Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 989) (1924 09 12)

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BOYS, READ THE RADIO ARTICLES IN THIS NUMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 12, 1924 =i eae wc STORIES OF aS WHO: MAKE: ibid f ‘ASTART INLIFE; “OR, A BRIE T BOY'S: AMBITION eae. cee = — * oa mee ee ae cz And OTHER STORIES =e we = “tr Cail SEE The duieoats however, was equal to the emergency. She took a pce leap om landed him safely” beyond the break. Mr. Squires, who had counted on overtaking the boy in @nother minute, reined in just in time to save himself.

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— n ” Sane a Drags cell : M a oa 9 : J ‘ Reo et " . FE pa EAN AW AE RPL TLC i lien x

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Are You A Radio Fan? i - Ww treet, New York, N. Y No, 989 ... By A SELF-MADE AN’ CHAPTER I.—The Two Orphans. : “Please don’t; you hurt me!” expostulated pret- ty Kittie Clyde, trying to withdraw one of her ~ ae sunburned hands from the grasp of a sandy-featured, surly-looking boy, named Abe r. “Then give me a kiss and I'll let you go,” _ grinned her tormentor. - oe “Tl do nothing of the kind,” cried the girl, _ indigantly. * “Why won’t you?” “Because I won’t; so there!” , The girl looked defiant, the boy angry and ag- _ *T guess I'll have to make you,” he snarled, after a moment’s pause. : He began to twist her wrist in such a way that _ acry of acute pain escaped her lips. “Now will you-—” ; : Spat! The words he started to say expired with 2 gulp in his throat and he went down headlong into the dust of the road. A third person had ap- ; with unexpected suddenness on the seene 2 among the trees that lined that part of the , and the newcomer’s fist had shot out 4 t as an arrow from the bow and as swift, ; epaor Abe Barker in the jaw with a force that “J hope he didn’t hurt you much, Kittie,” said ie new , in a cheery tone, that had a sym- _ pathetic ring to it. “Qh, Fred!” she exclaimed joyfully. “I’m so iat you came.” : = “I’m glad myself,” he replied heartily. - “I’m ays happy to be of service to you. e blushed to the roots Me her hair and looked As be Es Toon 9 ‘fA Malt: it. ¥ for that, Fred Stone,” e brushed the dust from may I have the pleasure of seeing you village?” asked Fred, paying no foxthar m to Barker. / : _ FAME AND FORTUNE = ‘Yasned weekly—Subscription price, $4.00 per year; Canada, $1.50; Fordg ‘ est 23d Rt * ¥ N . Entered as Second-Clake the Post-Office at New York. N. Y. NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 12, Gogh “<< “Zs Price 8 Cents. A START IN_ FEB 20 1995 Read Pages 24 and 25 Oy EEKLY - Wolff, Publisher, Inc., 166 . r under the Aét eo a tigi “I shall be very glad to have you do so,” she re- plied, with a smile. “Then I think we’ll start ahead,” he said. They moved off in the direction of Dover vil- lage, leaving Abe Barker to grit his teeth and shake his fist after the youth who had handled him without gloves. Fred Stone was a stalwart, good-looking boy of seventeen, who had all the ele- ments of a hustler and stayer born in him. He was an orphan, and hdd been “raised” by Pete Grice, the village storekeeper and postmaster. Most of the villagers remembered the circum- stances under which the boy became a member of the Grice household. His mother Had been taken suddenly ill on the coach which twelve years be- - fore the opening of our story ran between the town of Wellington, on’ the Blue Line Railroad, and Belfast, a large village twelve miles or so to the north. She was left at the Dover inn, then kept by Mr. Grice and his wife, and during the night she died. Next day Mr. Grice announced that in the charity of his heart he and Mrs. Grice had decided to take charge of the little orphan instead of sending him to the poor farm. People wondered, for such a magnanimous act was not in accordance with Mr. Grice’s character. Shortly afterward Mr. Grice gave up the inn, which had never paid, and bought out the village store, which carried with it the postmastership. It was a matter of some gossip at the time where he got the money from to do this. As young Fred grew up his protector madé him as useful as pos- sible about the store, and boy, as soon as he understood he had no claim on Mr. Grice, en- deavored to do his duty as best he knew how. He never could find out anything about his parent- age, as the postmaster claimed to be ignorant on the! subject himself. , Kittie Clyde was the orphan niece of the vil- lage dressmaker. She and Fred were the best of friends, and saw a good deal of each other. Abe Barker was the son of Squire Amos Barker, a lawyer and justice of the of Dover. He was not a popular youth in the village, as he had the habit of browbeating and imposing on those younger and weaker than himself. These tactics didn’t work with Fred Stone, whom Abe looked down on as a charity boy, and they had had many

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= _majarity,” said Fred 2 : A START IN LIFE mix-u - gecon Sor ag gs civ 8 in which Abe came off S As a consequence young Barker hated Fred, and was on the lookout for a suitable opportunity -to do him up. This feeling was increased by the knowledge that Fred hady inside track with Kittie, on whom Abe was smitten. ' “Well, Kittie,” said Fred, after they had walked 8 little way, “I’m thinking of leaving’ Dover.” “Leaving Dover!” she exclaimed, in a mingled tone of surprise and regret. “Yes. Mr. Grice and I haven't hitched well of late. He’s continually finding fault with me and I’m tired of it. __ The girl made no reply, but her manner showed that she was somewhat upset by his words. “Will you feel sorry when I go, Kittie?” he asked in a low tone, looking wistfully into her averted face. “Sorry! Oh, Fred, you know I will,” she cried impulsively with quivering lips. “Must you really go?” “Kittie, it’s high time I was doing something for myself in the world,” he said earnestly. “I am seventeen, and what do I amount to at this mo- ment? A storeboy at a dollar a week and my board. I am simply wasting my time working for Mr. Grice, who does not seem to appreciate my services. The world is wide and the opportunities many for a boy of energy and abition. I am anxi- ous to make a start in Jife.” “J hate to have you leave Dover,” she replied; “but still I think you are right. There are no prospects in this village for a bright boy like “Thank you, Kittie,’ for the compliment, . “he said, in a pleased tone. “When are you thinking of going?” “IT haven’t decided, but I feel sure it will be goon.” _. “And where do you think you will go? To some city?” “T have an idea of going to Chicago.” _- “That is a big place. It will be quite a change for you from Dover.” “T should say it will: I hope after I am gone you will not be annoyed by Abe Barker; but I’m _ afraid he will pester you when he knows you have not me at hand to protect you.” “J am not afraid of Abe Barker,” she replied with some spirit. . “I know you’re not, Kittie; but he is mean ‘enough to make things very unpleasant for you.” “J shall have nothing to do with him after this.” “That will be the.better way. Still he will be gure to butt in himself, for I guess he’s sweet on n Fa Sweet on me!” she exclaimed, scornfully. “I hate him.” Fred laughed. “He Son pares enough to try and make you ‘dss him. -- *] wouldn’t kiss him if he was the last boy on earth,” she said, with an indignant toss of her pretty head. : : “Well, he isn’t the last boy on earth by a large “I wish he was going to leave the village in- = “He’s not anxious to get out and hustle, I guess as long as he has-a father to support him.” “He seems to think he is a person of great im-_ portance because his father is a lawyer and a justice of the peace.” “That's right; but I don’t see that it does him any good to think so. None of the boys take their hats off to him. In fact I am sure he is the most unpopular boy in the village.” “While you are just the reverse,” she said with a smile. “No bouquets, Kittie.” ; “I’m not saying any more than the truth. Every- _ ee likes you and speaks well of you.” “That is pleasant to know. However, I'd be perfectly satisfied if only you liked me.” — Kittie blushed and looked down. “Well, here we are at your gate. Goodby until © I see you again,” he said. “Goodby, Fred,” and she ran into the house, leaving the boy to continue on to Mr. Grice’s store. 7 CHAPTER II.—Mr. Grice Hears Astonishing News. Night had fallen over Dover village, Fred was eating his supper alone in the kitchen at the back — of the house, while Mr. Grice was sorting the mail left -by the Belfast messenger, when a wagon, — loaded with the paraphernalia of a traveling tinker, drove up to the door. The driver dis-— mounted and entered the store. He was a square- built, hearty-looking chap, with a black beard and — deeply bronzed features. There was something — about him that smacked of the sea. Evidently he — had been a sailor at some period, of his career. = Mr. Grice looked up and eyed him askanée. “Well, my friend, what do you want?” he asked in the inhospitable tone he used to all strangers. “Fhis is the general store and postoffice, I guess?” said the new arrival. “Looks like it, doesn’t it?” replied Mr. Grice. — “You ain’t got no objection to sellin’ me a smaJI — bag of crackers and a hunk of cheese, have you?” said the stranger. “Not in the least. want?” The customer stated the quantity he wanted. “Have you any first-rate cider, too?” he added. “Plenty of it, my friend. Have you a jug or — anything to take it away in?” i “Y’ve a jug in the wagon,” he replied, making — for the door. ; By the time he returned Mr. Grice had the © cheese and crackers done up. At that moment Squire Barker walked into the store. ; “Any mail for me this evening, Mr. Grice?” he inquired. e stranger, who was munching his cheese an crackers at the counter near by, gave a start ag he heard the name and stopped eating. sj “There’s a paper and a letter for you, Squire,” replied the postmaster, with some ousness in his tone, hastening to hand them over to the lawyer. _ ~ ie Amos Barker purchased a package of smoking tobacco and then left the store. es ea | “Beggin’ your pardon, mister storekeeper—a— _ = 4 PRLS al Pier, “4 About how much do you ~ fast asl) ell My oa oy Ee ae AS wil " Was =.

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a—that gen taken?” said stranger, somewhat anxiously. “Well, the aide nothing very wonderful in being “Might I venture to ask what your front name “Gs?” asked the stranger, with-increasing eager- ~ ness. “If you’d taken the trouble to look at the sign over the door when you;came in it would have saved -you the trouble of asking that question,” replied Mr. Grice, not over pleasantly. ima wasn’t thinkin’ about the name then. Be- _ ‘sides, it’ Ts toad name is Peter Grice,” interrupted the post- FA maste Tr. ‘ “Peter Grice,” repeated the stranger; regarding the storekeeper fixedly. “It ain’t possible, is it, hat you’re the half brother of my old cap’n, Benjamin Sands, of the “Matchless Margaret?” _ “What! Did you know my brother, the cap- tain?” asked Mr. Grice, clearly taken by surprise. _ *Did I know him!” exclaimed the stranger, with . some emotion. “Why, bless your heart, didn’t he take me aboard his ship and provide for me when ‘was starvin’ in the streets of New York? Didn’t he save me from bein’ cut in two by the jaws of racious shark?” with a reminiscent shudder. at me tell you that’s the sort of obligation ick Barnstable doesn’t easily forget——” “Then your name is Jack Barnstable, eh? And you’re a sailor?” “Right ye are, Mister Grice. -W. ange coincidence to find mvyselfeface to face a ty dear old cap’n’s half-brother. Tip us flipper,” and Jack held out his rough and mny hand in a friendly way. Mr. Grice took it somewhat gingerly, as if he afraid it might bite him. So you knew Ben, did you?” the postmaster , without any great degree of interest. “I pose he’s sailing about—far, far away?” ee" eas Barnstable, mournfully, “very Tso n ace! ine better, thought the storckeeper, he carelesslv played with one of the weights of counter scales. “I’m always afraid of his back, very hard up, and wanting to bor- money of me.” Then looking hard at the vr as he said aloud: “He isn’t likely to come to the States for a long time, eh?” Not for a very long time,” answered Barn- le, raising the mug 6f cider to his lips and x a deep p draught. “Glad to hear it,” muttered Mr. Grice to him- - “Money saved is money earned.” He won’t be home never no more,” continued sailor mournfully, as he put the mug down . “He’s dead!” ad!” replied Mr. Grice, not a tly shocked at the news. 'dead?” ain’t no doubt about it. last.” this is a appearing to be Is my brother I seen him - A START IN: LIFE t called you Grice, if I ain’t mis-- called eg one’s right name, is here?” snorted the - a Barnstable; significantly. “He left $100, 000 in bonds.” “One hundred thousand dollars worth of bonds, eh? Why, where did Ben get them?” ; “Bought ’em.” . “But where did he get the money to buy them?” persisted Mr. Grice»with unfeigned eagerness. “Well, you see, while the ‘Matchless Margaret’ was waitin’ for a cargo to Vera Cruz, that’s in Mexico, the cap’n. took a run up into the Sierra Madre mountains to” visit’ some old senor he know’d.”® “Well,” cried the postmaster, impatiently, as Barnstable paused to fill his mouth with bread and cheese. “Qne mornin’ when he was out takin’ a con- stitootional in the range he lost his way. and while ad Sr : ~ find his way out of the blamed old place e fe ... “Yes, yes,”. exclaimed Mr. Grice, eagerly, as Barnstable stopped to fill and drink a mug of cider. “He fell x “Into a hole.” “Fell into a hole?” “Pre-cisely. He fell-into a hole, ae. the hole turned out to be the entrance to a lost silver mine of untold wealth.” = “Gracious! Untold wealth, did you say?” “That’s what I said. My cap’n he wan’t no fool. He je8t took the bearin’s of that there mine, and when he reached the senor’s hacienda he told the old don what he’d diskivered.” “Well, well; what then?” “The upshot was he sold; his diskivery for $100,000 in gold.” “In gold!” “Pre-cisely. That is he got a docyment which said that a certain bank in New York was to pay him that amount in the yellow stuff.” “What then?” “And he got it, and slapped it right into a new issue of government bonds which somebody recky- mended him to do.” “And then what did he do?” “He was just about to start off for this here State——_” “To see me, of course, of course. hear old Ben, I wonder how he got track of me. Too bad he didn’t live for 1 should have welcomed him with open arms. “As I was saying, he was just about to start for this here State when he fell ill, took to his bunk, and gradually got worse and worse——” “But he left a will, eh?” interrupted Mr. Grice, with anxious eagerness. ‘m his heir, you know.” “You!” responded Barnstable, coolly. “And what’s to become of his son? “His what?” almost shrieked the postmaster. “His son. His male offspring.” Mr. Grice gasped and gurgled until the sailor thought he was going to faint.. To revive him he threw half a mugful of cider in his face. . CHAPTER IlI.—The Faithful Sailor. “A son!” Grice roared as soon as he recovered | Wet eee ae es Heeler | ih’) bh Ree a, Wee a ee ee \ oe kth Lot a art + 7 Fi re. we ab his breath, and without noticing the little rills of ree a that ran down his cheeks. “I never heard of —

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mt ~ = \ 4 A START IN LIFE = marrying. He must have taken that idiotic him, Jack,’ says he, ‘find him. On him, on my abroad. child, I have settled all I have in the world.’” ~ o, he didn’t,” answered Barnstable, regarding fe storekeeper’s remark in some surprise. “He took that idiotic step, as you call it, at home. It was what they call a match on the sly. He never told anybody about it except me, an that wasn’t till his last illness.” “A secret marriage, eh? Hum!” Mr. Grice was a rapid thinker, and the possiblil- ity struck him that some advantage might come to him out of that fact. “Tl tell you how it was,” went on the sailor, finishing his cheese and crackers and refiling the mug from the cider jug. One night as my poor cap’n was lyin’ ill in his bunk he says to me, ‘Jack,’ says he, in a mournful tone, ‘it strikes me that my time ain’t far off— there’s somethin’ on my mind, Jack, that is chokin’ me, and I can’t keep it aboard no longer. When I’m gone,” says he, ‘make for Indiany, seek out my poor wife——’ ‘Wife, cap’n?’ says I, ‘why, I didn’t know you had got a wife.’ ‘Jack,’ says he, shakin’ his head sorrowful like, ‘years ago I married a village gal under a false name, the name of Stone——’ ” « “What’s that?” exclaimed Mr. Grice. say Stone? .. “That’s what I did,” replied Barnstable, sucking his pipe and regarding the plorekeeper out of the ner of his eye. “It’s very singular?” asked the sailor. “Nothing. Go on.” ae year afterwards,’ says my old cap’n, ‘I took to sea ag’in, and deserted her and her child. Of late years, Jack, I’ve tried hard—hard—Jack,’ and the tears rolled down his weather-beaten cheeks as he spoke, ‘to find ’em out, but all in vain. My wife had left her native village and gone to re- latives she had somewhere out in Indiany. Just what place in the State she went to I couldn’t find out. But since I got rich, Jack, I meant to zo and search the State from end to end till I found my wife and son. The good Lord, coi has seen fit to prevent me doin’ the right th ing by 7em, as a punishment I suppose for my sin.’ Barnstable paused to wet his throat with a ~ drink of cider. “Maybe she’s dead, cap’n,’ says I. ‘Maybe,’ - says he, ‘maybe,’ and the tones of his voice showed very clear that what we call fun in our young is a rare rod in pickle for us in our old ones. ‘But my son,’ says he, ‘my son Fred. __ “What! Was the boy’s name Fred?” asked Mr. Grice, with starting eyes. “Not Fred Stone?” “The very name, replied the sailor, nodding and blowing out a cloud of smoke. “What’s the mat- ter? Do you know such a boy hereabouts?” add- - ed Barnstable, eagerly. “No, no; how should I?” mumbled Mr. Grice, while beads of perspiration gathered on his fore- ay “T thought Fees you did,” replied the sailor i in @ disa ted tone. I was saying, the cap’n Bays, says he, ‘Find my son out, promise me you will, Jack! I Segeonere givin’ the child a little medalion— piothes tied it to a bit of ners, - Bie ribbon, and fastened his neck, sa = “Did you — mes wear it in memory of his father. 80 += “And didh’t my brother mention me in his will at all?” asked Mr. Grice, anxiously. ane sailor shook his head posi ae from side to. side. * guess he must have forgot all about ye, he sai “That’s gratitude, I must say,” answered the - storekeeper, with a look of disgust. “ ‘Jack,’ says my old cap’n, and his voice ‘sank | lower and lower every minute, ‘Jack,’ says he, ‘I’ve = | left all them bonds with the Universal Trust Co., on Broadway, together with my last will and testament “The Universal Trust Co., Broadway, New York?” Barnstable nodded solemnly. “*There’s a wallet, Jack,’ says my old cap’n in a faint voice, ‘beneath this mattress in which ere Ss money enough to pay the expenses of your search. Swear, Jack,’ says he; ‘Swear to obev the — last wishes of your poor old cap’n.’ Well, Mister — Grice, I knelt by the bunk and swore to leave no — stone unturned “til I had found the cap’n’s boy. — ‘Bless you, Jack,’ says he, ‘bless you. After I’m buried take the first train for Indiany and——’ - The poor old cap’n’s voice sank, he looked at me with a wild stare, and fell back on his pillow— — never to rise again. My old cap’n, the only friend © I had in all the world—was dead.” “Well, Mister Grice,” continued the sailor, in a more ch ul tone, “as ill luck would have it I was rob nearly all my money before TI left New York. Some land-shark collared it. I only — had enough to pay my fare to Indianapolis, and — to buy that horse and waggin, and that there tinker’s outfit I have at the’door. Now what would you have done in such a position? “T’d have given the search up as a bad job,” re- plied the storekeeper. “That’s what you’d have done, maybe, but when — Jack Barnstable swears to do a thing he sticks to - it till it is done.” “Do really intend-to persevere in this wild ' goose chase?” : “Yes, Mister Grice, on I mean to go until I find my poor cap’n’s son. I devote one half of my time to tinkerin’, to pay my travelin’ expenses, and — the other -half to minute investigation. I gees it a p’int to inquire at all the post-offices and 3 stores, and every house where I stop to do a little - business in the tinkerin’ line. Up to the present nobody ain’t even so much as heard the name aS - Fred Stone.” i “It isn’t worth your while to make any in- vestigations in this village. I have lived here — fifteen years, and I know every man, woman and — child in the place,” said the storekeeper, anxious to — start the sailor, on his way out of Dover. “I gue$s yoy ought to know ’em,” replied Rar stable, 7 tting the new pipe in an absent kind of - = way in his pocket, and following it with the pack- _ age of tobacco. “Then I'll be gettin’ on to the next © town. I ain’t got no time to lose, ’cause there's ‘ crocodile to the will.” ; aK ie a exclaimed Mr. in a tone of perplexi “Oh, main mew ya! ” he mt eage ’ i se. ; . Dect "3 = Saeters. eS i ea

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4 suppose that’s. what it is,” admitted the “Well, what does ‘the codicil say?” asked the storekeeper, more eager than ever. : “It says if the boy isn’t found in two years, the r in the trust company should go to——” “Yes, yes,” ejaculated Mr. Grice, in a fever of i impatience. _him_another dose if necessary. ; “This sailor will driye me out of my. mind,” thought the postmaster. “It must be myself the codicil affects—his son first, his half-brother next, course. I'll write to the Universal Trust Com- any, in New York, and find out all the partic- s. Yes, that’s what I’ll do. Now I must send fellow on his way before Fred turns up. He rht see some resemblance in the boy’s face to - his dear old captain, and ask him questions that - would make it awkward for me to explain after- “Well, -I must be goin’, Mr. Grice,” said Barn- “Yes, yes; that’s right. Here’s a five-dollar bill hel) you on your way, my friend. Now don’t ee a moment, but go right on to Prescott.” __“Thank ye kindly, Mister Grice.~ You’re a gent ie right sort. When I find the cap’n’s boy ing him back this way and interjuce him to . : ~ CHAPTER IV.—Fred and His Friend Sam. ‘So you’re going to shake the village and Mr. ri raed start out for yourself, are you?” said’ Hawley, Fred’s particular friend, to Fred, m the latter told him what course he had de- ned on. rs . ” yeplied Fred, “that’s what I’m going to ‘ Tes time I made a start in life.” ; conversation took ages on the back Soup Hawley home, at the same time that Jac ble, the sailor, was holding his interview | Mr. Peter Grice in the store. here do you expect to.go?” asked Sam, in- “what do you expect to do when you get ven’t the least a sf here, Fred, why don’t you take to rail- “SM <2. e will I make application for a job?” _ ou want to learn to run an engine like ” asked Sam. : yy branch of active service will suit me; but ss I’d like to be an engineer first rate,” said sparkling eyes. “There’s something after all in the whirr of the wheels, team, the shriek of the whistle of the bell. Yes, on the whole, refer to be an engineer.” replied Sam, with T shoul A START IN LIFE 2 Fred rose at his customary hour, opened the __ftore, put the usual display of boxes and Sooas 5 they’re short-handed. He’ll set you to wiping off engines when they come in after a run, and to helping the machinist make repairs. It is a dirty, hard job, but you’ll learn all the different parts of a locomotive in a short time if you keep your eyes open, and you’re just the boy to do that.” “Do you think my general knowledge of tele- graphing would help me any, Sam?” “It might come in handy some day. You never can tell when the occasion might come up that your ability to tap a wire along the line and send a message to the nearest operator might help you out of a big hole. One of these days when you get promoted to your first run it would be a good idea for you to learn the calls all along the line.” “Mr. Grice is bound to kick when I tell him that I’m going to leave,” said Fred. “Ho! What do you care for Mr. Grice? I guess you aren’t under any great obligations to him. He’s made you work for your keep ever since you could reach a shelf in the store.” “That’s right, he has. He only gives me a dol- lar a week spending money now, and it’s like pull- ing teeth to get him to give that up. I’m tired of being his slave.” “I should think you would be. Let him kick and be jiggered. You’ve got a few dollars saved, haven’t you?” : “Yes. you'll need is enough to keep you at “Well, all Prescott until your first pay day comes around. In fact you can room with me. I'd like to have you. What do you say?” “That would suit me all right, of course.” “TI think it would. Shall I tell the foreman of the roundhouse in the morning that you'll report for we some time during the day?” “Yes. “All right. You'll find Brackett will treat you square as long as you do your duty. He always keeps a sharp eye on a new comer, especially to see what’s in him. If he finds you’re a hustler and anxious to make your wey ahead he’ll cotton . to you, though you’ll never know it. Some fine morning there’ll be a vacancy to fire on a switch engine and then Brackett will pick out the most likely chap to fill the bill. It might only be for a day, you know, but it will be a starter in the right direction: I’ve been on a switch engine a dozen ~ times before I got my present steady sit, which begins to-morrow. I kept my eyes open and learned the knack of spreading the coal in the furnace to the best advantage. You do the same at the first chance you get, and if you.-make good you'll soon Jeave the wiping business to those with less gumption. It’s the wideawake chap that gets ahead in the world, and don’t you forget it.” “I’m sure of that, Sam, and you'll find I'll get there with both feet.” The boys shock hands and Fred started down the street for the store. cee 4, He had only gone a short distance before a- horsé#*and wagon hove into view. The rig was driven by the faithful sailor, Jack Barnstable. — CHAPTER V.—Mr. Peter Grice Takes Water. =

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_the veranda.around the door, and after waiting “on several customers, went into the kitchen to get * his breakfast, which the housekeeper, Mrs. Burns, had ready for him. .When Fred saw Grice take up the Wellington morning paper he went up to him and said: “I suppose you have no objection to my going to Prescott this afternoon, have you, sir?” This was rather a nervy request for Fred to make under the circumstances that bound him to the interest of Peter Grice, and the postmaster “ : stared at the boy as if he thought his assistant had lost his senses. “What's that?” he roared at last. “You want to _go to Prescott this afternoon, eh? And you think I have no objection to letting you go? Well, I like your impudence. What business can you have in Prescott?” “I’m going to ask for employment on the rail- road,” replied Fred, coolly. ‘ “What!” shrieked Mr. Grice, and it looked as if he was going to have another of his choking spells. Fred waited patiently for him to recover. “Now listen to me, you young villain. Don’t you dare attempt to leave my employment until I get and ready to let.you go. Do you hear?” cried Mr. Grice, wrathfully. Grice seized a package of oatmeal from the shelf behind him and threw it at Fred as hard as he could. The boy dodged and the package hurtled toward the door, where it struck Abe Barker, who was entering at the moment, full in the face. The package burst open and deluged the new comer from head to foot in meal. Abe uttered a roar of surprise and pain, while the storekeeper looked horrified at the unexpected re- : sult he had brought about. He was accustomed to treat the son of the Squire with the greatest respect, because Amos Barker Was his best cus- tomer. In some trepidation he hastened to square _ himself with the boy, while Fred took advantage . of the situation to retire as gracefully as possible 3 from the scene. He harnessed the horse to the e shaky wagon and started on his regular morning trip around the village. It was eleven o’clock when he got back to the store, and found Mr. Grice waiting on a number of customers. He put up the horse and then helped attend on the people who were waiting. After that he filled the orders = he had brought back with him. Mr. Grice said ; nothing to him, but favored him with a mighty black look. At half-past twelve Fred got his din- ner. Then he went up to his room and changed his clothes. He had made > his mind to go to Prescott whether Mr. Grice objected or not. The look of quiet determination that rested on his fea- tures when he re-entered the store showed that he was prepared to take the bull by the horns at > whatever cost. He walked up to Mr. Grice, who was seated behind the letter boxes, and said: “I am going to Prescott, sir.” _ The postmaster jumped off his stool as though stung by some venomous insect, and reached over ug grab his assistant. His face was as black ad*a 3 ecedergees and his eyes flashed vengefully. Fred drew back just out of his reach and then stood his . He was half a head taller than Mr. rice, and twice as well built, pene oe id that the storekeeper wouldn’t have s sot of fA show in a set-to with him. For the 6. ‘A START IN LIFE- .down on a log. -first time in his life Mr. Grice began to realizé that his power over the boy was slipping away ~ from him. He saw something in Fred’s eyes that™ warned him that the lad did not propose to be handled without gloves any longer. : His angry eyes ran up and down the boy’s stal- © wart person, and noted the intrepid flash of his hazel eyes. The inspection satisfied him that he had reached ‘his limit and that bulldozing would no longer prevail. So he adopted different tactics. “So you’re going to Prescott and without my permission, are you?” ; “That’s about the size of it, Mr. Grice. I'd rather you would give me permission, but if you won’t—— x “You can go,” replied the postmaster in a surly ne. He had surrendered because he couldn’t help himself. “Thank you, sir. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” “See that you do,” replied Mr. Grice, resuming his stool in a very bad humor indeed. “Is there anything I can do for you in Pres- cott?” asked Fred, pleasantly. “No, there isn’t.” Just then Kittie Clyde entered the store. “What can I do for you, Kittie?” asked Fred, eagerly. “I want half a dozen spools of Clark’s thread, Nos. 50, 60 and 70,” and she mentioned some gro- ceries. Pn “There’s your bundle, Kittie. If you'll wait till I charge the goods up to your aunt I will walk down the street with you.” : Kittie waited, and in a few minutes she and Fred walked out of the store together. \ CHAPTER VI.—A Diabolical Scheme. Fred left Kittie at her aunt’s home and contin- ued on his way to Prescott. He had told her his intentions. He had a good eight-mile walk ahead of him, but that was a mere bagatelle to an active, sturdy-limbed lad like him. He confidently ex- ected to reach his destination within a couple of ours, and the chances were he would do so. He soon4eft the village behind and then his way led — him along’ the country road. It was a pleasant afternoon, with a light breeze blowing, and the tramp. was exhilarating to the boy. Fred had walked a couple of miles when he grew thirsty. — He remembered there was a“spring of cool water at a certain spot close by the road. It was shaded by a thick clump of bushes. At this point the —_ fence was missing for a space of a dozen feet. Fred skirted the bushes and sinking down on his hands and knees drank his fill. As he raised his head he caught the thud of several Aorses coming — down the road at a lively clip. He thought noth- ing of the matter until the riders reined in direct- __ ly opposite the break in the fence, dismounted, and after tying their animals to a convenient tree, _ walked over to the clump of bushes behind which the boy was still kneeling at the spring, and sat __ 08 “SS “I’m afraid this is a risky piece of business, — Gibson,” Fred heard a voice say. “Right in the open daylight, too.” A ari ~ ~ne5

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A START Toe hee What's to see SH asked Gibson, — t laug re you getting an attac the rattles at the last moment, Morgan?” : _. “T hope not; but I think this matter ought to be 2 till night. I don’t see that it makes much difference what train is shunted into the river so long as one of them finds its way there.” S “Don’t you?” replied the third man, in a calm, eg ry “Well, it makes all the difference in =: suppose it does, then, if you say so, Mr. Squires,” said Morgan, in a respectful way. “The train that I-wish to get is the express that passes. Prescott at 1:35. President Whitney, of the Round Top, the most dangerous man to the interests of the Blue Line, is aboard that train. It would mean thousands of dollars to the old road if we can wipe him out of existence.” “How is that, Mr. Squires?” _ “He is the backbone, the whole thing I might ‘Bay, of the opposition road. Without him at the helm, the Round Top would in time go to pieces as a first-class line, and the Blue Line would then step in and absorb it and thus squelch it as a dan- - gerous competitor. Whitney owns, or at least con- _ trols, three-quarters of the stock of the Round Top, and is a hard man to down. At this moment is putting through that plan of his—a tunnel der Round Top mountain. When completed it drive the Blue Line into the position of a sec- d-class road, for by doing away with the thirty- ile swing around the foothills of the range the Round Top line will be able to save forty min- es’ time on the run to Harrison Junction, and hus make closer connections with the P. D. & . for all points east and southeast.” _ “T see,” said the man who had been addressed Morgan. “The object is to do up this man ~ “ sy, the idea exactly,” replied Mr. Nt Sad «RS soon as I heard that he was a pas- rer on the afternoon express I made up my d as to the course I should pursue. The Round Op strikes the river a short distance this side of Prescott, and parallels it to a point half a mile low here, At that point there is a side track leading down to the edge of a turn in the stream. The switch there misplaced, the express, which _ Passes that spot half an hour from now, will go raight into the river. It will carry President hitney to his death, and save the fortunes of the ‘Blue Line. Now you understand the situa- 0??? ce reckon we do,” said Gibson, with a short “Ne ’s to t er with the switch?” ” bee “Gibson. “T'd better start at once.” think you had. You haven’t got any too much to do the work and get out of harm’s way. ‘or you, Morgan, it will be. your nog oe look for the track walker who goes over that part e line just before the express is due. See io he fails to reach the neighborhood of the th. Do you understand?” ‘understand, sir. I’ve a good pair of arms the man I hug will think a grizzly bear had two ought to be able to get down to the. a soar work and get back here before ess passes Prescott. That will give us > IN LIFE — es ” time to reach the top of the hill, whence we can get a full ag of the accident.” Gibson and Morgan immediately left the pres- ence of Mr. Squires, who remained seated on the trunk, mounted their horses and rode off toward the river, which they had to cross by a stout , wooden bridge to reach the Round Top track on \ the ‘other bank. “Fred stood frozen, as it were, to the spot while the two rascals rode away to carry into effect their villainous deisgn. As the sound of their horses’s hoofs died away, Fred pulled himself together like a person waking up from a fearful nightmare. “There’s only one thing to be done,” he breath- ed, resolutely. “I must interfere and try and pre- vent the execution of. this murderous scheme. _ When he hastily started for the road from be- hind the leafy screen Mr. Squires saw him and was thunderstruck by his presence on the spot at that moment. Squires, however, was a man uick thought and action. He instantly suspected that the boy had heard all that had passed be- tween himself and his partners in the proj piece of villainy. Before Fred could put him into a posture of defence, Mr. Squires was u him with the force of a far western cyclone. went down in a heap on the turf, Fred, unfor- tunately, underneath. Mr. Squires jumped astride of him and held him down. It was then that Fred awoke to the unpleasant fact that he was in the power of one of the villains. CHAPTER VII.—The Flying Leap. “Lie still, you young cur!” exclaimed the man, Pit his teeth. “Lie still or it will be the worse ‘or you.” “What do you mean by attacking me in this way?” demanded Fred, ceasing to struggle in or der to regain his breath and energies for a re- newal of the mix-up. “What were you doing behind those bushes, just now?” ~ “T don’t see:that it is any of your business,” retorted the boy. “What do you mean to do with me?” “That’s up to you. If you'll admit the full ex- tent of your knowledge of our movements, I’ll talk business with you.” “What do you mean by business?” ; “Where do you live?” asked Mr. Squires, with- ~ % out noticing his question. ; = “In Dover,” answered the lad. “What business brings you out here?” “I was going to Prescott.” . “What took you behind those bushes?” “There is a spring there, and I stopped to get a drink of water.” “You did, eh? It didn’t take you fifteen min- utes to take a drink. Why didn’t you show your- self when you got through instead of hiding there and listening to our conversation?” “How do you know I was listening to your con- versation?” asked Fred, doggedly. “I am sure of it.” aie “Are you going to hold me down this way till back?” your pals get 3 F : “I am. Better own up while the chance is yours.” P “Suppose I do, what then?” ; ~~

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A START ; “We may let you off easy.” = “And if I admit nothing?” “Then you'll probably go into the creek above here with a stone attached to your feet.” At that moment Fred heard the distant gallop of the returning horsemen. It spurred him into ek a fresh effort to save himself from the possible consequences his captor’s words suggest- ed. “It might be that his life depended on the suc- cess of his struggles. With a desperate tug he freed his wrists from the grip Mr. Squires had upon them. Then he grappled the man about the waist and tried to throw him. A fierce contest for supremacy ensued between them. r. Squire’s efforts to maintain his seat on Fred’s chest prevented him using his fists to strike the boy in the head or face. They squirmed about from side to side until Gibson and Morgan rode up and dismounted. Both of them were aston- *, ished to see the struggle that was going on be- "tween Mr. Squires and the boy. As soon as Mr. “3 Squires saw them his face lit up with satisfac- E tion. “Come here, both of you, and help me to secure this young monkey.” : . : “What’s the trouble?” asked Gibson as he came ; forward. “ : “Trouble enough. The cub was behind those | bushes all the time we were talking and he’s on to our plans to do the express. We've got to silence him, or it will be the hangman’s rope for the Z three of us if the job goes through.” _ # - “Oh, the job will go through all right; don’t you fear. So this chap was listening, was he?” “He heard every word, I’m willing to swear, -- _ though he won’t own up.” ; “Then he'll have to go the way of the express, Ex I’m thinkin’. I’m not goin’ to put my neck into ay a noose to save the life of any man or boy cither ig on the face of the globe.. Hold him steady now ~ till I can grab his/ feet.” Fae 2 % Fred saw that the game was about up with him. He made one last determined effort, however. Mr. gpard and Fred is i vas taken slightly off his Squires was ghtly eas aa sueceeded in rolling him over on the plucky boy s rang to his feet. “Seize him, Gibson!” roared Mr. Squires. ‘Gibson made a grab for the lad. Fred ducked and slipped under his extended arms. Then he dashed around the bushes with the three men at his heels. He led them a pretty lively chase among the many obstructions that abounded in that plot of ground, and finally doubled like a hare on them and started at full tilt for the road. “He mustn’t away,” shouted Mr. Squires. Gibson and Morgan didn’t intend that the boy should if they could prevent it. But Fred had something of a lead on them, and his mind had conceived a plan for escaping from them. While = he was sure he could easily outrun them if he : took to the level road, he knew they would be able - to ride him down on horseback in no time. The idea that occurred to him was to seize one of the ae himself and gr off, trusting to ms hope of outriding them, for he was an expe 36 hes He put this icheeadl into execution as goon as he reached the road. Gibson, in his hurry - to obey Mr. Squire’s call, had not stopped to tie his animal—a fine, fleet-footed mare. Fred noted that fact, and singling the horse out, - sprang on her back and flanks, headed back the way the men had just digging his heels into her IN LIFE come—that is toward the river and the railroad _ : beyond. Mr. Squires gave a shout of rage when he saw the tactics of the boy. He rushed for his own horse—an animal that showed speed in every — limb. Tearing the bridle from the tree he sprang into the saddle and darted after the fleeing boy as fast as he could make his charger go. Morgan _ imitated his example, while Gibson followed the — rocession on foot. It promised to be a wild chase. he road led - a slight rise, then switched — around to the left, where a gentle declivity ran down to the wooden bridge which spanned the — river at its narrowest point. A strange thing, however, had happened to the bridge since Gib- ~ son and Morgan repassed it a short time before. — Then it seemed to perfect, now a formidable _ looking hole appeared in the planking. It must — have been that the boards had in the course of _ time become loosened from their hold on the sup- porting timbers, and that the hoofs of the horses ridden by Gibson and Morgan had completed their demoralizution. At any rate, a few minutes after the rascals had recrossed the bridge the planks fell with a splash into the water below and floated away down the river. Fred, of course, never dreamed of the pitfall that lay in his path; nor did his re- lentless pursuers. The boy, urging his spirited animal to her top speed, came rushing like the — wind down the slight declivity toward the river — bank. Mr. Squires turned the top of the elevation — a fraction of a minute behind him, for his mount was superior to the lad’s. For the moment it looked like a dead sure thing - that the rascal would overtake his quarry before ~ the boy could reach the other side of the river. As ‘the mare struck the bridge at a two-fo clip, Fred’s heart went suddenly cold, for right before him yawned the gap where the half dozen planks were missing. It was utterly impossible for him to avoid the issue that lay in his way. Had he tried to pull in the mare she would assuredly have slipped straight into the abyss. There was only one thing to do, that was to take the chasm — as one would a hurdle, and the result depended on the horse alone. The animal, however, was equal to the emergency. She took a fying leap and landed him safely beyond the break. Mr. Squires, who had counted on dvertaking the boy in another minute, reined in just in time to save himself. ~ wt CHAPTER VIII.—Saving the Express. Fred was riding as hard as he could go toward ~ the railroad. As he came in sight of the swi = with the side track branching down to the bank of the river, he heard the whistle of the express _ as it passed the crossing less than a mile away. _ He urged the mare forward, and the ani -re- sponded nobly, The locomotive burst into view up the track as Fred flung himself from ,the sad- die and ran to the open switch. The lock had been broken by Gibson, with an implement he had brought along for the purpose, and the iron staple, — while it held the switch in its misplaced position, — could easily be drawn out so as to permit the lever _ to be pushed over, and the main track made per- — fect again. This Fred to do. ee: The engineer had an instant before noticed by _ the inclined appearance of the switch lever <<. —S2- =e

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a the switch was o es He w , and he knew what that ed down-brakes, reversed the -on the main track, and the engineer lost no time Padertiod tne for the rs had been badly shaken up, but not one knew the peril he had es- ange through the interposition of Fred Stone. thank heaven!” he ejaculated, “I have circum- ‘vented those scoundrels and saved the express. It was a close call for those people; but a miss they say is as good as a mile. I guess I’ve made a fine horse by the operation.” _ _ At that moment he saw a roughly dressed man “running toward him. Fred waited for him to come up. - “Say, what does all this mean?” demanded the - He was the track-walker, and there was blood on his face where Morgan ‘had struck him down ~ insensible with a stone. “Tt means that the afternoon express came of going into the river.” “It was. And set so on purpose.” “Good gracious! Do you mean it?” gasped the n, a look of horror coming over his.features. Three eae per Leen ac job, or would have succeeded in carrying their design ou only I overheard them age 3 to, do it, and got away from them in time frustrate their “Then it must have been one of them that nocked me senseless with a stone in the cut.” _ “Tt certainly was. A fellow by the name of _ Morgan. He was sent to look for you while his ca ion, Gibson, was misplacing the switch.” his matter must be reported at once,” said track-walker, wi ing the blood from his face. Come with me, ere’s a signal tower at the rossing just around the curve yonder,” pointing the p Elore Me of Prescott. “We'll take the news the operator there.” om o leading the mare by her bridle, Fred accom- ante! the om to the signal tower. Fred told his ry to the tower man and-he wired the news to he division superintendent, sending in Fred’s address. Then the boy continued on to tt. He rode to the yards of the Round Top d at that town, and found his way to the 2, where he inquired for Brackett, the Tell, what’do En! want?” asked a square-built, n-visaged man of thirty-two. . ‘A Mr. Packet aaeed Fred. : Th = gai name,” replied the foreman, looking _the boy over with a sharp eye. , .* ‘I’m looking for work. Can you give me a job?” nybody send you here?” Z Hawley told me to apply to you. bo eine seenens 36 me Out ing. What kind of work are you look- A START IN LIFE ae “Well, the only kind of work for an inexperi- enced person in this place is that of wiper. “Can you give me a job as wiper, sir?” “I can. I suppose you understand it is the low- est and dirtiest work on a railroad.” “T suppose so, from what Sam Hawley told me.” “He’s been ray oa the mill and ought to know,” replied the foreman with a grim smile. “You'll have to ee engines, shovel ashes, wash out boilers and tanks, turn the table, help the ma- chinists to lug ‘and lift, and do a score of other things equally unpleasant.” “But engine wipers stand a show of becoming firemen, don’t they?” _ “If they’re. uncommonly smart, yes; but promo- tion, as a-rule, comes slow. A man must wipe long enough to become familiar with every part of an engine, and know how one is run, before he can get something better.” “Well, I’ve decided to become a locomotive en- gineer some day, and expect to begin at the foot of the ladder.” : Pos “You mean that, do you?” “Yes, sir.” “You live in Dover, I believe.” “Yes, sir.” : “Clerking in a general store?” ae am.” “When can you come to work?” “Inside of a week.” “Very well. Report here next Monday morning at seven o’clock and I'll put you to work as a wiper. You'll have to live here in Prescott, of course.” = mig that. Sam Hawley.” “All right. day.” x The foreman turned away and entered the roundhouse, whence issued the sound of hammer- ing. At that moment an engine was run in on the table, and some wipers swung it around. Then it was backed toward the roundhouse. It came to a stop just outside the door, and the wipers started in upon it. Fred watched them with great interest. “That’s what I’ll be doing myself next week,” he mused. “It’s dirty work; but nevertheless it gives a fellow a start in lifc.” With those words he returned to where he had hitched his horse, mounted it and took the county road back for Dover. I’m going to room with Ill expect to see you next Mon- —_———_ CHAPTER IX.—A Start in Life. © Fred had some doubts about his reception by Mr. Grice when he got back to the store, but there were no unpleasant results, much to his satisfac- tion, He put the mare, which had come into his possession in such a stirring manner, into the stable, and wondered if the man Gibson would make any very strong effort under the circum- stances to recdver his property, if the animal was his property. Next morning Fred notified. Mr, Grice to cngien aoeer bay to take his place, ppg ® agers ry Ming Pe fi pin —_ Fast rage as the expected he would, n , an the matter was considered to be settled, Grice had written to the Universal Trust Co., of New York, for information about his half- — 4 % Ps silts a 4 Te ee ie ee Pee ee Oe ie

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< ri " a = 3 i Pas ys, thee nea ej ae = accompanied the others, 10 A START brother’s will, and he fully expected the reply would show that he was: the beneficiary under the codicil. Now that Jack Barnstable was out of the way, and daily getting further away from chance » contact with the son of his dear old cap’n, Mr. Grice entertained strong hopes that when the time limit mentioned in the will had expired the $100,- 000 worth of bonds would come into his hands. All this had a tendency to reconcile him to the in- evitable parting with the boy it was his purpose to wrong in so gross a manner. About noon that day a weazel-faced man of medium height, with _ -yery smart eyes, entered the store and asked for Fred. Mr. Grice, to whom the inquiry had been addressed, jerked his thumb toward the rear of the place where the boy was filling the orders he had collected around the village thaf morning. The weazel-faced man tapped the lad lightly on the shoulder. “TJ am one of the road detectives, and I have called on you to obtain a more explicit account of the outrageous scheme yousexposed and as close a description as you can give me of the scoundrels themselves.” “Very well. I will tell you the whole story,” and Fred did so, explaining to the detective that he had started for Prescott to ask for a job in the roundhouse of the railroad-company, and that owing to the fact that he had stopped at the roadside spring to get a drink he had overheard the plot to wreck the train, the avowed object of which, according to the words of Mr. Squires, who seemed to be the moving spirit of the enterprise, was to cause the death of President Whitney of the Round Top road because he was regarded as a dangerous factor of the interests of the Blue Line, the original road between Galena and Har- rison Junction on the P. D. &- Q. trunk line, which the Round Top practically paralleled, greatly to the detriment of the Blue Line’s passenger and freight traffic. “Ha!” exclaimed the detective. “This seems to be a much-more serious matter than we had any idea of. Are you prepared to swear to the truth of all the facts you have just stated to me, young man?” ~ “T am,” replied Fred, promptly. “Be careful now, my lad,” said Mr. Sharpley, solemnly. “Remember that you are bringing a grave charge to the attention of the management of the Round Top Company—a charge that must ‘reflect, even indirectly, on the management of the Blue Line.” _*“T am making no charge against anybody but the three men implicated in the attempt to wreck the express, replied Fred. “IT understand that. But a sinister construction will undoubtedly be placed on the conversation uu assert that you overheard. Of course it will impossible for you to verify your statement, as you have no witness to corroborate it. Still your story, made under oath, will carry a. certain “weight that cannot but lead to complications be- wg the management of the two roads.” : red then described how, after Gibson and Mor- had departed on their crooked errand, he had captured by Mr. Squires, who he thought had jhe had made to escape from the man’s clutches; how the return of the two rascals had caused Mr. and the fruitless struggle IN LIFE —- to slightly relax his vigilant hold on him, which he had taken immediate advantage of; how he had escaped on the back of Gibson’s horse, now in Mr. Grice’s stable, and had reached the siding just in time to turn the switch lever back into its proper. position and thus save the train from eaving the main track, which must have resulted in its destruction as contemplated by the trio of villains whom he had overheard. The balance — of his story, which related-to his meeting with the track-walker and going, at the man’s suggestion, — to Tower 16 and telling the operator the partic ulars of the attempted wreek, was soon told. “Young man,” said the detective, “you have rendered a valuable service to the Round Top — Company which, I can assure you, will receive suitable recognition. Now I shall have to request — you to come with me before a justice of the peace, who will take down your story in writing and witness your signature under oath.” ; “T am ready to go with you. Please make your request to Mr. Grice.” Mr. Sharpley spoke to the storekeeper, who — grudgingly permitted Fred to accompany the de- . tective to Squire Barker’s office where the matter was put through in accordance with the railroad — man’s views. “I am very much obliged to you, Stone,” said the — detective, when they left the lawyer’s office. “I think it likely that you will be requested to go to ~ Galena to repeat your story before the Board of — Directors of the Round Top. At any rate do not — be surprised if you receive such an invitation and do not fail to comply with it, for it will be greatly to your advantage to do so. Good-by.” Fred had furnished the detective with a very fair description of Gibson and Morgan, and a pretty accurate one of Mr. Squires, so that Mr. Sharpley had great hopes of being able to run down the three rascals, who seemed to be acting under some kind of an understanding with per-- sons interested in the Blue Line management. That night Fred called on Kitty Clyde and told © her that he had secured a job as a wiper in the — Prescott roundhouse of the Round Top Railroad, — and that he was going to start to work on the — following Monday, ; = “J’}] be able to see you every Sunday, Kittie, as _ Prescott in only eight miles from this village, that _ is if you care to have me call upon you as often — _as that.” 3 “Why, of course I’d like to have you call, Fred,” replied Kittie, in a pleased tone. “I’m awfully — glad you’re not going so far away as Chicago.” “Same here. It’s a wonder I never thought of — tackling railroading before when the idea is just — to my taste. As often as I have talked with Sam» Hawley, it never occurred to me, nor to him either, — that this was the line that best suited my inclina- — tions. When I told Sam, Sunday night, that I~ thought of going to Chicago to make a decent — start in life, then he brought the subject up in a — way that opened my eyes to the possibilities pre-_ sented by-a railway career. It is my ambition — now to become a first-class locomotive #ngineer, = you'll find, Kittie, that I'll get there if Tt ive. 5 Next morning a messenger from the one agent-at Prescott rode over to Dover and delivere! — a/telegraphic message to Fred, requesting him to a = 1 =

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take the afternoon express for Galena, the con- “ductor of which had orders to stop at the flag _ - erossing, one mile outside of Dover, expressly to “pick him up. An official of the road would meet _him at the Galena depot, and he would be con- ‘sidered the guest of the Round Top Company until he returned to Dover. Fred showed the despatch to Mr. Grice, who made a kick against his absence ~ from the store, but in the end gave him reluctant permission to go to Galena. When the express ‘slowed up at the crossing Fred was waiting there -ready to board it. ‘Fhe conductor took him into a drawing-room car and left him there until the train reached Galena at seven o’clock that evening. President Whitney’s private secretary took charge : of him at the depot and carried him off in a cab to a hotel, where he registered and dined with his conductor in a big room whose splendor and * cuisine was a revelation to the country boy, ac- -customed all his life to the meager bill of fare provided by the Dover postmaster. At half-past - eight o’clock he was introduced to the Board room _of the Directors of the Round Top Railroad, where he was politely received by the president and other officials identified with the road’s management. . Detective Sharpley was also present. Here he told _ his remarkable story of the knavery of the three men who had tried to wreck the express on Mon- day afternoon, and was cross-examined at some 4 og Se as to the exact words of the conversation _ he had overheard between Mr. Squires and his as- sistants. In no particular did his story vary from his sworn statement that lay before President _ Whitney on the long table. The directors all ‘ ‘] " ed lp el aA cata le eae i Bl "” all iP), . looked very grave when he had concluded. He received their thanks, and President Whitney’s ‘promise that he would be well rewarded for his _____ praiseworthy conduct in the matter. He was then ____ taken back to the hotel, where he passed the night aS in a room that seemed to his eyes palatial. After _ breakfast next morning he was carried to the depot in a cab in time to board the morning ex- press for Harrison Junction. He was dropped off at the flag crossing in accordance with express orders to the conductor, and at half-past two was back at the store. Sunday morning he packed his few belongings into a well worn grip, and after dinner bade good-by to Mr. Grice and Mrs. Burns, _ “Do you think you'll like the work and will stick ~ it out till you learn enough to get in line for something better?” “Sure I will. I’m not a quitter.” “I didn’t think you were, though lots of chaps start in like you have and give up the job in no time at all. You see a new hand always gets hold of the dirtiest work that’s around. other wipers shove it on to him when they can just te see how long he’ll stand it.”

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“Is that a fact? Well, I suppose I’ve got to expect such courtesies then. I had an easy job this afternoon anyway. I was helping one of the machinists who was repairing a locomotive. All I did was to pass him the tools he wanted and _ ask questions. : “Ask questions?” grinned Sam. “What kind of questions?” “About the different parts of the engine.” “Did he answer you? “Sure he did. He gave me a heap of informa- tion, and I’ve got it all here.” Fred tapped his forehead significantly and look- ed wise. . “You are making a good beginning, old man,” said Sam.- “Keep it up and the first thing you know you will-be asked to fire a switch engine. That’s the first real step upward.” The boys went to a restaurant for their supper, whieh, though nothing to boast of in Sam’s opin- jon, was in Fred’s eyes a banquet when compared with Mr. Grice’s evening meal. While Fred was cleaning the driving rod of a locomtive next morn- ing, Brackett came up and paused alongside of > him. After watching him at his work a moment or two he’ said: a - » the afternoon express from going into the river a week ago yesterday?” 2 a! ‘= “Yes, sir,” replied Fred, respectfully. = “J saw your name in the papers, but it never a y struck me that you were the hero of that affair = until the yardmaster mentioned the matter to me — and gave me this letter to hand to you. It bears the imprint of the president’s office at Galena.” “Thank you, sir,” said Fred, putting the letter in his pocket without opening it. “I reekon you won’t be long with us now,” said : the foreman. 2 - et “Why not?” 3 “You'll be able to pick out a job that might be =o more congenial to you. You are bound to have a =; pull with the company after what you did, which you ought to be able to work to your advantage.” “[’m satisfied where I am, sir.” “As a wiper?” asked the foreman in some sur- em “Yes, sir. I mean to make it a stepping-stone _ to the post of engineer.” -> “Oh, you do?” ; _ “Yes, sir.” open you intend to use your pull to that end, “No, sir. That’s not my way of doing business. -. All I ask or will accept from you or the company - 4s a fair deal. I don’t expect to be advanced until I deserve it. When I have acquired the necessary knowledge and experience I hope to go ahead, not ise. I expect to become a first-class en- Se ‘permitted to skim over any part of the practical z education I ought to have. I hope you understand - *] think I do,” replied the foreman with a grunt “J shall accept no favors from the company, and [hope you will not be induced to push me ahead co GOD ay It would not be just to me, not fair to the other wipers.” : oe - “Don’t worry about the other wipers. It’s the ee Sm’ Say Te oe, ee, te eS 2 A START IN LIFE: a. amount to? This boy has true grit and ambition — “Look here, Stone, are you the boy who saved © _ gineer in time, and I couldn’t do that if I was. best man that gets ahead under me. If you climb over any one’s head it will be because you deserve the advancement.” i you, sir. _That’s all I ask,” replied “He’s a comer, or I’m mistaken,” muttered Brackett, as he moved off. “Ninety-nine chaps out of a hundred would pull the company’s leg to its fullest extent, if they were in this young fellow’s place. And inthe end what wale they to succeed. He'll reach the cab one of these days as sure as eggs are eggs.” Fred forgot all about that letter until he and Sam_were seated at a table in the restaurant waiting for their supper ‘to be served. Then he © pulled it out of his pocket, tore off the end, and took out the enclosure. ‘ “What have you got there?” asked Sam curious- ly. “That looks.official.” 3 : “It’s from the president of the Round Top,” replied Fred. “Hello! What's that? Fred took up the two oblong sheets of bond paper, one after the other. They were checks without a doubt—one on the Galena National Bank for the sum of $5,000, payable to the order of Fred Stone, and signed by the Treasurer of the Round Top Railroad Co., the other the personal check of President Whitney for $1,000, also pay- able to the order of Fred Stone. The letter ex- plained that the directors of the company had Checks?” cried Sam, j 24 , _voted Fred $5,000 in recognition of his services in saving. the express, and Mr. Whitney said he took great pleasure in forwarding the check to- him, together with his own check for a thousand as a slight evidence of his gratitude to the boy for saving his life. 3 - “Gee! You're rich!” exclaimed Sam, as he re- _ garded the valuable pieces of paper with bulging _ eyes. “Six thousand dollars! My gracious! hat are you going to do with all that money?” - “What should I do with it but put it m some — good bank and let it stay there?” = “My but you’re in luck!” said Sam. “I suppose — you'll shake the roundhouse with its dirt and grime now.” : day) “Not on your life.” - “Are you really going to stick?” * “Why not?” = “Most any chap with $6,000 at his back would — want a better job than that.” : : “Well, I expect to get a better job as soon as — I can work my way to it,” a3 “You’re one in a thousand, Fred.” : “Oh, I don’t know. There are others, I guess. — I don’t propose to let that $6,000 stand in my way. Not if I know it. I look upon it simplyasa — lucky windfall that may come in handy some day. — I’d be a fool if I lost my head over it at this stage — in my career . Why I’m only just starting out In life. I intend to make my own way ahead. The — money can take care of itself.” t= Evidently Fred had a level head—one of the prime factors of success. x tae ih CHAPTER XI.—The First Step Upward. _ Three months passed away and Fred worked steadily and faithfully at his duties of wiper and — —s.

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4 general assistant in the roundhouse. During that time he visited Dover regularly every Sunday. He always made it a point to drop in at the rear of the store and pass a few minutes either _ with Mr. Grice or his ‘housekeeper, with whom he Was a at favorite. The balance of the time he divided between Sam and Kittie, and other _ friends in the village. Mr. Grice always welcomed - him with a peculiar sardonic grin, which Fred _ could not interpret. * The storekeeper had received full particulars from the Universal Trust Company in New York ~ about the provisions of Captain Benjamin Sand’s _ will,.and it turned out just as he had hoped, _ that in default of the discovery of his son within » @ certain time, provided no reasonable prospect a ‘existed that the boy ever would be found, he, * Peter Grice was to succeed to the property of “ his half-brother. Mr. Grice had the date marked __ down in red ink in his private memorandum book, _-and he was now counting the days that inter- ~vened. before he could legally put in his claim - for the bonds. The only thing that bothered — was that Jack Barnstable might possibly 2 up again in the village before the time expired, and learn the true state of affairs. The “chances however were against such a thing hap- pening, so that Mr. Grice had now contracted the habit of rubbing his skinny hands together and mentally congratulating himself on his promised _ good luck. > - One morning while Fred was helping another wiper turn the table to receive a locomotive that ‘was about to run out of the roundhouse, a yard engineer came up and touched him on the shoul- der. - “You're Fred Stone, aren’t you?” he said. “Yes, sir,” replied the boy. ~ “J want to use you.” ; “All right. I’m at your service.” “Come with me.” ; : Fred followed the engineer over to engine 32, used for switching purpose, which was ready to go out of the roundhouse. “Jump into the cab.” . : _ Fred, wondering what the grimy looking man wanted him to do, swung himself up the iron SS ‘ing 3 The engineer followed him. After look- at the gauge, and noting that everything was right, the man said gruffly: “Ring.” : : Fred iooked at him in astonishment. . - “I don’t quite understand ” he began. “Don’t understand, eh?” growled the engineer. ~“Didn’t vou hear what I said? I told you. to ting the bell. I’ve gust got the signal to run out.” _- “Am I to fire for you?” asked Fred, hardly g that such good luck was his at last. “Of course you are—Brackett’s order. Ring!” Fred mechanically pulled the bell rope, the en- ineer opened her up a bit and let off the brake. hen No. 32 ran out on the table, and was switth- => {A START IN LIFE 18 on an engine, but it was the first time he had been called upon to’fire one. Small wonder if he © felt nervous and excited at his new experience. Besides he knew that he was on trial, and that if he failed to acquit himself to advantage it might be a long time before he got another chance of the same kind. He and Sam had sev- eral times ridden on the freight locomotive be- tween the flag crossing near Dover and Prescott, when returning to their lodgings of a Sunday night, and Fred had carefully watched how the fireman in the cab supplied the furnace with coal. There was a peculiar knack in flinging the con- tents of the shovel so that the coal would be well scattered and evenly distributed upon the ‘glowing bed in the bowels of the engine. Fred imitated that method with so much suc- cess that the engineer had no fault to find with him, for the finger on the dial remained near the point he wanted. Up and down the yard the engine went, pushing and hauling cars about, and moving them from one track to another. At irregular intervals they had moments of leisure, when the engineer lit his pipe and w for his signal, while Fred had nothing to do, but cast a glance now and again at the gauge to see that the steam did not drop. — When noontime came Fred and the engineer ate their meal in the cab. Then it was for the first time that the man grew friendly. He com- plimented Fred on his work and asked him how long he had been employed in the yard. “Three months, sir.” “There are men yonder,” chucking his thumb toward the roundhouse, “who have been wiping for a year and they haven’t caught on to a chance to fire yet. Are you one of Brackett’s favorites?” “Not that I’m aware of, sir,” replied the boy. “T’ve always heard that Mr. Brackett played no favorites.” “I guess you're right about that. He’s pfetty square with the men. You must be uncommonly smart to get a lift in three months.” “I always try to do my duty, sir.” ; “If you always do it as well as you have this Morning—your first spell at firing at that— there’s not likely to be any kick coming your way.” ; “TI haven't been hauled over the coals for any- thing so far.” . “Say, your name seems familiar to me,” said the engineer, after a short silence. “Seems to me I’ve seen or heard it somewhere before.” “I’m well known in Dover village. Maybe you know. some of my friends there. Or perhaps you've been talking to Sam Hawley, who fires regularly on 41.” “No,” replied the man, shaking his head. “Oh, I remember now, I saw a name almost identical with yours in the papers some months ago. Who- ever the boy was, he saved the afternoon express from going into the river. Remember the cir- cumstance ?” “I ought to, for I am the boy you are talking about.” “You are the boy?” ejaculated the engineer, with a look of i t on his features. “That’s right. I saved the express on. that occasion.” “Well, upon my word. I never would have ae)

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sin hy, é dreamed that. You must have kept the affair mighty quiet, for I haven’t heard your name men- tioned in the yard in connection with it.. If the boys knew anything about it they would have circulated the news as sure as you’re alive. Does Brackett know about it?” + “Yes, sir.” “What did the company do for you?” “Oh, the company treated me white.” ““Tt’s a wonder you didn’t strike the Division ’ x er Nae ey i we ft Ht “5 : Superintendent for a better job than wiper. That’s ~ about the worst position in railway service.” Es “T-commenced at the bottom so as to work 4 myself up through the regular channels to en- _- gineer. ms “Without tying to use any pull?” “Yes, sir.” “I should think you might get a regular job to fire if you asked for it.” “T might. I prefer not to ask. ability to pull me through.” “Well, I'll give you a good send-off to the foreman.” “Thank you.” “Your ambition is to become an engineer, eh?” “Yes, sir.” “Well, if you remain on 32 I'll give you all ‘the points I can,” “Ym much obliged to you.” “Don’t mention it.” The engineer looked at the clock in the cab, put up his pipe, and said it wanted a minute or two of one o’clock. During the afternoon Fred was permitted to take the throttle on several occasions. He soon got the hang of the engine, and the stage fright. which attacked him when he first touched the throttle and let the steam into the cylinders, gradually wore off, and he could soon sénd the machine ahead, or reverse her, or put on the brake, without getting mixed _ up. The engineer watched him closely, told him how everything should be done, and gave him - a lot of excellent advice. The afternoon passed swiftly and pleasantly to Fred, who was de- lighted with his new job, temporary though he believed it was. Finally the engineer ran the lo- : comotive into the roundhouse and told the boy - . to draw the fire and attend te such duties as ___. fell to the fireman’s lot. When Fred finally left the roundhouse he felt _ that he had not only acquitted himself all right, but had acquired a whole lot of experience. I want. my A SAE Mitek 6 aca ir es | * Pi aiid Tac Mile ly i CHAPTER XIl—Averting a Disaster. morning Fred was told to continue on He was glad to do so, ss worked in a eke all day. Abbott, the en- os continued to coach him in mafiy ways the handing of a locomotive, so that when time came the boy felt he had a tolerable accurate knowledge on the subject. On the fol- lowing day his assignment to 32 was continued, as the regular fireman was still on the sick list. ~_ About agg o'clock 32 hauled a dozen box eZ cane Pages to a 98 spnease the freight: house and came to a stop, awaiting the te fe th owe ap out his pipe and Fred got Eng a the cab to. oil up some of the bear- Save. ae ‘that. job the boy stopped No. ,up communication with the ‘sender. A START IN LIFE | at the door of the operator’s little office at the end of the long shed. The operator had just ~ stepped outside and was talking to a man half- way down the platform. Click! Click-click! At the table in front of the window overlooking the tracks, the tele- graphic instrument began to talk. Click! Click- click! That was the call of the little office, and to Fred’s educated ears—for this was a branch — of railroad service with which he was quite familiar—it sounded unusually sharp and in- sistent. He>shouted to the operator, but that in- dividual’s back was. toward him and he paid no attention to the summons. Click! Click-click! Over and over again the call kept ringing out. Fred, judging the message to be an important — one decided to take it itself. He dropped into ~ the operator’s chair, seized a pad and then opened Then the message came rippling out, in spasmodic jerks, as if the operator at the other end was in a state of great excitement. “Urgent—from D. G.—15,” it began. Fred jotted the words down, though he did not know any more than the man in the moon what place D. G—15 was. Then followed the message and it was a startler. : “Shed on fire. Two cars of dynamite and one of powder in immediate danger. Bound to go — up unless engine is sent without delay to haul — them out. Express, due in 16 minutes, will be- biocked unless explosion is averted.” : At that moment the operator darkened the door. He stared in astonishment at the be- grimed figure in overalls and jumper seated be- ~ fore his table writing on the pad. “What the dickens——” he began. Fred looked up and recognized him. “Read!” he said, shoving the pad into the as- tonished operator’s hands. = “D. G.—15. That’s Berkeley. What’s this?” — he cried, as his eyes glanced over the message. “Shed on fire. Two cars dynamite and one of powder——” “Tt just came over the wire,” palpitated Fred, — his eyes shining with excitement and wondering what the operator was going to do about it.- The man sprang into the chair just vacated by Fred. He called up “D. G. —15” and had the message confirmed. Then he jumped for: z the door, and looked around. =: “Hey—you!” he shouted to Fred. “Untou as engine from those box cars. Where’s ott? The engineer was not in the sab where the boy had last seen him smoking and leaning out of the window. “Don’t know where he isl sir,” replied Fred, _ hastening to uncouple from the six freight cars. The job was finished in half a minute. The operator looked around in a stew. wi “Confound the man! Where can he have gone? = Just when he is wanted and not a moment to be lost. Can you run an engine?” he jerked ou gro? Jooking at the young fireman. “Yes, sir.” “Well, I can’t wait for Abbott. Get into the cab, chase yourself down to See eee a- good ten miles from here—and haul out pews cars of explosives. You have a clear track be- fore re, —- you must get ‘Shere, in inet - ir. Label be AS.

Page 17

eee A START : = & “Yes, sir.” Fred was in the cab with his hand on the _ throttle when he uttered those words. He gave _ her steam by degrees until he had her hooked _ up to the last notch and No. 32 going down the road at a 70-mile clip, Then, after a glance __. ahead, he threw open the furnace door and began _ tossing in fuel like mad, pausing every moment or two to glance out of the window to see that the track’ ahead was clear. The engine and _ tender swung from side to side, like a dredger in a gale of wind, and Fred with difficulty kept himself steady enough on his feet to flirt the coal into the furnace, the door of which he kept open for increased draught. It was a matter of shovel- ling coal continuously all the way to Berkeley, with a very delicate, not to say perilous job _ ahead when he reached his destination. The driv- = ers of 32 were flashine up and down in the sun- light so fast that they resembled nothing so Much as spokes of fire. A crossing was reached and passed, and Fred shivered as he thought what would have been the result if a team had been met there as the lecomotive flashed by unannounced by whistle or ell. He let off a shrill and prolonged whistle as he approached the line of woods beyond which lay Berkeley station. The clock indicated nine ‘minutes from the Prescott yards. He would do _. the ten miles in the allotted ten minutes all right, _ for his destination was, now scarcely half a mile ‘away. Whiz! The locomotive and tender flew through the wood with another wild and un- _ earthly shriek that awoke the sylvan eachoes and a ehtened the birds. The burning shed burst ito full view a moment later. Half a dozen rs were drawn up close to the platform and 1e flames were perilously near them. In fact the last two cars were actually on fire. A switch was standing at the switch holding the siding open so that the expected engine could - Yun right in on the side track without loss of time. Fred shut off steam and gradually applied the brakes. - Just then the fire obtained fresh headway and a draught of wind blew a sheet of flame directly across’ the front of the fire car. It set afire a te | white paper sign, readable 150 feet away, that was tacked against the end of the car. The letters read “Danger!—Powder!” Fred saw » blazing paper and the words thereon as the fire consumed them. He also saw that the roof of the car was smoking from the heat cast by blazing shed. It was going to be a mighty : to save those cars filled with ex- os, If he failed to do it that would be ast of him and the station, which the agent his assistants were working with desperate to save by passing a string of water sets. Fred, however, was built of the stuff of which heroes are made. = | . The horrible peril he had to face did not deter him an instant in the execution of his duty. He Tan the locomotive right down to the powder from the blistered and blackened edge of conlv a small section of the danger sign ed fluttering in the breeze unconsumed. yas needed to couple the engine to the but though Fred called for one not a single sloyee responded, for as.soon as the flames been seen to shoot athwart the powder car mt and his helpers had.quickly abandoned IN LIFE 2 ig” their efforts to save the station and fled the vicinity for their lives. The boy’s efforts to save the cars was there- fore rendered twice as difficult and perilous, because he had to lose many valuable seconds trying to couple by himself. He drove the loco- motive slowly till he had gauged the distance as closely as he could from his seat in the cab. Then he stopped, descended to the ground, and ran to the pilot. He lifted the heavy coupling bar and found that it lacked several inches of reaching the coupling socket of the freight car. Fortunately he saw a piece of wood lying on the ground close by. With this he was able to prop the bar up on a dead line with the coupling socket of the box car. He climbed back into the cab and laying his hand on the trottle opened up just enough to drive the bar home. Then he sprang out, and along the footboard, leaned over the pilot and dropped the coupling pin into its place. “Hitched!” palpitated Fred. “Now to draw out to safety.” But his peril at that moment was at the acute stage. The powder car might blow up at any moment, and the detonation would probably set off the dynamite cars, too.. The explosion would make a clean sweep of everything in the imme- diate locality, down to the very rails and road- bed. The express, too, was almost due to pass that point, though it was probably it would be, or had already been, flagged at the signal tower six miles beyond. Fred fled back to the cab for the last time, his face blistered by the heat wafted about the locomotive and the cars full of explosive freight from the blazing sheds. He shoved the reverse lever from the center clear forward. Then he grasped the throttle, gave it a pull, and as the steam hissed into the cylinders, the driving wheels spun around with a rush that carried the engine and cars backward like an arrow shot from a bow. ‘ It was hardly a moment before the powder and dynamite cars were beyond the reach of the heat and flame, and speeding toward the open switch. The rush of air, however, fanned the smoldering woodwork on the end of the powder car into little spurts of flame. Fred saw them as he shut off steam and brought the engine to a rest within a few feet of the switch, which the tender closed so as to render the main track all right for the express to pass. The boy rushed back along the footboard and beat. out the fire with his hat, at the same time calling to the switch tender to bring a couple of buckets of water. The water was hurriedly brought, and the last speck of danger removed. Then Fred, for the first time in many minutes, drew a free breath, His heroic work was successfully accom- plished—he had saved thousands of dollars worth of the company’s proper and ~revented a tie-up of the road at that point. CHAPTER XIII—The New Engineer. As soon as the agent saw that all danger from- an explosion was over, he telegraphed to Signal Tower 14 that the track was clear for the ex- press. In a few minutes that train came thun- dering along, only a trifle behind time, and passed the burning freight sheds with a rush and roar,

Page 18

the car windows alive with curious faces intent on catching a fleeting glimpse of the fire. Fred explosives near the switch, and lent\a hand to help subdue the flames near the station itself. The fire, after destroying the freight shed, burn- ed itself out without extending’ to the passenger = station and platform. Then Fred uncoupled from the box cars and started back for Prescott at a slow gait. There was a crowd around the operator’s little office when the boy backed 32 into the yard, and he was given a rousing cheer, for the station agent had forwarded a statement of his heroic conduct under the trying circumstances. Abbott, looking Uae. ae 7 a bit foolish, was on hand, waiting to rejoin be > his engine. 3 “You’ve’done a big thing for yourself, Stone,” — he said, when he swung himself up into the cab. a “The agent_at Berkeley wired that not a man = living could have done the job better. I’m up FE = against it for being away from the engine. It will be a ten-day lay off, and so much less pay at the end of the month. I’ll bet your days as a wiper are over, and that you'll get a steady job at firing.” Of course the boy’s thrilling exploit was known from one end of the yard to the other by the time he got back, and while he was eating his dinner in the cab a score of men, who had never spoken to him before, came up and congratulated him on his plucky behavior. F Fred was told that night to comé the next morning to take a regular job as fireman, while the engineer was laid off for a week for being absent from his post of duty. On the following morning Fred came to the roundhouse at an early hour, for he knew it was his duty to have his engine ready when the engineer appeared. He soon discovered that he was not to go ona yard engine, but had been slated for a regular run on a freight. He was set to getting engine No. 18 ready. This locomotive was to haul the freight train, which had come in during the early ‘i morning hours from Galena, around and over the __ meuntein range to Harrison Junction, the other termial voint of the Round Top road. As soon as Fred received his orders he climbed into the engine and went to work making her ready. The road was a bit shy on capable en- gineers and a new man had been employed the day before. He was ordered to take 18 out, and ’ in due time appeared at the roundhouse, climbed - into the cab without taking particular notice of Fred, and began to put on his overalls and ~ jumper. Fred noticed that he wore a heavy black beard that concealed three-quarters of his features. He also heard the foreman address him as Blackwell. Fred paid very little attention to him, but kept about his work, and had the loco- \ motive ready when Blackwell received his signal to pull out of the train shed. : It was not till they were coupled on and ready to start that the engineer gave his fireman more than a casual glance. Now as they sat on op- ‘posite seats in the cab, Fred’s hand in readiness to grasp the bell rope, Blackwell cast a keen glance at the boy. He gave a visible start as his eyes rested on. the lad’s clear-cut face, and a ttered imprecation came through his teeth. ‘or some’ unexpected reason he did not seem - _A START IN LIFE . left the locomotive still coupled to the cars of pleased with his companion. After that he eyed the boy furtively until the signal came to pull out of the yard. The man was so non-communi- cative and.taciturn that Fred made no effort to enter into any conversation with Kim. He pulled the bell rope steadily as the long train of loaded box and flat cars wound their way through the entrance of the yard, and started on their long trip toward the foothills and their destination beyond the mountain range. At length they struck the open country outside of Prescott, and Blackwell ran the speed up to fifteen miles an hour. They were five or six miles beyond the town, or about. half-way to Berkeley, the scene ot Fred’s exploit of the day before, when the _ engineer first addressed his companion. “What’s your name?” he asked shortly. “Fred Stone.” ; “Humph! Mine is Joe. Blackwell.” Ordinarily Fred would have expressed the pleasure he felt at making the engineer’s ac- quaintance, but something about his man repelled him, and he merely nodded. ae “Fired long?” asked Blackwell, after a pause: “No,” replied the boy. “This is my firse regu- lar trip.” “First, eh?” snorted the engineer, ‘sardonically. “Tt may be your last if you don’t keep her hot — and I lose time on your account.” ’ “T'll see that you get all the steam you want,” - replied Fred quietly, rather resenting the man’s aggressive manner. - “See that you do, or I’ll report you to the master mechanic.” Fred made no reply, but after a glance at the gauge he got busy with the shovel and kept it on a steady swing while Blackwell sat on his — seat and scowled at him. For a while everything went all right, and Fred had moments of. rest — when he had nothing to do but look out of the — window at the passing landscape. Ten milex beyond Berkeley they struck the gentle rise — along the foothills, and then a change came over~ the situation. Fred noticed with some surprise that he couldn’t keep the steam. gauge at the required figure. Though he did his utmost with the shovel the finger on the dial would show a continual tendency to drop off a little. This was truly a discouraging outlook for his first — day on the road. It was a reflection on his ability - to fire properly. ; The perspiration rolled off his face as he swung his shovel with more than usual vigor, yet in spite of every effort the dropping finger on the gauge stared back tantalizingly at him. Sud- — denly he observed. a triumphantly wicked grin on — the engineer’s bearded countenance. There was a world of suggestion in that look, and all at once it struck the boy that Blackwell was in some ~ way responsible for his failure to maintain a decent head'of steam. Across his mind flashed — many of the stories related to him by Sam Haw- — ley, of the various tricks resorted to by engineers — to down a fireman against whom they held a ~ grudge. : — “V’ll bet this fellow is a pounder,” muttered the boy. “Well, he’s not going to do me up if I can help it.” : L@ry “I thought you knew how to fire,” laughed | Blackwell, wickedly. oh See pO . ae. - Sas or > Je

Page 19

- to keep the gauge about right.” — _ This was adding insult to injury, for Fred had been working like a Trojan for the last thirty minutes, and he showed it by his heated and perspiring face. “It’s my opinion you’re wasting steam as fast _ as I make it. ,You’re not cutting off when you should.” d 3 Perhaps you think you could run this engine better?” said Blackwell, sarcastically. e “I know one thing,” retorted Fred, who had been using his eyes during the last minutes, “I - wouldn’t keep her hooked up to the notch on the quadrant that you have her hitched to.” 2 “Oh, you wouldn’t?” grinned the new engi- neer. “No, I wouldn’t. You're doing that on purpose to make it all the harder for me,” replied Fred, _ with some spirit. : = o’s runnin’ this engine? - gaid Blackwell, angrily. : - *¥ou’re trying to,” answered Fred, calmly. 2 “Well, confound your impudence! If I don’t do you up before we finish, this trip, it won’t be _ for the want of tryin’.” _ AS f “P’m much obliged to you for your kind inten- tions, but before you go any further I’d like to _— know why you've taken a oa to me from the start? I am not aware tha I have done any- thing to warrant you getting down on me.” - “’ve got my reasons,” replied the man in a surly tone. - *Tt’s very funny, as I never saw you before this morning.” © “It don’t make no manner of difference whether - you did or not. I don’t like your face, and when - ¥ don’t like a chap’s face I always do him up, { °” j at see; but I don’t think you'll succeed.” “Don’t you? Well, we'll see,” replied the en- gineer darkly. tet LOD can report me if you choose; but I’ll have something to say, too.” : “What will you have to say? Do you s’pose anythin’ you may say will amount to a brass ts on” 4 = = SE n't be too confident about that, Mr, Black- well. You might be tripped up. ” “Yah! A START “Oh, I can fire all right. I’ve proved that in the yard,” “ a . “In the yard,” sneered the engineer. “The trouble with you is you’re lazy, see? Why don’t -- you get a move on, then p’raps you'll be able You or me?” You make me sick!” snorted the en- He thrust his head out of the window to take ‘a look ahead. Fred was looking straight at “him at the time, and a singular thing happened. wind lifted one while side of his black beard om his cheek, showed conclusively that the hair s false. “What does that mean?” thought the boy, star- fixedly at the. disguised engineer. _ CHAPTER XIV.—The Fight in the Cab. “What ou lookin’ at?” demanded Black- Ww with =. how. when he drew in his head, saw his fireman’s eyes fixed,in a peculiar IN LIFE | 17 “I was looking at that beard you're wearing,” replied Fred, quietly. “It doesn’t seem to fit very well. ” 3 “What’s that?” roared Blackwell, with some- thing almost like an oath. “I was wondering what reason you have for wearing false whiskers.” “False whiskers, you young fool!” cried the engineer, glaring at him furiously. Fred did not answer, but resumed the shoveling of coal into the furnace. Blackwell, after a swift glance ahead, jumped off his seat and grabbing Fred shook his fist in his face. ; “You sneaking spy, I’ve a great mind to toss you into the furnace with the coal!” he cried hoarsely, his eyes snapping like those of an angry “What’s the matter with you?” demanded Fred. “Are you crazy?” Blackwell’s reply was a blow in the face that sent the boy staggering up against the side of the cab. The engineer seized the shovel that had fallen from Fred’s hand and raised it, as though it was his intention to brain the lad before he could reeover. Swift as a wink Fred dodged and then butted the man in the pit of his stomach. Hoa fell against his seat, and his false beard becoming dislodged dropped to the floor of the cab, revealing to the astonished boy the features of Gibson—one of the men who had been concerned in the attempted wrecking of the afternoon express three months before. The man sprang to his feet with-a howl of rage. Realizing that his identity was exposed, he jumped on Fred and tried to bear him to the floor, but the boy partially eluded his grip and struck him a swift hook in the jaw, which brought blood. Then the two grappled and stag- gered around tlre cab while the engine went on its way untended, dragging a long line of cars behind, and passing a crossing without the regu- lation warning of whistle and bell. There was no small.danger that the two would fall through the opening between the cab and the tender, and be dashed to death alongside the road. . Gibson’s intention was to try and overcome his young for now that Fred had identified him the prison yawned before him, unless~he could effectually silence the boy. Fred, however, was a tough proposition for any ordinary man to tackle, and Gibson soon found he was making little headway in the battle for the supremacy. He changed his tactics then. Releasing his grip somewhat, and falling back on his seat, he suddenly grab- bed a good-sized monkey wrench that lay on a self at his elbow and tried to smash in the boy’s head with it. wrist and pregented the blow from falling. Thus they stood for a moment facing each other—the fire of determination in the lad’s eyes, the glare of hate in Gibson’s. s “[']] kill you!” gritted the new engineer, mal-~ evolently. : < “1 don’t think you will,” retorted Fred, with heaving breast. : Then the desperate struggle was renewed, with greater fury on Gibson’s part. It was largely a fireman and throw him out of the cab, . Fred seized his upraised..— veel question of brute strength in that narrow place, even. Neither with honors in that t about seemed able to obtain the slightest advantage over _ 7

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A START on a piece of coal, - the other until Fred step: which slid under his t and down he went on the iron floor with Gibson on top. The wrench flew out of the engineer’s hand and reach. The shock partially stunned the boy, and as his grip on the engineer relaxed, Gibson uttered a howl of triumph, and began pushing the young fireman head first out of the entrance to the cab. Fred recovered his wits in time to realize what the man was doing and struggle against it- A desperate life. and death fight on his part ensued. The speed of the train was growing less and less, owing to the steady decrease of steam, and without the furnace was speedily replenished the train ere long was bound to come to a standstill, for it was a heavy one to haul. The boy tried to squirm out from underneath his adversary, but Gibson had his knee planted firmly on his chest, and was trying to get a good clutch on the lad’s throat. Fred grabbed both his wrists in an effort to defeat his enemy’s object. The man, however, was determined to down the boy, for, his identity hav- ing been penetrated, he knew it was all up with him if the young fireman escaped him. It meant also the defeat of whatever object he had in seek- ing employment on Round Top road. Drat ye!” he gritted, glowering down upon Fred. “Don’t think you are goin’ to get away from me. You know who I am, and that knowl- edge means death to you.” With a sudden moye he succeeded in clutching the boy around the throat, and Fred began to gasp _ for breath. “Now I’ve got you where I want you!” exclaimed WAT | RS Meret = kaa Gibson, with fiendish satisfaction. “I'll fix you!” He raised the boy’s head and pounded it against 3; the iron flooring of the cab. was powerless ae to save himself from the rage of ‘that desperate - villain. His senses left him, and his head drop- ped back like that of a dead person. Gibson held ‘him a moment longer to be sure that he was not ee > nae then he pushed the young fireman out of the cab. It happened that the locomotive just at that time was crossing a culvert which spanned a narrow but deev stream. Fred’s body fell with a splash into the water and was borne away. Gibson sprang to his feet, wiped the perspiration from his face, and gazed wildly from the window _. for a moment or two. He was shivering as with __ the ague, for now that he was beginning to realize that he was guilty of a murder the enormity of the crime began to take hold of him. _. “Murder!” he muttered, hoarsely. “No, no; it was a fair fight, and I got the best of him, that’s 2 all.” . His eyes resting on the steam gauge, he saw how low the pressure was, and, throwing open the furnace door, he started to shovel coal in like a _wild man. Then he jumped into his seat and made certain changes in the running of the engine _which produced immediate results for the better. The train began to pull out faster. Presently he returned to the oper2tion of shoveling more coal into the furnace. He »lternated in this way between his duties as eng’ neer and those of fire- man until he made out the near distance the station at which he hai instructions to pick up couple of Joaded box cars that were waitin ready on the siding. He let off the whistle, an oe, Sas to consider what reason he could hatch ce ae ‘obstacles nerved Fred IN LIFE. up to explain the absence of his fireman. He took care, however, to pick up his false beard and restore it to his face. Coming to a stop alongside the station platform, he jumped down and signal- ed to the conductor who was advancing from the caboose. To him he reported that he had lost his young fireman at the culvert three miles back. “He ‘stepped out on the footboard with the oil ean in his hand,” said Gibson, glibly, “and that’s the last I saw of him. I wasn’t payin’ any atten- - tion to his movements at the time. When I saw he was stayin’ out there an uncommonly long time, I stepped around to his side of the cab to see what he was about. Then I was astonished to see no signs of him anywhere. I can’t account for it —— he lost his balance somehow and tumbled off.” The conductor of course had to accept his state- ment of the matter, for there was no reason for him to suspect the engineer of not telling the exact truth. He reported the facts to the station agent for transmission by wire to the master mechanic’s office, and then ordered one of the brakemen to fire for Gibson till they reached their destination at Harrison Junction. CHAPTER XV.—Lost Among the Mountains. The sudden emersion in cold water brought Fred to his senses. Without actually realizi what had happened to him, he instinctively struc! out for his life. The stream was a swift mountain one, and the boy was borne rapidly away upon its surface as the train disappeared in the distance. Suddenly he was plunged into impenetrable darkness. The course of the stream led right through the mountain range. Fred was carried along like a chip, and the best he could do was to try and keep his head above the water. He could not tell at what moment he might be dashed against a rock or a stony ledge in the gloom which surrounded him. Having recovered all his wits, — and realized that Gibson had thrown him out of- the cab while he was momentarily unconscious, he decided that the only course before him was to let himself fioat with the stream, hoping that he might soon come out in the light of day again. The rush of the seething water was now con- tinally in his ears, and he could hear it splashing against the rocky sides of t+: underground pas- sage. Had Fred not b: i unusually swimmer, and capable « ping himself afloat for an indefinite time, vantageous circumstances, this trip through the bowels of the mountain range must have speedily ended in his death. As it was, there were times when he was more than half smothered in the spume that was dashed into his face. It seemed to him as if hours passed while he was making that terrible underground trip, though in reality less than twenty minutes elapsed from the time_ he began it until he was vomited far into a deep goree, where once more he caught the light of © ay. Here the stream bounded over rocks and other barriers that converted it into a foaming torrent. The prospect of being dashed against one of these -<n under such disad- *_ to a great effort to reach —

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A START the bank. -He struck out with all his might and - finally succeeded in catching hold of an overhang- ing . tree limb. With the help of this he ; Spallad himself in safety to the bank and waded out. - : “Gracious!” he breathed, as he seated himself * on a rock to recover his strength. “This has been a fierce morning’s adventure. That scoundrel, _ Gibson, all but laid me out, and the mountain _ stream nearly completed what he did not finish. hat fellow can have no good purpose in getting a ‘ se on the Round Top road. I don’t believe he had any idea that I was connected with the road ~ until he i me as his fireman in the cab. _ here is some other reason to account for his presence on the road. I’d give something to know - ‘what it is. Well, he won’t last any longer than I can get a chance to wire the president of the line. He'll see the inside of a jail before he’s twenty-four hours older, I’ll bet a hat. The next thing is to find out where Iam at. Somewhere in the Round Top range, of course. But where? How far from the railway? And in which direc- tion shall I turn in order to find my way back to the line with-the least delay possible? That’s ‘the important question.” _ After some consideration Fred decided to follow the gorge in a direction opposite to the course of the stream. So after resting himself sufficiently : started to make his way through the labyrinth heat and See asealngh er bray made anything like rapid progress through t ‘gorge CT aibiaty It was a wild, lonely and toilsome journey that was before him. The wn, bush-covered sides of the mountains rose either hand, their ridges seeming to pierce the ery sky far above. In places he had to climb the _ obstacles’ that lay scattered in his path in order — them. It was slow work penetrating Zu fastnesses of the Round Top range, in some part of which the railroad company was excavat- ing a tunnel to shorten their line to Harrison Junction. After spending several hours in this angle, the sun appeared in the yee above, rowing a flood of yellow light up and down the = “Tt must be nearly noon,” he said to himself. “It looks as if I had an all-day job before me to t out of this unfrequented region. Perhaps I May consider myself lucky if I’m not lost in these ids. It will be pretty tough if night overtakes ne before I can get out of this maze.” “Yes, that would certainly be tough luck, and as ur after hour away, and the boy seemed nearer the end of his monotonous and tiresome mey, it began to look as if his worst fears ere Shout to be realized. There was nothing for im to do but keep on and trust to luck. He was t the kind of boy to be discouraged because the OW gloom and usness of his situation. was footsore and and above all desperately hungry. ile ; ruminating in no very happy frame of suddenly became conscious of the ap- of human voices. : IN LIFE 19 Two men stepped out of the cave and paused ~ close by. “Well,” remarked one of them, in tones that sounded familiar to Fred, “is everything ready?” “Yes,” replied his companion. “I have planted the dynamite where it will do the most good. All that remains is to touch off the fuse—it’s a fifteen minute one—and work on that tunnel will be brought to a stop for many a day to come.” The speaker struck a match to light a pipe he held between his lips, and, as the light flared up, Fred, to his great surprise, recognized the features of Morgan and Mr. Squires. — CHAPTER XVI.—Conclusion. “Good,” remarked Mr. Squires, with a chuckle of satisfaction. “Then you’d better set a match to the fuse at once and we'll dust out of this without further delay.” “All right. That suits me. Just wait a mo- ment till I-light this lantern.” Fred drew back into the bushes, fearful that the light might betray his presence. “So,” he thought, “these two rascals have found another way to get back at the Round Top tun- nel and thus delay that difficult piece of engi- neering. I wonder if I can’t prevent this scheme? It is a pretty serious matter butting single-handed against those two chaps, but I mean to do what I can to save the oma 4 loss. I consider that in the line of my duty. There they go back into the cave. I'll just follow them.” Fred forgot all about his tired feet and empty . stomach in the excitement of the moment. Keep- ing at a respectable distance behind the two men, he followed the lantern light as a guide to their movements. They proceeded for some distance into the heart of the mountain, and then all at once the light disappeared. “My gracious! Where have they gone?” the boy asked himself, dismayed at finding himsel alone in total darkness. At the imminent risk of discovery, he ran forward as fast as he could un- til he butted squarely into the face of what ap- peared to be a rocky wall. He hurriedly feit around in front, only to find the solid rock bar- ring his way. “There must be an 0 ig somewhere,” he said, anxiously, “else-how could those chaps have vanished right before my eyes?” He remembered he had some matches in his — pocket. He struck ome, and as it flared up he He remembered he had some waterproof watches in his pocket. He struck me, and as it flared up he saw a narrow slit in the back wall of the cavern, “That’s where they passed through,” he cried eagerly, making for it. It took him but a moment to worm his way through the narrow break, and then found himself in the tunnel that the railroad company was excavating through Round Top mountain. He sank quickly down on his hands “and knees, for scarcely a dozen feet away stood © Mr. Bos eve and Morgan with the lantern on the — gro between them. As he watched them he saw. Morgan bend down, open the lantern slide take out the bit of candle, and hold it down the ground. Presently there was~a slight ‘. near ee baer Zz

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and something began to sputter in the dark, throwing out myriads of tiny sparks. ; “That’s the fuse,” palpitated Fred, watching the bright spot with a fascinated gaze. “It connects with the dynamite somewhere in the depths of the tunnel. There’ll be a terrible explosion pres- ently unless something can be done to prevent it.” As Fred whispered those words to himself Mor- gan picked up the lantern and replaced the candle init. Then the two men hurried awayitoward the mouth of the tunnel. Fred hardly waited for them to get a safe distance away before he made a dash for the spark that glowed and crawled away into the gloom. Reaching it he put his heel down on it hard and ground the life out of it. When it lay harmless on the ground at his feet, he breathed a sigh of satisfaction and relief. ; “Now to make my way out of this. As I am now in the tunnel that ought to be plain sailing in spite of the darkness.” ; He was right in his surmise. He had no difficul- ty in following the course of the tunnel, and in ten miautes was in the open air with the lights of the workmen’s shanties shining before his eyes. He made his way to the office of the as- sistant superintendent of construction, who had charge ofthe work, and told him about the at- tempt which had just been made, and which he had frustrated, to destroy the work of construc- tion in the tunnel. Fred also explained who he was and how he had come to be in that locality. Food was soon placed before him, which he de- voured with the zest of a starving boy, and when he had satisfied his appetite he led the official and his assistant direct to the spot where the now harmless fuse lay. An investigation disclosed the charges of dynamite so disposed in. erevices of the rock that their combined explosion must have wrought the greatest havoc in the tunnel, and not only have delayed the work a long time, but have caused the company a large pecuniary loss. The assistant superintendent of construction tele- graphed the particulars to the offices of the com- - pany at Galena, and asked that a couple of de- =. ves be sent out at once. At Fred’s suggestion he also telegraphed to Harrison Junction an order for the arrest of the disguised Gibson, masquerad- ing under the name of Engineer Blackwell. The boy then started to walk to the nearest station, three miles away, where a passenger local would stop at ten o’clock. A mile away he struck the country road just as a wagon, driven by a _ weather-beaten man, came along. “T say,” said Fred, “do you mind giving me a lift as far as the cross-roads?”__ - “Jump up; my beauty,” said the voice of Jack Barnstable, and Fred jumped up acordingly. — “J see you’re a traveling tinker,” said the boy, -. observing the nature of the material in the body of the wagon. ~- : : : “T was, my lad, but I’ve given it up for good.” “It didn’t pay, eh?” see _ “}t isn’t that. I only followed the business, you see, to pay my expenses while I was huntin’ for my dear old cap’n’s son.” - “What’s his name?” asked Fred, curiously. His name,” replied Barnstable solemnly, “is ejaculated our hero in surprise. A START IN LIFE ‘at the village inn. _ STREET. “Where do you live?” “I’m living now at Prescott, that is, since I went to work for the railroad company, but until three months ago I always lived in Dover village.” “Dover village?” “Yes. With Mr. Peter Grice, the postmaster.” “What. You’ve been living with Peter Grice?” “T have, ever since he took charge of me when my mother died twelve years ago.” “Why, I was in. Dover three months ago, and ‘stopped at Peter Grice’s store. He said he never heard of such a boy as Fred Stone.” ; Jack Barnstable lit a match and held it before Fred’s face. “Why, you’re the very picture of my dear old cap’n. Hurrah! Found at last!” * Explanations that followed demonstrated the — fact to both of them that Peter Grice was a rascal at heart, and was conspiring to do his half-broth- er’s son out of his fortune. Fred also learned that his real name was Sands and not Stone. The boy didn’t take the train for Prescott that night, but rode back all the way to Dover in Barnstable’s wagon. They arrived about midnight, and put up Next morning they presented themselves at the store, to the great surprise and confusion of the postmaster, who, when taxed with his treachery, threw up his hands and confessed his guilt. Fred hastened to get leave from the railroad company, so that he could go to New York and claim his father’s bonds. He had no diffi- culty whatever in getting it, and accompanied the sailor to New York, where he proved his identity and the Trust Company was appointed his guard- jan in law. He insisted that Jack Barnstable should receive the sum of $10,000, as a recognition of his loyalty and trouble in hunting for and finally finding his “dear old cap’n’s son.” When Fred returned to Prescott he found that — Mr. Squires, Gibson and Morgan had been cap-~ tured and were in the Galena jail. They were sab: 7 sequently tried, and, on Fred’s evidence, sent to the State prison for a long term. Fred himself was highly complimented for saving the tunnel from destruction, and was presented by the com- pany with another $5,000 check in recognition thereof. The fact that he had earned $11,000 by = his D rye and was heir to $90,000 more, which — would come to him when he reached his majority, did not give him a swelled head at all. He con- tinued to be the same old Fred. He continued for a year as fireman on a freight and was then promoted to a passenger train. Six months later he reached the goal of his ambition, that of en- gineer. On his twenty-first birthday he married Kittie Clyde, and presented her with the deed to the fine home they were to occupy in Prescott. The company could not afford to keep such bright young man even in charge of their moun- tain express long. He was made superintendent of the Round Top Division, and proved himself — fully capable of discharging the duties of that responsible position. But to-day he is still higher, .for he is general manager of the road, but is not too proud to acknowledge that as common wiper he received his “Start in Life.” = Next week’s issue will contain “OUT FOR A- : MILLION; or, THE YOUNG MIDAS OF W.

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TOY BALLOON’S FLIGHT 4 A gas-filled toy balloon made an extraordinary ~ flight when, released in a contest from Keswick, : Cumberland, England, it was mailed back from = ners; Germany, a distance of about 1,000 my : YOUTH WALKS 188 MILES Fired with the idea «f becoming a newspaper man after reading articles by a famous editor in a ular monthly, Olaf Larson, nineteen-year- . orwegian boy, walked from Burlington, N. —— C., to Elizabeth City, N. C., a distance of 188 miles, to obtain a position as reporter on a local newspaper. He got the job. LARGE COUGAR IS KILLED ee FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY Bee CURRENT NEWS * = body was exhibited in Wasco. It is planned to have the skin mounted. HONEYMOON COUPLES NOW FLY TO ZURICH like the story sent out over the air, why don’t you get a copy of the magazine, read the b=: one that was broadcast and all the rest in the publication? 4 ~* = Here is what No. 164 contains: : ce, An Exciting Detective Novelette Six Rousing Detective and Crook Stories: | Le “THE TALKING DOG” Bdge ey ar tg Re \ ae, i y Hamilton Craigie = By ¥renk Blighton (This is the story broadcast by WJZ) a “LIFE IN DEAD ASHES” = : A New Two-Part Serial By Joe Burke 3 S| “THE GHOSTS OF ALWYN LODGE” “THE Be alee BUTT I i By Jean Ross “SHOFRS” =a ; : ; By Frederick Davis Fe “THREE FOR SEATTLE” = | _ Free readings of your handwriting in the By Earl W. Scott 7 department ~ “EASY MONEY” = “WHAT HANDWRITING REVEALS” By Daniel Edgar Kramer ~ > 3 . Besides all these splendid stories, the magazine contains a large num- 23 ber of interesting items.

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- =< “22 Rob and the Reporters - Hustling for War News by Wireless By GASTON GARNE (A Serial Story.) CHAPTER XIII.—(Continued). “There’s a poor fellow here wounded. I heard him holler for help. . ’ve just found him. Come and lend me a hand’to get him to the tower.” Rob hurried to the light to find Brown bend- ing over a young man who wore the uniform of a cer. “He has just fainted,” said the reporter. “Take a hold, Rob. We'll take him to the tower.” or “J heard him holler and you answer. What was he saying?” / “He was calling for help.” ‘ “Did you find out anything about him before -he fainted?”’ ; ; “Only that he is a Captain Steinmeyer, and that he was shot in the left shoulder.” “i “All right. I'll take his feet. Go ahead. : As they advanced with their burden Rob re- marked that Thompson and his companions had not come. \ \ “No, worst luck!” replied Brown. “T’m scared stiff about them.” : “I¢ they don’t turn up in the morning what 4 - then?” : “Blest if I know what to do. We can’t hold the fort here without grub. After all the trouble and expense we have been at to install this plant it would be a shame to abandon it, but I suppose we x shall have to.” : They reached the tower and laid the German on a mattress. : : : “Are you sure it is only a faint?” questioned Rob, holding the lantern close to his face. “He -don’t seem to breathe.” , é “By Jove, that’s what!” cried Brown, bending over him, and seizing his hand. In vain he tried to find the poor fellow’s pulse. ‘ “Tm afraid he’s a*goner,” he -presently re- _ marked.’ And so it proved. They had been carrying a corpse. : Assured’ that he was actually’ dead, Brown ~ went through his pockets, finding a small sum of money, a silver watch and a few other things. — “T suppose we may as well keep these,” he said. ~All we can do is to bury him.’ ~ “Hold on,” said Rob, who, thinking of his own concealed dispatches, had been feeling the man’s coat with care, “there are papers sewed into the _ lining of his coat. We want to find out what that - means.” * With Brown’s help the coat was removed and Rob ripped up the lining, finding several plans and a number of papers closely written in Ger- Wasi <4 ta Hi < hare ast me, Tet FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY : “Can you read German writing?” he asked the reporter. “Sure,” replied Brown. “Let’s go uptairs and T’ll study these things. They may be of import- ance, for all we can tell. You can go on with your work.” The documents proved to be of the highest im- portance to the allies’ cause. ; “The man, in spite of his German name, was a French spy,” Brown announced. “These docu- - ments contain all kinds of valuable information. — They ought to be in the hads of the allies at the | present moment.” And he went on to explain — their nature to Rob. The night passed. i Rob received and dispatched a number of im- portant radiograms, but with the coming of day Jack Thompson and his brother reporters were still among the missing. 3 CHAPTER XIV. Up Among the Clouds. “Now, then, Rob, it is necessary for us to come to some decision,” remarked Brown after sunrise. “If I could deliver these papers to General Taylor it might lead to me being allowed to remain with his corps in the interest of the Times, which ~ : would be great, but as the discovery is yours I don’t want to rob you of it. A fair shake for me every time.” “It’s as much yours as mine,” replied Rob. “I ouldn’t ever have guessed at the importance of the papers.” “Tt fairly belongs to us both, Now I'll tell you what let’s do. ell bury that poor fellow and put in the day here. If by nightfall the boys don’t return, we will get on the move and m a strike for the British lines.” Rob agreed. . That he would have any trouble in securing an interview with General Taylor he could not be- lieve, but he said nothing about his own dis- — patches, thinking that the wisest way. . “4 So once more Rob helped to do grave diggers’ duty and the unfortunate spy was laid away. Much important wireless. business was done during the day. Rob got Bayville three times and was able to send several important messages, based on news the picked up: Thompson’s party not returning in the late aft- ernoon, he and Brown again dismantled the plant, packing the apparatus in the boxes in which it had been brought over from Ghent. They were just preparing to depart when a sma]] aeroplane was seen hovering over the for- est. “That will be either French or English,” de- clared Rob: “It’s a Wright. Probably English,” replied Brown. “By Jove, I wish she’d come down here and take us aboard.” The aeroplane dropped lower, hovering direct- ly over the tower. “See that fellow piping us off through a glass,” said Rob. 23S +

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Sy — LIGHTNING KILLS MAN SHAVING -W. S. Smith of Tacoma, Wash., was killed and E Doresus of Milwaukee and Lewis Aver- dick of San Francisco were burned severely when lightning struck the school house in which they had taken refuge from a tornado fifteen miles - gast of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Smith was shaving when lightning hit the chimney and struck his _ -Fazor, a. SANDSTORM KILLS “HOPPERS” Et. Overtaken by a severe sandstorm in Eastern _ Washington, Alvina Kronin drive to the side of +. the road and let her blow says a report from Bristol, Wash. After the wind subsided he clean- ed out a quart of dead grasshoppers along with the sand lodged in the auto. The drifting sand had picked up the “hoppers,” the sharp crystals severing their heads. es ATTU FOLK FACING FAMINE es Failure of wild geese to nest on the Island ef Attu, most westerly*point of the Aleutian Archipelago, and the impéssibility of the cutter Bear reaching that isolated place this summer, Jeaves the few natives with famine at their doors. -. Severe windstorms and unseasonable weather __ - turned the usual large flocks of migrating geese from Attu. Natives who usually cache young geese and eggs for winter are without this meat supply. Unless a Government ship arrives before winter sets in the islanders must subsist on fish. ; PLANE FOUND, IS BELIEF __ A party of bear hunters back from the Alaska : la report huving passed a native village where they saw two tents made of material iden- ‘tical with that used in the manufacture of planes of aviation machiues. It is believed Indians have . found the wreckage of the Seattle, the plane of Major Frederick Martin abandoned between Sel- via and Bering Sea. Trappers returning to the wilderness will make ‘an investigation and send back word by radio. Thus far this is the first intimation the wreck had ROADS INADEQUATE IN NATIONAL PARKS “The last Congress appropriated $7,500,000 for road building in the nineteen national parks and twenty national monuments during the next three rs. Since 1916 the States with Federal aid ads to the national parks, but the roads within : been inadequate. During 1914 about 10,000 automobiles regis- 4 in 1923 about 300,000. and monuments last 500,000 visitors, “Fed- of States and for Pecoet ur- : FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY GOOD READING $23,828,800 in building approach. FINDS $4,000 HERMIT BURIED IN HIS SHACK After Phoenus Warner, aged eighty-six, a re- cluse on the 50-acre farm near Finzel, Garrett County, about five miles from Frostburg, Md., died in his dingy one-room shack, his nephew, Calvin Paul, to whom he left his property, razed the shack, using the good lumber for repair work on his property, a short distance away. He burn- ed the debris. : : _ A few days ago Levi Carlit, a farmer, stroll- ing through the woods came upoh the charred remains of the Warner hermitage. He was whisk- ing a stock through the dried embers dislodging a stone, which uncovered a wad of paper money helf-burned. He had removed the keystone to the hermit’s money cache. The bills ranged from $1 to $100 and the total sum, as nearly as can be estimated, was $4,000. Part of the burried poner was redeemed at a bank at Meyersdale, Warner had said nothing about the hi money, and after his death only $7 was tunde the house. Relatives think there may be gold buried on the farm, for a woman, a former sweet- heart, claims Warner displayed gold to her about eleven years ago. Warner was found dying on a bed of aw in his cabin. Infirmity and Scubinensurlaiestes hastened his end. He was separated from his wife many years ago. % : _ “Mystery Magazine” : Semi-Monthly 15 Cents a Copy THE M"=DICINE DROPPER, by G. P. W AGURTION OF RICK bi Hagens Jone Hey Aa ES EP sed 1s 2 TES. by Hamilton Craigie — THE SHADOW OF A NOOSE, b fo AT 2 A. M.. by Beulah Poynter. 7 Sack DEE. THE INTRIGUERS. by Grover Kidwell THE LOCK AND KEY, by Hamilton Craigte THE TALKING DOG By FRANK BLIGHTON Out Today in No. 164 HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Inc. 166 West 23d Street + : ee ee ee “Moving Picture Stories” = New York City A Weekly Magazine Devoted to Photoplays and Players —__ PRICE TEN CENTS PER COPY Esch number contains Three Stories ‘the Best Hits — on the Screen—Flegant Half-tone Scenes from the Plays —Interesting Articles About Prominent People ‘nthe Films—Doings of Actors and Actresses in the S.udiov and Lessons in Scenario. Writing. HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, ae 166 West 23d Street =. New York — : City etre

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oe ae 7} HYDROMETER a coal Fa ae sateen The best place to keep a hydrometer when 1t 1s not bein ‘mad is in an old milk bottle. The lat- ter should have two or three inches of water in it to absorb any acid drops remaining on the rubber tube. ; RADIOPHONES IMPROVE HEARING Use of radiophones for the past two years, on an average of from four to five hours a day, has improved the hearing of John Palmer, a resident of the National Soldiers’ Home, in Maine, accord- ing to a recent letter to WGY. Even now Mr. Palmer cannot h a chureh service except by means of radio, he'said. WHENCE THE SOUND F533 The grid condenser makes possible a variation yeh in the grid voltage as produced by the incoming ~ signal. The plate current is varied accordingly, and this variation in plate current is what pro- 5 duces audible sound. en the tube operates so < that ‘an increase in the grid potential increases : the plate current more than a decrease in the grid potential decreases the-plate current, the - tube rectifies or acts as a detector. ABOUT POTENTIOMETERS One disadvantage of a potentiometer is that as it is usually used, a device through -which the power in the A battery may be slowly used. When the potentiometer is used this is not ob- jectionable—in fact that drain is essential to the proper operation of the device. When it is not in use, however, there is no reason why it should help to deplete the A battery. The unusual remedy is an A battery switch. When .* a ‘ ie on) Pa the contact arm is moved to one end of the resister elément it runs off on an insulated portion. At the same time the arm operated a simple switch, connecting the contact arm with the other end of the resistance element. The re- sult is to cut both the B and A battery from the resister. The: A -battery cannot drain and the tubes are protected from possibility of burn-out from the A battery. The device is very sturdily built, the body Lege, Somer =m a knurled knob with pointer operating the contact arm. A black dial with silvered markings adds to the appearance ef the device. —s PROTECTING THE FILAMENTS _- Here is an ingenious idea for protecting, vac- ‘gum tube filaments against the full strength of “B” battery current through accidental contact er misplaced corinections. All that is necessary is to secure a 110-vote 15 to 50 watt tungsten fila- ment bulb and socket, and connect same. in the ' B-battery lead, in series, of course. Ordinarily, the B-battery en flows through the tungsten filament of the bulb without the latter showing any signs of such current. The resistance of the filament is insufficient to choke the high voltage, low current consumption of the usual gee cir- ‘or any reason the B-battery - enrrent should be diverted into the A-battery wen S ge teed a i Vv ai ee ee ee wee “ = = ‘functions in their respective ways. FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY .- INTERESTING RADIO NEWS AND HINTS leads, then the high resistance of the bulb im- mediately serve to choke off the excessive B-bat- tery current to the extent of protecting the vac- uum tube filaments. A carbon lamp does not seem to give as good results as the tungsten The lamp lights only where there is a short cuit or my Ghia § connected B-battery lead, whereupon it should be unscrewed in its socket to break the current, and a search made for the cause of trouble. SPACE RADIO VS. WIRED RADIO. It mtght be well here to state that wired radio does not look upon itself as a competitor of space or orthordox radio. No method has yet appeared of puttine space radio on a paid basis. The space broadcaster renders a free service to his unknown patrons, and cannot afford to buy high-grade tal- ent for programs, Wired radio, on the other hand, is taking the form of a paid service sup- plied on a rental basis to regular subscribers, Seemingly, there is room for both types of radio to grow side by side, performing their different Because the wired radio plan, fundamen , provides for paid musicians, paid artists, paid lecturers, and so on, it i expected that wired radio pro- ms will far superior to those sent from rom the space broadcasting stations. We do not overlook the fact, however, that many interestin programs will always be available to space broad: casting stations on a gratis basis. To the person who owns a vacuum tube space set, equipped with loud-speaker,- the wired radio organization can offer a wired radio tuning unit to be connected to the space radio receiving set. Thus, by throw- ing a switch, that person can intercept programs transmitted over the lighting wires of programs sent through the air. Furthermore, the wired radio broadcasting station is certain to intercept ~ the best features of space radio and rebroadcast them to its wired radio subscribers. IMPROVING THE NEUTRODYNE While admitting the numerous advantages of the neutrodyne, especially as a basic circuit, it is fair to consider what can still be done to this cir- cuit to make it still better in the future. And no one is better qualified to pass an opinion on this question than Professor Hazeltine himself, the designer of the neutrodyne circuit, who writes in part as follows: “Probably almost every one who has operated a neutrodyne receiver has no- ticed that the three tuning dials read nearly alike for each wave length setting and has had the idea that these three adjustments might better be made simultaneously by gearing the dials te- gether, or, better, by mounting the rotors of the three tuning condensers on the same shaft. If this could be successfully accomplished, tun- ing would be vastly simplified, and it would be impossible to pass through a station which was broadcasting without hearing it. Two limitations __ have prevented this desirable arrangement in the _ past: First, the manufacturers of condensers — uP Se ee, eee eee ey

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have not succeeded in making. them absolutely uniform; and, secondly, the users may employ _ antennz of various capacities, thus affecting the _ tuning of the antenna circuit. If the manufac- _ turers succeed in overcoming the first difficulty and in adjusting the condensers to agree through- out their scales, the second difficulty may be overcome by making the antenna a part of the : a This leads us to an arrangement which we may imagine as the ideal neutrodyne of the fu- - ture—a receiver unit mounted with the batteries ~ near the top of a cabinet three or four feet high and standing on the floor, the antenna consisting of a vertical rod extending from the receiver unit . to a metal shelf near the floor level. Such a set would have.no external wiring whatsoever and could be rolled freely around the floor to any de- _ sired position.” j A DIVER BROADCASTS _ The first man ever to broadcast from the bot- om of the sea did it in July. To the listeners-in on the program the Gimbel Brothers’ station, _ WIP, he told all about the sunken ships he saw ~ in Davy Jones’s locker. : _ The broadcaster was C. O. Johnson, a diver for _ the Philadelphia Derrick and Salvage Corpora- - tion. He talked from the floor of the Atlantic off the Steel Pier, Atlantic City. Through an ar- yrange t much like a telephone his voice was carried to a boat anchored near by, and thence to an amplifier on the pier by a cable, waterproof d flexible. From that point it was carried by sphone to the station here and broadcast. At 3:11 P. M.,, after the announcer said Nep- _ tune was next on the program, listeners-in heard a swirling and swishing much like waves beating against a rock shore. That noise, it was ex- pl ined later, came from the air currents in the _ diver’s helmet. : Just before the diver’s voice was heard the WIP announcer explained that the microphone had placed in the helmet of the diving outfit. A boat then took the diver out a short dis- » and he made his descent. The sea-bottom deast lated about ten minutes. 3:12 came a voice: p hm on my way to the bottom.” - - It was a weak voice, but gradually it grew stronger. This is the tale it told: “On my left,” said the diver, “I see the wreck ‘an old boat. It looks like the skeleton of a ve fish. In it a school of little fish tg ar he rays of sun, which look green at this depth, ine on their backs.” The diver was fifty feet below the surface. Then he made a great find.’ m _ “The Atlantic City bootleggers have been here, he chuckled, There was a pause. “Oh, the dick- s, the corks are pulled.” > ; He paraded around a second derelict nearby, and at 3:18 called it a day. vs A NEW LOW LOSS TUNER et at distances on your receiver elec- 1 aie sn various circuits must be reduced ‘minimum. The selectivity of a set depends t entirely upon this factor. Manufacturers recently made an intensive study of this and it has resulted-in the production of -y efficient couplers and condensers, as * arr <3 ss i FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY ~ ges the test losses have hitherto been found to exist™in these parts. The newest type couplers employ an untuned primary in order to simplify tuning. adjustments and reduce the possibility of harmful receiver radiation when the detector tube oscillates—that is, when the tickler coupling is made too close. It also makes secondary tuning practically inde- pendent of antenna length within wide limits. The coupling between the antenna and secondary coils should by all means be variable, in order that the receiver may function well on antennas of different resistances. A poorly constructed variable condenser is another source of loss when shunted across the secondary of a cou- pler. It is absolutely necessary to place a tuner and condenser properly in relation to the other parts of a set. To get the greatest efficiency a good low loss variable condenser must be used with a good low loss tuner. There are _ sw sev- eral first-class condensers on the market, ih which the losses are reduced wonderfully, such as the Hammarlund and Cardwell. They have their rotors grounded to their frames and have small leakage through and across any solid dielectric used. Among the newest\tuners one of the mos efficient is an instrument from the Radio Engi- neering Laboratories, handled by A. C. Lopez & Co., 334 Fifth Avenue, New York City. It is made in two sizes,-one for the amateur range of 45 to 225 meters with a single tap, and the other for broadcast reception covering a wave length range of 250 to 550 meters. Both types contain three coils mounted on an alumin frame which can be secured to the panel with serews. The primary in the smaller size is 2%-inch bakelite tube wound with six turns of No. 14 D. C. C. wire. The center coil, or secondary contains 21 turns of No. 14 D. C. C. wire wound staggered into a basket weave coil, and the tickler coil is wound on the same size tube as the primary with 12 turns of No. 20 D. C, C. wire. The broadcast type is built the same way, with six turns of No. 14 wire on the primary, 45 turns of No, 14 . Wire on the secondary and 30 turns of No. 20 wire on the tickler. The secondary coil, in both types, is practically self-supporting and air is the predominant insulation because of the method of This tuner is generally used in conjunction with a straight three-circuit regenerative set, usin one low loss variable condenser across the second- ary to contro] the wave length. It can be cali- brated. The tuner can be used with any size aerial, the dial settings remaining almost the same with long or short aerials. With two Amatran trans- formers and three U. V. 201A Radiotrons, the volume is tremendous on a loud speaker, with no distortion. Kansas City, Jefferson City, Mo., and Dallas, Texas, come into New York with remark- able audibility. All Class B stations within a ra- dius .of 1,200 mileg come in with plenty loud- speaker volume. This low loss tuner is one of the most efficient instruments on_the market, and experimenters will make no mistake in trying it out. <a If you have a radio, listen incon WIZ. 2 f “Mys- They are broadcasting stories tery Magazine.”

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_. Detroit, accordi =F ests and importin: Fame and Fortune Weekly NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 12, 1924 TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS Single Copies............ses00- Postage Free § Cents Qne Copy Three Months 2 ue & $1.00 One Copy Six Months... . “¥ Sr ae One Copy One Year........... pe : 4.00 Canada, $4.50; Foreign, $5.00. HOW TO SEND MONEY —QAt our risk send P. O. Money Order, Check or Registered Letter; remittances in any other way are at zone risk. We accept Postage Stamps the same as cash. When Sending silver wrap the Coin in a separate piece of paper to avoid cutting the envelope. Write your name and address plainly. HARRY E, WOLFF, ) Harry EB. Wolff, Pres. Publisher, Inc., Charles E. Nylander, Sec. 166 W.°23d St., N. Y¥.J u. F. Wilzin, Treas. SS _ FROM ALL POINTS PLANE CARRIES HORSE For the first time a valuable breeding horse . has been shipped by airplane. The animal was placed in a crate to be flown from Paris to Ams- terdam. It was found, however, that the crate was too large to go in the airplane, so the floor of the plane was reinforced and the horse carried off into the skyqincrated. WEIGHTIEST WORDS : The most important fifteen words in the English language, according to Prof. Carl C. Brigham, eminent Princeton psychologist, are in, and, that, a, the, to, with, be, of, as, all, at, not, for, and’ on. These fifteen words, he says, comprise more than 25 per cent. of all the words used in an average modern book. A LARGE EMPLOYER Henry Ford is a very large employer of labor, having 162,792 names on his payrool. They do not all work in Detroit, however, as 121,214 are employed in manufacturing plants for the_com- ‘pany at Detroit and elsewhere in the United tates; 24,323 in the American branches, and 11,- 028 in foreign lands. In addition to those em- ployed by the Ford company—a total of 156,656— there are 2,525 men employed on Ford’s D. T. & _L. railroad, 2,282 workers in Foreign coal mines, 720 men at work at the Henry Ford Trade School and 700 employed at the Henry Ford Hospital at to the latest available fiugres. U.S FACES LUMBER FAMINE IN 50 OF ? YEARS Using scientific methods in managing her for- enough lumber to allow her forests to grow and expand, Germany has doubled her forest production in 100 years. é __ ~ But, according to the New York State College ~ of Forestry at Syracuse University, a different story is told of the United States, where the srig- inal forests have been reduced from 5,200,000,000,- . 600 board feet to 2,200,000,000 board feet. The _yemaining forests are only able to. grow about gne-fourth of the amount of timber consumed FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY and what we consume represents the least we should be growing. : In twenty-five: years the population of the United States will be, acco: 150,000,000. On our present basis of timber ab- sorption, we will need 76,000,000,000,000 board feet per annum to meet the demand of the year 1950. This will amount approximately to 50 per cent. increase over the volume of timber we use at present. Statistics show the world’s consumption of timber is doubling every fifty years. Even in countries where wood is scarce consumption is in- creasing as the people learn new uses for w and become aware of many uses already known in other countries. : The United States cannot grow trees in twen- ty-five years to meet the demand. Our entire supply of timber will have been cut and we will face a timber famine of serious proportions, the report shows, and adds that the sooner we adopt new methods in managing our forests, the shorter will be the period of wood poverty. LAUGHS “Johnny,” said his mother, “you have outgrown your shoes.” “What I’d like to hear you say, mamma,” replied Johnny, “is that I have out- grown your slippers.” - Little Elmer, upon seeing his baby sister for the first time, was told that she had just arrived from heaven. “Hurry up, baby,” he said, “and tell us all about Heaven, before you forget it.” Sunday School Teacher—King Solomon said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” Bright Boy—Well, perhaps ‘there wasn’t in his day, but now we have New Hampshire, New Jersey, New © Mexico, and New York. Intending Lodger—You say a music teacher lives next door? That is not pleasant. Land- lady—Oh, that’s won’t matter. He has twelve children, and they made such a noise you can’t hear the piano. / ¢ Kind-hearted Maiden (fishing for a stray penny in her purse)—I suppose you poor blind people feel your misfortune keenly. Blind Mendicant— Yes, indeed. The Lord only knows how I miss the pleasure of being able to look into the beau- tiful faces of the handsome and lovely ladies who are kind enough to donate—— Kind-hearted Maiden (fishing out a shilling)—Here, poor fel- low, take this. I’m sure you are deserving. A well-known bishop, while visiting at a bride’s new home for the first time, was_awakened quite early by the soft tones of a soprano voice sing- ing “Nearer, My God to Thee.” As the bishop lay in bed he meditated upon the piety which his young hostress must possess to enable her to begin her day’s work in such a beautiful frame of mind. At breakfast he spoke to her about it, | and told her how pleased he was. “Oh,” she verses for soft and five for hard,” replied, “that’s the hymn I boil the eggs by; three — ing to estimates, © La gat

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FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY Lect BRIEF BUT POINTED = NEVER MISSES SUNDAY SCHOOL Olyva, which means “merry,” was once a cen- _ . Miss Frances Affleck of the Sunday school of ter of Greek learning, culture and trade, and _ the Presbyterian Church in Winchester, Va., has flourished about 500 B. C. Later it became known not missed attending a session of the school in among Russians as the “Pompeii of the Black thirty consecutive years, and has been presented Sea. with service bars indicating her record, accord- Greek emigrants from Minor selected Olyva, ing to an announcement, Herodotus records, because “it is free from ma- ; RSS BES I Jaria, and its air is pure and transparent as crys- SUGAR-SOAP FOR CLEANING tal.” From a thriving, prosperous port for the - Unusual cleansing qualities and less damage rich goods of the East, it became in the course.of to fabrics are claimed for a soap largely made centuries a pauper colony existing solely on the of sugar, says Popular Mechanics. The manu- Tevenue from occasional traders. Originally the - facturer asserts that the alkali, commonly mixed population of the city worshipped the Greek gods, with fatty oils and acids to obtain the lathering 1m whose honor they erected temples. To-day “reaction, is injurious. the city is a mass of ruins, and the tombs ex- ‘ ; SSE cavated by Semenov Zussr are the only witnesses TELL-TALE EYES to its past greatness. apt recent a ie? the ee ae of PES EerskS Reviews quotes from the Bulletin o e Frenc _ Societe de Biologie some interesting facts about BIRDS PICK ODD PLACES FOR NESTING - the shape and position of the eyes in animals, When a bird has once found a situation for its _ according as to whether they hunt or are hunted. nest that it looks upon as ideal it will cling to it In the hunters, the eyes are in the front of the for years, and the young which are reared in head and close together; they are deep in their these.often curious places will endeavor to find “sockets and protected by dorsal ridges and by the similar situations for their own nests when they istieatory muscles. Thus the binocular field build for themselves, writes Oliver G. Pike in the sion of such animals is larger, while the pan- London Daily Mail. : mic field is limited. Hunters that lie in wait On a portion of the Kentish coast the sea has for their prey have pupils vertically elliptical; been receding for a t number of years, and ose that chase their prey have round pupils. In it has left behind a large tract of pebbles many nted animals, the eyes are at the sides of the miles wide. When I first visited this spot, about and wide apart, with shallow orbits and no 20 years ago, we found a nest of the wheatear tection from ridges or muscles, so that they underneath an old pan, which no doubt had been ally protrude. Hence, their binocular field is washed up by the sea. small or entirely lacking, but their pano- ~ Two years ago I was bird watching there with nic field embraces almost the whole horizon. my wife, and she expressed a desire to see a he fastest runners, the pupil forms 2 horizon- wheatear’s nest. I just scanned the stones with ellipse which assists in broadening the field my field gas, spotted a rusty pan about 100 vision; poor runners have round pupils. The yards ahed, and on gajng to it we were greeted mer, both hunter and hunted, has frontally by three hungry young Wwheatears. ed eyes, but they protude and have crosswise Many thousands of years ago an ancestor of tical pupils. ours left an old pot lying on the ground outside ED in pair of “Et — this be ig ome. e present time the descendants o ! K VANITY CASE OF 500 B. C. IS this intelligent pair of rohins are to be found all in 3 5 : FOUND IN sae - ‘ie a wre ys a each ees _— of Sane One dred and sixty ancient Green tombs are discovered in old tins and kettles which have ‘of miming design and rare areheological inter- been left lying about. est have been ay in the dead city of Oly- In one of the suburbs of Jondon a pair of blue. ‘va, a:, by Professor Semenow Zusser, tits built their nest in a lamppost. I often ussian archeologi watched them going in just under the glass. found in the tombs was a Where the nest was it was impossible to say, but probably they went right to the bottom and built their home level with the ground. When the young birds were reared they escaped from their curious home—there were eight of them in all. Six years later, nearly a dozen lampposts in the locality were occupied by blue : ry. - tits, showing that the Cae which ‘hhad first been i of ex- oe — Swede vol “eeu also their young, | e workmanship, multi-colo vases, amu- ‘ound i an i ome. ~ t barees and ries articles of bronze and A large flower pot had been left standing by = , all in a perfect state of preservation. | the side of our garden path and two great tits ‘excavations, which have been in progress promptly took possession and there reared a fam- y ths, thus far have yielded more ace years afterward if large flower pots were articles of surpassing antiquarian in- placed in suitable positions they were utilized by __ SS aS ; » the whole family, ~ = = = =4 5 ees aa

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< Pa x , Fa - r Es ¥ em * sue 3 eae _ FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY - ITEMS OF INTEREST FISH FALL DEAD ON SHIP A statement that several flying fish were cap- tured many miles from land was reported by Captain Morgan of the British steamship York Castle, which docked at the Girard Point Piers, Philadelphia, recently from Beira, East Africa. When the vessel was in the Atlantic below the equator, many miles from land, he said, a school of fish flew over the vessel and many struck the masts and were killed by the fall and gathered up by the bushel. 3 The supply of salt meat was getting low on the ship and the. unlooked-for God-send of fish, which were larger than this species found in northern latitudes, was enough to fvrnish meals for the crew for several days. | Two waterspouts, he said. r ’ destruction to the:-vesse: «ven seventy miles south of Cape Verde Is'»n“s. One passed near the bow of the vessel and was in sight several hours. The York Castle brought.a cargo of ore from African mines, one of the-largest shipments of the kind ever landed in Philadelphia. The weather throughout was fair, the skipper said. _cr atime threatened WILHELM A FLOP AS DUCK SHOOTER Former Emperor William of Germany was a erack shot on pheasants but was not so good when he tried to shoot ducks, So writes Helmuth von Gerlach, editor of Die Welt Am Montag, who is publishing his recollections of association with the deposed monarch, now in Holland. Count Larisch once invited William to his Bo- hemian estate to shoot and as a surprise released several hundred wild ducks, Herr von Gerlach relates, The one-time German ruler shot scores of times but failed to bring down any of the ducks, as he thought they would zigzag as peas- ants do instead of flying in a straight line, a style of flight with which he was not familiar. William was so enraged he left immediately and never visited Count Larisch again, as he al- ways insisted upon being the best shot in any company and had to be humored on all occasions. In one instance, the writes continues, when the former emperor was visiting Prince Fuerstenberg in the Black Forest his host arranged to place William at a vantage point where he could shoot more rabbits than any one else in the party. Un- fortunately it rained and the rabbits took a new course. A young nobleman who didn’t know of the ex-kaiser’s eccentricities killed over 200, while William had but twenty-five to his credit. This fact caused him great consternation and the Prince had to discharge his chief forester to appease William's anger. -- . Rominton, in East Prussia, was the former vor’s favorite deer hunting lodge, but it was a remate placé that his companions had at difficulty in entertaining him when they _- were not on a shooting expedition. On one oc- easion they started a well-guarded forest fire which was represented as being very serious and allowed William to have direction of the fire guards who.extinguished the blaze. The ex- monarch was so pleased with himself and his fire-fighting associates that he conferred decora- tions on them. = LOOK, BOYS! TRAPEZEE The Acrobatic Wonder Toy ALMOST HUMAN IN IfS ACTIONS! __ It consists of a handsome parallel iron frame on which the little yellow man accurately performs like an ath- ~ Jete. Five Different Stunts — THE FLYING TRAPEZE — Release the trigger-pin and the figure swings for- ward, gripping the brass trapeze-bar, turns a somersault in the air and catches a cross-bar by his heels. THROUGH THE LOOP—A swift swing and he goes through a wire loop, makes a turn and, catching by his heels, swings head downward from a bar. THE GIANT SWING — He goes forward with a rush, releases the trapeze, catches a horizontal-bar with his heels, makes two swift somersaults in the air and catches by his heels again. He performs two more horizontal-bar : acts with the grace and agility of a cir- cus a and many new ones can be in- vented. The Most Wonderful Toy in the World! PRICE $1.00 “The collapsible stand and the little mani- kin are neatly packed in a handsome box. Delivered anywhere in the United States receipt of price. Address : WOLFF NOVELTY CO, 166 W. 23d St., New York City, N.Y.

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Any form, me cic 30 WONDERS] ‘oUSAN FREE L Brew with Fountain Pencils, Knife, Pen Holder, Eraser, for selling 30 packages of Chewing Gum at 5e a pkg. Write BLUINE MFG, CO 181 Mill St., Concord Junction, Mass. Habit Cured or No Pay a ‘Nothinx if it sainent , Baltimore, Md. Guerantecd- |. Coste $1.00 if it SUvERBA CO. M: PIMPLES bl ae napacey Aon y tah ay Riera org tions on the face or body, oe eee Pores and Oily or Shiny Skin, “Write today for my emma BOOKLET, “‘& CLEAR-TonE SKIN,”’— tell: how FREE eared exguell alvat pelea eiteted 1s neaes. i Rush your name and address and learn how to get this handsome 14 Kt. gold filled man’s watch and chain ABSO- LUTELY FREE, Watch has 10 jewel Lever movem Write today—don’t de- lay for FREE watch plan. RELIABLE SALES CO., 434 Broadway, Dept. 261, New York City. t~ Protect yourself paainst hold-up, rowdies, etc. with this clever cigarette case of light weight metal. Looks Ss like the real thing! Pull trigger, back flies the lid a ing your etna Lots ie NQIM6....£..000c.coscsdornseeeverseesnoreenrnccensnntoceneastestnenenguarerssnensssensesvenes oe See Guaranteed Time Keep- yer. Given for selling only ” 30 cards of Dress Snap-Fas- teners at 10c per card. Easily Solid. EARN BIG MONEY Order your cards TO-DAY. Send.no money. Y We trust you till goods are sold. SY AMERICAN SPECIALTY CO. Box 127 Z Lancaster, Pa. for 30 da: een on you F Your choice of 44 Styles, colors and sizes of the famous FRE EE RADIO U. S. Railway Mail Clerks Needed! Big opportunity. Salaries $1600 to $2300 a year. Short hours. Liberal vacations. Steady work. A chance to travel and see the country. Examinations not diffi- cult. Common school education all you need as groundwork. Mail coupon to-day for 48-page FREE CIVIL SERVICE BOOKLET “oes ee ge | : INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS Box 4494-C, Seranton, Penna. Without cost or obligation, please send moe a copy of your 48-page CIVIL SERVICE BOOKLET, which tells how I can secure a position with the U. S, Government.

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Let me send you on Ten Days Free Trial a pair of my famous “True Fit” Shell Rim Spectacles. Hundreds of thousands now in use everywhere. These splendid Glasses will enable anyone to read the smallest print, thread the finest needle, see far or near and prevent eyestrain or headaches. If after try- ing them for 10 days and nights you are amazed and delighted, and think them equal to glasses sold elsewhere at $15.00, send only $4.98; it you don’t want to keep them, return them and there will be no charge. Send no money; Pay no C, 0. D.; simply your name, address and age, and state the length of time you have worn glasses, if any. A beautiful velveteen lined, gold-let- tered Spectacle Case FREE. U. S. SPECTACLE CoO. 1528 W. Adams St., Dept. U.S. 890, Chicago, Til, For that Jolly Beach Party Pack your week-end bag, say goodbye to the hot, noisy city and set dut for a day or two of real fun and healthy sport at the Jake or sea. And don’tforget to take along your pock- et orchestra so there'll be plenty of good music for those who want to dance. If you want to be the hit of the party, be ready with a Hohner Harmonica— —_-——_—__——_ ‘ |) MAKE THE BEST CHOCOLATE BARS The World’s Best Mints and Chewing Gum. Be my agent. Everybody will buy from you. Write today. There’s nothing like good music for hap- Free Samples, piness and there’s nothing like a Hohner for MILTON GORDON good music. Hohner Harmonicasare truein | _____189 Jackson St., Cincinnati, Ohio . tone, accurate in pitch and perfect in work- manship. Get a Hohner Harmonica today and play it tonight. 50¢ up at all dealers. Ask for the Free Instruction Book. If your dealer is out of copies, write M. Hohner, Inc., Dept. 156 New York City. Get Rid of Your F AT: T Free Trial Treatment Sent on request. Ask for my “pay-when-reduced” offer. I have successfully reduced thousands of persons, often at the rate of a pound a day, without diet or exercise. Let me send you proof af my ex- pense, DR, R.. NEWMAN, Licensed Physician State of New York, 286 Fifth Avenue New York, Desk W ven F REE Pair latest-style Ear Drops— platinum effect imitation Wrist Watch with Silk Ribbon Brace- let—large Cameo Brooch and these 4 lovely Gold plated Rings. All 7 guaranteed and Given Ab- solutely Free to anyone for sell- ing only 12 cards of our Jewelry Novelties at 10 cents a card. W. KR. MEADE MFG. CO., @ Providence, BR. I. - SedanGiven yy gl mg o[s|afa [4] 7]o]e2[5 [14] 5 To alphabet ia nombered—A is], B ment oy, os NO O Money —ost : / represented by the figures? fesfslefe 4] 7To]22[5 [5 Sy < net

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3 4 * There is such an urgent demand for practical, trained Draftsmen that I am making this special offer in order to enable deserving, ambitious and bright men to get into this line of work. I will teach youto becomea aftsman and Designer until you are Drawing a salary of $250.00 a month. You need not pay me for my personal instruction or for the com- plete set of instruments. But you must take advantage of this special offer atonce. $300 a Month Salary— on the Sideat Home! That’s the kind of money my drafting students make. Read what this one says: “As a beginner I am doing fine. Am earning a salary of $300 per month, besides I made over $450 at home the last two months, drawing plans for private parties. The bractical drafting training you gave me by mail put me where Iam in less than six month’s study. Thank you jor all your personal interest and help you gave me so far.’ (Signed) _J. B. (Name and address upon request) I Guarantee To Train You Until You Are Placed in a Position Paying up to $250 and $300 a Month Write and I'll tell you how I make you a first- class, big-money-earning draftsman in avery few months! I do this by a method no other man nor institution can imitate. I give you personal training at home by mail until you are actually placed in a position paying up to $250 and $300 a month. Six thousand drafts- -men are wanted every month. And more—I give you a whole set of drafting tools the minate you become my stadent. You get every tool you need. ificent Set of instruments which will build your success in draftemanship. ree Od SECC USE SRE Eee eee Ree ees E CEE Toda Chief Draftsman, Engineers Equipment Co. Send Coupon y a 1951 Lawrence Ave. Div. B-109 Chicago, Il. No matter what plans you have for the future, Get Without any obligation whatsoever, please mail your book, this reat. Book" ‘Successful Draftsmanship.” Find conaitt Pratt F a up “Successful Draftsmanship”, and full particulars of your out about the simply marvelous opportunities ahead now. How the world needs draftsmen, engineers, liberal “Personal Instruction” offer to few students. architects and builders, What great salaries and pos- sibilities there are! Send coupon for free book today. Eo ER eee. eee Chief Draftsman, Engineers Equipment Co. Mile, ee eB aa ceehen, see vied MD 1951 Lawrence Ave. Div. B-109 Chicago, Il.

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LATEST IssURS — 2: 47 Baas Ape the Office Boy; or, The Nerviest Lad in _ New York. = ; 48 Sure to Get Rich; or, A Smart Young Messenger. ‘49 Pushing It Through; or. The Fate of a Lucky Day. oO A se sie ceeraa or, The Young Sphinx of Wall ‘treet. ‘1 The Way to Success; or, The Boy Who Got There. 2 Struck Oil; or, The Boy Who Made a Million. O53 A Ts Risk; or, e Young Miners of Della Zz. “"4 A Sure Winner; or, The Boy Who Went Out With a Circus. For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any ad- ‘ress on receipt of price, Ic. per copy, in money or pos- tage stamps. THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS PRICE 8 CENTS 055 Golden Fleece; or, The Brokers of Wall Street. “56 A Mad Cap e; or, The Boy Treasure Hunters _. of Cocos Island. 3 “57 Adrift On the World; or, Working His Way to For- tune, "58 Playing to Win; or, The Foxtest Boy in Wall Street °n9 Tatters; or, 2 Boy From the Slums, 960 A Foung Monte Cristo; or, The Richest Boy in the orld. eel Won hy Pluck; or, The Boys Who Ran a Railroad. — 62 be i¢ the Brokers; or, The Boy Who Couldn't one. 8 <A Rolling Stone; or, The Brightes: Boy on Record. 4 got Say Die; or, The Young Surveyor of Happy Valley. 965 Boss of the Market; or, The Greatest Boy in Wall Street. "66 The Chance of His Life; or, The Young Pilot of Crytal Lake. 4 67 Striving for Fortune; or, From Bell-Boy to Million- aire, Out for Business; or, The Smartest Boy in Town. A Favorite of Fortune; or, Striking It Rich in Wall Street. 970 Through Thick and Thin; or, The Adventures of a Smart Bo y. 91 Doing His Level Best; or, Working His Way — "72 Always on Deck; or, The Boy Who Made is Mark. 973 A Mint of Money; or, The Young Wall Stfeet Broker. 974 The Ladder of Fame; or, From Office Boy to Senator. 9T On the Square; or, The Suecess of an Honest Boy. After a Fortune; or, The Pluckiest Boy in the West. 177 Winning the dollars; or ,The Young Wonder of Wall Street, 978 Making His Mark; or, The Boy ,Who Became President. "79 go MY a Million; or, The Boy Who Was Born Lucky. ae in the Andes; or,.The Treasures of the Buried ¥. “81 On His Mettle: or, A_Plucky Boy in Wall Street. “82 A Lucky Chance; or, Taking Fortune on the Wing. 983 The Road to Success; or, The Career of a lor- tunate Boy, 984 Chasing Pointers; or, The Luckiest Boy in Wall Street. "85 Rising in the World; or, From Factory Boy to Manager. 986 Fronr Dark to Dawn; or, A Poor Roy’s Chance. °stT Out for Himself; or, Paving His Way ta Fortune. 988 Diamond Cut Diamond; or, The Boy Brokers of Wall Street. - HARRY K. WOLFY, Publisher, Ine., 166. West 23d Street New York City Price 35 Cents Per Copy This book contains all the most recent changes in the sae: fg Bee geen IE aro wees 4 ios. Sixt sons, covering every Se — weritinie, For sale by all Newsdealers and Bookstores. If you cannot procure a copy, send us the price, 35 cents, In money or postage stamps, and we will mail you one, postage free. Address, LL. Senarens, 210 Seventh Ave., New York, N, Y. ‘OUR TEN-CENT HAND BOOKS and Amusing. They contain wh Wateable faforneton oe" Aimeck Every Subject. aS ae No. 20. HOW TO BECOME AN INVENTOR.—Evy boy should know how inventions originated. This boo explains them all, giving examples in electricity, hy- draulics, magnetism, optics, pneumatics, mechanics, etc. No. 30. HOW TO COOK.—One of the most instructive books on cooking ever published. It contains reci for cooking meats, fish, game, and oysters; also pies, puddings, cakes and all kinds of pastry, and a grand collection of recipes. _No. 37. HOW TO KEEP HOUSE.—It contains informa- tion for everybody, boys, girls, men and women; it will teach you how to make almost everything around the house, such as parlor ornaments, brackets, cements, Aeolian harps, and bird lime for catching birds. No. 88. HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN DOCTOR.— A wonderful book, containing useful and practical in- formation in the treatment of ordinary diseases and ail- ments common to every family. Abounding in useful and effective recipes for general complaints. No. 40. HOW TO MAKE AND SET TRAPS.—Inciud- ing hints on how to catch moles, weasels, otter, rats, squirrels and birds. Also how to cure skins. Copiously illustrated. No. 41. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK END MEN’S JOKE BOOK.—Containing a great variety of the latest jokes used by the most’ famous end men. No amateur minstrel is complete without this wonderful little. book. No. 42. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK STUMP SPEAKER.—Containing a varied assortment of stu speeches, Negro, Dutch and Irish. Also end men’s Pte Just the thing for home amusement and amateur shows. No. 45. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK MINSTREL _ GUIDE AND JOKE BOOK.—Something new and very instructive. Every boy should obtain this book, as it contains full instrugtions for organizing amateur min- strel troupes. / No. 52. HOW TO PLAY CARDS.—Giving the rules and full directions for playing Euchre, Cribbage, Casina, Forty-Five, Rounce, Pedro Sancho, Draw Poker, Aue- — Pitch, All Fours, and many other popular games of cards. No. 53. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS.—A wonderful little book, telling you how to write to your sweetheart, your father, mother, sister, brother, employer: and, in fact, everybody and anybody you wish to write to. No. 54. HOW TO KEEP AND MANAGE PETsS.— Giving complete information as to the manner and method of raising, keeping, taming, breeding, and man- aging all kinds of pets: also giving full instructions for making cages, etc. Fully explained by twenty-eight illustrations. No, 55. HOW TO COLLECT STAMPS AND COINS— Containing valuable information regarding the collect- ing and arranging of stamps and coins. Handsomely illustrated. No. 57. HOW TO MAKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. —Full directions how to make a Banjo, Violin, Zither, Aeolian Harp, Xylophone and other musical instru- ments; together with a brief description of nearly every musical instrument used in ancient or modern times. Profusely illustrated. By Algernon 8S, Fitzgerald, for twenty years bandmaster of the Royal Bengal Marines. No. 58. HOW TO BECOME A DETECTIVE.—By Old King Brady, the world-known detective. In which he lays down some valuable and sensible rules for beginners, and also relates some adventures and experiences of well-known detectives. No. 60. HOW TO BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER.— Containing useful information regarding the Camera and how to work it; also how to make Photographie Magie Lantern Slides and other Transparencies. Hand- somely illustrated. No. 64. HOW TO MAKE ELECTRICAL MACHINES. Containing full directions for making electrical ma- chines, inductions coils, dynamos, and_many novel tors to be worked by electricity. By R. A. R. Bennett. Fully illustrated. No. 65. MULDOON’S JOKES.—The most original joke book ever published, and it is brimfnl of wit and humor. It contains a large collection of songs, jokes, conundrums, ete.. of Terrence Muldoon, the great wit, humorist, and practical joker of the day. For sale by #ll newsdealers, or will be sent to any ‘ address on receipt of price, 10c. per copy, s in money or stamps, by } _ HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Ine. 166 West 23d Street

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