Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 411) (1913 08 15)
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Harry was amazed. The missing jewelry was in his trunk. Judson grabbed him. “You young ; thief!” he bellowed. “I’ve caught you with the goods.: It’s jail for yours now!” The searcher held up some more of the missing property.
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i mid Issued Weekly—By Subscription $2.50 per year. < Librarian of eg Hee Washington, D. = ntered at the New York, No. 411. ame and Fortune Wee | Sate according to Act of Congress, in the year 1918, in the office of the k Tousey, Publisher, i i ah al Post Office as Second-Class Matter. NEW YORK, AUGUST 15, 1913. 168 West 23d Street, New York. — Price 5 Cents. FULL OF CHAPTER IT. < ‘ ON THE WRONG TACK. 4] have certainly missed my way, for I ought to have reached - the village before this. Now it’s getting dark and I don’t - know where I am,” said Harry Green, reining in his horse »- and looking over the country landscape on either side of the long, dusty road. \ Harry was a young commercial traveler out on his first trip. _ He was employed by the firm of Hatch & Co., of Chicago, ‘jobbers of cheap jewelry, watches, stylographic pens, and a miscellaneous collection of nicknames, which the firm picked ‘up at rock bottom figures at auction sales and sold at a hand- some profit through traveling salesmen. The young drummer was supposed to sell only by sample ‘and transmit his orders to the firm to be filled, and to carry om this impression he carried a regular sample case around him; but as a matter of fact he also carried a trunk.full of th e goods which he delivered himself, taking the cash for ‘the same, | These goods he had bought and paid for before starting pits ut any unsold articles at the end of his trip he had the privi- lege. of returning and getting his money back for the same. ‘The reason he carried a trunkful of duplicates was because he visited chiefly villages and small towns, the storekeepers of which, in many cases, were people who did not require to pur- ‘chase a bill of goods large enough to make it worth while _ transmitting their order to Chiteago, so he supplied them on the spot. for cash. As he sold only to dealers ae wholesale figures, he could not be considered in any sense a peddler, and was not liable to rest for selling goods without a local license. made his headquarters at a town on the railroad, g at a second-rate hotel, and when he had done the thoroughly he would hire a horse, take his sample, and her case full of duplicates, and start out for a tour of the nearby villages, ene his trunk at the hotel, in the storage- Then he got peti to the town he would board the first local oing in the direction he was bound and go on to his next tand. His side trips sometimes extended over a week and took him quite a distance from town, and he was often compelled to put up. for the night, and more often for his meals, at a farmhouse a. sldom had to put out any cash in such cases, as he always managed to sell a watch of the dollar variety, or some chi eo y of a similar caliber, or some nickknacks, which Ite his meal, ‘or both, ere wee fe be erecilp BUSINESS ea gy 2 Mud . ims : _- THE YOUNG TRAVELER FOR THE FIRM By A SELF-MADE MAN ‘farmers who prevailed on him to stop at their farms and s addition to his cash on Ri ee the. Price for a hey Rie sun Buy: ae afternoon. Harry rather liked the business, for he got a great deal of fresh air, and horseback riding was healthy exercise. i Constant change of scene, and meeting with a variety of little incidents that interested him, prevented him from tiring | of his new occupation, which he regarded as the stepping stone to a regular traveler’s position. On the morning previous to the afternoon we introduce him to the attention of the reader, he left the town of Springdal for the village of Edgewater. After doing business there he pushed on to another. village a few miles away, where he put in the night at the inn, | Here he learned of a large village ten miles away, and he went on there first thing in the morning. He did very well there, and was about to return to Spr dale when the hotel man, where he got his~ ‘dinner, told that if he would’ go on to Woodland, eight miles away, ought to do business there in his particular line. After considering the matter, Harry got the bearings village, had the road pointed out, and started. He expected to get there by four o’clock, but as he met t them some of his stock, which he had no right to do accord- ing to local regulations, he lost about two hours, but mad nearly $5 profit. \, He should have reached Woodland around six, but it “was, now close on to seven, twilight was coming on, and the V lage was nowhere in sight. ’ He had, without knowing it, taken the wrong turning nas cross-roads, and was getting further away from his destina ever moment. The road ran up hill from the point where he stopped to survey his surroundings, and he decided to push on to the. — highest point, thinking that from that elevated place he might i see the village in the distance. } h When he reached the top of the hill, only ean; iF met his sight. i ra The village was nowhere in sight. swung around to the left, he spied what he took to be a ro house embowered among’ the trees. “Y’ll go on there and get my bearings. If I’m too far the way I’ll stay there for the night, as I don’t care to. around in the dark,” he said. ; The house was only a;third of a mile away, 80. he aia n hurry his animal, and he made the distance at a i ik. he reached the house. © _ The gloom was intensified by ‘the overcast or whi
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2 , ' EUR 1 OF BUSINESS. dwelling Sat SO a a. weather-stained picket fence,.which took in a barn and oné or two smaller outbuildings, All the windows in sight were dark ances went, he could not tell whether the house was inhab- ited or not, but he judged it must be, and that people were at Supper in a back room on the ground floor. He opened the gate, walked his horse in, and tied him to a large apple tree on one side of the front yard. Then he walked around to the rear. » and, as far as appear- | He found lights here, as he expected, and he knocked on; the back door. An elderly woman opened the door and looked at him in- » quisitively. “How do you do, ma’am,” said Hal, politely. .“Can:yau tell me how far I am from the village of Woodland?” ‘i “Woodland!” she exclaimed. “That's all of ten miles from ere. . “Ten miles!” ejaculated the boy. -“I thought it was close by. _i must have come a long distance out of he way. The land- lord of the hotel at Fairview told me it was only eight miles ' from there. I left Fairview at two o’clock, and took the road he pointed out, and now it’s after seven and. I’m two miles further from Woodland, apparently, than when I started.” “You must have taken the wrong road at the fork, Had you taken the right one you would only have had a mile to go. ¥ou have come nine miles out of your way.” “That's kind of awkward for me. I’m a stranger in this part of the country, and if I try to get to Woodland in the dark I’m likeiy to make a worse job of it than I have already done, It locks as if it might rain. soon, too. Could you ac- commodate me here for the night. I will pay whatever you think is right.” “No, ” she said, “we’couldn’t accommodate you. is full.” Harry looked at the darkness all around him, which by - this’ time had blotted out the landscape on all sides, and even ‘rendered the barn at the back of the yard indistinguishable, He saw two lights wide apart in the distance, and judged they eame from the farm-houses he had seen from the top vs the Rie The prospect of being obliged to retrace his way to the fork “was by no means pleasant, ‘Even under the most favorable conditions he could hardly _ hope to reach Woodland much before ten o'clock, and he would have to go supperless to bed. rey “Well, if you can’t furnish me with ‘a bed, I suppose you can’t, "he said, in a disappointed tone. “Perhaps you could provide me with supper. I see no chance of getting anything , to eat to-night unless you do. I will pay you for it.” The woman hesitated. ' Then she said she would gee. ‘She closed the door, leaving him standing outside, and Harry 43 Dicer! 9 for her to return, trusting he would not be sent away - hung? ) Presently a man appeared out of the darkness of the yard. “Hello! he exclaimed, in a sharp tone, “what you doing around here? Who are you?” The house = eee being ignorant of the proper way there, I came quite a dis-- tance out of my way. I have just been talking to the woman ‘of the house. Ag it’s very dark and the sky suggests rain, I} ‘asked her if I could remain all night, offering to pay for the | tg accommodation. She said it was.ijmpossible, as the house was . From thai i judge that the. family occupies all the rooms. She has retired to find out if I will be permitted to remain : to stepper.” ~* Supper! {Yancy you'll get no supper here unless I say 80," “Arve you ths niaster of the house?” 3 “No; but what I say goes.” io “Well, you see the fix Ia in. Unless you oblige meé with supper Urq not likely to get anything to eat before morning. I'll pay you for it.” i _*What will yon pay?” i ree) think fifty cents would be a fair price,” “And what will you pay for a bed i? I find you one?” | “Pitty. cents more.” And 3 you oH want breakfast. Ara ae Willing to pay another y jalf a dollar for that?” “Yes,” replied the young eommercial. traveler, who felt that ‘though the price was high, he would rather, stand it than search for Woodland jn-the dark. “Fond over the money and you can stay.” i Hal shoved his nand in his pocket., aE “Perhaps, ou’d like to take it out in a watch,’ "he said. - ath wateh! ” erled the map, “Ain’t you got any money?” i “T am a corimercial traveler on my way to Woodland, bat | | house. fs ; ject. wit “Oh; yes, but as I’m selling a “ans grade of a gun metal watch for $1,50—warranted first-class time-keeper, guaranteed for at least one year, perfect in all réspects, fully as good as a-$50 gold aah 24 for your service, your money back inside’ of thirty days if the watch fails to come up to what I represent it—I feral ht maybe I could make a trade.” The watch in question was what Hal was selling at $1 whole- sale, and as it cost him about 70 cents, he naturally preferred making a trade for one than coming down with $1.50 in cash. “T’'ll look at it,” said-the man: 2 “What'll.you charge for feeding my horse and keeping him in your barn overnight?” “You’re viding a horse, are. you, fifty. cents. “All right,” said Hal. yard.” They went and got the horse and took him to the stable. The man lighted a lantern and helped take his saddle ro the two cases off. : : He eyed the latter curiously. f “You're selling watches around the country?” he said. __ “I’m /taking orders for cheap jewelry, watches and other things. Sometimes I sell a watch, or a piece of jewelry, or something else, as a special favor, at wholesale price.” “You carry your gtock in those cases, I suppose?” ; “Yes. They’re my sample cases that I use to show my goods and take orders with. The goods selected are afterwards shipped to the customer from my firm in Chicago.” “T see,” said the mau, lfting-the case containing Hal’s sup- ply of duplicates, and figuring on its,weight. “You can leave ; the cases here. They'll be safe.” t “Vil take my sample case so as to show you the watch 1 mentioned.” “Tt’ll. do in the morning,” said the man, blowing out tie light. The cases were placed on a low shelf used for carpenter work, for there was a string of tools at the back of it, and _ they left the barn, the man locking the door. I’ll. charge you another “He's tied to a tree in the front 4 oy CHAPTER II. A STRANGE PAIR. © Harry entered the house with the man: ; The room they walked into was the kitchen, and the- woman was busy at the stove. i A table was spread for supper there, and the young traveler D noticed there were but two plates. Vacae Hal judged that the man and the woman were the servants — of the place, and that the family had their meals in the dining-room. hae As the house was a large one, and, according to the woman, was fully occupied, it was reasonable to. suppose that the family was of some size. . “Lay another plate, Jane,” said the man; “this young man sups withius. He also stays all night and will take breakfast, so you had better get the red room ready for him later.” The disturbed look which came over the woman’s face when ithe man/said the visitor would eat with them increased to one iM of alarm when he said that the boy was to remain all night. | ~ “The red reom!” she repeated, faintly. : “T said the red room,” said the man, harshly. ie The woman made no reply, but tuned to the stove, and her movements appeared nervous and unsteady. ee As the young traveler-was a close observer of all that tran- spired around him, he wondered at her agitated manner. He guessed the woman was the man’ 8. wife, and that: she was ie afraid of him. , He did not greatly wonder at that after the ageressive way he addressed her. é The man‘ spoke and acted as though he was the boss of the x This seemed singular if he was an employee about the place, as he looked to be. io If the red room in question was a spare one, wits? had the woman told him that he could not be accommodated, alleging : that the house was full? She might at least have laid his request before: the master of the house before turning him down, + — TES, “When he made his request for something to: eat, and- Bee left him with the words that she would see about it, posed she went to she proper. person to consult: on”
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he was. FULL OF BUSINESS. , . 3 Our ‘Probably she had come back with an answer, which fs Harry looked at the cheap watch he carried and saw it was present actions would indicate was in the Hegative; while he half-past eight. Was at the barn with the man. “lm not in a hurry,” he said. lf the master or the mistress had said no, it would account | © “You can look over. the paper,” said Smith, handing him the for the. woman's nervousness when the man took’ upon him- News. “Go and get the red room ready,” he added He) his self to accommodate the visitor, and even order the red room wife. to°be prepared for him. The woman looked at her husband and hesitated. For a servant to act in presumed defiance of higher authority He took a step toward her in a menacing way, and that looked odd to the boy. started her. However, he was too hungry to argue the matter. - “My wife is bothered with a touch of the nerves,” said Smith If the man got into trouble over it, why, that was his look- when the woman disappeared through a door which opened on out, ito a passage. “T think a change in the weather affects her.” . In any case he did not see why the master or the mistress | : Harry made no reply, and the man went to a shelf, got down should refuse their hospitality to one placed in the situation a cigar box containing a pipe and loose tobacco, filled the pipe * jand began to smoke, standing at the window and looking out into the darkness. The boy thought he was a rather unsociable sort of fellow, :and did not bother saying anything to him. It wasn’t like country people to do so. Harry took a seat out of the way to wait till he was called.| to the table. The man filled a tin basin with water out of a bucket near | the sink and proceeded to wash himself, He combed and brushed his rough hair with the aid of a small mirror attached to the wall near the window looking out on the back yard. “Well, isn’t supper nearly ready?” ha grow led as he turned around. In the course of fifteen minutes the woman returned and bes gan clearing off the table. “Tg the room ready?” asked her husband, going to her. “Yes,” she answered, laconically. “What did you do with the lamp?” “T left it burning in the entry,” she replied. young traveler, picked up a copy of a village newspaper, “If you want to retire I'll show you the way,” said Smith to the visitor. * Harty had no objection, for he felt in the way in the kitchen, so he got up and said he was ready to:turn in! “Come along, then,” said the man. The lamp stood on the back stairs. Smith picked it up and mounted the flight. Harry followed him. “Yes,” said the woman in a dow tone. . “Dish it up, then, and lay that other plate as I told you to,”» he said. The. speaker walked about the room without noticing the} the naine of which Harry saw was the Hastchester News, and, drawing a chair to the table on which the lamp stood, began . to look it over. | Not a sound reached his ears but the man’s footfall and 1 his \ 7 f ; “by the name ci Eastchester near here—I mean nearer than ' mistress, then?” ; «his thumb.over his shoulder, ; Ble anes: ve _ * “Tam not a peddler,” said the boy. | ; the other direction.” - looked to gee one or more members of it come into the kitchen, Dut, he. bls The wonfn placed a third plate with knife and fork at the own. a side of the table, and then brought the cooked food on dishes. | The house was certainly uncommonly auiet for one fully She poured out three cups of coffee, and announced that occupied as the woman had told him it was. wupper was.ready. A long corridor, with doors on either side, took them to the “Sit up, young man,” said the man, throwing down the pa-j énd of the second story. per. “We haven’t a big spread, but the old woman didn’t ex- | Here Smith opened a door and introduced the young traveler pect a visitor." linto the red room. Harry drew up his chair and was served to a portion of | It was fully entitled to its name, for the walls were papered — ; bacon and eggs, and told to help himself to the fried potatoes, in a deep red.color, and the furniture was upholstered - tne) and the bread and butter, j match, fica ~~ * Make fourself at home,” said the man. say your name was?” ae “What did you The bureau even was set off by red ‘tidies. The carpet was also of a pronounced red pattern. “Marry Green.” The effect was not pleasant on the nerves and eye. yi . *Mine is Smith. This is my wife.” The lamplight cast weird shadows over the red walls and Harry bowed to the woman, but as she was looking down at | about the corhers which the light was not strong enoweh to her plate, his politeness was lost on-her. illuminate. “The family will have no objection to my remaining here “TI don’t wonder you call this the red room,” said Harry. | ae | A a ke I hope?” ventured Hal, HALES to make sure on; never saw so much red in one combination before. I can’t say» -that point, a | that I admire the taste of the person responsible for the Getos “Don't you worry about that. I’ve given you a room and, ‘ation.” you’re going to pay me for it, also for your Supper and break- “Don’t you like it?” fast, and taking care of your horse. As long as you can pay “No.” there won't be no trouble about you staying.” “This is the best room in the house.” : . “I saw you reading the Wastchester News. Is there a village| “The best room! Why isn’t it occupied by the master anid: : Woodland?” ne “The doctor and his family are away in Burope.” “Yes; about six miles over yonder,” said the man, jerking “Oh, they are? And who lives in this house besides you fand your wife?” .“ Nobody.” “But your wife told me the house was full.” “She didn’t want you to stay here.” : “Didn’t she like my looks?” ie “Your looks are all right, but you see this 1 the ‘asth of a May.” fe | “What has that date got to do with me staying ‘here one. ! night?” Bi “Because on the night of the 13th of May things happen. in f the house.” . “Ts it as large as Woodland?” asked. Harry, thinking he tnight do some business there in the morning. “No; it’s only a small place.” “Tt seems to be large enough to support a newspaper.” “Tt ain’t much of a paper,” said Smith, eating away. “T suppose it wouldn’t be worth my while going there?” “Not -unless you wanted to peddle . ‘your stuff among’ the | “Just.so. You travel around and take orders from stores, You wouldn’t find any stores in your line in Hastchester. The| “What happens?” general store there don’t deal in watches and jewelry. If any “T'd rather not tell you. one wants such things they go to Woodland, or to Derby, in! that’s why I’ve put you here. Nothing happens in lie Sane ers If you hear sounds around the __ house later on, pay no attention to them. Probably you Won't “Harry kept his ears cocked for sounds indicating the pres- | hear them if you go right to sleep and you're tired.” ence of the family in the front of the house, but not a sound | “Do you want me to understand that the house is haunted : reached him from that direction. on the night of the 13th of May?” : ° Still supposing that a large family occupied the house, he| “Well, that’s what my wife says.” — : Mee Diag, Saas “What do you say about it?” Pa “l’ve heard strange sounds, but they don’t bother me any. “This is such a singular. looking room that if any see ea he ati but none came. Several times he was on the point of referring to the family, j
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cai it on this night. As I’ve given it to you, we'll have to: sleep in the barn.” “You and your wife always use it on this night, you say? How long have you lived here?” “Thirteen years.” “Have those strange sounds been heard every 13th of May since you've been here?” “ Yes, ” - “Where. do the doctor and his family sleep on the 13th of “May when they’re home?” ‘ Siege always go aWay on the 12th and come back on the t, se “Hasn't the doctor ever investigated the phenomena?” “Yes, but he never’ could find out what caused the noises.” | “What kind of noises are they?” “JT couldn’t tell you. They’re always different.” “Always different?” “It’s the garret mostly that’s haunted. The sounds come - from, there. - Crying and odd sounds like that. -But as they + eome from the other end of the house, you mightn’t hear them h eheee At any rate, you needn’t be: scared. You won’t be a | Ur" Then Smith bade him good- night and left him to turn in. Marry stocd and looked after him. a “Something like a soft click, as if the key was turned in the ag floor, strucik upon his ears. The sound aroused the young traveler, and he walked to J the door to lock it. ‘There was no key in the lock. ny wonder if that man locked me in here?” he asked him- Mn | He laid his hand on the knob and turned it. he He found the door fast, evidently locked from the other de. fs ey 2 Naw, what does this all mean?” said Harry, not quite easy ‘in’ he; mind, not because of Smith’s statement that the house was haunted on the 13th of May, but because the said Smith _ Gearly. locked him in the red room, and the boy wondered - Ve CHAPTER III. THE GIRL. hae woman acted ante ‘strange, She didn’t want me to op here for some reason. Her husband said it was because this is the 18th of May, and the house is haunted with noises on that night. I believe that was just a yarn he handed to me ver up his wife’s singular conduct, which he felt I must e noticed and wondered at, We wouldn’t lock me in here a n't haye some sinister purpose in view. Tl bet his to rob me of my two ‘cases, thinking he will make a . Doubtless I’m not the only victim he has sheltered he night and cleaned out before morning. if his wife was a willing partner’ of his rascalities she would not have ed to ahoo me away when I asked for shelter, ° Well, I igs Behemie? Vm locked in, but perhaps I can Bet the gon from the window, as I’m only on the second floor. a en could manage to open the door of the barn, and get my horse and cases out, I'd make tracks from here, and take ances of finding my way to Woodland in the dark.” went to” the window, which he noticed was down a [ pe) he. tried to me down the upper sash, but that, too, ecured in some. way. that he was a prisoner for keeps. 5 tact that the window was fast had a disquiet- in: in connection with the room, for ‘he knew | 2 Eas ss the woman had nailed it up during the time she 5 way from the kitchen, that Th had not been prepared “way On his account. here was a second on suai? Marry ene and found pened Mt the bureau drawers and ound ‘them Baipty. H themed down ‘the bed clothes and found that the aah : soft one, presumedly filled with feathers, the side of it and considered the situation. ts told him that rie wes a quarter: past nine, A FULL OF BUSINESS. 4 moonlight or sunshine. al F With the door locked and the window immovable, Harry to. escape from this house?” + If anything was going to. happen with respect to himself, | he guessed it would not oecur for a while yet, as it was early. He was resolved on one thing—he would not go to bed. . He turned the latnp down low, for he suspected that the man would come back and look through the keyhole, “If I had a revolver I wouldn’t feel quite so helpless,” ‘he murmured. “Yet why should I expect a hostile visit from that man? If he is after my property he knows it is in the barn. — Stiil, I have money about me, and he probably figures on that, though I showed him none. A person could be murdered in this lonesome place and no one but the guilty person be the © wiser of it. To say the truth, I don’t like the looks of things - at all. My unlucky star was ‘in the ascendant when I missed the road to. Woodland.” So time passed slowly away and ten o’clock came around. Not a sound reached his ears trom below. ws He was not surprised at that, for he was in the wing far- thest from the kitchen, The rooms above, below and around him were untenanted. Smith's story about the uncanny proceedings on the 13th of May had no effect on his mind, Bats therefore, did not affect 4 his nerves, ; Wile He did not believe the yarn. Neither did he put much faith in ghosts and such spiritual manifestations. i “A live rascal, such as I pelievé this Smith to be, is more to — ,be feared than any ghost,” he thought. “Suppose there are “such things as ghosts, how can they harm one when there is~ nothing tangible about them? A spook couldn’t pass through — a wall, as they are said to do quite often, if there was anything — © material in their make-up; and if there is nothing material — about them, what can they do? If you laid hold of one you wouldn't feel anything, any more than you can feel a beam of — I wonder why people are ‘atreid of ghosts when there isn’t anything to them?” At that moment Harry heard a light sound at the back ot | a the room. He looked in that direction and saw something white again the somber red tint of the wall. It looked like a human being or the ghosteof one. As the boy had already satisfied himself that the only er trance to the room was by way of the door, and the door was at the other end of the room, he may be pardoned for being a bit startled at the strange and silent appearance of the. figure in white. He had little time to consider the matter, for the figure ad- vanced toward the center of the room, and as its/outlines be- came Clearer to his sight, he saw that the visitor was a girl clad in white. Nor could it be the ghost of a girl, for there was nothing h ethereal or impalpable in her composition. Mee haila? It was not possible to look through her, which convinced him that he had real flesh and blood to deal with: *) How she could have got into the room; apparently Hitee A . the solid wall, was a puzzling problem, put that she had w yA a self-evident, consequently it stood to reason there must be a | ; secret door in the wall. I ts As secret doors in houses were rather out ef date, it’ ‘struck idee that the door had been made for a aera cn ae a sinister aie 8 was ady Henae aR Who’ was this girl, and under mata conditions was she an inmate of the house? ate Was there a mystery connected ‘with Wee ; What had brought her to the réd room? Vote ies far she gave no sign that she was aware of his Shesiues: vi ther \ Harry remained ag quiet aS a mouse. hy He could hardly hope to escape her Ghaemesctiialt and, he as x afraid if he made a ip igen) it would: ‘startle her, And, she would scream out. That was bound to reach as far as the ‘kitchen bud. ihe the man up to see what had caused it, if the seream itself ‘didn’t give him a clew. The girl moved quickly, ‘passed on the other side of th table and seemed. intent on only one thing, hie They i read! - ing the door. ; She reached for the handle and turned it. | \ “Locked!” she exclaimed. “Qh, dear, will te never. be ie face in. her’ hands. ie and turned up ihe andjstared at fer 43 des ‘She sank into a chair and buried bevae yose, Ws ag to. the table 2B ¥
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ee y FULL OF BUSIN CESS. —— we _—— “Don’t be frightened, ee bs house?” said Harry. “Who are you, and how came ‘you here? before,” she said. “My name is Harry Gréen. I’m a commercial traveler from Chicago. Overtaken by darkness on this road I applied here for supper and a bed, I found a man and a woman in charge of the premises. They gave me a meal, and the man brought m@ to this room to pass the night. He said there was no one living here but’ himself and his wife. proves he did not tell the truth. Your actions show you are not a yoluntary occupant of the place. Tell me who you are. If I can help you in any way I will do so.” f “You can help me by unlocking the door. I have been kid- naped from my home in Chicago, and am being held here till my father pays a large sum of money for my return. ‘If I ean get out of the house J will be able to claim shelter at one of the farm-houses in this neighborhood until I have sent word to my father to come after me.” “T would gladly open the door if I could, but I cannot. The man who brought me up here locked me in, and as the win- dows cannot be opened, I am as aeccaii a prisoner as you are yourself. e “~ “Why did he lock you in?” , _ “I suppose his intention is to rob me. I have two hand cases of samples in the barn, where my horse is, and I have _ Money about me. It is “quite evident to me that the man is a rascal, and the woman, who is his wife, must be tarred with the same brush.” ' “Oh, dear, what are we to do?” “How did you enter this room? I have examined it close “|, enough to assure myself that the only door, other than the - one leading et nto the closet yonder, is that locked one.” — *Laccidental “have. been confined in the other wing of the house. It let me a into a long aud narrow passage, which I followed, hoping I , ‘would be able to find my way out of the house before my eseape became known, for the woman brought me my supper "as usual before dark, and I did not expect another visit from her tillthe morning. W hen I reached the end of the passage I hunted for the exit I felt must be there. I eould not find it, and was about to give up in despair when, as if Tf had mn touched a spring, a panel in the wall, similar, to the one in the room I left, opened and I found myself in this room, which seemed to be occupied. I rushed at once to this door, only to find it was locked.” ‘| “T sympathize with you in your disappointment: You don’t want to leave the room any quicker than I do. Tell me your y name. and how it came about that you were kidnaped from your home, and by whom.” © | | “My name is BWlsie Carter. Chicago. We live on Prairie avenue. I was surprised on the % street. near my home at dusk a month ago by three men who ~ stified my cries with a shawl’ thrown over mny head. I was lifted into an automobile and carried off. After I was brought here, which seems to be a considerable distance from Chicago, for we traveled all night at a high rate of speed without stop- ping except for brief intervals, I was told by one of the men ‘that I would be released when satisfactory ar rangements had 7 been made with my father for the sum of $50,000, and the , Money had been duly paid.” “Three nien, you: say, woos ght you here. amed Smith?” “IT do not know their janies at ail: * I only see the woman. ‘She brings me my meals and waits on me. She seems very d, like a woman with a. deep grief, I think she sympathizgs with me, and would help me if she dared.” “That is the woman I met downstairs—the wife of Smith. ‘She did not want me to enter the house. She did all she d. to prevent me from stopping here. Had not her hus- b nd appeared and agreed to let me stay if I would pay him 4 um. agreed upon between us, I would not be here now. I uppose he is one of the three men who kidnaped you. The ir two do not appear to be about at the present time.” suppose they are negotiating with my father.” Quite likely. Well, now, we must try to. escape from here go ehow. Once out of this room, TH Be that man couldn’t pre oe from getting away.” : [0 n we get out of the room?” § a problein. I haven’t anything to foree ‘the door f you showed me the way to your room T suppose we be no better, off, for the door of that room is locked, window? Is it fast like this one?” Are you a: prisoner in. this I never saw you Was one of them Your presence here. ly discovered a secret panel in the room where T | My father is a rich merchant of | g nailed; but the puDeye one can be moved not desert. ‘him, come what may. “Half way,” said Harry, looking at the window and men- tally caleulating whether it would be possible for him to © craw! out of that space. It struck him-as very doubtful. “Where is the secret panel?” he asked. The girl took him to the back wall, but there was no sign of such a thing. “It is closed,” she said. “It is operated with a spring, you said. The ‘only way to open it is to find the spring, I suppose, Let us-hunt for it.” He got the lamp and turned it up. ; He flashed the light all over the part of the wall indicated by Miss Carter, but they failed to discover the spring which *" released the panel from that side, 9 “How did you find the spring in your room?” asked Harry. “The Jamplight shone on a bright spot in the wall. It at-— tracted. my notice and I went over to see what it was. It looked like a‘circular disk of brass, I felt of it, pressing my. finger upon it, It yielded and the panel opened, much to my ‘4 % astonishment.” A “TJ don’t see any brass disc on this wall. If one is here it. has been painted red to agree with the color of the wall.” They finally had to give the matter up. “You can’t get back to your room, Miss Carter, but I guess you're not anxious to go back. If we are going to make our escape it must be from this room,” said the young traveler. At that moment they heard a sourid at the door, . “Hist! There’s some one at the door—the man Smit bly. Hide behind the bureau,” said Harry, blowin light as he whispered. ics CHAPTER IV, THE ESCAPE. Harry had no chance to replace the lamp on the tuple,’ for he” heard the key turning in the lock. aoe ‘He crouched down where he was and waited developments. The night was so black that not a- gleam of light came in i em the window, and therefore the room was as dark as — pite Harry heard the door open, but could not see the person who came softly in. b He reasoned that it must be Smith, (i Presently there came an exclamation from ne ‘bed, ye It sounded like a woman. ; I Harry grabbed Miss Carter by the arm. epi “We must steal out softly,” he said. “The door "aie open. We Before they could make a move, a match .was scratched, and as the tiny flame fiared up the two prisoners saw that t person. in the room was the woman. i She held the match toward the bed and saw it was unoceu- pied, as her touch in the dark had indicated it was. Harry knew that her next move would be to look avaaiee the room, and he could not hope to escape discovery, : Accordingly, he decided to take the bull by ‘the horns, The door stood open and he could easily master. oe woman in a struggle, ; : . He rese and stepped forward as she turned and faced him, “Well, Mrs. Smith, what brings you to my room?” : k "She started and dropped the mateh. This was the boy’s chance, as he figured, and he glided | ward and grabbed her. EA “Now, what is the meaning of all this business? Wh: = your husband lock me in here? If you pexenes rl choke yo Answer my question,” i “Don’t ask me—please don't,” she cried, ‘all in. a ti apt “T came to release you and get you away from this house for my Sake—I am a most unhappy woman—you will be si as to ~what has happened. If you send the police to arres my husband and i—it will-be the last straw upon my it will kill me. Be satisfied then to’ get away with yo and property. Take the road back to the fork, turn left and you will reach Woodland.” “Well, ma’am, I’m inclined to believe that you mean You did not want me to stay here to- night, and you you could £0 prevent me doing so. » hot hee ' “Ves, yes. My husband is: leading a bad life and is Re my heart.” *Why don’t you leave him, then?” *T ean’t:, oh, I can’t. He is the cross” of my ‘You. will DB i - am erie 3 you from trouble, at ; wet, “ you?
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6 FULL OF BUSINESS. self.. The only thing I ask of you is not to breathe a word “of What has happened to you here.” “All right, ma’am, I’ll comply with your wishes for the aid ‘you are giving me.” .. “May heaven bless you. If you could guess what I have passed through, and am passing through, you would pity me.” “TY do pity you as the wife of such a man. Where is he now?” “He went to the village of Pastchester a little while ago.” “Six miles from here.” “No. It is legs*than a mile. He did not tell you the truth about the distance lest you should decide to go on there after Supper. He wanted to make the two dollars you had promised him.” _“And to rob me besides. Is it not so?” ‘The woman was silent, but Harry felt her shiver at his Words, and he knew he had voiced the truth. “Well, never mind what he intended to do. _ get away before he returns I'll let the matter go. I get my horse and my sample cases?” ' *T have the key of the barh in my hand.. Come with me and we will go there.” “All right, ma’am, You go ahead and I will follow you i a woment. af “-“Why do you wish to delay?” ’ “Well, suspecting that your husband intended to rob me when I got to sleep, I hid my money in the room. You go on while I get it. Await me at the head of the stairs. | know . hey are at the end of the passage.” “I will do so,” she said, submissively. He led her to the door and saw her out: » He had not hidden his money in the room. His statement was a ruse to get her out of the way so that the could have a word or two with Miss Carter and arrange for ; the Young lady’s escape. As soon as the woman’ started down the passage, Harry rushed back. He found the girl trerabling behind the bureau. ‘ “Now, Miss Carter,” he said, “the woman is going to take me 'to the barn so I can get my horse and property. Follow us cautiously, and as soon as we are outside, watch us to the barn. Then get out yourself‘and run to the front gate. Open -4t and walk up the road a ‘little way to your left. Then wait for me. Your escape will then be certain, and will probably ‘not be Wideoyered till morning. Long before that we will be ‘onthe road to Springdale, which is on the railroad, for I have decided not to go to Woodland now that I have you to protect - and see to a place of safety where your father can come and take you back home,” ». “You are very good to me. I shall always remember you owith gratitude? and:my father will reward you liberally.” “J don’t want any reward for serving you. It is my duty to rescue you from your rascally abductors and see that you get back heine in safety. Now I am going. Remember, follow with caution, for though I think you are in no danger, even if the woran found you were getting away, for I would get you away at all hazard, it is better that she be left in ignorance of your flight.” “J wiil do as you say,” daid the girl, pressing his hand to . her heart. pe Harry then walked out of the room and found the woman waiting for himat the head of the stairs. They went down together, and without any delay passed out of the kitchen door and went to the barn. 2 Harry saddled his horse, secured his sample cases on his cen back and led him outside. | -“Here’s a dollar for you, ma’am, to pay you for the supper ‘and the feed of my horse,” he said. “No, no. I don’t want it,” she said. -*You must take it,” he said, pressing it into her trembling So long as I How shall »-She- locked the barn and they went as far as ‘the house to- gether. a / ' *@ood-by, ma’am, I hope you won't get into trouble over this. Here is my card, with my Chicago address. If you should _ ever stand in need of help, write to me, and I Oe go back ‘On you.” SA The woman made no reply, and he “felt her standing’ near the door looking after him. He was soon in the road, and after walking his horse a few yards he saw the white figure of Miss Carter awainting He. . She rushed up and caught him by the arm. | “Tam so happy to be out, of that/house,” she said. lever forget that you,have aided me to escape.” Pen menrin it, Miss Carter.’ Now. let me. cae | shall horse. You can sit back of the saddle and hold on to me; As one of the cases will be in your way, your position will bela bit awkward, but I’m afraid you will have to put up with it under the circumstances, % “T will put up with anything to make my escape.” In a couple of minutes they were riding down the road. The girl’s position was rather ungraceful; and somewhat ‘unpleasant, but she did not complain. Aiter they had gone & mile, Harry allowed the horse to walk for a whiie. It took them more than an hour to reach the fork, where the road branched both to the left and right. The left road led to Woodland, about a mile away, the right, one direct to the village of Derby, eight miles away, whence he had started out that afternoon to go to Woodland. [t lay on the route to Springdale, with the village of Edge- water between. As his watch noted the hour of 11:30, Harry did not see any use of going the shorter route, as the hotel at Woodland would probably be closed for the might. In any case, he judged it expedient to carry Miss Carter to Springdale as soon as possible, They would put up at the hotel where his trunk was, and he would telegraph to her father at Chicago to come on and get her. As they had Mdden nine miles since leaving the house, Harry judged that she would appreciate a short rest, ‘so he dismounted and lifted her down. “T guess you find riding that way hard on you, Miss Car-. eter,” he said. ‘ “Vt isn’t as hard as being locked up a prisoner in a room without knowing when you will be liberated,” she replied, “That's right. You say you’ve been in the hands of. your abductors for a month?” “ Yes, ” “T suppose the police have prevented your father from ‘com=- ing to terms with the raseals, hoping to catch the men nap-. ping?” ; ¢ “T suppose so. I know my father wouldn’t hesitate a mo- ee ment in paying over the amount demanded if he saw no other way of getting me back.” : j “Of course he would if he could raise the money.” “He could get the money in a few days.” : “Have you seen the men since they brought biel to the house?” ; “No, but I know: Ge were there.” “Would. you be able to identify them if they were eanaees “No, They took me by surprise when they carried me off, and I didn’t see’their faces very well. All I could: nad is. they wore heavy beards.” “Smith, the woman’s husband, has a smooth face, He may not have been one of the three, or their beards may have been false ones, assumed as a disguise. Do you know, I think that. woman is more to be pitied than blamed. She appears to be a slave to her husband, I noticed that she was afraid of him, I | _ wouldn’t like to see her suffer for the part she has acted in connection with yourself. I daré say she was obliged to act — “as your jailer.” Gass WwhIG§ 1 “T have no fault to find with her. She prepared nice meals for me, and did many things to make me comfortable. /She wouldn’t talk with me, for she always acted as if she was wg afraid some ohe was listening at the door,” y “Probably her husband often did, and she couldn’t tol when | his ear would be at the keyhole. Well, I guess we’d better Hs start on again. We have some distance to go, Derby is eight iles from here, and we should get there by two o’clock. As will be no use to stop there at that hour, I intend to push on to Edgewater, where we'll stop for breakfast and then go on to Springdale, where I’ll register you at the hotel that I stopped at while doing the town, You can take a good long sleep there, und before I turn in myself I’ll telegraph to. being ; father.” They remounted the horse and went on their way. oe ae CHAPTER YV.- THE UPSET. It was vaboae Alitpaat two when they reached Derby. PEP ONS They dismounted in front of the hotel, which was shut up a dark, like all the stores and houses jn the neighborhood, In fact, eat a oe wag to be seen in the Macca as al as they: could: gis
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FULL OF BUSINESS. v i] --Harry tied the horse, after watering him at the trough, and then rejoined the girl, who was seated on the veranda steps/ “ After resting for half an hour they started for Hdgewater. ots dawned some time before they came in sight of the place By’ and by the sun struggled at intervals through the clouds that still covered the sky to a considerable’ extent. The night had been cold, and it wasn’t much warmer now. Harry had given his coat to Miss Carter asa ‘protection, but as she necessarily had to hug close up to, him, he didn’t feel the absence of the garment as much as he otherwise would. However, he wag; chivalrous enough: to regard her comfort as the first consideration. The village of Mdgewater was beginning to stir itself into life when Harry stopped in front of the inn. ‘The porter, who was also the hostler and all-around facto- tum of the establishment, was sweeping out. He stared at the new arrivals, and then recognized the young traveler. He was evidently surprised to see the girl perched behind. Harry dismounted, assisted Miss Carter to alight, and asked the man to fetch out a couple of chairs and take his horse around to the stable. : He removed his two cases and took them into the little of- “el ce. The girl was s0 tired and sleepy after her long ride and loss ‘of rest that she looked all done up, and Harry decided that they must stop at the inn all’forenoon:and give her a chance to recuperate. They had to wait an hour and a half before breakfast, and Miss lilsie went to sieep in the ebair. Harry registered their names when the’ proprietor appeared, and asked for a couple of rooms. ; i. explainéd that he was taking the young lady to Spring- dale -. ‘After breakfast both retired to their rooms and slept through the whole morning, awakening much refreshed. After dinner Harry called for his horse, and put Miss Carter in the saddle, walked beside her till they had left the village hehind, when he resumed the saddle and the girl took her place as before.. They passed through two small villages on their way and ‘reached the outskirts of Springdale at dark. Here Harry’got off, transferred the girl to the saddle, and walked the rest of the way to the hotel. He secured two rooms and they went to supper. After the meal they walked up the street to the telegraph office, where Harry sent the dispatch to Mr. Carter, getting his address from Elsie. Théy turned in early, and in the morning they felt usual selves. Harry decided to remain in town till ‘Mr. Carter came for his daughter, for he feared an effort misht be made by the man Smith to recover the girl. At any’rate, having rescued her, he did not propose to take any chances. : \ _ When ‘he came downstairs at half- past seven a telegram was handed to him by the hotel clerk. ‘ © It.was from the, merchant, stating that he would take the : next express the evening before for Springdale . Harry and Elsie were coming out of the dining-room after opreakfast when Mr. Carter entered the hotel, and in a few mo- ments his'daughter was in his arms - The girl related her experiences from the moment she was kidnaped, and then Harry told his story. ‘Mr. Carter declared he would never forget the obligation “the young traveler had piaced him under, and wanted to pay — him the reward he tad offered the olice—$10,009-—but Harry _ refused to accept it, or any sum whatever. .-“All T'll take from you is the small expense I have been under on your daughter’s account,” he said. mn As he was firm on that point, the merchant was obliged to yield. Y ‘i He asked the Bar about the business, he was in, and how long he expected to be on the road. oy Harry told him as near as he could fteure out. “When you return to Chicago you must call at my store,” “said Mr. Carter, “and I will give you a position as a clerk, or send you out on the road, as you prefer. In either case I will see that you have better opportunities for advancement than I fancy you are enjoying at present.” ‘T am much obliged’to you, sir,” said Harry, taKine the business card of the firm which Mr. Carter was the head of. | will not {ail to call on you when I get back.” . ae ye Elsie Shag her Son ira both blissfully happy, like their and both grateful to the young traveler for. his services . in the young) lady’s behalf, took the express for Chicago, and Harry stood on the station waiting for his own local going the other way to come-along, and waved them a good-by. In the short time they had known each other, Harry and Hisie had become very well acquainted. “The long night horseback ride, where the girl was obliged to cling close to her rescuer in order to maintain her seat on the horse, naturally had a consjderable influence in weaw- ing a warm feeling of friendship between them. Hisie was a pretty girl, though we have not mentioned the fact before, and Harry was not insensible to her many charms. Harry was a good-looking, manly young fellow, and most girls admire those features in a boy. There was a touch of romance in their meeting and every | girl dearly loves a bit of romance to creep into her life. So it will not surprise the reader if their parting, for the ‘ time being, was marked by the interchange of promises to write to one another, and as the rapidly moving express went on its way Chicagoward, the thoughts of each other flew back and forth between them. Harry’s train came in fifteen minutes later, his trunk was thrown into the baggage car by the muscular train hands, and he was soon on his way to Millville, a large manufactur- ing town, where he expected to do a profitable business in © his line, A run of twenty-five miles brought him to Millville. His trunk was unceremoniously dumped out on the platform with other inoffensive trunks, and the train went on. f He got into the ‘bus that bore the name of the ew antsy 4 House, and was frequented by commercial travelers, traveling theatrical companies and baseball teams, after erenee with an expressman to transport his trunk there, . He busied himself before dinner, which was here. served. : in the middle of the day, in picking up information a: : the business section of the town. ear After dinner he started out to pick up orders. i As Hatch & Co. had no regular customers we might oni : though the firm was not unknown to. dealers ‘who had dealt with them through other drummers, the amount of business Harry might do in Millville depended wholly on his ability to push his goods. He was provided with a list of dealers who had previously _ bought of Hatch & Go., as well as other dealers who had not, and with his aeetlax sample case he = his tour to beignets orders only. bia His prices being low, and his Hue: of bccn attractive, he managed to secure several fair orders, which he later for- warded by mail to his firm. He put in the evening at a show, and ey. morning he went out with both cases. On this round he struck retail dealers and sold outright many. things from his cases. As he was paying his own expenses,-railroad fare. excepted, he depended on these cash sales for ready money, and a Bone tien of his profit. He spent the whole day on this tack, and then after supper he made inquiries regarding the outlying places, as was his” custem. ‘He learned there was a small town to the south that was a live place. |! ' He found he could geg there by the daily stage, oN rae The name of the town was Exeter. i Taking both cases he boarded the coach in the. morning, — with two other passengers, and was presently en POUTEL Aeris After leaying the outskirts of the town, the way ran along a shady country road, bordered by fields under cultivation, — thor ugh it was early in the season. The coach. carried an express box and several pouches of mail. At a cross-road the farmer who sat on the box seat with ths driver got down. ues , A&A light wagon driven by a Loy was awaiting him. — t Harry took advantage of his leaving to: get up alongside the driver himself. He found the jehu a talkative sort of? chap, who had been around a considerable part'cf the West, and time passed. more pleasantly than it had inside with the three Dabeoneays one» oi whom was'a womaa. A few miles further on they came to another énoaaateahe ey Here. was a general store, a blacksmith’s shop, and a sthall collection of houses, : Exeter was less than two miles away. ; “The driver watered his horses at the trough in front of te rales my eae aan the Sas ‘
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FULL OF BUSINESS. store, handed the storekeeper a smal] bundle of papers and three letters, and bought a plug of tobacco. The woman got out of the stage and started toward one of the houses with a bundle the driver handed down from the roof of the vehicle. After a wait of ten minutes the stage went on. Three-quarters of a mile further on the vehicle ascended a small hill, from the top of which Harry caught a distant view of the town over the tops of the tree of a woods. below. _A wooden bridge was to be seen at the foot of the hill on that, side. znd The bridge spanned a narrow and shallow stream such as ote often meets with in the country. _ The driver pointed out a factory at the head of Main street ' which, he said, they would pass before they, entered the town. “What do they make there?” Harry asked. ' “Novelties, they call the thingembobs they turn out. I drop one of the mail bags there. There are several express bundles for them, too, but I have to take ’em on to the express office. I earry a big ‘load of mail back with me, goods they are send- ing out all over the country. I get the bags at the post-ofiice, not at the factory, and I carry a bunch of their express mat- ter, too.” “How is it that you deliver the mail to the factory? I should think you'd have to take it to the post-office,” said Harry. “/- “They have ‘an arrangement with the Millville post-office on account of the amount of mail matter they receive. It saves time for them, and enables them to fill orders in time for me-to take back a part of them this afternoon. They have quite a punch of registered mail, too, but that I have to take ‘to the post-office, and they get it ‘trom there.” EE see,” said Harry, as the horses struck the bridge, an dashed across it. > _ He saw something else the next moment. a It was the sudden dipping of the forward end of the bridge, _ He saw it too late to call the driver’s attention to it. ' He grasped the jehu's arm and opened his mouth to speak, when with a crash the bridge sank at the left corner, the orses slid off into the water, with the stage pressing them air, the vehicle turned over, on its side, tossing the young _ traveler into the stream, and the driver after him, and then landed at an angle of forty-five degrees. ‘The two men inside were thrown into a heap and in. a great 1 from suffocation by the inrushing water. hree men appeared as if by magic from the bushes and d to the assistance of the coach. ae e -clambered on the upturned side and pulled the door ee) a i reached deat dad helped the passengers out, awkwardly shoving both into the stream, pel was not deep enough fo drown them, he other two began rescuing the mail bags and the ex- press box. ; They dropped them into a rowboat which they pullec ‘out from under. the bridge. arr was trying to reach the bridge when he saw his two samples go into the boat after the express box. of the men stepped into the boat, shoved it under the away from the half submerged coach, and out at the ‘side, while the other two men offered a hand to the pas- ; mgers to assist them up on the steep hank. The first thing the driver did was to release the horses, and ; oes y helped him do it. “They can’t get up here. We'll have to lead them down a ne: ford, hs sa the driver. and bank oe the side of the ‘bridge nearest the town. eh don’t. understand how that bridge could have given way,” @ jehu. . “Tt is a strofig structure, and was all right passed over it yesterday afternoon. The bank must suddenly ae Hey. at ae, corner on this side. The You can help. me get You ee at get much ites than you are.” hose ‘men pulled them out and placed them in a ith my sample cases. All you’ll have to do will be ie nowt: witich they shoy ed under the. bridge,” ‘said |. } some ‘trouble. fy dare say - Re faye a ward, and then as a second crash resounded on the calm | the overturned coach and drop them into a boat between hah the broken end of the bridge with the horses. two passengers, but the men have gone away.” “They've gone to.town to carry the news,” said the driver, Apparently they had, for om asking the two passengers, one of them said the two men had started off down the road as scon as they had helped them ashore, saying they were going for help. They could not be seen as the road turned sharply to the right a hundred yards away. “Where's the other man, there were three of them,” said Harry. “He must’ be in the boat on the other side of the bridge.” Harry stepped to the other side and looked down. He saw no boat. AN be peered under the broken bridge, but the boat wasn’t there. : He looked up the stream as far as he could see the water through the trees, that grew close down to it, but as the stream turned off close by, he saw nothing of the boat or the man, “That man has rowed the boat away with your mail bags. and my préperty. Can he reach town with them that ‘way ?” Harry asked the driver. en “What's that? What are you talking about?” said the jehu. ik Harry explained more clearly. ete “What in thunder did he do that for?” roared the driver. “Of course he can’t reach town that way. The stream runs i away from the town right through the woods. Are you sure ~ he carried off the mail pags?” . j ‘ “I’m positive, for I saw him and one of the other men pull the bags,’ the express box and my sample cases out from — under the seat and drop them into the boat. Then one of — the men got in.and rowed the boat under the bridge. I sup- eed pose he intended to tie it there, on the other side, away from - the broken end. I hope those fellows ane not thieves. f don’t By want to Jose my cases any more than you do the mail bags and express’ box.” sf The driver uttered an oy bie and began dancing ar ound like a wild man. ! —— | “There’s your CHAPTER VI. TRACKING THE THIEVES. “Did you see a man row a boat up into the woods with ‘the . mail bags in it?” he excitedly asked the two passengers, No; they had not seen the man row the boat up the stream, but they had seen two of the men getting the bags out o bridge and the vehicle. not know. . “Where did the men come from, did any one notice?” as the driver, é Under the strenuous circumstances no one had noticed, not. even the jehu, who had had the best chance of seeing. “, All-anyhbody could say was that they were right upon th scene when the accident took ‘place, though they were mot sight the instant before. “ “Tf the mail bags and the express box have been stolen. a be in a pretty pickle,” said the driver, with a worried loo! ; “1 run into the woods and follow ‘the stream and see i I can find any trace of the boat,” said Harry, who was more concerned about his own property than about the mall pouche and.express box. — “Do so and. I'll go too. Scramble across the br idize; you're: lighter than I am, and take the other side. I'll follow ‘this side.” TAY epeksec Une ay The driver sat down, took off his boots and emptied the water: rs Harry took off. his shoes and stockings, got rid of th fluous moisture and put them on ‘again. He was soaked to the skin, as were the driver and the’ sengers, and the quartette were not feeling very como t; The young traveler erossed the shaky remains of the and rushed ne the woods, while the driver -entored side. Harry, tai more. active of the two, soon distance the driver) The strea through the pr Hike a ine snd The boy ‘followed its course, cs he
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FULL OF BUSINESS. Poe ‘and after going perhaps half a mile he came out of the woods into a field. A quarter of a mile away he saw a farmhouse. In the next field two men were working. Fields stretched away on the opposite side of the stream, and there was another farmhouse over there. | He was now able to get a better view of the stream, which ran straight until it was lost in the distance, but he: saw no boat upon it. However, he knew the boat had passed that way and he did not pause. Without his sample cases there was no use for him to turn’ back and go on to town When he got ona line with the farm-house on his side, he suddenly came upon a boat tied to the bank, He stopped and’ looked at it. It was wet inside’in places and he believed it was the boat he was.atter y There was nothing in it but a pair of oars thrown carelessly along the two seats, and they were dripping as: if from recent usc. ‘“T'J] pet the other .two men rejoined the chap in the boat along here somewhere and the three have carried off the pouches, express box and my cases between them.” And yet that looked something like a feat for three men to do, particularly at a spot where they would be likely toe in- ‘vite observ ation, While he was considering Giamatler he noticed the parallel ruts made by wagon wheels, The ruts looked fresh, and this. convinced him the men had had a wagon waiting here to aid them. The ruts led straight toward the farm-house, and Harry : followed thewtracks. ‘When he reached: the fence that cut off the field he saw a! lane began there and ran past the farm-yard. saa The rails must have been removed to permit the wagon to x init through. ' Atany rate, the tracks went straight on under the fence. ‘ The wegon ruts were not so clear in the lane, and were 7 ‘soon lost in a multitude of other wagon tracks by the farmer’s wagon, ., However, that didn’t greatly matter—the wagon went down the lane to the-road beyond. Harry walked over to the farm-house to make a few con- vineing, inquiries, zit The tarmer’s Wife came to the back door and stared at him. Well she might in his damp and mussed condition. Wor gracious sale! bee you been in the river, young man?” she asied. poate. Yes; ama’am. Twas a passenger on the stage ‘going to Exe- ie ‘ter, The bridge broke down cand dumped us all into the _. stream. te ae “ #¥on, don’ t say. The bridge broke down, did it? at to break down?” ite couldn't tell you, ma’am, T want to ask you-a question or Was 72 “Pl listen to you, but you’d better come inside, T’ve got a eine yoom where you can take your things off, and I'll loan rd you some of my husband's clothes to put on while your own are drying. You'll get your death of cold going around that way. »” * “Thank you, ma’am, I guess I’ll have to accept your kind _ affer, I suppose there isn’t any use of my following the wagon “that came through here a little while ago from the stream 4 below, for 1 couldn’t overtake it a foot. You saw the wagon, didn’t you?” “You mean the wagon that went to the river to.meet a boat et eet some stuff off her?” 33 ‘There were three men in it.” “@here was. One of them came to the eee and asked ~ permission to let down the fence and cross the meadow. I ‘Aet-’em, do it.” ‘ “Were the men pitallgete to Mat Sree nase F -}gone off that way. | thrown it aften#dumping out its contents. “Where does it lead to?” wae : “Tt runs through the woods into the Exeter highway one way, and off that direction to Clayton Center and beyond,” said the woman; waving her arm. As the men wouldn’t be likely to go toward Exeter, Harry judged that the wagon, with the stolen mail bags and other things, was driven toward Clayton Center, To attempt to follow it on foot in his condition seemed uses. 4 less, so he accepted the woman's héspitality, went to the spare ~ room, removed his clothes and put on the garments she sup- plied him with. The farmer's wife put. his under garments through the wringer, and squeezed the moisture out of the others by hand, after which she hung them near the fire: By that time it was close to noon, and she had to, hustie-to. get the dinner on the table for her husband and the two hired men, a4 Harry told his story to the farmer, and he consented to lend the boy a horse to ride to Clayton Center to notify the police at that place. The young traveler took dinner with the family, and an hour later his clothes were dry enough for him to put on. ¥ He mounted the horse, and provided with the direction he was to take, he started-off, somewhat dubious as to the out- come of his ride, Clayton Center was five miles away. ; rf He had covered four miles when he tame up with a, wagon which had broken down. It was drawn up close to the fence, and a horse was tied to a tree near it. suf It struck Harry that this might be the wagon he was teh & - E While looking at it he saw something sticking in the bushes. — a He went to see what it was and discovered it was a mail BS pouch marked Exeter Novelty Co, ; That settled the matter. ~ . The pouch had been slit open and its contents taken cout. ‘A second pouch, marked “8. S. Mail,” lay underneath. Tan make This had also been cut open and rifled. “An upper rail. in the fence was down, and Harry guessed the men had abandoned the horse and the disabled wagon and Harry took down two more rails and led his horse into the meadow.. ; Then mounting, he galloped across it. . { j : This brought him to another wood, a small Ons," el he pushed slowly through it. Suddenly he saw the outline of a Howes ahead. Suspecting that the men might he in hiding there, he. dis mounted, tied his horse and advanced toward the house on foot. 7 The puilding, which was little better than a hut, a story an a half high, stood in a small clearing. The trees came within a few feet of the rear of it, and Bal worked around to that part of it. ies He listened for some sound that would indicate that the hut F had o¢cupants, but he heard nothing, so he ventured to ap- proach the only window he saw. i Looking ‘through the cracked pane, he saw three men. squat- ting on the floor, opening envelopes and examining their con: tents, Beside each man was a pile of discarded envelopes and their written enclosures. In the center of the group was — a pile of money orders, another pile of bills, and a third pile of silver coin, mostly ten- cent pieces and quarters . \ Harry knew at the first look that he ie ‘run : the thre thieves down at last. 5 y CHAPTER VII. ~ GO aN THE EXPLOSION. The - men had almost finished going stiiotian ea ia The last of the registered letters were in their hand Oné slit mail pouch lay over in the corner pinch ham Near by was the express box, still untouched, and 4 sample cases. - Harry-was afraid one of them, the fellow facing th ould see him, and he took his face from the wi “What can T ae now against the three of them?” he nse > stout chaps, tes any « one of, ‘them :
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10 FULL OF BUSINESS. He ventured to take another look. They had finished with the last envelope, and one of them was sorting out the bills, another the silver, while the third was figuring up the money orders, which were really of no use to them. Harry crept around to the other side where there was another window, and looked in there. The man with the money orders was tying with a piece of string. The other two men were dividing the money in three piles. The fellow laid the money orders down, picked up the pouch and began cramming the envelopes and written sheets into it. This done, he dragged it up the steps leading to the loft and threw it there. He was gone a few minutes. When he came back he had something in his hand. It was a metallic cannister enclosed in-a covering of stout Wire. “What have you got there?” asked one of, his companions. “Search me! There’s a tag on it. Maybe that will explain what it is.” He looked at the tag and saw the following words printed on it in big black type: “Handle with Care. Nitro-Glycerine, “Holy smoke!” gasped the man. “Take it out of the shanty! Throw it away!” roared the other, in a hurried tone and with a look of consternation which was shared by all three. “Where’ll I throw it? It might go off and arouse the neigh- borhood. THat would bring the farm hands on the run to see what had happened. I'll bet the report would be heard in _ Claytén Center.” “Take it into the wood and lai it down earefully—in a hole or in the bushes. Get a move on you, It gives me the shakes to see it in your hand, If you dropped it we might all be blown to perdition.” i Hal heard every word and wag not a little alarmed himself, 2 ‘He knew the terrific explosive power of nitro-glycerine, and there was enough in the cannister, perhaps, to blow the build- ing and all in it to pieces. He decided to get out of the way till the man had disposed of the cannister. He retired a dozen yards into the woods and waited. Suddenly a terrific explosion shattered the air. ' The trees shook all around the boy, and the ground trem- : bled under him. ~ A rush of air full of unseen omer passed through the trees and staggered him. j Though fifty feet from the shanty, “and in.a manner pro- tected by the trees, the <p was almost heavy enough to tun the boy. - The clearing was full of sioke and flying splinters of wood, ; pp many sizable pieces of the latter were thrown around . Harry. “My gracious! I'll bet somebody has. got hurt,” said the young traveler, as he peered through the trees and saw the dense vapor that hung about the clearing. He couldn’t see a sign of the shanty, and it struck him it "had. either been blown to pieces er its occupants, or else a leveled with the ground. ; “Heavens! If that cannister went off inside the house the -™men have been surely wiped out; and I guess their plunder and my sample cases have been scattered to the winds. Great oe What a terrible-death. Why, the ewig staggered me ere.) : The smoke gradually rose and thinned out. * Then Harry yentured to investigate the situation. e He walked slowly forward till he reached the edge of the ye clearing. Looking out, he saw that the shanty. had partially collapsed and was all down on one side. ' The roof had come off and lay upside down on the ground. One of the walls lay over against it, and that seemed to them in a bunch Jessup & Co,” be the reason why the shanty had not gone entirely to pieces. As it was, the wreck was so bad that Harry did not believe the inmates could have escaped instant death. _ Harry was satisfied that the cannister hgd not exploded inside the building, for had it done so the shanty would have been scattered around the clearing, and reduced to mere kind- ling wood. This impression was confirmed when, he walked out into the g open space, It was then easy to see where the explosive had gone off. A great gap was torn in the trees on the other side, and a 3 ii hole showed in the ee ing them, though driver and two other passengers. Fully a@-score of trees had suffered—some being entirely torn up and shattered, while others hung over, half uprooted, and | still others were bent and broken. “That fellow must have thrown that cannister toward thie. bushes, and it hit a tree and exploded,” thought Harry. ~ He went to the hole and looked at it. As his gaze Swept the gap in the trees he was shocked to see'a man’s leg from the knee down hanging to a limb by the torn trouser’s leg. »! That told him the fate of the fellow who had found the cannister, He had been blown to pieces on the spot where the explo- sion took place. “T don't see how the thing could have gone off if he was carrying it carefully, as one would naturally handle such an article,” thought Harry. } The real fact of the matter was the man’s foot had caught on a ground creeper and he had been thrown violently for- ward. The cannister, escaping from his hands, struck a large stone and the shock did the business. : The tragedy occurred so ‘quickly that the unfortunate man never knew what happened to him. Harry went to the collapsed shanty. He was certain the other two men were in the debris, but whether dead or badly hurt he could not say. He pulled away some of the: timbers and brought to light. his sample cases and the express box uninjured to any extent: He pulled them out, but as the building threatened to go to pieces he was afraid to push his inspection further until help arrived, which he looked for, since the explosion was sure to have attracted. a lot of- attention in the vicinity, and - curiosity would be rife as to the cause of it. He listened at the opening he had made, but did not hear a sound from the interior, which was ominous of the fate of those inside. Th In a few minutes the nearest farmer and one of his hauda’ appeared, “Hello, what has happened here?” asked the farmer, looking at Harry. “You can see for yourself what has happened,” replied an) oy. 2 tls “There was a heavy explosion. What caused it?” ‘4 d “A cannister of nitro-glycerine.” i “Whew! Where’ were you at the time? ‘You do not appear to be hurt.” . “T was in the wood close by. good part of the shock.” “It went off in the shanty, I suppose?” ne “No, it didn’t. It exploded where you see that hole in the - trees and in the ground. The man who Carsien Ge canister, was blown to pieces.” “How do you know?” : “Part of asman’s leg is hanging yonder, and that is pioliy | suggestive.” “Where?” : “ll show you,” and he took the farmer and his “hand over to the gap and pointed out the ghastly object. While they were looking at it another farmer showed up. “There are two men in the ruins of the shanty, but whether they are alive or not I can’t say. We must dig them out,” said Harry. “Did you see the men?” 4 “I saw them in. there before the saptsaints but not since. ae “T wonder where they got the nitro-glycerine. Do you’ know Ai anything about it?” Me “The man whose leg is hanging there found it in the attic ‘ of the shanty.” nt “Did you belong to this party?” “ No. ” pa" “Then ,jhow do you happen to know so much, and yet be the. Y only one to escape?” asked the first farmer, suspiciously. ~ “If you want to know the truth, I was following these men. isd “following them? What for?” bs “They wrecked the bridge on the outskirts of Exeter this. ne morning, and dumped the coach into the stream. I was a passenger and followed the vehicle into the water with the While we were extricating ourselves and the horses, these men stole the mail pouches, — the express box and my sample cases—I’m a traveling salés- i man and was on my way to Exeter at the time. They got ~ away with the articles in a boat, went up the stream about — three-quarters of:a mile or so, and transfered their ‘plunder — to a wagon. they: be d inwaiting. -I learned all that by see did not « come up with them at: that iiihis 4 I was close enough to catch a _
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Coe FULL OF BUSINESS. il —+ —————— ee! Harry. told the palance of his story up to the moment the before I go back to Millville, and then I will tell you the whole i taal occurred, and his auditors were not a little aston- oe of what happened to me since T left this farm after shed ‘ dinner.” -“You will find ample proof in the ruins that my, story is} Harry lifted his hat, bowed and retgreen to the road where true, for one of the mail pouches is there with the letters. | | he found the wagon waiting for him and the two men still ‘The money ought to be there, too,” said Harry. | unconscious, They began work on the ruins at once, and while thus en- | gaged another man arrived on the scene. He was invited to help. CHAPTER VIII. .The boards were carefully lifted and thrown aside. - yh dd it became necessary. to detach them extra care was *® HARRY MEETS A RIVAL. used. Presently the legs of a man were exposed. Following the road, they passed through the wood whale The timbers were raised sufficiently to drag him out. the stream was, and in a few minutes reached the county road .d He was not dead, but the extent of his injuries could not be, not far from the bridge. told. ; Here they found that the bridge had been repaired—a gang He was unconscious and one of the farmers, after an ex-!of men having been engaged on it for several hours. amination, gave it as his opinion that the man was not fatally They drove across, and inside of ten minutes the farmer’s hurt. ; Son reined up in front of the novelty factory. Soon afterward the tadcna man was got out, and his condi-| Harry got down and went into the office, tion was similar to his companion’s. “Can I seethe manager?” he asked. Harry discovered that each of the men had a bunch of He was admitted to the private office, where he found * money in his pocket, wise he judged that represented their | florid man of forty at his desk. share of the plunder. “I came to notify you that I have caught two of the chives: If the balance had been on the dead man’s person at the time | 22 who robbed the coach this morning of the mail bags and he was blown to bits, then it was scattered to the four winds, | Other property. The third man is dead,” said Harry, abruptly, Possibly some of it would be found later, bit by bit, by boys | 48 the gentleman turned to him. 1 or others going through that part of the wood. The manager stared at him. j are The wreck, however, was cleared away to enable the workers} “You've caught two of the men! Are you connected with” to make a thorough search of the inside of the demolished ths police?” asked the gentleman. oe shanty. “No, sir, I’m a.commercial traveler, and was one of the by) ‘The bag full of rified letters was found, and this confirmed passengers on the coach when the accident took place at the _Harry’s statement. | bridge. The two men are now in a wagon outside, uncon- By. this time Ynore people had come there, and Harry had | scious, and I am taking them to the station-house to hand. to tell his story over again to satisfy their curiosity. | them over to the police. As they have a large part of the - One of the farmers offered to provide a wagon to carry the} money they stole from the letters on their persons, I tani . senseless men,’ the express box, Harry’s cases, and the rifled ; you had bette go along with us.” pouches, for the young traveler mentioned the two pouches “T will do ” said the manager, reaching for his hat,- he had seen in the bushes along the roadside, Room was found on the seat for him, and the wagon pro- ‘ The farmer’s offer was gladly accepted by Harry, who was , ceeded to the station-house. conceded to be the best person to assume full charge of mat-| The crime had been reported hours before by the driver Ot: >, ters. the coach, and half_a dozen policemen were out looking tor Under his direction the two thieves and all property were; the three men. carried tothe farmer’s house by the crowd, loaded on a light Harry surprised the authorities when he said he had two of ‘ wagon, in charge df the farmer’s son, and was driven to the| the thieves in the-wagon outside, and that the third one Was ica road, where the other pouches were recovered. dead. Bait Harry. followed on his horse,.and the farmer who had loaned The senseless men were brought into the atation-House, and the wagon took charge of the horse tied to the tree in the | the police wanted to know how they came to be in that con-" .road, and his son subsequently hauled the wagon up to their | dition. yard, Harry told his.story from beginning to_end, detailing how. Although Clayton Center. was WieAaniis away, while Exeter |; he had gone looking for the rascals, how he obtained his first © was all of five, and the bridge at the road’ was not passable, clew on seeing the broken-down wagon drawn up by the road- unless it had been repaired, the young traveler decided to go | Side, and discovered oe raphe pee hak * ihe bushes; — to ses setter gh ae es oe eee ee committed within, rapes re Protea meee he bine i poe pet atte ed 2 0 ast on the edge o at towns a po a ey of § mile out of the way the wagon | the cannister of nitro-glycerine in the attic, and how the find- — would be able to ford the stream. | ing thereof led to the explosion, his death, and the capture of © Pia eprtet for Exeter at a good pace, Harry riding beside eee entities eae A gh hoa ot bribe tir pn a @ wago . When they reached the lane of the farm where Harry had got | Harry’s story was a most unusual one, and proved he was the loan of the horse, he told the farmer’s son to wait till he | 42 exceptional young chap, returned the animal. The factory manager declared that he had the instincts of a ~The woman met him in the yard. detective. ‘ “You're back, I see. You didn’t. catch the men, I guess, A doctor was sent for to bring the men around, and while © What was that explosion I heard in the direction of Clayton } waiting for him the fellows’ pockets were searched and fhe Center?” she asked. money taken_possession of by the police. “J haven't time to tell you the facts now. I will simply say | _ that I caught two of the men, and have recovered the larger| “I guess I’ll go to Smith’s. We travelers get a rebate on the part of the stolen property, including my own.” regular tariff. Where is it situated?” bie “You don’t say!” _, “Pil show you,” said the manager. “We'll pass it ri the Se “Yes, ma’am, thanks to your husband for the use of his: ; Way. to the post-office and express office.” ie horse, ‘I will also tell you that the chap who was blown to' . The officer at the desk put dowh Smith’s Hotel as Hoven whey e the nitro-glycerine went off.” “him to court. ‘cha e ‘or heayen’s sake!” ‘| “7 shall probably start out early on a tour of the dealers in Now I will ‘pay good-by. It is possible I may cail on you my line,” said Harry, “but I’ll thake it a point to return. “to, % some “small. token at my CRP TR: for your kindness the np at any hour you name.” - i | ‘ = $1 and upward, on the Huropean plan.” Well, ma’am, I was within sixty feet or so of the spot] “You mustn't leave town without notifying us ‘of your. in: where the explosion happened, and tt was a stunrier, I can/ tention to do so,” jsaid the captain of the police to Harry. tell you.” “Where-are you going to stop?” “For goodness sake! What eatinad: aber “T don’t know yet. I never was here before and know moths | “Nitro-glycerine, one of the most powerful of explosives. It ing about the hotels. Perhaps you'll give me a line on them.” ~~ - blew one man to pieces.” “The Exeter House is the best—$2.50 a day. Then there’s i “My” gracious! Is it possible? How did you escape?” ‘Smith's Hotel, that’s a $2 house; and the American APOE
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12 FULL OF BUSINESS, “Tf the officer calls it will be about eleven.” How this misfortune had come about they did not learn “All right,” replied Harry, who then left the station-house | until they heard Harry’s story in the witness chair after ia with the manager of the novelty factory. had pleaded “not guilty.” Harry left the express box at the office of the express com- Then the matter was plain to them, and their feelings ' tide ‘pany, and the manager was pleased to death to get it untam-| ward the young traveler were anything but friendly. pered with. The magistrate held them for trial and they were sent back | He took down the boy’s name and temporary address, andj to jail. ‘Harry also handed him a business card of his firm. After dinner Harry continued his round and, as we have re- Then they went on to the post-office around the corner and} marked, he did a good business. delivered the slit mail bags with their contents stuffed in one The next day was Sunday, and as the éoach did not run, of them. the young traveler found he would have to remain in Exeter The money orders had not been recovered, and were pre-| till Monday afternoon unless he hired a private conveyance to sumedly in the pocket of the man killed by the explosion. take him to Millville, As the man’s remains were widely scattered in small pieces, As he had received an invitation from the manager of the the chances of the money orders ever turning up were small. factory to dine at his house, Harry did not worry about’ leaving | The postmaster was informed that at least two-thirds of the| the town, particularly as there were a number of small stores money which had been in the registered and other letters was| where he expected to pull off some cash sales on Monday in the hands of the authorities, and probably would be held as morning. evidence. After breakfast next morning Harry went out for a walk, . The manager of the factory said that he hoped the post- He found the town as dead as a village. “master would have the opened letters sorted out at once so} There was absolutely nothing doing except at the churches. ul the factory could get those addressed to it, He would fill all} ven the side doors of the saloons were hermetically sealed, orders except those that he could identify as having held] ag were also the barber shops. money orders, and the senders of those he would communi-| As soon as he left the business section he found himself gur- cate: with so they could‘apply for duplicate orders. rounded by private residences strung along tree-lined streets. The postmaster listened to Harry’s story, took his name and| ‘The general aspect of the residential section was that of a | business card, and then Marry, after dismissing the farmer's | Jarge village. fk sen with the wagon, went to Smith’s Hotel and registered? He extended his walk to the White farm, where he had bor- Supper being ready, he went to the dining-room and partook | rowed the horse to chase the thieves. of it. - In his pocket he carried one of his watches for the fariner, : After the meal he went to ee reading-room and wrote a| another for his son, and a number of pieces of cheap but at- b long letter to Elsie Carter, describing his experience of the| tractive looking jewelry for Mrs. White. hous M4 ROBY He received a hearty welcome, and was regarded as some- Before he was half through’a visitor called to see him. thing of a hero, for the family had read the story of his ex- This was a reporter of the Exeter Times, who was after his} ploit in the town paper. i / story. He was pressed to remain to dinner, but declined owing to. 2 _ Harry submitted to be fnierdiewel: after which the young} pis previous engagement. scribe invited him out to take a drink. The farmer’s son, however, hitched up the buggy and drove — ' Harry politely refused to imbibe, as he never drank strong | him back to his hotel. Uquors. “ At two o'clock he presented himself at the manager’ 3s house. Take a cigar, then,” said the ROP AT and took dinner there, remaining till dark, Next morning he finished up the town and was ready to it take the coach back at three. ; He rode all the way with the driver, who was under consure” for having lost the mail pouches. He took the evening local for Danville, his next stopping | ii -point on his regular route, reached that place about - ten o'clock, and registered at the Danville Hotel. a This place was a fair-sized city and boasted. three theaters, - sen besides other places of amusement. There were a number of drummers at the hotel, and among the bunch was a man of thirty, named Alex Judson, in a similar line to Harry. ; He had just arrived, too, and finding an acquaintance at the ~ are was drinking with him in. the bar when, Harry reached © ‘the house. Judson was a shifty individual, but an éxperienced salesman, He and Harry came together at a large wholesale establish=" |ment on the principal street next morning, gy - Judson took a look at the young traveler and asked him i he was selling goods, rather a i question, ag. the boy’s sample case spoke for him. “Yes,” replied Harry, pleasantly. “You’ rea drummer, too? “Tam. There isn’t any use of you waiting here; Tenikins always buys from me.” This was a pure bluff, as Judson had only sold One. small order at that store before. It was'a trick to get rid of his young rival, he: lopieed nf _ As the morning daily, printed a graphic account of his ex-| bright and smart, and might cut into his opportunity to do, i perce with, and capture of, the coach thieves, giving him| business with the proprietor, for as Harry was on, hand first e full credit of running the men down, and recovering the| he was entitled to the first interview. gis It didnt’ work. “Well, as I’ve called, bs intend fo see Mr. Jenkins,” me the young traveler. “I have some unusually good things, a I hope to interest him in them.” |. “You'll only waste your breath.” How long have you bee on the road?” aru Winte sy : : “This is my first trip. Uy Ns : @ .. “I thought so. ‘You look pretty. verdant. Jeukilis, any time to waste on ie dike POuE You'll ioe time ing on.” Bh f _ Harry made_ no ‘sani, * He had no biveauon ot moving on ta he ‘saw the Epa yh 3 “I don’t smoke, either. if “Upon my word, you're something Genie in the traveling » salesman line. How ‘do you get along? Many of the people ‘you deal with expect to be treated.» If there is any business - where drinking is a part of the game, it seems to me it’s the traveling salesman. I’ve met lots of them—mostly jolly good - fellows—and I fail to recall one who didn’t hold his end up at the bar. A fellow can hardly be sociable if he does not drink ; or smoke,” said the reporter, dati “Well, I’ve managed to get along so far without patronizing ‘a saloon,” replied Harry. “And I shall try and continue along the same lines. I don’t find any fault with other people for ‘drinking if they wish to do'so, but: with respect to myself it ‘is - against my principles and tastes, Tf I can’t make things go without having to drink, I’ll il the business and take to something else.” That wound up the interview and Harry went on with ‘ts letter. . Then feeling tired, he went to bed. After. an early breakfast he started out on his round, He found Bxeter a town of more importance than he had} anticipated. ‘As the town was’ not down on his route, eHowind that no vate traveler for his firm had been there, he had no list of dealers in his line to guide him. — { _. He got over that by consulting a business directory, pub- lished in Millville, and taking in Exeter and one or two other places of similar size. larger part of their plunder, he was récognized at e place e visited, and as a result he did three times as much business e otherwise would have done. In- consequence, his’ visit. to Exeter was a big success, and he did not mind the necessity of remaining over to appear nst the two rascals. [6 returned tothe hotel at bleven’ met the policeman who. s waiting for him, and accompanied him to the court. The ‘two rascals had recovered from, the shock they expe- enced, and were brought before the bar to plead. ‘last recollection was associated with the shanty in natufally were surprised to find ce in| the pol en t the ee
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FULL OF BUSINESS. On a shelf in the waiting-room stood a case of the best grade of cheap watches. A clerk had left them there because. the proprietor was en+ gaged, and went to wait on a customer, , Judson, finding Harry wasn’t going to move, got up and looked at the different articles on the shelves. } He looked into the case holding the watches, and sized up their value. Then he walked to the door and looked into the store. At that moment the visitor in the private room came out and Harry went in. CHAPTER IX. THE STOLEN CASE OF WATCHES. Harry introduced himself to Mr. Jenkins, opened his sample case, and got down to business. It happened that the proprietor of the store was shy on the line of goods Harry had to offer, and as ate appealed to him, he gave the boy a liberal order. “Thank you, sir,” said Harry, after Jenieins had signed the order—the biggest single one the young traveler had taken so far on his trip. “This will be a great help to me.” “You are new to the road, aren’t you?” “Yes, sir.” ail pues you'll get. along es right, for you're full of busi- ness.’ “The man outside who is waiting to see you, and is in the - game line as myself, told me I would only lose my time trying to do business with you. He said you never wasted any of your time with new drummers.” _ *He was trying to get you out of the way,” smiled Jenkins, who was wise to the ways of traveling men. “T never take those kind of tips,” laughed the boy. “If I did I wouidn’t do much business where I had a rival.” “That's right,” nodded the man. “You've got ahead of this one, I haye bought about all I want of your line of goods. I ' -doh't think I' will be able to do any business with this com- \ petitor of yours.” “He told me you always bought from him.” Jenkins got up, went to the Bgor and looked into the wait- ing-room, He recognized Judson as a man he had done some business with, though not a whole lot. © i : He didn’t like the man much, and was not predisposed to} do any more with him. “Oh, that’s Alex Judson,” he said, walking back to his desk. ' “When he told you I always bought from him he did not tell the truth, I bought one order from him, and the goods were not wholly satisfactory. I shall do nothing with him now.’ x “youll find Hatch & Go.’s goods just what I have repre- sented them to be, for you have bought from their regular line of standard articles. I carry a cheaper grade, too, but they are not warranted, and I sell them only for cash in the vil- ~ lages, and to retail atorekeepers, I wouldn’t show them to ou.” - Harry then ‘took his. leave and Judson walked in. ; He walked out soon afterward, much disgusted, for Jenkins - told him he “had purchased all ee goods he wanted from his young rival. He remained in the ebdsdhiteseonad a few niinnitea and then left, with a mental resolve to get square with the boy traveler. ‘ In the meantime Harry went on to the next wholesale house ‘in his line and captured an order there. ~~ Judson followed him and was turned down. .He swore ‘under his breath when he learned that the boy had been there. ‘stopped to drink and waste time in a corner'saloon. - He would haye stood a good show to have got ahead of Harry in that store, because the proprietor was prejudiced against boys as drummers, and it took a great deal of tact and genial talk on Harry’s part to overcome his objection. aving the field entirely to himself, he. finally Pieecsed deling the man a bill of goods. _ After he had departed for the next house, Judson pee \d did. nothing. a Harry and then went out with both cases, | : ap hes to the hotel at seven and got his supper. en out two men ‘were anata near the desk | Judson would have met Harry in the next store if he hadn’t goods. ned up his regular order business: by three o’clock | Jones. mee “There he is now,” said Judson, pointing at Harry. The two men went up to him. ‘ “Your name is Harry Green?” said the one with a chin beard. “Yes, sir,” replied the boy, wondering who the men Were: “Vou’ re'a drummer for Hatch & Co., of Chicago?” “That's right.” “You. called at the store of William Jenkins this morning after an order?” NEBR “T am the chief salesman of that piece. “Well?” + “You were alone in the waiting-room for a while before you saw Mr. Jenkins?” ; “Yes, sir; about ten minutes, then another salesman in, my line came in—a man named Judson. I left him there when I went into the private office.” Recast t spe “Alone?” “Yes, sir,” tioning. “While you were in the waiting-room did you see a case of engineers’ watches on one of the shelves?” 5 “No, sir; I didn’t notice it. There were quite a Ty of aay things on the shelves.” ae “This particular case was by itself.” v Hh “JT don’t remember seeing it. J didn’t go near the shelves, { at all.. Mr, Judson did. He might have noticed the case of; — watches, There's the gentleman talking to the clerk at the | desk.’ AY eH Judson was called over. fie “This. young man says he didn’t go near the shelves, but that.you did,” said the Jenkins salesman. “He's a liar,” said Judson, hotly. “I saw him cnonkepinets with that case of watches, and if it's missing I'll bet he took them and slipped them under his coat.” pt “How dare you make such a statement, Mr. Judson?” de- oy manded Harry, angrily. “You know it is false.” “You can’t:sneak out of it that way, you young geezer. I were you folks I’d search his cases and his trunk.” “TI have no objection, but to make the thing fair they ought to search yours, too.” “They ‘shall do-it, if only to show what a liar you are.” “T haven’t accused you of taking anything. All I said was you were inspecting the shelves in Mr. Jenkins’ waiting-room,’ “You said that to implicate me. I didn’t go near fee shelves.” ae “T am ready to swear that you did. me et “You'd swear to anything to get out of your Seadtidneants ab) “Gentlemen, if you will show me your authority to act in this matter I'll let you examine my sample cases and also m y trunk. , The latter is in the store-room.” eet “T told you I was Mr. Jenkins’ chief salesman. My name | ae is Jones, This man is a detective. Show him your badge, Wider said the man with the chin, whiskers. The officer did so. ‘ ay aN “Very well,” said Harry. “If you suspect me of steal case of watches, or anything else from Mr. Jenkins’ sto Tr shall be glad to prove that I didn’t.” Cae Harry got his sample cases, opened them and let the two ss men look them over. ieee Nothing was found in them that did not belong there. penne “He wouldn’t have them in his sample cases;” said Judson. “Look in his trunk. That’s he place to find them, if sa: where.” The porter was called to open the store-room, V3 foitaarn Harry pointed out his trunk among several there, and handed the key to Salesman Jones. That man unlocked the trunk. The upper tray was filled with clothes. These were carefully lifted out and the space undernee examined. ' A flat case, twelve by eighteen, lay TeVORIES: ' Judson swooped down upon it. He opened it and exposed a dozen new watches. shal Harry was amazed. a Be ‘The missing jewelry was in his ‘trunk. _ Judson grabbed him. ebay “You young thief!” he bellowed, “I’ve caught you ties It’s jail for yours now.” ely said Harry, much surprised at the line of ques- If fe “T know okt about that ease. of watches or the o / Heles: Meh have found. T could not have pak them I
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14 ——— eee FULL OF BUSINESS. OOO ooo ! yor I haye not been near the store-room to-day. will tell you that,” protested Harry. “This porter basn’t been on duty all day,” said Judson. “Yes, I have,” said the man. “This young man wasn’t in | the store- -room to-day, but you were. And I"fuess you know how that case of watches got in his trunk.” “What's that?” roared Judson, turning color. “J let you in the store-room after dinner.” 1 * What of it?” ~ “You sent me upstairs for a sheet of paper.” ~ “Well, what if I did. You brought it to me.” “YT guess I came back quicker’n you thought. I saw you putting that case in that trunk. I didn’t think anything of it, for I supposed the trunk was yours.. Now I know it belongs ' to that young chap, and as you’ ve accused him of stealing that case of watches, I guess you've put up the job on him to get him in trouble. That’s the whole story.” ~ ‘ “You infernal liar!” howled Judson, launching out his fist and knocking the porter down. “Hold on,” said the detective, seizing him. The iran sprang up and rushed at Judson, The officer stopped him. .. “The man is a liar,” said Judson. that chap’s trunk without a key?” “TI saw you toss something into that corner,” said the porter, “Maybe it was the key you used.” He rushed over to the corner, and in a moment came back with a new key, which he held up. “Seo if that fits the trunk,” he said. _ It was found to fit the lock perfectly. “What have you to say about this man’s accusation?” asked _ the detective of Judson, “What I said before—that he’s a liar,” . “Gentlemen, wasn’t it this man Judson ss accused me in Hat the first place?” said Harry. rat They admitted it was. “Wasn't it he who proposed that my trunk be ReEpORady,: : 46s, ” said Jones, “Hasn't he shown animosity toward me right alba in this matter?” There was no doubt about that. _ “Then, gentlemen, [ leave you to judge, in the face of the porter’s statement, which of us took those watches from the Jenkins store.” . “J will take you both, with the porter, to the station-house and let the captain pass on the matter,” said the sleuth, ‘Judson protested that it was an outrage to suspect him. - The whole party went to the station-house, and the case was aid before the captain. “It’s a case for the magistrate,” he said, and ordered both Harry and Judson to be locked up. The ‘porter “How could I get into eee to for bail, they seemed dcomed to remain there all “nig _ The porter, ceases who was dead sore on Judson, deter- ' mined to secure the boy’s release if he could. '. He returned to the hotel, interview the proprietor, swore that Harry was innocent of the charge of theft, and was the victim of a put-up job on Tudson's part, and asked his boss to get him out on bail. The proprietor decided to do so, and an hour later Harry _ was free, but Judson experienced no such luck, - Next morning the case was brought before the magistrate. After hearing all the testimony, he discharged Harry and held Judson for trial. i Thus the rvascally drummer was Boat by his own petard, as os pura is. ‘CHAPTER X.— NUMBER THIRTEEN. “Barry was very well pleased with his success at Danville. _ He was even better pleased. to receive a letter from Blsie & ter when he returned from the police court to get his din- hs clerk handed it to him. as he was passing toward the dining-room, . He read it at the table while waiting to be served, og at The young lady acknowledged his first letter from Wxeter, ontaining ee caccount of, his exploit in snipaae with the mail pouch 1 thieves. |makes to you when you get back here,” -As neithes traveler had any acquaintance in town he could She complimented him on his conduct, and added that see was proud to number him among her most particular friends. She. said she hoped his trip, would be successful in every way, and hinted that’ her father was particularly anxious to do semething for him. “T shall be delighted if you accept whatever offer my father she wrote: “TIT. am sure you will find it greatiy to your advantage. I would like you to take a position in his store, for then I could see you often, but, of course, if you, prefer to.continue on the road, it isn’t for me to make any objection. In that event, my. father will give you.a route that should pay you finely.” After dinner Harry made calls on the retail trade and sold : a considerable part of his own stock. “J wish I could do as well in every town as. I have done here,” Harry ‘said to himself. “I’d make money fast.”, ; He visited several of the outlying villages, but they did not pan out well, so he was glad to pull up stakes and continue on. Three weeks»passed and Harry reached Clinton City, which was as far'as he was going westward, From there he was to work back to Chicago over another route, When he registered at the Planter’s Hotel he found a pack- age from his firm. J It contained several enclosures. Virst, a letter from the head of the firm, complimenting him on his showing up to that point. Secondly, a letter bearing the express company’s imprint, ‘| addressed to him in eare of his firm in Chicago, and contain- ing an official recognition for his services in recovering the ~ express box at Exeter, together with a check for $250. : Thirdly, an official letter from the post-office department. at Washington, commending his services in recovering most of the stolen money and securing the arrest of the thieves, and) / _| enclosing a check for.$500, payable to. his order at one: of the : Government bank depositories in Chicago. “That little adventure has paid me well, after all,” Harry: 4! told himself, as he looked at the two checks, “I'll be able to ‘ start a bank account when I get back.” f Ae Clinton was the biggest place he had visited yet, and ‘he hoped to do a first-rate business there. re ‘He found, however, that a rival drummer had preceded Bim oc and he did not do half as well as he rants during the sbi = days’ canvass he made for orders. 2 He was much disappointed. When he started around among the small stores with his own stock he did very much better, but he realized there: ‘was Ui more peddling to it than anything else. Hay However, as it turned him in a handsome profit, he had DON kick coming, ei Harry signalized his last night in town by going to a show. The performance was along one, and the curtain did not fall till nearly midnight. When he came out on the street he started, as he thought,: in the direction of his hotel, but found after a while that he had taken the wrong direction, * In trying to correct this, his unfamiliarity with the town. got him more mixed up. He was passing down a dark and silent anon street one — block’in length, lined with substantial looking private houses, © when the door of one of them opened and two men,in evening — dress came out. ee They nearly ran into him, and Harry said, “I beg your par- don,” in his usual polite way; and was continuing on when one of the men, hurrying after him, caught him by the em: and said: ; “Are you in a great hurry to get home, young man?” “Well, as it’s aiter midnight, and I’m going to leave town by an early train in the morning, I think I ought to get back to my hotel as soon as pogsible, Being a stranger here— I’m-a commercial traveler, and this is my first visit to. Clinton —I’ye got mixed up, and if alah direct me right Td con- sider it a favor.” “What hotel are you: stopping att? Nae “The Planter’s.” BENG “You are walking away from it. It is ten blocks over you- eae? der. But I say, we would like you to do us a favor if you~ don’t mind putting in an hour having a good tre Sai a big. feed.” , eG “What is the favor?” ; A “Joining our dinner party,” fl “Why should I do that? In what wax would that be a to ou?” “Well, the fact ie we are members of the Thirteen D Clu / A eae -
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/ f } ! “13 . will not refuse to honor us with your society,” said the man, » tion of the service he is doing us. ' may eongratulate ov Tselves on having downed one very foolish FULL OF BUSINESS. ” a 15 ““The Thirteen Club!” ‘“Hixacthy, Quite an exclusive organization, I assure you. We give a dinner on the 18th of each month, This is the 13th of this month, and the dinner is all ready to be served, but, un- fortunately, a difficulty has presented itself. that has upset all oul arrangements,” “What is the difficulty?” » “One of our number was taken suddenly ill on his way to the club and bad to be taken home. That leaves us a party of only twelve, and to sit down to our regular banquet one mem- ber short of the magical number would net only spoil all prece- dent, but would doubtless lead to the disruption of our or- ganization.” “And how can [ help you out?” “By joining us—becoming No. 18, in fact. You are not su- perstitious, are you? We aim to hit the old superstition that is an unlucky number in the solar plexis. We have been organized exactly one year, lacking perhaps half an hour, and this is our twelfth dinner. The superstition says that if thir- teen people sit down at table together one of them will surely die within the year. Nothing like that has occurred so far. In thirty minutes the year will have elapsed, and we will have demonstrated the folly of putting faith in that popular super- stition, besides driving a nail into a few others that we a . arranged to do up. As it will be practically impossible for us to-secure the thirteenth man we stand so greatly !n need of uniess you will accommodate us by your presence, we trust you Harry hesitated. He would not admit that he was super stitious with réspect to the number 13, We are not prepared to affirm or deny the fact. | As he was their only hope, the two men seized him, one by each arm, and urged him toward the house from which they had come, If the Thirteen Club was about to hold one of its monthly ‘dinners there, no evidence of the fact was apparent on the outside, The building was as dark and somber looking at that hour as all the other houses in the block. ! Before Harry realized it he was beingeled up the short flight of steps that connected with the front door, | Having accompanied the well-dressed men that far, he had } tacitly accepted their invitation to become No. 13 for this oc- casion, and he felt that it would look bad for him to balk now. A pass-key admitted them into a dark hall, and the door | closed behind them. . ) The party proceeded down the hall in deep ees “Then a door was pushed open and the sudden transition to! a brightly lighted room quite dazzled. the young traveler. He shut his eyes and stopped short. *Ah, you have secured No. 13,” said a deep-toned voice. “We have, and he seems to have no special reverence for the number, as he offered no opposition to coming with us,” gaid one of Harry’s companions. “Gentlemen,” said the deep-toned voice, “we will do No. 13 the honor of placing him at the head of the table in recogni- {s there any objection?” “None,” came in chorus from a number of voices. Then Harry opened his eyes and found himself in a large yoom in the center of which was a table iaid out with silver, cut-glass and flowers, with the other things necessary to a well-appointed dinner party. The men in full drees were standing in smail knots about the apartment. Harry and his sonnets made up the required thirteen. ‘ The boy was led to the head of the table and the others took their places standing. “Gentlemen,” said Harry, “this is an wnexpected surprise to me. As I appear to be a necessary guest, yow will have to excuse my lack of proper attire. {t isn’t my fault that I ap- pear before you in a garb. different from your own,” | “Say no more, young man, no excuse is required under S| circumstances,” said the deep-toned voice. “Gentlemen, be seated. lt lacks but five minutes of the time that compietes our first-year. Not one of our number has died, and so we bagaboo.” “As the last word sacaped his lips and the servants entered with the first course—the soup—a loud ring came at the bell. | “Who can that be?” said the man with the deep-toned voice, who appeared to be the guiding spirit of the club. A servant entered with a ee and upesented him with a» _ Rote, j f He took it, but as he read it his face changed color. “{s this a message from our absent and temporarily afflicted brother?” said one of the club members who sat opposite, » “Tt is nothing, nothing that need interfere with our dinner,” said the gentleman, putting the note in his vest pocket. As he sat down he glanced at the clock and saw that it was just one. The year had expired, but ‘the supérstition had done its work, for the note. had conveyed word that the member who was taken ill on his way to the club had died on the stroke. of midnight. CHAPTHR XI. THH DINNER. We will not dwell on the feast that Harry participated in. It was a sumptuous one, but the young traveler had sense enough to eat sparingly of the different courses, for he was not accustomed to such a grand lay-out, nor to eat at such a late hour, Each course was attended with a different kind of wine, which Harry refused, and no notice was taken of his refusal. He was practically the guest of honor, and as he behaved. with the easy grace of a gentleman, his right to pass up the wine, and any course he did not care to partake of, was con- ceded. Finally, as the clock pointed at two, the last course, the 9 ; dessert, in various sections, was brought on, and with it cham- pagne was opened in unlimited quantity. Toasts were in order, and the gentleman with the deep-toned | voice was expected, as master of ceremonies, to lead oft He rose. The others followed suit, and Harry got up, too. “The Thirteen Club,” said the toastmaster. “The Thirteen Club,” cried everybody, except Harry, and the toast was drunk. Another gentleman got up in a few minutes at a nod from the leader. “Our guest,” he said. The twelve gentlemen bowed at the ‘young ictal and’ drank to him. Harry felt that it was up to him to respond. He did not know what to say, so sald the first: thtng that, occurred to him. © “May you all live long and prosper, including the gentleman whose place I have filled on this auspicious occasion.” | All drank except the gentleman with the deep-toned voice. ia merely touched his lips to his glass and looked Mery) solemn. Thirteen toasts altogether—one tierii* each man presente were drunk, and during the Heese ie cigars were sans around and lighted. Harry accepted a cigar each time the box of expensive pére’ fectos came his way, but the weeds went into his pocket, and» no one took any notice of the fact that he alone of all abies id not smoke. cf Half-past two came and Harry hoped the party would soon break up, though there appeared to be no indication of it at. that moment. * He would have been glad to have taken his departure, but ‘hes % did not like to make any suggestion to that effect, for he had been well treated, though he was a strauger to all present, as~ they were to him. Apparently they represented the top rung of Clinton society, and it would be many a day, if ever, before he again had the honor of associating on terms of intimacy and equality. with the jJeading citizens of a city. He telt it was an honor, though an accidental and peculiar one, So another half hour went by and threo o'clock came. The gentleman with the deep-toned voice rose and rapped — for order. The buzz of conversation died away end all eyes were fixed on the master of ceremonies. “Gentlemen, as this may be the jast meeting and dinner of the Thirteen Club——” “The last!” cried the man, opposite, in surprise, which was shared by all the others except Harry. “That is for you to suy, gentlemen,” said the speaker, aoi- emnly. “As this may he the finis of the Thirteen Club, I think it is fitting that we each individually present to our young guest of the evening ecme small token of remembrance o* the occasion. I think it would be a grateful act on our ‘part in return for the young uae acquiescenve in comin z here to oblige us.”
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16. FULL OF BUSINESS » “JT second the motion,” said the man opposite. . “Very good. Young man, we have not asked you your name, . northave we attempted to pry into your identity in any way. Now that we are about to break up for the evening we would be pleased to know your name.” | “My name, gentlemen,.is Harry Green, I am a commercial traveler from Chicago in the employ of Hatch & Go. Clinton is the limit of my route westward; and to-morrow, or rather to-day, for it is some time past midnight, I intend to work back to the Windy City over a different route, press my thanks to you for the honor you have conferred upon me this evening by admitting so humble a person as my~- self on terms of equality with yourselves. The privilege is one I shall long remember, and the city of Clinton will rep- resent a red letter in my calendar.” ilarry sat down amid a clapping of hands and approving nods and looks. ~ “Mr, Green,” said the deep-toned gentleman, “T think I voice the sentiments of my fellow club members when I say that the -honor is not all one-sided. You will pardon us if we elect to remain nameless. When we meet as the Thirteen Club we ' are known only to each other by the numbers we drew by lot at our first meeting. I am Number One, and I beg you to ac- cept this diamiond watch charm as my personal memento. of the occasion,” _.. The gentleman detached the charm from his watch-chain * - and passed it to Harry. my “Thank you, sir. I shall keep it as long as I live in remem- brance of this dinner.” The gentleman nodded in a cultured way and then looked _at another gentleman. “Tam Number Two, Mr. Green, and I present you with this filyer-embossed card-case,” said the man, removing the cards. ‘Number Three handed Harry a small gold-tipped pencil “ornament. The others followed in turn, turning over various articles, every one different in kind. ' Harry laid them on the table in front of him in the order Se in which he received them. Number Twelve’s offering was a diamond shirt stud. | Then'the deep-toned gentleman rose once more, _ “Number Thirteen is absent,” he said, solemnly. “I think ot he would wish to add a memento tg the others, This piece of. paper, which I received as we began our dinner, came from. him. It bears three words in his bandwriting—his last words, ; Gentlemen, “Good-by boys—Thirteen,” and a communication from his son stating ee he died on the stroke of twelve ae in the year.” ‘The announcement ereered a tremendous sensation in the voor, Then’ a deep and solemn silence fell, broken only by the words of the deep-toned man who said: _ “Mr. Green, I hand you this paper. Keep’ it in connection —the gentleman whose place you have filled so acceptably to all present.” Harry took the paper mechanically and as i down at the end of the row. ’ . He remained standing: when the master of Che ceremonies ‘pat down. ‘To say the truth, he was quite staggered by the revelation. e stood there as, the representative of the dead man— t ‘Number, Thirteen—who was as: much a stranger to him as the other twelve. Whether he was superstitious or not, the fact. remained hat the hoodoo had wonout—one of the members of the Thir- teen Club had died within’ the year, and as luck would have it, the unseen mantle of the corpse had fallen on him. “Was it an evil portent for him? It was impossible to say that fateful. moment. The silence and gloom that enveloped the room like a a oppressed him. The lights were none the. less brilliant, however, and : sparkled upon the. glass and silverware just as when he was js ushered into the room, On i Wh Something impelled him Ewe speak, though words seemed out of place then. “Gentlemen,” > said, ip a tone that vibrated on the air, I ask you to ris 1en!” their lips inet pape! ell was broke I wish to ex-, with the other mementoes as the offering of Number Thirteen .| ever, so that on the whole he could not complain. very man got 1D siirenuTten Senmlsh but none looked at him.) which had gone to seed and was overrun with seeds and [re 2 ale: ask you to drink to the memory of Number ‘Thirteen. | grass. he Test in peace.” 4 came in solemn chorus from all cis | as ee of two feet high. i “T move,’ gentlemen, that we adjourn, ‘sine die,” said’ Num- ber One, No one seconded the motion, but all bowed in token of acquiescence, Harry toek. out his memorandum book and wrote down the nulibers, one to thirteen, on the last page. Opposite each number he noted the memento of the giver. He placed all of the articles in his handkerchief and put it in his pocket. “Mr. Green,” said Number One, hotel.” f “Thank you, sir. the young traveler. He shook hands with each of the other gentlemen, and then all left the house together, Every one knew that the Thirten Club had passed out of existence. “JT will escort you to your It is a favor I will. appreciate,” replied CHAPTER XII. THE ONSERTED HOUSE. | i Harry bade Number Ons good-night at the entrance to the Planter’s Hotel. The gentleman had taken a great fancy to the young trav- eler, and introduced himself as Robert Wilson, head of the house of Wilson, Davis & Co., Dry Goods. ma Should you come to Clinton again I should be glad to have | you call at our store and see me,” he said. “I will do so with pleasure if the opportunity presente } itself,” replied Harry.. Pasi Then they parted and the boy sought his room to get a few hours’ sleep, leaving a call with.the night clerk for seven 1// ki o'clock, CE At half-past eight Harry was on his way. Wohasliey His destination was:Nayland, twenty odd miles north. ‘ i He got there.a little before nine, tegistered, and started out 57 to do business. 4. Sti It was a large manufacturing town, and a live place. He got one order, and that was not a large one. ; f He sold a lot of the auction goods at the small stores, how- From this town he wrote Elsie a full account of his dinner i with the Thirteen Club of Clinton and its gruesome finish. A week passed and his own stock, which: he: earried in his. Mae trunk, was reduced to small proportions. ae He would soon have to cut out all side trips and give his? attention wholly to his regular route. fete Harry, having finished Decatur, hired a horse and paar for Ridgefield, five miles away. iM, It was,a small place, but be had been told that his line of ar auction g00ds was likely to sell there, RO Be It took him less than an hour to go there, ae In two hours he had visited the few stores that dealt in such. things as he had to offer and made a few dollars profit, wT ‘Then he started back, expecting to reach his hotel in. Deca- K Se tur in time for supper, after which he intended to go’ on to ‘his next stand. ‘ It was a sultry day, and before he had gone far he saw a& 1! thunder storm coming up fast. i Satisfied it would catch him before he could reach town, he jinae looked around for shelter. ass He saw a distant farm-house on his left, but peta on. ee Dalle: went \ / Sea He spurred on his perspiring animal. a A turn of the road brought him in sight of a large doties oft the road to the right, access to which was to be had up a jong lane. | penis aad He remembered noticing this house on his way to Ridge- Sec field. 4 It then struck him that the house had. a deserted 100K. There was no sign of life about it. Still, as it was a third of a mile from the road, he cou! Id not be positive about the fact. BR i As the storm was coming up hot ‘foot, this house: was the ! nearest port ina storm, © "When he came to the lane he dismounted, opened the ‘gate a ‘with some difficulty, led the horse in, shut the gate and rode ‘slowly up to the house. ih The closer he drew to it the more deserted it appeared to. He rode around: to the back through the ruins ofsa g The yard was also in a wild state of neglect, the ‘era al The shutters were closed on the lower front \ winds ? Labs same was the case on Bd sides and Saget
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> flash FULL OF That settled any eat in the boy’s mind about the house having tenants. It was clearly deserted, and Harry wondered at: that, for it was a good house, in an excellent state of preservation, and needed but a coat or two of paint and a few repairs to make it. look real chipper. The clearing-up of the yard and garden was a minor matter easy of accomplishment. There was a front porch which offered partial shelter from pe storm that was coming up, and a back porch that offered ess. Harry dismounted and triea what he judged was the kitchen door, and found it; as he expected, fast. Evidently he was shut out from the house. There was a barn and other outhouses, and a closer inspec- tion of the former disclosed the satisfactory fact that the big door was shut, but not secured, Harry opened vee door and led his horse into the deserted building. Hardly has he Aeksea the entrance when a flash of lurid light ran athwart the darkening sky, and a peal of thunder roared out like the first gun of a coming battle. “I didn’t get under shelter any too soon,” he said meta- phorically shaking hands with himself. “I’m all right here, and so is the horse. The storm will blow over in half an hour or less, and then I can proceed on my way.” The light breeze which had started up about the time Harry: left the village had died away, and left the atmosphere stag- nant. There was wind enough up where the oncoming clouds were, and the landscape was certain to catch a taste of it presently. The thunder and lightning was now pretty frequent, but at a distance yet, only that one bright flash and crash had awak- ened the countryside to what was approaching. The air g “ew still darker’ as the black, menacing clouds overshadowed the sky. Harry stood at the open door facing the house. he storm was coming obliquely from that direction, uddenly he heard a moaning sound at a distance. He knew it must be the wind traveling at racehorse speed. Down. in the road he saw a cloud of dust rise, and then a heavy gust swept across the property, shaking the trees as a terrier might a rat, All was quiet again, while the itahtning blazed brighter in igi zigzag fashion, and the thunder growled louder. “Another heavy gust, a shorter period of calm, and then the wit came in earnest. The raindrops began to fall. } A crash of thunder sent them down faster, and presently the , Mo wepour ‘swept in sheets across the landscape. ' Harry was forced to close the door, for the rai and wind = best against it. _ Having nothing to— do, Harry struck a match pve looked around the barn, for it was only slightly lit up by the lightning through: the cracks, ‘ Qutside of himself and the horse, there was prinine but dust! and a small amount of debris in it. A wide stairway led up to the loft. Harry ascended and tound it bare with the exception of a little hay in one corner near a hole in the flooring. ‘There were four windows—two in the front and two in the - rear—all of them tightly closed by shutters. _ The rain beat down on the roof like the continuous rattle of musketry, while the wind roared all around the building. Harry peered out. through a wet knothole that looked toward ‘the house. _ At that moment a brilliant flash of lightning showed up ob- _jects as clear as sunlight. ‘For an instant he seemed to see every board in ee house. To his amazement he distinetly saw a wild and haggard -' Jooking face at one of the windows. The next moment house and landscape were lost in the dark- ness and sweeping rain. “Phere’s some one in the house after all,” breathed the young traveler. “A man, and a hard- -looking” one at that. Such a face one might expect to see in a bughouse, or in a convict settlement where the prisoners were treated like dogs. ; Heavens, I wonder who. the person ist}? (ahd kept his eye at, the knothole, waiting for the next 2 e in a Esme’ or two, but the face at the window. was storm kept _ 0) its wildest . pitch—the ‘lightning luridly, but H Harry tailed to enlteh another aM. of: ‘that he perate Joking: face. BUSINESS. ; a Finally he gave it up and went downstairs, where he found his horse restive under the uproar of the storm. He spoke to him soothingly and petted. him, and the animal calmed down. The storm gradualy, worked off, but like many thunder storms, it held back one tremendous crash for the very last. It appeared to be almost over, and Harry opened the barn door to let in the wind, now reduced to a breeze of refreshing coolness, when, with a suddenness and unexpectedness that dazed the boy, the heavens seemed to slit asunder, and simul- taneous with the flash that enveloped the house in a blaze of fire came a stunning crash that deafened the young’ traveler. Part of the building in full view of the boy erumbled away” as if by magic under the force of the thunderbolt. A cloud of pulverized mortat and brick from the wreck of the big chimney rose like stearh and was wafted away. The clapboards were torn and wrenched from that spot, some falling on the ground with the brick, others hanging in fantastic shape in the air. Across. the jagged opening hung a human figure in shirt ~ sleeves and pants, It lay there motionless, like a fallen effigy. ; “Tt must be the man I saw at the window, and he’s s probably dead—killed outright by that awful bolt,” said Harry. i CEASE ‘CHAPTER XIII. ‘ CONCLUSION. Harry rushed toward the house. The sky had already lightened up considerably, and was growing lighter every moment. When the young traveler reached the jagged hole in the house he saw something bright in the wreckage. Stooping, he pulled it out and discovered it to be a tin box such as householders and office people keep valuable PApEra. in. _Laying the box aside, Harry crawled into the ground floor |room over the wreck of the brick chimney. Wed An open door in the vacant room det, him out into the main hall where the front stairs were, Up the stairs he ran and, reaching the landing, found his way into the room where the figure lay by the jagged opening once occupied by the upper part of the chimney. One look at the hard looking, gaunt face, with three weeks’. growth of reddish beard adding to its ungouthness, told Harry that it was the face he had seen at the window, and that the man was stone dead. His shirt was ripped qpen to the waist, and one trouser leg. cut as clean as if by a sharp knife, and the shoe on that foot Was torn to pieces. } A blue mark ran down his chest, Lap Sting the course of the lightning. “He looks like’ a tramp who had thiten: refuge in the build- ing,” thought the boy. “Well, he has met his fate here. It is a case for the coroner of the county, and I had. better not dis- turb him.” As it might be some hours before the eoroner viewed him, Harry, knowing that dead bodies stiffen rapidly, composed the man’s limbs, bound up his falling jaw with a piece from his. ty shirt, and, closing each Bae, a a a small od of brick on ‘them. He then tock a rapid survey of the upper part of the house, nll and found it completely bereft of furniture, i he lower part was in the same condition, Only the stove remained in the kitchen. “It is lucky no one else was in the house. Had iT Raed rare uge from the storm in it there is no telling how I wo: ould have ~ come out between the man and the thunderbolt. I don’t like the look on the man’s face, and I wouldn’t have fancied him | as a companion,” said ae as. he crawled out of the ein ae : ing. Then he thought of the tin box and, picked it up. is “Seems funny this box, should have been, in this vacant | house,” he said. It was not heavy, and when a shook it he felt something light inside. E “There are papers in this box. I don’t! believe the box hen : longed to the dead man. Maybe the owner or one of his family _ placed it in the chimney for safe keeping, and in the hurry soft moving overlooked it. T’ll take it to, town and see ai I can find : a claimant for it.” Fa%, Harry mounted his horse ‘and Se fond town without ther adventure. pe He took the tin box to his room. and left dt there, the ag x a i went to aaEnen i aaa
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} ; MT don't jaa his name. - 18 FULL OF BUSINESS. ‘After supper he went to the station-house an@ notified the “Ha! Has it something to do with the missing will?” said authorities that a man, struck by a lightning bolt, lay dead in| the lawyery with fresh and REET interest. the big vacant house on the road to Ridgefield. ' He explained the circumstances under which he had made the gruesome discovery. “That's the Risdon Homestead,” said the officer, “It’s tied up in court. Old Risdon made a*will leaving the property to his second wife, a young woman, but the document could not be found at the time of his death, though the old man’s lawyer, who represents her interests, declared he had drawn it up, and that it was witnessed in proper form. The witnesses tes- tified to the same effect. The old man has a good-for-nothing son, by his first wife, whom he practically disinherited. This man is fighting for his legal share of the property on .the ground that his father died intestate. He will undoubtedly win unless the will turns up. The wife fears that a servant, work- ing in the son’s interest, found the will and gave it to him, in} which case he, of course, has destroyed it. All these facts in detail were printed in the morning papers a few weeks ago.” “What kind of looking man is this son?” asked Harry, with 8 suspicion in hig mind. “A sandy-featured chap of average height and build.” . “Your description fits the corpse now lying in the house,” _ Said the boy. “The dickens you say!” ejaculated the officer. he doing there?” “Don’t ask me, for I couldn’t tell you. Perhaps he was hunting for the will, ” said Harry, thinking of the tin box. “That’s so,” said the officer. “Well, his death won't alter the situation much, for he has a wife and family, and they will succeed to his rights.” “Under the law, as the case stands, how much is the widow entitled to?” “Her dowry rights only, I believe, though I don’t know for certain.” en you being who her lawyer is? I should like to call on m ” “What was You can find it out, with his ad- dress, at the office of one of the two morning papers. He has offered a reward of $2,000 for the will, which I believe has n, increased since.” “All right. Notify the coroner to take charge of the deed man, whoever he is.” -“} will. By the way, I want your name and address.” “Harry Green, cotimercial traveler, Decatur House,” “The officer wrote it down, and Harry left the station-house. He went to the office of the Decatur Tribune, a few doors away, and made his way to the editorial room. “There he got the information he wanted. : id “The lawyer’s name was John Hall, and his office was at No. 150 Washington ‘street, the main street of the town. Harry also learned that the reward had been: increased to $5,000, because the judge was expected to hand down his de- ~ dision. soon, and the lawyer knew it would be faire his client. He was, therefore, making a strenuous effort to Sikes bring the will to light, or sectrre information that would show it was deliberately destroyed by the person most interested in keep- ing it out of sight. The morning papers contained an account of the partial de- struction of the Risdon Homestead by a thunderbolt, and the death through the same agency of the son of old man Risdon, the contestant for his’ property. Not a word appeared about the.tin box. Harry had -been interviewed by a reporter from each of the papers at the hotel the evening before, and he told his story frankly, omitting all reference to the tin box he had found. His name, of course, appedtéd in the newspaper stories as the eyewitness of the tragedy. About ten o’clock Harry appeared at the lawyer’s office With the tin box. _ He was admitted to the private room. i “I presume, sir, you have read what the papers printed this morning about the Risdon Homestead?” said Harry, after introducing himself. “T have,” nodded the lawyer, eyeing him curiously. “I am the party who is mentioned in the papers in connec- tion with the matter. I furnished the details to the reporters, and notified the police of the man’s death.” “Ah, indeed.” ee! held back one important fact.” 7» “What is that?” : “Something that may prove of interest to you and ee ‘ar id ent, the Saco of the late owner.” SET eae Ar ai EE SP Man SE RS Ele OP es Lat ERE ae ig oe pa eB “T think sit has.” “Let me know at once. I have offered a reward of $5,000 for the discovery of the will or information in connection with it. Perhaps you may win it.” F hope so. I found this tin box in the wreck of the chim- ney,” and Harry laid the box on the lawyer’s desk. He pounced upon it with avidity. “This is the missing box in which the old man kept his pri- vate papers. I have no doubt I shall find the will in it. IfT do I will pay you the reward,” A locksmith was sent*for, and while waiting for him to come with his tools, Harry told how he found the box, to- gether with much not recorded by the papers bearing indi- rectly on the issue at hand. The locksmith came, opened the box, and the will was found in it, together with other important ‘docume. its, such as the insurance policy on the homestead, and the policy for $3,000 on old Risdon’s life, When Harry left the office he carried the jawyer’ s check for $5,000, payable to his order. The recovery of the will and the\other papers were duly dhronicled in the afternoon papers, and Harry again appeared in the limelight in connection therewith. The morning paper reperters, on reading these fresh facts, were much disgruntled with Harry for keeping the information baek, so that the afternoon papers got the full benefit of the news. Harry collected the money, bought a draft on Chicago with. it; and put the draft in his trunk with the two checks from the express company and the Government, which he» would ty! ; when he reached the Windy City.. This affair ended Harry’s adventures on that trip, and ‘two weeks later he got off the train in Chicago and went to the boarding-house he had lived at before eO8 on the road for Hatch & Co. His first duty was to report to’ his firm: his next to call on Mr. Carter at his store, where he received a cordial welcome. Before he left the presence of that gentleman he had made a very satisfactory business arrangemnt with i to go on the | road for the house in the fall. That evening he called at the Carter home, on Prairie ave-. nue, to see Hlsie, who gave him a rousing reception. He met her mother for the first time, and received use lady’s grateful thanks for the services he had rendered her daughter. He and Elsie spent a great evening together, and when he left it was after promising to call on her at least once a WOE until he went on the read for her father. Next day Harry distributed $6,000 among the best @hicazo” savings banks, and felt quite rich for a boy who a few months since had left Chicago on his first trip as a drummer with all his surplus cash invested in cheap auction goods bought of the firm he had signed with to take orders. During the few weeks he remained in Chicago he aban a great deal of his time in Hlsie’s company, not only visiting | her, but taking her another. Her parents offered no objeetion to the growing intimacy he- tween Wisie and Harry, though the boy was not in the same social swim, Mr. Carter saw that he possessed the elements that. make a successful man, and he was confident the boy would rise to the top of the ladder in time. When the time came, Harry started out’ for the Carter firm as one of their travelers, and he proved a great success in tak- / ing orders. We have not the space to follow his career, as experience broadened his abilities in his chosen calling, but we will sim- ply say that he merited the excellent opinion Mr. Carter had formed of him, and in due tine was accepted jas the favored: suitor for his datighter’s hand. After his marriage to ane he was admitted to the hints as junior partner, but he still went on the road, taking his wife with him. They proved a very congenial couple, and the only fault: Blsie ever had to find with him was that perhaps he was too full of business. Next week’s contain issue will “Wall Street Story.) a te at ee nse mene meee gee tee ci ae Sed a around to one amusement resort or ~ f AS “BAFFLING THE yh “Y BROKERS; OR, THE BOY WITH THE [RON oe arid dg os + SEND POSTAL FOR uk FRE CATAL P| 4 ¥
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FAME AND. FORTUNE WEEKLY. ec CURRENT NEWS A. J. Dudeck, of Petoskey, Mich., has received a post-| card dated Tune Psy Oras announcing that a message which he tossed overboard July 7%, 1909, while on the steamer President Lincoln one day out from New York, has been found on the south coast of the Isle of Anglesey, pare Wales, England. oF iecie: Bowman, of Vandergrift, Pa!, has established a tecord by trapping 39 rats in one night. Procuring an iron tub, he placed it in one of their favorite haunts and partly filled it with bran, liberally feeding the rats for a few days. Then he half filled the tub with water and scattered a liberal layer of bran over this. The next morn- ing he found the tub black with drowned rats. Nt walieg the cradle of the one- -year-old son of-John E. |. '.Copenhavor, near York, Pa. a two-foot garter snake bit ~ the child on the’ neck and then closed its jaws on the nipple of the baby’s nursing bottle. Peering into the cradle to see what was making the baby ery, a six-year-old brother dis- covered the snake, which at once ended its greedy meal and darted under.a cupboard. The father was called and killed the reptile. ~ The honey bees near Fostoria, O., have contracted the opium habit. Like the Chinese, they get theirs from the - poppy, as many residents of Fostoria grow the Oriental fiowers. The bees have found this ‘out and of late they have been leaving acres of clover blossoms to hunt out the poppy beds. They work very vigorously for'an hour or so and then fall to the ground ¢ apparently as a a as the BS! Chinese opin smokers after “hitting the pipe.” i Only about 30, 000° acres of: national forest land have been burned over so far this season, according to reports _ to the forest service. This area is an infinitesimal pro- P eetion of the total acreage contained in the 163 forests under Federal supervision. The record encourages the hope that the fire loss this year will be small. Conditions Secs trliie except in ‘the Southwest, it is said, are more 4 thah ordinarily favorable. Four fires are burning on the Coconino forest, Arizona, and during the past two weeks there have been fifty-eight fires on the national forests in Arizona | and New iene: f aR The ‘iia ted methane rae an” aeroplane, with Ais in- e peste bodies of two aviators lying in the ashes, was found recently near Nonancourt, on the railroad from Paris to Granville. The dead aviators were identified as aman named Percin, who was experimenting with a new . monoplane of his own invention, and his son, who had ac- . companied him as mechanic Their aeroplane capsized at ‘a height of 150 feet. Tt £411 and the violence of the impact caused the fuel tank to ex- lode; cig viable to extricate par cuiehies were Miioed t : —_ ea” with a crash to the ground ‘The aviators were pinned beneath the motor, and, th.| lad offered the e girl a reward, but she refused, The Navy Department has received through the De- partment of State a silver loving cup, which the Japanese Government desires to present to the U. S. S. Charleston. It appears that during August, 1910, there was a flood in the City of Tokio, Japan, which caused suffering and hardship among the people. The U. 8. 8. Charleston, in ~ company with the U. 8..S. Saratoga and U. 8. S. New Orleans, was in the vicinity of Tokio at the time of the flood in that city, and the officers and men raised a fund, which was sent ashore for the relief of the sufferers. The incident had been forgotten until the receipt of correspond- ~ ence from the State Department, together with the cup, in which it was stated that the Japanese Government de- sired to present to the Charleston the silver cup. The cup is now on.its way to the Charleston, which is on our ~ Pacific Coast, where it will be placed on wast and “properly cared for. | ae One of the humblest home in Hillsdale, Mich., was made the happiest in the whole country lately when Mrs. Mary J. Welsh, who has been blind for fifty years, recovered her sight. When she was a girl of sixteen her eyes failed until she became entirely blind. In that condition she married and is the mother of eight children: whom. sho never saw until to-day. To make her burden doubly hard, her husband became ill and she was forced to take din washing to support the family. She struggled on until — her children were able to earn some money for them- selyes. Then things became a bit easier for her, but her sightless eyes still ached for a sight of the children. Sev=: eral operations were tried and were unsuccessful. . The sons, now grown up, brought the mother to Chicago, where she was taken to a hospital for treatment. Surgeons examined her and found she, was suffering from a double cataract. She was discharged from the hospital, and ‘two sons and a daughter greeted her. She was taken home .to Hillsdale, where the entire family welcomed her. Seeing that the life of Frank Hanna, a. ay, of Sharon ; Pa., was in danger, as he was being dragged along the toad in a runaway, Frances Heanly sent her horse pase loping in pursuit of the maddened horse and as she reached its side leaped on its back and brought it to a standstill. ¥oung Hanna was not badly hurt. Hanna was: driving home in a buggy when his horse ran -away. endeavoring to stop the animal he became ontanplad’. in the reins api fell from the buggy. His horse started on another spurt and the lad was being dragged’ along the rough road when his predicament was discovered by Miss” Heanly, who was horseback riding along the road. The young woman gave pursuit and within 100 yards over- \ took the runaway. Steadying herself in her saddle, she. leaped to the back of the runaway and after stopping him turned her attention to the boy. ‘The buggy was not broken and she drove the boy. liome.. The. father ys ete r
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20 FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. HAND IN HAND ——0oR— THE LUCKY LEGION By GASTON GARNE (A SERIAL STORY) 2? CHAPTER XI. (Continued). Smith composed himself and drew down the corners of his thin-lipped mouth in a sanctimnonious way. | “Hiram, ’m sorry that you and I should have quar- reled in our old age. It is a pity, for both of us are near the end of life’s hard race.” * . Fairview’s magnate looked at Smith for some moments in amazement. Not for a moment, however, was he de- ceived by this ebullition of sentiment, which he took at ‘its real value. “YT feel that I can afford to make the first overtures toward renewing our friendship,” continued Smith, “in- _asmucli as I have the point of vantage over you financially at the présent time. Hiram, I think you and I ought to be friends.” There was a pause. Then French said, urbanely: “As you have a point of vantage over me financially it would hardly be policy for me to slight your offer of friendship. I suppose that is what you are driving at?” 1 “Well, well,” stuttered Smith, “I—that is—perhaps I am a little too practical. You see, Tam a hard business man, and often look at friendship, perhaps. from a busi- ness basis——” ero. be bought and sold as a commodity in ‘hg mar- ket,’ »” ‘said French. “TI understand you, Smith. You are here to sell me your friendship. Not-that I will purchase, but as a matter of curiosity, what is your price?” si Smith looked hard at the other. It is possible that hey ; ‘misconstrued the mill ‘owner's meaning, and fancied that --he.had really struck the keynote. He was apt to judge others by his own mercenary self. A sufficient sum would always purchase what he ngumned, even to a matter of honor. “Ah!” he reflected. come to terms. I will put it to him direct.” . ~ So he blurted out, confidently : ‘French, we can affiliate upon one condition, and that is that you will give the hand of your agit ‘Myrtle narriage to my son James.” ¥ | ouueran sorne ih i ce Mie OLPMATUM oa Mr. Wiende feats like a states, iene at neil pee. Lai He trembled es pete .|“kindly show this man the door. 'T have him pinched. He will But the next moment he had control of himself. He did not even deign ‘to reply to Smith’s infamous propo- sition. But his right hand .rose and fell upon the button of a — bell. As the note:rang out sharp and clear Roger entered. ) Do not admit him here again.” Smith was so atouten that he could hardly grasp,” the situation, ‘He looked from French to Benton, and a murderous light came into his eyes. ve “Did you hear” my proposition aright, French?” he. : asked. Mr. French had turned his back. Roger héld the door open. Smith hesitated: He looked at Roger and then back to French. Then all the hatred of his soul waite forth. “By the fiends,” he eried, ‘savagely, “you shall come to'terms, Hiram French. 1 will humble you to the dust.) You shall beg at my knees. I shall not offer you my friendship again. Henceforth it is hatred—and_ war to bt the death!” aft Roger unceremoniously bundled the old skinflint “out ied of the office and went back to his desk. After a while Mr. French came out. He was pale and haggard. . He donned his hat and coat and went, out, saying as he did so: “T shall not return again do! day, Roger. close the office and the safe at four o’clock.” “All right, sir,” replied Roger. te At four, 0’ ‘clock Roger closed : the safe, ee dias up the office, started for home. The autumn days were get. , ting short, and the sun was well down as he strolled up the main street of the tow n. The Fairview Bank, of which Smith was president, was on this street, and Roger saw Smith coming down the steps. The, old banker sipeped aL a carriage and. . was driven away. | ike Roger took a casual note of the fact, little droning, an that it was afterward to proye of value. An oe eX ee one one side of the bank. | You. ee i ie a the fu silks fat once. On James Smith and the other was his pal, Tke Shév ri
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i FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. : eins: ‘Not at. present,” replied the banker, coldly. Gt ‘ James Smits face lit up with an evil passion. He — ‘| #rembled with suppressed wrath and hatred. For it was true that, he bore his father no love. “You are an-unnatural parent!” he hissed. “And.I ~ can tell you that you will be sorry for this treatment of © = ‘me. May my acts now rest upon your head. You are rrespohsible for what may happen.in the future, for you have driven me to it. -I shall always hate you, though you are my father!” , what their game was, for he felt sure they, were up to something. “But on second thenght. he rp not to: idol - so, and went home. When Smith and Shaw slunk into the sdley they hud noted Roger, and pausing in the shadows Smith gazed after him, saying: “Did vou se¢ him Jooking at usy Ike? . You don’t sup- pose he is on to us, do you?” 7 Shaw’s keen eyes glittered. “= Tt won't be. well forhim fo ae us!” he déelared. -» “Pye a scoré to settle with him myself. But he is going along. It is all right.” ES ise , Smith drew a breath of relief, “Tm glad of that,” he said.. “Somehow he always has the luck of winning, and he might spoil our plans. You brought along the kit all right?” “Hiverything is hid im that coal shed yonder. You - have found owt the combination ?” i _ “T always knew it like a printed book, but the governor] — ‘don’t suspect that I do. Oh, I tell you, Ikey, there’s ‘a great future before us. Gay Paree and the Riviera.” Monte Carlo is my Mecca.” -. “We'll round up there like howling swells.’ What’s the use of wasting our lives in, such a cow pasture as ‘Fairview? ‘After ell, I shall only be claiming what De: longs to me. Money —money_ is what we. want. > ~ *You bet! V? declared Shaw, biting a big hunk out of a plug of tobacco. “But we don’t, want to be scen around here too much. Tf everything, is all ready- why, not keep dark? I'll be here at twelve-thirty.” | ells right. Pll go home and have one more try. at the ee: et he don’t settle with me then the game CHAPTER XIT. THE BANK ROBBERY. If Egbert Smith had read any significance in, ne part- ing words of .his' profligate son, he might have averted that which followed. But he did not fora moment ‘dream. of any ulterior purpose. rane He smiled sardonically after J ames aie gone," “Ah!” he muttered, with self-satisfaction. “He is really beginning ‘to feel the structure. The punishment — is effectual. I will humble him before Tam renee Seas pest him,” James went to his room, but not 6 sleep. He’ bain a box of cigars and tapped a bottle of wine. “Alternately smoking and drinking, he paced the floor until ‘the “dlock struck the midnight hour, ‘Then he picked up a small gina which aa packed. : -“The time has come!” he muttered. “The ame is. on!” ‘He opened the door | silently and stéle ‘aguas to the front entrance. Slipping: the bolt “— | Oe into the open air. [Ses te ' The street was silent and deserted, 2% mes listen . while, and then stole carefully away in the shado f a short time he reached the alley by the bank. | A low whistle came from the darkness, and ‘he ‘that Shaw was waiting for him. \ ; he two. rogues canultek Smith cack out for er le. entered the house and called for his. supper. He red Bs 3 peer, and learned that he was in the Pees while Ke James htepea ite’ Library cuncere- usly and. accosted his father. ad,” he said, “T want to talk business with fe “banker's ‘thin lips. compressed, = ate have. you to say? 2 he asked, cee am your son, ain't 12?) | ” replied the banker, coldly... tor a moment, he saw a dark form i in the stadow ; a ey a E see. fit to give me ee treatment of a res i ; Well,” whispered Ike, “vou are behind tim I’ve been here all of fifteen Suet s Hie “Well, ’m m here,” retorted Smith. “Yes, - The night watchman is ‘801 to the drug in his “coffee. Se) It seemed that: ‘Shaw had. ae of the en ee vic always ae oe instrument in depriv- te to. social cy sora 88 ie oe oe fAgots upon you ‘as well ‘puller the| 0’
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. FACTS WORTH READING The United States Treasury handled in actual cash ‘during the last. fiscal year $7,071,520,000, breaking all previous records, and exceeding’ the transactions of the previous year by $469,769,000 and those of three years ago by $1,478,826,000. Including bonds, checks and war- ‘rants ihe, Treasury handled over $10,000,000,000 during the year. This amount, which does not include the trans- actions of the sub-treasuries, was handled without the loss of a cent. The receiving teller of the Government took in over the counter $75,353,000 during the year; the paying teller cashed $118,177,000 in checks and warrants; the _ shipping teller sent out $884,518,000, and the “change teller” made “small change” for more than $50,000,000. RESULTS OF THE MAWSON EXPEDITION. ‘The experiences and achievement of Mr. Frank Wild _ and his seven companions, who formed the, second. base of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, have just been : ‘made public. After leaving Mawson and the. main party lat Adelie Land, the gecond detachment sailed. westward along the Antarctic coast, under orders to form a base on Sabrina Land or Knox Land. The former land was found not to exist, and ice prevented access to.Kmox Land. sr Finally the party was landed, with its stores, on a lofty “moving glacier, which Wild thinks was mistaken by Wilkes ‘for “Termination Land. It was named “Shackleton Glacier.” From this base surveys were made all along _ the coast from 101 degrees east longitude, on the east, to ~ the point reached hy the German expedition of 1902 on the west, besides penetrating inward—in one place 50 miles. The main result of these explorations was the dis- covery of a tract of land having 350 miles of coast, and probably extending south to the “pole; which the explorers named. “Queen Mary’s Land.” On an island 65 miles west of the expedition’s base was discovered the largest rookery of Emperor penguins heretofore recorded, Some 7,000 young Emperor birds were found hére, besides innumerable Bs . ordinary penguins. The Mawson .expedition as a whole _ may be said to haye resulted in the accurate delineation of 7 about 1,000 miles of new coastline. x ‘, ates HONESTY IN PRISONERS. Recently a visitor to the Tombs dropped $140, and al- _ though he was pretty sure where he had lost the money he gave up hope of getting it again. Besides, there was a epugnatice to telling how careless he had been when the very surroundings should hay enjoined caution upon him. fh handed it in to the warden. Seems an odd thing to many, e but it is by no means ‘unprecedented. * Once during a visit to Sing Sing a Manhattan politician in an experimental mood left his gold watch and chain on ‘a.work bench in one of the buildings where convicts were engaged in fabric work. He kept a sharp eye out, for he om popece to lose his watch, which had been presented didn’t | Strange to relate, a prisoner found the money and duly to him by admiring associates of a ward club of which he had been president. Aftér ten minutes the politician re- turned and could not find his watch. He had noticed several convicts passing in and out, one of them passing quite near him.» He complained of his loss to the head keeper. The convicts were lined up. One of them, the man who passed close, grihned. “Are you looking for your watch?” he asked. “I certainly am,” said the politician severely. “It’s in your pocket:” So it was. The man who passed close had put it there. He was a clever pick- pocket. He enjoyed the laugh, and then said: “If it had only been gold.” The politician retorted. that it was gold. “Oh, no it isn’t,” said the conviét. “But it was given to me by my club. It is an expensive watch.” The con- vict grinned again. “I know the club,” said, he, “and I ~ know the man they gave the money to buy it. He’s up — here now. He bought a pretty good watch—a good % one—but it’s Plated. fe EXPLORER FINDS PIGMY TRIBE, Captain Cecil G. Rawling, the explorer, has ‘recently given English scientists some interesting accounts of a - new tribe of pygmies, found by his expedition i in ‘southwest Dutch New Guinea. ‘ These little people, known as the Tapiros, average 4 feet 8 inches, in height, They were found living i )4 the low-lying hills of the Kapare River. On the approach — of the white men they ran away, but the expedition. suc- ceeded in capturing ‘three, whose curiosity brought them near camp. At first they were greatly frightened, but . kindness won them over and a few months later the ex- plorers were enabled to establish trading relations, with . the tribe and were allowed to visit and stay in their village - of Wombirmi. This village is hidden ‘away, in the forest high up the mountainside, and was only found after many fruitless attempts, While no open hostility was shown to. the whites, they were not exactly received’ with open arms. Of the’ women and children they saw nothing, but their shrill cries could be heard as they fled up the mountain- side on the approach of a stranger. Deseribing the men, Captain’ Rawling says, taken as a whole, that they are well made and wiry, while their . color is a dark*choeolate. The hair, usually black, but. sometimes with a touch of brown or even red, is worn . short. Many grow beards, the older men ‘dyeing. theirs # red. Like all native tribes, they wear necklets of animal bones and other small possessions. Their only clothe consists of a covering around the loins. _ eTheix houses and surroundings,” says Cannan ‘Hafics Me ing, “are considerably in advance of those. of their large- - framed brethren of the plains. To the list of Negritos, ; which with the Negrillos are the known tribes of pygmies _ inhabiting the earth, must now be added the newly dis. - covered tribe of Tapiros, who, so far as their stature is concerned, take rank next above the Congo pygmies.” 2 re Sa: A tna yd gat ae aaa OI es
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. 88 MARK, THE MONEY MAKER alge acs & nar HOW A SMART ‘BOY GOT RICH By ED. KING (A SERIAL STORY) CHAPTER XVIII (continued) But the lawyer took a different view of the matter. . “The law is peculiar in regard to the rights of adopted children,” he said. “It is easy to set aside a guardianship, but not to break the hold of a foster-parent. I would ad- vise the young girl to make her escape. Liberty will be her advantage, for then she ¢an resist apprehension, and thus bring: the case to ttial, on grounds of defense, which is always a more successful way. Instead of prosecuting her foster-father, he becomes the prosecutor and she the de- fendant.” ; “T will send. her word, » said Mark. “Be very careful, however, that you do not compromise your interests. You must not assume influence.” “No,” replied Mark. “I shall simply report on your ; opinion.” “That is it. Keep strictly non-committal.” On this advice Mark prepared to act. But before he ~ eould- do. so, the affair which almost resulted in a tragedy occurred, Mark always believed it was the hand of Providence which led him to take a late stroll down to the company’s | wharves that night. ‘Tt was as dark as Egypt. A light burned. in Mr. Pauld- ing’s office. The assistant manager often remained there ay until late at night poring over his ledgers. “J will drop in and chat with him,” thought Mark, “a we may walk home together.” ; With this purpose in mind he,turned to go down to the wharf. As he did so, hewas startled to see a couple of nd dark-figures glide from the deep shadows on the other side | of the wharf. Then the light went out in the office, the door clanged, and Mr. Paulding stepped out. : Instantly the dark figures came up swiftly behind him. Mark saw their purpose, and for. a moment his heart stood stil]. Then he shouted: eM, ‘Paulding! Quick! for your life, run.’ The warning caused the assistant manager to turf his head. ‘The two unknown assailants were upon him, and he went down beneath a crushing blow. ‘Then Mark’s eyes saw everything in a red light of frenzy. -. Down he leaped upon the wharf like a tiger. He seized a heavy: loggers’ pole and swung it over his head. It swept the two would-be murderers from their feet. They went down i in a heap and their knives stuck in the whart. But’ iste ‘were pee npn their feet and fled. ‘Mark did not pursue them, : He thought only of Mr, Paulding, who might be ayes 5% from the stab wound’ he had received. Mark ‘kicked open the office door and lit the gas. Then he carried the stricken man into. the place and stretched him upon a settee. He made a swift but careful * examination. lo his joy Mr. Paulding opened his eyes and said: “Tt’s all right, my boy. My arm saved me. It’s only a cut, that’s all. Give me a handkerchief and we'll bind ~ it up.” re This was done. Paulding sat up. “Thank heavens, you were not killed,” declared Mark. “T am so thankful I happened to be down this way.’ lt was fortunate. But for your ery bur would have killed me.’ “What could have been their ieoniee robbers ?” Mr. Paulding seemed mystified. “T cannot imagine,” he said. “I did not know that 1 had a foe in the world.” They looked at each other in the glimmering gas light. Then Mark said with a queer premonition: “T have a horrible suspicion !” is) ae “Ah!” said Mr. Paulding, “I can ‘understand it, 2 tat thought of the same thing. But why did they ningle me out for destruction? I don’t understand it!” + The flow of blood staunched, Mr. G; Were. they fd 4a a ,o CHAPTER XIX, A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST. ‘ It was indeed odd that the attempt at murder should have been made upon Mr. Paulding, as regarded on his and Mark’s point of view. { . Mr. Paulding’s wound was now staunched and he felt quite domfortable; The escape, however, had been a very narrow one. “T don’t understand it,” said Mark. in a mystified way.. “If those ruffians were hired by May to come here they. must have selected the wrong victim.” “Certainly I can see nothing to be gained by them im putting me out of the way,” declared Mr. Paulding.” “Nothing at all.” “Flowever, there is no way of guessing the truth as yet. Such matters usually clear themselves up in a Way will |
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24 FAME AND ¥ OREUNE E W BEKLY. - pte Sask Se —— wait and see what the outcome will be. Well, I feel aul} Tight now, Mark. Let us lock up the office and go home. ~ You don’t think those rascals will return ?” “T hardly think so,” said Mark. “Let us follow your suggestion.” So the office was locked and they left the wharf. | Mark kept a keen lookout in the gloom. But nothing _-more was seen of the would-be assassins. The matter remained a deep mystery. When the board- * ing-house was reached Mr. Paulding said: “Come into my room, Mark. I want to tell you some- thing.” AW rohderinely the young financier Bpayed: They sat he- - fore a cheerful fire, and Mr. Paulding’s face grew pale / and grave. ray ‘sible that the assault upon me to-night may be explained n some incidents-of my past life.” Mark looked curiously at his friend. _“T cannot understand how you could ever win the enmity f any man,” he said. “Ah, the love of gain often drives the man of weak haracter to deeds of desperation and crime,” said Mr. Paulding. “T was once the victim of such a person, and claimed to be my frignd. T must go back into a dim ind: shadowy past, a Pe! which I had buried and hoped ver again to resurrect.” There was something like a choking sob in his voice. ‘e was silent for some’ commen. The fire Capers and deeper shadows. was full eighteen 7 years ee, he said, “and the story am. going to confide to you, Mark, is a secret which I r you will not betray.” Vever!” said Mark, impulsively, art of the city known as the East Side. There in’a wretche tenement lived Shoes Eustace, his wife ane in- daughter. ustaee had come: res ‘Bisigd, banished by his fath- man of great wi ealthy because of his lowly marriage. o the woman he loved, Eustace left England and | ight his fortune in America. he same tenement. dwelt Stephen. Ward, who had a wife| nd son. Ward ‘and Eustace became ‘friends ini poverty. Eustace’s wife died the Wards gave him much agsist- ‘The ® blow was a very hard one for Eustace, but: he soon as he could dard ‘the money to pay his passage,| his juncture word came ‘had died and. Jeft him | al fortune of sixty thou- ds, or about three hundred thousand dollars, ; ice at once 19 return to England. ~ “I have been thinking, Mark,” he said, “and it is pos-| j 6 p ‘| some day find him.” ste “Then let me take you to the slums of New York, to | blow sure this time.” Mark. ya ‘Tt was a hard struggle and aie soar edited. th | from England that Ens-} f h oe luck. lt had the up. But the blow on the head had destroyed his memory and he was unable to tell who he was or where he belonged. “He was taken to an asylum and there spent ten years of a clouded life. Then a kindly surgeon. performed an operation on the skull which restored the unfortunate man’s reason. “Ten years had slipped by. There had heen many changes. The tenements in that squalid Hast Side region ~ held new families... He searched in vain for a trace of Ce Ward. He ransacked 3 city records for a trace of his lost child. a “Next he sought to recover the estate left him by his father’s will. He then learned that a forged transfer of — rights had been filed by Stephen Ward in favor of Eustace’s” child; who inherited the money, ane it had been paid ® ; Ward as trustee. “For. years Eustace searched the country over for a- trace of Stephen Ward. Indeed he is searching yet. But hot the slightest clew can be found.” A deep sigh finished this last remark.: Mark had listened with deep interest. Mr. Paulding’s eyes and asked: eee _ “And Eustace?” ae “Yes,” said Mr, Paulding, quietly. “The man Hustle f is myself. J adopted a fictitious name to aid me in my quest. But I fear it is hopeless.” Mark drew a deep breath. : “That is very strange,” he: said. “Tt! was. certainly me terrible thing for Stephen Ward to do. I howe shat oe Gs He looked fie os i zitnbtict “When I do,” Mr. Paulding’s eyes pamed at; a ae ge light, “there will be a reckoning. I cannot say just what shall do, But it will be a dark hour for the false friend. “So you see, my hoy, my first thought has bee at attempt on my life originated from some su Perhaps 1 have’ heen seen mane recognized by my o He may see his interests peeves aes seck ATS “Tn that case, ies we do w rong to sips Mes. Ba} “Oh, at am not certain that the atiahipted silveaisa E was made by any emissdries of my old-time foe, wh p sibly is dead or in some place far from here by this tim: “Tn that i we may assume that May is) be: @ party.” a, “But if so, why ‘should he seek to. remove 1 “ft may be part of a general plot agai triends, : ’ said. Mark. pes shall be on my gu “ey, ou see, ahs is gé Aiding ancoatiad: at on the yerge of utter ruin. It was.a bad m ing the oil well stock.” “He has brought all his troubles upon himeett> » “Phat 4s: 80.7 1.5 ‘fe j “He deserves richly the ‘tide of evil sure
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. ~ a. 7 FROM ALL POINTS With the opening of the Fali term of the public schools in Passaic, N. J., it is planned that one period during each day will be set aside for pupils to take a bath. This. does not mean that the pupils will be required to take’ a bath every day, but there will be stipulated periods when ¢hil- dren will be led under shower baths and given a thorough : washing. This idea is being promoted ‘by a civic organiza- tion of the city in which there are a number of leading business men and is endorsed by the Superintendent of ~ Schools. An iaepioaive ten times more powerful than dynamite has been discovered. The discoverer is Prof. Darsonvill of the College of France: Important results are expected from it. Prof. Darsonvill has just made his discovery i oe at Leraure. The new explosive gets its force from the liquefaction of gases. It probably will be called Dar- ~ sonvillite, and consists simply of a mixture of lamp. black. Paha liquid gas. Many experiments have been made with it in quarr ies near Paris, and it is said to te been satis- fe factory i in every way. iL LP's To the collection. of. Revolutionary relies in Continental Memorial Hall, Washington, is to be added a walking stick made from one of the timbers of John Paul Jones’ famous old ship the Alliance. The stick will be loaned to “the. collection. by Miss Marion. H. Brazier, of Boston, » Ht iH; s once the, property of Captain U. ‘Shillaber,. who car- ried it on three voyages around the world on sailing ships. He! willed it to his brother, who left it to Mrs. Emina S. ‘lement, of Newton, “Mass. The cane was acquired by he John “Paul Jories Chapter of the aaa ces of the erican Rey olution, last year. eetas f forryboat necessary. Of 170 ‘tons displacement, riple- expansion engines’ giving. 650 horse-power. ‘sheltered ¢ dock... ey “ & Be vain taxers ace much gossip there. am Baers fi mal Of, the. dried apples exported, new type of sees aa has lately hs put in use it the’ port of Hamburg. It somewhat, resembles a craft used in Bngland for a few years’ past, and is characterized the fact that the main deck is movable and can be or lowered by. as | mueh as 15 feet, the deck being @ enough to. ‘carry six large hauling wagons. ‘The ‘ariations in. the tide level at: Hamburg made this w ferry is 120 fect long. and 50 feet wide and car- boat. enters the wharf At comes into. EY oe ane ‘| Europe takes. the bulk of apples, Hoth get | thirty feet high leading to. it, was completed. As soon as the new home in “Poplar Row” was finished, “Billy”: Worthington emulated the Whitesides. Then Fielding Downs, the leader of all things musical at Arden, thought . — he, too, would have one, and one by:-one the colonists de- termined to slumber in the tall timber. None of those _— who have tried the pure oxygen treatment at night in the treetops say they want'to sleep near the ground again. War Department officials have been piaeat in an ein- | cf barrassing position, it became known recently, by a re- quest from agents of the French Government for the assist- - ance of the department’s ordnance bureau in perfecting © the smokeless powder now used by the French army and — navy. <A series of unexplained disastrous explosions in the French magazines aboard: ship and ashore is ‘said to have led to this request, which is unusual in view of the.con- — sistent, efforts made by most nations to.protect the secret ‘of their powder preparations. The War Department buys all of its powder under contract from an American com- ~ pany, and this corporation has protested vigorously against — the disclosure of its trade secrets to a foreign government, asserting that, from patriotic motives, it had previously — rejected overtures from this foreign government to sell a powder or to establish a powder factory 1 in Brance,.. Fruits are a rapidly growing Hale in ae devoting ‘anager jase of the United Statés. The value of fruits and nuts passing» a through the Custom Houses of the United States in the — fiscal year just ended approximates $90,000,000, and is. Fie twice as great as that of a decade ago.. The exports of the — fiscal year 1918 amount to $37,000,000, speaking in round terms, against $18,000,000 in 1903, a densa earlier; and — the imiports approximate $42,000,000 against" $24,000, 000 — in 1903. These figures do ‘not’ inelude the trade with | Hawaii and Potto Rico, which sent to continental Uniter States over $6,500,000 worth of fruits and nuts durin the last. fiscal year. Fruits exported are. chiefly a ea eesabe raisins dans oranges, and | couh Prath the haa Of the nt 000, 000 fruits exported during the year, apples alo about $11,000, 000 in value, of which. ab were in their natural state and. about having taken in 1912, from which period com are, an hand, over four- fifths of a abu : fae taken, in 1912, “82, "750, against $750,000 by Canada,
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. Batic and Fortune Weekly! NEW YORK, AUGUST 15, 1915. TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS BI PIOCODIES. er ceys.c iis yar caesedhs Meneses bevetvenbabecsie +05 Cents One Copy Three Months . als ea Yr .65 Cents One Copy Six Months. 0.25) ..eccsewenecssenecsceeseccse $1.25 EOD PONG VOAr Si, icy nc sabes cua ele sale caledieswrnvee $2.50 Postage Free, HOW TO SEND MONEY—At our risk send P.O. Money Order, Check or Registered Letter; remittances in any other way are at your risk, Wo aceept Postage Stamps the same as-cash, When se nding silver wrap the Coin in a separate piece of paper to avoid cntting the envel- ope. Write your name and uddress pluwinly. Address letters to : Sincrain Tovsaxy, President Frank Tousey, Publisher ’ N. Hastings, Treasurer . 4 168 West 23d St., N. Y. _Cuas. EK. NYUANDER, Secretary BRIEF BUT POINTED ITEMS Count von'Zeppelin is building his largest dirigible with a view to crossing the Atlantic to the United States in the late summer. He expects to make the trip in from thirty to’ sixty hours’ time. German warships are to he distributed along the course m0 assist the airship in case os 3s obliged to descend. * “tthe Paris fire department intends to double the eapacity afforded by its present ‘automobile fire engine, by the use*of fifteen automobile fire pumps which will “be of a lighter design; than the ones already in use. The new engines will carry six men instead of fifteen. On _ the wagon truck is mounted a 100-gallon tank so as to afford an immediate water supply for the hose so. that a stream can be put,on the fire at once, while the ¢on- nection is being made with the fire plug. This type of light engine is especially intended for fighting moderate- sized fires during the daytime. The number, of automo- Si Diles pee by the chief firemen is also to iy increased, a Phy pied that all her animal pets might be cared for Mrs. Edith “Rogers Gallatly, of 34 West Fifty-seventh _ street, New York, who died on July 17 at Westport, Conn., _ provided in her will, which was filed recently, iat all her _ stock in the Paterson & Ramapo Railroad and in the - Paterson & Hudson River Railroad should be used “for ' the joint and several benefits of such horses and dogs as I may die possessed of. The interest alone is to be used to provide the animals with a good home and ‘the _ surplus, if any, to be added to the principal, and on the death of the last surviving animal to be given to the American Society for the Prev ention of Cruelty to Animals, -as.a trust fund, the interest 4o be used each year to e cruelty to animals and provide homes for the same.” mies . POUT rT NE TS if Sa aaa / us a, Gecras B. Cortelyou, president of the Consolidate Gas Company, of New York, stood at a silver mounted contact, key three hundred feet beneath the surface of the Bronx River the other afternoon and sent an electric spark into -a charge of dynamite which lifted the last’ stone barrier from the new Astoria tunnel. William H. Bradley, chief ngineer, stood at his side. . Mr..Cortelyou led a party of forty mi men, . down into the tannel to witness the final opening. Hach was clad in high top boots, rubber coats and rubber hats. As Mr. Cortelyou touched the contact key deafening echoes of the heavy blast boomed through the underground passage.’ Down the dimly lighted cor- ridor a great wall of'rock trembled and fell in fragments. The blast welded another link between Long Island and New York City.. The Astoria tunnel, through which two gas mains, each six feet in diameter are to be laid, was begun in the summer of 1910. It lies.at a depth of 246 feet, is one mile long, 21.feet high and 19.feet 9 inches wide. The Bronx shaft is at Port Morris and the Queens at Astoria. Engineers look on:the Astoria tunnel as a marvelous piece of work because of difficulties overcome in the 400-foot “trouble zone,” and because only two work- “ men. lost their lives. JOKES AND JESTS. - Madge—How proud Mame is. since she ordered her bicycle. Tom—Well, you know, pride goes before a fall. Mrs. Welment—Poor fellow! Have you.no. friends? Beggar, (sobbing) —N 0, sp suk hpie'y i ave bat relatives. ty ee Smithers—Do you, think Charley. Latewatete: joke are all original ? Nubbins—Yes ; they are ‘t00 ites to be \ borrowed from anybody else. “How many more times have I:to tell you I-den’t want — a cab? I want to walk.” | “All right, sity put yer bag inside and run behind.” 7 sie g SB TRG een Angry Father (to his son)—You never saw me octane: inte a scrape like that when I was a boy. * Pippant™ Son— No, I don’t think I ever did. Correspondent—I should like to write for your paper. You want the manuscript sheets blank om one side, don’t you? Managing Hditor—On both sides, if you Please. hee _ “What you need is a warmer climate, Mr. Grumpey,” said the doctor in his most Pens tone: ~ “I guess | 1. youll get me there all right enough,” was the ungracious response, t aaa hes! “Slingink has got out a new book—‘Poets and Poetry. of Patagonia’ ” “Why, he doesn’t know anything about Patagonia.” “Neither do the people to whom he sells his book.” fed fies “Yes, I need a clerk,” said the hotel proprietor in reply to an applicant for that place; “but have you ever held such a situation?” “Yes, sir,’ was the replys 7ST ae” thoroughly inn-experienced.” Pama tveey ats fablyht fs f Haas our ei gasereudlh is saneala; of course ‘you’ wit 4 return that diamond ring? -She—Mr. Styles, you said Ty ; was a peach the day you gave me that ring. Well, if I am a peach of the clingstone als Ss Pil kee the ere: ne raat a oA Ge 4 0) age t
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FAME. AND FORTUNE WEEKLY. W A.COMBAT IN THE DARK.. By Kit i eee: knock. No: ‘answer. It: began i be evident that for onee the old man was away from home. Still, I could go no further that night. I must try to’ get in somehow. .And so I turned the knob, but ones T was living in Calcutta at the time, says a writer, and| the door locked was about to give up, when my hand acci-! was the one American in a firm of Englishmen who were doing business with the interior on quite an extensive seale. Twice a year, for several years in succession, | went on long journeys which took me several hundred miles inland, and often into very wild portions of the country, but after the first two or three trips I became so accustomed to the people with whom'I had to deal and the roads I had to traverse that I lost all fear of either. /I would scarcely take the pains to go armed: Indeed, on one of my trips I made the entire round with not even a pistol, but the other members of the firm objected to what they considered a needless exposure of my life. After that I carried a pair of 45-caliber pistols at my saddle, but TI -really had aa i slightest relat ae of ever using them. ; I had been sala all ag among a ridge that ran like | a backbone from near the coast to a good. many miles up inthe country.:, I had overtaken an acquaintance along in _\ the afternoon and we journeyed on very pleasantly together _ for several hours. Toward sunset we noticed that-all the Sky was getting lighted up with a great jungle fire off to our right, but,that, was a matter of too common occurrence to bear more than a passing comment.. We would not have mentioned it at all, probably, but for two or three smal wild animals that ran across our path, driven out of their dens in the jungle by. the fire, “By the way, where will you pass the night?” my com- -panion asked me, as the brief Indian twilight began to lagen zi mentioned, the name of a curious old Scotch hermit, McGowan chis name was, who lived a little way off the main road, and whom I had visited before; but my companions declared that he must positively reach, the next town that night. He urged me to go on with him, hut the et next town was five miles. further on, and I was desperately be Otiped.. Besides, I wanted to see old McGogan. So at the turn of the road I reluctantly bade my friend adieu and “rode off my own way. Never in all my experience of the country had the twi- his light seemed quite so brief. Before I could think, almost, it was dark, and the red glare of the jungle fire in the éky, away to the-east, only served to make the darkness my more confusing. The consequence was that in about ten minutes I was lost. I concluded that I had turned off from the main road too soon. Then I tried to. go back and start over again, and I couldn’t find the main road. It is needless to say that I grew more and more confused, and that in a-very short time that fire even had skipped ‘around, and was‘in.an entirely different quarter, and that - the very tars had changed positions, ata were not to be relied on in the least. And then all at once, in some unexpected way, I came up with McGowan’ 3 house. I was so overjoyed that I sent cheery “Hello!” on before me by way of greeting, but thing but the echoes answered it. My horse snorted and tremely restless and uneasy but I took his saddle off Bis and ned him. into the little inclosure, as I had done on ormer votesicim, and going up to the door I gave a. loud -| enemy. dentally touched the key. the outside. I was certain then that McGowan could nat, be far away, and that he would be back presently; so I unlocked the door and went in without further ceremony,! closing the door after me, and throwing my saddle down, beside it, with my pistols still in the holsters, . “ [ had been sitting there as much as twenty minutes, I should think, when I.was startled by a sound that, faint The door had been locked on, as it was, made me jump as though it had been a thunder-| _ } clap. It was only the moving ofa chair over on the other; — side of the room. knew that it did not move by itself. “Hello, McGowan!” I exclaimed, turning in the = ttt tion of'the sound. “Is that you, after all? Didn't you shear me calling you when I came in?” ‘There was no an- swer, and everything was deadly still. ° For several minutes It rattled so slightly, sa we course I}. T almost held my breath, listening. It was not that Theard anything. I felt, rather, that I was not alone in the room. * And when, presently, I heard a soft footfall, my heart jumped into my mouth. had been in all my life. I was in the dark, locked in with I was worse frightened than I . somebody or something; a terrible ghostly presence that = filled me with dread. pa If I could only have reached my. siatsha-ie ‘ee. wea ates in the saddle holsters, over by the door, and that footfall — I stood perfectly still, ee: drawn up against the wall, afraid to move hand or foot. I had sounded in that direction. had turned cold, and was in the midst utterly helpless con- dition that had ever come upon mie in all my life. Listen- ing intently as I was, my senses were quickened | until Lig could hear sounds that would have made no impression on me under ordinary circumstances. In a little while I heard Sd that stealthy step onlyea little distance away, between’ me ‘and the’ corner of the room. Hurriedly I stole away, in- ‘ voluntarily tiptoeing and trying to be as stealthy as my my hand on another table, and there my anger fell nigon ns a match. Rie ae It may be imagined how I grasped it, and with what care I struck it, and when it was once fairly burning oes raised it up and. looked across the room to where—heayen and earth—the match fell from my hand and went out, leaving me in the dark with the largest Bengal soa I had ‘ ever seen! And, feeling my way thus about the room, I put _ My heaz t beat so loudly I oould hear it distinctly, ‘a ibe for a little while it was the only sound in the room. Then the stealthy gliding and the grim pursuit began again, and here and there I went, always trying to keep as far'as pos- sible from the terrible creature that was circling: around the room. My condition was such a desperate one that I. did not even think of any hope of escaping. Lhad even. forgotten all about my pistols until, happening to touch ‘ the. saddle with my foot, I remembered them. stooping, I snatched one of the pistols from the holster, ‘deep growl greeted the movement, and a sound followed any o% Hastily u :
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FAME, AND FORTUNE -WEERLY: = . waited, the animals.as they went off the stage, The monkeys were kept in a large cage, and this had always been looked after by Mis. Samwells, she taking the ~ animals out and returning them to‘the cage when her hus- band was through with them. During the last part.of the performance the largest ape was dressed like a lady, and rode about the stage in a little phaeton drawn by one of . the dogs. When the ape was sent on the stage by Mrs. Samwells, it was rather sullen, and at first refused to get into the vehicle. It showed its teeth every’ time its master ap- proached, but was at last induced to ae its seat in the ‘phaeton., ‘ The professor patted it on the head ae then stooped to adjust the harness on the canine steed. Then quick as ~~ a flash the cunning brute sprang from the:vehicle and fastened its long tusks in’ his wrist, driving them clear to the bone. In an instant the house was in an uproar, women — screamed, and strong men turned their heads aside as the maddened brute bit and tore at the man’s arm, while his screams for help ran through the building. “Grace, Grace, take win: off; he is killing me,” ever Samwells to: his wife. Mrs. Samivells, who was holding another huge ape in her arms, threw the animal from het and rushed | on the stage to her husband’s assistance. She seized the big ape by. the throat and tried with all her strength to choke the beast in order to open its jaws, but. she miglit as well have tried to strangle a Bengal tiger. She then did what few men would have done, thrust her hand into’ the brute’s mouth and by a stperhuman effort wrenched the terrible jaws apart. It was just at instant that the ape which Mrs, Samwells had left i wing sprang op the stage, as if to the assistance comrade. There was a cry of “look out for the: other o and the next instant the newcomer had seized the Ww by the left hand and driven his sharp tecth clear thro it. Samwells, now free from the grasp of the first mons rushed to aid his w ife, but he could render but little a is ance, as both his hands, vere almost torn to pieces. * f At this moment several men rushed on the ae) the fierce brutes were beaten into insensibility Seite and pieces of board torn from the scenery. The vi im were carried from: the stage, and as soon as” the wagon arrived were taken to the Receiyi ing Hospit Dr. Simpson, who was in attendance, f jman’s left thumb was almost torn trom’ t tendons were complete! y severed, and there wounds, reaching. from the tips of the fin ‘the wrist, “The wounds made by the anima as if they had been inflicted by a ‘tiger, so. ; ; ~ | flesh torn. and lacerated. Every one of the wounds af ais Wigwam Theatre witnessed an excit- be sewed up, and after this was done and the dress San. Francisco. some years ago, and it was| plied Mrs. Samw ells was attended to. ak was Be ea gramme. It was a fight in which a ee amie. as her husband, a battle for their lives against a) couple it was a by t the courage and ] ‘PRE But the shock did not come. I was to endure the agony ' of suspense still longer. Again the gliding motion began, signaled by soft footfalls, or by Rete: and there the slight moving of a chair, as the tiger touched it in passing. This kept up until I felt that it would be utterly. impossible — to endure it longer. I was a good shot, and, what is better, “a quick one. I resolved to fire the pistol into the room, and, having located the tiger by the first flash, to give him _ the benefit of the other barrels. It was a desperate chance, but if ever a man was justified in taking desperate chances I was at that time. I was near the corner of the room. _1 got.up into the corner and*braced myself against the . ‘wo walls and fired. The flash showed me the tiger almost ' in the nfiddle of the room, with body lowered and -cruel head nearly touching the floor. I never will forget the a picture photographed in my mind by that one flash of _ light. Before one could think, almost, [ had followed that es first shot with two others, directed straight at that terrible ‘ereature in the middle of the room;- but then the tiger sprang upon me, bearing mé@ to the Hoor as though I had! been a baby, and crushing my left shoulder and arm with its terrible teeth. But even as.I fell 1 had presence of mind enough to empty the pistol into its body as it crouched upon me. And by some fortunate chance one of those shots struck some vital ae and with a savage cry Brkcee myself against the wall, held my pei ready and | assistants,remained-in the wings, ready to take charge of te BS sent 2 OQ" f a ge ® ou © a5 2 tq ae 8 B @ - a swoon. “When Ls sabes to consciousness von of ‘people—McGowan and the man who ith me and a crowd of men from the 'next ! Bere lay stretched upon the floor i ina pene. had been aientod to. “The fire drove ‘the ut o’ the jungle, so when Iecame in from work and n my house) I locked him in there and went What oe did you have to-lock yourself up with same ‘brute ‘hind hisatad her. husband. | “hey were | ho ing in San Jose on Th hankagiving Day) and ; _| parade the brute oR ang at Samw ells while he, ars s undress
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aS FAME AND FORTUNE, WEEKLY. - 29 A world’s golfing record was established in the elimina- ' tion play of the Western championship tournament at _ the Homewood Country Club, Chicago, the other day, by | E. P. Allis, 3d, of Milwaukee. . Allis holed out in one ' from the first tee, the first time in recorded annals 6f the - game that such a feat has been accomplished at the dis- _ tance—290 yards. Allis’ drive was perfect, according to _ experts, who said the ball would not have rolled six inches - further had it missed the cup. Tt is reported that four large battlée-cruisers are to’ be laid down this year in the Russian yards, and that they will be among the largest of their class in existence, each _ ship being of 30,000+tons displacement and driven. by turbines of 75.000 horse-pow er. Aiso eight torpedo- boat ~ destroyers of the largest size,‘ similar in design to the > “Novik,” are’ being built, the hulls ‘in Russia and the a farbines by the Vulean Company of Hamburg. These -. ships will be’ of 1,280 tons displacement and will be de- signed for 35 knots. The “Novik” made 36 knots on trial and is to-day the fastest ocean vessel afloat. + David J. Smith and William Duncan, fishermen of New ‘Castle, Del., had an hour's fight with a man-eating shark ‘an.the middle of Delaware Bay, near Ship John Light- house, the other day. ‘The two men were fishing for sturgeon, which are worth $200 each, when they saw their net sinking, and, drawing it in, found a twelye-foot shark entangled in it. Smith thrust a large hook into the huge’ fish ayers times. ‘he shark then tried to’ bite hrough the hull of the boat, but its teeth broke off. - Smith again imbedded the hook in the fish, and it thrashed about so savagely aie aw ay. people in Sie, pa live in sheet naatety that ‘the ions of tons of rock and earth above them will fall on the town. ‘The authorities have ordered the in- habitants of the dangér zone to move temporarily. seat have eee “posted on neighboring ee con- le. See “Deep. fa mae are fee Hae at “he of ve mountain i in the Aes oF arresting the has ter the opening of the Panama : Canal, 2 said niels, Secretary of the Navy, during a stop in: j lantic fleet throvgh the eanal. competent authorities assure us, are fit for the table.. Paar Eee jof fish ries Norway to the countries about ‘She Met A ds sitorabi portion of the- ‘Atlaaite Heal will be ferred to the Pacific Coast for permanent duty. ute caeee en, route from saa to Los et to be a A: nensonable ea bus both = ie and fish ha GOOD READING ——$<——_ ——. We are planning at present to leave a considerable portion of the fleet in Pacifie waters for permanent duty. Plans to this effect are being made because we consider the Pacific Coast the great - frontier of America, and its development is one of the most important factors confronting the nation to-day. © Facing the coast is the Orient, with tts millions. of people and wonderful trade possibilities. “There is more popula- tion facing the Pacifie Coast than any other boundary of » the nation. ‘The importance of the Western coast. has long been underestimated.” Wire-glass is said to be both burglar-proof and_fire- proof. In the first case, the wire netting embedded in its ~ center cannot, it is claimed, be broken or cut noiselessly, so that entrance by means of doors or cellar coverings of | this material by thieves is rendered difficult, if not im- possible. Such glass is, however, more oftert employed for — fireproofing than for other purposes, and it enters largely into the construction of elevator doors,’ partitions, win- dows, ete. One expert, who has tested wire-glass up to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit, keeping it at this’ high tem-— peaiee for halfsan hour at a.time, states that at the first rush of heat the glass crackles, but that the netting holds it together so that flames cannot pass through. It will, it seems, hold flame up to the melting-point, which is different in different kinds of glass, since some melt at 1,000. degrees and others withstand 2,000 degrees success- ee fully. When a stream of water is ‘tumed on wire-glass that has melted almost to the, running point, it immediately solidifies, so that it is.a material well suited for elevator. shafts, where a sudden rush of flame would ee Piresik glass and admit cote to all sie ee ifs 5 Much has been said with veferenc’ to the eae in nature to. the wants of mankind. Another point of view shows the same facts as evidence that man has adapted — himself to the varying conditions of life. An exception to what is regarded as a general law is found in the dis- tribution of shes! It is observed that in the warm waters of the Nile, for instance, fish of many kinds abound, but — that they are all of poor quality. “Indeed, the same might be said of the fish in all warm _waters.. Very few varieties, Now, it happens to be the case that in hot climates the. lighter sorts of food are most in demand, The human ‘system does not need in the tropics the smoke that so largely compose the food of men in colder regions. The sen: ng sy on commerce. . Where the fish. was of aod qu lity the population was scanty, and, on the other hand, the population was numerous the fish was poor. It s ems
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Serre FAME AND FORTUNE: WEEKLY, : ae ARTICLES OF ALL KINDS % a ig , rr The army dirigible « Schtette-Lanz ‘was.’ completely wrecked, one soldier was: killed and’ one fatally injured ' when, the huge airship. broke from its anchorage, near Schneidemuehl the other day. The big dirigible, whieh is of the new type; 500 feet long, broke away from its moorings when the sun caused an expansion of the gas: Two soldiers, who were on sentry duty, rushed’ to the ropes when the Schuette-Lanz began to break away. As they struggled to make the ropes secure the soldiers be- came..entangled and as the balloon arose they were carried up with it. At a height of 200 feet the men held on desperately to the ropes, but were finally shaken ‘off. One _ was dead when picked up and there is no hope for the recovery of the other. The big dirigible. cruised for an hour without a*crew or pilot before it came down. it fell in a forest and was wrecked. : a bonup Sitve IN A SOLID‘ STONE WALL. - The identity and fate of a young girl who was’ walled up and left to die in a building near Barcelona, Spain, has caused the Spanish authorities to institute a rigid in- et vestigation. The: altair was made public through the state- ment inade’ ‘by “Esteban Gutierrez, a stonemason; who tells a thrilling ‘story of how he was compelled, at. the — of a revolver, to do the work, Gutierrez declares that, after he had advertised in a hewspaper for work, two well-dressed men called’ at his address and asked him to accompany them in a motor car into the country a short distance to make yome urgent re- pairs. : Reaching : a dense woods on the ssatakines of the city, the two men and a chauffeur seized, ‘bound and blindfolded . the stonemason, and a few minutes. ps the car stopped in front of a lonely house. The mason declares he was led inside and ordered to wall up a narrow aperture, the stone and mortar being in readiness. Gutierrez says’ he heard some one sobbing, and, tearing the bandage from his eyes, he saw a young - girl, bound with ropes and wedged in the aperture. He was promptly Amocked. down by his captors, and, fs when he! arose was ordered to build a wall so as to enclose the girl, andewhen he refused was threatened with re- volyers. The mason declares that, at the points of the guns, he was compelled to wall up ‘the young girl, after which the car conveyed him to the woods several miles ~ away, when he was unbound, given $20 in silver and - warned not to*speak of the incident. Lost, he wandered seyeral hours before he was discovered by a. woadarhas, ant sign Barcelona, he went, at once to the police. | 4 eat : 1 3 : ) 1 AMERICAN SHOES EVERYWHERE. What boots it if other nations of the world export their Then} ‘shoes?’ Uncle Sam certainly has a walkover everywhere: he ‘sends fia own. ‘asi, ae has alt: ponies by the heels, as: ait. Yankee : shoes can be had. were, when it comes to footwear to sell.» American shoes are just as common in ‘Hong Kong as they are in Piceadilly ; you can buy good ones at the general store*in the Australian bush. or pick up a pair in Chile or Cape Town. - At some far distant point Yankee shoes seem to be the sole import. Americah footgear* brings the highest prices in’ Aus- tralian cities. Shoes that fetch $5 in New York cost $11 there. Makes retailing in the United States at $2.50 and $3.50 are priced at $6.50 and $7.50 in the Antipodean con- tinent. Though the tariff favors English-made shoes there by 14 per cent. and Australian- made shoes can be had from $2.50 to $4.50, American shoes go like hoteakes to those who can afford.to pay the higher price. Wages have gone up in ‘Chile, and this always means an added demand. for shoes. ports froin Santiago, the imports of American shoes are now abnormal, especially among the better grades. No other shoe exporting country is in our class-in Chile, > So it goes in Switzerland. One of the most popular imports,there of American manufacture is shoes, and each year the demand is greater. The general’ use of motor cars, motorcycles and bicycles has rendered obsolete, the heavy. footwear once in vogue in Switzerland and ‘the lighter, more.eomfortable, better fitting and far more stylish American shoe is supplanting home makes. , Only a few. years ago a rarity, now all, the better class of shops in Switzerland Aisplay Uncle Sam’s shoes and advertise them as “American.” Only the more conservative styles were bought at first, but now the latest Broadway and Fifth | avenue shapes go just as well under the shadow of the Alps as they do in the streets of skyscraping New York. Our shoes are in brisk dewiand in the: Netherlands. and ay cost about 30 per cent, more than they do here. So clever are the Dutch in imitating, however, that they make their own shoes in their factories and label them “American, u Poor Uncle Sam has no redress. “The reputation of American shoes in Hungary,” write Deputy Consul General ~ Kemeny at Budapest, “is good and it is fashionable to wear them now.” he Hungarians use 4bout $1,000,000 of — our shoes every year and would buy more if their middle mén could get their stocks on the same terms as European houses sell. The sale of American shoes in ‘Budapest is in he ae ‘of a few men who-can afford to buy goods. for cash.’ The — consequence is that they make prices as high as they think people ate able to pay. The pair of shoes in America for $2.50 wholesale costs there from $5 to $7 retail, In most places in France American shoes have the call. ‘In ‘fact, if they are designated as of Yankee , make Oe ‘means general excellence and the chance of a better price for the retailer. Lasts that are popular in the United States , are all the go with Johnny Crapaud and even ultra fashions are to'his liking. American rubber, storm slippers and sandals are also widely use. ees ‘As: for London, there are plenty of shops. where a According to consular re- * wt ig
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ITCH POWDER. | Gee whiz! What fun4 yeu can have with this stuff. Moisten the tip of your finger, tap {t on the contents ef the box, and a’ little bit will stick. Then shake hands with your friend, or drop. a speck down nis back, In a minute he will feel as if he had the % seven yoars’ itch. It will inake him .eeratch, roar, squirm and make faces, .3ut it is perfectly harmicas, ag it is made from the seeds of wild roses. Tha. horrible {{tch stopa in a few minutes, or can be checked immediately by rubbing the spot with a wet cloth. While it is working, you will b@ apt to laugh your suspender buttona eW@. The best joke of all, Price 16 cents a hex, by niall, pestpaid. WOLKF NOVELTY CO.,, 29 W. 26th St. N. ¥. ; eae anne GOOD LUCK BANKS. Ornamental as well aes useful, Made of highly nickeled brass, It held just One Deliar. When filled «t opens itself, Remains locked until refilled. Can be used as a watchcharm. Money refund- ed if net satisfied. Price, We. by mail. L. Senarens, 347 Winthrop St., Brooklyn, N. Y, CAGHOO OR SNEHZING POWDER. The greatest fun-malner of chem all, A small ameunt of this powder, when blown in 4 roem, will cause everyone to sneeze without - anyone knowing: where: it comes from. It is véry light, witl float in the air for some time, and penotrate every neck and cerner of 4 room. It is perfecttly karm- leas. Cachee is put up in bottles, and ene bettle contains enough to be used from 10 te 1p times. Price, by mil, 10c. each; 3 for 25a, WOLFE NOVELTY CO., 29 W. 26th St., N. ¥, X-RAY WONDER - This’is a wonderful Httle optics! illusion. In use, you apparently sae the bones in =your hand, the hole in @ = pipe-stem, the lead in a pen- ram Cll, Cte, The principle on “ Tas Ox. With them you can form a checker ‘ board—that is, if you know how. ‘The trick is to do it, and a tougher job you never tackled. Several other interesting combinations are possible. Get a box and see, how many you can do. Price 12 cents each, by mail, postpaid. “. F, LANG, 1815 Centre St.. B’klyn, N. ¥, Ne \ WHISTLEPHONE This is one of the greatest musical in- struments ever Invent. ed. It is made entirely of metal and is almost invisible when in use. 1) With it, in a few mo- “ ments, you can’ Jearn 4 to play all kinds of tunes, have lots of fun, please and amuse your friends and make some money, too. Fine for either song or piano’ accompaniment. or by Jtself alone. You place the whistlephone in the mouth with half circle out, place end of tongue to rounded part and blow gently as if to cool the lips. A few trials will ena ble one to play any tune or air, A Price 6 cents exch by mail, post-paid MI. F, LANG, 1815 Centre St., B’kiyn, N, Y. ee BLACK-EYE JOKE. New and amusing joker, The victim is told to hold the tube close to his eye so as to exclude all light from the back, and then to remove the tube until pictures appear in the center. In trying @ to locate the pictures he will re- i ceive the finest black-eye you ever saw. We furnish a small box of blackening preparation with each tube, so the joke can be used in- i definitely. Those not in the trick | : will be caught every time. Abso-~ lutely harmless. Price by mail 15e. each; 2 for 25e, "i WOLFF NOVELTY CO., 29 W. 26th St.. N. ¥. aha te se to; swim by one. trial rye Price 25 cents, Postpaid These rateraN age take up nO more room thana pocket-hankerchief, They walgh 8 ounces and sup- port trom 50 to 250 pounds, With a pairanyons can 14¢41rD LO swim Or fogs. For uge, you have only to wet them. blow themup, and press together the two ting marks under the monthpiece; Sa ‘ ML F. LANG, 1815 Centre St., Bklyn, NM, ¥. ae jay You can conquer ‘OBACCO HABIT Misra improve your hea'ch, prolong your life. No more stoma trouble, no foul breath, no heart weakness, “Regain manly vigor, calm nerves, clear eyes and superior mental strength, Whether you chew; or smoke pipo, ef rettes, cigars, get my in+ tereating Tobacco Book. Worth its weight in gold, . Malled tr E. J. WOODS, 634 Sixth Ave.,228 G, New York, N. ¥. MWickel-platey 5 in. long, Wizard Repeating oe LIQUID PISTOL = ae Will stop the most vic- lous dog (or man) with« out permanent injury, 3 Perfectly safe to carry without danger of leakage, Fires and recharges py pulling the trigger. Load i , Taripicenocctnn is from any Liquid. No Over six shots in one loadi All dealers, or by mail, 6Qe. Pistol with rubber OOF: ered holsier, 54a. Holsters separate, 10c. Send money order. No postage stamps or coins accepted. PARKER, STEARNS & CO., 273 GEORGIA AVE, BROOKLYN, 4. ¥ ee NOISY HANDKERCHIEF. A great deal of amusement may be had with this little article. It imitates the blow- ing of the nose exactly, except that the noise is magnified at least a doze times, and sounds like the bass-horn ing ~ German band. This device ig — used by simply placing it between the teeth and blowing. The harder the blow the louder the noise. “Price, 10¢e. each by mail, post ads WOLFF NOVELTY CQ., 29 W. 26th St., R 7 a THE AUTOPHONE. A. small musical instru ment that produces very Sweet musical notes by ~ placing it between the lips with the tongue over the edge, and blowing gently into the instrument. The — notes produced are not: unlike those of the fife and flute. We send full printed instructiong whereby anyone can play anything they can hum, whistle or sing, with — very little practice, Price, 10¢c.; 8 for 25e., mailed, postpaid. pe C. BER, 150 W. 62d St., New York City. — ELECTRIC PUSH BUT. TON.—The base is made of maple, and the center piece of black walnut, tha are thing about 1% inches | diameter, with a met hook on the back so that it may be slipped over edge of the vest pocket. Expose — to view your New Electri : Bell, when your friend wil ‘Push the button expecting to hear it rin As soon as he touches it, you will see some the liveliest dancing you ever witnessed. - The Blectric Button is heavily charged and will give a smart shock when the button is pushed, : Price 10c., by mail, postpaid. - WOLFF NOVELTY CO., 29 W. 26th Gt. N.Y, f
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serrTir RIP's TEN -PINS. m each set there are e ten pins and two bowl- . ing balls, packed in & beautifully oriamented UY box. With one of these miniature sets you can dining-room table just gees @s well as the game can be played In a regular alley. Every game known to professional bowlers can be worked with these pis. Price, 10c. per box by mail. postpaid. j play ten-pins on your M. F. LANG, 1815 Centre St., B’klyn, N. ¥. DUPLEX BICYCLE WHISTLE. This is a double whistle, pro- ducing loud but very rich, har- monious sounds, entirely differ- ent from ordinary whistles. It ig just the thing for. bicyclists or sportsmen, its peculiar double and resonant tones at once at- tracting attention. It is an im- ported whistle, handsomely, nickel plated, and will be found a very useful and handy pocket companion. Price, 10c.; 3 for 25e.; one dozen, V5e., sent by mail, postpaid, WOLEF NOVELTY CO., 29 W. 26th S@.. N. ¥. F a les of BUBBLE BLOWER. With this device, continuous ser s bubbles can be blown. “a It is a wooden, cigar- shaped blower, encas- yaks ing a small vial, in r © which. there is a piece Ny f of soap. The vial is filled with water, and a peculiarly perforated cork is inserted. When you blow in to the Mouthpiece, it sets up a hydraulic pressure _. through the cork perforations and causes. _ ‘bubble after bubble to come out. No need of ee Sian ine. into water once the little bottle is Milled. Price, 10c. each by mail, postpaid. ©. BEMR, 150 W. 62d St., New York City. HALF MASKS. False-faces beaten a mile! There are 7 in a set and represent an Indian, a Japanese girl, a clown, Foxy Grandpa, an Hnglish Johnny Atkins and an Automo- bilist. Beautifully lithographed in handsome colors on a durable quality of cardboard. They have _ eyeholes and string perforations. Price, 6c. each, or the full set of | 7% for 25c.. vostpaid M, Y. GALLIGAN, 419 W. 56th St., N. ¥. MYSTIC PUZZLE ' The newest and most novel puzzle on the market. It consists of a flat piece of wood 1% x38 inches, neatly covered with imita- tion leather. The 2 : cross-bar and ring in the hole are nickel-plated. The object is to get the small ring off the bar. It absolutely k mot be done by anyone not in the secret. More fun to be had with it than with any other puzzle made. It is not breakable and | can be carried in the vest pocket, § Price 10 cents each by mail, post-paid HL F. LANG, 1815 Centre St.. i’klyn, N.Y. TABLE RAISING TRICK : The most mystifyin wtrick ever done by a magician. The per- former shows 9 plain light table. He places o his hand flat upon its any top. The table clings to his hend as if glued there. He may swing at in the air, but che table will not leave hig - hand until he sets it on the floor again. The table ean be inspected to show that there are Mo strings or wires attached. sah Price 12 cents each, by mail, post-paid MV. ‘GALLIGAN, 419 W. 56th Bt, N. ¥. eo Pia MUSICAL SEAT ; The best joke out. You can have more fun than ‘a circus, with one of these novelties.. All you have to do is to place one on ‘a chair seat (hidden under a cush- fon, if possible). Then w =! tell your friend to sit gah iy f seat eat down. An. unearthly phriek from the Mttle round drum will send | r victim up in the air, the most puzzled rowed mortal on earth, Dot miss et ng one of these génuine laugh producers. ‘Perfectly harmless, and never misses doing its Aa eis as Br Sa ner eh ase ce 20 cents each, by mail. post-paid VELTY 00., 29 W. 2¢th 8 We } 2, ny fe ae JAPANESE WATER FLOWERS % Without exception, the most beautiful and in- teresting things on the in handsomely decorat- ed envelopes, just aa they are imported from various bright tints. Then it slowly opens out inte varieus shapes ef exyulsite flowers. They @re of all colors ef the rainbow. It is very amusing to watch them take form. Small size, price 5 cents; targe size, 10 centa a package, by mail, postpai M. V. GALLIGAN, 419 W. 56th St., N. ¥. i HUMANATONE. The improved Hu- manatone. This flute will be found to be the most enjoyable article ever offered; nickel plated, finely polished; .each put up in a box with full instruction how to use them. Price, 18¢e., postpaid. NOVELTY CO., 29 W. 26th St., N. Y. Pri cents each by mail. They are made of durable colored cardboard, fold to the size fof 6%4 x 3% inches, and are so handy in size thai they can be carried in the pocket. They contain 24. red and black checkers, and are just as serviceable as the most expensive boards made. The box and lid can be fastened together in a moment by means of patent jJoinis in the ends. Full directions printed on each box. j P H. F, LANG, 1815 Centre St., B'klyn, N. Y. POUBLE CLAPPERS They are handsomely ‘made of white wood, long, with carefully rounded edges. side a steel spring 1s secured, with flat leaden discs at the ends. They produce a tremendous: clatter, and yet they can be played oven better than the most expensive bones used by minstrels. The finest article of its kind on the market. Prico 7 cents a pair, postpaid. M,. V. GALLIGAN, 419 W. 56th St., N, ¥. 6 inches On each THE FLUITER-BY. This mechanica’ flying machine is worked by a new principle. It looks like a beautiful butter- fly, about 9 inches wide. to ar in action its wing move- o* A inenis jare exactly ike those of a. lSve butterfiy. It will travel through the air about 25 feet. in the most natnral manner. gis flying toys are all tho rage, this one should be a source of profit and omusement to both old and young. Price, B8e, exch by mall. postnald. ‘git HW, FF, LANG, 1815 Centre St., B'klyn, N. ¥. 3 yaa LIGHTNING TRICK BOX. A startling and pleasing illu- sion! “The ways of the world are devious,” says Matthew Arnold, but. the ways of the Lightning ‘Trick Box when properly handled are admitted to be puzzling and uncertain. You take off the lid and show your friends that itis 5 full of nice candy. Replace the . lid, when you can solemnly assure your friends that you can instantly empty the pox in their presence without opening it; and taking off the Jid again, sure enough the candy has disappeared. Or you can change the candy into a piece of money by following the . This is tho ver invented. | directions sent with each negtest and best cheap trick le: : | ~ Price, only 16c.; 3 for 25¢., mailed, postpaid. |} Price St, N.¥ | MV. GALLIGAN, 419 W. S6th St., N. ¥. 28 / market. They. consist ef a dozen -dried-up sprigs, neatly encased | Japan. Place one sprig. in a bowl of water, | and it begins to exude 1 ‘shank has’ a milled edge for winding it ups, j) little practice is required to become a, finished FIEFI. Also known as & Ny Japanese butterfly.’ A iN pleasing novelty en- yh } closed in. an envelope. When the envelope is y opened Fiffi will fly out through the air for several. yards, Made of colored paper . to represent _a butter- fiy six inches wide. Price, 100. M, V. GALLIGAN, 419 W. 56th St., N. ¥. VANISHING CIGAR. This cigar is made in exact imitation of a good °* one, It is held by a rub- ber cord which, with the attached safety pin, is fastened on the inside of the sleeve. When offered about to he taken, it will to a friend, as it is instantly disappear. Price, 10c. each by mail, postpaid. C. BEHR. 150 W. 62a St., New York City, JAPANESE TWIRLER, A wonderful imported paper novelty. By a simple manipu-~ lation of the wooden handles a number of beautiful figures can be produced, It takes on several combinations of magnificent colors, Price, 10c,,, postpaid. WOLFF NOVELTY CO.,. 29 W. 26th St., N. ¥, SPRING TOPS Something new for the boys. A top you can spin without a string. \ This is a decided nov-, — elty,, It: is of large: © size, made of brass, and has a _ heavy ..balanc rim... The shank con- tains a powerful spring and has an outer casing. The top of the When wound, you merely lift the outer cai ing, and the top spins at such a rapid speed». that the balance rim keeps it going a jong» time, Without doubt the handsomest and best top on the market, Price 12 cents each, by mail, post-paid © H. FL LANG, 1815 Centre St., B’klyn, N. ¥. | LITTLE ACCORDIONS The smallest, cheapest, and best sounding mus-%. ical instrument for th price. This perfect lit- tle acecordeon has four) _ gy keys and eight notes, a) © complete scale, upon’. which you can play al- most any tune. It) is9 about 5 x 2% inches in size, and is not a toy, but a practical and serviceable accordeon in’ every respect; with ordinary care it will last for years, and produces sweet music and att fect. harmony. Anyone ‘can learn to play it, with very lttle practice. ae Price 12 eents each, by mail, post-paid © ~ WOLFF NOVELTY CO,, 29 W. 26th St., N. Yo" THE FLUTOPHONE, y A, new musical in- strument, producing the: sweetest dulcet tones 0: the flute, lps openings in the centre, | ‘Then by blowing gently # upon it you ean play © asily as whistling. But | player. It is made entirely of metal, and will jast a littime., We will send full instructions with each instrument. i Wigs Price 8 cents, by mail, postpaid. A. A. WARFORD, 16 Hert St. B’kiyn, N, BUBBER TACKS. They come six in a box, A wonderful imitation of: — the real, tack. Made of — rubber... The box in. which they come is the ordina tack hox. This is a great. parlot” entertainer and you can play a. jot of trick: with the tacks dptace thom ene in the palm of your hand, point upward, ‘Then slap the other a you are a magician. exhibit the tacks and th in. your cheek or s ‘they will shrick wit
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LATEST ISSUES 891 After a Missing Million; or, The Treasure of the Wreck. . Ett tn on Time; or, The Perils of a Young Mail Contractor. oeahe ie eacueee ; treet pcr, She Cid Broker 6 Prowse eae T Be fae ne Beads: : oe cies es har 4 reer 98 A Born Hustler ; or, The Boy With the “Goods.” 68. $10,000 Reward: or, The Fortune of « Bank Clerk, - 894 Mat, the Money Maker; or, A Strange Lad in Wall Street. 69 Bought at AEH ORO: The Bid.that Led to Riches. 895 ‘Out For Hverything’’; or, The Boy Wo Was Willed a Circus. 10. 'The Young Copper King: or, The Boy W eR: 896 In Wall Street to Win; or, The Boy Who Got the Money. 71 Ralph, the Reneeten, or ee Mater oF jot abet Ne Te Bair a HOURS, Binbad ¢ or, Wrecked i abbigeig eet Rt te) Fat ao ae a ot, The ee of rh oa nore Office Boy. ee Bas wale aes ~ Et eget ee i ;_or, er_an Aztec Treasure. r ‘ B74 Tipped to Win; on, ‘The Wall Street Messenger Who Made a For |269 296, Boy Who Vanianed ; gr ‘The Treasure of tho Incas, £75-Tae : Bias 401 Striking a Good Thing; or, College Chums in Business. 8768 A ates Fe as a Out Se ue pce for Success. 402 Among the eSharks’*: or, The Lights and Shadows of Wall Street. 877 ‘The We ey Broker; or, Striking Luck in Wall Street. 403 In Business for Himself; or, The Lad Whe Made the M s78 t oa * to Fame ; or, The Success of a Young Dramatist. 404 Oharlie ‘of the Curb< or, Beating the Money Brokers, omey. B19 A Golden ireasures ‘or, "The Mystery. of "An Od, Pere CHIME . | 405 A Million In Rubies; of, The Richest Find im the Worl, BL Anong te Mizninitne: ar Manne, £,Sucvess of giimeelt, | | 407 Contractor Bab; or, Mentiag for a Bly Job. - ; e Secret of the Golden Ledge. AN “On. ; 862 Tho Tittle Wall Street Speculator: or, "The Boy Who ‘Became a| 408 A, Ner"Y Deal: or. The Boy Who Bought & Ballwey. 383 Qld Hazard's Hirrand Boy; or, The Nerve ‘That Won the Money. 410 Up nae nute; or, From Office Bey to Broker. (A 1 , ; or, The Strangest Tip in Wall Street. : ; 885 A Short Cut to Fortune: and The Smart Boy Who Found 411 Full of Business; or, The Young Traveler for the Fi 886 LD pee Boy; or, A Tough Lad ccort Missouri. (A Wall ae eeEtbariaterea c eae i. eck yD story. . Bal ek to. ‘ ef rig Sie as Him ; oS A Boy With Grit. f) rains; or, Fortune From a Dime, j Wall Street.) sib a tao 889 His Own Business; or, From Errand Boy to Boss. 890 The Banker’s Plot; or, The Mysterious Roy From Cripple Creek. 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 FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, - IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS of our weeklies and cannot procure them trom newsdealers, they can be obtai ed f . ol fill in your Order and send it to us with the price of the week lies. na wo Wl Me eee \e POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY, _ FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, - NAPOLEON’S ORACULUM AND : No. 1, A A DREAM BOOK.—Containing the great oraclo ef human destiny; also the true meaning of almost any kind of dreams, together with Cat ) ceremonies, and curious games of cards. No. 2. HOW TO DO TRICKS.—Tho great | “ beok of magic and card tricks, containing full this little ‘instruction on all the leading card tricks of the day, also the most popular magical illu- pions as performed by our leading magicians; every boy should obtain a copy of this book. No. 3% HOW TO FLIRIT.—The arts and wiles of flirtation are fully explained by this litule book. Besides the various methods of . handkerohief, fan, glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation, it contains a full list of the language and sentiment of flowers. o. 4. HOW TO DANCE in the title of beok. It contains full instructions in the art of dancing, etiquette in the ball- room and at parties, how to dress, and full directions for calling off In all popular square dances. 3 No. 5. HOW TO MAKE LOVE.—A com- _ plete guide to love, courtship and marriage, . ere sensible advice, rules and etiquette to ‘be observed, with many curious and interest- ing things not generally known. ‘ No. 6 HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETE. —Giving full instruction for the use of dumb- 4 s, Indian clubs, parallel bars, horizontal ; and various other methods of developing @ good, healthy muscle; containing over sixty - illustrations. Z Ne 7%. oW TO KEEP BIRDS.—Hand- gemely illustrated and containing full instruc- lens for the management and training of the eanary, mockingbird, bobolink, blackbird, paro- e@quet, parrot, etc. No. 9. HOW TO BECOME A VENTRILO- @UIST.—By Harry Kennedy. Every intelli- gent boy reading this book of instructions can - master the art, and create any amount of fun for himself and friends. It is the greatest - pook ever published. A, No.) 10. | @efense made easy. N HOW TO BOX.—The art of self- Containing over thirty - filustrations of guards, blows, and the differ- ent positions of a good boxer. Every boy should obtain one of these useful and instruo- ive books, as it will teach you how to box without an instructor. se Ne. U. HOW TO WRITE LOVE-LETTERS. _ —A meat oemplete little book, eontaining full 7 : writing love-letters, and when them, giving specimen oun nd old. b H a 12. MOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO 1E8.—Giving complete instructions for letters ef fmtroduotion, notes and requests. 18. HOW TO DO IT; OR, BOOK oF /TOUBEY, Publisher, - letters to ladies on all subjects; also — y ali newsdealera, or will pe sent to any address on recerpt of price, 10 cts. per copy, HLIQUETTH.—1t is a great life secret, and one that every young man desires to know all about. There’s happiness in it. No. 14. HOW TO MAKE CANDY.—A complete hand-book for making all kinds of candy, ice-cream, syrups, essences, etc., etc, No. 18, HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL, —One of the brightest and most valuable little books ever given to the world. HEvery- body wishes to know how to become beauti- ful, both male and female The secret is simple, and almost costless. « No. 20. HOW TO ENTERTAIN AN EVEN- ‘ING PARTY.—A complete compendium of sports, card diversions, comic recita- etc., suitable for parlor or drawing- room entertainment. It contains more for the money than any book published. No 21. HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.—The most complete hunting and fishing guide ever published. It contains full instructions about guns, hunting dogs, traps, trapping and fish- ing, together with description of game and sh. No. 22. HOW TO DO SECUND SIGHT.— Heller’s second sight explained by his’ former assistant, Fred Hunt, Jr. Explaining how the mecret dialogues were carried on between the magician and the boy on the stage; also giv- ing all the codes and signals. o. 23. HOW TO EXPLAIN DREAMS.— This little book gives the explanation to all kinds of dreams, together with lucky nd unlucky days. , No, 24. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO GEN TLEMEN,.—Containing full directions for writing to gentlemen on all subjects. No. 25. HOW TO BECOME A GYMNAST.— Containing full instructions for all kinds ef gymnastic sports and athletic exercises. Em- bracing thirty-five illustrations, By Professor W. Macdonald. No. 26. HOW TO ROW, SAIL AND BUILD A BOAT.—Fully illustrated. Full instructions are given in this little book, together with in- structions on swimming and riding, companien sports to boating. _ Ne. 27. HOW TO RECITE AND BOOK OF RECITATIONS.—Containing the most popular selections in use, comprising Dutch dialect, French dialect, Yankee and Irish dialect pieces, together with many standard readings, No. 28 HOW TO TELL FORTUNES.— Everyone is desirous of knowing what his tu- ture life will bring forth, whether happiness or misery, wealth or peverty. You can tell by a glance at this little book. Buy one and be convinced. No. 29. HOW TO BECOME AN INVEN- TOR.—Every boy should know hew inventio: originated. This book explains them all, giv- ing example in electricity, hydraulics, magne- tism, optics, pneumatics, mechanics, etc. games, tions, ss you want and we will send them to you by retur: | Suitable for Valentines and or & fer 25 cts., in money or - 166 West 23d St., New York. - 168 West 23d St., New. tion of recipes. i No. 31. HOW TO BECOME A SP: —-Containing fourteen illustratiens, gi different position quisite to become Bpeaker, reader and elocutionist. A taining gems from all the popular au' prose and poetry. f No. 32. HOW TO RIDE A BIO Containing instructions for beginners, ot a machine, hints on training, "ote i plete book. Full of practical iilustrat No, 35. HOW TO PLAY GAMES.—. centi No. 36. ‘ ; —Containing all the leading eonundr the day, amusing riddles, curiou r witty sayings. No. 38. HOW TO. _No. 89, HOW TO RAISE DOGS, POULTE “ PIGEONS AND RABBITS.—A useful and ins structive book. Han od. No. 40. HOW TO ¥ —Including hints on how weasels, ot ae aquiere ; ne » how to cure ns. opiously illustrat ‘No. 41, THE BOYS OF NEW YORE MEN’S JOKE BOOK.—Containing a | riety of the latest jokes used by t famous end men, o amateur n complete without this wonderful 1 No. 42. THE BOYS OF NEW aM STUMP SPEAKER,—Contain gsortment of stump sp Irish. Also end men’s for home amusement and amateur No. 43. HOW TO BECOME A M —Containing the grandest assor ical illusions ever placed befo: Also tricka with cards. incanta’ No. 44. HOW TO WRI BUM.—A_ grand collection suitable for any time and cam! e} ing Lines of Love, Affection, Sentim mor, Respect, and Condolence ali - 168 Bd §