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NO. 28, VOLUME XX XV .] S A T U R D A Y , A P R I L 1 2 , 1 9 1 3 .P r i c e O n e P e n n y .
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
U n d e r the E d g e of the E a r t h
A S t o r y o f T h r e e C h u m s a n d a S t a r t l i n g Q u e s t .By F. H. BOLTON,
Author of " In the Heart of the Silent Sea," etc.
C H A P T E R I I I . — A N E C C E N T R I C " W I Z A R D . "
1 Kenned y unceremon iousl y rushed into Morris's study before bell-ringing, wit h a morning
daily in his hand."
r | I H E newspape rs of the da y fol lowing Mr .
X Bra n t ' s declaration had apparent ly no
reference to any catastrophe in the States,
and one or two b o y s were inclined to treat
the who le affair as so mu ch vapo urin g.
Lef roy suggeste d, in the presence of a few
cronies, that the Wiz ard had " fallen on
his fac e in his efforts to ove rta ke hims elf. "
But the more cautious shook their heads.
I n the i r opinion the master never spoke
without his b o o k ; he knew what he wasspeaking about, even if his hearers were not
alway s clear on the poin t.
" I don ' t know that we oug ht to want a
roaring big accident in America or anywh ere
else, just to make the Wizard c o m e out on
t o p , " said one . " But then , that i sn ' t th e
quest ion. He says there 's b en one, and I' m
not goi ng to doub t or dispute it yet a bit. "
W h i c h wa s pre t ty generally the sen timent
of th e rest of the F or m.
W hen, therefore, on the morni ng of the
da y after, Ken ned y unceremoniou sly rushed
into Morris's study before bell-ringing, with
a morning daily in his hand, both Morris
and H u t t o n were quite prepared for his
first words, and the r e ma rk — " I say, y ou
chaps, bothered if there hasn' t b ee n ! " —
di d not sound at all vague or disconnected
to their anticipating ears.
Flingi ng his bo oks up on the table, the
lad excite dly unfo lded his pape r and b egan
to read, the other tw o look ing ov er his
shoulders and confirming for themse lves
the details he gab ble d forth. In the midst
of this the doo r was unce remo niou sly flung
open once more , and a further detachment
of the Sixth (day-bo ys and boarders) t ro oped
into the room.
" Com e in," grinned Hu tto n, as the reader
sto ppe d; " don' t t rouble to knoc k ! "
" Say, you fe l low s , " drawled Lef roy;
" the Wizard was right after all! "
" Of course he was," replied Hu tto n;
" tel l us something we don 't kn ow ."
" Wou ld, i f poss ible; but you're too
cute, Hutto n, m y boy ! Maybe you can tell
us how he came to be r ight ."
Th ere was a lau gh ; then Morris inter
posed.
" All yo u cuckoos shut up ," he said, " or
clear ou t! We want to hear the whole
particulars. Go on, Kenned y."
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IN THE OLDEST CITY IN THE: WORLD.4 3 5
D a m a s c u s o f T o - d a y a n d Y e s t e r d a y .
DA M A S C U S is the oldest city in the world
that has had a cont inuous hi s tory .
Because of its great age and vi ta l i ty it
ma y appropr ia te ly be called the " Mot he r
City of the W o r l d . " It has been ruled
by Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and
Turks , and it h as l ived and f lourished
under them all. N o fewer than twelvetimes it has been pillaged and burned, yet
it has always arisen with new beauty f rom
its ashes. It is the head of Syr ia now,
as in Isa iah 's t ime.
By HAROLD J. SHEPSTONE.
remains. R o m e has been cal led the
Ete rn a l C i t y , but D am as cus is t w i ce as
ol d as R o m e . I ts his tory runs back to the
beginning of the w or l d , and bids fair t o
go on to its end.
T h e n it is remarkable for its as tonishing
vi ta l i ty . It has l ived through all these
long centur ies , and no historian has yethad the oppor t un i t y t o wri te of its decl ine
and fall. Its s treets have been stained
wi th the b l o o d of its de f ende r s , an d its
defences have been reduced ; bu t it never
everything requi red in the general l i fe o f
th e Ea s t . P e o p l e of many races, men and
w om en in all picture sque costu mes, str ings
of camels, donke ys with cradle saddles,
Arabian horses and d o g s , throng the
streets. These bazaars are a sort of
gathering-place for the people of different
nat ional i t i es , and an excel lent p lace t oge t an i dea of Oriental l i f e , charac ter ,
dress, business and social l i fe .
Then D am as cus is des t ined t o p l ay an
impor tant part in the hi s tory of the Ea s t .
Courtyard of a Private Residence, Damas cus.
[Photos by AM ERICAN COLONY, Jerusalem.
Reception Room, Damascu s.
I t stands on an extensive plain, on the
edge of a sandy desert . Th e ci ty and the
plain are watered by the R i ve r s A bana
an d Pharpar . The A bana runs t h r ough
the ci ty, the Phar par is some miles away
to th e south. Some dis tance b e l o w the
ci ty they unite. Da mascu s is 133 miles
in a st ra ight line f rom Jerusalem, 70 miles
f rom Be y rout by wa y of the carriage-road,
an d 90 miles by rail. It is a ci ty which
ha s an interest for all, apart f rom its
Bible history. It is noted for m a n y re-
markable things.
First, there is its antiquity. When
Abraham crossed the desert f rom H a ra n ,
4,000 years ago, the c i t y was al ready
s tanding on the banks of the A b a n a ,
an d no one can tell h o w long it had
stood there before that t ime, for its or igin
is lost in the mists o f ant iqui ty . " B aby
lo n is a heap in the desert , and T y r e a
ru in on the s ho r e , " but Damascus st i l l
became an utter desola t ion. It has had
vital i ty to l ive through all these sieges and
all these years. It is n o w the largest ci ty
in the Ea s t , except Cai ro in E g y p t .
D am as cus is n o w , and has always been,
a rich and prosperous c i ty . I t was so in
Bible t imes. Isaiah writes of the " r i c h e s
of D a m a s c u s , " and the t raveller to-day
ma y see long t rains of camels laden with
all kinds of merchandise l eading Damas
cus, going down to E g y p t or ou t to B ey-
rout , wh ere they ar e s h i pped t o other
shores. Damascus is r ich, and a centre of
t r ade for all the Ea s t . I ts bazaars are the
most famous in the world . These bazaars
ar e a series of shops for the sale of
art icles, and in some cases fo r the manu
fac ture of them. Eac h bazaar is devo t ed
t o a part icular class of goods . T h e y are
famous for the i r t reasures of si lk, carpets,
saddles, si lver and gold ornaments, sl ip
pers, sword blades, rare w o o d s , and almost
I t is the cent re of a ne t w or k of ra i lways .
I t alrea dy boasts of t h re e rai lway stat ions,
and when the Bagdad l ine has reached the
Euphra tes , Damascus wil l be in ra i lway
communicat ion wi th Cons tant inople and
Eur ope , as wel l as with Pales t ine and
Arabia . Damasc us , moreover , is not only
the oldest, bu t the newest of cit ies. It wa s
the first in Bible lands t o have electr ic
t r ams and electr ic l ight .
I t i s certainly one of the most beautiful
ci t ies in its s i tua t ion. Imagine a mag
nificent plain, well watered and fert i le, in
the midst of a deser t , cover ing an area of
more than t h i r t y miles in ci rcumference ,
sur rounded on nearly al l sides b y high
hi l l s—imagine th i s vast plain in a high
state of cul t iva t ion, one vast garden o f
frui t t rees of almo st eve ry spec ies, fields
of grain, nearly ever y variety of flower,
and the ever-present murmur of running
streams. Situated abo ut the m i dd l e of
[this
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4 3 6 The Hoy's Obvn Paper.
[Photos byAMERI CAN COLONY, Jerusalem.
A Crowde d Street in Damas cus. Moh amme dan To mbs in the Meidan, Damascu s.
The dome in the distance covers the to mb of Moham med's daughter, Pa timeh.
W a l l of Dam as cus whe re St. Paul is said to have been let dow n in a Th e Traditiona l Hou se of Anani as, Dama scus ,
basket.
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In the Oldest City in the World. 4 3 7
this plain, and buried in this fores t of
grass and grain and trees and sparkling
streams, a city of 150,000 peop le, with its
hundreds of whi te minarets, gi lded domes ,
and crowded bazaars—that is Da ma s c u s ,
beautiful indeed for situation.
It undoub tedl y owes i ts beauty , vital i ty,
and wealth to the River Abana, which
rises in Leb ano n some twen ty miles away.
Before it reaches Damascus it is d i v i d e d
into six artificial chann els (th e main one
about fifty feet wide) , running t h r o u g h
th e hear t of the city. Pipe s are led fr om
it to every par t , so that every mosq ue and
house and cour t has its founta in , a nd
every where you go amid g rove s or garden s
or public resorts, or retired nooks , you
may see and hear th e mu rmu r of swif t ly-
flowing an d sp ark lin g streams, an d this
abundance of clear, co ld water is one of
the charms of the city. Th is is the river
of whic h Naam an sp oke wit h such pri de,
when he said : " Are not Abana and Phar
par, rivers of Da ma s c u s , better than all
th e waters of I s r a e l ? " and he was r ight ,
so fa r as beauty and usefulness are con
cerned.
Damascus is ment ioned many t imes inthe Bib le, both in the Old and N e w
Testament . In th e la t ter i t comes before
us in connect ion wi th the convers ion of
St . Pa u l . Tr a d i t i o n has loca l i sed every
event conn ecte d with the Apo stl e. Out
s ide , on the Damascus road, five miles
f rom the c i t y , is pointed out the place
where St. Paul had the vis ion which so
chan ged the co urse of his l i fe . T h e r e is
the gate, stil l standing, wh e r e he entered
b y the Eo ma n road into the city . The re
is the street called " S t r a i g h t , " the v e r ystreet ment ioned in connect ion wi th
St . Pa u l ' s convers ion , changed, of course ,
proba bly rebui l t , but still t he street s p o k e n
of in A c t s as th e " s t r e e t wh i c h is cal led
Str a igh t . " I t is to-day a mile long, be
ginning at one end of the leading gates
of the city and running f r o m east t o west .
Th e n Da ma s c u s is a c i t y of mo s q u e s ,
baths, and founta ins . Cl im b on to the
roof of any dwelling and you are in a se a
of minare ts , while all around y ou are row s
upon ro ws of what look s all the wo rld l ike
t u r n e d - d o wn s a u c e r s ; these are the Arab
baths. Th er e are t w o hu ndr ed and fifty
mo s q u e s in the city , the most impo rtan t
being the Great Mo sque , grea t in size and
grea t in reputa t ion . Th e ground upo n
wh i c h i t s tands ha s a grea t his tory . On
this spot stood the H o u s e o f R i m m o n ,
where Naama n worsh ipped. W he n Da-
mascu s was under Rom an rule, Constan
tino erected on this site a beaut i fu l
Christ ian church, dedica ted to Jo h n the
Bapt is t . The n, when Damas cus fe l l in to
the hands of the Turk s , they conver ted
this Christ ian church in to a mosque, ob
l i terat ing everyth ing about i t that had a
t race of Christ ian i ty . They c losed the
door by which the Christ ians entered, andp u t up other bui ld ings in f ront of it.
Some few years ago this grea t mo s q u e ,
to the regre t of the whol e c iv i l i sed wor l d ,
was burned d own in a s ingle d a y .
Strange to say , however , the old d o o r
escape d the confla gration , and no one was
more surpr ised than the M o h a m m e d a n s
themselves to read over i ts portal these
wo r d s f rom the Psa lms : " T h y k i n g d o m ,
O Christ , is t h e k i n g d o m o f all the a ges,
and Thy dominion endureth t h r o u g h o u t
a l l genera t ions . " T h e mo s q u e was re-
bui l t , but the Mosl ems, be ing super
sti t ious, feared to tamper with the o ld
door and its sacred inscriptio n, and so left
it, and i t can be seen t o this d a y , a re-
mi n d e r that M o h a m m e d a n rule has not
always been supreme in the Mo t h e r C i t y
of t h e Wo r l d .
THE SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY
FOOTBALL TEAM.
S o m e R e c o r d s o f a M e m o r a b l e T o u r .
I H E South Af
r i c a n Ru g b y
football team
which toured
this c o u n t r y
last season ac
compl ished a
feat which
no other Colonial team
has ever achieved, inas-
dflk ~y0 mu c h as they defeated
^El^^k la England, Scotland, Ire-
^ B | | E ? W land, Wale s and Franc e,
^ ^ ^ ^ t A Even the famous Ne w
' ~^%S& Zealand side of 1905-6
was unable t o equal this
record, although they lost but one match,
which wa s against Wales . The previous
South African team of 1906-7, which was
only defeated thrice, lost t o Scot land anddrew with England. The Australian team
"of 190 8-9 does not qualify in a compar ison
of International matches, as they did not
visit either Scotland or Ireland. I t is a fine
record, and W . A. Millar, the Sout h A fric an
captain, is to be heartily congratulated on
the success of his m en .
The success which they achieved must b e
all the more welcome in vie w of the varied
manner in which the team was crit icised.
Some of the Sou th Afriear authorities were
somewhat severe in their strictures o n the
selected players, and in the first few m atc hes
of the tour there were writers w h o utter ly
omit ted t o take into consideration the fact
that the visitors had recently landed after
a three weeks' voy age from South Africa.
It was only natural that the form which theyshowed then was nothing com par ed with the
fine perfor mance s which they achi eve d in
their later games .
But , in spite of their great record , the
South African team of 1912-13 does no t
compa re—so far, at least, as its three-quarters
By W. LIVINGSTONE IRWIN.
were conce rned— with the previous side of
1906-7 . I t did not contain three-quarters
of the calibre of W . A. Loubser , of J. P.
Krige, or J. G. Hirsch, although J. W. Morkel
was no t far behind those great players .
I t is strange t ha t W . J. Mills did not play
in any of the International matches . A t
half-bac k the team was well serv ed by F. P .
Luyt and F. J. Do b b i n , t he la t ter a vete ran
of the former tour , an d J. D. M'Cul loch
a nd J. H. I mme l ma n , if n o t grea t players ,
were safe and equal t o any emergency.
A t ftijl-back G. P. Morkel was a wonderful
k ick wi th either foo t and fielded the ball well,
but his tackli ng was not his stron g poin t.
J . J. Meintjes had hard lines in being injur ed
so often, and only to ok par t in four games.
D . F. T. Morkel showed himself equal t o
the oc cas ion when he t o o k the full-back
p o s i t i o n .The forwards were a grea t p a c k in e v e r y
wa y , scrummaging , dr ibbl ing , and pass ing
with equal skil l . The y were a speed y body of
men, although there have been faster forwards ,
n o t a b l y the Scottish pack of 1901 or the
N e w Zealan d men . Th ey also did excelle nt
work at the l ine-out, where they frequent ly
made opportunities for their outs ides .
Wh e n the y first cam e ov er to this count r j -
the softness of the gro und ma de their foo t
work far more difficult than on the hard
surfaces in South Africa, but they rose
t r iumphant o v e r these obstac les in such
a way that they mu st now be looked upon
as one of the best packs of al l t ime. A s
the Field o b s e r v e d in a leading article :
" The demonst ra t ion t ha t South Africa can
prod uce such men, as well as the hardy andcourageous winners of the Marathon race
at St ockholm , has an Imperial significance
which might even com men d footbal l as a
subjec t for Mr . Kipl ing ' s encomiums. "
The South African captain, in an interesting
interview, said that the backs of his side
were, on the who le, no t so g o o d as those of
the former side, but that the forwards were
mu c h better . H e especially singled ou t
Va n Vuure n, W . H. Morkel , D . F. T. Mork el,
and A. S. K n i g h t . R . J . Luyt had only
r e p r o d u c e d his home form o n o ne or t w o
o c c a s i o n s ; J . W. Morkel had sh own the
best form of the three-quar ters ; J . A .
Stegmann and E . M'H ard y had been grea t
successes ; F. J. Do bbi n never reprodu ced
his form of the previous tour , a n d J . D .
M'Cul loch did not get much of a c h a n c e .
G. P . Morke l had pla yed abo ve his Sou th
Afr ican form, but J. J. Meintjes had be en
on ly modera te . G. M. Wren tmore d id not
play often becau se of injury, while W. A.
Krige was erratic .
" Wales was the best International team
we p l a y e d , " we n t on Mr. Mil lar , "wi th
En g l a n d a good second. We beat Englandb y our superior weight and strength forward .
Scotland did not play to their backs enough,
but depende d too much on their f o r wa r d s —
no doub t thinking of the 1906 ga me . Ireland
p r o v e d a poor team against us, and even
then one could not judge their merits, as the
g r o u n d was so frozen and the I r i shmen
would no t g o ' all out. ' The Frenc h are
go ing to be v e r y good in a year or t w o .
There is n o compar ison of their play with
that of six years a go.
" R . W . Po ult on is the finest cen tre three-
quar ter we have p layed against, while
R . F . Williams, the Welsh full back, is the
best we have met . Glyn Gethin, of Neath,
runs him very close, howe ver , and should
h a v e a great future. Glyn Stephens , of
Neath , is a fine forward, an d he occurst o m y mi n d as on e of the greatest in
the count ry . Both the 'Varsity captains,
J . E . Gr e e n wo o d a n d L. G. Br o wn , are
magnificent forwards, and two of the best
in England.
"J. A. Kin g, of Yorksh ire, despite his lack
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4 3 8 The Hoy's Otvn Taper.
24
of s tature , is wonderful , and apparently
never tires, while I retain memories of two
or three brilliant Scottish forwar ds. W . J. A.
D a vies , H . W. Thom as , T. H . Vile and
V . H . M. Coate s are all splend id, and we
shall not forget the m readily . Thes e are
bu t a few of the fine player s we hav e met
during our tour."
The comple te results of the tour were as
fol lows : — For
Opponents Eesult G-. T. P.
Somerset won 3 3
Devon won 1 1
Cornwall won 0 5
Monmouthshire won 2 2 16
Glamorgan won *f 4 6 35
Llanelly won 1 1 8
Newport lost 0 1 3
London won f2 1 12
Army and Navv won 3 1 18
East Midlands." won f3 0 14
Oxford University . . . . won 0 2
Midland Counties . . . . won 2 5
Cambridge University.. won *4 2
London lost f t2
0
North of England . . . . won 1 4
SCOTLAND won 2 2
Glasgow and District.. won f 6 3
I R E L A N D won 4 6
Ulster won 2 3
North of England .. . . won f2 4
W A L E S won *1 0
Neath won 1 1
Cardiff won <t 2 0
Swansea lost 0 0
Gloucestershire won 1 2
E N G L A N D won »» 2 1
P R A N C E won *B 5
AgainstG. T. P.
0 1 3
8 0 0
15 »» 2 0
16 0 0
35 0 1
8 t l 1
3 i s 0
12 1 1
2 2
25
24
8
17
16
38
38
1!)
21
3
87
0
11
9
38
I 0
0 0I
I 1
0 0
0 10
0 0
0 0
0 1
0 0
0 0
1
00
» 1
00
0
1
Total . . 56 61 441 14 13 101
* A penalty goal, t A dropped goal.
X A mark goal.
The fol lowing table giv es the nu mbe r of
times each memb er of the team pla yed, a nd
the sco res whic h he made :—
PlavedG. P. Morkel 21 .
R . J. Luyt 19 .
W. A. Millar 19 .
D . F. T. Morkel 19 .
J. A. Francis 19 .
J. D. Luyt 19 .
F. P. Luvt 18 .
W . H. Morkel 18 .
A. S. Knight 18 .
E. McHardy 17 .
J. A. Stegmann 17 .
T. Van Vuuren 17 .
J. W Morkel 17 .
E. H. Shum 15 .
G. Thompson 15 .
Tries
0 . .
8 . .
2 . .
4 . .
4 . .
1 . .
3 . .
7 . .
1 . .
20 . .
13 . .
2 . .
6 . .
2 . .
0 . .
Goals. . 10
. 1
Played Tries Goals
S. FT. Ledger 15 2 0
E. Delaney 13 0 0
J. PJ. Immelman 1 3 2 0
W. J. Mills 1 2 9 0
F. J. Dobbin 1 2 2 0
L. H. Louw 12 1 . . . . 0
J. S. Braine 11 0 0
J. D. McCulloch 11 . . . . 0 . . . . 0
G. M. Wrentmore 10 . . . . 3 7
W. A. Krige 9 2 . . . . 1
O. Van der Hoff 8 10 0
8. N. Cronj6 7 . . . . 1 0
J. J. Meintjes 4 0 0
Of the goal s whic h were kick ed by D. F. T .
Morkel eight were from penalties, and goals
were dropped by J. W . Mork el (2), G. M.
Wren tmor e (2) , W . A. Krige (1), and R. J.
Luyt (1) . Of the players who took the
goal -k icks f rom tr ies D. F. T. Morkel kicked
sevent een from fif ty-two attempts , G. P.
Morkel kic ked ten out of nineteen, F. P. Luy t
si x out of eleven, G. M. Wre ntm ore five out
of nine, J. W . Mork el four out of eleven,
and R. J. Luyt fai led at one shot .
A s the South Africans met nineteen sides
which had been op posed by one or more
prev ious Colonia l teams, the fol lowing com
par iso n of the score s is of interes t :—
New South Austra- SouthZealand Africans lians Africans
1905-6 1906-7 1908-9 1912-13
For Agst. For Agst. For Agst. For Agst.
Somerset . . 23 0 . . 14. 0 . . 8 0 . . 24 S
Devon 55 4 . . 22 -6 . . 24 3 . . 8 0
Cornwall . . 41 0 . . 9 3 . . 18 5 . . 15 6
Monmouth . . . . 17 0 16 0
Llanelly . . 16 3 . . 3 8 . . 8 7
Glamorgan . . 9 0 . . 6 3 . . 16 3 . . 35 3
Newport 6 3 . . 8 0 . . 5 3 . . 3 9
N a v y & A r m y — — . . — — . . 8 6 . . 18 16
East Midlands • . . 3 7 0 14 5
Oxford Univ. 47 0 . . 24 3 . . 19 3 . . 6 0
Midlands 21 5 . . 29 0 25 3
Camb. Univ. 14 0 . . 29 0 . . 11 9 . . 24 0
SCOTLAND . . 12 7 . . 0 6 . . — — .-. 16 0
TRELAND 15 0 . . 15 12 38 0
W A L E S 0 3 . . 11 0 . . 6 9 . . 3 0
Cardiff 10 8 . . 0 17 . . S 21 . . 7 6
S wan sea . . : . 4 3 . . — — . . 0 6 . . 0 3
Gloucestershire . . 23 0 . . 16 0 . . 11 0
E N G L A N D . . 15 0 . . 3 3 . . 9 3 . . 9 3
The fol lowing are the recor ds of the fo ur
Colonial team s which hav e visited th ese
shores in r ecen t yea r s : —Points.
P. W. L. D. For Agst.
New Zealand (1905-6) . . 33. .32. .1. .0 . . 832 39
South Africans (1906-7) 28 .. 25 .. 2. .1 . . 553 81
Australians (1908-9) 30 .. 24 .. 5. . 1 . . 425 141
South Africans (1912-13) 27. .24 . .3 .. 0 . . 441 101
MALOO, THE ABORIGINAL..
A Yarn o f No r t h Qu e e n s l a n d .
By HASTINGS DRAPER.
P A R T n .
HE t w o explorers
col lected and packed
up their tool s in the
swag, which Maloo
carried this t ime,
while Jack took
char ge of the sack and its
precious contents. The
weight of the la t ter greatly
distressed hi m on the
downward journey along
the dizzy ledge, where
Jack ha d a hard fightwith himself to repel the insistent horrible
thought of a leap from the narrow strip
of rock upon which he was standing.
W h e n they had got half-way down the
perilous descent he felt that he could fight
against it no longer, so sat down where
the ledge was somewha t broader to col lect
his faculties and regain his strength.
" Missus '11 be plenty glad see so much
go ld stuff, B o s s , " said Maloo.
Ja c k ' s mind at this remark instantly
reverted to the prize which repo sed in the
sack lying at his side and to the joy of his
wife if he returned home safely with it.
This dispelled the dangerous thoughts which
ha d taken such possession of h i m ; he
s tar ted up exclaiming : " You 're right , Ma-
/ >o ! I feel a new man at the bare thought of
h o w glad the Missus will be when we returnand sho w her what we' ve brough t hom e. "
An d with a gay laugh he cont inued his
c l imb down the mountain closely fol lowed b y
the black b oy whose life in the scrub had
render ed him seemingl y obliv ious to fatigue.
W h e n they had nearly reached the tall
bunya tree where they had left " Warr ior ,"
Jack was startled at hearing sounds of
crashing bushes and a loud neighing.
Breakin g his way rapidly throu gh the scru b
to the spot he sa w a Chinaman who had
r e mo v e d the hob ble from " Warrior " and,
having saddled and bridled the horse, was
trying t o mount him ; but the animal was
plungin g and kick ing so violen tly that he was
unable to do it.
A s they came up, the would-be thief had at
last succeeded in getting one foo t in the
stirrup, and was swinging himself into the
saddle wh en the horse gave an upward leap
and, curvin g his bac k, buck ed so violen tly
that the Chinaman, after turning a somer
sault, alighted on his back with a dull thud.
He lay there gazing up at the sky with a
fixed stare, appare ntly quite obli vious to the
affairs of this earth.
" W e l l done, ' Warrior ' ! " exclaimed
Jack. " Serve him j o l ly well right, the
wretched horse-thief; he is evidently
stunned ; an d there he may lie until he
comes round ! We will push on, Maloo. I
don't care about camping in the neighbour
hood of that brute, dead or al ive."
" Shall us knock him on head to make
sure ? " said Maloo. " That Chinkey-man
on e bi g ye l low de bb il ; him kill us if he get
chance plen ty quick, and run away with
horse."
" No fear, Maloo ! m y Colt will take care
of the horse if we keep our e3*es and ears
open ; bu t it would be just as well to camp
later on, so we'll be off-—the sooner we get
h o me the better ." Saying whic h, Jack
carefully loaded up " Warr ior ," trten they
mou nte d and ro de off along the track left
by their outward jo urney, and, as the trailwas fresh and the moon was now taking th e
place of the sun, this was an easy matter.
Th e y did not stop until they reached their
ol d camp ing place on Bellinden Kcr, when
the} ' li t a fire and cooked a couple of large
dampers, boiled their billy-cans of tea and,
after opening a tin of corned beef, enjoyed
a well-earned supper. The y then wrapped
themselves in their blankets and Jack,
overcome b y the fatigues of the day, fell
off into a deep sleep. Jus t before daybreak,
however, he was awak ened by Maloo shaking
his shoulder and saying to him in a low tone :
" Boss, some fella followin' alonga our
track ; heard um scrub crackle do wn below.
P' raps Chinkey-man come life again and
want to try to ride one time."
A s further sleep was now ou t of the
question Jack lit a pipe and waited for
sunrise, when, after a hurried breakfast, they
saddled up and resumed their journey.
Ab o u t sunset they reached the homestead,
when JaGk had the pleasure of seeing his
wife run do wn the steps and greet him with
open arms almo st before he could get clear
of his horse, Maloo having slid down on the
offside.
After a hearty greeting Mrs. Gord on asked :
" Wel l , what l uck, Jac k ? Yo u ' v e brought
yourself back in safety—that's the main
thing."" See that small sack ? " said her husband
exultantly. " Wel l , that contains the real
genuine article."
" Yo u don ' t mean to sa y that 's all gold
in there ? " For reply Jack cut the cord
which held the sack to the saddle. It dropp ed
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Maloo, the Aboriginal. 4 3 9
with a heavy thud upon the sandy path,
almost embedding itself through its weight.
" My word ! " excl aimed Mrs. Jac k, and
cou ld say no more, but fairl y bro ke d o wn .
•With her head on Jack's shoulder, she burst
into a paroxysm of tears.
" There, don' t cry, dear ! you' ll soon be
better off," said Jack. " I shall ride in to
•Cairns to-m orr ow mor nin g and take it to my
bankers ; last week they sent me a poli teintimation that I had slightly overdrawn
•my account—they won't do that again in a
hurry, I guess."
Tha t evening Jack saw Maloo, with his
arms folded behind his back, look ing at a
tro phy of aboriginal weapons which hung in
the dining-ro om for or
nament. There were
reed-like spears with
hardwood points, woom-
eras for slinging t hem,
small oval wooden
shields of light wood
with the tr ibal marks
u p o n them, boomerangs
and nulla-nullas.
" Well, Maloo, what
are yo u loo king at those
weapons for ? Yo u
m a y have the lot if
y o u like, or anything
w e have, considering
what you have done for
tie," said Ja ck.
" Only want nulla-
nulla, Boss," was the
answer.
Maft>o t h e r e u p o n
selected a good heavy
o n e and bo re it off with
a gratified look to his
little c amp in the corner
of the veranda. Now ,
a nulla-nulla i n a pra c
tised hand is a very for
midable weapon, being
a club of heavy hard
wood roughened at one
end, and swelling at the other to add weigh t,
an d then terminating in a sharp point.
W h e n Jack went to bed he slept heavily
that night owing to the fatigue of the last
fe w days ; but not so his wife. Visions of
their altered positi on no w that they had such
treasure, and of what they cou ld do with it,
kep t flitting t hro ugh her mi nd , and when to -
"wards morning she began to doze it was only
in a fitful way.
In one of these wakeful m ome nts she
not iced that th e moon had gone d o wn an d
that it had become very dark, with the ex
cept ion of a small red spark wh ich was appar
ently travelling s lowly round the r o o m an d
illuminatirig only the objects within two or
three inches of it. She kne w it could not be
a firefly, because fireflies g ive a phosphor
escent light, whereas this was a small red
o n e with a faint odour of burning wood.
T h e spark was now appr oachi ng the bed, and
close to it she could dimly see the shape of
a long skinny hand with cla w-li ke nails,and with this she ga ve a lo ud scre am.
Almost at the Bame mome nt a heavy dull
thud shook the room.
Jack, now wide awake, sprang from th e
bed, when a well-known vo ice cried, " Cot a
light, Boss ! "
Ja ck qui ckl y stre tched out his hand to the
side of the bed where the match-box was
kept, struck a match, and by its light saw
th e body of a Chin aman stret ched on t he
floor face downwa rds , one of his hands still
clutching a long knife which had stuck in
th e floor, while near the ot her han d was a
chest and after a min ute said : " Yo u hav en' t
done that, my bo y ! The way he's don e his
hair has saved his life, but I'll take good care
it doesn't his liberty."
T h e Chinaman, like most others in the
present day, instead of wearing his long
thick plaited queue d o wn his back had it
coi led in a circle round the top of his head,
and upon this coil Maloo ' s club had descended
but with such skillan d strength as to
k n o c k him sense
less.
Jack n ow got a
piece of sti ck, the end
of whi ch had still a
glowing ember . I n the
mi d d l e of the r o o m stood Maloo
with the nulla-nulla tig htly grasped
in his ha nd.
Jac k lit a candle, then turned
th e body of the Chinaman over on to his
b a c k , and at once recog nise d hi m as the
would-be horse-thief.
" Wh y, what's the meaning of this,
Maloo ? " cri ed he.
" Me woke up b y little noise among trees
near veranda and see Chinkey-man light piece
stick and come plent y little noise up steps
and go in Boss's bedroo m. Me get up and
follow J^m, just see him behind piecee
light, saw him knif e too, saw him go
into Boss's r o o m, so hit hi m muchee hard
o n to p of him head wit h nulla-nulla ; tink
me sent him back to Chinkey-land plenty
q u i c k ! "
Ja ck put his hand on the Chin aman' s
" T h e horse gave an upward leap and. curving hi s
back, bucked violent ly ." (See p. 438.)
stout cord with which he bound the still
insensible Chinaman hand and foot , an d
rou nd the arms and waist, to o ne of the
strong kitchen chairs, in a sitting position.
T h e Chinaman gradually recovered his
scatt ered senses, but seeing the hopelessness
of his case said never a w or d; he sat with
apparently stolid indifference.
Within an hour Jack had made all his
preparations for a journey to Cairns.
" War ri or " was harness ed to a light spri ng-
cart, a st urd y farm-hand helped lift the
Chinaman, still bound in the chair, into the
b a c k of the cart, whe re the farm-hand took
a seat by the si de of the pri soner ; and Jack,
after bidding a tender farewell to bis wife and
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4 4 0 The "Boy's Otatn Taper.
depositing the sack with its precious contents
at his feet, dro ve off.
W h e n they reached the small hotel at
Four-Mile, Ja ck heard the gal lopi ng of horses
behin d him, and, turning, saw a sergeant of
police , a white constab le in khaki , and a
black-tracker, riding h a r d ; they pulled up
on reach ing the side of the cart, an d the
sergeant sa id:
" G o o d morn ing , Mr. Go rd on ! I see 3'ou
have got my man already trussed. We have
been after him for the last for tni ght ; he is
wanted badly in Cairns for the murder of
another China man; s tabbed him through
th e hear t when the unfortunate man was
at hom e with some friends. He and his
vic t im had quarrelled about money mat ters .
The murderer then bo l t ed from the house,
escaped his pursuers , and ' went- bush ,' and
this is the first that has been seen of him
since. W e tracke d him to your house,
where your wife gave us the story of his
cap tur e; so we rode after y ou as quickly as
w e c ould . If you don' t mind, we will leave
him in your cart as you seem to hav e trusse d
him up comfor tabl y, and we will ride with
y o u into Cairns as a guard of honour."
" All righ t," said Ja ck, " ve ry glad of
your co mpa ny . I 'd no idea I 'd got the
charge of such a celebrit y. Our blac k bo y
would have saved the gove rnment the
trouble and expens e of that Chinkey's pas
sage to Town svil le to be hanged if i t hadn ' t
been for his qu eue ."
W h e n they arrived in Cairns the prisoner
was duly handed over to the care of the
head jailer, and he finally disappeared from
Jack ' s vie w through the d o o r of the hi gh
galvanised-iron fence which surrounds the
prison.
Jack then called at his banker s and de
posited the small sack and its contents with
them to be conve rted into mone y, and th i s
ultimately enlarged Jack's banking acco unt
to the extent of abo ut three thousand
pounds .
" An d now, " said Jack to his joyful wife
upon hi s return hom e, " I mean t o purchase
an area of the land abo ve that cave which
will include the rock be low it. I shall als o
purchase part of the land where the stream
is at the foot of the rock and then set about
floating ' T he Maloo Gold Mining Company,
Limited, ' managing director Mr. Jack
Gordon , and principal shareholders Mr. and
Mrs. Ja ck G or don . A nd when we go t"o
allotment I don' t think we' ll forget Ma loo. "
T h e S o n o f sinA n a r c h i s t :
A T a l e o f S t r a n g e M y s t e r y a n d
W i l d A d v e n t u r e .
By W. A. B. CLEMENTS ON,
M.A.,
Author of
" A Couple of Scamps" etc.
fjj T E X T m orn ing B ob -
H tf^*^ ^̂ '7 a n (
l his tw o
[ i * ^ ? . f r iends gave the
—' s&SjS<v ^j £/X' * 7 / ^ < - others an ac-
V3Ks|)(3rfe^ JK count of the i r
/mL i t t l p t t i t ^ - T j m
i dn igh t adven tu re ,
tsM^'Xll w n
^c
^ > t hough true in
J s H | | w / / Hie main, was told
M O f If in a manner calcula ted
V'r^ I t o glor i fy themselves
and to dispara ge
Paolo . The y had heard som e one
whistling in the w o o d s near the river—
probab ly poach ers, but th ey were not in
the least frightened ; in spit e of these and
other alarms they had carried out their
l i t t le plan of creep ing into the ca mp and
start l ing Paolo . They admit ted that th e
latter challen ged the m, but said he was
nearl y scared out of his wits ; and when
in an unguarded mome nt Rona ld le t out
abo ut Paol o givi ng the alarm, it was unani
mous ly dec ided that the ne w tender foot was
not a success as a nigh t gua rd.
Paolo would not deny that he had felt
rather frightened, so B o b b i e and Co. ,
making the most of this admiss ion, gave him
no peace throu ghou t the day and lost no
opp ortu nity of chaffing him and playing
practical jokes upo n him. The rest of the
b o y s , led, as is usually the case , by the
noisiest member s of the troop , fo l low e d suit ,
and ragged Pa olo sp much that th e p o o r b o y
imagined he was really very unpopular with
his comp ani ons , which was far from being
t rue .
It is never pleasant to be u npopu lar,
and Paolo , who had always been made so
much of at home , felt i t very ke en ly ; he
did no t know that th e b o y s were only
fo l low ing Bobbie ' s lead and l o o k e d upon
ragging him as a new sort of gam e. A
couple of mont hs ago Paolo would have
taken it all very badly, and probab ly
C H A P T E R X I V . A D U E L .
retired to his t ent to we ep at suc h ill-
t rea tment ; b ut no w he had a differen t
spirit in him and he determined that he
would somehow rega in th e respec t of his
companions whatever it might cost . T hough
inwardly he was feeling most unhappy, he
appeared outwa rdly as bright as usu al; and
R o n a l d never suspected that anything was
wrong, for the other boys never ragged Paolo
m uch when he was by.
Paolo was not sorr y when ni ght ca me at
last , and all retired t o rest healthily tired
with the labours of the da y. He wanted
m uch to be allowed to go on guard o n c e
more t o show th e b o y s he was no t really
afraid of the dark , but Mr. Lan do r told
h im hi s turn would not c o m e again for
several days .
It was perhaps we ll for Paol o that he did
not have to watch again that night, for
thoug h he no w had pe ace from the annoy
ances of the da y, the dark ness bro ught its
o w n t r ials , which in the i r wa y were quit e as
bad.
Some time after all the b o y s had gone to
sleep Paolo awoke wondering where he was.
It was so stran ge l yin g on a sack stuffed
with straw, and to feel earwigs and beetles
crawling over him in the dark. He fancied
that he heard some one movi ng outside
close to the t ent and he held his breath an d
l is tened.
There was the sou nd of rustling in the grass
coming nearer and nearer t i l l i t stop ped,
and Paolo c o u l d hear somethi ng breathing,
close to the canv as. Sudde nly the thing
m o v e d away again as if start led ; it was the
mot ion of a human being crawling on hands
and knees, not of a quadruped. Pao lo
shivered with fright, but he kne w that if he awakened any one he would be more than
ever the laughing-stock of the whole c a m p ,
so he kept silence.
Presently he heard another sou nd ; it
was the soft step of the sentry on duty :
Paolo c o u l d see his shadow on the canvas
as he passed with his lantern. He watched
eagerly for the return of the light as it s
bearer patr olled the cam p ; sever al times ho
saw it return, but h e heard nothing more of
the crawling visitor wh o had alarmed h im,
and befor e lon g he fell asleep.
The next day mark ed a decided impro ve
ment in Paolo's popularity with the b o y s .
T h e y had found him a bright and agreeable
companion and b y no means lacking in
pluck and high spir its; his apparent
indifference t o their ragging of the prev ious
day had also helped to raise him in their
estimation. In scouti ng games he prov ed
very useful on acc oun t of his great pat ienc e,
his ingenui ty in devis ing schemes of a t t a ck ,
and the da ring wi th whic h he carried them,
into execut ion.
Finding the b o y s were more inclined to>
back him up , Paol o decided to t ake a high
hand with B o b b i e and to try to put an end
to hi s i rr i tat ing chaff once and for all. U p
to the present he had alway s answered g o o d -
humouredly, so it came as rather a surprise
to eve ryo ne to see hi m go for B o b b i e before
the whole t roop.
B o b b i e was charring Paol o for th e fiftieth
time abou t b eing afraid of the dark, a fact
which , as Pao lo had not de nied it, had c o m e
to be generally accepted . Paol o [put down
the pail of water he was carry ing and looke d
B o b b i e steadily in the face.
" I don 't think yo u are at all fair," he said.
" Just bec aus e I was a bit nervo us the first
night I had to do sentry du ty, yo u never let
anyone forget i t . Yo u don ' t give a fe l low
a chance. Just let me go on duty again and
I' l l show yo u I ' m not afraid."" Wh o got funky and went and w o k e
Overbury ? " went on B o b b i e , with a
provoking laugh.
" Yo u won 't believ e me when I tell yo u
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The Son of an Anarchist. 4 41
there wag som e one prowling round the
c a mp , " said Paolo.
" There were poachers in the woods , bu t
we did n't show funk, did we ? "
" I don't know about that . You were
running when I challenged you."
" Yes, and—Oh, my !—didn't you jum p
when we rushed at you ? Wha t did you
think we were ? Y o u were in a blue funk
all the time, weren't you 1 "
" Wel l , not quite a blue funk," said Pao lo,
" bu t just a little funk, I 'll own that ."
" He owns it, you see," cried Bobbie in
derision. " He owns he was a cow ard ."
Paolo might have retorted that it is not
everyone wh o feels frightened who is a
coward, but only he who gives way to his
fear. He did not kn ow this impor tant
secret, and he knew to his shame that he had
been frightened ; b ut he felt that Bo b b ie
was very unjust, and suddenly his outraged
feelings boil ed up with in hi m and he rushed
at Bobbie, hitting him wildly on the nose.
Everyone cheered, for Bobbie was older and
taller than Paol o, and the boy s gat heredround to wat ch the exp ect ed fight.
Bobbie in his better moments would have
refused to fight a smaller b oy , but his
jealousy and his unkindness blinded him and
mad e hi m forget ho w unfair the conte st was
bound to be.
" Oh, you want to fight, do yo u ? " he
cried, flushing with rage. " Wel l , I ' l l give
you all you w ant ."
Paolo was quite co o l , bu t his ey es flashed
with a strange light; and, after a pause for
breath, the two boys went for one another
in deadly earnest. Paolo knew nothing
about box ing, but he fought l ike a l i t t le
demon,hitting as hard as he knew how,
regardless of the blood which poured from
his nose after a well-directed b low from
Bobbie ; and, in spit e of his lack of sci enc e
and his inferiority in strength and weight,
he did not let Bobb ie off unscat hed, for he
gave him a black eye and knocked out a
tooth.
But it was apparent fr om th e first
that they were unequall y match ed and
that Paol o was in for a bad beating . Th e
other boys, noticing this and seeing that
they were tremendously in earnest, tr ied
to sto p the fight. So me cau ght h ol d of
Bobbie and told him it was caddish to go
on when Paolo was obviously beaten;
others pul led Paol o off, tell ing hi m that he
had no chance and that he had better give
in. But Paolo cried " Neve r ! I won 't give
in till he apologises for calling me a coward,"
and Bo bbi e angrily declared that it was
Paolo who should apologise, not he. So
they went at it again more fiercely than ever.
It fras really beginning to look serious.
But, though the boys had never seen any
o n e with such invincible energy as Paolo,
it seemed that the fight must soon be over ;
fo r Paolo' s face was covere d with b lood and
both his eyes so swollen that he could
scarcely see out of them. He was obvi ousl y
faint and gid dy, for many o f his blows now
fell wide of his opponen t and he staggered
_at times as if about to fall.
" Giv e it up , Po ll y," cried oneof th e boys.
" Yo u ' v e had enough. Yo u can' t possibl y
beat Bobbie . "
Paolo said nothing, but went for his foe
once more with the energy of despair, o nly
to be knocked flat on the ground by a b low
from Bobbie.
" He's do ne, " cr ied Jock. " Stop the
fight."
But no ! Pao lo was still unconquered !
To everyone ' s surprise he rose to his feet
and hurled himself once more at Bobbie , wh o
prompt ly knocked him dow n again. But
Bobbie was frankly tired of it all and w oul d
hav e stop ped the fight if he had n ot be en
attacked. It is rather tame to keep on
knocking a chap down, who will get up
again s imply to be knoc ked dow n. All the
boys admired Pao lo 's pluck, but they were
beginning to wonder what Mr. Landor
would say about it all.
" He'l l get killed, if he goes on muc h
long er," said Seth Lever son. " Com e away ,
Bobbie . Yo u can' t fight hi m any m ore ."
Bobbie fold ed his arms and determined that
he would not hit P aol o any more , even if
he attacked him. How ever , when Paol o did
attack, rising to his feet for the last time, his
temper got the better of him and onc e mor e
he felled him to the grou nd.
This time P aol o did not get up again, but
lay as if s tunned, his whi te face loo king up
at the sky, surround ed b y the cr ow d of
frightened boys , who thought that Bo b b ie
had killed him.
Bo b b i e was the first to fall on his knees
beside Paolo and unfasten hi s shirt . Then
th ey flicked his ches t wit h da mp to wel s
and he soon bega n to c o me round again.
Just at this moment Ronald, who had
been to Rock leig h with another boy to fetch
some letters, came running into the camp,
and seeing the little cro wd of scouts , pu shed
his way into their midst . He to ok in the
situation at a gl an ce ; and, in answer tohis eager questions, the bo ys told him how it
had all happe ned.
At first he bitterl y bl ame d Bobb ie for his
work, but the others told him how, even
whe n Bo bb ie was wil ling to end the fight,
Paolo had refused to giv e in, so Rona ld
s a id :
" Wel l , I hope you'll both shake hands
and be friends after al l this. At any ra te
y o u can't call him a coward now ."
" No, he certainly is not a coward in that
w a y , " confessed Bobbie . " I ' ve never seena pluckier little fighter. Bu t he be ga n it,
not I ."
Wh en Paol o had recove red sufficiently t o
s tand, he act ual ly wan te d to begi n to fight
again, but everyone assured him it was
imposs ib le .
" But he hasn ' t apologised yet ," said he,
" a n d — a n d I ' m not beaten. I won' t giv e
in—till he apologises."
" Wel l , old cha p," said Ronald , smiling,
" I don't know about your not being beaten.
Y o u d o n ' t look as if you are fit for much.
It is absurd t o think of yo ur fighting a bi g
fellow like Bob bie ; but I ' m sure he won ' t
call yo u a coward again."
Ron al d could not help laughing t o himself,
as he contr asted the po or, battered little
scout covered with b lood and bruises and
with bo th his eyes clos ed up, with the bo y
whose por trai t had been hung in the
Ac a d e my , hi s father 's pride and his mot her' s
darling. But to Ron al d, the s turdy English
schoo lboy , Paol o Costa, miserable- looking
objec t as he now was, appeared far hand
somer in this war-like guise than he ever did
glorified by his father 's art.
Bo b b i e teased Pa ol o no more, but he h ad
not yet quite conquered his jealousy, so he
a v o i d e d him whenever poss ibl e; but with
the other boys Paolo 's popular it y was
quite assured, and his great fight withBobbie prov ed an almost inexhaustible
topic of convers atio n for several day s to
come .
{To be continued.)
CURES ACHESA IN D P A I N S
foe o/ej of Adverse me nK"
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4 4 2 The Boy's Otetn Taper.
. . . . Y (^W/ff"* .{fa Capita/ Numi-ejrJ
CYCLING FOR THE MONTH -. APRIL.
A Pa g e Tor th e " B . O . P . " W h e e lma n .
IT is' in the earli er part of the activ e riding
season tha t cycl ists suffer mo st fro m
muscular stiffness and strain. A fine day
t e mp t s one to put in anextra big mileage,
and, not being yet in really hard cond i t i on ,
w e find ourselves afflicted with what the
d o c t o r s and other learned people call local
muscu lar fati gue or stiffness, wh ich is often
really quit e painful.
Of cours e, stiffness onl y co mes on when
a person is more or less out of practice in
the exercise tha t he is performing, and it is
t h u s a sure sign of the want of training, as
w e may say. The more a cyclist rides, da y
af ter day, the less is he l ikely t o feel any
advers e effect from even the longest rides,and wi th a really hard- r id ing cycl is t , all
liability to stiffness usually disappears some
where about th is tim e of the year . He has,
y o u see, " got into form," as the phrase is .
Bu t until one does arrive at that state of
physical fitness, stiffness is apt to result
f r o m any overdoing of distance, or from
a spell of hard plugging against a strong
head wind.
N o w , a capi tal dod ge for escap ing stiffness
in the e arl y seas on, is to well ru b in a l i t t le
em broca t ion after each ride, and before
y o u change into yo ur ordinar y clothes .
Po n' t wait for the stiffness to actua lly c o m e
o n before doing this ; rub the embrocation
into your muscles as a precaution, and then
y o u will nev er feel any stiffness at all. T h a t
is a very old, and to-day universal , " t i p "with path-racing cyclists and s peed road-
riders, an d it is also val uab le to the ord in ary
wheelman.
Having said tha t t o y o u , I th ink I can in
re turn hear some fellows saying something
to me, and the purpor t of their remarks
I imagine to be somewhat like this :
" Yes, but embro cati on costs mon ey, an d
s o seems t o be rather in the nature of a
l uxury . "
Well , pocket -money not being a lways t oo
plentiful, and adv ice certa inly not worth
much unless one can also demonstrate
h o w it is to be followed, I am going t o tell
y o u how to make a real, right-down, rattl ing
g o o d cycl ing embrocat ion at the cost of only
a few pence, or, to be more precise, say four-
pence.
Procure a six-ou nce bottle, and with i t
mar ch off to the nearest chemist 's sho p and
ask him t o put into the bottle one penny
worth of acetic acid, one pennyworth of
spirits of camp hor, and on e penn ywort h of
By RAYMOND RAIFE.
spirits of turpentine. Whe n you get home
a dd t o this the white of one egg, then fill
u p the bottle with water, cork securely,
and there yo u are ! Or, rather, there is
y o u r embrocat ion. I might just ad d t h a t
th is mixture acts better as a muscle-reviver
if it is notused quite freshly made ; it
should be left for a l i t t le while t o mature
in quality . So, having made i t , and seen
tha t it is well corked down, put it away in
a dark cupboard for a week or so before
using.
In the case of a strained muscle, a g o o d -
sized clo th dip ped in fairly hot water, wrung
out, and placed upon the muscle before
rubbing it , greatly assists the action of anyem broca t ion .
BEWARE OF THE T AR!
Gett ing out and about in the country
just now, one not infrequently comes t o
places where the roadway is being treated
with some prepara t ion or other in order to
allay the summer dust nuisance, which
nuisance, by the way, is mainly caused by
moto r-ca rs. If the stuff tha t is bein g spread
up on the surface of the hi ghw ay is jus t ordin
ary tar, the cyclist should be extremely
careful how he rides there. B y far the
wisest plan, indeed, is to get off and walk
past tha t danger zone.
For wet tar is a terror for causing side
slips, and o nce you c o m e down on it, y o uwill never forget i t . I remember an occasion
when tar was being app lied to the princip al
streets in Redhi l l . In one day, at least
eight cyclists had real, thorough-going side
slips there, sma ck dow n flat in the r oad way,
and, as the y fell amo ng the hot tar, their
clothes were compl etel y ruined. Happ ily
ta r is not so popul ar no w as it once was
fo r making roads dustless. Ke ep an eye
open fo r i t , however, when on your wheel
wander ings .
Besides purely pleasure c ycling , most of
us use our bikes for all sorts of hand y getting
about , and tha t being so, a carrier is a most
conven ient adjunct to have on one's machi ne.
F i x e d over the back wheel is b y far and
away the best position for any cycle-carrier,
fo r there, no matte r what the weight carried,
it doe s not affect the steering.
Th e chief objection to most carriers is tha t
they are still there when you don ' t want to
use the m. But som e of the m are made so
tha t they will fold back flat against th e rear
chain stays. One pat te rn of carrier there
is tha t ingeniously takes three forms. Fully
open it is a strong neat luggage carrier ;
partly clo sed it carries a mackintosh cape in
small space just under the too l wallet, or,
not req uired for service as a carrier of any
thing, it can be instantly collapsed flat on
the chain stays , quite ou t of the way . I t
is a clever contrivance that , as one critic
observed, " would not look cumbersome even
on a racing machine."
IF YOUR BICYCLE SQUEAKS.
A good bicycle, maintained in repair andproperly oiled, should be practically silent
in running upo n the road . Whe n yo u en
counter any fellow pedalling along to the
accompaniment of a discordant jangling,
grind ing or squea king noise emitt ed b y his
two-wheeled mount , yo u are pre t ty certain
to find tha t he is a poor , haphazard kind of
a cycl ist . For eve n an old bicycle, decently
adjusted an d tended, "keep s its mouth shut ,"
and silent running is a charm of any
machine.
Whenever a bicyc le that is usually silent
in running begins to " speak " inany way,
th e matter should be a t tended to forthwith,
fo r noise in th e running of a cycle implies
defect ive working as a rule. First of all,
ascertain tha t all the bearings are well oiled.
Sometimes a most mysterious squeaking,tha t may long defy identification, comes
from the spr ings of the saddle, and is to be
cured by a dr op of oil appl ied in exa ctl y t he
right place. The leather itself of a new
saddle, not being yet worn pliant, will, in
some cases, squeak most audibly. Of
course , the mo re you ride the saddle, the
fainter grow s the squeak , but, to act* more
expeditiously , yo u should well rub the under
side of the leather with soap.
Whe re the squeak o r other noise is heard
regularly at each revolution of the wheels
or pedals, it is usually merely a question
of oil, or of some minor matte r of adjust
ment , to set the thing right. If, on t he
contrary, a harsh grating sound is not iced
as being prod uced only now and again, yo u
should immediat ely make a thorough examination to see tha t no part of the tubin g has
b e c o m e fractured.
T o d o this, light ly tap each tube and fork
with, say, a small spanner and listen to make
sure that i t " r i n g s " true. If any such
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Cycling for the Month: April. 4 4 3
par t fails to do so, have it exa min ed by
a repairer before yo u trust yourself on the
machine again. By this proceeding you
m ay very l ikely avo id a bad accide nt .
A t the con clus ion of a long da y' s ride on
the Great Nort h R o a d , I once noticed a
most weird noise coming occas ional ly f rom
th e bicycle of another cycl is t . Between
Potte r's Bar and High Barnet I spoke
t o him abou t it, and he decid ed to h ave
the machine examin ed on reaching the la t tertown. It being Ban k Holid ay, the first
repairer's sho p we cam e to was closed, bu t
a passing individual announced himself
as being a cycle-maker by t rade and kindly
offered to look at the bike . He wen t care
fully over it, and then s a i d :
" Y e s ; t h e c rown of the front forks is
fractured. I guess y o u ' d have broken
your neck if you had free-wheeled d o wn
Barnet Hill whic h is just in front of y ou ."
So you see that any unusual noise on a
cyc le is really a danger signal, and it should
be unhesi tat ingly accep ted as such.
SOME DRESS HINTS.
Not a few cyclists wear cel luloid shirt
collars of the k ind that, instead of havi ng tobe sent to the laundry, c an be kep t clean by
simply wiping them over with a da mp
sponge . As these collars alway s re main
stiff, they are very conv enie nt for cyc l ing
wear. In order that they shall retain their
whiteness, howev er, wearers of the m sho uld
always give them a wipe over before putt ing
them away, say, from one week end to
anoth er, or eve n after eac h tim e of using.
Thus treated, they continue to look quite
s n o wy even for years.
Referring t o matters of dress, it seems
a funny thing that some fellows, otherwise
rather neat an d na t ty , may be, even " nut
l ike," in their attire, appear to think that
an y old clothes are g o o d enou gh to go
cyc l ing in. I am sure I hav e seen so me of
them arrive home from school , or the older
ones, from business, quite band -bo xy, so to
speak, and yet c o me out again with their
bikes soon after, look ing like ruffians. N o
o n e with any sense wants to be a da nd y or
a fop , but there is absolute ly nothing abo ut
the grand sport and pastime of cyc l ing t o
prevent one's continui ng to present the
appearances of a youn g English gen tleman
when indulging in it.
Here are one or two points about cycl ing
clothes that may be worth noting .
A cycl ing cap , not ha ving to o large a
peak for the wind to get under and so b l o w
the ca p off, shou ld be cho sen to suit one 's
particular style of face. As to this there
should be little difficulty, for a well-known
dealer once told me that he stocked cycl ing
caps in as many as twenty-seven different
shapes ! A fellow would require to own a
very peculiar cast of countenance that
should require a twenty -eigh th pattern cap ,
one would think !
Your cycl ing suit, naturally enough,
may be of any colour or design of cloth
that you please, but that best keeps its shape
that is made of not too loosely woven
material. If yo u choose a fairly thick
material, don't have a Norfolk jack et, as these
are always warmer to wear, and are more
comfortable when of lighter weight cloth.
Stockings to match, and, for prefer
ence , with thin feet and thick legs, as
such stocki ngs are descri bed. Shoes bla ck
o r brown , as you fanc y, and if they arereally wide enou gh for you in the sole,
the y will not press over at the side from th e
pressure of const ant p edalling.
A jersey is a ver y appro priate under
garment for cycling, and you may have one-
that is adapted to take a collar, so that
y o u can wear a collar and nec ktie with it.
SPEED GEARS.
A very considerable proport ion of bicycles
n o w are fitted wi th tw o- or thre e-sp eed
gears. But a variab le spee d gear adds to
th e cos t of a bicyc le , and so there are a g o o d
man y youn g cyclists who are having to wait
a while before , earning mon ey for themselves,
they can afford to own that extra luxury.
N o w , with a three-speed hub to your
machi ne, yo u can have a lo w gear, a medi um
gear, perhaps, say, twenty inches higher,
and a top gear twenty inches higher than
that , each of these bein g switc hed on at
your will . An d if you, r iding a med ium
fixed gear bicycle, ar e cyc l ing with another
rider w ho is on a two or three-s peeder,
y o u will not impr oba bly be surprised to
find h o w your comp anion , swi tching on
his top gear, runs aw ay from y o u d o wn
long , easy descents. Whi le yo u are scutt l ing
after him on your fixed gear, he, not p edal
ling fast either, sweep s right aw ay and
leaves you behind him.
Tha t fact causes some youn g fellows to
d o an act that they soon repent . No t able
to yet afford a variable speed gear, they
have a bigger fixed gear wheel fitted to their
bicycles . With what result ? Wh y, on lyto find that, owing to the harder work on
the level or uphill, their average pace per
mile on a run is slow er than when they rode
a lower gea r; and to o high a gear for you r
strength takes eve ry bit of the benefit and
pleasure out of cycl ing. T h e truth is that
a high gear is on ly of advant age to the
ordinary cyc l i s t when it can be used turn
an d turn about with a lower gear, to be
switche d on when there is harder pedall ing
work to be d o n e . Therefore, while wait ing
until yo u can run to a varia ble gear, don 't
gear too high.
A s a writer upon cyc l ing topi cs, I require
every season to have a l o o k roun d at all the
ne w machines. Or, anywa y, at as man y of
them as I can manage to inspect . No w,naturally eno ugh , if you pa y a big price, yo u
can get a good bike for yo ur mo ne y ; if yo u
can not , it is generally m ore difficult to do so.
Tha t is wh y I am gratified to men tion that
the " Ju no " bicycles of the Metrop oli tan
Machin ists' Co ., Ltd ., are really first gra de
machine s at a mod erat e price. An d I was
specially pleased to note what careful atten
t ion that firm give s to bui ldin g b o y s '
bicycles.
April being proverbially a month of the
year that usually brings us a g o o d l y supply
of rain showe rs, reminds one of an admi rabl e
little extension mudguard I recently saw, or,
rather, a foreguard over the front wheel,
that can be popped on or taken off in a few
seconds. This guard sim ply clips on to th e
stirrup of the front wh eel brake, and is thus
fastened there withou t any screws. A nd
we all know how, without a foreguard of
Home kin d, the splashes of mu d proje cted
b y the front wheel soon fair ly smothe r bot h
machi ne and rider. This one can be put on
or taken off in " two t wo ' s , " and it weighs
" next to nothing."
j r j t
T H E S P L I T I N F I N I T I V E .
THE split infinitive, my lad,
Is something to avoid;
To see you use it makes me sad,
The charm your essay might have had
Is by its use destro yed.
So take my counsel, prithee, do,
That turn for licence curb ;It will be quite unwise of you
To let aught creep between the " to "
An d its ally, the verb.
In language many a black abyss
Awaits you far and nigh ;Such pitfalls I would have you miss,
But chiefly do beware of this
Grammatical Paul Pry!
P. J. COX.
S C I E N T I F I C
O D D S A N D E N D S .
I .—Some E x p e r i m e n t s
w i t h M a g n e t s .
By W. M. SEABER, B.S c, F.I.C.
T I O K these it is necess ary to buy tw o
X small bar magn ets, whic h can be
obta ined from man y toy shops, or from
s o me chemists. They cost from lOd. per pair
upwards , acco rding to size. Th e ordinary
horse-shoe magnet is not much g o o d fo r
these exp eri ment s. It will be seen that th e
t w o bar magnets are protected by pieces
of iron at the ends . If this were not done ,
the magnetism would weaken much more
rapidly. Yo u wil l also notice that each
magnet has a line across one end, and that
they are placed so that the marked ends
are away from each other. No w take off
the pieces of iron and separate the bars.
Y o u will find that the marked ends will
repel each other , and so will the plain end s,
but a plain end and a mar ked end will
a t t r ac t each other. 'Y o u must o btain no w several thin
knittin g pins as lon g as yo u like. If you r
sister cannot supply you with these, probably
Floating on W a t e r .
y ou can get them at some draper 's . The y
mus t be cut into short pieces ab ou t 1J
t o 2 inches l ong , which can be don e by
making a cut with a good three-cornered file,
placing th e file flat on the tabl e and usi ng its
uppe r edge as a mean s of breaki ng the n eedle
at the cut , placing the cut just on the ed ge
of th e file, and smart ly bend ing the needle
with bot h hands.
These pieces (of which abou t a d ozen
may be cut) must n ow be mag netised
separately. T o do this y o u t ake one, place
it flat on the table, put a mat ch across
its centr e, and a weigh t at one end of the
match, so that the needle is preven ted
f rom mov ing about. Ta ke one mag net
in each hand, hol ding one by the m ark ed
end an d the other b y the plain end. Brin g
their other ends o ne on each side
of the ma tch at the cent re of the piece
of knit t ing needle, and s lowly draw each
magnet towards the end nearest to it,
touc hin g the needle all the time. Bring
them back over the top again to the centre
without tou ching the needle, and y ou are
ready to start again. D o this seven times,
and you have turned th e piece of knittingneedle into quite a stron g little mag net.
Y o u will find that the end of the ne edle
which you stroked with a marke d e nd
will be attracted by a marked end, and
pus hed awa y b y a plain end ; an d similarly,
the end rub bed with the plain end of
the othe r magne t will be attracted b y
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4 4 4 The "Boy's Obvn Taper.
a plain end and pushed away by a ma rke d
end. Yo u must proc eed in exactly the
same way unt i l you have turned all your
dozen pieces into magnets. No tice as
y o u d o this which ends will be a t t rac ted
b y a marked end and lay them with their
ends pointing in the same direction.
T he ne xt step is to find so me sma ll
corks , and to cu t pieces from them about
J in. thic k. Th en push each little magn et
through a piece of cork , and make them
float on water so that all the ends which
would be pushe d away by a mark ed end are
undern eath. (In the case of blun t ends it
is g o o d to make a hole first with the sharp end
of a knitting pin.) R e m o v e the floating
magnets from the water and make marks on
t o p of the corks so that you know which
w ay to put them back again.
Meanwhile, fix up one of the ba r mag net s
so that it is upright over the water (which
m a y be put into a china basin) and has its
marked end downwa rds and about 1J inches
above the water . Th e exac t distance
above the water for best results must be
found by trial , as it depends upon the
strength of the magnet .
Y o u must t h i n float the little mag net s onon e by one, and yo u will notice how curiously
they arrange themsel ves under the influence
of the magn et whic h is a b o v e . It is possible
t o d o this by holding the bar mag net with
on e hand , but it is mu ch easier and mor e
conven ien t to hav e it fixed in some way,
so that it can, if necessary, be m o v e d up and
d o w n . The best thing to fix it with is one
o f th e w ooden c l ip stands used in a chemical
laboratory , but prob ably many ways will
o c c u r t o y o u — f o r instance you might have
a piece of string tied to the plain end of
the magnet so that the marked end hangs
downwards , and the string cou ld be fixed t o
a nail in the side of a box . Th e magn et
cou ld then be raised and low ered by twisting
up the string.
It is difficult to describe exactl y wha t
goes on as fresh magnets are added from
the side, but yo u will see what regular
arrang ements are for med and ho w first
one , then t w o , then three magnets go in
immediate ly under the bar magnet , and
h o w they surround themselves with a ring
of others . If one or tw o are inclined to
float off by themselves and to leave the
general family you must c o a x them in by
lowering the bar magne t, a nd if the whole
lo t of them are too much huddled u p you
must raise the magn et a little. Y o u ma y
also try the effect of put t ing the other bar
ma gn et on to p of the first o ne with its ma rke d
end touc hing the plain en d of yo ur first on e.
A ver y interesting thing, to o, is sudde nlyto remo ve the bar magn et when a g o o d
num ber of the magne ts have a rranged
themselves . Th ey all qui ckl y separate, and
m os t of them t a k e up ver y regular positio ns
roun d the side of the basin with one ,
t w o , or three disporting themselves in the
middle . Very man y different arrangements
can be got in this way by a little " juggling."
On e little trick is worth mentioning. First
arrange eight magne ts at equal distances
rou nd the edge and pu t two in the middle .
Th is can easily be do ne with a little car e,
and it will be found that the two will remain
there witho ut the help of any bar magn et.
N o w carefully m o v e one magnet away from th e
side and gently push it towar ds the centre.
In the other hand hol d a bar magne t an d
bring its marked end cautiously down until
y o u can just keep the three in the middle.
Take away the bar magnet and you will
generally find that the little magnet you
brought from the side will g o ba ck by itself to
its gap . Bu t no w push it out again and hold
it as before, an d this time, while you are
still keep ing it in the centre with the othe r
t w o , rearrange the ones round the edge so
that the gap is filled up and there are seven
rou nd the edge at equal distances. R e m o v e
the magnet and our wandering friend shows
no desire to push his way bac k, but simpl y
remains to make a little triangle with the
other two.
Y o u will find very many more amusing
things to d o with these needles, and youwill be interested t o know that by studying
the mov eme nts of little magnets in ways
very muc h like this, Professor J. J. Th oms on
has sho wn us ho w the chemica l atoms were
probab ly built up from minute specks of
elect r ic i ty .
S c a r r e d Cliff I s l a n d :
A T a l e o f a V e n d e t t a .
By A. FERGUSON,
Author of " The Singing Kettle,"" Held as Hostages," " Up the
Essequibo" etc., etc.
C H A P T E R V I . — E S C A P I N G F R O M M Y B O N D S , I P R O V E T H E V A L U E O F A B O Y S P A S T I M E .
Barto Bar-
buzzi a n d
his brother
went away
t o find Fran
cesco Cazale.
T hrough th e
open back door I
w atched them top
the rise behind
the house, and
after some c o n
fabulation separate, each going
off to search in
different direct ions.
W ith the fog gone , it
wa s again the loveliest of
summer mornings, and a gentle breeze
stirred the clear, sunlit air. Th e tw o
Sicilians being o ut of sight, it would have
been hard for me to bel-eve that, on such a
d a y , black murder, in the heart of Barto
Barbuzzi , cou ld be walking our peaceful little
island, were it not that the ruffian's ferocious
threats still rang in my ears, making me
tremblingly certain that the bla ckest of
murders would bo don e if he foun d F rancie.
But, for my comfort , I was equally certain
that he would no t find Fran cie. I had no
fear that th e latter would fail to reach, even
in the fog, the " Tre e of Refu ge " Gully, a nd,
when the fo g lifted, t he Tr ee of Ref ug e itself
and the cunning hiding-place on the top of it.
Once there, a hund red Bart o Barbuz zis, as
greedily thirsting for his blood as the one who
wa s after him no w, might search the island
fo r wee ks wit ho ut finding him. Oh, Fran cie
wa s safe beyond the risk of disc ove ry !
Then my thoughts turned rather ruefully
to myself. I had vaguely and vain-
gloriously fancied that, bo y though I was,
I should somehow be a ble, with the exercise
of a little simple cunnin g, to throw dust in
the eyes of two ignorant I ta l ian fishermen
and put them off Franci e's scent, besides
scaring them quick ly away from the islandb y the announcement that, at any moment,
my father might return with friends. But
things had not turned out accordin g to m y
expectat ions . It w as I wh o had suffered th e
scaring, thoug h I had had pl uck enough
to hide the fact.
F rom the first, I ha d bee n me re ly a
helpless youn gste r in the po wer of the
savag e Bart o, and no w here I was his
prisoner, ignomi niou sly trussed like a fowl,
and by bonds that seemed impossible to
loosen, twist myself abo ut as I might. Ye s,
indeed, I felt quite a little b oy , and a v er y
cheap little bo y at that. I also felt myself
getting a very uneas y little b oy , as I p ictured
th e return of the tw o villains. For there wa s
no doub t that Barto Barbuzzi, unsuccessful
in his hunt for the man he wanted to kill,
would return in a furious tempe r.
There was a big chance, I considered, that
he might ven t som e of that temper in
knocking me about, seeing that I was a
friend of Francie's, though he didn't suspect
me of kno win g anything o f the latter's
latest mov eme nts . If he did suspect that I
wa s in league with Francie against him, that
I kn ew where Francie was hiding—and the
chances were that, in his baffled fury, he
would start suspecting tha t—what would
happ en ? I had an in stinctive feeling,
though I might not then have been able to
put it into clear words, that there was a
reckless savagery in Barto's nature, akin to
madness, that would blind him to consequences when his vile temper was fully
roused. I turned c old al l over and shivered
in my bonds.
Wha t would the ruffian do to me ? I
asked myself fearfully. W o u l d he kill me i
N o , not at first, a ny wa y, I dec ide d, not
until he had tried to get out of me where
Francie was—had tried to get me to lead
the m there. Bu t neve r, neve r, I v o w e d
to myself, should I budge one step towards-
Francie's hiding-pl ace ! Never , never would
I speak one word that cou ld help Barto to
find Francie ! even tho ugh he stuck knives
int o me , or cu t off my nose and ears,
as I had read was the way of Italian brigands
with their prisoners—and a brigand was
almost a decent sort compared with him.
M y imagina tion rioted on, suggesting th e
most harrowing possibilities, until it reached
a climax in this : S uppos e Barto should
keep torturing me until I lost grip of myself
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Scarred Cliff Island. 4 4 5
an d gave Francie awa y ! I had read of big ,
strong men telling, under torture, things
that they would have died sooner than tell
•otherwise—and I was on ly a bo y. I mig ht,
without kn owing what I was doing , betr ay
poor , trusting Francie to be tortured an d
kill ed by his fiendish ene my. I must ge t
a w a y — I must not be there when Barto
returned to tor ture and make a t ra i tor of m e!
In a mad panic, I struggled, and strained,
an d pulle d, tryin g to loose n the rope that
t ied me. Except that my wrists an d
ankl es go t cut , it was all to no effect. At
first it seeme d so, an yh ow ; then , as my panic
subsided, I noticed that m y right arm felt
a trifle less con fine d than it had been . No t
withou t pain and difficulty, I man age d, at
length, to work my hand and forearm free
o f the rope. A little wriggling and stretching,
and my clasp-knife was extr acted from the
inside pocket of my schoo l-uniform shirt .
A little hack ing and sawing at the r ope , and
I was altogether free from my bonds.
Shall I ev er forget the jo y and thankful
ness that mome nt brough t me, even thoug hthe next sent me tumbling to the floor, faint
and exhausted ?
But I quickly recovered myself, for I
was in desperate haste to get out of the
hou se and hide, lest one, or bot h of the
Barbuzzi brothers should c o m e back sooner
than was to be exp ect ed. I dare d not go
near Francie, lest, by so me unlucky chance,
they should catch sight of me and get a
« l u e to his where abou ts. I must find quite
another hiding-place. But where ? Th e
answer flashed instantly on my searching
mind , and brough t with it an inspiriting
suggest ion that filled me with hope.
I was quite well awar e that, even though
l, as well as Francie, were conce ale d past
•finding by the Barbuzzi, the situation
stil l would remain trying and dangerous
ior bot h of us. The villains migh t choose
to keep possession of our island until they
.spied my father's yach t returning, and that,
possibly, migh t not be for another couple
o f days . In the meanwhile, with t hem
search ing for us, Francie a nd I would not
•dare, for our lives, to mo ve a yard from
our hiding-places.
A n d there was even worse than that
f o r me to fear. For I kne w that, when
I never came to announce the Barbuzzi 's
departure to him, Francie's anxiety on m y
.account would force him, before very long,t o leave his safo refuge and risk his en emies'
knives to find out what had hap pen ed.
Ho if, after all, he was not to fall a victim
to Barto Barbuzzi 's mad thirst for venge
an ce , the sooner our island was rid of that
.ruffian and his bro the r the better. But poor
Francie and I, singly or conjo intly, were,
very evident ly, not fitted to do the ridd ing.
Al l this I had sense enough to see very
•clearly. Therefo re, when I re memb ered
a g o o d place for me to hide in, it can l e
•easily imagi ned ho w eagerly I snatche d at
the idea which that hiding-place naturally
suggested—the idea of summo ning help
from be yo nd the isla nd.
Even as these thoughts were hurrying
throu gh m y mind, I was rushing from one
room to another, collecting my father's
field-glasses, his sha vin g-mi rro r and a
•cherished little noteboo k of my o wn.
'These articles—su ddenly bec ome of price
less impor tance to me
— I thrust into the
b o s o m of my shirt .
Then, peeping first to
see that the Barbuzzi
were not in sight, I
ran out of the house
and made for the cover
of a little patch of
wind - c ropped a n d
t w i s t e d trees that
fringed trie edge of the cliff
close by .
When I got there, I took
hold of the expo sed roots of
one of those hardy t rees, an d
cautiously let myself drop over
th e cliff on to a narrow, slanting
ledge on its precipitous face.
This ledge ran d ow n, at a sligh t
angl e, for ab ou t fifteen fee t.
There it stopped, widening into
an almos t level plat for m large
enough to give standing r o o m
to a dozen people or more at
on e time. The platform was
the top of a sort of great
natural but t ress of the cliff,
and t he sides of the buttress,
which wa s against th e cliff, fell sheer down,
a hun dre d and sev ent y feet, to the sea
breaki ng in foa m on the roc ks be low .
It was just the place to take hold of the
heart of a bo y, and its fascinati on was,
of cours e, increas ed b y the spi ce of difficulty
and danger there was in getting access to it.
N o wonder that I regarde d it at all times as
my own especial sanctum !
A s th e trees overhanging the cliff hid the
platform, and the ledge that led down to it ,
from v i e w from abo ve, unless one wen t
out of one's way to look for them, I felt
quite safe here fro m the Barb uzz i. Besid es,
the weather of centuri es had wo rn out a
hole in the cliff, behind the platform, in
which a boy , who didn ' t mi nd being
cramp ed a li t t le, coul d he well-hidden from
the sight of all save the sea-birds.
But I did not mean to take to the ho le
just yet . The re was wo rk to be do ne first.
There, on my right, across more than a dozen
miles of water—just then, unusually bare
I pulled out
arranged co
the notebook, wh ich contained our carefullyde of signals, and set to work." (Seep. 446.)
that of boats or vessels of any descri ption—l ay
th e l i t t le settlement on the mainland. My
work was to summon help from there in
our sore need.
I glanced quickl y up at the sun. Yes ,
the sun was just right. Th ou gh I felt as if
weeks had pas sed since Fran cie an d I
set out on ou r tou r of ins pect ion in the
early morning, i t wanted still m ore than
two hours of noo n. Cuthbert wou ld be at
his post.
E ighteen months ago, Cuthbert D aw son
and I had sta r ted a sys tem of signa lling to
each othe r by sun-flashes. W e had mad e up
a private c o d e of our own—th ough not
witho ut incurring a hea vy debt to the
Morse telegraphic c o d e , of which Cuth had
learned someth ing from a cousin who was
in the Nor thp ort telegraphic office—and
w e had got so enthusiastically interested
in what we had begun as an idle game, that
w e had kept it up to the constant improve
ment of our met hods .
When we were at our homes, in the schoo l
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4 4 6 The "Boy's Obern Taper.
vacat ions, we mad e it a duty t o repair
twice, every day of sunshine, to our respective
heliogra phic stations on each side of the
d iv id ing chann el. In the morn ing, as the
posi t ion of the sun dem and ed, it was I
wh o flashed messages with a looking-glass
t o Cuth from m y cliff platform. Then, in
the aftern oon, I rece ived those he sent to
m e f rom the t op of the little hill beh ind his
father 's house.
B y dint of mu ch pract ice we had brou ght
ou r somewhat primit ive heliog raphy to
quite a serv iceabl e degre e of efficiency,
an d Cut h and I we re as pr ou d of it as if
we had disco vered the sun and inv ented
mirrors.
M y father had allowed that our sun-
signalling might prove valuable in an
emergenc} ' . Wel l , here was an emergency
with a vengeance—an emergency that wa s
going to prove the worth of a mere b o y ' s
pas time ! F or I pinned my fai th to that
pastime to turn the tables on the Bar buzzi
before long, an d win free dom and safety
fo r Francie and myself .
Eage r and ex cite d, I hauled a roug h
w o o d e n stand of my own making out of
the h ole in the cliff, where I kept it han dy.
The n, placing it in posi tion, I hung my
father's s havin g-mirr or on it, pulled out the
notebook, whic h con tain ed our carefully
arranged c o d e of signals, and set to work.
T o begin with, I twice flashed " Urg ent. "
Then s low ly an d surely m y flashes spelle d
o u t : —
" Franc ie and I in great danger. The
Barbuzzi here. Fa th e r away. Send
help at once to us."
I was sure that Cuth, kno win g al l about
the Barbuzzi brothers, would not fail to
unders tand the message and what the
message impl ied. Still, to leave no r o o m
fo r his misreading it, I carefully repeated
it several times.
I had no means of kno win g that my chum
had go t the message, or, even , had been
at his po st to get it. Bu t, all the same , it
never entered my mind to doubt that l.e
had been there, and ha d dul y rece ived it,
and would d o a b o y ' s utmost to have my
appeal quic kly and effectively answered.
I c o u l d so abso lutel y rely upo n Cuth.
So , satisfied to know that I had done my
part in summoning help, and that help
wa s sure to reach us as speed ily as mig ht
be , I bundled myself and signalling con
trapti ons into the hole in the cliff. There
I sa t, field-glasses in ha nd , to wai t and
wat ch for the first appe aran ce in the far
distance of a boat coming to our rescue.
I knew it must take som e little time to ma ke
up a rescue party and get under way, so I
tried to possess my »oul in patience.
But waiting and watching is weary work
to an eager bo y, and the time passed s low ly ,
though I had acquired, from m y lofty look
out , an interesting bit of informa tion to
rumina te on. This was supplie d by m y
recogni t ion of the stolen yacht , which had
brought the dreadful Barto Barbuzzi and
his brot her t o our island, and whi ch no w
la y peacefu lly at anc hor, a little way out
side the farther horn of the harbo ur.
As soon as I had set eye s on her I ha d
recognised her as Mr. Blundell 's Princess Ida,
fo r Mr. Blundell was one of my father's
fe w intim ate friends, and he and his yach t
had put in a couple of da ys at the island
only a few weeks previously. Well , if our
rescuers would only c o m e quickly and lay
the Barbuzzi by the heels, that would speed
the restoration of Mr. Blunde ll 's yac ht t o
her o wner !
A n d presently my hear t was gladdened
whe n, by the ass ist anc e of th e field-glasses,
I managed to pick up on the wide bare
channel a distant speck which, from it s
position, I rightly guessed to be the boa t
bringi ng help to us.
It was very sunny and peaceful up in
that crow' s-ne st of a plac e. Save for the
occasional cr y of a sea-gull an d the con
tinuo us murm ur of the summe r sea fretting
itself on the ro cks far be low , no sound broke
the stillness. Then, from some distance
behind me, came sounds that made hideous
discord to my ear—the Barbuzzi brothers
shouting to each other. P oor Francie, in
his leafy hiding-place, would be sure to hear
them too—perhaps it might even be the
" Tree of R e f u g e " Gully itself that t he
shouting came f rom ! Bu t I nee dn' t fear—
I defied the m to find Fra nci e !
I wond ere d what the poor fellow was-
thinking and feeling. I wished that it
had been possible for me to hearten him.
up with the news that our plight was known,
on the mainla nd, and a boat was now
hastening across the channel to rescue us
from that ter rib le man wit h the fingerlesa
hand w ho had taken possession of o u r
island and driv en us into h iding.
The n, whilo I sat, with glee in my heart
an d th e field-glasses glu ed to my eyes,,
watch ing the gradual enlargement of that
distant speck to a size that made it dis
tinguish able as a yacht , of a sudden there
broke upon my ears a confused hubbub of
noise, coming out of our house. Well I knew
what it meant ! The Barbuzzi had returned
from their fruitless search and had discovered
m y escape' .
[To be continued.)
Our Open Column.
H O W T O M A K E S T I L T S .
By W. J. HORNER.
2'h
1 1
i
STILTS for walking will range from about 12 in.
to 2-1 in. in height , measured from the ground to
the tops of the brackets, or spurs, on which the feet
rest. The height
of the sticks above
t h i s s h o u l d be
sufficient to reach
a little above the
shoulders of the
person who uses
them. The con
struction is very
simple except in the
few cases where the
height of step is
m a d e adjustable.
Usually it is fixed
at about 18 in.,
and the total height
of the sticks for
t h a t a m o u n t
should be about
5 ft. G in.
A small pair of
stilts for a boy of
not more than ten
or twelve can be
made fr om tw o
ordinary b r o o m
h a n d l e s w i t h
blocks screwed to
them. The way to
do this is shown
in Fig. 1. The
broom handle is
rebated to about
one - third of its
thickness. Th i s
forms a flat surface
to screw the block
against and also
provides a shoulder
above and below which assists the screws in keeping
it in place. The screw should not be less than 2 in.
long, and should be put through the stick into the
Fia. 1.
block as shown. The block should be rather less in
thickness than the stick. The height to the top of
the block in this case should be about 12 in.
Generally t h e
sticks for stilts are
of square section at
the part where the
blocks are attached
a n d a r e m a d e
c y l i n d r i c a l , or
nearly so, above
and below, as in
Fig. 2. Yello w pine
or pitch pine is
suitable, or even
d e a l i f s o u n d
s t r a i g h t-grained
pieces can be ob
tained. They should
be about 5 ft. 10 in.
l o n g by 1J in.
square. The blocks
may be about 1J in.
thick and of a suit
able width for the
boots, the measure
ment of the latter
being taken across
the arched portion
between solo and
heel. The blocks
should have slight
upward projections
beyond this width to
prevent any possi
bility of the feet
slipping off them.
In Fig. 2 two of
these blocks are
shown on opposite %
sides of a stick, but
as a rule there is
only one. The reason for having two is that two differ
ent heights of step are thus given, the lower one being,,
say, 18 in. from the ground, and the upper one 24 in.
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INDOOR SPORTS AND PASTIMES.
TH E Solutions to the problems set in ou r
issue for February 1 are here given.
Th e pieces in N os . 2, 3, 4, 5 an d 6 are ar-
ranged as b e l o w :
T H E W E I G H T P R O B L E M . — The t rout
weighs 6 lbs. Let X represent the weight
of the t ro u t : half of X is 3 lbs., therefore
X weighs 6 lbs.
A D I V I S I O N P U Z Z L E . — 2 is div ided b y 5
so that the result will be 1,000, thus :
I I -J- V = M = 1,000.
A N E A S Y C I P H E R . — I n this cipher the
letter next but o n e to the o ne intended is
used, but backwards instead of forwards, w ith
t wo characters X and 2 in t roduced to start
the alphabet. Thus A is represented by X, B
b y 2, C by A, D by B, E b y C, F b y D, G
by E, H by F, an d so o n . T he message
thus deciphered reads: " T h e ' B . O . P . ' is
the friend of all boys of all count r ies ."
Th e cryptographic verse is as follows :
As quietly to steal he stole
Hi s bag of chink he chunk,
An d many a wicked smile he smole,
An d many a wink he w unk .
B U R I E D T O W N S .
1. O xford .
2. Brighton.3. Dover .
4. Carlisle.
5. Frome.
6. Deal.
/ 3 \ * \ .
/ 6
h
By MORLEV ADAMS.
(Solutions to Puzzles and Problems on p. 283.)
T H E T H R E E Q U E S T I O N S .
Th e K i ng ' s Jeste r answered the monarch
thus : T h e courier , in reply to the question
" H o w long have y o u been w a i t i ng?" s a i d
" T o o - t o o - t o o - t o o - t o o - t o o , " b y which i t w as
quite evident he meant from " T w o t o T w o
to T w o - T w o . "
In trying t o so lve the second pr ob l em
o ne would natural ly suppose the answer t o
be " ten t i m es , " bu t the carpenter in pull ing
ou t of his pocket ten nails at a t ime would
take o u t five in his hand a n d five on the ends
of hi s fingers (his own nails), and he would,
therefore, pu t his hand in hi s pocket twenty
t imes t o em pt y it.
Having solved these quest ions the jester
said that it was plain the King meant b v
Y Y U R Y Y U B I C U R Y Y 4 M E
l i
Too wise yo u are , too wise you be ,
I see yo u are to o wise fo r m e . "
A n d so , having successfully passed the
test, he was granted his life.
T he solution to the W o r d Puzzles are as
follows :
Stop—shop- -shoe .
Must—mast—cast—cant .
B o y — b a y — m a y — m a n .
Less—loss—lose—lore—more.
Fish—fis t—mis t—most—moat—meat .
W o o l — f o o l — f o o t — b o o t — b o l t — b o l e — b a l e
—ball .
(To be continued.)
m m m
Gorresponbence.L. WILEY.—It should not be a drawback to your
entering the Royal Navy. You say that yo u are
" sound as a bell" in every other respect. If the
hair continues to fall out see a doctor on the matter.
D. GIBSON.—Your " coin " is a token of ex-President
William Henry Harrison of the United States. It
was struck while he was a candidate for the office,
and has no particular value.
H . HARPER.—The " Queen's Park " and the " Queen's
Park Rangers " are two distinct clubs. The former
is a Glasgow club.
H . E. B. (St. Leonard's-on-Sea).—The November1911 monthly part is obtainable from the publishers
at the usual price.
BARTON, AY.G. S.—" The Triple Alliance " was a
serial story by Harold Avery, which appeared in
Vol. X I X of the " B.O.I'." (1897). It was illustrated
by Alfred Pearse.
L. P. JONES.—Write to the manager of the steamship
company which you wish to enter, for full particulars.
Some of the lines, we believe, take apprentices.
An introduction would no doubt be of assistanco
to you.
CANADIAN (St. John, N.B.).—(1) Th e January 13,
1912, weekly number is in stock, also the January
mont hly part. AVe can supply the coloured plate
of the '" Line r " (in the November 1900 part) at
Id. post free. (2) The " B.C.P." volumes in Canada
are bound by Messrs. AVarwick Bros, and Rutter,
wholesale stationers, Toron to. (3) " B.C. " after the
name of a London street signifies " East Central
district" ; " W . C . , " AVest Central ; " S.W.,"
South-West, and so on.
PENDRAUON.—One of the big dealers in toys and
games should be interested in your proposal. Writo
to John Piggott, Cheapside, London, E . C . , or A. W .
Gamage, Holborn, E.G., and ask for an interview.
Yo u must be prepared with a complete plan, or
model, of the game.
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4 4 8 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.
Our Rote Book.PROM A SMALL BEGINNING-.
H A I T A N G is a Chinese island abou t twenty-five miles
long, with a population of 70,000. About thirty-
seven years ago, we are told, an inhabitant travelling
on the mainland hearJ- of the Gospel message from a
fellow traveller at a Chinese inn. He accepted the
truth, returned to Haitang and did not rest until hehad carried the Gospel to every one of the 411 villages
on the island. When the missionaries came about
ten years ago they found a prepared people. There
are now preaching stations in thirty villages. Some
of these poor village Christians give one-fourth of
their income for the spread of the Gospel.
AUSTRALIA'S PRINCIPAL TREE.A U S T R A L I A N forests generally present a monotonous
appearance on account of the great number of euca
lypti, of which there are many species, yet a large
variet y of other valuable trees is found there, in
cluding one, the ironbark, which furnishes one of the
best, if not the very best, hardwood timber in the
world. There are four species of ironbarks—the red,
the white, the black and the grey. The species of
eucalyptus known as the sugar-gum is said to be the
best for planting in other countries. Many of these
trees grow to a height of 90 pr 100 feet in twenty-five
years.
¥ ¥ ¥ A CAGE FOR LARVA.
OUR sketch illustrates a useful cage for larva that
ma y be easily and quickly made out of any strong
cardboard box of a suitable size. When complete
the box stands on one side and the lid forms the back
of the cage. In the sketch the lid has been removed
to show the arrange ment of the interior. On either
side of the box square pieces of cardboard are cut away,
an d in their places are fixed two pieces of perforated
zinc. This can be done by gluing strips of cloth along
the edges of the zinc and on to the box. A portion of
the bottom of the box (which forms the front of the
cage) is also cut aw ay, and glass f astened in its pla ce
in the same manner in which the zinc has been fixed.
A piece of cardboard or thin wood , carefully cut to
exa ctly fit th e cage, forms the floor, and is supportedon two little jars which contain water. There are two
holes cut in the cardboard over the jars, into which
the food for the caterpillars may be inserted, and thewater in the jars will keep it fresh until it has been
consumed. A good plan is to plug any space round
the stems of the leaves with cotton wool to prevent the
possibility of any of the caterpillars falling into the
water in the jars and so becoming drowned.
THUS THE MENU.Ho w long have menus been used at dinners ? As
an answer to this question, a story is tol d in different
German papers, according to which Duke Henry of
Brunswick, when Bitting at one of those sumptuous
feasts connected with the German Reichstag, was
noticed often assiduously to look at a long slip of paper.
When questioned b y his neighbour, the Count of
Montfort, as to the reason of his table studies, he told
him tha t the " master of the kitchen " had drawn upfor him and his stomach's benefit a list of all the dishes,
just to enable his master to reserve his appetite for
the best tilings to come. The other guests were so
well pleased with the intelligent cook's invention that
the hab it of writing out bills of fare instantly spread hi
Germany. This remarkable dinner took place at
Regensburg in 1541.
T H E SECOND MILE.
S T E R N Duty s aid : " Go walk a mile,
An d help thy brother bear his load."
I walked reluctant, but, meanwhile,
My heart grew soft with help bestowed.
Then Lov e said : " Go another mile. "
I went, and Duty spake no more,
Bu t Love arose, and with a smile
Took all the burden that I bore.
"Jis ever thus when Duty calls;
If we spring quickly to obey.Love comes, and whatsoe'er befalls,
We're glad to help another day.
Th e second mile we walk with joy,
Heaven's peace goes with us on the road;
So lee us all our powers employ
To help our brother bear life's load.
STEPHEN MOORE.
(The American Messenger.)
O U R
P R I Z E C O M P E T I T I O N
A W A R D S .
FOOTBALL COMPETITION (see page 85).
No . 1. - A Graphic (Prose) Account of
" My Dream Match."
Prize Football Winner.
A Fanc y Portrait of the "Spr ing bok s" at Home.
HOWARD C A TTELL, 1 0 7 Wilton Street, Lozells,
Birmingham.
Consolation Prizes.
E R N E S T C. M O R R I S , 20 New Street, Ludlow, Salop;
A. PJ. E A S T , Victoria House, Birchington, Kent;
J O H N S H A W , 23 0 Wanamaker Street, West Phila
delphia, Penn., U . S . A . ; J A C K A. C O O PER , 44 Winsley
Boad, Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts.
Hon. Mention.
R O B E R T D. C A R R BTH ER S, " Gj-psies," Fiv e Ashes,
Susses; T . B. C O STA IN , 99 Admiral Street, Toxteth
Park, Liverpool; C H A R LES M . EYNOK, Ripon House,
King's Boad. Harrogate.
No. 2.—Descriptive Sketch of
" My Favourite Player, and W h y . "
Prize Football Winner.
0. W . TULLETT, 18 Sidmouth Mews, Gray's
Inn Boad, W.C.
Consolation Prizes.
W . H . McNAIU, Myrtle Bank, 148 Holmo Boad, West
Bridgford, Notts.; WILLIAM C A N O F1ELD , 15 Burbank
Terrace, West Hartlepool; A . E. SMITH , 46 Lewes
Road, Brighton.
No. 3.—Humorous True Football Story.
Prize Football Winner. '
ARNOLD MORGAN, 6 0 Boundary Eoad, Wood
Green, N.
Consolation Prizes.
G E O R G E R O G E R S , 6 1 Titterton Street, Attercliffe,
Sheffield; A. E. EAST, Victoria House, Birchington,
Kent.
Hon. Mention.
H . S T E W A R T , 1 1 Wyeth's Boad, Church Boad,
Epsom, Surrey: K E N N E T H M A C D O N A L D , Sutherland
Anns Hotel, Golspie, Sutherland.
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