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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24102-h.zip b/24102-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7eb46ab --- /dev/null +++ b/24102-h.zip diff --git a/24102-h/24102-h.htm b/24102-h/24102-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f8e288 --- /dev/null +++ b/24102-h/24102-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4591 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + +<head> + <title>Owen Clancy's Happy Trail; Or, The Motor Wizard in California</title> +<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> + +<style type="text/css"> +.chapter {text-indent: 0px; text-align: center; color: #990000; font-weight: bolder} +p {text-indent: 20px} +p.non {text-indent: 0px} +.verse1 {margin-left: 20%} +.verse2 {margin-left: 25%} +h2 {text-align: center; color: #990000} +h3 {text-align: center; color: navy} +hr {color: navy} +hr.half {width: 50%; color: navy} +body {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%} +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Owen Clancy's Happy Trail, by Burt L. Standish + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Owen Clancy's Happy Trail + or, The Motor Wizard in California + +Author: Burt L. Standish + +Release Date: January 1, 2008 [EBook #24102] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OWEN CLANCY'S HAPPY TRAIL *** + + + + +Produced by Richard Halsey + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0px"> + <img src="images/title.jpg" width="575" height="247" alt="title" + style="border: none" /><br /> + <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="575" height="573" alt="cover" + style="border: none" /> +</p> + +<h2>OWEN CLANCY'S HAPPY TRAIL;<br /> +Or, THE MOTOR WIZARD IN CALIFORNIA.</h2> + +<h3>By BURT L. STANDISH.</h3> + +<hr /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<p class="chapter">ALMOST A RIOT.</p> + +<p>No, it was not an earthquake that happened in the city of Los Angeles, +California, on that beautiful sun-shiny morning. It was just a +tow-headed, cross-eyed youth shaking things up at the corner of Sixth +and Main in an attempt to find his father.</p> + +<p>And not one corner of the cross streets was involved, but all four +corners. The upheaval that followed this search for a missing relative, +extended in several directions, so that a very small cause led up to +remarkably large results.</p> + +<p>It was nine o'clock of a Saturday morning. That Saturday was some sort +of a festal day for the Chinese, and at the hour mentioned, a dragon a +block long, consisting of a hundred Celestials covered with +papier-mâché, was twisting and writhing along Sixth Street.</p> + +<p>On one corner, leaning against the side of a building, was a tall man in +seedy clothes. A card on his breast bore the sad legend, "Help the +Blind." The man's eyes were covered with large blue goggles, and in one +hand he held his hat, and in the other a couple of dozen cheap lead +pencils.</p> + +<p>Across the street, on corner number two, was an Italian with a hand +organ. The Italian's assistant was a monkey in a red cap.</p> + +<p>Corner number three, among others, held a grocer's boy, carrying a +basket with six dozens of eggs. He was very much absorbed in watching +the Chinese dragon wriggle along the thoroughfare.</p> + +<p>The fourth corner was reserved for Hiram Hill, the tow-headed, +cross-eyed chap who was destined to cause all the commotion. While Hill +stood on the walk, telling himself that the gaudily painted dragon +looked very much like an overgrown centipede, he suddenly caught sight +of a man in an automobile.</p> + +<p>The auto was headed along Main Street, and was waiting for the dragon to +clear the way so it could proceed. Hill looked at the machine across the +papier-mâché spine of the chink monster, and he gave a yell of surprise +when his gaze took account of the one man in the tonneau of the car.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly that man was Hiram Hill's father–the parent who had been +mysteriously missing ever since the first Klondike gold rush! Hiram's +eyes were sharp, and to them the beetling brow, the one "squint eye," +the very pronounced Roman nose, and the retreating chin which made the +face resemble a bird's beak, were all very plain.</p> + +<p>After that first yell of surprise, Hiram's astonishing good luck held +him speechless. Following a year of a trying town-to-town canvas of the +whole Southwest, he had at last come within hailing distance of his +long-lost parent.</p> + +<p>Only one point remained to make assurance doubly sure. Had the "suspect" +a brown mole on the back of his neck? Sharp as Hill's eyes were, they +could not determine that.</p> + +<p>"Who wants a pencil?" came feebly from the hapless person on the first +corner. "Help the blind."</p> + +<p>"Jocko," said the son of sunny Italy, on corner two, "maka da bow, taka +da mon!"</p> + +<p>The monkey lifted his hat and went through motions that passed for a +bow. He also looked at his master and showed his teeth, not relishing +the way his chain had been pulled.</p> + +<p>"Pipe de chink wid de pigeon toes and de bow legs!" yelped the grocer's +boy. "If he's goin' de way dem feet are pointed, foist t'ing yous know +he'll be runnin' into himself."</p> + +<p>The boy with the basket of eggs was very observing. As he shouted his +remarks he leveled a finger at a pair of coolie legs supporting one of +the vertebra of the passing dragon. The legs were badly sprung at the +knees, but they ended in feet which the Chinaman had to step over as he +walked.</p> + +<p>"Dad!" whooped Hiram Hill; "I say, dad!"</p> + +<p>Hiram recovered his speech, and all at once became as active as a swarm +of bees after some one has kicked over the hive. He wanted to get to +that automobile and give his father a filial embrace–and he was in a +hurry. The Chinese dragon was in the way, but Hiram didn't mind a little +thing like that.</p> + +<p>He jumped at the papier-mâché thing and hit it in the vicinity of the +bow-legged Chinaman. That particular chink went down, and the dragon was +broken squarely in two, midway of its length.</p> + +<p>Now, a papier-mâché dragon is a sort of a blind-follow-my-leader affair. +The Chinaman at the head is the only one in the procession who can see +where he is going, and the remaining sections of the monster hang onto +him and follow his lead.</p> + +<p>The rear half of the dragon got lost, and went groping wildly for the +front half. Somehow or other, it ran into the crowd on the corner, and +there was a mix-up in which three dollars worth of eggs were badly +scrambled.</p> + +<p>The last section of the front half, missing the part behind, began +swinging back and forth across the street in an attempt to find the lost +tail. It carromed into corner number two, smashing one perfectly good +hand organ, freeing an excited monkey, and drawing forth a volley of +lurid words from the Italian.</p> + +<p>Jocko ran across the street, and began climbing the tall man who was +selling lead pencils. With a roar of consternation, the tall man rushed +into the street, flourishing his arms, and begging some one–any one–to +"Take it away! Take it away!" He finally collided with the head end of +the dragon, demoralizing that half of the chink procession as completely +as the latter half had been.</p> + +<p>By that time; Sixth and Main was in a turmoil. The dragon had broken up +in a hundred parts, like a jointed snake, and each part was thrashing +around blindly, trying to get rid of its papier-mâché so it could see +where it was and what it was doing.</p> + +<p>From the four corners the crowd flowed into the street. Eggs, entirely +whole or only slightly cracked, flew from mischievous hands over heaving +heads, only to smash against some particularly inviting mark.</p> + +<p>The monkey leaped from one pair of shoulders to another, chattering +wildly. In course of time, he reached the automobile, landed in a heap +on the bosom of the beetle-browed, Roman-nosed passenger in the tonneau, +and encircling him with his hairy arms. The beetle-browed man got up and +fought for his freedom, clamoring furiously for "Police! Police!"</p> + +<p>Just at that moment, the only policeman in that vicinity was at the +patrol box, sending in a riot call. Meanwhile, Hiram Hill was having his +own share of troubles.</p> + +<p>The bow-legged Chinaman had slipped out of his papier-mâché shell. He +did not know, of course, that Hill was the one who had knocked his +section of the dragon out of line, but the instant he was able to look +around, he saw Hill, and immediately selected him as a suitable object +for hostility.</p> + +<p>The chink did not step on himself, nor in any way interfere with his +progress in going for Hiram. He hit Hiram so hard over the head with the +piece of dragon that he knocked a hole in the papier-mâché, and, just as +Hiram freed himself of the encumbrance, and straightened up to get his +bearings and swoop down on his assailant, an egg smashed in his face and +effectually blinded him.</p> + +<p>A hollow murmur sounded in Hiram's ears, like the roar of the sea. He +was picked up on the troubled waters of the màlée, and borne back and +forth in the surging tide. At last he slammed into something and fell, +limp and dazed, to the ground.</p> + +<p>He drew his sleeve across his eyes, thus freeing them for clearer +vision. To his joy and wonder, he found that destiny had hurled him +against the side of the automobile he had been trying to reach.</p> + +<p>Jocko had jumped from the shoulders of the passenger in the tonneau, and +the passenger was still on his feet and had his back toward Hiram. The +latter, boiling over with filial sentiments, climbed up on the running +board and encircled the beetle-browed man in a fond embrace.</p> + +<p>"Dad!" clamored Hiram excitedly; "don't you know me?"</p> + +<p>"Get off! get off!" roared the man, going at once into a flurry. "Whose +monkey is this, anyway? Police! Police!"</p> + +<p>The man, naturally, was in a highly excited state of mind and thought +the simian was upon him again. Just then, the driver of the machine +found a cleared space ahead and started for it. He started so quickly +that Hiram was thrown from the running board, dropped to the hard +pavement, and there stumbled against and fallen over by the jostling +mob.</p> + +<p>This rough usage was more than Hiram could stand. The senses were being +knocked out of him by swift degrees. He felt his wits going, and he made +a frantic attempt to stay them as they drifted away. The attempt was +useless, however, and a great darkness suddenly descended upon Hiram and +closed him in.</p> + +<p>When he regained his senses, he was lying on a bench in a drug store. A +clerk was holding a handkerchief, saturated with a drug of some kind, to +his nostrils, and a bluecoat was standing near, twirling his club and +looking down at Hiram speculatively.</p> + +<p>"Question is," said the policeman, "what is he doing with two hats?"</p> + +<p>"That's more than I can tell you, officer," answered the clerk. "Ah, +he's coming to!"</p> + +<p>Hiram sat up on the bench and pushed aside the drug-soaked handkerchief. +"Dad!" he murmured confusedly.</p> + +<p>"I'm not your dad," said the officer. "I'm just the fellow who pulled +you out of the crowd. Where'd you get that hat?"</p> + +<p>Hiram looked down. His own hat was on his head and had, in some manner, +remained with him throughout all the excitement, but in his hand he was +clutching, like grim death, a battered black Stetson.</p> + +<p>Turning the hat over, Hiram looked into the crown. The gilt letters, "U. +H." met his eyes.</p> + +<p>"It's dad's hat," he gurgled. "Upton Hill, that's his name! I knew I had +a bean on the right number! I–I—"</p> + +<p>A bit of white showed under the sweatband. Westerners, of a certain +type, sometimes carry important documents under the sweatband of their +hats. Hiram pulled his object out of the Stetson, examined it, and then +inquired his way to the nearest telegraph office. Five minutes later he +had sent the following telegram:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: .1em">"OWEN CLANCY, the Motor Wizard, Phoenix, Arizona: Hot on the trail. You +said you would help me find dad. Come to Los Angeles at once and get +busy. Meet me Renfrew House.</p> +<p style="margin-top: .1em; margin-right: 10%; text-align: right">HIRAM."</p> + +<p>"This here's a great day for me," murmured Hiram, rubbing his bruises as +he turned away from the operator's window. "I reckon that'll fetch +Clancy, if he's well enough to come. Him and me can run out this happy +trail together, with ground to spare. That red-headed wizard has got +more sense in a minute than I have in a year, and I reckon we'll get +along. He's a good feller to tie to, in a time like this."</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<p class="chapter">CLANCY HITS THE "HAPPY TRAIL."</p> + +<p>"How's the shoulder, Clancy?" Doctor Ferguson asked, as the young motor +wizard walked into his office.</p> + +<p>"I know it belongs to me," was the smiling reply, "every time I make a +move, but I guess it's coming along all right at that, doc."</p> + +<p>"No reason why it shouldn't. You're as tough as a piece of whalebone, +and a little nick like that can't put you on the retired list. Sit down +here–I've got a few words to say to you."</p> + +<p>The doctor indicated a chair close to his desk, and then sank back in +his own seat with the air of one who is about to say something weighty +and important.</p> + +<p>"Don't you try to scare me about anything, doc," said Clancy +apprehensively, as he slid into the chair.</p> + +<p>"Tush!" and the physician wagged his head. "You haven't got sense enough +to be scared at anything. That's the main trouble with you. It's two +weeks since you went to Wickenburg and got in front of that bullet. We +kept you in bed for a week, and now you have been on your feet for +another week. So far as the wound is concerned, Clancy, you are all +right, but so far as something else is concerned, you are all wrong." +Ferguson's eyes narrowed and he leveled a forefinger at his patient. +"What happened, up there at Wickenburg?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" repeated Clancy. "Why, you just spoke of that. I got in +front of a bullet."</p> + +<p>"Stop, trying to play horse with me!" went on the doctor sourly. +"Something took place between you and your partner, Lafe Wynn, at +Wickenburg, and I want to know what it was."</p> + +<p>Clancy stiffened.</p> + +<p>"That's a personal matter, Doctor Ferguson," he answered, "and I don't +have to explain it to anybody."</p> + +<p>"Well, you needn't get hot about it. There's something on your mind, and +it's holding back your complete recovery. I'm asking questions and +talking from the standpoint of your physician. If I knew the nature of +the thing that bothered you, very possibly I could take means to +counteract it."</p> + +<p>Clancy was impressed by Ferguson's shrewdness. Yet he had no intention +of revealing the cause of his secret worry.</p> + +<p>How could he tell Ferguson, or anybody else, what really happened at +Wickenburg? Only two or three people knew that Lafe Wynn had forged +Clancy's name to a check and had absconded with that money, and with all +the cash assets of the firm of Clancy & Wynn. Only two or three knew how +Clancy had trailed Wynn to Wickenburg and had sent him back to Phoenix +to take charge of the Square-deal Garage, as usual, while +he–Clancy–was in bed in the other town for a week.</p> + +<p>Apparently all was the same as it ever had been between the two +partners. In this instance, however, surface indications were not to be +trusted.</p> + +<p>Clancy's confidence in Wynn had been rudely shattered. The motor wizard +had spared his partner–had been generous with him, in fact, far beyond +his deserts. This was not particularly on Wynn's account, but on account +of Wynn's mother, an old lady who had come to Phoenix on the very day +Wynn had absconded.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wynn, proud of the business success her son had made, had come to +him so that he might make her a home in her declining years. Clancy had +not the heart to tell the old lady the exact situation, and he had gone +to Wickenburg to get Lafe and make him return to Phoenix.</p> + +<p>Wynn knew that Clancy had spared him on his mother's account. This +knowledge caused a restraint between the two partners, all the greater +because Wynn's forgery, and defalcation had wiped out all the cash +assets of Clancy and the firm–some fifteen thousand dollars which had +not been recovered.</p> + +<p>Clancy would not tell all this to any one, for fear it might reach Mrs. +Wynn. And he was anxious that Wynn should have another chance, without +letting the one error of an otherwise blameless life weigh in the scales +against him.</p> + +<p>"I'll get along, doctor," observed Clancy. "I'll bet all the fretting I +do won't land on me so hard you can notice it."</p> + +<p>"Confound it," burst out the doctor, "I do notice it! You've got to get +away from things for a while. Take the Happy Trail, Clancy, and run it +out. I reckon you can afford it–after the way you held up that +street-car company."</p> + +<p>"Happy Trail?" echoed Clancy; "what's that?"</p> + +<p>"It's the carefree road of pure and unadulterated joy," explained +Ferguson solemnly. "It takes you out of yourself, gives you new scenes +and experiences, and finally you wake up feeling better than you ever +felt before in your life."</p> + +<p>"Lead me to it!" said Clancy.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could," was the answer, "but I can't. A Happy Trail for you +might be a mighty miserable one for me, and vice versa. You'll have to +find it for yourself, Clancy, but when you do find it, hit it hard!"</p> + +<p>"That's a fine prescription–I don't think," laughed Clancy, getting up +to leave. "You tell me what I must do, but don't tell me how I'm to do +it."</p> + +<p>"I'm as frank with you as you are with me," growled Ferguson. "Good-by!"</p> + +<p>Clancy got back to the Square-deal Garage to find the whole force of +employees moving the repair shop over to the garage known as the Red +Star.</p> + +<p>In order to keep Rockwell, of the Red Star, from driving the Square-deal +place out of business, Clancy had been forced to buy the building and +lot that housed the establishment belonging to him and Wynn. He had +consummated this deal for ten thousand dollars, paying three thousand +dollars down and getting time on the balance at seven per cent. And the +mortgage had come due just before Wynn had absconded with all the cash +resources. A stroke of luck alone had saved Clancy.</p> + +<p>The street-car company had suddenly developed a need for the property he +had bought. Judge Pembroke, a friend of Clancy's, did the negotiating, +with the result that the premises sold for twenty thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>The judge, knowing that Clancy & Wynn would have to move and must have +some place to go, had secured an option on the Red-star establishment +for four thousand dollars. So Clancy had financed the tottering affairs +of Clancy & Wynn, had bought Rockwell's old place, and the transfer was +in progress.</p> + +<p>Lafe Wynn was overseeing the removal. When Clancy entered the garage, +Lafe turned abruptly on his heel and walked into the office. Clancy +followed him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you, Lafe?" inquired Clancy. "Why do you take +pains to avoid me, all the time? We can't get along like that–and +remain partners."</p> + +<p>A look of suffering filled Wynn's face.</p> + +<p>"Owen," said he, with an effort, "every time I look at you I think of +what I am–a thief and a forger, only saved from the penitentiary by +your generosity. It isn't a pleasant thought for a man who wants to be +independent. If I could undo the wrong I did you–if I could—"</p> + +<p>"You can–some time," said Clancy. "After you are able, you can pay me +back my just proportion of that fifteen thousand."</p> + +<p>"After I am able!" murmured Lafe sarcastically. "That will be a matter +of years, Owen. I can't feel like this for years without going crazy. If +I could find my rascally brother, Gerald, I–I might induce him to give +back the money."</p> + +<p>"Never," returned the motor wizard shortly. "Your brother Gerald has +probably got rid of the money by this time. There were two to help him +spend it, remember–Bob Katz and Hank Burton. Those three would make it +fly."</p> + +<p>There were extenuating circumstances about what Lafe Wynn had done. The +extenuating circumstances were wrapped up in his unscrupulous brother. +Gerald had told Lafe a pretty fiction about needing money to save him +from dishonor–and Lafe had covered himself with dishonor in order to +help Gerald. No sooner had Lafe secured the money than he and his two +cronies had taken it and made good their escape. This was when Clancy +had been wounded. At the time, he was seeking to help Lafe save the +fifteen thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>"I have got to make that loss up to you somehow," muttered Lafe, "and +I've got to do it soon. My conscience will send me to a madhouse, if I +don't."</p> + +<p>Clancy studied his partner curiously for a few moments.</p> + +<p>"Lafe," he went on presently, "you and I have got to get away from each +other for a while. We are simply millstones around each other's neck. +You can't look at me without thinking you owe me the biggest part of +fifteen thousand dollars, and I can't look at you without thinking how +you betrayed my confidence."</p> + +<p>"You can get rid of me, Owen, in about two shakes," said Wynn. "Kick me +out. I haven't any right to be one of the firm, anyhow."</p> + +<p>The motor wizard shook his head.</p> + +<p>"You've got to hang on and make good in the place where you lost out," +Clancy returned. "You've got to do this for the sake of your mother, who +thinks so much of you. We've got to allow a little time, you know, for +us to get back on our old footing. I need a change. Ferguson says so, +and I have a feeling that he knows what he is talking about. I—"</p> + +<p>A boy came into the office that moment with a telegram. He knew the +motor wizard by sight, and went directly to him.</p> + +<p>"This is for you, Mr. Clancy," said he.</p> + +<p>Clancy signed for the message, tore it open, read the contents, and +laughed.</p> + +<p>"By thunder," he cried, "here's just the thing!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Wynn.</p> + +<p>"It's a hurry-up call from Hiram Hill. You remember Hiram?"</p> + +<p>Wynn winced. "Yes," said he, "I remember Hiram Hill quite vividly."</p> + +<p>"He left Phoenix for the coast several weeks ago, carrying on his search +for his father. I always thought that search of Hiram's was more or less +of a joke–and I haven't any positive information yet that it isn't–but +here's a message asking me to come to Los Angeles at once. Hiram says +that he is 'hot on the trail,' and that I promised him to help him find +his father–which is true."</p> + +<p>Clancy arose with sudden determination in his voice and manner.</p> + +<p>"Wynn," he continued, "I'm going to leave you here to get Clancy & Wynn +started in the old Rockwell garage. It will give you plenty to occupy +your mind. While you're hard at it, I'm going to soldier and have a good +time. Here's where I hit the Happy Trail!"</p> + +<p>"What in the deuce is the Happy Trail?" queried Wynn.</p> + +<p>"Ferguson will tell you about it. I'm going with Hiram on a wild-goose +chase, and I'm hoping to have some fun. When I come back, old man, I +want you to be feeling differently, and I expect to be feeling +differently myself. This afternoon I am starting for the Pacific coast, +and if Hiram and I, between us, can't stir up a few thrills, and corral +a little enjoyment, then I've got another guess coming. Lafe, I'm for +the Happy Trail, and I'm going to hit it hard!"</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<p class="chapter">HATCHING A PLOT.</p> + +<p>"Say, fellows, here's a how-de-do, and no mistake! You ought to have +been at the corner of Sixth and Main about two hours ago. You'd have +seen something that would have made a horse laugh–but there's something +back of it that isn't so thundering funny, at that."</p> + +<p>Gerald Wynn could smoke a cigarette and talk at the same time. He burst +into the room in the cheap boarding house, where he and his friends had +taken up their headquarters, and eased himself of the foregoing remarks.</p> + +<p>Hank Burton and Bob Katz sat at a table playing cards. There were a +bottle and two glasses on the table. Katz was smoking a pipe and Burton +a cigar.</p> + +<p>"Hanged if I care a hoot about anything, just now, but annexing a little +kale," said Burton, turning in his chair to look at Gerald with a scowl. +"Here I haven't a sou in my jeans, and I've got as much right to that +fifteen thousand as you or Katz have, Wynn. Fork over a hundred! I'm +tired of bein' broke."</p> + +<p>"Nary, I don't fork!" Wynn answered positively. "You know what we're +going to do with this money, Hank, and you know that if we start to +break into it the whole will go and we'll be up a spout on this Tia +Juana business."</p> + +<p>"Blast the Tia Juana business! A bird in the hand beats a whole flock in +the bush! Give me my share now, Gerald, and you and Bob can do what you +blamed please with your own part of the swag."</p> + +<p>"That won't go!" spoke up Katz. "The share we want in that gamblin' +layout below the border will take all the fifteen thousand. You agreed +to go inter it, Hank. Don't crawfish now!"</p> + +<p>"I want somethin' to jingle in my pocket!" barked Burton.</p> + +<p>"Take a couple o' nails," suggested Katz.</p> + +<p>"I allow it's right funny to you," continued Burton sourly, "but it +ain't pleasant to go around with nary a red in your pants."</p> + +<p>"I'm paying your expenses, Hank," put in Gerald. "Staked to your three +squares, your smoking and your travel pay, I don't see what more you +need. If this Tia Juana scheme works out, we'll all of us get rich."</p> + +<p>"I want a little loose cash now," cried Burton.</p> + +<p>"Go out and work for it, then," said Gerald, out of patience. "If we put +anything into the Tia Juana game it's got to be fifteen thousand, and +I'd be mighty foolish to give you money out of our capital."</p> + +<p>"Give it to me out of your own pocket if you don't want to give me any +of the capital!"</p> + +<p>"I've got just enough to get us to Catalina where we're to see Jack +Lopez and clean up the Tia Juana business. Why don't you do a little +something on the side, Hank? You're a champion swimmer–go to some +natatorium and give swimming lessons. That would be easy money."</p> + +<p>"Gammon!" snorted Burton.</p> + +<p>In a fit of anger he jumped to his feet, and he would have left the +room, but Gerald stood in front of the door and barred the way.</p> + +<p>"Now, don't get ugly!" said Gerald. "I've got something to tell you +that's mighty interesting. I think, fellows, that we have been trailed +from Phoenix!"</p> + +<p>That was more than interesting. Burton's flash of temper left him at +once, and he and Katz showed their apprehension.</p> + +<p>"Who trailed us?" demanded Katz.</p> + +<p>"That cross-eyed, tow-headed freak, Hiram Hill."</p> + +<p>"How do you know he trailed us?" asked Burton.</p> + +<p>"Well, he's in Los Angeles. It isn't a happenchance that we're here at +the same time."</p> + +<p>"When did you see Hill?" went on Katz.</p> + +<p>"About two hours ago, at the corner of Sixth and Main. He–he—" Gerald +paused to laugh.</p> + +<p>"I don't see anythin' humorous in this layout!" grunted Burton. "If +we've been trailed to Los we'd better be diggin' out instead of enjoyin' +the situation."</p> + +<p>"What's funny about it, Gerald?" asked Katz.</p> + +<p>"There was a chink dragon going down the Street–you know the kind–a +dragon in sections, with a yellow boy under each section. Well, I was +watching the procession when I heard some one yell 'Dad!' in a voice +that sounded pretty familiar. The next minute, who but Hiram Hill +knocked a hole in that chink snake. He was trying to get to a man who +sat in an automobile on the other side of the street. In about two +seconds there was the biggest kind of a rough-house. I kept out of it, +and saw Hiram get to the automobile and begin hugging the chap in the +tonneau. The fellow in the car didn't like it, and the driver started up +and Hill was left behind.</p> + +<p>"The crowd rolled over the place where Hill was lying and I saw him +picked up by a couple of policemen and carried to a drug store. +Naturally, I was in a good deal of a taking, not knowing but Hill had +been following me, see? Well, I waited till he came out of the drug +store, then I camped on his trail for a while. He went to a telegraph +office and sent a telegram—"</p> + +<p>"Who did he send it to?" cut in Burton apprehensively.</p> + +<p>"What do I know about that? You don't think I was foolish enough to go +close and try to get a line on what Hill was writing, do you? Well, +after he left the telegraph office he went to the Renfrew House. I +reckon that's where he stays."</p> + +<p>"I don't like this a little bit," commented Katz. "I allow we'd better +duck–and do it pronto. If Hill is really trailin' us, maybe he has sent +a telegraft message to the sheriff, back in Phoenix. We got to look +sharp, Gerald, or we'll be pinched."</p> + +<p>"That's my motion, Bob," said Burton. "Hanged if this Hill business +hasn't got me on the run."</p> + +<p>"Don't fret," continued Gerald reassuringly. "I've hatched a plot that +will take care of Hill, all right."</p> + +<p>"Plot?" said Burton. "What sort of a plot?"</p> + +<p>"Listen, Hank. You know about this Hill. I've told you and Bob how he's +got a fool bee in his bonnet, and is running around the Southwest +looking for his father. The old man–judging from his photograph, which +Hill totes around in his pocket–is a bigger freak than Hiram is. He's +got a beak like a pelican, and is homely enough to stop a clock."</p> + +<p>"You know plenty about Hill and his hunt for his dad," returned Burton. +"You flimflammed Hill out of five hundred by offering to take him across +the Mexican boundary and showing him where his father could be found," +said Burton, with a laugh. "But you got the money, and Hill got the +experience," he added.</p> + +<p>"Which," said Gerald calmly, "is mainly the reason why Hill is trying to +get even with me. I know enough about Hill's father, though, to put over +a scheme that will get this cross-eyed buttinsky off our track."</p> + +<p>"What's the scheme?" inquired Katz.</p> + +<p>"It hinges on this point, that Hiram Hill would rather find his father +than get even with me for that 'con' game I worked on him. I'm going to +write Hiram a letter, Bob, and send it to him at the Renfrew House."</p> + +<p>"What sort of a letter?" put in Burton.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to sign the name of his father, Upton Hill, to the thing, and +play up that incident at Sixth and Main pretty strong. Where's that pen +and ink, Hank? And give me a sheet of paper and envelope."</p> + +<p>While his companions got the writing materials, Gerald seated himself at +a table and began getting his thoughts busy. By the time pen, ink, and +paper were put in front of him, he had his letter mapped out in his +mind, and had only to put it upon paper.</p> + +<p>"Won't Hiram know that the letter isn't in his dad's handwritin'?" +suggested Katz.</p> + +<p>"I reckon he won't," answered Gerald craftily, leaning back in his chair +with the letter in his hand. "It's been some sort of a while, Bob, since +the first Klondike rush, when old 'Up' Hill disappeared. It isn't likely +that Hiram remembers anything about his father's handwriting. Here's +what the letter says:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: .1em">"DEAR SON: Was it really you who jumped aboard my automobile at the +corner of Sixth and Main this morning? My conscience has been troubling +me ever since. I have hunted up the policeman and secured from him your +name and address, but am in a hurry to get back to San Diego, where I +live, and cannot remain in Los Angeles to prosecute a personal search +for you. If you are really my son, come to San Diego, make my house at +eighteen-twenty Q Street your home, and I will ask you certain questions +whose answers will prove indisputably whether or not you are my son. I +must have the proof, you know, because I am a very rich man, and you, as +my sole relative, will inherit everything I leave. Hoping to see you in +San Diego at your earliest convenience, I remain, yours expectantly,</p> +<p style="margin-top: .1em; margin-right: 10%; text-align: right">'UPTON HILL.'"</p> + +<p>Gerald dropped the letter on the table, and looked up at his friends +with a guileful smile.</p> + +<p>"How's that for a bait?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Bully!" declared Katz. "Hiram Hill will tumble all over himself to go +to San Diego."</p> + +<p>"What'll happen when he can't find any Upton Hill in San Diego?" said +Burton.</p> + +<p>"We don't care what happens–then," answered Gerald. "By that time, you +know, we ought to have finished our deal with Jack Lopez, and to be away +from Catalina, and where Hill will never be able to find us."</p> + +<p>"How do you know he gave his name and address to a policeman?" continued +Burton.</p> + +<p>"That's what people always do when they get into trouble on the street, +or meet with an accident, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe it is, but if it happens that Hill didn't give his name and +address to the cop, the fact will queer that whole letter."</p> + +<p>"I allow Hank is right, Gerald," chimed in Katz, "This here is one of +them cases where you can't be too careful. Reckon I'd write another +letter and change that."</p> + +<p>"It's not necessary," insisted Gerald. "Hill was stunned. If he can't +remember giving his name and address to the policeman, he'll think he +did it at a time when he didn't know what he was doing. The letter goes +as I have written it."</p> + +<p>Gerald began addressing the envelope. Both the sheet of paper and the +envelope were plain, and bore no clew of the hotel in which they had +been written.</p> + +<p>The letter was folded, thrust into the envelope, and the envelope sealed +and stamped.</p> + +<p>"It's dinner time, fellows," announced Gerald, "and we'll post this on +our way to the noon eats. Come on."</p> + +<p>They all got up and left the room.</p> + +<p>"When do we hike for the island, Gerald?" asked Katz, as they went +downstairs.</p> + +<p>"We'll pull out for San Pedro to-morrow, and catch the morning boat," +was the reply. "We want to wind up our business with Lopez and clear out +before Hill discovers that letter is a fake and gets back from San +Diego. We can turn the trick with ground to spare–don't fret about +that."</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<p class="chapter">CLANCY REACHES LOS ANGELES.</p> + +<p>The Renfrew House was a very modest hostelry in South Hill Street. Hiram +stopped there because the establishment was in Hill Street, and he +believed in omens. Incidentally, too, he preferred the Renfrew to the +Alexandria or the Hayward because the rates on the American plan were +two dollars a day.</p> + +<p>It was about eleven o'clock Monday morning when Clancy entered the lobby +of the Renfrew House. The lobby was crowded, bell hops were hustling +back and forth, and the place was as busy as a high-class establishment.</p> + +<p>Clancy stood at the counter, caught the clerk's eye, and asked for Hiram +Hill. The clerk, who had curly hair, and parted it squarely in the +middle, forthwith gave the newcomer his full and complete attention.</p> + +<p>"You a friend of that guy's?" the clerk asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," acknowledged Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Then I'm mighty glad you showed up."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I think he's locoed and needs a keeper. About every day he does +some fool thing."</p> + +<p>Clancy grinned.</p> + +<p>"What has he done to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing yet, but he's due to break out 'most any minute. You wait +around a spell and you'll—"</p> + +<p>The clerk was interrupted by a wild whoop of "Dad! here's Hiram!" Clancy +looked in the direction from which the yell came and saw a little group +of people heaving around the lobby in excitement.</p> + +<p>"That's him, now!" cried the clerk. "What did I tell you?"</p> + +<p>The motor wizard hurried toward the scene of the commotion. He found a +fat man pounding a dent out of the crown of a shabby silk hat, and +mumbling wrathfully.</p> + +<p>"Get an officer!" shouted the fat man. "I don't know but I'm robbed!"</p> + +<p>Hiram Hill stood in front of the aggrieved gentleman, stood and stared +at him blankly.</p> + +<p>"I–I thought you was my dad," murmured Hiram.</p> + +<p>"Your dad?" repeated the fat man, glaring. "You ought to be arrested for +that, anyhow. I refuse to be insulted, by gorry! What's your name, +anyhow?"</p> + +<p>The fat man was feeling about his person, making sure that his watch, +pocketbook, and other person property were safe.</p> + +<p>"That mole on the back of your neck," explained Hiram, "was what caused +me to make the bobble."</p> + +<p>"Well," snorted the fat man, walking off, "don't make any more bobbles +around me, or there'll be trouble. It's my opinion that you're crazy."</p> + +<p>The crowd set up a laugh. Clancy elbowed his way to Hill's side and took +him by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Hiram?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Clancy!" exclaimed Hill. "Say, the sight of you is good for sore eyes! +I just been hankerin' for a friend."</p> + +<p>"You need a guardeen more'n a friend," remarked some one.</p> + +<p>Hill began to bristle and to look around in search of the one who had +spoken. Clancy grabbed his arm, and drew him away down the lobby to a +couple of leather chairs.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you, Hiram?" the motor wizard asked.</p> + +<p>"I reckon my nerves have got twisted, Clancy," Hill answered. "I'm all +in a twitter, seems like. Ever since I piped off dad in that automobile +last Saturday mornin' I haven't been able to look around without seein' +some un I think's him. Queer, ain't it? I'm all flustered."</p> + +<p>"Better put the clamps on your nerves, Hiram, or you'll be in jail the +first thing you know."</p> + +<p>"How's the shoulder?"</p> + +<p>"Coming along in fine shape."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know whether you'd be able to answer that there telegram of +mine in person, and if you was able, I didn't know whether you would."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Hiram," said Clancy, "didn't I tell you I'd help you find +your father if you'd keep mum about what Lafe Wynn did?"</p> + +<p>"Uh-huh."</p> + +<p>"Well, I always try to pay my debts."</p> + +<p>"Got any trace o' Gerald Wynn, Burton, and Katz yet?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then that fifteen thou' is gone for good?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so. But let's not talk about that. You say you're hot on the +trail of your father. Tell me about it."</p> + +<p>Hiram started with the Chinese procession at Sixth and Main Streets. +Very earnestly he told how he had disrupted the dragon, and he described +other events that happened down to the point where he found himself with +the extra Stetson in his hand.</p> + +<p>"That hat," declared Hiram, "sure belonged to dad. I got it away from +him somehow, and I hung to it all the while my wits was woolgatherin' +and I was bein' toted to a drug store. Then I— Say, what you laughin' +at?"</p> + +<p>Clancy had been enjoying Hill's recital to the limit it would be hard to +mix six dozens of eggs, a Chinese dragon, and a runaway monkey into a +small-sized riot and not get a little fun out of it. The sober, +matter-of-fact way in which Hiram narrated the details added to the +humor of the story.</p> + +<p>"Never mind what I'm laughing at, Hiram," sputtered Clancy, wiping his +eyes. "You say you found something under the sweatband of that Stetson. +What was it?"</p> + +<p>"A card. Here it is."</p> + +<p>Hill thrust a hand into one of his pockets and drew forth an oblong +square of pasteboard. This he handed to his companion.</p> + +<p>"Sr. J. Lopez," was the name on the card, followed by the address: +"Avalon, Catalina Island, California." Then in the lower left-hand +corner, were the words: "Representing the Fortunatus Syndicate, of Tia +Juana, Mexico."</p> + +<p>"What do you make out of this, Hiram?" the motor wizard asked.</p> + +<p>"What do you make out of it?" countered Hill.</p> + +<p>"If you are sure the Stetson belonged to the man in the automobile–to +the man whom you thought was your father—"</p> + +<p>"I'll take my solemn Alfred on that!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if this is the man's business card, it proves that the man is J. +Lopez–and he can't be your father."</p> + +<p>"That's not his business card, Clancy."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"There was two gilt letters pasted in the crown o' that Stetson, and +them letters was 'U. H.' Sabe? My dad's name is Upton Hill."</p> + +<p>Clancy was suitably impressed.</p> + +<p>"Well, who's this J. Lopez and the Fortunatus Syndicate?" he inquired. +"Those are two things we ought to find out."</p> + +<p>"I'm wise to the Fortunatus Syndicate, all right," said Hill. "You +remember I was down in Tia Juana, that time I got hornswoggled out o' +five hundred dollars by Gerald Wynn. Well, I heard about this Fortunatus +Syndicate while I was in the place. Some Americanos are planning a +gambling resort, just across the boundary line, and they call their +company the Fortunatus Syndicate."</p> + +<p>"And your dad's mixed up with it, Hiram? That doesn't speak very well +for him."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he's mixed up in it, and maybe he isn't. I wouldn't go and +connect him with any gamblin' syndicate just because I found that there +card under the sweatband of his Stetson. What do you allow is the thing +for us to do? My hand's on the table, Clancy, and I want you to help me +play it."</p> + +<p>"Strikes me," said Clancy reflectively, "that the best move is to go +across to Catalina Island and talk with this man Lopez."</p> + +<p>"I allowed we'd better, advertise in the papers," remarked Hill. "We +could use the Lost and Found Column."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"Well, we could say, 'Lost–One man about fifty with a squinch eye, a +Roman nose, and a mole on the back of his neck. Answers to name of Upton +Hill. Communicate with Hiram Hill, Renfrew House, City.' And then we +could put in another, like this: 'Found–One black Stetson, initials "U. +H." in crown. Picked up corner Sixth and Maine time the chink dragon went +to pieces. Communicate with Hiram Hill, and so forth.' I don't see any +use in huntin' up this Lopez."</p> + +<p>"Your father must have, business, with Lopez, Hiram, or he wouldn't be +having the Mexican's card. Would he?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon not."</p> + +<p>"It's likely your father is over at Catalina now. If we go to the +island and hunt up Lopez, there's a chance of our locating Upton +Hill–or the man you think is Upton Hill."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you're right," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"I don't think advertising would do any good. Your supposed father +didn't seem very enthusiastic about meeting you, the time you landed on +him in the automobile."</p> + +<p>Hill's cross eyes blinked.</p> + +<p>"It was the way I come at him," said he. "I been thinkin' since. There +was a hull lot of excitement, and I'll gamble dad didn't have time to +get the run o' what was happenin'. He didn't have no good chance to be +affectionate."</p> + +<p>"I suppose not," returned Clancy, trying hard to keep a straight face. +"The trail seems to be a pretty warm one, all right, and— Where are +you going?"</p> + +<p>Clancy broke off his remarks to grab hold of Hiram and restrain him. The +tow-headed chap had suddenly leaped out of his chair like a restive wild +cat.</p> + +<p>"Ain't that dad over yonder?" he asked. "I see a feller that seems to be +built on the same lines of the photograft, but–n-n-no," he finished +musingly, "that feller's a Mexican."</p> + +<p>"Letter for you, Mr. Hill," said a bell boy, coming across the lobby +from the clerk's desk.</p> + +<p>Hill took the letter wonderingly, stared at it, tore it open, and then +sank into a chair while he read the communication. Presently he began to +breathe hard, and to gurgle in his throat.</p> + +<p>"I knew the old man didn't have a marble heart," he muttered joyfully. +"I reckoned he'd come around, if I'd only give him time enough. The +trail's a short one, Clancy, and it leads to San Diego instead of to +Catalina. There," and he thrust the letter into the motor wizard's hand, +"read that."</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER V.</p> + +<p class="chapter">THE MOTOR WIZARD'S JUDGMENT.</p> + +<p>"This has a fishy look to me, Hiram," said Clancy, after reading the +letter. "Upton Hill, who claims to have written it, says he got your +address from the policeman who pulled you out of the màlée and helped +you to the drug store. Mighty queer he couldn't spend time to call on +you, after getting your address, instead of putting you to all the +expense of going to San Diego to find him."</p> + +<p>"Don't be a wet blanket, blame it!" begged Hill. "Only dad I got in the +world, and here you go to throwin' cold water on his motives."</p> + +<p>"Did you give your address to the policeman?"</p> + +<p>"Give it up. I was plump batty, just after I got away from that mob, and +I don't know what I did. Reckon I must have given up the information, or +dad couldn't have got it and sent me that letter."</p> + +<p>The motor wizard was conscious of a deep distrust regarding that +communication upon which Hill was setting such store. Instinctively he +had become suspicious, and the more he considered the letter's contents, +the more suspicious he became.</p> + +<p>"Do you recognize your father's handwriting, Hiram?" asked Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Well, hardly," was the grinning response. "Dad got lost in the shuffle +almost before I'd cut my teeth. I'm not familiar with his handwritin'. +Did you read what he says about bein' well off? Gosh! Say, I'm li'ble to +come into some money! I reckon this is one time my cup's right side up +when it rains good luck."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you got a sample of your father's penmanship anywhere, Hiram?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I know anythin' about. You see, all the letters he'd written I +left back home, and—" Hill paused abruptly. "Gee," he went on, +reaching into the breast pocket of his coat, "I allow I have got a scrap +o' dad's writin'. It's on the back o' that photograft."</p> + +<p>He drew the photograph into sight, turned it over, and pushed it under +Clancy's eyes.</p> + +<p>"There!" and he pointed with his finger. "That's a sample o' dad's +fist."</p> + +<p>Upton Hill, age thirty-six. This was all the writing on the back of the +photograph. It was enough, however. Clancy compared the name signed to +the letter with that on the photograph. It could be seen at a glance +that the same hand had not written the two signatures–they were utterly +different.</p> + +<p>"Just as I imagined," observed Clancy. "Hiram, either your father did +not write what is on the back of the photograph, or else that letter is +a forgery. The same hand did not trace the two signatures. Look! You can +see that just as plainly as I can."</p> + +<p>Hill took the letter in one hand and the photograph in the other, +squinted up his cross eyes, and tried to institute comparisons.</p> + +<p>"The signature ain't the same," he finally agreed, "and that's a fact."</p> + +<p>"Which proves that the letter's a forgery."</p> + +<p>"I'm not a-sayin' that, Clancy. It can't be that dad wrote what's on the +back o' the picter."</p> + +<p>"You have always thought he did the writing on the back of the +photograph, haven't you?"</p> + +<p>"Then you're thinking he didn't, now, so you can believe the letter's +genuine."</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it? I'd a heap rather pin my faith to the writin' in the +letter than to what's on the photograft."</p> + +<p>Clancy saw that argument was useless. Hill was completely carried away +with the letter, for it steered him along the line of least resistance +right into the haven of his happiest desires. He believed in that letter +because he wanted to believe in it, and for no other earthly reason.</p> + +<p>"Then," said the motor wizard quietly, "you think you'll go to San Diego +and not to Catalina Island?"</p> + +<p>"What's the use o' wastin' time on Catalina when that letter tells us +right where to go?" demanded Hill. "You're goin' with me, ain't you?"</p> + +<p>"Not if you're going right away, Hiram. I just reached Los Angeles after +a long ride from Phoenix, and I'm not going to hit the iron trail again +before I have a chance to get the cinders out of my eyes and the dust +off my face. If you're going to San Diego this afternoon, or to-night, +you'll go alone."</p> + +<p>"You don't take any stock in this letter at all, huh?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Who do you think wrote it if it wasn't my lost dad?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know who wrote it,"</p> + +<p>"Well," grumbled Hiram, "I won't start for San Diego afore to-morrow. I +want you to be along, and I'm waitin' over so'st to have you. S'pose we +go and eat? Registered yet?"</p> + +<p>"I'll register now," said Clancy, "and then we'll sit in at the chuck +table and have dinner."</p> + +<p>He went over to the desk alone, put down his name, and then wrote out a +telegram. He handed it to a boy along with some money, and asked that +the message be put on the wires as soon as possible. After that he went +to his room, got the dust and cinders off his face and out of his hair, +joined Hill, and the two went into the dining room together.</p> + +<p>Clancy was determined to make the most of his "Happy Trail," and +directly after dinner proposed that he and Hill should spend the +afternoon at one of the beaches. Hill, who was all wrapped up in San +Diego, now that he had received that supposed letter from his father, +consented reluctantly. The two boarded an electric car and went to +Venice.</p> + +<p>There was a big crowd at this particular beach. Hill, in spite of the +fact that he professed to believe his father was in San Diego, was +scanning every face he passed for the beetling brow, retreating chin, +Roman nose, and squint eye. He acted so wild and unreasonable that +Clancy was tempted to believe he had gone daffy on the subject of his +lost father.</p> + +<p>He would run up to a man with a prominent nose, grab him by the +shoulders, and study his face in a search for the other specifications. +Once he was knocked down, and another time he was nearly arrested when +an irate man, whom he had stopped to investigate, raised a shout for a +policeman.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Hiram," remonstrated the motor wizard, drawing his +tow-headed friend apart, "if you're convinced your father is in San +Diego, what the deuce are you expecting to see him here in Venice for?"</p> + +<p>"I got the habit of lookin'," answered Hill lamely, "and seems like I +can't give it up."</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got to give it up for the rest of to-day or you and I will +separate here and now. You act as though you had just escaped from a +lunatic asylum, and when people see me they are apt to think there are +two of us."</p> + +<p>They went out on the pleasure pier, bought post cards to send to their +friends, had their pictures taken on a couple of burros, and finally got +into bathing suits and went into the surf. Hill at last forgot about his +lost parent and let himself loose for a good time.</p> + +<p>Both he and Clancy enjoyed themselves to the limit. Refreshed by their +plunge in the ocean, they went into a restaurant, and did ample justice +to a splendid, meal. After that they started back to Los Angeles.</p> + +<p>"This here has been a great afternoon, Clancy!" sighed Hiram, sinking +back in the car seat and showing his weariness. "We haven't done much +toward runnin' out the trail, but we can begin on that again to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I'm running out my own trail, Hiram," laughed Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Eh?" returned Hill blankly.</p> + +<p>The motor wizard did not explain. His companion, he knew, would not have +understood him if he had explained. But Clancy realized that he was more +contented in mind than he had been at any time during the last two +weeks. Tired though he was, it was astonishing how much better he felt.</p> + +<p>"New sights and new scenes," thought Clancy, "do a lot to put new life +into a fellow. I'm beginning to wish I had taken this Happy Trail a long +time ago."</p> + +<p>It was ten o'clock when they walked into the lobby of the Renfrew House. +As they stopped at the counter to get the keys to their rooms, Clancy +asked the clerk if there was a telegram for him. The clerk thumbed over, +a bunch of messages and tossed out one.</p> + +<p>"Owen Clancy?" he queried. "There you are."</p> + +<p>"I hope it ain't Wynn wirin' you to come back," remarked Hill, with +sudden foreboding.</p> + +<p>"It isn't from Wynn," said Clancy; "I know that before I open it. I'll +bet something handsome it's from the chief of police at San Diego."</p> + +<p>"The chief of police? What's he wiring you for?"</p> + +<p>"Come over here, Hiram, and I'll explain."</p> + +<p>Clancy led his companion to a couple of chairs.</p> + +<p>"Now," said he, after, they had seated themselves, "we're about to +decide whether we're going to Catalina Island, in the morning, or to San +Diego."</p> + +<p>"That's already decided!" asserted Hill. "Whatever makes you think it +ain't?"</p> + +<p>"Look at that letter you received at noon, Hiram," went on Clancy. "You +were asked to come to eighteen-twenty 'Q' Street, weren't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Hiram answered, consulting the letter.</p> + +<p>"Well," explained Clancy, "I wired the chief of police at San Diego, +asking him who lives at that number in Q Street. If this reply to my +message says that Upton Hill lives at that address, then I'll +congratulate you, and we will go on together to, San Diego in the +morning.</p> + +<p>"Sure!"</p> + +<p>"But if the message says that some one else lives at the address, it's +proof positive that your letter was a fake, and that going to San Diego +is worse than a waste of time, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Let's see what the message says," parried Hill.</p> + +<p>Clancy opened it, removed the folded yellow sheet, opened it out, and he +and Hill read the following:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: .1em">"OWEN CLANCY, Renfrew House, Los Angeles: No such street as 'Q' in the +city. No such man as Upton Hill in directory. Never heard of him.</p> + +<p style="margin-right: 10%; margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">PENNYPACKER, Chief of Police."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of that?" asked Clancy.</p> + +<p>"I reckon your judgment is good, Clancy," answered the baffled Hill. "If +it wasn't, I'd not have asked you to help me run out this trail."</p> + +<p>"Then we'll cut out San Diego and go to Catalina?"</p> + +<p>"What's the use o' goin' to San Diego; lookin' for a street they haven't +got in the town? Of course we'll try the island–nothin' else for us to +do."</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER VI.</p> + +<p class="chapter">THE GLASS-BOTTOM BOAT.</p> + +<p>The distance from the mainland to the island of Catalina is only about +twenty miles, and the steamer from San Pedro makes the trip in something +like two hours and a half.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock in the morning Clancy and Hill went aboard, at +ten-fifteen the boat got under way, and promptly at ten-seventeen Hiram +became seasick. There wasn't anything halfway about it, either, he was +sick all through and all over. For an hour he was afraid he was going to +die, and for an hour and a half he was afraid he wasn't.</p> + +<p>Clancy was so busy with Hill that he had no time to enjoy the trip. As +soon as the boat tied up at the Avalon pier and the gangplank was run +out, Hill galloped ashore, and sank down on the dock with a groan of +thanksgiving. Clancy hurried after him, picked him up, and supported him +to solid earth.</p> + +<p>"I thought you were a better sailor than that, Hiram," chuckled Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Me–a sailor?" whimpered Hill. "Say, it always makes my stomach do a +hornpipe just to look at a picture of the sea. I can't cross a creek on +a bridge without getting separated from my last meal. Darn it! This is +why I wanted to find my lost dad in San Diego–I could go there by land. +Clancy, I'm goin' to stay on this island, and live and die here. I won't +never go back. Let's find a restaurant somewhere and fill up, I never +was so empty in all my life."</p> + +<p>Finding a restaurant was not difficult, for the little town was full of +them. A rattling good fish dinner put Hill in a pleasanter mood, so that +his wretchedness of the morning survived as only a faint and far-off +memory.</p> + +<p>Señor Jack Lopez had a curio store on the main street of the town. The +investigators were directed to his place of business, but to their +disappointment, Lopez was away on the other side of the island and would +not be back until evening. As they came out of the curio store, a man +approached them and sounded the praises of the glass bottom boats.</p> + +<p>"Ugh!" said Hiram, trying to get away, "no boats for mine!"</p> + +<p>"But you don't want to leave the island without seeing the marine +gardens!" exclaimed the man.</p> + +<p>"There are enough gardens on shore to do me," answered Hill.</p> + +<p>"My friend is afraid he'll get seasick," observed Clancy, with a wink.</p> + +<p>"You can't get seasick in one o' my boats any more'n you could on land," +averred the runner. "We jest go out around by the Sugarloaf–we're close +inshore all the time."</p> + +<p>"It's makin' me feel faint just to talk about it," said Hill. "Come on, +Clancy!"</p> + +<p>He caught the motor wizard's arm and tried to drag him off. Clancy, +however, held back.</p> + +<p>"I've heard a lot about these glass-bottom boats," said he, "and I'll +have to take a trip in one. If you don't want to go, Hiram, you can sit +on the dock and wait till I come back."</p> + +<p>"No, you don't!" growled Hiram. "You and me don't get separated this +trip, if I can help it. If you're going, Clancy, I'll go, too, even if +it kills me."</p> + +<p>"You won't be the least mite sick, friend," the runner insisted. "If you +are, I'll give up your fare."</p> + +<p>"That won't be a patchin' to what I'll give up–if you have to give up +my fare," commented Hill. "I only hope I don't step so hard on the +glass-bottom that I go through."</p> + +<p>"You can't do that," the man laughed. "This way, gents."</p> + +<p>He led them out on a pier and down a flight of steps to a float +alongside of which a boat was moored. The boat was a flat-bottom affair, +rigged with a canopy top, and having seats along the sides.</p> + +<p>Extending down the middle of the craft was something which looked like a +long box, open at the top. The lower side of the box was covered with +glass. Passengers on the seats could look into the box, through the +glass bottom, and see objects on the ocean's bed with wonderful +clearness. A man up near the prow did the rowing.</p> + +<p>"I claim," said the runner, "that this here's the only kind of a boat to +use in seein' the marine gardens. We can go places in these little boats +that they can't get, to in the big ones."</p> + +<p>That must have been a particularly slack day for the glass-bottom boats, +for Clancy and Hill were the only passengers on this particular craft.</p> + +<p>"I reckon that's all, Ike," said the man who had brought the two youths +to the boat: "let 'er go!"</p> + +<p>Ike proceeded to use the oars, and, while the boat rounded the end of +the pier, Hiram hung to his seat with both hands, and looked wildly and +expectantly at Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Beginnin' to feel squeamish," mumbled Hiram.</p> + +<p>"Don't think about it," returned the motor wizard. "Look down at the +marine gardens, Hiram."</p> + +<p>Hill gradually forgot his uneasiness. There was hardly any motion to the +boat, save a slow, steady gliding onward. Off Avalon there is no surf, +the tides rise and fall, as on the mainland, but the sea is usually as +quiet as the waters of a pond.</p> + +<p>There were other glass-bottom boats out that afternoon, and they were +scattered just off shore to Sugarloaf Rock and beyond. Not far from the +towering Rock were two or three rowboats, each manned by an oarsman, and +carrying a man in a bathing suit.</p> + +<p>"Them's divers," explained Ike, nodding to the men in the bathing suits. +"Didn't you see 'em when your boat come in?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Hill, "I was too busy gettin' ashore. What were those +divers doing when our boats came in?"</p> + +<p>"Passengers were throwin' money overboard and they were divin' for it. +You'll see 'em when you get in the steamer to go back to Pedro. Over yan +by Ole Sugarloaf the divers goes down under the glass bottoms, looks up +at you from below, makes faces, throws kisses at the girls, and I don't +know what all. Likewise, they brings up abalone shells; you can see 'em +brought up, and can buy 'em for a quarter apiece. A very pretty and +interestin' souvenir of your trip to the island. Now, look down, for +we're right over, the gardens."</p> + +<p>"It's funny," remarked Hill, "that I'm such a good swimmer when this +seasickness takes holt o' me so, hard and quick. Maybe if I'd swim the +ocean the water wouldn't bother my stummick at all. I—"</p> + +<p>The words died on Hill's lips. He suddenly found himself gazing from one +world into another of weird beauty and wondrous enchantment.</p> + +<p>Beneath his eyes and Clancy's there unfolded a landscape of rainbow +tints flecking a forest of softly waving trees. Some of the trees bore +fruit, and in and out among their branches swam fishes of silver and +gold. It was like fairyland, that landscape on the bed of the sea.</p> + +<p>"Beats anything I ever seen!" whispered the entranced Hiram. "If a +mermaid was to float up to the glass bottom of this here boat and shake +a finger at me, I'd go right over the side and join her in them pretty +gardens."</p> + +<p>"Wonderful!" exclaimed Clancy. "Look at the rocks and shells! You can, +see them as clearly as though they were out of the water and on the +land."</p> + +<p>"Them forests," explained Ike, "are made of kelp. From kelp is where we +get our iodine of commerce. It takes four hundred pounds of kelp to make +one pound of iodine."</p> + +<p>"And a million pounds of the iodine o' commerce," snorted Hiram, "ain't +worth one pound o' kelp, down below and growin' same as we see. What do +they, want to root it up for? Why don't they leave it where it is, to +please the eye that looks down through these glass-bottom boats?"</p> + +<p>"I pass," answered Ike wearily. "I ain't no philosopher, that-a-way. +Kelp's no good and iodine's useful–that's all I know. Diver's goin' +over and comin' this way," he added, with sudden animation. "Watch +close, now, and maybe you'll see him pick up an abalone shell, and look +up and make faces. It's right remarkable how long some o' them divers +can stay under the water. Look sharp!"</p> + +<p>Clancy and Hill looked sharp, but they couldn't see anything of the +diver.</p> + +<p>"Shucks!" grunted Ike. "He come up for another boat afore he got here. +But he'll be along after a spell."</p> + +<p>Ike rested from his rowing a bit, and filled and, lighted his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Up there," said he, waving his hand aloft, "is the towerin' summits o' +Black Jack and Orizaba, If you're goin' to be on the island overnight +you don't want to miss the coach trip to the top o' the uplifts. It's +ten miles up and two miles back, same road all the way," he chuckled as +he exhaled a cloud of smoke, "and the round trip is only eight miles. +It'll cost you a dollar apiece, and you don't want to miss it."</p> + +<p>Clancy and Hill had already discovered that the inhabitants of Avalon +had a hand out for tourist money. When one had got all he could of a +guileless sight-seer, he passed him on to a brother who had something +else to show. But they were a kindly lot, those Avalonians for all that.</p> + +<p>"Now, watch!" warned Ike. "Here the diver comes, for sure!"</p> + +<p>This time Ike was correct. Clancy and Hill, peering through the glass +bottom of the boat, saw a human form glide gracefully to a point +directly underneath, turn over on its back, and float face upward, full +a dozen feet below the surface.</p> + +<p>The diver commenced to throw kisses and to make faces, but he suddenly +ceased that pleasing performance. His face abruptly froze as with +horror, and his wide eyes looked, up at the two faces staring down +through the glass.</p> + +<p>A sharp exclamation escaped Clancy's lips. Hill gave a yell, sat up and +began tearing off his coat, hat, and vest.</p> + +<p>"It's–it's Hank Burton!" he murmured, far gone with wonder. "It's +Gerald Wynn's pard, and he helped walk off with your fifteen thousand, +Clancy! What's he doin' in the marine gardens, I'd like to know? +Wouldn't this put kinks into your intelleck? Say!"</p> + +<p>Hiram Hill was climbing up on his seat, bending low to avoid hitting the +canopy top.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" shouted Clancy.</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' down into the marine gardens, lookin' for trouble! If I can +get my lunch hooks on that chap below, I'll bring him aboard, or ashore, +or we'll both stay down in the kelp till the crack o' doom! You hear me, +Clancy? That feller gave us the slip once, but he'll not do it again!"</p> + +<p>With that, Hiram Hill kicked off his shoes, rolled over the rail and +went into the water with a splash. Clancy reached for him, but was a +minute too late, for his fingers clutched only empty air.</p> + +<p>"Look!" whispered Ike huskily, leaning over the glass bottom and +staring; "for the love o' Mike, look what's goin' on down there!"</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER VII.</p> + +<p class="chapter">AT THE BASE OF OLD SUGARLOAF.</p> + +<p>Clancy and Ike had the privilege of seeing one of the strangest sights +that any one ever saw through a glass-bottom boat. They saw a half-clad +man grab another in a bathing suit, and immediately a submarine +wrestling match was staged. Burton gripped Hill about the throat, and +Hill's fingers slipped forthwith to Burton's windpipe. The scene grew +more and more horrible as the moments passed, and Clancy fell to +throwing aside his garments preparatory to making a trip of his own to +the marine gardens.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" clamored Ike excitedly. "They've broke loose from each other! +They're comin' up. Don't go in!"</p> + +<p>Clancy took another look through the glass. Burton's face was livid and +ghastly, and it was plain that he was hard put to it for breath. With +feeble, faltering strokes he was coming to the surface. Hill was +following him as relentlessly as a shark.</p> + +<p>The rowboat, from which Burton had dived, came alongside the flat-bottom +craft. The fellow at the oars Clancy did not know. The motor wizard had +half expected to see either Gerald Wynn or Bob Katz, but the oarsman was +neither of these.</p> + +<p>"What's happened?" he asked, a tense note of alarm in his voice.</p> + +<p>Before Ike could answer, Burton's head bobbed to the surface, and a +gurgling cry for help floated over the water.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute!" called Clancy, catching the side of the smaller boat +before the man at the oars could get away from Ike's craft, "I guess +I'll go with you."</p> + +<p>Without much difficulty, Clancy transferred himself from one boat to the +other.</p> + +<p>"You needn't wait for us, Ike!" he called. "Have our clothes ready for +us when we call for them, that's all."</p> + +<p>"What're you trying to do?" demanded the oarsman.</p> + +<p>"We've got two fellows to pick up," Clancy answered, "and I'm going to +help. Are you a friend of Burton's?"</p> + +<p>"I get half he makes for handlin' the boat for him."</p> + +<p>"How long has he been doing this?"</p> + +<p>"Yesterday and to-day."</p> + +<p>"And your name is—"</p> + +<p>"Mynie Boltwood."</p> + +<p>"Well right, Mynie Boltwood! Steady it is, now, and we'll pick up the +two in the water."</p> + +<p>"Never mind me, Clancy," sang out Hill, who had come to the surface, and +was swimming easily despite the weight of the wet clothing he had on. +"Burton is purty nigh tuckered. Take care o' him first."</p> + +<p>Burton was a splendid swimmer, there was no doubt about that, but his +ordeal in the water had told on him severely. He grabbed Clancy's +outstretched hand desparingly, and was assisted to climb over the +bulwarks. Once aboard, he fell in a sprawl on the boat's bottom, +breathing heavily.</p> + +<p>Hiram Hill got into the boat much more easily. Lifting his dripping body +to a seat, he grinned, and shook the long, tow-colored hair back from +his face.</p> + +<p>"How was that for Hi?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"It was a great piece of work!" Clancy answered admiringly. "You're +certainly there with the goods when it comes to swimming. I thought, for +a time, that both you and Burton would be drowned. We could have got him +just as easily, Hiram, if you hadn't gone into the water."</p> + +<p>"I wanted to make sure, that was all."</p> + +<p>"Boltwood," called Clancy, "put us all ashore on the rocks at the foot +of Old Sugarloaf. We'll bask in the sun, for a while, and I'll talk a +little with Burton, We're old friends, you know," and here Clancy +smiled. "The last person in the world I was expecting to see through the +glass bottom of that boat was Hank Burton. It was the surprise of my +life, and no mistake."</p> + +<p>There was something here which Mynie Boltwood could not understand. He +was not ambitious in the acquirement of knowledge, however, and merely +did as he was told–and let it go at that.</p> + +<p>Burton sat up in the boat's bottom, and peered at Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Feeling better, Hank?" the motor wizard inquired pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"What're you and Hill doing here?" inquired Burton confusedly. "We +reckoned you were in San Diego."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you did!" returned Clancy. "You must know something about that +letter Hiram received, inviting him to hang up his hat in Q Street and +feel at home."</p> + +<p>Burton, realizing that he had said something he hadn't ought to, bit his +lip angrily.</p> + +<p>"How'd you happen to come to Catalina?" he went on.</p> + +<p>"The Happy Trail branched in this direction."</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>"Well," Clancy laughed, "Hiram came to Catalina to find his father, and +I'm helping in the search. We've got a few things to discuss, Hank, and +I think we'll do the chinning ashore."</p> + +<p>By that time the boat was grounded among the rocks close to the foot of +Old Sugarloaf.</p> + +<p>"I haven't got a thing to discuss with you," snarled Burton, "and I'm +not goin' ashore."</p> + +<p>"Sure you are!" declared Clancy. "You'd a heap rather go ashore and talk +matters over with Hiram and me than go to jail. Wouldn't you, now?"</p> + +<p>Fire snapped in the motor wizard's eyes, and his voice, although it was +like velvet, cut like steel. Burton saw there was no use trying to hang +back.</p> + +<p>"If Wynn hadn't made me work for a little money," growled Burton, "this +wouldn't 'a' happened."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>Boltwood had jumped to the rocks, and was holding the boat by the +painter. Hill followed him out of the craft, and now Burton followed +Hill. Clancy was last to leave the boat. He walked up toward the base of +Sugarloaf Rock.</p> + +<p>"Boltwood," he called, "you stay there and take care of the boat. +Burton, you and Hill come up here with me."</p> + +<p>The excitement that had claimed the passengers in Ike's boat had been +missed by the other boats. The rest of the glass-bottom fleet had gone +around Sugarloaf Rock, and Clancy was now able to look across the low +rise of rocks, separating the headland from the shore, and see the other +sight-seers.</p> + +<p>"Hill and I came over here to find Hill's father," said Clancy, turning +to Burton, "and we find you. That strikes me as being mighty strange, +Hank. What are you and Gerald Wynn and Bob Katz doing here?"</p> + +<p>"Who said Gerald and Bob were with me?" returned Burton sullenly.</p> + +<p>"You said something before we got out of the boat which proved to me +that Gerald Wynn was here with you. And, if Gerald is here, Katz is +along, too. Why are you in this place?"</p> + +<p>Burton did not answer.</p> + +<p>"Why did one of you write that letter to Hill and try to get him to San +Diego?"</p> + +<p>Still nothing from Burton.</p> + +<p>"Did you fellows bring the fifteen thousand with you?"</p> + +<p>Clancy's voice was sharp as he put this question.</p> + +<p>"It must be clear to you," returned Burton, "that I haven't any of that +fifteen thousand. If I had, do you think I'd be divin' for quarters?"</p> + +<p>The motor wizard seated himself on a bowlder. The sun was hot, but a +cool breeze from the sea tempered its warmth. As he stared at the +stubborn face of Burton, his eyes hardened.</p> + +<p>"Hank," he went on, "I haven't any cause to love you, or Gerald Wynn, or +Bob Katz. One of you put a bullet into my shoulder, at the old adobe +near Wickenburg. The three of you, also, made off with fifteen thousand +dollars belonging to me and to Lafe Wynn. Now I can put you through for +all that, and put you through good and hard. Even if I can't get hands +on Gerald and Katz, I've got you securely. Do you want to save yourself, +or don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Save myself? How?"</p> + +<p>"Why, by helping me get back that stolen money. Tell us where Gerald +Wynn and Katz are hiding themselves, where the money is, and how we're +to get hold of it."</p> + +<p>"Think I'm a squealer?" demanded Burton indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Where are your clothes?" Clancy asked.</p> + +<p>"Boltwood knows."</p> + +<p>The motor wizard walked down to the water's edge.</p> + +<p>"Boltwood," said he, "I want you to go and get Burton's clothes. Also +get from Ike the clothes belonging to Hill and me. Bring them back here. +And–listen! Don't say a word to anybody about what happened. +Understand?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what's happened, or what's goin' on now," answered +Boltwood, "so how can I talk?"</p> + +<p>"Just remember that, then. Here's a five-dollar gold piece for you. Do +as I tell you and you'll be all right. Do something else, and you'll +find yourself in more trouble than Burton is in."</p> + +<p>"I'm no fool, I guess," mumbled Boltwood, pouching the gold piece. "I +don't pry into things that ain't my business. I'll row across and get +the clothes."</p> + +<p>He sprang into the boat, pushed off, and began using the oars +vigorously. The motor wizard turned thoughtfully and walked back to the +place where he had left Hill and Burton.</p> + +<p>Hank Burton had issued his defiance. He was not a "squeeler," but he was +apprehensive regarding Clancy's next move.</p> + +<p>"What're you goin' to do?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I'm sending for your clothes," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Then what?"</p> + +<p>"Why, then I'll find some place where I can make a complaint against +you. You think more of your pals liberty than you do of your own. But +that's your lookout, not mine. If you want to go to jail and leave +Gerald Wynn and Bob Katz free to spend that fifteen thousand, why, have +it that way."</p> + +<p>Clancy's tone was relentless. Burton knew enough of the motor wizard to +understand that he would do what he said he would.</p> + +<p>The chap in the bathing suit walked back and forth among the rocks for a +few moments, then, finally, he flung up his hands helplessly and halted +in front of Clancy.</p> + +<p>"You've got the whip hand, as usual," said he, with a tinge of +bitterness. "I'll exchange what I know for my liberty. What am I to tell +you?"</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER VIII.</p> + +<p class="chapter">TREACHERY THAT SUCCEEDED–AND FAILED.</p> + +<p>The motor wizard congratulated himself, for a moment, that he had won +Hank Burton over to his side in the argument. But only for a moment. +Even as Clancy was getting ready to frame his first question, Burton +took to his heels and ran like a deer toward the other side of Sugarloaf +Rock.</p> + +<p>On that side, three persons had landed in a small boat. They had secured +their boat by twisting the painter around a rock, and were now climbing +Old Sugarloaf.</p> + +<p>Burton must have seen this landing party while walking back and forth +and turning Clancy's proposition over in his mind. He had gained a +little time by seeming to fall in with Clancy's desires, but now the +mask was dropped.</p> + +<p>"Consarn the critter!" whooped Hiram. "Stop him, Clancy, stop him!"</p> + +<p>This is exactly what Clancy was trying to do, but the feat was +physically impossible. Burton had too long a lead.</p> + +<p>Snatching the painter from the rock, the fleeing rascal sprang into the +boat, picked up the oars and was twenty feet from shore before Clancy +and Hill came to the water's edge.</p> + +<p>"Guess again!" taunted Burton, applying himself vigorously to the oars.</p> + +<p>"This island ain't so big!" shouted Hiram furiously. "The steamer for +San Pedro has gone, and there's no other boat for the mainland until +to-morrow. You ain't out o' this yet, Hank Burton!"</p> + +<p>What Burton thought regarding this did not appear. He put all his energy +into his rowing and was soon halfway across the bay.</p> + +<p>"If we'd toted a popper," bewailed Hiram, "this couldn't have happened.</p> + +<p>"Popper?" questioned Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Meanin' gun. With a six-shooter we could have drawn a bead on Mister +Man in the boat and fetched him ashore. Blame it! I sure hate to see him +get away after bein' to so much trouble ketchin' him."</p> + +<p>The motor wizard felt in the same way, but there was no use crying over +spilled milk. Mynie Boltwood got back from the other side of the bay +with a load of clothes, and Hill removed his wet garments, wrung them +out, dried them in the sun, and was soon back in his complete wardrobe, +and but little the worse for his drenching.</p> + +<p>Clancy, hoping to develop something in the nature of a clew, searched +the pockets of Burton's clothes. He found nothing to repay his search.</p> + +<p>"Now," inquired Hill gloomily, "what's the next step?"</p> + +<p>"We came here to find your father, Hiram," Clancy answered, "and +suddenly got switched off into another trail. Now we'll get back to the +work that originally brought us to the island."</p> + +<p>"And let that bunch o' grafters go?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see what we can do, at present."</p> + +<p>"We can set the police on their trail."</p> + +<p>Clancy shook his head. "That won't do, Hiram," he answered. "I made a +crack of that kind at Burton, but it was only a bluff. The moment we +ring in the police, that moment we lift the veil on Lafe Wynn. Lafe must +be protected at any cost. If we could get back the money by our own +efforts, that would be all right. What we've got to avoid is making this +thing too public. We'll return to the curio store and see if Lopez has +got back from the other side of the island."</p> + +<p>Mynie Boltwood displayed little curiosity regarding Burton. The +five-dollar gold piece had evidently blinded him, muzzled him, and tied +up his ears. He rowed Clancy and Hill back to the pier, and they left +the boat and proceeded to the establishment of Jack Lopez.</p> + +<p>Lopez looked a good deal like a man who might deal in dazzling futures, +taking care that all the profit came to himself. He was swarthy and +good-natured, but with a crafty eye.</p> + +<p>"The Fortunatus Syndicate?" he said, with an airy laugh. "Gentlemen, it +is gone–as you say–where the woodbine twineth. Yes, for two years +past. The concession was granted by Diaz for a great 'plant' dedicated +to the god of luck at Tia Juana, but–well, Diaz went out and some one +else came in. Down below the border, nothing remains as it was for long. +It took–what you call–too much money to grease the wheels. The +Syndicate dropped one hundred thousand dollars, and thought that was +plenty. No, no, you can not invest in Fortunatus, for there is no +Fortunatus."</p> + +<p>"This is your card, isn't it?" inquired Clancy, offering for inspection +the card found wider the sweatband of the Stetson.</p> + +<p>"Why, <em>si!</em> I used that card at the time the Tia Juana matter looked +very bright and promising. Now, though, I use the card no more."</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see a feller like this?" put in Hiram, handing over the +photograph of his father.</p> + +<p>Lopez looked at the photograph, started, took it in his hands, and gave +it a more careful scrutiny.</p> + +<p>"As I live," said he, "it is the picture of my good friend, Captain +Hogan, of the steam yacht <em>Sylvia.</em> Look!" and Lopez lifted and leveled +a forefinger.</p> + +<p>They were standing in front of the curio store, and the stores all along +that street overlooked the bay. Lopez indicated a trim-looking craft, +painted white, and with the sun striking gleams from dazzling brasswork, +floating at anchor far from the shore line.</p> + +<p>"That," continued Lopez, "is my good friend's boat. Her home port is San +Diego, and she can be chartered by any one with the price. Hogan is at +the island for a few days, looking for customers."</p> + +<p>Disappointment struck heavily at Hiram Hill's heart and was reflected in +his face.</p> + +<p>"You say his name is Hogan?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What's time whole of his handle?"</p> + +<p>"Uriah Hogan. Strange you do not know, since you have his picture."</p> + +<p>"There's a whole lot o' things I don't know," answered Hiram, "and am +just beginnin' to find out. Was Cap'n Hogan over to Los Angeles last +Saturday?"</p> + +<p>"He was. He has told me about it. He returned to the island Sunday."</p> + +<p>"Do you happen to know where I can find him?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes. In the quarter of the town called Buena Vista, there is a +bungalow called the Rest a While. There Captain Hogan stays whenever he +is in Avalon."</p> + +<p>This ended the talk with Señor J. Lopez. Clancy took his friend by the +arm and walked with him to the restaurant where they had had their +dinner.</p> + +<p>"Ain't this the limit?" queried Hill plaintively. "Nothin' goes right +for us, Clancy."</p> + +<p>"Well don't fret about it," returned the motor wizard.</p> + +<p>"Order up a good meal and try and be happy."</p> + +<p>They sent in a generous order. Hill, however, could not get the hard +luck out of his mind. He continued to air the state of his feelings +while the order was being made ready.</p> + +<p>"This Cap'n Hogan is a dead ringer for dad. Him and dad couldn't look +more alike if they had been twins. And then, Clancy, them initials in +his Stetson–'U. H.' I reckoned that made a cinch of this here trail I'm +follerin'. But, no. 'Stead o' standin' for 'Upton Hill,' them letters in +the Stetson meant 'Uriah Hogan.' Never before has fate played it so low +down on me as that."</p> + +<p>"We have certainly blundered into some remarkable coincidences," agreed +Clancy.</p> + +<p>A man with red hair, who sat, at their table, cocked up his ear as Hill +shook out his opinions.</p> + +<p>"Hogan?" said he, leaning forward; "did I hear you mention Smuggler +Hogan, of the <em>Sylvia?</em>"</p> + +<p>"I called him Uriah Hogan," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"It's all one and the same. Hogan's bad medicine." The man surveyed +Clancy with an approving eye. "Maybe I shouldn't say anything about +this," he continued, "but your hair's the same color as mine, and I +always make it a point to pass valuable information along to a fellow +bricktop. Beware of Hogan! What's the fellow doing with that boat of +his? Some say he's smuggling arms into Lower California, for the use of +the revolutionists, and some say he's running chinks and opium–both +contraband goods–into the United States. Cap'n Hogan is not in these +waters for any good, take it from me."</p> + +<p>The red-headed man finished with an ominous look, and then with great +politeness requested Hill to pass the salt.</p> + +<p>"Hogan, I hear," the loquacious stranger continued presently, "charters +that boat of his to the unsuspecting. He does it for a blind–nothing +else. Now, if you gents want a trip up or down the coast, as far north +as San Fran, or as far down as the Horn. I've got just the +thing–slickest little schooner with steam auxiliary you ever put eyes +on."</p> + +<p>A light broke over Clancy. Maybe Captain Hogan wasn't such bad medicine, +after all. This rival ship owner might be giving him a bad +character–for business purposes.</p> + +<p>"We're not intending to charter any boat." said Clancy.</p> + +<p>"No harm done, anyway," said the red-haired person. "I've given you a +straight tip about Hogan, though, and you can bank on it."</p> + +<p>"Much obliged," returned Clancy.</p> + +<p>A little later he and Hill got up from the table, settled their bill, +and left the restaurant.</p> + +<p>"How about takin' a walk?" Hill asked. "The way that red-headed chap +throwed me into the man I thought was dad, kinder made me feverish."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed the motor wizard cheerfully, "we'll walk. It's +always a good thing to walk a mile or so after you've had your supper."</p> + +<p>They strolled down the main street, Clancy doing his best to cheer up +his melancholy companion. Presently they turned a corner and started +along a thoroughfare that was bordered on both sides with eucalyptus +trees. A figure stepped suddenly out of the black shadow of one of the +trees and posted itself in front of Clancy, barring his path.</p> + +<p>"Owen Clancy?" the figure asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Clancy answered, thinking the voice sounded rather familiar.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm back again, and—"</p> + +<p>"Burton!" the motor wizard exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Burton," the other returned. "I've had it rubbed into me by Gerald +Wynn and Bob Katz till I reckon I can't stand it no longer. I'm ready to +help you, now, and this time I mean it."</p> + +<p>"What's happened to cause this great change, Burton?" Clancy asked +skeptically.</p> + +<p>"Wynn and Katz are trying to beat me out of my share of the fifteen +thousand," was the reply. "If I help you, Clancy, maybe, between us, we +can beat out the pair of them. What do you say?"</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER IX.</p> + +<p class="chapter">A SPLIT IN THE GANG.</p> + +<p>Clancy had no confidence whatever in Burton.</p> + +<p>"I'm willing to hear what you've got to say, Burton," he said, "but +whether I believe you or not, is another question."</p> + +<p>"You'll believe me, fast enough," was the confident response. "Down the +street, a little way, is a place where we can talk."</p> + +<p>They walked down the street to a bench. The bench was in an obscure +place, and the gloom of the eucalyptus trees surrounded it. Here, after +they had seated themselves, Burton began his remarks.</p> + +<p>"I've been treated like a dip by Wynn and Katz," said he, "and I'm going +to be square with you, Clancy, just to get even with them. When we +lifted the fifteen thousand, at the time you were shot, we laid a bee +line for Los Angeles. We've been there ever since, up to last Sunday +morning. Gerald was bughouse on a gambling proposition, across the +Mexican line. He heard of a stockholder he could buy out for fifteen +thousand dollars, and that's what set him to working his brother for the +money, in the first place.</p> + +<p>"Well, he was as close-fisted with that dinero as any miser you ever +saw. I didn't have a cent in my pocket, and Gerald wouldn't give me any +cash. He paid my expenses, but that was all.</p> + +<p>"Last Saturday he saw that mix-up at Sixth and Main, in Los Angeles, and +he got the idea that Hill was trailing him. Of course, Gerald knows all +about Hill's search for his lost father—"</p> + +<p>"Of course he does!" grunted Hiram. "There's a reason for that."</p> + +<p>"And he conceived the notion of sending Hill a letter and signing the +name of Upton Hill to it," went on Burton. "The idea was to get Hill off +of our trail, and we all reckoned the scheme had won out. I didn't know, +until I looked up into the glass bottom of that boat, that Hill was +within a hundred miles of Catalina Island! And I thought Clancy was +still in Phoenix! Say, it was sure a big surprise to me."</p> + +<p>"That's what I reckoned," remarked Hill, with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>"I used to be swimming instructor in a gymnasium," proceeded Burton, +"and as soon as we reached Avalon I made a deal with Mynie Boltwood, who +owns a boat, and we took to snorkin' the tourists. Gerald was still the +tightwad, and I couldn't live on prospects, no matter how rosy they +might be. Sunday afternoon, while I was out diving, Gerald and Bob +called on Lopez. I get it straight, from a fellow who knows, that Lopez +told them the Fortunatus deal had fallen through. Right then and there +is where those two skunks began to scheme to beat me out of my share of +the swag we brought from Wickenburg."</p> + +<p>Burton fell silent for a moment, evidently reflecting on the great +wrong that had been done him by his former pals. At last he resumed:</p> + +<p>"Wynn and Katz chartered the <em>Sylvia</em> to take them down the coast. I was +told that by Lopez, and I reckon he got it from Captain Hogan. Lopez–I +saw him no more than half an hour ago–says Wynn and Katz are planning +to cut loose from me, I've been a fool all along to let those two do all +the schemin' and never put in my oar. But now I'm going to get busy."</p> + +<p>"You saw Lopez pretty soon after you gave us the slip at Sugarloaf +Rock?" Clancy asked.</p> + +<p>"Quite a long time after that. I laid low in town until Mynie Boltwood +brought me my clothes. You see, I was expecting every minute you'd have +an officer on my trail, so I didn't stir around very much."</p> + +<p>"Lopez is a friend of yours?"</p> + +<p>"He's treated me white when he saw how I was being double-crossed by +fellows I thought were my pards. Now, Clancy, here's a plan I've thought +of: From all I can find out, Wynn and Katz haven't an idea you and Hill +are up Avalon. Suppose we three go to their hang-out and jump them? We +can do it, and recover the money. We'll have to be quick, though, and +pull off the work before they leave in the <em>Sylvia.</em>"</p> + +<p>"Where are Gerald Wynn and Bob Katz?"</p> + +<p>"Lopez says they're staying at Hogan's bungalow. I know where that is. +Will you go?"</p> + +<p>Clancy hesitated.</p> + +<p>"You're afraid I'm working some underhand scheme, eh?" said Burton. +"Well, forget it. All I want in this world is to break even with Wynn +and Katz. Don't you believe what I've been telling you?"</p> + +<p>"You're a slippery customer," answered Clancy, "and you may be lying for +the purpose of getting Hill and me into hot water."</p> + +<p>"Nothing to it. I tell you I'm square with you."</p> + +<p>"Let's try him once, Clancy," suggested Hill. "If it turns out to be a +frame-up, Burton will be with us, and we can hand him a sample of our +regards."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the motor wizard. "Lead the way, Burton."</p> + +<p>Burton moved down the walk to the first cross street, proceeded halfway +along the block, and halted in front of a small bungalow with a deep +porch.</p> + +<p>"Here's where Captain Hogan stays when he's in Avalon and ashore," +remarked Burton, in a guarded tone.</p> + +<p>"Can't see any light," murmured Hill. "Looks like the place was empty."</p> + +<p>"I should say, at a guess," put in Clancy, "that the captain is not at +home. He may be aboard the <em>Sylvia.</em>"</p> + +<p>"We're not looking for Hogan, but for Wynn and Katz," continued Burton. +"I'll not leave this place until I investigate a bit."</p> + +<p>He began climbing the steps that led to the porch. Clancy was still very +distrustful of Burton, and watched warily while following the fellow to +the front door of the house.</p> + +<p>Burton seemed straight enough. With a soft hand he tried the door, and +discovered it to be locked. Moving thence to a window that opened upon +the porch, he tried to raise the lower sash. It was secured.</p> + +<p>"Maybe I can open the sash lock," he whispered to Clancy. "If it's the +ordinary kind, a knife will do the trick."</p> + +<p>He took a jackknife from his pocket, opened a blade, thrust it upward +between the upper and lower sash, and maneuvered for a minute or two. +Finally he gave vent to a muttered word of satisfaction, closed the +knife, and slipped it into his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Here's a little luck," said he. "We can open the window now."</p> + +<p>Noiselessly the lower sash was lifted, and the way into the bungalow was +open.</p> + +<p>"You can stay here," whispered Burton, "or you can go with me. If you're +afraid to trust me, I can look around and report what I find."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," returned Clancy. "I don't want to take your report +about what you find, I want to see for myself."</p> + +<p>As carefully as possible they crawled through the window, and while they +stood in the dark room at the front of the house. Hiram came through the +opening and joined them.</p> + +<p>A noise reached their ears, as of heavy breathing. Hill caught Clancy's +arm in a convulsive clutch.</p> + +<p>"There's some one in the place, all right!" said Burton, under his +breath.</p> + +<p>"Strike a light," suggested the motor wizard. "I believe it's safe +enough."</p> + +<p>"Here, let me," put in Hiram. "I've got a match right in my fingers."</p> + +<p>He scraped the match on the wall. As a flicker of light blazed up, a +small, meagerly furnished front room was disclosed. Neither Captain +Hogan nor either of those who had chartered his boat could be seen.</p> + +<p>Clancy stepped to a shelf on the side wall, and took down a candle in a +candlestick. Hill touched the match to the wick, and the investigation +continued under a better light.</p> + +<p>There was a door opening off the rear of the room. Burton glided to it +and carefully pushed it ajar. Stygian darkness reigned beyond.</p> + +<p>The opening of the rear door had caused the heavy breathing to grow +louder. The man–evidently the only one they were to find in the +bungalow–must be in that back room. Clancy, with the candle, pushed +into the lead, and entered the next apartment.</p> + +<p>Hill was watching Burton as keenly as a cat watches a mouse. At the +first sign of a treacherous move, or the springing a trap, Hill would +have been at Burton in a flash.</p> + +<p>Nothing occurred, however, to alarm the investigators. Something was +discovered, on the other hand, which certainly, astounded them.</p> + +<p>A figure was lying on a cot bed–a figure that was bound wrist and +ankle. A towel was tied over the face of the helpless form, and from +behind this towel came the labored breathing which had already attracted +attention.</p> + +<p>The candle revealed the gruesome situation dimly. There seemed no longer +any good reason for silence, and startled exclamations dropped from the +lips of the three investigators.</p> + +<p>"Black work has been going on here!" growled Burton.</p> + +<p>"Wonder if that's Hogan?" queried Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Whoever it is," spoke up Hill, "if that towel ain't removed he'll soon +be smothered to death."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he hastened to the head of the bed, turned the form +slightly so he could untie the ends of the towel, and presently removed +the suffocating gag. As the head of the bound man fell back on the +pillow of the bed, his face was brought clearly into the full light of +the candle.</p> + +<p>"By thunder!" gasped Clancy, startled.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of that?" murmured the bewildered Burton.</p> + +<p>"Katz, or I'm a Hottentot!" whispered Hill.</p> + +<p>There followed a few moments of silence, during which the three at the +cotside exchanged wondering glances. Here was a situation which seemed +incomprehensible to all of them.</p> + +<p>Katz's eyes were closed, and the breath came and went stertorously +between his bloated lips. His face was puffed and of a purplish hue.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with him?" queried Burton.</p> + +<p>"He came within one of being suffocated, that's all," Clancy answered. +"Get the ropes off his hands and feet, so he'll be more comfortable. I +don't think it will be long before he opens his eyes."</p> + +<p>The motor wizard was right. Hardly had Katz been freed of the ropes when +his eyelids flickered wide open. He stared up dazedly into the faces +bending over him.</p> + +<p>"Wynn!" he exclaimed, his wits wandering. "You're double-crossin' me, +eh, same as we double-crossed Burton? You and Hogan are going to make +off with the swag! Well, it won't do you no good, you can gamble on +that. You'll be sorry you did this–some day–and—"</p> + +<p>Here his voice trailed off into incoherent mumbling. It was quite +evident that there had been a bad "split" in the gang.</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER X.</p> + +<p class="chapter">PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT.</p> + +<p>Burton's eyes glimmered as he listened to these wandering words from the +lips of his treacherous friend.</p> + +<p>"He got a dose of the same medicine he helped give me!" he said. "Serves +him right. Gerald Wynn is a yellow dog! He turned against me, and then +he hitched up with Captain Hogan and the two turned on Katz. Wish I knew +just how it all happened."</p> + +<p>"Bring some water," said Clancy, "and perhaps we can help Katz recover +his wits. He's half delirious now."</p> + +<p>Burton found some cool water, and brought a basin of it. The bloated, +purplish face of Katz was bathed, his limbs were rubbed, and gradually +his condition, physical and mental, became more normal. He peered at +Burton with blinking eyes.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Hank?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's Hank." was the taunting response. "How do you like bein' +double-crossed? You and Wynn put the kibosh on me, and here you've got a +taste of it yourself."</p> + +<p>"Wynn's a coyote!" snarled Katz.</p> + +<p>"He's not the only one."</p> + +<p>"What took place here?" struck in Clancy, seeking to direct the talk +into more profitable channels.</p> + +<p>A shiver convulsed the form of Katz. Slowly his eyes turned to Clancy, +and grew round with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"That red-headed motor wizard!" he breathed. "However did you get here?"</p> + +<p>"I'm here, and that's enough," said Clancy.</p> + +<p>"He came on from Phoenix because I wired him to," put in Hill. "He's +helpin' me locate my father."</p> + +<p>"It was Clancy's judgment, I'll bet," observed Burton, "that kept you +from going to San Diego?"</p> + +<p>"Now you are shouting. I was bound to go there, but Chancy held me back +and steered me toward Catalina island."</p> + +<p>Katz's eyes passed from Clancy to Hill. Slowly the wonder died out of +them, and a grim expression crossed his face.</p> + +<p>"You're the clever boy, all right, Clancy," said Katz, "but Wynn is too +many for you. He's bit it off with Hogan, who owns the steam yacht +<em>Sylvia,</em> and they're off for down the coast with all the money. After +we cut you out, Burton, Wynn and I had divided. I had seventy-five +hundred, all in the long green, in that dinky satchel of mine, when I +came to this wikiup to join Wynn and Hogan. Them two were layin' for me. +The minute I stepped in at the door they bowled me over. I went down +like a log, and when I came to myself I was lyin' on this bed, lashed +hand and foot, and with a towel tied so tight over my face that I could +hardly breathe.</p> + +<p>"Hogan and Wynn were in the room, and they just laughed at me. 'You're +easier'n Burton was,' Wynn says. 'Hogan and I are leavin' the harbor +to-night,' he says, 'and we're takin' the hull fifteen thousand with us. +Good night, and happy dreams, Katz,' he winds up, then puts out the +light, locks the front door, and leaves me to strangle to death." Katz +turned his head and spat contemptuously. "That's the sort, of a jigger +this Wynn is," he finished.</p> + +<p>"You're no better than he is," snapped Burton.</p> + +<p>"If I could come within arm's reach o' him, by thunder, I'd show whether +I'm better than he is, or not!" cried Katz, getting up with an effort +and sitting on the edge of the cot.</p> + +<p>"You say," said Clancy, speaking quickly, "that Hogan and Wynn are +intending to get away in the <em>Sylvia</em> to-night?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon they've already gone."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not! There's a chance that the <em>Sylvia</em> is still in the harbor. +Are you as anxious to get even with Wynn as Burton is, Katz?"</p> + +<p>"Try me, that's all!" growled Katz, lifting his arms and working them +back and forth to get the cramps out of them. "I'd like a chance to show +Gerald Wynn just how I feel!"</p> + +<p>"Then come with me! Perhaps we can head off Hogan and Wynn at the dock."</p> + +<p>"No such luck. But look here oncet, Clancy. Are you intendin' to mix the +police in this game o' muggins?"</p> + +<p>"No," was the answer. "We'll handle it ourselves."</p> + +<p>"And the idee is—"</p> + +<p>"To recover, the fifteen thousand dollars,"</p> + +<p>"Who gets it, after it's recovered?"</p> + +<p>"I do. It belongs to Lafe Wynn and myself, doesn't it?"</p> + +<p>This part of the arrangement, it was clear, did not please Katz. Clancy +saw that, and his voice hardened and grew threatening.</p> + +<p>"You're a plain thief, Katz! First thing you know, you'll get your just +deserts and land in the Los Angeles jail. You can either come with the +rest of us, or you can stay here. Suit yourself."</p> + +<p>"When you talk in that tone of voice," returned Katz humbly, "I come on +the run. Give your orders, Clancy and count on me to help carry 'em +out."</p> + +<p>"Where does Hogan keep the dinghy that carries him between the <em>Sylvia</em> +and the shore?" asked the motor wizard.</p> + +<p>"I can show you. If the <em>Sylvia</em> is still in the harbor, and there's any +one ashore from her, I can take you right to the place where the dinghy +is tied up."</p> + +<p>"That's where we want to go."</p> + +<p>The entire party emerged from the bungalow, descended the steps to the +street, and started forthwith for the water front. Katz led the way out +upon the same pier at which Clancy and Hill had taken, the glass-bottom +boat to view the marine gardens. Well out on the pier, they came to a +halt, and swept their eyes over the dark waters of the bay.</p> + +<p>"By cracky," said Katz, pointing, "the <em>Sylvia</em> ain't got away yet. +There's her lights, if I'm not mistaken."</p> + +<p>Probably thirty or forty boats, most of them small, were anchored in the +bay. Each carried lights, and picking the <em>Sylvia's</em> lights out from +among the others was no easy matter.</p> + +<p>"I guess you've got it right, Katz," said Clancy. "Unless the yacht +changed her anchorage, that's about where she ought to be."</p> + +<p>"We can tell to a certainty by goin' down to the floats and seein' if +the <em>Sylvia's</em> dinghy is tied up at the pier."</p> + +<p>"If the dinghy isn't there," spoke up Burton, "it wouldn't prove that +the <em>Sylvia</em> wasn't still in the harbor. She may be at anchor, Katz, +with no one ashore."</p> + +<p>"Right-o," answered Katz. "On t'other hand, Burton, if the <em>Sylvia's</em> +dinghy is at the pier, then it's a lead pipe that the yacht isn't far +away. We'll go look."</p> + +<p>They went down the stairs to the floats. There were several boats +chained and locked to the floats, and among them was the <em>Sylvia's</em> +dinghy. The dinghy, however, was not locked to the float post, and a +pair of oars lay across the thwarts.</p> + +<p>"She's here, by Jerry!" muttered Katz. "Hogan and Wynn haven't left us +yet–not just yet! I allow they're whoopin' it up, some'r's, and are +show gettin' out to the yacht."</p> + +<p>"Maybe they're on the <em>Sylvia,</em>" said Burton, "and some of the crew's +ashore."</p> + +<p>"What diff'rence does it make who's ashore and who's on the yacht?"</p> + +<p>"It makes a good deal," put in the motor wizard. "Two of our party will +stay on the pier and watch this float to see who comes after the dinghy, +and the other two will take the dinghy and go out to the <em>Sylvia.</em> By +making a move of that kind, we'll be able to land on Gerald Wynn, no +matter whether he's ashore or on the boat."</p> + +<p>"I'll watch this end o' the play," said Katz.</p> + +<p>"No," objected Clancy, "you'll go with me to the yacht, Katz. Hill and +Burton will stay here and keep an eye on the float."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're the doctor," acquiesced Katz grumblingly. Clancy had +divided the party so that he and Hill would each have a man to watch. +Neither Katz nor Burton would have the same opportunity to be +treacherous as they would have had if they had been left together.</p> + +<p>The motor wizard fully believed that Hogan and Wynn were ashore, and +that the dinghy was waiting to carry them to the yacht. He felt that he +could trust Burton to be one to deal with Wynn much more safely than he +could trust the more desperate Katz.</p> + +<p>"Who'll do the rowin'?" queried Katz,</p> + +<p>"You'd better do that, Katz," said Clancy. "My shoulder isn't in the +right sort of condition for such work."</p> + +<p>Katz was interested at once.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with your shoulder?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"You ought to know. I'm pretty sure you're the one who put a bullet into +it."</p> + +<p>"I got an alibi for that," muttered Katz, stepping into the boat and +adjusting the oars.</p> + +<p>Clancy followed him.</p> + +<p>"The idea is, Hill," said Clancy, "to get the money from Wynn. You and +Burton may have a hard time of it if Hogan and Wynn are together. I +can't tell you what to do, except to be careful and do the best you +can. There'll be no dinghy for Wynn and Hogan to use, and I think you +ought to have some success if you use your wits as well as your fists."</p> + +<p>"If we get a chance, Clancy," answered Hill, "we'll either make good or +know the reason why."</p> + +<p>"All right, Katz," called the motor wizard softly. "Make as little noise +as possible. If we can't get aboard the <em>Sylvia</em> without any one knowing +it, we won't be able to get aboard at all."</p> + +<p>"I sabe the burro, fast enough," answered Katz.</p> + +<p>The fellow proved a good oarsman and there was scarcely a sound as he +dropped and lifted the oars. As they picked their way through the fleet +of harbor craft, coming closer and closer to the lights for which they +had headed, they found out that they had located the <em>Sylvia</em> correctly. +Her white, trim bulwarks suddenly loomed up like a ghost ship.</p> + +<p>No one was on deck to hail the dinghy, and Katz brought the small boat +to a stop under the <em>Sylvia's</em> side, and at the foot of a short ladder +that was lashed to the rail.</p> + +<p>Clancy laid hold of the ladder, and, with little noise, gained the deck. +Some one started out from the shadow of a deck awning and stepped toward +him.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Lewis?" the man asked.</p> + +<p>Clancy's response was quick and to the point: With a tigerlike leap he +gained the man's side and pressed both hands about his throat.</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XI.</p> + +<p class="chapter">ABOARD THE "SYLVIA."</p> + +<p>Clancy's shoulder received a hard wrench and a tingling pain shot +through his arm. The man who had hailed him was of medium height and +stocky build, and well muscled. Clancy was in no physical condition to +keep up his end in such a set-to, and the result would probably have +been disastrous had not Katz leaped over the side and taken a hand.</p> + +<p>Katz, remembering the way his pal had treated him was as venomous as a +rattlesnake. The motor wizard had all he could do to keep him from going +too far, and seriously injuring the man. With very little commotion the +fellow was overcome, gagged with a handkerchief, and tied with a rope +which Clancy picked up on the deck.</p> + +<p>This rough work finished, the two intruders stood breathlessly in the +shadow of the awning, and waited and listened. They could hear a drone +of voices forward. The monotonous sound kept going without a break, +which seemed to prove that the slight noise aft had not been overheard.</p> + +<p>"So far, so good," muttered Katz. "What next, Clancy?"</p> + +<p>"Our next move is to look around and see who's aboard," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"There's somebody in the cabin, that's a cinch, but I reckon this dub +was the only other chap around the works. Like enough he was a watchman, +or somethin'. What did he call you?"</p> + +<p>"Lewis."</p> + +<p>"Lewis is the engineer. If he saw you climb over the rail, and if he +thought you was Lewis, then it's a safe guess that Lewis is one of the +men who's ashore."</p> + +<p>"That's right."</p> + +<p>"If Lewis has shore leave, then I'll bet Hogan is on board."</p> + +<p>"I think so–Hogan and Wynn."</p> + +<p>"They're the two who are in the cabin, hey? It takes two to make a +talk."</p> + +<p>"We'll find out who's in the cabin."</p> + +<p>There was a deck house amidships, with steps leading up from the +afterdeck. Windows opening into the cabin were almost flush with the +deck, and by kneeling down, Clancy and Katz could look into the small +room below.</p> + +<p>They found that they had been correct in their surmises. Wynn and Hogan +sat facing each other on upholstered benches. A table was between them, +and upon the table was a battered satchel of small dimensions. Katz +reached for Clancy's arm and gave it a quick pressure.</p> + +<p>"That's the grip with the money!" he whispered. "What's the reason we +can't get hold of it?"</p> + +<p>"We've got to get hold of it, somehow," returned Clancy. "Suppose you go +aft and yell for Hogan? It's possible, Katz, that your call will take +both Hogan and Wynn out of the cabin. That may give me a chance to duck +down the companion and grab the satchel."</p> + +<p>"It's worth tryin'," approved Katz. "Even if it don't win out, we can +still end the thing in a fight. You got a shootin' iron?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Neither have I. Blamed if I don't feel kinder lost without one. I'll +bet Hogan is heeled, and I know Wynn never goes without his artillery. +We'll have to look sharp and be spry, Clancy, if things come to a +show-down."</p> + +<p>While Clancy watched the two in the cabin, he saw Wynn draw the satchel +across the table, open it, and pull a packet of greenbacks from inside. +He held up the packet, and laughed. Hogan joined in the laugh.</p> + +<p>The motor wizard had a very good look at Captain Hogan, and he did not +wonder that Hiram had been deceived into thinking the fellow was his +father. The bulging brow, the huge nose, and the retreating chin all +conspired to form a countenance that would have claimed attention +anywhere. One eye had an evil squint, and it gave to the whole face a +crafty expression.</p> + +<p>Captain Hogan, it was clear, would never be hung for his good looks, +although it would be too much to say that he might not, some time, be +strung up for his evil deeds.</p> + +<p>Wynn dropped the money into the satchel and sat back arm the bench. As +usual, he was whiffing at a cigarette. Hogan was smoking a big black +cigar.</p> + +<p>Neither Clancy nor Katz was so situated that he could hear the +conversation going forward between the two in the cabin. The voices +sounded from below in considerable volume, but the words ran together in +hollow echoes that baffled the ear.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Katz," whispered Clancy. "We'll try that scheme. If Hogan leaves +the cabin, I'll go down."</p> + +<p>"Suppose Wynn stays with the money?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I can take care of Wynn."</p> + +<p>"Well, here's hopin'. I'd like to crack out a winnin', this play. Sit +tight, now, and listen to the meller trill o' my bazoo."</p> + +<p>The motor wizard remained at his post while Katz crept back to the after +part of the boat. Then, suddenly, Katz opened up with a yell for "Hogan! +Cap'n Hogan!"</p> + +<p>Hogan leaped to his feet, all energy and curiosity in a moment. A +startled look crossed Wynn's face, and was clearly visible in the rays +of the swinging lamp. The captain jumped for the companion stairs, +closely followed by Wynn. Clancy fell to wondering which side, of the +deck house they'd travel on their way aft. If they came down his side, +then the chances were good for a scrimmage instead of a dash into the +cabin.</p> + +<p>In the excitement of the moment, the satchel had been left entirely +unprotected on the cabin table.</p> + +<p>As luck would have it, Hogan and Wynn ran along the alley across from +the one in which Clancy was lying. The time had now come for Clancy to +act, and, without loss of a moment, he gained the companion, and made +his way swiftly down the steep stairs.</p> + +<p>He could hear a sound of husky voices and a tramp of quick feet from +aft. What was going on, between the captain and Wynn, on one side, and +Katz, on the other, was a mystery. Clancy did not waste time in any +guessing, but grabbed up the satchel and started with it on his return +up the companion stairs.</p> + +<p>But he only started. As he began going up at the bottom, some one began +coming down from the top. The fellow above was in as big a hurry as +Clancy, and he lost his footing on the steep stairs and came below with +a rush.</p> + +<p>The motor wizard was caught full by the descending form, and knocked +flat. His game shoulder, as he fell, struck against the corner of a +locker with cruel force and a cry of pain was wrenched from his lips. +Almost as soon as he was down he was up again, and he had not let go of +the satchel.</p> + +<p>The other fellow was also on his feet, It was Gerald Wynn! Wynn stared +at Clancy as though he could hardly credit the evidence of his senses.</p> + +<p>"You–here!" Wynn gulped.</p> + +<p>No answer was necessary. Besides, with Clancy time was pressing. Taking +advantage of Wynn's surprise, the motor wizard attempted to push by him +and get to the deck. Wynn, however, had full use of his limbs and his +faculties.</p> + +<p>"Give me that satchel!" he cried, and tried to snatch the grip out of +Clancy's hand.</p> + +<p>Clancy evaded him with a deft leap sideways. Wynn swore savagely, and +struck at the motor wizard with his clenched fist.</p> + +<p>Clancy blocked the blow with his game arm–hurting it so that he almost +felt as though it had been struck by lightning. Then his other fist shot +out, catching Wynn fairly, and driving him against the bulkhead.</p> + +<p>Clancy had to drop the satchel while executing his defense. He now +grabbed it from the floor, and plunged on up the companionway. As he +emerged through the companion doors, he beheld a form bulking largely in +the half gloom. It was Captain Hogan, braced in the passageway between +the top of the deck house and the rail, and leveling a revolver at the +crouching form of Katz.</p> + +<p>"Stand where you are, you bloomin' beach comber," yelled Hogan, "or I'll +blow a hole through you!"</p> + +<p>Katz swore, and continued his forward movement.</p> + +<p>"Last call!" went on the captain. "Another step this way and I'll +shoot!"</p> + +<p>"You're a robber!" cried Katz. "You and Wynn, between you, have skinuned +me out of seventy-five hundred dollars!"</p> + +<p>"Where did you get the money?" demanded Hogan ironically. "It's no crime +to skin a skinner–or to shoot one either, Here's where you get yours!"</p> + +<p>Before Hogan could pull the trigger, Clancy sprang upon him from behind, +and forced his revolver hand downward. The weapon exploded, and a bullet +plumped into the deck.</p> + +<p>While the captain was struggling with the motor wizard, Katz ran forward +and wrenched away the six-shooter.</p> + +<p>"Let go o' him, Clancy!" panted Katz. "I've got him now. The old sea +shark will do as I say or take the same medicine he's been threatenin' +to hand me."</p> + +<p>Clancy flung himself from Hogan, and the latter stood at bay under the +muzzle of the revolver.</p> + +<p>"You're a measly pirate," flamed Hogan, "to come aboard of me and carry +on like you're doing!"</p> + +<p>"I'm no worse'n you, if I am a pirate!" snarled Katz. "Put your hands to +your back. Clancy, get another piece o' that rope and make Hogan's arms +fast."</p> + +<p>Clancy put down the satchel and followed his companion's orders.</p> + +<p>"Now sit down, Hogan!" snapped Katz.</p> + +<p>"What's your scheme?" demanded the captain.</p> + +<p>"To put you out o' the runnin'. Drop on the deck. I tell you!"</p> + +<p>Katz flourished the revolver, as he spoke. Hogan lowered himself to the +planks on which he was standing, easing his pent-up feelings wrathfully +as he did so.</p> + +<p>"Now a half hitch around his legs, Clancy," said Katz, and Clancy came +around with the end of the rope and got the captain's legs in limbo.</p> + +<p>"You're a fine pair of grafters!" sneered the irate Hogan. "I hope I +live to manhandle you for this night's work."</p> + +<p>Far off across the water could be heard a screech of oars in the locks, +and a faint sound of voices. Hogan, aware that some of his men were +coming from the pier, lifted his voice in a loud roar for help.</p> + +<p>Katz, cursing furiously, sprang toward him and drew back his fist to +strike. Clancy caught the arm before it could deal the blow, and saved +the captain from such savage brutality. Katz turned on the motor wizard.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you!" he yelped. "I reckon I'm about done with this foolin'. Gi' me +that satchel!"</p> + +<p>"I'll keep this," returned Clancy. "The money in it belongs to me."</p> + +<p>"Blamed if I care who it belongs to, I'm goin' to have it. Fork over!" +Katz pushed the point of the revolver in Clancy's face. "Fork, I tell +you, or take the consequences."</p> + +<p>Clancy dropped the satchel.</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XII.</p> + +<p class="chapter">MORE THAN HE BARGAINED FOR.</p> + +<p>Yes, Clancy dropped the satchel. It was the only thing for him to do, +under the circumstances. He had discretion as well as bravery.</p> + +<p>Besides, Clancy was facing the companionway and Katz had his back to it. +The motor wizard could see something which escaped Katz entirely, and +that was the stealthy advance of Gerald Wynn through the companion +doors.</p> + +<p>Wynn would soon be a factor in the situation. There was nothing he could +do which would make the run of events worse than they already were for +Clancy.</p> + +<p>What had happened showed the folly of putting any trust in a desperado. +It was through Clancy's efforts that Katz had been freed from his +dangerous predicament in Captain Hogan's bungalow. But Katz did not give +any consideration to that when the time came for him to turn the tables +and secure the satchel for himself.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, all Katz had helped Clancy for was the hope that just such an +opportunity would come his way. Now that the opportunity had come, he +was making the most of it.</p> + +<p>"Katz is doing you dirt, eh?" rumbled the captain, turning his eyes upon +Clancy.</p> + +<p>"He forgets how I saved him at your bungalow," said the motor wizard.</p> + +<p>"If you pulled him out of that scrape, then, keelhaul me, you deserve +all he gives you!"</p> + +<p>Katz laughed in ugly fashion.</p> + +<p>"I'll get back what you and Wynn stole from me!" he remarked, stooping +over to pick up the satchel.</p> + +<p>As he bent down, two things happened. They happened very suddenly, too:</p> + +<p>Clancy and Wynn sprang toward Katz at the same time–Clancy for the +satchel and Wynn for the revolver. The work of both was excellent, for +each got what he went after.</p> + +<p>The approaching boat, by that time, was close alongside. In another +moment, Hogan and Wynn would be supplied with reenforcements.</p> + +<p>"Give me that!" yelled Katz, jumping toward Clancy.</p> + +<p>Here the captain took a part in the combat. Bound though he was, he +swung his feet upward suddenly and powerfully. Katz was struck in the +side and toppled to the deck.</p> + +<p>Four men came bounding over the bulwarks. "Captain!" they called; "where +are you, captain?"</p> + +<p>"Here!" yelled the captain. "Make prisoners of these two fellows, Katz +and Clancy. Katz is on the deck, there, and Clancy—"</p> + +<p>Clancy was just going over the side and into the water, so it was +impossible to make a prisoner of him. He took the valuable satchel +along.</p> + +<p>"Get back into that boat, two of you," bellowed Hogan, "and snake that +red-headed streak of lightning out of the water and back aboard the +<em>Sylvia!</em> Look alive, now! A hundred-dollar bonus to the man who +captures Clancy and recovers the satchel he's got with him!"</p> + +<p>Two of the men flung themselves into the boat and put off. The other two +gave their first attention to Bob Katz, and bound him with the rope +which was taken from the captain. So Katz, as it will be seen, was left +in the hands of his enemies, thereby getting vastly more than he had +bargained for.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the motor wizard was swimming. He was perfectly at home in +the water, and, even though he was handicapped with a game shoulder, he +found no difficulty in keeping afloat with the satchel, and in spite of +the weight of his wet clothes.</p> + +<p>"Clancy!" called a voice across the water. "Where are you, Clancy?"</p> + +<p>Two boats, at that moment, were searching for the motor wizard. One, of +course, held enemies and was coming from the <em>Sylvia,</em> the other, +carrying Hill and Burton, was approaching from the pier.</p> + +<p>It was Hiram Hill who had hailed. Clancy knew, for he had recognized the +voice.</p> + +<p>"This way, Hiram!" the motor wizard cried.</p> + +<p>Two boats were aimed in Clancy's direction, and two pairs of oars struck +the water.</p> + +<p>"Crack your back, Burton!" yelled Hill, "If you want to get even with +Wynn, now's your chance! Do your prettiest! The two men from the +<em>Sylvia</em> are trying to beat us to Clancy–and it's a close race."</p> + +<p>Hill could see the dark form in the water, and the black shadow of the +other boat rushing toward it. An idea flashed through his mind–an idea +as dangerous as it might possibly be successful.</p> + +<p>"Starboard oar, Burton!" he whooped. "Hard on the starboard oar!"</p> + +<p>Burton's back was to the exciting little scene. He could only obey +orders as he heard them. All his strength went suddenly into the +starboard oar. The boat began to whirl; and then:</p> + +<p>Crash! The bow of the craft swung against the side of the boat from the +<em>Sylvia.</em> The <em>Sylvia's</em> men were dumped into the water, but Hill flung +himself on the port gunwale of his own boat and kept it from turning +turtle.</p> + +<p>Burton, hurled from his seat by the force of the collision, picked +himself up and took note of the situation Hill had caused. Two life +preservers came whizzing from the deck of the <em>Sylvia,</em> and the two men +in the water each grabbed one.</p> + +<p>"Bully!" yelled Burton, as Hill helped Clancy aboard. "There's the +satchel! Clancy brought away the grip with the money! Oh, this is better +than I hoped for!"</p> + +<p>The motor wizard dropped with a splash into the bottom of the boat. +While Hill held up his head and wrung the water out of his red hair, +Burton got back on the midship thwart and grabbed the oars.</p> + +<p>"Where's Katz, Clancy?" Hill asked.</p> + +<p>"He must be on the <em>Sylvia,</em>" Clancy answered.</p> + +<p>"No use trying to go back after him, is there?"</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, no! Hogan and Wynn would get the satchel away from me, if +we went back. Anyhow, we're not indebted to Bob Katz for anything. If he +hadn't turned on me, at the last moment, and taken the satchel away at +the point of a gun, he and I would both have got clear of the <em>Sylvia</em> +in the dinghy. Katz is to blame for what happened."</p> + +<p>"That's like him!" growled Burton. "He's getting it all around. See what +he did to me!"</p> + +<p>"He's a pesky varmint!" grunted Hill. "He might 'a' died, there in +Hogan's bungalow, if it hadn't been for Clancy. It was almost the same +as turnin' on the fellow that saved his life. I ain't got no use for +such coyotes."</p> + +<p>Clancy sat up on the boat's bottom and looked in the direction of the +<em>Sylvia.</em> The yacht's dinghy could be dimly discerned, putting off to +the rescue of the two men in the water.</p> + +<p>"I'm in luck to be safe out of that mess!" muttered Clancy. "Where were +you when those four fellows from the <em>Sylvia</em> came down to the pier?"</p> + +<p>"We saw that Hogan and Wynn weren't among them," Hill answered, "and so +we didn't interfere. There was a big howl when they couldn't find their +dinghy. They managed to get another boat, though, and put off from the +pier. A little later we heard the commotion on the <em>Sylvia</em> and thought +we'd better get a boat of our own and investigate."</p> + +<p>"It's lucky you did," said Clancy. "If you hadn't been close enough to +pick me up, I'd now be in the hands of Hogan and Wynn, along with +Katz–and Hogan and Wynn would have the money. I guess, taking it by and +large, we haven't anything to complain of."</p> + +<p>They reached the pier, and made the boat fast to the float from which +Hill and Burton had taken it. The excitement in the bay had not been +heard, and there was no one besides themselves moving about the pier.</p> + +<p>Clancy, carrying the water-soaked satchel, slopped and splashed his way +to the street, followed by his two companions. On the sidewalk the motor +wizard paused for a final word with Burton.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, now that your two pals have passed you up?" +Clancy asked.</p> + +<p>"I'll work this diving stunt with Mynie Boltwood," Burton answered, "and +see if I can't get together a bit of a stake."</p> + +<p>"Come around to the Bolingbroke in the morning, Burton, and ask for me."</p> + +<p>"Changed your mind? Think you'll turn me over to the police, after all?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't any such idea. I think you could be decent, if you'd give your +mind to it. What's the matter with turning over a new leaf and trying to +be honest from now on?"</p> + +<p>"When I want to hear a sermon," sneered Burton, turning on his heel, "I +know where to go."</p> + +<p>Without pausing to hear or to say anything further, he passed rapidly +down the street, and vanished in the night.</p> + +<p>"What do you want to see him in the mornin' for?" queried Hill +curiously.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to grubstake him," answered Clancy.</p> + +<p>"You'd–what?"</p> + +<p>The motor wizard repeated his words.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm blessed!" murmured Hill, "Why, Hank Burton is one of the three +who helped Lafe Wynn nearly ruin you! And now you talk o' grubstakin' +him. That red hair of yours certainly covers a lot of foolish idees."</p> + +<p>"Burton is the best of Gerald's old gang, Hiram," said Clancy, as the +two walked in the direction of the Bolingbroke House.</p> + +<p>"That ain't a-sayin' a heap in his favor."</p> + +<p>"He's a whole lot better than Bob Katz."</p> + +<p>"Not much in that, nuther. But you won't have no chance to grubstake +Burton, Clancy. He won't show up in the mornin'."</p> + +<p>They reached the hotel, secured a room, and Clancy at once got out of +his wet clothes. He was so tired and sleepy that he dozed off without +thinking anything about the water-soaked satchel.</p> + +<p>Hill, however, had the satchel on his mind, and took good care of it. +When Clancy awoke in the morning, the bright sun was streaming in at the +two windows of the room. On the floor in front of the windows Hill had +spread two newspapers; and on these newspapers, where the warm sun would +strike them, he had spread out the bank notes that had gone into the +ocean with Clancy the night before.</p> + +<p>It was pleasant work for Hiram, drying all that money. He whistled +joyously as he changed the wet bills around, shifting the dryest to the +shade and the wettest to the place where they would receive the hottest +part of the sun's rays.</p> + +<p>"How much is there, all together, Hiram?" Clancy asked.</p> + +<p>"You're shy just half of the fifteen thousand, Clancy," was the reply; +"there's only seventy-five hundred here–hardly enough to bother with."</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XIII.</p> + +<p class="chapter">A "WIRELESS" FOR LAFE.</p> + +<p>Clancy was startled. He had only been half as successful as he thought +he had.</p> + +<p>"Well, thunder!" he exclaimed, sitting up in bed. "Last night, Hiram, I +was sure I had all the money that had been taken from Phoenix by Lafe."</p> + +<p>"This Was Bob Katz's satchel, wasn't it?" Hill asked, nodding toward the +grip.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, Katz said he had only severity-five hundred in it, when it was +taken from him by Hogan and Wynn."</p> + +<p>"That's so," mused Clancy. "I didn't have much time last night, to +reason matters out to a fine point. Half a loaf is better than no bread, +though, I've heard say. I hadn't dreamed of recovering a cent of that +fifteen thousand. Lafe and I are just so much ahead."</p> + +<p>A knock fell on the door. Hill answered the summons and admitted Hank +Burton.</p> + +<p>"Well, by golly!" exclaimed Hill.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" queried Burton sourly.</p> + +<p>"I told Clancy I didn't think you'd come. Seein' you sort o' surprised +me."</p> + +<p>"What made you think I wouldn't come?" demanded Burton.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the way you acted, the way you talked, and your low-down character, +gen'rally."</p> + +<p>Burton flushed and scowled. Turning away from Hill he addressed himself +to Clancy.</p> + +<p>"Here I am," said he. "Why did you want me to call here this morning?"</p> + +<p>"I want to give you a grubstake," answered the motor wizard. "Hiram, if +there are five dry twenty-dollar bills in that heap, give them to +Burton."</p> + +<p>Burton started, stared at Clancy, and then watched Hill while he knelt +down and selected five twenties from the drying bills.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing this for?" asked Burton falteringly.</p> + +<p>"Just trying to give you a little boost in the right direction."</p> + +<p>"I'm not entitled to any of that money!"</p> + +<p>"I think you are. You earned something last night. Take the hundred, +Burton, and see if you can't be square."</p> + +<p>The young fellow's face paled, then the color dyed his cheeks. He stood +looking down at the floor, then presently lifted his head and moved +slightly toward Clancy and half raised his hand. Then he paused, once +more, whirled suddenly, and got out of the room as fast as he could.</p> + +<p>Hill had been watching these strange maneuvers in frank amazement. "I +reckon he's locoed," he said, as soon as the door had closed behind +Burton.</p> + +<p>"No," returned Clancy, "his gratitude was trying to express itself, but +couldn't quite make it. He has had his lesson, Hiram, and will profit by +it."</p> + +<p>"He has profited a hundred dollars' worth, anyhow," commented Hill +dryly. "This Happy Trail of yours, Clancy, is a mighty queer one, seems +to me. For a ways, it follows the one I took in huntin' for dad; then it +branches off and points straight toward Gerald Wynn and his gang. Now +here we are at the end of it–and you're seventy-five hundred to the +good."</p> + +<p>Clancy laughed.</p> + +<p>"Get me a pencil and a piece of paper, Hiram," he requested.</p> + +<p>Hiram found the writing materials and Clancy wrote out the following +message:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: .1em">"LAFE WYNN, Phoenix, Arizona: Luck. Seventy-five hundred of the missing +fifteen thousand recovered. Cheer up. Happy Trail panning out better +than expected. Still gunning for Hill's father.</p> + +<p style="margin-right: 10%; text-align: right; margin-top: .1em">CLANCY."</p> + +<p>"Right across the street," said Clancy, "is a wireless station. Take +this message over there, Hiram, and let the Hertzian waves get busy with +it at once."</p> + +<p>"On the jump!" answered Hill.</p> + +<p>"Better take a five-dollar bill with you," Clancy suggested.</p> + +<p>Hill picked up the bank note.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see that money get dry before we spend it all," he +complained, and then went out with the wireless message for Lafe.</p> + +<p>"Wonder if Lafe will feel any different when he gets that?" Clancy +murmured, smiling happily. "I know I'm feeling a whole lot different +myself!"</p> + +<p class="chapter">THE END.</p> + +<p>"Owen Clancy's Double Trouble; or, The Motor Wizard's Mystery," +concludes the red-headed chap's series of adventures, in the midst of +which we have left him at the conclusion of this story. You will find +the double-trouble story in the next issue of the weekly, No. 88, out +April 4th.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Chapters 4 - 6 of <em>The Snapshot Mystery</em> not included as the story is +continued from a previous issue and continues in later issues.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="chapter">THE COSSACKS.</p> + +<p>The Cossacks are a race of freemen. The entire territory belongs to the +Cossack commune and every individual has an equal right to the use of +the land together with the pastures, hunting grounds, and fisheries. The +Cossacks pay no taxes to the government, but in lieu of this–and here +you see the connection between them and the Russian government–they are +bound to perform military service. They are divided into three +classes–first, the minors up to their sixteenth year; secondly, those +on actual service for a period of twenty-five years; therefore, until +their forty-second year; thirdly, those released from service, who +remain for five years, or until their forty-seventh year in the reserve, +after which period they are regarded as wholly released from service and +invalided. Every Cossack is obliged to equip, clothe, and arm himself at +his own expense, and to keep his horse. While on service beyond the +frontiers of his own country, he receives rations of food and provender, +and a small amount of pay. The artillery and train are at the charge of +the government. Instead of imposing taxes on the Don Cossacks, the +Russian government pays them an annual tribute, varying in peace and +war, together, with grants to be distributed among the widows and +orphans of those who have fallen in battle.</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">A SATIRICAL REWARD.</p> + +<p>There was perhaps more satire than gratitude in the reward bestowed by a +French lady on a surgeon for bleeding her–an operation in which the +lancet was so clumsily used that an artery was severed and the poor +woman bled to death. When she recognized that she was dying she made a +will in which she left the operator a life annuity of eight hundred +francs on condition "that he never again bleeds anybody as long as he +lives."</p> + +<hr class="half" /> + +<p class="chapter">DODGED THE TRAP.</p> + +<p>Doctor James B. Angell tells in his reminiscences the following +enjoyable story of his college days at Brown University under the +presidency of Doctor Wayland:</p> + +<p>The doctor's son, Heman Lincoln Wayland, one of my classmates, inherited +from his father a very keen wit. The passages between father and son +were often entertaining to the class. One day, when we were considering +a chapter in the fathers textbook on moral philosophy, Lincoln rose with +an expression of great solemnity and respect and said:</p> + +<p>"Sir, I would like to propound a question."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, what is it?" was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said the son, "in the learned author's work which we are +now perusing I observe the following remark," and then he quoted.</p> + +<p>The class saw that fun was at hand and began to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?" asked, the father, with a merry twinkle in his eye.</p> + +<p>"Why," continued the son, "in another work of the same learned author, +entitled 'On the Limitation of Human Responsibility,' I find the +following passage."</p> + +<p>He quoted again. Clearly the two passages were irreconcilable. The boys +were delighted to see that the doctor was in a trap and broke into loud +laughter.</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?" asked the doctor, and his eyes twinkled still more +merrily.</p> + +<p>"Why," said the son, with the utmost gravity, "it has occurred to me +that I should like to know how the learned author reconciles the two +statements."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the father, "that is simple enough it only shows that since +he wrote the first book the learned author has learned something."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0px"> +<img src="images/compass.jpg" width="575" height="166" alt="compass" style="border: none" /></p> + +<p class="chapter">Books for Trainers and Athletes.</p> + +<p>So many inquiries reach us from week to week concerning the various +manuals on athletic development, which we publish, that we have decided +to keep a list of them standing here. Any number can be had by mail by +remitting 10 cents, and 3 cents postage, for each copy, to the +publishers.</p> + +<p>"Frank Merriwell's Book of Physical Development."</p> + +<p>"The Art of Boxing and Self-defense," by Professor Donovan.</p> + +<p>"Physical Health Culture," by Professor Fourmen.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Wants to Exchange Post Cards.</p> + +<p>PROFESSOR FOURMEN: It was with great pleasure that I read in Tip Top of +your return to this country.</p> + +<p>I have been a reader of the Tip Top for three years now, and I think it +is the ideal weekly of the age. I would like very much to get in touch +with other readers of your great paper.</p> + +<p>Although the Items of Interest were interesting to read, they are +nothing like the good old Applause Column.</p> + +<p>The part I like best in the Merriwell stories is the way Mr. Standish +keeps the reader interested all the way through. They are not like most +stories, because you can't tell how they are going to end. There is +something new all the time.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">I would like some of the Tip Top post cards. And it will be a pleasure +to exchange cards with any of our Merriwell admirers. I hope to hear +from some of them soon. I remain for the Tip Top always,</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">Elgin, Ill. 355 Chicago Street. WM. DE GARIS.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Has Read "Tip Top" from No. 1.</p> + +<p>Was pleased to note the return of the Applause Column to Tip Top. I +believe it will serve to increase the popularity of your long-famed and +world-renowned "King of Weeklies," and thought this an appropriate time +to drop you this note of appreciation.</p> + +<p>I have followed your weekly from No. 1, Old Tip Top, to date, and can +recommend it to any friend as the weekly that stands alone. There are no +others in its class.</p> + +<p>Although I never expect the Frank, junior's, to equal the old-time +stories, I find them all good.</p> + +<p>I will deem it a favor if you will tell me if I can get any of the +Merriwell stories in the cloth binding, which were published several +years ago.</p> + +<p>This tribute probably sounds a little strong, but, sincerely, every word +is sent in good faith, and I am sure hosts of others who have followed +the Merriwell adventures for any length of time join with me.</p> + +<p>I don't wish to appear as "butting in," but don't you think a few +illustrations in your <em>New Medal</em> books would aid in increasing interest +in this fine series of stories, and interest to the readers?</p> + +<p>Please send me a set of the postal cards formerly sent to Tip Top +readers, if you still have them.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">With best wishes for a successful future to Street & Smith, a long life +to Burt, the author, I will end, hoping to long remain a true +Tip-Topper.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">Gravette, Arkansas. H. WYRIC LEWIS.</p> + +<p>P. S.–Would welcome some of the Old Tip Top characters back to the +front. Some of Frank or Dick's old-time friends and schoolmates.</p> + +<p>You are certainly a loyal, Tip-Topper, and we thank you for your letter +of praise, and for its suggestions. The Merriwell stories have never +been bound in cloth, but you can find them all in <em>The New Medal +Library.</em> The post cards have been mailed to you.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Some Suggestions.</p> + +<p>I have read Tip Top for over a year now, and I buy it every week. It is +an excellent weekly, and I think the revival of the Applause Column will +make it more interesting.</p> + +<p>In G. Patient's letter, in No. 79, he asks for some, Tip Top post cards. +I don't know what they are, but if you have another set, I would like to +have it.</p> + +<p>Has the joking quality died out of the Merriwell family? I notice that +Frank, junior, takes life too seriously. Too much association with grown +people. Let's have a joke now and then. Also, it's about time young +Frank's girl is introduced to the reader, don't you think?</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">Hoping to see part of my letter in the Tip Top at some early issue, I +am, yours truly,</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">ROSWELL NOTHWARY. Little Rock, Ark. 2609 Battery Street.</p> + +<p>We have mailed you the post cards. Thank you for your suggestions. There +is a humorous character coming in the Clancy stories that we think you +will like.</p> + +<p class="chapter">A Poet Tip-topper.</p> + +<p>Upon opening a recent number of Tip Top, I discovered, to my great +delight, that you have reopened the Applause Column. I have read most of +the Merriwell stories, but I have never written to the Applause Column +before, so I think it is about time. I agree with Mr. Charles W. Meyers +that when the Professor Fourmen and Applause were left out, and also +when Frank and Dick were dropped, there was surely something lacking. +Frank Merriwell, junior, is all right, but, to my mind, he will never +quite come up to his father and uncle; but, of course, I expect him to +improve as he grows older. I do not like the Owen Clancy stories. I +think they just about spoil the series. I hope that Dick will soon win +back his fortune, which he lost in the revolution. What about June +Arlington, and all of Dick's old friends, especially Jim Stretcher? I +hope that old Joe Crowfoot is still among the living. I would like very +much to see Bart Hodge's daughter in the stories. I also read the +<em>Top-Notch Magazine,</em> and I like it next to Tip Top. I like the +adventure stories the best, but the athletic stories are good, also. I +have a little doggerel here that I would like to see in print:</p> + +<p class="verse1" style="margin-bottom: .1em">Now, boys, fill up your glasses,</p> +<p class="verse2" style="margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em">In calm weather as well as in blizzard,</p> +<p class="verse1" style="margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em">For the hero of men of all classes,</p> +<p class="verse2" style="margin-top: .1em">For you, Frank Merriwell, the wizard.</p> + +<p class="verse1" style="margin-bottom: .1em">Once more for Dick, Frank's brother,</p> +<p class="verse2" style="margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em">The boy who will always be trailed,</p> +<p class="verse1" style="margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em">Because on all things he does not falter,</p> +<p class="verse2" style="margin-top: .1em">The fellow who never failed.</p> + +<p class="verse1" style="margin-bottom: .1em">And now for Frank Merriwell, junior,</p> +<p class="verse2" style="margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em">Who is one of the Merriwell flock,</p> +<p class="verse1" style="margin-top: .1em; margin-bottom: .1em">Who always gets there a little sooner—</p> +<p class="verse2" style="margin-top: .1em">A chip of the old sturdy block.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">I see you have some Tip Top post cards, and I would be immensely pleased +to receive a set of them. Waiting eagerly for the return of both Frank +and Dick, I will close, hoping that you will not consider this letter +too long to print, and will think it good enough to escape the +wastebasket.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">CLARENCE WELCH, Olean, N. Y. 209 West Henly Street.</p> + +<p>The post cards have been mailed to you. Thank you for your frank letter.</p> + +<p class="chapter">A New Jersey Admirer.</p> + +<p>I like Tip Top because it has such interesting stories.</p> + +<p>It has helped me to be very fond of good reading. I get the Tip Top, and +often give it to others to read.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">Please send me the set of six colored post cards with lifelike pictures +of the Merriwells.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">Bartley, N. J. WALTER MORGAN.</p> + +<p>We have mailed you the cards.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Thinks We Are Improving.</p> + +<p>I have been an ardent reader of Tip Top for a number of years, and +consider it the best weekly of its kind, and think it is improving.</p> + +<p>There is something so fascinating about its stories, especially those +about Dick and Frank Merriwell, senior.</p> + +<p>Glad to read in one of the last issues that we are to hear more of them, +also pleased to see the Applause Column on the pages again.</p> + +<p>I would be pleased to receive a set of Tip Top post cards.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">Hoping you will pardon the extent of this letter.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">Hanover, Ontario, Canada. SIDNEY DANKERT.</p> + +<p>Glad you think we are improving. We have mailed you the post cards.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Cigarettes Are Certainly Bad for Your Wind.</p> + +<p>PROFESSOR FOURMEN: Seeing you were back in Tip Top, I thought I would +write and ask you a few questions.</p> + +<p>I belong to the Y. M. C. A. in my city, and to an athletic club. I play +baseball, but cannot hit the ball very well. How can I remedy that?</p> + +<p>I also play basket ball, but get winded very early in the game. This is +the same with running. I cannot run any distance. How can I improve my +wind?</p> + +<p>Is smoking cigarettes harmful, and would you advise me to drink coffee +with my meals, or milk and water?</p> + +<p>After playing basket ball or taking any kind of exercise, what kind of +shower should I take–cold or hot?</p> + +<p>What kind of a game is soccer? Is it as good as football, and what time +of the year is it played.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: .1em">Hoping you will answer my questions, and thanking you in advance.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: .1em; text-align: right">W. O. K. Rochester, N. Y.</p> + +<p>Practice hitting. <em>Keep your eye on the ball.</em> Don't try to "swat." +Those are a few suggestions, but ordinarily to learn to bat, one must be +under the personal supervision of a coach.</p> + +<p>Smoking is the worst thing you can do to injure your wind. Stop it, then +see how your wind will improve.</p> + +<p>As long as you get a warm reaction, and do not feel weak after you bath, +but refreshed, take it cold.</p> + +<p>There is no best game. Some like one, some another. Soccer is a cracking +good game, and can be played any time that the ground will permit.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="chapter" style="font-size: 120%">American College Yells.</p> + +<p>There have been so many requests for us to reprint a list of college +yells printed in Tip Top several years ago, that we have decided to do +so.</p> + +<p>The collection–probably the most extensive one ever made–will be +presented in three parts–one part appearing each week.</p> + +<p class="chapter">PART I.</p> + +<p>Alabama Polytechnic Institute: "Ki-yi-yi! Ki-yi-yi! Hoop-la-hi! Auburn! +Auburn! A-P-I!"</p> + +<p>Albion: "A-l'-b-i'-o-n', Bis Boom Bah, Albion, Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Alma: "Hip, hi, hoo, ray, ALMA, Rah-a-ah!"</p> + +<p>Amherst: "Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Amherst!"</p> + +<p>Armour Institute Technology: "Arch, Mech, Cie, Elec, Rah, Rah, Armour +Tech!"</p> + +<p>Augustana: "Rocky-eye, Rocky-eye, Zip zum zie, Shingerata, Shingerata, +Bim Bum Bie, Zipzum zipzum, Rah! Rah! Rah! Karaborra, Karaborra, +Augustana!"</p> + +<p>Baker University: "B. U.! Rah, Rah! (repeat) Hoorah! Hoorah! Baker! +taker! Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Baldwin University: "U rah rah, U rah rah, U rah rah tiger!"</p> + +<p>Bates: "B-A-T-E-S–Rah Rah Rah! Boom-a-laka, Boom-a-laka, Boom, Bates, +Boom!"</p> + +<p>Baylor University: "B! B! B-A-Y! L! L! L-O-R! U! U! U-NI-V! V! +VAR-SI-TY! Baylor! Baylor!!"</p> + +<p>Beloit: "Oh-aye, yoh-yoh-yoh-Be-loit! B-e-l-o-i-t–Rah-Rah-Rah!"</p> + +<p>Berea: "Rah, Rah, Rah, sis boom bah, Cream and Blue, Be-re-a!"</p> + +<p>Bethany (Kan.): "Rockar, Stockar, Thor och hans bockar, Kor i genom, kor +i genom, tjo, tjo, Bethania!"</p> + +<p>Boston University: "Boston, Boston, B-B-B-Boston, 'Varsity, 'Varsity, +Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Bowdoin: "B-o-w-d-o-i-n, Rah, Rah, Rah! (three times) Bowdoin!"</p> + +<p>Brigham Young: "Rah Ry B Y, Rah Ry B Y, Rah Ry Re, B. Y. C.!"</p> + +<p>Brown University: "Brunonia! Brunonia! Brunonia! (Siren - - -) +B-R-O-W-N–Brown! Brown! Brown!"</p> + +<p>Buchtel: "Hoo, Rale, Rale Roo! Wa hoo, Wa hoo! Hullaballo, hullaballo! +Rah Rah Rale, Buchtel, Buchtel, Buchtel! ye ho! ye ho! ye Heza, Hiza, Ho +ho! Rah, Rah, Rah, Buchtel!"</p> + +<p>Bucknell University: "Bucknell-el-el! Bucknell-el-el! Give-er-el, +Bucknell! Give-er-el, Bucknell! Ray! Ray! Ray!"</p> + +<p>Case School Applied Sciences: "Hoo! Rah! Ki! Rah! S-C-I-E-N-C-E! Hoi! +Hoi! Rah! Rah! Case!!"</p> + +<p>Cedarville: "Razzle dazzle, never frazzle, not a thread but wool! All +together! All together! That's the way we pull! Cedarville!!!"</p> + +<p>Central University of Kentucky: "Razzle dazzle, razzle dazzle! Sis, +boom! Ah! Central University, Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Claflin University: "Rah! Rah! Rah! Claf-lin-ia!"</p> + +<p>Colgate University: "Colgate, Colgate, Rah (nine times), Colgate!"</p> + +<p>College of the City of New York: "'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, C. C. N. Y.!"</p> + +<p>Colorado: "Pike's Peak or Bust! Pike's Peak or Bust! Colorado College! +Yell we must!"</p> + +<p>Columbia University: "'Ray 'Ray 'Ray C-o-l-u-m-b-i-a!"</p> + +<p>Cornell College: "Zipp, Ziss, Boom, Caw-w, Caw-w Ca-w-w-nell; C. C. +Tiger-la, Zipp Zipp Hurrah!!!"</p> + +<p>Cornell University: "Cornell! I Yell Yell Yell! Cornell!"</p> + +<p>Cotner University: "Cotner, Cotner, the Cotner University–Don't you +see!"</p> + +<p>Creighton: "C. U. C. U. Rah, Rah, Creighton, Creighton, Omaha!"</p> + +<p>Cumberland University': "Wang! bang! siz! boom! bah! Cumberland, +Cumberland! Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Dakota Wesleyan University: "Ha! Ho! Whee! Ki! Yi! Ye! D. U. Varsity Zip +Boom! Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Dartmouth: "Wah hoo wah! wah hoo wah! da-di-di, Dartmouth! wah hoo wah!"</p> + +<p>Davidson: "Hac-a-lac-a boom-a-lak, Hac-a-lac-a red and black, +Hello-bulue-lo-le-la-run, Davidson!"</p> + +<p>Delaware: "D-E-L-aware, Siss-Boom-Tiger-Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Denison University: "Heike! Heike! Rah, rah, rah, hoorah, hoorah, +Denison! Denison!"</p> + +<p>De Pauw University: "Zip, Rah, Who! D-P-U! Rip, Saw! Boom! Baw! Bully +for old De Pauw!"</p> + +<p>Dickinson: "Hip-rah-bus-bis–Dickinson–Sis-Tiger!"</p> + +<p>Drake University: "Rah! (ten times) Hoo rah! Hoo rah! Drake! Drake! +Drake!"</p> + +<p>Drury: "Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah! Drury!"</p> + +<p>Earlham: "Rah, rah, Quaker! Quaker! E! C! Quaker! Quaker! Quaker! +Hoorah! Hoorah! Quaker! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Fairmount: "Ki yi yi, Sis Boom Bah, Fairmount, Fairmount! Rah! Rah! +Rah!"</p> + +<p>Fisk University: "Clickety! Clackety! Sis! Boom! Bah! Fisk University! +Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Fort Worth University: "Rip! Rah! Ru! The Gold and the Blue! Fort Worth +U.!"</p> + +<p>Franklin and Marshall: "Hullabaloo, bala! (twice) Way-up, Way-up! F. and +M. Nevonia!"</p> + +<p>Georgetown University (D. C.): "Hoya! Loya! Saxa! Hoya! Loya! Georgetown +Hoya, Loya! Rah, Rah, Rah!"</p> + +<p>George Washington University: "G-E-O-R-G-E–George! Washington! +Washington! Washington!"</p> + +<p>Grant University: "G. U., Rah, Rah, G. U., Rah, Rah, Whoorah, Whoorah, +Rah, Rah, Grant!"</p> + +<p>Grove City: "With a vivo, with a vivo, with vum vum, vum! Vum get a rat +trap bigger than a cat trap! Vum get a cat trap bigger than a rat trap! +cannibal, cannibal, siss-s! boom!! rah!!! Grove City College! Rah! Rah! +Rah!!!"</p> + +<p>Gustavus Adolphus: "Hip, Hah, Rip, Rah, Thez-Zah! Z-i-p! Boom G. A. R.!"</p> + +<p>Hamilton: "Rah! Rah! Hamilton! Road! Road! Road!"</p> + +<p>Hamline University: "Boom get a rat trap! Bigger than a cat trap! Boom +get a rat trap! Bigger than a cat trap! Boom! Cannibal! Cannibal! Zip! +Boom! Bah! Hamline! Hamline! Rah! Rah! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Harvard University: "Rah rah rah! rah rah rah! rah rah rah-Harvard!"</p> + +<p>Heidelberg University: "Kili-kilik! Rah, rah! Zit, zit! Ha! Ha! Yai! +Hoo! Bam! Zoo! Heidelberg!"</p> + +<p>Hillsdale: "Rha-hoo-rah Zip boom bah Hipizoo rhu zoo wah-hoo-wah +Hillsdale!"</p> + +<p>Hiram: "Brekekex! Koax! Koax! Brekekex! Koax! Koax! Alala! Alala! +Siss-s! Boom-Hiram!"</p> + +<p>Hobart: "Hip! ho! bart! Hip! ho! bart! Hip ho! Hip ho! Hip ho! +Hip–Hobart!"</p> + +<p>Holy Cross: "Hoi-ah! hoi-ah! hoi-ah! chu, chu, rah, rah, chu, chu, rah, +rah, Hoi-ah! Holy Cross! Rah!"</p> + +<p>Howard University: "Rah, rah, rah! Howard, Howard! Rah! Rah! Re!"</p> + +<p>Illinois: "Rah who rah Boom a la ka, kick-a-rick-a-roi, Old Illinois, +Boom zip boom, Tiger-zah!"</p> + +<p>Illinois Wesleyan University "Rah! Rah! Wesleyan!"</p> + +<p>Indiana University: "Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Indiana!"</p> + +<p>Iowa College: "Grinnell, we yell, Grinnell we yell, Iowa College, +Grinnell, Grinnell!"</p> + +<p>Iowa State College: "A-M-E-S! Rah! Ra! Rah! Ra! A-M-E-S! Rah! Ra! Rah! +Ra! Hoo Rah! Hoo Ray! State College! I-O-A!"</p> + +<p>Iowa Wesleyan University: "Rah, rah, rah! zip boom bah! Razoo +razoo-Johnny blow your bazoo-Rip ziddy-i-lu-uvi-We-e-e-e-es leyan!"</p> + +<p>Jacob Tome Institute: "Rah (nine times) Tome, Tome, Tome!"</p> + +<p class="chapter">Spends $24.40 on Phone Call to Girl.</p> + +<p>A young man who said he was Douglas Whitaker, of Winthrop, Mass., +entered a telephone booth in a hotel, at Newark, N. J., got his home +town on the wire, and talked for an hour and two minutes to a girl in +that place. The toll charges were $24.40. He did not have enough money +to pay the bill.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Football Rules for 1914.</p> + +<p>Coaches will not be permitted to walk the side lines during football +games during the coming season, as a result of a change in the rules +adopted recently by the intercollegiate football rules committee, in +their meeting at the Hotel Martinique, Manhattan. The annual meeting of +the committee adjourned without making any radical changes in the +existing rules.</p> + +<p>The proposal that after teams have lined up for play, the team in +possession of the ball will not be allowed to encroach on the neutral +zone in shift plays, before the ball is snapped, was also adopted. The +question of numbering players was only informally discussed, it was +declared. No final action will be taken until after further experiments +are made next fall.</p> + +<p>The proposed change in the rules to provide for an additional official, +suggested by Walter Camp, was adopted in providing that any team shall +have the right to have a fourth official, who shall be known as a field +judge. His duty will be to assist the referee and umpire. The naming of +such an official is optional.</p> + +<p>The committee also adopted a rule providing that any free kick striking +the goal posts and bounding back into play shall count as having scored.</p> + +<p>W. S. Langford, W. N. Mauriss, and Nathan Tufts were named as a +"consultation committee" to act in cooperation with the central board. +This board now consists of Doctor J. H. Babbit, Walter Camp, C. W. +Savage, Parke H. Davis, E. K. Hall, Percy Haughton, H. S. Cope, and +Alonzo A. Stagg.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Rabbit Sausage in Texas.</p> + +<p>Since Texas quit paying bounty for the killing of "mule-ear" rabbits +they have become very numerous, to the detriment of growing crops. It +has recently been found that they made a good food product, and, it is +said, will greatly cheapen the cost of living.</p> + +<p>A full-grown rabbit will dress about five pounds. The meat trimmed off +of the bones and a pound of fresh pork added to five to seven pounds of +rabbit ground together through a sausage mill, seasoned with salt, red +and black pepper, and sage, it is claimed, will make a sausage superior +to pure pork sausage.</p> + +<p>A syndicate is planning to establish a plant at Llano, Texas, for the +manufacture of rabbit sausage and to grind the bones into chicken feed. +It is said the plant will be sufficient to consume all the rabbits in +Texas, and thus the rabbit question will be solved.</p> + +<p class="chapter">One Big Miners' Union Next.</p> + +<p>At the national convention of the United Mine Workers the proposal to +consolidate that organization with the Western Federation of Miners, as +advocated by President Moyer, of the latter organization, was approved +and the executive committee was authorized to appoint a committee to +meet a similar committee from the Western Federation to arrange the +terms of union, submit the same to a referendum and report to the +convention next year. Moyer charged that President Gompers, of the +Federation of Labor, had not given proper support to the striking miners +in Michigan, and Gompers appeared before the convention and denied the +charge.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Big Game Coming Back.</p> + +<p>Elk have been found in the Uinta national forest, Utah, for the first +time in many years. Since they are not from shipments from the Jackson +Hole country to neighboring forests, the State and Federal officials are +gratified at this apparent increase in big game as the result of +protection.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Red Sox Have Four Southpaws.</p> + +<p>Four left-handed pitchers are now on the roster of the Boston Red Sox of +the American League. John Radloff, of South Chicago, completes the +quartet. Radloff's release was bought from the Manistee club of the +Michigan State League on the recommendation of Patsy Donovan, a scout. +Collins, Leonard, and Coumbe, the latter from the Utica club of the New +York State League, are the other left-handers.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Man Buried by Avalanche.</p> + +<p>Eli Marfhi, a miner, 35 years old, of Butte, Mont., was buried by an +avalanche so that he stood upright in five feet of snow and was held a +prisoner for forty-eight hours. When he was found by a party of miners, +who saw his head sticking above the snow, he was unconscious, and had a +double fracture in his right leg and two breaks in his left arm. He was +not frozen.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Won $10 With a $3 Bill.</p> + +<p>A man walked into one of the leading cafes in Middletown, N. Y., and +asked the bartender to give him change for a three-dollar bill. The +latter started to count out the change, then stopped and thought a +moment.</p> + +<p>"G'wan, there's no such thing as a three-dollar bill," he remarked. The +man who wanted the change insisted that there was, and the bartender bet +him $10 there was not. Thereupon the visitor produced a three-dollar +bill.</p> + +<p>It was a bill issued January 5, 1852, by the Bank of North America, of +Seymour, Conn., which the man had found in the siding of a house to +which he was making repairs. The old bank note was signed by F. Atwater, +cashier, and G. F Dewitt, treasurer.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Parcel-post Extension.</p> + +<p>A ruling of the postmaster general, recently approved by the interstate +commission, increases the weight limits of parcel-post packages, in the +first and second zones, from 20 to 50 pounds; admits books to the parcel +post, and reduces rates in the other zones materially. The maximum +weight for parcels in all zones beyond the second was increased from 11 +to 20 pounds. From the already published rates the reductions are as +follows: In the third and fourth zones, 1 cent on the first pound and 3 +cents less on each additional pound; in the fifth and sixth zones, 1 +cent less on each pound sent. Parcels containing books weighing 8 ounces +or less will be carried anywhere for 1 cent for each 2 ounces, and on +those weighing more than 8 ounces, the parcel-post rate for the zone +will apply.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Radium Fails to Ward Off Death.</p> + +<p>Congressman Robert G. Bremner, of New Jersey, who had the entire supply +of radium possessed by Doctor Howard A. Kelly, valued at $100,000 placed +in a cancer last December, died. Only the indomitable will of the +Congressman kept him alive for such a long period. When told that he was +near death he said to his brother: "Get me my shoes. I am going to leave +this place with you. I want to get to work."</p> + +<p class="chapter">House Agrees to Bar All Asiatics.</p> + +<p>The Administration is seriously disturbed over the action of the House +of Representatives in incorporating an amendment, fathered by +Representative Lenroot, in the Burnett immigration bill, excluding all +Asiatics, including Japanese, from the United States, except in so far +as they have rights under existing treaties or agreements.</p> + +<p>While the vote is subject to change when the bill comes up for final +passage, President Wilson and his subordinates are gravely concerned +over the prominence given to the exclusion question at this juncture in +the diplomatic negotiations now in progress between Japan and the United +States. Fear was expressed that if the House should stand firm on the +amendment the result might be a further irritation in Japan and new +outbreaks of the anti-American feeling in the island empire.</p> + +<p>The report was adopted following the rejection of an amendment offered +by Representative Hayes, of California, excluding Japanese, Hindus, and +also all blacks without regard to treaty obligations with any country.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Auto Wheel Wrecks House; Causes Fire.</p> + +<p>The wheel of a large automobile going about a mile a minute broke from +the car and went through the pantry window in Mrs. Isabella Seymour's +home, at South Norwalk, Conn., sending the dishes in all directions. +Then it entered the kitchen and knocked the stove to pieces and set the +house on fire.</p> + +<p>The wheel weighed over 100 pounds. The automobile careened to the side +of the road, but the driver escaped serious injury.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Dies After Living Twenty Years on Cheap Diet.</p> + +<p>Mark M. Woods, a farmer philosopher, of Webster, Mass, who has existed +for the past twenty years on four cents a day, is dead at the age of 75 +years. Death was caused by chronic bronchitis. Woods, in the face of +increased living cost, continued to show the public year after year, +that it was possible to survive on an amount of money that seemed +incredible.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Hiccoughs for Two Months.</p> + +<p>Since it became known that physicians are unable to relieve Hilda Caine, +11 years old, who had had spells of hiccoughing every day for two +months, scores of suggestions to help her have been mailed to Sea Cliff, +N. Y., the child's home, but so far none has proved effective. Some of +the seizures, which occur several times each day, last an hour or more. +It is said the girl cannot live long unless she gets relief soon.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Closing Gas Wells.</p> + +<p>A gas well in Louisiana that had run wild for six years and had been +wasting from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 cubic feet of gas a day during +that period was successfully closed recently by a method that is +probably unique in the history of the gas industry. A relief well was +first bored close to the old well, and to the same depth. Water and mud +were forced down the relief well under heavy-air pressure until the gas +stratum was choked and the flow of gas shut off. The old well, which had +made a crater 225 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep, was then +permanently closed with concrete.</p> + +<p class="chapter">University Bars Boy Slayer.</p> + +<p>Chancellor Samuel Avery, of the University of Nebraska, announced that +Kenneth Murphy, 21 years old, serving a life sentence for murder in +Nebraska penitentiary at Lincoln, Neb., who was paroled by Governor +Morehead to enter the State university, cannot register in the +institution because of his criminal record.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Sells Rare Stamp for $390.</p> + +<p>H. C. Watts, of Estill Springs, Tenn., recently sold a postage stamp for +$390. It was a Philippine stamp, which he obtained while in those +islands a few years ago, and is known as an "Inverted Surcharge." The +word "Philippine" is printed upside down. It is thought to be the only +Philippine stamp of its kind in existence.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Two Weddings Cause Mix-up.</p> + +<p>Through two marriages, at St. Johns, Mich., a father becomes the +brother-in-law of his daughter; a sister becomes the mother-in-law of +her brother; one man's father-in-law becomes his brother-in-law, and a +woman's sister-in-law becomes her stepmother. Charles Jones married Miss +Emma E. Ellwanger, of De Witt. A few weeks ago her brother, William +Ellwanger, married Jones' daughter, Miss Cora Jones.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Trying to Photograph Bullets as They Whiz.</p> + +<p>A bullet speeding at a rate of 3,000 feet a second, which is more than +2,000 miles an hour, makes a great disturbance in the atmosphere and +creates air waves which, of course, are invisible to the naked eye. +Attempts which have been made to take photographs of bullets going at +this speed have been unsuccessful, but scientists are still trying. If a +photograph could be taken, they say, the print would probably show a +space like a body of water marked by what looked like speeding water +bugs, each having a ripple in its wake.</p> + +<p>Photographs of a bullet going at a rate of speed less than 1,200 feet a +second show no air waves at all. But anything cutting through the air at +a greater rate than this causes much disturbance. If you draw a stick +through the water it causes little eddies and waves to trail behind it. +The faster you draw the stick the more waves and wider the angle it will +leave. Just so with the bullet.</p> + +<p class="chapter">"Saved" Slayer; Sue for Pay.</p> + +<p>Two Boston surgeons, Doctor John L. Ames and Doctor Davis D. Brough, +want pay for their services in saving the life of Clarence V. T. +Richeson, that he might die in the electric chair for the murder of Avis +Linnell. The surgeons have filed suit against the estate of Fred H. +Seavey, who was sheriff at the time Richeson mutilated himself, and the +doctors were called in. This is the second attempt to collect the bill +which totals $710.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Saves Girl, Loses Own Life.</p> + +<p>Louis Levine, a young salesman, of New York, died a hero from injuries +received in saving the life of his sweetheart, 19-year-old Jessie +Orlain.</p> + +<p>Miss Orlain, Levine, and two companions were returning from the home of +a friend, when the girl suddenly ran ahead to cross a car track. Midway +of the street the sound of the gong, of an approaching car alarmed her +and she stopped, too terrorized to move. Levine rushed toward her and +pushed her out of danger with such force that she fell on her face, +breaking her nose. The car caught Levine.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Spineless Youth Able to Work in the Fields.</p> + +<p>Living and even working, although his spine has been removed, is the +remarkable experience of William Banks, 18 years old, who lives in the +southern part of Chester County, Pa. The young man labors in the fields +every day, and despite his handicap he can do as much work as his fellow +workmen.</p> + +<p>His spine was removed by Philadelphia surgeons, when tuberculosis +developed following an injury. It was declared he would never be able to +walk. For many months he lay incased in a plaster cast. He was taken to +the home of his foster mother, Mrs. Veranda Lee, and was nursed back to +good health. His body is wrapped in ten yards of bandages each day.</p> + +<p class="chapter">The Divining Rod.</p> + +<p>Although the divining rod as a locator of underground water for springs +and wells has been denounced as a fake by Federal authorities, and is +not given the most implicit confidence even in remote rural communities +of the United States experiments in German South Africa have located +water at subterranean depth in 70 per cent of the tests.</p> + +<p>The department of agriculture of the French republic is seriously +investigating the divining rod, and an association having five hundred +members in Stuttgart, Germany, has begun laborious tests to determine +its real value.</p> + +<p>French publicists and scientists have taken up the personal-magnetism +phase of the question. It is held by some that considering the +surprising discoveries of late in regard to radiation of all sorts, it +may be that there is some radioactive influence of underground waters +which may act physiologically on the organism of the person in whose +hand the rod seems to turn toward the subterranean water. + +An effort will be made to differentiate between any alleged diviner's +sincerity and real physical effect from charlatanism and autosuggestion.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Wolf Shot in Kansas City.</p> + +<p>A large, half-starved gray wolf after attacking three persons and +spreading consternation through a staid residence district, was shot and +killed on Linwood Boulevard, at Kansas City, recently.</p> + +<p>The wolf sprang at Miss Anna Harrison as she waited for a street car. +Miss Harrison threw her fur muff at the animal, and while the garment +was being torn to pieces, escaped into a house. Her clothing, was torn, +but she was unhurt.</p> + +<p>The wolf ran down the boulevard pursued by a milkman who hurled bottles +as he ran. Two blocks from the first attack the wolf bit a negro in the +arm.</p> + +<p>The wolf had run fifteen blocks and attacked Samuel J. Harnden, a deputy +county collector, before T. W. Wright, a policeman, ended the chase by +sending a bullet into the animal's head.</p> + +<p class="chapter">After Twenty-seven Years Boxers Make Up.</p> + +<p>Jack McAuliffe, the old lightweight, has become reconciled to Jem +Carney, to whom he has not spoken since their famous five-hour battle at +Revere Beach, Mass., November 17, 1887. Carney always felt he should +have received the verdict.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Noise Silencer.</p> + +<p>Our modern day, half-crazed by the uproar that its own activities have +brought about, will welcome the soft pedal that Sir Hiram Maxim, +inventor of the gun silencer, is preparing to put on the hubbub in which +every great urban community has condemned itself to live.</p> + +<p>Everything has to be paid for, in one shape or another, and too many of +our present aids, appliances, and conveniences pay for themselves in +noise. Both the conscious and the subconscious organisms suffer, +knowingly or unknowingly, and no relief has been promised.</p> + +<p>The Anglo-American inventor proposes to better such conditions by making +the individual immune, so far as auricular addresses are concerned. A +simple electrical appliance will turn any office or bedroom into a zone +of quiet. The noise will go on, but will not reach your ear, and sounds, +the waves of which fail to reach the eardrum, are nonexistent–for that +particular ear.</p> + +<p>The new invention will soon be tried in the wards of a New York +hospital. As soon as possible let it be introduced into the noisy +regions of offices, stores, and factories. Thus may the number of +hospital patients become appreciably reduced.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Purse Shot from Thief's Hand.</p> + +<p>Two men attacked Mrs. Peter Sensmeir, of Evansville, Ind., late at +night, grabbed her purse, and started to run. Patrolman Withers, who +happened by, shot the purse from the hand of one of the men as he ran up +an alley, and it was recovered.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Girl Ropes Coyote.</p> + +<p>Miss Nancy Anderson, 19 years old, the pretty daughter of an old-time +ranchman living in the Alahab oil fields near Hazlehurst, Miss., knows +how to ride a pony and is an expert in twirling the rope. That is why +she has been paid a bounty for killing a coyote, the first one seen in +this part of the country for a long time.</p> + +<p>Miss Anderson was out for a morning's ride when she encountered the +coyote. She put spurs to her pony, made a big loop of her lariat, and +gave chase. The first throw was successful and she dragged the coyote +until she found a large rock, with which she killed it. Besides the +bounty she received she was given $2 for the hide by a curio dealer.</p> + +<p class="chapter">He Is Rat-killing Champion.</p> + +<p>"Uncle" Jack Hart, of Ayden, N. C., claims he is the champion rat killer +of the State. With the aid of a wire trap, and a dog he killed an even +thousand of the rodents last year. He has killed in the neighborhood of +10,000 in the past fifteen years. He will kill rats in any house at the +rate of 5 cents each.</p> + +<p class="chapter">Man-trap Victim Recovers.</p> + +<p>James C. Gunn, first lieutenant in the United States army, who became +paralyzed, following an injury he received in a man trap in the +Philippine Islands, has recovered and is on his way to the Orient again. +A spear, with which the trap was armed, severed Gunn's sciatic nerve, +paralyzing him. The nerve was spliced at a San Francisco hospital, and +the man was cured.</p> + +<p class="non"> +<img src="images/bicycle.jpg" width="84" height="160" alt="bicycle" style="border: none; float: left" /><span style="font-size: 150%; color: navy">10 DAYS FREE TRIAL</span><br /> +We ship on approval without a cent deposit, freight prepaid. DON'T PAY A +CENT if you are not satisfied after using the bicycle 10 days.<br /> + +<span style="font-size: 150%">DO NOT BUY</span> <em>a bicycle or a pair of tires</em> at any price until you receive +our latest art catalogs illustrating every kind of bicycle, and have +learned our <em>unheard of prices and marvelous new offers.</em><br /> + +<span style="font-size: 150%">ONE CENT</span> is all it will cost to write a postal and everything will be +sent you free postpaid by return mail. You will get much valuable +information. Do not wait, write it now TIRES, Coaster - Brake, rear +wheels, lamps, sundries at <em>half usual price.</em><br /> + +<span style="font-weight: bolder">Mead Cycle Co.</span> <em>Dept. F345</em> <span style="font-weight: bolder">Chicago</span></p> + +<hr /> + +<p style="text-align: center">SOME OF BACK NUMBERS OF<br /> +<span style="font-size: 200%">NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY</span><br /> +THAT CAN BE SUPPLIED</p> + +<p class="non" style="margin-left: 25%">707–Dick Merriwell's Gambol.<br /> +708–Dick Merriwell's Gun.<br /> +709–Dick Merriwell at His Best.<br /> +710–Dick Merriwell's Master Mind.<br /> +711–Dick Merriwell's Dander.<br /> +712–Dick Merriwell's Hope.<br /> +713–Dick's Merriwell's Standard.<br /> +714–Dick Merriwell's Sympathy.<br /> +715–Dick Merriwell in Lumber Land.<br /> +716–Frank Merriwell's Fairness.<br /> +717–Frank Merriwell's Pledge.<br /> +718–Frank Merriwell, the Man of Grit.<br /> +719–Frank Merriwell's Return Blow.<br /> +720–Frank Merriwell's Quest.<br /> +721–Frank Merriwell's Ingots.<br /> +722–Frank Merriwell's Assistance.<br /> +723–Frank Merriwell at the Throttle.<br /> +724–Frank Merriwell, the Always Ready.<br /> +725–Frank Merriwell in Diamond Land.<br /> +726–Frank Merriwell's Desperate Chance.<br /> +727–Frank Merriwell's Black Terror.<br /> +725–Frank Merriwell Again on the Slab.<br /> +729–Frank Merriwell's Hard Game.<br /> +730–Frank Merriwell's Six-in-hand.<br /> +731–Frank Merriwell's Duplicate.<br /> +732–Frank Merriwell on Rattlesnake Ranch.<br /> +733–Frank Merriwell's Sure Hand.<br /> +734–Frank Merriwell's Treasure Map.<br /> +735–Frank Merriwell, Prince of the Rope.<br /> +736–Dick Merriwell, Captain of the Varsity.<br /> +737–Dick Merriwell's Control.<br /> +738–Dick Merriwell's Back Stop.<br /> +739–Dick Merriwell's Masked Enemy.<br /> +740–Dick Merriwell's Motor Car.<br /> +711–Dick Merriwell's Hot Pursuit.<br /> +742–Dick Merriwell at Forest Lake.<br /> +743–Dick Merriwell in Court.<br /> +744–Dick Merriwell's Silence.<br /> +745–Dick Merriwell's Dog.<br /> +746–Dick Merriwell's Subterfuge.<br /> +747–Dick Merriwell's Enigma.<br /> +748–Dick Merriwell Defeated.<br /> +749–Dick Merriwell's "Wing."<br /> +759–Dick Merriwell's Sky Chase.<br /> +751–Dick Merriwell's Pick-ups.<br /> +752–Dick Merriwell on the Rocking R.<br /> +753–Dick Merriwell's Penetration.<br /> +754–Dick Merriwell's Intuition.<br /> +755–Dick Merriwell's Vantage.<br /> +756–Dick Merriwell's Advice.<br /> +757–Dick Merriwell's Rescue.<br /> +758–Dick Merriwell, American.<br /> +759–Dick Merriwell's Understanding.<br /> +760–Dick Merriwell, Tutor.<br /> +761–Dick Merriwell's Quandary.<br /> +762–Dick Merriwell on the Boards.<br /> +763–Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker.<br /> +764–Frank Merriwell's Sway.<br /> +765–Frank Merriwell's Comprehension.<br /> +766–Frank Merriwell's Young Acrobat.<br /> +767–Frank Merriwell's Tact.<br /> +768–Frank Merriwell's Unknown.<br /> +769–Frank Merrlwell's Acuteness.<br /> +770–Frank Merriwell's Young Canadian.<br /> +771–Frank Merriwell's Coward.<br /> +772–Frank Merriwell's Perplexity.<br /> +773–Frank Merriwell's Intervention.<br /> +774–Frank Merriwell's Daring Deed.<br /> +775–Frank Merriwell's Succor.<br /> +776–Frank Merriwell's Wit.<br /> +777–Frank Merriwell's Loyalty.<br /> +775–Frank Merriwell's Bold Play.<br /> +779–Frank Merriwell's Insight.<br /> +780–Frank Merriwell's Guile.<br /> +781–Frank Merriwell's Campaign.<br /> +782–Frank Merriwell in the National Forest.<br /> +783–Frank Merriwell's Tenacity.<br /> +784–Dick Merriwell's Self-sacrifice.<br /> +785–Dick Merriwell's Close Shave.<br /> +786–Dick Merriwell's Perception.<br /> +787–Dick Merriwell's Mysterious Disappearance.<br /> +788–Dick Merriwell's Detective Work.<br /> +789–Dick Merriwell's Proof.<br /> +790–Dick Merriwell's Brain Work.<br /> +791–Dick Merriwell's Queer Case.<br /> +792–Dick Merriwell, Navigator.<br /> +793–Dick Merriwell's Good Fellowship.<br /> +794–Dick Merriwell's Fun.<br /> +795–Dick Merriwell's Commencement.<br /> +796–Dick Merriwell at Montauk Point.<br /> +797–Dick Merriwell, Mediator.<br /> +798–Dick Merriwell's Decision.<br /> +799–Dick Merriwell on the Great Lakes.<br /> +800–Dick Merriwell Caught Napping.<br /> +801–Dick Merriwell in the Copper Country.<br /> +802–Dick Merriwell Strapped.<br /> +803–Dick Merriwell's Coolness.<br /> +804–Dick Merriwell's Reliance.<br /> +805–Dick Merriwell's College Mate.<br /> +806–Dick Merriwell's Young Pitcher.<br /> +807–Dick Merriwell's Prodding.<br /> +808–Frank Merriwell's Boy.<br /> +809–Frank Merriwell's Interference.<br /> +810–Frank Merriwell's Young Warriors.<br /> +811–Frank Merriwell's Appraisal.<br /> +812–Frank Merriwell's Forgiveness.<br /> +813–Frank Merriwell's Lads.<br /> +814–Frank Merriwell's Young Aviators.<br /> +815–Frank Merriwell's Hot-head.<br /> +816–Dick Merriwell, Diplomat.<br /> +817–Dick Merriwell in Panama.<br /> +818–Dick Merriwell's Perseverance.<br /> +819–Dick Merriwell Triumphant.<br /> +820–Dick Merriwell's Betrayal.<br /> +821–Dick Merriwell, Revolutionist.<br /> +822–Dick Merriwell's Fortitude.<br /> +823–Dick Merriwell's Undoing.<br /> +824–Dick Merriwell Universal Coach.<br /> +825–Dick Merriwell's Snare.<br /> +826–Dick Merriwell's Star Pupil.<br /> +827–Dick Merriwell's Astuteness.<br /> +828–Dick Merriwell's Responsibility.<br /> +829–Dick Merriwell's Plan.<br /> +830–Dick Merriwell's Warning.<br /> +831–Dick Merriwell's Counsel.<br /> +832–Dick Merriwell's Champions.<br /> +833–Dick Merriwell's Marksmen.<br /> +834–Dick Merriwell's Enthusiasm.<br /> +835–Dick Merriwell's Solution.<br /> +836–Dick Merriwell's Foreign Foe.<br /> +837–Dick Merriwell and the Carlisle Warriors.<br /> +838–Dick Merriwell's Battle for the Blue.<br /> +839–Dick Merriwell's Evidence.<br /> +840–Dick Merriwell's Device.<br /> +841–Dick Merriwell's Princeton Opponent.<br /> +842–Dick Merriwell's Sixth Sense.<br /> +843–Dick Merriwell's Strange Clew.<br /> +844–Dick Merriwell Comes Back.<br /> +845–Dick Merriwell's Heroic Crew.<br /> +846–Dick Merriwell Looks Ahead.<br /> +847–Dick Merriwell at the Olympics.<br /> +848–Dick Merriwell in Stockholm.<br /> +849–Dick Merriwell in the Swedish Stadium.<br /> +850–Dick Merriwell's Marathon.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +NEW SERIES.<br /> +<span style="font-weight: bolder">New Tip Top Weekly</span></p> + +<p class="non" style="margin-left: 25%">1–Frank Merriwell, Jr.<br /> +2–Frank Merriwell, Jr., in the Box.<br /> +3–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Struggle.<br /> +4–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Skill.<br /> +5–Frank Merriwell, Jr., in Idaho.<br /> +6–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Close Shave.<br /> +7–Frank Merriwell, Jr., on Waiting Orders.<br /> +8–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Danger.<br /> +9–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Relay Marathon.<br /> +10–Frank Merriwell, Jr., at the Bar Z Ranch.<br /> +11–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Golden Trail.<br /> +12–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Competitor.<br /> +13–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Guidance.<br /> +14–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Scrimmage.<br /> +15–Frank Merriwell, Jr., Misjudged.<br /> +16–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Star Play.<br /> +17–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Blind Chase.<br /> +18–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Discretion.<br /> +19–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Substitute.<br /> +20–Frank Merriwell, Jr., Justified.<br /> +21–Frank Merriwell, Jr., Incog.<br /> +22–Frank Merriwell, Jr., Meets the Issue.<br /> +23–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Xmas Eve.<br /> +24–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Fearless Risk.<br /> +25–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, on Skis.<br /> +26–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ice-boat Chase.<br /> +27–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ambushed Foes.<br /> +28–Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Totem.<br /> +29–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Hockey Game.<br /> +30–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Clew.<br /> +31–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Adversary.<br /> +32–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Timely Aid.<br /> +33–Frank Merriwell, Jr., in the Desert.<br /> +34–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Grueling Test.<br /> +35–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Special Mission.<br /> +36–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Red Bowman.<br /> +37–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Task.<br /> +38–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Cross-Country Race.<br /> +39–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Four Miles.<br /> +40–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Umpire.<br /> +41–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Sidetracked.<br /> +42–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Teamwork.<br /> +43–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Step-Over.<br /> +44–Frank Merriwell, Jr. in Monterey.<br /> +45–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Athletes.<br /> +46–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Outfielder.<br /> +47–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, "Hundred."<br /> +48–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Hobo Twirler.<br /> +49–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Canceled Game.<br /> +50–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Weird Adventure.<br /> +51–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Double Header.<br /> +52–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Peck of Trouble.<br /> +53–Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Spook Doctor.<br /> +54–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Sportsmanship.<br /> +55–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ten-Innings.<br /> +56–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ordeal.<br /> +57–Frank Merriwell, Jr., on the Wing.<br /> +58–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Cross-Fire.<br /> +59–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Lost Team-mate.<br /> +60–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Daring Flight.<br /> +61–Frank Merriwell, Jr., at Fardale.<br /> +62–Frank Merriwell, Jr., Plebe.<br /> +63–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Quarter-Back.<br /> +64–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Touchdown.<br /> +65–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Night Off.<br /> +66–Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Little Black Box.<br /> +67–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Classmates.<br /> +68–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Repentant Enemy.<br /> +69–Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the "Spell."<br /> +70–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Gridiron Honors.<br /> +71–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Winning Run.<br /> +72–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Jujutsu.<br /> +73–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Christmas Vacation.<br /> +74–Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Nine Wolves.<br /> +75–Frank Merriwell, Jr., on the Border.<br /> +76–Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Desert Race.<br /> +77–Owen Clancy's Run of Luck.<br /> +78–Owen Clancy's Square Deal.<br /> +79–Owen Clancy's Hardest Fight.<br /> +80–Owen Clancy's Ride for Fortune.<br /> +81–Owen Clancy's Makeshift. Dated February 21st, 1914.<br /> +82–Owen Clancy and the Black Pearls. Dated February 25th, 1914.<br /> +83–Owen Clancy and the Sky Pilot. Dated March 7th, 1914.<br /> +84–Owen Clancy and the Air Pirates. Dated March 14th, 1914.<br /> +85–Owen Clancy's Peril.</p> + +<p class="non" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-weight: bolder">PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY.</span> If you want any back numbers of our weeklies +and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be obtained +direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money.</p> + +<p class="non" style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%">Street & Smith, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., New York City</p> + +<p></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Owen Clancy's Happy Trail, by Burt L. 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Standish + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Owen Clancy's Happy Trail + or, The Motor Wizard in California + +Author: Burt L. Standish + +Release Date: January 1, 2008 [EBook #24102] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OWEN CLANCY'S HAPPY TRAIL *** + + + + +Produced by Richard Halsey + + + + + +OWEN CLANCY'S HAPPY TRAIL; +Or, THE MOTOR WIZARD IN CALIFORNIA. + +By BURT L. STANDISH. + + +CHAPTER I. + +ALMOST A RIOT. + +No, it was not an earthquake that happened in the city of Los Angeles, +California, on that beautiful sun-shiny morning. It was just a +tow-headed, cross-eyed youth shaking things up at the corner of Sixth +and Main in an attempt to find his father. + +And not one corner of the cross streets was involved, but all four +corners. The upheaval that followed this search for a missing relative, +extended in several directions, so that a very small cause led up to +remarkably large results. + +It was nine o'clock of a Saturday morning. That Saturday was some sort +of a festal day for the Chinese, and at the hour mentioned, a dragon a +block long, consisting of a hundred Celestials covered with +papier-mache, was twisting and writhing along Sixth Street. + +On one corner, leaning against the side of a building, was a tall man in +seedy clothes. A card on his breast bore the sad legend, "Help the +Blind." The man's eyes were covered with large blue goggles, and in one +hand he held his hat, and in the other a couple of dozen cheap lead +pencils. + +Across the street, on corner number two, was an Italian with a hand +organ. The Italian's assistant was a monkey in a red cap. + +Corner number three, among others, held a grocer's boy, carrying a +basket with six dozens of eggs. He was very much absorbed in watching +the Chinese dragon wriggle along the thoroughfare. + +The fourth corner was reserved for Hiram Hill, the tow-headed, +cross-eyed chap who was destined to cause all the commotion. While Hill +stood on the walk, telling himself that the gaudily painted dragon +looked very much like an overgrown centipede, he suddenly caught sight +of a man in an automobile. + +The auto was headed along Main Street, and was waiting for the dragon to +clear the way so it could proceed. Hill looked at the machine across the +papier-mache spine of the chink monster, and he gave a yell of surprise +when his gaze took account of the one man in the tonneau of the car. + +Undoubtedly that man was Hiram Hill's father--the parent who had been +mysteriously missing ever since the first Klondike gold rush! Hiram's +eyes were sharp, and to them the beetling brow, the one "squint eye," +the very pronounced Roman nose, and the retreating chin which made the +face resemble a bird's beak, were all very plain. + +After that first yell of surprise, Hiram's astonishing good luck held +him speechless. Following a year of a trying town-to-town canvas of the +whole Southwest, he had at last come within hailing distance of his +long-lost parent. + +Only one point remained to make assurance doubly sure. Had the "suspect" +a brown mole on the back of his neck? Sharp as Hill's eyes were, they +could not determine that. + +"Who wants a pencil?" came feebly from the hapless person on the first +corner. "Help the blind." + +"Jocko," said the son of sunny Italy, on corner two, "maka da bow, taka +da mon!" + +The monkey lifted his hat and went through motions that passed for a +bow. He also looked at his master and showed his teeth, not relishing +the way his chain had been pulled. + +"Pipe de chink wid de pigeon toes and de bow legs!" yelped the grocer's +boy. "If he's goin' de way dem feet are pointed, foist t'ing yous know +he'll be runnin' into himself." + +The boy with the basket of eggs was very observing. As he shouted his +remarks he leveled a finger at a pair of coolie legs supporting one of +the vertebra of the passing dragon. The legs were badly sprung at the +knees, but they ended in feet which the Chinaman had to step over as he +walked. + +"Dad!" whooped Hiram Hill; "I say, dad!" + +Hiram recovered his speech, and all at once became as active as a swarm +of bees after some one has kicked over the hive. He wanted to get to +that automobile and give his father a filial embrace--and he was in a +hurry. The Chinese dragon was in the way, but Hiram didn't mind a little +thing like that. + +He jumped at the papier-mache thing and hit it in the vicinity of the +bow-legged Chinaman. That particular chink went down, and the dragon was +broken squarely in two, midway of its length. + +Now, a papier-mache dragon is a sort of a blind-follow-my-leader affair. +The Chinaman at the head is the only one in the procession who can see +where he is going, and the remaining sections of the monster hang onto +him and follow his lead. + +The rear half of the dragon got lost, and went groping wildly for the +front half. Somehow or other, it ran into the crowd on the corner, and +there was a mix-up in which three dollars worth of eggs were badly +scrambled. + +The last section of the front half, missing the part behind, began +swinging back and forth across the street in an attempt to find the lost +tail. It carromed into corner number two, smashing one perfectly good +hand organ, freeing an excited monkey, and drawing forth a volley of +lurid words from the Italian. + +Jocko ran across the street, and began climbing the tall man who was +selling lead pencils. With a roar of consternation, the tall man rushed +into the street, flourishing his arms, and begging some one--any one--to +"Take it away! Take it away!" He finally collided with the head end of +the dragon, demoralizing that half of the chink procession as completely +as the latter half had been. + +By that time; Sixth and Main was in a turmoil. The dragon had broken up +in a hundred parts, like a jointed snake, and each part was thrashing +around blindly, trying to get rid of its papier-mache so it could see +where it was and what it was doing. + +From the four corners the crowd flowed into the street. Eggs, entirely +whole or only slightly cracked, flew from mischievous hands over heaving +heads, only to smash against some particularly inviting mark. + +The monkey leaped from one pair of shoulders to another, chattering +wildly. In course of time, he reached the automobile, landed in a heap +on the bosom of the beetle-browed, Roman-nosed passenger in the tonneau, +and encircling him with his hairy arms. The beetle-browed man got up and +fought for his freedom, clamoring furiously for "Police! Police!" + +Just at that moment, the only policeman in that vicinity was at the +patrol box, sending in a riot call. Meanwhile, Hiram Hill was having his +own share of troubles. + +The bow-legged Chinaman had slipped out of his papier-mache shell. He +did not know, of course, that Hill was the one who had knocked his +section of the dragon out of line, but the instant he was able to look +around, he saw Hill, and immediately selected him as a suitable object +for hostility. + +The chink did not step on himself, nor in any way interfere with his +progress in going for Hiram. He hit Hiram so hard over the head with the +piece of dragon that he knocked a hole in the papier-mache, and, just as +Hiram freed himself of the encumbrance, and straightened up to get his +bearings and swoop down on his assailant, an egg smashed in his face and +effectually blinded him. + +A hollow murmur sounded in Hiram's ears, like the roar of the sea. He +was picked up on the troubled waters of the melee, and borne back and +forth in the surging tide. At last he slammed into something and fell, +limp and dazed, to the ground. + +He drew his sleeve across his eyes, thus freeing them for clearer +vision. To his joy and wonder, he found that destiny had hurled him +against the side of the automobile he had been trying to reach. + +Jocko had jumped from the shoulders of the passenger in the tonneau, and +the passenger was still on his feet and had his back toward Hiram. The +latter, boiling over with filial sentiments, climbed up on the running +board and encircled the beetle-browed man in a fond embrace. + +"Dad!" clamored Hiram excitedly; "don't you know me?" + +"Get off! get off!" roared the man, going at once into a flurry. "Whose +monkey is this, anyway? Police! Police!" + +The man, naturally, was in a highly excited state of mind and thought +the simian was upon him again. Just then, the driver of the machine +found a cleared space ahead and started for it. He started so quickly +that Hiram was thrown from the running board, dropped to the hard +pavement, and there stumbled against and fallen over by the jostling +mob. + +This rough usage was more than Hiram could stand. The senses were being +knocked out of him by swift degrees. He felt his wits going, and he made +a frantic attempt to stay them as they drifted away. The attempt was +useless, however, and a great darkness suddenly descended upon Hiram and +closed him in. + +When he regained his senses, he was lying on a bench in a drug store. A +clerk was holding a handkerchief, saturated with a drug of some kind, to +his nostrils, and a bluecoat was standing near, twirling his club and +looking down at Hiram speculatively. + +"Question is," said the policeman, "what is he doing with two hats?" + +"That's more than I can tell you, officer," answered the clerk. "Ah, +he's coming to!" + +Hiram sat up on the bench and pushed aside the drug-soaked handkerchief. +"Dad!" he murmured confusedly. + +"I'm not your dad," said the officer. "I'm just the fellow who pulled +you out of the crowd. Where'd you get that hat?" + +Hiram looked down. His own hat was on his head and had, in some manner, +remained with him throughout all the excitement, but in his hand he was +clutching, like grim death, a battered black Stetson. + +Turning the hat over, Hiram looked into the crown. The gilt letters, "U. +H." met his eyes. + +"It's dad's hat," he gurgled. "Upton Hill, that's his name! I knew I had +a bean on the right number! I--I---" + +A bit of white showed under the sweatband. Westerners, of a certain +type, sometimes carry important documents under the sweatband of their +hats. Hiram pulled his object out of the Stetson, examined it, and then +inquired his way to the nearest telegraph office. Five minutes later he +had sent the following telegram: + +"OWEN CLANCY, the Motor Wizard, Phoenix, Arizona: Hot on the trail. You +said you would help me find dad. Come to Los Angeles at once and get +busy. Meet me Renfrew House. + HIRAM." + +"This here's a great day for me," murmured Hiram, rubbing his bruises as +he turned away from the operator's window. "I reckon that'll fetch +Clancy, if he's well enough to come. Him and me can run out this happy +trail together, with ground to spare. That red-headed wizard has got +more sense in a minute than I have in a year, and I reckon we'll get +along. He's a good feller to tie to, in a time like this." + + +CHAPTER II. + +CLANCY HITS THE "HAPPY TRAIL." + +"How's the shoulder, Clancy?" Doctor Ferguson asked, as the young motor +wizard walked into his office. + +"I know it belongs to me," was the smiling reply, "every time I make a +move, but I guess it's coming along all right at that, doc." + +"No reason why it shouldn't. You're as tough as a piece of whalebone, +and a little nick like that can't put you on the retired list. Sit down +here--I've got a few words to say to you." + +The doctor indicated a chair close to his desk, and then sank back in +his own seat with the air of one who is about to say something weighty +and important. + +"Don't you try to scare me about anything, doc," said Clancy +apprehensively, as he slid into the chair. + +"Tush!" and the physician wagged his head. "You haven't got sense enough +to be scared at anything. That's the main trouble with you. It's two +weeks since you went to Wickenburg and got in front of that bullet. We +kept you in bed for a week, and now you have been on your feet for +another week. So far as the wound is concerned, Clancy, you are all +right, but so far as something else is concerned, you are all wrong." +Ferguson's eyes narrowed and he leveled a forefinger at his patient. +"What happened, up there at Wickenburg?" he demanded. + +"What happened?" repeated Clancy. "Why, you just spoke of that. I got in +front of a bullet." + +"Stop, trying to play horse with me!" went on the doctor sourly. +"Something took place between you and your partner, Lafe Wynn, at +Wickenburg, and I want to know what it was." + +Clancy stiffened. + +"That's a personal matter, Doctor Ferguson," he answered, "and I don't +have to explain it to anybody." + +"Well, you needn't get hot about it. There's something on your mind, and +it's holding back your complete recovery. I'm asking questions and +talking from the standpoint of your physician. If I knew the nature of +the thing that bothered you, very possibly I could take means to +counteract it." + +Clancy was impressed by Ferguson's shrewdness. Yet he had no intention +of revealing the cause of his secret worry. + +How could he tell Ferguson, or anybody else, what really happened at +Wickenburg? Only two or three people knew that Lafe Wynn had forged +Clancy's name to a check and had absconded with that money, and with all +the cash assets of the firm of Clancy & Wynn. Only two or three knew how +Clancy had trailed Wynn to Wickenburg and had sent him back to Phoenix +to take charge of the Square-deal Garage, as usual, while +he--Clancy--was in bed in the other town for a week. + +Apparently all was the same as it ever had been between the two +partners. In this instance, however, surface indications were not to be +trusted. + +Clancy's confidence in Wynn had been rudely shattered. The motor wizard +had spared his partner--had been generous with him, in fact, far beyond +his deserts. This was not particularly on Wynn's account, but on account +of Wynn's mother, an old lady who had come to Phoenix on the very day +Wynn had absconded. + +Mrs. Wynn, proud of the business success her son had made, had come to +him so that he might make her a home in her declining years. Clancy had +not the heart to tell the old lady the exact situation, and he had gone +to Wickenburg to get Lafe and make him return to Phoenix. + +Wynn knew that Clancy had spared him on his mother's account. This +knowledge caused a restraint between the two partners, all the greater +because Wynn's forgery, and defalcation had wiped out all the cash +assets of Clancy and the firm--some fifteen thousand dollars which had +not been recovered. + +Clancy would not tell all this to any one, for fear it might reach Mrs. +Wynn. And he was anxious that Wynn should have another chance, without +letting the one error of an otherwise blameless life weigh in the scales +against him. + +"I'll get along, doctor," observed Clancy. "I'll bet all the fretting I +do won't land on me so hard you can notice it." + +"Confound it," burst out the doctor, "I do notice it! You've got to get +away from things for a while. Take the Happy Trail, Clancy, and run it +out. I reckon you can afford it--after the way you held up that +street-car company." + +"Happy Trail?" echoed Clancy; "what's that?" + +"It's the carefree road of pure and unadulterated joy," explained +Ferguson solemnly. "It takes you out of yourself, gives you new scenes +and experiences, and finally you wake up feeling better than you ever +felt before in your life." + +"Lead me to it!" said Clancy. + +"I wish I could," was the answer, "but I can't. A Happy Trail for you +might be a mighty miserable one for me, and vice versa. You'll have to +find it for yourself, Clancy, but when you do find it, hit it hard!" + +"That's a fine prescription--I don't think," laughed Clancy, getting up +to leave. "You tell me what I must do, but don't tell me how I'm to do +it." + +"I'm as frank with you as you are with me," growled Ferguson. "Good-by!" + +Clancy got back to the Square-deal Garage to find the whole force of +employees moving the repair shop over to the garage known as the Red +Star. + +In order to keep Rockwell, of the Red Star, from driving the Square-deal +place out of business, Clancy had been forced to buy the building and +lot that housed the establishment belonging to him and Wynn. He had +consummated this deal for ten thousand dollars, paying three thousand +dollars down and getting time on the balance at seven per cent. And the +mortgage had come due just before Wynn had absconded with all the cash +resources. A stroke of luck alone had saved Clancy. + +The street-car company had suddenly developed a need for the property he +had bought. Judge Pembroke, a friend of Clancy's, did the negotiating, +with the result that the premises sold for twenty thousand dollars. + +The judge, knowing that Clancy & Wynn would have to move and must have +some place to go, had secured an option on the Red-star establishment +for four thousand dollars. So Clancy had financed the tottering affairs +of Clancy & Wynn, had bought Rockwell's old place, and the transfer was +in progress. + +Lafe Wynn was overseeing the removal. When Clancy entered the garage, +Lafe turned abruptly on his heel and walked into the office. Clancy +followed him. + +"What's the matter with you, Lafe?" inquired Clancy. "Why do you take +pains to avoid me, all the time? We can't get along like that--and +remain partners." + +A look of suffering filled Wynn's face. + +"Owen," said he, with an effort, "every time I look at you I think of +what I am--a thief and a forger, only saved from the penitentiary by +your generosity. It isn't a pleasant thought for a man who wants to be +independent. If I could undo the wrong I did you--if I could---" + +"You can--some time," said Clancy. "After you are able, you can pay me +back my just proportion of that fifteen thousand." + +"After I am able!" murmured Lafe sarcastically. "That will be a matter +of years, Owen. I can't feel like this for years without going crazy. If +I could find my rascally brother, Gerald, I--I might induce him to give +back the money." + +"Never," returned the motor wizard shortly. "Your brother Gerald has +probably got rid of the money by this time. There were two to help him +spend it, remember--Bob Katz and Hank Burton. Those three would make it +fly." + +There were extenuating circumstances about what Lafe Wynn had done. The +extenuating circumstances were wrapped up in his unscrupulous brother. +Gerald had told Lafe a pretty fiction about needing money to save him +from dishonor--and Lafe had covered himself with dishonor in order to +help Gerald. No sooner had Lafe secured the money than he and his two +cronies had taken it and made good their escape. This was when Clancy +had been wounded. At the time, he was seeking to help Lafe save the +fifteen thousand dollars. + +"I have got to make that loss up to you somehow," muttered Lafe, "and +I've got to do it soon. My conscience will send me to a madhouse, if I +don't." + +Clancy studied his partner curiously for a few moments. + +"Lafe," he went on presently, "you and I have got to get away from each +other for a while. We are simply millstones around each other's neck. +You can't look at me without thinking you owe me the biggest part of +fifteen thousand dollars, and I can't look at you without thinking how +you betrayed my confidence." + +"You can get rid of me, Owen, in about two shakes," said Wynn. "Kick me +out. I haven't any right to be one of the firm, anyhow." + +The motor wizard shook his head. + +"You've got to hang on and make good in the place where you lost out," +Clancy returned. "You've got to do this for the sake of your mother, who +thinks so much of you. We've got to allow a little time, you know, for +us to get back on our old footing. I need a change. Ferguson says so, +and I have a feeling that he knows what he is talking about. I---" + +A boy came into the office that moment with a telegram. He knew the +motor wizard by sight, and went directly to him. + +"This is for you, Mr. Clancy," said he. + +Clancy signed for the message, tore it open, read the contents, and +laughed. + +"By thunder," he cried, "here's just the thing!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Wynn. + +"It's a hurry-up call from Hiram Hill. You remember Hiram?" + +Wynn winced. "Yes," said he, "I remember Hiram Hill quite vividly." + +"He left Phoenix for the coast several weeks ago, carrying on his search +for his father. I always thought that search of Hiram's was more or less +of a joke--and I haven't any positive information yet that it isn't--but +here's a message asking me to come to Los Angeles at once. Hiram says +that he is 'hot on the trail,' and that I promised him to help him find +his father--which is true." + +Clancy arose with sudden determination in his voice and manner. + +"Wynn," he continued, "I'm going to leave you here to get Clancy & Wynn +started in the old Rockwell garage. It will give you plenty to occupy +your mind. While you're hard at it, I'm going to soldier and have a good +time. Here's where I hit the Happy Trail!" + +"What in the deuce is the Happy Trail?" queried Wynn. + +"Ferguson will tell you about it. I'm going with Hiram on a wild-goose +chase, and I'm hoping to have some fun. When I come back, old man, I +want you to be feeling differently, and I expect to be feeling +differently myself. This afternoon I am starting for the Pacific coast, +and if Hiram and I, between us, can't stir up a few thrills, and corral +a little enjoyment, then I've got another guess coming. Lafe, I'm for +the Happy Trail, and I'm going to hit it hard!" + + +CHAPTER III. + +HATCHING A PLOT. + +"Say, fellows, here's a how-de-do, and no mistake! You ought to have +been at the corner of Sixth and Main about two hours ago. You'd have +seen something that would have made a horse laugh--but there's something +back of it that isn't so thundering funny, at that." + +Gerald Wynn could smoke a cigarette and talk at the same time. He burst +into the room in the cheap boarding house, where he and his friends had +taken up their headquarters, and eased himself of the foregoing remarks. + +Hank Burton and Bob Katz sat at a table playing cards. There were a +bottle and two glasses on the table. Katz was smoking a pipe and Burton +a cigar. + +"Hanged if I care a hoot about anything, just now, but annexing a little +kale," said Burton, turning in his chair to look at Gerald with a scowl. +"Here I haven't a sou in my jeans, and I've got as much right to that +fifteen thousand as you or Katz have, Wynn. Fork over a hundred! I'm +tired of bein' broke." + +"Nary, I don't fork!" Wynn answered positively. "You know what we're +going to do with this money, Hank, and you know that if we start to +break into it the whole will go and we'll be up a spout on this Tia +Juana business." + +"Blast the Tia Juana business! A bird in the hand beats a whole flock in +the bush! Give me my share now, Gerald, and you and Bob can do what you +blamed please with your own part of the swag." + +"That won't go!" spoke up Katz. "The share we want in that gamblin' +layout below the border will take all the fifteen thousand. You agreed +to go inter it, Hank. Don't crawfish now!" + +"I want somethin' to jingle in my pocket!" barked Burton. + +"Take a couple o' nails," suggested Katz. + +"I allow it's right funny to you," continued Burton sourly, "but it +ain't pleasant to go around with nary a red in your pants." + +"I'm paying your expenses, Hank," put in Gerald. "Staked to your three +squares, your smoking and your travel pay, I don't see what more you +need. If this Tia Juana scheme works out, we'll all of us get rich." + +"I want a little loose cash now," cried Burton. + +"Go out and work for it, then," said Gerald, out of patience. "If we put +anything into the Tia Juana game it's got to be fifteen thousand, and +I'd be mighty foolish to give you money out of our capital." + +"Give it to me out of your own pocket if you don't want to give me any +of the capital!" + +"I've got just enough to get us to Catalina where we're to see Jack +Lopez and clean up the Tia Juana business. Why don't you do a little +something on the side, Hank? You're a champion swimmer--go to some +natatorium and give swimming lessons. That would be easy money." + +"Gammon!" snorted Burton. + +In a fit of anger he jumped to his feet, and he would have left the +room, but Gerald stood in front of the door and barred the way. + +"Now, don't get ugly!" said Gerald. "I've got something to tell you +that's mighty interesting. I think, fellows, that we have been trailed +from Phoenix!" + +That was more than interesting. Burton's flash of temper left him at +once, and he and Katz showed their apprehension. + +"Who trailed us?" demanded Katz. + +"That cross-eyed, tow-headed freak, Hiram Hill." + +"How do you know he trailed us?" asked Burton. + +"Well, he's in Los Angeles. It isn't a happenchance that we're here at +the same time." + +"When did you see Hill?" went on Katz. + +"About two hours ago, at the corner of Sixth and Main. He--he---" Gerald +paused to laugh. + +"I don't see anythin' humorous in this layout!" grunted Burton. "If +we've been trailed to Los we'd better be diggin' out instead of enjoyin' +the situation." + +"What's funny about it, Gerald?" asked Katz. + +"There was a chink dragon going down the Street--you know the kind--a +dragon in sections, with a yellow boy under each section. Well, I was +watching the procession when I heard some one yell 'Dad!' in a voice +that sounded pretty familiar. The next minute, who but Hiram Hill +knocked a hole in that chink snake. He was trying to get to a man who +sat in an automobile on the other side of the street. In about two +seconds there was the biggest kind of a rough-house. I kept out of it, +and saw Hiram get to the automobile and begin hugging the chap in the +tonneau. The fellow in the car didn't like it, and the driver started up +and Hill was left behind. + +"The crowd rolled over the place where Hill was lying and I saw him +picked up by a couple of policemen and carried to a drug store. +Naturally, I was in a good deal of a taking, not knowing but Hill had +been following me, see? Well, I waited till he came out of the drug +store, then I camped on his trail for a while. He went to a telegraph +office and sent a telegram---" + +"Who did he send it to?" cut in Burton apprehensively. + +"What do I know about that? You don't think I was foolish enough to go +close and try to get a line on what Hill was writing, do you? Well, +after he left the telegraph office he went to the Renfrew House. I +reckon that's where he stays." + +"I don't like this a little bit," commented Katz. "I allow we'd better +duck--and do it pronto. If Hill is really trailin' us, maybe he has sent +a telegraft message to the sheriff, back in Phoenix. We got to look +sharp, Gerald, or we'll be pinched." + +"That's my motion, Bob," said Burton. "Hanged if this Hill business +hasn't got me on the run." + +"Don't fret," continued Gerald reassuringly. "I've hatched a plot that +will take care of Hill, all right." + +"Plot?" said Burton. "What sort of a plot?" + +"Listen, Hank. You know about this Hill. I've told you and Bob how he's +got a fool bee in his bonnet, and is running around the Southwest +looking for his father. The old man--judging from his photograph, which +Hill totes around in his pocket--is a bigger freak than Hiram is. He's +got a beak like a pelican, and is homely enough to stop a clock." + +"You know plenty about Hill and his hunt for his dad," returned Burton. +"You flimflammed Hill out of five hundred by offering to take him across +the Mexican boundary and showing him where his father could be found," +said Burton, with a laugh. "But you got the money, and Hill got the +experience," he added. + +"Which," said Gerald calmly, "is mainly the reason why Hill is trying to +get even with me. I know enough about Hill's father, though, to put over +a scheme that will get this cross-eyed buttinsky off our track." + +"What's the scheme?" inquired Katz. + +"It hinges on this point, that Hiram Hill would rather find his father +than get even with me for that 'con' game I worked on him. I'm going to +write Hiram a letter, Bob, and send it to him at the Renfrew House." + +"What sort of a letter?" put in Burton. + +"I'm going to sign the name of his father, Upton Hill, to the thing, and +play up that incident at Sixth and Main pretty strong. Where's that pen +and ink, Hank? And give me a sheet of paper and envelope." + +While his companions got the writing materials, Gerald seated himself at +a table and began getting his thoughts busy. By the time pen, ink, and +paper were put in front of him, he had his letter mapped out in his +mind, and had only to put it upon paper. + +"Won't Hiram know that the letter isn't in his dad's handwritin'?" +suggested Katz. + +"I reckon he won't," answered Gerald craftily, leaning back in his chair +with the letter in his hand. "It's been some sort of a while, Bob, since +the first Klondike rush, when old 'Up' Hill disappeared. It isn't likely +that Hiram remembers anything about his father's handwriting. Here's +what the letter says: + +"DEAR SON: Was it really you who jumped aboard my automobile at the +corner of Sixth and Main this morning? My conscience has been troubling +me ever since. I have hunted up the policeman and secured from him your +name and address, but am in a hurry to get back to San Diego, where I +live, and cannot remain in Los Angeles to prosecute a personal search +for you. If you are really my son, come to San Diego, make my house at +eighteen-twenty Q Street your home, and I will ask you certain questions +whose answers will prove indisputably whether or not you are my son. I +must have the proof, you know, because I am a very rich man, and you, as +my sole relative, will inherit everything I leave. Hoping to see you in +San Diego at your earliest convenience, I remain, yours expectantly, + 'UPTON HILL.'" + +Gerald dropped the letter on the table, and looked up at his friends +with a guileful smile. + +"How's that for a bait?" he asked. + +"Bully!" declared Katz. "Hiram Hill will tumble all over himself to go +to San Diego." + +"What'll happen when he can't find any Upton Hill in San Diego?" said +Burton. + +"We don't care what happens--then," answered Gerald. "By that time, you +know, we ought to have finished our deal with Jack Lopez, and to be away +from Catalina, and where Hill will never be able to find us." + +"How do you know he gave his name and address to a policeman?" continued +Burton. + +"That's what people always do when they get into trouble on the street, +or meet with an accident, isn't it?" + +"Maybe it is, but if it happens that Hill didn't give his name and +address to the cop, the fact will queer that whole letter." + +"I allow Hank is right, Gerald," chimed in Katz, "This here is one of +them cases where you can't be too careful. Reckon I'd write another +letter and change that." + +"It's not necessary," insisted Gerald. "Hill was stunned. If he can't +remember giving his name and address to the policeman, he'll think he +did it at a time when he didn't know what he was doing. The letter goes +as I have written it." + +Gerald began addressing the envelope. Both the sheet of paper and the +envelope were plain, and bore no clew of the hotel in which they had +been written. + +The letter was folded, thrust into the envelope, and the envelope sealed +and stamped. + +"It's dinner time, fellows," announced Gerald, "and we'll post this on +our way to the noon eats. Come on." + +They all got up and left the room. + +"When do we hike for the island, Gerald?" asked Katz, as they went +downstairs. + +"We'll pull out for San Pedro to-morrow, and catch the morning boat," +was the reply. "We want to wind up our business with Lopez and clear out +before Hill discovers that letter is a fake and gets back from San +Diego. We can turn the trick with ground to spare--don't fret about +that." + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CLANCY REACHES LOS ANGELES. + +The Renfrew House was a very modest hostelry in South Hill Street. Hiram +stopped there because the establishment was in Hill Street, and he +believed in omens. Incidentally, too, he preferred the Renfrew to the +Alexandria or the Hayward because the rates on the American plan were +two dollars a day. + +It was about eleven o'clock Monday morning when Clancy entered the lobby +of the Renfrew House. The lobby was crowded, bell hops were hustling +back and forth, and the place was as busy as a high-class establishment. + +Clancy stood at the counter, caught the clerk's eye, and asked for Hiram +Hill. The clerk, who had curly hair, and parted it squarely in the +middle, forthwith gave the newcomer his full and complete attention. + +"You a friend of that guy's?" the clerk asked. + +"Yes," acknowledged Clancy. + +"Then I'm mighty glad you showed up." + +"Why?" + +"Well, I think he's locoed and needs a keeper. About every day he does +some fool thing." + +Clancy grinned. + +"What has he done to-day?" + +"Nothing yet, but he's due to break out 'most any minute. You wait +around a spell and you'll---" + +The clerk was interrupted by a wild whoop of "Dad! here's Hiram!" Clancy +looked in the direction from which the yell came and saw a little group +of people heaving around the lobby in excitement. + +"That's him, now!" cried the clerk. "What did I tell you?" + +The motor wizard hurried toward the scene of the commotion. He found a +fat man pounding a dent out of the crown of a shabby silk hat, and +mumbling wrathfully. + +"Get an officer!" shouted the fat man. "I don't know but I'm robbed!" + +Hiram Hill stood in front of the aggrieved gentleman, stood and stared +at him blankly. + +"I--I thought you was my dad," murmured Hiram. + +"Your dad?" repeated the fat man, glaring. "You ought to be arrested for +that, anyhow. I refuse to be insulted, by gorry! What's your name, +anyhow?" + +The fat man was feeling about his person, making sure that his watch, +pocketbook, and other person property were safe. + +"That mole on the back of your neck," explained Hiram, "was what caused +me to make the bobble." + +"Well," snorted the fat man, walking off, "don't make any more bobbles +around me, or there'll be trouble. It's my opinion that you're crazy." + +The crowd set up a laugh. Clancy elbowed his way to Hill's side and took +him by the hand. + +"Howdy, Hiram?" said he. + +"Clancy!" exclaimed Hill. "Say, the sight of you is good for sore eyes! +I just been hankerin' for a friend." + +"You need a guardeen more'n a friend," remarked some one. + +Hill began to bristle and to look around in search of the one who had +spoken. Clancy grabbed his arm, and drew him away down the lobby to a +couple of leather chairs. + +"What's the matter with you, Hiram?" the motor wizard asked. + +"I reckon my nerves have got twisted, Clancy," Hill answered. "I'm all +in a twitter, seems like. Ever since I piped off dad in that automobile +last Saturday mornin' I haven't been able to look around without seein' +some un I think's him. Queer, ain't it? I'm all flustered." + +"Better put the clamps on your nerves, Hiram, or you'll be in jail the +first thing you know." + +"How's the shoulder?" + +"Coming along in fine shape." + +"I didn't know whether you'd be able to answer that there telegram of +mine in person, and if you was able, I didn't know whether you would." + +"Look here, Hiram," said Clancy, "didn't I tell you I'd help you find +your father if you'd keep mum about what Lafe Wynn did?" + +"Uh-huh." + +"Well, I always try to pay my debts." + +"Got any trace o' Gerald Wynn, Burton, and Katz yet?" + +"No." + +"Then that fifteen thou' is gone for good?" + +"I'm afraid so. But let's not talk about that. You say you're hot on the +trail of your father. Tell me about it." + +Hiram started with the Chinese procession at Sixth and Main Streets. +Very earnestly he told how he had disrupted the dragon, and he described +other events that happened down to the point where he found himself with +the extra Stetson in his hand. + +"That hat," declared Hiram, "sure belonged to dad. I got it away from +him somehow, and I hung to it all the while my wits was woolgatherin' +and I was bein' toted to a drug store. Then I--- Say, what you laughin' +at?" + +Clancy had been enjoying Hill's recital to the limit it would be hard to +mix six dozens of eggs, a Chinese dragon, and a runaway monkey into a +small-sized riot and not get a little fun out of it. The sober, +matter-of-fact way in which Hiram narrated the details added to the +humor of the story. + +"Never mind what I'm laughing at, Hiram," sputtered Clancy, wiping his +eyes. "You say you found something under the sweatband of that Stetson. +What was it?" + +"A card. Here it is." + +Hill thrust a hand into one of his pockets and drew forth an oblong +square of pasteboard. This he handed to his companion. + +"Sr. J. Lopez," was the name on the card, followed by the address: +"Avalon, Catalina Island, California." Then in the lower left-hand +corner, were the words: "Representing the Fortunatus Syndicate, of Tia +Juana, Mexico." + +"What do you make out of this, Hiram?" the motor wizard asked. + +"What do you make out of it?" countered Hill. + +"If you are sure the Stetson belonged to the man in the automobile--to +the man whom you thought was your father---" + +"I'll take my solemn Alfred on that!" + +"Well, if this is the man's business card, it proves that the man is J. +Lopez--and he can't be your father." + +"That's not his business card, Clancy." + +"How do you know?" + +"There was two gilt letters pasted in the crown o' that Stetson, and +them letters was 'U. H.' Sabe? My dad's name is Upton Hill." + +Clancy was suitably impressed. + +"Well, who's this J. Lopez and the Fortunatus Syndicate?" he inquired. +"Those are two things we ought to find out." + +"I'm wise to the Fortunatus Syndicate, all right," said Hill. "You +remember I was down in Tia Juana, that time I got hornswoggled out o' +five hundred dollars by Gerald Wynn. Well, I heard about this Fortunatus +Syndicate while I was in the place. Some Americanos are planning a +gambling resort, just across the boundary line, and they call their +company the Fortunatus Syndicate." + +"And your dad's mixed up with it, Hiram? That doesn't speak very well +for him." + +"Maybe he's mixed up in it, and maybe he isn't. I wouldn't go and +connect him with any gamblin' syndicate just because I found that there +card under the sweatband of his Stetson. What do you allow is the thing +for us to do? My hand's on the table, Clancy, and I want you to help me +play it." + +"Strikes me," said Clancy reflectively, "that the best move is to go +across to Catalina Island and talk with this man Lopez." + +"I allowed we'd better, advertise in the papers," remarked Hill. "We +could use the Lost and Found Column." + +"How?" + +"Well, we could say, 'Lost--One man about fifty with a squinch eye, a +Roman nose, and a mole on the back of his neck. Answers to name of Upton +Hill. Communicate with Hiram Hill, Renfrew House, City.' And then we +could put in another, like this: 'Found--One black Stetson, initials "U. +H." in crown. Picked up corner Sixth and Maine time the chink dragon went +to pieces. Communicate with Hiram Hill, and so forth.' I don't see any +use in huntin' up this Lopez." + +"Your father must have, business, with Lopez, Hiram, or he wouldn't be +having the Mexican's card. Would he?" + +"I reckon not." + +"It's likely your father is over at Catalina now. If we go to the +island and hunt up Lopez, there's a chance of our locating Upton +Hill--or the man you think is Upton Hill." + +"Maybe you're right," said Hill. + +"I don't think advertising would do any good. Your supposed father +didn't seem very enthusiastic about meeting you, the time you landed on +him in the automobile." + +Hill's cross eyes blinked. + +"It was the way I come at him," said he. "I been thinkin' since. There +was a hull lot of excitement, and I'll gamble dad didn't have time to +get the run o' what was happenin'. He didn't have no good chance to be +affectionate." + +"I suppose not," returned Clancy, trying hard to keep a straight face. +"The trail seems to be a pretty warm one, all right, and--- Where are +you going?" + +Clancy broke off his remarks to grab hold of Hiram and restrain him. The +tow-headed chap had suddenly leaped out of his chair like a restive wild +cat. + +"Ain't that dad over yonder?" he asked. "I see a feller that seems to be +built on the same lines of the photograft, but--n-n-no," he finished +musingly, "that feller's a Mexican." + +"Letter for you, Mr. Hill," said a bell boy, coming across the lobby +from the clerk's desk. + +Hill took the letter wonderingly, stared at it, tore it open, and then +sank into a chair while he read the communication. Presently he began to +breathe hard, and to gurgle in his throat. + +"I knew the old man didn't have a marble heart," he muttered joyfully. +"I reckoned he'd come around, if I'd only give him time enough. The +trail's a short one, Clancy, and it leads to San Diego instead of to +Catalina. There," and he thrust the letter into the motor wizard's hand, +"read that." + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE MOTOR WIZARD'S JUDGMENT. + +"This has a fishy look to me, Hiram," said Clancy, after reading the +letter. "Upton Hill, who claims to have written it, says he got your +address from the policeman who pulled you out of the melee and helped +you to the drug store. Mighty queer he couldn't spend time to call on +you, after getting your address, instead of putting you to all the +expense of going to San Diego to find him." + +"Don't be a wet blanket, blame it!" begged Hill. "Only dad I got in the +world, and here you go to throwin' cold water on his motives." + +"Did you give your address to the policeman?" + +"Give it up. I was plump batty, just after I got away from that mob, and +I don't know what I did. Reckon I must have given up the information, or +dad couldn't have got it and sent me that letter." + +The motor wizard was conscious of a deep distrust regarding that +communication upon which Hill was setting such store. Instinctively he +had become suspicious, and the more he considered the letter's contents, +the more suspicious he became. + +"Do you recognize your father's handwriting, Hiram?" asked Clancy. + +"Well, hardly," was the grinning response. "Dad got lost in the shuffle +almost before I'd cut my teeth. I'm not familiar with his handwritin'. +Did you read what he says about bein' well off? Gosh! Say, I'm li'ble to +come into some money! I reckon this is one time my cup's right side up +when it rains good luck." + +"Haven't you got a sample of your father's penmanship anywhere, Hiram?" + +"Not that I know anythin' about. You see, all the letters he'd written I +left back home, and---" Hill paused abruptly. "Gee," he went on, +reaching into the breast pocket of his coat, "I allow I have got a scrap +o' dad's writin'. It's on the back o' that photograft." + +He drew the photograph into sight, turned it over, and pushed it under +Clancy's eyes. + +"There!" and he pointed with his finger. "That's a sample o' dad's +fist." + +Upton Hill, age thirty-six. This was all the writing on the back of the +photograph. It was enough, however. Clancy compared the name signed to +the letter with that on the photograph. It could be seen at a glance +that the same hand had not written the two signatures--they were utterly +different. + +"Just as I imagined," observed Clancy. "Hiram, either your father did +not write what is on the back of the photograph, or else that letter is +a forgery. The same hand did not trace the two signatures. Look! You can +see that just as plainly as I can." + +Hill took the letter in one hand and the photograph in the other, +squinted up his cross eyes, and tried to institute comparisons. + +"The signature ain't the same," he finally agreed, "and that's a fact." + +"Which proves that the letter's a forgery." + +"I'm not a-sayin' that, Clancy. It can't be that dad wrote what's on the +back o' the picter." + +"You have always thought he did the writing on the back of the +photograph, haven't you?" + +"Then you're thinking he didn't, now, so you can believe the letter's +genuine." + +"Well, what of it? I'd a heap rather pin my faith to the writin' in the +letter than to what's on the photograft." + +Clancy saw that argument was useless. Hill was completely carried away +with the letter, for it steered him along the line of least resistance +right into the haven of his happiest desires. He believed in that letter +because he wanted to believe in it, and for no other earthly reason. + +"Then," said the motor wizard quietly, "you think you'll go to San Diego +and not to Catalina Island?" + +"What's the use o' wastin' time on Catalina when that letter tells us +right where to go?" demanded Hill. "You're goin' with me, ain't you?" + +"Not if you're going right away, Hiram. I just reached Los Angeles after +a long ride from Phoenix, and I'm not going to hit the iron trail again +before I have a chance to get the cinders out of my eyes and the dust +off my face. If you're going to San Diego this afternoon, or to-night, +you'll go alone." + +"You don't take any stock in this letter at all, huh?" + +"No." + +"Who do you think wrote it if it wasn't my lost dad?" + +"I don't know who wrote it," + +"Well," grumbled Hiram, "I won't start for San Diego afore to-morrow. I +want you to be along, and I'm waitin' over so'st to have you. S'pose we +go and eat? Registered yet?" + +"I'll register now," said Clancy, "and then we'll sit in at the chuck +table and have dinner." + +He went over to the desk alone, put down his name, and then wrote out a +telegram. He handed it to a boy along with some money, and asked that +the message be put on the wires as soon as possible. After that he went +to his room, got the dust and cinders off his face and out of his hair, +joined Hill, and the two went into the dining room together. + +Clancy was determined to make the most of his "Happy Trail," and +directly after dinner proposed that he and Hill should spend the +afternoon at one of the beaches. Hill, who was all wrapped up in San +Diego, now that he had received that supposed letter from his father, +consented reluctantly. The two boarded an electric car and went to +Venice. + +There was a big crowd at this particular beach. Hill, in spite of the +fact that he professed to believe his father was in San Diego, was +scanning every face he passed for the beetling brow, retreating chin, +Roman nose, and squint eye. He acted so wild and unreasonable that +Clancy was tempted to believe he had gone daffy on the subject of his +lost father. + +He would run up to a man with a prominent nose, grab him by the +shoulders, and study his face in a search for the other specifications. +Once he was knocked down, and another time he was nearly arrested when +an irate man, whom he had stopped to investigate, raised a shout for a +policeman. + +"Look here, Hiram," remonstrated the motor wizard, drawing his +tow-headed friend apart, "if you're convinced your father is in San +Diego, what the deuce are you expecting to see him here in Venice for?" + +"I got the habit of lookin'," answered Hill lamely, "and seems like I +can't give it up." + +"Well, you've got to give it up for the rest of to-day or you and I will +separate here and now. You act as though you had just escaped from a +lunatic asylum, and when people see me they are apt to think there are +two of us." + +They went out on the pleasure pier, bought post cards to send to their +friends, had their pictures taken on a couple of burros, and finally got +into bathing suits and went into the surf. Hill at last forgot about his +lost parent and let himself loose for a good time. + +Both he and Clancy enjoyed themselves to the limit. Refreshed by their +plunge in the ocean, they went into a restaurant, and did ample justice +to a splendid, meal. After that they started back to Los Angeles. + +"This here has been a great afternoon, Clancy!" sighed Hiram, sinking +back in the car seat and showing his weariness. "We haven't done much +toward runnin' out the trail, but we can begin on that again to-morrow." + +"I'm running out my own trail, Hiram," laughed Clancy. + +"Eh?" returned Hill blankly. + +The motor wizard did not explain. His companion, he knew, would not have +understood him if he had explained. But Clancy realized that he was more +contented in mind than he had been at any time during the last two +weeks. Tired though he was, it was astonishing how much better he felt. + +"New sights and new scenes," thought Clancy, "do a lot to put new life +into a fellow. I'm beginning to wish I had taken this Happy Trail a long +time ago." + +It was ten o'clock when they walked into the lobby of the Renfrew House. +As they stopped at the counter to get the keys to their rooms, Clancy +asked the clerk if there was a telegram for him. The clerk thumbed over, +a bunch of messages and tossed out one. + +"Owen Clancy?" he queried. "There you are." + +"I hope it ain't Wynn wirin' you to come back," remarked Hill, with +sudden foreboding. + +"It isn't from Wynn," said Clancy; "I know that before I open it. I'll +bet something handsome it's from the chief of police at San Diego." + +"The chief of police? What's he wiring you for?" + +"Come over here, Hiram, and I'll explain." + +Clancy led his companion to a couple of chairs. + +"Now," said he, after, they had seated themselves, "we're about to +decide whether we're going to Catalina Island, in the morning, or to San +Diego." + +"That's already decided!" asserted Hill. "Whatever makes you think it +ain't?" + +"Look at that letter you received at noon, Hiram," went on Clancy. "You +were asked to come to eighteen-twenty 'Q' Street, weren't you?" + +"Yes," Hiram answered, consulting the letter. + +"Well," explained Clancy, "I wired the chief of police at San Diego, +asking him who lives at that number in Q Street. If this reply to my +message says that Upton Hill lives at that address, then I'll +congratulate you, and we will go on together to, San Diego in the +morning. + +"Sure!" + +"But if the message says that some one else lives at the address, it's +proof positive that your letter was a fake, and that going to San Diego +is worse than a waste of time, eh?" + +"Let's see what the message says," parried Hill. + +Clancy opened it, removed the folded yellow sheet, opened it out, and he +and Hill read the following: + +"OWEN CLANCY, Renfrew House, Los Angeles: No such street as 'Q' in the +city. No such man as Upton Hill in directory. Never heard of him. + PENNYPACKER, Chief of Police." + +"What do you think of that?" asked Clancy. + +"I reckon your judgment is good, Clancy," answered the baffled Hill. "If +it wasn't, I'd not have asked you to help me run out this trail." + +"Then we'll cut out San Diego and go to Catalina?" + +"What's the use o' goin' to San Diego; lookin' for a street they haven't +got in the town? Of course we'll try the island--nothin' else for us to +do." + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE GLASS-BOTTOM BOAT. + +The distance from the mainland to the island of Catalina is only about +twenty miles, and the steamer from San Pedro makes the trip in something +like two hours and a half. + +At ten o'clock in the morning Clancy and Hill went aboard, at +ten-fifteen the boat got under way, and promptly at ten-seventeen Hiram +became seasick. There wasn't anything halfway about it, either, he was +sick all through and all over. For an hour he was afraid he was going to +die, and for an hour and a half he was afraid he wasn't. + +Clancy was so busy with Hill that he had no time to enjoy the trip. As +soon as the boat tied up at the Avalon pier and the gangplank was run +out, Hill galloped ashore, and sank down on the dock with a groan of +thanksgiving. Clancy hurried after him, picked him up, and supported him +to solid earth. + +"I thought you were a better sailor than that, Hiram," chuckled Clancy. + +"Me--a sailor?" whimpered Hill. "Say, it always makes my stomach do a +hornpipe just to look at a picture of the sea. I can't cross a creek on +a bridge without getting separated from my last meal. Darn it! This is +why I wanted to find my lost dad in San Diego--I could go there by land. +Clancy, I'm goin' to stay on this island, and live and die here. I won't +never go back. Let's find a restaurant somewhere and fill up, I never +was so empty in all my life." + +Finding a restaurant was not difficult, for the little town was full of +them. A rattling good fish dinner put Hill in a pleasanter mood, so that +his wretchedness of the morning survived as only a faint and far-off +memory. + +Senor Jack Lopez had a curio store on the main street of the town. The +investigators were directed to his place of business, but to their +disappointment, Lopez was away on the other side of the island and would +not be back until evening. As they came out of the curio store, a man +approached them and sounded the praises of the glass bottom boats. + +"Ugh!" said Hiram, trying to get away, "no boats for mine!" + +"But you don't want to leave the island without seeing the marine +gardens!" exclaimed the man. + +"There are enough gardens on shore to do me," answered Hill. + +"My friend is afraid he'll get seasick," observed Clancy, with a wink. + +"You can't get seasick in one o' my boats any more'n you could on land," +averred the runner. "We jest go out around by the Sugarloaf--we're close +inshore all the time." + +"It's makin' me feel faint just to talk about it," said Hill. "Come on, +Clancy!" + +He caught the motor wizard's arm and tried to drag him off. Clancy, +however, held back. + +"I've heard a lot about these glass-bottom boats," said he, "and I'll +have to take a trip in one. If you don't want to go, Hiram, you can sit +on the dock and wait till I come back." + +"No, you don't!" growled Hiram. "You and me don't get separated this +trip, if I can help it. If you're going, Clancy, I'll go, too, even if +it kills me." + +"You won't be the least mite sick, friend," the runner insisted. "If you +are, I'll give up your fare." + +"That won't be a patchin' to what I'll give up--if you have to give up +my fare," commented Hill. "I only hope I don't step so hard on the +glass-bottom that I go through." + +"You can't do that," the man laughed. "This way, gents." + +He led them out on a pier and down a flight of steps to a float +alongside of which a boat was moored. The boat was a flat-bottom affair, +rigged with a canopy top, and having seats along the sides. + +Extending down the middle of the craft was something which looked like a +long box, open at the top. The lower side of the box was covered with +glass. Passengers on the seats could look into the box, through the +glass bottom, and see objects on the ocean's bed with wonderful +clearness. A man up near the prow did the rowing. + +"I claim," said the runner, "that this here's the only kind of a boat to +use in seein' the marine gardens. We can go places in these little boats +that they can't get, to in the big ones." + +That must have been a particularly slack day for the glass-bottom boats, +for Clancy and Hill were the only passengers on this particular craft. + +"I reckon that's all, Ike," said the man who had brought the two youths +to the boat: "let 'er go!" + +Ike proceeded to use the oars, and, while the boat rounded the end of +the pier, Hiram hung to his seat with both hands, and looked wildly and +expectantly at Clancy. + +"Beginnin' to feel squeamish," mumbled Hiram. + +"Don't think about it," returned the motor wizard. "Look down at the +marine gardens, Hiram." + +Hill gradually forgot his uneasiness. There was hardly any motion to the +boat, save a slow, steady gliding onward. Off Avalon there is no surf, +the tides rise and fall, as on the mainland, but the sea is usually as +quiet as the waters of a pond. + +There were other glass-bottom boats out that afternoon, and they were +scattered just off shore to Sugarloaf Rock and beyond. Not far from the +towering Rock were two or three rowboats, each manned by an oarsman, and +carrying a man in a bathing suit. + +"Them's divers," explained Ike, nodding to the men in the bathing suits. +"Didn't you see 'em when your boat come in?" + +"No," answered Hill, "I was too busy gettin' ashore. What were those +divers doing when our boats came in?" + +"Passengers were throwin' money overboard and they were divin' for it. +You'll see 'em when you get in the steamer to go back to Pedro. Over yan +by Ole Sugarloaf the divers goes down under the glass bottoms, looks up +at you from below, makes faces, throws kisses at the girls, and I don't +know what all. Likewise, they brings up abalone shells; you can see 'em +brought up, and can buy 'em for a quarter apiece. A very pretty and +interestin' souvenir of your trip to the island. Now, look down, for +we're right over, the gardens." + +"It's funny," remarked Hill, "that I'm such a good swimmer when this +seasickness takes holt o' me so, hard and quick. Maybe if I'd swim the +ocean the water wouldn't bother my stummick at all. I---" + +The words died on Hill's lips. He suddenly found himself gazing from one +world into another of weird beauty and wondrous enchantment. + +Beneath his eyes and Clancy's there unfolded a landscape of rainbow +tints flecking a forest of softly waving trees. Some of the trees bore +fruit, and in and out among their branches swam fishes of silver and +gold. It was like fairyland, that landscape on the bed of the sea. + +"Beats anything I ever seen!" whispered the entranced Hiram. "If a +mermaid was to float up to the glass bottom of this here boat and shake +a finger at me, I'd go right over the side and join her in them pretty +gardens." + +"Wonderful!" exclaimed Clancy. "Look at the rocks and shells! You can, +see them as clearly as though they were out of the water and on the +land." + +"Them forests," explained Ike, "are made of kelp. From kelp is where we +get our iodine of commerce. It takes four hundred pounds of kelp to make +one pound of iodine." + +"And a million pounds of the iodine o' commerce," snorted Hiram, "ain't +worth one pound o' kelp, down below and growin' same as we see. What do +they, want to root it up for? Why don't they leave it where it is, to +please the eye that looks down through these glass-bottom boats?" + +"I pass," answered Ike wearily. "I ain't no philosopher, that-a-way. +Kelp's no good and iodine's useful--that's all I know. Diver's goin' +over and comin' this way," he added, with sudden animation. "Watch +close, now, and maybe you'll see him pick up an abalone shell, and look +up and make faces. It's right remarkable how long some o' them divers +can stay under the water. Look sharp!" + +Clancy and Hill looked sharp, but they couldn't see anything of the +diver. + +"Shucks!" grunted Ike. "He come up for another boat afore he got here. +But he'll be along after a spell." + +Ike rested from his rowing a bit, and filled and, lighted his pipe. + +"Up there," said he, waving his hand aloft, "is the towerin' summits o' +Black Jack and Orizaba, If you're goin' to be on the island overnight +you don't want to miss the coach trip to the top o' the uplifts. It's +ten miles up and two miles back, same road all the way," he chuckled as +he exhaled a cloud of smoke, "and the round trip is only eight miles. +It'll cost you a dollar apiece, and you don't want to miss it." + +Clancy and Hill had already discovered that the inhabitants of Avalon +had a hand out for tourist money. When one had got all he could of a +guileless sight-seer, he passed him on to a brother who had something +else to show. But they were a kindly lot, those Avalonians for all that. + +"Now, watch!" warned Ike. "Here the diver comes, for sure!" + +This time Ike was correct. Clancy and Hill, peering through the glass +bottom of the boat, saw a human form glide gracefully to a point +directly underneath, turn over on its back, and float face upward, full +a dozen feet below the surface. + +The diver commenced to throw kisses and to make faces, but he suddenly +ceased that pleasing performance. His face abruptly froze as with +horror, and his wide eyes looked, up at the two faces staring down +through the glass. + +A sharp exclamation escaped Clancy's lips. Hill gave a yell, sat up and +began tearing off his coat, hat, and vest. + +"It's--it's Hank Burton!" he murmured, far gone with wonder. "It's +Gerald Wynn's pard, and he helped walk off with your fifteen thousand, +Clancy! What's he doin' in the marine gardens, I'd like to know? +Wouldn't this put kinks into your intelleck? Say!" + +Hiram Hill was climbing up on his seat, bending low to avoid hitting the +canopy top. + +"What are you going to do?" shouted Clancy. + +"I'm goin' down into the marine gardens, lookin' for trouble! If I can +get my lunch hooks on that chap below, I'll bring him aboard, or ashore, +or we'll both stay down in the kelp till the crack o' doom! You hear me, +Clancy? That feller gave us the slip once, but he'll not do it again!" + +With that, Hiram Hill kicked off his shoes, rolled over the rail and +went into the water with a splash. Clancy reached for him, but was a +minute too late, for his fingers clutched only empty air. + +"Look!" whispered Ike huskily, leaning over the glass bottom and +staring; "for the love o' Mike, look what's goin' on down there!" + + +CHAPTER VII. + +AT THE BASE OF OLD SUGARLOAF. + +Clancy and Ike had the privilege of seeing one of the strangest sights +that any one ever saw through a glass-bottom boat. They saw a half-clad +man grab another in a bathing suit, and immediately a submarine +wrestling match was staged. Burton gripped Hill about the throat, and +Hill's fingers slipped forthwith to Burton's windpipe. The scene grew +more and more horrible as the moments passed, and Clancy fell to +throwing aside his garments preparatory to making a trip of his own to +the marine gardens. + +"Wait!" clamored Ike excitedly. "They've broke loose from each other! +They're comin' up. Don't go in!" + +Clancy took another look through the glass. Burton's face was livid and +ghastly, and it was plain that he was hard put to it for breath. With +feeble, faltering strokes he was coming to the surface. Hill was +following him as relentlessly as a shark. + +The rowboat, from which Burton had dived, came alongside the flat-bottom +craft. The fellow at the oars Clancy did not know. The motor wizard had +half expected to see either Gerald Wynn or Bob Katz, but the oarsman was +neither of these. + +"What's happened?" he asked, a tense note of alarm in his voice. + +Before Ike could answer, Burton's head bobbed to the surface, and a +gurgling cry for help floated over the water. + +"Wait a minute!" called Clancy, catching the side of the smaller boat +before the man at the oars could get away from Ike's craft, "I guess +I'll go with you." + +Without much difficulty, Clancy transferred himself from one boat to the +other. + +"You needn't wait for us, Ike!" he called. "Have our clothes ready for +us when we call for them, that's all." + +"What're you trying to do?" demanded the oarsman. + +"We've got two fellows to pick up," Clancy answered, "and I'm going to +help. Are you a friend of Burton's?" + +"I get half he makes for handlin' the boat for him." + +"How long has he been doing this?" + +"Yesterday and to-day." + +"And your name is---" + +"Mynie Boltwood." + +"Well right, Mynie Boltwood! Steady it is, now, and we'll pick up the +two in the water." + +"Never mind me, Clancy," sang out Hill, who had come to the surface, and +was swimming easily despite the weight of the wet clothing he had on. +"Burton is purty nigh tuckered. Take care o' him first." + +Burton was a splendid swimmer, there was no doubt about that, but his +ordeal in the water had told on him severely. He grabbed Clancy's +outstretched hand desparingly, and was assisted to climb over the +bulwarks. Once aboard, he fell in a sprawl on the boat's bottom, +breathing heavily. + +Hiram Hill got into the boat much more easily. Lifting his dripping body +to a seat, he grinned, and shook the long, tow-colored hair back from +his face. + +"How was that for Hi?" he asked. + +"It was a great piece of work!" Clancy answered admiringly. "You're +certainly there with the goods when it comes to swimming. I thought, for +a time, that both you and Burton would be drowned. We could have got him +just as easily, Hiram, if you hadn't gone into the water." + +"I wanted to make sure, that was all." + +"Boltwood," called Clancy, "put us all ashore on the rocks at the foot +of Old Sugarloaf. We'll bask in the sun, for a while, and I'll talk a +little with Burton, We're old friends, you know," and here Clancy +smiled. "The last person in the world I was expecting to see through the +glass bottom of that boat was Hank Burton. It was the surprise of my +life, and no mistake." + +There was something here which Mynie Boltwood could not understand. He +was not ambitious in the acquirement of knowledge, however, and merely +did as he was told--and let it go at that. + +Burton sat up in the boat's bottom, and peered at Clancy. + +"Feeling better, Hank?" the motor wizard inquired pleasantly. + +"What're you and Hill doing here?" inquired Burton confusedly. "We +reckoned you were in San Diego." + +"Oh, you did!" returned Clancy. "You must know something about that +letter Hiram received, inviting him to hang up his hat in Q Street and +feel at home." + +Burton, realizing that he had said something he hadn't ought to, bit his +lip angrily. + +"How'd you happen to come to Catalina?" he went on. + +"The Happy Trail branched in this direction." + +"Eh?" + +"Well," Clancy laughed, "Hiram came to Catalina to find his father, and +I'm helping in the search. We've got a few things to discuss, Hank, and +I think we'll do the chinning ashore." + +By that time the boat was grounded among the rocks close to the foot of +Old Sugarloaf. + +"I haven't got a thing to discuss with you," snarled Burton, "and I'm +not goin' ashore." + +"Sure you are!" declared Clancy. "You'd a heap rather go ashore and talk +matters over with Hiram and me than go to jail. Wouldn't you, now?" + +Fire snapped in the motor wizard's eyes, and his voice, although it was +like velvet, cut like steel. Burton saw there was no use trying to hang +back. + +"If Wynn hadn't made me work for a little money," growled Burton, "this +wouldn't 'a' happened." + +"What's that?" + +"Nothing." + +Boltwood had jumped to the rocks, and was holding the boat by the +painter. Hill followed him out of the craft, and now Burton followed +Hill. Clancy was last to leave the boat. He walked up toward the base of +Sugarloaf Rock. + +"Boltwood," he called, "you stay there and take care of the boat. +Burton, you and Hill come up here with me." + +The excitement that had claimed the passengers in Ike's boat had been +missed by the other boats. The rest of the glass-bottom fleet had gone +around Sugarloaf Rock, and Clancy was now able to look across the low +rise of rocks, separating the headland from the shore, and see the other +sight-seers. + +"Hill and I came over here to find Hill's father," said Clancy, turning +to Burton, "and we find you. That strikes me as being mighty strange, +Hank. What are you and Gerald Wynn and Bob Katz doing here?" + +"Who said Gerald and Bob were with me?" returned Burton sullenly. + +"You said something before we got out of the boat which proved to me +that Gerald Wynn was here with you. And, if Gerald is here, Katz is +along, too. Why are you in this place?" + +Burton did not answer. + +"Why did one of you write that letter to Hill and try to get him to San +Diego?" + +Still nothing from Burton. + +"Did you fellows bring the fifteen thousand with you?" + +Clancy's voice was sharp as he put this question. + +"It must be clear to you," returned Burton, "that I haven't any of that +fifteen thousand. If I had, do you think I'd be divin' for quarters?" + +The motor wizard seated himself on a bowlder. The sun was hot, but a +cool breeze from the sea tempered its warmth. As he stared at the +stubborn face of Burton, his eyes hardened. + +"Hank," he went on, "I haven't any cause to love you, or Gerald Wynn, or +Bob Katz. One of you put a bullet into my shoulder, at the old adobe +near Wickenburg. The three of you, also, made off with fifteen thousand +dollars belonging to me and to Lafe Wynn. Now I can put you through for +all that, and put you through good and hard. Even if I can't get hands +on Gerald and Katz, I've got you securely. Do you want to save yourself, +or don't you?" + +"Save myself? How?" + +"Why, by helping me get back that stolen money. Tell us where Gerald +Wynn and Katz are hiding themselves, where the money is, and how we're +to get hold of it." + +"Think I'm a squealer?" demanded Burton indignantly. + +"Where are your clothes?" Clancy asked. + +"Boltwood knows." + +The motor wizard walked down to the water's edge. + +"Boltwood," said he, "I want you to go and get Burton's clothes. Also +get from Ike the clothes belonging to Hill and me. Bring them back here. +And--listen! Don't say a word to anybody about what happened. +Understand?" + +"I don't know what's happened, or what's goin' on now," answered +Boltwood, "so how can I talk?" + +"Just remember that, then. Here's a five-dollar gold piece for you. Do +as I tell you and you'll be all right. Do something else, and you'll +find yourself in more trouble than Burton is in." + +"I'm no fool, I guess," mumbled Boltwood, pouching the gold piece. "I +don't pry into things that ain't my business. I'll row across and get +the clothes." + +He sprang into the boat, pushed off, and began using the oars +vigorously. The motor wizard turned thoughtfully and walked back to the +place where he had left Hill and Burton. + +Hank Burton had issued his defiance. He was not a "squeeler," but he was +apprehensive regarding Clancy's next move. + +"What're you goin' to do?" he asked. + +"I'm sending for your clothes," was the reply. + +"Then what?" + +"Why, then I'll find some place where I can make a complaint against +you. You think more of your pals liberty than you do of your own. But +that's your lookout, not mine. If you want to go to jail and leave +Gerald Wynn and Bob Katz free to spend that fifteen thousand, why, have +it that way." + +Clancy's tone was relentless. Burton knew enough of the motor wizard to +understand that he would do what he said he would. + +The chap in the bathing suit walked back and forth among the rocks for a +few moments, then, finally, he flung up his hands helplessly and halted +in front of Clancy. + +"You've got the whip hand, as usual," said he, with a tinge of +bitterness. "I'll exchange what I know for my liberty. What am I to tell +you?" + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +TREACHERY THAT SUCCEEDED--AND FAILED. + +The motor wizard congratulated himself, for a moment, that he had won +Hank Burton over to his side in the argument. But only for a moment. +Even as Clancy was getting ready to frame his first question, Burton +took to his heels and ran like a deer toward the other side of Sugarloaf +Rock. + +On that side, three persons had landed in a small boat. They had secured +their boat by twisting the painter around a rock, and were now climbing +Old Sugarloaf. + +Burton must have seen this landing party while walking back and forth +and turning Clancy's proposition over in his mind. He had gained a +little time by seeming to fall in with Clancy's desires, but now the +mask was dropped. + +"Consarn the critter!" whooped Hiram. "Stop him, Clancy, stop him!" + +This is exactly what Clancy was trying to do, but the feat was +physically impossible. Burton had too long a lead. + +Snatching the painter from the rock, the fleeing rascal sprang into the +boat, picked up the oars and was twenty feet from shore before Clancy +and Hill came to the water's edge. + +"Guess again!" taunted Burton, applying himself vigorously to the oars. + +"This island ain't so big!" shouted Hiram furiously. "The steamer for +San Pedro has gone, and there's no other boat for the mainland until +to-morrow. You ain't out o' this yet, Hank Burton!" + +What Burton thought regarding this did not appear. He put all his energy +into his rowing and was soon halfway across the bay. + +"If we'd toted a popper," bewailed Hiram, "this couldn't have happened. + +"Popper?" questioned Clancy. + +"Meanin' gun. With a six-shooter we could have drawn a bead on Mister +Man in the boat and fetched him ashore. Blame it! I sure hate to see him +get away after bein' to so much trouble ketchin' him." + +The motor wizard felt in the same way, but there was no use crying over +spilled milk. Mynie Boltwood got back from the other side of the bay +with a load of clothes, and Hill removed his wet garments, wrung them +out, dried them in the sun, and was soon back in his complete wardrobe, +and but little the worse for his drenching. + +Clancy, hoping to develop something in the nature of a clew, searched +the pockets of Burton's clothes. He found nothing to repay his search. + +"Now," inquired Hill gloomily, "what's the next step?" + +"We came here to find your father, Hiram," Clancy answered, "and +suddenly got switched off into another trail. Now we'll get back to the +work that originally brought us to the island." + +"And let that bunch o' grafters go?" + +"I don't see what we can do, at present." + +"We can set the police on their trail." + +Clancy shook his head. "That won't do, Hiram," he answered. "I made a +crack of that kind at Burton, but it was only a bluff. The moment we +ring in the police, that moment we lift the veil on Lafe Wynn. Lafe must +be protected at any cost. If we could get back the money by our own +efforts, that would be all right. What we've got to avoid is making this +thing too public. We'll return to the curio store and see if Lopez has +got back from the other side of the island." + +Mynie Boltwood displayed little curiosity regarding Burton. The +five-dollar gold piece had evidently blinded him, muzzled him, and tied +up his ears. He rowed Clancy and Hill back to the pier, and they left +the boat and proceeded to the establishment of Jack Lopez. + +Lopez looked a good deal like a man who might deal in dazzling futures, +taking care that all the profit came to himself. He was swarthy and +good-natured, but with a crafty eye. + +"The Fortunatus Syndicate?" he said, with an airy laugh. "Gentlemen, it +is gone--as you say--where the woodbine twineth. Yes, for two years +past. The concession was granted by Diaz for a great 'plant' dedicated +to the god of luck at Tia Juana, but--well, Diaz went out and some one +else came in. Down below the border, nothing remains as it was for long. +It took--what you call--too much money to grease the wheels. The +Syndicate dropped one hundred thousand dollars, and thought that was +plenty. No, no, you can not invest in Fortunatus, for there is no +Fortunatus." + +"This is your card, isn't it?" inquired Clancy, offering for inspection +the card found wider the sweatband of the Stetson. + +"Why, _si!_ I used that card at the time the Tia Juana matter looked +very bright and promising. Now, though, I use the card no more." + +"Did you ever see a feller like this?" put in Hiram, handing over the +photograph of his father. + +Lopez looked at the photograph, started, took it in his hands, and gave +it a more careful scrutiny. + +"As I live," said he, "it is the picture of my good friend, Captain +Hogan, of the steam yacht _Sylvia._ Look!" and Lopez lifted and leveled +a forefinger. + +They were standing in front of the curio store, and the stores all along +that street overlooked the bay. Lopez indicated a trim-looking craft, +painted white, and with the sun striking gleams from dazzling brasswork, +floating at anchor far from the shore line. + +"That," continued Lopez, "is my good friend's boat. Her home port is San +Diego, and she can be chartered by any one with the price. Hogan is at +the island for a few days, looking for customers." + +Disappointment struck heavily at Hiram Hill's heart and was reflected in +his face. + +"You say his name is Hogan?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"What's time whole of his handle?" + +"Uriah Hogan. Strange you do not know, since you have his picture." + +"There's a whole lot o' things I don't know," answered Hiram, "and am +just beginnin' to find out. Was Cap'n Hogan over to Los Angeles last +Saturday?" + +"He was. He has told me about it. He returned to the island Sunday." + +"Do you happen to know where I can find him?" + +"Why, yes. In the quarter of the town called Buena Vista, there is a +bungalow called the Rest a While. There Captain Hogan stays whenever he +is in Avalon." + +This ended the talk with Senor J. Lopez. Clancy took his friend by the +arm and walked with him to the restaurant where they had had their +dinner. + +"Ain't this the limit?" queried Hill plaintively. "Nothin' goes right +for us, Clancy." + +"Well don't fret about it," returned the motor wizard. + +"Order up a good meal and try and be happy." + +They sent in a generous order. Hill, however, could not get the hard +luck out of his mind. He continued to air the state of his feelings +while the order was being made ready. + +"This Cap'n Hogan is a dead ringer for dad. Him and dad couldn't look +more alike if they had been twins. And then, Clancy, them initials in +his Stetson--'U. H.' I reckoned that made a cinch of this here trail I'm +follerin'. But, no. 'Stead o' standin' for 'Upton Hill,' them letters in +the Stetson meant 'Uriah Hogan.' Never before has fate played it so low +down on me as that." + +"We have certainly blundered into some remarkable coincidences," agreed +Clancy. + +A man with red hair, who sat, at their table, cocked up his ear as Hill +shook out his opinions. + +"Hogan?" said he, leaning forward; "did I hear you mention Smuggler +Hogan, of the _Sylvia?_" + +"I called him Uriah Hogan," said Hill. + +"It's all one and the same. Hogan's bad medicine." The man surveyed +Clancy with an approving eye. "Maybe I shouldn't say anything about +this," he continued, "but your hair's the same color as mine, and I +always make it a point to pass valuable information along to a fellow +bricktop. Beware of Hogan! What's the fellow doing with that boat of +his? Some say he's smuggling arms into Lower California, for the use of +the revolutionists, and some say he's running chinks and opium--both +contraband goods--into the United States. Cap'n Hogan is not in these +waters for any good, take it from me." + +The red-headed man finished with an ominous look, and then with great +politeness requested Hill to pass the salt. + +"Hogan, I hear," the loquacious stranger continued presently, "charters +that boat of his to the unsuspecting. He does it for a blind--nothing +else. Now, if you gents want a trip up or down the coast, as far north +as San Fran, or as far down as the Horn. I've got just the +thing--slickest little schooner with steam auxiliary you ever put eyes +on." + +A light broke over Clancy. Maybe Captain Hogan wasn't such bad medicine, +after all. This rival ship owner might be giving him a bad +character--for business purposes. + +"We're not intending to charter any boat." said Clancy. + +"No harm done, anyway," said the red-haired person. "I've given you a +straight tip about Hogan, though, and you can bank on it." + +"Much obliged," returned Clancy. + +A little later he and Hill got up from the table, settled their bill, +and left the restaurant. + +"How about takin' a walk?" Hill asked. "The way that red-headed chap +throwed me into the man I thought was dad, kinder made me feverish." + +"All right," agreed the motor wizard cheerfully, "we'll walk. It's +always a good thing to walk a mile or so after you've had your supper." + +They strolled down the main street, Clancy doing his best to cheer up +his melancholy companion. Presently they turned a corner and started +along a thoroughfare that was bordered on both sides with eucalyptus +trees. A figure stepped suddenly out of the black shadow of one of the +trees and posted itself in front of Clancy, barring his path. + +"Owen Clancy?" the figure asked. + +"Yes," Clancy answered, thinking the voice sounded rather familiar. + +"Well, I'm back again, and---" + +"Burton!" the motor wizard exclaimed. + +"Yes, Burton," the other returned. "I've had it rubbed into me by Gerald +Wynn and Bob Katz till I reckon I can't stand it no longer. I'm ready to +help you, now, and this time I mean it." + +"What's happened to cause this great change, Burton?" Clancy asked +skeptically. + +"Wynn and Katz are trying to beat me out of my share of the fifteen +thousand," was the reply. "If I help you, Clancy, maybe, between us, we +can beat out the pair of them. What do you say?" + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A SPLIT IN THE GANG. + +Clancy had no confidence whatever in Burton. + +"I'm willing to hear what you've got to say, Burton," he said, "but +whether I believe you or not, is another question." + +"You'll believe me, fast enough," was the confident response. "Down the +street, a little way, is a place where we can talk." + +They walked down the street to a bench. The bench was in an obscure +place, and the gloom of the eucalyptus trees surrounded it. Here, after +they had seated themselves, Burton began his remarks. + +"I've been treated like a dip by Wynn and Katz," said he, "and I'm going +to be square with you, Clancy, just to get even with them. When we +lifted the fifteen thousand, at the time you were shot, we laid a bee +line for Los Angeles. We've been there ever since, up to last Sunday +morning. Gerald was bughouse on a gambling proposition, across the +Mexican line. He heard of a stockholder he could buy out for fifteen +thousand dollars, and that's what set him to working his brother for the +money, in the first place. + +"Well, he was as close-fisted with that dinero as any miser you ever +saw. I didn't have a cent in my pocket, and Gerald wouldn't give me any +cash. He paid my expenses, but that was all. + +"Last Saturday he saw that mix-up at Sixth and Main, in Los Angeles, and +he got the idea that Hill was trailing him. Of course, Gerald knows all +about Hill's search for his lost father---" + +"Of course he does!" grunted Hiram. "There's a reason for that." + +"And he conceived the notion of sending Hill a letter and signing the +name of Upton Hill to it," went on Burton. "The idea was to get Hill off +of our trail, and we all reckoned the scheme had won out. I didn't know, +until I looked up into the glass bottom of that boat, that Hill was +within a hundred miles of Catalina Island! And I thought Clancy was +still in Phoenix! Say, it was sure a big surprise to me." + +"That's what I reckoned," remarked Hill, with a chuckle. + +"I used to be swimming instructor in a gymnasium," proceeded Burton, +"and as soon as we reached Avalon I made a deal with Mynie Boltwood, who +owns a boat, and we took to snorkin' the tourists. Gerald was still the +tightwad, and I couldn't live on prospects, no matter how rosy they +might be. Sunday afternoon, while I was out diving, Gerald and Bob +called on Lopez. I get it straight, from a fellow who knows, that Lopez +told them the Fortunatus deal had fallen through. Right then and there +is where those two skunks began to scheme to beat me out of my share of +the swag we brought from Wickenburg." + +Burton fell silent for a moment, evidently reflecting on the great +wrong that had been done him by his former pals. At last he resumed: + +"Wynn and Katz chartered the _Sylvia_ to take them down the coast. I was +told that by Lopez, and I reckon he got it from Captain Hogan. Lopez--I +saw him no more than half an hour ago--says Wynn and Katz are planning +to cut loose from me, I've been a fool all along to let those two do all +the schemin' and never put in my oar. But now I'm going to get busy." + +"You saw Lopez pretty soon after you gave us the slip at Sugarloaf +Rock?" Clancy asked. + +"Quite a long time after that. I laid low in town until Mynie Boltwood +brought me my clothes. You see, I was expecting every minute you'd have +an officer on my trail, so I didn't stir around very much." + +"Lopez is a friend of yours?" + +"He's treated me white when he saw how I was being double-crossed by +fellows I thought were my pards. Now, Clancy, here's a plan I've thought +of: From all I can find out, Wynn and Katz haven't an idea you and Hill +are up Avalon. Suppose we three go to their hang-out and jump them? We +can do it, and recover the money. We'll have to be quick, though, and +pull off the work before they leave in the _Sylvia._" + +"Where are Gerald Wynn and Bob Katz?" + +"Lopez says they're staying at Hogan's bungalow. I know where that is. +Will you go?" + +Clancy hesitated. + +"You're afraid I'm working some underhand scheme, eh?" said Burton. +"Well, forget it. All I want in this world is to break even with Wynn +and Katz. Don't you believe what I've been telling you?" + +"You're a slippery customer," answered Clancy, "and you may be lying for +the purpose of getting Hill and me into hot water." + +"Nothing to it. I tell you I'm square with you." + +"Let's try him once, Clancy," suggested Hill. "If it turns out to be a +frame-up, Burton will be with us, and we can hand him a sample of our +regards." + +"Very well," said the motor wizard. "Lead the way, Burton." + +Burton moved down the walk to the first cross street, proceeded halfway +along the block, and halted in front of a small bungalow with a deep +porch. + +"Here's where Captain Hogan stays when he's in Avalon and ashore," +remarked Burton, in a guarded tone. + +"Can't see any light," murmured Hill. "Looks like the place was empty." + +"I should say, at a guess," put in Clancy, "that the captain is not at +home. He may be aboard the _Sylvia._" + +"We're not looking for Hogan, but for Wynn and Katz," continued Burton. +"I'll not leave this place until I investigate a bit." + +He began climbing the steps that led to the porch. Clancy was still very +distrustful of Burton, and watched warily while following the fellow to +the front door of the house. + +Burton seemed straight enough. With a soft hand he tried the door, and +discovered it to be locked. Moving thence to a window that opened upon +the porch, he tried to raise the lower sash. It was secured. + +"Maybe I can open the sash lock," he whispered to Clancy. "If it's the +ordinary kind, a knife will do the trick." + +He took a jackknife from his pocket, opened a blade, thrust it upward +between the upper and lower sash, and maneuvered for a minute or two. +Finally he gave vent to a muttered word of satisfaction, closed the +knife, and slipped it into his pocket. + +"Here's a little luck," said he. "We can open the window now." + +Noiselessly the lower sash was lifted, and the way into the bungalow was +open. + +"You can stay here," whispered Burton, "or you can go with me. If you're +afraid to trust me, I can look around and report what I find." + +"I'll go with you," returned Clancy. "I don't want to take your report +about what you find, I want to see for myself." + +As carefully as possible they crawled through the window, and while they +stood in the dark room at the front of the house. Hiram came through the +opening and joined them. + +A noise reached their ears, as of heavy breathing. Hill caught Clancy's +arm in a convulsive clutch. + +"There's some one in the place, all right!" said Burton, under his +breath. + +"Strike a light," suggested the motor wizard. "I believe it's safe +enough." + +"Here, let me," put in Hiram. "I've got a match right in my fingers." + +He scraped the match on the wall. As a flicker of light blazed up, a +small, meagerly furnished front room was disclosed. Neither Captain +Hogan nor either of those who had chartered his boat could be seen. + +Clancy stepped to a shelf on the side wall, and took down a candle in a +candlestick. Hill touched the match to the wick, and the investigation +continued under a better light. + +There was a door opening off the rear of the room. Burton glided to it +and carefully pushed it ajar. Stygian darkness reigned beyond. + +The opening of the rear door had caused the heavy breathing to grow +louder. The man--evidently the only one they were to find in the +bungalow--must be in that back room. Clancy, with the candle, pushed +into the lead, and entered the next apartment. + +Hill was watching Burton as keenly as a cat watches a mouse. At the +first sign of a treacherous move, or the springing a trap, Hill would +have been at Burton in a flash. + +Nothing occurred, however, to alarm the investigators. Something was +discovered, on the other hand, which certainly, astounded them. + +A figure was lying on a cot bed--a figure that was bound wrist and +ankle. A towel was tied over the face of the helpless form, and from +behind this towel came the labored breathing which had already attracted +attention. + +The candle revealed the gruesome situation dimly. There seemed no longer +any good reason for silence, and startled exclamations dropped from the +lips of the three investigators. + +"Black work has been going on here!" growled Burton. + +"Wonder if that's Hogan?" queried Clancy. + +"Whoever it is," spoke up Hill, "if that towel ain't removed he'll soon +be smothered to death." + +As he spoke, he hastened to the head of the bed, turned the form +slightly so he could untie the ends of the towel, and presently removed +the suffocating gag. As the head of the bound man fell back on the +pillow of the bed, his face was brought clearly into the full light of +the candle. + +"By thunder!" gasped Clancy, startled. + +"What do you think of that?" murmured the bewildered Burton. + +"Katz, or I'm a Hottentot!" whispered Hill. + +There followed a few moments of silence, during which the three at the +cotside exchanged wondering glances. Here was a situation which seemed +incomprehensible to all of them. + +Katz's eyes were closed, and the breath came and went stertorously +between his bloated lips. His face was puffed and of a purplish hue. + +"What's the matter with him?" queried Burton. + +"He came within one of being suffocated, that's all," Clancy answered. +"Get the ropes off his hands and feet, so he'll be more comfortable. I +don't think it will be long before he opens his eyes." + +The motor wizard was right. Hardly had Katz been freed of the ropes when +his eyelids flickered wide open. He stared up dazedly into the faces +bending over him. + +"Wynn!" he exclaimed, his wits wandering. "You're double-crossin' me, +eh, same as we double-crossed Burton? You and Hogan are going to make +off with the swag! Well, it won't do you no good, you can gamble on +that. You'll be sorry you did this--some day--and---" + +Here his voice trailed off into incoherent mumbling. It was quite +evident that there had been a bad "split" in the gang. + + +CHAPTER X. + +PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. + +Burton's eyes glimmered as he listened to these wandering words from the +lips of his treacherous friend. + +"He got a dose of the same medicine he helped give me!" he said. "Serves +him right. Gerald Wynn is a yellow dog! He turned against me, and then +he hitched up with Captain Hogan and the two turned on Katz. Wish I knew +just how it all happened." + +"Bring some water," said Clancy, "and perhaps we can help Katz recover +his wits. He's half delirious now." + +Burton found some cool water, and brought a basin of it. The bloated, +purplish face of Katz was bathed, his limbs were rubbed, and gradually +his condition, physical and mental, became more normal. He peered at +Burton with blinking eyes. + +"Thank you, Hank?" he asked. + +"Yes, it's Hank." was the taunting response. "How do you like bein' +double-crossed? You and Wynn put the kibosh on me, and here you've got a +taste of it yourself." + +"Wynn's a coyote!" snarled Katz. + +"He's not the only one." + +"What took place here?" struck in Clancy, seeking to direct the talk +into more profitable channels. + +A shiver convulsed the form of Katz. Slowly his eyes turned to Clancy, +and grew round with astonishment. + +"That red-headed motor wizard!" he breathed. "However did you get here?" + +"I'm here, and that's enough," said Clancy. + +"He came on from Phoenix because I wired him to," put in Hill. "He's +helpin' me locate my father." + +"It was Clancy's judgment, I'll bet," observed Burton, "that kept you +from going to San Diego?" + +"Now you are shouting. I was bound to go there, but Chancy held me back +and steered me toward Catalina island." + +Katz's eyes passed from Clancy to Hill. Slowly the wonder died out of +them, and a grim expression crossed his face. + +"You're the clever boy, all right, Clancy," said Katz, "but Wynn is too +many for you. He's bit it off with Hogan, who owns the steam yacht +_Sylvia,_ and they're off for down the coast with all the money. After +we cut you out, Burton, Wynn and I had divided. I had seventy-five +hundred, all in the long green, in that dinky satchel of mine, when I +came to this wikiup to join Wynn and Hogan. Them two were layin' for me. +The minute I stepped in at the door they bowled me over. I went down +like a log, and when I came to myself I was lyin' on this bed, lashed +hand and foot, and with a towel tied so tight over my face that I could +hardly breathe. + +"Hogan and Wynn were in the room, and they just laughed at me. 'You're +easier'n Burton was,' Wynn says. 'Hogan and I are leavin' the harbor +to-night,' he says, 'and we're takin' the hull fifteen thousand with us. +Good night, and happy dreams, Katz,' he winds up, then puts out the +light, locks the front door, and leaves me to strangle to death." Katz +turned his head and spat contemptuously. "That's the sort, of a jigger +this Wynn is," he finished. + +"You're no better than he is," snapped Burton. + +"If I could come within arm's reach o' him, by thunder, I'd show whether +I'm better than he is, or not!" cried Katz, getting up with an effort +and sitting on the edge of the cot. + +"You say," said Clancy, speaking quickly, "that Hogan and Wynn are +intending to get away in the _Sylvia_ to-night?" + +"I reckon they've already gone." + +"Maybe not! There's a chance that the _Sylvia_ is still in the harbor. +Are you as anxious to get even with Wynn as Burton is, Katz?" + +"Try me, that's all!" growled Katz, lifting his arms and working them +back and forth to get the cramps out of them. "I'd like a chance to show +Gerald Wynn just how I feel!" + +"Then come with me! Perhaps we can head off Hogan and Wynn at the dock." + +"No such luck. But look here oncet, Clancy. Are you intendin' to mix the +police in this game o' muggins?" + +"No," was the answer. "We'll handle it ourselves." + +"And the idee is---" + +"To recover, the fifteen thousand dollars," + +"Who gets it, after it's recovered?" + +"I do. It belongs to Lafe Wynn and myself, doesn't it?" + +This part of the arrangement, it was clear, did not please Katz. Clancy +saw that, and his voice hardened and grew threatening. + +"You're a plain thief, Katz! First thing you know, you'll get your just +deserts and land in the Los Angeles jail. You can either come with the +rest of us, or you can stay here. Suit yourself." + +"When you talk in that tone of voice," returned Katz humbly, "I come on +the run. Give your orders, Clancy and count on me to help carry 'em +out." + +"Where does Hogan keep the dinghy that carries him between the _Sylvia_ +and the shore?" asked the motor wizard. + +"I can show you. If the _Sylvia_ is still in the harbor, and there's any +one ashore from her, I can take you right to the place where the dinghy +is tied up." + +"That's where we want to go." + +The entire party emerged from the bungalow, descended the steps to the +street, and started forthwith for the water front. Katz led the way out +upon the same pier at which Clancy and Hill had taken, the glass-bottom +boat to view the marine gardens. Well out on the pier, they came to a +halt, and swept their eyes over the dark waters of the bay. + +"By cracky," said Katz, pointing, "the _Sylvia_ ain't got away yet. +There's her lights, if I'm not mistaken." + +Probably thirty or forty boats, most of them small, were anchored in the +bay. Each carried lights, and picking the _Sylvia's_ lights out from +among the others was no easy matter. + +"I guess you've got it right, Katz," said Clancy. "Unless the yacht +changed her anchorage, that's about where she ought to be." + +"We can tell to a certainty by goin' down to the floats and seein' if +the _Sylvia's_ dinghy is tied up at the pier." + +"If the dinghy isn't there," spoke up Burton, "it wouldn't prove that +the _Sylvia_ wasn't still in the harbor. She may be at anchor, Katz, +with no one ashore." + +"Right-o," answered Katz. "On t'other hand, Burton, if the _Sylvia's_ +dinghy is at the pier, then it's a lead pipe that the yacht isn't far +away. We'll go look." + +They went down the stairs to the floats. There were several boats +chained and locked to the floats, and among them was the _Sylvia's_ +dinghy. The dinghy, however, was not locked to the float post, and a +pair of oars lay across the thwarts. + +"She's here, by Jerry!" muttered Katz. "Hogan and Wynn haven't left us +yet--not just yet! I allow they're whoopin' it up, some'r's, and are +show gettin' out to the yacht." + +"Maybe they're on the _Sylvia,_" said Burton, "and some of the crew's +ashore." + +"What diff'rence does it make who's ashore and who's on the yacht?" + +"It makes a good deal," put in the motor wizard. "Two of our party will +stay on the pier and watch this float to see who comes after the dinghy, +and the other two will take the dinghy and go out to the _Sylvia._ By +making a move of that kind, we'll be able to land on Gerald Wynn, no +matter whether he's ashore or on the boat." + +"I'll watch this end o' the play," said Katz. + +"No," objected Clancy, "you'll go with me to the yacht, Katz. Hill and +Burton will stay here and keep an eye on the float." + +"Well, you're the doctor," acquiesced Katz grumblingly. Clancy had +divided the party so that he and Hill would each have a man to watch. +Neither Katz nor Burton would have the same opportunity to be +treacherous as they would have had if they had been left together. + +The motor wizard fully believed that Hogan and Wynn were ashore, and +that the dinghy was waiting to carry them to the yacht. He felt that he +could trust Burton to be one to deal with Wynn much more safely than he +could trust the more desperate Katz. + +"Who'll do the rowin'?" queried Katz. + +"You'd better do that, Katz," said Clancy. "My shoulder isn't in the +right sort of condition for such work." + +Katz was interested at once. + +"What's the matter with your shoulder?" he asked. + +"You ought to know. I'm pretty sure you're the one who put a bullet into +it." + +"I got an alibi for that," muttered Katz, stepping into the boat and +adjusting the oars. + +Clancy followed him. + +"The idea is, Hill," said Clancy, "to get the money from Wynn. You and +Burton may have a hard time of it if Hogan and Wynn are together. I +can't tell you what to do, except to be careful and do the best you +can. There'll be no dinghy for Wynn and Hogan to use, and I think you +ought to have some success if you use your wits as well as your fists." + +"If we get a chance, Clancy," answered Hill, "we'll either make good or +know the reason why." + +"All right, Katz," called the motor wizard softly. "Make as little noise +as possible. If we can't get aboard the _Sylvia_ without any one knowing +it, we won't be able to get aboard at all." + +"I sabe the burro, fast enough," answered Katz. + +The fellow proved a good oarsman and there was scarcely a sound as he +dropped and lifted the oars. As they picked their way through the fleet +of harbor craft, coming closer and closer to the lights for which they +had headed, they found out that they had located the _Sylvia_ correctly. +Her white, trim bulwarks suddenly loomed up like a ghost ship. + +No one was on deck to hail the dinghy, and Katz brought the small boat +to a stop under the _Sylvia's_ side, and at the foot of a short ladder +that was lashed to the rail. + +Clancy laid hold of the ladder, and, with little noise, gained the deck. +Some one started out from the shadow of a deck awning and stepped toward +him. + +"Is that you, Lewis?" the man asked. + +Clancy's response was quick and to the point: With a tigerlike leap he +gained the man's side and pressed both hands about his throat. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ABOARD THE "SYLVIA." + +Clancy's shoulder received a hard wrench and a tingling pain shot +through his arm. The man who had hailed him was of medium height and +stocky build, and well muscled. Clancy was in no physical condition to +keep up his end in such a set-to, and the result would probably have +been disastrous had not Katz leaped over the side and taken a hand. + +Katz, remembering the way his pal had treated him was as venomous as a +rattlesnake. The motor wizard had all he could do to keep him from going +too far, and seriously injuring the man. With very little commotion the +fellow was overcome, gagged with a handkerchief, and tied with a rope +which Clancy picked up on the deck. + +This rough work finished, the two intruders stood breathlessly in the +shadow of the awning, and waited and listened. They could hear a drone +of voices forward. The monotonous sound kept going without a break, +which seemed to prove that the slight noise aft had not been overheard. + +"So far, so good," muttered Katz. "What next, Clancy?" + +"Our next move is to look around and see who's aboard," was the reply. + +"There's somebody in the cabin, that's a cinch, but I reckon this dub +was the only other chap around the works. Like enough he was a watchman, +or somethin'. What did he call you?" + +"Lewis." + +"Lewis is the engineer. If he saw you climb over the rail, and if he +thought you was Lewis, then it's a safe guess that Lewis is one of the +men who's ashore." + +"That's right." + +"If Lewis has shore leave, then I'll bet Hogan is on board." + +"I think so--Hogan and Wynn." + +"They're the two who are in the cabin, hey? It takes two to make a +talk." + +"We'll find out who's in the cabin." + +There was a deck house amidships, with steps leading up from the +afterdeck. Windows opening into the cabin were almost flush with the +deck, and by kneeling down, Clancy and Katz could look into the small +room below. + +They found that they had been correct in their surmises. Wynn and Hogan +sat facing each other on upholstered benches. A table was between them, +and upon the table was a battered satchel of small dimensions. Katz +reached for Clancy's arm and gave it a quick pressure. + +"That's the grip with the money!" he whispered. "What's the reason we +can't get hold of it?" + +"We've got to get hold of it, somehow," returned Clancy. "Suppose you go +aft and yell for Hogan? It's possible, Katz, that your call will take +both Hogan and Wynn out of the cabin. That may give me a chance to duck +down the companion and grab the satchel." + +"It's worth tryin'," approved Katz. "Even if it don't win out, we can +still end the thing in a fight. You got a shootin' iron?" + +"No." + +"Neither have I. Blamed if I don't feel kinder lost without one. I'll +bet Hogan is heeled, and I know Wynn never goes without his artillery. +We'll have to look sharp and be spry, Clancy, if things come to a +show-down." + +While Clancy watched the two in the cabin, he saw Wynn draw the satchel +across the table, open it, and pull a packet of greenbacks from inside. +He held up the packet, and laughed. Hogan joined in the laugh. + +The motor wizard had a very good look at Captain Hogan, and he did not +wonder that Hiram had been deceived into thinking the fellow was his +father. The bulging brow, the huge nose, and the retreating chin all +conspired to form a countenance that would have claimed attention +anywhere. One eye had an evil squint, and it gave to the whole face a +crafty expression. + +Captain Hogan, it was clear, would never be hung for his good looks, +although it would be too much to say that he might not, some time, be +strung up for his evil deeds. + +Wynn dropped the money into the satchel and sat back arm the bench. As +usual, he was whiffing at a cigarette. Hogan was smoking a big black +cigar. + +Neither Clancy nor Katz was so situated that he could hear the +conversation going forward between the two in the cabin. The voices +sounded from below in considerable volume, but the words ran together in +hollow echoes that baffled the ear. + +"Go on, Katz," whispered Clancy. "We'll try that scheme. If Hogan leaves +the cabin, I'll go down." + +"Suppose Wynn stays with the money?" + +"I guess I can take care of Wynn." + +"Well, here's hopin'. I'd like to crack out a winnin', this play. Sit +tight, now, and listen to the meller trill o' my bazoo." + +The motor wizard remained at his post while Katz crept back to the after +part of the boat. Then, suddenly, Katz opened up with a yell for "Hogan! +Cap'n Hogan!" + +Hogan leaped to his feet, all energy and curiosity in a moment. A +startled look crossed Wynn's face, and was clearly visible in the rays +of the swinging lamp. The captain jumped for the companion stairs, +closely followed by Wynn. Clancy fell to wondering which side, of the +deck house they'd travel on their way aft. If they came down his side, +then the chances were good for a scrimmage instead of a dash into the +cabin. + +In the excitement of the moment, the satchel had been left entirely +unprotected on the cabin table. + +As luck would have it, Hogan and Wynn ran along the alley across from +the one in which Clancy was lying. The time had now come for Clancy to +act, and, without loss of a moment, he gained the companion, and made +his way swiftly down the steep stairs. + +He could hear a sound of husky voices and a tramp of quick feet from +aft. What was going on, between the captain and Wynn, on one side, and +Katz, on the other, was a mystery. Clancy did not waste time in any +guessing, but grabbed up the satchel and started with it on his return +up the companion stairs. + +But he only started. As he began going up at the bottom, some one began +coming down from the top. The fellow above was in as big a hurry as +Clancy, and he lost his footing on the steep stairs and came below with +a rush. + +The motor wizard was caught full by the descending form, and knocked +flat. His game shoulder, as he fell, struck against the corner of a +locker with cruel force and a cry of pain was wrenched from his lips. +Almost as soon as he was down he was up again, and he had not let go of +the satchel. + +The other fellow was also on his feet, It was Gerald Wynn! Wynn stared +at Clancy as though he could hardly credit the evidence of his senses. + +"You--here!" Wynn gulped. + +No answer was necessary. Besides, with Clancy time was pressing. Taking +advantage of Wynn's surprise, the motor wizard attempted to push by him +and get to the deck. Wynn, however, had full use of his limbs and his +faculties. + +"Give me that satchel!" he cried, and tried to snatch the grip out of +Clancy's hand. + +Clancy evaded him with a deft leap sideways. Wynn swore savagely, and +struck at the motor wizard with his clenched fist. + +Clancy blocked the blow with his game arm--hurting it so that he almost +felt as though it had been struck by lightning. Then his other fist shot +out, catching Wynn fairly, and driving him against the bulkhead. + +Clancy had to drop the satchel while executing his defense. He now +grabbed it from the floor, and plunged on up the companionway. As he +emerged through the companion doors, he beheld a form bulking largely in +the half gloom. It was Captain Hogan, braced in the passageway between +the top of the deck house and the rail, and leveling a revolver at the +crouching form of Katz. + +"Stand where you are, you bloomin' beach comber," yelled Hogan, "or I'll +blow a hole through you!" + +Katz swore, and continued his forward movement. + +"Last call!" went on the captain. "Another step this way and I'll +shoot!" + +"You're a robber!" cried Katz. "You and Wynn, between you, have skinuned +me out of seventy-five hundred dollars!" + +"Where did you get the money?" demanded Hogan ironically. "It's no crime +to skin a skinner--or to shoot one either, Here's where you get yours!" + +Before Hogan could pull the trigger, Clancy sprang upon him from behind, +and forced his revolver hand downward. The weapon exploded, and a bullet +plumped into the deck. + +While the captain was struggling with the motor wizard, Katz ran forward +and wrenched away the six-shooter. + +"Let go o' him, Clancy!" panted Katz. "I've got him now. The old sea +shark will do as I say or take the same medicine he's been threatenin' +to hand me." + +Clancy flung himself from Hogan, and the latter stood at bay under the +muzzle of the revolver. + +"You're a measly pirate," flamed Hogan, "to come aboard of me and carry +on like you're doing!" + +"I'm no worse'n you, if I am a pirate!" snarled Katz. "Put your hands to +your back. Clancy, get another piece o' that rope and make Hogan's arms +fast." + +Clancy put down the satchel and followed his companion's orders. + +"Now sit down, Hogan!" snapped Katz, + +"What's your scheme?" demanded the captain. + +"To put you out o' the runnin'. Drop on the deck. I tell you!" + +Katz flourished the revolver, as he spoke. Hogan lowered himself to the +planks on which he was standing, easing his pent-up feelings wrathfully +as he did so. + +"Now a half hitch around his legs, Clancy," said Katz, and Clancy came +around with the end of the rope and got the captain's legs in limbo. + +"You're a fine pair of grafters!" sneered the irate Hogan. "I hope I +live to manhandle you for this night's work." + +Far off across the water could be heard a screech of oars in the locks, +and a faint sound of voices. Hogan, aware that some of his men were +coming from the pier, lifted his voice in a loud roar for help. + +Katz, cursing furiously, sprang toward him and drew back his fist to +strike. Clancy caught the arm before it could deal the blow, and saved +the captain from such savage brutality. Katz turned on the motor wizard. + +"Oh, you!" he yelped. "I reckon I'm about done with this foolin'. Gi' me +that satchel!" + +"I'll keep this," returned Clancy. "The money in it belongs to me." + +"Blamed if I care who it belongs to, I'm goin' to have it. Fork over!" +Katz pushed the point of the revolver in Clancy's face. "Fork, I tell +you, or take the consequences." + +Clancy dropped the satchel. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MORE THAN HE BARGAINED FOR. + +Yes, Clancy dropped the satchel. It was the only thing for him to do, +under the circumstances. He had discretion as well as bravery. + +Besides, Clancy was facing the companionway and Katz had his back to it. +The motor wizard could see something which escaped Katz entirely, and +that was the stealthy advance of Gerald Wynn through the companion +doors. + +Wynn would soon be a factor in the situation. There was nothing he could +do which would make the run of events worse than they already were for +Clancy. + +What had happened showed the folly of putting any trust in a desperado. +It was through Clancy's efforts that Katz had been freed from his +dangerous predicament in Captain Hogan's bungalow. But Katz did not give +any consideration to that when the time came for him to turn the tables +and secure the satchel for himself. + +Perhaps, all Katz had helped Clancy for was the hope that just such an +opportunity would come his way. Now that the opportunity had come, he +was making the most of it. + +"Katz is doing you dirt, eh?" rumbled the captain, turning his eyes upon +Clancy. + +"He forgets how I saved him at your bungalow," said the motor wizard. + +"If you pulled him out of that scrape, then, keelhaul me, you deserve +all he gives you!" + +Katz laughed in ugly fashion. + +"I'll get back what you and Wynn stole from me!" he remarked, stooping +over to pick up the satchel. + +As he bent down, two things happened. They happened very suddenly, too: + +Clancy and Wynn sprang toward Katz at the same time--Clancy for the +satchel and Wynn for the revolver. The work of both was excellent, for +each got what he went after. + +The approaching boat, by that time, was close alongside. In another +moment, Hogan and Wynn would be supplied with reenforcements. + +"Give me that!" yelled Katz, jumping toward Clancy. + +Here the captain took a part in the combat. Bound though he was, he +swung his feet upward suddenly and powerfully. Katz was struck in the +side and toppled to the deck. + +Four men came bounding over the bulwarks. "Captain!" they called; "where +are you, captain?" + +"Here!" yelled the captain. "Make prisoners of these two fellows, Katz +and Clancy. Katz is on the deck, there, and Clancy---" + +Clancy was just going over the side and into the water, so it was +impossible to make a prisoner of him. He took the valuable satchel +along. + +"Get back into that boat, two of you," bellowed Hogan, "and snake that +red-headed streak of lightning out of the water and back aboard the +_Sylvia!_ Look alive, now! A hundred-dollar bonus to the man who +captures Clancy and recovers the satchel he's got with him!" + +Two of the men flung themselves into the boat and put off. The other two +gave their first attention to Bob Katz, and bound him with the rope +which was taken from the captain. So Katz, as it will be seen, was left +in the hands of his enemies, thereby getting vastly more than he had +bargained for. + +Meanwhile, the motor wizard was swimming. He was perfectly at home in +the water, and, even though he was handicapped with a game shoulder, he +found no difficulty in keeping afloat with the satchel, and in spite of +the weight of his wet clothes. + +"Clancy!" called a voice across the water. "Where are you, Clancy?" + +Two boats, at that moment, were searching for the motor wizard. One, of +course, held enemies and was coming from the _Sylvia,_ the other, +carrying Hill and Burton, was approaching from the pier. + +It was Hiram Hill who had hailed. Clancy knew, for he had recognized the +voice. + +"This way, Hiram!" the motor wizard cried. + +Two boats were aimed in Clancy's direction, and two pairs of oars struck +the water. + +"Crack your back, Burton!" yelled Hill, "If you want to get even with +Wynn, now's your chance! Do your prettiest! The two men from the +_Sylvia_ are trying to beat us to Clancy--and it's a close race." + +Hill could see the dark form in the water, and the black shadow of the +other boat rushing toward it. An idea flashed through his mind--an idea +as dangerous as it might possibly be successful. + +"Starboard oar, Burton!" he whooped. "Hard on the starboard oar!" + +Burton's back was to the exciting little scene. He could only obey +orders as he heard them. All his strength went suddenly into the +starboard oar. The boat began to whirl; and then: + +Crash! The bow of the craft swung against the side of the boat from the +_Sylvia._ The _Sylvia's_ men were dumped into the water, but Hill flung +himself on the port gunwale of his own boat and kept it from turning +turtle. + +Burton, hurled from his seat by the force of the collision, picked +himself up and took note of the situation Hill had caused. Two life +preservers came whizzing from the deck of the _Sylvia,_ and the two men +in the water each grabbed one. + +"Bully!" yelled Burton, as Hill helped Clancy aboard. "There's the +satchel! Clancy brought away the grip with the money! Oh, this is better +than I hoped for!" + +The motor wizard dropped with a splash into the bottom of the boat. +While Hill held up his head and wrung the water out of his red hair, +Burton got back on the midship thwart and grabbed the oars. + +"Where's Katz, Clancy?" Hill asked. + +"He must be on the _Sylvia,_" Clancy answered. + +"No use trying to go back after him, is there?" + +"Great Scott, no! Hogan and Wynn would get the satchel away from me, if +we went back. Anyhow, we're not indebted to Bob Katz for anything. If he +hadn't turned on me, at the last moment, and taken the satchel away at +the point of a gun, he and I would both have got clear of the _Sylvia_ +in the dinghy. Katz is to blame for what happened." + +"That's like him!" growled Burton. "He's getting it all around. See what +he did to me!" + +"He's a pesky varmint!" grunted Hill. "He might 'a' died, there in +Hogan's bungalow, if it hadn't been for Clancy. It was almost the same +as turnin' on the fellow that saved his life. I ain't got no use for +such coyotes." + +Clancy sat up on the boat's bottom and looked in the direction of the +_Sylvia._ The yacht's dinghy could be dimly discerned, putting off to +the rescue of the two men in the water. + +"I'm in luck to be safe out of that mess!" muttered Clancy. "Where were +you when those four fellows from the _Sylvia_ came down to the pier?" + +"We saw that Hogan and Wynn weren't among them," Hill answered, "and so +we didn't interfere. There was a big howl when they couldn't find their +dinghy. They managed to get another boat, though, and put off from the +pier. A little later we heard the commotion on the _Sylvia_ and thought +we'd better get a boat of our own and investigate." + +"It's lucky you did," said Clancy. "If you hadn't been close enough to +pick me up, I'd now be in the hands of Hogan and Wynn, along with +Katz--and Hogan and Wynn would have the money. I guess, taking it by and +large, we haven't anything to complain of." + +They reached the pier, and made the boat fast to the float from which +Hill and Burton had taken it. The excitement in the bay had not been +heard, and there was no one besides themselves moving about the pier. + +Clancy, carrying the water-soaked satchel, slopped and splashed his way +to the street, followed by his two companions. On the sidewalk the motor +wizard paused for a final word with Burton. + +"What are you going to do, now that your two pals have passed you up?" +Clancy asked. + +"I'll work this diving stunt with Mynie Boltwood," Burton answered, "and +see if I can't get together a bit of a stake." + +"Come around to the Bolingbroke in the morning, Burton, and ask for me." + +"Changed your mind? Think you'll turn me over to the police, after all?" + +"Haven't any such idea. I think you could be decent, if you'd give your +mind to it. What's the matter with turning over a new leaf and trying to +be honest from now on?" + +"When I want to hear a sermon," sneered Burton, turning on his heel, "I +know where to go." + +Without pausing to hear or to say anything further, he passed rapidly +down the street, and vanished in the night. + +"What do you want to see him in the mornin' for?" queried Hill +curiously. + +"I'd like to grubstake him," answered Clancy. + +"You'd--what?" + +The motor wizard repeated his words. + +"Well, I'm blessed!" murmured Hill, "Why, Hank Burton is one of the three +who helped Lafe Wynn nearly ruin you! And now you talk o' grubstakin' +him. That red hair of yours certainly covers a lot of foolish idees." + +"Burton is the best of Gerald's old gang, Hiram," said Clancy, as the +two walked in the direction of the Bolingbroke House. + +"That ain't a-sayin' a heap in his favor." + +"He's a whole lot better than Bob Katz." + +"Not much in that, nuther. But you won't have no chance to grubstake +Burton, Clancy. He won't show up in the mornin'." + +They reached the hotel, secured a room, and Clancy at once got out of +his wet clothes. He was so tired and sleepy that he dozed off without +thinking anything about the water-soaked satchel. + +Hill, however, had the satchel on his mind, and took good care of it. +When Clancy awoke in the morning, the bright sun was streaming in at the +two windows of the room. On the floor in front of the windows Hill had +spread two newspapers; and on these newspapers, where the warm sun would +strike them, he had spread out the bank notes that had gone into the +ocean with Clancy the night before. + +It was pleasant work for Hiram, drying all that money. He whistled +joyously as he changed the wet bills around, shifting the dryest to the +shade and the wettest to the place where they would receive the hottest +part of the sun's rays. + +"How much is there, all together, Hiram?" Clancy asked. + +"You're shy just half of the fifteen thousand, Clancy," was the reply; +"there's only seventy-five hundred here--hardly enough to bother with." + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A "WIRELESS" FOR LAFE. + +Clancy was startled. He had only been half as successful as he thought +he had. + +"Well, thunder!" he exclaimed, sitting up in bed. "Last night, Hiram, I +was sure I had all the money that had been taken from Phoenix by Lafe." + +"This Was Bob Katz's satchel, wasn't it?" Hill asked, nodding toward the +grip. + +"Yes." + +"Well, Katz said he had only severity-five hundred in it, when it was +taken from him by Hogan and Wynn." + +"That's so," mused Clancy. "I didn't have much time last night, to +reason matters out to a fine point. Half a loaf is better than no bread, +though, I've heard say. I hadn't dreamed of recovering a cent of that +fifteen thousand. Lafe and I are just so much ahead." + +A knock fell on the door. Hill answered the summons and admitted Hank +Burton. + +"Well, by golly!" exclaimed Hill. + +"What's the matter?" queried Burton sourly. + +"I told Clancy I didn't think you'd come. Seein' you sort o' surprised +me." + +"What made you think I wouldn't come?" demanded Burton. + +"Oh, the way you acted, the way you talked, and your low-down character, +gen'rally." + +Burton flushed and scowled. Turning away from Hill he addressed himself +to Clancy. + +"Here I am," said he. "Why did you want me to call here this morning?" + +"I want to give you a grubstake," answered the motor wizard. "Hiram, if +there are five dry twenty-dollar bills in that heap, give them to +Burton." + +Burton started, stared at Clancy, and then watched Hill while he knelt +down and selected five twenties from the drying bills. + +"What are you doing this for?" asked Burton falteringly. + +"Just trying to give you a little boost in the right direction." + +"I'm not entitled to any of that money!" + +"I think you are. You earned something last night. Take the hundred, +Burton, and see if you can't be square." + +The young fellow's face paled, then the color dyed his cheeks. He stood +looking down at the floor, then presently lifted his head and moved +slightly toward Clancy and half raised his hand. Then he paused, once +more, whirled suddenly, and got out of the room as fast as he could. + +Hill had been watching these strange maneuvers in frank amazement. "I +reckon he's locoed," he said, as soon as the door had closed behind +Burton. + +"No," returned Clancy, "his gratitude was trying to express itself, but +couldn't quite make it. He has had his lesson, Hiram, and will profit by +it." + +"He has profited a hundred dollars' worth, anyhow," commented Hill +dryly. "This Happy Trail of yours, Clancy, is a mighty queer one, seems +to me. For a ways, it follows the one I took in huntin' for dad; then it +branches off and points straight toward Gerald Wynn and his gang. Now +here we are at the end of it--and you're seventy-five hundred to the +good." + +Clancy laughed. + +"Get me a pencil and a piece of paper, Hiram," he requested. + +Hiram found the writing materials and Clancy wrote out the following +message: + +"LAFE WYNN, Phoenix, Arizona: Luck. Seventy-five hundred of the missing +fifteen thousand recovered. Cheer up. Happy Trail panning out better +than expected. Still gunning for Hill's father. + CLANCY." + +"Right across the street," said Clancy, "is a wireless station. Take +this message over there, Hiram, and let the Hertzian waves get busy with +it at once." + +"On the jump!" answered Hill. + +"Better take a five-dollar bill with you," Clancy suggested. + +Hill picked up the bank note. + +"I'd like to see that money get dry before we spend it all," he +complained, and then went out with the wireless message for Lafe. + +"Wonder if Lafe will feel any different when he gets that?" Clancy +murmured, smiling happily. "I know I'm feeling a whole lot different +myself!" + +THE END. + +"Owen Clancy's Double Trouble; or, The Motor Wizard's Mystery," +concludes the red-headed chap's series of adventures, in the midst of +which we have left him at the conclusion of this story. You will find +the double-trouble story in the next issue of the weekly, No. 88, out +April 4th. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +[Chapters 4 - 6 of _The Snapshot Mystery_ not included as the story is +continued from a previous issue and continues in later issues.] + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +THE COSSACKS. + +The Cossacks are a race of freemen. The entire territory belongs to the +Cossack commune and every individual has an equal right to the use of +the land together with the pastures, hunting grounds, and fisheries. The +Cossacks pay no taxes to the government, but in lieu of this--and here +you see the connection between them and the Russian government--they are +bound to perform military service. They are divided into three +classes--first, the minors up to their sixteenth year; secondly, those +on actual service for a period of twenty-five years; therefore, until +their forty-second year; thirdly, those released from service, who +remain for five years, or until their forty-seventh year in the reserve, +after which period they are regarded as wholly released from service and +invalided. Every Cossack is obliged to equip, clothe, and arm himself at +his own expense, and to keep his horse. While on service beyond the +frontiers of his own country, he receives rations of food and provender, +and a small amount of pay. The artillery and train are at the charge of +the government. Instead of imposing taxes on the Don Cossacks, the +Russian government pays them an annual tribute, varying in peace and +war, together, with grants to be distributed among the widows and +orphans of those who have fallen in battle. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +A SATIRICAL REWARD. + +There was perhaps more satire than gratitude in the reward bestowed by a +French lady on a surgeon for bleeding her--an operation in which the +lancet was so clumsily used that an artery was severed and the poor +woman bled to death. When she recognized that she was dying she made a +will in which she left the operator a life annuity of eight hundred +francs on condition "that he never again bleeds anybody as long as he +lives." + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +DODGED THE TRAP. + +Doctor James B. Angell tells in his reminiscences the following +enjoyable story of his college days at Brown University under the +presidency of Doctor Wayland: + +The doctor's son, Heman Lincoln Wayland, one of my classmates, inherited +from his father a very keen wit. The passages between father and son +were often entertaining to the class. One day, when we were considering +a chapter in the fathers textbook on moral philosophy, Lincoln rose with +an expression of great solemnity and respect and said: + +"Sir, I would like to propound a question." + +"Well, sir, what is it?" was the reply. + +"Well, sir," said the son, "in the learned author's work which we are +now perusing I observe the following remark," and then he quoted. + +The class saw that fun was at hand and began to laugh. + +"Well, what of it?" asked, the father, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +"Why," continued the son, "in another work of the same learned author, +entitled 'On the Limitation of Human Responsibility,' I find the +following passage." + +He quoted again. Clearly the two passages were irreconcilable. The boys +were delighted to see that the doctor was in a trap and broke into loud +laughter. + +"Well, what of it?" asked the doctor, and his eyes twinkled still more +merrily. + +"Why," said the son, with the utmost gravity, "it has occurred to me +that I should like to know how the learned author reconciles the two +statements." + +"Oh," said the father, "that is simple enough it only shows that since +he wrote the first book the learned author has learned something." + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +THE COMPASS +News from All Points +[illustration: compass] + +Books for Trainers and Athletes. + +So many inquiries reach us from week to week concerning the various +manuals on athletic development, which we publish, that we have decided +to keep a list of them standing here. Any number can be had by mail by +remitting 10 cents, and 3 cents postage, for each copy, to the +publishers. + +"Frank Merriwell's Book of Physical Development." + +"The Art of Boxing and Self-defense," by Professor Donovan. + +"Physical Health Culture," by Professor Fourmen. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Wants to Exchange Post Cards. + +PROFESSOR FOURMEN: It was with great pleasure that I read in Tip Top of +your return to this country. + +I have been a reader of the Tip Top for three years now, and I think it +is the ideal weekly of the age. I would like very much to get in touch +with other readers of your great paper. + +Although the Items of Interest were interesting to read, they are +nothing like the good old Applause Column. + +The part I like best in the Merriwell stories is the way Mr. Standish +keeps the reader interested all the way through. They are not like most +stories, because you can't tell how they are going to end. There is +something new all the time. + +I would like some of the Tip Top post cards. And it will be a pleasure +to exchange cards with any of our Merriwell admirers. I hope to hear +from some of them soon. I remain for the Tip Top always, + Elgin, Ill. 355 Chicago Street. WM. DE GARIS. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Has Read "Tip Top" from No. 1. + +Was pleased to note the return of the Applause Column to Tip Top. I +believe it will serve to increase the popularity of your long-famed and +world-renowned "King of Weeklies," and thought this an appropriate time +to drop you this note of appreciation. + +I have followed your weekly from No. 1, Old Tip Top, to date, and can +recommend it to any friend as the weekly that stands alone. There are no +others in its class. + +Although I never expect the Frank, junior's, to equal the old-time +stories, I find them all good. + +I will deem it a favor if you will tell me if I can get any of the +Merriwell stories in the cloth binding, which were published several +years ago. + +This tribute probably sounds a little strong, but, sincerely, every word +is sent in good faith, and I am sure hosts of others who have followed +the Merriwell adventures for any length of time join with me. + +I don't wish to appear as "butting in," but don't you think a few +illustrations in your _New Medal_ books would aid in increasing interest +in this fine series of stories, and interest to the readers? + +Please send me a set of the postal cards formerly sent to Tip Top +readers, if you still have them. + +With best wishes for a successful future to Street & Smith, a long life +to Burt, the author, I will end, hoping to long remain a true +Tip-Topper. + Gravette, Arkansas. H. WYRIC LEWIS. + +P. S.--Would welcome some of the Old Tip Top characters back to the +front. Some of Frank or Dick's old-time friends and schoolmates. + +You are certainly a loyal, Tip-Topper, and we thank you for your letter +of praise, and for its suggestions. The Merriwell stories have never +been bound in cloth, but you can find them all in _The New Medal +Library._ The post cards have been mailed to you. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Some Suggestions. + +I have read Tip Top for over a year now, and I buy it every week. It is +an excellent weekly, and I think the revival of the Applause Column will +make it more interesting. + +In G. Patient's letter, in No. 79, he asks for some, Tip Top post cards. +I don't know what they are, but if you have another set, I would like to +have it. + +Has the joking quality died out of the Merriwell family? I notice that +Frank, junior, takes life too seriously. Too much association with grown +people. Let's have a joke now and then. Also, it's about time young +Frank's girl is introduced to the reader, don't you think? + +Hoping to see part of my letter in the Tip Top at some early issue, I +am, yours truly, ROSWELL NOTHWARY. + Little Rock, Ark. 2609 Battery Street. + +We have mailed you the post cards. Thank you for your suggestions. There +is a humorous character coming in the Clancy stories that we think you +will like. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +A Poet Tip-topper. + +Upon opening a recent number of Tip Top, I discovered, to my great +delight, that you have reopened the Applause Column. I have read most of +the Merriwell stories, but I have never written to the Applause Column +before, so I think it is about time. I agree with Mr. Charles W. Meyers +that when the Professor Fourmen and Applause were left out, and also +when Frank and Dick were dropped, there was surely something lacking. +Frank Merriwell, junior, is all right, but, to my mind, he will never +quite come up to his father and uncle; but, of course, I expect him to +improve as he grows older. I do not like the Owen Clancy stories. I +think they just about spoil the series. I hope that Dick will soon win +back his fortune, which he lost in the revolution. What about June +Arlington, and all of Dick's old friends, especially Jim Stretcher? I +hope that old Joe Crowfoot is still among the living. I would like very +much to see Bart Hodge's daughter in the stories. I also read the +_Top-Notch Magazine,_ and I like it next to Tip Top. I like the +adventure stories the best, but the athletic stories are good, also. I +have a little doggerel here that I would like to see in print: + +Now, boys, fill up your glasses, + In calm weather as well as in blizzard, +For the hero of men of all classes, + For you, Frank Merriwell, the wizard. + +Once more for Dick, Frank's brother, + The boy who will always be trailed, +Because on all things he does not falter, + The fellow who never failed. + +And now for Frank Merriwell, junior, + Who is one of the Merriwell flock, +Who always gets there a little sooner--- + A chip of the old sturdy block. + +I see you have some Tip Top post cards, and I would be immensely pleased +to receive a set of them. Waiting eagerly for the return of both Frank +and Dick, I will close, hoping that you will not consider this letter +too long to print, and will think it good enough to escape the +wastebasket. CLARENCE WELCH, + Olean, N. Y. 209 West Henly Street. + +The post cards have been mailed to you. Thank you for your frank letter. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +A New Jersey Admirer. + +I like Tip Top because it has such interesting stories. + +It has helped me to be very fond of good reading. I get the Tip Top, and +often give it to others to read. + +Please send me the set of six colored post cards with lifelike pictures +of the Merriwells. + Bartley, N. J. WALTER MORGAN. + +We have mailed you the cards. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Thinks We Are Improving. + +I have been an ardent reader of Tip Top for a number of years, and +consider it the best weekly of its kind, and think it is improving. + +There is something so fascinating about its stories, especially those +about Dick and Frank Merriwell, senior. + +Glad to read in one of the last issues that we are to hear more of them, +also pleased to see the Applause Column on the pages again. + +I would be pleased to receive a set of Tip Top post cards. + +Hoping you will pardon the extent of this letter. + + Hanover, Ontario, Canada. SIDNEY DANKERT. + +Glad you think we are improving. We have mailed you the post cards. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Cigarettes Are Certainly Bad for Your Wind. + +PROFESSOR FOURMEN: Seeing you were back in Tip Top, I thought I would +write and ask you a few questions. + +I belong to the Y. M. C. A. in my city, and to an athletic club. I play +baseball, but cannot hit the ball very well. How can I remedy that? + +I also play basket ball, but get winded very early in the game. This is +the same with running. I cannot run any distance. How can I improve my +wind? + +Is smoking cigarettes harmful, and would you advise me to drink coffee +with my meals, or milk and water? + +After playing basket ball or taking any kind of exercise, what kind of +shower should I take--cold or hot? + +What kind of a game is soccer? Is it as good as football, and what time +of the year is it played. + +Hoping you will answer my questions, and thanking you in advance. + W. O. K. Rochester, N. Y. + +Practice hitting. _Keep your eye on the ball._ Don't try to "swat." +Those are a few suggestions, but ordinarily to learn to bat, one must be +under the personal supervision of a coach. + +Smoking is the worst thing you can do to injure your wind. Stop it, then +see how your wind will improve. + +As long as you get a warm reaction, and do not feel weak after you bath, +but refreshed, take it cold. + +There is no best game. Some like one, some another. Soccer is a cracking +good game, and can be played any time that the ground will permit. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +American College Yells. + +There have been so many requests for us to reprint a list of college +yells printed in Tip Top several years ago, that we have decided to do +so. + +The collection--probably the most extensive one ever made--will be +presented in three parts--one part appearing each week. + +PART I. + +Alabama Polytechnic Institute: "Ki-yi-yi! Ki-yi-yi! Hoop-la-hi! Auburn! +Auburn! A-P-I!" + +Albion: "A-l'-b-i'-o-n', Bis Boom Bah, Albion, Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Alma: "Hip, hi, hoo, ray, ALMA, Rah-a-ah!" + +Amherst: "Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Amherst!" + +Armour Institute Technology: "Arch, Mech, Cie, Elec, Rah, Rah, Armour +Tech!" + +Augustana: "Rocky-eye, Rocky-eye, Zip zum zie, Shingerata, Shingerata, +Bim Bum Bie, Zipzum zipzum, Rah! Rah! Rah! Karaborra, Karaborra, +Augustana!" + +Baker University: "B. U.! Rah, Rah! (repeat) Hoorah! Hoorah! Baker! +taker! Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Baldwin University: "U rah rah, U rah rah, U rah rah tiger!" + +Bates: "B-A-T-E-S--Rah Rah Rah! Boom-a-laka, Boom-a-laka, Boom, Bates, +Boom!" + +Baylor University: "B! B! B-A-Y! L! L! L-O-R! U! U! U-NI-V! V! +VAR-SI-TY! Baylor! Baylor!!" + +Beloit: "Oh-aye, yoh-yoh-yoh-Be-loit! B-e-l-o-i-t--Rah-Rah-Rah!" + +Berea: "Rah, Rah, Rah, sis boom bah, Cream and Blue, Be-re-a!" + +Bethany (Kan.): "Rockar, Stockar, Thor och hans bockar, Kor i genom, kor +i genom, tjo, tjo, Bethania!" + +Boston University: "Boston, Boston, B-B-B-Boston, 'Varsity, 'Varsity, +Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Bowdoin: "B-o-w-d-o-i-n, Rah, Rah, Rah! (three times) Bowdoin!" + +Brigham Young: "Rah Ry B Y, Rah Ry B Y, Rah Ry Re, B. Y. C.!" + +Brown University: "Brunonia! Brunonia! Brunonia! (Siren - - -) +B-R-O-W-N--Brown! Brown! Brown!" + +Buchtel: "Hoo, Rale, Rale Roo! Wa hoo, Wa hoo! Hullaballo, hullaballo! +Rah Rah Rale, Buchtel, Buchtel, Buchtel! ye ho! ye ho! ye Heza, Hiza, Ho +ho! Rah, Rah, Rah, Buchtel!" + +Bucknell University: "Bucknell-el-el! Bucknell-el-el! Give-er-el, +Bucknell! Give-er-el, Bucknell! Ray! Ray! Ray!" + +Case School Applied Sciences: "Hoo! Rah! Ki! Rah! S-C-I-E-N-C-E! Hoi! +Hoi! Rah! Rah! Case!!" + +Cedarville: "Razzle dazzle, never frazzle, not a thread but wool! All +together! All together! That's the way we pull! Cedarville!!!" + +Central University of Kentucky: "Razzle dazzle, razzle dazzle! Sis, +boom! Ah! Central University, Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Claflin University: "Rah! Rah! Rah! Claf-lin-ia!" + +Colgate University: "Colgate, Colgate, Rah (nine times), Colgate!" + +College of the City of New York: "'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, C. C. N. Y.!" + +Colorado: "Pike's Peak or Bust! Pike's Peak or Bust! Colorado College! +Yell we must!" + +Columbia University: "'Ray 'Ray 'Ray C-o-l-u-m-b-i-a!" + +Cornell College: "Zipp, Ziss, Boom, Caw-w, Caw-w Ca-w-w-nell; C. C. +Tiger-la, Zipp Zipp Hurrah!!!" + +Cornell University: "Cornell! I Yell Yell Yell! Cornell!" + +Cotner University: "Cotner, Cotner, the Cotner University--Don't you +see!" + +Creighton: "C. U. C. U. Rah, Rah, Creighton, Creighton, Omaha!" + +Cumberland University': "Wang! bang! siz! boom! bah! Cumberland, +Cumberland! Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Dakota Wesleyan University: "Ha! Ho! Whee! Ki! Yi! Ye! D. U. Varsity Zip +Boom! Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Dartmouth: "Wah hoo wah! wah hoo wah! da-di-di, Dartmouth! wah hoo wah!" + +Davidson: "Hac-a-lac-a boom-a-lak, Hac-a-lac-a red and black, +Hello-bulue-lo-le-la-run, Davidson!" + +Delaware: "D-E-L-aware, Siss-Boom-Tiger-Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Denison University: "Heike! Heike! Rah, rah, rah, hoorah, hoorah, +Denison! Denison!" + +De Pauw University: "Zip, Rah, Who! D-P-U! Rip, Saw! Boom! Baw! Bully +for old De Pauw!" + +Dickinson: "Hip-rah-bus-bis--Dickinson--Sis-Tiger!" + +Drake University: "Rah! (ten times) Hoo rah! Hoo rah! Drake! Drake! +Drake!" + +Drury: "Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah! Drury!" + +Earlham: "Rah, rah, Quaker! Quaker! E! C! Quaker! Quaker! Quaker! +Hoorah! Hoorah! Quaker! Rah! Rah!" + +Fairmount: "Ki yi yi, Sis Boom Bah, Fairmount, Fairmount! Rah! Rah! +Rah!" + +Fisk University: "Clickety! Clackety! Sis! Boom! Bah! Fisk University! +Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Fort Worth University: "Rip! Rah! Ru! The Gold and the Blue! Fort Worth +U.!" + +Franklin and Marshall: "Hullabaloo, bala! (twice) Way-up, Way-up! F. and +M. Nevonia!" + +Georgetown University (D. C.): "Hoya! Loya! Saxa! Hoya! Loya! Georgetown +Hoya, Loya! Rah, Rah, Rah!" + +George Washington University: "G-E-O-R-G-E--George! Washington! +Washington! Washington!" + +Grant University: "G. U., Rah, Rah, G. U., Rah, Rah, Whoorah, Whoorah, +Rah, Rah, Grant!" + +Grove City: "With a vivo, with a vivo, with vum vum, vum! Vum get a rat +trap bigger than a cat trap! Vum get a cat trap bigger than a rat trap! +cannibal, cannibal, siss-s! boom!! rah!!! Grove City College! Rah! Rah! +Rah!!!" + +Gustavus Adolphus: "Hip, Hah, Rip, Rah, Thez-Zah! Z-i-p! Boom G. A. R.!" + +Hamilton: "Rah! Rah! Hamilton! Road! Road! Road!" + +Hamline University: "Boom get a rat trap! Bigger than a cat trap! Boom +get a rat trap! Bigger than a cat trap! Boom! Cannibal! Cannibal! Zip! +Boom! Bah! Hamline! Hamline! Rah! Rah! Rah!" + +Harvard University: "Rah rah rah! rah rah rah! rah rah rah-Harvard!" + +Heidelberg University: "Kili-kilik! Rah, rah! Zit, zit! Ha! Ha! Yai! +Hoo! Bam! Zoo! Heidelberg!" + +Hillsdale: "Rha-hoo-rah Zip boom bah Hipizoo rhu zoo wah-hoo-wah +Hillsdale!" + +Hiram: "Brekekex! Koax! Koax! Brekekex! Koax! Koax! Alala! Alala! +Siss-s! Boom-Hiram!" + +Hobart: "Hip! ho! bart! Hip! ho! bart! Hip ho! Hip ho! Hip ho! +Hip--Hobart!" + +Holy Cross: "Hoi-ah! hoi-ah! hoi-ah! chu, chu, rah, rah, chu, chu, rah, +rah, Hoi-ah! Holy Cross! Rah!" + +Howard University: "Rah, rah, rah! Howard, Howard! Rah! Rah! Re!" + +Illinois: "Rah who rah Boom a la ka, kick-a-rick-a-roi, Old Illinois, +Boom zip boom, Tiger-zah!" + +Illinois Wesleyan University "Rah! Rah! Wesleyan!" + +Indiana University: "Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! Indiana!" + +Iowa College: "Grinnell, we yell, Grinnell we yell, Iowa College, +Grinnell, Grinnell!" + +Iowa State College: "A-M-E-S! Rah! Ra! Rah! Ra! A-M-E-S! Rah! Ra! Rah! +Ra! Hoo Rah! Hoo Ray! State College! I-O-A!" + +Iowa Wesleyan University: "Rah, rah, rah! zip boom bah! Razoo +razoo-Johnny blow your bazoo-Rip ziddy-i-lu-uvi-We-e-e-e-es leyan!" + +Jacob Tome Institute: "Rah (nine times) Tome, Tome, Tome!" + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Spends $24.40 on Phone Call to Girl. + +A young man who said he was Douglas Whitaker, of Winthrop, Mass., +entered a telephone booth in a hotel, at Newark, N. J., got his home +town on the wire, and talked for an hour and two minutes to a girl in +that place. The toll charges were $24.40. He did not have enough money +to pay the bill. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Football Rules for 1914. + +Coaches will not be permitted to walk the side lines during football +games during the coming season, as a result of a change in the rules +adopted recently by the intercollegiate football rules committee, in +their meeting at the Hotel Martinique, Manhattan. The annual meeting of +the committee adjourned without making any radical changes in the +existing rules. + +The proposal that after teams have lined up for play, the team in +possession of the ball will not be allowed to encroach on the neutral +zone in shift plays, before the ball is snapped, was also adopted. The +question of numbering players was only informally discussed, it was +declared. No final action will be taken until after further experiments +are made next fall. + +The proposed change in the rules to provide for an additional official, +suggested by Walter Camp, was adopted in providing that any team shall +have the right to have a fourth official, who shall be known as a field +judge. His duty will be to assist the referee and umpire. The naming of +such an official is optional. + +The committee also adopted a rule providing that any free kick striking +the goal posts and bounding back into play shall count as having scored. + +W. S. Langford, W. N. Mauriss, and Nathan Tufts were named as a +"consultation committee" to act in cooperation with the central board. +This board now consists of Doctor J. H. Babbit, Walter Camp, C. W. +Savage, Parke H. Davis, E. K. Hall, Percy Haughton, H. S. Cope, and +Alonzo A. Stagg. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Rabbit Sausage in Texas. + +Since Texas quit paying bounty for the killing of "mule-ear" rabbits +they have become very numerous, to the detriment of growing crops. It +has recently been found that they made a good food product, and, it is +said, will greatly cheapen the cost of living. + +A full-grown rabbit will dress about five pounds. The meat trimmed off +of the bones and a pound of fresh pork added to five to seven pounds of +rabbit ground together through a sausage mill, seasoned with salt, red +and black pepper, and sage, it is claimed, will make a sausage superior +to pure pork sausage. + +A syndicate is planning to establish a plant at Llano, Texas, for the +manufacture of rabbit sausage and to grind the bones into chicken feed. +It is said the plant will be sufficient to consume all the rabbits in +Texas, and thus the rabbit question will be solved. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +One Big Miners' Union Next. + +At the national convention of the United Mine Workers the proposal to +consolidate that organization with the Western Federation of Miners, as +advocated by President Moyer, of the latter organization, was approved +and the executive committee was authorized to appoint a committee to +meet a similar committee from the Western Federation to arrange the +terms of union, submit the same to a referendum and report to the +convention next year. Moyer charged that President Gompers, of the +Federation of Labor, had not given proper support to the striking miners +in Michigan, and Gompers appeared before the convention and denied the +charge. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Big Game Coming Back. + +Elk have been found in the Uinta national forest, Utah, for the first +time in many years. Since they are not from shipments from the Jackson +Hole country to neighboring forests, the State and Federal officials are +gratified at this apparent increase in big game as the result of +protection. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Red Sox Have Four Southpaws. + +Four left-handed pitchers are now on the roster of the Boston Red Sox of +the American League. John Radloff, of South Chicago, completes the +quartet. Radloff's release was bought from the Manistee club of the +Michigan State League on the recommendation of Patsy Donovan, a scout. +Collins, Leonard, and Coumbe, the latter from the Utica club of the New +York State League, are the other left-handers. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Man Buried by Avalanche. + +Eli Marfhi, a miner, 35 years old, of Butte, Mont., was buried by an +avalanche so that he stood upright in five feet of snow and was held a +prisoner for forty-eight hours. When he was found by a party of miners, +who saw his head sticking above the snow, he was unconscious, and had a +double fracture in his right leg and two breaks in his left arm. He was +not frozen. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Won $10 With a $3 Bill. + +A man walked into one of the leading cafes in Middletown, N. Y., and +asked the bartender to give him change for a three-dollar bill. The +latter started to count out the change, then stopped and thought a +moment. + +"G'wan, there's no such thing as a three-dollar bill," he remarked. The +man who wanted the change insisted that there was, and the bartender bet +him $10 there was not. Thereupon the visitor produced a three-dollar +bill. + +It was a bill issued January 5, 1852, by the Bank of North America, of +Seymour, Conn., which the man had found in the siding of a house to +which he was making repairs. The old bank note was signed by F. Atwater, +cashier, and G. F Dewitt, treasurer. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Parcel-post Extension. + +A ruling of the postmaster general, recently approved by the interstate +commission, increases the weight limits of parcel-post packages, in the +first and second zones, from 20 to 50 pounds; admits books to the parcel +post, and reduces rates in the other zones materially. The maximum +weight for parcels in all zones beyond the second was increased from 11 +to 20 pounds. From the already published rates the reductions are as +follows: In the third and fourth zones, 1 cent on the first pound and 3 +cents less on each additional pound; in the fifth and sixth zones, 1 +cent less on each pound sent. Parcels containing books weighing 8 ounces +or less will be carried anywhere for 1 cent for each 2 ounces, and on +those weighing more than 8 ounces, the parcel-post rate for the zone +will apply. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Radium Fails to Ward Off Death. + +Congressman Robert G. Bremner, of New Jersey, who had the entire supply +of radium possessed by Doctor Howard A. Kelly, valued at $100,000 placed +in a cancer last December, died. Only the indomitable will of the +Congressman kept him alive for such a long period. When told that he was +near death he said to his brother: "Get me my shoes. I am going to leave +this place with you. I want to get to work." + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +House Agrees to Bar All Asiatics. + +The Administration is seriously disturbed over the action of the House +of Representatives in incorporating an amendment, fathered by +Representative Lenroot, in the Burnett immigration bill, excluding all +Asiatics, including Japanese, from the United States, except in so far +as they have rights under existing treaties or agreements. + +While the vote is subject to change when the bill comes up for final +passage, President Wilson and his subordinates are gravely concerned +over the prominence given to the exclusion question at this juncture in +the diplomatic negotiations now in progress between Japan and the United +States. Fear was expressed that if the House should stand firm on the +amendment the result might be a further irritation in Japan and new +outbreaks of the anti-American feeling in the island empire. + +The report was adopted following the rejection of an amendment offered +by Representative Hayes, of California, excluding Japanese, Hindus, and +also all blacks without regard to treaty obligations with any country. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Auto Wheel Wrecks House; Causes Fire. + +The wheel of a large automobile going about a mile a minute broke from +the car and went through the pantry window in Mrs. Isabella Seymour's +home, at South Norwalk, Conn., sending the dishes in all directions. +Then it entered the kitchen and knocked the stove to pieces and set the +house on fire. + +The wheel weighed over 100 pounds. The automobile careened to the side +of the road, but the driver escaped serious injury. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Dies After Living Twenty Years on Cheap Diet. + +Mark M. Woods, a farmer philosopher, of Webster, Mass, who has existed +for the past twenty years on four cents a day, is dead at the age of 75 +years. Death was caused by chronic bronchitis. Woods, in the face of +increased living cost, continued to show the public year after year, +that it was possible to survive on an amount of money that seemed +incredible. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Hiccoughs for Two Months. + +Since it became known that physicians are unable to relieve Hilda Caine, +11 years old, who had had spells of hiccoughing every day for two +months, scores of suggestions to help her have been mailed to Sea Cliff, +N. Y., the child's home, but so far none has proved effective. Some of +the seizures, which occur several times each day, last an hour or more. +It is said the girl cannot live long unless she gets relief soon. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Closing Gas Wells. + +A gas well in Louisiana that had run wild for six years and had been +wasting from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 cubic feet of gas a day during +that period was successfully closed recently by a method that is +probably unique in the history of the gas industry. A relief well was +first bored close to the old well, and to the same depth. Water and mud +were forced down the relief well under heavy-air pressure until the gas +stratum was choked and the flow of gas shut off. The old well, which had +made a crater 225 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep, was then +permanently closed with concrete. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +University Bars Boy Slayer. + +Chancellor Samuel Avery, of the University of Nebraska, announced that +Kenneth Murphy, 21 years old, serving a life sentence for murder in +Nebraska penitentiary at Lincoln, Neb., who was paroled by Governor +Morehead to enter the State university, cannot register in the +institution because of his criminal record. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Sells Rare Stamp for $390. + +H. C. Watts, of Estill Springs, Tenn., recently sold a postage stamp for +$390. It was a Philippine stamp, which he obtained while in those +islands a few years ago, and is known as an "Inverted Surcharge." The +word "Philippine" is printed upside down. It is thought to be the only +Philippine stamp of its kind in existence. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Two Weddings Cause Mix-up. + +Through two marriages, at St. Johns, Mich., a father becomes the +brother-in-law of his daughter; a sister becomes the mother-in-law of +her brother; one man's father-in-law becomes his brother-in-law, and a +woman's sister-in-law becomes her stepmother. Charles Jones married Miss +Emma E. Ellwanger, of De Witt. A few weeks ago her brother, William +Ellwanger, married Jones' daughter, Miss Cora Jones. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Trying to Photograph Bullets as They Whiz. + +A bullet speeding at a rate of 3,000 feet a second, which is more than +2,000 miles an hour, makes a great disturbance in the atmosphere and +creates air waves which, of course, are invisible to the naked eye. +Attempts which have been made to take photographs of bullets going at +this speed have been unsuccessful, but scientists are still trying. If a +photograph could be taken, they say, the print would probably show a +space like a body of water marked by what looked like speeding water +bugs, each having a ripple in its wake. + +Photographs of a bullet going at a rate of speed less than 1,200 feet a +second show no air waves at all. But anything cutting through the air at +a greater rate than this causes much disturbance. If you draw a stick +through the water it causes little eddies and waves to trail behind it. +The faster you draw the stick the more waves and wider the angle it will +leave. Just so with the bullet. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +"Saved" Slayer; Sue for Pay. + +Two Boston surgeons, Doctor John L. Ames and Doctor Davis D. Brough, +want pay for their services in saving the life of Clarence V. T. +Richeson, that he might die in the electric chair for the murder of Avis +Linnell. The surgeons have filed suit against the estate of Fred H. +Seavey, who was sheriff at the time Richeson mutilated himself, and the +doctors were called in. This is the second attempt to collect the bill +which totals $710. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Saves Girl, Loses Own Life. + +Louis Levine, a young salesman, of New York, died a hero from injuries +received in saving the life of his sweetheart, 19-year-old Jessie +Orlain. + +Miss Orlain, Levine, and two companions were returning from the home of +a friend, when the girl suddenly ran ahead to cross a car track. Midway +of the street the sound of the gong, of an approaching car alarmed her +and she stopped, too terrorized to move. Levine rushed toward her and +pushed her out of danger with such force that she fell on her face, +breaking her nose. The car caught Levine. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Spineless Youth Able to Work in the Fields. + +Living and even working, although his spine has been removed, is the +remarkable experience of William Banks, 18 years old, who lives in the +southern part of Chester County, Pa. The young man labors in the fields +every day, and despite his handicap he can do as much work as his fellow +workmen. + +His spine was removed by Philadelphia surgeons, when tuberculosis +developed following an injury. It was declared he would never be able to +walk. For many months he lay incased in a plaster cast. He was taken to +the home of his foster mother, Mrs. Veranda Lee, and was nursed back to +good health. His body is wrapped in ten yards of bandages each day. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +The Divining Rod. + +Although the divining rod as a locator of underground water for springs +and wells has been denounced as a fake by Federal authorities, and is +not given the most implicit confidence even in remote rural communities +of the United States experiments in German South Africa have located +water at subterranean depth in 70 per cent of the tests. + +The department of agriculture of the French republic is seriously +investigating the divining rod, and an association having five hundred +members in Stuttgart, Germany, has begun laborious tests to determine +its real value. + +French publicists and scientists have taken up the personal-magnetism +phase of the question. It is held by some that considering the +surprising discoveries of late in regard to radiation of all sorts, it +may be that there is some radioactive influence of underground waters +which may act physiologically on the organism of the person in whose +hand the rod seems to turn toward the subterranean water. + +An effort will be made to differentiate between any alleged diviner's +sincerity and real physical effect from charlatanism and autosuggestion. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Wolf Shot in Kansas City. + +A large, half-starved gray wolf after attacking three persons and +spreading consternation through a staid residence district, was shot and +killed on Linwood Boulevard, at Kansas City, recently. + +The wolf sprang at Miss Anna Harrison as she waited for a street car. +Miss Harrison threw her fur muff at the animal, and while the garment +was being torn to pieces, escaped into a house. Her clothing, was torn, +but she was unhurt. + +The wolf ran down the boulevard pursued by a milkman who hurled bottles +as he ran. Two blocks from the first attack the wolf bit a negro in the +arm. + +The wolf had run fifteen blocks and attacked Samuel J. Harnden, a deputy +county collector, before T. W. Wright, a policeman, ended the chase by +sending a bullet into the animal's head. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +After Twenty-seven Years Boxers Make Up. + +Jack McAuliffe, the old lightweight, has become reconciled to Jem +Carney, to whom he has not spoken since their famous five-hour battle at +Revere Beach, Mass., November 17, 1887. Carney always felt he should +have received the verdict. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Noise Silencer. + +Our modern day, half-crazed by the uproar that its own activities have +brought about, will welcome the soft pedal that Sir Hiram Maxim, +inventor of the gun silencer, is preparing to put on the hubbub in which +every great urban community has condemned itself to live. + +Everything has to be paid for, in one shape or another, and too many of +our present aids, appliances, and conveniences pay for themselves in +noise. Both the conscious and the subconscious organisms suffer, +knowingly or unknowingly, and no relief has been promised. + +The Anglo-American inventor proposes to better such conditions by making +the individual immune, so far as auricular addresses are concerned. A +simple electrical appliance will turn any office or bedroom into a zone +of quiet. The noise will go on, but will not reach your ear, and sounds, +the waves of which fail to reach the eardrum, are nonexistent--for that +particular ear. + +The new invention will soon be tried in the wards of a New York +hospital. As soon as possible let it be introduced into the noisy +regions of offices, stores, and factories. Thus may the number of +hospital patients become appreciably reduced. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Purse Shot from Thief's Hand. + +Two men attacked Mrs. Peter Sensmeir, of Evansville, Ind., late at +night, grabbed her purse, and started to run. Patrolman Withers, who +happened by, shot the purse from the hand of one of the men as he ran up +an alley, and it was recovered. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Girl Ropes Coyote. + +Miss Nancy Anderson, 19 years old, the pretty daughter of an old-time +ranchman living in the Alahab oil fields near Hazlehurst, Miss., knows +how to ride a pony and is an expert in twirling the rope. That is why +she has been paid a bounty for killing a coyote, the first one seen in +this part of the country for a long time. + +Miss Anderson was out for a morning's ride when she encountered the +coyote. She put spurs to her pony, made a big loop of her lariat, and +gave chase. The first throw was successful and she dragged the coyote +until she found a large rock, with which she killed it. Besides the +bounty she received she was given $2 for the hide by a curio dealer. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +He Is Rat-killing Champion. + +"Uncle" Jack Hart, of Ayden, N. C., claims he is the champion rat killer +of the State. With the aid of a wire trap, and a dog he killed an even +thousand of the rodents last year. He has killed in the neighborhood of +10,000 in the past fifteen years. He will kill rats in any house at the +rate of 5 cents each. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Man-trap Victim Recovers. + +James C. Gunn, first lieutenant in the United States army, who became +paralyzed, following an injury he received in a man trap in the +Philippine Islands, has recovered and is on his way to the Orient again. +A spear, with which the trap was armed, severed Gunn's sciatic nerve, +paralyzing him. The nerve was spliced at a San Francisco hospital, and +the man was cured. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +10 DAYS FREE TRIAL + +We ship on approval without a cent deposit, freight prepaid. DON'T PAY A +CENT if you are not satisfied after using the bicycle 10 days. + +DO NOT BUY _a bicycle or a pair of tires_ at any price until you receive +our latest art catalogs illustrating every kind of bicycle, and have +learned our _unheard of prices and marvelous new offers._ + +ONE CENT is all it will cost to write a postal and everything will be +sent you free postpaid by return mail. You will get much valuable +information. Do not wait, write it now TIRES, Coaster - Brake, rear +wheels, lamps, sundries at _half usual price._ + +Mead Cycle Co. _Dept. F345_ Chicago + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +SOME OF BACK NUMBERS OF NEW TIP TOP WEEKLY THAT CAN BE SUPPLIED + +707--Dick Merriwell's Gambol. +708--Dick Merriwell's Gun. +709--Dick Merriwell at His Best. +710--Dick Merriwell's Master Mind. +711--Dick Merriwell's Dander. +712--Dick Merriwell's Hope. +713--Dick's Merriwell's Standard. +714--Dick Merriwell's Sympathy. +715--Dick Merriwell in Lumber Land. +716--Frank Merriwell's Fairness. +717--Frank Merriwell's Pledge. +718--Frank Merriwell, the Man of Grit. +719--Frank Merriwell's Return Blow. +720--Frank Merriwell's Quest. +721--Frank Merriwell's Ingots. +722--Frank Merriwell's Assistance. +723--Frank Merriwell at the Throttle. +724--Frank Merriwell, the Always Ready. +725--Frank Merriwell in Diamond Land. +726--Frank Merriwell's Desperate Chance. +727--Frank Merriwell's Black Terror. +725--Frank Merriwell Again on the Slab. +729--Frank Merriwell's Hard Game. +730--Frank Merriwell's Six-in-hand. +731--Frank Merriwell's Duplicate. +732--Frank Merriwell on Rattlesnake Ranch. +733--Frank Merriwell's Sure Hand. +734--Frank Merriwell's Treasure Map. +735--Frank Merriwell, Prince of the Rope. +736--Dick Merriwell, Captain of the Varsity. +737--Dick Merriwell's Control. +738--Dick Merriwell's Back Stop. +739--Dick Merriwell's Masked Enemy. +740--Dick Merriwell's Motor Car. +711--Dick Merriwell's Hot Pursuit. +742--Dick Merriwell at Forest Lake. +743--Dick Merriwell in Court. +744--Dick Merriwell's Silence. +745--Dick Merriwell's Dog. +746--Dick Merriwell's Subterfuge. +747--Dick Merriwell's Enigma. +748--Dick Merriwell Defeated. +749--Dick Merriwell's "Wing." +759--Dick Merriwell's Sky Chase. +751--Dick Merriwell's Pick-ups. +752--Dick Merriwell on the Rocking R. +753--Dick Merriwell's Penetration. +754--Dick Merriwell's Intuition. +755--Dick Merriwell's Vantage. +756--Dick Merriwell's Advice. +757--Dick Merriwell's Rescue. +758--Dick Merriwell, American. +759--Dick Merriwell's Understanding. +760--Dick Merriwell, Tutor. +761--Dick Merriwell's Quandary. +762--Dick Merriwell on the Boards. +763--Dick Merriwell, Peacemaker. +764--Frank Merriwell's Sway. +765--Frank Merriwell's Comprehension. +766--Frank Merriwell's Young Acrobat. +767--Frank Merriwell's Tact. +768--Frank Merriwell's Unknown. +769--Frank Merrlwell's Acuteness. +770--Frank Merriwell's Young Canadian. +771--Frank Merriwell's Coward. +772--Frank Merriwell's Perplexity. +773--Frank Merriwell's Intervention. +774--Frank Merriwell's Daring Deed. +775--Frank Merriwell's Succor. +776--Frank Merriwell's Wit. +777--Frank Merriwell's Loyalty. +775--Frank Merriwell's Bold Play. +779--Frank Merriwell's Insight. +780--Frank Merriwell's Guile. +781--Frank Merriwell's Campaign. +782--Frank Merriwell in the National Forest. +783--Frank Merriwell's Tenacity. +784--Dick Merriwell's Self-sacrifice. +785--Dick Merriwell's Close Shave. +786--Dick Merriwell's Perception. +787--Dick Merriwell's Mysterious Disappearance. +788--Dick Merriwell's Detective Work. +789--Dick Merriwell's Proof. +790--Dick Merriwell's Brain Work. +791--Dick Merriwell's Queer Case. +792--Dick Merriwell, Navigator. +793--Dick Merriwell's Good Fellowship. +794--Dick Merriwell's Fun. +795--Dick Merriwell's Commencement. +796--Dick Merriwell at Montauk Point. +797--Dick Merriwell, Mediator. +798--Dick Merriwell's Decision. +799--Dick Merriwell on the Great Lakes. +800--Dick Merriwell Caught Napping. +801--Dick Merriwell in the Copper Country. +802--Dick Merriwell Strapped. +803--Dick Merriwell's Coolness. +804--Dick Merriwell's Reliance. +805--Dick Merriwell's College Mate. +806--Dick Merriwell's Young Pitcher. +807--Dick Merriwell's Prodding. +808--Frank Merriwell's Boy. +809--Frank Merriwell's Interference. +810--Frank Merriwell's Young Warriors. +811--Frank Merriwell's Appraisal. +812--Frank Merriwell's Forgiveness. +813--Frank Merriwell's Lads. +814--Frank Merriwell's Young Aviators. +815--Frank Merriwell's Hot-head. +816--Dick Merriwell, Diplomat. +817--Dick Merriwell in Panama. +818--Dick Merriwell's Perseverance. +819--Dick Merriwell Triumphant. +820--Dick Merriwell's Betrayal. +821--Dick Merriwell, Revolutionist. +822--Dick Merriwell's Fortitude. +823--Dick Merriwell's Undoing. +824--Dick Merriwell Universal Coach. +825--Dick Merriwell's Snare. +826--Dick Merriwell's Star Pupil. +827--Dick Merriwell's Astuteness. +828--Dick Merriwell's Responsibility. +829--Dick Merriwell's Plan. +830--Dick Merriwell's Warning. +831--Dick Merriwell's Counsel. +832--Dick Merriwell's Champions. +833--Dick Merriwell's Marksmen. +834--Dick Merriwell's Enthusiasm. +835--Dick Merriwell's Solution. +836--Dick Merriwell's Foreign Foe. +837--Dick Merriwell and the Carlisle Warriors. +838--Dick Merriwell's Battle for the Blue. +839--Dick Merriwell's Evidence. +840--Dick Merriwell's Device. +841--Dick Merriwell's Princeton Opponent. +842--Dick Merriwell's Sixth Sense. +843--Dick Merriwell's Strange Clew. +844--Dick Merriwell Comes Back. +845--Dick Merriwell's Heroic Crew. +846--Dick Merriwell Looks Ahead. +847--Dick Merriwell at the Olympics. +848--Dick Merriwell in Stockholm. +849--Dick Merriwell in the Swedish Stadium. +850--Dick Merriwell's Marathon. + + +NEW SERIES. +New Tip Top Weekly + +1--Frank Merriwell, Jr. +2--Frank Merriwell, Jr., in the Box. +3--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Struggle. +4--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Skill. +5--Frank Merriwell, Jr., in Idaho. +6--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Close Shave. +7--Frank Merriwell, Jr., on Waiting Orders. +8--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Danger. +9--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Relay Marathon. +10--Frank Merriwell, Jr., at the Bar Z Ranch. +11--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Golden Trail. +12--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Competitor. +13--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Guidance. +14--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Scrimmage. +15--Frank Merriwell, Jr., Misjudged. +16--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Star Play. +17--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Blind Chase. +18--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Discretion. +19--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Substitute. +20--Frank Merriwell, Jr., Justified. +21--Frank Merriwell, Jr., Incog. +22--Frank Merriwell, Jr., Meets the Issue. +23--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Xmas Eve. +24--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Fearless Risk. +25--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, on Skis. +26--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ice-boat Chase. +27--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ambushed Foes. +28--Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Totem. +29--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Hockey Game. +30--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Clew. +31--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Adversary. +32--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Timely Aid. +33--Frank Merriwell, Jr., in the Desert. +34--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Grueling Test. +35--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Special Mission. +36--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Red Bowman. +37--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Task. +38--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Cross-Country Race. +39--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Four Miles. +40--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Umpire. +41--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Sidetracked. +42--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Teamwork. +43--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Step-Over. +44--Frank Merriwell, Jr. in Monterey. +45--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Athletes. +46--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Outfielder. +47--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, "Hundred." +48--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Hobo Twirler. +49--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Canceled Game. +50--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Weird Adventure. +51--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Double Header. +52--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Peck of Trouble. +53--Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Spook Doctor. +54--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Sportsmanship. +55--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ten-Innings. +56--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Ordeal. +57--Frank Merriwell, Jr., on the Wing. +58--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Cross-Fire. +59--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Lost Team-mate. +60--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Daring Flight. +61--Frank Merriwell, Jr., at Fardale. +62--Frank Merriwell, Jr., Plebe. +63--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Quarter-Back. +64--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Touchdown. +65--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Night Off. +66--Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Little Black Box. +67--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Classmates. +68--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Repentant Enemy. +69--Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the "Spell." +70--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Gridiron Honors. +71--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Winning Run. +72--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Jujutsu. +73--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Christmas Vacation. +74--Frank Merriwell, Jr., and the Nine Wolves. +75--Frank Merriwell, Jr., on the Border. +76--Frank Merriwell, Jr.'s, Desert Race. +77--Owen Clancy's Run of Luck. +78--Owen Clancy's Square Deal. +79--Owen Clancy's Hardest Fight. +80--Owen Clancy's Ride for Fortune. +81--Owen Clancy's Makeshift. Dated February 21st, 1914. +82--Owen Clancy and the Black Pearls. Dated February 25th, 1914. +83--Owen Clancy and the Sky Pilot. Dated March 7th, 1914. +84--Owen Clancy and the Air Pirates. Dated March 14th, 1914. +85--Owen Clancy's Peril. + +PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY. If you want any back numbers of our weeklies +and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be obtained +direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money. + +Street & Smith, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., New York City + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Owen Clancy's Happy Trail, by Burt L. Standish + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OWEN CLANCY'S HAPPY TRAIL *** + +***** This file should be named 24102.txt or 24102.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/1/0/24102/ + +Produced by Richard Halsey + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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