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Copyright, 1912, by STREET & SMITH.

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No. 9.

NEW YORK, September: 28, 1912.

Price Five Cents.

Frank Merriwell, Junior’s, Relay Marathon;

Or, THE LOST TOWN OF THE PICKET

re
- ?
‘ '

iJ

CHAPTER SI
BARZY BLUNT, THE COWBOY WONDER.

;f%

Prank Merriwell, junior, was disagreeably surprised.
He had been saying this to himself ever since the game
Started, and now, during the last half, he was saying
tt aloud. But there was no one to overhear him. Owen
Clancy and Billy Ballard had been ‘in the grand stand
with Frank, but the exhibition taking place on the foot-
ball ‘field had made it necessary for them either to get
out or begin yelling unpleasant things at the players.
, They got out. So Frank’s astonishment and surprise
" _ Wasted itself on the empty benches of the grand stand.

‘ Mr, -Bradlaugh, president of the Ophir Athletic Club,
had asked young Merriwell to size up the club’s football
material and see what chance there was for licking the
regular eleven into shape. Frank, in order to make a
calm and impartial judgment, had requested the regular
team to play a practice game with a scrub eleven—and to
play just as they had been in the habit of playing.

In that part of Arizona, where the thermometer often
'» went up to ninety degrees at Christmas time, ahd where
the irrigated truck patches furnished strawberries the
Year around, the rotation of the seasons was not much

yn evidence, and the rotation of sports was largely a
a Bitter of discretion with the games committee of the
(club. For several years, however, it had been customary
‘tor Ophir to meet its bitter athletic rival, Gold Hill, on
the gridiron Thanksgiving Day. It was now early

October, and high time football affairs were “looking

9?

up.

POSTS.

By BURT L. STANDISH.

Mr. Bradlaugh, in the clubhouse balcony, a few ¢lub

members along the side lines, and Merriwell; all by his 5) 3
lonesome in the grand stand, were the only spectators “7.97 |

after Clancy and Ballard had left. During the laStdig
however, a Chinaman—Woo Sing, roustabout@ta@
Ophir House trai
the farther side of the field. He enjoyed th@gem
work and cackled delightedly when some one wen - dow
and the others piled on top of him, ee alt
It was not snap and ginger that were lackiigrs
players had rather too much of that. They consid
themselves on trial, and they rushed to the combat]
gladiators. They. were violently in earnest. Umpire
and referee were playing favorites. Worst of all} the
scrubs were taking an unfair advantage, of which their
opponents, for an astonishingly long time, were im blind
and bewildering ignorance. It was not for F¥ank to
say anything, so he waited and-wondered. 3
First, Spink, for the scrubs, kicked the ball to the
ten-yard line, where Handy took it and ran at back
fifteen yards. Right there the wrangling began over
what was claimed to be illegitimate blocking. The umpire
thought the blocking was fair, and then admitted he
hadn’t seen it. A few on the side benches began to jeer!
The players themselves were warming up and soon for-
got that they were on exhibition. . A wild spirit of frolic
and horseplay seemed to. take possession of everybody.
During the last half the spectators left their benches
and closed up on the side lines. When, somebody. got
the ball and ran it back, a small crowd crossed the lines
and howled and yelped as it moved along in the wake of

 
~

 

 

3 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY, Fe
|
the play. | Line plunges, which had made good some time THe bow an: é s 7 ae a |
before, now failed miserably.” The attacks that’ pen- about in detec ee ee a oy
eirated the line seemed to tneet too many menvin the track from the ties oe eee ee et black Al
secondary defense. Then somebody discovered some-_ steed plunged i frett ae are although | ‘on con of
thing and somebody yelled: “Referee! The scrubs are © stantly, the black’ e the ae “—S Chanees post dily te !
Blaying fifteen men!” Monit tanec yes of the rider held st€a :
Well, as it proved, it wasn’t quite so bad as that; yet, “I'm looking for Peder are tat wii | the rider, |
Wy actual count, at that moment, it was found that there abruptly liftinoe his vy hae ertiwell!” shouted 4
Were twelve mer in scrub uniform. Weird groans of “Vow re aie! Ainslie skoe es ae Merfy: : ;
diseust fiéated over the field. Two of the tackles ex- getting to his feet a a him, but at him, said + coil a i
Changed words. After that, in every scritimage, they stand, and leaning over the rail of thes ik
devoted their attention largely to each other. The game Whoo (2. pie ter - 4 tossed fai |
Was finished in indescribable confusion, with spectators a defiant vel} inate Hoe threw up his chin aa Barzy 8 >|
Mixing Hidiscriminately with the players. Merriwell was Blunt, of the Bar 7 Ran 7 Whoop-ee! a Cow- i
Wishing he had left the place with Clancy and Ballard. boy Wonder!” Sear eee known to fame as a athe 4
“Well, Chip, what do you think of it?’ demanded words in a sort By h: ooking | sky ward he shone aan Ft
Spink, red-faced and panting, leaning over the grand- escape Merry, he ihenea one orcas ne howe: f
Stafid rail. made. athle SP = or nose Be a7
“Great!” answered Merriwell,, with grim irony. more Sceae sn ee lowering his eyes ang oath
“How long will it take to make the regulars a winning oh a pair Gf nes an s ae what if | did cut me "
ve. ; as are ae) a sa ais ieee “Reep your. shirt OH. Bld a A "et doesttt Ai
About a thousand years, the way they are going. make ary difference w it,” said Merry. , ote vet
"Oh, but say!” protested Spink, “they had-to get a gold spoon or 5 a eet you cut your teeth os |
little ftin out. of it.” care, one wav of ecu i What the mischi¢
"AW right,” grinned Frank. “When you get through eT pave vice? aE paoen t I
with the fiin we'll talk business. Now, l——” fever int ae exploded the Wonder. “Now, 108 ee eB
teh. a thing, in the way of athletics, from my 4

Something happened, just then, and it happened sud-
denly and directly under Merriwell’s eyes. A black
horse vaulted over the breast-high picket fence at the
end of the grand stand—sailed over it as gracefully as
a swallow on the wing. . Three jumps carried the horse
across the cinder track and into the football field. There
tie animal whirled about on his hind. feet, fronted the
nd stand, and reared.

ors
A

gta
Spectators and football players’ had scampered to: get
out of the horse’s way. Instinctively they grouped into
@@ astofiished half circle—the half circle wide open in
from) of the grand stand, and the mettlesome horse being
ailewed plenty of toom.
Mvel if it isn’t Batzy Blunt!” cried-an Ophir man.
fe eee, Barzy!’ shouted another. “Thought you were
if. PORE 2”
eMaeeeup your mind to be one of us, Barzy?” called
aad,
See that moment the spirited black had claimed all
Smee: attention. He now became aware that. the
Rowse bore a rider—a young fellow of seventeen or
eigmieen, who sat the black like a centaur and was thor-
oughly the master of his fiery steed.

   
 

HP

The wider wore a battered sombrero, and from under
the somibrero’s rim fell hair as glossy and. black as the
horse $ Ceat. ['rom beneath the rim’s shadow two eyes
like beads of jet looked across the cinder track and into
the grant stand, directly at Merriwell. The eyés were
triiculent;| they held a challenge and a dare.

Phe black-haired, black-eyed youth wore a faded.blue
fanieh shirt from which the sleeves had been cut away
just below the shoulders. Crudely sewed to the breast
of. the shirt were characters which had been as: crudely
hacked out of white cloth. The,ycharacters were a dash
and a letter Z, so: “—Z.’’ The rider was further attired
in blue overalls, lopped off at the knees. On ‘his feet
were.carpet slippers, held snugly to the ankle with thongs
of buckSkin. The soles of the slippers were armored
with home-made spikes.

dad, } , feos: j
uit Tl bet a row of dobies he couldn’t have es

a hundred Warde‘;

as ae eee in a hundred minutes. All v8 oon

ie Ceti Sports ] ve done for myself, There wast!

eS be, reaker In our family to hand the knae 3

done ELS seconcthand ability ever figured in what am
ne, or tried to do” eine hcg

If you're tryine to
“that T have inhera,

a lave inherited m
youre barking up tl
accomplish what littl

“Huh!”

 

mnake’‘ out,” said Frank sharp ai |
y athletic ability from my fathet) a
le wrong tree, I’ve worked h
; € I have done in track or field!
ed Blunt grunted, y Capers
Side Serre ait, oldy
ay aTZV ) ‘ >
Living just ats Blunt. I'm’ an independent at a
won't join th ee ate between Ophir and Gold Hill | 7 |
; € club in either place. Although im shin ;

ing light ;
es mM pretty nearly t
’ So arl } WAT 6 1d d ign oe ye
don’t blow about it.” y every sport that’s going,?

I ‘see you don’t,”

“Don't wet ¢ :
ret So0urcastic r a oT 4
when all Tm staat? es You think I’m blows ott
can’t discouy 28 to do is to introduce myself. 1
‘ age meé and. |’ 5 ight 8
catalooui BA att a m going to keep Tig ee
to a, aa all the Blunt details. When i ta knee high |
: asshe af ee A
doorstep Bon | was left on Hilt. Boorlands
fit, and Mr B and was foreman for the Bat
> « 4 S ale
Bat Z divided dene took me in, and the boys
name, they {tists g teal of my keep. Not having 4
, Y‘JUSt Called me Bayo <}
ve ks arzy, after francis.
es ‘0 what: I say, Chip Merriwell
could heay YOu if Twas rank 2

“There are no fanc

or 4
hanging to me. T’m just pl

said Frank d bai Tas .
é ryly. :
now;

 

swereéd. a mile off,” “>
“Never mi Me
Ne nifid the vo! the
words and wr ume of sound—just sort out

ap your intellect
b r tr AGA y ect

Any a ae when I’m excited

O Walk | learne ¥

nt ae to ride. Ax soon as I could rides

se : un atid Jump and to do ny own

eét. in 4 backwoods ath]

town than Phoenix |

for thy age, and I’m no

Blunt paused and sli

always
around them. 1 eek
When T was old enol

<a eeewe nn antl.

een RR en

things om!
z . eT
; ete, and never sawoa bige 4
ut i'm big for my size arid . iD
Ats. . i V.
t taking a back seat for an} bac ; Y
PL: ag Hide
d Out of his saddle, droppiis " :

7

Sete

be RNR

c+ eh eo

Q

st
st
pl
h

ne
dle
ay of Blunt until that Moment,

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

‘reins so that they hung from the bits. The perfectly
trained horse stood as though hitched to a stone wall.
Merry was somewhat perplexed in trying to account
for the words and manner of Barzy Blunt. Was the
fellow unbalanced? His rambling talk rather indicated
that hé was; and yet there was that about him which
caused Frank to withhold a hasty judgment.
sWhatever else Blunt might be, certainly he was not
an agreeable acquaintance. There was something dis-
tinctly hostile in his bearing. Frank had never heard
so. what could he possibly
have done to earn his animosity ?
; The Cowboy Wonder advanced to the railing of the
“grand stand. Frank eyed him critically as he ap-
"proached. He was clean-cut, neither too slim nor too
vhéavily set, was straight as a pine, and had a remarkable
- depth. of chest for a youth of his years. His face and
his exposed limbs were almost as brown as an Indian’s,
‘and he walked with a springy, self-reliant stride that
showed a course of hard and persistent training.
His costume, patched up out of ithe odds and ends of
a cattle camp, was incongruous in the extreme. For all
that, however, the physical perfection of the form the
garments partly covered aie as a curb on an observer’s
<tmirth. Eyes as keen as Merry’s had no difficulty in

Ieo* recognizing the power and prowess fippling under the

» tellow's bronzed skin and flowing through, his every
emotion.

> Blunt came to a halt within an arm’s reach of Mer-
—aiwell. For a moment. the two regarded each other
"steadily. _ Frank’s glance was winning and friendly, while
Blunt’s was filled with insolent defiance.

*T was in Phoenix,” said Blunt, at last,
_ pulled off a few athletic stunts here in Ophir. When I
got back to the ranch yesterday the boys told me about
a ee I suppose you think you’re cock of the walk,
feos

“Not at all,” Frank answered.

“Ves, you do! Blame it all, don’t I know? You’re
stuck orf yourself because you’ve gone up against a few
-sertubs in this town and got the best of them. You are
putting on dog about it, that’s what you are. Bradlaugh
“has opened his arms and taken you in, and you're suip-
~ posed to be the king-pin at this athletic club.. Shucks!”

Barzy Blunt's upper lip twisted contemptuously. Frank
~Iooked at him keenly and began revising his early estimate
' of his character. Blunt surely must be cracked, for his
f _ talk was childish.

at eal ¥e come over here,” Blunt went on, “to meet you in
. ontest or two. I want to see whether it’s your own,

0: your father’s reputation that has caused you to be
“Yaken in here and made so much of. In other words,
~ Merriwell, I’m not going to leave this field until I find
“out whether you’re a fair shake or a false alarm. W hat
do. u want? A high jump or a running broad jump?
Pole ¥ault or throwing the hammer? A hundred- yard
+ dash or the one-twenty “hurdles ? Name your choice and
a well gd at it. I can lick you, if you’d rather have it
~ that way, or I can put you on the mat, catch-as-catch-can.
‘Come ahead, Merriwell, and let’s see\what there is to
‘i you.”

Frank’ wanted to laugh in Blunt’s face. But he did
not. Batk of Blunt’s defiance was that insolence that
demanded a lesson; and back of Blunt’s bragging was

“while you

% 3

the physical ability that made his dare of particular
interest. All right,” said Frank, and vaulted. lightly
over the railing into the cinder track.

CHAPTER II.

“rE GET YOU YET!”

“What’s the ruction, Chip?”

The half circle of lads in dusty football uniforms, and
their companions in ordinary clothes, had broken up and
formed themselves into a more compact group about
Merriwell and Blunt. Clancy and Ballard, returning to
the field, had elbowed their way through the crowd to —
their chum’s side. Clancy put the question, throwing ©
the while a sharp glance from Merry to the on
W: onder. i

“T’ve been challenged,
a flicker of a smile.
Challenged to what?’

Clan,”

ine frie throwing the abe to using our fists. ~
name is Blunt, Barzy Blunt. He has found out that I ie
am stuck on myself, ‘and that I’m putting on dog.% 7 ~~

“What does a chap do when he puts on dog?”
turned to inquire.

Hannibal Bradlaugh, son of the president of the ¢lub,
limped up at that moment. He was just recovering
from a sprained ankle, and had to walk with a cane.

“You put on dog,’ Hannibal explained, “by getting
into. your, glad rags and acting as though you were the
whole works. To say that:about Merry,” he went on,
with spirit, “is slander of the worst kind. Everybody
knows it. Chip,” he added, turning to Frank, “you're
taking Blunt too seriously.’

“Blunt came here to. have some sort of a go with me,”
Merry answered, “and I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“He’s a queer duck, and when he gets an idea in/his
his head you couldn’t blow it loose with a stick of dyna-
mite. But nobody pays any attention to Blunt. All his
life he has been up against the hard knocks, and that
seems to have soured him. He isn’t a bad fellow at
heart, but his judgment i is lopsided. Better let me patch--
it up with him, Chip.” s

“Not on your life, Brad,” returned Merriwell hastity.
“Tf Blunt has got it into. his head that I’m a four-flusher,
it wouldn’t be possible to patch it up without giving him
the idea that I was afraid to come to the scratch, We'll
have to settle this thing once and for all, and it might
as well be now.”

“You'll not settle anything,” declared Hannibal, his
face becoming grave. ““No matter how many times you
get the better of him, he'll not give up. He’s as ob-
stinate as a bulldog, and he’s got a deuce of a temper.
I don’t know but you'd better go on, though,” he finished
reluctantly. “As you say, if Blunt thinks your craw-
fishing, it will only make him worse. What are you
going to do?”

“We'll go over the straightaway. for a hundred yards.”

“Better run over to the gym and get into your togs,
Chip.”

Merry shook his head.

“Tf I’m putting on dog in these clothes,” said he, “I'll
beat him in them. A pair of spiked shoes is all I want.”

Claney looked dubious, but Ballard. hustled, off after
thé shoe.

Blunt was not so loquacious as he had been. On the

 

Ballard
: NEW ‘TIP ‘TOP WEEKLY,

contrary, from the moment Merriwell accepted his chal-
lenge he had dropped into grim taciturnity.
at’ll I beat you at first: he inquired, stepping

e while Frank was putting on his shoes.

“Il believe,” Merry answered cheerfully, “that I’ll let
you lead me down the cinder track for a hundred yards,”

“Easy money! Hurry up and get into your sprinting
clothes.” .

“Too much bother,’ Merry drawled. “I guess these
will do.”

For a moment the closely knit form of the wonder
stiffened. He stared, and then a flash of understanding
crossed his face, to be quickly followed by a black frown.
Fie must have realized that, if Merriwell was going to
"heat him, it was to be done in such a way as to leave no
“shadow of doubt as to which was the better man.

“Nothing fair about that, neighbor,’ growled Blunt.
“If 1 beat you, every one will say you weren't in shape
t6 do your best. You’re leaving a loophole to squirm
Stnrough.’”’

— Yotrre not going to beat me,” said Merriwell de-
fiedlv.
i¢ black eyes glittered fierce denials of the words,
Blunt did not open his lips. He walked to the start-
ig lime and stood there, waiting.

A hurried organization had been effected to see that
the affair was properly taken care of. Spink acted as
starter, and made a quick trip to the clubhouse after
the official starter’s pistol. Ballard and Handy acted as
judges, and a piece of twine was stretched across the
end of the course.

*Mérriwell’s too careless,” averred those who were
wnelined to favor Blunt. “If he'd get out of that shirt

"and those flamed trousers and go into this event like he
meant business, likely enough there'd be nothing to it.
Barzy can go like a singed cat when he takes the notion.
Prom the looks of him he’s got that notion now.’

Spink was not only starter, but referee as well. He
gave a few hurried instructions, and then cate the or-
der: “On your mark! Set!” And then, bang!

Away they flung, both runners, for a few strides,
side by side. Merriwell’s white shirt flapped as he raced,
and Blunt’s red carpet slippers worked like a pair of
piston rods.

There was something grimly humorous—perhaps a
trifle pathetic, if one had sentiment—in those abbreviated
overalls and that faded blue shirt with its hacked-off
sleeves and weird design on the breast. At one end of
the flying figure, overlong black hair fluttering in the
wind; and, at the other end, two crimson streaks sliding
along the cinders,

Merriwell’s generous nature had been touched. Gladly
would he have given Blunt that race, and have stood
‘convicted of “putting on dog,” if thereby the matter
nught have ended agreeably between him and the Cow-
boy Wonder. Yet his knowledge of human nature as-
sured him that this was not the way to handle Barzy
Blunt. Blunt had a. conviction, and Merriwell, for
Blunt’s own good, could not temporize with it.

For a heart’s beat or two Merriwell dropped a little
behind; and then, close to the finish, he spurted’ and

broke the cord, leading the Wonder by perhaps a foot.
i was not much, but it was all. Merriwell cared for.
_ Had he desired, he could have won by a yard as easily
as by a foot.

As

ryty

or Rat ee , .
leche way Chip Merriwell | the, On dog?’
ienacy hes lad no sentiment to waste on the de

ring on t ;
exci ee the next cow-puncher who th

Others j 2 ‘ : :
joshing ef the crowd likewise indulged. in remaaes
bimaihtig Geom to go over Blunt’s head. &

: m he made his way directly)

smiling, but it was a queei™

l, and scarcely friendlysy

ay drew nearer Merriwellyy

ou did his hands. <
“byt | Well, old chap,” Frank began ‘Ae

“ec ‘
‘Look 6 ‘ :

fe ut . .

nibal. for him, Chip!” suddenly sang ones

Prk ty mt

was aN oa that Mer ty discovered that Bludes

The onatee ae retaliation, and not at all come
made athlete had a homemade code)

Own, it seem |

‘ €d) and was #uahs ith it
; . , as : 1
Own peculiar way tushing through with?

Merry coul fences
was at his Avg Meg Set out of the way, for the. f >

and, like lighty; He did the next best thing, B@
get and nie ean grabbed for the best hold i
Th je me to save him from immeGe
der,” and discs aii EO ak Satie aves
over the chet. “ither opponent any material ie

“Break away there!” | =. f
, * Shouted Clancy. Bin

&

Ci

“What sort of - 3
demanded Baits. + Tough-house do you call thisy
7 1€y would
lelped, had hot the
them to keep back
clung to each Other’s
Ing through his set te

calm voice of Merriwell @

“Or a moment or two the WE
neck, Blunt still smilingy d
Swift effort. Frank = and nerving himself #2
to break any hold ‘7 Temained on the defensive
ee '§ antagonist might be lucky ™
Suddenly Bly

his arms {alti C
novice, with 278 '9 Frank’s knees. Had Fratisy
might have fon coe of the art of wrestliPBy,
hurled him back oth his legs close together ams
As it was Wate d, turned, and fallen on hitty
Ping Frank’s Sane Yt Blunt secured another orgs
the left. Here a eg and simultaneously bae tif
throw Frank Ryan -. Opportunity for Blunt toga
lost by the Aaa his head—but the opportam
is right th i pase which Frank instantly?
brown throat cae er its way around the
Sasping, Blunt ae compressed it hard. Choking
then Frank envi iy telaxed his grip of Frank’s i
secured a strangle coe Move as quick: aS
but. surely forced Blant backyee en a

Frank

Was conse;
Sc1ous ; ’ a

only a man’ can i 18 of Blunt’s wondrous st

harsh contact of fcome conscious of such @

limb. ‘The Co, " muscle against muscle and lint
skill, ~ POY Wonder had power, but #

For one hearth

drew upon h
against the
backward, g
yielding of ny
and, had th

ily, do
nterfered, and others wo :

le ty dial t i L
nt wrenched clear and ducked dowaw

is Tet eae moment after anotheh
ihevitable ero and fought “En
Rank . neh b ' e was» &
ing way final] y inch he
“Tve and m

ey been ma

 
*

7

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

Plinging aside the weakening arms that clasped his
Waist, Frank leaped up and stepped backward. The
Wonder lay sprawled on the cinder track, the queer,

-mirthless smile still on his face. His eyes were blinking

and he was half stunned.

“That'll be about all of that!” said Hannibal indig
nantly. “Blunt had no business forcing matters as he
did, Chip. He was worked up on account of losing the
‘race, and that bulldog nature of his sent him right after
you.”

“He came with a smile,” panted Frank, “and I thought
he wanted to shake hands.”

~That’s a singular thing, about Barzy Blunt. When-
sever he sees red he always smiles.”

Biunt lifted himself to a sitting posture and got slowly
to his feet. With his old smile he started once more
for Merriwell. Clancy, Ballard, and three or four others
got in his way.

“What’s the matter, hey?” the Wonder demanded.
“Isn't it the best two out of three? Merriwell has only
had one fall.”

“Clear out, Blunt,’ ordered Hannibal. ‘“We’ve had
enough of you for this afternoon. And I reckon you’ve
had enough of Merriwell.”

_ “What sort of a rhinecaboo do you call this?’ flamed
Blunt. “Is this square treatment? I came all the way
from the Bar Z for a few little set-tos with Merriwell,
and here you cut us short right in the middle of the best
‘go’ of the lot.’

“There's your horse,” said Hannibal, pointing. “You
take it, Barzy, and go home.” .

Bradlaugh did not speak angrily nor with undue sharp-
ness, but what he said was spoken in such a way that
Blunt could not stand upon the order of his going. “After
a moment’s hesitation) he turned and moved off toward
the place where he had left his horse. His strength had
returned, and he walked with head up and shoulders
back. '

“Meanwhile, Woo Sing, who had watched ‘the trace and
bout with great interest, pushed close to Merriwell. The
Chinaman wore a happy smile, for he felt that he had
been splendidly entertained.

“Missul Melliwell,” said he, “my blingee oné piecee
letter.” . |

He passed over the white object he had been holding
in his hand.

“Sing,” answered Frank, “have you had this letter here
all during the best part of the afternoon ?”

“No gettee chance givee letter,” explained Woo Sing
apologetically. “Boss he sendee, my no gettee chance
to. givee. You savvy? Heap plenty. excitement allee
time. Woosh! China boy have got muchee fun.”

* “You had so much fun you forgot to deliver the letter,”
commented Frank. .

He had the letter open in his hand and was reading its
contents with wide eyes when Barzy Blunt galloped up
and halted,

“TIl get you yet, Merriwell,” Blunt smiled. “1. still
believe that I’m the better man, and I’fl prove jt.”

He whirled and put the black to the fence. With a
light, swift leap, horse and rider were over the fence

yand away.

Hannibal Bradlaugh looked troubled. As for Frank,
he had hardly heard Blunt's words, The letter was im-
portant/and claimed almost his Whole attention,

CHAPTER III.
ORDERS FROM BLOOMFIELD.

“Is it anything of importance, Chip?” queried Ballard,
noting Merry’s thoughtful expression. ,

“T should say so! Our orders have come at last.”

Claney gave an excited jump.
“By glory!” he cried. “What are they, Chip? Pa
gasping for ‘em, like a stranded fish for air.’ Ree
“Then you'll have to gasp,” laughed Frank, pushing the’
letter into his pocket. “You'll know all about it Gm B.0
little while, Clan,” he added. “You, and Hannibalk Que
Pink come over to the clubhouse with me. I want t6 seep WY
Mr. Bradlaugh.” a ee
As the four boys moved away, Spink halted them with =

a word. e
“Got anything to say to this football outfit, Chip?” he
called. ees OS

“Just one thing, Spink,” Merry answered. “You feleye
lows will never beat Gold Hill until you learn’ the dit
ference between a football game and a riot,”

Frank and his friends walked on. \ Close to the grand
stand Frank paused for another change of shoes, and
then the party gained the clubhouse only to find that Mr.
Bradlaugh had returned to his office in town.

“T’ve got to see him at once,” said Merriwell. “You
can’t walk into town with that game ankle of yours,
Brad,” he added, “‘so I suppose you'll have to stay here.”

“I’m hankering to be with you when you talk with
pop,” returned’ Hannibal. “It's not far, and if two of
you will give me a hand on each:side I can make it with-
out delaying the trip.” :

They set off from the clubhouse at once, Claney and
Ballard supporting Hannibal. Merry persisted in keep-
ing silent about the letter, and so the talk naturally
foctised on Barzy Blunt.

“The fellow talks as though he had some education,”
Merry remarked. \

“Hilt Boorland attended to that,” said Hannibal. “He j
was a Cornell man. Boorland certainly did the square a
thing by Blunt.

“Blunt has the making of a star man. What he lacks,
Brad, is the right sort of training.” :

The distance between the clubhouse and athletic field
and the town of Ophir was not great, and the four lads) |
were soon in the ragged main street of the mining/camp. |
Bradlaugh was the representative of the Eastern syndi- 4)
cate which controlled the big gold mine and stamp mill”
just south of town. His offices were in an adobe build-
ing, which had been a stage station and, landmark long ~
before the discovery of the mine had made the town’ ~
possible. ‘3

Bradlaugh, in his shirt sleeves and close to.a swinging
olla, or water jar, was sitting in a tocking-chair on the ~
front porch, dictating to a stenographer. He waved!»
the lads toyseats and asked them to excuse him for a
moment while he finished his dictating.

When he was done, and the stenographer had vanished
inside the building, the president of the O. A. C. turned ~
glumily to Merriwell. |

“That was a fierce exhibition the boys, put up. this
afternoon,” said he, “and I hope, Merriwell, that you are
not completely disgusted. You must make allowances
for the inadequacy of Rynder, the formiet coach, With
you in charge, I am positive, the elevep would make’a’

is
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: NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY

splendid showing in ample time for the game with Gold
Hill next month.”

“There’s good material there, Mr. Bradlaugh, if it’s
tightly handled,’ Merry answered, “but it’s a question
whether or not I can be able to help you out.”

Disappointment filled the older man’s face.

"Vou see, it’s this way,” Merry went on hastily. “T
have been in Ophir on waiting orders, and my time has
Practically been my own. To-day, though, I got a letter
from home, and the work that brought me here has to
De started.”

Bradiaugh lighted a cigar and settled himself back
Be@imfortably in his chair. Merry took the letter from
hisypecket and plunged at once into its important details.

®*VYou have been rather longer on waiting orders in
Ophir,” Frank read, “ ‘than I supposed you would be.
Whe mattersis one of business, however, and the busi-
Meas had to develop. I cannot, even now, be as explicit
as 1 should like, but if your first work is successful, and
the mattef proceeds, you will understand everything be-
fore the business is finally wound up. The townspeople
of Ophir, one or more of them, may be able to help»you.
It was to this end that I wrote and suggested that you
and your chums make yourselves ‘popular in the town.
From your letters I am glad to note that you have suc-
ceeded in this, even beyond my own expectations.

“ ‘Briefly, Frank, you are to find an old, played-out,
and deserted mining camp somewhere in the Picket Post
Mountains—a settlement which, in the heyday of its
fortunes, was called “Happenchance.” I cannot give
you the location of this lost town, otherwise than by the
general statement that it is somewhere in the Picket Posts.
If I am reliably informed, there is some one, perhaps
several, in Ophir who can direct you accurately. Secure
your information, outfit yourself. and then find this lost
town.

“‘If you succeed in this, and if my information is
reliable, you will discover in the town one building which
has-escaped the ravages of time and the raiding of Indian
freebooters. Go to that building, examine it, and then
send me from Ophir a full report’of whatever you find
there.

“Tf this pans out at all as I am led to suppose it will,
your work in Happenchance will only have nicely begun.
All that is to follow, however, depends upon your suc-
cess or failure in finding the lost town and in exploring
the building in-question. Perhaps matters will be
dropped forthwith and nothing further done. I cannot
tell about this until I receive your report.”

“That’s about all, Mr. Bradlaugh,” said Frank. “Dad
is a bit mysterious, but he wouldn’t be so if he didn’t
think it necessary. There is the work; and now,’ he
laughed, “if you can tell me just how td go to find this
lost town, I’ll be obliged to you.”

“I’ve heard about this old camp of Happenchance,”
said he, “but only in a general way.“ A played-out min-
ing camp has every excuse in the world for being lost,
and for remaining lost, As a rule, if a town’s existence
rests on the prodtction of gold in the neighborhood, when
the gold fails there’s nothing for the town to do but to
fail with it. And people are not long in forgetting guch
a place, Usually the houses..are temporary structures,
and the inhabitants simply move out with their goods
and abandon their homes to the coyotes. If there 1s

Pig

really such a plac 1
y sucn a place at Happenchance. ’
present condition.” = a
‘How far are the Picket P
Merry inquired.
_ “About eighteen
forbidding range,

presume that’s ms
59
ost Mountains from hemee

or twenty miles. They’re a dismal,
water—unless the 2a re los tenn ound a
and nothing un eee € of the lost town found some=
nesses. You aor Se ee call any one into theif -
it appears to be ee are acting for your father, @@
at that,” Bradl- a matter of business with him. Byes

vat pa ‘augh smiled, “he appears a bit skeptical
oe rn ae trip will either clear away his doubts
question is hig ie the enterprise,” said Merry. ee
direct me to eee 2 of cat $e on te a
and I guess we P aces It can’t be a very big Tames
through the could go to the mountains and Biat

em for the lost town, but——”

eM c wW ae : : vee
u'd find that 3 difficult undertaking,” interrupted

Bradlaugh, “ .
might ie log a eee difficult but dangerous. #98
a waterless cduntry its no pleasant thing to be St in

No, Mecriget There would be other dangers, 100
you. The dies ae find some one who can direct
but you will havenre : ae will be none too Pe
tebe: c ake ai
ae to luck, tlh eae faith and then go aliea®
sradlau Ike off” edi
gh broke off suddenly, as though a happy

thought had ec
‘ oe c come to ‘ 3 ia
he hurried into the him. Getting up from the chaits

the superintende , office and could be heard ringimg up
wire Pidceute ue office at the mine on his privat
sha y He came back hic chair
’ a ueetl ota . . ac ¢ AG > : chal
with a self-satisfied smnile k and resumed his

to think of old Nick Porter,” He ©
‘eae Prospected over every foot of His
in for aes ae ad, yesterday, that he had come
super can fin nee stake, and: was at the mine. the

: a Nick, he’l] send him here at once

any one knows #¢] ;
; i 1e loc: iy
Porter. tion of Happenchance, it will be

T just happene:
plained. “Porter
country, and J

Clancy, Ballard - ; i
tenant The fa pesmnbal were glowing with eX
planned for his Bat aaou rank _Merriwell, senior, ha
adventure which ev eo tight in line with the spirit ©
where in the depth< 2 normal, healthy boy has SOMIS

€ depths of his Nature. The mine and Stamp

mill were no mor

10re than. a mile + i

~- é . a > ro) : SS
than fifteen minutes nails. troy pnt, spe is

§ Are a man c . n
tp to the office from the scant Eee por ,
“There he is!” en
18? excl: ? ‘ Z tine 3 *
Porter. umed Bradlaugh. “That's Nick

He OKs lila 4
as he ipa es like 4 Pirate, but he’s not so savas®
Throwing his lonh/4 ..:
the tee Teins Over a hitching pole in front,
in need of a essa ee up to the porch. He was badly
locks must have — and a shave. for his dingy; rop¥
jungle of ‘beard eet too Jong for"comfort’ dusty

g covered his face. He wore the “ste

Sombrero blue shi A t € b
» 5 . rt cordu r¢ ( sers
s ; 1 ‘ age “2

usage in the deserts EF soiled and stained from hat
or fifty years old, ; ‘ian judged him to be forty-five
region. He looked and a typical gold hunter of that
strapped to Potter's wo tor am arsenal of Weammme
the nature of Anna All the prospector had, ™
r S Woe « . . ‘ a
bard. » WaS a-dirk in a rusty belt scab
Porter,shuffled up tt
a word, looking with
face.

pares silently, aid stood, without

~

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<a

 
PO": tes a :
* Nick?” queried Bradlaugh,

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 3 ~

“How are you, Nick?’ asked Bradlaugh, reaching ott
his hand.

Porter took the hand. passively and grunted.

*‘Porter,”’ went on Bradlaugh, ‘Mr. Merriwell, Mr.
Clancy, and Mr. Ballard. You know Hannibal.”

The prospector merely followed Bradlaugh’s gesturing
hand with his gray eyes and did not even grunt. He was
a man of few words, that was evident. Perhaps years in
the wide deserts had made him so.

“Do you know anything about the lost town of Hap-
penchance, in the Picket Posts, Nick?” Bradlaugh in-
quired, after giving the man a cigar and making him
comfortable in a chair.

Porter had a flaming match on the way to his cigar.
At the question, the match stopped suddenly in its travels
and the gray eyes fixed themselves glimmeringly on Brad-
laugh.s As ‘the blaze began to heat his fingers, Porter
grunted and lit the cigar.

Bradlaugh translated the grunt into an affirmative
response. .Merry gathered that one grunt meant “‘yes”’
and two grunts “no.”

“I was pretty sure you would kriow where to find that
lost town, Porter, if any one did,” said Bradlaugh. “‘How
far is it from Ophir?”

-* “Eighteen mile as the crow flies, twenty by trail

“Good road?” went on Bradlaugh:

“Part 0’ the way—deserts an’ sich t’other part.”
“Could an automobile cover the ground?”
-) This ‘startled Merry and his friends. They had not
-thotight of using an automobile for the trip.
“Like enough. Anyways to a mile from the place.”

“When were you there last, Nick?’

. Two-year ago.’

“Are you footloose for a few days? Merriwell and
his friends want to go to Happenchance—sort of a flying
trip.” ;

“Great horn toads!”
disapproval.

“Will you go with the expedition and show the way,

“Hannibal has a bad ankle,

9
.

Portet showed his disgust and

habitable, in the Southwestern deserts the location of
a ranch, a‘settlement, or of a mine capable of being
worked, is determined by the water supply. Springs and
water holes, in many places, are.few and far between.
Settlers keep close to their life-sustaining reservoirs, and
travel only in those directions where water. is known
to exist.

The fact that the distant tops of the Picket Post Moun-
tains. could be seen from Ophir, and yet that the: moun-
tains themselves were a vetitable terra incognita, would
seem at first blush like a statement to be discredited.
Every Arizonian, however, knows that death lurks «in
the waterless hills, and the desire for exploration igs
weighed against the dangers to be encountered and, the
results to be obtained. The sun-baked Sierras hold little
of value to the average settler, and offer only an occa-
sional ‘‘strike” to the prospector for gold. Hence. it fol-
lows that the daring prospector alone gets to the out-of-
the-way places.

While the boys were talking, some one who walked”
with a cane came along the hall and rapped on the door.

“Walk in, Hannibal!’ called Merry. “Don’t: be so
formal.”

The door was pushed open and young Bradlaugh en-
tered the room.

“Didn't know but yout were having a star-chamber
session,” he explained. “I won’t stay long, fellows,” and
he limped over and sat on the bed. —

“Starting early to-morrow morning,” said: he, “we 5
ought to make the round trip to the Picket ‘Posts: and
get back to-morrow night. I’m taking an extrastire and
a full set of inner tubes along, together with a: quick-
repair otitfit, and so on, so we can fix up any difficulty
that happens to the machine in short.order. But Dm not
expécting anything to go wrong. It’s the part. of wis-
dom, however, to take water and rations for two of three
days, just so as to be on the safe side, Everything, will
be ready at six in the morning. Be at pop’s headquarters
at that time, will you?”

“Count on us,” said Frank.

“Now, one more thing,’ and Brad dtew a long face.)
“Old Nick is a drinker, and a drinker is never to be =
depended on. Out at the mine the prospector met a cow-
boy who happened to be an old friend. The. bottle |
passed, not once, but several times. Porter 1s sleeping

* “but I guess he could travel and drive my car, so if
=. “Whoop!” exulted Hannibal,
* “Start when?” asked Porter.
~ “Tosnorrow morning, bright and early,” put in Mer-
-_ iwell, highly delighted with the progress of eyénts.

“Fifty dollars,” remarked Porter,
» “Cheap enough!” said Merry. “You're engaged, Mr.
_ Porter.”
The prospector got up and pattsed at the edge of the
porch. .

“Dont ‘mister’ me, kid, of there’ll be fireworks,” he
growled. “I'll be here at six in the niornin’, expectin’ to
start. Sabe? All Iewant of it isa prubstake. Adios!”

He crossed the street to a saloon, cate out itt a moment
drawing the back of his hand across his lips, mounted,
.and totle back toward the mine..

CHAPTER IV,

DISTURBING DISCOVERIES,

Following supper, that night, Frank and’ his chums
vheld an animated discussion behind the closed door of
Frank’s room. The topic, as might easily be guessed,
was the projected expedition to the Picket Post Moun-

, oot ae ee tains, ;
* snlike the East, where every part of the country is

off the effects of it now.”
“He'll be-all right in the morning,” observed Merry. )
“That’s not the point. This cowboy was one of the 7
Bar Z outfit, and the liquor oiled Porter’s tongue so. that ~
he must have done a good deal of talking, Maybe yott-ve ©
noticed that when a man’s in his cups, he’s right the:
reverse of what he is when sober. Old Nick all but”
uses ‘sign language when he’s normal, but let him get —
‘soused,’ and it’s pretty near a cinch that he’d talk |
a blue streak. Suppose he talked to the “Bar Z~man ~
about our trip to the Picket Posts? After he got through -
with Porter, the cowboy hit the high places like a coyote
making for home and mother,
Frank went into a brown study, emerging from it, im)
a few moments with his face clearing. :
“T don’t care to publish the moves we’re making, —
Brad,” said he, “but I can’t see what object the Bar Z
chap would have for pumping Porter.. Even if they”:
wanted to find out what we're up, to, out at the cattle”
ranch, what harm is it going to.do if they knew we're”
off on a spin, looking for Happenchance?. No reason

 
 

8 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

a cowboy should hit the high places to get the news to
the Bar Z folks. How would it help them?”

“Give it up,” answered Brad. “Just thought I’d men-
tion it, that’s all. I'm for home, now, and a good night's
rest. Wish to thunder this game ankle was as good as
its mate.”

“It would be tough,’ laughed Merry, “if you had to
run the car with your feet. But you don’t Brad, and
your hands are just as good as anybody’s. You'll get
along all right, so don’t fret.”

Hannibal bade them good night, left the room, and
clumped his way down the hall. Merry and his chums
were not long in turning in, after that, and they slept
soundly and were drummed out of bed by an alarm
clock.

Pophagan, proprietor of the Ophir House, had agreed
to have breakfast ready at five-thirty, and to see that a
bag containing three days’ rations for five was prepared.
He proved true to his engagements, and by. ten minutes
of six the three boys were making for Bradlaugh’s office,
carrying their bag of chuck.

The car was there, waiting. Mr. Bradlaugh and Han-
nibal; also waiting, sat on the headquarters porch.

“Good morning, boys,” greeted Bradlaugh pleasantly.
“This is pretty early for me, but of course I had to see
you started in good shape. I don’t anticipate that you'll
have any trouble, and you ought to be back here by to-
night. Porter hasn’t shown up yet, but I’m sure we'll
see him before very long. With fifty dollars swinging
in the balance he’s pretty apt to be punctual. If you
have any difficulties at all, they'll center around Porter.
lf he takes a, bottle with him, get rid of. it somehow.
Merriwell, you can manage that. Do it in stich a way
as not to cross the old pirate.”

“I’m sure we can handle Porter all right,” said Merry
confidently.

“I do hope he won't talk us all to death,” laughed
Ballard.

“No danger of that,” returned Bradlaugh, joining in
the laugh. “You have a seven-passenger car, and there
are only five of you to ride. The'space for two extra
passengers has been used for’ stowing a keg and a
dozen canteens of water, a can of gasoline, and a smaller
can of oil. The only thing to be feared is that some-
thing will happen to the machine beyond your ability
to repair. In that event, two of you will have to take a
couple of canteens, come back to town on foot, and
report, and Ah!” he broke off abruptly, “here is
Porter now.”

The prospector had left his horse at the. mine and
walked into town. Merry gave him a keen look for evi-
dences of dissipation, but none were in evidence. With-
out a word to anybody, Porter climbed into the front
seat of the automobile and began looking through his
pockets for something. In his search, he removed a
bottle from his coat and held it on his knees,

Bradlaugh nudged Merriwell. ‘There’s the bottle,” he
whispered. “Contrive to get rid of it in some way before
Porter's thirst takes hold of him.”

“T will,’ Frank answered.

Pipé and tobacco were what: Porter was looking for.
He found them, replaced the bottle carefully in the
breast of his coat, filled the pipe, and began to smoke.
Frank was. watching covertly when the bottle was put
away.

The'bag of rations had already been. placed in the

 

i Al

machine, Merry C1.
Seni core aes! and Ballard climbed over Um
with his game fs seats in the tonneau, and Hagmil@ls
the prospector Cee climbed across the bulky knees?
wheel. Mr. be: order to reach his seat at the Steers
threw in the > radlaugh did the Hannibal
Take - clutch, and they started
Aw Ben aee the mine,” saiq Porter.
Bradlaugh oan bre enrough the edge of towmy Mr.
The three lads us Nat and shouted his good (WASHES
waved and shor on their knees on the tonneatt S028
shouted jn return until they were Out®

sight: then they
Bhs y faced ar ‘ ; r
the desert journe | around and settled themselves 4?

)
Between the town and

cranking ;

y.
cellent, and. the bic «; the mine the road was @%
at a high rate of ne Sixty-horse-power car rolled VEE ;
Was not so good Speed. Uhe trail, after leaving the mune
“The road’s ‘{ iL it had been, although it was still fait.
with anescnactet ag to Pete Loco’s,” explained Bente
Gurvin’s. Sea ieee “and purty tollable 104
your ole betzine a survin’s on the’ won’t be no thalls aU
desert.” Yagon will have to take to the OP

cee were two foot ley
dannibal had to take car
annibal : are
tically with one foot, for 4]
much service. Te
Che trai]

€rs and an accelerator whieh
of with one foot—or piee
le crippled foot was MOt ©
Wore. around i
) tra re. ¢ u
eagt. After a few min ran
was sighted, directly
Of an irrigated truck
a i and to one side of
san which four saddle
lat’s -P ° ?
an aitletrasies aoe dobe}”’ said Hannibal
come by raising « the stamp mill. He doubles his
is right in the vegetables for the miners, His “dees
the forks—two ey of the trail.’ This road ig Om
other fork feats ss “Strom Pete’s to Ophir—and io
The Gold Hill trail abe Hill, ten miles farther north.
“rc adia'X ~ A :'
above Ophir.” hee oe Sebonicabetat ve 4
The

Porter’s pj

S pipe wac

smell of the ee a black and battered brief

to put up with, b “ven when it was not in use, WASiMane
» but when it was; loaded nand Porter a

drawing at the st fj
d : Stem of jt a aise i :
ful. for those on the back Sea was someth iG

“Get rid of the pipe’ Chin »
voice, “and let’s tatee te ae

“Another whiff of th
strangle-‘me. The fell
ought to be lynched
of the car, Reddy

it pointed almost #aus
ree of traveling, an adobe house
c “ S 4
ahead, ‘squatted amid the greenem
Patch.
the corral was a hitching

horses were secured. e
“é Pete S

said Clancy, im @ ihe
ances on the bottle.” ;
iat smoke,” growled Ballard, “will
a that sells that brand of tobacc?
if cue the pipe and threw if 94%
Clancy did not answe,- old Porter while I oat
Merry was stati; fe He Was looking at Merry, and
5 ating at the four saddle horses SeCHt®

at Pete Loco’s hj
; S hitch ) ; f
moment, was a stud ole, Metriwell’s faces at that

“What’s the
“Look

ing {
y.
trouble, Chip >”
; at those horses. ¢
excitedly. “Do it quick be
the house. Say, does the 1
row look familiar >?”

With that Clane
c c y and B; -
study of the black bores ae
slipped in between the
a startling discovery,

, Mqujred Clancy,

Clan,” Merriweli answered
fore the machine gets, argun
ack horse on the end of, the

both began making #
Before the adobe MmoHse
Mand their view they had ‘made

Why,” exclaimed Clancy, “that’s -the blaek: Herse

Out behind the hots We™

1n--

 

 

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ii.

 

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 9

3arzy Blunt rode tothe athletic field yesterday after-
noon!”

“No doubt of it!” agreed Merriwell, and dropped back
it Ris seat with an ominous look.

CHAPTER V.

GETTING RID OF THE BOTTLE,

_ Of the three boys, Merriwell, in particular, had had
a good chance to become familiar with Barzy Blunt’s
horse. Clancy’s, and Ballard’s acquaintance with the
animal, on the other hand, was of a more casual nature.
Merry was sure the horse hitched at Pete Loco’s was
Blunt’s. This being the case, the question of why was
the brute there presented itself.

Hannibal, busy with his driving, had not seen the
horses. Merriwell had not wanted to’call his attention
to them, for to do so would have secured the attention of
Porter, as well. Caution suggested that the prospector,
on that point, should be left in the dark.

“Tf one of those’ horses was a Bar Z animal,”
Clancy, “it stands to reason that the others were
from. the same place.”

“They may. only happen to be there,’
riwell.

“And they may be there because we're expected to
pass Loco’s on the way to the lost town in the Picket
_Posts.. The Bar Z man carried ‘the news he wormed out
of Porter to the ranch,” said Clancy.

“That fails to explain why the horses are at» Loco’s.”’

“You're thick this morning, Pink,” snapped the red-
headed chap. “The horses are there because Barzy Blunt
and three others .are there ; and the four Bar Z fellows
are intending to follow us.”

“Por what purpose ?” f

“Oh, blazes, how do I know? I’m jest piecing out
a theory from what I’ve seen. Take it or leave it, Pink.”

eqit oe were playing an underhand gaine,’ said Bal-
lard, “and wanted to follow us, would ‘they hide them-
Selves and leave their horses in plain sight ?”

“Ask mean easier one,” grunted Clancy.
you think about it, Chip?” :

“Tt’s too complicated for me,’

said
also

said young Mer-

“What do

Frank answéred. “It
looks as though your theory was right, and that the Bar
*Z. cowboy had carried to the ranch the news he had

secured from Porter, so that Blunt and three others
could lay for us along the trail. But there’s an objec-
tion to all that, and it knocks the theory into a cocked
hat. What object would Blunt have in doing such a
thing ?”

“Getting even with you,’ hazarded Clancy.

“I’m pretty sure Biunt isn’t that sort of a fellow,”
Frank declared. “He's peculiar, but you’ ‘ll have to prove
he’s a desperado before I’ll believe it.”

“What are you chinning about?” Hannibal called over
his shoulder. “You’re leaving Porter and* me to our-
selves, and Porter is a pretty poor entertainer,”

The prospector roused up, at that, and gave one of his
characteristic grunts. Knocking the ashes from his pipe,
he laid it aside temporarily.

“JT reckon I’can entertain you all,”
“but-it won’t be talkin’,

of accomplishinents.
liquid refreshment.”
for his inside pocket.

‘Hannibal partly turned and cast a quick, uneasy glance

announced Porter,

The gift o’ gab ain’t on my list
Howsumever, I can offer a leetle
With that his hand went grdéping

at Merriwell. -Frank returned a. significant ,look and
placed a finger suggestively on his lips. He didn’t mean
that Hannibal was not to drink—he knew he wouldn’t
do that, anyway—but by the sign he wanted him to keep
quiet, no matter what happened.

“T’m going to spring something,’ whispered Merry to
Clancy and Ballard. “If we don’t have a drunken ‘and
useless guide on our hands it’s up to me to make a quick
play. Pretend not to notice’ anything.”

The prospector had taken the flask from his pocket
and was unscrewing: the top. An idea had flashed
through Merry’s mind.

Porter offered the flask to Hannibal. He shook his
head. Turning in his apt he presented it to the three
in the tonneau, one after the other. All ftefused.

a thought 9 ye was sports,” said Porter, “but ye ain't.”
“We're not that sort of sports,’ Frank answered.
“Well, I am,” and Porter squared himself in the seat

and lifted the bottle. Here’s hopin’ you kids have got
a good reason for goin’ to Happenchance, but I don’t
reckon it’s hardly possible. Not noways it ain’t hardly
possible, but here’s hopin’, jest the. same.’

Bracing himself against the slew of the car, he lifted
the flask toward his lips. Then, muffled, yet distinct,
clear, and hair-raising in its agony, a cry came from a
thicket of mesquite, ahead and to the left of the moving
car. ‘

“Help! help! Oh, save me, save me!”

Clancy jumped, and Ballard opened his méuth to yell |
ig gripped Clancy firmly by the hand and laid his Ry
fingers over Ballard’ s lips. ats

“Don’t notice it,” he whispered.
tention to it.”

Clancy and Ballard understood inst antly, ‘and their
rising apprehension faded into stifled merriment. Frank, ;
was resorting to a trick of ventriloquism. ingan effort to
get rid of Porter’s bottle. Hannibal was the only one © ;
of the boys who didn’t under stand. Clanépy who wa a
just behind Hannibal, leaned forward and Wy higpered Bs
his ear.

Half a dozen whispered words were en@ugh Ps
Hannibal “next.” When the prospector tug ned, 7
ment later, he found all four of the boys perfectly ut
concerned.

“Did ye hear that?’ .cried Porter. ‘

“Hear what?” queried Merry innocently. : hee

“Who yelled? Didn’t some ’un yell, out there, in’ the
bresh? Sounded to me like it was a womans voice
yellin” for help.” |

“What's biting you, Porter?” jeered Clancy. “Next
thing you know you'll 1 seeing elephants in the road.”

“1 thought—I—I * Porter’s words died into an
inconsequential gurgle and he sank back in his seat. “Oh,
well,” he went on, “‘sich things is li’ble to happen to a fel-
ler that roams the desert, an’ never sees a human for
days an’ days. There’s been months at a time when I
haven’t heerd no voice but my own; an’ when I begin
to git scairt of my own voice, I puts hotfoot for the
nighest settlement. Here’s hopin’, ag’in.’ |

‘Once more he braced himself and started the flask aa
toward his lips; and once more, higher, shriller, and a
shade more agonizing, came that voice from just aheac
and now to the right of the moving car:

“Help! Oh, save me! If you have a heart in your
breast, do not pass)on and leave me to perish!”

The flask, with its. contents untae was ey low-

“Don’t } pay any at- }

 
yA NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

ered. A: silence intervened. Then, suddenly, the’ still-
mess was broken by~a:‘mighty yell from Porter.

lheerd it ag’in, by gorry!”’ he roared. “Stop your
ole gasoline machine! Stop it, I tell ye! I’m goin’ to
Save that woman or die tryin’ !”

Porter was on his feet, hanging to the bottle with one
hand and to the back of the seat with the other. His
black beard was twisting with the convulsive movements
of his face. His gray eyes glared into thé mildly sur-
prised faces of the boys.

“There, there,’ wheedled Merriwell, in a soothing
tone. “Sit down, Porter, You'll be all right in a min-
ute. It can’t be that you’re very well.”

“Never was better’n what I be this minit!” whooped
the-prospector.- “You fellers deef? Can’t ye hear a
noise as loud as what that was? By gorry! Say, you
stop this car or I'll, stop it myself.”

Hannibal slowed down and brought the car to a halt.

“It ain’t noways possible I was the only one as heard

+ that voice,” said Porter, and turned again toward’ the
brush.: ‘It: come from right over yon,” and he pointed
ahead and to the right.

“Oh, dear ; oh, dear,” wailed a trembling, stricken voice,
‘lL ean’t last much longer! Is there no one to save me?”

‘The big form of the prospector was convulsed, as with
a chill. He was pointing toward the right side of ‘the
toad, and now the cry of distress caine from the left
side.

““T “was mixed a leetle on the location,” said Porter,
looking around at the calm and ‘serene faces in the ton-
neau, ‘an’ it’s over to the left instid o’ to the right. But

ye heerd it, didn’t ye?” 2

~Are you dreaming, Porter?” queried Frank sharply.

“Sit down there, now, and be quiet.”
/ Porter flung off his hat and ran his hand wildly through
; , his long, stringy hair. :
i ‘Tell me ye heerd it!" he implored. “Fer the love o
| | Mike, don’t make me ‘think I’m’ gain’ bughouse! Say ye
Pe eer FEL :
») ~*You’ye got phonographs in your ears,” said Claney
derisively.
ftae Hey,” there !’’
upp mitted 2” .
~ _ “Are you coming,” was the despairing answer, “or am

T'to be: left to perish?” .
/ “Chirksup!” shouted Porter, hurling ‘himself from
_ the caf. “I'll save ye, mum, an’ ye can gamble your

f boots ‘on that.”
~~~ He plunged into the bushes, ‘still hanging to the bot-

aS

Porter yelled.; “Are ye still bein’

,

tle, The boys could hear him thrashing around and. call- .

f =. ing, moving from point to point in the chaparral and
"| endeavoring to locate the lady in distress.

Hannibal, conyulsed beyond the speaking point, fell

“over the steering’ wheel and lay theré quivering. Clancy

| ~~: rolled off the seat and around on the supplies, red in the

fs face "and gasping. Ballard collapsed on the cushions,

. stuffing a handkerchief in his mouth to keep back his

|. voars of mirth. ;

. Merry, holding himself firmly in hand, flung his voice
now here and now there, putting the “lady in distress”
in half a dozen different places. As soon as Porter

~ located her’ in one place, gave a teassuring yelp and
plunged off to find her, Merry at once transferred his
> voice,to some other part of the chaparral, He had the
prospector runnin ross’ the road no less than four
tine had ‘hit ahead of the car, and then far

K Ff we + ys BY Nay

Ty

_ that high-powered car

‘automobile had reached

behind. ‘Ti * ae
, * len, deeming fii thas
tar enough. he n ig that he had carried the JOBS
lady stefacing ut this in the mouth of the imagm@myy
a acing it with a shrill and derisive laugh > ae
. 1, gO back. where y eae ig ah > .
Get into that car you belong! You annoy aes
from here i Tw ad see how quick you can get @ ay
Datiar is want this chaparral to myself,” es
so Keene in the trail, ahead of the car, look a
eae a. ait Startled way and rubbing his foreé->
S Callouse 1 is ; Ve
toward the automobile = fingers, He staggered slowly:
notwithstanding the Es To Frank’s disappointment, 42
the brush, the Sic mae running back and forth throug
WW -Wouldae shar eat continued to cling: to his flask.
e - lat r-f~ re oO y Ws ke ‘mae 4-« >
ter, peering at the ot] rattle your spurs ?” gasped Pof-
They had ai ate a ee Passengers in the cat. 77%
; “a stlaightened their facac ey eo
t 5 leit : cel
ing the prospector calmly. faces and were req :

“Do youoften have ‘thees ss p74 ired
Claney ith MiP She attacks, Porter ?’ inquired
time in all oe ne Prospector, “not frequent. BS
pen to me, © Didn't ever had anythin’ like this here Bape)
scrub? Now- she one hear a woman out there im #e ;
other place, until, by porer eee am now she was ai
she give me herder sorry, | Was all tangled up. Finally .
Porter held 4 eis on told. me: to dig out,” \ Bie
bridge: te lifted te os and eyed it gloomily. .Themy,
a stone beside the es ugh and sent it crashing dow 08
the fragments of gaat Che red liquor, flowing out OF
Cena ce i a sank swiftly into the sand. ‘s
the fragments ou ne the prospector, trampling Of 7%
have a chance to sit his heavy-soled shoes, “ye'll evel
comes 0’ what | ‘iat ae st ae 0’ shape ag’in. :

“Hand In ns Ou fe |
© one oO the ce Rui
ees A | ‘m dry.” ‘ ef ther id cantee “9 y I et ; ;
LV. erry, scarcely ab e ; 7 ; f passe |
one e e COvet ed Canteens. ] OT ter unc hee

threw back his he ;
: Uae ad, g
in his hairy throat, ’ and the gurgle of water was hey .

y reckon ye kin purce
my leetle spell, an’ J r

ed,” he said solemnly. “I’ve hag
some sort of a while ae I'm goin’ to be O. K for
a’ mile? Well. 4har~ Ce that there shack ahead, about ©
leave the roud. aat.S McGuryin’s. That’s where "We
from Pete Bere a to the desert, It’s eight 1 iles
lost camp o’ bei anctieh nigh onto seven mile from Hits
better a heap.” ance, rive on, pard. I’m feelin

.

CHAPTER Vt.
tA

The last water. ;
te 5 Dy vk 1 ¢
McGurvin’s, and th n that direction, was to be. had: at

LOST Town.

practically halted. They

drank at the w
1e well, eGurvin promptly appeared ane

assessed them a quarter each

Pies Whereis petween McGurvin’s andthe Picket
to be covered Fi ae ough the uplifts seemed close enough
mile or two out of Mec running jumps, After thé first —
ening into ‘foothills Svurvin's, the ground began rough= —
se fieor atuere it was that the: automobile
encountered its first difficulties, ete aS
Not more than an howe would have been required ‘for
SATS yc 9 devour, at mode speed:
ead a they lain ‘on 4 level; Bec wae ‘nine
oclock, and three hours had slipped away ‘before ‘the

a th j ny 11 o
itself unable to go farthes. ie yeas ane a ,

 

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. , =f

os

The machine was in a scorched little valley between steep hill followed‘ another, clear to the opening of the
© <= “two bleak hills. It was a sort of cul de sac, the valley fissure in the mountain wall, and the boys had not gone
Sa being closed at the farther end by a steep bank of sand far before they stopped their bounding and took their
es and gravel. : trying work steadily and slowly, just as the prospector
Pe ae “Here’s where the machine quits, fellows,” announced was taking it.

3 “Hannibal. “T don’t want to take any chances with the » “In goin’ through these mountings,’ remarked Por-
buzz wagon, for we've. got to use it to get back.” ter ; “even a jack rabbit has to take about a week’s rations
| “The car has done well, Brad,” said Merry, “to bring o’ jerked meat along to keep from starvin’ to death. It’s

Fas this far. How close are we to that lost town, the blamedest, most blightedest section o’ kentry what
| Petter >” lays out o’ doors. I ain’t wonderin’ that Happenchance

2,
Bins
+?

* “Less’n a mile,” replied Porter. “I reckon we better got:lost. The wonder is how it come to find itself in the
"mosey along if we’re to git there afore the sun makes _ fust place.’
footwork onpleasant.” They were in the fissure, by then, and the traveling
+ "We'll be with you in a couple of shakes,” said Frank. was easier. The passage was crooked, and so narrow
» “Here’s where we get into our spiked shoes, fellows,’ the boys could almost span its width by stretching out
he added to Clancy and Ballard. “It was a lucky thought their arms. Midway of it, Porter killed a diamond-back
of Pink’s to bring them along. They may save us a few’ rattlesnake with a stone. .
slips over the rough going.” “Look out for them things when ye git into Happen-
While footgear was being changed, it was decided that chance,” warned Porter. “They'll be thick in the broken
Hannibal should not take chances with his game ankle adobe.”
_ by going farther. Some one ought to be left with the The passage was about fifty feet long. It opened out
' Car, anyhow, and Brad was the logical one to stay behind. suddenly, and the boys found themselves standing on,a
“You can tell me*all about what you find in the lost sort of ledge looking off into a circular valley sur-
town, Chip,” said he, “and that will be the next\best thing rounded by steep-walled mountains. The valley may
tO going there myself. I’m all on tenterhooks to learn have been half a mile across in its greatest diameter.
what.-there is in the one building of the lost town that It was a forlorn-looking place. The only green things
has defied ‘the tooth of time. I’ve a notion it’s a bag to be seen were clumps of dusty greasewood and crawling >”
of gold.” cactus. In the valley’s center lay a great heap of débrisy)
“Don’t hope to find any gold,” said Merry. “None gouged through the middle by a sort of lane, . es
of those old settlers ever left Happenchance and forgot “That’s Happenchance,” said Porter, and chuckledy”
to take their yellow metal with them. If they had been “Ye’d think it was a heap o’ rock, scattered every which
$0 absent-minded as all that, raiding Indians would have way, if ye didn’t know it had oncet been a town” bg
found it long before now. When dad wrote those in- “Gee!” muttered Clancy. “I’ve seen a mushrat vile
structions, you can take it from me that he had some- lage that was a lot more inviting than this.” / ie
thing else in his mind.” ‘ “Here’s where I kiss our chunks of gold good-by,”
The treasure idea, however, was a pet notion with remarked Ballard grimly. “If Brad could see this Iaye7y)
- Clancy and Ballard. They refused to let Merry brush out, he’d revise his ideas of gold and precious stones”
it aside, and continued to talk of chunks of gold. “Well, I’ve done my part,” said Porter. “There's yer
“Each o’ you kids,” Porter called, “fetch along a can- lost town, an’ ye know the way back. I’m returning to)
teen 0’ water. One o’ you might tote an extry canteen the car, to wait for ye where there’s shade an’ gr
for me.” So long!” The prospector turned and shambled §
With good-bys to Hannibal, who responded with into the fissure. ie
hearty wishes for the best of luck, Frank and his chums “Can you fellows see anything down there that Ii
got out of the car and sprang lightly up the slope of the like a house?’ Merriwell asked, keeping his attentig
eo hist. ' firmly on the work in hand.
“There’s your canteen,” chirped Clancy, handing the “T can see something that looks as though it.might have af 5
extra water receptacle to the prospector. “Now, lead been Main Street,” replied Clancy, “but not a thing with”
‘on, MacDuff!” four complete walls and a roof.”
“T dunno what in Sam Hall you fellers want to seé “T’m wondering,” spoke up Ballard, “if‘this is really
that pile o’ ruins for,’ he grumbled. “It’s a-heap the lost town or just a little natural débris, heaved up
-pleasanter stretchin’ your legs in the shade o’ the Ophir by some earthquake ? Can it be that Porter is fooling
House porch. This ain’t goin’ tobe no picnic.of a ja’nt, us? Has he just brought us here, pretending that this
I’m tellin’ ye.” is Happenchance ?”
- Merry, in ‘the mean time, had been making a survey “That’s possible,” Merry answered, “‘but not probable.
of the towers and bastions of the Picket Post Moun- We'll go down and take a closer view Of the place. It
-taims. .He found them cheerless and forbidding, won’t take us long to discover whether those are ruins or
; ee that there hole in the clifts?” inquired Porter, buildings, or only piles'of débris scattered by nature.”
-and'he pointed to an opening in an otherwise solid wall They descended a slight slope, crossed a level stretch
‘tan opening that seemed little more than a crack or of ground, and ¢ame to the edge of the broken mounds.,
‘fissure from that distance. “Well, we go through that. The mounds were of adobe, there was not the least
On t’other side is a round valley, blasted by fires that doubt of that, and the rough marking of walls four-
oncet made this hull region a meltin’ pot. In that valley, square could be traced.
-T[ eale’late to find what's left o’ Happenchance. Let’s “This is the town,” Merry declared. “We'll stroll.
_mosey an’ git it over with.” . down the old Main Street and look for the sort of a
/ “He shuffled down the farther slope of the hill, his building dad mentions in his letter.” '
| younger companions bounding along at his side. One As the boys advanced along what had once been a ©

y

 
ae é
ears

ae

ee

ae.

cba ORE:

—_

BY | chance faded into plain surprise.

, tone of gentle astonishment.

a
sine

eat re

bile

Pte

ee

|, come in, young gentlemen!
| as my distressing circumstances will permit.”

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

thoroughfare through the mining camp, they observed
that only the structures on the extreme edge of the camp
were total ruins. Farther along they discovered walls
that were not wholly overturned. And presently, about
midway of the old street, they found, on their right, a
low building that was in a tolerable state of preservation.
The roof was intact. Here and there a whole pane of
glass showed in the windows. And there was a door.
hanging by one hinge at an opening in the front wall.

“Chip,” declared Clancy, “I guess that’s the building
your father referred to.”

“Then,” said Merry, ‘we're to go inside and see what
we can find. That’s the kernel in this nut of mystery.
Here’s where we crack the nut.”

He stepped to the door and put his hand to: push it
farther open. Before he could touch the old planks,
however, the door was drawn open from within.

Then, to the overwhelming astonishment of the boys, a
human figure appeared and stood in the opening! Like
an apparition the figure emerged from the gloomy depths
of the old adobe. All the boys started back, Clancy let-
ting off a wild yell and nearly throwing himself off, his
feet as he jumped.

ier

CHAPTER VIL.

THE: MAN* WHO LIVED IN HAPPENCHANCE,

The’surprise seemed to be mutual, only it did not strike

_, the man in the ancient doorway quite so hard as it did

the boys. The man was tall, and spare, and wore spec-
tacles. He had mild, blue eyes; and he had lowered his
chin so he could look over the tops of the spectacles in
> gentle reproof at the intruders, In his left hand was a
small volume, which he held open with a thumb and little
_ finger...
® © Merriwell\ slowly got hold of himself. His stunned
) bewilderment over finding a man still living in Happen-
More carefully he sur-
» veyed the’ stranger.
© Possibly the man was fifty-five. The top of his head
was bald, and the fringe below the bald spot was iron-
)) Stay. His face was smooth shaven, but deeply lined at
~~ the brow where thought wrinkles are mostly found.
? Over a gray flannel shirt he wore a black frock coat,
‘threadbare and shiny. His trousers, of black material,
were bagged at the knees and earth-stained. Brown ox-
fords covered his feet, the leather broken and torn by
much climbing among the rocks.
“Wonderful to tell!’ murmured this apparition, in a
“T was.reading Schopen-
hauer—a very pleasant author: in this environment—
» when sounds of your approach reached my ears. ~ Enter,
/ young gentlemen. Welcome, young)sirs, to my cave!”
ue “We don’t want to bother you,” said Merry deferen-
_ tially, for there was an air about the man which com-
pelled respect, ‘‘but we hadn’t expected to find any one
in this old, ruined tawn. It’s a big surprise to us.”
_. “Undoubtedly. Your arrival is also a surprise to me.
/ it may be that your coming is eyen ptovidential. But
| I welcome you as heartily

_ He stepped back into the gloomy interior of the old

tf y adobe, and the wondering boys followed. They presently

- found themselves in a large room, from. which the débris
had been removed. A cheap cot stood at one side of the

% “room, and a cheap chair at the other. On a shelf were

halfa- dozen. Ranke ;
1 dozen, books. A stone, in one corner, support

a tin pail in which was .
z ae “vas water and a long-handled dippeae
in the ii r ak 4 few Cooking utensils stood on @ Ae
trunk, co - 4Mt the foot of the cot was a cheap, HEM
K, battered from long service 3
“Sit down?” said th ; rd
r said > raving 1 toward
chair, the man, way ing a hand towar@
Vhe boys, however,
their places there.
Mor Merri
I iwell, and perhaps f{ :
tek oie ‘naps tor ancy
as well, events were I . ae

trooped. over to the cot an@

and Ba
a dream. Merry ae ce with all the unrealé
would open his io we ee thought that present
lost town, with eh ant hind he had been asleep ii
a aWabbae hel Ee. Te he olttzoh resolving himsel®4
a specter of his imagination, ; ‘
CAD nee tao aa
went oh ithe are myself, young gentlemen
tegen i ean am Phineas Borrodaile, late a
been dead to the vou pon ot the Middle West. — Rave
roundel tet : world, In these lonely and primitive GHt-
been months ations months. Yet, indeed, they have Ot 59
[ have fold dee profit, either mentally or physicaiy: ey '
one Garten m anc his mild blue eyes brightened —= OB
reef of what anew that were very amusing, afl@One ©
tinct and abidice ttnen bg gentiine Laurentian Bi
my environment’ Re ee ute naturally I am out of
eae ae ce a4 sense; and yet, I contrive nd
dropped ‘again anny “hy otlum cum dignitate.” is chit
“Will you English tay one at Merry over his glassers
“Bae Pea eash that for me? Vou 6: Com@ aaa
“ase with clignity,” answered Merr elt ch 16.
. V é-ty good. Iam da €d Merry, taking a ¢€ a oy
tion has come go far The acy a See that your iim
health suffered, taker: ne academy wore me down; By
and buried mys lf j ray threatened, sol left my Wer
did I select ee i this solitude, Why, ‘of all places,
journ? Young Petit and abandoned town for my go:
camp while it Was a the Fae es ee 4 a
injury receiv ue eight of its prosperity, | Aa
far erey eee blasting operations sé hin ae
me. After m: mente He died, but he left a’ letter #0F
, Tae years; when the demand for an 4
My Own case, I thought

ae became urgent in

that | Bie

at letter and I—er, hem! Pardon me, but I must 10h
er, Just now. ay

pursue that subject furth

A. ¢ i ~ es
every pint ee a ll Was ‘to bring me _provisigns:,
night I have ] Le © has not brought any, For a ‘fort
se ai} Phe ~ aeRy on half, tations, and this morning +).
you eal iDuek wos ot my food. “or that reason, 2 oe
eee N me, referred to your coming as providen-

‘i May return with You. to Gold Hill ?” ears

Aer alize ; : .
on ony. eee that he was dealing with cold facts, ;
Horiodaite a - disordered fancies of a dream. Phineas
carik & ephivee ta ans although he might have be
HS as T x 4

to, tetieve ais dimen Ime had some one not arrive
‘pee house in the old camp which Merriwell; senir,

ad called upon his. son to examine had yielded
ee Had that shrewd mind in ae Ble |
se inane that this would be the resuit? How

- aaa nowledge of Borrodaile reached Bloomfield and
gained the attention of Frank’ Th
Seni anti Svcs nk’s father, anyhow? Th

th it. HE ystery, but as yet Frank had no comeern
wi ie 4 Present work would Ke finished by ‘carry:
ing the professor back to Civilization and mailings bs

ee
4

tailed report to Bloomfield:

You're welcome to go back with us to Ophir;

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 13

fessor,” said Merry. ‘“‘That’s the town we have come

from.” 5
“Gold Hill is the county seat of this county,” was the

“response, “and I am anxious to reach there and file a
1ocation notice on a mining claim.”
#Vou've found a mining claim?” asked Merry.
“Exactly so, and right here in this circular valley
Where the gold was supposed to have been exhausted.
My riephew gave the location in that letter and I[—ah,
I forget. It is not to be talked about now. as
“My name’s Merriwell, professor,” said Frank ; “Frank

¢

f » *Merriwell, junior, to give you the whole of it, and my

“two friends here are
~. *Pardon! One moment! Can it be, by any chance,
~~ that you are the son of Frank Merriwell, of Bloomfield re
_ Phineas Borrodaile showed considerable excitement, and
» “half arose from the chair in which he had been sitting.
“Ts this possible?” he added. 3
~ “Prank Merriwell, of Bloomfield,’ Merry answered,
“is my father. Not only that, professor, but it was my
father who sent me here.”

“He sent you here—to find me:

“ie did not let us know who or what we were to
- find—just wrote that we were to come to the old camp
© of Happenchance, in the Picket Post Mountains, and see
* what there was in the only house that remained in the
~ town. Here—you can read his letter for yourself.”

\ ~ Frank walked over and pushed the letter into the

professor's shaking hand. Borrodaile read it slowly and
eatefully, When he had finished, he laid the letter on
his knee, removed his glasses, and wiped the moisture
from his eyes. i

‘My old friend has remembered me,” he said huskily.

' *Hechas sent his son to relieve my distress. I have noth-
= nteal from you now.

| mete Gt up and tae one of Frank’s hands in both
his‘own. The professor’s emotion was deep, and he was
finding it hard to keep it within bounds.

Dropping Frank's hands, the professor turned to take
4 Mexican bell-crowned hat from a peg in the wall. —

“Tf you will come with me,” said he, with shaking
eagerness, “J will show you my mune, and then you will
understand why it 1s necessary for me to get to Gold
Hill as soon as possible” He pulled the hat down on
his head and started stumblingly toward the door. “Frank
Merriwell’s son,” he could be heard muttering, “the son
of my old friend Merriwell!

Surprises were heaping themselves one upon another.
Clancy and Ballard had been listening wide-eyed tn’ the
“talk that had passed between Merry and Borrodaile. As
the professor hurried from the old house, Frank was
joined by his chums on the way to the door.

“He’s gota screw loose,” said Clancy, “or he wouldn’t
have stowed himself away in a hole like this.”

“Although dad didn’t say it in so many words,” said
Merry, “yet I'll bet he had us come here to see if the
prof was staying in the old town, and to help him if he
_ was.”

The boys hurried on, left the house and saw the pro-
fessor just leaving the farther end of the débris-coy-
ered, brush-grown street. Wrapped up in the purpose
he had in mind, he was paying little attention to the lads
he had called on to follow him. .

Gaining the steep walls that hemmed in the valley, at ©

across from the mouth of the fissure,

‘a point directly :
i Here 'there was a spring

Borrodaile turned to the right.

of clear water pouring out of the rocks, flowing into
the valley for a dozen yards, and then disappearing sud-
denly through a gap in the earth,

This water, there was plenty of evidence, had been
used by the old residents of Happenchance for their
placer-mining operations. Acres and acres of earth
had been overturned along the foot.of the cliffs; and
bedrock had been bared in a thousand places. A big
ditch, through which the water from the spring had once
flowed, could be plainly traced.

Past these remains of Happenchance’s past prosperity
the professor was hurrying. He halted finally, hot and
breathless, at a ledgelike offset from the cliff wall.

“This is the place, my young friends,’ said he, as
Merry and his chums came up, “The discovery here is
quartz—undeniably the mother lode from which was
wrenched, by prehistoric floods when the topography of
this section was vastly different, all the gold the old set-
tlers of Happenchance found in yonder gravel flats. They
were interested in the placers alone, and had not the
means to work a quartz mine even if they had known
of its existence. I[t remained for my nephew to locate
this spot, and then to be injured, and go East and die.
What was his is now rightfully mine, since I am his
next of kin and sole surviving relative. . Look at this, if
you will be so good.”

The ledge had been roughly chipped and broken. The
professor stooped down and picked up a fragment of
rock, which he handed: to Merry. .

A gasp of wonderment escaped Merry’s lips. It was
a wire-gold specimen, little, cobwebby strands of gold
standing out from the rock and overlaying it completely.

Cries of excitement burst from Clancy and Ballard.
Merry lifted his eyes to survey the rock formatisn of the
cliff. Judging by appearances, the professor had what is

known as a “‘true-fissure” vein, and one of phenomenal 9%

richness—perhaps a “‘bonanza!”

“Professor,” said Merry, “I don’t know much about
these things, but I believe I know enough to congratulate
you on having made one of the biggest ‘strikes’ any one
ever made in this part of the country. You're a rich
man, and you can turn your back on that academy in
the Middle West for good.”

“You really think so?’ returned Borrodaile.

“T am positive of it. Why, great Scott! the gold sticks
out of the rock like hair on a dog’s back, Those samples
ought to go at least ten thousand dollars to the ton,
strikes me.”

“Ten thou
breath.

The professor paused to catch his
‘ssf

“Dear, dear,” he went on, vastly confused, “i
I could sell the claim for half that I should consider my-

self very fortunate, very fortunate.
ah—advise me to do, Frank?”

“The first thing,”-said Merry, “is to.cinch the propo-
sition. Just now it is anybody’s mine who happens to get
to it first.”

“Cinch? cinch? Ah, yes—to possess, to make secure.
I comprehend. How do you go about it?”

The professor, while deeply versed in many subjects,
was lamentably ignorant about matters connected with
mines and the way they were located.

“First,” Frank answered, “you will have to pile your
monuments, one at each corner of the-¢laim and ‘one
in the center. On the center monument you will put up
a location notice; then, a copy of the notice must be taken

What would you—

 
14 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY,

to Gold Hill and filed for record.
you sure of holding the claim.”

“I thought all I had to do was to file a copy of the
notice in Gold Hill,” said the professor. I
blanks in the town on my way out here.”

“Get the blanks, and something to write with, and we'll
get busy with this claim right off,” observed Merry. “ This
is altogether too valuable a claim to be left knocking
around loose.’

Borrodaile turned to start for the place where he had
taken up his lodgings; but he had hardly faced about
before he recoiled with a cry of consternation. The
boys, who had been oblivious of nearly everything ex-
cept the astoundingly rich samples of ore, were startled
by Borrodaile’s cry, and looked around. What they saw
filled them*with ‘a consternation that more than equaled
the professor’s. : pois

Close upon them, and hurrying from the direction of
the ruined town, were four men. They came on foot,
running with difficulty in their high-heeled cowboy boots.

One of the newcomers was Barzy Blunt. The other
three were evidently cowboy, friends from the Bar Z
ranch. In their flushed faces and quick movements Mer-
riwell detected a lawlessness that might easily portend
trouble.

Not until then are

CHAPTER VIII.
- BARZY BLUNT’S LAWLESSNESS.

“You, Merriwell!” sang out Barzy Blunt. “Didn't
‘have a notion you’d ever hanker for a place. like this.
How’s tricks ?” aks

Frank had been swiftly turning matters over in his
mind. It was clear as day, now, that the Bar Z cowboy
had secured information from the tipsy Porter, had car-
ried it to the ranch, and that the Wonder and his friends
had followed the motor car. That the party had some
—sort'of a reason was certain; and it was almost equally
certain that the reason was not a pleasant one, so far
#8 Merry was concerned. : z

“Hustle for the house, professor,” urged Frank, “and
come back as quick as you can with what you're going
after.” et]

“Say, Merriwell, who is that old sockdolager?” in-
quired the Wonder, straightening his face.

“ “He’s a friend of mine,” answered Frank stiffly. He

moved off down the wall of the cliff in order to get the

cowboys away from the ledge. ‘You followed our auto-
mobile, did you?” he asked, as he strolled along.
“We sure did,” answered Blunt, pegging after him,
“and we'll follow you now. Scared of me, or what?”
“Any old day Chip Merriwell is scared of a man like
you,” cried Clancy, “you'll find water flowing uphill,
“All I want,” ‘said Blunt, with an insolent hitch of
the shoulders, “is to introduce a few of my friends. This
chap,” and he indicated his nearest companion, “‘is Ben
Jordan. I'll back him to run one mile or ten against
all comers, bar none. Just behind Ben is Aaron Lloyd,
He can clear more inches, up and down or across, stand-
ing or running, than any other fellow in these parts.
Last, but not least, is Bandy Harrison., We call him
Bandy because his legs spread a little at the knees.
Bandy is a whirlwind at.most anything you can men-
tion. We're the Bar Z athletes, all homemade and out
to.clean up on somebody. Want to know why we fol-
lowed you? Well, I wasn’t satisfied with what hap-

 

“IT secured some

danced in a circle, sin

pened at.the O. A. C.
catch you out somew
crowd around.”

“Well,” remarked Fr
by ourselves here.
most of it.”

“That’s you!” whooped Blunt. “Just keep your ©
skinned and you’re going to see something.” Hie Des
ng off his coat. “You got a fall out of me:
ay, and now I’m Song to even the score by sett
to the mat for the count. sabe?” He flung his
the arms of Bandy Harrison.
. ho said Merriwell, with a quiet grin; “ye
‘Hooray !” shouted Blunt. “Pards, he has dig
shor I'm up to. Now he knows why we came 5! y
across the desert, clear from the ranch. You've ai .
the reason, he added, to Frank. “Peel and” €ome

field yesterday. I was hungry.
here with none of the O. A.

ank coolly, “we’re pretty
k
You've got your chance, so ae

me,

“Knock his he f, Chi isgust

cad off, ‘

me Chip,” growled the - 2

Frank was enlightened.
the eccentric Barzy B
to the lost town of
whole affair was SO
joying it.

“Say,” whooped Blunt,
other side of your face!
restive to show wh

Now he understood jus 7
lunt had followed him all theyw
Happenclrance. He laughed. '
absurd that he couldn’t help

“T'll twist that grin
ta ki Why’ don’t you peel? :
; at a kin this
game. Oh, do get a Wiegeee I am at this |
it oe promptly “Wiggled” out of his coat and Hae er
to B ee Next he Temoved /his hat and fil %
weak eee He was rolling up his sleeves and@ blunt
ke "Lio eagerly toward him, when a howl #rom
“aTon Lloyd captured the attention of everybody.”

“What's to p- om :
ag Pay now, Aaron ?” , overt ae
his shoulder. aron °”” demanded bu ee

“Oh, Moses, look
a runnin’, Barzy, ay
to glory and all’ h
cowpunching at
of us no more!

at here!” cried Lloyd! wildly. “Co
id fasten your eyes on this! Glo
ands around What a find! No more
forty 4 month and found—not for aay
Lived: swans We're rich, d’you hear? Rich???
1OYd, lolding ag piec ; hiss F
eT ae -cé of ore aloft, was ¢aperime
rd i kicking up his heels, His exuberance m0 1685
1an his words, caused Barzy Blunt to forget his purpos
temporarily, $ Oe

Frank, in some djs tT eet
is ori ‘may, saw Blunt, Bandy Harri
> . hd
and an Jordan rush to the side ae hte caved frien
and begin an *xamination of the ore sample a
eed ~ Ve got to do s i claim
for the prof, fellow.” something to save that 4
“What can th
daile’s.”

‘,

€ ty ,
€y do?” asked Clancy.. “It’s Borro-
“By right of discovery,

ra

yes, but not by law—not yet”
wouldn’t dare lay claim to it!” flared
“Wouldn’t they,“Pink >
The four cowboys wer
ders, shaking each othe
like crazy men.

Those fellows

Just watch and you'll see.” a
€ slapping each other’s shoul
2ther by the hand and tearing aroun
Suddenly they swung into file ani
Sng as they went: .

“Oh, Vandefeller’s wealthy,

But we’ve backed
ditch!”

\ and Rockybilt is rich, he
€m Off the ‘rails and we've got ‘em im

 
wt

)

ie Just at that moment the professor

@ was again: busily w

tripped hin

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

came hurrying back
withwa package of location notices. The dancers humped
qnte him, and the notices fell from his hand and were
“scattered over the ground. Blunt picked up one of ther.
~ *Whoop!” he shouted. “‘Here’s a notice, boys—a
blank location. Got a pencil, Aaron? Anybody got a
pencil? Pile the monuments, you chumps! | Stir around
now and don’t let any grass grow under your feet.’

Some one of the cowboys handed Blunt the stump of a
lead pencil and he began filling in the blank, His three
companions were hustling scattered stones into heaps. i

“Ton’t be in a rush,” Frank said coolly. “This claim’s

33
PON ot so you can notice,” answered Barzy ee
solently cocking up his eyes at Merriwell:. , The po
man to get up a location here and file a duplicate in Gold
Hill.wins the prize.” : se

Borrodaile, writhing with despair, stood off to one
side.. He felt his helplessness, and knew he could not do
a thing to stem the tide of wrong and injustice. His
eyes sought Merriwell’s in mute appeal. pee es

Merry’s lithe, muscular body gtew tense and his ists
doubled convulsively. He took a step toward Blunt, who

riting, and just as he was about to
begin an attack, halted abruptly and whirled around, .

“Clan,” he whispered quickly in his chum’s ear, Pm

4 little lame on how this business is done, but I’m going
to take a chance on. it. Tell Ballard and the prof. to
‘hustle to the car. Tell them to have Hannibal get the
ear turned around and to be ready for a quick “run to
Gold Hill. We can beat these cowboys. You stay here
with few minutes.
ee ies for Ballard. As he went, Merry
grabbed his coat, dug a pencil out of the pocket, picked
up a couple of the scattered notices, and began filling one
out. . ik oi
“Blunt,” said Frank, “you cant afford to do such a
lawless piece of work as this! This claim belongs to
Professor’ Borrodaile, the man you saw here with the
rest of us. His nephew discovered it and he

“Why didn’t the nephew take possession, then?” broke

ae was years ago, before this camp Pyare out.
The nephew. kept his discovery a secret, anc o nee he
“could locate ‘the claim he was hurt and compel ec to g0
‘East for treatment. He died there, a his he
‘the professor, instructions for, finding the eres 30r-
‘yodaile has been here’a long time, laying bare that vein
of quarts. You have no right to this claim. pei

“T haven't hey?” The ugly, mirthless simile w as play-
ing about Blunt’s lips. “Think I b> to a on:
puncher all my life? Keep away from those stones with

that: notice !”

Frank had turned to lay
weight’ it down with a small bowlder.

arzy a rush at him
*Batzy Blunt made a rush at ‘ ee
Teele was up in a flash. The vicious blow Blunt

had aimed at him was neatly parried. More than that,

his location on the heap and
As he stooped,

~ ig avas “returned with a heartiness and skill that sent
’ Blunt reeling backward. :

“That'll do you!” shouted Aaron Lioyd, as he, and
Jordan, and Harrison executed q rush toward ‘hal
' Clancy, being closer to Lloyd than to any of t 1¢ rest,
4 in fine style and jumped to grab: Harrison.
The latter whirled with a snarl of rage, took Claney in

- ‘his arms and began to wrestle.

tS

Meanwhile Merry had weighted his location with a
stone on the top of the pile of bowlders.. He straightened
and turned just in time to receive Ben Jordan. Hard
knuckles thudded back and forth for a moment, and
then Merry leaped clear, dodging the enraged Blunt by
a swift sidestep.

“Make for the car, Clan!” shouted Merry. “We'll
have ottr notice on file an hour before they can possibly
get to Gold Hill!”

Clancy wrested himself clear of Harrison, giving that
surprised cowboy a shove that seated him on the ground
with a jolt. The next moment he was racing for the
passage, side by side with Merriwell.

“Stop them!” bellowed Blunt. “Take after
We've got to keep them: from-reaching that car!”

The race was on, all four of the cowboys, with Blunt
in the lead, dashing after Merriwell and Clancy,

“Lighten ship, Clan!” called Merriwell. “Overboard
with that canteen!”

Merriwell halted to jerk the strap of his own canteen
trom his shoulder and over his head. Swinging it im a
circle, he let it fly at the pursuers. It passed Blunt,
struck Harrison in the breast and brought a dismal howl
from that bow-legged sprinter. Clancy followed suit
with his canteen, but it flew wide.

High-heeled boots are not ideal footwear for anything
hut stirrup work. In a race like the one the cowboys
were running such boots proved a decided disadvantage.
Merriwell and Clancy, in their spiked shoes, had no end
the best of it, |

At the mouth of the passage Merry and Clancy halted
to take a look behind. The cowboys, a hundred yards
away, were down on the ground, tugging to remove their
footgear.

“We win,” said Clancy, panting and breathless. “We'll
be in the car before they’re much more than out of the
fissure.”

Silently, side *y side, they dashed on, through the
break in the mountain wall and out into the open, ready
to do their best among the treacherous foothills.

"em!

CHAPTER IX.
BLUNT’S ASTONISHING PROPOSAL,

Merry and Clancy succeeded in getting through the
hills‘to the machine’ with far less difficulty than they had
anticipated. From the top of the elevation nearest the
car, Merry paused to take account of the cowboys.

He'saw them, one by one, ducking over the bare crest
of a hill only a little distance from the fisstre. Each
man had his boots under his arm and was running’ in
his bare feet.

There was considerable excitement in and around the
automobile. Ballard and the professor had not arrived
very much in advance of Merry and Clancy. They had |
gained sufficient time, however, so that the situation could —
be briefly explained, and the car pointed the other way
and prepared for instant flight. |

The motor was purring under the hood; Hannibal was |
at the wheel; Porter was beside him; and Ballard and
Borrodaile were in the tonneau. Merry and Clancy,
when they appeared, were greeted with yells of welcome
and reliet. ; :"

“Let ’er out, Brad,” panted Merry, as he’and Clancy
sprawled into the machine, “It’s a race between us
and the cowboys with Gold Hill for the finish,

 
nee
ee. XS

ae

——

aw

ee

2

am
me. ick

zo

e NEW TIP TOP WEERLY,

The machine was picking its way out of the cul de sac,
Hannibal doing all that was humanly possible to develop
a little speed.

“You risked your lives, Merriwell,” said the professor,
“for those lawless persons would have halted at nothing.

_1 doubt very much, ve-ry much, indeed, if any claim is

worth all the dangers you incurred.”

“It isn’t so tragic as all that, professor,” grinned
Merry. “Those cowboys may be a lot of roistering dare-
devils, but they know how far to go and when to

Merry’s words were bitten short by the singing note
of a firearm, followed by the plump of a bullet and a
sudden hiss of escaping air.

“Thunder!” cried Hannibal, bringing the car to a
stop. ‘The skunks,have punctured a tire for us. What
do you know about that?”

Consternation seized upon those in the machine. Mer-
riwell flung open the tonneau door and jumped out. One
of the rear tires was rapidly flattening, and to pro-
ceed without repairs was, of ‘course, out of the ques-
tion.

Hoofs were pattering behind, and four riders, led: by
Barzy. Blunt on his mettlesome black, were bearing down
on the car at a gallop. Aaron Lloyd held a revolver in
his hand and must have been the one who had_ pune-
tured the tire.

Ballard and Clancy joined Merry, and Hannibal picked
his way carefully to the ground with his cane. Only
two were left in’ the machine—Porter, who refused to
take sides in the squabble, and the professor, who was
squirming with horror and trepidation in the tonneau.

The four horsemen raced to a point alongside the car,
thenefell back on their reins. The horses sat down and

slid to a sudden halt.

“You've got another guess coming, Merriwell,” said
Barzy Blunt, with his ugly smile. “We can puncture
tires as fast as you can patch them up.”

“You claim, to be a homemade athlete,” said Merry,
with a curling lip, “but even such a man could be a
square sportsman—if he had it in him.”

“Think I’m riot square, eh ?”

“Does this look like it? I explained to yousabout that
quartz claim. You understand the situation, for I made
it plain enough. The claim was discovered years ago,
and information regarding.it was left to the professor,
there, who was next of kin to the man who found it. For

weeks the professor has been camping with that claim,

unable to get to Gold Hill and make his filing. _Now you
butt in and try to steal it away from him.”

“I’ve been a poverty-stricken foundling, Merrivwell,”
said he, “ever since I first saw the light of day’ at the
old Bar Z. Hilt Boorland, who had been under the
thumb of fate all his life, btought me up and taught me
what little [ know. What he suffered at the hands of
Eastern men who had ruined him, nebody knows; but /
know that that’s what finally killed him. Ever since I
could work I’ve earned my keep, and regularly every
month I send a little something in the way of a pension

_ to Mrs. Boorland, who is living in poverty in Los Angeles

—-too old to do anything to support herself. “Now, by
all the rules of this country, a mine is anybody’s mine
until it’s filed on. I see a chance to do something for
myself, and to get out of this mire of circumstances
where I’ve been stuck for all my life. I’m going to file
on that claim. What’s more,.] feel that I can do it and
still be the ‘square sportsman’ you’re harping about.”

/ : i oe

eee re wrong,” declared Merriwell.

long rien Opinion. I don’t consider it final

ae Ps gn al ve been laughed at.and looked dow 1

ae en a Pm omg to be,” said Blunt: “I’m-as
BESS (pare it I was brought up by .cowboyse™ *
+4 ht oe Of money will fix things up for me, ally
it talies “* Seer accompanied the words. “That's what
Tyee een to win people’s respect. Money?
fib oe ie hat’s more, I’m going to earn it by beat
eee ‘ hy em Out ina sporting event. I’m going to show
bhicauts I eee — si a better man than he is—eWen

7 put on dog and Jord it around on accoume
or eal wonderful ability. Sar. : gine
eee ae Dm square,” he went on, giving his .
wanted tc + ‘Tank, ‘but Pll show you that I am. Tf P=
es a could leave Lloyd and Harrison here to pub
while ea 2 as last as you got them repaired ; au

i rere ) * ; “ D
into Gold Hill 5 a ing that, Jordan and I could gallop
not the play. To. Put our location on file. ~ Bub thats

Bar 7 sare A mM going to match myself and two Other

athictes against you and your outfit, Merriwell.

: : to seé. a ray of hope in the dateues
situation. Blunt was eo codbec eee
that es ‘Slane Was so cocksure of his athleti¢ ability”

at he was going ese ns a
professor’s ta § to. back Jt, in some way, and let they

“It's te clan be the prize to the victor Se eae
here eA Mec to seven miles,” Blunt continued, “fom

Pete Poe ‘, and it’s eight from McGurvin's t0))
twenty-five . ae ‘en. trom Loco’s to Gold Hill. Thatse
pals and é, mies. My proposition is this: One of amen
tun with’ €; OF yours will take our location notices and<
of my mat ‘ae to MeGurvin’s. At McGurvin’s, another
Ee Bos fs and another of yours will be waiting. They ll i
you and ] “all aad run with them to Loco’s, At Locos)”
ten miles of i ae and run from there ovet Hie"

A thrill of car tga? ‘© Gold Hill, How about af!
aor Satistac “s 5 Y Pee mts
the faces of his pies Le nee oe aed
» entms he could reac ight.
ae Was experiencing tead the sameage se
“That’s a fair pr bos Ty oe
are the shieat * Proposal,” Frank answered. “But how =
tia Hone ee s the various points along the trail?”
Gurvin’s will eas vorses. The two who run from Me
4 Tadnata The « to that point, and you and I will rid
Reg e attomopile can be fepaired and pick Wj
ride in the a: ihe ea Ul leave Bandy Harrison
ar to make stre it ctnue cay Sb
the runners.” “Sure it stays well in the rear
“That’s all ri \ ea’

: ght for is 9 : (sé
how are we to know 4 your side,” said Clancy, “bw
Gurvin’s won't eta, 1° 2" whose place is taken at Me

TOW HE, coon t tide into Gold Hill?”

sé it eS y . ‘ t $i:
teplied ee oe men there'll be one of Merriwell’s, —
i eae: *,  4t One of Merriwell’s friends can’t 100k
atter oné of mine, and see that he 8 ~e
chaps ought to be beaten, Begj
are being passed a]
& Passed along to the ry :
it do a fellow to ride into rit i
notice ?””

“It’s .a relay. Marathon” i

ats. ay Non ut in M oe
posal is all right. | We'll go fei Blunt .
nen are yOu going ito select 2? 0

“Jordan and Lloyd. Tee ;
Lloyd will ride to McGurvin atte am pes
second, rll be waiting for Lloyd at Heat om
Ballard,” said Merry, “I’1 tatch you agains
for the first lap, Clancy, you’l] fight with Plovdll
second, and I’ll’ stack up against Bivnt for t (das

Merry was beginning

When shall we start 2”

 
NEW

| Right away,” was the brisk response.
Mt would be well to have a light lunch first, Frank
® “tegested. | ee

We can’t eat,” observed Blunt, “tor we didn’t bring

hg any chuck.”

Join us,’ invited Merry.
hough for all hands.”

“th less than five minutes the contesting runners and
heir friends were partaking sparingly of the Ophir
House rations. Following the nek ‘ease and Ballard
egan preparing themselves for. the first tap. :
nt a ae Hoh and hot, and that first part of the
WMMarathon would be trying in the extreme. Ballard
Siripped to shirt, trousers, and spiked shoes. Jordan
beeled in like fashion, save that he again removed his
loots. and was to run unshod.
The four horses were brought up. Blunt mounted the
MMck and Merry mounted the animal ridden by Jordan.
Miawty climbed to the back of Harrison's broncho while
Mloyd, of course, took his own horse. Clancy and Lloyd
Would stop at McGurvin’s, for the second lap, and their
Nive horses could be taken from there to Loco’s by Jor-
an and Ballard. Then, Clancy and Lloyd would have
MMerty’s and Blunt’s mounts to ride to Gold Hill from
oH Co's.

While all this was going forward, the car would be
fepaired and would follow the runners, picking up any
Who did not care for the horseback work and ultimately
landing Harrison in Gold Hill. From Gold Hill, Frank

“We've got more than

and his chums would ride back to Ophir in the machine.
_ “Take your places, you first runners, sai
“Start when I toot the horn.”

Both Ballard and Jordan were to carry canteens.
These might be in the way, but they were a eee
art of the equipment.

Pink and hie sonnets stepped in front of the car and
limed up abreast of each other. Blunt handed his loca-
| tion notice to Jordan, while Merry handed the professor s
' to Ballard.

“Ready?” called Hannibal. 3

There was an affirmative response from the runners,
Mid “toot, toot” went the horn. Jordan and Ballard
“taped away on the first lap.

~
CHAPTER X.
: >
WHAT HAPPENED TO CLANCY!

Something of all this must have drifted through the
Professor’s perturbed mind. He realized, undoubtedly,
Mat grim tragedy had stalked out of the situation, and

Mat his fortunes depended on a trial of endurance and
Md between Merriwell and his chums and those reck-
SSicowboys. At any rate, when the race started, the
FOlessor was leaning out from under the top ot the
or car, waving his hat and piping all the encouraging
mgs he could think of.
ancy, Lloyd, Merry,
Mers. They divided
Bing along beside Ballard,

e side of Jordan. | ‘
WPhe sand was hot and Jordan had to move his feet

and' Blunt galloped after the
into pairs, Merry and Clancy
while the cowboys held

‘@pidly in order to keep them from being scorched. It

also necessary for him to beware of rocks and cac-
8 which, of course, could not bother Pink to the same
a4

mits |

Take: it easy, Pink,” ‘cautioned Merry. - “Tet Jordan

d Hannibal.

‘galloped ahead: to be ready at McGurvin’s.

TIP TOP WEEKLY. 17

draw into the lead if he wants to. There are seven long
miles to be covered, and it’s endurance that counts.
Don’t talk back—save your breath.”
Jordan was bounding away from Ballard. At first he
led. by a yard, then by two yards, and finally he was
increasing the distance that lay between him and Bal-
lard in a way that might have seemed discouraging. But
there was plenty of chance for Pink to overhaul Jordan
somewhere along those seven miles.

In half an hour Jordan was a moving dot om the sky
line. Then it was that Lloyd began to fall back and
ride with Merry and Clancy.

“I’m going ahead, Chip,’ said Clancy, and he gal-
loped off.

Ballard had settled down to:a slow, steady jog. It
was a pace that he could have kept up for hours.

“How are you feeling, Pink?’ Merry asked.

“Fresh as a daisy,” was the answer, “but I'd like to
spurt and recover a little lost ground,”

“You can do that later—plenty of time.”

Ballard resumed his steady jog. Minute after minute
passed, Merry keeping an anxious eye on his chum. — If
only the sun would go under a cloud! But clouds were
scarce in the skies over that part of Arizona. For three
hundred and sixty days out of the year, on an average,
there is no rain in that section of the Southwest.

“Great old game, eh?” called Lloyd lazily.

He was trotting along with his knee crooked around
the saddle horn. His self-satisfaction was immense, for
he felt that Jordan’s lead would be maintained clear to
McGurvin’s, and that he—Lloyd—would begin the sec-
ond lap a long distance ahead of Clancy.

“Tt’s a straight, fair contest,’ answered Merry.

“Somebody’s goin’ to bé badly tuckered, though, before
it’s over with.” ;

“We'll all be tuckered, I suppose, more or less.”

Mile after mile was slipping away behind the horse-
men and the runners. Ballard was bearing up in fine
shape.. McGurvin’s ranch was in sight in the distance
when a group could be seen ahead on the desert. Two
horsemen and one unmounted man comprised the group,
and all were at a/standstill. The unmounted man was
sitting in the sand and taking a rest.

“Gee!” exclaimed Lloyd. “Jordan’s restin’ an’ re-
freshin’ himself.”

“T thought he’d have to,” said Merry.
Pink ?”

Ballard shook his head and grinned cheerfully. He
had been saving himself, and the care he had exercised
was beginning to count in his favor.

When Ballard, came within a hundred yards, Jordan
jumped to his feet and started again. But he had al-
ready done his best. He hadn’t the “go” left in him
for any speed. He was now dogtrotting, and Ballard
was steadily but surely overhauling him.

Lloyd and Clancy, breaking away from the runners,
Only Merry
and Blunt were left to accompany the two doing the
first lap.

Jordan was breathing hard and staggering. He had
stumbled against a stone, and one of his feet was bleed-
ing.

The pace was telling on Ballard, as well, but not to
the same extent. His face was set, but he was jogging
at the same speed as when he had started.

“Keep your nerve, Ben!” Blunt was calling. “You're ”

‘Want to rest, —

Way: :

 
a

ee oe

a OT Pe nn

here for an hour before you come on,

28 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY,

doing well, and it’s only a little ways farther, Hang on,
boy! Remember, it’s for the glory of the old Bar Z!
I think more of that than I do of this mine.”

Jordan made a tremendous effort to pull himself: to-
gether, and, for a few moments, seemed to succeed. But
the “gimp” was gone out of him. He had shot. his
bolt too early in the race.

Ballard trotted past him. Five minutes later, Ballard
reeled and fell in the shade of a tree directly in front
of McGurvin’s, Clancy grabbed the paper Pink held up
and was off and away.

Jordan was fifty feet behind and crawling in, wavering
dizzily from side to side.

“He’s done enough,” said Merry, afraid of possible
results. “Go out to him, Lloyd, and get the paper.”

“He'll either bring it here,” growled Lloyd, “or I don’t
go on with it. We're not taking any favors from your
side.”

“How are you feeling, Pink?” Frank asked,

“Bully,” chirped Pink, “but the sun was fierce, All
L want is to lie here for a while. I'll be along in the
car at the wind-up.” 5

The car was crawling up on McGurvin’s at that mo-

_ment, every man in it watching Jordan's heroic efforts

to finish his lap. He was on hands and knees when. he
reached Ballard.

“You're a chump, Ben!” cried Lloyd, snatching Blunt’s
location notice. “If you'd saved a little of your ginger
for the wind-up, I wouldn't be so far behind Clancy.”

Lloyd was off in a twinkling. Blunt, angered by the
poor showing of Jordan at the very start-off, whirled
his black horse and halted in front of the automobile,

“Keep that car back, way back?” he shouted. “Stay
Bandy, you see
that the car stays here for an hour.” He rode on and
stopped at Jordan’s side. “Take it easy, Ben. When
you come on, if Ballard don’t come on one of the horses,
you tide and lead one.”

Jordan couldn’t talk. He merely fluttered his hand as
a sign that he understood. Without further delay, Merry
and Blunt urged their horses to a gallop, and soon came
up with Lloyd. Clancy was fifty yards ahead, but Lloyd
was, slowly gaining on him,

“Remeinber where Ben made his mistake, Aaron,”

called. Blunt, “and don’t you fall down in the same way.

A whole lot can happen in eight miles!”

“lm wise, Barzy,” said Lloyd, ‘Count on me to take
care of myself.” :

Clancy was in fine fettle. The lead he had secured
at the beginning of his lap was mighty encouraging. He
was saving himself, and didn’t care if Lloyd, did ovet-
haul him. Overhauling would cost Lloyd just that much

‘extra effort, and it would count at the finish.

After riding with the runners for half an hour, Merry
and Blunt left them and galloped on to Pete Loco’s.

“The ten milés you and | have together,” said Blunt,
as they rode stirrup to stirrup, “will be the best of the
three laps.”

“Those ten miles will tell the tale,’ Merry answered.

“T haven’t been pampered all my life, same as you.
T’ve stood the hard knocks, and the ups and downs, and
I’m tough as whalebone. 1 could have done the whole
twenty-five miles, but I wanted to make a showing of the
Bar Z men against you Easterners,”

“T see,’ returned Merry.

“And then, again,” went on Blunt, “all those pals of

4

as “

ee 2 i DRM Pa mstiteti a at Rie bes. ay tt
PS ih 9 RAS OER Ma URES SCT ai
(i Ri capaci emer, aie Matt

mine ate interested in the mining claim. It’s right that © %
they should haye some part in winning: it.” a
“Of course, the way you look at it. Your positiom is
wrong, all the same. _
seM\7 Ss a wpe = , ®
ae our Eastern notions don’t match with our Western

oie you come from, they raise mollycoddles,”
ats pretty good, too,” laughed Merry... “I could

oe you a few of our ‘mollycoddles,’ I think, who would
mal i you open your eyes and revise your opinions.”

All I care for is to do you up,’ smiled Blunt.
ggested unflinching determination, and per-
to methods which might strain his own, @
ards. Frank answered the smile with a a

His smile su
haps a resort
Western stand
cool laugh. ‘
ne course the two riders turned in at Pete Loco’s’

a ane the horses to the same hitching pole where”
fe: Pe a one as morning. Blunt took a package ©
s saddle cantle, unwrap ity 2 ; 1st,

carpet slippers. Bee ae ee aa
se : 5 rs
ieee : ee whether I'd need these or not,” said he,.
2 oted em along. You'll have nothing on me when
it comes to footgear,”
He threw a supercilj i
A percilious glance at Merry’ + ee
roo leather cross-country does, fais:

“Mine. are
Ba 4 not SO ton ” he sc Ww S61. "9
you do in a pair of t ony 0 vied, but it's what

unning shoes ;
shoes themselves.” g shoes that counts, not the

cate right about that, Blunt,” answered Merriwell,
t to the front of the house and dropped down on
a n. in the shade.
le had a little work to d
; O.and proceeded to do it.
He had not, as yet, filled out the notice he was to file

ae pha official in Gold Hill. What the relay
a folded blank. “Moc hot, the, Professor was merely

_ Merry began filling in a notice which he
had brought with him—filling it i from aries His

a a keene, a he did not fear any mistakes.
yao At WOFK, Blunt ca r
the house in his red slippers, TT SEO a Cre
“Here, now, that doesn’t go!”
- over Frank’s shoulder,
api eee go?” asked Frank, surprised.
oe a ae Are you trying to spring a fake notice
n mei oyd beats Clancy in i ike ‘
iisposer rome y in, and I begin to hike, I
ae come along with that before Clancy ars?) ah
rine alk about being ‘squate!’ Why, you ” eel
“ hat! sprang up, his dark eyes gleaming.
“y dae ae of that sort’ of tall, Blunt,” said he.
Tina Cm f Ame to fill out the notice I gave to Ballard.
| : ixing up this one, but I shan’t start until Clancy
turns over to me the paper he’s carrying.” ;

“You bet your spurs aE aa # a
hah ou Ai a ae
“Pt, males eve ot eae won't,” smiled the Ww onder art

Perhaps half an h se ee
ee our later a rthner ‘4 evideaaene
down the trail—just one man ro was in evidi am

road was thicky bordered witt
Lloyd or Clancy? ire

Half a minute later all doubt
runner was coming close so that
identified.
Blunt.

“Aaron was too much for that pard of : ee
riwell, exulted Blunt, “and here’s where I take the lead cae
right from Loco’s!” er ee nae

he said roughly, looking: :

et were resolved. ‘The
1e could be séen, and —
It Way Lloyd! A yell of triumph broke from "7 })

6 Ah ia t Tis | {
RE PR a Ses Thy eG ste oe ae 4s eat i ‘
TNO A Nato lode, Nee at i OS TE aie ROE

ita; "b

 

Out here a man is supposed to look out for him= i

unding a bend where the oe

 
NEW TIP TOP. WEEKLY. 19

a loyd staggered in, holding out the paper to Blunt as
came.
“Where'd you leave Clancy ?” demanded Blunt, snatch-

ing the notice. pe ea:
N ile or two back,’ answered Lloyd huskily. By

sorry, but it was a hard run.” © eee Wake,

r Merriwell’s got another notice, said Blunt. ae

fim, Aaron. See that he doesn’t leave until Clancy comes

ban 7 hands over his paper.”
» Bank on that, Barzy!” Peet a
_ Im off! So long, Merriwell! You'll find me wait-
4g for you in front of the recorder s office. See
Bae He shot away along the trail, taking the Go ay
W fork, Merriweil, although outwardly ‘cool, had a minc
‘that was anything but composed.
, ything but comp ; 5
is eyes were searching the trail, fixed on cone
€te Clancy must first come into. sight agains

Keround’of chaparral. Why didn't he Se i i:
‘Blunt was receding in the direction of Gold ee ge
MB a lead which Merry would have to fight to make up.
P Clancy was causing the delay! _ :

‘hat had happened to Clancy ? Where was he:

CHAPTER XI.
A HARD STRUGGLE.

Was five minutes after Barzy Blunt started the ri

ff the race before Clancy came in to Loco’s. 4 ‘s
Be was tensely drawn with fatigue and pain, an -
limping. With a stifled groan he sank down on

asked Merry solici-

hat was the trouble, Clan’ red-headed chum

» taking the dingy paper his
Mded him. 3
aye fouled me, oS :
wats a lie!” shouted Lloyd, aban et
€ and ldaticed stone in his way. He fell ov é Sas
Be that was a foul, by all the rules, oer — ee
ig nanatly, “just as much of a foul as ae — an
Me hands on Clancy. But we'll have to over vi at.
 Professor’s miné is at stake, foul or no fou Pe a:
| Go on, Chip, go on!” begged Clancy tars si a a

ait—you’ye waited too long already. If we lose
™ to blame a
Ve'll not lose out, and you're no
ry. “Don’t fret, old man !”’
ith that Merry tore away a
€xed in the breast of his eat.
# it was foolish, he knew, to. ey
thing those cowboy athletes might do, tat
ideas of right and wrong, and very like y roi ni
he was in the right by playing a trick whi
ayed Clancy. : pet oe
hard pees lay ahead of Merriwell. ae we
Ht 8 were to be made up—five minutes which rn a
St On the second lap. Could he do it? He could—a
Me Must! 3
Was not a wise pace he set at the start. Re
of pace Ben Jordan had set on the oor een _
ch had ended in disaster for him. But I eee
ald have to'push his, endurance far if he overcame
Blunt’s lead.
l¢ trail was fairly good.
aces, but there were long 1
ade the road as soft and springy

“T galloped along at his

t to blame,” cut in

long the trail, both notices
He was angry at Lloyd,
be so worked up over

Loose sand was ankle-deep
stretches where gravel and
as a well-rolled

Way off to the left Frank could see the smoke rolling
up from the stamp mill at the mine on the other fork of
the trail. Coming down the wind, too, he could hear the
rhythmical beat of the eight-hundred-and-fifty-pound
stamps, grinding ore in the battery boxes.

He had never been over that trail to Gold Hill. There
was another trail, ‘leading directly from Ophir to the
county seat by way of Clear Creek Cafion, .which he
had covered for the biggest part of it, but, up to that
morning, he had never heard of this other road from
Pete Loco’s to Gold Hill.

Trails in thinly settled countries, however, mostly lead
to one place. For this reason Merry knew that, so long
as he kept to the road, he need not fear going astray.

Merry’s thoughts circled back to the cowboys and their
queer notions of athletics. Blunt and his friends had
been reared in a rough school.

Suddenly, as Frank surmounted a low rise of ground,
he saw a figure not more than a hundred feet away, sit-
ting on a bowlder by the trailside. It was Barzy Blunt,
busily engaged in threading a buckskin thong through a
hole in one of his red slippers. The thong had loosened,
and he had evidently kicked off the shoe while running.

He was working with frenzied haste, and the sight of
Frank seemed to astonish him. He had the shoe on ina
jiffy and the thong tied. When Frank came abreast of
him, he jumped for the road and they ran side by side.

“Did you wait to get that paper from Clancy?” de#
manded Blunt. .

Frank pulled both notices from the breast of ‘his shirt ©
and held them up. eh:

“One of those was taken from Clancy,” jhe panted. ;
“Ask Lloyd.” lof ee

“This confounded shoe is making me trouble, but In
going to do you up, for all that.” ;

It was clear to Merry that Blunt was losing confiden
Overhauling him after he had had such a long lead ha
shaken Blunt’s faith in the outcome, | * a

Both runners, now that they were neck and neck and”
their goal still miles ahead, were proceeding ,cautiously
They were not going over the ground for a records”
Merry was in the race to win a mining claim. So was
Blunt; but the cowboy. was likewise working to win
merely to prove that he was a better man, than Merri-
well.

Blunt’s pace was beginning to show on him. He was
keeping to it doggedly, but fatigue was creeping through
his muscles, and his stride was weakening. The weaken-
ing was barely perceptible, but it was there and it would
increase swiftly.

They reached a point where the trail curved in a
broad sweep and dipped down into the cafion.. The
descent was stegp, although the trail wound across the
slope in an attempt to lessen the grade.

The winding of the road was in the form of a horse-
shoe. Between the open ends of the horseshoe was a
bank that was almost perpendicular.

On, the slope Merriwell drew into the lead. This lead
was increased rapidly, and Merry swept around the curve
of the shoe and was coming back on the lower side be-
fore Blunt had fairly started around the tipper bend.

As Frank, wondering what had happened to Blunt to
make him fall so far behind, was darting for the last
curve leading to a straight descent to the cafion’s bottom,
he heard a rumbling noise over hjs head.

One frightened upward glance showed him a bowlder

 
_ Way and rolled down.

20 . NEW TIP TOP WEERLY.

leaping straight at him down the sheer wall between the
open énds of the horseshoe. It was a moment when
clear and quick thinking, followed by instant action, alone
could stave off serious injury.

If Frank kept on, even at redoubled speed, he would
not have been able to avoid the falling bowlder. To put
on the brakes for a quick stop-would have been equally
fatal. The only thing he could do was to drop and lie
proye in the trail, trusting to luck that the bowlder would
go over his head and strike beyond him. ‘ot

He flung himself backward, like a base runner sliding
to the home plate on a close play. He slid feet first,
came to a halt and pressed close to the ground, In a
twinkling the bowlder lit in the trail, with not an inch
to spare between its striking surface and his left shoulder,

The big missile bounded on and down into the canon,
where it landed with a loud crash. Merriwell got up,
shaken and dazed by his narrow escape. The sight of
Blunt, rushing at him along the lower reach of the curve,
brought him to his senses. Throwing himself across
Blunt’s patch, he stopped him roughly. od

“You did that!” he cried.

“Keep your hands off me!” Blunt hoarsely_ answered.

*You let me get ahead of you purposely,” Frank went
on, the glint of anger rising in his eyes. “You planned
to throw the bowlder down when I ran opposite you along
this part of the trail. I had some respect for you before,
Blunt, but now I think you’re a cur!”

“T don’t care what you think,” the Wonder answered,
struggling to free himself, “You won't believe me, I
know, but I loosened that bowlder by accident.”

“Accident !”

“My shoe became untied and I threw it off—my stock-
inged foot slipped—I struck against the bowlder—it gave
I didn’t do it intentionally.”

“Tell that to the marines!’ answered Merry sarcas-
tically. “You tried to maim me, to put me out of the
-Tace,”’ ae

“Think what’ you please,” was the sullen rejoinder,
“but I’ve told you the truth. That’s what it means to
be looked down on by everybody—your word isn't taken
for anything. Look at my face, where I struck the
bowlder !”

Blunt’s right cheek was gashed and bleeding.

“T'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Blunt,” said
Merry. “Why didn’t you come down with the rock?”

“T managed to keep from doing that. Stand here, if
- you want to! I’m going-on in and file this notice.”

He ptished on down the descent. Frank followed him,
overtook him in the bottom of the cafion, drew ahead
of him again, and bounded for the farther slope. He
was at the top before Blunt had climbed. halfway.

From the cafion’s rim the buildings of,Gold Hill could
be clearly seen. There was no more than another half
mile to go, and Frank summoned all his strength for the
final spurt.

The blood was pounding in his ears, his head was
dizzy, and he was fighting to breathe. His fall in the
hard trail had jarred him terribly. He wondered if that
- fall was to cause him to lose the race?

The loosening of that bowlder might, or might not,
have been due to an accident. Merriwell’s experiences
with Barzy Blunt had not been of a character that would
lead him to credit Blunt’s unsupported statement. For
all that, the falling of the bowlder could have been caused

_ just as Blunt had stated.

Racing on, Merry held off the torturing weakness that
was plunging like fire through his body. He did not
pause to look behind and take account of Blunt. Time
enough to think of Blunt after the courthouse ‘was
reached. for the present Merry had only to keep Blunt
from passing him.

He reached the scattered buildings in the outskirts of
the town. Then he began to wonder where the court-
house was. If he lost much time looking for it, Barzy
Blunt could still lead him to the window in the recorder’s
ofnice.

He became vaguely aware that people were halting in
the street, staring at him with surprise. A dog ran out
and barked, then followed, nipping at his. heels.

“Where’s the courthouse?” he cried.

“Right on, and to your left!” some one answered.

Sweat and dust were running into his eyes and \his
vision was blurred. He dashed a hand across/his fore+
head. / .

On his left he saw a flight of broad wooden steps. At
the top of the steps a man was standing, i

“Where's the recorder’s office?” he demanded

_“Right here,” answered the man. “You seem: to be in
right smart of a hurry, pilgrim.” ‘

nie
ex

Merriwell staggered up the steps, flung past the nae ae
The next moment)’

and got through the courthouse door.
he was ina hall. “First door on the right, friend,” called
a voice from hehind—evidently the voice of the man
Merry had questioned last. Mesias
The next thing Merriwell realized he was in fr
of a small window, pierced in a network of wires, passif
a paper through to a man in his shirt sleeves. ¢
“Location notice,” he gasped, “file it at once.” me
“Yes, file it for him,” came the voice of Barzy Blut ©
who. had just entered the office. “I’ve got a notice % n
the same claim, but he’s beaten me to it.” Si
“T want you to know that that was an accident—about ~
that bowlder,” said a hoarse, whispering voice. “I'll get
you yet, Merriwell, but it'll be by a square play 1
The face turned away. As it turned, Merry Laan
smudge of red on one cheek. Then'the face faded and, =
Merriwell dropped listlessly down on a bench.
eo:

CHAPTER XII.
ON THE STROKE OF SIX,

Merriwell was not only running a race against Bate :
Blunt during those last ten, miles, but he was a ots rine :
ning against time. ‘The offices in the courthouse were
closed every week day at sharp six in the afternoon S

As Merriwell sank onto the bench, a clock somewhere.
struck the closing hour. He had not only won against ;
Blunt, but against time, as well. 1

“Better drink this, kid,” he heard somebody saying. -

He looked up and saw the man in his shirt sleeves.
He had come out from behind his wirework cage and
was offering a glass of water.

Merry thanked the recorder and swallowed the water.

“That notice is all right?” he inquired.

“T reckon it would be if there was anything on it. It
happens to be a blank notice.”

“Great Scott!’ mumbled Frank.
wrong one, Say, did Blunt file his notice?”

“No. nee it up and went out.”
“Here’s the right one,” said Frank, pulling front hi
shirt the blank which he had filled out fo es ‘ .

“TI gave you the

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. | at

two minutes past six,” said the recorder. “Office

mt Six,”

BS you won't take it?”

eur name Merriwell?”
Lés.”’ :

Nl take it, You're all right, Merriwell, al-
B yon do train with Ophir. Consider the location
39 :

Fecorder was curiotis and began asking about the
Frank answered him as fully as possible, although
H was buzzing from/that fall in the inn ae hile
PWere talking, the door was flung open and Vlancy,
§ and Borrodaile rushed in.
fh won?” fluttered the professor.
86t here first,” answered Frank, “and your loca-
pon file.”
me dear young friend!”
ened down to pat his
Bet this, I asstire you.” 4
2€ Out to the car, Chip,” went on Clancy.
to take us back to Ophir.”
left the office, the professor potter

t the rear. as
did it, Chip?” called Hannibal, from the front

murmured the professor,
dusty shoulder. “1 shall

a

“Brad's

ng. excitedly

Was a hard struggle,” Merry answered, “but I
ed to get through.” Pe hha:
Nick Porter grunted three times, quite SSE
SY Harrison said something under his breath 3 ‘
Ht of the car and started off to hunt up ay
it for Lloyd or somebody else to come im with
punts. ols
at’s the matter with the back of your head, cos
€d Ballard solicitiously. “Theres a lump there a:
-* walnut.”
ll in the trail, coming throug
ed, and let it go at that.

h the cafion,” Merry

. *
t evening, in the office of the Opn Oa
# Wrote out a report to send to his father. ssed, and
finished, and the envelope sealed, Dee.
Ped; he pushed thoughtfully back from i r hou
alicy came up behind him and leaned over a ; a?
We brushed against the eae Merry’s head, ¢
‘Wine etl TOLWARe
uch. bee ene don’t throw yourself eee tie
that. My head’s sore and is aching to beat the
‘hat fall you got in the ¢
' Said the red-headéd chap.
ne run, I'll bet, that took the A
hat fall had a lot to do with it,” agree
St how much, Chip,” quizzed Clancy,
Amt have to do with that fall oy
#V¥e told you all you’re going to know.
> Was an accident.”
9 you think we’ve seen the !

p?

afon was a hard one, 1
“Tt was more that
out of you.”
d Merry.
“did Barzy

The whole

ast of the Cowboy

Suppose we'll have to make several trips to Hap-

ANCE,

F rst trip for the place panned out, there would be

Remember what dad said in that. letter? If.

more work to do. Ii it didn’t pan out, the matter would
drop. -It’s panned out a gold mine for the professor, if
nothing more.”’

“And a relay Marathon that was worth all our
trouble!” returned Clancy, wagging his head. “Believe

”

me, it was some race, Chip. :

THE END.

“Frank Merriwell, Junior, at the Bar Z Ranch: or.
The Cowboy Athletes,” is the title of the next story that
will appear in this weekly. Young Merriwell is lured ‘to
the Bar Z Ranch, where he is held a captive. He makes
several thrilling efforts to escape before he gets away.
During his stay he takes a prominent part in a ball game
of an unusual sort. All the other players are cowboys.
Chip pitches for the “Mavericks,” and Barzy Blunt does
the twirling for the “Rustlers.”” This story is full of
dash and excitement, and gives the reader a clear idea
of the life and actions of the cow-punchers of to-day.
It is No..10, and will be out October 5th.

eh 2-02

THE YELLOW DOG.

By GEORGE BARTON.

SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.

Carl Spencer, a capitalist, is found dead in his New York office.
Evidently the blow that killed him, whether a physical or mental
one, was delivered while he was at the telephone. Ralph Sparks,
a young lawyer, who had come to New York to participate in a
deal with Spencer, interests himself in solving the mystery.
Sparks has become smitten with Grace Garland, adopted daughter
of the dead millionaire. Jasper Morris was waiting at the resi-
dence of Spencer when the body was found,

Sparks gets appointed special district attorney so that he can
have a free hand in investigating the case. Boggs, janitor of the
building, tells Sparks that Philip Garland, brother of Grace, had
called at the office and quarreled with Spencer, shortly before
Spencer’s body was found. Philip’s cane is also found in the
office. Confronted with this evidence, Philip admits being with
Spencer and the quarrel, but denies all guilt.

CHAPTER VII.
THE CORONER'S INQUEST.

On the morning of the coroner’s inquest, Ralph Sparks
was a busy man. First, he had an interview with a
clockmaker, then he called on the superintendent of the
local telephone company, and finally he talked with a
charwoman in the Sprague Building, a skyscraper which
loomed up on the lot adjoining the edifice where Carl
Spencer had his offices.

By means of the telephone man, he learned that a
stranger had called Hudson 9876-D between five and six
o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, September 26, and
that the call had come from the public pay station on the
twelfth floor of the Sprague Building.

He even visited the telephone booth and made the im-
portant discovery that a person using the telephone could,
at the same time, look directly into the office of Car}
Spencer, in the adjoining building.

The knowledge gave him food for thought.

As he started toward the door of the elevator, a yellow
dog appeared!

The canine rushed into the telephone booth whence
Ralph had come, and ran round and round in a circle.

_In a few seconds it trotted out after him.

 
aS NEW TIP

As he stood there waiting for a car, the dog looked
up at him with its one eye in an appealing manner, and
wagged its poor stump of a tail pathetically. It sniffed
his heels inquiringly for some moments, and then dis-
appointedly slunk off, whining all the while. hoa

When Sparks reached the Criminal Courts Building,
he found that the inquest had been delayed to await his
arrival. The coroner sat behind a high desk at the end
of his courtroom.

The six jurymen lolled about in their chairs as if
they felt bored, and wished the whole business over. The
witnesses, including Janitor Boggs and Philip Garland,
sat in a corner of the room. A heavily veiled figure in
black nestled among them, and from the quick, nervous
movements, Sparks suspected that Grace Garland was
attending the inquest, despite the protests of physicians
~and friends.

Janitor Boggs told the story of the discovery of the
body. He was leaving the stand when the coroner said
suddenly :

“Did Mr. Spencer have a visitor just before he died °

“Yes sir,’ answered the janitor, “that gentleman ;
and he pointed to a young man who sat with the wit-
nesses.

“That is Philip Garland.

“Yes, sir; he was the man

“Did you pass the office of
land was there?”

ot did,”

“And you heard loud voices?”

C8; Sire” eee

“As though the men were quarreling?” _ i

“Yes, sir; as though the men were quarreling.

“When did Mr. Garland.leave?”

“T don’t know éxactly, but it must have been a half
hour before we discovered the body.” sue

“Just giving him about time to arrange for an alibi?” .

Sparks was on his feet in an instant, his eyes ablaze.
He squared his broad shoulders aggressively.

“This is outrageous. You're not here to prosecute Mr.
Garland, nor to cast suspicion on him. You're here to
get the facts in the case.” we:

The beady eyes flashed a message of malignity. The
mass of whiskers moved up and down. The coroner
bowed, an ironical bow. :

“Thank’ you for instructing me in my duties.”

Sparks, disregarding these words, turned to the wit-
ness. “You're sure that Mr. Garland left a half hour
before the body was, found?” - ,

“I’m positive. He left about five o’clock.” |

“Gentlemen of the jury,” said Sparks, turning to the
six men, “I want you to remember that this witness
swears that Philip Garland left the. building at five
o’clock.”’ ;

“What does that prove?” asked the foreman lazily.

“T’ll answer that question later,” said the lawyer, with
a significant hunch of the shoulders.

Philip Garland was the next witness. He admitted
having been with Carl Spencer ‘a short time before his
death. He did not deny the quarrel.

“Did you threaten him?’ asked the coroner.

“T did not.” :

“Did he threaten you?”

“T must decline to answer that question.”

“What was the quarrel about?”

Was he the man?”

>
.

Mr. Spencer while Mr. Gar-

with his soft hand,

TOR: WEEKLY.

“A purely personal matter. I assure you it had mo ae

bearing on his death.”
The bloodstained cane was produced.
mitted the ownership.

Garland ad
He said he had forgotten th

stick. He had put it in a corner of the room near the ~

safe while he was talking with Mr. Spencer, and then left
without it. eh St

The janitor was recalled and said that when. the body » a

was discovered the .clock pointed to twenty-five minutes
to six. Mr. O’Brien, the clockmaker, confirmed this)
and said that the clock had not run down, but was stoppe x
by its fall to the floor. The manager of the telephone
company testified that the records of the concern showeé
that a call had been made to Carl Spencer’s telephone Be
tween half past five and six o’clock on the afternoon Of
Monday, September 6, from the Sprague Building. He
said no calls were answered after that. f &
“What do you mean?” he was asked. hoe iam
“I mean ¢hat we tried to get Mr. Spencer later im the
day, but could get.no response.” . ca
“That will do, sir.”
“Before we go any further,” interjected the coroner,
“I would like to know the purpose of this line.o
quiry.” Ft
“Gentlemen of the jury,”

he

said Sparks, ignoring the ob

BK
~

jector, “I simply want you to keep your mind on the
time—twenty-five minutes to six,” “peapit
Mary Brown, a charwoman in the Sprague Buildin
testified that she was cleaning outside the telephone boot
She could not iden
but remembered a yellow

us), ot .

at the time the last call was made.
tify the man who made the call,
dog running about the corridor.
“Did you hear what he said?”
“T heard one sentence.”
“What was it?” eve
Everybody in the courtroom leaned forward with ab-_
sorbed. interest. inc
her white face was drawn with intense anx
“He said twice:
the Sprague Building,’ ”

.

“What is the distance between the Sprague Building —

wt

and the one in which Mr. Spencer had his office?”

“They were so close you could almost touch either —

of them by stretching out your arm.”
“There’s
“Viesy it, |*

“Now, if Mr. Spencer looked up at the Sprague Build 4

ing, as requested, what would he see?”
“The man at the telephone.”
“Plainly ?”
“Very plainly.”
“What happened after these words?”
“Why, almost. as soon as he said them the man lef
the telephone booth.and hurried downstairs.” 4
“Do you think he was excited?” ‘a
“Vm sure of it. When I went in the booth I found
the receiver off the hook, dangling down by the end of
" ¥ %

»

the green cord.”

“Phat’s all.” ec

“Might I ask,” said the coroner, stroking his stiff beard ,

“what all,of this is intended to
show ?”

“Certainly. It’s intended to prove that Philip Garland ©

has nothing to do with the death of Carl Spencer.”
-*Where does the proof come in?” oa
“In the fact that Mr. Boggs, the janitor, saw him leay
. Ce

‘

Grace had thrown back her veil, and
' 1S iety. ea ee
If you don’t believe me, look up at

4
Rae

simply a narrow space; a sort of air shaft2”

i

oe

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. | 23

ilding at five o'clock, while the death did not occur
Ywenty-five minutes of six.” ieee
bee OW do you fix the death at that time:
SPY the clock which stopped abruptly at that hour; by
telephone company which has a record ofa telephone
Hetor Hudson 9876-D, which was answered at that
and by Mrs. Brown, who heard the unknown man
4S to Mr. Spencer at that hour—a string of circum-
Mal evidence which, to my mind, is clinched by the
telephone receivers off their hooks, dangling at the
MH the green cords, in the two buildings, at the same
nent,”’
at the bloodstained cane?”
AEs easily explained. When we
€d such a jar that the walking stick
ithe head of it went through the littl
ad the cane rolled under the safe.
he Coroner sneered.
+ fanciful! theory.”
eet YOu can’t disprove it.”
burden of proof is up to y
nMlip Garland,is innocent, you ll hi
Mable theory for the man’s death.
M prepared to do that.”
Suicide re
O; Sir,”
Well, then, in Heaven’s name, how did the m
Gus end?”
Iph Sparks paused
=~ Members of the jury. |.
Mattention of the jurors gained,
fone of positive conviction:
atl Spencer was frightened to d
Man at the other end of the tel

e burst the door in,
- fell to the floor
e pool of blood,

out,” said the official.
1]. have to give some

an come

fora moment and looked steadily
The silence was impressive.
he spoke slowly and

eath by the threats
ephone wire!’

CHAPTER VIII.

THE END OF THE WIRE.

phe €yes of every man and woman in the little er
Were fastened on Ralph Sparks. If he had ee
Smbshell, he could not have attracted more or :
Coroner made an attempt to sneer at the Tent ars

BG DUE the effort ended in a feeble smile. *1¢ Spo

Ga?.tt a jeering voice:

ep Mall you please put your
Monplace’ words ?”
Sparks never looked in the direct
ete eyes on the jury box as he «
7, 2%emnity at his command; ;
an 1S f ce o his death from

fantastic theory into com-

on of the voice, He
jeclared, with all of

FaHysis of the heart, due to a su
on [> Si

he foreman of the jury conferred with his colleagues.
@ While the six heads bobbed up and down like so
Corks on a troubled -sea. Presently the foreman
and, addressing Sparks, said? 2
he members of the jury are very much impresse
that you have said, but they would like to have

ye, some of the reasons which led to your con-
i:

ei,
With pleasure,” responded the lawyer, “but in the
antitne |. should like to call a witness whose. 1mpor-
€ seems to have been overlooked. 1 should like Doc-
Schaum to take the stand.”

all, alert-looking man arose.

Most of those in the

room recognized him immediately as the coroner’s physi-
cian. That functionary showed some annoyanice.

“This comes of doing things in a topsy-turvy way.
Doctor Schaum should have been the first witness. Then
we would have avoided this fantastic business.”

“You have Doctor Schaum now,” said Ralph -pleas-
antly ; ‘go ahead and question him.”

The ‘coroner began with very bad grace.

“Doctor, ,you performed an autopsy on the body of
the deceased ?” ;

“Tl did.”

“What, in your opinion, was the cause of death?”

“Heart failure,” was the unhesitating reply,

“Just plain heart failure, eh?” said the coroner.

The doctor smiled.

“I can’t say that I would put it in just that way. Of
course, death always comes when the heart ceases to per-
form its functions. But this can be brought about in a
hundred different ways.”

“But the assertion has been made that this death was
due to fright. Do you believe that?”

“T am not prepared to disbelieve it.”

“Well, how would you define this. case?”
official, somewhat impatiently. ‘

The witness paused for a moment, and then said, with
deliberation :

“I think Mr. Sparks puts it aptly. Carl Spencer died
from paralysis of the heart due to a sudden and strong
emotion.”

“And that could have been a fright?” interjected the
lawyer.

“It was very probably a fright,” was the assured reply.

“But what about the wound on the head? Couldn’t
that have caused death?”

The witness shook his head.

“No. It was merely a scalp wound.’

“Inflicted by the head of a walking stick?”

Again the witness shook his head.

“No; I don’t think so. The head of the cane is round.
The wound, on the contrary, while slight, is square.
It was undoubtedly received when Mr. Spencer’s head
struck a sharp substance of some kind. Probably it was
an accidental fall that caused the wound which was found
there.”

“That's all,” snapped the coroner. He did not like the
way things were going. ‘He was not a vicious man, but
he was vain, and resented the intrusion of an outsider
into an official case—especially when that outsider was
successfully developing a theory which opposed his own
preconceived: notions.

“Now, gentlemen,” said Sparks, arising and addréss-
ing the jurors, “the evidence is all in, and it rests with
you to render the verdict. For my part, it is not diffi-
cult to imagine all that took place behind the closed doors
of Mr. Spencer’s office,

“Mr. Spencer, who was a very methodical: man, goes

to his office to look after some of his business interests.
I can testify to this, for I, myself, had an engagement
with him to discuss a proposition late on the afternoon
of the day on which he died so unexpectedly.
_ “At five o’clock Philip’ Garland calls. The two men
got into an argument which lead to loud talk, but no
blows. Garland quits the office in anger, forgetting his
cane, which stands in a corner of the room near the
safe.

“At twenty-five minutes to six—we have established

asked the

\

 
 

24

the time beyond the shadow of a doubt—theré is a ring
on the telephone. Spencer picks up the receiver to an-
swer the call. The first words he hears startlehim dread-
fully. He doubts the evidence of his own ears. Then
the man at the other end of the wire says: ‘If you don’t
believe me, look up at the Sprague Building.’ He looks
up, and the face that leers down at him scares him into
helplessness.

“He falls back. His outstretched arm sweeps the clock
from off the top of the desk, and it crashes on the floor,
stopping at that very moment—at twenty-five minutes
to six.. He continues to totter. His head strikes the
square edge of the sandstone mantel and inflicts the; scalp
wound. He falls to the floor—dead from paralysis of
the heart—in plainer words, frightened to death.

“We arrive a little later, and in breaking down the
door displace the walking stick, which rolls through the
tiny pool of blood and under the safe. Thete, gentle-
men, you have the whole story—a story which, to me, 1s
as real as if I had witnessed it with my own eyes.”

The members of the jury fell back, with a sigh of
relief—with the air of men who are satisfied. The coro-
ner scowled at the young lawyer. He did not like the
way in which he took the center of the stage. It would
be a satisfaction to take him down a peg.

“Mr. Sparks,” he said insinuatingly.

“Yes, sir.”

“T believe you are a*lawyer?”

“Yes, sir; I’ve been admitted to the bar.”

“And you also studied medicine?”

“Yes, I studied for a time, although I was never gradu-
ated.”

“And do you think this smattering of law and medi-
cine qualifies you to advance scientific theories ‘regarding
life and death ?”

Sparks ignored the implied insolence, and said quietly :

“It happens that I have some qualifications in the pres-
ent case. I have devoted three years of my life toa study
of the physiology of fear.”

“You’re very bright; you ought to be the coroner.”

“Probably that’s the reason I’m not the coroner,” was
the quick retort.

“Mr. Sparks,” said the foreman of the jury, in a re-
spectful. tone, “was there any. feature connected with
the case of Mr. Spencer other than what you have men-
tioned which would go to substantiate your theory of

_death from fright?”

“Yes,” was the quick response; “there was one which
T had almost forgotten. It was his ring.”

“What about his ring?”

“Tt was found on the floor of his office. It had not
been torn off. It had fallen from the second finger of his
right hand. Why? I have made inquiries that satisfy
me. I, have learned that the ring fitted him. snugly.
How did it slip off so easily at that particular moment?
From fright.”

“Fright °”’

“Yes, sir. It has been demonstrated that the fingers
actually grow smaller in moments of strong emotion. It
has been proven beyond the possibility of doubt that rings
fall from fingers during a fright which, at other times,
could only be removed with some difficulty.”

“Who is your authority for this?”

“Professor Angelo Mosso, of Turin. I can give you
countless others, such as Bichat, Branton——”’

 

NEW: TIP TOP WEEKLY.

  

 

“It’s unnecessary,” said the foreman: “we only won-
dered whether there was a record of any person dying ,
from fright.” . . i

“Oh, ‘yes,” replied Sparks. “I recall’ one case.) &
number of foolish students. determined to play a joke
on a timid assistant professor. They lured him into a
dark room where everything: was draped in black. He
was told solemnly that he was to be decapitated. A body ~
of masked men surrounded him. He was bound hand Bi
and foot, and his head was placed on a block. One of the i
students struck him on the back of the neck with a wet ,
towel. When they took the bandage from his eyés he, #i
was. dead.” 7s

_berrible.” murmured the foreman.

“Terrible,” agreed Sparks, “but true.” ai

ow hat is the explanation for such sudden deaths 2”

ef They vary,” replied Sparks, “according to the indi-
vidual. It might be difficult to find two that are éxactly 7 By
alike. But, generally speaking, I should say. in the words | 9
of an eminent authority, that the forces of the circula- ye
tory system are wound up to such a pitch that they ¢an-.
not recover. from a suddén exhaustion, and death en-- of

   
   
  
     
   
    
  
  
   
  
   
  
 
  
  
  
  
 
   
   
   

?

sues.”

After\this, the jury retired. to deliberate.
quired but a few minutes to arrive at a verdict.. Offe
cially worded, it. was as follows: Mee |

We.find that Carl Spencer died: from paralysis OF 9)

the heart, due to a fright caused by some unknown ae
person. s : ~

They res 9}

  
  
  

“How will you ever solve the mystery of his death?2”
asked the puzzled Boggs, as they filed out of the hearing
room. wie

“We'll solve it,” said Sparks cheerfully, “when weday

our hands on the man who was at the other end of he ae
wire. ; i¥a

      
  
  
 

CHAPTER IX:
JASPER MORRIS.

After the funeral of Carl Spencer, Ralph Sparks called
at the Fifth Avenue mansion for the purpose of offer-
ing his sympathy and services to Grace Gatland. It was
Mrs. Cramer, the housekeeper, wha greeted him % 2

“Ty? ‘ > Ss ’ . 2 » Aah Lire

I’m so glad you'‘came,” she said. “We're about to
have a family council, and y > VOU? fe
é y council, and you know you’re regarded, as
one of the family.

“By you-—I know that.’

She was quick to understand, and reassured ‘him.

ar only by me, but by Miss Grace, as well.”

hank you for saying*that,”: he said fervently \
SOKA ge / oes ai T 7 z 2 i :
Mr. Morris—Mr. Jasper Morris—speaks highly of
you, too, and has expressed an earnest desire to become Mf

better acquainted. He thinks you conducted the inquest *
splendidly.” ‘8

Sparks laughed. eres a

“Come ‘into the library,” she said. “Mr, Morris icf q
there now, and will be glad to see you.” oe Ue

The room was partly darkened, but Sparks recognized
the bulky figure which reposed amid the folds of a great
leather chair, . There was evidently nothing shy or
shrinking in the nature of Jasper Morris. He had quickly

adapted himself to circumstances, and was enjoying.all o
the comforts of home, Ba

“A diamond in the rough,” whispered Mrs. Cramer, i
the ear of the young lawyer. “He is deficient in ma

   
 
  

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eae y

'

   
   
    
   
  

     
 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 25

Bon Conventionalities, but he has a heart as big as

Fs. ,
The Tugged one had noticed their entrance, and he
Aimself out of his snug resting place with a snort
tne. discomfort.
Hello, Sparks !’’ he grunted, moving forward to greet
Ewcomer. “Congratulations, and all that sort of

> on’t you know.”

aiph did Aa relish the tone of patronage, oe ie
* verpowering politeness was not to be denied.

MVE rejected it would have invited hostilities.
sane they stood there face to face, Sparks had an
Sttiinity of studying the man. Jasper ise had :
We head set squarely on a squat body. | ee v .
htest perceptible stoop, as though his heac eh
Were too heavy for the frame. The head was bald,
for a fringe of faded brown hair, which; beginning
mE Side of one ear, extended ludicrously all the way

mt the back.

© front of his head sloped

down to a pugnacious
Which peeped out over a stubby mustache a

nd

I was considering all of these traits in ee
+4 way when he suddenly remembered that 1e hac
Mwered the greeting of Mr. Jasper Mo! - ak
Mank you very much,” he smiled. Although I don't
What I have done to deserve your Ee

ho!” shouted the big one; “modest as well'ias

Iph, with an angry

es bit modest” fetorted Ra 3
pot a bit modest,” ret animal.

p Of being patted on the head by a big-pawed

igner
yes, you are; you can’t fool an ald campaig

e,” thundered Morris, in tones that put a quietus

Marks’ feeble disclaimer.
le they were talking, G
m. There were dark rings under
sce of weariness merely accentuat
ser beauty. ee
eelph was by her side in an instant, and as he eee
a. eyes the brightness seemed to melt into infint
5 Ness, L
TPs so good of you ta come. I don’t know what we
gud have done without you.”

*<Te, you two people, stop your nonsense,
©; With tough good nature. i es
Mr. Mortis,” said the girl gently, was one O r <
#S oldest and best friends. No, no,” as he was a sia

fotest. “Mrs. Cramer has explained how you Be
Sed it in the Klondike. ioe eee warmes

ships, ar ou suffered toge : 2
Bes,” was te eee reply, “we suffered ents
Hae death of Mr. Spencer was no doubt a shock to

Me Said Sparks. :
Por the sea time the rocklike face of Jasper Morris
Wed a trace of human feeling:
'0 one will ever know just how great a shock it was
>. he said,
Mr, Morris came -prepared to s
Carl,” put in Mrs. Cramer,
ean that made the affair

race Garland entered the
her eyes, but that
ed the delicateness

** cried Mor-

pend a long vacation
who had joined the
all the more dreadful

Whi I heard the news,” said Morris, “T wanted
aback up and get out, but these ladies would not, per-
| cE

- = :

“We have a double reason for keeping you,” remarked
Grace; “the first, of course, is because of your long
friendship with father. The second is to get your advice
about’ Philip.”

Sparks gave Grace a look which, translated, meant that
she would not have to fight her battle single-handed.
Jasper Morris, too, edged over toward her with a bulldog
benevolence.

“Grace,” he said, “you know you can always depend
on me. Sparks,” he continued, turning to the lawyer,
“this is a man’s business, and we shall have to go about
it in a man’s way.”

“The police?” asked Ralph.

“Pshaw, no; we want results.”

“Surely.”

“Do you know where we should start?”

“No; where?”

“Will Miss Garland pardon me if I speak plainly ?”

“That’s the only way I want you to talk,” the girl an-
swered.

“Well, we should start the inquiry with Philip Gar-
land.”

“My brother!” exclaimed Grace, with a look of dismay.

“Don’t be startled, my dear,” said Morris, “I’m not
suggesting that your brother is involved. I only mean
that he may give us a clew.”

“Oh,” said Grace, with a look of relief, “I understand.”

“To do that,” pursued the big man, “‘he should frankly
tell us what occurred in that last interview he had. with
Carl Spencer.”

Grace Garland’s face clouded.

“T’m afraid he won’t do that.”

“Why not ask him?”

She looked at Sparks inquiringly.

“I see no objection,” replied the young man, “if he’s
willing to come and talk it over.”

“PH call him,” she said, leaving the ‘room.

Presently Grace returned—alone. She appeared to be
agitated. The bright eyes were blurred, and there were
tear stains on her cheeks.

“He-wouldn’t come?” suggested Ralph, with a feeble
smile. f z

“No,” she said hesitatingly, “he’s not in his room.”

“Oh, not at home ?”

“It’s not that,” she answered, her voice trembling, “he’s
gone.”

“Gone ?”

“Yes, left the city.”

And such was the fact. An incoherent letter, ad-
dressed to Grace, said that he deemed it best for all con-
cerned to go away for an indefinite time. He warned
her not to attempt to find him, that his purpose was
formed irrevocably, and that any attempts to trace him -
would prove useless. |

TO BE CONTINUED.

toot
~~ wee oe

HISSING.

Hissing means different things in different countries.
In West Africa, the natives hiss when they are aston-
ished ; in the New Hebrides, when they see anything’ beau-
tiful. The Basutos applaud a popular orator in the as-
semblies by hissing at him. The Japanese, again, show
their reverence by a'hiss, which has probably somewhat
the force of the “hush” with which we command silence.

 
Voliva Plans Fight on Tobacco from Coast
to Coast.

Wilbur Glenn Voliva, overseer of Zion
City, Ill, announced to an audience in his
church that he intends to make a coast-to-
coast fight on tobacco, the dance, the oyster,
and other things taboo in Zion City. He
said he would place signs denouncing to-
bacco alongside of tobacco advertisements,
which he avers have been “set up by the
devil.”

Early in September Voliva and twenty
followers will start on a’ tour northwest
through Minneapolis and St. Paul to the
coast, thence south and east through San
Antonio and New Orleans and back home.

To Seek Cocos Treasure.

The legend of $30,000,000 in gold hidden
on the obscure island named Cocos in the
Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Costa
Rica; ig the lure which brought Frederick
Smodden from Calgary, Canada, to New
York, whence he sailed for Central Amer-
ica. A dozen or more expeditions have
been made in search of the same treasure,
but Smodden is convinced that he has the
real secret of its whereabouts, handed down
by Captain’ Trevan, a sea dog of many gen-
erations back, whose plan to search for the
gold was frustrated by a. fatal illness.

Smodden was as happy as’a boy with a
spade and bucket anticipating a day at the
seaside as he sailed, declaring that if he
did not win the high stakes he sought,
he would at least have the é€xperience.
The legend credits rich Central Americans
with having buried the gold on or near
the island when the confiscation of their
goods by the Spanish was imminent. . Why
the owners of such vast wealth never re-
covered their property is not explained.

Would Cross Atlantic Ocean in Day in
Airship.

Edgar E. Keuling, formerly of Scranton,
but now engaged in building a flying ma-
chine at the Mineola aviation field at Long
Island when he isn’t playing the pipe organ
at St. Stephen’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church, Brooklyn, aspires to cross the At-
lantic Ocean in one day in his airship.

Furthermore, he intends to try it. Keu-

ling declares that his machine will go 100
miles an hour, and that he should have
‘no trouble crossing the ocean in a day.
_ -Keuling’s machine now under construc-
. tion is a modified monoplane, designed
somewhat after the Bleriot aéroplane. One
machine has already beén built, and the first
trial flight will be made. soon.

Keuling plans to carry a sectional diri-,
gible balloon with him. This, in addition to
himself, a mechanician, and the machine
itself will weigh about 1,500, pounds.

Keuling was formerly manager of the
Scranton Roofing Company. His parents
retain their residence here.

* Wiiddte Saved Battleship.

The battleship Mississippi had a harrow
‘escape while at sea July 28, and loss of life
and possible serious damage to the ship
Was averted only by the prompt action and
remarkable coolness: of Malcolm L. Wor-

{good chance to win.

 

NEW. TIP TOP WEEKLY.

NEWS TTEMS-OE EN PEREST.

 

rell, a second-class man from the haval
academy, making his first cruisé aboard a
battleship.

The details of Worrell’s action were re-
cently reported to ‘Beekman Winthrop, act-
ing secretary.of the navy.

Worrell was in the engine room when a
shout went. up, showing that something had
gone wrong. Steam pipes had burst in the
engine room. An accident of this serious
character might have resulted in the scald-
ing of men.of the fireroom and ig fre-
quently accompanied by a loss of life, Be-
sides this there was the immediate danger
of thé racing engine causing seriolis dam-
age to the ship.

Worrell, ‘with coolness and presence of
mind, realized that the steam must be
turned off at all hazards and at any risk
to himself: He had. accomplished this be-
fore others about him fully realized what
was happening. Worrell is a native of
Virginia.

London Poot Gain 7,000.

The latest teturt1 of the number of per-
sons in receipt of relief in London shows
that on Saturday, July 20, there were 108,»
404 paupers, Or 7,075 more than the total
for the corresponding day of July, 1011.
The. present total was made tip of 73,091
persons in the workhouses and: 35,313 on
the ditdoor lists, including 593 children
boarded out beyond the unions atid 15,004
other children under 16 yeats of age, and
the rate of pauperism per 1,000 of the popu-
jation was '24.0, as against 22.4 in July of
last year.

Most of the increase of 7,075 was due to
the rise in the number of ‘persons relieved
outside the workhouses owing to the strike.
The indoor figures were higher by 302 and
the. outdoor by 6,773. The largest in-
creases took’ place in’ Poplar, where the
euardians wete providing for as many as
11,061, or a rise Of 4,754;.and in Stepney,
where pauperism was higher by 1,045. Dur-
ing the last four weeks Poplar had added
4,428 and Stepney 979 to the pauper lists.

A Woman Talked and Upset Plans to Re-
stote ‘Throne,

Out of dozens of royalists in jail in Lis-
bon iff connection with another attempt to
reseat Manuel on the Portugese throne, it
was stated at the ministry of the interior
that. the government thinks two women
were the most dangerous plotters.

Only the overtalkativeness of one of
them——-Sefiorita Ludovina Ruaz—it is said,
prevented an outbreak which might have
proved a success. |

Sefiorita Ruaz did not depend wholly on
an attack Captain Conceira was to have
made from the north.. Simultaneously with
it her followers were to have seized the
ministers and members of parliament. and,
with the republican government completely
disorganized, Conceira would have had a
The sefiorita indis-
creetly told one of her admirers of. the
plan, however, and the admirer warned the

ovetnment. . ?
: It is understood the arrest of Miss Alice
Oram, the London Mail’s correspondent,
though it preceded Senorita Ruaz’s, was

 

based on comments from the sefiorita’s
house, “Miss Oram will be freed to avoid »
offending England, but the government 1S

sure she was the sefiorita’s most efficient 7

lietttenant.

Burglar Killed by Heavy Safe Doot.
The burglary of the post-office safe at
Howe, Ind., six miles south of Sturgis,
Mich., resulted in the death of one Of the
burglars who was crushed by the heawy

iron doot when the explosion occurred.
The officers found his body in the wreek-
age when the robbery was discovered in the

morning. The other burglars escaped with 9s

a large amount of money, it is said.

Blocks Two Grabs in Cuba,

Once again has the United States gav-
erhment found it necessary to intervene m
Cuban internal politics.
pré, the American minister at Havana, has Wy)
been directed by the state department 464m =
form the Cuban government that oth
United States looks with disfavor upomnue
projected petroleum monopoly, which.
dent Gomez is ready to ‘sanction: OM
island, and with like disfavor upon hg?
posal of the Cuban president to grant
thousand square acres of swamp laf
a Cuban and American compatiy.

The establishment of the petroleum
nopoly would, the state department belt
give one concern too great a power om”
island, and ig against the princip
sound business.

To Get $3.30 a Week for Fourteen

_Every week for fourteen years the»
cific Telephone & Telegraph Co, must
Harry Christ, of Stockton, Cal., $1.30"
the result of a judgment awarded him DB
Judge E. P. Morgan for personal injuries
received while working for the company.

By December 1926, when the 1,040 i
stallments shall have been completedy i
complete recompense of $046.40 will ha
been received. A physician’s fee of
also was awarded to the man, bat this
will not be delivered in pin-money. amounts.
The plaintiff received an injury to his eye

\

last April while working in a trench for @p

the company at Stockton, and sued nd
the employers’ liability act of rort. )

Statistician Says No Cheaper Beef for Several 2
Years, «i ee

Cheap prices for beef based on a more.
abundant. supply of cattle cannot be €x-_
pected for several years, according to M.
Horine, statistician of the Union Stoe
Yards & Transit Co., in Chicago, who 18 9
sued a statement commenting on the record ¥
high prices paid for cattle in the Chicago
market. ie

In his opinion the only relief lies with
the farmers of the corn belt who with im-
proved methods of farming ‘and. the use’
of corn and alfalfa in feeding may be |
able to produce beef cattle in larger ntim- |
bers and, at lower cost in the next few
years, eae ee

“If anything were needed to’ prove the
scarcity of beef cattle in this coutitry and |
that the law of supply and demand’ governs -
prices at ‘the market: it has ‘beeti furnishe

7 Fro. > cw , ye

 

Arthur Mi Beau- iy

$100 |)
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roid
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7 War times,

“

The we Present situation is easily explained.
the s Bought of 1009 and 1910 throughout

range regions and Mex-
general drought of 1910 which
hroughout western Canada and
Southwestern range
with the partial drought

oe IS

you

7

> Plethos;
)Uthur |
Pant 4g

leaneg

~ Carf «
‘ ©
meall j33

» Mine +4;
head al

the last
PMDMenis of

Setor from
o Beinds, the

: Guthwestern
and the
mended :
the estern

: and
FeBions together

@ Sener]!

Mevitable,

ee A
to A will take from three to five years
Up a new supply, at the very best
fate and under the most favorable
abundance of beef at rea-
durin ge cheap Prices need not be looked for
years to come.
avorable opportunity has ever
: than is now presented to those who
pottinate enough to have the breeding
Marke Ptepared to raise cattle for the

Bai

Be several
me Miore ¢
©Xisted

Pe

4

Mi
ola. iss

Raped

from the

SfOwning.

Mis

; ByHlerder was standing on the bridge
ae She heard Pressler give a cry of dis-
tien erking off her hat and coat, the

e Ey Oman leaped into the river, swam
Me EFESS er’; side, and held him above the
Z % Epuntil a police-patrol boat arrived.
were
Ing She assisted in re-
ena. ; ack into the river
end swo a ag leaped back i

eed qt Tessler and Miss

0 the boat.

™ ashore.

bu; men
ents On the East Side, in New York,
ison through an air shaft to the base-

en R

undle he was

n r
Abran: slightly.

atam Levy, four

: to rj + to investi-
pote ath far out of a window
oe

d fell.

= »<Tlect in every detail.

€ even texture.
he nade up on

With ermine.

two days 6n the sale of numerous
beef steers on the Chicago
10.60 to 10.70 per hun-
highest paid since Civil

severe winter of
Ady deficient supply of breed-
& an YOung stock to such an extent a
Scarcity of all kinds of cattle
b SuBhout the country as now. manifested

Certainly

Woman Saves Athlete from Drowning.
Isie Herder, twenty-three years

? i : Dearborn 5
ee Meck Mto the Chicago River to the aid of
Swi Presser, one of the participants in a
Was Ming _Marathon, who, she believed,

Street

Boy’s Lucky Fall.
aapeuben Glickfield, four years old, flying
ne On t e roof of a six-story tenement

Nyhis descent Reuben carried with
and otal hundred feet of ejompesting
familie. cumulated laundry of a score «
Hung in the air shaft for drying.
euben was unwrapped from the

Until an excited fourth-floor occu-
TOpped a milk bottle on his foot,
years also

* As Reuben- had cleaned up
Shing, Abraham was seriously hurt.

Finest Coat in the World. :
aud Held, famous French comedienne
Mlatrice, is the proud possessor of A

garment created from skins of
Sables which cost $25,000. The
#8 made in Paris and required 110
Their color-
Most uniform, and the pelts are of
This valuable coat
the kimono pattern. |
“CK, instead of a collar, there is a
mposed of four choice sable skins,
i There are four er-
S on one end of the collar, and a
20d three tails on the other. The
1S fastened about the shoulders and

NEW TIP TOP’ WEEKLY.

neck by a hook. The coat when finished
was said by experts on furs and their
wearing to be.the finest coat in the world
owned by a single individual.

Germany to Show How to Save Life.

The officers of the American Museum of
Safety, at No. 29 West Thirty-ninth Street,
New York, are in difficulties as regards the
disposition of a large collection of life-pre-
serving apparatus that Doctor William H.
Tolman, director of the museum, has re-
cently acquired in Germany and the Nether-
lands. Mrs. Tolman says that the mass of
materia! that her husband is bringing from
abroad will require twice the space of that
already occupied by the museum, which
has at present two large rooms on the sixth
floor of the Engineering Society Building.
The German Life Saving,at Sea Associa-
tion is sending a shoulder gun and line, a
line box and shot, a cannon to be carried
on the box, rockets, bombs, anchor shot,
a pistol for lighting rockets, and a model
of a mortar with line. All of these objects
are actual size. A second exhibition will
include a full set of three water-tight com-
parment doors, actual size, and a deck
model of the latest type of transatlantic
steamship, showing davits, exits from cab-
ins to lifeboats, a system for closing com-
partments operated from the bridge, life-
preserver storage, and submarine, fog, and
other signals. A third exhibit is made up
of a full-size lifeboat completely equipped
with oars, sails, compass, lanterns, pro-
visions, water, and ; life preservers. In-
cluded in this exhibit is another modern-
steamship model showing arrangements
similar to that described above.
While the recent Titanic disaster will
make these exhibitions especially _note-
worthy, the museum is interested in all
safety devices of whatever kind. It is
the aim of the institution to educate the
public to their use and to obtain their adap-
tation wherever possible. Germany has re-
duced her accidents fifty per cent through
the efficiency of her safety devices. They
have proved . especiah importance to the
i strial workers. ;
Ne ae Tolman the German wood-
working trades unions are sending 125
specimens of the various dusts from the
woods used in their industry. To the sec-
tion of chemical industries he is bringing
259 specimens of colors, showing those that
hee noxious to the workers, and with de-
scriptions of the best methods of dimin-
ishing occupational diseases arising there-
in these thefe are 263 microphoto-
graphs of dusts encountered in various in-
dustries, four cases of books ae
and fifty-three wax models showing t e ef-
fects of occupational diseases. A collection
of thisty-six different foodstuffs will show
the actual sh of wach albumen, fat,
¢ B ohydrates in each. :
athe hain of safety was founded in
February, 1907, and originally had its rooms
in the American Museum of Natural His-
tory. It is not, however, a government
institution, but is supported entirely by
voluntary contributions.

Le?

but

a

Remarkable Wall of Rough Stone.
A ‘wall 1,300 feet long, four feet high,
and three feet thick at the bottom hag just
been completed ona country estate near
Portchester, New York, under the direc-

At

27

the wall were quarried about 50 miles away
and were used just as they came from the
quarry. The interstices have been filled
with a loam and mold and planted pro-
fusely with such flowering herbs and creep-
ers as will flourish best and look prettiest
in that environment. The stones are all
large—from three tons down and from
three to ten feet long—and fitted as close
as they could be without the use of any
other tool than a hammer to knock off the
rough edges. “This spécimen of cyclo-
pean masonry,” says Mr. Parsons’ descrip-
tion, “in which about 8,000 rock plants have
been planted, is withal a perfect fence—
horse high, bull strong, and pig tight,”

Curfew Suspended in Constantinople.

During the Ramazan, the annual Moham-
medan fast of 30 days beginning August
13, when Mussulmans are compelled to fast
every day from sunrise to sunset, the in-
habitants of the Turkish capital were al-
lowed to remain out of doors until 2 o’clock
in the morning, instead of only until mid-
night.

The newspapers controlled by the com-
mittee of Union and Progress naturally
resent the restrictions of martial law which
was proclaimed on August 5 for a period
of 40 days. The Jeune Turc, however, says
it is the patriotic duty of every Ottoman
subject not to impede the actioMs of the
government,

Mayor Gaynot’s Assailant Dying.
James Js Gallagher, who shot Mayor
Gaynor, of New York City, on the deck
of the Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse two
years ago, is said to be dying in the State
hospital at Trenton, N. J. A report from
the hospital physicians says that he is in
an advanced stage of paresis and not likely
to live long.
Gallagher, who is serving a twelve-year
sentenc: for his crime, was removed from
the State prison to the hospital in January
owing to his weak physical condition.

Lake Loses its Water.

Residents of Newstead, Ky., have for-
feited all right to complain about the high
cost of living since a 25-acre lake in the
vicinity lost its waters through subterranean
passages, leaving thousands. of pounds of
fish floundering around in the bed.
Caravans of wagons are making pilgrim-
ages to the scene of piscatorial bounty,
bearing away the finny tribes.

Building Business Shows Big Inctease.
Building operations in fifty principal
cities of the country in July show a gain
of nine per cent over the same month last
year, and a gain of nine per cent for seven
months in 19012 as compared with the same
period in forr, according to official reports
made public recently by the American Con-
tractor. In the fifty cities the operations
last month totaled $66,225,684, as - against
$60,627)478 in July, 1911. For the period
from January I to August 1, this year, the
total operations in the fifty cities were
$424,685,616 as against $387,565,561 in the
first seven months of last year.

In New York the operations in July were
$124,527, as compared with $227,505 in
July a year ago, a loss of forty-five per
cent traceable directly to the recent strike
of the hod men and building laborerseeBor

 

tion of Samuel Parson, who. says that it
is unique. The granite’ blocks which form

 

the first seven months Jast. year, operations
in Seranton totalec $807,460, as against $1,-

  
     
      
   
  
  
   
   
   
       
   
  
    
   
  
  
   
   
    
   
   
  
   
    
 
   
    
  
     
  
 
   
  
   
    
  
    
  
    
   
 
   
    
  
      
   
   
    
 
  
    
   
  
     

  

  
     
   
   
 

   
28
2

131,334 for the same period in 1o1t, a loss
of twenty-eight per cent.

Gains of more than fifty per cent in the
following cities: Atlanta, eighty-seven per
cent; Baltimore, sevetity-nine per cent;
Cedar Rapids, eighty per cent; Des Moines,
306 per cent; Fort Wayne, 130 per cent;
Hartford, fifty-three per. cent; Indian-
apolis, 124 per cent; Los Angeles, ninety-
six per cent; Manchester, seventy-five per
cént; Memphis, 114 per cent; Milwaukee,
22 per cent; Newark, 177 per cent; Pater-
son, 109 per cent; Shreveport, fifty-one per
cent; South Bend, 293 per cent; Toledo,
150 per cent; Rochester, sixty-seven per
cent,

Wills that His Jewelry. be Cast into Bullion.

The odd provision is made in the will
of William Patterson Young, an eccentric
tich bachelor, of Newark, N. J., that all
his jewelry shall be broken up and the
scraps cast into bullion so all trace of its
original identity shall be lost.

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

-

and the mathematics of flight and problems
relating to the efficiency of control systems.
The course of lectures will be open to all
the seniors in the department of mechanical
engineering, and times will be so arranged
that every such student will be free\at the
hour chosen. No American college is as
yet offering such a course.

This Girl an Aquatic Marvel.

Miss Kathryn Diver, the. pretty young
{water nymph, of Philadelphia, who dis-
| tinguished herself by, swimming nine miles
| from this city to Riverton in three hours,
[is ready for her next feat.

Having found that she can endure the
}exertion she has decided to. try to swim
| from the city of Chester, a distance of eigh-
teen miles, and in addition to the increased
| distance, it is a far more hazardous wun-
|dertaking as the river widens considerably
|below the city and the currents there are
|almost as strong as they are in the Dela-
j}ware Bay.

}

 

The bullion is to be part of a $700,000} The young woman is nothing short of an
bequest. to the Protestant Episcopal dio-| aquatic marvel, as she never knew a stroke
cese of Newark to be spent in erecting|before last May and then only took to

a magnificent new church as:a memorial to|swimming as° the physicians had

his mother. Young died in July.
vides that the new church shall be erected
on the site of the family residence, which

is to be moved to the rear and used as a
rectory.

Old Indian Chief Dead.

Richard Whitehorse, head»chief of the
Otoe Indians for forty years, and said to
be more than a hundred years old, is dead
at his home near Red Rock, Okla. In
188: he headed the committee that selected
the present reservation in Oklahoma when
his tribe was brought from Nebraska.

A Course in Aetonautics at Boston “Tech.”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology an-
nounces special lectures on aéronautics, the
first sefies of which will be given the com-
ing school year. The lecturer is to be’ A.
A. Merrill, Boston born, sometitne secretary
of the Boston Scientific Society, for seven
years and more an investigator in the labo-
ratories of thé institute and, in the opinion
of those competent to judge, one of the
strongest men in the country in the theory
of this department of knowledge. In an
informal talk about the new work, Profes-
sor E. F. Miller, head of the department
of mechanical engineering, stated that al-
ready the instittite has done a great deal
in investigation of technical factors to avia-
tion. For many years it has had in opera-
tion a “blowing tube,” three feet square,
through which a’ current of air may be
forced at velocities up to 10 or 12 miles
an hour, This has been used by Mr. Mer-
rill and by the students in thesis work in
carrying On investigations of the lift and
drift of surfaces of different sizes and
shapes under different velocities of wind.
The initial course of lectures which will
be given by Mr. Merrill deals with the fol-
lowing large problems: The early history
of the art of flying and of experiments in
gliding; the methods of research, with spe-
cial referetice to. Lilienthal, Langley,
Maxim, Margrave, Chanute, and Eiffel, and
will include a discussion of some of the
mofe important modern machines, of the
present dangers of flight, and the! best
methods of improving the art. The more
technical lectures relate to the coefficients

of these coefficients

x) se

advised

He pro lthat athletic exercise was necessary for

her to regain her health. She had been
an ardent dancer, in fact she had overdone
it to such an extent that,. as her father
says, she lost more than thirty pounds
since December. So beneficial have the re-
sults of her swimming lessons been that

| she has not only regained all the.flesh that
lshe lost, but added nineteen pounds to her

weight in addition.

Seek Gypsy Moth Foe in Germany.

Germany's forests are being searched by
officials of the American forestry service
for ichneumon fly eggs. It is purposed
to breed these flies in American forests in
the hope of killing off gypsy moths.

The ichneumons lay eggs in the larve of
other insects, especially of the gypsy moth,
and it is hoped that they will rid the United
States of these pests.

“This,” says a Berlin paper, “would be
the noblest kind of reprisal for the Yan-
kees’ gift to us of the potato bug and the
grape louse.”

Twenty Years After Father’s Death Son
Finds Fortune.

John Flannery, a well-to-do landowner

of Fishkill Landing, N. Y. has just dis-

covered that his: father, who died 20 years

ago, had a deposit of $20,000 in the New-

burgh Sayings Bank.

Mr. Flannery called at the bank a few
days ago to open an account and was ques-
tioned by the cashier as to his parents. His
answer satished the bank official that he
was the son of thé man who two decades
ago had deposited the money. The sum
has more than doubled since it was placed

there.

Hope to Cure Hunchbacks,

The physicians of the Johns Hopkins
Hospital, in Baltumore, are planning a series
of interesting experiments during the com-
ing term of the medical school for perfect-
ing a” new treatment for Pott’s’ disease,
commonly known as hunchback.

Lf succéssful the new treatment, which
will” consist of “surgical operations, will
eliminate the use ‘of mechanical appliances,
such as ‘plaster of Paris jackets, braces,
and so forth, and» effect cures with the

 

ee s surfaces and prob-.
me 1 h

‘knife, in which the grafting of bone will

 

figure conspicuously.
method of treatment
lutely elemtuate

which
motion of

are nine pairs, and entirely relieve pres=
sure on the affected bodies, would promise
a rapid cure and prevent deformity,

It is thought that in the spine the care-
ful removal of the periosteum of the spin
ous processes, transposed to bridge the gap
between the vertebrae and with the gaps
between the thin bone shield called Tamine
also bridged by bone, will lead to the ex=
tensive formation of bone, fusing the ver-
tebree.

Big Dam Washed Away. ©

Dam No. 26, which had just beem com-
pleted in. the Ohio River near Gallipolis,
Ohio, by the Federal government at @)60
of $1,000,000, was washed away Ff tly
when the concrete foundation collapsed.

It is estimated
amount to $300,000, and that it will require:
a year to rebuild. Hs if

Peculiar Will Ptobated.
A will which would have been declared

8

It is believed that a.
would abso-) *7
the diseased
vertebrze or- spinal joints, of which there”

that the damage’ will™

v

els

invalid but for a recent decision of te” am

court of appeals, holding that a will muse
be deemed valid if the intention of the tes-
tator is apparent, was admitted to probate
in New York by Surrogate Cohalan.

wrote it on a piece of paper containing fou
sheets, part on first sheet and part om the
third. The will bore the names of two
witnesses, but there was no attestation:
clause. Suan
The surrogate ruled that while the law.
was not fully complied with there was ne
doubt of the intention of the testatri
Mrs. Quin left $10,000. to her daughter,
Mrs. Florence Lee Finn, of 16 West Ninth
Street, $5,000 to her sister, Mrs. Agnes bee
White, of 82 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn,
and the residuary

A Postal Sunday for Jews.

Nissim Behar, general secretary of the”

Federation of Jewish Organizations, Te
ceived a reply recently from Frank HE
Hitchcock, postmaster general, to a requet
made on behalf of the federation that the
Hebrews employed in the post offices be

allowed as far as possible to observe thet
Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Sat-

urday, the request being granted ‘whet
possible without prejudice,

Monument to Senator Clay.

‘

_The monument recently érected im the»
city park of Marietta, Ga., to. the memory

of United. States Senator Clay was ul

veiled recently with appropriate ceremonies ©

by Miss Evelyn Clay, his only daughter.
Congressman William G. Brantley and
Bishop Warren A. Candler were ‘the chieé
speakers. Members of the Georgia house
and senate attended the exercise, as did a
number of other statehouse officials. The
money for the monument was raised almost
entirely by private subscription. oh

Lecture at Columbia University on /
Makes a Ball Curve. in

If Daniel Bernouilli, a Swiss physicist’ 4 '

who died in 1782, had not spent a whole

afternoon back in the middle of the eight)

eenth century tampering. with.a certain

puzzle which he had had worked, up, it's
doubtful if Mathewson, Marquard,

The’:

will was made by Frances E. Quin, Whoy

estate to two gramd= 19
children. ae

oe aes

 
t aog

SO-

sed q

ere”
es-
HSE

re-
in=
yap
Ips
ne
“x-

Maeght through the air wit

a Horities as highly gratifying,

“able

eo é :
Bole. Would to-day be able to pitch al-
5 ty kind of a curve ball. ;
fMouilli was the man who discovered
Principle on which baseballs curve long
re a baseball was ever heard of; at
sal) that is the gist of a lecture on base-
» ySutves that Professor. W. S. Franklin,
} “high University, gave at Columbia
Bvsity, in New York, recently. ,
=ve in such an academic place as Morn-
ide Heights baseball has a strong hold
p the Populace apparently, because a. hun-
OF more scholary fans, including 4
le of dozen women, crowded into a
© In Fayerweather Hall to learn all
?P t curves and why a curve is.
ofessor Franklin told them, too, but
“iN terms of baseballs. He used pails of
€t, boats, tin disks, and enough of an
Ttment to fill a hardware store, but in
be and every one was convinced that Ber-
belli was the only original when it nat
Otting out,a curved ball. Some dyed-
€-wool rooters thought Doctor Frank-
‘Should have had one of the big-league
€rs for the.day to give a demonstra:
* but Doctor Franklin demonstrated
¥ ably without the assistance of a Pro-
Slonal
he whole secret of a curved ball lies
the relation of the pressure Ot the ve-
ty and vice versa, each ball creating its
4 Pressure by the yelocity and the spi
€ pitcher gives it as it leaves his
Hd. Bernouilli made the discovery of
act when he was observing.a stream
Water that flowed through wide pools
Natrow shoals, In the pools he soon
that the pressure was Very, great,
n©. the velocity was almost nothing; im
® Shoals he saw that the velocity, wae
FY swift, while the pressure had almost
eeppeared, ; ara
| US is the principle, so Professor F ete
A demonstrated, that governs the oe
Bd curve of a ball. If. the ball, sails
h no spin the
Be , 8 Dushed aside equally in all directions
the ball is directly under, the contro
STavity so far as its curve 1S concerned
dit soon falls to the ground. Whereas,
© front of the ball, as it leaves the
icher’s hand, is given a downward spin,
fre is in addition to the straight fore-
aside of the air a circulation motion
b. the air around the ball. This motion
0 over and then under the ball, tends
crease the speed with which the ait
h © baneneath the ball and retards it above

an,

Rushing Work on the Canal.
© Colonel George W. Goethals, chief os
Beer of the Panama Canal work, reporte
he war department that the total nee
Ff €X¢avation for July was 2,633,437 ul ric
F be S,‘as against 2,339,770 yards, in June.

te ae ds of concrete
Were 87,485 cubic yar oe fill placed

id and 369,838 cubic yards
dams,

ashington

- his we e J W
YOrK acce d by the ec
, Pt eh , inasmuch

ere were 10.92 inches of rain all.

To Erect Latgest Building io the World. .
h he Equitable Life Assurance Society
AS sold its property at 120 Broadway, N a

Tk, and upon that site there 15 to aS
tected a new building for general office
{tpOses. It will be known as. the Equt-
Building, and it will be thirty-six
tories high, It will-have the largest Moor
*Pace of any office building in the world,

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

It is to be ready for occupancy not later
than May I, 1914. :

The purchaser of the ‘property is a cor-
poration organized by T. Coleman Du Pont,
of Wilmington, Del. Of this corporation
Frank M. Andrews, the president and archi-
tect of the new Hotel McAlpin, at Broad-
way and Thirty-fourth Street; is the vice
president, and by him and W. A. Day,
president of the Equitable Life Assurance
Society, the negotiations for the sale of
the property were conducted. The cost was
$14,000,000, which 1s $282 a square foot, not
a high price for that section.

To Honor Major Butt.

The Senate has passed a resolution au-
thorizing the erection in one of the public
squares of Washington a memorial to Ma-
jor Archibald W. Butt, United States army,
former military aid to President Taft, and

Millet, former vice chairman

to Francis D. tor
of the fine arts commission, who lost their

lives in the Titanic disaster.

The resolution provides that the me-
morial shall not be placed in the Capitol,
Library, or White House grounds. The
memorial will be furnished by popular sub-
scriptions. 3

Woman Kills 28 Snakes.

Mrs, M. McCoy, of New Rochelle, N.
yy. is exterminating the blacksnakes from
that city. She has killed twenty-eight
nakes this year.

: Mrs. McCoy is the mother of Bessie Mc-
Coy. who recently married Richard Hard-
ing Davis. , ;

The section in whith the McCoys live has
been infested with a small variety of black-
snake that annoy the residents. Mrs. Mc-
Coy has waged unrelenting war on the rep-
tiles, and has become so expert that in the

Dy « .
last six months not one snake has escaped

her.
Oppose Capital Punishment.

The execution of seven men at Sing Sing
recently, has__ started agitation atfresh in
favor of abolishing the death penalty,

Senators and congressmen were chary
about expressing their opimion on the sub-
Bi of its possible considera-

‘ect in advance :
an in the national legislature, but promi-

} ; vere not.
ent women We i.
“T am opposed, to capital punishment on
f s

eneral principles,” said Mrs, La Follette,
f the Wisconsin senator. The exe-
New York State emphasize this
outrage against society. It a8 outrageous,
Capital punishment tends to increase rather
than obviate crime. I do not think the
State ought to take human life in the in-
terests of society, for such executions have
a most evil effect on the public.

“Tt ig a subject upon which I feel very
deeply. Particularly. here in the capital
exectition of any pesca Der sat Rett not
to be tolerated as an examf é

ation.” ;

oe Chast Clark, wife of the speaker,
aerate unalterably opposed to capital pun-
tshment.p. Lhe seven executions by New
York State are a striking ¢xample of the
social inefficiency of the death penalty.

“| think as Bulwer Lytton said: ‘The
worst tse you cal put a man to 1s to hang
hime ed would not like to be responsible
for taking what I could not give—human
ites: At these victims of the electric chair
y ers York could have been put at some
public work, making roads or parks or

g
wife of
cutions 1

 

29

other employment for the public good, how
much better it would have been for gso-
ciety! There is work for public better-
ment that big strong tnen can do instead of
putting them out of bttsiness by execution.”

Poet Gives Nephew $50,000.

James Whitcomb Riley, the Hoosier poet,
has deposited a check for $50,000 with the
Jnion Trust Company, of Indianapolis, in
favor of Edmund H. Eitel, his nephew,
who was married recently.

The gift is not regarded specially as a
bridal present, but goes to the young man
as an evidence of appreciation of the
donor for several years of faithful service
and advice as Mr. Riley’s private secretary.

Mr. Eitel, in a sense, has acted as Mr.
Riley’s banker.

Lightning Kills Soldier,

Private Joseph Ehrenthal, of Brooklyn,
a member of Company K, Twenty-ninth
Regiment, United States Infantry, which
was marching with two other companies
across country from Mount Gretna to Fort
Washington, Staten Island, was killed by
lightning at Kutztown, near Reading, Pa.
John Byers, his tent mate, was shocked
severely, but will recover.

The battalion had pitched its tents for
the night and Private Ehrenthal was on
duty outside. The lightning probably was
attracted by his steel bayonet, which was -
shattered.

The movement of the troops was delayed
séveral hours.

Gitl Balloonist Drowned,

Miss Elizabeth Le Bar, 18 years old, of
Muskegon, Mich., who had been making
balloon ascetisions at Lake Michigan Park
for four weeks, was drowned recently in
Lake Michigan when her parachute came
down in.the water. ‘

Thousands of persons witnessed the ac-
cident, and although several boats were
sent out the body could not be found.

$39 Lives Lost During Storm on Spanish
Coast.

One hundred and nineteen Spanish fish-
ermen, of Bilbao, Spain, lost their lives
by the sinking of 14 fishing boats during
a terrible storm which raged along the
Spanish coast recently.

Churches Nearly Deserted in New York.

The complaint is general among Christian
workers in New. York that never within
their recollection has the interest in church
matters been so slight or the attendanee so
slim as this summer.

The churches on Fifth and Madison Ave-
nues .and Trinity, on Broadway, which
usually have their congregations swelled in
the summer by people from out. of town,
are suffering from the apathy as much as
their smaller neighbors. There were only
twenty-six persons at the Church of the
Heavenly Rest, on a recent Sunday morn-
ing, and forty at St. Thomas’. 5

Such churches as the Marble Collegiate
and the Madison Avenue Methodist ate
ng from 100 to 200 people every Sun-

ay.

Monkeys Make Things Lively When Given

Freedom of Ship. ;

The voyage of the big steam freighter,

Egremont Castle, from the Far East’ came
near being, one long nightmare.

J‘orty-one monkeys were taken on board

 
B30

at an Eastern point.
swer the dinner bell; they swarmed in the
rigging, hopelessly tangling any loose ends
of rope they could find; swung on the
whistle rope, sending forth blasts of the
siren in the dead of the night; rifled the
galley shelves, and upset everything that
was not nailed down.

Freedom of the ship had been granted
to the monkeys to keep them in better
health, but Captain Smith finally ordered
them caught and put back in the cages.
This resulted in the death of 12 of them.

Gives $20,000 So Poor Can Recover Pawned
Objects.

The Marquise De Guerry has bequeathed
$20,000 to the city of Paris for the redemp-
tion of small objects pledged in the state
pawnshops by the poor.

The legacy has its origin in a visit paid
one day by the marquise to the depot of
the Mont de Piete, as the state pawnbrok-
ing establishment is called in France, where
his attention was attracted by a. silver
christening set, consisting of a knife, fork,
and spoon stich as is given to a child on
its baptism or first communion. The set
was tarnished with age and the ticket
showed it had been in pawn for a half a
century. The marquise was told that regu-
larly tor many years since 1860, when the
little christening gift was pawned, either
the father or the mother of the recipient
had come and paid the trifling interest on
the pledge, doubtless a relic of a dead
child. Each year the man or his wife was
a little older, a little shabbier, a little sad-
der, but the interest was punctually paid.

Then the man ceased his annual visits
and only the woman came, until she, too,
failed to appear. Neither was ever seen
again, and the little christening gift re-
Mained in its wrapping getting blacker and
dustier until it was seen by the Marquise
De Guerry.

Baseball Fans Don’t Forget.

“They've never forgotten me at New
York,” says little Johnny Evers, of the
Cubs. You may remember that it was
Evers who called the “touching-second”
play at the Polo Grounds which lost the
Giants the pennant a few years ago.

“I see New York critics say I’m falling
off,” says Evets. “I made one bad play
against the Giants in Chicago, and now a
reporter comes out saying that Chance
needs a new ball club when Evers starts
pulling bonehead plays. There isn’t a Giant
player, or one who ever wore a Giant uni-
form, who has forgiven me for calling the
umpire’s attention to Merkle’s blunder that
famous day.

“Every time we play the Cardinals, Man-
ager Bresnahan tries to hand me some-
thing or baw! me out. You see, he played
with New York for years.

“And here’s the strangest thing about it
all: Fred Merkle, the man I got that day,
is probably my best friend on the team, He
always has a pleasant word for me~—has
proved himself a grand ball player by stick-
ing after making that blunder which cost
a flag and getting back into the affections
of New York fans. That took a lot of
backbone. Mighty. few men: who could
stand the panning he got for a few years.
Being called ‘bonehead’ for that period cer-
tainly brings out the fact whether a man
is a quitter or not. .

“Without intending te be egotistical, I
think I am in a position to tell whether

ls
i j

 

NEW “TIP TOP WEEKLY.

They refused to an-|Merkle is game, because it was my play |

that put him in bad. And I freely and
gladly say that Merkle is one of the gam-
est men and best ball players who ever
entered a player’s gate. I’m mighty glad
to be able to say this after all these years.”

General Barry to Take Place of Frederick
D, Grant at New York,

Major General Thomas H. Barry, super-
intendent of the military academy at West
Point, has been assigned to cOmmand the
eastern division, with headquarters in New
York, succeeding the late Major General
Frederick D. Grant.

Colonel C. P. Townsley, coast, artillery,
in command of the Portland district, will
succeed General Barry as superintendent
of the military academy.

Brigadier General Tasker H. Bliss, act-
ing since General Grant’s death as com-
mander in chief of the eastern division, re-
turned to his duties as commander of the
department of the East.

41,000 Americans Driven ftom Mexico
Within Two Years,

Southern Mexico and the district along
the border States are a seething caldron of
violence, devastation, and suffering, with
outrages, murders, and destruction of prop-
erty so terrible that the press accounts
that reach the United States are much too
mild, according to J. S. Reddoch, for sey-
eral years general superintendent of the
National Railways of Mexico, having juris-
diction over a district covering 1,500 miles
in the southern part of that republic, who
arrived recently at Kansas City, Mo., from
Mexico. p

“Out of 42,000 Americans. who lived there
two years ago,” said Mr. Reddoch, “there
now are only 1,000 who have taken the
chance to gamble with their lives and re-
mained to guard their property interests.

“The cutting off of hands, brutal mur-
ders, and attacks on defenseless women and
children are only mild forms for amusing
rebels and rurales alike.

“The American now cuts no figure in
Mexico. They are nearly all out and the
few remaining are taking heavy odds with
their lives.”

Collie Dog Fights Bull and Saves Master,

“Shep,” the two-year-old collie of Thomas
Rohan, a Hollandtown, Wis., farmer, is a
hero since his battle with a mad bull, which
had attacked his master.. Rohan, who was
seriously injured, owes his life to the dog.
The bull charged Rohan, knocking him un-
conscious, Shep attacked the bull, fighting
him away, and then sat howling beside
his unconscious master until help arrived.

Woman 104 Years Old Spry as a Kitten, and
Has No Gray Hair.

Mrs, Margaret Van Renssalaer, of Sara-
toga Springs, N. Y., recently celebrated her
104th birthday. She is still active, lives
alone, takes care of her house, garden,
chickens, and looks after the horse.

She does not use glasses and has not a
gray hair in her head.’ Her father lived
to be 110 years and her mother was 96 when
she died.’ She was born in Canada and
was married eighty-nine years ago.

Finger-print System Comes into Use in Pitts-
burgh Banks.

In order to guard against forgeries and

for the; identification. of depositors, several

banking institutions in Pittsburgh and sur-

 

rounding towns have adopted the
print system. The First National Bank,’
Pittsburgh, was the first to apply the new
method, and it has met with marked Ssuc-
cess. The system is practically the same @5 |
that used in the detection of crime. ~ 7)
This method of identification is applied
solely to that class of depositors who are
deficient in the art of chirography, and
whose signatures are liable to change im
form. Other local banks using the SyS- =)
tem are the Pittsburgh Bank for “Savings, 7 @
the People’s Savings Bank, and the Union
Savings Bank. The First National Bank, %

of Donora,; the First National. Bank, otfs a

Webster, and the Fayette City National ™
Bank are financial institutions in neat-by ~
towns which employ it.

Midshipman Commended for Bravetys

The commendations of the navy depart-
ment have been bestowed upon Midship=
man M. L. Worrell. for bravery shown?
when the battleship Mississippi broke one
of her low-pressure crank shafts recently. —
A report to the navy department state
that the coolness and judgment of the
young midshipman during an emergency
reduced the damage of the ship to a mifit-
mum and probably prevented loss of life.
He is a native of Virginia.

Kaisetin May Give Up Court Duties.

The condition of the kaiserin of Gere
many is said to bé so unsatisfactory that
her complete retirement from court and
other representative duties may be necessary
in the coming winter. y ape |

The forthcoming transfer of the crown
prince from Danzig to Potsdam is inferte
to be due chiefly to’a plan for intrusting =
to the crown princess the social and public.
duties ordinarily performed by the kaiserin. —

Moonshinets Happy. i

_ Moonshiners and other violators of the
internal revenue law in the Carolinas, Ken-
tucky, West Virginia, and other mountaim
States of the Appalachian region, where”
the picturesque characters of present-day
romances hold forth, have gained tempo-
tary immunity from the revenue officers: ~
through a lack of departmental appropria-'
tions. Homemade stills: are simmering ~
along tindisturbed in many a mountain fast= 7
ness, while alert owners and operators,
made doubly vigilant by the a parent dis-
regard of the hated “revenoos,” are pacing
in nervous uneasiness at the unusual quiet
and peace of their lives, is

Forty raiders of the internal reventut
service, brave men, renowned for thei
daring and efficiency, have been called from
the hunt because there are no funds, These
forty men are all being assigned to other ~
work, and moonshiners have gained tempo- “
rary immunity.

. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Cabell io
says, however, that no violator will escape {=

eet and that they will all be caught
ater. oe

¥

Wants Heavy Fine for Carrying Opium.

In an effort to check’ activities of the |
smugglers of opium from the Orient,
United States District Attorney McNab,
of San Francisco, is working upon the
draft.of a new law, which he will seek to
have the United States treasury depart-
ment sanction,

The present statute
captains of vessels on which opium is
found. McNab proposes a statute that will Sh

provides fines for the

‘

 
posé a fine equal to the market value
the Contraband drtig, not upon the cap-
in, but upon the steamship company
Derating the vessel.

Gasoline Now Pills the Plow in the West.
Big steam and gasolihe traction enginés
e Superseding horses aiid mules in plow-

the great wheat fields of Karisas. One
the Katisas State officials went from
acuse on the Santa Fe to Topeka re-
Hy. He ttaveled all day, and on that trip

fed Sixty-one traction engines at work
Aw ing.

The ehaction enginés as plow power came
Kansas less than three years ago, an
his year they are moréyextensively used
afi ever before. Otic Wholesale distribut-
house in Topeka hag#sold twenty trac-

Ali were shipped @o agents in the

sand western partaeof the State on

from, fatmers. - :
buritry newspapers of central Kan-
prt fhe salé of Mineteen tractors
ing dn one wegk, and reported
evel gatimers who would start their
at once,

8 Ship Offon & Treasure Hunt. —

bark Aléspeh, Captain Frederick
“has Gleatéd ff6m Aberdeen, Wash.,
, Ostensibly £6 carry 8,000 feet of

_ to Antopapacta, *Chiice, but in fe-
© 0 to Gueds ISland,. the lure of
“ane hunters for more than a score of

As, sae t
aptai@@h ackett gnid fie had the “only
sigindl™ p, Of the: island, showing the
ral ges a. jéwels, and other
Measiiremmmned ab tiany millions of dol-
Ts.

ackettisaid hie Obtainéd the secret from
he Gpeemee men who helped bury the
f asu tee or
Twa expeditions, Gre headed by
Miss eeeenemieve Davis, an Englishwoman,
Sand @ewpther by Madenipiselle Matilde Du-
and, Weeks woutt, also equipped with
shat tieyesmia: ate Original maps, are on
Toby wip eee island.
te! eee ae ‘
Di king.
sf |: Digorgees May dhs 08 7 ge
woreecs tn Georgia have the right to
yOHit, Seficial spanker” for their chil-
ewer UMaprotests of their former hus-
sand Soordiyg to a decision of Judge
i , 5 eA ee iy 3. ae
W ” Mitismy an Atlanta commission
eehame was arraicned in court at the in-
Stiga i of the divorced husband of Mrs.
atolyn Reynblts-Duncan,. a, fashionable
mMediste, for Having punished the family’s
Wo young childrenmgiwho are in Mrs. Reyn-
@ids-Duncan’s possession. She told the
court that she fii Hien Partish the right
to “spank.” Liupehh 1 1 dekt ‘

oung Ball Riayat Who Work Will te
ime ago Nwew York bought
wpitener, arom a mihor

id the large sum of

Sn, Detroit, in the

p09 purchased a hurler,

minors, Navin. paid

i will be interest-

¥ these two pitchers
respective clubs.

better work than

i both enter. fast

Ven terms. Mc-

prove the better

$ advent into the

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

majors will hardly create a sensation, while
Green will likely be heralded far and wide
as being one of the highest-priced twirlers
that the Giants ever bought from ‘the
minors.

[t will make no difference, though. More
than oné player who cost but a few hun-
dred dollars has developed into a star after
entering the fast set. There was Ty Cobb,
for instance. Detroit paid but $700 for
Ty six years ago, but it wasn’t long until
the »Geofgian demonstrated his ability.
How much would Ty bring now if placed
on the market?

Aviator Latham Kifled by a Jungle Buffalo.

Further details of the death in French
equatorial Africa of Hubert Latham, the
noted aviator, have feached Paris from
Brazzavile, whosé only méans to communi-
cation with the interior is the native runner.

Latham, with a native, was shooting on
the right bank of the Chari River, near
Gayes Rapids. He had wounded a thin-
oceros and when firing a secofid time the
tifle burst. He seized another rifle car-
tied by the native atid fired again,- killing
the animal,

At this moment a buffalo walked out of
near-by tall grass. Latham fired at the
buffalo, but only wounded the animal, which
charged and tossed. him three times. La-
tham was itistantly killed,

Gutterson Leaped Once and Won the Contest
at Stockholm,

Albert Gutterson, University of Vermont,
was picked to represent the United States
in the Olympiad |because, of his ability as
a jumper.

Up to the time of the deciding of the
broad jump Gutterson wandered around
Stockholm and enjoyed himself to the ut-
most. The day of the running broad jump
Gutterson donned his running suit and
went out to the jumping. pit with a lot
of others to try their skill at the game.
His turn came, and, taking a short tun of
a few feet, he gave a mighty leap and
landed 24 feet 11.14 inches away from
the line where he started.

.Calmly: putting on his sweater, he sat on
the ground and. watched the other contest-
ants strain every muscle at their command
in ati endeavor to better his mark, Finally
they finished, and Gutterson walked slowly
back to the dressing foom, through for the
trip. One jump only, and three points. for
the United States, Of the point winners,
Guttetson had to exert himself less than
any of his companions, yet he accomplished
just what was expected of him.

Buffaloes Increasing.

Lieutenant Colonel Brett, cotmmmanding
Yellowstone National Park, has reported
to, the secretary of -the interior, Mr.
Fisher, that his men have seen more buf-
faloes in the wild herd in the park recently
than for ten years past. They counted
forty-eight buffaloes, he said.

All. of them appeared to be in fine con-
dition. The tame herd, which is kept in
an inclosure in the park, said Colonel Brett,
numbers 144 now. Nearly one-half of the
buffaloes in the United States are in Yel-
lowstone.

200 in This Family.

The second national biennial reunion of
the Vandivier family, at. Graham Springs,
Ky., was attended by. over. 200 descendants
of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Vandivier. There

 

 

30

are fifty-five present from Franklin County,
Ind., the largest number from any one
county. Peter Vandivier and his wife came
to America from Holland in the early pio-
neer days.

American Official Killed in Colombia.

William Bruce McMaster, American vice
consul at Cartagena, Colombia, has been
shot and killed. Dispatches.'to the state
department reporting his death do not say
if it WaS an accident of a murderous as-
sault. An investigation ts’ being made,

McMaster was killed “while hunting,” ac-
cording to the report to the state depart-
ment, which came from American Consul
Kemper at Cartagena.

An attack on his life two years ago and
the strain imposed on his relations with the
Colombian judicial authorities as a result
of his efforts to secure full punishment for
the would-be assassins, excites the suspition
of officials as to the catise of his death.

Business Man’s Lapse of Memory Laéts
Nearly Year.

Samuel U. King, who at the time of his
disappearance from Los Angeles, Cal.,: to
months ago was president of the King Ma-
chinery Company, returned home. recently
after a lapse of memory for nearly a year;
during which time his identity was wrapped
in darkness.

King told relatives and friends that the
last he remembered was one day in Octo-
ber, 1911, when he left his office to go
home. His next lucid moment, he said,
came while he was walking the 8treets. of
Shanghai and upon meeting an ~Ameri-
can learned where he was. and that it was
July, 1912, instead of October, tort. He
had sorfé money but did not know where
he got it.

Radiam Palace to Gost $80,000,

The radium palace, which is to be built
in Paris fot the use of Madame Cutie
and the Pasteur Institute, will, it is said,
cost $80,000. Probably all the radium it
will contain when finished tould be ac&
commodated in a thimble, though nécessi-
tating an expenditure greater than the cost
of the “palace,”

The elaborate precautions against bur-
glary which are to be taken scartely seem
necessaty. No burglar would. waste his time
stealing a few grains of dirty-looking salt
which could be disposed of in no channel
he could tse,

But the leaden walls of the safe in which
the raditim is to be kept are all essential,
for lead offers the most ‘effective resistance
to the passagé of the potent rays which
radium shoots out in every ditection. Lead
appeats to be the final product resulting
from the’ successive transformations ,the
wonder element undergoes,

Graves of Indians Not to be Molested.

Sentiment triumphed over commercial
necessity when the House Indian affairs
committee favorably reported a bill ‘repeal+
ing a law that permitted the removal of
an Indian burial ground in Kansas City,
Kan., in which repose the bones of the
members of the once famous Wyandotte
tribe,

The cemetery had been used by the tribe
for many years, and scores of the survivors
petitioned that the graves of their fathers
be left undisturbed. The bill already has
passed the Senate. The ground was des
sired fot commercial purposes,

 
Lay]

BALL!

as

/PLAY
BALL! ,

[hence le

Fleventh Annual
Baseball Tournament

Tip Top Championship Contest of 191

Open to amateur baseball nines anywhere in the Uni
States. New uniforms for each of the two win-J
teams. BEGIN NOW. Contest Closes October 1. _

 

 

 

 

FIRST PRIZE:—The team which, at the end of the season, has the ha
average—that is, plays the greatest number of games and scores the largest ni”
of runs, will be declared the TIP TOP CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM OF 1912, ani™
receive a handsome silk pennant bearing words to that effect. In addition tc
the champion team will receive an equipment of nine high-grade uniforms en
shirt, belt, trousers and stockings for each member. Ben:

* SECOND PRIZE:—The team showing the next highest average, will be declare
the winner of the second place, and the members will receive each a uniform equi¥
ment exactly like that, given to each member of the champion team. Sal a

_ In the event of a tie between two teams, the batting and fielding average of the teams will be considered, The captai bof cx)
peting teams are therefore advised to preserve the detailed score of each game, but not to send it to this office until Seana to do s+;

 

 

TEN COUPONS REQUIRED FOR THE RECORD OF EACH GAMF:

In order that TIP TOP may have a complete and ‘proper record of ‘each fame played by ea.’
team entering this contest, ten coupons must be sent in for each game. These consist of o

coupon from each of the nine players, and one manager’s coupon. The last coupon must be mail

on or before October 15th, when the contest closes. se eo.

MANAGER’S COUPON

For each game played during the season, the ‘manager desiring to
enter the Tip Top Contest, is required to fill out a Manager’s Coupon,
like that below, fill it in, signit,.and obtain the endorsement of his
postmaster or a reputable news dealer, as provided in the coupon,
and mail it to this office.

 

TIP TOP BASEBALL TOURNAMENT OF 1912

 

Name of My RMN Gia hae es «ges Nile Sy tae ie ah nary ad

Nene: 6 Opposing Teani.. 2315-250 aa okt coe ee
PO a Sak Scene ben aad baa ie bean ace aTT Ap RK eer EL
PAHURD SCORC hse Gs dude tokw anew et tas ahaa iat cal: decals dN, ie od
Date of Game_____- Susigheetiyls sens Stan Vig tapcacoeueae sec Lee a SIGEEE ue ec caen
RRGROD EAN OM OSes habe ia aie es Co SL
PAGMAGOES -SSUENALULO. oad hg it Sa on db edamame douad use to acs

PUNO Oe Mid octet OLE manna ceecegic Date aes Smead et Maid: sed

Endorsement of Postmaster
or News Dealer

 

PLAYER’S COUPON

In fairness to all the clubs that enter this contest, and thatthere
may be no doubt as to whom the prizes should go, Tip Top requites a
coupon from each member of the nine as Well as the mana f
coupon. Below is the coupon which each player Should sut out,
fillin, sign and give to the manager of the_nine that he) may send it
along with the manager’s coupon.

 

TIP TOP BASEBALL TOURNAMENT OF 1912 —

«

This is to certify that I played in the game between the

 

gia sii desta ocail dupa apemunaes and the ....chaipaeieesea--.- -.-.-
My Team Was ...2...2..2...........- sce. cee Re ds

My Position Was.........---..--¢)----00. ee ie.

Winker 22:2 02. 2cdi ee a So Lee

Binal’ Score é22.250505.- 2. eic

Date of Gamew. 6.0 Vo.

Where Play @de oi - -<.2 5 Sikora ey

Player’s Signature......:-.---.22 2-42.42 Bt :

Address 25.2... jae snena.4s-- 25055.

er i

 
 
 

558—F rank Merriwell’s Lesson.
659—F rank Merriwell’s Protection.
660—Dick Merriwell’s Reputation.
661—Dick Merriwell’s Motto.
662—Dick Merriwell’s Restraint.
663—Dick Merriwell’s Ginger.
664—Dick Merriwell’s Driving.
665—Dick Merriwell’s Good Cheer,
666—Frank Merriwell’s Theory.
667—Frank Merriwell’s Diplomacy.
668—Frank Merriwell’s Encourage-
ment.
669—Frank Merriwell’s Great Work. 7
670—Dick Merriwell’s Mind.
671—Dick Merriwell’s “Dip.”
672—Dick Merriwell’s Rally.
673—Dick Merriwell's Flier.
674—Frank Merriwell’s Bullets.
675—Frank Merriwell’s Cut Off.
676—F rank Merriwell’s Ranch Boss. 7
677—Dick Merriwell’s Equal.
678—Dick Merriwell’s Development.
679—Dick Merriwell’s Eve.
680—Frank Merriwell’s Zest.
681—F rank Merriwell’s Patience.
682—Frank Merriwell’s Pupil.
683—Frank Merriwell’s Fighters.
684—Dick Merriwell at the ‘Meet.’
685—Dick Merriwell’s Protest.
686—Dick Merriwell in the Mara-7
thon.
687—Dick Merriwell’s Colors.
688—Dick Merriwell, Driver.
689—Dick Merriwell on the Deep.
609—Dick Merriwell Doped. 690—Dick Merriwell in the North
610—Dick Merriwell’s Belief. Woods.
611—Frank Merriwell in the Mar-691—Dick Merriwell’s Dandies.
ket. 692—Dick Merriwell’s Skyscooter.
612—Frank Merriwell’s Fight for693—Dick Merriwell in the
Fortune. Mountains.
613—Frank Merriwell on Top. 694—Dick Merriwell in Utah.
61 4—Dick Merriwell’s Trip West. 695—Dick Merriwell’s Bluff.
615—Dick Merriwell’s Predicament. 696—Dick Merriwell in the §
616—Dick Merriwell in Mystery 697—Dick Merriwell’s
Talley. Friends.
617—Frank Merriwell’s Proposition. 698—Frank Merriwell at Phantom —
618—Frank Merriwell Perplexed. sake.
619—Frank Merriwell’s Suspicion. 699—Frank Merriwell’s Hold-back.
620—Dick Merriwell’s Gallantry. 700—Frank Merriwell’s Lively Lads
321—Dick Merriwell’s Condition. 701—Frank Merriwell as Instructor.
622—Dick Merriwell’s Stanchness. 702—Dick Merriwell’s Cavuse.
623—Dick Merriwell's Match. 708—Dick Merriwell’s Quirt.
624—Frank Merriwell’s Hard Case. 704—Dick Merriwell’s Freshman
6§25—Frank Merriwell’s Helper. Friend.
626—F rank Merriwell’s Doubts. 705—Dick Merriwell’s Best Form,
627—Frank Merriwell’s ‘*‘Phenom.” 706—Dick Merriwell’s Prank.
628—Dick Merriwell’s Stand. 707—Dick Merriwell’s Gambol,
629—Dick Merriwell’s Circle. 7O8—Dick Merriwell’s Gun.
630—Dick Merriwell’s Reach. 709—Dick Merriwell at His Best.
631—Dick Merriwell’s Money. 710—Dick Merriwell’s Master Mind.
632—Dick Merriwell Watched. 711—Dick Merriwell’s Dander.
633—Dick Merriwell Doubted. —Dick Merriwell’s Hope.
634—Dick Merriwell’s Distrust. —Dick Merriwell’s Standard.
635—Dick Merriwell’s Risk. —Dick Merriwell’s Sympathy.
636—Frank Merriwell’s Favorite. —Dick Merriwell in Lumber
637—Frank Merriwell’s Young Land.
Clippers. Frank Merriwell’s Fairness.
639—F rank Merriwell’s —TFrank Merriwell’s Pledge.
3reakers. the ‘Man of
640—Dick Merriwell’s Shoulder.

575—Dick Merriwell’s Twirling.
576—Dick Merwgell’s Party.
577—Dick Merriwell’s Backers.
578—Dick Merriwell’s Coach.
579—Dick Merriwell’s Bingle.
h80—Dick Merriwell’s Hurdling.
582—Dick Merriwell’'s Respite.
583—Dick Merriwell’s Disadvan-

té age.

584—Dick Merriwell Beset
586—Dick Merriwell's Distrust.
587—Dick Merriwell, Lion Tamer.
5S8—Dick Merriwell’s Camp-site.
589—-Dick Merriwell’s Debt.
590—Dick Merriwell’s Camp Mates.
591—Dick Merriwell’s Draw.
592—Diek Merriwell’s Disapproval.
598—-Dick Merriwell’s Mastery.
594——Dick Merriwell’s Warm -Work.
595—Dick Merriwell’s “Double

Squeeze.”

596—Dtck Merriwell’s Vanishing.
597—Dick Merriwell Adrift.

598—Dick Merriwell’s Influence.
599—F rank Merriwell’s Worst Boy.
600—Frank Merriwell’s Annoyance.
601—F rank Merriwell’s Restraint.
602—Dick Merriwell Held Back.
603—Dick Merriwell in the Line.
604—Dick Merriwell’s Drop Kick.
605—Frank Merriwell’s Air Voyage.
‘606—F rank Merriwell’s Auto Chase.
607—F rank Merriwell’s Captive.
608—Dick Merriwell’s Value.

Elk

Saddle.
Ranch

Gada
Record 717

12
Li
1
Li
1
1
1

8—Frank Merriwell,
Grit

641—Dick Merriwell’s
Work.
642—Dick Merriwell’s Example.

643—Dick Merriwell at Gale’s Ferry.

.644—Dick Merriwell’s Inspiration.
645—Dick Merriwell’s Shooting.
646—Dick Merriwell in the Wilds.

647—Dick Merriwell’s Red Comrade.

648—Frank Merriwell’s Ranch.

649—F rank Merriwell in the Saddle.

650—Frank Merriwell’s Brand.
651—F rank Merriwell’s Red Guide,
652—Dick Merriwell’s Rival.
653—Dick Merriwell’s Strength.
654—Dick Merriwell’s Secret Work.
655—Dick Merriwell’s Way

656—Frank Merriwell’s Red Visitor.

657—Frank Merriwell’s Rope.

719—F

720—Fr
721—F
722—Frank'Merriwell’s
723—F

Desperate

724—Frank Merriwell,

725—Frank

rank Merriwell’s Return
Blow.

rank Merriwell’s Quest.

rank Merriwell’s Ingots,

Assistance.

rank Merriwell at the

Throttle.

the Always

Ready.

; Merriwell in Diamond
4an

nd.
726—Frank Merriwell’s Desperate 794— Dick Merriwe!l

Chance.

727—Frank Merriwell’s Black Ter-
Por,

728—Frank Merriwell Again on the
Slab.

729—Frank Merriwell’s Hard Game

ee RS.
730—Frank Merriwell’s Six-in-hand 790 DICK Me thw:
31—F rank Merriwell’s Duplicate, Laké
32—F'rank Merriwell on. Rattle- 800—Dic 6 oer
snake Ranch.
Frank Merriwell’s Sure Hand.
eee Merriwell’s ‘Treasure
Map. ee
735—Frank Merriwen, of <o Tatak 3
ee “igs eens: A
736—Dick ferriwel Ca tain of
the V arsitye a a S5 —
737—Dick Merriwell’s Control.
38—Dick Merriwell’s Back Sf D
39—Dick Merriwell’s Me En-
emy. i.
740—Dick Merriwell’s Note.
741—Dick Merriwell’s Hof Pursuit.
742—Dick Merriwell at Forest Lake 810—Brank ©
743—Dick Merriwell in Courts Warriors.
744—Dick Merriwell’s Silence. 811—Frank Merriv
745—Dick Merriwell’s Dog. ,812—Frank Merriy
746—Dick Merriwell’s Subteaa ~ 818—Trank Merriv
747—Dick Merriwell’s Enig ae if S14—SPrank Me)
(48-1 dick Merriwell Defeat ; Aviators.
749—Dick Merriwell's “Wing 815—F rank Merri\
750—Dick Merriwell’s Sky Gia ~816—Dick Merriwe
751—Dick Merriwell’s Pick- -ups. > 817—Dick. Merriwe
752—Dick Merriwell on ee ick- 818 —Dick Merriwi
ing R. ha §19—Dick Merriw:
—Dick Merriwell’s Penett 820—-Dick Merriws
7 54——Dick Merriwell’s Inti 821-——Diek M erriwc
755—Dick Merriwell’s Vanhtag §22——DickMerriw:
eae eens Ac / ga Bit) HS
757—Dick erriwell’s R ' 95 pce Terr,
758—Dick Merriwell, wre Bice

759—Dick Merriwell's Understand: 3s amen Me rriwe
Dick jlorriwe

ing.
760—Dick Merriwell, Tutor. rh sae Werrt we
ijty.

761—Dick Merr iwell’s Qu indary,
762—Dick Merriwell on the Boat
76: 3—Dick Merriweli. Peacem ick Merrie
ACK ’ ;
biek Merriwe)
Mick Merriwe'

764—Frank Merv wei’s S$
765—Frank M Wet
k Mervi ve
766—Frank Mei ‘ Merri
Acrobi t
768—Ft rank M¢ Miek Me rhiw
769- —Frank Me Dick
! : Shisic Wart
Canac Merriw
771—Frank Merriwell’s Coward. “
2—F rank Merriwell’s Perplexity. ck Merriw
38—Frank Merriwell’s Iberven- 9492 Dick 3 Merriw
tion. 841— Dick Merriw
4—Frank Merriwell’s Daring Deed
=
iF sae rank Merriwell’s Wit.
—Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty.
tS a rank Merriwell’s Insight.
780—Frank’Merriwell’s Guile.
782—Frank Merriwell in the Na-
tional Forest.
784—Dick Merriwell’s Self-saerifice.
785—Dick Merriwell’s Close Shave.

hension.
67—Frank Me1.. well’: ok Merriw
iw
770—Frank
ze s38—D
= ne. ‘
‘
7
Frank Merriwell’s Succor,
—Frank Merriwell’s Bold Play.
781—_F rank Merriwell’s Campaign,
783—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity.
786—Dick Merriwell’s Per¢eption.

7

mon

foo
oO

b4

801-—Diek
&

Prince
S07 7—Dick M ariwe

§08-—Frank Merrin
809—F rank » Merr

ie
‘+

mre
be

RO

es ena e .

vi

iw

Clew.
844——Dick Merriwell
845—=-Dick Merriwell’
846 icK Merriw '
847—=Dick Merriw

pic s,
848—Dick Merriw

849
ish Stadiv
850—Dick Merriv

787—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious
Disappearance.

788—Dick pernrlwelee ‘Detective
Work.

789—Dick Merriwell’s Proof,

790—Dick Merriwell’s Brain Work.

791—Dick Merriwell’s Queer C1se,

792—Dick Merriwell, Vavies

798—Dick Merriwel' ny
ship.

NEW TIP Tu

1—Frank Merrivy »
2—Frank Merriy
38—Fr: ank Merriw
Serre ‘riw
5—r re riw
6—-Frar Liw
‘ S) f
£.
¥e
795—Dick Merriw
ment.
796—Dick Merriw«
Point.
797—Dick Merriwe"™. }
798—Dick Merriwe

 

PRICE, FIVE CENTS PE,

Ifyou want any back members of our weeklies and cannot procure them from yc 'r ne

STREET 2:

from this office.

ITH, PUBLISHERS,

Postage-stamps taken-the same as ..

79-89 SEVENTH ,

ponents.
“eee k Merriw
843 Merr'\y

Proaain
oe

yells

Comer

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