New Tip Top Weekly (no. 77) (1914 01 17)

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— iaieu th SRP OWEN CLAN el atl sn seein cer te neem naan cae ec RES SUS

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dssued Weekly. Entered as Second-class Matter at STREET & SMITH, 719-89 Seventh Terms to NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY Mail Subscribers. (Postage Free.) Single Copies or Back Numbers, Sc. Each. S MONS, ioe... vcsvewceseascss 650, One PORN Uh Aina ls San abi te Se wales aoe $2.50 4 MONEDS, .s0ise ceeeseceessvess 85C, 2 COPICS ONE VEAL ossecescrvees ss 4.00 Vitra Fo) cli 1 yr ee ae aoe a $1.25. 1 copy tWO YearsS.es..c..ceceeees 4,00 No. 77. the New York Post Office, Ave,, New York. Copyright, 1914, by STREET & SMITH. NEW YORK; January 17, 1914. March 3, 1819. Published by according to an act of Congress, O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors. How to Send Money—By post-office or express money order, regis- tered letter, bank check or draft, at our risk. At your own risk if sent- by currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter. Receipts—Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper change of number on your label. If not correct you have not been properly credited, and should Jet us know at once: Price Five Cents. OWEN CLANCY’S RUN OF LUCK; ' Or, THE MOTOR WIZARD IN THE GARAGE. _ By BURT L. CHAPTER I. OVER THE RIM ROCK. Honk, h-o-n-k! “Look out there! Jump—jump!” Fligh above these sounds there broke a startled yell. Owen Clancy, who was tramping along the road with his coat over his arm, not only heard the yell, but caught one tragic glimpse of a figure soaring through the cloud of dust, dropping in a sprawl on the rocks, and then roll- ing over the edge of the cliff. “Great jumping horn toads!” gulped the red-headed chap, coming to an astounded halt, every nerve in a quiver. “Right over the precipice, by thunder! That fellow’s done for, and no mistake. The man behind that steering wheel ought to be pinched! He didn’t give the fellow in the trail any chance at all—just rdn him down and made him jump over the edge of the cliff. Now the driver of that car hasn't the common decency to come back and see how much harm has been done!” The scene of this reckless automobile driving was a trail leading toward the city of Phoenix, Arizona. It was one of those mountain-and-desert trails which lead for miles over thirsty, sun-scorched plains, and occasionally climb to dizzy heights by narrow, hair-raising spirals clipped from the mountainside. Clancy, at the high point of the trail, had been crossing a tugged, bowlder-covered uplift. At his left was a blank wall, a hundred feet high; under his feet was a shelf, ‘barely wide enough for the road; and, on his right, was a precipice. Those heights overlooked a dusty ‘stretch of flat désert, at whose farther edge could be seen the rooftops and spires _ of Phoenix peeping out of the green treetops. The city, STANDISH. from that distance, presented a most enchanting view, and Clancy had paused to look and to admire. “Wonder what sort of luck I’m going to have in that town?” he had asked himself.. “I’ve got a notion it is going to make or break me. Well,” and he frowned reso- lutely, “if it breaks me, I’ll make good somewhere else. I'm the head of the family now, and it is up to me to show the folks back East just what sort of a little, red-headed breadwinner Iam. I'll $ He broke off his reflections abruptly. From behind him, and altogether too close for comfort, came the; toot of a motor horn, Accompanying the sound theré burst forth the loud run of a motor. ; Clancy, always quick to act in an emergency, gave one leap for the blank wall at the trailside, and flattened against it. Not an instant too soon did he accomplish this, for, ere he could draw a full breath, a big, black car lurched past, the mud guardé almost brushing his knees: It was a six-cylinder machine, built to carry seven pas- sengers, but there was only the driver aboard. Lightly ballasted, the huge machine jumped and swayed on that dangerous path in a manner to make the heart jump, But there was something else that made Clancy’s heart jump., He suddenly became aware of another pedestrian in the road, a fellow. he had not seen before. In the instant of time allowed him for making obser- vation, Clancy saw only that the other foot traveler was a yOungish chap, and that he was loitering along uncon- scious of the speeding car behind him. -The driver of the machine did not slacken gait ins the least, but contented himself with merely sounding the horn, Wildly Claney cried out for the stranger to jump. ~The Stranger, casting,one frightened glance over his shoulder, jumped without delay—but in the wrong direction,

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NEW Alighting on the edge of the cliff, he fell and rolled— over the edge. The car ‘raced on and vanished behind a shoulder of rock, leaving a cloud of dust te mark its pas- sage. Clancy ran forward, badly shaken by what he firmly believed would turn out to be a tragedy. The dust was flicked away by the wind, and, as the air cleared, Clancy fell to his knees on the cliff’s edge. “Hello!” he called, in a voice husky with apprehension. There was no answer, and the gruesome fears of the ted-headed fellow increased. Some of the dust was rolling below the brink of the wall and he could not see clearly. Straining his eyes downward, he shouted again. - This time he was electrified by hearing an answering shout. It came up through the thinning fog of dust and was strong and; apparently, from near at hand. The fellow who had rolled over the edge had not fallen ta the bot- tom of the cliff, after all, “Where are you? demanded Clancy. “I'm where [rm glad to be, but where | wish I wasn’t,” was the rather queer response. “Feller that’s born to be hung or drowned, howsomever; ain’t goin’ to be put out of business by a chug wagon and a bit of up-and-down wall, Pard, da somethin’: for me. I don’t reckon I can do a thing for myself, and the position I’m in is right Ee, By then, the dust had entirely cleared away below and a strange spectacle presented itself to the eyes of the lad on the brink.’ Ten or fifteeri feet down, the steep, smooth wall was broken’ by a shelf. The shelf was no more ‘than a foot and a half in width, and a stunted bush was growing at its edge. The stranget’s body had met the obstruction in its fall, and was now lying en the shelf, wedged in ‘be tween the bush and the face of the ollff, The. strangér lay quietly in his perilous berth, Half on his back ‘with faee upturned. He could not have been more than seventeen or eighteen years of age, and he wore a faded shirt of blué flannel, corduroy trousers, and tight, - high-heeled boots. Those cowbey boots, constructed for riding rather than for walking, had undoubtedly got\ him into his danger: ous predicament, They had given him’ no firm foothold in alighting from his sudden jump, and he had fallen and rolled from the edge of the cliff, “Get up on. your, feet!” called Clancy, self as. ‘far, as I can and try to take won hand and pull you tip.’ “Naty, adv came the answer, “J Yeckon < as hen I'd better imitate a piece of bloomin’.brick-a-braw on a mantel- shelf. If T.get to squirmin, that bit of brush pulls out and lets me-down. See how it-ish. Throw down a rope,” . “T haven’t a rope.” “Then, by glory, I opine\I was barn to be busted in fraggyments at the foot of this here clift, Why. ever ain't you got a rope?” The stranger seemed composed enough, and. certainly he took a very peculiar view of the situation. He wasn’t frightened--at least not so Clancy could notice it. “You’vye got-to up end yourself somehow!” declared Claney. “Straighten yourself upright along the wall and reach as high as you can. Maybe our hands will meet.” “Bush is givin’ “way,” was the answer. “I can feel it pullin’ out. One. thing I want you should do’ for’ me, friend.” . ap “What's that ?”’ “Pll lower my-: TIP TOP WEEALY: “Find out who that cimiroon was that was drivin’ that gas cart; then scalp him, and sa¥ you done it for James © Montague Fortune, which is me. Adios, pard. That blamed bush can’t stand the strain much longer.’ “Oh, take a brace, can’t you?” Clancy answered sharply. “If you've got to drop anyhow, you might as well do it while trying to save yourself. Here, look!” With his left arm around a bowlder at the cliff’s edge, Clancy, flat on the ground, was reaching his right hand downward. “See if you can’t get hold of my hand,” he went on. “Do that, Fortune, and I’ll pull you up. You can make it if you try.” “You're the most persistenest person I ever seen!” grum-: bled James Montague Fortune.. “You ean’t even let a fel- ler fall.down a cliff in peace! Well, if you’re set on it, I'll make a stagger to get up, but I’m a-tellin’ you. it’s a powerful small piece o’ standin’ ground I got, and it tips the wrong way and is smooth like it was greased. Here’s where I caper. : dizzy yoid as to go rollin’ down the face of them rocks with a-measly handful of chaparral.” Slowly, and while Clancy held his hreath and. waikad Fortune began. twisting himself into a sitting posture. The bush gave a sudden heave, and. its top bent until it was “sticking straight out at right angles to the cliff wall, Clancy ; wheoped in an agony of fear.. The other looked up at him calmly... “Told you!” he. called. “Couldn’t even hang a persim- mum on that elump.o’ brush without givin’ it the wiggle- wageles, and here- I’m tryim to balance a hundred. and forty. pounds on it. .Don’t take no head for ’rithmatee to figzer ott what’s -goin’ to happen, minute. and a half. How much do you give me?” “Vd like to give you.a/punch,” howled Clancy, “for wasting time when you haven't an instant to spare! Get up! Reach for my hand! . Quick!” , ie “Ain't. you the funny whopper, though! I get up and fall off.” : With a. quick, wiry, contortion; Fortune barber eet erect and hugged the. smooth, steep wall with both arms. A.-bushel of sock and débris went bounding downward from: the shelf, a glassy wall overhead. “Darned if I. can savvy this!” he murmured, yet; ain't 1?” - Seat | “Take my hand!” shouted friasedye This was something Fortune could abe do. down.and the other reached up, but a foot gap separated their groping fingers. “Splice, out that arm about: : a sii baad, ” said Fortune, “and we'll make it.” MPH de. itt” declared Clancy. longer !” He drew back from the edge, hastily unbuckled. the. belt : about his waist, removed it, buckled it once more, and. — then, clinging tightly. to the leather loop, lowered it over the cliff. The maneuver was successful. Fortune gripped the'bahi of stout leather and Clancy, exerting a surprising amount of strength, dragged the chap. below ‘back over the brik and to safety, “Blamed if you didn't make it!” exclaimed Fortune, ins Come on, now. © Xeckon I might as well shoot off into: the . [’'m givin’. myself a. Here’s where. booming and. echoing into -the depths, ; The. bush:.went, too, and. Fortune, in his absurd boots, was balanced on a slippery foothold, with.a gulf. below and. “Pen here. “ Ohe reached ‘Hane Gita centered ~~

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eee a ee ee eee eee - blamedest feller! NeW DEP OP ww Res. 3 squatted on the edge of the believed it possible nohow. a tone of surprise, as he precipice. “Wouldn’t ‘a’ What’s your handle, pard?” Clancy gave him the “handle,” and the two shook hands. “Now that you’ve pulled me out o’ that, diffukilty,” re- marked James Montague Fortune, “what do you opine to do with me, huh?” . CHAPTER II. JIMMIE FORTUNE. Fortune had the sort of good-natured face that reflects an easy-going disposition. He was about as handsome as Owen Clancy, which is the same as saying that he would never be hung for his good looks, but his face was at- tractive for all that. His nose was a “snub,” and his eyes were narrow, and crinkled all around where a perennial smile had puckered them and left its marks. Handsome is as handsome does, always, and it was safe to say that James Montague Fortune, while a peculiar chap in some respects, possessed a cheerful soul and a nature most companionable. “What am I going to do with you?” repeated Clancy, studying Fortune with humorous eyes. “That’s not “my business, is it? ‘This is a free country, and you’re your \ i y y own boss.” “Sure,” was the reply, “but I’m tired of bein’ my own boss. It’s too big a job and I ain’t able to swing it. I'm tight smart of a feller, Clancy, and husky and able more’n I can tell, but I'll be dad-binged if I’m much of a success. How’d you like to sign me on for my board and keep and, say, fifty plunks a month? Huh?” Clancy, threw back his red head and burst into a “Where's the joke?” asked Fortune. “What use have I got for a chap like you?” Clancy re- turned. “Why,I’m looking for a job myself. That’s why I’m going to Phoenix, Fortune. And I’m walking to save stage fare from Mesa.” “Didn’t know but you might be a Vandefeller, or a Rockybilt in disguise,’ grinned Fortune. “I’ve worked for purty nigh everybody in southern Arizona, and I jest wanted to add you to my list of employers. I don’t:seem laugh. able to hold a job long. Shortest time I was ever hired and fired was fifteen minutes, and the longest time was two days.. Fortune! That’s a bully name, ain’t it? Never done me no good, though. If you can’t hire me, mebby you'd like me for a pard? I'll be your compadre jest for my board and keep. How aboitt it?” Clancy shook his head. “I’m going to have all I can do to corral my own board _and keep, Jimmie,” he answered. “Hm,” mused Fortune, rubbing his chin. “You're the While I was on that ledge, down there, you said somethin’ about punchin’ my head. Regkon you could get away with it?” “TJ don’t know,” said the surprised Clancy. “If you’re as good as you look I’d probably have a handful.” Fortune got his feet under him, stepped into the road, and put up his ‘hands. _ “Come on!” he-called. “What do you mean?” “Can’t you tell what I mean jest by ‘lookin’?” was the cheerful response. “Take ‘holt o’ me and slam me down. Bet you can’t.” “You want to fight?” - “One or t’other of us goes\on his back in about two minutes.” Fortune began hopping around in his high- heeled boots. “Hit me in the eye!” he begged, sawing the air with his fists, For a few moments Clancy was astounded. Fortune’s grin was wide and inviting—in fact, he was about the pleasantest slugger Clancy had ever seen. “Cut out the foolishness,’ said Owen. have I got to fight with you?” “Shucks! You got to have a reason for every blame’ thing? Climb my neck—if you got the sand! Ain’t I beggin’ hard enough?” Abruptly Clancy made up his mind to enter heartily into the spirit of the affair. So he sprang erect and sailed into Jimmie Fortune, whom he had just saved from being dashed to pieces at the bottom of. the cliff. Thump, thump, thump! The sodden fall of fists was heard during a sharp give- and-take. Clancy, who had forgotten more of the “science” than Fortune ever knew, had all the best of it. Fortune clinched; and then Clancy, with a fine exemplification of the old reliable “double grapevine,” laid his antagonist on his.back in the middle of the road. Fortune got up with a joyous laugh, caressing a. bruise on his chin with one hand, and, with the other, wiping the dust out of his; eyes. “IT reckon you'll do,” said he. “You're as good as you look, Clancy, and then some. Let’s be pards, huh? We'll travel together, and J’ll look after 'my own board and keep. I’m for Phoenix to find a livin’, same as you. Why not make a stab at the ‘old purg in. double harness? — I could jest love a feller that slammed me down like that!” Fortune was so delighted that his mirth was infectious Clancy saw no occasion forall that abandon of happiness, and yet it was impossible not to join in his companion’s rollicking mirth. “All right, Jimmie,” said he, “we'll go on together. Suppose we travel?” “T allow we'll have to travel if we ever reach Phoenix. Pasear it is, Reddy!” Side by side they continued on along the treacherous trail. “What reason be pards, and we'll “I got to uncork,” remarked Fortune, “and tell you more about myself. there’s a libel. I’m jest a rollin’ stone, but I’d stop rollin’ blame’ quick if anybody *u’d hire me and keep me hired.” “Why don’t you stay hired?” “Mainly because I do the wrong thing while ketchin’ onto anew line o’ work. An assayer gave me a chanst in Prescott, and set me to grindin’ at a muller board. I tipped over the table and busted a carboy o’ sulphuric acid, and got run out o’ the place. That’s where I lasted fifteen minutes. *Nother time I took a throw at a general store in Tempe, and believe me, I was busy-izzy for one hull day. Store was crowded and I had to be in about six places to oncet. The boss reckoned he had a prize, from the way # flew around; but he changed his mind when he diskivered \I’d left the spigot o’ the molasses bar’l open. The floor o’ the back room was ankle deep in sweet stuff, and the old man made a pass at me with his foot. I dodged the foot and he slipped and went down. in the black strap. He rolled over and over, and when he chased me through the front door of the ‘Emporium’ he had gathered up purty nigh everythin’ in the store like a piece. % Some folks calls me a desert rat, but that.

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is 4 NEW o) fly paper. A bolt 0° calico, a couple o’ feather dusters, fifteen or twenty pounds o’ crackers—oh, J can’t begin to tell all the stuff that was stickin’ to him. The damage was right considerable, and I ain’t had the nerve 4o go back to Tempe since.” Clancy enjoyed Fortune’s reminiscences. doubt that the wanderer drew heavily on his imagination, but that merely made his recital the more interesting. “It’s been a year since I tackled Phoenix,” went on Jimmie. “I worked that bunch of adobes up and down and. across, but maybe some of ’em have kind of forgot me, What field of industry are you There was no and I'll get another show. aimin’ to hit, Brick Top?” “Want to get a job in a garage,” said Owen. The other looked at him with quickened interest. “You bug on the motors?” /“Well, you might call it that,” laughed Owen. “Never tried °em myself. Looks like a promisin’ field. Wonder if we couldn’t' get jobs in the same garage?” “Maybe we could; and then, again, maybe there isn’t a garage in Phoenix that has a place for us. I have a note for a thousand dollars that I want to collect from the proptietor of ‘a garage in What's the matter with you?” demanded Clancy, breaking off suddenly. Fortune had come to a dead\stop in the trail. He stared at his new “pard,” then: craned his head forward and put a hand behind his ear. “Otra’ vez!” he murmured. “Come again with that, ~ Red. A note for—how much?” “Thousand dollars.” “Gee-wollops! I didn’t know there was that much dinero in the world. And here you tune up and allow you couldn’t hire me at fifty plunks a month!” “The note doesn’t belong to me,” Clancy explained, “but to my father. The folks need the money—and | may have a hard time collecting it. You say you have been in Phoenix, Jimmie?” “T was there good and plenty for six months.” “Eyer hear of a man’ named Rockwell—Silas Rock- well?” Jimmie gave a startled jump. “Wow!” he yelled. “Know Rockwell?” continued Clancy. is “He's my Uncle Si, but he nevér had no use for any the rest of the fambly. Sort of an\even thing, Red, ’cause none of the rest of the fambly ever had much use for him. He runs the Red Star Garage, on First Avenue, and he was never knowed to pay a cent if he could dodge or. run away. If he owes your folks money, then you better for- get it. You can get blood out of a turnip quicker’n you can get cold cash out of Uncle Si. My people knows him by the lovin’ name of ‘Old Rocks, and——” Fortune’s voice trailed off into silence. He and Clancy were standing on the slope of the mountain, near the place where the trail left the uplift and straightened out across the flat desert. Fortune’s eyes were fixed on something at the foot of the descent—something which seemed to hold him spellbound. Clancy, his wonder aroused by his companion’s behavior, dropped his gaze to the foot of the slope. What he saw there surprised him. The big automobile, which had so recklessly swept past him and Fortune on the heights, was at a halt at the edge of the brown, dusty plain. A smaller car, facing the other way, was drawn up beside the six-cylinder machine. Two men had got out of the small car. One of them AIP TOP: WHERLY: was stoutly built, well dressed, and of ‘middle age. This man’s panama hat was pushed back on his head and he seemed to be violently agitated. The driver of the large machine was on the ground, and to him the stout gentle- man was addressing himself. The other man hovered around in the background. This third member of the party at the foot of the slope was tall and thin, and wore a linen duster, a cap, and had a pair of goggles pushed up on his forehead. “Great jumpin’ tarantulas!” gasped Fortune. “Talk of the Old Nick and you hear him a-snorin’, Red, that man in the duster, down there, is. Uncle Si! Wouldn't this rattle your spurs?” “Who's the other man, Jimmie?” queried Owen. “Ym by; but the feller that other chap’s talkin’ to is the one that drove me over the cliff! Whoop-ya! Right here’s where I get even. Watch my smoke !” With that, Fortune rushed down the sloping trail at top speed. Clancy followed him swiftly, calling out as he went: “Don’t do anything reckless, Jimmie! you'll get yourself into trouble.” “Somebody's goin’ to get into trouble, all right,” Fortune flung back, over his shoulder, and raced on. Look out, or CHAPTER IIL}, THE MOTOR “WIZARD. As Clancy drew nearer the group at the foot of the slope, it became apparent that the stout gentleman was “laying down the law” to the driver of the big car. Rock- well continued to hang discreetly in the background. Into this group Fortune plunged like a whirlwind. In half a minute he had laid violent hands on the chauffeur, and the two fell to struggling with might and main. The chauffeur was older than Fortune, although about the same size, and he protected himself with a good deal of vigor. In spite of his utmost efforts, however, the wanderer threw him and dropped on his chest with both knees: then, as he drew back his’ fist to strike, the stout man grabbed his arm. “What do you mean, you young savage?” the man cried. “Here, Rockwell! Help me get these two apart.” Rockwell helped, and so did Clancy. In a little time the twe antagonists were dragged away from each other and held firmly at ja distance. Their glances crossed angrily. “If it’s a fight you want,’ snarled the chauffeur, “I’m willing to accommodate. No one can jump me like that without takin’ his medicine, by gorry!” “Vought to have your face pounded in!” shouted For- tune. “You run me down on the narrer trail, up the mountain, and I had to roll over the edge o” the clift to get away from you. What d’you mean by whalin’ along a road like that, without ever givin’ a feller who’s hoofin’ it a chanst for himself?” “Look here, Dirk Hibbard,” called the lioet man, fas- tening a stern glance on the chauffeur, “is that what you did?” “Vou can’t believe that whelp, judge,’ answered Hib- bard.. You know I’m a careful driver. that yarn out of whole cloth. I slowed up and sounded the Gabriel—and he’knows it!” | “Slowed up!” jeered Fortune. “You tore past me at He’s making up —

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ft Pt eat SS ty ne esta ~ motor in shape! forty miles an hour, pealed to Clancy. “Yes,” said Clancy, “it’s so. hever slackened speed: at all. out of his way.” The judge favored Clancy with a keen look, Evidently he was impressed by the youth’s appeatance and truth- fulness. “Well,” remarked the judge, “maybe Hibbard deserves a licking—but he'll get worse than that before I’m done with him. You keep hands off,” he added to Fortune; “Ti not stand for any rough-house,” He pushed Fortune away and nodded to Clancy to take charge of him and restnain his hostile ardor. Clancy at once passed to the side of his friend and caught his arm restrainingly. Rockwell, who did not seem to recognize Fortune as a relative, got off into the background once more, “So,” went on the judge, in scathing tones, again giving attention to Dirk Hibbard, “you take my car out without permission and go over mountain trails with it at forty miles an hour! What have you to say for yourself?” “Judge Pembroke,” answered Hibbard, “these two hoboes are pullin’ the wool over your eyes. are taking their word against mine. they're strangers. Is that right?” “Did I, or did I not, tell you never to take that machine out of the garage without permission?” flared the judge. “Why, yes, but——” f “You knew my wishes. To-day you thought I was going to Prescott, and you deliberately disobeyed instruc- tions. I changed my mind about going north and tele- phoned the garage for the car. Rockwell told me you had taken the car and gone north by this road. He and I followed you, and found you at the foot of thé mountain, with the car disabled. Where have you been, Hibbard?” The chauffeur wore a guilty look, but he made a show of defending himself. “The motor wasn’t workin’ well, judge,” said he, “and { took the car over the trail to get it in shape.” “Oh, you did!” answered the judge. “You took it over ' the mountain trail at forty miles an hour—just to get the Likely yarn! You seem to have got it in excellent condition, for the car is disabled and can’t turn a wheel;- Why don’t you fix it?” “[’m trying to,” answered Hibbard, “but it promises to be a long job. I don’t know just where the difficulty is.” The judge whirled on Rockwell, “Can you locate the trouble?” he asked, “I want to ‘take this car back to the garage—I'm not going away and leave it here.” The garage proprietor came up to the machine. Both sides of the hood had been lifted, and he stooped down and looked the motor over critically. “Engine seems all right,” said. he. ‘gasoline in the tank.” “Tank’s half full,” returned Hibbard, with a scowl. “Then maybe the carburetor——” “Carburetor’s in apple-pie order,’ averred the chauf- feur. “All that being the case,” went on Rockwell reflectively, “I reckon we better hitch a rope to the machine and haul it back to the garage for an overhauling.” Clancy’s keen eyes had been going over the motor. At a glance he had located the difficulty, and he was Ain’t that so, pard?” and he ap- He sounded the horn, but I had to be quick to get I don’t see why you You know, me, and “Maybe there’s no NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY, amazed to hear the garage owner and the chauffeur as- sert their ignorance of it; “The trouble’s plain enough,” he blurted out, locate it from here,” SP ean Instantly the red-headed fellow captured the complete at-, tention of the judge, Rockwell, and Hibbard. “You must be a wonder!” sneered Hibbard. “I’ve been drivin’ a car for four years, but maybe you know a heap more’n I do... You act like one of these chaps that know it all!” “Are you a mechanic?” inquired Rockwell. “Mechanic!” jeered Hibbard. “He’s an expert. you tell that by lookin’ at him? Regular red-headed fix it. You don’t know what’s wrong, Rocks, and I don’t, Let’s see if he can go ahead and make good,” Clancy, under this fire of ill-natured talk, kept his temper well in hand. Fortune grew restive, and was plainly eager to give Hibbard as good as he sent, but his “pard” checked him with a look. “It doesn’t take an expert, nor much of a mechanic, to tell what is wrong with that engine,” said he. “If the rest of the car is in order, I can settle the difficulty in thirty seconds.” “Wow!” cried Hibbard, with an ugly laugh. wizard, a tegular motor wizard. desert, and——” ; “That will do!” cut in the judge sharply. “What is your name, young man?” he asked, turning to Clancy. Clancy told him. Rockwell, when he heard the name, gave a start and looked at the lad more closely. “He’s a He rolls up out of the 39 “You say,” continued the judge, pulling a gold time- piece from his vest, “that you can make my car ready for the road in thirty seconds. Go ahead and make good. I'll time you.” . Clancy smiled as he stepped forward. “All right,” said he. Fle bent down and manipulated a couple of wires lead- ing from the magneto to the spark plug. Then he straight- ened up. “That’s all,” he remarked. “You've got fifteen seconds more,” said the judge. “Go on.” “It’s all over, judge. The wires were crossed, that’s all. Easy enough to see and easy enough to fix,” Rockwell and Hibbard exchanged a quick glance. | It was a significant glance and did not escape either Clancy or Fortune, although it was entirely lost upon the judge. — “You mean to say the trouble is remedied?” inquired Judge Pembroke incredulously. “I think so,” Clancy answered, “providing the rest of the car is in condition. The crossing of wires from mag- neto to spark plugs will disable any car.” “See if you can crank the machine.” ‘Clancy lowered the sides of the hood, fastened them in place, and then walked back and adjusted the spark, One | spin of the crank set the engine to humming. “Well, by George!” exclaimed the judge; “and neither — Rockwell nor Hibbard could tell what was wrong! What do you know about that?” he asked, turning. to the gatage proprietor. Rockwell merely grunted and began cranking his own | machine preparatory to a return to town. Hibbard’s face was like a thundercloud. The animosity he had previ- | ously shown toward Fortune had seemingly shifted to Can't |

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6 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. , Clancy. Like Rockwell, however, Hibbard had nothing to say. “I suppose you can drive a car, Clancy?” the judge asked. “Certainly,” was the reply. “Then I’d like to have you drive me back to town.” “tT don’t want to take the place of your chauffeur, judge,” said Clancy, “and, besides, I’ve a little business with Mr. Rockwell and would like to ride with him. We can transact the business very nicely on the way to town.” Rockwell, who was behind the wheel of the other ma- chine, shot another quick glance at Clancy. “T reckon I'll take the rumble seat o’ the other car, and ride with you, pard,” spoke up Fortune. 4 “T reckon you won't,” snapped Rockwell. “You'll either ride with the judge, young man, or else you'll walk.” Judge Pembroke seemed surprised at this ugly show of temper. : “You're welcome to ride in my car,” tune. “Wait for me at the garage, Jimmie,” said Clancy, “pro- viding you get there before we do. If we get there. first, Pl wait.” “Correct,” returned Fortune, and climbed into the ton- neau of the judge’s machine. The judge, with no very good grace, motioned Hibbard to climb to the driver’s seat, and then followed and took the seat beside him. --*P1] see you again, Clancy,” called the judge, as the big car started off. “I want to have a talk with you.” Clancy got in with Rockwell, and the smaller machine got under way. For several minutes Rockwell sat bowed over the steering wheel and did not speak. At last he thawed out enough to remark: “T wouldn’t have had that happen for a hundred dollars! What business have you butting into my affairs? If it comes to that, what’s your business with me, anyway? Come across with it.” said he to For- CHAPTER IV. CLANCY GETS A JOB. There was nothing friendly in Rockwell’s voice. In fact, his very words showed an enmity for which Clancy was at a loss to atcount. “I was helping out the judge,” I was butting into your affairs.” “You made Pembroke think I didn’t know what was wrong with his car!” “Well, you didn’t, did you?” “Think I’m a fool? Think I——” Rockwell broke off suddenly, as. though realizing he was going too far. “Pem- broke is one of my best customers,” he went on. “He keeps two cars at my garage—that big one and an elec- tric for his wife. You’ve made him think I don’t know my business, and I’m liable to lose his trade. That's why I’m sore about your butting in.” There was something here which Clancy could not un- derstand. If Rockwell knew what was wrong with the judge’s car—and it was foolish to think that a man who said he. “I didn’t know "ran a garage could not locate so simple a difficulty—then why hadn’t he fixed the motor instead of offering to tow the car in for an overhauling? Clancy, who was quick-witted, fell to wondering if Hib- bard and Rockwell might not be in “cahoots” to secure money from the judge for “repairs” that were not needed. The chauffeur had shown that he was not to be trusted, af and Clancy had heard stories of Rockwell which were far from being a credit to him. All this, however, was merely guesswork. Knowing nothing absolutely, Clancy reserved judgment. “’'m sorry if I did you a bad turn, Mr. Rockwell,” said he, “but it seems queer that Hibbard would misrepresent things to the judge, and-—” “Never mind that,’ cut in Rockwell. “You made a show of Hibbard and me before the judge, but that’s done with now, and I’ll see if I can’t smooth things over. Pembroke seems to have taken a fancy for you, and you can help me—and maybe Hibbard, too—by keeping away from him. What’s your bisiness?” “I like to work with motors and I want a place in a garage. I was going to Phoenix to see you about it. Have you a place for me?” A look of relief crossed Rockwell’s face and his voice took on a more friendly tone as he answered: “I'd like to give you a job, but hanged if I see how I can. Got more men now than I know what to do with. Is that.all 2” “No,”, said Clancy, “there’s something else.” Rockwell grew uneasy again and his former gruffness came back with a rush. “What else?” he grunted. “You know a man named John Clancy, don’t you?” NES “Well, name.” “Your father was killed in Mexico, wasn’t he to “No. He went down there to save some of his invest- ments and just managed to escape with his life. He's sick, and in bad shape, and I’ve sent him back East to recover his health.” “T see. What about his Niece investments ?” “He lost everything he had, down below the line. revolutionists cleaned him out.” “Too bad, too bad!” murmured Rockwell. was well off, and a good sort of a man. this to do with me?” “The way things are now, Mr. Rockwell,” pursued Clancy, “the governor needs all the money he can get hold of. He let you have a thousand dollars and you gave him a mote for it. The ridte is long past due, and I’m here to collect the money.” Rockwell’s brows wrinkled in a hard frown. “Where’s that note?” he demanded. Clancy drew an old black wallet from the breast of his’ shirt, opered it, and removed an oblong slip of paper. “Here,” said he pushing the paper over the steering wheel and under the eyes of Rockwell. The latter pushed up his goggles, stared at the note for a moment, and then pulled the goggles down over his eyes again. “That’s the paper, all right,” he observed. “Why wasn’t’ it presented when due? I had the' money to pay it, then, but I’m pretty badly crowded just now.” “Vouwll pay it?” asked Clancy hopefully. “Always pay my obligations, if I’m given time enough. But I can’t do it right off, Clancy. You'll have to give me a week or two to round up the money.” } Clancy returned the note to the wallet and the wallet to.the breast of his shirt. I'm John Clancy’s son. Owen Clancy is my The “John Clancy But what’s all

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. “T want to close the matter up as quickly as possible, Mr. Rockwell,” he answered. “You see, I’ve got to find a job right away, and get busy, I haven’t any money to waste loafing around. If there is no garage in Phoenix that can find a place for me, lll have to go to some other town.” Rockwell remained thotightful for several minutes. “Ever work in a garage?” he asked. “No,” was the answer. “Up to now I haven’t had to work. Dad has had plenty of money, and I was attending an academy and getting ready for college. When the erash eame, I had to quit school and look for work. The eare of the family now falls on me, and—and I’vg got to make good,” “Now that I know you're John Clancy's son,” said Rockwell slowly, “I’m inclined to do miore than ordinary to make a place for you. That thousand I got from your father on my plain note helped me over a mighty tight pinch, and that’s mainly the reason I’d like to be of some use to you.” Claney was surprised and delighted at the expression of these sentiments. From what he had heard regarding Rockwell, he. expected to find in the man a cunning, un- scrupulous person. who would. be exceedingly hard to deal with. Yet, here Rockwell was showing a grateful disposi- tion which did not tally with the reports of his character which had ceme to Claney. If Clancy. could have seen the guileful light in Rect: well’s eyes, it is safe to say he would not have been so pleased. But the goggles hid the garage owner's eyes, and the youth was left in the dark as to what was passing in the man’s mind. “I'll appreciate anything you can do fer me,’ ’ said Clancy, with feeling. : “Are you willing to-de what I tell. you +o, and to keep your mouth shut?” asked Rockwell. “I'll obey orders, of course, and do the -best/I can. As for talking,. ’'1l.-close up like: a clam about Sher eeing that concerns you and your business.” It. was: an honest, straightforward answer, ai it failed to make the proper impression on Roekweil somehow. “The garage business is peculiar,” reniarked Rockwell. “To make ariything at‘all, the proprietor of a garage has to pull-a let of wires. Now, Judge’ Pembroke jist wallows in’ money, and he wants his cars inthe best condition al- ways. ‘l’ye’been at.him for a Idng time to get that hig machine overhauled, byt as long as it runs fairly well a seems to.be satisfied; That’s the way with car owners,’ and a complaining note éntered the man’s voice, “I know, a heap better than the judge, what's best ‘for his car, and if I don’t do some tinkering with it before long he’ll haye' a bad spill on the road. Can’t make him see that, though. In order to get that machine and put it in’ Ai order, I had to resort to tact. Get me?” “Tact?” echoed Clancy. “That's the word. I was doing it all for the judge, knew those wires. were crossed, and so did Hibbard, What I was after was to tow the big car back to Phoenix and put it in apple-pie order. Hibbard and I were working together. Of course, | had to give Hibbard a bonus; but then, all chauffeurs draw down a. commission on about everything—they expect it, and if a garage proprietor don’t pony up, they'll work it so the car finally lands in: some other garage.. When things like that happen, Clancy, | want you to keep your own counsel. If you do that, sommes, be f maybe I ean find a place for you. If you can’t be— er—diplomatic, there isn’t much that I can do for John Clancy’s son. What about it?” Rockwell was plausible, but he was net plausible enough to fool Claney. The red-headed chap was badly disap- pointed. Rockwell was crafty, if not downright dishonest. “T guess you don’t want me, Mr. Rockwell,” said Clancy. “T haven't been brought up to stand for that sort of thing.” “Bosh! You're too thin-skinned. Business is business, young fellow, and nowadays a man has to be mighty shrewd if he makes goad. It’s principally the rich) men who keep cars in garages, and it’s necessary to keep their machines in trim—even if you have to use tact, once in a while, to get permission te everhaul a car. As for the driver's end of it—-well, maybe that’s plain graft, but it’s legitimate so far as the garage owner is concerned, - If he keeps his customers he has to pay the driver his bit.” “I need work,” said. Clancy, “but I'm going: to be square. If I can’t make good without stealing, then I won't make goad; that’s all.” Silence settled down. Sheds the two. into Washington Street and along it to First Avenue. As it turned into the avenue, the front of the garage was brought plainly into sight. A big red star hung over the deer. -Above the star were the words, “Red -Star Ga- rage,”” and, below it, the attractive legend, “Free Air.” The garage was an adobe structure, but it looked rather imposing and prosperous. A man in greasy overclothes was out-in front, filling a radiator. Another car,. spick and span from. recent grooming, was: just -sliding thaghal the broad doorway’ into the street. - In, front of. the. building, ona bench, : sat File. Bem: broke and Jimmie Fortune. » Evidently.they. were waiting for. Clancy to arrive, Rockwell muttered something under. his breath. . - * "Pil give you a-job: as Sei henke s helper at fifty. el saath to start,” said he, “and I'll trust you to do the right thing by me: Is it a go?” | “Yes,” Claney answered. “To-morrow morning:?:? +". - As Clancy got out-of the.car-in the garage, he turned to find Judge Pembroke at his elbow. “Pye: just discharged Hibbard, * said te, “and * want another driver. ° I’ll give you seventy-five a month to work for me, Clancy, Will you take the place? ie Clancy,” for a moment, wag “stuniped. sg “Y'm sorry, sir,” he answered, “But r ve just hived out fo Mr. Rockwell.” Se it . “You're not half as’sorry as I am,’ ’ said the judge, turn ing away. “If you don’t like it here, come and see me.” Rockwell, ‘just getting ‘out of ‘the car, chuckled, under his breath. ., When. am 1 to begin?” & B CHAPTER V:.° RIBBARD SHOWS ‘HIS TEETH. Tt was hard for. Claney to understand Rockwell. he had ‘no -place open for Clancy at all; thousand-dollar note, he suddenly discoevred that he could put him on the pay. roll, providing he could do -his work and keep his own counsel ; and finally, when Claney de- At first, clined the position if he must turn his. back on his Prin- ciples, Rockwell. ‘took. him on,” allyway. ~ It didnot eceur to Clancy that. Rockwell: might: pe The ear rolled after : he saw the

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« 3 ) NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. a design in these shifty tactics, and that the design under- went changes as Clancy developed his aims and iziten- tions. | Rigi As the judge walked off, leaving Clancy poorer ‘by twenty-five dollars a month because of his promise to Rockwell, Fortune saw a chance and took quick ad- vantage of it. “Hold your bronks a minute, judge,” he called, hurry- ing after Pembroke. ‘I’m big for my size and old for my age, and I reckon I could pull down that seventy-five allee same Clancy. What do you say?” The judge paused and cast a reflective eye over Jimmie. “Can you drive a car?” he inquired, “Me? Gee- wollops! .Say, I invented cars. If the dia- phragm gets crossways of the razmataz so that the needle valve back fires, I can fix it in ten seconds with my eyes done up in a cloth.” “Bosh!” interfered Rockwell. “You don’t want a thing to do with that good-for-nothing, judge. I happen to know him. He can’t tell a radiator from a bale of /hay.” “T don’t think you'll do,” said the judge to Fortune, and walked off down the street. “You're a fine uncle for a wanderin’ boy that’s tryin’ .to. get a foothold!” cried. Fortune, turning on the garage owner. “Out with a hammer and knockin’ the rest 0’ the- fambly as per usual.. If I had 2a. disposition like yourn, blamed if I wouldn’t go down where the . boats come in, and Jump off!” “You .get out o’ here!” shouted Rockwell. “When I get good and ready. I ain’t in your. old chug-wagon corral, but out in front. You don’t own the street, I reckon. If you don’t like my comp’ny, start your ‘feet and change locations. Whoosh! Say, if I was as mean, and back bitin’, and as full ©’ low-down schemes as you, I’d be glad to bob up in straight and honest sas- siety oncet in a while jest to ketch a breath 0’ good air. [’d——” Rockwell, red with rage and muttering to himself, did ‘not pause to hear any more, but dived through the front door of the garage. He looked out again to call. to _ his new employee: “T’ll expect you to sleep here nights, Clancy. If you go away, get back by eight o’clock.” “All right, sir,” Clancy answered, Rockwell disappeared, and Fortune dropped down on ‘the /bench and drew Clancy down beside him. . “Your locoed, pard?” Fortune demanded. - “T hope not,” was the reply. “Why?” “What’s Old Rocks payin’ hin “Fifty a month.” “Why didn’t you jump at the judge’s seventy-five?” “Because I had already agreed to work for Rock- well.” . “Why didn’t you turn Rocis down?” “When I give a promise I try to stand by it.’ “Who's goin’ to pin a rose on you for that? Old Rocks? Fergit it! He’s workin’ a scheme, and already you’re beginnin’ to get the worst of it. What did he say about that note?” “Said he’d pay me the money in a week or two.” “He never will, and all he’s doin’ is playin’ for time. You and me can’t trot in double harness if you stay here, Red. I was sort o’ bankin’ on takin’ your little hand in mine and goin’ out for a look at the universe, And’ here you've cut yourself off from Jimmie and Jonah first clatter out o’ the box.” “We'll keep track of each other,” Jaughed Clancy, “and maybe I'll be able to help you to a job before long, How are you fixed for money, Jimmie?” “Money?” gasped Fortune. “What's that? speakin’ terms with a soo markee.” Clancy took two silver dollars from his pocket and pressed them into his friend’s hand. “That’s not much, Jimmie,”: said -he, “but it’s the best I can do for the present. That ought to keep you going for a short time. I don’t think I’m going to like it at this garage,’ * he went on, dropping his voice, “but I’ve got to stay here till T collect the money on that note. Drop around occasionally and let me know where you are.” Fortune looked at the two pieces of silver reflectively. “You ate the clear quill, Red,’\ he finally observed. “This here’s a grubstake, and that means you got a half interest in any vein o’ pay rock I’m able to unkiver. Maybe I ain’t named Fortune for nothin’, after all, and we go snooks on whatever grows up from these two plunks after I’ve planted ’em. Hoop-a-la!”’ The queer chap got up from the bench with a wide smile, jingling the money in his trousers pocket. Just as he started away, Dirk Hibbard darted around the cor- ner of the garage and rushed up to Clancy. The fellow’s manner was distinctly hostile, and, in a Pope Clancy was on his feet. “I reckon you’re oie satisfied now!” exclaimed Hib- bard, bitterly resentful. er Fortune, on his way toward Washangton Street, tiers and faced around. “Well, yes,” drawled Clancy, looking the aise chauffeur squarely in the eyes, “I’ve got a job and I sup- pose I ought to be satisfied !” “You laid your plans to get old Bedibroles to fire me!” “It's nothing to me whether the judge keeps you or fires you,-and I didn’t lay any plans. I’m working for Rock- well and not for Judge Pembroke.” “You wanted'to get my job for that muttonhead friend of yours!” breathed Hibbard, through his teeth. “Who's the muttonhead?” demanded Fortune, stepping forward truculently. “Me?” “Keep off, Jimmie!” said Clancy. “Hibbard’s business is with me, not with you. I don’t care a rap about you, one way or the other,” he went on to Hibbard, “but ‘it’s my private opinion that the judge did a good piece of work when he pulled the pin on you. I’ve an .idea that you have been double crossing him right along, and that he has just begun to find it out.” “Mean to say I’m a thief?” -asked/the other hotly. “Any fellow who will disable a car just to! get a com- mission for having it overhauled isn’t giving much at- tention to the interests of his employer; what’s more-——” Hibbard’s face was full of wrath. ‘With a muttered oath, he struck at Clancy with his fist. - The red-headed chap was not taken by surprise. He had kept his eyes'on the chauffeur’s face, and he knew that blow was coming an instant before it was launched. Clancy side-stepped with the swiftness of lightning, and the clenched hand found only space. Before Hibbard could recover his balance, Clancy had struck him and sent him to his knees. “Gle-ory to snakes, and all sashay!” piped Fortune jubi- . I ain’t on PS ke a ee oe

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 9 lantly. “Pard, you found him! That little surprise party was somethin’ of a jolt. The cimiroon went gunnin’. for more’n he expected.” With a bellow of rage, Hibbard regained his feet and plunged into the garage. The next moment a monkey wrench came sailing through the door; but Clancy saw it in time to dodge. Hibbard followed the monkey wrench in person, armed with a hammer. His face was working convulsively, and he seemed absolutely beside himself. “Til kill you!” he cried huskily. Fortune leaped to take a hand in the set-to, but Clancy ordered him back. “Leave Hibbard to me,” he said; “I can handle him.” Fortune, his eyes wide with apprehension for his “pard,” retreated slowly, and watched. What he saw was something of a revelation to him in the art of self-defense. The red-headed chap gave a pretty’ demonstration of coolness and skill as opposed to brute strength and unreasoning’ rage. _ Whirling the hammer in short, vicious circles, Hibbard executed a furious attack. Clancy stood his ground until the fellow was close, then he sprang high into the air. His feet shot out, and the toe Of one shoe landed on the wrist of the hand that held the hammer. The heavy weapon went clattering to the cement. walk. Then; while the driver. stood disarmed, Clancy sailed into him with vigor and determination. In almost less time than it takes to tell of it, Hibbard was tripped, flung from his feet, and cast against the adobe wall. The force of ‘his fall dazed him, and he sat in a quiver- ing heap, his back to the adobe and his eyes blinking up at Clancy. “What's this?” called the sharp voice at Rockwell, who came hurrying through the door. “Hibbard picked a quarrel with me,” answered Clancy calmly. “His fists weren’t good enough, and he went after a monkey wrench and a hammer.” : The garage owner looked down on the driver. “Haven't you got any sense at all?” he asked sternly. “Do you think you're helping va cas any by this kind ‘ of work?” Hibbard shook his head, as though to clear the fog from his brain, and got up slowly. “That red-headed skunk has euchered me out of a job,” he growled. “I'll get ever with him, by thunder! If I can’t get him one way, I will another.” advice to you, Hibbard, is to sing. small,” said ~ Rockwell. “Don’t want to get yourself in the lockup, do you?” “J don’t care a whoop where I get iey self, if ] can saw off evén with that dub!” Ne made another pass at Clancy ra his fist, but Rock- well grabbed the doubled arm and pulled the baffled chauf- feur off along the walk toward the main street. The two presently turned the corner and were-lost to sight. “Hibbard’s no match for you,’ Reddy,” “but you look out for him, jest the same. that’ll. hit from behind, and strike in the’ dark. that!” Clancy laughed lightly. “Hibbard can’t scare me,” he answered. “He’s sore be- cause he lost his job—and he’s blaming everybody but himself.” , said Fortune, He’s the sort Mind “While you're watchin’ him, pard,” said Fortune, “keep a weather eye out for old Rocks. He allers has a few tricks up his wide and flowin’ sleeve, and I don’t like the looks o’ things around these diggin’s. That's honest.” CHAPTER VI. ROCKWELL’S SCHEME. Hibbard sputtered wrathfully while Rockwell led ‘him across the street and to a bench in the city hall plaza. The bench was partly screened from pesasts: by by a clump of tall oleanders. “Sit down, Hibbard,” said Rockwell. “I want to talk a little sense into that foolish brain of yours, if I can.” “I don’t want to do any: chinning,” protested Hibbard. “I lost a good job, and I want to get even with the chap that stole it away from me. Pembroke paid me seventy- five a month, but the ‘coms’ and—er—other things brought me in a hundred and fifty, and sometimes two hundred. I ain’t a-going to be pried loose from that snap without makin’ that red-headed robber smart for it!” “Oh, hush!” returned the garage owner impatiently. “You're talking at the top of your voice, and it would be | easy for some one to overhear you. That wouldn't do, ’ Hibbard; you know pesky well it might get you into trouble.’ “Me?” was the grim. response. others ‘that would get into trouble, too.” Rockwell significantly. “Eh?” “Never mind about that,’ was the uneasy~ response. “Just cool off, will you, so we can talk sensibly.” Hibbard. seemed to get himself bettér in hand. His voice dropped, his manner changed, and he sank down on the bench. “Did you give that red-headed buttinsky a job?”- he asked resentfully. eyes” “Tf you’ve got any jobs to throw around you might toss’ one miy way. Why.-in blazes did you want to hire that other yap?” . ww } “T hired him. to eeey Hes away from Pe ebrole: The judge was waiting when we got back to the garage. But he was. too late. I had already taken Clancy into my in a at fifty dollars a month.” on “Didn't the judge offer him what I was wetedine rig “Yes,” chuckled Rockwell, “but the fellow has got pecti- liar ideas about business.. He wouldn’t accept. the judge’s offer of seventy-five a month when he had hired out to me for fifty.” “T thought he was a fool t”’ “Fe’s easy. and-——~” , “And work for you!” struck in the other significantly, “No comments, Dirk. I do as legitimate a garage busi- ness! as I can, but, with the commissiens demanded by you drivers, I have to figure close and use tact in order to make a living, If chauffeurs would play fair, garage keepers -wouldn’t have to scheme +so confounded hard lo make both ends meet.” “Piffie!” sneered Hibbard. “Everybody knows you're a skinner, Rocks, and if the drivers didn’t make you whack up wath them you'd stuff all the ‘velvet’ into your own pocket.’ “That’s your way of looking at it,’ Rockwell answered patiently, “but you’re wrorig. ‘That has nothing to do with this case, though.” “T allow there are some He peered. at grunted Hibbard. He wants to be straight and square, he says,

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& bys A ie Bh ‘liable to get me into hot water. ‘this matter up, if you think 1 can’t be trusted?” Io “That red-headed chump beat me out of a big commis- sion on overhauling the judge’s machine, didn’t he? I was to get twenty-five per cént of the bill you ran up on the jtidge, in addition to ten and five on extra parts for repairs. Whose scheme was that, eh? You hatched it up and asked me to work it out for you. Your new employee got next to the crossed wires. Now I’m out of a job, and the judge don’t even suspect that you had a hand in putting the car out of commission! Is that right? You ought to find a place for me, Rockwell.” The garage owner did not reply at once. He appeared to be turning something over in his mind, “Why didn’t you let Pembroke take him on?” continued Hibbard. “Then I could aye had this place you’ve given him.” »“T had to give Clancy a job,” Rockwell 2 aces *W hy ?” Rockwell peered around cautiously. There was no one on the graveled walks of the plaza, in their vicinity. “There’s something you can do for me, Hibbard,” he proceeded. “I'll give you a couple of hundred if you pull it off. If you have a grouch against young Clancy, you'can wipe it out at the same time.” Hibbard was profoundly interested on the instant: “Tell me about it,” said he. “I’d do anything to play even with Clancy.” Rockwell’s face grew stern and uncompromising as he went on: ; “If I let you in on this, and you betray my confidence in any Way, you'll get yourself irtto a peck of trouble, Hib- bard.” Vy The chauffeur looked at him curiously. “When it comes to handing out trouble, Rocks,” he re- turned gtimly, “I allow two can play at that game. We know too much about each other to do ‘any double-cross- ing. play. square with me and I'll do the same with you,” “You've got such a blooming “temper,” the garage man hesitated, “that I don’t know whéther it would be wise to trust you. The minute you lose the whiphand of your- self, you fly all to pieces, and blurt out everything you know.” ; L never blurt out anything that’s 3ut why did you bring “Don’t you believe it! “Well, I'm goitig to take a chance. You’re about the ofily One that fills the bill for this particular piece of work, and circumstaiices have shaped themselves so that. I'll have to explain a few de- This Owen ‘you are the logical man. tails so that you'll get the matter straight, ‘Clancy, the fellow I have just hired, is theyson of a. man named John Clancy. John’ Claticy hired cars from the \ garage a good many times, and we got to know each other pretty well. of money. He’s a mining efigineer, and picked up a pot I understand, (though, that he has lost most of it in Mexico, and that he has now gone back to his home in the East, a physical and mental wreck. Young - Clancy is taking care of the family.” “What has all that to do with my work?” “Tt has a bearing on it; _Sevetal months ago I was ‘ ‘preity hard pressed, and needed a thousand dollars’ to see me. through. him my plain,’ unendorsed note. I got the ‘money of John Clancy, giving The note became due, but was not presented for payment. I heard Clancy had been killed by Mexican revolutionists, and I naturally be+ NEW TIP -TOP WEEKLY. ” and lieved I never would have to pay that note. Now, the sharp lines gathered in Rockwell’s face, “young Clancy turns up with the paper, and wants the money.’ Hibbard laughed softly. “And you don’t want to cough up, eh?” he asked, “Not just at present. want any trouble on account of that note.” “You'll not have any trouble. Everybody knows ‘that all your property is in your wife’s name. She didn’t sign the note with you, did she?” “No.” i ‘ f “Then let Clancy whistle,’ “T- can’t do that. If young Clancy sties and tries to comers the publicity would be a bad thing for the busi- ness.’ “Why didn’t Clancy’s father deposit the note in the bank before he went to Mexico?” “T “don’t know. young Clancy is here with the note, arid demands pay- ment. I have told him that I would try and give him the mofiey in a couple of weeks.” “So,” remarked Hibbard, “in ordet to keep him quiet and comfortable, you have given him a job. Is that the way of it?” “That is partly the way of it. So long as he has the note, he possessés a weapon which he can use against me at any time. Frankly, Hibbard, I don’t see how I can get the money together ity a couple of weeks.” “Borrow it of Mrs. Rockwell.” The garage owner winked. “That is out of the question,” he answered. “T borrowed the money of Clancy to pay a gambling debt,.and I want to keep the whole thing quiet.” “Where do I come in? What do you want me to do?” “Here’s the way of it,” returned Rockwell. “If I had that note in my possession—if I could get hold of it with- out young Clancy’s knowledge—I could” “You could teat it up, and save yourself a thousand dollars, plus the interest,” said Hibbard; with an evil grin. “I get you, old. Rocks!” : The other frowned. “No, you don’t get me,” he growled, “You're too ready to think me crooked. If I had the note in my own hands, and if it got to me without. young Clancy’s knowledge, ‘I could hold it until I was ready to pay over the money. And, while I was getting ready, Clancy couldn't make me any trouble at all. He’d simply think he. lost the note, see? I'd be white with him, too. While 1 was getting the money together to take up the note, I’ll let: him work for me at fifty a month.” “Then, coming down to cases,” observed Hibbard, “you want me to steal that note from young Clancy, turn it over to you, and get a couple of hundted for my trouble.” “Tr not interested particularly in how you secure the paper from Clancy. The moment you put it into my hands I will give you two. hundred, dollars. It will be, worth that to me to have two or three months’ extension of time on the obligation.” “Does Clancy earty the flote around with him?’. asked Hibbard, already beginning to figure on ways and means for his rascally exploit. “Ves, It is in a black wallet in the breast of his flannel shirt.” wig “Where does he hang out nights?” - “He'll be in the little room back of the garage,”\ was What’s more, Hibbard, I don’t | The thing that concerns me is that

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wa x a = a NEC a a ee “; SRNONES: a tw ae in legen NEW Tie TOF WEEKLY. re tf the significant rejoinder. “I’m having him sleep there to help out the night man in case there is a rush of work. You know all about the garage, Hibbard. The trick ought to come easy for you. All I want is a little more time on that note—and this is about the only way I can get it.” Hibbard, knowing Rockwell so well, felt positive in his own mind that the note, once in the signer’s hands, would be destroyed. The garage man had a way of giving a plausible touch to his rascally undertakings that fooled very few of those who understood his character. “Are you going to help me, or aren’t you?” demanded Rockwell. “I’m going to earn that two hundred, and get even with Clancy, providing Hibbard paused, looking at Rockwell out of the tails of his eyes. “Providing what?” the other asked. “Providing you give me young Clancy’s job, or another where the chance of a rake-off is as good, after the thing is aver. I’ve got to live—and where, in this burg, can I get another job as chauffeur without a recommendation from Pembroke?” “Tll take care of you, Hibbard,” said Rockwell: CHAPTER VIL. IN THE RED STAR GARAGE. As soon as Rockwell and Hibbard had disappeared, Jimmie Fortune took rather an ‘abrupt leave of Owen. He walked rapidly in the direction taken by the garage man and the chauffeur, jingling his silver dollars as he went, “T’ll bet something handsome he’s going to keep an eye on Rockwell and Hibbard,” muttered Clancy. “Those two fellows trouble him a lot more than they do me. Jimmie’s a pretty good sort of a chap, though, if I’m any hand at reading character.” Truth to tell, Qwen had taken a great liking to the ir- responsible, happy-go-lucky Jimmie. The wanderer had shown no great capacity for anything but celerity in losing the various jobs which he managed to sécuré, and yet his oddness and good nature made him likable and a good companion. Clancy went into the garage and looked around with considerable interest. One corner of the huge room was partitioned off for an office. A couple of young fellows, who looked, as though they might be chauffeurs, sat at a table in the office, smoking cigarettes and playing cards, The interior walls of the garage were painted white, and marked off with perpendicular black. lines, six or seven feet apart. Cars of many different makes were berthed between these lines. Other cars. were drawn out toward the middle of the floor and workmen were tinker- ing with them. In an “L” opening off,the rear end of the big room ma- chines were beirg washed. In another L on the oppésite side a sandy-whiskered man was vulcanizing a tire. His face’ was smudged with oil and grease, but the flame, striking his features sharply, revealed eyes that captured Owen’s confidence. “Youre the mechanic here?” approaching the bench where the man was at work. “You've hit it, son,” was the reply. “I’m going to begin work here to-morrow, and I’m sort of looking around to get an idea of the place.” the' new employee asked, tg oh TMN SRANY The man leaned back against the side of the bench, picked up.a pipe, lighted it, and surveyed Clancy thought- fully/through wreaths of smoke. “Don’t do it,” said he, shaking his head. “I don’t know why in blazes Rockwell is hiring more help, but that’s his business. I suppose it’s none of my business, either, where you work or what you do, but you look to be as square as a die. If that’s the case, then the Red Star Garage is no place for you,” Clancy was surprised at this bit of advice coming from one of Rockwell’s men. He must have shown how he felt, for the other went on quickly: “Of course, I’m not yellin’ my advice to you in Rock- well’s ears. What I’m saying to you is strictly on the q. t. If you’ve got a job here, chuck it!” “But Mr. Rockwell made me an offer, and I accepted it,’ returned Clancy. “Did he say. anything to you about ‘tact,’ ba as “Then you're going into the game with your eyes open. I guess I didn’t read you right.” “I guess you did,” said Owen. “I won’t stand for the kind of ‘tact’ Rockwell mentioned, and I told him so.” “Sufferin’. snakes! And then he hired you after that?” —XeS. “I’m by! -You must have some kind of a hold on him, I reckon’ This garage is a good place for a young fellow to start on the down grade. If you can work here and keep square you're éntitled to a medal. My name is Bar- ton, Andy Barton. In case you bump into anything here where you think a little advice would help, call on me.” “Much obliged, Andy. My name’s Owen Clancy, and i! guess I’m to take hold as one of your helpers.” “Ever worked with cars any?” “Not in a garage. This is my first job.” Andy Barton shook his head gruesomely. “T reckon I hadn’t better talk to you much, just now,” said he. “The boss will want to do that, There he comes,” and Barton went back to his work. Clancy looked around, and saw Rockwell just coming into the shop wing of the building. “Getting the lay of the land, Clancy?” the garage man asked, pleasantly enough. “Yes,” was the reply. sized establishment.” t “There are bigger ones in town, but I don’t think you'll find any much better. You’ye met Barton? Good! He'll tell you what to do when you shaw up for work in the morning. Of course,” he added, as Owen strolled away with him, “there are a lot of cars stored here that are looked after by the owners themselves. We get six dol- lars a month for space between two of those black lines. The rent, along with the sale of gasoline and oil, is about all the revenue we get from that class of customers. It’s the big bugs, like Judge Pembroke, who make the busi- ness worth while.” and all that?” “This looks like a pretty good- He opened a door at the rear of the big room and ush- ered Owen into a small apartment equipped with a bunk, washstand, and‘ chair, and‘ having a single window for light and air, “My night man’s name is Pruitt,” continued Rockwell. “Fle takes care of the business during the off hours. Oc- casionally—not very often—he is rushed, and needs help, That’s why I want you to sleep in this raom; Clancy, and_ | wish you'd sleep here to-night.” , i BR 5 FR ST ae ene eR ne

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12 ~NEW. TIP TOP WEEKLY. “Tf Pruitt has much for me to do,” said Owen, “J can see where I’m not going to be of much help to Barton.” “You may never be routed jout during the night, but I want some one around in case Pruitt has to leave the garage with a car. You'll show up here this evening?” “Ves? “All right, I'l! depend on you. I'll tell the helper, who has been sleeping here, that he can begin berthing at home. Give me faithful service, Clancy, and Pll see that your wages are raised from time to time. I reckon that will be all. You’d better go and hunt your supper. Where’s your baggage?” ‘T’ve got a grip coming over from Tempe on the stage.” “Why didn’t you bring it with you?” “Because I walked to save stage fare.” Rockwell stared, and whistled. “Your old man must be pretty badly crimped, if you had to do that,” he remarked. “Show up here at eight o’clock. You'll. not be on duty, you understand, except in case you're needed. You can turn in at eight, or light’ up and read, or spend your time in the office—please yourself about that. Report to Barton in the morning.” Clancy went away to find a place where he could get his supper. As he went, he wondered a little why it was necessaty for the proprietor of such a prosperous estab- lishment to take so much time getting together a thousand dollars. ; . “T guess Rockwell's a bandit, all. right,” be muttered, “but I’m going to be on my guard and see that he doesn’t get the better of me. That note is a thing he can’t dodge, and I’m going to keep it right in my hands until he takes it up.” “Clancy found a modest restaurant in Washington Street where the food was good and prices reasonable. Although it was still early in the evening, the electric lights’ were sparkling up and down the business thoroughfare as hé came out of, the short-order place. He felt like a stranger in a strange land, ane would have given a good deal for the companionship of Jimmie Fortune just then. Never before had he been so im- pressed with the responsibilities that had been heaped upon his shoulders, and he was hungry for a little friendly talk—and Fortune was his only friend in that big town. In better and happier timés, the money represented by that note of Rockwell’s would have had small bearing on the fortunes of the Clancys. But now, with his father sick and his financial affairs gone to wreck and ruin, a thousand dollars was a lot of money. Clancy had been told that collecting the amount of that note from Rock- well was a hopeless undertaking, that the garage man would exercise every resource of an unscrupulous nature ie _to get out of paying. So he had been surprised and pleased when promised the money in a week or two. » Perhaps—he told himself—Rockwell wasn’t so bad, after all. He appeared to want to do the square thing, and “maybe he was not so prosperous as he seemed, and would “have to hustle a little to get the money to take up his , note. *T'll wait on him,” murmured Clady; waiting I'l! be earning something and getting a start in this garage business. The Clancys are about due for a run of luck, and maybe this is where it starts.” ’. The big clock on the courthouse in the plaza was boom- ing the hour of eight as Clancy got back to the Red Star f “and while I'm Garage. At that time there was not much doing about the place, and Clancy passed through the wide doors and made his way to the rear room. A man-—Pruitt, no doubt —was smoking a pipe in the office. Clancy did not stop to speak with him, but went directly to his own quarters. He had bought a “jumper,” a pair of overalls, and a pair of gloves. These he took out of the paper in which they were wrapped, and laid them to/one side. “In. the morning,” He thought whimsically, “I'll get into them and begin rooting for the family. [I’m going to make Yood, too, although I wish 1 was starting out with ‘any other fellow than Rockwell” For a long time he sat in that dingy little room, think- ing over the past, and trying to forecast the future. There was a man’s work ahead of Owen Clancy, but he faced it with an indomitable spirit. Collecting that note was only the beginning. After that had been accomplished, bigger things lay ahead. . An hour or two passed while he sat in the little toom wrapped up in his reflections. Then, suddenly, he heard a sound that caused him to start bolt upright in his chair. Some ‘one was tapping on the window. He turned to look, and saw a face pressed against the glass. It was the face of Jimmie Fortune, and Jimmie had a warning finger laid against his lips. Clancy got to his feet and slowly approached the win- dow. Fortune motioned upward with his hands, and Clancy carefully raised the sash. “Somethin’ doin’, pard!” said Fortune, in a husky whis- per. “I got to come in and tell you about it. Lock the door over there. I don’t want nobody buttin’ in on us. Make everythin’ tight, and then I'll crawl in and bat the hull propersition up to you.” Clancy secured the door, sliding the bolt softly. Mean- while, Fortune had been climbing into the room. As soon as he was inside, he lowered the sash noiselessly and pulled down the shade. “What's the matter, Jimmie?” Owen inquired excitedly. “T don’t know jest what’s the matter,. compadre,” was the guarded response, “but I allow I’ve got the tail end of a whalin’ big mystery. I’ve come to you for help in figgerin’ it out.” CHAPTER VIII. FORTUNES MYSTERY. Jimmie walked ovér and sat down on the,edge of the bed. “I’m all ina takin’ over what I’ve found out,” he re- marked, “but in spite o’ that, I could slop down on this bunk and sleep to beat four of a’kind. Er-wow!’ and he threw up his arms. and yawned, ‘“Ain’t it orful,” he went on, “to be so chock full of agitatin’ things and yet feel like layin’ right down on ’em and poundin’ your ear?” “If you've got anything in your system, Jimmie,” said Owen, “now is yout chance to get it out. When you've done that, you can crawl in between those blankets ou sleep as long as you please.” “Mebby I won’t have no chanst to sleep. It all de- pends on how you figger out my diskiveries. Fust off, pard, I’ve found where Dirk Hibbard went when he hiked off with the jedge’s car. It wasn’t no joy ride, you can gamble, and he wasn’t jest tryin’ out the machine to see what was wrong with it. He was acrost the mountain paldverin’ with Tom Long, who's got a past like a bandit.” |

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‘going till you landed a job. re forked me over the cliffs. “wise Tom Long. Never heard of: him.” “Tom Long? “That cimiroon has been keepin’ purty quiet for some sort of a while, and I opine he’s about due to break out. Tf there’s a train robbery or any other kind of a hold-up anywheres on this part o’ the range, fust thing the sher’ff does is to go inquirin’ for Tom Long, otherwise Chantay Seeche Tom. ‘That’s the sort of a maverick he is. Why- ever d’you suppose Hibbard went acrost the mountain to talk to a feller like that?” “Give it up.” “That ain’t all. Mebby I’ve got somethin’ that'll help. us git a twist on this little game o’ muggins.. But I sort o’ begun my yarnin’ wrong end to. I ort to have commenced at the start, ’stead 0’ goin’ along down toward where you write finish. When your trail and mine forked, a “spell ago, I had a notion I’d keep track o’ Uncle Si and the shuffer. I seen ‘em on a bench in the plaza, thick as two thieves, but I couldn’t get nigh enough to catch the run o’ their conversation. I'll bet it. was crooked palaver, though, ‘cause old Rocks ain’t no better than Hib- bard, and you and me sabe what Hibbard is. “1 didn’t linger long around the plaza when them two got up and hiked. Two silver dollars was burnin’ a hole in my pocket, so I moseyed over to the Palace and played ‘em on the red———” : Owen “You gambled with that money?” demanded sharply. “I didn’t think it was gamblin’, pard—I reckoned it was a cinch. You'd saved my scalp on the cliftside, hadn't your And you and me was pards, wasn’t we? > And that thatch o’ yours is carmine! Figgerin’ from all that, I allowed. l’'d drop two cases on the red and pull out four, then I'd stake the four on red to win. and corral eight, leave the eight on the same color and grab. six- teen. [ was plannin’ to keep this up till I had dinero sufficient to buy a garage for you and a private yacht and @ few other things: for myself, but—dog-gone it! red didn’t win that fust time, and the croupier juggled my little two bones into the till. Ain’t it scandalous?” “1 should say so!” muttered Claney. “I didn’t give you that money to,use in gambling, Fortuné, but to keep you Now your money’s gone, and you haven’t a thing to show for it!’ “Easy, pard! Sure I’ve got somethin’ to show for it. If 1 hadn't gone to the Palace I wouldn’t ’a’ met Slim Simmons, would 1?” “Who is Slim Simmons?” “Desert rat. each other a hull lot. He come over the same trail we did, but he was ahead of us. I got to palaverin’ with Slim, and refers incidental to Hibbard and the' way he Simmons allows Hibbard was the same juniper he’d seen gassin’ with Long Tom, other- You see, Slim ‘stopped at Chantay Seeche’s for a drink, and he glimpsed Hibbard and Long powwowin’ cautious and careful by the ranch corral. Slim asked Hibbard for a ride into town, and Hibbard wouldn’t have it. Hibbard must have stayed at Tom Long’s quite a while, for Slim was able to get pretty well over the trail afore Hibbard came along and passed you and me. That's how I diskivered where Mibbard had been. There’s more, though. While Slim and me was gassin’ in one corner o’ the Palace, who rolls into the place but Chantay Seeche himself?” A RS SR a ST TS ea eee I’ve seen him'a heap o’ times, and we sabe - NEW Tir TOP WEEKLY. 13 “This Long Tom came to the gambling house? “Surest thing you know. He walked in, big as. life, and twicet as. ornery, and dropped down at a table behind the pianner. | allowed Pd walk over to him, pass the time o’ day, and inquire as to what Hibbard was doin’ at his ranch. That was my idee, and jest as I was goin’ to carry it out, in comes Hibbard and sits down at the same table with Long. Neither of ’em saw me, so I. jest hung back and watched. i “They got real confidential, them two. Bymby, Hibbard takes a pencil and paper from liis pocket and makes a dia- gram. Chantay Seeche considers it. There’s more talk, a little drinkin’, then the two shakes hands and separates. They leave the table together, and they fergit to take the diagram. I ain’t more’n a. minute freezin’ to that paper and lookin’ it over. i “T haven't got savvy enough to make head or tail to it, but [ thinks of my red-headed pard, and hikes for here. Not bein’ what they call persona gratter to the front of the establishment, I sneak up to your room from the rear. So here I am, gappin’ like Rip Van Winkle gettin’ ready for thirty years o’ sleep; and here’s the paper, and you're welcome to tell me what it’s about—if you can,” Jimmie handed over the paper. It was a stkall sheet, and seemed to have been torn from 4 memorandum book. It was marked with lines in the form of a rough, oblong: square. This square was crossed and recrossed with other lines, and thete were subdivisions indicated here and there. Claney studted the diagram closely. ra O56) “Looks like a chink puzzle, eh?” said Fortune. you make anythin’) of it, Red?” “Seems to be the ground plan of a house,” Clancy an- swered thoughtfully. “Well, now!’ murmured the other. “Blamed if I’d thought o’ that! It might be the ground plan of a house, or the picter of tracks in a chicken‘yard. What makes you think it’s a diagram of a ’dobe>?” » “The plan is divided into rooms, and there are little marks in the outside walls that may indicate doors and windows. But the best proof that this is a diagram of a house is given by the only written words on the paper. Along one side is the word ‘second,’ and along the other side we find the two words, ‘Cerro Gordo. Is there a street in this town called Cerro Gordo, Street, Jimmie?” “By glory!” gulped Fortune. “You’ve hit it right be- tween the eyes! Sure there’s a street called Cerro Gordo, and it’s the best residence street in town. Corner of Cerro Gord and Second Av'too is right in‘the middle of Mag- nateville and Upper-tendom! You've cracked the shell of the mystery, Red!’ Claney. smiled, and shook his head. “We're a good way yet from cracking the shell of the mystery,” said he. “If this is really the ground plan of a house at the corner of Second and Cerro Gordo, why did Hibbard draw it and show it to Chantay Seeche? That’s the mystery, Jimmie, and we haven’t begun to salve. it.” Fortune’s face went. blank. “That’s you! I missed the p’int, and no mistake. Hibbard and Chantay wasn’t considerin’ that plan for any good purpose, believe me. There’s a hen on, and trouble’s hatchin’. How we goin’ to find out what’s in the wind?” “IT believe 1’ go over on Washington Street, and see But voting

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ae Weer a ee RS Ai sy 9 ’ nee 7h pk Fee 1 i) y : i i if I, can find out anything. You stay here, Jimmie. Get in bed and go to sleep, if you want to.” “Don't go out by the front, pard,” begged Fortune. “T’ll go out the way you came ine “Suppose somebody wants you for somethin’ while you're gone? i might help out, but, not bein’ on good terms with the boss o’ this: establishment, I reckon I hadn’t better try.” “No,” said Clancy, “don’t try. We'll take chances, and hope the night'man won’t call:on me for anything. Any- how, I’ll not be gone long. ; Crawl into the blankets and go to sleep. The bed’s big enough’ for two, and I'll make use of my half of it when I-get back.” Fortune had already kicked off his boots and removed his flannel shirt. He was out of his trousers ina jiffy and had rolled up head and ears in a blanket. “Buenas noches, pard!” came in muffled tones from the depths of the blanket. Clancy turned off the light, passed to the window, raised the shade, and then the sash, and softly climbed through and dropped to the ground, By a roundabout course he gained First Avenue, went by the front of the garage on the opposite side of the street, and so came into the main thoroughfare of the town Clancy did not intend to be gone long for he believed that he could discover all he wanted to know in a very few minutes. He was longer in his quest, However, than - he had supposed he would be. He went into a hotel across from the courthouse plaza, and approached-the desk in the lobby Eleven o'clock was just.chiming from the courthouse bell The night clerk, after surveying Clancy rather uncer- tainly, pushed the register around and/handed him a pen. “No,” said the youth, “I’m not.going to put up here. All I want is a little information.’ “Fire away,’ said the clerk. “Can you tell me who lives at the corner of Second Avenue and Cerro Gordo Street?” “Hanged if J can! I haven’t been here long, and don’t know this town very well.. Why don’t you go to the place and find out?” ‘Clancy didn’t care to’ do that, and carried his search farther. Place after place was visited fruitlessly, until it seemed that the only way for him to learn what he wanted to know was by really going to the house and making his inquiries on the spot.. At last, however, he found him- self in the same restaurant where he had taken supper, and the cashier gave him the required information, “Cerro Gordo and Second?” repeated the cashier. “That’s easy. Judge Pembroke lives there and—— What’s the matter with you?” A sudden whiteness had flashed into Clancy's face, and he had drawn a quick, rasping breath. “Nothing,” he answered, turning away, “nothing at all. Much obliged.” He ran out of the restaurant and started back to the Red Star Garage, greatly excited. Twelve o'clock came booming from the courthouse plaza as he turned into First Avenue from Washington Street. “Tt has taken me an hour to find out what I wanted to know,” he murmured. “If there is lawlessness going on, wonder if we're too late to stop it? Maybe here’s a Chance for Fortune and me to do something for the judge! My guesses may bé all wrong, but if they’re right Jimmie and I will have to do some quick work,” 14 _ NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. CHAPTER. IX. A WEIRD STATE OF AFFAIRS. Clancy regained the rear of the garage by the same devious course he had taken in leaving it. All was dark and silent within the little room. “Jimmie!” he whispered, thrusting his head through the window. There was no answer, and he repeated the call as loudly as he dared. Still there was no response from Fortune. “He’s sleeping like a log,” thought Clancy. “Tl have to get in and give him a shaking.” With great care, he climbed through the window, groped } his way through the dark to the bed, and laid both hands -on the blankéted form. “Jimmie!” he muttered, and shook the form briskly. A stifled gurgle came from Jimmie, but no words which Owen could understand. In some alarm, the red-headed chap whirled to the window, drew the shade, and snapped on the light. What he saw startled him. Jimmie’s trousers lay on the floor. Beside them lay his shitt, fairly torn to ribbons. The door leading into the garage was unbolted and swinging open by a couple of inches. Jimmie, entirely swathed in a blanket, lay on the bed. He was wrapped, outside the blanket, with coil on coil of stout rope, and looked more like a mummy than anything else. The blanket covered his head and face, so that it was. impossible for him to talk, and it must have been almost impossible for him to breathe. Jimmie, in his help- lessness, was twisting and writhing about on the. bed_ Clancy, astounded by all this, hurried to Jimmie and be- gan temoving the rope. First he freed his friend’s head, pulled back the blanket, and Jimmie began gasping like a stranded fish. While he was pimping the fresh, cool air into his lungs, Clancy removed the rest of the rope and pulled the blanket away entirely. Me Fortune lay on his back, looking up at his pard with astonished eyes. “What the deuce has been going on here?’ demanded Owen. i Jimmie sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed his arms. “Whoosh!” he answered. “Here’s a fine Kittle o’ fish, I must say! ‘A couple o’ plug-uglies was here and raisin’ Cain, pard. They thought. I was you, and they was after that note.” “After the note?” “Ain’t I tellin’ you? .Gee-wollops, but this is fierce! -I took all that was comin’.to you, that trip. You see, I was all kivered up with the blanket, and them junipers couldn’t teli the diffrence between Jimmie, the Jonah, and Red Owen—so they handed it to me proper.” He chuckled. “But they got fooled,” he added. “When did this happen, Jimmie?” asked Owen, trying to keep down his excitement. “No sabe, pard. I was sleepin’ like old Rip Van when I felt some un ropin’ me. my head and tied close to my neck, and I couldn’t talk and couldn’t hardly breathe. Then my hands was lashed to my sides and my feet tied at the ankles, and there wasn’t a thing I could do.” Again he chuckled, rubbing his throat tenderly. “But they sure got fooled plymb out of their eye teeth! he finished. The blanket was twisted about. 4 ee ee

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. i “They thought you were me, and they were trying to get that thousand-dollar note?” “Il wasn't so badly wrapped up that I couldn’t hear a little o’ what went on,” proceeded Fortune. ‘The feller that was tyin’ me says to some un else, ‘Get that tote out -o’ the wallet in his shirt,’ he says. ‘Tt ain’t Here,’ the other comes back. “*Look in his pants,’ says Number One. “*Not there, nuther,’ says Number Two. ain’t got it under his piller.’ “Then Number One throws me atound and looks under the piller, and he don’t find a thing, I heerd somebody swear good and hearty. “*Ask him what he’s done with it” says Number Two. “Blow his head off for him, if he don’t tell.’ ‘See if he “Somethin’ hatd was poked ag’inst,;my head, and I al-— low it was the muzzle of w six-gun, although, o’ course, I ain’t able to see a thing. “*Where’s that note?’ says Number One; real cross. ‘Speak out, or T’ll start you for Kingdom Come.’ “You don’t get it,’ I says, pantin’ for air. ‘I put it in the bank’ “They couldn’t tell, pard; that it wasn’t you talkin’, the blanket gagged me so, and my voice was low and husky. After that there was more piratical langwidge, then them fellers went at somethin’ else. “*Now’s our chante,’ says Number Oni, ‘to carry out the other scheme. If we can’t make good at this game we will at that one’ \ *““We got to have a car,’ says Number Two, got to get it from this garage.’ **How’ll we work it?’ asked the juniper who stands clost to’ me. “*You go out to a telephone,’ up this place. Pruitt’ll answer, Tell him you got to have a car for a night trip some’r’s and that you'll furnish your own. driver. Say it’s Job eer or Colonel Chiswick, or any o” them big bugs, talkin’. \ Pruitt’ll bite: As soon as he leaves, I'll steal a car and pick you up on First Av’noo, cornder Hackberry. That’s clost, and you can get there easy.’ “Tm off, says Number One, and I hear him crossin’ the room and gettin’ through the winder. Bymby—seemed like a year to me, fighting for air in that blanket—some tin pounds on the door leadin’ into the garage. “Hey, you helper! call8“a voice. “Number Two answers, right off, ‘What's wanted? “T've got a call to take @ car to Mt. Arnold’s,’ says Pruitt, ‘and I want you to keep an eye on the garage till 1 get back. “[ won’t be gone more’n twenty minutes.’ “SAN right,’ says. Number Two. “Right after that I heat a cat hummin’ and glidin’ away. The machine was hardly out o’ the garage afore the bolt 6n that door was’ shoved back. Then another car begin to- hum, and that slipped away, too.. By then, ‘and we says the other, ‘and call > | was wide awake, you better believe, and right excited. I tried to yell, but the best I could make of it was a gasp and: a gurglé. Tried to get up, too, but it was no. go. Right after that, pard, you, got here. What d’you stippose is goin’ on?’’ “Those two men are going to commit a ¢crimé of some sort,” answered Clancy. emt wouldn't, put it past ‘em none. I reckernized their voices, pard.” “You did? Who were they? 3 “One was Hibbard—Number Two—and t’other—Num- ber One, the feller that done the telephonin’—was Chantay Seeche Tom. They’re a fine pair to turn loose at the dead o’ night in a stolen atitomobile! Somebody’s due for a holdup.” “Yes,” said Clancy, broke !” “Tt never ain’t!” “He lives at the corner of Second Avenue and Cerro Gordo Street. As soon as I discovéted that, I camie right back to the garage. Can’t you see what is going -.on, Jimmie ?” Zo Clancy paced the floor of the little rootn nervously while he talked. “I know somethin’ of what’s goin’ on, pard,” returned Fortune, “because I was right in the middle o’ the excite- ment. I can’t see ahead very far, though, and that’s allers been the trouble with me. How does the business stack up to you?” : “Why, Hibbard was the judge’s driver. He must, have known a good deal about the judge’s affairs, and probably could have traveled all around his residence blindfold. Hibbard has some reason for wanting to be at the judge’s house to-night. What it is we don’t know, but the busi- ness looks black. The fact that Hibbard got this rascal, Long Tom, to help him, gives the whole thing a criminal appearance.” “Who put Hibbard up to get that note away frotn you?” “Never mind that, now. We——” “It was old Rocks, and I’ll bet a bushel of pesos. That must have been what them two was chinnin’ about in the plaza. But Hibbard didn’t get the note,” and Forttine laughed gleefully, “because I was here in place o’ yous 3y glory, them fellows got hocused good!” “We've got to do something to help the judge, Jimmie, and time is limited. Long Tom and Hibbard have stolen a car and gone to Second Avenue and Cerro Gordo Street. How long since Hibbard left with the machine?” “Not such a blamed long while, pard. Not many min- utes passed a he left and you got here and took the lashings off me.’ Clancy pulled the door wide and stepped out into the garage. “T can’t see anything of Pruitt,’ he reported, “*Catise why,” rettirned Fortune, “Cause \he’s waitin’ at Arnold’s for some th to come out and take thecar off’ his hands. He'll keep waitin’ and honkin’ the horn till somebody shows up and tells him there’s nothin’ doin’. Reckon we ort to put the police wise to this; eh?” “By the time we got the police on the trail, Hibbard and Long Tom might be able to do their work and rush for the hills in that stolen car. Do you know how to get to Second and Cerré Gordo?” “If 1 don’t, pard, nobody does. Didn’t I tell you I worked for people here? I can take you right to the place by the shortest cut.” “and that somebody is Judge Pem- “Then let’s be moving, The quicker we teach the judge and tell him \what,is going on, the better.” There it. was lit- slipped into his coat, however, Fortune pulled on his boots and trousers. was no use trying to put en the flarinel shirt, for erally torn in pieces, He and buttoned it up, “All teady, compadre,” he announced. They went out throweh the front of the garage. Claney hated to leave the place alone, but he reflected that Pritt

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x NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 6 would soon be back, and that this was a case of facing circtimstances-as they were, and not as he would like \to have them. He took the precaution of closing the big garage doors. “T don’t like to start till Pruitt comes back,” Clancy, “but there’s;no help for it.” “Don’t you care,” said Fortune. “Jest think what old Rocks tried to do to you to-night, pard! You don’t owe that old schemer nothin’. Anyway, I don’t reckon anybody will run away with the old shebang.” Fortune turned out of First Avenue into a cross street that ran parallel with the main business thoroughfare. A block brought them into Second Avenue, and they started along it in the direction of Cerro Gordo Street. Very soon pretentious houses showed. themselves on either hand, and, after a time, Fortune slowed his pace and dropped a hand on Clancy’s arm. “That's Cerro Gordo Street jest ahead,” he whispered, “and the judge’s house must be on the cornder. I never knowed where he lived, but if your information is kerect we're clost to the place.” remarked CHAPTER X, HELPING THE JUDGE. Cerro Gordo Street was a wide, paved thoroughfare, with date palms bordering it on both sides between walk and curb. There were four corners, of course, to the intersection of the two streets, and the two youths halted in the shadow of a palm to decide which corner was the one that ought to claim their attention. “How we goin’ to know which casa is the judge’s?” murmured Fortune blankly. “According to that diagram of Hibbard’s,’ Owen re turned, “there’s an addition jutting out from the Pem- broke house toward Cerro Gordo Street. Maybe that will give us a clew.” “Look for the automobile, “I don’t think so, Jimmie. the machine too close to the house. I do a little quiet investigating.” “Tf you need me, yell. I'll come hotfoot.” Leaving Fortune in the black shadow of the palm, Clancy moved off cautiously along Cerro Gordo Street, toward the right. In that direction he failed to find the house that seemed. to tally with Hibbard’s roughly drawn plan. Returning on the opposite side of the street, creeping like a wraith from the shadow of one palm to the shadow of another, he crossed Second Avenue and reconnoitered ‘in another direction. Here he had better success. On the other side of Cerro Gordo Street was a house with a glass conservatory jut- ting out. The yard was a mass of dark shrubbery which the faint glow from the electric light on the corner could not penetrate. : “That must be. the lace? thought Clancy. “I'll go down a little farther and cross over. If I’m careful, I may find out what Hibbard and Long Tom are doing.” From ‘palm to palm he skulked along Cerro Gordo Street, and then, suddenly, came to a halt. Ahead of him, at the curb, stood a motor car. It didnot show & light. “There’s the machine Hibbard took.from the garage,” thought Clancy, “and it proves we're on the right trail.” He investigated the car-and found that it was Peim- or that’ ll be a clew.” They'd be foolish to leave You stay here while GOR AVA IIOE Ls 0 i i Ss CEN i a 7 sd eee eee 4 stage o’ the game, Red,’ answered Fortune. broke’s big six-cylinder machine, the one that had figured in évents earlier in the day. There was no one atound the car, and this proved that both plotters were giving their attention to the house. “Here’s nerve!” muttered Claticy. “Hibbard is using the judge’s car fot his night’s work, and will run away with it when he gets through at the house, unless—— Well, 'll fix the machine so he won’t run away with it.” Getting up on the running board, Clancy reached over to the dash and removed the switch plug. After that he sped lightly to the opposite side of the street and returned along the side of the judge’s premises. eR Getting down on his knees under the lee of an iron fence, he crawled past the house, listening sharply as he proceeded. He could hear nothing. Not a sound reached his ears that would indicate that anything unusual was taking place around the house or inside it. At the corner, Clancy arose to his feet. later he was with his comrade again. “Find out what you wanted to know?” queried Fortune eagerly. “I’ve spotted the house,” 'Clancy answered, “and the’ car. Fixed the car so it can’t. be used. If those chaps try to get away in it, they'll have their trouble for their pains.” ' “That’s you! Where’s the house?” Clancy faced Fortune in the right ‘direction, and pointed. “Are them coyotes around the place?” asked Fortune. “T. came past the yard but couldn’t hear or see anything of them.. We'll have to get over the iron: fence and prowl through the shrubbery, Jimmie. Of course, they’re there they must be. And it’s = to us to find them and block their game, whatever it is,’ “Wisht I had a gun,” said Batten “Both them fellers are heeled, and I’ll bet my spurs! What’ll we do if they poke a muzzle in our faces, huh?” “Dodge,” answered Clancy shortly, “Come on!” Clancy led the way to the Cerro Gordo Street. side of the Pembroke property, and he and Fortune crouched | under the iron. fence and listened intently. Still there was not a sound to be heard. “Mebby we’ve made a mistake, pard,’ whispered For- tune. “Like enough it’s another house. Wisht I knowed more about the jedge and the wigwam where he camps. What if we’re wrong? While we’re loafin’ here, Hibbard and Chantay Seeche may be doin’ their work on one of the other three cornders.” “I don’t think we’re wrong,’ returned Clancy, in 4 tense undertone. “This is our best bet, anyway. We've got to get over the fence and look around, Jimmie. Make as little noise as you can, and keep close to me.” “It ‘wd take a hull lot to pry. me loose from you at: this “Two's com- pny, jest about now, and I’m right hongry for comp’ny.” Laying hands on top of the iron fence, Clancy bounded lightly over and into the yard. Fortune tried to vault, but his boots handicapped him. The toe of one of them caught on an iron picket and he came down among the bushes in a sprawl. He started to sputter, but Clancy laid a quick hand over his lips. “Sh-h-h!” hissed Clancy warningly. So far as they could’ discover, Fortune’s floundering hdd not aroused any one. \ After a few. moments, they began crawling toward the Xie wall of the house. They reached the wall about midway of the length of A few seconds ‘

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Serer Liat NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 17 the house.. There they. patised and continued to listen and peer around them. : “Wrong trail, pard,’ murmured Fortune. “Let’s make sure of it before we leave,’ returned Clancy. “You crawl toward the front and I’ll go toward the rear. If you hear or see‘anything suspicious, don’t try to let me know. Ill join you. before long, and then you can tell me.” Clancy’s maneuvers brought him point-blank against the glass side of the conservatory. He had found not the least sign of intruders. Half convinced that he and For- tuné were really on the wrong trail, he crawled forward along the wall to get his friend and carry investigations elsewhere. Fortune, however, had made a discovery which caused Clancy to change his plans for leaving the premises. “I’m next to somethin’, Red,” Jimmie whispered. “What is it?” “Open winder—right over my head. See for yourself.” Clancy arose to his knees. Fortune was right. There was a window, there, with the lower sash raised. “By Jove!” murmured Clancy, in his companion’s ear. “It’s a case of robbery, and both those fellows are inside |” “We'll wait till they come out, pard,” said Fortune ex- citedly, “and nab ’em one at a time, as they drap. They won't be able to shoot, if we're quick.’ “But suppose they leave by a door and don’t. come through the window?” “That’s me and my fool headwork, ag’in!’ grunted For- tune. “You boss this job, Red, and. T’ll foller orders. What’s the next move?” “lm going inside.” “Don’t you! Mebby the winder’s only open fer air, and youll be grabbed for a thief yourself. I wouldn’t go in- side that estakagol for a farm!” “lf the window was opened for air, Jimmie, the screen wouldn’t have been taken off, would it?” “T don’t reckon it would.” “Hibbard and Long. Tom are inside, and I’m going to make sure they don’t get out through a door with any boodle.” “What'll-I do?” “Stay ‘here and wait for something to happen.” “S’pose more happens than I can take care of? then ?” “Do the best you can, that’s all.” “Gee-wollops! | I’m so narvous I: feel as though I wanted to yell. But go on. . I'll stay here.” } ‘Clancy had been pulling off his shoes. Fortune did not have to tell him what disagreeable consequences. would follow if he crawled into Judge Pembroke’s house and failed to find Hibbard .and Long Tom there.’ Clancy’s imagination was good enough to picture his plight in such a condition of affairs. But, nevertheless, he was deter- mined to go in. Carefully he placed his hands on the sill, drew him- self upward and wriggled through into the darkness of the room beyond. Fortune. had many tremors as he watched his pard vanish. What “By glory,” said Jimmie to himself; as he crouched downward and made himself as small as possible, “Red has got, a heap more nerve than me. I don’t allow I could do’a thing like that, noways.” As for Owen, whenever he made-up his mind that it was necessary to do a thing, he banked on his: judgment and did it. He might be wrong. If he was, he could explain. to. the judge. Once inside the room with the open window, Clancy found. himself in. surroundings totally unfamiliar. And he dared not strike a light for fear of betraying himself —not only to Hibbard and Long Tom, but also to the judge’s household. Either might spell disaster for him. As he stood in the gloom, he recalled as distinctly as possible, the diagram which Hibbard, had drawn for Chantay Seeche Long. He wished, then, that he had paid more attention to that*rude drawing. As. near as he could remember, this room had two doors, one in the front wall and another in the rear. If he was tight, through which of those doors had Hibbard and Long Tom passed? He reflected that they would not go toward the front ef the house, providing they could get what they were after by keeping more to the rear of the building. “Pll chance the rear door,” thought Ciancy, and ¢ his way in that direction. He went slowly, avoiding chairs, and passing around a table. At-the wall; he ran his hands carefully over the blank surface until they came to-a swinging curtain. He pulled the curtain aside and reached out. His hand en- countered. only space beyond, and his eyes stared into pitchy darkness. . “I’m headed right,” he*said to himself, “Those fellows went this way and left the door open. Now I’li——” His thoughts suddenly left him. Out of the blank gloom two arms stretched themselves, enfolded him in a viselike embrace, and wrenched his feet out from under him. He fell soddenly on a thick carpet, with a knee on his chest and pinning him down. roped CHAPTER XI. CAUGHT RED-HANDED. That sudden attack was a big surprise to Clancy. Sure that. Hibbard and Long Tom had turned the tables on him, he tried to yell and arouse the house and convey a warning to Fortune. A hand was clapped over his mouth, however, and outcry was impossible. “Stop your struggling!” a voice hissed in Claney’s ear. “And don’t try to call out. It will be the worse for you, if you do. I am holding a revolver to your breast, and, if I have to, I will use it.” Here was another surprise for Clancy. A refined voice, although with a crisp, businesslike ring, had done the talking. Certainly it was not. Hibbard’s voige, and it could not possibly be Chantay Seeche Tom’s. Whose, then, was it? The hand was. withdrawn from Clancy’s lips) “Who are you?” he whispered. “That’s none of your affair,” came the sharp answer. “How many of your pals are in this house? I heard them, a while ago, and came downstairs. What are you after, anyhow ?” The man, whoever it was, evidently belonged in the place. ; “Ym not one of: the thieves,” protested Clancy. “I——~” “That's a likely story! What. are you. doing in here if you don’t beléng to the gang?” “I came here to do what I could to prevent the villains from robbing the judge. Judge Pembroke knows me. A ~

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_ As his vision: cleared, “room with the open window. 18 friend of mine and I blundered upon a tip that something was going to happen here to-night. There wasn’t time to call the police, and we came to see what we could do for the judge.” Clancy’s captor was a cool one. ulous laugh. “You can’t expect me to believe any such stuff as that,” he answered. “How many, besides yourself, are in this house ?” “Two—Dirk Hibbard and a fellow called Tom Long, Chantay Seeche Tom.” “Hibbard! He knew about that Prescott money, and he’s probably trying to get hands on it. We'll give them a jolt, 1 guess. Don’t move—stay right where you are!” The man reached away from Clancy and half arose. Snap! An électric switch was pressed and a glow of light flooded the room. For a second, Clancy was blinded, and could see little. he discovered that the man who had made a prisoner of him was a young fellow, who bore a striking facial resemblance to the judge. He wore a blanket tobe and slippers, and held a small, automatic pistol in his right hand. “Jove!” murmured the chap with the ein. look much like a tough, and that’s a fact. stances are'against you, my lad. See that door yonder: They were in what was evidently the dining room. As the young man spoke, he nodded toward a door on the other side of the apartment. “T gee it,” Clancy answered. “That doot leads into a hall, and the hall thads to the govertiot’s study. There is a safe in the study, and the Prescott money is in the safe. Your pals are there, I pre- sume. Walk ahead of me. I’m going to pay them a visit and use you as a screen against any balcts they send in my divection. Start!” Clancy got up from the floor. “Hibbard has no love for me,” said he, “and he'll prob- ably be glad to shoot when he sees who I am. There are two of them, and they must be armed. You don’t want them to get away, do you?” “T don’t want them to get away with the money. I guess I'll be able to save that. Stir yourself—we can’t lose ‘any more time.” He gave a low, incred- "Vou don’t But circtim- 993 The ‘curtain of the doorway through which Clancy had just come was pushed back. The bright glow in the din- ing room shone out ‘through the doorway and into the / ‘Clancy, shifting his eyes toward the drawn curtain, whirled like lightning. In a flash he had knocked aside the pistol in his captor’s hand and had overthrown him. As the young man dropped, fire streamed through the ‘cur- » tained doorway. /-a bullet crashed into a piece of china on the sideboard “and then broke the heavy French mirror behind it into a thousand fragments. A revolver roared in the other room and If Clancy had not been quick, that bullet would have struck the young fellow with the gun, for it traversed a " Iine that crossed the exact point where he had been “standing. | The young fellow was quick-witted, and, while at first - he ‘may have: misunderstood Clancy’s action, the erash of - the bullet gave him knowledge of the true state of affairs. -o' There they go!” cried .Clariey. the’ car. NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. “Keep back, if you’re not armed!” shouted the / other, bounding erect and dashing through the door. Clancy was ahead of him, but, swift as they were, they were too late. The prowlers had flung themselves through the window, and wild yells were coming ffom the yard, where Fortune, sitigle-handed; was having all and more than he could attend to. ; There was excitement in other parts of the great house, Voices were calling, doors were opening and closing, and feet could be heard running down the stairs and over hard- wood floors. The young fellow stood in the window with. the auto- matic revolver in his hand. “I'll give one of them his gruel, anyway,” he muttered. Before he could shoot, Clancy grabbed his arm. “Don’t fire!” he exclaimed. “A friend of mine is out there—you might hit him. Are you the judge’s son rae! “Ves,” was the answer, “and | want to get this over with before the governor presents himself. He might get hurt. Are you game to follow those fellows?” “Of course!” “Come on, then!” ; There was the flutter of a bath robe in the open win- dow, then the space cleared for Clancy. He landed on the ground beside Pembroke. “They’ve skipped,” said Pembroke. “Even your friend isn’t here! Which way do you think the scoundrels went?” “Tl know—they’ve got a car waiting for them. 1” way! Clancy darted for tlie fence and cleared the iron pickets at a bound. Young Ft Oe was tight at his heels. “Tf they’ve got a car,” he panted, “theyre bound to get away from us.’ “Pve fixed the car so ae can’t use it.” Pembroke laughed choppily as he followed Clancy down the street. “You're a wonder, old man!” he cried. “And I thought, when I nailed you, that I had one of the thieves !”: Two dark figures could be seen rushing across the street toward the dark bulk of the car. “There they go!” exclaimed Clancy. “They’ve got a stur- prise in store for themselves! Look,’ they’re trying to crank the engine.” One of the forms could be seen working at the front of He started up with a frantic oath. They’ve tampered with This “Take to your heels, Chantay ! the car! Run!’ A figure jumped from, the tonneau of the machine and flung off through the night, ing the crdnk, ran back along the line of palm treés. Clancy: took after him, and, for a minute, there was an exciting chase. Clancy, however, was far and away the better sprinter. As he dame close to Hibbard, the latter turned and brandished a revolver. “Keep off,” he yelled; “or I'll drop: you!’ Clancy ducked, lurched forward, and came up under the extended arm whose hand gripped the revolver. There was a bit of a struggle, and then Hibbard fell, the red- headed chap on top of him. ; “Have you got one of them?” asked Pembroke, com- ing up. ‘“Yes—Hibbard,” said Clancy. “Has he got a canvas bag?” “No. ” Hibbard, who had been pull- .

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NEW / “Then the other scoundrel has the money. I couldn’t find it in the car. Dash it! We'll have to call in the police—and maybe it’s too late. We'll take Hibbard to the house, where we can use the telephone. Let him up, old chap.” Clancy drew away from Hibbard, while Pembroke caught his arm and leveled the “automatic.” “You're a nice sort of a chap, aren’t you?” sneered Pem- broke. “Robbing the man for whom you used to work! Get up!” Hibbard got sulkily erect. “Pick up that revolver,” said Hibbard to Clancy. The latter stooped and gathered im the weapon, which had fallen from the chauffeur’s hand when he fell. “Come on to the house, Hibbard,” said young Pem- broke. “We'll let the governor talk with you.” “T don’t want to talk with the judge,” growled Hibbard. “Take me to jail, if that’s what you’re plannin’ to do.” “Not much! You'll face the governor. Step lively, and don’t try to get away. If you make a move to run, the bullets will chase you?” Between Clancy and Pembroke the rascally chauffeur was led back toward the house. “You're responsible for this, Clancy!” snarled Hibbard. “Tt don’t know whether I am or not,” Clancy answered. “T guess Mr. Pembroke was next to what you were doing before we reached the house.” “You'd better jug me,” said Hibbard to Clancy, through his teeth, “or I’ll camp on your trail and settle for you. You're running up a pretty big score.” “Your name Clancy?” queried Pembroke. “Ves” Owen answered. : “Then you're the’ fellow who repaired the governor's car, out on the trail. He told us about you. Sorry I mis- took you for a burglar, Clancy!” “T hardly see how you could help it,” Clancy returned. “Wonder where the deuce Fortune is?” he added, as he and Pembroke and Hibbard mounted the front steps of the house. “He was in this, too, eh?” growled Hibbard. The front door of the house was open, and the judge, in shirt, trousers, and slippers, stood in the entrance. “What in the world is the matter, Larry?” the judge queried, staring at his son. “Has there been a robbery?” “That’s the size of it, dad,” answered*young Pembroke. “Your Prescott money has gone to Ballyhack, I reckon. There were two of the scoundrels, and the other fellow gave us the slip. He must have had the canvas bag.” “Never mind the money,” sa hurt. Who’s that you have there?” - “One of them is young Clancy, the chap who repaired your car out in the hills. He came here to prevent the robbery, if he could, The other is Hibbard. He knew about that Prescott money,,and came here after it.” The judge led the way into the drawing-room. A num- ber of the women members of the household were clus- tered there, shivering with fright. The judge reassured them, and sent them upstairs. After they were gone, he turned to his son, Clancy, and the prisoner. 7 > said he. Pls “T can’t understarid this,’ come to this house to rob me “T don’t look as though I was here of my own free will, do I?” the chauffeur replied, with an ugly leer. “I heard some one in the house,” explained Larry, “and went down to the dining room. Some one was just coming “Hibbard, did you TIP cTOP 2WRERLY, said the judge, “if you’re not oe eee ea 19 through the window, and I waited for him at the door leading from the den into the dining room., When I grabbed him, he proved to be Clancy, there.” | “Clancy!” exclaimed the judge. “Is it possible that——” “No, dad, it isn’t possible that he’s one of the thieves. He came to warn us about the robbery, but got to the house a little too late. He saved me from getting nipped by a bullet—upset me just.as one of thé robbers pulled a ~ trigger; after that, he joined in the chasé and downed Hib- bard single-handed. Clancy has proved a good friend of ours this night.” “Who was the fellow that got away with the money?” inquired the judge. “Tom Long,” spoke up Clancy, “the fellow they call Chantay Seeche Tom.” “He’s equal to a thing like this! I can easily believe that he had a hand in it. I’m out five thousand dollars, Dut S “Tedge, you ain’t out a cent! I happened to grab the bag in the yard, avd I ran off with it like a streak o' greased lightnin’. /James Montague Fortune has done somethin’, at last, that’ didn’t have a bobble in it! Whoop!” All eyes turned toward the broad doorway that led from the drawing-room into the hall. Fortune stood there, striking an attitude, and holding high a small canvas bag. His face wore a broad and complacent grin. “Well, here’s luck!” exclaimed Larry Pembroke. “Clancy and his friend have saved the day for us, after all!” CHAPTER XII. HIBBARD WEAKENS. Clancy was mightily relieved to know that Fortune had not only kept himself from being injured, but had also covered himself with glory by saving the five thousand dollars. “Good for you, Jimmie!” Clancy exclaimed. “How did you ever manage to get away with that bag of money?” “Plumb easy!’ returned Fortune, swaggering into the room, “I was waitin’ under the open winder, where you left me, Clancy, and I was all of a shake on account 0’ hearin’ that revolver. shot. While I was still in a quiver, them cimiroons drapped the money out and started to foller it. I jumped for the bag. While I was pickin’ it up, one of the junipers fell on me. We hada mix, but I tore loose and sloped for the iron fence. Say, I got over that fence with about six feet in the clear. Then I ran till I was clean winded. By then, I allowed it was safe’to turn around and’ come back. I was in sight when some o’ you came in the front door—so I trailed along. “Jedge,” and he turned to Pembroke, “allow me to fork over the missin’ dinero!” With that, he placed, the bag in the judge’s hand, “Explain this to me,” said the judge. “With so many of you concerned in what happened it is a little difficult to follow the sequence of events. Clancy, how did you and Fortune comé to learn that my house was to be robbed?” €lancy explained, and in that explanation he did his friend full credit.. Fortune, however, put in a few words to the effect that Clancy’s brains in following up the clew, helped out more than any work of his own. “T stumble onto a heap o’ things,” observed Jimmie, grin- ning, “but I ain’t got the sabe to figger ’em out. My red- headed pard is the feller who does that.”

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ome 72 20 NEW TIP During Claney’s recital the fact had developed that For- tune was Occupying Clancy’s bed at the rear of the garage when Hibbard and Tom Long came hunting for the note. This was a revelation which Hibbard listened to with wide eyes. “Thunder!” he exclaimed disgustedly. “I deserve all that’s comin’ to me for makin’ that bobble!” “Hibbard,” said the judge, sternly facing the chauffeur, “this is pretty bad business for you. I suppose you know what this means to you?” “T’m not doing any sobbing,” snarled Hibbard. the screws—I reckon I can stand it,” “Give him the limit, dad,” urged Larry. “He deserves it treating you like this after the way you’ve treated him fot the past six months.” The judge frowned at his son. “You knew, did you, Hibbard,” he went on to the chauf- feur, “that I was expecting to get this five thousand from Prescott for the sale of a ranch there?” “Sure, I knew it!” “You thought I’d gone to Prescott after the money, but you did not know that the purchaser of the ranch brought it to Phoenix to me, and that I received it after banking Led “Put on ~ hours ?” “T didn’t know that, but I figgered that you couldn’t re- turn from Prescott till after the bank had closed, and would have to keep the money in the study safe,” answered Hibbard, “The only difference your not goin’ to Prescott made, was that you caught me out with the car.” “You slipped off to tell Chantay Seeche Tom about the money and to get his help in robbing me?” “I’m not goin’ to talk.” “Hibbard,” said the judge, “I don’t want to be hard on you. Make a clean breast of everything, and I'll let you go. You've got a father and mother in Mesa, and they’re good friends of mine. I don’t want to do anything to bring disgrace upon them, But,” and the judge’s face grew dtern, “I'll put you through for this if you don’t. tell me everything about the affair.” A gleam of hope flickered in the chauffeur’s eyes. “Do you mean that, judge?” he asked. “T’m not in the habit of saying things I don’t mean,” was the quiet reply. “Then ask your questions, and I'll come across with straight answers.” “You sneaked out of town to get Chantay Seeche Tom to help you rob me?” “Yes. Tom was to come in to Phoenix and meet me at the Palace. After that, we were to get the note from Clancy and make a grab for your five thousand.” _ “Why were you going to get the note from Clancy?” s - “Because Rockwell offered me two hundred dollars for he , “Rockwell?” burst from Clancy. “Do you mean to say ‘that Rockwell hired you to steal that note from me?” said Hibbard. “What was his reason?” If Clancy’s hasn’t got “That's what I mean to say,” “Why?” asked the judge. “He don’t want to pay the note. it, how can he collect on it?” “Oh, he’s. a shark, Uncle Si is,” struck in Fortune. _ “That's what I told Red: Maybe he'll believe me, now,” - The judge turned to Clancy. ~ “Tt was an unindorsed note?” he asked. “Yes,” said Clancy, “it was a note for a thousand dol- TOP WEE BAC Y: lars, given to my father. I came to Phoenix to collect it. Rockwell said the note was all right, and that. he would get the money together, in a week or two, and take it up. Meanwhile, | was to work in his garage at fifty dollars a month.” “That was just a scheme,” put in Hibbard, “to get Clancy in a place where it would be easy to take the note away from him.” “And you and Chantay Seeche Tom,” said Larry, with a laugh, “tied up the wrong fellow, and couldn’t find the note!” “That’s where they got fooled!” chuckled Fortune. “I was all wrapped up in a blanket, and they didn’t know the difference between me and my pard. Funniest thing that ever happened; only it wasn’t so blame’ funny for me while it was happenin’.” “Claney,” said the judge, that note and keep it for you. you get justice from this scoundrel, Rockwell. that, and more,” Clancy had made a powerful friend. He realized that, and was quick to take the note from:the wallet and put it.in the hands of Judge Pembroke. “Tm sorry,” went on the judge, work for Rockwell and turned down my offer. a driver an hour after I left you Jimmie gave a hollow groan. ‘And here was me, bankin’ on gettin’ that job!” he wailed, “Oh, jedge, this here is what I call blame’ tough!” “Maybe I can do something for you,” said the judge, smiling, “or do something for Clancy so he can help you. I'll come to the Red Star Garage to-morrow morning, at ten, Meet me there, Clancy, and we'll see what can be done.” “T’ll be there, judge,” answered Clancy, “and Ill be mighty grateful for anything you can do that will help me.” “Ti wring that thousand dollars out of Rockwell, you may be sure of that.” The judge once more turned’ to Hibbard. “How did you and Long Tom get into the safe? You didn’t blow it open.” 3 “vou had better let me take To-morrow [ll see that T owe you “that you agreed to I hired “Worked the combination, You had the combination changed, a spell ago, and I stole the paper from your pocketbook, one day, when I had you out in the car: After I copied the number, I put the paper back’ in the pocketbook, and got the leather into your pocket again. 939 without ‘your knowin’. “Hibbard,” observed the judge, more in sorrow than in anger, “you're a bad one! You've gone down grade pretty’ fast since you went to work for me and: had dealings with Rockwell.” “Any one will hit the toboggan that gets mixed up ii Rockwell,” declared Hibbard. “Anything else you want to know, judge?” “No, Hibbard; you can go. For the sake of your peo- ple, | hope you will live a different life from now on.” He pointed to the door, and Dirk Hibbard, with sid howed, passed through it and out of the house. CHAPTER XIIT. THE JUDGE TAKES A HAND. Clancy did not return to the Red Star Garage that night. He went to a hotel with Jimmie Fortune, and the two of them slept late the next morning, had breakfast at a

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NEW) TEP TOP WEERLY:. 21 restaurant at nine o'clock, and, when ten strokes boomed from the courthouse clock, made their way to the garage, The judge and Rockwell were alone in.the office when the two youths entered the place. “Get out of here, both of you!” shouted Rockwell. “I know that young scalawag, Fortune, and 1 don’t want him around, on general principles. As for you, Clancy, I have no use for a fellow who can’t be trusted. You didn’t stay in the back room last night, and you didn’t show up here in time for work this morning. That’s what lets you out.” “Just a minute,” interposed the judge, taking a long wallet from his pocket. “Before Clancy leaves this place, Rockwell, you'd better settle your account, with him.” He took the note from the wallet. and laid it down on the desk in front of the garage owner. “Give him a check for a thousand dollars,” finished the judge, “and no words about it,” Rockwell appeared astounded. His startled eyes trav- eled to the judge and then returned to the note. “II told Clancy I'd take this up in a week or two,” he muttered shiftily. "You're going to take it up now,” said Judge Pem- broke. “I know you have the money in the bank, and that note is long past due. Be sure and add the interest when you make out the check.” “You don’t know about this note, judge,” continued Rockwell. “I don’t reckon I owe the money or—~” “Why did you just say you had told Clancy you’d pay it in a week or two, if you questioned the validity of the note?” “Well, I—I——” : “Don’t hem and haw and side-step with me,” said the judge sternly. “You have been trying to beat young Clancy out of the money. Do you want me to tell your eustomers how you hired Hibbard to steal thati:note from Clancy so you could get out of paying it? Would that sound well?” Rockwell fell back im his chair, limp and dumfounded. His lips moved, but no sound came from them. “You see,” pursued the judge relentlessly, “that I know what I am talking about. I’ll publish your contemptible methods far and wide if you don’t instantly settle this debt. I’m not here to waste, words on you, Write that check !” With his face ashen and his hands trembling, Rockwell, thoroughly cowed, bent. over his desk. Fishing a check book out of a pigeonhole, he opened it, picked up a pen, and did a little figuring on ‘a scratch block. When he wrote the check, it was for one thousand one hundred and wenty dollars. “There, Clancy,” said the judge, handing the check to Owen, “Now you ate square with Rockwell, and need have nothing more to do with him. ‘There is a young fellow in this town who has recently opened a garage. Fle is square as a die, and I happen to know that you can / buf a half interest in his place for that. money. Of course,” and the judge smiled, “it isn’t a big place like this, but the business ig growing. I’d advise you to buy in with Lafe Wynn.” “Wynn?” murmured Rockwell.. “He’s one of my com- -, petitors. I didn’t think, judge, that you'd do anything to help Lafe Wynn.” “Tl do everything to help Lafe Wyns,” said Judge Pembroke, getting up from his chair. “Clancy will buy a half interest, give a job to his friend, Jimmie Fortune, and it won’t be many months, Rockwell, until Claney & ‘Wynn run you out of business. They'll treat their pa- trons on the square+-and that’s a principle that will help them to grow. Don’t think for a minute,’ he added, “that I don’t know how I have been robbed here. I’ve suspected what was going on, and now I’m no longer in doubt. My two ears are going over to the Square-deal Garage—and I guess I know a few more cars that will follow them.” : “You might be easy with me,” whimpered Rockwell, “now that I’ve given Clancy that money.” . “Easy with you for paying an honest debt?” returned the judge contemptuously. “Why, man, if you had your deserts you would be in jail” He moved toward the door. “Come on, Clancy,” said he, “you and Fortune. We're through here.” The judge left the place, Clancy and Fortune: trailing along behind him. The two pards were smiling happily, ~ and Fortune was hanging to Clancy’s hand and working his arm up and down like a pump handle. Rockwell watched, them through the dingy window of his office. “We'll see about this,” he muttered, between his teeth, shaking his fist. “I'll break that new firm of Clancy & Wynn. You're a keen one, Pembroke, but you'll find that I can go you one better. I—I reckon I shouldn’t have trusted that fellow, Hibbard, after all,” he added, as he turned heavily away from the window. THE END. Continuing to folloy: the fortunes of Owen Clancy, Burt _L. Standish has written a cracking good story, which you will find in the next issue of this*weekly. lt is entitled “Owen Clancy’s Square Deal; or, The Motor Wizard and the Black Thunderbolt.” Owen buys a half interest in Lafe Wynn’s garage and settles down to make good. The Black Thunderbolt is an automobile, and it is “some car.” There are some: mighty exciting doings in it, too. The issue in which this story will be found will be out next week, on January 24th. It,is No. 78. HALL OF SHELLS. An .English traveler who has recently returned from Berlin gives an interesting account in one of the local papers of his visit to the new palace of the kaiser, at Potsdam. . There are many things which make the palace interest- ing to the privileged visitor, not the least among which is the kitchen, which stands in a separate building. Frederick the Great hated the smells of the kitchen and he had that miost necessary adjunct to every house moved away from the palace. The eatables were conveyed to the royal din- ing hall by an underground passage. Emperor Wiiliam still keeps up the custom of his predecessor. ; The dining hall of the palace is small, as palace dining rooms go, and contains some very valuable paintings, but for formal events ‘and eyen for family affairs, ‘new’. that the kaiser’s family is getting to be so large, the - great marble hall upstairs is used. Three hundred can dine at one time in this hall. Here have gathered néarly all the sovereigns of Europe, and on those occasions huge candles

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22 are used for lighting instead of the more modern electric light. Other rooms of interest are the kaiser’s smoking room, to which some wonderful vases have recently been added, the gift of a visiting Chinese prince. The private palace of the theater holds about 350 persons and the stage is ar- ranged to produce all the latest scenic effects. The kaiser prefers light comedy, and this is the kind of entertain- ment he gives his guests. The most interesting apartment in the entire palace, how- ever, is undoubtedly the hall of shells. The room is most beautiful, its walls adorned with thousands of shells of alf kinds. They have been arranged deftly in charming patterns, while other shells in grottoes give a wonderful effect when lighted by electricity. It was in this room that Colonel Roosevelt, when ex-president, was entertained by the kaiser. The famous Imperial Christmas tree is set up in this room. The kaiser has his own railway station at Wildpark, which is only a short distance from the palace. The Wonderful Adventures of Capn Wiley. Written by Himself. Edited by Burt L. Standish. INTRODUCTORY. I was sitting in my den desperately seeking the germ thought for a story when Cap’n Wiley blew in and appro- priated the easy-chair. “Ah, there, old top,” said he. “So I’ve caught you red- handed in your little sanctum sanctotum. What meaneth the distraught look which .corregateth thy dome of thought?” “Cap’n,” said I, “you jar me. I’m thinking.” “Don’t do it,” he entreated. “You're taking a frightful chance when you put such a strain on your impoverished gray matter. You don’t have to think\to write the sort of souperific stuff you slosh out.” “Don’t I!” I cried, exasperated. “Well, now, perhaps you think you could write it yourself?” “No,” he answered cheerfully, “nothing quite as/dis- tressing. Now, if I was going to write, I’d hand the yearn- ing public some real littery litterchewer, just for a change. I say, Burt, old sport, I think I’ll try one of your Ha-, yana imperfectos, if you have one inconvenient at hand.” I brought out a box of cigars, and he helped himself to a handful. Then he “borrowed” a match, fired up, and / settled back, with a sigh of satisfaction, on the easy-chair. “Yes,” he murmured, “I think I could do it. I come from an immoderately cultured family. Why, my sister was educated in a female cemetery.” “You mean a female seminary?” “No, I don’t; I mean a female cemetery. Why, where else would a young lady learn the dead languages?” I had no reply to make. a “But,” pursued the marine marvel, “it really wouldn't be necessary for me to consort to fiction; if I were to write a truthful verbatem history of my own career from the cradle to the Hall of Fame, it would prove so fasci- nating that the reading public would gobble it up with humidity.” : I slipped him the skeptical smile, which seemed to arouse him to a point of high resentment. NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. “Say, you give me a cramp!” he exclaimed resentfully. “Vou think I-.can’t deliver the goods, hey? Well, Vl show you, some. You've been grafting off me for some time by plaguerizing such little mementos of my chilling adventures as I have chanced to let drop in casual con- yersation with you, and I’m highly distended over it. “Now, take it from me, Burt, from this mementous hour you cease to yearn your bread and butter by parisiting on little Walter. I’m going to write my own naughty biog- raphy, and I’ll do a job at it that will put your style of bunkoing the reading public strictly on the blink. I have only one fear: what if, on publication of my personal reminoosances, some one should be unfeeling and thought- less enough to doubt my absolute voracity? That would break my tender heart. “Nevertheless, I’ll take a chance, remembering, as the poet puts it, that truth must rise triumphant, even though it may seem to be getting walloped groggy. Farewell, Burt. Bide a wee. You'll gaze on my beaming counter- pane no more until I have completed the colossal task | have vowed to undertake. I observe by the beautiful hand-painted culendar above your rosewood desk that it is now the conclusive day of the month of March. I shall begin my labors upon the morrow.” He was at the door when T laughingly called: “Don’t forget that to-morrow is the first day of April, cap’n.” He seared me with.a-look of scorn, and vanished. I cid not set eyes upon him again for more than two months, but, as he frequently absented himself for more or less protracted, periods, I thought nothing of it. When he did turn up again I had quite forgotten about his threat to write his autobiography, and I don’t think I ever mentioned it to him. Some months later he met with that sad and terrible accident which brought his really adventurous Jife to a tragic termination. Recently, in looking through ‘a trunk in which were stowed some of the cap’n’s effects, a relative discovered a huge bundle of foolscap paper carefully tied up with ribbons made of cigar bands taken from my own cigars on various visits of Walter to my den. The paper was cov- ered with writing, almost undecipherable in its :hasty scrawl, which told that the penman had dashed off every line at fever heat. It proved to be the autobiography, and was given into my hands, I have edited it with some pains, being at times com- pelled to use the blue pencil freely, and to tone down in many places the cap’n’s flamboyant style. Burt L, STANDISH, CHAPTER I. ITCHING FOR ADVENTURE. I was a beautiful baby, even thotigh, like most babies, I was born without any hair or teeth to speak of; and if I had had them I probably wouldn’t have spoken of them at the time, which I offer as absolute proof of my natural modesty. I was also a most ptecocious baby, absolutely remarkable, in evidence of which I will state that at the age of six months I was distinctly heard to say “boo” and “oog.” On hearing these pearls of intelligence and wisdom fall - from my rosebud lips my mother became quite convinced that I was doomed to a wonderful career as a statesman,

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ae ee ee ete ; i pin } | “a short cut across a back yard; for I fell about twenty- | a diplomap, or a street-car conductor. Chauffeurs were not in vogue at the time. , / It may be well to skim over the days of my childhood and early youth, and plunge at once into the seething vor- text of adventures which befell me when, at the tender age of sweet sixteen, I fared forth with an eager heart, and a father’s good riddance, to face the world and grapple with fortute. Perhaps it is not strictly accurate to say that I fared forth, as, not having the necessary wampum with which to pay my fare by rail, I locomoted per Shank’s mare. It was at the witching hour of midnight that I bade the ancestral rooftree so long, sincerely hoping that it would be so long before I beheld it again that I might forget to remember what it. looked like. The discerning teadet will divine by this naive confession of rhy feelings at the time, that my life up to that date had not exactly been one grand, sweet song. When I crept down the back stairs and let myself out of the Wiley tepee by the kitchen door, I took with mé a * more or less elaborate cuisine of extra clothing tied up in ‘Kido gamboling at. my heels. a bandanna handkerchief. I was. followed by little Fido, my faithful dog. Little Fido was a cross between a Ski- oodle and an Angostora goat, and he weighed about three pounds and seven ounces, when trained down to fighting condition. I’ve seen him chaw up a forty-pound bulldog quicker than a woodchuck could whip a bear. Between little Fido and myself there existed an affec- tion that was deep and tender and touching. He was. an animal of high intelligence, and I was perfectly convinced by the stealthy, and syruptitious manner in which he slunk from the house at my heels that he was fully aware.of the fact that | was running away, and he was determined to fleé with me. You understand, it is not difficult for a dog to flea with any one, and we had slept together many a night. Ts it any wonder that I had an itching for adventure? When the time came to set forth in quest of that for which I itched I certainly came up to the scratch. And so, behold me, gentle reader, on that dark and gloomy midnight, making my get-away with faithful little Dark it was, indeed——so dark that a load of coal that had been dumped outside the back door of the Wiley domicile looked like a snow- drift. Nevertheless, also, and likewise, I knew the lay of the land, and the points of the compass, and, having ‘reached the highway, I hastened to hie away. It must not be thought for a sirgle fleeting zodiac of time that I was taking this nocturnal departure from home Without feeling as much as a transient emotion of regret, for J have a naturally tender and touching nature, in proof of which I might call upon hundreds of persons whom I have touched of variotis oecasions. 1 shed’ tears at the thought of all I was leaving behind mé—tears of sincéte regret; for there were about ten or a dozen peérsotis in that town whom I had sworn to thrash within an inch of their lives, and I was saddened by the thought that I was leaving the work tnaccomplished. Blinded by these teats, as well as the intense darkness, I came near meeting with a frightful disaster while taking five feet into an old well, and landed in water that was a ‘Teast. umsteen feet deep. Perhaps it is not precisely S@cctirate to say that I landed in that water; suffice it to es NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 23 say that I dropped into it casually up to my pompadore) and found it extremely. wet. “Ah-hal” I exclaimed, ecughing up about a aqua pura which | had thoughtlessly swallowed. hole now.” I began to feel of the wet and slippery rocks around me, and I. must assert that, in spite of my: unpleasant predicament, [ was féeling well. In. vain I tried to fasten my flippers on those slippery rocks; they were smoother than a con man; I couldn’t obtain a sustaining hold any- «where, and I was compelled to tread water to keep my head above the surface. Now, treading water. in a well about twenty-five, feet below the level of terra firma is an occupation that be- comes monotonous in the course of time. If you don’t believe me, just try it once. It will make you tired. It did me. I sought to brace my handsjand feet* against opposite sides of the well, and to crawl upward in. that manner, but every time I attempted it I slipped down. If I could only have’slipped up I should have been very happy. indeed. I could hear little Fido howling dolefully and despair- ingly above me. The intelligent beast knew, beyond doubt, the full extent of my frightful peril. Gradually I was growing benumbed by. the icy chill of the water and exhausted by my efforts, and I realized that unless I could soon: find some method of extricating my- self from that well my. bath was going to disagtee with me very extensively.. So, while still treading water, I put my colossal intellect at work upon the probletm. - It seemed a terrible thing to have the career of adven- ture upon which | had set. forth cut.short at such an early date. .The prospect was far from. pleasing. “Water death to die!” I groaned, in anguish. Luckily for me, no one heard the remark, for if any one had-he might have been tempted to drop a brick upon my head. gallon of “Um ins a No one heard me except little Fido, and he howled worse than ever, At last I was struck by a bright ideaan idea that made me chortle with glee and wonder why it had not occutred to me before. It was so simple! T will explain for the edification of the unsuspecting reader that I have always been a gredt athlete, and the possessor of scatidalous strength. I once lifted a hotse and buggy. I had quite a tithe over it, I ack ANCOR the judge gave me three months, When the happy thought came over mie I was almost overcome. As soon as I could find my breath T proceeded to put it into execution. More than one person hag lost hig breath by pttting it into execution, but what’s the tise of being hanged if you can ‘help it? While treading water I reached down with both hands, secured a good, firm grip on the later portion of my trowserloons, took a long breath, and lifted with all my enormous strengths The restlt justified my agreeable expectations. I felt myself rising! I kept on rising faster and faster, strain- ing every nerve in the tremendous effort. In this matiner I lifted myself clean out of that twenty-five-foot well; and fell, panting and exhausted, upon the solid earth, my. strength failing me just as 1 was ‘fully and fairly above — ground. If the skeptical reader doesn’t believe this I can show him the well.

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CHAPTERAT. FIDO TO THE RESCUE. Despite my narrow escape from a watery grave, my larder for adventure was not dampened in the least, and so, with my little dog percolating at my heels, I tramped onward throughout the remainder of that night, with my face set toward Boston. Morning came at last. I was far from home when dawn broke acrdss the wold. (1 use the word “wold” in- stead of world because it sounds more poetic, and I am naturally of a highly poetic extinction.) Little birds began’ to carol in the wayside thickets, crickets cricked in the erass, in a near-by marsh frogs were celebrating morning mass in a masterly manner, and eventually the sun rose into a sky as blue as a poker player who has bet his last blooming chip on four kings and found that some other crook at the table holds four aces. . It was a beautiful morning, but, having been born with a decided penchant for food, without which I have un- fortunately, up to the present date, found it quite difficult to subsist, I had no eye for the beauties of the universe seattered around me. My stomach was hollow. I knew that little Fido must also be hungry,-although he had bravely refrained from saying so. I knocked at the door of a -house, and a kind lady came out and asked me what I wanted. I told her 1 was that flemished that I knew I could find nutriment even in the hole of a doughnut, which I would demonstrate to her satisfaction if. she had a few spare. At first the lady was somewhat suspicious. She asked me for my name and pedigree. I told her my name was Johnny Jones, but that I had carelessly mislaid my pedi- gree, and lost the blame thing. In order to allay her suspicions, I related a pathetic tale about a great-grand- mother who was dying in Boston; and whose bedside | hoped to reach before the doctors could finish her. She was touched. She told me she was a widow, and I congratulated her on the spur of the moment. — She promised refreshments for me and my dog if I would perform some slight manual labor by sawing a cord of wood or so for her. The wood was in the woodshed.: I inspected it with a sad and regretful eye. It never did agree with me to saw wood, and I offered to shovel. the sunshine off the widow’s frorit walk. But she was impervious to my argument, and so, peel- ing off my coat, I seized the bucksaw and ‘went at it. The saw needed honing, and I must admit that I was greatly discouraged by the time I had amputated the first stick or two. I knew I’d never last to finish the job on an empty stomach, and this led me to set my colossal intellect at work on the problem. The widow had gone into the house to get breakfast. I paused and pondered. A-scheme came to me. I made an effort and found that by zizzing my breath through my teeth and lips I could produce an excellent imitation of a dull bucksaw cutting through a stick of wood. For the next half hour or more I sat on the chopping block zizzing with consummate industry, lifting and dropping a stick of wood-at regular intervals, so that it would fall, with a thud loud enough to be heard in the kitchen. As soon as I dared, I put on my coat and strolled into the kitchen, pretending to wipe beads of perspiration from doughnut holes. to. NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. ‘my alabaster brow, and» betraying every skymptom of excessive exhaustion. “Goodness!” exclaimed the widow, in surprise. you saw the whole of that wood as soon as this?” “Yes, madam,” I answered, “I saw the whole of that wood.” Then she regaled me with a sumptuous breakfast of ham and beans and corn bread and coffee, and by the time little Fido and I were eternally satiated the table looked as if it had been keeping a date with a Kansas cyclone. “You were indeed hungry,” said the kind widow. are. very young to be walking all the way to Boston to reach the bedside of a dying great-grandmother. Now, your parents——” “Are both dead,” I sighed. “Oh,” said she, “you’re an orphan. so———” “Not often,” I answered. say this is my first offense.” “Your great-grandmother—is she very old?” “That is the sad part of it,’ I moaned, bursting into tears. “It is terrible for one to die so young. She is only thirty-five.” The widow seemed surprised. ae “Only thirty-five!” she exclaimed; “and your great- grandmother? You are at least sixteen or seventeen. It is impossible for you to have a great-grandmother who is only thirty-five!” I perceived the necessity of side-stepping at once. “Pardon me, madam,” I said. “The lady is my grand- mother, but she weighs at least two hundred and ninety pounds, so I call her my great grandmother.” And I got aiy4y with it. She was so relieved to find me strictly truthful that she did not question the possibility of my having a grandmother of that age. so, I should have explained that doubtless in my haste 1 got the figures reversed, and that my grandmother was fifty-three instead of thirty- five. Not being particularly strong in mathematics, [. sometimes make these little fox paws’ with figures. “Your poor father and mother,” murmured the widow ; “were they people of a spiritual turn?” “My father was,” I replied; “decidedly so. “Did “You Have you been “I believe I may truthfully I have ktiown him to go out with the parson for. spiritual stimulation, . They would go into a back room. somewhere and sit down ‘at an ordinary round table, and it would not be long before spirits appeared. before them. When those spirits departed my father used to rap on the table, and more spirits would come. -After a prolonged séance of this kind my father usually saw things.” “Dear me!” said the widow. “How unfortunate to lose such a father. How old was he when he passed away?” “He >was only fifty-nine,’ I answered, with criminal carelessness. Immediately, if not sooner than that, I perceived that it was time for me to be wending my way onward, and I proceeded to wend, overloading her with such a burden of gratitude that she didn’t have time to get her breath before I was half a mile down the road. Near noon I approached the hoop skirts of a large city. As I approached, I perceived. posted on fences and the sides of old barns. many carnivorous posters advertising a circus which was to appear in that town on besa: very date. : : : Had she done ‘ ‘

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 25 Entering the town, I lemonaded slowly down the prin- cipal street. Ere long my sears were saluted by a sound resembling a base libel on music, and soon the circus band at the head of a long procession made its appearance. Both sides of the street were lined with gaping multi- tudes. It seemed that-everybody in town and for miles around had assembled to witness that parade. Lawyers, doctors, storekeepers, clerks, stenographers, streét labor- ers, everybody, in fact, had gathered upon the sidewalks to see the procession pass, and for the time being busi- ness in that town was placed horse de tomcat. The music assassinators of the band were dressed in bright-red suits, and rode in a gilded chariot. Next in line, a short distance behind the band chariot, came the biggest elephant I have ever seen} certainly the creature must have weighed twelve or fourteen tons, more or less. In the center of the city there was a wooden bridge spanning a deep, dark river. Unfortunately, this bridge was hot of sufficient strength to sustain the weight of that huge elephant. Just as the monster reached the mid- dle span of the structure there was a sudden cracking of timbers, and the bridge gave way, precipitating the immense creature into the water. The excitement immediately became intense) Women shrieked, men shouted, and,\to the relief of everybody, the circus band stopped firing.- The ‘splash of the cele- phant striking the surface of the river resembled a clap _ of thunder, and water was flung over the top of a five- story building near at hand. Crowding to the nearest bank of the river, I perceived the poor beast floundering distressingly in the middle of the stream. Almost immediately I became aware that the creatureecould not swim, and was, therefore, doomed to be drowned unless some one could devise ‘a means of its rescue. Right before the eyes of those helpless and hor- rified spectators the beast sank and rose and sank again. The manager of the circus, who was likewise the owner, came tearing through the crowd, frothing at the mouth, and shrieking that he would pay a reward of five hundred dollars to any oné\who would rescue the elephant. T saw my opportunity, and grappled with it. “Clam yourself, sir,” said I. “I will relieve you of that five hundred. Your priceless treasure shall not perish.” Then I called my faithful dog. “Fido,” I cried, pointing toward the drowning mammal, “it’s up to you to get busy. We need the mazuma. Go fetch, “Fido.” Instantly my noble dog plunged into the river and swam swiftly toward the elephant. Just as the great beast was ' sinking for the third time, Fido seized it by one ‘ear, ‘and, holding the elephant’s head above the surfa@e, turned and struck out for the nearest shore. It was a fearful struggle. For a time the issue hung in the balance, or words to that effect. Once Fido, ele- phant, and all disappeared from view, and the crowd shouted in a high key. That is, most of the crowd: but, i judging by the smell of the man’s breath next to me, the key he shouted in was whisky. I touched him gently on the shoulder, and admonished him to keep up his spirits. Hiccuping slightly, he assured me that it was frequently far more difficult for him to keep them down. With folded arms, I serenely waited until little Fido reached the bank and dragged the elephant, limp,and nearly drowned, but still alive, out upon dry ground. - The spectators cheered wildly, and the proprietor of the circus made a dastardly attempt to fall on my neck and kiss me, but I held him off. “My. dear boy,” he cried, thanks.” “No,” I answered; “you owe me five hundred dollars, and [ll take it in frigid cash. Even a certified check will’ be scrutinized with suspicion.” “I owe you a thousand CHAPTER III. THE CAPTAIN MEETS A RASCAL. The proprietor of the circus was most profuse in his gratitude. He was a gent who, without exaggeration, could be called effulgent. He certainly hada rush of words to the mouth, but I declined to let the flow of gas overcome me, rigidly insisting on my rights, and demand- ing that he should make good and cough up. Seeing that — I could not be bluffed, he finally extended an invitation for me to accompany him to his headquarters at the circus grounds, where he could renumetate me according to his promise. “I want you to understand,” he said, “that I am a man of my word. I am Samuel P. Slick, proprietor -and owner of Slick’s Mammoth Circus and Colossal Aggrega- tion of Wild Beasts.” “Glad to know you, Mr: Slick,”- said I, “I am. highly flavored. Lead on, and I will stick to you closer than a porous plaster toa rheumatic shoulder blade.” Visions of that five hundred percolated through my cerebellum. In fancy I was already fingering various long, green certificates with pictures of presidents upon them: Why, I had that money spent before we even héve in sight of the circus grounds. Mr. Slick led me to a small tent abaft the main tent. Little Fido followed us cheerfully. As soon as we were inside the small tent, and thus shielded from prying eyes, Mr. Slick sunk his grappling hooks into his trowsers pocket and dragged up a solitary greasy five-dollar bill, ” which he beamingly offered me. “Take it, son—take it!” he urged magnanimously. deserve it, for that dog of yours is really a wonder.” “IT beg your hasty pudding,” said I, refraining from cleaving unto the fiver; “but haven’t you made a slight mistake ?” “Eh?” said he quickly. “Why, I thought I said ‘five. Is it possible that I said one? Oh, well, fiever mind; we'll call it five, just the same, for it pereatioy was worth it. It’s yours!” “What under the canister of heaven do you take me for?” I cried warmly. “You said five hundred. Get busy, Mr. Slick, and add about ninety-nine duplicates to that lonesome William.” Immediately Mr. Slick blew up. He turned purple in the face, and looked like a toad with the colic. “Why, you young scoundrel,” he roared, “are you trying to bluff me out of a lot of real money? I said I’d give any one five dollars to save my elephant, and I meant it. Under the circumstances, I’m not obliged to pay you a cent, for you didn’t pull the elephant out; it was that there dog that did it. But I can’t give money to a dog, and so——” He started to put the bill back into his pocket. I reached right out and secured it. “I can take money from one,’ I remarked, “You “and that’s

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26 just about what you are—and then a few. Unfortunately the United States slanguage does not furnish adjectives suitable to fit your particular case, and, as it happens that I can’t speak French a great deal better than I ean speak it, I'll refrain from attempting the impossible task of tell- ing you just what I think of you. It chances that ’m busted; otherwise I would searn your filthy lucifer with ignominy.” I left him in high dudgeon, and went ae away from there. I'll admit that I was extensively sore; but five bones would purchase a beefsteak and trimmings, and I was again languishing with hunger. We dined, Fido and I, and we went the lanit, Re beef a la mud to demi tassles, When I had tipped the waiter munificently I found that only twenty cents of the late- lamented fiver remained in the exchequer. With that 1 purchased a flagrant Hayana cigar, and again set forth upon my weary tramp toward my predestination. I think I had left the gity about a mile astern, and was slowly oozing along, buried in deep thought,-when the sudden consummate blast of an automobubble horn gaye me such a start that I jumped about ten feet straight up into the ambient atmosphere. Now, it happened that the gasoline jaunting car was approaching from behind with considerable acceleration. I am sure the buzz wagon could not have been more than: ten rods behind me when the cheffonier blew that blast on his horn, and the blasted thing. made me jump. And the machine was moving with such expedience that when I came down I alighted fairly on the cushioned seat in the tonneau, By the time | beatings of my heart, I realized that I was comfortably languishing in a* strictly’ ‘first-class, up-to-date naughty- mobile that’ was taking me toward Boston a great’ deal faster sf I could walk. ° | Besides\ yours truly, the ‘only other person ‘in the car was the driver, who was so preoccupied with hig job of taking the road turns at about seventy ‘miles an hour, that he had’ not even seemed casually to notice the uncere- monious manner in which I had dropped in on him. The old gocart was a good one. On_ looking. it over with the eye of a cricket, I perceived at once tliat in the way. of such machines it might be called the ne plus dlster. I congratulated. myself with impunity. What could be more satisfactory than to make a.portion-of my journey in this manner? With a sigh of contentment, I. settled back,’ murmuring in, dulcet tones: “Let her rip, old boy! ‘As long as ‘you dente in to hurdle a stone wall or climb a: tree, “i can’t feaze little Walter.” Then came a sudden horrifying thought: My dog—my poot little dog Fido!. What had become of him? I turned to cast my eyes backward, but, fearing I might not recover them if I did s0,. I refrained, and simply looked. “That i is, I tried to look, but the course astern’ was simply j blotted out by a cloud of dust. There was so much dust in the air that it seemed to crowd itself for room. I felt sure we were tearing up the solid earth at such a rate that where the toad had.been there would remain noth- ing but a long, deep ditch after we had passed over it. Poor little Fido! Would I ‘ever again behold my faithful little quinine companion? I feared not. got my breath and quieted the spasmatic \ NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. In a short time, however, we struck a long strip of macadamized bullyvard, and, again looking round, I per- eevered that we were no longer distributing the highway over the adjacent country. Imagine my unbounded amazement and joy on diseov- ering my little dog a few rods abeam, coming like the wind, his eyes protruding like glass doorknobs, and some- thing like a yard and a half of his tongue hanging from his mouth. He was simply making tremendous endeavors to keep up with that car, which now seemed to be only occasionally connecting slightly with the extremely remote elevations—and he was practically doing it. But I realized that this could not last long, Speedy as he surely was, Fido could not continue to hit it up at something better than a mile a minute for more than forty or fifty miles without eventually becoming weary and dis- couraged. On the spur of the momentum I decided that something must be done. Then I. called to little Fido, making at the same time an encouraging genuflexion with my lily-white hand. He responded at once with a tremendous burst of speed. and } a flying leap. that brought him sailing over the back of the machine into the tonneau beside me, TQ BE CONTINUED, A DIVER’S GREATEST DANGER, The greatest enemy of the diver is paralysis, and this, strangely enough, is not caused by. sending him into the , sea, but in carelessly taking him out of it. In bringing a diver to the surface from any great depth, as gnuch as half an hour is spent in what is. known as “staging” him. He is brought up to a certain depth from the surface and there held, while he fights vigorously with arms and legs to quicken the circulation temporarily, and so ‘to ‘assist in sweeping the excess of nitrogen out of the tissues of the body: -This excess of nitrogen, forced into the blood under pressure of air and water, is the cause of diver’s paraly- sis. At various depths before reaching the surface, the good diver, who understands what causes paralysis, will “stage” and prepare himself to leave the water. the deck of the ligger, he will rest and recover himself for’ lnepiss 8 ‘descent, and so throughout the day. 1 PRESENGE OF MIND. A passenger.on a transatlantic liner had been sick for fiye days in succession. One evening he felt somewhat better, and promenaded. the saloon for some time, - ten o'clock he thought of retiring to his stateroom, which was on the upper deck. Before leaving the. saloon he sought the steward and said: “T want you to send me some hot ‘Water for havi at half past.six in the morning. Will you remember it?” The steward promised, and the passenger started up, the saloon companionway. The steps were brass-covered and very slippery. He reached the first landing all right, but slipped: on the first step of the second and came rattling all the way down again. He was picked up rather battered, but not a bit disconcerted. “Steward,” he said gravely, “I just eame bane to tell you not to forget that hot water at half past six 3 the morning,” . ar sapasee Once on - About. Se Pe ae ME ret oh ee RE eal

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 27 NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST. Declares He Fasted for Fifty-one Days. Charles B. Champion, grain man, of Fort Worth, Texas, is boasting about a fasting feat which he believes sur- passes all long-distance records in the abstinence line. But he did not go out to win any “noneats™ record primarily. His health was poor. He had read that the stomach was frequently abused by the callous and indifferent manner in which it is burdened with more or less indigestible sub- stances, and decided to give it a rest. . He concluded a little trip “back to nature” would pro- duce desirable results. He took his family with him to the mountains of Pennsylvania and there emulated the mendi- cant who has “had nothing to eat for three days.” But he went the average street-corner solicitor of alms one better. Also, he vied with a certain brand of medical wizards who had gone without food longer than the ordi- naty man cares to. For fifty-one days he took no food, and drank only water. At the end of his fasting Beriod, although he had lost thirty-nine pounds in weight, he was declared physically sound by physicians, During his fast he experienced no discomfort, and spent enjoyable days whipping the streams. near his camp for trout, and in long tramps over the country. | Govetnot Doused When Gun Kicks, While on a shooting expedition along the St. Francis River, in Missouri, with Governor Hays, of Arkansas, - Governor Major, of Missouri, got a cold bath. The two governors were crossing a bayou in a canoe. Governor Hays fired at a duck and missed. Governor Major dropped his paddle, and, standing half erect, blazed away. The kick of the gun knocked him into the water. The Arkan- sas governor matiaged to reach him and draw him back in the canoe. Each killed a deer before leaving the cane- brakes. Beachy Loops the Loop. = Lincoln Beachey, the aviator, looped the leop twice in the air above North Island, California, recently. Starting at a height of 2,500 feet, he dropped straight downward into the first loop and immediately turned over again into the second, landing afterward. At no time, seemingly, was there any loss of control. Beachey said he would repeat the performance. Beachey’s feat of looping the loop with a biplane fitted with an upright motor upset the theory of experts, who had asserted that nothing but a revolving motor, such as the Frenchman Pegoud used, could carry an aéroplane over the top of the loop. Beachey said the loop was much easier of achievement than flying upside down. He made several upside-down flights at North Island. Little Pig by Parcel Post, Under the protecting wing of Uncle Sam and in care of the employees of the mail department, a little white Chester pig,’ four weeks old, celebrated his birthday recently by Visiting Montpelier, Vt. for the first time, arriving on the afternoon mai! train by parcel post, in what was probably one of the “softest” journeys ever taken by a “piggie,” at least in that part of the country, at any rate it was the first of the “pig nationality” to ever arrive in that city in this manner. A very much surprised man was Frank Muzzy, janitor at the C. V. station, who carries the mail to the post office, when a small crate was passed out of the car, containing a little white “grunter,” and as, long as a precedent has been > established on animals, Frank is wondering whether or not he may get a box of snakes by the same route some day. ; -Passengers and people waiting at the station flocked around the crate, which was piled high upon the mail bags, showing great interest in the strange parcel, which was at once’ taken to the post-office, and within an hour or so, a government employee had delivered the strange ship- ment to William I. Brown. The little animal was shipped ‘from Robinson, Vt., by Joseph King. The postage on the little traveler amounted to 43 cents. Polonium as Medicine. Sir William Ramsay, of England, discussing the proper- ties of radium at a meeting of the British Radium Corpo- ration recently, said there were other substances in the radium ores which had not so far been exploited from a therapeutic point of view. He hoped that polonium, which was perhaps the most easily produced, might prove to possess therapeutic qualities for the treatment of diseases which had hitherto not been treated. Polonium, said Sir William, was somewhat analogous to selenium and tellurium, and also to bismuth, the thera- peutic qualities of which had been tested, Those three ele- ments remained in the system for some length of time, and then were excreted, but had practically no therApeu- tical qualities. Polonium differed from them entirely in that it gave off alpha rays, just the same as radium did, and he could not help believing that the potency of radium for therapeutic purposes depended upon the alpha rays. Radium could not be administered as medicine to human beings, as it was too expensive, and probably too dan- gerous, but the three substances he had mentioned were eliminated in about three months, and his impression was that polonium might produce its effects for about that time and then be eliminated. : Bill Dahlen Out. Bill Dahlen, manager of the Brooklyn National Baseball Club, has been given his unconditional release. . Dahlen had held the place for four years. He was famous as a shortstop. Lost Hand in Experiment. With a book on “Experimental Science” at his call, Godfrey Meier, junior, fifteen years old, tried an experi- ment in the back yard of his home in. New York, after school one day recently. Just what his experiment con- sisted of the police could not learn, but the result was an explosion, which, blew off the fingers of the boy’s right hand and so lacerated the hand that it was amputated in Flower Hospital. . c When his mother asked him what caused the accident

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Se Peete eae Seeger at 28 | he said he was playing with a magneto. The police think, however, that he had got hold of a fulminating cap or something of the kind.! At the time of the accident a four-year-old nephew of Godfrey was standing only a few feet away. The child was knocked down, but was not injured. Wireless News to Train. For the first time on record, news bulletins taken by wire- less were displayed on a moving train recently, Passen- gers on No. 3 on the Lackawanna Railroad were aston- ished to see the latest foreign and home dispatches spread before their eyes as they were being: whirled along at sixty miles an hour between Scranton and Binghamton, Pa. The Scranton Times sent 250 words from the Lacka- wanna wireless station to the moving train, One was on the battle in Mexico, another regarding the strike in Schenectady, another relating to the dilemma in Wash- ington with respect to landing marines in Mexico. When the train left Hoboken the wireless apparatus was somewhat disabled, as a generator had burned out. The operator, however, was able to take dispatches and give the passengers a news Service unique in history. “To think we didn’t have it for the world’s series!” mourned an excited Chicago man. He Prefers the Family Nag. Wabash County, Indiana, has at least one resident who has never ridden on a railroad train, street car, or auto- mobile, and whose fastest rate of travel is limited to the speed of his horse. This man is Jonathan Beal, who has lived in New Holland, a village in’the eastern part of the county, for the last sixty years, having moved there with his parents when about fifteen years old. Mr. Beal is of the opinion that his.family nag can go fast enough for all practical purposes, Mr. Beal travels little, and his journeys during the last threescore years have been confined almost wholly to trips to Wabash, the county seat, eleven “miles from his home. In’ making the trip he always uses his horse, and has re- fused many invitations to ride in a machine. Though motor cars hourly pass his home, he never sees a train only when in Wabash, as no railroad touches New Holland. f i Operate on Human Heart, Probably the most daring chapter in modern surgery is that which treats of operations on the heart, says the World's Work. “The road to the heart is only two or three inches. long, but it has taken surgery nearly 2,600 yeats to traverse it,” is one writer’s striking remark. How recent this work is, is made plain from the fact that a book published by Stephen Paget, in 1895, contained a chapter on “Surgery of the Heart,” the words being contemptu- ously inclosed in quotation marks. The scientist, as well as the layman, looked upon the heart with an almost superstitious awe. Any injury neces- “sarily implied death; any interference with such an injury could-only hasten the end. Yet many shrewd observers in the course of the ages had noted that all heart wounds did not result in instantaneous death. It was not until ten or fifteen yeats ago that surgeons begani to act upon this knowledge, In exceptional cases death did not result immediately from a heart wound; there were intervals of a few days or a few weeks. Why not NEW 2 TIP TOP’: WEEKLY. utilize the interval in an attempt to sew up. the wound? Medical history now reports many successful operations of this kind. An especially noteworthy one, performed upon an Ala- bama negro boy in 1902, illustrates the resources of modern heart surgery. This boy had ‘been the victim of an es- pecially nasty stab wound. The knife had penetrated the apex of the heart and passed into the left ventricle, mak- ing a wound nearly half an inch long. When the boy was placed upon the operating table, in the little negro. cabin, the signs of death had already appeared. His feet were cold and his face showed signs of the utmost distress. The surgeon made a little, windowlike opening just above the heart. Through this they could readily see the injured organ, the blood spurting from the wound at each pulsa- tion. One surgeon put in his hand, pulled the heart up- ward, and held it while another, sewed the wound with’ catgut, The operation—performed without an anzsthetic—lasted fifty-five minutes; on’ the sixteenth day the boy was sit- ting up; in a short time his heart was as good as ever. Fear Rube Waddell is Dying. In spite of his belief that he was suffering only from a slight attack of bronchitis, “Rube” Waddell, once a great. baseball pitcher, has left Minneapolis to begin a battle with tuberculosis, at his sister’s home in San An- tonio, Texas, A short time ago a story was current that he had fallen a victim to the white plague, but he scoffed at the idea, and said he was suffering from a severe cold. Since then he has been growing steadily weaker, and has been in bed for several days. His physicians fear that Waddell’s chances for recovery are slight. Ruse of Girl Who Desired to Marty. When Martha J. Mayers, sixteen, applied for a mar- riage license at Fort Collins, Colo., she told the clerk that she was over eighteen. She insisted in court the next day that she was telling the truth. ; She explained to County Judge Fred W. Stover that before going for the license she had placed a piece of paper with the figures eighteen written on it in her shoe) so that she could truthfully say she was over eighteen. The girl declared that her grandmother had told her of the scheme. Bert B. Cain, who was arrested for perjury following ~~ the marriage to the sixteen-year-old girl, was held under bond. Man Wanders Fifty Houts, Fifty hours without food or sleep, Harry L, Sommer- ville, manager of the Savoy Hotel, at North, Yakima, Wash., wandered into the store in the Nile, in the head- waters of the Tieton basin, and later arrived in North) Yakima. With W. W. Stratton, Roy Gilbert, and a mau ~ named Mulligan, Sommerville went hunting near Bumping Lake. He started from the camp to meet another of the ‘party. He crossed a ridge and missed the other man. When the hour of the appointment passed Sommerville fourid that his worn tennis shoes with rubber soles were — so slippery that he could not mount the side of the ridge again over the wet logs’ and pine needles. “T had ‘no feeling of fear at any time, | did not dare | to go to sleep at night because of the cold in the. moun-

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. < - 20 tains, but kept pushing on slowly. It seemed to me that { traveled a thousand miles, but it appears on the map * to be only about thirty.” Indian Wins Cotton Prize, Jack Postoak, a full-blooded Mississippi Choctaw In- dian, living in Carter County, Okla., won the sweepstake prize for cotton over competition of all the world at the International Dry Farming Congress, at Tulsa.’ He also won over all competitors at the New State Fair, at Musko- gee. The contest required a showing in six different stages of cotton growing—seed, seed cotton, hulls, stalks, bolls, and lint cotton. Three years ago Postoak had sold or leased the four allotments in his family, and was preparing to go back to Mississippi because he could not make a living on 1,400 acres of Jand in Oklahoma. <A government agricultural agent induced Postoak to try once more under government supervision. He did, on a little fifty-acre tract of land near Ardmore. In three years Postoak developed from the statving Indian class to a great cotton grower. Gives Rules for Good Health. Walk six miles a day. Live in the ‘fresh air. Get out in the open in the winter. Eat proper food. Keep your body clean. Sleep. well. If a person follows these rules he will always be belies according to Governor W. N. Ferris, who addressed the delegates attending the afnual convention of the Michigan Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis Bees Acquire Opium Habit. The honey bees near Fostoria, Ohio, have contracted the opium habit. Like the Chinese, they get theirs from the poppy. /Many residents of Fostoria grow Oriental poppies. The bees have found this out, and of late they are leaving acres of clover blossoms to hunt out the poppy beds. They work vigorously for an hour or so, and then fall to the ground, apparently as stupefied as are Chinese opium smokers after “hitting the pipe.” It is said if the bees cdéuld only be kept sober, there would doubtless be a great demand for the honey. The Kaiser Held Up? A report in circulation at Berlin, Germany, apparently originating in Vienna, is to the effect that the kaiser is about to-sell- the old Monbijou Palace, now the Hohen- zollern Museum. It is asserted that the sale is due to the fact that the recent increase of the emperor’s civil list _is insufficient. There was a similar report some weeks ago regarding the ‘alleged projected sale of a castle in the Rhineland. Confirmation of the report is not obtainable. A Family of White Squirrels, A family. of white squirrels, pure’ white from tip to tip, is making its home in a locust tree near the gate of Captain. Wyman X. Folsom’s. place, opposite Interstate Park, Taylor’s Falls, Minn. How they came to be white, Nature, wise old friend of the woodland folk, only knows. But probably they are albino members of the red squirrel race. -The freaks were discovered six weeks ago, and now. are so -taine it is possible to approach within three or four feet of them before there’s a gleam of white dashing up the nearest tree. f George Hazzard, park commissioner, and members of the Folsom household, have been taking particularly good care that nothing happens to them, and perhaps Interstate Park eventually will have a whole race of white squirrels. Anyway, that’s the idea behind the careful care which sur- rounds the curiosities. Already, however, unkind fate in the form of a mean old cat has evaded the guardians, and one young squirrels life has been forfeited. “He was one of the nicest of the five,” declared Martin Tangen, druggist and friend of Nature’s children. Now the two old squirrels are doing their best to keep their two remaining children from other harm. Houses have been built for the white denizens, and they are to have an easy time this winter, according to the plans of Commissioner Hazzard, for proper food will be available, no matter how hard the earth freezes at the base of their locust tree. Back-pension Pay Good as Fortune. j Frank Ferris,seventy-nine, of Atchison, Kan., who served during the Civil War in the Third Regiment of Missouri Infantry, applied for a pension in 1890, but because he could not produce his discharge he was denied one. He kept on in his efforts to prove that he was a soldier, and , some time ago secured the help of United States Senator Thompson. Recently the adjutant general of Missouri, in going through the records that were kept in that office during the war days, discovered the dates of both the mustering in and discharge of Ferris, and on the strength of ithis the pension will be allowed. He will receive $30 a month and back pay for twenty- three years at the rate of $12 a month, or more than $3,000 in all. Ferris is a carpenter, and a poor man. His wife is nearly eighty years old. There is general rejoicing. Reception Room for Warship Crew. Secretary Daniels, of the navy, approved plans for a ' teception and reading room for enlisted men on the new battleship New York. Mr. Daniels said the provision was a new departure, and has been inaugurated to increase the comfort of the crew and add to the attractiveness of the ship for enlisted men and their visitors when ih port: Similar changes probably will be inaugurated on other ves- sels. Calf Has no Tail, A valuable Holstein cow, belonging to F. L, Sweet, of North Adams, Mass., has given birth to a handsome calf which, strange to say, has\ no tail, Sweet prizes the cali Nery highly, and jokingly remarked that he might have it “retailed.” Fewer Free Seeds? Statesmen Angty. ' Secretary Houston, of the department of agriculture, is “in bad” with numerous members of Congress because. lte has recommended that the distribution of ordinary vege- table and flower seeds be discontinued. Carloads and car-

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a 30 loads of these seeds have been distributed free under postal franks of congressmen and’ senators, the cost being about $300,000 a year. Secretary Houston wants to devote part of the money to the distribution of new and valuable seeds and plants, on a smaller scale. Walking Hencoop Arrested. ‘A policeman in the outskirts of St. Louis, Mo., saw a man whose form was anything but a perfect thirty-six. His coat looked as if some tailor had settled an old grudge in the general fit, and he fidgeted along like a person who is harboring a bee. Suspicious, the officer pursued the man and lifted his coat. Three fowls cackled gratefully to the ground. The officer asked for an explanation, and the portable hen- coop informed him that the chickens flew into his coat to get warm. ; The police regulations prohibit the belief of anything as rough as that, and the man was arrested. Shot Found in Her Appendix, Surgeons of the Harrisburg, Pa., Hospital removed from the appendix of Mrs. Reuben Ulrich, of Seline Grove, Pa., two grains of the shot with which her husband killed a fabbit last week. Mrs. Ulrich ate a part of the rabbit. Passes Dog Off as Baby to Take it on a Train. Because it would cost $1 fare for her dog, while babies could ride free, a Mrs. Welchel, of near Lead Hill, Ark., recently “put one over on the railroad company” by dress- ing her pet dog in baby clothes. When Mrs. Welchel, with the “baby,” climbed aboard the hack to Lead Hill, Fido let loose a series of barks. “Her hand exposed,” Mrs. Welchel turned back a veil, and from the bundle of supposed humanity there appeared the head of a fice, Conductor Clyde Miller, when told-of the success of the ruse, merely remarked: “It takes a woman to beat the road.” ; . Leg Buried With His Body. Valentine Weisenberger’s right leg, which was amputated twelve years ago, was brought from the undertaker’s dead room and placed in Weisenberger’s coffin to be buried with the rest of the body at Fort Wayne, Ind., recently. When Weisenberger’s leg was amputated he ordered it delivered to an undertaker with instructions for the latter to embalm it and keep it for mie poraniete burial. His , orders wefe followed. Smallest High-school Boy. | George Fielding, a freshman in the Brazil, Ind., High School, is the smallest pupil! who ever entered the school. He is 2 feet 10 inghes high. He stands well in his studies. His home is at Carbon. “Some Punkins,” There are 500 pumpkins on ‘one vine which covers. an eighth of an acre on Doctor R, G. Sloan’s farm, at Little River, S. C. One of the pumpkins weighs 100 pounds. \ | No Reason for Egg Famine. Although the country faces something like an egg famine to-day, the number of eggs produced in this country has increased more rapidly than the population, according to NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. the census bureau. Between 1899 and 1909 the popula- tion increased 11. per cent, but the egg production grew 23 Der scent, i This estimate does not include the large number of eggs produced by amateur poultrymen in the suburbs of cities. It shows merely the farm product. The price of eggs paid to the farmers in that period advanced an average of about 11 cents to an average of Ig cents. Illinois enjoyed the cheapest egg supply. The price,there in 1912 varied from 22 to 28 cents a dozen. In New York it was 29 cents to 41 cents. The estimated production of ‘eggs for 1913 is 1,734,529,- 000 dozen, an average of 17.7 dozen per capita. In 1909 the production was only 1,501,311,000 dozen. Curley, the Crow, Still Living. “Curley, the Crow,” the only survivor of the Custer mas~- sacre, a half-blood Sioux scout, is in his seventy-second year. He declares that the famous painting, “Custer’s Last Stand,” does not truly represent the scene, since it shows scalped and mutilated American soldiers on the field of battle at Little Horn, where, on June 24, 1876, Custer and practically all of his command perished. “There was no scalping and no mutilation,” says Curley. “Four hun- dred and seventy-three soldiers were killed, and not a mark was found on them that was not made by bullets. I was General Custer’s scout, and he had sent me for re- enforcements the night before the battle. I was returning with Captain Bentline and his command. While I was still a long way off my horse was shot from under me. and I got down and ran until I came into the thick of the fighting. As I got there, I saw the soldiers were lying dead right and left. Those four hundred and seventy-three had been surrounded by six thousand Sioux. I saw Cus- ter fighting with his saber, and I thought he was the last man alive there, but I soon saw that his brother, Lieutenant Tom Custer, was fighting beside him. He fell, and/ Gen- eral Custer then stood alone. The Indians could easily have killed him before that, but the purpose was to take him alive. Fourteen Indians whom he had slashed and gashed with his saber lay near him, most of them dead or dying. I called to General Custer, meaning to tell him of General Reno’s refusal to come, and he said, “You here, Curley? We'll fight to the end.’ Those were his last words. A big Sioux seized his arm, and Custer turned on him and dealt a terrible saber stroke that half cut his head off. As he did this, the son of the Sioux fired his rifle at Custer, and the bullet went through his heart. 1 pushed through toward Custer as he fell. I held his head: as he sank back dead.” Changes in Water-polo and Swimming-race Rules. Radical changes in the rules that came up for consid- eration were passed upon favorably at the annual meeting . of the Intercollegiate Swimming Association held at the ‘New York Athletic Club a few days ago. Most of them affected water polo, and all were proposed by the graduate advisory board, a committee created last winter, when the managers and captains of the various college teams, after encountering all sorts of trouble with the rules in vogue, decided the matter ought to be placed in the hands of competent and experienced veterans of the sport. . The work of this committee, judging from the report, was thorough. Water polo came in for most of their at- '

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NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY, — | 31 tention, they asserted, because it was that division that had created most dissatisfaction. With an eye toward making the contests less one-sided than heretofore, the board ruled that in future the ball be given to the team scored against after each goal, A second change was the substitution of three periods for two in eyery game, to alleviate the tax on the strength and stamina of the players, and another was an amend- ment permitting a player to return to the game after he had once been withdrawn. The object of the latter ruling is to decrease the sizeof the yisiting squad and thereby ‘reduce their traveling expenses, The value of this change cannot be overestimated, for the matter of expenses has been the bughear that has retarded the development -of the sport among the colleges. The elimination of the one and a half Flying Dutchman from the list of legal dives was another impertant amend- ment... The dive was considered too dangereys for col- legians, several serious accidents having resulted at dual meets within the last few years, There was one subject, however, ovet which the ad- visoty board and the college representatives failed to agree, and that was the question of eliminating the plunge from the list of events to make room fer the back stroke. The board favored the ehange on the ground that’ the plunge was. not an interesting event from a’ spectator’s standpoint, that it. did not develop swimmers, and-that it had beén stricken off national and Olympic programs. The back stroke was ene style of swimming at which Ameri- cans had been beaten easily at the last Olympic meet.. The delegates, hawever, voted to refuse the change principally because most ofthe colleges had first-class plungers on their squads~men capable of winning points, . No other: colleges having requested admission into the association, the championship, tournament will again be lim- ited to Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, and the College of the City of New York, To interest other uni- versities in the sport it was agreed to add a‘special fifty- yard event-for all colleges outside of the association in the championship meet. ‘From Force of Habit. Ts R ‘Staley, of Brighton, Mich. has a horse of a re- ligious tuitn’of mind. Mr. Staley has many horses, in fact, but each one is assigned to 4 different duty, The one in question has always been used to conyey the family to church, and when not busy on Wednesday or Sunday even- ‘ings, is turned'‘into pasture. Saturday, however, Mr. Staley smashed a precedent by hitching the animal up for a drive to the: Farmers’ Club. The farm helper drove the animal to the front door and there allowed it to stand; -untied, An unusual delay within the Staley abode kept Dobbin standing past the appointed time for departure, and after a few: anxious glances, he ambled off in the direction of the Presbyterian Church, where members of the family fotnd him waiting at the regular hour to take them home. ‘Weakling Dies at 102, Believed to have such a slender hold on life that he was christened when two days old, Philip Carlyon lived to be the oldest clergyman in the kingdom, He died at Pennance House, Falmouth, England, within six weeks of his 102d birthday. He was ordained in 1836 and re- tired at the age of 7o. Mr. Carlyon possessed remarkable vitality until within a short period of his death, taking long walks and attend- ‘ ing church regularly, He remembered his father lighting a bonfire on receipt of the news of the battle of Waterloo, and was terribly frightened when an effigy of Bonaparte was thrown into the flames, thinking it was a real man. Mr. Carylon’s youngest brother died at the age of 92. ~ Cow in Chinese Restaurant. Consternation was created among patrons of a Chinese restaurant, at Ogden, Utah, when a cow which had been nibbling the grass growing between the cobblestones of the street-car tracks, spied in the window of the restau- rant a quantity of green vegetables, and started in after them. Frantic efforts to frighten away the cow proved futiley and Wong Ching, the proprietor, telephoned -the police. Patrolman john Russell arrived later and drove the caw to the city pound. Pays for Stolen Tobacco. A, A. Bouch, who, twenty-four years ago, conducted a grocery store in Manorville, Ford City, Pa., received the following letter from Edward Cunningham, whose .boy- hood was passed in Manorville, and who now resides in Pittsburgh: “All is well with my soul. I have found salvation, and am born again.. When I found Jesus He told me ta do His will, and to do right by any man I have wronged. i asked Him to forgive me for stealing tobacco. I in- close ten cents for two packages of tobacco which J took from your store twenty-five years ago.” Facts You May Not Know. The great mass of steel in the buildings of lower New York is said to affect the compasses of the ships approach; ing the city. There are sixteen Ocean. It is probable that the Nile contains a greater variety of fish than any other river in the world. An expedition ere across the north Atlantic _sent by the British Museum brought back 8,000 speci- _ mens. The target on the drone to test the accuracy. of aéfo- plane bomb throwers is sixty feet in diameter. The fif- teen- pound bombs. are dropped at. an elevation of 656 feet. There are 20,000 kinds of butterflies in the world. The custom of throwing rice at weddings originated in China. A patient Englishman has carved the king’s mono- gram and similar devices on an eggshell. By the end of 1916 the Chinese army expects to have 1,000 aéroplanes, this year’s budget calling for the pur- chase of 250 . Boys in a fresh-air school in Buffalo, N. Y., prune the orchard trees on the school grounds, grow eatalpa trees for future transplanting, study bird whistles and notes as they hear them in the orchard, and incidentally acquire a valuable insight inte the main principles of forestry. A Clever Football Play. “T would have given one thousand dollars if that play had gone for a touchdown!’ exclaimed Coach F. H. (“Hurry-Up”) Yost, after Quarter Back Tommy Hughitt crossed the Penn's' goal on a fake-kick formation. Hughitt was called back by Referee Eckersall, and Michi-

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32 gan was penalized for holding in the line a Michigan man slipped in the mud and grabbed a Penn forward to save himself, and the referee called it holding. The play was Yost’s masterpiece—the crowning achieve- ment of a career unequaled in football. Never has the Wolverine Wizard conceived a cleverer coup, and never had he taught his men to execute one with more deadly precision. Football men at the game united in declaring that the fake was the cleverest thing they ever saw on a gridiron. It takes a higher place than Yost’s marvelous triple for- ward pass, which dazed Penn a year ago, The play came in the: third quarter of the Michigan- Pennsylvania game November 15. Michigan worked the ball to Penn’s thirty-yard line and Captain Paterson was called back for a place kick. In the Cornell game, a week previous, Paterson kicked goal under identical conditions, and the Penn scouts had — reported it. Quarter Back Hughitt dropped upon one knee, with hands outstretched to reteive the ball and place it for Patérson’s educated toe. Hughitt called the signal and the oval sailed through the air. But the hearts of twenty thousand fluttered when it was seen that Hughitt couldn’t place the ball properly. Paterson stepped forward to kick. The Pennsylvania forwards were oozing through the line; the secondary defense was closing in; there wasn’t a second to lose as Paterson’s foot swung forward, missing the ball! But as he missed Hughitt hugged the oval to his jersey, and, jumping to his feet, swept around the Quaker line like a jack rabbit, to plant the ball between the Quaker goal posts, while the Pennsylvania forwards fought des- perately to get back through the line they had been pur- posely permitted to penetrate. Such was the perfection of plan and execution that thou- sands did not realize until the next day that it was a Yost coup, and not an accident, Knife Gives Girl Sight. Vera Critchfield, five years old, of Barberton, Ohio, blind from birth, to-day is able to see. Her case is, only one example of what the State blind commission is doing for the blind children of Ohio. The commission has proved that all children blind from birth are not help- lessly blind. -One surgical operation removed the film from Vera’s eyes. One or two others will fully restore her sight. Dream Saves Her Farm. A dreain in which Miss Helen Lochlin, of Bennett, Ill, had a vision of her dead brother directing her where to find a will he executed in 1897 saved her home to “her when she was preparing to leave it because of an admin- istrator’s sale. The will was found by Miss Lochlin, who is more than fifty years old, where the vision told her it was hidden/ Miss Lochlin and her brother Frank lived on the small farm for many years. Frank died in ‘the spring of 1010, and shortly after*a partition suit was instituted by an- other sister, who lives in Denver. With no funds to buy in the share of the estate awarded to the sister by the court, Miss Lochlin was preparing to leave the home. This will was proved authentic by the witnesses, and, NEW TIP. TOP WEEKLY. ' be ‘mother, he had avoided disturbing the other part of the . * 7 > - OE ee Oe ee en ED Oe Pe RS SY fe eg ee ee re as Miss Lochlin was named executrix by her brother, the estate will not go under the hammer, and she will remain on the farm. Man Lives Long in Kitchen. When C. B. Wright, an old soldier and bachelor, sold his home at Argyle, Wis., the other day, to move to Flor- ida, it was discovered that since the death of his mother, fifteen years ago, he had spent his life in the little kitchen of the cottage. Wright said that, in ‘memory of his house, not even a pin having been moved. Everything in the rooms had been preserved just as she left it. Just Out! “Inlay Enamel” Monograms 4 i The re ee Adjusted to 25 Year , the Second Guaranteed $b Sowals Gold Strata id aE SA A. 7. ee Se See bas ee You can have your own monogram in handsome enamel design (many colors to choose from), inlaid in the superb gold strata case. The latest idea in watch cases now offered direct to yorte Our Special Offer You may get one of these superb tlmepieces—The Genuine Burlington Special—a watch of the very latest model,‘the popular new, thin design, adjusted to the second, positions, temperature and isochronism —19 jewels—at the rock-bottom price—the same rice even the wholesaler must pay. our Choice of Scores of Cases Open face or hunting cases, ladies’ or men’s sizes. These can be had in the newest ideas: Block and Ribbon Monograms, Diamond Set, Lodge, French Art and Dragon Designs, Inlay Enamel Monograms, $2 50 a Month at the Rock-Bottom Price e $2.50 @ month for this superb timepiece! The easiest payments at Sve iaer price. ¥i , ch on ap- Sent on Approval Vo.st!e the wat » Prepaid, a a You risk nothing—absolutely nothing— “ea you pay nothing—not onecent, unless @ ~* you want the offer after seeing and. # thoroughly inspecting the watch. a FREE Write for FREE Catalog ¢ Send for the free book. It will f BOOK COUPON tell the inside factsabout watch ‘ prices, and explains the many Burlington superior points of the Bur- Watch Company lington over double-priced 19th St. & Marshall Blvd, products. Just send the Dept. 4971 CHICAGO free coupon NOW. Please send me, without ob- ligation and prepaid, your Burlington Watch b free book on wate es, includ i Company f oases, with full “explanation ‘of onr cash or $2.50 a month o sp, Pet A wea 4 on the Burlington Special, Boulevard Dept, 4971 INBIMNG NS scycivisscleo acsieup a ecb netee CHICAGO o POCORS, aso cwiankettean Pe enesoare Spheres RACE BER AM TERN Ye net MEP ABE NT Nak \ \ \ \ .

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SOME OF THE BACK NUMBERS OF NEW TIP TOP EKEKLY SUPPLIE )0—Frank Merriwell’s Lively Lads. 1—F rank Merriwell as Instructor. 02—Dick Merriwell’s Cayuse. 38—Dick Merriwell’s Quirt. 4—Dick Merriwell’s Freshman Friend. 5—Dick Merriwell’s Best Form. 6—Dick Merriwell’s Prank. 7—Dick Merriwell’s Gambol. 8—Dick Merriwell’s Gun. —Dick Merriwell at His Best. -Dick Merriwell’s Master Mind. Dick Merriwell’s Dander. —Dick Merriwell’s Hope. 3—Die k’s Merriwell’s Standard. —Dick Merriwell’s Sympathy. —Dick Merriwell in Lumber Land. —Frank Merriwell’s Fairness. —Frank Merriwell’s Pledge. 8—F rank Merriwell, the Man of Grit. —Frank Merriwell’s Return Blow. —Frank Merriwell's Quest. 31 FP rank Merriwell’s Ingots. 22—F rank Merriwell’s Assistance. 23—F rank Merriwell at the Throttle. 24— Frank Merriwell, the Always Ready. 5—Frank Merriwell "in Diamond Land: TG 3671 rank Merriwell’s Desperate Chance. 727—Frank Merriwell’s Black Terror. 728—Frank Merriwell Again on the Slab. 729—F rank Merriwell’s Hard Game. 730—Frank Merriwell’s Six-in-hand. 731—Frank Merriwell’s Duplicate. 732—Frank Merriwell on Rattlesnake Ranch. 733—Frank Merriwell’s Sure Hand. 734—Frank Merriwell’s Treasure Map. 735—Frank Merriwell, Prince of the Rope sali Merriwell, Captain of the Var- sity. 737—Dick Merriwell’s Control. 738—Dick Merriwell’s Back Stop. 739—Dick Merriwell’s Masked Enemy. 740—Dick Merriwell’s Motor Car. 741—Dick Merriwell’s Hot Pursuif. 742—Dick Merriwell at Forest Lake. 743—Dick Merriwell in Court. 744—Dick Merriwell’s Silence. 745—Dick Merriwell’s Dog. 746—Dick Merriwell’s Subterfuge. 747—Dick Merriwell’s Enigma 748—Dick Merriwell Defeated. 749—Dick Merriwell’s “‘Wing.”’ 750—Dick Merriwell’s Sky Chase. 751—Dick Merriwell’s Pick-ups. 752—Dick Merriwell on the Rocking R. 758—Dick Merriwell’s Penetration. 754—Dick Merriwell’s Intuition. 755—Dick Merriwell’s Vantage. 756—Dick Merriwell’s Advice. 757—Dick Merriwell’s Rescue. 758—Dick Merriwell, American. 759—Dick Merriwell’s Understanding. 760—Dick Merriwell, Tutor. 761—Dick Merriwell’s Quandary. 762—Dick Merriwell on the Boards. 763—Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker. 764—Frank Merriwell’s Sway. 765—Frank Merriwell’s Comprehension. 766—Frank Merriwell’s Young Acrobat. 767—F rank Merriwell’s Tact. 768—Frank Merriwell’s Unknown. 769—Frank Merriwell’s Acuteness. 770—F rank Merriwell’s Young Canadian. 771—F rank Merriwell’s Coward. 772—Frank Merriwell’s Perplexity. 773—Frank Merriwell’s Intervention: 774—Frank Merriwell’s Daring Deed. 775—F rank Merriwell’s Succor. 776—Frank Merriwell’s Wit. 777—F rank Merriwell’s Loyalty. 778—Frank Merriwell’s Bold Play. 779—F rank Merriwell’s Insight. 780—F rank Merriwell’s Guile. 781—F rank Merriwell’s Campaign. 782—Frank Merriwell in the Forest. 783—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity. TPErTT MET ET 1 | 1 Nationat PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY. news ‘dealer, they can be obtained direct from thix offlce. Street & Smith, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., New York Cit 784—Dick Merriwell’s Self-sacrifice. 7S5—Dick Merriwell’s Close Shave. 786—Dick Merriwell’s Perception. 787—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious pearance. . T88—Dick Merriwell’s Detective Work. 789—Dick Merriwell’s Proof. 790—Dick Merriwell’s Brain Work. 791—Dick Merriwell’s Queer Case. 792—Dick Merriwell, Navigator. 793—Dick Merriwell’s Good Fellowship. 794—Dick Merriwell’s Fun. 795—Dick Merriwell’s Commencement. 796—Dick Merriwell at Montauk Point. 797—Dick Merriwell, Mediator. 798—Dick Merriwell’s Decision. 799—Dick Merriwell on the Great Lakes. 800—Dick Merriwell Caught Napping. 801—Dick Merriwell in the Copper Coun- try. 802—Dick Merriwell Strapped. 803—Dick Merriwell’s Coolness. 804—Dick Merriwell’s Reliance. 805—Dick Merriwell’s College Mate. 806—Dick Merriwell’s Young Pitcher. 807—Dick Merriwell’s Prodding. SO8S—Frank Merriwell’s Boy. 809—Frank Merriwell’s Inter ference 810—Frank Merriwell’s Y oung W arriors, 811—Frank Merriwell’s Appraisal. 812—F rank Merriwell’s Forgiveness. 813—Frank Merriwell’s Lads. 814—Frank Merriwell’s Young Aviators. 815—Frank Merriwell’s Hot-head. 816—Dick Merriwell, Diplomat. 817—Dick Merriwell in Panama. 818—Dick Merriwell’s Perseverance. 819—Dick Merriwell Triumphant. 820—Dick Merriwell’s Betrayal. | 8921—Dick Merriwell, Revolutionist. 822—Dick Merriwell’s Fortitude. 823—Dick Merriwell’s Undoing. 824—Dick Merriwell, Universal Coach. 825—Dick Merriwell’s Snare. | 826—Dick Merriwell’s Star Pupil. 827—Dick Merriwell’s Astuteness. 828—Die Merriwell’s Responsibility. 829—Dick Merriwell’s Plan. 880—Dick Merriwell’s Warning. 831—Dick Merriwell’s Counsel. 832—Dick Merriwell’s Champions. 883—Dick Merriwell’s Marksmen. 884—Dick Merriwell’s Enthusiasm. 835—Dick Merriwell’s Solution. 836—Dick Merriwell’s Foreign Foe. 8387—Dick Merriwell and _ the Warriors. 838—Dick Merriwell’s Battle for the Blue. 839—Dick Merriwell’s Evidence. 840—Dick Merriwell’s Device. 841—Dick Merriwell’s Princeton Oppo- nents. 842—Dick Merriwell’s Sixth Sense. 843—Dick Merriwell’s Strange Clew. 844—Dick Merriwell Comes Back. 845—Dick Merriwell’s Heroic Crew. 846—Dick Merriwell Looks Ahead. 847—Dick Merriwell at the Olympics. 848—Dick Merriwell in Stockholm. , 849—Dick Merriwell in the Swedish Stadium. 850—Dick Merriwell’s Marathon. Disap- NEW SERIBS. New Tip Top Weekly 1-—Frank Merriwell, Jr. 2—Frank Merriwell, Jr., in the Box. 38—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Struggle. 4—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Skill. 5—Frank Merriwell, Jr., in Idaho. 6—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Close Shave 7—Frank Merriwell, Jr., on Waiting Or- ers. S—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Danger. If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from Postage stamps taken the same as money. Carlisle 9—Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Relay Mara- thon. 10—Frank Merriwell, Jr., at the Bar Z Ranch. 1—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Golden Trail. 2—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Competitor. 3—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Guidance. 4—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Scrimmage. 5—Frank Merriwell, Jr., Misjudged. 6—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Star Play. 7—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Blind Chase. 8—Irank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Discretion. 9—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Substitute. 20—F i ‘ank Merriwell, Jr., Justified. 21—Fr ink Merriwell, Jr., Incog. 2—F rank Merriwell, Jr., Meets the Issue. 53 Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Xmas Eve. 24—T’rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Fearless Risk. 25—F rank Merriwell, Jr., on Skis. 26—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Ice-boat Chase. 27—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Ambushed Foes. 28—Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Totem. 29—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Hockey Game. 30—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Clew. 31—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Adversary. 32—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Timely Aid 33—Frank Merriwell, Jr., in the Desert 34—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Grucling T4 35—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Special Mis 36—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Red Bowmal 37—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Task. 88—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Cross-Cou Race. 89—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Four Miles. 40—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Umpire, 41—F rank Merriwell, Jr., Sidetracked. 42—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Teamwork. 3—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Step-Ove 44—Frank Merriwell, Jr., in Monterall 45—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Athletes. r 46—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Outfielder. 47—F rank Merriwell, Jr.'s, “Hundred,” 48—Frank Merriwell, Jx.’s, Hobo Twirlet 49—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Canceled Ga 50—Frank Merriwell. Jr.’s. Weird Ady ture. 51—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Double Heac 52—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Peck of Tr ble. i 58—Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Spc Doctor. : ; 54—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Sportsmansh 55—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Ten-Innings. 56—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Ordeal. 57—F rank Merriwell, Jr., on the Wing. 58—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Cross-Fire.” 59—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Lost Team- mate, 5 60—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Daring Flight. 61—F rank Merriwell, Jr., at Fardale. 62—Frank Merriwell, Jr., Plebe. 63—Frank Merriwell. A Dey ‘8, Quarter-Back. 64—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Touchdown. 65—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Night Off. _ 66—Frank Merriwell, Jrv., and the Little Black Box. 67—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Classmates. 68—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Repentant En- and the “Spell.” Gridiron emy. 69—Frank Merriwell, Jr., 70—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Honors. 71—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Winning Run. 72—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Jujutsu. Dated December 20th. Bi 73—PFrank Merriwell, Jr.’s, eation. Dated December 27th. 74—Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the } Wolves. Dated January 3d 1914. 95—Frank Merriwell, Jr., on the Borde Dated January 10th, 1914. 76—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Desert Rac Christmas Va-'- ee ee Pe