Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 243) (1910 05 27)
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HO MAKE MO! $i 7 “ae There came a wild yell from the apparitionon the balcony. The boy with the wheelbarrow dropped the handles, and it turned over, spilling the seven bags of gold on the ground. Joe’s two companions were terribly frightened.
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Fame and Fortune Weekly STORIES OF BOYS WHO MAKE MONEY x car. “= Washin Issued Weekly—By Sudscri - OF Congres Wek ashington, D. C., by Frank Entered geet ging fe to Age Congress, in the year 1910, in the office the Librarian her, 24 Union Peay New York. of No. 243. NEW YORK, MAY 27, 1910. PRICE 5 CHNTS. vd Seven Bags of Gold ‘ae HOW A PLUCKY BOY GOT RICH = By A SELF-MADE MAN CHAPTER I A STRENUOUS RESCUE “I wonder if the chap who gave me the job of taking this bundle to its address took me for a pack-horse?” growled Joe Hastwood, dropping a heavy package on the sidewalk up against an iron railing, seating himself on it and fanning his face with his soft hat. “A nice job of a ‘hot summer afternoon, and the foxy old rooster never said I’d have nearly a/mile to walk after I got off the car. This errand is worth a dollar, and all I’m to get is fifty cents when I bring back the receipt. I wonder how much further I’ve got to go? Here comes a boy: I'll ask him. ‘He looks as if he belongs around here.” The newcomer was a small, poorly dressed and aoe looking boy. He plodded toward Joe with the air of one who had no particular interest in life. “Say,” hailed Joe, “can you tell me where Oak ‘ street is?” The youth stopped and looked at him curiously. “Next to Poplar street,” he answered. _ “Where is Poplar.street ?”’ “Next to Oak street,” grinned the boy. — “You're awfully funny, arent you?” said Joe with a look of disgust. “Why ean't you direct a fellow? I’m a f “There’s nothing mercenary about' you, is there?” “What's that?” “Don’t you know what mercenary means?” “No.” “Better look the word up in a dictionary then. I can’t afford to give away nickels. I’m nearly strapped.” “Good-by,” said the youth, starting to move on. “Hold on! Why can’t you tell:me where Oak street is?” “T want a nickel, that’s why.” “You look as if you wanted a square meal more than a nickel.” “That’s what I want the nickel for.. I’ve got a dime : I’ve been saving for a month, and I need fifteen cents for a square meal.” “Haven't you had a square meal for a month?” “No, not for six months.” “T guess you’re codding me. - hon I? Don’t I look “ee? “Rather. Don’t you get enough to eat at home?” a “Home!” As the youth uttered the word he looked solemn. \ “Where do you live?” asked Joe in an interested tone. “With my master.” ; “And he doesn’t feed you well?” “He says I’m a glutton.” “Oh, that’s it?” laughed Joe. “T had one potato, a piece of meat so big, one ik re Are you hungry?” ft stranger in this neighborhood, and I’ve got to deliver this} bread, a piece of cheese with a hole in it end a small apple — package at a house in Oak street. ther to walk?” Misses a nickel and rl tell you.” Have I got much Tre for my dinner. "i | sapital—at you'll direct me to Oak street.” nest Am la glutton?” “Hardly. Well, I’ll give you a nickel—that’s half of 1 my
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. “Tl do it. Hand it over.” Joe tossed the coin to him, “My, what a dinner I’l! have!” cried the foul looking at the coin. “First V’ll have some soup———” “Cut it out and tell me where Oak street is.” “After the soup I’ll have some beef a la mode, and se then I'll top off with rice puddin’. Lord, how hungry Tam!’ “Are you going to direct me?” “Yep. Who do you want to find in Oak street?” Joe got off the package and looked at.the address. “Matthew Graves, No. 16 Oak street.” . “That's my master.” “Ts thaso?” “Yep. Wait here till I go to the grocery and I’ll take you to the house.” “You'll surely be back?” said Joe, half suspiciously. : “Of course I will, in five minutes. I’m only going to the corner.” “All right. I'll be here when you get back.” The youth plodded off at his former gait and Joe waited. Six or seven minutes later the ee returned with several ‘small packages. _ “Where did you come from?” he asked Joe. “Flushing,” replied Joe, picking up his bundle. “What's your name ?” “Joe Eastwood. What’s yours?” _ “Jerry Abbott.” “You work for Mr. Graves?” “Yep. Who do you work for?” “Nobody. I’m looking for a job.” “Can you keep books?” - “You mean account books?” Ces “Yes, I know something about bookkeeping, but I’m not an expert.” “My master wants a clerk.” “Does he? Why do you call him your master? don’t you say your boss?” - “Cause he owns me,” replied the boy solemnly. “Owns you! What do you mean by that 2” “He took me off the poor farm and signed a agreein’ to keep me till I was twenty-one.” es “Oh, T see. He has a claim on your services till you come of age. J suppose he doesn’t pay you ahi in gives you your board and clothes.” : _ “He don’t half board me, and T never Bet any clothes except what Miss Edith wets for me on the quiet.” “Who is Miss Edith?” -“She’s his daughter. My, but she’s ety And she treats me fine. If it wasn’t for her I’d run away.” * How old is she?” a “Dunno. Maybe as old as you, maybe not.” _ “So her father wants a clerk? I wouldn’t mind trying the. -job if I could get it.” You can get it if you ask for it.- f tipo es Ve? “That doesn’t speak well for it Doesn’t he pay Ceapuak Be. _ “That isn’t it. y ; “What do. Fou mean??? Why paper = obody around here 4 atl! “here’s been seven bom at the house since ‘Pve been there.” “Well ?? “Every one of them Testo mysteriously.” “Disappeared mysteriously!” exclaimed Joe, aston- “Yes, with a bag of gold.” “Oh, come now. What are you giving me?” “Tt’s the truth. Everybody in the village calls my mas- ter a Bluebeard.” “Because he had seven clerks who all-stole a bag of gold from him?” said Joe, who didn’t believe a word of Jerry’s story. ; “No. Because they all disappeared niysteriously.” . “Pooh! It’s natural for a person who steals anything of value to get away, if he can, without anybody seeing him. I guess you’re giving me taffy about those seven bags of gold. Any person ‘who ean lose seven bags of Zold and not go into BRE a Hey must be rich. How big were those bags ??. “About so big” replied Jerry. “A bag that size would easily hold $10,000. So your boss has lost $70,000 in gold, and he hasn’t the least idee where any of the bags are gone, eh?” Joe thought the ateny too ridiculous for anything “That’s what he says.” “Oh, he says so. Is that the only evidence there is that he lost the money?” “T ‘know he lost the money, because every time a clerk. . | disappeared he went on like ‘mad over the loss of bere bag. ”? “When did the last clerk Saha: iaysterioasiv7e “Last week.” “He was the seventh clerk and the’ seventh bag disap- peared with him?” es Ye p. bed 3 “What does his daughter say about these Gsonaae! disappearances—of dlerks and bags of gold?” “She doesn’t know what to make out of it.” “Does she believe her father has lost seven bags of gold?” “She says she knows he has. persons so.” “Haven’t the police been able to find any ge of the clerks or the gold?” “Nope. There’s his house,” said the youth pointing, Joe looked across the way and saw a large, old-fashioned building that looked as if it had been built a great many years since. It was surrounded by a high stone wall in which there was a big i iron carriage gate, with a small-iron gate close to it. The house stood in the Shes ‘of a lawn that was poorly looked after. ° I heard her tell acuaaad It had many gables, and at one corner, overlooking a. 33 ereek that connected with the Sound, it was circular ins 7S shape, rising into a turret. This part was covered with i ivy and had a very ean appearance, Jerry pulled a large iron key from his pocket, opened the side gate and he and Joe entered the ee “Shall } go. to the fron door? wv he aaked.
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. a “Yep. I'll go around and let you in and then I’ll tell master you want to see him,” said Jerry. As Joe walked up to the front door a shrill, girlish * shriek rang out on the air from around the corner of. the house. A moment later a young and beautiful girl dashed into sight and came running frantically toward the hoy. “Save me, oh, save me!” she cried in a terrified tone as her eyes rested on Joe. As the words left her mouth a ferocious looking’ dog| came tearing around the corner after her. There was fury in his eyes and he seemed bent on business. + CHAPTER II JOR ACOEPTS A OLERKSHIP Girl and dog ‘reached Joe almost Gusher and the boy had little time to consider what to do under the strenuous circumstances. As the young lady fell almost at his feet, with a ery of acute terror, Joe, on the spur of the moment, swung the heavy package in his arms and dashed it squarely in the animal’s face. The dog,was in the act of leaping at the moment and he went down i in a heap, momentarily stunned. Joe judged that he would recover in a minute or so, and that unless he could follow up the advantage he had _ gained serious consequences were likely to take place. _ He looked around for something to put the dog out of business with. A heavy flower pot stood near. He seized it and brought it down on the animal's -head just ag he was beginning to kick and show other signs of returning aimation. ‘The flower pot landed on the dog’s head with a crash, and the animal, after one spasmodic kick, rolled over and . lay still, with blood flowing from its red jaws. The pot was wrecked, but it had done excellent service. “You're quite safe now, miss,” said Joe, taking the fair girl by the arm and assisting her on her feet. She looked at the dead brute and shuddered. Then she turned a pair of glorious blue eyes on her - rescuer. “How shall I ever be able to thank you enough?” she _ said earnestly. “You saved my life, for I never could have escaped him.” “You ate welcome, miss,” replied Joe, vis surmised that the girl was. Matthew Graves’ daughter, “T did the ’ best I could, and more by luck than anything else I-man- aged to lay the brute out, I,see there is a piece of chain hanging from his collar, so I suppose he broke loose from the place where he was fastened.” - “Yes, He was a powerful dog and hada habit of tug- ' ging at his chain. My father bought him last week to guard the grounds at night, as our other dog was found poisoned on the morning father’s last clerk disappeared with a bag of money. May I ask you what fortunate cir- cumstance brought A here in the nick of time to save me ee” ‘ 3 “T came here to deliver that package to your father, oe replied Joe, pointing at the somewhat demoralized bundle, “How did you get in? We always keep the gate locked.” “Your father’s boy, Jerry, admitted me and then went around to let me into the house by the front door. There he is now.” “T must go and tell my father what you have done for me, and he will thank you, too, for your plucky aid,” she aid. “T am satisfied with your thanks, Mies ‘Gaaves,” said Joe, regarding her with an admiring eye, “But my father will wish to thank you, too,” abs rex plied with a smile. “At any rate, you want to see him to deliver your package. I will tell him. ag ; She tripped up the steps to the front dave and Joe fol- lowed. her with his bundle. “Wait here in the hall till I come back,” she’ said, a then she ran up stairs with the lightness of a fawn. “What happened out in front?” asked Jerry. thought I heard Miss Edith scream.” “She did scream. The watch dog chased her around to the porch.” sey “How could he when he’s chained up?” asked ea * apparently astonished. “He broke his chain.” _ “Oh, Lord! Where is he now? He’s a fierce dog. I won't dare go outside till somebody catches him.” “Don’t worry about him. I put him out of business.” “What did you do to-him?” asked Jerry with a look of wonder, for the very sight of the animal was a terror ks er him. “T broke his head with a big flower pot.” R “You did!” cried the youth, looking at J oe as if he was something more than human. . “Go outside and look at him, He’s lying on the walk. He's let out his last yelp, and all he’s good for now is the sausage factory.” “My master will be as mad as a hornet when he hears about it.” : “Will he? Not if he thinks more. of his daughter than the dog. I had to lay out the brute to save her, and I was lucky to do it,” said Joe. “T don’t see how you did it, anyway.” . “Go and look at him and maybe you’ll understand.” At that moment the girl appeared at the head of ee ptaits. “Come up,” she said to Joe. % The boy shouldered his package and mounted the stairs. — The girl led him into a back room fitted up like a com-' bined library and office. Its general aspect was dingy, for the old- fashioned, ee paneled walls and the ceiling were dark and somber — through age. - It sadly needed whitening and a coat | or two ot paint, aM ey The furniture consisted of an old-time ddsk of solid - ah) mahogany; a very ancient, square iron safe that a modern —~ burglar could have opened in a jiffy; several stiff back chairs; a solid-looking sofa; a small table on which stood hor a lamp of antique design ; half a dozen faded portraits re the walls; a carpet that had long since outlived its useful- ness, so thréadbare was its a eae mahogany book- “i,
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W SEVEN ease ‘filled with rare and out-of-print books, and many ornaments of value. In the center of the room stood a prematurely oman. : He wore a-dressing gown and had slippers on his feet. This was Matthew Graves, and he looked more like’ the exaniatlier of the girl he called daughter than her father. Joe dropped his “package and bowed as the girl intre- duced him to her. father as the boy who had saved her from being torn and probably killed by the watch dog. “J thank you, young man, for the service you rendered my daughter,” he said in measured tones, “and regret that my poverty prevents me from ae you as you de- serve.” “T don’t ask for any reward, sir. Tam sufficiently repaid in knowing that I saved your daughter from serious in- jury,” replied Joe. The girl flashed a look of gratitude and interest at him. “What is your name, young man?” asked Graves, re- garding the boy curiously. “Joe Eastwood.” “You brought a package for me, I understand?” “Yes, sir; ‘there it is. Here is the receipt you are to sign for it.” ; Graves took the paper. “You are employed by Mr. Baxter, T suppose?” “No, sir. Tam not lucky enough to be employed at present.” “Are you well educated?” “V’ve been through a grammar school in New York, and I took a course in a business night school and know - something about bookkeeping and other——”, «Then you are fitted for a clerk?” Yes: sits 1 shiek I could fill the bill if I could get such a position.” - “T needa clerk. How would you like to 4 3 “No, no, father!” exclaimed the girl in an anxious tone. ' Joe looked at her in surprise. - Tush! tush!” said the old man impatiently. his face, I will employ him if he is willing to accept pie low wages I offer. He will board here with us of course.” “But father “Be silent,” replied Matthew Graves with a touch of sternness. “Hark you, young man, I will give you five dollars a week and your keep to act as my clerk.” The girl shook her head vigorously at Joe for him to} aged ” “T like decline the offer, but he was so eager to get a position that he did not- notice her. “Tl take it, sir, and do my best,” he replied. The girl looked disappointed and anxious. “7 believe you are honest,” went on the old man. “T hope so, sir. I haye never ¥et been guilty of a saul honest action. ” “Tt is well. Seven ais haye I had during the last year, and each of them robbed me of a bag of gold and fléd in the night, ” said the old man solémnly. sa “Do -you a0 your money in that safe?” asked Joe. Bet al do. ? “And you hold ‘thie key yourself; don’t you?” 4° “Surely. ” j A “How then could they rob you, unless, of course, they aes to steal the ney in some way?” > BAGS OF GOLD. i a ne “T know not their methods, but this I do know—they robbed me of my gold and fled.” “JT don’t see how seven of them could haye worked thes same trick on you,” said Joe, clearly puzzled to account for such a remarkable series of thefts, “Nevertheless it was done. Seven of them robbed me. I pray, young man, that you may not be the eighth.” “You needn't worry about that. I wouldn’t take your money if you left it in my charge and I knew all I had to do was to walk out of the gate with it. There is nothing gained by dishonesty”. replied Joe earnestly. “Well, well then, so be it. As long as you touch not. my gold, but do your business well we shall get on well together. But stay, are you a large eater?” “T have a pretty healthy appetite as a rule,” in some surprise. “T regret to hear it. My household expenses are great and yex me much. My boy of all work, Jerry Abbott, is a veritable glutton. He does nothing but eat, eat, eat all day long. JT took him from the poor farm, but I fear IT made a bad bargain. I must keep him, for I signed an agree- ment to provide for him till he reaches his twenty-first birthday. I am, sadly afraid that he will eat me out ee house and home before that time.” “T met him in the street a short distance from here, aa he guided me to your house. He does not look like a glut- ton, for he’s as thin as a rail and has a half-statved look, “g said Joe. “His looks belie him. He eal as much as two boys ought to. He is not satisfied with what I allow him—a pound of. good, wholesome meat a week, two large pota- toes per day, a slice of bread at each meal and a small pud- | ding on Sunday. Is not that enough for a growing boy?” Joe looked at the old man’s daughter rather doubtfully, but her eyes were cast down on the floor. The boy noticed, however, that she did not look as if she suffered from want of proper food, for she was plump ane healthy looking. This fact. rather encouraged him. “Well, sir,” he said, “if you are willing to give me a | trial, I will return with that receipt to Mr. Badger, collect’ my pay for bringing it here, and then go to the house where I have been stopping, get. my grip and return’ here either to-night or in the morning.” “Come to-night, for I shall want you to watch my gold.” — “Watch your gold!” exclaimed Joe, surprised. “Isn't it secure in that safe?” “J dare not leave the safe ungarded for a moment. Are you a light sleeper?” “J don’t think it’s necessary to discharge a cannon — Talopeine my head to awaken me, sir.” “© Pis well. Guard my gold well, and rob me. aie and. we shall be good friends—good friends,” and eateree to himself, he walked to his desk, tok up Some papers — that were on it and proceeded to examine them, appar- ently oblivious of the presence of Joe and his daughter in the room. The boy looked at him narrowly. — yi A suspicion was beginning to creep into his’ iciual) eee ae the old man’was not altogether right in his upper story, and he began to think that the job of clerk to Matthew. | Graves. cies ie: so desirable as he had figure eS is replied Joe
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SEVEN BAGS. OF GOLD. Ba a pee Sh CHAPTER III JOR AND BDITH As he stood hesitating what course he should pursue the girl walked up to him, touched him on the arm and whis-} pered, “Come.” He followed her out of the room and down stairs to the hall door, which she opened and they passed out on the stoop. “There now, your father forgot to sign that receipt, and T can’t go back without it,” sajd Joe. “Wait here and I will return with it,” she said, dart- ing inside, Joe employed the interval in looking over the saisunide of the place within the wall as far as they came within his range of vision, He saw that great, rusty iron spikes ornamented the wall at close intervals and that the gate was too gh to be climbed except at some risk, “Well, if seven different clerks sneaked over that wall mighty clever chaps,” thought the boy. “It does not strike me that more than twe of them could accomplish that ‘suecessfully, though Vm willing to admit that a thief will dare a whole lot to get away with a bag of gold worth $10,000. The idea that seven could haye worked that trick with suééess is what gets me. It doesn’t seem rea- sonable. I must question Miss Edith about it. If she says it is so, I’m willing to take her word for it. TI don’t “believe she'd tell me an untruth. She doesn’t look like that kind of girl. The old man’s actions and talk were so. - peculiar that I doubt if I'd come back and take the job if} it was not for Miss Edith. She’s a mighty pretty girl, and I might as well admit that I’m a bit gone on her. I’m _ Willing to put. up with enue to.be under the same roof with her.” “The return of the young Nade: with the receipt, which - she handed to him, cut short his rh a and he followed % her toward the gate. ae “Tm. sorry that you accepted my father’s offer,” ad ‘Padith ‘as they walked along the path. _ “Why?? he asked. “Don’t you care to have. me . around? i ¥ oe po Nit isn’t that,” she replied earnestly, “T would be glad to see you often, because—well, because I like you, ‘and hn you have saved me from a great danger. Tt is for that _Teason that I aid age want you te engage yourself i my hor sider ate ph That's a strange kind of reasoning, Miss Grates, Five do lars a week ata my board and lodging means a whole ‘: tot ‘to me. now, for. I’m practically broke,’ ¥ really don’t know here T could get the pe of my room and csi _ oe nate week.” = te ‘Are you really so had off fs ‘that? re pale Me MAY aD mr Suaae ¢ He Sean have Gaui so from “your appearance. ‘You are neatly dressed and——” 5 Appearances. are often deceptive.” ” Sires “you no home ¢ or parents?” _ “ be Naty 4 x money in each?” — with a heayy bag of gold in their posdession they were ; i} istx?? Makes i, Wie : sory to sa T have not. My father bas bein dead! ish ros five years. My mother died a few months ago, and nee ‘| death left me to shift for myself,” “T am go sorry,” she said sympathetically. “Well, it can’t be helped. If I'd had ordinary luck I - could have done better, but everything in the way of a job has goné back on me, and so when your father made’ his offer I jumped at it.” “7 don’t wonder,” she said and was silent for a moment or two.. “Well, perhaps it is for the best for us all. that, you should come here. My father has had seven clerks, who, after a certain length of ee disappeared and with — each of them went a bag of gold.” “Do. you believe they took his money?” “As far as T can judge by appearances they did. After > } each clerk disappeared T know there was one bag of gold less ih the safe.” “Your father must be wealthy to have had so.much- money in gold.” “He is yorth more than I have any idea of, T iow that at this moment he has seven hags of gold in his safe,” “Seven bags!” exclaimed Joe, “What is the amount of “Ten thousand dollars exactly.” 4 “Just what I figured. Were the stolen bags of the same | size ?” “Yes, “That would make $140, 000 altogether. he keep that money in a bank where it would be safe?” “T have tried to get him to do it, but he will not. He wants it all within his reach, so he can count it whenever the humor is on him. He lives largely for his gold.” “Then I should think that the loss of one bag, not speaking of seven, would have broken his heart.” Each contained exactly ten thousand dollars.” “He looks much older since he lost his money, and TI notice that he acts queerer and queerer every day almost.” “He had fourteen bags of gold in the safe, I suppose, when the first was stolen,” said Joe. “Yes, for I have seen them there. Each night the clerk had to take the bags out of the safe, count them in my father’s presence, and put them back, acknowledging the ‘number. Each morning the same thing was done, and the © bags checked off. In the case of each clerk this formula was gone through with for different lengths of time before he failed to come to breakfast one morning, and then when my father opened the safe in my presence another ag of gold was found to be missing.” “Gee! That beats the Dutch. Your father locked thas safe-the night before after having the bags counted. Next, morning you say he found the safe still locked, anid on ex- amination there was a bag of gold gone—just one bag. . And the clerk was gone, too, and never a clue to show. how — he left! the house. the grounds?” “Tt does,” “And did you always dein ialak dog roaming shout at night?”, “Yes, but the ‘nighs the seventh: clerk disappeared. he Does this spiked fence go all around — dog was poisoned. He was found dead next morning.” = “But no ie ~~ aah in the case of the other _ ; “No. ” ; F Fes fe : 3 bee : + Oa, t Why didn’t — ae ‘a savage the: and a e spiked fence to, buck again st ca
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I don’t see how those clerks ever got away in the dead of night without making a sound.” “Neither do I. It is a great mystery.” “Where did the clerks sleep?” “On the sofa in the room where you saw my father.” #1 suppose he’ll expect me to sleep there, too?” “He will. During the intervals when he has had no clerk he has slépt there himself. He always fears that some thief will break in and steal all of his money in a lump, therefore he will not leave the room untenanted by somebody for a moment.” “Those clerks couldn’t have opened the safe and re- locked it again without a key. Do you suppose they could have gone to your father’s room and taken it out of his’ pocket while he “slept! tebe ~ “No, for I am sure I would have heard them. My room is on the corridor next to his, and I am a light sleeper. Besides, if they had done so, they must have returned it after abstracting a single bag. Why shoul@ they have taken all that trouble? What had they to gain by it? Nothing but the added risk of discovery.” “That’s right. sThe more we discuss this thing the deeper the mystery grows, By the way, how did he secure these seven clerks?” “By advertising in a New York paper.” “Say, a light strikes me, suggested by the singularity of the thefts. Maybe the whole thing is an organized con- spiracy on the part of a clique of crooks. They might watch for his advertisement in the paper, and one of them at a time applies for the position. Securing the job, he works himself into the confidence of your father,. and when he thinks the time is ripe he takes a bag of gold, leaving the balance for another pal to sample later on. Thus they rob your father systematically, and at the same time throw an air of mystery around their ple are What do you think about it?” ' “Tt is possible. The idea has never occurred to me.” “Tt’s the only solution I can figure out. It is almost . ridiculous to believe that seven clerks, all independent of. and strangers to each other, should work exactly alike and with equal success, while it is equally unheard of to think that out of seven employees not one was honest enough to resist temptation,’ > said Joe. “Your suggestion seems very reasonable,” said. Edith thoughtfully. “My remark that maybe it was for the best that you should come to work for my father was due to my conviction that you, at least, would not steal my father’s. gold, and that possibly you and I might be able to find out the mystery of the disappearance of the seyen _ elerks and the stolen gold.” We might,” replied Joe, “but if they pis got away with the money we are not likely to find it. Well, it is time I made a start if ’'m to get back here to-night with my things, as your father told me to do. It’s a mile from here to the trolley track, and Flushing is es a distance away.” “There’s bell handle on the oateide ‘et; the gate,” said “the girl. Rena it when you arrive and Jerry will let you in?’ eae de oa a oe. “Good- Pe till I see you ageln.” ot ‘doubt. it. : SVEN BAGS OF GOLD. ie Then he started for the trolley road, taking his bearings as he went so that he might have no difficulty in finding the house when he returned. —- CHAPTER IV. SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. 4 On his way. back to Flushing Joe pondered over the singular and mysterious facts connected with the old house on Oak street which promised to be his scene of action for a while to come. The disappearance ‘of the old man’s seven clerks and the seven missing bags of gold puzzled him not a little. To say the truth, he did not put much stock in the in- genious theory he had advanced to Edith to account for the astonishing state of affairs. If crooks had learned of Matthew Graves’ wealth and had planned to rob him, it did not strike him that they would make .a piecemeal job of the matter. Once they got at the contents of the safe they would — have taken the fourteen bags while they were about it. “There is something out of the common back of, this matter—something that will stand a sharp investigation. I should think the old man would have hired an expert detective to ferret out the mystery. Of course he may — have done go for all I know to the contrary, but I rather truth of the matter, which is quite natural, and ll help her all I can, for she’s a mighty fine girl. It’s my opinion” her father is a bit light in the head. While he talked sane enough, there was something odd about him. That may — be due to worry over his lost gold. A man worth $70,000 in money at least, and owner of his own house, has no og to bother about the amount of food his small household consumes. One would think:from the way he put it that he was forced to skimp owing to lack of funds to pay his current expenses, Well, I don’t mean to be starved out, and judging’ from the appearance of his daughter, T don’t . think there is any danger of a food famine. Tt is true that Jerry has a faevahed look and claims that he i not half fed, but I guess he is one of those chaps whose appe- tite is never satisfied, and who couldn’t get fat to save his life because he doesn’t run that way.” When Joe reached Flushing he handed the receipt to ‘Mr. Baxter and collected his fifty cents, half of which he immediately expended on his dinnerw after which he went — to his lodgings, told his landlady that he had securea a job in the village of Rye, packed up his few belongings in his grip and started on his return to the village. On the car he got into conversation with a man who - lived in Rye. Ne the way, I suppose you know an old man in bse named ‘Matthew Graves?” said Joe, who thought he’d try - -and find out something’ about the man he was going to live — | with. “Yes, I ought to know him. He? s lived there a great — ‘many years in an old mansion which was built before the _ Revolutionary War. It’s one of the show places of the Bg ut cela ig nals within the bai ee \ ay His daughter is very anxious to find out the — Pa
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SEVEN BAGS ,OF GOLD. g _ wall which hedges in the grounds unless he goes there on business.” “What sort of man is Matthew Graves?” “He’s a recluse and has the reputation of being a miser.” “What kind of business does he carry on? It must amount to something, for he employs a clerk.” “He lends money out on bond and mortgage and on other security. There is some mystery about his clerks. He has had seven different ones within a year. All have ‘ come from New York in answer to his advertisement. All of them left suddenly—I might say disappeared, for they were not seen to leave the village—and he has claimed that. each of them robbed him of a bag of gold. That he should have lost seven “bags of money, one after the other, at the hands of seven different clerks, does not look rea- sonable, and nobody in the village believes the story. It is quite probable that he may have lost one bag, but he isn’t the kaad of man, in my opinion who would lose the second one.’ “Then you think his statement maphes fishy ?” “T certainly do.” “But there must have been some reason for the clerks decamping so mysteriously. That of itself. would cast sus- picion on them.” _ “That is true, but their disappearance may be due to _ some other reason.” “What other reason?” ane “J eouldn’t tell. you. When Graves reported the loss of his first bag of gold and the disappearance of his clerk, Constable Brown, knowing that the clerk came from New 3 York City, reported the matter to the police authorities of that city, but nothing ever came from it. A month later the old man reported the loss of a second bag and the vanishing of another clerk. Brown was rather astonished, --as were the people of the village, who soon heard about it. The constable went to New ork this time and made a strenuous effort to run the clerk down im conjunction with the city detectives. They met with no success. When Brown came back he advised Graves to put his gold in the village hank and thus put temptation out of the way of his next clerk. He wouldn’t do it, and inside of five weeks he reported the loss of his third bag and the disappearance of his third clerk. Brown didn’t know what to think. He 7 und little else was talked about’ for some time. went all through the old mansion and all over the grounds, hunting for a “alae, but none could he find. He reported the theft again to the New York police, and a ‘metropolitan detective came down and nosed around for several days. The village was much worked up oyer the singular thefts, The al- _ leged absconder was not heard from—he had vanished as mysteriously as the other ‘two. The excitement had hardly died out before Graves reported the loss of his fourth bag and the disappearance of another clerk in the same way as his predecessors. stable. He told the ‘old man that this was carrying things That settled the matter with the con- too far, that he didn’t believe the had been robbed, and that he had something else to do than to lose his time over imaginary thefts. We all thought as the Constable did. In _ fact, none of us now believed that Graves ‘had ever lost a any money at all. Since then it has been r the village that Graves claims he has lost f ji Se and that. four other | ok about ts sis have Sec die ai like ‘the other three. lage that Graves is a monomaniac—that is, partially de-- t additional] _ The result is, it is the opinion of the vil ranged, or, in other words, is laboring under the hallucina- tion that he has been robbed seven times. I¢ will not sur- prise us if we hear that he has been robbed seven times more in the course of another year.” “But how about the seven clerks?” asked Joe. “Well, there is no doubt thout his having seven different clerks and that they left his employ rather mysteriously,” admitted the Rye man, “but as the clerks were strangers | to us we have not bothered greatly about their disappear- ance, concluding that they became dissatisfied with their — job and left under cover of night, which they could easily do without any one noticing them.” “Mr. Graves had a daughter,” said. Joe. “Yes, a very nice girl) She is seldom seen outside her father’s grounds. For some reason, possibly because her father has forbidden her, she shows no desire to make friends with the neighbors.” “T was talking with her this afternoon.” “Where did you meet her? She has never been known to leave the village.” “On her father’s grounds.” “Why, were you in Rye this afternoon ?” “T was. I carried a package from a man in Flushing to her father.” ~ “Are you going hack to see Graves again to-night?” — “Tam. He fas hired me as his clerk—the eighth this year, he calls me.’ “Indeed!” ejaculated the man in surprise. \“I can’t say that I envy you the job. I hope you won’t disappear mysteriously with the eighth bag of gold,” he added with na laugh. “No fear of that. I mean to serve him faithfully and f also try to find out, if possible, just how my seven predeces- sors left the place. I ‘ekg like mysteries, so it 1s my pur- pose to unravel this one.’ “You'll find that the s man is crazy on the subj ect of his bags of gold. It is probable that the first clerk robbed him of a bag of gold and disappeared during the night — without leaving any trace of his flight behind him. The loss of that bag of gold has doubtless preyed on hismind and periodically gives birth to the idea thee he has been” robbed again in the same identical way.” + “JT wouldn’t be surprised but you are right, though’ his’ daughter has told me that each time a clerk disappeared a hag “of ‘gold was missing from the safe.” “Does she know that to be a fact?” asked sk man in some surprise. “She does.” “No one will accuse her of not being right in a the mind,” said the Rye man. knew ib??? “Did she explain ts you how. she “She did, but as nots information was tonfidential : could not repeat ee “Tid it seem reasonable to you?” “Veg, 9? “Tf there was more than one bag of money in the safe, — as your words w ald imply, bed, is it that only one bag was stolen?” ‘tures of the case.” “T couldn’t tell you. That is one of the eee fone ‘
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8 . ' SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. “Has she any idea of the manner in which the clerks took their departure?” “She has not. Their disappearance has puzzled her as much as it is supposed to have surprised her father.” “Well,” said the man, scratching his head, “I hope you will have better luck than your seven predecessors. — It you stay I-should like to see you occasionally to learn what you have found out. I will give you my name and. ad- dress.” He wrote it down and handed it to Joe. The car was now entering the village, and they both alighted together at a corner, and the man, whose name was Andrew Johnson, went part of the way with Joe. It was ten o rclocks when Joe rang the bell at the Graves ~ mansion. Presently Jerry Abbott appeared and peered at him through the bars of the gate. “Oh, it is you, is it?” he said. “I thought maybe you wasn’t coming.” : He unlocked the gate and admitted Joe. _ “Come around the back way,” said Jerry. “Miss Wdith is waiting for you in the dining-room.” Joe followed the lean youth and was first introduced into a large, low-ceiled kitchen, when he saw a_ stout woman sitting at a table reading a newspaper in the light of a lamp. “Cookie,” said Jerry, “this is Joe Bastwood, master’s new clerk.” The woman looked hard at the boy, evidently sizing him up. Joe’s frank, honest and good-looking face seemed to strike her favorably. “How do you do?” she said. “Miss Edith is in the next - room.” | ‘ She pointed at a-door, ae Joe passed through it into ., another large, low-ceiled room, which was clearly the din- ing- “room. There he saw the girl reading a book, She put it down the moment she saw him, rose and ad- vanced with a smile to meet him. ° “T was half afraid ye ‘had changed your mind about coming,” she said. “Half afraid, eh?” incied Joe, “and yet at first you didn’t want me to come.” “T know, it, but T am in hopes Fy ee will happen to| y ou. ” “You mean that you trust I won't disappear mysteri- ously with a bag of your father’s gold.” “J am sure you never will touch his money,” she replied earnestly. “Thank you for that expression of your Sontilense - You may be sure I will not. I would not forfeit your good ‘opinion for a thousand bags of goa 8 She blushed vividly under his ardent gaze. “Come. My father has been asking for you several, times. I fear he is growing impatient. Let us go to him.” She led the way up stairs to the room Joe was in before. “Matthew Graves was seated at his desk poring over a “mortgage. _. He looked 1B ae his is dgughter and ae entered the ‘ room, | aaa “You have come at last, young pf It is well. I have been waiting for you. Retire, my chitd. .1 would speak to my new clerk in private,” he said. Kdith looked’ a bit anxious, but did not dare to linger after her fether’s command. “Young man, have you met any of the villagers on your way here?” asked Graves. “T rode from Flushing with one, sir’ by the name of Andrew Johnson.” “You conversed with him on the way, eh?” “Yes, sir.” “You told him, I’suppose, that 1 had hired you as my clerk?” ; 5 “Yes, sir.” ; “And he, I dare say, told you of the unaccountable dis- appearance of the other seven clerks, each of whom robbed _ me of a bag of gold.” ; hg “YT admit that he told ine all about the reports you made to the constable concerning at least three of the seven.” ' “And the other four?” “He said it was known throughout the village that you claim to have been robbed seven times of a bag of gold in exactly the same manner.” ‘ “Claim to have been robbed!” exclaimed the old man angrily. “TI have been robbed. Seven bags of gold have I lost. Seven, d’ye understand ?” ‘ *Yos, sir,” replied Joe, who was pretty well satisfied that. Graves believed he had. been robbed of the seven bags whether he had been: or not, “These people doubt me, but what do they Lat ? What do they care? It was not their gold that vanished. Young man, you may have heard that Iam selfish, usurious, a> hoarder up of money—this, no doubt, is the opinion the villagers have of me, and perhaps they are right, but what I am the world has made me. I have been the prey of - designing rascals. In years past they dragged me to the — rugged brink of ruin by their tricks of high finance, and having plundered me of all cast me on my own resources _ like a sponge that'has been squeezed dry. This froze my — heart to all mankind, and since then IT have had but one object in life, and.that was to make a new fortune and then use it to revenge myself on those who heggared me, _ T have suceeeded w ale every well,” he went on with a wicked grin. “In yonder safe are bonds and mortgages and other ‘securities on which I have loaned these men thousands of dollars. When the time comes they will not — be able to pay, but will ask for more time, Will J grant — it? Will a'famished tiger refuse a, delicate meal? Will the graveyard give up its dead? ‘No. And that will be Y my answer to them. As music is to the cultivated ear so ‘ will their pleadings for time be to ming. 1 will gloat over — their troubles. I will—but there, this is nothing to you. You cannotunderstand. Tam hard and relentless to those who have wronged me, but to those who do the right thing by me I am generous beyond their most sanguine hopes. pts T have apieed to give you five dollars a week to serve me. Do it faithfully and I will make it ten, fifteen or even. more. Only do not rob me, like the other sever All else T might. forgive, but if you rob me— He. stopped. and glared at Oe. eens ne ae: jiiceh the boy, ria eran 2 ag a Mare eee a
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. oe eS RTS SRE ES SBC SEAFORD SSSR SUTTER SIS PRES RIED ES ES SE ESN ERED SSS ETAT TT YB ISTO TRESS SSS hare. I don’t wonder that the seven clerks threw up their jobs and skipped out in the night. I dare say he’s worse at night than at any other time.” At that moment Edith appeared ae a lighted oe in her hand. i “Dear father, it is time you retired to your room,” she said, “You have not slept in your own bed since your “last clerk went away. It is going on midnight.” * “fT will come directly, child,” he replied. “Young man, IT will show you the gold you are to watch over.” _ He walked to the safe and unlocked it with a key which he took from, his pocket, and Joe saw that the key was attached to a-ring and that the ring was at the end of a small steel chain secured to the old man’s clothing. Throwing open the door, he exposed the interior, which had pigeon- holes filled with packages of papers, and a large space in the center in which rested seven’ bags apparently full of money. “Take out those bags, place them on the table and cotmt them,” he said. | Joe did so. “How many do you make them?” “There are seven,” said Joe, _. “Exactly. Yet once there were fourteen. But seven times haye I been robbed of a bag by a clerk on whom I depended. Replace them in the safe.” Joe obeyed. “You are sure there are seven bags of gold in the safe, eh?” “TY am sure there are seven ae of money, and Tl take your word for it that it is gold.” © "Dis well, Now I will lock: the door. ‘secure. Come, my midnight, you ‘say ?” “(ood night, Mr. her hand, f _ “Good night, Miss Graves.” * “Tn yonder closet you will find all you need to ress yourself comfortable on the sofa.” “Allright, 7 euess I won’t suffer, for it’s a pretty warm ~ night.” ‘i ¥ aut drm, my Addai: » said Matthew Graves. “Re- member, young man, there are seven bags of gold in that safe that yous ate responsible for. Let it be so found in the morning.’ “You'll fri them there, all fiat ” = *T hope so—for your sake and cue said the old man. Me in a significant tone. ‘ There, all is child, we will ‘go to bed. *Tis near Eastwood,” shad Edith, offering Joe ig + ¢ «] wonder what, he means by that?” Joe asked himself : as: he watched his employer walk tow ard the door leaning on his daughter’s arm, As Raith, opened the door leading on to the corridor thew Graves paused and turned around, Re emember, young 1 man, there are ‘seven bags ‘of gold ¢ cm er your care. Be watchful and do not yield to tempta- tion an ‘ ‘rob. me, Let seven bags he’ found ini the, morn- a ing—seven, you understand!” ce ( , - Then Baith and her father: passed into the ade 3 wae Joe was left alone in. ga shadowy ‘ocallections, ( over one: ‘hundred Jearer: Be ‘the gloomy old room with its| | where. downstairs. CHAPTER V. AN OLD Berne. “T don’t think I fancy this job much,” muttered Joe, walking to the window and looking out. “If at wasn't for Miss Edith, I don’t think V’d stay, Her father is surely off his balance. He’s got the seven bags of gold on the brain. I’d give something to find out where the other seven went. I’d be willing to bet that those clerks never took them. How could they unless they brought a small kit of burglar’s tools with them? Well, he'll find his seven bags in the morning all right, for I’m not going to disap- pear with one to-night.” It was a fine moonlight night, and the waters of the Sound glistened in silvery radiance, There was a light breeze blowing and Joe leaned out of the window to breathe it in, for the room was warm and stuffy. “No thief could get in éhis window without the aid of a ladder, so I guess I won't be troubled with such visitors, at any Tate not to-night. I don’t mind sleeping on that sofa \in this kind of weather, but I doubt if ’'d care for it in winter,” thought the boy after half closing the window. He looked in the closet and found there all the bed clothes he cared to use. He fixed up the sofa as comfortably as possible and then ° turning out the lamp he turned in for the night. His situation was so strange, however, that he could not get to sleep. For an hour or more he turned and twisted about and then, overcome at last by the fatigue of the day, he fell asleep. ‘ ' His repose, however, was not a ned one, such as he was accustomed to. Odd and fantastic dreams ironibied his sleep, in all of which appeared seven figures which Joe seemed to recog- nize as the seven clerks who had in turn disappeared so _ mysteriously ai the time when a bag of gold had vanished also. They nodded at him and peckoned for him to join them. Then they turned into seven grinning skeletons that danced a fantastic jig with hands joined, all the a staring at him with their eveless sockets. After that they vanished and Joe drifted off into a dreamless sleep. When he awoke it was broad dayliglit: The sun was shining slantingly in at the two windows, the birds were singing outside and a cgol morning breeze * was swaying the hess - curtains to and fro. Joe sprang up, wondering what time it was. A small modern clock on his employer’s desk told. oe that. it was half-past seven. “i _ “It’s: late,” he muttered, ‘springing out of bed and — hustling on his clothes. There was a washstand in the roomy closet, and he | washed himself and fixed his hair before a small mirror. Then he folded up the bed clothes and placed ‘them by where he had found them. 5 ‘Hardly ‘had he finished eee he heard a bela some- é
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_ You will find that such is not the case. 10 SEVEN Presently he heard slow and measured steps in the cor- ridor, the door opened and Matthew Graves walked into the room. “Gooil morning, young man,” he said in a friendly tone. “T hope you passed a pleasant night.” - Joe thought of the seven clerks who had bothered a portion of his sleep, and wasn’t certain about it, but never- theless he replied that he had slept all right. “Breakfast awaits you below,” said the employer, walking to his desk. “All right, sir. Do you wish me to assist you down- stairs 7”, ' _“No. My breakfast is always served to me here, In fact, I take all my meals in this room, for the safe must never be left for a moment unguarded.” “He is certainly crazy on the subject of his money,” thought Joe as he walked downstairs. “Tow could any one get into that safe while he’s at breakfast?” He found Edith in the dining-room waiting for him, - She greeted him with a’ smile and a cheerful-good morning, Which he turned, and taking her place at the head of the table, she pointed to a chair close to her. The breakfast consisted of steak, fried potatoes, hot rolls and coffee, and Joe had no fault to find with it. Edith saw that he was bountifully supplied, and she did not stint herself cither. “Judging from your father’s remarks yesterday after- noon, I should imagine he would have a fit if he saw what a good breakfast we are having,” laughed Joe. “Tf I followed my father’s orders, we would have very little to eat, and I would not be able to keep the eook,” she replied. could not afford to buy enough of the necessaries of life. T buy what I think is necessary, and he gives me the money to pay the bills at the end of the week. He never looks at them, but he never fails to tell me to be more economical. Poor father! He has changed greatly since he lost his first bag of gold. ' But I am sure with you in his employ he will lose no more.” “Not through me he won’t,” replied Joe, who then re- _ lated such portions of his dream as he could remember. “T do not believe that dreams mean anything,” she re- plied. “Your mind was filled with thoughts of the seven clerks, and then seven missing bags of gold, so it was natu- ral you should dream about them.” ~ “T guess you’re right. I’m not particularly surprised myself that I had such odd visions.” After breakfast Joe took a walk around the grounds with Edith for akput an hour and at nine o’clock returned to the room where his employer was seated at his desk. own to the paneer: He found a chair and a writing table placed beside one of the-windows, , There were writing materials on it. Joe’s first job was to copy a number of documents that Mr. Graves placed before him, and the task took him a couple of hours, during which the old man had one visitor, ee _who wanted to raise a sum of money on his farm. Joe worked steadily until one o’clock and he acquitted himself to, the satisfaction of his employer. The bell then rang for dinner, and he was tone. to go fae Pad BAGS “To hear him talk, one would think we ‘OF GOLD. The meal was a thoroughly good one, and the boy was now satisfied that there was no danger of any one in the household suffering from, want of food. . Jerry evidently did not tell the truth when he said he had not had a Square meal in six months> Just why he’looked so.skinny and ill-fed was a problem to Joe. After dinner Joe had an hour to himself and he spent it in Edith’s company. The more he saw of the girl the more she fascinated him, and it was clear that he was not displeasing to her. He worked from half-past two until five and then he was off for the day. % On the whole the job was an easy one—what some peo- ple would call a “pipe,’’ and he was glad he had fallen into it. ‘Supper was announced promptly at six, and when they were through Joe and Edith went down to the end of the grounds, passed outside the wall through a kind of postern gate, and strolled along the bank of the creek toward -the Sound, It was dark when they returned, and Joe passed the rest of the evening playing backgammon with the girl. in the dining-room. His sleep was not bothered that night with unpleasant dreams, and he ‘awoke in'the morning. feeling quite chipper. During the week that followed Joe and Edith had fre- ‘quent conversations about the seven clerks and the seven bags of gold. The girl showed him all over the house, excepting the big cellar, which occupied the whole of the foundations of the house, and was divided into compartments, one of which had originally been used as a wine bin. “This is a pretty old house,” said Joe one evening. after he had been there a week. “Yes. It wag built one hundred and forty years ago, i replied Edith. “Gee! It’s older than I thought. Is it haunted?” he grinned. , “All old houses are, they say.” She looked serious at once. “Did you notice the tower end—the part which is so thickly covered with ivy?” she said. “Sure I did. It looks older than the rest of the place.” “Tt is. It is over two hundred years old.” “Ts that so? “ How does it happen to be older than the rest of the place?” “Tt is the only portion left of the original structure, — which was destroyed by fire. It was not injured by the flames and the owner of the plate let it stand when he rebuilt the rest, as you see, on more modern lines just before the Revolutionary War. He was a wealthy Tory and did not enjoy a very good reputation, so 1 have been — told. In fact, I have heard many dark stories about him, ; which have been handed down in Hs families of the older residents of this village.” i “They have been made up baci he was a Tory. — Tories, you know, were hated by the patriots because they. ty sided with the British. 2 i zy “Of course I can’t say whether the stories about him were true or not, but they do say that his wife vanished in _ ae porte Nib Rat led to an snquity at. the aia under E sett cet ae . Se ;
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. : ii the impression that he had put her out of the way, as he| “Never. I was only once in one of the two rooms, which had ‘been heard to threaten to do, He was arrested on| are connected with a circular stairway, and I wouldn’t go suspicion, at any rate, and the house was searched from | therealone, even in the daytime, for a good deal.” cellar to roof for the lf@y’s body, but it was not found,| “Then you suspect that it is haunted?” nor was any evidence discovered to connect him with her} “I don’t know anything about it. We don’t use that Supposed murder.” part of the house, and never have. The entrance is at the “When did that happen?” : end of the corridor near my father’s office. It is a narrow | “Shortly after hé rebuilt this house.” door, the key to which is hanging from a nail beside it. “What reason did he give for her disappearance?” When the agent: showed us the house he opened: the door “He said that she eloped in the night with an army offi-| for us to see what the old part looked like. He said it cer who was visiting them, and he had no idea where they} had not been used by the previous tenants and owners— went. He declared that he was glad to be rid of her,} two old maids, who had porns the house for over’ forty which accounted for his failure to make the slightest effort | years.” _ to go after the fugitives. His statement was not generally|’ “Forty years! That’s a long time to live in one ns accepted as the truth, though it was known that the night} “The room seemed to be fully furnished in old-fash- -she disappeared the army officer left for New York in a} ioned style, but everything was smothered in dust. We chaise. People said she was not the kind of lady to run} did not care to go upstairs to see what the other room away from her husband, notwithstanding that she led an| looked like, and the agent could not tell us as he had | unhappy life with him. The room my father uses for his| never been up there. In fact, he did not seem particularly . office was her room, and she was last seen there by hex| anxious to show us up.” maid on the night she disappeared.” “So there is one room in the house you have never “This is interesting,” said Joe. “The last seen of each| seen?” / of the seven clerks was in that same room. I wonder if] “Yes, but I have no curiosity to see it.” there is any connection between the incidents? How long} “T thought curiosity was one thing that a woman ‘never have you and your father lived in this house?” went back on,” laughed Joe. “Seven years.” “There is a limit to my curiosity,” she replied. “Your father, I understand, slept in iia: room when| “That’s because you imagine the place is haunted, he had no clerk, and he did not disappear. of isn’t it?” “Nobody has ever disappeared here since we came but| “I haven’t any opinion on the subject, ” she rephed the clerks.” evasively. - “The clerks must have been hoodooed. I hope I won’t|. “I’ve eee a whole lot about haunted houses, but follow their Iuckless example,” said Joe with a smile. never took any stock in such things,” said Joe. “TI hon- “T trust, you will not,” she answered seriously. estly think it’s all rot. When a person dies it is claimed “Why do you say that so seriously ?” that he goes either to heaven or the other place. If that “Because—because I wouldn’t want anything to happen| is the fact, and all the ministers preach it, how then can _ to you.” people appear on earth after their death? 2” “Did you take as much interest in the other clerks?” “It doesn’t seem reasonable, but——” Wp _ She blushed and looked at the carpet, leaving Joe to} “You have your doubts on the subject, eh? Now look form his own conclusions. > here,.I read a case in the paper a while ago where a fam- “I'm not afraid of disappearing,” he said after a short| ily moved into a certain honse andthe first night they pause. “I’d much rather remain here than go away. I| were in it they heard a noise like a body heing dragged like the position. I am getting used to your father, and| down stairs. They investigated, but could find no evidence he does not seem half so queer to.me as he did at ‘first. | that such a thing had happened. The phenomena was . Phen I like you, too,” he added earnestly. “T never met subsequently repeated, and they spoke to a neighbor. about a girl before who pleased me so much, who seemed so sen-| it} He told them that a man had been murdered in a sible and nice as you. I hope { don’t offend you by being| room on the third floor and dragged down the back stairs_ so frank, but I can’t help saying what i is the ‘truth. You’re| by the legs by his murderer. They left, the house in a ; not offended, are your” ny hurry. Now what I’m getting at is, supposing the mur- _» ¥No,”.she ‘replied 1 ina low tone, while the sles mounted | derer, who was executed for the Gite: and his victim did. : higher in her face. repeat the tragedy in spirit, how could they make the See moelad: fox i wouldn't offend you for the world.” noise which was heard, since they no longer had any - _ She continued silent, with her eyes bent on the floor. | weight or substance, being merely shadows? It’s ridicu- | i : There was a short pause, and then. Joe, at a loss what| lous! So I say all ghosts are a humbug.” ) say next, returned to the subject of the house. “That may be, but I wouldn’t, like to go. into those _ _ “Yon didn’t answer the question I asked you when we| tower rooms, especially at night.” Nea “first started to speak about this soo a he said. “Tyo you dare me to do it?” said Joe. “What did you ask me?” “Would you?” she cried, looking him full in the face. “I asked youif it was haunted, like so many old houses! “I would, but I’d like you to go with me, so-that T could are said to he _ | eure you of your foolish notions about that wing pete" cs “They say the tower part is,” she replied i ina low tone. haunted,” he replied. “That's the oldest part. Ever see or hear anything | “JT wouldn’t dare,” she replied with a little meg re?”? asked J o¢ with an air of interest. pp ee “Then eae go alone if you will eney me Si for Ym,
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eee SEVEN = asi fe BAGS OF GOLD. : aurioyus to know what the rooms, the top one particularly, looks like, since they have been closed up for- forty-five years at least.” “No,” she said, “I don’t want you to go.” “Why don’t you?” he asked. “Tm afraid something might happen to you.” “Don't you worry about that. I shall bring you back a full description of the turret chamber. Maybe I'll find the seven clerk§ up there,” he laughed. “Tt is nothing to jest about,” she said earnestly, laying her han: on his arm. “Or the seven bags of gold.” “You will never find any clue to the missing gold ‘ there.” “Probably not, but there ought to be many old-fashioned things up there that are worth bringing down, cleaning up and placing about the house as eurios.” She shook her head as if she didn’t approve of disturb- “ing them. He would have continued the subject, but at that mo- ‘ment the bell connecting the dining-room with the office was Tung, which was a sign that Matthew Graves was ready to retire and wanted to go through the nightly counting of the seven bags of gold with his new ‘clerk. Joe jumped up, bade Edith good night and ran up to the office. CHAPTER VI. JOE INVESTIGATES. ie Next morning after Joe had finished his toilet ie walked out into the corridor and looked at the end near the office where the small door was that connected with the unused and alleged haunted section of the house. That end of the corridor was so dark that he couldn’t make out the door at all from the spot where he stood, so he walked down till he got close to the end wall, which, like the office, was paneled with dark wood, that had be- come almost black through age. Z He was now able to see the outline of the door, which fitted quite snug, and was phos one-third smaller than an ordinary door. ‘Tt was fitted with an olds feshiahed glass knob, which Joe turned to assure himself that the door was fast. Ere a The key, an odd- baat one, was hanging on a nail just within hig reach. Joe was strongly tempted to enter the place and explore both rooms, but hesitated at intruding where he had no - business. *T don’t see that it would do any harm,’ ” he argued. ty, “N, either Mr. Graves nor his daughter use this part of the house. If it was my house, I’d have the rooms cleaned up ina jiffy and make use of them. It is on the sunny side, ‘and a fine view of the Sound eould ‘be had from the turret a windows. in the house. I think they’re the two most desirable rooms Tt’s a shame to have them go, to waste. ‘They’ re no more haunted than any ofier sad of ste puild- That! s all Pe a i Pane key me ii kling of fine dust on Joe’s jacket, and quite a Ca of dust 1 hadn't sung Hemsbto4 | yet, he could take a peep at the lower chamber, which had been shown to Edith and her father by the agent when they were inspecting the house with the view of pur- chasing it. 7 He thrust the key ae the lock, turned it, opened the door and entered, leaving the door ajar so he could hear the bell. The room was wrapped in a kind of twilight, owing to the fact that the windows were coated with dust and coy- ered with a heavy, dark drapery. There was light enough, however, for him to see that the room was furni shed with a small, light table; four stiff- backed chairs; a small eseritoire or lady’s writing desk, evidently of foreign workmanship, like the rest of the fur- niture; portraits on the walls in heavy tarnished frames; a small, deep, open fireplace; a large, heavy piece of fur- niture which Joe, at first glance, took for a hookease, but which he found on examination was intended to hold some- thing other than books, and many other things. ' Everything was thickly covered with half a eentury’ § acy cumulation of dust, though where so much dust could have come from puzzled the boy not a little. He saw the footprints made by the agents, Edith and her father, but these did not extend far and looked ae footprints in a light fall of snow. Walking to one of the windows, he thought he’d let a little fresh air into the musty smelling place, but the mo- ment he touched one of the heavy curtains so, much dust. was displaced that he changed his mind, as he did not | want to appear at the breakfast table looking like a miller. — He was about to walk over to the winding staircase to take a look upward, when it suddenly occurred to him that. he had broken a stringent rule laid down by Mr. Graves, which was that he must not leave the office witonanped for a moment. “Gee! If the old man walks in there, and it’s his aa for doing it, and he finds me out, he’ll give me a calling down,” he thought. “T’must get back and postpone Te investigations till another time.” He made a hurried exit from the room, locked the door, replaced the key and returned to the office. He was not a moment too soon, for he heard a te af open and close and then the measured steps of his ems. ployer sounded in the corridor. Joe ran to the window, opened the lower sash and leaned — out. At that juncture the reglbtadt bell rang. Matthew Graves extended to him his customary greet- — ing, which faverably included. the segs if he had slept ‘a well, ; ; “Like a top,” replied Joe. Wig setae ee re He was then dismissed to breakfast. t Edith’s sharp eyes noticed that there was a thin sprin- on the under part.of one of his sleeves. That satisfied her that the. new clerk had Bett in’ the haunted part of the house, and she looked at him hard, ns wondering how far his investigations had extended. She; made: no remark, but began to pour the coffee, ex- ex- ‘pecting 1 that} Be, res dies a0 id ne: duit
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father is not at hand to take your place, orders.” SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. He didn’t, and her curiosity induced her to question him. “You have been on forbidden ground,” she said with a half smile. “What do you mean?” “The evidence, in the shape of a sprinkling of dust, is on your jacket.” “Tm caught, am I? JI didn’t intend to tell you until I - had explored the upper chamber,” he said with a flush. “Then you pie not go up in the turret room?” “ No. ” “When did you go into the lower room—last night after my father had retired?” “No, this morning, directly after I got up.” . She smiled, “What are you smiling at?” he asked. “You were apparently so anxious to go last night that I thought maybe you.had done so, but I see you te | _to go in the daylight.” “T see. You think I was afraid'to go at night. Well, T’m not, and to prove it, I'll go to-night.” The saucy smile faded from her face and she shook her head. “Remember, you must hot ledve the: office when | my Those are his “T know if*but what’s the difference? Nobody is going to break im there during the short time I'll be away.” “You broke the rule "this morning. You must not do it again,” she said. AN right. Then I’ll go there during the early part of _ the evening, and J dare you to go with me.” . She shook her head. “Haven't you confidence enough in my protection? he said, rising. “Yes, but—— “There ought not to be any ‘but, Miss Edith. ei ought to know that I would protect you against any dan-| ger with my life jf need be.” — After uttering those words in an earnest tone, he walked| toward the door and dashed out into the grounds. Ni She followed him with her eyes until he disappeared, - while her face flushed a rich tint, and she looked into her teacup in.a pensive way. What was she thinking about? | » Joe walked around to the ancient part of the house and looked up at the circular wall, with ifs closed and silent windows. , While his eyes wandered to the*windows of the mysteri- ous turret chamber, Jerry came around a corner of the building, pushing a law n mower before him, . “Hello, what are you looking at?” he said. ‘Nothing in particular,” replied Joe. “Yes, you are,” gr inned the youth. at the haunted rooms.’ “You're looking “Dye seen the ghost. a - €You haye, eh?” Yep.” replied Jerry ‘hecitaly ape rary to"precedent, ett looking after the youth. as if the sie. of the| ke had produced a pleasing impression on his mind, less inclined was she to have him venture into that, section. , a of the house. eee ie ee Fog “What did it look like?” ihre? Jerry scratched his head as if considering the matter! “It was a skelington in a long white sheet,” he said with another grin. “Didn’t it scare you?” “Nope. I ain’t afraid of no skelingtons.” “When did you see it? At night?” asked Joe, satisfied that Jerry was handling the truth very lightly. “Nope. In the daytime.” “Where did you see it? At the upper window?” “Nope. It came out. on that there baleony under-the lower winder.” “What did it do?” “It waved -its hands and arms at me this way,” and | Jerry illustrated the movements of the alleged spook. “Jerry, do you think I believe that yarn of yours?” said Joe severely. “If you ever, saw a skeleton in a sheet cOme out of that window you’d make tracks faster than you ever did before in your life, and you wouldn’t stop till yourant on the outside of the wall.”: “Maybe you'll see it. some time and then yen ‘ll pret I’vé.told the truth,” He grabbed the handle of the machine and kept -on with his work. “T wonder why he told me‘that yarn?” thought Joe, “Tl bet he’s got some object behind it. He’s rather a foxy kid. Maybe he is think- ing of working the ghost racket off on me himself. Tf he does, V’ll give him a surprise that’ll make his hair curl.” Joe turned away and strolled off around the grounds. CHAPTER VII THE VISION. Joe put in another week on his job, and Matthew Graves _ surpriséd him by raising his wages to. ten dollars a week. The old man appeared to he very much pleased with his work and seemed to have taken a fanéy to him. He had an easy time of it, for there ‘wasn’t a great) deal to do, and some days he had so little to do that he em- | i gi prs e. ployed his time reading a book ‘from the bookcase, while his employer took a walk about his property. ¢. Whether he had little or much to do, he was required - ‘to put in a regular number of hours in the office room. ’ Every night the formula of counting the seven bags of gold was gone through with and each morning they were taken out again and checked off. i The bags could have heen counted and checked off in the safe just that way. / It seemed to be an unnecessary feature of Joes work, - as well, but tke shan 8 Graves would not haye it for the gold was always there, but the old man was clearly @ a “Do you believe they're haunted ?” asked Joe, eyeing mad on that point, if on no other. him keenly. ee *Saresr doi? chuckled Jerry. Joe made no further attempt to explore the haunted wing, though he’ was anxious to oe it, as iid apneites | decidedly averse to it. In fact the better acquainted she and an became ree dap tel ate,
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14 though she could not give any reasons for her fears. The decided interest she took in him flattered the boy, and he returned it, for by this time he was head and ears in love with her. - Joe had not been outside the grounds, except along the crack in company swith Edith on three occasions in the evening:since he began to work for Matthew Graves, and he was beginning to yearn for a more extended tour of the neighborhood. He spoke to Edith on the subject, but she offered him no encouragement. Finally he asked permission of his employer, but Mr. Graves turned his request down, saying that he did not wish him to have any communication with the villagers, who doubted that he had lost seven bags of gold, and said hard things about him with reference to the seven clerks who had preceded Joe. As Edith did not go into the village herself, Joe pre- sumed that the old man got his information from Jerry, who appeared to be the only person on the premises who was permitted io go out into the: village. He had to go anyway to purchase supplies, which was probably the reason why he was allowed out. After Edith’s experience with the: savage bulldog her father did not try to get another, and this fact suited Jerry immensely, for he had been in constant fear of the late one. So time passed and Joe had received four weeks? wages by this time. As he had’no chance to spend a cent, he felt quite wealthy with $30 in gold in his pocket. He felt that he needed a number of things, and he spoke to the old man about it, saying that he would like to tun out to a store in the village and make his purchases. “Jerry will get you whatever you need,” replied Mr. Graves in a tone that satisfied the boy that his employer did not wish him to leave the place. _ This is next door to being in a prison,” thought Joe as he walked off to find Jerry and commission him to make his purchases for him when he next went out. “It’s ‘a mighty soft job, but it has its drawbacks. As long as . IT stay here I suppose I’ve got to toe the mark. If I shook the pigce, I wouldn’t find anything half so congenial to me, not to speak of Edith’s society, which is more to me than anything else. J think so much of her that I should be awfully down in the mouth if I had to part from her. I think she cares some for me, too. At any rate, she acts as if she did. One of these days, when her father dies, she'll be well off, and it would be a fine thing for me if I “could marry her. I’d be right in it.” - It was Sunday night of, the ladt: week of August. The day had been particularly sultry, and Joe noticed _ that Mr. Graves acted a little queerer than usual. >The heat seemed to affect him. At ten o’clock promptly Joe entered the office room Pie go through his customary formula of sane: the seven pags of gold at the old man’s bidding. . After which, though the door was not locked on him, he} was not’to leave the room till his employer Reig ext irhage: a 3 2 Te eb ons SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. sit seemed to fear that some harm might come to him,| Matthew Graves opened, the safe and Joe took out the seven bags. He, placed them on the table and counted them = and deliberately. Edith was always present at, this ceremony, as it was ; her father’s purpose to have her witness the proceedings. She was not required to be on hand in the. morning, when the bags were checked off. The only occasions when he had called her into the room to witness the opening of the safe was on the mornings after the mysterious disappearance of the former clerks. On each of these occasions the bags of gold which she had seen put back into the safe the night.before were found to be one short, and her father called on her to take notice that he had been robbed again. “There are seven bags of gold, sir,” said Joe, repeating the expression for about the sixtieth time. “Return them to the safe,” said Matthew Graves. Joe replaced them in the center compartment. The old man then locked the same and tried the handle. “Now, child, let us to bed,” he said to his daughter. -At the door he paused just as he had done on the first night of Joe’s stay, and turning around, said solemnly: “Remember, young man, there are seven bags of gold in that safe—seven—seven—seven !” He went out muttering the words. “He’s got it bad to-night,” thought the boy. “I guess the heat has a depressing effect on him. ‘Remember, young man, there are seven bags of gold in that safe— seven—seven—seven !’” chuckled Joe, imitating the old man’s tone and manner. “I ought to be able to remember that fact, for I have counted them often enough.” He walked to the open window and looked out. “Gee! It’s hot to-night. It would melt the tail of a brass monkey. I’d give something to be out in a boat on the Sound. The water looks good, though it’s as placid as a mill pond. This is just the kind of night to take your girl out.” Joe hung out of the window for a good half an hour trying to get cool. Every once in a while a tantalizing little fas would blow across his hot face and then die out, leaving bim hungry for more. At last, leaving the window wide open, he walked over ~ to the sofa and threw himself on it in a lazy way. He did not feel sleepy and had no desire to make up his bed and get into it. His eyes rested on the door. of the safe which was re- flected in the light of the lamp, turned low, standing on the table. His thoughts turned on the seven clerks who had held down his job in turn not much longer than he had held it, and who had each been found missing one morning, and with them had gone just one bag of gold. “Tm no nearer a clue to the mystery than when I started in a month ago,” he thought. those things that never will be found out.” After lying a while Joe concluded that he’d drag the sofa over under the window. He got up, laid hold of it afd pulled, but, to his atts: Py prise it would not budge an inch. ; ste tried to lift it, ee uealet dale “T guess it’s one of
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eRe, Oe Ce eee mee bP Ay y s Jessly, as if on an axle, and a moment later the ‘sofa was, tape in » — pene SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. 15 “Tt must be nailed to the floor. That’s funny. Iwon-| With this difference, however, it was now empty. % der why ?” The young man and the clothes in which he had been He got the lamp and examined the legs of the sofa, which| wrapped had vanished utterly. : were elegantly carved in the fashion of the latter half o e the seventeenth century. aa There wasn’t’ the sign of a nail in them, nor the teak evidence to show what held them to the floor. CHAPTER VIII. 2 “Tt can’t be its weight, for it would have to. be filled s +. with lead or I could work it ayound a little bit. This is JOE LEARNS MORE ABOUT THE OLD HOUSE. i the most curious sofa I ever saw. It isn’t made of iron,” : oe LenS r he said, tapping it with his knuckles. “No, it’s wood, alt] _J0e Sat bolt upright and looked around him in a startled, right.” way. ee He got up and tugged at. it again, but with no better success. “Well, something holds it, that is sure. It’s too hot to exert myself any more now. I must tell Edith about it to-morrow.” He replaced the lamp and lay down again. ° For a while his thoughts were centered on the sofa, and he tried to account for the way in which it appeared to be attached to the floor. Then he began thinking about Edith and what a fine girl she was. Gradually he drifted off to sleep. Then he had a curious dream. He thought he was seated at his writing table A the window looky straight at the sofa. The lamp on the table was burning dimly and by its 1 light he saw a young man of perhaps thirty lying ae on the sofa. Suddenly something attracted his attention to a corner of the room. _ The heavy curtain which hide there was slowly pushed aside and he saw Matthew Graves, attired in a dressing gown, with bare feet, enter the room. - He walked straight toward the sic looking neither to the left nor the right. There wasa fixed and glassy stare in his eyes, like that of a corpse. His step was slow and measured, but his hare feet made no sound. On reaching the safe he stopped, took a key attached to a ring and a chain from the folds of his gown, opened _the safe door and stood contemplating the interior. Tn some mystic way, not ordinarily possible, Joe seemed to see the interior of the safe, and following, through an impulse not his own, the old man’s muttered count, saw that there were fourteen bags of gold in it. - This cireumstance did not seem to surprise him. ' Then Matthew Graves reached out his arm, seized one of the bags and took it from the others, placing it under his left arm. He closed and locked the safe, tried the handle as was his habit, and walked slowly toward the wall against which the safe stood, between that article and the sofa on which the young man lay asleep. A moment later a sharp click sountled that pune — Joe’s eyes to the sofa. — He saw the piece of furniture drop haere while the section. of floor on which it stood revolved swiftly and noise- The light burned dimly on the table and the room was © just as it had been before he fell asleep. “Gee! So I was dreaming,” he said. “Well, that was the most realistic dream I ever had in my life. I saw the old man as plain as anything come into this room, go to the safe, unlock it, and take one bag of gold out of it. But there were fourteen bags. in it, not seven. That was the number he had before he was robbed the first time. He looked awfully queer—just like a walking corpse. Then he went around by the side of the safe and then 4 Joe gave a jump and got away from the sofa. “TI saw that sofa revolve with a young man on it, and when it returned to its place it was empty, just as it Is now. © What in thunder does this all mean?” Joe stood and looked at the sofa as if he were afraid it would jump at him and bite him. After a few minutes of indecision he turned up the lamp and bringing it over near the sofa, got down on his knees and began to examine the carpet in front of it. - It was a thick, soft carpet that must have cost a lot of money when new. It was not worn so much about the sofa as in other Pipes where it had gone almost threadbare. _Joe pulled at it here and there,, but coud find no evi- dence of a break in it. It seemed to be perfectly whole all sae the sofa. “T oness there was nothing to that dream, and yet it is a most singular thing that the sofa is stuck fast to the floor,” he said, evidently perplexed over the circumstance. Finally he got up and replaced the lamp. | Hardly had he set it down before he picked:it up again, : and walked over to the spot where he had seen Matthew Graves, in his dreams, enter the room. He pulled the curtain aside and looked, ae. to: find a door, but there was not the slightest sign of one. The panels were as regular there as elsewhere! “That was certainly a crazy dream,” he said. He looked all around the corner, moving a heavy case of. drawers into the corner in order to look behind it, and then — laughing at himself for iene 80, as there was no sign of a door behind it. He left the case stanaide where he had shoved it and — brought the lamp back to the table. Then with a laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole’ matter he made his bed as usual and lay down with a fight, sheet over him. He was dozing off when ee pronsed aie He sat up and listened. ae hioud A noise of some kind was coming from the comer he had examined, : SA Shei i i
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Oy said. SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. ann Suddenly an ornament that stood on the case of drawers fell over, struck on a chair, rebounded and rolled on to the carpet with a muffled sound, Joe sprang off the sofa, seized the lamp and sehsd over to the corner. He picked up the reine, which was an old-fashioned cup of sixteenth century workmanship, and listened. Not another sourtd was to be heard. After listening for some minutes he gave the matter up and replaced the cup. “All imagimation, except the fall of the cup, I guess,” he “Probably in moving that case I displaced the cup so that somehow or another it afterwards lost its balance - one’s mind.is in when you-go to sleep, and fell. It must be so for it couldn’t be anything else.” He returned to bed and lay thinking for some time. ’ Then he fell asleep and was not disturbed again, sleeping serenely till morning. His thoughts immediately recurred to the events of the night—particularly his singular dream and the fall of the cup. “Some people would have thought this room was haunted after that cup fell, and have got out pretty quick; but I’m sure it was all due to natural causes. The really curious thing was the dream | had. I can’t understand the mean- ing of that. Dreams are said to result from the condition I went to sleep thinking about how odd it was that the sofa was stuck to the floor, That’and my reflection about the seven missing bags of gold and the clerks who vanished I suppose got all * jumbled up and produced the vision I had.” ee answer. _ “Don’t ask me,” she replied in trembling tones. By the time he got washed up Matthew Graves appeared and wished him good-morning as usual. Then the bell rang and he went down to breakfast. During the meal he related his dream to Hdith. She looked a bit startled. “You saw my father take one bag of gold out of the safe?’ she said. “Yes,” “What did he appear to do with it?” ““T couldn’t tell you. . He carried it around the safe, and then I saw the sofa revolve and the Sasa on it disappear, clothes and all.’ | Edith appeared to take the matter very seriously, “You say that the figure you dreamed you saw on the ‘sofa was a young man about thirty. Did he have a small mustache?” “Yes, And I noticed that he wore a seal ring on the lit- tle finger of his right hand.” » ‘Edith turned white and Wehes as if ir) was going to faint. : “Goodness, Miss Edith, what's the matter?” Joe ex- claimed, jumping up. She covered her face with her hands and made him no Joe was astonished and ep aN - “Say, tell me what’s the matter, won’t you?” “But Lwant £0 know. Why shoald my Bieash affect. you ‘so? You act as if you knew | some one who looked like the > person I saw.” antag . MG was some. ® moments before she recovered cher compo- “No doubt you think me foolish, Mr. Eastwood, but you may understand my feelings when I say you have exactly described the first of the seven clerks who disappeared from this house.” “What! You don’t mean it.” “Tt is true.” “How could I when I never saw him?” “You could not have described him better had you known , him. There were fourteen bags of gold in the safe the night he disappeared,.and next morning when my father opened the safe in my presence there were only thirteen. One bag had vanished as nysteriously as did John Doane himself.” “John Doane! Was that the clerk’s name?” “Tt was. He was a very gentlemanly young man, and a good clerk. A singular feature of his disappearance, which was repeated with the other clerks, was the fact that some of the bedclothes he used were missing, while his coat, hat and shoes were found in the room.” “You never told me that before.” “T thought I did.” “T suppose you haven’t any idea that sofa is fastened in some way to the floor?” She shook her head. ; “T have spoken about it to my father, and suggested that he send for a carpenter to detach it; but though he thought it strange he did hot act on my suggestion. He said that the sofa was just, in the position where he wanted it, and that it was just as well that it was stationary. e “Well, it was a funny dream.” “Tt was a most remarkable dream, and it worries me.” “Why should it worry you? A dream is only a sgh ‘| after all.” “There are exceptions to dreams. Most dreams digas to nothing; but such a dream as you had last night has ere significance that means something.” “You don't believe that what I saw ever aeteally hap- pened, do you 2”. “Tm afraid to give an opinion. I must think it over.” “Tt is nonsensical to suppose that a sofa in a private — house would revolye in the way that one appeared to do. It would have to be constructed on certain mechanical prin- ciples, with a trap and other features that I am not familiar with, as I’m not a mechanic. Then what would be the ob- ject of having such a device in. a house anyway? In any case, during the seven years you have lived here T should think you would have found out the secret’ of the eontriv- ance, if it really existed, and done away with it.” “Neither my father or myself have suspected that there was anything unusual about that sofa except the fact that “Ag you-say it does. not seem reasonable that it possesses properties different it was fixed to the floor,” said the girl. from any other sofa. Were it not for the unaccountable dis- appearance of the seven clerks from that room I would Hi : | hardly give your dream a second thought. But the mys: tery that surrounds their departure, as well as the bags of feel nervous over your vision. to suppose that my father would visit ‘the safeli in the dead of night, take a bag of gold out of it and put it somewhere, and do that seven times and yet have se Seana of : ithe Saas nh areata | gold that got out of the safe in some weird way, makes me | However, it isn’t reasonable
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. i ‘ 17 must have noticed that the books in the book-case are all old and out-of-print volumes.” “Your father is a somnambulist.” “J have noticed it.” Edith looked startled again. A part of the books were brought from ngland by the “Tf he was I am sure I should have found-it out. My ‘old Tory. The others were accumulated by his heirs. ‘The _ room is next to his, and, as J have told sou, I am a light|,most modern works are first editions of Cooper, Washing- - sleeper. I would have heard him come out of his room| ton Irving, and contemporary American authors. Most of * some time or another, and as he has no reason to do that I] them are worth many times their original value to-day.” probably would have looked out to see where he was going.”| The conversation between Joe and Edith would probably _ “Well, I don’t see that this discussion amounts to any-} have lasted some time longer only it was interrupted by the», thing, as it is founded only on my dream. ‘That is really | ringing of the bell pulled by Mr. Graves which called 6 - very little evidence. While it is true that once in a while| upstairs to work. people dream things that either have oceurred, or subse- quently do happen, that is the exception and not the rule. By the way, your father bouglit this house from the heirs sof two old maids who had lived here for-forty years, I be- 4 ‘lieve ?”? : B=“ No, atasn’t, unless———” > “Unless what ?” CHAPTER IX, é Se ne JOE MAKES FRESH DISCOVERIES AND GETS INTO TROUBLE, — “Yes.” \ “Hei took it just: as me was, furnished and all, didn’t he?” Joe had more than.his usual amount of work fo do that ath 2 Weld : day, but notwithstanding that he found himself frequently | thinking about his dream, and he wondered what econnec- tion, if any, it had with the disappearance of the seven clerks and the seven bags of gold. At dinner Edith appeared unusually thonghtful, and had little to, say. Joe brought up the subject of the stationary sofa, but it was evident to him that the girl did not care to discuss the matter again. In due time he returned to his work and v was ie busy up to five o'clock. Zs In. order to put at rest the possibility that the sofa could.be a revolving one, which seemed ridiculous, he went outside and noticed ‘the ‘position of that part of the office where the sofa stood, : That end of the room in adjoined the anciend wing with its . two unused rooms, The dining-room was underneath the office, and Joe wanted to ascertain if it extended all the way ‘under. Tf it did it would surely-settle the question. prac | in his mind in the negative. Both dining-room windows were open and he could sa figure on the size of the room and pipers where the wall at the eastern end came, . He soon saw that the office room, extended beyond the dining-room wall at least eight feet. The question that now presented itself was what was the intervening space between the end of the dining-room. and | the outside wall of the house used for? ; HAS ‘It was too narrow for a room, and could only be utilized 1 igs ‘as a large closet or store-room for supplies. ; “Which makes it something like one hondred and “ity Joe re-entered the house intent on investigating this» years old.” presumed closet. van “Tt’s as.old as the reheat part «of the, peaks All the} He knew it was at the end: of a passage from which Bry aks : urniture came from Europe, as did the carpets, hangings, door opened into the dining-room. ith and other things, and were of the bi sanaty) MHanntactured He went there and saw a door page ee ee into in those days.” the place. ee “Your father ‘could get a sae price fon eke it he|, - It-was locked. ! = anted to vefurnish. the: house i in modern style.” J Be a: must get Eh o open it and let me see what a Yes, but my’ father never will sell them. He prefers. looks like.” rae things and old looks; that is why he won't | have the] He found the gin tn’ ‘the kitchen ei the tok helping if 10Use repainted: and ‘decorated. ~The’ chief charm of the. ‘to prepare supper, whic h was nearly ready. a t apes and antique Spgearance -Yout “Td ved to ig you: a moment, Miss Tih, ” he sa _ “Then the old maids must have fastened that sofa to the floor for some reason. There is no pos for what some old maids will do.” “TI gon’t know,” replied Edith. “You've lived here seven years—the old maids forty, so they must have taken possession a short time before the War of the Rebellion. ..1 wonder who lived here before that?” Ie «Nobody for about twenty years, during which time a » woman of the village looked after. it.” F _ {How is that?” : “Tt descended from the Tory, whe rebuilt it, to his son - and’grandgon, both of whom lived here with their families, under the conditions of his will, which I heard+was a pe- mt ‘euliar one. His great g grandehildrett: who happened | to be all girls, had a serious disagreement. over the division of _ their father’s property, and this house became a bone of Ky contention which led to a long litigation in the cdurts. It was finally settled in favor of the two old maids, and they took possession, but it is said they never spoke to one another during the forty years they lived in the house. @ - “T suppose that accounts for the fact that the place is| furnished in’ such old-fashioned style.” “Yes. One of the conditions of the Tory’s will was that ~ the furniture and fittings of the room which his wife, the % lady who disappeared so mysteriously, SCCM was never to be ‘disturbed or renewed.” ’ “Is that so? Then that sofa, among otter eat be- ~ longed originally to me aah as a “Tt did. ” ; or a2 house in his yes
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Si Sr 18 ' SEVEN She came over to him. BAGS. OF GOLD. — fale more to say that would throw any further light on “Tixcuse my curiosity, but will you tell me what that| the subject. place at the end of the passage adjoining the dining-room 1 is used for?” “Tt’s a store-room. We keep flour, sugar, and such things there,” she replied. “Have you any objection to me looking at it?” “Certainly not if you wish to,” she answered in some surprise. She got the key, led the way and threw the door open. The place was very dark, as it had no window, but Joe noticed right away that it was not over four feet wide, and that its height did not extend up to the floor of the office- room as the dining-room did. “T have been investigating this part of the house from the outside and it seems to me this store-room ought to be larger considering the space it has in which to spread itself,” said the boy. » ~ “JT don’t quite understand what you mean?” replied Hdith, somewhat puzzled. “Why, after deducting the space required by the dining- room wall and the outer wall of the building, there would still be six feet to be utilized for this store-room. You can see yourself that it ig not near so’ wide as that. Between this wall,” laying his hand on the side of the store-room and the outer wall is a space of at least a yard. Why did the architect waste that space? ‘Look at the passage. It’s easily six feet wide. Why shouldn’t the store-room be just as wide?” “T never considered that thing before,” said Baith, “Tt does look like a waste of space.” “Sure it does. store-room is? Why should it be lower than either the dining-room ar the passage ??? “T couldn’t say why it should,” “There is no reason for it that I can see unless it was built that way for a purpose.” “Maybe that’s where the beams run in that support the old tower part.” “That's true, but still I don’t like the iis of that low ceiling.” “Why ?” “Because it’s under the place where the sofa is, and af- fords the necessary space needed to permit the sofa to re- “ volve out of sight if it. was so intended,” replied Joe. “Are you sute of that?” cried the girl, grasping Joe by the arm. “Quite positive.’ I have the position and measurements in my eye. I took them with the view of looking closely into the matter. I wanted to satisfy myself that the sofa was a stationary article in every way, rile of that I find ground for dark suspicion.” \ «Oh, Mr. Hastwood!” gasped Edith. . At that moment the cook rang the bell for supper. * Joe closed the store-room door; locked it and handed the key ‘to Edith. ‘They entered the ‘dining-toom and sat down to the saa Ga silence. The faces of both showed that at thought were of a gerious nature, J ia a oe bere mocking more oe abt the matter, a he had| in a secret and: effectual manner.” ee Now look how low the oeiling of the Whatever his suspicions might be there was no use talk- ing about them till he had more evidence to work on. How he was going to get be evidence, if if existed, was a problem, Nevertheless he was deeply interested in getting at the bottom of the matter. Wee His dream, if there was anything in it, suggested the so- lution of the mysterious disappearance of the seven clerks and the seven bags of gold; but the solution was too dread- ful to contemplate without a shudder. i “Th the first place, can Mr. Graves be a somnambulist ?” he asked himself. “It is quite possible that he is. Walking — in the sleep, 1 have heard, affects certain sensitive and ner vous persons, often in conjunction with other nervous af fections, and is said to be hereditary. If Mr. Graves is really a sleep-walker his daughter does not appear to be. aware of the fact, so it strikes me that he can’t be a’real — somnambulist, and that the affliction is of very recent date. Brooding over his money, even before he lost his first bag, may hava brought it. on. There is no way of discovering - whether he walks in his sleep except by putting a woe on him. I must consult with Edith on the subject.” Thus Joe soliloquized as he was walking alone in the _ grounds after supper. He walked to the: postern gate, opened it and passed: ones side, Then he directed his stepe down. the creek, i He had no special_objeet in taking this walk, except a desire to be alone that he might ponder over the’ momen- tous problem that had now taken full control of him. There was an old and disused boathouse on the banks ee the creek about half way to the Sound. ea When he came to it he went in and sat on an old box 4 near the door. % “The somnambulist theory only ‘applies to. the seven bags of gold which the old man may have abstracted in _ his sleep, but it does not account for the disappearance OfeLes the seven clerks,” thought Joe. “The question is does that sofa operate on a mechanical principle which causes it td revolve ‘and dump whatever is on ib into some under- ‘ af ground hole? Tf it does, why should such a diabolical — contrivance have been installed in that house, who put it in, and why did he do it? Mr. Graves certainly is not re- sponsible for it, for the sofa was there when he bought ‘oe: house. The two old maids couldn’t have put it in, for T.” understand that room was locked up. during the forty years they lived in it. Before they took possession the ig house was vacant for about twenty years.. That brings us ~ back sixty-seven years to the time of the old Tory’ s—by George! if anybody originated such a contrivance it must have been that old rascal himself. He appears to have — been’ a hard case. The house was rebuilt for him, and that was the time when such a thing could have been put in. According to Hdith’s story, his wife disappeared in a a mysterious manner from that very room—just as the seven clerks disappeared—and no trace was ever found of he Gracious!’ Maybe the old villain had that sofa arrange- ment made for the purpose of putting her out of the way
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. The very idea thet he might have hit upon the truth fairly staggered Joe. At that moment a heavy shower of rain, accompanied _ by wind, came up, and Joe, seeing that he would get’ wet if he remained by the door, took up the box and retired to a spot under the rude stairs that led to the loft. _» Hardly had he seated himself again when he heard foot- _ steps rapidly approaching the boathouse, and in a moment or two a couple of men rushed into theSuilding. “We're lucky to be so near this place when the rain - came up, else we'd have gota sos soakin’,” said one of the new arrivals. in it, for he’s behind time.” “That's his funeral and not ours,” replied the other, » pulling out a pipe, which he filled and lighted. “Well, what have you picked up around these diggin’s this afterhoon ?” e “Nothin’, What do you expect? Ain’t I been investi- _ gatin’ that old house yonder that we've decided to try and crack to-night? “Tt ain’t taken you all afternoon to do that, has it?” “Most all. I had to be cautious, for if I was, seen snoopin’ around the wall the folks inside might suspect _ that somethin’ was in prospect. What have you done yourself?” _ “Me? Nothin’ at all.” “Nothin’, eh? What are you kickin’ about then? Ex- 5 pect me to do everythin’?? _ “No. Of course not. I only asked you if you'd done J “ anythin’, that’s all.” oT hear, footsteps. That must be Jim with a wet skin.” _ _ A minute later a third figure appeared in the gathering _ dusk and dashed in at the door. You chaps are here already, I see,” said the last ar- 3 ees taking off his jacket and squeezing the moisture out of i “We're here,” replied the man with the pipe. “We got __ here just as the rain started in.” 2 aa caught it good, but it won’t last long, that’s a satis- - faction, ” said Jim, “Yow ve been pipin’ off the old house, : haven't you, Bill?” “That's what I was expected to do, ain’t it?” answered the smoker. 4 P : ee “How does the land lie?” ' “There’s a. ten-foot ‘wall all around it with ig: spikes runnin’ along. the top of it, but we kin get over it easy enough by usin’ a. board’ to lay,on top of the spikes.” wn pipe. “TI climbed a tree at one of the i corners of the wall and took a bird's s-eye view of the house asec grounds, Mas Well?” _ “The place looks seedy. If it wasn’t that we know old Brace is wealthy, I would hardly think the old” rookery- orth the trouble of crackin’. a “TVs worth it, don’t you fret. The old tes is! ant ‘0 be a miser and ‘Keeps his money in gold in the house.” “Bet syour life we would! Jim must hae got caught “What else did you learn?” asked. Ji a, getting out his| whether I was here or not?” said the boy. 19, \ “He’s worth enough to put us three on easy street if we can get hold of his coin, Go on with your discoveries.” “The winders were all open-on the basement floor, buts ‘I could see that they are protected by iron shutters at night.” “Tron shutters. reach the second flood windows. too, have they?” asked Jim. “They have wooden shutters, ‘but I don’t reckon they closed in this kind of weather.” or, “That’s what I thought. How can we reach the second cM story ?” eee ty “TtIl take a ladder.” Wingitn “Ain’t there any way of reachin’ it without a ladder?” te “No. Well, come to think of it, there’s a winder behind a low balcony at the corner of the house on this sile. We kin get in there as easy as winkin’.” “That’s the ticket. If it’s got a wooden -shutter we’ve got tools that’ make short work of it.” “That winder and the one above it are the only ones not protected by shutters in the whole house.” “That looks kind of funny.” “What's the difference if it does look funny so long as we get into the house that way?” said Bill. “No difference, except that it looks like a piece of tuck for us. Well, L’ve brought a candle and a deck of cards. It’s after eight now. We've got several hours to put in before we begin operations. We can pass the time playin’ pinochle. Where’s that box that was here this mornin’ ?” “How should I know?” returned Bill. “Somebody has been here and either moved it or carried it away. Look around, Bud, and see if you can find it,” ; said Jim, striking a match and lighting the candle, The man addressed as Bud struck a match and looked around, but didn’t see it. Then he went over and glanced under the stairs, He saw Joe Eastwood sitting there. . ' He uttered an imprecation and sprang forward, grip- “We needn’t bother with them if wee ee They haven’t me E \ping the boy by the arm. “Come here, Jim. I’ve caught a spy!” he cried. “What's that?” exclaimed Jim, striding over to the stairs. Bud dragged the struggling J oe oft the box and out into the room. The boy route that he was in a bad fix. | CHAPTER X > OUT OF HIS SCRAPE, “Who are you, young fellow, and what are you hid’ igo: here for?” demanded Jim. - : “I’m not hiding, I came in here to get oat of the rain,’ aps seplicd Joe. . “Well, why didn’t you let us, know you were hero? aoe: “Why should ? What difference did it make to sete ; ld ain't to be sneezed at,” grinned Bill, “ but Td| “It made some difference as you wil find 0 out, You eh have bills if x. had may ot choice, om: oF he’s. youth listened tovour talk.” oc yaaa. te of 5 3 is Ne ray, no Dectae oy Deeg or as we eka
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20 SEVEN He couldn’t deny that he had taken in all the men said ‘ and understood their proposed project. ~~ He expected they would leave when the rain let up, then he intended to leave himself and notify Matthew Graves of the intended visit of the burglars that night and help him make preparations to receive them in a warm and expected way. Unfortunately things were oe idsing out the way he had calculated on. "#1 gay you listened to our talk, do you hear?” cried . Jim in a threatening way. “TY hear you,” replied Joe doggedly. PrN hy, don’t you admit it, then?” A “What's the use? You say I heard you. You wouldn’t Believe nge if I said I didn’t.” “Of course we wouldn’t. You couldn’t fie: hearing us.” wat bat of it?” “You know ‘what our Be are for ies ~ “S’pose I do?” ~ “Tf we let you get!away you'd warn the people i in that house yonder and queer our scheme.” “Of course he would,” put in Bill. “What? s the use of shootin’ off so much gab, Jim. -We’ve got to fix him so he - won't get a chance to blow on us. he sooner we do it the better for us.” Bud nodded as if he relieved 3 in 1 Bill's suggestion. “There’s only one way of fixin’ him and that is to bind and gag him so he can’t get away, but to do that we need some rope. Where are we to get it?” said Jim. “Maybe there’s a piece in the loft,” said Bud. “Go up and see if there is,” i aa he Jim. “You've got - Some matches.” Bud started up the stairs and piedently returned with several pieces of hay rope. _ “That's just the thing,” said Jim. while I tie his hands.” Joe submitted to be bound, for he saw he hadn't the ghost. of a-chance to get away “from his captors, ° . “Take him up in the loft,” said Bud, on then tie his - feet together.” Jim coe that a Bane idea and the men carried it out. J Joe was finally. gagged with Tig own handkerchief and ' then left in the dark to ruminate over his hard luek. Satisfied that their prisoner was fixed so he could not spoil their enterprise, the three rascals, seated themselves around the box downstairs and started, to while away time over a game of cards. “Hold him tight Joe could easily hear them talking and laughing, and. he could see a faint reflection of the candlelight in the}. opening of the stairway. After thinking over the unfortunate “position and ‘the probability. of the three crooks cleaning his employer out . of the seven bags of gold in the safe at one swoop, if they ; succeeded in getting into the house without alarming the te ane he made a desperate. effort to get his hands free. iad was not as suecesefal, as ee man Jim had bound BAGS i} possible | for Joe. have { Hale es OF GOLD. stay here till somebody comes along‘and frees me. T’m afraid people don’t come to this shanty very often. At any rate, theyre not likely to come up in this loft, so unless I could attract their attention some way P’d stand | a good show of starving to death within sight of the house. — I'd be the eighth clerk to disappear, and until my body was found I might enjoy the reputation of having broken open the safe and taken the entire seven bags of gold, to- gether with whate¥er other articles of value the crooks got — away with.” It wasn’t a pleasant reflection ays so Joe redoubled his efforts to free -himself, but with no more success than — before. Thus time passed, and though the boy didn’t now the hour, it was close on to the time when Matthew Graves required hif on hand to count the seven bags of gold before he retired for the night. Edith had long since taken ‘note of his absence from the house, and she wondered where he had gone. She walked around the grounds looking for him, and. failing to find any trace of him, she hunted dais up and — put him on the job. Jerry told her be had seen Joe going toward the postern ~ gate, so they went to the gate together and found it un bolted. That showed pretty conclusively that Joe had gone out that way and had not yet returned. “He must have gone to some place in the ‘village in : spite of father’s objection to him doing so,” thought the girl. “I can’t say that I blame him for wanting a Sue Tve done all I could to make things interesting for him — here, but, of course, he longed for fresh company, if only — for one evening. He knows father will be looking for him at ten o’clock, so I suppose he will be back by that time.” — Edith’ found the evening dull and tiresome, for she | missed Joe very much indeed. aay She was feeling depressed, too, over the digsemeanls : that the boy’s remarkable dream had given rise to, and this e feeling was enhanced by Joe’s remarks about the con- tracted size of the storeroom and the inference that ‘night ie be drawn in consequence. Ten o’clock came at length and The was still ee Matthew Graves presently rang the bell for his clerk, and Edith sae to go up and tell him that Joe had gone out by the pos ern gate directly after supper and had not. it % returned. “Do you think ,he went to’ the tillage} ae asked Mo Graves with a frown: “ ae “T have no idea where he went, father.’ ~ i | “Where else could he go? Iam very much sige to think he. should have ‘gone nee we expressed ; wishes,” said the old man. Edith said that it was possible he had gone ie the scat instead of into the village and shad —s shelter some e \As Wak oe where from the rain. | 1 Bes oe “But the rain sranness more than 3 an heite ago, 2 said rt! soi s Bees “He might have lost his way. in’ ‘the darkness,” ter e é .| the girl; doing her best to tae he situation pee if oe rf ne in Pi Ne Boys are ot lot so al aH
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SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. a1 the Sound, he took the path along the creek, and he could. easily return by the same route.” “I’m afraid something has happened to hita or he would be back by; this time, for he see you always call for hini about ten o’clock.” “Go to bed, child. 1 shall wait up till he returns.” “Don't scold him, father.. He will doubtless explain to you where he went and what kept hint away so long.” Matthew Graves made no reply. , He walked up and down the room a couple of ‘times and then sat down at his desk. Kdith finding that her father took no further notice of her, left the room and instead of going to’her chamber, returned downstairs to the dining-room to await Joe’s return. In the meantime as the hours passed Joe fretted and fumed in the loft of the abandoned boathouse. | Downstairs the crooks continued their’ card game, smoked their pipes and refreshed themselves with nips } from their pocket whisky flasks. Midnight came and then the three rascals brought their game {o a conclusion. Joe heard. them get up, kick the box aside and move around. ; A board was pulled up somewhere in the floor and the boy heard something clink like tools rattled together. __ ‘The men then walked to the door and stood there a a while talking. _ Finally Joe heard one of them coming up to the loft. _ Tt was Jim, and he held the candle in his hand. “Well, young fellow, how do you feel?” AS le spoke jokingly and didn’t look for an answer, for ‘ the boy, being gagged, couldn’t give it to’ him ‘if he had ¥ felt disposed to do so. -° Bat The man examined the boy’s fetters, and finding he A “was well secured, he turned away and went downstairs. As soon as he rejoined his ia a haat ‘the men left the |. building. Joe ais they had started for the house of Matihe'y, Graves, and he gritted his teeth, knowing how impotent he was to interfere with the execution of their scheme. * _ The gag bothered the boy. not a little and he determined | - to get rid of it if he could. * He rolled over against. the wall of the loft and began rubbing his mouth against one of the rough posts, The folds of the handkerchief were. adnally Aantal ‘from his lips on to his chin. I could only release my hands as well YP d be all 5” he said, but there was little:chance of that. ‘Ten minutes passed away and then Joe heard two per- renter the boathouse. he tones of the voices show ed. that they were boys. -» What had brought them there at. thet, time of night Joe did not stop to consider. Cape's ~ “Why do you ask that?” iam ; Pout he saw av ran to see fre add se 80, a he yelled “Pd like You help me catch the chaps a tied me up. pap 2d | They’vé gone to Mr. Graves’ house and intend to break in’ : | and rob the place, Will you give me a hand?” . cat ; Looks like a \risky job,” said Bob, doubtfully. . “They ih i might shoot us. Those sort. of men always carry weapons.’ : “We must BO cautiously about the’ matter,’ »» said. Toe m get a good stout stick apiece from. the ven and lay for them as they come out. of the F . By rush- “T’m a prisoner up in the loft. Come up and cut y loose,” replied Joe. Poe eae ‘The boys held a whispered denduletels, as if they § us ak pected some trick, and then one of them sea the, sta part way and said: 5 “Who are you?” | “My name is Joe Hastwood. I’m Matthew Graves: new. clerk.” “How is it you are a prisoner up there?” $ rates “Three rascally fellows caught me in the building ane the rain, bound me with hay rope and left me up here,” Te NCES plied Joe. 4 ; “Come on, Dick, let’s go up and help this chap, » said the & lad on the stairs. | r The speaker's companion followed him up and they peered about in the darkness from the head of the steps. “Where are you?’ asked the boy who had done the talk- in i Over here,” said Joe, “Haven’t you got a match ?” No. Got one, Dick?” ; “Not a match,” answered the other. “T’ve got some in my vest, pocket,” said Joe. “Got a pocket+knife 2? “Yeas 2) gi £1 “Get it out and cut the rope that holds my hands.” The two boys felt their way cautiously across the ftoor of the loft, guided by Joe’s voice, and soon reached him. “Here I am,” he said. “Feel carefully for the rope and don’t cut me.” The boy felt over his body and soon saw how he was tied... “Gee! Those fellows didn’t do a thing to you, did they?” on he said, hacking at the strands of the hay rope. “They did all they could to make sure I wouldn’t get away, but thanks to your coming they'll get left. Thanks,” added Joe as the rope parted and he got the use of his arms once more. He struck a match and pointed to his feet. “Cut my ankles free, please,” he said. His two rescuers were boys of seventeen any eighteen - years of age respectively. ” { ; They belonged to a small nearby farm and Joe soon learned that their names were Bob Bradley and Dick Swift. “You've done me a big favor, and Pm much. obliged oe you,” said Joe, ae “You're welcome,” replied Bob Bradley, eet ata n “T might have remained hete several days if you two hadn’t come along.” “You might,” said Dick Swift. “We just stepped in here by acoident.- We've been becalmed out on the Sound in a boat we borrowed this afternoon, and are bound home.” “Sav, have you fellows good. nerve ?”” asaer Joe. Re 2 r ot ae a talking snd, seemed oo ae eS ide no reply $0 Joe aed at d asked 0
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SEVEN “Ing on them unexpectedly we ought to be able to knock “them out with a clip on their heads.” Bob and Dick, after some hesitation, consented to help Joe catch the burglars, and the three then left the boat- house: and started forthe old mansion. Oa CHAPTER XL. TUE ROBBERY. Pie? ~*~ Joe led the way, keeping a sharp lookout for the three y " rascals, On reaching the wall they were not in sight, so the boy concluded that they had got into the grounds, He walked up to the gate, wondering whether he should find it open as he left it. He knew that it was Jerry’s duty to see that it was kept bolted, except when someone strolled out that way intend- ing to return shortly. He tried the gate and found it unfastened, to his great satisfaction. ee “Come. in,” he said to his companions. ‘ Bob and Dick followed him in, and then Joe bolted the gate. They walked slowly through the shrubbery till they reached the edge of the rear lawn. There was a light in the window of the oftice-room where Matthew Graves’ desk stood, and Joe guessed that the old . Iman was sitting there waiting for him to turn up. The light would probably cause the burglars to use more caution in their operations, but would not be likely to deter them from going on with their enterprise. } ‘Knowing that the rascals had figured on entering the house through the lower window of the tower section, Joe _ piloted his companions around to that side of the build- ing. Joe soon made out that they had forced the window in . question, and were, therefore, already in the house. “They didn’t lose much time in getting down to busi- ness,” he said to his new friend. “We must look sharp or they will get away before we are ready to grapple with them. The woodpile is yonder. Come over and we'll pick out a club apiece.” There was no difficulty in finding suitable pieces of wood that would answer for ceudgels, and thus armed the Hoys were ready for business. At that moment a girl’s scream rang out through one of the upper windows. “That’s Edith Graves’ voice,” cried Joe, every nerve in hjs body tingling at the thought of ape coming to her through the burglars. ; His plans were changed in a moment. “We must enter he house and protect her,” ‘he ex- - claimed. “Follow me.” He started for the baleony under the window through _ which the men had effected their entrance, but his compan _ ions hung back as if loath to take any chances against three rascals who were probably”armed. Sven’ you Boing te back: me up?” he cried when he : ‘appearance on the scene, then they recognized him with ‘not a little surp#ise. 4 BAGS OF GOLD. reached the house and saw that the others lagged behind. “Here, give me a boost up on to the balcony.” Bob came forward and hoisted him up and he pulled open the window, which was one of the long French kind, extend~ ing to the level of the floor of the room, and was divided in two parts, each working on hinges, and dashed inside, without waiting to see whether his companions followed him or not. They did not follow, for their courage was not equal to the emergency. They stood under the balcony and listened for further evidence of trouble inside. In a minute or two they heard the report of a revolver. “Let’s get away!” gasped Dick. “We're liable to be shot if those ‘men catch us here when they come out.” “Come on,” said Bob, and they started for the postern gate at a rapid pace. In the meantime Joe crossed the dust strewn room of the tower section toward the door which he was satisfied that the burglars had forced. He found -it half open and the lock splintered by a jimmy. He dashed into the gorinios and made for the office-room, the door of which stood wide open, and through which streamed the light of the lamp standing on Matthew Graves’ desk. Looking inside he saw the‘bid man stretched on the floor, bleeding from a cut on his head, received from one of the ~ burglars.’ ! The safe was open and the seven bags of gold lay ina heap on the floor. These facts only attracted a simkenens glane from Joe. A more important matter engrossed his attention and aroused all his energy. The three burglars had hold of Bali sias by each arm, while the third was gagging her with a handkerchief as she struggled in their clutches. Without considering the disadvantage of facing three stalwart men single-handed he dashed forward ie the gitl’s rescue. at “Leave her alone, you rascals!” he cried, HERR the / nearest fellow in the jaw a ti that sent hin staggering backward. | i For a moment the ruffians were staggered by his saddled ; “So you escaped, did you?” gritted Jim, diseadtie ‘to a avoid a blow from the boy’s fist, and then seizing him, ar Joe grabbed him around iy waist and tripped him up on the floor, al Springing up the boy eee one of the bags of goldmin- a tending to stun the fellow with it. “Quick! Stop him!” shouted Jim, seeing his danger, Bill drew a revolver and fired quickly at the brave lad. Had his aim been true Joe would pee been a candidate for an, undertaker. Ni hie The bullet, however, just. ieivatd its boy’ 8 skull, te ning him by the shock. He fell like’ one dead, however, on his face, the Hood: : flowing from the furrow made by. the bullet, and Hdith, whe had got her mouth free from the handkerchief, gave another: wild scream that rang through: Ve al ‘mansion, and sti Be
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further alarmed Jerry and the cook who were’ shivering with terror on the corridor above. Jim sprang to his feet with an imprecation. “We have no time to lose,” he said. “Choke that girl off or her cries may put us in a hole yet.” He picked up the handkerchief and threw it around Edith’s mouth, fastening it roughly behind. Spying the bell cord hanging from the ceiling, he ran over, cut off a yard of it and tied the girl's arms to her ‘side. “Throw her on that sofa!” he said to his companions. They obeyed. “Now pick up a couple of bags of that gold each of you. _ [ll take the other three. That’s as much as we can carry, -and we'll get back to the hoathouse as quick as we can,” he said. ‘Bill and Bnd seized two bags each and Jim grabbed up ~ the other three, which he found almost more, thane he could’ stagger under. With their plunder in their arms, they left the room by way of the corridor and reached the disused apartment - through which they had entered the house. 7 Dropping their swag on the ground outside, they leaped ater it. Picking the bags up again, they started for the postern gate, which was the way they entered the grounds, for _ they had found it open. é _ Five minutes later they were outside making for the boathouse, unaware that. their retreat was observed by “Bob Bradley and Dick Swift, who were hanging around | { ‘oueside the wall. _ “They've got seven bags of money,” whispered Bob. _ “And they're carrying them toward the Sound,” replied Dick. “They must have a boat.” “Tet’s follow and see what direction. they take, then -we can tell the constable in the morning, and he may be able to catch them. We tgs to do oe to save that money,” said Bob. All right,” said Dicke ae f i : “They followed the men along the creek and saw fem enter the boathouse. Creeping up behind the building, the boys. peeked in st ‘through two holes they found in the rear wall. _ They saw the man Jim light the piece of candle. ai ine “That's the heaviest load I ever carriedgn my life,’ he i a “My arms are so lame I can hardly ft them.” “There must be a pile of gold in ’em,” ‘aid Bill. “The two I carried felt like a ton by the time I got here.” : “This. is the swellest haul we ever made,” said Bud, “and all in money, too. If it was only in bills we'd be all : : ; at right, but how in thunder are we to carry these bags to : New “York. without attractin’ attention?” | “Easy ‘enorgh, ” replied Jim. eed get a heat i ail there”? _ “Where will we get it?” asked Bill. ; “About a mile from here there” sa small sailboat adie lo ongside a: private wharf. ‘There is nothing to prevent “us from takin’ possession of it.” i : «Who's Bai to sail oe m8 don’t, know nothin’ about oats.” A SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. ~ in ita ire ee - They first aiid ‘the gold behind some nearby bushes yor * i Bud. “at any rate, Pil i ty! and then Tooked 1 for a more’ ¢ gecure al to piers ae, mighty hard for the purpose of gettin’ this 2 away from these diggin’s.” “As we ain't got no time to lose, you’ gece go SS the boat right away, Bud,” said Bill. eh % “Pm ready to go, but you chaps must come along with me,” said Bud. ee, “What for? Jim and me’ll stop and wate the money. 9 “No you won't; you ae come Ww ith me,” said Bud, “or I won't go.” Wy, Ny not? What’s the use of us all goin’ "9, We don't know nothin’ "bout ‘sailin’ a boat. Besides, the gold hee got to be watched.” “It don’t have to be watched. Nobody but us. pe ae it’s here. We kin hide it. in that hole under the floor where we put our tools. It'll be safe enough till we get back. “7 don’t see any use takin’ chances when me and Jim kin stay here just as well as not,” said Bill. “Well, I don’t like to put temptation in your way,” re- turned Bud. “If I went off alone you two might sneak the seven bags off and leaye me in the lurch—see?” “We wouldn’t do no such thing,” said Btll. “We're pals and we stick to each other.” “Yes, I know, but I reckon there’s more’n $10,000 in uel of them bags, and you two might forget all about me.’ Jim put an end to the argument by declaring that they were wasting time to no purpose and that morning would soon be upom them. - «We'll hide the bags in the hole and: the three of us will go, for the boat,” hé said. “I guess they’ N be safe, T don’t see why they wouldn’ t be.” Bill objected to leaving the gold unguarded, but being overruled by his companions he reluctantly agreed to Pep stow the bags in the hole under the stairs. “Nobody ll come this way before we get back,” said yi im. “Hyen if some one did he wouldn’t have the least idea that there was money hid under the floor. We will hurry. We ought to get back in half an hour or three-quarters at the outside.” The seven bags were hidden under the floor and the men departed at a brisk pace. No sooner were they out of sight than Bob and Dick ap- peared at the door of the boathouse. They had decided to take advantage of the chance to get the bags of gold away from the thieves. “We'll hide them somewhere in the bushes where those fellows will never think of looking for them,” said Bob. “Then in the morning we'll call at the house and tell Joe Eastwood about them. He’ll be so tickled that he’ll for- give us for leaving him‘in the lurch to-night.” After taking a good look around, they entered the boat- house, removed the loose plank and pulled up the seven bags of gold. Then they replaced the board as it was before. ‘ “Gee! , They'll be plum ape when they find the money 4 : gone,” ‘chuckled Dick. “You bet they - will, said Bob. ‘Tt m1 serve oe right for sicae 2
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oui erred, _ and the constable at once.” ally found a hole that struck them:as suitable the bags there and dropped them in. he ey. covered thenmi up with a pile of yines they a )*for the purpose. ° o home,” said Bob, and they did. ° CHAPTER XII. ee al Se Uae ae THE APPARITION, . seven bags of gold in a state bordering on distraction. She tried to free herself from the bell rope and in her exertions rolled off the sofa:on to the carpet. The handkerchief came off her mouth, and jumping on her feet, she ran out into the corridor and up the stairs to the next floor to arouse Jerry and the cook. ‘She found them both out on the landing at the head of the stairs, almost frightened to death by the report of the revolver, the screams eat Edith and the general uproar they had heard below, the meaning of which they did not un- derstand. ~ “Oh, what has yabaied Miss Edith?” asked the cook. “Ts anybody killed?” Edith burst into tears. “There have been thieves in the house. My father was struck down by them, and Mr. Eastwood, who came to my’ assistance while T was in the hands of the men, was shat by one of them and I fear killed. Oh, come downstairs at You must dress yourself, Jerry, and go for a doctor ( a, Then Edith asked the cook to untie her arms. ' While Jerry was getting into his clothes Edith and the cook went down to the office room. - Matthew Gr: ayes was revived, but he seemed to fie no _. ddea of what had happened. ‘The crack on the head he got from the burglars ap- peared. to have affected his brain, for the time being at least, and his thoughts: were all muddled up. Edith led him into his own room sage persuaded him to go to bed. ~ While she sas attending to her father the cook was looking after Joe, who soon came to his senses, : otha’ boy's first thought was about Edith, and when he found she. aas all right he asked about the thieves. The cook told hie they had gone away. A glance at the floor and into the safe told jet that ‘they had got away with the dest seven bags of Mr. Graves’ gold. After sending J erry on. i his mission to the nearest doc- Odor and to Constable ‘Brown’: s house, Edith réturned to the] . office room and was overjoyed to find that Joe ci recoy- ered his senses. “I’m not badly hurt,” he ia cheerfully, ” said Edith, +. BS aE did ‘it to save sya - Miss ae ” he replied, eq] ae for your ‘sake. pee Gi she cried impulsively. Wisk ch ket Jo * 4 yi SEVEN BAGS saith watched the departuré | the thieves with the {and reeover the money, but the: ‘old man found little « com- ee re a brave hoy to fae those thieves, single-hand-| OF GOLD. “He received a severe blow on the head which has af- fected his brain a bit, but I trust the doctor, when he comes, will bring him around all right,” she answered. “The constable of the village ought to be notified with- out delay, for the burglars carried off all oem father’s . gold,” said Joe. “Jerry is on his way to his house now,” said Edith, “There ‘is nothing mysterious ahout to-night’s robbery, and he'll have to gef busy if the crooks § are to be cna and the gold recovered.” Joe then told the girl about his unpleasant iaciiaes at the boathouse with the three burglars, and how they had kept him bound and gagged for hours in the loft of the — little building, and finally left him there. “T would haye been there yet only for a cguple of bays. who happened to drop in,” he said. “They released me. and I brought them here to help me put a spike in fie rascals’ plans, but they failed me when matters began to look strenuous, and I suppose made tracks for their home, Had they stuck by me we might have saved the gold.” The doctor came shortly and Edith took him to see her " father. 4 The old man was sleeping peacefully, and the doctor, ; after looking at him, said he guessed there was nothing — ~ serious the matter with him. : “Tl call and see him to-morrow,” he said, Ce wi examine his head then. What did you bandage it with? “T washed it in watm water, It was not a bad-looking cut, and T put a cloth, soaked with arnica; on it. wie “That will do for the present. Renew the Pandag the morning.” “Now you must look at ‘Mr. Eastwood's head. Tk has — ~ received the same ireatment. His wound came from a bullet,” she said. ~ et ‘The doctor fixed Joe nee a little ‘alae ‘gad then took his oH | leave. - alate Soon after he went away Texty ‘came back with Co stable Brown. rae Joe and Bdith put him in péeeesaitn of fe the’ tacts, My he said the burglars were whdotthtedly New York ‘crooks, - T will telegraph their description to the city autho eon: ties right away, and detectives tee be sent out to Took f them, * he said. ii Bed ay He hastened away to. attbna to the matter. ta i, By this time it was daylight and all hands aga a few hours’ eep.. : When Edith went in to°see hie father in the mo eng he seemed to be all right, except he had no enallection | I the visit of ihe burglars. B eh She broke the news of the loss of the entire sev of gold as gently as possible. » : aia He seemed stunned by the intelligence, at My : Edith tried to. cheer him up by saying that ‘the ash stable had the case in-hand and hoped to catch the thee ‘ fort i in her words.” re ian “He declared that he moula wind up Aa ‘the poothous te | now that he had lost nearly ‘all of his: money. — ke , Joe and Edith were at bréikfast when J aire en 4 ‘room. and told the former that two boys, nam Bradley and Dick | Swift, wanted to see gat important business, Yate Ba;
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SEVEN BAGS £ OF GOLD. “Fetch them in here,” said Joe, and presently the boys came into the room. “J suppose you're sore on us for not backing last night,” said Bob. , “No,” replicd Joe. “I don’t hold that against you. ~ You both did me a big favor by releasing me from the loft of the boathouse, and Tam grateful to you for your help.” “The burglars stole seven bags ‘of Bote from this house, didn’t they?” ‘said Bob. “Yes. How did you know?” wiked Joe. “We were hanging Sroustl outside the rear wall when they left with the money.” “Ts that so?” replied Joe, much interested. direction did they go?” >» “They carried the money to the old boathouse.” ~ “How do you know they did?” ; “We followed them there.” Bob then Vetailea how he and Dick had watched the rascals through crevices in the back of the building and heard all their conversation about stealing a sailboat and taking the money to New York by water. He then explained how the crooks had put the bags of vold under the floor and then, went off to get the boat. - And what/did you two do after they had gone?” he asked in some @xcitement, “Didn’t you make an effort to save that nféney ?? ; “We saved it all right,”? said Boh. “You did!” cried Joe, while Edith gave a scream of de- sug Ins ANN an you'll come with us we’ll show you Gets it is and help you fetch it back here,” he said. ; iS 4 3 go with you right away. We \l take a wheelbarrow i ~ to bring: ‘it back in, for it’s pretty. heavy,” said Joe. - ‘Twenty minutes later the three boys with the barrow were on ‘the spot and the seven bags were found just: as Poh and Dick left them. i: They were loaded on the barrow ‘and the boys took turns in oe erp i ae Joe had just been telling js coaeasions that that see- tion of the house was said to be haunted, but that -he dn’t take any stock in the yarn. d Saddenly ive eae Erench window thr is Sd a the you up “In what ng “igite ib a rere ae and vobed i in a rate night- a i, came out on the baleony. _“Merey, what's that?” gasped Dick Swift, tS aad came a wild yell from’ ‘the apparition on the bal- eony. % la ae hee the seven bags of golden the gr ound. ——- CHAPTER XU ey, ais e % THE SHVEN BAGS aN oe The boy with the wheelbitrew deoeted ttip handles, and| Ba was ae a “ttle abled himself for the moment, weal pe koe alee 4 80 A ae a Prt on eo of} io Like a flash Jerty’s breathed. “I 11 fix him.” ce tale of the spook he had seen come out at that window onto the balcony flashed across his mind. — “It’s Jerry himself trying to give us a big scare,” he i Grabbing up a bag of the gold he flung it at the appa-— rition. The bag hit: the gaoek in the region of the stomach and — it doubled up with a very iain’ howl. The skull became dislodged from its shoulders, and top- pling over fell onto the railing’ of the balcony and re- bounded into Joe’s arms. Joe held it up for his frightened companions if see, * and then threw it back at the headless ghost, which was in the act of making its eseape back through the windows. The skull collided with the spectre’s back, between its shoulders, and another howl was drawn from it; at the same time it lost its balance and went sprawling into the room. “Give me a lift,” cried Joe to Bob and Dick. They boosted him up on the balcony. He seized the fallen ghost and yanked it up. Between the front opening of the nightgown protruded the discomfited face of Jerry Abbott. *“T thought it was you,” laughed Joe. have worked that trick off at night, and it might have gone better. Now yow’re found out.” Jerry sneaked off into the corridor with his nightgown and skull, leaving the door open at Joe’s request. ; “Toss me up the other six bags of gold, fellows,” said the young clerk, ~ Bob and Dick did so. He carried the gold, two bags at a titne, into the office- | room where the old man was seated with his daughter, who had told him’ that Bob Bradley and Dick his money for him! His joy over the returnsof his money was intense, and the sight of the bags restored his recollection of the visit of the thieves. He handed Joe $200 to divide between Bob ane Dick, and those lads returied home tickled to death at their good fortune. At ten o’clock Joe was summoned Upetairs by the eld man Swilt had saved to count the seven bags as he had been accustomed to, and — then Matthew Graves retired for the, night, and the house was soon as quiet as a churchyard. Joe didn’t feel sleepy and he sat for some time eae out of the window. Then he began walking ;up and down the room. He noticed ihat the heavy chest of drawers which he had shoved into the corner of the room on the night of his dream had been restored to its original place. “You ought to — Evidently J Matthew emis didn’t like the position of his furniture changed. ‘Finally Joe got a book, and bringing the lamp to. the ch ‘| table beside on window, started in to’ read, sand Hid not notice the lapse of time. | Although he had heard no ea Joe sptidealy. felt that there was somebody in the room, He tu red around and: was a bit startled to see Matthew ; L) Clraves eines toward the safe. in n: his se and ineasured
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23 “After hie first ast a surprise Joe became as cool as an eber He ie that the old man was walking in his sleep, and \e wondered if he would discover through his employer’s actions the mystery of the seven missing bags of gold, as “well as the fate he suspected had befallen the seven clerks. ' Matthew Graves opened the safe, counted the seven bags of gold carefully, then took one of them out and closed the -safe as it was before. ‘When he started around the side of the safe with the ag ander his arm Joe was close behind him. na the ‘old man walked straight to the apparently blank “wall, laid his hand\on a certain panel, and the adjoining panel slid silently aside, leaving an opening through which he passed. - As the panel slid back Joe shov ed his foot in its way so it could not close. At that moment ailoud click rang through’ the room. Joe turned and saw the sofa revolve. “My gracious! so it does revolye in reality, and all the features of my dream have come true,” he breathed. Joe, however, felt that he must have a light to guide his steps, or something might happen that he wouldn’t like. Placirig the book he held in his hand so that the panel could not close into place, he rushed over to the table and got the lamp. : Thus provided with illumination he entered the narrow space beyond the panel, and nearly stumbled over a narrow and almost i Doe pes of ‘steps that rose before him. On reaching the top of the stairs Joe found himself face! to face with a blank wall which barred his further progress. :“'There’s-another secret panel here,” he thought, “and I won't be able to get through unless-I can find the spring . which operates hee He laid his hand on the nearest panel and bent forward — to look. He heard a slight click and the panel slid back, admit- ting him to the titeet chamber. ; He saw the old man kneeling down. in a corner of the chamber, evidently Roe at something and peer to himself. ' The bag of gold he haa brought with him lay on the floor beside him. Joe stepped for ward and looked down over his shoulder. SEVEN BAGS OF GOLD. “Oh, Joe, Joe, my father is dead,” sobbed Hdith, falling into his arms. The old man had died suddenly and painlessly in the night. Matthew Graves was duly buried ‘hd a will was found . in the safe leaving éverything to his daughter. Then Joe told her of the events which, had led to the solving of the mystery of the seven missing bags of gold, and he took her to the turret chamber by the ordinary stair- case in the lower room, and showed her the eight bags of gold, which, with the six still in the safe, made up the — orignal fourteen. He removed them to the safe and locked them up. Joe then told Edith that the sofa did actually revolve, and that mechanics ought to be hired to investigate the mystery of if. “There is no doubt in my mind that the diabolical con- trivance was built by the old Tory on purpose fo make away with his wife, and her skeleton will be found somewhere under this building,” said Joe. “Oh, Joe,” sobbed Edith, “if what you say is true, aa ; the bodies of the clerks are found under this house, will not the stigma of murder rest on my poor father’s name?” Joe was silent, for he had not considered that fact be- 2") But subsequently he learned that none of the for- ” itr fore. mer clerks were dead. Each in turn had quit the job in” disgust when the old man accused them of stealing his gold. to' put the sofa out of commission for good.” Joe took charge of the place under Edith’s direction made a beautiful country property of it. A year from the death of her father Edith married Foe roe. and on the day of the wedding presented him with the was his wife’s was also in a certain sense a ai id | THE END. for she was named the executrix of the will, pad in time seven bags of gold, worth $70,000, that had been missing from the safe and recovered through. his ‘sagacity, and thus our hero became a rich boy, for he was also master of the house, though’ he didn’t actually own it, but what © His heart gave a great thump, for there, in an open san- dalwood box, lay the seven missing bags of gold—the bags which had never been stolen, iby the clerks, as Se gies developments proved. - “The mystery of the gold is unraveled,” thought the boy, following him back to the office, and then across the} room to another panel in the corner, close to the chest of drawers, which Joe saw cotumunicated with a narrow se- eret passage leading | to the old man’s room. Next morning he waited for Matthew Graves to turn up as usual, but he didn’t. “The bell rang for breakfast, and shortly after Edith came 7 i “up to see why he didn’t come down. : “Pm waiting for your father,” he said. % “A iene later J oe ged) a ery ia tang from her. She went to her/father’s room ‘to see why he was not up.| ie SQUARE NEW ‘YORK, are! Acer in pr shat dt you cannet obtain Hon from. vei t _|newsdealer, send the price in money’ or postage stamps | mail to FRANK” TOUSEY, PUBLISHER, we and “ae Pie receive return mail. ae UNION < “Well,” he said at last, perhaps the best thing will be‘ a ea Se se ee
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Fame and Fortune Weekly NEW YORK, MAY 27, 1910. “| TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS —— Single Copies. ...0..0.c.ccscceesseeed Gilc\edewen wees daeever ss: -05 Cents One Copy Three Months...............0cccuaeeeeoes bay cate -65 Cents Orie Copy Six Months. (03 lic they hurried up the rigging in order to get a good view of the Every sailor pointed his finger and made gestures toward the women, who answered by waving handkerchiefs. : “petticoats. This was the first.glimpse, of a woman the sailors had had in five months, e The discoverer of the famous Welcome nugget has died in BS the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum, aged. seventy-four. He re- turned | ( Ballarat three years ‘ago poor‘and in ill health, @nd had to seek shelter in'the ‘asylum. The Welcome nugget, one of the largest pieces of’ natural gold in the world, was taken 4 from Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia, in 1858. It was found vat a depth of 180 feet. it weighed 2,217 ounces 16 penny- 4 pyolgnts, and was sold for $52,500. oo" . While the two sons of John Rayner, ‘an Illinois farmer, “were digging a woodchuck out of his hole on their father’s farm, they turned up an old tomato can containing $300 in old. The can had probably been buried for at least ten years, and the woodchuck had dug around it in making his runway. It was a, great chance for him to take the | ‘money and travel and see the world, but he had not taken advantage of the _ occasion. It saved his life, however. The boys had got some- thing better than ‘woodchuck, and shouldered their spades and set out foe eae Tr. 4 ¢3 ¥ “In the a gentine Republic,” says a writer, “where the sum- ou mers are long and hot, it is’ customary to leave the windows open both day and night during the hottest part of the year. bird, taking advantage of this, proceeded to build a nest my room, fixing it firmly to one of the Venetian blinds over ‘the window. The eggs were hatched and the young birds fledged. on taking’ down the empty nest I found it to be iy 2 ntirely of old rusty nails woven in among the hay. On count- e bird was the size of a robinand very tanie.” PAM AND PORTUNE WHPKHY, 2 lOO i N. H. King owns a remarkable English moniter: which 7 has established a reputation as a mouse catcher and takes the While King was in the field with the bird it caught ten mice in less than an hour, killing them all. 3 King puts the bird in his barn at night, and says it is keeping ice on the force, “Then we shall be able to put our hands on the criminal?” “I am surprised to hear you talking this cheap story-book — sensationalism.” had discovered something.” nvontaent that will pay at Re a hundred per cent, pron” x - practically armorclad, the outer part being composed almost. ge. the nails I found that no fewer than sixty-six had been sed, besides some wire and pins taken from my dressing Tab. f - A pint bottle filled with rare old whisky, the age of which is uncertain, was: found imbedded solidly in the heart of a maple tree almost four feet in diameter, growing in Bay- liss Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa. President Graham of the park board concluded to cut out a number of mapies pianed more than fifty years ago, when Council Bluffs was first | given a place upon the Iowa map. One particular tree that was in the course of a new path that was proposed was marked for the sacrifice. The choppers felled this tree, find- _ ing it solid from circumference to center, Sawing the trunk into four-foot lengths, eight feet from the butt, the saw just. missed a long-necked black bottle. Observing it the choppers carefully hewed away the wood, when to their surprise, they brought forth, tightly corked, a bottle of one pint capacity, filled with liquor. The cork was removed and the odor of liquor became apparent. It was sampled by experts who pro- nounced it whisky of a most superior quality. How the bottle of whisky got into the center of the huge maple tree is.a - mystery that even the oldest settler is unable to solve. At . no place about it was there any cavity and counting the rings of wood from the place where the bottle was lodged, each one of which represents a year’s growth of the tree, it must have been there thirty years. Besides this, old settlerg,state that the, bottle is of the type in use from fifty to sixty years ago. The bottle and contents have been placed in the public library as a curio. JOKES AND JESTS. FINES Eien oe OR eM OS ne eT Oe DTT “Why did that pretty Irish girl of yours hand her admirer a lemon?” “I think it was because he was an Orangeman.” Meat \ Old Gentleman—Have you been to Florence, my dear? Young Lady—I don’t know. In traveling it is my husband who takes the tickets. Mother—Oh, don’t you think we had better send for the doctor? Johnny says he feels so bad. Father—Oh, he’s felt bad before this, and got over it. Mother (anxiously)—Yes, dear; but never on a half holiday. “Your husband frequently misses his dinner,” ‘said one woman, _ "Yes, ” answered the other. “Whenever there is a ball game in town he devotes himself to finding fault with the umpire instead of with the cook.” “What is your idea of an ideal wife?” “One who will cook the meals, do the washing, look after the furnace, make her own clothes, and—and——” “And what?” “Keep herself looking as young and as beautiful as an actress who pulls down $400 a week in vaudeville.” “Yeas, pardner,” drawled the lean native with the huge yellow corncob, “Bill was the unluckiest man in seventeen States.” “‘Was, eh?” answered the man who was painting signs on barns. “Yes, sir, Why, when opportunity knocked at Bill’s door he thought it was another bill collector, and hid under the bed.” \ . { “Have you discovered anything important?” asked the noy- “Yes,” answeréd the New York detective. “But,” falte ad the novice, “you said you “T have. I have discovered an — /
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A FACE AT THE WINDOW By Kit Clyde. —— It was a cold, bright night in the early part of February, and the Limited ‘Mail was speeding its way north. The pas- sengérs had settled down to a long ride, and had made them- selves as: comfortable as circumstances permitted. | Those - within range of the lamplight pulled out their nee papers and began the perusal of the rechaufte of the morning’s news which they had already devoured. “Not much in the papers to-night,” remarked Mr. Barker to the company generally, . He was a‘stout, little gentleman, evidently communicative, “What have you got?” asked his friend Smithson, who was sitting opposite. : “The Globe.” “So have I.” A stranger here joined in the conversation, and spare; he looked like the typical Yankee, “Have van the last edition?” he asked. “If so, you'll find ag pretty a little story on the third page as you'll meet with - jn a month’s reading.” “The escape of that convict?” inquired Mr. Barker. “Yes; he’s a plucky fellow.” “He’s a consummate scoundrel, at all events,” remarked Mr. Smithson; “a well-known burglar, and more than siispected to have been a murderer.” “Yes, I’m afraid he’s a bad lot,” said the American; “T wish he weren’t, If he gets away he saves himself ten years’ penal servitude; twas worth the risk.” “Bow did he manage it?” asked Mr. Barker. read it.” “Broke out of the prison yan,” replied Mr. Smithson. “Watched his opportunity and ‘stunned the policeman inside, got the keys, let himself out, and bolted. It shows what a desperate man can do.” “Will they catch him?” “That remains to be seen. The police are on his track,” ‘replied the American. / “I spoiled like to be there when they capture him.” He was tall “I haven't Nothing could have been further from his thoughts than the, possibility of his having to take part in the capture himself. ; The threemen settled down to’their papers again in silence. “What's that?” suddenly exclaimed Mr. Barker. “What is it?” inquired the others, “Drm certain I saw a face outside the window,” he paged “The reflection of one of us,” suggested his friend, “Perhaps ‘twas the guard going by,” said the American. “If so, the guard isn’t wearing a cap,” said Mr, Barker, moving toward the window. Ste “Got it blown off, perhaps,” said Mr. Smithson. open the window; we'll all be frozen to death.” But Mt. Barker let down the strap, and peer ed out into the darkness. The engine was throwing up a shower of sparks, and” the blaze ‘trom the fire illuminated the tender. Those windows which had no ‘blinds drawn threw a dim dent on the hedges, but otherwise there was darkness. “Anything there?” queried Mr. Smithson. hea fancy I saw something.” ; ; “well, do settle erate it aipeway or the other, and shut the “window.” — tt ree sy NM ; Mr. Barker vitharew, SUC ARES Sh Rit PRT co otro aR “Pray don't FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. ie aa ; ‘had passed along the footboard of the carriage. | calculated that his victim would give the alarm directly, he See for him, He had mounted the train at the risk of his li | as it pased slowly through one of the tunnels in the morth o he might slip down unseen between the carriages and make: feet. The others followed him to the window. | rod << * “Pm certain I saw & man’s head,” he asseverated. “And I’m nearly sure I ag sight of something moving when I looked out.” . “Hadn’t you better call the guard and stop the train?” — asked Mr. Smithson, ironically. ; Mr. Barker did not.reply, but loked uneasily into the dark-. less, bar, He had not been mistaken. A man, hatless and coatless, | He had given a quick glance into the compartment, and, seeing it occupied by four men, had hastily passed onward. The next compartment but one was labeled “Ladies,” and ~ was tenanted by one lady only. The convict, for it was he, stopped in front of this. With a dexterous movement he opened the door, and before the lady knew what had happened she gaw a desperate looking ruffian standing beside her. a “Don’t be frightened, miss,” he said, “I ain’t going to harm you; I’ve no time. I want some money. It’s life or death to me, and 1 must have it. Your purse, quick!” . She glanced at, the little handle which was the means of communication with the guard: the convict was standing be- tween her and it. There was nothing to be done, She drew * her purse from her handbag and gave it to him. ae He put it in his pocket and in a moment was outside ‘the ‘ door again, av) Instantly she flew. to the handle and pulled it with all her. might again and again. Then the fright she had undergone overcame her, and she sank on to the seat, unable even to eb to the window and give the alarm. eae The convict had acted with the sagacity and daring whieh had made so many of his enterprises successful. He. had left her. This was what he wanted. f use Z It would have been madness for him to. go on to the nes town. He knew that men were on the watch at every stat. London, before it was free from the network of intersecting lifes. He must somehow escape before it reached a F place, 4 ig’ a » But. to leap from the Limited Mail meant iprelieisne! death, ae certain disablement. If, however, the train could be stopped | 3 his” Rae with a fair ra of success. sy Gemiiitiention. "The bell : ar eugaa the attention of ‘the: ‘Sint: a but all he did was to lean out of his window to see if there was any ‘sign that it was Necessary to do any more, 4 There was nothing to show that the ringing implied ‘more than a practical joke, such’ as is sometimes indulged ‘in those who have subsequent cause to regret it. He was on te point of drawing in his head when he saw a white ‘shawl being waved from a window. The lady had recovered | suk ficiently to drag herself to the side of the: carriage ond ita the sash, This. was enough; the guard put 4 his break and signaled. a to the engineer to slacken. 36 Bet, a minute i pace was | ig palpably slower. ; X “What's up now?” exclaimed Mr. Barker, springing 101 ey They had not hitherto noticed the fourth ehaigane of ‘the compartment. He was a well-built, tall man, but apparent y very uncommunicative. He 4 nail his. way to the w sor a and looked out, — 1 et He uttered an sbuletiscione and to the be ienae’ of his pee panions flung open the door and began making his way. alon; g the: maphin es 3 ; a Pens
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. ; : 29 The others followed his course in wonder. What did it all mean?” i He had seen the shawl hanging from the window. He knew to whom it belonged. He was traveling north with his sister, and rather selfishly, though with her full consent, had put her into a ladies’ com- paYtment whilst he enjoyed a cigar in a smoking carriage. ‘He had intended rejoining her at the first stopping- -place, No ‘wonder he was anxious when he found the train stopping and saw his sister's shawl. The pace grew slower and slower, The conyict. bided his -time. What was the good of hurrying? No one would care to follow him in the dark, , ta He had calculated without a knowledge of the circ -utnetandes. Halt a dozen words told Mr. Fairbairn, the fourth occupant of the smoking compartment, what had happened to his sister. He looked around as she spoke, and distinctly saw a man drop to the rails trom a carriage near the end of the train and make Ps, ¥ the country. : - Without a moment’s hesitation he leaped to the ground and ‘followed him. The Yankee was at the open door, a not unin- 4 terested spectator. Myr. Barker had seen the convict’s escape d gave the alarm. In another moment all three were after chim. | . Mr. Barker and*his friend soon gave up the pursuit. They ere elderly and quiet business men, by no meang fitted for midnight steeplechase across country. But the American as stronger and accustomed to wild life; the excitement of thase seized him, and he was soon: ‘close on the heels of ‘Fairbairn. thing could have surprised the hence more than the fact Me he was pursued. He soon saw, however, that he was. ’ Be still had about him the weapon with which he had stunned os ‘policeman; he determined to put it to further use as he sa Fairbairn gaining on him. ; The country was too open for concealment, and the gray m was beginuing to brighten“the horizon. The convict ped his weapon and prepared to. receive his pursuer. Th. “would have been the result it is useless to guess: at a, Fairbairn would not have stopped. But the Amer- aught him up and put his hand on his arm.” m’t you go for him,” he said; “it isn’t worth while you’re s damaged. I think I can persnade him.” : Fairbairn tried to shake his adviser off, but in vain. The was about to make a fresh bolt for liverty, seeing ere two against him; but the American’s voice called stop: : ou don’t, I’ fire!" he cried, ‘and the click of his -re- 7 showed that his threat was not a meaningless ‘one. e convict had no choice but to obey. Phrow down that thing,” ordered the American. He was he short iron bar was dropped. : } No “march back to the train, No games, remember, or be the worse for you.” git ee : few minutes later the convict was in a luggage van, barred in. At the next station he was handed over authorities for reconveyance to London, ess to say the American was welcomed effusively by | L s former companions, who congratulated him on his success.. “Well erhaps: it was not I so much as this little toy,” he ere lacently. “Tis a bad habit 1 got ‘into. years ago a to 3 among a wild lot out West.” MESSENGER BOYS vices,” said the superintendent of the American District Tele- graph Company, “but the strangest call that has ever! been made to my knowledge was that of a merchant who lives on —~— street. “He is a stout, red-faced, good-natured inekiie man, with a funny eye. He called on me and said he wauted seven boys of different ‘sizes for three days—that they must be prepared to live in his house day and night, so long as he would require them. “What do you think he wanted them tor? His wife had © died shortly before, and his sister-in-law had written to him that she was coming to visit him. He was afraid she had a sinister motive’ in making the pilgrimage and intended to. establish herself as housekeeper, To discourage such a pro- ceeding he conceived the project of passing off the boys as his own family and having them make life miserable for her dur- ing her stay. “Accordingly he made eauhi throw aside his uniform and put on old clothes, A disgraceful set of brats they were when they received the visitor with dirty faces and clothed in rags. They ‘played football with her bonnet, broke open her trunks and masqueraded in her silks, spoiled her cooking by sprinkling the joint ‘with snuff, and played one hundred mon- key tricks prompted by the merchant. “They all got in a room over hers and maintained such a racket during the night that she could not sleep, “When she went out to the street, the litile imps formed in a ring around her and executed an impromptu war dance. Poor woman, how she must have suffered! &ghe bore her cross patiently for two days, but there was an end to her endurance, and on the third evening it col- lapsed. She soundly cowhided one of the boys and took her departure in a rage, first giving her relative’ a piece of her mind regarding the young cannibals he was raising. It was no wonder, she said, that her martyred sister was in her graye, and she did not propose to be Ya tortured to death. “The best of the joke was the children Se palmed off on her as those of the merchants: first wife; hs al he had only been married once.” One of the boys. is: an iiutetligeut-Looisine lad, with eyes as deep a blue as his uniform. His fair hair and full features left no doubt as to his German parentage. | He said to the reporter: “We meet cranks; but some people treat us well. There's one young Irishman comes for me every Thursday to accompany him when he goes to see a German girl he’s’ stuck on who speaks no English. I interpret between and don’t laugh a bit when he says silly things about how much he loves her and how beautiful she is. He doesn’t let me kiss her in German for him, though. She’s a daisy, but he and gives me a dollar every time.” A lawyer's office-boy, who was formerly.a district papas da ; told the reporter that his case beat the deck. He said: “Tt “was a curious way of calling for a hoy, too, for a tele- gram came saying that a messenger was wanted at’ ‘a certain _ | address, on —— street. ‘When I got SHER a tall, thin old man. a to mention. it, net really 1 3 so Tike trying it on a dog, you know. I didn’t wait to hear any — -- }ime ran home. and reported rit? the dit sae hci pe ' ‘its “Our boys are very frequently called upon for ludicrous ser- — 4. deserves her, for he’s one of the best fellows in thie: world | pirate se and that he. wanted me to taste ae tood before he ate fs ap
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These Books Tell You Everythingi 4 COMPLETE SET IS A REGULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA! Bach book consists of sixty-four pages, pfinted on good paper,in clear type and neatly bound in an attractive, illustrated cover, Pel of the books are also profusely illustrated, and all of the subjects treated upon are explained in such a simple manner that ild can thoroughly understand them. Look over the list as classified and see if you want to know anything about the subjects mentioned. THESE BOOKS ARE FOR SALE BY ALL NEWSDEALERS OR WILL PE SENT BY MAIL TO ANY ADDRESS FROM THIS OFFICE ON. RECHIPT OF PRICH, THN CENTS BACH, OR ANY THREE BOOKS FOR TWENTY-FIVH CENTS. POSTAGH STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY. Address FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, N.Y. MESMERISM. No. 81. HOW TO MESMERIZE.—Containing the most ap- roved methods of mesmerism; also how to cure all kinds of iseases by animal magnetism, or, magnetic healing. By Prof. Leo Hugo Koch, A. G &., author of “How to Hypnotize,” ete. PALMISTRY. No. 82. HOW TO DO PALMISTRY.—Containing the most ap- proved methods of reading the lines on the hand, together with @ full explanation of their meaning. Also explaining pbseuolngy: and the key for telling character by the bumps on the head, By Leo Hugo Koch, A. ©. S. Fully illustrated. : HYPNOTISM. No. 88. HOW TO HYPNOTIZE.—Containing valuable and in- structive information regarding the science of hypnotism. Also explaining the most approved methods which are employed by the leading hypnotists of the world. By Leo Hugo Koch, A.C.S. SPORTING. No. 21. HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.—The most complete bunting and fishing guide ever published. It contains full in- structions about guns, hunting dogs, traps, trapping and fishing, together with descriptions of game and fish. No. 26. HOW TO ROW, SAIL AND BUILD A BOAT.—Fully illustrated. Every boy should know how to row and sail a Boat. Full instructions are given in this little book, together with in- etructions on swimming and riding, companion sports to boating. No. 47. HOW TO BREAK, RIDE AND DRIVE A HORSE.— A complete treatise on the horse. Describing the most useful horses for business, the best horses for the road; also valuable recipes for diseases peculiar to the horse. No, 48, HOW TO BUILD AND SAIL CANOES,—A handy book for boys, containing full directions for constructing canoes and the most popular manner of sailing them. Fully illustrated. By ©. Stansfield Hicks. FORTUNE TELLING. No, 1, NAPOLWON’S ORACULUM AND DREAM BOOK.— Containing the great oracle of human destiny; also the true 1mean- ing of almost any kind of dreams, together with charms, ceremonies, and curious games of cards, A complete book, No. 23. HOW TO HXPLAIN. DREAMS.—Dyeryb dreams, from the little child to the aged man and woman. This little book gives the explanation to all kinds of dreams, together with lucky and unlucky days, and “Napoleon’s Oraculum,” the book of fate. No. 28. HOW TO TELL FORTUNES.—Byeryone is desirous of - knowing what his future life will bring forth, whether happiness or misery, wealth og poverty. You can tell by a glance,at this little book. Buy one and be convinced. Tell your own fortune. ‘Tell the fortune of your friends. No. 76. HOW TO THLL FORTUNES BY THE HAND.— Containing rules for telling fortunes by the aid of lines of the hand, or the secret of palmistry. Also the secret of telling future events by aid of moles, marks, scars, etc, Illustrated. By A. Anderson. .. ATHLETIC... No, 6. HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETH.—Giving full in- ‘etruction for the use of dumb bells, Indian clubs, parallel bars, horizontal bars and various other methods of developing a good, healthy muscle; containing over sixty illustrations, Hvery boy can become strong and healthy by following the instructions contained in this little book. No. 10. HOW TO BOX.—The art of self-defense made easy. Containing over thirty illustrations of guards, blows, and the dilfer- ent positions of a good boxer. Every boy should obtain one of these useful and instructive books, as it will teach you how to box without an instructor. : No, 25. HOW TO BECOMH A GYMNAST,—Containing fulk *® instructions for all kinds of gymnastic sports and athletic exercises. Bmbracing thirty-five illustrations. By Professor W. Macdonald. _A handy and useful book. . No. 34. HOW TO FENCE.—Containing full instruction for fencing and the. use of the broadsword; also instruction in archery. Described with twenty-one practical illustrations, giving the best positions in fencing. A compiete book. : TRICKS WITH CARDS. eB No. 51, HOW TO DO TRICKS WITH CARDS.—Containing e@zplanations of the general principles of sleight-of-hand applicable y card tricks; of card, tricks with ordinary cards, and not requiring t-of-hand; of tricks involving sleight-of-hand, or the use of ly prepared cardg. By Professor Haffner. Illustrated. also giving sample letters for instruction. Jalso rules No. 72. HOW TO DO SIXTY TRICKS WITH GARDS.—Em- bracing all of the latest and most deceptive card tricks, with il- lustrations. By A. Anderson. No, 77. HOW TO DO FORTY TRICKS WITH CARDS.— Contujning deceptive Card Tricks as performed by leading conjurors and magicians. Arranged for home amusement. Fully illustrated. MAGIC. f No. 2. HOW TO DO TRICKS.—The great book of magic and card tricks, containing full instruction on all the leading card tricks of the day, also the most popular magical illusions as performed by our leading magicians; every boy should obtain @ copy of this book, as it will both amuse and instruct. Se No, 22. HOW TO DO SECOND SIGHT.—Heller’s second sight explained by his former assistant, Fred Hunt, Jr. Explaining how the secret dialogues were carried on between the magician and th boy on the stage; also giving all the codes and signals, The only authentic explanation of second sight. No. 43. HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN.—Containing th grandest assortment of magical illusions ever placed before th public. ‘Also tricks with cards, incantations, etc. igh No. 68. HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS.—Containing ove one hundred highly amusing and instructive tricks with chemicals, By A. Anderson. Handsomely illustrated. : ie: No. 69, HOW TO DO SLEIGHT OF HAND.—Containing ove! fifty of the latest and best tricks used by magicians. Also contain: as secret of second sight. Fully illustrated. By A. Anderson. No. 70. HOW TO MAKE’ MAGIC TOY S.—Containing | ful directions for making Magic Toys and deyices of many kinds, By A, Anderson. Fully illustrated. Me “Pht No. 73. HOW TO DO TRICKS WITH NUMBDRS.—Showing many curious tricks with figures and the magic of numbers. By A. Anderson. Fully illustrated. meet f tips No. 75. HOW TO BECOME A CONJUROR. — Containing tricks with Dominos, Dice, Cups and Balls, Hats, etc. Hmbracing thirty-six illustrations. By A. Anderson. ee No. 78. HOW TO DO THE BLACK ART.—@ontaining a com plete description of the mysteries of Magic and Sleight of Hand, together with many wonderful experiments. By A. Anderson Illustrated. oe MECHANICAL. ol ae No. 29. HOW TO BECOME AN INVENTOR.—Byery boy should know how inyentions originated. This book explains them all, giving examples in electricity, hydraulics, magnetism, optics, pneumatics, mechanics, ete. The most instructive book published, _ No. 56. HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER.—Containing full instructions how to proceed in order to become a locomotive e gineer; also directions for building a model locomotive; together with a full description of everything an engineer should know. No. 57. HOW TO MAKE MUS'OAL INSTRUMBENTS,—¥# a description of the lantern, together with its history and invention; Also full directions for its use and for painting slides. Handsom illustrated. By John Allen. ; retiree ih oe No. 71. HOW TO DO MECHANICAL ie pep SEPY go: complete instructions for performing over sixty Mechanical Tri By A. Anderson, Fully illustrated. ; : LETTER WRITING. rial No. 11, HOW TO WRITE LOVH-LETTERS—A most com plete little book, containing full directions for writing love-lette and when to use them, giving specimen letters for young and « No, 12. HOW TO WRITH LETTERS TO LADIES,—Giving complete instructions for writing letters to ladies on’all subjects ; also letters of introduction, notes and requests. © No. 24. HOW TO WRITER LETTERS TO. GENTLEMEN - Containing full directions for writing te gentlemen on all subjects; No. 53. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS.—A_ wonde i book, telling you how to write to your sweetheart, / you ther mother, sister, brother, employer; and, in fact, everybody ¢ any body you wish to write to. Byery young man and r young | lady in the land should have this book. | ‘ : - No. 74. HOW ‘TOG WRITH LETTERS CORRECTL n+ taining full instructions for writing letters on almost any s for punctuation With apec
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: ae 62. HOW TO BECOME A WEST POINT MILITARY | CADET.— Containing full expianations how to gain admittance, course of. Study, Examinations, Duties,. Staff of Officers, Post Guard, Police Regulations, Fire Department, and all a boy should: know to be a Cadet. Compiled and written by Lu Senarens, author — of “How to Become a Naval Cadet.” Y DMA No. 683. HOW TO BECOMP A/NAVAL CADET.—-Complete in- structions of how to gain admission té the Annapolis Naval Academy. Also containing the course of instruction, description of grounds and buildings, historical sketch, and cron Gne a_boy should know to become an officer in the United States eh Com- ecome & est Point Military Cadet.” eh F 7 7 e ni me ee , ‘ i!
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= Latest Issues “Se Se itemnscaheo pater eee eee e “All Around nd Weekly” “Secret Service” Containing Stories of All Kinds. Old and Young King Brady, Detectives, Conorep Covers, 32 Pacgs. Price 5 Cents. | Cotorep Covers. 32 Paaus. Price 5 Cent, 28 The Flying Scud. A Romance of the Ever Faithful fsle. |587 The Bradys and the Hidden Assassin, or, Winning’ 24 Against the Sultan; or, Trapped in a Turkish Rebellion. Record Time. 25 Frank Melville, The Wonder of the Circus Ring. 588 The Bradys’ Dark Work; or, The Mystery of a Night 26 “Little Dot”; or, The Dandy Scout of the Plains. 589 ee and the Mystic Band; or, frailing the Sil a Phe We mee cnn eek ale ee ae. ae 590 The Bradys Drugged; or, Caught by the Chinese Crot 29 The Ourang-Outang Hunters; or, Adventures in the Dark 591 The fined Ba the Black Snake Bracelet; or, Trap} a Society Queen. Continent. 30 Virginia Dick; or, A Southern Boy in the Meiogn War. 592 Tie Bradys After a “Lifer”; or, The Man Who Br from Sing Sing. 81 Lost Under Ground; or, A Week in the Dark. “Work and Win” “The Liberty Boys of 76” Containing the Great Fred Fearnof Stories. A Magazine Containing Stories of the American Revolut CoLorED Covers. ‘ 32 PacEs, "Price 5 Cents, Cotorrep Covers. 32 Paces. - Price 5 Cent 592 Fred Fearnot at Princeton; or, Evelyn and the College |485 The Liberty Boys in the Drowned Lands: or, Peri Boys. : » Times Out West. 593 Fred Fearnot’s Hard Hitting; or, Batting It Out to Win. : 594 Fred Fearnot’s War® Canoe; or, Beating the Indian 486 Brien 4 Boys on the Commons; or, Defending Champions, 487 The Liberty Boys’ Sword Charge; or, The Fight at S! 595 Fred Fearnot and the Hrrorless Wonder; or, Calling a Point. Ball Player’s Bluff, 488 The Liberty Boys After Sir John; or, Dick Slater’s i 596 Fred Fearnot in Township jTen; or, The Fight with the Ruse. /- Surveyors. 489 The ‘Liberty Boys Doing Guard Duty; or, Tho Los 5987 Fred Fearnot’s Throw Home; or, Playing in the Field. Fort Washington, 598 Fred Fearnot’s Strange Legacy; or, The Trap that Almost |490.The Liberty Boys Chasing a Reieanee or The W Worked. Man on the Ohio. 599 Fred Fearnot’s Ninth ap Finish; or, Playing Heady 491 The Liberty Boys and the Fortune Teller; or, The re Base Ball... ee Rech of Harlem. “Pluck and Luck” — “Wild West Weekly’ Containing Stories of Adventure. A Magazine Gontaining Stories, Sketches, Nic., of Aa Cotorep CovErs. * 32 Paces. Price 5 Cents. | Cotorep Covers. 32 Paces. Price 5 Orn 620 After the “Bad Men”: or, The Perils of a Western Boat-| 392 Young Wild West Trailing a “Terror”; or, The Bi Chief's Last Chance. man. By an Old Scout. ¥ r For the Rescue of the Great} 293 Young Wild West, Saving His Scalp; or, Arietta anc 621 Sinbad of St. Helena; or, Pa ea: Emperor. By Allyn Draper, 622 His Father’s Son; or, The Boy With a Bad Name. By 394 Young Wild West Teaching a Tenderfoot; or, The D Duel with the Desperado, Allan Arnold. 623 The Island in the Air; or, The Castaways of the Pacific.| 395: Young Wild West Rushing the Rustlers; or, Ari By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. Long Range Shot. . 624 A Smart Boy Salesman; or, Winning Success on the Road.| 396 Young Wild West Grilling the Gold Grabbers; or, By James C. Merritt. “Shoot-Up” at Shooker. 625 The Hut in the Swamp; or, The Mystery of Hal Percy’s| 397 Young Wild West’s Cowboy Challenge; or, Ar ietta’s Fate. , By Richard R. Montgomery. } : Guess. crs For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt of price, § cents per copy, in money or postage stamy len ameales TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New Yo IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS | of our Weeklies and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be obtained from this office direct. Cut out and - in the following Order Blank and send it to us with the price of the ever you w ant and we will send meen to ae return mail. POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY. * bias be ailarbiaie, ogime.0 e014) 8 ebelb wile lafp bie ae .¢:0)e'w wlaretpiece. 0:0:47650 ei atalermtsrorelpla Bias wins ayaterel FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York. 2 gid ene aigh sipaepoeabioatiacert eel ‘Dear Str—Enclosed find......cents for which please send me: pee: seseite ba of WORK AND WIN, NOB. ..cesceeetee ces toques es ecee sea emteventtarenseaceneenmemetiey de sa ed: Nee “ ALL AROUND WEEKLY, Nos......... coesssesees ere eewerawvantmenmmumtinmenerey +442 .... “ © WILD WEST WEEKLY, Waait ite etna gies Gee eee eR “ee © DHE LEBBRTY BOYS OF ’%6, RoR eile GL es Go ean ‘exere Y eens f Me PLUCK AND LUCK, a ae Oops specenng <r epsehtcs CPMNCU ECT AE a ...s ¢ “ SECRET SERVICE, Nos. + sseessasersteseseseeensessas ines eanrearememicr mimes snes te Ve ein iB FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY, NOB... cee ces as eee oe wemreeaewreetteetererie : apes. 0. 00S Ten-Cent: Hand Books, Nea bag «cake an polis + Vita ade het cctcaee ghee : Das ss ‘ * Street and No. weereveeese TOWR. soe rel I 43
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Fame and Fortune Weekly STORIES OF BOYS WHO MAKE MONEY COLORED COVERS 5 Trading Tom; % By A SELF-MADE MAN PRICE 5 Ots. ISSUED EVERY FRIDAY 32 PAGES This Weekly contains interesting stories of smart boys, #vho win fame and fortune by their ability to take advantage of passing opportunities. Some of these stoi.es are founded on true incidents in the lives of our most successful self-made men, and show how a boy of pluck, perseverance and brains can become fam- ous and wealthy. h, From Mill to Millions; or, The Peor Boy Who Became a Stee) Magnate. Three Game Speculators; or, The Wall Street Boys’ Syndicate. A Stroke of Luck; or, The Boy Who Made Money in Oil. Little Hal, the Boy Trader; or, Picking Up Money in Wall Street. On the Gold Coast; or, The ‘Treasure or the Stranded Ship. Lured by the Market ; or, A Boy's Big Deal in Wall Street. or, The Boy Who Bought Everything. Iavored by Fortune ; or, The Youngest Iirm ui Wall Street. Jack Jasper’s Venture; or, A Canal Route to Vortune, After Big Money; or, Turning the ‘ables on the Wall Street Brokers. 189 A Young Lumber King: or, The Boy Who Worked His Way Up. 190 Ralph Roy’s Riches; or, A Smart Boy's Run on Wall Street Luck. 191 A Castaway’s Fortune; or, The Hunt for a Pirate's Gold. For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt of price, 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps, by The Little Money Maker; or, ‘he Wall Street Boy Who Saved the Market. Rough and Ready Dick; or, A Young Express Agent's Luck. Tip ped Off by 'lelegraph ; or, Shaking Up the Wall Street “Bears.” The Boy Builder ; or, The Rise of a “Young Mason. Marty the Messenger; or, Capturing Coin in Wall Street. The Stolen Bank Note; or, The Career of a Boy Merchant. Digging Up Dollars; or, The Nerve of a Young ‘Bull’ Operator. A Runaway Boy ; or, The Buried Treasure of the Ineas. The Old Broker's Heir; or, The Boy Who Won in Wall Street. rom Marm to Kortune; or, The Boy Who Made Money in Land, Ragged Rob of Wall Street; or, $50,000 rom a Dime. #y Mies Railroad Magnate; or, The Contract That Brought a Million. eat oe The Boss Boy Broker; or, Hustling for Gold in Wall treet. Caught By Cannibals; or, The I'reasure of the Land of Fire. The Little Operator; or, Cornering the ‘“‘Bears” of Wall Street. rae Line Ed: or, Building a Pelegraph Line. A Boy of the Curb; or, The Secret of a Treasure Note. Krom l’oundry Boy to Stee! King; or, he Rise of a Young Bridge Builder. The Missing Box of Bullion; or, The Boy Who Solved a Wall Street Mystery. Claim No. 7; or, A lortune rom a Gold Mine. Out lor Big Money; or, Touching Up the Wall Street The Boy Ice King; or, Coining Money from the River. Traders. FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, return mail. COC ome e emo ee ees eeersereeseeeseeseeesesosese ee eeeF HHH HSE HHS H ES EEE EMS IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS of our Weeklies and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be obtained from this orfice direct. Cut out and, at in the following Order Blank and send it to us with the price of the weeklies youewant and we will send them to you by POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY. 214 224 229 230 231 232 233 234 243 244 FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York. IN ARTIG ico, oh cave rua tetas bieaCaCaiels ct oT ORR INERTI Co, NOs haha ahetts Dear Str—Enclosed find......cents for which please send me: ‘eopioe OL) WO Rag AUNT)! WON IN OB sus tie ses dials orelejevs « ; * ALL AROUND WEEKLY, Nos......+++ . €. © WILD WEST WEEKLY, Nog,..... «(gies . tt TRE. LIBERTY BOYS OF.'76, Nosiyi ty at FO RLV AND. LUCK, Nosy.'s 6 sv ai, ha CT! SRR Meh NOE, Fc yah’ eben . “ © FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY, Nos.. “ “cc Ten-Cent Hand Books, Nos...........+.- . 2 The Young Wall ALREADY PUBLISHED, Fou of a Kind; or, The Combination that Made Wall a um. a Bob Brandon, Contractor; or, The Treasure that Led to lame. A Boy From the South; or, Cleaning Out u Wall Street Crowd. Hal the Hustler; or, The Feat That Made Him Famous., , A Mad Broker’s Scheme; or, The Corner That Couldn't Be Worked. Dollars From Dust; or, The Boy Who Worked a Silver Mine. - Billy Black, the Broker's Son; or, The Worst Boy in Wall Rites Adrift in the Sea; or, The Treasure of Lone Reef. Street Jonah; or, The Boy Who Puzzled the or, The Suecess of a Young Telegraph Operator. or, Trimming the Tricky Traders, Brokers, Wireless Will; Wall Street Jones; 5 Fred the Maker; or, The Success of a Young Street Merchant. i : The Lad From ‘Frisco; or, A Wal Street Stor The Lure of Money Maker “Ring.” Missing for a Year; or, Making a Fortune in Diamonds. rf Phil the Plunger; or, A Nervy Boy's Game of Chance. A wall : Street Story. = Samson, the Boy Blacksmith; or, From Anvil to Fortune. 3ob’s Big Risk: or, The Chance That Came But Once, Benes in the Gold Fields; or, The Treasure of Van Diemen’s < “old “Miyatats: * the Broker ; (A wall Street Lea ) Capital—One Dime; or, ail His Way to Fortune, TP Against a Hot Game; or, Two College Chums in Wall saison A Big Contract; or, The Poor Boy Who Won. 5 Benson's New Boy; or, Whooping Up the Wall Street Market. — Driven to Work; or, A Fortune from a Shoe Strin The Way to Make Money ; or, Taking Chances in V ‘all Street. Making His Fortune; or, The Deal of a Lucky Boy. The Stock-Exchange Boys; or, The Young Speculators of Wall street, Seven Bags of Gold; or How a Plucky Boy Got Rich. Dick,,the Wall Street Waif; or, From Newsboy to Stock Broker, Pushing the “Big Bonanza.” He Hold; or, The Treasure of Coffin Rock. f Mack; or, The Boy Who Smashed a Wall ‘Street _ } em r, Playing a Daring Game. oo ( 24 Union Square, New York. ’ 2 4 5 | { 4 { " 7 eee eee eee enseen re peeeseanoree i eens ead 9 \ A Peder eee ere reenre rere eee eeeeeeenes Serene) a alia sllalanen a lle dUatel'4, nore kL NTA CR Rn 0 6d Vaso. he 06.6 06 8 6.6 OOF Wie 68 Khe 10.8 9 ve Wise Oye summer . © eifere ei 00: 06 o"ohe%e 6 960 epee gies & 916 0 As © ©. 0: dewigi el Ripe ee ae . ¢ Come h a mee ne eee ed wea e eee est sens oy o either Os ein mme ee ee v be 6b 0, 6 were so lelsre Brele lets) wie ees o/s é/ejatMlalelnt sl siete aemreme be wie e’ & «whe bbyle lenis? piteita, 0) 858 yeiibI0" 6's vo) 6 //e, Au Daretne he ai beyalctaiSs ole a. 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