z m5 ; ai. ONLTESS 1 2 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Wash-
ssued Weekly. hscrthtion $2.50 per year. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1906, in the Office 0, Ons
d. ag oe De ns Re nee eA & ae 79-69 Seventh Avenue, N.Y. Application made at the N. Y. Post Office for entry as Secona-class Matter.

 

No. 101 NEW YORK, MARCH 24, 1906,

Price,

Five Cents

 

7070008 |

 

 

; ‘es oy
Wn i
a

festa

spite of his wounded arm, turned and fired over the heads of the attacking Siberians,
{ to cover the retreat of his comrades, but it did not stop the advance.

\

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issued Weekly. By subscriptwn $2.50 per year.

THE BEST WILD ‘WEST STORIES PUBLISHED

 

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1906, tn the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Wash-

ington, D. C., by STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Avenue, N.Y. Application made at the N. Y. Post Office for entry as Second-class Matter.

 

Neo. 103.

NEW YORK, March 24, 1906.

 

Be

ping of the Wi

West in Siberia;

OR,

Castaway on the Arctic Ocean.

 

By NED TAYLOR.

 

COAPTER. I.
TED STRONG ASSUMES A SACRED TRUST.

When the long arctic winter began to break Dawson
took on a livelier air. Life in the Klondike through the
long winter night is pretty dull out of doors, and the only
excitement to be found is in the saloons and gambling-
houses, where often it is altogether too strenuous to be
wholesome to the cheechako, as the newcomer is called
in that wild country.

But Ted Strong, King of the Wild West, and his
companions in arms, Bud Morgan, Ben Tremont, and
Kit Summers, had missed the license and folly of
the big mining-camp by being at their gold-mine in the
meteor tunnel in the Tanana Hills, and had arrived
in Dawson just as it was waking up for the long day
called summer, when there is plenty doing the whole
twenty-four hours.

It was a strange scene, this coming out of the winter’s
bibernatiow of the miners, who were beginning to out-

‘preparatory to striking up the creeks to their diggings
or claims.

The first steamer from White Horse was looked for
every day, with its tons of letters and newspapers con-
aining news from the “outside.” Many a man would

receive the first news of his family left back in the
States, on such an occasion, and politics would take on
a fresh interest with the outside gossip of what was
going on in Washington.

During the winter a great many men had come in
over the trail from Skaguay, and from the outlying
camps, so that the streets were crowded every hour.

Ted and his comrades had put up at the McDonald,
the best hotel in Dawson, to await the departure of the
first steamer out for Seattle, where they intended to
take 4;eamer for San Francisco. The moment they arrived
in that city the rough riders would lose no time in taking
the earliest train to Moon Valley Ranch, which they were
all anxious to see once more.

But this was not to be for some time. The web of
fate was being spun around them, for their usefulness
in Alaska was not yet at an end.

As Ted and Bud were walking along the sidewolle
on Front Street one aftgrnoon they observed ahead of
them a big man, the typical miner, picking his way
through the crowd and ‘stepping carefully over the trail
dogs which thronged upon the walk, dozing in utter ob-
livion of the people who were passing up and down, for
dogs were privileged characters in the Klondike, and it

 
So 7) Rouat RIDER WEEKLY.

was as much as a man’s life was worth to kick another's
dog out of the’ way.

Ted noticed that the big miner was glancing oo
warily, watehing every doorway, and nervously feeling
his hip. pocket. from time to time.

“See that fellow?” said Ted, nudging Bud. “He’s
looking for some one, and when they meet there will
be something lively doing.”

“It shore looks thet away,” replied Bud. “These gents
o’ ther Klondike air some peevish as to their rights, an’
oncommon quick on ther draw. I ust ter think ther boys
down in ther Panhandle was some sensitive an’ quer’lous,
but these fellers use hair-triggers an’ keep ’em “iled all
ther time.”

Just at that moment the miner halted and pulled a

big Colt out of his pocket.

He was looking steadily across the street, and Ted

and Bud, following his gaze, saw a young man come
out of the bank and start to cross the street. He was

a slender man of about twenty-five, dressed immaculately

-in black, and wore a derby hat, which seemed entirely
out of place,

Suddenly there was a revolver-shot, and the derby
hat. shot a into the air. The big miner had fired.

As rapidly as it.is possible for a human hand to move,
the young fellow, who was now in the middle of the
street, had a revolver drawn down on the big miner, and
two short red flames leaped from the ee of it, so
close together that they seemed one.

“Duck!” shouted Ted, falling on his face and dragging
Bud down with him. “We are right in the line of fire,”

At the first shot every one in the neighborhood ran
for cover, into stores and saloons.

As the two shots rang out Ted saw the big miner
stagger, and placing his hand over his heart crumple up
like a wet cloth and fall to the sidewalk. -But he raised
himself on his elbow, and taking deliberate aim fired

another shot at his advancing adversary. The bullet took |

effect, for the young man whirled around with-his hands
above his head. Then he fell to his knees, from which
position he took deliberate aim. He was aiming at the
prostrate man, and if he missed his mark the bullet
would strike either Ted or Bud, who were directly be-
hind him.

Although the miner seemed to be mortally wounded

he was not yet beaten, nor would he be until the breath

leit his body. He shot twice again, but his bullets. went
wild and crashed through the window of a saloon.

By this time the young man had risen to his feet
and was coming toward the miner, lurching as he walked,
for he had been hit hard somewhere. As he stood over
the big miner the latter groaned and made a slight motion.
For a moment the young man looked down at him with
a look of hatred in his face, and then, stooping delib-
erately, fired three more balls into the prostrate miner,

Ted had leaped to his feet and advanced to the young
man.

“Shame!” he cried.

The young fellow turned a face on him that was hideous
with hatred and the lust for blood.

“What business is it of yours?” he almost screamed.

_ Like a flash he turned his revolver on Ted, and pulled
the trigger. It snapped harmlessly on a spent cartridge.
_ “N'amose, yer skunk, er I'll finish ther work this feller
began,” shouted Bud, covering the murderer with his
44. The fellow gave one look into the barrel of Bud’s

weapon, and, turning on his heel, ran down the street

as fast as he could go.

Hoping against hope that the miner was not ges
Ted and Bud picked him up and carried him across the
street into a saloon, and laid him on the floor.

A hasty examination showed Ted that’ while there
was life in the miner’s body he was doomed, and had not
more than five minutes to live.

“Have you any message you wish to send to any one?”

asked Ted.

The miner opened his eyes and beckoned Ted to stoop
nearer. Then he began to talk,

“My name’s Jack Harvey, and I have a rich claim on
Last Chance Creek. The man who shot me is known as
Dick Panther, but that is not his real name. I did know
what it is, but I have forgotten. It begins with ‘M.’
He killed my partner out at the claim, and stole twenty —
thousand dollars in dust belonging to us. He tried to
jump our claim by a bogus order from the Canadian
courts, but we wouldn’t stand for it, so in my absence
he shot my partner in the back of the head, and got away4
with the gold.

“I followed him here and saw him come out of thd
bank, where I reckon he has deposited it.

“I want you to go out to the claim, and you will find
twenty thousand dollars’ worth of dust under the floor of —
the cabin. It is hidden in a pair of old boots... Get it and-

have a draft made in favor of my wife, Mary Harveeamm

Pontiac, Illinois, and send it to her, telling her that i
died game, and to—to kiss the children for me.’
voice was so choked with emotion that he could hardly
proceed.

“You boys are the only ones who seem to care if I
lived,” he continued, “and as both Bill and me are ‘dead
ones’ you can have the claim, which is one of the richest

on the creek. All I ask is that you send my wife ten

per cent. of what you take out.”
He looked wistfully up into Ted’s eyes.
do this for me, won’t you?” he asked.
“Sure,” answered Ted. “TIl do everything I can to

“You will

get the whole forty thousand. dollars and send it to

your wife.”

“Here’s the number and (eshiod of the claim,”
the miner, taking a paper from his pocket. “Give mea
pencil. What’s your names?”

Ted told him, and, propping himself up on his ho
the miner wrote rapidly.

“Call some one to witness my signature,” he said, in

a weak voice. ‘I have made a formal transfer of the

mine to you.” .
Several men were called out of the crowd that stood

before the bar, and three of them signed the document

as witnesses. But after going through this exertion the

miner seemed to fall away, and i ina “moment or two he —

was dead.

Ted took charge of the body, and calling i. boys to-
gether, they soon had a rough coffin made, and buried -
the unfortunate miner on the outskirts of the town.

Ted had observed that one of the witnesses to the

transfer of the mine was an unusual-looking man, Hg¢
was a young, dissipated fellow, but showed traces ,

good breeding, and was evidently well educated. Se-
fore signing the deed, he read the transfer carefully,

and as he did so Ted noueed a crafty smile on his face

‘fed. naturally made inquiry, as soon | as ie could con

said:

ay
}

His =

x
%
A

 
; ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. | se

_veniently, as to the business and character of the men
_ who had acted as witnesses.

_ He learned that one was the proprietor of the saloon,

the second a miner from up country, and the one who

had so carefully scrutinized the document was a lawyer
who had drunk himself out of a big practise, and was
reputed to be not as honest as he might be, and had
lost the confidence of the business men of the community
by his numerous shady transactions.

_ While Ted had no reason to suspect the lawyer, yet

he felt somewhat uneasy about him. He might make all
_ kinds of trouble for Ted in securing the gold that had
_ been stolen by the murderer of the miner Harvey, and tie
up the mine so that Ted would not be permitted to
“operate it for the benefit of the widow of the dead man.

‘However, he was not borrowing trouble. It would be
_ time enough to arrange a counterplot when the lawyer,

whose name was Lemuel Hiddem, showed his hand.

o The work that presented itself now, in Ted’s opinion,
was to find the murderer and thief, whose name the miner
had said was Dick Panther, and make him,disgorge the
twenty thousand dollars he had stolen from the wife and
children of the dead man.
Ted knew that this would be no easy task, because he
could not go into any court and show that the murderer
‘had actually stolen the dust. It would be a battle of
Strategy without the law.
He recalled vividly the features of the man who had
murdered Harvey, the miner. As he saw him now in his
‘mind’s eye, he was a slim, muscular fellow, with a lean,
sallow face, in which, however, there was a great deal of
decision of character, mingled with cunning and cruelty.
If the name he was known by, that of Dick Panther,
was not his own, who was he and where did he come
from?
‘ The dying miner had said that while he did not remem-
__ ber the real name of his murderer and that of his partner,
it began with “M’’; but that was a slender clue.

Ted made a number of inquiries about Panther of per-
sons whom he knew in Dawson, but all he could learn
_ was that Panther had reached the town by dog team
~*about two weeks before the day upon which our story

opens. John Fanning, the manager of the bank in which

Ted was positive Panther had deposited the stolen gold-

dust, bluntly told Ted that he knew nothing of the man,

and refused to say whether or not the thief had de-
_ posited the gold-dust with him. He plainly intimated
to Ted that he better mind his own business.
Although Ted and all the boys kept a steady watch
on the streets for Panther, they did not succeed in finding
_ him, and the authorities, the Canadian mounted police,
who controlled the peace of the town, to whom Ted

a presented the case, told him that they had investigated

_ the affray which resulted in the death of Harvey, and
found that he was the aggressor, and that, Panther had
killed him in an effort to save his own life.

_ When Ted told them of the stolen gold, which Panther
evidently had deposited in the bank, he was laughed at,

ae and informed that even if Panther had deposited twenty

i «thousand dollars’ worth of dust there was no evidence,
St far produced, to show that it was stolen ftom Harvey

\ aud his partner.

“Well, fellows, it seems as if we have assumed a

le bigger contract than we thought when we promised that

ing man to place his family beyond want by restoring
to them what rightfully belongs to them,” said Ted. “Tt

seems to be the princes business of the authorities to.
protect the thief and murderer, and in order to carry.
out our promises we will have to take the thing into our
own hands, and work on our own initiative. I believe
this fellow Panther is a bad egg, and that there is some-
thing behind him that will be worth our while to know.”

That night as Ted was walking down Front Street
he saw two men step into the shelter of a doorway. He
could not be mistaken. They were Dick Panther and
Lemuel Hiddem, the lawyer.

As Ted appeared opposite the doorway he saw the re-
flection of the light on the barrel of a revolver, and
leaped back.

The crash of the weapon followed and a bullet whizzed
past his head, as he heard a door slam. When he leaped
forward, revolver in hand, Panther and Hiddem had
disappeared.

CHAPTER iT

TED MEETS ‘CAPTAIN PINKSTAFEF.

There are two great events in the life of Dawson, and
indeed in the life of every town in the Yukon country,
and these occur when the ice goes out and the first
steamboat comes down the river from White Horse

The morning following Ted’s brief glimpse of the man
he was hunting, the boys were aroused by a terrific din
in the streets.

“The ice is going!’ was the frantic shout, taken up
joyfully by a thousand throats, and echoed back to the
great black hills behind the town.

Then followed such cheers, punctuated by the firmg of
revolvers, that the boys leaped into their clothes and
tumbled down-stairs into the street to see what it all

Bevan terhalits

Front Street was jammed with a crowd of excited men
dancing, shouting, hugging one another, yelling strange
savage yelps, and acting tiké madmen, while every once
in awhile one of them would draw his revolver and empty
it at the clouds, when straightway his example would
be followed by fusillades of shots. Every store and
saloon was closed, and merchants and customers hastened
to join the happy throng in the street. The shackles
of winter were about to be cast off, and three or four
months of constant daylight was coming.

The whole populace had gathered on the bank of the
Yukon River watching for the last act of the long winter
tragedy to close. Ted and the boys joined the throng,
watching the scene with intense interest.

Without warning there was a crash like the explosion
of a thousand bursting boilers, followed by a crackling
noise as if a battery of artillery had been fired in their’
ears. Then the thick ice of the river began to break
up, crunching and grinding, groaning and struggling, like
some great monster in the throes of death.

There was a great upheaval of the crystal surface of
the river, and enormous chunks of ice heaved up and
seemed to wrestle with other great blocks, and, locked in
embrace, they ground and crunched, to fall back in pieces.

But by now the whole surface of the river seemed to
be loosened. Occasional patches of water showed through
the field of ice, and then, as if shoved by some unseen,
and gigantic hand, the whole icy surface of the river
began to move down-stream.

Again the joyous shouts of the multitude went up, and

 
eo | ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

men again drew their revolvers and fired at the ice, as if
to make sure that it was dead and done for. Soon greater
and greater stretches of water could be seen, and the
chunks of ice were farther apart as they joined in the
race down the long river to the Bering Sea. Then,
and only then, assured that the winter was really over,
the therchants went back to their counters, and the cit-
izens took up their business or amusements.

All day the ice ran past the town, and the night did
not stop it.

The next morning the boys were again brought out
of bed with a bound.

From far away came a melancholy sound, a long, sad
hoot; the whistle of a steamboat. But it was sweetest
music to Dawson.

Instantly the town went wild again. Men rushed out
of houses and stores, and up and down the streets was
heard the_yell:

“Steamboat! Steamboat! Steamboat!’

Guns and pistols filled the air with crashes and roars,
and men yelled themselves hoarse. People could be seen
rushing down the hillside from their cabins. The thou-
sands of dogs joined the din with their lugubrious howls.
The great day had come. The first steamboat was fol-
lowing the ice down the river.

Everything depended on that first steamboat; news
from home, new stocks of goods, money for the needy,
warrants of arrests for the guilty, friends and enemies,
good news and bad,

Presently the smoke of the steamboat could . seen.
far up the river, and soon she appeared herself. When
she came in sight of the town her whistle began to bel-
low, the crowd on the river banks cheered, and both
were kept up until the boat swung around with her bow
up-stream and sidled into the bank. A deck-hand threw
a line ashore. A dozen willing hands reached out to
grasp it and throw it over the “deadman,” or snubbing-
post on shore. The gangplank was shoved out and the
first man ashore was caught up and carried up the street
on the shoulders of two stalwart citizens to be treated
‘to everything the town afforded.

Then the passengers landed and were taken up-town
to be entertained.

Ted was eager to get his mail, for he had not heard
from the outside world for several months.

When it came his turn at the post-office window he
was given a bulky bundle of letters, and, followed by
the boys, retired to the hotel to read them.

There were reports from the ranch that had accumu-

lated for months, and letters from Chief of the United
States Secret Service Wilkie asking Ted to communicate
with him when he returned to the ranch. But what in-
terested Ted was a letter in a long blue envelope, on the
upper left-hand corner of which were the words:

“Tf not called for return to the Office of the United
States Marshal, San Francisco.”

He had informed the marshal by letter from Skaguay
of his intention to go to Dawson. He had reserved this
letter for the last. Now he opened it, while the boys,
having digested their mail, sat around waiting for him
to disclose its contents.

“Here’s another stunt for us,” he said, after he had
read the marshal’s letter. “Seems we can’t get away from
here on the first steamer, as we had hoped. Orders to
find and arrest a fellow who is eee to be here. I
will read the letter.

“Dear Mr. Strone? ” began Ted. “ “While you are in —
the Yukon country I want you to undertake a commission —
from this office. 1 might send one of my own men, but
he would arrive there unaccustomed to the country. Be-
sides your knowledge of the territory and the people, you _
have the advantage of the assistance of your clever and
brave young associates.’ .

“Ahem!” coughed Ben Tremont, swelling out his chest.
“Ther ole marshal is some on spreadin’ ther salve
hisself,” remarked Bud dryly.
young associates is listenin’ fer ther rest o’ it. Percee
“T have information that a man who is greatly wanted
in San Francisco is in the Yukon country, and I have
heard that he has friends in Dawson. It is natural to
suppose that he would go to Dawson, which is in Canada,
where he would be comparatively safe from arrest, as
the Canadian Government is very chary of granting
requisitions for criminals from this side, and before we
can get the machinery of the law in operation the mal--
factors generally manage to get to a place of safety. /
““The man I want you to get and bring to San Fran-
cisco is one Richard P. Mendell, an embezzler and sus- —
pected murderer. Bs
one night while he and the cashier of the bank were at _
work straightening up some accounts, which Mendell was

1”?

suspected of tampering with, the cashier was murdered

and a large amount of money taken from the vault, which
was. found unlocked the next morning, when the body
of the cashier was also discovered by the janitor. Men-~

dell had disappeared, and has not been seen since. It —

is believed, however, that he took a steamer for the North.
““Mendell is a man of good family, but of dissipated
habits. He is about twenty-five years old, slender of build,
but powerful and muscular. His face is lean and sallow,
eyes dark, smooth-shaven face, one tooth in upper jaw ©
on right side gold. Usually dresses in black. He is
known as a desperate man, and can take care of himself
in almost any emergency. He is a fine boxer, and has ©
defeated some of the best amateur fighters in this city.
““T enclose a warrant for his arrest should you suc-—
ceed in enticing or driving him to American soil, which’
I believe will be your only, chance for capturing him. A
large reward has been offered for his arrest. We will
look out for his conviction here.’ ee
“Well, what do you think of it, fellows?” concluded
Ted, returning the letter to the blue envelope.
“Reckon we'd better get busy on Mr. Mendell if we
ever expect to see our “happy home in South Dakota
again,” said Bud. ‘‘Say I’ve a sneakin’ suspicion thet —
I hev a good hunch on this yere gent, Mr. Mendell.”
“Let us hear whom you suspect,”
Bud looked shrewdly at Ted, and grinned. “T reckon
he’s the same one what you’re thinkin’ erbout.”

“Dick Panther °” .
“Ther very same to a dot. You remember the dyin’
miner said as how Panther’s other name began with

Ae 39

for an expert boxer.”

“Never kin tell erbout these spiriorts. A young gent
in a big city who strays from the straight an’ narrer path ©
hez ter keep himself well posted in ther boxin’ game
er some night when he should be home an’ isn’t he’ s lierble
to run up against the Hard, corrugated fist, Q’ another

 

“Yer clever an’ brave —

He was employed in a bank here, and _

said Ted, smiling. s q

“That’s true, and the description given by the marshal x
fits Panther like a glove, except that I would not take him
7

a

¢

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

gent who ain’t quite ez refined, but jest ez sporty. Then

if he can’t handle his bunches of knuckle bones he’s
apt ter go to ther nearest hospital ter hev some stitches
taken in his pale American skin. No, ther modern sporty

boy pays some attention to ther manly art o’ spoilin’ ther

other feller’s countenance.”

“Well, if you are right,” said Ben, “it’s dead easy, for
he is, so to speak, right in our midst.”

“Back ter ther kindergarten fer you,’ said Bud. “Don’t
yer think a boy who’s hed ez much experience as Richard
P. is on ter his job? No, sir, he knows he’s ez safe
here ez if he’d always lived a straight an’ honnerbul life.
That’s what I admire so erbout ther Canadian way 0’
doin’ things. They want ter drive out honest American

merchants an’ miners, but it hurts them awful ter give

_ up an American crook.”

a
et
ih \

‘66

“Nevertheless, I’m going down to interview the author-
ities and see what I can do,” said Ted, “and if we can
get no help from them we'll have to kidnap our man

or drive him over the border and arrest him when he puts

foot on the only soil on earth that stands for a square

deal.”

“Good luck ter yer,” said Bud, “but I'll bet ye ll come

~ pack ther maddest feller in ther Yukon.”
_ Ted went directly to the offices of the Canadian
- mounted police, who are the executive officers of the law
in the Yukon. country.

He was asked to give his name

and tell the nature of his business to a soldier in a short

red jacket, and blue trousers with a broad yellow stripe

'tunning down them, the “Yellow Legs,” as they are

called in Dawson.
~ He was ushered into a luxurious office a few minutes
later, and found himself facing a young officer who sat
looking at him, twirling his long yellow mustache, with-
out offering any salutation.

“T have a warrant here for the arrest of an American

-embezzler and suspected murderer. I am a United States
_ deputy marshal,” said Ted, handing the warrant to the

officer, who looked it over carelessly and threw it on the
table.
“Well,
officer.
“Cannot you arrest the man and hold him for me?”
asked Ted. ‘Or better still, send him out of the country

I’m not a Yankee policeman,” drawled the

- on to American soil, so that I can make the arrest my-

self?”
“Certainly not,” said the officer. “The Canadian Gov-
ernment is not mixing in any Yankee politics. How do

_we know that it is not some infernal Yankee trick to get

‘an innocent man over on the other side to persecute

> him?”

“This warrant should be sufficient evidence that the

man to whom it refers is a fugitive from justice, and

therefore not likely to suffer from any injustice by be-

ine arrested,’ said Ted, flushing under the fellow’s in-

‘ solence..

“T happen to know the gentleman referred to in this
paper,’ said the officer, “and I regard him as an honest
chap and a man of means, and I don’t propose to see him
shanghaied by a lot of scurvy American officers. If
you desire to take him away, there is a way known to

your authorities in Washington and in Ottawa, the cap-

ital of Canada. I will do nothing to assist: you, and I
tm you to be very careful of your official conduct
oward the man named in this instrument.” He picked

up the warrant and tossed it toward Ted in a manner that
was insulting, —

Ted was boiling with rage, but he controlled himself
as best he could. He suspected that Mandell, or Dick
Panther, as he was known, according to the company he
was in, had paved the way for this very thing by the
judicious use of the money he had stolen. Ted saw the
uselessness of further appeal to the authorities. It was
up to him to get his man by his own wits and good
fortune.

“My name is Ted Strong,’ he said.
yours?” :

“You may, but I shall not tell you. It is none of your.
business. There is the door,” replied the officer.

“Captain Pinkstaff, a lady to see you,’ announced a
soldier, saluting.

Ted looked at the captain with a smile full of meaning,
and left the room just as a gorgeous creature in silks
and laces entered.

“May I ask

CHAPTER III.
FIGHT TO A _ FINISH.

As Ted walked back to the hotel he was thinking of
some way by which he could entrap, or frighten, Dick
Panther away from Dawson, and get him to San Fran-
cisco. He had a personal grievance against the man,
which made him no less eager to get him away from the
protection of the Canadian authorities. He was aware,
however, that he would have to act very carefully to
avoid getting into difficulty with the mounted police,
whom, he knew, would not hesitate to send him out of
the country, even if they failed to lock him up. He
realized that in Dawson a deputy United States marshal
was of less importance than an ordinary American citizen,
who was looked upon at all times with dislike and sus-
picion.

But the more he canvassed the matter the further he
wandered from the solution of the matter. He discharged
the thing from his mind, therefore, and decided to let
circumstances point out his future course.

_ Happening to look up from his reverie, he saw that
he was being watched by Lemuel Hiddem, the crooked
lawyer.

As he drew nearer, Hiddem smiled at him in a friendly
way, and stepped forward with his hand outstretched.

“How are you, Mr. Strong?” he said, in an ingratiating
voice. “Well, I hope. I have been waiting for an op-
portunity to talk with you all day.”

Ted, who had disregarded the proffered hand, looked
coldly at the lawyer, who, he believed, was up to some
trickery.

“What did you want to see me for?” asked Ted.

“Tt is a little matter connected with the transfer of
Harvey’s mine, which, you will remember, I witnessed,”
replied Hiddem. ‘It seems that another claimant, con-
nected in some way with Harvey’s partner, Bill Reynolds,
has come forward and has asked me to look into the mat-
ter for him.”

Ted suspected a trick of some sort, although it was
possible that Reynolds had left an heir to his share of
the property. He felt that Dick Panther was in some
way interested in the matter.

“Well, what about it?” he asked, in order to get to —
the matter as soon as possible. | oe :

 
“Tf you will step up to my office for a moment we
can talk about it much better than on the street,” said the
lawyer. “There is too much crowding and shoving here.”

Hiddem’s manner was soothing, and his voice was soft
and low, and his look apparently sincere.

By the way, I suppose you have the transfer in your
pocket,” he said, as if it was an afterthought.

Ted looked at him for a moment, and said: “I don’t
see what good an interview with you on the subject could
do. If you have a claim I suppose the proper way would
_be to take it into the-courts.”

“There you are wrong,” said Hiddem. “If we take
it into the courts both of us will lose it, because the
owners were aliens and both are dead, and it would be
confiscated by the government.”

“You are mistaken,” said Ted. “The owners are very
much alive, and propose to hold on to their property.
I happen to be one of the owners, because the mine was
transferred to me and my companion, Bud Morgan, by
its sole owner while he was still alive. You forget that
you were one of the witnesses to the signing of the instru-
ment,”

“So I was,” said Hiddem. “But that makes no dif-
ference in the rights of the heirs of Reynolds. I think
I can satisfy you as to the justice of them, if you will
come to my office. As the matter stands I think there
will be more in it for all hands concerned if we can get
together, and enter into a compromise.”

If what the fellow said was true this was undoubtedly
the case. So Ted thought, and he signified his willing-
ness to talk the matter, over by a gesture to Hiddem to
lead the way. Had he seen the devilish look on the
_lawyer’s face as he turned to follow him, he would have
hesitated, perhaps, in accompanying the lawyer up the

outside flight of stairs that led to his office, which was

over a low saloon and gambling-house in a back street.
As Ted ascended the stairs he took note of the sur-
roundings. There was no other building anywhere near,
and he noticed that the door through which they passed
was of heavy oak.

As Hiddem threw open the door he stepped aside with
apparent politeness and hospitality, and permitted Ted
to enter first. As he walked into the room, Ted heard
the swift slipping of a heavy bolt in the door, but he gave
no sign.

“Take a seat,” said Hiddem, indicating a chair oppo-
site one which he took himself at the side of a square
desk in the middle of the room.

Ted had made a swift inventory of the room. It was
very plain and bare, as if the occupant did not enjoy a
large income. It contained, besides the desk and chairs,
a cot on which there was a roll of dirty blankets, a
huge stove, and a few law books. In the wall behind
Ted’s back was a door, probably leading into another
room.

“Well, what is your proposition?’ said Ted, in a cold,
businesslike tone. “Let us get this over as soon as pos-
sible, for | am in a hurry.”

“My client has a transfer of one-half of the mine
known as the ‘Lucky Nugget,’ which was owned jointly
by Harvey and Reynolds, from the heirs of the latter.
I have examined it and find it regular, and it had been
filed with the court here. We simply wish you to ac-
knowledge it, and permit us to make a notation of the
same on your transfer, signed by yourself and. Bud Mor-

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY:

gan, acknowledging it.
profitable manner of operating the property.”

Ted believed that fraud lurked in the smooth pine : : a8

tion made by the crooked lawyer.
“And what if I refuse?” said Ted.

Then we can discuss the most ee

“T don’t think you | will do this when you hate hae 8

time to think it over,’ said Hiddem, with a sly smile.

“You see we could tie the mine up, and cause VOUT 6x25 -
pulsion from the Yukon country, and you would not have ©

the property, anyway.’
“Oh, that is the way of it, eh?” said Ted, with a laugh.

“You got me here to bluff and threaten me, did your
You’re a bad judge of character, Mr. Hiddem, and you ve og
I refuse to have anything
more to do with you. Do what you think best with your

I refuse to recognize it, and I believe that/ the ‘

tackled the wrong person.

claim.
so-called transfer, which you say you have, is fraudulent.
Pick some one easier next time for your crooked work.
I’m going.”

“No you don’t,” said Hiddem, his face as pale asi
paper, and his voice trembling.
be settled right now. You don’ t leave here until it is.”

“You threaten me?’ exclaimed Ted, more in surprise —

than anger. “‘See here, you little drunken crook, I did
not come to your fox’s den to be bullied by you. I said
I was going.’

Ted rose in his chair, at the same time drawing ie
revolver half-way out of its holster. But he heard

slight stir behind him, and as he turned to see what it

was, he felt his arms grasped and his revolver wrenched
out of his hand. He dragged himself free and wheeled
around to find himself face to face with Dick Panther.

“We'll talk business first,’ said Panther,
voice. “Then perhaps we'll let you go, or perhaps we'll
slide you under the ice on the Yukon.”

He was looking at Ted with a smile so cold and wicked |

that it made his blood chill.
cruel and devilish face.
for any crime.
But Ted faced-him without a tremor.
“It takes two to make a conversation,
out betraying any emotion. He was wondering how he
could regain posséssion of his revolver. With that. in

He had seldom seen a more
It was the face of a man fit

his hand he did not fear the men before him, but with-_

out it he was clearly at a disadvantage.

“Give me back my revolver,” he said, “and we will

be on a more equal footing. I hope you are notacoward

as well as the other things I know you to be.”

Panther flushed angrily.

“No,” he said; “I am-not a coward, neither am T a
fool.

now. At present your claim seems to be the strongest,
but before you leave here we must equalize things.”

“I am afraid that cannot be,’ said Ted.

in alow.

“T know.

|

“This thing has got to x

» said Ted wale

You have a claim on certain property in which —
I also have a right, and we have got to settle the matter

you to be a thief and murderer, a triple murderer, if you
please, and I believe you capable of any crime in the

calendar.

streets.”
Panther was yellow and trembling with rage.

Frankly, I don’t believe you have any more
claim to that mine than any malamute dog that runs as the as

“T’ve a mind to kill you where you stand for that,’ ae

he hissed.

 ledon't doubeb, it,” said red:
with your other cowardly murders, but before -
I want to assure you that it would be your last :

“It would be in te
ou do

 
ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. a 7

for you would be dead before night. You must not make

: : the mistake in thinking that I am like the others whom

you murdered. I wouid be avenged.”
“You are very glib with your accusations,” said Pan-
ther, “and you will answer for them. You are also too
inquisitive. You have a warrant for my arrest, and you
__ have tried to get the officers here to do your dirty work.
_ I serve notice on you right now that you will never serve
that warrant.”

“That's to be seen,” said Ted easily. “But pit fhat
_ gun away, if you are the courageous man you pretend
to be, and I'll stake all on a fight with you in any man-
ner you please,-or let me be armed equally with yourself
-and I'll shoot it out with you,”

“Curse you!” snarled Panther. “But I will give you

a chance, although I feel more like shooting you down

in your tracks.”

“Any way you choose so that I get'an equal chance

at the beginning,” said Ted, “T’ll risk the finish.”
Can you box?” asked Panther, with a sneer.
“IT can try,” said Ted.
| Then clear yourself for the worst Aes you ever
had, and although you may be dead at the end no one
can say that I murdered you,” said Panther, throwing
_ ted’s revolver on the table, and removing his coat and
- vest, and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

_ . fed’s heart rose with a bound. If he could not thrash
this fellow he could at least hold his own, for he was
im the pink of condition after his winter’s work in the

Meteor mine.

' There will be no rounds to this fight,” said Panther,
“We will continue until one is down and out. It should
not last longy”’

> ted merély nodded and assisted the lawyer, who was
shaking as with the ague, to move the table from the
center of the floor. Instantly he sprang forward, and
Panther leaped to meet him. There was no preliminary
shake of the hand. The instant they faced one another
Panther forced the fighting. He rushed savagely, hitting
out with terrible force, for he was a finished boxer, and
knew the rules of the game thoroughly.

But Ted knew them, also, and he was as quick as a
flash, -dodging | without trouble the terrible swings of
his adversary. Occasionally they clinched, and Ted “hung
on for an instant, when his superior quickness enabled
him to break away without punishment.

Panther was clearly puzzled. He had thought to get
rid of this young fellow in a few punches, and was sur-
prised to find him so game and such a strong fighter,
_ that it nettled him to think that he, the amateur champion
of San Francisco, could not defeat this boy more easily.
It put him on his mettle, and he rushed Ted the harder.

The steady fighting was beginning to tell on both,
but particularly on Panther, who was not as strong as
Ted, and he began to lag, for he had been doing all the
work. Now was Ted’s chance. He seemed to. be gal-
vanized into life at once.

_ Leaping forward like a cat, he struck Panther on the
mouth. The man stumbled backward, and Ted was right
after him. Before Panther could recover, another blow
struck him on the jaw, and he went on his back.

_ Ted stepped back to allow him to rise, which he did,
_a little groggy, but still game. He circled around into the
middle of the room, keeping away from Ted, who was

‘how doing all the fighting.
cd made another rush, determined to knock his man

out this time. His foot slipped and he fell forward on
his knees. This was Panther’s chance. Like a wild
beast he sprang forward and, before Ted could scramble
up, planted a blow on the point of the jaw.

With a groan Ted Strong fell back upon the Se
his body rigid, his face as white as the plastered wall.

CHAPTER IV.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BROKEN SWORD.

Ted did not know how long he had been lying on the
floor of Hiddem’s office when, at last, he opened his
eyes, nor did he remember for a moment what had hap-~
pened to him.

But gradually it all came back to him, and he recalled
the cowardly advantage Panther had taken of him by
striking him while he was on his knees. 7

He struggled up and looked around the place. His
revolver lay on the table where Panther had thrown if,
and his coat was on the chair.

He went to this immediately and felt in the Hocke! of
it. As he expected, the transfer to the “Lucky Nugget”
mine had been stolen,

This was the fortune of war, and he had only him-
self to blame for permitting himself to be inveigled into
Hiddem’s office when he knew the fellow to be a crook.

When he had dressed himself he went to the door. it
was locked, which did not surprise him.

"The fools, to think they pout lock me in hoe and
keep me from getting out,’ he thought. “I’ve simply got
to get out, for now it’s a race for the mine. Whoever .
gets there first has the advantage, and particularly if Pan-
ther beats us to it with our transfer in his pocket.”

He walked to the rear window of the room and looked
out. Beneath him, twenty feet down, was a pile ef boxes
and loose lumber. He knew that if he dropped on this
he would probably break a leg, a chance which he was
not prepared to take when there was the mine to run
for.

He went through the door into the next room, and
looked out of the window. He saw on the ground a
barrel lying on its side. That was the very thing. If
he could drop on that it would break his fall.

He climbed out of the window and hung from the sill.
Then he dropped and struck the barrel and bounded up,
alighting without much jar on his feet.

Several people in the next building saw the drop, and
yelled at him.

“What's the matter, kid, isn’t the elevator running?”
one of them called. But he paid no attention, and hur-
ried toward the hotel to arouse the boys to get ray to
start for the “Lucky Nugget.”

On his way to the hotel Jay the barracks and prison of
the mounted police.

The prison wall was flush with the street, and a gate
barred the way to the compound in which were the houses
of the officers and the barracks of the enlisted men.
Across the passage, barred by the gate, was the office
building of the mounted police.

He was passing the doorway of is building when he
heard a muffled shriek. It was a woman’s voice. Evi-
dently she was in trouble, and Ted bounded up the
stairs and into the building.

He found himself in a “wide hall, from which doors
opened on both sides. Behind one of these doors he —

 
« yellow stripe down each side.

oC "ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY,

_ heard again the muffled shriek which had attracted his
attention.

Springing to it he threw it open.
his eyes stopped him like a shot.

Captain Pinkstaff, the officer who had so wantonly in-
sulted him only a few hours before, was attempting to
kiss a young girl, and was so intent upon his work that
he was not aware of Ted’s presence.

“You coward,” she panted. “How dare you kiss me?
_ Release me at once!” cried the girl.

With a laugh the gallant captain stooped to kiss her,
but at that moment something happened to him which he
never clearly understood. He did not know whether his
head had come in conjunction with a pile-driver or the
hoof of a mule. But his arms were suddenly loosened
from the girl as he cut a beautiful curve in the air and
landed in the corner.

When he realized what had happened he sprang to his
feet with a curse, and drawing his sword made a rush
at Ted, who drew his revolver and shouted:

“Come another step nearer and I'll put a bullet through

your head. A pistol ball has a longer reach than a
sword.”

The sight that met

Ted advanced slowly toward the officer.

With his revolver held at Captain Pinkstaff’s head Ted
reached out and took the sword away.

Stepping back he coolly broke it across his knee, and
threw the two halves at the feet of the officer, who was
gnashing his teeth in impotent rage.

“Come,” said Ted to the girl. “Let us get out of

here.”

Together they left the room, but the humiliated cap-
tain did not follow. He was examining the dishonored
sword, and wondering how it all had happened.

Ted had not time to look at the girl whom he had

saved from insult until they were out of the building.

“Hurry!” she cried. “If he calls the troops you will
be thrown into jail, and Heaven only knows when you
will get out again. I thank you for coming when you did,
__ but you have made an enemy of the whole mounted po-
lice.”

“Who are you and how did you che to be with that
man?” asked Ted.

The girl was about seventeen years old, and exceedingly
pretty. She was very fair, and her hair hung like clusters
of spun gold from under a jaunty sombrero, which was
turned up on the side like Ted’s own. She wore a
khaki jacket @ la militaire, and a blue skirt with a broad
She was very soldierly.

_ “My name is Fanny Foster, and I am the daughter of
Sergeant Foster, of the mounted police,’ answered the
girl. “My mother sent me to the headquarters building
with a message for my father, but he was not there, It
was in his office that you found me.

- Before I had a

chance to fee it Captain Pinkstaff entered, an yen os

know the rest.”

“The miserable coward,” said Ted, who was still a -

gty. “I don’t think he will forget this day in a hurry,
with his face slapped and his sword broken.’

“You must leave Dawson at once,” cried the girl, in
a frightened voice.
here for a minute after that. What is your name?”

Ted told her, and also assured her that he was not
afraid of Captain Pinkstaff.

“Oh, he will do nothing openly,” said the girl, “but
he will find some way in whith to cause your arrest, and
then Heaven pity you.” .

“T'll take care of myself,” said Ted, laughing. “Don’t ©
worry about me. But I would advise you to carry a
revolver, and if he ever attempts anything of the sort §
again shoot him. You would be perfectly justified in
doing so.” For answer the girl showed him the butt of
a pistol showing under the edge of her khaki coat. : :
“Next time I

“He was too quick for me,” she said..

shall be on the watch for him.” |

They had come to the corner of a street near the quar-
ters of the non-commissioned officers. The girl halted,
held out her hand, and said: oo

“I am very grateful for what you have done for me.
I shall never forget you, Ted Strong, and I hope I may

some day be able to prove my gratitude in a substantial 2 0

Good-by.”

Ted raised his hat, and watched her until she stopped
in front of a cottage, and with her hand on the gate looked eh
back at him and nodded her head to show that she was —
safe at home. :

way.

Hurrying to the hotel, he found the ee somewhat L é
concerned about his absence and debating whether or

not they should go in search of him.

When he told them of his encounter with Panther in ae e
the office of the lawyer Hiddem, and the theft of the map _

to the mine and the transfer, the boys were for hunting |
him up at once. and recovering it. 2
But Ted believed that the best plan was to go to the
“Lucky Nugget,” gain possession of the hidden gold-dust _
and hold the place against all comers, whether they had
the transfer or not. They had at least two honest wit-
nesses to the document. :

It was necessary, however, that Panther and Hidde

should be watched, and Ted decided that he would start

at once for the Lucky Nugget and leave the other boys 2
to round up the lawyer and Panther, and keep them away _
from the mine until he had secured it against them. In —
order to do this successfully they were to scatter and
work independently, and when they had accomplished
their object they were to join him at the mine. ‘After
that they would endeavor to get Fenty out of th

country.

 

“Your life and liberty are not safe
be - let’s hit the trail for Dawson.”

ROUGH RIDER WEEKIY, = os

Bud demurred at this plan and thought that he should
go with Ted. But the King of the Wild West had made

up his mind that his plan was the best, and when the
_ boys saw that he was determined they obeyed orders.

_ Ted knew the location of the mine, for it was one of

his habits to memorize the contents of every important
document that came into his hands, in case it should be
lost or stolen. And this habit had stood him in good
stead many a time.
_ As the boys were to bring a supply of food with them
when they came out to the mine, Ted took only a small
supply in his knapsack, and struck actoss the hills for
Last Chance Creek.
He had no difficulty in finding the Lucky Nugget.
When he came near it he heard voices, and creeping for-

ward, keeping out of sight behind the rocks that were.

" Strewn in the bed of the creek, he got quite near the

| cabin.

/ ‘We might as well jump it,” he heard a man say.
' “Both Jack and Bill are dead, and there is no one to
claim it. When I was in town yesterday I heard how
Jack Harvey died, so that lets the place free. It’s a
heap richer than ours.”

‘Somebody will bob up with a claim to it,” said another,
“and we'll get the run. Better leave it alone, Tom, and
go to work in our own dirt.”

“The gentleman is perfectly right,” said Ted, stepping
_ from behind the roek.

_ The two men turned and stared at Ted in amazement.
_ They were the typical Yukon miners, big, aggressive-
looking, and heavily armed. They did not seem to like

the intrusion, and when one of them made a slight motion
as though to grasp his revolver, Ted, with a flash, had

them covered.

“Tf you will listen to me for a moment I think I can
satisfy you that I have a better claim to this mine than
you,” he said quietly.

__ Neither of the men spoke, and Ted told them of the
death of Jack Harvey, and of the transfer of the mine
‘and other property to Ted and Bud to work for the bene-

, _ fit of Harvey’s family.

said one of the men,
Jack

_ “That’s all right, then, pardner,”
when Ted had finished. “I step down and out.

: : and Bill were friends of ours, and we worked side by side
here all winter.

If Jack turned the claim over to you
it goes.”
“Come on Tom,

“T guess it’s all right,” said the other.

_* The two miners thus left Ted in possession of the

__ property, and when they were gone he went into the

‘cabin to take formal possession of it. The first thing
to do was to secure the buried gold-dust, so that it could
ib conveyed to a place of greater safety ynder the escort
he boys, when they should come.

In one corner of the cabin he found a flat, square stone.
covered with a thin layer of earth. As the floor of the
room was of earth, smoothly beaten down by the feet
of the occupants, its presence would never have been
discovered except by one who knew that it was there.

On lifting the stone Ted ‘uncovered a soap-box sunk
in the earth, in which lay a gunny sack. Lifting this he
found an old pair of miner’s boots.

He lifted one of them out. It was so heavy that he
could hardly raise it. It was filed with small moosehide.
bags, and when he opened one he found it full of gold-
dust and small nuggets.

He was so engaged in his work that he was oblivious
of everything else. : :

Lifting out the other boot, he examined its contents,
and found that it, too, was full of small bags of gold.

He heard a chuckle behind him, and sprang from his
kneeling position, at the same time drawing his revolver.

The cabin was full of men. In front of him stood
Dick Panther, with a contemptuous smile on his face, and
by his side the crooked lawyer.

Behind these were several members of the mounted
police. :

With a cry of anger Ted drew his revolver down on
Panther, but just as he was about to pull the trigger
he was struck on the temple with a billet of wood, and
felled to the floor.

eG

CHAPTER V.
FANNY IN THE TOILS.

He was only stunned for a moment, however, and
before any one could reach him had struggled to his
feet.

As he did so Panther sprang upon him, yelling to the
others to secure him.

Panther had reached out to grasp him when Ted
brought up his fist with a short hook, and caught the
thief and murderer on the point of the chin, lifting him
from his feet and sending him sprawling on his back on
the floor.

Hiddem, the lawyer, was too frightened to move, and_
stood with his mouth hanging open like an idiot. Ted
handed him one on the nose, and the crook sank down
with a cry like a sick puppy.

But that put an end to Ted’s mclyinies for a moment. —

“Secure and disarm him!’ cried one of the police,
who had the stripes of a sergeant on his sleeve. Three
of his men rushed Ted, who, before he could defend
himself, was thrown down, and had his revolver taken
from him.

Panther had risen to his feet and was rubbing the

point of his jaw. When he saw that Ted had been se-_

cured his rage knew no bounds.

ounds. He rushed at Ted and
hit him a heavy blow on the face. |

 
10 oo © 3 ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

“You miserable coward,” said Ted. “You dog, you
cannot fight fair. If they will release me I will thrash
-you within an inch of your life.’

“Here, Mr. Mendell, that won’t do,” said the ser-
geant. “Even if he is a thief, he is es to fair ae
Don’t you try anything of that sort again.’

_ “Mind your own business, Sergeant Foster,” said Pan-
ther savagely. “Any more back talk from you and Til
report you to Captain Pinkstaff. _Now you are a witness
to the fact that we caught this fellow in the act of stealing
my gold-dust, after having jumped my claim. Arrest
him and take him to Dawson.”

“See, here, sergeant,” said Ted, in a protesting voice,
“this is not his gold-dust, nor is this his claim, The
gold-dust belongs te the widow of the man who owned
this claim, who was murdered by that slinking coward,
and the claim now belongs to me by right of transfer.
This man Mendell, alias Panther, is the thief, and you will
not only be subserving thievery, but compounding a felony,
if you arrest me and permit this scoundrel to take pos-
session of this gold and this mine.”

“You may be right, sir,’ said Sergeant Foster, “but I
have a warrant for your arrest from the court, and my
orders were to arrest the man pointed out by Mr. Men-

dell.” ~~

“He is lying, sergeant,” said Panther.
for yourself that the property is mine.”

“You can see

He held up the very transfer be had stolen aa Led,
- who, looking over the sergeant’s shoulder, saw that both
his and Buds names had been cleverly erased and those
of Richard P. Mendell and Lemuel Hiddem substituted.
Moreover the seal of the Canadian court was in the cor-
ner, showing that the document had been recorded with
the court.

The smooth villains had checkmated him there.

said Sergeant
“and I have no recourse but to arrest you.”

“The document seems to be regular,”
Foster,

“Just turn me loose for a moment, sergeant,” said
Ted wistfully, “and then I will go to jail willingly. I
have two or three coward’s blows:to square up.”

“Can't do it, sir,” said the sergeant, grinning.
like to accommodate you, but orders is orders.”

“Td

Ted was led outside by two of the police, a pair of
handcuffs slipped over his wrists. He was lifted to the
back of a horse and placed behind one of the men who
was riding the animal.

They then marched toward Dawson, Panther and the
lawyer, the latter still mopping the blood from his dam-
aged nose and looking very rueful, riding in front by
orders of the sergeant, who fell in-at the rear.

The two crooks bore the stolen gold-dust each with
a boot in front of him on the saddle.

_As Ted was carried down Front Street with manacles
on his wrists, in charge of Sergeant Foster, he attracted

considerable attention, for he was acquainted with many
of the best citizens of the town who had great respect
for him.

As he passed the hotel he saw Bud on the porch...
When the yellow-haired cow-puncher saw him and
realized the plight he was in, he gave a yelp that caused —
the police to draw their weapons and look around appre:
hensively. |

Bud came galloping into the street, with a wild look
in his eyes, and his revolver in his hand. -

“Go back, Bud,” Ted called. “It’s alk right.
to the jail after awhile and see me.”

Bud stared in astonishment for. a moment, and then

Come

“went sadly back to the hotel.

As the procession neared the jail a young girl came
hurrying down the side street. She was Fanny Foster, — |
the girl whom Ted had rescued from the clutches of e
Captain Pinkstaff. ee

As she reached the. corner she made a slight signal :
to Ted, which said “Cheer up!” Somehow Ted’s spirits
rose at the sight of her. .

After reaching the jail, Ted was conveyed into a room f
in the headquarters building. In a moment the dogr =

opened and Captain Pinkstaff entered and took a seat

at the table. He opened a book and, turning to” Ted,
said in a cold voice, “Your name?”

There was a gleam of triumph in his eye.

Ted looked at him ‘coolly and, with a sarcastic smile,
said: “After our brief but exciting oo I should
not think you had forgotten it so soon.’

“None of your impudence,”
he wrote Ted’s name in the book without repeating the.
question.

“What is the charge, sergeant ?”

“Stealing gold from a claim on Last Chance Creek,
and jumping the claim held by transfer by Richard P.
Mendell.” There was a note of regret in the sergeant’ Ss.
voice as he said these words.

The captain wrote rapidly, then siammed the book shut,

and rose;
“Take him to the cells,” he said, in a bored voice.

“Come on, sir,”
by the arm.

said the sergeant, leading Ted away

They walked across the compound and into the jail. oo .

At the cell the handcuffs were removed from Ted’s
wrists, and the iron-barred door clanged behind him.

He sat down on the narrow bench, which was all the
furniture the cell contained, to think the situation over.
Fortune certdinly had gone against him all the way
through in this assigument, but he was not discouraged.
He was too game for that, and his active brain was
already at work planning to escape. A

He knew that, he could not force his way out, as ae :
jail and its surroundings swarmed with the Bae

2.

 

erowled the officer, ie ee
_ is going down again to-night.

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. | oo a1

the mounted police and the red-coated soldiers, who would
capture him before he could go a hundred yards. Be-
sides, the jail itself was of unusual strength, while it was
situated on the principal street, where people were con-
‘Stantly passing back and forth.
- Something told him that he would find a way out
through the aid of Fanny Foster. The signal she had
sent him meant. more than a mere salutation. It con-
veyed to him the message that she would try to pay him
in kind for her own rescue.
- Before he was taken to his cell his pockets had been
emptied by the jailer, who did not leave him even so
‘much as a match, and as his watch had gone with the
_ rest he was unable to tell the time of day.
He was tired from his recent exertions, and lying down
_ on his bench was soon sound asleep.
_ He was wakened after sleeping several hours by hearing
_ his name called, and sprang up quickly.
_ At the door of the cell he saw Fanny Foster with a
tray in her hands, and standing beside her a turnkey,
in the uniform of the police.
_ “I have brought you your breakfast,” said the girl, in
‘an impersonal way, as if she did not know Ted, and was
only doing her duty.
“Thank you,” said Ted, in the same tone.
_ The turnkey unlocked the door, set the tray on the
bench, and locked it again.
“T’ll wait until he has finished, Brown,
coolly.
“Against orders, Miss Fanny,’ said the turnkey.
“But mother needs. the tray at the house,” said the
girl with a bewildering smile at the young turnkey.
“You'll let me wait this time, won’t you? There’s a good
fellow.”
The turnkey hesitated a moment and was lost.
blushed and, nodding his head, turned away.

9

said the girl

3?

He

Without apparently looking at Ted at all Fanny began
to talk in a low tone.

“The steamer is up from St. Michael,” de aid “One
Panther is going on her.
_ A-clerk in the bank, who is a friend.of mine, told me

that he has exchanged gold-dust for forty one-thousand-
dollar bills, which he is going to take out with him. What
do you want me to do?”

+ The turnkey was watching the cell from the other
_end of the room, but as Fanny appeared to be paying no
attention to the prisoner, but was listlessly waiting for
him to finish his meal, he was not suspicious. He could
see Ted, who apparently was intent upon his breakfast,
_ but who, nevertheless, was now talking.

“Find Bud Morgan at the hotel,’ he was saying. ‘Tell

Ce on you know, and ask him to guard all the possible

: _means of Panther’s escape to the steamer. Tell him to
go to any lengths to prevent him from going on board
less he can secure the forty thousand dollars. Here,

Til give you a note to him. oF me a pencil and I'll
write it on this napkin.”

The attention of the turnkey was attracted in another
direction for a moment, and the girl passed a pencil
between the bars. Ted wrote rapidly, and crumping the
napkin up, stuffed it into the milk pitcher.

The turnkey was coming toward the cell, and the girl
whispered: “I'll be back again to-night.’

As the turnkey came up Ted made a sign that he
was finished, and the door was opened and the tray re-
moved. The turnkey walked with Fanny to the door
and let her out, and when he passed the cell again and
looked in Ted was apparently asleep.

“Lazy beggar!” commented the turnkey, as he con-
tinued his walk.

But had he been able to read Ted’s thoughts his com-
ment would have been different.

As soon as Fanny Foster had carried the tray to her
mother’s house she hurried out with the napkin, which
she had pocketed as soon as she was out of the jail
door. »

When she got to the corner of Front Street and
turned toward the hotel a man fell in behind and fol-
lowed her, but she was not aware of it. Had she known
it she might have saved herself a lot of trouble.

At the hotel she was told that Mr. Morgan had gone
to. the other end of the town, and might be found in the
warehouse of the old Yukon Commercial Company.

“But that is deserted,” she said suspiciously. She did
not know the man to whom she was talking, but he hap-
pened to be the only one in the hotel office at the time,
and appeared to be an employee of the house.

“Tt was,” she was told, “but Mr. Morgan has rented
it for some purpose, and had gone down there to look
at it.

Fanny was somewhat puzzled, but it might be the
truth, and she was anxious to find Bud at once, so she
left the hotel and walked rapidly toward the deserted
warehouse.

The house stood at the end of Front Street and was
built on piles over the river. When she reached it she
saw that the door was open, and thinking that Bud was
within she entered.

Hardly had she crossed the threshold than she was
seized, and a slender white hand was pressed against her
lips, effectually suppressing her screams. At the same
time she heard the door close and the key turned in the
lock.

“So, you are acting the spy for a prisoner,” hissed a
voice in her ear, as she was hurried down the long ware-
house by a man on each side of her.

She soon found herself in another room over the water,
for she could hear the waves washing against the piles.

“Let her go,” said one of the men. “She can holler.
her blooming head off here and no one will hear her,”’

 
Bs | | SROUGH RIDER WEEERLY.

When she was released Fanny looked at her captors.
They were Panther and Hiddem, the lawyer.

_ “Now, my lady, out with the message,” said Panther.
“You can’t fool me, I knew that you were carrying it.
Better let me have it quietly, for I don’t want to hurt
‘ you ta pet it.”

“You brutal coward,” said the girl, in a low, tense
voice. “You'll have to kill me to get the message.”

Panther sprang forward and grasped her by the wrist,
which he wrenched violently.

“Search her, and be quick about it
oath, and Hiddem obeyed.

it?

he said, with. an

He found the napkin without trouble and handed it to‘

Panther, who rapidly read the message.

“So, that is the plan,” he said, with a laugh. “Glad to
know how the land lies.” He took a flat package of
bills from his pocket and waved them before Fanny’s eyes.
“See, here they are! Forty bills of one thousand dollars
each. And they go out with me on the steamer to-night,
But here you stay until you starve.”

GHAPTER VI,
FANNY S SACRIFICE AND TED’S ESCAPE.

Fanny heard the men go laughing down the empty
warehouse, but she was too stunned by the pain in her
arm, where the brutal Panther had wrenched it, to arouse
_ herself, and when she did so it was too late,

She was in a small room which had no window, and
was consequently as dark as a pocket. She felt around
the wall until she came to the door, which was locked,

She was a girl of more than ordinary courage, and
the situation in which she found herself did not frighten
her, although she was worried at the prospect of not
being able to get out in time to inform Ted or Bud
of the miscarrying of the message, and of Panther’s in-
tention to get away that night.

While she was standing in the dark rubbing her
wrenched arm and thinking the matter over, she heard
the sound of oars splashing in the water and a boat
bumped against the piles which supported the warehouse.

She kept as quiet as possible, for she did not know
whether the persons in the boat were friends or foes.
The water-front was infested by boatmen who were en-
gaged in river piracy, and many horrible crimes had been
attributed to them.

It would not be safe for her to let strangers know
that she was in the lonely warehouse, and she scarcely
breathed as she stood in the dark room listening intently,

. Presently she heard the splashing of another pair of
oars and then a low whistle. She heard an answering
signal and soon another boat bumped among the piles.

“Well, what’s the news?” asked a voice.
“We go out to-night,” was the reply. -

“What do we get?”

“The guy will only pay us ne fae mo oe
“That ain’t bad for getting up steam, and standing out
for about an hour until the steamer passes down.” - os
Fanny leaned forward on hearing this. A vague sus-
picion came into her mind that these fellows were telling
her what she most wanted to know. There was more than —
a chance that they were talking about some boat or other,
and that the “guy” mentioned was none other than Pan-
ther, who probably was the only man in Dawson who

would find it necessary to go out in a boat and stand =

off until the steamer sailed.

“Why’s he in such a funk about going aboard ‘the
steamer before she sails?”

“Officers after him for a trick he done down the coast, S
they say up-town. I heard him tell his pal that it was —
South America for him.” oF

“I suppose the old captain kicked oc going ‘out, re
eh ?”

“He sure did. Old Brasswire is getting more a 4

more particular every day. Says he can’t stand for
crooks, But he better look out or the onners of the
Polly will fire him for turning away good money.” |

Fanny fairly hugged herself with joy.

The Polly was a tug, and the fastest on the river. ~
She saw it all now as plain as day, Panther had char-
tered her to take him off to the steamer after she had
got away from the town, and was well on her way down
the river. But where could the Polly be found? Fanny
had seen her tied up at several places along the river,

for she had no regular dock.

“Well, you be ready to get steam up about six.o ‘clock,
for the steamer sails at eight. Then bring her up to her
moorings and I will come on and take the engine.”

“Which mooring do you mean, the upper or lower?”

“The lower one, of course, The passenger will be
aboard about seven, and we'll drop down the river with-
out lights and pick up the steamer about five miles down.”

“You mean under the Indian’s Head ?”

“Sure. Be there before seven.”

Fanny heard the boats push out from under the ware-_
house and the steady beat of oars in the rowlocks, and KS
soon all was still. ;

The Indian’s Head! Where was that? Fanny knew
the river shore pretty well, but she could not recall any
place known by that name.

But that was not the matter of most importance now.

How was she to get out of her prison?

The walls and the door were too solid for her to break
through, and she turned her attention to the floor, In

one corner she thought one of the boards sounded loose
She kneeled and tap ]

when she struck it with her heel.
her fingers along the wall trying to find a crevice.

She found a loose board, and got her fingers in a crack ~ ie
and tugged with all her might.

There was a ripping

 
ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. coe | 13

~gound-and she almost fell over backward as a piece of |

the board came away in her hands. Through the space
it left she could see daylight, and the murky water of the
river eddying among the piles.

Using the piece of board she had secured as a lever,

i: _ she pried up another board,

As she was working she heard the outer door of the
warehouse slam, and footsteps resounding along the
_ empty room. For a moment her heart stopped beating.
Just as she squeezed her slender body through the hole
_ she had made, she heard a hand fumble on the door-knob.

At that moment she dropped upon a slippery plank
nailed to the piles a few inches above the water, to hold
them in place,

She crept along this perilous path, as swiitly as she
' could. If she slipped into the water it meant drowning,
for the river was a running torrent and icy cold.
“Gone, by thunder!” she heard Panther’s veice shout.
At this she threw caution to the winds and fairly ran
along the plank to the shore, where she waded through
the mud until she could climb the bank to the street.

_ Then she ran like a frightened deer toward the town.

_ As she ran she heard shouts to stop, but this only

_ lent wings to her flight, and she was soon in the crowded
“part of the town, where she knew that no man might lay
hands on her in public and live to know it,

Without waiting she started again in search of Bud
Morgan, but she did not find him because he had gone
out to the Lucky Nugget mine.

Here was a predicament indeed. She would have no
excuse to go back into the jail again until six o’clock,
when it would be time to take Ted’s supper to him, Per-
haps Bud would hurry back to town when he found that
the gold-dust had been stolen, and on this supposition
she wrote a note to Bud, and left it at the hotel, ex-
plaining everything, and telling him to be at the Indian’s
Head before seven o’clock.

Then she hurried away to find out where the Indian’s
Head was for herself, and to make preparations for Ted’s
supper, which was to be a surprise to that young gentle-
man, and one which he was destined not to forget for
many a day.

Promptly at six o'clock she appeared at the door of
the jail with Ted’s supper. The turnkey on watch was
_ not Brown, but a vain young fellow who was very much
in love with Miss Fanny. She looked very pretty this
evening, with a fleecy shawl wrapped around her head,
and when she came in she gave Mossler, the guard, her
hand and gently returned his pressure, sending him into
a spasm of delight.

““T haye supper for the prisoner in Cell 66,” she said.
“He is sick, and mother has prepared something extra
for him. Let me go into his cell and fix it for him.”

“It’s against orders, you know,” he said. But she

_ looked at him so reproachfully that he hastened to add,

“But the heae guard is at Supper voW, and if you will, 2
not be long you may go in.’

She thanked him with a languishing smile as he un-
locked the door of the cell and admitted her. Then he
was called away to the other end of the corridor, and
in a minute she had told Ted all about the occurrences
of the day, ce

“Here,” she whispered in a flurry, “is a dress of mine.
Get into it in a hurry. Wrap this shawl about your head
and when the guard takes you to the door squeeze his
harid and call him dear. Hurry, he will be back soon.”

Ted grasped the situation on the instant, and was
soon clothed in a skirt that hid his trousers. The shawl
wrapped about his head made him look like a fair imi-
tation of Fanny in the dim light.

They heard the steps of the guard returning and had
only time to whisper good-bys when he was at the door.

“Time’s up,” he whispered.

“All right,” said Fanny, pushing Ted toward the door
and concealing herself in the dark recesses of the cell.
The head guard was coming, and Mossler hurried Ted
to the door, not looking at him in his excitement. He
unlocked the door and pushed Ted out just as the head
guard entered at the other end of the corridor.

The head guard noticed nothing unusual, and the
routine of the jail was taken up again with the young
girl still hiding in the shadows of the cell,

The moment Ted was out of the jail he slipped off
the skirt and shawl, and placing them in the basket
walked around to Sergeant Foster’s cottage and quietly
dropped it over the fence into the yard.

Taking the back streets he ran as fast as he’ could
toward the lower part of the town. Time was flying,
and he was already late for the hour when the tug Polly
was to leave Indian’s Head.

When he got to the outskirts of the town he stumbled
onward at top speed over rocks and through mud toward
a great black rock that dimly resembled the head of an
Indian, to one possessing a vivid imagination.

He could see the smoke of the tug rising above it,
and hurried faster.

Just as he rounded the rock he saw the tug. It was
fastened to the shore by a line thrown around a boulder,
and was lying alongside of a sort of natura! dock of _

rocks.

Evidently her passenger had not yet arrived, as there -
was no one visible aboard, so Ted concealed himself be-
hind some rocks near-by to await the arrival of Panther.

He had not long to wait, for the criminal was seen hur-
rying toward the boat from the opposite direction. He
carried a suit case in his hand, and appeared to be greatly
excited.

When he arrived at the boat he sprang aboard and -
gave a low whistle. In a moment a tousled head ap-
peared through a hatchway. It was followed by a young —

ae

 
“14 oe . ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.’

fellow in a suit of greasy overalls. Eyently this was
the tug’s engineer.

Panther stood talking with him in a low voice, oc-
casionally pointing toward the town. The other shook
his head, and Panther began to laugh. He appeared to
be greatly relieved about something.

The engineer shouted down the hatch to the engine-
room and the propeller began to revolve. At the same
time the engineer untwisted the rope that held the boat
to the shore from the capstan instead of going ashore
to throw it off, and the Polly began to swing around.

She was leaving Ted behind, and as he realized this
he rushed from behind his hiding-place, leaping from
rock to rock until he was on the natural dock. Just as
he got there the stern of the boat swung toward | him.
But it was five feet away and receding rapidly.

Without an instant’s delay Ted flung himself through
space and landed on the deck of the boat.

It had all been so sudden that Panther, who, of course,
had seen the move, seemed to be paralyzed with as-
tonishment. He had been soy confident that Ted was
safely locked up in jail that he looked as if he had seen
a ghost instead of an enemy. He could only gasp, al-
though he had plenty of time and opportunity to shoot
Ted while he was still in mid-air.

As Ted struck the deck he rushed at Panther, and
before that worthy had time to raise a hand had locked
him in his arms.

Now they were wrestling for life or death.

Panther was as expert at wrestling as he was at box-
ing, and as Ted was somewhat of a wrestler himself,
they were fairly well matched. ’

Back and forth across the narrow deck they fought, the
only sound coming from them befhg an occasional pant.
Honors were about even, for no two men were more
closely matched.

As they struggled Ted heard a shout from the shore,
and out of the corner of his eye saw Bud and Ben and
Kit running at full-speed along the bank. But they
could not help him now.

Ted was beginning to feel that he was getting the
better of Panther. His adversary’s body was not so
tense; he was beginning to give way. He finished a
moment later and went down, with Ted, triumphant,
above him.

“belD! “Get him!”

Ted heard the scurry of feet, and saw the engineer
rush upon him with a piece of iron pipe in his hand, and
before he could defend himself he felt it descend on his
head and saw a thousand stars as he went down.

cried Panther.

“Here, throw him in this locker,” he heard the engi-
neer say. “It will be all off if the captain sees him.”
Just as he was losing consciousness Ted felt himself

being dumped into” a nee ty ne ae oS Na eS
went out.

CHAPTER: VEE

RESCUED ‘BY. CAPTAIN BRASSWIRE. (-?

When Ted regained consciousness the boat was plowing
rapidly through the water. He tried to raise himself
on his elbow, but sank back ‘weak and sick, with his
brain throbbing mercilessly.

He must have relapsed into unconsciousness again, for :
he remembered nothing more until he heard shouting and <
felt the Polly bump against something.

‘He had just sufficient strength to raise himself and
push up the lid of the locker, into which he had been
so unceremoniously tossed, and look out.

The tug was lying alongside of a steamer, which was
still plowing its way down-stream.

He saw Panther spring from the tug to the deck a o

the steamer, and wave his hand in farewell.

Ted tried to shout, but the sound died away in boa 4

groan, and when he tried to raise himself he fell back
again. In spite of everything, Panther had escaped.

He felt the motion of the Polly turning and makin
her way against the current, and felt he was on his war
back to prison and disgrace, and fainted again from weak
ness and the pain in his head.

Bud had received the letter that Fanny had written
him on his return from the Lucky Nugget. He had
searched the cabin, and finding the empty box in the
corner was convinced that the gold-dust had been stolen.

Hurrying back to Dawson he found the letter and sum-
moned the boys, and together they hurried to the Indian’s
Head only to see Ted knocked down and carried away.

“Jumpin’ sand-hills!” roared Bud, who was beside him-.
self with anger. “If I only had wings or an air-ship,
so that I could git out ter thet pesky boat, I’d git Ted
an’ scuttle ther whole bloomin’ shebang.”

“She'll be back,” said Ben. “All we’ve got to do is
to watch the shore for her, then go aboard and make
things lively for the skipper and crew.”

“T think we better stay right here,” said Kit. ‘‘Here’s
her line, and it’s likely she'll be back, for if she’s a
crook, this is just the sort of a place for her to tie

up.” a
The boys thought well of Kit’s suggestion and co
right where they were.

The Polly was headed straight for Indian’s Head, with ff

old Captain Brasswire at the helm.

Those who have followed the adventures of Ted Strong
will recall that when Ted was coming by dog team from

Skaguay to Dawson in his search for the Great Meteor __

Diamond of the Klondike, he picked up an old man by

the side of the trail all but frozen to death, and having : :

restored him to life sent him on his way rejoicing.
It was this same worthy captain who now controlled

‘the destinies of the Polly, and as he directed her course
toward the shore he was thinking of the young fellow

 
ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

ce ‘ce had rescued him. He was wishing he could meet
the boy again. Little did he suspect that that boy was
within a few feet of him at that moment, and needing
his: help sorely.
But at last the Polly snuggled up to the shore, and
the fireman jumped to the rocks and made her fast. Then
the captain left the pilot-house and came to the deck.
_ He was passing the locker in which Ted was con-
_ cealed’ when he heard a groan. He threw up the cover,
peered within, and, seeing Ted’s crumpled body, sprang
back with a cry.

, Bless my soul, what’s this?” he cried. The fireman
came forward and looked in the locker, and vowed he
_ kmew nothing about it. The engineer was below and
- did not come up.
Captain Brasswire, who was the ‘tenderest hearted of

te men, gently lifted Ted from the locker with the fireman’s

aid, and laid him on the deck.
“He's alive,” said the captain, placing his hand on
 Ted’s heart. He feared that some one had committed a
_murder, and made his boat a place of concealment for
. the body.
' The fireman was clumsily bathing Ted’s head as Bud
‘and the other two boys rushed on deck from shore.
“When they saw Ted’s condition they were very much
larmed, and Bud began to rave and rant about the deck,
threatening all sorts of dire revenge, until the old captain
lost patience, and bade him be quiet.

“Tumpin’ sand-hills! don’t yer know what happens
aboard yer ole tub?” said Bud. “First yer runs erway
with a crook an’ fugitive from jestice, an’ when this yere
officer o° ther law goes aboard he is knocked on ther
_head by yer crew an’ throwed inter a coffin. We see it
all from ther shore, but yer goin’ so fast thet we cain’t
ketch up with yer none.”

' The captain was growing madder every minute, and
when Bud finished he exploded.

“T ain’t took so much slack from a pup since I’ve
been in the Yukon,” he sputtered. “What d’ye mean by
slanderin’ my boat?”

_ “Slack or no slack, ’m givin’ it ter ye eaeke Hyer’s
‘yer evidence. Like ez not his skull’s crushed in. I see
one o’ yer men hit him with a piece o’ iron jest ez yer

left here ter tow a crook an’ a murderer out ter freedom,”

farted Bud.

The old man passed his hand across his eyes. Things

- were coming too swift for his comprehension. This was

the first he knew about it, and he could not quite get it

_ through his head.

_ “Was this the man who struck him ?” asked the captain,

pointing to the fireman.

a “No, that is not the man,’ answered Bud. “But he’s
aboard this boat, unless he got off in the river, and if

he is. Vl git him an’ teach him that where we hail from.

me don’t treat white men thataway.”

The captain aie. to the hatch. His face wore an

expression of fury.

“Come up here, Carlson,” he said.

/#Can't do it. I'm busy,’ came the reply.

“Come up here, you swab, er I'll go down after ye,”
bellowed the captain.

In a moment the head of the engineer spe:
through the hatch.

Bud made one jump for him and dragged him on to
the deck.

“This is the skunk,” he said. “An’ he’s my meat.”

“Wait a minute,” said the captain. “Wait till I get
through with him. Say, you whelp, did you strike this
young feller on the head with a bar of iron and throw
him into that locker? Yes or no, now. None of yer hop-
scotchin’, This is my boat and I’m going to have the
truth.” o

The engineer mumbled and squitmed, and backed, and
filled, trying to get away from Bud, and to avoid an-
swering, at the same time reaching for his pocket.

He succeeded in doing so, and had drawn a knife
when a warning cry came from Kit.

But it was too late, for the blade descended, and with
a yell Bud let go of him, and clapped his hand to his
side.

The engineer rushed toward the bow of the tug, which
had swung out into the river, knocking down the fireman,
who strove to block the way, and leaped into the river.

“All right,” said the pee “That’s his finish. He

can’t stand that water long.”

The engineer was swimming out into the river in a
panic. For a long time they could see his head bobbing
up and down, while they called to him to return. But
soon he was lost to view, and they never knew whether
he was drowned or managed to reach the shore.

In the meantime Ben and Kit were chafing Ted’s hands,
and bathing his head, and it was not long before he opened
his eyes and looked around.

‘“What’s the matter?” he asked.

The situation was explained to him, and he nodded
feebly to signify that he remembered all.

Captain Brasswire was looking at him ate

“Say, boys, don’t tell me that’s Ted Strong,” he said,
with emotion. “Fer if it is I’m eternally dicated that
he’s come to trouble on this boat. Why, that boy saved
me from freezing to death on the trail from White:
Horse.” Then he related the circumstances of the res-
Cie:

Ted soon sat up, and then he and the old captain held
a sort of joyful reunion.

When the escape of Panther was explained to the cap-
tain, and he realized all that it meant to the boys, he was
consumed with grief. :

“Honest, boys, 1 wouldn’t have had ‘that happen for

 
16 meee “ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

four times the passage-money,” he said. “But he’s not
gone yet by a gumsite. He’s figgerin’ on takin’ a boat
at St. Michael, at the mouth of the Yukon, or catching
one at Nome, Now, I'll tell you what we'll do. You
can have this boat as far as you like. We'll just get
on his trail, and follow him. If the Polly can make the
time I think, we'll overhaul him at St. Michael. What
d’ye say?”

“The very thing,” exclaimed Ted, who was rapidly
recovering from the blow on his head. “But there are

several things to attend to before we can start. In the
first place, you must get another engineer, and in the
second, I have some very important business to attend
to up-town.”

“You can’t go up-town,” said Kit. The mounted police
and all the soldiers are looking for you, and if they catch
you it is the dark cell for you.’

“But I must go,” said Ted. Then he told them of
the way in which he managed to get out of prison.

“You see now that I can’t leave that girl here to bear
the brunt of this thing. I have got to see her and her
father, and that’s all there is to it,” said Ted. ,

“You'll get caught as sure as shooting,” said Kit. “I
know, because I heard two of the soldiers talking about
it at the hotel. They have orders to catch you, dead or

’ alive.”

“Tt sounds interesting,” said Ted. “But I’ve got
to see my friends, and you needn’t be surprised to see me
coming back with them. I know a trick worth two of
any that Captain Pinkstaff can hatch up.”

Ted called the fireman down into the engine-room, and
in a few minutes came up, but the boys did not recog-
nize him. He was disguised as a fireman in greasy over-
alls and cap, and his face liberally smeared with black
oil. ea

“You'll do,” said Ben, laughing. “I’d pass you on the
street any old’ time ina rig like that, and not call you by

name. It stands to reason that the people up-town, who
haven’t seen much of you, will not recognize you.”

Ted’s face took on a look of drunken gravity, and he
walked off with a slightly lurching step that was a per-
fect imitation of a drunken man.

“That finishes it,” laughed the boys.

“Captain, have steam up, so that we can start right
out,” said Ted. “How are you provisioned?”

“Oh, we'll last a long time,” said the captain. “Don’t
worry about that. I’ll make Billy, here, engineer, and he
can go up-town and get a pal to fire for him.”

Ted and Billy started up-town, and when they reached
Front Street Ted appeared to be a typical sailor on a
spree.

He saw Captain Pinkstaff coming along the street,
| jauntily swinging a small stick, and as they passed one
a another he lurchéd into the officer as if by accident. It

was a daring thing to do, but it satisfied: Ted that he.

f ¥
was a from ordinary detection, for the captain turned —

upon him and swore at him for a drunken, clumsy lout,

and passed on. At the corner of the jail he left: the”
fireman and sped toward the cottage of Sergeant F Oster, 5°
When he arrived at the gate he looked in through the
window of the cottage and saw Fanny hovering over her
mother, who was weeping. He went to the doo and
called to the girl.
She came out wondering what a sailor should ‘want
of her, and told him to be off. Ted saw that she had
not penetrated his disguise, but when he laughed she
pulled him into the house and closed the door.
“I thought you were gone,” she cried, growing pale.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you know that you |
are in great danger? For Heaven’s sake, get away as soon
as you oo All the police and the military are looking :
for you.” ae
But Ted assured her that he was-in no danger. He ee
informed her of his plans, and that in an hour he would
be on his way down the river to American soil as fast
as steam could carry him.
“We are in great trouble,” said the girl. “When thes
discovered me in the cell they released me, but sent for.
father, whom they accused of having planned your es-
cape. I got to him first and warned him, and he is now
in hiding. Only I know where he is. If he is caught
they will send him to prison for a long while.”
This certainly was a serious outcome to his CScane
and Ted grew very thoughtful.

“You must both get away from here at once,” he said = oe

at last. “Find your father and bring him to Indian’s
Head. We will take both he and you with us, and you
can send for your mother later.”

Fanny talked with her mother for a few minutes, then

turned to Ted, and said she would start for her father’s _ oo

hiding-place at once, and would be at Indian’s Head in- o
side of an hour. ae

She had hardly ceased speaking when there was a
violent knocking on the door. Fanny ran to the win
dow anll looked out. When she came back into the room
where Ted was her face was white. a

“It is all up with us,” she said. “The house is ae :
rounded by the police.” oe

cenremionnnmioeed)

CHAPTER VIII.
BACK TO AMERICAN SOIL.

The clamor at the doors, both front and back, grew
louder and more insistent. The girl had blown out the
light, and, kissing her mother good-by, told her to ne
the door in five minutes, not before.

Ted was at the window in the back of the house.
little yard was full of soldiers, and in the street in f£
Captain Pinkstaff was ordering the men to oe in

door if it was not opened soon.

 
Ree

be in jail.

and climb out.”
board. about six feet lone

$

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. |

es said the girl, taking Ted’s hand in hers in
the dark,’ we must hurry away from here, or we will both
They will not harm mother.”

She led Ted to a net of stairs which they mounted

Dio: a loft.

“Reach up and push aside that trap-door in the roof
He did so, and she handed him up a

“Now. pull me up,” she said, reaching up her arms.
Ted leaned down and, grasping her by the wrists, pulled

her on to the roof.

a@ to stir until Fanny Foster and her father arrive.
| girl risked her liberty to get me here, and I’m going to
__ return the compliment, if I have to go back for it.”

her father touched deck.

“Now we can cross over all the roofs in the row, and

| when we get to the other end we can drop to the ground

nd escape,” she said.
Rapidly they passed from roof to roof by means of
the board, and when they came to the last house Ted

| dropped to the ground and caught Fanny in his arms.
_ “Get back to the boat as fast as you can.”
“1 strike into the hills from here.

said she.
In an hour I will be
Indian's Head. Hurry! Hurry!’

The next instant she had disappeared into the gather-
ng darkness, and Ted set off at a brisk run down a back
treet that was not very thickly settled.

When he arrived at the Polly's moorings he found
ie boys very anxious about him, as all sorts of rumors

“were broadcast on the streets, and it was freely predicted
that Ted Strong would probably be convicted of the
murder of the owners of the Lucky Nugget mine, and

| that Lemuel Hiddem, the lawyer, had framed up a case
| against him that he could not beat.

‘Well, let’s be off,’ said Captain Brasswire. “If it’s

getting as warm as that up-town I reckon we’d better
be putting some of this cool river air between us and
} it. a9

“T’m not going
That

“Not on your birthday!” said Ted

Everything was ready to start as soon as Fanny and
The boys kept a patrol around
he boat to prevent a surprise by the enemy, and so the
time passed. |
“Who goes there?” They heard the click of a re-
olver going to full cock, as Bud’s voice, low and clear,

‘sent the challenge.

‘Fanny Foster,” came the reply, and Ted rushed for-
rd to greet the girl and her father, and hurry them
board. At the same instant the line was thrown off,
nd the Polly's propellers began to pick up the water as
glided out from shore.
She was hardly twenty feet from the dock when there
as a rush of feet on the shore and a hoarse voice cried:

‘ship ahoy! In the name of the law, turn back!”

for answer the bell in the engine-room rang for full

7

speed. Not a light was visible on the Polly, but the
forced draft that had been put on the fires in the boiler-
room sent a cloud of sparks soaring skyward. |

Ted had sent Fanny arfd her father and the boys down
into the cabin, while he lay behind the rail watching the
dark figures along the shore. Evidently his visit to the
Foster cottage was known and he had been tardily fol-
lowed, or perhaps the engineer had been picked up or
had swum ashore, and had disclosed the hiding-place of
the Polly. It was possible that the government officers
wanted the boat for their own service.

Again came the challenge from the shore, but de
Polly did not deign to reply.

A minute of silence elapsed, then Ted saw a thin red
line of fire leap from the shore, followed by a crash, and
ducked his head as a perfect rain of rifle-balls struck
the Polly. 1

But they only seemed to sting her to greater speed,
for she soon was so far away that the shore was lost
to view, and they were beyond the range of their best
rifles.

Ted got up and went to the wheel-house.
that he did so. Captain Brasswire was lying across the —
wheel insensible. One of the rifle-balls had reached him
as he stood in the exposed wheel-house.

Ted yelled the alarm and the boys came piling up the
companionway to the deck.

Ben was put at the wheel, and Ted and Bud carried
the limp form of the old man to his bunk beneath the
wheel-house. There they examined him, and found that
a ball had pierced his shoulder, and that the shock and
the loss of blood had rendered him insensible.

Ted applied restoratives and bound up the wound,
which was not serious, and soon the captain vowed that
he was ready to take the wheel again. But the boys
would not let him do anything but sit near the wheel and
tell them when to put her to port or starboard.

It was well

“Boys,” said the captain, after he had been sitting for
several minutes lost in thought, “did it ever occur to you

_ that we are likely to be pursued by the government?”

“Suppose they do,” said Ted, “they cant catch us.:
Haven’t we the fastest boat of her size on the river.”

9

“We certainly haye—of her size,” answered the cap-
tain. “But has it occurred to you that they might im-
press into their service the first steamer that comes to
Dawson from White Horse? We can go-some, and we
are hitting up a right likely lick right this minute, but we
would look as if we were tied to a dock alongside of
one of those stern-wheelers from White Horse. Why,
those things don’t draw enough water to float a shingle,
and they just simply throw the whole river up into the
air behind them every time the wheel goes round.”

“Tet us hope that they will not think of it,” said Ted.
“and keep on feeding the fires and send her forward.
It wouldn’t be healthy for any of us to get caught now.”

 
~. ing with their sallies, and by

&

a ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

“Keep a lookout astern then, and if you-see smoke up

the river you will know that we are being trailed,” said
the captain, “But even if we are, all we have to do to
escape them is to get into American territory first, and
we will be safe. We are getting nearer to it every
minute.”

This rather put a damper on the spirits of the boys,
who thought they were safe from pursuit until the captain
sprung this bomb on them.

A close watch was kept astern, and the boys took turns

relieving the fireman at the furnace, and helping Fanny

with the cooking, so that everybody might get rest.
Fanny was the life of the boat, and kept the boys
cheered up with her gay spirits and wit. She and Bud
soon became great friends, and they kept all hands laugh-
“roasting” one another
on the rival merits of the United Statés and Canada, for

the girl was as loyal a Canadian as Bud was an Ameri- |

can.

Sergeant Foster was in the dumps at what he called
the disgrace of being’a deserter, and he would not be
cheered.”

The boat passed Indian villages on their way down,
but did not stop in answer to the hospitable invitations
of the aborigines to tarry and trade. They were in too
much of a hurry to see American soil once more. But
one morning they were compelled to stop and get wood.

They saw a pile of logs on the river bank, and pulled -

in, The Indian who owned it wanted to give them the

whole stack for a bottle of “hootch,” or whisky, but as
that was a commodity not to be found onthe Polly, they
were compelled to force money on him, for if he couldn't
get “hootch” for it he didn’t want to sell it.

All hands pitched in and soon they had enough wood
aboard to last them through the voyage.

. They had hardly started on their way again, and were
in the channel once more, than.they heard a shout from
Bud, who was sitting in the stern on lookout, and keeping
up his usual flow of airy talk with Fanny.

Bud was pointing astern.

“Thar either a forest fire back thar, or thar’s a
steamboat comin’,” he shouted.

“Perhaps it’s a prospector smoking some of that Klon- |

dike tobacco I smelled in Dawson.
thing I ever saw for a smudge,”
Then he broke into song:

It certainly beat any-
said Ben.

“J saw the boat come round the bend,
Good-by, rough riders, good-by;

All loaded down with gover’ment men,
Good-by, rough riders, good-by.”

“Oh, dry up,” said Kit. “This isn’t anything to laugh
about, and if they catch us and take you back to Daw-
son and feed you on skilly and ship-biscuit and dog
mieat you wen 't be able to marep that pte round ‘omm
7 ie

“Cheer up,” laughed Ben. “The captain says the ling
is not far from here. I'll bet a nice broiled sprig
chicken to a porterhouse steak that we beat them |to it.
Oh, Kit, how’d you like to sink your cyeteaay in a.
nice, thick, juicy tenderloin, eh: s

“I'll throw you overboard if you don’t stop t tee

about the impossible all the time,” said Kit, who} pos-
sessed a fastidious stomach, which had begun to rebel
against the fat pork and canned goods of the Yukon) bills
of fare.

Ted and the captain stood in the wheel-house watching
the smoke through the glasses.

“Tt sure is the Yukon,” said the captain.
she throws her smoke.
line.”

‘Do. you think she can overhaul us before we can cross
the line?” asked Ted.

“She can, but I doubt if she will,” replied the captain
with a quiet smile.
running under forced draft. Her captain is an old friend”
of mine, and he knows as much about the river as I do.

“T know how

If he knows I’m aboard this boat he knows just what T”

am eons to do, and he’s piling on steam to try to hea
me off,

“What are you going to dor” ‘asked Ved.

“Vou'll see in a few minutes,” said the captain.

“Took at her now. She’s fired up to the top of i :

fire-box,”” said the captain.

The Yukon was belching great clouds of resinous
smoke, and although they could not see the boat herself
they could plainly hear in this silent wilderness the roar
of her escape.

All hands except the man at the wheel were now
watching with a sort of fascination that pillar of black
smoke that was rapidly nearing them.

The Polly was fairly racing through the water, which

She’s the fastest boat on the —

“She sees our smoke and shes 4

hissed up in curling waves from her bow, and her hull oS

shook like a man with the ague from the high pressure
her boilers were being subjected to.

if he did so the boilers would blow up.
“Tet her blow,” cried the old captain. “Vd as lief
blow up as be caught by those fellows om the Yukon.”

Suddenly the Yukon shot around a bend in the river. a

She seemed to be merely skimming the surface, and the

water was plowing up in front of her like a fountain.

Her decks were crowded with soldiers.
gers on the Polly could see their red coats shining bril-
liantly in the sun.

When they saw the little tug chugging along throug

the water they sent up a cheer that was half triumph and :

half contempt.

“See that small dark tae ahead of us?’ asked th ‘

captain, pointing to a spot to the left of the river ch:

When the captain
shouted down the speaking-tube to the engime-room fo ~
give her more steam, Billy, the engineer, called back that .

#

The passen- :

 
_ shouted a welcome.

ve. dive.

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. Le Ao.

Stel Ted nodded. “Well, we are going into that like
/a cat after a mouse. It is our only means of escape.” _
“But there is the river channel over there, to the right,

isn’t it®”. asked Ted.

“That’s it,’ answered the captain. “But it makes a
bend of about thirty miles, while that little dark streak
is only about three miles across. Now do you under-
stand ?” :

Ted still looked puzzled.

_ “Tt’s this way,” said the captain. “What I was trying

to do all the time was to get here before the Yukon caught

up with us and headed us off. You see that channel is

deep enough for the Yukon, but she is too broad in the
Leam to go through it.
TVve made it many’s the time.

- oe similar smal] craft.”

' As the Polly shot into the cut-off the Yukon’s whistle

aS bellowed forth.

_ Captain Brasswire pulled the rope, and the Polly's
whistle screeched an answer. ‘

‘The captain turned to Ted with a grin.

“That was Captain Jack’s acknowledgment that I had
Deaten him to it,” said he. “He knows that the race is

ll over now except the shouting. We'll eat our supper
on American soil before they get there.”

The Polly plunged through the channel, which was as
_ straight as if drawn with a plumb-line, and it was not
long before a cheer burst from every throat on board
except one, that of Sergeant Foster, for on the hill
straight ahead of them floated the glorious Stars and
‘Stripes. They had won the race and were in American

It’s a cut-off for tugs

waters.

emcee eet

CHAP TER TX.
PROTECTED BY THE STARS AND STRIPES.

The Polly's whistle was shrieking like mad as she
_ dashed up to the dock beneath the flag, and a young man
_ came out of a blockhouse on the hill and ran down to
them.

Ted had found an American flag in the locker in the
_ .wheel-house, and had run it up on the jack-staff.
As the Polly lay to the young man jumped aboard, and
“You're the first visitors I’ve had for eight months,”
he said. “My! but I’m glad to see you. My name’s

_ Joliffe, and I’m the American representative here.”

Ted thanked him for his welcome and introduced the
party. Then he and the captain took Joliffe into the
_cabin and explained the situation to him.

“You’re all right now,’ said the American representa-
“The Canadian authorities have had some experi-
ence with me before. If they attempt to molest any of
you well stand on our rights. But I think Sergeant
ter and his daughter would be safer in my house. 1

a place where they will not be found in case an

: ‘

It is just wide enough for us.

ee search is made for them against my remon-
strance.”’

The sergeant was not at all easy over the oiteorie:
for he still had an abounding respect for the government
he had so lately served. However, Ted and Joliffe talked
to him, and he lost his fear and consented to place him-
self in the hands of the American representative.

There was still more than an hour before the Yukon
could get there, and they went up to Joliffe’s house and
had a jolly supper.

Through the windows they had a clear view of the
river, and saw the Yukon with its load of redcoats
come around the bend and make for the dock.

The dock was right on the line between the United
States and Canada, and the Polly lay on the American
side of it. The Yukon, therefore, tied up to the Canadian
side. »

Meantime, Joliffe had raised a trap-door in the floor
and led Fanny and her father down a stairway to a
chamber beneath, then through several more chambers
of a natural cave, which was divided by walls of masonry,
into a comfortable room, the floors of which were com-
fortably furnished with bearskins.

After he had returned to the blockhouse a party leit
the Yukon and marched up the hill. It was led by Cap-
tain Pinkstaff, and consisted of a detail of a half-dozen

redcoat soldiers.
The party in the blockhouse paid no attention to them

until they were at the door.
Joliffe went to the door and looked at them ae
ingly. ,

Captain Pinkstaff, who was in a bad humor and showed
it, said in an insolent manner:

“I represent the Canadian Government, and I am come
to arrest certain fugitives from justice and a deserter.”

“Indeed,” said Joliffe coolly, “who and where are Be
and what business is it of mine?”

“There is one of them,” said the captain, pointing to
Ted. ‘He is an escaped prisoner charged with a felony.
Men, take him!”

But Joliffe’s burly figure barred the door.

“Pardon me,” he said pleasantly, “not so fast.
man you want a Canadian citizen?”

“T don’t know, and I don’t care,”
tain pettishly.

“Then what are you doing on United States territory
ordering arrests in this high-handed manner. But I
presume you have a requisition for him honored by the

Is this

answered the cap~

government at Washington. In that case I have nothing _

to say.”

“T need no requisition,” said Pinkstaff angrily.

“Vou certainly do if you are going to take an Ameri-
can citizen away from here,” answered Joliffe.

“Men, take that fellow and put him in irons,”
captain, indicating Ted.

said the

 
20

“In the name of the United States, whose represen-
tive I am, I forbid you to cross this threshold with a
‘uniformed and armed force,” said Joliffe. “If you do so
the case will be reported to Washington and will consti-
tute a hostile act, You know what that means, captain,”

“Very well, we will let that pass for the present,” said
the captain. “But I demand the surrender of a deserter
from the Canadian forces.”

‘Tf he is here and you can prove that he is not an
American, take him,” said Joliffe, with a wave of his
hand toward the group seated at the supper-table.
Captain Pinkstaff started to enter the house,

“Wait a moment,” said the American representative.
‘Before you enter a man’s house it is customary to re-
ceive an invitation. You can see from where you stand
whether or not the man you see is here.”

“You know he is not among those,’ said the captain
hotly. “I know that you have concealed him, and I pro-
_ pose to find him,”

“As you please,” said Joliffe, “but your conduct is de-
cidedly hostile, and I must stand on the rights of the
country | represent. You are now on a United States
government reservation engaged in a hostile demonstra-
tion. What is your name and rank?
incident to the Secretary of State.’

This did not suit the Canadian officer. He was al-
ready in disgrace for having lost a prisoner and a de-
serter, and was suspected of being mixed up in some very
crooked business besides. A report of having acted in
a hostile manner on American soil would have caused
him still more trouble, for the two countries were at the
time wrangling over the position of the boundary-line,

“Then you refuse me the privilege of searching your
house?” asked the captain.

“1 refuse to let you search the official building of the
United States,” said Joliffe, |

“Td punch ’is bloomin’ ’ead,”
rear,

“You would, would you, you red-coated blackeuard?”
cried Joliffe, who had overheard the remark. “See here,
you hustle over to the Canadian side of the line with
your red eoat as fast as your legs can carry you. You
_ wouldn’t dare say that if you were alone or out of your
uniform. Move, and move fast!”

The soldier walked away, and was soon over the
imaginary line that divided the two countries.

“Now,” said Joliffe politely, “if you have nothing more
to say I shall have to ask you to excuse me, for | must
return to my guests.”

muttered a soldier in the

“T shall have something more to say,” said the cap-
tain, “but not to you. I shall report you as harboring
a deserter and refusing to turn him over to me.”
“You will have to prove your statements,” retorted
Joliffe hastily. “Good evening.”

He closed the door and went heck to the table.

I shall report the

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

i

The captain marched his men back to the boat again,
and could be seen holding a consultation with the com-
mander of the Yukon, who was apparently presi at
something Pinkstaff was saying.

“The soldier captain wants to stay here, and Cap'n
Jack won’t stand for it,” said Captain Brasswire, “He
doesn’t want to lie around here with a bloomin’ officer

ee

when there are freight and passengers to carry between

Dawson and White Horse. And the old man will have —
his way, Canadian Government or not, He’s a mean old
cuss, is Cap’n Jack, when you tread on his moccasins, ”

The Yukon lay at the dock for more than an hour while
the Canadian soldiers scoured the woods on their own
side of the line. A wide swath was cut through the
forest along the line, thirty or forty feet wide, across
which they did not venture.

A blast fromthe Yukon’s whistle brought them back
and the steamer backed into the river and headed up-
stream. 3

Joliffe prevailed Hpon the boys to spend the night s
the line-house, and, 4s it was as light as day, being insidey
the arctic circle, there was no rest for any one. ;

But Ted insisted upon getting under way in the morn= —

ing, and the Polly’s nose was once more pointed down=
stream. Sergeant Foster had now quite regained hi
spirits, for he felt safe, and he yowed from that tim
forward to become an American citizen. _

Ted pushed the little steamer forward at top speed all
the time, for he was not going to take any chances on —
losing Panther again. This time he would meet him
on fair ground, and it would be a case of man to man,

In due course, and without further adventure or de-
lay, they reached St. Michael, the old Russian town at the
mouth of the Yukon, where the great arctic river empties
into Bering Sea. 2

St. Michael is the terminus of the steamship lines from.
Seattle to the North, and there the great Alaskan trading
companies have their warehouses and magazines.

As they drew near, the boys saw that there was no
steamship in the harbor, and if none had gone out re-
cently then it was almost certain that Panther was to
be found in the country, fot he could not get out with-
out taking to the open sea or the boundless wilderness
that lay all about. .

. As soon as the tug touched dock Ted was off her ade
up-town inquiring for his man.

At the hotel such a man was remembered, but he had not
been seen for several days and no one knew where he had é
gone. There had been no departing steamer since his
arrival.

Ted and the boys searched St. Michael theron
Not a house or store escaped them. But they did not find
Panther, and concluded that he must have gone to Nome,
the wonderful golden mushroom that had sprung up on

the edge of an arctic swamp, where the vi sands 6

 
ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

the streets were golden, and where fortunes were made
and lost in a day. -

Nome was only about thirty miles across Norton
Sound, and they determined to go there in the Polly.

While Ted had been searching the town for Panther
he had observed a fellow following him, and hanging
_ about listening to his inquiries. .Then he suddenly missed
him, and being suspicious of him, had asked for him.
He learned that this chap had been Panther’s boatman,
and that he had set out that very morning for Nome
in his schooner.

Without doubt he had gone to warn Panther of the
- atrival of the King of the Wild West and his young rough
riders, This being the case it was up to Ted to get to
_ Nome as fast as steam could carry him. Within an hour
they were on the water with the Polly kicking up the
foam behind her.
_ As the Polly was nearing Nome a big schooner yacht
_ was standing out from the beach headed for Bering Sea.
Ted was looking at her through the binoculars.
Suddenly he gave a start of surprise, and took the
glasses from his eyes, rubbed them, and looked again.
- “Here, captain, quick! he exclaimed, handing the
“glasses to the old man, and taking the wheel, “Look at

' that schooner, and see if you recognize any one on

» her.”

The captain took the glasses and swept the rapidly
departing schooner.

“Gemineezer!” he almost yelled. “TI believe it’s him,
an’ yet, come to look again, I don’t think it is. But-——”

“That's what got me,” said Ted. “At first 1 was sure,
but when I looked again——”

“What sort o’ gibberish are you fellers talkin’, any-
- ways?’ -said Bud Morgan, coming into the wheel-house.

“Take a look,’ said the captain, handing over the
binoculars.

“Jumpin’ sand-hills! ef thet ain’t Panther I’ll eat ther
smoke-stack,” said Bud.

“That’s what we both thought at first, and then had
another thought that it wasn’t,” said Ted.

“If it ain’t him it’s his twin brother,” said Bud.

“If it is, he’s got away from us again, that’s all,” said
Ted. “But there is no us¢ chasing him in the Polly.
We'll keep on to Nome, and there we’ll learn the truth and
_ decide what’s best to be done.”

In a half-hour they were anchored off Nome, and
soon thereafter Ted went ashore with the captain and
poud. :

It did not take long to learn that Panther had been
__ there. The first man they came across was a deputy

_- United States marshal, who asked them if they had passed

a schooner in the sound, and which way she was headed,
“Yes,” said Ted, ‘we saw a schooner, and on board
of her a man we thought we recognized, and one for
yhom we are looking.”

NS

“Was his name Panther?’ asked the deputy, ‘
“It was,’ answered Ted. “What has he been doing
here ?” : ;
“Only robbed the Nome National Bank of ten thou-
sand dollars on a forged certificate of deposit on the Bank

of Commerce at Dawson,” said the deputy. «

“He must have got in his work quick,” said Ted. “We
have been chasing him down the river, and just got here
as he made his escape,” :

There was only one way to catch Panther, and that
was to follow him in another schooner. Ted felt sure
that Panther would not try to board any south-bound
steamer, knowing that they all would be watched, and
had, therefore, bought or chartered a schooner to take
him to the southern coast. ,

“Where can I get a fast schooner?’ Ted asked the
deputy marshal.

“Tf you’re going to chase Panther I have the very man
for you,” was the reply. “Come, and Ill intreduce you
to Captain Inchbold.”

CHAPTER X.

THE ABDUCTION IN THE FOG,

They found Captain Inchbold on the beach. He was
a typical old salt with a grizzled chin-whisker, and a
seamed face of brown leather in which two merry nine
eyes twinkled like candles.

“Captain,” said Ted, after they had been Raat
“T hear you have a fast schooner.”

“Nothin’ this side of Frisco can run away from her,’
said the old salt proudly.

“Is she for charter?”

“She is to the right man, for the right purpose, and
for the right price.”

~“That’s me, all along the line, captain.
be in commission?”

“That way now, sir, but she’s not provisioned for a
long cruise. How long would you want her?”

“Until I am through with her.”

“So. And where are you going?”

“To catch a criminal, wherever he may be.”

“Kind o’ indefinite, eh? Better grub up strong, then.”
“Go as far as you like, and I'll pay the bill; only
work fast, for we’ve a stern chase.” a

“T understand. The provisions and water will be
aboard in an hour, or less. Have your passengers ashore,
or take them out to her. There she rides, the Arctic
Belle,”

He pointed to a white schooner riding off the beach.
She was trim and slender, and as pretty a craft as Ted
had ever seen.

“We'll go aboard her out there, and wait for you,”

“Make yourselves at home, Jl be out in the yawl with
the grub soon, and then we’ll sail.”

When can she

 
eo a Ro IGH RIDER WEEKLY.

Ted had decided to take only Bud with him, but w hen
he got out to the Polly he found that Sergeant Foster
was so worked up about being left behind, fearing that
he would be followed by the authorities from Dawson on
the first steamer down, that he decided to take both the
sergeant and his daughter along,
danger.

“Boys,” said Ted to Ben and Kit, “I wish I could
take both of you along, also, but being on a schooner is
not like being on the prairie, where there is room enough
for all. I’ll need you more at the end of the chase. I
wish you'd take the first steamer down to Seattle and
wait for me there. If I need you I'll send for you, but
in any event I’ll meet you there. There is no telling
where this cruise will land us, or what we'll go up agaiust
before we are through. If I see a good chance I’ll send
Sergeant Foster and Fanny to you to care for until I
get there. But I am afraid to leave the sergeant here
alone. He is liable to be picked up any minute by some
of the Dawson fellows, and shanghaied back to the Yukon
and prison.”

Ben and Kit were rather down in the mouth over this
distribution of the forces, but they were used to obeying
orders without questioning them, so they smiled and
promised themselves all the fun they could get ‘out of
it,

The Polly steamed alongside the Arctic Belle, and they
stepped to the schooner’s deck to examine her.

They found her well appointed for her size, about
ninety tons burden and as clean as a whistle. The crew
consisted of two men and a boy besides the captain, but
when the latter learned the number of his passengers he
let the boy go.

On time to the dot the captain rowed out to the
schooner, and the men threw aboard boxes and bags of
food and a barrel of water.

“We'll have to put in somewhere for water,’ said the
captain. “They're short of water in Nome and St.
Michael, and what they have we wouldn’t use to swab
decks with back in New England.”

Good-bys were said and the Polly pulled away, with
her whistle tooting a merry “God speed.”

Instantly the sails went up and the Arctic Belle stood
out to sea looking like a great white-winged gull as she
skimmed the water.

Ted stood beside the captain at. the tiller and told him
all about the affairs of the past few days, and why he was
so desirous of catching Panther.

-“Y mind the fellow well,” said the captain. “He it
was who came to me this morning, and wanted to char-
ter or buy the Belle, but 1 didn’t like the looks of him,
_ and said no, and he got a charter on the Agues of Nome,
nowhere in the same rating with my Belle Tf we can

only clap our binoculars on her we'll catch up with
her.”

to keep them out of

Going to sea was an entirely new experience to Bud,
who had never been nearer to a sea-faring life than the

hurricane-deck of a bucking bronco, and for atime it did

not quite satisfy him. In fact, he was miserably seasick, |
a malady for which he could not account. 3
But he soon braced up and was all right again.

Bering Sea has a bad reputation, which it has earned 4
by reason of its fogs, its ice, and its high winds and =

higher seas. It is almost constantly enveloped in mists”

owing to the proximity of the warm Japanese stream, |

coming in contact with the ice and cold water flowing
through the Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean. It is so
shallow, also, that it takes little wind to kick up a high
sea. But Captain Inchbold knew it as he knew his own
pocket, and he directed the good little schooner into the

south wind in the wake of the schooner that was bearing :

away Panther, the much-desired thief and murderer.

It was simply a case of keeping om her trail until she — : x
was sighted, making her captive, and towing her to some Pe

port where they could get a steamer to take their prisoa
to San Francisco. o

Ted was on watch with a powerful pair of binoculars
constantly sweeping the sea. It took some time for him
to accustom himself to see things on the water, but
soon caught the knack.

In this latitude they had almost constant daylight, the

sun disappearing for a few hours only, and then com-

ing up again.

They had been out about ten hours, and were still dri-

ving steadily south when Ted caught a faint glimmer of

white far off against the murky sky.
- “Sail, dead ahead!” he cried from his station in the
bow. :

“T reckon that’s her,” said the captain. “We ought to
get near enough to tell for certain in three hours, if this
wind holds good.”

Hour by hour the Arctic Belle ate up the space that

separated her from the sail ahead, which grew larger — a

by degrees.

“It’s not going to be such a long chase after all,” od
Ted, who had gone aft to talk with the captain.
probably pick her up in time to get back to St. Michael
or Nome and take the next steamer down.”

voice.

The captain looked at him quizzically out of the corner
of his eye.

“I reckon you don’t know much about this pond o oe

ice-water,”’ he said quietly. “This is the peskiest bit 0’ —
wet in the world. Jest as ye’re betting yer goin’ to get
some’rs, by jinks somethin’ blows up, and ye land —
some’rs else. Or the wind dies down and ye don’t land —
no’ers,” Ee

The fleeing schooner was now plainly in sight, her

 

‘We'll 4

He was.
very jubilant, and it was expressed in his eyes and =
a.
i
Lm

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. oe 23

- coffin-shaped hull being plainly visible, and in another
_ half-hour they could see her name painted on her stern

“by the aid of the binoculars.

‘She was the Agnes of Nome.

“That’s her,” said the captain, when Ted read the name
aloud. “That’s the very tub the feller your are after
chartered when I refused to let him have mine. We'll
be on top of her soon if nothing happens.” The captain
cast an anxious eye aloft.

Still the wind held fair, and, like a Nemesis, the Arc-
tic Belle bore down on her victim, creeping nearer and

“nearer with every passing minute.

Ted could now discover the form of Panther standing

beside the wheel watching the progress of the Belle.

In a few minutes the schooners were almost within
pistol-shot of one another, and Ted and Bud went below,

to buckle on their .44 Colts in anticipation of the fight

| they were sure Panther would put up.

trom the roof, of the deck house.

- cracked away,

When they came up again the two schooners were
_within hailing-distance, and Ted took a small megaphone

from the wheel-house and, stepping to the side, called:

“Dick Panther, I call upon you to surrender. Put

o your hoat about and haul in your sails.”

Panther stepped back a few feet and took something
Then there was 2
spit of fire from his hand and a pistol-ball whistled past

- Ted’s head and buried itself in the mast.

At the same instant Bud, who was watching the play,
and Panther dropped to the deck behind
the stern rail. An instant later three shots came from
the Agnes, and Ted and Bud took refuge behind the rail.

Captain Inchbold was protected from the shots by the

deck house, and all the others were below.

The helmsman of the Agnes was, however, unpro-
tected, and he, too, dropped out of sight, leaving the
schooner without a guiding hand. She yawed around in
the wind and crossed the bows of the Arctic Belle at a

tangent, and as she passed, well-heeled over to star-

board, Ted and Bud sent several shots aboard of her, in
the place where Panther and the pilot were hidden. They
heard a yell, and knew that they had scotched one or
the other.

But soon the Agnes took another turn in the wind and
‘was sailing before the Belle again. After running this
way for awhile she tacked to port once more and the

a Belle came up with her not more than fifty feet away,

_ broadside on.

If they could only cross her bows now
and compel her to luff they could run alongside, and it
would be all over.

But just then the unexpected, which always happens in

_ Bering Sea, according to Captain Inchbold, took place.

‘The wind suddenly died down until not a capful was

_ stirring, and the sails fell into lazy folds like dead

things.
rE d and Bud were waetine the Agnes from their

hiding-places like hawks. Bud saw a mat of hair come
slowly into sight above the rail on the starboard bow,
and sent a shot toward it. It disappeared, and a howl
went up that rattled the rigging.

“I shore creased thersole sea-dog thet time,”
marked dryly. |

“Ther worst 0’ this dog-gone country is thet it’s never
dark when it orter be, an’ always dark when a little
light would be right handy,’ growled Bud. “Now, if
there wuz a little darkness come over ther sea fer a
few minutes I’d take er chanct an’ swim over ter thet old
herrin’-box an’ climb aboard.”

“And get your tire punctured,” said Ted, laisealner
“That fellow Panther has eyes set all around his head
like a row of electric lamps around a court-house dome.”

For many hours the two schooners swung thus on
the long greasy rollers. that swept the shallow sea, lying ~
within hailing distance of one another, none of either
crew daring to show his head above the gunwale for fear
of a deadly shot. *

Occasionally the mist closed down and hid them from
the view of one another, at which times all hands moved
about and changed their positions.

It was during one of these visitations of fog that a
great misfortune overtook the party on board the Arctic
Belle, and which turned them from mere officers of the
law into bitter avengers.

As the fog settled down Ted went to the companion-
way and called Fanny and her father to the deck to get
some exercise, for they had been confined for several
hours.

The sergeant and Bud were walking up and down the
deck. Captain Inchbold had gone to his cabin to lie ©
down and get some rest, for he had been at the wheel
almost continuously since their departure from Nome.
Ted and Fanny were sitting at the stern talking. Every
one on board was as quiet as possible, so that Panther
might not be able to locate them and fire a shot among
them. All was silent aboard the Agnes, also, and nothing
could be heard save the creaking of the cordage and the
whine of the blocks aloft.

Ted had occasion to go below for a moment, and ex-
cused himself to Fanny, who still sat in the stern thinking
of the change in her fortunes since she had met Ted,
when she thought she heard a sound on the water. It
seemed like the steady beat of an engine, although not so
loud. She tried to penetrate the fog, but it hung like a
blanket before her. .

he re-

Thinking it merely a matter of imagination, she turned
her eyes aboard again.

Without’ warning she felt herself grasped about the
waist and pulled backward off the schooner, and as a
went over opened her mouth*to shriek.

But a hand pressed down upon her lips, and only a
little strangled cry came from them, :

 
_ Ted heard it just as he emerged from the companion-

way, and dashed aft. Fanny was not where he had left
her, and he called her name.

There was no answer, and he looked into the wheel-
house, and not finding her there ran along the deck. She

was nowhere to be found.

Running ait again he looked into the water, thinking
she might have fallen overboard, but not\a ripple ap-
peared on the greasy surface of the sea.

Then he heard the muffled beat of oars in rowlocks.

Now he knew the truth. Fanny had been abducted by
Panther.

CHAPTER Xf:
_ TED MADE PRISONER.

At Ted’s cry of alarm all hands rushed aft.

Rapidly he told them what had happened, and by way
of confirmation they could now hear the swash of the
water and the beat of oars as the boat from the Agnes
was being frantically propelled through the water.

“Get that boat over in a hurry!” yelled Ted, springing
toward a skiff that lay on the deck.

“You can’t make it,” cried the captain. “Take in sail.
Jump to it, or we'll go down. The hurricane is coming.”

The deck-hands sprang to obey, calling on Ted and

Bud to help.
_ The sails fell to the deck with a rush just as.a cold
“blast swept out of the north, blowing the fog away, and
they saw the yawl of the Agnes tossing about on the
tops of the rolling waves.

At the same moment the A gues heeled over to port and
: shot away before the wind without a man at the tiller,
for besides the captain she carried only one other hand,
who was now tushing about trying to take in sail.

The yawl containing Panther, the captain, and Fanny,
could be seen occasionally driving to the south, now on
the crest of a huge wave, again lost in the trough, only
‘to appear again, but always getting farther away.

Sergeant Foster was standing , clinging to the stays,
staring after his daughter. ery one else aboard was
hard at work trying to save the Belle from being driven
under by the wind and the seas, that swept her from
stem to stern every minute.

“For Heaven’s sake, can’t we do something to save that
girl?” Ted yelled in the ear of the captain.

The old man shook his head.

“Tt will be all we can do to keep the Belle afloat while
this lasts,’ he yelled back, his eyes ahead, his hands

firmly grasping the tiller; which leaped here and there

as the waves banged against the rudder. t
‘The Belle was driving to the southward with her port

_ rail buried, and every ¢ one aboard clinging for dear life to

the stays. .

Soon the yaw! with the unfortunate F anny aboard was

“ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

lost to sight, and a groan went up em Ted ee Bud.
Both believed that they had seen the last of the ho
courageous girl.

For hours they flew before the hurricane wah the kel
out of water half the time, and everything on deck swept —
overboard. Captain Inchbold, with his face set sternly
ahead, remained at the tiller.

“Bring me a drink of water,’ he said to one of the
hands. The fellow went forward, a perilous proceeding,
but soon came back. :

‘There's not a drop, capi:
been broken.” Ae

“All right,” said the captain, “If this keeps up a few
hours longer we’ll make Dutch Harbor under bare poles,
and get plenty of water.” a

About midnight the sun disappeared for about an hour, S
and darkness settled down, with the Belle driving through :
the seas with unabated speed. 4

Ted was in the bows with his arms clasping a stays
his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead. Suddenly he heard
a low booming sound, which he could not make out. It
sounded like a train crossing a culvert in the distance.
But it became more distinct as time wore on, and at last
he thought he should report it to the captain. :

Working his way aft, narrowly escaping several times
from being washed overboard, he told Captain Inchbold
that he had heard a booming sound ahead. _ oe

The captain turned a white face to him, and gasped:

“Then it’s all over with us. It’s the surf on the Si-
berian coast. I don’t know. where we are, but if the
wind doesn’t change soon we'll go ashore on the rocks, —
and that will be the end of us.” a

Nearer and nearer came the boom of the surf.

The sun was just beginning to rise. A faint gray streak :
appeared in the east, which rapidly widened. 3

“The sun ought to bring a change,” said the epee ek

As if in obedience to his thought, the wind suddenly ©
whipped around into the south, and blew in the opposite
direction with as great velocity as it had formerly blown 4

he said. “The cask has. ;

‘from the north.

Daylight had come on as suddenly as one lights the gas
in a room. :

The Belle was thrown over on her beam ends, and
having no steerage way Captain Inchbold had the utmost
difficulty in getting her around before the wind again.
Then the race before the blast began once more, with the
open Bering Sea before them. They had escaped the
rocks, but none could imagine what new dangers lay be-
fore them. .

All were mourning the supposed death of Fanny, for
none doubted that by this time her body was being tossed
about on the sea, and that Panther, also, was dead.

The horrors of the succeeding days was aes oO
Ted’s mind as long as he lived. Without water to dri
and unable to cook food, they suffered intensely, —

 
— “ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

: Sou the third a of their a ea the north,
oenae Inchbold, who had never left the tiller, suddenly.

_ dropped to the deck, and Ted sprang to it just in time to
. prevent a catastrophe. —
_ The captain was carried to his cabin, where he lay in
a semiconscious condition.
c All were now suffering the tortures of the damned for
_adrink of water. But the next day a sudden shower fell,
and the men caught the falling water in pans and blankets
_and bits of sail, and stored it carefully.
__ The storm ceased almost as suddenly as it began, and
_ stock was taken of the condition of the schooner. Every-
_ thing was wrecked on deck. The galley had been stove
" in, and nearly all the supplies washed overboard. Taking
_ advantage of the lull, Ted set all hands to fishing over
_ the side, and as they hauled in codfish and salmon he
had them packed away for the future. For the first time
_ in many days the boys had fresh food to eat.
_ The captain was very ill now, with a high fever, and
as continually raving about the storm and the fate of
he Arctic Belle.
But they did not have more than a few days of quiet,
uring which there was not enough wind to ruffle the
ater. Bering Sea was bewitched. Not a sound could
e heard on all the heaving expanse of murky water.
_ One evening a squall came out of the south, and the
Belle was once more scudding toward the north before
a gale in which it was not safe to raise a sail.
Every one aboard was now more or less sick, except
Ted, whose courage and cheerful disposition kept him in

oo. good health. Bud was suffering. from lack of exercise,

and was getting peevish. Sergeant Foster had taken to
> ue bed.

~~ For days the storm tossed them about on the surface of

: “ihe turbulent sea, and then their water gave out. Day
after day they suffered thirst, making no complaint, but
ever on the lookout for land. If they did not reach land
“and find water they must soon perish.

Ted had managed to keep the two deck-hands on their
: feet by alternate coaxing and threatening, but they were
"growing mutinous. One morning one of them, standing
in the bows, raised the joyful shout of “Land, ho!”

To the northwest Ted saw a narrow, dark strip on the
orizon, toward which the Belle was scudding before the
ind. There, at last, thought Ted, was salvation in the

way of water, for if they could reach land there would be .

streams or lakes where they surely would find the life-

_ As they approached nearer they saw that the land was
sovered with sparse timber, and was a desolate-looking
ace. The wind was dying down, and when they were
er the lee of the shore it ceased altogether, so that
drifted toward shore. on the ee goliers that swept

254
When they ee at last, Ted leaped to the. sands,
and was followed by Bud and the two sailors; the older
men being unable to leave their bunks.
“Now we will go in search of water,” said Ted.

He was armed with his .44’s, and although they had
Winchesters aboard they did not bring them, for they

did not expect to meet hostile natives.

Ted calculated that they were now in the Dorcte Ocean,
and from the course the Belle had pursued from the time
he had heard the beat of the surf he was sure that they
had landed in Siberia.

They proceeded therefore tito the interior without
using any caution. Ted was in the lead, threading his
way through a thicket of scrubby pines, when something
struck the tree close to which he was passing. He turned
to see what had happened. A spear was sticking into the
wood, and was still quivering from its impact.

At the same moment he saw a frowsy head of black
hair dodge behind a tree.

“Look out, boys, we are attacked,” he cried.

At that moment a perfect bombardment of stones be-
gan, which struck all about them. A stone struck one of
the sailors on the head and he went down.

He was helped to his feet by his mate, and Ted ordered
a retreat,

“Back up slowly toward the schooner,” he said. <7
will hold them so as to give you time. Bud, Bet back to
the boat and have her ready to push off at once.’ |

The natives appeared in the open when they realived
that the white men were not going to attack them. They
were savages, clad in rough fur garments and armed
with bows and arrows and spears. They looked like ae
badly gone to seed.

They advanced rapidly, uttering strange gurgling cries
and brandishing their weapons, and occasionally throwing
a spear or shooting an arrow. :

Ted felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and looking at it —
found a small arrow had pierced “ie flesh. Ele tore. it
loose, and faced them again.

Bud and the sailors hesitated to obey his order, but he
insisted, and they moved back rapidly.

Ted, in spite of his wounded arm, stopped still and
fired over the heads of the attacking Siberians, to cover
the retreat of his comrades, but it did not — the ad-
vance. :

He cast a swift glance over his shoulder, ana saw that A

the boys had reached the schooner and were pushing her

off the sand. Now was his time to run for it. But the —
Siberians, evidently anticipating such a move, started —
toward him. He had just turned to run when a stone
struck him on the back of the head and he fell on his .
face. Instantly several of the Siberians leaped upon him, |
and he was dragged to his feet and hurried into the woods. (

2 tenet he was dazed he was not allowed to SHOR as : 4

 
Ve

half carried and half dragged he was hustled eas into.

the interior.

His captors traveled swiftly for an hour or more, and
then, with shouts of triumph, they came out of the woods
and into a village of huts made of the hides of reindeer.

Here Ted was allowed to sit down for a minute and
nurse a bump on the back of his head. Seeing that he
‘was in pain, a woman brought him some water in a stone
vessel and bathed his head for him.

In a few minutes several men approached him, and by
means of gestures ordered him to rise and follow them.
They conducted him to the end of the village, where a
larger hut, evidently that of the chief or head of the tribe,
filled the end of the narrow street.

The skin flap over the door was thrown back and Ted.

was pushed within.

_ At first it was too dark for him to see, but Beacuuily
his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and he could
distinguish an old man with long white hair sitting on a
pile of skins. He was looking at Ted steadily, and evi-
dently with much disfavor. All the while one of his
captors was making a speech. He had not finished when
a flap at the back of the tent was pushed back and the
face of a girl appeared in the opening.

_ Ted gave a shout of joy, and the girl bounded toward
him with outstretched hands. The girl was Fanny Fos-
ter!

The Sikes were looking at the scene with wonder
expressed on their faces, as Ted and Fanny shook hands
and danced around in glee. :

“Flow in the world did you get here?” asked Ted.

“Tell you about it later,” she replied. “I’ve got to
work now to get you free.”

She led him by the hand up to the chief, and began to
talk in a tongue unknown to Ted. The chief listened,
and a grin began to grow on his face.
Ted to step forward, and laid his hand on his head.

“T told him that you are my brother, and so you are,’
she said, “and he has accepted you as a son, for he has
already made a his daughter. Come, I must have a
talk with you.”

Fanny led him to another soltitoent in the chief’s tent,
and sitting on a pile of furs they told each other the ad-
ventures to them since they had parted.

The boat into which Fanny had been dragged by Pan-
ther had been driven‘about for a day or two. The wind
and current carried them to this shore, upon which they

were cast by the suet and made captive by a body of the
natives.

_ She had been erate seized and carried off, but the
“captain of the Agnes had been. killed by a spear, while
Panther had escaped by running. She had been brought
. tothe chief, and as she could speak a little Yukon Indian,
which the chief understood also, she was ss adopted by him

i - his daaghter,

He beckoned to

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

“We shall never get away from here i strateey said a
Fanny, “for they watch us like hawks.” a

“We'll escape yet, for Bud will not desert us, and your. “
father is on the boat, also,” said Ted. “But it may take
time.” ’

CHAPTER XIU,
OVER THE PRECIPICE TO DEATH.

“Have you heard anything of Panther?” asked Ted. .
“Yes, one of the young Siberians has found his hiding- ie
place, but the men “are unable to get to him, as he is ina
retreat at the top of a glacier on the coast north of here, —
and every time they have tried to get to him he dries
them off with his revolver.” ea
“Have you told the chief who he is?” ee
“Yes, and he is very anxious for his men to capture
him, but they are afraid of him.” i
“I wonder if the old man would let me take a few of
his fellows and go after Panther? I believe I could get
him out. As a matter of fact I can’t leave here witho
him. As I look at it we have the best of him so far.”
“We can starve him out if we can’t drive him. H
can get nothing to eat if we keep him up on the ence
“How does he manage to live?”
“He comes down when the coast is clear and kills hares,
which one can almost pick up, and ptarmigan, which are
so tame that one can knock them over with a stick.” |

“Very good. We'll get him yet. Let us go to the chief ‘ a

and explain matters.”

Fanny entered into a long conversation with the chief, :
and at the end the old man nodded his head, and signified

his assent to Ted’s taking up the hunt for the man bh ae

had escaped.
“He says all right,” said Fanny. ‘But I would sug:

gest that we go out first by ourselves to learn how the oe

land lies before taking out any force.”
“Good idea, but won’t you be running into unnecessary

danger? Remember, Panther is armed, and is a coe
good shot.”

“I’m not afraid. Suppose we find him and get him,
and are near the coast. We might see the Arctic Belle
off shore. Then we could signal to her and escape with
out waiting as long as you think necessary. If we have
a pack of natives with us that would be impossible.”

“You are right.
little shoulders.” oe

“Jollies don’t go in Siberia. Come, I'll ask papa if he
will permit us to tackle the job alone. I'll tell him you
have sone magic by which you can get him. They be-
lieve in magic here, and swallow anything that has to do
with black art. I wish you knew some stunts of that s
which you could do to prove to the old man is Je ar
not a faker.” an

That’s a great head you have on your

 
a - was his great wealth that made’ him chief,

_ to see how great the chief was.

“ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY.

"Does papa iow seine about money?”

5 Ss “Does he? He just dotes on it.
ee as big as a moon to him, while a dollar would carpet

the world. He showed me his vast Wealth one day, which

he picked up from the whalers. A few pennies, some
; dimes, a half-dollar, and some quarters, including one big
‘silver cartwheel. About three dollars all told, I think. It
If you can
: do anything to make him richer you will fe te

“Call in the whole tribe. I’m going to show them a
trick that will make them open their eyes.”

_ The girl spoke to the old man, telling him that her
brother was going to make magic, and wanted the tribe
The old man sent out
word to that effect, and soon the tent was filled with a
gaping throng, to whom the old man made a speech, and
the people looked at Ted with awe-stricken faces.
Ted first unwrapped the handkerchief ftom around his
eck, and rolled it up between his palms, allowing his
udience to see what he was doing. Finally the hand-
erchief disappeared, as if he had rubbed it out of exist-
nce.
The people gaped and drew away from hitrn, while the
hief was growing excited.

Then Ted signaled one of the young men forward, and
took a silk handkerchief from about his neck. He had
_ got it from a sailor, and it was his most precious posses-
sion. Ted rolled this up into nothing, also. The owner
__ watched the proceeding in a sort of stupor, but when the
handkerchief was gone he, got hostile, and began to talk
loud and advance toward Ted, who walled over to an
old man and began to pull it out of his ear, to the great
- amusement of everybody. Then he rescued his own hand-
_kerchief from beneath the collar of the man who was
afraid he would lose his silk scarf, and turned the tables
on him.

Ted then took a silver dollar from his pocket and
tossed it into the air several times, catching it and ex-
hibiting it as it came down. Then he threw it toward the
‘root of the tent, and it did not come down, and while
they were all still looking for it he picked it out of the
air right in front of the chief's nose. The chief began to

grab the air in the hope of catching some for himself,

ich, of course, he did not do.
_ But now Ted was almost at the end of his magic, which,
however simple it might be to civilized folk, was to these
‘simple Siberians the height of the black art.

, He stepped up to the chief and caught him by the nose.
Instantly a stream of coins ran out, and into his lap.
e Old man’s eyes fairly popped out of his head as he
‘saw this easily acquired wealth, and, although he had
lever thought much about his nose before, he now had a
h respect for its financial possibilities. It was a nose

i having i in the family <i

A silver half-dollar

27

Ted ‘ended the performance by signifying to the chief
that the money was all his to keep.
That settled it with the chief.
pleased, and the old man seriously considered the advisa-
bility of making Ted a sort of partner in the throne.

Shortly after this Ted and Fanny set out through the
woods, after they had warned the natives not to follow
them under penalty of being visited by some of Ted’s
black magic.

They followed the woods to the north, and shortly came
out upon broken ground that led to the foot of a great
glacier, that made a precipice on its ocean side.

On the land side it sloped up gradually, and up this

slope the two began to climb cautiously, keeping a sharp .

lookout for signs of Panther.

The glacier was enormous, and was cracked and seamed
by the wind and rain of centuries. There were crevasses
that went down hundreds of feet, and sheér precipices up
which no one could climb.

But they found a natural, easy path, which showed
signs of having been traveled before.

They were nearing the top when they came to an
opening in the great wall of ice, and could see the sea
beyond. As they were gazing through it they almost
yelled with joy. The Arctic Belle sailed slowly across the
opening and disappeared from sight.

Now they knew that they were safe, and could easily

get away.

They climbed on, but more slowly now, for they did
not know how soon they would come upon Panther.

Ted, leading the way, walked around a block of ice
and stopped and held up his hand. Then he motioned
Fanny to approach cautiougly. They stood together, and
looked down upon the’ thief and murderer fast asleep on
the ice. His revolver lay beside him. Evidently he had
fallen into sleep from sheer exhaustion caused by keeping
constant watch for the hostile natives.

Ted advanced slowly and secured the revolver, which i

he handed to Fanny.

“Keep it and use it if he tries any foul play,” he said.

Then he stepped back a few paces, and called:

“Panther !”

Like a flash the man was on his feet, glaring at Ted
with his bloodshot eyes. ‘

Then he seemed to recall everything, a with: a snarl
felt for his revolver. It was gone. He looked on the ice
fon it,
like fear passed over his face.
time of reckoning.

They were standing on a sort of plateau of ice, wih
the precipice falling a thousand feet to the ocean, while
_to one side was a yawning crevasse, the bottom of which

‘was fully as far below. _ The ice sloped down toward the .

edge of ye crevasse,

Ted could do as he

Then he saw it in Fanny’s hand, and something —
Now, he knew, was the |

 

ys
~ Without warning, Panther leaped upon Ted, and so
sudden was the attack that Ted was almost carried off

his feet. But he recovered himself and grappled with the

_ desperate Panther. |
They were wrestling on the slippery surface, and the
chief aim of both was to keep footing on it. A slip would
have been fatal to either.

Ted was trying to throw Panther from him, for he
wanted to capture, not kill him, while exactly the op-
posite was the desire of his enemy. They were perilously
near the slanting, slippery surface that led to the crevasse
and death. Panther was trying to drag Ted toward it.

_ He had almost done so when his own foot slipped, and
in trying to gain his balance he let go of Ted for the
fraction of an instant, and Ted sprang back.

Slowly but surely Panther began to slide over the
smooth surface toward the edge of the crevasse.
face was a look of horror, and he stretched out his arms
toward Ted in a gesture that implored aid. But Ted
could not have helped him if he would.

swiftly, and yet more swiftly, the wretch slid toward
the awful brink of the death-trap.

As he went over the edge of it he uttered a horrible
ery, which echoed for several moments, as his body went
crashing into the depths.

Ted and Fanny turned away with a shudder, and fol-
lowed the glacier down to the shore, where they found
an entrance to the crevasse.

Ted made Fanny stay outside when he entered it to find
the body of Panther. It was lying in a crushed mass at
the bottom of that awful abyss. Hastily Ted examined
the man’s pockets, and found therein the bundle of bank-
notes which Panther had taken from Dawson and Nome.

Then he left it in its eternal tomb.

‘When he got to the shore again he found Fanny sig-
naling to the schooner with her handkerchief, and soon
the Arctic Belle put about and headed for shore.

Soon they were aboard amid general rejoicing.

Captain Inchbold was better, and again in command of
the schooner, which he headed at once for Nome, where,
with favoring winds, they arrived the next day.

There they found a steamer ready to sail for Seattle,
and boarded her.

Fanny and her father settled in Seattle, where the ex-
‘sergeant went into business with Ted’s financial aid.

Ted reserved forty thousand dollars of all the money
he found in the package he took from Panther’s body,
which he sent to the widows of the two unfortunate
owners of the Lucky Nugget Mine. He sent ten thou-
sand to the bank which Panther had defrauded at Nome,
and the balance went to partly recompense the San Fran-

cisco bank which Panther had robbed when he killed the
) cashier, ae hie

After the boys had been paid the reward for recovering
" the funds and establishing the fact of Panther’s death,

nee

In his”

RN ie Fe SES ONS

ESE RRR RRR OR OR RR SRR Ry

ROUGH RIDER WEEKLY. _

they turned their backs to the Pacific coast for the dear
old ranch in the Black Hills. The lawyer Hiddem was
finally made to disgorge his ill-gotten gains, and Ted re-
gained the valuable mine signed over to him by the dead
miner. The young rough rider sold the claim, and sent —
half the proceeds to the widow. : ee

THE END.

No. 102 ofthe Roucn Rmwer WEEKLY brings the King
of the Wild West back to his old stamping-ground, and
introduces a character who, we believe, is destined to —
make a great hit with the friends of Ted Strong. This :
person is met by Ted Strong in a most trying situation,
out of which grows a friendship cemented by gratitude. _
The title of the story is “King of the Wild West’s Haumt;
or, Stella’s Escape from Sacrifice.” You will find it se :
exciting that you will not want to drop the thread of tt
until the end is reached.

 

 

LE TLL ES EEL FEE ORES TI NL Oe GES ee
Bice on e a UBa a San obs ec bas aoe eae as as Gee eae a aon Cae BONE Sat BEY

About the @ we oP a Of
Numbers of I op @2e] E ¥

We receive hundreds of letters every week from readers
asking if we can supply the early numbers of Yip Top contain-
ing Frank’s adventures. Im every case we are obliged to reply
that numbers i to 300 ere entirely ont of print.

We would like to call the attention of our readers to the fact
that the Frank Merriwell Stories now being published in book
form in the Medal Library are inclusive of these early numbers,
The first book to appear was No. 150 entitled “Frank Merriwell’s
Schooldays.”

We give herewith a complete list of all the stories thet have
been published in book form up to the time of writing. We will
be glad to send a fias colored cover catalorne of the Medal
Library which is just filled with good things for boys, upon
receipt of a one-cent stamp to cover postage. ;

Tae Price of The Merriwell Books is Tea Cects per Copy. At oll Nowndeslors

 

5 ee ‘

Pou

 

 

 

bei

Frank Merriwell at Yale.

Frank Merriwell Dewn South

Frank Merriwell in Camp.

Frank Merriwell in England.

Frank Merriwell ia Hurepe.

Frank Merriwell in Maine.

Frank Merriwell on the Read.

Frank Merriwell’s Athletes.

Frank Merriwell’s Bicycles Tour.

Frank Merriwell’s Book of Physical Development.
Diamond Hand-Boek

Medal

Medal

Medal

tiedal

Medal

Medal

Medal

Medal

FS:

Frank Merriweli’s Bravery.
Frank Merriwell’s Champions.
Frank Merriwell’s Chase.
Frank Merriwell’s Chums. ;
Frank Merriwell’s College Chums.
Frank Merriwell’s Courage.
Frank Merriwell’s Cruise.
Frank Merriwell’s Danger.
Frank Merriwell’s Daring,
Frank Merriwell’s Fame.
Frank Merriwell’s First Jeb.
Frank Merriwell’s Foes.
Frank Merriwell’s Fortune.
Frank Merriwell’s Great Scheme.
Frank Merriwell’s Hard Luck.
Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour.
Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty.
Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian.
Frank Merriwell’s Opportunity.
Frank Merriwell’s Own Company.
Frank Merriwell’s Problem. :
Frank Merriwell’s Prosperity.
rank Merriwell’s Protege.
Frank Merriweil’s Races.
Frank Merriwell’s Return to Yale.
q@ rank Merriwell’s Scheol-Days.
Frank Merriwell’s Secret.
pa Frank Merriwell’s Skill.
“ Frank Merriwell’s Sports Aficld.
Frank Merriwell’s Stage Hit.

Frank Merriwell’s Trip West.
Frank Merriwell’s Vacation.

: es Frank Merriwell’s Struggle.
2

r)

$ Sr er aie ee a
REN ON RR REN RRR N ENR REY NY pas die ae a

~

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POST CARDS

a of boys
everywhere will agree
with us when we say that
the Rough Rider Weekly
contains the best stories of
- Western adventure that
ever were written. The
author, Ned Taylor, is a
7 man—born and
| faised among the strong,
‘Self-reliant cowboys.
We will send a set of
handsome post cards, six in
number, to every boy who

 

 

 

 

 

will write and tellus whathe
thinks of No. 102 of Rough Rider Weekly, entitled ‘‘King of the
Wild West's Haunt; or, Stella’s Escape from Sacrifice.”

These cards are highly attractive, being printed in many Colors,
showing just what Ted Strong, the King of the Wild West, and his com-

i fades look like. They are equal to the kind you pay five cents cae

for and are just what every boy, who is making a collection, will want.
Remember, they are entirely free and every boy who says a good
word for Rough Rider will receive a set.

STREET & SMITH PUBLISHERS

 

 

 

 
 

 

FREE PC

fete Dry,

Y4O)T the present time over

) one hundred thousand

copies Of Tir FOr

are sold throughout the

Gaed States every week! There

are many good reasons why boys like

TIP TOP better than any other

five cent weekly publication. Why
do YOU like it?

We have prepared a set of six
handsome post cards, which we will
send to every boy who will write and
give us his opinion of No. 520 of
TIP TOP, entitled “Frank Merri-
well’s Aids; or, The Secret Order
of Scalp-Lifters.”’

These cards are illustrations of
Frank Merriwell, “Brad Buckhart,
Obediah Tubbs, Joe Crowfoot, Dick
Merriwell, and Gap’n Wiley.

They are printed in many colors
and will be a fine addition to any
boy’s collection of post cards. Write
now. They are free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STREET @ SMITH .
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

Se eS :
ne - s see

 

————_——

 
; Og Pe

 

JED EVERY MONDAY.

HANDSOME COLORED COVER

 

~

Ted Strong wants to make your acquaintance, boys, and we are

inced that you will be proud to have him as a friend.

The

of his adventures among the cowboys are full of fascinating

est.

he upholds the title.
PRICE FIVE

He is known to every one as “King of the Wild West”

CENTS PER COPY

| newsdealers, or sent, by the publishers to any address upon receipt cf price in money or postage stamps

 

 

HERE ARE THE LATEST TITLES:

bi the Wild West’s Camel Hunt; or, Young
ough Riders in the Mojave Desert.
ig of the Wild West and the “Bad Men”; or,
Pittine.<a. “Lig on the Territory,

Waaecine of the Wild West on Guard; or, In the Cause

of the Governor’s Son.
B3—King of the Wild West’s “Bounties”; or,
: Young Wolf Hunters of Montana.
ME iGne of the Wild West’s Sapphire Mines; or, The
| Smugglers of Yogo Creek.
§—King of the Wild West’s Crooked Trail; or, A Trip
L into Old Mexico. -
6—Ki, Viof the Wild West’s Human Map; or, The
yseasure of the Magic Cave Trail.

The

7—King of the Wild West in the Corral; or, Teach-

“ing the Law to Custer, the Wild Horse.

King of the Wild West’s Dangerous Game; or,

d The Win-Out in Idaho.

ro of the Wild West’s Strange Find; or, The
Lost City of the Sangre de Christo.

King of the Wild West’s Militia; or, Breaking the

Strike in Leadville.

 

QI—King of the Wild West’s Justice; or, The Sheep
War of the Las Animas.

g2—King of the Wild West’s Saint; or, The End of
Polygamy in Utah.

93—King of the Wild West's Hold; or, Capturing the
Big Timber Thieves.

94—King “of the Wild West’s Serine or,
Search for Sunken Treasure.

95-—King of the Wild West’s Finish; or, The Great
Stone Door.

96—King of the Wild West’s Peril; or, The Cannibals
of Tiburon Island.

97—Ki ne of the Wild West's Strange Quest; or, The

“hite Princess of. sponot a.

oe of the Wild West's Horsethief; or, The
Euiema of LosteSprings. _

99—King of the Wild West’s C hase ; or, The Reseue
of Yuen Ho. . %

The

1oo—King of the Wild West’s Meteor; or, The Race for

the Klondike Diaménd.

101—King of the Wild West in Siberia; or, Castaway on

the Arctic Ocean.

 

 

IF YOU WANT ANY

<r libraries and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be obtained from this office direct.
Pees and send it to us with the price of the books you want and we will send them to you by return os

S TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY.

es & SMITH, Publishers, 79 Seventh Avenue, New York City.

BACK NUMBERS

Cut out and fill iy bie eon oee
"POSTAGE

Se ee ae

Gentlemen :—Enclosed find........ cents for which please oe me:

--COloies of Tip Top
‘Nick Carter

‘ Buffalo Bill

* Rough Rider

SHPHRHHHTESLCHHIEB EHH OHH OLE

INOS a, are crew hues tr
ONO ee a ee ei
“Diamond Dick Nos..........0+0+-eseeee sees
' INOS (oS Secu ees «oe
‘Brave and Bold Nos... ...... 6 soo... ek ess
INOS eis eters oe Clay eae sca lets “
.. treet and Nov secenculle (tei. ee Towa hs OE State... oe

@eeesQeesoe®

*

 
 

 

"HE old popular favorite, Frank Merriwell, has signalized, his triumphant return to
the pages of TIP TOP, beginning with No. 512, by. opening a novel

where he designs to put into practice. some clever schemes he has long enter
with the idea of building up the constitutions of backward Jads. Here, there nat
opens up a glorious opportunity for meeting new characters; while the strange at
tures and thrilling situations connected with up-to-date American Sports are handld
only Frank Merriwell knows how. .

The famous TIP TOP promises great things from this time on to its worl®
wide circle of admirers, and with this novel field open to such a talented pen, you may
rest assured, boys, Burt L. Standish will spread such a feast before you as has never
before been dreamed of,

Tell all your young friends that Frank has come back to his own, better equipp.d _
than ever to arouse the interest and enthusiasm of his vast army of boy readers, ©
Consult the catalogue below for titles.

512—FRANK MERRIWELL’S NEW IDEA; 7
Or, THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT,’

513—FRANK MERRIWELL’S TROUBLES;
Or, ENEMIES OF THE SCHOOL,

514—FPRANK MERRIWELL’S PUPILS; :
Or, THE WIZARDS OF WATER POLO. |

| 515—DICK MERRIWELL’S SATISFACTION:

 

 

Or, HOT WORK AT INDOOR BASEBALL. |
Price, 5 Cents

Fi

 

 

For sale by all newsdealers, or sent postpaid by the publishers
wpom receipt of price.

STREET @ SMITH, | Publishers, NEW YORK