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8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 19th April 1913
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-19th-april-1913 1/16
By J. CLAVERDON WOOD,
Author of " Sinclair of the Scouts," " Jeffrey of the White Wolf Trail,"elg.
C H A P T E R I . — T H E " M A G G I E " R U N S A C A R G O .
IN the springtim e of the ye ar 1833 tw o men wer e
sitting outside a cottage which stood in a secluded
glen on the north-east coast of the Isle of Man.
Before them was a sto ny bea ch, raised some ten or
twelve feet abo ve the shore, and sloping gradually to
the se a; thro ugh this stony ridge a narrow river
ran. In the distance , the faint out line of theEnglish coast cou ld be discerned, and in a wide
golden expanse, under the brightness of the morning
sun, there spark led the wavel ets of the Irish Sea.
On either hand pine w o o d s rose on the hillsides,
clothing them to the summit with luxuriant growth ;
in summer time magnificent clump s of fuchsias gave
beaut y to the scene. Run nin g across the mout h of a
little natural harbou r was a huge boulde r of hard
rock. It fo rme d a brea kwate r, and within its shelter' The smugglers were carrying goods an d storing them somewhere in the
garden." (See p. 452.)
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 19th April 1913
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450 The toy's Qton Taper.
lay some punts and a s loop
of abou t th ir ty tons . It was
a Peel-built vessel, strong,
well made , and buo yant
enough to face the wildest
s torm.
Half concealed among the
pines, no t fifty yards from
the cottag e, was a long, l ow ,
sto ne build ing. It had aw i d e d o o r , w h i c h w a s
studd ed with iron, and was
secured with a he av y bar
and large pad lock . Wi th i ts
s tu rdy walls and n arro w
windows it looked like a
fortress. It was really a
warehouse for g o o d s which
were to be sm ugg led into
Engl and . Th e Isle of Man
had lon g been the de po t of
a regular contraband t rade
with the mainl ands of Sco t
land and Eng land.
U p o n a long can e chair in
the verandah, the taller of
the two men was reclining.
He was heavily bearded,
with da rk eyes and sun
tanned f a c e ; a man of
sl ight but powerful physique ,
with coura ge stam ped upon
every feature. Alth ough l ie
was a cripple he yet showe d
in all his movements a rest
less act ivit y. His legs had
been cut off b e l o w the knees,
and his long hair and beard
on ly part ial ly concealed th e
fact tha t ho had lost both
ears. Th e other ma n was
dressed in l oos e white robes,
• girdled with a long strip of
brightly coloured silk. His curl ed beard,
dark face and tu rban show ed him to b e of Indian birth. He was from Laho re, a Sikh
of the Indus provin ces, and the dev ote d
servant of the crippled man, John Robe rtson
Laurie.
Eight years before this time the two men
had landed at Douglas from a L o n d o n
coasting brig, bringing with them an infant
b o y of ab out tw o years of age. After a few
days Nusseer, the Si kh, set off to t r a mp th e
island, and finally disc over ed the sec luded
cott age in the Glen. He boug ht it for a fe w
pounds and the three settled there.
Eour years later Mr. Laurie purcha sed an
interest in a smuggling s l o o p , th e Maggie,
and derived a small but steady income from
his ventu re. Th e vessel was also used for
fishing and t rading, but th ose who saw her
slipping around the cliffs and steering for
England knew well tha t as a rule she carried
a cargo which the Customs officials would
have been glad to ov erhaul .
" Nussee r," said Mr. Laurie , " I had bad
news yesterday from the docto r. He gives
me no hope of recove ry. I may sl ip away
at any mome nt. My heart is worn to shreds,
and the least excitement will puff out my
life like a cand le in a wind. If it were not
fo r the lad's sake I don't know that I should
be sor ry. I hav e had my innings "
" Inning s ? " said Nusseer w ith a puzzl ed
l o o k upon his f ace . " Wh at is i nnings,
Sah ib ? "
" Don ' t yo u know ? W e l l , never mind !
1 hav e had a long day 's wo rk, and th e end is
not far off no w. "
H e paused, and l o o k e d with brood ing eyes
over the dancing, sunlit seas.
" There ' s g o o d land on the other side,
Nusse er," he said with a smile, and poi nte d to
the dim coastl ine of Engla nd.
The Sikh knew tha t he meant more than
he said, but he did not k no w ho w to rep ly.
W A R S H I P S O F O L D E N D A Y S .
Model of H . M . S . "Vi cto ry, " Nelson's Flagship.
(Royal Naval College, Greenwich.)
The famous old " Victory " (tonnage 2,1G4 tons, guns 10 0) was designed by
Sir Thomas Slade and built at Chatham Dockyard in 17 65. This vessel was
the llagship of A.dmiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), and it
was on her quarter-deck that he received a mortal wound from a shot fired
from the mizzen-top of the French ship the " Redoubt able." The " Victory "
was 40 years old at Trafalgar, but she had been reconstructed seven years
before this date , when an upper deck was added . She was again reconstructed
in 1820 . The old warship now lies at moorings on the Gosport side of
Portsmouth Harbour.
There was a lon g silence. It was brok en by
Mr . Laurie." W e were very foo l i sh , Nusseer, in
teaching the lad the Pushtoo tongue, and
the Sikh. If yo u teach the cat the way to
the dish, the milk will s o o n be gone . W e
hav e never spoke n to him of In dia, but som e
day he will feel the call of the land, and the
old s tory will be repeated." He pointe d to
his crippled legs. " I dete rmine d that al l
his energies should be thrown into the life
of England, but I c o u l d not forget the
tong ue of the moun tain s, and the fierce men
of the ravines, and in speaking to the lad 1
felt dra wn bac k to the early day s. He s o o n
picked up the easier phrases, and, once
s tar ted on the way, we travelled togeth er
with rapid steps."
"
He is cleve r, Sahib, and a b orn S ikh.Y o u r Pus hto o was not so easy to him as my
o w n tong ue was, i f one is to jud ge by the way
he pick ed i t up. Trul y, the gods have given
him the powe r of ton gue s."
" Hardly, Nusseer, for i t takes him all his
t ime to get a proper hol d of English. He
hates the grammar . I t is because he does
no t know tha t he is learning tha t he gets on
so well with us . Chat te r ing in Pushtoo and
Sikh seems to be amus emen t, and he th inks
he is hav ing a ga me . If we were to pl ay
th e par t of schoolmaster he would turn as
stupid as a camel."
" What w e learn in play , we use in work .
Sa hi b; he is one of a tho usa nd in his skill
fo r t ongues . "
" So was I, Nusse er ; b efor e I wen t t o
India I knew Fren ch and German, an d
when I set t led amo ng the mountain s I
s tudied Pushtoo, Arab ic , Persian, and
Chinese. A g o o d mem ory , a quick ear, g o o d
teachers and a read y min d make the road
to a kno wled ge of languages, and I l o v e d
the labour, and delighted in my proficiency."
M r . Laurie paused, for his remembrance of
earl ier days excit ed him,
and a heightened c o l o u r
showed tha t hi s heart wa s
feeling the strain. Nusseer
w a t c h e d h i m wi th a n
anxio us solici tude. The big
Sikh loved hi s master with
an affection almost sur
passing tha t of a mothe r
fo r her son.Mr . Laur ie had had a
strangely varied and mos t
roman tic career. He was
th e only son of a well-known
India n soldier , and had b een
t ra ined for the ser vice of
th e Ea s t India Company.
Leaving A d d i s c o m b e , th e
Ea s t Ind ia C o m p a n y ' s
College in Surr ey, after a
careful grounding in mili tary
education, he had been sent
to India, and after a few
years' fighting on the
Afghan frontier , suddenly
threw up his comm issio n
and disappear ed. He was
s e e n m a k i n g hi s w a y
thro ugh one of the great
ravines which run from
Afghanistan to India, and
nothing more was seen or
heard of him . His father
and mother had die d about
si x month s before this, and
it was supposed tha t grief
had unsettle d his mind.
He had no propert y to
succeed to, for, l ike man y
other men, his father had
served his country rather
than himself, and value d a
decoration or a m edal far
more than he did g o l d .
Y o u n g Laurie had dev elop ed a wonderfula p t i tude for languages, beco ming proficient
in man y dialects. He had b e c o m e one of
the most skilful in te rpre te rs in the Service,
when his unaccountable disappearance
seemed to c los e his career for eve r. It wa s
thought tha t he had been waylaid and
murd ered b y som e of the fanatic al tribes men
wh o haunted the b leak hillsides of the great
passes into the Path an count ry . But he
was too wary a soldier to be cau ght in t h i s
way. A l o n e he had penetra ted the rough
cou nt ry on the ot her side of the B olan Pass ,
and wan dered abo ut among the Ghilzais,some
of the w ildest of the hill-dwellers betwee n
Kabul and Kandahar .
T h o u g h of slight build , he was an a thle te
of powerful physique, with muscles l ike
whipcord , and wit h powers of endurance
almost unequalled, bearing tropical heat and
Arct ic c o l d alike easily . Quic k of han d and
e j ' e , few cou ld exce l him in hun t ing or
fighting, an d he was abs olu tel y fearles s. Hi s
proficiency in speech made it easy for him
to assume disgu ises, and he c o u l d have made
his way from Peshawar to Constantinople
witho ut i t being suspected tha t he was other
than he repre sente d himself to be at th e
t ime.
H e fell in with a Mullah, or priest, in the
rough count ry near Kanda har, and the two
stru ck up a great friend ship. Fo r several
years they l ived together in a mountai n
village, an d Lari K ha n, as he was called , was
soon initiated by Abdu l the Mullah into all th e
niceties of Afghan and Mohammedan waysand habits. The y studied the rude medici ne
of the Afgh ans, and beca me experts in
mesmerism, and in various tricks which
Lari Khan had learned at A d d i s c o m b e and
in the barrac ks. He was an expert sleight-of-
hand conjur or, and often astound ed the
Ghilzaia with his dexterity.
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 19th April 1913
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Through Afghan Snobvs. 451
The tw o set out o n a long journe y t o
Bokhara, and Merv. The y had a cara van,
and travelled throu gh all the cities of
Turkestan, then struck int o Asia Minor , and
followed the great caravan road which runs
a long the Dardanelles to Constantinople.
F r o m the wonderful city on the Bosp hor us
they made the pilgrimage to the sacred
shrine at Mecca , an d returned with all the
dignity of Hadjis, who are entitled to wearthe famous green tu rban . A t M e c c a the
chief priest had been so muc h impress ed
that he gave Abdul a special c o p y of the
K o r a n , written in letters of go ld and bound
in a magnificent jewelled c o v e r . This was
t o be presente d by the m to the Sh ah of
Afghanistan.
T h e y returned by wa y of Persia, and
on reaching Kabu l gave the preci ous
book to Shah S hujah-ool-Moolk, then
reigning at Kabul . Wh en Lari Kha n an d
A b d u l the Mulla h were sh ow n int o his
presence, the Prince was arrayed in magni
ficent robes , and wor e in his tu rb an th e
jewel of the K o h - i - n o o r , or Fount ain of Light,
the diamond which the L i o n of the Punja b,
Runjeet Singh, was afterwards to des poil
h im of, and wh ich now belongs to the BritishEmpe ror of Indi a. He receive d the precio us
c o p y of the Kor an with great eagerness, and
in his thankfulnes s gav e Lar i Kh an a seven -
p o i n t e d diamond star, which he pinne d
into the Khan's tu rban with his own hands.
W i t h great rejoicing the advent urous
wanderers reached their mountain fastness
once again, and for several years Lari Kha n
and Abd ul remained th e closest of friends.
On e day a mount ed soldier was seen
spurring furiously along the mount ain roa d
which led to Lari Khan 's strong tower. Half
a mile behind him, a sc ore of Afghans wer e
in hot pursuit. Lari Khan flung open the
gate, and the fugiti ve dash ed in, and the gate
was closed and barric aded. After a hot
fight the Afghans retreated, v o w i n g eternal
vengeance against the man wh o had baul ked
them of their prey.
The fugitive was a chieftain named Dost
M o h a m m e d , whose father, Poynd ah Kha n,
was a well-known Afghan s tatesman an d
soldier . This man had left twenty-one sons,
of w h o m Futteh Khan was the eldest, and
D o s t Moh amme d the youngest. Futteh
Khan had been blinded and hacked in pieces
b y his furious enemies, and D os t Mo ha mme d
had barely escaped with his life.
Grateful to the man who had now save d him ,
D o s t Mohammed swore b lood brotherhood
with him, and said that if Lari Khan of the
D i a m o n d Star ever needed his assistance,
he would march f rom the remotest corner of
Afghan ista n to serve him, and wou ld place
men and money at his disposal.
Some time afterwards Lari Kha n saved a
caravan f rom being plunde red b y a band of
Kakurs which had swept d o w n upon it in the
Bolan Pass. Wit h the cara van was a yo ung
English lady . She was taken to the fort ress,
and before a year was out bec ame the wife
of Lari Kha n. Wi th her was a Sikh servan t
named Nusseer, a young man f rom Lahore.
T w o years passed away without much
disturbance in the Ghilzai count ry. Dost
M o h a m m e d had sent his son Akbar Khan, a
y o u n g lad about t en years of age, to th e
shelter of Lari Khan 's fortress, and the
youthfu l Afgh an spent the time fondli ng
and p layi ng wi th the infant s on of his
benefactor . But one day calamity swept up
on the wings of treac hery and cru elty . An
Afghan betrayed the hiding-place of Akbar
to his enemies. Th e little fort was atta cked,
and after a stu bbor n defen ce the assailants
burst their way in. Mrs. Laurie was shot .
Akbar , after a series of hairbreadth escapes,
managed to slide d o w n a rope into the court
yard, and so escaped into the roug h coun try
w h i c h stretched towards Kab ul. Nusseer
caught up the two-year-old child, and
managed to break through the murderers,
and hid in a wild gull y thr ough whi ch a
mountain torrent dashed. Lari Kha n, after
a fierce strug gle, was seized and b oun d h and
and foo t , and carried d o w n to the cam p of
the assailants.
Afzul Ali, a ferocious Afreedee , was the
leader of the brigands. He had for ma nyyears been at bitter enmity with Dost
M o h a m m e d and Lar i Kha n, and was one of
the most cruel an d blo odthir sty chiefs to be
f o u n d in the Afghan mountains . He kne w
that Lari Kh an was a Ferin ghee, and hate d
him with all the power of his evil nature.
H e laughed and spat in his face as the
helpless prisoner was dragged before him.
Taking his broad- bladed Afghan knife, he
delibe ratel y slashed off the ears of the
cap t ive , and dropped them into his pouch.
" T o sh ow my master ," he said with a
cruel grin.
Lari Khan wi nced with the sharp pain,
but he smiled back at the Afreedee, an d
snapp ed out a few words of scorn. Nex t
morn ing he was bro ugh t before the Chief
again. A pos t had be en dri ven int o the
earth, with an arm of w o o d projecting f rom
it on one side. Fr om this there hung a
noosed rope. Lari Kha n thou ght that they
meant to hang him. Th ey slipp ed the rope
around his chest and he was swung off his
feet. Afzu l Ali approa ched, carrying his
sharp Afg han sabre. For a few minute s he
s t o o d grinnin g at his prisoner . " Ferin ghee,
thou accursed on e, " he said, " wouldst thou
return, with thy life, to thine own country
across the black waters ? Thi s land is tired
of thee."
Lari Khan made no reply.
W i t h his own sword Afzu l Al i then cu t
off the captive's legs b e l o w the knees,
l eav ing his vic tim lying upo n the grou nd
t o die a lingeri ng deat h, as he sup pos ed.T h e unfortunate man would have bled to
death if his medical knowl edge had not
s t o o d him in good stead. After the
Afreedees ha d gone, with trembli ng hands
he managed to make a rough tourniquet to
bind round the limbs , and with his robe
cont r ived to stop the bleeding, bandaging
as well as he could .
Al l da y and all night he lay by the stre am,
and when the weakness induced by the shock
and loss of b lood had in som e measur e pass ed
a w a y , he began to crawl alon g the roa d. He
c o v e r e d some distance, and at midnight had
reached one of the glo omiest parts of the
ravine, w hen ho heard t he cry ing of a chil d.
H e listened intently, and realised that th e
soui)J cnme tro m the rocks befor e him.
Crawling forward he disc over ed a c a v e ,
and in it a little child, wrapped up in warm
Portion of Anci ent Egy pti an Papyrus recently
discovered.
c lo th ing , but fretful becau se of want of food .
H e had no means of stri king a light, but he
felt sure that this little cast away was his ow n
b o y , and he knew that Nusseer c o u l d no t
b e ver y far awa y. Pos sib ly he had gon e to
find food . This surmise was correct. A
little befor e day lig ht the Sikh returned with
an abundance of food , and was over joyed to
find his master lyi ng by the side of the chi ld.
By s low stages they journeyed throughthe frowning Pass, and reache d the Indi an
frontier, sleeping through the day and
t o i l i n g s lowly through the dark hours.
Nusseer had rigged up a rude cart, and
u p o n th is the suffering Lari Khan lay with
his boy , and the faithful Sikh drag ged t hem
o v e r the rough mountain road. At Sukkur
they hir ed a boa t, and sailed d o w n the Indus
t o Haidarabad, where for some months Mr.
Laurie lay between life and death.
Cross ing o v e r to Kotr i, they travelled
d o w n to Kurrao hee, where the y found a
vessel sailing for Lon do n. Nusseer wou ld not
l e a v e Mr. Laurie and his son. Th ey embar ked
together and sailed to Londo n, exchanging
into a coast ing br ig whi ch was goi ng to the
Isle of Man, where the travellers landed, as
we hav e seen. Here Nusseer, after considerabl e search, disc over ed the cott age on
th e eastern coast , and the th ree adventurers
made their ho me in the qui et Man x glen.
Ei ght years ha d passed awa y in almo st
m o n o t o n o u s fashion, the sole employment
of Mr. Laurie being the training a nd c o m
panio nshi p of his son . Th e lad gave ever y
p r o m i s e of a stro ng man ho od . He was well-
set and str ong- limb ed, and the bracin g sea
air and a cti ve exercises in the glen so o n made
h i m l o o k older than his years. Eve ry day
he bath ed in the sea, and beca me an exper t
at swimm ing and diving . The village sc h o o l
was a four-m ile walk awa y, unless he sailed
in his own boa t rou nd the frowning Head
land, and this daily t r a m p o v e r the hills and
rocks soon devel oped in him a s trength
of wind and limb which made him one of the
best runners in the di stric t.
In man y ways the plain, old-fashion ed
M a n x scho olmas ter foun d the lad a great
p l a g u e . He was too sharp for the lads a nd
girls who sat wi th him , and finding his lessons
e a s y , he got into the habi t of letting his
thou ghts wander far afield, and often had t o
b e recalled to the prosaic business of the
element s of gra mmar or vulg ar fractions by
the sharp applicatio n of a st rap laid across
his shoul ders. But the scho olma ster was
char y of punishi ng him . The look which
s w e p t across the dark f ace warned him t ha t
the lad res ented t he di sgr ace of a b l o w fa r
m o r e than he felt the pain, and the schoo l
master was wise enou gh to.see t ha t , with such
a boy, words were more powerful than b l o w s .W h e n work was o v e r for the day, Bob
Laurie would dart off like a
hou nd upo n the scent, and run
straight hom e to his father and
Nusseer, or else jum p into his
b o a t and steer off to sea, and
then swee p roun d the Head , and
so into the little harbo ur where
the Maggie lay . Mr. Lauri e had
taught him many phrases in
P u s h t o o , the ton gue of the
A f g h a n s , and Nusseer l o v e d to
chatter awa y in the Sikh ton gue.
Thu s, almo st before they were
awa re, the lad gr ew to be an
adept in these languages, which
really beca me the spe ech of the
h o m e .
But the lad's greatest ambition
was to take a cruise in the
Maggie. On man y an evening
he had seen the hea vy doo rs of
the warehouse t hrow n open, and
g o o d s f rom France stored in the
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453
Do you want to play for k your(ouvtyi
A S e r i e s o f E i g h t A r t i c l e s S p e c i a l l y W r i t t e n Tor the " B . O . P .
By WILFRED RHODE8
(The famous Yorkshire and England Cricketer).
IAH rather afraid tha t I am up against
a fairly stiff prop osit ion in ende avou r
ing to undertake the w riti ng of a series of
cricket art icles for the " B. O. P. " I wouldn't
mind the task if I had t o do it for any othe i
journal, but the " B. O. P. " is in a class of
its ow n when dealing with the various
branch es of Briti sh sp ort so dear to all
healthy b o y s , and I am sorely afraid that
whatever k now led ge of cricket whic h I possess,
while being easy to impa rt t o others by
example, may need a more ready pen than
mine to thoroughly explain in order to bear
fruit among st the thou sand s of junior s who
are doubtless anxious to improve their form.
It is generally understood by most people
that cricketers are born and not made, inthe sense that unless a youth has cricket
in him he can never be made to play w e l l ;
but so long as a youn gste r has a certain
amou nt of brain and will do as he is told b y
an able coach , there is no knowing to what
height he may even tuall y cli mb in the wo rld
of cricket .
Some time a go I was asked to agree wi th
th e s tatement of a certain indiv idua l tha t
if a youth is weak in b o d y he can never be
turned in to a first-class pl ay er , no mat te r
h o w g o o d the coa chin g whic h he receives
ma y be, beca use , first of all, a g o o d c o a c h
must have g o o d material t o w or k upon ;
but I cannot endorse such a s tatement
because, in my opini on, weaknes s is no
barrier over which the y oun g cricketer
canno t c l i m b . To say tha t b o d i l y weakness
is directly oppose d to a yout h's chances
in the game is untrue, and is also likely to
d o ha rm in the sense tha t b o y s wh o are no t
muscular may g ive up all ideas of playing
ericket .
One can never tell exactly what nature
has in store for the weakling. He may or
may not turn out to be a g o o d cricketer,
but at any rate the ex ercise of play ing is
the finest for devel opin g all the m ost i m
portant parts of his ana tom y, an d this alone
should be an inducement to the weak to
persevere with the game . The only two
real and serious drawbacks to a youth who
is fond of cricket are a weak heart and bad
lungs, but so long as he is phys ically s ound
in wind and limb ordin ary weakness doe sn' t
count. Cricket is one of those games in
C H A P T E R I . 0 3 ? A N I N T R O D U C T O R Y N A T U R E .
which brute fo rce does not s tand for much ;
indeed, provid ed a youngst er has a g o o d
eye and a stout heart, he will s o o n make
headway.
But give n the mos t robus t frame, g o o d
muscles, stron g nerv es, and a perfec t sight,
there is not one of m y readers who can even
hop e to impr ov e in the slightest d egree
[Photo. Hawkins.
Wilfred Rhodes.
unless he is tho rou ghl y keen and willing to
sacrifice som e of his other pleasures. There
may be certain departments of the g ame
which do not appeal to a bo y. Fo r instanc e,
he may be part icularly f o n d of ba t t ing and
disl ike fielding, a nd so on ; bu t I ca n assure
those who are one-sided in their affection
fo r the game, tha t unless they throw their
whole hear ts into every departme nt, they
cannot hope to b e c o m e wha t we call first-
class cricketers.
I do n't k no w if any of you have ever
heard th e sto ry of a certain amateur player ,
wh o was a very g o o d batsman but was never
asked t o play for his co un ty becau se he
wouldn ' t t ak e the trouble to e x c e l or even
take a moder ate a moun t of interest in
bowling an d fielding. A fri en d of his met
him one Sa tu rda y evening and q uestioned
him regarding th e matc h in whic h he ha d
been playing tha t afternoon.
" H o w did you get on, Ja ck ? " the friend
asked.
" Oh , pre t ty wel l , th an k s , " the player
rep lie d; " yo u see, I got sixty -five and had a
g o o d t i m e . "
" Sple ndid ! " ejacu lated the other , " bu t
wh o wo n the mat ch ? "
" Oh , well , I don ' t qui te know . Yo u
see, it was like this. W e ba t t e d first and
scored 150, an d wh en the oth er side went in
I s o o n saw tha t we h ad n ' t a bowler in the
tea m; so I gave a Joh nny w ho was standing
on the boun da ry half- a-cro wn to field for
me and came away."
N o w this " but ter fly " cricketer was, I
know, an except ion to the general ru n; but
from what I have seen in b o y s ' games there
is a treme ndo us l ot of slackness , especi ally
amon gst those who fanc y themselves as
batsmen, a nd I would warn them tha t
bat t ing alone is not cricket , and tha t , h o w
ever g o o d a bat sma n is, he can not find a
place in a mod ern co un ty side unless he has
something else to reco mme nd him.
In m y opin ion , fielding is even mo re im
por t a n t than any other departm ent of the
game . It is not the g o o d fortune of ever y
on e to bat or b o w l just as well as he wo uld
wish ; but eve ry cricketer who wou ld just ify
his inclus ion in a respe ctabl e side mus t b e
able to field, and there is no excuse what
ever fo r ba d fielding. I am afraid th e
general run of you ngst ers are not par
t icularly f o n d of th is branc h of cricket , and
are certainly n ot ove r keen in taking part in
fielding pra cti ce. It se ems to be the ide a of
every boy tha t bat t ing and bowling alone
consti tute the co mplet e game of cricket , an d
tha t an y noo dle can field ; but I m ay say I
ha ve kn ow n ma ny a first-class m at ch wo n
b y smar t fielding, a nd its im po rta nc e can
never be over-est imated. Teaching a bo y
to field properly, so tha t he not only stops
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454 The Hojr'j Obon Taper.
the ball but gathers it neatly and returns
it with the same action, is the du ty of every
parent o r c o a c h who wants his son or pupil
t o b e c o m e a g o o d cricketer .
W h e n the batsman goes in to the wicket
he is " on his ow n, " and t he same m ay be
said abo ut the bowler, but whether the
bats man or bowle r is a success or failure
doesn ' t mat te r so very much because, in
either case, there are others who can be p ut
in or on . Ho we ve r, if a fieldsman is a
failure in his position, there is n o b o d y to
ma ke up for his error s, and not on ly is he
upsetting ten men be sides himself, but for
e v e r y run he gi ves b y his clums iness he is
practical ly taking one away from the score
w h i c h the batsm en on his side hav e had the
task of makin g. A g o o d cricketer l o v e s
fielding at an y tim e and und er any
c o n d i t i o n s .
In the co urse of the n ext few weeks I
shall deal with each depa rtme nt of the ga me
in its turn, so that I shall have another
oppor tunity of touchin g upon t ha t im
p o r tan t sub jec t, fielding. Wh at I wan t toimpress upo n my readers this week is t ha t
they must not rely upon their matches to
keep them in form alone, and much less will
there be a l ikelihood of impr ovem ent if every
oppor tunit y for practice is neglected. I
can assure my bo y friends that for weeks
prev ious to the open ing of the first-class
cricket season every County player puts in
hours of pract ice ever y day for at least a
mon th ; inde ed, by the first day of May , they
have probably played as much cricket as any
on e of my readers doe s in a who le season.
R em em ber t ha t only by assiduous practice
can you hope to b e c o m e proficient .
T o learn ho w to bat prop erly and be
certain o f the bes t results yo u must practise
upo n the best wicke ts. A great majo rit y
of would-be coaches th ink , and are not s low
to openly a v o w , t ha t any sort of a pitc h m il
d o for the youngster, and the greater th e
difficulties he has to su rmou nt the mor e
resource he will sho w when he has maste red
the ar t; but, in my opinio n, to put a bo y
on a rough wicke t and ex pec t him to b e c o m e
a cricket er is one of the mo st insane things
I can th ink of . Firs t of all, it pro bab ly
frightens hi m ; for wh o can exp ec t a boy t o
retain his plu ck when the ball leaves th e
pi tch at all angl es and is as often in th e
vic in i ty of his head as his feet ?
Th e ba d wicke t shou ld never be used forthe you ng . If it is, the result will be t ha t
in after life y o u will not be able to ge t t he m
t o stand their ground, and instead of seeing
the easy swing of the b at an d the well-
timed stroke which sends the ball at a
smar t pace all along the turf you will see
the m mov in g in the dire ction of square leg
imme dia tel y the ball leaves the bowl er's
hand. Practice on bad wickets is bou nd
to result in shirking ta ct ics ; for just at the
tim e when every confiden ce is requi red a
b o y will receive a nasty knock which he
never forge ts, and instead of " jum pin g to "
a ball he will get int o th e habi t of " ju mp in g
aw ay ," a habi t which will take years to
break. Rem emb er, youngsters must have
g o o d wicke ts. Not hin g else will do if yo u
want g o o d results.
I don 't wan t to mak e these articles too
dull, so I shall do my be st to wo rk in a few
r ecol l ec t ions of m y ow n career whic h ma y be
somew hat interest ing. Havi ng written of
bad wicke ts reminds me of an e xperie nce in
Australia during the winter before last.
It was at Bris bane that , although the
actual wick et upo n which we pla yed was
g o o d , the outf ield was so rou gh that accurate
picking up was a matter of impossibility.
I rememb er one incide nt in this respect
w h i c h caused us a great amount of laughter.
Jack Hearne was standing at mid-on, and
in quick succession two balls were played
towa rds him. In each case he was guilty
of misfielding on acc oun t of the bad grou nd,
and w hen another ball was play ed in his
direction the batsman thought it was g o o d
enou gh to try for a run. But this t ime
Hear ne fielded c orr ect ly, and , in ord er to
run the batsman out, threw the ball with
all his might towards Smith, our wicket-
keeper.
H o w e v e r , he was so exci ted that the ball
went ve ry wide of its mark, with the result
that it sailed on to the opposite boundary,
where Jo e Vine was standing. Joe , of
cour se , prom ptly met i t ; but , as hes t o o p e d down to gather the sphere, it
sudde nly jum pe d ov er his shoulder to th e
boundary. The c r o w d yelled themselves
hoarse, and Vine , after scratching his head
fo r a mom en t, remarked, " It 's a won der
to me why you don't let this ground to a
switchback rai lway co mpa ny ! "
Now , having given yo u some sugar, yo u
must be prepared to take the medicine,
and I can quite understand that you will
not like it ; for, as a matter of fact, it is in the
shape of advice which will be hard to
fol low and will , if you truly love cricket,
require a great amou nt of will power. Let
me warn you not to ove rdo cricket . To my
k n o w l e d g e there are many parents who so
far forget their duty to their childre n as t o
prefer a pl ace in the Schoo l Eleven for their
sons to a pla ce in the list of Hon our s. It
seems a huge contrad icti on for a man to
send his boy to school with the chief hope
that he will shine in games at the expense
of his learning, and of the things that ar e
absolu tely necessary for the bui lding up of
a useful and honourable career and doing
any g o o d work in the world.
Let you r whole minds rest upon what you
have in hand at one time. W o r k hard
while yo u are at wo rk, and in the hour s set
aside for recreation play hard ; but once y ou
al low pla y to interfere wi th work yo u are
d o i n g yourselves, your parents, and your
cou ntr y a dee p wrong . It rests with youyour selv es to build up a useful career.
After all, cricket is only a form of exercise.
Th e next article in this series will be e ntitl ed,
" SOMETH ING ABOUT BATTING."
Tfc* 18U
Instinct.
GOLFING NOVICE (who has been cutting up the turf) J " These worms seem to bemuch agitated, caddie."
CADDIE: " Yes, sir, they think you're diggin' for bait."
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Scarred Cliff Island:A T a l e o f a V e n d e t t a .
CHAPTER V II. —-HELP IS CLOSE A T H A N D W H E N FA TE P L A Y S M E
A SCTTKVY TRICK.
By A. FERGUSON,
Author of " The Singing Kettle"" Held as Hostages" " Up tlie
Essequibo," etc., etc.
HORT as had
been my ex
p e r i e n c e of
B a r t o Bar-
buzzi, it had
sufficed to put
into me a deep
f e a r a n d
horror of the
man. So now,
'.when I heard
- hi m l o u d l y
- v o i c i n g hi s
regrets that I
had escaped,
i n h i s o w n
c haracter is t ic
fashion, the
field-glasses drop ped from my hand, a nd I
cowered and trembled in my l i t t le kennel
hole in the cliff.
The next mom ent m y heart seemed
almost to jump into my mouth—for the
me n h ad tumbl ed noisily out of the hou se
and were running hard in my direction.
The n I call ed mysel f a silly ass, and my
heart went back to its prope r plac e. Of
•course, the Sicilian brothe rs ha d not mirac u
lously got scent of my hiding-pl ace ! Th ey
were merely running to the top of the pa th
leading down to the harbour beach, to assure
themselves tha t I ha dn ' t launche d one of
the boa ts high and dry on the shingle— a
feat certainly beyo nd my powers— and gone
aw ay in her.
M y hiding-place was on the outside of the
cliff form ing one of the horns of the harb our
bay, and the pa th to the beach sta r ted
o n the inside. S o Barto 's savage v o i ce ,
thunder ing Italian maledictions on the bad
luck that had kept him from rinding " tha t
pig Cazale," and tha t had a llowed me to
escape, came distinctly ove r the cliff to my
-ears.
" Malora! How did the l i t t le rogue
co ntr ive to free a hand for the use of the
knife 1" he continued.
" Y ou had failed to tie the rop e tig htly
•enough," suggested the stolid M a s o .
His brother turned on him angri ly. " A m
I a man wh o can not tie knot s ? The bo y
•could not have got out of my bond s wi thout
the help of the Evi l One. "
" A n d his knife," put in M a s o . " Y o u
were a fool not to take the knife from him."
" A foo l , was I ? " snarle d Bar to. " The nI was for o n c e what yo u are always . Ho w
was I to guess that the b oy had a knife con
ceale d on him ! Wit h his idio tic frankness
and sim plicity , one would no more have
suspected him of tricks than one would a
"new-born babe."
" I do not th ink no w that the boy was all
simple as he seemed," Maso said, s lowly .
" I knew he was not the moment I saw
the cut and emp ty rope, " retorted the other.
" He was maki ng a pret ence all the tim e.
I do not doubt, now, tha t he is an imp of
•cunning, and knows qu ite well where Caz ale
hide s. Hunti ng for that pig in the detes table
w o o d s of this island is like searching for pins
in a plo ugh ed field. Bu t, had I gues sed that
the bo y knew where to find the Cazale, when
I ha d m y grip on the l i t t le rascal— Ebbene !the Cazale would have bee n a ver y muc h
•dead man by this time ! "
" It wou ld not have been wise to hurt th e
b o y , " broke in Mas o . " You h a t e heard it
told how swift and sure to punish are the
English,if harm be done to any of their people. ' '
" I am not the ma n to be baul ked b y a boy !
If the little villain did not do my biddi ng,
harm woul d most assuredly hav e been done
to him. Altro ! but I would have persuaded
him very quickl y to do my bidding ! " An d
Bart o 's laugh betok ened significantly the
nature of his pers uasio n.
" As for the English— that for the English ! "
he went on with an audible snap of his
fingers. " Wh en we have done the work
w e cam e here to do, and cove red up well all
trac e of it, we sail aw ay fro m this island in
tha t qu ick l i t t le yacht, with its plenty of
f o o d and wate r. W e sail for a far part of
the country. Then we scuttle the yac ht off
some lonely part of the coa st, and go ashore
in the l i t t le boat . T hen we t r a m p along
till we reach som e seaport from whenc e we
can work our way back to Sic i ly . N o w ,
see ho w well m y brain has pla nned the
matter ! No one knows tha t it is we who
stole the yac ht in . Nort hpor t harbour. N o
on e will ever know tha t we have visited this
island ; tha t is, if we ma ke the bo y as d um b
as we shall m ake the Caz ale— and it is now
clear to me, M a s o , tha t the cunning l i t t le
rogue know s to o mu ch to be left alive t o
tell tales."
" I th ink you do what is not wise or right
il you even hurt the bo y, muc h less kill hi m,"
said the heavy M a s o , speaking with unusual
energy. " But, of course, you heed not w hat
I say. It is a different ma t te r with the
killing of C es co Cazale—the Barbuzzi and
the Cazale hav e killed eac h othe r eve r sinc e
time was. But even in the matter of killing
C es co , have I not always said, ' W h y
trou ble to go to the oth or end of the wor ld
to kill a man, ev en though he be a Cazale ,
and got us put in prison ? ' But be cause
of y o u r hate of h im—because you ca nno t
sleep, or eat, or drink with pleasure unt i l
y o u have killed him, yo u must go . An d I
g o with you , because yo u .are my brother.
A l s o , because you have always made me
d o you r will since I was a chil d. Bu t, I
tell you , to me it is all a tro uble a nd a mad
ness—I do not care a soldi whether C es co
Cazale is kille d or not so long as I ca n ge t
back to my own place and peo ple, and my
o w n f o o d . "
This outburs t, ama zingl y long and ener
getic comi ng from M a s o , his brother re
c e i v e d with scornful indignation.
" Yo u shou ld t a ke shame to yourself
to say so, To mm as o Barbuzz i ! " he cr ied." B u t yo u are a soulless pig, and care but
to eat and lie soft and war m. Venge ance
is nothing to you. W e l l is it for the fami ly
honour , and for the ave nging of your w rongs
and my own, tha t I, your brother, woul d go
twe nty tim es to the end of the wor ld to have
the j oy of giving Frances co Cazale a bad
dea t h . "
" It doe s not l o o k as if tha t dea t h will be
given here to-day," said Maso sullenly.
" Corpo di Bacco ! do you fanc y he can
escape me here, whe n I kn ow tha t he is here
to be found for the searching ? " cried
Bart o violen tly. " It is not yet muc h beyo nd
noon—we have muc h time for the searching,
even if we have to beat every tree- covered
spot on this little island. But I will quick ly
mak e the bo y sho w us where he is when wehave found the rogue. He w ill not be so hard
to find, for he must be hiding some whe re a t
this end of the island —he wo ul d not b e
likely to fo l l o w in the direction we to ok when
Ave left him in the house."
" Per haps he has gone to hide where
the Cazal e hid es ," sugges ted Maso sud
den ly .
" It m ay be so and —Ha ! a though t
c o m e s to me ! Per haps i t may have been
tha t dog Cazale himself who, stealing fr om
his hiding-place, entered the hous e and cu t
the b o y ' s bonds. In that cas e, we find the m
bot h together, hiding not far awa y. It is
w e l l ! C o m e ! "
" Wh er e shall w e sea rch first ? " ask ed
M a s o , seemingly fallen back into dull sub
mission.
" Ecco ! that tree-filled ravine over yonder
l o o k s a g o o d and han dy plac e for the miser-
ables to hide themsel ves in . W e will take
it first, and rans ack it mos t thor ough ly.
Then on to another. Ma pero ! I bethink
m e it were best tha t y o u c o m e not with me,
bu t s tay here in the op en to wa tc h while I
beat the ravin es."
" It is w e l l , " said M a s o , evidently en
tirel y satisfied to hav e so eas y a task .
" Stay just here to guard the path to the
boats , " comm ande d Barto . " And , s tup id ,
remember to keep your eyes wide open,
watchi ng well on ever y side. If the Cazale
and the bo y break c o v e r , g i v e chase and
shout your loudest for me. Wa tc h w e l l !
or it wi ll be the worse for yo u ! "
W i th tha t he m o v e d away, leaving, be
hind him, cont entm ent in the breast of his
brother and the most dire dismay in the
heart of the b oy in the hiding hole ove r the
cliff. For how c o u l d the yacht, with our
rescuers, approach the island, unseen, with
Maso on the w atc h !
A t present the yac ht, though well on her
way across the channel, was too distant to
at t ract at tent ion. But when she came near
enough for her destination to be evident,
Maso w o u ld raise the alar m, and he and his
brother would get clear away fr om the
island before the others reache d it . An d
I was desperately anxi ous tha t Barto Bar
buzzi should be cau ght and pu t in priso n to
ensure Franc ie's safety from him for a g o o d
man y years at least.
However , after a l i t t le I decid ed with a
bo3' 's natural tend ency to hope for the best.
Maso was the ki nd of ma n to do his
watch ing sitting do wn when his bullying
brot her w as out of sight, and, if he sat d ow n
there , at th e to p of the pa th lead ing down
to the beac h, he woul d not b e able to see
the yach t until she appear ed at the na rrow
entrance to our l i t t le harbour. So thatwould be all ri ght !
Easy thou gh my min d was in the con
v ict ion tha t Francie and I were both hidden
past disc overy , and, wi th help swiftly c o m
ing to us, had noth ing no w to fear from
Barto, I c o u l d not help shuddering when
my thoughts reverte d to the conversa tion I
had just overhear d between the Sicilian
brothers. For Bart o 's own lips had de
clared tha t what my fear-qui ckened i magi
nation had pict ured him doin g to me was
even less than he would have don e, had I
remained his prisoner.
He w ould have stoppe d at no violence or
cruel ty to fo r ce me to betray Francie to a
dreadful death, and then he would have
killed me to prevent me giving evidenc e
again st hi m ! If ever a boy pra yed, fr oma full heart , hi s t ha nks to G od for his esc ape
f rom a terrible ordeal and certain death, I
was tha t bo y !
Wi th the glasses glue d to my eyes , I
sat eagerly watching the oncom ing yach t.
Never had I fully realised unt i l now how
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456 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.
I was not cons ciou s of m y disa ppoi ntme nt
a t this further dela y, for i t was i nstantl y
swal lowed up in the dismay and concern
that filled me to hear, at this v e r y m o m e n t ,
Bar to Barb uzzi lou dly hail ing Masq, The
latter sto od to o greatly in fear of his b rother
not to hear that raucous vo ice of his , even
when soun d asleep. I heard him instan tly
scram ble an d st umbl e to his feet and re
turn the hail , with a wide -awa ke alac ri ty
w h i c h ev iden t ly dece iv ed the approach ing
Bar to as t o the wa y in whi ch his bro ther
had been keep ing watch .
" Y o u hav e seen nothi ng of those detest
able pigs ? or of anyt hing to alarm on sea
o r land ? " the elder brothe r asked r ough ly,
unturned on the grou nd. Thus i t is im
possible that I do not find them in the end.
Y o u will s tay a bo ve here to watch the ho use
and the harbour, and to give warning if
dange r appro aches , o r if Cazale and t he
boy come out i nto the open . Oh, we shall
catch them, hav e no fear . I f not before
dark , then assuredly after , when we make
bel i eve to be gone , and they c o m e creep ing
b a c k to the house ."
" I wish we were well aw ay fro m this p l a c e , "
said Maso g loomi ly . " I fear the return of
the padrone with his fr iends."
" Id io t ! Hav e I no t sa id that that wil l
not be for tw o day s yet ? " cr ied Bart o.
" Still, do not fail to keep good watch . For
m e , I n ow go to hunt fo r those
accursed animals in the ravine on
this other s ide ."
He seemed to m o v e away a s t ep
or two . Then I heard h im say :
" Wh at o f those trees u p th e r e
behin d us ? It c an scar cely be that
they hide where the cover is so
scant— but wh o kno ws ? I wil l t a k e
a look there first."
The nex t moment , I
heard both the menm o v i n g a b o u t
among the
Wtk A JH a trees w h i e b
' H e stopped to thr ow a careless glance into th e hole
(See p. 157.)and his eyes m et mine 1
pre tty a s ight is a tr im, we ll-handl ed l i t t le
yacht, its sails filled by a favouring breeze,
sk im min g smoo th ly over a sh in ing sea . But
then neve r befor e had I wat che d a yac ht as
I watched that one !
Neare r and nearer i t cam e, and eve r more
g lad and exci ted I grew. I had rec ogni sed i t
so m e t ime ago as Mr . Dawson ' s Undine a n d
n o w I c o u l d make ou t i ts occupants qu i te
clearly. Ther e was Mr. Da ws on himself ,
and his tw o big, s trong, grow n-u p sons,
Malve rn, the distr ict cons table , and my good
o ld c h u m , Cuthbert—trust Cuth to make
the mo st unwill i ng father see the cruelty of
p reven t ing an eager ly in te res ted b oy f rom
a c c o m p a n y i n g an expe dit ion got up on his
in format ion !
I kne w the y woul d al l c o m e wel l a rmed ,
and , to my boy ish thinkin g, the presence of
the cons tab le , whi le g iv i ng immens e d ign i ty
to the expedi t io n , ensured dungeo ns ami
fet ters for the Barbu zzi br other s.
Th e yac ht was no w near enoug h to sugges t
to anyone , on the look o u t , t ha t she was
making for Scar red Cliff I s land . There fore ,
s i n c e no alar m was being raised, Ma so was
e v i d e n t l y not on the look-o u t—h e mus t be
s i t t ing d o w n . Stra in ing m y ears to ca tchany sounds from his direction, I caught one
t ha t mad e me chuckle g lee ful ly to myse l f—
the soun d of he avy snoring mad e faint by
d is tance . Maso was no t on ly s i t t ing d o w n ,
he was fast aslee p ! Sple ndid ! N ow , if Bart o
w o u l d only keep on fe r re ting abou t dow n
in the gu lly a l i t t le longe r, al l wo uld be well .
For the Undine w o u l d soon be a t an chor
in our l i t t le harbo ur, a nd I , s teal ing ou t of
m y hid ing-p lace and past the sleeping sentry,
w o u l d be do wn on the bea ch to meet the
landi ng of the resc ue par ty and let them
k n o w exac t ly the pos i t ion of matters on the
island. Th ey wou ld mak e a prison er of
Maso while he slept , and then m a k e their
plans for the captu re, b y fo rce or s t ra tagem,
of the fo rmidab le Bar to .
B u t alas for this speed y and sa t i s fac torysett lem ent of the si tua tion ! The favo urin g
breeze, that had been zea lous ly fo rward ing
our interests , wave red and fell. T h e n ,
suddenly veer ing round , i t began to blow
f rom the north-ea st and the yac ht ' s swift
progress was severel y che cke d. Her course
became a weari some succession of tacks ,
which, it seem ed to me at first, br ou gh t her
n o farther fo rward , s ince what she ga ined
on the one she lost oh the other. An d, in
the meant i me , any mom ent might b r ing
Bar to o ut of the gully to cat ch sight of her !
M y bitter disappo in tment a lmos t made me
weep.
A l i t t le further anxiou s watch ing and I
t o o k hear t aga in . The Undine, g o o d l i t t le
sailer that she was, s lowly but surely was
appr oach ing the is land and she had on ly acompara t ive ly shor t d i s tance to c o m e . T i m e
m o v e d on, and nearer an d nearer she ca me,
unti l , at last, it l o o k e d to me, wait in g an d
watch ing in the u tmo s t impat ience , that
she must surely make the mouth of the
harb our in her nex t ta ck.
I prepared to leav o my cliff hid ing-p lace ,
hoping and pray ing t ha t B a r t o B a r b u z z i
w o u l d remain out of s ight until I go t down
to the beac h. I cou ld t rust Maso to sleep
on , but Barto had had ample t ime to ran
sack eve ry branch of the gully he had g one
into , and I feared his sudd en reapp earanc e
while I was mak ing for the beach. I
waite d with my eyes eagerly fixed on the
Undine. I woul d mak e my dash from m y
hiding -place t he m om en t I saw her enter
the harbour .
O n she ca me on her final ta ck. Th en , as
she drew close to the is land, she fell off a
l i t t le , and, instead of mak ing the harb our
entrance, she disappeared from my sight
b e y o n d i ts outer h orn.
as, panti ng au dibl y, he reache d the other 's
s ide .
" N o, nothi ng ! " said Maso with perfect
truthfulness. " An d yo u ? " he asked poli tely.
The strange lack of menta l bala nce, of
which the ma n with the fingerless h and g av e
such s t rong ev id ence in h i s monomaniaca l -
pursuit of his enem y across the w orld , sho wed
itself here in the absu rdly big rage into
which Mas o's superfluous question th rew
him . His answer was a viol ent torrent of
abuse of Maso, Franci e, myself , our is land
and every thin g on i t , and his ow n bad l uck.
" But I will find the hateful animals s o o n , "
he dec lared, when he had quiete ned do wn a
little . " Ev er y ravi ne will I searc h as I hav e
d o n e this last. Carefully and with method
will I search them, one by one, staring a lof t
into the trees, leaving neither s t ick nor s tone
fringed the top of the cliff, abo ve where I
was, for ab ou t fifty yar ds on eac h side of
m e . After a mi nute or so, there was aa
e x c l a m a t i o n f rom Bar to that set my heart-
t h u m p i n g .
"Ecco ! this l ooks someth ing l ike a tr ack.
W e shall see where i t leads to."
Alas ! I had never taken note of those
faint marks of wear by which the grou nd
beneath the trees recorded my numerous
visi ts to my cliff s a n c t u m .
" I t leads to now her e," cam e to my quiv er
ing ears , in Maso's voice , from almos t r ight
a b o v e me, a few moments later. " S e e t h e
track—if i t b e a track—st ops at the edge of
th e cliff ."
" Not so fast , fratello mio. Tracks
usually lead som ewh ere ," said Bart o, and
hi s vo ice sounded as if he had thrust himself
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Scarred Cliff Island. 457
forward t o l o o k over, holding on to a tree.
" Ha ! Yea ! it l ooks as if one c o u l d scramble
down to the flat top of that projection there.
Possibly there ma y be a way of getting
down from there to the rocks b e l o w . W h o
knows that the miserables, w h o m we are
after, ma y not be hiding amo ng these rocks !' '
" Better not try to c l imb down here ,"
adv ised M a s o . " It is for goat s' feet ."
C old and sick with fear, I prayed that
Barto might be turned from his purpose.
But , even as I pray ed, I heard hi m let him
self drop with a thud on the slopin g ledg e
of rock an d c o m e cautiously scrambling
down to the top of the buttress.
H e did not notice the little kennel in th e
cliff where I cro uch ed in an ago ny of appre
hension. He went and l o o k e d over th e
edge of the buttress.
" Assuredly, they ca nnot have got farther
clown this wa y, " he called to his brot her
in disap point ed tones. " On eve ry side it
falls to the water straight as the wall of a
house."
H e turned t o c l imb up again and cau ght
sight o f the lo w hole in the face of the cliff.
I do not think he thou ght tha t either Francie
or
I c o u l d be there, but, fo l lowing out hisdeclared intenti on of mak ing his search
thor ough , he stop ped to thro w a careless
glance into the hole.
A most careless glance—and his eyes
met m ine !
(To be continued.)
STEADY!
NlY'OW the Captain of our School,
i Was a Leader calm and cool,
A splendid man to make you do your best;
Just the fellow to admire,
He had dash and vim and fire,
But when players were too rash he'd cr y with ze st :-
" Stead y! Stead y! don't be over-ready,
Don't lose your nerve and spoil your game the reby ;
And though school-days long have gone,
In Life's Game they've helped me on,
Those cheery words our Captain used to cry.
So at Footer, as you scoot
Down the wing, ball at your foot,
And past the " halves " successfully you fly,
Joy comes surging through your heart,
And you do not wish to part
With the ball before a shot at goal you try.
Steady I Steady I don't be over-ready,
Or else your shot may miss and go full wide;
Ere you're tackled, robbed, or fall,
Don't be selfish—pass the ball,
You're playing not for self bu t for your side.
It is just the same through life,
When you're eager for the strife,
And wish to show your mettle t o the world ;
But the race is hard and long,
And not always to the strong,
For to the ground the best men oft are hurled.
Steady ! Steady 1 don't be over-ready,
Or else you will not last the rattling pace;
Never lose your head—keep cool,
For you'll find that, as a rule,
The steady, plodding fellow wins Life's race.
HAROLD DORNTNT,.
ANSWERS TO RIDDLE-ME-REES.
(See pages 341 and 355.J
1. The letter O.
2. Cork.
3 A watch.
4. A hat.
6. The wind.
SINCE the appointm ent of a successor
t o th e late Mr. G. A. Hutch ison,
th e l o v e d " veteran edito r " of the " B. O. P. ,"
there have been repeated requests for a
port ra i t of the new Edito r. This month ,
as will be seen, I am grati fying th e curiosi ty
"O f one mind, and all right honest friends."
(Tennyson.)
and other sports—a nd an " indoo r
rec rea tio n" club for the winter months,
when the evening s can be dev ote d to reading
and various pursuits. I am alw ays gla d
t o hear of the League taking some such
concrete fo rm as this, al though I recognise
the difficulty of establishing c lub s
of any kind without proper premisesand equi pme nt. It is well to begin
m o d es t ly and to let the projected
club shape itself and develop as time
g o e s on . J. L. B. will advise me
later on as to his prog ress, and no
d o u b t other readers will fo l l o w suit.
N e x t m o n t h will see readers of the
" B . O . P . " prese nted with one of the
m o s t magnificent co loured plates tha t
have ever been give n awa y with
the pape r. The plate for the J U N E
P A R T will be one depict ing
"BUTTERFLIES AND MO THS OF
THE TROPICAL FORESTS, "
specially painted by M R . A R T H U R
T W I D L E . No one of my readers , I a m
sure, will miss the oppo rtun ity of
securing th is splendid picture. At the
same t ime I may point out tha t
th e c o v e r of the J U L Y P A R T will
g i v e , in the i r natural co lours , s om e
specimens of
1
BUTTERFLIES OFAMAZON."
THE
M r. A. L . H A Y D O N ,
Editor of the " B . O . P . "
of readers. Mr. A. L. Ha yd on c o m e s t o
the task of directing th is paper with, perhaps,
the best of qual ific atio ns: he has f o l l o w e d
the " B .O .P ." c l o s e l y from the ver y first
num ber issued, he has been a co ntr ibu torto its pages in past year s, and he was
assoc iated with Mr. Hutc his on in an editor ial
cap ac i ty before assuming the contro l . Apart
f rom these facts, I ma y note tha t he is
k n o w n to a wide circle of readers as the
author of several b o o k s fo r b o y s , an d that
he finds his kee nest en jo ym en t still in
writing for the m. Colo nial readers will
be interested to kn ow tha t he has travel led
ex tensively in Cana da and Australia, a nd
they may feel sure tha t his intimate know
ledge of these parts of our Empire has
brought him into c los e symp athy with them.
Th e nex t item o n the " agen da " is the
suggestion put forward by J . L. B. that a
branch club in conn ectio n with the Lea gueof Friendship should be formed in his
town . Th e sugg estion is a g o o d one
and it receives m y hearty com m enda t i on .
J . L. B.'s idea is to fo rm a n " o u t d o o r
recreation " clu b for the summe r mo nth s—
to include c y c l i n g , nature rambles, cricket
This representat ion of the gorg eous " bird-
wing butterflies " of the tro pics will m ake
a capital com pan ion to the former plate.
* * *
THE League of Friendship was founded last
year with a view to its forming a bond
of union be-
the "B.O.P."
Its ideals are
paper which for
has stood for all
and purest and
Without binding
anydeftnite vows
on its supporters
manly, Christian
workers for good
to be slackers or
lookers-on. On
each member
bearinghisname
the League regis-
who desire some
tion badges have
in the shape of
or coat, watch-
and tie - pins,
sale at 7d . each post free.
tween readers o!
the world over,
those of the
so many yean
that is highest
b e s t i n l i f e ,
its members to
the League calls
to lead a clean,
life, to be active
in the world, not
merely passive
being enrolled,
receives a card
and number on
ter. For those
form of recogni-
been prepared
brooches for cap
chain pendants,
these being on
Applications for
membership and for badges should be ad
dressed to the Editor, "B.O.P." 4 Bouverie
Street, London, E.C. T H E O L D B O Y .
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458 The "Boy's Oban Taper.
H U T C H I S O N . %
"If-
*. HUTCHISON was born in Lo nd on in
llL 1842, and remain ed a love r of the
great city, and especially of Fleet Street,
t o the ver y end. He had all a Lon do nb o y ' s l o v e of pranks an d there was little
promise in his schoo l days of the student
habits whi ch marke d his later years, when
ihe was possessed with the dete rmin atio n to
make a place for himself in literature.
It was a very real " det ermi nat ion " and
le d to the conquest of his b o d y to a rema rk
able degree. He was apprent iced to the
printing business, and his l ove for his work
an d thorou ghne ss in it led to man y difficult
tasks being left w h o l l y in his hand s. Thes e
kep t hi m often to the " we e sma ' hours " and,
t h a t his early hours of stud y mig ht not be
sacrificed to the natural demand for sleep,
he used an alaru m t o wake him up , often as
early as three o ' c l o c k . Ala s ! the call was
so m e t i m e s ineffectual. No t to be beaten,
he added a contriva nce to the alarum
which emptied a tin of co ld water over hi m
if he failed to rise an d re mo ve it in time.
D i d he ev er fail to sav e himself ? W e l l ,
y e s ! he admit ted, but not often. There
are upo n his shelves to- day four half-b ound
v o l u m e s in MS., a gra mmar entirely compi led
and written o ut by himself with up-to-date
quot atio ns and examp les, one of the fruits
-of those early days of earnest student effort.
H e had remarkable power s of endurance
and not infreque ntly wor ked during the
-whole of two or three day s and nights. In
the da ys of his ass ocia tio n wit h Dr. (after
wards Sir) Benj amin W ar d Richard son in
the Social Science Review, they had been
w o r k i n g together for three days and two
nights, wi th sca rcely a break, on the Review
and experiments on " l o c a l anaesthesia,"
w h e n the doctor saw a gh os t!
" Bet ty " ha d brou ght in a candle, and
was stand ing for a mo me nt or so in case
anything further might be required from
her. " Than k yo u, Bet ty, " said the D o c t o r .
" that will do ; g o o d night ."
S o m e t ime later Mr. Hutchison was
rather surprised to hear the doctor repeat
" T h a n k y o u , Bet ty , th a t will do ; g o o d night ."
H e cont inued his wor k howe ver, as did the
d o c t o r , but wh en some hours after Betty 's
appea rance , the doc tor with some sharpness
b e g a n , " Thank you , Bett y," his young
helper realised what the strain had done
an d br oke in, assuring the doc tor that Bet ty
had go ne to bed hours before.
D r . Richardson rose and walking to the
wash-basin at once " l e t " b l o o d and then
went off to rest. He afterwards decl ared
that at the mo me nt of speaki ng he had seen
Bet ty wit h absolute distinctness, but that
th e arrest had undoubtedly saved him f rom
brain fever.
It was while yet a yout h that Mr .
Hutch ison ma de the surrender of his life
t o Chri st; and deep indeed was the con-
C A.i y JOHN BRADFORD.
v ic t ion that the best of us can never be t he
men we ough t to be apar t f rom Him ; while
fo r the weak, beaten again and again in
hours of tempt ation , Divi ne grace can do
more than th e hardest huma n grit. This
was the burd en of his message and witness
to the ma ny w ho sough t his help.
His loyal l ove to the Master le d to an
abiding and practical interest in many forms
of pub lic Christian wor k. In his Chur ch
he served in eve ry depart ment of her life
and without stint gave of his best, especially
fo r the young peop le .
In its earliest days he was closely identified
with work for Dee p Sea Fishermen and
lads which afterwards d evel oped into the
R o y a l National Mission to this great class
of Britain's worke rs. For eight long and
often bitter weeks the men were toiling at
Th e late Mr. G. A. Hutchison.
(Editor of the " B.O.P." 1879-1912.)
sea and then had a ver y few day s of respite
at home.
T h e plague of the North Sea at that t ime
was the " Co pe r" —t he floating foreign
grog shop— where the hottest of vile
spirits were so ld to those who visited her for
the purpo se of purchasing t o b a c c o duty free.
H o w Mr. Hut ch iso n' s indi gnat ion flamed !
H o w eagerly he threw himself into every
plan for bet ter ing the fishermen's c on di ti on s
and saving them f rom the fiendish peril s by
which they were assailed. H o w patiently
he stud ied the men, the fishing, e very thi ng
connected with their work and their lives.
H e gav e many of his summe r holiday s to
trips round the coast, organising bazaars
and holdin g meeting s both on boar d the
Hospital Ship and in the various T o w n
Halls of the coast towns visited, speaking
t o few or many—sometime s thousands—
of the work of the missio n. The n he wou ld
tell in his own v iv id wa y, and with the glint
J5T»
of hu mou r which was never missing, the
stories he had gathered from the lips of the
men themselves.
On on e occasion one of the skippers told
h im in awe-s truck t ones of a terrible anxi ety
ho ha d faced in the days when the Mission
ships carried medicine but no doct or. The
bottles were numbered and it was ordinarily
easy to serve the medi cin e in the p rescrib ed
quanti ties for defined cases of sickness.
A squall, how eve r, had give n the shi p such
a tossing that two or three of the bottles-
had been broken.
W h e n the storm had subsided and patients
ventured aboard, the skipper was dismayed
t o find that the physic in No. 15, required
by one of his visitors, had all disappeared
and his anxiet y beca me acute. In the
d i l e m m a the mat e, " wh o was a bit better
scholard ," suggested that as 8 and 7 made
15 a portion might be given from each of
these bott les ! T o this th e patient eagerly
assented and the potion was duly provided
and proved efficacious !
H o w sure the men were of his sym pat hy
an d interest, as they told of the escapes
from death wh ich accounte d for the terrible
marks upon them, and how his eyes shone
as the y told what the Mis sion ships had done
t o help them in the dreary hours of darkness
and danger!
It was this knowledge and sympathy
which made his " sta teme nts" at the
annual meetings so noteworthy that the
dai ly press gave him the highest place for
efforts of the kind.
It is not too much to say that probably
no one connec ted with the Mission had quite
so comp lete a knowled ge of its history or of
its mo st intricate w orki ngs as he.
During the greater part of his life Mr .
Hutchi son lived at Leyton ston e, on the
edge of Epping Forest, in a very c o m
m o d i o u s old-fashioned house at the foot
of who se lawn a forest pon d lies. Here
he enjoye d an ideal home-life surrounded by
things in wh ich he deligh ted and which
greatly helped him in his work.
Here he received in quie t hours suc h
friends as found a little leisure to look in
u p o n hi m: the Rev . J. G. W o o d , the
naturalist, Ascot t H o p e , R. M. Ballantyne,
D r. Stradling, and ma ny others. Here t o
the end he recei ved the atten tion and enjoy ed
the compa nio nsh ip of the gentle Christian
l a d y w h o m he marrie d forty -six years ago
and to w h o m , as he so gla dly own ed, he
owed so much.
It will be interesting to boys , and many
w ho are no longer boys , everywhere, to
learn that a movement is on foot to
mak e " Iv yb an k, " as the house is named , a
monument to the late Editor of the " B . O . P . , "
and a means of abid ing help and inspiration
t o the yo un g men and lads of the Forest
district as an Institute an d H o m e .
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The Son of an Anarchist. 459
" C A. H."A n Apprec ia t ion .
I I D so G. A. Hutchison, t he genial
j \ _ " veteran editor " of the " B. O. P. "
as he liked to styl e himself, is no mo re . It
is hard to realise it. Fo r th ir ty odd years—
e v e r since 1879, when t he " B o y ' s Own
Pap er " was launch ed—he skilfully con tro lle d
its destinies and steered it thro ugh ma nya shoal and quicksand to the harbour of
success . It was a grand wor k t ha t he
a c c o m p l i s h e d ; thousands of " o l d b o y s "
the world over, who never l ooked upon his
k i n d l y face, l oved him for the vast amount
of entertainment that he provided them.
On my own bookshelves s tand thirty-four
v o l u m e s of the " B o y ' s Own Annua l," the
earlier ones well-t humbed, dog-eared and
with man y a pag e miss ing. As I look at
them I find myself saying, Si monumentum
requiris, circumspice."
F r o m the lips of " G. A. H. " himself I
often heard of the early days of the pape r,
of its struggles and difficulties, th oug h t hese
were few indeed, for the " B. O. P. " gained
an almost instant success. It was a paper
that most certa inly " filled a ga p. " At t ha t
t ime the "p en ny dreadfu l" held universal
sway . The editor was fortunate in attract ing
t o his side so me of the ver y best writers
fo r b o y s of our generation . The names of
W . H. G. Kingston, II . M. Ballantyne,
G. A. Henty , Talbot Baines Reed , Ju les
Verne, Gordon Stables, David Ker, Asc ott
R. Hope, to menti on but a few, are house
hold words . Wh at magi c pens they wielded.
Wha t new world s of rom ance they un folded
before ou r eyes ! The re is no " ol d boy "
t o - d a y wh o doe s no t carry, still fresh in
his mind, the mem ory of one or more of
those wonderful serials the we ekly instal
ments of which were so eagerly awaited.
H o w keen some of us wer e on " our own
paper " in thos e day s ! Ev en the attr acti onof a c o v e r and a bright col oured plate c o u l d
not induce us to wait a whole mon th for
o ur next perusal. He was a luc ky bo y,
indeed , whose pocket -money allowed him
^0
Serial
Story.
AF EW days after P aolo 's fight with
B o b b i e , some of the s couts re ported
that they had discovered another ca mp of
bo y scouts about two miles to the north,
hidden in a fold of the hills. Th e scou t
master, Mr. Landor , decided to mar ch o v e r
with a select par ty a nd call on the new
comers , with a view to arranging som e
manoeuvres with them. Rona ld, Pao lo and
Bobbie were all three members of this party :
though Paolo with his two black eyes and
bruised face was not exactly a thing of
beauty. Between him and B o b b i e there
was an armed neutrality. B o b b i e had not
apologised for calling him a cowar d, bu t he
forbore to tease hi m; while Paol o was
always very much on his dignity when his
rival approached.
T h e camp of the scouts, who had c o m e
f rom Plymo uth, was situated in a ho l low
with the hill on three sides of it. Th e sides
the luxury of buying both weekly and
monthl y numbers. An d what trouble we
went to, rather than f o r g o our weekly
t r e a t ! Ther e is one " old b oy " I kn ow
w h o walked six miles every week to get his
c o p y of the " B. O. P. " and n o bad weather
ever deterred him f rom the journey.
I think it was because " G. A. H . " so
pecul ia r ly ha d t he " clear v isi on " t ha t he
made the " B. O. P. " what it is to-d ay. He
was eminen tly a religious man, a man
w h o se whole life was a testimo ny, but he
k n e w the human b oy and catere d for him
accordingly . Ma ny peo pl e at first wan te d
the " B .O .P ." to b e a kind o f glorified t r a c t ;
they wanted to ram religion d o w n a b o y ' s
th roat . " One old gent lema n," Mr. Hut
c h i so n tol d me, " used to br ing me lo ng
strips of M o o d y ' s sermon s which he wan ted
m e to publish. ' No , ' I said, ' we'll have
rel igion, but w e'll hav e it in soluti on an d
no t en bloc I " ' An d so it was don e, skilfulh',
quietl y, unobtrus ively , but no ne the less
effect ively. Th e mor al uplift in the storie s
of Talb ot Baines Reed , Gord on Stables, and
oth er writers bo re its fruit in g o o d season.
There have been scores of letters pouring
into the " B. O. P. " office during the pastfew weeks, all of the m express ing sincere
regret at the death of " our editor." A m o n g
them are some letters f rom the mothers of
b o y s who have had cause to th an k G o d
fo r the Christian work which he did th rough
the pages of his paper. An d I kno w
" G. A. H. " would be prou dest of these wer e
he alive to read the m. A. L.
A REMINISCENCE.
IT has been the c ust om at Clay esmor e
Schoo l , Pangbourne, to ask visitors
t o the S c h o o l to write a message to the b o y s ,
w h i c h , with the visitor' s pho togr aph, is
hung o n the walls of the cor ridor s of t he
S c h o o l . Amon gst others the la te Mr. G. A.Hutchison, for so many years Editor of
the " B o y ' s Own Pape r, " was a frequent
visitor, and hi3 mess age is an interesti ng o ne,
appealing to all b o y s , fo r w h o m he had a
C HA PTER X V . — T H E NIGHT A T T A C K,
of the hill were steep and t wo of th em were
c o v e r e d with dense bushes, so t ha t th e
c a m p could only be approached in two
di rec t ions , i.e. f rom the river valley, or
f rom the north side, where an attack ing
part y woul d have to c l i m b a f ence and slide
d o w n a steep grassy s lope . Ronald noted
all this as they entered the camp , where
they re ceived a hearty w e l c o m e f rom th e
Plymouth b o y s and their officer, who
sh o w e d them their fine t ranspor t waggon, of
w h i c h the t roo p was just ly pr oud, the
ambulance outfit, their ingenious c o o k i n g
d e v i c e s and, last but not least, their beautiful
silk troop-flag, which was kept in a water
proof case in the guard-tent and no t un
furled exc ept on such special occasi ons as
an inspection or a churc h parade.
It was finally arranged between the
scoutmasters t ha t " wa r " should be
mutually declared at one o ' c l o c k t ha t after-
l i felong affection. We quo te the message,
w h i c h we think ma y .be of gener al interest.
" TO C LA Y ES MOR E BOY S .
" B e t rue English b o y s , ever brave and
c h e e r y , and the days to c o m e will take care
of themselves, or rather will be taken care
of by Him wh o makes no mis takes.
" The times are big with promise, but
the future greatness and glory of old En glandare largely in your keeping.
" W o r k and play, watch and pray, there
fore, wit h hone st zest, an d you at least
will not doubt whether life is indee d worth
l iv ing to the full, whil e the simpl est duti es
faithfully d one will b l o s so m in to j o y s that
endure.
" May God bless and keep you every one.
" O. A. HUTCHISON."
TO THE
LATE G. A. HUTCHISON.( A T R I B U T E . )
Thy work is done:—thy work so crystalclear,
So clean, its very heart went surging forth
Unto the betterment of all our youth.
Thy work is done:—no more the guiding
hand,
So lately loosed from three-and-thirty years
Of loving toil, shall clasp in ours again.
Thy work is done:—thy work that ever
held
The thoughts of Englishmen throughout the
world
Upon their days at school,—days brave and
bright,
Days strong, whose battling hours gave kind
ling strength
To carry down the years. Thy work is
done :
Friend, rest in peace !
D. L. A. JEPHSON
^0
By W. A. B. CLEME NTS ON,
M.A.,
Author of
"A Couple of Scamps" etc.
n o o n , after which either troo p migh t attac k
w h o m they should be able to overpower.
T o capture a man it was necessary for
t w o others to hold him while the y cou nted
twenty, when he was o b l i g e d t o take off
his scarf and promise on his honour not to
take any further part in the hosti lities . If
he refused to give his " par ol e, " he was to
b e taken by his captors to their camp and
kept under guard.
O n the way back to their own camr/Scout-
master L and or allowed his part y, bei ng a
small one, to go as they ple ased, and it so
happened t ha t B o b b i e over took Paolo and
d r e w him aside.
" I want to speak to yo u, " said he.
" Wh at ab out ? " aske d P a o l o , noticing
t ha t B o b b i e l o o k e d serious.
" I've just been talking to Mr . La ndor , "
said B o b b i e , " and he is plannin g to at tac k
the enemy 's camp to-night."
T h e S o n o f anAnarch i s t :
A Tal e o f S t ra ng e My s t er y andW i l d A d v e n t u r e .
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460 The "Boy's Otoun Taper.
" O h , t ha t wil l be great fun ," sa id Paolo ,
see ing an op por t uni t y of r egain ing h i s r epu
ta t ion i n Ron ald ' s eyes if not in Bo bbi e ' s .
" Y o u w o n ' t f u n k i t , then ? " said the
latter. " I t i s c r eep y work , I can t e l l j ' ou .
Awfu l ly exci t i ng ! "
" Oh , I 'v e ha d mor e exci t i n g things t o
d o th an t ha t , " sa id Paolo , th inking of his
expedi t i on to t he anarchists ' headquarters.
" I t e ll yo u what , Po l ly , " sa id B o b b i e . " I
have an idea . Perhaps I was wron g to cal l
y o u a cow ard . I ' l l g ive yo u a chan ce to
p r o v e i t , and , if yo u do wha t I say, I ' l l—
I ' l l apo logi s e . There ! "
" W ha t is i t ? " ask ed Pao lo with affected
indi f f er ence .
" W e l l , I dare yo u to go on ahead of us
w h e n w e a t tack t ha t c a m p a n d capture their
t r o op colour s out of t he guard- ten t ."
" A l o n e ? "
" Ye s, qui t e a lone . I f yo u do i t , even i f
y o u get captu red , I ' l l beg you r pardo n,
indeed I wi l l ; an d i f yo u capture their
swa nky colo ur s—w el l , I ' l l be yo ur f ri end for
l i f e . "
" R e a l l y ? "
" O n m y sc o u t ' s h o n o u r . ' 5
" Th en I wi l l do i t ."
" I f yo u do , you ' r e a t r u m p , " sa id B o b b i e ,
and he shook the o ther ' s hand.
On reaching the cam p their nostr i ls were
assa i l ed b y the s avo ury smel l of coo kin g ;
t he c o o k s were making a stew, a dish which
al l scout s wor thy of t he n ame can ma ke so
wel l . E v e r y o n e w a s r a v e n o u s , a n d , w h e n
the bugle soun ded, t he cook- hous e t ab l e w as
bes i eged by hungry b oy s car ry ing enamel l ed
t in plates, on whic h the servers pi led the
s t eaming c o n c o c t i o n .
T h e n , sitting roun d on the grass in smal l
grou ps , t hey a l l bega n to ea t and t o ta lk
wi th equal energy. Tho se wh o had bee n
wi th the embass y descr ibed the new cam p
and i ts inm ate s, whi le the rest, w h o h a d
st aye d in ca mp or wande red abou t t he
coun t rys ide , a l l had something to t e l l ; and
b o t h parties j o ine d in d i scuss ing the pro j ec t ed
n i g h t attack .
P a o l o , R o n a l d , B o b b i e , S e t h L e v e r so n a n d
a few others we re sitting t ogethe r , and S eth
was tel l ing the othe rs wha t he ha d be en
doing whil s t t hey were awa y.
" R a the r a cur ious th ing h a p p e n e d so o n
after yo u had go ne ," sa id Leve r son. " I was
help ing Jock peel pota toes for t he s t ew,
when such a queer little man walked in tothe ca mp and s to od watching us for a f ew
minutes . He was a dwar f . "
" A dwa rf ? " said Pao lo unea si ly.
" Ye s, and he had whi t e hair , qui t e whi t e ,
and his eyes were black l ike jet and ve ry
sm a l l . "
" A r e y o u sure he ha d b l ac k eyes and
whi t e hair ? " a sk e d P a o l o , n o w g r e a t l y
a l a r m e d . L e v e r so n n o d d e d . R o n a l d
tho ug ht no thin g of i t at the t ime, but he
n o t i c e d that P a o l o l o o k e d startled when the
dwar f was ment ioned, and the f ac t was
broug ht t o h i s me mo ry in a mos t a l arming
manner la ter on. Pao lo had not t o ld h im
that the red letter had been brou ght by a
dwar f , nor d id he know that I n sp e c t o r
River s had seen a per son of t ha t d e sc r i p t i o n
at the anarchists ' headquarters ; so he had
no r eason to suspect an y danger f rom this
little stranger.
But Paolo was more f r ightened than he
w o u l d h a v e o w n e d t o a n y o n e . H e h a d
little d o u b t that this dwarf was the bearer of
the red letter , and he feared that some evi l
purpose had brough t h im hither. Had hi s
e n e m y c o m e to put p ois on in his food , or to
mur der him in his sleep in reve nge for his
d i s c o v e r y of the anarchists ' secrets ? I t
w as terrible to be purs ued in this w a y , after
he had c o m e t o look upon i t al l as a horr ible
d r e a m that ha d vani shed for eve r . His mid
night fears had after al l a f ounda t ion , and
he knew t ha t i f he had to go on sentry d u t y
again at night he woul d ha ve a hard battle
wi th h imsel f t o conceal h i s ne rvousness
from the other b o y s . Bu t why should he
conc eal i t an y long er ? Oug ht he no t to tel l
Ronald and Mr . Landor , t o expla in a l l t o
B o b b i e and b eg h im to take back h i s
chal l enge ?
La te r i n t he day , when Paolo had a lmost
d e c i d e d to do this, he met Bob bie a lone amo ng
the gor se bushes , where they were both
keeping a l ook -out for t he ene my in case
t h e y sh o u l d a t temp t a raid b y d a y l i g h t .
B o b b i e l oo ked a t h im inqui r ingly .
" H a v e y o u c h a n g e d y o u r m i n d a b o u t
to-n ight ? " he ask ed with a faint susp icion
of a sneer , which decid ed Paolo a t o n c e ;
and he cr ied out def iant ly :
" N o ! I 'm not going to bac k out now ,
whateve r happe ns . On my scout ' s
h o n o u r ! "
H e h a d burnt h i s b o a t s b e h i n d h i m n o w ;
no confess ion to Mr . Lan dor or R on ald cou ld
poss ibly exc use him fo r brea king his word of
hon our . I t was a chan ce t ha t might never
o c c u r again , of conquer in g h i s ene my,
B o b b i e B r a n d r a m , a n d turning him into a
f r i end. I t was merely the cont inu at ion of
their f ight , whi ch had b een only interrupted
b y hi s fool i sh weakness , an d Pa olo was
equal ly de t e rmined no w not t o g ive in till
he had wo n. So for t he present h e d e c i d e d
to kee p his fears to himself an d no t t o tel l Mr.
La ndo r what he knew of t he dwar f till t h e
fo l lowing mornin g, by whic h t ime h e hop ed
to hav e vanqu i shed Bo bb ie onc e and for a l l .
A t e i g h t o 'c lock in the eve ning , whe n i t
was a lmost dark, S c o u t m a s t e r L a n d o r w i t h
a p i c k e d p ar ty of s ix t een scout s , t he rest
r emaining to guard the cam p, s tar ted out t o
make the attack . T h i s p ar ty h e d i v i d e d
in to two equal parts, one of which he
himself led up the v al le y to a t tack t h e c a m p
on i t s ope n s i de ; t he o ther he sent u n d e r
Ron ald ' s l eader ship round to t he ba ck of t hec a m p t o a t tack i t f rom the north b y c l i m b i n g
the f ence . The approa ch through the
val l ey was to be merely a feint to c o v e r this
at tack .
P a o l o h a p p e n e d t o b e w i t h R o n a l d ' s
par ty , whi le Bo bb ie was wi th Mr . Land or .
P a o l o in t ende d to keep wi th h is p ar ty as long
as poss ib l e and when c lose t o t h e e n e m y
to sl ip away in the dark and cr awl in to
their c a m p . F o r t h e present h e m a r c h e d
along quie t ly wi th the o ther seven b o y s ,
outw ardly ca lm , but i nwardly shaking wi th
fea r ; f or t he daring dee d was soo n to b e
d o n e , a nerve- r acking task at the b est of
t imes , but a hund redfold wor se no w t ha t
he knew the dwarf was on his t rack .
Wh en they wer e within a shor t dist ance of
t he enem y's cam p, Paolo asked Ro nal d i f
he migh t crawl dow n to the edge of the
bushes to see i f he could look i n to the cam p.
Ron ald assented , t e l l ing h im not t o be too
long and to take care the sentries did not hear
h i m .
" I f I ' m not back in t en minutes , don ' t
wai t for me ," said Paol o. " I may g et
cap ture d ; and i f not , I can join yo u farther
o n . " The n, wi thou t wai t ing for a reply,
lest his courage should fai l him, he hurried
away in to the darkness and, falling on his
hands and knees in the wet grass, craw led
stealthily in the direct ion of the e nem y's
c a m p .
R o n a l d wai t ed for some t ime for Paolo ' s
return, but as he never came back, concl uded
he had bee n cap ture d. So they crept on
across t he dusky mead ows in the d im star
l ight , l ike a t ro op of gho sts, till they were
but a few yard s f rom the thick hedg e that
b o u n d e d t h e ho l low where the c am p lay. " A
scout , who was sent do wn to the hedge to
r econnoi t r e , returned t o say that t he enemy
were on the alert, for he had heard one of
their sentries say to a comrade, " I can hear
t h e m m o v i n g u p there."
R o n a l d s a w h e must c h a n g e h i s c o u r se ;
so he drew his par ty away f rom the camp ina nor th-wester ly d i r ec t ion , till t hey r eached
a fenc e, whi ch div ide d the f ields. Wh en
they were about t o c l imb this f ence , t hey
su d d e n l y heard a so und of scamper ing f ee t ,
and , wi thout s toppi ng to think, th e boys ,
whose nerves were tense wi th exci t ement ,
were throw n in to a panic and woul d have
turned t o run , had not Ronald checked
them wi th one whi spered word : " Hor se s! "
It wa s on ly so me horses in the nex t field
taking a gal lop , and e very scout , when he
k n e w this, fel t rather asha med o f his f r ight .
Ove r the fence they cl i mbe d, and in a few
minutes , by cr eeping a long under t he hedge
on their right, arr ive d at the north side of
t he e nem y's c amp , wi th only some bushes
and a steep slope betw een th em and t he tents.
E v e n then t hey nar rowly escaped de
t ec t ion , f or two of t he defending scout s ,
hearing a rustling, came a long and thrust
into the bushes with their s t a v e s ; b u t
Ronald and h i s band kept still and held their
breath till th ey ha d pas sed by.
Af t er wai t ing a little longe r to disa rm
suspic ion , Ro nal d led h i s men away f rom
the hedge, and appr oach ed the camp lower
d o w n near the fence on i ts northern s ide ,
which was the wea kest po int in the pos i t ion.
Meanwhi l e , i n t he val l ey Lando r ' s scout s
were crawling-up by stages, lying f lat on their
s toma chs in t he long grass . Th e enem ywere watchful on this side an d had st retched
acros s the op en long st r ings, t o which were
a t tached t in cans , ket t les, e tc. , so that a n y o n e
s t u m b l i n g o v e r these might g ive the a la rm;
a n d this i s wha t actual ly hap pen ed, for one of
L a n d o r ' s par ty accidenta l ly k i cked a buck et .
A sent ine l c r i ed " W h o goes there ? " an d
on recei ving no answ er , ran ba ck to the
guard-tent. I n another minute the alarm
was g iven and about twen ty exci t ed young
sters c a m e rushing out into the open, yel l ing
tr iumphantly.
This was just t he oppo r tuni ty which
Ron ald wante d , and cry ing " Charge ! "
he leapt ove r the fence followed by his six
men, and the p ar ty sl id and rol led dow n the
steep slop e in a mos t undignif ie d manner
i n to the very heart of the enemy' s camp .
W h e n the exci t ed defender s returned
after captur ing one of Land or ' s party, t h e y
f o u n d their ca mp a l ready occu pied by
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The Son o_f an Anarchist. 461
Ronald and his val iant six and were
re luc tant ly compel led to own themselves
beaten. Landor ' s party , as they came up,
answered Ronald ' s hail with a burst of
cheering, which was lou dly ech oed b y
their cour teous opponents . T he one
prisoner of war was released, and Ro na ld ,
w h o was looking for Pao lo, was astonish ed
to find that he had not been capt ured after
all . Som e one suggested that he was
frightened and had run home , but this
idea was rejected by most of the tro op,
part icularly b y B o b b i e , who we nt up to
the Ply mou th scoutm aster and asked him
to look an d see if his troo p-fl ag wa s saf e.
T h e officer was surprised at this request ,
but went at o n c e to the guard- tent and
re turned presently in grea t dismay to say
that the flag was no longe r there.
" Then," sa id B o b b i e in a clear vo ice , so
that eve ryone c o u l d hear, " I kn ow where
it is. One of our scouts —the o ne wh o is
missing—has cap ture d it and taken i t back
to our ca mp . I dared him to do it . "
T h e officer was relieved to hear that hi s
flag was safe, an d Ro na ld that P a o l o ' s
disappearance was accou nted fo r ; but
before movi ng away bot h t roops gave three
hear ty cheers for the da r i ng young scou t
who had so c lever ly outwi t ted the guardians
(To be continued.)
of the colours . T hen, after mutual c o m
plime nts and cheers, the a t tacking fo rce se t
ou t for hom e, while the defenders retired t o
e n j o y the i r well -earned rest . T h e a t tacking
p a r ty marched gai ly back to their c a m p ,
and sta r t led the somewhat s leepy sentries
b y creep ing up softly from different sides
and rushing in with a wild yel l .
Grea t was the j oy of those left behind at
the i r com rad es' success ; but their happiness
was short-li ved, for, whe n inquiries be gan to
be made, i t was discovered that Paolo had
n o t re turned to the camp and that no one
had seen or heard a ny t h i ng of hi m at
all.
Our note Book.A WO N D E R F U L SINGING INSECT.
ONE of the greatest novelties of the present seasonis the introduction, for the first time, of the Fuku
Moushi. or Happy Bell, of Japan. It is a tiny insect
with brilliant musical capabilities, which needs no
special care except to be fed once a day on a little
Th e " Happy Bell " of Japan.
tomato, cucumber, or lettuce. Water is not needed.It will then charm its owner and all around it bysinging merrily with silvery, Ante-like voice. Aftersome years of crossing and careful breeding it has beenbrought to a high state of perfection, and in its tiny cage,measuring a few inches across, it charms all whohear it. The Emperor of Japan and other membersof the Royal family have taken a great interest inthe " Happy Bell," and so the insect, has become afashionable pet among the elite of Japan.
4 4 4REAL GRIT.
AUDUBON, the famous American ornithologist andartist, and one of the most indefatigable searchers aftertrue knowledge, kept a journal throughout his busyand wandering life. In his " Life,*' included in the" Everyman's Library," his many privations andtriumphs are faithfully and vividly recorded. Aftermany disappointments and obstacles, always cheerfullyovercome, it was to England he had to turn before liecould get his great wcrk, " The Birds of America,"published.
Here are his own words: " I have balanced myaccounts with * The Birds of America,' and the wholebusiness is really wonderful; forty thousand dollarshave passed through my hands for the completion of the first volume. Wh o would believe that a lonelyindividual, who landed in England without a friendin the whole country, and with only sufficient pecuniarymeans to travel through it as a visitor, could haveaccomplished such a task as this publication ? Whowould believe that—once in London—Audubon hadonly one sovereign left in his pocket, and did notknow of a single individual to whom he could applyto borrow another, when he was on the verge of failurein the very beginning of his undertaking ; and. aboveall, who would believe that he extricated himself fromall his difficulties, not by borrowing money, but byrising at four o'clock in the morning, working all day,
and disposing of his works at a price which a commonlabourer would have thought little more tban sufficientremuneration for his work ?
M
To give you an idea of my actual difficulties duringthe publication of my first volume, it will be sufficient
to say that, in the four years required to bring thatvolume before the world, no fewer than fifty of my
subscribers abandoned me I An d whenever a fewwithdrew I was forced to leave London and go to theprovinces to obtain others to supply their places, inorder to enable rae to raise the money to meet theexpenses of engraving, colouring, paper, printing, & c ,and so with all my constant exertions, fatigues, andvexations, I find myself now having but 130 standingnames on my list."
To have compiled such a great work is in itself amonument of carefulness and industry; but to becompelled to leave his own native land and seekencouragement among strangers for the realisation of his beloved task, to be his own artist, his own publisher,his own book canvasser, to wander over half the continent of America to get his studies at first hand, andto travel through the greater part of England, Scotlandand France, to create and maintain an interest in hispublished work, is prodigious. Ye t Audubon did allthis with a stout heart, and the secret of it all is simplythis—he loved his work.
To a bey with a love of Nature and open-airventure, "T h e Life of Audubon" will be a mine of bliss and delight, while the lessons tha t it teaches should
linger long in bis memory.
A MODEL A E R O P L A N E THATW I L L P L Y .
READERS interested in aviationt»will be pleased
to know that there is a model aeroplane that
will fly for at least a quarter of a mile and does not
smash when it comes to the ground.
We had occasion recently to visit the workshops of
Messrs. Mann & Grimmer, Ltd. , Arlington Road,Surbiton, and spent a most enjoyable afternoon
there seeing how the aeroplanes were made. Th e
utmost care is used in the construction ; the attention
to detail and the genius which comes of an infinite
capacity for taking pains are qualities that make
for success in model aeroplane manufacture. In
wide circle to the left and then another to the right.
The elevator of this model in front is so arranged
that it can be moved to the right or left for circling orkept in the dead centre for straight flights. There
was a very gusty wind blowing at the time, but it
(See
A Cageful of Singers .
1 A Wonderful Singing Insect")
had no effect on the model, which sailed along as
serenely as if it were a calm day.
Curiously enough, the bulk of the business of the
firm of Messrs. Mann & Grimmer is done abroad ;
they think this is caused by the large numbers of cheap
models from France and Germany that are sold in
A Real Flier.
these respects Messrs. Mann & Grimmer are unsur
passed. Each 'plane sent out has stamped on itthe signature of Mr. R. F. Mann together with a certi
ficate guaranteeing flight. One great advantage is
that Mr. R. F. Mann is a model flyer himself and one
of the most successful exponents of the art.
We then went to Esher Common with Mr. R. F .
Mann and witnessed some splendid trial flights with
a model just completed. Th e model flew in a straight
line for nearly half a mile, then it was set to take a
this country, the majority of them not being able to
fly a yard, and if they do fly they smash on falling toth e groun d. This has disapp ointed many mod el -
flying aspirants. All we can say to boys who intend
taking up the sport of aeroplane-flying is, write for the
firm's catalogue, which is beautifully got up, and only
costs 6d. After reading it you will be certain to want
a " Mann " monoplane, and when you have it you will
be more than satisfied as to its flying powers and
remarkable powers of endurance.
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462 The "Boy's Obvn Taper.
Und er th e E d g e of the Earth:
A S t o r y o f T h r e e C h u m s and 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.
TH E first mor ning of the sum mer holi days
saw Morris and H utt on on the platform
of Luneeheste r Station, with the prospe ct
of some seven weeks or so of wild, un
tramme lled freed om in front of th em—
a free dom they were to share t o g e th e r ;
for , in addi tion t o the future happ iness laid
up f or Le ona rd Morri s in the prom ise of a
t r ip to the India n hill count ry—a vision of
eye-opening glory tha t no w dwelt with him
in every going out and coming in—theprese nt en joy me nt was to be his of a long
holida y spent in the co mp an y of his b o o n
companion .
" T h e pater ," Hutton had told him a
short fortnight previously , "s ay s he won 't
take ' no ' for an answe r. Y o u ' v e go t to
mana ge to live ou t t he whole boili ng of the
vac . at Gr ayle Hall, whethe r yo u like it or
n o t . "
" W e l l , " Morris had answered , " i f I 've
got t o , there 's an end of all resist ance. Bu t
y o u bet your b o o t s , H ut t , o ld man , I 'm
going to like it all right. Ther e wo n' t be
any mistake about t h a t ! "
W h en , therefore, the north express halted
fo r a few mom ent s at Luneehes ter, and the
two b o y s ensc onced themselves in c o m
for tab le and solit ary gra nde ur in a first-class
comp art ment , one at least of the two preened
himself upo n things being don e in style . T o
Hu tt on the affair was quite in the ord ina ry
co u r se ; but Morris 's upbringing had of
necessity been on a less extr avaga nt scale,
and s ome of the ple asing ljttle luxuri es of
life, whi ch we affect to despise when out of
our reach, were beginning to appeal to him.
He threw his bag and stick carelessly on to
the rack overhead, and flung himself d o w n
in the soft upholstered cor ner by the window
with negligent ease.
Th e train m o v e d out, gliding past the
old castl e an d parish churc h, and was s oon
thundering across the square and ugly iron
bridge spanning the Lon e Rive r, high abo ve
the water and t he quays. Under the steady
rhyt hm of her swing the b o y s gave them
selves up t o idle dreami ng, till, the first
small station slipping past, and the grea t
train no w throw ing the quic k miles behind
her, the l ow flats of the ba y la y on their left,
CHAPTER IV .—- A HOL ID A Y VISIT.
and in the far distance they c o u l d see the
nort hlan d rising to meet the hills.
" A h ! " s ighed Morr is con t en te d ly ;
" p o o r old K en ! "
Hut ton stretc hed himself.
" A y , p o o r o ld c o c k ! " he said, half
unthin kingly. " I wo uldn ' t change with
h im for a tid y fortu ne."
R em em b er in g how , the day before ,
K en n ed y had bidd en the two a some what
melancho ly adieu, not quite untinged with
envy , Morr is co'uld not forbear to smile at
his friend 's easy-going complacency .
" Change with him ! " he excl aime d.
" I should j o l ly well th ink you wou ldn ' t !
I say, Hutt on, it seems to me things get
awfully queer ly doled out at t ime s. Here
are we going to have the jolliest of g o o dt imes, and in another day or two there' ll be
p o o r ol d Ke n tied t o a bank st ool like a
chained dog ."
" Tell yo u what ! Bot her ed if I don ' t ask
the p o o r beggar hom e for a week or two
nex t year, if he can get a hol ida y whe n I 'm
there," said Hutton, and Morris applauded
th e g o o d intention.
This stage of the jou rne y was very s hort.
A fe w miles mor e, and the expre ss was
standing at t he plat form of a junct ion.
Here the two lads descended, their further
way bein g alo ng a branc h line that skirted
the hea d of the ba y and ran in under the
distant hills. Afte r loung ing rou nd the busy
platform and in particular hanging about
the bookstal l—the magn et to most r ailwa y
travellers—they sauntered leisurely across
to where the other train was waiting, and
where their luggage had already be en
transferred.
A s Hut ton swung himself up into the
carriage a rough-looking fel low was standing,
hands in pocke ts, at the d o o r of the third-
class refreshme nt-room. His eyes lit up
as he wa tche d the bo y disappear into the
train, and- had anyo ne been near the y mi ght
have heard the savage undertone of an oath.
H e turned away as the train started, so as
to escape the notice of the b o y s , should either
hap pen t o be loo kin g in his dire ctio n as the
carriage passed that part of the sta tion ;
but he gaze d after the m again when t hey
had passed, and shrugged his shoulders.
" A y ! " he growl ed, " a day in front
o ' t' fair ; but there'll be tim e yet . I'll
n o n e f o r g e t ! "
Uncons cious and uncarin g of this, t he
two friends laughed and talked together for
the remain ing short time they were to be
upon the journey, planning all manner of
g o o d things for the forth comin g holidays.
Gray le Hal l stoo d upo n the slope of a
hill at the he ad of a sandy cre ek where t he
Ker ne River , rolling down from the uplands
t o lose itself in the sands and shallows, was
spanned by a long viaduc t, which carried
the railway to the farther shore. A c r o s s
the sa nds and the green fields of the ot he r
side the hills c o u l d be seen, the hi gher
peaks peering over the shoulders of the
lesser heights through the distant films of
summ er haze, or standing, when thewinter 's .grip was keen, white-tipped and
dazzl ing in the frosty light. Th e Hal l
itself st ood just ab ov e the little vil lage of
Burnbrae , whic h straggled in pictures que
irregula rity alon g the hill-side, or upo n the
edge of the piled -up sands, left bare for the
greater port ion of each day. Usually when
th e tide rose it cam e with sudden rush,
and o ne of the features of the cre ek was the
frothing wave, from one to three feet high,
which lippe d noisily up the channel t o
herald the incoming flood.
Almost befor e he was out of the c arriage ,
when they reached Burnbrae Station, Hu tton
wa s smothered in a girl's wild embrace.
" Stea dy on, Phyll, old gi rl !" he ex
claimed in a half-shamed way. "H er e' s
M o r r i s ; don ' t forget him !" An d he laughed
wickedly.
The girl turned a bright face to Leonard,
and held out her hand . In the flash of the
dark eyes, and the frank, easy smile of
heal thy camaraderie, the lad felt on theinstant tha t here was a girl worth knowing,
on e for who se soci ety a boy must be the
better, or there was little hope inde ed for
h im.
" Pleased you're c o m e , " she said breezily,
as Morris, havin g raised his cap , took he r
proffered hand. Alt hou gh a year you nge r
than her brothe r she had already out grow n
his shorter stature, and s too d near Morris's
o w n height. " W e ' v e all heard lots and
lo ts abou t you , " she con t inu ed ; "a nd I
can tell yo u y o u ' v e a g o o d deal to live up to,
Mr. Morris . Denn is never seems to get
tired of singing you r prais es."
Morris flushed self-consciously.
" You o ld rotter ! " he said, turning t o
the grinning Hutt on. " But I'll be even
with you ."
A n d in the merr y laugh that fol lowed hi s
remark all trace of awkwardnes s was swept
away .
" Armstr ong' ll see to your things," said
the girl, as the train glide d off again on its
northward journey , and they were left
standing on the platform. Armst rong, the
porter , touch ed his ca p and said, " Certai nly,
sir ; I'll ha ve 'e m up to the H all during
the mor nin g; " and the three set out from
the little station al ong the road towards the
village.
" It 's abou t time y ou youn g men cam e,"
chatted Ph yll is; " what with father awa y,
and m oth er scared pret ty wel l out of her
l i fe."
She laughed airily.
" Yo u don ' t know what a time we had
last night. Burglar s at last, Denny dear ! "
" A t l a s t ! " echoed Morris, startled out
of himself by the fantast ic annou ncem ent.
" Ha ve you been waiting some time for
them, Miss Hut ton ? "
The girl laughed again : her whole
existence seemed to Morris to be a series of
bright, happy peals of laughter. Hutt on
himself took up the explana tion.
" Ah, you don' t k now us, Morris," he
exclaimed. " When eve r the pater 's aw ay
—and that 's pretty often—the mater
settles down to receive burglars. She
always says she knows they 're coming. I f
she had her way ther e'd be spring-guns and
man-traps al l over the grounds, and eve ry
wretchedwindow-catch and
d o o rwould be
connected with some silly burglar-alarm,
that would frighten her, if it ever went off,
a j o l ly sight worse than it would the burglar.
She really ought to ha ve a g o o d dog ; but the
funny thing is, I believe she's mor e afraid
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Under the Edge Earth. 463
of a dog than she is of a burg la r even . But
what was up, Phyll ? "
" Oh, we 'd al l go t off to be d, af ter looking
up , and goin g the usual rounds, and pee ping
into all the cup boa rds, and loo king inside
the piano "
" Oh, Miss Hu tto n ! " laughed M orris .
" Wel l , really, it wasn't far short of that.
A n y w a y , we got off at last, and I was in
just the lovel iest sleep whe n I felt so me on e
shake me— yo u needn ' t look scared , Denny ,i t was on ly mothe r ."
" W a s she the burglar ? " queried Hu tto n.
" No, she wasn ' t . Don ' t you be too
sarcast ic , or you ' l l hear nothing. She' d
just c o m e in to tell me she was certain she
had heard a noise. Of course I got up, a nd
tr ied to assure her i t was nothing, or the
wind—though there wasn ' t any , as i t
happene d—or cats , or cook snoring. Bu t she
said, No , she had h eard it in the Shiv erin g
R o o m . "
" The Shivering R o o m ! " exc la im ed
Morris.
Hutton laughed.
" Yes , my boy . Wher e I suppose you ' l l
s leep to-night , an d pleasant dream s to you !
I t ' s a funny sort of a con cern . Fo r some
unknown reason there's a dark cor r idor
leading nowhere— a sort of a s tretche d-out
b o x - r o o m — w h i c h runs down one side of i t .
I t ' s a kind of passage and cupb oar d kno cke d
into one, with a glass door , which gives i t a
beastly creepy look at night . Phy ll cal ls i t
the ' Shiv ering R o o m , ' because , al tho ugh i t
isn't haunted, she says that i t ought to be ."
" Wel l , " said Morr is, " I ' ll try n ot to fret
over that. Ev en if it isn' t haun ted, I dare
say I shall s leep al l r ig ht ! Bu t please don' t
let us s top your story, Miss Hutton."
" Y o u can call her Phyll , l ike the rest of
us," put in Hut ton, with a grin. " W e onl y
al low people to address her as Miss Hu tto n
on Sundays and spec ia l ho l ida ys ."
The gir l smiled at her brother 's off-handed
wa y of speaking, and so far fr om takingoffence, nodded a f fab ly .
" Do n' t yo u mind his nonsense , but just
call me Phyll is , al l the sa me ," she said ;
" • Miss Hut ton ' is too staid for a ma dc ap l ike
me . But about that fr ight last n i g h t . Y o u
may well imagine what tre mors w e tw o poor
women things were in. Ther e was mot her
as white as a newly-b leached shee t , and
poor wretched me gett ing into the state of a
terrified rab bit. I belie ve I c c u l d h a v e
squeaked l ike one in anothe r minute. W e
just s too d and l is tened. An d if there's
anyth ing I hate, it 's having to listen for
noises with mothe r at night . Yo u can
hear such a lot —an d such lou d ones . W e
hadn't been wait ing l ong, before—whir r - r
whir-r-r "
She suddenly c lu tched a t Hut ton ' s a rm.
and though i t was b road day l igh t that y o u n g
gent leman gav e qu i te a p ronoun ced ju mp ,
to her unrestrained delight .
" I t h o u g h t m o t h e r w o u l d h a v e d r o p p e d
through the floor, and I kno w I should ha ve
fol lowed her pret t y sharply. I ex pec t we
should bo th have sc reeched , on ly the n ex tm o m e n t we realis ed it was the c lock
beginn ing to str ike. Of cours e i t s tru ck
twelve—jus t abou t the nastiest thing i t
c o u l d hav e struck, as we were feeling at the
t i m e . "
" Y ou seem to have g o t ov er you r
f r ig h t a n y h o w ," c o m m e n t e d H u t t o n . " W h a t
happene d ? D id yo u rush out and fell th e
burg la r that wasn' t there, or did yo u scream
fire and blu e murd er, in the hope s the
vil lage wou ld wak e up and c o m e to see about
it, or "
" W e didn ' t do any th ing ha l f so id io t ic .
W e just clun g t ight to each other, and, wit h
candles in our free hands, crept up to the
servan ts ' r o o m . A n d then the two gir ls
and mot her and I p lucked up enoug h courage
to go al l ov er the place , eve n i nto the
Shiver ing R o o m ; a nd I believe wo manag ed
to see every single thing that c o u l d be seen,
short of a real l ive burglar , before w e c rept
back t rembl ing to our beds ."
" A n d that was the en d of the Gr eat To -
D o ! "
" No t qu i te , Mr . Sh arp ! Mother would
insist som e one had been abo ut. She seem ed
qui te d i sappoin ted we hadn' t f o u n d some
thing definite ; thou gh, m y gra cious m e '.
if we had, I b eliev e half of us wou ld ha ve
g o n e off into hyst erics, and the rest h a v e
flopped fainting o n the floor. Oh, we were
a b e v y of pret t y b eauties, I can tel l yo u.
A n v h o w , this morning mother sen t straight
off ' for P i l c o t t . "
" That ' s the Burnbrae b o b b y , " H u t t o nexplain ed for Morr is ' s benefi t .
" The v i l l age cons tab le , we ca l l h im,"
cor rec ted Phyll is with m o c k dignified air.
" Well , Pi lco t t came, and then the fun began
again. He went al l ove r the grou nds loo king
fo r a ' clue ,' and at last, r ight unde r the
Shiver ing R o o m w i n d o w "
She wen t off into a p eal of infectious
laughter .
" W h y can ' t you te l l us straight o u t ,
wi thout so muc h laughing , you s i lly Phyl ly ,
y o u ? " said Hu tto n.
" I th ink ," said Morris smiling, " that
Miss Hu tto n tel ls the story v ery nice ly ;
d o n ' t y o u interrupt. Please go on ," he
a d d e d , turning to the gir l .
" I won der why v i l l age po l iceme n a re
such puddi ng-h eads ? " said the yo un g lady ,
with unjust generalis at ion. " Ther e was
Pi lco t t , under the Sh iver ing R o o m w i n d o w ,
qui te exc i t ed over a ' c l ue ' — a great , ugly
foot mar k in a soft part of the flower b e d .
A n d mo the r go t quite as exc ited , and said,
' I to ld yo u so ! ' and ' Wh at a m e r c y w e
were n' t al l ki l led in our s leep ! ' and funnythings l ike that . The n P i lco t t sa id we mus t
take care and no t distu rb the place, and
could som e one gua rd i t ti l l he ' d m ade
further search ? I believe betw een the tw o
of them they qu i te thought they had seen
the actual and awful burglar in that foo t
print ; and mother said Jane w o u l d stand near
while P i lco t t went on search ing ; and Jane
said ' N ot al l alone, please, m a' am ; I dursn't ,
not to save my life ! ' an d—o h, dear ! "
She went off into anot her f i t of la ughter .
" I t ' s real ly to o fun ny ! An d then / said,
' Pi lco t t , pu t you r foo t i n t o that m a r k ,
ple ase ' ; an d he di d, an d it fitted t o a hair.
You shou ld hav e seen his face ! ' You' l l
be say ing I 'm the burg la r nex t , miss , '
he said. Bu t I tol d him , no t a bi t of i t ;
o n l y he 'd been rou t ing round there half an
hour before, and ma de the ma rk himself .
There 's dete ctiv e wor k for yo u ! "
T h e y h ad tu rned round by the shore and
the vill age fron t as she finished spe aki ng,
and, s tand ing near th e l i t t le s tone pier-head
that jut ted out into the sandy channel , was
the figure of the wo rt hy Pilc ot t himself.
He saluted grav ely as the three passed, and
smiled whe n Phyll is gaily asked him if he
had thought o f any more c lues . But Hut t on ,
l ooking bac k after they had passed, saw th e
man sign to him , and ex cus ing himself he
left Morris and Phyll is to cont inu e their w a y
alone fo r the m ome nt .
W h e n later on he and his fr iend were to
gether, af ter Mrs. Hu tto n had w e l c o m e d t he
visi tor and ho ped h e wo ul d f ind his s tayamong s t them a p leasan t one , Hut ton to ld
him the result of his inte rvie w with the con
stable.
" Pilcott isn ' t such a pudding-head as Miss
Phyll is ima gin es, " he said. " Just look
h e r e . "
He showed Morr i s a th ick , ug ly- loo king
clasp-knife.
" Pic ked up not far from the S hiverin g
R o o m w i n d o w , " he said. " Bu t old Pilc ott
did n' t sa y a wo rd, for fear of fr ightening
mot her worse ; o nly he 's certain there w as
some one abo ut, an d up to no good . I should
like to be at the b ot to m of i t ."
TO BE CONTINUED-\ • ,. r tin
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•
464 The "Boy's Oban Taper.
SCOUT.—The bowie knife is a long, sto ut knife tha t is carried by Americ an hunters and
trappers, mostly in the West. Colonel James Bowie, who gave the weapon its name,
was a Kentu cky man and a famous fighter. He introduced the knife and popularised
it. As a rule the " bowie " has a bone handle and a blade abou t 15 inches long, the
latter havi ng a width of 1± inches at the hilt.
KOA H. — I f you have followed this column during recent months you must have seen your
queries answered in replies to other corresponden ts. To secure such a position as yo udesire, apply to one of the big steamship lines and state what qualifications you possess.
I t is possible tha t y ou mi ght begin as a purser's clerk, or as an under-steward. Make
personal application at a shipping office if you can, rather than by letter.
A NEW H E A D E R . — Y o u must allow Sir Walter Scott the usual poetic licence, and assume
tha t De Bourne's horse had enough intelligence to avoid the pitfalls laid for him. Bu t
war-horses have done many more wonderful thing s; there are stories which you would
think m ore incredible than this incident.
L. McB.—It is possible to tighten the strings by means of pegs, but we do not advise this,
as they are bound to work loose again ere long. Get a maker or athlet ic outfitter toattend to the matter ; the charge would be very small.
CYRIL FEREDAY.—Your suggestion is a good one, but we cannot carry it out in the present
volume. When the new volume begins we hope to arrange for such a series of notes
as you want. There are many readers who, like you, are keen gardeners.
R . L, M.—The spelling of the Canadian town is Calga ry, with one " r." It is true, however,
that it was named after the Scottish town of Calgarry by Colonel Macleod of the
I t .N.W.M.F . , when the first settl ement was made there. The error in spelling was never
rectified once it had been made.
DONALD.—It is too true that most club cricketers have only a slight acquaintance with
the laws of the game. As it happens, Mr. Gilbert Jessop, the famous player, has written
an article on this very subject for the " B.O.F." You will be interested to read this.
C . H E R O N . — W e should have to double the paper at least, if we tried to include everything
tha t our readers are " particula rly interested in." A t present there is no room for such
a feature. It will be dealt with, so far as is possible, in the pages'devoted to '* Ho w
to Make " articles.
IT. J. T . (Canada).— The specimen of you r work, which y ou send, is so small tha t it is difficult
to judge of your ability . If you can make original designs for various kinds of fabrics
you had better get in touch with an agent who knows the industrial world and who can
place your work for you. Are you attending any art classes ? If so, your master
ought to be able to advise you.
J . R . HARDING.—This is the only explanation of the name " Black Maria " that we have
heard ; the auth ority is D r. Brewer.—" Th e tradition is that the va n referred to was
so called from Maria Dee, a negress. who kept a sailor's boarding -house in Boston . She
was a wom an of such great size and strength that the un ruly st ood in dread of her,
and when constables required help it was a common thing to send for Black Maria,
who soon collared the refractory ones and led them to the lock-up. So a prison van
was called a ' Black Maria.' "
A N ENTHUSIASTIC R E A D E R . — N o , a bull-finch is not an expensive bird to keep. Get some
meal-w orms and mixed bird seed. In the case of a goldfish and a leech, we should
think the latter would be safe owing to its size.
EXERCISE.—Yours is a frequent query. There are no special exercises to be recom mend ed
beyo nd the usual ones of breathing—fo r chest expansion - an d arm and leg exercises.
Healthy out-door sports of all kinds, dumb-bell and Indian-club exercise should do
you goo d, but it would be foolish to promise you an y conseq uent a ddition to your
height . Go in for the morning " cold tub " as regularly as possible.
S XUOOLQ-ER
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THE "BOY ' S OWN P A P E R " ] [London: 4 Bouverie, Street, E.C.