= THAT CAN NOW BE SUPPLIED

 

662—Dick Merriwell’s Restraint.
663—Dick Merriwell’s Ginger.
664—Dick Merriwell’s Driving.
665—Dick Merriwell’s Good Cheer,
666—Frank Merriwell’s Theory.
667—Frank Merriwell’s Diplomacy.
668—Frank Merriwell’s Encourage-
ment.

369—F rank Merriwell’s Great Work. 7
670—Dick Merriwell’s Mind.
671—Dick Merriwell’s “Dip.”’
672—Dick Merriwell’s Rally.

575—Dick Merriwell’s Twirling.
576—Dick Merriwell’s Party.
577—Dick Merriwell’s Backers.
578—Dick Merriwell’s Coach.
579—Dick Merriwell’s Bingle.
580—Dick Merriwell’s Hurdling.
582—Dick Merriwell’s Respite.
583—Dick cap riwell’s Disadvan-
tag
584—Dick Mor riwell Beset.
586—Dick Merriwell’s Distrust.
587—Dick Merriwell, Lion Tamer,
588—Dick Merriwell’s Camp-site. 673—Dick Merriwell’s Flier.
589—Dick Merriwell’s Debt. 674—F rank Merriwell’s Bullets.
590—Dick Merriwell’s Camp Mates. 675—¥Yrank Merriwell’s Cut Off.
591—Dick Merriwell’s Draw. 676—F rank Merriwell’s Ranch Boss.
592—Dick Merriwell’s Disapproval. 677—Dick Merriwell’s Equal.
593—Dick Merriwell’s Mastery. 678—Dick Merriwell’s Development.
594—Dick Merriwell’s Warm Work. 679—Dick Merriwell’s Eye.
595—Dick Merriwell’s “Double 680—F rank Merriwell’s Zest.

Squeeze.” 681—F rank Merriwell’s Patience.
596—-Dick Merriwell’s Vanishing. 682—F rank Merriwell’s Pupil.
597—Dick Merriwell Adrift. 683—F rank Merriwell’s Fighters.
598—Dick Merriwell’s Influence. 684—Dick Merriwell at the ‘Meet.”
599—F rank Merriwell’s Worst Boy. 685—Dick Merriwell’s Protest.
600—F rank Merriwell’s Annoyance. 686—Dick Merriwell in the
601—F rank Merriwell’s Restraint. thon.
602—Dick Merriwell Held. Back. 687—Dick Merriwell’s Colors.
603—Dick Merriwell in the Line. 688—Dick Merriwell, Driver
604—Dick Merriwell’s Drop Kick. 689—Dick Merriwell on the Deep.
606—I'rank Merriwell’s Auto Chase. 690—Dick Merriwell in the North
607—Frank Merriwell’s Captive. . Woods.
608—Dick Merriwell’s Value. 691—Dick Merriwell’s Dandies.
609—Dick Merriwell Doped. 692—Dick Merriwell’s Skyscooter.
610—Dick Merriwell’s Belief. 693—Dick Merriwell in the Elk
611—I'rank Merriwell in the Mar- Mountains.

ket, 694—Dick Merriwell in Utah.
612—I'rank Merriwell’s Fight for 695—Dick Merriwell’s Bluff.

Fortune. 696—Dick Merriwell in the Saddle.
613—Frank Merriwell on Top. 697—Dick Merriwell’s Ranch
614—Dick Merriwell’s Trip West. Friends.
615—Dick Merriwell’s Predicament. 698—Frank Merriwell
616—Dick Merriwell in Mystery Lake.

Valley. 699—F rank Merriwell’s Hold-back.
617—Frank Merriwell’s Proposition. 700—Frank Merriwell’s Lively Lads
618—Frank Merriwell Perplexed. 701—F rank Merriwell as Instructor.
619—FI rank Merriwell’s Suspicion. _702—Dick Merriwell’s Cayuse.
620—Dick Merriwell’s Gallantry. 708—Dick Merriwell’s Quirt.
621-——Dick Merriwell’s Condition. 704—Diek Merriwell’s Freshman
+ 22_Dick Merriwell’s Stanchness, Friend.

3 —Dic k Merriwell’s Match. 705—Dick Merriwell’s Best Form.
6: ote rank Merriwell’s Hard Case. 706—Dick Merriwell’s Prank.
625—Frank Merriwell’s Helper. 707—Dick Merriwell’s Gambol.
626—F rank Merriwell’s Doubts. 7O8—Dick Merriwell’s Gun.
627—F rank Merriwell’s “Phenom. 709—Dick Merriwell at His Best.
62S8S—Dick Merriwell’s Stand. 710—Dick Merriwell’s Master Mind.
629—Dick Merriwell’s Circle. —Dick Merriwell’s Dander,
630—Dick Merriwell’s Reach. Dick Merriwell’s Hope.
631—Dick Merriwell’s Money. —Dick Merriwell’s Standard.
632—Dick Merriwell Watched. —Dick Merriwell’s Sympathy.
633—Dick Merriwell Doubted. Dick Merriwell in Lumber
334——Diek Merriwell’s Distrust. Land.

35—Dick Merriwell’s Risk. rank Merriwell’s Fairness.
356—lF rank Merriwell’s Favorite. 7—Frank Merriwell’s Pledge.

7—Frank Merriwell’s Young —I'rank Merriwell, the Man of

Clippers. Grit.
639—F rank Merriwell's 719—F rank

Breakers. Blow.
640—Dick Merriwell’s Shoulder. 720—F rank Merriwell’s Quest.
641—Dick Merriwell’s Desperate 721—I*rank Merriwell’s Ingots.

Work. 22—F rank Merriwell’s Assistance,
642—Dick Merriwell’s Example. 23—Frank Merriwell. at the
643—Dick Merriwell at Gale’s Ferry. Throttle.
644—Dick Merriwell’s Inspiration. 724—Frank Merriwell,
645—Dick Merriwell’s Shooting. Ready.
646—Dick Merriwell in the Wilds. 725—Frank Merriwell in Diamond
647—Dick Merriwell’s Red Comrade. ibis” ct Land.

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Mara-

at Phantom

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11
12—
13
14—
15

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716—F
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Return

Record Merriwell’s

the Always

649—FI' rank Merriwell in the Saddle. rank Merriwell’s Desperate
651—Frank Merriwell’s Red Guide. Chance.

652—Dick Merriwell’s Rival. rank Merriwell’s Black
653—Dick Merriwell’s Strength. ror,

654—Dick Merriwell’s Secret Work. 728—Frank Merriwell Again on the
656—l'rank Merriwell’s Red Visitor. Slab.

657—F rank Merriwell’s Rope. 729-——Frank Merriwell’s Hard Game
658—F rank Merriwell’s Lesson.
659—F rank Merriwell’s Protection.
660—Dick Merriwell’s Reputation. 73
661—-Dick Merriwell’s Motto.

Ter-

oT,
“

81—F rank Merriwell’s Duplicate,
2—I"rank Merriwell on Rattle-
snake Ranch.

de

33—Frank Merriwell’'s Sure Hand.
734

—Frank Merriwell’s Treasure
Map.
Frank Merriwell, Prince of
Rope.
736—Dick Merriwell, of
the Varsity.
LS age 2 k Merriweli’s Control.
38—Dick Merriwell’s Back Stop.
739—Dick Merriwell’s Masked En-
emy.
740—Dick Merriwell’s Motor Car.
741—Dick Merriwell’s Hot Pursuit.
742—Dick Merriwell at Forest Lake
743—Dick Merriwell in Court.
744—Dick Merriwell’s Silence.
745—Dick Merriwell’s Dog.
746—Dick Merriwell’s Subterfuge.
747—Dick Mer riwell’s Enigma.
748—Dick Merriwell Defeated,
749—Dick Merriwell’s “Wing.”
750—Dick Merriwell’s Sky Chase.
751—Dick Merriwell’s Pick-ups.
752—Dick Merriwell on the Rock-
ing R.
753—Dick Merriwell’s Penetration.
754—Dick Merriwell’s Intuition.
755—Dick Merriwell’s Vantage,
756—Dick Merriwell’s Advice.
757—Dick Merriwell’s Rescue.
a eat fete k Merriwell, American.
Merriwell’s Understand-

“Sih
760—Dick Merriwell, Tutor.
761—Dick Merriwell’s Quandary.
762—Dick Merriwell on the Boards.
763—Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker.
764—FI rank Merriwell’s Sway.
765—Frank Merriwell’s Compre-
hension.
766—F rank Merriwell’s
Acrobat.
67—F rank Merriwell’s Tact.
68—Frank Merriwell’s Unknown,
69—F rank Merriwell’s Acuteness.
70—Frank Merriwell's Young
Canadian.

Frank Merriwell’s Coward.
oe rank Merriwell’s Perplexity.
8—Frank Merriwell’s Interven-

tion.
—~Frank Merriwell’s Daring Deed
-Frank Merriwell’s Suecor,
Frank Merriwell’s Wit.
Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty.
Frank Merriwell’s Bold P lay.
—Frank Merriwell’s Insight.
—F rank Merriwell’s Guile.
—Frank Merriwell’s Fert a
—Frank Merriwell in the
tional Forest.
7883—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity.
784—Dick'Merriwell’s Self-sacrifice.
785—Dick Merriwell’s Close Shave.
786—Dick Merriwell’s Perception.
787—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious
Disappearance.
788—Dick Merriwell’s
Work.
789—Dick Merriwell’s Proof,
790—Dick Merriwell’s Brain Work.
791—Dick Merriwell’s Queer Case.
792—Dick Merriwell, Navigator.
793—Dick Merriwell’s Good Fellow-
ship.
794—Dick Metriwetii’s Fun.
795—Dick Merriwell’s Commence-
ment.
796—Dick Merriwell
Point.
797—Dick Merriwell, Mediator.
7T98—Dick Merriwell’s Decision.

735—
the ;
Captain

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7 30——F rank Merriwell’s Six-in-hand 799—Dick Merriwell on the Great 12—F hank Merriwell, Jr.’s,

Lakes,
800—Dick Merriwell
ping.

Caught Nap-

801—Dick Merriwell in the Copper
Country.
802—Dick Merriwell Strapped.
$03—Dick Merriwell’s Coolness.
804—Dick Merriwell’s Reliance.
805—Dick Merriwell’s College Mate.
806—Dick Merriwell’s Young
Pitcher.
807—Dick Merriwell’s Prodding.
808—F rank Merriwell’s Boy.
s809—Frank Merriwell’s
ence.
ank Merriwell’s
Warriors.
811—F rank Merriwell’s Appraisal.
81 Saat rank Merriwell’s Forgiveness
813—F rank Merriwell’s Lads.
314 Frank Merriwell’s
Aviators.
815—Frank Merriwell’s Hot-head.
816—Dick Merriwell, Diplomat.
817—Dick Merriwell in Panama.
818—Dick Merriwell’s Perseverance.
819—Dick Merriwell Triumphant.
820—Dick Merriwell’s Betrayal.
821—Dick Merriwell, Revolutionist.
822—Dick Merriwell’s Fortitude.
828—Dick Merriwell’s Undoing.
824—Dick Merriwell, Universal
Coach.
825—Dick Merriwell’s Snare.
826—Dick Merriwell’s Star Pupil.
827—Dick Merriwell’s Astuteness.
828—Dick Merriwell’s Responsi-
bility.
829—Dick Merriwell’s Plan.
830—Dick Merriwell’s Warning.
831—Dick Merriwell’s Counsel.
832—Dick Merriwell’s Champions.
833—Dick Merriwell’s Marksmen.
834—Dick Merriwell’s Enthusiasm.
835—Dick Merriwell’s Solution.
886— Dick Merriwell’s Foreign
§37—Dick Merriwell and the
lisle Warriors,
838—Dick Merriwell’s Battle for the
Blue.
889—Dick Merriwell’s Evidence,
840—Dick Merriwell’s Device.
841—Dick Merriwell’s Princeton Op-
ponents.
842—Dick Merriwell’s Sixth
843—Dick Merriwell’s
Clew.
844—Dick Merriwell Comes Back.
845—Dick Merriwell’s Heroic Crew.
846—Dick Merriwell Looks Ahead,
847—Dick Merriwell at the Olym-
pics
848—Dick Merriwell in Stockholm.
849—Dick Merriwell in the Swed-
ish Stadium.
850—Dick Merriwell’s Marathon.

Interfer-

810—Fr Young

Young

Foe.
Car-

Sense.
Strange

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY

1—Frank Merriwell, Jr.
2?—-IFrank Merriwell, Jr.
3—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Struggle.
4—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Skill.
5—Frank Merriwell, Jr., in Idaho.
3—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Close
Shave.
7—Frank Merriwell, Jr.,
ing Orders.
Frank Merriwell,
Frank Merriwell,
Marathon.
‘I’rank Merriwell,
Bar Z Ranch.
-Frank pets Jr.’s

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on Wait-

8
9

d¥."
or.’

s, Danger.
8s, Relay

10-

11-

Jt. at the

Golden
Compet-
itor.

Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s,
ance,

13 Guid-

 

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