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NO . 42 , V O L U M E XXXV . ] S A T U R D A Y , J U L Y 1 9 , 1 9 1 3 . P r i c e O n e P e n n y .[ A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D . ]

Under the Cdge of the EarthA Story of Three Chums and a Startling Quest.

B y F. H . B O L T O N ,

  Author of "  In the Heart  of  the Silent Sea" etc.

- he c l e nc he d h i s fis t s a va ge l y— ' a r e you go i n g qu i e t , w i ' o u t a s t r ugg l e , o r a r e yo ug o i n g t o l e t me c ho ke yo u s i l l y aga in ? ' " {See p. 659.)

CHAPTER XVII .—ON T H E PRETTY  POLL.

rpHi? l ong, lon g night dragge d throug h

L i t s wea ry hour s . Lyi ng in a pos i t i on

f rom which he c ou l d ob t a i n no re l ief ,

D e nn i s w a s to r tured b y th e strain u p o n

his b o d y and the pressure of the rope t ha t

he ld hands and f ee t in b o n d a g e . The

f irst half -h our see med a d a y in l e ng t h—

a day packed ful l with mental pa in and

pa in phys ic a l . He had s t ruggled for a f e w

seconds , but the breath seemed to leave hisb o d y wi th the exe r t ion, so cho kin g was the

c rue l gag t ha t bou nd hi s mo uth . He l ay ,

the re fore , after the f irst fut i le mo me nts ,

in pa s s ive mise ry , thedarkness w e i gh i ng

he a v i l y upon his burning eyeba l l s , and

a d d i n g terror t o a situation a l r e a dy

suff ic ient ly awf ul . Oh , for a l i ght—jus t

one weak r ay . The ins t inc t ive c ry of us

al l . Oh, for the l ig ht , the kin dly, cheer in g

l i g h t !

H o w h a d it all ha ppe ne d ? H e c o u l d

r e m e m b e r the s udde n da s h a nd c l u t c h—

but , after t ha t ? H e r eca l l ed no b l o w ,

c o u l d feel no pain of bruise upon his head :

he had no ache such as m i g h t c o m e f r om

be i ng struck. There w as s inging in his

ea r s , a s l ight confus ion of t hough t s , but

that was sure ly natural enou gh unde r thec i r c um s t a nc e s .

H o w had i t a l l happ ened ? Wh a t matter ?

T h e r e he was , and the que s t i on be c a m e

rather, ho w sho uld he get free ? He t r ied

to work the hateful ga g f rom his mou th ;

tried till the effor t a lm ost mad e him s ick ,

a n d then s topp ed for f ea r of v iolen t r e t ching

setting in , a thing sufficiently serious in his

then he lple ss pos i t ion . Th e soun d of  s teal thy

f oo t s t e ps c a m e t o hi s ears as he l ay qu ie t

after this : the s tr ip of s acking had not shut

ou t soun d. Ho pe r eviv ed for the ins tan t .

Perhaps a l r eady Leona rd had mis sed him

and t r acked him . He heard a fumbl ing at

t he doo r , then a noise as of a pad loc k or c hain

be ing fixed, or unf ixe d : he prayed it m i g h t

be the latter, even i f  t ha t meant the return

of  h i s e ne m y . T he n a snap : then th e foo t

s t e ps r e c e d i ng : then s i l ence . He was an

i d i o t ; L e ona r d c ou l d no t ha ve f ound h i m

ye t . He was trapped, trapped i gnom i n i ous l y ,

with no apparent cha nce of get t in g f ree .

Ha d they mis sed him ye t , even ? Sure ly ,

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658 The Hoy's Otvn Paper.

y e s . An d if the y had, what steps wou ld

they t ake to tra ce him ? He had left no

c lue as to his where about s. Stay ! H e

remembered passing tha t co n s tab le : he

migh t have noti ced the wa y he had g o n e .

Of  course he would have notice d. There

was hope yet, large hope.

Bu t alrea dy the pain in his li mbs , the cruel

cr am p griping his muscl es as if he might have

been stret ched upon the rack, broug ht hism i n d back to realities and t o o k   it sharply

f rom further speculation. He had never

suffered such pains before , had never felt

so awfully helpless and at the same time

so gripped with tor ture f r o m which there

se e m e d no prosp ect of ease. In sheer despair

he tried t o struggle again : but the acut e

fear of landing himself into some strained

p o s i t i o n f rom whic h he migh t be unable

t o rec over , and wh ich migh t still more

cr am p his alre ady sufficiently tort ured

musc les , check ed too violent action on his

par t .

A g a i n he lay still, bre ath ing as best he

c o u l d in short gasps, and praying as he had

never prayed before—as he had never before

had occas ion t o pray—tha t s o m e h o w , andso m e w h e n e e , help might c o m e to him in his

sore straits. And so the long , long night

d ra g g e d through its weary hours. Now

and again, f r o m sheer exhaustion, his brain

l o s t grip of consci ousness , and he drop ped

into uneasy, light -heade d slumbe r, but al

w a y s to wake to fresh agony.

It was so dark, s o silent , so awfu lly lone ly,

tha t the oc cas iona l bark of a dog , soundi ng

far awa y, cam e to him as a relief; and when

o n c e he heard, or thought he heard, the neigh

and c ha mp of a horse, pres umab ly in some

stable c lose to the boat , he foun d a co mp an y

in the weird noise tha t he wou ld not have

tho ught p ossibl e. Gradua lly and with

painful slowness the out er worl d seemed

t o be gett ing ready for the day . But to

h im , be yo nd the increase in sounds , there

were as ye t no signs of da y its elf ; an d ho

remembered, with a further sinking of heart,

tha t bright sunlight might be in the heavens

a b o v e , and yet the foul blackness be still

hi s c l o a k . He heard at last the faint crowing

of  c oc ks afar off. The re c o u l d be no doubt

the wor ld outside was wakin g up . Oh, for

the light, the kindly, cheering light!

H o w many times he had dropped into

unconsc iousness , and how ma ny times been

  jerked back into life and ago ny again, he

c o u l d not say. He had, however, just

dreamed t h a t he was being pushed, bound

hand and f oo t , int o a bo x to o small to hol d

h i m , and had awoke wit h a cry whi ch was

stifled, and gurgl ed hideous ly in his throat ,

w h e n he hea rd noise s of me n up on the wharf,

and their vo i c e s . There was nothing too

prec ious to have exchanged just then fo r

the powe r to send out up on

the startled morning air shriek 

u p o n shriek for help, before t he

men out side shoul d be gone ;

shriek upon shriek which

sh o u ld let the w"hole wor ld

rou nd kno w of his need for

s u c c o u r . But his pains were

increased by his very helpless

ness, lying there with no power,

and he lp so near to h an d.

H e heard at last

the vo i c e of the

m a n w h o h a d

brought him to

this pass. He heard

m o v e m e n t s , an d

the sound as of a

derrick working;

s h o u t s , c o u n t e r -

shouts, the running

of  a chain ; then

bumps and t huds

tha t shook the heavy barge. This ex

perience was repeated o v e r an d o v e r again

for some time . He listened, making renewed

efforts to rid himself of the gag, or to produce

a noise by striking b o d y or feet upon some

o b s t a c l e . All in vain : his cap tor evi dent ly

understood the use of knots and c o r d s .

There was nothing for it but to wait.

T h e barge was being loaded now, but

s o o n e r or later the fellow" must visit him ;he could n' t possibly—the thought m ade him

g r o w c o l d with horror—he couldn' t possibly

mea n to starve him. He was thi rsty, ha d

indeed been thi rsty for som e ti me, and was

b e g in n in g to feel sick and faint for want of 

f o o d . Ha dn' t he had enoug h to put up wit h,

in all consc ience , without these further

torments ?

A strangled ray had found its way into

the place throu gh a chin k. It was so me

slight c o m f o r t to him ; he lped to make the

dar k less awful . Aft er a ti me the noise of 

load ing grew less ; then it ceased altogether.

H e c o u l d hear the bargemen talking, and

answering calls. T hen again things were

quiet. Still no one ca me near his prison.

But after a nother period of daz ed half-

consc iousness he heard the sound of a

horse's hoofs upo n the stones, and the

sho uts of the man . He raised his head—

p o o r l a d ! this was well-nigh the only

m o t i o n possible to him—and listened

intentl y. Ther e was a trampli ng on the

d e c k   ab o v e him—that would be to fix the

t o w - ro p e —a n d the footsteps died away to>

th e stern. He hea rd t he nois e as of a pole-

dragging along the edge of the barge ; theni

felt , or thought he felt, a slight movement.

A few seconds more of intense listening, then

the faint ripple of water. Y e s ! The y were

off. Oh, for the powe r to sh ou t!H e began again to struggle. Fear,

anger, desperat ion—all lent strength and

fire fo r the mome nt, but for the mom ent

o n l y ; he was to o far gone for muc h more ,

and his struggles soon ceased. Just as he

sank back he heard a ca l l—" Hi ! B i l l ! " —

and then an answering shout, gruff enough,

f rom the fe l low on board : a surl y " What 's

u p ? " This was fo l lowed by a rough

" W h o a ! " an d a few seconds la ter he felt

the boat had sto pped again. It could no t

hav e glided far. His heart beat fast ; hope

f l ickered u p once more. Th ey had tracked

h im , and had st aye d the barge ! Oh, good

old Leonard !

T h e y wou ld be sure to sp ot hi m now !

Still, just o ne cr y—o nl y one ! He st rovetill black in the f ace , but no single sound

c o u l d he make. Ye t the y would find him ,

for al l that, an d then there would be a day

of  reckoning for my gentleman of the barge !

H e held his head up as high as he eould,

on th e alert for the slightest sound to tell

of  his comi ng rescue ; but no more voice s

reached his ear, though he thought he heard

th e ttian's returning tread. Then fo l lowed

a surly g r o w l to the horse, and a slight jerk,,

with the subseque nt ripple of water r ound

th e bow s . His head fell back upon the

straw and despair t o o k   sullen grip of his

heart.

It was perhaps an hour later, though to

h i m it s eemed like several, when once more

he heard the call to the horse to stop, and

soon after a gentle grating noise told him that

the vessel had touc hed the bank. Foot

steps drew near his prison, there was a

fumbling at the l oc k , and then th e joyous

light streamed in upon him for a moment,

as the bargeman entered. But o n l y fo r

a moment; the next instant the door was

c losed again. The lighti ng of the candle,

h o w e v e r , gave some relief  f rom th e inter

minable darkness. He looked up with all

the defiance of which he was capable into

his captor 's f ace . The man held a plate of 

thick bread and but ter , balanced upon a

c u p of steaming coffee. He gave a grin

as he set these d o w n .

" S l e e p w e l l ? " he asked coarse ly, and1

s t o o p e d to the lad.

" It 's 'appened l oove l y , " he said. " Seems

l ike Providence might 'a been watching

thing s for me, t' wa y it's all c o m e o u t !

The er' s t' missus an d kids gon e for a bit of 

a ' o l i d y , and me all by mysel' . Theer's you

c o m e s d o w n to t' d o c k   late of a neet, and no

nobbutv me, abou t. Theer' s me, as

k n o w s a ti dy little t rick in t'

c h o k i n g way, as puts a man

off  his hee ad in less 'n no time

—and makes it King dom C o m e

fo r ' im, too, if you aren't gey

careful. Ay , it 's 'appene d

l oove l y ; tha t it 'as ! "

Hutton continued to stare at

hi m fixealy.

" S e e heie, lad," he c on

tin ued, " we'r e in a lonel y bit

o ' t ' canal. I 'm going to loose

t' cloth off yo u, and if yo u

was to screech yoursel' silly

theer's no one 'Id hear you.

But if  y o u ' v e a mind to try,

on it goes agai n, sharp. So I

tells yo u ! "

He . unti ed, the sac king and^R i c A f t D o

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Under the Edge of the Earth. 659

t ook   out the gag. Th e relief was unspeak

able. H u t to n spat , t o clear his m o u th ,

and drew a l ong, deep breath. The fe l low

untied the c o r d from the ring, and helped

the boy to a sitting posture . In spite of 

himself, Hut ton was unable to keep bac k a

sharp excla mati on of pain, so acute was t he

c r a m p e d feeling.

" A y, " laughed the fe l low, " I r e c k o n it

hain't all beer and skittle s. Ta k  a sup ! "

He poured ou t some coffee in to the

saucer and held it to the poor , parched lips.

Hut ton drank till i t was emp ty, and l ooke d

at the fo o d withou t speaking. Th e man

held o u t a slice of bread and but ter , an d

the bo y bit at it eager ly. No use in all owi ng

foolish pride to weaken him by the refusal

of  sustenance ; he could not say how much

he mig ht be in need of it bef ore he was free:

An d thus, in pain and cramp, he was fed

till his heart rev ived somewha t .

" No w, " sa id the fe l low, " d o w n y o u goes

again, maister ! "

Then for the first time Dennis spoke.

" Are you going to put that filthy thing

int o my mou th again ? "

" Ay, am I ! "" I give you my wor d of hon our not to

shou t , if y o u w o n ' t . "

" Not me, maister ! I ' l l mak' sure wi'o ut

that ."

" Well , at any rate," urged Hut ton ,

" alter my position. Tie my hands in front

fo r a change . I—I 'm tuckered ou t . "

He fell back as ho spoke, and the fe l low

looked at him.

" You' l l 'a to wait, while we stops for a

bit, at t' dinner time," he said, a little less

roughly . T h e lad was abou t to speak  

further, to know the reason of  this outrage .

He would have asked that earlier, but

that his needs were so pressing upon him.

But, forcing the gag back, the fe l low left him

pin ioned as be fore . This t ime , however , he

di d n o t l ock  the d o o r ; he even , to Hut t on ' s

unspeakable relief, left it s l igh t ly ajar.

S o m e l i t t le time later the bo y again heard

vo i c e s outs ide . The man had ev iden t ly been

ha i led f rom the bank , and , hav ing s topped

the horse, was engage d in speech with som e

one. H u t t o n c ou l d hear a lmost eve ry word ;

their purport m ade h im feel his helplessness

m o r e than ever, for it was the constable in

plain cloth es, wh o had been sent after the

barge from Carndale to asce r ta in tha t the

man was no party to Dennis ' s d is appearance .

He c ou l d hear question and answer. The

barefaced bluff  of the fe l low ; h i s c o n su m m a te

skill in acti ng, struck th e lad. W h y , he had

e v e n inv i ted the co nstab le on to the boat,

and Hutton heard his impudent defiance.

" Theer ' s nob but me aboar d . Here ' s t'

cabin , a n d theer's t' ca rgo and yo n ' s t '

stall a t fa r end , wi ' t ' d o o r o n t ' la tch . I ' ve

no call to le t you c o m e peep in ' round , and

y o u ' v e no call t o c la im i t . But you can

l ook  for yourself, if y o u ' v e a m i n d . "

Eviden t ly the man had pee red casua l ly

int o the living cabin , and gone aw ay satisfied. Th e veriest bluff—but how cruelly

successful .

At the d inner hour Hut ton ' s bandage was

eased slightly, his hands being fastened in

f ron t of h i m ; but the pain of part ia l l} '

restored circulation and altered t rend of 

muscle was exc ruc ia t ing fo r a t ime . Thus

for, as far as he could judge , tw o days and

three nigh ts , the awfu l journey con t inued .

Sunday was passed in or near some village :

doubt less the barge had stayed i ts course

lest too unseemly haste m ig h t g i ve the

fe l low and his plans aw ay. But when the

horri d gag was re mov ed from his t ortu red

mouth to enable him to get f o o d and d r ink  

{To be continued.)

he was unable by any questioning to obtain

in format ion , e i the r a s t o the fate proposed

fo r him, or the reason for this t reacherous

outr age. The bargee kept a defiant silence

on these matters.

A c c or d i ng to his calculation i t must have

been Mon day n igh t , and late in the night,

w h e n for the last t ime in his dark chamber

he received a vis i t . The open d o o r a d m i t t e d

this t im e a second ma n; ev en in the da rk  

he knew there were tw o . At last he was

go i ng to be freed !

Th e door c losed, an d a l igh t was s t ruck .

B e h i n d the ba rgeman s tooped a man, slightly

y o u n g e r in appearance , in seafaring garb,

wh o eyed h im with a curious and co ld stare.

" Hark y e , ma is te r , " sa id his c a p to r ,

" I ' v e a word fo r you . Y o u r feyther put

me in ja il— me , mind you !—for nowt bu t a

bit o ' rabbi t killing, and do wni ng t ' c h a p

as interfered. I ' m none t ' sort to forget nor

ye t t o f o r g i ve . " He mutte red a string o f 

oaths , and Hut ton shudde red to hear him.

" N o w I ' v e g o t a holt on you, and things is

go i ng to be eve ned up. Thi s here cap tain ' s

go i ng t o g i ve y o u a free t r ip wi' him to t'

other side o ' t ' warl d : a nd b y t ' t i m e asy o u ' r e bac k yo ur feyt her '11 be ready wi '

a g o o d p e n n y piece , I 'm th ink ing , t o see

y ou safe and sound. W e ' l l hope so , at

all even ts. No w ! "— he clenc hed his fist

s a v a g e l y — " are you going quiet, wi'out a

struggle , or are y ou goin g to le t m e cho ke yo u

silly again ? No d your head, if i t 's quie t."

It w ere best t o g o c o n s c i o u s ; D e n n i s

n o d d e d his head sullenly.

" Quie t i t is ! But , if you so much as

gives a k ic k   "

He sho ok his fist, leavin g the sentenc e

unfinished ; and, the light being b l ow n o u t ,

the b oy felt himself hois ted up between th e

t w o .

S O U T H W A R D H O I " T O T H E : P O L E :

Antarctica, or the Land of the Snow Queen.

N T A KCTICA

is the nam e

given to the

c o n t i n e n t

on which is

the South

P o l e , the

Pole being am a t h e m a t

ical p o in t

" w i t h o u t

p a r t s o r

m a g n i

t u d e , ' '

which the

e x p l o r e r

h a s t o

reach and

" m a k e it

so " — as

the captain of  a ship makes noon.

Th e navigating officer may be right or

he ma y be wrong, though he is rarely mu ch

o u t ; but the locating of the Pole is a m o re

difficult matter than the fixing of  a ship 's

noon . I t means the determination of a

spot no more than a cricket pitch in dia

mete r, on an expa nse of sno w and ice in a

cruel tem per atur e t o finger sextan t or theo

dolite screw s in, and with the sun a t so lo w

an altitude, never more than 23 1 degrees,

that o w in g to refraction the disc is fre

quently the shape of  a R u g b y fo o tb a l l .

B y W . J. G O R D O N .

Ant arct ica has b een kno wn to be where

it is for literally tho usand s of years . T h e

idea of its existence is as old as tha t of the

earth be ing a g l obe . Aristo t le knew tha t

t he earth was a sph ere ; an d amo ng h is

proof s , now used in s c hoo l - books , ar e the

circular horizon n o matter where a m an

m ay stand, and the circular shad ow cast bythe earth on the m o o n during an ec l ipse .

Era tosthenes went further, two and a half 

centuries before the Christian Era, and

est ima ted the c i rcumference of t he g l obe

at 25,000 miles, which was really won derfu l,

c o n s i d e r i n g the facts he had asa basis.

If  it were true that the earth was a globe ,

c lear ly there mus t be land at the Sou th

Pole ; and this dev elo ped into the idea of 

the Antip ode s. Thes e lands of the sout h,

as no one had been kno wn to go there , were

s u p p o s e d t o be cut off fr om tho se of the

north by a to rr id zone tha t no hum an being

c ou l d pass th rough .

This G reek theo ry wa s, how eve r, not

a c c e p t e d by the early Christians ; and thos e

wh o believed in the Ant ipo des were regar ded

as heretics until the travels of Marc o Po l o

caused me n t o doub t , and the vo yage s o f  

the seamen sent out by Prince Henry the

Navig a to r no t on ly compl e te ly demolis hed

the notions of a flat earth and an impassable

burn ing z one , but b rough t a vast southern

con t inen t on t o the maps which ex tended

northwards nea r ly t o the equa to r . Diaz

c u t off Afr ica f r o m tha t c o n t in e n t by-

roun ding the Cape of G o o d H o p e . Magel lan

cu t o ff America f rom it by go ing th rough

the straits nam ed after him . Dra ke cut

off  Tie rra de l Euego by round ing Cape Hor n .

Tas man cu t off Austr alia fr om it. C ook , o n

his first v o y a g e , cu t off N e w Z e a la n d

f rom i t ; and with eve ry d is cove ry in t h esou the rn hemisphere the con t inen t became

smalle r on the ma p .

T h e n C ook , o n his se c o n d v o y a g e , w a s

sent definite ly to find it . He sailed round

the who le of the Sout hern Oce an and f oun d

no trace of  it north o f the Anta rc t i c Circ le .

On January 17, 1773, he cros sed the C ircle ,

taking his two ships, the Resolution and the

 Adventure, through an open sea with only

on e iceber g in sight, th oug h befor e the day

was over the bergs were in c ro w d s a n d in

fro nt of hi m was a barrie r of ice tha t s t re tched

right across his pa th a nd forced h im t o

re t reat . T h is , the first crossing of the

Ant arc tic Circle , was due south of  the

M o z a m b i q u e Channe l . OnN o v e m b e r 1 5 ,

C o o k   again crossed theCircle , this t im e

south of the Soci ety Island s, and spent e i ght

days within it , to be again stopp ed by th e

ic e barr ier ; and on January 26, 1774, he

crossed it for the third t ime, south of  Easter

Is land , dur ing this third attempt to find th e

con t inen t , reach ing his farthest sou th o f 

71 ° 10' in longi tude 106° 54 ' W. on January

30 .

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660 The "Boy's Otetn Taper.

Forty -f ive yea rs passed , and then W i l l i a m

Smi th o f Bl y t h d isco vered the Sou t h She t-

Iands in a wide rou ndi ng of Cap e Ho rn in

sea rch o f be t te r wea the r . The n Ame rica ns

in search of fur seals mad e their w a y to

these , am ong them Nathan i e l Pa lm er in

t h e Hero. One da y in 182 1, Pal mer , on a

v o y a g e all a lon e, was cau ght in a fo g in

Bransf ie ld Channe l . W he n the fog ro l led

u p , the re , to h is ama zeme nt and a la rm, wasa man- o ' -w ar on each s ide o f h im ! Th ink

ing they had c o m e to ca tch h im, he ho is ted

t h e Stars and Stripes and to his greater

surprise the wars hips repli ed by sending up

the S t . And rew 's Cross . P a lme r tho ught

it was a j o k e and we nt on boa rd one o f the

sh ips to inqu ire .

I t was no j o k e ; th ey were the Vostok  a n d

 Mirni sen t by the Czar Ale xand er under

Be l l ingshausen to f ind the co n t in en t that

C o o k   had fa i led to reach . Th e Russia n

w as for tuna te and d id well , but a s he wro te

in Russi an , wha t he d id remain ed p ra c t ica l l y

u n k n o w n unt i l t h e G e rm a n t ransla t ion w a s

publ ish ed in 1902. In his three y e a r s '

v o y a g e , 1 8 1 9 - 1 8 2 1 , he c rossed and re -c rossed

the A nta r c t ic Circ le s ix t imes, sa i l ingfor ty -one degrees with in i t ; and , thoug h he

did no t get so far so uth as C o o k , he filled u p

a l l the gaps , and p r ove d

t ha t there was an open

sea all round the g l o b e

sou t h o f 60° .

T h e n Ja m e s W e d d e l l ,

a mas ter in the R o y a l

N a v y , retir ed in 1816 at

th e c lose of the war , wen t

sea l ing to the Sou t h

She t land s in the Jane in

1819 ; and, in the Jane

accomp anied by the

c u t t e r Beaufoy, in 1822,

to the Sou th Orkneys and

b e y o n d , in search of land,reach in g on Febru a ry 20 ,

1823, 74° 15 ' in longitude

3 4° 16' 45" W . , bu t find

ing non e . Th is was

VVeddell's f a r th e s t—3 ° 5 '

be t te r than C ook   — a

rea l ly remarkab le v o y a g e .

J o h n B i s c oe , a n o th e r

sea le r , ten yea rs a f te rwards sa i led ro und

t h e w o r l d in these high la ti tudes , and in

Febr ua ry 1832 , sou th o f the S ou t h She t

l a n d s , d i sc o v e re d G ra h a m L a n d , w h o s e

sou the r ly bound ary has no t ye t been

r e a c h e d ; a n d this was the first lan d fo un d

with in the Ant a rc t ic Circ le and m ay p ro ve

to be the first landi ng on the lon g- sou ght

c o n t i n e n t .Anot he r o f these sea l ing cap ta ins , Jo hn

Bal leny , on Febru a ry 10 , 1839 , d isc over ed

t h e five Balle ny Is lands, sou th o f S tewar t

Isl and an d just with in the Circle ; a nd to

th e E n d e rb y m e n w e a l so o w e E n d e r b y L a n d

and Ke m p La nd sou th o f the Croze ts and

  just on the Circle, which may a lso p rove to

b e c o n t in e n ta l . T h e d i s c o v e r y b y B a l l e n y

was o f importance as he re turned t o L o n d o n

in t ime to b r ing i t to the k now led ge o f  

Cap ta in James Cla rk   R o s s , w h o w e n t that

w a y in his v o y a g e to the Sou th P o l e .

T h e exped i t ion sen t ou t by the Bri t ish

G o v e rn m e n t u n d e r R o s s was to find the

con t i nen t , the Sou t h Po le and the Sou t h

Magne t ic Pole , t he last o b j e c t be ing that

with wh ich the p ropo sa l began . R o s s h a df o u n d the North Magne t ic Pole , w h y n o t

g i v e hi m a chan ce of finding th e ot he r ?

Magne t ic obse rv a t ions in the sou the rn

hemisphe re were muc h requ ired . Gauss

dec la red on theore t ica l g rounds that t he

South Magne t ic Po le was somewhere abou t

6 6 ° S. and 146° E . ; R o s s was the ve ry m an

to g o and see, and also t o take charge o f  

an y magne t ic wor k wha teve r , and he had

seven teen years ' exper ienc e of servic e in

A r c t i c seas. The re was no bett er man , and

n o exped i t ion d id be t te r work .

Bu t it was a lon g tim e being ta lk ed ab out ,

so l o n g that the French endeavoured to

ge t there before him , and th ey did little ,

and the Ame ric ans tried to get there , and

they d id le ss . The French com man der was

D u m o n t D'U rv i l le , the nava l officer who in

1820 had seen a statue just dug out inthe island of  Melos, and had wri t ten home

about i t in such lauda to ry te rms that i t was

bought f o r the Lo uvr e , where i t is to -day —

the Ve nus o f   Milo. H e was also the ma n

w h o was sent to search the Pacific fo r the

lost La Pero use, his south ern v o y a g e h a v in g

been intended to be to the Pacific Is lands,

until , a t the last mom ent , the French k ing

added to it a t r ip or two to the Ant a rc t ic ,

much to D 'Urv i l le ' s d isgust .

He went sou th in 1838 , bu t was s top ped

b y the ice -p ack which fo r two month s he

va in ly tried to get thr oug h. In January

1840 he tried again, and this t ime he landed

on the coast he called Adel ie La nd after his

wife , f rom whom a lso the Adel ie penguins

are n am ed ; and later on he named CoteClaire , which is not within the Circle, after

Mada me Jacq u ino t . A few day s a f te rwards

T w o A n t a r c t i c H e r o e s .

he sighted a brig flying the Stars and S tr ipes .

U p went the Tri co lou r , and the Amer ican ,

o n e of Wilkes ' s men , th ink ing—as Pa lmer

h a d d o n e —th a t t h e stranger wanted to

cap tu re h im, turned sharp to the sou th , and

ran off into the fo g with as mu ch sail as he

could ca rry !

W i l k e s , wh o was o f Eng l ish pa ren tage ,

had a most difficult task. H is e x p e d i t io nwas badl y fitted o ut, his ships were quit e

unsu itabl e for the work, and he had semi-

m u t i n o u s officers an d crew wh o caused h im

to be court -mart i a l led w hen he cam e h o m e .

He did little b e y o n d mistak ing the Ba l leny

Islands fo r the ma in land and add i ng to them

a s t re tch o f imagina r y coast which ma ny

succeeding exped i t ions have sa i led o v e r , as

they have sa i led o v e r the imagina ry d is

cover ies of the A meri can Morre l l .

R o s s went out in the Erebus, with Crozier

in the Terror. O n January 9, 18 41, he

w as thr ough t he ice barrier and ou t in the

o p e n sea on his wa y to Vict ori a Lan d, wh ich

h e g o t close up to five day s after. On the

12th he land ed on Possession Isla nd and

o n the 28 th he d iscover ed the tw o v o l c a n o e s

na me d after his ships. He went as far

sou th as 78° 4 ' . By h is obse r va t ions he

f o u n d the posi t i on o f the Sou th Magne t ic

P o l e , but conside r ing that there was no

g o o d place to winter in he returned t o

Tasm ania to t ry aga in nex t s ummer .

O n De ce mb er 18, he was again up against

the pa ck , which he could not ge t th r ough ;

and in it he was drifted no rth , and after

s ix ty -four days o f con t inuous e ffor t ami d

the ice he ma de for the Falk land Islands .

On Mar ch 9, 1841, he was caught in a st orm

that nearly sent both ships to the bottom

in the d ea d of nig ht. A large berg was

seen ahead and quite close to the Erebus;

the ship was imm edi atel y hauled to the

w ind on the port tac k, with t he e xpec tati on

of  being able to weathe r it ; but a t that

m o m e n t th e Terror  was obse rved runn ing

d o w n upo n her under her topsails and

fores ail; and as it was imp ossi ble for her

to clear both t he berg and the Erebus,

coll ision was inev i tab le .

" W e instan t ly h o v e all aback," says

R o s s , " to dimini sh t he violence of the

s h o c k ; but the conc ussi on when she struck us

was such as to throw alm ost ev ery one off his

fee t ; our bowspri t , fo re - topmast , and .o the r

smaller spars, were carried aw ay ; and th e

ships hanging together, entangled by their

rigging, and dashing against each other

with fearful violence, were falling d o w n

u p o n the wea the r face of the lofty berg under

our lee , agains t wh ich the w aves were

break ing and foam ing to near the summ it

of  i t s pe rpend icu la r cliffs. Sometimes sherose high a b o v e us, a lmost exposing her

keel to view, and agai n descen ded as we in

our turn rose to the top

of  t he w a v e , threatening

t o bury her beneath us,

whilst the crashing of the

break ing upperworks and

boats increased the horror

of  the scene ."

P r o vi d en t i al l y t h e y

c lea r ed ; bu t the Terror 

had the ic eberg close

und er her lee. A dreadf ul

s h ip w re c k a n d d e a t h

a p p e a r e d i n e v i t a b l e ;

there was no alternative

but to run for a dark p lace they had seen which

mi ght be an openi ng, or

get smas hed on the berg.

The helm w as put a-

starboard, and with the

help of the sails the ship

answered i t . Rush ing

past the berg, the Terror 

w as c o v e r e d with the foam caused by the

sea b reak ing aga inst i t . Ever y mom ent

they were expec t ing to strike ice right

a h e a d .

" Har d a -por t ! " was sc reamed ou t from

forwar d, and ho pe died .

" Har d a -p or t ! Brac e round the head-

yard s ! Shive r the mai n-top sail, " cried

the capt ain as if he were steering into a nyharbour . The men flew to the rop es,

a l th o u g h there was not one on board but

thought a l l hope had fled. She came

round, and passed through an opening

be tween two be rgs not  twice the breadth of 

the ship, t h e foam and spray dashing over

the m oa each side as they passed. Several

o the r a la rms were g iven owing to the

small stuff wash ed f rom the bergs

looking l ike mo re bergs in the darkness,

bu t the y w ere safe tho ugh they did not

k n o w i t .

Fou r week s a f te r this narrow escape the

t w o ships were at anchor off Falkland

Island . In Decem ber the third attempt

was made to get a t the Pole , and

after mak ing several disc overie s of 

land the Circle was c rossed on M arch 1,

1 8 4 3 ; but t en d ays after, as no pro

gress could be ma de south of 7 1° 30 ' ,

R o s s re luc tan t ly gave o rde rs to return

h o m e . In his on e year of success and

t w o years of fa ilure he had really do ne

wonders . An d he had unmistakab ly found

A n ta rc t i c a .

With the slight k n o w l e d g e of the So uthern

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Southward  Ho!" to the Pole. 661

Cont inent ob ta ined by Ross , people were

conten t for thirty years . Then Capta in

Nares in the Challenger  crossed the Circle

in Fe bru ary 1874, the first ti me the a t temp t

had been made in a s team ship ; bu t a f ter

col l iding with an ice berg she returned, her

business being with the sea and n ot the

land. Th en steam whalers wen t to frequen t

these icy seas, and then in 1895 the Bo rc h-

grevink expedit ion wintered in the north of 

Vic tor i a L a n d at Cape A dar e , as descr ibe d

in the twenty- four t h volu me of the BOY ' S

OW N P A P E R , w h i c h in other art icles has

dea l t wi th the subsequent expedi t ions t o

the far South .

Through AfghanSnows;

Or, l*ari Khan of -the Diamond Star.

B y J . C L A V E R D O N W O O D ,

  Author of 

'  Sinclair of the Scouts" " Jeffrey of 

the White Wolf  Trail," etc.

CHAPTER X X V I . — I N KABUL .- —SPIE S OF AFZU L ALL

HA T Afzul Ali is

a wily o l d f o x , "

said Nichol son t o

B o b , as the two

sat together in a

house in Kabul .

" I t w a s a

reve la t ion t o

m e of  A f g h a n

subt le ty when

I saw him ri dingin wi th Meadow s

and the rest,

l ooking for all

the world as thou gh he had been rea dy t o

give his life for the saf ety of the c o n v o y .

Shah Shujah must be a man o f simple mi nd

to be so easily dece ived ."

" He is no t dece ived . Ev ery bod y know s

th e part Afzul Ali would play, and his

effrontery is looked u p o n as a good j oke

among the Afghans. B y them it is con

sidered to be the h eight of clever ness. H e

will probably claim a considerable sum for

guarding the convoy th rough the Khyber

Pass, and he will get it. A lakh of rupees

does not go far amon g the Afgha n Sirdars,

bu t it is the price of peace. So long asBritish gold is plentiful in Kabul Shah

Shujah will rule, or rather re ign . When it

runs dry, the throne will soon become

vaca nt. No t all the powe r of Britai n will

hold him in the seat of authori ty when

rupees and bayonets are transferred else

where. Strength is the only argum ent an

Afghan understands, and you m u s t

remember that they hate the Brit ish and

all other Feringhees with an undying ami

unreasoning bit terness. Yo u m a y give

the m untold wealth, and they will smile

upon you, but all the while their hands are

clutching their daggers, and they are

wondering which is the best place to drive

them in . "

" You have a poor opinion of the A fgha ns.

Lari Khan," laughed Nicholson, " and yet

I understand that they have treated y o u

very well ."

" On the contrary ," said Bo b, " I have

the highes t esteem for the virtu es of the

Afghans, their courage, hospital i ty, cou rtesy ,

patriotism, and that faithfulness in matters

of  fr iendship which make s them the mo st

l oya l of comrades , bu t I know a lso their

cunning and dupl ic i ty , their awful cruelty

and abominable t reachery , their avar ice

and lyin g, and their ungovernable pass ions .

T h e y have l i t t le idea of anyth ing bey ond the

range of  their ow n desires and passions, an d

while e v e r y m a n thinks that he is d e v o t e d

to A fghanista n, he is rea l ly devoted to

himself   and the clan to which he belongs.

I do not intend to stay very long in Kab ul .If  Afzul A l i k n o w s that I have escaped to

the city, and his spies will soon acquain t

him with the fact , my life will not be w ort h

a pinch of salt. H e k n o w s that I have

plenty to avenge, and as a sensible villain

he will do his best to provide for me. A s

for you , Nicholson , yo u wi l l p robabl y s tay

here for some time."

" Not for long, Lari Kh an ; I heard

this m o r n i n g that the 27th Nati ve Infant ry

is to relieve the Kith at Ghu zne e in a m o n t h

or two . Th ey a re ordered t o K a n d a h a r

and we must take their place . I suppose

you kno w the c i ty . "

" I k n o w it well. I was there when

Hyder Khan he ld it for the Ameer Dos t

M o h a m m e d , and escap ed just before theBritish f lags were hoisted upon the citadel

tower. The Afgha ns were ama zed that a

fortress supposed to be impregnable , and

situated on a wind-swept prec ip ice , could

have been taken b y so few men in one

stor my night. Th ey have never forgiv en nor

forgotten th e disgrac e, and if , at any t ime,

an oppor tuni ty arises for the recaptu re of 

Ghuznee by the Afghans, well, I tel l you

f rankly , Nicholson , it will be a sad lookout

fo r the Bri tish wh ose ill luck  it is to be in

the city at that t ime. They will be

massacred withou t mer cy, and any tr eachery

will not be conside red too base to lure them

into the hands of the Afgh ans. "

" I e x p e c t I shall be ordered to go

with the corps ," sa id Nicholson . " F r o m

al l I hear the fellows in Ghuzn ee are hav ing

a quiet t ime. The inhabitants are friendly,

and take plenty of interest in the regimental

sports . I mean t o study the language in

order t o qualify for a posit ion in Shah

Shujah's army, unless somet hing better

turns u p in Hindos tan . In any case I

hope to see someth ing of yo u . W h y don ' t

you g o in for a posit i on unde r Shah Shujah ?

Y o u are almost an Afgh an, and can s peak 

the language better than most na t ives .

Y o u r old fr iend the Mullah had plenty of 

influence, and y o u w o u l d p r o b a b l y be

m a d e a Sirdar straight off. InK a b u l y o u

w oul d have an y am ount of oppor tuni t ies ,

and even if D o s t M o h a m m e d turned u p as

v i c t o r , yo u wou ld be all r ight. An y side

mean s success and a high posit ion for you.I wish I had your chances , Lar i K han . "

B o b was seated near tho lat t ice w i n d o w

w hi c h looked out upon a side street. H e

saw a man walk ing s lowly along, scrutinising

the wall of the house . Presently he turned

and jo ined three men wh o were wai t ing

in an a l ley . Th ey poin ted t o the house

and held an anima ted con versa tion.

" L o o k   here , Nich olso n , " sa id Bo b, " d o

n o t c o m e too near the lat t ice. That is

one reason why I must c lear ou t of Kabul .

T hos e men are Afreedees in the pay of Afzul

Ali, they have followed m e to this house ,

a n d k n o w that I am lodging in the c i ty .

Am ra n Ali and Tal ib are keeping w atch

in the cour tya rd and wi l l s top anyon e wh o

tr ies to enter, b ut yo u can see wha t i tmeans . Afzul Ali has hund reds of men in

Ka bu l ; he dare not l odge here if he had

not . His house is l ike a fortress. He will

n o t rest until he k n o w s that I am dead .

If  the houses of Ka bu l were made of  w o o d

or anyth ing whic h woul d burn eas i ly , this

place wou ld be set on fire so me nig ht an d

every ma n within i t wo uld either be bu rned,

or murdered as he tr ied to escape . F o r

this reason I must ge t ou t of Kab ul as

quie t ly as possible, in disguise, an d try t o

reach Ghari Ghilzai . I have a fort there,

si tuated on an is land in the centre of a

fairly large l ake. I t is , t o all appearance,

deserted and dismantled, but I have ample

stores of all kin ds there, and , if I can gather

a few Ghilzais about m e, I ma y be able to

hold my own against Afzul Ali and histr ibe. Bu t now , let us p ut this thing to

th e test. I will go into the street and walk 

towa rds the Gran d Bazaar. Th e men will

follow me. Then I want you and Am ran

t o follow them. Ta l ib i s too muc h knoc ked

about to be worth much in a struggle just

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662 The 'Boy's Otvn Taper.

n o w , but we three will be quite able t o

ho l d our own. D o no t lose sight of me and

 join me when we c o m e to the Baz aar. "

B o b sli pped his pistols in his belt, t ook  

up his English rifle, and after saying a few

w or ds to Amran, walked into the street.

H e had not gon e more than ten yards when

th e ma n he had first seen beg an to follow

h i m . The others, pretending to be engaged

in barter, also drifted along the street in

the same direction. Nichol son and Amra nimmediately emerged f rom the house and

walked after them.

T h e y had no t gon e ver y far whe n the

men saw t ha t the y were being followed b y

Nichol son. They turned to meet him, and

as they drew near began to talk  about

accursed Feringhees in a loud tone. Th ey

handled their weapon s and spread across

the roadway. Nichols on was not the man

t o be jostled out of his path by Briton or

Afghan. He said something in a sharp v o i c e

and brushed against the leader. A knife

flashed out, barely missing his th roat .

T h e next instant Nichols on landed the

w oul d - be murderer a b low on the side of his

  j aw that knocked him half senseless on the

r o a d w a y .

" Lea ve them to me , Amr an, " he shouted

in the Sikh tong ue ; " we wan t no blo ods hed .

Fists will settle this little affair."

Before Amra n had decided what to do

Nichol son had battered the two men wit h

a perfect vo l ley of scientifical ly plante d

b lows . Upon head, face, chest, and stomach

his fists ham mer ed lik e a mach ine , and in

t w o minutes the Afreedees were thinking

t ha t an earthquake had struck them.

Fortunately, as the street wa s a side

one , out of the track o f passers-by, Nicholson

had the business very much to himself, and

the spies received a punishment that more

than satisfied them that it was dangerous

t o meddle with a Feringhee Irishman.

Amr an woul d have used his knife upon the

prostrate men, but Nicholson comma ndedhim to refrain, and they followed B o b ,

l eav ing tho Afreedees lying on the grou nd.

B o b walked through the Bazaar, and

then passed out by the Lahore Gate, to the

British camp outside the city, dogge d b y

the spy until he passed a sentry.

" It is all righ t," he said in English,

quietly, " I am goin g to see Captain Mead ows

of  the Artiller y. Ther e is an Afreedee

dogging me. Tur n him bac k if he tries t o

pass, and see that he returns to the city."

" All right, sir," repli ed the sentry,

" I know how to deal with gentry of  that

sor t ."

But the Af reedee saw t ha t the chase

wa s ove r for an hour or t w o ; he turned

on his heel and went back to Kabul, wherehe lay in a house not far f rom the Gate,

watching and waiting for B o b ' s return.

Presently Nichols on and Amr an Ali came

sauntering a long to the camp .

B o b determined t ha t he would not

re-enter Kabul. Whe n his friends join ed

h im in Captain M e a dow s ' tent, it was

de c i de d t ha t Tali b should be warned to

l eave the house by climb ing ove r the court

yard wall into another garden, and so ma ke

his way, unseen, to another part of the

c i t y , then to assume a disgui se and e nde avo ur

t o reach the Lake T o w e r at Ghari Ghilzai.

B o b and Amra n would disguise themselves

ais Usbe g camel -dri vers and set out nex t

d a y with a comp an y of the 27th Na tive

Infantry, wh o were to leave for Ghuznee.

W h e n they came to the mountain pathw hi c h led to Ghari Ghilzai they would slip

a w a y at night, and tr y to get to the La ke.

Captain Mead ows was anxious to be

sent to Ghuznee with Nicholson, but,

unfor tunat ely, as the sequel show ed, artillery

experts could not be spared f rom Kabul, and

thus when the t ime of crisis cam e, the guns

of  Ghuznee were useless because of the lack 

of  men to work them properly. Early ne xt

morni ng the Infantry deta chmen t must ered

fo r the ninet y miles mar ch to Ghuznee.

A fair amou nt of tho heavier impedi menta

of  the regime nt was being sent with the m,

and the came ls were grunt ing as the loads

were made up.

US8£C CrtHtL-DRIVKK

C H A P T E R X X V I I .

THE FORTRESS ON THE L A K E .

MRAN A L I was no w in his

element. He was clothed

in the picturesque rags of 

an Usb eg, and l ooked as

though the dirt of forty

years was on his face

and hands and hair.

B o b wore his black 

beard, and a heavy

lambskin hat con

cea led the fact

t ha t his head was

shave n as bare as a billiard ball. Thei r

skill in all transport work enabled them to

w in the approval of the sergeants, and

presently the detac hment m o v e d off past

the Rikabas hee Fort and Bey mar oo village,

an d soon Kab ul was lost to sight behind

them.

N e x t morning the transport leaders

cal led in vain for the two expert Usbegs

w h o had han dled th e camels so skilfully.

T w o tattered costumes were discovered

a m o n g some fodder, but the men h ad

disappeared without leaving a trace of 

their whereabo uts. Bo b and Amra n had

crept out of the ca mp shortly before mi dnight,

eluding the sentries, and were now snugly

shel tered in a little c av e in the hil ls.

T h e moun tain s were still held in the

last grip of winter, and there was snow

everywhere upon the hills. Ye t Spring was

unlocking the land and there was an

exhilar ating vig our in the clear air, while

the electricity in the atmosphere s eemed to

make the men alert in every fibre of  their

be ing. A large dun g and thistle- top fire

was burning, and Amran was turning his

A f gha n bread u pon the iron plate or girdle

which he always carried.

" W e ough t to reach Lake Shamil in

four or five days, A mra n," Bo b said, as he

l ay watchin g the preparations for a me al ;

" and we must make straight for the Lake

T ow e r . If the Afreedee thiev es hav e

di scove red our boat, the task  will be a

difficult one for yo u to get over , but I am

h o p i n g that th e rock  harbour has not been

di scove red. Once in the tow er we can lie

snug until Talib joins us, and then we mustcont r ive to send a message to the Ghilzai

trib esmen wh o live betwee n here and the

K h y b e r . Surely Abd ul the Mullah had ma ny

friends there. If we can do noth ing a mon g

the Ghilzais , we mus t try t o raise a force

f rom the disbanded, fugitive soldiers of 

the Ameer.

" At any rate I mean to leave nothing

u n d o n e , in order to gather a strong force

in and around the tower. Afzu l Ali has

plenty to keep him busily engaged in Kabul,

and doub tle ss Ghari Ghilzai is under the

c on t r o l of one of his headmen . Wha t t he

Afreedee could do by treac hery, we can also

effect, and you may be sure that I am not

going to leave the wrongs of our be loved

A b d u l the Mullah and his people unavenged.

T h e sight of  that ghastly head is always

before me, and I cannot rest until something

has been done. Besides, we ough t to know

m o r e about the results of the attack , so

far as the riches of the Mullah are concer ned.

I know that he had amassed a considerable

amount of  treasure in go ld and precious

stones. His Jagheer has been a wealth y

one for man y years, and he had bou ght

emeralds and diamonds from Persian

merchants in order to have his money in

a form which was easy to carry ab out.

Afzul Ali may hav e disco vered the treasure,

bu t I do not think so, or he would not have

been so keen in the matter of attacking

convoys . Th at is a dangero us game to

play with the British. How eve r, we have

much to learn, and when we are once quietlysettled in the tower , we shall set about

finding everything out."

" Th e Mullah was a wise man, Lari

Khan, and knew that an attack woul d be

made upon him," said Amran, thoughtfully.

" He wou ld end eavo ur to secrete his wealth,

especia l ly that part of it which was easily

m o v e d abou t. We have many hiding-places

in Afghanistan, for the times make us

cautious, and you may be certain that

A b d u l was prepared in this respect. He

would hard ly dare to use the tower , for

it is too public a place, and could be searched

withou t much difficulty. We must drag

the canals and s earch the wells, and it ma y

be that some of our old troop escaped the

massacre. Allah knows , we may have good

fortune yet."

T h e y lay thr oughout the day, and

  journeyed in the night to elude all

observa t ion , and in the earl y morni ng of 

the fifth day saw Lake Shamil glistening

before them. They saw Afreedees busy

in the fields, and a large party of mounted

men came f rom Ghari Ghilzai and m ove d

towa rds one of the hill road s. Whe n night

c a m e they made their way cautiously to

the banks of the Lake. Th ey found the

little cleft in the ro cks where the bo at

used to be secreted, but it was now empty.

T h e boat had evidently been carried off 

and destroyed.

" I mu st sw im to the tow er, " said

B o b , removing his clothes as he spoke;

" hide here, Amran, and wait until I return.Ther e m ay be some Afreedee s living on the

island, alt houg h it does not look  like it.

If  there are, the boa t will be there. "

H e plunged into the cold water; masses

of  ice floated abou t, and in some places

th e cold was so intense that Bo b felt cramped.

T h e exercise, however, kept his blood

flowing, and aft er a whil e he was able to

drag himself into the shelter of the rocks

on the island. T he tower was wrapped

in silence. The ladder steps had been

taken away, and there was nothing to show-

that any living creature was abou t.

B o b crept noiselessly to the other side

of  the tower, and there, to his great joy,

saw his bo at . Th e sails were in it, and the

oars lay on the seats. It had been drawnund er a shelf of  rock  and was concealed

f rom the sight of any one on the mainland.

B o b pushed it off, and wr apped t he foresail

around his shivering b o d y ; then he seized

the oars and began to pull vigo rous ly to the

place where he had left Amran.

T h e Khy ber ee had made a fire in the

ho l low of the rocks and prepar ed so me hot

tea, and this soon restored Bo b to something

l ike warmth.

Y o u are a genius, Amr an, " said he

with i mmens e satisfaction, " to think of 

this. I thoug ht that I should have been

f rozen in the water. My limb s were cram ped

until I began to row . The tower , I think,

is deserted . I heard noth ing stirring. The

steps are away, but the gate is fastened.

W e must break the door in. Come along,

thr ow the embe rs of the fire into the lake

and leave no traces. We will ro w across to

the island."

W h e n they reached the tower, Bo b

pulled the mast out of the boat , and placed

it against the wall. He climbed up, and

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Through Afghan Snotefs. 663

found that he was about ten feet f rom the

door .

" Ha nd mo a stone, Amran , a large one.

an d give me the p ieces of  w o o d the oars

are m o v e d in."

Amr an handed him four rowlocks and

B o b tried to drive them into the crevices

of  the wall. He drov e one in, and then

another a little higher up. Thu s he for med

steps and presently was able to gras p the

ledge upo n which the ladder rested. Th en

he began to work at the door . Standing

o n the ledge he cut into the massive, hard

woodwork, but found that he could no t

make much headw ay. Sudd enly the door

opened from within. A tor ch flashed out ,

and before he kno w what was h appen ing

he was grabbe d by som e strong hands and

dragged into the tower, and some men

flung themselves upon him.

1 1 L o o k   out, Amr an, " ho yelled, " I

am captured—jump into the boa t."

A man made a stab at him , and a knife

glanced past his cheek and buried itself 

in the floor.

Ther e was a cr y " By Allah, it is Lari

Khan hi mse lf! " and the men who held

him were knocke d aside, and B ob was raised

to his feet by a man w ho kissed his han d

and showered upon him the most extra vagan t

express ions of  welcome . It was Sadat Ali,

the younge r brother of Tali b, and the rest

of  the fifteen m en wh o for med the garris on

were all members of  B o b ' s own troop f rom

Ghari Ghilzai.

A great shout arose f rom the men when

they realised that their leader, Lari Kha n, had

returned. As they stoo d around h im the

crack  of a pistol was heard and a bulle t sang

thro ugh the air and buri ed itself in the wall.

It was fo l lowed by several shots. Amr an

had jum pe d int o the boa t and push ed off,

and was no w tiring thr ough the op en door .

" He will bring

all Ghari Ghilzai

u p o n us if he

keeps that up ,"s a i d B o b .

" Stand back,

Sadat, I will hail

him. Here g o e s ! "

H e shouted,

a n d A m r a n

" A torch f lashed out , and before he kne w wha t was hap peni ng he wa s grabb ed by some s t r ong

hands and drag ged into the tow er ."

l ooked up in amazeme nt. The boat was

only a few yards f rom the rocks, and was

likely to remain there, for tho oars were

useless without the rowlocks . H o r ecog

nised B o b ' s vo ice , and paused in the act

of  reloading his pistols, waiting for a

further message.

In a few minu tes the l adder was run ou t

and B ob descended and hauled tho bo at

ashore. It was hidd en in tho shel tered

nook   of the rock s and Am ran wa s w e l c om e d

b y Sada t Ali and his ove r j oye d companions.

A n hou r or so later the whole garrison

were seated around a blazing fire partaking

of  a splen did meal, and, for the first ti me

fo r many months, Amr an Ali loosened

his belt and prepared for the unclo uded

e n j o y m e n t of a meal eaten in perfect securi ty.

Sadat Ali told the tragic s tory of the attack 

u p o n Ghari Ghilzai.

" After yo u had gon e to Ghuz nee, " he

said. " things we nt on ver y muc h the sa me

until news came that the city had b een

captured by the Feringhees, and tha t the

A m e e r Dos t Moha mmed had escaped to

Bamian. A numb er of caval ryme n under

the Feringhee leader, Outram, passed alongthe road to Urga ndeh one day. The y were

gal lop ing furiously and Hadji Khan Kak ur

was leading. Th ey wore in pursuit of Dost

M o h a m m e d and Akb ar Kha n. We who saw

them hurrying forward, returned to Ghari

Ghi lza i and reported to Ab dul the Mullah

tha t the Ameer was lost. He began

preparations to defend the to wn ; for ho

k n e w that now his enemies, and especially

Afzul Ali , wou ld be free to deal with him .

All night long he was packing someth ing

into strong iron-bound boxes , and next

d a y he t ook   a cart wit h two horses and

d r o v e in the dire ctio n of the towe r. He

was away until the evening and some men

w ho saw him told mo that he was sailing

on the lake. The horses came home muc h

quicker than they started aw ay and I

thought at the time that the cart did not

seem so hea vy as when it went out. Th e

Mullah called me up to his audience-chamber

that night. I saw a numb er of iron- bound

boxes . He opened one or two and showed

m e rob es and arms. W e lifted the boxe s

withou t muc h difficulty. The n he gave mo

a strip of parchme nt. ' Sadat,' said ho,

' if anythi ng untoward happens t o me,

and you escape, give this to Lari Khan , and

to no one els e! ' I promis ed to do so.

Here it is, my lord."

Sadat handed a strip to B ob , who unrolled

it. Ho expe cted to read some greeting f rom

the Mullah. Instead of which, there wa s

nothing but a seven-poi nted star

drawn upo n the parch ment. Ther ewas nothi ng written. Bo b glanced

at it and thrust it in his belt, and

Sadat wo nt on with his stor y.

" A few days later an Afreedee

was captur ed in one of the stab les i n

the fortress. He said ho was a

camel-man and that he had c om e

from Ghuznee. W e scourged him ,

and gave him five minutes' start,

an d then pursued him and he was

cut to pieces by th e you ng me n.

E v e r y b o d y knew that he was a spy.

Then it was reported that a large

b o d y of troops was passing five

miles away , in t he direction of 

K a b u l . We sent men out, wh o

w a t c h e d them until nightfall andthen returned to say that they had

marched away. Never was there a

sadder mistake ; they mad e a round

and c ame upon us a little bef ore

daybreak, surprising tho sentries and

capturin g the town before we were

well awake. Some traitor opened

the gates of the fortress, and, as

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664 The "Boy's Obvn Taper.

the sun rose , the fight be ga n. It was ove r

in a very short time. The Afreedees came

on in drov es and o »r men were cut to

pieces .

" A b d u l the Mullah l ocked himself up in

the towe r with abo ut fifty men, and mad e

a stout resistance. Afzul Ali held him

there with some three hundred men and

the rest of the army of thie ves scatter ed

thro ugh the tow n and killed ever y man they

could la y their hands on. The wom en and

children they led out to the fields and- set

a guard ove r them. By mid day they had

plundered the town . Then Afzul Ali himself 

called upon my lord Ab dul to surrender.

H e swore that he should depart in safety

wit h the men in tho towe r and th e wom en

and children, taking an oath upon the

K o r a n that he would keep his wor d. After

s om e further talk  Abd ul surrendered and

marched out, leaving his weapons behind

h i m . The Afreedees t ook   possession of the

t o w e r . Afzul Ali called out to that dog

M e r k a b , ' Le t them depa rt t o Paradise in

safety, harm them not after they h ave

passed the gates of the Kin gd om of Alla h.'

A s he laughed he pointed to our brothers,

and the murderers fired up on the una rme dm e n . They were killed, and my lord Abdul

was dragged to a horse-bloc k, and his he ad

was struck off by Afzul Al i himself. Since

that black day the Afreedees have held

Ghari Ghilzai, and with the exc epti on of 

these men here the tribe has been blotted

ou t . "

Sadat 's v o i c e trembled, and tears gathered

in his eyes . Bob waited until he had re

c ove r e d and said, " Bu t h ow did y ou escape

with these comra des ? "

" W e were camping near this tower, my

lo rd , inte nding t o go into the town after

w e were certain that the army which we

had seen had really gon e to Kabul . W e

heard t he firing an d woul d hav e gon e int o

th e fortress if we had no t seen that it wasimposs ible , because of the crowds guarding

the women. Wh en all was ove r we hurried

t o the lake and t ook   the boat and got to

the tower . W e kne w the Afreedees wou ld

d i s c ove r the b oa t if we left it near th e side,

so we hid it behi nd the island. Since then

w e have been hid den in the towe r. All

throu gh the winter we went out eve ry

night and before daybr eak, t o break the

ic e ab out fifty pac es roun d the tow er,

so that , if the Afreedees came, they

w oul d find it hard to get across to us.

Fortu nately they had been told by their

spies that the tower was dismantled, and

only once or twice have we had parties

on the opposit e bank. To-n ight, howev er,

o u r sentry reported that he heard the

s o u n d of oars and the voice s of men. W elistened but could detect nothing. Then

w e heard a sound like that of hammering

on the walls and of a knife wor kin g on th e

door s . W e gathered at the entrance an d

w oul d have fired through, only we feared

that the sou nd woul d still further betray

us. W e decided to capture the men

w o r k i n g at the door . I held the torch,

and w hen the gate was flung op en and a

ma n fell in, we darted on him. Fortu nately

n o harm wa s done to you , my lord, but it

was a narro w escape for yo u. The knife

was withi n half an inch of yo ur throat ."

" Yo u are right there, Sadat, I went co ld

all ove r, " said Bob . " But I am getting

used to narrow escapes."

Then Amran recounted their adventuresand escape f rom tho Afreedee prison , and

their kno wle dge of the fate of the Mullah ;

an d further, all that had transpi red in

K a b u l since Shah Shujah mou nte d the t hrone .

A g a i n s t Afzul Ali the bitterest revenge

was sworn by the eight een men in the

tower , Bo b and Am ran especially vow i ng

t o know no rest until the death of Abdul

was amply atoned for.

It wa s agreed to send men to the m ount ain

roads to keep watch for Talib, for Bo b knew

that hi s fol lower would get out of Kabu l

as soon as his strength permitted. There

was . as he knew, abundan t stores of every

kind in the tower , and. durin g the course

of  the next week. Bob made a thor ough

examinat ion of the provisions, arms and

ammunit ion. He felt c onv i nc e d that the

t o w e r was practically impregnable, so far

as any force the Afreedees could bring

against it was conc erne d. At the end of 

the seco nd week Tali b entered the tower

and was recei ved wit h joyf ulnes s by all.

H e had fully recovered f rom the effects

of  his wo und s and was in capital trim.

" I had a hard task  set me to escape f rom

K a b u l , " he said, as he sat b efo re the fire

and sm oke d his long pi pe, " especi ally as

I was foolish enough to try to settle my

a c c o u n t with Afzul Ali. I met him in

th e street as he was goi ng to the Dewa n

K a n c h (hall of audie nce) of Shah Shujah.

I was disguised as a Ghaze e Mullah and

followed him, getting as near to him as I

could . Th e house of the S hah is a largebui ld ing , whic h has its back to the mountai ns

round Kab ul. In front, with tw o colum ns

on either side, and ope n to the court yar d, is

the Dew an Kaneh. A band is stationed

in one corn er of the cour tya rd, and the

sirdars stand in tw o rows befor e the Shah.

Ea ch man is behind the other and there

are about twenty men in each row. Afzul

Ali was about three f rom the end. I go t

behind him and made a b low at him with

m y knife. It struck upo n som e chain mail

w h i c h was on his shoulders, and broke in

m y hand. Flin ging the handl e at his face

as he turned round, I darted away, and, by

g o o d luck, chanced to dash in to the mids t

of  some countr y people comi ng in to t he

fruit bazaar . B y the merc y of Alla h I

g o t clean away , threw off the Gha zee dress,

and pas sed out of the gates wit h a mule

train carrying rice to the cant onment s.

I went to Nikalsai n Kh an and told him

wha t I had don e and he con ceal ed me in

th e tents of the Nati ve Infantry, and shortly

afterwards t ook   me out with a part y going

t o Ghuz nee. I seized the first opp or tun it y

t o strike into the mountai ns and hid during

the dayligh t. At last I dre w near Lak e

Sham il and heard the signals of our scou ts,

and learned to my joy that all was right,

and here I am."

" He wears armour, does he ? " said

Amran in a fierce, musing tone ; "a ll tho

better. We kno w now that we must strike

h im in the face . That is as it should be,

and I am glad. I want hi m to look   death

in the face and t o know what is going to

happen. The cowar dly villain will realise

wha t venge ance mean s when he has to

look   upon the blade that will kill h im.

Allah speed the day when I can have the

murd erer stand ing befor e me . It will be

the day of my life, and the day of his d eat h. "

" Muc h ma y happen before that , A mra n ,"

said Bo b ; " but y ou may rest assured

that in any case he will not be allowed to

escape. Every man here has v o w e d a

blood- feud with him, and every recruit we

gain will have to take the same oath. Wh en

w e have won the Ghilzais ove r to our side,

w e shall arm ma ny hands against him, and

in every quarter of Afghanistan enemies

will be seeking his l i fe . "T h e Ghilzai tribes inhabited w ide tracts

of  country f rom the Suliman ranges west

ward b eyo nd the road through Ghuznee ,

between Kanda har an d Kabul , and north

war d int o the high and rugged territories

b e t w e e n Kab ul and Jellalabad, and were

broken up into numerou s clans. Th ey owned

great flocks of sheep an d camels, and culti

vat ed the r ich valleys and plateaus, raising;

considerable wealth by their industry.

Bu t th ey were also bandit s wh o levied

tribute upo n all wh o passed throug h their

countr y, and were constant ly engaged in

feuds and strifes. Th ey were adherents of 

the displaced Ameer, Dos t Mohamme d Khan,

and had attacke d the army of Shah Shujah

whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Outr am, one of the mos t dashing of the

Britis h soldiers, had rai ded their country

after the fall of Ghuzn ee, and, after severa l

spirited contests, had driven them into-

their moun tai n fastnesses. On the almo st

inaccessible heights the Ghilza i chiefs defied

every effort to reach them, so long as the

winter continued.

(To be continued!) •

^ £ ^

N E V E R S A Y D I E !

7"HEN things g o against you . as some times they do .

Just stifle that sob or that sigh ;

R e m e m be r that life will not always be so,N e ve r say die!

Never al low failure to keep back your smiles,

But throw up your shoulders and try;

"Whatever your troubles, whatever your trials,N e ve r say die 1

There's never an honour too much to obtain;

The re 's never a triumph t oo high ;

Xiads, clench your teeth hard—try again and again.

N e ve r say die t

Just keep your eyes fixed on the farthermo st mark ,

T o watch you r success drawing nigh ;

Whatever you do—on whate'er you embark,

N e ve r say die I

If  the way should be rough, and the going seem hard.Never lose yo ur bright ness of eye ;

Th e greater the battle the greater reward,

Never say die!So stick to it, boys , and Life's ladder ascen d,

Though much you may have to deny ;

ITowe'er slowly it seems, you'll win in the en d.

N e ve r say die!

K  K K 

" B L O B S . "

By D. L. A. JEPHSOS.

HE wasn't a first-class bowler—

An d hardly a fourth-form bat,

Bu t he won his place and was worth it to o.

An d I think we all knew that.

T he runs he made were the runs he saved ;

An d many were doomed to learn,

That the wickets he t ook  were those that fell

T o a catch, or a quick  return !

Y o u might plant him out in the country,

Ext ra -cover or third-man deep,

H e wx)uld field all day in the broiling sun,

W i t h never a sign of sleep ;

T h e fools who " pushed, " charging down the pitch.

W i t h the hope of the stolen run,

Were mightily sold when he hit the sticks

W i t h the whirr of a Maxim gun.

Y o u were feeling fit as a fiddle,

A n d thought you were going strong ;

Y o u dfieamed of the dul cet h undre d,

That dream did not last you l ong !

Y o u cut them clean, and you drove them hard.

But , divin g, he stoppe d them dead ;

Y o u lofted them well to the girdling ropes,

H e sprinted, and w on by a head !

H e was not in the least like Jessop,

H e did not suggest Jack  H o b b s ,

Bu i the work he did was a thing to ?re,

More than squaring his brace of " b lobs . "

F or he Hashed along the boundary line

T o th e last ball of the match,

A n d the heart of the school went out to him

As he made that wonderful catch I

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665

C Y C L I N G F O R T H E M O N T H S JULY.

A Page Tor the "B.O.P." Wheelman.

i T this t ime of year we ough t to be/ \ _ enjoying some really " c o o k i n g "

in

i

weather, and w hen that kind of w ea t he r

does c o m e along, a ques t ion that is of 

importance to every cyclist is what to drink 

when out on a cyc l ing t r ip. Owing to the

impossibility of keeping in the shade, th e

eat reflected by the bare road, and the fine

particles of dust inhaled when riding on

the highway, cyc l ing in s um m er is thirsty-

work ; and as t he cyc list is obl iged to imbibe

a fair quantity of liquid in order to assuage

the thirst thus occas i oned , he is very wise

if  he pays some at tention in th e matter of 

precisely what that liquid shall be.

W H A T T O D R I N K .

Yo u will find that eve r y expe r i encedrider has his favourite form of dr ink, the

e x a c t variety of  " r e f r e s h e r "

that he knows best suits him,

and that will most quick ly al lay

hi s thirst. If, during a spin on

one of our great main roads, you

c h a n c e to encounter a group of  

real cyc l ing speedmen, sterl ing

long - distan ce road - riders, I

mean, when they have s topped

to obta in a thirst-quencher, you

will very l ikely notice that each

ma n order s something different

f rom the others. For wha t is

to the taste of one may not be

at al l agreeable to another, an d

the requi rements of, say, half a do ze n such hardy athletes

offer a fine objec t lesson in

assor ted l iquid thirst-banishers.

O n one point , however , yo u

will d i s c o v e r that al l accus tomed cycl i s t s

are agreed, and that is that a l coho l in an y

shape or form should never be touched; it

is stuff  t ha t is fatal to all hope of physical

" fitness," and so we will at once dismiss

i t from our discussion.

If  y o u ar e exceedingly thirsty after a

spell o f hot r iding in the sunshine, it is a

good plan t o r inso your mouth and gargle

y o u r t h r o a t with water before proc eedi ng

to take a dr i nk   of anything. Sodo i ng ,

you will need less l iquid to al lay your thirst.

And anot her excel lent rule , that shouldbe conve r t ed i n t o a habit , is t o a l w ays

drink  s l o w l y ; don ' t gu l p it d o w n ; m ake

it last, as the phrase is .

Of  cycl i s t s ' dr inks , as we may call them,

soda and m ilk is a favourite, sufficient soda-

water being used t o give the mixture a

bite on the ton gu e and palate. Ginger-be er

i s m uch i m pr o ved in its thirst-quenching

propert ies if you add to it a sl ice of lemon.

B y R A Y M O N D R A I F E .

Ginger-ale and milk  is th e choice of m any ;cold tea with a sl ice of le mon is refreshing ,

if  you l ike i t ; a dr ink  c o m p o s e d of fine

oa t m ea l in water is descr ibed as being both

f o o d and dr ink combined. I wel l remember

that one of the very earl iest " end to end "

cyc l i s t s —t ha t is to say, one of the first

w h e e lm e n t o r ide f rom Land 's End to John

o ' G r oa t s , or vice versa, the whole length

of  Engla nd and Scot land-—did the jou rney

m a i n l y on oatmeal and water b y w a y of 

l iquid sus tenance , and c l a i m ed t o have

im b ib e d several gallons of the nut r i t ious

c o n c o c t i o n dur ing hi s long jou rney . " T h i n

p o r r id g e , " I recol lec t , was what some cr i t i cs

at the time called it, and there is much to be

said for it asa cyc l i s t s ' beve r age .

A s e v e r y athlete wel l knows, cold te a ison e of the f inest possible drinks for que nch ing

A u s e fu l E l ec t r i c C y c l e L a m p a nd R e a r L i g h t c o m b i n e d

thirst . Bu t unless yo u mak e som e prepara

t ion beforehand, cold tea o f the r ight ki nd is

rather difficult to obta in . Shou ld yo u ask 

a t a tea s h o p , or wayside ref reshment

house , for some cold tea, you wil l in all

pr obab i l i t y be suppl ied wi th such as has

been brewing for hours in the tea pot since

breakfast t im e, and that is no t at all adv isa ble

fo r dr inking purposes . R eal c o l d tea of 

the proper kind is m a d e b y pour i ng cold 

water upon the tea in a jug overn ight , and

leaving it t o stand and infuse for use n ex t

day, when it ca n be car r ied wi th you inf lask or water-bott le.

In cons ider ing the s ub j ec t of w h a t t o

dr ink, it is wel l t o r e m e m b e r that w h a t

y o u should not dr ink  is too much l iquid of  

any kind. An d in ach i ev i ng that end , even

on the most blazing day, do not forget the

val ue of fresh fruit. A hal f -way halt unde r

the trees, to eat fruit that you have bough t

in some tow n passed throug h, wi l l add mu ch

to the pleasure of your r ide , and, b y itscooling effect upon your th roat and s ys t em

genera l ly , wi l l pos i t ive ly save yo u expense .

W A Y S I D E I N Q U I R I E S .

" I s this r ight for Bla nkto n ? "— Th at is

the sort of inq uiry that the cycl i s t , wh o i s

r id ing over roads t ha t are strange t o h i m ,

often baw l s at pedes t r ians as he himsel f  

goes w hee l i ng by . B u t if y o u are r iding

in an unknown dis t r ic t , it is much safer

fo r y o u t o get off and addre ss yo ur inq uiry

while o n foot . A s a rule , people of w h o m

such ques t ions are as ked are o n l y t o o

wil l ing t o g i v e informat ion, but , in v i e w

of  the fact that the cycl i s t is bow l i ng a l ong

wi thout paus ing t o wait for their answer ,

wel l , they of ten rea l ly have n ' t opp or tu ni tyt o m a k e t ha t answer proper ly . V e ry l ikely

they haven ' t even t ime to think,

and so they resp ond wi th a

s hou t ed " Y e s , " w hen t hey

w o u ld wish to have added " B u t

m i nd you take the next turning

on the l e f t , " or s om e t h i ng o f 

that k i nd .

This ma3^ no t sou nd t o be a

v e r y i m por t an t matter , bu t you

w o n ' t say so if eve r yo u get sent

a b o u t a dozen mi les out of your

w a y by neglec t to take t he above

pr ecau t i on . A nd , m i nd you , t o

dism ount and make you r inqui ry

in a gent lemanly manner seems

much more respect ful t o allc o n c e rn e d , an d is cer ta in t o

ensure the best at ten tion bein g

pai d to yo u. Of cour se, in ove r

t ak i ng a pedes t r ian of w h o m

i nqu i r y is t o be m ade , s l ow i ng dow n t o his

o w n pace , and a poli te hand-raising to your

c a p peak , is ample in t roduct ion t o y o u r

i nqu i r y .

" L 1 G H T I N G - U P T I M E . "

Y o u may have heard, perhaps , of the

remark made by a you t h f u l cyc le tourist ,

and recent ly repor ted, t o the effect that

it is ev i den t l y cheape r t o c y c l e in Sco t l and

than in England, for the reason that l ighting-

up t ime is half   an hour or so later in the

N o r t h than in Lo ndo n, and so yo u " save thatmuch in oi l . " I allude to the l it t le pleasan try

because it serves t o r em i nd us o f  a fac t of  

w h ic h al l cycl i s t s should be i n f o r m ed .

Eve r y cyc l i s t is b y l aw requi red t o car ry

a light " bet wee n one hour after sunset

and one hour before sunr i se ." B u t t ha t

does not m ean that y o u are to fight u p

a c c o rd in g t o Greenwich t ime n o matter

where you ma y happen t o be. Th e t ime

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666 The Boy's Otvn Taper.

o f  sunset and sunrise varies in different

localities, and therefore the " one hou r

after s u n s e t " and " one hour befo re sunrise "

hav e, in all instance s, to be calcul ated

acco rd in g to the loca l t ime. For instance,

Bir min gha m lig hting- up time is in J u l y

th ir teen minutes later than Londo n ; Man

ches ter , twenty- t wo minut es ; Glasgow,

forty-five minute s, and so on.

T he sub jec t of lightin g-up time recalls

the circumstance that for the long light

evening s of summer, a posi t ively powerful

la mp is no t nearly so neces sary as in the

la te autumn and winter. An d for use at

such time a can dle la mp is really v er y

handy, though, natura l ly enough, i t does

no t thro w a very brilliant light up on the

road. A candle lamp, ho weve r, is an

exceed ing ly clean appliance, is far less

t rouble than an oil or gas lamp, can alw ays

be lighted in a moment, and, as such lamps

are no w mad e, is rarely exting uish ed b y

the wind.

L I G H T S — A N D L I G H T S .

Candle s for these lamp s cos t less than a

penn y each if yo u purchase th em b y the

dozen , and a spare candle should alwaysbe carried in the t o o l wallet . But, should

y o u obtai n a candle lamp, do n't t ry the

exper iment of burning an ordinary candle

in it, for such a candle will pro ba bly m elt

awa y in no t ime. Th e proper candle s

sold for these lamp s are of speci ally hard

composi t ion . Ev en when using the pr oper

kind, yo u should always take care to

extinguish t he la mp directly yo u get off  

y o u r bike . If yo u fail to do so, the la mp

will b e c o m e heated, because there is no

current of air to keep it co o l , and the candle

will disso lve int o a disma l mess . Candle

lamp s are made bo th in the lens and the

glass " al l ro un d" variet ies.

W i t h so man y mot or cars now upo n the

road, some cyclists for the i r own safety

like to carry a rear l ight at night . No w,

y o u kn ow the ordinary little electric pocket

torch '! W e l l , I saw a very neat electric

rear light for b i c y c l e s the other day, made

on the same princ iple. It was fitted to

th e seat stay b y a c l ip in the usual manner ,

and h ad a small metal filament bulb tha t

lighted up a ruby lens, the current being

supplied by a dry bat te ry , and controlled

b y a switc h. The cost, I believ e, was some

three or four shillings, and spare batteries

cost one shilling each.

Cyclists wh o happ en to be caug ht out

after da rk   without the i r c y c l e lamps often

purchase a Chinese lante rn , and with a

candle lighted inside it, thus c o m p l y with

the law. If yo u do so use a Chine se lantern,

first pla ce a han dfu l o f san d or fine earthat the bo tt om of it. This not only steadies

th e lante rn as it han gs from the hand leba r

of  y o u r c y c l e , but the sand or earth serves

to extin guish the flame, should the c andl e

burn to o low , or should it topple o ver and

thus threa ten to set the pa per o f the lante rn

on tire. Another , and even more od d,

impromptu lamp tha t I o n c e saw used b y

a cyclist on emergen cy, was a glass tumbl er,

slung from the handlebar b y an arrangement

of  string, and at the bo tt om of whi ch was

p laced a l ighted night-l ight . An y po rt

in a storm , eh ? and cycl ists are no tor iou sly

resourceful f e l low s . Indee d, Mr A . W.

G am ag e , the well-known c y c l i n g and athlet ic

outfitter of Hol bo rn, told me of a cus tom er

of  his who , havi ng ha d his lamp stolen,

c y c l e d ho me with one of those noi sy roar ing

plumber ' s b lowlamps fixed blazing away

upon his machine !

B u t then Mr. Gamage is simply brimmi ng

over with facts and incidents that are of 

interest to cycli sts, and of his queer and

amusi ng remini scenc es I will afford you

another g o o d example . I o n c e aske d him :

" Can yo u tell me some thin g as to the ver y

oddes t c y c l i n g custome r yo u ever had ? "

H e thoug ht for a mo men t or two , and then

gave me th is r e p l y :

" Our funniest c y c l i n g custome r was a

chimpanz ee, performing at a L on do n

enter ta inment hall, wh o was broug ht here

to have a little b i c y c l e mad e for him. W e

had to take all his measu remen ts mos t

accurat ely, and the machine, for which we

charged £10, cost as muc h as t wo men' s

b i c y c l e s . It was a hot summe r's day w hen

our simian cus tome r came to try his mount ,

and I pres ented him with a banana . B u t

when he saw my son 's full-sized b i c y c l e ,

which was also in the r o o m , that chimpanzee

ran his own l i t t le ma ch in e in to th e fireplace,

aimed the banana at my whito waistcoat ,

  jumpe d on the handlebars of my son's

bike, rang the bell, and s too d on his head.

H e was certainly tho most unorthodox

c y c l i n g custo mer we have had as yet . "

" T I P S " F O R T H E C A R E F U L .

In addition to keeping a careful record

of  their mileage cove red week by week,

some cycli sts, in the same l i t t le m e m o ,b o o k   or diary, take not e of all expense s

P r o b l e m No. 136 .

B y H E N R Y 0 . R O B IN S O N (P. & 0. S . S .

" SARDINIA " ) .

BLACK.

W H I T E .

White to m o v e and win.

SOLUTION TO PROBLEM N O . 135.

B y H E N R Y 0 . R O B IN S O N .

Posit ion : Blac k men on li, 21 ; King 11.

Whi te men on 8, 15, 20, 30. Wh it e to m o v e

and win.

15—10 26—22 10 — 7* 7— 3 3— 7

11 — 1 4 — 8 (4 )8—12 12—16 16—19

A n d now 7—10 and White wins.

(A ) 8—11, 2 2 — 1 7 . W. wins.

CORRESPONDENCE.

" O L D S T I C K L E B A C K . " — Y o u r problem

is not correctly stated. In repeating please

g ive name and full, address.

A C O R R E S P O N D E N T desires to procure,

b y purchase o r exch ange , an old draughts

pam phl et entitled " Th e Sheffield Dr augh ts

Player " (1806) . Write the Draughts Editor.

F. R . (B ' ham ) .— " The Draughts W o r l d "

fo r repairs, tyre solution, o il, lamp- wick, etc.

Ther e is a great gov ern men t department

that doe s muc h the same thing. By order

of  tho Postmaster-Gen eral, I believe, the

General Post Office keeps an accurate record

of  each one of the thousa nds of  b i c y c l e s

used b y its empl oye es, with ex act details

of  th e to ta l num ber of miles ridden, and e ven

the smallest items of outl ay necessitated

By repairs.

After a long run on you r machine, it will

sometimes be found that oil has work ed its

w a y out of the bearings, which is especially

liable to happ en in hot weather. All such

oi l should be carefully wiped from the hubs,

othe rwise it will in time find its wa y do wn

the spo kes, over the rims, on to the tyres.

A n d anything tha t is worse for the health

of  rubber tyres than oil, it wo ul d be difficult

fo r anyone ever to guess at.

Long-distance-ridi ng cyclists are always

careful to keep the i r wrists warm when

out record breaking in cold weather. By

a l ike pro ces s of reaso ning, if the air fans

y o u r wrists, it keeps you co o l when cyc l ing

in the heat . It is rather a comfor table

process i f you turn up your coat sleeves

a cou ple of inches when awhe el during a" regular scorcher."

C O L U M N .

is a monthly periodical to be obtained

at A. Brys on & Co. Ltd. , 92 Trongat e,

Glasgow, id. per month or Is. 1W. per

quarte r post free.

A D R A U G H T S E N C Y C L O P A ED I A . '

m H E S E are days of all-embracing ency-

1 clo pse dia s; and it is no t surprising

that " The Encyclopaedia of Dra ug hts "

should take a place amo ngs t them. The idea

of  producing such a work in one shilling parts--

was mooted some years ago by a well-known

scientific player, Mr. J. A. Rea r of Bris tol :

but the s low an d intermittent appearance of 

the several parts (V ol . IV is no w b efore us)

would seem to indicate obstacles to so

ambiti ous an undertaking. And the result

is not very appealing to the young enthus

iast, who may expect from the title to find

his inquiries answered by the recognised

syste m of encyclopaedias in general. There

is undoubtedly a wide field for literary

and pr actical exp ositi on in a game which

has man y elementa ry and technical, as wellas historical and antiquarian features.

Bu t this wo rk , so far, appears to be in the

main a collocation of exper t games, hung

togeth er on tho two -mo ve system. Whil e,

however, the questioning young student may

look   in vain for explanati ons of the man y

technic al characteristics of draughts, un

deniable value a t taches to the E n c y c l o

paedia for the exper t, who ma y trace

the issues of scientific play to its most

remote ramification. The present vol ume,

fo r instance, takes the 10— 15 opening m o v e ,

and deals with the " K e l s o " opening.

The leading formations are thrown into

convenient trunk  sections for investiga

tion. The variations are fairly exhaustively

t r e a t e d ; the whole being interspersed with

informing and guiding annotations by the

edit ors, Messrs. J. A . Ke ar , jr., and J.

Alexander.

• '* Th e Encyclopaedia of Draughts," by J. Alexander and J. A . Kear, j unior . Vol. iv. E. Man-

borough & Co., L o n d o n . One shilling.

OUR " B.O.P." DRAUGHTS

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667

TONYXHETTNKER

Complete Story.

THE o ld Pride of the West  rolled and

wal lowed at her m o o r i n g s be low

Beauvi l le ; and To ny , wh o was fast

asleep, w o k e up with a start of  surprise,

for he did not think  that they were nearly

in yet.

There was the usual cro wd of people

m ovi ng off the boa t, and the other cr ow d

that was com ing on—mine rs, Chi namen,

Yan kees on the way from .Seattle, wh o h ad

Btopped at Beauville to register on for

homesteads in Saskatoon.

T ony yawned because i t did not interest

him, an d he had not had his sleep out either.

The n all at once , just as the boat swun g

round with her head for the inlet, he bec am e

aware that something was wrong.

A grimy-l ooking mortal f rom be low,

unclothed, except for a ragged shirt, and an

equally ragged pair of duc k trousers, whi ch

might have been white once , but were now

a dingy brown, thrust his head up fro m the

ladder which led to the engine-room, yell ing

some thing at th e top of his voice.

The capta in bustled alon g the deck, an d

disappeared do wn the ladder, but no one

else took any notice except Ton y, who was

in the know of most matters pertaining to

steamship s, becau se his father was captain

of  a great ocea n liner, and ho meant to be one

too , by and by, when he was a man . Bu t

 just at present ho was on his way to spen da long summer holiday at Burnsid e with his

cousins.

Burnside was right at the to p of the inlet,

the ve ry best plac e for fishing anyw her e

between Vancou ver City and Dyea —s o his

cousin R o l f   had said, and he ought to know,

seeing that he had spent three years of his

life in prospecting up and down that stretch

of  North American coast .

Plainly there was something wron g. The

Pride of the West  was out in the current, a nd

shou ld have been goi ng fairly steady, with

wind, steam and current to help her along.

Beauville was out of sig ht; there wa s

nothi ng in vie w but forest- clad hills, and

gleaming sea, with the choppy, white-capped

waves that were always seen when there wa s

the slightest wind am ong the islands.

The man at the wheel ' ;ept staring round,

as if  he could not think  what was

happening.

T o n y sauntered in h.s dire ction . " Wa nt

me to carry a message for yo u ? " he askedcasually.

'" If yo u' d ask the captain to step here a

minute, I 'd be gla d," tho man answered, in

a relieved tone.

" Any thi ng else ? " To ny w inked in a

confidential manner, to imply that he was

entirely to be trusted.

T ho man ga ve a half-scared glanc e at

the c row d of passengers, then j e rked out ,

" Say that there's somethi ng wron g with

the old tub, an d she wo n' t answer to the

wheel : we shall be on the rock s at D ougl as

Poi nt in half an hour , if som eth ing ain't

done to ease her off."

T o n y whistled, cast a glance forwar d to

where the black rocks of Dou glas Poin t

s tood straight up out of the sea, then d i v e d

d o w n the ladder leading to the engine-ro om,

like a wild rabbit boltin g to its bu rrow .

A scene of tho wildest confusion reigned

be low. The engineer lay on a coal b unker,

breathing in a gaspi ng, stertorou s fashion ,

in som e kind of a fit, or seizure. Th e c apta in

was shouting cont radi ctory order s in a

frantic way, which showed that he had

c om pl e t e l y lost his Hea d; while tho

assistant-engineer, who up to three days ago

had been working in a barber 's shop, twis ted

the steam gauge round and pulled away

at the pressure handles, as if he meant t o

send the boat to destruction at record speed." T h e steersman says she wo n' t answe r

to her helm , and we 'll be on the rocks at

Dou gla s Poi nt in half an hour . Bu t I say

that we'll be bl ow n sky high , inside of ten

minutes, if  that imbeci le chap doesn ' t s top

pulling the pressure handl es ! " shriek ed

T o n y , hi s shrill vo ice cutt ing throu gh the

din of rocking machi nery and the hoarse

shouting of the captain.

Then he sprang forward , butt ing into the

ex-barber, who was sent spinni ng into a

coal-bunker, and having got him out of the

w a y , Tony proceeded to manipulate th e

rick ety ol d engi ne, as if that were the wo rk 

to which he had been accustomed ever since

he coul d walk or talk.

" So me bo dy has wed ged down the safety-

va lve , look  ou t ! " sc reamed Tony, whose

examin ation had been brief, but th oroug h.

The ex-barber p icke d himself out of the

coal-bunker with wonderful celeri ty, and

mad e for the ladder as fast as he coul d go .

B u t tiki capta in darted in pursuit, a n d

seizing the fugitiv e as he was swa rmi ng up

tho ladder, dragged him back by his legs

despite his struggles, and pro ceed ed to rop e

him to one of the boiler stanchio ns.

" Y o u ' v e done mischief enough, and you

are not going to raise a panic aboard this

boat, if I can help i t ," grow led the capta in,

as he ma de his wri thin g priso ner fast.

T o n y meanwhile was working with all his

mig ht to free the safety-v alve, and he had

Hung ope n the do or of the fire-box, rak ing o u t

the red-hot coals, unti l th e l i t t le s toke-hole

was lurid wit h the flick ering red glar e.

The danger of an explo sion was pr obab ly

ove r for the tim e, and the spee d of t he

boat was s lackening dow n. But there wa s

some thing w orse to be feared, as bot h To ny

and the captain kne w full wel l ; for a strong

current set on to Doug las Poi nt , and if once

the boat got caught in this, an y hop e of 

saving her wou ld be out of the questio n.

" Wh at' s wron g with the steering gear ? "

asked the bo y, as, panting and perspiring,

he at last succe eded in gett ing the eng ine

in to smooth-going order .

" There 's a l ink fouled, I take i t , where

it passes under the stern vent i la t ing shaft.

But I 'm too big to crawl in there, an d there

isn ' t a soul on board that I can trust to doi t , now that he is bad ," groaned the captain ,

pointi ng to the engineer, wh o lay uncons cious

as a log, breathing in dreadful, choking

gasps.

T o n y screwed his face into a puck er of 

t remendous de te rmina t ion , then drew a

l ong breath and s aid slo wly , " Gi ve me a

file, a pair of pincers, a nd an extra l ink , bu t

m a k e haste, fo r there isn ' t an y tim e to lose ;

I fancy that I can t inker the cha in for yo u . "

" A r c y o u sure that you kno w how to do

it ? " tho captain asked anxio usly, bu t he

was quick in produ cin g the art icles whi ch

were requ ired , for in a sto rm an y port is

better than non e, and ho kne w himself  

to be in a sorry pl ight ind eed.

" I ' l l have to know ," rep l ied To ny br ief ly .

Then he walked aft , fo l lowed by the

captai n, wh o with out a word gav e him a

le g up into the dark little hole , th rough

which the chain had to pass, that wa s just

n ow the cause of all the trpub le.

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668 The "Boy's Otoun Taper,

I t w as only b y feeling that the mischief Screechy , sc rawc h, sc reech , sc rawch,

c ou l d be loca ted , and T o n y slid his hands scre ech- ch-ch . He was wor kin g just as

along the greasy iro n-w ork with a shi vering hard as he c ou l d go , pant ing for breath in the

wonder as to wheth er he wou ld be able to hot, close a tmosph ere , and dr ipping wi th

Be t the mischi ef r ight befor e the curren t persp iratio n.

caug ht the boa t and flung her on the roc ks . " Bo y, b oy , how l ong w ill y ou be ? "

T h e Pride of the West  was buil t after no asked the v o i c e of the captain, eager and

pattern o r standard whate ver, and her strained .

machin ery was an assor tment of sc raps , " F iv e minutes— she ' s g i v in g !" gasped

dere l ic t s f rom other boa ts , pa tched on to T o n y , yet never onc e pausing in his screechy,

keep the old tub going, when in rea l i ty she sc rawch , sc reech , sc reech , sc rawch.

oug ht to hav e been bro ken up lon g ago . " If we do i t , i t will be the closest shave

Up and do wn the cha in went Ton y ' s hands , that I have ever kno wn ," groaned the

and pre sently he called out , " I 'v e got i t . cap tai n. " We 'r e on the edge of the curre nt

It is a broken l ink, that ca tches in pass ing now , can ' t you feel her lift ? Y o u '11 nev er

the ring. It wil l take m e a quarter of an do i t , bo y, neve r ! "

" H e c u t t h e e x - b a r b e r f r ee a n d o r d e r e d h i m t o s t o k e . "

hour to tink er it up . Go and see if we hav e

go t a c h a n c e . "

A t another t ime the capta in w ould have

knocked an yon e dow n wh o even ventured

to dic tate to him . B ut at the present

m o m e n t T o n y was master of the si tuatio n,

and the capta in woul d no more have d reamed

of  resent ing h is com man ds than he would

have dreamed o f wal tz ing round the dec k  

to the strains of Yankee D o o d l e .

Sliding bac k a l i t t le to wher e he had left

his torch, T o n y dre w it up, and stuck i t

  just wher e the l ight wou ld fall on his wo rk 

as he filed th rough the brok en l ink , which

could not be opened wi th p incers .

" Hurrah ! " yell ed T o n y , dropping h is

file with a clatter . " Sh e' s thro ugh ! Go

on d e c k , c a p ' n , a n d k e e p ' e m h a p p y ; w e ' l l

be able to cram on steam in five m i n u t e s

more ! "

With a groan that was as much misery as

relief , the captain turned away, and T o n y

heard him stu mpi ng up the steep ladder

which led on de ck . Bu t he felt also the

peculiar helpless w obb l e of the old boa t in

the clut ch of the curren t, and he tremb led so

b a d l y that h e c ou l d hard ly manage to hold

the pliers wit h whic h he pinc hed t ight the

new lin k which he had pu t into the chain in

place of the bro ken one .

" She ' l l ho ld for this tr ip, hurrah ! " h e

pante d, in a ver y sha ky vo ice , as he passed

the t inkered chain through the r ing, and

found that i t ran smooth ly .

T h e n c l a m b e r i n g d o w n , he hurried back to-

the engin e, f ir ing up, and cramm ing on

every ou nce of s team that he could get .

T h e rattle-clatter, clatter-rattle of every

thin g in the hot, s tuffy l i t t le engine -roo m

was beyo nd descr ip t ion . T o n y felt as if 

he wou ld be deafened for always, yet

strained his ears t ry ing to ca tch , th rough the

din , any ind ica t ion that they were gett ing

out of the dang er zone .

The telegraph indicator st i l l s tood at

full speed ahead, and T o n y wor ked for all

he was worth at carrying out his instructions.

But finding that he could not manage single-

hande d, he cut the ex-barbe r free and ordered

h i m to stoke.

" W e have got to get clear out of  this

mess, and if yo u don ' t do as you're told,

we'l l just sho vel yo u into the fire-box, t o

burn with t he o ther rub bish ! " shoute d

T ony , look ing so much in earnest that t h eex-barber was thoroughly cowed , a n d

bestir red himself to do his best. He wa s

pla inl y frigh tened b y the fierce mann er of 

this bit of a bo y, who seemed to be afraid

of  noth ing , and wh o crawled about the

engine, appar ently as mu ch at hom e as

another b oy would have been in p lay ing

marbles .

Bu t despite Ton y' s efforts, ably seco nded

n ow by the ex-barber, they could not get

full spe ed out of the en gine , while the s team

hissed and shrieked fr om the safet y-va lve

as if it were laug hing at the m.

Th en the capta in called dow n the speaking-

tube , " If you can' t cra m on mor e stea m,

we ' re don e for ; you mus t do i t somehow,

boy , even if you bust the old thing

u p ! "

T o n y shivered , but i t was from excit ement

more than from fear. He was going to do

a daring thing, and an awfu lly r isky one .

But, seeing that in spit e of all his efforts,

they could not get out of the current, which

was drif t ing th em to destru ction, he deeme d

himself justif ied in taking the risk—that was

the onl y wa y by whic h he might hope t o

save the boa t ' s com pan y.

Clambering up, because he was too short

to reach i t s tandin g o n the floor, T o n y com

menced to screw do wn the safety -valve

again, and immedi atel y the pressureindica tor jum ped up ; the noise and rattle

seemed to increase, while the throb bing of 

the engine was en ough to shake the plac e

to pieces.

T o n y signalled to the captain what he

had do ne, and n ow sto od waiting wi th

on e hand o n the valve to know that t he

danger of the roc ks was past.

H o w long the minutes seem ed ! A b o v e

th e rattle and the din i t came to him that

he c ou l d hear his own heart beating, as he

s t ood waiting for the signal to slacken dow n .

W o u l d the boiler stand i t ? Judg ing by

the con dit i on of every thing else on boar d

the old tub, T o n y thought no t , and every

mom ent he exp ect ed the awful deafening

crash a nd roar of a n explos ion, which for

h im, and perha ps for mos t on board , must

m e a n instant dea th .

Bu t wre ckage on the rocks wou ld mean

death, too ; he had had to choose between

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Tony the TinKer. 669

the certainty and the uncertainty , and he

had ch osen the latter.

Then he thou ght of his mot her, a nd eve n

in that moment of ex t reme tens ion he was

sorry to think  that, if he died, she would

never know ho w very hard he had tr ied to

d o his best and pu t the welfare of other

people before his own.

Suddenly the telegraph indicator m o v e d

to slacken speed, but now T o n y t h o u g h t

that he must be dreaming, that it c o u l d n o t

be true, a n d that he must o n no acc oun t

lessen dow n that danger ous pressure on the

shaky ol d boiler .

Then the ex-barber sprang at him,

shaking him viole ntly, as if he were un der

the impress ion that T o n y h a d gone to sleep,

and must be wake d up .

" Slack en her, slack en her ! " he yelled,

execut ing a sort of war dance in front of 

the e ngin e, a weird figure wit h a face

b l a c ke ne d , and haggard b e y o n d belief .

" Is it true ? " p a n t e d T o n y , w h o a p p e a r e d

to h a v e gone stupid all at once .

" Ye s, yes ! " shrieked the ex-ba rber,

danc ing m o r e wildly than before.

Half   m e c h a n i c a l l y T o n y gave a twist of  

the screw , the steam hissed and squeal ed,

and then the din and rattle decreased

apprec iab ly ; bu t T o n y did no t hear i t , for

he was hanging on to one of the stanchions,

while the engin e- room whir led round and

round him like a piston-rod gone mad, or

so i t seem ed to him in his horrib le giddines s.

Th e capta in came d o w n the ladder a few

minutes later, and seeing the plight that

T o n y was in, hauled h im up on de c k   b y

the coll ar of his shirt. The passengers re

ce ived him wi th an ova t ion , cheer ing unt i lthe i r throats were sore, and then they carried

hi m shoulder -h igh round the deck, because

b y his heroism he had saved them all .

" Bu t I coul dn' t hav e done i t if the boile r

had burs t ," he said jerki ly, and then was

glad to make his escape b e l o w again.

S O M E F I E L D E V E N T S A N D H O W T O

W I N T H E M .

B y F . A . M . W E B S T E R. L . A . C .

(English Amateur Javelin-throwing Champion, 1 9 1 1 ; Hon. Secretary, Amateur  Field  Events Association.)

S t i l l l e a d i n g 1

mHB besett ing evi l of the schoo lboy

J_ hurdler is very conc ise ly s u m m e d u p

in a remark one bo y ma de to anoth er in

m y hearing not long ag o. " A n y o n e ca n

  jump a hurd le," he said. Prec isel y ! A n y on e ca n jump a hurdle, but h ow ma ny b o y s

are there who can " fly " a hurd le, or , in ot her

words, take it in their stride ? Th at is jus t

the trouble with our English s c h o o l b o y s :

so ma ny of them d o ju mp their hurdles

and try t o make up for it by running a t a

furious pace with short steps betwe en the

" j u m p s " ; but this is not g o o d e n o u g h .

 No ! hurdli ng is not a series of ten ju mp s,

3 feet 6 inches hig h, with ten shor t sp rints

in betwe en, and a rather longer one before

th e first and after the last hur dle s. It is a

matter of rhythm and exac tness of mot io n ,

  just as much as it is a matter of rhythm

when t he old Cr. -Sergeant Instructor is

teach ing the new cade t to slope arm s and

keeps on at him, " Slope A r m s , " " O n e , "

" T w o , " "T hr ee , " un t i l the recru i t i spe r fec t . I have often thoug ht that this

would be a g o o d way to teach hurdling .

It mi ght be don e thus : " On e " bei ng

the str ide which rises yo u ove r the hurd le ,

" T w o " the swing forw ard as yo u land,

" T h r e e " a n d " F o u r " t h e s t ri d e b e t w e e n ,

V. T H E 12 0 Y A R D S H U R D L E R A C E.

and " Fi ve " as yo u rise to the n ext hurdle .

Of  cour se, if the hu rdler is to be successful

he must learn the " Thre e " str ide m et ho d,

but if he has not yet acq uir ed his full lengt h

of  l imb, and the three str ides beat him, then

he mus t try " Fi ve " unt il he has go t his

g r o w t h .

Th e hurdle r mus t train hard as a sprinter ,

and m ust also learn the art of   starting.

Th er e mu st be no sta ndi ng up firmly on

bo th feet w ith the fists c le nch ed , plea se ;

the wa y to star t is to get you r hand s on the

m a r k   f rom w h i c h y o u start , the r ight foo t

a l i tt le behind yo ur hands , and then put theleft knee on the grou nd about leve l wi th

y o u r r igh t foo t . On the w ords f rom the

starter " Get set , " c o m e up on the toes of the

rear foo t , keep ing the legs ben t, the weig ht

of  th e b o d y resting forward on the t ips of 

the fingers. In this posi t ion , on the pistol

firing, y o u can spr ing awa y

at once .

I n this event the very

closest a t ten t ion must be

pa id to f o r m , and the

beginner should star t r igh t

awa y to get the "s t r a ig h t

le g " met hod . Al l the o ld

idea of the glide ove r th e

hurd le vanished wi th the

c om i ng of Kraenz lein ; the

glide over the hurdle wascer ta in ly pre t ty and grace

ful in the ext rem e, but i t

was ted t ime in that it

caused the athlete t o h ang

in the air, and as the

o b j e c t of the athlete is

to get to ear th again as

rap id ly as poss ib le , the

newer s ty le has been found

bet te r .

Th e hurdle r mus t r emem

be r to k eep his shoulde rs

absolu te ly square when

cross ing the hurdle, or he

will find t ha t he lands on

the side of the foo t , a n d

this, as well as leading to

all sorts of knee trou ble inthe future, will t h r o w h i m

ou t of his str ide and

preven t h im ge t t ing h is

grea tes t pace .

A s the leading leg is

t h r o w n ove r the hurdle,

the b o d y is ben t forw ard to mee t i t

as it rises. (A t first y o u will feel as if 

s om e one has got a str ing on the othe r leg

and i s d ragging yo u back , bu t never mind ,

perse vere !) Th e reason for thus b e n d i n g

t he b o d y dow n ove r the leg is that it

brings the hurdler to ear th on the oppos i te

side of the obs tac le in the shortest pos sible

s pa c e of t ime .

Great care must be taken to bring the

ba c k   leg up smartl y, so as not to hang in

the air for the sl ightest fracti on of a second ;

also, by bringing the rear l eg up quic k ly ,

i t will be found that on land ing the athleteis in g o o d shape for taki ng the next str ide

f o r w a r d . Of cour se the hurdle r mus t cross

the hurdle with as l i t t le to spare as may be

be t w e e n the seat of his shorts an d the t op

bar .

I t i s impor tan t that the hurdler should

T h e 120 Y a r d s H u r d l e s . I.

Eising to the f irst hurdle. The arms, as here shown, are swung

b a c k   a little to o far at this stage, otherwise the hurdle is being taken

in good style. Note how the b o d y is being forced dow n to meet therising leg, an d that the shoulders are quite square to the f ront.

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670 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.

prac t i se until he can jud ge to take-off at the

same d is tance f rom his hurdle each t ime and

get an even stride between them as wel l .

I t may sound a little unreasonable to say

T h e 120 Yards H u r d l e s . I I .

The hurdler i s now at the t op of his flight and direc tly centralised

o v e r th e hurdle. Note the perfect straightness of the leadin g leg,

the way in which the fol low ing leg has been tucked up, and th e

squareness of the shoulders t o the front . Not e, also, ho w the body isbeing forced down ove r the legs, which wil l bring it speedi ly to earth.

G o o d distance wil l be obtained and the athlete wil l be in perfect

posi t ion for the next stride forward. Note , lastly, how the arms

preserve the balance and contro l the whole evolut i on.

' ' k e e p y o u r b o d y as still as poss ib le all

th rough the race , " bu t what I w a n t t o

(To he continual.)

c o n v e y is tha t th e t runk   of the b o d y is a

s tat ionary piece of a mov ing whole on which

th e arms and legs work , the legs supply in g

the mot iv e pow er , and the arms cont ro l l ing

the ba lance . The only

m o v e m e n t of th e actual

t runk   i s forward an d do wn

each t ime a hurdle is

c o m e t o .

F o r training, do not runthr oug h the full distanc e

t o o of ten . Set up three

hurdles, the first 20 yards

f rom the starting mark,

the others ten yar ds apart ,

then prac t i se starting a n d

tak ing t h e m , v a r y i n g this

b y shor t bursts of 100

y a r d s and 50 y a r d s o n

the flat, once o r t w i c e a

week  m o v i n g t h r o u g h t h e

w hol e dis tance , and once

a week going thro ugh at

rac ing pace . T he hurdler

should not star t b y running

hurdles , b u t should first

tone himself up by sprint

ing and sev eral j ogs a r o u n d

the t rack .

A l w a y s b e f o r e c o m p e t

ing , o r running t h r o u g h

the hurdle dis tance a t full

p a c e o v e r t he " s t i c k s , "

ge t thoroughly wel l rubbed ,

a n d if  y o u h a v e t o w a i t

fo r y o u r heat k e e p the

l egs warm by gent le rubbing

wi th a flesh g l o v e . T r y t o

d e v e l o p t he m u s c l e s o n

the f ront of the th igh ,

as this will help ver y cons ider ably in get

ting the leg out straight.

The Son of anAnarchist:

A Tale of Strange /v\«ster« and

Wild Adventure.

B y W . A. B. C L E M E N T S O N , M . A .,

  Author of " A Couple of Scamps," etc.

CHAPTER X X V I . —

W

HEN R o n a l d a n d B o b b i e c a m e o u t o f t h e

shop and found Paolo gone , they wai ted

fo r a few minutes , hopi ng he woul d return,

and then s t ro l led as far as th e h a r b o u r

th inking he had hurried on in adv an ce ; but

he was not there. T h e n it o c c u r r e d t o

t h e m tha t he might hav e gone bac k  t o

Mariet te ; so they retraced their s teps and

made for the l i t t le terra-cotta s h o p .

W h e n th sy g o t there Marie t te to ld them

that P a o l o h a d c o m e b a c k   t o warn her

of  the pr esenc e of the anarchists in the tow n,

and she was frantic wi th anxiet y when she

heard that he had not returned to them.

Ro na ld deci ded to go and see the Brit ish

Consul wi thout de lay before he returned

to the yacht, so that no t im e might be lost

in informing the pol i ce , in case Paolo should

be really in dang er.

Th e Br i t ish Consul rece ived them kind ly

and promised t o do all he c o u l d t o find

Pa o l o , t h o u g h i t was easy to see that he d id

not qu i te be l ieve Ron ald ' s s tory about the

anarchists. H a v i n g d o n e this the two boys

l 'AOLO s REVENGE.

hurried back to the sh ip , hoping tha t s o m e

h o w or o ther Pa olo might have got there

before the m. But , alas, he had no t returned,

and his parents were wild with grief   at t he

news that he was missing. Luig i was with

difficulty restrained by his wife a n d R o n a l d

f rom going ashore at o n c e t o l o o k   for his

son .

Meanwhi le the pol i ce , urge d on by t he

Brit ish Consul, had not been idle. Inquiries

were made on all s ides and a descr ip t ion of  

Paolo was c i rcu la ted am ong the pol i ce ,

publ ic officials and tr ades men. In a v e r y

short sp ace of t ime the new s tha t an English

b o y had been k idnap ped spread l ike wi ld

fire thro ugh th e whol e to wn .

As luck would have i t , just as the aged

cab-dr iver , who had conv eye d Paol o and

B a r d i t o the Vi l la Alb a , returned to hi s

s tanding-p lace in the cit y with tw o gold

pieces j ingling in his p o c k e t , t h e c a b m e n

o n th e rank  were discussing this latest p i e c e

of  news wi th cons iderab le an imat ion . One

d e c l a r e d that the boy had been murdered ,

another that it was a cer ta in notor ious

br igand wh o had captured h im wi th a v i e w

t o r a n s o m ; in short , each man had a

different theory t o a c c o u n t for P a o l o ' s

d isappearance .

The n the o ld cab-dr ive r remembered that

the bo y he had seen carried by Bardi out

of  th e restaurant had been ver y much l ike

the descri ption of the one who was missing.It was strange, t o o , that the man should have

t ipped h im so handso mely t o drive him

without de lay to such a desol ate place as th e

Villa Alb a. If i t had bee n merely because the

b o y was ill, it wou ld surely hav e been wiser

t o s u m m o n a doctor first or take him to a

hospita l . The more he tho ugh t of  it t h e

more susp ic ious the whole bus iness see med ;

a nd at last the old man m ade up his min d

to tell the police what he suspected.

T h e pol i ce heard wha t he had to say and

then asked him to return in half an hour 's

t ime wi th his car r iage , as it m i g h t be

necessary for him to dri ve some of them out

to the Villa Alb a. Luig i was at o n c e sent

for, and he c ame ashore with the bo ys in a

great state of exc i tement .

When the aged cab-dr iver returned to the

pol i ce station, Luigi was allowed to question

him carefully abou t the boy and his compan

i on , w h o m he had dri ven out t o the Villa

A l ba ; and fr om the description of the old

ma n Luigi thought he recognise d not only

his son but also Giuseppe Bardi, a discovery

which made h im more anxious than ever .

Being satisfied that they had fou nd a clue,

th e police deci ded to drive out in the old

man's carriage t o the Villa Alba t o se e if 

they could f ind Paolo there. After a little

persuasion, they consented t o a l low Luig i

and the two boys to acco mpa ny them .

They had dr iven a long way out into the

open count ry over a very rough road, when

sudde nly the grou nd began to roll l ike waves

at sea, while peal after peal of underg round

thunder was heard.

" A h , i t is but an oarth quake ," said one

of  th e officers. " We have them ver y fre

quen tly. " Th e horses, howe ver, were not

so phil osop hica l; for as soon as they felt the

shock   they to ok fright and bolted, running

the carriage into a heap of stones and o ver

turning i t and its inmates into the road .

Meanwhi le the earthquake, which was only

m o r e or less local, was doin g its work of 

destruction around them, and every buildingwithin sight was shaken into ruins in th e

space of  a few seconds .

Soon the carriage was r ighted and the

horses qu ie ted ; and as no one had been

hurt b y the accident, i t was decided t o

cont inue their journey wi thout de lay t o

the mysterio us vil la, thou gh it was very

doubt fu l whether the earthquake w o u l d

have left any part of  it standing..

Before long they sighte d the house, which

was t o all appearance a deserted heap of 

ruins. Suddenly they heard a sound which

caused Luig i to start u p in amazement

a n d j o y . I t was the sweet tones of a vio l in

p lay ing a little m e l o d y that Paolo used t op l a y in those days when they l ived in

K e n s i n g t o n . I t seemed l ike a m e m o r y o f  

another life, so greatly h ad the world chang ed

fo r Luigi since then.

H o w Paolo came to be playing the violin

it is necessary to explain.

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The Son o_f an Anarchist. 671

Whe n he cam e to his senses after th e

ear thquake , Pao l o co u ld not make out wh a t

had happened. He was apparent ly bur ied

under a pile of broken laths and br i ckw ork ; r-

but he was not inju red, for the d ebris that

had fallen on him was chiefl y of a ligh t

descriptio n, a large beam , which had fallen

across against the wall , having shielded

him from the heavier masses of masonry.

Half  choked wi th dust, he strugg led to free

himself from the rubbish that smothered

him, and after a little t ime was able to cli mb

out into the o pe n air and s urve y the ruins.

A s he di d so, he heard some one groaning in

the very heart of the wreckage.

The villa had b een a very light s t ru c tu re ;

so mo st of the deb ris was not difficult to sh ift,

and Paolo , after working hard for some time

to m o v e some of the rubbish, disc overe d

the head and shoulders of a man . It w as

Giuseppe Bardi, pinned under a heav y mass

of  fallen brickwork, which Paolo was una ble

to m o v e . The man was clearly in his dea th

agony.

Then, for the first time since his return

to consciousness, Paol o reme mbe red what

had happened and wh a t Bardi had been

doing when he last saw him—si t t ing in an

easy chair, blowi ng clouds of smoke f rom

his cigar and sm iling ly orde ring him to be

tortured. It seem ed like a d r e a m — a n d ye t

it was no drea m, for he kne w he was awa ke

now .

Y e s , that terr ible ordeal had been a real

experience, but it was equally true that his

cruel enem y no w lay crushed and bleedin g

at his fee t; the same Powe r whic h had

helped Pao lo to be bra ve had su mm one d

Bardi to a p p e a r before a higher cou rt than

any on earth to answer for his m any crimes ,not the least of which had been his t r eachery

to the boy who had t rusted him as a

friend.

As for Paol o, he was stiil dazed by the

suddenne ss of the b l o w that had set him

free, and, so far from feeling any resentment

against Bardi or exult ation ove r his dow n

fall, he felt that th e ear thquake had wiped

out all the past an d that his ene my had been

delivered into his h a n d that he might take a

merciful revenge . So, after removing a l l

that he was able of the d ebris that cove r ed

Bardi , he said to him , " Mr. Bar di, are y o u

much hurt ? "

" Oil, it is yo u, Pao lo ? " said B ard i wit h a

groan. ' ' Y e s , it has finished m e ; I am pi nn ed

here and cannot m o v e . "

" T will run for help," said Pao lo.

' ; It is no use. It is th ree miles to t he

nearest house. I shal l be dead by the t ime

y o u co u ld fetch anyo ne. Do not leave me ;

promise you will not le ave me ! "

Paolo h e s i t a t e d ; he would have liked

to run away , but he kn ew that it is the

dut y of a true scout to help anyone in

need, eve n an en em y ; so ho said he wo uld

s tay .

" Where is Anto nio ? " asked Bardi .

" I don ' t kn ow ," said Paolo . " But I

will see if I can find hi m. "

S o , returning to the spot where he had

been imprisoned, he began to m o v e some of  

the debris , call ing the ma n by name ; bu t

he listened in vain for any gro an or answ erin g

c r y . Ant on i o Co s imo had been killed by

the falling wall.

[To be continued.)

Our Open

MR. H . S . A B B O T T , author of " The W r ong F o r d , "

'* Surfing in Aust ra l i a ," etc. , sends us the

following a c c oun t of the " Sun D a nc e " o f the N or t h

American Indians, t o which reference was m a de inour recent art icle " The Making of a ' B r a v e ' "

( N o . 30 , p . 465) .

T o th e Blood Indi ans of the Bluckfoot t r i be of theNort h Americ an redskins, th e annual " S u n D a n c e "is just as great a celebrat ion as Christ inas, and falooked forward to in very much th e same mannerin which most Engl ish people look  forward to the.winter fest ival . Bot h by the old pagan Indians whoar e not Christ ians, and by the younger genera t i on wh ohave been made Christ ians by the various missionsworking on the Indian reservat ions, th e D a nc e isconsidered th e great event of the year .

Th e old Blackfo ot Indians original ly worshipp ed th esun, and the festival is a celebrat ion in honour of tin;sun. In earl ier days th e Sun Da nce was th e t ime whenthe youn g men of the t r ibe were made " braves ." Thi sperformance, with it s full, original details, was a m os tpainful ordeal . The procedure wa s carried out asfollows:

A large pole was erected an d from the to p of it-ropes hung to the ground. The young Indi an wh o

wa s to be m a de a " brave " was then led to th e pole,an d two gashes were mad e with some sharp instrum e nt on each breast of the unfor tuna t e man and apiece of  wood or a large hook   wa s inserted throughthese two gashes. The end of the rope hanging fromth e pole wa s then at tached to the hooks or wood an dt he w ou l d -be " b r a ve " wa s hoisted off his feet an dswung a round th e pole a certain number of  t imes.Should he faint or call out in a gony for t hem to ceaseth e torture, he was let dow n , th e hooks were takenfrom his breast , and he was a l lowed to g o, but wasthen not made a " brave " but a " squaw man," thatis, a man w ho had to help around th e c a m p an d cou ldnot j o in th e fighting men of the t r ibe when they wentforth on the war-path to ba t t l e .

Having been made a " brave ," on the other hand,that is , having s tood th e ordeal without faint ing orcal l ing out, he was then a full-lledged warrior an dcould wear fighting feathers and go to bat t le. Duringthe process of the making of " braves " all the maleand female popu lat ion of the t r ibe were in a circledancing round th e pole ; wit l i th e dancing they wouldsing a pecul iar chant ing song and the " t om - t om s "or drums were cont in uousl y beaten.

A t th e present t ime , howeve r, this ordeal is st rict lyprohibi ted, al though in qui te recent years there ha sbeen a case or two come to not ice where it has beena t t empted, and the part icipants have been found outand puni shed accordingly. To-d ay the " Sun D a nc e "i s merely th e t ime fo r feasting anil rejoicing. On theBlood Indi an Reserva t ion, one of the largest reservat ions in Canada, it is held every year in June or asnear as possibl e to the t ime when th e berries ar eripe, that is, pr ov i d i ng th e weather is agreeable.

On e place where it is to be witnessed is Stand-off, asmall set t lement twen ty miles south of the t ow n of Macleod in Alberta, which go t its pecul iar name froman old-t ime trader who held off a party of  Indi answ ho were after hi s sca lp . Wi th the aid of a squaw,w ho l oaded hi s rifle, this ol d pioneer finally drove oil'the Indians, al though he was himself seriously woundedin the arm. Eve r y June, at Stand-off, th e Medic ineLodge for the "S un D a nc e " is bui l t , this lodge beingm a de of  green boughs of trees gathered from th e riverbo t t om . A fresh lodge is erected each year.

Long before the t ime of the actual celebrat ion, th emembers of the various famil ies of the t r i be ar e busi ly

Column.

preparing their dress, tepees an d horses, in order t o

appear, as it were , in their " Sunday best . " Thevthen ga ther fco the scene where th e Medic ine Lodge

is to be put up. On the first day of the D a nc e th e

chiefs of the t r ibe gather in the Medic ine Lodge and agreat deal of  speechi fying is carried out by the chiefsand minor chiefs. At the present t ime th e chief  of all

th e Bloods is Chief  " C r oppe d - Ea r - W ol f , " but at the

t ime of m y ten months ' s t ay on the Blood Reserva t ionsis years go, the head man was old " Day Chie f ."somet imes ca l l ed " Thunder Chie f ."

Th i s old fellow, al though v erv small in stature, wa s

very proud of his posi t i on and no other chief  ever ha d

such absolute control over th e two thousand members of  th e Blood Tr ibe . He w as a very wi se man, a l w a ys

working for the a dva nc e m e n t of his Indi ans , and was

B u i l d i n g the " Sun D a n c e L o d g e . "

very popular with th e whi t e people . At the *' SuiiD a n c e s " old " Day Chief  *' was a lways present ,decora t ed in his brass-but toned pea- j acke t , an d black 

felt ha t wi th th e wide brim which wa s sur rounded b y

a gold t insel band, and he would a lways wear th e hugecopper medal presented to him by tho Cauadiau

G ove r nm e n t as a mark  of his chieftainship.Usual ly, on the second day, danc ing and feast ingis indulged in . There is a lways a lo t to eat, plenty of 

meat an d s t rong tea. The danc ing is ke p t up night

an d day. W hi t e men are not a l lowed into th e

Medicine Lodge, and the R oya l N or t h - W e s t M oun t e dPol ice w ho look  after th e Indians recognise this, an d

do not as a rule interfere themselves but send their

Indi an scout s to maintain order if  necessary.I t is very difficul t , as a rule, to obta in any pho t os o f 

the actual ceremonies, but some have managed to get

a fe w from a di s t ance . I once made an at tempt to

ge t a good pic ture of the circle of the " p o w - w o w , "

as th e D a nc e is c o m m o n l y s tyl ed, but I was no t i c e dan d a hand wa s rudely pushed in front of my camera,,

and when I deve loped th e film I cou ld not say if 

it looked more l i ke th e ruin of an old cast le or a b ad

train wreck, so I did not try t aking any more photos .

I should think  that as the years rol l by t he " Sun

Dance " wil l gradual ly die out, probably because th e

Indi ans t hemse lves ar e becoming fewer , an d becausethe yo unger genera t i on, wh o are be ing educa t ed, d o

no t take th e same interest in this pic turesque oldifestival as did their warrior forefathers.

T w o S u m m e r I n d i s p e n s a b l e s.

T H E S U N D A N C E .

8/8/2019 Boys Own Paper July 19, 1913

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-july-19-1913 18/18

672 The *Boy*s Otvn Paper.

FRED J. M. —Th e Great  Eastern was launched in 1858,

made he r first voyage over th e Atlantic in 1860,

and was sold to be broken up in 1886.

G. BROOKER.—Yours is no extraordinary case. Wha t

yo u must d o is to force yourself  to overcome this

nervousness; it is a matter of will-power. Y o u

imagine that people ar e more concerned about you

than is actually th e case an d this makes fo r self-

consciousness. Mix with other people as much

as yo u can, join some club or society that will give

yo u a special interest in life, an d you will find that

in time th e nervousness will wear off. It is not a

case for medicines. Exercise your will and play

the man.

P H O T O G R A P H E R . — S e e " A Simple Hand Camera andH o w to Make it," which will appear in a forth

coming number. From th e directions there given

yo u should be able to conquer the difficulty.

F. P O T T E R . ™ A p p l y to the Commissioner of City Police,2 6 Old Jewry , Lond on, E.G.

NOVICE.—Write to a stamp dealer for a catalogue

which gives a list of countries in alphabetical order.

There ar e many such advertised.

E A S T E R N C O W B O Y . — 1 . Take lessons from someone

experienced in acrobatic and gymnastic work. I t

w ould be dangerous to a t tempt the feat without

proper tuition. 2 . Y o u r second query must surely

be pu t in jest. I t ca n only be answered in the

affirmative.

A. ROE.—Order a binding case for the " B.O.P."

volume (2s.) through a bookseller, and let him bind

th e parts. The cost will not be much.

G . P A Y N E . — T h e coloured plate in question was given

in an earlier volume, bu t it is no w out of  print . W e

will consider th e question of doing it again.

J. H. B. (Ullswater).—The pipe is certainly a most

curious and elaborate one . Many thanks fo r thephoto.

W . S. T.—Your s tamp is of too recent issue t o have any

value. 2 . R . M. Ballantyne died several years ago.

Fo r the " B . O. P . " he wrote " Th e R e d Man's

R e v e n g e " an d " Tw ice Bought," among other stories.

W. J. T.—See answer to A . W R I G H T , in last week's

issue.

C O L L E C T O R . — Ma ny gunsmiths have ol d weaponsof 

the kind y o u want in stock. Make mquiries at

shops. The price would not be very high.

YOUTHFUL.—Singing plays a very important part in

gaining and keeping g o o d health. T he constant

expansion of the lungs b y vocal exercise prevents

them from contracting or becom ing choked with

injurious matter. Doctors, t oo , often advocate

singing practice fo r patients wh o ar e liable t o certain

throat troubles, as a method of  strengthening that

par t of the b o d y .

H . LANG.—1. We should advise you to attend evening

classes at the Birkbeck Institute or on e of the variousPolytechnics. 2 . Shorthand would be almost in

dispensable t o y o u .

VJP.L. —" The Cruise of the g o o d ship Boreas." b y

Dr. Gordon Stables, ra n through our 18th volume.

This is now ou t of print . Talbot Baines Reed's

stories are all obtainable in cheap b o o k   forms.

See the catalogue of the Religious Tract Society,

6 5 St . Paul 's Churchyard, E. C .

A. B . B R Y A N T . — Y o u r case is similar to many others

that have c o m e under our notice. Yo u must break 

off  th e habi t at once, or the consequences will be tooterrible to contemplate. Pray fo r help and help

will b e forthcoming.

I N Q U I R E R . — 1 . Such a model is to be obtained at quite

a small cost. Watch our advertisemen t pages.

2 . A n electric battery is preferable. 3. Consult a

veterinary surgeon and do not a t tempt t o attend

t o th e animal yourself.

H I S T O R I A N . — T h e Mohocks , about whom y o u have

been reading, were ruffians w h o made themselves

unpleasantly conspicuous in the streets of  London

in the 18th century. They took  their name from

the Indian Mohawks. In some cases their practical

  jokes were harmless; but too often they resorted

to violence of the most extrem e kind. Anothe r

Indian t ribal name, that of the Apaches, has been

appropriated by the ruffians w h o have terrorised

Paris fo r some years past .

H E N R Y B A T C H E L O R (Vancouver).—Your appreciation

is very welcome . T h e subjects mentioned in your

letter have been under consideration. Other

natural history articles will fol low in due course.

R.M.S.—There ar e many sailing ships still in the grain

t rade, voyaging between this country and San

Francisco. Although under foreign flags many ar e

manned b y British crews.

J. D O R L E Y . — S e e back numbers of the " B . O. P . "

It has been dealt with several times.

C H A R L I E L . — W e cannot pronounce an opinion unti l

we have seen th e drawing. I t would certainly be

unwise to think  of  taking it u p professionally unti l

a connection had been established.

H A N D Y B O Y . — S e e " Electric Bells and A l a r m s "

(I'ercival Marshall and Co., Popp in's Court, Flee t

Street, London , 6d.). Yo u should be able easily to

fit up what y o u require.

A R T H U R M O R R I S . — 1 . The new lizard that was recently

added to the Zoological Gardens collection is the

Spinose Lizard. This creature is coloured pink an dhas spiny projections on its back. T o escape

detection it curls itself  on the ground in close resem

blance t o a piece of fungus or other vegetable growth.

2 . See our Coloured Plate fo r June , for the Bird-

W i n g Butterflies. 3. Volume 33. 4. Ttie same

artist will be illustrating a serial in our next volume.

F . R . D . T . — 1 . A n induction coil . 2 . Wh y not use a

magneto bell ? 3. Tr yGamage, John Piggott,

or a similar dealer. Models are stocked in large

variety.

N O T I C E T O C O N T R I B U T O R S. — A l l manuscripts intended 

 for  the B O Y ' S O W N PA PER should  be addressed  to the

 Editor, 4 Bouverie Street, E-C., cind must have

the name and address of the sender clearly written thereon,

and  in any accompanying letter  THE TITLE OF THE MS .

must  be given. Miscellaneous voluntary contributions

are submitted  in too great  numbers to be returned unless

stamps are sent  to cover  postage, and the Editor cannot 

correspond  regarding them, or Itold himself  inany way

responsible for length of detention or accidental loss,

though every care is taken. The number  of MSB. sent tothe Office is so great  that  a considerable time must  neces

sarily elapse before their  turn for consideration arrives.

Payment  for accepted  manuscripts is made on publication

of  the monthly part containing them. The receipt 

conveys the copyright  of manuscripts to the Religious

Tract Society, with liberty for them, at their discretion,

to publish such works separately. Republication by

authors on their  ownaccount must always be the

subject of special arrangement before submitting their

 MSS.; and  whenever  any special value is put  upon

 MB. by the author  this fact must  be clearly stated when

sending in, or it cannot afterwards be recognised.

T O CORRESPONDENTS.— Rep lie s to correspondents are

not  sent  by post, and to this rule there can be no excep

tion—the sending of stamped  and addressed  envelopes

notwithstanding. Replies on all questions of any

general interest  are given in tliese columns in due

course.

  Letters must be addressed  to the Editor, "  B.O.P.."

4 Bouverie Street, E.C. Letters sent  to private

addresses of members of the staff  are not answered.

G E O G R A P H I C A L C O N U N D R U M S .

B y H . H E R V E Y .

1. W H A T moun t a i n b y its name signifies

perpetual repose ?—Mo unt Everes t .

2 . W h a t t o w n in Mi ch i gan , U.S .A. , is

an arbo ur ?—A nn A r b o r (an arbour) .

3 . N a m e of Mozambi que p l ace that tells

y o u t o m e e t wrath wi t h a caress ?—Kisanga

( K i s s ange r ) .

4 . N a m e of  Ionian island that cries fo r

peace ?— Pa xo ( pa x— o h ! ) Is land.

5 . A s moky p l ace in Croat ia ?—Flume

( fume).

6 . S o m e N e wY o r k   State mounta ins in i

mi ca l t o do mes tic felines ?—Catskill (cats

kil l ) Mount a i n s .

7 . W e have t he " J " pens , the " G "

pens , e t c . ; but wher e d oyo u find the " TJ"

p e n ? — A t E u p e n , in G e r m a n y .

8. Is there a place wi th name meaning

one ' s father's s on ' s son? — Y e s , Gr ands on ,

in Va ud, Swi tzer land.

9. G o o d p l ace in Eng l and fo r laun

dresses ?—Th e Wa sh.

1 0 . A remo te d is t r ic t in Abyss i nia ?—Afar .

1 1 . In Damar a l and , S.W. Africa , name

of  p l ace that orders aw ay infants ?—

G o b a b i s (go , babies ! ) .

1 2 . Tr ans pos i ng th e syl lables of  wha t

Zanzibar p lace c o n v e y s permiss ion t o salute

wi t h th e l i ps ?— Ki s m ayu ( Y ou may kiss).

1 3 . Centra l Aust ra l ian place that says

a certain girl is j u m p i n g ?—Alice Springs.

1 4 . Pl ace in N.S . Wale s name d af ter

friendly dogs ?—W agga Wagg a .

1 5 . " Ins ide " sor t of  Indian c i ty 1—

I ndo r e ( indoor) .

1 6 . N a m e of  Nor t humber l and p l ace

resembl ing a no t i ce t o l ocomot ive driv ers ?•—

Hal twhis t le (hal t -whis t le! ) .

1 7 . Wh at sacred Indian town does the

late Russo -Japan ese s t ruggle remind one

of  ?—Har dwar (hard war) .