Boys Own Paper August 23, 1913

8/8/2019 Boys Own Paper August 23, 1913

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B R O U G H T UP BY H A N D .

The baby Kbinoceros here seen was photographed at Mr. Tarlton's farm in South Africa, where he was kept after being captured by Mr. Paul Ralney, theAmerican biff-game hunter. Master Rhino became much attached to the natire boy shown in the picture; he ate, with him, played with him, and eyen sleptwith him. He was brought to the Zoological Gardens, London, accompanied by his black friend.



738 the "Boy'sOwn Paper.

Under the Edge of

the Earth:A S t o r v o f T h r e e C h u m s an d a S t a r t l i n g Q u e s t s

By F. H. BOLTON,

Author of " In tlie Heart of the Silent Sea" etc.

H, m y d ear

sir, you must

be a wizard !

Y o u h a v e

been r igh t ly

named! There

' i no o th er

' o r d f o r

y o u ! "

H e c t o r

Brant smi led .

" O h , I hopethere is, " he

a n s w e r e d :

" bu t tha t will

d o to go o n

with. Th e questi on is, are you satisfied ? "

" Satisfied ! " Mr . Hutton leaned back

in his chair and gave vent t o a queer l i t t le

laugh.

It was as t h o u g h he wished t o feel con

v i nc e d , and d o u b t e d in sp i te of himself.

Mr. Brant sto oped forwar d across the tab le

at which he was sit t ing.

" A n d y e t there's someth ing—just the

least shade of —wh at shall we say ? "

H e smiled in his customar y f rank way,

the s i n Ic his b o y s k n ew so well, tha t sp o k e

a b o v e al l things of his own conf idence in

himself. Mr. Hutton , looking at him, felt

his respect for the good man increase : felt

even a l i t t le ashamed tha t he was unable

t o fol low qui te so enthusiastically in his

lead . Yet he need have had no such fee ling ;

the business instinct was fo r the m o m en t

u p p erm o s t in the worthy gent leman, but

i t would not long remain s o.

" Yo u must think me the veriest b o o r ! "

he exclaimed. " You make a d i sco v ery

o n ly last night . In your k indly cour te sy

y o u send me word without delay, for which

I cannot t hank you enough . You have this

morning taken me into you r own inner most

secret , a secret yo u are rightly guarding

with the utmost jealousy . Yo u show me

eve ryth ing, content merely t o take the word

of one who is little more than a st ranger to

y o u , as to 8 lence in th e matter. A n d I repay

your confidence with do ub t and hesita tion."

" No n s en s e! " r epl i ed Brant. " You wrong

yourse l f . I h av e n o right t o ex p ec t y o u

t o h av e the s a m e c o n l d e n c e in the matter

as I have . Beside s, for what you have seen

y o u have expressed the fullest wonder and

admirat ion . W e have looked this morning

u p o n the very spot young Morris and I saw

last n i g h t ; the apparatus was left exactly

as I had fixed it then . Bu t , of course, t o-

d a y we saw n o sign of the figure we t o o k

y es t e rd ay for your son . And naturally—•

quite natura lly—you ask yourself, ma y the y

not possi bly have b een mistaken 1"

Mr . Hutton flushed a l i t t le uneasily.

Bran t had put the matter blunt ly , but he

fel t bound in h o n es ty t o ad m i t the correct

ness of the assumpt ion .

" I co n fes s , " he said , " tha t someth ing

of the sort was in my mind. P ray bear

wi th me, my dear s i r : r em em b er how

s t range a thing I have been shown to-day ,

and natural ly how anxious I a m to go all

the w a y with you as q u ick ly as possible.

But, first and fo rem o s t , the question arises

P A R T I I I .

O H A P T E E X X I I . — T O T H E S O U T H .

in m y mind : at tha t distan ce, under those

condi t ions , wo u ld it be possible t o swear

t o any particular identity ? And , sup

posing the person proven , are we sure of

the place ?

H e looked at the Wizard eager ly . H e

was waiting to be c o n v i n c e d : i t meant so

m uc h to him and his.

" I w.l l answer your quest ions back wards ,"

was the ready rep ly . " A s t o p l a c e : I

m a y say tha t I have made a s tu d y of the

figures whi ch should g ive me the areas Irequire, and have reached , I beLeve, to

quite sufficient accuracy. I in tended last

night t o place the south por t ion of the

Pata gonia n Shingle Desert under obser

vation, and, without testing the result my

self, I al lowed young Morr is , w h o k n ew

noth ing of my plan, t o descr ibe what he

saw, al l unpractised as he was. I was at

o n ce co n v in ced , f ro m hi s descr ip t ion , that

I had s t ruck the district I required . As

regards the first question, whether I co u ld

guara ntee ide ntity , my answer is qualified.

R e m e m b e r , sir, in this case, the very appear-

• anee in su ch a desolate region o f a y o u n g

fellow dressed apparently l ike an ordinary

Engl ish youth in a walking cost ume must

g iv e rise to speculation in on e's m in d . T h e

figure was cap les s. Well , tha t is what might

be exp ect ed under quit e easily presumable

c ond i t i ons . Morris , in his excitement, cried

' L o o k this w a y ! ' But speaking for my-

self, with better kn owl edg e, and pract ice,

I a m co n v in ced tha t he was quite unablo

t o m ak e proof from facial features. For all

tha t , the whol e co nto ur suggested itself in-

c on t r ove r t i b l y t o both of us as Dennis , and

Dennis o n ly . W e must n o t forget tha t i t

is fa r f rom improbable tha t the vessel o n

which he is said t o have been placed ma y

have been dr iven down t o these southern

regions . Mr. H u t t o n " — h e b r o u g h t his

hand sharply do wn upon the tab le, to

emphasise h is words—" I a m as cer tain tha t

last night I saw the image of you r son as I

am to-day tha t I see you ! "

There was silence for a few minutes ; b o th

were wrapt in thoug ht. Th e sti l lness was

again broken b y Brant .

" Y o u may reasonably ask," he said ,

c o m i n g ou t of a brown study , " w h y , if I

found Dennis yesterday , I cannot again to -

d a y . " Mr. Hutton nodded. That had

certainly been in his m in d . " T h e q u es t io n

w o u ld be fair. And my answer would be,

t h a t at present m y apparatus is far f rom

perfect . I t works s lo w ly , and to cause it

t o r ev o lv e in order t o catch figures, so to

speak , is at present imposs ible. The thing

is not yet co m p le t e . I t might be ch an ce

t h a t showed us last night the exact spot in

which—•—"

" No t ch an ce , " interrupted Mr. H u t t o n

in a serious voice ; " not chance, sir . I take

i t quite other. I accep t the sign : I need

n o longer to be co n v in ced . An d n o w I am

r ead y to do my par t . "

" Meaning tha t you will a t t empt t o reach

the lad ? "

" Meaning tha t , God willing, I will reach

the lad ! A n d if I co u ld have your help

H e spoke tentatively, but. Brant m aking

no reply, he pu t the matter in a m o re

direct form.

" I shall charter my own vessel," he said,

" an d shal l p ick m y co m p an y . Wh at d o

y o u say to confirming your discovery, Mr.

Brant 1 Will yo u go with me on this great

errand ? "

I t was an unexpected offer, and t o o k

the Wizard by surprise for the m o m en t .

Th en the unrivalled chance of confirming

al l the details of his discovery at first handappealed to him with overwhelming fo rce .

H e made quick reply.

" There is nothing would g ive me greater

pleasure, should it be pract icable to ar-

range for my absence for a term or two from

m y work. T h e chances, as yo u say, of

working out my own proofs would be gre at:

though I trust the desire to lend you all the

assistance in my power would be an equal ly

st rong mot ive."

F o r the m o m en t the matter was left at

tha t . An x io u s t o lose n o t ime in setting

out for the solitary land where he now

believed his son to be a lonely wanderer,

Mr . Hutton left th e master after this inter

v iew, in order t o make his arrangements

fo r a vessel t o take hi s party out . He had

no intention of making a large company.

Captain, second in co m m an d , and crew,

together with one o r two others of his o w n

personal selection, would suffice. A n d if Mr.

Brant would consent, and cou ld arrange t o

a c c om pa ny the small search party, he felt

he should have in h im a worthy and reliable

helper.

N o r had he forgot ten the y o u n g lad w h o

during these last weeks of bereavement had

been so much in his com pan y, and for whom

he conceived a strong affection. Once Mr.

Hu t to n had m ap p ed out his course h e

lost no t ime in making hi s paths straight,,

and b efore nightfall of this memorable day

he had go t into touch with several ship

owners who might have a suitable craft for

chartering, and had fixed upon his own

immediate personnel.

Le ona r d Morris had received a visit from

h im in the early after noon of the same day .

Sum m one d to the Head's private reception

ro o m , he had found the father of his

missing com rad e awaiting h im.

" W e l l , Morris ," was his greeting, "we-

seem to have made a move, eh ? Hav e y o u

seen Mr. Brant to-da y ? "

" I saw him just before din ner ; he to ld

m e about your plan. I t ' s splendid to think

we shall find Dennis at last."

" I hope so ," answered the father, " b u t

i t 's a tough jo b yet , my lad. So m u ch

m a y happen in that far-away, un-get-at-able

land before we're there. W e must act

quickly , and trust that i t may all come out

r igh t ."

H e paused. Morris looked at him with

some constraint, w ondei ing whether there

was more to be said. Mr. Hutt on seemed

t o be watching him, and even waiting for

him t o make some observat ion. There was

an air of d o u b t in that good gent leman 's

face .

" I had a long letter to-day, gir, from m y



Under the Edge of the Earth. 739

lather ; he's a missionary out in India, y ou

will remem ber. He says he's awfully sorry

to hear abou t Dennis. It 's a nice letter. I

have n't seen him since I was a little bit

of a kid ; but he writes so dec ent ly, just as

if he knew dear old De n himself. I—I

thought you might l ike to know."

" Thank y ou, Leonard, my b oy, t hank

you 1" The good man's eyes moistene d a littleas he spo ke. " By the by , yo u were go ing

out there shortly, I beli eve ? "

" I was to have gone ab out the midd le

of next year, bu t" —h e flushed and hesi

t a t ed—" it seems a beastl y thing t o say,

but the t ruth is, I haven' t been lookin g

forward to it at all since —sinc e "

H e s topped , then added d isconnected ly

" It's made an awful difference, Mr

Hu t to n ! "

" Ay e, to us all ," sighed the g o o d man ;

" to us all , Leona rd. But, please God,

things will be brighter soon . I hop e in a

fe w days to have a vessel and c re w at my

command, and then "

Morris looked at him as he paused again,

in the same sta te of apparent dou bt." Yes, sir ? "

" Wha t do yo u say to going awa y with

u s ? "

The lad 's face flushed.

" 1 ? " he exclaime d. " I ? I 'd g iv e any

th ing to go—anyth ing . Y ou don ' t mea n

it, really, sir ? "

" Nothing would g ive me greate r plea sure,

m y bo y, if yo u can get the c ons ent of youv

friends."

" I f ! " cried Morris. " I f ! i ' l l have the

consent . An d we'll find old Den nis, and

have him home safe and sound before long ,

s i r ."

Matters m o v ed with quic k feet the n ext

fe w days. Hav ing ready co mm an d in busi

ness circles Mr. Hutt on found c ompa rati velylittle difficulty in obta ining t he vessel a nd

crew he wanted, and in the Morning Hope,

of Liverpoo l , under Captain Pearson, he

g o t all he desired. Th e secre t of the

Wizard was, howev er, his secret st i l l :

outsi de Morris and Mr. Hu tto n no ne had

been admitted to i ts part icip atio n; and the

world at large had to be con ten t with tha t

convenient formula, " there was reason t o

be l i e ve " that the missing lad might be

found cast aw ay on some shore in the far

South Atlantic.

Huber t Ken ned y sat at his desk in t he

office of the Lunechester and L onm out h

Ba nk ; his eyes were on his books, but his

heart was elsewhere. The day before, he

had heard from Morr is of the pr opos edexpedi t ion , and although he had loyally

congratulated his chu m on the chance of

going out t o try to trace Hu tto n, the dull

ness of his own position seemed to become

the more pronoun ced, thinking of the ac tive

days in store for the other s.

" I wish to gracious I had half a chance

to jo in the chase ," he was thinki ng. " I

signed the pact as well, but my share's t o

be sto ppin g at ho me, and wishing the rest

of them good luck ! "

H e cast up a colu mn, an d inke d in his

total .

" Well, anyway, I do wish them good

luck, with all my "

T he messenger appro ached him.

"

You 're wanted in the manager'sro o m ,

sir."

" Wha t's u p now ? " he wonde red, rising

from his seat.

When he returned hi s face was as tho ugh

the sun were shini ng upo n it. He finished

the work upon which he had been engaged,

put away his books, and rose.

" Well, good-bye, you cha ps, " he said,

and gladness radia ted from him . " I' m off

to South Ame ric a ! "

The y looked at him in amazement, scarcely

believing their ears.

" Ye s, " he said, " the Dire ctor, Mr. H utto n,

has got wind of Den nis Hut ton being there,

and he 's going out for him, and I 'm g oing

t o o . "

T h e y cam e up to him ; th ey shoo k hands

with him ; they congr atulate d hi m right

loyal ly ." Good luck to your journey, old fellow ! "

they said.

" Tha nks ! Tha nks ! " he answ ered . " I

hope we shall have the best of luck . I feel

we shall. It ' l l be a glad day w hen we co m e

across old Denn is aga in."

An d so, quic kly, with no unnec essary

" dias cope " was ready tw o or three d a y s

before sailing.

H e made several a t t empts also to o n ce

more obta in a sight of the miss ing la/) thro ugh

his large inst rument . T h e trials were, how

ever , unsucces sful, ow ing to lack of time,

pr oba b l y , for conduct ing the e xper im ent

wit h sufficient thor ough nes s. All his spar e

time he had to devo te to perfecting the" d i a s c o p e , " and maki ng his arra ngemen ts

fo r the long a bse nce , and , as he had to ld

Mr . Hu tt on, the l ocat ing of a figure in an

u n k n o wn area was a matter of considerable

difficulty at present with him.

It was on the last day before the par ty

t ravel led to Li verpo ol to j o in the ship, tha t

T' ship's lost, and you knows it !' . . . He saw his mistake too late, and tried to cover

his confusion." (See p. 740.)

delay, the little par ty was got together for

the mom ent ous search. Even Mr. Brant ,

after som e arra nging, had been enab led t o

accede to the earnest req uest tha t he would

a c c om pa ny Mr. Hut ton on the jour ney ;

and during the fortnight or so before all

was in readiness, he had spent ev ery ava il

able minute in his underground ro o m , at work

upon a small portable apparatus, by means

of which he hoped to utilise in some measure

his new disc over y on the jour ney. He ha d

long had the idea that a modificatio n of

field-glasses, with the com po si ti on , of wh ich

he held the secret, proper ly adjuste d inside,

in conjunction with reflecting prisms, should

be possible for obtainin g vision through

opa que obje cts in a restricted area, and his

Bra nt m ad e his one false m o v e . W e hear

of men who never make mistakes, and read

of the m, bu t we do not see them : the y

are of too rare a species . And Hector

Brant , despite his reserve and self-control,

was ill-advised to visit Smith of the Pretty

Poll,with a

v iewto forci ng a confession fromtha t cunnin g scoundr el. Nat urally neither

Mr . Hut ton n or the others had given the

fellow a thought of late : their minds had

been too much occup ied with the scheme for

reaching and saving the poor boy so far a wa y

from help. There would be t ime enoug h

after wards t o think of justice and retrib ution^

the main thing was the lad's safety.

But , the "d ia sc op e" made and successfu l ly

tested, i t had occur red to Brant tha t n»



740 The "Boy's Oban Taper.

mig ht possi bly succe ed where others ha d

fai led, in extor t ing informa tion from the

man wh om al l along the y had suspecte d,

with no means of prov ing guil ty. He felt a

strong dCsire, perhaps not unnatural , to get all

the confirmation p ossible to just i fy the search

abo ut to be mad e. An d seeing, as he passed

Picker ton 's Yard tha t last evening, tha t

th e Pretty Poll was at the wharf, he ac ted

up on the impulse of the mo me nt and

rjoarded her.

The affable Mr. Smith was below, i t being

af ter working hours in the yard, and on

Brant ' s appeari ng o n dec k he stuck his head

through the h a tch . I t was get t ing dusk,

but he was able to recogn ise his visi tor and

gave him a cur t " G o o d e 'en ," wonder ing

if there we re to be mor e dealin gs in figure

head s, or the lik e.

" I want a wo rd with yo u, " said B r a n t ;

" are you alone ? "

T h e fellow came on deck.

" T ' missus and kids is b e l o w , " he said.

*' We c ou l d ta lk here ."

Whe reu po n the other to ok the bull by

the horns on the instant .

" L o o k here ! " he sai d. " I ma y as well

tel l you t h a t i t has bec om e kn ow n where

tha t yo un g lad Hut ton , wh o has been

missing so long, has got to ."

The man 's manner changed a t this.

His rough a t t empt at civi l i t y was at once

a ba ndone d .

" Is it ? " he said sneering ly. " Th at ' l l

be a' reet , then. Happen ye're sat isf ied

n o w . Seemi n'ly every other chap in t '

t ow n ' s after him. Bu t what do ye wa nt

to c o m e t o ta lk t o me for ? I ' m non e so

anxious to know where t ' lad is ."

" Y o u ma y as well keep qui et ," retor ted

Brant . " Y o u kn ow as well as I do t h a t th e

game 's up so far as you 're conc erne d. Yo u

had far bet ter ow n up, a nd no more beat ing

abo ut the bush. I 'v e only dro ppe d in to

tel l yo u there isn't mu ch yo u can hide any

longer. Fr om the t ime I heard a b o u t tha t

clumsy bi t of a t t empt at bu rgl ing at Burn -

brae, when you wanted to get hold of—•—''

(To be continued.')

It was th e ver iest bluff on his part, bu t

i t answered. The fellow was evidently dis

concer ted .

" Yo u' re a leear ! " he blurt ed out. " Yo u

can ' t prove nothing."

" I can prove more t han you imagine ,"

was the confident reply. " An d when youn g

Hu t to n ' s back "

" T' ship's lost , and y ou knows i t ! "

" Wh at ship ? "

He saw his mistake too late, a nd t r ied to

co v e r his confusion by foul words.

" W e l l , " said Brant , " yo u ma y bluster

as muc h as yo u l ike. Bu t you ma y rest

assured I kno w enoug h to settle your hash,

or shall ve r y s oon . "

A n d waiting for no reply, he turned an d

left the fellow staring at him uneasily. That

single slip was all he need ed, tha t involun

t a ry admiss ion tha t the sto ry of the Condor

was no my th.

But for all that , it was a false move on

th e part of the Wiz ard , for which the price

was exacted later.

^0 ^0

I N T H E G Y M N A S I U M .

A N o t a b l e S i d e o f P u b l i c S c h o o l L.ife.

11 H E Gym nas ium has dur ing the past

hal f -dozen years begun to o c c u p y a

fa r greater plac e in the curri culu m of ou r

ch ief schools t h a n i t ever did previous to

tha t t i m e . The author i t ies of near ly every

g rea t school have recognised t h a t it is of

supreme impor tance tha t boy s should have

their bod i l y de ve l op me nt as muc h at

tended to as their

men ta l one . In fact ,

though i t has taken

us som ethi ng like

two thousan d years,

o r n e a r l y s o , t o

thoroughly under

s t and the maxim, we

are at length begin

ning to comprehend

t h a t t h e f a m o u s

I Si o m a n s a t i r i s t

Ju v en a l was not

far off kno win g what

he talked ab out

when he wrote tha tthe finest th ing in

all life was Mens

sana in eorpore sano

— " A sound mind in

a sound b o d y . "

Though ou t doo r ,

a nd e ve n i n d o o r ,

games may al l tend

to promote this t rue

develo pment of the

body , y e t th e finest

aids towards tha t

desirable consumma

tion are undoubtedly

achieved by the

physical training a lad gets under efficient

an d skilled tuiti on an d over sigh t in thegymnas ium. The re a g o o d t eacher wi l l

t ake care tha t no set of muscles is

develop ed undul y a t the expen se of o thers ,

which i s a commo n danger when a l l a boy ' s

recrea t ion dep end s on his l o v e and prac t ice

o f s o m e p ar t icu la r spor t , which may

mater ia l ly he lp one par t of the b o d y , but

not sufficiently assist another to i ts hig hest

g o o d .

By GEORGE A. WADE, B.A.

Ma ny of our big schools have no w

splendid g ymnasi a, with ex cel lent in

structors in the m, and it is to gi ve so me

l i t t le account of several of these tha t this

art icle is penn ed. Fo r thou gh no schoo l

to-day can be cons idere d fu l ly equipp ed

fo r its wor k if it d oe s not pos sess a good

Photo by F. W. Parrott.

Langworthy Gymnasium, Manchester Grammar School.

g y m . , y e t t he re are a few tha t have out

str ipped the rest- in thei r notable provis ionfo r this branch of educat ion fo r thei r

boys.

I suppose there can be l i t t le ques t ion

tha t the Lan gwor thy Gymn as iu m a t

M a nc he s t e r G r a m m a r Schoo l is one of the

very largest in the ki ng do m, so far as

scholas t i c ones are conc erned. A nd

cert ain ly it is on e o f the v er y finest f or its

equipment and the good uses to which i t

is put . Wh en one rememb ers tha t some

th in g l ike close on 1,000 boy s have to

undergo phys ica l t ra ining at the L ang -

wort hy Gymn asi um every week, one can

easi ly guess what a t reme ndou s amount

o f exce llent w ork goes on there, and what

an imp o r tan t part this gym. plays in the

bod i ly health an dwelfare of Manches

ter youths.

Another splendid

g y m . is tha t of

R o s s a l l S c h o o l ,

which is 95 feet long,

b y 45 feet wide, and

40 feet high . It is

certainly on ly ex

c e l l e d ( i f t h a t )

a m o n g s t E ngl ish

school gyms, by the

Bedford one . It has

a very large gallery

fo r specta tors ; and,

besides the ordinar y

a p p a r a t u s work,sterling instruction

is given in it to all

B o s s a l l i a n s i n

fencing, boxing, and

singlestick.

Gymnastics are

c o m p u l s o r y a t

Rossall for all boys

in the lower school,

but optional in the

higher, except that,

when ba d weathe r

quite prevents out-

d o o r g a m e s , the

captains organise

their player s into divisions, and all these

have to take gymnastic exercise for acertain time to kee p the m in for m. This

g y m . is ope n eve ry afternoo n in winter, and

frequen tly in the morni ng to o. There is an

annual competi t ion during the Lent Term in

gymn ast ic exe rcises and box in g, also house

compet i t ions , and the great contest to

provid e the " Schoo l Eight ," which exci tes

immen se r ivalry. For Rossal l is regularly

represented at Ald ers hot , and always does



In the Gymnasitim. 741

Rossall School Gymnasium.

very well, tho ugh her men have no t ye t

had the pleasure of car ryin g off the Pu bl ic

Schools Shield.

Westmin ster is prou d of her gymn asiu m,

though it is a curious place as compared

with some of the most mode rn and beauti

ful examples of gym s. Fo r West

minster ' s one is r ight in the solidfoundat ions of the grand old A b b e y , being

on e of the crypt-rooms, with their immense

stone pi l lars and wondrous cei l ings, tha t

within the last few years have be en opened

out by the author i t ies of the A b b e y for

public use and inspect ion.

Here, in this ap ar tmen t nex t the C hapel

o f the P y x and the Chapter Hou se, the

boys of St . Pete r ' s practi se th e b ar

exercises, swing the Indian clubs , c l imb

the rope , and d o all such feats in a wa y

tha t would have made former Westmi nsters

stare indee d had they seen such perf orm

ances carried out at the old school. W e s t -

minster star ted la te in the g ym. wo rld ;

but, thou gh she has onl y wit hin recent

years sent her compan ies to Alde rsh ot . shehas onc e or tw ic e late ly go t to t he finals

in bo xin g and fenci ng, and she q uite

expects to be able now to cope with all

rivals.

Sherborne has always held a good place

a m ongs t ou r " g ym na s t i c " s c hoo ls . N o t

on ly has she an exc elle nt gy m. open t o

all her boys , but she encourages them in

eve ry way to make the best use of it. Fo r

some reason not easy to state offhand the

Dorse t School has never failed to possess

a fine set of boxers, and their success in

the chief compet ition s has been quite equ al

to those of any other great sch o o l ; i nde e d ,

we might t ru thfu lly say, superior to t hem,

when we take the long period of y ears

into account .In the Alder shot competi t io ns Sherb orne

ha s taken both second and th ird places,

and her teams have made a good showing

there in most years. As to bo xi ng at

Aldershot , when you learn tha t dur ing

th e past eighteen years Sherborne has five

times won the silver medal for tha t branch

o f sport , and twice besides the bro nze

meda l , yo u wil l be able yours elf to ga uge

her proficiency therein . An d , in 1905,

Sherb orne also got into the semi-final

round of the fen cing bouts, whic h was

something ra ther new for the schoo l , but

promises much l a te r o n .

Hai ley bur y is as thor ough as most

schoo ls in what she under takes , andwhen she deci ded to build a fine gym

nasiu m about 1887, she was for tunate in

get t ing one of her o wn sons wh o had

ma de a big name as an arch itec t, Mr .

Reg inal d Blomfi eld, to supervise i ts design

and erect ion. Mr . Blomfield did his wor k

as a real labour of love for the old

" Schoo l with the D o m e , " and his success

has been more and mo re visi ble eve r since

the gymnasium was opened some twent y-

five years ago.

Ev ery bo y, as soon as he arr ives at t h i s

H e r t f o r d schoo l , has to set ou t on the

gym na s t i c p a th , and he rece ives definite

teaching th e r e in from skil led tu tors unti l

he has put in at least a year of go"od w o r k ,

and can sat isfactori ly pass the prescr ibed

elementary tes ts . If he does n't m anage

tha t , he has to continue the regular lessons

till he doe s !Jus t as Sherb orne is kn own as t he

" bo xin g " school amo ngs t i ts gymn ast i c

brethren , so Hai ley bur y may well be cal led

t he " f e n c i n g " schoo l . Fo r not only has

i t won the chief comp eti t ion at Alders hot

in tha t d ep ar tmen t before to-day , but

such splendi d expon ent s of fenc ing as

C. F. Clay, E. B. Mi lnes , R. Me r iva le .

etc . , al l came from Haileyb ury. Moreover ,

this f ine schoo l won the P ub lic S choo ls

Shie ld in 1890, wa s fou rth in 1889, and

seco n d in 1891 ; and in mor e recen t years

it has fre que ntl y rea ch ed the final or semi

final in the boxing competi t ions.

Several of our chief sc hools no w go in

very strongly for what may be cal led the

" W e i gh t s a nd M e a s u r e s " busi ne ss ,i.e.

fo r t ry ing to br ing th e i r bo ys up , as a

whole, to the s tan d ard of specif ied weig hts,

and mea sure s of hei ght, as set ou t for

defini te ages, accord ing to th e i r own l ight s

in the matter . Probably Lore t to i s one

of the very greates t of these, sinc e every

b oy is weig hed and measured t wice or mor e

each t e r m in the gy m. at the Edi nbu rgh

schoo l , and if he does not come up to the

s tan d ard list the fo lk wh o are in cha rge

o f hi m soon want to kn ow the wh y and

the wherefore .

Then Lore t t o ' s exce l lent gymnas i um and

her playing-field s are bro ugh t s trongl y

into evidence wi th that said you th, and th e

result will so on appe ar in the accounts'

w h i c h are kept of his improvement

towards those regulat ion s tan d ard s o f

weigh t and measurement .

N e x t t o Lo r e t t o , perhaps H a i l e ybu r y

and Ch r is t ' s Hospi ta l a re mos t par t icu lar

in this respect of " weigh ts and

meas ures ," and the bo ys at both those

schoo ls are made to go thr oug h the

g y m . to some tu n e i f they do n' t get the m

selves into form and up to the s tan d ard ,

so m eh o w or o ther , wi tho ut t h a t a dde d

assistance.

(To be concluded.)

In the Gymnasium at Haileybury College.



742 The Boy's Ofoun Taper.

\H E Learue of Friendship was founded last

year with a view to its forming a bond o!

union between

" B.O.P." the

ideals are those

which for sostood for all that

purest and best

ont binding its

definite vows

on its supporters

manly, Christian

workers for good

to be slackers or

lookers-on. On

each member

bearinghis name

the League regis -

who desire some

tion badges have

in the shape of

or coat, watch-

and tie - pins,

•ale at 7d . each post free.

readers of the

world over. Its

of the paper

many years hasis highest and

in life, with-

memoers to any

the League calls

to lead a clean,

life, .to be active

in the world, not

merely passive

being enrolled,

receives a card

and number on

ter. For those

form of recogni-

been prepared

brooches for cap

chain pendants,

these being on

Applications for

membership and for badges should be ad

dressed to the Editor, " B.O .P. ," 4 Bouverie

Street, London, E .C. , and envelopes should be

clearly marked " L. O. F. " on the top left-hand

corner.

* * *In last month 's c lub ta lk I had something

to say on the matter of personali ty and

influence ; this m ont h I am brought back

somewhat to the subject by a correspond

en t who sends me an extra ct from his

" C o m m o n p l a c e B o o k . " I t is nothing new

tha t he, send s, for the story has be en to ld

befo re , but it is so rema rka ble an inst ance

o f the far-reaching effects of a simp le de ed

t h a t it is well wort h re-telling. He re is the

st or y as C. M. P. has set it do wn .

Shun not fellowship, Ie«t you forget your frienis andlearn to hate yourself." (Sadaihe.)

I am obl ige d to C. M. P. for this striking

little story , which carries its own m oral .

T h a t t r ac t thr own o nto a hospital bed

was like a stone cast into a great pool ,

mak ing ever-wid ening circles in the water

tha t i t has distur bed. So doe s ever y one

of our act ions for g o o d or ill make itself

felt on the min ds of othe rs. I am no t

g o in g to enlarge up on this ; I can see some

club member s get t ing rest less. Col igny 's

wonderful exp erien ce shal l speak for i tself .

* * *

A no t he r interesting communica t ion in

my post-b ag is from a Canadian reader.

Writ ing from a prairie town ship in Sask.,

he forward s me a photo grap h and a brief

acc oun t of the taming of an " ou tl aw "

horse , t h a t is , a genuine buc kjum per .

He writes from Sask., I have said, and I

hope no " B.O.P."-i te wil l need to have this

in terpreted for him. The co lon ies ha ve co m e

t o o close to us within recen t year s for Alia ..

Sask., Man., Ont . , a nd other contr act io nsof province-names to be unintel l igible.

A n d yet 1 have k nown many people

to be puzzled in this di rec t ion. W as i t

not the late Andr ew Lang who confessed

to being " floored " by the Americ an " Ga. ,"

which stands for the State of Georgi a ?

" Pa ." for Penns ylvan ia is equa lly

unil luminating , and i t is matter fo r

congra tula t ion tha t our colonia l nomen

clature has not ev o lv ed ugly abbrevia t ions

of this kind. But this is a digres sio n ; let

us " cu t the g ag and co m e to the 'osses."

Mr. C. Murr, of Kinders ley, Sask., wants

us to admire his photog raph of a buc k-

jumper in the course of being broken in.

* * *

Th e tamin g of an " out law " is no light

matter . When I was in Canada myself,

I s a w a " c ow - pu nc h e r " astride of one

such bronco , and it was a neve r-to-b e-

forgotte n sight . I t was an exhibi t ion of

fancy r iding that could only bo equalled

on an Austral ian " stat ion ." Th e " bronco-

buster ," as the buck- jumping c o w b o y styles

himself, has t o set the or dina ry laws of

horsemans hip at defiance. He sits in his

saddle in an unorthodox way, very oftenhalf sideways and slouching over the horn.

H i s arms fly up and d ow n while the animal

is in motion, and the latter is directed more

b y the mov eme nt of the hands than by

any thi ng else. T he long reins—these are

separate and s ome eight feet in lengt h—

trail on the gro und , when the rider has

di smounted, so that they will trip up the

horse should he step on them. An "o ut la w"

ha s little or no use for reins as a part of

his eq ui pm en t; he is not to be directed

in any wa y by such mea ns.

* * *

" Bron co-b ust in g " is the chief past ime

of the c o w b o y on a Canadia n ranch. On

bi g ranches chron ic bu ck er s" are keptfo r no other purpose than to entertain

" c o w - p u n c h e r s " from neighbouring distr icts ,

and other visi tors. And these " outlaw s."

be i t understood, are not simply raw, wild

hor ses ; they are more dangerous than th e

prair ie-bred bronco that has never felt the

to uch of bit or bridle, for the y are animals

tha t are incorrigible and whose tempe r

i s bey ond oont rol . The y are " s ho w"

horses in fact, and their fame is widespread.

A t certain t own s in the Nort h-wes t there

are held regular meetings, when the

c ha m pi on buckjumpers from various ranches

enter th e lists in very real r ivalry. To

carry off the chief hon ours of the da y is to

be accl aimed a hero amo ng heroes. At

Medici ne Hat , Alta . (near the international

boundary l ine) , there have been famous

buc kjum ping meetings. No dou bt several

of my Canadian readers have witnessed

one such contest . To those who have not

been so fortunate Mr. Murr 's photo graph

will be e loquent .

* * *

Colonial and other boys abroad who wish

to joi n th e Leag ue are often in difficulty, I

find, as to the best met hod of forw ardin g

the mone y for the Club badges . Stamps

other than English ones are not acce ptab le,

and it will be best for would-be members

in this position to obtain an In ternational

C o u p o n for the necessary amo un t fro m the

Pos t Office in their t ow n .

T H E O L D Boy.

" A youn g Frenchman, who had been

w ounde d at t he sie ge of Sain t Quentin, was

languishing o n a pal let in the hospi tal

when a visitor left a t r ac t on his bed . Th e

l i t t le pam phl et lay on the cove rlet for

som e t ime befo re i t caught the sick man' s

e y e . Then he read i t and was converted

b y i t . Yo u ma y see the mon ume nt of tha t

ma n before the Church of the Consist ory in

Paris , s tandin g with a Bibl e in his h an d;

he is known in history' as Admi ral Coli gny,

the leader of the Refo rmat ion in Franc e.

But the t r ac t had not yet finished its work.

It was read by Co lig ny' s nurse, a ' sister

o f mer cy, ' who peniten t ly placed i t in the

h an d s of the L ad y Abbe ss, and she, too ,

was con ver ted by i t . She f led from Fra nce

to the Palat inate , where she met a young

Hol lander and became his wife. T h e

influence whic h she had up on that ma n

reach ed out into the Ref orma tion on the

entire continent of Europe, for he was

Will iam of Orang e. Ho w far ' yo n little

candle ' threw i t s beams 1 W h o k n o w s

wha t the po wer of a little t ract may be ? " Taming an "Outlaw,"



743

\J He stood with his hands in his pockets,

look ing ruefully into his open desk, too dazed

fo r the moment to do more than utter that

o n e woeful exclama tion. I t was as thoug h

he had been struck sharp ly across the face

and the pain had numbed him.

He bad entered the empty clas s-room a

fe w minute s befor e with light heart a nd

springy step. Ther e was no hin t of disaster

ahead of him . H e had gone s traight to his

locker , to which he had applied the Chubbs'

ke y that was a special i ty of his—Ba rlow

liked speci aliti es; he was that sort of boy.

T h e common locks were good enoug h for the

others ; b ut not for him . It was no t that

he was suspicio us : it was only" tha t every

thing belonging to him must ha ve i ts dis

t inct ive air . Henc e the name given him by

genial but quizzical comra des.

He had no thoughts of things untow ard

when ho lifted the slo ping lid of the de sk.

Bu t the first g lance withi n ma de his heart

s i ck . In feverish frenzy he threw the cover

r ight bac k, and turned hi s b o o k s and papers

over . After which the full weight of his

misfortune had pressed upon him, and,

thrusting his hand s into his po cke ts, he ha d

•stood staring down upon his property, dully

and in despair, that single sorro wful " Oh ! "

being all he had to say.

In spite of the recent hasty turning ove r

of his things the cont ents of the d esk were

in good order. Anyone cou ld see with half

an eye that this was the lock er of a lad w hose

habits were metho dical . Ther e was one

excep t ion , howev er, to the general t idiness,

and that the cause of the b o y ' s present

consternat ion. For, so m eh o w , a bott le of

red ink had t ipped ove r, and, beco min g

uncorked, had sent i ts contents over the

various papers and books in the desk.

T o one of such neat habits as Barlow this of

itself might well be the cause of dis may and

dis gus t ; but i t was the further d i s c ove r y ,

after the rapid lifting of discolo ured ob

jects, that dealt him the disquiet ing blow.

Und er a bat ch of papers was a car db oar d

wra ppe d roun d in white tissue paper, whic h

was disfigured by a large and not ye t dr y

spla sh of the pen etra ting red fluid. T hi s

oute r cover ing he had anxi ously pulled off o n ly to disclo se a water-col our, across the

face of whi ch ran a long, disfiguring stain,

in the red d ampn ess of whi ch so me of the

co lours of the picture had run. It had

been a cleve r little ske tch, that was plain

eno ug h; a clever l i t t le sketch, ruined b y

that fatal blot .

The b oy stoo d for a few momen ts si lent ly

frowning upon his tarnished prope rty.

Then he slowly withdrew his hands from his

p o ck e t s , and tried to remedy as far as

possible the damag e done . He t o o k up the

water-colour once more and l o o k ed at it

careful ly.

" What a blundering ass I must have

been ! " he said angri ly . " Well , it 's a

gone case . It ' s all TJ.P. no w ! "

He tore the cardboard v iciously across ,

and flung it from him , se nd ing it flying o ve r

the interven ing desks.

" Half t i me !" excla imed a voice . " H e l l o ,

B ea u ; yo u, of all cha ps, to get flinging

things about in tha t careless way ! "

Barlow looked u p scowling , as a tall, thin

youth entered the ro o m . Th e torn pi cture

was in the latter 's hands , he having caught

i t dexterous ly , and thereby p robab ly savedhimself from a nasty cut across the eyes.

" Sorry ! " he ex clai med, " but I feel as

if I cou ld kick mysel f ."

" Shall I do it for y ou ? " ask ed the othe r,

with counterfei ted sol ici tude . The n, glancin g

at the card he had caug ht, he gav e ve nt to

a long whist lo of surprise.

" My gracious ! " he excl aime d. " I t

surely isn' t the on e ? Do n' t tell me it 's the

one, Bea u, o ld ma n ! "

* ' Yes , i t is ! " answered B arl ow bit ter ly.

" I t 's the p icture I 've spent al l m y spare

t ime ov er ; and I feel about the si l l iest owl

ou t . L o o k here ! "

H e tu rned angri ly to his desk , and taking

up a large piece of blot t in g-pap er began to

dry the ink where it still lay red and damp

upon the papers and w o o d -w o rk , l i f t ing out

with fastid ious fingers the ove rtu rne d and

dr ipping bot t l e . The other boy l o o k ed

sympa thet i cal ly from ove r the edg e of the

locker , then , transferring his gaz e to t he

ruined drawing, he spoko again.

" I say, old man, who did i t ? "

" Ba h ! " snorted Ba rlo w. " W h o did i t ,

inde ed ? / di d, of cou rse . I mu st hav e left

the beast ly bott le not properly corked, and

shaken i t ov er in slam ming the l id d o w n , th e

last t ime I was here. Do n' t speak to me,

F e r r e t ; I feci s i c k , utter ly s i c k . "

H e looked i t , to o. Th e long th in l a d w ho m

he had addressed as " F e r r e t " nodde d h i s

head sagely.

" H ' m ! " he said . " So 'd I after all that

fag. I t had t o go in to-da y, h ad n ' t it ? "B ar lo w no dd ed . Th en, hav ing finished

his drying operat ions, he replaced his things,

and lo cki ng his desk, wrapp ed the offending

inkp ot in the blot t ing-p aper. This he was

ab ou t to fling int o the fire at the farther e nd

of th e ro o m when Pi lk ington, alias " The

Ferret ," stayed his arm.

" H ol d hard , you mug ! " he excla imed

with unpolished earnestness. " Wh at are

y o u up to ? "

By F. H. BOLTON,

Author of " Under the Edge of the Earth," etc.

" Goi ng to pi tch the rot ten thi ng a way,

of c ou r s e . "

" Do n' t yo u ! " was the eager reply.

" Y o u g iv e i t to me."

Wai t ing for no conse nt , he stretched out

his hand and t o o k tho bott le from tho

as toni shed Bar low.

" Yo u shouldn ' t be so jo l ly i m pu l s i ve , "

he said reproachfu lly. " Yo u neve r can

tel l how things '11 shape them selve s."

" I can tell one thing," a nswered B arlow ,

with a wh ole lo ad of regret in his voice.

" I ' v e lost a term's wor k, and at least a

chance of a certificate, if I didn't pull oft

the prize. Ah , w e l l ! "—wi th a brave show

of acce pting thi ngs— " perhaps, af ter al l , I

shouldn ' t have co m e within a mi le of the

winner, and then I should have boen quite

as sick as no w. Still, I 'm a jo l ly careless

i d i o t ! "

" Yo u mightn ' t be , " was the enigmat ic

answe r ; " don ' t be too cock-sure , o ld m an.

K i c k yourself , by al l means, when you know

y o u deser ve i t , but do n' t begin t i l l yo u' re

c e r ta i n you do . "

'" Beau " B ar low s tared in solemn amaze

m e n t .

" Yo u always were an eccen tr ic sort of a

cha p," he said, shruggin g his shoulder s.

" Ke ep the si l ly t hing, if you l ike, in me mo ry

of m e . "

" Ri gh t O ! " retorted the F e r r e t ; " but

y o u ' v e been a th ump ing lot to o pre

matu re already. I oug ht to hav e sto ppe d

y o u . Yo u might jus t ope n up you r desk

a ga i n . "

" W e l l , of all the "

" Never mind that , I ' m n ot such an owl

as yo u think I a m. "

'" Gla d to hear it ! "

" L o o k here, Be au, " said th e Ferret , "do

t ak e the thing a bi t seriously. I ' m not

so dead sure about this thing as you are, b y

a jo l ly long cha lk, I can tel l yo u. W e' l l

hav e you r desk ope n, and reconstruct the

case . "

" Wh at ' l l we do ? " asked Bar low in

some surprise. He had opene d his desk

half mechanical ly as he spoke.

" W e' l l recons truct the case. I t 's a

French dodge. We' l l put things back as

the y were "B ar lo w slam med the l id do wn and locked

it again.

" Yo u mess up your own desk," he said

test i ly, " i f yo u want to play at being

detect iv e. I ' ve had enou gh of havi ng my

thinas al l spoi l t . "

Pilkington shrugged his shoulders.

" O h , a l l r i g h t ! " he e xc l a i m e d ; " ha ve

it yo ur ow n way . I onl y wanted to t ry and

p ro v e that perhaps yo u have n't been so



744 The "Boy's Oban Taper,

muc h to bla me as yo u mak e out . Fac t is "

—he lowered his voice ; there were footsteps

approac hing the ro om in which the two boys

were stan ding —" I ' m not by any means dead

sure tha t bot tle was spilt by careles sness."

" Bos h ! " retorted B arlo w poli tely.

The conversat ion was hurriedly ended as

a th ird yo uth entered the roo m : a good-

look ing , fair-haired lad." Hel lo, Bea u, my bu ck ," he said, flinging

d o w n the bo oks he had been carrying, up on

the slo pin g desk ; " finished t he magnum

opus ? "

" I finished it yes ter day ," said Barl ow

quiet ly, as Pi lkington tu rned and unostenta

tious ly place d the rescue d ink -bot tle in his

o wn locker .

" Well, good luck to yo u ! I suppo se yo u

k n o w yo u' ve got a r ival ? "

" I t wo uld n't be much of a compet i t io n if

I h a d n ' t ! " laughed Barlo w a l i t t le bit terly.

" There's something in that ," a dm i t t e d

the other with a ch uck le. " It isn ' t m u c h

cat ch to be first in a race of on e. Bu t w he n

a paper like the good old ' B. O. P. ' offers a

prize, wheth er it 's for a water -col our, or

anythin g else, yo u can bet you r bot tom

dollar i t isn ' t goi ng to be a wal k-o ver for th e

winner. Yo u needn 't stare at me lik e t h a t ;

I kn ow I ' ve got a bi t mixe d in m y me ta

phors ; howe ver, that ' s neither here nor

there, as the chap said when he looked in the

wron g places for the tanner he 'd d r oppe d .

Wh at I mean is , yo u' ve got a r ival among st

th e fellows here ."

T h e Ferret was apparently busy get t ing

his bo ok s fom his des k; yo u would h ave

said the conve rsat io n held no interest fo r

him . As a matter of fact , howev er, he was

listening with every ear in his head.

" An d what 's mor e," cont inue d the new

co m er , " the begg ar hasn' t tu rned out half

a bad sort of a picture, after al l. Y o u ' l l

have to look out , Beau. Wh o do yo u th ink

it is ? "

" Graha m, I supp ose, " answered Bar low

carelessly. Th e sub ject was of no special

interest to him , and h e was anxi ous to end

the conversa t ion.

" Grah am," snorted the other. " That

wre tched daube r ! Wh y, you could turn ou t

a better s how than he could with your eyes

s h u t ! He ma y be hav ing a sho t for t he

prize, he 's fo o l enou gh ; but he 's n o rival.

Wh at do yo u say "

The loud r inging of the schoo l bell broke

in upon their talk.

" H e l l o ! " cried Barl ow ; " I didn' t kno w

it was so lat e."

H e tu rned aw ay , glad of the ex cuse to

hurry off. The Ferret, withdrawing his books,shut his desk.

" Who did you say was running old Beau

close ? " he asked casua lly.

" T he fel low didn 't gi ve me t ime to say

any one ," was the reply, " but wh at do

y o u th ink of ' Th e L ou t ' ? "

" Didn't know he was an art ist ," was the

contempt uous reply . " A n y h o w , I wouldn ' t

g ive muc h for his chances against B eau ."

H e spo ke carelessly enoug h, but as the

other tu rned away he nodded his head

sagely.

" I th ink ," he muttered to himself, " the

case '11 bear reco nstr ucti ng. "

I N T O the small picture painted for the

water -colour compet i t ion announced by

th e Boy's Own Paper Barlow had put his

whole heart. No r among st his friends had

there been any secret of his en deavou r.

Whilst in no way making the affair a th ing

fo r c o m m o n chatter , he had , on the othe r

hand, never at te mpted to hide his act io n.

Thi s was Ba rl ow all ove r. He pract ised a

mod erat e reserve in his ow n affairs, such as

makes for strength of characte r ; bu t there

was no trace of secret ivenes s in him , whic h

eats into the soul , and ma kes for povert y.

A t Pi lkington 's earnest request , however,

he had kep t sile nce regard ing the ruin of

his w ork : all the mor e readil y be cause of

his ow n sore feelings in the matter . T h e

Ferret had returned to the a t tack when thecoas t wa s once mo re clear, and after s ome

little diff icul ty had persuade d Bar low to

al low him to " reconstruct the case ."

" J u s t show me how

y o u found things," he

asked, as they stood

again in the deserted 'Jl

class-room.

" A l l a n y h o w , "

answered Ba rlow some

what tes

t i l y . " I 'm

b o t h e r e d

i f I c a n

" Ye s, but I see farther, my b oy ; I see

what' s missing. Whe re' s the cor k ? "

" Where 's the " began Barlow, then

turned red with vexa tion . " W e l l , I ' m

bother ed ! Where is the cork ? Wh y, I 'm

a bigger ass than I tho ugh t I was ! "

" Th e fates fo rbid ! " retorted the Ferret

in m o ck earnestness.

" An d yet ," contin ued Barlow , who-was lifting his papers carefully out

again, " I coul d hav e swo rn I did c o r k

that beastly bottle before I put it away.

" He turned angrily to his desk . . . lifting out with fastidious fingers the overturnedand dripping bottle." (.See p. 743.)

remember how they were—something l ike

thi s ."

T o the best of his me mo ry he arranged

the now emp ty inkp ot and the papers as he

had found them on tha t unpleasant opening

of his locker.

" An d no w yo u' ve seen things," he said

with a bit ter smile, " much good may i t do

y o u . "

" Quite so ," agreed the Ferret, " and you

as well. W e do n' t all see the sam e thin gs,

thoug h, rememb er. For instance "

H e looked quiz zica lly at his friend and

laughed.

" G o on, " exc la im ed Bar low, " don ' t mind

me ! Wh at have yo u nosed out no w ? W e

can both see the same things in front of

us , I should hope ."

I never could have shoved i t in uncorked.

Ah ! "

He remo ved a pi le of exercise book s from

the corn er of the lock er, and disc lose d the

missing cork behin d them .

" Her e it is ! " he excl aim ed. " I must

have thrown i t there in m y first flurry."

" Just so ," answered Pilkington, tak ing

possession of the small ob ject , and, after acasual glance, putt ing it into his pocket

with a kno wing smile. " Well , m y son„

y o u shal l hear something from me about

this before you' re man y weeks older.

There's more in it than meets the eye."

For two or three days Barlow heard

noth ing mo re upon the subject , and he was

wil l ing enough to let i t drop . The unwonted

presence of stains upon his usually neat



"Beau" Barlotv and " The Lout/' 745

exercises and text-books drew more than on e

comment , but these he put aside, calmly

remarking that he had had an accident

through his own carelessness, and let t ing it

g o at that . After all, he, and he alone, was

to blame, and he alone was the sufferer.

He shrugged his shoulders occasionally in a

whimsical way, and promised to himself

more care in tho future. Ag ain , a characteristic of the lad. " Better luck " would have

been the expression of most b o y s ; with

Barlow it became a quest ion outside the

mythical realm of " l uc k . "

When, therefore, having considered the

affair a closed chapter , he found Pi lk ington

a few days later at his elbow anxious to

reopen it, and subject it to very considerable

revision, hewas not best pleased.

" L o o k here, Ferret," he e xc l a i m e d , " y o u

just drop i t . I 'm quite sore enough,

without having i t rubbed in any further.

I 've owned up to being an ass, and tha t

settles i t . "

Pi lkington nodded.

" Y ou ' r e an ass all right enough," he said

c om pl a c e n t l y ; " but not the kind of assy o u th ink you are ."

An d he made his report .

" Y o u say you must have put that ink-

bott le on the edge of your b o o k in a hurry,

and just stuck the cork in anyhow. Then

yo u s lammed down the l id, and everything

go t jerked about , and the ink got spilt and

played Jack ' s delight with thin gs."

U8F

" W el l ? And what d o you say 1"

queried Barlow sarcast ical ly.

" Tha t yo u did nothing of the sor t , "

repl ied the Ferret tr iumphantly . " Look

h e r e ! "

He opened hi s own locker as he s poke .

On the edge of s om e books was the small

bott le, with the cork carelessl j ' placed in

the mouth." H a ng i t a l l ! " excla imed Bar low

impat ient ly . " I d i dn ' t say I shoved it

away quite so s l opp i l y as that.'"

T h e Ferret smi led knowingly .

" A ll right," he sa id ; " just you put it as

y o u th in k you did . T h e r e n o w " — a s

Bar low co mp li ed —" min d you r f ingers ! "

He slammed the l id to with violence .

" A n d I d i dn ' t try to w a ke the dead,

either," sa id Bar low.

Pilkington l i f ted the l id again.

" Th e r e you a r e ! " he c r ie d . " W i t h all

that s lamming it hasn' t fal len. Do you

th in k i t would have done with your way of

shutting the desk 1 No , m y son, I 've

somethi ng else up my sleeve. Tha t picture

wasn't spoil t b yy o u . "Bar low tu rned red.

" It must have been," he said. " It jo l ly

well must hav e been ! "

The very force with which he said it

showed how much he would have fel t , had

he had reason t o th in k differently. Pi lking

ton shook hi s head.

" N o , it mu s tn ' t , " he r e t o r t e d ; " a nd i t

(To be concluded.)

wasn't, either. I ' v e shown you how

difficult it wou ld be with one slam to dis lodge

the thing, if it were put away anyway

decent ly : if it were put l ike you'd put it,

at all events ! But that's not all. L o o k at

the cork."

" Well , what's wrong with i t ? " queried

Bar low, turning the small objec t over and

o v e r ; " I don 't see anyth ing ou t of the wa y. "" Neither d o I, " was the surprising reply.

" B u t there woul d be, if that bott le had co m e

uncorked b y being t ipped over. It w oul d

be sopped in red, and i t isn't. Only the en d

that sticks in the neck's red : the top's no t

been touched. How's tha t s tr ike you ? "

" Bother you, Fer re t ! " excla imed the

otfler, " I wish to goodness yo u ' d kept

you r old nose out of this. I'd ten t imes

rather I 'dmade the mess myself than "

" Tha n th ink i t had been done out of spite,

eh ? I'l l bet you would , Beau, it 's y o u al l

o v er , " answered Pilki ngton with genuine

feeling. " But we ' ve got t o look at things

in the face, an d I warrant I know who 's done

it , too. I t 's the Lou t , or I ' m a D u t c h m a n ! "

" Oh, no ! " was the quick reply. " H e ' sa rough cub, I ' l l a d m i t ; but y o u ' v e g o t

nothing to go on , in making such a state

ment . I don ' t be l i eve he, or anybody e l se ,

w o u ld d o such a thing purpose ly , and I

d o n ' t see ho w they cou ld, even if they had

wanted to. I t wa s an accident , and t h a t

settles th e matter ."

" H 'm ! " said the Ferret, " does i t ? '*

Through Afghan

Or , L a r i K h a n o f -the Di am on d St ar .

By J. CLAVERDON WOOD,

Author of "Sinclair of the Scouts"

" Jeffrey of the White Wolf Trail," etc.

R I G A D I E R S H E L -

TO N sa w that the

p o s i t i o n was

rapidly becoming

hopeless, and an

early r e t r e a t

would be neces

sary if his force

was to be broug ht

off without i rre

parable disaster.

His reserve,under

Major Kershaw,

had been expos ed

t o v i g o r o u s

attacks from an

enemy more than

ten times their number , and had suffered

very severely. I t was not in a posi t ion to

advance to the Brigadier 's aid, nor was

Shelton able to retreat upon the reserve

without calling down upon himself a furious

and concentrated attack from the Ghazees.

B y this time horses with a new l imber

had gallo ped from the cantonments , and

Sergeant Mulhall wa s now able to re t reat

with the gun, if such a course was nece ssary.

Shel ton ' s force wa s near the ext remi ty of

the hill, and had formed a square. Th oAfghan s were all aroun d him, and thou san ds

barred his wa y t o where his reserve was

fighting and to the c an ton men ts.

The m om e n t the Ghazees saw the square

falling bac k, the y charg ed wit h furious

cries and wild courage. Hack ing, st abbing,

whirling their jezai ls , and plunging their

weapons into horse and man, they broke

the square, and for the ne x t ten minutes

C H A P T E R X X X V I . — T H E M A S S A C R E IN T H E G O R G E .

an awful scene of disaster was seen. Th e

Sepoys, especial ly, seemed to lose al l cou rage

and s trength to resist, and they were mowed

d o w n almost without resistance. Th o field-

p iece rattled off the hill at full gallop, and

was proceeding down a steep place when it

was overtur ned, and later be c a m e a t rophy

fo r the Afghans .

When Shelton's broken column staggered

back upon the reserve it was manifest tha t

the day was ended so far as the Bri t ish were

concerned. The Afghans had oc c up i e d

the whole of the heights, the B e y m a r o o

vil lage was strongly held b y them, and

al ready their horsemen were gathering in

prepara t ion for a sweeping movement on

the plain, so soon as Shel ton 's broken force,

t rying to reach the cantonments, were at the

mercy of their swift ly moving cavalry.

Reinforcements were n o w being sent

f rom the cantonments , and the only hope

fo r the retreating Brit ish was tha t they

m i gh t get through the gorge in safety,

keep back the pursuing Ghazees, and be

well on the w a y to the cantonments before

the Afghan caval ry could del iver it s charges

upon the demoral i sed t roops . Wi thout

muc h semblanc e of order the Bri t ish poure d

d o w n the road to the gorge, unheeding thereproaches and threats of their officers,

and for the time being heedless of everything

save escape from the sharp knives of the

bloodthi r s ty Ghazees , w h o followed, like

hungry wolves , upon the trail of the w or n -

out men.

The road through the gorge was a well-

made one , though nar row. Th e r oc ks on

each side of it stood high, ascending b y

irregular little pla teaux to the s um m i t

ab o v e . Too prec ipi tous to be de s c e nde d

in a hurry , they offered an obs tac le which

even the l ight-footed Afgha n mountain eer

cou ld n o t qu i c k l y o v erco m e . He was

compel led , therefore, t o pursue his e ne m y

b y the road. At one corner, where the

road wound round an outjut t ing huge mass

of r oc k , a lo w wall had bee n built t o pr o t e c t

wayfarers from a rather prec ipi tous descent

to where a m oun t a i n s tream rushed along.

The wall ran for about thi r ty yards and wa sbui l t about three yards from the edge of

the precipice.

F o r a distance o f mor e t han three hundred

yards the wal l commanded a clear view of

the roa d before the corn er was tu rned . B o b

had hidden his horses in a wild clump of trees

a bou t a hundred yards from the ent rance

of the gorge , and there A m r a n was in

charge . B o b had then marched up the gorge,

bu t on receiving word from the Major t h a t

the reserves were wait ing about a mile

farther on, and tha t Brigadier Shelton

had t ak en possession of the r idge, he thou ght

he could not do b e t te r than return to the

horses, and perhaps a t tack the B e y m a r o o

vil lage or post himself somewhere where

hi s thi r ty men would be of service.As the daylight sh owed him the posi t ion

he saw that , in case of a retreat, the wall

at the bend of the gorge was a strategical

point of the highest importance. First

of all, to give confidence to a retreating

force, and so prevent panic at a dangerous

corner which might easily be blocked, and

second ly to interpose an effectual barr ier

between pursuers and pursued. B o b



746 The Boy's Obvn Taper.

gathere d his men about him , and exp lain ed

briefly what he mean t to do—e ithe r t o

attack Bey mar oo or to co v e r th e retreat,

if necessary.

H e sent a man off to scou t towa rds the

village and t o repor t if the Afgh ans were

reinforcing it f rom Kabul. He himself

t h e n proc eede d to inspec t the wall. Ther e

was ample space behind it for the men to

m o v e about freely, and the stones of which

it was built offered plenty of loopho les

l o r firing thro ugh. Wh en the scou t returned

-and said that the Afgh ans in mu ltitude s

were thro ngin g towar ds the scene of conflict,

B o b decided to t ak e up his position behind

the wall.

While the roa r of the firing wa s goi ng on

u p o n the hills he made his men t ak e

•a heart y breakfast. Th ey had sto cke d

their wallets and ve ry soon made them

se lves comfo rtabl e. Pipes were lighted,

muskets attende d to, and ammun itio n

placed ready to hand. Bo b sent word

t o Major Kershaw tha t he was preparing

t o defen d the go rg e in case the da y wen t

against them, and indicated the precise

s po t where he had placed his thi r ty men.

T he Majo r sent bac k a Union Ja ck, and

told hi m to use it a s a sign al in ord er to

warn retreating men that British soldiers

were guarding the dangerous corner.

After a few hours B ob saw a hors eman

riding at furious speed d o w n the gorge.

H e put u p the flag an d the man re ined

in his horse.

" It's an awful business up there, sir,"

he sai d; " the A fgha ns are in tens of

thousan ds, and all around our men. Th ey

hav e capt ured the horses and li mber of

the field gun, and will have the gun befor e

long . I ' m off for another Horse Artiller y

gun , and fresh horses and limber. Near ly

all the officers are killed, and the me n are

dishe artened . H the y have to re t reat it

will be a massacr e, for the Afg hans ar e

like wild beasts."

H e struck the spurs into his horse and

dashed off. It seemed no time before

the sound of hoofs warned Bob that horsemen

were co m in g . Som e artillerymen, bending

low in their saddles , swe pt past wi th a

gu n limber, and disap peare d up the gorge.

Then fugitives, streaming with blood , a nd

look ing wild-eyed and terror-stricken,

began to limp past. An hour or so

afterwards the retreat beg an in earnest.

B o b stuck up the flag and called upon

the Sep oys to halt, but he might as well

have spoken to the wind. The y simply

s tared at him with unmeaning gaze and

hurried on. T he y were fol lowed by the

main b o d y of the retreating force, and the

g o rg e wa s c ro w d ed with a t error-str icken

mass of fugitives. It was not part of an

ar my bu t a mo b in wild panic. There

were no officers amo ng them. These came

last of all and almost on their heels were

the Afghans. Presently Brigadier Shelton,

co v e red with blood , and with the rage of

warfare blazing in his eyes , came along.

His sword was broken and his helmet had

been kno cke d off. Bo b wav ed the flag

an d leaped upon the wall.

• " It' s all right, sir," he shou ted. " I

ha ve thi r ty men posted here. Wi th g o o d

luck we can hold the pass long enough

t o enable you to get into something like

orde r on the plain."

" God bless you, Laurie, this is a terri ble

business. If I do not see yo u again, fare

well ! " He wa ved his hand a nd hurried

rou nd the corne r, and the next minute the

Ghazees appeared not two hundred yards

a w a y .

The y were bounding along^ yelling out

curses upon the Feringhees, and brandishing

their knive s and sabres. Bo b wen t cold

as he saw the c ro w d rushing towards

him. Givi ng the wo rd to his men, a rapid

fire br oke out, which after five minutes

effectually stopped the first rush of the

Ghazees. De ad men lay across the r oad

and a few wou nded men limped back into

shelter.

" W e mus t hol d th em for half an h our,

m e n , " gaspe d B ob , " or all will be lost.

W e are not lik ely to be reinforced, for the

arm y is to o demoralised to do anyt hing

unti l i t gets near the cantonments . Don 't

waste a shot, and remember what I have

to ld y o u . "

His men needed no encouragement.

T h e y were natural ly cour ageou s and full

of fight, a nd the sig ht of the br oke n refugees

had filled th em with the rage of battle.

A continuous fire blazed out f rom the wall,

and terrible execut ion was wro ugh t upon

the c ro w d ed ranks of the Ghazees.

A British cheer f rom th e rear made Bob

turn. Captain Trevor, with some forty

men arme d with jezails, had co m e to his

assistance. The y form ed across the roa d

and their rapid and accurate fire helped to

ke e p back the thronging Afghans. Seventy

determin ed men, well posted, prov ed what

co u ld be don e eve n against t hous ands of the

e ne m y . The magnificent marksmanship of

B o b ' s troopers and tha t of the jezail m en

mad e it impossible for the Afghans to break

through . Men were now discerned climbing

along the precipitous rocks ab o v e , but as

y e t they were well out of range, and in

any case co u ld no t do much in the wa y of

reprisals.

In a lull Bo b sent a ma n off to order

Am ra n to bring up the horses, and as m an y

others as he co u ld lay hands on, in order

tha t when the time of retreat came, the

little force might escape rapidly d o w n th e

gorge. Before long the scou t returned ,

and said tha t Amr an was waiting abo ut one

hundred yards f rom the corner.

" Tell him to picke t the horses so tha t th e

pegs may be pulled out in an instant. Station

them in a line d o w n th e gorge, and not more

than t w o abreast . When the men retire

th ey will go two at a tim e and take th e

horses at the far end look ing towa rds the

cantonments. D o you understand ? "

" Rig ht y ou are, sir," said the man as

he darted away .

" How much longer can we hold them,

Lauri e ? " s aid T rev or. " Th e firing on

the plain is hea vy now and is well sustained.

Our men are reinforced f rom the camp,

I expe ct, and are makin g a good s tan d . "

The b o o m in g of hea vy guns was no w heard

f rom the plain, which tol d the anx ious

warden s of the gor ge tha t the Horse Artillery

were making g o o d practice.

" The pressure is decreasing, I th ink ."

replied Bo b ; " the Af ghan s are goi ng bac k

so as to advance f rom the hills upon our men.

Ther e is a broa d road betwe en the tw o

heights. Th e Ghazee s will not turn back

until they clear the gorge, but we can hold

the m if we are qui ck and resolut e."

A n d now a sharp fire broke out f rom th e

Afghans, who had sent their jezailmen to

the front. A rou gh sangar was thr own u p

before them, and behind this the marksmen

tried to pick off the defenders. Several of

the la t ter receiv ed flesh wou nds . How eve r,

the y had been well trained by Bo b, and

ex p o sed themselves very little.

W h i le th e thirty behind the wall kept

the e nemy at bay, Trevo r's men began to

b lock the gor ge with stones. Th ey had

plen ty near at hand and in a short time a

ra ther formidable barrier had been erected,

l eaving a narr ow space, thro ugh whi ch

B o b ' s me n cou ld retreat, after wh ich it

co u ld be b lo ck ed by a heavy boul der.

A t length Bo b felt that the time had come

to make a m o v e . It wo uld be foolish to

wait too long , for the plain woul d then be

cleared of the British, and Afgha n horse

men woul d be ready to pic k up any stragglers

or destroy a small force.

" I suggest that the best runners among

your men," he said to Trevor, " retire

d o w n the gor ge as quic kly as they can run.

W e have about thirty-five horses. By

holding on to the stirrup leathers th e rest

of your men can get away with my oVn

t roop, running beside the horses. Let

your men g ive a sharp five minutes' attack

now, an d afte rward s clear off. I will put

fifteen of my men where yo u are standing.

W e will hol d the wall and the barr icade

until the time has co m e for the fifteen to

clear. The n with seven men at the barr icade

and seven behind the wall I will continue

the firing until you have got well off.

Fina lly , I will send the rest of my men from

the barricade, and, when the end comes, we

will bolt, with the few who remain , for the

horses, and the Gh azees can follow when

they ar e ready . D o yo u app rov e ? "

" Capital, Laurie! I understand your

pla n. W e will get on to the plain , and

fo rm up there in square until yo u get out

of th e g o rg e . "

Then for a short ti me a vigorous fire

was kept up, so accu rate that not a Ghazec-

cou ld sh ow himself upon the road . Onby

the men behind the sangar dared venture

f rom the shelter of the walls of the gorge.

Wa vi ng his hand, T rev or sent off his men.

and imme diat ely fifteen of B o b ' s t roop took

their plac es an d op en ed fire. T hen in theii

turn they s lippe d awa y, and ran t o the

horses , and hurried d o w n to the ent rance.

B o b ' s seven men t o o k their places, and

the firing was kept up as rapidly as wa s

needed. Four men o n ly were left a few

minutes later, and Bo b led them from th e

wall, behind the barricade, and pushed the

boulder into its place, thus blocking the

g o rg e for a time. Th ey fired a number

of shots f rom the barricade, and then raced

d o w n t o their horses. Am ran was waiting.

The picket pins were dragged up, and

B o b gal loped d o w n the pass, emerging

upon the plain amid cheers from Trevor 's

men and the rest of the tro op.

Th e jezailmen now formed up in a c ompa c t

b o d y , while the mount ed infantry men

rapidly closed up behind them, and an

advance was made upon the tower known

as Zoolficar 's Fort. Hardl y had they

proceeded a hundred pa ces, when the

Ghazees were seen rushi ng ou t o f the

entranc e of the gorge. The men wen*

swung round, and fire was opened upon

them b y the jezailmen. A chief, Osman

Khan, rode out of the gorge, but led hit-

followers towards Bey maroo, and thus

B o b and his men were allow ed to ma rch

towards the cantonments unmolested.

Osma n Kha n was a near kinsman of

Akbar ' s , and a Barukzye Sirdar of notable

achiev ement s. H e was one of those who

had sworn a blood feud agains t Shah

Shujah and was as acti ve in Afghan

d ip lo m acy as in warfare. Th o next day

a letter was received from Osman . In it

he reminded Sir William Macna ghten that

he cou ld easily have destroyed the whole

of Brigadier Shelton's force had he been

so minded, but that he had checked the

ardour of his followers and prevented an

attac k whic h was to have been made on

the cantonments. He retired, he said,

because the Afghan chiefs did not desire

to proceed to extremities, their sole desire

being tha t the British should qui etly

evacu ate the coun try , leaving them to

govern i t according to their rules, and

under a monarch of their ow n choosing .

Tha t evening a form al dem and was made

[b y



AT OUR REGATTA.



748 The "Boy's Obvn Taper.

by the Sirdars t ha t the British should

deliver up Shah Shujah and his family;

la y do wn all arms, and make a n uncon

dit ional surrender. The y promise d • t ha t

when this was done an effort would be

made to spare their l ives, and th ey woul d

be al lowe d to leave the country on condit i on

that they never returned to it. The se

insulting and dishonourable terms stung

ev e ry Brit on to the quick, and the po orest

spir i ted among them v o w e d that they

would gladly perish in conflict ra ther

than bo parties to a peace which was

to be purchased by the sacrifice of manly

dignity and courage.

But the energies of the Afghans never

slackened, and from morning to night a nd

from night to mornin g the beleagu ered

and half-starve d garrison were allo wed

no rest. Fr om every gate of Ka bu l armed

Afghans swept ove r the plain, destroy ing

bridges, waylaying c o n v o y s of provisions,

sniping sentries, and taking long shots

at anyon e they cou ld see who belonged

to the British force.

SI R 'W I L L I A M

H f t C N A S H T E N

{From a drawing in the National Portrait Gallery.)

C H A P T E R X X X V I I .

A K » A B K H A N B A I T S A T R A P .

E S P I T E t h e

efforts of Bob

and his t roo p,

and the Com

missariat officers,

f o o d * had go t

d o w n to a very

l ow condi t ion ,

both as to quan

t i ty and quali ty,

and the horses,

c a m e l s , a n d

y ab o o s (Afghan

ponies) wereweak a nd starv

ing. General

Elphinstone was

abso lutel y inca pabl e of dealing wit h the

situation, an d as winter closed in he con

sidered t ha t there was nothing left but to sur

render. He besought Macnag hten to f ind out

some wa y of co min g to terms with the Chiefs.

Akbar Khan and Osman Khan, with other

Sirdars of the Ba ruk zye s, and as ma ny of

the chiefs as they cou ld influence, had

plan ned out the whol e sche me of the future

d ev e lo p m en t of the unfo rtuna te a nd trag ic

business, and they m o v ed as quietly as a

player moves his pieces on a chessboard.

Thej ' were relentless in the calmness with

which they advanced to the complete

destru ction of the British, and bega n to

herd in Genera l Elphin ston e a nd all his

followers, as quie tly as the slaug hterme n

drive a herd of cattle th rou gh th e gates of

the sham bles. A nd the terrible climat e

aided them. To withstand such fierce

cold, the weakly sons of the hot plains of

Hindo stan required abun dant cl othing,

plen ty of warm shelter, and a good supply

of sustaining f o o d . Instead of these

necessaries of life, they had little f o o d , worn-

out clothin g, and shelters which har dly

deserved the n ame.

Th e Sepoys lost heart, and simply sl ipped

out of life by the door of sheer wea kness.

E v e n the Briti sh had lost the greater part

of their ini t iat ive, and al low ed the A fghans

to harry the m here and there, and toterrorise by con stan t attac ks. Th e horrible

barbarities practi sed by the Afgh ans upon

the wou nde d and de ad, st il l further s hook

the conf iden ce of tho troo ps, and b y th e

middle of Dec emb er the army was nothing

more than a disheartened, demor al ised mo b

of half-starved, shiftless weaklings.

An d yet to energetic men there wa s

plenty of exci te ment, and muc h of everything

to win, if cou rage and enterp rise were p ut

forth to snatch at it. B o b ' s t roop never

suffered from starvation, because they were

on the lo ok-out for f o o d , wood, and clothing

ev e ry hour of the day. Bo b had ordered

them to keep a sharp eye upon the Afghan

sharps hooter s, w ho lined the walls of the

gardens and crept out to a t tack isolated

posts. He wanted to get for his men a

plentiful sup ply of thic k felt cloa ks, an d h e

knew t ha t the Afgha n marksman always

wra pp ed himself up in the wind-resisting

Herat cloth.

W h e n clo th was ob tain ed in sufficient

quanti ty, Bo b cut the surplus cloaks into

wide strips for leggings, and als o man u

factured a kind of Turkoman boot , which

kep t the frost fro m crippling the feet of

his men . In the ruins, where his tents were

put up , he alwa ys con tri ved to have a fire

burning , and iron pots of hot tea were

constantly kept ready for his men.

T h ey made huge gloves of the felt, which

they hung round their necks with cords,

so t ha t the hands might be kept warm

before the muske ts were used. A man

with shivering b o d y and numbed fingers

is no t likely to do muc h in the w ay of

accurate sho oting, and a gloved hand is too

cu m b ro u s . But with warm gloves, easily

sl ipped off an d on , the m en cou ld fire with

precision and in comfor t .

On ly once had Bo b seen Akb ar K han ,

and t ha t was at a great distance . Th e

chief recognised him, howev er, and w ave d

his hand before he gal loped away . At

length, on Dec embe r 11, a ru mour ran

through the camp t ha t Sir Will iam Mac

naght en wa s to meet the Sirdars, near th e

Seeah S ung Hills , in order to prop ose, a

t r ea ty of peace. The chiefs were seen

making for the appointed place, and Bob

sa w that Akbar Khan and Afzul Ali rodeat the h ead of the line.

H e felt sure t ha t any terms granted by

these men wo uld be of the mo st severe an d

insulting character. An d he was corr ect

in his anticipations, for never had a British

arm y been before subjected to so degrading

a situation. Th e British were to eva cua te

Ghuznee, Kanda har, Kab ul , Jel lalabad and

all Afghan territory, and no British force

was ever to return unless called for by the

Afghans. Shah Shujah, with his family,

mus t leave for British territo ry und er th e

promise of a pension from the Afghans, or

if he desired, he might continue to live, but

not to rule, in Kab ul . The army before

Ka bu l was to be al lowe d to retreat to India

b y way of the Kh ybe r, and provisions

would be al lowed for the journey, and

t ranspor t waggon s given, if required, and

the Amee r Dos t Mo ha mme d and al l the

Afghan exiles were to return to the country.

W h e n Shah Shujah heard t ha t he was

to be depo sed, and left helpless in Kab ul

or c onde m ne d t o exile, he at first refus ed

to con sen t to the terms, but finally ga ve

a re luctant acquiescence . T he Ar my then

prepared to evac uate the Bala Hissar

and the canto nment s. Th e troop s marc hed

out of the fortress and p roce eded to j o in

the main b o d y on the plain. Th ey were

dogged and fol lowed by Afghans , wh o

jeered and spat at them . An y dela y was

the signal for a nearer approach of the

Ghazees, and several sick men were dragged

away and ki l led.

On December 21 various hostages were

hand ed o ver to the cus tod y of the Chiefs,

as a guarantee that th e t r ea ty would be

o b se rv ed in i ts integri ty. Ak ba r Kh an

had st ipulated t ha t Brigadier Shelton

should be one of these, but Shelton posi t ive ly

refused to put himself into their hands .

T he next da y Bo b received a summ ons

from Sir Will ia m Macna ghten t o the effect,

that he was wanted at once in the Envoy 's

residenc e. It was abo ut an hour after

nightfal l . Bob t o o k his men with him,

and, after some delay, was admit ted to

the presence of Sir Will ia m. The En vo y

was alone . A letter lay on the table before

him.

' ' Yo u kno w the wri t ing of Akb ar Kh an,Mr . Laur ie ; i s that his signature ? " H e

pointed to the docu men t. Bo b examined

it and said with out a mo me nt 's hesitation,

" Certainly, sir, I know it w el l . "

" Re ad it for yourself, Mr. Laurie, bu t

remembe r, i t must be kept an absolute

secret . Yo u see what Akbar Kha n suggests

to me . Fo r the purpo ses of his ow n ambi tion

he is willing to co-operate with us, and

promises that A m cn o o lah Khan, the prime

m o v e r in this rebellion, shall be seized

and give n up to us as a prisoner. T w o

regiments are to be placed in Mah moo d

Kh an 's fort and in the Bal a Hissar. T he

uppe r citadel will be held by us. Shah

Shujah will con tinu e to rule, but A kb ar

Khan st ipulates that he himself shall be

his Prime Minister . Amp le provisions.stores,

and a mmu nit ion will be supplied to us by

A kba r Kh an , and ou r troo ps will be allow ed

to remain in and around Kabul , until

Spring op ens the Passes for us, and the

weather promises an easy journ ey to India.

If I agree, Akb ar Kh an is willing to pl ay

false to his fell ow-c oun trym en, and will

see that the plot turns ou t well. Now , Mr .

Laurie, you kno w Akb ar Khan, what d o

yo u think of his offer ? "

H e gazed on Bob's face with great

eagerness, and was clearly anxious to sign

the paper and return it to the Princ e. Bob-

waited a few minutes and then said :

" This is a t rap , Sir Will i am, and a v ery

shal low one. Akb ar Kha n and no t

A m en o o lah Kh an , is the head of all th erebell ious outbreak in Kab ul . He has been

working for nearly twelve mont hs in secret

p lot t ing . He hates Shah Shujah too muc h

to serve him in any capacity, and would

sweep him a way w itho ut a shade of

co m p u n c t io n . H e is tryin g to tes t y o u r

sincerity on the mat te r of the t reaty which

has been arranged, and if you sign that

paper, and go to meet the Prince to-mo rrow ,

yo u will have signed your death warrant

and given yourself over to the executioners.

On th o face of it such an offer looks like

the essence of simpl icity , bu t do not be

mistaken, Sir Will iam, Akb ar Khan is

tho most wily of all the Afg hans , as he is

the bravest, and his appa rent guilelessness

is on ly the b ait to a dead ly t r ap . "

" I d o not think so, Mr. Lau rie ; yo u

forget t ha t Akb ar Kha n is ambit ious an d

grasping. H e kno ws that Shujah is but.

a puppe t, wh o in his ow n strong hand s

cou ld be mad e to dan ce to any mu sic Ak bar

decided . H e wan ts supreme pow er, and'

this is a quick way to it. At the same

time, do you not see t ha t he would also

secure the gratitu de an d possib le friendshi p

of the Bri t ish Go ve rnm en t? W e are here

pen ned in, in a hopele ss posi tion . Th e

General can suggest nothing, and the arm y

is powerless. Kand ahar, Ghuznee, and

Jel lalabad m ust not be surrendered, and

if we have a respite till the spring, an

arm y will hav e been sent up to our assistance

and w e shall be able to dictate ter ms again.

I have thought ov er this , and mad e u pm y mind to sign the agreement, and to

m o rro w Ak ba r Kh an will ratify it in th e

presenc e of the chiefs wh o are in the p lo t. "

" Very well, Sir Willi am, I am onl y in

a posi t ion to offer advice because I know

A kba r Khan so well. T o me the proposal

is an absurdi ty, and base d up on absolut e

ignorance of the forces which are raging



Through Afghan Snoters. 749

in Kabul at this present mom ent . If you

d o sign it, I wish you would allow me

to deliver i t into the hands of Ak ba r K ha n

fo r yo u. I should like to see his face when

he reads tha t letter, and sees you r signature. ' '

" There is no objection to tha t , Mr.

Laur ie. Captai n Skinner, on e of the

hostage s, brou ght it to me , but if yo u

desire it, possibly the matter may be

arranged. Bu t I am incline d to think tha t

it is unnecessary."

" Perhaps so , Sir Wil lia m, but I shoul d

like to see Ak ba r Kh an . I cou ld tell then

wha t was going on behind t he v e i l . "

A mounted escort t o o k Captain Skinner

and Bob to the fort on the Kohist an Ro ad .

Here they were received by a large b o d y of

Afghan horsemen, who escorted them through

the Kohistan Gat e to the palac e of Akba r

Khan. Bo b had placed the large Star in

his turban, but wore his ordin ary un iform

under his Herat cloak.

As the horse men cante red through the

.streets, crowd s of Afghans watch ed them by

the light of torch es, whic h were carried by

the armed me n wh o guard ed the cit y.

Akba r's troope rs were not very gentle in

their methods . If a man chanced to get

in the way, they either slashed at him with

their whips or rode over him. Nothi ng

was allo wed to interfere w ith the progress

of the troop. The leaders shouted out

the name of Ak ba r Khan a nd if tha t d id

not clear the way, the shoulders and hoofs

of the horses did.

At length the troop swung into the

courty ard of Akba r Kha n's palace, and B ob

dismount ed. An arm ed servant led him

along a handsomely furnished corridor,

and he was shown into a spacious apartment .

Akbar Khan, Afzul Ali , and Amenoo lah

Kha n were standing to gether , absorbe d in a

whispered consulta tion. Th e escor t had

been seen from the w indo ws, and the three

•chiefs were speculating as to the nature of

Macnaghten's reply.

Akbar Kh an started when he recognised

Bob, but on the instant he repressed tho

words of gree ting whi ch were rising to his

lips. The eyes of Afzul Ali glea med as he

saw the Diamond Star scintillating in the

turban of the young soldier.

" I wish to see Akb ar Kha n, " said Bob ,

speaking in Push too. " I am the bearer

•of a letter from the British Envoy, Sir

William Macnaghten ."

" I am Mahome d Akba r Kha n, " replied

the Sirdar, with a hau ghty gesture. " Give

me the letter."

Bo b handed the docum ent and Akba r

Khan brok e the seal, and rap idly sw ept

his eyes ove r the writte n wor ds. Wh en

he saw the signature at the end, a male vole nt

light seemed to illumine his countenance.

It was like the light ning flash wh ic h brig hten s

the darkness for an instant, or like the

brilliant gleam which shines from the g lowing

heart of a furnace, and is immedi ate ly

hidde n by the closing of the mas sive doors .

F o r a moment Bob seemed to look into the

heart of Ak ba r Khan , and in it he read

nothing b ut cruelty, treachery, and death.

A kba r Khan handed the letter to the

chiefs. Th ey read it without a chan ge of

countenance and gave it back in silence.

" Yo u can return to the Bri t i sh Envoy,"

said Ak bar Kha n, " and g ive him this

verbal answer to his communication. I

shall meet him on the plains to-morrow,

and this affair will be sett led."

Bo b saluted and turned to leave the ro o m .

A kba r K h a n followed him across the

threshold.

" T h o u fo o l , Lar i K ha n ! " he hisse d in a

tense whisper, " wh y dost thou thrust t h y '

head withi n the jaw s of the lion ? I s aw

thee in the c amp some days ago and knew

tha t tho u wert making thyself busy. I

wish I had deman ded thee for a host age

instead of that dog Shelton. I would have

sent thee to Ghari Ghil zai out of harm 's w ay .

Afzul Ali has marked thee by the Star in

thy turban. Ride in the middle of the

escort when thou returnest to the camp,

and accept no f o o d or drink while th ou art

in the pala ce here. Get do wn qui ckl y, the

escort have received their instructions from

me. Nay, wait thou in this ro o m , I will

se e the Khan wh o com man ds the horseme n

and will g ive him a strict charge concerning

thee."

H e pushed Bo b into a small ro o m and

hurried d own the corr idor. In a few

minutes some servants cam e in and placed

refreshment s a nd fruit on a table , and with

drew. B o b t o o k a piece of an Afg han

swe etme at, whic h is a very fa vourite

delicacy in Kabul, and was on the point

of placing it in his mouth when Akbar

returned. The Sirdar immedia tely snatc hed

the swee tmea t out of his han d.

" Di d I not wa rn thee ? " he said.

" Whe re is thy caution, Lari Kha n ? D o

y o u think Afzul Ali is aslee p ? Carry this

with thee to the courtyard and fling it to

th e street dogs. Yo u will learn so mething ."

H e hand ed the morsel bac k to Bo b, and

le d him towar ds the cour tyar d. At the

gate a number of stalwart Afreedees had

placed themselves, as though to see the

Feringhee messenger mount and be g o n e .

W h e n Bo b ap p eared there was a gener al

loosening of weapon?, and the hands concealed

beneat h the clo aks gripp ed the hafts of

the long Afghan knives . Akba r Kha n

st rode forward and , b locking the doo rwa y

so tha t B o b co u ld not pass through, he

cal led up the escort .

" W h i p me these Afreedee s out of the

courtyard," said Akbar in a sharp t o n e , "an d

se e tha t they are kept at a g o o d dis tance

f rom th e officer w h o re turns with thee.

(To be continued.)

R e m e m b e r tha t thou art respon sible for

his safety, a nd w oe to thee if a hair of

his head is injur ed. "

While the soldie rs wer e hustling the

Afreedees out of the courtya rd, B ob t o o k

off hi s t u rban and sho wed his white s haven

crown. Ak b ar Kh an looked at it for a

m o m e n t , a n d then burst out into a roar

of laughter. His face l ighted up with

wonder ful genialhVy, an d hi s tee th shone

like i v o ry .

" B y Allah ! " he said, wh en he co u ld

cont rol his mir th, " th ou ar t s have n like

an egg . The re is no t a hair to injure, even

though a man sought it with a lantern."

A n d hi s b o d y shoo k wi th uproar ious

merr iment . Jus t then a dog trot ted across

the cour tya rd . Ak bar t o o k the piece of

sweetmeat ou t of B o b ' s hand and th rew

it to the animal . It snappe d it up, an d

m o v e d aw ay. The next minute an appallin g

howl was heard, an d the dog was seen

writhing in tor ture upon the ground. To

st op the noise a soldier str uck it wi th his

sabre, but no t before B ob had seen tha t

the p o o r brute had been pois oned .

" Afzu l Ali meant tha t for thee, Lari

Khan ; he thinks tho u art a dog, and tha t

is ho w he wou ld have dispo sed of the e."

" Man y thanks, my lord , " rep l ied B ob ;

" I was a fo o l , but I will be wiser in future .

Farewell ." He swung himself into the

saddle, and in the very heart of the e scort ,

and gu arde d like a king, he was escorted

ba c k to the c antonments .

H e wen t straight to the Residency .

Sir Wil lia m Mas awaitin g him.

" Well , Laurie, I see you have returned.

D i d you see Akb ar K han ? " ho asked

as Bob en tered .

" I di d, sir . He was with Afzu l Ali

and Ameno ola h Kha n. I gave h im your

letter, and saw all t h a t I needed to see.

H e means mischie f of the deadliest kind.

Hi s face for an instant was like an open

b o o k , and in i t I read treachery, triump h,

and venge ance . He has trapp ed yo u, of

tha t I have not the slightest doubt, and if

y o u mee t him to -mo rr ow, i t will be to go

into impri sonme nt, or perhaps , through

the gate s of assas sinati on, to the deat h

which he has decreed for everyone within

this ca mp . I can easily forecast what will

be the ou tco me of the letter he has received.

H e will call the Chiefs ar oun d him, and

swear t h a t the British intend treache ry,

a nd tha t th e t reaty they have made with

the Afghan s is wor th nothin g. In proof

he will ic ad the letter signed by your name,

and e ver y man will swear to have reveng e

upon yo u, and upon the British. Ke epout of his wa y to- mor row , Sir Will iam,

or death wi l l leap out upon you ."

" Wh a t is to be will be, Laur ie, but I

t hank yo u for the service yo u have rendered

and the warn ing you have g iven me ."

The Lahore Gate, Kabul.



750 The "Boy's Otern Taper.

A HARD ROW.

CnEERFUL IDIOT : " What do you think is the best food for an oarsman to train on, Willie,my lad ? "

WILLIE : " Don't know. What ? "CHEERFUL IDIOT: "Why, bloaters."

WILLIE : " Get along with you I What good is a bloater ? "OHBERPUL IDIOT : " It gets them used to the hard row1 See ? "J

" B L A C K A N D W H I T E D A Y S . "

T h e H a l f - H o l i d a y .

By ROBERT J. 0OL EN8 O, M. D , (" UMNYAIZA.")

FO B us lads Saturday was our da y of

days , a lways looked forward to from

the beginn ing of the week. On Satu rd ay

our schoo l-wor k ended at noo n, and we were,

fo r the rest of the dayli ght , free to enjoy

ourse lves p re t ty much where and how we

l iked.

Whe the r we went alone or with our bla ck

co m p an io n s , th is enjoyment usual ly took

the fo rm of som e sport , such as t rapping or

fishing. T he la t ter , from some inheri ted

or innate reason, was alw ays my f avouri te

pastime, and I still prefer g o o d fishing t o

any other ou tdo or form of recreat ion, p ro

v id ed t ha t the fish to be ca ugh t are avai labl e

as f o o d . Th e nat ive lads fished for the mer e

pleasure of catch ing, since onl y those l iving

on the coa st , or brough t up from chi ldh ood

to eat fish, can bear eve n the o do ur of it.

Other nat ives declare t ha t f ish are " me re ly

snakes ," of al l l iving creatures to them

the most abhor rent . A nat iv e cook in my

service in la ter years could not have c o o k e d

the m ha d it not bee n for his great affec tion

fo r me . It was a sight to see him with

face tu rned to the bree ze, and the frying -

pan held out at arm ' s length behind him,so t ha t the hateful od ou r shoul d not u pset

his st om ac h ! Bu t Kaffirs dwel ling on t he

coa st woul d eat fish and shellfish with

a v i d i t y .

Our black co mp an io ns ' idea of fishing

was somewhat crude, as was our own when

we first l earned it from th em — " Pull y ou r

line out with a jerk at the first nib bl e, "

was the mo tt o, " an d send the fish, if not

large enough to smash your tackle, flying

overhead into the rushes be h i nd you , " t h a t

was our earl iest meth od. An d man y a rod

and line were bro ken , an d ma ny a fair-sized

fish lost by such unskilful ang ling .

R o d s were to be had from any where

arou nd us, viz. , sapl ings of mulber ry, acacia

and " ser inga ." Fish ing lines were usual ly

ma de of stri ng— of fine whip cor d at best .

B u t th is was rarely procu rable, for the tow n

in which i t could be bought was five miles

away . Hoo ks were our greates t want for

the same reason. Wh en obtai ned the y

were usually of large size and prov ide d

with an eyel et for a t tach men t of the line,

and they were dear. Wh en there was no

eye let hole we had s om e difficulty in fasten

ing the line to th em, as we had not y et

learne d to wh ip it on with th r ead . Be n t

pins had often to be our substi tu te for hooks

unti l I found t h a t large needl es bent in a

candle flame, and th en tempered whilst red

hot in co ld water, were stronger and sharper.

Suc h barbless h ook s justified our " pull ey-

haul ley " man ner of striking and lugging

out the fish, or oth erwi se they usuall y go t

off the hoo k. Oh ! shall I eve r forg et the

be a u t y t ha t dr op pe d off my first bent n eed le!

Wi th such hook s a running line was of no

use, nor rings on the rod, alt hou gh later,

when we could procu re hooks, we adv anc ed

to a yard or (w o of extr a running line at the

b u t t , and a ring on the tip of the rod .

Gut was a great luxur y, onl y seen when

it came already at tached to the hooks we>

had bought in the dis tan t town. In la ter

years, howe ver, we made many a s trand

from the si lkworm.

It m ay no t be out of place here to de scri be

ho w this is done.

W h e n our silkworms were fully mature,

they becam e pinkish-coloured and semi-

t ranslucent , and were restless, wan derin g

ab out to find a corn er in which to sp in

their cocoons . They were then thrown into

vinegar, and, as soon as life was extinct,,

were torn ope n and th e silk organ s t ak en

out—transparent semi-sol id bodies, in shape

like a pear dou ble d on itself, or the Persian

flower on an old-fashioned shawl. The se

were unfolded and qu ickly stretched out

t o their ful lest extent . The quicker t h i s

was done the longer the resulting thread of

gut , as the material hardens very rapidly,

bearing a yellow tag of its envelope left

adherent to either e nd of the strand. A f t e r

being pegged out on a board and sundried,

these strands were ready for use—and better

gut I have never found.

There was always sufficient bait to be had,

since, in default of worms, a few grasshoppers,co u ld be caught even dow n on the r iver 'a

brink. But , as a hunt for them d elaye d

operat ions, we general ly caught a supply

before starting where they were mor e plenti

ful. T h e latter sort was a large soUtary

species (iqwagi) flying po wer ful ly wh en

k ick ed up, and for a distance of fifty yards

before it alight ed again on some little bare

spo t. It had to be chase d and pressed

hotly from point to point before i t could

be captured.

W o r m s were our mos t favo urite bait, b ut

the y were ver y difficult to get, ex ce pt after

rain, or in the rainy season. At other t ime s

the gr oun d was dry , and as hard as i ron,

covered with large worm-c asts also of a

sto ny hardne ss. It was useless digg ing atrand om. One had to go out in the early

morning, and, as quickly as possible, dig

up from beneath so me moist and more or

less recent cast in the slender hope t ha t it

might be possible to seize hold of the retir ing

tail-end of a wo rm. If so cau ght and k ept

pat ient ly on the stretch, th e rest of the

creature somet imes fol lowed entire, but

usual ly it was but a frag menta ry affair.

W e discovered later, t ha t dough, made of

whe ate n flour, wa s a good bait for our river ,

and saved us muc h t ime and trouble. This

we kneaded u p with som e cot ton- wool to-

make i t adhere better to the hook.

A r m e d with this primitive fishing-tackle,

and a few worm s or grasshoppers, we mad e

haste to reach the river two miles away,

keeping a sharp watch on the sky for the

thunder storms which in hot weather were

c o m m o n . If the clou ds were very threaten

ing, we knew we should be stopp ed b y o ur

elders, so mad e shift to get far away be

fore such a disaster happe ned. I t would have

been a terrific storm indeed which would

have prevented us from starting for our

beloved sport. Often, in t ruth, if we

thought storms were brewing, we wonld

" cut " our mi dd ay meal, so as to be on

our way and safe from pursuit, an d then ,

if the heavens did fall, we were glad enough

of the po nies and esco rt, sent to rescue us

from the sava ge fury of the eleme nts. Fo r

such thunderstorms were dangerous from

the torrential rain, the massive hailstones,

and incessant lightning they often brought.

Our way to the river led partly along

Kaffir foo tpat hs, in which one had to walk

in single file, an d partly over th e open " ve ldt ."

If we ca me acros s ripe grou nd-m edlar s on

our way through the grass, we woul d pause

to pluck and eat them. Bu t onl y for a

mom ent , for our one and o nly aim was to

go as s traight and as fast as possible to the



" BlacK and White Days." 751

river, and, arriving there, to "c o l l a r " the

most fav our ite fishing stand s, and to be th e

first into the water with our line.

W i t h what feverish anxiety we rushed

d o w n that last sloping ridge, and crushed

underfoo t sweet-smellin g herbs and rushes

on the river's brink ! Wi th wha t fumb lin g

fingers we straighten ed o ut our lines, and,

impali ng a fat grassho pper, or the sec tion of a worm upon our hook—earthworms that

were somet imes nearly an inch thick, and

a yard long— cast it am on g the ye l low foam

blobs that sailed around an eddy in t ha t

great pool ! How closely we watched for

the first shu dder of ou r float—if we indulged

in the refi nem ent of a float—made of a

fragment of dry reed, or the det ermi ned

straightening out of our drifting line, a bit

of string on which depe nd ed all our ho pes !

An d then, if the fates were k ind , with

what a rush a living bar of silver was torn

ou t of i ts native element high ab ov e our

head s, to fall flapping an d od or ou s up on us,

or amids t the scen ted herba ge far behin d !

Al l rods were cast aside, all ran t o the spo t

to gaze with env y, or handle the prize !E v e r y one rushed ba ck to his pos t and tack le

with newer ho pe ! Ma ny a sma ll fish was

so dealt with, bu t few larger on es could be

thus hoisted sky high.

These fish were chiefly those which arc

locally called " scale-fish, " bu t are in r eality

tw o species of barbel, closely allied to our

ow n barbel , and a diminutive perch or

"ruff. " There were also eels— some huge

and spot ted eels, and mon str ou s catfish,

locally misnamed " barb el ." Such were

never hauled out with our feeble tack le, but

with nightlines, or in the after year s wh en

ou r fishing was mo re skilfu l an d mo re

worthy of the n ame.

These barbel were very hard to despatch,

fo r their enor mous ugly heads were a mass

of plates of bone , on which a stone m ade

no impression. The y were hideou s creatures,

al though g o o d as food, not unlike gigantic

t ad p o le s , all head and little b o d y , with great

fleshy whiskers sticking ou t like t entacl es

around their wide , flat mou ths , and wit h tin y,

b ead y eyes . I caught one once , whe n I was

an older lad, which was about four feet long .

I had better tackle then —thou gh co arse.

I was alone on t ha t occas ion , and had no

float on my line, and had th row n the h o o k ,

baited with a wor m, into my favourite d eep

hole for a final try , as the sun ha d set a nd

night was rushing on. Not hin g seeme d to

happ en, so I raised my rod to depart, an d

found m y h o o k was fast in somethi ng—a

rook or roo t pro bab ly. I pulled on the rock ,

and it steadily m o v e d out to mids t ream.Had I at last hoo ked tho leviathan of my

dream s ? Or, perh aps , it was a water-

tortoise ! I had caught such before—nast y

stinking things ! Bu t it see med mor e act ive

than a tortoise woul d hav e been. I increased

th e strain, and little by little broug ht the

creature to the surface, and saw it was a

large catfish ! Th is fish was lump ish and

h eav y and strong . It t o o k me quite twe nty

minutes to play and pull it out on to a rocky

ledge, a m t h e r five to get the hook out of its

h ideous mouth, and yet another five t o

hammer it into quietude with a large stone—

I always made a point of ki l l ing my catch.

I packed up my tackle, and slinging the

monster on a cord over my shoulders, began

to toi l up the rock y pro mon tor y in the dusk.

It was more than dusk, it was dark, and

the fireflies we re bli nki ng out am on gs t the

thick reeds, and in the blackness below me.

I was tired and cold , and began to feel

deso late and " eeri e." Bats were whisk ing

around me. A " whip -poo r-wi l l " was

reiterating its sorrowful notes in a thicket

somewhere near, and a bro wn owl flopped

into the grass in fron t of me . I began t o

c r a v e for huma n symp ath y, and for my

cheerful h o m e . J u s t then t ha t hideous

barbel on my shoulders gave a cough ing

grunt, and sm ot e my ankl es with its tail.

I was so s tar t led t ha t I leapt and dropped

it, and when I tu rned round there it lay

all alive, with s tar ing beady eyes , a n d

quiverin g tentacles. I hamm ered i t into

silence again with anothe r stone, but b orei t " pic k- a-b ack " no mo re , dragging i t

throu gh the grass. So I go t hom e at last,

but ha d to driv e a knife beh ind its hea d

into the spinal c o r d , to kil l i t outri ght .

T o return to earl ier day s. As we sto od

there motion less, half hidden by tall reeds

and lush undergrowth heavy with aromatic

scents , there were many ob ject s of inter

est beside our floats am id th e foamf lake s

ci rc l ing around the eddy—the large black

and white speck led kingfisher (isiqula) c o u l d

be seen chattering , as i t hung susp ended

with quivering wings o v e r the water and

(To be

peer ing d o w n into i ts myst erio us depth s,

then falling like a spoar upo n its prey .

D u c k s in pairs and strings would stream

pulsing by, near enou gh to scrutinise us

closely, but out of gun-s hot. Lo ng l ines

of ibis (inkankane) flying hig h an d u t te r in g

their peculiarly human cry of Hip-hip-hip-

hurrah , a chorus in which al l joine d, would

sw in g onward to their roos t ing-placesmiles away. White-headed fishing eagles

(izinkwazi) with their high-pi tched, melodious-

c ry , half scream, half whistle, c o u l d bc -

seen si t t ing in watch.

If we were very still, otters {imtini) o c c a

s ional ly clim bed out al l drippin g on to the-

jut t ing ro cks, or could be detect ed al l

but submer ged— like unto large water-rats,

passing d o w n the curren t . Thei r peculiar

o d o u r was often str ong in the air, a nd t ha t

also of the marsh ich neum on (umvnzi), s ince

b o t h of these made ou r favo urite spit of

r o c k i ts dining-table.

concluded.)

Our Rote Book.

T H E " S T E A D F A S T " T R A I N I N G

S H I P .

THE accompanying photograph shows the newtraining ship for boys, the Steadfast, which has beenanchored in the Thames at Kingston. Mr. PercyThorn, to whom we are indebted for the photograph,sends ns the following particulars:—" The vesselis 100 feet in length, the height from deck to mast-

A Ne w Training Ship.

dead is 75 feet, and she is 19.6 across her beam.She is a training ship for poor boys, who are taughtin the class-room in the evenings from 6 to 8 and

S to 9.30, after their day-school. Boys are taught(luring these hours from the age of thirteen, andare given two years' training. The class-room isquite large and is Gtted with electric light. Nextto it is the cook's galley where the boys learn theculinary art. The SteadfjM, whose hull, it maybe added, is painted black and white, was formerlya training ship near Gravesend."

j r j r

A T R U E K N I G H T .

SOME time ago King George conferred the honourof knighthood upon Doctor George Turner. Hisname when printed among those who had receivedthe King's favour meant Uttle to the public. Hehad not been in the limelight, and most personswondered what he had done that commended himso strongly to the King. Had he shown great couragein war, or great wit in society, skill in letters orpre-eminence in science, or was it just a whim of his Majesty to place an unknown among the names of the truly great ?

The newspapers soon unravelled the mystery, andidentified him as the medical officer in Cape Colonywho for twelve years rendered services to the cause of humanity which have never been adequately recognised,except by a very few. It was he who completed thesystem of inoculation against the rinderpest, begunby Dr. Koch, and produced a curative and preventiveserum. It was he who, during the Boer war. when theravages of typhoid were so severe, undertook thesupervision of the military hospitals and concentrationcamps at constant risk of his own life. It was hewho, coming across a leper asylum at Pretoria, with

about fifty Dutch and forty native patients, gaveall his spare time to work among the poor creatures,doing all he could to alleviate their lot.

For three years he laboured without extra pay of any sort. He saw the lepers early in the morning,and when he came home in the evening. In additionhe made as many post-mortem examinations aspossible. He was in his laboratory at dawn in orderto have time for work. A visitor who watched himmoving among the patients in the asylum bearswitness to the passionate devotion with which he wasregarded by all the inmates.

On reaching the age limit he retired to pursue hisstudies into the bacteriological side of leprosy. It hasalways been the ambition of his life to find someremedy for the disease.

There is nothing in the world so inspiring as thethought of such men as Doctor Turner, workingwithout hope of glory or money, and desiring only toprotect posterity from the diseases which have causedso much suffering.

Sir George Turner is now a leper. He contractedthe disease in trying to relieve the sufferings of others y

men and women whom he scarcely knew. Already hisright arm is useless. He is living in solitude, compilingthe information which he has gathered. Knighthoodis small reward for him. Proportionate reward cattnever come to him in this life.

* ¥ *K N O W N A S " T H E S A N D B O W . "

ONE of the prettiest sights to bo witnessed in.travelling through Arizona, we are told , is the sand-bow, which invariably follows the much-dreaded sandstorms of that region.

Of course, everybody has seen a rainbow, which issimply a reflection of light on the particles of moisture

in the atmosphere. Well, the sandbow is caused bythe reflection of light on peculiar sand particles which,are left floating in the air after the storm.

This sandbow is not so brilliant as the rainbow,nor are the second or third bows often seen withinthe first so distinct as in the regular rainbow ; but the-sight is just as impressive and wonderful ; and whenone first sees the sandbow, he cannot help wonderingwhether his eye is deceiving him, so out of place doesit seem.

If we could examine the sand of the sandbow, wewould find out, so the scientists say, that it is not anordinary sand that so refracts and reflects the light,but peculiarly polished uniform spherules which havea decidedly pearly lustre, these particles being asthey are because of constant friction or rubbingtogether while swirled through the air during the.sandstorm.

¥ ¥ ¥

D E A T H O F A " B . O. P . " W R I T E R .

WE regret to have to record the death of Mr. Ravenoi-Bullen, who passed away at his home in Petrolea,Ontario, Canada, on May 3, 1913. The late Mr. Bullenwas the author of several stories in the " B.O.P .," of which " The Floating Gourd ," in our 33rd volume ,and " The Mystery of Cabin No . 7," will, perhaps,be best remembered. He was educated at UniversityCollece School. London, and spent a great part of his-life at Bampton. Oxfordshire. He went out to Canadaeventually to look after some mining interests andsubsequently became associated with the productionof crude petroleum in the oil-fields of Ontario.



752 The "Boy's Oban Taper.

Our Open Column.

A I M H I G H !

mHERE'S a jolly good maxim for youngsters,

X While still they are learning at school,

It will help them along if they're timid,And keep them from playing the.fool;

Don't be frightened that others will beat you,

For every big prize have a try ;

Though the odds may seem heavy against you,

Have faith in yourself and—Aim High I

'Tis the same, too, when schooldays are over,

And into the world you then go;

Though your choice be profession or business,

Be steady, but never too slow;

Don't be nervous at getting a tumble,

Success will be yours by and b y ;

Though the goal's far above, keep on striving ;

Have faith in yourself and—Aim High !

Though you come down some terrible croppers,

Just smile and continue the fight;There is room up above for you somewhere,

• If only you strike the path right.

To a stiff brae a stout heart is needed,

Don't throw up the sponge with a cry;

Set your teeth and determine you'll conquer,

Have faith in yourself and—Aim High !

When a friend or companion you' re choosing,

Be sure that the metal rings true;

For the chap with foul speech or bad habits

Is not the right fellow for you.

Read good books, your mind needs cultivation,

The kind that will live and not die;

Leave the dross and the filth to the rotter,

Through life be your motto—Aim High IHAROLD DORNINQ.

F L A G S A N D F L A G S .

By RAYMOND RAIPE.

TN these Imperial times the British flag is kep t very

much a-flying. The surface of the entire globe is

dotted with it. And there are certain more out-of-the-

way interesting facts concerning British flags that

everyone ought to know, simply because they are such.

If you read these brief notes you will become posted

as to some peculiar flag-lore.

The Royal Standard is, of course, now strictly

reserved for the use of the Royal Family. When

the King goes on board a warship, his presence is

denoted by the flying at once of the Royal Standard,

the flag of the Lord High Admiral and the Union

Jack. That is a sight to be watched for I Those

versed in such matters are aware that the Royal

Standard and the Standard of the Prince of Wales

do not return the salutes 'that naval etiquette requires

shall be rendered to them.

On occasions of national or other rejoicing, the

appropriate flag for private individuals to adopt

is the Union Jack. It should, however, be flown the

right way up ; that is to say, with one of the broad

sections of the diagonal white St. Andrew's cross

pointing to the apex of the flagstaff. Often enough

the Union Jack is to.be seen flying upside down.

In the British Army, when two flags of the same

kind, but different sizes, are issued for use, the smaller

is intended to be flown in rough weather. Gales

play havoc with even British bunting, and the rule

makes for economy.The White Ensign, with its left-hand top corner

Union Jack, being the Navy's national flag, the Blue

Ensign—same design—is used for boats connected

with the Admiralty and other official departments.

For all ships and boats belonging to any British

subject that are engaged in the purposes of merchant

shipping, the Red Ensign—same design—is the proper

national colours. British ships signalling for a pilot

may also use a Union Jack with a white border.

But if any British ship fly any other national colours,

or any colours properly belonging to ships of the Na vy, a

heavy penalty may be imposed, up to even a fine of

five hundred pounds . Any naval or military officer,

or any officer of customs, may board any such ship,

and seize and carry away the offending colours.

There are, however, exceptions to this rule relating

to pleasure yachts. Certain yacht clubs hold Admiralty

warrants permitting their members to fly the Blue

Ensign, and most of the members do so lly it on their

yachts, some also on their private flagstaff's ashore.

But in such cases the flag is usually modified by

showing in its fourth or bottom right-hand quarterthe particular emblem of the club. The members

of the Royal Yacht Squadron, which, dating back to

1812, has its station at Cowes, I. of W., enjoy the

still prouder privilege of flying the AVhite Ensign.

Arctic and Antarctic exploration ships nowadays

fly a plain white flag, usually shown in conjunction

with the ship's own national flag ; Japan has thus

made use of the emblem in seeking the South Pole.

The banner is, of course, symbolical of the "unsullied

regions of the remote unknown."

Two forbidding emblems that we may hope the

reader will never have the misfortune to sail under

are the " quarantine " and the dreaded " plague " flags.

The one is just a plain square of yellow. The other,

used to denote that cholera, yellow fever or plague

is on board, is yeliow in its first and fourth quarters,

black in the second and third. Any ship having any

of these illnesses amongst passengers or crew is by

law required to fly this flag from sunrise to sunset when

within three miles of the British coast.

The Union Jack being the national emblem and

consequently " everybody's colours,'* as it may be said,

the British Army is provided with a special Union Jack

of its own. This, a very picturesque production,

shows the Royal cypher in a garland on a blue shield,

surmounted by a crown, and it is flown when a general-

officer-commanding embarks on one of his Majesty 'sships for purposes of military duty.

Finally, if, being by the sea, you espy a heavily-

laden craft displaying a large red flag with or without

a big letter P in its centre, you will know that supplies

of petrol or other explosive or inflammable liquid fuel

are being taken to the submarines. The flag means

" Keep clear. We are dangerous neighbours," and

other ships very wisely give it a wide berth.

Speaking generally , when flags are intended w> be

used emblematically, strict care should be exercised

to use them correctly. If meant merely to be decorative

a little more latitude is allowable . Still, it is safest,

in these matters, to be somewhat punctilious. For

there are certain flags that, displayed under certain

circumstances, might prove to be as disastrously out

of place as would the pirate's " skull and cross-bones "

at a garden party.

NAUTIQUS.—TJQ reply to your query with referenceto going to sea in the Merchant Service, a veryimportant point to notice is the change which hasrecently occurred in the training of officers, and inthe requirements now exacted by the Board of Trade and shipping companies. Until recent yearsmost officers served their apprenticeship in sailingships and got what is called an ordinary certificate,which enabled them to go in sail or steam ; nowthe majority go to sea in steamers and get steam" tickets " only. But the tendency is to raise thestandard in navigation and nautical astronomy.A good preparation for seafaring is to learnone modern language, mathematics, mechanicsand magnetism thoroughly. Officers are nowrequired to be conversant with the use and explanation of many modern inventions, as azimuth findersand other delicate instruments. The correction of the compass for deviation by deviascope is a fine art.Morse code signalling by lamp, semaphore, doubleand single flags, is now compulsory in all grades of officers. Many steamship companies carry apprentices ; four years is the usual term, but two yearsin a training ship counts one year sea time. Notwithstanding the increase of steamers and theelimination of sailing ships, several large passengercompanies prefer sailing ship men. Indeed, theWhite Star Company have fitted out the Merseysea-going training ship in order to train younggentlemen to become officers in steamers. Incidentally it may be noted that there is a demand forofficers just now. The pay is constantly increasing.

MTLES.—The red beading down the legs of infantrysoldiers' trousers dates from 1834. Previous to

that year non-coms, and privates wore their trouserswithout ornamentation.

AN ILFORD READER.—The rubbings of the coins,which you send, are too indistinct to be of use. Seethe article on " Coins and Coin Collecting," in theOctober monthly part; this may help you toidentify some of them. If you can send betterrubbings for our expert to report upon, so muchthe better.

G. HODGKJNSON.—It would be unwise to go in forswimming in opposition to your doctor 's advice.We do not know of the ear-plugs in question, andshould not recommend any such device withoutfurther knowledge of your condition. The doctoris the best person to consult on the matter.

A. E . SMITH.—The best time for the exercise is beforebreakfast, after you have had your tub. Bo carefulnot to overdo it, as it is a somewhat fatiguing formof exercise.

R. Hn.LHOUSE.-l. The 1911 and 1912 vols, areout of print. 2. We have not reprinted any of the Coloured Plates you mentio n; they aro onlyobtainable in the volumes in which they wereoriginally issued. 3. Try the " Principia Grseca,"which any bookseller can order for you. 4. Thereare many excellent manuals on cricket, but none

that can help you very particularly. See whatWilfred Rhodes says in the articles he has beenwriting in the " B.O .P." 5. Dr. Arthur Stradling,the writer on natural history, died some years ago.'

WlLTSHHiE.—A leveret is an even more interestingpet than a rabbit. It should be kept in a hutchand fed regularly and carefully in the same wayas your former pets. Leverets can be taught littletricks with the exercise of patience.

W . L. BlGWOOD.—See Vol. XXIV., p. 638, for articleon " My Land Boa t and How I made it." Weshall be recurring to this subjeot in the next volume.

NOGO.—Thanks for letting us see the sketches. Theyare not quite good enough for reproduction, butcertainly show promise. You should attend artclasses, if you do not already do so, and studytechnique.

ORIENTAL STAR.—We have no information on thesubject. Write to the Lancet or the British Medical Journal, if your own doctor is unable to furnish youwith the required particulars.

H. WAYMARK.—Your best course is to get in touchwith a firm of engravers and apply for a post. Youmust expect to begin at the beginning, arid you mayhave to serve some time without wages. ThePost Office Directory contains a list of the firms.

W . JACKSON.—You are not likely to keep them longin captiv ity . Throw them back into the pond afteryou have had the excitement of catching them.Their natural food is small insects which you couldnot easily procure for them.

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Boys Own Paper August 23, 1913

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