Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 1090) (1926 08 20)

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NEW YORK. AUGUST 20, 1926 ee ‘EN SILENT BROKERS; IKE THE WALLSTREET SY NOIGATE MLE MW, | “Roy following Broker Jessup into the corridor, beheld, to his qanszemettt, nine men, dressed and ? ppnine alike, drawn up in a row. Each held a certificate of stock in his hand. Roy eeroepiren ther r as the sil ent brokers.

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bee 168 West = No. 1090 my 4 ~~ ss CHAPTER IA Dark Mystery. “Ffello!” exclaimed Roy Woods, halting among the rocks that lined a certain section of Narragan- sett Bay, not far from the town of Newport, then at the height of its season. “Was that the cry of a human being in distress?” » The boy bent forward in a listening attitude, trying to pierce the obscurity ahead with his : se sharp eyes; but the cry was not repeated. “J must have been mistaken,” he muttered, re- uming his way with much caution. t was a dark, threatening night. - Black clouds overspread the sky, and as fast as they spread across other dark masses came up from the horizon to succeed them. : _ The tide was rising fast, its advance being ac- -celerated by the half gale that had been blowing since sunset, and the dark water roared and med among the jagged rocks, and swept higher higher up the patches of hard white beach. oy Woods was a stranger in Newport. He had been invited down to that fashionable d exclusive summer resort by his employer, George Jessup, a prominent Wall Street broker, whom he served as messenger, to spend Saturday afternoon and Sunday at his villa, for he stood high in the esteem of his boss. _ ‘The Jessup cottage, known as “Seagull’s Nest,” perched upon the extreme point of a premon- overlooking the bay. ild and unpropitious as was the night, and not out danger as was the passage of the shore if at that time of the tide, Roy, who had at- te ded the Saturday night concert at the Casino, ected to return to “Seagull’s Nest” by the short ie saving himself two miles by the round- road. dhe been better acquainted with the perils of undertakiny on such a night it is probable he, not have attempted it; but Roy was natur- a fearless youth, blessed with ruddy health exuberaut spirits, and the thought that was some risk in the venture made him e more eager to push ahead. | » had covered about half the distance when hich he heard attracted his notice. ahead, after a brief pause, he rounded - rock and came in sight of the long right to the point on whi ‘ Issued Weekly—Subscription price, $4.50 per year. Canada, $4.50; Foreign, $5.00. Westbury Fite Co., Ine., 28a Street, New York, N.Y. Entered as Second-Class Matter, October 11, at the Post-Office at New York, N.Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. ~ NEW YORK, AUGUST 20, 1926 _ TEN SILENT BROKERS OR, THE BOY WHO BROKE THE.WALL STREET SYNDICATE atch : _wouldn’t be possible for him ‘ ~ 7 Price 8 Cents,

Jessup’s cottage stood, a mark for the elements when in a pugnacious mood. With a sigh of satisfaction he saw that he was leaving the worst of his precarious journey behind him, and that the way ahead was all plain sailing. All he had to do now.was to descend the rocks by a circuitous pathway to reach the hard, level beach. As he started to do so he suddenly noticed that there were others abroad iff this locality besides himself. Coming toward him, along the beach below, was a bunch of men. They reached the path over the rocks that he was following himself and began to ascend it. . They came on now in single file, for the way was narrow. : By the confident manner in which they pursued ‘ their route. notwithstanding the darkness and dif- ficulties of the path, it was apparent that they were not strangers to the locality. : They did not look once, toward the boy, nor pause in hesitation, but walked quickly ‘and steadily forward. a Roy saw that he would have to step aside to let them pass. ' Hither they had not seen the boy, or his pre- sence there was a matter of indifference to them, for they passed within a yard of him without look- ing in his direction. ~He counted ten well dressed men, whose air be- tokened that they belonged to the upper class. Not_a word fell from their lips as they pur-. » sued their way, in Indian fashion, one behind the » — other, like so many grim, silent phantoms. i Roy looked after them, wondering whence they had come, until they vanished, one by one, in the gloom ahead, and were gone. He left the shelter of the rock and took to the: downward path again. ; Walking ahead, with each incoming wave almost lapping his shoes, he suddenly stumbled over a yielding object in his path. ; It was the body\of a handsome, well. attired gentleman. “My gracious!” exclaimed Roy with a gasp of consternation. “There is blood upon his) - head and on the rocks, too! What does this mean? _ Did he fall, trying to climb the rocks? Yet v should he try to climb them at this } to do so. 3% Sree >

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The young Wall Street messenger bent down, and unbuttoning the man’s vest listened for evi- dence of life. Not the faintest heart-beat reached his ear. Striking a match, he flashed it in the gentle- man’s face. The half-opened eyes, dropped jaw, ashen coun- tenance, told their fatal story—the man was dead, beyond a reasonable doubt. ‘It was not the scream of a seagull I heard, then, but this man’s death cry,’ muttered Roy. “Was it-an accident or—murder?” added the boy ~ in a hushed whisper. “Those ten. well-dressed gentlemen who passed me on the rocks must have Been near here when I heard that cry. They had to pass this point, and could not have helped seeing this body. Why did they pass it unnoticed? This gentleman is dressed very like themselves.” Roy struck another match and viewed the body again. a he saw, to his surprise, that the pockets were turned inside out, and from the torn button- hole of his white vest he judged that the dead man’s watch-chain had been roughly torn away. _ “A crime has certainly been committed here, for the man has been robbed. This was no acci- ~ dent, but a piece of deliberate villainy!” The rapidly rising water showed Roy that un- less he made a move he would soon have to wade _through the inrolling waves. “J can’t leave the cofpse here. It would be borne out into the bay, perhaps to sea, and thus all trace of the erime would be covered up. The police and coroner will have to look into this. I’ll drag the body out of the reach of the tide, and then carry the news to Mr. Jessup. He will, no doubt, have ' ‘the dead man removed to his barn, for it ‘would not do to leave it all night on the beach in face of the coming storm.” Accordingly, Roy lifted and carried the body to _a safe spot, and then lost no time in getting back ed the ¢ ttage on the point. at «| / “heals Ii.—Roy tells his story and the mystery deepens. Tt was certainly a startling bit of news that Roy carried to Mr. Jessup in the smoking-room, on the ground floor, where he sat surrounded by his four male guests. me “What’s that you say, Roy? You came around : dy by the shore on a night like this, and you a stranger in this neighborhood?” exclaimed the _ broker in some astonishment. of “Yes, six.’ | And why did you do that? Isn’t the road good enough for you?” — - “Yes, sir; but I saved two miles ie coming: along the shore.” “By the way, you look somewhat excited. What ‘is the matter?” “J ran across the body of a well- dressed gentle- man on the beach, at a point about half a mile from here.” His words produced an immediate sensation in the es “The man had seemingly been erie, and evidently robbed,” went on Roy. This id the broker, us be: attended to, ao _ ‘TEN SILENT BROKERS ; Se getting up. \ benefit. “J presume you could lead the way to = the place where the body lies?” “Ves, sir. Iti is, close to where the nooks jut sue across the beach.” “IT know the spot.” ten Mr. Jessup rang for a servant, to whom he ~— gave certain directions, an he and his friends: left the room to get their coats and hats. 5 i When they returned, the gardener and the doce man were waiting outside with a barrow, much — mystified as to the errand they were about to en- = gage in. Roy and Mr. Jessup led the way to the beach, down a wide, walled-in path, the four guests fol. ; lowed, and the factotums, with the barrow anda lantern, brought up the rear of the procession. = A vivid flash of lightning illuminated bay and beach with a bluish light as they reaches the shore, and these flashes occurred at intervals, with — more or less intensity, as they approached ‘the & jutting point of rocks, now partly swept by the | a waves. se A flash of lightning revealed the corpse in a apie posture, supported by the rocks. The party walked up to it. “Why, it’s William Deacon!” excising’ “Mr : essup, as he flashed the lantern in the dead man’ ace. We may as well say here that Deacon was | well-known Wall Street broker. eS He was a week-end guest of one of the msatacnee : one the avenue that led from town to Sea Gull’ est. Mr. Jessup’s guests, who were brokers, recog- nized him, also. “This is a dreadful-matter,” said Mr. Jessup i a pained tone. “What could "have brought hi: the beach alone on such a night as this? He seems to have been struck on the head with blunt instrument of some kind. It has all th ear-marks of a murder, with robbery for its ob ject. Place the body on the barrow, James. Hep him, William”—to the footman. ‘The party then made their way back to t cottage, where the corpse was laid out in the hae : Mr. Jessup went into the library to telephone — the particulars to the police department of Nev port, and to request that the coroner be~ ‘sent soon as possible. After that he despatched a note to th gentleman at ‘whose cottage Mr. Deacon ha staying, acquainting him with the sad news, When he returned to the smoking-room fone his four guests in a state of great ex men Roy had been telling them about the’ ‘cire stances that preceded the finding of the corpse. ae your story to Mr. Jessup,” said_one of t guests “What story is this?” asked the broker, loo ci at his young messenger. “Tt has some remarkable features, and ma some connection with Mr. Deacon’s death? plied the guest. ; “Indeed! I should like to hear it, Roy.” *So Roy told it all aes again for his emplo: : “So you saw ten eligi men on th at or about the time of Mr. Deacon’s death Mr, Jessup, almost i ine

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r. “Would you know any of them again were you to meet them?” : ae “{ did not see their faces, for it was too dark; but they all seemed to be young-looking men, say not over thirty-five. At any rate, there 'was a $ strong similarity in their appearance. All wore -_derby-hats and double-breasted sack coats, tightly buttoned. If I saw the bunch together, | am sure T could identify them anywhere, but individually [I should never be able to recognize them.” _— & “You will have to tell your story to the police, Roy,” said the owner of Sea Gull’s Nest. “We will let them sift the mystery out. The ten gentle- men must be stopping somewhere in Newport, probably at one of the hotels. If the authorities ean find them they will be interrogated as to their presence on the shore to-night, and will be asked ' whether or not they saw the body.” “Tf they didn’t see the body they must have heard the cry very distinctly from the position I - should think they were in at the time. Apparently they did not investigate it. Had they stopped and z - done so, I should imagine they would be able to - throw some light on the crime.” -. About this time the host of the dead man was announced, and invited into the smoking-room. S He appeared to be much distressed over the sudden death of his guest, who was one of his eS: particuar friends. : “Nr. Deacon went out after dinner without stating where he was going,” said the caller, _ whose name was Green, “and I haven’t seen him since. Your note, informing me that he had been picked up dead on the beach was a great shock to me. I’m afraid he went too near the edge of the bluff, in the dark, and fell over.” ey “T regret to say that the appearance of the body - at the time he was discovered by this lad, Roy ~ Woods, and when I and my friends here viewed it later, leads us to form a different conclusion, replied Mr. Jessup solemnly. “Indeed! What conclusion did you reach ?” “That Mr. Deacon, while walking on the beach, was set upon by some person or persons un- known, struck down and robbed.” Mr. Green uttered an exclamation of horrified surprise. “Come with me, sir. The body lies in the barn. ou may judge for yourself if there is not ample _ foundation for my statement,” said Mr. Jessup. -- Mr. Green accompanied the broker. to the barn, and the moment he looked at the dead man he saw hat Mr. Jessup had reached a correct conclusion, specially when the Wall Street man stated that ey had found the pockets of the ‘corpse turned ide out. It’s a very sad affair, Mr. Jessup. Mr. Deacon’s uily are in Europe. , I shall have to cable his e, who, with the children, is quartered at one the hotels on Lake Luzerne, Switzerland. As m as the authorities have passed on the case ill take charge of the body.” ‘hey returned to the house, and found that two emen and the coroner had arrived. , Mr. J xf the night once more for the benefit of the mer and the policemen. e boy was closely questioned by the coroner, sxe esis , going, on around him. Roy, on the morning in question, had just fin- ll hands being gathered in the smoking-room, € essup called on Roy to relate his experiences d in the end the official said that the matter — TEN SILENT BROKERS / gs would be immediately brought before the head of the police department, who would undoubtedly cause a search to be made for the mysterious ten men. CHAPTER III.—Roy Learns of a Railroad Con- solidation and Prepares to Profit by It The inquest over the body of Mr. Deacon was held in the barn next morning at eleven’ o’clock. The coroner empaneled a jury and brought the twelve citizens over with him to Sea Gull’s Nest to view the corpse and pass upon the evidence. Roy — was called on to tell his story again, while Mr. Jessup and his guests added their testimony. The coroner announced that the police had taken the matter up and made an effort to discover the mysterious ten. All the hotels had been visited, but while dozens of guests answered the description given by ko nearly all of them were represented by the hotel people as eminently respectable and above sus-: picion. At no other hotel had ten gentlemen ar- rived in a bunch and registered together. The cor- oner’s jury returned a verdict that the deceased had come to his death by violence at the hands of some person or persons unknown, which is the usual verdict rendered by coroners’ juries when the identity of the guilty party is involved in obscur- ity. On the following morning Roy took the early . train for New York. ig Roy went straight to the office from the depot and told the cashier, who was in temporary charge, that Mr. Jessup wouldn’t be in the city that day. Then he took his accustomed seat in the reception- room and waited to be called upon to go out, or render some other service within. the range of his duties. As Roy didn’t believe in twiddling his thumbs to no purpose, he picked up one of the Wall Street dailies and employed his time in keep- ing in touch with matters interesting to the nh, Street. This, and keeping a close tab on the mar- __ ket, was something Roy never failed to do during — his leisure moments at the office. As it was his ambition to become a broker some day, he that he couldn’t learn too much about what was ished reading a paragraph which stated that a well-defined rumor was in circulation concerning . th bable consolidati -& A. i t his watch was gone, and hé no longer doubted ~ eB Jie ureerasts San con: engbarroy tv the P. & Q. trunk line, when the cashier called him to his desk and gave him a note tv deliver to Mr. Rankin, of Rankin & Morse, stock brokers, in the Mills Building. ran against his particular friend, Fred Fisher. “Hello, Roy!” said Fred. “You seem to haye - had a great time during your day and a half’s stay in Newport.” ; “Yes, I enjoyed myself pretty well; but who told you I had a great time?” asked Roy. “The morning newspaper.” : “Oh, you’ve read the story of the death of Broker Deacon?” “T read it on my way downtown in the car. Your name was printed as large as life, as the poet ‘who discovered the body of Deacon on the ay shore.” lieved we ot Ge: In front of the IZorgan Bank he _ “The paper didn’t print any more than the —

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4 TEN SILENT BROKERS truth, for = was the first to discover the dead body of Mr. Deacon,’ ‘said Roy. Thus speaking, Roy continued on down Broad Street to the Mills Building, where he took an elevator for the fifth floor. Reaching the office of Rankin & Morse, he walked in and inquired for Mr. Rankin. : ‘“He’s engaged at present,” said the office boy. "Take a seat.” “Take this note to him. Hay. bee The boy took the note, knocked at the door of the private office, and was told to come in. Roy sat down to await his return. He took out of his pocket a printed market report of Saturday morning’s transactions on the Stock Exchange and began to study it. After a moment or two he got out his pencil and felt in his pocket for a piece of paper on which to make some figures. Not finding any, and observing an envelope at his feet, apparently thrown away, he picked it up and began figuring on it. Before he had finished the office boy came out and handed him a note to take back to his office. He dropped the envelope he was scribbling on into his pocket and took his departure. On his return to Jessup’s office he handed the answer he brought back to the cashier, took his seat, and taking out the envelope on which he had been figuring continued that occu- pation. “That wouldn’t have been a bad deal if I'd gone into it,” he muttered, looking thoughtfully at : the result of his calculations, “but I didn’t think -. it would pan out; that’s why I turned it down.” As he spoke he crumbled the envelope to throw it away, when he noticed that it contained an enclosure. He pulled the paper out and glanced over the few words written on it. It ran as follows: It’s important,” said “Dear Bob: The consolidation is an accom- plished fact. Buy as many shares of R. & A. as ‘your funds will permit. Get them on margin, for you ean’t lose. Official announcement that P. & Q. has taken our line over will be made not later than next Friday, so you have no time to lose, especially as ‘we who are on’ are buying up as fast as we can. : Joe. “August 20.” - Roy read the note over twice before his mind grasped the value of the information which had : accidentally come into his hands. “By George!” he ejaculated. “So- that well-de- - fined rumor mentioned by the ‘Argus’ is a real Simon-pure fact. P. & Q. has actuaily gobbled up the R. & A. This note was written Saturday. It’s a first-class tip, and I’m going to avail myself of it. By Friday R. & A. shares will be scarcer than --hen’s teeth. Anybody who has some of it when the announcement is made will make money. I must lose no time in putting my little capital at work once more. I was lucky to find this note. Funny things happen in this world. If I hadn’t wanted the envelope to figure on I never would have picked it up. As it was, I came mighty near throwing it away without noticing that it held an enclosure. Let me see what R. & A. is -zoing at.” _ ” Puiling out his market report, he found that the latest quotation of the stock was 49, — ; “T ought to be able to buy 600 shares, if it can — be got,” he said to himself. “That amount of stock is worth $29,400, and I can put up ten per cent. of that as security.” He went to Mr. Jessup’s private room, and looking over a railroad annual, found that the — par vaiue of R. & A. was $50. That satisfied him — that he would be able to secure 600 shares if the — little bank with which he did business could get the shares for him. Business was not very rush- | ing that day, so when he went to lunch at one — o’%tlock, he easily found time to go around to the little bank in question and arrange for the pur- chase of 600 shares of R. & A. for his account. CHAPTER IV.—The Ten Men in Wall Street Who Looked Alike. apr Next morning about eleven he was. sent with a note to a broker at the Exchange. As he started for the elevator he noticed four men ahead of him ~ going in the same direction. They were about one height, wore derby hats, and sack coats of the same cut. They reached the elevator ahead of the boy, caught a descending cage, and went down _ before he could signal the man. : “By ginger!” muttered Roy. “Blessed if they didn’t put me in mind of the mysterious ten I saw on the bay shore Saturday night.- It is too bad that I did not see the faces of those men that — night, so I could identify one or more of them if I~ run across them.” Beet Roy was quite thoughtful all the way over to the Exchange. While he was standing at th railing, waiting for the broker he had the note f. to come up, he caught sight of the four gentle men who looked alike, standing in a bunch near the pole of S. & T. See He caught a glimpse of their features, T looked very much like four brothers. As Roy gazed at them with considerable curiosity the — broker he was waiting for came up. ¥ “Do you know those four gentlemen standing i a group yonder?” the boy asked, as he hand him the note. 2 gs The broker turned around and looked. aaa “Two are the Gannon brothers. I don’t kno' the other two,” he answered. ‘ He “Thank you. They look very much alike, don’ they?” said Roy. tl eee _ “Somewhat,” replied the trader glancing over the note. ; After mastering its contents he nodded to Roy and walked off. The young messenger walked out of the Exchange, and came face to face with three. gentlemen, who looked as like the other four he had left_in the Exchange, in face and attire, as — one pea looks like another. Roy gave a gasp and stared at them in astonishment. A trader whom — he knew, coming along, the boy stopped him “Do you know those three gentlemen wal in down the street?” he asked. re “Two are the Gannon brothers, the oth don’t know,” was the reply. é “The Gannon brothers!” exclaimed Roy. many Gannon brothers are there?” eats “How many? Why, two.” ate “There must be four, for two men just li them were pointed out to me in the Exchange n three minutes ago as the Gannon brother, carelessly,

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TEN SILENT BROKERS 5 “Some mistake, I guess,” smiled the broker passing on. Roy looked after the three gentlemen, and saw -.. them turn_up Exchange’ Place. “Gee! This beats me!” mused Roy. “So two of them are the Gannon brothers? The two in the Exchange are also the Gannon brothers, yet there - are only two Gannon brothers altogether. Seems to me this is a kind of Wall Street puzzle.” As he stepped on the sidewalk, in front of the sub-treasury, he saw three gentlemen coming to- ward him who were the exact facsimile of the three who had passed him in front of the Ex- change. They wore derby hats, and sack coats of the same cut and color as those sported by the other seven. “Great Scott!” ejaculated Roy. “Here are two more Gannon brothers, or I’m blind! That makes six, and Mr.-Saxe said just now that there- were “only two!” 5 ‘ _ They walked straight up Wall Street, and were ~soon lost in the crowd. : “T believe the other four men look so like the Gannon brothers that there are ten of them al- together.” : As Roy uttered these words there suddenly flashed across his mind a mental picture of the mysterious ten as he had seen them Saturday night at Newport. : “My gracious!” he cried. “Can’ these men I shave just seen in three bunches be the ten well- dressed men J saw coming up the rocks? In dress ‘and stature they look very much like them. I ould almost swear that they and the mysterious en are identical. I must tell Mr. Jessup about this. It is certainly most remarkable. If they are really the ten I saw in Newport they ouglit to be -younded up by the police and asked a few perti- nt questions.” neWhen Roy got back to the office he could think of nothing but the ten men who looked alike, especially the one whom he identified as the Gan- ‘non brothers. ; > “Talk about puzzles,” he breathed, “this knocks any I’ve ever run across silly; and the oddest part is that as long as I’ve been in Wall Street don’t remember seeing these men before—that is, not together, at any rate.” ‘Mr. Jessup didn’t come in from Newport that ay, and as business was very light in the Street, the probability was he wouldn’t be in town that ek at all. When he went home he told his other all about his experience at Newport, and he dwelt largely on the ten men. who looked aliké, and insisted that he was sure they had some mysterious connection with the death of Broke: m Deacon. : . en he told his mother about the ten men he had seen that day tn Wall Street, whose startling Jikeness to one another convinced him that they ist be the same ten men he had seen on the cks at Newport, although he could not identify em as the same, as he had not seen the faces “the mysterious ten, as he ealled the Newport ch. Mrs. Woods thought the whole thing quite rkable, but had no opinion to express on the yject. When Bob’s sister, Grace, came home ‘during the week to pay a fortnight’s visit. §] identity of the mysterious ten, and. became still ‘more worked up on the subject when Roy told about the ten men he had seen in Wall Street that day who looked so much alike. fae She and her brother talked about nothing else all through supper, but they could not arrive at any satisfactory solution of the mystery. When Roy went downtown next morning he saw in the market report that R. & A. had advanced one point, and he felt good over it. On Wednesday R. & A. went up to 51 1-2, and on Thursday it closed at 53. “According to that note I found, the public announcement of the consolidation ought to be made tomorrow,” thought Roy. “As soon as the cat is out of the bag the price is sure to jump to 60 or over. I ought to make over $6,000 out of this deal. That will be by far the biggest win I’ve yet made in the market. I tell you, it feels good to make money. A fellow can’t have too much of it these days, when the prices of neces- saries of life are constantly on the rise. I really don’t see how some people who make only small wages manage to exist. It must be a constant struggle to keep the wolf from the door. I know that for quite a while mother, sis and I had a strenuous time trying to make ends meet. That’s past, however, thank goodness, and I hope we “may never be up against it again.” It happened that Roy was at the Exchange - next day, waiting to deliver a note, when the chairman rapped for silence, then announced that the P. & Q. line had taken over the R. & A. on a ninety-nine years’ lease. e announcement seemed to take the brokers by surprise, for the ‘scheme had been put through in the quietest way. A rush was made for the R. & A. pole, and great excitement ensued. Everybody wanted to buy R. & A. and P. & Q., particularly the former. It boomed at once to 60, and closed that day at 62.. While Roy was out making the daily deposit : at the bank a telegram was received by the cashier from Mr. Jessup inviting the young messenger to come to Newport again on the following after- noon. The cashier handed it to Roy when he came in, and the boy said he-would be glad te repeat his Visit, and hoped that he would not ~~ meet with any more sensational experiences on his second trip to the watering place. Next morning R. & A: opened at 63 and went quickly to 65. Roy - saw the last quotation on the ticker, and asked ete permission to go out. This being granted, he hur- —_ ried around to the little bank and ordered his 600 shares to be sold. The order was immediately transmitted to the bank’s representative at the Exchange, and by half-past eleven Roy was out of the market with a profit of $9,600, making him — worth over $12,000. CHAPTER V.—Roy-and Nellie Abbott” Roy reached Newport about three o’clock, and re found the coachman, with a_ light conveyance, waiting to take him to the cottage. He received a s gracious welcome, as before, from Mr. and Mrs. Jessup, and was introduced to a very pretty girl, naméd Nellie Abbott, who had come to the cottage was a distant relative of the Jessups, and Roy was very much taken with her. They sat on the Pe ht ges Be 2 Roe ey Ee ae Caen 55

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6 TEN SILENT BROKERS front veranda together for nearly an hour after their introduction, and then Roy asked her if she would like to take a stroll on the beach. It was a fine, sunshiny afternoon, not too ‘warm, with a light sea breeze playing across the surface of the bay, causing a myriad of tiny wavelets to dance and sparkle in the sunlight, Miss Abbott accepted the invitation, got her picturesque straw hat, that looked most becoming perched upon her wavy, nut-brown locks, and accompanied Roy to the shore. “fT suppose you heard about Broker Deacon’s death down here, last Saturday night, Miss Ab- bott?” said the young messenger as they drew near the spot where Roy had discovered the body. “Yes, it was very’sad,” replied the girl. “And very mysterious, too,” said Roy “So I was told. He was killed on ee shore here and then robbed of everything he had about him at the time.” “Whether he was deliberately murdered, or met. his death accidentally, is not quite clear to me. He had a nasty wound on his head, which the coroner, who is a physician, said undoubtedly caused his death. He stated, however, that he could not say positively whether jt had been made by a blunt instrument or from contact with a jagged rock. It is quiet possible that the person _or- persons presumed to be responsible for his death may merely have intended to overcome and rob him. In the struggle that would naturally have takén place in that case between Mr. Dea- con and his assailants he may have slipped, or have been thrown down. Suppose his head struck a rock with considerable force, the wound in question could easily have resulted.” , “J believe you were coming along the shore about the time the affair happened?” “T was.’ “You heard him cry out?” “T did, and took it for the scroam of a gull.” “And soon afterward you found the corpse?” “Yes. Tl show you the spot. It is low tide now, and we can easily go to the exact place.” In a few minutes they were standing at the point of the projecing line of rocks where Roy had stumbled over the broker’s body. “He was lying there, with his head on one of ‘those rocks,” said Roy, “The tide was uv to here, and rolling in all the time, covering him to the waist and then receding below his knees. In order to save the body from being carried away out into the bay, I dragged it up the beach, and then hurried off to carry the news to Mr, Jessup.” “Were you not frightened when you saw the corpse first in the darkness?” asked the girl. “T was a bit startled, I admit, for I was not expecting to encounter such a ghastly objéct; but the feeling did not bother me much.” “You must be a TEES. boy,” said Miss Abbott admiringly. “Oh, I suppose I have my share of nerve,” laughed Roy. “It is something that is needed in Wail Street, where I work, and I believe in eculti- vating it.” He then asked Miss Abbott if she heard about - theten men he had met on the rocks that night, - about the time Mr. Deacon lost his life. “Yes,” she answered. “It seems strange that th ry did not come forward when they must have that th were sees for them. B diamond -euff-bu aan keeping in the background they have added, an- element of mystery to the case.’ “That's right,” nodded Roy. “Do you know, : aie think I met them in Wall Street last Tuesday — = morning.” = “What! the ten men?” she asked in surprise. = “T’ll tell you about it.” And Roy explained to ~ her how he had run against ten gentlemen who looked as much alike as the mysterious ten did Si in the darknegs. - Op “My gocdness! men?” -“{ don’t know why they should be; and yet I Y have a strong suspicion that they may be.” “Have you said anything to Mr. Jessup aborts them?” “No; but I intend to at the first chance.” apo Roy was gazing idly into the water, where it rippled gently on the beach, when he noticed some- thing bright sticking in the wet sand. He stepped _ forward, stooped, and picked it up. It provers. og to be a gold watch and chain. : “Gee! Look at that!” ejaculated Roy, holding up his find. “A watch and chain?” she cried, astonished “Did you pick that out of the water?” fee “That’s what I did! See how damp it is? ie. answered. . “What a lucky boy you are! could have lost it?” } Roy looked at the monogram on the case, and 4 saw it was a combination = the letters W. a Do you think they are the same = £ a 4 I wonder who : “Why, this must be Mr. Deaconis watch!” said in surprise. Miss Abbott examined the monogram, ands mitted that the initials were the same as Brok Deacon’s. "Roy put the watch and chain into | pocket, and they were about to walk on when 3 tiny flash of light in a crevice of the rocks caught his eye. Kneeling down to see what made the reflection, he saw a black-enameled diamond-stud- ded cuff-button reposing there. : “Here’s another find!” he said, picking it and looking at it closely. “My gracious!” she exclaimed in astonishmen “Tf we stay here much longer you may — enough jewelry to stock a store. Do you suppose: that belonged to Mr. Deacon, too?” = “No. This has also a monogram, but the le ters are not W. and D “What are the letters?” ee “R. and C.” ; off.” “J should say so! That's a valuable jewelry. It may prove a clue to the aoe yo Mr. Deacon’s death.” “Shall you turn it over to the police?” “Mr. Jessup shall decide that question.” “You'd better look around and see wie you can find,” said Miss Abbott. Roy did look, and pretty carefully, too, b nothing rewarded his search, so they continue their walk to the end of the beach anh th turned to the cottage. After supper Roy asked Mr. Jessup if he « see him privately in his library. The broker sented, and led the way to the room. the interview by pro a w. tton ae the

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TEN SILENT BROKERS hoe they had come into his possession. Mr. Jessup said he believed the watch had belonged to Mr. Deacon, though he could not say positively, as he had not seen it before. pater “Mr. Green will be able to say whether it was: Deacon’s watch or not,” he said. “So I supposed,” replied Roy. it to him.” “J will,” replied the broker. “The cuff-button belongs to somebody whose initials are R. and C., and therefore could not have been Deacon’s prop- erty. You say you found it on the spot where you came across the body?” Be : “Yes, sir. If you want to know my opinion, it belongs to one of the mysterious ten, whom I am more than ever satisfied know the real facts about the death of Mr. Deacon. I want to tell you now what happened to me last Tuesday.” Thereupon, Roy told Mr. Jessup about the three pairs of Gannon brothers, as he called the six _ gentlemen, and their four associates. : “Don’t you think, sir, there is a strong probabil- ity that those men are the mysterious ten?” he » “said. > " “Your statement is rather remarkable, Roy,” _~ said the broker, with a puzzled look. “I know the Gannon brothers to whom you refer, and I never heard that there were more than two of them. Their office is in the same building as I am in, and on the same floor, as well. If the Gannon brothers really have their doubles, those persons have kept pretty well under cover heretofore.” : ; “T think a detective ought to be put on this matter,” said Roy. “I don’t believe in puzzles remaining unsolved.” S -. “7 will talk with Mr. Green about the matter. - Get your hat, and we will walk to his cottage and show him the watch.” _ When they reached Green’s place. that gentle- man was seated with his family and two guests on the veranda. At Mr. Jessup’s request he led the way to the library. Then the broker showed him the watch. Roy then told him under what circum- me stances it had come into his possession. The cuff- button was then produced. : ; _ “Why, Mr. Deacon had a pair exactly like that, with his initials on them. I have seen them on him a hundred times. They vanished with the rest of his property at the time he was killed.” “Bxactly like these!” exclaimed Roy in surprise. Mr. Green nodded. “Well,” said Mr. Jessup, “since the watch is, beyond doubt, the late Mr. Deacon’s property, ~ we'll leave it with you.” - Mr. Green bowed, and thanked him for calling with it. After some further talk on the subject Mr. Jessup and Roy returned to Sea Gull’s Nest, and in the society of the ladies forgot for the present the mystery surrounding the death of Broker Deacon. “You can show S ‘ ' Haul out of D. & Q. Roy and Nellie Abbott passed most of their time on Sunday in each other’s society. The young messenger learned that the girl lived with er parents in Harlem, New York City, and when ¥en é invited him to call upon her at her home he eagerly accepted the opportunity to follow up their acquaintance. One of the first things Roy did when he got back to the city was to locate the office of Gannon Brothers, stock brokers, on his floor. “T dare say I’ve seen the Gannon brothers a hundred times, and never took any more notice of them than of any other broker, until last Tues- day, when by accident I met their duplicates, twice repeated, inside of a few minutes. That circumstance, and the fact that the six, together with their companions, made up ten men who looked so much alike in size and dress, called to my mind the ten men I had so recently met at Newport under such singular conditions. If I had not met the mysterious ten on the rocks that night, in all probability I would not have noticed the Wall Street ten. Now my curiosity is aroused, and I am going to try and find out as much as I can about the Gannon brothers, their duplicates, and the other four who make up the ten in question,” said Roy, as he turned his back on the door of the Gannon Brothers and started for his own office. At that moment the door of the office opposite, labeled Richard Cordley, stocks and bonds, opened, and the gentlman with the mustache he had seen in company with the Gannon brothers at the Ex- change came out into the corridor and started for the elevator. Roy gazed after him. “That is one of the Wall Street ten now. ‘I wish I knew who he is,” thought the young mes- senger. “Though it-seems to me his face has a familiar look.” One vf the elevators came up at that moment. - and a gentleman got out. “Hello, Cordley,” he said to the man, and the other shook hands ‘with him. “So this is Richard Cordley,” muttered Roy as he walked away. ‘Seems to me I carried a note to him a few months ago, and then he wore a full beard. Well, I s’pose he’s’ got a right to shave the hair off his face if it feels too warm in seg summer time, or any other time, for that matter.” Roy entered Jessup’s office and took his seat, picking up a Wall Street daily to occupy his at- tention. While he was waiting for his services ta - be called into use again the door of the reception-’ room opened and a gentleman entered. He had a derby hat, wore a mustache and a double-breasted sack coat. “T wonder if this is one of the Gannon broth- ers?” muttered Roy as he advanced to meet him. The visitor took a pad out of his pocket\and wrote on it, “Is Mr. Jessup in?” and showed the writing to Roy. “Yes, he’s in,” replied the younger messenger, surprised at the caller’s action. “Take my name—Oliver Gannon—in to him,”: wrote the man again. ' All right, sir,” replied Roy, turning and making for the private office. “That man seems to bea mute. e can hear all right, though.” 3 Roy walked up to Mr. Jessup’s desk. “Mr. Oliver Gannon is outside and see you, sir.” “Send him in.” ecawime “T beg your pardon, but is Mr. Gannon dumb?” “Yes. Both brothers are mutes.” ae: “Gee! That’s something new for a stock brok- wants to

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¥ t er,” thought Roy as he returned and ushered the visitor into the room. As he did so his sharp eyes observed one thing— that Oliver Gannon wore a pair of cuff-buttons just like the one he had picked up on the shore at Newport on Saturday afternoon. That discovery furnished him with food for thought. Apparently this style of cuff-button was much in vogue, for Mr. Green had ‘said that Deacon wore a pair, Oliver Gannon was sporting a pair, and a man whose initials were R. and C. had a pair until he lost one of them—the one Roy found. “JT wouldn’t be surprised if Oliver Gannon’s brother had a pair, too,” Roy said to himself. “It would be quite natural if he had. I suppose the Gannon brothers are twins, for they look pretty near alike. I should like to run across the man who lost the cuff-button. I’ll bet it is one of those ten men dowa here who resemble each other so much. If I could identify him as one of them, then I’d be pretty certain they are really the mysterious ten of Newport.” Mr. Oliver Gannon only remained with Mr. Jes- sup a short time and then he took his departure. About the same time Roy was sent to a broker on Exchange Place with a message. The broker was very busy and could not be disturbed, so the boy had to wait. He took a seat and picked up a paper to pass the time. ‘The door opened, and in walked a broker, with a mustache. Roy had never paid any attention to mustaches until he found them associated with the Gannon brothers; now they possessed an unusual interest for him. This man Kad a derby, and he wore a double-breasted sack coat. “Tl bet this is one of the friends of the Gannon brothers,” thought Roy right away. “The newcomer asked for the broker. “He’s engaged,” said the office boy. “If you’ll ‘give me your name I'll take it in as soon as he’s at liberty.” ‘ “My name is Grismer,” replied the caller, walk- ing over to one of the windows near where Roy sat. He raised his right hand and began to stroke vhis well-trained mustache, while he looked care- lessly out into the court that furnished light, and air to the offices in the tventer of the tall building. Then it was that Roy no-siced that he had a pair of ‘the same black-enameled, diamond- encrusted cuff-buttons, too. : “This cuff-button business is growing interest- ing,” muttered the young messenger. “This is the fourth pair I’ve run across, and I’ll bet it won’t be the last, by a jugful.” Roy pulled out a small memorandum-book and his pencil and made the following entry: “Party by name of Grismer—mustache, sack ~ coat and derby—had same cuff-buttons as William Deacon, Oliver Gannon and ‘R. C.’ No. 4.” “There,” mused the boy. “That will keep this. chap in my mind.” As Roy returned the book to his pocket the office boy came over and told him that he could take his note in to the broker, and he availed himself of the chance. After that Roy was more on the lookout than ever to identify the rest of the Wall Street ten, but as the days went by he made no progress toward that end. He saw many men with mustaches and sack coats, but _there was some difference in their looks from the et ‘TEN SILENT BROKERS a Gannon brothers that left them out of the reckon- ing. About the middle of September Roy heard two well-known brokers one afternoon talking z about a syndicate that had just been formed to -— scorner D. & O. shares. He listened intently, and learned enough to é assure him that there wasn’t any doubt about the —__ deal in question being under way. When he got back to his office he looked up D. & O., and found that it was going at 82. On his way home he stepped into the little bank on Nassau Street and left an order with the margin clerk to buy. 1,000 shares of D. & O. for his account, putting up $10,000 as security. He visited the bank the next day, about noon, and was tdld that the stock ~ had been bought at 82, and was held subject to — his order. A few days afterward he found tha Richard Cordley was taking in the stock at th Exchange whenever it was offered. te as He was evidently working in the interest of the. syndicate. The price of D, & O. advanced by frac-— tions of a point to 85, and then Roy began to look — for the expected boom. Suddenly a number of rumors began to circulate through the district about the D. & O. road, all of which were to the — advantage of the line, indicating increased earn- __ ings, and pointing to a larger dividend on the common stock in the near future. Cordley reap- peared at the D. & O. pole, and began bidding at rising figures for the stock. The traders, who had — their doubts about the rumors of the road’s in- creased prosperity, began to take an interest in the proceedings. ee As the excitement grew, some traders sold thousands of shares that they did not possess, under the impression that the price would soon _ fall, and they would be able to buy it in for delivery at a rate that would give them a good profit. As the day advanced it began to be ap- parent that the price was holding its own, and _ going higher as well. That brought panic to the _ shorts, who began to make frantic efforts to cover. — The Exchange was in a turmoil when three _ o’clock came and business closed for the day. Next morning D. & O. opened at 96. rae “That puts me $14,000 ahead, so far,” said Roy in a tone of satisfaction as he watched the opening prices appear on the tape. fe: He was sent to the Exchange shortly afterward, and found the floor in a state of confusion and uproar. “TI wonder how high it will go?” he asked him self. “I must figure on selling out pretty soon.” — When he visited the. Exchange around) noon, with another note, D. & O. was going at 102, and the excitement ‘was more intense than ever. “T guess it’s time for me to sell out and be o the safe side,” thought Roy, as he noted 102 5-8 up on the board. iis So after delivering his note to the trader whom it was intended he rushed up to the little bank on Nassau :Street and told the margi clerk to have his shares sold at once. es His instructions were immediately acted on 1,000 shares going at 103 3-8. On the followi morning a slump in D. & O. set in, and a pa ensued. Roy congratulated himself on havi got out in the nick of time. That afternoon th oto with him, and his profit amoun

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TEN SILENT BROKERS oy CHAPTER VII.—The Gannon Sextette Once More The market quickly recovered from the brief panic brought about by the sudden fall in the - jnflated price of D. & O., and continued quite buoyant for two weeks, during which time busi- ness was lively in the Street, and as a consequence all employees, from cashier to messenger boy, in the various offices were kept on the hustle.. One day Mr. Jessup sent him with a note to Mr. Cordley’s office. Although\the broker was en- gaged with a visitor at the time, he was permited -* to enter the private room: Roy glanced at the _ ealler as he handed the note he had brought to the broker. bs ‘He had a mustache, wore a derby and a sack - eoat. The ‘boy took him for Grismer, though he - thought he looked a trifle different from that ~- ‘gentieman, especially as he noticed that he wore the same cuff-buttons that.Grismer had on the day Roy learned who he was. He soon found out that it was Grismer, for Cordley said to him: — “Here, Mitchell! Look over that paper while I write an answer to this note.” 5 ---‘While Cordley was writing the note Roy hap- pened to glance at the top of his desk and saw his cuffs standing there. They had the same cuff- buttons that were figuring so prominently in the ‘boy’s mind ever since he found the single button on the beach at Newport. ee almost gave a gasp when he noticed the initials, R. C. They were engraved exactly like the R. C. on the ; button he had found. Of course, R. C. stood for Richard Cordley, and the fact that he had two but- tons seemed to be sufficient evidence that the but- ton Roy had found could not be his, but belonged * to some other man with similar initials. When Roy got back to his own office he jotted down an- other memorandum in his notebook, stating that Richard Cordley and a man named Mitchell, who was the picture almost of Grismer, each wore the black-enameled, diamond-encrusted cuff-buttons. “That makes six sets of that particular kindof cuff-buttons I’ve seen,” said Roy. “I wonder if ~ anything will come out of this button clue or not? - Emust tell Mr. Jessup about the matter.” a He did, that afternoon, just before the broker started for his home uptown. Mr. Jessup listened _ to him, and then replied that he guessed there was - nothing in it. ; “Have you seen the two extra pairs of Gannon brothers again?” he added with a provoking kind of smile. . “No, sir. I’m constantly on the lookout for ‘them. Even if I did see two of them, I shouldn’t be able to distinguish them from the brothers.” “Don’t you think your imagination played you ‘a trick the day you thought you saw the three pair of Gannon brothers?” asked the broker. _ “No, sir. There was no imagination about. it. Z saw them in three different places, within a few inutes, as plainly as I see you now,” asserted Roy earnestly. * “Sure of that, eh?” : © “Positively. Didn’t I tell you that after Mr. _ ae recognized them on the floor of the Ex- change Mr. Henderson recognized the second two utside, three minutes afterward? That ought proof enough that I wasn’t dreaming.” = wh ized the third pair?” beat the Dutch, I’m a liar! a.“Nobody. But ’m willing to swear they were the:picture of the other two pairs.” “Well, the fact that I, who know nearly every- body’ who does business in the Street, have never seen or heard of more than two Gannon brothers, and have never heard about. four men resembling . them, ought to be some evidence that the four like- nesses. of the Gannongs you say you saw are pretty rare visitors to the district. Under such cireum- stances I don’t see why you worry about them.” Mr. Jessup got up, closed his desk, put on his hat, and Went home. There was so much business to attend to in the office that day that the cashier and the clerks had to work overtime. The cashier asked Roy if’ he would stay down, too, and help - out at some desk work. “Sure J will,” replied the boy. “How late do you want me to stay?” “Nine or ten o’clock.” “Then I’d like to send a message to my mother, so she’ll know where I am.” “Go out and send your message now,” said the cashier. Roy went to the nearest telegraph office and sent his message. On his way back he met the . two Gannon brothers at the corner of Nassau Street, on their way to Broadway. The fact barely. attracted his notice. When he reached the entrance to the office building he was staggered, however, tb come face to face with a pair of their duplicates. They didn’t go toward Broadway, but turned down Wall Street toward Pearl. “Gee! I wish Mr. Jessup was with me now,” muttered Roy. “He’d have seen four Gannons for once in his life, and he couldn’t get away from it. It’s a wonder the elevator men didn’t notice the two pair of twins. Still, it is not unlikely that the gentlemen came down on different ele- vators. These six Gannons, I’m afraid, will turn sr lg before I’m through with them.” oy boarded an elevator and was whisked up to the fourth floor; where he got out. As he passed the office of the Gannon brothers the door opened, and out came the third pair of Gannons. “Suffering dervishes!” gasped the young mes- senger. “Here’s the third batch. If this doesn’t T’ll bet there is some mystery in this thing, and it ought to be investi- gated. I wonder if they all wear black-enameled, i dianiond-encrusted cuff-buttons? I should not be a bit surprised if I found they did.” The last pair of Gannon brothers took an ele- vator and disappeared. Roy walked thoughtfully into his office. He felt that he was confronted with a problem that was going to bother him a whole lot until he succeeded in solving it, if, in- deed, he could solve it. Two of the six men he had just encountered who looked so much alike that he had to admit that he couldn’t- tell them apart, were the Gannon brothers, known to Wall Street. Who were the other four? Were they - Gannon brothers, too, who only came to the Street occasionally? Were there three pair of twins in 4 that family nearly of one age? The thing was - | possible, and Roy scratched his head as he con- = sidered it. eect “At any rate, they can’t all be dumb. The Wall Street pair are, though I didn’t know it till lately. Now what puzzles me is, why don’t the Gannon __ brothers introduce their duplicates to some of — their broker friends? Is it because they don’t — want to create a sensation down here? hye ‘ a KetsS ie > y

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10 Then they ought to keep the other two pairs away from the Street altogether. Some brokerds bound to get on to them, like I have, and the Gan- non. mutes will be called on for an explanation. Seems to me it would be easy for the six to im- _personate one another and produce a regular com- edy of errors. I’d be willing to bet there isn’t a broker down here who could tell which pair was the Gannon Brothers, stock brokers, if the six stood in line.” Roy worked till five o’clock; then all hands went to supper at the expense of the office. * When the force got back they worked hard till nearly ten to catch up with the usual run of the office. All the way home that night Roy pondered over the puzzle of the six Gannons, and he even dreamed about them when he went to bed. Next morning he related the story of his second meeting with the Gannon sextette to Mr. Jessup, and the broker hardly knew what to think about the matter. “J shall take the first chance to ask the Gannon brothers about -this queer resemblance between themselves and the four other men,” he said, “and V’ll let you know the result.” In the course of the day Mr, Jessup met one of the ..Gannon brothers at the Exchange, and brought the matter to his notice. Gannon de- clared that Jessup’s messenger must be troubled with hallucinations, as he had only one brother, and he didn’t know anything about the alleged duplicates. When Mr. Jessup reported to Roy the result of his interview with Oscar Gannon the boy declared that Gannon was a prevaricator, and that he’d show him up some day. The broker laughed, and advised Roy not to.bother about the matter any more; and the young messenger had to let it go at that for the present. ; CHAPTER VIII.—A Winning Tip. Roy: did not fail to visit Nellie Abbott at her home soon after he received the invitation from her at Newport. The first visit led to a second, and after that he acquired the habit of calling upon the young lady every Wednesday evening. He told his mother and sister that Nellie Abobtt was the nicest girl he had ever met, and after that Grace made it a point to tease her brother a good deal about his charmer, as she called her. “Well, you ’ve got a beau who calls on you pretty regularly,” Roy retorted one night, “so I don’t see that you’ve anything on me.’ _ “Why, the idea!” blushed his sister. any beau!” : “What do you call Harry Gray? He calls on you twice a week, and if that isn’t keeping pretty steady company, ig d like to know what is.’ _ We are just good friends, that’s all,” insisted - Grace, looking as red as a‘beet. “That's just what Miss Abbott and I are—good friends. If you persist in teasing me about her, Vl get back at you about Harry.’ After that Grace Woods had nothing to say about Nellie Abbott, for people who live in glass ~ houses, so to speak, find it inconvenient to throw stones. A week after Roy’s second encounter with - the six Gannons, as he called them, he presented himself at the Abbott home about eight o’clock the evening, attired in his best suit. Nellie was expecting, pits gr it was ae Detced calling “T haven’t TEN SILENT BROKERS -chance he got that day he took $30,000 from “her he had bought a small block of z & C., ane ¥ night, and they were soon enjoying their custom- ary tete-a-tete in the parlor. Roy had already confided to the girl his successful speculations in the stock market, and she took a great deai of in- terest in the same. In the course of the evening in question she suddenly said: “lve got a tip for you.” $4 “What lind ofa tip?” he asked, thinking she see was joking. “Why, a-tip on the market, of course.” “That so?” he said with some interest. is it?” "4 = it worth a new pair of gloves?” she asked “2 - : Sure! Pi wake you a present of a pair whether it’s any good or not.” £24 “How very good you are! Well, let me tell you this is a good tip. You’re bound to make money out of it if you know how to work it.” ! “Let me hear what it is.” “T heard papa tell mamma tonight, just before dinner, that he had received inside information concerning a syndicate which is about to corner — J. & C, railroad shares. He said the stock was selling at 70, which was.very low, that he ex- pected it would rise to par within a couple of weeks, and he confidently looked forward to mak- : ing. $100,000 as his share of the profits.’ “Did he mention the names of any of the gen- tlemen who are in with him?” “No, but he mentioned the name of the broker’ whe has been engaged to do the buying, which he said would be done outside the Exchange at first, so as not to attract attention to what was in the ae wind.” : “Who is the broker?” “Richard Cordley.” “T know him. Well, ’'m much obliged to you, Miss Nellie, and will endeavor to take advantage of your pointer, which I think is a good one.’ Next morning Cordley came into Jessup’s: off and asked the broker if he had any J. & C. - sale. Roy overheard him, and that satisfied h that Miss Abbott’s tip was all right. At the fi “What yaa safe-deposit box, took it around to the little ban on Nassau Street, and ordered the purchase of 8,000 shares of J. & C. for his account. It we bought on the floor of the Exchange for 70. Ro then began to watch the ticker for developmen Nothing happened of an encouraging nature for nearly a week; then Cordley began buying at t Exchange, and his efforts to secure the stock sent the price to 73. On the following day it rose 75, and Roy counted himself $15,000 ah though his profit was, as yet, only in the perspe ive “Tf things turn out as Nellie told me her fathe expected, I shall make a good haul. In faet, wouldn’t be surprised if I made $50,000. oes ‘day I hope to surprise Mr. Jessup with the size my wad. I believe he’d have a fit if he lear: that I was playing the market. Messenger be are not Supposed to do such a thing. Howev they do it, just the same, on the quiet. I know several messerfgers who have made nice little © bunches of long green out of the market. The: “ine es wae to branch out as brokers some day, an an 5 ; That evening he calied on Miss Abbott. and to that he was a LtOART $ 5,000 ahead o the gam

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“J told you that it was a good tip,” she said smilingly. : “T guess there isn’t any doubt about it, but I don’t believe the syndicate will be able to push it up to par.” “Why not?” : ; “Because 30 points is a mighty big jump for such a stock as J. & C.” ; “Of course, I can’t say, but_I should think papa ought to know.” ‘ “Tf the syndicate effects a close corner it may be able to force it even higher than par; but the higher it is boomed the more dangerous it will be to unload and hold the price at the same time.” “Then you mean to sell out before it goes to are. “That is my present stances may change it.” They talked over the deal a while longer, then Nellie went to the piano and they had musie and singing until it was time for him to go home. Next day J. & C. slowly advanced another point. Even one point looked mighty good to Rov. for it represented a profit in sight of $3,000. On the following day it began to attract general atten- tion, and quite a little business was done in it, the _ price going up to 78. Roy saw the early quota- tions on the ticker tape, and he judged that there would be something doing soon in J. & C. He was not disappointed, for as noon approached more and more of the traders began buying, and as the price advanced to 80 so the interest and excite- ment that always attend a rising stock increased. | All the stocks along the line began to partici- - ‘pate in the improved prices, and everybody was _ buying and few selling. Roy was sent to the Ex- change several times that morning, and on each occasion he found the racket greater than before, and more traders on the floor. Most of the mes- sengers had. to skip their lunches that day, Roy being among the number, for business kept them on the jump right up to nearly three o’elock. J. \ & CG. closed at 88, with every prospect of opening higher when the Exchange began business in the morning. While he was in the counting-room, after returning from the bank, where he had taken the day’s deposits, he heard two of’ the - ¢elerks talking about J. & C. Both of them had invested in a few shares, and were looking to see the price go to par. Roy asked them how they knew that J. & C. was going to par. - in intention, but circum- cate,” replied one. “How can you know that they’re cornered by a _ syndicate?” ie “T got the fact straight from a friend of mine who has a relative that knows a man who is ac- quainted with one of the insiders.” Roy laughed. “Pid you buy your twenty shares on the strength of that roundabout information?” he asked. et : “Sure I did. I paid 78 for it, and now it’s 88. That makes, me#$200 ahead. When it gets up to - par I'll win $200 more.” f ~ “Suppose a slump sets in before it reaches 100, where will you be at then?” said Roy. *~ “The syndicate will hold up the price until it gets above par,” replied the clerk confidently. “Maybe it will, and maybe it won’t be able to. I+ think I’ll sell the few thousand shares I have be- fore the price reaches par,” laughed Roy. TEN SILENT BROKERS “Because the shares are cornered by a syndi- | ii “J would, if I were you, Woods,” grinned the other clerk, who didn’t for a moment believe that the young messenger had even five shares of that stock, or any other. = : Roy went on to the washroom, and scon after- ward left for home. The fact that he was al- ready something over $50,000 to the good, with an excellent prospect of making half again as much more, kept Roy in a subdued state of excitement all evening. He dreamed that night that he had become a millionaire, and was living like a prince in-a palace of a hotse, with his mother and sister, who had become society leaders, while he was . taking Nellie Abobtt automobiling every after- noon. Every place he went, or found himself, he met the Gannon brothers in a group of two, all exactly alike, and it seemed to strike him as all right. When he awoke in the morning he recol- lected all the features of his dream, and he laughed at the absurd fancies his sleeping brain had conceived. “As if three pairs of Gannon brothers aren’t enough, I had to imagine there were ten of them. What funny things do happen in dreams!” he said as he brushed his hair. - The excitement of the previous day was re- ‘sumed on the Exchange floor, and at noon J. & C. was up to 95, and still ascending, : “Y’m not going to take any more chances,” said Roy, when he saw the figures on the tape. “As soon as I’m sent out again I’m going to take enough time to run up to the bank and sell out. Anybody that wants to hang on for the last dollar has my permission to do so, but this chicken is going to get out while the excitement of the rise is on, Ten minutes later he was sent with a message to_a broker in the Astor Building, and as he had to pass the head of Nassau Street both ways, it would be convenient for him to slip up to the little bank and transact his business without losing a great deal of time.\ Accordingly, on his way back to the office after delivering his note, he went to the bank and ordered his 3,000 shares of J. & C. sold. It wag done inside of ten minutes at 97 8-8, the stock being taken in 1,000 lots by three dif- ferent brokers for customers. That afternoon J. & C. closed at 99. When Roy figured up his profits on the deal he found that Nellie Abbott’s tip had netted him $78,000, making him worth $112,000. CHAPTER IX.—A Clue to the Owner of the Lost Cuff-Button. When Roy paid his next visit to Nellie Abbott he not only fetched up to her the promised pair of gloves, for which pes had laughingiy furnished him the size and the style she wanted, but he brought her a good-luck charm set with diamonds, in which blazed a single ruby, which cost him $100. . He didn’t dare get her a more expensive orna- ment, for fear that it would cause pointed remarks from her parents, who knew that he was only a messenger boy in Broker Jessup’s office. ~ Nellie was delighted, not only with the gloves, but with the charm especially, and would have objected to the expensiveness of the latter only she knew he had made a small fortune out of her tip.- A few days after the excitement had/died out of the J.& C. boom, Which, by the way, did not go to pierces x ze

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wiz but simply petered out by degrees, letting all losers down easy, Roy was sent with a note to the office of a broker on Broadway. While he was waiting for an answer a gentleman with a derby hat and sack coat came in. Roy looked the man over critically. He saw that he had a pair of black-enameled, diamond-encrusted cuff-buttcns. “This is either Grismer or Mitchell,” thought Roy. “Talk about the Gannon brothers looking alike, why, Grismer and Mitchell, who, of course, are not brothers, look near enough alike to be taken for twins.” The newcomer, much to the boy’s surprise, gave his name as Bailey. “This is the seventh man who is sporting that particular and expensive brand of cuff-button,” muttered the young messenger, eyeing the visitor narrowly. “I wonder how many brokers have adopted it? It must be such a taking device that many persons, when they see it, order a pair made for themselves. Only a first-class jewelry estab- lishment, of course, would receive an order for such a valuable ornament. Now where would a broker be likely to go for such a thing? Tiffany‘s, most likely. It wouldn’t be a bad joke on these chaps for a messenger boy to sport a cuff-button the facsimile of their own. I think I’ll visit the Tiffany store and see if the house has turned out that particular style of button. If so, I'll order 'a pair to be made with my initials on them. I guess, now that ’m worth over $100,000, I ean afford as good a pair of cuff-buttons as the next man.” : ‘ When Roy got back to his office he made another note in his memorandum-book about the third gen- tleman, whose name was Bailey, and who wore the special design of cuff-button similar to the sample he had picked up on the shore at New- port. When he got off work that afternoon he took a Broadway car uptown and alighted near Tiffany’s store. Entering the establishment, he jnquired his way to the counter where cuff-buttons and kindred articles were sold. “T suppose if I wanted a special style of cuff- button made, and put up the price, you could turn : it out, couldn’t you?” he said to the clerk. ; “Surely. We have special facilities at our fac- tory for making that kind of goods, and we are constantly executing orders for unique specimens, ‘some of which have cost more than a thousand dollars a pair. Do you wish to submit a design from your description, or did you bring a design with you?” _ “T am not intending to have an original design made. I have a sample that I want imitated, sub- stituting my initials for those on it.” “Tet me see the sample, and I will give you an j estimate of the cost.” + Roy pulled out the “R. C.” button he had found, and handed it to him. The clerk, after one look, said, “Excuse me a moment,” and walking to the end of the store disappeared into a room. He re- turned in a few minutes and asked Roy to follow him. He was led into the manager’s office. “Sit down, young man,”-said the gentleman at the desk, giving him a keen look. Roy took a 4 chair beside the desk. “May I ask,” said the manager, “where you got this button?” _ “By what right do you ask such a question?” asked Roy in a dignified tone. ; “Because this button and its mate were made by “TEN SILENT BROKERS us under special conditions which prevent us from _ taking an order for a duplicate unless accompan- __ ied by a signed order from the person who gave — the oviginal order.” oF “That so?” replied Roy. “Will you tell me the name of that person?” : “Certainly not. We could not do-so without his permission.” if “Wasn’t it Richard Cordley, a stock broker at No. — Wall Street?” hazarded Roy, on the spur of the moment. me f The manager betrayed evident signs of sur- prise. “You know. ” he began, then paused — agruptly. “I cannot answer your question,” he added. “It is against our rules. Now, young man, tell me how this button came into your pos-— session. It was lost by the owner and we had to make a duplicate.” : Here was an unconscious admission that caused ° Roy to sit up and take notice. Taken in connec- tion with the manager’s look of surprise and in- terrupted sentence when asked if Broker Cordley was the person who had given the original order for the making of this style of cuff-button, it al- most satisfied the young messenger that he had picked up a valuable bit of information. Like a flash the theught passed through the boy’s mind that the button he had found at Newport belonged to Cordley. The fact that the man who had lost the button had ordered a duplicate to take its— place would easily account for Cordley’s now hay- __ ing two buttons once more. Nis Neat “T found the button,” replied the boy. is ee “Where, may I ask?” ese “As I found it under peculiar circumstances, I. must decline to tell you,” replied Roy firmly. ised “Very well,’”’ replied the manager suavely, “we won’t argue the matter. I will be obliged to re- tain this button and return it t® the owner, as it is a valuable bit of jewelry. If you will leave — your name and address with me I will hand it to the gentleman, and it is probable he will send you a suitable reward.” a As he spoke the manager laid the button in the corner of a pigeon-hole of his desk and seemed — to consider the interview at an end. Roy saw at once that he was about to lose the clue on which. he had placed his hopes of ultimately discovering the identity of the mysterious ten. Only by prompt and decisive action could he prevent such a thing. Like a flash he leaned over and grabbed the button. » jaa Hace “You have no right to take this fromme against my will,” he said, almost angrily. nee The manager looked his surprise. : “I beg your pardon, young man,” he said. “ have every right. I know the gentleman to whom it Seana ea peers ‘You admit that, do you?” replied Roy. — “Certainly.” é ’ ; eee “Give me his name and address and I will re turn the button myself.” 7 eee se ae ee : , sant ah _ “All right,” replied Roy, dropping the buttor into his pocket, “1’ll keep the button till Ber: “I can’t allow that,” began the manage sharply. aes: “How are you going to prevent it?” answered the young messenger defiantly. ou “Tf you refuse to hand me that button, which valuable, remember, I shall be compelled to ca ‘

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TEN SILENT BROKERS an officer and have the matter adjusted by a magistrate.” ‘All ight,” replied Roy coolly. “Call an offi- cer. I am willing to submit the case to the judg- ment of a magistrate, but I warn you right here that something is likely to happen that may not please the owner of the button.” “What do you mean?” ; “You will learn what I mean if this matter reaches a police court.” - ©“Young man, are you not aware that you have no right to retain property belonging to somebody else?” : : “T am aware of that fact, and I am prepared to deliver this button up to the person who can prove hig right to it.” “JT have just told you that I know the person to whom the button belongs. I will be responsible for its return to the proper party. If you demand ‘it, 1 will give you a receipt for the button.” “No, sir. That button shall remain in my. pos- ~ gession until the owner demands it of me in per- gon. You nor the police can legally take it from ~ me. I know what the law is on the subject. The finder of an article has a clear title to it against all the world but the owner. Well, bring or send the owner to me, and he shall have the button. You can’t have it. That’s all I’ve got to say.” - The manager was clearly taken aback by Roy’s | pold stand. He himself knew that the boy was _vight about the law bearing on the case. He also saw that the lad was full of resolution, and was going to stand on his rights. After thinking the matter over for a few moments he glanced at his - watch. Then he reached for the telephone direc- ‘tory and looked up a name in it. fee “He’s going to communicate with Cordley,” con- ~ jectured Roy, as he noted the section of the book - the manager was consulting. The gentleman un hooked the receiver and put it to his ear. ~*~ «Sve me 4000 A, Madison,” he spoke into the transmitter. _“That’s Cordley’s residence, I’ll bet,” thought Roy. “He looked at his watch, and saw that it was too late to think of catching the broker at his office.” There was a full minute of silence, then the manager said: ig “Tg this 4000 A, Madison? Is Mr. C. at home? - Send him to the ‘phone, please. What’s that? Oh, his is Tiffany’s. Tell him that Mr. Root wishes to talk to him on a matter of importance.” . An interval of silence followed, while the man- ager held the receiver to his ear. “Hello! Is that you, Mr. C.?_ Well, you re- “member the cuff-button that you lost, and which we had to replace with a duplicate? It’s turned up. It is in the possession of a young man who ‘called here to have a pair made from the same design. He is now sitting in this room beside my desk. He refuses to give up the button, which he admits having found, except to you personally. What is your name?” asked Mr. Root, turning to he young messenger. ‘The gentleman wishes know it.” "Roy Woods. I am messenger for George Jes- p, stock broker, No. — Wall Street,” replied the Ve 2 f ‘The manager transmitted the information to the rson at the other end of the wire. There was short pause and then he turned to Roy again © _used the eall “4000 A, Madison.” 1B “I am aathorized to pay you a reward of $250 for that button.” “In exchange for the button?” said Roy. “Of course.” “Then I must decline. I am prepared to hand it over to the owner in person, without a reward, as I have no legal right to defnand any compensa- tion for its return.” His repy astonished the manager. “Why, the gentleman is offering you at least _ $100 more than the intrinsic value of the button. Why do you decline to accept it?” “T have my reasons.” . j The manager telephoned that Roy refused to give up the button for $250, but would turn it over . to the owner gratuitously if he asked for it in person. He received some reply in return, and then hung up the receiver. : “That’s all, young man. You may go,” he said. _ “Good-afternoon, sir,” said Roy, rising and bow- ing. : “Good-afternoon,” returned the manager stiffly, Roy then left the store and took a car for home, CHAPTER X.—Roy’s Great Luck in the Market. On his way home Roy considered the advisabil- ity of telling Mr. Jessup about his visit to Tif- fany’s, and what happened there. He was-a little: afraid that his employer might think he was try- ing to make a mountain out of a molehill with reference to the cuff-button clue. Certain it was — that neither the broker nor Mr. Green, at whose cottage the dead man had been a guest, thought the cuft-button of sufficient importance to inform the police about it. Nor had they given any thought to the theory of the mysterious ten after the Newport authorities abandoned it. Roy him- self, therefore, was the only person who was in- tensely interested in solving the mystery of Will- iam Deacon’s death; and the chief reason why he .was on the scent was because his curiosity was aroused by the ten elusive Wall Street men who looked so much alike, and in dress and stature so much resembled the ten he had met on the rocks that memorable Saturday night at Newport. ¥ He was satisfied that the Newport ten had full knowledge of the manner in which Deacon came ~~ to his death. It remained for him to get evidence connecting the Wall Street ten with the Newport bunch. If he could do that he would put the mat- ter in the hands of the police. If anything would lead to the desired result it was the “R. GC.” cuff- button. He was now satisfied that Richard Cord- ley was the owner of the lost button. He knew how he could make sure.of the fact. - The manager of Tiffany’s had called up “4000 A, Madison” on the telephone. It would be a sim- _~ ple matter for him to look up Cordley’s house *phone number in the telephone directory, and sce if it was “4000 A, Madison.” If it wasn’t Cord- ley’s number, then he would make it his business to find out through the telephone company who : He was willing = = to bet, and give odds, at that, that Cordley was © the man. Well, supposing Cordley was the man, what then? -How was Roy to prove that he was E one of the mysterious Newport ten, even if hy had lost his cuff-butotn on the shore, and admit ted the fact? Ree

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1A “¥ think a smart tale might unravel the ” thought the boy. : ; gee as doubtful whether the police would look into the matter unless the evidence that Roy produced promised satisfactory developments. Roy stopped at a drug store that bore a public telephone station sign, and took a look at aroha xt Cordley’s house call. It was “4000 A, Madison! “Very good,” breathed the young messenger. “That settles the ownership of the lost cuff-but- ton. Will Mr. Cordley call on me to hand it over to him? If he does he ean have it. I have Nellie Abbott as a witness that I found the button with with the initials R. C. on it. I have Mr. Jessup and Mr. Green as witnesses that I showed it to them that night in Newport. All three examined the button closely, and will be able to swear to it. Besides, I have the manager of Tiffany’s to fall back on, and the clerk as well. Yes, Cordley ean have his button, if he sina it, but he must admit that he is the owner of it. ‘e Lo looked for Cordley to call next day at the office and ask for the button, but he didn’t. A week passed, and the broker evinced no hurry to i is property. ; j uptier spe Roy, “take your time about it. Iv’s all the same to me. a Ho had said nothing to Mr. Jessup about the Tiffany episode, and for the time being the mat- ter was at a standstill. It was about this time that Roy found out that Cordley was again acting for some syndicate that was trying to corner H. & B. shares. As soon as he was satisfied that his information was undoubtedly correct, Roy got leave of absence from the office for half an hour, went to his safe-deposit box, drew $100,000, and visited a certain big brokerage house known as ter & Co. ; were Mr. Webster in?” he asked the office boy. “Yes. Want to see him?” , aor do.” ES “What is your name?” “Roy Woods.” “You're a messenger, aren’t you?” “Vas,” “Who are you working for?” “Ton’t worry about that, sonny. Just take my name in.” ‘ ; “Say, you’re putting on a lot of style, aren’t 977 iat cyou don’t announce me pretty quick Tl an- nounce myself. I haven't a whole lot of time to nkey around here. ; j Scopes sharply, and the boy hauled in his horns. He came back is a moment and told Roy to go in. j ee “Well, young man, what can I do for you? said Mr. Webster. “You can buy 10,000 shares of H. & B. stock for me, if you wish to accept the commission. “Ten thousand H, & B. for you!” ejaculated the broker, lifting his eyebrows. : ~ “Ves, sir. On ten per cent. margin.” “You have the necessary margin to put up?” i “Yes, sir. Here is $100,000. Count it, and see = -that it’s all: right,” ; ie “Ahem! Who do you represent, young man? “Sometimes I represent my employer, but just now I am representing myself.” 2 “Might I ask who you work for? “George Jessup, No. — Wall Strect.” “* TEN SILENT BROKERS “Shall I make this deal in Mr. Jessup’s name?” “No, sir. Kindly make it in mine. has nothing to do with it,” “Oh, he hasn’t.” : “No, sir.” : : : Broker Webster winked expressively and began writing an order, which he handed Roy to sign. re “So this is your individual deal, eh?” chuckled — the broker, who thought he knew better. 5 “Yes, sir; it?s my individual deal.” ra “You seem to be a wealthy young man,” grinned Webster. “You put up a hundred thou sand dolars as if it were a mere bagatelle to you.’ : Roy made no reply to the gentleman’s pleas- antry, so the trader counted the money, and find- ing that it was all right, he gave the boy his © memorandum. a= “Good-day, Mr. Webster. I will call, tomorrow a 4 Mr. J essup ; to see if you have secured the stock. I would ad- vise you to get busy, as there are others after H. — B., and I want to get it asnear 75 as possible.” “I will give the matter my immediate atten- are young man,” said the broker, reaching for is hat. ; It took Webster some time to find the 10,000~ shares, as it seemed to be rather scarce, but he | got it at last, and next morning, -when Roy dropped into his office, he told the boy that he had» the certificates, subject -to his orders. As the market value of the shares was $750,000, he didn’t — really have the certificates in his possession, hav- — ing hypothecated them for two-thirds of their value, in order to raise the moey to pay for them. — Brokers, as a rule, have to do this, as they veo otherwise have to have a mint of money with which to swing all the deals that pass through | their offices. Ag the customers have to pay the interest on the difference between the price of the — stock and the amount of the marginal deposit— _ in Roy’s case this was $650,000-—_the traders find — ‘ roe convenient to operate with borrowed cap- — ait. 4 wm F With such'a large sum as $100,000 at stake, the reader may well believe that Roy was now on th anxious seat, as the expression is, the confidence he had in the winni his latest. tip. e pears to be in the market, there are a whole | of chances against you. Adverse “combination undreamed of by the cleverest manipulator, may spring up at the wrong moment and land a speculator up Salt Creek. Two days after Roy bought his shares, Broker Cordley appeared i the Exchange and offered to pay 76 for, any par of 5,000 shares.. Before business closed for the day he was offering 77. Next morning he was bidding 77 1-2 and 78. He-got\a few thousand shares in small lots, and then raised his offer 80 in the hope of bringing more out. Next d Cordley was not onthe floor in the morning, and the price of H. & B. was beaten down to 75 by a small clique of bears. It recovered to 77 during: the afternoon, and finally closed at'78 5-8. “What do you think of H. & B.?” asked Roy the two clerks in the office who had won ab $500 each on J. & C. 4 as '“Haven’t thought anything about it,” re one. : “You're slow,” laughed the boy. “You ou to have soaked your J. & C. winnings in stock, then you’d stand to make some more. what I did.” : ae a ite ee ‘

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“Oh, you did?” laughed the clerk. ‘Perhaps. you won’t mind 4ellig us how much you've got up in H. & B., which you seem to think is a winner?” : ““& hundred thousand,” replied Roy. “As much as that, eh?” chuckled the other clerk. “And do you expect to double your money?” “T ought to do better than that if a screw - doesn’t come loose in my tip.” “Working on a tip, are you? Well, do you ‘know, I don’t take much stock in your tip if it is on H. & B.” _ “Why not? I bought at 75, and it is now 78 5-8,” replied Roy. ~“And tomorrow it may be down to 75 again,” - said one of the clerks. ; “That’s right,” nodded Roy. “You never can . tell, but I hope it will be over 80.” “By the way, Woods, joking aside, did you ever take a flyer on the market?” asked the other clerk. “Didn’t I tell you that I am in on H. & B., and haven’t you my word for it that I made a good thing out of J. & C.?” replied Roy. “Oh, come off! We know better than that.” “Phen you must now my business better than I do myself. Now just take the tip from me— H. & B. is going above 90. If you want to make some money, get in on it while it is low, and sell when, it goes up. That’s all.” And the young messenger walked away, while the clerks returned to their work, satisfied that Roy was kidding them. They were a bit surprised to see H. & B. go up to 83 next day, and they were still more surprised when it closed at 85 on Saturday. “fT wonder how Woods guessed it was going up?” one clerk asked the other. “Oh, it was just accident,” said the other. “He really didn’t know any more about it than the man in the moon.” : . “We might have made a little haul if we had ought it when it was at 78 5-8.” “That’s so; but who ever thought it would go up to 85?” “At that moment Roy came up. “What do you think of H. & B. now? Didn’t I tell you it was going up? I'll bet you didn’t take any stock in what I said, and you failed to buy when I advised you to.” ' You made a lucky guess, that’s all, Woods.” - «That so? I told you it was going above 90, didn’t I? - Well, just watch it, and see if it doesn’t - go ten points higher than it is now.” “Ten points!” said one of the ‘clerks. dreaming!” os “It’s a good thing to have those kinds of dreams. If I have enough of them I'll become a _ millionaire some day.” “Sure you will,” laughed the clerk—“in your ~ mind.” : : “Better buy H. & B., even now, if you can get it, and make $10 a share on it,” said Roy, walk- ing off, who knew the clerks wouldn’t do any such thing. Joe On Monday H. & B, opened at 86, and was - goon the cause of some excitement. It continued to advance, and traders began tumbling over themselves in their eagerness’ to get hold of some ‘of it. At noon it was selling at 90, and at two ’clock it had reached 95. Roy, on his return from an errand, dropped at Webster & Co.’s office, and ordered his ock sold in small lots. His instructions were 4 “You’re TEN SILENT BROKERS “AB carried out, and his shares fetched an average of 95 8-8. This gave him a clean profit of $200,000, and made him worth over $300,000. He wondered what kind of a fit his employer would have if he learned that his messenger had made so much money in the market. ; CHAPTER XI.—The Wall Street Ten. H. & B. closed at 97 17-8 that afternoon, opened at 98 next morning, went up to 99, and then began to drop slowly back. In the course of an hour there was a rush of selling orders, which increased the excitement, but did not de- velop into anything like a panic. Roy was sent with a message to a broker in the Pluto relia on Broad Street. The trader having steppe into a neighboring office, the boy had to wait till he came back. He took a seat near a couple of gentlemen, who proved to be brokers. These gentlemen were talking about the intimate busi- ness relations that had existed between Richard Cordley and William Deacon, the broker who had lost his life at Newport. “The Newport police never discovered the per- son or persons responsible for the death of Dea- con, did they?” said one of the gentlemen. “T never heard that they did,” replied the other. “Tt was a mysterious affair. Seems to me the world is full of mysteries that the police never unravel.” “There was something in the papers at the time about ten men having been seen on the shore about the hour that Deacon met his death.” “Yes, I remember reading’ about it. It was Jessup’s messenger who claimed that he met the ten men somewhere on the rocks. He made his statement under oath before the coroner’s jury, but nothing came of it. The police made an in- vestigation and then ridiculed the idea—which is the usual way with the police when they find themselves blocked.” “I think myself that the story of the ten men looks rather fishy. The boy said they looked like gentlemen. Now the evidence shows that Deacon was not only, in all probability, murdered, but was robbed as well. That could only be the work of footpads, not gentlemen. The night was a dark and stormy one, so it’s my idea that the boy saw only three or four men and imagined the rest.” “Well, Cordley, lost a good friend, I under- stand, when Deacon turned up his toes. I heard that Deacon pulled Cordley out of two or three financial holes by loaning him considerable sums of money.” “That may be, but Cordley has been doing un- commonly well since Deacon’s exit from this mundane sphere. He’s been hand in glove with several big syndicates, notably the one that boomed D. & O., J. & C., and H. & B.’ “Nobody seems to know any of the members of these syndicates. I’ve heard it hinted that they are made up of the same people—a kind of secret clique:” “JT wouldn’t be surprised. Their. operations appear to be very successful. They must be men _ of millions, who are well up on the inside work- ings of Wall Street.” ; " a t x

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> -and he laughed at me. 16 “Say! A funny thing happened to me yester- ‘day. Blessed if I can understand it.” “What was it?” “You know the Gannon brothers, don’t you?” “V’m not acquainted with them personally, but I know them by sight. They’re twins, and both mutes. Have to talk with a pad of those unac- quainted with the sign language. What about them?” “Yesterday afternoon, about half-past three, I met them coming out of the Standard Building, where they have their offices, on the fourth floor. I conversed with them in the dumb alphabet, but they were in a hurry to go uptown, and we only talked about a minute. Then I took an elevator * up to the fourth floor to see Cordley. As I step- ped out who do you suppose I saw in front of me?” “How should I know?” “The same Gannon brothers I had left on the street only three minutes before!” “Get out!” exclaimed his companion. “How could you?” “But I did. I was completely staggered. Be- fore I recovered myself they took an elevator and went down.” ‘ ; “T never heard that there were two pairs of Gannon twins,” 3 “There isn’t. I called Cordley’s attention to the circumstance as soon as I entered his office, He insisted that I was mistaken in thinking the second pair were actu- ally duplicates of the Gannon brothers. He said he knew the Gannons as well as he knew any one, in fact better, if anything, and he knew there were only two of them.” “Fe ought to know, then.” “T don’t care what he knows. Those two men I met onthe fourth floor were the dead images of the Gannon brothers. I guess I’ve as good a pair of eyes as anybody in Wall Street.” At that moment the office boy came up and told Roy to carry his message into the private room, so he didn’t hear any more of a conversa- tion that was. intensely interesting to him. “Know that gentleman yonder?” he asked the boy, indicating the man who had seen two pairs of the Gannon brothers. “Yes; that’s Broker Dayton.” “Where's his office?” “Mills Building.” -Roy delivered his message and then returned to his own office, where he made a note in his memorandum-book that Broker Dayton had seen two pairs of the Gannon brothers and was greatly puzzled by the fact. Four or five weeks passed away, and things went on as usual with Roy Woods. Sometimes he wondered why Mr. Cord- ley had not called on him for the He dency he had lost, the intrinsic value of which, h had gathered from Tiffany’s manager, was about $150. He was satisfied that Cordley did not care to admit that the button was his, and that fact added to the boy’s suspicions ‘that there was something behind it. By close observation he had found out that Cordley was very thick with the Gannon brothers. He also discovered that the three men who wore mustaches, derby hats, sack coats, and the special brand of cuff-button we have so frequently alluded ‘to, were extremely friendly terms ~ with both ‘Cordley and the Gannon brothers. Roy sometimes TEN SILENT BROKERS 7 Be a asked himself if these men were members of the unknown clique or syndicate represented by Cord- ley. One afternoon, as he was leaving the office, about four o’clock, he saw one of the men, whom he thought was Grismer, enter the office of the Gannon brothers. While he was waiting for the elevator to take him down, a cage came up and Jet out another of the men, whom Roy took for Mitchell, ; The man went directly to the same office. When Roy reached the corridor below he ran against the third, whom he judged to be Bailey, just stepping into an elevator. 2 “There must be a meeting up in Gannon Broth- ‘ ers’ office,” thought the boy, pausing near the outer entrance. “I’d give a whole lot to know what is going on in there.” He walked as far as the sub-treasury building and stopped. “T’m going back to see if I can find out any more points,” he muttered. So he went back and took an elevator for fourth floor. The corridor was empty. He hung around a few minutes, and then, approaching the ee door of the office of the Gannon Brothers, © stooped down and applied his eye to the key- hole. It certainly was not a dignified nor honor- | able proceeding on Roy’s part, but he did not consider that for the moment. He got a good view of the interior of the private room, and he saw, gathered about a good-sized table, the three men, together with Richard Cordley and the six Gannon brothers, as he styled them.. As they sat there all about the same size, and all dressed in sack coats, without. their hats, how- ever, Roy at last had the Wall Street ten together, and as their number was ten, he associated them at once with the mysterious Newport ten. There was no doubt now that there were six Gannon facsimiles. He was looking right at them. That. circumstance was decidedly suspicious, since both Oscar Gannon and Richard Cordley had positively denied the existence, as far as they knew, of the duplicate pairs. Roy saw that each of the ten in the room wore black-enameled, diamond-encrusted cuff-buttons. ; ee “T’ll bet every dollar I own that this is the un-— ‘* known syndicate that boomed D. & 0., J. & C., and = = H. & B.,” breathed Roy, as he took in the scene — before him. “I'll also bet those are the ten men I met on the Newport rocks, and that they could throw plenty of light on the death of William | Deacon. I wish Mr. Jessup was in his office now. I’d bring him out here and let him see the six Gannon brothers, as plain as a pikestaff. I wish——” ; “3 ee Roy jumped up as quick as a wink and saun- —— tered over to the elevator, for his sharp ears heard — footsteps approaching, and he didn’t want to be — caught pursuing the net of a young Paul Pry. Roy lingered around for half ah otis fore he got another chance to take a look through the keyhole; then he saw the ten men inside had left the table, résumed their hats, and seemed about to break up. ; 6 ae “Well, I can’t learn anything more to-day,” h» said to-himself, “but I have learned a whole lot, just the same. I have at last rounded up the Wall Street ten, and discovered their rendezvous, I can identify six of them, at any rate—Cordle+, Grismer, Mitchell, Bailey, and the Gannon brothe f ECAP ET me Cae - ate | DP

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+ ers. This brings the puzzle down to the four un- known duplicates of the Gannon brothers. Who they are and why they keep under cover, or pass _ themselves off at times for the real Gannons, is the mystery I’d like to penetrate. Maybe I will yet, for I think I’ve done pretty well so far. If these men are the unknown Wall Street syndicate, as I confidently believe they are, Pm in posses- sion of a fact that the entire Stret is ignorant of. At any rate, I mean to watch this ten combination as closely as possible after this, and see what will » turn up.” “Thus speaking to himself, Roy boarded an ele-' vator and went home. CHAPTER XII.—Roy Wins Over Half a Million And a Heart as Well. ; About this time there was a lot of talk in Wall ‘Street, and in the papers, about the efforts of a certain financial railway magnate to capture the control of the E. & G. Railroad. The majority of the directors of the road were said to be op- posed to the man getting his flukes in, but it was the general belief in financial circles that he’d come out on top in spite of the opposition he was up against. This man already controlled a number Z of the largest trunk lines in the country, and though his methods did not meet with the ap- proval, he managed to get ahead just the same. The E. & G. was an important road in_ its field out West, an dit was considered a sure thing that if he succeeded in capturing the line he would _ push the price of the stock up many points. It was now going at 92, which was rather low for it. In good times it sold at 105 and upward. After figuring the matter up, Roy decided to buy 20,000 shares of this stoek, just to see how things would e out. He didn’t see how he could lose anything - the deal. : In fact, all the chances were in his favor of his making anywhere from five to ten dollars a share if he held on long enough.. Hardly had he bought the stock when it jumped up to 97 in one hour. This caused a great deal of excitement in the Exchange, and in the rush to purchase that fol- - lowed it went up to 100. From a conversation that Roy overheard between Mr. Jessup anda big oper- ator, the boy decided to sell, and not chance it go- ing higher. He gave the order to his broker, Mr. _» Webster, to do so, and the stock was sold at 100 and a fraction, Roy realizing a profit of $160,000. hat put the young messenger’s resources ony - glose to the half-million mark. Next day E. & G. began to drop, and in two days was down to 94. _ Roy then got Webster to buy him in 30,000 of the same stock. A week later E. & G. was up to pay again. Roy was about to sell at that figure when the news “was circulated that the railroad mogul had secured ~ gontrol of the road.’ The result of this rumor was that the stock went bounding up to 110. Roy _ ordered his shares sold at that price, in lots of 5,000, and he collared a profit of $480,444. The oe messenger was fairly dazed by the money he had made in his two E. & G. deals—$640,000 altogether. j “Lor?! he ejaculated. “Am I really worth with- in- $50,000 of a million? Why, this deluge of ‘ TEN SILENT BROKERS . 17 money has taken my breath away. The whole thing has been just like a dream! ‘To think of me, a messenger, dealing in 20,000 and 30,000 lots of railroad stock ata time! I can’t realize it. When I sold the last lot its market value amounted to $3,800,000, and I held it on a deposit vf $300,000. Gee! I guess I’d better give up the messenger business. When a fellow is worth as much as I am, there is uo call for him to be at the beck and call of other people. I’ve been so long with Mr. Jessup, and he treats me so fine, that I hate to break away from him. I believe I’d rather work for him than be my own boss. Well, I must con- sider carefully what is, best for me to do.” The report that the railroad magnate had got control of E. & G. proved to be premature, and the price of the stock dropped quick as a wink, causing quite a panic in the market. A number of brokers were forced to suspend, while many others were hard hit. The Street declared that somebody had put up a job, and got away with it, and there was howling and gnashing of teeth on all sides. No one could tell how many out- siders had been caught, but it was generally believed that the number was not small. In fact, it was noticed that there was a sudden dearth of lambs in the district. Among the brokers who had been badly nipped was Mr. Jessup. : He and many of his friends had gone into EK. & G., and had held on too long. hey had been tipped off to the fact that E. & G. would go to 115, but as we have seen, it only went to a little over 110, which indicated that astute per- sons had managed to get a fake pointer to Jessup and his friends, and they had been caught where the hair was short. : When settlements were in order, Jessup found that Richard Cordley and the Gannon brothers had him cornered to a considerable extent. He found that he would haverto sell his best securities out- right and mortgage his home to-keep his head above water. By doing, that he would be able to save his seat in the Exchange and keep on doing business as if nothing had happened to cripple him. Jt was a hard thing for him to dispose of his gilt-edged securities at that time, for the prices of stocks were lower than for several years. It would mean a great loss to him, for he had paid much more for them than: he could sell them for now. The fact got out that Jessup, among others, had been badly done » in the FE. & G. slump, and Nellie Abbott heard about it through her father. She told Roy the next time he called. “This is news to me,” he replied. “Papa says he heard that Mr. Jessup has ap- plied to the Guarantee and Trust Co. for money, offering his house as security.” “Tf that’s true, it’s fierce. One man’s food — seems to be another man’s poison. Why, I made © $640,000 out of E. & G. myself.’ Bes “Why, that’s over half a million!” cried the girl, fairly paralyzed by his statement. “That’s- what it is. I’m now worth within. “What a . $50,000 of a clear million.” “My goodness!’ lucky boy you are!” “T won’t deny that I’m lucky. If luck doesn’t follow you in Wall Street you might as well fold up your tent and keep away from the Street.’ . “How. did you make so much out of FE. & G. she ejaculated. — PES, Pay ee

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18 when your employer and so many others have lost heavily?” ; “By selling out at the top of the market before the slump set in.” “How did ypu know the slump was coming?” “7. didn’t know.” “Then you must have guessed it.” “No I didn’t.” “Then why did you sell?” “Because I have made it a rule never to hold on for the last dollar. -When E. & G. reached 110 I thought that was high enough for me. So I sold. I hadn’t more than got out before the slump came on. The price dropped as you’d drop a red-hot potato if somebody put it in your hand. Those who were caught were caught good and hard, be- cause they had no chance to save themselves. It fas. just as if the ground dropped out from under them.” “Well, you’re just too fortunate for anything!” she said. “In Wall Street, yes; but I’m not sure I’ll be so fortunate in something else I’ve set my heart on.” “What is that?” asked the girl inquisitively. ‘Do you want to know real bad?” “If you wish to tell me.” “T don’t know whether I dare or not.” “Why not?” “Because you are a party to it.” “Tam? In what way?” “In a very important way. You won’t be angry - with me if J tell you?” “Angry with you? Why, of course not. I wouldn’t get angry with you for anything!” “Tm glad to hear it. Then I'l] tell you what I’ve set my heart upon—lI’ve set my heart on winning you for my wife. Now you know the whole thing. Are you angry?” “Evidently she wasn’t, for a few minutes after- ward something that sounded suspiciously like a couple of kisses broke the silence of the room, and for the rest of the evening Roy and Nellie Abbott sat unusually close together, and seemed unusually happy: CHAPTER XIIJ—In Which Roy Learns the Plans of the Syndicate of Ten. Roy felt sorry to learn that Mr. Jessup had got into a financial hole through the unexpected slump in E. & G., and he determined to help him out. So next morning Roy followed Mr. Jessup into his private office as soon as he came in, and ~ asked him if he could have a few minutes’ pri- vate conversation. “Certainly,” replied the broker as Roy helped him off with his overcoat. “IT suppose it will surprise you to learn, Mr. Jessup, that I’m worth nearly a million dollars,” began the boy, seating himself beside the desk. “A million dollars!” ejaculated the broker, Jooking hard at the boy. “Well, yes, it certainly does surprise me. When did this good luck hap- pen to you? Has some wealthy relative of yours made you his heir?” “No, sir; nothing like that. I made the money myself.” , p “You made nearly a million dollars!” gasped - Mr. Jessup, looking at his messenger as if he thought he had suddenly lost his mind. “What is this you are telling me?” : TEN SILENT BROKERS pe “J made it in the stock market since I’ve been working for you.” : Another gasp from the broker. oe -“J should be glad to have you explain, for I : certainly can’t make head nor tail of what you are telling me.” : Accordingly, Roy began at the beginning and told the broker how for a long time he had been a customer of the little bank and brokerage house on Nassau Street, beginning with a purchase of five shares of a certain stock, on which he put up $50—money which he had saved for the pur- pose. ; He had more than doubled his money on his first deal, and he kept right on, with varying success, until he had accumulated $3,000.. “Then I bought 600 shares of R. & A., and — made over $9,000 out of it,” went on Roy. “After — that I bought 1,000 D. & O., and cleared $21,000. With $34,000 capital, I purchased 3,000 J. & C., and my profit on that deal amounted to $78,000, which made me worth over $100,000. That brings me up to the recent E. & G. flurry. IT first bought 20,000 at 92, and when it reached par e I sold out, clearing $160,000. When it went down ~ to 94 I bought 30,000 shares of it, and after ; holding it a few days I sold at the climax of the excitement, making $480,000 clear profit. I have now in a safe-deposit box in the Washington —_ vaults, a few doors below here, $950,000 in cash. That’s the whole story.” ; “5, Mr. Jessup looked at Roy a few moments with- out uttering a word. He was dumbfounded atthe boy’s revelation. aes “Tf you are the possessor of $950,000, young man, you are much better off than I am at this” moment,” returned the broker. “Well, sir, you will pardon me for stating — that I heard through Miss Abbott last night that you had been badly caught in the slump of E. & G. So badly, indeed, that you were going to mortgage your home to raise money. ow, you needn’t do that. The whole of the money I have — in my deposit box is at your service. Take what _ you need of it to see you through, and return it to me when you can. Your simple unindorsed note is good enough for me, for you have always — treated me white since I’ve been with you.” ees We will pass over the balance of the interview, — merely saying that when the broker realized that his messenger had told him nothing but facts he gladly accepted the boy’s offer, saying that $250,- 000 would enable him to meet his engagements, — That sum-Roy immediately got for him, and — Mr. Jessup lost no time in settling with Cordley and the Gannon Brothers. ee Shortly afterward the broker was advised of a good thing about to be pulled off in the market. He let Roy in with him, and together they cleared © three-quarters of a million, which was just! the — same as finding $375,000 for the boy, and raised his capital to $1,300,000. Mr. Jessup at once returned him the money he had borrowed, and had something over $100,000 left with which to — carry on his business. The broker was very grateful to Roy for the help he had given him at a critical time, and he made a proposition to the boy to take him into the office on the first of the coming year as his junior partner. Roy accepted the proposal, and the necessary papers were drawn up and signed, to take effect on the first of Januarv. which was vet a few weeks off. ee sf

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Every afternoon when Roy was through for the day he hung around the corridor, keeping lis eye on the offices of Gannon Brothers and Richard Cordley. Nothing turned up to reward lis vigilance until the week before Christmas. “Phen one afternoon he noted the arrival of the three men—Grismer, Mitchell and Bailey—who entered the office of Gannon Brothers. _ Five minutes afterward Roy saw either the Gannon brothers, or a hee of their duplicates, step out of one of the elevators and go into the game office. Ten minutes later another pair of the sextette came out of another elevator and disappeared into the office. Then a boy came out of Gannon Brothers’, and crossing the corridor entered Mr. Cordley’s office. He returned in a few minutes, accompanied by, Mr. Cordley, Roy -_- was now satisfied that there was going tobe an- ~ other meeting of the syndicate, and watching his chance, took a peep through the keyhole of the door of the private room and saw the ten men ~ drawn up around the table as he had seen them ormer occasion. | rae them used the sign language altogether _ to express their sentiments, and that fact satisfied ~ Roy that they were the real Gannon brothers, though their four duplicates looked so much like them that it was a puzzle to distinguish the two oo to Wall Street. , a , “The Sona of their voices reached him through the keyhole, and he applied his ear to the orifice _ to'see if he could find out what they were talking BS: about. He soon learned that the ten men inside were going to corner A. & L, stock, which was now going at 72, and as soon as they had the bulk of it in their possession they intended to gend it above par and capture at least $80 a ‘share profit. ; ae feeened and made a note on a piece of “paper, of the amount of the stock that the syn- “dicate counted on as being out of the market. ‘The chief block was one of 50,000 shares, owned by the widow of a multi-millionaire railroad man, amed Horace Watkins, who had died several i efore. erie nay, who resided with one of her daugh- ‘ters in Vienna, was old and methodical in her ys. It was known that she had received offers or her stock at different times, but had turned the offers down with the answer that she never nténded to sell it, for she was quite content with the steady income of five . she received through it. The syndicate figured ‘that anywhere from 75,000 to 100,000 shaves, in iddition to the amount held by the directors, vould not bother them, and they had money enough to swing the bulk of the balance. The syndicate of ten then broke up, after reeing to meet on the following Saturday after- ~ noon at two o’clock in Gannon Brothers’ office, which was their regular rendezvous, and Roy went home fully resolved that he would. partici- ‘pate in the profits of the syndicate by immediately ying as much of A. & L. as he could get hold . CHAPTER XIV.—A Rare Piece of Luck. ;morning Roy waited impatiently for Mr. ip to come downtown. _Ten o'clock came, and essup did not e his TEN SILENT BROKERS per cent. annually that ~ pearance, A few — Se Se aN 5. pas 10 minutes later the cashier received a telephone message from his house saying that the broker had been taken suddenly ill and would not be down that day. The news circulated through the office and Roy heard about it. He was greatly disappointed, for he wanted his employer to set the ball rolling for their mutual interests. He knew that no time ought to be lost in securing as much of the A. & L. stock ahead of the syn- dicate as possible. While he was considering the matter the cashier sent him out with a note to a broker in Exchange Place. After delivering “the note, to which there was no answer, he stop- ped in at Webster & Co., the brokerage firm which had put through his recent big deals. When Roy entered Mr. Webster’s private room that morning he wag greeted quite effusively by the broker, who scented another order, with a large commission attached to it. ; “What can I do for you this morning?” } “T want you to go out and buy me any part of © 30,000 shares of A. & L. as close to the market as you can get it.” i “All right,” replied Webster, rubbing his hands with satisfaction at the size of the order. “T will attend to the matter right away.” “Here is $300,000 deposit to’ cover the whole order. Should you be unable to fill the bill en- tirely, you can return the excess deposit to me when I call to-morrow.” ° Mr. Webster nodded, and Roy hastened back to his own office, arriving just in time to take out another message for the cashier. . On his way back from the bank, where he had taken the day’s deposit, about a quarter to three, Roy dropped in at Webster & Co.’s to find out how much A. & L. stock the senior partner of the firm had secured so far. . “The stock seems to be ve said Webster. “I’ve been mg 10,000 shares.” ' ‘ “Ts that all you think you can find?” asked ~ Roy, much disappointed. “No. From a note I’ve just received from Marcus Goodkind & Hirsch, I guess I’ll be able to get the other 20,000 in a lump.” “T hope you will. I’d like to get as much of it as» I-can,” Ae “T called on Goodkind & Hursh the first thing after getting your order, but they only had 1,000 shares, which I took. I asked Goodkind to let me know if he heard of any broker having any, and he promised he would. Well, ten minutes ago he ; sent me a note telling me to eall if I still wanted ~ A. & L., as he had received a commission -to dispose of a big batch of it at the market.” Pica whatever he’s got, Mr. Webster,” said oy. inet ta Scarce, Woods,” day picking up “All righti Will you. wait here until I asked the broker. i ic eee 4 Z said Webster. “The. order came to th on Broadway. { a

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20 Mrs. Horace Watkins, a widow, who is living in Europe. The order calls for the sale of the stock as soon as possible.” “Buy the entire block!” cried Roy eagerly. Mr. Webster didn’t lose any time in hustling around to Goodkind & Hirsch’s office and secur- ing the stock, which Goodkind had given him an nour’s option on. Roy returned to Webster’s of- ice about as soon as the broker did himself, and handed him the additional security. Webster then excused himself, as he had to make arrange- ments with his bank to help him carry such a big amount of stock as 60,000 shares worth $72 a share, or the total sum of $4,320,000. “Gee! I wonder what Mr. Jessup will say when I tell him about this big deal I’ve gone into?” thought Roy when he got out on the street. “He'll have to turn to and help me work it. Just think! I have now got control of over four million dol- lars’ worth of stock! I reckon I’m in a position to make things mighty interesting for the syn- dicate of ten. They have figured that Mrs. Watkins’ stock would not come into the market. I wonder what caused her to order it sold now, after saying that she never intended to sell it? Why, I almost had a fit when Mr. Webster said that it was her stock that Goodkind & Hirsh had for sale.” Roy felt tickled to death over the prospect that he saw ahead. He was sure that the syndicate would go right ahead, unsuspicious of the trap that lay in its path, and that with the tremendous amount of shares he had at his disposal he would be able to beat the Wall Street ten to a stand- still, for after they had boomed the stock up the thirty points they figured on, they would never be able to hold the market in face of Roy’s 60,000 shares, which he would be able to force them to take in or throw up their hands and go to the wall financial wrecks. Roy may be pardoned excited boy. His mother and sister naturally noticed his exuberant spirits. They asked him the cause, but he put them off, as he had often done before on the occasions when he was working a heavy deal. ‘That evening, after dinner, he vent over to Mr. Jessup’s house to see how the broker was getting on. He was surprised and disturbed to learn that Mr. Jessup was very sick, and could not be consulted on anything connected with business, There was hardly any probability that he would be back to his office inside of a week or ten days. “Well,” muttered Roy as he turned away after his brief: interview with Mrs. Jessup, “T guess it’s up to me to carry my deal through. .The new office boy that Mr. Jessup has hired to take my place on the first will have to take hold right away, so that I can have all my time to myself. PI eall at his house right away and tell him to report in the morning. Nobody but the cashier knows yet that I am on the eve of becoming the . junior partner of the house. My gracious! How nstonished the clerks will be when the news is eomminicated to them officially, and they see my - mame on the new stationery and upon the door as well!’ : f Roy chuckled gleefully as he boarded a down- ‘town car on his way to the new messenger’s Si, 7 y TEN SILENT BROKERS ee if he went home a very — CHAPTER XV.—Roy surprises Mr. Jessup __ Again. The new messenger was down at the office promptly at a quarter to nine, the time Roy told him to report and Roy himself came in afew minutes later. He devoted his time, till the cashier came in, to coaching the new boy in his duties; then he introduced him to the cashier, tell- — ing that gentleman that owing to certain condi- tions that had turned up he (Roy) could no : longer give his time to carrying messages about the Street. The cashier was a bit surprised, but as he knew that it was only a question of a few days when Roy was to quit as a messenger, anyhow, he pre- sumed that the prospective junior partner was — acting in accordance with instructions from Mr, — Jessup. tig a Roy then told him that the broker was quite ill, _ and would not be down for a week in all prob- ability. As soon as ten o’clock came Roy made a bee line for the Stock Exchange gallery, and stayed there till he felt hungry, when he went to ie Junch. After lunch he went back, and remained there till the Exchange closed for the day. He enjoyed watching the brokers buying and selling on the floor, but kept his eyes particularly on the look- out for Richard Cordley. es That broker did not appear on the floor at all that day, though Roy saw two of the Gannon sex-. — tette walking about with their tablets in their hands doing business, and he took it for granted Hage that they were the real Gannon brothers. pete The next day was Friday, and Roy haunted the _ Exchange the same as he had done the day be- fore. Cordley did not turn. up, and Roy judged that he was around town, visiting the brokers, and buying up A. & L. shares on the quiet. : Roy was present next day at the two-hour se sion of the Exchange, from ten to twelve, bu there was still no sign of Cordley. As soon as the syndicate of ten was meeting at two o’clock, an he could find out some more points through th convenient keyhole. Tee ’ As there was scarcely anybody in the building — except the janitor and his assistants at that hour on Saturday, Roy expected to have the corridor pretty much to himself. STE He reached the floor about ten minutes after two, and walked softly up to the door of the Gan- non Brothers’ private office. The syndicate of ten was already seated about the table in the room, and Richard Cordley was making his report. He said that on Monday he would make the final pur- chases in the open market. There were still about 30,000 shares: in the possession of outsiders, the bulk of which he considered it necessary that they should secure at any figure below 80. The final, ; plans were considered, and Roy found out ‘that the syndicate intended to unload just as soon as the stock reached a little above par. The ‘meetes ~ ing then adjourned, the members of the syndi- | — cate prraleng to come together again on Wedne day at five o’clock. _ eae ee Roy took care to make a break for the stai

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: (eae . as soon as he saw that the meeting was over, and i fa soon reached the street and started for home. - Next day, after dinner, he called at Mr. Jessup’s house'again. As Mr. Jessup had suggested to Roy that he had better not talk business, he was care- ful to avoid anything savoring of Wall Street. __ He remained a short time and then took his leave, promising to call on the following evening, or on Tuesday. ; he : Roy made his appearance in the visitors’ gallery of the Excange about a quarter-past ten the next morning. At eleven Cordley came on the floor, and taking his stand near the A. & L. post, be- gan bidding a fraction above the market rate for _ the stock. He gradually increased his bid until he was offering 75. Roy noticed that he made a number of purchases, but how many shares he thus secured the boy had no means of knowing. At half-past twelve he left the floor. Roy, con- cluding that he was through for the present, took the opportunty to go to lunch, after which he re- turned to the galley. : ~ Cordley reappeared on the floor at two o’clock, and remained until the Exchange closed, during “which time he made several purchases. : Next day he continued the same tactics, and A. & L. went up to 76. That evening Roy called on Mr. Jessup again. The broker was so much im- proved that the boy ventured to tell him every- thing he had learned ahout the Wall Street ten. ’ Mr. Jessup was astonished to learn that these men Roy had been following up composed the unknown syndicate which had been operating so successful- ly in the Street for the past half year or so. He no longer entertained any doubt about the exist- ance of the: Gannon brothers sextette, and was “satisfied that there: was something queer behind ea ; ter. ae can all we know, Roy, those four duplicates may have often impersonated the Gannon twins, as we call them, for some purpose or another. - Whether they have or not, they have some reason - for keeping in the background. So Grismer, _ Mitchell and Bailey are members of that syndi- cate, while Cordley, you say, appears to be the eader of it? When I get downtown I will take “measures to have this syndicate looked into. There _ may be something in your suspicion that they are the ten men you saw at Newport on the night of ~Deacon’s death. If so, their silence on the sub- ject may be regarded as suspicious, and I think he matter ought to’be investigated by the police. Deacon, I know, had close business relations with Cordley, and Cordley seems to be the leading spirit of the syndicate. Well, I’! attend to these gentlemen when I am in shape.” “Unless you get downtown soon, Mr. Jessup, here may be no syndicate for you to attend to, ‘replied Roy. a “What do you mean? “J have things so arranged that I expect to break the clique up rac tee! “What have you done?” : = Thats eae whole lot that I guess will aston- you when you hear about it. To begin with, I iscovered that: a ee of ten had made lans to corner A. & L. “Aye you sure of that, Roy?” asked the broker. “Positive.” “The boy then explained how, on the afternoon ad first seen the ten men together in the pri- ate room of the Gannon Brothers’ office, he had ey TEN SILENT BROKERS DT: overheard their plans through the keyhole. He repeated to Mr. Jessup the substance of what he had learned that day. Then he went on to say that on learning of Mr. Jessup’s illness he had gone ahead himself and given an order to Web- ster & Co. to buy 30,000, or any part of that num- ber, of A..& L. shares. Then he told the broker how the 50,000 shares belonging to Mrs. Watkins had turned up for sale most unexpectedly, and how he had secured control of them. “The syndicate of ten has gone ahead under the firm impression that those shares would, under no circumstances, come to the front. Now I propose they shall come to the front at the moment the clique is about to unload. Cordley will have to buy them in, or the syndicate must go to the wall. As the 60,000 shares I control. will then have a market value of six millions, I doubt very much if the syndicate will have funds enough lef to purchase even a quarter of them. I think I have the syndicate in a tight box at this moment, and all that is wanting to complete the ruin of the ten is for the moment to arrive for me to spring a big surprise on them in the shape of the 60 000 shares.” Mr. Jessup was amazed at the shrewd way Roy had worked matters, and he told the boy that there wasn’t one chance in ten that the Cordley crowd would be able to save themselves from a financial collapse.. He gave Roy a lot of good, practical advice about how to proceed in case he was unable to be on hand at the critical moment, and wound up by assuring the boy that he was very proud of the ability he displayed in Wall. Street matetrs, and prognosticated a brilliant and successful future for him. CHAPTER XVI.—Conclusion, Next day A. & L. crawled up to 80 under Cord- ley’s final efforts to get hold of the balance of the outstanding shares, mostly represented by the 10,- 000 that Webster had first bought for Roy. That afternoon, at the meeting of the Syndicate, it was decided to start the boom up next day, and ac- cordingly, on Thursday morning, Cordley got busy in earnest. He started to bid up the price, and when it reached 90 he had the brokers all tum- bling over themselves in frantic efforts to buy some of the stock. Great excitement prevailed on the floor, and the price went up to 95 by three o'clock. Roy, finding that the crisis was at hand, visited Webster & Co. that afternoon and told the head of the firm just what he wanted him to do. “As soon as A. & L. gets a fraction above 100 begin offering 10,000 shares, in small lots, to Cordley. Then get your partner to feed him 10,- 000 more in small blocks. He'll probably be able to take in that much all right. As soon as you’ve sold him the 20,000 both you and your partner can begin to dump the stock on him in 5,000 lots. If he can stand the bombardment, he’ll do much : better than I think he will. My object, you can © gee, is to break the market.” Sa “4 “But, my boy, you will lose money by so doing!” protested Webster. “Besides, you are certain to cause a panic that will bring ruin to many.” ; “T can’t help that, Mr. Webster. It is abso-- lutely necessary for the success of my plans that I break the syndicate at the back of A.&L. Un

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22 less the members of it are wealthier than I im- ogine they are, I shall do it. Just follow my di- vections, please, and don’t you worry about what may happen.” At eleven next day A. & L. touched 101, and then Webster and his partner, who were on the door, waiting to trade, came to the front and be- san alternately tendering the stock to Cordley, at first in 2,000 lots. The leader of the syndicate took it as fast as it was offered, though he‘didn’t like to do it for a cent.; When Webster offered him the first 5,000 lot Cordley seemed staggered, for he had figured that the syndicate now held all the outstanding shares. He had to take it in at any cost, for it was absolutely necessary for the syndicate to hold the market. — After a short interval Webster’s partner shoved another 5,000 at him. Cordley turned livid, but took it in sheer desperation. Then Webster turned ap with another 5,000. That capped the climax. Cordley had already been’forced to accept 30,000 shares at 101, representing an outlay of over three million, and he knew the syndicate did not have the money to pay for it. He couldn’t understand where the stock was coming from. Their plans were already knocked into a cocked hat, for the first time in the clique’s history, and ruin stared them in the face. ‘ “¥ ean’t take it!” he said soarsely. “Then Vl have to throw it on the market,” re- plied Webster. “Tt will break the price!’ gasped Cordley. “T gan’t help that. I am following orders.” “Have you any more besides that batch?” asked Cordley. - Yes.” . “In the name of thunder whose stock is it that you are offering?” - “Mrs, Horace Watkins’.” “My heavens! That settles it!” gasped Cord- ley. “We are ruined!” E He rushed from the Exchange like a madman to communicate the terrible news to his asso-" ciates, who were awaiting results in the office of the Gannon Brothers. By the time he faced them, the picture of despair, the market was on the run, and the most intense excitement ran riot in the Exchange. It could scarcely be called a panic, however, as few persons were really involved in the slump of A. & L. The syndicate had most of the stock, and had been, caught before the mem- bers were able to unload any on the brokers or the public; consequently the clique of ten were practically the only sufferers, and they all went to the wall with a crash. When the Exchange closed A. & L. was down to _ 80. Next morning it opened at 79, and sank to 70 in an hour. Roy still held 20,000 shares, on which he was out about $60,000; but to offset this ~ he had three-quarters of a million profit coming to him. Whether he would get it all depended on the ability of the syndicate of ten to meet its en- sagements up to the moment of the slump. Roy had already carried the news of his success to Mr, Jessup, and that evening the boy called to com- municate the present state of affairs. The broker’ complimented him on the way he had managed the deal, and told him that he would be down at the office on the morrow. Next morning Mr. Jes- “up appeared at his office, feeling all right again. One of the first things he did was to call on Cord- ‘TEN SILENT BROKERS _ there. ley for a settlement. At the present state of the market, with relation to A. & L., Cordley, as rep- resentative of the syndicate, couldn’t settle, ex- cept at a reduced rate, and said so: “Well, then, bring every member of the syndi- cate to my office at three o’clock today, and I will see what terms I can offer you,” said Mr. Jessup, leaving him. : Cordley notified his associates of Jessup’s ulti- matum, and then returned to his office and shut himself up in his private room, leaving orders — that he was not to be disturbed under any cir- cumstances. His wishes were respected until. quarter to three, when the Gannon brothers called and insisted on seeing him. The office boy knocked on the door several times without receiving an answer.. Finally he opened the door and looked in. Cordley sat bent over at his desk. The Gan- non brothers pushed their way in and found that Cordley was dead. He-had committed suicide by swallowing a poisonous drug. Ten minutes later the office boy of the Gannon brothers carried a note in to Mr, Jessup. It read as follows: 2 “The syndicate of the ten silent brokers will meet Mr. Jessup in the corridor at three o’clock — sharp. : “ (Signed) ONE OF THEM.” |. The broker locked at the clock. It wanted half a minute of three. : : “Come,” he said to Roy, passing him the note to — read. “We will meet them in the corridor, since they so desire, but we will not, of course, transact, any business with them there. If they have a set- tlement to propose they must submit it to you, for the deal ig really yours. You may, settle with them on your own terms, for you’ve got them where the shoe pinches.” Roy, following Broker Jessup into the corridor, beheld, to his amazement, nine men, dressed and looking exactly alike, drawn up in a row. Each —— held a certificate of stock in his hand. Roy recog- nized them as the silent brokers. That is, every one of the nine was a duplicate of the Gannon brothers. Mr. Jessup was also an.azed and dum- founded by the sight before his eyes. Neither hé nor Roy could put his hand on any particular one, and say positively that he was Oscar or Oliver Gannon, the dumb twins. They maintained abso- lute eae and seemed waiting for Mr. Jessup to speak. sone “What kind of mummery is this?” asked the broker at length. wie The man who stood on the right end of the line _ presented a pad on which was written: Zn “Cordley is dead. He committed suicide in his office a short time ago. The settlement, there- fore, devolves on us. What are your terms?” __ Both Roy and Jessup were shocked to learn of Cordley’s tragic death. 5 es “Come into my office,” said the broker, “and some arrangement may be made.” = They shook their heads, and pointed to the pri- vate door of Gannon Brothers’ office, thereby in- timating that they wished matters concluded in Mr. Jessup nodded. The nine silent brokers walked into the room, followed by Roy and Mr. Jessup. ee ie “Before anything is done,” said Roy, stepping forward, “I want to know who you each are, indi- vidually. I am the person with whom you have-t setile, not Mr. Jessup.” ne ee \

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Mr. Jessup corroborated the boy’s statement, to the great surprise of the nine.. One of them wrote on a pad that they could not understand how it was that the boy had anything to do with the mat- ter, as they supposed they had to deal with a rec- ognized broker, like Mr. Jessup. Jessup, however, said that Roy had put the deal through with his - own money, and without any assistance from him or anybody else, and consequently he was the per- ~son the broken syndicate had to deal’ with. Roy then demanded again that each man would write his name on his pad and hand it to him. | “T know that three of you are named Grismer, Mitchell and Bailey. Two of you are the Gannon brothers, and the other four are duplicates of the Gannons. The tenth man is Cordley, who is dead. I especiaily want to know who the four duplicates of the Gannon brothers are. I also want your ad- - mission that you are the ten men I met on the rocks at Newport on the night of the death of -. William Deacon; and I demand from you an ex- _ planation of that mystery. If you reply to all my questions satisfactorily, I will settle with you on ~ + terms that will let you down easily; if you refuse ~ to do so, you will have to take the consequences.” When Roy had had his say one of the nine stepped to the head of the table and said that the death of Cordley had put an end to their bond of silence on the subject of the death of Deacon. From his statement, Deacon, after loaning Cord- Jey many thousands of dollars, had suddenly made a demand for immediate repayment, threatening him with ruin if he failed to come to time. Cord- ley, after a consultation with the syndicate, which he had just formed, decided that his only salva- tion depended on intimidating Deacon into a set- -tlement. He and his nine associates went to New- port in separate bunches that Saturday, and Cordley sent word to Deacon that he would meet him’‘on the beach, ‘not far from Green’s cottage, that night, and arrange terms for payment of the ‘money.. At the appointed hour Deacon came to the beach, and found Cordley there with his asso- ciates. — . , _ Deacon refused, and a scrap ensued between the men, during which Deacon fell.on the rocks and fractured his skull, dying immediately. Cordley and, his associates were staggered by the unex- ected ending of the interview, and after a hur- ried consultation decided to stick by one another and maintain perfect silence on the matter. To - make the accident appear like a murder and rob- bery, they took Deacon’s watch, jevert and money and tossed them into the bay, and then laced the body where it would have been washed way by the tide had not Roy come along and moved it up the beach. Unluckily, Cordley dropped one of his cuff-buttons there, too. eft the shore and took a late train for New York. The spokesman then explained the marvelous resemblance of the three pdirs of Gannon rothers was due to the fact that they were actu- ally brothers, and three pair of twins, at that; but y two of them were mutes. They formed the erage firm of Gannon Brothers, but the Street kept in ignorance of the fact that there were -aded in public at different times as the known mmies. The fact that Grismer, Mitchell and ey resembled one another was quite acci- nd was intensified by the fact that the a 1 ment.to dre Ji TEN SILENT BROKERS The ten then’ more than: two in the firm, and all six masquer-_ result of an unbroken tradition of a actly alike -scending from father to son, 23 as long as they held together as the syndicate of the ten silent brokers. Roy accepted the explanation of the members of the syndicate he had broken, and consented to help them out of their financial difficulties by agreeing to boom A. & L. to 90; and hold it there until they had “nloaded their enormous holdings at a fair profit, Cordley’s interests to be looked after for the benefit of his widow. This arrange- ment was carried out, and Roy himself made a good profit out of the 20,000 shares he had not sold during the slump. After the conclusion of the deal the syndicate broke up as a combination, and each continued his career as before the for- mation of the clique. The six Gannon brothers were not interfered with by Roy, and they car- ried on business as they had done before. On the first of the year Roy was publicly announced as the junior partner of the new firm of Jessup & Woods, and took his place as the firm’s repre- sentatives at the Exchange, where he made him- self very popular among the traders. Today he is the head of the firm of Woods & Co., and the husband of Nellie Abbott, and his best friends are the nine men who, with the dead Cordley, once made up the ten silent brokers. Next week’s issue will contain “ONLY A FAC- TORY BOY; OR, WINNING A NAME FOR HIMSELF.” , ; TIME MEASUREMENT. Why is our hour divided into sixty minutes, each minute into sixty seconds, etc.? Simply and solely because in Babylon there existed, by the side of the decimal system of notation, another system, the sexagesimal; which counted by six- ties. Why that number should have been chosen is clear enough, and it speaks well for the prac- tical sense of those ancient Babylonian mer- chants. There is no number which has so many - divisors as 60. The Babylonians divided the sun’s daily journey into 24 pasasangs, or 720 stadia. Each parasang, or hour, was subdivided into 60 minutes. A parasang is about a German mile, and Babylonian astronemers compared the prog- ress made by a good walker during the same time, both accomplishing the -parasang. - The whole course of the sun during the fourteen i parasangs, or 720 stadia, or 360 degrees. The system was handed on to the Greeks, and Hipparchus, the great Greek philosopher, who lived about 150 B. C., introduced the Babylonian hour into Europe. Ptolemy, who wrote about’ 156 = A. D., and whose name still lives in that of Ptolemaic system of astronomy, gave still wider - peices to the Babylonian way of reckoning ime. _It was carried along on the quiet stream of tra- — ditional knowledge through the Middle Ages, and, p strange to say, it sailed. down safely over the = Niagara of the French Revolution. For the French, when revolutioning weights, measures, 3 coins and dates, and subjecting all to the decimal system of reckoning, were induced by some unex- plained motive to respect our clocks and watches, and allowed our dials to remain sexigesimal—that is, Babylonian—each hour consisting of sixty min-— utes. Here we see the wonderful coherence of the world, and how what we call knowledge is the teaching - hap

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WILL, THE WAGON BOY or, The Diamonds that Came by Express By GASTON GARNE (A Serial Story.) CHAPTER XXIV.—Conclusion. “Wold on!” shouted Ben. “This won’t do! Light up here, you old rascal! Light up, I say!” XB. quiet! Stand your ground!” the voice of the fakir was heard to say. “Neither speak nor move if you want the Great Ghorgee!” While these singular happenings were taking place at Mr. Bum’s upstairs over the Albany street dive, Mr. Allen, proprietor of the Europ- ean express, was sitting quietly in his private office attending to business as usual. But for some unexplained reason he found it hard work to fix his thoughts upon what he was doing; they would revert to the matter of the . Sandusky diamonds, and the vexatious lawsuit which the prima donna had instituted against im. If Mr. Allen had ever heard of the Great Ghor- “gee he would doubtless have thought of that, too, but he knew nothing of the big diamond, which had not been invoiced with the rest, and ~ madame, the prima donna, had not dared to mention it to her lawyer fox, knowing that the attempt had been made to bring it into the coun- try free of duty, she feared to find herself up against Uncle Sam. All at once the telephone bell rang, and Mr. Allen picked up his desk receiver, and the fol- lowing conversation took place: “Hello! Hello! Is this the office of Allen’s Express?” “Yes, this is Allen’s Express.” “% want to speak with Mr. Allen, please. “Allen is at the phone. Who are you?” “No matter who I am. I wish to speak of the Sandusky diamonds. # “Who are you?”, : ; “Once more I tell you no matter who I am. If you are wise you will quietly listen to what T have to say.” : : “All right! Go ahead. I’m listening.” “It was a complicated plot,,the details of which you will perhaps never know. What you really want are the diamonds.” “Yes, yes.” + “Then get a detective or an Officer, or both, and go at once to No. —— Albany street to a saloon kept by an old Hindu Lascar named Bum- jado, commonly called Mr. Bum. There you will find Examiner Daycock,, of the Public Stores— the diamond expert, I mean. He is the thief and the murderer of Karl Kutter. He should be arrested. Also two private detectives named Ben “Bolton and Nellie Tighe. They will not be found there, but they must be arrested later, for they ean explain the mystery. Your diamonds will tu (aes \ FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY ‘ing no attention to Ben’s éries and kicks on the — . wT t be xeturned to you by Will Walker, the wagon zt boy. He is innocent of all wrong intention in the matter. If you are wise you will listen to his story, which, strange as it may appear, is true.. Good-by!” “Hello! Hello! Wait! cried Mr. Allen. It was no use, however. The mysterious voice came no more phone. i * * * * % ; Awed by the earnest words of the Hindu fakir, _ Ben Bolton for the moment made no move. < The room was so dark that he could see ab- solutely nothing, but he could hear a shuffling — about the floor. | ie eas ~ All at once the door flew open, and by the light which.came in from the hall Ben and Nellie saw — Mr. Bum dart out, dragging the masked boy by the hand. Sich hee With a cry of rage, Ben sprang to the door, but all too late, for it was slammed in his face, and the key turned in the lock. . ee Will, all mixed up as to what had occurred, — was instantly relieved of the cloak and mask. by the hands of the fakir, and his cap was placed on his head. E ssi “Are you all right?” whispered Mr. Bum, pay- I want to ask——” over the door. “Do you know what is going’ on now?” P a es,” said Will. “I know. What am Ito — 0? oes Then into his hand Mr, Bum thrust a small package, which in the darkness he had abstracted from the inside pocket of Examiner Daycock’s vest. + FEBS, “Here are the diamonds—take them back where _ they belong,” he breathed. “They are all there — but the Great Ghorgee—that you will do well to be silent about, for you will never see it again. Now go!” SN ere He pushed Will ahead of him down the dark stairs, and followed him into the street. am At the same instant the door flew open, and — out came Mr. Allen, followed by Jack Down the detective. Neither recognized the disguised boy, even when he rushed up to them, exclaim-— ing: “Oh, Mr. Allen! I’ve got the diamon Here they are!” of Mr. Bum. ; eS By the time Jack Downey had rounded up his unconscious prisoner in the station, whither he was taken in the patrol wagon, Will, restor to consciousness in Mr. Allen’s private office, ha told all his strange story. _ zs : It was received with far more

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he had dared to hope for, and to his immense relief Mr. Allen appeared to believe it. .The package was opened, and the diamonds, with the exception of the imitation crown jewels, were found intact. These were recovered later from the rubbish heap in the Maiden Lane office, and the whole were delivered to Madame San- dusky, who receipted for them without mention of the Great Ghorgee. > But Will told Mr. Allen all, and received the advice to say nothing to any one else about the mysterious Great Ghorgee. - Mr. Allen did not entirely drop the matter, however, and Ben Bolton and Nellie Tighe were hauled up at headquarters. : They confirmed’ Will’s story in every particu- jar, but claimed that it had been their intention to at once return the diamonds to Mr. Allen when they got them. This, there can be no doubt, was false. _-* Dr. Pajaro was found to be actually dead, and - he was buried by the New York Buddhist Society, of which he was a member, When the police came to look for Captain Bo- gan, alias Prince Bogano, they found that he had fied from the city. He was never heard of again. . Mr. Bum had also vanished. Abandoning all his property, the man never returned. _ Examiner Daycock awoke to ‘consciousness a raving maniac. From morning till night he kept - constantly calling out that he killed Karl Kutter, and that the devil prompted him to do it. He - died in an asylum, keeping up the same cry until the end. That he actually committed the mur- der there can be no doubt, but the full details of the affair weré never proved. Tom Rankin, his fellow examiner, was in the plot. He, it seemed, had been a patient-of Dr. - Pajaro, who had put.him up to the attempted robbery. ‘They were actually in the vacant of- fice as Will had described at Mr. Bum’s, and - the door was locked upon them. Probably Day- ~ eock did it. Rankin admitted telling him that an attempt was to be made to steal the diamonds, but he declared that he had never heard of the Great Ghorgee. . He was discharged by the government, but _ was not prosecuted. : ~ Joe Martin was soon released from the Tombs, his uncle declining to appear against him, and withdrawing his complaint. . At this time the Buddhist Society lost their famous Hindu leader, Swami Muryanda. It was learned that he sailed for Europe on the day Mr. Allen received the telephone message, accom- panied by a Hindu servant. - Was Muryanda Dr. Pajaro’s brother? 3 Was that servant Mr. Bum? Mr. Allen believes it. _ Six months later he showed Will, who still is in his employ, now holding a prominent position - in the office, an extract\from a Bombay news- pater which stated that the Rajah of Ghorgee had returned to his kingdom and assumed the _ throne of his ancestors. _ he extract further stated that the great dia- _ mond, which had for centuries formed the single - eye of the idol in the rock temple of Ghorgee, and which had been stolen years before, had been tes FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY ¥: mysteriously restored on the night the Rajah ascended to the throne. The people believed it to be a miracle, but the paper went on to say there were rumors that the diamond had been brought from Europe by a man named Bumjado, who was now the Rajah’s prime minister. Thus this strange case, which began in mys- tery, ended in mystery... But Mr. Allen never 25 doubted that Swami Muryanda was the new Ra-« - jah of that far distant Indian kingdom, and that it was he who called him up on the phone on that day, when he took the Great Ghorgee from Will, the wagon boy. And Will found that there was nothing in Dr. Pajaro’s pretension that there was a mystery to his life in England. The Hindo had merely been using him as a tool to get the big diamond. : THE END. A NEW SERIAL WILL BEGIN NEXT WEEK The title is TURNED AWAY > ie = ; A BOY IN SEARCH OF HIS NAME. By GASTON GARNE STEAM-DRIVEN AEROPLANE From Germany has come the report of the development of a steam-driven aeroplane which is said to be remarkably efficient in all of the points in which the gasoline-driven plane is lacking. The power and speed. of the steam-driven automobile are fairly well-known and recognized. The steam-~ powered airplane is built entirely of metal and steam is generated by a combination of crude and other oils which is broken up under a forced air feed and sprayed against the boiler. Here it ignites giving a terrific heat. It is said that ten gallons of oil are sufficient to run the plane's 750-horsepower engine for eight hours. The water tanks are located in the metal wings of the huge plane and the steam is condensed aftter use and_ returned to these tanks. American aeronautical engineers have experi- mented ‘with steam planes, but have encountered difficulty in condensing the steam and returning it to the water tanks without the use of heavy apparatus. They are inclined to doubt the state- ment regarding the small amount of fuel oil need- ed to operate the German plane. Hight hours’ flying from ten gallons of oil seems almost-too ood to be true. - There is little doubt that the future will bring a development of the steam- driven wee and it is unlikely that it will eventually replace the gasoline-driven one as a commercial vehicle, Fk -* ay a

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ee 26 THEFT OF HOUSE A complaint filed with the Paris police by Mme. Cabert said that her whole house had been stolen. Mme. Cabert stated that she had built a small house of wood in the Rue de la Saltpetriere. She was called away to visit a dying aunt and when she returned the house had disappeared. ee SPLINTERLESS GLASS Closely resembling ordinary glass and suitable to take its place for many purposes, a chemical substitute that is said not to splinter has been produced in Germany. Because of this quality, it is being recommended for panes of motor cars and in optical instruments. ANCIENT FASHIONS Pearls from the Ohio mound hoards show that the ancient Indians who built them and accumu- lated the jewels found in them were as fastidious ag modern jewelers about their quality, according to Dr. Walter Hough of the United States Na- tional Museum. They used only perfectly, shaped pearls, rejecting even the baroque that receive at east minor favor from Europeans. _ FROZEN EGGS ga, Eggs kept in cold storage in a frozen condition for nearly nine years have been found by the Bu- reau of Chemistry of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture to retain practically their original vitamin-A potency. From the results of this experimental work it seems that ae eggs and keeping them for long periods in col storage causes but little if any deterioration with respect to this vitamin. FIVE COLOR PENCIL A pocket pencil that will write in any one of five colors is a new convenience for the office man. It is of the self-feeding type. When a lead of a certain color is to be used, an indicator near the point is turned until it registers the desired color. A twist on a knurled knot at the end of the holder then ejects the lead at the point. The pencil has a clip to fasten it to the coat pocket. HOW SAVINGS GROW Ten dollars a month saved and put out at 4 per cent. compound interest will show an ac- cumulation of $1,475 in ten years; $7.50 a month will show $1,106; $6 a month will show $885; $5 a month will show $737; $4.50 a month will show $663; $4 a month will show $589; $3.a month will . show $442 and $2.50 a month will show $368, says the Thrift Magazine. ; Any sum saved and invested at 4 per cent. com- pound interest will more than double itself in twenty years. Save $10. At the end of the ‘first year you will have $10.40; in five years you will have $12.70. : At the end of the tenth year your interest will have grown to $6.20, and at the end of the twen- - tieth year your interest will be $10.70, or more than double your original sum, Carried along on H bie FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY BRIEF BUT POINTED RS the same basis $100 will become $207 and $1,000 — will grow to $2,070. ; Pena Save tencents a day and in ten years your daily — savings will be $865, in addition to $80.80 com- pound interest, making a total of $445.30. A , If you save 15 cents a day for ten years with Interest compounded at 4 per cent, you will have § $668; 20 cents a day will net $890.99; 50 cents a day will mean $2,227.78, and $1 a day will give you a total of $4,445.74, re THE MUD SPRINGS OF MENDOCINO The mud springs of Mendocino County, Cali- fornia, are located sixteen miles northeast o Westport on the coast. They occupy a space of twenty-five acres at an altitude of fourteen hundred feet above the sea, and number thirty or forty, with vents ranging from. three feet in ~ diameter to three inches. The water which bubbles out of the orifices holds in solution a large per- centage of bicarbonate of soda, which solidifies as" it spreads over the surrounding land, leaving the surface as white as though covered by snow. Few | persons visit these springs, on account of their inaccesibility, but, with the extension of the rail-— road from San Francisco, the place will certainly — become a popular resort. The water is ice cold, — but those who venture to take a mud bath profess __ to find great relief from their maladies. . In the vicinity there are numberless mineral springs of great volume and potency. A remarkable fact — relating to the mud springs is that every earth- — quake shock in the State, no matter how distant — it maybe, can be detected by action of the springs, for either the flow of water is increased or the soil which surrounds them quakes. It is said also that at regular periods the water of the springs ebbs — and rises like the tide. s SIMPLER BEDS FOR HOSPITALS tas Hospital beds about the simplest form of sleep- ing equipment made, have been further simplified, — through the efforts of the United States Depart-_ ment of Commerce, says the Medical Journal and Record. They are now made in thirty-three dif-_ ferent lengths, thirty-four different widths and forty-four heights. Following a conference with hospital officials, the Government recommends that. the standard hospital bed should be seventy-eight inches long and thirty-six inches wide, with widths of thirty-three and thifty-one inches when nar rower or wider beds are necessary. A bed twenty: seven inches high is said to be the most conven- jent for nurses. The Government and forty-six hospitals, manufacturers and associations have adopted this size as standard. (ie ea The American Hospital Association estimates that more than $350,000,000 is spent annually for — new construction and equipment in the hospitals — of the United States and Canada. The Department of Commerce says that a saving of only 1 per cent. by reducing the waste due to excessive variety i hospital equipment would mean the release o nearly $10,000,000 a year that could be expende for enlarging hospital facilities, Pot Roe

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Fame and Fortune Weekly NEW YORK, AUGUST 20, 1926 TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS TRAE TS fe aOR RAP Tey eet ; Be Mingo: Copies occas. dees ones Postage Free 8 cents 3 One Copy Three Months re ore re 1.00 ; = <7 One Copy Six Months .a.cersses ee 7 2:00 4 One Copy One Year .....-+.000 : 4.00 Canada, $4.50; Foreign, $5.00. HOW TO SEND MONEY—At our risk send P. O, Money Order, Check or Registered Letter; remittances in any other way are at your risk. We accept Postage Stamps the same as cash. When sending silver wrap the Coin in a separate piece of paper to avoid cutting the envelope. Write your name and address plainly, “ Address letters to WESTBURY PUBLISHING CO., Inc. 168 W. 23rd St., N. ¥. C. - PRED KNIGHT, Pres. and Treas, R. W. MARR, Vice-Pres, and Sec. | ITEMS OF INTERES -, NURMI KEEPS WORLD’S TITLE _ Paavo Nurmi, the Finnish runner, again re- _ tained his crown as the world’s champion miler. * He defeated the Swedish champion, Edwin Wide, in 4 minutes 11 seconds. Wide’s time was two seconds slower. In the 6,000-meter relay race the team headed by Nurmi set a new record of 16 minutes 26 sec- onds. . RADIO DIRECTION FINDERS TO LOCATE Bes 2 RUM-RUNNERS | : The Coast Guard put into operation recently - another weapon against rum-runnerg in the form of a radio direction finder. By means of the in- strument, developed by the Bureau of Standards, it will be possible for Government vessels to de- tect the position of rum-runners using the radio. The device, invented several years ago, has now een perfected so that it may be operated suc- cessfully on the fleet of small patrol boats recently added to the Coast Guard service. YTY-YEAR-OLD “IRON HORSE” PUFFS oes TO SESQUI EXPOSITION _ Puffing its way laboriously from Baltimore, the argest passenger locomotive in use fifty years ago as taken its place beside one of the mammoth ‘iron horses” recently turned out by the Baldwin ~ Locomotive -Works, at an exhibit of that corpora- ion at the Sesqui-Centennial International Ex- sition, in Philadelphia. : ‘ The wonder-provoking engine of a-half century “ago, which was one of the chief attractions at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, is a pitiful pigmy pbeside the massive locomotive designed for use in 926. .The Baltimore engine took a prize at the entennial ExpositioN and its noisy and slow ration was a constant marvel while it was on Ww. ; ¢ SQUI LIVE STOCK SHOW TO GIVE $65,000 PRIZES e foremost judges of beef cattle, dairy cattle, herses, sheep and swine will inspeet the “select the winners in the Live Stock es. and ae FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY ‘one tell me why?” . you. Ey: Seen a aes co 27 Show which will be a part of the Sesqui-Centen- nial International Exposition, in Philadelphia, from September 12 to 19. More than $65,000 iz: prize money will be distributed. The stock show will be one of the outstanding events of its kind and virtually all of the leadin;: breeders of the country have announced they wil. participate. Entries will be accepted for the show ntil August 10. Blanks can be obtained by breeders and exhibitors from the Live Stock De- partment, Sesqui-Centennial Hxposition, Philadel- phia. A banquet will be tendered the exhibitors at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia ov _ September 14, % re LAUGHS Mamma—You must always remember to take your sister’s part, Johnny. Johnny—I do. I took her part of the cake just about five minutes ago. Bill—They say there is a good deal to be learned from the busy bees. Jill—So there is; bu: asa rule people are not anxious to take points from them, = “I want those eggs: stopped!” shouted the tragedian, striding to the footlights. ‘Well you’re stoppin’ ’em, ain’t you?” asked the boy in the gallery, soaking him with another. Irving Washington (wiping his lips)—That was really the sweetest kiss I have ever hac Louis Barkis—I thought you would think so. Irving; my face powder gave ou and I used confectioners’ sugar. “The. race is not always to the swift,” said the Sunday-school teacher impressively, “Can any be ora ae oe : gasoline tank explodes,” promp replied the up- to-date little boy. : vgs : eS A school board inspector once asked a class of children if any of them could tell-him what az epidemic was. No answer. “Well, let me promp! An epidemic is anything that spreads. Now, what’s an epidemic?” “Jam, sir,” replied a boy promptly. . Mrs. Hauskeep—I don’t know much about the new girl, but she’s good-natured and harmless a” - any rate. Mr, Hauskeep—How did you find. that out? Mrs. Hauskeep—I notice that she sings a. ° her work. Mr. Hauskeep—That’s no sign; 4 mosquito does that! , The Irish night watchman at’ the flying fiel? was watching some men take meteorological ob- Servations. He paused to watch a man peerin - through ‘a large telescope. Just then a star fel!. “Man above,” he exclaimed in amazement. “You're sure a foine shot.” A lawyer was always lecturing his office boy, whether he needed it or not. One ‘day he chanced to hear the following conversation between the boy and one employed néxt door. “How much does he pay you?” asked the later. “I get $2,006 a year,” replied the lawyer’s boy 3910 a week and the rest in legal advice.” ot: s f

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28 PERILS OF CIRCUS PERFORMERS 2 One of the most lively and picturesque fea- tures in a circus performance is “leaping by the entire company,” particularly in a show ‘where it is participated in by forty of fifty skilled per- formers. Running down a long inclined plane and taking a start off the springboard, they, one by one, in rapid succession, dart high in air and far away to land on the thick mattress, where one or two sturdy fellows stand braced to catch them. Over horses they fly, then over camels and elephants, finally over a pyramid of men upon the elephants’ backs. It is: marvelous what prodigious leaps they make, and so swiftly do they follow each other that when they get well going the effect is pre- sented of a fountain actively spouting a flood of twisting, writhing, darting fodies and legs bril- liant in all the colors of the rainbow. Two, three or four men seem to be in the air at once, and each turns one or two somersaults during his flight. The spectators applaud and say, “How pretty!” “How graceful!” and “How easy!” Not one in a hundred says what is most emin- ently true, “How dangerous!” The fact is that all cireus men recognize this as one of the most dangerous pieces of work they are called upon to perform. Not: a season passes in which, in every circus on the road, men are not seriously injured and rise lamed fer life by accidents in doing the high eaps. : . ‘Sometimes backs are broken, though that is not so frequent as the breaking of legs, and a common thing is the breaking or severe sprain- ing of an ankle. _ And there is hardly any other physical mis- chance that the circus performer dreads so much ag an injury to his ankle. It is liable to put an end forever to all his riding, tumbling, acrobatic work, to everything, in fact, by which he gains his bread. The great danger to the leaper is in his somer- ‘sault. If he is very skillful he may have a pretty clear idea while he is in the air of where and how he is going to land after a double somer- sault; but many leapers go through life with- out solving that problem satisfactorily, and, of course, they are the most frequent sufferers by _ accidents. Landing on an edge of the thick nattress is exceedingly apt to injure an ankle, and coming down headfirst is liable to break the neck. But when the adventurous performer essays a triple somersault he never knows how it is going to result. : The first man who attempted that feat is said to have been John Aymer, in Batty’s circus, in the Isle of Wight. He broke his neck in doing it. It has been successfully performed by several men in this country, but is rarely done, and when it is, does not impress the public sufficiently to | make it worth the risk.it involves. People fail to appreciate it, They do not know that each - 3omersault following the first in an aerial flight gains one-third in speed over the one preceding, 30 that bv the time the third is turned the per- FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY former has not the slightest idea of his position with reference to the earth, and is powerless to save himself. -If he does not break his neck it is simply a lucky accident. ee Hiram Franklin, who was one of the best riders and general performers of his day, first did a double somersault from a springboard in this country sixty years ago, in Niblo’s Garden, and the first to do it from the ground was Henry Reynolds, in the old Bowery Ampitheater, in 1844. Now it is a common accomplishment to turn double somersaults, but that is twirling enough for the prudent men in the business. — ee A somewhat varied form of the “leaping act,” technically known as the “Spanish Trampoline,” - which used to be practiced in all circuses and is never seen now, was especially dangerous. In that the men sprang from a solid starting” point instead of a springboard, and went over ime the number of which was increased grad- ~~ ually. Ses, Tim Turner cleared sixteen horses, and Hiram Franklin seventeen. ; ws The extreme difficulty of such a leap will be in some measure realized if it is remembered that the men had to find all the impetus for it in their own muscles and their little run, having no — aid of a springboard to lift them to such a height as enables the somersaults to be made with ease. In the “trampoline” acts they almost touched — the horses’ backs while turning their somersaults, and at the same time were going forward with cannon-ball-like velocity to clear the enormous — distance. sip Of course, many men were crippled for life in this act, and happily it seems now to be alto- — gether done away with. . Suir James M. Nixon, who was not only one Of the — most experienced circus managers in the country, ~ but who used to be a star rider many years ago, when he was young and charming, was decidedly — of the opinion that there was quite risk BPR ‘ in riding in the circus ring to satisfy any man of reasonable fondness for excitement. He said: “There is nothing else so break-necky in the © business, and the reason is that the rider is so entirely dependent upon his horse. His own move- ments may be as precise as those of a machi but those of the horse constitute an unknor quantity in the problem. When you go up off his back, you don’t know where he is or where you will find him when you come down. He ought to be right under you all the time, but however well you may have him trained, he liable to move a little. quicker or a little slowe: the instant he is relieved of your weight, and hi almost imperceptible little change of gait is wha makes to you the difference between a round o applause and a bed in a hospital. Necks ha been broken, legs and ribs fractured, joints dis. located, and knee-caps smashed innumerabl times, just because horses did not do exactly. what was expected of them.” Ee It seems, however, that some performers, i their ambition to achieve new and startling fea voluntarily increase those hazards. Soe ' James Fish originated the complicated inter-. mingling of a somersault and‘a half pivouet one operation in the air, turning half around an completely over at the same time, risin : and landing upon, if he had good luck, th back of a galloping steed. Fes See

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Of course, he risked his neck every time he did it, and in return won the appreciative ap- plause of about one hundred of those who saw him, the others seeing nothing particularly re- markable in the feat. ‘ Another famous rider named Sebastian used to turn a somersault from the back of his horse and go through a space barely large enough for his.body to pass between the points of keen bowie knives set in a hoop. Martin Lowande did the same thing off a bare- backed horse. Their clothing was cut and their skins were gashed nearly every time they did the act, but, beyond that they have thus far escaped serious injury. : If the holder of the hoop should make a very slight error in presenting it to the somersaulting 4 dent would be the very probable consequence. One of the most dangerous individual feats ever preformed in a cireus ring was the “cata- pult” act, done by Lulu years ago. In that the performer laid himself straight and rigid on a great beam that was poised like a lever with him on the long end, and a num- ber of strong India rubber springs aa at _ the other. Then at a signal a trigger was touched, the power of the springs exerted, and Lulu was ‘sent whirling up almost to the réof of the Gar- den, and turning a somersault, landed in a net with his eye-glasses still upon his nose. The ten- -sion of those springs changed surprisingly in sympathy with scarcely observable changes in the temperature, so that for almost every perform- nee some of them had to be taken off or more ut on. One day, just before the doors were opened for the evening performance, Lulu had an impression that he ought to test the machine before risking himself upon it that night. He tried to persuade himself that it was useless to _. take the trouble, since he had been thrown just right in the afternoon, and he could not feel that he temperature in the Garden had changed at all. ee impression remained, however, and at ", his weight—used for the tests—and touched it ff. That bag of gravel was hurled clear up into the lantern of the roof, and struck a beam here with such force that it burst. Had he been the object catapulted, instead of the bag, e would have fallen to the net a mangled corp<e. ‘He simply remarked, “Close call,” and placidly went to work reducing the number of springs. _ The. cannon act, as done by Mme. Loyal, had - the same element of danger that existed in the atapult, those treacherous India rubber springs. ‘She was apparently fired from the mouth of the annon up some twenty-seven feet to a trapeze, here she caught on and did some quite clever business. If the pistol—set to go off when she ‘did—didn’t happen to hang fire, the illusion was excellent, and she went up with such grace and ease that there didn’t seem to be much difficulty yy danger in the performance. But had she eld herself as rigid as a log when put into annon, her legs would inevitably have been ‘broken when she was fired out; as certainly as if FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY figure at exactly the proper point, a fatal acci-- ength, yielding to it, he called his assistants, set . the machine, put on it the bag of gravel equal to * 29 Lulu’s skuli would have been cracked if he had not held it tight against the catapult beam the moment when he was thrown. The introduction of the nets now spread under all aerial performers has reduced to mere seem- ing the apparent danger of their feats. But it has not been a great while since there were no nets, and life and limb were imperiled at each performance. When Leonard first did the great flying trapeze act, originated by him, he practiced it without any safeguard, but at a moderate elevation, in the Toulon gymnasism, and then, at his first pro- duction of it in the Cirque Napoleon, in Paris, swung his trapezes at such a height that if he had missed his clutch by but a fraction of an inch he would have fallen fifty-five feet to the ground, Doubtless he would have put them still higher if the roof had not been in his way. As they were, the only way he had of getting to his starting perch was by descending a little spiral staircase from the lantern in the dome to it. No wonder Paris stood aghast at such a per- formance under such conditions. A singularly venturesome and dangerous act was done here in the variety theatres some years ago by Mrs. Kabowl, formerly Miss Jackley, one of the famous English family of acrobats bear- ing that name. : She had a nest of ten tables built to “tele- scope” together, which, when worked up to their full extension limit, elevated her upon the top-: most one to a height of thirty-five feet. Standing up, there, she would let herself drop backward, as if by accident, turn a somersault . in the air, land upon her hands on the edge of the lowest table, and bounding off it, alight erect upon the stage. And, furthermore, while in the air on the way down, she would change her costume, alighting in different colored trunks and jacket from those in which she appeared but a moment before on the apex of the pyramid. Nobody could understand how she could do it even once without breaking her neck, yet she went right along doing it hundreds of times. “Probably rather difficult, but not particularly dangerous,” would, in all likelihood, express the popular judgment upon the ordinary “four- brothers” act. ; “Well, it is not so “break-necky—to use one of Nixon’s words—as some other things that are done in the ring, but it-hurts sometimes, and the “brother” who stands up to be jumped from and jumped on gets most of the damages. In one of their evolutions, a second mounts the shoulders of the first—who is called the “under- stander”—a third mounts te the shoulders of the second and stands erect there, a fourth climbs up and. stands on the shoulders of the third. Then the second and third simultaneously jump out from under the fourth, who drops upon the shoul- ders of the first, turning a somersault as he falls. The “understander” covers his head with a silk cap to fold his ears in close and shield them so that the descending feet may not tear them off, but sometimes the cap is moved accidentally by the departing feet of the second man. 5 In that case the ears are likely to suffer,

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30 FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY ~~ ae ‘INTERESTING ARTICLES SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD In ancient times these were generally reckoned as follows: Pyramids of Egypt. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Mausoleum of Halicarnasus, The Temple of Diana at Ephesus. The Colossus of Rhodes. The Paros at Alexandria. : F . The Statue of the Olympian Jove in. Elis. The above are. the seven wonders generally re- ferred to and should not be confused with the seven wonders of the Middle Ages. PARROT’S CURIOSITY SAVES HIS OWN LIFE N@gub por Curiosity may often prove the nemesis of the cat, but in the case of “Billy the parrot” it went along way toward saving his life. : Billy was surprised at 4:30 o’clock when his owner, Theodore Louyinger, ran through the jouse carrying buckets of water. The parrot started shouting persistently, “What’s the mat- ter? What's the matter?” f ‘ ‘His cries attracted the attention of Louyinger, who dashed through the flames and into the kitchen, removed the cage from the hook and car- vied the parrot safely to the yard, away from the fire. / SODA WATER ; Soda water, sold in drug stores and_ other places, consists of a mixture of carbonic acid and water, flavored with various kinds of syrups. For this reason, special contrivances, such as pumps, cylinders, ete., are required for making and serv- ing it. A glass of plain soda, to which any flavor may be added, is/ compounded by placing in one vumbler thirty grains of carbonate of soda, and in _mother twenty-five grains of tartaric or citric cid. An equal quantity of water is poured in -ach glass, stirred with a spoon, and then mixed .y pouring the contents of one into the other. The result is an effervescent and cooling drink. - CNDIANS INSTALL “JUNGLE” AT THE SESQUI EXPOSITION All of the luxuriant growth which characterizes _ ‘he. dense forests of India will be found in the ‘angle which is now “growing” in one section of vhe India Building at the Sesqui-Centennial Inter- aational\ Exposition in Philadelphia. Seductive paths and winding trails will thread — the labyrinth which will be filled with palms, vines, Shrubbery and exotic flowers peculiar to india. | Many small animals and birds native to the riental country will inhabit the jungle and a + ython sixteen feet long will be a captive there. tuffed examples of tigers, leopards and other arge species may also be found. . The entrance to the. spot will be through a eveat sculptural arch, now being completed, and he maze will terminate in a glowing” sunset udene, The idea of ‘the jungle originated with the indian enuthorities only last week, and it is ex- pected that within’ ten days it will be ready for the exploration of Sesqui visitors, “PRAIRIE” FIRE SWEEPS BUFFALO PEN IN ZOO Seven bored buffalo, blase in the face of a eivili- zation that regards them merely as exhibits, and a little buffalette, had a taste of atavism a few days ago when a “prairie” fire—such as that which used to send herds of their ancestors bound- ing across the’ plains years ago—swept through - their pen in the Central Park Zoo. z It was the geese in the model barn-yard, several pens away, that first gave the alarm. When En- gine Company No. 89 arrived piles of hay in the — buffalo enclosure were blazing fiercely while the — bison, heads lowered angrily toward the flames, had backed into a far corner. In their midst and shielded from the heat was a little buffalo born a few months ago. Bees ets To the accompaniment- of roars, screeches, — howls and grunts from animals in nearby cages, the firemen made short work of the blaze, which scorched the buffalo house in the rear of the pen. Police believe the fire may have been started by _ a careless smoker. \ i EXPERTS PLAN THIRTEEN-MONTH YEAR: ~ The calendar reform experts of the League of Nations, according to current reports, are moving slowly but surely to the conviction that the year should be divided into thirteen months of equal length instead of the present system of twelve — months. : distr By this system each month would have twenty- — eight days, and the day needed to complete the — 365 would be added to the end of December as a twenty-ninth day, becoming the eighth day of the — last week of the year. ; 5 The new thirteenth month would be inserted be- — tween June and July and, presumably, would be . ealled a solar midyear month. When leap year arrives the scheme provides for the insertion of an extra day at the end of June to be known as an international .holiday. f ey It is understood that the committee, which al- ready has reached a tentative agreement that Easter should be fixed for the second Sunday in April, probably will have two other plans of ¢al- endar reform presented to it. : ees These plans probably will be offered by Willi H. Booth, American delegate on the committ and by representatives of the Catholic, the Greek Orthodox and the English churches. The firs’ would keep the calendar as it is with the fixati however, of a degnite date for Easter. The sec ond would revise the present months so that each quarter of the year would contain ninety-on days, the extra day being inserted by agreement The program of the committee is to submit. the advantages and disadvantages of all plans placed - before it to the Transit Committee of the League and to all interested bodies, such as governments churches, business and educational organizatio It is hoped thus to awaken public opinion to the necessity of doing something to overcome what are felt to be defects in the present calendar. — : ae

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DIAMONDS Diamonds were known and worn as jewels in India 5,000 years ago and used as cutters and gravers 8,000 years ago. TOOTH POWDER ; ; You can make a very good tooth powder by ‘mixing the following: . Powdered soap, two - drams; powdered orris root, one ounce, percipi- tated chalk, two ounces, and oil of wintergreen, _ five drops. 4 UNLICENSED FLIER FINED Alfred Kamm of Glastonbury, who has been flying a plane for passengers between this city and Rhode Island, was fined $50 under the State aviation law for neglecting to obtain a pilot’s cense and to have the plane registered. The aviator contended that he applied for regis- tration on May 18 but the Aviation Department’s mspector refused to pass it. He admitted making an interstate flight on July 4, but contended that flying within the State under the law meant take- 's and landings within the State exclusively. HOW 7TO INCREASE WEIGHT ‘ful of emulsion of cod liver oil after each meal. Drink four glasses of milk every day. Hat potatoes, bread and butter freely, and take plenty of cocoa and good soups. Increase the dose of cod ver oil emulsion to two tablesponfuls after each eal. “ Get eight or nine hours in bed and live properly. These measures will increase your weight. TO REMOVE TATTOO MARKS Once tattooed, always tattooed, was formerly ‘the rule; but a French army surgeon, Doctor ‘Tranchant, has discovered a method of removing atoo marks, whéther made with India ink or mpblack. The process consists of first rubbing the skin until a thin layer of the surface is worn away, then applying a mixture of lime, slaked just before use, and powdered phosphorus. The tat- ed patt. having been coated with this paste, a iece of gauze is laid over it, covered with a Seadous, “The dressing is removed after forty- ht hours. The scab is allowed to. dry in the , and comes away in about a fortnight, without leaving a scar. If any trace of the tattooing then remains, the treatment is repeated. Doctor anchant claims to have applied this treatment a great many cases, with perfect success. BIG OUTDOOR BATHING POOL OPENED poo 6~FOR SESQUI CROWDS ~ é largest outdoor bathing pool of its_kind been thrown open to visitors to the Sesqi- entennial International Exposition, now being din Philadelphia. The pool is 1,200 feet long 10. feet wide, surrounded by a splendid sloping ch. The maximum depth in the centre of the ‘oon is seven feet. bas : The great locker and dressing rooms will ac- FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY CURRENT NEWS Begin in September by taking a teaspoon- amodate 10,000 bathers at one time and the 31 wide expanse of beach permits 50,000 spectators to assemble in comfort. The pool is complete with all of the facilities of a summer resort, including daily tests*of the water by Philadelphia Health Department officials and life guards and first-aid stations. WIN HOT FIGHT WITH BEES The postal authorities of Armagh, Ireland, re- cently won a fight to collect a lone letter in a box at Girvan’s Bridge over the protests of a swarm of bees that had taken refuge there. The battle was won after a “mass attack” by authorities un- der cover of smoke clouds. When the postman attempted to collect. the solitary letter he encountered the swarm of bees and hastily retreated, with his head in his post bag. He was ordered to make a fresh attack, and this time, instead of picking up the letter, the postman picked up five stings, which drove him Again the postal authorities refused to admit themselves beaten. Reinforcements were called to carry out a smoke attack, which was successful, and the letter was sent on its way. . BULLDOG CLEARED WHEN JUDGE SEES “ONE TOOTH” BITE J Issie Lyons, thirty-five, of No. 110 East Tenth Street, limped into Essex Market Court recently bearing a pair of torn fingers, a self-determined reputation for perfect veracity and a charge that, the bulldog of Joseph Scheresson, of No. 104 East ~ Tenth Street, had bitten him. ; Scheresson denied the charge, insisting that his dog was muzzled when the alleged mayhem took place. He added that it was all spite work. Said Lyons, indignantly, to Magistrate Corri- an: “Judge, I never told a lie in my life!” The magistrate inspected the bite, remarking that if that was a bite the dog must have had only one tooth: He dismissed the charge. FRENCHWOMAN, 87 YEARS OLD, MAKES: RECORD IN SWIMMING Mme. Cuvelier Desprez of Roubaix contends she is the oldest swimmer in the world. At the age of 87 she established a swimming record a few days ago for-one hour, using every kind of stroke alternately. When the old lady went to buy a ticket at the — women’s swimming baths in Roubaix the checking clerk, astonished at her aged appearance and wrinkled face, hesitated to allow her to enter the pool, asking whether she was quite sure she could - gure and suggesting she had better be very care- ul. 5 “You attend to your business,” came the sprightly reply, “I learned to swim eighty-three years back when I was 4 years old. I don’t need the advice of a young person like you.” Rees, Born in August, 1839, she is the daughter of a — professional swimming master of Roubaix, hay-— ing herself taught swimming for many years in the Samaritan Baths in Paris. ; aie rs

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OUR TEN-CENT HAND BOOKS Useful, Instructive, and Amusing. They contain Valuable Information on Almost Every Subject. No. 1. NAPOLEON’S ORACULUM AND DREAM BOOK.—Containing the great oracle of human destiny, algo the true meaning of almost any kind of. dreams together with charms, ceremonies and ‘ay games of HOW TO DO TRICKS.—The pteat book of magic and card tricks, containing full instructions on all leading card tricks of the day, also the most popular magical illusions as performed by our leading ma- gicians; every boy should obtain a copy of this book. No. 3. HOW TO FLIRT.—The arts and wiles of flirtation are fully explained by this little book. Be- sides the various methods of handkerchief, fan. glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation. it contains a full list af the language and sentiment of flowers. No. 8 HOW TO BECOME A SCIENTIST.—A_ useful and instructive book, giving a complete treatise on chemistry: also experiments in acoustics, mechanies, mathematics, chemistry. and directions for making fire- works, colored fires, and gas baloons. No. 9. HOW TO BECOME A VENTRILOOUIST.—Ry Harry Kennedy. Every intelligent boy reading this book of instructions can master the art, and create any amount of fun for himself and friends. No. 10. HOW TO BOX.—The art of self-defense made easy. Containing over thirty illustrations of gnards, hlows, and the different positions of a good boxer, Hvery boy should obtain one of these useful and in- structive books, as it will teach you how to box with- ise an instrnetor. ° No. 11. HOW TO WRITK LOVE-_LHT TERS. —A most eomnlete little book. containing full directions for writ- ing love-letters, and when to use them, giving specimen letters for young and old. No. 12. HOW TO DO IT: OR, BOOK oF ETT QUETTE.—It is a great life secret. ‘and one that. every young man desires to know all about. There’s happi- ness in it. _ No. 15. HOW TO BECOME RICH.—This wonderful book presents vou with the example and life experience of some of the most noted and wealthy men in the world. For those who asnire to fame and fortune, this book will give von the secret. No. 6. HOW TO KEEP A. WINDOW GARDEN.— Containing full instructions for constructing a window ‘ garden either in town or country, and the most ap- sproved methods for raising heartifnl flowers at home. No. 17: HOW TO DRESS.—Containing full instrue- tion in the art of dressing and appearing well at home and abroad, giving the selections of colors, material, and how to have them made mn. No. 18. HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL.—One of the brightest and most valuable little books ever given to the world. Everybody wishes to know how to be- come beautiful. both male and female. No. 29. HOW TO BECOME AN Pod puts t Melis lice boy should know how inventions originated. This book explains them all, giving examples in electricity, hy- draulics, magnetism, optics, pneumatics, mechanies, ete. No. 30. HOW TO COOK. —One of the ‘most instructive books on cooking ever published. It contains recipes for cooking meats, fish. game, and oysters; also pies, puddings, cakes and all kinds of pastry, and a grand collection of recipes. No. 3%, HOW TO KEEP HOVSH.—It contains infor- mation for everybody, boys. girls, men and women; it will teach you how to make almost anything around the house, such as parlor ornaments, make almost any- thine around the house. such as parlor ornamers. brackets, cements, Aeolian -harps, and bird lime for catching birds, No. 38. HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN DOCTOR.— A wonderful book, containing useful and practical in- formation in the treatment of ordinary diseases and ailments common to every family. Abounding in useful and effective recipes for general complaints. No. 40. HOW TO MAKE AND SET TRAPS. —Tnelud- ing hints on how to catch moles, weasels, otter, rats, - squirrels and birds. Also how to cure skins. Copiously Ui et ao 27+ “No. THE BOYS.OF NEW YORK END MEN’S JOKE 00K —Containing a great variety of the latest jokes used by the most famous end men, No amateur minstrels is complete without this wonderful little book. For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any _ address on receipt of price, 0c. per copy, ~ in money or stamps, by =! - HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Inc. - 68 West 23a Street, : x" ; reet. 1045 Plucky "Bots chant _P 1072 hie in Wall Street; or, The Boy Who Trimmec _ postage forage _New York x Oty: ; Fame ind Fortune Weekly — — LATEST ISSUES 1043 sai kee ane or, The Boy who Became — Fam 1044 A $30, 000 “Tip; or, The Young Weazel of Wall or, The Boy Who Won Success. 1046 From 1 Newshoy to Banker; or, Rob Lake's Rise in ¥ Wa Stree 1047 A Golden Stake; or, The openers of the In A 1048 A ep, es the Market; or, A Hot Time Tn Wan 1049 Wate te His Chance; or, From Ferry Boy to Cap- ta 1050 A Game. oe Gold; or, The Young King of wee é: 1051 A Wizard for Luck; or Getting Ahead in the World, 1052 A re at Stake; or, A Wall Street Messenger’r 1 . 058 His Last Nickel; or. What It Did for Jack Rand. — i054 Noble, the Little Broker; or, The Boy Who Net arted a Wall Street, Panic. 1055 A nee for Fame; or, The Gamest Boy in the Ori 1056 The Young Money Magnate; or, The Wall Street, Boy who Broke the Market. 1057 A Lucky Contract; or, The Boy Who Made a Ratt of Money. me 1058 A Big Risk; or, The Game That Won. 1059 On Sree Isle; or, The Treasure of the Seven Cra 1060 A Walt * strect Mystery; or, The Boy Who Beat the Syndicate. \ 1061 ae Be Mine; or, The Boy Gold Diggers of 1062 A Boy Stock Broker; or, From Errand Boy to Millionaire. 1063 Facing ire World; or, A Poor Boy’s Fight fo rtune, 1064 A ee eee a Million; or, How a Boy Worked In Wall Street. 1065 Billy. “ne Cabin Boy; or, The Treasure of Skeleton a i 1066 Just ‘Tis. Luck; or, Climbing the Ladder of Fame > and. Fortune. i 1067 Out With His Own Circus; or, The Success of Young Barnum. ve 1068 Playing For Money; or, The Boy Trader of Wall te Street. fs. 1069 The Be Copper Miner; ox, Ted Brown’s Rise ‘to 1070 Tips Ros ‘the Tape; or, The Boy Who Startled Wall 1071 Striking “Tt Rey or, From Office Boy To Mer- i rince ce he Brokers. 1078 In a ‘Riaes by Himeelf ; or, The Plucky Boy Whe ot to the Top. 1074 Bulling the Marke; or, The Messenger Who Worked a Corner. Jungle. 1076 Little oan “perkins, the Beakees or, Shearing | the Street “Lambs.” 1077 The Young Coal Baron; or, Five Years With Te iners. = 1078 Coining jener: or, The Boy Plunger * of Wal Stre 1079 Among fhe Tusk Hunters; or, The Boy Who pasts a Diamond Mine. 1080 A Game Boy; or, From the Slums to Wall Street. : 1081 A eee Legacy; or, How It Made a Poor B y - . ich. 1082 Fighting the Money Kifigs; or, The Little Specu lator of Wall Street. 1083 A Boy With Grit; or, The Young Salesman Wh Made His Mark. 1084 Ted, the Broker’s Son; or, Starting Out For Hi self. 1085 Dick “Danralrd Nerve; or, From Bngine-Hous Hinge s Office. 1086 Under A Lucky Star; on The Boy Who we Million in wall Stree 1088 ‘Takin. oe ie or, Playing For Big Stakes 1089 Lowe 1 n the Tropics; or, The Treasure of Tur ey. ; ‘ , For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent address on receipt of price, 8¢, per copy, in mi