Boys Own Paper 19 October 1912

8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 19 October 1912

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NO. 3, NEW VOLUME.] S A T U R D A Y O C T O B E R 1 9 1 9 1 2 P r i c e O n e P e n n y .(New Series.) ^ A I U H U A I , W O I u c n n iw , i v i ^ . [ALL BIGHTS RESERVED.]

A W A I T I N G G A M E .

(Drawn, jor the "Boy's Own Paper" by W . P . C A T O N W O O D V I L L E . )

Betcueen ^

0 the Tmo:A ' S T O R Y O F G R A M M A R S C H O O L

L I F E .

By SERCOMBE GRIFFIN,

Author of " The Mad Yatheht,"

" A Goorkha's Kookri," " The Dumb Chief," etc., etc.

C H A P TER I V . — T H E R E S C U E .

DO N A L D A R M S T R O N G returned f rom

th e " Devi l ' s Cave " t o make search

fo r hi s father, who was out visiting a poor

patient. T h e length of Dr. Armstrong 's

visits did not vary accord ing to the amount

of the fees : he was with the poor man for

some considerable t ime, while Dona ld waite d

at the door .

Dr . Armstrong was surprised t o find his son

waiting for him. " Y o u did not bring

Cyril t o t ea—wh y ? " he asked quietly.

" Because he and fourteen others ar e lost

in the 'Dev i l ' s Cav e , ' " responded Donald .

" N o t a nice place for a night 's lodging ,"

remarked the Doctor coolly, as he stepped

in to hi s carriage, followed by his son.

" Ho wev er , t h ey m a y have returned b y

now ; we will drive to the Falklands, and

enquire."

But neither parents nor son were at h o m e,

only a certain faithful domestic named

Martha.

Cressington's house had to be visited,

therefore. Mrs. Cressington wa s m u ch

per turbed—where was her dear Rupert ?—

what ! in the " Devi l ' s Cave " indeed !—-

she must go and find him at o n ce—Death

had robbed her of her husband—surely he r

don wo u ld not be torn away from her.

The poor w idow idolised Rupert, the one

child left t o remind her of the husband who

had been killed in a frontier raid in Northern

India. Remembering that terrible evening

wh en sh e waited on the battlements of

th e little fort, listening to the distant

firing, and a sowar had galloped up with thenews of her loved one's death, the poor

nervous lady conjured up the worst possible

pictures of her son 's sa d fate—fallen down

a disused shaft—c rushed benea th a heavy

fall of stone—lost in some distant, undis-

coverable passage.



34 The *Boy's Otvn Paper.

Mrs. Cressington insisted that immediate

search be mad e for the missing boys. Seeing

that she was in an hysteric al c ondi tion ,

th e D oc to r delivered her over into his wife's

hands ; and then Don ald and he set t o

work to get toget her a search party .

In the midst of the preparations Mr. and

Mrs. Falkland appea red; they had strolled

roun d t o enquire as to this latest scrape

of their son. Th ey were surprised at nothing,

the y said, and eve n ya wne d whe n Mrs.

Cressington painted the terrible experi ences

th e boys might be undergoing.

" Well, it 's really his own fault ," said Mrs.

Falkland, as it dawned on her there really

might be a tragic sequel to the ca ve adven ture.

Meanwhile Dr. Armstrong had been busy,

and before very long the rescue -part y were

ready to start out. The par ty consisted of

Dr. Armstrong , Mr. Falkland, Mr. Higgs

(manager of some local quarries, and there

fore exp ect ed to possess exper t know ledge of

caves), Donal d, the coach man, the stable-

boy, an d three sturdy workmen . If unsuc

cessful in their search, the y were to be

followed at 6 A . M . next morning by a secondpar ty led by Dr. Bri ce, father of the b oy

whose singing powe rs had been utilised b y

Cressington.

The first par ty set out , fully equi pped ,

medical ly and otherw ise. Wi th difficulty

Mrs. Cressington was induced to remain

behind, and then onl y on the unders tandi ng

that it was necessa ry to make prepar ations

fo r the lost bo37

s' re turn—hot blankets—

warm drinks—hot water bottles—bedroom

fires, etc., etc.

The par ty were trudging over the downs,

heade d by Joh n the coa chm an and his

carriage lamp.

"The silly little donk eys will hav e had

their fill of caves by this t ime," remarked

Mr . Falkl and, rem ovin g his cigar from a cen

tral to an angular position between his lips.

The docto r did not appear to take a

serious view of things, and chi med in with

Mr . Falkl and's ros y forecas t of a shor t

sear ch; bu t Donal d, who understoo d his

father well, detect ed a strong undercurrent

of anxiety beneath the cloak of light raillery

he assumed for the occasion.

" Yes, I expect ," said the docto r,

" yo u will onl y need, in future, t o me ntio n

caveSi and eve ry one of tho se lost cave-

explorers will cr y ' Gave!' in response."

" I say, father, you aren't in form, or you

wouldn ' t make such an awful pun."

" Well, Donald , you ' re in form—Form

Six, I beli eve—s o just ca p my j oke . "

" I should say that "

Wha t Donald would have said was never

known, for Mr. Higg s, ver y nervous as to his

son 's danger, struck in with an anxi ous

query as to whether the dampness of the

cave would not be likely to give th e poor

boys pneumonia.

" Th e youngste rs will be quite all ri ght, "

said the doc tor cheeri ly. " At worst, the y

will get water on the brai n—or, rather,

drippings on their caps."

Mr . Higgs was too anxious to compre

hend a joke, he si mpl j asked anothe r questi on; " D o yo u thin k we shall find the m

promptly ? "

" Proba bly meet the yo ung imps coming

out, Mr. Higg s, so please don' t be needlessly

worr ied ."

" But, Dr. Arm stron g," responded Mr.

Higgs, " I kn ow some thin g of these ool i t ic

caves, h o w their galleries run for miles and

miles through the s t r a t a ' without any

apparent system. W ha t complic ates our

search is the fact that Britons and Romans

hav e bot h dab ble d in stone- quarryi ng in

the ' Dev il' s Cave, ' and have tunnelled cross

passages. Also, tradit ion has it that in

prehistoric times this ver y ca ve was the

hom e of a strange jave-dwelli ng com muni ty. "

" Tut—tut ! " resp onded th e d oct or im

pati entl y. " It is a grea t waste of brain

energy to fume over possibilities that never

become more than possibilit ies. I only trust

the you.ng explorer s hav e not already made

their exit , and dodged past us in the dark.

I don't like searching for lost parties who

hav e pr ematur ely foun d thems elves. . . .

A h ! we hav e arrived. John, go ahead

with your lamp."

T he relief party entered the " Dev il 's

Cave," bendi ng low to pass the narrow portal,

and the search com men ced .

It will be r emem bere d that at a cer

tain poin t the Cressington expe dit ion had

reached a spot where the cave floor ha d

sloped up to the cave roof, and War den

had to o hastily announc ed the exploration

ended, since the passage went no farther.

" John " made a similar report, as he led

the relief par ty up to the place; so far

they had followed the identical course

taken by the lost boys. " Joh n " w eighe d

fifteen sto ne, whe ref ore he con sid ere d the

opening before him a mere slit unworthy of

noti ce—a t least f or such as he. Cressing

ton had suggested a farther advance as

poss ib le ; so did Dr. Armstrong . Mr.

Falkland, who followed " John, " upheld

the coac hman' s verdic t howeve r, and said

that th e par ty had no choice but to retrace

their steps, and explor e thoro ughly the side

passages they had passed on their way.

Mr . Higgs, feverishly anxious, made a

hast y survey, and uphel d the suggesti on of

Mr . Falkl and. So the part y, little imagi n

ing ho w serious a mista ke had bee n made,

turned back and made futile examination of

many side passages.

T he par ty persever ed, but all to no

pur pos e ; it was a trying nightmare of a

task, stumblin g ove r endless stony floors,

shout ing till they we re hoarse, and ach ieving

noth ing. At (i A . M . Dr. Armstrong ordered

a return to the cav e's mou th, as had been

arranged. Dr. Brice's party awaited them,

as agreed upon.

Donald Armstro ng, looki ng fatigued hut

square-jawed, begged that he might be allowe d

to continue the search with the second party.

" I ought to have taken prope r care of poor

young Falk land ," sai d he. " I must go on

until he's found. I know you won 't forbid

me , D a d; I must find hi m. "

So it was settled that Donald Armstrong

should cont inue with the sec ond party. Mr.

Higgs also insisted o n persevering in the

search for his lost son. Th e par ty was,

therefore, a rather large and cumbersome

one, bu t there were anxiou3 fathers who

would not be gainsaid.Mrs. Cressington had accompanied the

others to the cave 's threshold , and wit h

difficulty was she dissuaded from joining

in the search for " her Ruper t." It w as

quite a task for Dr. Armstrong to induce the

poor hysterical lady to return, and in Mrs.

Armstrong' s comp any await news of the

missing boys.

There was no mistake made this time at

the critica l point. Dona ld Armst rong pressed

forward to assure himself that the cave floor

really did not me et the cav e roof, and thus

prevent farther progress.

" St op ! " he crie d, as the party were about

to retrace their steps. " The passage does

not end here, Dr. Brice. See, I can squeeze

myself through the hole. . . . Come on !

The passage is big enough for a giant ."

Armstrong may have spoken truly as to

there being standing room for a giant on

th e farther side of the gap , but Mr. Pe ters —

much less a giant —coul d not have sufficiently

compressed his cor pule nt frame as to reach

the ampler sp ace beyon d. So while, the

par ty, by. mean s of a little pressure, a lit tle

clothes-tearing, a little wriggling, and a

little squeezi ng, managed to proceed, Mr.

Peters, much lamenting, returned slowly,

puffing like a grampus, to the ca ve

mouth.

The par ty went forward into the vitals of

the cave without further difficulty. In turns

the me mbe rs of the relief party shouted, but

no answ ering hail gree ted them . " I hadn ' t

the slightest conc ept ion of the vastness of

this cave , " said Mr. Hig gs, as they reached

the vaulted cavern wh ich Cressington had l it

up with his magn esi um ribb on. " I doub t

if man y people have squeezed through

that small aperture and reached this wonder

ful cave -cha mber. W e might search for

hours, days, and not find my—the boys. "

" See here ! " cr ied Captai n Sneide r, a sea-

captain uncle who had made himself respon

sible for the upbringi ng of his orphaned

nephew. " Here' s a banana skin. It' s

been th rown dow n here within twelve hours.

W e are on their tracks. Look handy with

' the siren '—s hou t! "

A tremendous chorus echoed through the

passages, leaving a silence that was of pin-

dr op intensity, for ev ery one was listening,

ears strained to catch the slightest sound:

an exploding b o m b was as likely to fall

unheard as a pin.

But there was no answering hail, only

stillness and the dr ip of wate r into a solitary

puddle .

The banana skin had raised fresh hopes,

and the many passages were systematically

explored under Dr . Brice's directions.

Thrice the passages only circled round

to join others whic h led b ack again

to the large central caver n. The fourth

passage explored seemed to give greater

promise of repa ymen t for troub le taken.

An arrow was found, recently scratched on

the cave wall with a piece of chalk. Captain

Sneider's keen eyes had dete cted it, and

he called for anothe r blast of " the

siren."

At once th e par ty joined in a lusty s hou t;

they were like hounds hot on the scent, and

simultane ously they gave tongue . No-

assuring cry greete d the trackers ' signal of

sound, however.

Not long after this, Dr . Brice com men ce dto ac t in what se emed a strange manner.

" Hu sh ! " said he, qui etly . " I hear

singing."

Those who heard the d oct or speak, looked

askanc e at hi m; listening as intently as



"Bettveen the Tt&o. 35

they might, they cou ld not detect the faintest

whisper of a voice.

" Shout for all you're worth," commanded

the leader of the party, his blue-grey eyes

shining in an uncanny fashion.

A shout, loud and prolonged, went thunder

ing thr oug h the passag es, bu t not a vestig e of

response coul d those wh o shout ed evo ke—a t

least, they though t n ot.

" I think we shall find them n o w, " said the

doctor, as much to himself as to those who

accompanied him. " My bo y Art hur has

a. fine voice ; I should know it among a

thousan d. Co me ! "

The gleaming blue-grey eyes stared ahead,

as thou gh they saw throug h the darkn ess ;

the head was thrust forward, one hand

crooked behin d the right ear ; Dr. Brice

seemed to be listeni ng wit h all his fac ultie s

concentrated upon that of hearing.

Almost doubting their leader's sanity, the

party followed hi m as he stal ked ahe ad ;

appare ntly , t he light of the lanterns wa s

quite unnecessary. Wer e the whol e party

to be at the beck and call of a man whose

mental balance was upset by anxie ty and

strain ? Yet, spite of this thou ght , one and all

followed witho ut dem ur : there was some

thing magneti c and compelli ng in those

blue-grey eyes.

Captain Sneider suggested another blast

of " the siren."

" No need at all," responded Dr. Brice.

" I can hear my b oy singin g; we shall find

the missing boys in less than five minutes.

Dear mo ! how strange that none of you can

hear him."

Donald Armstrong had a creepy feeling

in the region of his spine ; if only he could

have heard a soun d, the unreality of the

whole proceed ing migh t pass off ; but to be

told by the owner of a pair of blue-grey

eyes that some one is singing, and at the same

time to know that not one of a party of fifteen

could hear a whi sp .

Hush ! What was that ? A fly ? A g na t

faintly buzzing far away ?

The blue-grey eyes turned to meet Arm

strong's. " Ah , I see, yo u can hear Arthur

now."

So saying, Dr. Brice hastened his steps,

and the party stumbled after him.

The buzzing of the gnat was now more

like the hum of a bumbl e bee, tho ugh t

Armstrong. On the y stumb led, the do ct or

several paces ahead.

The bee's hum was more distinct, and —

yes, it was almost like the voice of some one

singing in the dist ance .

There was an abrupt turn in the path. Th e

doctor turned to his party : " Now you can

hear him, can't you ? Arthur has just started

another verse."

" Like—like a hy mn ," said Captain

Sneider.

" Yes, I hear it too," said Mr. Higgs.

" Ex—actly," responded Dr.

Brice, the blue-grey eye s sh ining

in triumph. " My son is i n t he

Christ Church choir . . . . Ple ase

don't frighten the boys with a

' siren ' shout. Art hur is sing ing

louder no w; he knows I am

coming."

We will go , bac k s ome ten

minute s in our st ory.

All the boys in the lost par ty were awake,

a sad, weary , famished , mudst aine d, and

bedraggled party, as a mere wa x vest a was

sufficient to reveal. Whi le Charlie Hig gs

kept u p a subdued sobbing, Arthur Brice, who

appe ared to be light -headed , insisted on

chant ing the vespe r of the night before, a nd

he steadil y sang on, repeati ng the last

line at least four t ime s:

" Till morning light appear."

Wh en remonst rated with, he sho ok his hea d,

and sang on, no one hav ing sufficient

energy to protest further.

Cressington sat shivering, whether with

cold, or thou ghts of the party 's sad plight,

it is impossible to say.

" W e start in five minutes," he at last

annou nced ; he did not add that he had

less than a dozen wax vestas as sole illumina

tion for the party.

" How long does it take fo r boys to s tarve

to death ? " queried Pet ers ; and Sneider

raised not a finger to st op the remar k, th oug hhe lay beside the pani c-mon ger. But e ven

Sneider was weary.

'• Shut up ! yo u Penny -Horr ible ," com

manded Cressington, while Charlie Higgs'

solo of sobs rose a key higher, and more

than one of the boys on ly half repressed a

shudder at Peters' ino ppo rtu ne rema rks.

Brice, obl ivi ous to all else, sang on : " Till

mornin g light appea r."

Springfield suddenly sprang to his feet.

" I can't s tand it a ny lon ger ! " he cried in

panic. " W e ' v e got to get out of this grave.

Who ' l l follow me ? "

Springfield's flight was a short one; he

fell bodi ly upon B ishop , who raised protestin no uncertain vo ice .

Meanwhile Cressington was remo nstrat ing

with the singer.

" Shut up! Brice. That 's a vesper hymn,

and now it 's mornin g."

" I t can' t b e morni ng," responded Brice,

dreamily. "I t ' s quite d a r k " — a n d he

resumed his interrupted refrain of " Til l

morning light appear."

Springfield and Bis hop discussed their

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differences with some spirit, until Brice,

wh o had co nclud ed his sixth repetition of

the refrain, beg ged the m to desist. " If yo u

make such a noise, my father won ' t hear me

singing."

" What ? "

" Eh ? "

" Is so me on e c omi ng ? "

"Wh at did yo u say ? "

" My father won ' t hear me singing,"

repeated Bric e, a far-away look in his eyes.

" I be lie ve he is co m in g —n o w—to our rescue.

I knew he would."

" R o t ! " excl aimed Cressington, but he

recklessly struck a match , and gazed in the

singer's face.

Arthur B ric e sat bol t uprigh t, his blue-

grey eyes wide -ope ned, his face quite c alm,

with no flush of fever upo n it. So me ho w,

th e look on his face, and perhaps, too, the

words of the vesper hy mn, reassured the

panic-str icken boys who would have fol lowed

Springfield's lead in a sauve qui peut.

Brice was singin g again.

" Lord, keep us safe this night,

Secure from all our fear,

Ma y angels guard us while we sleep,

Till morning light appear."

In a louder key he repeated :


Ye t louder the chorister sang :


W i t h every particle of his vocal power,

Arthu r Brice , thro wing bac k his head and

expa ndin g his chest to its utm ost limit ,

sent his voice roof ward in one clear crescendoof sound :

" Till morning light appear. "

Silence for the space of five seconds , then

a solita ry answerin g shout . " My father ! "

exclaimed Brice, star t ing up and ma king

off in the directi on whence the shout had

come.

With a great g asp of relief, C ressi ngto n

struck a match, and followed Brice. The

others fol lowed, save Terry O'Brien, who,

endeavouring to use his injured foot , fell

fainting, unperceived by his excited com

panions.

It was a pathetic little queue that straggledtowa rds the rescuers. B ric e head ed t he

struggling line of b o y s ; blue-grey eyes,

gazing out of a wan, pale face, meeting the

blue-grey of the leader of the rescuing party

—son an d father.

Cressington followed, head low

ered ; b ut as his eyes fell on Do na ld

Armstr ong hurrying up with a

second lantern, his lower lip

pouted defiantly.

" W h e r e ' s y o u n g F a l k l a n d ? "

querie d Arms tro ng, angrily , brush

ing past the defiant boy.

" That 's no t my busin ess ! "

was the quick retort." Yo u cad ! yo u got him into

the scrape," cried Arm str ong ;

and he hurried forward, scanning

on e by one the tired pale faces of

the rescued till he cam e to the

v ery last of the party — Cyril

Falkland, lagging wearily.



36 The "Boy's Otetn "Paper.

" Cyril , I ' m so glad you' re found, " cried

the older boy.

The younge r had sprung forward to greet

his rescuer, b ut seeing who the rescuer

was—a friend he had deserted treac hero usly

•—Cyril dre w bac k with downc ast eyes . He

started to tremble, for he was weak from

want of food and unwonted exposure, and

the sud den appeara nce of his ill-treated friend

was the last straw. He burst in to tears.

" P o o r little cha p ! " Armstr ong hastened

to say. " You 'r e fou nd no w, so it's all righ t."

" ' Tisn' t , coz I 'v e been a beast to y ou ,"

said Cyril between his sobs. Poor , weary,

contrite little figure, bed rag gled and m ud-

bespattered. Arm stro ng caught him up

in his brawny arms, and without further

words bo re him to where the r escuers and

rescued were congregati ng, and making final

prepar ations for the return to daylight.

The exciteme nt of the rescue had put the

final tou ch to Charlie Higg s' feve r, and he

babbled nonsense into his father's ears.

" Cress ingt on!" cr ied the distraught

father, " yo u'r e to b lame for this. My

boy ' s life is endangered by y o u — y o u , who

ough t to be h orsewhip ped, you , who take

advantag e of you r seniority to overawe and

over-persuade small boys—you, w h o thus

feed your own vanity, and aren ' t man

enough to mi x with those of you r own age —

you ought to be horsewhipped, s i r !"

Cressington quivered under the storm of

accusation.

" Where ' s tha t Terry ? Terry has gone

and lost himself. Whe re 's Terr y ? "

The interruption came from the fevered

imaginings of little Charlie Higg s, but it

called to mind what saner brains had not

realised. Ter ry O'Br ien was missing.

Eatcliffe was not in the best of

tempers. His Aunt Sophia (whomhe had never met) had chosen thehalf-term holiday—of all days—to

come and pay him a visit.

Lights were quick ly requisitioned ; and

soon, on the rock y shelf where he had fallen

in a faint, the y fou nd Ter ry just regainin g

conscious ness. " I' m all rig ht," c ried the

cheery little mort al. " But if yo u call this

mornin g light, I think it is a rotten attempt at

it . Stil l, I ' m glad something ha s' appeared. '

Carry me, someb ody , I ' m a bit groggy on

m y unders tandings . "

Very carefully Ter ry was lifted, and the

injured ankle bandaged. Soon the party,

rescued and rescuers, were on their way

to the open air.

T hey reached what ever y one thou ght to be

the thresho ld of the cave . The mouth of

the ca ve no longe r exis ted ! Surel y, there

was no mo ut h, onl y a tiny pa tch of light

—a mere slit in the blackness. Wh at

had happened ?

" There's somethin g in the wa y, " said

Parry, as he vigorou sly applied his toe t o

the obstruction.

There was a muffled exclama tion. The

slit sudden ly grew bigger, and daylight

streamed into the cave.

The explana tion was simple enough . Mr.

Peters had returned, as will be re member ed,

unable to con tinue his search on acco unt of

his corp ulen ce. Anx io us to see his son safe

out of " that rat 's hole " (as he terme d the

" Devi l ' s Cave") , the worthy pork-butcher

had waited at the cave mouth , and presently,

feeling sleepy, had indulged in a doze on the

ver y thresho ld of the ca ve itself, of which

the entra nce, as will be reco llec ted, was

quite small. No t till Parry 's toe disturbed

his slumbers, did Mr. Peters.come back from

dreamland.

" The Retur n to Li fe , " as Peters junior

graphically describ ed the situation, was

R A T C L I F F E ' S A U N T .

Judging by her name he felt sure

that she would be like Lovegrove'saunt, who came down last term andhad to be shown round, and whowan ed everything explained to herthoroughly.

thus a queer combination of comedy an d

tragedy. There stood Mr. Peters blinking

in the sunlight and vig oro usl y dusting his

Parry- toed back ; while next to him stood

the distracted Mr . Higg s, vainl y endeavo ur

ing to soothe the delirious chatter of his

little son.

Th e latter and Terry O'Brien had been

pro mptl y rolled up in blankets. Servants

and anxious friends had been waiting for

the appea ranc e of the missing boys , and

only th e belief that Mr . Peters was an

accredite d sentinel preven ted t hem bodily

removing his obstructing person.

Cyril Falkland, half asleep, leaned heavily

against Dona ld Armstron g, who himself

looked worn ou t with fatigue. Seeing

Armst rong had been searching in th e.

" Devil 's Cave " for considerably over nine

hours, his weariness was only natural, and

may be it explaine d his short-tempered

remark to Cressi ngton: " Don' t you get

this kid into any more trouble, or I'll jol ly

well kno w the reason why ."

'; I'll do as I choose, Armstrong," was

the defiant reply.

" Y o u shan't spoil Falkland ," retorted

Armstrong.

" If I choose to be ch um my with the kid,

yo u won't stop me"—and the angry, black,

flashing eyes of Cressingto n flung back the

challenge.

Quite obl ivi ous to what was going on,

Cyril Falkl and, s uppor ting himself by clinging

tenaciously to Armstrong, stood between the

t w o disputants. Between the T wo ! Arm

strong and Cressington.

(To 1)C continued.)

However, she was not quite so bad

as he expected. She was fairly young ,and—what is more—she gave quite a jolly little tea-party after the house-

match ; and even Lofting Major saidshe was *•rather decent."



The "Bojcstode Acres. 37

THE BOXSTODE ACRES.T H E S T O R Y O F A M E M O R A B L E F O O T B A L L M A T C H .

By QUNBY HADATH.

(In Four Parts.)

P A R T I V . (continued).

EN C O U R A G E D b y a.taste of triumph , so speedy

and so sweet, the tow nsm en presse d their

enemy hard ; and only the pluck of J ac k

and his two cousins from Castleb urgh kept

them from anothe r score. Aga in and again

by long punts into touch these three drove

the en- my ba ck, while Owe n Eva ns thre w

himself dog ge dl y at their forwards' feet.

But the young Welshman's heart was singing

with the joy of battle, and eve r ho wa tche d

fo r some opp ort uni ty of breakin g single-

handed through.

For twen ty minutes the Mano r men wer e

kept on the defensive, while the opposing

backs, in their anxi ety to scor e again, dre w

nearer and nearer to their forwards' heels.

The exulta tion of the may or gre w pa tentl y

uproarious, till he could scarc e articulate

when at last the ball was flung out cleanly

to the W y x three-quarter on the line.

Jack Boxst ode, comin g across full speed,

grabbed high, and missed his ma n; and

no w only the great bulk of Sir Joh n present ed

itself as the last obstacle between the runner

and the try.

The lad marked the great f orm co min g

to mee t him, threw on e glanc e ove r his

shoulder for a comrade who might take th e

pass, saw none, and charged, head down,

at the ene my. But he slipped . The ball,

held loosely, dropped to earth, and in atrice the barone t had it .

The Wy x forwards were poundi ng up t o

hi m; the Wyx backs came excit edly behind

th em ; and Sir Jo hn seized his cha nce .

With ono long punt he sent his prize high

over their heads, far dow n the field towa rds

the opposite goal. At the same mo me nt

a scarlet poll wen t whirling thro ugh the

ruck, flashed between the tow nsm en' s bac ks

—Owen Evans had fallen back to help his

captain, had marked how close up the Wy x

backs wore, and the oppo rtu nit y he wai ted

for was his.

Ere they could turn again the Welshman

had fastened on the ba ll—thei r cries of

" Offside ! " wen t u nhe ede d by a refere e

wh o knew his wor k—in a momen t's drama tic

hush the young footman had swerved

inwards, rounded their full-ba ck, and was

in between the posts .

He too k the kick himself, and a minut e

later, his hon es t flaming h ea d a good inch

higher, he went back elated to his place,

while the leader of the to wn forwar ds

brought the ball out dog ged ly to centre .

On e goal all, and t en mi nute s to go still

before half-time. " Wh y, Sir Jo hn is

making a good fight of it ! " mut ter ed Mr.

Prime.

" But they can' t keep it up ; they can' t,

yo u mark my words for it ! " resp onded some

on e at his elbow.

It hardly seemed as if they cou ld. For

while the heroes of the Manor were mostly

showing symptoms of distress, their rivals

were all in hard condition . An d now they

had learned caution. Their backs would

not be caug ht napp ing out of pla ce aga in.

A n d when Peter Quick had told off two of

his co mpa ny to mark the dangerous yo ung

footman, the game swung round once more

to a sustained a nd de termi ned at tack upon

the scratch side.

Again and again nothing but lack of finish

prev ente d anothe r score . But at length,

just on the interval's stroke, a rush and a

scramble saw the ball over the Manor line

again —but wide out in the cor ner.

In a tense stillness Peter Quick brushed

a flake of mud fr om the to e of his righ t

boo t—w ith the coolness of a veteran he

gauged the distan ce and the elev atio n. His

comr ade s threw cartwhe els of delight as the

ball sailed plumb ove r the bar.

Sir John , as ho suc ked his scra p of le mon,

was conscious that he had had enough of it.

H e passed a dubious hand over his stiff

l imbs. Bu t Ja ck and his tw o cousins ,

smarting from sundry kicks and hurts,

smarted m ore sorely tha t they had been

kept on the defensiv e. Prese ntly they called

Sir John and O wen Ev ans into council ,

what t ime the Wy x men stood apart,

regarding them with stealthy satisfaction.

W y x kno w no anxiet y for the issue.

A s the whistle b lew again, Mr . Sleer

settled himself in com for t to witness the

debacle. The town had to kick off this

time, and a rapturous m o m en t followed.But not for Reuben Sleer.

For Evans caught the kick, and punting

over the orange jerseys, high into the sun,

he raced after it, followed fast by Jac k a nd

his tw o cousi ns, who spread themse lves fan-

wise as the y ran.

" R i g h t ! " s c re a me d a W y x three-

quarter, as it came hurtling down. But

with the w ord he shot one glance at the red

locks spseding up to him—and that glance

proved his undo ing. Fo r the ball slippe d

thro ugh his lingers, and Eva ns had it, wit h

a feint to pass to Jack. Instead, and even

as Peter Quick closed with him, he slipped

it quickl y to one of the Gr iffe -Boxs tode s on

his left, who flung it on the instant wide

out to his brother.

The move ment , prearranged and perfectly

carried out, too k the towns men by surprise ;

they were outw itte d; and now, when one

of their sprinters had flung himself upon

th e runner's bac k, the ball was in E van s'

hands once more, and so to Jack. An d Jac k

raced on—and on—w ith only the full-back

to beat— and on and in, at the far corner .

W y x were now only tw o points to the

good.

A h , but the tw o wo uld be wip ed off

altoge ther, if Owe n Eva ns kic ked the goal.

H e missed it.

A t this crisis Sir John's men found a new

ally. The wind, slight at the beginning, was

rising to some force ; and it ble w straight

down the gro und, in the faces of the t owns

men. Thu s the baron et's long kicks gaine d

considerably in value, and he used them

with muc h of b3'gone craft, finding tou ch

consis tently , and so nursing Barrables

and his forwa rds until they gained their

second wind. In eve ry scr um old Barrables

had done the work of two.

The defenders were becoming the

aggressors. Shout after shout went up

from all but the most prejudic ed, as W y x

were seen to wa ve r; as their backs, for

getting the airs whic h the y had so lately

worn , gre w flurried and ex ci te d. Bu t the

men in front of them co uld drib ble one an d

all, and in Peter Quick they were led by a

leader wh o used his head. His gene ralship

and pluck were rallying them now . Ho

bade his forwards keep it to themselves, and

keep it at their feet as scr um by scr um

broke up.

True, they had learned by now the difficulty

of dribbling an oval ball with accuracy, but

they suc ceeded well enough to keep Jac k

and his cousins alw ays on their knees, while

Evan s found no escape from the two who

dogged him down.

In one of these dribbles Peter Quick

picked up, and profiting by the trick he

had learned of Evans , he mad e as if to

pass to a man behind him. But instead he

dro ppe d the ball at his toes again ; kick ed

hard ahe ad to Sir Jo hn ; a nd race d for it.

Pluckily Sir John came out to meet him.

and the tw o met with a crash. But the

younger was up first, and in a trice was over

the line, while at his wa ist old Barrabl es

hung stoutly.

(To be concluded.)

* * *

AN ABSORBENT TYPE.

TVKE driest chap I ever knew—I use the word

A - sedately,

Selecting it with proper care—was Albert Edward

Yateley.

A thirst perennial appeared to be his greatest failing—

You never found him, like the rest, on buns and tarts

regaling.

He always went for ginger-pop, the nearest shop

invading,

Or, maybe, as a change, you'd catch the bounder

lemonade-ing.

The quantities of " gas " he'd gulp some dreadful end

foreboded;

Indeed, we used to think we'd hear that Yateley had

exploded I

When fellows' hampers came along, the sardines left

him chilly,

And he was cold to damson jam, to cheese and

piccalilli.

But smiles upon his face would show that he was partial

(very)

To vinegar decocted from the succulent raspberry.

At breakfast time he drank more tea than any mortal

" oughter,"

And in between his meals he was a perfect whale on

water.

In Dormitory 3 sometimes a jug would need refilling.

And then, of course, we guessed at once that Yateley

had been swilling.

We used to wonder what career would finally attract

him,

And for a sherbet merchant some incontinently backed

him.

That shot was wrong, but there's a fit conclusion to my

ditty

He's now importing sponges (wholesale business) in the

City 1

FELIX LEIGH.



38 The "Boy*s Otvn Paper.

THE VILLAGE CARVERS OF BANBURY.A N I N T E R E S T I N G H A N D - W O R K I N D U S T R Y 0 E T O - D A Y .

Written and Illustrated by CHARLES J. L CLARKE.

o f start ing classes among st the villagers,

and a special workroom was set apar t at the

Castle for the pupils to meet in and learn

carv ing under the guid ance of a prof essor

w h o at tended f rom O xfo rd .

The mott o hung on the walls of the wo rkroom is an excel lent idea l, whi ch mig ht

well be reme mbere d b y those wh o are start

ing out in l i fe , and wi l l proba bly become

entangle d in the moder n whir lpoo l of in

dustr ies which seek the utmost pr oduct i on,

some what o bliv ious to the qualit y of the

T . i e D e s i g n e r a n d I n s t r u c t o r .

m H E days of hand -wor k are no w rapidly

J_ disappearing into the dim past, an d

mach iner y and bustle are eve rywh ere con

nect ed with the manuf actu re of all kind s

o f ar t ic les . A l though this has become

necessar y owin g to the compet itio n, i t has

not , in man y instanc es, resu lted in an im

pro veme nt in quality or value. Engl and

has not lost her reputation for manufactur

ing, but the dec line of hand-wo rk has un

dou bte dly broug ht he r more on the level

wi th other countr ies ; there are , however ,

still quite a lot of indus tr ies which call for

indiv idual skill , and it is g o o d tha t these

should be foster ed and kept aliv e.

A t Brough ton Cast le , Banbu ry, the mag

nif icent old country res idence of La dyAlgernon Gordon Lennox, a thr iving little

indus try is car rie d o n in w o o d carving.

Years ago her Ladysh ip conc eived the idea S p e c i m e n m a d e i n t h e C l a s s .

articles manuf actur ed. The mott o reads :

" It is not a questio n of how muc h we are

to d o, but o f ho w it is to be do ne ; it is no t

a question of doing more , but of doing

bet ter . " This is the s tandard to which

the Banbu ry village carvers work, and theresult has been tha t th e little indus try is

always flourishing, and through out the long

winte r ev ening s the members of the class

are kept busy and happy supplying the

orders for wood-carv ings which come f rom

al l quarters.

Wood -ca rvi ng is one of those occu patio ns

whic h give the greatest scope for indi

vidua l care. The work cannot be rushed oj

scamp ed, or i ts value is reduc ed. The mo re

artistically a wood -ca rvi ng is design ed,

and the finer the exe cut ion in carr ying out

the design, the greater the price the par

ticul ar piece will realise whe n fini shed.

There is really little l imit to the price

people wh o appr ecia te fine work will pay

fo r a good w ood-ca rv ing .

Th e village carvers are not all yo un g;

they range from bo ys of twelv e years of

age to old men whose beards and hair are

plent ifully sp rinkled with the silver of

man y winters, but they all take a personal

del ight in turning out the best work.

B r o u g h t o n C a s t l e .

The home of Lady Gordon Lennox, who started a wood-carving class in order to provide villagers with

employment during the winter months, and encourage the young men to remain in the country instead of going

to town to seek employment.

T h e O l d e s t a n d t h e Y o u n g e s t M e m b e r s of

t h e C l a s s .

A splen did commi ssion was secured b y

the vil lag e wor ke rs at the Castle a short

while ago. An Amer ica n millionaire who

inspect ed so me of the carvings gave the m

an order to prepare a sample oak panel five

feet hig h, an d s o well was this w orked that

it result ed in an orde r for a hun dre d simi

lar solid oak pan els, desi gne d to take a

proud position in one of the American'shouses .

Broughton Castle i tself contains many ex

cellent and valuabl e examp les of the carv

ings in oak, and an octagona l bookcase wit h



The Village Careers of 'Banbury. 39

beaut ifull y po lis hed top is bot h one of the

show pieces at the stately ho me of La dy

Gordon Len nox and a standing e vide nce of

what the cou ntr yme n of Eng la nd can do in

fine and artistic hand-work .

Besides this, some magnificent carvi ngs

TO - D A Y is the mos t notable annive rsary,

perhaps, in the whole of our annals,

which are full of red- lett er da37s of re

membrance. No other name, not even

excepting the gallant Lord Wellington, has

so crept into the hearts and minds of the

English people, as the nam e of the v ica r's

son, Hora tio Nels on. Wh en pressed by any

emergency on land or sea, when asked to

acquit ourselves as Britishers, eve r thro ugh

the wind and rain and the rising tide of

peculiar circumst ance , we hear, as fresh

as when uttered on the Victory, th e

inspiring words, " Englan d expec ts that

ever y man will do his duty ," and this is

what life means for each of us. Our ance stry

calls us ; our land is pro ud, or as ham ed, as

we do or do not perform our d uty—w hat

we conceive to be suc h. Th us it is that th e

battle-word becomes a life-word, as pop ula r

and as well know n as any m uch- quot ed

proverb.

On Oct ober 21st on each recurring year,

<the anniversary of Trafalga r Da y, ) the

Victory, at Portsmouth, is decorated.

Flags and evergree n garlands are amo ngs t

the trophies laid thereon, but no garland

is needed to keep th e me mo ry of Hora tio

Nelson fresh and fair. " His me mo ry is as

f

reen to-day as when the sailors in St.

'aul's Church yard snatc hed the Uni onJack from his coffin, and tore it into strips

to leave to their children."

We may— alth ough, happi ly, a larger desire

for peace has passed ove r the wo rld since the

old ballads know n as " broads ides " were

lustily sung to sho w ho w we detes ted the

" wily " Frenchman—give some details of

have been placed in many churches in the

neighbourhood, including book rests, read

ing desks, and other o bje cts whi ch are

alwa ys a feature in the grandeu r of old

Engl ish churches.

(To be concluded.)

the fight, its arr ang eme nt, an d the scen es

and incidents of that eventful 21st October.

1805.

At daybreak there lay the ene my distinctly

visible from the deck of the Victory. There

were in the enemy's fleet thirty-three sail

of the line, and seven large frigates. Thes e

formed a long crescent in close line of battle

on the starboa rd off Cape Trafalg ar, w hic h

is close to the souther n p oin t of Andalus ia.

Wh at wa s our fleet ? Twe nty -s eve n sail of

the line and fo ur frigates.

As soon as dayligh t permitted, Nelso n

came on the dec k of his ship. Tha t da y

was a festive occasion in his famil y, for his

uncle, Captain Suckl ing of the Dreadnought,

on that day with tw o other l ine-of-battle

ships had beate n off the Fren ch squa dron

of four sail of the line and three frigates,

and Nelson thought that the omen seemed

good for his victo ry also.

At half-past six Nel son t ook the glass

f rom his eye and calle d out to the signal

officer to make the signal bear do wn on the

en emy in tw o lines. The n the fleet set all

sail. Coll ingwood led in the Royal Sovereign.

The Victory led the weat her-line of fourtee n.

An d here we must note a pr ofound

fact —the real, deep- seat ed religiousness of

Nelson 's mind. Wer e the prayers which

he had so oft hear d his fath er r ead in t he

ol d Church at Burnh am Thor pe, present on

this eventful day of battle ? It was alw ays

Nelson's habit to begin battle with prayer.

In the ca bin, on this occasion, he wrote a

simple prayer, and annexed to it his " last

will and tes tament ." Tha t prayer and

will was headed, " 21st Oct ober , 1805." A

further entry runs : " I n sight of the com

bin ed fleets of Fr an ce and Spai n, distant

abo ut ten miles." He then recommends

Lad y Hami lton and her adop ted daughter

Hora tio to the reme mbra nce of a grateful

country .

But this digresses. The will abo ve men

t ioned was witnessed by Ha rdy and Blac k-

wood, Capta ins in the Brit ish fleet. Whi le

he wrote, his ships were standing dow n

towards the enemy . Blackwood ha d

come on board the Victory about s ix

o'c lock. He found Nelso n cheerful, an d

calm. Y e t he was sure (an inw ard intui tion

told him) tha t this would be his day of twin-

v i c t o r y—vi c t o r y over the enem y, and

vic tory over all tha t appertains to earth.

Well for the gallant sold ier

Wh o hears on dying ears

The salvo of his victory,

The cheering of his pee rs;

He fears not as he dieth,

But seems to lead the van,

True-hearte d to the very end,—

A n English gentleman.

The exhilaration whic h was present withNelson at Ab ouk ir and Cope nhagen was

not the same as the prese nt. Th e sub due d

look of the deter mined ma n w ho never fea red

to look death in the face wa s this look which

Hardy and Blackwood witnesse d. He felt ,

albeit with a truer out loo k on Christian

ethics, that " h ow can man d ie bet ter than

facing fearful o dd s ? " for his Lares an d

Penates.

The crews, then, had finished their dinners.

Aro und the guns goss ip went on in an endless

stream. N o dou bt ma ny a sailor divulg ed

to a,nother that the portrai t of a beloved

mot he r or sister, brother , or swee thear t wa s

safely ensc once d next his heart. Mean

while, some were getting re ady their fire-

buckets ; others were getting re ady with

rammers and powder .

Majestically m ove d the Bri tis h fleet.

Light winds from the south-west stirred

their sails and penn ons. Clean and read y,

each nob le sailor st ood in his place, and the

determina tion on Nelson's face was answered

by the ruddy and determined look of every

sailor. Eac h British Admi ral hoisted his

own flag, and the ot hers hois ted St. George 's

ensign. Eac h ship carried a Union J ack.

On the main mast of the Victory Nelson

had made his pet sig nal : " Enga ge the

enemy more closely." The enemy had also

b y this t ime hoisted their ensigns.

W e will now let Blackwood speak :

"During the five hours and a half I re maine d

on board the Victory, in which I was n ot

ten times from his side, Nels on freq uently

asked me what I should consider as a vict ory,

the c ert ain ty of whi ch he never for a

mome nt doubt ed. . . . My answer was,

that , consider ing the handso me way the

battle was offered to the enemy, their

apparent determi nation for a fair trial of

strength, and the prox imit y of the land,

I thoug ht if fourt een ships were cap tur ed, it

would be a glorious result. But Nelson's

repl y alwa ys wa s: ' I shall no t be satisfied

with less than twenty. ' "

At this juncture Captain Blackwood

ma de an effort to pers uade Nel son not to

expose hi s life unnecessarily, and proposed

that his flag should be hoisted on the

Euryalus, whence he could better see what

was goi ng on, but Nel son was firm in his ow n

idea. " It wo uld be a bad examp le, " he

said. The notion tha t this notable day of

battle would be his last grew upon him, and

remained with him. From this no

persuasion could stay him.

A t abou t ten minutes before noon up

went the Victory's famous signal—Nelson's

" 'TWAS IN TRAFALGAR'S BAY."

( OCTOBER 21ST, 1805-1912.)

By WILLIAM J. GALLAGHER.



40 The "Boy's Otetn Taper.

last message to his me n— " Englan d expect s

that every man will do his du ty ." Cheers

rang through the massed ships in response.

N o grateful draught of wine could have had

such an effect on the men' s spirits. It was

personali ty control l ing and conquering

doubt , dela y or dalliance . It was soul and

the hour—t he intense mom en t of a gre at

spirit 's passing—and the men caught the

thrill of it as the pea ks catc h the first ray s

of the great uphe avin g sun. .

As soon as this signal was read b y t he

other ships Nelson said—while listening t o

the thrilling che ers : " N o w I can d o no

more. We must trust to the great Disposer

of all Events, and the justice of our course."

Th e spirit of religion never left this brave

patriot ic man, bu t ever asserted itself in th e

moment of trial and struggle.

As Collingwood took his ship into action,

Nelson noticed i t : " See how that brave

fellow Collingwood takes his ship into

act ion." Then Collingwood turned to his

captain and excla imed : " Rotherh am, what

would not Nelson give to be here."

Rotherham and Coll ingwood had been on

rather testy terms, but Nelson reconciled

them, and as he made them shake hands,

said : " Look , yond er is your ene my. " Inthe meantime the Victory held on its way.

She flew half- a-do zen flags aloft . As the

Victory advance d seeking her antagonist

the enemy 's ships began to measure

distances. Then they saw a shot pass

through the main top-gallant sail. A

minute or tw o of dea d silence followed.

Then eight of the wea therm ost ships ope ned

a dread ful fire up on th e Victory—Nelson's

ship.

Nelson ordered Blackwood and Prowse

of th e Sinus to info rm those on board

their frigates that they could take their

ow n liberty in the matter of coming closer,

or more quickly alongside the enemy. As

Nelson could not distinguish the i 'rench

Admiral 's ship he chose th e Sanhssima

Trinidad, 130 guns, as " his old acq uain tanc e,"to use his ow n phrase. He ordere d his

ship to be steered to her bows. " Which

will you run aboard ? " Ha rdy asked.

" Take your c h o i c e ; it doesn't signify

m uch , " said Nelson. Hardy steered for

th e Bucentaure.

At one o'clock the 08-pounder-carronade

on th e Victory was fired righ t in to the

Bucentaure. The one broa dside as good

as finished the French ship. Now the

Victory recei ved a clev erly direct ed fire

from the French Neptune. The two ships

go t alongs ide of each other abo ut ten

minutes past one o'clock. The Victory

fired upon the Redoubtable ; a regular hail

descended now upon the Victory from th e

last-named French ship.

At twenty-five minutes past one o'clock

Nelson and Ha rdy p aced to and fro togeth er

on th e Victory's deck. It was a moment

of intense thoug ht—it was the beginn ing of

the great " e n d " of a master-spirit in the

realm of unfailing courage. Looming up

was the sha dow —th e " last eve nin g." Fo r

on e it came, as for many, but in coming to

that one it raised the greatest w ail that

ever went up from England's heart. A

musket- ball had struck Ne lson on the left

shoulder. This cut through the spine, and

buried itself in the back-mus cles. A

sergeant and several marines went to pick

him up . " Th ey have don e it at last,

Ha rd y, " said the hero of Trafalgar. " I

hope not , " answered Hard y. " Ye s, " said

Nelson, " my back bone is shot through."

Ev en as he was bei ng carr ied off his mi nd

wa s with the men and the ships, and he

gave certain instruct ions about minute

details.

On coming to the cockpi t , where they

had carried their hero, the doctor soon

perceived that it was the end. A few

quest ions followed about the victory, i ts

apparent largeness, the repeated wish to

take care of " my dear La dy H amilt on,"

and t hen the final kiss, and the word s " Go d

bless you , Ha r dy . "

As one writes the wo rds it is again

Trafalgar's day . One sees the great sha dow

of the ene my' s ships. One hoars the

ricochet and the whistle and boom of sho t and shell. One sees the lurid glare,

but up aloft on the Victory runs that signal—

" England expects , etc. , " and we know how

the expectation was fulfilled.

NELSON'S DAY.

(OCTOBER 21st, 1805-1912.)

'XXTHILE English oaks against the blast

" Stand strong and proud and still,

So long will Nelson's memory cast

A glow on moor and hill,

A deepening gleam across the sea,

A thrill through every dell;

And still the twenty-first will beA day remembered well !

Trafalgar Day ! It broke the pride

Of France and her allies :

Trafalgar brought the signal wide

That floats 'neath many skies :

" England expects that every man "

His " duty " brave " will do " ;

Oh, say to-day, as life you scan,

What better word for you ?

A painter caught the awful shine

Of sunset on a wreck,

And raised its masts to light divine

At his enchanted beck :

The Temeraire for victory famed

Lives in the soul of art;

From thence was poured the shot thatshamed

The enemy's proud heart !

And as the Victory raises up

Her front, by weather stained;

And as the famous fighting ship

Which Turner saw, is gained,

A holy reverence stays the foot;

The brow is bared, for then

One sees brave Nelson's death the fruit

Of victory—such are men !

Lift up the signal to the wind,

And, on October's breeze,

Fling out the words that are enshrined,

As veins in forest trees !

We see again Trafalgar's morn,—

Hardy and Collingwood :

And Nelson's star again is born,

And England rides the flood !

WILLIAM J. GALLAGHER.

X

TRICKED BY A BABOON.A S O U T H A F R I C A N A D V E N T U R E ,

By JOHN COMFORT.

T B A I G H T a wa y f rom

the dam the spoor

of the bo k was plai n

to be seen leadingof f to some rocky

ground bounded by

a li ne o f flat-topped

kopjes .

Ell is Clive went

cautiously f o r wa r d ,

checking hi s pony

eve ry few minutes ,

fo r well he knew

that if the bok once

go t wi nd of his pur

suit, there would be

no chance of his getting near enough for a

shot that day , in whi ch case there would

be nothing but bul lv-beef for dinner after

all.

" H u l l o , w h a t' s u p ? "

Ell is spok e aloud in sheer amaze ment,

as a figure wi th lon g arm s, an d alert

bearing, a hat cocked rakishly on one

side of its head, showed for an instant

on the r idg e of a kopje , standing out

against the sky-l ine , then sw ift ly dis

appeared f rom view.

H e was fairly certain it was not a

black bo y, and it di d not look l ike a white

man ei ther . The n he burst out laughin g,

because of his stupidi ty in not recognising

the thing at the first gla nce . " W h y it

is a baboon , of course, what a softy I

mus t have been not to hav e kno wn it at

the first, but it was the hat wh ich puzzle d

me . I won der whe re the creature got

it f rom ? A h ! "

T h e energet ic whisper was drawn f rom

him, as his pony turn ed i nto a green gla de

between t w o kopjes , by the sight of th e

bo k he was fo l lowing , grazing peaceful ly

a little on ahead.

Checking hi s pony , Ellis slid to the

ground, then turning the animal with its

head towards home, left it to graze, know

ing that it would in time make its way

back to the far m.

Th en dro ppi ng on al l fours he wen t

creeping and creeping behind the bould ers,

clumps of mimosa bush, and hummoc ky

grass, w hic h in summe r would have been

tall enough to shelter him walking upright,

but which was now only broken and

crumpled dr y herbage, with the fresh

green shoots just peeping through.

H e was very close to the bok now,

almost within range, and was congratulat

in g himself that another ten minutes

would about finish it, a comfor t t ruly, for

the morn ing was grill ing, and his kne es

were pre t ty well skinned with craw ling

over the stones.

Su dd enl y the figure of the baboon

bounded into sight again, this t ime on

the slope of the oppo site kopje . I t gave a

short angry bark, like a dog that was hot

on the scent, start l ing the bo k, which

instant ly bounded away.

A t the same moment Ell is threw up his

gun , firing at ran do m, becau se ther e wa s

no time to take aim. Th e chance shot

to ld somew here, the bok stumble d,



TricKed by a "Baboon. 41

swerved, and pi tched headforemost , but

just as Ellis w ith a sho ut of t r i umph

sprang into sight , the wo und ed crea ture

struggled to i ts feet again, and wit h

leaping bounds was soon out of sight, in

the wind ings of a narrow valley running

up between two kopjes.

" I t can' t go far, it is sure to drop in

a few minu tes, " said Ellis eager ly, as he

followed at a run. If he had not been

so sure of this he would have whist led for

his pon y, and c hase d his gam e on fo ur

legs, instea d of toilin g awa y on his ow n

two feet .

Th ere was a bar k of deri sion fr om the

hill abo ve, as if the ba bo on w ere e njoy ing

th e j oke , and Ellis looked up to shake an

angry fist at the crea ture as he passed,

and thought with a shiver how fe arful ly

human i t looked, wit h the hat p erch ed

on the side of its hea d.

He was pre t ty well winded now from

the pace he was making . H e track ed the

bo k by the drops of blood on the s tony

ground , and expect ed every minu te tocome on his quarry, lyin g on the gro und

in its last struggle.

But i t was the unex pect ed whi ch hap

pened. Ell is stumbl ing over the roug h

stones, and enta ngled grasses whi ch ma de

running dangerous, and walking a snare,

was start led by hearing a cry l ike that of

a fr ightened child.

" It is that wretc hed b abo on, I guess ! "

he muttered angri ly, and then was furious

to find tha t he was tremb ling in every

l imb, while perspirat ion ro l led in great

drops from his face.

H e was thin kin g of a story told him b y

his father 's Hott ento ts a few wee ks ago,

just after his comi ng out from E ngl and .

It was a horrid tale about a white woman,

whose child had been ki l led by bab oon s,

and wh o died of grief in conseque nce.

Since that t ime the wail i ng of a baby

might always be heard in the val leys

between the kopjes , so the colo ured people

said. Ell is , how eve r, had never been able

to find a white man, or woman who would

believe in the story, so he had come to

regar d it as a my th inve nte d by the Ho t

tentots, w ho were lazy, and hated havin g

to make long excur sions in the roug h,

hilly cou ntr y in search of ga me. Oh , it

was all sheer nonsense of course, just a

silly story that no one but a nat ive wo uld

believe in !

Just as Ellis said this to himself , the

wail ing cry bro ke out again, and w ith

hi s heart beati ng at a furi ous rate, he

scrambled over the rocks in the d irect io n

from whi ch the so und seemed to come.

He was in a state of down r ight panic ,

fo r the sound seemed to be almost close

to him. H e wo ul d hav e like d to run

away, but that was cow ard ice pure and

simple, so calli ng hi mself n ame s, he

pressed forward.

U p, and up he wen t, until passing round

a big bou lde r he saw right in fron t of

him the yawn ing mou th of a cave. A n d

inside, some distance inside, there was

something lying on the grou nd w hic h

feebly moved —and cried !

Fo r a long mome nt he stood sta r ing in

front of hi m, then a big lum p seemed to

come up in his throa t , he thoug ht i t wa s

hi s heart, and swal lowed vigorous ly

" Yah-ah- ah ! " The bundle on the gro und

m oved again, and a chu bby arm s t ruck

out .

" Wh y , i t is a baby, a real one ! " cri ed

Ell is , in such profound amazement that

he sud den ly real ised how muc h fai th he

must have put in that si l ly ghost story.

Th en he bou nde d forw ard and caugh t up

the infant , a j o l l y , sun-burned k iddie of

eighteen months or so.

T h e child seemed to be so thankful f o r

a sight of one of i ts own kind, that it

at once ceased to cry, and poi nt in g at the

gun which El l is car r i ed , sa id " B a n g !

Bang ! " wi th great e mphasis and energ y.

" W el l , yo u are a kno win g l i t t le chap ! "

said Ell is , in an appro vin g tone, stoopi ng

d o w n , and vent uring to give the chi ld a

fr ien dly pat on the shou lder. H e was

not much used to youngst ers, and so was

afraid to t a ke many l ibert ies with th is

one, from a dread that i t might star t off

crying again.

" Gug , gug, gug. " responded the smal l

c rea ture , then point ing to the gun, burstout in wha t sound ed l ike vehe ment com

m an d, " B a n g ! b a n g ! "

" No, no, sonny, i t i sn ' t ta rge t prac

tice, and I can 't a fford to was te a cart

r idg e just for the sake of making a noise

to please yo u. But what I wan t to kn ow

is how yo u ca me to be in a plac e like

this, so many miles from any ci vi l isat i on

except our far m, and yo u certai nly di d

no t come f r om there. Hullo ! "

Elli s spra ng to his feet in a great hur ry ,

an d turned to find the b ig babo on wi th a

hat almost close bes ide h im, gr i macing,

and jabbering in a threa tening fashion.

The re was no t ime t o th ink, no time to

shoot , he just had t o act, and st r ik ing

at the crea ture with his gun, bow led it

over side way s. But in a minute i t was

on i ts feet again, and jabber ing more

fur ious ly st i l l , mad e a ju mp to seize the

child, whic h was scre aming with fr ight .

Ellis sprang to the rescue, letting off

his gun any how , r ight in the f ace of the

big mon key , but he only succ eede d in

fr igh tenin g i t , and in blowi ng aw ay a

piece of its ear.

I t turned and fled fr om the cave , bark

ing , j abber ing , and whi nin g; wei rd , un

canny sounds they wer e, and al l the t ime

it was comfo rt i ng i ts woun ded ear wit h

i ts paw s, or hand s, in such a drea dful ly

human fashion, that Ell is fair ly shud

de red , feel ing as if he had s hot a man.

Th en he pick ed up the cryi ng chil d,

consoling it as best he cou ld , but only

dar ing to spare one arm for the bus ines s,

the othe r must be left for the gun , as

the baboo n was squat t ing on the grou nd

outside the cave, and seemed to be medi

ta t ing another a t tack.

Th e si tuat ion was get t ing embarrass ing.

Ell is certainly could not lea ve the chi ld

wh ere he had fou nd it, he also cou ld not

carr y it wit h one arm, and ho ld his gun for

defence with the other, so there seemed

nothi ng to be don e but to wa it aw hile,

in the hope that th e crea ture might go

a wa y .

Of course he mig ht shoo t i t . But i t

looked so mu ch like a man , wi th th e hat

cocked on one side of its head, that he

fel t i t wou ld be l ike del ibe rate murd er

to lift his gun against it unless, i nd eed ,

i t at tacked him, when, of course, he

would have to fire in self-defence.

Elli s gav e the child a piec e of the oat

meal cake whi ch his moth er had thrust in

his poc ket whe n he set off that m or n i ng ,

and the small perso n gr abb ed it with an

eagerness which showed how hun gry it

must Have been. Th en for a lon g hour

he sat impat ient ly w ait ing fo r the babo on

to ma ke a m ove , but that astute m onke y

never bud ged , ex cep t to scratch i ts lef t

ear where the hat brim tickled it.

El l is had taken the child in his a rms,

whe re it had gon e to sleep with its hea d

rest ing against his shoulder, and he was

get t ing so dro wsy himsel f that i t was with

difficulty he cou ld keep awake , when to

his dis may he saw another bab oon come

lopin g roun d the si de of the kop je , f o l -

l ow ed by another, and anothe r, until

presently he coun ted twent y-sev en of the

crea tures walking up and down, j abber

ing, barki ng, sneezing, and grunti ng,

evident ly consul t ing in monkey language

how best to make an a t tack on him.El l i s could not shoot unless he put the

child do wn , and he was despera tely afraid

that if he did put it dow n, one of the

ac t ive , long-armed crea tures woul d dash in

and seize i t . Bac kin g a little closer to the

side of the cave , he shift ed his gun so

that he might use it as a c lub , then wai ted

again , keenly watchful now, knowi ng that

any mom ent mig ht bring the crisis .

He was wo nde r - l g what would happen,

if he had to stay there unti l dark. T h e n

he thou ght of the bok whi ch he had

wounde d , and wond ere d if the poor

crea ture had dropped.

" Mother wil l feel awfully bad at

havin g to si t Colone l Holl is do wn to bully-

be ef ," he said to him self , in a rueful t one .

His mother had said tha t m or n i ng that

she was the most w :orried housekeeper in

all Rh od es ia , and he had be en so glad for

her sake when he had come on the tr aces

of the bo k, for it was really t ryi ng, to

be expect i ng compan y to d inner and y e t

to have noth ing to set bef ore them , and

he indu lged in a grin of amuse ment as

he thou ght of the colone l 's feel in gs, on

being set do wn to such homely fare.

F r o m a grin, he indulged in a l augh,

and it was really that which hurried up

the catastroph e, for i t wo ke the chi l d,

whic h kick ed and struggled for a minu te,

and then broke into a lusty cry.

There was a ho wl of rage from the

baboon with the hat, and the crea ture

charged full at Ell is , evid entl y under the

impress ion that he was hurt ing the chi ld ,

and bent on snatching i t from him.

Bu t he was re ady for it, land ing a b low

with the butt end of his gun full on its

face , and kno cki ng i t spraw ling. Of

cour se whe n it sc ram ble d to its feet , it

fled, howling with pain, but it d i d not

flee far , and a fter si t t ing for a few

minutes angri ly jab ber ing , i t closed in

again, supp orte d no w by the mor e valorous

o f it s fellows.

Ell is gr ippe d his- gun the t ighter , and

perspira t ion stood out on his forehead,

and rol led do wn his face. The child cried

again, and instant ly the baboons made a

dash for war d. Ell is sprang to one side,

striking here, and striking there, hit t ing

the hardest blows tha t he could manage



42 The "Boy's Otetn Taper.

with one hand, and knocking the creatures

sprawl ing as they ca me on.

But it was a fright fully unequal con

test , for they were at the very least fifteen

to one , and he had on ly one arm f or

fighting.

Shou tin g and yelli ng at the to p of his

voice, he whirled his gun aloft, bring ing

it down with resound ing whack s on the

heads of the bab oon s, while the childshrieked fr anticall y, as the long hairy

arms mad e des pera te efforts to clu tch it.

Once Ellis though t i t was really go ne,

but springin g forwa rd he manag ed to catch

it by its little skirts an d drag i t back,

bri ngi ng his wea pon down on the arm of

the babo on with a crack which made the

limb drop helpless, while the creature

scurried away screamin g with pain.

But Ellis was very nearly done himself.

Breathless, panting, choked wi th dust ,

his yells were fa inter , and his blows

ligh ter. He had got his back to the side

of the cave, and was grip ping the shriek

ing child close to him. while he wondered

ho w many mor e minutes b e could possiblyhold out , when to his amaz eme nt h e heard

a shot, then a perfect volley of firing;

two or three of his foes fell , the remaind er

dr op pe d on all-f ours, and ma de off as fa st

as the y cou ld go, and a party of men burst

in to view.

H i s father was there, and Colonel Holl is,

also a wild ly dishevell ed ma n, wh o burs t

into hysterical sob bing like a woma n, as

lie snatched the chil d from the arms of

Elli s, and felt it all over , to see if it were

hurt .

" Colonel Holl is and I were on our w ay

to the f ar m," said Mr. Clive , who had

been away for a few days on business,

" but as we passed Gill 's Sprui t we heardthere was troub le at Boult er 's Fon tein , so

we turned in there to see if we cou ld h elp.

Mrs . Rowla nd came running to meet us,

saying that their little

child Jacky was lost,

and as their pet ba

boon Brutus was also

missing, the y feared

it had c arried the chi ld

awa y out of mischief,

and her husba nd had

been searching all

night . Of cour se we

joined forces to help

him then, but by the

look of things weshould have been too

late if it had no t bee n

fo r you, E l l i s . "

" It was getting

rather warm," replied

Ellis, putting up a

dirty hand to ru b his

equal ly dirty face.

" You see the brutes

rushod me all at once,

and I could not sho ot,

becau se I had to hold

the child , and it

screamed so badly,

that I'm afraid I must

have hurt i t . "

" But for its cry

ing, and you r yelli ng,

we should not have been here so soon , "

said his father. " I g uess this will be a

lesson to poor Rowland not to keep a tame

baboon abou t his place in fu tu re ; t r icky

creatures the y are and never to be

trusted. I suppose that animal with the

hat is the one which carried the child off.

Well , it is dead as a doorn ail n ow ; the

colonel bowled it over as wr

e came rushing

up the hil l ."

" I was running down a bok that I had

w ounded , but I ex pe ct it has got aw ay

n o w , " said Ellis, as the fa ther of Jacky

overwhelmed him with thanks.

" No , it is all r igh t , " brok e in th e

colonel , " we stumb led acros s it on our

way here , but co uld on ly stop to put it

out of its pain, fo r by the sou nds , we

judged matters up here were a bit

urgent . "

" T h e y we re ," answere d Ellis, and then

he was horr ibly dis guste d, because he sud

denly com men ced shaking and shiv ering.

"H un gr y , a re you , o ld fe l low? H a v e

a bite of someth ing," said his father with

a kindly unders tanding, offering him a bitof hard-tack biscuit , into whic h Ellis set

hi s tee th with great energ y, and immedi

ately felt bet ter .

" A n y h o w there will be something better

than bully -beef for dinner to-ni ght ," he

said , with a sigh of sati sfac tion , as the y

went do wn the hill to pic k up the b ok .

CHESS.

PROBLEM N O . 7 2 2 .

B r H. P. L. MEYER.

[ BLACK. [

mm

HI

lip

mm *>'

* •

• fl

H

J m

1 £n n §§11 IIP §§§ jjjj

• if ill wM

ill

RAIN-DRENCHED SEAMAN: " This is a nice reception, on my word I

did they want to warn people against me for ? "

| WHITE. I 8 + 4=12 pieces.

[White to play and mate in four (4) moves.

SOLUTI ON of No . 721 . 1, R (K t 5) Q R 5,

K x K t (or a, b, c, d, e). 2, Kt —Q

sq. eh., K move s. 3, R mates on one of four

squares, (a) B P x Kt . 2, Kt —K 2 ch.,

K — Q 6 . 3, R—Q5 mate, (b), K t P x Kt .

2, Kt —B 5 ch. (c) P—B6 . 2, Q Kt —Q sq.

and 3, R—Q5 mate, (d) P—Kt 6. 2, K

Kt —Q sq., P x R. 3, R— Q5 mate, (e)

K — Q 6 . 2, either Kt—Q sq.

The other five prob lems by Schrtifer are

solved thus : —

1, N E5, P:D5 (or a, b, c, d, e, / ) . 2, L H5,

N:F5. 3, L E2J. (a) N:1'5. 2, M D4t ,

K :E 5 . 3, L H8J . (6) P:F 5. 2, L B5,

K F3. 3, L E2J. (c) K: D5 . 2, L B5t,

K E4. 3, M F4J. (d) K:F 5. 2, L H5f,

K E4. 3, M D4J . (e) N GO. 2, M F4f ,K : D 5 . 3, L B5J . (/) M B6 . 2, M D4t ,

K:F5. 3 , L H5 t

1, M B2 , P:B 2 (or a, 6). 2, M:E3 , K:F 5.

3, M F3 f, K E6. 4, N A2 J. (a) N F8.

2, M F2 | , P:F2. 3, M F3 t, P:F3. 4,

P G3J. (b) K: F5 . 2, M F2 t, P:F2. 3,

M F3 t, K E6. 4, N A2J.

1, N A 2 , N H 7 ( or a, 6, c, d, e, f, g, h).

2, M G6, N:G6 (or i, j , k, I). 3, 0 D6 ,

N:D6. 4 , L B 7 , M : F 8 . 5 , L B 1 J . ( » )M :G6 .

3, N Bi t , K:C4. 4, L E4| , K B5. 5, N D 3t ,

()') 0 F5 . 3, -L E4f , K:E 4. 4, M G4f .

K F3. 5, O Gi t- (k) M H4. 3, L:E 3f,

K: E3. 4, M G3 t, K E4. 5, N B i t .

(1) 0 D5. 3, L E4f , K:E 4. 4, N Bl f ,

K F3. 5, M G3J .—( o) M H4, 2, M B6 ,

0 D5 (or m). 3, L:D5 t, N:D5. 4, N Bi t ,

K:C4. 5, M B4J. (m) M:C4. 3, N B i t ,

M C2. 4, N:C2 t, K:C2. 5, L E 4 } . —

(6 ) 0 D 5. 2, P: D5, N H7 (or n). 3,

O D6, N:D6. 4, P:D6,—.5, M G3J.

(m) M H4. 3, M B6, P E4. 4, L:E 3,

K :E 3 . 5, M B 3 } .— ( c ) 0 F5. 2, L:F5 t,

P E4. 3, N B i t , K:C4 . 4, L:E 4t , K B5.

5, P A4J.— (d) M D6. 2, P:D6, 0: C6.

3, L :CG, K C2. 4 , L Bo,—. 5, L i

fe ) M:H3. 2, N Bi t, K:C4. 3, L E4t ,

K B5 . 4, P A4J .—( /) K C2. 2, L E 4t ,

K B2. 3, L Bi t , K:A 3. 4, L B3:f.—

( ? ) 0:C 6, 2, 0 C lt , K C2 (or o ) . 3, L Dl t ,

K C3. 4, L B3 t, K D4 . 5, L D3J .

(o ) K C3. 3, L:E 3t , K B2. 4, L B3 t,

K : C 1 . 5, 14.—(h) N D 5 . 2, O Clt , etc.

1, M E3, M F4 (or 0 , 6, c, d). 2, M:E4t,—.

3, Lj:. (a) M:E8 . 2, L:C5t , M D5 . 3,

M E:E4J. (b) 0 H3. 2, M E:E4t , M:E4.3, L D6J. (c) K t>5. 2, L D6t , K C4.

3, M C3J. (d) M F6. 2, L:C5t, K: F4.

3, L G5J.



The "Boy's Obun Club 'Room. 43

1, 0 H4, M:E5 (or a, b, c). 2, L E4j-,—.

3, M, OJ. (a) K : E 5 . 2, L G7 f, K : F 4 .

3, M C4J. (b) P D5 . 2, K : E 6 , — . 3,

0 F5J. (c ) 0 D3 . 2, 0 : E 6 t , K : E 5 .

3, M E2J.

Among the end-games by H. Rin ek is

no w another one which shows that the 0

catches the M on many square : —K B l ;

N F2 ; 0 B6 ; P B2, G6. K E8 ; M F4 ;

P A6 , F3. Whit e t o play and win.

Th e white L c an be sacrificed on five

squares, and the black L can form a block

on five squares, thus : —

B y H. W. Bet tmann. K F 8 ; L C 5 ;

M C6, Dl ; N B7, B8 ; 0 B2, B3 ; P D 6 ,

E6 , G3. K E4 ; M A3, Eo ; 0 A l , D 2 ;

P E2. E3. F2, F3, F7, G4. } 3 .

B y F. A . L. K u s k o p . K F l ; L D 7 ;

M D5, H4 ; N A7, E2 ; 0 D3, E4 ; P B 5 ,

E5 . K C I ; L B 2 ; M A l ; N A2, CI ;

O B l , D l ; P A3, C2, D2, E3, F2. } 2 .

OUR NOTE BOOK.

B I S H O P A S C O O K A N D C O B B L E R .AT a parochial gathering on one occasion, the

recently deceased Bishop Sheepshanks referred tothe arduous times he experienced during his missionarycareer in the Par West ID these terms : " If any ladyhere wants a lesson in simple cookery—how to makeflapjacks or cook bacon—let her come to me, and Iwill teach he1-. I t has been said of a certain kingthat he was fit to be a king because he had blacked hisown boots, and taking that reasoning, I am more fitto be a bishop than any one here. I will tell you why—because I have cobbled my own boots and mendedmy own breeches."

^ <*y

THE V I C T O R .

THOUGH one may win the goal by luck,

And one by chance be hero hailed,

The palm is for the man of pluck

Who conquers where he once had failed !

TO M A R K AN O L D T R A I L .

THE famous old Santa Fe trail is to be marked so thatits location will not be forgotten. The school childrenof Kansas were asked to contribute a penny each tosecure suitable markers for this pioneer highway of progress, and 369,166 responded. With this fund thetrail will be outlined in an enduring manner fromKansas City to Santa Fe, 800 miles as the caravansmade it. the time consumed for the round trip being110 dayS. It is believed the trail dates back to 1540,when a Spanish adventurer led an expedition fromMexico as far north as Kansas. But it was not untilthe beginning of the last century that the Americantrader and pioneer utilised the long trail that stretchedout into the wilderness of the new El Dorado. Nohighway in the country has been marked with as manydramatic episodes as this same Santa Fe trail. Almostevery mile of the way was at some time the scene of athrilling incident. For the caravans of the earlier daythere was no haven of safety after leaving Kansas City.Even when military escorts were provided the Indianswere at times sufficiently strong to hazard an attack,

and these attacks always added to the long roll of tragedies that can be charged against this historicalpathway, marked as it was by the bones of the dauntless pioneers who dared its terrors. The last caravansent out was in 1865, and since that year the trail hasfallen into disuse. Consequently, the project of marking it so that its course, as well as its lessons of courage, and perseverance, and indomitable will, maybe preserved to an appreciative people, is an admirableone.

THE master had been engaged in tellinp his pupilsabout the three kingdoms of Nature—the ^ :mal, thevegetable, and the mineral. When he had finishedhe asked:

" Now, who can tell me what the highest form of animal life is ? "

A little lad in the front seat raised his hand." The highest form of animal life is a giraffe."

HERE is a story of a regimental cricket match inIndia. A sergeant was batting, a recruit was umpiring.

" How's that ? " cried the bowler for a palpableleg-before.

" Out," said the umpire." Out 1 " yelled the sergeant, stalking threateningly

towards the umpire : " Out, did you say ? Look here,young 'un, do you know where the guard-room is ? "

" Not out," said the umpire.

"When friends njeet,

G| E N T L E M E X , tne Club R o o m is o p e n !

T In this column the Editor hopes to

meet hi s readers every mont h in friendly

conference, t o discuss such questions as

ma y be raised and to give such advice as

m ay be required. " B.O.P."- i tes are re-

quested t o submit topics for discussion, and

to write freely as friend to friend. W ewould have plain speech withal, desiring to

" nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in

malice." Gentlemen, the Club R o o m is

open !

* * * *A n d now, first, as to .our plans. T h e

" B.O.P ."—in it s 35th year, be it noted—

ha s set its sails once more and s tarted on

it s annual voyage. Th e wind is fair abaft and

everything promises for a most successful

trip. WT

ho will n ot join us in wishing the

good ship all the best possib le luc k ?

* * *

T o start off with two such excellent serials

as " Between the T w o " a nd " The Fiery

T o t e m " is , perhaps, t o ensure success.

Each of them is absorb ing in interest and isundoubted ly the best work of its author.

But , good as these stories are, there are others

in reserve t o which ou r readers will eagerl y

look forward. N ext month , for instance,

we co m m en ce " The S k y Cruise of the

Kestrel, " b y that popular " B . O . P . "

writer, John Lea. This new yarn will tell of

an exc itin g ball oon adve ntur e acro ss half

England an d of the experiences of two boy

aeronauts. Then, later on, we shall have

a thrilling tale from the pen of F. H. Bo l to n ,

whose " In the Heart of the Silent Sea " will

be fresh in the minds of most. Mr. Bolt on's

n ew story is partly one of school life and

partly one of adventure in a wild land, and

there is a novel scientific development in

it—a peep into the future—such as Jules

Verne delighted in. W e predict a rousing

reception for this coming s tory .

* * *

Y e t another " B. O. P. " favourite w ho has a

n ew serial in hand is J. Claverdon W ood, and

again we shall find ourselves startled b y

strange and wonderful happenings. Mr.

W ood has chosen a new field for his romance,

nothing less than the mysterious land of

Tibet . L ook out for announcements of this

remarkable story in due course.

* * *

Enough no w of serials. Some one has

reminded me of a long-standing promise to

establish a " ' B. O. P ' League of Fr iendship ."

It will b e recollected that someth ing was

said on the point at the comme nce ment of thelast volu me. The question of a League ha s

been und er serious consi derat ion for a long

time. It is not a thing to be entered upon

lightly or rashly ; there is m u ch to be dis

cussed before arriving at any decision. A t

last, howe ver, we see our wa y to meet ing the

wishes of the hundreds of " B.O.P. "-ites al l

hearts Warm."

(Old Saying.)

the world ove r wh o hav e been urging the

adoption of a scheme of this nature.

* * *

Here is one letter—typical of many that

we have rece ived from readers :—

" ' B.O.P.'-i tes far and wide will be

delighted to read that yo u arc seriously think

in g of forming a ' League of Friendship. 'I t is rather strange that such a League has

not been formed before now, as I a m sure

that it would have the effect of uniting our

home readers, a n d also of reminding o ur

Colonial friends that they are not so fa r f rom

the Mother Countr y after all . Thro ugh the

agency of the League members could corre

spond with their fellow-members abroad,

which would help in deepening o ur loyal ty

to the ' B.O.P . '—at the same time that it

formed a strong band of union. Further,

if each individual mem ber were to pledge

himself to obtain a t least one n e w reader

(not a v ery hard thing t o d o ) it would mean

that the circulation of the paper we all

appreciate so much would b e practically

doubled.—Yours sincerely,

" A D U R H A M R E A D E R . "

* * *

" I suggest having a badge for members ,

to b e wo rn as a scarf-pin, or on cap or

watch- chain," writes another reader. " The

badges could b e made of bronze and sold fo r

60!., white metal 1*., a n d silver for Is. dd.

Other boys ' papers have badge s, and I do not

see w h y the ' B.O.P . , ' the most interesting

paper of them all, should n o t have a distin

guishing badg e." This, too , is quite feasible,

an d we shall take steps at once to carry it into

effect. I t will be a pleasant me thod of recog

nition among " B.O.P." readers , an d we are

confident that it will be taken u p enthusias

tically. " Whe n friends meet, hearts warm ,"

runs the old Scottish saying which heads this

column. W e want the League to be some

thing more than a mere name ; w e want t o

se e it serving a useful purpose as a real bond

of union between readers.

* * *

Th e question of its extension to include

branches with Club R oom s , etc., must be

waived for the t ime. So importan t a step

cannot be taken until the League is proper ly

under weigh. In the meant ime, let us have

any views that you wish to express on the

subjec t, an d we will go further into the matter .

* * *Before w e break u p this session there is

on e other announcement to be m ad e . W e

Wan t a suitable quotation—in prose o r

verse—from some well-known author, t oplace under the Club R o o m heading. T o

th e " B.O.P ." - i t e w h o sends the most

appropria te quota tion we will awar d a prize

of FIVE SHILLINGS. All entries for this

competit ion, which should be addressed t o

the Editor, " Boy ' s Own Paper ," 4 Bouver ie

Street, E.C., must b e m a d e by N O V E M B E R

2 2 n i .



4-1 The "Boy's Otvn Paper.

T H E F I E RY T O T E M :

A T A L E O F A D V E N T U R E I N T H E C A N A D I A N N O R T H - W E S T .

By ARGYLL SAXBY, M.A., F.R.G.S.,

Author of " Braves, White and Red,'" " Call of Honour," " Comrades Three 1" " Toviak,"•• Tangled Trails," etc., etc.

C H A P T E R V. LOST IN THE FOREST.

MO R N I N G cam e, but it bro ugh t no news

o f the absent men. There no w seemed

t o be no possible dou bt but that some

acc ident of a serious nature had overtaken

both , and the boys were at their wits' endto kno w what steps to take.

The re had been but one ca noe for the out

ing, so it was not possi ble to fol low up the

river course in pursuit of explan ation . The

only option was to take the journey on foot .

That woul d be a tedio us process, seeing that

the river twined in some parts like a cork

screw. Two or three miles might be walked,

and yet only half the distance might be

covered as the crow flies. However , there

seemed nothin g else to be don e. It was im

possible to remain idly at the cam p waiti ng

fo r what might turn up. Meantime their

services mig ht be in urge nt nee d, and de lay

might only increase the necessity.

" I vote wo pack up our outfit in the tents

and Bet off on the chance of finding their

trac ks." said Bo b. " We can take a good

supply of cart rid ges wi th us in case we are

delayed and need to forage for f o o d . "

" It 's my opinion that we may have to go

a good long way ," was Holde n's opinion.

" It would be as well to take a small axe and

on e or two things for possibl e cam pin g. A

panniki n would be useful —"

" A n d a small coil of rope . Y o u can

neve r go far in the bu sh wit hou t findin g a

use for rope."

" But suppose they com e back in our

absence ? "

"A h , that ' s well thought of," Arnol d agreed.

" It might mean start ing out to hunt for us.

We' l l leave a note explain ing thi ngs."

%a soon as breakfast w as ove r, the boys

made their preparations for departure.

The y filled kna psac ks wit h such supplie s as

they deemed necessary to meet the circum

stances and possible emergenci es. The n

they packed away the loose articles of the

c a m p outfit and pinn ed a not e again st the

flap of the ten t to explain the cause of their

absence to any person who might reach the

ground before their return. Then they set

out bravely on their quest.

It was their first intention to fol low th e

course of the river, even tho ught heir jou rneymight be consi dera bly lengthen ed there

by . But very soon it was found that

such tactics were, in the main, imp ract ic

able. In some p a r t s ' t h e banks were steep

and rocky; ' in others they were i o thickly

clothed with bush that a pathway

wa s only possi ble after the ax e had cut

its way. The latter was particularly the

case when a certa in great ben d of the At ha

basca was reached, so the chu ms d etermi ned

to a t t e mpt a short cut acros s the loop b y

plunging straight through the forest.

" It seems easy eno ugh ," Alf had said.

" W e are going abo ut due north, I think.

The bend goes due west, but, as the mai n

part of the river flows nort h accordi ng to the

map, if we go straight on we are bound to

strike the water again."

" R i g h t , old man, " responded Bo b. " I nany case, the paters could no t be so ne ar

home, or they woul d have had plen ty of time

to get back even by crawling. So it woul d

be almo st wasting- ene rgy to tr udge so far-

out of the wa y. "

It is one thing t o say " go north " : it is

quite another matter to hold a steady course

in a forest . Th e Indi an can do it ; likewi se

th e trapper. They know the signs of the

compass such as nature has provided for

them . Th ey kn ow on which side of the trees

certain mo ss is to be found, and they k no w

the signs that the blizzard wind leaves be

hind it when it has passed on its way f rom

arctic zones. To such as have been initi ated

into the higher mysteries of woodcraft f rom

their earliest y ears, a due cour se to an y set

point of the compass is second nature. But

tho se who are unlearn ed in the art soon find

ou t their mistake when they put their inex

perience into practi ce. The sun is a pointing

finger t o the craftsman ; a disastrous lure to

the ignorant.

B o b and Alf pursued their way pluckily.

Determined to keep a steady course, the

tomaha w k had to be requisitio ned at frequent

intervals in order to clear a passage th rough

the thorns and binding creepers tha t im

peded the way.

At any other time the adven ture woul d

have b een one of sheer delight, for who woul dnot have enjoyed exploring unknown land—

pr oba b l y land, too, where only the Indian's

foot and the feet of the wild creatures of the

forest ha d ev er presse d ?

Once or twice the boys saw the great vel

vet eyes of an antel ope peeping at t hem

thro ugh a screen of mapl e leaves. Agai n

the scrub would rustle as a fox crouched

dow n to hide his skulking body f rom th e

strangers' sight. The cat-bir ds were calling

their sad messages to each other among the

maple leaves, and livel y little c hipm unks

would utter their shrill piping sounds of

warning to their friends as they started be

fore the adv anc e of the yo ung explore rs.

Yes , it was an experience to fill th e hear t

with jo y when any ordin ary call inspired the

venture spirit.

On this occasion, how ever , neither of the

boys had eye s for such pleas ant s ights, or

ears for such sounds as are the delight of the

t rapper ' s life. Their minds were too full of

anxiety to permit room for ordinary enjoy

ment , and they hardl y spoke as they presse d

on a trail in single file.

In this way they continued for two hours

or more . At intervals they would take it in.

turn to act as leader and handle the axe ;

but thej' did not allow a pause in the pushing

forward, until at last Bob called a halt,

feeling that a rest had been earned.

" W e ou ght to be gett ing near the river

again by this ti me, " he remarked.

" That 's what I'v e been thinki ng," saidAlf. " Y o u see, it was such a sharp west

ward turn that the river took after we

crossed th e ford, that . I don't think we can

be far off no w. It must come round to the

east again."

" Y e t there 's no sound of it—"

" Tha t is what's puzzling me. W e' ve

covered a cou pl e of miles at the least."

" And done enough work for four," added

Bob. " How eve r, let's get to work again.

The sooner there, the sooner this job will be

ove r . "

" Than k good ness it looks pretty clear

ahead no w—mor e pine trees and less of the

beastl y scr ub, " said Holden.

Once more the boys pressed forward ; but,

although they continued the march for quite

another h our, apparent ly t hey were as far

of f as ever from the river, for the y n either

sighted water, nor came within hearing dis

tance of the object of their search.

Again they stopped and faced one another

with perplexed expressions.

" I'll tell you what it is, old man—we've

missed the way," said Alf.

But Bob was never ready to admit defeat

of any sort.

" Nons ense ," he said. *' W e' ve kept a

fairly straight course ."

" Or thou ght w e have. To my mind, if

we'd kept straight on we ought to havereached the r iver by this time . As it is,

there is no sign of it."

" That's true. Except for being free

f rom the bru shwo od, we might almost be

where we started. It looks muc h the sa me

—no slope or any other sign to suggest that

' we are nearer to the water ."

" What's to be done ? "

" I see nothing for it but to go back again

an d follow the riv er as we were doi ng in the

first plac e. W e were fools to think of taking

short cuts. The other way ma y have seemed

longer, but it woul d hav e been a deal shorte r

in the long run."

Both th e boys were feeling rather fagged

by this time, for their trudge had been of an

exceptionally fatiguing nature . But each

kep t the feeling to himself, and cheerfu lly

stepped out with the intention of retracing

his steps. It was a disapp ointme nt, and



The Fiery Totem. 45

irksome enough ; yet there was no help for it,

and the situation had to be face d pluckily.

But all the best intentions seemed to go

wrong that day, and it did not take an hour's

marching before Bob stopped and turned to

'jis chum with a crestfallen countenance.

" Look here, old man. I don 't kn ow what

you'r e thinking, but my own opini on is —"

" Tha t we 've missed the path ; that we

are lost—"" I'm afraid that is the truth of i t . Y ou

see, we've never come to any of the pl aces

that we had to clear with the to mah aw k. "

" The n wh at's to be d one ? " Alf ques

tioned.

Arnold took out his watch and lookod at it.

" Wha t' s to be done ? Grub . That ' s th e

first thing . Afte r that we can mak e fresh

plans. It's noon now , and we can do nothing

while we're hungry . Beside s—wel l, to tell

th e truth, I'm feeling a little t ired."

" I, to o, " resp onded Alf with a faint smile.

" I didn't w ant to say so while I though t y ou

wished to go on—"

" J u s t my own idea," Bo b returned with

a slight laugh, as he lower ed himself to a soft

place under the sh ado w of a large ma ple .

" So we'll rest here and have a bite. We'l l

feel better afterwards."

The little ca mp was mad e, and a mea l was

enjoyed from the contents of Bob ' s haver

sack—biscuits and cold venison. Neither

of the lads thought it was worth while to

trouble about shooting and cooking a meal

just then. Th ey w ould reserve that till night,

in the event of their no t being abl e to find

Crane Creek again.

After a considerable rest, the march was

resumed for the third t ime. On this occa

sion, howeve r, the process was varied.

Their first pur pose was, of cour se, to find t he

path by which they had c o m e ; so at Bob ' s

suggestion they carefully proc eede d to walk

in a circ le—c heeki ng the route b y notchi ng

the trees, and taking wider courses each

time a circuit was completed.

But even these means were ineffective.

Circle after circ le was made , and still the

earlier track was undiscovered. All the

afternoon was thus occupied, and, when even

ing came , the boys were foots ore and wear y—

glad to throw thems elve s dow n on the first

piece of spri ngy grass : to o tired e ven to

trouble about preparing food.

The disappointme nt was beyon d words.

The y ha d s tarted ou t in the mo rni ng full of

cheerful h opes of being able to render a id to

their parents who (they felt sure) were in

need of assistance. An d no w, not onl y was

this purpose frustrated, but they themselves

were in tha t terrible plight of being lost in

the bac kwo ods —a hundred miles or more

from th e haunts of white men; with nothin g

but p lucky hearts to help the m, and limited

ammunition to supply bodi ly needs.

The sun passed over their heads an d sank

somewhere bey ond the forest. Th ey could

not tell where it vanished, for the camp was

amid such dense surroundings that they

could hardly see bey ond a hundred yards

through the branches.

With dusk, and after a sparse meal, it was

T H E H O L D E R S O F T H E E N G L I S H A S S O C I A T I O N C U P .

T h e B a r n s l e y t e a m w h i c h b e a t W e s t B r o m w i c h A l b i o n i n t h e final t i e a t S h e f f i e l d , o n A p r i l 2 4 t h , a f t e r p l a y i n g e x t r a t i m e .

r e p l a y e d m a t c h , t h e p r e v i o u s m e e t i n g — a t t h e C r y s t a l P a l a c e , o n A p r i l 2 0 t h — h a v i n g e n d e d i n a d r a w .

T h i s i

(Back row) W. L. NORMAN (Trainer). DOWNS.

(Middle row) GLENDENNING.

(Front row) BARTROr. TlTFNELL.

COOPER.

BRATLEY.

LlLLYCROP.

TAYLOR ('Captain).

UTLEY.

TRAVERS.

A. FAlRCIiOUC.H (Sec. and Manager).



46 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.

decided to light a fire, more for the sake of

the cheering sight than the need for w armt h.

B o b was the first to rise, and as he sto od up

right he was heard to give vent to a decided :

" Bother it ! "

" What ' s the matter ? " g run ted Alf, as

he also pro cee ded to rise.

" Matter ? " repeated his chu m. " Not hin g;

only I have stuc k m y head into a clou d of

moths—big ones and little ones. There

seems to be a regular par ty goin g on under

this t ree."

" I t 's that luminous patch in the tree that

w e ' ve been sitting under," said Holde n, at

the same time drawing his friend's attention

to what looked like a pa tch o f light on the

trunk of the maple about five feet from the

ground.

" That ' s curious," remarked Bo b, bending

forwa rd to exam ine the spot. " I wond er

wha t it can be ? It lo oks like the lig ht on

on e of those luminous match-boxes that ar e

made so that you can see them in the dark."

" They say that rotten wood sometimes

ha s that effect—"

" But this tree is quite soun d. An d see !

There's another the same on that tree to the

right ! "

It was certainly strang e, and the boys

picked u p their guns and sauntered over to

examine the next trunk, on which they found

the same peculiar light attracting an equally

nume rous lot of mot hs of man y des cription s.

" There 's another ! " excl aime d Alf, point

ing ahead of him.

" An d another ! "

" An d another ! "

B y this time the boys were quite exc ited b y

their discov ery, and when Alf suddenly drew

attention to the further discovery that th e

marked trees were almost in a straight line,

their excitement w:

as still further stirred.

" It 's the strangest thing I ever heard of—

in the natural history way," the younger lad

said. " T o find all these trees marked on

the same side, and all in a straight l ine—

why, it would puzzle the brains of anybody

to e xpla in it ! "

Wit hou t any decided plan, and more out

of curiosi ty than from any other motive, the

ehums pr oceeded from one tree to another,

examining each as they reached it, and mar

velling all the time at what they decided as

being one of the most remarkable freaks of

nature that they had ever heard abou t.

Then they became aware of a strange sound

that reache d them from no great distance

throug h the trees. It was a mos t remar k

able sound—not that of any animal with

whic h the y were familiar ; inde ed, it was not

a sound that suggested any beast or bird.

" What on earth is it '! " question ed Alf,

as the w eird wail sigh ed thro ugh the fore st.

" It sounds like a harmo nium in distress ! "

replied Bo b with a slight laugh. An d, even

as ho spo ke, the wail was repeate d, tho ugh

this time co uld be distinctly heard the voice

of some person struggling to articulate t o

some musical accom pan imen t the words :

" Rool , Brita nny ! Brita nny rool waves !!

" Britons ne-vaire—ne-vaire—ne-vaire

" Shall be sla-aves ! "

(To be continued.)

HOW TO IMPROVE A T THE ASSOCI ATION GAME.A S E R I E S O F E I G H T A R T I C L E S S P E C I A L L Y W R I T T E N F O R T H E " B . O . P . " -

By JACK SHARP (the Everton and International Player).

IT H I N K that the majority of youthful

footballers generally start at a disad

vantage ; that is, they seldom take advantage

o f their opportunit ies to become more or

less proficient whilst ver y you ng. Bu t

still, things are better than they were a few-

years ago. The biggest sinners in this

respect are the Sou the rne rs; in fact, it

seems to me that th e farther south yo u get ,

the less is the enthusi asm in the very youn g,

and vice versa. I do know that in some

parts of Great Britain the ga me of foot ball is

indulged in by children almost immediatel}-

they are able to toddl e along, and certainty

before their parents have purchased their

offspring 's first pair of bo ot s.

I would not actual ly advo cate quite such

early steps in bec omi ng proficient, but I

do think that every schoolboy wh o is health y

should do his utmost to learn to pla y the

game properly. No w, I am net merelyreferring t o the ac qui rin g of a skill in

dribblin g, passing, and trappi ng. The re are

other points in the game to think of, such as

playing in the right spirit, and acting in

such a manner that your footbal l wil l not

merely make yo u muscul ar and strong, but

will give yo u a healthy brain and a clean

and fair mind.

In the meanwhile, let me impress upon

every youth that if he wa nts to be a good

footballer he must take his place in some

kind of a team, ge tting used to comb ini ng

wit h the remai nde r of his side and gain ing

experience with an opposi t i on. I kn ow what

some of my readers, who are novices, will

say ! It is no t easy to get a pla ce in a t eam .

Well, perhaps so, but ev en if yo u hav e ne ver

playe d before, you can always get so me of

your fellows to join yo u in a game . Do n' t

spend q uite so mu ch time in just shoot ing at

goal, but get more real pract ice.

C H A P T E R I I I . SOME GENE RAL HINT S.

I hav e seen bands of you ths on some of

our public grounds spending hours every

day in banging a ball into an imagina ry goal ,

mad e up of heaps of coa ts with a bo y

standing betwee n them. No w, this is fairly

good practice for shooting and for the boy

in goal , if he has m ad e up his min d to become

a goalke eper, but such kick ing will do ver y

little good , and it is far better to first under

stand, and get used to, the rough and t umb le

of the game , the necessity of outw itti ng an

opponent , and the nee d of just a touch wh ich

will put the ball at the foot of a colleague

and giv e you r side the victory .

Banging a ball about at all angles will not

make you a footbal ler , al though, mind you,

I tho rou ghl y believe in a certain amo unt

of shoo ting practic e ; but I think that a

knowledge of the mann er in whi ch yo u can

acquire a thoro ugh co mma nd of the bal l

should come first. If yo u feel that in yourgames with your compani ons yo u do no t

quite d o yoursel f justice , put in an hou r

or so at dribbl ing and passing practi ce

with two or three friends, and withou t any

opposi t ion. Y o u should all start in a straight

line at one end of the field, kee pin g up the

same pace all the way and arrive in a straight

line at the other end , havi ng run the who le way

with the ball at you r toes for a few secon ds

and then passing fro m one to the other.

This is a fairly difficult feat to accomplish,

but w hen yo u do manage to go the length

of the field with out l osing the ball once, y o u

m a y look up on yo urse lf as fit to take your

place in any junior team . Th e pract ice will

not only have taught yo u to run with the ball

but it will hav e made yo u an accurate passer,

besides being proficient in pro perl y trappin g.

Now, let me give yo u youn g beginners a

word or two of warning. Do n' t imagine

tha t yo u are all born centre-forward s just

becau se the hero in your footb all 'story

generally happens to play in that "position

an d wins all the ma tch es off his own boot .

Every player, no matter what his position

on the field may be, is like a link in a chain.

N o one can be done without, be he strong or

weak. Eve ry player must be connected

with th e oth ers, and m ust be safe, or the t eam

will fail. Bu t I shall hav e mo re to say abo ut

the necessar y qu alities of each position and

player in future chapters.

Go to a first-class m at ch an d thor ou gh ly

stud y the mov eme nts of experts, making u p

your mind to learn fro m men who are masters,

and then try to emulate their doings in your

own games. Alw ays be obedient to your

captain, no matter whether his views coin cide

with you rs or not. He is pro babl y a better

judge of your play than you are. And ,

above all things, never lose you r temper on

the field a nd gi ve way to petty feelings of spite in order to bring about the downfa ll of

anoth er and add to you r own glory . Onc e

you resort to underh and trickery it will be a

matter of difficulty to cast it aside.

An d no w to anothe r and most impo rta nt

point. If there has been one fault mo re

than any ot her which I have notic ed in

junior amateur footbal l, it has been that of

slackness. T hose clubs that are getting

wea k and are well on the wa y to death m a y

generally be said to be com mit tin g suici de

b y means of their own apathy, for I a m

convinced that there are hundreds of fine

players lost to the g ame thr oug h this cause

to every one who throw s it up on acco unt of

business or other claim upon his time.

I am not exaggerating when I say that

on doze ns of occas ions I hav e heard dialogues

on th e following lines : " Oh. Jac kso n, old

chap, you played a fine game to-day. I sup

pose we can rely on you for next Saturday t



Hotef to Improve at the Association Game. 47

Our opponents are beastly strong." —

" Well, I am not sure, bu t I'll let yo u kn ow in

any case. You see, I'm rather expecting some

people over, and then I'll have to play golf.

Anyhow, I'm not at all sure what engage

ments I may have made for Saturday, but

I 'l l let you know."

Y e gods ! Wha t a spirit for f oot ba ll '

There are hundreds of magnificent foot

ballers—and cricketers to o— wh o are wonderfully clever and worth their place s in an y

side ; yet they a ppare ntly look upon their

game as a bit of a bore, and merely turn out

when the spirit mov es the m, or becau se, in

the words of one grea t international player

I know, " I must do somethin g to pre vent

myself getting absolutely rus ty ."

My advice to clubs that have, hitherto,

relied upon the casual assistance of such

" slackers " is, do witho ut th em, a nd on n o

accoun t allo w the m to play just whe n t hey

think they will. The reserves may not be

quite so good, but at any rate yo u can rely

upon them, and when they know they are to

play regularly their improvement will berapid. Only recen tly iny adv ic o on this

point was taken, and the " star s l a c k e r "

amateur was not asked to play after absent ing

himself for two Saturdays in succession, so

that when he did turn up and found a young

and raw countryman playing in his place he

was taken aback .

The value of the socia l influence on a

team is show n in different wa ys. Fo r

instan ce, I have heard of sides that ha d rather

ba d reputations for the manne r in whic h the y

dealt with their opponent s. The honour of

winning matches by fair means practically

went for nothing, and in its place there cam e

a kind of com pet iti on betw een the player sas to who could be guilty of the mo st flagrant

piece of unfairness and dirt y play. Th e

players seemed to start the game in bad

tempers without any apparent reason, and

all this was the outcome of petty quarrels

in the dressing-rooms and the inability of

the men to get on well together.

Let peac e be made in ca mps such as t hese

and bad te mper will be a thing of the past.

Whe n yo u see a te am run on to the field e ac h

with a smile and word of chaff for each other,

depend upon it that the y are a hap py ba nd

of overgrown boys', and all the watc hing

in the w orl d will riot di vul ge the slighte st

bit of unfair tr icki ness in their play. The

team whi ch is co mpo se d of elev en men all

on a footing of perfect friendship does not

require dirty play in order to win matches.

The players understand one anot her to suc h

an extent that their play " dovet ails ," and

nothing can put them off their game.

I don't mind what yo u are, wheth er play er

or spectator, but I do want yo u all befor e

yo u lay aside this copy of the Boy's Own

Paper to make a huge resolve that the game

of football shall not dete riorate in repute

through any acti on of you rs during the

coming winter. Last season we had t ons

of evidence that in some districts the w ord

football only stood for everything which

was unfair, brutal, disgusting and foul-

mouthed. I would n't suggest for one

minute that any reader was to be blamed

for thi s; on the contr ary, I hav e ampl e

proof that quite a large number of my you ng

friends did their utmos t to put do wn som e

of the worst ev il s; but we have all got t o

work hard for the good of the ga me, and s o

) I

we'l l start getti ng our ow n houses in or der

and being sure they are spotless before we

commence on those of our ne ighbo urs.

(To be continued.)

# # #

O U R FRIENDS

TH E LIZARDS.

By Dr. RORY M'LAREN, M.D., D.Plu,

F.Z.S.

HA V E yo u e ver tried to cat ch a slow-

wor m '! If yo u ha ppe n to be a

Scottish boy , I don't suppos e yo u ever have

done s o ; for tho ugh Engl and is badly-

enough supplied in the way of lizards,

Sco tla nd is far worse of f; the y don' t like

the cold. Well , if yo u do try and ca tch o ne

of these slow-worms (or blind-w orms as they

areof ten call ed), it 's a po und to a pen ny that

you will find yourself with only the tail left

in you r hands. These creatures have a

surprisingly e asy way of disca rding their

tails if they are roug hly ha ndled .

A good many lizards have this knack of

being able to lose their tails when they think

it necess ary. It doe sn' t surprise you much

in our tiny lizards here; but when you're

abr oad, say, and happ en to have got a big

chap by the tail, it gives you something of

a sho ck when he appa rent ly splits in halves.

I well remem ber that happening one after

noon when I was up in the Mount Lof ty

hills in South Australia, trying to catch some

lizards in one of the gullies. Th ey we re

big brown fellows—Cunningham's Egernia,

to give them their full nam e—a nd the y were

frightfully quic k. Ho we ve r, I got one by the

tail at last, just as he was skipping down a

crack in som e roc ks, and he pulled an d I

pulled. He didn't bu dge , so I pulled a bit

harder. T o my intense surprise, he all

at once seemed to come in halves just behi nd

his hin d legs, and I wa s left wit h a gre at

fleshy tail in m y han d. I did feel a brute !

Th ey make very jol ly pets, do these slow-

worms, and are ver y easy to keep . Th ey

hibernate al! thr ough the winter, of course ,

if yo u have the m outside ; but ''if yo u are

keepi ng the m nice and wa rm indo ors the y

will remain l ively all the time.

H o w they came to be called " slow -

worms " is som ewh at curiou s. The name is

" H e r e w e a r e a g a i n ! "

a misnomer, being simply a corruption of

the ol d Angl o-Sa xon " sl a" (slay) worm.

Ev er y reptile was a " wo rm " to our fore

fathers of thos e days, and nearly e very one

was reputed to be ven omou s. And so it

wa s that the country folk in their ignorance

designated o ur l izard the " sla y-wo rm, "—

the " wo rm " that killed ! Bu t wh y it should

ever hav e got the name of " bli nd-w orm " is

somew hat of a myster y. If yo u look at

one, you'l l see tha t it has quite dis tinctbright eyes. Wh at is more , you' l l also see

it has e yelids ; whi ch at once shows you

that it is not a snake, but a lizard. Snake s

are without eyelids; that 's how it is they

always appear to be wide-awake.

Ano th er great poin t of differenc e, of

course, between lizards and snakes is that

the former are not poisonou s. Curiously

enough, there's just one exception to that—

a lizard tha t lives in Mexico and Arizona,

called the Helo der m. He is easily enough

recognised; a thick-set chap with a very

" l o u d " pattern of black and red on his skin.

If y o u look out for them ne xt hol iday s in

the Reptile House at the' ' Z o o , " you're almost

sure to find on e ; there are a lmos t alw ays

one or two there.But some of the bigger lizards tha t y o u

find in tropic al count ries —the Monit ors or

Yaranidae—though t not poisonous, have a

set of teeth and claws tha t would do

credi t to a you ng tiger-cat . Th ey run up to

fully six feet in length, a nd are altog ethe r

too big to tack le. I tried it once on a

medium-sized chap about three feet long,

that I thought w ould make a very jol ly p e t ;

but it was about as bad as tackling a full-

grown cat that wants to get awa y—a nd yo u

know what that 's like !

Unfortunately, when y ou bring them over

here, even if you do keep their cage nice a nd

warm, they lose bot h their brilliant colours

an d their f iery temper; their skin gets

dull and they become " s l ac k" and lazy .In the " mallee s cr ub " of Australia, where

they are fairly abundant , the first no tice yo u

general ly get of one being about , is a scur ry

of stones and grave l, and a long sha dow flying

fo r th e nearest rabbit-hole. Th ey can get

over the ground at a most amazing pace,

kicking the gravel in all directions as they

run. Th ey will eat all sorts of unco nsid ere d

trifles—young rabbits, birds, fowls, and eggs,

too. There is a splendid photo in Roosev elt ' s

book, " African Game- Trails ," showing one

of these Monitors robbing a crocodile's

nest—the lizard is just cutt ing off for cover,

with an egg in its m out h.

In Amer ica these monitors are represented

by a group of large lizards kno wn as Iguana s.

There are about three hundred differentspecies of these kno wn, the maj ori ty in

habiting the tropical parts of South ern and

Central Ameri ca . The re are, how ever , three

Igua nas w hich live in the Old Wo rl d. One

is foun d in Fiji, and th e tw o others as far

awa y as Madagasca r. Ho w did they ever

ge t there ? W h y should these two have

stra yed so far afield ?

Th e crocod ile s and all igators g ive us a

similar puzzl e. All the alligator s are foun d

in the New World—with the exception of a

single Chinese species. Perhaps i t would

be as well to gi ve you so me idea , at least, of

what is the answer, o r wha t we think is the

answer, to this puzzle. Onc e upon a t ime,

then, the alligators we re spread muc h mor e

widely over the w orld than the y are no w ;

one (wh ich rejo iced in the terrifying name

of Diplocynodon !) h avin g lived in Engl and.

The same is true of the Iguan as, w hic h we

know used to live in France thous ands of

years ag o. Pr ob ab ly the y were still more

widely spread over Euro pe and Afr ic a;

and those still livi ng In Madag asc ar are the

desc enda nts of these, whilst the vast major ity

became extin ct from one cause or another.



" S M O K E D O U T I "

(Drawn tor tlie "Soy's Own Paper" by F W BURTON. )

Boys Own Paper 19 October 1912

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Transcript of Boys Own Paper 19 October 1912