Tip Top Weekly (no. 120) (1898)
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“AN IDEAL PUBLICATION FOR THE AMERICAN YOUTH.” Tip Tor WEEKLY.. Suirn, 61 Fulton : Issued Mera Fag? Subscription $2.50 per year, Entered as Second Class Natier at the N. Y. Post Office. SrReET St, N. ington, D.C . Bnlered Aceording to Act of Congress, in the Year 1898, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, W NEW YORK, July 30, bac an Price Five Cents. Contents of This Number. No, 120 Page. FRANK MERRIWELL’S GFPORTUNITY; or, The Gest of Tha Gorge mS a os SPECIAL NOTICE - - be _ 3 29. CORRESPONDENCE - 29, CAPTURING TIGERS ALIVE 30. HUMOROUS ITEMS - $1. Frank Merriwell's S Opportunity; The Ghost of ee Gorge. By the Author of ‘‘FRANK MERRIWELL. CHAPTER I, inner office, on the ground glass window = 4 (CpDy,; 29-4 Ree wiheten waecithivic, eee was the word ‘‘Private,’’? and " ‘ said : : ,_ §*Merriwell.’? “Mr. Merriwell has arrived.’’ Ses, sir.” ‘*Show him in,’’ growled an unpleasant ‘*You’re wanted.”’ voice. ‘*Where ?” ' The attendant flung open the door. “Go right in, sir,’’ he said. Wondering what al] this could mean, Frank walked into the private office, his . cap in his hand. ‘*By the master mechanic.”’ ‘*In his office ?”’ : = ¥es..Hustle now. It’s important.’’ Frank was just leaving the roundhouse when this information was brought him by aman. He immediately turned about and made his way to the office of the mas- ter mechanic. 2 “Ts your name Merriwell?’’ asked the * attendant in the outer office. Vener: "The attendant opened the door of the A thin, dark, nervous man was walk- ing up and down the narrow confines of the. place, chewing at the stump of a black cigar. He stopped, with his hands in his pockets, and stared hard at Frank. ‘*Humph!”? he grunted. ‘ Somehow there was something iusulting in that grunt, and it bronght a flush to : BUY JUST ONE COPY OF “TRUE BLUE.” ~ ‘
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a 3 _ Frank’s caeeks However, Merry quietly ~ said: **You sent for me, sir?’’ ‘as 3 “Tf you’re Frank Merriwell, I did,’’ a Peug) Sg, sir. © ‘ «Why, you’re only a boy!”’ E gain Frank felt the hot blood pulsing and burning in his cheeks. q “*T am older than I look, sir.’? - “*Perhaps «so, but you’re pretty young.” - __-Mr. Newman, the master mechanic, sat oe down on his office chair and chewed. sav- fe vagely at the cigar stump, all the while ee staring at Merry in a most embarrassing -mauner. y ‘You're too young—too young!’’ he aa finally. growled, “If you hadn’t been a recommended I wouldn’t talk ‘to you.’’~ ; Recommended for what? ‘Fhese words set Frank to wondering and speculating ' still more. \ Z vm “Did you s as ning wild?’ asked Mr. Newman, ina na manner that indicated his doubts. ary Said, sir,” “Hlumph What were you doing iting : a witch engine, sir’? =) © Be 7 “Tt was my first day.” = ~~ : “What? - You don’t mean to say—— Vell, you had fired Rebre si nd “Never. ” " The master ehicic diese his head. - Look here, Merriwell,”” he said, with in insulting pucker to his lips, “don’t il me any fairy stories.” hands" closed Tae but 1€¢ Vin a catertt, wee i fired ‘only one day can't run ne.”?- mS. 22% when it was run- /How long had you been on the'job??” way = : TIP TOP WEEKLY, ‘All right, sir; to say.”’ But Frank’s mainer expressed a “great deal, and Orrin Newman, could see that he was angry, for all that ‘he remained so cool. I have nothing more “You were taken out of the roundhouse and put on a switch engine ?”’ “Wes, sir.” **Been working as wiper ?”’ **Ves, sir.” “How long?” ‘*Less than a month.’’ ‘Hey? And they put you on an en- gine?. Look here, young man, we do not do business that way on this road.”’ “Tf you don’t, you did.”’ ‘How did it happen ?”’ “A man was wanted, and the engineer went to Mr. Ganzell, the foreman. Mr. | Ganzell told him about me, and he came and picked me out. ‘That’s all.” ‘What did Ganzell tell him about you, Merriwell ?”” - “*T don’t know, sir.’’ . ‘What had you done?’’ “Nothing in particular.’’ “Nothing in particular, but you had done something to attract Ganzell’s no- tice. What wasit?™ = ~ Frank could not disguise his confusion, ¢ and he found it difficult to express him- self. He cleared his, throat twice, and then suddenly said: “*T licked a man!”’ “Oh-ho!’ exclaimed the master me-— chanic, ‘Was that TY dra bar cte oo Merry nodded. **And so a chap gets picbiotad on this _road because he is a fighter and licks a man!’? d Mr. Newman, ‘‘Fighters usually get discharged. That’s what !”’ “They couldn’t discharge me.’ “Eh? Couldn't? The deuce they rte 6 _Why not ee *
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yh ee “Because I was not working for the road when I fought.” -““Wasn’t working? How’s that? Ex- plain yourself, young man.’’ “Tt was before I got a job on the road. I came into the roundhouse looking for work, One of-the wipers, the bully of the roundhouse, guyed me because I had _ on a good suit of clothes, and then he spat tobacco juice all over my shirt- _ bosom... I knocked him down.”’ Newman opened his eyes. | _ **That was right,’ he see iia SS happened then?” . . “He jumped up and started in to thrash me. I had to fight, and I whipped him. The foreman saw the whole thing, _and, when it was over, he gave me a job. ~ That’s all.’’, *) Well, Pl be hanged if that wasn’t an > se odd way of getting a’ job! Still. I don’t _-_ see-how you got a chance to fire sy-soon.”” ‘What : = sed, don’t know myself, unless it was learned somehow that I had studied.” “Studied ?”” © est Ves, sir.” : Studied what?’ ae - —_. "Locomotive engineering.” Ril 5 __ “Hopho! Now we are getting at it. eae you studied ? How?” _.., “At home. I bought books on it. it = te something that always interested me, -and I was pretty well posted by ris 9 satben I got a Sead here. Be; * “Well, you’re an exception. Wouldn’t one out of five thousand like yeu. I 2 your studying helped you some, a clean case of luck that you got as as you did. Ganzell must have ae bap ete r showed n me aa. favors about o How f oe a 27 < S =. {IP TOP. WEEKLY. 3 3 ped Loft for a minute when there didn’t seem to be anything to do. She was standing on the main track, and the operator came run- — ning out of the office shouting that a wild 4 ‘ : engine was coming. I ran down to get on f the siding and let her pass, but found I didn’t have time... Then | saw the only chance to save a smash was to run away ahead. of her. I opened upand did so, She was beginning to play out, as her . steam. was getting low, and. her cylin- der cocks were open. On the first hard grade I let her shove her nose under the —_ rear of my tender, and then I shackled the two together. . After that it was easy __ work to go into the cab and shut her off, ~ and I brought her back all right.” ‘ “You showed nerve and judgment, 2 said Newman., “I don’t believe in shows ing green hands up over old men, ‘for it~ s makés trouble; but you had a chance to — show whiat hind of stuff. was in you, and ~ you, grasped the chance. That’s what _ brought yorup. You've been firing on 33 since that?’ ; ; ‘Yes, sir; I was. put onto 33. the next sl Maye? © nog « ; ‘*Hard work ae Sa a ~ “Pretty hard, but I can stand et ae : That's a freight. .How’d you like to — go onto an express???’ tides _ Frank gave a start. . “Td like it, sir, buat——”’ a “But what?’’ sharply demanded the master mechanic. _ : ‘*You do not believe in promoting sheds hands over old men, and I have not bites! on the freight very long, so——" Well, now don’t run off with hes tion that I hunted you up with the 8 cial idea of shoving you up over o men. I called for a good fireman oti nervy man, and you were recommended along. with two others. | The others 2 a
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4 TIP TOP WEEKLY. -but Frank remained silent, although Newman seemed to stop in order to let him ask questions, if he desired. Finding Frank was not going to be in- quisitive, the master mechanic went on: ‘IT know you’ve made a trip to-day, but you are in early, and I must havea fireman to go out in forty minutes on the Even-__ ing Express over the Black River Branch. * Will you go?”’ 3 **Ves, sir,’’ was Frank’s prompt an- swer. ‘All I want is fifteen minutes in which to get something to eat.’’ “Take thirty minutes. Another man will get her ready.”’ my —-— CHAPTER II. —- ENGINE NO. 13. Filled with wonder by what had hap- pened, Frank left the office of the master mechanic and hurried away to a restaur- ant. He did not have time to go home, and so, on his way to the restaurant, he stopped and sent a message to Jack aud Nellie, telling them not to expect-him ‘and not to worry, as he was delayed by his work. Fe It did not seem poebible ‘that ever be- fore had a green hand advanced with such rapid strides on any railroad, and Merry knew that fortune had favored him in one way, at least—it had given _ him a chance to show what he could do. _ His advancement was not a case of luck, however; by hard work and study he had fitted himself for it. He was _ different. from the ordinary green hand who finds a position as wiper, and that difference told in his favor. He was clean, confident, punctual, polite and __ energetic. He was not afraid to work, _ and he took special pains to be polite and obliging. In fact, despite the fact that he = was forced to work in such a manner, he ont » A ‘ela by sie rare’) 4 ieee @ ty) Ly Lae eet : showed in every way that he had the breeding of a gentleman. Some young men show themselves eads in their attempts to appear gentlemanly. They are desirous of making it apparent that they do not belong to the “common herd,’’ and their efforts to let others know this are offensive. The true gentle- man never seeks opportunities to display his breediyg, but displays it scores of times a day without knowing that he does so. It is not necessary that a man who works with his hands shall be anything but a gentleman. Cads do not believe this. They believe the real gentleman cannot soil his hands with manual labor. He will burrow, beat his friends, cheat his creditors, steal, do anything but work like a man, even though there may be those dependent on him who are starving. A person may have such ideas and may live without lifting his hands to do a stroke of work; he may be a gentleman, but he really lacks true manhood. Frank Merriwell. had never been obliged to work till he found that job on the railroad. The duties of a wiper were such as any one might shun; but he had posted himself on railroad life, and he knew that nine out of ten who rise to positions of responsibility and trust in it begin at the very font of the ladder and climb upward step by step. Merry looked beyond the present. He had no idea of remaining a wiper when he entered the roundhouse; he expected to work his way onward till some day he would hold a position of responsibility and honor. To reach that position he must work and show himself worthy. There must be no hesitating or shirking, and there was none, The man who hired Frank in the first place scarcely expected he would work a TE, YOU LIKE “TIP TOP,’? THEN YOU WILL LIKE STRUE BLUE.” day. When Merry had worked a week + es -
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4 ‘ the man began to realize that the youth was built of the ‘‘right stuff,’? even though he never seemed to give Merry the slightest attention. Then Frank’s opportunties came oue after another. A machinist in the round- house took a fancy to him, and asked to have him as an assistant. ‘Thus Frank was given a chance to become familiar by actual sight and touch with the parts of an engine about which he had read and studied, and the remarkable manner in which he advanced in knowledge aston- ished the machinist. Frank’s friends were anxious to see him get ahead, and it was through them that he was recommended for a place on a switch engine. He got the place, and - his very first day was a fortunate one, as it was then that hé captured the runaway engine. aa Good men are always in demand ona good railroad, and a man who neither swears, smokes nor drinks stands a better show than the one wlio ,has_ those vices. Frank was strictly temperate, and that was something that counted in his favor. _And now he was to be given a position as fireman, on an express. : As he sat in the restaurant, hurriedly swallowing his food, he thought it all over, and he felt sure there was some- thing behind it that he did not under- stand. He wadcertain that the master mechanic had not told him everything. He remembered that Mr. Newman had said that two men had _ been tried before him, and had lasted just one trip each. Surely there was sonfething mysterious about that.. Why had- they not lasted longer? Surely the engineet on the Black River Express could not be such a ‘pounder’ that he knocked two men out jn such a short time. Perhaps he had deliberately done them up. Frank knew this was possible. He _FREE WAR BADGES. SEE LAST PAGE. TIP TOP WEEKLY, ; 6 knew that an engineer could ‘‘knock out’’ the best fireman who ever stood if he chose to do so. He could run the en- gine in such a manner that the fireman must find it impossible to keep up steam, even though he shoveled coal every min- ute. Then, when time was lost on the trip, the engineer would lay the blame onto the fireman, who could not saya word in his own defense. Who was the engineer of the Black River Evening Express? Frank knew them al, and he soon remembered that it was aman by the name of Nort Pickett, an ‘‘old reliable.’’ This being the case, it seeined probable that Pickett had lost his regular fireman, and, not being. satisfied with the others given him, had *‘knocked ’em.”’ “*T won’t stand that!’’ thought Merry, grimly. “If he tries it on me, there’s bound to be trouble.’’ Then he remembered that the master mechanic had said something about call- ing for a good fireman anda nervy man, and that set him—to thinking something else. All at once he started, dropped his fork, and uttered an exclamation. ‘*Great Scott !’’ He had heard about a terrible accident that happened on the Black River Line a short time before, and he just thought of it. A young girl had been run down in Black Gorge by the Evening Express and instantly killed, Was it possible that had anything to do with the call for a new fireman on the Express? : c Something told him that it did, and he scented a mystery. — Frank delighted in mysteries.. He had solved many of them. . Anyway, he felt sure it would not be long before he would know why he had been given a place on the express.
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ee Be o From the restaurant he hurried back to the roundhouse, and there he founda “man at work on the express engine. Frank started a bit when he saw the number on the engine. It was No. 13! ‘*Some persons might consides that an omen of bad luck,’ he thought, smiling; “but Iam not superstitious to that ex- tent. In fact, Iam inclined to think thirteen means good luck forme, if any- thing at all. It has seemed that way in the past.’’ a _ ‘Then he climbed on board the engine, _. and told the man that he would take 3 ' charge till the engineer arrived. oy At ay. oo} . od a CHAPTER Iil. 3 THE MAN WITH THE SKELETON HANDS. a : = ee “So ye’re goin’ out on this engine, be _ ye?” said the man who had been getting 3 her ready. ‘Well, I don’t envy ye your : _ job, young man. Ye won't enjoy it, ur - any name’s not Sim Stringer.” es a ROS am not going out for my health,” o>, _ said Frank, with a quiet smile. ‘‘It’s a case of business.” — “That's what other fellers thought, but they wasn’t stuck on ,that- kind of business. | They was the worst broke up men I ever seen in all my life.” ee “What other fellows?’ “Davis and Goodwin.’’ 3 ‘They were the last two dnimen on this engine?” STE eee 4. dn’ hold the iob long, either of th, x Sheed they } ae it as pill.” sank Tog oer d like to ‘know ae a ES t unders this business at all. If es he >, - Jong a TIP TOP WEEKLY. Sim Stringer took his short-stemmed, black pipe out of his mouth and held it in his fingers, ““It won’t take ye long to find, outa big part of the troubie;’? he said. ‘Nort Pickett will be here soon.”’ “So it is the engineer? Is he a potunder?’? **No. "He’s one of the best men in the business. ”’ “That makes it all the more remark. able. What ails him, anyway ?”” Stringer seemed onthe point of reply- ing, but at that moment, a tall thin man came alongside the engine. ‘Here he is now !’’ whispered Stringer. The engineer boarded the engine on one side and the man with the black pipe — dropped off on the other. Pickett stopped and looked Frank over. He was not a pleasant appearing man, and he had a sharp, restless eye, which seemed filled with a hunted ex. pression.. The skin was:drawn so tightly over his hard hands. that the bones and joints sho-ved painfully. ‘The hands were like those of a dead person that had per- ished from lack of food or a wasting’ dis- ease. There was something about those hands that caught Frak’s attention ‘and ~ fascinated him with a feeling of horror. The engineer saw Merry staring at his hands, and, with an angry pea size: he put them quickly behind his back. - ‘“Don’t do it!’ he snarled, . “I beg your pardon,’’ said Merry, _ quietly. ‘‘Don’t do what?) “You know. It’s all off now. Iwashed them.” z St ae — What are you talking a ut? need, ‘the young fireman, in w “Oh, keep still PY Pickett. hissed. =5 T “Keep still, I tell you!) oie: Then Frank began to wonder if the man was crazy. . It did not seem possible << Si, that a crazy engineer ‘would be permitted — UE BLUE,” Betcici Nes La $. a
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asi caught Frank’s wrist with one of those skeleton hands, which felt cold and clammy, like that of a dead person. “J don’t know about the nerve of - iron?” answered ‘the fireman, quietly; ‘Reape THE LIBERAL OFFER rN PAGE hn ae ” upon them. = : ie ; Frank had noticed that those hands Vigeh NS they, tae Yes, eres 7 ‘ were strangely white for an engineer. i st te = t "Phey looked as if they had been washed Then why did 16dy Seldon neat oe EES ee an 6 agape aay You should have been told. What have : ahs Slee tee Bi anki ee done that they should choose at for y = Pickett was genie sensitive about his be Ae fit pale ' : Serde: I didn’t know I was chosen because f ” ; After a little, Pickett squared about : ah SY 2 ; and looked Frank over‘again. - ‘It will take a man of courage to fire “Are you another?” ye aeked on this engine. Did you notice her num- “Ahother what?” ber?” a? “Another firerban,”’ “Yes. It’s 13.” : 4 StPresn a fr firéman.”” “The unlucky arttaber | Are you super- “And you have been sent to go out Stitious?” - ’ with qe,” “No.” ? “Yes, sir.”? eo » «you'll become so. You can’t help it. y 7 a “You're young.’? That number, thirteen, has followed me if ‘Merry did not like that. He was be- all through life. I was born on the thir- met ginning to grow weary of being told that teenth day of the month, and thirteen - he was young. has been connected with every unlucky ii “Rie that a crime?’’ he asked, rather event of my life. I tried to get away rf “<0 sharply from it, but at last I found that I cou oe 7 pee | "No, but——”” not, and I gave it up.’’ . a sae “But what ?” “What you really need, Mr. Pickett, a as pa takes a good, on | this engine— is a good rest. You have overworked = pos 3 Eas with a nerve ot iron. Boy, have yourself, and you are breaking down.” Se ac nerve of i iron?” “No, mo; you are wrong. It’s not a, The engineer suddenly leaned forward overwork. You will know pretty soon— fs = if you go out with me, But you better — not go. I shall hoodoo you; I shall bring you the worst kind of luck. You ages ruining y r chances by going with me. — I never t “anybody else, but you =
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‘“‘Now I am sure you are unstrung and A! overwrought. What if I refused to go out with you? Surely that would ruin i my Chances, for it would be a long time before I would get another such oppor- tunity. I have been given this chance, and I shall go.’’ “That settles it. You can go. We shall pull out on the line in five minutes. Oil up the drivers.”’ : Frank took the oiler and swung down to obey the order, while Pickett imade final arrangements in the cab. Merry was filled with wonder by the thought that such a man as Nort Pickett had been. left to run 13. Surely it was ‘not known by the master mechanic or general manager that Pickett was so com- pletely unstrung, or the man would be taken off. — 8 “Sa § young, and I hate to see you ruined, and ~*~ sol tell you. Don’t do it.” _ gineers are superstitious. ‘They becoine so from their connection with their en- gines. In time the throbbing, panting machines seem ike creatures of life to . them, with all the whims and freaks of an animal of, flesh and blood and intelli- gence. They learn to pet their engines, ba ee coax: them, to handle them as a skill- RES jockey handles his mount. They learn all the moods of the machines they run, and many an engineer will swear with all ais _ seriousness that his engine can think and feel. . — An engineer should be a aman with - very few nerves. If he is excitable, he is ted to his profession, and the yoner he gets out of it the better it will 3 Rose himself and all those on his train. tee Night Tus are wearing. They tel] on ‘ hand on the throttle, peering out past = the throbbing, roaring, rushing monster his charge, looking along the two iL Cea © Frank had learned that nearly all en- - TIP TOP WEEKLY. lines of gleaming rails stretching away in thetrack of the headlight till they are lost in the darkness that lays ahead. They know what may lay in wait for them—a loose rail, a washout, a weak- ened bridge, a thousand things that may cause a wreck and send a hundred human beings into eternity in one moment. Frank believed that the time had come when Nort Pickett~should be given a chance to rest and recuperate. But Merry had been sent to fire for the man, and he would do it. He remembered how a short time before he had been engaged in a terrible encounter with a crazy engineer in the cab of an engine, with the train running more than forty miles an hour, and he was not anxious fora repetition of the experience. Nevertheless, he climbed aboard the engine, which pulled out of the round- house with Nort Pickett at the throttle. ~~ CHAPTER IV. THE ENCOUNTER ON THE PILOT. . = Black River ran through a wild and fmountainous section of the country. It was a turbulent stream, with many rapids and falls, Sometimes the railroad lay along its course, sometimes railroad and river parted company for long-distances. Three times the railroad crossed the tiver. In the springtime the stream was swollen and savage. It roared through the rapids and thundered over the falls; it gnawed at its banks and reached out gteedily toward the railroad. There had been washouts along the line, and many serious accidents had been narrowly averted. No one envied the engineer of the evening express. ‘The position was not — coveted by the men on the freight engines who thought they deserved better places. cuF gitiage Is THE pile Gopi ina ge izatai =
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= ' brown and bare. TIP TOP WEEKLY. 9 It was now well, along in the fall, although no snow had falien. The river did not menace the railroad, but seemed to be biding its time. The express flew along the line, with Fraiik Merriwell, firing and Nort Pickett running the engine. It was drawing toward night, and the mountains were purple at their feet, even as the rays of the declinig sun touched their summits. Huge black rocks clung to the steeps, and jagged chasms lined them like irregular streaks of ink. The woods were The cool air cut with a keen edge. For atime Pickett did not seem in- clined to talk. Occasionally he watched the work of his fireman, and he seemed e+? y satisfied with it. At length he spoke. *“Get up there and sit down,’’ he said. “There isn’t a hole in the front end of the engine, and you’ve got too much coal in there now. What kind of men have you heen firing for?’ ‘*]’ve been on a freight, sir.”’ **Those chaps don’t know how to run an engine, half of them. ‘They’ll kill a man. You’ve got up more steam than I Peed te Se Frank was willing to rest; and he watched Pickett run her, growing more and more interested, for he began to tinderstand why the engineer Was con- sidered a first-class man. It was plain that he could get the best work out of an engine on the smallest possible amount of fuel. He did not waste steam, and he pumped her scientifically. Here was Merry’s chance to pick up points. _ After a while—Merry fell to watching the man’s hands—those skeleton. hands Why were they so white and on and boney? * Pickett gtew restless. He seemed to feel Frank’s eyes directéd toward his hands. _ along “Don’t do it!’’ he exclaimed. ‘Don’t do what?’’ Frank asked. “Don’t look at them. I washed them clean.”’ » “T don’t doubt that. ‘CA little more coal. lay it on thin.’’ It’s not——’’ Scatter_it well— Frank felt that more coal was not real- ly needed at that moment, but Pickett wished to turn attention from his hands. While he was tossing in a few light shovelfuls, the engineer flung open the forward window on one side. “Go out and tighten. up the nut on that bell,’’ he said. ‘‘It work’s loose sometimes, ’’ So Merry took a wrench and went out the running board. When he reached the bell, he found everything was all right, and he quickly decided that Pickett had sent him out there to take up his time and get rid of him fora few minutes, As the young fireman turned back, Pickett shouted to him and motioned for him to go ahead. He caught something about the headlight, and so, wrench in hand, he went forward on the engine, although he was more than ever con- vinced that there was something radically wrong with the engineer. Barely had he reached the forward end of the engine when the whistle shrieked. The train was flying round a curve, and Merriwell saw something on whe track a short distance ahead. That something looked like a huge dog at first, but it reared on its haunches directly in the middle of the railroad, and then, with a cry of seaptine,. Merry saw what it was. ; It was a large black bear! ‘ Again the whistle shrieked, but the bear made no move to get off the track. Either the beast was too surprised and frightened to move, or it had decided to OLD GLORY BADGES as PREMIUMS—SEE PAGE 32
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give battle to the monster that was rushi- ing down on it with such wild screams of rage. In another moment th® pilot of the engine struck the bear, and to Frank’s astonishment, picked the animal up as cleanly as possible, without seeming to harm it in the least. _And there on the pilot crouched the : ae bear, clinging fast, face to face & with Merriwell !* : It was a moést astonishing and wh- _ pleasant position, to say the very least. . ***Well, this beats the band!’’ muttered e- - Prank. ; _ The bear growled, the sound being dis- tinctly heard, for all of the roaring and gations of the flying engine. ‘Bear and youth looked straight at each a shai neither seeming to blink. ___-_ **¥6u had befter step off,”’ "said Merry, 7 - half-lifting the wrench. v es An angry look came into bruin’s eyes, -— and_sihe amar his mouth, growling i. ‘ again. | ri _-**Perhaps I am abblond whic had bettice= step off!’ muttered the youth. ee Then the animal reared up and moved toward Prank. ae Merry thought af retreating, but ina Poataeant the bear was so close that chess was very little chance for escape. : _ Frank believed that a sudden blow might settle everything, and so, lifting “the wrench, with all his strength, he struck the bear ‘between the eyes. * ‘Bruin dropped down, but was not knocked off the engine. . That blow was Soon to make the animal furious and again it seared, trying to clasp Frank out of the way, ‘but there ance | shox: fis tere: and the TIP TOP WEEKLY. Again he struck.» The second blow was heavier and fairer than the first. It did-the work, and the bear tumbled backward, rolling. off the engine and down the embankment. The encounter was all over in a mo- ment, and Frank -was unharmed. He thanked fortune that. he had escaped so easily, and then turned and made his way back to the cab. From his window the engineer had seen everything. “Boy!? he cried, as Frank came in at the window, ‘‘you have plenty of nerve! Now I know why you were cliosen to go with me as fireman. Almost any other person would have lost his head, but ‘ with two fair blows you knocked that” bear off the engine, It was wonderful! it was marvelous!”” “Hardly that,’”? said Frank, with a quiet smile. ‘‘It was the only thing for me to do,”’ ; “You didn’t try to run away.” “T didn’t have a chance.” ‘“Phere was chance enough to try, and you might have escaped. I tell you, boy, ' it was wonderful! ‘And the bear didn’t seem hurt at all when he landed on the cowcatcher.’’ ‘“That’s right,’? admitted Merry. ‘‘I expectedsthe shock would knock the life out of him in a jiffy, but somehow he> wasn’t hurt... I seemed to be a great deal more surprised than the bear.”’ “But he was. the one surprised after- _ward. Iam glad they put you onto this “ enpine, for now I believe you may not be frightened into leaving at the end of the first trip.” -“Tdo not intend to be frightened so ber ae Pickett could ay say ‘enough i in praise a Frank’s nerve and skill. He even pied “Fe shake the young fireman’s FOU WikL cing mica Hea ' e “ts
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TIP TOP WEEKLY. ul hand, but seemed to. suddenly remember his own hands and change his mind. “T shall report this to the general manager,’’ he declared. ‘‘It will be to your advantage, young man.”’ “Now. don’t do. that!’ exclaimed Frank, turning red. . ‘‘It isn’t necessary, is it?’ “TY think it is. Vou don’t. suppose. -I ean keep quiet when I have sucha good story to tell? No, sir! It’s nothing to blush over, young man; you should be proud of it.”’ ‘‘T think you are snaking too much of the affair, Mr, Pickett. . I beg you not to do that.” "You are altogether too modest. It won’t hurt you, so don’t worry.. We’ll be at the next.water plug in eight min- utes, and we'll put the headlight on there. After we pull out, I shall have something to tell you.’’ CHAPTER V.- THE TRAGEDY OF BLACK GORGE. It was growing dark as. the express pulled out from its stop at the water plug. ‘The headlight was burning. z Ahead lay the wildest part of the moun- tains. » Again Nort Pickett was acting aisigsge: iy: He was peering out from the window and muttering to himself. Frank swung open the firebox ee and gave her coal. His manly «figure _ showed plainly in the red glare that came =f from the open door. The whistle of the Sion atiea dain: fully as.the train.gained speed and went shooting through the twilight. _. In the cab the. little brass lamp was burning. But, for a. monient, it almost seemed that there was no light at all - when the iron door clanged shut. The engine throbbed and panted as DO. aa WANT A PEAS BUTTON OR PIN ? Pickett worked her to. gain speed. She seemed quivering with life from one end to the other. She danced and racked on the rails; she reeled round a. curve with a jerk and a lurch; she awoke the echoes of the black steeps with another shrieking screain. Down at the left lay Black River like a shimmering .streak that was seen now and then... All at once the express roared over a bridge, with the river foaming far below. ‘We're getting nearer!’ said Pickett, hoarsely. *‘Nearer to. what?’? asked Frank, for it seemed that the man had spoken to him, | **Tt’s less than ten miles beyand Valley View.”’ ‘“What are you talking about?’’ Merry sternly demanded, . ‘‘ You are mumbling to yourself like a crazy man.”’ ‘“‘Am I? And they didn’t tell you?” “Didn't tell me what?’? “You should. have ‘known it. You should, have heard about it... It happened two weeks ago—no, thirteen days ago! Ha! There it is again, there’s the un- lucky thirteen!’ ‘‘What was it that happened? Tell me about it.’’ i “7 will, for you should know. Didn’t you hear that the express ran over some- body in Black Gorge??? “‘T semember hearing something about it, but I had troubles of my own two weeks ago, and I did not pay any Sites: tion to it, if I heard it.” “hat was what happened. It will be dark when we reach Black Gorge. _ It’s always dark down there. Even in the daytime it is gloomy deep in the black depths.’’ _ The engineer was speaking loudly, for the roaring of the train made it neces sary. His face looked thin and abouty™
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% 12 by the dim light of the lamp, and his : eyes glittered. Frank was standing near him, so that he might understand the words which he — not hear across the cab. “There was 10 moon,”’ the engineer went on, ‘‘and I was shoving her through the gorge, for the roadbed is good and there are no crossings to bother. Burton, - the fireman, was sitting over there. had steam to spare. “a “All at ouce Burton gave a scream, -__ and just then, as we came round a curve, : I saw a girl in the full glare of the head- hght, walking on the track. I shut off, whistled for brakes, did everything to hold her upa bit. She fairly slid over the rails, and we were so close that the automatic brakes refused to work soon enough. “Oh, my God!’ groaned Pickett. ‘‘I saw her as she struck that young girl, who had been walking straight toward us, with her eyes closed, as if seeking death, but unwilling to witness her own doom. I seemed to feel the wheels go _ over her!” ‘The man stopped, overcome by his emotion. He lifted one of those skeleton hands tremblingly and passed it over his eyes, as if at that moment he saw the horror of it all and was trying to shut it out. Frank fully realized what the emotions of the engineer must have been at that terrible moment, and his heart was filled with sympathy. You were not to blame,” he said. : SENG,” no! Heaven knows I did every- ae ; thing i jiu my power to save her! It was we impossible, No human being could have _ done it. The train was stopped, and we found cher on the track, horribly muti- — tt saw her with my own eyes, and y . ee Oe re oes: eee eee ee . ae atl i ae m We TIP TOP WEEKLY. and stood beside-her. I was half-crazy then, and I cursed her. I struck her with my hands, and when I got into the cab there was blood on those hands! It was the blood of the poor girl I had killed!’’ He looked at his hands and shuddered. ‘*Since then,’? he said, hoarsely, ‘‘I have washed them, washed them, washed them! Somehow it seems that I cannot wash that stain away. Somehow I feel as if her blood was still there!’ Now Frank understood why those thin hands were so white. “‘T have a wife and children,’’ Pickett continued, ‘‘and I must support them. I can’t do anything but run an engine. If I could, I would get off the railroad for- ever. My wife is not well, and two of the children have been sick.~ It has taken every dollar of my money. I can’t afford to be out of a job fora single day. I must stay here. There is nothing else for me.”? “What you really need is a rest,” Frank declared. ‘‘If you don’t take it, you are liable to break down and lose weeks or months, instead of a few days.”’ «You might be-right, but a poor man, situated as Iam, must go on till he gives out entirely. There is nothing else for him to do.”’ **I should think you would ask to be transferred to some other line.”’ “T have.”’ ‘“‘And they would not transfer yon ?’’ “They told me it was impossible at present, but it might be done later.”’ ‘Perhaps if the general manager thoroughly understood——”’ “It’s no use. I can’t make them understand how I feel about it. They say I was not to blame, and they think I am a fool to let it trouble me. They haven’t any feeling.”’ “How did the girl happen to be on the track is :
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TIP TOP WEEKLY. 12 **T found out all about that. She was a somnambulist, and she was walking in her sleep. She did. not know the train was coming. She never knew what struck her. She was only eighteen, and was to be married in a week to a young man of Valley View.”’ ‘‘Well, that was hard,’’ said Frank, ‘“but no one can believe you are .to blame.”’ ‘“There is one who does, though.’’ “Who ?? ‘“*The young man who was to marry her. Her death has made him half-crazy. He found me. He wanted to tear me limb from limb, but they held him. He called me a murderer. He frothed at the anouth and cursed me.’’ Pickett was shaking all over now, and Frank saw how much the strain had told upon him. 3 **Don’t think of it any more,’’ urged Frank. ‘‘Don’t talk about it.”’ “T must think of it. We are almost there. Valley View is just ahead.”’ **Do we stop at Valley View?” ‘“‘No; we go straight through. And Black Gorge is beyond.”’ Soon the lights of the town glimmered ahead. The whistle shrieked, and the ex- press tore through the little mountain village. ° When the town was passed, Pickett grew more and more excited. “We are getting nearer—nearer!’’ he muttered. ‘‘We’ll soon be there!’’ _ Frank flung in more coal, “Now comes the worst of it!’’ cried Pickett. ‘‘I want you to watch.”’ ‘Ror what?”’ — ‘For her!’ : ‘Her? Whom do you mean?”’ “The girl! the girl!” “Why should I watch for her?” “You will see her!” ‘“‘That is.impossible! You are clean daft, man,”’ ‘No! I tell you that you will see her! I see her every night. The men who have been with me. since that fatal night have seen her, too! That’s what’s the matter; that’t why they lost their nerve and left.”’ eee Oe ‘‘Why, what are you talking about? You don’t mean——”’ ‘‘T mean that lama haunted man! I mean that her ghost appears every night at the place where I ran over her! Do you wonder that I am losing my nerve?’’ ‘“There are no such things as ghosts.” ‘‘T thought so- once, but now I know better. There are ghosts, and I am haunted by one. You shall see it. Here we are! Watch! watch!’’ The express dashed into the mouth of Black Gorge: CHAPTER VI. THE GHOST OF THE GORGE. A-room, a-room, a-room—the express was dancing over the rails with a eget mical roar. The engineer, with his hand on the throttle, was peering from his window, his face ghostly gray, his eyes set and staring. On the other side of the cab Frank watched from his window. ‘“The man is clean daffy,”’ thought Merry. ‘‘He must be taken off at once and given a rest. That accident has turned his a7 Still he watched, now and then glanc- ing at Pickett. The engineer’s lips were moving, but. not a sound seemed to issue from them. In the shadow under the lamp one of his — hands showed like that of a dead person. The black walls of the gorge seemed — flying past with the speed of the wind. you SHOULD GET A WAR BADGE AT GNCE. » ‘
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nT = } . , ee <. i ¥ . Great bowlders, standing out“in places, and shown for a second by the broad flare of the headlight, appeared to hurl themselves at the engine and vanish. _ Telegraph poles fled ‘past in a thick, long row. : A-room, a-room, a-room. the peculiar song the rushing, rocking, throbbing engine seemed tohum. ‘Te engineer moved his hand, and a great spout of cinders shot from the smokestack for a few seconds. ~ Frank jumped down, flung open the door, and ‘scattered fresh coal on the glowing-mass within. From the firebox shone a red glare that struck against the cloud of smoke overhead, making it seem _ that there was fire. above and below. lang !—the door closed, and the fiery Eade was gone. Pickett was sending her now, as if his one hope was to pass a certain point at the highest possible speed. **Watch!’’ he shouted. ‘‘Watch now!’’ ‘That ‘was ing. _ The train teeled round a curve. ‘“There she is!’” ~ Pickett shrieked the words. Frank Meérriwell gave a gasping cry of 3 . ; be: 3 $ something white on the track directly before ‘the’ engine—something that seemed to be a female’ tangs in thie Nery centre of the track. The engine whistle o shrieked for pried: to shut off and stop her. — Over the white object the train dashed, and a feeling of horror struck at Frank’s heart, for it seemed that they had run Sig dice told you!” yelled the Tha he happened so many times! ag Tbe akin Tan over somebody 1"? ” patited Back at his window Lie was | watch- - astonishment, for he caught a glimpse of the engineer worked like a ne ee down a human beitg. n iO = knew what would happen! 14 TIP TOP WEEKLY. Frank. ‘‘I seemed to feel her when she struck. This is dreadful !’’ “Tt was the ghost of the girl!’’ “There'are no such things as ghosts! We tran over somebody !”’ ‘*And we will not finda soul on the track, or a trace of anything. It was the ghost’ of the girl I-killed!” ‘The brakes brought the train to a stop, and the conductor and train hands swung down with lanterns, as if they had been expecting to stop right there. Frank was off the engine in a moment, and he ran back along the train. “*What’s the matter?’’ asked the con- ductor, angrily. ‘This business is get- ting played out! I can’t stand it, and I won’t!’? “We ran ovet somebody!’ declared Frank. It looked like a woiman.”’ *‘Same old story! Have you got it, too?’’ we “Got what?’ “The spook-seeing fever.”’ “It was no spook, for I do not believe in ghosts, but I saw the engine strike her. We shall find her back here.’’ **You won’t find a blamed thing, young man. Where’s Pickett?” — - “Tn the engine.’” ‘Well, he’d bettter stay there to the end of the run, and then get off the rail- road for good. His nerve is gone, and he is ruining every fireman he gets. He'll have them all imagining they see spooks.’ ‘*But I tell you I do not believe in such. things! We struck some person fairly and squarely, and we ies ang thre used Come.”’ But, ailing: they: pseiie many precious minutes searching, no body was found, and tliere was no trace: of a tragedy. “T knew it,’” growled the conductor. “It's alt blamed ‘foolishness! ‘This train _ Haye ae Read Clit ‘Paraday’s Adventures In Morro Castle?
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4 ot. = is getting the reputation of being haunted, and it is bound to hurt the road.”’ = _ * — Frank was thoroughly mystified, and A he felt like continuing the search, but —s ‘time’ could not be spared, and the con- , a kal “Now, get a big brace on,”’ edgtd Metriwell: “You must do it,’ Sor “T must—I know it! I will!”* ae _ The engineer scettedto-sbake® himself together, © Desay spenl Pac: ni se7 ae Sabo amet 4 ey SOC oe he said. “Dean run h \~4 3 r Hom foe pie SE eer eae y
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__she needed by this time, and saw Pickett look at his watch. ‘‘Kleven minutes behind time,’’ said the man. ‘‘We must make it up. Keep her hot, Merriwell.’’ * “I'll do it,’? Frank assured. ‘‘You ' needn’t. worry about that. ‘Drive her, Mr. Pickett—drive her.’’ “It was strange that Ishould faint,” said the engineer. ‘‘I do not understand it.’ . ‘“*Your nerves were comapletely un- strung, sir.’’ as - **And you did not let Ballister ‘know os it?” . #No,”? “No one knows it but you?”’ **No.’’ ss re “Then, if you keep still, it will not be - known. If it should be known, I’d_lose se my job in a minute.’’ = “That's right." _ **But you must protect me. “I can’t afford to lose my job. Just think of my - sick wife and little ones! I must work for them—I must work !”’ a _ “By this time you must see that you needa rest—you must have a rest, sir. It __ isa positive necessity.’’ “Not | as long as Teap stand to my “work.” that to-night. It is killing you, sir, as Paine as fate.”?.. ... : xt Winacs is no poiises stvat 11 kno jeg age i. y $ ae the reich once the ay 34 “at yon could get a rest——’" Iam a haunted i: ae Bae 4 yn are not. haunted.” Balto 0 a he ane tng of ees =" : = ae a: CLIP F 4 - a _ “But you can’t stand to it; you proved thirteen. those things, Merry did not wonder that ‘te ot Tcould forget! If I did not know 16 TIP TOP WEEKLY. ‘*VYou saw the ghost of the girl that was killed by this engine.’’ ‘That is what you think, but I do not believe in ghosts.’’ “If you stay on this engine you will.”’ *‘No, I will not! If I stay on this en- gine, I'll find a way to lay the ee as sure as I am living!’’ ‘Tf you could ~ focan. I have dealt with such affairs beforé, and I’ve always found the ghosts were creatures of flesh and blood.’’ ” *‘But we run over this ghost every night just where we ran over the girl. We could not do that if it were a creature of flesh and blood. Oh, you will have to give up this time!’’ ‘““Wait. I do not give up very quick.”’ As they left the scene of the tragedy behind the engineer became more natural and caliner. He could talk in a coherent manner, but it was plain that nothing could convince him that he was not a haunted man, Frank pitied him, and became more and more determined to solve the mys- tery of Black George, as that seemed the only way to lift the shadow from Nort Pickett’s life. Pickett told of the many ssinhaliilades that had befallen him during his life, and always it seemed that his hard was somehow connected with the number After hearing him tell of all the man was superstitious. ‘“‘Now,’’ said the engineer, ‘on the thirteenth day after the girl was killed I have done something that will lose me my Job if it is giant = This i is Fee. of.my hard fortune.’? “What are you. talking ‘about ?” asked Merry. ton ate AG man who faints on his engine is bouad: to dose. his ensitogs no Sate >
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TIP TOP. wnyeay. * 17 what his past record may be. It was 3 lucky that you could run her.”’ **Ves, it was lucky, for now only you et and I know what happened here.’’ “ ‘*But you—you will tell ?’’ ‘Why should 1?” = “It might be the means of your ad- If it were known that you “yy? vancenient. took my place “IT do not wish to advance by pulling anybody else down.”’ “And you will say nothing about it— you will keep still?”’ — . *f shall say nothing about it, Mr.. _ . Pickett; but I wish you would take my advice and ask for a week off. You need the rest.’’ ay - ‘*And I must haye the money I should earn in that week. No, I must stay by x “my job as long asI can. But I shall tell “of your encounter with the bear, and that will mean something to you. I shall do my best for you, young man.’’ Then, all at once, the engineer turned ae and stared at Frank, crying: “Ts it possible that you are ready to _stay on this engine after to-night?” Pay Sea v i j ‘*You may be sure I shall stay, sir.’ ae “But the others—they lost their ~ , nerve.” ; os he “Tt strikes me they didn’t have much __by a shadow.”’ “You have the true grit, that is plain. oe ‘Some day you will get to the top, Frank = - Merriwell, for nothing will daunt you, I wih you the best of luck.’’ _ Frank could” ‘not. help wondering at the te. nerve to lose. They were frightened off a a and left the long miles behind. ss a "Pickett showed his skill as an engineer, easily making up the lost time, and Frank found the task of firing for him ar easier than he had anticipated. : ‘The engineer was desirous. of ‘teaching : ‘change, in the man, who was growing jer and calmer as the train sped on ALL Y YOUR PEN EATEN TION aeOUe PREMIUMS—SEE PAGE 32 Merry as much as possible, and he ex-, plained many things that it was neces- sary for a first-class engiueer to know. He even gave over the throttle to Merry, standing by and watching and talking to him and shoveling coal .when it was needed. He told Frank all about old ,13’s little peculiarities and eccen- tricities. differed so much, and told how each one must be handled differently. That trip was a great thing for Frank, a fact that he fully realized. He was learning, and learning fast. True to his word, Pickett reported the encounter with the bear on the pilot of the engine, and, the following day, Frank was found by several reporters, who were anxious to hear his story of the affair, Of course he told it, and the after- noon papers had an account of it, giving a large amouut of space to the story. When Frank came round to get old 13 réady for the night run, he realized-that every one was staring at him, but, at first, he could not understand why. Larry Logan, one of the engine wipers, was the first to say anything. The young Irishman had a queer twist on his mug as he stoppéd near Frank and jerked at his cap, observing: “It’s yersilf Oi hope - Oi see well this avening, MisHter Merriwell ?”’ “‘T am quite well, I thank you, Latry,’’ Frank answered. % “Oi undherstand it’s a roight foine toime ye’ve been afther havin’, me b’y.”’ “In what way?’ “Tn siveral ways, begobs! Which asa yez_rayther meet now, Ould Pickett or th’ bear?” ‘Why, I had no trouble ios Mr. Pickett.” “rps about th’ bear?” He explained why engines , luck ye’re in, hide But how _
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ee ¥ “The trouble with him did not last : long.’? at ‘*Begorra! it wur a roight foine job ye ae ry » p> th’ papers in big type. Ye’re famous now, 5. Mishter Merriwell, so ye are.’ “a ‘*Well,, I don’t know as I am pleased over that,’? declared Frank. ‘I wish Pickett had kept still about iti’ “‘Ah, now, thot’s where ye’re wrong, me b’y. It'll be a good thing fer yez. am Th’ more advertising a miarn can have aa nowadays, av it’s the roight kind, th’ Be. betther it is fer him.” »/ os **Still I don’t like it,’’ persisted Frank. “And I don’t see how. it will do me any a good. » ia ~ “It?s notice ye do be afther gettin’. A Be 2 _ marn may worruk all his loifé an’ nivver z amount to anytling at ail, at all, av he a don’t attract notice, ’’ Frank; “but knocking a bear off an en- gine is "not what I’d like to do to attract notice.’ ! _ ¥ell have yer chance some other ixpress agin?” s MOE aiime.’? They said ye wouldn’t go but wanice.”? ‘‘Because others gidn’ t. a =; Ab gee = fa Well, a shall go on ‘old 13 as Lee! as ; > Mogg. keep. me here.”? “ a ay do ‘not think’ 1 shall have much ae trouble = getting late with | ‘Mr. er A = Stardinas Gh - ut, joe ty BS aE os 01 inks eerpiody buowe about it.” “But I ns oe I bat a out with in advance. ad he it Moube thot, me b’y; but eee wur wan av ari nom a a and _WE Al ie nie EN eS did. _Whoy, it’s yer name they have in - ‘Well, you may be right,’’. smiled) way, me b’y. Ye’re een out we th* tS aes ee same: if I 7 — others thot wouldn’t. "They. . chair as “stared : wretrop’ WEEKLY, wishes to see you in his affice right away.’’ é CHAPTER VIII. SURPRISING THE MASTER MECHANIC. “But'ILimust get this engine ready to go out,” said Mefry. “‘I can’t leave her.”’ ‘*F have been sent-to get her ready,’’ assured the man. ‘*You needn’t let that wotry you. Go see tle master mechanic. ”’ So Frank swung down froin the engine and started for the office, wondering what could be wanted of him. * He was admitted immediately to the présence of Mr. Newman, who was stanc- ~~ ing with his back,.to. the door, looking out of a window. The man turned about sharply, chewing at the é¢nd of a black, half-smoked cigar. Frank stood there hat in’ hand, bowing respectfully, but not with a humble arr. *“*Haw !’’, coughed the master mechanic, / in what seemed to bea manner of con tempt. ‘*What do you -warit?’’ , “*Y believe you sent for"me, sir.’’ “Did 1? Well, didn’t you want to see me??? Wide **T don’t know,that I did, sir.’’ es ‘“Haven’t you any complaint tomake?”? “About what 2” “‘Your work, Pickett, thundering foolish thing!” _ “Noysit. 4: Bh? I declare !’’ Mr. Newman was astonished, and he chewed away at the cigar after the man- ner of a horse champing at its bit. F? ‘““That’s strange,’? he’ said—‘‘very strange. Hayen’t you some kind of a 68 ‘spooks—some - freak yarn. to tellme?”? — 3 “No, sit; I have no yarn at all to tell” you.” “Did you get ‘lowe with Pickett all right?” : ae 7 “Ves, ‘sir.’ = . “Didn’ t have any trouble with him?” Fi ce ‘‘No, sit.” — ; CRsonembig! Amazing! Don't ye want to be taken off that job'and nd placed - = cece engi else?” athe 25,2- Ge ‘<No, sir. Iwish to stay — this we es “The aster mechan sg fettexe ieee eae mi glad to’
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1 —_- Trp TOP WEEKLY. 19 ploded—‘‘glad to hear it! But perhaps you haven’t had time enough to get seared. Perhaps another run will fix you. Firemen and engineers are all fools! They are superstitious,and a supersti- tious man is a fool!. You’re young. . You’ll get it pretty soon. They all get it.” Frank remained silent, with the ‘faint- est trace of a smile on his face. The mas- ter mechanic did not like the look, for he ‘Sprang up, exclaiming: “Stop that! You look as if you want to tell me that you know better. You have no right to tell me anything of the sort! I know railroad men, and'I know _» my business! Don’t tell me you will not a : become superstitious | I know you will! Keep still, sir!” Gg have not said a word, Mr. New- e man. ” f 4 “T know you haven’t—with your mouth; but you can talk with your face. Never saw a face before that could say _ things the way your face can. And you're nothing but a boy! Why don’t you make a complaint of some kind?” *_. You seer to be disappointed, sir, foe: = ¢ause I do not.” > “Tam. I told the mended you that you would leave the __ train before the end of the trip; and here e, you are not even making a complaint!”’ _ **T have no reason to complain.’’ Why don’t you kick because you weren't told that the Evening aye is haunted—and all that rot ?”” 7. “Because I do not believe the Setiine mS ~ 2. ess is haunted.’? _ - “What? Why, didn’t you see it? Didn’t you tell Ballister, the conductor, that you sa looked like a woman in Black Gorge?” | ee Le 42 “well, what about that—what about eainat man??? 's all there is about it. We were E= “But you don’t think you actrially ran = over a oe person ies ta _- “Not no dee, ~ Hal “That? s it! Then what did you » run over?” _ ¢ * Oe ma **tiow do you explain. it se 4 ’t explain it. ” . ata Pe the train run’ over what, “I don’t aes, oe Bis i het man who recom- | 4 Newman struck his hands together and rolled the cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other. ‘*VYou’ll come to it, like all the rest,’’ he declared. ‘‘What you can’t explain will worry you, and you'll grow supersti- tious. You will béafraid of spooks within a year—or less time. But I’m glad you are not now. I’m glad to find somebody who is willing to fire on No. 13. I be- lieve that number scared them as much as anything. Don’t see why they wanted to make an €ngine with that nutiber. Why didn’t they skip it? We’ll have to make a change; we’ll have to take it off that line. Btit it’s one of the best engines running. The traveling engineer says so. What’s all this ‘stuff-I hear about a béar getting on the pilot and being knocked off by you?”’ “Tt really happened, sir.’? ‘*Tell me about it.’’ Frank did as directed, making the story as brief as possible; and claiming that he was. forced to strike the bear with the wrench, as there was no chance for him to retreat. He was perfectly modest'in all his statements. ‘*Remarkable!’’ exclaimed Mr.’ New- man. ‘‘Very strange affair. And still you do not think old 13 is unlucky.”’ “It was to the bear,’’ smiled Frank. ‘Well, I guess you have got some nérve,’? nodded the master mechanic, showing more satisfaction than he had previously. ‘‘I’ll give it up. You may stick a while. I think we’ll keep you on the express. But I don’t know about Pickett. He’s been a good man, but—— Tell me just how he acted.”’ This was putting Frank in an awkward position, for he did not wish to tell any- thing that would injure the engineer, - ~ and he knew the whole ‘Huth must harm him. right with Mr. Pickett." —~ ‘‘Ves, I know that; but. how did he appear? Was he nervous, excited, pees Rar?” ‘Well, sir, you must know there has mS been a severe strain on his nerves. The unfortunate accident i in Black Gorge was << enough to shake the strongest.” True. ~I told him to lay ante ages *-2 we AG Sh ee “T told you, sir, that I got along all
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nl rr 4 Pa as “% vi OARS 20 _ Tip. TOP WEEKLY, test. He wouldn’t. He knows every inch of the Black River Branch, and he could whistle fur crossings without a headlight in the blackest night that ever lay out- door. make time that there is on the road, and he doesn’t drink. Those things are in Pickett’s favor, but there are things against him, especially since the accident. I want to know what to do with him.”’ *‘T trust you will not consider me pre- suming, Mr. Newman, but I would sug- gest giving him a change onto some other toad.”’ ‘And putting anew man onto the ex- press—that’s what I don’t like todo. Of course there are. plenty of men to take her—good men, too. Do you think you can get along with Pickett ?’’ (Ves, sit.” ‘Now, look here, I want you to report _to me every day just how he is doing. ' You’re in the cab with him, and you can watch him. Ii you think he is getting too bad to run her, let me know it. Will you do that ?’’ Frank hesitated a moment, and then said : “TI suppose it would be right, as he might send a hundred souls to death any night; but it seems like playing the spy on him, and_I do not relish the job.’’ *‘Oh, bosh! Don’t get your head full of such ideas! It’s all right. You might have a relative. or a very dear friend on the very train that he wrecked. If the man is not fitto handle an engine, it is your duty to report it.’’ “All right,’? said” Frank; ‘‘even though I may not relish the task, I’ll do my duty. You may be sure of that.”’ “Tam, young man!’’ exclaimed New- man, seeming to cast off his disagreeable manner for a moment. ‘‘I believe you are all right, and I think it was a lucky strike when I sent you out with 13. You _ have advanced pretty fast since getting a job on this_road, and now you have a = great opportunity, for a good fireman on the express should be able to work into a berth as engineer in time. If you could serve the ghost as you served the bear, it : would be a good thing for you and the He is one of the best engineers to: ‘‘Good-evening, sir.’’ Frank left the office and hurried back to old 13. CHAPTER IX. SURPRISING INFORMATION. Pickett was on the engine when Frank returned. The engineer looked relieved at Merry’s appearanice. ‘*So the master mechanic wanted to see you?’ he said, eagerly. ‘*What did he want???’ ‘*‘Wanted to know if I had any com- plaint to make.”’ “Did you?’ ‘*No. ») Pickett looked still more relieved. ‘*T suppose the others must have com- plained. Oh, I knew it—I knew it! Did he ask about me?’’ ‘*Ves, sir.’ ‘*What did he want to know?’’ Frank told him all about the interview with the master mechanic, and Pickett cried : ‘Good for you! If you had complained, like the others, I might have lost my job, ‘for he would be sick of putting a new fireman on here every trip. I knew it couldn’t last long if they kept backing out, but you were so young I was afraid you would be worse than the others. You were the only one of them all who had real courage.’’ - Pickett, himself, seemed far better than he had the previous day. The fact that Frank had stood by him in such a man- ner appeared to brace him up wonder- _fully. After coupjing on and pulling out with the train the engineer fell to telling Frank about his private affairs, and it -was not long before Merry had a com- plete outline of his life and history. The engineer seemed to talk that he might ¢ keep from thinking, and Frank encour- aged him in this. After a while, Pickett fell to asking Merry questions about himself. ‘*You are not like the genera] run of firemen,’’ he declared. ‘‘It is plain you ~ are a grade above them. Your manner is road. It’s getting near time for you to go different. Mr. Merriwell, you are a born _ out, Good-evening.” =» gentleman.” é' CLIF FARADAY IS A FOE TO THE SPANIARDS.
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fell her influence about me. always will. TIP TOP WEEKLY. nm “Thank you,’ said Frank, quietly. “T always try to be a gentleman under any and all circumstances. ”’ ‘Don’t you find it pretty hard in your present work ?”’ “No. I believe a laborer may be a gen- tleman, if he will.”’ “You will find it difficult to make some so-called gentlemen believe that.’’ ‘There are thousands of so-called gen- tlemen who are not gentlemen at all. The man who boasts that he is a gentle- man is always a cad.”’ ‘That's right, my boy! But the lad who is brought up to work does not have - the opportunity to*’acquire the polish that distinguishes the gentleman.’’ ‘*He may acquire it if he desires. Be- sides there is a difference between the artificial gentleman and the natural gen- tleman. One is all polish, which is sim- ply a thin veneering, while the other is a gentleman by instinct and by a desire to be truly so. Many a natural gentleman has been. raised on a farm, without an opportunity to see anything of the world till he was a man; yet, when he came to ‘mingle with people, it was the easiest thing in the world for him to be gentle- manly in everything. In nine cases out of ten, the mother was responsible for this. A boy’s mother is always his truest and best friend.”’ “Right again, young man! And I know by the way you speak that you must have hada good mother.”’ “€Yes,’? said Frank, earnestly, ‘‘the dearest and best mother that ever lived! God bless her!’’ ‘*She—she—you lost her?”’ ‘No, I did not lose her. She isan angel in Heaven, but she is not lost to me, for every day, every hour, always I Her influ- ence has guided me all my life, and Whenever I have been tempted to do wrong, and that has been many times, her sweet face has risen before me and she has held me in check. She loved me so, and I was so proud of her! When I have been tempted some- - thing has seemed £6 say, ‘Your mother | oe watching you,’ and that has exces me.’ ee READ “ eee YOUR COLORS,” AND SEND FOR A BADGE OR BUT ees The look on Frank Merriwell’s face gave the engineer a feeling of awe. ‘*My boy,’’ he said, ‘‘you will always be all right as long as you remember. your mother in that way. If the memory of his mother was as dear to every boy the world would be far better than it is. How long has your mother been dead ?”’ ‘“Nearly seven years.’ “And your father—is he dead ?”’ “‘T do not know.”’ Pickett was surprised, and Frahk went on quickly: ‘My father was a restless man. For- tune did not smile on him, and he always dreamed of making a great sum of money somehow. He wandered here and there over the face of the earth, seeking to make a strike elsewhere. Several times he seemed to have hit it, but always luck turned against him. The last I knew of him he was in New Mexico. He owned amine. Since then he has completely disappeared.’ ‘And you have no brothers or sisters ?”’ ‘‘No. ”? ‘““Then you are alone in the world ?”’ ‘‘Not quite. I have two little friends, a brother and sister, whom I first found on the streets. The boy is lame and the girl is blind. Some day her sight will be restored to her, I hope. ~We are saving money in order that she may go to a famous oculist in New York. Sheisa dear, sweet little girl, and I love her as much as if she were my own sister.”’ “Some day, perhaps, if things come tight, she may be more than a sister to you.’’ Frank turned crimson. ‘*No, no!” he quickly cried. ‘‘I do not cate for her that—that way. She is just a little girl, and she nee that there is —another.’ SAP seiaed Pickett. ‘* Another? That is good! I believe a young man is better and has more ambition if he feels there is a nice girl somewhere in the world whom he loves and who loves him. But what did you do before you worked on the railroad ?”’ “*T was going to college.’” “College?” “Ves, sir; to Yale.” “T knew you were not like the com-
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mon run of men on the railroad. Now I am beginning to understand. Did you graduate ?’’ “No. ”? ‘*Too bad! Why not?” “‘T was forced to jeave because of the loss of my fortune. I had to dosomething to make a living.’’ “Then you had a fortune ?”’ “Yes, sir; asmall-fortune left» me by my uncle—my father’s brother.’ “How did you lose it?” “My guardian lost it speculating.”’ ‘Why, the scoundrel! I presume you prosecuted him, as he deserved? You sent . him to prison?’’ i% 2 “No.2. " 1“*No?, Why not?’’ fe ‘“He was trapped by a scoundrel, who deliberately ruined him. It was his lack of judgment that led him into the snare, 4 and he was doing it forme. He believéd he was making the investments to the ; best advantage.”? ee “Ves, but he shad no: right to do any- a he thing of the kind. It was a crime.’? ie “That is true.” _ “And he should have been eae AN eS “fle was punished.’? =, 5 “How?” “The knowledge of what he had done acid him.’? /)~ “And he was taken to an asylum ?”’ <4 Es eNO. I took care of him imyself.’’ ee, “VYou—you did that—after he had tuined you?’’ _ “Ves; I saw that he chad the best of - cate, but it was of no use. The doctor Ri eer not save him,’ — »o“Then he died?” Yes, he died beokentrarted, The oo man Ihave ever felt like punishing was the wretch who led nme into, ‘the snare, Darius Conrad.”’ ‘hig name? Conrad? Was ¢ that n wt oe Yes, ‘sity - Why?” _ “Why, 'aman by the name of Dasine insane in uae See a" ’ the engineer. Conrad is one of spe Mier eeckbelipes ; ja oo vou Parmiomic?, READ “TDR REO S43 22 TIP TOP WEEKLY. CHAPTER X. TRUE HATRED. Frank was astonished. **It can’t be the same man!’’ he cried. “I don’t know about that,’’ said the engineer, ‘Describe him,’’ panted Merry. Pickett did so, and Frank grew excited as he listened. “That is the exact description of Darius Conrad, of Bloomfield, my home!’ he declared. ‘‘Can it be the same man??? <“<Bloortifield, Bloomfield,’’ muttered “Why, it Seems to me that I have heard that he has a! country Tesi- dence in a place called Bloomfield.” “Then itis the same man! Itis not strange, for he has made a raft of money, and he invests in whatever he believes secttre and paying. And he is one of the heaviest stock holders in this railroad ?’’ “They say he coutrols the road, hav- ing’ enough ‘stock to sway things as he likes. There’ is not ‘an official on the whole road but bows and cringes: before him.’? “And it is like Darius Conrad to keep men bowing and cringing! Oh, heisa villain! And I am at work on ‘his tail- road! That is too much! I can’t work here !’’ ‘““What’s that ?.what’s that ?’?: Ut can’t work for that: man!’’ “Why not ?”? ‘*He is a scoundrel, and he robbed me and caused the death of poor Professor ; Scotch, my guardian.’? “T don’t doubt but he isa pS but you can’t afford to ruin your-own prospects if he is.’’ ‘““Wihat do you mean ?”’ _ Give A dl sone coal, and I is one . You» +534 Frank uae as dixected, Siugiiier in a thin layer of’ coal over the top of the glowing mass. ‘Then he again eagerly asked Pickett what . he dhad meant oF: his words. | “Just this,” snimmered- the engineer. “If you Teave this road you eet SA oF back wart “J can get a job-on some other road.’ um =a - “Yes, as wiper. You have not fired
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here long enough so that you can geta ee: ‘Jetter of recommendation, for all the high - -agucks will be bot tothink you should - leave after you have been shoyed ahead “> so’ fast.’’ « -.“That might be true.”” “Of course it is true. Not one man in : ten thousand gets. ahead i in railroading as fast as you have since beginning work. And now, you have the opportunity of -\ . -your life.’’ — - Do you think so?’? “OF course ldo! You have’ shown your nerve and courage, and everybody knows about it.. It has brought you to notice. All the other surprising things you have done siuce beginning work for this road are being talked over.’ ~ >. **Well 277 ~ “Well, that means that you will be " given still greater opportunities to. ad- vance. It is known that you have the > *- neftve.to make a first-class engineer. All -_-you need is the knowledge—practical se _ knowledge. You.can get it right here on this engine with me. Iwill give you every chance—I will be your instructor. You can run an engine now, but you = must. have a thorough knowledge of the | art before. you will -be trusted with any- _ thing better than a yard or freight ae, Ld “y , ee PW es a A oe “And if I stay with you I shall be working for one man in the world -« whom I hate above all others.”’ 7 “Then you can hate??? Ves; but I do not think I ever teally and truly hated anybody but that man. I did not know what it was to hate. It is a terrible feeling.” ‘ Pickett nodded. _ “Yes,” he said. on incapable of grea = a pable of great love, a ell, “T read once thata atred was also a ‘I beliéve it.’’ The mere thought of t with a feeling that r at man. | eek as eee on that 2 ae k pies engine. If you stay with me, you get it.”” ow. how much I have » ae (PEP TOP WEEKLY. s much about the man, but I have dreamed of torturing him and exulting as he writhed in anguish.”’ ‘‘You must control this terrible hatred, my boy; you must not let it get the best of you, for it might ruin you.’ “T know it.” **VYon can control your passions ?’’ “T -have thus far during my life, Darius Conrad has a son, and that son is as much a villain as his father. He always despised me, and he took every - Apportunity to sneer at. me after I became poor through the machinations of his father... Of course I resented that.’ **Well, I should think likely.’’ We had. ‘several encounters. Once he tried to run over me with a horse, but I tore him from the saddle and gave him what he deserved.’ ‘Good for you!”’ ‘‘Another time when_he forced his way inté my home with his father, I threw . them, both out of the door.”’ Pickett brought one of his thin hands down on his leg with a slap of satisfac- tion. “That was tight,’”? he eried. _ - ‘““Dyke Conrad plotted to have re- venge,’’ Merry went on. ‘‘In Bloomfield there was a gang of young ruffians who had organized themselves, into a body of whitecaps. ‘Dyke was one of them. He hired the gang to kidnap me one night.’’ ‘‘And they did it?”? ‘Yes, I was captured and taken to an old i i in the eh where Dyke was ? Adve) Ge ax account for that dirty piece of © = ” ‘‘And you frightened him ?’’ - ‘‘No. I made him furious. Of course he denied that he was Dyke Conrad. But — he was going to torture,me. He had a om fire built im an old open fire- pai < then ordered that my shoes _ ockings be removed.”’ “Go on!”’ eagerly breathed Pickett. _.‘They'managed to do saiie rected, although I mz e a struggle. ‘ata | ig who took. pahae to . :
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ox ~ oo 24 When my feet were bare, Dyke took a burning brand from the fire and started to put it against my soles.”’ “The savage!’’? cried the engineer. **He should have been shot!’’ “He would have carried out his das- tardly scheme but for the big fellow who was standing looking on. Right here that chap interfered. He said he had helped = capture me, but he was not going to see ame roasted like that.’” **Good for him!’ ‘Then there was a terrible row. ‘big fellow got me onto my feet and set The me free by cutting the ropes that held- me. While he was doing this, Conrad attacked him. -He rushed onto the knife, and then fell to the floor, seriously wounded.”’ } Pickett actually laughed. ‘“That was retribution!’ he cried. P “The fellow thought he was goin die, and he was dreadfully scared. Then I bound up his wound so that the flow of blood was checked somewhat, and told the others to get him to a doctor as soon as possible.’? “You—yousdid that—for him ?”’ 66Ves.? *“Why didn’t you det him bleed to - death ?”” “Enemy though he was, and a dirty one, I could not see him die in sucha manmner.’’ The engineer seemed panienicnick: “Well, you aré different from most ple,’’ he declared. ‘‘He brought it on 4 himself, and he was served right when’ he got the cut.. Not one person out of a thousand in your place would have lifted -ahandtosave him. Still I can see that - it was a noble and forgiving act.’’ ‘“No, it was not a forgiving act, I did > not forgive him, but I felt that it was my duty to save his life, if I could, and I did my duty. A few days. later I meved it again.”” ~ How was that 2 = “Darius Conrad’s house burned. I was ae "among the first to reach it. B. _ there, every one but Dyke was out. When I got He, wounded — and unable to escape, was penned in his room. It looked as if he = _ must be | burned to death.’’ = Bia ea again!’ shouted Pickett, _ WAR tag ial ONS AND BADGES FREE—SEE bese! ane TIP TOP WEEKLY. rather wildly. ‘‘Fate was giving him . what he deserved.”’ ‘Darius Conrad was crazed. He shrieked for somebody to save his boy. I went into the house and brought Dyke Conrad out through the fire and smoke, * -dropping him at his:father’s feet.”’ **Gods!”’ cried the engineer, staring at Frank. ‘‘And still you did not forgive?” “No! When they tried to thank me, I told them to spare themselves. I told- them I had saved the boy because I hated him, and ‘wanted him to live that I might some day*get even with him and his father. I scorned them!’ Frank’s eyes were blazing and he shook with. the thrill of remembrance. His nostrils dilated and quivered, while his hands were clinched. He was drawn up to his full height, and a fine picture he made at that moment, standing there in the swaying cab of the express. hat was hatred!’’ cried Pickett. ‘‘Now I understand it. Young man, you can hate as intensely as you can loves Some day you will even accounts with Darius Conrad and his son. I am sure of ii”? “T have thought so all along,’’ said Frank; ‘‘but I have not permitted my mind to dwell much upon it, for I found such thoughts were making me hard- hearted and bitter.’’ ‘*Stay here on this raitroad. You will be near the man you hate, and your op- portunity to even the score may be given you! when you least expect it.’’ ‘‘Perhaps you are right,’’ admitted Merry. CHAPTER XI. FRANK ASSUMES COMMAND. The express made few stops. Night came down and the wild section of the mountains where lay Black Gorge was reached... The lights of Valiey View were _left behind. At first Pickett had seemed quite changed and improved, but, as they drew nearer and nearer to the gorge, he be- came nervous and excited once more. He _ began to mutter to himself and stare out of the window iu a fixed manner. —
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TIP TOP WEEKLY. Frank, who had been pleased by the apparent change in the man, now tried to divert “his thoughts. The attempt - failed, for the engineer paid very little attention to anything Merry said ‘or did. “It will be a repetition of last night,’’ thought Frank. ‘‘If this thing keeps up, Pickett is bound to lose his job. Some- thing should be done.”’ s Something, but what? “Mr. Pickett,’? said Merry, ‘‘you said = _ you would give mea chance to learn as “much as possible about running an en- gine. » “She was fast asleep when I struck A her,’’ said the man, hoarsely. ‘‘Poor girl! poor girl!” : “T am speaking to you now, Mr. Pickett,’’ insisted Frank. ‘‘I want you to listen to me.’” a “She never knéw—she never knew ~ what killed her!’ came from the man’s : lips. ‘‘It was all over in a moment, and I was a murderer. I had her blood on my hands, but I have washed them and washed them.”’ Then he looked at bis hands. once he screamed: 7 «“Ah! Blood! here it is! I didn’t get it all off! Her blood is on my hands!’ “si Frank caught him by the shoulder and gave him a shake. ‘Stop that!’ he cried. ‘‘I am talking to you now! I want you to get down and » let me take your place.» I will run her through the gorge.’’ . ‘All at You ?” = “Ves, You must let me do it.”? se “Must!” _ “Yes, must! It is for your good, and Be you must. ’’ a i . 7: “Why, you talk like you, thought yourself my master.”? = **Yowmeed.a maste just now. Think = of your wife and children. I may be able _- to save your job for you—I may be able a to save them from want.’’ “FP . srk “How?” ; “Perhaps your ‘ghost’ will not appear if Iam at the throttle, instead of you.’’ Pickett caught at that idea. -** Perhaps you are right!” he cried. 1 had not thought of ‘that. You shall run ae the gorge.’ so 26 ~~ Then he relinquished his place to Merry. “Now,” said Frank, ‘I want you to keep her hot, just as I would, and I’ll send her through without astop. No * spooks will hold up this train to-night.” ‘All right,’’ said Pickett; ‘but what if ee ‘There are no ‘what ifs’ in this busi- ness. We are going through without losing time here, for all of Mr. Ghost.”?’ ‘SAllright,’’ repeated the engineer. ‘‘1] can’t help stopping when I am running her, for it always seems just as it did when I ran over the girl. I feel as if it were actually happening again.”’ Into the mouth of Black Gorge thun- dered the express, with Merry running’ her. He worked up her speed steadily till they were literally flying over the rails. ‘*If the ghost shows itself to-night, it will have to be oh ibe quick,’’ thought Frank. “‘We’re getting nearer—nearer !”’ cried Pickett, wildly. “Don’t let that bother you,”’ ‘said Merry, calmly. ‘‘Just you look after your end of this job for the present, Mr. Pickett. Think of your family.”’ “Ves, yes; but we’ll be there in a mo- ment !’’ ‘“The sooner the quicker,’’ came light: ly from Frank. ‘‘If the spook is on the track to-night, it will have to do some quick dodging to get out of the way.”’ “‘You won’t stop her?’’ = ““Not on your life! She is going ~ through Black Gorge without a stop if she keeps on the rails.’’ “Here we are!’ burst from the en- gineér. “Lookout for—— ‘There she | is! ” Before them was the white figure, fairly in the centre of the track. They © ~came upon it suddenly, and it seemed to disappear. beneath the flying engine. _. At the same instant, heard above the Toar of the train, there was a wild scream, as of mortal anguish. That sound sent the blood back to Merriwell’s heart, and it seemed to make a maniac of Pickett. “Stop! stop!”” shrieked the snag ‘Ses eee ives ONLY FIVE. CENTS. r fae
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and he attempted to bring the train toa «stand. Frank grappled with him, crying: *‘T said we'd go through the gorge without a stop, and by the eternal skies, we will! You shall not stop her ° to- night!’ Bye Then he hurled Pickett backward on 16 the fireman’s seat and held him there, ees while the train flew onward. - +». in vain Pickett struggled. Frank. was ‘ a young athlete, and he held the man = helpless, talking to him calmly. os ‘It’s no use, and so you. may as well a »~ be quiet, Mr. Pickett. We can’t stop for _. fake spooks every night. It will ruin our teputation and injure the road. It is for ine ‘your good that we do not stop, as noth- a ing would be found. Besides that it is too late now. Just be quiet aud sensible, ce sr.” After a time, he quieted the engineer, hall who muttered : : “Let meup. I’m all right now. Let merunher.’’ = After exacting one or two promises from him, Frank Jet the man resume his rS- position on the right hand side of the ~~ cab. When a number of :niles had been ___ passed, Pickett turned to Merry and said: * “T thank you, young man. Yot were right, and Tam glad you did not let me ey sto : oe knew you would be when it was all- over, ”? said Merry, quietly. ‘The con- ductor has to report all these stops, but _ there will be none to report to-night. " “But you heard that cry?” — 5 Veg 9? ‘ sie - “What did it mean?” _ "Don’t know. It didn’t mean | Stop, so J as I was concerned.’? ~~~ . Atthe next. station “kak ‘got down ree the engine | and went forward. In a moment he had it in his hand. Gn he saw ‘something that interested” ee | At-was a small strip of white cloth! ¥ 7 ’ a led him to do so. “ He looked he engine over, and on a bolt of the usa luare—cer A CUBAN’ BUTTON. TIP TOP WEEKLY. CHAPTER XII THE GHOST IS LALD. “Mr. Newiman,’’ said Frank Merri-- well, as he’ stood ‘in. the office of the master mechanic, ‘‘I wish you would put another fireman on 13 for one trip, and give me a day off.”’ ‘*Hal’’ exclaimed Orrin Newman with a sneer. ‘‘I knew it! I knew what would happen! So you have lost your nerve, the same as the others! I knew it would come !”? / . Frank flushed. © ‘‘} beg your pardon, sir,’’ -he said, quietly; ‘‘ I have not lost iny nerve at all.?’ ‘Then why do youjwant to get away, hey ? Now don’t tell me any fairy stories; tell me the truth.’”’ < “*T never tell anything else, sir,’? came with dignity from Merry’s lips, **F have reason to believe that I can lay the ghost of Black Gorge, and'I want to try it.’’ Newman was astounded. “What do you mean, young man— what do you mean?” he cried. ~~ “Just what I have said, sir. I think I can capture this spook that is making so . much trouble, and I have asked you to — put somebody in my place for one trip, « in order, that I may have a chance to try it.”’ The master mechanic rose to his feet. “Tf you can lay that ghost,’’ he said, *tyou will do a'great favor to the com- pany. But why do you think you can do the trick ?”’ “T can’t explain just why, but I be- lieve I have positive proof that the ghost isa fake. Somebody is monkeying with the railroad.’’ ‘‘How will you go about this work of capturing the spook?’’ ~ oe ‘I shall take the accommodation over the Black pe Branch, which will leave me in Valley View this afternoon. From | there I a walk to the place in Black Gorge, w re the spook appears, and I _ shall conceal myself there. When Mr. Spook shows up, if he does, T shall at ‘ tempt to bag him.’’ : + ‘(Go ahead, young man,’’ nl Rear Sau man. ‘‘If you can do the trick, it will be a raven card for you. I believe you are. iets eee:
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a likely to succeed. I will send another = man out with Pickett to-night.’? . . ; Thus it was settled, and Frank hastened away to get some sleep before it was tiie °F to take the Black River Accommodation. That afternoon the accommodation dropped him in Valley View. As he stepped down from the train, = Merry saw a wild-eyed young man who __-was standing and staring at the engine, . now and then muttering aud shaking his : fist at it. “His strange behavior catsed _ Frank to pause and watch him for some ‘ ‘moments, after which he walked near 3 enough to catch a few words the young man was saying. = “Curse you!’ muttered the wild-eyed ty left ‘Valley View, he ogee across the fields till he came to road, along — which he hurried Gorge. arly dark when he reached the gorge | where the Sasa He’s wanderin’ round atali — set out to get saieshing toeat, as — Wat Ty Esow & Fine Fellow? dicey, oie ca TIP TOP WEEKLY. 27 ‘*ghost’’ had er Fy The black sides of the gorge frowned down on him, and it was lonely and dismal there. He walked along the track till he came to a culvert, where a stream of water flowed from one side of the track to the other. Right there he stopped: “Here is where the ghost makes its appearance every night,”’ “he said. Then Frank got down into the.culvert and examined the ground. What. he found there caused him to nod his satis- faction and say: ‘*Mr. Spcok is composed of :fiesh and blood, that’s sure, for he leaves his tracks, -although he. has cunningly tried to cover them. - He lays in this culvert and does his work-every night.’’ Having arrived at this coutlasion, he sought a hiding-place nearat hand, where he could watch the culvert without being seen himself. place behind a bowlder, and, as it was swiftly becoming dark, :he lay down there and waited. “Come. on,” Mr. Spook,’’ -he said. ‘‘We’ll have, a nice warm time of it be- fore the evening is over.’’ He did not haye to wait long. In the dusky gloom that filled the gorge he saw some person coming down the track from the directiom of Valley View. He could hear footsteps on the ties. . ‘*Here comes the ghost!’ Frank, exultantly. The person came down the track to bi thougas “the culvert and stopped there. Frank = could’see that it was aman and hat, he pe carried a bundle. Crouching~ beside the ‘track, the; man undid the bundle. The watching youth saw him take something white out of it and .then set to work. Frank tried to ‘make ‘ out).what the man was doing, but was unable todo.so. After some “into the calyert beneath the tracks. moment later, something white came wp from between the sleepers. ‘*There’s the ghost fora fact!” mut- tered Merry, with satisfaction. Then he rose and walked down to the . tailroad, stepping softly. Ina a? After a little he found the little time, during which it is became pee and darker, the man aoe
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‘ ) ee TIP TOP WEEKLY, he was close to the culvert, and he could see a white dummy figure that seemed: to stand up there between the rails. _ “The fact that Pickett had been fright- ened by such a-wretched imitation of a ghost was rather amusing, but Frank was wondering what sort of a game the originator of the ghost trick could be playing. “*Here!’’ he cried, sharply, stepping to one end of the culvert; ‘‘come out of that.’’ There was a moment of silence, and then a scrambling sound. The man in the culvert did come out, and he flew at Frank, uttering a snarl of fury. Merry barely had time to prepare for the assault when the man clutched him. Then a fearful struggle began. ‘The stranger had wonderful strength, and he gnashed his teeth with fury, although not speaking a word. Frank tried to break the man’s hold and get in a blow, but he found that was something he could not do. Bécoming more and more enraged, Merry’s assailant tried to fasten his teeth in Frank’s throat. Jt was with the great-_ : est difficulty that he was kept from doing ..: so. . At last Frank tripped his antagonist, throwing. him heavily. It chanced that the man’s head struck on the iron rail, and ‘he was stunned. .- When the Evening Express came tear- ing through Black Gorge, a person stood in the very centre of the track and waved a lighted torch till the train stopped. '- ‘That person was Frank Merriwell, who _ cheerfully called: x S - “Hello, Mr. Pickett! = ghost, and I want you to take him on board.) Sita ve % a : a ae - 2! . = =a r x * ia Zz <5 as m2 " TP 8 “~< Q — Soe Fyn 28 rises ye BY ALL t~ Pve got the. MEANS GET A FREE BUTTON OR The conductor came running forward. ‘“What’s the matter now ?’’ he snapped, angrily. “How d6 you do, Mr. Ballister,’’ said Frank. ‘*Would you mind taking ‘the ghost onto the train? I have it here.’’ ‘*The ghost!” gasped the conductor. ‘*Where ?”’ ‘*Well tied up here beside the track.”’ On the ground was stretched a motion- less figure. The conductor 5 nee the light of the lantern into the face of the man, whose hands and feet were tied. ‘*Why,’’ he exclaimed, ‘‘it’s Jim Ryan, whose girl was killed here!’ ‘“That’s it, exactly,’’ said Frank. ‘*He’s daffy, but he’s been playing ghost by hoisting a dummy from the culvert aud yanking it down just as the train was right onto it. When he is taken care of, there will be no further trouble with the ghost.””_— ‘*Well, you have done a good job to- night, Mr. Merriwell!’? exclaimed the conductor. ‘‘We’ve had trouble enough here.” ‘Ves, a good job,’’ agreed Nort Pickett. ‘‘It was a fortunate day when you were placed on old 13.’’ Then the.captive was taken on board the train, Frank directing the train lrands, and soon the express went on its way. ; The ghost would be seen in Black Gorge no more. THE END. “ ] * The next number of the Tip Top Weekly will contain ‘‘Frank Merriwell’s First Run; or, The Chance of His Life," by the author of ‘‘Frank Merriwell.’’ _ PIN—SEE LAST PAGE. Ag J ; 4 x.
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Se TIP TOP. WEEKLY. : 29 IP lOPWEEKLY- “AN IDEAL PUBLICATION FOR THE AMERICAN YOUTH ”” NEW YORK, JULY 30, 1898. Terms to Tip Top Weekly Mail Subscribers. (PosTaGkK FREE.) One year 2 copies one year - - - - ape rete ss Sas $1.25 | l copy two years - - - ~ 4.00 How To SEND MoNxEyY.—By post office or express money order ered letter, bank check or drs/t,at our risk. At your own if sent by postal note, currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter. RecerpTs.— your remittance is acknowle x af u inobtainin A 1 letters should be addressed to ET & SMITH’S TIP TOP WEEKLY. Sn 2 s 81 iton St. New York City» mee SPECIAL NOTICE! : Owing to the fact that some of our publications are printed considerably in. advance of issue, it was impossible to begin our badge and button premium offer in all on a simultaneous date. Out readers are notified that all copies of the Tip Top Weekly, Starry Flag, True Blue, Diamond Dick, Jr., Nick Carter Weekly and ~~ Klondike Kit, dated June 25, 1898, or later, are ~ available under this offer (see page 32), and should you have copy of any of these dated. June 25 or later, and WHICH CONTAINS NO COUPON ON PAGE 32, cut out the heading and date from the _ front cover, and it will be accepted by us’in lieu of a coupon under the conditions of the offer. Head- ings will not be accepted as coupons where the cou- pon is published on page 32 of the same number. ——_ 10+ Little Boy—Phew! it’s awful hot for just spring. Fn ae Girl—You ought to be thankful it’s no S’pose we sped in Iceland; wouldn’t that : ae oa awful? -“Teeland. Why oo _**Yon better study your g’ography lessons. The ~ ography we Iceland is famous for its hot f ————# ++0+ +2 “4 © Would-be Customer—Will you trust me weithe: ___-few things for a couple of days? = ee round iia couple. ¢ days and I ae ke I shall have the money then.” _**That is when I would trust you!’’ awe, Willie, did you master yout lesson to- day?” ieee te = aes = missed it;7* Correspondence. Jacky, St. Louis, Mo.—Slavery exists in Egypt, Africa, Mozambique, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco and Zanzibar. It was entirely abolished in Brazil in May, 1888, prior to which there had been for several years a gradual emancipation. Yale, Cleveland, Ohio.—r. Bruce Browning was the character that received the most votes in the character contest. .2. Yes, Mr. Standish went to Colby University. "3. A new girl will shortly be introduced. 4. Possibly the characters mentioned may appear again. 5. Merriwell’s father is sup- posed to be living at the present time. R. S., Reading, Pa.—Castor oil is the best thing to apply to your boots to make them soft. You must, however, not expect them to shine at once, after being so treated. In a little time, and after two or three applications of blacking, they ought to polish well. Use blacking that is new, and not that which has once been permitted to cake and get hard. P. ¥., Columbus, Ohio. —The Hollanders use for the preservation of their sluices and floodgates, drawbridges and other huge beams of timber ex- posed to the sun and constant changes of the at- mosphere, a mixture of pitchand tar, upon which they strew small pieces of shell, broken finely-— almost to a powder—and mixed with sea-sand and the scales of iron, small and sifted, which incrusts and preserves it effectually. S. K., Los Angeles, Cal.—An imitation of ma- hogany can be made by planing the surfact of the yellow pine smooth, and rubbing with a solution of nitrous acid. Then apply with a soft brush one ounce of dragon’s blood dissolved in about a pint of alcohol, and with one-third of an ounce of car- bonate of soda, mixed and filtered. When the bril- liancy of the polish diminishes, it may be restored by the use of a little cold-drawn linseed oil. M. G. C., Savannah, Ga.—The exiles who live in the mines of Siberia are convicts of the worst type, and political offenders of the best. Recently, even ladies connected with the Nihilist conspira- cies have been consigned to the mines. Women are employed as sifters, and get no better treat- ment than the men. Prince Lubonsirski, who was authorized to visit one of the mines, has given an appalling account of what he saw. Convicts never see the light of day, but work and sleep all the year round in the depths of the earth, extracting silver or quick silver, under the eyes of masters who have orders not to spare them. Men racked with the joint pains which quicksilver produces; others whose hair and eyebrows had dropped off and who were gaunt as skeletons, were kept to hard labor under the lash. They have only two holidays a year, Christmas and Easter; all the other days, Sundays included, they must toil until exhausted nature robs them of the use of their limbs, when they are hauled up to die in_the infirmary. Five years in the quicksilver pits are enough to turn a man of thirty into an apparent sexagenarian, but some have been known to struggle on for ten years. _ SPLENDID ADVENTURES IN ae. shes 4, re Bers ee.
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30 se CAPTURING TIGERS ALIVE. —— Some curious and thrilling details of his former occupation were recently narrated by a gentleman employed to capture wild beasts alive for a well- known menagerie provider. - After finding the stream to which the tiger must go for water each night on awakening from his all-day’sleep (he said) ‘we set about making our preparations. In the dirétt.path of the ‘tiger we dug a pit seven feet wide, ten feet. long and fifteen feet deep, but much longer and wider .at the bot- tom than at the top. ; All the dirt dug was carefndly removed to a con- r : siderable distance by the natives. A lot of bamboo > strips were next laid over the pit, covered with dry leaves and made to appear like the general” sur- , roundings. : We next took three bamboo sticks about twelve _ feet in length, and placed them in the form ofa ins tripod, in such a position as to bring the point of + the tripod directly above the centre of the ‘pit. From the topsome of the natives suspended a goat by a cord which was barely strong enough to bear its weight, and sure to break if the tiger leaped upon the goat. | ~ Everything being in readiness, my companion I, as well as the natives, repaired to a hut a _ short distance off and awaited developments. I was : eagianes to think that. we were going to be dis- inted, when one of the natives rushed into the haut crying: a : ‘A torch}}? — .; gist _ The furious cries of the tiger had startled; him as } with a terrific roar it sprang upon the suspended goat, and sank with its burden into the, pit pre- pared for it. Lighting a. uumber of torches, both to see the way and to forestall any, attack that might possibly be made upon us from other wild animals, we proceeded in a, body to the pit. The \ roars of the tiger were terrible, ‘as he furiously tried to leap upward to gain his freedom. | Pes __ Phis frantic behavior was kept up for about an = Ba hour, when, entirely exhausted, he lay perfectly quiet at the bottom of the pit. ‘T'wo of the natives now a bamboo basket, letting the open ‘ oe side fall directly over the me Immediately after this a number ‘of natives ju into the pit, and _ began pushing rattan withes igh the sand be- __ neath the tiger and bringing them round the basket. In this manner the tiger was in a few minutes enclosed. ~3 oe re vor . . Per het abe ably _a) a ive y aX iy =p ass as it appeared the natives went back to the ; spe and lifted the basket containing the tiger out of i wee detailed tens of them to take our captive to" e city. > ies - ‘Before they started I took a look at our prize a the rattans, He was a magnificent speci- sorriest-looking tiger that I ever saw, pit, and hope ee en- | Returning to the Tet: we awaited the dawn, and ; th blood from his frantic efforts _ lightedly. : all, pert 23h aS sa zeaiinet tisk TIP TOP WEEKLY. = WHY! Not long ago an old pioneer, who had lived in Australia in the days of the early cola eg was boasting of the good old times. ‘‘Why, sir, I was.once.offered a league of land for a pair of old boots.’’ ‘‘Didn’t you take it?’’ said the party addressed. *"No, sir, I didn’t.’ “Poor Jand, I reckon??? ‘“‘Why, bless your heart, ‘sir, it was the best piece of land outdoors. Grass five feet\high, a clear stream of water running through it and an -unde- veloped gold. mine in one corner.’’ “*And why on earth didn’t you make the ex- change?”’ ‘*Because,’’ said the old man in a regretful tone of voice—‘‘because I didn’t have the boots.’’ APOLOGIZED. A good story is told of a doctor who was out late one night; when he was approached by a foot- pad. ‘Gimme your mioney,’’ said the marauder, : The doctor turned round toward the man, and in an offended tone, exclaimed: ; ‘*What are you doing over here? Get on the other side of the stréet; Dm heeiatis this side myself.’’ The tramp begged the doctor’s bandas for the breach of etiquette, and vanished. ; ———_—++e-+-2——_$ a: o he a hy wt eS a
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a Humorous Items. AN Dinxey. : once, my boy. _ married you. a boy? bin.” A oS} ee oa) ea tks oY _. Reporter—Can I see Mr, B.? _ Servant—He’s out, sir. Reporter—One of the family, then? Servant—All out, sir. = sieht? - Servant—Yes; but that’s out, too. “out of her mouth, tator. ° _ **What! you? “retorted the fair 552. ot lage Pe bs as well as the lion!’” stroking his shining tresses, said: _ 4 in his grandfather’s face, You told. me to pet it ee whimpered — boy. F “And the teacher was so’ mixed up she had to dis. . the class. - Tommy—Oh, “tothe Hiother said she was a Father—I am . glad to hear she told the truth for Tommy— Yes, she muh she was a donkey to have Youthful Applicant—Is this where they. wants a e. Manager—It is; but he must bea boy stp never _utters‘an untruth and does not use slang or swear. “*Well, my. brother's a deaf mute, I'll send Reporter—Well, wasn’t there a fire here last ag : _. A lady lion-tamer, young and fair, beckoned to _ the big lion, and it came and took a piece of sugar “Why, 1 could do that trick, 7 exclaimed a spec- “The old man sighed as he took» the golden- - haired, laughing little boy upon: his knee, and, First Little Girl—I don’t know, but I heard ' mamma say that’s what he is. Don’t Bet we see” ‘Ah, how much'I should like to feellike a child us! Mebby he eats folks. a Little Johnny ceased his jonas and looking “Then why doeeee uiahiiets to spank you??? a TIP TOP WEEKLY. — ct ; 31 “T hete to bother you, pop; but, really, I’d like to know—=-’" 7 “Well, what?” “‘How it happens that baby fish don’t get drowned before they’ve learned to swim.’’ “Thank ye, sir,’’? said the departing’ Pat to his recent employer, ‘‘for the good recommendation, and if you write another one fer yersilf, that yeh ave behaved yersilf like a gintleman while I was with ye, I’ll put me name to it, I will.”’ Butcher—I need a boy about your size, and will give you eight shillings a week. Applicant—Will I have a chance to rise? ““Yes; Ispwant you to be here at four o’clock every morning.”’ Aunt—I want to do something to please you on your birthday, Charlie, but I first want to ask your master how you behaye in school. Charlie—If you really wish to please me, auntie, I would much rather you didn’t ask him. Old Lady: Didn’t I tell you never to come here again? ~ Up-to-Date Tramp: I hope you will pardon me, madam, but it is the fault of my secretary; he has Neglected to strike your name from my calling list. First Little Girl (whispering)—See that man?_ He’s a philanthropist. “4 Second Little Girl—What’s that? Small Boy—I wanter take gas. Dentist—It is not usual to administer gas for a milk tootis, my boy. It won’t hurt but for an in- stant. “Youve gotter ginrme gas, or I won’t haye it out.”’ A ~ **Youshouldn’t be so ateaid of being hurt. Now, sit up here, like a little man.” ~ “T ain’t afraid of bein’ hurt. ’Tain’t that.- I’m ‘afraid I can’t help giving a screech when it comes out.” “That won’t matter.’’ “Yes, it will, All the boys what I’ve ever licked is waitin” under th’ winder t’ hear me holler.’ =e i - Zz SS ALY ~ i ae de “= 4
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Cn eS We Te os ae visas 2). a a TIP TOP WEEKLY. Tip Top Quarterly. ‘The earlier issues of Tip Top Weekly are now on sale in the orm of Quarterlies, each jncluding 13 consecutive issues Of this favorite weekly, together with the 13 original illuminated illustra- tions, and an elegant cover in colors, The price is 50 Cents per yolume, for which sum they will be sent by mail post-paid to avy address In the United States. = = NOW READY. = = No. 3, a Nos. 27 to 39 of Tip Top Weekly. No. 4, * Nos. 40 to 52 of Tip Top Weekly. No. 5, $8 Nos. 53 to 65 of Tip Top Weekly. No. 6, i Nos, 66 to 78 of Tip Top Weekly. No. 7. --< Nos. 79 to 91 of Tip Top Weekly. Nos. 1 and 2 out of print. . If your Newsdealer has not got the Quarterlies, remit direct to _ the pubiisbers, STREET & SMITH, 81 Fulton St., N, ¥. -.OUT-DOOR SPORTS. Complete instructions for playing many of the most popniar out games jis found inthis took. ‘The games are illustrated and very easily mastered. Priceten cents. Address STREET & SMITH, 25 Rose street, New York, Manva! Library Department). , easy. Read them, We publish six 32-page, illuminated cover weeklies for boys, retailing for five cem ~ each, as follows: The True Blue, The Starry Flag, : The Tip Top Weekly, We wish the readers of one series to become acquainted with the entire line. A Great Series! FRANK MERRIWELL’S BICYCLE TOUR ACROSS THE CONTINENT Comprising Thirteen Issues of the Kip Top wWweekliy Complete in No. 5 of the TIP TOP QUAR- TERLY, with all the original illuminated illustrations. Admirers of Frank Merriwell should have this book by all means. Price, SO. Cents. Sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 81 Fulton St., New York. how Your Colors! _ Every American boy should wear a patriotic emblem to show where his sympathies lie in these stirring times of war, : Messrs, Street & Smith have made arrangements to present a patriotic badge or button to every reader of their popular publications for boys. he conditions are The Klondike Kit Weekly, The Nick Carter Weekly, The Diamond Dick, Jr. On and after the present date the coupon at the foot of this column will be printed in each one of the above-mentioned publications» Three coupons, each clipped from a differetit publication, mailed to our office, will entitle you to one of the following, sent to your address, post-paid, free of all expense. 1, American Flag, embossed on gold ground, button’ or | 5. ,Silk Bow, with American and Cuban flags Combined, pin as preferred. 2. Aluminum Medal with Admiral Dewey’s portrait on front, and picture of the Maine on reverse, pendant, ~ from Aluminum emblem. 3. The American Flag, in metal, embossed in red, white, blue and gold. Three styles—button, scarf pin and ladies’ hat pin. State your choice. 3 4- American Fig. on white enamelled button with lever- hinge. ( _cuff buttons.) ~ wo of these will make a neat pair of 6. Celluloid American Flag on pin. 7. Button 1 144 inches in diameter in the following designs: A—American Flag. B—Cuban Flag. C—Amer- ican and Cuban Flags together. D—American and English Flags together. E—Admiral Dewey. - F— Admiral Sampson. G—Battleship Maine. H— oo will you be good.”” 1—The lowa. j—The regon. K—The Massachusetts. L—The Indiana. M—The Brooklyn. N—The Columbia. O—The Texas. P—General Lee (order by letter and num- ber, as 7-B., 7-D., etc.) You can secnre as many pins and badges as you desire, provided you send seh coupons. ‘Three coupons secure any of the above- each of the set of three is trom a different publication. ORD R BY NUMBER. Send in your conpon. Remember this isa purely gratuitous gift on our part, intended to ¢ail your attention to others of our publica- tions besides the ones you are now purebasing. If you cannot procure what you desire from your newsdealer, send us ten cents and one coupon, and we will send you by "ST mail a copy of two other publicationsand the Poe at you may select. Address your conpons to . : - REET & SMITH’S PREMIUM DEP TIP TOP WEEKLY COUPON. One coupon from the Tip Top Weekly, accompanied by two others, each from a different one of the following publications: Starry Flag Weekly, Klondike Kit, True Blue, Nick Carter Weekly, or Diawoud Dick, Jr. entitle the sender to a free badge or button as described above. _ STREET & , 81 Fulton Street, New York. SMITH. a
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qs TIP TOP WEEKLY Illuminated Cover—Price, Five Cents—rhirty-two Pages, Complete List of Stories By the author of “Frank Merriwell.” Tales of School, Fun, College, Travel and Adventure. PPI All back numbers are constantly on hand, and will be mailed to ny addiie on receipt of price, Five Cents each. 60—Frank Merriwell’s Desperate Drop; or, Wild Adven- tures in the Rockies. 61—Frank Merriwell in the Mines; or, The Blind Singer of Silver Bluff. 62—Frank Merriwell Among the Mormons; or, The Lost Tribe of Israel. 63—Frank Merriwell on the Desert; or, The Mystery of the Skeleton. 64—Frank Merriwell’s Underground Search; or, Saving the Buried Heiress. 65—Frank Merriwell in California; er, The End of the Great Tour. 66—Prize Plot Story; Frank Merriwsll as the Star. a. * gama Yacht; or, The Chase Down the 68—Fraak Merriwell's Combination; or, The All Round Athletes. 69—Frank Merriwell’s Red Rival. 70—Frank Merriwell’'s Texas Tournament; or, Among the Cowboys. 7\—Frank Merriwell’s N League, 72—Frank Merriwell's Shot; or, Gun Club. 73—Frank Merriwell’s Fl 74—Frank Merriwell's Against Crookedness. 75 —Frank Merriwell’s Enemy; or, Rivals of the Blue 74 —Frank Merriwell’s Crew; or, The Champions of the Potomac. 77—Frank Merriwell’s Hunt; or, In at the Death. 78—Frank Merriwell’s Blow; or, Unmasking a Rascal. sate Merriwell’s Return to Yale; or, The Mystery Sport ; or, Surprising the Southern Out with the Guthrie er; or, The Winning Wheel. oroughbred ; or, Honesty in the ‘Tug of War. Hurricane Island. 117—Frank Merriwell's Misfortune; or, The Start On a New Oareer. 118—Frank Merriwell, —_ Wiper; or, At the Foot of the Ladder. 119—Frank Merriwell viene; or, The First Step Up- 120—Frank aes Opportunity; or, The Ghost of 121—Frank Meriwell’s First Run; or, The Chance of His Life. STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK. : . _—_— For Sale by all Newsdealers. Every Saturday. ‘