8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 21st December 1912 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-21st-december-1912 1/16 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1912. 'With a snarl like that of a wild cat the Indian sprang for Airs throat." (*» p. 179.) The Fiery Totem : A TALE OF ADVENTURE I N T H E CANADIAN NORTH-WEST. By ARGYLL SA X BY, M.A., F.R.G.S., Author of " Braves, White and Red" " Call of Honour," " Comrades Three I " " Toviak," " Tangled Trails," etc., etc. CHATTER xiv. (continued). —THE BATTLE OF WITS. T was Alf who was the first to discover th e stranger. " I sa y ! There's an Indian ! " he exclaimed. Where?" questioned Bo b, who had swum a little 1
w a y out of sight be yon d ac u r v e in the creek.
" Over there — besi de ourc l o t h e s . Bu t I say ! Wh at ahorrible face he has got . Hel o o k s as if a lion had s ta r tedt o c h e w him and changed hism i n d ! He 's the ugliest loo kin gfreak I ever saw."
Taking for granted t h a t th e
India n would not understandthe uncomplimentary remarks,H o l d e n swam towards the sideof th e p o o l , being quicklyfo l lowed by his chum . Butthe Indian had understood.H e was as familiar with col loquial English as he was wit hhis own tongue. Nevertheless,he did not a l te r the grin onhi s face , though there wa ssomething very different f r o ma grin at his hear t—a s o m ething which (if the rash speakerha d o n l y known it) had sudd e n l y determined him to carryout his con tr act in quite a
different manner f rom t h a tw h i c h had been arran ged withThunder-maker.
A n Indian is a queer creatur eat the best. He loves as quicklyanJ impuls ivel y as he hates,while devoti on may be tu rnedint o detest ation as rapidly asa vessel of clear water is discoloured by a dr op of ink. Re dF o x ' s eyes flashed fire towards the impudentlad, though his lips still smiled, and anyonew h o was a judge of Indi an chara cter woul dhave understood f rom t h a t l o o k t h a t itw o u l d be an ill mome nt fo r Alf if ever itwas within the power of the reds kin to r epa ythe insult ing expressions.
B y this time both lads had reached thesho r e , whereupo n Bob addressed the strangerwhile the pair procee ded to dress—Arnol d'sc l o t h e s being dry by this t ime .
" We l l , where have you c o m e f rom ? "the boy questioned.
" Trail long. R e d F o x c o m e o v e r prairie—bush—far—far ' '
" Oh, yo u understand English ? " exclai medAlf, at the same time hoping t h a t the Indianhad not heard enough, or understoodEnglish well enough, to compreh end therecent criticisms as to his personal appeara n c e .
T h e redskin nodde d, thou gh he craftilypretended t h a t his knowl edge of the f oreigntongue was but scanty.
" Red Fo x know li t t le —very l i t t le. He
speak—he no' unders tand all t h a t ears tel lh i m . "
" And a jo l ly g o o d j o b , t o o , " c o m m e n t e dAl f to his friend. " He' s a hideou s monster,but I shouldn't like to hur t his feelings bylett ing him know my opinion."
" I don't think t h a t I woul d express i t to ofreely, if I were you ," said Bob , who ha dq u i c k l y resumed his everyday a t t i re . " Yo unever can tell how much fe l lows l ike t h a tunderstand. I remember father tellingm e t h a t Indians won't always admit t h a tthey know English well. They th ink t h a tthe y can driv e bette r bargains by pretend ingi g n o r a n c e . "
Then the boy tu rned to the native, andthe fact t h a t the man was alone and
s e e m e d to have no other possessions thanhis gun, hunting-knife an d pipe, raised do ubt sin the lad's mind as to the t r u t h of thes ta tement concerning the long journe y.H e knew and had heard sufficient aboutIndi ans to be aware t h a t they seldomtravelled any distance without the i r fami lyand other belongings.
A Seasonable Riddle,
going to buy any more sketches from this Christmas
Because on the present occasion he has given us Short Wait I
" Yo u sa id t h a t you have c o m e a longtrail ? " he said, regarding t he Indi an witha sharp scrutiny.
R e d F o x b o w e d assent, taking out hisp i p e t o fill it with kini-ka-nik ( t o b a c c o an dre d wil low bark m ix ed) as he spoke.
" R e d F o x c o m e far—with feet of deer.H e have story for ear of pale-face brothers."
T h e b o y s s ta r ted at the rema rk, while Alf r e p e a t e d :
" A story ? "" From the white men, to the i r papooses . "This was news, in de ed; but the unex
p e c t e d announcement disarmed suspicionfo r the moment .
" Fr om our fathers ? " sai d Bo b eager ly." Wher e are they ? Wh at has kept themf r o m re turn ing to ca mp ? "
" The white men res t , " replied the Indian." T h e trail far. Th ey find Re d Fo x andthe y sa y: ' Go , find our papoos es andlead them by s t ra igh t trail to our t en t . ' "
" But they had no t en t with the m ! "e x c l a i m e d Alf, at o n c e touching the weak p o i n t in the fal sehood . " Perha ps the y
are with other Indians ? "R e d Fo x had not been instructed by
Thun der -mak er in the details of the st oryt h a t he was to tell in order to gain his ends.It had not occ urred to him to invent morethan tha t he had bee n sent to bring thelads. Tha t had seeme d sufficient to a t ta inhis aims, though he realised t h a t i t wouldnot do to say t h a t the white men werec a p t i v e s . That might frighten the b o y sand prevent their fo l lowing his guidance.T h e p o o r servant had not calculated uponthe probing questions t h a t would have beennatura l ly anticipated by an English mindand prepared for.
Bu t he saw the blunde r, and hast enedt o amend the error as best he might.
" Whit e men with Indians—with friends.R e d me n g o o d to pale-fac es—give them foodand teepees and robes to rest on. So whiteme n wish papooses to fo l low where Red Foxw a l k . "
H o l d e n tu rned aside to his chum." I'll be hanged if I'll fo l low the lead of a
m u r d e r o u s - l o o k i n g villain like t h a t unless he
c a n show very g o o d reasons why I s houl d.Hi s face is like a nigh tmar e."
" I can't say I like the look of hirr*myse l f , " returned Bo b. " He hasn ' t g o tthe expression of a fellow y o u c o u l d t r u s t .Besides , don't you think t h a t if our fathe r*were well and had sent a nati ve mess engert o us—don't you think tha t they would havesent some sort of written message as well ? "
" It woul d have been easy enoug h.F a t h e r always carries his notebook andpenci l with him "
" So he c o u l d have easily explainedmat te rs . I don't think he would havet rus ted an India n to be under stood . I tisn't as if we knew anything of the l i n g o . "
W h i l e th e b o y s were thus discussing thesituat ion in low tones, they did not heedh o w Re d Fo x was obser ving them sharplyf rom the corners of his eyes . He was tryingt o disc over ho w far his decepti on huds u c c e e d e d , though he endeavoured to hide hisanxious observation by the action of lightinghis redst one pipe. And it must be confessedt h a t his keen scrutiny of the la ds' faces didno t reassure him. He c o u l d see suspicionplainly mark ed in both , while his heart burned
with fire of anger, thoug h resentment wasmainly directed to the younger lad whoseinad vert ent remarks had cut so deepl y int othe savage pride.
But the redskin's mental observationswere suddenly cut short by B ob , who wheeledu p o n him with a sudden inspirati on.
" L o o k here ," he said quic kly, thou gh hisv o i c e was pleasant and almost reassuring," i t i s ve ry g o o d of yo u to travel so far tobring us th i s news. We are glad to see yo u,and will try t o give you a g o o d present. Butw e will sett le our business first. So, give m et he letter, an d then we will go to the t e n tand eat ."
" Letter ? "T h e India n repeated t he single wor d in a
p u z z l e d tone." Y e s ; the one my father gave yo u, "
sa id Bob .So mystifie d was Re d Fo x by the intelli
g e n c e t h a t apparently he had not o n l y beene x p e c t e d by the b o y s bu t t h a t he had beenl o o k e d for as the bearer of a letter f rom th efathers to their sons, tha t he was momentari lystartled out of his caution in pretending anonly slight acquaintance with the Englishlanguage.
H e stared open-e yed at the questio n, an dB o b continued evenly :
" Of cou rse my father woul d sen d a letterif he wante d us. He c o u l d do t h a t to provetha t his messenger was one w h o m he c o u l dt rus t . Did he give yo u one '! "
R e d Fox was quite taken off his guard bythe white b o y ' s guile, but he strove to c o v e rhis confusion by further lying.
" Yes —th e white man send paper by handof Re d Fo x, but—but Re d Fo x f o o l i s h ; he— l o s e let ter—on trail—"
" B u t y o u are sure you ha d one ? I t wouldb e written—in red—with a red pencil—a redpaint-st ick."
" My white brother speaks t r u e , " said theIndian.
" Of course he does ! " c hime d in Alf,t o w h o m his chum's ruse was now clear." And if t h a t letter was written in red andsent to us, we would know where it camef rom, and would follow the messenger ato n c e . "
T h e India n flashed a qui ck glance of
hat red towards the last speaker, but ins tan t ly lowered his eyelids again, as hereturned with more calmness than before :.
" It is well. The pale-face did paintletter with red. But—Red Fox foolishIndian. He lose letter on trail . He seek much—much—but no' f ind."
The Fiery Totem. 179th e b o y s knew for certain tha t the manwas lying—that he had not been c o mmiss ion ed by either of their parents ; andb o t h laughed derisively.
" Trapped ! " exc laimed Holden tr iumphantly. " Yo u ' v e got hi m tight as a ra bbitin a gin, B ob . "
H o w that sneering laughter scorched theredman's pri de! I t touched him at the
quick, and caused him to writhe inwardly,until his fingers twitched beneath the fo ldsof his blanket with eagerness to t ear out thetongue that thus jeered at him. Ye t thelads did not dream how near they were totragedy as they laughed at the little c o m e d ywith the chief actor sitting huddled at theirfee t . The y did not notic e how the Indi an'seyes first measured the distance f rom th eoverhanging bank to the surface of thewater, and then as quietly calculated thedistance between himself and the lads.
" Yes, you were indeed fool ish ," resumedA r n o l d , for you have shown us tha t y o u rwords were lies. My father never wrote sucha letter, I am sure, for a red pencil is not athing that he posses ses. An d if he were well
enough to write, he wo uld be well enou gh t oc o m e himself, instead of sending such afoolish Indian and a bad liar."
" At the same time," whispered Alf, " thechap must kno w something or he wouldn' tbe here at all. We mus t find out tha t ins o m e way or other."
" True," Bob said.Bu t there was no time al lowed for c o n
sidering what means to adopt to obtainfurther information, for just at that m o m e n tR e d F o x ut te red a wild cry, and sprangfrom the groun d with the leap of a d eer.N e x t instant Bob was gripped as in a v i c eand flung into the c ent re of the p o o l ;then with a snarl l ike tha t of a wild catthe Indian sprang for Alf ' s throa t .
C H A P T E R X V . — O F F !
T H E Indi an is not hin g if he is no t une x p e c t e d in all his acti ons. Surprisea t tacks were ever his we apons of warfare.F r o m amo ng the long grass of an appar entl yi nnocen t mea dow he would sudde nly riseup with his fo l lowers to attack the caravanthat was quietly pursuing its way along theprairie in absolu te ignorance of the nearnessof enemies . In the dead hour of night thew a r- w h o o p woul d suddenl y ring t hroug hthe forest, and the settlers would be scalpedand dead before the last echo had baretime to die away.
So it was on this occas ion. Utte r lyunsuspicious of a t tack , both b o y s weretaken at a dis adva nta ge. B o b was floundering in the water before he had time to realiseth e assault , while Alf was equally unprepa redas the Indian sprang towards him.
T h e claw-like fingers missed their intended grip upon the b o y ' s th roa t , but thearms manage d to grapple t he lad in a ti ghtembrace . Alf struggled well, but he was nomatch for the muscles of the giant D aco ta h.
" I ' m c o m i n g ! I'll be with you in asecond ! " ca l led Bo b f rom the water,striking out strongly for the shore as soon ashe had recovered breath.
T he Indian looked hasti ly around himwithout releasing the bearlike hug. He
sa w the swimmer quickly approaching , andhe gave a cry of f ury as he th oug ht tha the would be baulked of his purpose of revenge, for he rightly thought tha t how o u l d stand a p o o r chance against tw oac t i ve lads. He might succee d in inj uringthe one, but there was little chance of hise scap i ng .
Sudde n l y he released Alf. Feeli ng himself
free for the mome nt, the boy jum ped ba ck in readiness for another a t t a c k . B u t o n c eagain the unexpected had him at a vantage.T h e bo y antici pated no other att ack no wbu t tha t of fists or a knife at t he ut mos t.T h e s e were the o n l y cont ingenc ies t h a t hi si n expe r i ence c o u l d imagine. But beforehe had t ime to conjecture other possibil i t ies,R e d F o x had sl ipp ed off his blan ket , flung it
aroun d the lad just as the ancient gladi atorwas wont to entangle his oppo nen t in thed e a d l y ne t; and before Arno ld had reachedthe river bank, the Indian had wound theblanket t ightly round his captive, pickedh im up in his arms, and commenced runningtowards the t e n t .
B o b gave a cry of dis may, and rushed onin pursu i t .
But the redskin had the s tar t and ranstraight towards the picketed horse, st i l lcarrying the lad, who was half stifled by thet h i c k c l o a k , and practically helpless o w i n g t othe tightness wi th whi ch the bon d wastwined .
It wo uld have bee n an easy m a t t e r t h e nf or Red Fox to have kil led his captive and
y e t escaped the other boy . Bu t tha t wa snot his purp ose . In his th i r s t to revenge theinsult of A l f ' s words, he had quite f orgot tenThunder- maker ' s commiss ion and the c o veted ermine robe . These were nothing t oh i m no w. He had list ened to sneers wit hpatie nce. The t ime had now c o m e to repayth e t a u n t s with in te res t . He ran towa rdsthe pac k-ho rse . A slash with his hunt ing-knife severed the rope within two or th reef e e t of the hal te r. Alf was then t h r o w nr o u g h l y across the animal 's back, which theIndian was himself as t r ide an ins tan t afterwards. A vic ious dig of the heel s, and thehorse sprang forward.
A n d th e last t h a t Bo b saw as he re achedth e t en t was an ugly face grinning at himand an arm waving tauntin gly, as horse,rider, and burden disappeared into the w o o d s .
A r n o l d was aghast !H e rushed into the t e n t and snatche d up
his repeating rif le, which was already loaded;b y the time he emerged again, he c o u l d o n l yhear the dis tan t sound of the fugitive riderpressing the branches through the busht rack .
H e ran forwards at top speed, but he kneww e l l t h a t unless some accident befell theho r se , he stood a p o o r chance of being ablet o aid his chu m. The Indian wou ld kno wthe b ush as well as his namesake fo x.H e woul d not be l ikely to t ake any risk t h a tw o u l d imper il his safet y or blight any evi lpurpose tha t he might harbour.
T h e b o y f o l l o w e d the track, which waswel l mark ed. It was the same cour se t h a thad been t a k e n by Mackintosh and Haggisearlier in the da y. Fo r a tim e it led t hro ughan ave nue of trees. Th en it bra nche d off t o the left where the ground was hard-packedand dry, having been stripped of vegetation
b y a bush fire earlie r in the year. Her e t hetrac ks we re less easy to f o l l o w, for a ste adyb reeze wa s b l o w i n g , and the imprints of theh o o f s were c o v e r e d almos t as quickly as t heyw e r e m a d e .
It was heart -bre aking to hav e to slacker*s p e e d at such a t ime, when every secondmight mean disaster to his chu m. Bu t wh atelse c o u l d he do ? And when ult ima tely th e
trac ks led hi m to the bord er of a vast marshland, the lad was o b l i g e d t o hal t in what wa salmost despair.
" Wh at is to be done no w ? " he excl ai medt o himself. " Po or old Alf ! Wh at a foo l Iwas not to be prepare d for such a ras cal ,w h e n o n c e my suspicions were so roused ! "
But it was no use sitting d o w n in hopelessness. Such weakness would have not hingt o gain and everything to lose . S o B o bp u l l e d himself together, as the apt sayinghas it, and racked his brains to meet theo c c a s i o n .
N o t a sound c o u l d he no w hear to indi cat ew h i c h way the fugit ive had taken. More ove r,the tracks comp let ely disappeare d frorosight when the bo y had t aken a few paces
into the shallow water and spong y moss.Plainly the o n l y cours e was to mark th estart ing-point with a stake, and then f o l l o wround the margi n of the swa mp unt i l h ed i s c o v e r e d the spot where the rider h adc r o s s e d .
It was a tediou s process, but appar entl ythere was no opti on. So he resumed thew e a r y tour with such hope as he c o u l ds u m m o n .
A r n o l d found the tracks after more t h a nt w o hours ' pat ien t searc hing, as the dus k was beginning to creep o v e r the forest . Th efootprints were more dist inct now t h a n t h e yhad be en at the othe r side of the marsh, s othe boy was abl e to mak e som e ra pid progress . But, as the darkness fell , the work b e c a m e more difficult . He had to st oop lo win order to see the trac ks at all , and ultimately he c o u l d o n l y fo l low the m on hand sand knees—feeling the footprints with hi sfingers, jus t as a blin d man feels the l e t t e r sin his b o o k .
H e was becomi ng thoroughly exhaus te d .Sti l l he plodded on with d o g g e d persevera n c e . His knees were grazed and his back was achi ng, especi all y where the rifle wasstr appe d; and at t imes he even stumbl ed andfell in a heap f r o m which each t ime he fou ndit more difficult to rise t h a n the former one.
It was indeed a t r ia l t h a t w o u l d h a v etaxed the s t rength and nerves of the str ongest . Wh en we reme mber what the boy hadalready undergone t h a t day, we have needto wonder t h a t he endured so l o n g . Stil l he
pers ever ed. Inc h by inch he felt his path i nthe pitch darkness, crawling through thebush with o n l y h o o t i n g o w l s and whin ingw o l v e s fo r company, unt i l at last , worn ou tan d d i z z y, his muscles gave way and hofloundered u n c o n s c i o u s upon the e a r t h .
ments in theBrit ish Ar my possessnicknames of a more orless interest ing andh i s to r i ca l cha rac te r ;s o m e of which, indeed,perpetuate brave deedst h a t have almost beenf o rg o t t e n by reason of d e e d s equally gallantw h i c h have fo l lowedw h e n e v e r these regiments have beenafforded the opport u n i t y of dist inguishingthemselves. Indeed,there are do zens of regiments t h a t ar ek n o w n t o the i r bro the r s
in arms no t by the nam eg i v e n them in the news
papers, but by one whic h som e deed ora c c i d e n t has be en the mea ns of fixing upo nthem.
F o r examp le , the 1s t R o y a l D r a g o o n shave a long h i s to ry. Th e reg iment wasf o r m e d as a tro op of Cuirass iers on themarr iage of Charles II . in 1661. I t wassen t to ga r r i son Tang ie r—th en an E ng l i s hp o s s e s s i o n — a n d the n ickn ame of " Tang ie rCuirass iers " stuck to i t fo r many years .Tw e n t y - t h r e e y e a r s l a te r, howe ver, i t wasrenamed " Th e R o y a l R e g i m e n t o f D r a g o o n s , " and towar ds the c l o s e of thecent ury i t was gener ally kn ow n as the" E n g l i s h H o r s e . "
T h e 13th Huss ars wer e raise d nearl yt w o hundre d yea rs ago , in the s t i r r ingt im es of the 1715, und er th e name of " M u n d e n ' s D r a g o o n s . " F i r s t k n o w n b ythe n icknam e of the " Green Dragoo ns , "the regiment was renamed during the Peni n s ul a r W a r " T k e R a g g e d B r i g a d e " o na c c o u n t of i ts being unable to keep up i tss m a r t appearance dur ing the h a r d campaig ning i t unde rwen t. I t fou ght in nof e w e r t h a n th i r t y - two ac t ions , and los tnearly half i ts men and near ly four t imesas many horses . Other n icknames whic hhave been best owe d upon i t at vari oust imes a re " Th e Ever gre ens , " f r o m th ebrig ht green of i ts uni for m faci ngs , andits mott o, " I t l ive s for Ev er " ; and" T h e G e r a n i u m s , " f r o m the smartness of
the dress of both officers and men .T h e 6th Drago ons , o r Inn i sk i l l ings ,
raised at the end of the se ventee nth cent u r y, were known some years l a te r as the" B l a c k D r a g o o n s , " f r o m t he c o l o u r of themounts . Other n icknames be long ing tothe regimen t are " The Old Innis kil l i ngs,"and '• Th e Skil l i ngers. " The R o y a l Fus il iers were in the eighteen th centur y know nas " Th e Hanover ian Whi t e Ho rs e , " thereg imenta l n ickname be ing " E legan tEx t rac t s , " the sobr ique t a r i s ing f r o m th ef a c t t h a t t h o officers were usually sel ectedf r o m other " smar t " r eg iments . Th e" s e r v i c e " recor d of the regi ment is av e r y long and d i s t ingu i shed one , inc lu d ingas i t doe s the campai gn in Mar tin iqu e,the Pen insu la r Wa r, the Cr imean W ar ,and the Afghan Wars .
T h e We s t Yo r k s h i r e ( P r i n c e o f Wa l e s 'O w n ) a l so has two sobr ique t s—one ," Calver t ' s En t i r e , " a r i s ing ou t o f thec i r c u m s t a n c e t h a t no fewer than three battal i ons were at one t ime kept up for thebenef i t of the then Adju tan t -Genera l , S i r
H . Calver t , who was c o l o n e l of the r egiment f o r twen t y yea r s ; the o the r name i s" The Old and B o l d . "
T h e R o y a l Scots Fusil iers were nicknamed " E a r l o f M a r ' s G r e y B r e e k s , "f r o m t he c o l o u r o f the i r breec hes at t heti me the regime nt was f orm ed in 1678.T h e R o y a l Wels h Fus i l i e r s have a longand g lo r ious Te c o r d , hav ing fough t wi thd i s t inc t ion a t B lenhe im, Rami l l i e s , Oude-narde , and Malp laqu e t under Mar lb o r o u g h ' s genera l sh ip ; De t t in gen andM i n d e n ; t h e c h i e f batt les of the P eninsu la r Wa r ; t h o s e o f t h e C r i m e an Wa r ;the Ind ian Mu t i ny ; and th rough theAshan t ee and Burmes e War s . Th e reg iment 's nicknames are the " Nanny Goats "and the " R o y a l Goa ts , " on accoun t o f thec u s t o m of hav ing a goat led at the he ado f the regime nt when on the ma rch .
T h e Kin g ' s Own Bordere r s a re one o f theo l d e s t S c o t c h r e g i m e n t s , the i r nickname a to n e t ime hav ing been " Lev en ' s , " toperpetu ate the fac t t h a t they were origina l l y raised in the rema rka bly short t i meof fo ur hou rs in 1689 by the then Ear lo f Lev en. Th e men are also kno wn as
the " Bo th er e r s" and the " K . O . B . ' s . "T h e y have the p r iv i l ege—an ex c lus i ve one ,
(To le
b y t he w a y — o f rec ru i t ing in Ed inb urgk s t ree t s with out f irst obt aini ng the sanction of the Lo rd Prov os t of the ci ty. Th e2 n d Batt al io n of the Cameroni ans, orSco t t i sh R i f l e s , are known as " Sir ThomasG r a h a m ' s P e r t h s h i r e Grey Br eeks , " ona c c o u n t of the c o l o u r of the men's br eechesat the t im e they were com man ded by thec o l o n e l of t h a t name.
T h e Glouces te r sh i re Reg imen t , whi chsuffered so severely in the l a te B o e r Wa r ,has a long and honour able career, havin gf o u g h t in almost every campa ign of anym o m e n t in whi ch the Brit is h Ar my hasb e e n engaged since the bat t le of Rami l l i e s .T h e y have several n icknam es, the one of " Old Bra ggs , " g iven in 1750 , r ecord ingthe name of the i r c o l o n e l f or a per iod o f seven teen yea r s ; and the "S la sher s , "f r o m t h e i r bra ver y at the Batt le of Whi tePlai ns and passage of the Rive r Bru nx in1777. I n t h i s connect ion' i t may be addedt h a t some au thor i t i e s g i v e the o rigi n of the n ickn ame " Slashers " as the incidento f some of the officers disguising themse lves as Indi ans during th i s campaign ,and cutt ing off the ears of a magistrat e
w h o refus ed shel ter to the wom en of t heregiment in the depth of a severe winter.
continued.)
A G o o d O l d -C h r 1s t ran a s .
F r o m the Di ar y o f G E O F F R E Y F O R R E S T .(Edited by W A L T E R D E X T E R . )
P R E F A T O R Y N O T E B Y T H E E D I TO R .
THE diary of Sir Geoff rey For res t ,w h o s e gallantry at Water loo won
h i m und ying fame, is often quo ted as anauthor i ty on Napol eoni c t imes. Theorigi nals have been in the posse ssion of myf a m i l y for the last half-century, and al t houghit is not generally known, the gallant soldierkept a diary f r o m his earl iest days . The fo l -l o w i n g extracts f r o m the di ary of 1783, whenhe was at the age of sixteen, will no doubtp r o v e interest ing at th i s season of the year :
Wednesday, December 23 , 1783.—It'snot so bad after al l ; instead of having t ostay here o v e r Christmas [At Eto n C o l l e g e . —E D . ] , this morning brings me a letter f r o mU n c l e Ned —who m, by the by , I ' v e neverseen yet—asking me to spend my holidayswith the m, and enclosing a guinea for bo x
seatson the
c o a c h . Hurrah! Anyth ing
better than mopi ng about here just becausethere ' s fever in the house at home.
T h e L o n d o n c o a c h leaves Windsor att w e l v e o ' c l o c k , so I mu st hurry up to catchit as it c o m e s along Hig h St . Uncle Ned willmeet me at the Belle Savage in Lon don ,and we shall then go together to his housew h i c h is some where in the count ry, d o w nin Kent I believe.
I' m wr iti ng these lines at the Bell eS a v a g e Inn on Ludg ate Hil l in Lon don . Imet Uncle Ned when the c o a c h s topped , andw e are to proce ed on our way to-m orr ow, asthere is no fast c o a c h into Ken t to-night.
I had a mighty fine journey f r o m E t o nhere, and we accom pli shed the dista nce infour hours. The driver of the "F ly in gM a c h i n e " — f o r t h a t was the name of thec o a c h — w a s a jov ia l fe l low of port lyd i m e n s i o n s with a hard , re d face , a lmos thidden by the wealth of wool len handkerchief wit h which he enve lop ed his nec k, and theb r o a d - b r i m m e d hat whi ch he pulled well
d o w n o v e r his ears. I wonde red migh til y atthe numer ous great coat s with which he hadencased himself, but ha d no do ub t of the i rusefulness ere we had r eached Cran broo k,
where we st opp ed and where man y of thepassengers, not to mention the driver andthe guard, partook of a steaming hot p oti on.
I t was cold : I don' t remember when I ' vek n o w n it colde r. Ther e had been a sligh ttha w, and the gro und which the da y befor ehad been hard and crisp with the frost, wass o f t to such a degree tha t I more than o n c etho ugh t the wheels of the c o a c h would sink in so far tha t we shoul d all have to alightand push i t out again. Howe ver , this wasnot the case. Th e driver , as I hav e hinte d,was a jovial fe l low, and he kept us on theb o x seat all interest ed in the tales he toldus of the b o l d Claude Du val, as we crossedo v e r Houns low Hea th , a great h a u n t of then o t e d High waym an. One story I recollectas particu larly fine, and worth recor ding .D u v a l had received intelligence of the comingof a c o a c h with £400 in gold in it. In thec o a c h was a Knight, his lady and a maid,w h o perce iv ing five horsemen surround thec o a c h , cri ed out they were beset. Thel a d y, to show she was not afraid, t o o k aflageolet out of her poc ke t and pl aye d a tuneu p o n i t . Duva l, ever courteo us, plays also,and excellently well, up on a flageolet of hiso w n , and rides up to the c o a c h - d o o r.
" Sir," says he, addressi ng the Kni gh t," your lady plays excellently, and I dou btnot but tha t she can dance as w e l l : willy o u let me have the honour of one Currantwith her up on the Heat h ? "
" Sir," replied the Kni ght . " I dare no td e n y anythin g t o one of you r quali ty andmind. Yo u seem a Gentleman and yourrequest is reasonable."
A n d when Duval and the L ady hadfinished their dance, he waits on the Ladyt o th e c o a c h .
" Sir," he says to the Kni ght . " Yo uhave f o rg o t to pay the music."
" No, I have not," replies the Kni ght ,drawing forth f rom under the seat a bag of ahundred sovereigns.
" Sir, you are a libe ral, " replies D uva l,ac cep t i ng the bag with a courteous bo w," and your libera lity will exc use yo u theother three hundred poun ds ! "
He must have been a noble vagabond,this Duv al : so unlike the cut-throatfootpads to be found nowada ys. I can tellyo u I was not a little fri ghtened as we cross edthe Heath, but the driver said there was notmuch fear in the daytime, as it was o n l y atdusk that the ruffians were about . H o wever, it was already beginning to g r o w dark ,and at every shadow cast by the trees I grewapprehensive. Bu t we passed along int oL o n d o n without interruption, and now I a mhere at the Belle Savage.
This night we t ake a hackney c o a c h t othe Golden Cross at Charing, for w e hav eto start by the " Tal ly H o " c o a c h fo r Kentat four o ' c l o c k in the morning.
Thursday, December 24, 1783.—The Boo tswoke me at three-fifteen o ' c l o c k this m o r n i n g ;" Three o ' c l o c k , and the ' Tal ly H o ' willbe away in half an hou r." Th at was hisChristmas Ev e greeti ng. Ugh ! W as n' t it
c o l d ! Th e candl e splutte red in the d am pnight air and my t ee th fairl y chat tere d as Iwashed myself in the half-dark, c o l d , drearyr o o m . Uncle Ned was up betimes andk n o c k e d at my d o o r to say t h a t coffee w o u l dbe ready in twen ty minutes. I t was a l i t t lebr igh te r there : th e w o o d fire was cracklingand blazing merri ly, but the r o o m wa s c o l dand cheerless for all tha t . A coupl e of cupsof smoking ho t coffee and half a dozenbiscu i t s s o o n made me feel happier and t h e nth e B o o t s l o o k e d in to say " ' Ta l ly H o ' ready,gen ts ," and off we go out int o the yard, wher ethe four well -groo med bays are impa tie nt tobe off.
T h e luggage safely in the b o o t , we mount :the guard shouts to the driver, the driverw h i p s up his horses and we are out of thecour tyar d and in sight of West mins ter in atwinkl ing. I t was bit terl y c o l d , and itwant ed som e hours yet to sunris e: we Wereth e o n l y outside passengers and had i t notb een for the ample wraps with which wew ere provided, I veri ly do believe we shouldhave perished.
L o n d o n was asleep—as we ourselves werealmost—and I felt myself goi ng off int o anumbed sort of d o z e when my uncle nudgedme t o say we were cross ing Bl ack hea th near
G r e e n w i c h . There was a long dark roa db e f o r e us which must have been a hill, forthe horses t o o k i t s l o w l y and the wind wasv e r y keen when we reac hed the top . Aw e l c o m e l ight shone out f r o m the l i t t le innand my uncle gav e me a draugh t whic h hebade me drink at o n c e , which I did, notk n o w i n g what i t was.
It was a sort of mulled beer, he told meafte rwards , and I felt the bett er for it. Itwas a long ride into Rochester al though Islept a great p a r t of it after hav ing t h a t h otp o t i o n , and we alighted at the Bull foidinner.
A n d what a dinner ! A wondr ous sight.T h e long tables, the huge joint s steam ing hotf r o m the ki tchen : the da inty side dishes ;the huge cheeses ! the busy waiters bust linghere and there to do the bidding of a dozenhungry travellers wh o have hardly an hourin which to make a meal.
I shall remember t h a t meal as long as Il i v e , I do belie ve. Nev er before have I don esuch justice to hot roast beef, potatoes, ale,plum -pudd ing and cheese ! I must confessI was sorr y when the guard' s horns o u n d e d the note of depar ture and UncleN e d o n l y l aughed g o o d humoured ly when Iat first refused to respond.
T h e c o a c h went as far as Canterbury t h a tnight, but we alight ed ten miles this side of the cit y at a lonely inn by the ways ide —I forget i ts name at the momen t—w her e ap o s t b o y and chaise were await ing to t a k eus six miles across country to my uncle 'sh o u s e .
It was really the eve of Christmas n ow,and the spirit of Chris tmas se eme d to beu p o n every thin g : u pon the landlord of theli t t le inn afore -ment ione d, who had a greatsprig of holly on the lapel of his capaciousc o a t , and wh o bid us a r ight hear ty Merr yChristmas as we t o o k our seat and the postb o y smac ked his whip and set the horses
off at a gal lop : u po n the fo lk by the waysidecarrying bundl es of provis ions, hap py inthe thoughts of hom e, and the brightnessawai t ing them there : up on the l i t t le childrent o w h o m this time of Christmas is as no suchoth er tim e ever is or ever can be : upo n t hehard frosty road lit by the flickering m o o nb e a m s , causing i t to resemble by i tsglistening the g l o r y of the birthday t h a t wa st o co ne : up on the trees f lecked with s n o w,without which no Christmas is c o m p l e t e : a ndu p o n ourselves, expe cta nt of the heart yw e l c o m e we knew was waiting for us asimpat ient ly as we were waiting for thelights t h a t should betoken our arrival atWins tead Hal l .
A n what a w e l c o m e we d id ge t , too!
U n c l e Ned had told me something of thep e o p l e I was to meet. Ther e was Au nt J a n e— w h o m I had seen o n c e or twice before , a ndN e d d y and Barbara the i r two ch i ld ren , bo thabo ut m y own age. The n there were sixcous in s , four girls and two b o y s , with the i rfather and mot her : an elderl y coup le calledU n c l e George and Aun t E l i za—old f r i endsbut no relations : Geor ge Desart , a col legec h u m of my uncle, and A l i c e Mainley, afriend o f my a u n t ' s .
A hum of merry v o i c e s : a great blazeof ligh t an d we were within the hall, ki ssing , hugging, hand-shak ing and generalwelcor ing.
Supper was waiting for us in the old oak hall , and after our long journey you may well
imagi n we were quite ready to do full justice to i t .
Supper ove r, the table was cleared, an dthe great Yu l e c l o g or log was brought intot he r o o m up on a flat tro lle y. Glasses werefilled : toasts drunk : the Yu l e c l o g l igh tedb y a brand f r o m last year ' s Yu l e fire and weall sat round the great fire-place wat chi ngth e Yu l e olog burn and sparkle ai d cra ckl e
a s i t sent i ts myriads of sparks away up thech imney . Unc le George comm enc ed t h efest ivi t ies by singing in a deep round v o i c ea son g with a chorus " Here ' s a Heal th un toy o u , Neighb our, " which we addressed to myU n c l e N e d a n d hi s wife , dr ink ing t h e i rhea l ths a t the same t ime. One or tw o of the y oun ger children, having fal len off t os leep , were carried u p t o bed, whilst w eoth ers remai ned up to see the Christmas in.
I n t h e servants ' hall , whither we a l lrepa i red fo r a short t ime, the fest ivi t ies werewel l forward. Th ey had hung a huge buncho f mis t l e toe in the centr e of the roof, a ndthe men and w o m e n — o f w h o m there wa sa consider able numbe r, mos t of my uncle 'st e n a n t s being prese nt—made merr y be neathit , the youn g men pluckin g berries and kissingthe bux om youn g g i r l s unt i l you wouldhave though t there w o u l d b e n o berriesleft . Th e procee dings were a l i t t l e s lackenedo w i n g t o the appearance o f my uncle anda u n t ; but Uncle Ned, leading his wife to themis t l e toe , p lucked a ber ry and deman dedhis due, and thus set the ball rolling again ;an d then f o l l o w e d Uncle Geor ge and al l therest , I finding myse lf plu cki ng a ber ry over
the gol den head of the p r e t t y blushingBarbar a, w ho never h a d l o o k e d s o b e -witching,—at least that is what I heard her
(mother say.
This done, we left the se rvan ts t o the i rdanc ing and r e t u r n e d to the cra ckling c l o g ,which was burning away famously, a signo f g o o d fortun e to al l asse mbled thro ughou tthe coming yea r.
A t five minutes before midni ght, t h es e r v a n t s a n d the i r fr iends from t h e hallb e l o w, had assembled i n the great hall andsilently wait ed for the hou r of midni ght t ostr ike, when we all joi ned h a n d s and sang theverses o f that o l d song , " Should AuldAcqua i n tanc e , " wi th much fe rvour. Then ,with hand-shaking al l round , the revels ended,
a n d w e re t i red t o our respective rooms for•the night.
Friday, December 2 5 , 1 7 8 3 . — C H E I S T M A S
K A Y . — I write these tw o wor ds a t fifteenminu tes p a s t m i d n i g h t : a br igh t w o o d fireb u r n s crisp and clear in the h e a r t h . I havem y cur ta ins drawn aside and I can see them o o n peeping over the t ree tops as I wri te .I t has been snowing, and the gr oun d is thinlyc o v e r e d a s with a pure white mantle.Thr ough the st i l lness of the night I ca n heart he s t ra ins of music i n the d i s t ance : theyhave finished t h e i r t u n e now and al l is o n c eagain quiet . I will get in to be d so as to beready fo r the mor r ow.
I had scarce bl own out m y candle whenthe wa it s com menc ed t o p l a y " W h i l eS h e p h e r d s Wa t c h e d " benea th my w i n d o w,a n d I c o u l d no t resist t h e t e m p t a t i o n t odraw as ide my cur ta ins a n d l o o k out upont he m: hav ing p layed one t u n e m y side of th e house they to ok up t h e i r places on theoth er side, and I was lulled to sleep by t hem e l l o w tones wafting thro ugh the night air.
It is really Christmas Mornin g now . Ia m just back from churc h where the clergyman preached as in te res t ing a se rmon as Iihave ever heard—quite different fr om som eo f the d ry ones we have had a t E t o n .
After church came the distr ib ution of theChri stm as presents. Uncl e Ned and AuntJ a n e had t hou ght of all of us in so me wa y orot her , and they themselves were not forgo tt en ei ther, and we spent the t ime right
m e r r i l y until dinner was announced.There was a large p a r t y of us ga the red
t o g e t h e r in the old hall , where Uncl e Nedea id t h e B e a u c h a m p s h a d spen t the i rChristmases for near on two hundred years.
It was a fine tim ber ed hall, with a galleryat one end. where three fiddlers sa t busysc rap ing away a t the i r s t r ings as we entered.
D o w n the wh ole lengt h of the r o o m ra n al o n g t ab le bedecked mos t gorgeou s ly : a to n e end was a platform raised a l i t t le , ando n th i s my uncle took his sea t . In front of him stood the two great Christmas candlesin t h e i r mass ive g o l d candlest ic ks. On hisright sa t the clergyma n who had pr eachedus the sermon t ha t morning, and who saidgrace as s o o n as we were s eated.
The great Christmas dish, a boar 's head,was ushered in with a deal of cer emon y, andto ma ny ex tr a twa ngs fr om the fiddle-stringsin the gallery a b o v e , a nd a chorus of cheersf r o m the diners. After th i s c a m e a p i e —a p e a c o c k pi e I th ink , or a pheasan t pie, buti t was garnished with the plumage of thebi rd a t all events. I had never seen anyth ing l ike it before and Uncle Ned says i t isan ancient cus tom in the fami ly.
After pie came the Wassail B o w l , whichm y uncle prepared himself from a n ol dreceipt long i n possession o f t h e fami ly.Ours was made o f wine , b u t there wa sano ther i n the servants ' hall which was of ale. I canno t say t ha t I exac tly l iked thecur ious c o n c o c t i o n — I o n l y d r a n k the verysmallest drop when t h e cup was passed
round .With the Wassail came nuts , and with the
nuts , quips and jokes the l ike of which I ha dnever heard b e f o r e . Dinner over we madea c o s y gro up arou nd the great Yu l e c log ,which had twice been replenished since lastnight and had never y et b u r n t out, and thenUncle George began a story about the ghostt ha t used t o h a u n t the round r o o m in th eeas te rn por t ion of the house unt i l o n eChristmas Eve h e himself had " l a i d " i t .This led to further tales from other membersof th e par ty, an d t h e n the older memb ersof th e p a r t y d o z e d off ; and B a r b a r a an d I ,and young Ned a n d t h e cousins playedforfeits unt i l Aunt whispered t o u s t ha t al i v e l y " s n a p d r a g o n " w a s r e a d y in theservants ' hall , whither we at o n c e repaired.
T h e r o o m wa s dark , a nd there were a
number standing round t h e t ab le in thecentre. All a t o n c e , by means of a t inder,the who le of the tabl e was set on fire and wewere told t o put our hands in to the flame'and pick u p t h e burning plums. I mustc o n f e s s I was afraid t o play with fire i nthis manner, but the others seemed to enjoythe sport imme nsely, and so did I too, whenI had the courage t o fo l low the i r example .A n d so, after mor e merriment, we bade each
o the r " g o o d - n i g h t " a n d re t i red t o o u rr o o m s .
A O n e - r u n n e r To b o g g a n -
IN our Christmas Nu mbe r we gave par t iculars as t o h o w t o make a n ord ina ry
t o b o g g a n , such as is k n o w n t o b o y s i n th i scoun try as well as in Canada and the Unit edSta tes . H e r e is anothe r and more nov elty pe of sled which may co mm en d i tself t o" B . O . P . " readers.
In certain distr icts of the United S t a t e s —especial ly in the north-eas t—where the snowc o m e s ear ly a n d g o e s late, a n d where
coasting is almost as much a p a r t of winteras the snow- cov ere d hil ls themse lves, thereis t o be found a cur ious so rt o f tobogga n ,a lmos t u n h e a r d of elsewher e. Ver mon t ande a s t e r n N e w Yo r k are the h o m e o f t h e" j u m p e r , " a s i t is cal led, whic h is quite t oog o o d a n i m p l e m e n t o f winte r spor t t o b et h u s c l o s e l y res t r i c t ed .
T h e " j u m p e r " is peculiar for two thingsbesides this l a c k o f genera l r ecogn i t ion :firstly, t ha t i t g o e s u p o n one runner ins teadof t h e c u s t o m a r y t w o ; s e c o n d l y, t h a t i tcanno t be purchased i n any s to re . Ever y" jump er " - r ide r mus t make hi s own, or-,fai l ing t ha t , have i t made forh im. Prob ab ly no two wereever made exactl y al ike, bu tin t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f t h ewriter, t h e specificationsg i v e n b e l o w have been foundvery sat isfactory.
The simplest form of t h e" j u m p e r " can be made i nt w o minutes i n a n y w o o dshed b y nail ing together abarrel-stave, a solid pieceo f s ix teen- inch w o o d , an d ashor t piec e of board i n th ef o r m s h o w n i n the picture.But someth ing more workmanlike and subs tan t ia l , a swel l as more fleet, can b eob ta ined th i s w a y :
For the runner use a sound,clear piece of maple , birch or
ash, not less t h a n one andon e - h a l f i n c h e s n o r m o r e t h a nt w o and one-half inches bro ad, and fro m t w oand on e-half to th ree and one-half f ee t i nl eng th o n th e runn ing surface, with a genero u s " c u r l " at the end . The shorter the runner, the mo re easi ly i t will B t e e r ; bu t t h elonger one is l ikely to prove m o r e s p e e d y.
Make the bo t tom as s m o o t h as possiblewith plane and sandpaper, or, be t te r still,have a blacksmi th o r whee lwr igh t p rov ideit with a steel shoe.
Th e pos t shoul d be of the same widt h as therunner, an d a t least two inches thick. T h eheight may vary from ten to sixteen inches,acco rdi ng to the size of the user, bu t sh ouldnever e x c e e d th e l a t te r figure, o r the rid erwil l find i t t o o hard t o keep his balance.
The post s hould be mortised very securely t oth e runner at a point about two inches behindthe centre. Braces ei ther of w o o d o r i ronare somet imes added .
T he sea t , best made from a th ree-quar te r-inch ha rdwood board , shou ld b e s e v e ninches in width for a length of sixteen inches,and should be securely fastened a t i ts centret o the top o f the post .
W h e n t he " j u m p e r " s tands c o m p l e t e d , itmay seem like a very clumsy sort o f vehicle.B u t i t i s th e b i c y c l e of the sn ow, and o n c eused, its cha rm is powerf ul. Gras p the en dsof t h e sea t firmly, keep t h e fee t off the
A Geod Run.
g r o u n d as m u c h as poss ib le , learn t o s tee rb y t h e ba lance o f th e b o d y , an d d o n e tmind fal l s; these are the " j u m p e r " -r ide r ' s max ims . F o l l o w them, a n d t h e ywill lead t o m a n y a pleasant hour o n t h es n o w.
C r u i s e o f T h e S k yt h e " K e s t r e l . "
85w J O H N L E A , Author of " Leutchford't Lion"
M My Cousin Douglas" etc.
CA P TA I N G A S K E I X ' S announcement filledClaud with del ight, and so roady was
the assistance he gave, t h a t it was not neces-6ary to withdr aw James ' attention. In anincredibly short time, the second pilot wason its way to the more exal ted regions. Th espool which held it in control was fixed at analmost opposit e positi on to the moori ngs of James' aerial barque , with the o b j e c t , asCaptain Gaskell explained, of balancing, ins o m e measure, the separate " drag " of eac hballoon on the Kestrels car.
W h e n the secon d pilo t had reac hed anequal alti tude with the first, the effect of their united power became at o n c e apparent.Th e great enve lop e of the Kestrel t i l tedto one side while the car itself fo l lowed suit .A light breeze was distinctly felt by thethree navigators and was greeted by thelieutenants with a shout of triumph.
" Our pilots," said the Captain, in a v o i c eless undignified but b etra ying eq ual del ight," have found a current whi ch will, I th ink ,serve our purp ose ; for t hough it is not f romthe quarter I c o u l d wish, it will yet affordsufficient resistance for my delicate sails tobe set against."
While speaking he proceeded to u nbucklea strap which had bound a long coi l of silk round and round one of the suspensi on rope s.Though the two b o y s had noticed this before ,
they had not, with so many more excitingobjec ts around them, asked what its purposewas. They now divided their a t ten t ionbetween the pilots and Captain Gaskell 'sdoings, and shortly saw him shake loose asheet of silk a g o o d twel ve feet square.Three sides of this were stiffened by a s t r ipof bambo o run through a pipe-he m, while ,f rom the outer corners, to p and b ot to m, tw olight cords converged to the car, givingc o n t r o l of the sail, and th e angle at w hi ch itwas advisable to set it.
A similar sail and fitting were rigged t othe suspending rope on the opposite side of the car ; for the Captain had anti cipat ed t h a tth i s would be necessary to counte ract thetendency which the wind would have to twistth e balloon when striking t he single sail,n o matter how slight the angle mig ht be.W h e n so twisted the effe ctiveness of thew i n d would, of course, be nullified. Thusthe second sail parto ok of the nature of arudder , and would hold the airship u p to thew i n d .
" N o w c o m e s th e test in earnest ," cri ed theCaptain, having comple ted the tr imming
C H A P T E R VIII . TO THE L A N D OF THE L A K E S .
of the se con d sail, " but I hav e no dou btt h a t with such an able c r e w, all will bea c c o m p l i s h e d . "
He then appoin ted James to the entirec o n t r o l of the tw o pilot s, his princi pal dut yb e i n g to report any change in the positionthey o c c u p i e d relative to the Kestrel.
" A s imi lar sail an d fitting were r igged to thesuspending rope on the opposite side."
As the day was appar entl y ver y settl ed a ndthe winds o n l y l ight, the task was not one of gra ve responsi bili ty and did not interferewith perfect enjoyment of the v o y a g e .
Th e duty allotted to Claud was no moreo n e r o u s , consi stin g m 'rely of holding thesail c o r d , drawi ng it in or letting it outa c c o r d i n g to the instruc tions rece ived. Th eCaptain himself t o o k control of the rearsail, and was delighted to find, after a littlecareful manoeuvring, tha t it was possible to
shift t he cour se of the Kestrel to an extentquite sufficient for the purpose he had inv i e w.
" Unlike the sailors of the watery seas,"said he pre sently, with a sm ile , " wh onavigate by the sun and stars, we set ourc o u r s e by looking d o w n on mother e a r t h . "
" Ye s, " cried Claud, " and it does notseem to me tha t we have verv far to l o o k . "
W h i l e spea king these words he had leanedo v e r the ed ge of the car, still ret aining hish o l d of the sail-ropes , and saw tha t th eKestrel was sailing above a sheet of water in a gent lema n's park. Wha t was hisastonishment a moment later to hear hisw o r d s repeated, some what faintly butdist inctly. Claud stared from one to theother of his compa nion s questio nin' ly ; buthis brother returned his gaz e with a n equ albewildermen t. Captain Gaskell hastenedto expla in .
" The water sprites of Studley R o y a l ar em o c k i n g you , Claud," said he. " Yo uhappened to make your remark while theKestrel was above the l o v e l y groundst h a t include the ruins of Fountain 's A b b e y,and the surface of the lakes which adornthose grounds gave back your v o i c e in ac l ea r e c h o . If you spoke again, you wouldr e c e i v e no reply, for undula ting or broke nsoi l will not th row ba ck the wave s of sound
so readily as the flat surface of water wil l . "But for all t h a t the two b o y s , as they
l o o k e d upon the l o v e l y landscape beneath,di d not withhold the i r expressions of delight . Perha ps, as Captai n Gaskell said,the water nymphs were too modest to e c h osuch words of praise, but who c o u l d speak lightly of a v i e w t h a t included the st atelyruins of Fountain 's A b b e y ; the sweepinglawns and w o o d e d walks of Studley R o y a l ;and the ancie nt tow n of Ri po n with itscath edral and wind ing river ?
There is reason to fear t h a t the crew of theKestrel relaxed their attention to dutyw h i l e lost in admira tio n ; for Claud quiteomitted to respond at o n c e to a commandf rom the Captain, and when James tu rned his" weather e y e " towards his pilots, heg a v e a little cry of concern t h a t a lmos tamounted to terror. They had w h o l l ydisa ppear ed, the two lines t h a t held themc a p t i v e hung in a huge feitoon, vanishingfinally int o a white wilder ness of c l o u d .
" Quic k ! " cried the Captai n. " H o l dthis, Jame s, while I disch arge ballast. W eare rapidly losing ground."
184 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.James flew to the rear sail-r opes, and as
th e Kestrel rose , ligh tene d by the ballastthr own out, the aeronaut co ntin ued :
" Yo u r pilots shipped too heavy a sea inth e c l o u d yonde r, and in conseq uence sank b e l o w the current tha t was giving us ourw a y . "
H e pointe d to the forward sail , which no whung l imp, and bot h b o y s realised t h a t th eb a l l o o n was travelling entirely with the
w i n d .James
l o o k e dso thorough ly
woeb e g o n e t h a t his commander c o u l d n o tsuppress a laugh.
M y dear bo y, " said he, " yo u must nott ake our misfortunes so to heart . The blameis no way your s. W e must see what risingt o a higher level will do . I am in hopestha t by ascending a little and taking in someof the weight of their l ines, we ma y enabley o u r pilots to overtop the c l o u d , and soassist us again, perhaps more effectually."
Jame s' spirits rose . " Ha d we reapedm u c h benefi t," he aske d, " befor e thingswent wrong ? "
" Ind eed we had ," r eplie d his friend, " forhere we are in sight of Pateley Bridgeinstead of Scar borou gh."
A few moments later, James was delighted
t o see the lines which had be en g athe redin, sl ipping o v e r the edg e of the car again.T h e pilots were evidently assert ing themse lves o n c e more .
" No w, Claud," cried the Captain, w hohad seen th i s too , " be prepared f or orders. "
" Ay e, aye, sir," laug hed Claud in profess ional phraseo logy.
T h e hin t *was not given too s o o n , fo rs c a r c e l y had the boy t aken the rope inhan d, whe n a li ght bre eze filled the sail,swel l ing i t merri ly out , a respectableimitat ion of the Kestrel's own outl ine.
" North- west b y west ," cried the Captain." T h e Kestrel will mak e her por t, in spiteof con t ra ry winds . "
" W h e r e is her port ? " ask ed Claud,wi thou t look ing round .
" B e y o n d the mountain peaks t h a t c losein our horizon."
" Are thos e the West more land Hills ? "said James.
" Th ey are," was the reply. " An d it willrequire som e naviga tion to prevent theKestrel perching on their summi t s , I 'mth ink ing . "
Ther e was slight anx iet y in the Captain 'stone as he said this, and the b o y s glancedat him inquiringly.
" I t h i n k , James ," he went on, " i t wouldb e as well to lessen the di stan ce a l ittleb e t w e e n us and yo ur pilo ts, lest, as we riset o clear the crests mo re freely, we a l l o wthem t o soar abov e the curre nt t h a t is servingus so well jus t now . Please win d in a
hundred turns. That wil l g i v e us a hun dredfee t , roughly, as the s p o o l is four inches ind iamete r. "
James woun d away energetically, first ato n e s p o o l an d then the other, while theCaptai n threw out a little sand. In duec o u r s e the l ieutenant reported the a c c o mpli shme nt of his task. For the present its e e m e d sufficient, but Captain Gaskell wasalert for any need t h a t might arise. •
" If we are g oin g to settle the othe r sideo f thos e hills, " said Claud presentl y, in atho ught ful tone , " it wil l be a lon g wa y f romh o m e , and I did not bring my railway fare."
1 " No r dfd I , " added J ames." Whi ch shows yo u are very inexperienc ed
travellers," chu ckle d the Captain, withassumed s everi ty. " I don ' t qui te see ho wI am go ing to help yo u, seeing tha t I have nom o r e abou t me than is necessary for myo w n expenses and those of the Kestrel."
" That 's a blue loo k-o ut, " said Claud. I twas an expression invariably used by himw h e n his future mo ve men ts were full of
pleasing uncertai nty. James laughed. " Il i k e difficulties of tha t sort," he said.
" Perhaps I can scrape sixpence together,"went on the Captain g l o o m i l y, but feeling allthe while t h a t his compani ons were notp r o p e r l y impressed with the awkwar dnessof their si tuation, " you can have t h a t , i f youl ike , to telegraph home with."
" Thanks awfully," said the b o y s , " andwhile the m on ey for our fares is com in g we
c a n sleep under some hay-r ick. "" Noth ing easier," said the Captain." H o l d her in a littl e, Claud ! "
Truth to tell, Claud's attention had lapseds o m e w h a t at t h a t moment, as he picturedthe pos sibi lity of affairs bei ng exactly as hisfriend imp li ed th ey were. Perh aps it was asimilar thoug ht, and a realis ation of theirc o m i n g privati ons, which made Jamessudden ly feel hungry.
" Ho w long is it since we had breakfa st ? "said he.
" Si x hour s, " replied the Captain. " Ihave been longing t h a t some one would offerm e refreshments, but did not like to be thefirst t o cave in . "
" So hav e I," c hi med in Claud, " but c o u l dnot have imagined tha t it was really t ime to
want i t ."" I v o t e , " con ti nue d the Captain , " as all
is going so wel l , and no si gns of a squall arev i s i b l e , t h a t Jam es leaves his pos t to prepar ea simple meal."
James forthwith o b e y e d , and proceededt o feed th e officers on du ty as well ashimself.
" We l l , " said the comm and er, with ap r o d i g i o u s sigh, " this is the last t ime t h a tw e shall hav e t o dra w up on .the Kestrel'sl a rde r : When nature demands a furthers u p p l y of sust enance we shall rece ive itin "
H e stop ped, for his two comp anio ns wereregarding him g l o o m i l y. It ca me as a lit tles h o c k to them to learn t h a t th e t r i p was sonearly ov er ; for thoug h they already unders t o o d tha t th e Kestrel was to descendshortly , i t had not struck them tha t icw o u l d be so s o o n . " The re is plenty of gasst i l l ," hinted Claud, glancing at the g l o b ea b o v e .
" An d lots of ballast ," add ed Jame s." Wh y should we not sai l on into Scotland —while we are at it ? "
" G o o d sir," replied the Cap tain, " becau seI have an appoi ntme nt t o keep in Cumberland . "
" Oh ! " sai d t he b o y s in a b reath." I did not kn ow it was safe to m ak e
appoin tments by balloo n," venture d James.Y o u have me ther e," l augh ed his friend,
" but condit i onal appoin tments can be madeunder any circumstances."
" An d I s uppos e," put in Claud inquiringly, " t h a t the co ndit ions of this appo in tment wou ld not excus e yo u for breakingit ? "
" No t if I can ke ep it, but "H e inter rupte d himself to add, in a v o i c e of
thunder, and wi th a frow n whi ch woul d haveb e e n very subduing except for the smile tha twas visibl e beneat h i t: " Silence ! I shallregard any further questions as an act of m u t i n y. "
T h e crew saluted respectfully, and roturnedt o the i r dut ies .
The course of the Kestrel was no wb e i n g kept with great regulari ty. Thesilken sail held the wind under the skilful c o nt rol of the skipper and remained steadilyfilled out , a grac eful cu rv e of c o l o u r,beautified by the clear light of the morningsun.
A s the airship thus majestically held onher way, the navigators heard at intervalsfaint shouts f r o m th e ear th benea th ; aw e l c o m e f r o m s o m e s t ray rust ic, or vi l lage
c i o w d . They were not at such a heightn o w as to be unable to distinguish thec o n t o u r t f the country o v e r which they werepassing. Th e grandeu r of the hills waseas i ly real isa ble : the bro ad green slopesdotte-l with flocks of sh eep ; the shiningexpan ses of water windi ng thro ugh theval leys , and the lo f ty peaks tha t seemed toth rus t themselves upwards in an effortt o obstruct the passage of the Kestrel.
Bu t o v e r the m all she held on her way.T h e t w o b o y s , silent with admir ation ,w a t c h e d peak after peak drift into the rear,till they were startled by the remark :
" Ther e's th e first gleam of Ullswater, withS k i d d a w beyo nd. We have not muchfarther t o g o . "
{To be continued.)
-*^^
OUR NOTE BOOK.
A FA M I LY OF FIRE-FIGHTEBS.THE name of To z e r is one that stands out pro
min ent ly in the worl d of fire-fighting. F or fourgenerations the family has contributed members tothe Lond on, Manchest er and Birmin gham brigades,a m o n g others—a record tha t is surely un iqu e in fireannals. Th e first of this remarkable family to enterthe profession was Engineer Robert Tozer, who joinedthe old Hand -in -Han d Insur ance Fire Brigade in 1824.F r o m this corps he proceed ed to the Lon don Fire Engine
E n g i n e e r Robert Tozer.
(Hand-in-Hand Fire Office and London FireEngine Establishment, 1824-1860.)
Establishment, when the latter institution wasformed from the various Insurance Companies*brigades , and con tinu ed to be activ ely engaged untilhe had completed thirty years* service.
T h e second of the line, Mr. Alfred Tozer, received histraining in tho Fire Engine Establishment under hisfather, a nd in 1862 was selected for the po st of Superinten dent of the Manchester Fire Brigade. Thi sfine ol d veteran of the service died onlv as recently as1911.
T h e family record is thus summed u p : EngineerR o b e r t Tozer, of London, 30 years; Chief OfficerAlfred Tozer, of Manchester, 36 years; Chief OfficerAlfred Rober t Tozer, of Birmingham, 29 years ; Chief Officer Alfred Robert Tozer, of Birmingham, 21 years;Chief Officer William Tozer, of Wes t Bromwieh , 13y e a r s ; Second Officer Charles Wright Tozer, of Birmingham, 13 years.
Mr . Alfred Rober t Tozer th e First, who reorganisedthe Birmingham Brigade and put in 29 years of usefulwork, was succeeded in office by his son, Mr. AlfredR o b e r t To z e r the Second, the present Fire Chief of
tlie city. Tho latter's brothers figure in the list asserving at Wes t Bromwieh and Birming ham, while,m o r e recently, a third brother—Mr. F. Tozer—has
je ined the Manchester Brigade.In the abov e portrait of Eng'^eer Robert Tozer will
be obse rved the badge, or " Fire Mark," of the H and-in-Hand compan y, worn on the sleevo by the membersof its private brigade.
" we shall neve r be re ady in tim e—ne ve r! " lamented Cyri l Falkland, ashe piled ano th er laj^er of str aw on thebonfire dest ined to con sum e the " Gi b-g uy. "
" Ha ve yo u finished the set-pi ece yet,Terry ? "
" Yes , bu t I can' t find enou gh pins for t heCather ine Wheels ."
" Ask Martha," quoth Cyri l , laconic , as hisonerous position of Master of the Ceremoniesdemanded .
He s to od wel l bac k to survey the " Gib -gu y " by the light of a bull 's -eye lantern.I t was necessary to adjust the home-mademortar-board, which had a tende ncy to fa l lover the fore head o n to the plasti cine nose,moulde d f rom life tha t morn ing dur ing thealgebra lesson—an al terat ion and addi t i onof great importance.
Martha , faithful slave of the so n of thehouse , abl y secon ded the efforts of the fireworkers , and on a request from Terry forpins for Catherine Whe els , no bl y sacrificedher hat pins in the g o o d cause, warning T erryto be careful not to pok e his eye ou t with t hem .
" Course I wo n' t ," responded the gal lantO'Bri en, " becau se if I did, I shoul d nev erbe able to see your kind face again."
" G o on, Master Ter ry ! " was the laugh ingre sponse. " I ' m t oo o ld fo r you r Irishblarney. Let me see , Master Terr y—h owmany glasses of lemonade did Master Cyrilsay I was to get ready ? "
Terry l o o k e d thoughtful . " There 's Peterscoming, and Warden, and Parry, a ndSpringf ield—but no , I don ' t th in k he will,co z we told him we' d put him on the bonfireif he came ; he's awfully insulting sometimes.Oh yes ! and there's Sneider, and CharlieHiggs—only I think his people are afraid tolet him come. An d whoev er e lse d ' yo u think is co ming ?—Armst rong, so there ! He 'san awful ly decent ch ap ; he ' l l c lou t yo urhead, but he isn' t a bit proud, and if itwasn ' t for him, Cyri l and I woul dn ' t bec h u m s — o n l y that 's a secret tha t I m u s t n ' tte l l ."
" How many glasses of lemonade wil l tha tbe then ? " queried Martha , still uncer tainho w man y fr iends were a t tending the disp lay.
" Abo u t e ight , isn' t it ? " said Ter ry, wit h
A S T O R Y O F G R A M M A R S C H O O L . L I F E .
a sly twi nkl e in his eye . " Bet ter say ten,perha ps, Mart ha dea r, and if any of the c hap s
d o n ' t turn up, I ' l l help with anv lemonadotha t ' s left "" Lik e mac aroo ns, Master Terry ? " quer ied
Mar tha ." Y o u bet I do ! I don ' t say but w hat I
can manage a coup l e now , g o o d o ld Mar tha ;i t ' s been fearful ly fagging wo rk ; Cyri l andI have been rigging up things since half-pastfive, and now i t ' s near ly half -past seven.M aca r o o n s are awful ly susta i ning."
" Terry ! Hi , Te rry, where are y ou ? "c a m e a shout f rom the garden.
" Cyri l wants me, so I m u s t n ' t s t o p ;Martha, I say, you are a honey to fix us upsuch a r i pp ing l i t t l e sup pe r "—a nd Te r ryl o o k e d po in t ed ly a t a s ide table whereseveral p la tes of confe ct i onery towere d highin all the i r saccha r ine beau ty.
" Terry ! Hi , Terr y, are yo u los t ? "c a m e another hai l f rom the garden.
" Al l r i gh t , Cyr i l ! I 'm c o m i n g , " Ter ryshouted in response, and then in an ins inuat ing w ay he tu rned to Marth a, a ndque r i ed : " I s tha t a mac aroo n, Martha dear ?I thin k I see on e on the pla te. "
" Ma yb e, " sa id Martha, smil ing in at an ta l i s ing w a y.
" Terrrr reeeeeee ! " e ame t he ins is tentv o i c e aga in .
" Get a long with yo u, Master Terr y," sa idMartha, " and t a k e a m a c a r o o n . "
" An d on e for Cy ril ? "" Ye s , t a k e tw o, but do go a long with 'e ,
or Master Cyril will be as cross as two sticks.. . . You b o y s , as I 've said before , is as artful
as a wag gon- load "" Terrrr r r reeeeeeeee ! " ca me an indig nant
y e l l .B u t a macaroon served as oi l upon
tro ubl ed waters ; and the tw o host s, fortifiedb y their refreshme nt (it was fou nd necessa rvto supple ment t he mac aroon s with a glass of l e m o n a d e apiece) , c o m p l e t e d the i r preparat ions , and awai ted the i r guests .
" Th e chaps wil l be here in a minu te , " s a idCyri l , as he wiped the honest sweat f rom hisb r o w. " I hope Arms t rong come s—he ' s ad e c e n t c h a p . "
" Ve —r y ! " agreed Terry, to wh om Armstrong was a hero a lmost to o heroic toanalyse .
" I say, Terr y, did I tell you tha t m y
father has asked a friend to l o o k in dur ingthe eveni ng ? M artha onl y told me thisa f t e r noon ; she doesn ' t kn ow h i s name .I t ' l l be a l l r ight , th ough , he 's going to hav es o m e grub upstairs in the s tudy, and he ' l lbe able to watch us f rom the w in dow ; Idon ' t s ' pose he ' l l c o m e and interfere, a ndwe shall have our refreshments in them o r n i n g - r o o m . "
" I suppose he ' l l only be some old chapwho ' s got rheumatic s , and m u s t n ' t c o m e o u ton the dam p grass—I hope so ," sa id T erry." Hull o ! are those buc kets of water forus to drin k fro m bet wee n while s ? "
" Tho se , " answered Cyr i l , i nd i ca t i ngth ree buckets of water placed outs ide thesummer-house d o o r, " are r eady in ca se of fire. Ol d ' Gib -guy ' may spi t out a crackeron to the roof , and th e summ er-hou se wo uldbe on fire in no tim e. W e can s o o n s top anyl i t t le game of tha t so r t ; we jus t buzz apail of water ov er the roof, and it willbe •"
" —as right as ra in ," conc luded Te r ry." Hark ! wasn ' t tha t a ring at the frontd o o r ? I bet tha t ' s P a r r y. "
By SERCOMBEGRIFFIN, Author 0/ " The Mad Tatheht,"
" A Qoorkha's Kookri" "The DumbChief," etc., etc
I t was. Bu t i t was Sneider, War den , andPeters as well. They arr ived in a b o d y, each
wi th his qu ot a of fireworks t o ad d to t hegeneral s tore .Th e suppl ies w ere careful ly sor ted out in to
l i t t le heaps and laid on the summ er-hous eb e n c h ; here some dozens of squibs , thereha l f - a -dozen rocket s , here so me cones of co lou red fire, there a box of Chinese Crackers,here a bundle of Cather ine Wheels , there s i xChi nes e Ca nn on ; t he fireworks we re ma nyand var ied. T w o bul l ' s -e ye lanterns shedtheir l ight up on the scene, but i t was forb i d d e n , on pain of ins tan t dismissal f romfurther part ic ipat i on in the displ ay, to t a k ea naked l ight in to the summer-house onany p re t ex t wha teve r.
The piece de resistance was, undoubtedly,the " Gi b-g uy. " Th e f irs t arr ivals inspec tedi t wi th keen in te res t—and two bu l l ' s - eyelanterns : th ey had not been let in to thesecret— they exp ect ed a bonfi re—bu t a guy !
" I say, y ou kid s ," sa id Sneider, who, onthe s t rength of three months ' s en io r i t y andhis recent prowess in the Paper-chas e, wasi n c l i ned to be patronis in g. Wh at in thename o f Ju les Verne is this t h ing s i t t ing o nthe scrap heap here 1 "
" L o o k s l ike a poet out of work," sa idParry, s t r ikin g a mat ch to get a bet ter v i e w,and almost se t t ing on f i re the tow moustache.
" Poe t s don ' t wea r mous t aches l i ke tha t ,P a r r y, " said Cyri l , wi th a hin t of supe r io jk n o w l e d g e .
" Besid es , i t ' s got on a mor ta r-boa rd , "added Te r ry.
" A what ? " cr ied Peters . " Met houg ht i t
was the knife of a gui l lo t ine . Th e t hingsee ms ti ed up in a fram e, as •"
" Frame —guil lot in e—thi ng ! " snor ted theindign ant Cyri l . " Yo u ' v e been reading som a n y. ' bloods , ' you can ' t see straight, Peters .Yo u ' r e a squ in t - eyed luna t i c . "
Pete rs said he wasn 't, bu t on the othe rsra ther favouring Cyri l ' s d ic tum, he graceful lyg a v e in to the major i ty , and asked : " We l l ,a n y w a y, h o w s o o n d o e s th i s menage r i ebeg in ? "
" A s s o o n as we can get the mon key s quiet , "re tor ted Cyri l , wh o was a trifle upset at ther e c e p t i o n acco rded h i s guy.
Peters was s t i l l examining the effigy." I ' ve go t i t ! I t ' s mea nt to be the "
He s toppe d ab rup t ly, nodd i ng h i s head
empha t i ca l l y, and wh i s t l ed .' " T i s n ' t ! " c o n tr a d ic t e d C y r il . "He w o u l d
be in red and have a tail , not a g o w n andm o r t a r - b o a r d . "
" Oh ! " said th e fo ur in ch oru s, a l ightbreaking in upon them.
" I t ' s Sandy, " c r i ed Warden ." Has Sandy go t a y e l l o w m o u s t a c h e ,
y o u — y o u jelly-fish ! " said Cyril , racki nghis brains for epi thets suff ic ient ly descr ipt i ve .
" He' s go t a ' San dy ' one a ny wa y, " p utin Sneider.
War den re l ieve d the tensio n : " I t ' s o ldGi bson ! " sa id , he in a tone of se t t led conv i c t i o n .
" So ' t i s ," chimed in the other th ree b o y s ." Ah ! I said yo u' d guess wh o it w as,
direct ly you saw i t ," sa id the pacif ied Cyri l ." Li ght was a bit bad at first," rem ark ed
Wa r d e n .A t prospects of an ear ly start, Ter ry go t
e x c i t e d and burs t fo r th w i t h : " Rea l ly, yo uc h a p s , i f we don ' t get s ta r ted , we shall nev erb e g i n . "
An d i f we don ' t beg in , " pa rod iedSneider, " we shall never s tar t . "
" Bring forth the l an tern ," cr ied Peters ." Le t us hie us to the du ng eon s, and see if t h e scurvy knaves have laid their das t a rd lyp l a n s to—blow us into smith ereens ."
" Dry up ! " sa id Cyri l . " We' re not t akingan y of the Fawkes ' part, on ly t he Guy .N o w, all get a squib for a start. I don ' tw a n t t h e ' G i b - g u y ' burnt up beforeArmstrong c o m e s . "
But the " Gib -gu y " c o u l d not be keptfrom the flames muc h lon ger. Cyril was,therefore, quite pleased at Peters' suggest i o n : " Let ' s h ave a war -da nce before weburn i t , wi th tomahawk and boomerang."
Cyril said he hadn ' t a supp ly o f t omahaw kso r boomerangs jus t to hand, but a war-dancewas possible.
They jo ined hands, an d da nced gleeful lyround the figure in mortar-board and gown .
" I do wish it was G ibs on himse lf," saidPeters, as he whi rled ro und ; and ad de d,quotin g from a recen t " b l o o d " : " I wou ldI could dip my tomahawk in his hot b l o o d ,a n d flash my scalping-knife before theterrified villain's frighte ned eyes , I — m ygoodness ! He—HE spoke ! "
Sure enough a familiar voice was heard—Gibson 's !
" Thanks. Ye s, yo ur master gav e me ful linstructions. I see the little boys are playinghere."
" Great Snakes ! It is hi m, " f rom Peters ,while a low whis t le of as tonish ment brok efrom the other war-dancers .
" Good-evening, boys , "—and Mr. G ibsonfavoured each with one of his cold stares.
" Ah, Falkland, m y bo y, yo ur fa therrequested me to keep a paternal eye upony o u this even ing, and t o instil a littleuseful knowl edge in yo ur and y our c o m -panions ' heads . No w, to comm enc e with ,may I take it for granted tha t you areacquainted with the his tory of the no tor i ousscamp you are about to consign to ob l iv i o n ? "
It was evi den t tha t Mr. Gibso n, seeing onl ythe f igure loo min g up amon gst the c o m -bustibles, imagined it to be the hackneyedGuy Fawkes.
Strange sensatio ns wer e pla yin g up an ddown th e b o y s ' spines , and suppressedtremors agi ta ted more than one of them .Cyri l was anxious , however.
" Please sir," said he, " there's s o m erefreshments in the stu dy— and cigars. Y o ucan see everything f rom the w i n d o w. "
" Precisely, Falk land, " repl ied Mr. Gib son." Knowledge, and he who inculcates knowledge, are not desi rable adjuncts t o y o u rorgies. Let the celebrat ion cont i nue, andmeanwhile I wi l l impar t in format io n herea n d there, though it be but g o o d seed flungo n s tony groun d. To return to my or iginalquestion ; there wou ld appear t o be a lack of informat ion for thcoming concerning theeffigy here . I presum e yo ur acquaint ancewith the historic rascal is limited, is it not ?I speak to you, Sneider."
No , s i r," repl ied Sneider, nei ther kn owi ngwhat to say, nor how to say i t w i t h o u tlaughing.
Cyril let off a bu ndl e o f Chinese C racke rsin sheer desperation; he felt there mus t bean awful and terrible revelation ere long.
" Sneider would infer tha t he has anin t imate acquaintance with this d e s p e r a d o ! "cont inued Mr. Gibs on, indicat ing th e guy ." Aha, Falkland, I unders tand yo u havecons t ruc t ed this effigy : you r know ledge o f t h e costume of the Stuar t period is evident lyl imited. The a t t e m p t at the vi l la in 's c loa k is laudable, but your idea of the Stuar theadgeaT i s d is t inct ly or iginal . Let ush a v e further l ight upon t h e subject . Alantern, please , Warden."
Armstrong arr ived a t tha t m o m e n t a n dc rea t ed a divers ion. Cyri l , mindful of Peters ' r e m a r k a b o u t a gui l lot ine , fe l t l ike
a man ab out to suffer death by such a means.A r m s t r o n g ' s ar r iva l onl y dela yed the fa l l ingof the knife .
" I t ' s yo u, Arms tro ng, is i t ? " sa id M r.Gi bson , in what he intende d to be a genialmanner . " I am some wha t surpr ised tha ty o u are intereste d in the antic s of smal l b o y sdes i r i ng py ro t eehn ica l d ive r s ion . "
" Falkl and is my fr iend, s i r," sa id Ar m
s t rong cu r t l y, bu t cou r t eous ly." Ah , mos t laudable . Y o u desi re , to beguide, counsel lo r, and f r iend t o our smal lb o y here, d la Farrar, I p r e sume . "
Arms t rong was g l ad tha t da rknes s cove redthe angry flush tha t mou nte d to his cheek s a tthese words . Gib son mig ht be , in essence,correct , but such things were not to be ta l kedabo ut , scarcely to be recogni sed, and cer ta inlynot to be parade d before a l l eyes . Wh at abounde r G ibs on was !
" I 'm a f r a id I 'm s topp ing the show,Fa lk l an d , " s a id Arms t ro ng , tu rn ing to Cyri l .
" Ye s, wo want to get on ," sa id Cyri l ,rather short ly. He had heard Mr. Gib son ' sremark : d id Armstrong want to boss him—Cyri l ? Cyri l Falkland fe l t himself qui te able
t ot ake
care of himself, and did n't wan t tob e gu ided , counse l l ed , and p reached a t :Cress ington never t r ied tha t g a m e .
Arms t rong r ead some o f t he t hough t stha t were chasing through his yo un g fr iend 'sbrain , and sore feel ings against Mr. Gibso nwere increased and mult ipl ied .
Th e fireworks, ho we ve r, were awai tin gtheir i nev i t ab l e end .
" N o w we ' l l have a feu de joie," said Cyri l ,on l y he pro nou nce d the Frenc h word s as" foe de j o - e y. "
Th e master hea rd ; so whi le Cyri l wasdetain ed for an as ide in Fren ch pronun ciat ion, Armstrong led the b o y s in the igni t ingof s ix squibs s imul taneously, and then inflinging th e cases, as th ey neare d the exp lo s ive poin t , h igh in the a i r. Curiousl yenough, the s ix empty cases a l l came downabou t t he ears of the Fr ench tu tor ia l class .
" So the Di splay is not w i th out i t s r i sks ,"quo th Mr. Gib son, shaking off som e sparksf r om his c lothe s . " No w, b o y s , here's avery s imple quest ion with a very easy answ er:w h y did those empty cases a l l descend jus tin this sp ot ? . . . Ah , yo u are all no np lus sed . You , P a r r y ; in what di rect ionis the wind blowing this evening ? "
W h i l e P a r r y was bu t ton -ho led , t he o the rb o y s dashe d off for further suppl ies of fireworks.
M r. Gib son was not pleased a t the pro gressof his teaching . I t was Arm str ong whosuggested a wa y out of the diff icul ty, or,a t any rate, ho w to get the diff icul ty ( in theperson of Mr. Gi bson ) out of the way .
" Perhaps , s i r," h e said , " we mig ht sendoff ou r fireworks wh ile y o u res ted in th estud y, and to ok notes of what we are doing.The n, af terwards , yo u could give us al e s son . "
" First, however," sa id Mr. Gibson, " le tus send this vi l la in to his wel l -deserved end "—he meant , burn the gu y.
" Yes , s i r, " s aid eve ryo ne , j o y f u l l y —e x c e p t Cyri l , who fe l t t h a t the knife wasalmost touching his neck, and in one shor tminu te wo uld fa l l wi th a crash.
" Will yo u set a l ight to Gu y F awk es ? "asked Cyri l , ski l ful ly pi lot ing Mr. Gi bson tothe rear of th e figure.
" Pard on me, l i t t le bo y , " sa id the master,"b u t l e t u s no t re so r t t o such beh i nd - t he -ba ck tact ic s . Rat her le t us show the vi l la in bya bo ld f ront tha t he who woul d dras t ical lyinterfere with liberty, must be made to sufferfo r his sins."
Mr. Gib son ci rcui ted the heap of c o m -bus t ib l e s , and s tood f ac ing the " G ib -gu y. "Cyri l held a splut ter ing torch .
" A l i t t le more l ight , p lease , Falkland,"
said Mr. Gibso n, as he s t rok ed his longtaw ny mous t ache t hough t fu l l y. " Yo u havenot , I fear, g iven careful s tud y to the d ulyacc red i t ed por t ra i t s of Fawke s . Wi t hou tbeing too crushing, I mi ght say tha t y o u reffigy i s as much l ike Guy Fawkes as l ike me."
" Ye s , " ag reed the expec t an t Pe t e r s ,be l i ev ing tha t t ru th wi l l ou t . " Faw kesh a d n ' t a carroty moustache, had he, s i r ? "
"O r a g o w n ? " i nnocen t ly i nqu i r ed Parry." An d d idn ' t wea r a mor t a r-boa rd ? " added
Sneider.But the Lis t two remarks were scarcely
hea rd owin g to t he unexpec t e d exp los ion o f a Chinese Cann on. Terry desi red to savehis f r iend. Th e Chem istry Master was not ,h o w e v e r , to be in te r rupted in his investiga t i ons by abnorma l no i se s .
" Wh y, 0 Fa lk l and , this ve ry huge nasalappendage ? "
Cyril felt tha t t he gu i l l o t i ne was abou t t ofinish its wo rk. H e sign alled frant ical lybeh ind h i s back fo r Arms t rong to c o m e t othe r e scue. An d Arms t ron g came .
M r. Gibs on was g iv ing a sho r t sum mary o f the features tha t Gu y Fawke s was r epu ted
to have pos se s sed , when Arms t r ong sudden lygave vent to a note of warning.A rock et , ins tead of soar ing sky wards ,
sped o n its wa y, like an arrow t o a t a rge t ,to the s t raw at the " Gi b-g uy ' s " feet .
The bonfi re was ablaze.N o l onge r c o u l d t he b o y s c o n t r o l their
f e e l i ngs ; t h e y f o rgo t the presence of themas ter, an d fanc ied hi m in the flamesinstead. As Squib s , and Crackers and BlueDev i l s , and w hat not , cam e burs t ing out of t he " G i b - g u y ' s " in ter ior, they shr ieked indel igh t , cater waule d, danc ed, hur led insul tsa t the disapp ear ing guy, and a l tog ethermade such a pandemon ium tha t Mr. G ibsonret i red to refreshments in the s tud y.
Thus did R . M. G ibson , Esq . , B .A . , B . S c ,watch the burning of himself in eff igy—andnever knew i t . Tr ib ulat ion was in s tore forh im, howeve r.
T h e boys were real ly enjoying themselvesb y this t ime, for the bonfi re had burne dd o w n lo w, and the y were par t ic i pat ing inall the deli ghts of a firework d isp lay . Fireworks were fe tched f rom the s umm er-ho usewhere they repose d, careful ly safeguarde dagainst c hanc e sparks , and l i t out in theo p e n ; no one dared to t ake a naked l ighti n t o this ve r i t ab l e powder-magaz ine . Atleas t no one took a l ight in to the place, unt i lM r. Gib son, t i red of his role of onl ook er,c a m e dow n f rom the s tudy s mok in g a c iga r.
H e s t a lked—ciga r and a l l—in to t hesummer-house , and then he bu t ton -ho ledCyri l and pro ceed ed to explain ho w var iouspy ro t eehn ica l e f f ec t s we re p roduced bychemica l combina t ions .
Cyr i l a lways dec l a r ed t h a t i t was Mr.G i b s o n ' s cigar t h a t was r e spons ib l e . Wha teve r the first ca use really was, a crac kersudden ly gy ra t ed w i th five d i s t i nc t hopsam on gs t the fireworks lyi ng ex po se d on th eb e n c h in the summ er-hou se, leaving a t leas tfive o t h e r l i v e l y c o m p a n i o n s alig ht in its tr ack.
M r. Gib son and Cyri l t r ied to smother therap idl y increa sing num be r of liv e fireworks,cal l ing on the others to ass is t . Not hi ngc o u l d be done , howeve r.
Wi t h i n th ree minu te s t he summer-housewa s on e bri lli ant spe ct ac le of flaming, flaring,e x p l o d i n g , popping, fizzling fireworks, Mr.G i b s o n cape r ing mad ly amon gs t t hem, an dfo r once los ing his calm in this his firstexp eri enc e und er fire.
Bu t a mor e terr ible exper ien ce was yet tofo l l ow. Po or Chemis t ry Mas t e r !
S o m e one yelled " Fire ! "" Buc ket s of water ! " e jacu lated Cyri l .Armstrong seized hold of one bucket , and
Sneide r got hold of a secon d. I t wi l l ber e m e m b e r e d t h a t t h e th ree bucke t s had
b e e n placed by the summer-house d o o r fo ruse in case of emer gency . The emer genc yhad arisen.
Whet her Mr. Gibson happen ed to be inthe thicke st of the conflagr ation at th em o m e n t , is not for me to say, but certa init is t h a t the contents of two large buckets of water cam e splash ! against him, dre nchi ngh i m f r o m head to foo t !
A n d as he spluttered, and said things itis not seemly to say, Terry came rushingf o r w a r d with the last bucket , sent thecontents full in his face , and—retired to ah i d i n g - p l a c e in the adjacen t shrubber y,the re to watch the final s parks die out andl e a v e the summer-house dir ty, wet, but safe.
Streaming with water, shaking with rage,burning with indignation and—fireworks,R . M. Gibson , Esq . , B .A. , B . Sc , rushedi n d o o r s , demanding redress ( in two senses)and a taxicab.
Martha promptly found the l a t te r, whileCyri l made suggestions with regard to thet w o former demands, implori ng pardo n forthe mishap, and declaring tearfully t h a tthe cigar was to blame.
Havi ng seen Mr. Gibso n depart , Cyrilre tu rned to his guests, wh o were prop ped upagainst each othe r, shriek ing with laught er.
I t was some t ime before they c o u l d speak c o h e r e n t l y, but when they c o u l d , and hadpar taken of lemo nade and cakes, theydeclared with emphasis t h a t never, in thew h o l e course of the i r existenc e, had they s oe n j o y e d a F i rework Disp lay.
(To be continued.)
SOME N AVA L A ND MILITARYCONUNDRUMS.
B Y H . H E R V E Y .
1. Where do es a sailor-vocalist keep his song b o o k s ?In his 4 1 di t ty -bag ."
2. How is it tha t the Iri sh sol dier uses three boots ?H e has a brogue on each foot an d a brogue in his
m o u t h .3. W h a t c o l o u r e d j ack (flag) do sailors most dislike ?
" Ye l l o w J a c k . "4. An air-ship tha t does no t fly ?
Heirship.5. L o n d o n s t ree t for military evolutio ns ?
Praed (parade) Street.6. In what ship c o u l d you get plenty of reading
matter ?In a librarianship.
7. Best thing to send to help a brig in distress ?A brigade (brig aid) of life-boats.
8. G o o d place in Hunga ry for artillery ?G u n s .
9. W h i c h is the most useless par t of a ship ?T h e figurehead.
10. Best coat to wear when under bombardment ?Shel l - jacket .
11. When can a marksman be called a miracle-worker ?W h e n , firing at the ranges, he makes magpies and
bul ls .12. What modern marine engine of war is c o m p o s e d
of a hill, a pea, and a she-fallow deer ?To r p e d o ( To r - p - d o e ) .
13 . Wha t difference 'tw ix t a soldier eager for batt leand one quarrelling o v e r " l o o t " ?
On e spoi ls for the fight, an d the othe r fights for th espoi l .
15 . Wh o are the foremo st men in a sailer's c r e w ?T h e foremast ( f o r e m o s t ) men.
16. Wh y is Bisley noted fo r Irishmen ?B e c a u s e it is a great place for making " bulls."
17. Name of what navigator of C o o k ' s time is veryl i k e a wagontilt ?
Va n c o u v e r (van cover) .18. Name of what battle w o u l d make a Scottish house
wife look to her o v e n ? >..B a n n o c k b u m .
19 . A Chinese river boat whose name suggests abrother of Peter Pan ?
Sampan.20 . The best dressed " amon g ships ?
A. " da ndy " (a veasel rigged like a y a w l ) .
NOTHING, perhaps, is mor e remarkab le in mod ern journalism than the honoured place secured
b y the photog raphic illustration of current happeningsand topi cal subjects, even in journals which, untilwithin the last few years, were bare of any illustrat ions
w h a t s o e v e r.T h e demand for photog raph s, too, is an increasing
on e among practically all classes of publications. Thepen may be mightier than the sword, yet it seeks withg r o w i n g zest the support of what may not inaptly betermed its artillery, viz. the camera. The free-lance
journalist , then, w ho is also a photogra pher, standsa much better c hanc e of seeing his illustrated articlein print than does the man who is a writer only.Indeed , so great is the request for really i nterestingpictures tha t the photographer who can only scribblea few intelligent and intelligible notes on the backsof his prints will, nevertheless, find ready acceptancefo r Ms wor k, the te xt being licked into shape by oneof the editorial staff.
There are, howeve r, certain general rules to beo b s e r v e d if the young photog raphic journalist is tosecure an early modi cum of success. As with jo urnal ismpure and simple it is best to begin with the th ings nearat hand. The exercise of imagination and t houghtwill, in a few momen ts, bring before the ty ro's m indan almost endless vista of phot ographi c possibilities inthe dullest locality.
F or th e local papers there will be the weddings andfunerals, the proces sions and ceremoni es and si milarpassing events. There will be the changes wrou ght inthe district both by nature and by man and the placesand relics of literary, histo ric or other associ ation whichoften have more than a local interest.
Also, if the you ng photographer-journalist can getinto touch with local people and events, photograp hs,whether as poses or snapshots, of well-known personswill prove acceptable to the local press. The prominentcricketer or foot baller, the rising singer, the famousp e r s o n residing or holi dayin g in the district, all makeexcel lent " c o p y, " especially if they are snapped intheir less familiar occupations. A picture of thef o o t b a l l e r b o x i n g with a friend, the cricketer at golf,the singer or player with his or her pets, the famousauthor gardening, not only would arouse considerableinterest but w o u l d probably g i v e the lucky photographer more credit for being persona grata withthese people than he deserved. Const ant vigila nceon his part, howev er, will often bring him these strok esof fortune at u nexpected moments, while occasionally,as in the case of the famous author, he would securepictures of more than local interest and which, if succinct ly written up, would find ready acceptance atremunerative payme nt among publications covering aw i d e r field.
T h e opportunities of using local events, personalitiesand views, to obtain photog raphic entree into outside
journals will, of course, be limited, altho ugh thephot ograp her who is also an attracti ve writer, especiallyof literary and historical paragraphs and articles, canmake much more of these opportunities than he whok n o w s little of , or is unable t o present in interestingform, local history or literary associations.
T h e best method, perhaps, of finding a wider field to rone 's pictures is to devote the annual holiday to that purpose . Choose groun d not too well know n and alreadyoverwritten about and over-photoed in the magazinesand pictor ial papers and, accompa nied by brief notes,y o u r pictures will find ready acceptance, particularlyif they c o v e r some author's"" country," or the homesand haunts of famous persons of bot h the past andthe present. Likewise, series of castles, cathedralsor churches are always welcome to certain journals,while still larger numbers are open to receive picturesof quaint customs and ceremonies from ail localities ath o m e and abroad.
England abounds with annual processionings, feastsand fairs, while o v e r in Brittany, Normandy andH o l l a n d the camera need never be at rest f rom recording o l d - w o r l d cust oms, especially at t he times of the religious processions and pub lic fetes, the date^and particulars of which are easily ascertainablein g o o d ^tinie f rom the touring agency or railwayc o m p a n y.
I think I have said sufficient to show the aspiringphot ograph er-scr ibe in which directions he can atfirst best turn his attent ion. All tha t now remains ist o submit a few practical hints which should beinvariably fo l lowed if the largest proportion of picturesis to find editorial acceptance.
First, y o u must stud y the character of the publica
tions to which you think of offering your efforts.A magazin e of a religious character, for instance, doesn o t require pictures of the local football team pl ayinghop-scotch, but a photo of the captain addressing aP. S . A . or Brotherhood meeting might be received withpleasure. E ver y pictur e should have its subjectwritten on the bac k; the editor caL -not be expectedt o guess it f rom the accompanying MS.
It is not always necessary tha t your photos shouldbe high-class pro duc ts; the clear delineation of essential points is the chief thing. With this apparentan otherwise p o o r effort will often be taken. Find o utas far as po ssi ble what papers prefer a silv er finish, am a t t or a bromide and take note thereof. Exper ienceis the best guide in this matter, althoug h the " LiteraryYe a r B o o k " affords g o o d help and o n l y costs ashilling.
All pho tos should be sent flat, not rolled, and t hestamped- addressed envelo pe enclosed for the returnof the pictu re in case of non-acceptan ce shoul d belarge enough to bring it back flat.
S o m e journals pay by column, others by word-lengt h. In the former case your phot os are generallyincluded in the customary rate. In the latter, however,
yo u should mark on the back of you r pictu re the sumyo u requi re for the use of it. When yo u send a series,price each photo, so tha t the value of those acceptedca n be ascertained by simple additi on. Lastly , getbefore you a c o p y of the journal to which you areambit ious to contr ibut e and read, mark and learn itsrules for contri butors and special requirements ineither text or illustration. See, then, tha t you haveit s title and address correct , and no fault will attacht o you if your efforts go astray.
F A R M E R : " Wha t do yo u mean by fishing in this stream ? Have n'tyo u read the notice, ' No Fishing Allowed ' ? "
B O Y : " Pleas e, sir, I wasn 't fishing. I was only teaching this littlew o r m to swim."
TT was no t the M att erh orn or Mon tX Blanc, of cours e. Eve n the mos tenthusiastic of mountai neers scarcely thinksof going up such mountains as those withouta guide, let alone of ac ti ng as gui de up o neof them to a d o z e n or so of b o y s , the oldestof them not much a b o v e sixteen, and the
younge s t just under fifteen.But, tho ugh there was not hing in th e
nature of record-bre aking about the featwhich Scoutmaster Charlton and the pickedcontingent of the 1st Lulham Tr o o p , whichhe had brought for a holiday tour in Switzerland, had achi eved, i t was a dist inctl ycreditable performance , all things conside red,and a g o o d beginn ing in the art o f mountaineering. Mr. Charl ton felt proudof his little ba nd, valui ng mor e high ly wha tthey had done tha t d a y than the many muchmore difficult ascents which had made hi m afit guide for the m. Perhap s, on s o m e futureoccasion, one of them might reach the crestof the Matterhorn or Mont Bla nc, and smileas he remembered this first day's mountaineering, but smi le grate fully, n ot c o ntemptuously.
One says " ac hi eve d," and i n a sensethe word is correct . But to go to the to pof a mountain, though tha t may fairly beheld to be an achiev ement, is not e verythi ng.After tha t , there is the getting d o w n . A n dit was in the cou rse of the desc ent tha tR o l a n d Dane and Jack Geddes had theiradventure.
T h e y were not on spe aki ng terms at thetime. This was unli ke g o o d scouts, but soit was. The cause of their estrangement—•they had been ve ry g o o d friends before it —was one of those silly trifles which haveruined more than one friends hip. It isreally too trivial to recount here.
Th e one thing to their credit in the mat terwas that the y had kept their quarrel tothemselves, not all owing it t o spoil thepleasure of their comr ade s. Fe w of thesesuspected its exist ence , and Mr. Charlto n,whose eyes were keen enough, had failedto noti ce it at all.
It was not quite like g o o d scouts, ei ther,to lag behin d as they did. Bu t for tha t therewas some excuse . They had been told tha tthe descent w o u l d be by an easier route thanthe ascent had been. Thus far it had beenve ry easy indeed, and they did not k n o wthat the difficult part ca me near the middle,though they w o u l d have known it had theylistened to what Mr. Charlton had said atthe top. Bu t Jac k had his kod ak with him,and R oland, something of a botanist , was
hunting for edelwei ss.The se two circumstances accounted for
the lagging, to o. Afte r what has beenexp l a ined , one need hardly s ay tha t th etw o had not lagge 1 together. In fact , theywere mutually surprised when the y l o o k e daround them, saw one anothe r, an d failed t op e r c e i v e anyone else.
Th e grassy s l o p e on which they were justthen l o o k e d innocen t enough , though theyhad found i t sl ipper y. But now Jac k, whowa s the first to d i s c o v e r th e t rue pos i t ion of affairs, learned t h a t it was by no means asi n n o c e n t as it l o o k e d . At the edge i td r o p p e d away in a p r e c i p i c e . Clearly the
rest had not g o n e d o w n there. Whe re hadthey g o n e 2
Then he heard Rola nd's v o i c e . Dane wasshouting excite dly, and as Jac k turned tol o o k at him, he point ed d o w n b e l o w an da w a y to the right. Ther e, far eno ugh d o w n t ol o o k quite small, was their party !
Mr . Charlton led. One c o u l d distinguishhi m by his s ize . But the l i t t le band wasfar enough away to make i t impossible totell one of them f rom anot her, as far as therest were concerned .
R o l a n d ca me up. He spok e to Jac k forthe first tim e sinc e they ha d lande d at Cal ais.
" I say, Geddes, this is a queer go ! H o won ear th did they get d o w n there ? "
" M o r e t h a n I can tell you," answeredJac k. " But I suppose we can track the m."
To g e t h e r , but si lent, the two made acrosst he s lope to the right, and s o o n found thetracks they were l o o k i n g for. But theirexultation in the d i s c o v e r y was short-l ived.
Fo r the grassy s lope led to another s l o p ew h i c h was not grassy, but c o v e r e d withloose , shingly stones. On this the trackswere harder to fo l low. A scratch here andthere on the stones f r o m the heavily-nailedb o o t s , a stone freshly turned o v e r, o n c e th eplain ma rk of someo ne's sl ide, not takenpu rpos e ly, of course ; and then—a preci picea g a i n !
A huge r o c k jutted out at the end of anarUe (r idge) . It did not o c c u r to either of them, inexpe rience d as they were, tha t o v e rthis r o c k was their way . Ha d they not beenso busily o c c u p i e d they w o u l d have seen oneafter another of their comrade s ascend i tand dro p, eac h with a rope fastened unde rhis armpits, to a narrow pathway eight ornine feet b e l o w. It did not even o c c u r t othem to mount the r o c k , for i t seemed imp o s s i b l e tha t i t should help them , hangingout, so to speak, as i t did. The pathw ayb e g a n on the side away f rom t h e m .
W e shall have to sing out, " said J ack ." W o n ' t be much g o o d , I r eckon ,"
answered Roland , g l o o m i l y. " T h e y ' v ed isappeared ."
It was true. Gazing out o v e r the brokens lopes b e l o w, J a c k c o u l d see no sign of theirc o m r a d e s . He had marked the place wherethe y had been when he last saw the m. The y
must have g o n e still farther t o the right ,b e y o n d that mass of broken r o c k s , whichw o u l d shut them out of view f rom abov e.
Still, they shouted with all the strength of their lungs, and waited for an answer. No nec a m e . Agai n they shouted, but st i l l t herewa s no response.
Th e t w o l o o k e d at one anothe r, and eac h
k n e w what the other was thinki ng—that inthis difficulty he w o u l d ra ther hav e had anyother mem ber of the party as his com pan ionthan the one who was with him.
O v e r th e arUe they went. On the others i d e of i t was yet another shingl y s l o p e .
A l o n g the edge of this they quested in
vain. They had c o m e to o far to find th epath, w hich drop ped quick ly, and wash idden f r o m them by the broken groundthro ugh whic h it ran.
" Wh at do you think we' d better do,Geddes ? " asked Rola nd at last . " Weshan ' t have much more day l igh t . I can ' tmak e i t out ho w it is they ha ven' t misse d us
j e t . "
A l r e a d y the sun had set, and dusk wasc r e e p i n g o v e r the chalets of the l i t t le townin the valley.
" W e ' v e got to get d o w n s o m e h o w, "answered Jac k. " I t will be too dar k in afe w minutes for us to hav e any cha nce of finding the wa y. I vo te we tr y one of ou rown. Yo u ' v e a rope, haven' t yo u ? If weca n spot a place where there 's a ledgeb e l o w, and get d o w n t o tha t , we ought to beable to wor k our wa y by degre es. Or,perhaps, w e ' l l hit upon their path. A n y w a y,w e ' v e got to do someth ing. I t 's no g o o dstanding here."
There was a touc h of irr i tat ion in his tones.A c c o r d i n g to his reckon ing, Ro la nd hadb e g u n the quarrel . Bu t now , when theywere in a nasty fix, the fe l low l o o k e d to h imfo r guidance .
H e had to admi t a few minute s later t h a tDan e was not useless, howe ver, for i t washe who fo und such a ledge as the y we rel o o k i n g for.
Easy enough to get d o w n t o t h a t one !T h e y might almost have done i t wit hout ther o p e . And the scramble of ten or a d o z e nfeet to the next presented no great difficulty.But n ow cam e the cri t ica l poin t .
B e l o w the m ran the pathwa y. Th ey c o u l do n l y just discern i t ; in a few minutes i tw o u l d be no longer v i s i b l e . But i t was fiftyfee t at least b e l o w, and their ro pe was notm o r e t h a n twenty fee t l o n g . I m m e d i a t e l ybeneath, the face of the precipice presentedno f o o t h o l d ; it c a v e d inward somewhat , a ndfo r twelve feet or more w o u l d be quite outof the reach of anyone dangling by a rope.L o w e r t h a n tha t , i t appeared more brokenand slanted outwards a l i t t le, l o o k i n g as if i t migh t be just possible to scrambl e d o w ni t . At least , the y c o u l d t ry. And theymust not delay, or the last glimmer of l ightw o u l d be g o n e .
" I'l l go first," s aid Jac k. " Th en , if i t isn ' t managea ble, you can haul me ba ck. "
Bu t to go first was to take th e m oredangerous t ask , and R ola nd ' s p r ide rebe l led .
" N o , " he said; " we' l l toss for i t , Geddes."" All r ight, " snapped Jack. " Yo u toss ;
I ' l l call —Heads ! "But i t was " tai ls ," and Dane prepare d to
mak e the descent. Ja ck fastened the rop efirmly aro und an outcr opp in g roc k, forR o l a n d said t h a t it wo uld not be safe forth e fe l low who staye d abo ve to hol d i t ,though Jack differed f r o m him as to t h a t .H o w e v e r , t he r o c k seemed firm enough, andperhaps after all t h a t was best.
" Take i t easy, Dan e, " Jack said. " Do n' ts l i d e d o w n to o fast, and be sure y o u ' v e g o tg o o d f o o t h o l d before you let go the r op e. "
" Oh, I suppose I can be t rus ted t o l o o k after m y s e l f ? " re tu rned Roland , r e sen t ingthe adv ice .
H e began to descend, swinging with ther o p e as it tu rned and twiste d. Glancingd o w n , he saw throu gh t he fast-growing du sk the blink of lights in the to wn far b e l o w.Then a shout came f r o m abov e :
" Oh , look out, Da ne ! The rock 's givi ngw a y ! "
Roland's feet scraped, seeking for a holdbut finding none. A b o v e him he heard thepant ing s oun d of one who lab ours at a t ask t o o hard for him, and guessed t h a t Jack wasstr iving to hold up the r o c k in its place.
Struggling his hardes t , face downwards ,his arms clas ped arou nd the r o c k which st i l lpart ial ly held, though i t was s l o w l y sagg ing
outwards, his brea th com ing in gasps, thev e i n s in his templ es thro bbi ng, his lips go neall at o n c e dry and hard , and realising tha t hewas being gradually d ragged d o w n , J a c k h e l d on manfully, an d waited for his chu m'scall t h a t he had found a f o o t h o l d .
His chum— yes , i t was so t h a t he thoughtof Rol an d then. Wh at an ass he had beent o quarrel abo ut such a little thing ! An dwith an o ld fr iend l ike Rol and , to o, a fr iendwi th w h o m he had had so many g o o d t imes .
Slowly, s lowly, but all too surely, the r o c k s a g g e d farther outwards . An d every incht o l d , lessening the s t reng th of Jack' s resista n c e , becaus e he was carr ied for ward wit h i t.
" I can' t—hold i t—much longer," hepan ted . " I t ' s d ragg ing—me over . "
" And I can' t get a f o o t h o l d a n y w h e r e , "c a m e Rol and 's answer, soundin g queer andthick to Jack, in whose ears there was anoise like the rushing of ma ny waters .
" It' s me or bot h of us, " was the tho ugh tt h a t f lashed through Rol and 's mind . " OldJac k will never loose hold ! He' l l be draggedo v e r first."
Then u p to the bo y ab ove came his cry,shri l ler than befo re : " I' m let ting go ! "
N e x t moment the strain relaxed, and
d u l l y to Jack ' s ears there came the sound of a falling bo dy —n ot falling clear, but rolli ng,with the briefest of pauses as Rol an dc l u t c h e d at anything t h a t might serve toarrest his to o rapid progress. An d Jack' shear t st ood still as he liste ned—list ened f orth e t h u d t h a t might mean al l was over,o r for the v o i c e of his chum.
It wa s the v o i c e t h a t came !" I 'm on the p a t h — Ja ck ! " sho ute d
R o l a n d . " But I 've—s train ed—my right—ankle. Feel s—pretty bad. "
" Neve r mi nd, old man, as long as i t 's n ow o r s e . I'l l see if I can find ano the r pl acet o fasten the rope to, " Jack called in re turn .
Bu t eve n as he spoke , the r o c k crashedd o w n , taking the rope with it, and his hearts t o o d still again, and the b l o o d seemed totu rn to ice in his veins, as he waited , fearinglest it should s t r ike his chum.
R o l a n d ' s shou t t h a t all was well reassuredh i m .
" I guess I shall have to drop an d rol l,"Jack said next.
But his v o i c e sho ok a l i t t le . I t hadg r o w n so dark n ow t h a t he c o u l d not see hisc h u m b e l o w, c o u l d not even dist inguish thep l a c e where the preci pice bega n to incline
slightly outwar ds. A dro p into the dark, i tw o u l d be, with no certainty t h a t he wouldnot stagger backwards and fall clear to adireful smash b e l o w.
" N o ! Yo u ' d neve r do it. I had ther o p e , and a fair s ta r t . I think I can walk,Jack . Yes , I ' m sure I can. I must goafter the rest , and Mr. Charlton will find aw a y out fo r yo u . "
It wa s the o n l y thing to be done . Rol andh o b b l e d off, calling a last message o f cheer ;and Jack, lying on a ledge no more than si xfee t w i d e , scarcely daring to m o v e lest hes h o u l d pitch ove r, yet wonder ing al l t hetime whether he would not have done bettert o roll off and t ake his chance, set t led d o w nt o what se emed like an eterni ty of waiti ng.
H e was very tired, and t he strain of thosefe w minu tes in whi ch he had uphe ld t her o c k had told upon him heavil y. But worstof all was the c o l d . That was harder to beare v e n than the hunger t h a t began to assail him.
His mind was full of trouble about Roland,t o o . Perhaps there were more dangerousplaces to be passed, and Roland was lame,and it was dark. He pictur ed his ch umfalling o v e r precipices and b eing smashedint o fragme nts, or failing and ly ing d o w n t o
b e frozen to death, a nd he came near toforge ttin g his ow n sorr y plight, as he dwe ltu p o n the things tha t might be happening toR o l a n d .
There fo l lowed a t ime of something l ikestupor, in which consecu tive thought waslos t , and his sense of iden tity v anis hed ; andhe o n l y knew tha t someon e was horribly sorryfo r som eon e else who was hung ry and freezingand in pain ; but wheth er it was he who wassorry for Roland, or Roland for him, or justwhat it was, he knew not.
His mi nd g rew clearer for a mom ent , andhe pulled himself closer to the wall of hisl e d g e , with an instinctive dread t h a t deliri u m might fo l low on his stupor.
Then—whether it was a minute later, o ran hou r, or a whole day and night, he d idnot kn ow—c ame the sound of a v o i c e f r o ma b o v e hi m ! Th e glea m of a lantern s h o w e d ,and he called out something—he did n otk n o w what. The l ight descended s l o w l ytowards h im.
" Slip the n o o s e under your armpits , andfasten the lantern to your belt ," came f r o ma b o v e , and he had to repeat the wor ds t ohimself before he c o u l d understand them.His chilled fingers fumbled with the rope.
" I ' l l c o m e d o w n to you , if yo u l ike," thev o i c e said.
" N o ; i t 's al l r ight , s ir. I ' m c o m i n g .Haul away ! "
H e had summoned up the last remnan tof his nerve and pluck in tha t moment , andw h e n the y got him to the slope abo ve he w ashalf fainting.
H e c o u l d never remember the way d o w n .T h e y mus t have gone by t h a t passage o v e rthe big roc k, but he was not c o n s c i o u s of it.But , when the lights of the village g l o w e dbrighter as they neared it, he said, in astrange, strangled v o i c e :
" Mr. Charlton—Roland, where is he ? "" In bed at the hotel by B O W, m y b o y,
thank heav en ! I ought to be kic ked fornot seeing tha t you two weren' t with us ."
" I t 's al l r ight , s ir. We ' d quarrel led—so i t ' s al l r ight ."
T h e Scoutmast er was puzzled. But Jack 'shalf-dazed mi nd was unco nsci ous of any ga pin his speech.
T h e y had quarrel led, those two old chums,and they might have drifted a p a r t for ever.But in the hour of their peril they had c o m etoge ther again, an d because of t h a t it was" all rig ht " 1
been interested in cont riva nces whic hwould tel l somethi ng abou t the weather .In later t imes some of these ins t rumentshave shown themselves t o b e o f grea tscientific value, and the making of mar«yof these i s of course a l toge ther beyo ndthe ordinary boy. A certain number of the more fanciful weather-tellers, h o wever, can be construc ted with ve ry l i t t l etrouble, and a few of them are so singularthat they well repay anyone f o r t h et ime and wor k exp end ed. On the presentoccasion t h e devices se lec ted a r e n o tonly very interesti ng, but are really quitereliable in foreca sting weath er changes.
Th e Weather But te r f ly, o f w h i c hil lustrations a r e gi ve n, was first o f a llp roduce d by Mr. Richa rd Inwards , a wel l -known meteoro log is t . I t s movements a rebased on the si ngular propert ies o f t h e
T h e E g y p t i a n O a t .[The awns of this are mad e use of in the maki ng of
the weather butt erfly. ]
awns of the E gyp ti an W i l d O a t (Avenasterilis). Th e plant is not so restri cted inhabit as i ts name would imply, for i t is anative of southern Euro pe of ver y generaloccu r r enc e . S p e c i m e n s o f t h i s oat canusually b e secured f r o m botanical institutions, and on occas ion f rom seed establishments, where the dealer i s glad to getrid of the se eds, whi ch he may have rec e i v e d i n cons ignments f r o m a b r o a d .
A s a glance a t the ac compa nying photograph will s h o w, the awns of t h i s oat areof great length, and a t one .point are ben tin a curious fashion. No w these awns,o w i n g t o the manner i n which the lowerpo r t i o n i s twis te d , a re ex t r emely sens i t iveto var ia t ion i n the degree o f mois ture .If on e is placed upr igh t i n d a m p s o i lit a t o n c e start* t o twis t round i n sucha way tha t the seed i s f o r c e d into theg round . Even to breathe on a dry oat induces the awns t o w a v e r f r o m s ide t os ide , an d i t is th i s sensit iveness to dampw h i c h is employed with such g o o d effect inthe making of the weather butterfl y.
Th e first step i n the making o f t h ebutterfly is to c h o o s e a email w o o d e n b l o c k ,
T h e We a t h e r B u t t e r f l y.
[Closes its wings in wet weather and opens themin fine.]
and on t h i s fix very firmly the b o d y of thebutterfly. Thi s ma y be cut into a su i tab leshape out of stout ca rdb oar d, or, i n th eca s e o f a g o o d - s i z e d spec imen , the lowe rp a r t of the oat , after the aw ns have beenr e m o v e d , answers the purpose very w e l l .N o w prepare the bu t te r f ly ' s wings ; theses h o u l d be cut out of st iff p aper —not epap eri s ve ry good—and pa in ted wi th wate rc o l o u r s in a su i tab le manner. Ne xt two
rings should be secured, such as are emp l o y e d by jewel l e r s fo r fas ten ing ob je c t son chains. Th e tw o win gs of the but te rfly are p laced toge ther, and i n the lowerp a r t a pair of holes is bore d right thr oughthe paper. T o cor res pond wi th these ,ho l e s are pierced in the b o d y of the b u t t e rfly, and, the rings being f o r c e d open , thew i n g s an d b o d y are l ink ed toge the r in themanner show n. Of course the rings areno w c l o s e d again. A pair of antennae m a d eof brist les, with t iny spots of sealing-waxon the ends, complet es the butte rfly a p a r tf r o m the pla cing of the awns .
T h e We a t h e r B u t t e r f l y.[The movement of the awns of the oat opens the
wings of the butterfly in dry weathe r.]
It is best to c h o o s e a very damp day onw h i c h to se t the Wea the r But te r f ly. T h ew i n g s ar e c l o s e d toge ther, and the loweren d of one awn is fixed down w i t h a c o u p l eof c u t pins a r ranged c ross -wise . T h eu p p e r p a r t of the awn i s pressed right upagainst the wi ng of the butt erfly, and is-finally s e c u r e d w i t h a piec e of sta mp paper.On the other side o f the butterfly, the-a wn i s fixed, only, an d t h i s i s very impor tan t to rememb er, i t i s a t t ached i n a ne x a c t l y oppos i te d i rec t i on . T ha t i s , on ones ide the lower p a r t o f the awn i s a l o n gb y the side of the head of the butte rfly,whilst on the other side i t i s by the tailen d of the b o d y.
I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t the wings o f t heweather butterfly have been set i n d a m pra iny wea ther, and t h i s be in g so , we m ayat o n c e t es t whether the l i t t l e d e v i c e w i l lw o r k f ree ly. Car ry the con t r i vance to anydry place, such as a l inen-a i r ing cupboard ,o r a rac k abo ve the kit chen fire. T h ec h a n g e in the atmos pher e causes the a wnsto twis t , wi th the resu l t t h a t t h e w i n g so f the bu t te r f ly expand . A l i t t l e looseni ng o r ad jus tment may b e necessa ry t o
secure a f ree work ing , bu t i f all has gonew e l l i t wil l be found t h a t hereaf te r thebut te r f ly res ponds read i ly t o n a t u r a lchanges in the a i r. Th e wings a re t i gh t l yc l o s e d w h e n ra in i s c o m i n g , par t ly openw h e n t h e condi t ions a re uncer ta in , andw i d e l y open when fa i r wea ther i s t o b ee x p e c t e d .
(To be continued.)
C R Y I N G !
HE cried and he cried, though the sun tipped eactow a v e
That played on the golden-flecked shore,Th e breezes caressed him and whispe red—" be bra ve, "
Bu t this o n l y made him cry more.
A great grown-up man to stand cryi ng aloud,A sight for the girls and the b o y s I
An d passers-by stopped, s o o n there gathered a crowd)A r o u n d him, so great was his noise.
Ye t he vv -as courageous, remarkably strong,No broke n-down failure was he ;
T o u th ink he was mad ? No , indeed you are w r o n g -He wa s a tow n crier, y ou see I
L E S L I E M . O T L E R .
T H E M A K I N G O F A S C O U T.
BY ARTHUR L . SALMON.
YOU take him neat f r o m th e s c h o o l and the s t r e e t(O r as neat as you can catch him),
An d rig him out like a proper scout ,"With other b o y s to match h im ;
In a pair of knicks and appropria te " kicks "An d a jaunt y cap to grace him,
Wi t h a p o l e to hold m a manner b o l d ,T o u drill him and you pace him.
T o u gain his t r o t h b y a solemn oathThat binds his sense of rightness,
An d you teach him much t h a t is close in toucbWi t h honour and politeness,—
T o say and do the thing that ' s true,To work some kindness daily.
An d never think to shirk or shrink,But meet all duty gaily.
Thus you take the boy f r o m his old e m p l o yOf idle strife and shout ing,
An d you make him a man, as you surely can,By the discipline of scouting.
T o u train his hand to his will 's comm and,An d he knows the thing t o do, s i r ;
An d his wits rely on his nerve and eye,An d his pluck will take him t hrough , sir I
T o u may laugh and say i t is merely play,A lest of bad ge and blazer,
But the laddie knows t h a t his scouting clothesMean more than he will say, sir.
An d the badge that ' s worn shall take no scornF r o m the boyis h breast t h a t bears i t :
It means that he's t rue to himself and to you ;If a thing must be d one , he dares it.
' ? A R EAST."—Dr. Morrison, who has ac cepted animportant position as political adviser to the ChineseGovernment, is an Australian by birth. He has hadan adven tur ous career, havin g crossed the Australi ancontinent on f o o t f rom north to south, lived amongthe savage tribes of New Guinea (where he wasspeared), and risked his life times without endamong hostile tribes in Siam, China and other par tsof th e East . H e o n c e travelled through the CelestialLand disgu ised as a nati ve, wit h a pig-tail fastenedon to his hat.
H . R. L.—Co mmunic ate with such companies as theP . and 0., Castle-Union, American, and oth erleading lines which carry ship's writers on theirboats. Address your letter in each case to theInspecting Purser, stating yo ur age and generalexperience. The commen cing salary is £3 a mon th.
" RESTLESS."—If yo u show ed plent y of " grit " andadaptability you might earn f r o m te n to fifteendollars a mont h in your second year. Board andlodging wou ld be provi ded free. As a " greenhorn. "your help during the first twelve months in Canadaw o u l d not be worth much. There is no tree-grubbingto be don e on the Albert an prairie. Regi na is inSaskatchewan, and is a prairie to wn.
F . WILLIAMS.—There are t oo man y curiosities in innnames to g i v e a full list here. Yo u may add to thosey o u quot e : " The Beetl e and We d g e , " " The Assin a Ban dbo x," and " The Wo r l d Turned UpsideD o w n . "
* AT H L E T I C U S . " — S e v e r a l pedestrians have succeededin walking 1 0 0 miles in much less time than twenty-four hours. The best 100-mile performance wasthat of W. Howes (a professional), who c o v e r e d th edistan ce in 1 8 hrs. 8 mins. 1 5 sees.
FRANK T. —Wh y you stammer is because yo u are into o great a hurry to get the words out. Yo u willcure yourself if you will have patience. Practisetaking a deep breath before s tar t ing a sentence, andat ever y pause, in fa ct ; and let the wor ds roll off your tongue easily, gliding one into the other, soas to keep up a cont inu ity of soun d. After havi ngpractised this " vocalising " (sounding the vowelso n l y ) you will in time find yourself pronouncing theconsonants with little difficulty . R ead alo ud asmuch as you can, fo l lowing the above rules.
" CONST ANTINE."—Have you tried to solder yourboiler ? But f rom what y ou say it would be better,perhaps, to try and get a new boiler. It w ouldbe cheaper in the long run.
P H I L T O M S . — A 2d., blue Mauritius fetched the highprice of £ 1 , 8 7 5 some years ago, being bought for theGerman Postal Museum.
R . M. P.—Alr eady dealt with in the last v o l u m e .Th e coloured plate in question was presented with
the first p a r t o f Vo l . 3 1 .
ILLINGTON.—Your coin is a base silver coin of Baden,formerly a free s ta te of Europe, but now incorporatedas a par t of the German Empi re. It is quit e c o m m o n .Yo u r friend's coin is a ten kreutzer of Austria.
HAROLD H . — I t is merely a literary curiosity ; thereis no etymological connecti on. Here is anotherinst ance : " wick " and " w i c k e d " in French arerespectively " meche " and " mechant. " H ave y ouever not iced this ?
" F I R E D O G . " — T h e London Salvage Corps is anins t i tu t ion separate and distinct f rom the LondonFire Brigade, it was brough t into being by t heInsurance Companies under the Fire Brig ade Act of I 8 6 0 . Th e chief officer is Lieut.-Col. C. J. Fo x, andth e headquar ters of the corps are in Watling Street,L o u d o n , E.C. Yo u can always recognise a SalvageCorps man by the whit e facings on his tuni c ; thos eof a Fire Brigade man are red.
E. V. W. — Yo u r rubbing is taken f rom a very c o m m o nEnglish half penny token of 1812. (2) A doi t coppe rof the Dutch East Indies, worth less than a shilling.( 3 ) A fourpenny pi ece of Charles II .
JASON.—See Vol. 3 0 of the " B.O .P. " All the par tsyo u ask for are out of print. The Christmas Numb eris a " special extra " par t , and is not b ound up withth e annual volume.
" S U F F E R E R . " — Yo u r blinking habit can be stoppedif yo u will set you r mind to it. It is a case for theexertion of will-power. No self-respecting boy orman likes to b e c o m e the victi m of a habi t.
A. D A W S O N M I L L S . — T h e animal you saw was a stoat.It is quite c o m m o n in certain country-sides andunfortunately perpetrates a great deal of harmamong game birds and their eggs . The stoatchang es its coat accordi ng to the season ; in summerit is reddish-brown above and yellowish below, inwinter it ad opts a white coat , the tip of the tailalone retaining a touch of black . This, of course,is a case of protective coloration.
L. V. M E T I V I E R (and others ).—We do not answerquestio ns as to the value of stamps, but a lways referreaders to the catal ogues of the dealers.
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
T H E adve nt of Christ mas and present-g iving is,ieraJded by the many at t rac t ive and sumptuouslybound vol umes which are now comi ng day after dayf rom the publisher s. " Bett er than ever" i s theverd ict we may pass upon the bulk of them. He willbe a captious boy indeed whose hear t is not gladdenedby one or other of the numerous books offered for hisentertainment this season.
In the list o f thos e lying upo n our table w e may givepride of place to an old " 13.0 .P." favourit e in " Jeffrey
of the White Wolf Trail," by J. Claverdon Wo o d( R e l i g i o u s Trac t S o c i e t y, 5s.). Many who fo l lowedthis rattling yarn thro ugh our pages will no dou btlike to possess it in volume f o r m . The story isattractively illustrated in colour by Arthur Tw i d l e .Th e R . T. S . have also re-issued another " B. O.P ."serial in " The Baymouth Scout s," by To m Bevan,with col oured plates (3s. 6</.). This stor y of thedays of Napole on and his threatened invasion of Englan d should find many new admirers, particula rlyamong Boy Scouts.
From Henry Frowde and Hodd er and St oughtonc o m e " The Air Patro l " and " The M o t o r Scout , " byHerbert Strang, bot h of which mark the author"sdesire to be up-t o-dat e. The former story is, indeeda peep into the future, for it looks forward to a timuwhen there is a great Mong olian Empir e whose armysweeps d o w n upon the North-West Frontier of India.Th e two youthfu l heroes possess an aeroplaae, andwith the assistance of some Pathan miners th ey hol da pass in the Hindu Kush against a host of Mongols ,thus rendering inval uable service to the Indian armyoperati ng in Afghanist an. The heroes, Bo b andLauren ce Ap plet on, display all the " infinite-resource-and-s agacit j " of the famous Hibern ian, and aremanly, healthy-minded lads w h o m the reader isthe better for knowing. Cyrus Cuneo's colouredpictu res greatl y enhance the yarn. There is thesame up-to- dateness and breezy swing in " ThePira te Aeroplane ," by Captain Gilson (illustrationsb y Christopher Clark, R. L) , whose readers mostlyk n o w him as a writer of historical stories. Inthis instance we are taken to a remot e cor nerof Arabia where survives a race of people directlydescended f rom the ancient Egyptia ns. This is ascientific discovery attractive enoug h in itself, butthe reader's interest is quicken ed Dy the i ntro duction of a veritable pirate in a twentieth-centuryairship. Ho w Professor Reinholt, his nephew Bo y,and their companions throw in their lot with thep e o p l e of Asmali a, defeat the " villain' s " end s and" win tliro ugh " right manf ully is told in a cap tiva tin gmanner, and the picture that is drawn of the strangerace is skilfully done.
With aviation o c c u p y i n g ou r attention so fully,there will be a ready welcome extended to " With theAirmen ," by Claude Grahame-White and HarryHarper, illustrated in colour by Cyrus Cuneo andwith photograph s and diagrams (Henry Frowd eand Hodder and Stoughton, Us.). Here is '* justwhat a boy wants t o know about aeroplanes."W e are initiated i nto the mysteries of flying by pa yin ga visit to the big Hend on aerodrom e, where the var ioustype s of machin es are exhibi ted and discussed, and soprogress—as a prospecti ve pupil—to the s c h o o l s .It is a fascinating account of the new sc ience , and weca n c o n c e i v e how it will stir the imagination of b o y sas Jules Verne stirred that of their elders with Idsfamous " B. O. P. " aerial story, " The Clipper of theClouds ." Along with chapters of instruct ion whichdeal with airships for use both on land and sea, Mr.Grahame-White tells much of the famous fliers of the day—Messrs. Beaumont, Vcdrines,Bleriot, Farman,& c . He also discusses the f uture—possibl y the nearfuture—when the question of aerial routes—" fixed airways "—wil l have t o be considered, with man y otherproblems of international importance. The use, too,of aeroplanes in war as scouts is a feature not to beo v e r l o o k e d , an d this is fully dealt with. Alto geth er" Wit h the Ai rmen " is a b o o k that a boy ought toread, for his profit as well as for his pleasure.
Th e same publ ishers h ave issued also " The Songof Frith iof," by G. C. Allen, D . D . (2s. fid.), inwhich the author puts into swinging verse one of thegrand old heroic tales to which our Norse forefathersdelighted to listen as the " sca ld s" tol d them ove.-an d o v e r again in the long winter ni ghts roun dthe great wood- lir e in the halls of the homest eads. The" s a g a " of Frithiof is brave as it is ol d; it stirsthe pulse, sending the Northman's b l o o d in us runningthe quic ker thro ugh our veins. Hear ho w the aut horintroduces us to his hero:
" In the Days of Old this tale was told, in the land of Frost and Flame,
When th e Asa-folk still in Asgard dwel t, ere the Wh iteChrist 's worship came
.And broke the Bridge of the Rai nbo w d o w n , andshowed the Narrow Way,
An d brough t the Dusk of the Ancient G o d s , and theDawn of the younger Day.
This Song was sung in the Northmen's tongue, theTale of a man and a maid,
Of the E lf- God' s Ring , of Ellide' s blac k wing, and theSword with the lightning blade.
Hear y e the Song of the Ri ght and the Wron g, theWo r d of the False and the True ;
Th e Song that is old as the Hills of Time, the Songthat is always new."
