Fame And Fortune Weekly (no. 997) (1924 11 07)

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BOYS, READ THE RADIO ARTICLES IN THIS NUMBER NOVEMBER 7, 1924 3 No. 997 Price 8 Cents ATELY eral a an iS eee RIS 4, 6 ot ig TOS SCE. ge’ Mine Maw le | . And OTHER STO ee I ~ + ies en ; Ly | r Pmsnian ar a ae ‘ Reis ss a Don knew it would be his t tare Daxé. The situation made him desperate. On the spur of the | moment he broke away and dashed down the track. With a fierce imprecation the man with the switch-bar rushed after him.

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Issued weekly—Subscription price, $4.00 per year! Canada, West 23d Street, New York, N. Y._ Ente FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY $4.50; Foreign, $5.00. Harry E. Wolff, Publisher, «nc., 16€ — red as Second-Class Matter, October 4, 1911, Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. NOVEMBER 7, BOUND TO RISE APR 25 19: 1924 F Price 8 Cents. WAY TO SUCCESS was expected to deliver. Thus equipped, Don > the Post-Office at New York, N. No. 997 NEW YORK, ‘ OR, FIGHTING HIS = By A SELF-MADE MAN CHAPTER I—The Hold-Up. ; _ Everybody in the town of Oakland, where Don _ Bruce lived, said he was = ener Bay, and what everybody says is generally true. e was as aie bright pag iow pin, and stood at the head of his _ elass in the High School. « He,lived with his widowed mother and an older sister in a neat cot- tage on the suburbs of the town. The Bruces were not very well off, but they managed to make ends meet through the exertions of Edith Bruce, _ who was a skilled dressmaker, and was constantly employed by the best ple in town, aided by a : seeeteny pension which Mrs. Bruce received from eS government, for her husband had_ served _ through the greater part of the Civil War and ‘Was wounded at the battle of Fisher’s Creek, in the Shenandoah Valley. : ‘Z The only drawback was a mortgage of twelve hundred dollars held by Squire Dornton on the cottage, which was neafly due, but which the ; ire had practically given them to understand that he meant to renew, as the security was good and they had never failed to pay the half-yearly - interest of thirty dollars when it ad due. ~ Pon was of an inventive turn of mind. His active brain teemed with ideas,-some of which he was able, through great persistence, to reduce to a practical shape. He had a small workshop in the barn behind the house, and here he put in such time as he could spare. The shelves were th a dozen models of different ‘self. Accordingly, after dinner, which was al- ways eaten -by the Bruces in the middle of the -Mrs.‘Bruce counted out the amount from her nall savings, put it into an envelope addressed Squire Dalton, and then placed it inside a small el and handed the same to Don. Into the ¢ she had also placed a small bundle con- an embroidered silk table scarf, which ad made for a customer living not for of Squire Dalton, and which Don left the house, walked to the trolley line, which passed close to his destination, two miles outside of Oakland, hailed a car and was presently on his way. It was a cloudy afternoon, though there were no positive indications that it was likely to rain. There were several passengers in the car, one of whom was a very pretty attired girl of perhaps fifteen. As the car proceeded on its way toward the next town the passengers dropped off, one by one, until only the girl and Don were left. About a mile and a half outside of Oakland the road took a wide sweep to the left, and when the trolley car reached the middle of this curve some- thing unexpected happened. Four rough-looking men, with their faces partially covered with hand- kerchiefs, to prevent identification, sprang from behind a clump of bushes and boarded the car— two on the front platform and two on the rear. One of them seized the rope and jerked the trolley clear of the wire, thereby cutting off the power and presently bringing the car to a stand- still. Drawing revolvers, the rascals compelled the motorman, conductor, Don and the frightened girl to alight and line up on the track ahead. It was a clear case of hold-up—a most unfor- tunate predicament for Don to find himself in at that moment, for the loss of the thirty dollars interest money he carried in the satchel would be a very serious matter for the Bruce family. While three of the ruffians threatened the vic- tims with two revolvers and a switch-bar, which - one of them had picked up somewhere, the fourth began operations on the person of the conductor, — emptying his pockets of a few bills and loose change. Don knew it would be his turn next. The situation made him desperate. Qn the spur of the moment he broke away and dashéd down the track. With a fierce imprecation the man with the switch-bar rushed after him. Don, how- ever, was a good runner, and the rascal with the switch-bar was no match for him in that respect. He called on the boy to stop, swore roundly, and threatened him with all kinds of vengenace if he did not. But Don was not a fool. He had thirty — dollars and a valuable piece of sik to save, and he was not going to let the satchel fall into; the rascal’s hands if he could help it, and he thought he could. -Possibly it was not a chivalric act on his part to desert a pretty girl in trouble, _ but he argued that it was clearly up to the — « - ’ . tue = ~ ™" = “es

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. ‘ motorman and the conductor to protect her, as she was, to a certain extent, in their charge. _ At any rate, it was a most important matter to save the contents of the satchel, for he was re- sponsible for the safe delivery of both the money and the scarf at their destinations. down the track as fast as he could, and when the ruffian in pursuit saw that he could not overtake the boy he threw the switch-bar after him. For- tunately it fell short, and Don rapidly increased his distance. Had the man thrown the bar at first, when Don was within easy reach, there -. might have been a different tale to tell. As it was, the boy outfooted his pursuer, and the latter gave up the race and returned to the stalled car. Fortunately for Don, he was quick-witted as well as fleet. When he saw the man go back it occurred to him that the rascals might continue the chase in the car, hoping to catch him off his be guard. That is just what they did do, but when ~ they caught sight of him seudding across the meadows they gave him up for a bad job and, alighting, permitted the car to proceed on its way-Don,,of course, had to walk the rest of the may to Squire Dalton’s home. However, that did and was in high glee over that fact. CHAPTER II.—In the Vacant House. Don did not return to the road along which the trolley ran, but made a detour across the fields, which, though not as pleasant walking, had the advantage of being a short cut to his destination. ~ Short cuts, however, sometimes have their dis- advantages, and so it was with Don in this casé. As he approached an old, deserted house in the center of one of the fields he saw sone boards __-}ying upon the ground in his path. Their pres- ence there had no significance for him, and he did ~ not even take the trouble to avoid them, but step- Seg d right upon them. It Happened that those ie rds had been placed there to cover a dry well, not a very deep one, and that time and moisture had sapped their strength. Consequently the mo- ~% ment Don’s entire weight rested on them they yielded with a suddenness*that allowed him no time to save himself. Down he shot into the depths, like a stage demon through a trap, and - he disappeared from sight in less-time than one -could whisper “Jack Robinson.” _..The bottom of the well was partially filled: in with loose earth, and this broke his fall. Never- * theless he got a bad shaking up and a nasty blow an the head from the brick side of the well. It was several minutes before he began to realize his position. The shock he had sustained made s him sick and dizzy, and he leaned back against the wall of the well to recover himself. As soon as he felt better, and was satisfied he had’ sus- no material injury, he leoked up and saw unfortunate predicament seemed at first sight something of a problem. A more searching ation of the sides of the well, however, re- certain ineqnalii-s as well as m'ssine : and, there, that su d a way to BOUND TO RISE So he ran» not matter much. He had outwitted the tramps - get out. When Don had thoroughly recovered. himself he took the handle of his bag between his teeth and began to work his way upward to- ward freedom. He found it a slow and difficult trip, and one that took all the dogged persistence of his nature to accomplish. At length he got his hands on the outside rim of the brickwork, and had raised his head into the outer air, when he saw four persons crossing the field toward him. A hurried glance showed him that they were the four trampish-looking rascals who had held up the car. Don immedoately ducked his head out of sight, and then asked himself whether he had not better drop to the bottom of the well again in order to avoid the possibility of dis- covery. But the trouble he had had_in climbing up induced him to remain where he was. . “They may pass close to this old well, but it’s hardly likely that they will take the trouble to look into it,” he figured. So he remained clinging to the brickwork like some huge spider in his hiding-place. Presently he heard the yoices of the ruffians in loud and animated discourse as they drew near. As they passed within a few feet of his position he was surprised*to hear the name of Squire Dal- ton mentioned by one of the men. Don raised his head above the hole and looked after them. He saw that they were making for the deserted frame building. “J wouldn’t be surprised if that is where those rascals hang out while in this neighborhood,” he said to himself. “It would give me a good deal of satisfaction to put the constables on to them. If I could only be sure that this is their rendezvous, the police might be able to nab them right off the reel. Now, I wonder why they were talking about _ Squire Dalton? Can it be that they are figuring on robbing his house? I’d give something to find out. There they go right into that house. I think I owe a duty to the community to try and discover if they are up to some other pieces of villainy and then to put a spoke in their opera- tions. Still, I mustn’t be rash. It wouldn’t do for me to lose what’s in this bag. First of all I must get out of this well” That feat was not difficult now, as Don had a good grip on the top of the brickwork, so by the exercise of his muscles he pulled himself out of the well. He found that by walking over to a stone wall that formed the boundary of that par- ticular field he could approach close to the rear of the house without much chance of detection, — — even if one of the ruffians happened to be on the watch. Most boys in Don’s position would have preferred to have given those rascals a wide berth, particularly after what had occurred on the trolley road, but Don was of an adventurous disposition and plucky to a degree. He had a strong desire to assist in bringing about their © - arrest, and with that purpose in view he was “= eager to get a line on their movements, and the chance to do this might not occur again. With great caution he left the shelter of the fence and walked up to a one-story addition to the buildi = which, from its projecting chimney, he ju = had been used by kitchen. There was a clased door but na window look- The window was on the s de ing in his direction, the former residents as a s-2- “=

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He ie Lie “og ioe art standing against the blank wall under the chim- ney. It was covered, and Don calculated that _ he could easily scramble to the roof of the addi- tion and get into the main part of the building through one of the windows overlooking the kitchen roof. Before attempting this feat he stowed his satchel away under the water butt. - “There, now. I won’t be handicapped by that _ thing, and ifthe rascals should nab me by any - ehance the bag and its contents will be safe ' from their clutches. = 4 a =enposite the chimney. As he had seen the four men enter through the door, he did not consider 2 it prudent to follow their example, lest he run afoul of them in that room. So he looked around _ for some other way to get into the house with- => out attracting attention. He saw a water butt = Don took off his shoes, and, sticking one in each of his side pockets, he clambered down upon the water butt and thence to the roof of the kitchen. Stepping gingerly over the shingles, at he reached the nearest window and tried it. It readily yielded to his touch, and softly raising the sash he climbed through into a vacant cham- ber. Leaving the window open, to facilitate his retreat, if necessary, he tiptoed across the dusty _ floor and opened a door communicating with the landing. Hearing no sound, Don investi- the other rooms on that floor,- and found just as empty and just as dirty as the . he had entered first. “It is evident that the men are downstairs, i: eyed in the kitchen. There are no signs to ; that they have ever been up here. So Vil to go + descended the staircase with great caution, had a tendency to creak underneath his t, and pre listening in the hall below. * there was not a sound to indicate where Z ‘our rascals were. Don carefully looked at Sethe oteinings of the front door, and saw that it was simply locked, with the key gone, A door _ opened on to the hallway from either side. Don listened os both gece and, hearing nothing, he opened’in turn each of the doors and found rooms to be in a similar state to those up- ose chaps are in the kitchen, all I'll be a to get within “I guess tho _ ight. I wonder if _ earshot of them He walked to the end of the hall and tried the S which opened off of it. Don opened it with due caution, and found himself looking into ne) Eeacant room, evidently once usefl as a e “Nothing. ‘doing yet,” he muttered. ‘He crossed the apartment to a door that he be- ed opened on to the kitchen hey’re in there, an they haven't left the house 've been making a tour of the place," he ,"he could hear no sound.from the men, h he listened intently at the keyhole. he mustered up resolution enough to turn h dle of the door and open it ‘an inch or Still no sound or sign of the ruffians. m they have left the houre so soon?” Don 4 himself, as he continued to push the door hao ai was ale to see that the room , any of A re others. boy saw, and : BOUND TO RISE $= he stood - irresolutely scratched his head. “T've been through every room in the house, and there isn’t a single thing to show that these men hang out here. Now, what puzzles me is, why did they come here, and where have they gone?” : He stepped into the kitchen and looked around. There were two other doors beside the one open- ing out on the yard, and through which he had seen the men enter. ‘Frying the one:on the left, he saw it opened into a closet. Then he opened the other and found that it communicated with a pair of steps leading to the cellar. As he stood looking down, he heard, for the first time since entering the house, the voices of men in conversation. “Ah!” exclaimed Don.. “They are down there.” CHAPTER III.—Don Makes a Discovery and Plays a Smart Trick. The conversation below was only desultory, and there were other sounds which showed the ras- cals were doing something in the cellar. Don was curious to find out what they were up to, and yet he was afyaid to go down, lest he invite immediate discovery. Judging by the sounds he heard, the men were at the far end of the cellar, and this fact gave Don courage after a while. He closed the door behind him to shut off the light, and then placed his stocking feet on the first step, then on the one lower, and then on the third. By stooping down he was able to look into the cellar. A couple of candles were burn- ing in the far corner, and the four men-were grouped near them. One was digging with a piece of shingle, two were kneeling down and a third standing up, all watching the excavation the digger was making. t can they be Titter?” thought Don, with no little curiosity. - He advanced another step with more confidence, for the stairs were shrouded in darkness, and - ruffians were deeply interested in the work had in hand; Finally he reached the floor of the cellar and crept forward to behind which he hid. “I don’t believe this is the right corner,” he heard one of the men say. “This is the left-hand corner, isn’t it?” replied the man with the shingle, pausing and looking p. “Of course it is, but there doesn’t seem to be anything here.” “Flash Dick said it _ the left-hand corner, didn’t he?” “Well, he might have m a mistake. ,He was partly off his chump, an , As “As he buried the bag, he ought to know.” “That’s right,” interjected one of the phe “Dig deeper, Burley.” There was nothing more said for a time, dur- ing which the man with the shingle worked away industriously, throwing the dirt behind him. Then the man who had asserted that the diaging was, being done at the WEOER spot. chipped in mae on the threshold and « a big empty box;

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4 BOUND TO RISE sign of the bag,” he said impatiently. “I’ll bet Anything in the shape of money appealed to it’s the other corner.” Don, as it was a”~somewhat scarce article at _ “Maybe he didn’t bury the stuff here, after his home. The man who suggested the change all,” said one of the men. of corners now undertook to do the digging. The - “He must have,” said the man who wanted work proceeded slowly, for the shingle broke in operations transferred to the other corners “Fiash half, and they did not have a second one. Their ; Dick wouidn’t have said he did if he didn’t.” conversation was not particularly interesting to —_ ~~ “Well, let’s try the other corner,” said the man. the boy, as it was interspersed with oaths and ; “The stuff is well worth huntin’ for, if we spead expressions unintelligible to anybody but crooks Se: a week doin’ it. It’s all solid silver, ain’t it?” like themselves. Half an hour passed away in “That’s what it is,” said the other man. this manner, and then the digger uttered an ex- — “Tt ought to make 2a good haul for us. We _ clamation of satisfaction. ; kin melt it up and sell it for coin metal. Squire “I believe I’ve struck the bag,” he said. Dalton will never see the stuff ag’in if we get* One of his companions grabbed a candle and our hands on it, I warrant that,” with a rough held it down into the hole. The digger scraped ; laugh. some of the earth away. » “He’s offered a reward of five hundred dollars “It’s the bag, all right,” he said. ' and no questions asked for its return,” said the Two of the men now started in to help mat- man addressed as Burley. “That shows it’s the ters along with their hands, and the dirt flew real stuff. Flash Dick was a clever duck to get fast. At length they uncovered the object of away with it without discovery.” their search pict to enable them to lift it “There wasn’t no cleverer fellow in the busi- out of the hole. ; 3 ness,” was the reply. “Be the grass green over “Now, let’s have a look at the stuff,” said. his grave. He was a square pal, too. None bet- Burley, tearing away the bit of string that held - Ser.” . the mouth of the sack together. This conversation threw a bit of light on_the Both candles were held so as to throw as much matter, for Don remembered reading in the Oak- light into the bag as possible. land Times, three weeks since, that Squire Dal- “It’s the real stuff—pure silver,” one exclaim- _ton’s house had been burglarized one night and ed, thrusting in his arm and drawing out a glis- a considerable quantity of silverware stolen from tening water pitcher. “That must have cost a- aS the premises. Among other things was a solid hundred cases.” silver service that the squire had presented his Burley fished out a silver tray, with a mono- wife on the occasion of their silver wedding an- gram cut on the bottom. niversary. The burglar had left no clue by which “We’re in luck,” he said. “The bag is full-of © the police could trace him, and the detective all kinds of silver stuff. Flash Dick knew what called into the case had failed to find any trace to put his flippers on. Not a plated article ine of the goods, although the pawnbrokers’ shops of the whole outfit.” the neighboring cities had been visited and duly The articles inspected were returned to the warnéd of the exact nature of the plunder. bag and the mouth retied. “4 Don now caught on to the fact that the burglar “Now, the question is, how are we goin’ we a shad buried the swag in the cellar of this de- carry this bag away without any one gettin’ on sertéd house, and, being unable to return for it, to us?” said Burley. : - had told of its whereabouts to one of his friends, “We must wait till dark,”™said the man who- 5 es who appeared -to be one of those four rascals. had been doing the digging. ° <¢ = and he had enlisted the others in the project of “It won’t be dark for several hours,” replied ~~ recovering the stolen plate for their mutual ad- Burley, getting out his pipe, filling it with tobacco vantage. and lighting it at one of the candles. “I’m a bit = The digging man discontinued in the left-hand peckish, seein’ as I hain’t had nothin’ to eat since — aa corner and begun anew in the opposite corner, mornin’, and not much then. If we are goin’ to . which brought “the fellows close to the conceated remain ‘here three or four more- hours I reckon ~ boy. As their faces were no longer, disguised one of us ought to go foragin’ for victuals.” __ = rg the handkerchiefs which they had warn when This suggestion struck a responsive chord in. * they held up the trolley car, Don got a good the minds» of the others, and after some argu- : ‘view of their features. They were certainly a ment it was decided that two of them should = _ hard-looking lot, and seemed capable of commit- £0 on to Bridgeton, a mile away, and purchase 5S _ ting any crime in the calendar, even murder. a small stock of provisions. - ie ___*] wouldn’t like them to catch me down here,” A coin was tossed up. to decide who were. to 7 marge Don. “I’m afraid it might go hard with 29 and, the result being announced, the pair took — their departnre for the town in question. Burley — ; e half. wished that he had not begun the-in-. and the man who had done the successful d ig ; igation which had led him to the cellar, but. ging remained in the cellar, Don began B Sog: ga too late now to worry over what he had that he was fated. to remain where he c Apparently he must remain where he was some time after dark, and the prospect ‘was er “a the rascals took Sys ag He was encouraging. The two men smoked and ieee st . half an hour, and then Burley said he was going upstairs for a change. The other decided _to-ac- a al him, and in a few minutes Don was | Thank goodness, they’re ie,” _— -in I suppose they’ll be liek main. a ee pos as gas oat, a shit

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his cramped limbs. The candles ‘sfill burned where Burley had placed them on top of a box, and the bag of plunder stolen from Squire Dal- _ ton’s home lay on the edge of the hole. Don drew on his shoes and made a hasty servey of the _. cellar. He found there was another exit from the _ place besides the stairs leading up the kitchen. A short flight of steps connected with a pair ef common cellar flaps. Striking a match, Don saw that the double covers were held by a hasp se- ~ eured by a small spike. To remove the spike, open one of the flaps and escape from the cellar seemed a simple matter for Don, provided he was not seen from one of the windows by the rescals above, whom he could hear walking about the rooms. He took out the spike and tried the flap to see how it would work. It creaked a bit on its hinges, but otherwise there was no trouble. “Now, if I only could get away with the sack could carry that very far those rascals would miss it and be after me.” Then his eye lighted on the water butt. “By George! If I could get it out of the cellar . unobserved I’d drop it into that cask. I'll bet _ they’d never think of looking thete for it.” It struck Don as being such a brilliant idea that he yearned to put it into practice. He returned to the cellar floor and listened. He no longer heard the men on the floor above. Were they _ standing by a window, or had they gone upstairs? The fear that they might come upon him un- ares made him nervous. Suddenly as his eyes upon a coil of rope an idea struck him. He seized the rope and one of the candles and ran up the cellar stairs. One end of the rope he made fast to the knob of the door opening on oe kitchen; the other end, after drawing the rope taut, he made fast to the rail near the top __- step of the stairway. It was impossible now for “two rascals to regain the cellar that way with- breaking down the door. That would give Don little chance to act. So he grabbed the bag of ‘silverware, which he found very heavy, and drag- it across the cellar floor to the other stair- way. Then he dragged it’ up the stairway into ‘the open air. Removing the cover of the water , which he then used as a support, he raised e bag up, grabbed it in his arms and dumped over into the cask, where it fell with a splash the dirty water and disappeared. | : guess it will be safe enough there,” said , complacently, as he put the cover on again. t that moment he heard a noise in the kitchen. “Pll bet they’re trying to get that cellar door erf.” he chuckled. “It must puzzle them greatly account for what is holding it shut.” He softly shut the cellar flap. reached under ter butt for his satchel, and slipping id to the front of the building started for ‘nearby trolley road as fast as his legs could he ER IV.—Don Restores the Squire’s Prop- erty and Receives the Reward. * BOUND TO RISE 5 which showed a gone through since leaving his and the home of Squire Dalton. Fifteen minutes later he rang the front-door bell at the Dalton house, quite a pretentious dwelling, setting back some fifty feet from the street. He was admitted and ushered at once into the presence of the well-to-do owner of the house, who was sitting ~ in his librarv with-a newspaper in his hands, and a bandaged foot resting on a low stool. “Good afternoon, Bruce.” said the squire, pleas- antly, motioning the boy to a seat. “Good afternoon, Squire Dalton,” replied the lad, placing the satchel on his lap and opening it. “I have brought you the thirty dollars in- terest nfoney.” As the squire had been expecting that Don might call that afternoon, he had the receipt in his pocketbook ready to exchange for the monny. “Ah, indeed, your mother is always prompt. wish I could say the same of all with whom ’ have money dealings.” : Don passed over the money and received thr receipt. “T suppose you will renew the mortgage, Squire Dalton,” said Don, “as mother is not able to pay the principal.” , “It would be an unnecessary expense and bother Ps to go to the trouble of making out a new mort- gage, when the old one will answer as well. Tell your mother that she need be under no anxiety about the matter. The loan can remain indefinite- ly, as long as the interest is paid with her ac- customed regularity.” “But, sir, if you should change your mind you could call the loan at any time, and if we were unable to pay you could foreclose.” . “That would necessarily remain my privilege under certain limitations, but I have no imme- diate intention of exercising it. I prefer to have ; the money invested as it is. So long as the in- + terest is paid with reasonable promptness I am perfectly satisfied not to make any change.” As Squire Dalton was regarded as a perfectly ~ square man in business matters, Don had noth- ing more to say on that subject. He had some- thing else to say, however, that rather surprised the squire. “T believe your house was robbed a few weeks ago, Sauire Dalton?” he said as an introduction to what was to come. aa “Yes. I lost quite a lot of valuable silverware, of which I have been unable to get any trace, although T have a detective still working on the case. “T think you offered a reward of five hundred dollars for its recovery?” : “I did, but I am afraid no one wlil earn it.” 4 i S : “Would you have any objection to my earnin it, Squire Dalton?” asked Den. % 3. “You!” exclaimed the squire, looking hard at the boy. “It can’t be that you have found any clue to its whereabouts?” 4 “Yes, sir. I may say that I had my hands on your property half an hour’ ago.” “I don’t quite understand you.” 4 ; “I think when you have heard my. story, sir, — you will admit that there is a chance of you get- ting your silver back through me.” ate “T will hear you,” said the squire, in a tone : _of some excitement. — Whereupon Don recited the gts eat = : 7 Gt. s

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* that afternoon with the thirty dollars to pay the 3 semi-annual interest on the mortgage. “= - “This is a most remarkable story, Bruce,” said E- the squire. “If you really have saved my prop- erty, as you say, and it is restored to me, you ‘shall have my check for the full amount of the reward.” - “Thank you, sir. If you will telephone to the Brideeton volice station and have two or three officers sent over here I’ll pilot them to the 3 house, and they may be able to catch the rascals - who are guilty of the hold-up. At any rate, we'll bring your property back with us.” : “I can’t leave my chair, Bruce. The telephone is over in the corner. You will oblige me by ringing up the station and giving the authorities whatever directions you think necessary under the circumstances.” Don did so, and told the squire that two poiice- men would start for his house at once. The = hold-up had long ago been reported, and half z . g dozen officers were out on the lookout for the oe rascals. The officers came inside of fifteen minutes, and Don started with them for the de- serted house. When they arrived at the build- ing the cellar door was found broken in, put the birds had flown. They had evidently taken ; alarm at the disappearance of the silver and ‘i had skipped the place. With the assistance of the policemen the water butt was overturned and the bag of silverware was found where Don had hidden it. ere was little danger that it would suffer from the soak- ing it had received, so Don lifted it on his back and guarded by the officers, carried it over to the trolley, where they waited for a-car bound for Bridgeton. Don got off with the bag in front of the squire’s home, while the policemen went on to town to report their failure to capture the four ruffians. The boy carried the bag into the house and to the squire’s library. “T guess vou’ll find all your stolen goods here, sir,” said Don, beginning to untie the string around the neck of the sack. “T hope so,” replied the delighted gentleman. “Take them out and lay them on the floor, one by one, and then oblige me by ringing for a servant.” 2 » . When the sack had been emptied of its precious * contents, Don summoned one of the servants, and the squire sent her upstairs to ask Mrs. Dalton _.to come to the library at once. She came, and “was astonished to see the stolen silverware dis- played upon the floor.of the room. “Why, William, how did you recover it?” : “Through this young man, Donald Bruce, the son of Mrs. Bruce, of Oakland.” . “Indeed?” replied the lady. “I ‘should like to ” i> hear—— “First count the articles and-see if they tally " with the list of the different things that were _.'taken that night,” interrupted her husband. - _ Mrs. Dalton went over the articles that had been in the bag and declared that nothing was -“I am glad*to hear it, my dear,” replied: the squire. “Now, if you will go to my desk and “make out a check to Donald Bruce’s order for the sum of five hundred dollars, I will sign it.” e lady did as her husband requested, and © imside cf five minutes Don had the check in his’ ing the table with his hairy fist. _ =e # 26 BOUND TO RISE hand and was feeling like a small capitalist. Mrs. - Dalton then wanted to hear how the stolen prop- erty had been recovered, and Don obliged her with the story, just as he had previously related : it to Squire Dalton. ; “My goodness!” she exclaimed, when he had finished. “You are a plucky boy. I- think few boys would have attempted what you did for any reward, and I doubt if another boy in the whole county would have saved the silverware so cleverly. You have easily earned the reward, and I congratulate you on its acquisition.” “Thank you, ma’am. And now, as.I have an- other errand in the neighborhood, I think I will go. I am very much obliged to you for the check, Squire Dalton.” “You are entirely welcome, Bruce,” replied the squire. “I hope the money will be of great service to you.” “There isn’t any doubt of that, sir,” replied oe taking up’ his hat and bowing himself out of e room. CHAPTER V.—Introduces Our Heroine and Others. ; 3 Don had quite an exciting story to tell his ~ mother and sister when he got home, just about dark. When he exhibited his five-hundred-dollar ees there was surprise and joy in the house- Old. The Oakland Times got hold of the particulars of the recovery of Squire Dalton’s stolen silver- ware in time to print the story in the follow- ~ ing morning’s paper, and by the average break- fast hour nearly exerybody in the town was talk- ing about Don Bruce, the hero of the affair. Sam Jenkins saw the account in cold type, and as soon as he had finished the morning meal he rushed over to call on his chum and to con- — gratulate him on earning the reward offered six weeks before by the squire. : “You’re in luck, Don,” he asid, as soon as he met his friend. “Five hundred dollars is a iot of money. I wish I had so much.” “Yes,” admitted Don, “it is quite a little boodle.” 2 “What are you going to do with it?” “Well, I’ve*given half of it to mother, to begin with. The rest——” “You’re going to put into your inventions, I suppose ?” interjected Sam. “Well, I think I’ll take out a patent for my rock-crusher.” Fs While the boys were talking in the dining-room of the Bruce cottage, four men, the rascals.who _ had been engaged in the ‘trolley hold-up, Were seated in a back room of an ice cream saloon in Bridgeton. They had been reading the Bridge- ton Sunday Signal, which had printed the details of the recovery by Squire Dalton of his silver- _ ware, and the account had dispelled something that had until then been a great mystery to them. _ They vented their chagrin-and anger in impreca- tions and muttered threats of vengeance on the plucky boy who had outwitted them. - . z “We've got to get square with that cub,” growl- ed the fellow who had chased Don unsuccessfully — with the switchbar.. : : . “And we will, too,” responded Burley, thump- _ r . % Ly £ Soe See ee EO gg PI I eg Se

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-. his companions, named Grundy. - : “That’s what we’ve got to figger on right here,” said the fourth rascal, known as Croker. Fe The rascals put their heads together and de- ~_ jiberated the knotty question for half an hour -_ before they came to a final arrangement. Bur- ze ‘ley produced a pair of bushy ‘false whiskers, which he adjusted to his face, and, having dressed himself in a comparatively new suit of clothes loaned him by the proprietor of the joint where he and his associates.were in hiding, started for _ Oakland to make certain investigations. z At ten o’clock that day Don and Sam started for Sunday-school. Neither, however, head a place $n a class—Don was librarian and Sam was his assistant. They had all they could do during ‘class hour to replace the returned books on the shelves and fill the requisitions for new ones in time to be sent to the various teachers for dis- ‘ tribution among the scholars. After Sunday- ‘school was out Don managed, as usual, to meet Miss Marian White, daughter of the president of the Oakland Bank, at the door. ‘= “Good morning, Miss Marian,” he said, lifting ~~ his hat politely. - Be Svcd carne Don,” she replied, with a bright smile, extending her gloved hand. “Lovely. day, © isn’t it?” = ‘ Don was about to reply that it was, when a -sprucely dressed boy, named Herbert Shaw, son of the Oakland Bank’s cashier, stepped up and rudely elbowed him“back, at the same time ad- ad dressing the girl. ; 7 - ~— Delighted to see you this morning, iss ‘= eS are Said, with a bow and a life of his hat. “Shall I have the pleasure of seeing you home?” é ~ “You will ‘have to excuse me, Mr. Shaw,” re- for she =p the* pretty girl, somewhat coldly, ae ein like Herbert Shaw even a little bit, al- though he was a membersof the same social set to which-she belonged and paid her a great deal of attention in one way or another. “Mr. Bruce ‘is going to’see me to my home.” - - Herbert’s lip curled, and he cast a scornful ‘ ‘at Don, who stood to one side. This was A third time that Herbert had failed to mo; ‘nopolize Marian’s society when Don Bruce was ~ around, and it made him angry and’ disgusted. : He knew bétter, however, than to give expression -- to his sentiments in the girl’s presence. He re- pressed his rage under a sickly smile, bowed and permitted Marian to walk off with his rival. he looked after them with-no pleasant ex- pression on his features, while he tapped his well- polished shoes with the point of his slender ivory- headed cane in a way that indicated his. feel- ings. ‘ = } _. “That’s the time you got left, Herb,” chuckled voice at his elbow. Secon on his lips, but checked himself when » saw it was the pastor’s son, Henry, who had pee an ae it when I heard , White to permit you to see her me, and turned you down in favor of Don ruc “2 that a cold shaké.” = > se 4 Stas “ “Hew are we goin’ to do it?” asked one of © turned quickly about, with an angry ex-~ BOUND TO RISE eee “How do you make that out? That fellow hap- pened to ask her first.” : ; “No, he didn’t. You. stepped up before he had a chance to. I heard all that passed between them. He simply wished her good morning, and then you butted in and’ got it in the neck for doing so. It is very evident she don’t care to have € you see her home; that’s why she as good as : asked Bruce to escort her.” ed This was decidedly unpalatable information for Herbert’s ears. hed “Do you mean to say that he didn’t ask to see her home?” he demanded. “That’s just what I mean to say,” chuckled Henry Chase, who took pleasure in aggravating ‘ Herbert wherever Marian White was concerned. boy? “Tt seems evident that he has, as far as Miss White is concerned.” “T don’t believe it. It’s preposterous! fellow isn’t in my’ class.”, “That’s right—he isn’t, but he gets there, just the same.” The way Chase said it nearly drove Herbert frantic, while Henry rubbed his hands together and chuckled quietly. He was.trying to fan a live coal into a blaze for some purpose he had in view. “Look here, Hal, are we going to put up with this sort of thing? Are we going to allow that low boy to butt in among his social superiors?” “Do you know any way of taking him down?” asked Henry, with sly emphasis. “No, I don’t; but if you'll stand in with me on some scheme I’ll push it through.” That ow x ¥ . : as he er prs oe * Be ‘& re} “You haven’t the nerve, Herb,” laughed Henry, 4 tantalizingly. Se “Tl bet I have... Are you with me?” Ws “It isn’t my funeral, Herb,” replied Henry, soft- ~ ly. “But I know what I would do if I was in | / your shoes-and a fellow tried to do mé out of =o my gixl. ae *“What would you do?” a P “I'd get back at him in a way that would settle _ him for keeps.” ae “How?” : : : Well, let’s walk on. ete | g's » “Are you going my way? and I'll tell you.” CHAPTER VI—Don is Up Against It Hard. myself upon you, as it were,” said Marian White, as 7 as she and Don walked away from the church, see me home, so— Beg Sez n replied Den, - gallantly. “It gives me great satisfaction to be — “Dear me, you said that very nicely, indeed, — Do you really mean it?” — gay fae “You must excuse me, Mr. Bruce, for forcing but I didn’t want Herbent Shaw to “Don’t mention it, Miss Marian,” accorded the pleasure of your society.” I certainly do.” i t=

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front gate and Don accepted the invitation. He spent a very pleasant hour with her, and at five o'clock took his departure for home. That night Don retired about ten o’clock. His room over- ‘looked the kitchen one-story extension, and when the weather permitted he slept with both windows wide open. On the present evening, though the _ weather was fairly warm, the sky was overcast, “and, fearing that it might rain before morning, Don, left his windows only partly open. The house had been dark and silent for three hours, _ when four men; who had come down the street from the direction of the trolley road, paused before the cottage and looked up at the windows. They held a brief consultation, then one of them raised the latch of the gate and the entire party passed through into the garden. One of a them led the way to the rear of, the building ag and pointed at the kitchen extension and the partly open windows above it. = “That’s easy,” said the voice of Strype, with a at ~~. ®huckle. “I wonder if he’s a light sleeper?” “Light or heavy, we'll be in that ropm in a i brace of shakes,” replied Burley.» “Strype and __ me’ll do the business,” he added. “You two keep ‘- your weather optics on the lookout for any strag- = _ glers along the street.” bes - Burley and his companion, Strype, easily clam- S __bered to the roof of the kitchen withaut making - Lany noise to speak about. They were well trained in that method of working their way into a house -_ and were as active as two cats. Once on the > roof of the extension they were almost on a ___ level with the windows of Don’s room. Strype knelt down on all fours; Burley stepped on his back, and seizing the window sash raised it softly. Then he climbed into the room. Strype followed hima moment later. ~ E : The room was dark, and, as the night was gloomy, Burley took a small, flat dark-lantern - — from his pocket, which he had lighted before he left the yard below, and opening the slide flashed a disk of light around the room. Don __- lay quietly aslep in bed on the opposite side ~» of the yoom. _ “See if the door is locked,” whispered Burley. “Jf it isn’t, and there is a key, turn it, orva bolt, shoot it.” > Strype obeyed the directions. t _ “Now grab him by the arms while I gag him,” _ said Burley. { = . © -The touch of the rascal’s hands startled’ Don - _, into wakefulness, only for him to find himself _ .a prisoner and helpless. Burley tied-a handker- chief around his mouth, then pieces of stout cord were produced from their pockets, and ‘his arms were forced behind his back and secured. His ankles were then bound together, and the two crooks surveyed their work with much satis- ; action. While Don could not got a good look ; cat is captors, owing to the darkness, he had a strong: icion that they were two of thé crowd whom he had outgeneraled in the cellar of the deserted house. | ate He presumed their intention was to rob the ouse, not that they would be able to poatininat the as oor ay. ced Res carry ef, and. that as preliminary iy. secured rom in- ering with their plans. He was soon unde- iv fy SCORCS. 2-73 5, . 5 he a ae 2 BOUND TO RISE “Now,” said Burley, “get outside on the roof * and I’ll hand him down to you.” Strype obeyed orders. Burley grasped Don in his muscular arms and passed him out of the window to his associate, who in turn passed him down to the other two men below. Burley then tore a sheet off “the bed, gathered up all the boy’s garments and tied them in the sheet, after which he dropped the bundle on to the kitchen roof. Then he got out of the window and, throw- ing the bundle to the ground, followed it. He then led the way to the barn behind the house and, taking a small jimmy out of his pocket, forced the door. “Fetchshim in here,” he said te his companions. The entire party entered and closed the door. after them. . “Now, young man,” said Burley, handing Strype the dark-lantern and drawing his revolver, “there are your clothes, and we’re goin’ to let you loose so you can dress yourself. Don’t you dare touch that gag about your mouth, or you'll get a crack on your bean that you won’t like. Untie him, Strype. Grundy and Croker, get ‘your guns out. If he makes the slightest attempt to break away hit him over the head with the butts.” Don saw that he had no show at all, so he calmly obeyed the mandate to dress himself. As soon as he had put on his shoes, Burley took the longest piece of rope and tied it securely to one of Don’s ankles. The other end, after leav- ing sufficient play for the boy to walk, he wound several times around his own wrist. “Now, young feller, I reckon you know who we are, even if it’s too dark to recognize our faces,” said Burley. “You butted dnto our busi- ness yesterday in the cellar of that deserted house betwen this town and Bridgeton and you — served us a measly trick. It done us out of a lot of dough and put five Hundred dollars into your trousers. If it wasn’t that you got a check ~ instead of the real flimsies we might talk busi- ness with you. We'd let you buy yourself out of what’s a-comin’ to you. Seein’ as there ain’t no way of you doin’ that now, things has to take their course. When a feller does us dirt, whether he’s man or boy, we don’t rest till we square up the aceount. We've found you guilty on the first count, and we’re goin’ to put it over you” in a way you're not likely to forget. I reckon that’s all I’ve got to tell you, so now we'll pro- ceed to business.” ; : The ruffian led the way out of the barn; Don was compelled to step out alongside of him, and the others followed. It was about two o’clock in the morning, and the street, which was on the. outskirts of the town, was as silent and deserted — as a churchyard. Burley turned in the direction ~ which would lead them still further away from — the town limits, and the party tramped away jn At length a dark, serpentine stream came into view, which the boy knew was the Savage River. The railroad tracks lay just this side of it A light burned dimly in a track-walker’s shanty, and there was a white bull’s-eye shining from -a nearby switch. As soon as they came to the tracks, Burley turned abruptly toward the cut-— ting that lay about a quarter of a mile away. | “They entered the cut. After proceeding halfway -» through, Burley ‘called a halt.’ 3 aes , : ‘ ‘ =

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Me “This will do,” he said. “This is the traék used page the Atlantic Express, which passes here at at two-forty. ‘Now, tie this chap’s_arms be- hind his back, Strype.” _ Don, alarmed at the suggestiveness of Burley’s words, made a sudden spring in an effort to escape. But it was futile; the r attached to his ankle, the other end of which was wound around Burley’s wris® came taut and tripped _ him up. Strype jumped upon him as he fell to the ground and in a moment or two his arms _ Were tied. _ “Now,” said Burley, “tie him to the track so _ that his right leg will lay across the rail. The _ express will amputate it. We'll wait up yonder at the mouth of the cut until the train goes _ through, then we'll come back and tie up the stump so he won’t bleed to death.” f _ Strype, assisted by Grundy, carried these di- ‘rections into effect, and inside of five minutes Don “was bound to one of the ties, with his right leg ‘Secured across one rail. “Now, young feller, the express will soon attend to your case,” said Burley, with an evil laugh. is is what you get for buttin’ into our busi- » > ~ ness. Then they left him and walked toward the ee end of the cut. - CHAPTER VII.—The Passing of the Express. ~~ 7 With a groan\Don lay back over the outside edges of the ties, his head hanging down, and the cold perspiration of despair oozing out in drops n his forehead. His plucky work of the preced- afternoon was about to cost him dear. Brave trying the very fibers of his soul. _ At that moment far away down the track, be- yond thercurve three miles to the west of Oakland, ci the whistle of the express as it passed a ssing. Don heard it, and he started up a bit then sank back with a groan of despair. There was no help, then, for him—he was rE oomed. At that instant an electric shock went _ through his body—something had cut his fingers, d under his back. Even at that tense mo- he was curious enough to know what had sed the Laren gh ne — a foeee ot and recognized that he was almost leaning n the razor edge of a broken bottle. A sud- ~ den thought flashed through his brain, like the _®ays of a searchlight illustrating a dark land- “stape, that if he could free his hands he might 2 himself yet; for, though he could not hope to ‘untie the knots which bound his leg to the tie, 2 d a sharp knife in his pocket, and its blade d soon liberate his limb. aj ge omen rey, utterly acne ip Fag ing the cuts his fingers ived, he worked his body so that the rope held his wrists bore right over the edge of iy s he was at heart, his present predicament was. ~ empty barrel at the back of the place. ae BOUND TO RISE 9 of the locomotive’s drivers on the rail. It was a singing sound that steadily grew into a low hum_ that broadened and swelled out until it filled his ears with a noise like thunder. * “Heaven help me!” he gasped. Snap! The rope that had held his wrists parted and his hands were free. With the music of the rails ever rising like the cadence of some powerful organ ringing in his ears, he thrust his hand into his pocket and drew out his jack-* knife. Pulling the blade open, he began sawing at the rope that held his leg down. “Thank Heaven it’s sharp!” he breathed, work- ing away with desperate energy. But he had only a moment or two to save him- self, for that iron monster, with its heavy load of sleepers, was sweéping down upon him like a rushing mountain avalanche. In fifteen seconds it would be upon him. He strained at his leg as he sawed away with the knife. Suddenly the rope unraveled its last strand, and he dragged his leg from the track. Not a moment too soon, either, for as he rolled over he felt the roar and the wind blast as of a fierce tornado passing over him. The noise was terrific in His ears, and for a moment it seemed as if he Would be sucked under the wheels of the passing train and ground to death. Then it passed, and he lay breathless* and trembling under the leaden sky that hung low over the gloomy landscape. “Suddenly he remembered that the ruffians who had placed him in his desperate position were coming back. The bare possibility of these men recapturing him, after what he had gone through, started the boy into instant action. He sprang to his feet and ran toward the other end of the cut. As soon as he got out of the cut, he mounted the hillside and made his way as fast as he could to the road up which he had been brought half an hour be- fore. As soon as he reached it he turned his face toward Oakland. Within a quarter of a mile or so of his own home he sat down to rest on the threshold of a deserted story-and-a-half building which had formerly done duty as a blacksmith shop. Before he was quite aware of the fact he dozed off to sleep. After a time he woke up with a start. “My gracious!” he exclaimed. been asleep. his feet. » How long he had been dozing he could not tell, but he was conscious that Le felt much better. His weakness and nervousness had passed off S85 Pt peat to be a aeie cae be PO ote Sar ; “IT must get along,” he said, “or those rascals will get clean off.” : ,. As he was on the point of starting on again he heard the sound of voices in the divestion whence he came. Glancing cautiously back along the street, he saw the shadowy forms of-his four enemies coming along at a rapid pace. There was no way for him to avoid them except by en- tering thesshanty and waiting for them to get by. He did so at once, and took shelter behind a large - To his dismay the raseals paused in front of the building _and then entered its —* et “T believe I’ve This won’t. do,” and he jumped to -

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10 oe » CHAPTER VIII.—Don Plans to Capture the Four Crooks. “Dig up the tools, Strype,” said the voice of Burley; “and be quick about it, for we haven’t no time to spare. Since that young cub managed to free himself—though how he did it beats me— ani got off clear, this town ain’t a safe place for us no longer. We'll risk that job we planned the other day, the cracking of Banker White’s house, I mean, and give the papers something else to print about us, and the people hereabouts some- thing more to remember us by.” “One of these days I hope we'll come back, when he ain’t expected, and pickle that slippery young monkey for good,” growled Grundy, with a smothered imprecation. “I’d give somethin’ to _ know how he got clear of that, rail.” “Oh, dash him! We’ve somethin’ more impor- tant to think about now,” replied Burley, in an ill-humored tone. “That’s right,” coincided the man named : Croker, a chap who had served several terms in different States’ prisons for various offenses. While they were talking Strype was unearthing a kit of burglar implements he had buried in the shanty a few days before. He lost no time over = it, and ina few minutes dragged the bag contain- Pare ing the tools to the surface. ae “AH right)” he said, taking the bag under his arm. “Let’s be off. Where’s this crib we’re goin’ to crack?” ' Tt’s on the outskirts, not very far from here,” replied Burley. “If we work lively we ought to clean the place out inside of an hour.” “Any dogs or bu ce alarms?” asked Grundy. “Both,” said Bur “But I’ve got a club mepe! that'll ard the cantuas As to the alarms, there is mee ttached to the cellar gratin’ s, I guess. ‘ Our tool iy ee force one of them in a jiffy-and we -_ shall be inside in no time at all. Come on.” -. ‘The four rascals then started for the residence of the president of the Oakland Bank. “My goodness!” cried Don. “So they’re going _ to break into Marian’s home. I must try and revent them from carrying out their project. If - Pea only reach the police in time to head them off. I must get somebody to help me in this matter. I'll have to wake Sam up and send him to the station.” As soon as the ruffians were out of sight Don hurried on down the street. Passing his own home, he directed his’ steps toward Sam’s. He kmew just where his chum slept,,and aroused ~ him. ; Inside of six minutes he appeared at the front Be Sr and found Don waiting for him there: « _ Where’s your hat?” Don asked. “Get it.” 3 io what does this all mean?” asked Sam. ‘ing for the gate. ~ Sam _ took down his hat. fro the rack, and, after closing the hall door behind him, followed his friend to the sidewalk. “What’s the trouble?” asked Sam,*as Don seized him by the arm and began to drag him sent the s “The are is a 1” gasped Sam. - which opened_on the stairs communicating with © Don pulled hea do Siet2 mean? - - BOUND TO RISE ‘ Somebody broke into your—but this isn’t the way to your house.” “Who said it was? A gang of crooks, the same four that held up the trolley car Saturday after- noon, are at the residence of Mr. White by this ‘time, prepared to break in and clean out the house.” : “Gracious! -How do you know that?” “Never mind how. I’ll tell you that later. I want you to run as fast as you can to the police station and tell them to send half a dozen officers there as soon as possible.” “What are you going to do?” “I am going over to Mr. White’s house to keep watch on the rascals and try and prevent them from getting away before the policemen come.” “All right,” replied Sam. “I’Jl go to the sta- tion.” He set off at once at a swinging trot, while Don cut across to the street, half a block down which stood the White mansion in the midst of spacious and well-kept grounds. Don approached the res- ‘idence of Mr. White with some caution, as he entertained a wholesome respect for the four desperate crooks who had designs on the banker’s property, and he did not wish to have another personal encounter with them. “He judged that one of the rascals would remain outside the build- ing on the watch, while the other three attended to the business in hand. The cloudiness of the night or early morning covered his movements to a great extent, just as it helped the ruffians them- selves. He decided that the best way to approach the place was from the back, and to do this he cut across the grounds of Mr. White’s next-door neighbor and thus gained an entrance to the White property back of the carriage-house, where the coachman and the gardener slept. : He saw no way of awakening these men with- out attracting attention to the fact—that is, if one of the crooks*was on the watch—and he did not think it best to-run the risk. As he drew closer to the house he looked warily about for the watcher, but could see no one. He crossed the smooth and velvety lawn on his hands and knees until he got close up to the building, and still there was no sign that the rascals were on or | about the premises. : He had heard the chief crook of the bunch say that they would enter the house by one of the cellar gratings, so Don hunted around to see if one of the gratings had been forced. The grat- ings under the kitchen were the easiest and most likely ones.to be attacked, and thither the boy — made his’ way. He found one of the gratings — torn from its fastenings, which was a sure sign that the villains were in the house. = “Now what shall I do?” he asked himself. “It looks as if the whole of them are inside. I think I may venture to arouse the coachman and the — gardener and give them an idea of the situation. It is likely that they have a- revolver each. I = guess that’s the best thing to do.” He crawled around to the back of the kitchen, ° then rose on his legs and dashed for the carriage- house. There was a bell-pull alongside the door — the floor on which the men slept. lustily a at cs and pagealy one of the windows, a z = - . eM att tl cee ies > fain vide ae * — > Fe ~ ae

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BOUND above was thrown up and the coachman’s voice _ asked who was there. ; “I am Don Bruce. “i Dress yourself and come : There - are four burglars going through the house. I “Has the gardener got one, too?” “Yes. He’ll fetch it when he comes down.” While they were talking the gardener joined ey “The rascals have entered through one of the _ which they have wrenched 6ff. Have. you any- thing that will answer for a club in a small way?” The gardener ‘said he had a policeman’s short _ club in ‘his room, and he got it for him. The " then started for the house. When they ed the place where the grating had been orced, Don pointed it out to'his companions. _ “That’s the way they entered,” he said. “Now, the most prudent way to deal with these fellows, who are armed and a mighty bad lot, is to lie in wait for them to come out with their plunder, when we’ll be able to take them by surprise and t something of a disadvantage. The longer they are about the job the more chance we shall have of being reinforced by the officers.” e coachman and the gardener agreed that ae proposition was the most sensible one un- er the circumstances, as neither of them was anxious to run the chance of being shot by one of the crooks. ‘ “Then you’d better go around front, where you can k an eye on the hall door,” said Don to r ( man, “while you,” to the gardener, “keep atch on the side entry door.. I'll stand guard here over the kitchen door, on the chance that het make their, exit at the back of the . » A minute later each of them was at his post, ‘Ten minutes passed away, which seemed like’ alf an hour to Don, and there was not a sign to indicate the movements of the four burglars tthe inside. Inaction made the boy nervous and ient. Finally he determined, somewhat ist his. better jud t, to enter the house gh the open cellar windows and see just what the crooks were doing. He wént in. Im one corner stood the stairs leading to the ry above, and Don cautiously, ascended the When he reached the floor above he paused He not hear a sound. He turned ndle of tie door oe a = ag awe a room, W: pro e cellar windows near the kitchen, the grating of « TO RISE 11 Then he took off his shoes and started upstairs for the parlor floor. Entering the back parlor cautiously, he found the gas turned low there, too. A bundle of plunder, which had been ob- tained from the front parlor, lay on the floor near the dividing portieres. Don collared this and shoved it behind a Japanese screen which stood in one torner. At that moment, with startling suddenness, the report of a revolver rang through the house. “My gracious!” cried Don. “Who fired that shot? Mr. White or one of the burglars?” Done heard a woman, whom he thought to be the banker’s wife, utter a scream. The shot had doubtless awakened every one in the house. Marian’s room was on the third floor, while three female servants, one of, whom was the cook, slept on the attic floor. The possibility that murder might be done by those rascals, now that they were known to be in the house, roused Don to action. Without stopping to consider the peril that faced him up- stairs, he sprang for the stairway and dashed up two steps at a time. As he struck the landing above he.came into collision with a man in the dark, and both went down together 6n the thick carpet, Don on top. “Blast you! Can’t you see where you’re goin’?” cried the voice of Grundy, who evidently mistook the boy for one of his companions. “Let me up, will you?” i Quick as thought Don struck him a blow over the head with the billy. The crack was a hard one and the ruffian rolled over unconscious. Don’s hand came into contact with his hip-pocket and felt the butt of his revolver. He took possession of the weapon in a moment. Before he could rise from his knees a second crook, Croker, came dash- ing for the stairs with a bundle in each. hand. Between his hurry and the darkness he did not notice that an obstruction lay in his path. _ He tripped over Grundy’s body and, being unable to save himself, pitched headlong down the stairs. He and the bundles arrived in a confused heap at the bottom. His career on earth was ovet for good and all, for he had broken his neck. Don, however, ' paid no attention to his downward flight, but rushed for the room where he heard a struggle going on. Whether the woman who had uttered the scream had fainted or not, certain it is no second sound came from her. The door opening off the upper hall was open and the gas was lighted at full blast. . The burner was provided with a patent appa- ratus, by which the gas when apparently out was not actually so, but was turned down to a spark,- which could be instantly rekindled into a full blaze by pulling a small brass’chain. When Don appeared at the doorway a dramatic scene met his view.- Mr. White, in ‘his nightclothes, lay bound and gagged omthe floor, with_Burley bend- -. * ing over him as if had just finished the j or | Mrs. White lay in’ bed, staring in terror at a pointed revolver in the hand of Strype. The ~ boy’s sudden appe&rance was for the moment un- noticed, and the first intimation the two-raseals had of danger was when Don raised the weapon ,- he had taken from Grundy and fired at tryp The bullet struck and shattered the hand $ 4 +S se *

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held the revolver, as the boy intended, and as the ruffian uttered a howl ef pain the pistol fell to the floor. : Burley turned like a flash, snatched up his own revolver, which lay on the carpet, and would have shot Don, but the youth was too quick for him. Don’s second shot shattered his right arm, and _.. both rascals were at the boy’s mercy. But they _ -were not so easily subdued. Strype reached down _ to pick his weapon up with his left hand. “Tf you touch that gun I’ll shoot,” cried Don, covering the rascal... < Strype straightened up with an imprecation. “The game is up with you guys,” continued the boy. “Back up against the wall yonder, both of you, or I won’t answer for the consequences. I am not going to take any chances with either of you. If you make the least attempt to resist I shall feel bound in self-preservation to kill you.” ‘The ruffians, recognizing that Don was master of the situation, sullenly did as he told them to. Don then advanced into the room and, whipping out his jack-knife, cut the ‘banker free, while he kept a wary’ eye on the wounded rascals. Mr. White himself tore the gag from his mouth and stood up. + : “Don Bruce!” the ‘banker exclaimed, aston- ished to see the boy in his house at that hour in the morning, and under such stirring circum- ‘stances. “To what lucky chance are we indebted for your fortunate appearance in this emergency ?” “This is hardly a time for explanations, Mr. White,” replied the boy, politely. “Let us secure these rascals first. Take this revolver and hold them in subjection while I tie them up with some- thing.” | R 3 - Keep your weapon, Don,” replied the banker. _ “Mine is here on the floor. I shot at one of those ‘scoundrels when I turned up the light and saw him in the room, but missed him. Then both of ‘them sprang,upon me and knocked me down. While I lay half-stunned I was gagged and tied - as you found me.” ; ‘ _ Mr. White picked up his revolver and covered. the two crooks, while Don bound their hands. be- - hind their backs with towels. __ . . “There’s another chap in the hall outside, whom “¥ laid out, while the fourth, I think, is uncon- ‘scious at the foot of the’ stairs, or possibly in the hands of your gardener or footman, whom I aroused from their beds-and left on guard over the front and side doors.” — P 04 oS Ale Sa A out into the hall, and the banker lighted the gas. Grundy was just coming to his senses, and Don ‘secured him as he had the others. Croker lay silent and still, huddled up at the foot of the ‘irs, with the two bundles around him. : go downstairs and Jet the footman and dener in,” said Don. = ae Do s0,” answered Mr. White, who remained aard over the Sheetpeiggners in the upper t man - standing outside in a state of bd with ze gardener, who had the sound of the shooting of the opinion that been co not. aS BOUND TO RISE - _ Between them they dragged Burley and Strype . . poem es my Tad,” said, pci: for the wife shuddered | tt] “It was a clea appearance of the burglars, at whom they in- tended to shoot. Before Don could say anything, Sam Jenkins and several policemen entered the gate and marched toward the house. : “You’ve come in time to be in at the death,” said Don to the first officer. “We’ve caught the four burglars, and all you'll have to do is to carry them to the station.” se “Where are they?” asked the policeman. “One is unconscious at the foot of the front- staircase,” said the boy leading the way, “while Mr. White is standing guard over the others up- stairs.” = “This man is dead,” said the officer, when he pulled Croker out on the floor. “Dead!” exclaimed Don, in surprise. “As a coffin-nail. What happened to him? you shoot him?” : x Doe t replied the boy. “He fell down the whole ight.” . “Then he has broken his neck, I should judge. There’s some of the plunder, I see. Take it out of the way.” Did Don picked up the two bundles and started up -the stairs, followed by the officers, the coachman, the gardener and Sam, who wanted to see what- ever was going on. Mr. White now addressed. the policemen. - “Here’s your prisoners,” he Sia “We had a narrow escape. Only for that lad, Don Bruce, they would probably have got away with a good — bit of my property. The rascals had me bound ~ and gagged when Bruce most providentially ap- eared. He pluckily put those two fellows out of usiness. No man could have done better under the circumstances than he. He is entitled to the , whole credit of the capture of these three vil- lains.” = The officers wasted no time in taking charge of the three crooks and marching them off to the station. As for the body of Croker, it had to | remain where it was until the coroner had ~ viewed it, according to law, and given a permit for its removal. CHAPTER X.—In: Which Don Is About the } Whole Thing. Pas Don and asked the hero of the occasion to tell his story. _ This he did, beginning from the time he had been” overpowered by Burley and Strype in his own room and afterward marched over to the tracks eee of the K. & P. Railroad. His auditors were _ horrified when Don told how jhe had been bound — to the track in the cut by the rascals, who had — for interfering with ir plans to secure the- silver buried in the old deserted house. =~ “How did wou manage to escape?” asked banker, his face reflecting the indignation he felt toward the remorseless ruffians. as fees his salvation to " ¥ . ’ Don explained how he owed the broken bottle. oe of Provi = r ‘Providence that aid Mr. White, solemnly, w pv sat & you, a ee ea em eee)! aia Arahat ays 4 Sam were invited into the front sit- — ting-room ®n the second floor, and the banker» ob é = : ts ren" : d - taken such a heartless method of punishing him — ;

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- Then Don went on to say how, on his way back, when he was-ebliged to take refuge in the de- yee S serted blacksmith shop, he had overheard the ras- ___ eals talk of their plan to rob Mr. White’s house, and how he determined to foil them, if possible. “I woke Sam Jenkins up and sent him for the _ Officers, while I came on to this place alone.” ~~ Don mn described all that followed ag to the Moment he appeared in the door of the bedroom _and disabled the two arch scoundrels by a couple - of well-directed shots. The banker then had some- thing to say. He assured Don that he would never forget the obligation that the boy had __ placed him under, and trusted than Don would permit him to offer him some substantial evidence of his gratitude and that of Mrs. White. Don, however, declared that he was more than what he thought was only his plain duty. six o’clock before the interview terminated, and then Don and his friend took their departure for their homes. F “You’ve done a. big thing for yourself, Don,” said Sam, when they were walking along the street. “You’ve made a good friend of Mr. White, ‘and he’s one of the most important and influential persons in town.” _ “T suppose so,” replied Don. “I’ve no objection 0 making good friends, though I enjoyed the _- gentleman’s acquaintance before.” . “But he’ll do more for you now than he would - have done if this thing hadn’t happened.” = “That may be true; but, just the same, I’m not going to ask him to do anything for me.” “Why, wouldn’t you like to get a place in his bank when pee through at High School? You couldn’t find a better job in town.” “I wouldn’t refuse a position in the Oakland ank if it was offered to me, but I hardly think I will ask for it.” : : “Oh, he’ll offer it to you, all right.” \ “Well, I’ve got a year of schooling before me , Sam. Maybe by that time my rock-crusher ll be an established fact, and I may also have other irons in the fire to take my attention; so, you see, it isn’t at all certain that I may care o take a job in the’ bank.” : “Tf you don’t take it, I hope you'll put.in a od word for me,” said Sam, eagerly. | ‘CHAPTER XI.—A Mean Piece of Business. policeman called at the Bruce cottage about n o’clock that morning to take Don to the Police Court, where Burley, Strype and Grundy were _- to be examined before the magistrate. Don was out in his workshop at the barn with Sam Jen- 1s, and both -boys accompanied the officer. Mr. ite was in court, as were also the coachman the. er. Don, of course, was the star , and his story of itself was strong enough se the prisoners tombe remanded for trial next term of the Criminal Court. other witnesses only served to make the evidence str against the rascals. had to attend er i 5. as oe -eoroner’s inquest that BOUND TO RISE : 13 * afternoon and state what he knew of the way in which Crokér came to his death. Of course our hero was interviewed by the representative of the Oakland Daily Times, and the story that appeared _ in that afternoon’s edition proved to be quite a sensation one. All Oakland read it, and the town was agog over the attempted burglary of the residence of Banker White, as well as the diabolical attempt of the crooks to cripple the boy who incurred their wrath on the Saturday previous. On the following Saturday the annual picnic of the Oak- land Methodist Church was held at Greenwood Cove, a mile outsideof the town. By noon there were probably two hundred people at the grounds, the majority, as a matter of course, being under twenty years of age. Don Bruce was there, and so was Sam Jenkins. Neither would have missed the fun for.a farm. Don was especially interested in the picnic be- cause he knew Marian White would be there. Herbert Shaw and Henry Chase went to the grove together, and they stuck together after they got there. The day was a perfect one for a picnie-and everybody looked forward to having’ a good time. 3 he grove in question was fitted up particularly for such outings. Tents, booths, pavilions, swings, merry-go-rounds and similar contrivances were - erected there, as well as numerous tables, sup- plied with benches, for the: accommodation of all who brought their own provisions. Don was something of a lion, owing to the prominence he had so a, acquired in the newspapers, and everybody who knew him personally, and many ~~ who did not, had something nice to say to him. - There was not a girl at the picnic who was on speaking terms with him but felt proud to be seen talking -to him, and those who were not ac- ‘ ainted with him were crazy for an introduction. nder these cireumstances Don was soon having - the time of his life. “It makes me sick to see the way the folks here are taking their hats off to that Don Bruce,” _— remarked Herbert Shaw, discontentedly, to his friend, Henry Chase. “One would think he was = a little tin god on wheels.” 4 “ss Henry chuckled. : “He’s put it all over 7 oa with Marian White since he saved her father’s house from being robbed. You aren’t in it with him even a little bit now. y, she — noticed you when you spoke to her a little while ago. Bruce is It, while you and me are not in the running.” “I'd give something to get square with him,” ~ growled Herbert, angrily. “Why don’t you? I gave you a pointer on the” subject last Sunday.” = “T can’t do sive alone,” grumbled Herbert. “I want you to stand by me.” “You can’t do anything alone? Nonsense! a got the chance cut and dried at hand.” ow? = and smash Don Bruce has been puttin year or so. Among ‘them | xi Paes Fz s =F St # Rvar

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14 crusher that he’s. going to have patented, and which Howard Folsom, who has seen it, told me - _ was a sure winner. If you only broke that one model up you’d break his heart, for he sets great _ store by it. He keeps all his plans«in the bench drawer. Tear the whole bunch of them to pieces, and you'll have a splendid revenge.” “By Jove! I’d like to do it. You’ll come with me, won’t you?” “Me? No. Why should I go? It’s your af- fair, isn’t-it? If I was as sore on him as you are I wouldn’t waste much time in doing what I’ve suggested to you.” “But I think you might go along for company,” persisted Herbert. “Where’s your sand?” taunted Henry, whose object was to induce his companion to do the dirty work while he participated in. the benefit, without running any of the risk of discovery. “You’re a pretty fellow to talk about getting back at a chap, and when the way is pointed out to you you weaken. You won’t have such another chance in a long time to injure him in a tender spot. However, it’s your funeral, not mine,” added Henry, with apparent carelessness. “Do you think I could do it without suspicion falling on me?” asked Herbert, nervously. “Why, of course you could. You’re not going to leave your card on his work-bench saying that you called in while he,was away. You haven’t threatened him, or had a scrap with him, so how = he going to suspect you? It’s a regular cinch or z 54 body might see me going into his yard.” “Not if you keep your eyes open, they won’t.” “At any rate, I can swear I’ve been here in the grove all day.” “Sure you can.” F “And you'll back me up in that?” “Of course I will. You don’t suppose I want to see you get into trouble?” » “Then I'll do it,” said Herbert. Henry’s eyes snapped with satisfaction. _“Now you’re talking,” he said encouragingly. “I was afraid you_were going to. show the white feather. But I see you’ve got backbone, after all.” “Of course I’ve got backbone. I’m no coward,” replied Herbert, indignantly. : “You'd better start, then, so that you can get ‘back and show yourself around before any, one will notice your absence,” suggested Henry. “If anybody asks where you are I’ll say you’re out rowing on the lake somewhere.” “All right,” replied Herbert. ~ “Don’t go out by the front way, but sneak around by the shore of the lake and catch the trolley at Barnum’s Crossing.” “Well, come part of the way with me.” “Sure,” answered Henry, with alacrity. _ The two well-dressed boys, belonging to the upper stratum of Oakland’s social element, walked off in the direction of the lake, whose glittering - waters could be seen in the near distance. No _- one, to look at either, would have supposed that they were interested in the execution of as mean - and contemptible a trick as any person could play upon an unsuspecting victim; but this was only _ another instance of the fact that appearances are often deceitful. ts ; | Those who dig pitfalls for others sometimes 2 - ~~ ee tlhe Ss eR Bern BOUND TO RISE tumble into their own traps. As Henry and Her- bert left the spot where they had been conversing. in fancied seclusion a head was thrust through a clump of bushes close at hand and a pair of sharp eyes looked after them. “Gee whiz!” exclaimed the voice of Sam Jen- kins. . “Who’d have thought that of them? Of all the measly tricks I’ve ever heard I think that is the worst. It is a lucky thing I overheard their plans. So Herbert means to destroy all of Don’s inventive models, eh? Well, I guess not— not if this chicken knows -it. I must try and find Don right away and let him know what’s in the wind. Then he and I can go back to town and take the wind out of Herbert Shaw’s sails in a way he won’t like. The blamed fool is laying himself open to arrest by breaking into Mrs. Bruce’s barn. But, then, he thinks no one will be the wiser. Expects'the blame will be laid on tramps, I suppose. All right. If we don’t give Herbert Shaw the surprise of his life I'll be surprised.” CHAPTER i Moment of His ife. Sam started off in a hurry to find Don Bruce. It was not an easy matter to locate a particular person in the crowd that was scattered throught the grove. Jenkins buttonholed every one he met with whom he was acquainted-and asked if he or she had seen-Don lately. Some of them had. and some had not. Sam folowed the different - directions he got, but in no case did they lead up _ to the object of his search. “Gee! This is tough,” muttered Sam. “I can’t spend all day looking for him. The damage will be done and Herbert will escape scot free, and — he and that sneak, Henry Chase, will have the laugh all to themselves. I’ve wasted fifteen min- utes trying to find him. Herbert is probably on a@ car bound for town by this time. I can’t lose any more time. I'll take the matter into my own hands and polish that young scalawag off myself. Gee! I won’t do a thing to him if he’s done any ~ damage before J get there to head him off.” So Sam ran out of the grove by the front entrance, hailed a trolley car that was just pass- ing, bound for Oakland, and jumped abroad. — Where was Don all this time while his friend had been vainly hunting for him? He and Marian were having a quiet little stroll in the grove all by their two selves. When Sam boarded the car — they were standing on the shore of the lake.. “Isn’t it a lovely day for a picnic?” exclaimed — Marian, who was dressed in a fetching ; dress, with a pink sash around her waist, and her golden curls hidden under a straw hat. - “Fine,” a aap Don, husiastically. “It’s al- most as lovely as yourself.” ; “Now, Don Bruce, no personalities, please,” she ~ answered, with a deep blush. “I beg your pardon, but it slipped out,” laughed ae escort. “I never saw you look prettier, so I — ope a “Y'll excuse you if you promise not to make any more such ‘silly remarks.” : “That wasn’t a silly remark. It was the truth,” protested Don. : : ite 2 plate excuse mg saying so.” - ae | ¥

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7 t 2 _ “Now, Don,” she expostulated, holding up one _ finger in a reproving way. “Oh, come now, Marian, allow me to have the ‘privilege of thinking that you are the prettiest as ell as the nicest girl in the grove to-day.” “¢ “It is.very nice of you to think so,” she said, - looking down at the water, “but you mustn’t say all you think.” : - ¥*PH_bet everybody who has seen you thinks the same. I know that my sister does, for she said so the moment she saw you come in at the gate.” . g to change the subject. _. Qh, she’s all right. I like Edith next to— _ that is, I like her next to mother. I suppose you _ wish you had a brother?” ~* _ .. “Yes; it would be nice to have a brother. That is, if he was like—some boys I know.” “Some boys?” repeated Don. “What boys are your particular favorites?” t ~ “You mustn’t ask me such embarrassing ques- tions,” she replied, with a blush. - “All right,” said Don. “Don’t mind what I say. Want to go out on the lake?” “In a rowboat?” ; + Ke. “ ” oe es, 2 “Pm not afraid of that,” she replied smilingly. **T was wondering if we'll have time. You know __ We promised to be back to lunch at two, and it’s & meee cue now,” looking at, bide linge sald wetob. uppose we postpone it until after Pine?” Dagens nn *Very well.” 2 They turned and walked slowly back into the grove toward the small pavilion that Banker “White had engaged expressly for the entertain- ment -of his family and one or two particular friends, which included Don. They found a most appetizing spread awaiting them at the pavilion. a of the party being present, Mr. White gave the signal to gather around the table and fall to. ~ At three o’clock lunch was over, and Mr. White suggested that all adjourn to the circle of seats, round the band platform of the grove. Here Oakland.Cornet Band had.been engaged by ‘banker to give an open-air concert, chiefly the benefit of the grown folks. — “How about that row on the lake?” whispered ion to Marian. we F és fe’ll go by and by,” she replied.. “I want to the band first. Oe aie cane eS “Of course, Marian’s wishes were law with Don, and he accompanied her to the place where the “not know, however, that he was the victim harmless little conspiracy engineered by the and assisted by his daughter. When they ched the opening where the stand.was they and that a bench right in front of the music nd had been reserved for them. Don was surprised at the number of persons resent. It seemed as if about everybody who come to the picnic had gathered several layers », facing the platform: The subdued air of ctation which rested on people’s faces also Don believe that there Was something in . The band was playing a_ potpourri _airs when Banker ah We RS: ie Rie ie oat a White and his party ~) BOUND TO RISE _ Way by the barker of Oakland. was already discoursing sweet music. He . Phat was the signal for Mr. Wagner to walk ‘their hands. . 15 As soon as the music ceased, Mr. Wagner, the superintendent of the Sunday-school, mounted the 2 platform and made a dignified bow to the people } present. He began by saying that he was proud to see such a large gathering present at the annual outing.. He then congratulated the people on having such a splendid day for the picnic. After making a few more remarks suitable to the occasion, he said that he would now introduce Mr. White, the well-known banker, who, he under- stood, had something to say to the assemblage. Mr. White rose, mounted the steps to the plat- . form, and was cheered. This was to be expected, as he was one of the most popular men in Oak- land. He also began by remarking that he was glad to see so many happy faces around him. — Then he’started right in to speak about the sub- ject he had in mind. He said the people of Oakland in general, as well as the members of the church, doubtless ap- preciated the honor of having in their midst one of the smartest as well as pluckiest beys in the ~ country. Here there was a general craning of necks to look at Don Bruée, who was much con- . fused by being thus publicly eulogized in such a Mr. White ‘then reviewed the events in which Don had figured with such credit to himself, and he spoke in a dramatic way about the terrible _ a See the young lad had undergone in the | railroad cut the night he had been bound to the ~* track by the four crooks, who meant by maiming him for life. to wreak vengeance on him for his agency in depriving them of the plunder which had been buried in the cellar of the deserted farm- house near'the trolley road. . “After such a narrow escape,” went on the banker, “few boys would have had the nerve to place themselves once more within the reach of such a gang of rascals, even to save the property of one with whom he was acquainted. Yet that : is exactly what Don Bruce did. I will not go | - into the details of his plucky act in saving my house from being robbed, for you all have read © 4 ; the facts in the Times. I have brought the suba _ ject’ up because I wish to publicly acknowledge ¥ the indebtedness of myself and family to this young hero. As I am sure you‘all want to have. _~ a good look at the boy who is not only an honor ~~ to your church, but to the town as well, I shall request him to come forward and show himself.” ; up to Don. : crowd shouted: 4 “Three cheers for Don Bruce.” Fs Pa They were given, the ladies and girls clapping “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Donald Bruce,” said the banker, as soon as Don Feached the top of the platform. 7 Se “Hurrah for Bruce!” cried another boy on the outskirts of the crowd. Don bowed as gracefully as_he could, considering his embarrassment. - *e, +: es ~3F

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16 ae White then made a Bs to his daughter, and = Marian stepped forw 7 3 _ “Mr. Bruce.” ea Don turned, and there, to his surprise, was Miss “ _ White on the platform with him. “Mr. Bruce,” repeated Marian, who did not ap- pear to be at-all discomposed by the part she had hs been called upon to act, “my father and mother : have deputed me to present you with this little ; testimonial of their gratitude for your brave de- ; _ fense of our property ory last Monday morning i I assure you that it affords me great pleasure to oA have the honor of publicly handing it to you, 4 together with my own grateful appreciation of your valuable services in our behalf on that oc- casion.” She handed Don a small plush box, which he accepted with a flushed face. While the audience was heartily applauding the presentation speech of Marian White, Don mechanically opened the _ box, and saw displayed on a bed of fluffy cotton an elegant pair of diamond cuff buttons, an enameled » and diamond-encrusted watch-charm and a golden horseshoe stickpin studded with diamonds. Then several boys yelled: “Speech! Speech!” - Don stared at the valuable’ gifts which had - been presented to him, and then looked helplessly d into the beautiful face of the young lady who had so honored him by publicly coming on the plat- form and giving them to him. He was excusable if under the trying circumstances he was attacked by a species of stage-fright. He realized that something was expected of him—a few words of thanks—but his tongue stuck to the roof of his ’ mouth, as it were, and he was unable to utter a sound. \ “Great Christopher!” he thought. going to get out of this?” S He began to be poe conscious of the fact that he must be looking like a fool, or, at the best, exceedingly awkward. When the applause ceased the cries for a speech were renewed with ‘greater vigor. He saw that he was in for it, and at last he made a desperate effort in his own “How am I _. ‘much obliged to you, and to your father and _ -~ “mother, for these handsome and valuable gifts. -~ <@ accept Y Siar gratefully, and shall never look at them without recalling thi8 occasion, which I = y say is the proudest — of my life, as well » “as the exciting affair which gave rise to these - tokens of appreciation on the part of yourself and your parents.” TS Re plause. It afforded him a slight breathing spell - and enabled him to fully recover his customary re. ’ ' z _ “fm addition, I wish to thank you for the honor _ you have accorded me in coming upon this plat- form el arg these gifts yourself. I as- sure you t I-shall prize them all the more because of the fair hands through which they have passed to my own.” , _ Don bowed as gallantly ashe could to the fair |, then he turned and bowed to Mr. White, ter which he bowed to the audience, and, hold- I it his hand to Marion, gracefully led her - BOUND TO RISE. “was not long before he discovered a short ladder - to spare.” ; < = “Miss Marian White,” he began, “T am very’ 3 .~ that away with him. .He will, in . 2S Here Don was interrupted by a burst of ap- . ; . . oe ‘shelf of “its different devices, most of them very _ from his grasp and, seizing him by the ’ Bes cn Oa ee down from the platform and back to her seat, — amid cheers and clapping of hands. CHAPTER XIII.—Caught in the Act. : While the delightful event me have just re- corded was in progress, other things connegted with the hero of this story were happening in Oakland. When Sam alighted from the car at the nearest point to the Bruce cottage he started _ for his friend’s house at a brisk trot. Herbert, who had preceded him in the car ahead, reached ~ the cottage slightly in advance of Sam. After reconnoitering the neighborhood with some cau- tion, he boldly entered the yard and went to the barn. Of course “he found the door locked—it was secured by a staple and a padlock. He ex- pected this, and had provided himself with a stout piece of steel to use in breaking the hasp off. He changed his mind, however, when he saw that one of thé loft windows was open, and he — looked around for something that would enable him to enter the barn through the window. It in the yard, and placing it under the window, he mounted the rungs and disappeared inside just as Sam entered the yard. Jenkins hastened to- ward the barn, arid, seeing the staple undisturbed, — came to the conclusion that Herbert had not ar- _ rived yet. Accordingly, he decided to hide around ~ the corner of the building. 4No soner had’ he turned‘ the corner than to his surprise he saw the open loft window, with the ladder berieath it. “Geewhilikins! The rascal has got here before — me and is already in the loft. I haven’t a moment — He immediately started up the ladder, and; — looking in at the window, saw Herbert Shaw tak- ing down the model of the rock-crusher from its resting-place on the shelf. Sam crawled noise- lessly in at the window and took shelter behinda box, where he could observe Herbert’s movements and be within reach to foil his purpose at the critical moment, for Sam determined that, to make sure of getting back at Don’s enemy, he must capture him in the very act of his van- dalism. Herbert placed the rock-crusher model _ on ‘the bench and looked at it with some mterest. — He turned the’crank to see how it worked, and the effect seemed to please him. He examined it all over, and finally he took a piece of paper and - - wrapped it up. ie, te “Ho!” muttered Sam. “He calculates to take di Herbert next took down the model of another — machine. He looked that over, too, but it did not interest him. One after another he unloaded the crude and useless models.. When he had satisfied his curiosity with reference to them all, he began his work of destruction. by seizing a hammer and _ demolishing a valueless contrivance that Don had, _ after much—labor, put together a year since. As_ he rafsed-the hammer to, smash another machine Sam sprang upon him’ and knocked himon his back with a well-directed blow behind the ea which half-stunned him. Sam tore the hammet 7 z ——~ aa -w~ ae &. ee = ee ae + av

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Ag BOUND " dragged him across the loft to the window. Punch- _ ing him through feet first, he let him drop to the _ ground- outside, where he collapsed. Sam fol- lowed, closing the window after him, and reached _ the ground just as Herbert was trying to get on _ his feet. Sam threw the ladder down and then marched up to the bewildered youth, who did not ~ seem as yet to understand just what had hap- pened to him. : 3 “You’re a nice chap, you are, Herbert Shaw!” - he said sarcastically. “Do you know what I _ ought to do with you? I ought to hand you over _ to a policeman for breaking into Mrs. Bruce’s _ barn.” — ) ; “What—what’s that?” gasped young Shaw. _ “You heard what I said, didn’t you?” replied Sam, fiercely. “What do you mean?” F _ “Just what I said. You ought to be ashamed _ of yourself. What do you mean by coming here _ from the picnic grounds, putting a ladder up against that window, entering the loft, and trying _ to destroy Don Bruce’s models of inventions?” _ “Who says I did?” blustered Herbert, with a _ -White’ face. é » “I say so. I caught you in the act.” __ “I wasn’t doing anything. Just looking at - Bruce’s models. You hadn’t any right to hit me.” __.*Oh, you weren’t doing anything, eh? You Weren’t going to steal that rock-crusher model ' that you*wrapped up in a newspaper? You didn’t _ Smash one of the models with a hammer? You’re fo. Y innocent, you are. Suppose I have you ar- rested; what do you think the magistrate wil _ Say to you? Pr bs : Ss Fyn wouldn’t dare have me arrested,” replied «de in shaky tones : _ _. “Well, I’m either going to have you arrested, or _ Ym going to lick you right here. You can take =a c choice.” >..-; “Tf you touch me I'll tell my father.” “Tl bet, your father will say I did right when ie hears at you have done. “Don’t hit me,” almost whimpered the cowardly y “Henry Chase put me up to the job. I'll e you five dollars if you let me go and don’t y anything about the matter.” ‘ You can’t bribe me with five dollars, Herbert : Siew. T’ll lét you off on one condition.” ll agree to anything,” replied Herbert, yon ee wieht over to my house.” ‘or? . “T want to write out and sign a statement ing Saat you have been caught at, and if want to throw any of the “blame on your end Henry Chase you can do it, for all I care.” I don’t want to do that,” objected Herbert. _ “Then take off your jacket and take a licking a@ man. can’t fight,” replied Herbert, backing away. “You’ve got to, unless you’d rather be arrested.” - “Yl write out the paper,” agreed Shaw, in bling accents. omé along, then, and d® it.” ~ ; m grabbed him by the arm and marched him the street to his house, where he took ert up to his room and, placing pen, ink*und before him, stood over him until he wrote ment down from his dictation and signed puth. 7 me TO RISE 17 it. But Sam was not through with him yet. He marched Herbert down to a notary’s office and made him swear to the truth of the statement and aessowbyige that the signature on the paper was is. “Now you can go, ‘Herbert Shaw,” he Said. “Tl keep my word about this paper. Nobody shall see it but Don Bruce. It won’t be used against you so long as you behave yourself and don’t try to cut up any more -monkey-shines against Bruce. The moment we catch you at an- other mean trick we'll put it in the hands of the police and push you through.” ¢ Thus speaking, Sam turned on his heel and took the first car to the picnic grove, while Herbert Shaw went home to ponder on the way of the transgressor, too much cowed to think of any scheme for trying to get square with Sam Jenkins. CHAPTER XIV oo nhe, Somanes Rock-Crusher Co., ne. It was after four when Sam re-entered the grove and went around hunting for Don. He met one of the High School boys, who told him that Don was out rowing on the lake with Marian White. Then it was that Sam learned of the presentation that had been made to his friend. “It’s nothing more than he deserves,” said Jenkins. “I wouldn’t go through what he did for a million dollars in cash. I mean his experience in the cut last Sunday night. He just escaped by the skin of his teeth, and that is too close a call for me, you bet your life.” Sam did not get a chance to tell Don about Herbert’s attempt to destroy his models until the following morning. Don could hardly believe the story. The sworn statement signed by Herbert, however, which Sam showed him, was evidence enough to show that his friend told nothing ‘but the exact truth. “What a mean little villain he is,” said Don, in a tone of disgust. “And he belongs to one of the best families in Oakland. Why, he never con- sidered me good enough to talk to. I’m glad you didn’t have him arrested. His people would have - suffered more from the disgrace of it than he.”. “He told me that Henry Chase put him up to it, and I believe it, especially after what I over= heard between the two at the grove. If F hadn’t heard that conversation your models would all have been in the soup when you got back home.” “Well, Sam, I’m awfully obliged to you for what you did for me. Ipsha’n’t forget it.” __ “Don’t mention it. You’d do the same for me if it was necessary.” ; “Sure I would.” That evening Don visited the White resid and took tea there. He for the first time told the banker about his different inventions. Mr. White seemed to be particularly interested in the rock- crusher, and told Don that he would like to see his working model very much, 4 “If I really think it is practical I'll help you get it patented,” he said. Don brought the model over during the week, explained its utility and showed how it worked. Two weeks later arrangements were under way - 4 * y = c7es Se Celis Soh ee

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-.--* *T_have thought of that, sir.” 7 > j 18 . for the taking out of a patent on the machine in Don’s name. Ten days afterward the trial of the _ three crooks came off. It was short and to the . point. They were convicted, and all received stiff sentences in the State prison. During July and August Marian White and her mother went to the mountains, but. Marian and Don kept in touch by ‘letter. Herbert Shaw also went away from town _ with his mother and sister during the heated term, and he was not greatly missed by anybody - who knew him. In the meantime Sam interested _ his father, who was a well-to-do carpenter and builder, in Don’s rock-crusher, and Mr. Jenkins ' agreed to purchase an interest in the invention for Sam for one thousand dollars as soon as Don got his patent. ~ “So, we’re going to be partners, after all,” said _ Sam, when he came over to his friend’s house to announce his father’s decision. : “Glad to hear it, Sam. I guess you and I will pull together all right.” “You can bet your life we will. When we finish school I suppose we'll set. up an office here in town?” “Well, we'll see about that when the time comes.” “Bruce & Jenkins will look all right on a sign,” sitenae Sam, who was tickled over the idea of ‘ becoming a partner in a real firm. “Proprietors and manufacturers of the Empire Rock Crusher, ~ the only perfect machine of its kind on the mar- ket. How is that? Look well on our business cards, won’t it?” : Don laughed and told Sam not to count, his chickens before they were hatched. “Oh, they’ll be hatched, all right,” replied Sam, nodding his head in an energetic way that was customary with him whenever he made an asser- tion. _ Just before the patent was gt ge to Don on his ' Empire Rock Crusher a client of the firm of pat- ent lawyers that were attending to the matter in the boy’s interest, having examined the model and ~ specifications of the machine, made Don an offer of the five thousand dollars for the patent as soon as issued. Don was not anxious to dispose _ of his invention, as it was the only available one he had on hand, but five thousand dollars looked like a lot of money. It would also mean a disap- _ pointment to his friend Sam, for, the rock-crusher dis of, there was no occasion for a partner- ship between them, for the present at least. Don ealled on Banker White, showed him the letter containing the offer in black and white, and asked ‘him what he had better do. “ ice. “You are not’ very eager to sell your rights in * this machine, eh?” asked Mr. White, with a smile. “I would prefer to hold on, sir, for various reasons. Surely, if the patent is worth five thou- sand dollars in the eyes of a stranger, it ought to _be worth more than that to me.” : : “build the machines and put themi into operation. _ hat is a serious disadvantage that you labor - under.” = : _ “While you are trying to raise the necessary ES in that will outshine yours as much. gs. yours » friend Jenkins should have the privilege of pur- “Not necessarily so. It will: take capital to eons Beare smart chap may make an improved ~ ~ BOUND TO RISE does those already in operation. That is a risk you are taking if you hold on.” “Then you would advise me to sell my rights to th:s man?” said Don. “T don’t advise you accept this offer until you have submitted to him a counter-proposition.” j “A counter-proposition, sir?” - “Yes. You had better empower me to act for you in this matter. I'll submit a proposition in your name to form a stock company, with a cap- italOf, say, twenty-five thousand dollars. That is five hundred shares of a par valué of fifty doliars each. In exchange for your patent rights you are to retain one hundred shares of the stock, and out of the funds received for the sale of the four hundred shares the sum of five thousand dollars in cash. If your friend Jenkins wishes to go into the company as a stockholder, also, his father - will have the privilege of applying for as many - — at fifty dollars each as he cares to pay or. = Don liked the idea immensely, and said so; ® therefore Mr. White undertook to see if the stran- ger who had offered to buy the patent outright would consider the proposition of taking stock in the proposed company. The gentleman in question, whose name was Mason? objected at. first to the plan proposed by the banker, and raised his original offer another thousand dol- lars. His purpose was to form a close corpora- ~ tion-among a few of his friends, who stood ready to back him up with their money, and thus control the machine for the benefit of himself and as- gociates only. Quite a bit of correspondence en- sued between the banker, acting for Don, and Mr. Mason, and an arrangement was finally en- — tered.into by which Mry Mason was to form and ~ control the company, the capital of which was to- consist of one thousand shares of stock at a par value of fifty dollars each.” It was agreed that Don was to receive. one hundred shares of the stock and five thousand dollars in cash; that his — ets wae Ble eee Tn \ rove Lae) wer chasing nt shares or less; that five hundred — shares should remain in the treasury, and that — the balance was to be apportioned among Mr, Mason afd his friends at the face value. It was further agreed that the board of directors should — consist of five stockholders, of whom Don and Sam ~ were to be two. It was further understood that | Mr. Mason was to be the president and general — manager; that he,should désignate who should fill — the offices of vice-president. and treasurer, and that Sam Jenkins should be the secretary—the — president, secretary and treasurer to receive © stated salaries. This arrangement was made in accordance with the desire of Mr. White that Don ~ should enter the Oakland Bank and work his way _ up to a responsible position therein. In the mean- — time the patent for the rock-crusher was duly issued to Don. The Empire Rock-Crusher Co. Inc., was formed in January of the following year under the laws of New Jersey, with its main of-— fice located in Jersey City and its business office 2 (practically the main office) located in a tall sky-

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lars. The duties of secretary devolved on the ‘treasurer until Sam graduated in June, when he _ Was expected to move to New York and take hold. - While Don was not prominently identified with he company, he was nevertheless liberally pro- vided for, inasmuch as he held one-fifth of the stock issued, and had five thousand dollars cash to his eredit in the Oakland Bank, on a time deposit, as 7 drawing three and a half per cent. interest. CHAPTER XV.—Conclusion. “Don and Sam duly graduated in June, and both were slated,.to begin life’s serious duties on the first day of the succeeding September. 4 _- “We've got about nine weeks to have a good time in before we knuckle down to business,” said _ Sam to Don, the morning they took their diplomas _ to a picture store.to have them framed. “ shall we put in the time?” - ; “I’m going with Mrs. White and Marian to the Catskills,” replied Don. “Mrs. White has a cot- _ tage up in the neighborhood of the Dunderburg Hotel. What’s the matter with you going along?” , _ “How can I, when I’m not invited?” “Don’t worry about that. I'll fix it so you can - om “You seem to have a pretty good pull with the Whites,” grinned Sam. “ee ell, they certainly seem to think that they - can’t do too much for me,” replied Don, laugh- 3 =p suppose you mean to marry Marian some day, and eventually annex all the old gentleman’s ealth?” chuckled Sam. > “Oh, I don’t know,” flushed Don. “It takes two make a bargain, and no matter what my feel- s are on the subject, the young lady might e different ones.” . “Not much fear of that. ng with her.” How do you know?” ““T can only judge b par nobody but you with Marian White.” . , , _ “Oh, we're good friends, all right,” replied Don. ~ “} should say you were. When are you going ” You’re the whole what I see. For the past as had a ghost of a show yon get out. I’m not eighteen yet. There’s y of time yet.” : hat’s right; but look out that she doesn’t et some dashing chap at these summer resorts “may put your nose out of joint. Girls aren’t ys to be depended on. They don’t know their mind half the time.” __ ou talk as if some girl had thrown you ” . No; but I’ve seen other fellows thrown down ‘they thought they were the only thing in ms ’m not afraid to take my chance with Marian. he’s the best girl in the world.” Of course she is,” chuckled Sam. “Well, you count me in on this summer racket if you ‘smooth the way for me.” 5 An right, Sam. . I'll let you know in a day or Qn immediately spoke to Mr. : Sas te fe and Mrs. White 3 “= > { > BOUND TO RISE about having Sam Jenkins at their cottage in the Catskills. ‘they offered no objections to his soci- ety, and so Don notified his chum to prepare to accompany the party on the first of July. “Did you hear the news?” asked Sam, when he joined the party at the station on the morning of ~ their departure for the mountains. “What news?” asked Don, looking at his chum. “Bug Burley, the head crook of the bunch you helped to send up the river a year ago, has es- capéd from Trenton.” “Is that a fact?” asked Don. “That’s what the paper says this morning. You can read it for yourself as soon as we get aboard the car.” Don read the item later on, and found that Bug Burley had indeed escaped from the Trenton Pen- itentiary, teva he had been sent to serve a fif- teen-year sentence. The White cottage was sit- uated in a romantic spot on the Dunderburg Mountain, within a short distance, but out of sight, of the Dunderburg Hotel, which was pérehed on the summit. There were a dozen other cottages, owned or rented by wealthy people, in . the immediate vicinity, and all facing up the ser- pentine.road that wound down the mountain’ side to the station of the Dunderburg Mountain Rail- ~ way. July had passed away and the last week of August was drawing near. Don, Sam and Marian ~ White had been having a bang-up time in the mountains, for there were many young folks in the neighborhood with whom they associated. One \ afternoon, after lunch, Don proposed that they ~ take a stroll up to the Dunderburg Glen, one of - the wildest and most romantic spots on the Dun-_ derburg. Marian and Sam were agreeable to this plan. Just before they started out a neighbor came over to the White cottage and announced that the Raynor cottage, the furthest one from the hotel, had been burglarized the night before. The thief had carried off not only all the avail- able plunder, but a considerable quantity of food as well. This was rather startling news, and Don warned Mrs. White to keep her eyes wide open while they were away, lest she be troubled by some undesirable visitor. The boy, fearing that $ they might possibly run across the rascal some- where in the mountain wilds, prudently took his revolver from his trunk and put it-in his pocket. “It will be handy to have in case ofan emer- gency,” he remarked to Sam. “Yes; but I, guess there isn’t much likelihood that the fellow will show himself in the broad daylight, if he still is in this neighborhood, which is not likely, for it is probable he has#made for the river with his plunder. The fact that he hooked a quantity of food shows that he intended - to keep well in hiding.” The three young people started off on their jaunt and in the course of an hour were standing Re at the entrance to the glen. There was a small, : rude shanty not a great way from where they it stood, and Sam proposed that they take a look at it. Accordingly they started for it. The door of the hut was closed, but, as there seemed to be’no - indications that it was inhabited, they did not hesitate to enter the place. <i -“Somebody has been here not very long ago,” — Said Sam, pointing to some crumbs of food . were scattered on the top of an inverted box. a ro :

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20 BOUND TO RISE > “I guess some of the hotel people were up here “Jately, and they may have brought some lunch with them,” replied Don. ; “This would be a nice, airy habitation to spend one’s honeymoon in,” grinned Sam, with an intel- ligent wink at his chum. _ “Then I suppose I may expect to hear of you coming here with your bride one of these days, Mr. Jenkins?” laughed Marian. “Ho! I’m not going to get married,” replied Sam. “What, never? Have you decided to become an old bachelor?” “YT didn’t mean that. I meant that I’ wasn’t going to get married for a good while yet. I like to be my own boss, and a fellow can’t always be that when he is hitched to some girl.” “I wish I had a drink of water,” said Marian, who had seated herself on the box, after Don had brushed the crumbs from it. “Well, I'll take a look around and see if .I can find a stream anywhere. I heard there was one up here. I’ve got a collapsible rubber cup m my pocket, which I carry for just such emergencies, and I'll fetch you back a drink if I can locate the water.” . “Don’t be long, Don,” said the girl. : “Not if I can help it. You and Sam can have it out on the subject of matrimony while I’m away.” “We're through already,” chuckled Sam. “Then talk about something else,” said Don, as he walked out of the hut. 5 After walking perhaps a quarter of a mile the boy came to a trickling mountain stream, and after taking a drink himself he filled the rubber cup and started back for the hut. As he came in sight of it he thought he heard a scream in the distance. : : “That sounded like a girl,” he said to himself, _ stopping and listening. The sound was not repeated, and he went on. The door of the shanty, although wide open when he left, was now closed. Don thought this’ was funny, for the weather was decidedly warm, even at that altitude, and the hut was close and not over-sweet. He walked up to the door and banged it wide open. The scene that met his view stag- gered him. Sam was stretched out motionless on _ the floor, with the blood ag from a cut a somewhere on the head, while rian lay in- sensible, supported by the arm of a hard-looking ruffian, who was taking the diamond earrings from her ears. The fellow looked up with a the door and his 5 SPRBRE a |. a through his chest. As Don grabbed Marian she uttered a fluttering sigh and opened her eyes. “Qh, Don,” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck, “save me!” : “Don’t worry, you’re safe enough,” he replied reassuringly. “Oh!” she exclaimed shudderingly, as she saw the gasping form of the ruffian almost at her feet, with the revolver on the floor. “What did you do to him, Don?” “T shot him,” replied the boy, coolly. his life or mine, and luck ran my way.” “He isn’t dead.” : “No, but he looks hard hit. You can see by the blood on his shirt where the bullet struck him. How was Sam knocked out? Not shot, for I should have heard the report of the revolver.” “He was hit with a stick, I thnik.” “That club, I guess,” said Don, as he raised Sam’s head and looked at the wound near the top — of his head. “I must get some water and bring him to.” ve “T’ll go with you,” said the girl. “I wouldn’t remain here for anything.” Don learned that the rascal had appeared sud- denly behind Sam and struck him down, when Marian screamed and fainted. It was her cry — that Don heard as he aproached the shanty. Sam — was brought to without much trouble, and his wound proved to be of small consequence. ; “T’ll bet this is the chap that robbed the Raynor ~- cottage last night,” he said. r. It proved so, for they found a bag full of the — plunder stowed away in a cupboard in a corner. They took charge of it between them and re- turned it to the owner. The hotel detective and a posse went to the hut with Don and Sam and-~ found Burley.in pretty bad shape. He was a tough rascal, however, and survived the wound, — so that he was subsequently carried back to Tren- ton to complete his term of imprisonment. On the — first of September Don entered the Oakland Bank, while Sam began a new life in New York City as _ secretary of the Empire Rock-Crusher Co., Inc. — Years have passed since then, and to-day Don Bruce is the cashier of the bank, and also a stockholder in same. i ia Marian White just six moriths, and he expects at — the next meeting of the directors to be elected vice-president of the bank. There is little doubt — that when Mr. White retires Don will become — president, for he has the White influence at his back, and Mr. White practically owns the bank. As for Sam Jenkins, he is still secretary of the rock-crusher company, and is now the owner of — one hundred shares of its stock. Don earns a handsome annuity from his interest in the com- pany, for when the treasury stock was sold to — enlarge the company’s business he purchased a second one hundred shares at a premium of ten doilars per share. Don has practically fought his ~ way to success, for the goal of his ambition is now in sight, and the same may be attained by every encreesic boy of Don's. caliber who is: Bound - eS Mey | See Mis 2 iy “It was ' Next week’s issue will contain “OUT THE DOLLARS; or, A SMART BOY IN W

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GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE ‘Farmers in West Texas are fencing in their _ fields' with fences six inches high. Grasshoppers have pestered them for so long that they have had to take measures against their inroads. The ordinary flying grasshoppers cannot -be kept out, but the “beasties with the bie green eyes” that grow in Texas, called “jumpbos,” because of their weight, are unable to jump more than five ' inches from the ground and so cannot surmount _ the emergency fences. Over thirty-seven miles of this novel fencing has been set up. BEAVERS REBUILD DAM, An old beaver dam near Bellefonte, Pa., was ity from neglect and farmers nearby had mned to make repairs, when a colony of beav- selected the place for habitation, pounced on . repair work and completed it, the dam_being onstructed throughout, about 200 feet in eneth, and from 4 to 10 feet high. + . FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY 21 CURRENT NEWS ; The beavers now have their own new and happy home, the surplus waters in the stream are held back, the farmers have a fine lot of water for their use and the boys will find the pond a fine place for winter skating. PREACHER MAKES PLEA FOR SUNDAY~Y/ ELECTIONS A suggestion that all elections be held on Sun- day has been made by «he Rey. J. A. Rondthaler, dean of the Protestant sects, Mooseheart, Ill. “It would be eminently fitting,” he said, “for America to appoint her election days on Sunday. It would be a fitting observance of the Sabbath. It would lift the election duty into the atmosphere of highest service and worship. Many thousands who are so tied up during the week that they can- not get to the polls would be free to express their © will for the country.” —_ 2 eee: ined te SS ; nie =< BOYS, READ THIS! | THE GREATEST DETECTIVE “SFORIES EVER WRITTEN ARE PUBLISHED IN “MYSTERY MAGAZINE” Read the number out today on all newsstands. It contains GEORGE BRONSON- ; HOWARD’S detective novelette “THE HOODWINKERS” : It is full of exciting incidents and contains a dandy plot. All You Radio Bugs, Read “DRAWN TEETH” A story of roughnecks in the underworld, written by JOE BURKE. WJZ recently Broadcast It on the Air ; It must have been a good one for that great station to use it. And Don’t Miss the Two-Part Serial “THE FORBIDDEN ROOM,” by Edward L. Bennett It zips along crowded with mystery and adventure from the first ; to the last,chapter. Do You Want Your Character Read Free of Charge? Send LOUISE RICE a sample of your writing and she will tell you your best points F in life, advise what is best for you and help you a whole Int. BE SURE TO READ THE SHORT STORIES “Button! Button!” by Paul E. Triem; “Reunion,” by Laurence D’Orsay; “The Hypnotic : Mystery,” by Earl W. Scott; “The Clue in the Watch,” by Carl G. Hodges, “s : and “Mixed Trails,” by Freeman Harrison. In Addition There Are Numerous INTERESTING ARTICLES - “= They cover all sorts of police and detective cases in real life, and — cannot fail to please you. Get a Copy—Show It to Your*Friends—You Will Like It! » om

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> "3 " Fe ae 4 Rob and the Reporters —,.Or, — Hustling for War News by Wireless ‘ By GASTON GARNE (A Serial Story.) ‘CHAPTER XVIII. Once Again Working The Wireless. “Merely asked me what were were doing here,” replied Brown. ‘And what did you tell them?” “That I had been ordered to help you two out > Thanks to my uniform, it went down right.” -They hurried on, coming to a road leading into ‘the woods, which they followed. “This road seems strange familiar,” remarked a ep eently. “Say, Brown, do you know what *tigame as I’m thinking, I fancy; that we are going straight to our old wireless plant.’ “Can it be?’ “I’m betting on it.” “Tell me about it,” said Edith, heard the plant mentioned. Rob explained. At least it will be a shelter from the storm,” said. “Not eoels, ” sighed Rob. “The tower is roof- _ less, but I ~ stairs to a certain extent.” “Ts it far?” ’ “Perhaps half a mile. up - bit and Sy glad.” ti ae ey hurried on, coming ,at length in sight o the tower, which was deserted.- Everything looked the same, but when Rob went upstairs he called down to Brown that some of the packing boxes were gone. “Maybe the boys took them away,” answered “Come down, quick!” he instantly added. “Cars coming! with Miss Morley!” of who had not It seems to be letting a 5 Rob didn’t lose an instant in chasing down the ek narrow, winding stairs, but after all he was too _ late, for before he could make the cellar the cars ses stopped and two German officers entered the er. Rob was now fairly trapped. His rol himy _He turned and faced the men, prepared for the _ worst. ae even forgot that he was made up to look li and when one of them asked = he was and what he was doing there he answered in English that he could not wages “Are you English?” demanded the officer, who oh So aansiclin” ” replied Rob; now t German Cerin Atte 1 an, E “ioe suppose we shall be sheltered down- I’m going to hide in the cellar _ closely questioned as to his political sentiments. ly German. role of a dummy never once occurred to | : age avoiding the dead and wounded. FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY eee ' Rob gave the first German name which popped into his head—Vollman. “What brought you here?” Wh Why, -’m a reporter on the New York ‘Earth.’ ” “Ha! Did you have anything to do with fix-. ing u EP a private wireless plant in this tower?” y, yes. There were a bunch of us. We got separated. I came back er, oh the operator?” “you ar are- ae very fellow we want. Un- “Can you take and send in French and Ger- man, letter by letter?” “Yes, sir.’ “Where are the others?” “T don’t ; know, sir. I haven’t seen them in sev- eral days.’ > “Don’t you know that war correspondents are not allowed?” “We fellows have to do the best we can for our- selves, sir.’ “And vou are getting the news sadly twisted, I am told.” Others had come in by this time; there were five, all told. 24 Rob trembled for Edith and Brown and devout- © tg 2 t . be Roped there might be no search made in the . “ cellar. All hands now began talking excitedly in Ger- man. Then in. a few moments three went upstairs . and the remaining cases were brought down and : placed in the cars. - “You he, with us, young man,” said the cap- taim. e are setting up this plant of yours _ elsewhere and need an operator. You’ will be- well paid.” ae ea 3; Ei You have no alternative. You either _ go ait inely or as our prisoner.” “Great Scott, what will become of that poor girl?” thought Rob, seeing no way out of it. F Nor was there any. Rob was forced to enter the car with the cap- tain, who now informed him that his name was) Niedermann. As they bowled on through the woods, he was. Needless to say he expressed himself as entire- 4 F Vote you do us good service I'll see that you get a chance to forward correct war news to your- paper,” declared Captain Niedermann. Bat ae you can’t speak German, but that’s the way wi New York Deutschers. I used to live there my self, so I know.” Rob assured him of his own et. They dashed on over the ba’ e battle was still raging in the distance. ¢ An orderly who went riding past shouted news — 3 Lrewre success. to the captain who,, turning to- ob, sai “You sce, we are winting everywhere. We. ange nbs hyped 20," a weeks.” "3 0) so,” rep Rob, feeling tl hi the only way was to keep _in the cfficer’s: C . _ (To be continued. »

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/ BOBS HER HAIR AT 102 = Eeeenatins. her birthday in a manner befitting the times, Mrs. Jane Williams, 102 years old, of _ Harrisonville, O., has had her hair bobbed. __ Mrs. Williams’s parents came from England. Her father fought in the Revolutionary War and "was killed while assisting in the construction of _ the Erie-Canal in New York ninety-seven years “ago. Mrs. Williams has a fine growth of hair, nd in order to comb it more easily decided to ave it bobbed. Bobbed hair, in the opinion of the aged woman, a step forward in the life of women. Mrs. Wil- ams expects to live to a ‘ripe old age.” __ PARROTS LIVE THIRTY YEARS “Of the twenty commonly known varieties of arrots, the most talkative ones, according to George Bruce Chapman, head oz a London house that has imported and sold the birds for more than 100 years, are the Brazilian Amazon and the African Gray. The former has Beige blue ‘and yellow feathers and red tins to the shoulders and flight wings. The African Gray has a red ‘tail. Brazil natives watch the,nesting places and hen the fiedglings are a few days old, the feath- -@rs of one of the wings are trimmed. Later _ these birds are easily captured, placed on perches “and taken to the nearest village. Fanciers say that the birds should be fed twice a day, and if n proper care will live thirty years. POUNDS OF DIAMONDS BEING SOLD == BY SOVIET - The Russian newspaper Rul, printed in Berlin, Published the statement that Soviet Ambassador estinsky is handling the dale of 330 pounds of monds which were confiscated by the Soviet nment and which are’ being sold through “agents in Paris, New York and London. Tt is stated that a large number of diamonds being smuggled into the United States oug Rassas by women employees. Accord- to the newspaper, the diamonds on sale are d in the Kremlin at Moscow and are released ly upon the signatures of five members of the fitical Bureau .of the Communist Party. Phe Rul declares that international jewelers diamond merchants are uneasy concerning the s in Soviet hands and that the Belgian and Chambers of Commerce have already boy- d gems bought from Soviet agents. he quantity of diamonds in the possession of Soviets is so great; the Rul estimates, that it equire a decade to sell them unless they are xy he _ HAWAIH’S LAKE OF FIRE : mt visitors to the rim of Halemaumau’s of Fire, the spectacular exhibit of the vaii National Park, and probably the greatest ‘scenic attraction in the world, have been fated to a new thrill. Little whirlwinds start wn in the pit on the surface of the liquid lava nd climb up the walls, maintaining a diameter ¢ six but reaching a height of 20 eee ae: : « . FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY 28 - BRIEF BUT POINTED feet. These whirls circle around the rim and will pull a hat from a visitor, sail it out over the Lake of Fire a few moments and then ca it high in the air and drop it carefully on the floor of the outer crater, sometimes with 200 feet of its owner. As yet not a single hat has dropped into the Lake of Fire. The vicious snapping of the whirls cause the visitors to keep well back from the rim, but now and then a hat gets loose and purnishes a thrill for every one. At night thesteam cloud hanging over the pit is brilliantly illuminated during periods of lava flows, and at other times is lighted momentarily from the flashes of the fountains through which the fresh lava is poured-out over the surface of the lake. PLANTS THAT ENTERTAIN ANTS Among the most curious and interesting of natural phenomena are those pertaining to the mutual relationships of common organisms. Two isi two animals or a plant and an animal may ive together for their mutual benefit. Very often one of the parties gets food for the combination, while the other receives protection. This is the arrangement that subsists between some tropical plants and certain species of ants which live and feed in their hollow stems, and in return drive away other insects that would do damage. These insects, even in the temperate zone, play : an important part in the economy of nature, bu this becomes quite notable in the As sera Te tropical America the so-called “leaf cutters,” or “parasol” ants, are to be regarded as the most redoubtable enemies of vegetation. Besides such means of protection against these enemies as fibrous structure, disagreeable secretions, etc., it has been proved that some plants have relations with certain warlike species of ants which al- roma eg protect them from the “leaf cut- rs. instance of myrmecophilly. Two species of acacia are the best known ex- amples of this order of things. They have highly develo hollow thorns that serve as a cotnae for a definite species of ferocious ants that pierce an entrance to them near the end. But plants of this kind are not content with of- fering a mere asylum to their defenders. They also provide nutriment. At the ends of the leaves of these acacias we find small bodies, egg-shaped or peer-shaped; that are carefully garnered and pt by the ants. e Vecropias are remarkable trees, very wide- ly distributed throughout the tropics: * Theis slender trunks are crowned with four leaves the ends of theybranches. A few active ants ru continually along the branches and leaves, but -if the tree is shaken slightly an army of ants rush out by small apertures, ready for a savage as- sault on the intruder. This.is the most terrible guardian that the tree has retained to protect it from its most formidable enemy, the “leaf cut- ter” ant. The defenders rarely lea: their re- treat, where -they live on small whitish egg- ®shaped bodies about one-twe’fth of an in-h long, + known as Mueller’s corpuscles. This is held to be the most interesting

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THOUSANDS OF FISH SAVED AS POOLS DRY UP . he Lousiana Conservation Commission, with : the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Fisheries, j saved 775,300 fish from death in St. Martin Par- ish, New Orleans, La., alone from August 6 to September 6, according to a report of the com- mission on its work to overflow pools which were drying up because of the drought. : Game fish to the number of 157,025 were trans- ferred to streams in East Carroll Parish, in the northeastern part of the state, and in Calcasieu _ © -Parish, in the southwest. Commercial fish num- bering 618,275 were planted in running streams ; in the vicinity where they were rescued. 3 SEA SNAKES SEIZE SHIP Although sea serpents are now generally con- ceded to belong only to the world of fables, there are approximately fifty species of snakes that . make their home in salt water, some of them at- oe taining a length of several feet. They are poison- 7 ous, according to P: ar Mechanics, and al- though timid under ordinary conditions have been __ known to attack savagely when disturbed. When the steamship Ikala dropped anchor in the At Straits of Madascar not long ago, it aroused a : school of salt-water reptiles that swarmed on board, crawling up the chains and hawsers. The : ship was reported to have been held up several _, days before the snakes could be driven away. In a many respects these reptiles resemble the land varieties, but have» broad paddle-sha tails, —_ enable them to swim rapidly after small i sh. : THIS. WORM THRIVES IN ICE : A species of worm that lives only in ice and E cannot withstand even the heat of a human hand has been found and photographed by a scientific Mountains, Wash. ‘ The ice on Dodwell-Rixon Pass in the Olympic was found literally alive with these worms. They are black, thin and about half an inch long. When the sun is out they crawl into the interior of the ice, where the temperature is lower. Scientists with the party said that so far as they knew these worms never had been found before in the United “States. of : _- -While the worms were photographed, it was impossible to get any of them out of the moun- tains alive. When the ice surrounding them be- _ gins to melt they die immediately. What they livé’on is still a mystery. : - - BOY TRAPPED iN TREE BY ELECTRIC ee : CURRENT fi Bes _ Trapped in enue in the entine Beck- expedition that recently went into the Olympic a tree charged with hundreds of FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY FROM EVERYWHERE climb down to the street. He was not hurt, de- spite his nerve-racking experience. Valentine had gone seeking horse chestnuts with several companions. He selected a tree and climbed up among the branches. Suddenly he found himself “fastened” to the tree. He could move but slightly. His cries attracted people in - the vicinity, who saw that the tree was charged, — and a hurry call was sent to Poliie Headquarters. Chief Atwell and Patrolman Gleason hastened to the scene, while Lieutenant Curtis called the Westchester Lighting Company. In the meantime, however, Roy G. Hyer, super- intendent of construction of the company, was appraised of the boy’s predicament. He shouted to Valentine to remain quiet and not attempt to pull himself away. Then Mr. Hyer telephoned to the company offices and gave instructions that the power be shut off. WONDERS OF THE OCEAN It is now proposed to make a comprehensive — survey of the ocean by the United States Navy and exhibit the wonders of the “buried conti- nents,” as interesting if not more so than those exposed to sunlight, by photoghaphs and maps and descriptions of life and activities of the depths. One of the greatest oceanographers has said | that the oceans, which cover five-sevenths of the surface of the globe, provide more food for man than does the land. At a conferencé of scientists and officials inter- ested in the —— inventory of the ocean, Dr. Burrows sai “We are interested in the sea because of the rich fertility of the sea. There are what may be called, perhaps, muds of the sea, huge swarms of microscopic organisms, plants and animals dwelling in the upper levels of the sea that feed the, fish you all like to eat.” The comparatively recent inventions of the radio have changed the means of ‘studying the ocean depths. Formerly, a lead was sunk to get depths; this was not accurate because the sway of the line, sometimes miles in length, depended upon unknown currents in the deep. ; urements are now made with a sonic instrument, based upon the length of time it takes for an — echo to return from the bottom after the explo- — sion of a bomb on the water’s surface. Not only is the accuracy greater, but the speed of taking sounding is immensely increased. Motion pietures may be made of the inhabi- tants and landscapes. Powerful lights will aid the photographers to get the niarvelous “fand- scapes”—great valleys; plains and peaks, rivers, caves, and precipices. There is far more variety of “scenery” in the ocean than there is upon land, for the loftiest mountain, Mt. Everest, is only 29,141 feet, while the greatest depth of the a ocean is 31,614 feet—in the Pacific, near the Is- land of Guam. : A Movie films of the depths of the ocean may dis- @lose greatet mysteries than if Mars had a line of communications equal to the mind of the most imaginative astronomer. Such meas- —

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a en? EARNING LIVING AT 97 _ Earning her own living by knitting lace at -ninety-seven, although so badly crippled by pa- ‘alysis that she is bedridden, is the record of s. Martha Clemens, who resides at Eldersville, | the northern section of Washington County, a3 - This aged woman is so skillful with her needle and her lace is of such a fine quality that she s unable to supply her many patrons. She finds eat satisfaction in her work and declares that is still pleasant, in spite of her handicaps, al- zh she has been an invalid, confined to her for the past eight years. FOUR-FOOT WATER SNAKE , INVADES —- CAPE MAY YACHT _ A four-foot water snake was found in the hooner yacht Elizabeth, belonging to J. M. Lis- -of Haverford, Pa., as she lay in the harbor. Walker, the cook, who made the discovery, no time in going over the side and rowing the fish dock near by. There he appealed to tain Hurley Boyd of the fishing trawler d J., who sent Herman Olsen, a seaman, to alker. Armed with a belaying pin, Olsen the snake coiled in a dishpan and quickly the reptile. aptain Boyd, speaking in the light of his ex- ence on cruises which have taken him all over ° world, said the snake probably crawled aboard ehanna River on a recent cruise. - Water E : ag plentiful at that point, explained Cap- ‘Boyd. : “ ‘ INTERESTING ITEMS acre of 12-inch ice usually will provide a rvest of 1,000 tons. | Nearly 200,000,000 residents of India are d Pendent upon agriculture for their living, says Chicago Tribune. : i Phonographs mounted on push carts are replac- he long familiar hand organs in the streets uropean cities. ; : é weight of the soct deposited by the chim- of London in the city annually is computed the London Lancet at 76,050 tons. -Zealand’s postal revenue is larger in pro- ttion to population than that of any other coun- - It exceeded $5,000,000 last year, or $5 for ery inhabitant. : ’ Gas anti-rat warfare, San Francisco authori- d the arrest of four hundred persons ng to observe the regulations in this re- ected embroidering FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY + GOOD READING Elizabeth as she lay off, Lewisetta, Del., in the - 166 West 23d Street work of the women of that country at much less cost. The jaguar is a flesh-eating animal of the cat family, which includes also the lion, tiger, leop- ard, panther, cougar and lynx. The word jaguar comes from pagodra, the Brazilian name of the animal. It is a good climber and swimmer. It is but little smaller than the tiger, and can drag off an ox or a horse with ease. Its fur is usually brownish yellow, very prettily marked with cir- cles of black, with dark spots in them. By some it is called the South American tiger. Their aie are very handsome, and are admired as robes. In 1859 the Russian emperor saw a soldier in the middle of a grass plot in the palace grounds. Why was there a daily guard, relieved at stated intervals? No one knew. Curiosity was aroused, and at last a veteran was discovered who.remem- bered hearing his father say that the Empress Catherine—she died in 1727—once saw a snow- drop in bloom at that point unusually early, and asked that a guard be stationed there to protect it. And there a sentinel remained for at least 132 years; no one knew how much longer. _ “Mystery Magazine” Semi-Monthly 15 Cents a Copy 159 THE RIVER PIRATES, b Morrison . 166 MIXED MOTIVES, by Frie Howard. 167 spy a ms OF THE LAW, raigie. THE HOODWINKERS By GEORGE BRONSON HOWARD Out Today in No. 168 HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Inc. 166 West 23d Street New York City * . . >. ~~ “Moving Picture Stories” A Weekly Magazine Devoted to Photoplays and Players PRICE TEN CENTS PER-COPY by Hamilton Each number contains Three Stories o. the Best Films | on the Screen—Elegant Half-tone Scenes I ee ye About Prominent ‘Deopie aE ms— gs 0. ors an ctresses and Lessons in Scenario Writing. = Se eae HARRY E. WOLFF, Publisher, Inc.

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26 Fame and Fortune Weexiy NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 7, 1924 _ TERMS iU SUBSCKIBKERS Single Copies............+. ..--kostage Free 5 Cents py Three Mouths...... 00 - One Copy six AMoutus......... — z 2.00 One Copy One Year........... 4.00 iver wrap cu.ting the in a Be plainly. the envelope. HARRY E. WOLFF, ) Harry 5: Wolff, Pres. Publisher, Inc., _pCharles EB. Nylander, Sec. 166 W. 23d St. N. Y.J L. B. Wilzin, Treas. FROM ALL POINTS SIXTY-TON WHALE ASHORE Whales are plentifial along the Oregon coast. One of the iargest ever seen there came ashore at Spencer Creek recently. It is not known how the whale met its death. It measures 60 feet and 9 inches in length. This is the second whale that _ come ashore near Newport in the past thirty ys. A commercial fish company at Spencer Creek is lanning to store several tons of whale meat to eed young fry. The whale’s éstimated weight is 60 tons. HORRIBLE. LIVES OF THE’ EASTER ISLANDERS Easter Islands in the South Pacific is about the most undesirable place on earth for human habi- tation. No trees grow on the island because: it lacks water and’no birds will live there on ac- count of there being no worms. The island is ir- ~ + yegular in shape, being 12 miles by 9, 7, and is very seldom visited by ships. Two hundred Polynesians inhabit dt and they suffer continual- 4 ‘ly from hunger. It was first sighted in 1686. It was explored in 1722- and the island then had 2,000 inhabitants. : ’ LIQUOR HIDDEN IN CLOCKS Two shamefaced -clocks with hands awry were found to be “full as ticks” when police visited the home of Mrs. Mary di in search of liquor. Two bottles each of bad liquor were ex- = tracted from the interior of the guilty clocks. Mrs. Frandi, of Hartford Conn., said her hus- Es ~ band had failed to support her and in dispensing ae =e = thought she was using her time to»the vantage. , : . _~ Judge Day sentenced Mrs. Frandi to “do time” to the extent of sixty days, but suspended sen- tence, with a warning not to further corrupt her =f _ once reliable clocks. ~NEW X-RAY DEVICE MAKES WALL — ¥ TRANSPARENT — _ New X-ray machines by means of which one may look through walls and floors as easily as a sician or dentist now examines subcutaneous paper Row at lunch time any weekday. aA FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY - parts of his patient’s body have been perfected. ‘The inventors are Dr. W. D. Coolidge and_his associates in the research laboratory of the Gen- — eral Electric Company. : The new apparatus, an oil-immersed portable outfit in a box 7x8x10 inches and weighing but 30 pounds, is expected to prove of great value, _ especially to plumbers, building contractors, elec- tricians and jewelers. . To use the new device it will only be necessary to connect an ordinary extension cord to the near- — est lamp socket or base plug of the household — eee system, and then X-rays may be pro- — duced by simply pressing a button. . Hereafter, the inventor says, the man who wishes to hang a picture on the wall and doesn’t know where to find a solid place to drive a nail will not have to ruin the wall before finding the right spot. The new machine may also prove a blow to smugglers, should customs officials use the device in searching for secret chambers in — trunks and bags. a Jewelers, it is said, will be able to detect spu- rious gems at a glance by using the rays. LAUGHS “I shall jump into the river, father, if Ella rejects me!” “Don’t do it, Karl—you know so little about water.” ~ Candidate for Employment (to foreman)— — You want a character from my last employer? Why, he has been dead these twenty years. 4 In a cemetery at Middlebury, Vt., is a ston erected by a widow to her loving husband, bear- — ing this inscription: “Rest in peace—until we — meet again.” > Enthusiastic Auditor (at the opera)—Didn’t she do the aria divinely! Boarding-House Miss ner You ought to hear that on our grapho- — phone! , ste = Mrs. Kicker—That little Jones boy has such beautiful table manners. Mrs. Bocker—Yes, his — mother always feeds him at home before he is invited out. i Mamma—Come now, Harry, it’s past your time to get up! Harry—Never mind, mamma. I'll just stay in bed till my time comes round again. F a She—I see an average of 800 persons are killed in the United States by lightning. He el, dear, that should be a warning to you not make yourself too attractive. ; It is claimed’that printers are peculiarly liab! to consumption, and those who doubt this should take a day off and watch the around News- o . 4 Little Bella—Mr. Squire, do drink your tea. I am awfully anxious to see you drink. Mr Squire—What makes you So anxious, dear? Little Bella—“Oh, ma said you drink like a har 7,

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= HAT would you do? What would your ‘Z wife and children do? _. Suppose your employer notified you to- __ morrow that he didn’t need you any longer? _ Haye you any idea where you could get an- ~~ other position? / oe You wouldn’t have to worry if you were _ atrained man. You wouldn’t have to spend _ your mornings reading the “Want Ads” and - then trudging from place to place, meeting rebuffs and discouragements, piling. up bills, ~ finally willing “to do anything” if only you could get on somebody’s payroll. Don’t have this spectre of unemployment hanging over your head forever. Train your- self to do some one thing so well that your __ services will be in demand.. Employers don’t _ discharge such men. They promote them! * Decide to-day that you are going to get the spe- Cialized training you must have if you are ever Being to get a real job and a real salary. It is easy _ if you really try. 5 Right at home, in the odds and ends of spare time t now go to waste, you can-prepare for the, on you want in the work you like best. For International Correspondence Schools will train * +, “What would I do if I lost my job?” you just as they are training thousands of other men—no matter where you live—no matter what your circumstances. At least find out how, by marking and.mailing the coupon printed below. There’s no cost or obligation, and it takes only a moment of your time, but it may be the means of changing your whole life. Mail the Coupon To-dayl INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS Box 4497-C, Scranton, Penna. Without cost or obligation, please tell me how I ean qualify for. the position or in the subject ore which I have marked an X: BUSINESS TRAINING COURSES Business Management Salesmanship Industrial Management . Advertising Personnel 0: Better Letters ‘Trafic Management Show Card Lettering Business Stenography and Banking and Banking Law Business Eng! Accountancy (including C.P.A.) Civil Service Nicholson Cost Accounting lway Mail Clerk Common School Subjects High School Subjects Dlustrating (j Cartooning TECHNICAL, AND INDUSTRIAL COURSES Electrical Engineering Architect Architects’ Blue Prints Contractor and Bullder Areiitectural Draftsman ‘achine Shop Practice Concrete Builder Gas Bnet Gaomtiog Chemi ; Pharmacy etry Civil Engineer Automobile Work Surveying Mapping Airplane Navigation ring Agriculture and Poultry matics sesocesenecsvennessereeesessnso MRED oevasecnessaseecerteveseneresceeescstnegeee Persons residing in Conada should send this coupon to be fional Correspondence Schools Canadian. Limited. Siontrcel, Ourada.

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FREE RADIO mH ABSOLUTELY i-Tube Set get a Guaranteed one tube vacuum set Complete | FREE Rush your name and address and learn how you can ABSOLUTELY FREE | , Write today for Free Radio Plan - SOLVE THIS oy first names of boys or RELIABLE SALES C0., DEPT 312 434BROADWAY.WLY.C. | [iahedQeeieahe girls—any names—out ad = 4 = & of the letters in “Great | q Lakes Merchandise Com- T H R 0 W Y 0 U R Vv 0 ] Cc E PAN pany.” It’s easy, for example Under the table, into a take GRA and E of ‘Great’ and C § Trunk, down Cellar or @% ay of “Company”"=GRACE. Here areall aS ai J > : IMPORTED BEAD NECKLACE Simply make five anywhere, Our lessons the letters to be used ; in’ | VENTRILOQUISM GREAT LAKES MERCHANDISE COMPANY teaches you. With our More than 50 names can be made. You need VENTRI LO only 5. Then send names and addresses of / eight girls you know, four in your neighbor- i / hood and four in other towns: On receipt of (fitsin the mouth and OAT(\ / cannot be seen) you alls dt same we will mail you an Imported Bead m: irds, ni- \ | Necklace. mals, etc. without \Y\\ fh! is / We will also explain an easy way to secure moving your. lips. c G4 CS | Gf a beautiful 6 jewel Wrist Watch, white gold This outfit and book of @& ~ filled case, guaranteed 25 years, or genuine JOKES by mail for 19-,. & Universal Dist. Manchurian Lynx Scarf, Folding Camera, § 37piece gold decorated Dinner Set, beautiful § electric table lamp, 32 piece Rogers Nickel Silver Set, and other valuable articles— | WITHOUT COST TO YOU. S Everyone sendingin 8 namesand 4 addresses of their friends will receive. <& necklace. Offer closes 10th ; of next month. Solvepuzzle and writeatonce. Hurryl | j GREAT LAKES MDSE. CO. | ~~ — St., i icago, Illinois NAS [7 1144 Nae, GOLD : — SSF LED Ess 6 Games, words and music; 25 Pic- retty Girls;40 Waysto Make Money; 1 Joke ; 1 Book on Love; 1 Magic Book; 1 ‘Book Letter tures , Handsome, Dressed, Sleeping Dell went prepaid for selling ONLY 18 PACKETS new Highly Per- fumed Sachet Powder AT 10c. This is a Special Offer to introduce tune Teller; 1 Cook Book; 1 Base Ball Book, gives rules for games; 1 | Toy meg Books Langue ws sache | Flowers; ‘orse Telegraph A - a oy bet; 12” Chemical "Eceriecntes We also give Mama Dolls, Walking Mar’: Age Table; Great North Pole 4 Dolls, and premiums for boys. Gare; 100 ey 8 Peapions r CNOVE 12 Games; 80 Verses for Autograph Albums, A WU UNION NOV ELTY CO., the above by mail for 10 cts. al 2 cts. poscage. EY Dept. 49 Pawtucket, R.I. Royal Sales Co., Box 940, Norwalk, Conn. WANT ONE OF THESE PRESENTS FPF? Neo Sirings Tied to This Offer Konareome ? - Latest model foldieg I want the names of live boys and girls in every state. In : icture 2 248 want it, wi nce, —just-a plain, straight-forward proposition. All you have © pissow sre dears e do in order to compete for one of these presents is to send in “White wie ? Ba so your name right away. Nothing else is requested of you to win feveled Swiss movement. one o; these presents. The offer is open to everybody, FREE. ribbon and good clasp, Stem ACT AT ONCE! To the first two persons in eveTY you wantit. * state, writing me as explained be- Stylish Men's low, X will give a choice of these _presents,—the camera, wrist- Atiractive oflverot watch, watch or diamond ring. Do not delay—act at once—if good “clings you want one of these fine presents. This Bearcat Speedster Given = va 5 —— ine diamond cut, ; : a a lis Gott S4 hy “ assy, Wall ect and ey ty a a = present. Write for it your presen Mar, Dept. 514, * ILSON. , ek a waayeS ae BIG VALUE for 10 Cts. Writing; 1 Dream Book and For- | | : 800 READY TO ADOPT BUFFALOES Requests for buffaloes are pouring into the | Interior Depart- | ment so fast that if all applications should be granted there would be nothing ‘left of the herd of near- ly 800 in Yellow- stone National Park. The applica- | tions follow an- | nouncement that some of the ani- mals will be giv- €n away because | the herd had out- | grown its pas- ture. Some chil- dren asked for “little ones for pets.” A Sterl- ing, Col., man or- dered two car- | loads. Another applicant sought a couple “gentle enough to hitch to the front yard.” . A Geor- gian wanted one for a_ birthday present for his daughter. The Associated Press, which sent the announce- ment over the country, received a letter from a man in Iowa say- ing: “I would like one of these buf- | faloes you are giving away. What and how old ones do you send?” D istribution will begin next month. Prefer- ence will be giv- en to municipal zoos, many of which have ap- plied for a few animals to start herds. ee ee a eo

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KAISER SUPPORTS WHOLE FORMER | | FAMILY | Former Emperor } William has been enjoying a monthly drawing _ account of 50,000 3 gold marks since | = Jan. 1, 1924, with | — which "he was ex- . pected to support | - himself, his wife | ~ and his five sons | - and their families : and also his E brother, Prince % Henry, and: his % eousin, Prinze " Friedrich Leo-| J ; pold. 9 As now consti- me tuted the Hohen- _ zollern family * Comprises abcut » forty heads, all =a of whom will "> Share in the final | > settlement be-| tween the former / Tuling house and ~\ Prussia. The process of Jnventorying the “various holdings ~-of the Hohenzol- lerns has pro- ressed sufficient- ly to enable the Tussian Minis- ter of Finance tu issue a statement of the temporary settlements. Up ito May, 1920, Prussia had | ' turned over to the former -Em- | Pperor 32 Marks to enable kim to set up his | : domicile in Hol- | ~ land. Prussia | _ Purchased from | him a plot in the; - © heart of Berlin} = On- which the Present — “White | Ouse” is Dur- | p ing 1922 William | yt a further in- | tallment of about $10,000! ; the.proceeds | the royal ex- | juer. ,000,000 7 ne Diamond Ring - For HER Christmas Gift Marvelous Value $3°750 Cash or Credit — Whites Gold G filed W: Wriat” Watches, pgranbion $ 1“. Only $1 65. eats on payment it's $10 ne ernst SAGR MONEY REFUNDED Send for C oiadan) THE OLD RELIABLE ORIG- jOFTI Tis TAROSRESLARLE On egcp 108M. StateSt., Chicago. on Gallon of Gasoline Starts Easy.at Zero A. with Air Friction Carburetor We guarantee all other cars nearly double present mileage, power and : flexibility. Models for any éar, truck, r, 0 ine or stationary engine. Makes old sin better than new, See our mileage guarantecs. Ford . -34 mi.[Chevrolet . .32 mi. 28 mi. (24 mi. [octtza" nd. ww .30 mi, Milcage guarantee on any other ‘car sent on request. Overland. | /32 mi You can SENT ON 30 DAY’S TRIAL if? & car in heavjést traffic without shifting gears. Starts off on high in any wesaber Bigs ale riming or heating—No jerking or choki AIR-FRICTI TON “CARBURETOR COMPANY 1394 Raymond Building Dayton, Ohio, U. S. A. how to get this handsome 14° Kt. gold Get man’s wateh and chain ABSO- TUTELY FREE. Watch has 10 jewel Lever movement. Write today—don’t de- Iny for FREE watch plan. RELIABLE SALES CO.. 434 Broadway, Dept. 263 wew York City. ‘MOVING PICTURE MACHINE | ‘FREE Oil or Electric Genuine New 2 Picture Machine, film, given free .for selling 25 packages Sachet Perfume l0cts a package. “tra premium of .Ad- can earh money by home. Write You your own mission Tickets. giving shows at today. : : COLUMBIA NOVELTY CO. Dept. 554, East Boston, Mass, Mov- | Model | non-inflammable | at | Ex- | ments 10c asst.; or sell 80 cards Arrow Dress Snap Fasteners at 10c card. y sold. EARN BIG MONEY Bnaps today, send nomoney, We trust you till goods are sold, Boxi27-s Specisity Ce., ir, | Boys and Girls EARN XMAS MONEY | Write for 50 Sets St. Nicholas Christmas Seals. Sell for 10c a set. When sold send us $3.00 and keep $2.00. No Work—Just Fun. ae NICHOLAS | egi4 Glenwood & Dept. 148 Brooklyn, N. ¥. =| PIMPLES | Should write at once to W. | | FREE *: Ronis crm roe ony If Ruptured Try This Free Large or Small, and You are on the Road That Has Con- Your Skin Can So Cae Seyeled Finnie, Peckhene Write today for my E.S.GIVENS,186 Chemical Bidg., Kansas City, Mo. Apply it to Any Rupture, Old or Recent, vinced Thousands. Sent Free to Prove This Anyone ruptured, man, woman or child, S. Rice, 10-B Main #t., Adams, N. Y., fur a free trial uf his wonderfu: stimulating application. Just put it on the rupture and the muscles begin to tighten; they begin to bind together so that the opening closes naturally and the need of a support or truss or appliance is then done away with. Don’t neglect to send for this free trial. Even if your rupture i bother you what is the use of wear- | such dangers | tle ea the kind that has thrown thou- ing supports all your life? Why suffer this sance? — Tun the risk of gangrene and rom a small and innocent lit- sands on the operating table? A host of men and women are daily running such risk just because their ruptures do not hurt nor pre- vent them -from getting around, Write at once_for this free trial, as it is certainly a wonderful thing and as aited in the cure of ruptures that were as big as a man’s two fists. Try and write at once, using the cou- | pon below. —_—_—_—_—_—_—_—S oO ere Free for Rupture e °° W. S. Rice, Inc., 10-D Main St., Adams, N. Y, You may send me entirely free a Sample Treatment of your stimulating application for Rupture. Nauie eee eee eee eee ee ee) Address -.. ee eee eee ee ee ee BEALS 6 one vecce. pe cccedsbidecsveceudibneve

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——— x LITTLE ADS Write to Riker & King, Advertising Offices, 1133 Broadway, New York City, or 29 East Madison Street, Chicago, for particulars about advertising in_this magazine. AGENTS WANTED AGENTS, Big Profits! Braided Bugs all the rage, Sell direct, one-half store prices! Quiecx returns. ‘Tre- mendous demand. Alpern Bros.,.48Z2 Summer, Cheisea, Mass. c MAKE MONEY in your Spare Time. Easy to make $1 te $2 an Hour by following our instructions. No Movey or Experience Necessary. Write TODAY ‘for particulars. Costs nothing to investigate. American Products Co., 2077 American Bidg., Cincinnati, O. RADiO—Your Opportunity! $5 to $10 an hour for spare time work at home. Technical knowledge unneces- gary. Build best low-price Tube Sets. Quick sellers. AUBURN KADIO CO., Dept. C, Cincinnati, 0. $20 PROFIT DAILY selling needievooks; costs Sc-5e each; sell 25c, value 50c; 3 samples 25c. Write for Needlebook Specialty Co., 661 Broad- HELP WANTED BE A PETECTIVE. Opportunity for men and Women for sexret investigation in your‘district. Write C, T. Ladwig, 521 Westover Bidg., Kansas City, Mo. EARN $110 to $250 monthly, expenses paid as Railway Traffic Inspector. Position guaranteed ter comple- tien of 3 months home study course or money refunded. Hixeelient opportunities. Write for Free Booklet. CM- 41 Stand, Business Training Inst., Buffalo. N. Y. DETECTIVES NEEDED EVERYWHERE. Work home or travel, experience unnecessary. Write George R. ‘Wagner, former Govt. Detective, 1968 Broadway, N. Y. SILVERING Mirrors, French plate. Easily learned: im- Mense profits, Plans free. Wear Mirror Works. Excelsior Springs, Mo. ——. HELP WANTED—FEMALE EARN MONEY WEEKLY, spare time, home addressing, mailing. Music_circulars. Send 10c for music, Information. New England Music Co., 118 Asylum St., Y-4, Hartford, Conn. A COMFORTABLE living. Home, sewing for us: any machine; city, country; no canvassing. Send stamped addresstd envelope. Home, Industries Co., Bloomfield. New Jersev. MANUSCRIPTS WANTED STORIES, POEMS, PLAYS, etc., are wanted for publi- eation. Submit MSS. or write Literary Bureau, 515 mnibal, Mo_ FURAN, Homunce! Correspond with your , ideal. For ae address: NATIONAL LETTER CLUB, Box 355, Los Angeles, Calif. Pyorrhea Can Be Stopped In 24 Hours If you suffer from Pyorrhea, sore and spongy gums, loose teeth or other mouth irritations, I want to send you my simple home treatment under plain wrapper. It stops Pyorrhea in its worst form, and is curing thousands after everything else failed. Simply gend name for generous 10 day free ‘trial offer of my_secret_home treat- ment. Address, Kin Laboratories, 221 Gateway Sta, Kansas City, Mo, ANYreader paper ‘ng from Goitre (Dig neck), can get free information felling how to get rid of Hathomewithoutoperation,danger efarerins: by wens De Back. the em Goitre Specialist, Box 737. Dept, 553 Milwaukee,Wis, Dr. Rock has treated over 100,000 cuses and in nearly every civilized country on earth, Goitre sufferers should write for his {ree book and positize proofs from all parts of the world, ‘ PERSONAL GET A SWEETHEART. Exchange letters. Write me enclosing stamp. Violet Ray, Dennison, Ohio. HUNDREDS seeoinyg miarriage. if sincere euciose stamp. Airs. +. Wiilara, 2928 broadway, Chicago, Lilinois. HUNDREDS! WEALTHY MEMBERS want to marry. List free. Club B-1022, Wichita, Kansas, LONELY HEARTS—i have a sweetheart for you. change letters; make new friends. Efficient, confiden- tial and dignified service. Members everywhere. Lva Moore. Box 908, Jacksonville, Flori.ta. MARRY iF LONELY “Home Maker’; hundreds rich; reliable; years experience; descriptions free. The Suc- pa MARRIAGE PAPER-~20th year. Big issue with descrip- tions, photos, names and addresses. 25 cents: No other fee. Sent sealed. Box 2265 RK, Boston, -Mass. MARRY—Particulars for stamp. J}. Morrison, 38-3053 W. Holden Street, Seattle, Wash. MARRY—Free photographs, directory and descriptions of wealthy members. Pay when married. New Plan Co., Dept. 36, Kansas City, Mo. MARRY—MARRIAGE DIRECTORY with photos and descriptions free, Pay when married. The Exchange, Dept. 545. Kansas City, Mo. es - big ob —— with — and escriptions, ‘ree. National Agency, ept. 4606, Sta. KB. Kansas City, Mo. 4 SWEETHEARTS’ Correspondence Club. velope for sealed proposal. Lillian H, Cleveland, Ohio. MARRY—WEALTHY young lady, pretty, wants honor- able husband. Eva _8-1022, Wichita. Kansas, LONELY HEARTS, join our club: we have a com- panion for you, many worth from $5.000 to $50,000 most successful home maker, description and photos free. Standard Corr. Club, Grayslake, Ill. LONESOME? Find your sweetheart. Vast member- ship, confidential, no embarrassment. Bertha Franz, 949 Montana St.. Chicago. _ TOBACCO HABIT TOBACCO or Snuff Habit cured or no pay. cured. Remedy sent on trial. Superba Baltimore, Md. SONGWRITERS WRITE THE WORDS FOR A SONG—We compose music. Submit your poems to us at once, New York Me'oty Cornoration. 495 J. Romax Bldg, wew xork. PIMPLES CAN BE CURED. If you suffer from pim- ples, acne, blackheads, brown spots or erup- tions I want to send you my simple home treatment under plain wrapper. It gave me & soft, velvety, smooth and radiant complexion, and cured thousands of men and women, after everything else failed. Simply sénd name for generons 10-day free trial offer of my secret home treatment, W. H. WARREN, 522 Gray Bidg., Kansas City, Mo, Ex- Stamped en- Sproul, Station $1.00 if Co., PC., s ————OLD MONEY WANTED——— $ $2 to _— EACH paid for hundreds of old coins. p ALL Old or odd money, it may be VERY valuable. Send 10 cts. for ILLUS- TRATED COIN VALUE BOOK, 4x6, Get Posted. We pay CASH. ‘CLARKE COIN CO., Ave 18, LeRoy, N. Y. Leather 1 | | | j | | LOST ROYAL : TREASURE DISCOVERED Early last year the archives of King Nicholas of Montenegro and some valuables, | mostly foreign orders, -were ac- cidentally discey- ered at Cettinie, but. it wag thought that the majority of the beautiful gold and silver plate with which the little palace had been—for a king- dom tiny»and far from rich—abun- dantly supplied, |must have been taken by the ens- | my. An _offcial of the Ministry of Finance, how- ever, who hds re- cently been in Za- greb. on tempora- ry duty, happen- ed while there te® ask for a room in a Government. | building which he could: use as an office. He was told that the only . room . availabie | was being used as a storeroom and, earing that the packing cases ~ with which it was filled were the — property of the late King Nicho- las, he was inter- ested and began to examine them. It was soon dis- - covered that they were full of the missing treasure, consisting of large quantities = of gold and gilver vessels of every © description. The plate is valued at many millions of dollars and be comes, of course, _ Government property. ~_ =, i * oe

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ay “4 Me e ba aM { sii MN a Aa ye + ee = = ’ PAY * OTHER ge re rsh Se I am making this wonderful offer"to those who enroll right now to learn this fascinating, big-paying pro- fession. Just think, I will give you a fine professional Finger Print Outfit absolutely FREE ef charge. The outfit is exactly like the one I use myself. It is-just_what you will use when you are @ Finger Print Expert. Hurry! Take advantage of this special offer before it is withdrawn. Work om Real Cases Every month I'll send you “the dope” on.aslot of wanted men for whom rewards are posted. J'IE give you their photographs, finger prints, Bertillon descriptions and Reward Offers. You build up your own Bureau of wanted criminals. It’s practical work. It’s great. Learn At Home! Big Salaries— 30 Minutes a Day Rich Rewards . = Study this interesting work at home in your spare The nation wide demand for finger print experts { moments. Half an hour a day will be enough. In 1s increasing every day. The successful, highly a few months. you will be an expert, capable of Paid Secret Service men and Detectives are the handling a high salaried position. My course will ones who are trained in the Finger Print Profes- give you just the training you need. Share in the sion. If you can read or write English, you can many big rewards this profession offers you. Start acquire this training in a few months. You need . £ ° rtunit no previous experience and some of our most sue- Now to take advantage of this oppo ve cessful graduates have bad only.-a common school education. Write —<=...—. and Find Out About This Offer 7003 N. Clark St., Chicago, Ill. bg ie any —_ whatsoever, picate send lete information about this unusual me full information about your Free Finger Print Seerteninn tcaides ‘the free outfit, 1 will give Outfit. Also tell me how I can become a Finger ‘ou absolutely FREE a Course in Secret Servicé Print Expert. ntelligence, so you will be thoroughly equipped to | @ any branch of the work. There are big- paving, interesting jobs waiting for the trained mger Print Expert. The sooner you start, the bigger your chance for reward. Fill out the coupon right away. Send it TODAY. U. S. School of Finger Prints chs eee incr het Romain coder (gh Seep eee Sana ere joe ge pe pos Te wh Hee A AGATEBB.. oc ce dccoccccesesecccensctewsccwsces + *

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| ing from 1915 to 1919, his ex 32 FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY HERE AND THERE PYTHONS SOLD BY THE YARD When shows and museums find it necessary to replenish their stocks of pythons and boas, they usually have to buy them by the yard, according to Popular Mechanics. New York forms the cen- ter of the snake-importing industry in America and each year men go from there to Africa, In- dia, Sumatra and South America, returning in the spring with hundreds of the big reptiles. A seven-foot python can be had for about $20, ac- cording to snake dealers, while a length of 25 feet—found in the regal specimens from Suma- tra—runs the price up to $600 or $700. Boas come smaller. Sixteen feet is said to be the max- imum at an age of eight or ten years. In price my also start at about $20 and run as high as THOUSANDS OF FROGS STOP MOTOR TRAFFIC Returning from Salisbury after a hard rain, Mr. and Mrs. J: Frank Brown of Delmar, Del., had rather an unusual experience and one that has caused much comment and many different theories. Near Leonard’s Mill, probably a mile from the town, Mr. and Mrs. Brown noticed that the highway seemed a moving mass of tin dark ob- jects through which they were unable to pass ‘without crushing them, so they left their ma- chine to investigate and found the a mass of frogs, great and small. Brown says there were thousands in the distance of a mile. No one knows where they came from, unless, according to tradition, it “rained” frogs. Many oes travelers stopped to look at the curious sight. PLANS 50,000-MILE TRIP IN 35-FOOT BOAT _ Capt. Thomas Drake of Victoria, B. C., is about to start ascruise which should break all previous records for small boat voyages. He expects to travel well over 50,000 miles in his little thirty- five-foot cruiser, the Pilgrim. On a _ previous round-the-world cruise he covered 37,000° miles and he figures that 50,000 will not be too much for his next voyage. \ The Pilgrim will cross into the Atlantic by way of the Horn and up the t coast of South America. From there she will cross the Atlantic so the skipper may stay for a while at his old thhome in Kent. From there she will go to the - Mediterranean, which the captain is anxious to . look over at leisure. The Pilgrim will return, by way of the Suez Canal. : at adventure will be nothing new for Captain Drake. On his previous 37,000-mile cruise, last- riences varied from shipwreck to arrest as a Mexican rebel and _@ German spy. HIS PLAYMATE IS SAVED BY DOG ‘Mr. and Mrs. James W. Johnson of Los An- geles, who spent the day recently in the Newton tourist camp, are rejoicing that they still have their baby girl, Maxine, thanks to the almost hu- man intelligence of Big Jack, a huge bulldog, be- longing to Arthur Darling, a Santa Fe em- ployee. While the father was downtown the child wan-* dered near a lake, where she made friends with the dog. In some manner the child fell into the water, which is several feet deep. Cries were heard by the mother, but she was unable to reach the baby. She then ran about the park for help, finally attracting the attention of other tour- i had plunged into the water and dragged the child out onto the shore and was standing by, refusing to allow any one except the mother to touch her, The rescue party would have been too late to save the child from drowning. LOOK, BOYS! -TRAPEZEE The Acrobatic Wonder Toy ALMOST HUMAN IN ITS ACTIONS! It consists iron frame on which the little yellow |} man accurately performs like an ath- |} F lete. 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 i] head downward from a bar. | : THE GIANT SWING—He goes forward | with.a rush, releases the trapeze, catches jj a horizontal-bar with his heels, makes two swift somersaults in the air and catches by his heels again. Ge He performs two more horizontal-bar acts with the grace and agility of a cir- cus star, and many new ones can be in-- jj vented. The Most Wonderful Toy in the World! PRICE $1.00 The collapsible stand and the little mani- | kin are neatly packed in a handseme box. _ Delivered anywhere in the United States on | receipt of price. Address E : WOLFF NOVELTY CO. 166 W. 23d St., New York City, N. ¥. » 7 re sts. . When the tourists arrived they found Big Jack — oe e = of a handsome parailel | a

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