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An Ideal Publication For The American Youth

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Wssued Weekly. Entered as Second-class Matter at the New York Post Office, according to an act of Congress, March 8, 1819. Published by
STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Ave., New York. Copyright, 1915, by STREET & SMITH. O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors.

 

g Terms to NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY Mail Subscribers.
(Postage Free.)
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No. 130.

NEW YORK, January 23,

1915. Price Five Cents,

Frank Merriwell in the Land of Wonders;
Or, THE GAME OF THE GEYSER.

¥

.By BURT L.

CHAPTER I.
THE UNKNOWN.

Having set up a makeshift workbench before the door
Of One of the cabins, Frank Merriwell was busy in shaping
a Ski. With drawing knife poised over the white wood,
he looked up.

In-the snowy path a queer specimen of humanity had
appeared, holding a compass on the palm of his out-
stretched hand.

“Wonderful!” Merry heard him mutter.

With light steps he skipped off to the right, elevated
the compass, and looked at it. Skipping off to the left, he
did the same.

Merry dropped his knife to the workbench and watched
tis little play with amused interest.

The man then approached.

/Hé did not advance in a straight line, but made skip-
ping jumps from one side of the path to the other, at
the end of each jump elevating his compass.

When he had come quite up to Merry, instead of ad-
dressing him, he began to go round him, holding up the
compass and squinting at it. ®

The man who performed these queer antics was a lean-
‘faced and long-haired individual, whose age was uncer-
tain, though he had shown that he was vigorous and
active.

“My dear sir,” he said, “this is the most remarkable
event of my rather extensive experience.”

Merry’s eyes twinkled. He did not know who the ‘man
was, but he was certainly amusing.

“Let me understand it,” he said.

, Most assuredly. You, sir, are the greatest psychic I
have ever encountered.”

He surveyed Merry up and down with a look of ad-
miration and bewilderment.

‘as.you are doubtless aware, is not the true pole.

STANDISH.
“You will observe this compass, which I support on
my hand. It is a bolometer compass, designed by myself.

If not powerfully deflected, its needle points, as does that
of an ordinary compass, to the north magnetic pole, which,
It can
swing in any direction, upward or downward. Magnetic
iron ore, and the precious metals, will deflect it.
“Following the pointing of this needle, I was under
the impression that the mountain over behind you was
filled with magnetic ore, or, perhaps, gold and silver. So
I advanced eagerly, as you may imagine. - And then I
discovered that my remarkable compass was pointing to

. you.”

“Bats in his belfry!” muttered Bart Hodge.

He had come to the cabin door, and now stepped
out into the snow, his dark eyes fixed so intently on
the long-haired and lean-faced man that the latter’s voice
dropped suddenly, and stopped. . '

“You will let me have a look at that singular com-
pass?” said Merry.

The examination showed its needle to be so balanced
that it could dip downward, as well as swing in the usual
plane.

Merry turned it about, and upside down, inspecting it.

“It doesn’t seem to work for me,” he said.

“No? Let me try it again.”

The solemn-visaged mam took the compass, laid it on
the palm of his right hand, and held it up. And when
the needle swung round and pointed to Merry, he cackled
a pleased laugh.

“Didn’t you see that? Remarkable, isn’t it? Now, whet
I walk round you, as I did before, you will observe—gee
it! The little needle points right at- you!”

He seemed ready to dance with delight. .

Bart Hodge stood looking straight at him, frowning.

 

  
 

  

 

   

2 NEW

 

When displeased or skeptical or angry, Hodge had a sul-
lenly suspicious face, and his tone’ could rasp like a file.

“A very pretty game,” he said; “but tell me the
meaning.”

“I—-my dear sir——

“Oh, I know what you said. But give us the meaning.”

“Your friend is a psychic of strange and marvelous
power.”

“And you are a fraud of a strange and marvelous kind!
Is that right? Who are you, anyhow; and where did you
come from?”

“Me?”

“That’s what I said. You dropped into this forsaken
spot as if you came out of the sky; yet here we’re scores
of miles from nowhere, and ringed in with snow. And
we know we have enemies near. It seems to me that an
explanation is in order. My friend Merriwell is a, bit
too edsy with you. Cough up!”

“Why, my dear man—I haven't swallowed anything;
not since breakfast time. If a feeling of emptiness ex-
presses my real condition, it would seem there is nothing
in me that I could cough up, if I tried to. But this mar-
velous little compass ts

“Bother the compass!
who are you?”

The man stood blinking.

“You are very rough,” he said, in a hurt tone. “I
doubt much that my little compass would ever be able
to locate any precious metal in you. But, sir, I will an-
swer-your questions: I am a scientist, interested at the
present. chiefly in metallurgy. This Yellowstone . Park,
as,.even in your benighted state, you may perhaps know,
is.a land ‘of wonders; a fact recognized by the govern-
ment of the United States, when it was set aside forever
as a park; its wonderful geysers and boiling springs, its
deep cafions a,

“Cut out the encyclopedia; we know all that! I didn’t
ask you to tell me what’s in the park; I asked you to
tell me why you are here, and who you are.”

“T was getting at it. My name is Jabez Flagg:- I have
been studying the rock formations of the park. - Though
it is claimed there are no: valuable minerals in it; T
have never been*:convinced: that is so, and: I have been
using my bolometer compass——”

“Making your investigations in the winter! Where
are your headquarters and supplies? Do.you. know. what
T think of you?”

“T fear, sir, you have no very good opinion’ of me, to
judge by your words and manner. But when you have
lived as long as I have——”

“You're probably in, league with ‘the game killers, ‘if
you're not one of them; and you're here to spy round!
We've been half expecting they would attack us here
sooner or later.”

”

 

What are you doing here? And

 

“You do me a great wrong,” Flagg gently protested.
“T really do not know who the game killers are, or what
you are talking about, though I stand ready to be en-
lightened. I am not warlike; I would not attack any-
body. The only attacks I ever made, sir, are on knotty
problems of science, and that gives me quite: enough
to do,”

“Answer my questions,” said Hodge. “Where are you
- Staying-——where are your headquarters, and your supplies?”

*T carry my headquarters under my hat, my dear sir,”
said Flagg, drawing himself up. “As for my supplies,

 

   

‘been that he could corner this man;

 

  

TIP TOP: WEERLY:

  
 

they’re in a shoulder pack which I left lying back there
in the snow, dropping it there when I became go inter-
ested in the queer antics of my bolometer compass. Now
and then I, as it were, dip my hands in the blood of a
rabbit or a grouse—when I am fortunate enough to en-
counter such small game; that is to say, I shoot them.
There is no law against killing such small game in the
park, I believe. I do it under compulsion, and with a
sorely troubled conscience, and only when necessary.”

“I don’t see your gun.” :

Flagg slowly unbuttoned his heavy coat, and pro-
duced a short-barreled gun, in sections; a light weapon,
but, good enough for grouse and rabbits.

“Behold it,” he said, holding it up.

Merry laughed lightly, for he saw how sure Hodge ha
and so far Hodg
had failed.

“You've been in the park all winter, living in this Way?”
Hodge queried.

“On the contrary, my dear man,
rived; that is, I came in just previous to the arrival, of
the recent snow which has made traveling so laborions.
I had been.out in the mountains to the west of here, and
worked over into the park. I have been in these moun-
tains and here less than six weeks. In that time” have
found a number of. interesting things, but. nothing. that
can compare with my. discovery that this gentleman. who
stands smiling at my side has, certain powers—for the
present let them. be nameless—has a certain quality, let
us say, to which my bolometer compass is sensitive.
When I leave this interesting country, I shall expand, my
notes into a book, and give him a prominent place dn
a ; a

“That will be “fame easily aie: " said Merry; “count
mea subscriber for your book.”

Flagg dived under his big coat and drew out peel and
notebook.

“With pleasure, sir,” he said;
dollars. Your name, please.” ie ie

He wrote down in his notebook. i: oe

“Frank Merriwell, first subscriber to my great work
on the Yellowstone Park geological formations, volcanic
upheavals, erosions,
thermal belt.”

He turned to Hodge.

“May I set your name down as my second. ‘subseaiber,.
my dear sir?” _ , up Be.

“Certainly not,” said Hodge, his. dark face. flushed. and.
angry. “Do you take me for a fool ?”.

“Which is as.much as to say that your friend is—for”
he has subscribed. I am sorry, my dear man, that you
have such a prejudiced temper.” .

CHAPTER II.
AT THE CABINS.

Jabez Flagg, self-announced scientist and inventor of .
the marvelous bolometer compass, brought up to the cabins -
his shoulder pack, containing his limited food supply, to-
gether with his blankets, and established himself there.

With winter howling through the mountains like a hun-
gry wolf, it was not in the nature of Frank Merriwell
to turn any man adrift to face the perils of starvation
and death in that wilderness.

Even Bart Hodge, suspicious and harsh as he had bean,

 
  
    
 

I have but just ar-"

“the price is to be Swart

with notes on the history of the —

  

 

 

 

    
 

 

,

 

  
    
 

 

of Cyanide.
; )

would not have voted to do that; though he. was re-

solved, now that Flage was with them, that the man must
be continually watched, and steps taken to render him
if they were needed.

‘Flagg was surprised and delighted to find there was
a very considerable company at the cabins, for, besides
Merry and Hodge and Barney Mulloy, there was the
party of young men who had come into the park some
time before over the open trail that led from the town

f

harmless,

Flagg stated that he had come in by that trail himself,
and it was still passable, though lately a good deal of
snow had fallen.

Sitting smiling on a bench, he beat time with his hand
and his head, quite as if he were an orchestra leader,
jwhen one of the young fellows got out a mandolin, that
night, and they all sang to nimble-fingered accom-
paniments.

“I’ve traveled about a good deal,” Flagg remarked, “and
one of the things I’ve learned by it is that the center of
every man’s world is right under his hat; for right above
him, wherever he is, is the very middle of the sky, and
right under his feet is the very center of the earth. And
here you have given me still further proof of it. If you
shut your eyes and listen to this singing and music,
what's to keep you from imagining that you’re at a
vaudeville theater, in New York or Boston or somewhere
else? Nothing. So go on with your singing. That was
a good one—give it to us again: ‘It’s a long, long way to
Tipperary !’”

One of the young fellows who greatly interested Flagg
had a severely burned face. When Flagg heard the story
of it—of the man who had concealed himself in the
near-by geyser basin and shot acid out at the young fel-
low and burned him, he asked a score of questions.

“What's become of that man?” he said. “He'd ought
to be shot.” .

“We captured him—or, rather, Mr. Merriwell did: but
he got away. He is the leader of the game killers, and
his name is Wilkins; we call him Beast Wilkins.”

“Those game killers—if you'll explain about them?”
said Flagg. “Mr. Hodge was cruel enough to charge
mé with being one of them, and I didn’t really know
what he meant.”

The young fellow explained:

“They’re men’who are in here, outlaws, who are killing
the game held in this park reservation, and are’ running
it out somewhere to market; that’s about all we know.”

“And I was charged with being one of those men!
Why, I wouldn’t kill a fly, unless I wanted it for food.”

The young fellow stuffed his: handkerchief into his
mouth to keep from laughing, and it was not a very clean
handkerchief.

When the talk drifted round to their plans for finding
the broken and lost telephone wire and opening communi-
cation. with the headquarters of the park at Mammoth
Springs, Flagg wanted that explained.

“Thére’s ahother cabin, you know, not far off,” he was
informed, “that was occupied by a fellow named Harold
Arch, who was a forest guard here; and the line ran
from his cabin to headquarters.
poles went down, in a storm.”

“Arch isn’t here?”

“He cut out.”

“Cut out what?”

It broke, or some of the

   

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 3

“He skipped. And he took with him a woman who was
his sister; a certain Mrs. Deming, who was from Salt
Lake, and who was said by the newspapers to have killed
her husband there. She had fled here, with a man named
Gavin, who was killed by the acid thrower. Arch was
afraid she would be taken back to Salt Lake to be tried
for the murder of her husband, and he got out of here
with her; he said they were going out of the park.”

Flagg looked solemnly at the young fellow who told
this.

“That’s a true story?” he said.

The young fellow flushed, for this seemed to accuse him
of lying. ,

“Cettainly it’s a true story,’ he declared, with some
warmth. ;

One of the things that Jabez Flagg had to see, the next
day, was the geyser. basin—a region filled with hot springs
of mud and water, with paint pots and with spouting
geysers; all of which sent up so much steam, that at this
season, when the air was so cold, the whole basin was
filled with a foglike vapor, in which objects were almost
indistinguishable.

One of the sights of this place was the cavernlike hole
in the obsidian, in which the acid thrower had made his
lair.

In wandering about in the fog-laden air, the party of
young fellows became at times more or less separated.

Nothing was thought of this, or that an accident could
have befallen any one, until they assembled on the edge
of the geyser basin, at the point where it had been agreed
they should gather before returning to the cabins. Then
it was discovered that one of their number was missing.

“Where is Allen?” was asked.

It was the given name of the young fellow whose face
had been so seriously burned; and who, because of that
burn, which needed protection, went about all the time
with his head and face heavily swathed in bandages.

“Where’s Allen?” was repeated.

“He was in there with us,” said one.

“But where is he now?”

They stood together and called him.

Then they looked at each other in fright.

“Do you suppose Beast Wilkins has come back to this
place ?”

“That is the man, I believe you said, who threw the
acid in Allen’s face?” said Flagg.

“Wilkins shot the stuff out of a kind of air rifle he had
there.”

“Oh, yes, l:remember that. It was queer, I thought.”

Again and again they called the name of Allen.

They then went again into the misty region and
searched about, calling at frequent intervals. It could-
be observed that they now kept close together, and acted
scared, and Flage kept with them.

“T don’t like this,’ he said. “I had thought of remain-
ing here with this congenial company and continuing my
studies, but if this man Wilkins has returned-——”

“What was that?”

It was only the bubbling over of a mud pool and the
sputtering of the water, but they, all jumped as if they .
had heard a shot.

When they could not find Allen, they hurried back to
the cabins, where they laid the startling fact before Frank
Merriwell. : ;

“Mr. Merriwell,” said Flagg, “I’m afraid-I shall have to

  
  

cancel that subscription you so kindly gave me for my

book on the curiosities of the Yellowstone, for there isn’t

going to be any book on that subject now; I shall leave

here, is what I mean, without completing my studies, but
I have another book in preparation—The Geological His-
tory of the Great Salt Lake, and with your permission I
will transfer your subscription to that volume. Sir, you
will be pleased with it.”

Merry did not take time to listen to the windy sen-
tences of Jabez Flagg,
the geyser basin in a search for the missing man.

CHAPTER III.
TREACHERY.

It came about, in the search for Allen, that Bart Hodge
and Jabez Flagg found themselves together, with appar-
ently no one else near.

“Mr. Hodge, sir,” said Flagg, “there is a hole over
here that I have peered into, and which I think we
should explore, as, from its appearance, it would have

been easy for that unfortunate young man to‘have missed
his footing on the edge of it and slipped in.”.

Hodge did not like Flagg. ‘

“You have been tagging me
“Where's the rest of the bunch?”

round,” he growled.
“IT saw Mr. Merriwell right over there some moments
-ago, and I think others were with him; this fog, or mist,
makes it difficult to distinguish any ‘one even at a little
distance. So my surmise as to who they were
“Aw, cut it out!
to say without falling all over yourself?
hole?”
. “You are a very rude man, Mr. Hodge,” Flagg ob-
served. “You really seem to try at times to hurt my
feelings.”
“T don’t mean to,” said Hodge, “but somehow——” He
was looking at Flagg very straight; ‘somehow you don’t
fring true, Mr. Flagg; and that’s the whole truth. I’m
_ sorry to have to say it.”

 

Why can’t you say what you want
Where is that

  

“Tf am very sorry that you feel you have to say it,”
said Flagg meekly.

5 j sere guess I’m rough; born that way. I’m rather direct,
you know. What I think I usually say, and it’s a bad
way to do, I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.
“ Forget 1? ;

. Then he added, in a ndlier tone:

a “Show me where that hole is.”

% eit Flagg stepped along with alacrity, leading the

Wa “On, that! ‘Tes the obsidian cave that was used by
Beast Wilkins.”
“On the contrary, sir,”

said Flagg, “the obsidian cave

 
 

A you dentin, is over in the aE x direction; the fog has
1 round, sir. I do not think this place has
yy any one; at least, I am sure that when
ing the place over it was not pointed out
will observe that the sides are more slip-
he walls more abrupt; besides, the obsidian, or

to give. it ane pepiyist wer really correct

 
 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

 

for he was getting ready to invade ,

Jabez Flagg reaching for his throat.

 
  
   

 

 

name, is here streaked and colored;

        
   
    
   
 
  
   
   
   
   
 
  
     
   
  
   
    
    
   
  
  

 

 

 

 

 

      
         
     
       
       
     

it makes me think a
of striped candy; while the other was dark, like——” a

With an impatient fling, Hodge advanced to the sip
indicated.

It was markedly different from the one which had been f
occupied by Beast Wilkins, which had smooth walls of o
a dark chocolate. The walls here were striped and Bees
banded. ae

Glancing inquiringly round, Hodge saw, as he thought, =| v
why this particular hole had hitherto gone unnoticed. id ye
The misty vapor hung densely, and close by was a sput- 7
tering and bubbling mud pan that had an air of threaten- ae
ing an instant overflowing. Hence a glance into the oa
place was all that had been given. a

“You're right,” he said, “this place has never been :
looked into. He might have ventured too near and slipped
in, and a heavy fall might have knocked him. senseless.” ve hi

“Also,” Flag observed, “the noise of that hot mud bath 4a y
ai * ite byes ; 4 tl
is so great—there is such a hissing and sputtering—that j ay
if he had shouted for help ever so loudly, no one could | s $y
have heard him, unless very near; I can hardly hear the G a4
words you are speaking, and, doubtless, you find me also ie Bo he
dificult of comprehension.” Om

“T sure do,” Hodge muttered, as he leaned over, to look hi
down into the black hole. a” re

“Some time you will know me better,” said Flagg, glid- ol Th 2
ing up at his side, as if he, too, would look into the | 4 2
hole. Seam M

The next instant he had caught Bart Hodge round the ‘hy
waist, and was hurling him over. ti

Hodge whirled round on the slippery lip, of volcanic fl
rock. Throwing out his arms to save himself from St
falling, he hooked his hand into Flagg’s coat; and they a
went down together, with a flinging of arms and legs, i in a —
a wild tumble. ,

The distance through which they fell was but a Os

feet; but Hodge, landing first, with Flagg on top of to
him, was jarred heavily. Yet he roused, when he felt od «ay

        
 

“So that’s it!” Hodge snarled, stirred to fury. “You've,
trapped me, and——”

    
 

Flagg’s fingers were long and slender—Hodge would. oe A
have said they could not be strong, but now they were’
like tough steel bands tightening. on his windpipe. :

          
 

| Flagg was still on top, his weight helping to hold fae 4

down, This gave Flagg the advantage from the first.

      
         
   
 

But it was not to be an easy victory. Hodge’s arms
went up and round the slender, muscular body that had
flattered down on him, and a great struggle began. There
could have been but one end to it, if Hodge’s strength
had not been still so much impaired as a result. of the
brutal ‘knock-out blow he had received some time before
at the hands of the man named Gavin.

In a wild rage against Flagg’s treachery, he Cae im
tremendous fight to turn him and get the upper belt
Once he almost succeeded.’ But Flagg crawled again
to the top, and Hodge’s spent strength gave him Te
victory.

Hodge, almost too weak to wheeze, was iciias
blindness so great that if a flash of eee a

 
   
       
       
   

 
      
      
 
      
 
   

  
    
 
 
 

  
  

 
 
 

of it.

  
~ you, if you like—rather clever. Yet

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

,
‘

a handkerchief gag choking him, was he aware that
another person occupied the place with him. -

Flagg had gone; so he knew it was not Flagg.

Then he discovered that his companion in misery was

Allen.

' Hodge had begun to fight to get his hands free, when
he was interrupted by Flagg’s return.

Flagg had a wet rawhide cord, which he now used, and
when he was through it did not seem possible that Hodge,
with all his ingenuity, could work out of his bonds.
 Flagg’s garrulity ran on even now.

“A good joke on Mr. Hodge, is it not?” he cackled,
as he pulled at the cords. “Surely a good joke! And he
_ finds here the very man, too, he has been seeking. Yet
I know that this other person is a woman. Rather clever
LYOF your crowd, Mr. Hodge—l’ll call you that, to please
as soon as I saw
this Mr. Allen, with those cloths over his face, I recog-
nized that the cloths were a mere disguise, to hide from
any chance wayfarer the features of Mrs. Deming, the
' murderess from Salt Lake City.

“Also, it is almost incredible that your crowd should

have thought they could fool me so neatly, Yet it was

a most excellent performance, with almost inimitable act-
ing on the part of every one. But I knew from the first
that I had stumbled into the midst of the game killers,
and so was prepared to discount all your lies. You,
_ Mr. Hodge, as you call yourself, I am quite ‘sure have
- borne the name of Gavin. You quite. answer the descrip-
tion I had of the man who broke jail at Cyanide and
fled in this direction to join the game killers—dark-faced,
- sullen-looking, harsh of word, with an explosive temper.
If that doesn’t ‘describe you right down to the ground

Ee

Hodge began to struggle and try to speak.

“It will be some time, my dear Gavin, before your
tongue will be in good working order again,” said Flagg.
“Yet I am almost tempted to remove that gag, that 1 may
ask you if the man you have been calling Merriwell isn’t
the fellow whose name is Wilkins? 1 had no description
_ of Wilkins.”

' Hodge ‘rolled back against. the damp wall, and, with a
; hereulean effort, drove his bound feet into Flage’s breast,
hurling him across the narrow space.
_ With another great effort he tried to get on his feet
_and climb out while Flagg lay hors de combat.

But the blow had not knocked Flagg out, though it had
» jarred him; he came scrambling up, and with a yank
‘threw Hodge to the floor.
“Very clever of you,” he panted,
with the character of Gayin.

“and quite in keeping
But you couldn’t have got

“foul, so. be ake, I go now to get horses ont of those
stables; then au revoir to this land of snow’
ae clambered up the slippery wall, and disappeared in

“J have ade a thorough search of every cranny over
tha direction,” Flagg reported ,blandly. “You have

- This’ is very wach nid a Merri-

nit is most. singular.”

CHAPTER IV.
A PUZZLE.

It was some time after that before Merry began to sus-
pect that Bart Hodge might have fallen into trouble.

The first intimation came when Hodge did not rejoin
him. Yet that could be accounted for by supposing that
he had ‘been bewildered in the fog, and so had missed
Merry’s party. Even when Merry left the geyser basin,
he still could not. be certain that Hodge had not returned
with some of the others to the cabins.

Merry reéntered the geyser basin, and made a little
search and called, and felt a great sense of uneasiness
as he went on his way.

/ He was startled when he did not find Hodge at the
cabins.

“Tt is very singular,” said Flagg, “that the man you
call Hodge and the man you call Allea should both be
missing. I think you should at once make a more thor-
ough search for My dear Merriwell, it is truly
alarming. Still, as this is a most remarkable country—
a singular region——”

Merry was questioning the

them.

young men, one by one.

All of them were in a state bordering on panic.

“T think it’s the work of the game killers, or, perhaps,
Beast Wilkins,” said Brinkley; and it could be seen that -—
in this the others agreed with him. “I don’t know but
we'd better get out of here.”

“Mr. Merriwell wouldn’t want to‘leave until he knows
what ‘has happened to Hodge,” said Sutton, the mandolin
player. “Isn’t that so, Mr. Merriwell? Yet I don’t know
what we can do, unless we make another search.”

Barney Mulloy, who had delayed at the basin for an-
other look round, came in, much dejected. He caught
Sutton’s remarks.
is ut?” he said. “We don’t step a fut out av
this until we know what has become of Bart, and I es
I’m sp’akin’. Merriwell’s sintimints as well as me own.’

“You do honor to the goodness of your heart, Mr.
Mulloy,” Flagg asserted. “Of course, no one will leave
this spot until we know what has befallen the unfortunate °
men who have——”’ :

“*Tis Beast Wilkins, th’ murdherer that he is, and we
can’t ixpect him t’ have. pity on anny wan; yit I’m saying
that if he har-rms Bart,
ag’in,

“L’ave,

there'll be no question about takin’ him. t’ prison ;,

fer he'll be a dead wan whin I’m t’rough wid him. _ Do ee.

ye moind that now! No more aisy business f’r him!”

Merry did not waste time in saying what he would do.

He gathered all in another searching party, and set off
at once.

On the edge of the geyser basin, Jabez Flagg fell on the
slippery rocks and twisted his ankle, and sat down, fairly
howling with pain. :

“Tis too bad,” said Mulloy. “Sit where yez ar-re till
we kem back, and keep yer eyes peeled f'r Wi Misia, an
his gafig. They're at th’ bottom of this.”

Merry gave Flagg a long look, as they went on “thete
way into the vapor that lay like a vehitg veil:
them.

In a little while he was + has heithcs left |
party in charge of Barney Mulloy. ;

_ Flagg was not sitting there, oy had left, 2

 

and I wance git in rache av him
  
   

   

veil Merry saw him hurrying on, without the least indi-
cation that he had suffered from a turned ankle.

“Treachery!” he said. “Hodge was right from the
first.”

Waiting until Flagg had turned the bend in the trail,
Merry set out for the cabins.

‘When he came up to them, he encountered Flagg com-
ing out of one of the stables, leading a horse that’ was
saddled and bridled.

Flagg seemed thunderstruck. He stopped abruptly,
with a startled air. Yet his self-assurance returned almost
immediately.

“I thought, as my ankle was hurting me so badly, that
I'd come back and get a horse to ride,” he explained.
“Your ankle doesn’t call for that, Mr. Flagg,”

Merry; “put the horse back in the stable!”

“You do not want me to join in the search?”

“Not on horseback. Put the horse back in the stable.”

“Very well, sir,” said Flagg, and turned to obey.

“As he thus turned, Merry leaped on him and bore
him to the ground. , After a brief struggle, he conquered
: him and lashed his hands together with his trousers
belt.

“If you try to run,” Merry warned, “I'll not answer for
the consequences. There’s something crooked about you,

and I'll stop you with a bullet.”

When he drove the horse into the stable, Merry dis-
covered that three other horses in there had been made
ready for traveling, and on one of them blankets and a
food package had been lashed.

He closed the stable door and turned to Flagg.

“This is proof enough,” he said.

“You’re misjudging me, Mr. Merriwell,” Flagg urged.
“In due season I shall explain everything, But even now,
understand, I am not suffering from the emotion that is
termed fear. Far from it, sir!”

said

“You will suffer from that emotion, I assure you, if I
find that you have harmed Bart Hodge.”

“Is that his name, sir?” ,
_ “What are you talking about?” Merry flared at him.
“What else would his name be?”

“Not Gavin, now?”
. “Tf you're talking to gain time, I haven’t any to spare,”
‘ _ said Merry crisply. “Walk into the cabin over there. No
monkey business!”

Flagg walked in with a limping motion intended to em-
phasize the fact that he had injured his ankle.

. When he was inside, Merry bound his legs together and
tightened the belt that held his hands,

“I shall leave you here, and shall lock the door. I’m
going back to the basin. You aren’t fool enough, I hope,
to think that you can leave here, even if you were free,
without making a trail, and you ought to know that we
will follow you.”

He stood before Flagg, looking at him questioningly.

_ “Now, tell me,” he adjured, “what do you know about

Bart Hodge?”

“Only what I suspect—what I am, in fact, sure of—that
Li is Gavin. That’s all I choose to say; ex-
joubt that I have yet heard your real name,
t, my dear sir, let it pass at that.” _
idea you have in your head, 'I shan’t trouble
‘now,” said, Merry. “But you'll stay here
ck. If you have harmed Hodge-——”

 
 

 
 

   

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\
ney,

He stepped outside, locked the door, and took his way
at a run down the path.

When he got down into the geyser basin, he found Mul-
loy and the young fellows greatly excited over a, discovery.

“Read ut,” said Mulloy, and produced a sheet that had

been torn from a notebook, on which there was pencil

writing.

“Dear MERRY:
luck.
mouth of a black hole in the basin, and threw me in;
then tied me in there. He had already served Allen the
same way, and he was in there. I wriggled out of the
cords that held me at last, and had climbed out, and was
trying to help Allen out, when we were both captured.
The game killers have us now, and where they’re going
to take us, I dont know. But they have commanded

This to tell you that I’ve had rotten

me to write this note to you, as I told them that you are

the leader of our party. Wilkins is ‘their leader. He
says to say to you that they are going to hold us to make
our crowd get out of the country, and that if you do not
go at once, we are to be killed. He admits that they are
game killers, and he says that our fellows are here to
run them down; that they have known this all along. If
you and everybody at the cabin will get out of the country,

they will release Allen and myself, but they will not do

it if you don’t. Bart Honce.”

At the end of Hodge’s signature was a peculiar flourish,
which had a,meaning for Merry, It meant literally: “Pay
no attention to this,”

years before.
On the back of this note, Wilkins had write’:

“You know me. I don’t talk much. If you fellers hike
out to the head of the range, where the trail begins for
Cyanide, I’ll let these here prisoners go.. He says you ain’t
down here to trouble us. I can’t believe it. Looks to’ me
like Arch telephoned for you, and you're forest rangers
from Mammoth Springs, lookin’ for us. But we'll know
you ain’t, if youscut out for the Cyanide trail. Then we'll
let these fellers go when you get to the head of it. I
mean my words. J. D. Witxrns.”

“’'T was stickin’ in th’ top av a pole,” explained Bar-
“and clost by was the hole in which Bart was held,
I’m thinkin’. But where he is now——” ;

“And we know what Beast Wilkins is,” said Sutton.
“He didn’t hesitate to kill Gavin, and he tried to kill you,
Merriwell !’”

“Phat’s t’ be done Oi dunno,” Mulloy wailed.

“T should think the thing to do would be to strike out ,

”

for the point named there,” said Sutton.
“Aven thin, could\ye thrust thim?”
Merry was looking Hodge’s

there might be other marks which had a hidden meaning.

/

“The fact that Wilkins signs his name, indicates that it is :

isn’t his right one,” he observed.

“Can we do what the thafe says, and l’ave Bart to. his: ;

We'll”

tinder mercies? Ye can’t belave a man loike that.
niver see Bart ag’in if we do. But, on th’ other hagd——”
Mulloy was pale with apprehension.

“You noticed,” he added, “what Bart says about Misther ag

Flagg. He must be in wid these fellys?”
“Bart didn’t say as to that;
Flagg is a puzzle, and a scoundrel.

note over again, thinidag

Flagg proved treacherous and lured me to the ©

and was an agreed form of com- —
munication which he and Hodge had used more than once,

perhaps he ‘didn’t plies 2 )
I went back to the —

 

 

 

ea
a Oi

 

 -~.- «te Ad

 

      
     
     
        
     
     
 
     
   
    
(NEM Tip: Te: Waeete a ee

cabins, and he had some of the horses saddled, ready to
leave with them.”

“Where is he now, the scut?” cieed Mulloy angrily.

“Tied up in -our cabin, unless he has worked loose
since I left him there.” F

“Til break ivery bone-——”

“Don’t get wild, Mulloy,” Merry urged; “we're going to

need all the sense and ingenuity we’ve got to work: out

of this thing. I suppose you haven’t been round the geyser

basin, to see where the game killers went out of ite-if
they went out? You’ve hardly had time.”

“We hurried to you with that paper as soon as we
‘saw what it meant,” said Brinkley. “It looks to me that
we're up against it. If we don’t go, Beast Wilkins will
kill Hodge and Allen, and even if we do go, they may
+ not free them.”

“Some of you hurry up to the cabins,” Merry ordered.

“Pil take the rest of you, and Mulloy, and we'll go round
the basin. If the trail of the rascals doesn’t show some-
where, they’re still in here, and I’m half believing that
they’ve been right in here somewhere all the time.”

—Yez could hide a battalion in this place,” said Mulloy.

“Tis an iligant spot f’r th’ thaves, av they want to ambush

us. Ye can’t see tin yards whin ye’re in there.”
- A number of the young men, led by Sutton and Brinkley,
set off at once for the cabins.

The others accompanied Merriwell and Mulloy, ith a
_journey that occupied some time, and took them round

™ the geyser basin, which covered many acres and had
prongs running out of it, giving it the oe: of a deformed
starfish.

_ They found no sail except some old ones, with whose
Watery they were familiar.

“It simplifies matters, anyway,”
relieved; “the rascals are in here, though where they
are is the thing that’s going to puzzle us. But unless
they’ ve got a store of provisions, they’ll have to gc out
Soon.”

- “Puzzled as to his proper course of action, and with
a heart aching with anxiety, Merry now hastened back
to the cabins, for he wanted to have a talk with Flagg,
and see if any information could’ be got out of him.
ie “Who and what was Flagg, anyway?

said Merry, siedcahent

CHAPTER V.
‘ FLAGG’ S STATEMENT.

oe “Who am?” said Flagg, when Frank Merriwell. put
the question -squarely to him. “I’ve been considering
_ whether I hadn’t better tell you that now, since I’nv here,
as it were, in -durance vile, with no prospects of ‘carry-
ing out the task to which I have bent a great deal of
energy, as I can assure you.- But if you really want me
to open this oyster, I'll ask you to take these ropes off

me, for they’re cutting most :painfully.”

6 Vou assaulted Hodge without provocation, and threw
him into some hole in the basin! Why did you do
that?” find

“And Allen, too,” said Brinkley. “Mr. Merriwell, we've
een trying for an hour to get him to say why he did
things.”

idn’t choose to talk until I had seen Mr. Merey

‘aa that is» his aaa

“Because, sir, the man you call Hodge is Gavin, and
the woman you call Allen is Mrs. Deming, the Salt Lake
murderess.”

“Ar-rh! ’Tis cra-azy yez ar-re!” yelled Mulloy.

“My dear sir, I speak forth the words of truth and
soberness.”

“You will have to explain,” said Merry.

“Do I get these cutting cords taken off?” Flagg parried.

“Take them off!” Merry commanded. 3

“You can’t get out of this cabin,” he warned, as the
cords were being stripped from the arms and legs of the
prisoner; “but we’re complying with your request. You
assaulted Allen and Hodge, and now they are in the
hands of the desperadoes we call the game killers—a mur-
derous set,,as we know, led by Beast Wilkins. Are you
a member of that gang? I want a straight answer.”

“Certainly not, sir,’ Flagg protested. “Don’t insult me,
sir!”

“Then, who are you?”

“I’m coming to it, sir.

“Not Flagg?”

My name is Paracelsus Brown.”

“My name is Brown, and I’m an amateur detective, from
Sait Lake City. You may_or may not know that a reward
of ten thousand dollars has been offered there for jhe
arrest of Mrs. Portia “Deming; for the murder of: her
husband. ‘It’was known that she had taken a train on
the Oregon Short Line, and that-at Cyanide she assisted
a man to break jail—this man Gavin, who was being held
there for highway robbery. They fled, sir, into the moun-
tains, on horseback.

“Thinking I could use ten thousand dollars to’ excellent
advantage, for I am a poor man, I set out in pursuit of
Mrs. Deming, and followed her and Gavin from Cyanide.
Inquiries which I made in that town developed. that the
mufderess ahd Gavin ltad fled to this section with a band —
of game killers. I even had descriptions of those game —
killers, and in every: way those pcnerigeiies fit the young, -
men } found in these cabins.

“So I was suré that I had located the game killers, é‘
and Gavin and Mrs. Deming in their midst; and I am still
clinging to the opinion that’ my ¢éntention is right, fs
it isn’t, proper proof will set it aside. aie

“In the meantime, to my story.”

He glanced round.

“Ah, there it is—my° bolometer compass,
taken away from me. It is a very clever thing; of my own
invention.” You noted” the cleverness with which 2» “used
it when I came first 6 the cabins. That was after
had looked the cabins over from’ a distance. “I left my
horse. on some open gfassland which I found at the
head of the-trail that comes out from Cyanide, and he is
there’ yet, ‘and I hope is doing well; if. the recent” snows
have not buried him. After F left him, I came the ‘rest’
of the way on foot, and I found it hard seve I de-
clare to you.

which was

“But here is my compass. Thank you, young a

for handing it to me!”
He held it up on the palm of his hand, and. fogked
round, beaming.

“A very clever thing,” he declared. “Used be

_ who ‘does not understand its secret, it is a very goe

pass. Used by me, it will play most unaccounté
For imstance——”

 
      

 

“Sit down!” Merry thundered. “You don’t get to the
door in that way!” }

“Oh, you thought I meant to reach the door?”

“That was your plan; I could see it in your face.”

“I beg your pardon for differing with you. I was merely
going to walk round you, to show you how this bolometer
compass will work—as I did when | first met you. But
I can walk round one of these other young men.”

“Sit down,” said Merry.

“Oh, very well, if you do not wish a demonstration.
Perhaps I can explain while sitting here.”

He resumed his stool.

“Held thus in my hand, with a little pressure at the
sides, which I am able to exert with my fingers without
its being noticed, the needle of this compass can be
directed by me toward anything at which I wish to point
it. It now, sir, poihts to you, Mr. Merriwell.

“Tt is just a part of my clever idea for making people
think that I am a scientist when I wish to do so, when, as
a matter of fact, I am not, being only a humble resident
of the City of the Saints.

“T am making this confession, because, when you know
that I am really an officer of the law, none of you
will be willing to harm me. If you had examined my
pockets, you would have found that I carry a certificate
from a Salt Lake detective agency, and also am a legally
accredited detective. I have a brother who holds office
there, and he got it for me, when I importuned him. Yet
when I told him I was going after that ten thousand ; ae
lars’ reward, he called me a fool.”

“You attacked Hodge!”

“Because I believed he was Gavin, and I have yet to be
convinced that I am wrong. I intended ’to take him and
Mrs. Deming back to Cyanide; and for that purpose I was
getting out the horses.”

“Ar-rh!” Mulloy growled again. “Ye’re th’ biggest fool
I iver met, and I’ve seen more than a few av thim. Hodge
is Gavin, and Allen is Mrs. Diming!” 4

“Oh, you admit it?”

“T admit nawthin’ av th’ kind. Av coorse they ain't.
"Tis a waste av time t’ be talkin’ wid ye. But luck here—
if Bart Hodge comes to anny great per -rm t’rough what
ye’ve done, I'll settle yez.’

“You would kill me—slay me in cold blood ?”

re wid I’d kill yez as I ae a rattleshnake,

it, now.”
Flagg looked at the red-faced Irishman steadily.
~ “Remember that I am an officer of the law,” he admon-
_ ished, “and to slay an officer of the law is a much more
serious offense than the killing of just an ordinary man,
and——”

“No matther. I'll settle yez, if ye’re twinty officers av
th’ law.” x

Flagg turned to Merriwell.
_ “Tt seems more than acting,” he observed calmly; “and
‘I have been thinking it was mere acting; so I am nearly
convinced that I have made a most egregious and unpar-
donable blunder. I do so much very good acting my-
° self, that I expect it in other men when it does not exist.
u give me the truth about Gavin? My future
bE action will be determined, if I can but know

“Moirld

 
 

lead he is!” said Mulloy. “How mariny times
towled ui? He was killed be Wilkins shootin’
. Ye know all about ut.”

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“And the man I.overthrew is really named Bart Hodge?”

“Tis thrue, ye scut!”

“And that was not Mrs. Deming—was a young man;
and I was misled by the cloths about his face into think-
ing that was a plan to conceal the woman’s features? I
have a photograph of Mrs. Deming; if you will but get
it for me, out of my pack over there, and examine it, you
will see that this man you call Allen looks marvelously —
as Mrs. Deming would look if she had a part of her face + ee |
covered..up in that way, and——” ff |
~“T’row th’ switch, and go into th’ side thrack; ye make |
me cra-azy, whin ye’re tongue runs away wid ye like anny
owld steam ingine! Mrs. Diming, is ut? Haven’t ye been ~
towld that her brother, Misther Ar-rch, run away from 7
here wid her, t’? kape her from bein’ taken back t Salt
Lake? How manny times %

“Are all these things true, Mr. Merriwell?
you Merriweil!”

“Certainly they’re true,” said Merry.

“Then I have made a great mistake. In my eagerness
to gain that ten thousand dollars I have played. the pet:
of a fool.”

“An idiot ye ar-re!” ms

“T admit it. All the harsh epithets you like may be |)
piled on me and I will not resent it. I am covered with , /(
humiliation——”

“But not wid sense! Ye. talk too much.” as

“If I rightly understand the situation now,’Flagg went 4
on, not in the least abashed, “there is little use in. looking {
for Mrs. Deming in this section, as she and Arch. have
had time to get-well out of the country?” i

“Plenty of ‘time,’ said Merry. as

“Then, if you will permit me to work in donjedesion j
with you, I promise you faithfully that I will bend. every core
energy I possess to the task of undoing the great wrong ©
I have committed against your friends, to your . ‘natural
great grief and sorrow, and——”

'“Ar-rh! Take th’ sidethrack! Ye'll/ stay right here,
wid somebody to watch yez, and a bullet ye’ll git av ye so
much as‘thry to move. And whin we go out av here, ye'll
go to jail.” /

   
  

es.

bo itn i pees
ae

 

 

I shall call 2

VG

CHAPTER VI. - Ceo
' FOOLING BEAST WILKINS.

Maes found it a help in his dilemma to fall back ‘on the
secret communication in Hodge’s note. ‘ 3

“Pay no attention to this,’ Bart had said, as plainly as a
if he had sprawled it out in written words.

Merry’s mind was taken up with this, and with plans,
even as he listened to the garrulity of the man they still Br
called Flagg, and to the question and comments of Barney |
Mulloy. +

It was possible that Bart had some sctictie for turning
the tables against Beast Wilkins and his gang, but, on the —
other hand, he may have expressed only his bravado or his
desire not to lure his old friend into danger. There ©
seemed really no way of knowing just what had been in
Bart’s mind when he gave ‘his onic that queer turn as he
finished writing his name. /

A compromise between the plan of moving right out of
the country, in accordance with the demand of Wilkins, and '
of Hodge’s request to pay no attention to that demand, was =f
the action Merry decided on, 4
He could send away the party of young men in the diver tt

 

t
   

 

 

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NEW

tion of the Cyanide trail. That would take them along

the course followed by the telephone line. They could

search for the break in the line, and could perhaps repair
it, and at the same time convey to Wilkins the impression
that his order had been obeyed.

To attempt to fool-the game killers in that way meant
that the cabin would have to be abandoned temporarily.
The young men could take the horses with them, and as
much of the food supply as the horses could pack, and
the remainder of the food could be cached.

Merry and Mulloy would secretly remain behind, and
would try to locate the game killers and release Hodge
and Allen.

Merry’s first idez was to send Flagg with the party
that set out over the snowed-in trail, but this he recon-
sidered. Flagg might.make trouble for them.

On the other hand, if Flagg’s latest account of himself
could be trusted, he was not a man to be feared; he was
simply an egotist, who believed he had the making of a
detective, and, through overconfidence, had played the
fool. If this were true, Flagg would be on the side of

- law and) order, and would not try to help Wilkins and
his band of outlaws.

Anyway, the idea of holding Flagg a prisoner at the
cabin would have to be abandoned. A man could not be
spared to guard him. And it would be necessary t¢ vacate

'\ the cabins. On the whole, Merry decided to keep Flagg
with his own party, as being the safest.

Stacked in a corner of the cabin were a number of
pairs of skis, newly made. Ski making had been a rather
steady occupation ever since Harold Arch, in escaping
from the cabins with Mrs. Deming, had taken all the skis
and snowshoes, for the purpose, as he avowed, of render-
ing pursuit useless. Skis weré necessary, or snowshoes,
as the snow now lay deep throughout most of: the park.

There was no snow in the geyser basin, however, be-
cause of the heat and steam there, and probably. not much
at any of the geysers. The snow fields, with a trimming
of ice on their edges, fringed the geyser area round like
ermine mantles edged with crystal.

Merry announced his plan, and set forth his reasons.

To Flagg he said:

“I am going to trust you; though you must know that,
at the same time, we shall watch you closely. If you are
what you claim to me—and I am almost convinced that
you are—you will be willing to aid us.”

Flage’s lean face showed new animation.

“You do me honor, and yourself honor, Mr. -Merriwell ;
you are a gentleman! You shall not regret your noble
decision, sir. I can see now that I have made a most
unpardonable mistake, and I shall be only too happy to
do anything in my power, sir, to rectify it.. All you need
to do is to command me, and you will find——
~“‘Ar-rh!”

Flagg subsided.

_. “Command me,” he said, with a gulp, and a look at the
testy Irishman.

“The first thing to do,” Merry ordered,
_ whatever work needs to be done on the skis. Each man
_ will need a pair. The horses are to be used as pack ani-
mals, and, as they will have to wallow through the sno
_ they cannot earry big loads, nor riders. The party ‘that
_ goes north is to send a man back to the cabins, if they

“is to finish

pike up the eltolone wire ene: can repair the line. ate

  

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and in the daytime he must hide in the geyser basin, unti.
he can communicate with us. Some one of our num-

 
 

ber will visit the cabins each night.

“We've got to be as wary as foxes, if we fool Wilkins
and his men. I suggest Brinkley for the command of
the party that goes north; you’ve got to have a head, .
one you can look to for orders. There are some hills
and broken country that you can conceal your movements
in, up there. In order to be sure that you deceive Wilkins,
Brinkley may think it necessary for the party to push well
on toward the Cyanide trail.

“On our end of this line we'll try to be careful, and
we hope to find Hodge and Allen. Now,” he added, “get
to work on the skis, and in getting the horses and packs
ready, for we move to-night as soon as it’s dark. We
want Wilkins’’men to see your trail, but not see you.”

Barney Mulloy felt called on to have an “argument”
with his old friend.

“That baste in th’ cabin, that said his name was Flagg;
d’ye mane that ye’re goin’ to take him?”

“What else can we do with him, Mulloy?’

“Ye’re thrustin’ him?”

“Not entirely.”

“Th’ liar he is! He'll thrick ye. ea av. us
knows. ut, we'll be ’atin’ his bullets, or feelin sting av
his knife. Ye'll thrust him to yere sorrow.’

“What do you suggest?” Merry: temporized.

“Didn’t he confiss himself that he t’rewBart into that
hole; and Allen befure that? An’ thin Bart was captured
be th’ outlaws! And sthill ye’ll belave him!”

‘You aren't telling me how I can do anything else?”

“Yell take him along? Th’ surprise t’ me is that ye can
belave a worrud he says.”

“Look here, Mulloy,” said Merry, ‘“‘you’re using your
mouth and not your brains. If I trusted him fully, I'd
send him off with the fellows who’ afe to go north. I
don’t dare to do it, for fear he may make trouble for
them; he might, for instance, run off with the horses, or
steal away with all their guns and ammunition.

“On the other hand, we can’t leave him at the cabins.” *s

“Why not? Tie him oop so tight he can't aven wink |
his eyes; he'll stay, thin.” .

“Say that we do that; and say that Wilkins’ gang comes
along, and unties hiy. If he isn’t in sympathy with them,
which he may be, he will at least be angry with us, and
he then. would likely. give away to them our a plan.
So, you see!” (ae

“Ar-rh!” é ; :

“If we take him with us, we can watch him. If your
bloodthirstiness holds, you may even be able to shoot
him if he turns treacherous or tries to run away. That
ought to satisfy you.”

“Ye’re laughin’ at me. ‘Tis no time f’r laughin’. Re-
mimber Bart, and that th’ baste in there done ut. If he
goes wid us, and timpts me beyond me powers. av resist-
ance——” .

“You'll shoot him? Tell him so, if you like. I feel as
much worked up about Bart as you do. But, if we're
to do him any good, we've got to keep cool.” _

The work of preparing for an apparent aban
of the country was carried on without any €
ceal it. In truth, Merry was perfectly w
watching spy should have ocular -demonst
order of Wilkins was about to be acted up

The skis were hurriedly finished, sand-

 
 
    
    
     
   
    
 
   
  
   
   
   
  
  
   
     
  
 
  
  
   
    
 
  
   
   
    
 
  
   
   
  
    
    
    
     
    
  
          
       
        
     
  

  

     
 

    

 
      
  

and polished, foot straps tested, and all put. in order; add
were used on the slopes before the cabins.

The food and all the supplies of every kind were
selected and put in shape for packing on the horses. The
indispensable things were to be taken, and as much of the
other stuff as the horses. could carry.
bh Merry made up shoulder packs for himself and Mulloy
and for Flagg.. They also chose a generous ‘supply of
cartridges.

When everything had been laid out, and was being made
ready, there remained many tins and boxes of food, and
other things, from the supplies which a liberal govern-
ment had furnished Harold Arch, the forest guard, Merry
felt justified, under all the circumstances, in using these
supplies, for» which he meant to offer payment when he
reached Mammoth Springs, if he ever got there.

Though a watch was kept, with more or less care, on
the surrounding hills, and on points down by the geyser
basin, no indications that Wilkins’. band of desperadoes
and game. killers was in the vicinity could be seen. One
could readily have believed that the only people in all that
expanse of snowy mountain country was: the party. making

  

/

active preparations at the cabins to get out of it.

When darkness came, the pack train, conducted by the
young fellows on skis, passed down and out through the
snow, in the direction of the distant trail to Cyanide.

At about the same time, Merry, Mulloy, and Flagg, laden
with shoulder packs,-also departed from the cabins.

CHAPTER VII.
MESSAGES FROM HOME.

The first efforts of Frank Merriwell and Barney Mul-

loy, aided by Elagg, who really seemed to wish to help,
were barren of} results,
Acting on the belief that the desperadoes were in: hid-
ing in the basin, they also made that their hiding place.
Their belief was based on the fact that no trail leading
out of the basin had been found.

‘Having practically placed Flagg on his honor, Merry did
not waste much time in watching him, but Mulloy, dis-
trusting and hating him for. his assault on Hodge, watched
him with such .cat-and-mouse closeness that it interfered
with his own proper work.

Quiet explorations, made through and about the geyser
- basin in the night, brought no results.

_» Encouhtering the constant danger of being themselves
seen by Wilkins’ men, they had to be careful, when be-
ae yond the basin proper, not to step over the ice and snow
‘line, and so leave telltale tracks.

Just before daybreak, Merry returned alone to the cabins,
making a stealthy approach, but no one was there. He
had hardly hoped, however, that word had been sent, back
_ yet from the party under Brinkley.

All through the day that ensued, Merry and those with
him crouched | in the darkness of the ne place iS

information that the damaged telephone

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

 

picked. up, and that afore to lift and wes -

  
  

the wires were being sritertalesn with every chance of
success.
Brinkley,.as a measure of caution, had sent the horses
on toward the Cyanide trail with all but two of the men,
who were helping him with the repairs. One of these
two men was. Sutton,.who had. been sent back to the |)
cabins. »
“If we can reéstablish communication with Mammoth  #
Springs, we can ask them to send down the forest rangers,” $
said Sutton; “then there will be some lively times for Beast ~
Wilkins and his bunch of thieves.” e. |
Sutton went back to report that he had met Merri- ve
well, and that, on the night following, Merry would meet
him again, or any one Brinkley sent, at Arch’s snow-buried |
cabin, where the end of the telephone line was located,
Merry hurried off to communicate the glad news to
Mulloy. of
Though it was desirable to summon the forest rangers,
that. was not the thought uppermost.in Merry’s mind
at the moment; he was thinking that the opening of the |
line would put him in communication with the whole a
world, by telegraph from Mammoth Springs, and that 7
meant commiunication with his home and Inza. F
The search carried on in and about the geyser basin

  

      
    
  
   
  
   
  
 
    
  
 
    
  
 
  
  
  
   
  
   
    
  
   
    
  
  
  
  
 

 

that night was as barren of results as on the night — -
before. It really seemed that Beast Wilkins and his des- si
peradoes had cleared out, and taken with them their 4
prisoners. oo a Bs
However, Merry did not believe this had been done. |
Wilkins’ mety:could not leave without making a trail, and a:
he could find no trail. Whether Wilkins was being dee 9, © 4
ceived by the trek of the party toward Cyanide could 4.
not be determined. te
During all this time, Merry’s fears for Hodge were fe eis
incessant. He was anxious for the safety of Allen; yet a
naturally, Hodge held first place in his thoughts. Worry = |
and toil, with sleeplessness, began to set marks in his = ©

face and shadow his fine eyes.

Mulloy was in a pretty steady coats against Fate in
general, and Flagg in particular. More than once he ff
hotly threatened to shoot Flagg for some infraction .
of what he considered necessary rules of conduct.

Flagg seemed so desirous of undoing the wrong hé had — oe
committed that he developed an enthusiasm in the search =f,
which threatened to expose the whole party to danger of .
discovery. by Wilkins’ men, if any of them were out. as fe
sentinels. | * i

“Ar-rh!” Mulloy would grate. “Ye’re darvin' totes ve
thim where ye ar-re, ye. treacherous skunk! Bist! Pease
watchin’ ye. So drop ut.” CAR

Flagg would expostulate in his usual wordy way. §  ~— |.

“’Tis a dictionary ye have swallied, judgin’ be yere talk. s
But worruds are chape. Kape thim f’r that book ye’'re
goin’ t’ write on this land av wondhers I’ve heard ye spake
about so much; ye’ re wastin’ thim. Yez.won’t have anny,
left, whin ye take oop yere pen to write.”

But it was quite impossible to keep Flagg from talking,

Merry had been given such confidence by the report
sent by Brinkley that, when the night came down, ‘he left.
Mulloy and aa and set off for Harold Arch’s ae ‘

as

 

    
     
     
 
  

   

   
   
 
 

  

 
   
 
  
  
 

eR ae Ob nso

  

 
 
   

frighten her, ‘idee assure her.
to do.
Benkley’s

It was not aa

messenger had Rot :
      

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“rather, its site, for the cabin lay
deeply buried, though a tunnel had been cut to it, and by

that means it could be entered.

‘reached the cabin, or,

, 4 Having satisfied himself that the messenger was not
e % there, Merry remained outside, watching and waiting, while
e a he tried to still his impatience and uneasiness.

» It was midnight before the messenger came.
ae Brinkley had again sent Sutton.

He came up very cautiously in the darkness to the

 

 

m6 o tunnel entrance. Merry, like him, was cautious, not being

a sure who he was.
~ “Sutton ?”
t i “Oh, you are here, Mr. Merriwell! I didn’t know.
ie Well, it’s good news, that is, if the line is in working
e order here. Brinkley was confident. He was saying, just
0 + °° before I set out, that if Wilkins was smart, he would
‘| have come to this cabin and smashed everything here. I’ve
x a been shivering all the way in, for fear he may have done
d x that very thing,”
e a “He hasn’t,” said Merry; “at least, I think he hasn’t. I
e a fumbled my way in, and everything seemed as when we
t 7 were here before. Brinkley is right. Wilkins could

7 have hurt us badly here, if he had been blest with enough
oe brains to do it.”
o> ar Together they made their way through the darkness
- 2 into the buried cabin. When Merry found that he could
r a really ring up Mammoth Springs, his delight was so great

eg that he almost lost his caution. —
. a Sutton suggested that, while he should much like to
aaa. O hear the reports, and get the news, some one really ought
-  #, ~ to be out at the end of the tunnel, and went out there,
d ‘a suppressing his desire in the interest of safety.
The superintendent at Mammoth Springs came to the

e _ phone and answered Merry’s call, ;
> - f -  “This is Arch speaking?” he said. “We've been worried
Yd about you, and I’ve got a gang of men out on the line,
$s q trying to find where it is“ down.’

1 Briefly Merry explained the situation.

Then he began to send messages, to be taken down, and
ecg sent off by telegraph from Cinnabar.
n @ The first was for Elsie:
Hg dq “Bart and I are here in the Yellowstone, marooned by
h g ah heavy fall of snow. Wire news of home.
t. “PRANK * MERRIWELL.”
2 ae He felt that it was the best he could say. Before ex-
# planations could be demanded he hoped to have Bart out
ll Bee of the hands of Beast Wilkins.
na re . The next was for Inza:

“Am here in Yellowstone with
‘bound. Wires have been down.
Wire news of home.”

Bart Hodge, snow-
Hope to get out soon.

_. Then he began to send off the messages which Brinkley
and his friends had written for the purpose, with mes-
sages given him by Mulloy and Flagg.

Flagg’s was professional.. The amateur detective an-
nounced to his brother, in Salt Lake City, that he had, on
_. arriving in the park, found that Mrs. Deming had fled
out of it.» He wanted the news spread; and he put in a
claim for a part of the reward offered, if she was cap-
_ tured, as he had traced her this far and sent out this
_ announcement.

He also had a message for the marshal at Cyanide, an-

Le that Gavin, who broke jail there, was dead, and

TOP

right.

WEEKLY

claimed a reward because he could show where Gavin
was buried, and could produce the body if necessary.
Every one had a message to send, and Merry sent them
all. "
Having ‘done this first,
tion

he again explained the situa-
to the superintendent of the park, told all he knew
about the game killers, and requested that the forest
rangers should be sent to run the desperadoes down.

“ll start them out in the morning,” was the promise
he got.

All this done, Merry asked, last, for the general news
of the world—the principal happenings since he had left
Cyanide. .

The effect of this opening of communications was ex-
hilarating; it was like opening a window in a dark room.
Merry was in literal darkness, down in the buried cabin,
afraid to use a light even there; yet his surroundings had
suddenly become luminous, while he talked with the park
superintendent over the slender wires which reached away
through the snowy night.

Though it would be hours before answers could come
to the’ personal messages, Merry’s impatience held now a
certain element of contentment. He was trusting that at
home,, and at Bart’s home, all was well and all was

Sutton was permitted to take his place at the telephone
and talk with the distant superintendent, while Merry
stood outside as guard at the end of the tunnel; he knew
how Sutton would appreciate this.

The fellows who had come into the park were, in spite
of some faults, excellent young men. . They had
thought they could slip in and kill game, and in that way
have a sporting trip, even though it was unlawful; and
they had found no hunting worth mentioning, but a lot
of danger and hardship. Under this ‘buffeting they were
proving that they had good qualities, in spite of the
recklessness with which they had set out to violate the
park game laws.

really

Both Sutton and \Merry moved with lighter steps, as they
set off from the cabin, ‘after they had used the. telephone os
there for more than an hour--moved off feeling that the id
world was.not so far away, after all, and friends were
near. fr

CHAPTER VIII.
INTO THE BEAST’S LAIR. .
Merry’s feeling, not latent:even at first, that he must |
do something for Hodge and Allen before the arrival
of the forest rangers, deepened. For when the rangers 4+
came, Wilkins and his desperadoes could no longer be
deceived. \

From the first it had been a question as to what Wilkins
would do if he became sure that his demand had been
complied with. Neither his note, nor that aioe Hodge,
had been explicit.

Where were Hodge and Allen to be réleaied? How were ©
they to rejoin their friends? How was Merry’s party to —
be informed? .

    
   
     
  
 
      
     
    

  

 
 

3east Wilkins ntight not release hjs prisoners —
thought his demand had been hicks with. |
Flagg bewailed volubly the unfortunate
made, by which Hodge and Allen had been deli
to Wilkins. He declared, with many words,

 
 
 

       
   

forever feel that their blood was on him, if the des-
peradoes killed them.

However, Mulloy still distrusted him.

Mulloy was sure that his distrust had justification when
it was found that Flagg had disappeared, before day-
break, on the morning after the telephone: line had been
opened.

“He’s gone to Wilkins wid th’ news,” he grumbled, when
he reported this; “takin’ advantage, ye see, av me inattin-
tion. We was skir-rtin’ th’ edge av thé snow field, lookin’
f’r thracks, whin all at wanst he is missin’ in th’ fog. And
now Wilkins will know all about th’ rangers comin’, and
i } all about iverything. ’Tis a pity.”

But Flage was doing nothing of the kind.

Having been at a little distance from Mulloy, with whom
he was making the round, he had seen a man slipping along
in a skulking manner, and promptly skulked after him.

He would have called his discovery to Mulloy, if he had
dared, and, of course, he could not go back, as he knew
if he took his eyes off the man, the charices were good
that the fellow would not be seen again.

Plage was a queer compound of wisdom and foolish-
ness. He much overrated his detective abilities. His ideas
of a detective, being largely based on. what he had read
in detective stories, had led him to assume a false name
and character and employ the trick instrument which he
called his bolometer compass, Then, expecting that a
tracked criminal would also take a false name and assume
some sort of disguise, he had leaped to the foolish conclu-
sion that Allen’s bandages were disguises and he was Mrs.
_» Deming; and that Hodge’s fancied resemblance to the
'- man who had escaped from the Cyanide jail proved that
_Hodge was Gavin.

He had since then suffered much mentally, because he
had ‘made those silly mistakes and had acted on them in
/a way that threatened the lives of the men he had so un-
wisely assaulted. And he had been trying earnestly to do
all he could to assist Merry and Mulloy in locating the
_ missing men.

Flagg’s heart beat high when ie saw the skulking form
in the concealing mist and began to stalk it.

He was again, in his mind, the detective he wished to be;
a detective trailing a criminal in the true bloodhound
fashion.

The pertinacity with which Flagg clung to that trail
was of a worthy kind. With quiet stealth he held on and
on, until at last he was led almost out of the geyser field,
down into-one of the long prongs of the basin; being
thus. taken well beyond the concealing mists, over an area
so heated that snow could not lie on it.

_ Down there in the darkness, Flagg lost his man.
But he was not discouraged. - ;

_ “He can’t get by me without my ‘knowing it, and if he
goes out at the end of this starfish extension he will have
to: leave a trail iry the snow, and then I’ll follow him. But
I believe I’ve located the outlaw camp right here. Still,
when we looked down into this corner we saw nothing!”
Flagg flattened himself out on tHe ground, and lay wait-
1 watching, resolved that no one should pass back
the basin without his knowledge.
here until daylight, and then some,” he

  

t
/

ee : ) - NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

with alacrity. But I had no idea that there were”

  
      

the geyser mists, and then broad day flood the land with

    
     
  
 
   
   
   
 
  
 
   
   
    
    
   
   
    
   
  
  
  
  
   
   
  
  
   
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
   
  

 

light. r
Then he arose. He still saw no one. However, he v
thought he had worked to a clever idea. He would go we pe
on along this prong of the basin, and make usé of his Bt ok
bolometer compass as if he were searching for minerals. :
He could thus see if any men were in it, and look for % h
the tracks of the man in the snow at the end, if the man ob
had gone on. ae i
With his trick compass elevated on the palm of his ;
hand, Flagg set off gayly. The needle pointed straight MW es
along the prong, manipulated by the pressure of his fingers st f fi
on the hidden springs that controlled its action, peed
‘Really remarkable,” he said, as if talking to himself; $4} ©
“a really remarkable thing that the compass should point ¢ Coie
in this direction. I am almost convinced that out here t : d
there are precious: metals; t ahouge perhaps only an iron- a.
ore deposit. I shall have to see.’ 4 boi
Now and then he stopped and studied the compass. of Ss
“Most eccentric actions,” he would declare aloud; “truly % : b
most eccentric! And yet there are fools who declare that 4 t
there are no metals in the park.” e I,

Ahead of him was a flat geyser cone, and near it a: boil-
ing Spring, the spring overflowing into a steamy channel.
The geyser was an active one, but for a number of days ‘
now it had been quiescent. : { 8

Renee Utne ra

 

      
     
       
 

Flagg was prancing along, holding up his compass, and Dp
talking, when he saw a man slide out of sight near the 1 t!
boiling spring. eatemme ef

This would have/deterred most men, and sent shai ann n
back; it only stimulated Flagg..,Here was the man he § i
had followed, he was sure. a i i

“Aha!” he exclaimed, “the compass points straight ahead ! 7;

_ Magnetic iron ore strongly indicated, or perhaps précious a
metals. My fortune may be in the making. I must “a il
investigate.” Brass

He “investigated” so rapidly that ina minute more he f°  t
was at the boiling spring, and saw a number of rough- t h
looking men crouched at the foot of the sawed-off geyser SMe it
cone, all of them villainous in appearance, and all thor- —_ i ah
oughly armed. Rifles were'leveled at him. om Ya

Close by these men, on the ground, were Hodge abd oR >
Allen. Me og 4 ei

“Come in out o’ the wet!” one of the rough men i a,
commanded. UK ni

Flagg wheeled toward them, his open mouth anid mut- ‘ Beate
tering lips:expressing wild surprise; on the palm of his | a
hand rested his compass. Mec

“Ah, I was fooled; it was men, instead of metals, that PANG
my compass indicated! Most remarkable!” q

He stared at his compass. peers ce y

“Ah! The needle swings! I am right! It indicated a
men! It tarns toward you! Notice it! It is pointing d

       
 

directly at you!” ;
“And this is p’intin’ gercale at you,” said the man, itlus- tipo ya
trating with his rifle. “Come in out of the wet.” i
Flagg flung a glance round. ESS
“Ah It is a bit misty here,” he admitted; “this boiling | 2
spring throws up very fair imitation raindrops. I obey you.

 
   
       
  
  

  

  
   

this place. It is truly astonishing.”
“Drop it!”
“My bolometer compass? Never, iv Tol
these ies would ruin: it, Ws mechanism 4s,

   
 
    

   
 
   
  
      

 

 

metals, it must be delicately balanced.. You will observe,
e when you give it attention——”
o : ' With a movement of his rifle, the man signified that
$ {i Flagg was to stand close in against the rocks.
i: £. “Hank, hustle out and see if any one else is out there!”
a % he commanded.
n ch One of the rough-looking men slipped softly away, trail-
ae ing his rifle.
‘oe a Flagg glanced about. He saw that though neither Hodge
t | nor Allen was tied or manacled, the rifles furnished suf-
ficient assurance that they would not try to break
- away.
Sore One of the rifles, that held by the leader, was fitted with
So's y a Maxim silencer; the others were ordinary Remingtons,
e b deadly enough, but not to be fired without telltale reports.

eR 3 a ' Flagg was sure that this leader, who had spoken so
roughly, was none other than Beast Wilkins. He an-
swered to the description and the name; he had a coarse,

y 2. bestial face, that was heavily bearded, and his low, re-

t ~~ treating brow, covered with heavy black hair, showed a
lack of intelligence.

- 4... Beast Wilkins was glaring at Flagg.

“What ye got to say?” he snarled.

s “Well, I don’t know,” Flagg cackled. “I was knocked
silly when I saw the needle of my bolometer compass
ae pointing to this group of men, when all along I had

e | thought I was going toward iron ore, or perhaps precious
metals, and, then, your rough way of speaking! I find
I had no notion that men were

 

 

a ; myself quite breathless.
¢ § im here. Why, sir, we have looked through this place
i _ several times, and found no one in it! So I—”
! “Who do you mean? Your gang?”
S “Sir, I have no gang,” said Flagg sweetly. “I have fallen
t, in with some pleasant gentlemen, while here searching for
precious metals. It was rather good luck for me, I
e | thought, as there have been storms, and I was alone. I
Bh he ee ' had been sleeping out in the snow, and they permitted me
r } to sleep in their cabins. I regarded it as quite a favor.”
ee “Saw it off! What’s yer name?”
Lan “My name? Jabez Flagg, metallurgist and geologist,
a residence Salt Lake City; out here on a geologizing trip,
and searching for gold and silver; you may call me a
n wae scientific prospecter, if you prefer that; I use science in my
ay ae prospecting. I have here my business card, which I now
i Sag _ present as an introduction. I regret that it has become
3° Be © « bit soiled—” |
ee With great gravity he fished it out and presehted it.
Ge Beast Wilkins turned it over in his hands.
he q “I can’t read it,” he said; “so it don’t do me any good.
M You’ve been with that party at the cabins? They made
d a bluff of cuttin’ out, but you bein’ here shows that they
ge didn’t. Where aire they now?”

- Flagg looked at Beast Wilkins with mild eyes.
' “My dear sir, I hope you do not identify me with that
patty! I joined them only by chance. But I will answer
your question: They did start to leave, because they had
received word—from you, I suppose—ordering them to
leave. But on the way they encountered a company of
_ forest rangers that had been sent down here from Mam-
Ke You see, there was a forest guard down
oe here by the name of Harold Arch, and because of the
eavy ‘snow. and bad weather they had become anxious

   

righ

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 13

 

to be afraid of these men; not sense enough to understand

crowd,

' After that the threatening rifles held them.

“And they united, then, with the party .

  

    
     
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
   
   
 
   
 
  
  
  
  
   
  
 
 
 
 
   
    
   
  
 
   
   
   
  
   
   
    
  
     
       
       
         
 
    
     

This fake news was like
Wilkins face showed

There was an uneasy stir.
a bomb thrown into their midst.
fear.
“Where aire they?” he snarled.
“My dear sir, I don’t know, but they may be in the geyser
basin. I was down in the basin with some other men last
evening, having been with them when they temporarily
separated from the rangers, and I became separated from
them. So it is impossible for me to answer your ques-
tion. It is possible, if the rangers are not in the basin,
that they are now at the cabins, but I can’t tell you. I
regret very much that——”
“Saw it off!”
Flagg collapsed and subsided.
“Yes, sir,” he said meekly.

CHAPTER IX.

DESPERATE HODGE.

The man who had set out to see if Flagg had com-
panions was heard returning.

Bart Hodge wondered, then, if the time had not come
for action, when every one, including Flagg, was looking
off toward the geyser basin.

It is hardly necessary to say that Hodge had beet quite —
as much amazed by Flagg’s entrance upon the scene as
any of the outlaws, and he listened to Flagg’s wordy
speeches with equal astonishment.

He saw Flagg playing here the same game he had ~
played when he arrived at the cabins—lifting his trick
compass and talking about its merits and his search
for precious metals. e

Hodge began to think that Flagg had not sense enough

the peril of his position., Either that, or the courage
and nerve of the man were of a high order, to enable
him to go through his posing and speech-making without
a sign of fear. os
Hodge had not liked Flagg, had disbelieved his Hartel “nes
then had been attacked by him, and left half senseless joo
and bound; while Allen had been treated in the same AG
way. ta
Both Hodge and Allen had thought, at first, that Flagg
was one of Beast Wilkins’ men, because of that.
Yet they had seen that he did not join Wilkins’ men;
and here proof was furnished that he was not of them. —
In writing his note to Merriwell, at the dictation of —
Beast Wilkins, Bart Hodge had“edded that discrediting —
curve at the end of his signature, thus telling Merry to —
pay no attention to what he had written, simply because
he did not want his old friend to rush headlong into |
danger in an effort to rescue him; as he believed that this
well-armed body of desperadoes would shoot down Merry’
if it were attempted. He preferred to take the ap
chances of breaking away himself.

Day and night he and. Aller 1

  

   

 
  

No chance had come!

   
     
    
 

4

tried to escape. :
Only at first had Hodge and Allen been h

   
 
 
  

  

As Flagg had told his story of the
forest rangers with face so sober and man
Hodae. was becomes that the raifers wel

  
    
   

 
AS NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

the basin or at the cabins, and that the outlaws believed
the same their panic showed.

Wondering if their confusion did not offer the oppor-
tunity for which he so long had waited, Hodge flung a
glance round, when he heard the man returning from the
basin and saw the desperadoes and Flagg looking toward it.

He was thinking that if the rangers were near by, shots
from the desperadoes’ rifles would reach them, and bring
them; hence, the outlaws would not dare to use their rifles,
with the exception of the one that had affixed to its muzzle
a Maxim silencer.

As his glance flicked round, it fell on Allen, sitting
beside him. Allen was looking at him anxiously, as if
questioning his thoughts.

Hodge wished he could catch Flage’s eye. He was be-
ginning to feel that Flagg might be willing to help him,
or at least join in a rush to get out ofthis place. Flagg
had shown that he had ‘courage, and he must know that
now he was considered a prisoner by the outlaws.

But Flagg was also looking off toward the geyser basin,
bending forward, his trick compass in his hand, on his
face a blank expression, that suggested an empty head.

No help was to be had from Flagg.

Hodge glanced: back: at Allen, who was still staring at
him, head bound round with bandages; Allen’s: eyes were
bright with expectation.

Hodge’s resolution was taken. He

“Now is our time!” his lips whispered.

Yet the thing he contemplated seemed little

nodded.

short of
madness. It was nothing less than the seizure of the
with the Maxim silencer, and a wild sprint toward the
geyser basin for safety, trusting that the outlaws would
fear to use the other rifles because of the reports.

Hodge waited until the messenger hurried up and said:

“Men in by the geysers, huntin’ round!”

“Now!” said Hodge, and came to _ his
spring.

With a leap he was over by Wilkins, and had snatched
the rifle out of his hands. he tried to back
away, pointing it at Wilkins.

Allen had sprung up with him, and was trying to get by
and into the opening leading to the basin.

Flagg yelled out, adding to the/sudden confusion:

“Here! Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

Wilkins was shrinking back.

But it was shown that there are other ways of using
rifles than firing them. One flew through the air as a
elub, and brought Allen sprawling down on the rocks, and

gun

fect with a

Cocking it,

another came whirling at Hodge.

In evading it, Hodge ducked, and the muzzle of his rifle
“came down. Wilkins, seizing it, pushed it aside,
threw himself at Hodge with tigerish impetuosity.

Flagg yelled again, like a screech of fear, and, seeing
that he could not pass toward the geyser basin without
being’ mowed down by a clubbed rifle, he turned in the
other direction. _

“You can’t get out there!” Hodge shouted.
Hodge had no time to shout again. Beast Wilkins was
for his throat, and some of the other outlaws
) strike him with the butts of their rifles.
le that ensued, the rifle with the Maxim
lattering, struck on the slippery y rock with
- a bound, and slid over into the boiling

and

fighting and struggling. Wilkins was pushing Hodge back.
The outlaw was much the stronger. For though Hodge
was a giant in strength and a fighter of such cleverness
that few men could have tackled him successfully, he had
not recovered from injuries he had received.

Yet, feeling now that it was a battle to the death, his
strength was so roused that when Wilkins tried to crush
him with a bearlike hug, Hodge broke away, and, with a
whirling movement and a clever slipping of his foot under
Wilkins’ leg, he flung the desperado heavily, and did, also,
what he had not intended—hurled him clear of the ground,
and saw him go over into the boiling spring. -

Hodge shook off the shuddering feeling that seemed
about to paralyze him, sprang for the opening that led
toward the basin, and he shouted to Allen to follow.

Allen leaped up, yelling that the rangers were coming,
and turned to obey Hodge, but went down on the slippery
rock,

Hodge gained the opening and shot away, running in
a wild sprint toward the basin.

The horror of what he had done striking him through
and through, caused him even in that perilous moment to
look back over his shoulder.

He beheld the hideous head and face of Beast Wilkins
rising out of the bubbling water, and saw the desperadoes
scampering off, as if they meant to desert him. Allen’s
cry that the rangers were coming had thrown a fright
into them,

Hodge stopped, in spite of the danger.

Wilkins. came out of the bubbling spring, stood up,
shook his fist at Hodge, and*turned about and ran away,
after his men,

In their stampede they abandoned Allen.

Hodge lifted his voice in a carrying yell, intended to
bring the rangers, if they were within hearing, and stood
Allen came up, in a scared run, panting’ heavily.
“Come on! Those
and are, afraid to

waiting.
“You're all right?” asked Hodge.
fellows are too panicky to think,
shoot.”
Side by ‘side they ran on,
of the geyser basin.

into the concealing mists:

CHAPTER X.
GUARDING THE TRAP.

The men who had been seen in the mist by the messenger |
of Beast Wilkins were Frank Merriwell and Barney
Mulloy.

Hodge and Allen soon encountered them, for; the yells
had drawn them. / /

They came popping out of the mist, much as if they
broke through it as a circus rider breaks through a paper
hoop, and they were greeted with exclamations of delight
by both Hodge and Allen.

Merry put his arms round Hodge.
f

Mulloy fairly fell.
on him. Se es
Then they turned to Allen. ,
“Beast Wilkins and his crowd have been holding us, as,

of course, you know, if you got those notes,”
“and we just now broke away! Flagg was in there.”
“We'd better get back farther for concealment,” Merry —
advised; “unless we can accomplish something ey Soing,
forward? What about Flagg?”
“Flagg is all right,” said Hodge; “I ‘don't ‘mean. ‘tay:
haven't got him—as v m afraid they haves but, eres

 

said Hodge;
back.
lodge
rness
e had

h, his
crush
vith a
under

also,
ound,

ered
it led

nt to

ilkins
adoes
Ilen’s
fright

d up,
away,

ed to
stood ,
‘avily.
Those
id to

mists: «

enger —
arney

- yells
they

paper
elight

y fell.

f

4S, as,

odge;

Merry —
going ae

: Gey

rwise,

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. | 15

. Flagg is all right. And perhaps he isn’t half the fool
_ that he looks and makes himself out to be. He is sure

_ Some actor.”

Mey,

They were retreating into the misty curtains.
“Wilkins’ men were holding you, down there?” said

Merry. “We went through that place yesterday !”

’ “There’s a hole you don’t know about, which lets them

into a box cafion lower down. They don’t like to stay in

the cafion, for its small, and has walls like a house, and
they could be trapped in it. But they must have been in
there when you were down that way,” Hodge explained,
“they've been hiding in the cafion, and in the geyser,

“In the geyser?”

-“Tt’s an irregular spouter; goes into action about once
in two weeks;.a little ahead of that ‘time, or a little later.
of spouted about ten days ago, and must be getting ready

to geyse again. So they’ve been saying in the cafion, being

a bit afraid to go into the geyser now. But much of
the time we’ve been camping in that geyser.”
- That a geyser could «be oe entered, that any one

“They've ent tabs on ~ you pretty well,’ said itGe

“but they didn’t know that the rangérs had come, until

Flagg. informed them. That threw a panic into them, and

what enabled us to break away. But we hag to fight
about it, as soon as I can.”

Tangers haven't come, but they’re corning,” Merry
|; “yet we don’t know when they'll get here. That
as queer about Flagg! He knew the rangers hadn’t
—that they couldn’t have got here.”
[ dunno phat ¢’ think av that felly,”’ said Mulloy. “That
danced in there wid his compass may be ‘only a sign
at he’s era-azy.”

“Or that he has sublime courage,” said Hodge. “The
fdllow isn’t half bad. Anyway, Allen and I would have
been ‘there yet, if he hadn’t come and hadn’t said what
he did. He’s nobody’s fool,”

An’ ye can say that, after phat he did to yez?”

“T’m erediting him what he has done now. He told me
hee I was Gavin, and I think he did; and he thought

len was Mrs, Deming. That sounds like the conclu-
sions of a fool. Yet, if he’s a fool, he’s of a. rare
Kind.” »

yeah while he talked with Hodge and Allen, and lis-
tened to. their comments and the accounts they gave of
their experiences while they were in the hands of Beast
Wilkins, Merry was reaching out and making further
plans.

Flagg was probably now in the hands of the desperadoes,
and when they found how he had lied and deceived them,
and that the rangers were not near, they might be inclined,
in their anger, to finish him.

“The situation being as it is,” Merry remarked—“the des-

is gicadode! down in that hole, with a box cafion behind them,

nd the geyser their only other good hiding ‘place, we’ve
ot?them | mn a corner; and we must keep them there: So
e thing ‘to do is to see that they don’t get out.”

Ss Koican which might. be brought about. He
1d shindy, and liked to hear the heads cracking.
tins got the scalding that it seems he must have

got,” said Hodge, “he’ll be in no condition for a battle,
so far as he’s concerned. It astonished me te see him get
up and run, with the water dripping from him in streams.
Why, that water was boiling!”

“"Twas th’ boilin’ av a bad egg,” said Mulloy; “I hope
he got ut good.”

“Tl go.and summon the boys,” Allen volunteered. “With
their help we can certainly keep Wilkins’ crowd in there
until the rangers get here. I owe something to Beast
Wilkins and his gang, and I'd like to pay-~it.”

Merry accepted Allen’s offer, and sent him away, armed
with one of the rifles.

The watch that followed after Allen’s departure was
not tedious, at first.. There were a thousand things with
which Bart had to be made acquainted, not the least pleasing
being the opening of telephone communication and the mes-
sages that were sent.

“That’s the best of all,” he said; “I know that Elsie
has been wiring everywhere, and has been wild with
anxiety. An answer from her aught to be here to-day. - It
may be that if one of us could go over to the cabin and .
call up Mammoth Springs, we'd get it now.” ,

Hodge was so anxious about this, that, finding Merry
equally anxious, he prevailed over the dictates of caution,
and set out.

When he came back, his face beaming, he had messages
from Elsie and from Inza—news that all was well at home.
He had taken down the messages in pencil.

“You will see that Inza tucked in a word about young
Frank, at’ Fardale,” he commented, “to let you know that
he is all right, too. I sent back messages; told ’em we were
fine, and said never a word about the hole I’ye been in and
the dangers we’ve been through; I thought it just as well.”

“No nade t’ be worryin’ thim,” said Mulloy. “Ah, there’s
the missage f’r me, too; I t’ought I w’u’dn’t be forgot!”

“The rangers have started,” was one of the things Hodge
reported, “but I judge they'll have hard work getting here,
and it will take them some, time.”

“And in the manewhile,” said Barney, “couldn’t we be
doin’ something oursilves? Tis not to me taste t’ be lyin’
here like a log.” :

CHAPTER XI.
INTO THE GEYSER.

The sublime egotism and self-confidence which had led
Flagg from the first was the supporting power that had
enabled him’ to beard the outlaws in their den. Flagg
literally did not believe that anything very serious could
happen to him, until the time came, and, to his mind, that
time was still a number of years ahead, It may be said
that his egotism was crack-brained and his fatalism fool-—
hardiness, and the truth about his eccentric Seeny will
be closely approached. bow

Merriwell had: sized-up Flagg’s character pretty well. by.
this time. But he could not share in Flage’s belief of
his invulnerability. Flagg’s peril was acute, <— was |
sure.

Sharing this opinion with Merry, Hodge was for doing

‘something, and was backed by the fighting Irishman.

4 don’t bie: Flags, ye know,” said Barney ; “but td i

ut’s natid t’' me f’r hilp. But av we make an adva-ant
sh’u’d be an aisy wan.”
It was a very “aisy wan”; sr eh

 
16 NEW ‘TIP
crawled toward the sawed-off geyser, a skulking approach
that minimized the danger.

When they got there, the desperadoes had gone. Here
was the hollow in the wall where they had been, the slip-
pery rock over which Hodge had’ fought Beast Wilkins,
and the boiling spring into which Wilkins had been
hurled.

Hodge dipped his fingers into the
temperature.

“Faugh !”
for a warm bath.”

“You were hoping the rascal was scalded?” aske
amused,

“Certainly not, but I thought he had been. The water
is charged with carbonic-acid ‘gas,” he added, sniffing and
tasting; “that’s*why it bubbles so. Perfect soda water,
needing only a little sugar. It could be bottled and
sold.”

“Any old water can be bottled and sold, with
advertising,” Merry commented. He was glancing ahead.
“The overflow slops on into that cafion, and Beast Wilkins
and his gang must be down there.”

“And if Flagg is alive, he’s amusing them with his
bolometer compass, and watching for a chance to break
away,’ Hodge added, “But as they’re all armed, to go in
there now would be just a nice way to commit suicide.”

They discussed the probability of any of the outlaws
being in the geyser. Bart believed none were.

[t. was not much of a scramble to reach the rim of the
geyser cone, for while the-limy deposit of which the cone
The top

water to test its

he said., “It isn’t hot—only tepid; about right

d Merry,

proper

was composed was slippery smooth, it was dry.
had a sawed-off appearance.

Peering over the rim, Merry looked down the interior
of the cone, and saw that it was irregularly ribbed, or ter-
raced, and that it might be descended readily by a good
and careful climber. ee

As they talked of this, they watched the mouth of the
cafion, and were careful to so screen themselves behind
the cone that no long-range rifle shot from the cafion
could ‘reach them.

Bart Hodge explained how he had been taken into the

geyser with Beast Wilkins’ men.

  
   
   
  
   
   
 
  
   
 
   
 
   
   
  

“When you’ve descended by those notches about to.
where it begins to look black, you'll find a little shelf,
or lip of rock, sticking out, and you land on that. At
one side is an opening, into a big room, and beyond is a
cave. I wasn’t in the cave, though the game killers went
in there. I think that when this geyser spouts, that room
and cave are filled with water. Wilkins’ crowd were grow-
ing afraid to stay in there. And that’s probably why none
of them are in there now. The regular time for the thing
to spout is drawing near.”

Old Faithful, as the greatest of the park geysers is called,
is known not to vary in the time of its eruptions more
than. five minutes either way for an hour, and throws a
solid column of hot water a hundred ‘and thirty feet into
the air. But others are very irregular. In. some, the
water merely rises and rolls in a flood over the rim of
the cone. As to temperature, the waters vary from merely
lukewarm to scalding.

All these things Merry and his friends knew, and took
into consideration, as they sat on the white calcareous rock
behind. the. sawed-off cone. and discussed the general
situation.

As Beast Wilkins and his men, who were familiar with

 

TOP WEEKLY.

the eccentricities of this particular geyser, Were now
afraid to remain in it, below, Merry and his companions
had no notion of taking the risk of a descent.

“The first man who ever went down that chimney cer-

tainly had his courage with him,” Merry commented.
“Suppose one slipped, or missed his footing on that
ledge?”

“He wouldn’t shtop fallin’ this’side avy Chiny, unless th’

wather——’
“Help!”
Breaking into Mulloy’s comment, the call came clearly,
in the voice of Jabez Flagg, from the heart of the geyser.
Mulloy dropped back, his face blanching.
‘“*Tis down there he is.”
They climbed to the rim of the cone,
call again.
“T ought to have as much bravery as Flagg had, when

and heard the

he danced up to Beast Wilkins with his foolish little com-

pass, and so gave me a chance,” said Hodge. “‘The devils

have tied him down there, and Igft him to die; and [m=

going down to aid him. If know the way. Yow just stay
here, and keep guard.”

Hodge swung over into the geyser cone.
“Ye’d betther come back,” warned Mulloy ;
decoy. 7

Merry followed Hodge when he refused to stop, and
Mulloy was left as sentinel and guard.

There was another call—a stifled one.

*'tis maybe

S

Hodge dropped to the lip of stone, at the end of his 5
and stood there until Merry joined him, .
It was thie open-)
ing to the room that Hodge had mentioned. No doubt

brief - descent,
Straight ahead of them was a black hole.

the calls for help had come from that room. But now
nothing was to be heard.
Together they called the name of Flagg, and seit they

got no reply, though it seemed rashness to enter, they)

scrambled into the black hole. Then they called again,

and took from their backs their rifles, to be in readiness”

for a fight, though a fight in that place was the last thimg
they desired.

“Something wrong!” said Hodge.
plainly, that last time, to be mistaken.

he isn’t in here alone.”

“You've been farther in than this?” Merry asked.

“Yes! -And I’m going farther in now!”

There was a headstrong, reckless streak in’ Hodge, to
which an adventure such as this appealed; so he would
have gone on now at whatever cost, having made up his
mind that Flagg had called for help.

Merry did not try to dissuade him, but followed, ready
to back him.

Hodge was moving on, with rifle ready, and calling at
intervals.

“This is about as far as I’ve ever been,” he said, stop-
ping. “That sound you hear now is a noise of water, made
by a stream in the cavern beyond this room. Tye never
been in the cavern. There are, or wefe, some torches on
my right here. Just wait a minute!”

Moving a yard or two to the right, Hodge ffoundea
torch on a rock shelf, and lighted it.
a bullet to come flying at him, as the torsit: blazed forth.
But nothing happened. i

Merry looked round by the blaze of the flaring torch,
on white calcareous walls that were > given a reddish tinge”

 

 

Ce heard him too —
It was a smothered
call, as if some one had clapped a cloth over his mouth. So

He almost expected °

 

 

 

 

th
ro

<

thi

noe
go
the
wy:

 

: a “Nobody here!” said Hodge.

=

 

at Pe =

Cath
a.

NEW TIP
in an irregular
water worn; an
spouted, a small

by the/torchlight, and saw that he was
room, whose walls, of limy deposit, were
indication, it seemed, that when the geyser
‘river@f water was driven in here.

, Before him was a dark opening, into which the torch-
light fell dimly—the opening into the cavern.

“They’re in the cavern.

3

 HellosFlagg! Where are. you:

») *sAs at he were not doing a thing sufficiently reckless, by

. Standing forth with the torch in his hand, inviting a
* bullet, Hodge moved with a jump into the opening.
Ware!” Merry cried.

Yet he moved with Hodge, when the latter, holding
» the torch out before him, followed its light into the
- cavern,

Merry’s rifle was ready for a shot, and he fully ex-
pected that this dash of recklessness would bring a fight,
and perhaps something werse.

But again they encountered no one, saw no one, heard
no! one. )

Hodge lifted the torch high over his head.

lis flaring red light flashing over the cavern walls re-
vealed a veritable palace of Aladdin. There had been a
rift in the volcanic rock, made in some earthquake: con-
vulsion ; later, the lime-laden water coming from the
geyser and pouring through here, filling it to the top, had
feft on the walls not only a deposit of lime which had
smoothed out their roughness, but had hung white stalac-
tites from the roof, and sown the floor with stalagmites
that rose to meet them. Here and there these joined and
formed slender columns, like white marble? ‘The walls

~and pendants of white were stained red by the flare of
the torch.

It was a grotto for fairies and sprites, not a hiding
place for bloodthirsty desperadoes of the type of Beast
Wilkins.

There was evidence that the cavern had been recently
‘occupied. At one side, on the dry white rock, were
blankets, and spitted on a stalagmite was the carcass of
a deer; also there was evidence that recently a fire had
been burning.

“Flagg!” Hodge called, staring about.
| He got no answer.

“Flagg was here, and some one was with him. They
were in that first room,” Hodge averred; “I know I’m not
mistaken about that! I heard him just as I landed on
that shelf, and his voice came from the opening into that
room.”

They returned to the room, and made a close search
of it. ;

Merry scrambled out to the shelf, and called up to
Mulloy.

“Ah, ’tis , you?
Mulloy asked.

*We can’t fitid anything. You're all right?”

“Couldn’t be betther. Don’t let th’ het wather get ye.
1 ought I heard it bubblin’ a while ago. Don’t shtay long.

» “Tiga thrap f’r yez, down there, maybe.”

Hodge, with his torch, was making another search of
the room.

“Nothing in here,” he reported. “We'll try the cavern
no@éw. Lhere must be a hole in the cavern, and they’ve
got out by it. I thought there was such a hole, when
they held me in here; for now and then one of them

Arrah, down there! What’s doin’ ?”

 

 

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WEEKLY. 17
would appear suddenly, and I hadn’t seen him come down
the geyser cone.”
They searched the lovely cavern from ,end to end, but
made no discovery. Across one side a tepid stream flowed,
which Hodge believed came from the boiling spring near
by, outside. It came in through the solid wall, and, after
crossing the cavern, passed out through the solid wall.
“Nothirig doing!” said Hodge, in a dropping voice that
showed his disappointment. “I don’t understand it! Could
[ have merely fancied that’ I heard Flagg calling for
help ?”
But they had all heard him.

CHAPTER Xiu. /
TRAPPED IN THE GEYSER.

Merry and Hodge spent a much longer time in searching
the cavern than \they had intended, or knew; they could
not give it over readily.

They were made aware of the length of their stay by
the voice of Barney Mulloy, in the entrance to the room,
sharp and inquiring:

“Wurra! It’s callin’ I’ve been till me t’roat is raw;
and now we're in a fix, I’m thinkin’. Th’ beggars have
come out avy.th’ cafion. I thried to warn yez, but I couldn’t
make ye hear; so I kem down to see if ye’re dead. Now
wan av thim is sittin’ on tap av th’ cone!” .

It was startling news.

“Ye said f’r me t’ watch, but what was th’ good av ut,
wid no wan to hear me warning? And joost suppose now
this ould taykittle shou’d take a notion to begin b’ilin’
ut’s tay?” :

Merry climbed out to the geyser shelf, took a look up
the chimneylike hole, and came back.

“I can’t see any one,” he reported.

“He’s there, though; or close by. Did ye see Flagg?
But I know that ye didn’t. Well, we’re in f’r ut. This
taykittle b’iles over about wance in two weeks, so we've
got maybe two days av grace—two days t’ starve in, down
here, and thin we'll be b’iled f’r th’ tay.

“It won’t be th’ first toime I’ve been in hot wather,” he
addéd recklessly. “But suppose th’ b’ilin’ begins two days
early, as is th’ fashion at toimes; thin the D’ilin’ is due
to begin now.”

Merry and Hodge, standing near fhe opening into the
geyser tube, listened for indications of their enemies above,
rather than to the nervous comment of Mulloy.

Oppressed by their silence, Mulloy came crawling out
to them.

“Ar-rh!” he breathed. “Do ye hear it bubblin’ below
now? Th’ hot wather is gittin’ ready f’r us.”

Their attention thus drawn, they, too, heard a bubbling
sound far below, with a coughing snort at intervals.

“We can fight our way out,” said Merry, undaunted.

“No one saw you, when they came out of the cafion?”
he asked of Mulloy. |

“Oi dunno. They was comin’ out av the-cafion befure I
knew it, “Twas thin I began to call to yez. Whin ye
wouldn’t hear, I kep’ on callin’: By th’ time I got desprit
and kem down, thinkin’ ye must be dead, they was close
by; thin [ heard wan av thim at the tap’ of thé cone It®,.
may be I was seen.”

They stopped their whispered talk, and drew. back, when”
some one was heard descending the geyser tube. Hodge
extinguished his torch. de.

 

 
. Brn,

3° NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY:

This descent was a daring thing for the outlaw making
it, if he knew they were there.

Merry’s quick mind fluttered over the possibilities and
chances. They. might capture the man, if he came alone.
If all the outlaws descended and came in, Merry’s party
nught slip past them, gain the geyser cone, and so get
out and turn the tables.

The man clambered down to the lip of rock, shot on
‘into the room, and passed them, moving so rapidly they
would have found trouble in stopping him.

On into the cavern he passed.

Merry and his friends, crouching in the darkness, waited
to see if another was coming down, but no other came.

Moving quietly out to the shelf, Merry stood listening
there, and heard a mumble of conversation at the top of
the cone. By close attention he could get a word and a
sentence now and then.

The desperadoes, not being sure what had become of

Merry’s party, apparently had sent a man down to learn
if they were in the cavern.
_ Therefore, Merry could expect the return of the man
who had vanished into the cavern, and not relishing the
thought of being caught between foes, on that ledge, he
reappeared at the side of Bart and Barney.

“They’re up there,” he whispered.

“An’ below ?”

“Just the same—that bubbling.”

“The kittle is sure gittin’ ready to hand us a cup av
tay!”

They waited in silence,
back.

“It proves,” said Hodge,
which we couldn’t find. I heard them saying once that
this place was revealed to them by an old Indian, who
_knew all the ins and outs of it; many years ago, 1 should
think that was, there are no Indians round here now,
That fellow must have gone on through, after- making a
agesch for us, and not finding us.”

“He didn’t make much of a search,’

When, after a while, Merry went back to the lip of rock,
he was a bit startled by noticing that the bubbling, far

but the man did not come

RE down in the bowels of the earth, had, not only grown

louder, but that there was a perceptible steamy odor ‘inside
the geyser cone; a very suggestive thing.

_ Further, the desperadoes had, by this time, become con-
vinced that Merry and his friends were down in the cave.
roe wae geyse in an hour, from the sound; and we've
got “em!” said Wilkins, ;

_ The words dropped to Merry as distinctly as if they
had been intended: for him, and sent a thrill through

Barney had been afraid that a trap had been set, and, .

4 peony, it had been, and ee had Neer into ‘it.

« aE the geyser ieee anil so escape, with a gives adoes
Py Snere sie weet with ae ety ahaa his heart

ra, mates acs search for the hole through .

fellow must have got out of here,” he said.

. ng. his torch, Hodge led the way into the stalactite ;

again they went all over it. They sounded —
They looked ao holes in the secrete

“that there’s a hole in there:

“Unless we have been blind,” said }
is only one way out of this place,
we came in; and that is the hole in the wall throught whi

asids e

the water flows out.’ it
The hole was as big round as a hogshead, and the Bub
flowing water filled it; the little stream seeming, to take ts
a plunge there into the heart of the earth. Where it. came
out, beyond, if it ever came out, was a problem.
“I guess you're Tight, ” said meen
want to try it.

than I have, or else he got Bake F in fae and triec

as a method of suicide, and surprised himself

living.”
When they went back to the geyser cone, they 1

ready to geyse,
Beast Wilkins and his desperadoes were > tilt ahove, and
talking. a
“Tt’'ll be pretty hot down there when the geysin’ is over
—hot and steamy; we'll be nearly boiled alive, like A
sters ; but we can stand it, I reckon, and fool
rangers.” ! a

It sounded like the premne voice o Renee Willdns.

run for it.
it’s too hot.”
Wilkins’ grumbling sentences were interrupted. _ i
Another voice was heard; and _ staccato questions + and
exclamations :
“Not in there? How d’ye make that out? You looked?”
Apparently, the man who had been sent down into the
geyser had returned, and was reporting that he had not
been able to find the men in the geyser. He had ‘not.
searched; but he was not confessing that fear drove him
right on through it, and he had made no search. ee
The listeners on the lip of rock heard confused betters
following this,
Wilkins had leaped up; his head was no longer over oe
the cone, so that what was said came merely as a L eonfusion at
of sounds and hoeinedted words. Serie
The word “cafion” was made out, and it was thought
the name of Flagg was mentioned, but they could not be.
sure. ;

Then. w we'll come beste my “et in, ere

CHAPTER XIII.
‘ CONCLUSION.

Again some one was descending the geyser cone. *
grumble of words: made them think it was Beast Wi
Merry and his fiends retreated softly into the roc
“Bart’s torch was out, and any odor it had given. off
covered up now by the steamy odor from the heart o
geyser; so there was no gre that the Scent | ;

coming to conduct.
Crouching at one side of the room, the tree

waited in suspense.

ee ee. mlapered plan was to “capt

 

 

 
 

 

NEW TIP
then force him to ascend the geyser cone ahead of them,
as a shield.

Another thought was that they could hold Wilkins, and
so force the desperadoes to go away.

V/ilkins dropped to the shelf, and came in.

“She'll sure geyse in half an hour,” they heard him
muttering, his voice showing that he was scared by this
discovery; “I dunno as I’d better risk it!”

He poked his head into the black opening.

_ “Say, you fellers—if you're in there,” he shrilled ; “lemme
give you a p’inter! This is me—Wilkins. We know you
came in here, and seems you must still be here. Listen
to what I got to say: This old geyser is a-goin’ to geyse
in half an hour, or less, for I know the signs. You know
what that means; you'll be boiled alive in here. Now, I
got this proposition to make:

“T ain’t half as bad as some people say. I’ve killed game
in these mountains, but I ain’t killed humans—yit. I don’t
want to. If I’d wanted to, you know I’ve had the chance.
We've got a feller now down in the cafion that we could
finish, if we was wantin’ to do anything like that. .So 1
ain’t goin’ to harm ye, if you'll listen to sense.

“We've heard that the rangers aire down here, and mean
to try to git us. Now, this is the proposition: Surrender
to us! We'll hold you. And we'll say to them rangers:
‘Take the backtrack, and we'll let these men go.’ See?
That’s the plan.”

He stood listening.

“You in here? Must be you aire.
not. But you can’t git out.
rifles. Think quick; I ain’t goin’
minute longer’n I need to. I
geyser to git me——”

Even while he had been talking, Merry-had een mov-
ing toward him. Under the conditions, it was a fortunate
thing that the threatening voice of the geyser had risen;
it covered up the sound of Merry’s advance.

With a leap he was upon Beast Wilkins, and with a jerk
had drawn him forward, so that he might fall into the
room, and not over into the geyser

Wilkins was armed with a rifle. It dropped, with a clang,
and went scuttling metallically into the geyser’s throat.

Wilkins gave a yell of horror.

“That will bring it!” he screamed. “Anything dropped
into it when it’s about to geyse will bring it!”

He broke Merry’s hold by flinging desperately out of his
coat—Merry’s hand had hooked into the coat collar; and
the next instant he was running in blind terror, yelping in
fear, and passed straight on into the stalactite cavern.

_ As they started up to follow, they heard a wild splash
in the cavern—proof that in his desperation and fear Beast

Wilkins had leaped into the little stream to make the
‘passage out of the cavern by going through the wall in the
water.

Accept that offer, or
Pye got men above with
to stay here another
don’t intend for this old

The whistling and steamy bubbling in the geyser had
risen into a gurgling roar, showing that Wilkins’ words
were only too true—that the dropping of anything into the
geyser when it was ready to geyse hurried it to a- quick
explosion.

Even as Merry was ready to swing in pursuit of Wilkins

and risk the danger of that watery way to the outside, he.

changed his mind. For Merry, while as brave as the
_ bravest, was never foolhardy and needlessly reckless, That

_ stream as it left the stalactite cave dipped with a down-
plunge, which was exceedingly suggestive of * an

TOP

WEEKLY. 19

into the heart of the earth.. If it did take such a dive,
and he and his friends followed the course which they
thought Wilkins had taken, they might, when too late,
discover that this was a mistake.

And it, would be a fatal one!

In that brief instant it seemed that a thousand thoughts
whirled in the mind of Frank Merriwell, and shining like
a star in the center of them was a thought of Inza and
Frank and home; yet he still was sufficiently clear-headed
to reach conclusions and form plans.

Swinging over the shelf, he shouted up the geyser tube,
imitating the scared voice of Beast Wilkins, and trusted
that the increasing roar below him would add the necessary
emphasis :

“She’s comin’
Hustle!”

Merry began to climb the ridged surface, knowing that
Bart and Barney would be right at his heels.

now—git out, git out; I’m right with ye!

It was a scrambling climb;
Merry’s hands always
himself higher.

though, even in his haste,
took firm: hold before he drew

The roaring below was growing into a whistling screech ;
and hot air, mixed with steam, came flying up in a way
that was dangerous; it cut the throat and lungs, and, if
stronger, might choke the climbers.

Fortunately, the distance was short.

When Merry’s head popped out of the cone-his hand
was holding his rifle—he was prepared to fight desperately
and to the finish, if any foes were barring his way.

He saw no one, and rolled over the rim; turning at once
to give his hand to Hodge, who was next after him.

As he helped Barney over, he knew that the geyser ex-
plosion was right at hand.

Without turning to look for the desperadoes, who had
fled, Merry and his friend flung down the white walls of
the cone, and began a race for life—a race that took them
well out from the geyser before the explosion occurred.

Standing out in the plain, they saw the cone hurl its
torrent of water aloft, piling it up and up and still up,
in a high-flying’ jet that towered and wavered; and, after
falling back, rose again, to sink finally to a huge subter-
ranean stream of hot water, which overflowed and drowned
the little spring, and rushed in a steaming current away
and into the cafion. —

The steam and the water that were blown on high

became a thick mist, under the influence of the frosty air,

shrouding the surrounding landscape so heavily that if
Beast Wilkins and his men had been close by bc could —
not have been seen.

Vex

* * * x x ® *

An hour later, as they still lingered in the vicinity of ©
the steaming geyser, Jabez Flagg appeared, and gave a
yell of delight when he beheld them.

“You're safe!” he cried. “They said you had heen caught
in the geyser! You were in there, I heard them saying;
when Wilkins ¢ out into the cafion, through that
stream——- You know about that stream? Well
most remarkable phenomenon! It plun '
wall, and flows then out into the cafion.

“T’ve had the most remarkable experienc

geyser room, and heard you, and called

the man took me out, through that strez
I am still!

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

-

“Please let me finish! They were holding me in the
cafion. They were not anticipating that the geyser would
geyse so soon. But something happened; I don’t know
what. Perhaps some one threw a rock in. Tourists, you
know, throw handkerchiefs in; make balls of them, and
throw them in, and sometimes start geysers into premature
action. Something of the kind happened; the old geyser
blew its head off prematurely.

“IT was in the cafion, held as a prisoner. Wilkins came
boiling in there, running a mile a minute. He was as wet
as a drowned rat, for he had got out by plunging through
that stream and the hole in the wall. He said for every
one to fly+that the geyser was goin’ to geyse.

“And ‘they flew! They left me there; forgot me, per-
haps. They thought more of their lives than they did
of me.

“Yet, as you see, I got out, too. I climbed rock walls,
and I ran; and then I still ran, and climbed more walls.
And the geyser broke loose, and it overflowed and came
over into the cafion like a river of hot water. Ten thou-
sand laundries emptying themselves of their hot water in
there at once couldn’t have equaled it.

“But I was safe—I was high on the walls. And now
I am here, and you are here, and we're all still alive.
Congratulate me!”
- He danced, in his jubilation.

* * * * * * *

Two days later the forest rangers cornered Wilkins’
band of desperadoes, and fought them to a finish. Wilkins
and some of his men were killed. A few were captured.
More escaped.

Hundreds of carcasses of deer and other game animals

were found, stored in the snow—a natural cold-storage
plant that could keep them in good condition until spring ;
when they were to have been taken out of the country.
_ The criminal organization of the game killers of the
Yellowstone having been broken up, Frank Merriwell
and his friends went on to Mammoth Springs with the
‘rangers.

There they sent and received many telegrams.

_All the young men, too, had telegrams to send.

Flagg wired again to Cyanide and to Salt Lake City;

he wanted to know if Mrs. Deming had been taken. He

_ put in a claim for a portion of the reward.

- But Mrs.
"seen.

Deming, he was informed, had not been
* * * * ® * *

i Bart Hodge started for home from Cinnabar. Flagg

is took the first train out for Salt Lake City. Frank Merri-

well and Barney Mulloy turned back to Laclede.
‘There was work there calling for them, and other work
calling for them at Salt Lake City.

cl ing good story of. some interesting dotous ai
ih , his chums, and his enemies at the famous
y. The story is entitled “Frank Merri-
the Jolly Dogs; or, The Rivals of Far-

ua ee this mee HSS

i the sword ot os in ‘managing his steed. Si

WILL O’ THE WISP.

By W. BERT FOSTER.

(This interesting story was commenced in No. 124 of the NEW Tip
Tor WEEKLY. Back numbers can be obtained from your news
dealer or the publishers.)

:

CHAPTER XVI.

A WOMAN’S WILL.

Squire Perrine was fairly beside himself with rage,
and his stamping back and forth on the broad tavern
stoop seemed to alarm his daughter greatly. The old
man’s face looked as though all the blood in his body had
congested there, his hands shook impotently, and his
eyes rolled horribly in their seckets. All this Kemp ob-
served with the tail of his eye as he maneuvered his own
horse to meet the charge of Major Favor.

The dragoon officer came on, swinging his heavy saber, —
his eyes glaring murderously, and with every intention of
cutting Kemp down.

If Kemp had been outmatched in their previous en-
counter, such was even more the case now, for both in the
weight of his mount and the heft of his sword, the Brit-
ish officer held the advantage. ,

Barnaby Lamson and Granby were struggling te con-
trol of the excited carriage horses, and the inn people had ;
run to cover. It was plain that Mistress Sylvia was only
anxious to win her father and out of danger,
As a background to the incident the staccato explosions
of musketry were only a street. or two away.

Kemp’s steed, which he had wrested from the subaltern,
was a flighty creature, and without the need of a free
sword hagd he would have found it difficult to manage;
his old training under Barnaby Lamson on the half-broken
colts stabled in the Lawe barns came in good stead now.

As Favor swept his sword in a great curve, which
seemed certain to smite his enemy’s horse, if not Kemp_
himseli, the latter swerved his mount to one side, spurred
it forward, and, passing under Favor’s raised arm, thrust
suddenly with his lighter weapon for the major’s side.

It was a daring trick, and had the point of Kemp’s
light blade not caught in a fold of the other’s cloak, the
battle would have ended then and there. John Favor
had probably never been nearer death and escaped it. The |
action enthralled both Squire Perrine and his daughter
the former ceased his bawling and swearing, and the
latter clung to her father’s arm, unable further to urge
him toward the inn door.

“Ah-ha! Would ye?” roared Favor, Maddie the: prick
of the sword, and recovering his own equilibrium in the
saddle instantly.

indoors,

He dragged his charger around, and spurred after .
Kemp, whose horse had danced to the other side of the
courtyard. The major’s stallion was an old cavalry mount, |
and was managed famously by its rider, whereas the green
horse under the “American caused him all manner oe;
difficulty. -It was a minute before the blades of the
duelists came together again, and then naught but wanton
sparks were beaten off in the men’s attempt to smite. each.
other.

The game was a dangerous one, indeed; Kemp | had eye
no longer for the squire and his daughter, nor for

two serving men, All of his attention was cent

red in

 
       
   
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
   
  
 
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
    
      
      
       
      
    
      
       
      
     
      
   
   
    

Twice the antagonists passed each other, their blades
crossing, but no damage done. Then Favor, with a.back-
handed stroke, cut Kemp’s horse across the flanks.

The creature squealed with pain, and bolted; but the
American stopped and wheeled it even more quickly than
before. He expected to find Favor upon him; but for-
tunately for him the delivering of that dastardly stroke
upon the dumb brute fouled Favor’s own mount. The

fell, with a mighty crash. The major leaped clear of the
stirrups by the merest chance, but before he could seize
the broken bridle, which was wrenched from his grasp,
the creature was up and away. Sword in hand, the dis-
-mounted Favor turned to meet his foe as the latter spurred
across the yard.

Now was Kemp’s opportunity to finish the business—
and hig enemy, in sooth! Favor’s cruel stroke upon the
flank of the American’s horse deserved repayment.

Instead, however, Kemp, drew his steed aside, and
i evaded the British officer, “Wait!” he cried aloud. “T
ask no advantage of you, Major Favor. Man to man,

--and sword to sword, suits me!”

- He said it gayly, for the excitement of the battle was
like wine in his blood, and he flung his leg over the pom-
mel of his saddle, preparatory to dropping to the ground.

The smarting steed shied violently as Kemp came down,
‘and the American nearly measured his length on the pave-
ment. Instantly Favor thrust at him, following his first
advance with half a dozen sharp encounters before Kemp
was fairly upon his feet.

That the British officer desired to take advantage of his
enemy's slip, even after that enemy had thrown aside his
advantage, was plain.

A little cry from Mistress Sylvia marked this fact; but
| Kemp scarce heard it. Nor could he turn to look in her
| direction.

Favor’s attack was so desperate that for a few mo-
ii a merits he scarce saved himself from death.
Ef Suddenly the point of the British officer’s blade caught
in the fret of Kemp’s hand guard. The latter was borné
backward till the calves of his legs pressed against the
‘first step of the flight leading up to the tavern door. The
greater weight of the sword and the greater weight of
the man who held it told instantly against the Ameri-
can. His own sword was whipped from his hand, and
sent flying over his head.

He heard it fall upon the steps, but he could not. turn
to seize it. The slush underfoot .assisted in giving the
victim. of this untoward chance a moment's respite;
Favor had recoiled because of his slipping feet when
Kemp’s sword flew ifto the air. But the American, see-
ing into the very heart’ ‘of the British officer through his
bloodshot eyes, knew that there was no mercy for him
there. Cold, deliberate murder of an unarmed foe was
Fayor’s intention; the fellow’s shortened arm and care-
fully poised blade showed it.
omewhere behind him there was a shrill ‘ery—then a
shout - from the old squire.

“That's murder!” ejaculated Perrine, awakened at last
to the enormity of the British major’s intention. |
either his words nor the daughter’s cry stayed Favor’s

 

 
 
  
 

       
   
 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

_ bigger horse slid upon the ‘slippery cobbles, and suddenly’

showed himself to be far the better swo

with marvelous skill, and suddenly ripped.

skirts rustled down the stair like a flight of startled quail. |
The clattering. sword, which had scarcely fallen, was
seized by its blade in her gloved fingers, and its grip
thrust unerringly into Kemp’s clutching right hand.

Shrinking inyoluntatily before Favor’s thrust,~ the
American fell back in a sitting posture upon the step; but
the feel of the sword grip startled him to life and action.
He swept the blade in an arc before him with all. his
recovered force.

So close was Favor’s weapon that its point ripped a_
button from the American’s coat; but it was turned aside,
passing under Kemp’s arm and striking the wooden stair
without touching the flesh of the imperiled man.

The British, officer had leaped forward with such im-
petus that he could not save himself. Again his life was
in Kemp’s hand, for the latter, still seated, might have
shortened his blade and run it through Favor’s throat.

Instead, he crossed his left arm as a guard before Favor,
and, rising, threw his antagonist: back from him with all
his force.

The major tripped over his scabbard, and fell on his i
back, helpless, although still clinging to his weapon. -

“Get up, you dog!” eried Kemp, through his set teeth.

Get on your feet and fight
life when he’s at my

“T’m not through with you yet.
fairly—if you can. I'll take no man’s
mercy.”

Barnaby Lamson had knocked Granby senseless, and
now would have run forward to attack Fay or, but Kemp
waved him off.

“Nay!” cried the young American officer, “this is’ my ‘ a
personal matter, Barnaby. Hands off, I tell: you! Let — ;
the man get his feet and his breath. Ah, but there is —
something I would request, Barnaby. Bring one of those
robes from the carriage and spread it here. Then will
we be equal, and have a better footing than this slush.
Quick, man!”

The old servant obeyed on the instant, and, before Favor
had risen, the square robe which had served as a carriage —
wrap was flung upon the slush-covered pavement.

Kemp stepped upon. it, and, with his sword, saluted his
antagonist as though their bout was with foils.

“On guard!” he cried.

But the British officer approached with no eagerness
for a continuation of the encounter. He seemed, indeed,
to have been somewhat dazed by his fall, and approached
the blanket unwillingly. It was\a confined space, and the
man who stepped into the slush would be instantly at a te
disadvantage.

Now it was Kemp’s turn .to force the fighting. ‘He: (3
seemed to have recovered his witid and agility as he s
grasped the sword ftom Mistress Sylvia’s hand. ie

He wounded Favor twice. within a few seconds—one
gash on the cheek. set the blood: to running in a broad —
crimson stain over the major’s stock and coat collar.
But the smart of the wound enlivened the latter, too;
Kemp had it not all his own way.

But now that he had a firm footing

   
  
  
 
     
  

es
two. He had a lighter blade than. Favo
ter knew only. the heavy stroke. and par
nary cavalryman, while Kemp’s teacher of
a master of every passado known to the Euro
He escaped Favor’s. wicked ‘thrusts an :

  
 
 
   
 
   

  

  
NEW.

Le

from wrist to shoulder,
white, firm flesh.

The dragoon officer's sword fell from his nerveless
fingers, while the blood spouted from a cut artery.

Through the flesh and muscles the point of Kemp’s
sword had ripped its way, and unless he were ambidex-
trous, John Favor was at the end of his. fight.
Nevertheless, he tried to seize the fallen weapon with
his left hand, but Kemp placed his foot upon it, and held
the point of his bloodstained sword at the major’s breast.

At the instant—when by every right of warfare it
was Kemp’s privilege to kill his foe—a hand seized his
arm, and the American turned to look into Sylvia Per-
rine’s horrified eyes.

Whereas another woman would have fainted at the
sight of blood and the end of the tragedy, she became
an active factor again in the scene.

“No, no, Roger Kemp! You must not kill,” she gasped.
“T claim his release—as ‘I gave you your life, just now.
Hold your hand, I beg!”

Kemp’s rage cooled, and he stepped back, dropping the
point of his sword.

“In good sooth, you are right, mistress
“Nor would I kill your lover and so hurt you,
innocent,’ he added bitterly.

He turned quickly

”

he replied.
who are
from both her and the. wounded
Favor. a tourniquet about that arm, and
mind you draw it tight above the artery. Perchance
the man will bleed to death if you are not quick about
it. And see to it, man, that these good folk do not
leave the inn till this affair be over. There is death
abroad.” |

Without further word, or as much as a glance at the
girl whose hand had stayed him at the moment of his
vengeance, Kemp hurried from the street.

He turned into the head of King Street just as Cap-
tain Forrest unlimbered his battery
cause of the heavy roads, had been late in arriving.

The volleys of musketry, between the
of ‘houses, were well-nigh deafening, and now and then
came the heavier explosion of bigger guns which the
Hessians were getting into action,

Kemp could scarcely hear the commands of the officers,

“Bart aby ’

six-gun which, be-

confined rows

but he saw Captain William Washington and Lieutenant

- James Monroe forming a small party for an advance at
one side, and he joined them instantly, the dripping
sword in his hand.

The action had become general throughout the town
within a very few minutes.* At the farther end of what
was then King Street the enemy, was attempting to form
a battery in opposition to Captain .Forrest’s command,
and this small raiding party which Kemp had joined
charged those guns.
‘With Captain Washington and young Monroe at their
head, the column rttshed upon the artillerymen; and drove
them from their guns, two of which they captured.

The American lines pressed the Hessians back to the

the deadly aim of their riflemen picked off

news spread that Colonel Rohl was shot,
borne into the house of Stacey Potts, a
oncombatant at the corner of Perry Street
iy. lieutenant: Colonel: Scheffer, who com-
stead, could not save his men Sire panic.
fighting occurred : at the corner of War- -

TD

leaving a crimson line along the |

P WEEKLY.
ten and Perry Streets, and near the Presbyterian church
on Second Street. ak

When they broke under the disastrous fire of the Amer-
icans at these two points, the main body of the Hessian
troops sought to escape by the Princeton Road. But,
as Kemp had warned Squire Perrine and his party, that
way was guarded. Colonel Hand and a body of Penn-
sylvania riflemen cut off retreat in that direction, and,
ignorant of the small numbet of the Americans at this
point, the mercenary troops flung down their arms and
begged for quarter.

Had it not been for General Washington’s personal
interference, and the watchful command of. other offi-
cers, the volunteers who had seen many of their brethren
butchered by these same Hessians at Fort Washingtor
might have committed a like outrage. But fortunately
such disgrace did not visit the American arms.

The Hessians surrendered in a field near Park Place,
called the Old Iron Works Field, and there fell into the
hands of the Americans most of the regiments of Knyp-
hausen, Anspach, and Rohl—about one thousand pris-
oners. The American loss was two privates killed and
two frozen to death on that terrible march from M’Con-
key’s Ferry. bate

As the enemy would soon te in the neighborhood in>
greatly Washington decided to re-
cross the river, and midnight of. the twenty-sixth found
the army again encamped at Newtown on the Neshaming,
where the Hessian officers signed their paroles! Kemp,
who took his place thankfully in the ranks after the sur-
render, was able to render some service to his late friends,
Lieutenant Piel and Ensign Von Drack, and to the other
officers, unfamiliar with the English tongue.

He received the commander in chief’s personal thanks —
for his work before the battle, and a promise of better
things. Yet Captain Kemp’s spirits did not ‘glow under
this breath of praise, and his closest associates noted his
despondency and lack of interest in. the future plans of
the triumphant Americans which were now eagerly dis-
eussed among all grades of rank in the army.

[n truth, the remembrance of his fight with Favor be-
the Trenton inn, and the activities of Mistress Per-
rine in that affair, dwelt heavily upon his mind. His
enemy had. been in his hands, and vengeance had said:
“Kill!” Yet Kemp had given the brutal British officer.
his life at the request of a woman who had shown again»
and again that she scorned both Kemp and his cause.
Why had he done this? Was he still bound by his hope-
less love for her?

increased numbers,

fore

CHAPTER XVII 7
PRINCETON.

At this point in the war for the independence of the
Colonies, Washington was. confronted with one of the —
greatest difficulties—if not the greatest—which marked
his ¢areer as commander in chief of the American forces. —

The attack on Trenton had been overwhelmingly suc-

cessful, but he had not been strong enough to hold his
position on the eastern shore of the Delaware.
though news of the raid brought volunteers to his stand-
ard almost hourly, he faced the defection oe most of
the Eastern troops in a body.

«Their time of service had run out, and they were 2 aoa

to return to their families, and perhaps join. in the de

 

And al-— ee
NEW TIP

against such sorties, as Clin-

British occupation of Providence,

fense of their own homes
_ton’s at Newport, the
and the bottling up of the
estuaries of
With his army, including these
troops, Washington saw opportunity for the
a Crushing blow to Cornwallis in Jersey; at any
must be held

American trading fleet in the
Narragansett Bay.

augmented Eastern
delivery of
cost
the militia whose tithe was now expiring
for a few weeks longer.

Never was the underlying
character—the principle that
he was—better displayed than
almost ‘empty military chest, the
boldly
a bounty of ten dollars per.
six weeks longer. With no private means of
the great sum needed to keep this agreement, he
theless pledged his to his soldiers that they
be paid. And his Robert
tis found the needed fifty
whom he trusted implicitly.

The army recrossed the Delaware on its offensive cam-
paign on December thirtieth, and encamped on the high
ground south of Assumpink Creek—now South Tren-
ton. There were only about. five thousand of them, and
half were raw troops. The advancing army of the enemy,
which Cornwallis had hastened back to Jersey to com-
mand in person, quite as numerous, and, besides,
consisted of regulars.

. Greene was given command of strong parties of scouts
sent, ‘out to harass the advancing column of British, and
Roger Kemp was detailed to the subcommand of one of
these squads.

He. had been kept so busy since the army had re-
crossed the’ river that he could not get to the inn to
make inquiries about the Perrines and the wounded Fa-
vor; but in riding out of Trenton on the Princeton Road,
he went aside to call at the inn.

The place was in vast confusion, for the people were
~ assured that the town was to’ be the’ scene, of another
- pitched battle, ahd the taverns, as\ well as the private
dwelings, were being deserted.

In his uniform as an offiéer in'the American army, the
tavern attendants did not recognize Roger Kemp ; but
Barnaby Lamson knew him instantly. The old man was
in attendance upon the wounded officer, who was now the
master of Lawe House, for Granby, the English servant
Major Favor had brought with him from had run
away after the Trenton fight.

~*T couldn’t desert him, Master Roger,’ explained the
old servant, “little as I fancy his arrogant way. He'll
‘never have a good use of his arm again, there was not a
. soul todo for him. Mistress Sylvia has had her hands full
with the squire, ye know.”
a “Fla! they still remain, Barnaby?” exclaimed Kemp;

“Surely. The old man was vastly disturbed by the
trouble the other morning. He fell on the steps here after
you went, afd we thought him dead at first. It’s his heart,
you know; he has a bad heart, the sutgeon says.”

“He has a bad’ heart, sure enough!” returned Kemp bit-
terly; but Barnaby ignored this gibe.
a she is in sore prauble, sir. The old man may be able

principle of Washington’s
him the great. ma
in this incident, With an
chief
volunteers their wages. and
continue

made

commander . in
promised the Eastern

man if they would
supplying
neyer-
should
faith was not betrayed. Mor-

thousarid dollars for the leader

honor

was

home,

; I shall go with them, whether the

TOP

WEEKLY.

appearing at an upper window.
Mistress Sylvia, but he did not give
where she peering

conscious of a face suddenly
He could not mistake
to the casement stood,

a second glance

out at the departing soldiery.
Tl Trenton on Janu-
ary second, driving in the American raiders who, so rapid
advance, had small time to cross
the old bridge at Stacey Mill, which was the only dry-
shod entrance to the American camp on the south bank
of the creek.

General Washington, with a part of his staff, had gal-
loped into the town to reconnoiter the advance, and was
caught in the final retreat of the outposts driven in. by
the British.

Kemp’s troop and some of General Cadwallader’s men
under Captain Post were among the last of the retreating
party, and surrounded General Washington as he crossed

ie British reached the outskirts of

was the enemy’s final

the bridge on his return.

So crowded was the passage with
men that the general’s mount was forced over
rail, and his spur scratched the arm of a certain member of

both horse and foot-
against one

Post’s company. deeply.
American artillery commanded the bridge
where the railroad now crosses the

Batteries of
and the ford
old bed of the creek.

Seeing the flying light horse and wild dash of the rebel
militia, the British general thought them already in wild
rout; he formed his regiments in solid column, marched
down Queen Street, and attempted to force the bridge,
while a strong detachment approached the ford.

Never were the bull-headed tactics of the British dis-
played to better advantage than during this unhappy en-
gagement. With bands playing, colors flying, and the
men marching shoulder to shoulder like cattle forced into
Cornwallis drove his regulars three times to
this hopeless The an cannon and small
arms mowed them down with horrible precision, at least
a hundred and fifty were killed, and at the ford the creek
ran red with their blood, and the crossing was choked with
the dead.

Night fell, giving the Americans the victory; but
Washington feared the morning, when Cornwallis would
bee sure to learn the exact number facing him, and -
able. to flank the little army of .patriots.

Indeed, the situation was full of peril for the Ameee
cans. The British had reénforcement§ at Princeton, and —
plenty of supplies at New Brunswick. A general engage-
ment on this spot, or a retreat south along the Dela-
ware to a passage of the stream near Philadelphia would,
in either case, be disastrous to the cause of liberty. There
remained, then, no secure course but that of boldly at-
tempting .a hazardous venture which the position of the
British troops suggested to General Washington’s master
mind,

As usual a council of war was called, but the com-
mander in chief dominated the discussion. There was

boldness in his project that appealed to most of ae
associates, but there were several objections | which
seemed insuperable, and first and foremost was the con
dition of the roads. The cannon could not be dr
over the ery now muddy “ee the thaw,

above,

the shambles,

charge. Amieric

ing the sritish on the north bank of the
bered forty pieces.
Yet even while mage discussed che mat

 
    

24

changed suddenly to the northwest, and the‘ temperature
dropped with startling suddenness. Within two hours the
ground was frozen as hard as pavement, and the greatest
difficulty was overcome by a power mightier than that
of—man. .

Fires were left burning all along the front of the
American camp,.a small force being appointed to tend
them until daybreakand so fool the British, while the
army, at one o’clock at night, moved out of its camp and
started over the Quaker Road to Princeton.

This highway was called “the new road,” and its name
was no misnomer; it was so new that it can properly
be said that it was not more than half built—in many
places merely a track through forest and meadowland.
The progress of the flying column was retarded continu-
ally by gullies into which the men fell in the dark, and
tree stumps against which many of the wagon wheels
were broken. Therefore the main object of the night
march was not accomplished; the capture of the British
stores at New Brunswick was out of the question, for
the Americans did not even reach the outskirts.of Prince-
ton until after daybreak,

Lieutenant Colonel Mawhood’s brigade: consisting of
three regiments of foot and three troops of dragoons, was

the full strength of the enemy quartered at Princeton,

_4 and before the arrival of the Americans, two of these
regiments had started for Trenton to reénforce Cornwallis,
who had sent back word the night before that he would
“catch the fox in the morning.”

It was an exceedingly clear, cold, and brilliant morn-
ing, and the rising sun sparkled dazzlingly upon the robe
of frost which clothed everything. As the American

~ column emerged from a piece of woods a little south of

‘the old Friends’ meetinghouse, it was revealed to the
British troops already on the Trenton Road.

Immediately both commanders prepared for the en-
counter. Mawhood wheeled his troops, intending to re-
cross the bridge. But General Mercer had been detached
from Washington's main army for the especial purpose of
holding this bridge. He had but three hundred and fifty
men, mostly raw young fellows from. Philadelphia, and
after three volleys had been fired into the British ranks,
the victims ran in confusion before the bayonet charge
of Mawhood’s men.

With Mercer’s brigade, Roger Kerap led .a small body of
light horse sent to harass the British flank. The object
of Mercer’s advance had been twofold; not alone did the
Americans wish to-gain and hold the. high ground near
Clark’s house, but they desired to patrol the old road to
Trenton and so. shut off communication between the
Princeton forces and the deceived Cornwallis as long
as possible. It was therefore Kemp’s work to reach this

old road, almost in Mawhood’s rear. This was not accom-

plished, however, without some sharp skirmishing.
The troop of light horse, being a flying squad, played
- about the British foot at will, and the first stand made by
- Mercer at the orchard fence near the Clark house forced
_ the British commander to call most ‘of his peaeae to
his aid.

dden outburst of musketry, a heavy traveling
eared from the wood.

Sioioved his men along: the highway; and
orward to meet the coming vehicle.

 
 
 
 
 

NEW TIP TOP

 

ap reached the road at a moment when, driving has-

While

    

WEEKLY.

   

,

 
  

    
 

yet some distance away he saw one of its occupants stretch
his head out of the window on the off side to baw] some |
command to the driver. The latter pulled in his horses
as Kemp thundered down upon him.

There was a sudden flash from the carriage window,
and a slug sang past Kemp’s head, while the explosion .}
of the horse pistol was followed by a woman’s scream. J
The driver shouted and lashed his restive horses, but he © ’.
could not turn them in time. Kemp reached the chariot, \¥-
held in his mount with a hand, and, stooping,
wrenched open the door.

“Ah, ha, ye cursed rebel!”
“had I another pistol——”

“Stop, father!” interrupted a female voice, and Kemp
found himself gazing into the frightened face of ae is
Perrine. “’Tis Roger Kemp!” she cried.

“That dastard!” roared the squire. “Let me load this
pistol again——”

“Don’t, don’t, father!” gasped the girl. “You—you will
become dverexcited again. Remember what the surgeon
said.”

“Zounds, girl! will I never be free of the doddering
of that pill and plaster maker? I am as good a man as
ever I were. Let me out of here——”

He struggled with the door of the carriage on his side.
“Remain where you are, Squire Perrine,” advised Kemp,
peering into the dark interior. “Barnaby, drive straight om
through the town. You may escape before the engage-
ment becomes general.”

“Stop, I tell you!” commanded Perrine.
and fight’ these cursed rebels myself.”

“You are beside yourself, father!” declared Mistress
Sylvia. “Remember our guest here. He has already
fainted from being hurried so over this rough road. Do
you wish to kill him?’

Not until then did Kemp realize that the carriage had
a third occupant. He stooped lower from his saddle as
the squire managed to wrench open the other door. The
morning sunlight poured into the yehicle and revealed
besides the old man and his daughter, the form of John
Favor, sprawling in the bottom of the carriage, with his
head pillowed upon the girl’s lap. The British officer's
face was pallid, and his eyes were closed; he was plainly
in a bad’ way.

The sight of his rival thus ministered to by. Misirdoe
Sylvia was not cheering tg Roger Kemp. Knowing that
no feeling of humanity would have stirred in the major’s

    
    
  
 
 
    
  
 
   
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
 
   
   
    
   
   
    
  
  
 
  
   
    
    
 

 

firm

cried a voice from within,

 

fm Cf GT RK A Ft KF

 

‘T’ll get out

 

breast had their places been exchanged, the American e Se
captain was but little touched by his enemy’s helpless- «th
ness. Nevertheless, he feared for the girl’s safety, and 7
he would not do anything to injure her, cruelly as he ai. E: ohhe

believed she had treated ‘him. 7 oof
He was about to summon several of his command |
to guard the carriage into the town when he was star- « }
tled by a shout from Barnaby Lamson. a Ma
He turned swiftly to behold a file of grenadiers emerg-
ing from the wood, and, at the command of the red- ; ee
coated officer in their lead, bearing down upon the car-
riage. De
Like clockwork the ranks spread out, the muskets ee
sprang to the shoulders of the men at the word, and
Kemp found himself trapped between the Saag, in os
the roadway and the muzzles of the guns. ma
Another word from the British officer, and ties ‘en-
tire broadside of te. musket ee would br see

 
   
        
       
  
 

  
       

       
      
  
        
       
     
      
        
         
     
       
       
   
    

   

at him. Nor would his own and his horse’s body stop

 

 

 

ch all those bullets; the carriage with its three helpless occu-
ne pants would be riddled!
es lf he touched spur to his horse’s flank Kemp might
: not escape. The soldiers’ fingers trembled on the trig-
Ww, gers. Neither could the Perrines, Favor, and Barnaby
on be saved if he moved. His own men were too far away
si to be of assistance; the moment was full of peril.
he TO BE CONTINUED.
ot,
ig, =
in, THE FACTS ABOUT COWS.
By MAX ADELER.
ed Last summer we bought a cow, so that we could have
yia ‘i ;
our own milk and make our own butter and get fresh
nis cream for our coffee. She was a red-and-white cow,
with twisted horns, and the man who sold her to me
il] said she was a capital milker, and the reason was that
a she had such a splendid appetite. He said that she was
the easiest cow with her feed that he ever saw; she would
ng eat almost anything, and she was generally hungry.
fa ; At the end of the first week after she came we con-
. cluded to churn. The hired man spent the whole day
Bi at the crank, and about stinset the butter came. We got
aD, it out, and found that there was almost half a pound.
ee Then I began to see how economical it was to make our
se. own -butter. A half pound at the store cost thirty cents.
The wages of that man for one day were two dollars,
ust and so our butter was costing us about four dollars a
pound, without counting the keep of the cow.” When we
ess tried the butter, it was so poor we couldn’t eat it, and
dy I gave it to the man to grease the wheelbarrow with. It
Do seemed somewhat luxurious and princely to maintain a
cow for the purpose of supplying grease at four dollars
ad a pound for the wheelbarrow; but it was hard to see
as precisely where the profit came in. After about a fort-
“he night our cow seemed so unhappy in the stable that we
led turned her out in the yard.
hn The first night she was loose she upset the grape arbor
his B with her horns, and ate four young peach trees and a
Js) ae dwarf pear treé down to the roots, The next day we
nly ; gave her as much hay as she would eat, and it seemed
likely that her appetite was appeased. But an hour or
ess two afterward she swallowed six croquet balls that were
hat | lying upon the grass, and ate half a tablecloth and a pair
ys Pe _ of drawers from the clothesline. That evening her milk
lane . a "seemed thin, and I attributed it to the indigestibility of
ou | the tablecloth.
ind . 3 ‘During the night she must have got to walking in
he “her sleep, for she climbed over the fence and hooked two
of Cooley’s pigs that were lying in the garden, and when
and . she was discovered she was swallowing one of Mrs.
aS Cooley’s hoop skirts. That evening she ran dry and
\ didn’t give any milk at all. I suppose the exercise she
rg- had taken must have been too severe, and probably the
ed- hoop skirt was not sufficiently nutritious, It. was com-
ar- forting, however, to reflect that she was less expensive

from the latter point of view when she was dry than
when she was fresh, Next morning she ate the spout off
of the watering pot, and then put her head in at the

ream jug. Then she went out and lay down on our. best

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 25

kitchen window and devoured two dinner plates and the

  

Cooley’s boy seemed to exasperate her, and when he came
over into our yard after his ball, she inserted hér horns
in his trousers’ and flung him across the fence. Then
she went to the stable amd ate a litter of pups and three
feet of trace chain. : 4

I felt certain that her former owner didn’t deceive me RE

when he said her appetite was good. She had hunger
enough for a drove of cattle and a couple of flocks of
sheep. That day I went after the butcher to get him
to buy her. When I returned with him, she had just
eaten the monkey wrench and the screw driver, and she
was trying to put away a fence paling. The butcher said
she was a fair-enough sort of cow, but she was too thin.
He said he would buy her if I would feed her up and
fatten her; and I said I would try. We gave her that
night food enough for four cows, and she consumed it
as if she had been upon half rations for a month. When
she finished, she got up, reached for the hired man’s
straw hat, ate it, and then bolting out into the garden,
she put away our honeysuckle vine, a coil of india-rubber
hose, and the knob off of the smokehouse door. The
man said that if it was his cow he would kill her; and
I told him he had perhaps better just knock her on the
head in the morning.

During the night she had another attack of somnam-
bulism, and while wandering about she ate the doormat
from the front porch, bit off all the fancywork on top
of the cast-iron: gate, swallowed six loose bricks that
were piled up against the house, and then had a fit among
our rosebushes. When we came down in the morning
she seemed to be breathing her last, but she had strength
enough left to. seize a newspaper that I held in my
hand, and when that was down she gave three or-‘four |
kicks and rolled over and expired. It cost me three dol- —
lars to have the carcass removed. Since then we have
bought our butter and milk, and given up all kinds of live
stock.

    
     
   
         
     
     
   
         
     
         
         
        
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
    
   
   
       
   
       
   
  

POT AND KETTLE. “s
Teacher—“What is your name?”
Little Boy (from England)—*“’Enry Hadams.”

Little Girl (from New York)—“He, he! Hear him mis-
place his ‘h’s’.”

Teacher—“‘And what is your name?”
Little Girl—“Idar Warnah.”

 

 

ABOUT SECRET INVENTIONS. (Fie haa
In the early working on arts and mechanics, work-
men were put on oath never to reveal the process used
in their manufacture. Doors were kept closed, artisans.
going out were searched, visitors were vigorously ex- _
cluded from admission, and false operations blinded the ©
workmen themselves. The mysteries of every craft were
hedged in by quick-set fences of empirical pretension
and judicial affirmation. , There used to be close by Temple a
Bar, in London, an old chemist’s shop, the proprietor
of which, in days gone by, enjoyed the monopoly of mak-
ing citric acid.. More favorably circumstanced ‘than other
secret manufacturers, his was a process that '
assistance. He employed. no workmen. . Expe
sample and assort and bottle. his products
entered the laboratory.

   
   
 
    

  
  
  

   
it there lived at Attercliffe, near Sheffield,

‘NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

_ The mystic operations by which he grew rich were con-
fined to himself. One day, having locked the doors and
blinded the windows, sure as usual of the safety of his
secret, our chemist went home to dinner. A chimney
sweep, or a boy disguised as such, wide awake in chem-
istry, was on the watch. Following the secret keeper
so far on his way to Charing Cross as to be sure he
would not return that. day, the sooty philosopher hied
rapidly back to Temple Bar, ascended the low building,
dropped down the flue, saw all he wanted, and returned,
carrying with him the mystery of making citric acid.
The monopoly of the inventor was gone. A few months
after the price was reduced by four-fifths. The poor
man was heartbroken and died shortly afterward, igno-
rant of the trick by which he had been victimized.

The manufacture of tinware in England originated in a
stolen secret. Few readers need to be informed that
tinware is simply thin sheet iron plated with tin by being
dipped into the molten metal. In theory it is an easy
matter to clean the surface of iron. Dip the irom into
a bath of hoiling tin and remove it, enveloped in the
silvery metal, to a place of cooling. In practice, however.
the process is one of the most difficult of arts. It was
discovered in Holland and guarded from publicity with
the utmost vigilance for nearly half-a century. England
tried to discover the secret in vain until James Sherman,
a Cornish miner, crossed the channel, insinuated himself
surreptitiously into a tin-plate manufactory, made him-
self master of the secret, and brought it home.

The history of cast steel presents a curious -instance
of a manufacturing secret stealthily obtained under the
cloak of an appeal to philanthropy. The main distinction
between iron-and steel, as most people know, is that. the
_jatter contains carbon. The one is converted into the
other by being heated for a considerable time in eqntact
with powdered charcoal in an-iron ‘box. Now, steel thus
made is unequal. The middle of a bar is more. carbon-
ized than the ends, and the surface more than the center.
_ It as, therefore, unreliable. Nevertheless, before the in-
vention of cast steel there. was nothing better. In 1760
a’ watchmaker
_namied Huntsman. He became dissatisfied’ with the watch
‘springs in use and set himself, to the task of making
them homogeneous. “If,’ thought he, “I can melt a piece
of steel and make it into an inggt, its composition should
be the same throughout.” “He succeeded: His steel soon
- became famous. Huntsman’s ingots for fine work were
‘ in universal demand. He did not call ‘them éast- steel.
| That was his secret. About 1770 a large manufactory
a8 of this peculiar steel was established at Attercliffe. The
. _ process was wrapped in secrecy by every one within reach,
true and faithful men hired, the work divided and sub-

i divided, large wages paid, and stringent oaths admin-
yi “Cisiered. It did not avail. One midwinter’s night, as the
“heat chimneys of the Attercliffe Steel Works belched
forth their smoke, a traveler knocked at the gate. It

‘as bitter cold, the snow fell fast and the wind howled —

pees the. moat. The stranger, apparently a plow snes

akened no suspicion. Scanning the waste ahouaky

by motives of humanity, the forenran gratited °

and let. him i in.
_to be worn out with the cold and fatigue,

fellow sank. upon the floor and soon appeared.
ec - That, pees was ian from oe anaes

tion. He closed his eyes apparently only. He saw work-
men cut bars of steel into bits, place them in crucibles
in a furnace. The fire was uxged to its extreme power
until. the steel was melted. Clothed in wet rags to pro-
tect themselves from the heat, the workmen drew out
the glowing mold. Mr. Huntsman’s factory had nothing
more to disclose. The making of cast steel had been
discovered.

The casting of hollow ware was for a number of years
a secret, and was kept in the family for more than
fifty years.

BEHEADED ALLIGATORS. >t

On the River Guayaquil,
find a “happy hunting ground” in the mud banks there, —
where alligators most do congregate. These ugly and
treacherous creatures are detested wherever they exist,
and any method is employed for killing them.

One plan is adopted on this river which seems to be f
brutal, but in this case the end justifies the means. _As
the tide goes out, the alligators bury themselves’ in the.
soft mud, and lie there, in a sleepy state, until the return-
ing water brings with it the
prey.

Armed with a sharp-edged ax, the bsditee wades in
top-boots across the mud, and, jumping on the drowsy >
beast’s shoulders, hacks at the neck until he severs the
head from the trunk. In vain does the aroused alliga-
tor strike out with its tail,-or turn itself round and.
round in the hope of “throwing” its executioner, who is
placed beyond reach of claw, teeth, or tail.

All the same, the hunter must have great presence
of mind, strong nerve, and a sure foot.

CUTTING AN ELEPHANTS NAILS.

Three times a year, at least, an elephant must have. his © i
hoofs trimmed into good shape; once in the spring, once.
when traveling with the circus in the summer, and once
more when the huge beast has returned to winter quar-
ters. The sole of the elephant’s foot becomes gradually —
covered during the year with a substance resembling. horn, -
much like +his three great toe nails. This; if’allowed to —
grow too dense, is apt to: crack -and- make the beast, a
lame.

Accordingly, one of the keepers stations fie sean
in the ring, atid bids him balance himself on three legs
while he stretches out the other behind him, resting it on
a block of wood or box. With a carpenter's “drawing
knife” the hoof is then attacked, and shaved quickly down. |
Sometimes pieces of the bony substance, five or six inches
long and nearly as thick, are cut off without the’ ‘elephant’
feeling any pai whatever, or the knife taking too finch
from the sole.

important to have extracted, in ey should oe ei

" upward and fester in the foot. i

hi patient.
& proper manner,

 

in South America, sportsmen |

fishes, upon which they eae
Can’t be Beat.

Dear Epitor: I have been reading Tie Top from No
11 of the new scries, and think the stories cannot be beat.
I also read the letters in the Compass and enjoy them
very much. I remain, very truly yours,

Hillsboro, N. D. CLARENCE ANDERSON.

- Lobster Trade Hit by War.

The canned-lobster industry of Newfoundland and
Canada has been hard hit by the European war. As Ger-
many is the largest consumer of this product, the princi-

pal market has been cut off. A case of forty-eight tins,
which brought’ twenty-four dollars in Newfoundland be-
fore the war, now cannot be sold for more than eight or
ten dollars.

G. A. R. Man Enjoys “Tip Top.”
"Dash Epttor: Please send No. 117, New Tip Tor.
_ Tam an old veteran of the Civil War, seventy-two years
old, and have read every number of the Tip Tor for four-
teen years, and do not wish to lose a single one.
- Your agent in Portland, Maine, is poor. The papers do
not come regularly at all. They sent none of them the
week that No. 117 was due. It makes it bad for us who
sread them and also for you. Please send No. 117 by
return mail, so I can catch up again.
‘Tre Top is the best thing out, and I expect to fui it
as long as I live.» Yours truly. C. W. Morrttt.
Monson, Maine.
Thank you very much for calling our attention to your
- failure to get Trp Tor. The circulation department has
taken the matter up. It is certainly high praise for such
men as you to speak of Tip Tor so highly.

“Low Bridge” to Warn Chicks,

“Heads below,” is the advice sent out by the St. Paul,
Minn., Humane Society to shippers of chickens and poultry
who fail to construct their transportation coops.for live
poultry in such a way that the birds are prevented from
using their coops as an observation car en route.

_ The society maintains that shippers should put enough
slats on the top of the crates so that the chickens should
‘not be able to poke their heads out. Express-company
officials say that in handling crates of live poultry it is
nearly impossible to avoid decapitating a few chickens.

Certainly Great,

Daan Borres: I have never written to you before, so
will now tell you how I like Trp Top Weexvy.
tainly great. The stories are so human. There,is none

It is cer-—
~ copy or two. should convince almost any “oO

of that wild, impossible stuff in them that there is in most
weeklies. I have read the New Tie Tor from No. 29 to
the present time, also almost all of the old ones. I missed
No, 123, so am sending stamps for it, also stamps for
No. 102, which [ lost, . \

About the covers: 1 think they could not be improved,
except by writing a few words on them of the part of the
story they illustrate.

[ am quite round-shouldered, although not greatly flat-
chested. Can you suggest some remedy for this? Would.
you advise using shoulder braces?

What are the measurements of a boy of twenty-two,
whose weight is 162 pounds, and height is 5 feet 11
inches ?

I would like a set of your post cards very much.

[f you print this, please do not sign my name.

Traverse City, Mich. A Loyat Trp Topper.

The issues of Tre Tor that you ordered have been sent
you.

Do not use shoulder braces; stand up straight. If you
will stand straight and take deep breaths, you will come
out all right. When I said stand up straight, I should
also have added, sit up straight.

The measurements for a person your height should be:

| Weight, 168 pounds; neck, 15.2 inches; chest, contracted.

37 inches; chest, expanded, 49.9 inches; waist, 32.7 inches ;
forearms, I1.5 inches; upper arms, down, 13 inches; upper
arms, up, 13.8 inches; calves, 15.4 inches; thighs, 228
inches.

Wedded After Sixty Years.

A romance of sixty years, including two marriages for
each participant, had its culmination at South Norwalk,~

in the marriage of Adino Ezekiat Brooks, eighty
years old, and Mrs. Annie G. Baker, seventy-four. In
1854 they were boy-and-girl sweethearts. They said their
last wedding day was the happiest of their lives.

Conn.,

High Praise.

Dear Eprror: After several years of silence, 1am going
to write once more my opinions and my delight in the
famous Merriwell stories.

Old Tip Top is one of my best pards, believe me, every-
where I go. But the man behind a certain peri that has
held thousands enchanted by the way the user has turned
out the Trp Top stories in their charming style and mai
yelous newness that marks each story as Tr” :
man is Burt L. Standish—all hail!

But why the use of all these words, for Tre
its own words of praise, if one will allow.

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

ferent—different from the usual five-cent weeklies that
rise to-day and to-morrow are gone—while old Trp Top is
ever with us. The truth is that old Trp—my chum—is in
a class distinctly by itself, and, in my little course of
life, I have never found a weekly that came within a
mile—so to speak—-of the Merriwell stories; of course,
there are one or two exceptions, but I always noticed they
were branded “S. & S.”

By the way, Tir Tor is running through a long stretch
of time—almost eighteen years, of which a great part of
that time I have been a reader, but just think of that one
man—Burt L. Standish—who is truly a human marvel,
who has, week after week, month after month, and year
after year, turned out the only ideal publication, dear old
Tre Tor.

Another marvel is that hundreds’of the readers
started in reading old Tre Tor from the start of its first
issue, April 18, 1896, when they were young men, have
not yet quit the Tre Top. habit, not tried, and |
don’t blame them, either’; some of these old Tip Toppers,
who are the men of to-day, but still, through these many
years; Tie Tor is their ideal publication.

By these few words of praise, perhaps, one may realize
-how I am attached to-the king of weeklies: In fact, I
wouldn’t part with my file of Tre Tops, even if I could get
another, for then they wouldn’t seem the same to me, and
the memory of how and when I got this one or that one
would disappear.

I have carefully bound my Trp into books of
three to five copies each, and let me tell you they are real
choice books, :

A few years ago young Joe Crowfoot and a certain
- Rose Sharon had a love affair, but I have never read of
_» the termination of it.

With three cheers and a tiger for Burt. L. Standish,
Frank and Dick Merriwell, and last, but not least, Frank,
junior, ’rah *rah, ’rah! ¢
Best Christmas wishes to my favorite author, Burt L.,
and many more years of success to Street & Smith. I
remain, a loyal Tip Topper, L. Ervin Wricnt.

‘Russellville, Ark.

_ P. S—I have many rare extra copies of Tir Top from
- No. 45 to No. 411, and J. will help any one fill his.or her
' ae of Tip Tors at cost prices.

who

have

Tops

Ask Two Dwarfs For One Giant,

i Germany wants to exchange the
i a
-. William Hempstead, an eight-foot giant, whose enormous
appetite alarmed the German commissariat, has just
reached England from Germany, where he was interned
at the beginning of the war. Now United States Consul
General Robert P. Skinner is negotiating for the return
to Germany of two German dwarfs, less than two feet tall,

sd in England.

long for the short

From a New Reader,

Seis. Steins I have been a reader of Tip Tor for some
eks, and think it is fine.

Sana wattd: me a set if you hate any left.
to oe er Yours truly,
le, Ws. Cpaw.

neck, 12.4 inches; chest, contracted, 30.4 inches; chest, ex-
panded, 32.9 inches; waist, 25.2 inches; upper arms, down,
8.6 inches; upper arms, up, 10,2 inches; forearms, 9,2

inches; thighs, 17.3 inches; calves, 11.9 inches.

Hot Shot for Our Meat Kings.

A British army officer at the front, whose letter ap-
pears in the London Morning Post, writes:

“We live on various forms of dog biscuits and’ bully
beef of different brands. They vary enormously in quality,
and on my return I should like to get hold of some of
those Chicago meat kings and wring their necks and
put them through their own mincing machines.”

Can Hardly Wait for Next Issue.

Dear Epiror: I have read Tir Tor for about four § years,
and think it’s the best boys’ weekly published. I have just
finished reading No. 122, and can hardly wait for the next
issue,

I have read the letters to the Compass by other readers
and they are asking for post cards. If you have any,
left, I wish you would send me a set.

Hoping I will see this in the next week’s paper, I remain,
yours, Fintey BEenyAMIN.

Nashua, N. H, sales

Cow on Cowcatcher.

When a freight train on the Virginia Railway scsied
through Conley, Va., there was a large red cow’ sitting —
on the cowcatcher, with her forefeet upraised and ap- —
parently stiff with fright.
and at the first stop she was taken off. It was learned ©
that the cow had been on the track two miles south of)
Conley, and instead of being knocked off by the engine, —
she fell back on the cowcatcher.. A few bruises were her —
only injuries.

Chip and Clancy Best.

Dear Eprrox: I am a constant reader of Tip hie and
always will be as long as it is pahlished,

I like Clancy and Chip best.,

Please tell me the measurements of a boy 14 years 6
months and 20 days old.

Please send me a set of post cards.

(Hoping to see this in. print, I remain,
Topper,

Jefferson, Ga.

Send your height, Sam, then Professor Fourmen: will
give you your correct measurements.

a. ‘eat! Tip es
Sam J. BEL, JUNIOR,

Tricked by Hay-loaded Steeds.

A feat of characteristic French smartness has bain? re-
ported. A Gascon captain loaded a tiumber’ of horses
with hay so that, grouped, together, they resembled. -
haystack. When the Germans fired on the monster’ ‘they.

saw approaching through the haze, the’ horses separated —

and then were charged by the German cavalry, who could
not believe them riderless. In the tumult the Gascon cap-
tain and his men took a position in the rear’and charged
so effectively thst the Germans fled in disorder. %

The Best Weekly.

ever printed. T’ think the Clancy. stories were
t am thirteen wenn: old, a am 5 fe

 

People yelled at the engineer,
eer,
faye 8
Fob
gine,

Re
‘ Ps
dressed in mourning.

mode of reward for
m

pass, I saw a boy who said he was only twelve.
_ eleven.

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY. 29

weigh too pounds. I would like to know my correct
measurements.
Please send me some post cards. Yours: truly,
Exitis N. W. Derrz.
918 Petal Street, Schenectady, N. Y.
Your weight is right.. Your measurements should be:
Neck, 11.8 inches; chest, contracted, 28.4 inches; chest, ex-
panded, 31.8 inches; waist, 24.3 inches; forearms, 8.4
inches; upper arms, down, 7.8 inches; upper arms, up, 8.4
inches; thighs, 16.5 inches; calves, 11.1 inches.

Wounded Get Bullets Gold Plated,

The Duchess of Baden has established a grim but novel
wounded German soldiers. The
duchess has ordered that all ‘bullets extracted from the
wounded men in German hospitals be gold plated and
returned to them as gifts of honor.

Reads All He Can Get.

I think the Tre Tor fine. I read all 1
Quite a while ago, in the Com-
I’m only
Joun Ross.

Dear Eprror:
can get, old or new.

Yours truly,
_ 1488 Market Street, San Diego, Cal.

Plain Wagon Hero’s Hearse.

f " “4, . ~ .
,. There have been many military funerals in France since

the beginning of the war, but none other so impressive

ee a

as one witnessed at Epernay. It was about eight o’clock
and the air was cold and foggy. Passing, near the rail-
road station, the correspondent met a procession of slow-

stepping soldiers, with guns inclined toward the ground,

’ while back of them were a number of men and women
Some were weeping.
‘They were accompanied by a plain grocery wagon, the

: slabs of which were covered with large yellow advertise-
ments, and in which the corpse of a French officer was
going to its last resting place.

The touch of the grotesque
made death more sinister.
Upon inquiry the correspondent learned that during the

‘war persons meeting a body at the station to convey it to
the town cemetery are not obliged to employ the com-

munal hearse, which is somewhat expensive, byt may tse

it conveyance they choose.
ee Many families in France are now obliged to economize

in guch sad ways.
First-rate.

(Daw Epror ; ee been reading Tip Tor for some time,

be a to see ‘Mats back at Fardale goon, I think the

a readers. like the old characters best, while we young

5 Boats for the ocmection of the western coast
, has just been made public at Washington, and

two boats has rendered the cities of Vancouver and Vic-
toria, British Columbia, practically immune from attack
by the German warships that have recently been raiding
in the Pacific.

The credit for the exploit belongs to Sir Richard Mc-
Bride, premier of British Columbia, but known through-
out the Northwest as “Dick” McBride. Without any au-
thority from his government, he personally put through
a deal by which Great Britain obtained the Antofogasta
and the Jguique, two submarines which had just been com-
pleted by the Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Company.

Once he had obtained the vessels and they had been
removed before the president’s neutrality proclamation
had been made public, the British government was glad to
make the direct purchase and take over the two vessels
needed most seriously for her coast defense.

The two boats had been constructed for Chili, but their
builders found difficulty in obtaining the money for them,
and on one excuse or another the taking over of the vessels
was delayed. In the meantime they were lying at a dock

Seattle. Then the war in Europe broke out, and the
very day before the neutrality proclamation was issued,
Dick McBride bought both vessels,

That evening crews from the ship-building company
were placed on board, and the two boats slipped quietly
away. It had been reported that they would be stopped
by the army authorities at Fort Warden, at the entrance
to Puget Sound, but they slipped by without being discoy-
ered, and arrived safely in Victoria, where they were
placed under the flag of the Dominion,

Can’t Get Them Fast Enough.

Dear Eprror: Seeing letters from people living in other
cities, I am writing one to tell you I can’t get the stories
fast enough: Hoping you will try and publish them faster.
I remain, yours truly, W. Hate.

15 Adelaide Street, Toronto, Ont., Can.

A Night Message From the Front.

A Kansas City man received this night oer from |
Chicago, signed “Kitchener”

“The Germans have taken pilsener and are now sur-
rounding delicatessen, where the wurst is expected. The
Belgian hares have had a falling out with the Welsh rab-
bits and the Swiss cheese is shot full of ‘holes. This
will make the Irish stew and the English mustard hot,
and if the Russian caviar sees the French pastry, it may

start a Swiss-movement watch. The Spanish onions are

strong for a mix-up, and if the home preserves are called
out, and spread over German noodles, they may ketchup —

with navy beans, thereby causing an Lee of the Brus-

sels sprouts.”
“Tip Top” the Best.’ Be =
Deak Epitor: I have read nearly all the es
you have published, and I have found the Tip Tor ~

Weexiy the best, and I am still going to continue to.
read it.

would like to'have a set.
Hoping you will not disappuint me, I remain, yo
reader, Hi F OWN
4646 Large Street, Northwood, Philadelphia, P.

 
NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

fifty-five and one-half seconds, Please tell me how I can
increase my speed; also let me know what my measure-
ments should be.

I do not think you have got your records right. You
shotild be able to walk four miles in an hour. Surely you
can’t swim a mile in the time you say.

Send me your height and I will tell you what your
measurements should be.

Self-slain by Officer’s Order.

When the Germans reached Compiegne, they found the
city almost empty of able-bodied men, there being only
women, children, and aged persons, There were some
cases of pillage, but, generaily speaking, the invaders con-
ducted themselves. well.

One German, however, billeted on a house where there
was a young woman, began to court her assiduously.
When: she ‘resisted his advances, he attacked her. She
succeeded in escaping and went at once to complain to
the commanding officer. The latter accompanied her to
the house, where he saw the furniture. overturned, and
every evidence of a violent struggle. The officer turned
sternly to the soldier, and said: .

“I give you just two hours in which to kill yourself. If
you are not dead in two hours, you will be shot.”

A barricade had been erected in the street. The soldier
went behind the barricade, fired a revolver bullet into his
own head, and was buried without ceremony that evening.

Interesting Facts.

Sixty vessels of the United States navy, of which six
are battleships, are now burning oil instead of coal. It has
been found that oil occupies less space, weighs less, and
gives a much larger steaming radius.

Arkansas’ gold boom is fast subsiding. Prospecting was
most active in the district south of Bluffton and Gravelly,
two small towns on Fourche River. Several hundred
claims have been staked in this district, although on only
about a dozen has any development work been attempted.

The largest known phosphate-bearing field is in the
Rocky Mountain region through the States of Wyoming,
Utah, Montana, and Idaho. It is at least 430 miles long
and 230 miles wide. \

New York’s post office reports that of 80,000 parcel-
post packages feceived a day, it has complaints of dam-
aged condition averaging only four a day.

The city of San Diego, Cal., has an electric: fountain
in its largest park. The effect is produced with colored
lights and an automatic flasher placed behind the water
jets.

(There are 41,064 miles of electric railway track in’ the

United States.

‘Highways in Missouri are to be lined with peach and
other fruit trees, and, the Legislature will. pass laws to
protect them.

_ Washington stands first in

Louisiana second,

The loss by hog cholera last season alone in this country

$100,000,000.

aimee
\

lumber production, with

‘; Some New Inventions.
‘mounted on casters, on which a person can kneel
work on a floor has been patented by a Chicago

wt of an average man makes about one three-

thousandth of a volt of electricity at every beat, and an
instrument sensitive enough to measure it has been
invented.

An Illinois inventor has combined a scraper, metal door-
mat and fiber mat in one article, the metal portion being
hinged so it may be lifted for the dirt beneath it to be
swept away.

To prevent shoe laces from becoming untied, a New
York inventor has patented small metal-clasps to be
fastened to the tops of shoes to hold their ends.

A steel trailer, mounted on rubber-tired> wheels, has
been invented for hauling baggage behind an automobile,
to which it may be attached by a special coupling.

Smokestack Dummy “Slain.”

A factory chimney, of which there are many in north-—
ern France, makes an excellent observation post. There ©
was the one near Albert, which aided the French for
several days. A captain climbed to the top, whence, witli
a telephone, he effectively directed the fire of the French
batteries. The Germans probably saw the officer, for they
began to fire at the chimney. The first day they aimed
about twenty shells at it without result, for it is not easy
to hit such a thin mark five or six kilometers—three to
three and three-fifths miles—away. oe

. The captain was ordered to descend, but before doing ©
so he installed in his place a life-size dummy ‘with a fine
gold-embroidered cap. By the aid of a cord this dummy |
could be made to appear at will. The game caused much
pleasure to the French troops for two days. Each time a
German shell missed the chimney, the dummy would appear
in the summit as if to chaff the “Boches,” but finally a
shell struck the chimney squarely, and the dummy, perished
among the brick.

The artillerist who told me this story was very tired —
a few nights ago, and went to sleep with three comrades —
on top of a hayrick. There were three other men sleeping
in another hayrick alongside. In the morning this artil-
lerist was greatly surprised to see the three men in the |
second hayrick all dead. In the night a shell had burst:
and killed these near neighbors, but the men in the first ©
hayrick were so tired and so accustomed.to the sound —
of explosions that they had not been awakened. ;

Gets $50,000 for Patent Tap.

For the right to manufacture his invention of a tap
which cannot become loose or come off, Otto K. Fresh-
water, of North Colunibus, O., will be paid $50,000 by a —
manufacturing concern of Detroit, Mich. Freshwater
was formerly a railroad employee.

How a Story Grew.

How a rumor grows into an alleged fact is illustrated
by an investigation concluded a few days ago by special

agents for the United States Department of Justice. The
rumor came from Nebraska and stated that agents of ‘a
foreign government were going around with a “needle,”
spreading the foot-and-mouth disease among cattle, so
that the animals could not be shipped abroad as food for
the armies. The government ordered a prompt investir P
gation.

Special agents went to Nebraska and iateeviawal she"
State officials, who had reported the story first. For more>
than a week they kept running the story down, until at
last they found its origin. The source was, in a saloon,

 
f an
peen

oor-
eing
> be

has
bile,

orth-
here
for
with
ench
they
imed
easy
1610

joing

fine
mmy
nuch
me a
pear
lly a
ished

tired
rades
eping
artil-
1 the
burst

first
ound

2 tap
resh-

by a
water

rated
pecial
The
of a
edle,”
e, so
d for
vesti-

d the

more
til at
aloon.

Portes

Several men had discussed the war there. One man, so
: runk he could hardly stand, made the assertion that he
new two men who were spreading the disease. An inter-
view with the drunken man soon proved the entire story
without foundation.

The rapid spread of the foot-and-mouth disease was due
entirely, in the opinion of authorities of the department
p of agriculture, to. the extreme contagiousness of the in-
} fection, and in particular to the

early infection of the

 

* Chicago sgockyards, the great distributing center of the
United States. The yards were so thoroughly disinfected
during the time they were under quarantine that it is said

‘ they are cleaner now than in many years.

. } Mine Found in New York Harbor.

In the pathway traveled by all transatlantic vessels
, leaving gand entering New York, a mine, with contact

points extending from it, is afloat six miles west of Fire
ee and light, according to Captain Davies, of the steamship
+ © Efonian, in from London.
a7 ™ How the mine happens. to be there, by what agencies
Sat was set adrift, whether its presence was accidental
Ss ior by design problems to be cleared up. The
é esibility that it had been placed adrift in the belief
Wi “that it might eventually find lodgment against the side of

a Warship caused some speculation., The only. warships

sen recently near New York harbor have flown the British

. For some time British warships patrolled the door-

’ ay to the harbor, passing and repassing the spot. where

_ ‘Captain Davies said the mine was adrift. The Etonian

te Thad passed close to it.

vy, .
wu, Welsh Making Money.

What a bank rot! Freddie Welsh will have by the time

the war is over! The little Britisher, who has the title

». tofelightweight: champion, has already cleaned up a big

is “wad: in this country with his ten-round bouts. He admits

he is out for the coin, and it comes easily in short fights.

Hesadds: “I am ready to defend my title any time a pro-
moter comes forward with enough money to induce me
to “do. so?

‘In the meantime Freddie is keeping busy, appearing in
the ring every few nights and paying little attention to
talk from Willie Ritchie, the former ‘champion, and other
envious rivals.

f © ° The reason for-Jack Johnson’s sudden flurry of match-
Making is said to be that he lacks funds... Hf this is so,
“the heavyweight champion. must have broken the spend-
P

thrift record. Although not-an active champion, John-
son’ $ earnings are computed at close to $300,000 during the
Six years he has held the title.

This sum represents the takings from eleven fights and
‘also includes theatrical engagements. Although Johnson
has been fighting for\thirteen years, it was not until he
| won the title from Tommy Burns that he was able to lay
aside a surplus. Previous to that he had led a hand-to-
: mouth existence, always in debt to his various -man-

agers, who succeeded each other in rapid succession.

a But with the title in his possession, Johnson’s fortunes
is, ‘underwent a great change. The $5,000 he received for
he beating Burns, although a small fraction of the purse, was
» the largest sum he had earned up to that time. But it

Was the Jeffries match that made Johnson’s fortune. In
all, he was paid $120,000, which included his share of the
" Purse, the moving-picture and advertising privileges.

   
          
  
  
    
  

were

 

“er

 

NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY,

31

According to a rumor from Washington, D. C., the gov-
ernment is quietly arranging a little surprise for Johnson
in case he attempts to fight Jess Willard in either Mexico
or Cuba. Johnson is a fugitive from justice under a con-
viction for violating the Mann act. He jumped his bond
and fled to Europe. Department-of-justice officials have
tried to tempt him back to this country, but the negro
declined to bite. but it is said
that the government agents will kidnap Johnson if he
comes within reach.

Who is the best heavyweight in America to-day? Seems
to be the old Boston tar baby, Sam Langford. Langford
knocked out Harry Wills, of New Orleans, in the four-
teenth round at Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day, after
Wills had given Sam the hardest fight of his career. Very
few boxers that have faced Langford ever threw so much
punishment into him as Wills did. The New Orleans
black not only floored Sam early in the contest, but made
matters so lively for him that the latter was lucky to get
away with a victory by the knock-out route.

Extradition is impossible,

World’s Tallest Man Dies.

William Witte, the tallest man
Buffalo, N. Y., recently.

Probably several millions of persons have seen Witte
either on his world trips as drum major of the Kilties
Band or with Barnum’s circus. Witte was 7 feet 10 inches
talls in his shoes—especially shoes with concealed lifts
furnished by the Barnum & Bailey management. In reality
he was 7 feet 5 inches in height.

Witte was born in Germany, of normal parents, thirty-
nine years ago, but, unlike most of the famous giants,
his unusual height was not caused by disease or malforma-
tions. Of good proportions, Witte possessed great strength
and was unafraid of the tumbles so feared by other brittle-
boned men of his class. His appetite was enormous and
his capacity for hard labor was amazing.

When Witte left the Kilties Band about two and‘ one-
half yeafs ago, he came to Buffalo to join the National
Guard. ‘After winking at the height limit, militia authori-
ties installed him as drum major of the Seventy-fourth
Regiment, putting am extra section or two in his predeces-
sor’s baton. Three ordinary uniforms were hastily ripped
up and patched together for his mitial appearance.

If compelled to stand in a street car, Witte would have
to remove his hat to avoid striking the car roof. At
table the giant would have to stretch out his Tegs: draw-
ing up his knees resulted in a spilling of dishes. No Pull-
man berth would accommodate Witte; he would sit up
all night on a train. He was continually ducking his
head to avoid collision with the top of a doorway.

Pneumonia caused the death of Witte, who was ifl cise
ten days. ‘His body was sent to Marinette, Wis., where
his brother and father reside. His wife is living in
Australia.

in the world, died in

Strangely Missing.

A world-wide search has been instituted for Joseph
Meyers, mining engineer and graduate of the State Uni-
versity of Iowa, who is said to hold the key to the loca-
tion of 1,100 acres of diamond-mining land in South
Africa.

Doctor Fred C. Wheat, of Minneapolis, Minn., a class-
mate. of .Meyers and one of thé large body of -stock-
holders backing the project, has instituted. the search. -

Meyers, a football star and former coach at fhe: lows:

 
 

32 NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY.

Agriculture, at Ames, disappeared from the
Grand Hotel, San Francisco, July 5, 1910. Not a word
has been heard from him in the four years since, and
Doctor Wheat says he is convinced that some one obtained
knowledge of the information Meyers had and that he is
a yictim-of foul play.

With Meyers his wife disappeared also. She is believed
to be with Meyers, if he is alive. Doctor Wheat is cer-
tain that Meyers did not abscond with the $39,000 which
he obtained from the stockholders’ subscriptions.

Two incidents of the good-samaritan nature form the
prelude to the strange tale. Sandy McDonald, a miner,
gave Meyers a ‘chart, locating the diamond-bearing land
following. Meyers’ kindness to him during an illness while
the latter was in California. McDonald said he obtained
the papers from another Scotchman, also a South African
miner, when the latter was on his deathbed and McDon-
ald was making his last moments comfortable.

Meyers then investigated and his reports that the charts
located valuable diamond land were verified, Doctor Wheat
‘said. Then $30,000 was subscribed by Iowa alumni, and
Meyers returned to South Africa to purchase the land.
Simultaneously, diamond-bearing land was discovered only
twelve miles away.

This raised the price of land, and in 1910 Meyers re-
turned to raise more funds. He had obtained $9,000, Doc-
tor Wheat said, when suddently he disappeared.

Just before the last word was received from Meyers
from San Francisco, he was preparing to return to South
Africa to work on watersheds, buy title to the land from
the British government so that the two-thirds share, re-
quired when diamond mines are discovered, need not be
paid.

“I am certain Meyers was on the square,” Doctor Wheat
said. “We verified every statement he made. The pa-
pers are believed to be in a safety-deposit vault ‘in Chi-
cago, but we have been unable to locate the bank.”

College of

To Use Waste Coal.

Experts of the United States Bureau of Mines are much
interested in private tests which will be made in Salt
Lake City of a new method of extracting from waste coal
various by-products, such as crude petroleum, paraffin wax,
and ammonia. This method of utilizing a large part of
the coal which is now wasted was thought out by John
D. Scott, of Detroit.

Doctor Joseph A. Holmes, director of the Federal
Bureau of Mines,-and his associates have for years called
attention to the great loss of natural resources in the
wastage of coal slack and coal dust, and if the method
of utilizing this mine refuse is discovered, they say, it will
result in benefits both to the coal operators and to the
general public.

Coal slack and coal dust now cost the owners of mines
about fifty cents a ton to remove. The new method of
extracting by-products from the material which has been
called to the attention of the government’s mining en-
gineers, will make this refuse worth from $1.50 to $3 a
ton.

Tobacco-chewing Dogs,

Two three-months-old bulldogs,
Powers, a farmer living south of Gentry, Mo., have gained
for themselves the reputation of being the only tobacco-
_ chewing dogs in this part of the country.

The dogs acquired their taste for tobacco when they

belonging to Clarke

were quite small. A farm hand who daily fed them small § yy
bits from his plug, is responsible for teaching them the
habit. Now they are wild after a taste of tobacco, anc 7
on several occasions have robbed the pockets of hired
men and visitors to satisfy their craving for it.

HH

Sick Engineer Brings in His Train, (i

Enrolled high upon the present-day industrial heroe Ve
is the name of James Burke, of Blue Island, Ill, a sur i
vivor of the old guard of Western railroad men?’ Strick i)
with apoplexy while at the throttle of the California Lit ie

ited, the pet train of the southwest branch of the Roc
Island Railroad, Burke remained at the throttle of th ,
locomotive for two hours, bringing his train to the end ;
his division’on time. {
Burke was stricken just as the train pulled out of Colur
bus Junction, Iowa, and, despite his condition, stuck to h “|
post, until Rock Island was reached, when he was conver
by ambulance to St. Anthony’s Hospital, where he s
remains, in.a serious condition.
For Burke to leave his post meant delay, and he turne
a deaf ear to the advice of his fellow trainmen.
“Boys, this is likely to be my last run, and I am Oita
to finish with a clean record,” he declared. “I'll bring her

 

 

 

 

   
 

|

in on time.” And that he did, although the penalty may |
° Be 4

be his death. oy
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No craving for tobacco in any
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}
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S . }
 
SOME OF THE
BACK

NUMBERS OF

W TIP TOP
WEEKLY

B. BE

=—_—_—_

SUPPLIED

 

 

Merriwell’s Dog.
< Merriwell’s Subterfuge.
< Merriwell’s Enigma.
< Merriwell Defeated.
< Merriwell’s ‘‘Wing.’’
< Merriwell’s Sky Chase.
< Merriwell’s Pick-ups.
< Merriwell on the Rocking R.
< Merriwell’s Penetration.
< Merriwell’s Intuition,
< Merriwell’s Vantage.
< Merriwell’s Advice.
< Merriwell’s Rescue,
< Merriwell, American.
< Merriwell’s Understanding.
Dick Merriwell, Tutor.
Dick Merriwell’s Quandary.
Dick Merriwell on the Boards.
Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker.
Frank Merriwell’s Sway.
Frank Merriwell’s Comprehension,
‘rank Merriwell’s Young Acrobat.
‘rank Merriwell’s Tact.
‘rank Merriwell’s Unknown.
‘rank Merriwell’s Acuteness.,
‘rank Merriwell’s Young Canadian.
‘rank Merriwell’s Coward.
‘rank Merriwell’s Perplexity.
‘rank Merriwell’s Intervention.
‘rank Merriwell’s Daring Deed.
‘rank Merriwell’s Succor.
< Merriwell’s Wit.
< Merriwell’s Loyalty.
< Merriwell’s Bold Play.
« Merriwell’s Insight.
Merriwell’s Guile.
Frank Merriwell’s Campaign.
2—Frank Merriwell in the
Forest.
—Frank Merriwell’s Tenacity.
Dick Merriwell’s Self-sacrifice.
_Dick Merriwell’s Close Shave.
—Dick Merriwell’s Perception.
—Dick Merriwell’s Mysterious
pearance.
788—Dick Merriwell’s Detective Work.
789—Dick Merriwell’s Proof.
790—Dick Merriwell’s Brain Work.
79L—Dick Merriwell’s Queer Case.
792——Dick Merriwell, Navigator,
7938—Dick Merriwell’s Good Fellow ship.
794—Dick Merriwell’s Fun.
795—Dick Merriwell’s Commencement.
796—Dieck Merriwell at Montauk Point.
797—Diek Merriwell, Mediator.
798—Diek Merriwell’s Decision.
799—Dick Merriwell on the Great Lakes.
$01—Dick Merriwell in the Copper Coun-
try.
802—Dick Merriwell Strapped.
808—Dick Merriwell’s Coolness.
804—Dick Merriwell’s Reliance.
805—®Dick Merriwell’s College Mate.
807—Dick Merriwell’s Prodding.
810—F rank Merriwell’s Young Warriors.
811—T rank Merriwell’s Appraisal.
812—TIrank Merriwell’s Forgiveness.
813—F rank Merriwell’s Lads.
814—F rank Merriwell’s Young Aviators.
815—F rank Merriwell’s Hot-head.
816—Dick Merriwell, Diplomat.
817—Dick Merriwell in Panama.
818—Dick Merriwell’s Perseverance.
819—Dick Merriwell Triumphant.
820—Dick Merriwell’s Betrayal.
821—Dick Merriwell, Revolutionist.
822—Dick Merriwell’s Fortitude.
823—Dick Merriwell’s Undoing.
824—Dick Merriwell, Universal Coach
$825—Dick Merriwell’s Snare.
826—Dick Merriwell’s Star Pupil.
827—Dick Merriwell’s Astuteness.
828—Dick Merriwell’s Responsibility.
829—Dick Merriwell’s Plan.
880—Dick Merriwell’s Warning.
831—Dick Merriwell’s Counsel.
ata Merriwell’s Marksmen.

Wy,

763
764
T65
766

p se

National

vy

DDP DH

1-7-9419

Disap-

\ PRIGE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY.

‘ie. y ur news dealer, they can be obtained direct from this office.

-Stre ee

tb,

834—Dick Merriwell’
835—Dick Merriwell’
Dick Merriwell’
‘s Battle for the Blue.
Dick Merriwell’
840—Dick Merriwell’
842—Dick Merriwell’
—Dick Merriwell’

836—
838—
839

Dick Merriwell

845
844—Dick Merriwell

845—Dick Merriwell’

846—Dick Merriwell

s Enthusiasm.
s Solution.
s Foreign Foe.

s Evidence.

s Device.

s Sixth Sense.
s Strange Clew.
Comes Back.

s Heroic Crew.
Looks Ahead.

NEW SERIES.
New Tip Top Weekly

—T*
: Ie
3—IF
i"
5—F
6—Fr
Vr

aers.

Frank Merriwell,
Merriwell, Jr.’s,

rank
thon.
rank
Ranch.
-Frank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,

.

rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,

rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank
Foes.
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
ank Merriwell,

,
.
,
,

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Ir
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ank Merriwell,
ank Merriwell,
‘rank Merriwell,
‘ank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
Race,

.

Ff
hi
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9—F rank Merriwell,

40
41

ture.

st

52—Frank Merriwell,
ble.

Doctor.

4

I
D rank
6 I

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_T
re
—Frank
58 Frank

mate.
60
61

rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,

Merriwell,

rank Merriwell, J
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell, Jr.,
rank Sea a ‘

rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,
rank Merriwell,

Merriwell, Jr.’s,

r ’
rank Merriwell. ar, ss
rank Merriwell,
r
re

-rank Merriwell, J
—Frank Merriwell, J
2—F rank Merriwell,
Frank Merriwell, J
Frank Merriwell, Jr
rank Merriwell,
-Frank Merriwell,
-rank Merriwell, J1
—Frank Merriwell, J
—Frank Merriwell,
50 —Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s,

Frank Merriwell,

38—Frank sverbwrell, Jr., and the

rank Merriwell,
Merriwell,
‘ank Merriwell,
Merriwell,
Merriwell,
59—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Lost

—Frank Merriwell,
-Frank Merriwell,

Jr.

Jr., in the Box.
Jv.’s, Struggle.
Jr.’s, Skill.

Jr., in Idaho.
Jr.’s, Close Shave.
Jr., on Waiting

Jr.’s, Danger.
Relay

the

Mara-

dl Gt Bar Z

’s, Golden Trail.
Th s, Competitor.
r.’s, Guidance.
Jr.’s, Scrimmage.
Misjudged.
© Star Play.

.’S, Blind Chase.

.s, Discretion.
i s. Substitute,
oe Justified,
Jr. Incog.
Jr., Meets the Issue.
ans 'S, Xmas Ive,

’s, Fearless Risk.
a on Skis.
Jr.’s, Ice-boat Chase.
Ambushed

, and the Totem.
i ’s, Hockey Game
rs ‘Ss, Clew.

s, Adversary.
Timely Aid.

Jr., in the Desert.
Jr.’s, Grueling Test.
Jr.’s, Special Mission
Jr.’s, Red Bowman.
Jr.’s, Task.

Jr.’s, Cross-Country

Tn?

Jr.’s, Four Miles.

r.’s, Umpire.

r., Sidetracked,
Jr.’s, Teamwork.

r.’s, Step-Over.

, in Monterey.
Jr.’s, Athletes,

Jr.’s, Outfielder.

’s, “Hundred.”

r.’s, Hobo Twirler.
Jr.’s, Canceled Game.
f Weird Adven-

ae Double Header.
Jr.’s, Peck of Trou-

Spook

Jr.’s, Sportsmanship.
Jr.'s, Ten-Innings,
Jr.’s, Ordeal.

Jr., on the Wing.
Jr.’s, Cross-Fire.
Team

Jr.’s, Daring Flight.
Jr., at Fardale.

Or-

62—F rank Merriwell, Jr.,
—Frank Merriwell,

63

65

66—F rank Merriwell,

Plebe. .
Jr.’s, Quarter-Back.
< Merriwell, oe 8, Touchdown

—IFrank Merriwell, Jr.s, Night Of
UL. “and the inte.

Black Box.

67—Trank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Conall
68—F rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Repentant” Wn-

69—F rank Merriwell, Jr.,
—Frank Merriwell,

70-

he
»

°
o

74

WAN

20 00 00 00 00 6090.00 SI ST SI Te]

SS
&9
90
91

92
93

94—

95

96—

97—
98

99

100
101
102
103
104

105

106
107

108
109

110-

11
12
15

114

—Trrank Merriwell,

—Frank Merriwell, Jr.,
—Frank Merriwell, Jr.’

emy.

and the “Spell.”
Jr.’s, 2G BiG

Honors. ;
-Irank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Winning Run, a
Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Jujutsu. ~~
I'rank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Christmas Var
's Run of Huek. 5

cation. _
and the Ni mi ks
's Square Deal. pe

’'s Hardesttight. an ae
’s Ride tom ort uns) eae
s Makeshift. ily
and the Black Pearls: Ry
Owen Clancy and the Sky Pilot, oe
Owen Clancy and the Air oe
Owen C lancy’ s Peril. 9
Owen Clancy’s Partner:
Owen Clancy’s Happy Prail.
Owen Clancy’s Double Trouble.
Owen Clancy’s Back Wire: 4
Owen Clancy and the “Clique of Gold.”
Owen Clancy's “Diamond” Deal,
Owen Clancy and the Claim Juno
Owen Clancy Among the Smneeyen
Owen Clancy’s Cle an- ia:
Frank Merriwell, Jr.’
Frank Merriwell, Jr.’
Frank Merriwell, Jr.’
The Merriwell Compé ria
Frank Merriwell’s ry inet Commission. |
Frank Merriwell, Cryptogram.
-Dick Merriwell ae Tone Arlington.”
Dick Merriwell’s T urquoise Tussley
Dick Merriwell Tricked.
Frank Merriwell, Jr, in the Gulf of

‘atte
Stampede.

—Merriwell vs. Merriwell. # i.
Dick Merriwell and the Buitelage t "
Dick Merriwell Mystified.
Dick Merriwell’s Hazard.
Frank Merriwell, Jr., at the Coww-

boy Carnival. ;
rank Merriwell’s River Problem
rank Merriwell 4 ; Sat Odds.
~Frank Merriwell, Jr.’ Pueblo Puz-
zle.
—Frank Merriwell, Jr., Blue
Bonnet Mine. }

-Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, New Foe,
Frank Merriwell, Jr.’s, Hunting Trip.

—Frank Merriwell, Jr, Indian in-

tanglement.
Frank Merriwell, s, Riddle.
Frank Merriwell sca in Colorado.
Frank Merriwell’s Conquest,
Frank Merriwell’s Unseen Boes.
Dick Merriwell’s Charm.
Dick Merriwell’s Polo Play,
Dick Merriwell’s mage Hour.
rank Merriwell, 's, Pardale Visit.
rank Merriwell, *s, Girl Friend.
Dated Janu: .- "os 1915.
Frank Merriwell, Jr., and “the
Masquerade.
Dated January 9,91915.

JY.,;
Wolves.

on the Border,
s, Desert me.
Owen Clancy
Owen Claney
Owen Clancy
Owen Clancy
Owen Clancy’
Owen Clancy

a Sa
Bis
_

'P ‘ick -Up Nine.
8 s Dis imond Foe
Great Game.#

Fire.
-Frank Merriwell, Jr, in ‘the

at the

Ice

128—Frank Merriwell in the yo kies.

129—F rank Merriwell

Dated January 16, 19

15,

a and | the Phantom
ear,

Dated January 23,9915.

180—Frank Merriwell in the Land of W

ders.
’

If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procnrey the

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