Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 873) (1922 06 23)
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r JUNE. 23, 1922 : K e = Seba a : : ar 5; BPR TTS = Ne : =. BOYS = ee A ae eee sa ONEY. BAL
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Issued sie i rice, $3.50 per year: Canada, hk est 23d Street, New York, 'N. ¥. Entered as Z the Post-Office at New York, N. Y., No. 873 FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY NEW YORK, JUNE 23, $4.00: Foreign, $4.50. Harry E. Wolff. Publisher, [nc., 166 Second-Class Matter, October 4, 1911, at under the Act of March 3, 1579. 1922 Price 7 Cents AFTER A SQUARE DEAL OR, THE RICHEST CLAIM IN THE WEST By A SELF-MADE MAN CHAPTER I.—Which Introduces the Hero and a Others. ; “Where have yer been all this time?” demanded Noah Sprague, general store-keeper and post- master of Stormhaven village, addressing his assistant and boy-of-all-work who had just come into the store. ~ “You know I’ve been around delivering the afternoon orders and taking new ones,” replied the poorly-dressed boy, whose name was Jack Wilson. - “That’s what yer were supposed to be doin’, but . it don’t take no three hours to attend to that,” snorted Sprague. “You’ve dawdlin’ yer time somewhere—playin’ ball the boys, most likely.” r 3 _ “No, sir, I haven’t been playing ball,” replie Jack, in a decided tone. : “Then I want to know what kept yer away so long.” t stopped at Widow White’s to leave some goods and see if she wanted me to bring any- thing on my morning round,” explained Jack. _ “Did it ‘take yer an hour to do that?” said the - store-keeper, sarcastically. “Just ore I got there Widow White was » taken suddenly ill,” went on the boy. “There was no one to run for a doctor but her daughter, and she couldn’t leave her mother, so I volunteer- __ ed to go.” 4 « 749” : Oh, yer did? _ *{ drove to the house of the nearest doctor, but he was out, so I had to go to the other end of the village for Dr. Green. That took a little - time. Then after I took him to the widow’s cot- * ‘tage I had to wait to take him home again.” Why didn’t he come in his own , 1,told him to jump into the om, promising to fetch him back. It was a d thing I got him to the cottage as quickly I did, for on the way back the doctor told that the widow might have died had we been minutes later.” Bi t was the matter with her?” ‘Acute indigestion. I had to go to the drug re, three away, and have a prescrip- d, that took a little time, too. When ; back with the medicine the widow was I gy mtg on route, I was a ay so long.” MS She = ~ himself; he also promised to At that moment 4 girl entered the store, and Jack went to wait on her. Spra went to the end of the counter to get the mail bags ready to send to the station. ere was situated the letter boxes, with glass fronts painted with the letters of the ‘alphabet in order from A to Y. There were also a dozen lock boxes, numbered from 1 to 12, which the postmaster rented ont, chiefly to summer visitors, for $1 for three months. No. 1 was always hired by the summer hotel for its season of three months, but it wasn’t large enough to hold all the mail that came to the guests during the rush time of July and August, so the overflow was handed to the hotel messenger tied up in a bundle. The hotel opened about the middle of June, and had been in operation a week at the time our story opens. Stormhaven received two mails a day either way—in the morning and late in the afternoon. It was part of Jack’s duties to meet the two Boston mail trains and get the mail-bags. The station agent took charge of the bags left by the trains going the other way, and as they were dropped shortly before the Boston trains came in, the boy got them when he showed up there. After he waited on the girl and a man who came in after a plug of tobacco, it was time for him to start for the station for the evening mail, and take along the outgoing mail. He picked up the two mail bags—one going eastward and the other westward—shoved them under the seat of the wagon and drove off. A hundred yards from the store he was hailed by a friend of his named Bill Buster. “Bound for the station?” said Billy. “I,guess you know I am. Want a ride?” “I don’t mind,” said Billy, clambering up on the seat. . “What’s the matter with your eye? Been fighting?” asked Jack, observinly his companion’s swollen optic, which had a blue ring around it. “Bill Gossett handed me that this morning be- cause I didn’t move around quick enopgh to suit him.”: Gossett was one of the boatmen of Stormhaven who catered to the summer visitors. When the town was bereft of visitors he spent his time loafing and fishing. He-secured Billy from the - poor-farm some years before, signing a paper in which he bound himself to furnish the boy a — home and teach him the business he followed be kind to the — ing to “ ae E lad. He carried out the first tw the home he ‘gave Billy was + = Fae ees s ’ a hee 8
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2 AFTER A SQUARE DEAL A about, for he lived in an old weather-beaten cabin in a cove among the. rocks just beyond the village limits. The word “kindness” was not in Gossett’s lexicon. He handled his apprentice without gloves, and the older Billy became, the more he was tempted to run away; and it is probable he would have done so but for the friendship that grew up between him and Jack Wilson, who was also an orphan, though he had never been an inmate of the poor-farm, and was under Noah Sprague’s thumb, just as Billy was under Gossett’s, with this difference, that while the boatman was Billy’s legal master, Sprague was Jack’s legal guardian. “Gossett is a brute,” said Jack, with emphasis. “I wish he’d fall off the rocks some night when he comes home loaded. If something doesn’t happn to him soon I believe I’ll run away to Boston.” “I wouldn’t blame you if you did. -Why don’t you report his conduct to the overseer of the poor-farm?” “What good would it do? He might get a calling down, but it wouldn’t make him any bet- ter. e’d lay a rope’s end on me for it, and I wouldn’t be able to walk for a week. I threat- ened to complain once, and he told me he’d mur- der me if I ever did it. He said the overseer wouldn’t do anything anyway, as he wouldn’t want to be bothered looking up another place for me.” “J think Gossett and Sprague would make a good team. We've a pair of fine bosses between us. Sprague is _ as unbearable in his way as Gossett is in his. He knows better, though, than to attempt to use force with me, for I’m big and strong enough to lay him out if he did. My father made a t mistake in leaving me “to his tender mercies when he went. out West to better his prospects. Up to the time of my 3 father’s death Sprague treated me fairly decent, because he got remittances that covered my keep, cine and because my father was liable to return some Pe time and learn the truth; but the news of his death altered my condition considerably. Since then I’ve had to work for my living. The sur- prising thing is that Sprague should get him- self apoin my guardian. I suppose he did it to maintain a grip on me, as he found me too useful to use.” Jack drove up alongside of the back platform _ of the were threw the mail-bags out of the a wagon and followed them. Telling Billy to re- eS main in the vehicle, he dragged the pouches away with him. The whistle of the locomotive an- reed got off. the cars, said: told me you were connected here.” - “The postmaster’s name are Noah Sprague?” “Yes,” replied Jack, looking curiously at man, who, while evidently a stranger, ap to know .the store-keeper. “Waal, I’ll allow I came this way to see him, so if you ain’t got any objection I’d like you give me a lift as far as thar post-office.” - “Jump in,” said Jack, wondering who the stranger was. : ° He stepped in, squatted down, and Jack started on his way back. CHAPTER II.—The Stranger from Show Down. It was dusk by that time, and the croak of the bullfrogs and other country noises came plain-— ly to the ear. The station was a mile beyond the village limits, and a stage met all trains. It was driven by its owner, who made his head- quarters at the village inn. He carried all pas- sengers to their destination for the sum of a quarter, charging another quarter on trunks and ten cents for suit-cases. He would gladly have carried the mail-bags to and fro for a moderate charge, and thus saved Sprague the trouble of sending special for them twice a day, but the store-keeper wouldn’t part with a cent for the accommodation, choosing to sacrifice Jack’s time, and the wear and tear on his rig, rather than give up the price. “Say, sonny,.are your name Wilson?” asked the stranger, as the coach passed them. “Yes; how did you guess it?” said Jack, in sur- rise. “The station-agent told me.” “Oh,” ejaculated the boy. “You-live with Noah Sprague, I reckon?” “Yes, he’s my guardian.” “Your guardeen, eh?” . “Yes. You’ve come from the West, haven’t you?” “What makes you think so, sonny?” “You look like a Westerner.” sane Ever seen one before?” “In one’ night?” * 3 =
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*"*So to speak, sonny. eget as you don’t uf- . derstand how things come about in thar minin’ districts, I'll tell you how Show Down grew from three or four shanties, occupied by a dozen chaps who came thar prospectin’, li thar looks of things and stayed to see if matters would pan out,’ said the stranger, taking a chew of tobacco, then running his fingers through his long beard. “T’d like to hear,” said Jack, letting his horse jog slowly along the road. “Thar was a Chinyman in thar party they'd brought along from Poker Flat to do thar wash- in’ in one of thar shanties and he was washin’ outdoors. One mornin’ after a heavy rain, which had flooded his hut, he was diggin’ a ditch around thar shack to carry thar water away next time, an’ thar bottom suddenly fell. out of a part of ~~~ ditch and dumped thar Chinyman into a big hole. He couldn’t get out, and yelled to beat thar band. It was some time before anybody heard, him, wet one of thar boys, returnin’ for a pick-axe, discovered his predicament, got a rope Show Down became a hustlin’ minin’ town in 3 no time. It growed up jest like a mushroom, and _ from thar looks of things it was a sure bet it Would be a city in a month, with a railroad in thar perspective.” “Naw.” ? a = *T said it became a hustlin’ minin’ town in no ss aa was disapp’inted.” onl worth speakin’ of was all in thee Gh Chinyman discovered.” = sonny. " How would; you like to % AFTER A SQUARE DEAL 3 “What did the people do when they found no gold in Show, Down?” “They done what they always do under sich circumstances—they lit out, leavin’ thar finished and unfinished shacks behind ’em.” “Not all of them, surely?” “Waal, a few stayed—the original bunch—and helped work thar lueky strike hole thar Chiny- man found. It was reported to be fabulously rich, oe Hey $350 to thar ton on thar average. Though thar original rush petered ont, strang- ers, hearing reports of thar mine, kept comin’, and for three months Show Down put up a pretty good bluff. Thar mine looked so that thar man who owned thar claim decided to form a comp’ny, take in his friends, and begin real minin’ on a big scale. A road was surveyed through thar wilderness, thar sites for an - tric DSi tine ge a forty stamp mill, and othér- buildin’s picked out, when all a sudden———” “Well?” said Jack. “The bottom fell out of thar lucky stri 2 “The bottom fell out of it?” said Jack, “who took the expression literally. Wri ore_petered out and that was thar end of it. “Where did the gold go?” “Whar goes thar snow go when thar spring sunshine melts it? You don’t see any of it lyin’ ’round loose, do you?” “Why should it disappear so suddenly?” “Ask me somethin’ easy, sonny.” “What became of the mine?” “It warn’t no mine, only thar innin’ of one. Jest a big hole in thar ground. It’s thar yet?” “The man who owned the claim abandoned it, I suppose, when he found no more gold in it?” “No. He hung on, hopin’ to find thar golden in.” “Did find any encouragement?” *T reckon not, but he always believed in it up to thar time he turned up his toes.” “He’s dead, then?” “Been dead these two years.” “Did he leave the claim to any one?” “He left it to a chap here in trust for his son.” “What was done about it?” “Nothin’. It warn’t worth botherin’ about. - “What sort of looking place is Show Down now? You’ve just come from there.” s “It’s as dead as a salted mackerel. It’s as lonesome lookin’ as an old veyard. The shacks are droppin’ to pieces, and thar grass are grow- in’ ’round ’em and all over thar roadway that used to be called a street, the only one it had. Thar only inhabitants are a stray grizzly, a few rattlers and sich varmints.” “Here we are at Sprague’s general store and the post-office,” said Jack, reining in. CHAPTER III.—“It’s the Richest Claim In Thar West.” “Come right in and I'll introduce you to Mr. Sprague,” said Jack to the man from Show ee. “Good-night, Bill. See you to-morrow if “can. With a mail-bag under each arm, the boy aa Fs Pe se re ee
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the stranger entered the store. The postmaster * was waiting on a customer, and the introduction had to be deferred until he was at liberty. As there were several persons, including the hotel messenger, waiting for mail, Jack unlocked the bags, dumped their contents on the counter be- hind tbe letter boxes, and proceeded to distribute it into the boxes. The people imterested in the mail gathered on the other side and watched the letters, cards and papers go into the boxes, specu- lating whether anything had come for them when they saw something glide into a box bearing their initial. In the meantime the customer wént away and Mr. Sprague looked at the stranger, who was standing back, sampling.a handful of dried ap- ples he had helped himself to. : “Can I sell yer some of them dried apples?” asked the store-keeper, who strongly objected to the free-and-easy way of the Westerner. “I guess not,” replied the man, helping himself to several soda crackers, which he proceeded to munch. “J shall have to charge yer for what yer eatin’, my friend,” said Sprague, in a sour tone. : . “All right. Slap it up on your slate,” replied the stranger, coolly. “While you’re about it you kin add this hyar bottle of ginger ale to thar account, though I’d rather hev whisky.” Ss With a movement of his thumb the stranger pushed the catch off the cork, which flew ceiling- ward with a Joud pop, and put the neck of the bottle to his month. The store-keepér was fairly paralyzed by the nerve of the man, but as the stranger was a big, strong fellow, and looked bad, he was afraid to do more than protest t he didn’t give credit to ae he Sins know, “Waal, how much do I owe you for this hyar Junch?” said the Westerner. st Sprague thought fifteen cents would square it. ; “You can take three more crackers and some _— ee senies for that,” _ aa pot right. Hev you got change for a ten- a dollar bill?” j se The storekeeper assured him that he had rs “Glad to hear it. I'll fetch thar tenner thar _ » next time I call. Your name are Noah Sprague, I reckon?” \ ‘ Sprague growingly admitted it was. The » stranger toward him and said in a hoarse whisper: 6 “Im from Placer Gulch. My name are Jim _ together with a document transferring the claim _ toe Sprague in trust for his son Jack, and postal orders representing all the money left by Wilson, the same to be used for his son’s benefit. The _ letter, which accompanied the enclosures, stated that the claim had looked like a winner for a while, then it petered out and was (at that date) regarded as worthless. The writer, however, I ed that ge died a a were ly prove valnable, and he want- if it did, henee the docu- 4 AFTER A SQUARE DEAL ‘behind it. Noah Sprague didn’t look He wished Sprague to understand that he (the © writer) did not share in the dead man’s con- . fidence as to the claim ever panning out. He was a practical prospector and miner, and had stuck by Wilson to the last, not because he saw — any future in the claim, but because he was — Wilson’s pard and would not desert him. He was sorry there was nothing in the claim for the boy’s sake, and he hoped Sprague would do the right thing by the lad now his father was dead and unable to send any more remittances in the future. Such were-the chief features of the letter, forwarded to the store-keeper two years since, and duly received by him, and Sprague had read it over so often that he almost knew it by heart. As the store-keeper was conscious that he hadn’t done the right thing by his former friend Wilson’s son, the unexpected appearance of Whaley was not welcome to him. He had an idea that Westerners were men accustomed to | stand no nonsensé, and this man looked it. Having been Wilson’s partner, he might be ~ supposed to have a certain interest in the son, ~~ and having come East on business or pleasure, = he had taken the trouble to look up the lad, and learn how things were coming with him. He did not know that Whaley had ridden from the station with Jack. Had he known it he would have had a fit. It was enough to know t the man had come to Stormhaven and reached his — store. Sprague wasn’t naturally a quick thinker, — but on this occasion he outdone himself in that respect. He must prevent the Westerner from having an interview with Jack, and get rid of him as soon as possible. Screwing his wizened _ old features into as friendly a look as was possible for him, he held out his hand and said: ; “Come into my little parlor and have a drink, Mr. Whaley,” said Sprague, anxious to get the visitor away from the store while Jack was busy with the mail. e “Of course I’ll hev a drink with you. I take “You shall have it. I have a bottle I take — whisky.” my nightcaps from. It’s a particular brand— ~~ better’n I sell in the store,” said Sprague, 4 ing him by the arm and leading him into the — little sitting-room off the store. Shutting the door carefully, he went to a closet and produced a bottle and two glasses. Then he turned up the lamp which stood on the table. “How’s thar boy—George’s son?” ei _ “Fine,” said Sprague, enthusiastically. “He | is away at college.” se __“What’s that? Away at college?” cried Whaley, in surprise. ee “¥es.-=T ingin’ the lad up jest as if he — was my ow nm. Nothin’ is too ee: for him. © It’s rather expensive, but yer see I can’t do less GA et oe ’s — I’m ce widower, and when ; ie a ave will go to the boy. It ain’t much, but what it is he’s welcome to it.” ee re. men in-general told him there was so
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= = kindness. The one letter he had received from = the postmaster in reply to his own had impressed Whaley with the notion that Sprague wasn’t - what Wilson believed him to be. And his per- ‘ sonal inspection of the store-keeper confirmed that opinion. For reasons of his own he was quite satisfied with the looks and conversation of the master. It tickled him immensely to think that Sprague was hiding something from . him. It would probably help out the plans that ; t him East. | ~ “So you've been good to thar boy, hev you?” he said. “My friend, if he had been my own son—— “Enough said. Shake,” and Whaley held out his hairy, brown hand. - Sprague held back and looked dubiously at the . Westerner’s paw. He objected to experiencing ~\a second grip of the vise. s _ “Pardon me, but my fingers are kinder tender,” : he said. z : _“Then you do thar shakin’ yourself.” - §prague was willing to compromise that way. =. “Help yourself to the whisky,” he said, push- - ing the bottle forward.- : ‘ = “ was not backward in taking a liberal _ dose, while the. postmaster helped himself spar- _ . “Your very good health, Mr. Whaly,” said the store-keeper, with one of his stereotyped smiles. _ “Same to you. Here’s lookin’ at you,” and _ Whaley drained his glass at a gulp. “Would you like a little water?” asked Sprague. <S “What for?” “To. wash down the whisky.” «I -never use water except to wash myself, unless I’m particerly thirsty and can’t get any- = ” hin’ else,” said Whaley. “So thar boy’s at col- - egg, you say?” . _ “Yes, yes.” “When d’ye expect him home?” __ “Not for several weeks yet.” “Waal, I’ve got to be back to Placer Gulch _ afore that, so I reckon I won’t hev thar pleasure of seein’ him.” : _ __ Sprague felt much relieved on hearing’ that. the Westerner wouldn’t delay leaving . As he had come to see him g ah isons was now no reason why he prolong his stay. § ‘Do you know, pard, I had an idee that that ir boy who brought me over from thar sta- n was George Wilson’s son,” said Whaley, ge his eye at the store-keeper, while he ed himself, without an invitation, to another lass of whisky. : “What boy?” said Sprague, looking a bit thar chap that brought thar mail. He’s Seorge’s eyes, and thar’s somethin’ in his Pthat- pats me in mind of my old pard.” ster begam to perspire with anxiety. t you came to the village in the he said in an unsteady tone. bh 4 rr Tar aeel © , AFTER A SQUARE DEAL : a ee man charged for carryin’ a passenger to thar hotel or anywhar else in thar village. I didn’t mind thar quarter, but I thought it would be more convenient to ride over with thar boy, so I spoke to him and he told me to jump in, which I did, and he fetched me over and prom- ised to introduce me to you, but as you wag busy when he came into thar store, he told me to wait a minute till you was at liberty. Before he got thar chance to do thar honors, you in- troduced yourself. That reminds me, I owe you fifteen cents.. Thar’s thar money, pard.” “Never mind, I won’t charge yer nothin’ for what yer ate,” said the store-keeper nervously. “Did yer have any talk with the boy?” : “I reckon I did most of thar talkin’, but he said enough to give me thar idee he was George Wilson’s son. That couldn’t be if Wilson’s son was in college.” “Of course not. The boy is——” “George Wilson’s son, pard. Don’t try to pull thar wool over me, ’cause I’m too old a bird to be fooled by that college yarn of yours. Own up and tell me what you're hidin’ from me.” “My dear friend——” | “None of that, Sprague. I’ve been sizin’ you up since I Japhet my eyes on you, and it’s my opinion you ain’t no better than circum- stances make you. Don’t look so scared. I ain’t in’ to hurt you. It ain’t no concern of mine ow you treat thar lad. That’s between him and Mies If he’s got his father’s nature, as I, reckon e has, he won’t let you hold your heel on his neck very long. Take that from me. Now, I came East specially to see you and hey a business talk with you.” : “A business talk with me?” gurgled the store- keane. an “Exactly. -I sent you thar deed of thar Lucky Strike Claim and a paper which gave’ you con- trol of thar property in trust for Wilson’s son till he got to be of age. I presume you have them documents in your streng box?” “I have, but what good are they? You wrote me that the claim was worthless. To make sure on that p’int, I wrote to the postmaster at Poker Flat, the nearest town to Placer Gulch, and asked for information about the property. The reply I got tallied with yours. The claim had promised great things at the start, but the bottom fell out of it and it was classed among the dead ones. However, thinkin’ somethin might turn up some day, I got myself ’pinted guardeen to the boy, and so I stand in the light of a father to him.” “And get all thar.work out of him you can for nothin’, eh, Sprague?” » “He can’t earn more’n his clothes and keep.” “Waal, - ments are? That depends on who has ’em. If you want to stand in with me, them documents "Il be valuable to both of us.” . ; “How so?” asked Sprague, cautiously, He saw that his visitor was driving at some- thing, and he wanted to find out what it was _ before he committed himself. ig he “How old is that thar boy?” fee aos eS ee ee . a _“That’s what I thought. . of that pro ty for - You'll ou asked me what good them docu- _ é Cit Aw (Var ig 2 » ane = are
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6 ; . to be able to feather your nest well in that time.” ; ; “You speak in riddles, my: friend. How kin I feather my nest out of that bey’s worthless property?” ; : ; “Are you willin’ to stand in with me if I show you how?” “Yes, provided it ain’t nothin’ agin the law.” “I take it you have thar right to do anythin’ with that claim ’cept sell it. As it stands it ain’t doin’ thar heir no It’s as dead as a coffin nail. Now, I’ve be lookin’ thar prop- erty over in a perfessional way, and I’ve dis- covered thar lost lode which George Wilson al- ways believed was hidden somewhar on it.” _ “Do you mean to say you’ve found gold again on the property?” cried Sprague, eagerly. “T have—a mint of it; but that won’t do you nor thar heir any good unless you come to terms with me. I am thar only man that_ knows whar to put his finger on thar quartz. Come in with me and we'll divide even up. What you do with ur share are nothin’ to me.” “And is the property really rich,.after all?” “Rich! It’s thar richest claim in.thar West,” said Whaley, in a tone that showed he meant what he said. : : CHAPTER IV.—After 2 Square Deal. Noah Sprague seemed quite “by the in- formation. A third person, not in room, but standing outside the window, which seppene to be open, in the dark, was also a bit by the news. This was Jack Wilson, who, having been. relieved from duty in the sture by the housekeeper so that he could eat his supper, had swallowed the meal and was going back té the store by the outside route, | he over- heard his father’s name mentioned by the stranger brought from the station, and, full ‘of curiosity, had paused under the window to AFTER A SQUARE DEAL and you'll get a quarter of thar outpu. comes out of thar ground. You won’t have te make no accountin’ to thar court, ‘cause we'll do thar thing in secret, see? I’ve got a claim next to it. We'll dig a tunnel right or from mine to thar spot whar I’ve found thar ledge, and we’ll take thar’ gold out through it. I'll give out that I’ve struck a load in my prop- erty and thar gold will be supposed to come from it. Seg thar p’int?” The postmaster did, and as the scheme ap- pealed to his avaricious nature, he agreed to stand in with Whaley. Jack, listening to the arrangement outside of the window, wondered why Whaley had taken the trouble to come East and make the crooked deal with his guardian, when he might have gone to work on the plan he outlined and dug out the gold without any one gia ors wiser that it came from the Wilson Claim. haley, however, was a foxy chap. He knew that ultimately such a steal would be dis- covered, in which event he would be held ac- countable for his share in it, unless he skipped the country. His proposition to Sprague was merely made to throw sand in the store-keeper’s undoubtedly wotld, held shown that it didn’t. The paper, already pre- pared in advance for Sprague’s signature, was a lease of the Wilson Claim to the Whaley . ing and Mining Co., for the term of three years from date, the expense of operating to he borne by the leasing company, in return for seventy- five per cent. per ton of all ore taken from the aforesaid claim. The arrangement was a liberal . one for Whaley, as he intended it to be, and ~ would not have been blindly entered into by any one representing the party of the first part, viz., the lessor, as Sprague was doing. Fortu- nately for the interest of the heir (Jack Wil- son), Whaley overlooked the fact that the decu- ment he wanted would not be legal without the permission of the court which had appointed Noah Sprague guardian of the boy. e sup posed that, as the claim had been transferred by the original owner to Sprague in trust, that the - postmaster could do anything he wanted to with the property except sell it. ; - But for that, Jack’s~plucky efforts to secure a square deal would have gone for naught, for — a legal lease, if its terms are carried out by lessee, is incontestable, and though the boy bos have forced his faithless guardian to refund his. _ share of the deal, provi : he would have been deprived of a very able sum that ought to have been him. . Jack, however, knew nothing about legal wg me of the case. What he did knew was that his ee “ of Whal it could be recovered, __
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a But from that moment he was after a square "I desl, and he did not dream of the obstacles he wi encounter, and the adventures he would _ meet, before he finally won out, and had proved _ the stuff he was made of. Whaley. produced the __ lease and Sprague signed it. “All communications will reach me at Poker Flat, which is the nearest town to Placer Gulch,” said the Westerner, folding up the document and ing it in his pocket. “When shall I hear from yer?” asked the store- "ll write you as soon as I FF t back.” = “You expect to begin gettin’ the gold out at - once, EF suppose?” __ ; : * “We'll begin operations right away, but it’ll be -@ month before we'll get at thar rock whar thar gold are,” said Whaley. “Thar’s lots of “work to be done first, but when we get started 1 run right along.” Ze, do I get the first remittance?” _ “You mustn’t expect it for some time. The Tock has to be got out of thar dump; then it to be hauled to thar smelter at Poker Flat, a shipped to Denver, all of which ’ll take - time, ’specially as thar are no reg’lar road to - Poker Flat, and until one are built the rock - "ll hav to be carried in bags -on-burros.” _ “What’s a burro?” ' “A burro are a small mule.” Pe “You’re goin’ to stop at the inn for the night?” 2 , un'rss you’ve got a spare bed you kin let me have _ “No, no,” said the postmaster, hastily. “There’s “only, three bedrooms upstairs, and they’re all in use” * 7) - “Then p’int out thar way to thar inn, and I'll - go thar. You kin send thar boy with me.” _ No. He’s busy in the store. I'll go with you wes a 2 “Suit yourself, pard.” Sprague entered the store for his hat, told Se gel had just slipped in there, to keep an Y on things while he was away, rejoined the €@sterner, and the two men, each a rascal in is own way, left the house by the back door d took their way up Main street, the chief pughfare of the little seaport town. As the eral store was a sort of roosting place for ge loungers, who had been accustomed to ing out there a good part of their lives, had no lack of company, ens, they didn’t him at all. During the fall, winter and ig they hu around the big bellied stove he center of the store, but as it was on ringe of summer now, and the days and gs were warm, the stove was out and d was in possession of the chairs on the ow, unrailed veranda facing the street. h only an occasional customer, or some- after mail, dropped it, Jack had upy himself, for he had the orders, col- on his afternoon trip, to put up in readi- to take around in the morning. on this occasion his thoughs were more ually » as the er will guess, ee he had eonene ~ _— ore was a great surprise for hir that his ini father had owned a mining West, and left it to Noah Sprague x ie te AFTER A SQUARE DEAL enough - 7 ‘ master becoming his guardian. His father had not written to him regularly during the latter months of his life, and had not in any one of his letters distinctly said that he owned a min- ing claim. The boy was unaware that all the letters that came to him from_his father had first passed under the inspection of Mr. Sprague, who edited them with a pencil if he thought that proceeding necessary. The letter in which George Wilson gave his son a full account of his claim, and its original prospects, was held out by the postmaster, and Jack never received it, which accounted for his ignorance on the subject. The deal his guardian had entered into with the stranger from the West was not so surprising to him, for he had no great opinion of Mr. Sprague as a man. A man who was not above giving his customers short ~ weight, and working off all manner of shady tricks on them, when he dared, was, in Jack’s opinion, capable of most anything that was mean and cunning. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for Jack the general stere-keeper would have lost a good part of his trade. The boy was a great favorite in the village, and rather than lose the daily sight of his cheerful face and bright conversa- tion, Sprague’s customers put up with many a from him they wouldn’t otherwise have one. 2 Jack intended to block the lease his guardian had entered into if he could. It was entirely against the interests he had suddenly found him- self in. possession of. The question that agi- tated him was how far his:guardian was author-. ized to go in the matter. Believing that Mr. . Sprague had the pe right to make any lease he saw fit,Jack fell back on the resolution of consulting a lawyer he knew with the view of having. the lease held up till its provisions had been investigated. Whether the lease went . through or not, Jack felt that the unexpected knowledge he had acquired that evening would prevent his guardian from cheating him out of ' the money ‘he expected to receive from the working. of the claim. “As soon as the attention of the judge is brought to the fact that I have valuable prop- erty interests, he will compel Mr. Sprague to furnish a full report of the claim, and render an accounting of such moneys as are received from it,” said Jack to himself. “That will block my guardian’s little scheme even if the contract is allowed to stand, which I think is doubtful if it is not fairly drawn.” By the time Sprague got back to the store, Jack had all his orders put up and stowed in the baskets ready to be put on the wagon in the morning. As it was likely that the man from the West would leave by an early train, the boy felt he had no time to lose in taking action. Anyway he would have no time to do anything during the day. The lawyer he intended to consult had an office half a block from the store, but, of course, he was not there at that hour of the evening. The only way to see him right away was to visit him at his home, which was . on the other side of the little harbor, in the ~ village. As it som —
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/ : ~ 8 AFTER A SQUARE DEAL & tired after a long day’s service—he decided to run over to Gossett’s shanty on the shore, and get the loan of his boat and the company of his friend Billy. It was only half a mile run aeross the harbor, and three blocks’ walk that way, while it was three miles in a semi-circle by the shortest land route. Accordingly, as soon as Sprague showed up, at half-past eight, Jack ut on his hat and said he was going out. As he had his evenings off except Saturday, the ster offered no objection, and the boy started for the cove. CHAPTER V.—The Deserted Craft. As Jack was a frequent visitor at the cove, Gessett, who was on good terms with him, was not surprised when he walked in at the door. The boatman was reading a newspaper, while Billy Buster was working on a small model of a schooner Which he expected to sell for a good price to some summer visitor later on. “Hello, Jack?” said Gossett. “How do you do, Gossett,” responded the boy, in his customary cheerful tone. “What’s the matter with your leg?” . “He slipped between two rocks on the p’int after dark and wrenched it,” grinned Billy, who hailed the boatman’s affliction as a special act of Providence in his own behalf. *“He’ll be out of business for a day or two.” . “Shut up, you little monkey!” roared Gos- sett, i a motion to throw the newspaper at the youth. “Wait till I get aronnd ag’in, and warm your legs nicely with a rope’s end for laughin at. =a 57 's laughing at you?” said Billy, suddenly beeoming sober. i “You laughed at me when you came home, = ung sculpin, and saw the condition I was ain’t forgotten it, and I intend to lather you well for it.” “You're always licking me. Why don’t you take a rest?” growled Billy. ; for which you kin “I’m takin’ a rest now, thank your stars.” “But if you intend to lick me when you get on your pins, what good will that do me?” “You'll be in better condition to stand a good whi arg y ; ag ut-up! I don’t want to hear another word out of you.” “Gossett, I want you to do me a favor,” said “Name it, and if I kin do it it’s yours.” “I want to borrow your boat for a run across the bay on a particular errand which I can’t me till to-morrow. It will save me a long walk. I want Billy to come with me and he often did so when he wasvriled, or drunk. The boys ran down to the sandy beach of the cove. “There isn’t much wind, Jack, and it looks hazy. I guess a fog is coming in from the ocean,” said Billy. “There’s wind enough to take us across and back,” said Jack, as they began unmooring the sloop. “It’s a straight course across, and even if the fog caught us we couldn’t well go astray.” “Who are you going to call on at this hour? It’s nearly nine o’clock.” “lm We to see Mr: Adams, the lawyer.” r. Sp “Is rague having some legal business done?” “No. I’m after legal advice myself.” “You are? What for?” asked Billy in sur- prise, as they put out from the shore. “You'll learn one of these days, Billy.” “Something must have turned up.” “T’ll admit something has turned up.” 3 “Had a scrap with Sprague and want to quit © him?” “I have had no scrap with my guardian, but I wouldn’t object to quitting him.” “You don’t want to quit him any more than I’d like to cut loose from Gossett. You heard him threaten me with a licking for laughing at his ior leg. He always makes good his threats, so that licking is in pickle for me, and I'll get it unless I ran away to-morrow or next day. “Maybe I could persuade him to forget it.” “You couldn’t persuade him to do anything.” “But he let me have this boat, and he allowed you to come with me when I asked him.” “That’s different. He ain’t happy when he doesn’t lay it on me once a day at least. He takes pleasure out of it. He told me so. He said he’d sooner lick me than go to the circus.” _ “You have a hard time of it, Billy. I wouldn’t stand for what you do.” . “You’re bigger and older than me; but I ain't going to stand it much longer. If I wasn’t afraid I might run into worse luck I’d run away to-morrow.” The wind which had been growing lighter ever since they left the cove suddenly gave out alto- gether, and left the sloop floating idly upon the motionless surface of the harbor. e air had become quite misty around them, so that they — could no longer make out the village lights, and it was as thick as pea soup outside the harbor. — “We'll never across at this rate,” said Jack. “I don’t want to reach the lawyer’s house after he gas gone to bed.” “Let’s whistle for a breeze,” said Billy. They whistled for a few minutes and then quit. The air remained perfectly calm, but the mist grew thicker every minute. The tide was on the ebb, though the boys didn’t know it, and > sloop was drifting out of the harbor. They were not sensible to any motion on the part of the ~ craft. They seemed to be anchored to the spot — where the last puff of wind had left them. “This is a regular ocean fog,” said = “They won’t be able to see across the street in | i little while. You’d have done — walked. We are liable to stay — night. I hope the tide ain’t io t; for he became: for if it is we'll go out with it.” — a hod “That wouldn't be very, nice in this fog.” ll oe. aa < - stay by the boat while I’m visiting a gentleman on Prospect street.” “I hain’t no objection to you takin’ the boat, and I’m glad to get rid of that young varmint for a while,” said Gossett. “If he was like you he’d be some use to me, but of all the lazy, good- for-nothin’, cantankerous imps that ever breath- "That's as fer as Gossett to | ~
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‘would carry us down the shore a bit, and when it turned we’d drift back on the coast and go ashore, maybe in a bad spot.” Already they were out near the mouth of the harbor, and the fog had become so thick that, Slose as they sat together, they could hardly see ; each other. “Let’s crawl under the half deck,” said Billy. “What’s the clammy air? it right away.” Jack had no chjecoes to seeking the ey a protection of the half deck, for he was feeling ite chilly and uncomfortable. Accordingly, crawled under the deck and lay there talk- for an, hour, by which time they were a infle off shore and a short distance to the south The calm still held, and Jack d of sitting out here in this Fa breeze springs up we'll know - and gradually dozed off to Ni = tinued till midnight, and then an offshore breeze ‘Spr: up and wafted them further and further 1 Soe the coast. The breeze was light, but it set _ the fog in motion, though it did not have much . @ffect on it. Hour after hour passed, and the - boys slept on, unmindful of their situation. Sud- denly sloop bumped against something go- ing in the same direction. The shock was slight, it awoke Jack. A second bump cau n to crawl out from under the half deck. The fog had thinned out some, and the boy iw the indistinct outline of a vessel broadside on “to them. The sloop’s mainsail was flattened ‘against the craft, which rode the waves as silent and somber as a funeral ship. Jack felt the breeze and looked around for the boat-hook to fend off with. He couldn’t-find it, so he routed Billy out from under the half deck. _ “We're lying up against some kind of a ves- a he said. -- from a correst guess, for at that moment they ere four miles out in the ocean. = “Where’s the boat-hook, Billy? I want to push Off this craft.” -“Bossett carried it up to: the house.” _ “Then we must push off with our hands. We'll Nave to forward, for the sail is in the way.” ere’s a breeze blowing, but the fog doesn’t to be much thinner,” said Billy. “We'll be —— to ss po a ¥ —* _ guess go aboard this craft and get the of the shore by the compass.” can you tell the way the vessel is ly- f the tide is setting in she’s lying down on he village; if the tide*is on the ebb she’s bow on. If we run away from her at a angle we are bound to hit the shore near ve, or the shore we were aiming for when Stet Noy Ses et C4 AFTER A SQUARE DEAL 9 in front of the village or run out toward the mouth of the harbor,” said Billy. ey “['m going aboard, anyhow. Here’s a ro hanging over the side. After I shin up, grab hold of it and keep the sloop from floating off and leaving me behind.” Jack clambered quickly on board the vessel and jumped down on her fog-enshrouded deck. He heard nothing but the slight creaking of the ropes through the blocks. The sails were set above him, but he couldn’t see them. The fog prevented him from distinguishing which was forward and which was aft, so he turned to his right at a venture. He parts came slap up against-a wooden wall which he judged was the beginning of the poop where the cabin was. Feeling his way across the deck with one hand on the wall, he came to the door opening into the ogre that led to the cabin. It stood open, and e took the liberty of entering. The piace was dark as pitch and filled with fog. He went on till» he bumped against the cabin door. He opened it, expecting to find a light in there, -swinging under the skylight, but there was none. He was surprised at this, for he knew it was the custom for the cabin lamp to burn all night, th turned low. He struck a- match and found the cabin in a state of great confusion. The stateroom’ doors were all open, and it wasn’t many minutes ‘before he was assured that there was no one in that part of the vessel. She show- ed every indication of having been hastily aban- doned by her officers. As that was a most un- usual circumstance, Jack didn’t know wHat to make of it. It was even more unusual in the case of a vessel anchored in-the harbor, as he~ supposed this one was, instead of being nearly six miles off shore, as she really was, and in- creasing her distance slowly but steadily. “This is mighty funny,” thought the boy, as he looked into the captain’s room, and saw the same confusion there. . All the other three rooms wore the same a rance. “Billy will have to report this to-morrow,” said Jack: “T’ll call him aboard to lock-around. Now | I'll take a look at the compass.” = He ran up the companion stairs, struck a match and held it inside the brass hood of the binnacle. The.compass was not there. “I wonder why they took the compass away? There must have been trouble aboard.” On his way back to the side of the vessel where his aoe ewe was holding the sloop he. decided to look into the forecastle to see if the crew were gone, too. If the officers were gone he judged the crew was away also. He groped his way forward, reached the scuttle opening into sailors’ quarters, flashed a match down, and shouted, “Ahoy, below!” sev- eral times. He received no reply. “That settles it. ey’re gone} all right. The vessel is deserted,” he said. inte sa He went to the bulwark and loked down i there; Billy!» he, cried out. ot ey replied Billy's voice out of the fog. . 1.” - > Re."
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- harbor. planation, either. 10 AFTER A SQUARE DEAL “Where are they gone to?” “How should I know?” “Did you get your compass bearings?” “No. The compass is gone. Come aboard and take a look. You'll have to report this ip the morning, though it might have already been reported.” “Wait till I tie the sloop to this rope.” Jack waited, and in a few minutes Billy tum- bled on. board. “Have you been all over the vessel? In the cabin and forecastle?” : “Yes. Everything is turned topsy-turvy in the cabin and staterooms.” “That’s odd, ain’t it?” “That’s the way I look at it.” They made their way to the cabin, and Billy saw the condition of things with his own eyes. “You’re more of a sailor than I am. What do you think about it?” asked Jack. “J give it up. Funny thing to happen in the As this must have taken place some time ago, it’s singular I didn’t hear about it. Gossett would have mentioned it if he had heard of trouble aboard this craft. .There are only . two large vessels in the harbor, both brigs, and this is°one of them. There seemed to be noth- ing wrong with either when I left the wharves around five o’clock,” said Billy. “Well, you see what you see,” said Jack, who could find no explanation to offer. Billy walked around and could find no ex- Finally he sug; that as the fog was so thick, they had better remain on board all night, as he guessed it didn’t make a whole lot of difference where they passed the night. Jack agreed, for he had had all the -ex- perience he wanted with the fog. So they each rned into one of the bunks and were soon _ asleep. which the brig tossed about at the mercy of the waves. The s were frightened out of their senses. Soon a terrible crash came and both which soon was alongside and the mate boarded but Mr. Spra; for Jack and Billy to sign as landsmen and go with them. ‘ Three months later they were landed in San Francisco. CHAPTER VI.—From the Coast to Colorado. The boys put up at the Eureka House, on Com- mercial street, a cheap lodging house to which thev had been directed. “We’re back in the United States at last, but a long way from Stormhaven,” said Billy. “The question is what are we going to do? We haven’t money enough to pay our way back, whien I’m not aching to do. I wouldn’t face Gosset, after being concerned in the loss of his sloop, for a bunch of money. He’d murder me right off the reel. Now that I’ve got away from him, I don’t want to see him again. I guess I can make my own living all right. As for you, Jack, I don’t see why you should care to return to Sprague’s store. You can do a whole lot bet-. ter on your own hook. Both Sprague and Gos- sett have given us up long before this.” “I made up my mind long ago aboard the Middlesex what I was going to do when we reached this place,” said Jack. “You will do what suits you best, Billy, but I’m going to sae at once for the mining districts of Eolo- rado.” “What put that plan in your head? I never heard you say that you had a hankering to go _ mining.” “T haven’t in the ordinary sense, but as I happen to own a claim at an out-of-the-way place called Placer Gluch, somewhere around ~ Poker Flat, Colorado, I intend to go there and — look after it. If you will go with me I wil] © see that you don’t regret it.” “You own a mining claim in Colorado!” cried Billy, in surprise. “This is the first time you let the fact out to me. Did your father leave it to you when he died?” . “He left it to Noah Sprague in trust for me, e kept the knowledge of it from me, and I only found it out an hour or so be- fore I borrowed the sloop from Gossett and we started across the harbor of Stormhaven on the trip that ended in the middle of the Atlantic, and led to our coming here.” “You don’t say. so.” “I told you at the time that I was going over to see Lawyer Adams. I wanted to consult him about that claim. You remember the Westerner I brought from the railroad station to the store that night?” ” es. a “I found out that he was my father’s partner” in the West.” : “Is that so?” aay = “Yes. Do you remember the story he told | us about the mining camp, which he called Show Down, = which beg? man! boomed tate a bo og in a w owing to t isecovery made by = Chinaman who fell through the “4 : digging a ditch about his hut, and which town — went to pot’ as soon as the gold in the claim petered out?” ¢ Sa Wall’ th t ae = ’t Show Down, it = “Well, that place wasn it was Placer Gulch. The claim where the Chi 5
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ee . AFTER A SQUARE DEAL “Gosh!” “The Westerner came to Stormhaven, not be- cause I was living there and he felt an interest in me, but to secure a three years’ lease of my claim from Mr. Sprague.” -.*What did he want with the lease?” “To work the property. He told my guardian that he had made a fresh discovery of gold in it, and his proposition was to divide the gold he mined with Mr. Sprague, keeping three-quar- ters it himself, without reference to me, to whom it belongs. Sprague agreed and signed the lease, and it was to find out if such a lease was legal that I started to call on Lawyer Adams that night.” ~~ ~-“I¢ Sprague had no right to make the lease, _. it wasn’t legal.” “Tf don’t know whether he had the right to make it or not, but as it wasn’t in my interest LT intended to have it investigated. I failed, how- "= ever, owing to our going astray in the fog. The Westerner has the lease and is probably work- ing my claim by this time.” keep it, for it belongs to me. . oe! consider a quarter of the output a fair eal. I propose to find out from practical. min- ing men what the owner of a mining property Should receive. as his share when he leases his im to be worked by an outsider. Probably that will depend on circumstances, and what the lessee is_ willing to offer, but as the Westerner told my guardian that my claim was the richest in the eae socaning, : esi na Sn — t, in his opinion— ink my rake-off ought Stabe E be about two-fifths. At any rate, if the __» claim is rich, competition for a lease of it ought invited in justice to me, and the lease be awarded to the higgest bidder. Mr. Sprague’s _ Way of doing business shows him to be an un- - Worthy guardian, and I guess I could have some- body else appointed in his placé—somebody who _ Would give me a square deal, which I never can _ expect of M. by rail to a town called Keystone, terminus of a short branch road. would take them through tains to er Flat. The cost of this though not a long one, they found was their means, and as they would need they reached decided t must look up, some . reache an ing to hustle, to get a job in Leadville at better pay than he could have obtained in one of the big cities. Sack and Bill looked up the advertisements in one of the dailies and caught on right away. They remained a month in Leadville, saving every cent they could. Even at that, the cost of living being high, they made headway bat slowly. One evening when the boys came to- gether after their day’s work, Billy said: “Are you ready to make a start for Poker Flat, Jack?” “Hardly. We haven’t money enough yet.” “How much are we shy?” said Billy, for Jack acted as treasurer of their combined resources. “We ought to have at least $30 more.” “Here’s five $20 gold-pieces I Psa: up in a little purse on the street. at will fill the bill. We'll quit our jobs at the end of the week and go on to Poker Flat.” Jack welcomed this piece of good luck gladly, for he was impatient to learn what was being done on his claim, and to secure the square deal he was after. On the following Sunday morning they took a train for Keystone, and that town in about an hour and a half. It was a small place, not worthy of the dignity of being called a town, but the’ boys found that it was the custom to call nearly every place connected by rail a town, while other places six times as large, in the mining districts, were known: as camps. Poker Flat was considered a camp, although it had become a bustling town with nearly all the modern improvements. Atl the stores, saloons, hotels, offices, and many dwell- ings ‘were lighted by electricity, furnished with running water, and up-to-date -plumbing, and yet, asthe boys viewed it from the stage-coach that afternoon when the vehicle issued from the depths of a wild gorge, through which a good road had been built all the way from Keystone, it looked like a-town lost in the wilds. It was just as if some miners in the depths of the wilderness, possessed of an Aladdin’s lamp, had rubbed it and said: “Let there be a real town hares and forthwith the town appeared on the slope. Poker Flat grew out. of a gold strike, just as Placer Gulch had threatened to initate its ex- ample. A power house was erected, a forty stamp: mill went up along with a hotel, stores, post-office, and many other buildings, including an electric light plant, telephone building, water works, etc.» From that nucleus it rapidly ex- panded to its present bustling proportions. The surrounding mountains were honeycombed with tunnels,and the narrow valley ‘with buildings marking the hoisting works over the mouths of © shaft holes. The shaft of a mine is a large well, divided by heavy planking into two or three compartments, extending from the top to with- ing two or three feet of the bottom. The cold air from above, rushes down one compartment, and the heated and impure air up another, thus creating’ a circulation at the bottom of the shaft, and so enabling the miners to work in the tunnels and galleries below. The first thing Jack did was to call on a lawyer and consult him concerning mine leases ral, and his own in particular. As - the lawyer wor gene’ is lease of his own claim
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7 , ‘ 3 be 12 . AFTER A SQUARE DEAL ; venture no opinion. He said the lease had Jack agreed to do that. probably been made out and executed in proper “How far is Placer Gulch from here?” he shape. Its legality would depend wholly on his asked. F f guardian’s power to make the lease, not on “About eighteen miles.” 2 whether it was a perfectly fair one. “We'll have to carry a supply of provisions, I “If your guardian has the legal right to lease guess?” the property in question, according to his own “You won’t find none there, I reckon. The judgment, and without being obliged to submit. Cayuses will be provided with a pair of saddle the paper to the concurrence of the court which pags large enough to hold a couple of weeks’ = appointed him your guardian, then the lease will supply of food and drink. There's a store up stand in law, even if given a mere nominal con- the street that'll fit you with all you want.” sideration,” said the lawyer. “According to your_ _ Jack produced $20, and the landlord prom- statement the claim did not come to you by will, jsed to have the cayuses ready for them -next but by a deed of gift made out in trust for morning. The boys, furnished with a note from you to the man who got himself appointed your the proprietor of the hotel, called at the supply guardian. While it is a fact that you being store, picked out what they figured they would - next of kin, and therefore heir-at-law, woul need in the way of grub, paid for it, and said’ have come into the claim anyway, the deed of they would call for it on the following morning. gift may make some difference in the case, ac- At nine o’clock the next day the boys rode out cording as it is worded. That is, it may give of Poker Flat and took the trail up through the “an unlimited power to your ag bo which he_ mountains for Placer Gulch. It was the first wouldn’t otherwise possess. So you see that no week in November and the weather was fine but. lawyer, without being able to see all the docu- oo]. They each had a pair of blankets strapped ments in the case, can give a definite opinion on behind the saddle, for they could expect no Fs as to the legality of the lease under the terms hotel accommodations where they were going. ) of which the lessee asserts his right to-work They would find a score or ‘more of vacant, fin-- the claim during the term of the lease.” ished and partly finished buildings where they~ Se Jack was disappointed, for it was impossible could roost without-cost or question. Jack had or him to produce the document that would learned very little about the operations of the definitely settle the matter either to his satisfac- Westerner who had secured the lease of his_ tion or otherwise. : claim. About all he found out was that a well- ; known miner and prospector named Jim Whaley ~ had gone to Placer Gulch three months since with _ : igs game pre geben they had a ‘ VIL—At Placer Gulch. ° with them hand drills and others mining tools. _ aie ; ig le aaa - Two of them had returned at the end of thirty _- When Jack returned to the mine?s’ hotel where days for a supply of provisions, and reported that he and Billy were stopping, he told his companion theyehad found some gold on the claim they were about the unsatisfactory condition of things as we but not pei to set the woods on fire. outlined by the lawyer. , They showed no samples of ore, and did not talk “What will you do now?” inquired Billy. like men who had made a strike. The party rh “I'm going to Placer Gulch and have a talk had carried 100 ore bags with them, and the with the Westerner,” answered Jack. two men bought 100 more and took them with : “If he has got hold of a good thing he won’t them. This was the only significant feature of mak change that will benefit . Asyou’re their visit to Poker Flat. It started two pros- ee Tadee Bocaguile. contro] until nh os of oy I pecting miners for the Gulch, but they came don’t see what you can do.” back at the end of the week and said the 7 S 4 you willing to go to Placer Gulch with party Peg taking — ar yp = for — , rather stay here and pick up wor ey were putting on claim. No- a job?” = = ef = Y body else went to the Gulch, and nothing had “Tl go anywhere you want me to?” since been heard from there. In the face of the “AN right. We'll start to-morrow,morning. I fact that the Westerner had told Wligrag: = ag ' ss must find out the way, for there is no road, Sprague that the claim in question was the Cs . nothing but a rough trail. As there-is no pub- est in the West, Jack was surprised that better Ra lie conveyance going there, we'll have to walk results were not coming out of the ground. He _ unless we can oe a couple of horses without and Billy talked the matter over and eame to being obliged to put up a deposit equal to their the conclusion that the Whaley party were per-_. eaiae.” po Np ig ins abe true een, Pais a ; : ietor of the secre prevent a second rush o: seekers _ Jack consulted with the proprietor o Awhy Som. the Gitch, = ae = on our way there, but our funds are low foxy and_not-to-be-depended-on indivi ‘The we can’t “afford to buy horses to take us routé to Placer Gulch clear enough, we hi Se oy Agena get back hat it was not until some tim a a couple ef cayuses if you'll put that the
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j : ’ »euing through the trees. “All right. I Il cal they left Poker Flat, had woln_a few mip’vhich, with the background of mountain scenery, made the aspect of things very dark. The boys stopped in a ravine to eat supper, and passed over the last lap at a slow rate. The first idea they got that they were drawing near their destination was a bright light ahead thrown by a reflecting lantern. Then they opened up other lights shining from some building. In a few minutes they came to two unfinished buildings close on the trail which - had now widened out into a rough roadway twenty-five to thirty feet wide. They saw the dark outlines of other shacks on the opposite side. Jack réined in, dismounted and tried the door of on- of them. It was not fastened, and he walked in and struck a match. The place : furnished with chairs, several tables and a The rear room as —_ up as . apoyo - and pots and pans sti ung near the stove, » but seat of Sioa were thick with dirt and rust, ‘and were useless. = eke stove was rusty and choked with ashes and refuse. There was an entry that occupied half the width of the building between the kitchen and the front room, and decreased the size of the rmér room to that extent. Here a flight of rough stairs led to the floor above. Jack went up there and found three small rooms, each fur- nished with a cot and bedclothes, and hooks on which to hang garments, as well “as cheap, gal- vanized iron washstands, with pitcher and bowl of similar material, and-one large room ex- tending to the front fitted with a dozen cots, each supplied with a pair of army blankets. Jack ‘jumped to the conclusion that this was the hotel, ie proprietor of which had expected to do a Yushing business as the diggings expanded. The y returned to the road. “We'll put up here-for the night, and probably i! further notice,” he said to his companion. “All right,” replied Billy. “Where shall we ow the cayuses?” “We'll a place in the back, I guess.” - They found nothing but a vacant space, cov- ered with ss and trees, through which ran @ stream of water perhaps a foot deep and six Vide. They tied the animals to a pair of trees h a long line, took off their blankets and bags, and entered the house through the n door. here are cots upstairs,” said Jack. “We can =» a room each. We'll carry our stuff up ” 4 Ps they did. After inspecting the mattresses | two of the cots, and finding that the blankets rere not in bad shape after being idle for two Years, they arranged their own blankets on top and were satisfied with their beds. They were d enough to turn in right away. Jack ad- Bil to do so, but as for himself, he said as going to make a short inspection of the gs. He left the byilding, after taking note general appearance, and walked up the ward the lights. He passed more a ; s, mostly on one side of the dark, silent and like a vil- dead. The ‘ild the lig -«TER A SQUARE DEAL ‘smelter,” “one wagon load to in with. 13 tain spur. The light with the reflector was about three hundred yards up the mountain side, and -even at that distance in the darkness Jack could see the forms of men there moving about as if at work. The boy peered into the lighted house through one of the windows and saw one man there smoking and cleaning a revolver. The room was furnished with a long table, set out with plates, cups, etc., a dozen or more chairs, and other articles. It was evidently the living room of the Whaley party. The rest of the house was dark, and Jack could not make out what was in the rear, but judged it was the kitchen. Then he took his way toward the light up the mountain. As he approached nearer, the forms of the men became clearer. He. saw a hoisting apparatus under a roof sup- ported on a dozen posts. It consisted of a hand windlass, from which a stout rope ran through a pulley hanging from the roof down into the shaft. When Jack got quite close he saw a small iron bucket pulled up full of ore. This was swung over to a bag, the mouth of which another man held open so the contents of the buket could be poured in. When the bag was full, the mouth was sewed up with a large needle and a piece of ‘se The bag was then added to a pile of similar ones close by. “Nine o’clock. Time to quit,” said one of the pair at the mouth of the shaft. He sang down the moutlr of the hole. The bucket was lowered, both men got hold of the handle of the windlass, and one of the miners below was hoisted up. Then a second, third and . fourth was pulled up, and as the last one stood in the glaze of the light, Jack recognized him as Jim aley. : / CHAPTER VIII.—Jack Meets Jim Whaley. The light was put out and the men started for the occupied house. “ “We've got one hundred and sixty bags full,” Jack heard one of the men say. “Then it is time we started the ore to the said Whaley. “But we'll only send We’ve been here three months, and that won’t look like a whole lot for the time we’ve put in. the load in, Bill, and fetch 200 empty bags back with you, together with the supplies we need.” That’s all Jack heard as they passed out of his hearing, but it was enough to convince him that the claim was panning out pretty well, You take considering the few hands at work. The most effective tools the men were using were a couple of hand drills, and as the tunnel they were work- ~ ing in, a short distance below the surface, was small, as yet they were not getting on very fast. The reason Whaley was using hand tools was because he was pressed for cash, and he could not afford to install more up-to-date methods _ until he had realized on the initial output. Be- sides, the bunch wanted ‘to work the claim as as possible on the quiet. The res! reason for was that Whaley could not te'l how the lode he had discovered ran. Fe rf eb Apt. a a ecm =
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14 abandoned them when the Lucky Strike gave out and George Wilson failed to’ find gold again. The owners of these adjoining claims Whaley had been unable find, but he did not doubt that the report’ of a fresh gold strike in the Gulch would reach their ears and bring them back to see what was doing. Jack remained where he was until the men entered the house, then he walked up to the shaft, struck a match and counted the bags of ore piled about. There were sixty of them. Where the other hundred were he could not say, probably stowed in one of the empty houses. Curious to see the place where the ore was being taken out, he lowered ‘the bucket till it struck the bottom, fifteen feet below. Relocking the windlass, he grabbed the rope and slid down. Striking a match, he saw the mouth of the tunnel, and entered it. It had been opened up about twenty feet. He saw the two hand drills, the shovels and picks, with hammers and hand borers. , A small pile of ore lay on the ground. Jack examined samples of it, and he could see the dull —— streaks in the white quartz. Al- though he had wey little knowledge of gold or silver ore, he could see that the rock apprered to be rich in the precious metal. It made him mad to thinkthat all this was his property, and yet was at the mercy of a bunch of strang- ers, who probably stood to make a fortune at his, expense. In tess than’ three years they might clean the claim out, and leave him nothin but an unprofitable piece of ground. Indeed, — was more fact than fiction in this refiec- on. The purpose of the lessee, of course, is to make as much out of the claim within a given time as he can. Some lessees make a good thing out of their lease, while others are not so for- tunate. Whaley figured on making a mint out of Jack’s claim, << had time amntgh to — oughly explore property an re e aren if net the milk as well, Jack put a number of the best samples in his pocktts then he climbed back to the surface, wound the bucket up, and started for the building where he and Billy had put up. He passed the lighted build- ing and stop to look in. Whaley and his working force were eating their supper, waited on by the man Jack had seen cleaning the re- volver. Ten minutes later Jack reached the deserted “hotel” and found Billy asleep. He turned in himself, but tired though he was, it was some time before he became oblivious of his surroundings. He was still sleeping when Bill out. A clear, sunshiny day polos egg The - eayuses were wandering around as far as their - lines allowed them, nibbling the i a rn The de- made out in AFTER A SQUARE DEAz cating they re Sein shouting to his team of ana, 9 wagon passed the “hotel” on ne a 4 never wg Flat. ack told Billy what he had seen the night before. “I went down the shaft and into the tunnel and saw what they were doing there,” he ‘said. “Here are some of the quartz specimens, and they look to be rich with gold. See the yellow streaks and bits of metal all through them?” Billy said the samples were all to the good. “They've taken out 160 bags of that stuff If each bag weighs about 200 pounds, as I judge it does, that makes 32,000 pounds, or sixteen tons. If it assays $300 a ton, and Whaley claim- ed it would do better, they’ll get $5,000 out of what they have already taken out. A quarter of that, or $1,250, goes to my guardian, and the Whaley bunch keep the rest. Even if Mr. Sprague intended to do the right thing by me, which he doesn’t, would you consider I was get- pe fair rake-off?” “No. You ought to get a third, at least, for you own the claim. If you worked it yourself you could make more than Whaley. If it was my claim I’d want to boss the job and get all the profit.” “That’s the way I look at it. How much gold will be left in that claim after Whaley has ae ed it for three years?” “Maybe none.” Ps “That’s just it...Now, to put the thing in a fair light, if Whaley discovered the lost vein, as he claims, and which I’m willing to allow, he is entitled to something for that. I’m willing to let him work the claim say, for a year, on a two-thirds. whack, or eighteen months on a three-fifths rake-off, he paying all expenses. think that is a square deal alt around.” oe think so, too.” 7 : “You’re going to call on Whaley and put th ves up fo, him?” he cl = : : es. ell go to the claim right away.” “He won’t be pleased to see he V'll bet.” : “I can’t help that. This is my property, and I have the right to come and see it, and also the right to demand a square deal.” The boys took a look at their cayuses and, find- ing they were all right, they verte up the street. As they passed the inhabited house they saw no one there, but they heard the rattling of dishes in the rear, which indicated that the cook and general helper was cleaning up after breakfast. They were seen as they drew near the claim by the men busy on the surface. They walked right up to the roof on stilts. ——r eee a re “Hello,” said one of the men, “where did you~ oS two spring from?” - “The last place was Poker Flat,” replied Jack. PB ag Lh it a your tog E Bee ~- here? ere’s nothing doing in the ex this claim.” . <= be “We are aware of that.” “What did you come for, then? work!” : _“No. I came to see Jim Whaley, who, I be- | 4 = Teer oe eae halen =. _“Oh, you know do you? Want to see him right away? He's down in the tunnel.” _ z roves.” 3 a 5 Seat a ai = “2 i ? = a Se
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' AFTER “All right. Vl call him_up.” In a few minutes the Westerner was hauled up. Pe How do you do, Mr. Whaley? You remember me, don’t you?” said Jack“ “Jack Wilson!” cried Whaley, after a swift recognition. : CHAPTER IX.—Jack Opens His Fight For A Square Deal. “What brought you out here, and how did you get here?” said Whaley, regarding Jack curi- ously, and in not over friendly a way. _ “J came here on business, and how I got here _ \is a long and curious story,” replied Jack. ~* “Waal, you and a friend of yours, this chap -who’s with you, I reckon, suddenly disappeared from Stormhaven thar night I came thar. You borrowed a sailboat from thar man your friend was apprenticed to, and you two went off sail- ‘in’ after dark in a dense fog, and no one know’d whar you was headed for. I stayed in thar vil- age several days, and durin’ that time you arn’t heard from. Jest afore I left thar place - your guardeen, who was much cut up over your disappearance, told me that thar boat you chaps ‘went sailin’ in was picked up at sea, with thar sail set and no one in her, by a*schooner from Boston to Stormhaven. It was brought in and claimed by thar owner. That seemed to estab- lish thar fact that you two had fallen overboard At any rate, thar Stormhaven ‘and got lost. ‘paper printed a story to that effect, and your -guardeen gave you up as a dead one. —you turn up with your friend, alive and hearty, d away out here in thar wilderness. I reckon lanation of your conduct are in order,” an Whaley frowned. - “I don’t know that-you have any right to demand an explanation from me, Mr. Whaley, seeing that we became acquainted in a free- md-easy way in Stormhaven, I have no objec- on telling you how I and my friend, Billy ter, disappeared from the village. I borrow- ‘the boat to call on a friend on the other of the harbor,.and I took Billy with me. never reached the other side. Had the wind we'd have got across andgback in spite of fog, but it failed us when we were half way, ‘we ran up against one of the two brigs ly- at anchor, as we supposed, in the harbor. Ve went aboard and found her deserted by her ers and crew, and everything in confusion. Ve didn’t know what to make of it, but decided, % account of the fog, to stay aboard all night. When we woke up in elves es out at sea, and Gossett’s sailboat the two of us couldn’t sail the brig, sails up, and was traveling out gait, we had to let things take ope for rescue by some vessel one did that day. Then a A SQUARE _ DEAL Now here / the morning we found our-- 15 East at once, as far as our money would carry us, which was Leadville. From there we came here. Now you haye our story in a nutshell.” “Waal, that puts a diff’rent complexion on thar situation, I’ll allow; but what brought you here from Leadville? Why didn’t you two work your way back to Stormhaven, whar you belong?” “Leadville is in Colorado.” “I reckon it ain’t nowhar else.” “My father came to Colorado and spent a con- siderable time in the mining districts.” “Waal?” “The last few letters I got from him he mail- ed from Poker Flat.” “Waal?” said Whaley, the frown returning to his face. “In those letters he hold me he was prospect- ing at a place called Placer Gulch. Then one day Mr. —— told me he had just received word of my father’s death—that he had died and was buried in the Gulch. But you know all about that, for you were with father when he died, and it was you who notified Mr. Sprague of the ‘fact and sent him certain papers which showed ‘that my father owned a mining claim in the Gulch, which, finding he was about to die, hé transferred to Mr. Sprague, in trust for me. Through that paper the postmaster had himself appointed my guardian.” “So Sprague told you all that, did he? Why, he told me that——” The Westerner stopped abruptly and looked hard at the boy. ‘ “No, he didn’t tell me,” went on Jack. told me my father died worth nothing, and that I was now wholly dependent on him for my sup- port. He said he could not afford to keep me unless I was willing to work in the store for my board and clothes. “There was nothing for me to do but agree, particularly as I had been help- ing around the store, when I wasn’t at school, almost all the time since my father left me in his care,” ~ “Waal, if he didn’t tell you, how did you find out that your father owned a claim in the Gulch?” “You remember that on the night I drove you in the wagon from the station to the store you told Billy and me the story of the rise, m a “He night, so to speak, of a mining.camp which you ca ed Show Down?” : “Waal, what about it?” growled Whaley. “Why didn’t you call the place by its right name?” : “What d’ye mean?” The chiap yen called Show Deir wax'this place—Placer Gulch.” : “How d’ye know it was?” *J heard you tell Mr. Sprague so.” “You heard me tell Mr. Sprague?” “In the little sitting-room behind the store. In fact, I overheard the whole of that interview.” “You did?” Pe mention my father’s name, and I because I
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16 my father’s claim, which was supposed to be worthless, since the first strike petered out be- fore my father died. Mr. Sprague asked you if it was valuable and jyour words were that it was ‘the richest claim in the West.’” | Whaley uttered a smothered imprecation. — “You told the postmaster that the business which had brought you to Stormhaven was to get from him a lease of the claim so you could work it. To get him to sign the paper which you had brought with you, P ed suggested that he could keep his share of the transaction, make no report to the court, and thus cheat me, the heir to the claim, out of what rightfully belonged to me.” “Look here, young man, you’re makin’ a charge agin me, d’ye understand?” — : “I do, for it’s the truth,” said Jack, sturdily. “Tt ain’t thar truth. It are a lie!” said Whaley, fiercely. , “l’ve heard that to call a man a liar out here is dangerous. As I’m only a boy, you think I can’t resent it. I want you to take that word back, at once, do you understand?” and Jack looked the man squarely in the eye. “Why, confound your nerve, do you think——” “That’s enough, Mr. Whaley. You'll take it back or I’ll brand you as a coward... Pm a boy, and unarmed; you’re a man, and I see the butt of a gun in your as 2 pocket, You have all the advantage of me. If you are a real man you will apologize. You are a Westerner, and when they are not born rascals, I have been told they are fair and square, so I put it up to you.” “Whaley was clearly disconcerted. “Waal, I'll take back thar word, but I deny your allegation.” *. “All right. We won’t argue the matter. I can’t prove it, so we'll let it go. Mr. Sprague signed the lease, and he expects to me out of what should come to me through the lease, but I going to see that he doesen’t. ley grinned. gr “T s’pose that’s why you came here; but you’ve had your trouble for nothin’. I’ve got. nothin’ to do with what your guardeen does with thar share thar lease entitles him to. You’ll have to fight it out with him.” “I intend to.” , “Seein’ that you’re plucky and smart like your father, I guess you'll win.” “TI expect to. But I didn’t come here on that errand. Why should I when Mr. Sprague is in Stormhaven, 2,000 miles or more from here?” “When you reached Leadville and found that Poker Flat warn’t such a great way off, and that ther Gulch was near it, you thought you’d come and hev a look at your claim, is that it?” en ee ah er ee ee coming ere, é ; “What other reason have you? Want to see whar your father are buried?” - Yes, that was another reason.” “Waal, I’ll show you his grave. It’s thar onl hereabouts. If thar town hadn’t gone up grave- AFTER A SQUARE DEAL induced Mr. Sprague to sign.” _ “Sprague has, thin’ to do but t ‘his ern Si ont bind sido ak a ee “What are it?” “I wanted to talk to you about that lease you “Want to see it? Come over to thar house and I'll show it ‘to you.” Jack accompanied the man, and Billy brought . up in the rear. 4 “Is the claim as rich as you told my guardian it was?” said Jack. ~ “It are fairly ae replied Whaley. “What do you call fairly good? You have taken out quite a bit of rock. How does it assay?” “I ain’t had none.of it assayed.” Jack believed that statement was false, but he had to take the man’s word. “I thought that was the first thing that was — done in order to establish some kind of idea as to the value of the gold in sight?” “You are right. The first samples I took out afore I went East I had assayed, and they show- ed about $300 to. thar ton. That’s why I said it was thar richest claim in thar West, meanin’ it was prety rich.” \ . “You’ve been working the claim three months.” “Who told you that?” ; “T heard in Poker Flat that you left there for this place three months ago, with mining tools, supplies and other things.” “That are right. We’ve been workin’ about eleven weeks. It’ was three weeks afore we got to workin’ on thar vein.” “How many tons of rock have you taken out?” asked Jack, wishing to see what answer Whaley would give him. “Not many.” “Fifteen or twenty?” : : “No. You seen what we had bagged at thar — shaft.” d “But you sent a load of it to Poker Flat this met forgot that. We'll eall sixty “T forgot that. e it si 's alto- gether. Six ton.” ” “That’s all you’ve.taken out in eleven weeks?” A =n tases ata dN | “and wh t d think “And what do you think that will . “Maybe $2,500." re - They had reached the house by that time they walked in. The man who acted that week as housekeeper was in the kitchen at work. | Whaley led the way upstairs. Bill remained be © hind and sat down in one of the chairs on the © porch. Whaley took Jack to his room—a small, rough, unfinished apartment. Taking a tin box from the shelf over the head of the cot, he un- — locked it and produced the lease. ‘ ‘ Ree you a on over it. A lawyer dre ~ it up for me, and it are signed and sealed i es, form.” = Jack went over it rapidly. “Do you eall that a fair lease?” he asked, hand- | a ing it back. ‘ “What’s thar matter with it?” — ; “You take arters of the output and allow Sprague only one quarter.” _ “Waal, I do thar work and foot all the ex- penses, don’t I?” , See “Yes.” — cs
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AFTER A SQUARE DEAL “Suppose you take out rock that pans out $10,000 a mon ‘ “Tt ain’t 9 “Suppose you do.” “Waal, anes I do, what then?” . “Sprague is supposed to get only $2,500, while you $7,500. It isn’t a fair proportion.” : “why ain’t it when I pay for everythin’?” 7 *“J']] tell you why it isn’t,” said Jack, who then -_- gtated what he had learned from miners in Poker - Flat was the average percentage allowed to the lessee on a lease which turned out $10,000 a month and ppward. “Whaley flared at the boy. The lad- knew more about the matter than he supposed he did. “Waal, this here lease ain’t as gd as I thought it was—at least, not yet. It may do en thar claim.” “I’ve got some of the samples of the ore you aye taking out now, and I cail them rich. I intend to have them -upon by an assayer.” Sa “What good will that do you?” . - “Tt will give me a line on the present output of the claim.” , .. “Waal, s’pose it does. What diffrence will it _. ‘ake to you?” - “J shall use thémformation to break the lease és and have you make a new one running not over krone, zon, reals ie intigh,” jntaned Wile a , you e me Rid Y. Prat ts 3 ~~ He os bestnio laughs last. You think that lease is legal?” “I certainly do.” “Well, show me the signature of the judge of * the court who appointed Sprague my guardian, __. approving the lease.” ~~ “It was only a bluff on Jack’s part, but it q startled Whaley: tS Whaley acknowledged the lease had no judge’s signature. “a “Then Sprague will find himself in a hole,” _ gaid Jack. “TI) intended to inform the judge at * Stormhaven of this, and he will undoubtedly de- clare the lease void. .Then I will advertise for of- fers to work the claim, after the case is triad out in this county somewhere, and the highest bidder will get the lease.” * This scared Whaley, and he resolved to tem- with Jack until he had seen a lawyer. If i went against him he resolved to do away with the boy in some manner. He did not intend to kill him, however, but have him incarcerated _. im a cave in the mountain which he knew. He knew his men would stand by him and give him all the help he needed in the matter. - Jack joined Billy and told.him what had trans- e shaft where Whaley was, and when seized from behind, bound better after a while when we get to workin’ right _ wall by a series of rough 2 ons into weeolly.” he Said pockets 17 CHAPTER X.—The Unknown. “Who in thunder are you and what are you ’ doing here?” demanded the fellow in charge of the proceedings. “Drop that boy!” was the reply from the bearded man. | The other’s hand glided swiftly to his hip poc- ket, and his revolver was half way out when the stranger’s gun flashed a streak_of fire. The man uttered a ery of pain as his arm dropped to his side, broken by the bullet. “Now then, drop that boy or I'll drop you!” said the stranger in a tone that indicated he would stand no nonsense. : : The two who were carrying Jack had no al '‘ ternative but to obey. “Turn around and face the entrance to the defile,” said the stranger. “Throw up your arms.” ; The pair did so. The other man was holding his atm up and glaring at the unknown, his face convulsed with pain. “Step. up alongside your friends,” stranger to him. “Blame you, you’ve broken my arm!” said the rascal, as he did as he was told. “That’s your own fault. You should not have said the tried to draw your -gun on me. You should count yourself lucky that I did not kill you,” said ‘the unknown, taking possession of the fel- low’s weapon. He then hauled the revolvers out of the poc- kets of the other two. YY “Now you can go. March straight ahead down the define. Start!” : They started and were soon last to view. The stranger whipped out a knife and freed Jack from his bonds and removed the’ gag. “I thank you, sir, for is me from those rascals,” said the boy, gratefully. “You are welcome, my boy,” replied the un- known, in a mellow voice, “Pick up those weap- ons and follow me.” ahs Jack shoved a gun in his hip pocket and, carry- ing the other two in his hands, accompanied the stranger into the dark mountain cave. ‘The transition from the light outside to the gloom of the cave prevented the boy from making out even the outlines of the place. Everything was black to his eyes, and he could not see the tall, stalwart form of his rescuer who was preceding him, but guided by his voice he followed unhesi- tatingly, and presently realized that he was treading a narrow, rocky passage. This ended at a second caries by which time Jack’s eyes were. growing a bit used to the darkness, and he could just distingush the stranger’s head. Another short passage brought them to a third cave, smaller than the other two. The unknown seized him by the arm and led him around a spur of rock into a tortuous passage which ex- tended for some distance and ended in a fourth cave of large di s, the floor of which was uneven. Here the stranger produced a taper which he Bghted. “We are about to crawl up the face ot the
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et brief 2 twain by a dark: void, as a mountain level Fi ~< 13 Up went the unknown from the confidence of a person accustomed to the route. Jack fol- lowed in a groping fashion, feeling for a foot- hold. They landed on a narrow shelf, and the os Pia a rope hanging through a hole over- “This rope will take us to a lighter cavern above which is inaccessible by.any other route than this,” said the stranger. “I will- go up first. As soon as the rope ceases to shake tie ~ the end of it under your arms loosely. As I pull on the rope you can assist yourself by placing your feet on the projections here and there. Take this taper. It will light an way.” Thus speaking, the unknown caught hold of the rope and hoisted himself hand-over-hand until he reached the first projecting stone high above the shelf, after which his progress was easier. When the rope ceased to shake in Jack’s - hand ke tied the end of it_around under his arms as he had been directed. “Are you ready?” came a voice from some- where above. : “Yes,” the boy shouted back. ; The rope tightened and he rose slowly in the air. After reaching the first projection it was like climbing a pair of parallel ladders closely hugging a smooth wall, which any one knows is a difficult job without support... Helwed by the rope, Jack found the ascent eas® enough, and emerged through the mouth of the hole into a cavern, lighted by an irregular opening i four feet above the floor. The sun- oe It was evidently the home of the un- , for a couch of dried ss lay at one lankets. A "3 ed. those three rascals,” said the boy, impressed by a oo Sage resemb one had met ] ‘ore, but which was too in- definite for Jack to place, “I would like to know to whom I am under such great obligation.” “J am somebody whose life has been cut in split in two parts by a yawning crevasse. recollection © ako od things extends but a iod back. Beyond that the past is hid- Pet by a thick, impenetrable curtain, which as. wus ie vain to see through. The sensation I say it is most ar. ss that warns me fr Pope sie Ce ipeunges = par- from nen W ve come nis I cannot angeritand. a0 AFTER A SQUARE DEAL associated with in my unknown past, yet my , inner consciousness bids me avoid them as one would a plague.” “That’s funny,” said Jack. “Its meaning is beyond my comprehension. Further, something tells me we have met before. Yet that seems unlikely since you, in full pos- session of your own past, have not recognized me. “I have the same impression. You put me in mind of some one I know, and-yet to save my _ life I cannot tell who it is.” “What is your name?” e “Jack Wilson.” “Wilson! The name strikes a familiar cord. I must have known a Wilson.” “Have you been long in these regions?” “Not over a week this side of Leadville.” . “Leadville! Another familiar name. I oc- ~ casionally visit a town in the mountains called Poker Flat, for supplies. When first I wandered into the place, like a man awakened from a deep” sleep, I recognized it at once as a locality [ seemed to be-thoroughly familiar with, and yet I could not call it by name, not say when I had been there. I observed changes that had taken places in the picture—new buildings I could not ace, new mines where I recalled rocks and rush—many changes, in fact. I asked what town it was, and I was asked where I had come from that I did not know this was Poker Flat. I looked for a familiar face, but recog- nized no one, nor was I myself recognized by a_soul. The gulch below is equally familiar, with its deserted buildings, some -not finished. How I came to lose my memory, and with it my identity, is a mystery I fear I shall never solve.” - “Tt is too bad,” said Jack. and Placer Gulch are——” “Placer Gulch!” cried the stranger, with some mete in his tone. “Where is that?” ; = Why, right below where the deserted houses are. “Placer Gulch! That’s the name. I’ve tried to think of it a hundred times. It wakens a flood of broken thoughts. Placer Gulch and I are connected by some tie that I may yet ua- ravel, and when I do, perhaps the past will un- roll before me like a panorama, and once more — I will recognize myself, and the life I have lived,” said the stranger, with some emotion. z “T hope so,” said Jack. pm ee said you came from Leadville?” “ es.” F “Is it your home?”. “No. I claim no home now. and out on the world.” - “Indeed! What induced you to come here?” | T am an orphan by my father. My guardian, a shi and dis-— heute tale, leased the claim to ne! : miner named Jim Whaley——” ¥ “Tf Poker Flat__ _ “I own a mining claim in the Guich, left me a prospector and es
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AFTER A SQUARE DEAL ears like a trumpet note. Your face is familiar, I have already said. In heaven’s name, how is it you do not recognize me? Can it be that : my personality is so changed that were I to drop in among old friends and acquaintances I would _’ pass among them as a stranger? Is it possible * that one can alter in a few years so much as that?” EY “You have been dead to the world but a hort time if you can recognize Placer Gulch as a familiar landmark. The camp is hardly two and a half years old.” < “How could I have altered past recognition in two years?” : * : “That tangled beard of yours is a very effec- _ tive disguise. Perhaps if you were shaved it . would make all the difference in the world. It is your eyes that remond me of—my father!” e ried Jack in a thrilling tone, as remembrance asserted itself. “It can’t be you are he!” he went on excitedly. “He was reported dead. Jim _. Whaley sent.Mr. Sprague word that he died in ~ Placer Gulch. That was over two years ago. 4 “And he sent with the letter the deed of the Lucky Strike claim my father owned.” 3 The stranger tore at his head, paced the room in a fever of excitement, and threw his arms ’ wildly about. “The Lucky Strike! The Lucky Strike!” he cried. “I know it. I know it. The deed—the per—the——_” Suddenly he at his throat. He whirled around, fell back on the couch and lay there unconscious. ; eCHAPTER XI.—Conclusion. ‘J was aghast over what had happened, and when he looked down at the unknown and saw him lying half on the couch as nerveless as a I joe, he feared that he was either dead or dying. ~ He looked around for some wat_r to dash in the man’s face, and saw a flask Uf whisky about full. Pouring some of this in a tin cup opened the unknown’s mouth and let some of it trickle down his throat. The stranger cough- _ @d like one does when something goes against his breath, a strangling kind of cough, then he. pened his eyes and sat up. The unknown stared ¥ ¥ “Stand there ou. d ran his eyes over Jack. a . boy, who are you?” 19 been brought here, and I could not have come of my own accord, for my last remembrance centers around the prison pen in a deep ravine where I was put by my partner, Jim Whaley, to force me to reveal to him the spot where I had dis- covered a fresh vein of gold on my claim, richer by far than my first strike, and to take him in as my partner on even terms.” “You say you do not know how you came “here?” said Jack, in surprise. ‘“T do not. Last night Jim Whaley visited me in my pen and, after a heated interview, he’ struck me down with the butt of his revolver, like the coward he is. That is all I remember until I came to my senses a few minutes ago and found myself here with you,” said Wilson. “And how long were you a prisoner in that pen?” “Three months, as near as I can calculate.” “And before that where were you?” “At work on my claim, which had petered out a few weeks before.” . “Two years and a half ago Jim wie sent word to Mr. i oe that you were dead— had on a a mountain fever.” “What!” : “At the same time he enclosed in his letter the deed of the Lucky Strike claim, and a paper transferring the claim to the postmaster in trust for me, which he said you drew up before you died.” 2 “I drew up no such paper. I never transferred the claim to Mr. Sprague. Why should I? I was in good health, and am in good /health now— ~ Great Scott! This beard! What does it mean?” cried Wilson, pulling at the long hair and realiz- ing by the feel that it was the real thing. “Last night Iyhad no beard to speak of—only a three month’s growth of hair because I had not sha since I was put in the pen. Now I have two feet long. In the name of heaven, boy, how - did this happen?” cried the puzzled'and alarmed man. “Father, I see clearly the truth. You have been out of your mind for two secant’ . “Great Scott!” said Wilson. “I cannot under- stand all this. I am Snes. Md swear that it was last night Whaley struck and knocked me unconscious.” “What year do you understand this to be?” said Jack, suddenl “Year! Wh Spe! father dead was fae indeed. He to - about his with Noah Sprague fro in his t left him in the postr Jack told his
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20 ‘in Stormhaven—the interview he had overheard between Whaley and Sprague—his determina- tion to consult Lawyer Adams on the subject of the lease that night—how he had borrowed Gossett’s sailboat, and with his friend, Billy Buster, had started across the harbor—how they got becalmed in the fog, and all that followed In consequence, which resulted in their reaching Placer Gulch. Jack-told his father all about ‘the interview he had had with Whaley «that morning, when the man apparently backed down ‘and seemed willing to give him the square deal he was after. “The thing to be done now is to have Whaley arrested for conspiracy to defraud me, and get the claim away from him,” said George Wilson. -*hat’s right,” said Jack. “Had matiers not turned out as they have, Whaley would have held you a prisoner in one of the caves below, in the same way he did me, until he forced you to give up your efforts to get a square deal from him. Possibly he would _ -have tried to compromise the matter by .agree- “ing to pay you the money he intended handing - over to Sprague.” ae : - ~The two men consulted about leaving the cave, rejoining Billy and- making their way to Poker #5 Fiat, where Wilson intended to bring proceed- ing against Jim Whaley at once. As it was about noon they decided to start at once... They . wondered what Whaley had done when his three associates returned and told him that Jack had been rescued by a stranger at the mouth of the outer cave. It was quite probable that he had gathered his forces, advanced on the cave and searched all the caverns in an effort to recapture the boy and take vengeance on the stranger. - Foiled in this, it was reasonable to suppose the rascals had then searched’ the mountain. slopes * in an effort to find the pair, and probably were “still in the hunt. The four revolvers now in _ the possession of Jack and his father would Gaal theni to stand off the rascals if they en- - eountered them on their way back to the build- ing, where the boy knew Billy was impatiently awaiting his return. Dropping the repe down the hole, and lighting a taper each, they started to leave the cavern. George Wilson went first. Although he had _ been up and down the route a hundred or more times in his other personality, it was all new to him now. Jack, however, told him all the points ~ ‘as he had rioted them, and ten minutes later _ both of them were at the mouth of the outer . cave. There was no sign of their enemies any- where around, so they ventured out, and took their way through the defile, keeping their eyes on the watch all the time against a possible sur- ‘prise. Nothing happened, and they finally caught , t of the Gulch. lack looked over toward the “hotel” and saw standing in the middle of the road, - which he believed was Billy. They made a de- : ur around the edge of the Gulch, and on their fay they had on. view of the front of the ding where ‘ ey and Le crowd a gradually drew near the other . Jack finally recog your friends AFTER A SQUARE DEAL a3 camp, and Billy did not see them till they came out into the road. Then recognizing his friend, Billy sprang up and ran eagerly to meet him. “Where have you been all this time?” he asked, looking inquisitively at George Wilson. “After my square deal.” “Have you got it?” “As much as I ever \ ill get. I have done some- thing better. -I have found my father. Bill, let me introduce you to him. Father, this is Billy Buster, my best friend and ally.” a I thought your father was dead,” Billy said. “T thought so, too; but.it appears he wasn’t. On the contrary, he’s been very much alive all the time.” “How is it that you didn’t know it, then?” “You shall learn all about it later. For the moment I will simply tell you that Whaley was at the back of his disappearance.” 7 They entered the “hotel,” and over the midday meal, Billy was put in possession of all the facts. George Wilson and the boys lost no time- in starting for Poker Flat, where they arrived ~ that evening and put up at the hotel. Next morning Wilson got a shave and hair cut, and otherwise had himself fixed up, and then Jack easily knew his father as he remembered him. Other people in the town also recognized him, and asked him where he had been. He started the law in motion against Whaley, and two. un- der sheriffs went to the Gulch to arrest him.. He was not found there, nor were any of his party seen there either. Wilson took possession of hig claim and all the rocks which had been taken out by the Whaley bunch. This was at once sent to the Poker Flat smelter, and ultimately yielded $15,000, enabling Wilson to resume opera- tions in proper shape, which in the meanwhile he carried on with the help of Jack, Billy and three hired men. . In far away Stormhaven, Sprague had been impatiently waiting to receive his first payment. fter a lapse of nearly five months he began to think that Whaley intended to skin him, so leaving his store in charge of a friend he made his way to Poker Flat, and thence to the Gulch. There he met with the surprise of his life, and the call-down he received from George Wilson made his hair turn gray. After that the Lucky Strike claim became a real mine, another rush came to the Gulch, and panned out better than the first one, and as time passed the Wilson wee proved to be one of the richest in the est. ~! ee Next week's issue will contain “SILVER DOL- LAR SAM; or, THE:COIN THAT BROUGHT HIM LUCK.” Send usa one-cent stamp to cover postage, and | we will mail you a copy of “Mystery Magazine.” 4 SES Benton—Have you tried all the remedies that — have recommended for et Ee ee NN ye mt Tulser—Great Scott, no!
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY 21 CURRENT NEWS WILD CANARIES IN TOWN Wild canaries have made their appearance in Medford, Ore., the past week and are vying with the sparrows and robins in the rush for food on the streets and lawns, although outnumbered by thousands. The wild canary is not often seen in towns, liking the woods and rural regions best. One theory of their presence is that they have been driven from ‘the hills by the snow and cold weather, which shut off their supply of insects. The wild canaries are descendants of tame ca- naries that escaped from cages, and are of two species, one a steel gray color and the other with _ bright yellow backs and steel gray underneath. = MANY: TATTOO MARKS Jacobus A. Van Dyn, sailor, of Johnnesburg, who claims to be the champion,tattooed man of the world, has arrived in this city and is taking a rest between cruises at the Seaman’s Institute, : Second and Walnut streets, Philadelphia, Pa. ~ pictures of tropical butterflies in full wing. “Jake,” as he is known, wears on both — n : the middle of his chest he carries the massed col- . = Fine Illustrations, and ors of the Allies. On his inner forearm are the ea names of seven companions who were adrift with him in the Irish Sea after their ship was tor- pedoed in 1917. Here, there and elsewhere over the arms, ab- domen, chest and neck are gay hued moths, drip- ping daggers, links, hearts and other things. SNAIL 1S SLOW What do you suppose is the actual speed made by a snail in traveling? One foot in four minutes, or at the rate of one mile in sixteen days, if trav- eling continuously. These are figures given by George Zahnizer, a. civil engineer of Newcastle, O., taken from actual observation. A short time since Zahnizer was standing along the Western New York and Pennsylvania Rail- road. waiting for a train. He had nothing in par- ticular to do and “killed a little time” by timing a snail which was creeping along the ground. Ghat snail traveled just exactly one foot in four minutes, Mr. Zahnizer says, and compiling dis- tance at the rate of travel shown, Mr. Zahnizer has figured out that it would require sixteen days for that snail to move a mile. WORTH READING! “MYSTERY MAGAZINE” . : Sheuane Colored Covers, Sixty-four Pages of Reading Matter, Good Type THE STORIES detective, mystery and’the occult kind. Then there are some about underworld characters. All] these stories grip your interest and please you. ‘THE ARTICLES ‘They cover every known subject under the sun. They are instructive, musing, and very interesting. Many relate to a THE WRITERS _ sete e sae this “arama ig by the most expert authors, doctors, = the greatest marvels ever known. ~w
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up a ‘bunch of criminals to save the good name and ; freedom of his daughter would be a scoundrel, in- “{ deed. I will apply to the judge to give you a light iy term because you are not regularly/in the gang. ae The man breathed easier. - *Pl] confess, sheriff, I am in the Neweasile lay- out, to the extent that I sell ‘is likker to the rich =e buyers from Louisville and Saint Louis. But I a ain’t no murderer, and I wouldn’t ’a’-been in with Jake if I wasn’t forced to do it. I wanter save gal, for she’s a good one as ever lived, if she was brung up here in the wild country, and ain’t had no larnin’.” aS he sheriff led the man to the house, and to Dan and himself was unbared the secret means of slipping through the mountains to.the fast- ness of Newcastle. ; “Every road and lane and path’ll be guarded,” = said Matthews, earnestly. ‘So ye’ll have ter -__ ¢limb the hills, till ye git past the line 0’ look- ty eee! Jake Newcastle has his place guarded, like them army gin’rals does, an’ he knows jest’ who passes on the roads, especially since Nance the word that you’all was a-comin’.” _ _ *We climb the first line of hilts—why, then we y government forces can seize enough horses tem- porarily to get back, all right, our prisoners. But we f FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY southwest of that. Then ye’re past the lines of Newcastle’s lookouts. He don’t let all his men know this way of comin’, for that’s how he brings out the moonshine ter sell.” “Go on.” “Once over these hills and ye.could make it by easy roadway (exceptin’ that the road would be guarded betwixt us an’ there), ye hunt a little creek. By the side of that thar creek begins the secret trail., Ye kin tell the hoof-marks on it, even if it does look like it’s in the heart of the wilderness. Newcastle and his men an’ me, we aluz covers the trail by walking our horses through the creek fer about a quarter of a mile. It’s shaller an’ doesn’t make no trail that way for folks ter pick up on the other side of the stream.” ; “When you get it, what then?” inquired Dan, with justifiable eagerness. He had heard from Zachary Shank that there was some secret pas- sage by which these men pursued their secret traffic in illegal whisky. But never before now had he realized how the way might be concealed from the sharp hunts of the revenue men. : “You follow that trail, on the other side o’ the creek, an’ it goes through the mountain valley, in a place whar no one much knows about. Thar’sa gap in a ridge, an’ it’s through that whar ye travel—heavy underbrush an’ trees jest cut away enough to let xe pass. on.. That leads ye straight on, for about four hours’ ride, ter the grove near Newcastle’s place.” “Then we'll follow it, and if you have directed us right, no harm shall come to your daughter Nancy,” said Dobson. “But if not—well, I won't be’ responsible.” Matthews was silent, He was handcuffed and then allowed to lie down in one of his own beds. - . The rest went to sleep, with the exception of _ Tom Dingle, who took a,turn to guard their slum- bers, while, as may be imagined, Dan was tho- roughly worn out. — ° He had. found that his arm was just barel nipped by the point of Matthews’ knife—he h luckily stopped that action in time. Next morning they searched the place carefully, beginning at daybreak. In hidden cellars they discovered many barrels and bottles of moonshine, which Pweg sheriff promptly poured forth on the nn ; : “Ah, but it’s turrible to see fine likker goin’ like that,” sighed Matthews. ; “Well, that much liquid deviltry is destroyed— and so a certain number of murders, robberies and worse crimes may have been committed be- fore they ever developed, by this very act. The greatest thing that could be is to have every drop of the vile stuff poured into the earth.” ae They even found written records and books of — rors Sewcastes Cate epee — zg e a regular commercia the illicit sales. ree aa (To be continued) _ ) Sars wy
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY ITEMS OF ENGLISH SPARROWS IN ALASKA The English sparrow this spring has invaded Alaska for the first time. Reports received in Seattle, Wash., from Ketchikan say that several irs of these hardy pioneers have taken up omesteads in awnings there. No one seems to have ever seen any of them there before. For fifty years the English sparrow has been gradually working Westward and has become ac- climated up and down the Pacific Coast from Mex- jeo to Alaska. It is known to have arrived at Philadelphia about 1868 and was first seen in the Pacific Northwest ten years ago. In the Puget Sound country it remains all win- ter and it is likely that it was during the winter that pairs migrated to Alaska or else they made an easy jump from places in British Columbia. A pest everywhere, they have made themselves unusually irksome in the big wharfs and docks in Seattle. "They make a large amount of litter im the upper braces of these buildings, the loose matter dropping into freight and express. "#067" wD ? : : "SURGEON CUTS LIVE WORM FROM HORSE’S EYE One of the most remarkable operations in the history of veterinary surgery has just been per- formed by Dr: George Waddle, Kalamazoo, Mich., who removed a live worm known as a filiria equine, from the left eye of a horse. The worm was about two inches in length, It was easily discernible through the enlarged pupil and against the dark background of the retina. It was the first eye worm ever found by Dr. Wad- dle in‘ his thirty-eight years’ experience in the United States and Contin. although the affliction As not an extraordinary one in Europe. ' 4 The operation was exceedingly difficult because _ of the delicate nature of the tissue, but the worm ‘Was extracted in fifteen minutes through the ap- lication of local anaesthetics. The surgeon be- lieves that within a short time the horse will re- er full use of its eye. The worm is developed from a mi ic germ carried to the eye by the d lod equine od in the liarly formed sae in ball until it is fully developed as a 43 ‘The horse is said to be the only animal in the development of an eye worm is possible. A NOVEL BIRD TRAP ne Field Museum in Chicago once became in- sted with a large number of obnoxious spiders. they festooned the ceiling and great columns of building with yards of their shuttle work. jbwomen and janitors tried in vain to rid the and their work. Finally a rown creeper, discov- decided to take up its authorities in ridding Secor. INTEREST umns and probing its bill into every crevice, and he actually carried on a very effective work. One morning, however, as an official of the museum was. passing, an attendant remarked to him that it looked very much as if the bird were done for, and a subject for the musem’s collec- tion. Glancing in the direction indicated by the attendant the officer saw that the bird lay pant- ing on its side at the bottom of one of the columns. ~ : “Catch a fly,” said the scientist to his attend- ant, as he took the bird into his hands. The fly soon being forthcoming, it was held. on the point of a pin to the bird’s beak, and to the surprise of both men the creeper bit at it voraciously. That didn’t look as if the little fellow were-about to die. The scientist was much perplexed and won- dered what was the matter with the bird. Then, turning the bird over in his hand, he found it had been entrapped in a large spider’s web, which had bound the wing and tail together in such a manner as to preclude flying. It looked as if some old, wise spider had resented the bird’s - work of extermination and had purposely en- snared him in a trap. The queer bandage was removed and the bird dened out of the building and was soon lost to sight. “Mystery Magazine” SEME-MONTHLY 10 CENTS A COPY — LATEST IssuEsS —— 98 COUNTERFEIT CLUES, by Ch ; 100 A USPCKET SERVICE ME eee Ske 7 u E MYSTERY, 1 Craigie and Elliot Balestier. »y Hamilton A CRIMSON PRICE, by Elliott Lester. THE INSPECTOR’S STRANGE CASE. by Gottlieb aconds. A MUSEUM MYSTERY, by Jack Rechdolt THE LITTLE RED ROOK, by Alexander Young AC wen FROM SEAM. fe eg Fuiton Oursler, e Clue of the ra ng, by Benla 7 HELL'S HINGES, by Hamilton’ Cratwie i Se THE WOLF, by Katherine Stage. THF RRASS RUTTON hy Tack Rechdott. A WHISPERING MUMMY, by Chas. F. Oursier. The Famous Detective Story Out Today In No. 111 I TRAPPING THE JEWEL SMUGGLERS bes By BULAH POYNTER HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Ync., 166 West 23d Street, . New York Clty “Moving Picture Stories” A Weekly Magazine Devoted to Photoplays and Players PRICE SEVEN CENTS PER COPY _. h number Four Sto é Pog on eg ye ee Pieys — Interesting Articles About Prominent in the Films — Doings of Actors and : Studios and Lessons in Scenario Ww ig. =. Dee See hn _ HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Inc., _ i es
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_» a THE IVORY TRADERS a By D. W. STEVENS a. Tom Luff was first mate and part owner of the brig Fearless. and one of the jolliest, boldest ‘tars that ever spun a yarn or reefed'a topsail. ~ is craft was in the ivory trade, and so it - happened that one day in February, after a lons and tedious voyage, Tom looked over the taffrai as they entered the Congo and watched the’ can- oes of the natives swarm about the. ship with ‘much satisfaction, for half his journey was over, and if this trip proved as profitable as the last the sea would know him no more, but sweet Nellie Blinn should double his joys and divide his sor- rows in a snug little home far away before an- other twelve months rolled round. : in Budds, Tom’s superior officer, knew of his mate’s hope and longings, and shrewdly determined to utilize them. ; The ivory trade was very proCtable, but ‘the in- land trip to make the necessary purchases was 4 beastly piece of business. : : Usually the captain had preformed it, taking with him half a dozen of his crew for a guard d a hundred or more river negroes for porters, et Bs tT ih But he desired to escape the hot and dangerous jaunt. this time, and with this idea accosted the | mate: pe Pom, I’m off the hooks—I’m strained and out - of trim. I need docking; and am not fit to make the up-country trip for a week. But the Congo is < e’bad place to lie longer than’ one must, and I will tell you what I have been thinking. You might do the buying this time, seeihg that you are interested, and in a hurry, too, and me ‘keep ship. You will do as well, if not better, than I could myself. What say you?” : Poor Tom was too deeply in love to hesitate tee u PR rts che ieee he was willing to do, and so it was arranged that he should depart for the ivory marts the day 7 - “tig Sve Of the sailors accompanied him, and with them. went eighty Congoes, to earry the barter and bring back the purchases. _. Early morning found him upon the move, and with guides, porters and guards, in three days he had penetrated forty miles into the interior to the native village of Ovampa, meeting with no e ture other than the loss of one man while -erossing a stream. % - At Ovampa barter was had for two days, and twenty of the blacks turned back with two sailors + long." , Anything which would hasten his return home’ FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY His heart was joyful. The homeward route was different from the outward one, being shorter and to the south of the other, passing the country of the Yungos. For five days he moved steadily onward; for . five nights his men slept without alarm. But upon the morning of the sixth day, a Yun- go runner overtook him on his way from the hill country to the village of Banza, where the chief of the tribe dwelt, and reported bad news. The Jinjes, a fierce and warlike nation from the east, were approaching the coast, burning, killing, eating all before“them. Already hundreds of captives were in their train; they had sacked the village of Batta, re- cently visited by the ‘ivory buyers, and knew of their presence in the country; and the canni- bal warriors were in hot pursuit of the white men. Through all its bronze Tom’s face turned pale. He’ looked about him. Sixty unarmed, cowardly blacks, now half pal- sied with fear, three sailors with repeating rifles ‘and cutlasses, and himself, to protect two ‘thou- sands pounds’ worth of ivory and their own lives from an army! ~ “How soon will they overhaul us?” he asked the Yungo._ . e “Before night,” the man replied through an in- terpreter. “And they will surely kill us if they catch us?” he continued. , The fellow nodded vigorously, and then added: “And eat you, too.” Tom turned to his porters. e “Every nigger for himself. Carry the tusks as far as you can right along the trail towards the river, then hide them in the bushes. The man that delivers his upon shipboard shall have one pay. Save yourselves as best you may- Oc ™ rem addressing himself to the sailors, he — said: “4 ¢ “Boys, it’s not much use fighting, and it is too far to run. We must hide. Perhaps the black thieves may miss us after all.” The men agreed with him, and having made sure that the porters had disappeared, Luff and his companions turned northwards from the trail, and plunged into the most impenetrable forest to seek the deepest covert possible. -“Tt’s a poor chance, mates,” said Tom, “for those villains can follow like hounds; but if th find us, we will fight until we die, anyhow. Don't let them capture us, for they are canni i. The others readily assented—no man likes to be cooked and eaten—and they continued their la- — borious flight. , = An hour brought them to a more open i and lb Pr a ee hours to a great plain covered with grass and reeds, near the center of which rose a castle-like mass of ragged rocks. Yo Tom uttered a ery of joy. ies “The very place. If we can scale that, be we can defy the beasts even if they find us. We have fifty rounds of ammunition each, and
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY Following the brave mate, they dashed through _ the tall grass, thoughtless alike of reptile or beast \ that might there lie concealed, and were soon at the foot of the ledge. _ Then they surveyed it carefully from all sides, and, to their great joy found but one possible point of ascent. “Sling your guns, my hearties!” cried Tom. “Sling your guns and mount.” Quickly obeying him, they scrambled like mon- keys up the ragged sige, creeping, crawling, climb- ing with hands and feet, until at last they stood together upon a little shelf almost at the sum- mit. Ther they halted. “There. Now let ’em come!” said Luff, seat- inghimself. “Only one at a time can use that ‘staircase, and we'll ’tend to him before he gets here. We’re out of range of their arrows and - spears, and before they can Starve us the captain will be here with the rescue party. Boys, keep up a good heart. We are safe. Arrange a watch and put me in, but I must rest now,” and closing his eyes, he was instantly asleep. It lacked two hours of night. . Dick Longstreet, one of the men, proposed that both the others should also sleep, while he alone- watched. _. “Qne’s enough,” said he, “and.I’ll wake ye a . Moon-rise.” yy % Seating himself where his eye could cover the country over which they had just passed, the sai- Jor began his vigil. _He felt sure that the Jinjes would follow them, } and he was particularly anxious to draw trigger on the first black head that appeared in the tall grass below. : ‘ Longstreet had been in Africa before, and it was said had suffered capture and imprisonment ; = by some of these very coast tribes. _ It was revenge which animated the man now. He had not long to wait, for his suspicions were correct. . | | The Jinjes did follow them, and just as the sun x ppeared behind the distant mountain-tops in } the Quango country, he saw a dark line of war- ‘Tiors issue from the forest, and begin to wind Slowly across the plain towards his post. _ Without moving, a deadly glance lit his eye, “and he raised his heavy rifle to his face and _ But not for long. “When the advance on of the negroes was Withi s of the rock Longstreet d the trigger. he roar of the piece was mingled with the; tartled cries of his companions behind him, the ld death-shriek of the wretch who was hit, and ells from the astounded Jinjes, me 25 Just as the sun had fairly hidden himself_the blacks issued from the woods in great numbers and dashed through the grass towards the rocks, yelling and waving their spears. Under Luff’s orders the little quartette waited until the great surging mass had swept close up to their citidel, until a single file of climbers strove to ascend the very path by which they had reached the summit, then they fired. Volley after volley of balls from the repeating weapons pierced the unprotected enemy. The sealers were swept away as foam before the breath of the wind, the lines about the foot of the rock wavered, writhed, and then broke, and ~ as the leaden storm continued the whole mass of savages, with great cries of rage and fear, fled a second time towards the shelter of the forest. The night attack was repulsed. “We can rest now until sun-up,” said Tom, throwing himself upon the ground. “We must have finished a good number of those_beasts. They won’t come again soon. It’s a—by heaven! What’s that?” z - He sprang to his feet again, and pointed to- wards.the distant forest. A sudden flame had sprung up and was running along the dry grass. “The demons have fired the jungle. If the wind _ holds it will drive the flames directly upon us here.” “But there’s no ‘grass up here,” assured Dick Longstreet. “The fire cannot climb these bare S. “No,” replied the mate, “but the terrible heat and d@ense smoke will suffocate us, and beneath the cover of the fire the blacks will attack us again. We are lost!” But Longstreet had suddenly arisen, and with a sailor’s weather-eye, was scanning the ; heavens above, and beyond the fire. . “It comes! It comes! The wind shifts! See!” he continued and he pointed towards the plain below. “The flames turn! Ha! now, villains, you shall..be_roasted in your own furnace!” and he shouted aloud. ~ : It was true. The wind had suddenly shifted, and was now blowing a gale from the opposite quarter of the heavens. The fire, urged backwards, was already sur- rounding the swarming, writhing army of the Jinjes, whose cries of terror and despair rang | above the roar of the flames, and in less time than it takes to tell it, the fierce and deadly danger that had menaced the white men had proved their salvation. ; The forest and plain became a great furnace, and the African army was in the midst. - y * Midnight looked down upon a blackened coun- try, gleaming here and there with bits of flame, and dull, dyin . Sz Bs
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7 0 NEW YORK, JUNE 23, 1922 TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS Single Postage ..............- Postage Free 7 Cents One Copy Three Months.... yo = 00 Cents One Copy Six Months ........ ¢ ~ $1.15 One Copy One Year.......... - 3.50 Canada, $4.00; Foreign, $4.50. ‘ HOW TO SEND MONEY—At our risk send P. O. =: Money Order, Check or Registered Letter; remittances in any other way are at your risk. We accept P. Stamps the same as cash. When sending silver wrap the Coin In a rate piece of paper to avoid ut the i Ad gavelope.’ Write your name and address p i ©. W. Hastings, Treas. Publisher, Inc., Charles E. Nylander, Seo. 166 W. 23d St., N. ¥. INTERESTING ARTICLES CAUGHT BIG SHARK An 850-pound shark was caught in a net in Jones Inlet, L. I., the other day. C. E. Ewatling, a fisherman saw the huge fish entangled in the net, and with the help of eight other men killed it, after an hour’s work, and brought it to shore. Sharks infested these waters in 1916. SNEAKED UP ON HUGE TROUT A brown trout weighing 8 1-4 pounds, 2 feet 4 inches long was shown recently as a catch from Broad Brook, East Hampton, Mass., by Grant Craig, a boy of fifteen years. When young Graig _ hooked the big fish. he tied his line to a tree, “ ped into the water and grabbed the prize with = h hands. GIRL, 16, IS BOOTLEGGER - Miss Sarah Levi, sixteen, youngest person ever brought before the District Court, of Spring- * field, Mass., on a liquor charge and who admitted that she had saved $1,500 while supporting sev- 2 eral brothers and sisters from the profits of the = moonshine. business, was fined $100 and received a suspended reformatory sentence recently. The court ruled that she must remove from her present home in a locality where much moonshin- toe has been brought to light, --«¥FLEXIBLE KEY TO FOIL PICK-LOCK . BURGLARS A flexible key, one that will & into and work in a tortuous hole, has been developed in Ger- ‘many, says Scientific American. The many rob- == = i beries that are constantly reported everywhere have created a demand for such a key. The 4 and the bow are not connected by a stiff stem, but by four superimposed strands of ribbon steel which prevent any sidewise movement when the key comes into play. Thus there need not be raight-way between the escutcheon on the of the and the actual keyhole in the ise, which can be fixed at an entirely differ- int of introduction for the <r FAME AND FORTUNE FAME’ AND FORTUNE WEEKLY son, please tell me where grandpa’s liver is! The Send us a one-cent stamp to cover _ and “we will mail you's copy of “Moving Picture WEBKLY Between the outside and inside fittings there is a tubular channel with a slit in the bottom to allow the passage of the wards. This channel in German is called “Schlusselzufuhrungsschiene,” ‘or literally “key-conveying rail,” a word long enough to insure the prevention of burglary. The housebreaker is unable to determine the position of the locking mechanism, nor can he open it with a false key, a wire brush or a strip of lead. To blast it open is out of the question, as the ex- plosive would fall out through the slit in the key- way made for the passage of the ward. The flexible key is not as unwieldly as one might expect, because it can easily be.rolled up into a spiral and put into a neat case to fit the pocket of its legitimate proprietor. “I understand when Smith went out for the first time in his new machine he struck quite a ait.” “I believe he struck about a dozen gates fore he finished the machine.” - “Has your piano an automatic attachment?” queried the persistent agent. “No, it ain’t,” said the lady of the house, “but it has a sheriff’s at- tachment, and I reckon that’s enough.” “Be mine. I cannot live without you.” “Bah!” said the heiress. ‘You have lived without me _ for years.” “True,” retorted the Duke, “but the _ cost of living has gotten to me at last.” ’ Schoolmaster (at end of object lesson)—Now, _ can any of you tell me what is water? Small - and Grubby Urchin—Please, teacher, water’s — what turns black when you put your ’ands in it! A quack doctor was holding forth about his “medicines” to a rural audience. “Yes, gentle- men,” he said, “I have sold these pills for over _ twenty-five years.and never heard a word of com- plaint. Now what does that prove?” From a voice in the crowd came: “That dead men tell — no tales.” ; ’ “What is this civil service business that they are always talking about?” asked the Boob. “What does it do?” “It’s like this,” replied the Cheerful Idiot. “If you have a job and you are not under civil service, they can fire you any time they want to. But if you have a job under — service, they can’t fire you unless they want When the butcher answered the telephone, the shrill voice of a little girl greeted him: “Hello! Is that Mr. Wilson?” “Yes, Bessie,” he answered kindly, “what can I do for you?” “Oh, Mr. Wil- folks are out and I’ve got to put a hot flannel on it and I don’t know where it is.” ”
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& FAME - AND FORTUNE WEEKLY = FROM ALL POINTS = RAT KILLS BIG SNAKE & five-foot water snake was killed by a big rat | On the river bank, Seaford, Del.; in a half hour battle. The victor slunk into the bushes nearby, badly winded, but little harmed. he snake had crawled out on the mud flat near the railroad wharf to sun itself when the rat attacked. Curling, it repeatedly. struck at the * rat, but rarely drove its fangs through the fur. _ The, rat kept up its fight with quick rushes, _ Springing in to inflict a gash with its teeth and leaping back when the snake struck. . During the whole half hour the fight raged fiercely. ; When the snake had worn itself out the rat sprang on it with all four feet and, taking a _ tight with its teeth, broke the snake’s back. Railroad employees viewed the fight, but the combatants paid no attention to them. STRANGE OCCUPATIONS _ Washington there are a flock of curious industries _ €iving livelihood to many folks. : _ Among these strange jobs is that of gathering the cast-off antlers of deer, elk and moose. These Telics that annually fall from the forest creatures re utilized by a firm in Tacoma, Wash., in the ™mannfacture of cribbage boards, napkin rings, kmife and umbrella handles and other articles. The pay for a pair of antlers is about $1. __An unusual occupation engaged in by a number ©f men is the searching for and gathering of lil bulbs, fern roots, shrubs of varjous kinds, seed- } ngs of evergreens and wild flowers for Eastern nurseries. - The Northwest woods yield beautiful wild yel- mw lilies known as Humboldt and various shades Sf pond or water lilies, one especially possessing huge pads, upon which moose and musquash feed. e money is earned by forest rangers in late ’ tumn by scooping up ladybugs from their dens in the mountains. These insect eaters con te ter the first frost in rocky crevices and ome ant. The foresters gather them and put into boxes until nearly spring, when they sold to orchardists to prey upon plant lice. ae” “a0 APPLES HAVE STRANGE COUSINS e pineapple belongs to a very interesting nily of plants, called the Bromelaids, all of h are purely American, and none of which fre known in the) Old World until imported mthe New. Most of these are natives of Bra- _ There are about thirty species of this family exhibition in the ouses of the ier : Cary , and this is the best time of the appl ie See Sy sonebes af the See produces a large fruit formed by thick- flower axis and by inclosing its seeds in It is also peculiar in the fact that za Out in Uncle Sam’s back woods. of Oregon and © through their roots but live on rain. This they catch in their leaves, which are rolled into per- fectly water-tight reservoirs. Some of them have very. beautifully colored \ leaves, others brilliant and showy flowers; and, strange as it may seem, the Florida “moss” which hangs in festoons from trees in the South- ern States-is one of this family and a first cou- sin of the luscious pineapple. ~ ENGLAND’S “LOST MONEY” There is treasure in London awaiting the tak- ing. Millions of pounds of “lost money” is hid- den away in the Government treasury, and so far as is known nobady owns it.. Every three years the Chancery Division of the High Court of Jus- tice in London issues a long list of the various funds in court to which there are no known claim- ts. These-funds have come into the court in differ- “ent/-ways, some, of them in large amounts, some in small) and’in every case the money is the legal- property of some person, but the identity of the owner is unknown. These amounts, collectively, are known as “the dormant funds.” - The money has been accumulating for 200 years. “The dormant funds” have been the basis for the springing. up in London of a strange profes- sion whose members earn a living by tracing down unsuspecting heirs and offering to prove to them that they are owners of fortunes. It is no easy profession. A tremendous amount of work must be done in searching for an heir. The first procedure of the men is to discover which particular fund is of a large enough amount to make investigation worth while, and to get this information a girl is constantly employed in the C “a Records office digging out all possible de- Ss. Pak Frequently it is the case that a year or two ears is t on a successful search for an heir. he search occasionally leads to America or the British colonies on the trail of an heir who per- haps left England 100 years ago. The authority on which the “dormant funds” are held is in an act of Parliament of 1723. . If the person thinks he or she is the legal heir to a part of the funds it is still very difficult to get it. Frequently old ladies write and inclose some such proof as a copy of a letter written by a father or a grandfather, asserting that his heirs could £50,000 by writing to the court. This is too little proof. A After all, the best way to get money out of the “dormant funds,” if it is due, is to put the mat- ter into the hands of the professional treasure hunters. They know that fuller proofs are re- quired. Now and then attempts by fraud are employed, but such efforts are rarely successful. _ ge Send us a one-cent stamp to cover post: Tasca ariw ie 5 srl ose - * us
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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY - GOOD READING "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME” NOW STATE = GAME REFUGE Kentucky can now be included among the States having State game refuges. By proc- lamation Governor ,E. P. Morrow has set aside the old Rowan home at Bardstown} where Foster wrote “My Old Kentucky Home.” at comprises an estate of 236 acres, heavily wooded and well adapted to bird protection. Dr. R. S. Tuttle, executive agent of the Kentucky Game and Fish Commission, says it is an ideal spot for a bird refuge. The commission has already stocked the lace with bob-whites, which are doing well. The Beate will also construct a fish hatchery upon the _the property for rearing pond fish. GRASSHOPPERS FLY TO SEA ~ A number of large grasshoppers were picked up at sea 600 miles from land by the shipping board freighter West Himrod, on her recent trip from the Orient. ~ , be Besides the insects that alighted.on the decks the sea was dotted with those that had fallen from sheer exhaustion. _ The 5 cee were capable of doing enor- mous damage to vegetatiop because of their giant proportions, being an average of three inches long. Those brought in by the ship’s of- y ficer seem equipped with large air sacs in addi-~ tion to'the regular breathing “tubes, Local bio- logists declare such grasshoppers are able to fly long distances, ae alight on the water, being zyed up by the air sacs. — bes is believed the flight of-insects tame from one of the islands of the Aleutian group, where they are usually very abundant in spring months. ALL HIS LIFE IN DI l vs that the hours of Wil- been dig ing ditches all his life. More than that, he is still 1 AN IRISH SEA SERPENT é ‘This being the time for the annual Spring crop of sea-serpents the public in London is-being re- galed with a new @ne of Irish nationality. Its Irish name is the “Gorramooloch.” _ It can not only swim and_lash its tail in orthodox sea-serpent manner, but reports from the West Coast of Ireland, where it is alleged to have — seen frequently, credit it with the power of ight. According to inhabitants of the wilder parts of the. coast of Connemara, Mayo and Donegal, the “Gorramoo!och” frquently turns up for ex- hibition stunts, principally at night. It is de- scribed as being shaped like a porpoise, 100 feet long, and rushing through the water with the speed of an express train. Occasionally it would leap out of and forward over the water a dis- tance equal to its own length. When it fell back into the sea again the splash was said to sound like the-crack of a three-inch gun. 2 The fact that these creatures are not seen more often is because, it is explained, they ap- pear principally at night. It is then that they 4 ahunting after the gannet, a sort of sea-gull. hen they see one flying near the surface of the ocean they leap out of the water 40 or 50 feet and, gliding, by the aid of their large wing- like fins, gui by their vertically-set tail, bring down the bird. ts ; ' Fishermen, curiously enough, consider the ap- oe of the “Gorramooloch” to be a sign of ad luck, though it has not yet been reported to be cannibalistic. But there is another brand of sea-serpent which they fear more as a sign of ill omen. This one is yclept the “Bo-dree-more.” It is said to be a huge whale-like animal, so large — and powerful that it chases whales for sport. According to local superstition, the sight of a “Bo-dree-more” means certain ill-luck for the men and the craft who spot it. ESE ———————————————— Send us a one-cent stamp to cover posta ind we will mail you a copy of “Mystery Magetice? ————————————_———__———— Musical Handsaw Greatest Novelty of the Age ‘3 a “blind” ditches. 1 If you can “to play this Mts to make you an ex _ Work with the saw.’ Tits 8 instrument. E as. Price of Saw, Mallet and Instructions..........$5 RRY E. WOL , 166 W. 23d St, 2 = -%
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CHINESE DENTISTS PULL TEETH WITH FINGERS Although the Chinese boast that nothing is new to them, and that all the arts and sciences are old stories in China, it is still true that for op- erations in dent- ‘istry we would hardly care to go to a Chinese. The work of old-time Chinese dentists is ludic- Teasly primitive. The operator ex- _tracts all teeth With his fingers. From youth to Manhood he is trained to pull pegs from a wooden board, and this training changes the as- pect of the hand and gives him a finger grip that is quivalent to a iting power of Tee or four hundred pounds. For toothache i@ employs opi- ppermint Sometimes he fills and “clove oil. Sometimes he fills = teeth, but he does So poorly that the fillings fall Sut after a few Months. manere i is an ele- |. ent of supersti- ton - his work, e@ asserts _ that all dental : roubles 3 n : ght on y -footh worms, and © always shows xe Nerve pulp to — as ton. a worm. For bugging pur- also the carries sphout 5 in his pock- S, and after ou extracted 2 to the suf- as the cause som hit : a e white tooth he shows few the trouble. A FED: WATCH. h-grade thin b with gel ane $24 phigh es ae t pocket ‘Leni eo FREE, set Free Kaife awd Chain g 45. Chicago, ti. (eM aN, To in troduce “Guaran- tee” automatica, and other firearms we -will giv: absolutely free Solid leat! $1.50 hol: Ne 133_ 25-cal. AUTOMATIC. 7-SHOT, as illustrated, and FREE holster, $8.95. No, 1033 $2-cal, heavy ser- vice MILITARY MODEL A AUTO= MATIC, 10-SHOT, extra mag- azine and holster FREE; only $10.95. ~ Send No Money Select Pistol by number and re- ceive it and free holster by poten rice tiafied or we" fund your money. Y , our a Rush yo our 01 r, 5 i we reserve the right to it raw this offer at any time without notice. GUARANTEE TRADING Oe 84 Montgomery St. Jersey City, N. GOITRE * Ihave anhopest, | Cotte at big meek Soon aim painand distress and re- Heves inalittic while. Pa: whea well r Brmocke Seana for Tellyour frlendgabout th me at once. Devt 96, Sax ~ Saves $10 to” @25 on tue Ranger Bie JPameey eycle you select from 44 Styles, colors E and sizes. Delivered free on approval! ea- WEAVE press prepaid for 30 Days’ Free Trial, ~ if desired. Possession YW Nanay @ use at once on if four liberal year to pay plan. lamps, wheels, equipment at half 'S usual ‘brices. W: gee for marvelous new prices, wonderful offer and terms, Cc us \ Mead ete Some ES pore cotsiog UY OR SNUFF HABIT CURED{OR-NO PAY - $1.00-1F> SUCCESSFUL No matter whether used in pipe, cigarettes, ‘cigars. chewed, or used in the form of snuff, Superba Tobacco Remedy contains nothing in- Jurious, no dope, poisons, or habit eee drugs. SENT ON TRIAL GUARANTEED. Costs nothing if results are not satisfactory. WRITE FOR_FUL* TREATMENT TODAY. SUPERBA CO. y.2} Baltimore, Md OH BOYS RLS Har VOICE | Irto a Berrel, a CLAXOPHONE Tor Unseen, it NEVER FAI GLAXOPHONE, with Pull Ini RET. WriTine TRICK, (beats a tenes Trick,(a Great Money maker) ALSO, This NEW ee, WONDE R Shirt Manufacturer wat we sant to sell complete Line of ertised shirts, direct to wearer. Adverti \ Braud. Exclusive patterns. No capi- values, ‘Rotirely new propositioge = ues. Entirely new pro} Write for sf ae ys aap SHIRT Co, road wa; Fits the hand, cannot be seen, , with it you can throw Big Widef 4 curves, Roys, get this Base Ball curver and you can Fan ’Em as © fast as they come to Bat. By mail 10c, 3 for 25e with catalog of novelties, INIVERSAL DISTRIBUTORS, Dept. 825 Stamford Com. aS RR RI RET ge Se MARRY HEALTH, WEALTH—Thousands; worth $5,000 to $400000; desire marriage. Photos — Introductions; Descriptions, Free, Successful — Confidential. SUNFLOWERS CLUB, B-300, Cimarron, Kansas.
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$2500 REWARD For the Capture of An Unknown Man Twice he had entered the St. Clair Mansion. What Finger Print Detective in surprisingly short time. was he after? Who? What was in danger? . J Berteau, the famous detective had warned St. Clair Free Course in Secret Serv ice thet the mysterious marauder would come gcin. And now—a noise in the passage! The creak of an For a limited time we are making a special offer of opening door. A shot in the dark! A capture! ge cage Finger Fa a Se intellig Free, Is this wounded stranger the mysterious intruder? Who - Mast od f cheese in Secr jeruice. intetisgenes. could tell? Yet Berteau identified the man without cry of these two kindred professions will open hesitation and won the $2500 reward. a brilliant career for you. How did he do it? Easy “Why the Finger Write quickly for fully illustrated free book on vias Frint Expert.. HeAs the Prints which explains t ialt , th wonderful t g in detail. weit ireter.tte Why dont lou bea wrest cream of peg ay a Every day's paper tells their won- has expired— mail the cou- aerful exploits in gotving pon now. You may never mysterious crime- ana er. met rt sec this announcement again! eseee dangerous You assume no obligation crimin, —you have everythiug to gain and nothing to loce. Write at once— ess More Trained Men Needed Universi of Applied Science The demand for trained men by governments, states, Dept. 1475 192 .«ve. Chicago, Ilinois — detective em. Cosporestep smd vegies Savanseseeevesseeetas cesses ssneensnse AeTEAGeRAAD SUAUETUNENSUASSTE REE ESSOEEsTERNETLCRECEEy eaus is real ere isa opportunity for pice rou, "Se you aos a more fasci- UNIVERSITY OF APPLIEL SCIENCE Dept. 1475 » 1920 Sunnyside Avenue, Chicago, Hlinols Gentlemen: ~— Without any obligation peters, send me your new, fully fllustra*ed, FREE book on FB an, 8 mE Prints 2 joa offer of a FREE course in Seeret Service ae Free Professional Finger nating line of work than this? Often life and death depend upon finger print evidence—and big rewards go to the expert. y experts eam re ly from $3,000 to $10,000 per year. Learn at Home in Spare Time ASO RSOUROERGH REE RSROTE CARRE HERESED Name........005 neeeeesccscvcccesessccevesscesvctssccsceséovesseseunsees Oe ee en ae tee: fBe SSaie of thie science ot : home your spare time. man w common AEE. ..s:0sovrcerepecessovccessepocesccsqscctocosorsscensoteneresa® school education and aversae ably can become a 2 ‘ GER chenpesathatoanssusesaxncoqeousenncactensrEiaceteseraill
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I AM just the average man—twenty-eight years I left school when I was fourteen. My parents didn’t want me t. do it, but I thought I knew more I can see my father now, standing before me, pleading, threatening, coaxing me to keep on with how he had been a failure all his life because of lack of education—that the untrained man is always hoped, yes, and prayed, that I would be a more successful man than he was. offered.a job at nine dollars a week and I was going to take it. : didn’t realize then, nor for years afterward, that I was being paid only for the work of my hands. My old, with a wife and a three-year-old youngster. than they did. my schooling. With tears in his eyes he told me forced to work for a small salary—that he had But no! My mind was made up. I had been That nine dollars looked awfully big to me. I ie didn’t count. HEN one day, glancing through a magazine _: came across the story of a man just like mysel He, too, had left school when he was fourteen years of age, and had worked for years at a small salary. But he was ambitious. He decided that he would get out of the rut by training himself to become expert in some line of work. So he got in touch with the International Corre- spondence Schools at Scranton and started to study in his spare time at home. It was the turn in the toad for him—the beginning of his success. Most stories like that tell of the presidents of reat institutions who are earning $25,000 and $50,000 a year. Those stories frighten me. I don’t think I could ever earn that much. But this story told of 2 man who, through spare time study, lifted himself from $25 to $75 a week. It made an im- pression on me because it talked in terms I could peebecpinnd. Tt seemed reasonable to suppose that _ Teould do as well. { tell you it didn’t take me long that time to mark send in that f _coupon. Information I f. education I had denied myself as a boy. “was surprised to find out how fascinating a ~study course could be. The I. C. S. worked me every hour I had to spare. I felt myself ing. I knew there was a bigger job waiting and told me that he 3 always gave preference jobs—and that my next : egarding the Course I had marked came back by , _ ¥eturn mail. I found it wasn’t too late to make up ' months after I enrolled my émployer came ‘ - How | increased my salary - more than 30 O HiME is s i : : URNA MAE TONELLI PRAHA! Higa WA jut ave salary envelope would show how much he thought of the improvement in my work. ‘Today; tny-salary is more than 300% greater than it was, when I began my studies. That increase has meant a better home and all the luxuries that make life worth while. What have done; you can do, For I am just an ayerage man. I had no more education to begin with than-you have—perhaps not as much. The only difference isa matter of training. ery man who is earning less than $75 a : week, I say simply this:—Find out what the I. C. S. can do for you! It will take only a minute of your time to mark and mail the eoupon.. But that one simple act may change your whole life. If I hadn’t taken that first step four years ago I wouldn’t be writing this message to you today! No, and I wouldn’t be earning anywhere near $75 a week, either! - TEAR OUT HERE — —————~—-~- INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS 4493 SCRANTON, Without cost or obligation please explain how I can qualify the position, or in the subject before which I have marked an ELEC, EN Electrie Li canoe Wir ‘el i-'es2 WHAINE........---00ree soerse scenes sossssseeneecsesseesanseneeess eepersnenerseesei- neersenveneneseenenetcegs and nts seeneewenven sevserecensentecssesepscmnaeers:seesee seseenes secetoeers tonnes eeneeneeeeor aren CRY .cccccscocmgecovtre eosersecbenccccesecssesscsorse cove MEDOB senses cove srcnents coewreccesnanetelsiiy ’ OCCU PROD sere eeeeeesenereevenneeennnenneestntnnnemnnenernececesteananrnressanmnnneseesnsmeneemenatenneness sea Per2ons residing in Oanada should send this coupon to the Sri if ee ee | eS
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166 West 23d Street, Fame and F akuies Weekly — LATEST ISSUES —— 833 The Race for Gold; or, After an Aztec Treasure. 834 Tipped To Win, or, The Wali Street Messenger Who Made a Fortune. 835 The Boy Salesman; or, Out On the Road For Suc- cess. ~ 836 > aes Money Kroker; or, Striking Luck In Wal! reet. 837 The Way To fame; or, The Success of a Young Dramatist. 838 In the Money Game; or, The Luck of Two Wall Street Chums. pS are Treasure; or, The Mystery of an Old Trunk. 8410 “ Hal's Business Venture; or, Making a Success of Himself. x 841 Among the Man-eaters; or, The Secret of the Golden Ledge. ft 842 The Little Wall. Street Speculator; or, The Boy Who . Became a Stock Broker. 843 Old Hazard’s Errand Boy; or, The Nerve That Won the Money. “844 Check 705; or. The Strangest Tip In Wall Street. 845 A Shortcut To Fortune and the Smart Boy Who Found It. 846 proned Brown’s Boy; or, A Tough Lad From Mis- sour. S47 The Odds Against Him; or, A Boy With Grit. 848 A Boy With Brains; or, A Fortune From a Dime. 849 His Own Business: or, From Errand Boy To Boss. 850 The Banker’s Plot; or, The Mysterious Boy From Cripple Creek. 851 — a Missing reck, 852 A Boy From the Streets; or, The Oid Broker's Protege. 853 A Born Hustler; or, The Boy With the “Goods.” 854 ee the Money-Maker;or, A Strange Lad tu Wall reet. 855 Out for Everything; or, The Boy Who Was Willed a _ Circus. 856 In Wali Street to Win; or, The Boy Who Got the Money. Million; or, The Treasure of the “857 A Young Sinbad; or, Wreeked on a Treasure Island. 858 Bill Bond’s Syndicate; or, A Fortune From a Two- Cent Stamp. 859 The Boy Who Vanished; or, The Treasure of the neas. 860 A Born Broker; or, The Success of a Wall Strect oy. 861 Striking a Gooa Thing; or, College Chums in Bosinese. 862 Among the “Sharks”; or, The Lights and Shadows of Wall Street. 863 In Business for Himself; or, The Lad Who Made the Money. 864 Charlie of the Curb; or, Beating the Mining Brokers. 865 A ery in Rubies; or, The Richest Find in the orld. 866 Tom, the Bank Messenger; or, The Boy Who Got Rich. 867 Contrsctor Bob; or, Fichting for a Big Job. 868 A Nervy Deal; or, The Boy Who Bought a Railway. 869 In the Newspaper Game; or, The Rise of a Cub Reporter. From Office Boy to Broker. 870 Up to the Minute; or, 871 Full of Business; or, The Young Traveler for the Firm. 872 Baffling the Brokers; or, The Boy With the Iron Nerve. For sale by all’ newsdealers, or will be sent to any adGress on receipt of price, ic per copy, in money or postage stamps, by HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Inc., New York City HOW TO WRITE THEM anges in the ry phase of scenario writ- ail Newsdealers and SCENARIOS . OUR TEN-CENT HAND BOOKS Useful, Instructive and Amusing. They Contain Valuable Information on Almost Zvery Subject — No. 1. NAPOLEON’S ORACULUM AND DREAM BOOK.—Containing the great oracle of human des- tiny; also the true meaning of almost any kind of dreams, together with charms, ceremonies, and curious games of cards. No. 2. HOW TO DO TRICKS.—The great book ‘of magic and card tricks, containing full instruction on all the leading card tricks of the day, also. the most popular magical illusions as performed by our leading imagi- cians; every boy should obtain a copy of this book, No. 3 HOW TO FLIRT.—The arts and wiles of flirtation are futly explained by this little book: Be- sides the various methods of handkerchief, fan, glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation, it contuins a full list of the language and sentiment of flowers. No. 4. HOW TO DANCE is the title of this little book. I¢ contains full instructions in the art of dancing, etiquette in the ballroom and at parties, how to dress, and full directions for calling off in all popular syuare dances. No. 5. HOW TO MAKE LOVE.—A complete guide to love, courtship and marriage, giving sensible advice, rules and etiquette to be observed, with many curious and interesting things not generally known. No. 6 HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETE —Giving full instructions tor the use,of dumbbells, ludian elubs, parallel bars, horizontal bars und various other methods of developing a good, heaithy muscle; containing over sixty illustrations, Ne. 7. HOW TO KEEP BIRDS.—Haadsomely illus- trated and containing full imstructious tor the manage- meut and training of the canary, mocking bird, boboiink, biackbird, paroquet, parrot, etc. = No. ¥9§ HOW TO BECOME A VENTRILOQUIST.— By Harry isenuedy. LKvery intelligent boy reading this book of iustructions Can master the art, and create any amount of fon for himself and friends. It is the great- est book ever published No. w. HOW TO BOX.—The art of self-defense made easy. guurds, biows, and the different positions of a good boxer. kvery boy should obtain one of these useful and instructive books, as it will teach you how to box with- ¥ anu instructor. - o li. HOW TO WRITE LOVE-LETTERS.—A most complete little book, containing full directions for writing love-letters, and when to use them, giving speci- menu letters tor young and old. . No. 2. HOW TO WKITE LETTERS TO LADIES — Giving couiplete ‘instructions for writing letters to ladies on al! subjects; also letters of introduction, notes aud reqtiesis. No. 13. HOW TO DO IT; or, BOOK OF ETL —It is a great lite secret, and one that every Tene man desires to know all about. There's happiness in it. No. id. HOW TO MAKE CANDY.—A complete hand- book for making all kinds of candy, ice-cream, syrups, essences, etc., etc. 1 No. 17. HOW TO DO MECHANICAL TRI Containing complete instructions for Sentoreeinn ecan sixty mechanica! tricks. Fully illustrated. x No. 18. HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL,—oO the brightest and most valuable little books ever ee to the world. Everybody wishes to know how to be- come beautiful, both male and female. The secret is simple, and almost costlvss. No. 20. HOW TO ENTERTAIN AN VENIN| PAKTY.—A complete compendium of & oe, card diversions, comic recitations, etc., suitable for par- lor or drawing-room entertainment. It contains more for the money than any book published. : No. 21. HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.—The most com- dyn hunting and fishing guide ever published. It con- ins fn epee about oath dee dogs, hi a es an ng, together escription game and fish. — ; _ Ne, 23. HOW TO EXPLAIN DREAMS.—This littie dreams, 7 book gives the explanation to all kinds of gether with lucky and unlucky days. For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent te any address on receipt of price, We. per copy, in i money or stamps, by f _HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Ine. 166 West 23d Street, New | aC i > = Containing over thirty iliustrations of ~ traps, —