8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 1/17
NO. 4, NEW VOLUME.](New Series.) S A T U R D A Y , O C T O B E R 2 6 , 1 9 1 2 . P r i c e O n e P e n n y .
[ A L L RIGHTS RESERVED.]
' Suddenly he sprang to the middle and tossed the snake to the ground while he uttered awild shriek." (Sec page 61.)
The fievy Totem:A T A L E O P A D V E N T U R E I N
T H E C A N A D I A N N O R T H - W E S T .
By ARGYLL SAX BY, M.A., F.R.Q.S.,
Author of t ; Braves, White and Red," " Call of
Honour" " Comrades Three.'" " Toviak"
Tangled Trails" etc., etc 4
CHAPTER VI. THE MEDICINE M A N .
T V U K I S G the march through the w o o d s th e
AJ Indian s were not communica t ive . Once
or twice Arno ld at tempte d to draw Swif t
A r r o w into convers atio n, but the old man
merely l istened in solemn silence. He
refused even to respond to direct questions.
Even tual ly a clearing was reache d where a
large num ber of teepees were pitch ed. It
was quite a wig wam vil lage, and then ce the
t wo captives were escorted to a tent that
s to o d amon g man y others . They were
poli te ly requested to enter , and, on obeying,
they found t ha t the teepee was otherwise
em pty . Several men were post ed on guard
at a little distance f rom the entrance, while
Swift Arrow departed with the rest of his
brethren.
" There's no doubt but that we are
prison ers," rema rked A rno ld, as he sat down
upo n a buffalo hide, prepar ing to make
the bes t of thin gs and t ake his ease while
he might ." T h e whole affair is a puz zl e, " said h is
c o mp a n io n . "' Wh y on earth they should
t ake us prisoners passes m y comp rehe nsio n.
It can't be that they regar d us as enemies.
They would not ha ve be en so poli te a nd
considerate if that had been the ir t hought . "
" That 's just i t ," laughe d Arn old , who,
like his son, had the gift for worrying little
unti l he kn ew exa ctly what to worry about .
"T ha t ' s just what surprises me. W o are
t r ea ted as pri soner s an d not as prison ers.
.My impression is that we are regarded
with more fear than anger . "
The t ime allowed for specula tion was
soon curtaile d by the sound of ma ny voices
approaching the tent , though presently
there was silence, an d a loud voice called to
those within :
" The eyes of Mighty Hand would gladly
rest on the sight of the Wh ite Men ."
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 2/17
50 The "Boy's Obvn Paper.
" He means us ," comm ente d Arnold ,
ris ing from the c o u c h of fur. " He 's to o
pol i te t o enter the teepee unin vited ."
" By all means let his eyes rest upon us ,"
laughed Holden.
The two men then advanced while one
thr ew o pen the flap of the tent . And the
pic ture that met their eyes was one that
struck the strangers with admira tion, f or it
seemed to throw the years back to the d ays
when the Indi an ruled the prairie—the days
tha t kne w the yout h of Ballan tyne an d t he
pri me of Feni more Cooper.
R a n g e d in a semicircle before the tent
was a c r o wd of braves and warriors—all
arrayed in the picturesque garb that wa s
unspoilt b y any to uch of Sax on attire such
as is co mm on ly seen amo ng redskins of
the present day . Ex ce pt tha t the old-time
b o w s and arrows were replace d by m ore
modern muzzle- loaders , there was nothing
to suggest any association with white men
and white men's tastes.
But it was not so muc h the ba ckg rou nd of
na t ives that so impressed the Engli shmen.
Their admira tion was called to the central
figure. H e was an Indi an of enor mous size
—tall, squarely built , and equally propor
tio ned. His head was surmo unted with a
turban of black fox decorated with eagle
feathers that were continued like a wing
right down his back and nearly touching
the groun d. His bla ck hair was threaded
with man y-co lou red beads, some of whi ch
resembl ed (and actuall y were pr ove d to be)
nuggets of pure g o ld : Neckl aces of beads
and animals ' tee th hung in many strands
u p o n the breast of his deerskin shirt. Leg
gings and mo ccasi ns were a mass of beads,
feathers, and por cupi nes ' quills wov en in
intricately fantastic designs. An d. ove r all ,
there hung in graceful folds an ermine r obe
of spotless white.
This was the great chief of the Da cotahs .
Mi ght y Hand was his name, and that hand
was famed for its deeds of valour as, equally,
fo r its deed s of kind ness . He was sole
mona rch of a mig hty branch- tribe of the
Daco tahs that had long been separated fro m
its renegade brethren, preferring to maintain
the ol d life in the for est an d o n the prairie
rather than a work house existenc e in a
Gove rnme nt Reser ve. He led his peopl e
far from the haunts of whi te men, and his
life was only harmful to the game that
suppli ed his peop le 's needs. Po wde r and
other necessaries he obt aine d from frontier
trading stati ons. Bu t he was kn ow n as a
man of peace and a man of spotless hono ur.
H e n c e his irregular life and failure to c o m p l y
with Gove rnm ent Reserve regulations ha d
been hither to winked at by the officials.
W h e n the Englishme n issued from the
tent, this chief was standing before th em
in a majestic att i tude that at once proc la imed
his royal blood . He was unarm ed. This
was a courtesj" to the strangers.
A t the chief's right s ide stoo d Swift
A r r o w ; at th e left wa s a figure tha t formed
a weird contrast t o the other two. This one
was lean, ben t and twis ted like a gna rled
tree tha t had been starved and warped in
the desert. His dress was alike n ati ve,
but the grotesque ornaments of animals '
skulls , tails , dried m onk eys ' hands, an d
oth er gru eso me relics ga ve the wearer an
appearance tha t was repulsive to Saxon
eyes . Th is freak of figure and dress w as
Thunde r-make r, the great Medicine Man of
the tribe. Wit hou t his presence no state
conclave was comp let e ; witho ut his opini on
no tribal law or ruling was ever decided.
It must no t be thoug ht that the time we
have oc cupi ed in describing these several
features was similarly occu pied by the Eng
lishmen in minute ob servati on. No t at all .
Arnold, immedi ately recognising the bearing
of the chief, pr om pt ly addr essed h im in
English, which Migh ty Hand coul d under
stand —jud ging fro m his first salutation.
" Th e whit e brot hers of the redmen are
gladdened by this visit of the great chief,"
he said. " Th e white brot hers have been
in great danger fro m rushing water s—dang er
from which the great chief 's braves snatched
them . Th ey are grateful that their l ives
have been saved, and they are glad to meet
th e chief an d thank him for what was done."
Th e Ind ian li stened in silence, and, at the
pause that followed, he returned in deep
tones, as if he were repeating a lesson that
he had learned by hear t :
" Out from the silver waters, when the moon
is round, they shall come. They shall be
pale-face, and they shall look like men."
Thi s was certa inly a puzz ling rejoin der !
T o neither of the capt ive s did it convey
any knowledge. Arnold, however, deemed
that the bes t course wou ld be to assume no
impression that he and his friend were
regarded as prisoners.
" T h e chief speaks wel l," he returned.
" Bu t his ton gue dece ive s him when he says
that we look like men . Pale-f aces we are.
Bu t we are friends to the redma n. W e
would smo ke the peace-pip e with him. But
we are far fro m our ca mp . At our tents ar c
our young sons who are awaiting our return
with anxious hearts. Perhaps the great
chief has also a son ! He will kn ow , then,
h o w heavy would be the heart of his papoose
if the chief were long absent fro m his teepee.
Wr
e therefore beg that th e chief will hasten
the peace-pip e. Af terwards he will lend
a brave to guide the white brothers bac k
to their camp-ground ."
W hi l e Arnold spoke , there was silence
a m o n g the Indians, and it was obv iou s from
the chie f's face that his mind was disturbed
with indecision.
" Migh ty Han d has lis tened to the wor ds
of the pale-face." the chief said. " Th e
white man's words flow as music, but—' out
from the silver waters, when the moon is
round— ' "
The speaker's voice faded into thoughtful-
ness, and Holden whispered to his c o m
panion :
" Wh at is the fellow driving at ? Wh at
does he mea n b y ' ou t fro m the silver
wat er s ' ? Of course we came out from
waters, but what has tha t to do with
the mo o n , I wonder ? "
" I can't think, unless—yes, I believe
I' ve got it ! It' s full mo on ab ou t this t ime,
Hol den . There' s some India n superstition,
I imagi ne, about full moon and people being
rescued fro m the water— "
" It sounds like that fr om the way he
speaks. Y o u remem ber, Swift Ar ro w said
mu ch the same t hing. "
" The n depend upon it , we' ve hit the mark.
In som e way, we' ve got mix ed up with a
l egend or superstition."
Mi ght y Ha nd had been consulti ng with
Swift Ar ro w while the Englis hmen had been
quiet ly sum min g up the situation, but now
he again fac ed the c apti ves.
" Mig hty Ha nd has live d long, and seen
many wonders and much great medicine.
But to-day there is a clo ud in his mind .
H e understands but dark ly. It wou ld be a
shame that Might y Hand should bring
water t o the eyes of his white brot her' s
papoose, bu t wh o can say if the fiery t ot em
be not calling this day ? Beh old ! "
As he spoke, the chief tore open his deer
skin shirt, and when the Engli shmen bent
forward in curiosity, they saw—upon the
naked breast—the figure of a ser pen t tat
t ooed in gold and r ed so cunning ly that it
seemed as tho ugh a living reptile were there
resting—a rept ile mou lde d from burn ing
flames, wi th head raised in the attitude of
striking.
The men gave a gasp of wonder and sur
prise, and at the same instant the Medicine
Man jum pe d for ward , pointe d a finger to
wards the sign, and turned with an evil
grin towards the strangers.
" Th e to te m of the Se rpent D acot ahs ! "
he hissed through his teeth. " Can the
pale-face look upo n it without fear ? Can
they not feel the poi son- too th break the
cover ing of their flesh ? "
A t this strange attack, Arnold laughed
aloud, and Holden smiled as he said :
" The white men are not cowards ! The y
d o no t shrink be fo re a figure of paint ! "
Th e Medicin e Man threw u p his arms in a
transport of rage.
" Th ey laugh ! Th e whit e men smile at
the sa cre d tot em ! " he cried in a wild appea l
to the sympa thies of the people, who began
to respond with disappr oving murmurs.
" Shall it be that the fiery serpent hear
laughing t ongues while the hands of the
Dacotahs are idle ? Who are they that dare
to revile our sacre d sign with mocki ng eyes
and tongues ? "
Matters were beginning to assume a serious
aspect towards the strangers, for evidently
the M edi cine Man was one whos e lead was
followed by his peo ple , and wh o knew well
h o w to play upon their weaknesses. So
Arnol d haste ned t o try an d pacify the anger
tha t he had inad vert entl y roused.
" My red broth er mist akes, " he said,
addressing Thunder -maker. " The white
man's laughter was at the suggestion of fear.
W e are bra ve men wh o fear nothing. Bu t
we did no insult to the totem of the
Dacotahs— "
" Do g s ! " ex cla ime d the furious Indi an.
" Do g s ! Th e fiery to te m has been defil ed.
Revenge , m y broth ers ! Rev eng e ! lest t he
names Dacot ah and Mighty Hand b e c o me
things for jeers and laughter in the w om en 's
t e n t s ! "
Th e Ind ian was quite frantic wit h passion,
an d as he flung h is wild app eal to his pe op le ,
th e murmurs suddenly burst into a flood of
angry roars—knives wero snatched from
their sheaths, a hundred arms were lifted,
and the circle quickl y closed upon the
helpless men . But just at that moment
of peril and almost inevitable death, t he
gre at figure of Mi gh ty Ha nd was seen to
start. He step ped for ward wi th one stride,
turned his back upon the captives, and then
raised his arms from wh ich his robe h ung
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 3/17
like great prote ctin g wing s that shielded the
strangers beneath their folds. And his
voice rang out abov e the angry cl amou r l ike
th e voice of a wind roaring through the pine
forests. .
" Back, Dacotahs ! Bac k to you r tents
ere the strength of Mig hty Han d is l if ted
and you sink to the dust ! Is this how the
redman treats th e stranger who would smokethe pea ce-p ipe by ou r fire ? Is this th e
welcome that my braves give to those
whom Migh ty Ha nd has receive d with a
smile—with no arms in his hand , no t oma
hawk at his belt ? Ba ck , dogs ! an d hide
your cow-ard faces l ike frightened papo oses
in the skirts of the wo me n ! "
The clam our ceased instantly. Th e men
hung back, and their heads bent with shame,
that is, all heads but that of Thunder-maker .
His face betokened no shame. Nay,
greater fury than ever was depicted, though
he was silenced before the anger of his chief.
But it was only for a little while tha t he
wa s thus disconcer ted, for soon he resumed—
thoug h now he spoke with humb le fawning :
" It is death in the heart of Thunder-
maker when the eyes of Migh ty Han d sh oot
their looks of fire. But—Thunder-maker
speak true. Has he not made great medicine
these ma ny suns ? Di d he no t bri ng th e
thunder to prove his great medici ne ? Has
he not many t imes driven the fever from
the camp, till it fled ov er the prairie like a
coyote driven with st icks and dogs ? Hu h !
many wo nde rs has he don e, and —mo re will
he do . He will do great medici ne this day .
He will sh ow if the fiery to te m hav e called
in vain for vengeance."
Thus speaking, Thund er-ma ker div ed a
hand into the b o s o m of his shirt and drew
out a bund le of dirty l inen. Th e chief had
lowered his ar ms, so tha t the Englishmen
could no w see the Ind ian as he laughed and
held up the bundl e tr ium phant ly ab ov e his
head.
" Great med ici ne ! " h e exc lai me d, fixing
his eyes upo n the w hite me n. " Great
medicine ! Lo o k ! See ! Lis ten ! "
They looked, and as they looked they saw
the linen mo v e , as if something inside were
struggling to be free, and at the same tim e
they heard a soun d l ike the sudden springing
of an old- t ime pol iceman's rattle.
" Rattlesnakes ! " exclai med Arn old unde r
his breath.Thunder-msvker laughed when he saw
that the sound had been recogn ised.
" C o m e ! Co me , m y childr en ! " he c rie d,
as he turned hi s face upwards . " Come,
my little son—come, m y li t t le dau ghter ! "
Then he shoo k the kn ot of the bund le,
and out from the aperture crept two grey-
green bodies—a pair of twisting , writhing
somethings that caused the onlookers to
shudder, and the Medic ine Ma n to la ugh ,
as he repeated carelessly :
" Come, my li t t le p apoo ses ! Y o u will
speak great medic ine in the ears of Thunder-
maker ! "
Slowly the serpents ca me from their covering. One remain ed coiled on the raised
wrists; the other—still soundi ng the
ominous ra t t le—moved slowly downwards
till it rested on the man' s shou lder . Th en
Thunder-maker inclined his head as if
listening to a whisper. Afte rwa rds his face
lit up with unde rstan ding .
The Fiery Totem.
" Hu h ! " he ex clai med . " Di d not the
spiri t of Thun der -mak er spea k true ?
Come, m y li tt le pap oos e ! Y o u shall show
fo r wh om the fiery to tem cal led. "
Turn ing his head so as to look along his
shoulder , the Indian suddenl y grab bed the
writhing repti le with his teeth, after which
(ho ld ing the other serpent with his right
hand) he comm ence d danc i ng unti l he hadcleared an op en circular space of whic h
the Indians and the white men formed the
borders .
Sudd enly ho sprang to the middle and
tossed the snake to the ground while he
uttered a wild shriek.
Once on the earth, the snake glided swift ly
in several dire ction s, while al l watc hed the
creature with tense exc item ent. The n for
a secon d i t seemed to pause with i ts head in
the dire ctio n of the Engl ishm en. At the
same mome nt the Indian gave a cry of
tr ium ph, tuc ked the one snake into a fold
of his robe and bent down, making passes
with his hands abo ve the serp ent on the
gro und. An d, as his hands mo v e d , so the
rat t lesnake gradu ally straighten ed o ut i ts
b o d y till it lay stiff and s traight as a piece
of wo o d .
Thunder-ma ker paused. Then he rose
u p slowly and looked with t r iumph straight
into the chief 's face .
" My children say tha t the t ime has c o me
to take th e c loud f rom the Dacot ah. My
papooses show who ans wer call of fiery
t o t e m ! " *
(J'o be continued.')
¥ ¥ ¥
Something W r o n g Some w he r e !
PROFESSOR (who has left the Lecture Hall in a
hurry) : " It's most extraordinary,—everyone seems to
smile when I pass I "
51
THE BOXSTODE
ACRES.T H E S T O R Y O P A M E M O R A B L E
F O O T B A L L M A T C H .
By GUNBY HADATH.
(In Four Parts.)
PART i y : (continued).
mi iE tow n shrieked for a try. The Man or
L men held up protesting h ands. The ref
eree ca me gallop ing up ; then he motioned for
the dro p out. The garden er had save d his
side by pushing Peter into touch in goal.
" Eh , wha t ? " gr oan ed Mr. Prime , to his
clerk beside him . " We 'r e onl y two poin ts
behind ? Pah ! T w o ' s enough to finish us i
T w o ' s enough ! "
Fur iously the bat t le was rejoined. Eac h
side mu st sco re again ; the o ne to clinc h its
vic tory , the other to keep High Pasture fo r
the Manor . Wh yt ew yx threw defence as ide.
H i gh they flung the ball from hand t o hand,
in what desperate chan ce remain ed of
breakin g through. Bu t their foes were on
the m alwa ys, surging to the onslau ght.
A n d no w the play degenera ted into a
panting scramble, each man fighting for his
own hand . Repea t ed a t t empts to bul lock
thro ugh by one or other of the orange
jerseys were me t by equally reckless rushes
from Evan s and the Gr i f fe-B oxstodes , or
b y huge kick s do wn the wind b y Sir Joh n.
His outsides struggl ed gamel y, but his
forwards , all save Barrables and Ru e lo c k ,
were pla yed to a standsti l l . Fo r Eva ns
was work ing the scrum unaide d now, and
Ru e lo c k had plun ged subli mely into tho
melee.
" W h yt e wy x ! W h yt e— wy x ! " f r om
many frantic throats—as if all the sho uti ng
in tho world could hav e spurre d those worn-
ou t ranks to an y brave r effort .
" W h y t e . . . " A n d there the cry dropped
short, stilled by a tense thrill. For Jack,
in one of his blind rushes, fo und himself
s o me h o w through the ruck, speeding s traight
fo r the ope n and the arms of the three -
quarter against him. He kicke d, and
found touch jus t ove r the hal f -way
line. Then, as the forwards staggered to
the line-out, his father rushed to him,
whispering somethin g in his ear. Th e ladn o d d e d quickly, and as Evans balanced
the ball to throw it out , he clapped his
hands , jum pin g high and call ing Eva ns'
nam e. Ou t, far and straight, the ball
came spin ning , far to the lino's end , where
Ja ck leaped for i t . Wi th bo th hand s he
caught i t , half turned, and threw it to Sir
J o h n .
N o w , as Sir John t o o k the ball , the win d,
st i ll r ising, was b low ing strong behi nd him .
He glan ced qu ick ly up the field, sa w Pet er
Quick diving for his knees , dodged , s tumbled,
r ecovered himself, an d wit h a swi ng of
hi s b o d y he dr opp ed the ball , and kicke d.
W i t h that kick went the last ounce of energ y left to him. He knew , to o, as i t
left his . toes , that he had sped i t t ruly—
would the wind befriend him n ow ?
The W'hytew yx forwards ' heads shot
up, to see i t soaring high above them.
Peter Quic k, scramb ling to his feet , gasped
to ma rk its flight. Th e crowd held their
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 4/17
52 The "Boy's Otetn Taper.
THE VILLAGE CARVERS OF BANBURY.A N I N T E R E S T I N G H A N D - W O R K I N D U S T R Y OF T O - D A Y .
Written and Illustrated by CHARLES J. L. CLARKE.
PART I I .
WH E N peopl e from the Ne w Wo rld , where carv ed wo rk peeping out here and there
civil is ation has sprun g up du ring fro m behi nd a cheap wall-paper, muc h the
recent years and wher e ever ythi ng is " up- wors e for wear. He inves tigated , and
to- dat e," visit Grea t Brit ain they find the came to the conclu sion that the old cottage
Producing a Valuable Panel.
breath. Over Reuben Sleer, half conscious
on ly of the direness of the mo me nt, swept
a cold chill of terror. And so, all eyes
fol lowing i t , the ball , wind-b orne, reached the
ape x of i ts f l ight—and bega n to dro p again.
The town's full-back, almost under his
bar, stretched out hungry arms to i t ; he
leape d to cat ch i t . Bu t i t was descending
out of hum an reach ; i t droppe d, and struck
the bar. Fo r an apprecia ble instant it
oscil lated on tha t bar . And then, very
s lowly, i t toppl ed over—b ehin d the goal !
L o u d blew the whistle, and louder ye t.
Even as Peter Quick was urging his forwards
to the centre, i t ble w again for t im e.
Th e barest margi n, a gust of wind, and
the art of drop- kicki ng learned in the age
when drop-kicking was priceless—these
three had saved High Pasture for Sir Joh n.
H o w his men swarmed round him, spent
but jubi l ant ! Ho w the c r o wd hailed hi m !
H o w the m one y jingl ed in the pock ets of
Mr. Prime ! And how quietly Reuben Sleer
withd rew himself !
The n did the barone t mak e much of
Peter Quick , a gallant adv ers ary ; whileol d Quick himself, deserting his discom fited
ally, was seco nd to no ne in offering his
congratulatio ns. " But yo u shall hav e
Hjgfe Pasture, that yo u shall , s i r ! " Si r
John excla imed, when the last words were
bei ng said. " Eg ad ! Y o u r lad Peter here
deserves i t for y ou ! "
A n d Sir Jo hn kept his wor d. For only a
fe w mo u t h s later H i g h Pasture was made
over to the boro ugh of W y x , as a publ ic
playing-field for e ver. A nd the tablet
hard by its entrance gates records that it
was presented " In com me mor ati on of the
Coronat ion of His Majesty King George
the Fifth," and—as the Mayor and Corpora
t ion have themselves ad de d— " by themunificence of Sir John Boxs todc , of
W h y t e w y x Ma n o r , Bar t . "
But from Reuben Sleer himself, now
ma j'o r for th e fifth ti me , y o u will find it
hard to coax any word of the par t he played
in that generous gift . Som e say that he is
ashamed of i t .
[THE E N D .]
utmos t delight in visit in g our churc hes and
ant ique publ i c bui ld in gs , where such th ings
as art is t ic woo d-ca rvin g f ree ly exis t . Fe wpeop le have an y ide a of the value of well-
e x e c u t e d specimens of the wood-carver ' s
art , esp ecial ly if i t be old oak work . I
have come across many surpr is ing examples
of th is .
A friend of mine, who was on a visit to a
quaint old vil la ge in the We st of Engl and
wa s elat ed to find, bes ide s a mag nif icen t old
black oak mantelshelf , little pieces of
was of great age, and heavi ly panelled w ith
rich oak carv ings. Bei ng not only a col-
lector, but a com merc ial ly-m ind ed man, hemad e inquiri es and eventu ally purchased
the little buil ding , agreei ng, among st other
condi tions , which to the own er seemed
absurdly generous, to pull the old cottage
d o w n and rep lace it wit h a much larger and
bet ter mo d e r n o n e .
Wh en the w ork was comple ted the pur
chaser had every reason to be more than
satisfied, as the old carv ed oak he found
concea led in the bui ldin g fetche d a price
whic h not on ly sho wed an excellent profit
after the new cott age had been built and
the purcha se mon ey paid, but left him with
large pieces , incl udin g the mantelshelf , of
whi ch even the mos t fastidious colle ctor
migh t be proud.
Th is is not an isola ted case of the e x
tremely great value of carved oak work,
although in both this and the next instance
the value was enh anced owing to the age of
the pieces. On the old coachi ng road to
Br ighton, a t Crawley, stands the George
Ho t e l , whi ch years a go had been ma de as
mo der n as these old inns can be , but whe n
the house chan ged hands the new propr ie tor
had a thoroug h examinat ion of the bui ld in g
made, wi th the result that behind the
vene er of mod ern paper and plaster, he dis
covered a beautifu l set of old oak carvi ngs
and beams , with an ancient f ireplace, and
even some specimens of o ld-w or ld cooking
appl iances .
Aft er the old carvi ngs had been un
covered and the entranc e hall and dining-
r o o m made to display the beauties of thecarv er 's art , the place presente d an
appearance which at t racted hundreds of
wea lthy pat rons, w ho came not only to
en joy t he good far e of min e host , but to
feast their eyes upon the old oak carvings,
and to-d ay the value of the proper ty has
been cons ide rably enhanced by the work Room in Broughton Castle ornamented by the Pupi ls of the C arv in s School.
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 5/17
The Village Car-Vers of "Banbury. 53
ONE TOUCH OF NATURE
A T R U E S T O R Y O F A N A S I A T I C E L E P H A N T .
By H. HBRVBY.
Th e Finished Product.
of the woo d-carvers of bygone years having
been expos ed to the publ ic eye .
W o o d - c a r v in g requi res few too ls , an d
offers the utmost possibil i t ie s for care ful
an d artistic wor k, and any bo y wi th
pat ience can produ ce credi table examp les .
It is a hobby that is bot h a pleasant and
a profi table recreation, for there is hardly
any limit to the uses to which it may be
put.A t least one ch urc h has rec ent ly been en
riched by the gift of a beautiful ly c arve d
table, designed and wo rke d by a st udious
lad duri ng his spare mo me nt s in a news
paper off ice ; an d a clerk in the Patent
Office and a comm erci al man hav e bot h, to
my knowl edge , added t o their homes some
striking piece s of car ved oak whic h would
have cost their owners ,
a great deal of money
if the y had been pur
chased in the ordi nary
way.
Lady Alg ernon Gor
do n Len nox i s jus t ly
pro ud of her class of
vil lagers and theirwork , which has
trained many of the
countr y peo ple to add
to trheir knowl edge and
become capable of pro
ducing valuable hand
work, for which our
country has alwa ys
been famous, besides
providi ng a pleasant
and entertaining way
of passing the autumn
and winter evenings,
•which in the c ount ry
are always apt to be
come dull and tedious.
T h e y are busy folk in
Banbury at this t ime
of the vear.
MB. TALBOT K I R K H A M, th e boy-hero of
this story, is no w a grow n ma n.
Mattei-s con nec ted with his business b rou ghthim down to South Ind ia the other day ; w e
met, and whe n in the course of conve rsatio n
I asked if he had exper ienc ed any adv en
tures in Bengal, he told mo this story, which
I give as nearly as possible in his ow n wor ds.
Awa y north-e ast of Calcutta , in a com
paratively unopened jungle-encumbered re
gion, they were laying a metalled road from
Hbtepoonjoe southwards to Suparpore, a
distanc e of abo ut fifty miles. The original
nati ve-m ade r oad wrigg led like an eel,
traversed swamps, and twice encountered
an unbridgcd, swift ly flowing t r ibutary of
the Barak River; whereas the new track,
besides being straighter, on better grou nd,
and shorter, met the stream only once.
Hotepoonjee was a purely native town, and
the residenc e of a pett y Ra jah ; while
Suparpore, a small civil stat ion, boa sted of
a few European officials and planters. Rail
ways had yet to come.
A sub-engineer named Thomas Kirkham
held charge of the road -makin g ; and n ow
that the propos ed track had been denu ded
of vegetation and actual construction started,
Kirkham struck his tents and built himself
a temporary bamboo-and-mat bungalow
midway, near the jungle hamlet of Faizgunj,
so that he could ride out in either direction
to supervise the several parties under native
assistants, operating at various points along
the route.
The cou ntry was well kn ow n to harbou r
wild animals, but the y had n ot pro vedaggressive excep t at the new ly established
ferry, where during the night tigers had
carried off so me wayfa rers by lyin g in wa it
and pounci ng on their victims as they t opp ed
the bank to continue their journey. This
so alarmed the ferrymen that now they
ceased plyi ng after sunset , when they woul d
lug aw ay the boa t to a villa ge som e distan ce
A Sample of the Carvers' W o r k .
d o wn stream, not to return till the morning,
Needless to say that , in conseq uenc e of the
tigers and the abse nce of the ferry bo at, noon e wen t near the river-crossing during the
night.
Kir kh am had his wife with him, also their
only child Talbot, aged twelve, wh o had
rece ntly been sent from his school in Calcutta
owing to the outb reak of sma llpo x amongst
th e boys . The l i t t le family and their fe w
servants were com ple tely isolated and had
to depend on themselves, for the vil lagers
of Faizgunj were " junglifie d," ignorant, and
of l i t t le use whatsoever.
The story opens on a da y when the Raj ah
of Hotep oonje e passed Faizgunj en route to
visit the shrine of the go dde ss Kal i, south of
Suparpore, as cholera had broke n out in his
little State, and the deity must be pro
pit iated. The potent ate and his suite rode
on three gorgeo usly caparison ed elephants,
with gilded howda hs on their backs; four
more of the gigan tic animals carr ied the
baggage and supplies, while two others,
spare, bore only guddhees or pads. Som e of
th e followers rode pon ies ; the major i ty
foots it, eac h wit h a bu ndl e on his head or
across his shoulders.
Yo u n g Talbot watched the procession
with the liveliest interest, for he had n ever
yet seen elephan ts outsi de the Calcutta Zo o,
where he, with other youngsters, had occa
sionally ridden a poor spec imen of the genus
at school treats and so forth.
A small clearing had been made just be
y o n d the bun galo w purp osel y for travellers,
and here the Rajah's party halt ed for a short
rest. The Kirkh ams, loo king on f rom theirverandah, not iced tha t a great tusker, one
of the pa d elephants, with no one riding hi m,
dragged a chain attached to the off hind
foot, and that ever yon e, barring his mahout,
or keeper, gave the creature a wide berth.
Further, when the travellers mo v e d on , this
elephant wa s left behind, chain ed by the
forefoot to a large tree, with the mahout an d
his mate in charge. Kirk ham , acco mpa nied
by his son, went out to inquire the reason.
" W hy does this elep hant rema in here ? "
deman ded Kirkh am in Hindustani of the
mahout.
" He is in a bad temper, sir, and threatens
to kill peo ple ; so the Ra jah ord ered us to
keep the animal here till his return."
" Ba d temp er ? " repea ted Kir kha m reprovingly, point ing to bleeding goad-w ounds
on th e poor brute's forehead and temples.
" No wonder, if you maltreat him like that ,
when kindness wou ld have p rob abl y pacified
h i m."
" W h a t could be do ne , sir ? H e was dela y
ing us ; the R aj ah wa nte d to hurry on, as
cholera has broken out at Hotepoonjee, and
along the old roa d, whi ch mad e us take this
one, althoug h i t is unfinished. Alrea dy have
we lost two of our men since leaving."
No mor e was said ; father and s on re
turned to the bungal ow, and presently Mr.
Kirk ham , moun ting his horse, rode away to
inspect the work, while Talbot l ingered in
the verandah, with his eyes on the ca ptiv e
elephant. Lov ing animals dearly, he pit ied
this one, and wou ld have gladly dressed those
cuts on the head if he had be en able. As it
was he went out to have another look at the
prisoner standing there in disgrace, and to
liis astonishment he found that no food ha d
been placed before the animal. The two men
squ atte d a short dista nce off, taki ng alternate
pulls from a glowing chillum or tobacco-pipe.
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 6/17
54 The "Boy's Otetn Taper.
" Wh at is his name ? " que ried the b oy of
the men in Hind ustan i, in dicati ng the
elephant.
" Agh a, sir. D o not go to o close ; he is
not to be trusted."
" W h y d o n ' t y o u give him something to
eat ? "
" T o co o l his tem per , sir. As a punish
men t we will not feed or water him for twenty-
four hours, and then give only a little, accord
ing as his mood imp r o v e s . "
" Wha t a shame ! " excla imed Talb ot
indignantly.
" Sir," rejoined the keeper, laughing,
" you are a young sahib (European gentle
man) , and kno w noth ing abou t these crea
tures. W ith o u t zubberdusthi (coercion, strong
measures) we cann ot have th em under s ub
j ec t ion . "
Preoccupied with his thoughts, the lad
retired to the bunga low , but still kep t a
watch on the elephant. Anon, he saw the
men lift up their bundles and go towa rds the
village, probably to cook their fo o d and
remain there till late. N ow was his tim e !
Mrs. Kirkham, kind and indulgent, allowed
her son to roam at will, for she knew he
would not stray far ; kne w him to be a
p l u c k y little chap, who could take care of
liim self; and as there was no one else aboutwho could interfere with him, the coast was
clear.
He hied out and st ood before the elepha nt,
.contemplating him with admiration. " Agha ,
poor Ag ha ; shame to keep you hungry ! "
he presently mu rmur ed alou d, seeing that
the beast made abortive at tempts to get at a
y o u n g wild plantain-tree whi ch stoo d just
b e y o n d his reach.
On hearing the boy's voice the elephant
ceased strugg ling , and, fixing his keen l ittle
eyes on the speaker, regarded hi m expec
tantly. Talbot, being now sure that the
brute hungered, immed iatel y attacke d t he
plantain-tree with his jack-k nife, cut thr ough
the succulent stem flush with the ground,
and then, exerting all his young strength,
threw the tree towards the elephant. Wit h
a low grumble, evident ly of satisfaction,
Agha seized it with his trunk, and speedily
devoured every morsel. W i l d plantains grew
in profusion ; three more trees were similarly
dealt with. Ag ha ate the m, but, refusing
the fifth, he beg an fidgeting an d grum bli ng.
" Oh ! I kno w," e jacu la ted the bo y ;
" he wants water. I 'll fetch som e in a
bucket ." Cutting bac k to the s tables and
evadi ng the servants, he stole off wit h a
bucket, filled it from a pond close by, and
again approache d the pr isoner . But now
a difficulty presented itself—how to place
the bucket near enough for Agha to drink
from ? H e had been tol d that the animal
was in a fit of bad t em pe r; so bad as to
require punishment by capti vity and starvat ion . How could he , then, go within scope
of that prehensile trunk, that had snatched
up those plantain-trees as if the y had been
straws, and whipped them into the cavernous
mouth underneath ?
Ta l b o t sto od irresolute, with the b uck et
at his fee t; bo y and beast gazed fixedly at
each other for som e secon ds. There w as
nothing impatient or threatening in the
mien of the la t ter; to the contrary, Talbot
seemed to note a softened expression on the
m a m m o t h face. The lad regained courage,
and at length, lifting the bucket, he boldly
adv anc ed and put it well withi n reach of the
towering qua dru ped . T o his infinite relief,
Ag h a sucked up all the water with his trunk,
and, after discharging it into his mouth,
res ume d his gru mb li ng and fidgeting." He wants more ," thought the bo y ;
whereupon, taking the bucket, he fetched it
three times full to the brim, no longer
hesitating to approach the tusker. He drank
only a port ion of the fourt h buck et, and as
Ta l b o t s tooped to take the vessel, Agha
gently touched him with his trunk. Perhaps
it was uninten tional , nevertheless Talb ot
returned the compli ment by stroking the
hawser- like appendage. Agha took th e
caress in perfect good huinour, and thus an
understanding, an entente cordiale, was estab
lished between them.
The high-spirited b oy was naturally elated
at the idea of havi ng mad e friends with a
beast reput ed to be so danger ous, and with
which his owner could do nothi ng. He was
a straig htforwa rd, honest little fellow, bu t
at the same time he knew that if he told his
parents what he had been doin g, the y might
take the alarm and prevent him from further
associating wit h his new- foun d friend. He
resolved therefore to keep silence, bide his
time, cultiva te Agh a in the meanw hile, an d
if he succeed ed in " tam ing " him , then he
would invite his father and mother to witness
his maste ry ov er the big beast.
That evening Talbot saw the keeper come
from the vill age, depo sit a small bundl e of
fodder before Agh a, and, withou t waterin g
him, go aw ay again, eviden tly for the night.
Ne x t morning, when Mr. Kirkham went
out on the works and the coast was again
clear, Talb ot vis ited Agha. The poor brute
was ravenous, so you ng Kirkha m repeated
the perfo rman ce of the previou s day , supply
ing the pac hyd er m wit h forage and water.
" I wo nd er ," said the lad half aloud , as he
n ow fearlessly stood by the huge form, " if
he wou ld do as I hav e seen the C alcutt a Zo o
elephant do, and sit down if I told him ? "
H e looked up into the rugged face and saw
noth ing there to frighten hi m.
" Baito, Ag ha ! " said the b oy , half in fear,
and holding himself ready to jump back.
Bu t he had no cause for alarm, the elepha nt
at once doci le ly sa t down. Thus reassured,
the b oy eame nearer, a nd could now see all
the cruel wo und s on Agh a's head. " Oh,
poor fellow ! " he murmur ed concernedly,
" h o w could they b e so unkin d ! Father uses
eocoanut-oil for sores on his horses ; perhaps it would do you good. I 'll go and
fe tch s o me . " Quietly regaining the house
he t o o k the oil bottle unobse rved and
hastened back.
Ag h a had risen to his feet, but again sat
d o w n at the w ord. Before proceeding
further, the b oy reflect ed : wha t if the oil
smarted, and the elephant, thus enraged,
killed him as he stood within reach of pro
boscis an d tusks ? Ho wev er, after a short
pause, he dec id ed to make the venture, and,
speaki ng a few wor ds to the animal, he
pou red a dro p or two of the oil on the
smallest wound, his heart going pit-a-pat as
he did so. No , Ag ha made no sign of
irri tat ion; indeed, he remained stock still,
as if comprehending what was being done,
and approving of it.Emb o l d e n e d by Agha's placidity , the lad
anoi nted eve ry wou'ad, and told the el ephan t
to get up, which he prom ptl y obeyed. Talbot
n ow discovered that the chain was not
secured to the animal's foot by a padlock,
as he had seen used on the Calcutta Zoo
elephant, but by the end link being passed
over a blunt hook, deep enough to prevent
it unfa sten ing o f itself. " I thi nk I could
undo tha t , " soliloquised Ta lb ot ; " and if I
can, I will take him to the pond for water
instead of bringing it in the bu cke t. "
But " man proposes and G od dispose s."
Talbot little dream ed of what lay in store
fo r him.
That evening Mr. Kirkham returned h o me
compla in ing of illness. He dis mou nte d with
difficulty, and bef ore he had been ten minut esin the house his wife realised that he was
seized with that dreaded scourge—cholera.
The poor wo ma n, half beside herself, put
h im to bed as soon as possible, and d id all
she knew to doctor him from their c a m p
medicine ch es t; but the disease woul d not
be denied. B y 10 P. M . Mrs. Kir kham faced
the awful fact that she could do no more,
an d that unless medical aid came the case
would pro bab ly end fatally. There was
the Civil surgeon at Suparpor e, twenty-five
miles off ; but h ow was he to be sum mon ed,
except by messenger ? She well kne w that
her servants, albeit if sent in a body an d
armed with guns and torches, would refuse
to underta ke the jou rn ey ; indeed, if they
even overcame their terror of wild beasts,
they could not cross the river, as the ferry
would not be available for reasons already
stated.
Could not one of the servants, though,
ride her hus ban d's horse ? She went across
to the outhouses, where in their fear of the
cholera they had shut themselv es in. She
questioned them, implored them, br ibed
them , but all declin ed, affirming with truth
that the current of the river w oul d over
wh e l m bo th horse and rider befor e the y were
half wa y. Ala s ! yes, the ferry boat, she
remem bered , was carried dow n stream to an
immense distance in making the passage.
The n the recollec tion of the river-bank man-
eaters pu t the finishing to uc h ; n o one wou ld
go fo r love or money , and the miserable
w o m a n began to despair.
Immediately on assuring herself that her
husba nd suffered from cholera, Mrs. Ki rkham
had ordered Talbot to stay at the further
side of the bung alo w, to lessen the ch ance of
infection. The boy obeyed, but he kept
awake, and had heard his mother's piteous
appeal to the servants. She no w • into
the front v era nda h and call ed for her son.
" Oh, Tal darli ng! " she whimpered , on
his co mi ng to her, " wh at am I to do ?
Yo u r father is very ill, and there is no way
to send t o Suparpore for the doc to r till day
lig ht ! It is on ly a little past ten now, and
I do not know what may happen in the
next few hours. Eve ry servant refuses to
go on any terms."
This was no news to h i m ; he had heardall, and, young though he was, he grasped
the gravi ty of the obstacles that hindered
the dome sti cs from obey in g his mother.
Bu t his min d had be en bu sy ; his youn g soul
had bre athed prayers to Go d, asking for
counsel in this dire extremity, and God had
answered him. Al mo st before Mrs. Kirkh am
ceased speaking Talbot rushed out of the
house without saying a word of explanation
to his mother . He well knew she would
forbid him from carrying out his intention
had he made it know n to her; so by the
time Mrs. Kirkham, after vainly calling him,
went bac k to the sick-ro om, he was out in
the faint starlight at Agha's standing-place.
H e had seen the keeper feed and water him
that afternoon, for the period of twenty-four
hours' punishment was over. Possibl y thet wo men migh t be sleeping by their charge,
if s®, he resolve d to act wit hout awaki ng
the m. Bu t no, the y were not there ; Agha
s tood alone.
Ta l b o t called the tusker by nam e ; he a t
once turned his head and gave a snort, as if
of welcome. Without hesitation the plucky
lad went up, stroked the animal's trunk,
s tooped, unhooked the chain, and then
uttered the words " Baito, Agh a ! " Tho ugh
k n o wi n g he was now untethered, the elephant
made no at tempt to move off, but pr omp tl y
sat do wn as ordered. Gent ly patt ing th e
beast, the bo y scarcely realising what he
was doing, spoke in English : " Ag ha ," he
murm ured, " Go d has told me to trust in
you . My father is sick, and y ou must take
me to Suparpore for the doctor ."Whether he understood or not, Agha
emitted a grunt, seemingly of acquiescence.
Talbot , remembering how the Calcutta Zoo
elephant was contr oll ed, tore a switch from
the nearest tree, scrambled on to tho pad,
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 7/17
" One Touch o_f feature." 55
and , grasping the cross-rope, gave the com
mand to rise. Agha immedi ately regained
his feet and, guided by the switch, walked
o n to tho ro ad and turned south towards
.Suparpore.
Sore though his heart "as at the conscii us
ness of his father's da nger, Tal bo t had n o
fears n o w; he expe rien ced a sensation of
exhilaration when he realised his positio n,
riding a strange elep hant at dea d of nigh t ona matter of life and death !
Agha needed no urging; once on the road
he shuffled alon g at his fastest, as if divi ni ng
the vital importance of his errand. The
bo y was silent, engrossed in his own thoughts,
while, strange to relate, the animal occasion
ally raised his t runk and felt about with it
for his rider—-a mov em en t appa rent ly ow ing
to the fact that the lad's weight was so
insignificant as to cause the beast to doubt
whether ho still carried a rider. Wei rd
•sounds issued from-the jungle on both sides
of the track, and dim four-footed forms
every now and then flitted across to their
fron t; but they met no huma n beings, and
the few villages that abutte d on the road
were wrapped in darkness and slumber.
In due course th ey reache d the river, six
teen miles; and, that obstacle passed, Talbot
knew that he had onl y nine miles more to
cover ere arriving at his destina tion. He
guessed it to be about three in the mo rnin g
now—an uncanny hour, and while Agha
paused at the water's edge to drink, the la d
shuddered as he contemplated the sombre,
swiftly flowing river, here a good hundred
yards broad. He kne w not wha t was before
hi m: crossing a deep, racing river by
night on a swimming pad-el 3phant was
quite a different thing from riding that pad-
elephant o n dry grou nd ; a nd the poor little
fellow's heart well-nigh failed him. Bu t he
trusted in God, and by now he had learned
to rely on his du mb frien d; as Agh a had
brought him in safety thus far, so would the•dear brute carry hi m in safety acro ss the
river.
" Go on, Agh a, " he said, when the beast
finished drinking. Slowly and carefully did
the elepha nt advan ce into the strea m a nd
gradually sink lower. Th e b oy clun g to the
pad-rop e, loo kin g fearfully at the curren t
surging against Agh a's side, and ho pin g that
he would sink no further. But when the
animal " lost soundings " and plung ed for
ward into deep water, his whole b o d y save
the upper part of the he ad and t ip of the
t runk beca me sudd enly immerse d, and all in
a mo men t Talbo t lost hold of the rope a nd
was whirled , shrieking, awa y. He could not
s w i m ; he vainly tried to keep afloat, and
was abou t goin g under , wh en he felt himself
seized by the middl e, jerk ed int o the air,
and then lowered on to some solid substance,which pro ved to be the elephant 's h ead, and
there he was now secur ely held by the up
raised trunk. Agha had saved him !
Bravely the good brute swam for the
oppos i te shore, maintaining a grip on his
little rid er; and it was no t till he touc he d
ground again and was well abo ve the water 's
surface that he released the bo y and low ere d
hi s proboscis .
Presently th ey emerge d from the river,
fa r down, and here Talbot turned A g h a
up-st ream, so as to regain the roa d. As
T a lb o t found himself on terra firma and
realised that , under G od , he o we d his escape
to the noble creature that carried him, he
thre w his small arms as far as the y wo ul d go
round tho ponderous neek, kissed the rough
hide, and amid a flood of tears poured out
his grati tude to the du mb animal who ha d
thus preserved his life and repaid a thousand
fold the services whic h the b oy had rendered
him in his captivity.
Little remains to be told . Afte r twic e
losing the way, they reached Suparpore by
sunrise, and great was the asto nish men t
when peop le saw a soli tary l i t tle Euro pean
lad, dishevelled, bedraggled, r iding on the
pad of an onorm ous elephant.
Making known his errand to th e first
policeman he met, he was promptly con
duc ted to the hospital. Th e Civil surge -m
happened to be there ; Tal bot hurriedly told
his tale, and implored the officer to return
with him at once. The good doc t o r , recog
nising the urgen cy of the case , agree d with out demur, poc ket ed the necessary medicines,
and moun ted Agha wi th the boy.
Again did the sagaciou s elephant appear
alive to wha t was required of him ; again
di d he seem desirous of proving his affection
fo r that l i t t le lad who had show n kindness
to him ; for, putt ing his best foot forward,
he soon brough t the m to the ferry. He
swam on ahead, and was ready to receive
them when the boat touched the further
ban k. Her e, resu ming his fast amb le, he
literally dev ou re d the distan ce, and finally
sat dow n in front of the Kirk ham s' bun galo w
at abo ut two in the afternoon. Tal bot had
not risked his life in vain, for, thanks to an
Almig h ty Prov iden ce, the doct or had arrived
just in time , an d after a stiff fight with de ath
hi s patient safely passed the crisis.
Tha t Tal bot was idolised goes wi t hou tsay ing; and for Agh a there was nothing too
good. The Kirkhams t o o k charge of him
from that day forth, ignoring his two-
at tendants and regaling him with sugar-cane
and such -like dainties de ar to his species .
W h e n , a fortnight later, the Rajah of
Hotepoonjee passed through on his return
journey, Kirkh am, wh o had sufficiently
recovered to do so, visi ted the pri nce in his
c a mp , and told him the whol e story. The
Raja h was greatly impressed, praised Tal bot
fo r his pluc k, and p romi sed to send h im a
token of his appreciat ion.
Some days later a parcel arrived from
Hotepoonjee , in which was enclosed a
vernacular letter, begging the b o y ' s accept
ance of the accom pany ing t r ibute to hisbrav ery. It cons isted of the ima ge in solid
gold of a tusker elephant bearing a pad, on
which was seated the figure of a Eur ope an
boy. The m odel , som e four inches high,
s tood on a blackwood plin th, fitted wit h a
plain gold plate, which , as the Rajah's letter
explaine d, was intend ed for an inscription of
dedicat ion, an d this the Rajah asked Kirk
ham to have engraved in English by some
on e in Calcutta, as such could not be properly
done at Hot epo onj ee. The inscriptian, when
comple ted , read as follows : —
" Presented by the Rajah of Hotep oonj ee
t o '
M A S T E R TALBOT K I R K H A M ,
As a mark of admiration for his courage
in ridi ng a strang e elep han t at
night from Faizgunj vil lage to
Suparpore, twenty-five miles, to
summon medieal aid for his
father, when suffering
from cholera .
" O N E TOUCH OF NATURE MAKES T H E WHOLE
WORLD K I N . "
^
THE "B. O. P ." PHOTOGRAPHER:
H O W T O M A K E A C O M B I N E D R E D U C I N G A N D E N L A R G I N G A P P A R A T U S .
P ROBABLY al l amateur phot ographer s
have at som e tim e or oth er felt a
desire to make a few lantern sl ides from
some of their best nega tive s, or poss ibly
-to make an enlar ged n ega tiv e of s ome par
t icular friend photog rap hed by them in a
group or otherwise , and w hic h in t he
original was to o small to give compl e t e
satisfaction. T o such phot ogra pher s the
simple device described in this art icle may
be of some service , and i t is exc eed ing ly
•easy to mak e and co sts very little.
A general view of the complete apparatus
ca n be obtained from a glance ai fig. 1.
(See next page.) I t wil l be notice d thatthere are two cameras, A and u, fixed face
to face on a stand, D, and conne cted by a
light-ti ght sleeve , c, bet wee n the lens of
on e camera and'the lens board of the other.
In fig. 1, (1) sho ws the general app ear anc e
of th e apparatus when both cameras are the
same size, and (2) the appe ara nce wh en
the y are of different sizes.
By J. O. BROWN.
The first part of the apparatus to which
we will turn our at tention is the basebo ard,
D, fig. 1. I f the ca mer as are bo th the
same size, the top of this will be made all
in one piece , as in fig. 1 (1) an d fig. 2. T o
const ruct thi s , t ake a piece of wood J in.
thic k, 3§ in. wid e , and 2 ft. lo ng (o r, in
the a lternati ve, twi ce as lon g as one of
the came ras with i ts be l lows ful ly ex
tended (measurement B, fig. 5 ), and afte r
planing i t smoo th and roundi ng off the top
edge at ea ch end (fig. 2, A, A ) , mak e a
slot j in. wid e do wn the midd le to within
2 in. of eac h end (fig. 2, BB ) . This
slot is to admi t of the came ra screws bei ngput throu gh the boar d from undern eath,
to fasten the cameras in posi t ion , and at
the same t ime allo ws the cam eras to be
mo v e d back and forw ard along the boa rd
into such posit io ns as are desi red to suit the
work in hand.
I f the ca mera s crew is not long enou gh
to reach thro ugh the thic kness of the b oard ,
a rabbet i in. wi de should be mad e under
neath at each sid e of t he slo t (fig. 3, A).
Th is rabbet shou ld be mad e sufficiently
o!eep to al l ow the scre w to pro jec t § in.
a b o v e the top surfa ce of the b oard (fig.
3, B ) . The legs, E , E , fig. 2, ar e ma de
of pi eces o f wood 3 | in. wi de by 2^ in. h igh
b y 1£ in. thick, rel ie ved by a ro und- topp ed
open ing 1£ in. wid e by 1 in. high. The se
are screw ed to the basebo ard i in. fro m
each end (D, D , fig. 2) . Wh e n this ha s
been don e, a piec e of cloth should be glued
to the to p of the bo ard , a nd the ends
carrie d over the ends of the board and
tacked underneath, to make everythingneat (E , fig. 1) . Af te r the glue has set,
the cl oth cov erin g the slot should be cut
rou nd b y the edg es of the slot with a sharp
penkni f e , and remov ed. Fig . 2 sho ws the
appe aranc e of the basebo ard com ple te, ex
c e p t for the c loth cover i ng.
T h e baseboard shown in fig. 1 (2), and
mo r e cle arly in fig. 4, wh ic h is used w he n
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 8/17
50 The "Boy's Otvn Paper.
there are two different sizes of cameras, is
very similar to the simple one alr eady
descr ibed, bu t takes more making. B e f o r e
c o mme n c i n g to make it, the camera s in
tended to be used should be examined, and
th e fo l low ing measurements taken : —
(1) The distance f rom the baseboard to
the ce ntr e of the lens (fig. 5, A) on each
camera.
(2) The length of each camera f rom back
t o fron t when the bel lows are full y ex
tend ed (fig. 5, B) .
W h e n these have been ascerta ined, tw o
pieces of board, 3 | in. wid e by | in. th ick ,
should be obtained, one 3 in. longer than
the measurement, E , of one camera, and
will be made as before described, of w o o d
3J in. w id e by 2 in. high b y 1£ in. th ick ,
and the other will be highe r by the
height of the step D (fig. 4) . Th e top of
the baseboard will be covered with cloth
as before described.
Having finished with the baseboard, we
will nex t turn our attention to the con
nect ing sleeve (c , fig. 1) . Th e dimen sion s
of th is are ascert ained as fo l low s :—The
lens of one of the cameras is screwe d out
and the d iamet er of the hole in the lens
board is measur ed. Th e extern al diameter
o f the front o f the lens on the other came ra
is then measu red. Th e sleeve is then made
o f w o o d , as shown in fig. 6, which shows
Fia, I
\
1 ,<£>B
the o ther 3 in. longe r than the correspond
ing measure ment on the ot her camer a.Th e s e should be slotted d o wn the centre, as
alread y d escr ibed , to with in 2 in. of one
end and 4 in. of the ot her e nd of eac h
board . The measurements, A, of ea.ch
camera shoul d no w be com par ed, and the
difference ascertained. When this differ
ence has been found , the two piec es of the
base board must be fastened to geth er in the
cent re (b y over lapp ing 3 in. and sc rewi ng
toget her—se e fig. 4) , so that the top of the
b o a r d on which the smal ler cam era is fixed
is higher than the top of the b oard on wh ic h
the larger camera is fixed, by the diff erence
b e t we e n the measurements, A, on eac h
camera. Thi s will make the centres of the
lenses in a line with each other wh en the
cameras are fixed to the baseboa rd
(fig. 1 (2 )) . I f necess ary, an ext ra pieceof w o o d mus t be put in to mak e up t he
requisit e differenc e in heig ht (fig. 4. A ) .
In th is case the legs will have to be of
different height s. Th e shor t leg, fig. 4, B,
its general appea rance (1), and also a sec
t ional v iew of it (2) . Th e piece of w o o d of wh i c h th is is forme d can be turned up on
a lathe in a fe w minu tes, and the holes can
be bor ed thro ugh it with two different sizes
o f centre-b its. • It is immateria l, how
ever , whet her the outsi de of the large end,
B (fig. 6) , be rou nd o r not , and it can be
lef t square if a lathe is not availab le, b ut
the end A (fig. 6) mus t b e ro un d, as it
has to fit c lose ly into the hole in the lens
b o a r d of one of the cameras . Conse quen tly,
if it cannot be turned on a lathe, it mu st
be cut round w ith a chisel or po cke t knife.
A s tr ip of vel vet should be glue d round
the ins ide of the hole in the en d B, and also
roun d the outsi de of the end A (v, v ,
fig. 6) . The hole at B should be made of
such a size as will , when lined with the
ve lve t , fit c lose ly over the front of the lensof one of the came ras simil ar to a c ap
(fig. 6 (2), c ). The end A should be made
sligh tly tape red, and o f such a size as will ,
wh e n covered with ve lve t, be sligh tly less
than the hole in the l ens b oar d at the
narrow end, and slightly larger at the other
end. Thi s will enable a light-tig ht joi nt
to be easily and effectually made whe n the
end is pres sed into the lens hole of the
ca mer a (fig. 6 (2) r>).
Th e remaining part of the appara tus con
sists of the negat ive hold er (fig. 7) .
Thi s should be made out of a piece of w o o d
the same size as one of the d ark slid es of
the camera, and with a tong ue on each
edge (fig. 7, T ), similar to those on thedark slide, to enable it to be slipped into
the back of the camera (fig. 8, A ) . A
hole , H (fig. 7), should be cut in the mi dd le
o f it, in. less each way than the negative
wh i c h it is to hol d. A rabbet (it, fig. 7) ,
-3
3
^ in . wide , should then be cut rou nd the
edges of the ho le and d eep enou gh to ensur e
the plate being level with the wood when
put in. Small bras s but ton s (B, fig. 7) ,
sc rewed on at e ach si de of the ho le will
suffice to hold the negati ve in positi on.
T h e negative should be put in the holder
upside down with the glass side outwards
(B , fig. 8). Th e pict ure will then be right
wa y up on the gr ound-gl ass screen when
focussing. Thi s negat ive hold er can be
slid from side to side along the grooves to a
limited extent to enable any particular partof the ne gative to be mo v e d into the middle
direc t ly opp osi te the lens, if the who le
negative is not to be enlarged or reduced.
T h e dark slides belo ngi ng to the camera
can be used to hold the lantern plates when
the exp osur e is made . If the camera is a
quarter-plate one , it will be necess ary to
resort to a simple device to keep the plate
in its plac e in the slide , and pr eve nt it
f rom slippi ng abou t, seeing that a lantern
plate is 1 in. shorter than a quarter-plate.
T w o s tr ips of cardboard 3£ in. long by
i in . wi d e , an d the same thi ckne ss as t he
plate, s hou ld be cut and p ut at each side
of the plat e in the slid e. Thi s will
effectually kee p the p late in its positio n in
the mi dd le of t he sl ide (fig. 9, p plate,
c , c strips of cardboard) .
W h e n th is has been d one, nothing re
mains to comp lete the appara tus but to put
it together.
T w o metal washers should be secured to
fit over the came ra screws, and come be
twee n the heads of the scre ws and the slot
in the base boar d ( w, fig. 3). The
cameras should then be fixed loosely to the
baseb oard b y the sc rews not being screwed
very tig htly , and th e lens of one camera
should be rem ove d and the end A of the
connec t ing sleev e (fig. 6) should then be
pre sse d firmly in to the hole in the l ens
b o a r d , the end B being pushed over th e
lens of the othe r came ra (fig. 1, c, and
fig. 6 (2 )) . Th e selected negative is then
put into its hold er (fig. 7) and sli pped i nto
on e of the came ras (fig. 8) , and the wh ole
appara tus is then pla ced on a table close
to th e wi n d o w with the negative towards
the light.
I f it should be a dull day, the ground-
glass screen can be turned up out of the
way on top of the camera, as in fig. 1
(1) , F, but if the sun is shining d ire ctl y
on to the negative, it will be advi sabl e t o
cover the negative with the screen by al low
ing it to remain down, as at F, fig. 1 (2).
Y o u ca n then focus the negative on the
ground- glass screen of the other c amera in
the usual way, using a focussing cloth to
exc lude the light. It ma y be advi sable ,
tho ugh not absolutely necessa ry, to d raw
some light lead pencil lines £ in. from each
end of the grou nd- glas s screen (if it is aquarter-plate ) to act as gui de lines, so that
the pictu re can be reduced to the correc t
size, and y ou can then be certain that al l
details whi ch appear within the lines will
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 9/17
The "B.O.P." Photographer. 57
appear in exa ctl y the same posit ions on the
lantern slide.
A s the fronts of the two came ras are
fastene d togethe r, the backs of the c amera s
will have to do the m o v i n g during the
focussing operations. Cons eque ntly the
camera scre ws must not be scre wed up tigh t
till the proper posit ions of the ca meras have
been ascerta ined by foc uss ing. It w i l l be
necessary to focus with both cameras to
ge t a picture of a given s ize , and the
relative position s of the came ras in ever y
case can on l y be ascertained by exper iment .
If yo u were reduci ng a full half-plate to
the size of a lantern slide, the position of
the cameras w o u l d not be relati vely the
same as if it were a quar ter -plate you were
reducing. Wh en the negati ve has been
focussed and redu ced to your satisfac tion,
th e shutter on the lens sho uld be set to ex
clude the ligh t, and the dark sl ide contain
ing th e lantern plate shoul d be inse rted in
the camera in the usual wa y, and the ex
posure will be mad e by using the shut ter
in the same wa y as if you were taking an
ordinary photo.
The advantage of this apparatus lies in
its extreme simpl icity, and the fact that no
artificial light is requ ire d. Th e appar a tus
could be used in the dr aw ing -ro om if neces
sary, witho ut fear o f damag e, a lthough
it w oul d proba bly not be advisab le fo r our
readers to try the expe rim ent witho ut first
obtaining the permissi on of the pow ers
that be .
It m ay be as wel l to mention in c los ing,
that an enlarged negativ e cannot be ob
tained by a sin gle pro ce ss . Th e first en
largement will result in a " tra nspa ren cy "
of th e nature of a lantern slide, although
no t necessarily that s ize . T o obtain th e
enlarged negative, th i s " t r a n s p a r e n c y "
must be put in the neg ati ve hol der and en
larged, and this wi l l g ive the negative
desired, the result of a double enlargement.
# * #
OUR NOTE BOOK.
Ar e these letters formed of straight lines ?
{Lift the page to an angle with the eye, look
down it, and sec for yourself.)
A L L K N O W N !
" B.O.P." photographers who remember their
earliest efforts with the camera will appreciate thefollowing. A certain man " wanted " by the policein Russia had been photographed in six different positions, and the pictures were duly circulated among thepolice departments. The chief of one of these wroteto headquarters a few days after, saying: "Sir, Ihave duly received the portraits of the six miscreant?whose capture is desirable. I have arrested five otthem, and the sixth is under observation, and will
be secured shortly."
A N A V I A T O R
A T
E I G H T E E N .
IN our last Volume(p. 112) we gave someaccount of the youngest certificated airman
—Naval Cadet R. F.Wheeler, of C'hiswick,
who is aged fifteen.Another youthful avia
tor now prominently
before the public is51. Marcel Desoutter.whose age is eighteen.
A skilful and daring
tlyer this youngFreneh-man recently made asplendid attitude flightof 5,200 feet at theHen don Aerodrome,where hehas figured inseveral speed races.When asked to tellrenders of the "B.O.P."how he first took upaviation, M. Desoutteranswered as follows :—
** 1 was possessedwith the idea of Hyingabout three years ago,in fact when dying first
started. I was always very much interested in mechanics, and was always building lots of thmgs,such as motorcycles, motor-bo ats, and aeroplanes (model and full-sizemachines), so I very easily got a position as mechanicat the Bleriot firm. After working there for abouteight months I started to learn to fly. I was veryenthusiastic over my learning, and with such anexcellent instructor as Salmet it only took me afew weeks to master the art and take my ' brevet,' butI had to wait a month as I was not old enough. Yo umust be eighteen before passing the tests. During
my course of instruction and right up to the presenttime, I have never had a smash. I am still moreenthusiastic on flying, if possible, than before, but Idon't think people ought to take up flying unless theylike it for the love of flying itself. I don't think thereis any other sport so nice as flying, and 1 don't thinkit is half as dangerous as the general public think it."
In one of the accompanying pictures M. Desoutter isseen seated in his Bleriot monoplane. Our otherillustration shows a beautifully-made model aeroplaneconstructed by a brother of the airman. M. Desoutter
belongs, indeed, to a " flying " family, for every one
of his four brothers is enthusiastic about the sport,though no one of them has yet attempted to rival hisfeats.
S H I P S T H A T C A N H E A R .
AN apparatus, that when fitted to ships at sea willrecord the proximity of any large object (rocks, icebergs, or other ships), has just been' completed bySir Hiram Maxim. Experiments conducted with batshave proved that these animals possess what may bedescribed as a sixth sense, a sense of vibration whichwarns them of their nearness to trees and buildingswhen their sight is useless. Sir Hira m Maxim, adaptingthis discovery, has constructed a very powerful siren,worked by an electric motor, which instead of givingout a piercing shriek sounds a note so low that itcannot be heard by the human ear.
Rather than a low sound, it is really a series of powerful sound waves or vibrations, and when the sirenis being used nothing can be heard by the passengers onthe ship. But should those vibrations strike an object,
even as far away as five miles, be it ship, iceberg orrocky coast, they arereflected back to theship and caught byanother exceedingly
delicate instrumentfashioned on the principle of the ear-drum.This receiver, beingvibrated by the reflected sound waves, automatically sets anelectric bell ringing,thus warning the officerof the watch that thereis some obstructionahead. Further vibrations will be transmitted from the shipat intervals, the resulting reflects I wavesshowing, b y their growing or diminishingtendency, which way
the object may bet ra veiling. If thesevibrations are sent outin all directions by aship at ten - minuteintervals, says SirHiram Maxim, this newsense, which worksequally well in all
M . Desoutter in his Monoplane.
weathers, at all temperatures, and through thick mists
and fogs, will unfailingly warn the ship of any
approaching danger.
*o>*Joo
S T U C K T O H I S G U N S .
WHEN" " Coley " Patterson was a b oy at Eton hewas popular with all his schoolmates. He studiedwell, and, besides, he was " captain of the boats," andin the cricket eleven. At a certain gathering coarsesongs were started. They were part of the traditions
of the school, and had been sung for year3. But" Coley " was as brave morally as he was physically.
He declared that those songs should not be sung in hispresence. When one was started he left the room -something few boys would have dared to do underthe circumstances. T hen and there, however, thecustom stopped. That brave boy at Eton whocourageously stood up for his principles, even at therisk of being described as " tied to his mother's apron-strings," became a famous missionary in the BouthSeas. As Bishop Coleridge Patterson, he fearlessly
faced the Melanesians with their clubs and arrows, anddaily risked his life for the cause of Christ. Physicalcourage has a moral foundation. Dare to do right,
boys, and nothing of physical danger can daunt you.
o-o'^JO<>
O U R L I B R A R Y T A B L E .
E V E R Y boy in interested in the lifeboat and the work
of life-saving round our coasts. " The Lifeboat andits Story," therefore, is suro to meet with a welcomereception. Its author, Mr. Noel T. Methley, F.R.O.S.,who was a contributor to the " B.O.P.," has providedan exhaustive study of the origin and development of the lifeboat, showing how its earliest form was anadaptation of a very ancient shape of boat to modernneeds. In addition to the record of our own servicethere are several chapters dealing Ultimately with thelife-saving methods, stations and equipments of othercountries. It is a book in which boys will delight andit is a book which it is important that they should read.Th e publishers are Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson.
I •
M . Desoutter's Model Aeroplane.
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 10/17
58 The "Boy's Obvn Paper.
New
Serial
Story.
B E T W E E N T H E T W O :
A S T O R Y O F G R A M M A R S C H O O L L I F E .
By SERCOMBE GRIFFIN,
Author of " The Mad Yalheht" " A Qoorkha's Kookri," " The Dumb Chief," etc., etc.
CHAP TEE V. E D W A K D I A N S V. N E X T O N I A N S .
| HE Cave Adven
ture was the
topic of conver
sation at the
sc hool for many
days to c o m e ;
p e r a d v e nture
not since the
days of Edw ard
the Sixt h ha d
any event cau
se d so great a stir
in the sc hool ,
and raised so
mu c h discus
sion. On thew hole , however ,
Or e s s i n g to n ' s
part in th» affair
was condemned
b y hi s sc hool
fe l lows, and it
was suggested as
not improbable that " Sand y " (Dr. Sanders
the Head Master) would expel Cressington ;
indeed Mr. Hig gs and one or tw o other
indignant parents wrote the Head Master
to that effect.
T h e Head Master had, of course, to reply
that his jur isdiction did not extend beyond
th e sc hool buil ding s and the pla yin g fields ;
out of s c h o o l hours he took upon himself no
responsibi lity for the doings of his cha rges—
such times and places were for parental
author i ty to deal with. Neverth eless, Dr.
Sanders took an early opp ort uni ty of
speaking wit h Cressington in pr ivate.
" Sand y," as he was kno wn to the
Edwardi ans gener ally, was feared rather
than l o v e d (at any rate during sc hool days) ,
but beneath a stern exter ior lurked a kind
heart , which onl y publ icl y betr ayed itself
when the question of cani ng a bo y arose.
T h e Head Master wou ld never cane a boy if
there was the slightest exten uatin g cir cum
stance, unless it was for something very
mean and despicabl e, and then—well,
" Sa nd y" was six feet in height, and so
broad and well-proportioned that, seeing
him standing by himself, you would have
said he was rather be low , than a b o v e , th e
average height. So, when the Head di d
wield the cane, the culprit did not get
off lightly.
In a private capacity, Dr. Sanders dis
played, more often, glimpses of his kindly
hear t , and it was so in his int erv iew wit h
Cressington.
" Rumour tells me, Cressington, that y o u
are not mak ing the best of you r abilities : for
y o u have energy and ability, without doubt.
It's a sad mistake to waste these gifts on
noth ing better than leading smaller b o y s
int o mischief. Escapades with b o y s of your
o w n age, though they ma y be blameworth y,
are not half so deservi ng of cond emna ti on
as those which lead your juniors into dis
obedience. You have t aken advantage of
your seniority to teach young b o y s t o
deliberately disobey thei r parents ' orders.
N o w , Cressington my boy, yo u have ma ny
very pleasing qualities, qualities that ma y
endear you to your schoolfe l lows, and be a
credit to the sc hool . Try and make friends
of your own age, reliable manly fellows like
Dawson or Armstrong "—t he Head Master
had touched a tender spot in mentioning
th e latter s name , had he only kno wn it—
" it's far better than being a small b o y ' s
hero ; there are dangers in these small boy
friendships that yo u ma y scarcely realise.
Cressington, I have spoken plainly ; I kn ow
y o u have no father. Listen t o my advi ce,an d t ake an active share in the sports of the
sc hool . I shall l o o k out for your name in
the Footb all Fifteen shortly ; or may be the
Cadet Corps would be more to your liking."
But Cressington spurned the proffered
advice—he was too proud to appear on the
football field in the role of n o v i c e ; and as
fo r the C adet Corps , he di dn' t see the j o k e of
being ordered about by other chaps ; besides,
it was all to o muc h fa g; he preferred the
old life as leader of small b o y s , he craved for
their adulation and their unquestioning
obedience. The Cave Adventu re, however ,
had reduced his fo l low ing to zero. His
proud, sociable spiri t chafed at the situation,
and he bro oded over his suppose d wrongstill a fierce rese ntm ent gre w up in his heart .
H e gradually grew reckless and eager to aid
and abet any mov eme nt against law and
order. Most of all did he cherish resentment
against Arm str ong, and his chief ambit ion
was to wean Cyril Falkland from the restrain
ing influence of his r ival.
Cyril, howe ver, was for the present un
approachable. Armstrong, true to his word,
wa s close ly watching the move ments of
Cres sing ton ; and not only so, but t he
former's blunt kindliness was finding a
response in the heart of the volatile, harum-
scarum Cyril.
" C o m e on, you cha ps, " cried the li ght-
hearted you th just ment ione d on a fine
Saturday after noon a fortn ight after the
advent ure in the Devi l's Cave. " Let' s bag
seats in the Grand Stand : it'l l just hol d
four . "
" But there 's five of us ; mus t o ne be
marooned S" cri ed the tragic Peters, as
he surv eyed the pollar d whose to p
afforded a vantage groun d whereon they
might rest and witness the football contest
about to be waged. "The re ' s five of us
fo r four places."
Cyril surve yed his com pani ons with a
questioning air.
Springfield quickly made a suggesti on:
" Let one cha p be the cus hio n."
" Fo r us to sit on ? " qu eri ed Peter s.
" No, Peters, you duffor, for us to sit on,"
—an d Springf ield spre ad wide his arms, in
cluding in his sweep Cyril, Warden and Parry
to the ex clus ion of Peters, who rema rked in
rueful tones that he didn't see why he
should be " the cushion," seeing that Warden
was ' ' tons fatter and heaps more cush ion -ey ''
than he, Peters, who was " very bon e-y ."
T h e s ta tement was palpably true, bu t
Warden good-hum ouredl y remarked that
he personally did not hanker after the post of.
" cushion," he felt he c ould not support it—
or them —wit h sufficient dignity. Whereat
the quarrelsome Springfield stated, with un
necessary emphasis, that "Porker Warden"
alw ays did spoil the fun wit h his disagreeable
ways. To which s ta tement Cyril, Peters,
an d Parry warmly responded, saying that
in their long experience of Warden' s friendship they ha d foun d him beast ly lazy, but
still a decen t eno ugh chap, always up for
a joke , and never disagreeable ; that he was
quit e likel y to agree to be " cus hio n," if
spoken to nicely ; but that if Springfield told
stories, the tr io wo ul d feel called upon to sit
u p o n him—Springfield.
Springfield, as was his wont, got very
red in the face, and very fluent in his
speech.
" If you lazy, mutton-h eaded sweeps
think I am goi ng to jo l ly well let you plant
y o u r clumsy carcases on me, you're jol ly
well mistaken, y ou wooden- faced monkey s,
. y o u hunch- backe d jackasses, yo u long-
nosed c o c k a t o o s , you stiff-necked giraffes,
y o u towey-hai red—" But the descriptive
powers of Springfield received a rude check.
His four companions flung themselves on
him, determ ined to silence the vituperation,
and at the same time to force him to accept
the posit ion of " cushi on."
A n animate cushion, however, with four1
l imbs act ive ly resisting, is not easily ad justed
to the correct position, when that position
is som e tw ent y feet fro m the grou nd, high
up amo ng the branche s of a tree. The four
luxuri ous on es endeavou red to carry out
their scheme. Th ey lifted the protesting
" cushion" by his limbs, and vainly en
deavoured to swing him up into position,
but if they m ana ged to get up sufficient
impetus and three limbs were set free for
his up wa rd flight, sure enough his four th
l imb would be found clinging for dear life
to his " swi nger ." Ne xt they tried to push
him up the t r unk by concerted movement
from be low , but ev ery time they hea ved him
up a foo t , he would let go of the trunk, an d
c o m e crashing dow n on their heads. Spring
field was a most refractory " cushion."
" A ro pe' s the onl y thing, or a clank ing
chain from a dungeon deep," cried Peters
vindictively, as he removed a c lod left in
hi s hair by Springfield during the last
struggle.
" Yo u mutton- headed, l ong-eared, spindle-
legged, big-footed, asinine donkeys," splut
tered the irate Springfield in the temp orar y
lull, " yo u haven't the strength of a peri
winkle, or the gu mpt io n of a mouse, or the
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 11/17
"Bettveen the Tbvo.
' now we ve
muscles of a snail, or the brains of a spa rrow,
or the—"
Th e quartet refused to hear further
instalments in this catalogue of their defici
encies, an d returned to the fray. But do
what they wou ld, the " cushion " refused to
ascend. War den sudd enly ceased his efforts,
and began searching the ground for two
buttons of strategical imp orta nce that had
burst off during the last effort to raise th eprone Springfield.
" I say, you chaps," he said,
warmed up a bit, I vote we get
up into the tree. Has anyo ne
go t a belt to len d me ? . . .
No . . . well, a lon g pie ce of
string will do, long enough to
go round my waist."
Springfield, who was still
quarrelsome, said Warde n
hadn' t got a wai st; but th e
remark was ignored, and Parry
c a me to the rescue. The latter
had been commi ssioned to buy
a ball of string for his mother
on the way home from school
and had do ne so—and for
gotten the fact till that very
moment .
B y this t ime the majori ty
of the tw o teams ha d arrived,
and there was an expectant
fringe of youth ful specta tors
roun d the tou ch line. The
five juniors had scrambled up
into their elevated seats, where
there was fou nd to be amp le
room for all.
" Howl, yo u chap s ! " cried
Peters a few minutes later,
" here com es our gallant Cap
tain, and the scurvy knave who
leads the Next on Fi fteen ."
" S c h o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o l ! "
rose the voices of the five in
the pollard.
Dawson looked up with a
smile of amusement, and spoke
to the foo tbal ler at his side, a
stalwart youth referred to by
Peters as the " scurvy knave."
The Nex ton Captain, for so the sturdy
fair-haired viking deserv edly was, laug hed
gaily, and s ho ok his fist at the pol lar d
quintet.
When tw o large towns are withi n a doz enmiles of each other, there is often a good
deal of rivalry, part icularly in sport s, m ore
particularly in school sports, and mo st
particularly in foot ball matc hes betwe en
the Gram mar Schoo ls of the resp ectiv e
towns.
Our Edward ians were confiden t of victo ry
over the Nexton Grammar School, and hence,
as their game comm ence d, they raised their
voices in t r iumphant chorus :
" S c h o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o l ! "—the vowels in
the war-cry cor resp ond ing to the lu ng
capacity of the warrior emitti ng the c ry.
Bu t their opponen ts were not without
their supporters ; a railway jou rne y of twel ve
miles was not a big deterrent, and im
pecunious enthusiasts had ridden over on
their bicycles, so that altogether there were
no fewer than thirty ardent Nextonians
accompanying the visiting Fifteen, and
presently these visitors raised a cou nter cry
of " Gram-gram -grammar ! Gram-gr am-
gra mma r ! ! Gram -gra m-gr amma r ! ! ! "
The persistent chant of the N extoni ans
appeared to have more staying po wer in i t
than the lung- emptyin g yell of " S c h o o o o o o o -
o o o o o o o o l ! "—much to the disgust of the
quintet.
The first ten minu tes ' play was of a ver y
even nature. Daws on, in his cus tomar y
indifferent way, appe ared to take only acasual interest in the game, but those who
had had experienc e of the Edward ian Captain
foot of the p oll ard itself, whe re a po sse of
Nexton ians had foregathered.
" Here I say, this won' t do, " said Spring
field angr ily . " W 7e mus t clear th em out
s o me h o w. "
" W e must," echoed his comp anio ns.
The Nextonians below suddenly became
aware of the fact that the pol lard was in a
very decidu ous condit i on, i t was shedding i ts
twigs with a speed that was alarming. Thefive y o u n g Edwardi ans perched in the tree
were evi den tly far to o intereste d in the g ame
to have thou ght for anything
else ; ever y time the Nex ton
ians looked up, they saw eager
Edwardi an eyes glued upo n the
field of play. When, however ,
a big black beetle fell with
mathematical precision dow n
A n angry Nextonian had returned a small stick and . . . struck
th e speaker on the side of the head." (See page 60.)
knew there was not much that escaped his
vigilant eyes. D awso n had a cousin at
Cambr idge , and hoped shortly to enter on a
'Varsity career himself; an d amongst other
accom plishm ents necessary for such a step,he had decided that the correct Cambridge
drawl was an essential. Bu t tho ugh s low in
speech, he was qui ck eno ugh in intelle ct, and
fast enoug h on his feet, as the Nex ton ian
team realised before the gam e was
ended.
Presently the Nexto n forwards, headed b y
their Captain, began to display their superi
ori ty. But al though they playe d a splendid
dribbling game , they were outclassed in the
sc r immage , and Sneider at half-back was
able to get the ball passed to his three-
quarters almost before the opp osing half-b ack
knew it was out.
" Oh, we ll play ed, sir ! " sho ute d Cyril
from th e tree trunk. " Now, then, Huniset ,
there's an opening. S c h o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o l ! "
Th e other four join ed in the cho rus, a nd
were quite disappointed that their yell of
encoura gement was simply drow ned in an
overwhelming chant that arose from the very
the neck of a Next onia n wearing a som ewhat
large collar, and when t he occurr ence was
followed b y a five-fold gurgle of suppressed
laughter, the Nextonians' suspicions were
aroused , and they cast mal evo lent look s at
th e five innocents in the tree.
" Try and find another beetle, Parry
dear," said Cyril, sotto voce. " One Nex
tonian has bolt ed to the dressing-ro om.
Fin d six beetles more , and we mig ht
driv e all the no isy b eggars after their
friend."
" I 've broken both blades of my knife
grubbing in this tou chw oo d for more beetles,
b u t ^ o h , l o o k ! Armstrong has the ball.
We l l run, sir ! Pass—pas s 1 G o o d ! He ' s
done i t ! "
" 117*0has—and who 's got it no w ? " wailed
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 12/17
60 The Boy's Oteftt Taper.
Peters. " I can' t se e; Warden' s—er—wai st
coat ' s in the light."
" Bo wn e y ' s got the ball ," yelled Springfield.
" Put it on, yo u old s low-coach . O h !
ber-low ! the nipp er with the squin t has
floored h im. "
Th e you th referred t o (one eyo had a
badly- eentred pupil ) had deftly upset t he
o n c o mi n g B o w n e v , a cumbe rso me son of the
soil whose weight was useful in the scrim
mages but a hindran ce elsewhere. There
n ow fol lowed a bit of loose play around
the half-way line, which presently resolved
itself int o an unintere sting series of scri m
mages—uninteresting, tha t is, to spect ators.
So , to while away the ti me, the pol lard
occupants renewed their fusillade on their
opponents below, no longer concealing their
desire to driv e off the Ne xton ians : i t was
so disconcerting to have your yells drowned
by those of your rivals.
" We're awfully glad to see you chaps, you
k n o w , " said Parry as spokesman, " but you
must get your throats sandpapered. We
chap s are all musical, and we reall y ca n'tstand you r frightful din. Tut- tu t , y o u
mustn ' t l ook cross. We alway s leave seats
in the Pav ' for the use of visi tors ; pl ease go
there. No one sits on the roof of the P av' ,
so your cracked voices won't—o h ! you
beast."
An angry Nextonian had returned a small
stick, and the stick had struck t he speaker
on the side of tho head . A per fec t fusil lade
was returned f rom the tree. The Next oni ans
threatened to c l i mb up and expe l the
Edwardians.
"Naughty, naughty!!
" repr ove d Cyril, vice
Parry, retired hurt . " If y ou get angr y
and say naught y words , we shall ask Spr ing
field to talk to you first and fight yo u after
wards. Springfield always says things tha t
people don 't like. Y ou can stay if yo u like,
but yo u really must chain up you r voices .
Ah , naught}', you would , would you ? " —
and the speaker neatly warded off a s t ick
aimed at his head . " Tha t isn't at all nic e
of yo u. W e really shall have to call on our
friend Springfield."
Peters suggested tha t he cou ld speak
" valiant words tha t wo u l d shrii'el the m up
into a heap ." His com pan ion s were agree
able to Peters speaking, provided tha t th e
promised shrivelling di dn' t mak e to o great a
mess underneath their noses.
" H i ! Below there ! " c o mme n c e d Peters,
standing up f rom amongst his fellows.
" Begone , thrice vil lainous scul lio ns!
Av au nt ! or, by my hali dom, I will call
d o wn witcheries on your devoted heads."
Th e Nexton ians re vive d under Peters'
t reatment , and seemed quite a mus ed.
Indeed, they laughed.
" Th ou may- cst laugh-est, " said Peters in
his mo st tragic mann er, as " Th e Pirate of
the Cro ssb one s" was declared to hav e said
when he ordered the five hundred sailors
of H.M.S. Niobe to walk the plank, " but
know-est th ou not-est—•" Peter s was
getting rather angry, and not a little mixed—
" tha t thou art-est standing on the very-
bri nk of the b ri ny de ep ? "
Th e Nextonians were convulsed with
laughter by this time, and as their laughter
go t louder, Peters' vocab ular y go t mor e mixe d
and tragic, until Springfield angrily grabbed
the speaker's leg, and bro ught him t umbl ing
d o w n amon gst his comr ades , himself ta king
the speaker's place.
But ere Springfield got started, he caught
sight of Daw son darting out f rom the ruck
of players and heading straight for the
opponents ' goal posts. " S c h o o o o o o o o o o o l ! "
chorused th e tenants of the pollav'.
" Gram- gram -gra mmar ! " rose the stac
cato chorus f rom be low.
" S H U T UP , YOU* NOISY H Y E N A S — n o one'll
stop Dawson n o w — G E T YOUR THROATS
S A N D P A P E R E D , YOTJ T I N - L I N E D HOOTERS—•
ah, Squin t-eye is o n h im — T I N - L I N E D
HOOTERS G O T R U S T Y —he ' s passed to Hal-
stead—GO T R U S T Y , A N D o u o n r TO BE IN A
PAWN-SHOT —H als teadhas passed to Huniset
— O N L Y THEY' WOULDN'T ALLOW T W O P E N C E
FO R T H E LO T—Huniset ' s over the line—
Y A H BOO, Y'OU SHRIEKING COCKATOOS
and it's a try t o us, you chaps. S c h o o o o o l ! "
This dual declamation of Springfield—
partly for the benefit of those be low, partly
fo r tha t of his companions—needs careful
analysis before its manifold beauties are
perce ived.W h e n it was realised in the tree-top that
Hunise t had scored, the occu pan ts thereof
went wild with excitement and showered
facetious remarks upon tho Nextonians
below. The latter were rather silent, o,nd
mutually agreed tha t it was cold standing
about, and a little exercise would therefore
benefit the m. So th ey strolled off, while
f rom the polla rd rose glad songs of trium ph,
no t unm ixe d with personal remarks regarding
tho retiring Next onia ns.
W h e n Daw son conv ert ed the try into a
goal, then indeed their jo y was exuberant.
Al mo s t dan ger ous ; for Springfield, -wild with
excitement, c o m m e n c e d punching hi a pro
miscuous way his com pan ion 's noses, and
they, in their turn, nearl y hustled hi m off
his perch. Springfield was indignant, and
wanted to fight each of his companions in
turn. Pea ce had Scarcely been rest ored,
when the half-time whistle b lew.
Th e Five swarmed d o w n the pollard's
t runk, and hastened to offer congratulations
t o Hunise t, w ho was fou nd su cking a lemo n
amids t an admirin g circle of schoolfel lows.
In response to the numerou s remarks, H uniset
ejaculated : " Merci, my friends ," " Thanks,
mes amis." He prided himself, did Huniset,
on his knowled ge of Fr enc h; he had
visited France—Cherbo urg — by day-trip
f r o m Bournemouth.
Al l t oo soon the referee's whistle sounded,
and the five junior s trailed back to their
pollard—to find it already occup ied b y five
of th o o b n o x i o u s Nextonians w h o m they
had c rowed o v e r not fifteen minutes before.
Positions were reversed.
" Rather cold up in the tree, wasn't it ? "
remarked Cyril in a loud voice . " I vo te
we don' t go up to tha t windy hole again."
" No , I shou ldn 't if I were yo u, " cam e a
derisive vo ice f rom the snug gery in the
pollard.
" Tho se great, blac k, long- horne d beetles
d o sting so."
" They haven' t s tung yet ."" Besides, that ant ' s nest wasn't nice to
sit upon," said Cyril as a final thrust at the
u n we l c o me intruders.
" Yo u must ha ve squashe d them all," was
the response f rom the tree.
" Oh, you tree-snatching rotters ! " cr ied
Springfield, unable to control his feelings of
mortification any lo ng er : his temper h ad
risen to boil ing poi nt duri ng the ver bal du el
between Cyril and the Next onia n in the
pollard. " Yo u monke y-cl imbi ng sneakers.
Y o u — "
But Cyril and Parry subdued the i rate
Springfield : it is not wiso to show yo u hav e
suffered disc omfi ture . It is best to suffer
defeat philosophicall y.
" Ye s, I agree with you, Falkland," said
War de n, shive ring in a realistic manner.
" It's beastly cold, so I vote we get a nice
warm seat in the P av '. "
" Out of this biting east wind," supple
mented Parry .
" Which chills you to the very marrow
b o n e , " said Peters, handing in his contri
bution.
" And might give you your death of cold,
besides rheumatism and glanders," added
Cyril as his share, though he wished he was a
little mor e posi tive abou t tho latter disease ;
he thou ght it ha d somethi ng to do with severe
sore throat .Springfield, thou gh temporar ily hushed,
wa s no t to be den ied his share. " I jolly-
well think we had better go—out of the
sound of those noisy, hooting, hyenic, tin-
lined, rusty -voic ed, crack-n oted howlers wh o
thi nk th ey can cheer , when all the time th e
ro w they make is enough to give a braying
d o n k e y concu ssion of the brain."
It was a "grande finale," but unfortun
ately the Nextonians misunderstood Spring
field.
" He' s got concu ssion of the brain ,"
shrieked five Nextonian voices at once.
Th e purple, spluttering Springfield was
dragged away before ho cou ld make further
incriminating remarks ; and presently, Peaoe
having spread her wings over their lacerated
feelings, the five Edwar dians strolled in a
lord ly way towar ds the Pavil ion, where sat
Dr . Sanders, a couple of masters, several
parents, and a fair sprinkling of Nextonians.
" Rather a cheap lot in the Pav', don't you
thi nk ? " qu erie d Cyril, as they neared th e
erection in question.
" Ye s, we won 't go ," chorused his fou r
c o mr a d e s , wh o became suddenly aware of the
unpleasant fact that , on match days, the
Pavi l ion was reserved for players and visitors.
Fortunately for their ruffled feelings, the
Five 's attention was attracted once more to
the progress of the game.
Th e Nextonian forwards, led by the fair-
haired viking, were carrying all before them.
No one seemed able to permanently stay
their progress towards the Edwardians' goal .
Da ws o n once or twice forgot to drawl , and
shoute d with vehemenc e : " Buck up ! S to p
the m ! ! " Bu t tho Next oni ans were not t o
be thwarted. Soon they carried the ball
in triumph over the line, where their captain
fell on it and secured a try which was easily
conver ted int o a goal by the sam e stalwart.
Nextonian.
So far the teams were level, a goal apiece.
As they lined out again, Dawson was heard
to address the rival capt ain : " Jol ly decentbit of play by your forwards, but we'll
beat you yet ." And with such a consum ma
tion in view, Daws on sent round orders to
the Edwa rdi an for wards to " dro p on th e
bal l ," s top their opponents ' dribbling tactics,
and at the same time to " heel out."
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 13/17
"Between the Ttvo. 61
" It 's going to b e a touglush j ob for our
men," quoth Warden, to who m the ul t imate
result wa s never in quest ion—ho was an
optimistic Edwardian.
" Old D.iwso n has been holdi ng them in,"
sagely remarked P a r r y ; " yo u wait t i l l he
opens the thrott le, and lets the t eam go
right ahead—"
• ' — T o death or vict ory, " added Peters
grandiloquently." Hullo ! our men arc waki ng up.
Sehoooool! " cried Cyril , and in his exci te
ment he danc ed a hornpipe on the neighbour
ing spectator 's toe.
" T h a n k s , but that 's m y proper t y you ' r e
treading into the ground," said a quickly-
recognised voice—Cressington's.
Th e five juniors, surging backwards and
forwards along the ropes , following the
fortunes of the game , had drifted hither
and thither amongs t the spectators. Cyril
was inva riab ly o n the crest of the w av e of rive,
and hence had come right up against Cress
ington, entirely obliv ious to his presence.
Indeed it was not o ften that Cressington took an y interest in th e school spor ts .
" Sorry, didn ' t kno w it was you," said
Cyril , apologetic. His four companions
IIELIZARDO, chief of Padrone leaders, the
' most romantic figure of modern days ,
lives in the Island of Luz on, but some thir ty
miles from Manila , the capit al of the Philip
pine group. A t least , I hope he still lives
there, though it is three years now since I
had definite news of hi m, and seven years
since I s tood, revolver in hand, wait ing for
Fehzardo's band to try to rescue four
ladrones whom the Americans were abou t
to hang in the plaza at Oalocan, four m iles
from Manila.
Properly speaking, a l adrone is a thief—
nothing more or less. An d these four—I
saw them hanged pro perly in the e nd—we re
both thieves and murderers. (One had
fourteen murders to his accoun t . ) Men
called old Felizardo a ladrone, because there
was no other suitable Spanish word. Y e t
he was neither a thief, nor a murderer ; h e
was simply a great native leader and, what
was more importa nt st i l l, a great native
gentleman.
Whilst we were waiting for the hangman
to carry out his hideous task, fingering our
revolvers nervously, wishing we were not
there at all, hating our j o b , and watching
the natives with bolos (the bolo is a terrible,
two-foot long knife) who wante d to rescu e th e
condemned men, Felizardo's men appeare I
at the edge of the bush. Ther e were hu ndr eds
of them, the most terrible fighters in the
whole Philippine Archipelago. B ut their
leader had given the word that those four
thieves and murderers were to be hanged
by the white man, because they had brough t
sham e on the na me of the nat ive .
They icere hanged, and as I turned away ,
sick at the gruesom e sight, I caught a gl impse
of a white horse with a lUtle old man on it s
back. I t was the terrible Fekza rdo himself.
I oan still see it all to-day, st i l l remember
had mel ted away somewhere farther d o w n
the ropes : Cressington was taboo.
" Well , Cyril , old chap," said Cressington
genially. " I have n't seen muc h of you
l a te ly."
" No ," responded Cyr i l br ief ly—a non
c o m m i t t a l " n o . "
" Al l l i gh t ! I twig, Cyril , old chap. I
k n o w I 'm barred because I gave the ki ds a
l i t t l e adventure all on their o w n — m a m m a sand papas are so par t icular nowadays , but
I did think y o u — "
" Oh, I say, there's a chance ! "—Cy ri l ' s
at tention had rever ted to tho game in
progress. " Huniset , y o u slacker, buck
u p ! "
An d at the same moment Warden cal led to
Cyri l : " C o m e on, Falkland. Hero 's a
r ipping place."
" 'Souse me," said Cyril hurriedly, and left
Cressington, wh o wore the scowl of a defeated
leader. The juniors no longer ca me t o heel
as they used to d o ; they had del iberate ly
snubbed him, al l exce pt you ng Falkland.
T he scowl disappeared, and a l i t t le twinkleof t r iumph might have been seen in Crossing-
ton 's eye : he woul d get young Cyr i l back
under hi s thumb yet .
the thrill which ran through the small grou p
of white men presen t. He had us at his mer cy,
completely—and the American Government
had treated him shamefully. A word f rom
him, and his bolomen would have turned
that plaza into a shambles . Not one of us
would hav e escaped . Bu t the men we were
hanging deserved their fate, and the little
ol d man on the white horse had c o me to
make sure that they we re not rescued at the
last moment by their fel low-criminals.
T he Boudj on , the alarm horn of the
Filipinos, brayed out, as though in farewell—
a farewell mingled with defiance—and then,
in a flash, Felizard o and his men ha d gon e
as suddenly as the y had appe ared.
It must be thirty-five years now since
Felizardo first organised his band. They
say that a priest tried to seize the girl who
was betrothed to hi m, that he clove that
priest in two with his bolo , and, carrying
the girl with him, fled to the great range of
mountains w hich over looks Mani la Bay .
At any rate, for over twe nty years Felizard o
ruled those mountains, and ruled them
splendidly. H o was a nat ive, an out law,
but he was always a gentle man. If he rob bed
the rich robber, he gave freely to th e p o o r .
The ordinary ladrone felt the weight of his
hand—a heavy hand—so did the Pulajan,
the fanatical Man-in- Red,* so did the Head -
Hunter f rom the Nor t h .
The Spaniards, the former rulers of thePhilippine Islands, respected h im. T h e y ,
never interfered wi th him. H e ruled the
mountains , and, so l ong as he sent them
down tobacco and hemp, the Spaniards
were well satisfied wit h the arrangement .
* So called because of a large red cross worn as a
badge.
The Spanish Gov ernor was a gentleman and
Felizardo was a gent le man; therefore they
unders tood one another per fect ly.
But when the Amer i cans t o o k over the
Philippine Islands, things were different.
The new-comers did not unders tand. They
looked on old Felizardo as a brigand, and he,
in turn, despised them.
T o begin wi th, they dispatched twent y
men against him. These Feliza rdo disarmed
and sent back . The n fifty men were sent,and were treated in the same manner .
" I a m not a l adrone. I a m the chief of
these mountains . Lea ve m e alone, and I
will l eave you alone "—that was the little
ol d man's message to the Amer i cano .
Bu t when the Ame rica ns sent two hu ndred
soldiers, hi s bolo men j umped on them out
of the jungle and cut them t o pieces .
Fel izardo was growing angry.
The Amer icans grew angry too . F i ve
million dollars (one mill io n pou nds ) the y
spent in t rying to break the p o w e r of the
Chief of the Mountains ; and every expedi
t ion ended the same wa y—i n disaster.
Then they decided to make a supreme
effort t o finish it all . Th e Spaniard s were
laughing at t hem, so were the Brit ish andthe Chinese.
Three thousand t roops—fif teen hu ndred
white, f if teen hund red nativ e—we re told off
to capture Fel iza rdo ; whi l st mon ey wa s
poured ou t l ike water in the a t t empt to
make his men bet ray him.
T w o of his m en did turn traitors. T he
three thousand t roops closed in. Fel izardo
was in a certain patc h of jung le ; hi s followers
had left him ; his only companions were
those two traitors, who passed out the word
t o the Amer i can commander .
Closer and closer the Americans drew.
They were practically hand t o hand, a
human ring, when there was a clattering of
hoofs, a breaking of undergrowth. A white
horse dashed through the line, and on that
horse , revolver in hand, was Fel izardo.
He kil led three men, and escaped un
harmed.
A n d when the American soldiers closed
in, they fou nd the two traitors, hanging
from a t ree. T he terrible little old man
lvad don e i t s ingle-handed. Below the bodies,
torn up, were the ban knot es which had been
the price of their t reason.
After that, the Americans sent no more
expedi t ions ; but t hey pu t a pr ice of five
thousand dol lars on Fel izardo 's head.
Every decent American was furious, of
course, because decent men d o not pay for
murders ; but the advertisements offering
the reward cont inued.
An d then, one day, we had a bi g thrill in
Manila. T w o natives came in with a basket ,
and in that basket was a ghastly head.
" I t is the head of Feli zard o," they said.
An hour later, they went out, very happy.
They had five thousand dol lars in gold.
The American Vice-Governor was happy
t o o . H e r eckoned he had scored , and
would be called a great man.
Three days later, there was a big blaze
in one of t he suburbs of the ci ty. Old
Felizardo, richer b y five thousand dol lars ,
had come d o w n t o p r o v e that he and hi s
white horse were still alive.
Real ly, I hop e he is al ive now , eve n th oug h
he is a br igand. I have a huge respect for
him. He seems t o belong t o the days when
I was a bo y. Fo r all these stories are true ;
yet , when I think o f them , I seem to go back
twenty-f ive years t o the days when I read of
such things in the " B.O.P . " P e rhaps I may-
have another oppor t uni ty of tel l ing some
further stories of the great Ph ilipp ine leader.
*
(To be continued.)
it THE CHIEF OF THE MOUNTAINS."
F E L I Z A R D O , T H E G R E A T E S T O F T H E L A D R O N E S .
By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT.
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 14/17
62 The "Boy's Ot&m Paper.
HOW TO
A T THE ASSO-A S E R I E S O F E I G H T
A R T I C L E S
By JACK SHARP (the Ever-
CHAPTEE IV . FORWARD PLAY.
As a matter of fact, e ven in the few ye ars
that I have been interested in foot
ball , there have been many changes in the
met hod s of forwar d play, and I exp ect
before man y of my readers have finished
their careers as players they will witness
ma ny more. But al l tho chan ges which
have been made have tended to a steady
impr ove men t of the forwa rd l ine, and in
place of the older meth ods of rushing we
no w ha ve finished ex hib itio ns of cle ver
passing and finesse. Pers ona lly , I am of tho
opin ion that footb all has no w go t to a pitc h
of excelle nce whi ch is ver y near perfect ion,
but pro bab ly in the old days the playe rs
thought the same.
I believe tha t ma ny years ago a te am
consisted of abo ut eight forwards an d three
men to defen d. Of course , such an arrange
me nt wo ul d be a terri ble failure no w, bu t in
those days, it mus t be rem emb ered , there
was practic ally no passing, and whe n a
forward got possession of the ball he did his
utmo st to score a goa l by bri l l iant individ ual
effort and only parted com pa ny wi th tho
sphere wh en i t was forcibly taken away
from him.
There is not much doubt that the major i ty
of b o y s , i f asked in which posit ion of the
field they would rather shine, would plump
fo r outside-righ t or left , or centre-for ward.
T h o ins ide posi t ions som eho w don ' t appeal
to tho many young hero-worshippers who
look on at first-class fo ot ba ll , bu t I can
assure you all tha t n o b o d y values a really
good inside man more than I do . Y o u see, he
is necessa ry to success, and wit hou t him it
would be impossibl e for the ce ntre or o utsides
to do anything effective.
N o w , don' t imagine tha t becau se I hav e
played for Englan d I could turn out forwards
b y the dozen ; don ' t think, in fact , tha t a
yo ut h only has to read wha t I say and im
mediate ly be g o o d enough to enter the
ranks of a first-class le ag ue c lub . I am not
taking up on mysel f such a huge task
be cau se , first of all, n o b o d y can ever b e c o me
proficient by learni ng f ro m a b o o k alone,
and second ly, I don ' t suppose one- twent ie th
part of my readers are out out for forwards.
I can only give g o o d advice which, if
fo l lowed by those who are natural forwards ,
will have the effect of turning the ordinary
player into one of a higher s tandard.
First of all, taking the outside posit ions,
y o u will be of no use whate ver unless y ou
have an extra turn of speed. Neatne ss in
taking a pass is, of course— with abil i ty to
dri bb le or trav el with the ball at yo ur toes—•
essential , but with out speed yo u will be of no
use . It is. in this posi t ion that the player
has the best chanc es of maki ng a run d ow n
the field. N o w, whe n the bai l comes
IMPROVE
CIATION GAME.S P E C I A L L Y W R I T T E N F O R
T H E " B . O . P . "
ton and International Player).
across to yo u a few yards ahead, mak e a dash
and fasten yo urse lf on to it and m ak e as
much grou nd as yo u possi bly can before
an opp one nt tackles you , but whilst doing
this yo u mus t kee p a perfect look- out for
y o u r nearest colleague so that , should the
occasion arise, a gentle tap with the foot
will give him the ball and yo u can in dulge
i n a combi ned movement .
A b o v e all things, keep near the touch
line fairly well up, bu t do n't o ver do i t an d
get " offside " or all yo ur efforts will be
wasted. Also, r emember tha t when you
and your nearest fel low- player are in
jeopardy of losing the ball it is a decided
adva ntag e to send i t r ight across to the
oppos i te wing, whic h will be, for the t ime
being, p robab l y unmarked .
In all your passes remember to send the
ball as close to th e g rou nd as possible , un
less, of course, there is a more than ordinary
chanc e of i ts bein g intercep ted. Re me mb er
that although, as an outside wing player, you
are expe cted to make individual runs, y o u
must on no acco unt a t t empt to monopol i se
the pla y unless you hav e a clear chan ce of
doing so successfully. I am taking it that
y o u have thorough c om ma nd over the bal l
and can pass well.
So ma ny outsides co mm it the fault of
taking the ball to o far dow n the grou nd
before t hey think of cent rein g. I t has
alway s been my firm opinio n tha t the ball
shou ld be centre d just befo re the last back .
If yo u try to get round him , and even
succeed, an inval uable minute or tw o may
have been lost , and by tha t t ime the rest of
the defence has had an opp ort uni ty t o
get right ba ck . This is a po int wh ich is
very impor tan t to remembe r .
No w, I wonde r ho w man y of you you ng
players will ende avo ur to follow my a dvice ?
Perhaps it won't quite fit in with your
own ideas of the gam e, but never mind , just
r emember tha t I have had a little more
exper ience than yo u have, and that m y
words are only the out co me of some very
serious tho ught . Giv e my advi ce an
ex t ended trial and keep on pegging away
until yo u are perfect .
We will no w deal with the que stio n of the
t wo inside forwards. Altho ugh, of course,
pace is ahvays a valuable asset on the foot
ball field, the two inside men need not
necessari ly be so fast as the two ext rem e
outsi des. Th ey are, as it were, the c o n
nect ing links in the chain of the forw ard
line, an d their chief duties are to pass and
to sho ot. It shou ld be, therefore, the on e
great aim in the yo ung ster wh o wants to fit
himself fo r an insid e po sit ion in a first-class
tea m to cultiv ate to the utm ost of his ability
the difficult art of passing, and at the same
t ime to remember tha t individual bri l l iance,
eve n when right in front of goa l, mus t be
sacrificed in favour of a quick pass to a
colleague when the latter is in a better
posit ion to make the shot.
Ho we v e r , the passin g alone is no t ever y
thing, for, having transferred the ball to
anot her play er, it is the duty of the i nside
man to get into a g o o d posit ion to receive
a pass. This is of invalua ble help to his
fellow forwards. Do yo u quite understand
wh at I mea n ? Do n' t get rid of the ball to a
ma n wh o, for the mome nt, has a clear
passage for his shot, and then blame him if he
doe sn't score. One of the defence might
sud den ly spoil his cha nce ; therefore, direc tly
y o u have given him the ball, no matter if
he has a clear passage or not, run for war d
into anot her posit ion in order to take the
ball again should it become necessary.
If y o u follow this advice yo u will be
surprised ho w simp le it is, and I a m sure
y o u will agree that the value of such a
practice cann ot be over-estimated. The n
there is another point to remember. Nev er
jum p about with the ball and so end eav our
to get rounil an opponent. Y o u will be
wasting t ime, giv ing tho defence an opp or
tuni ty t o c o me to the rescue, and will surely
lose tho ball in the end.
I have dwelt upon the value of passing
quit e long enou gh, and so will pass on to a
fe w wor ds on anot her essential to successful
inside forwar d play. I refer to shooting ,
an d before sayin g anyth ing else I would
advise frequent shooting practice at any od d
time. It wil l help to mak e yo u acc urate
if not hin g else. I have sto od in all sorts of
places watching boys at the gam e and hav e
invar iably found that , in the first place,
they d on' t quite kno w ho w to shoot. ' Let
me say straight off, alt hou gh I ex pe ct a large
num ber of yo u already k no w it , that th e
shot should ahvays be ma de with the instep
and never on any occasion with the toe.
Then, when to shoot. Lo ng shot s should
not be tried on dry grounds as the ball will
be quite easy for the goalkeepe r to negotiate,
but on wet groun ds tho ball is bou nd to get
into a more or less greasy state and it is
fairly safe to have a try at any reasonable
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 15/17
NEW ZEALAND MOU NTE D INF ANTRY.
, T r o o p e r .
NADIAN DRAGOONS.
• SOU TH AUSTRA LIAN LANCERS. SOWAR : 32nd LANCERS
ROYAL CANADI AN HUSSARS. TRI NI DAD LIGHT HORSE.
_^my$&ft \\f//// •
IPIRE'S D E F E N D E R S . Q 4 BOU VER IE STREET, LONDON E C
NATAL CARBINI ERS. CAPE TOW N HIGHLAN DERS.T r o o p e r . P r i v a t e .
. INFANTRY. 2nd CANADIAN MIL ITI A. SIERRA LEONE ROYAL ARTILL ERY.c e r . P r i v a t e . G u n n e r .
ROYAL MALTA ARTILLERY. 1 5 t h LUDHIANA SI KH S- SOWAR: 1st CAVALRY. NORT H NIGERI AN REGT.O f f i c e r . ( S k i n n e r ' s H o r s e . ) P r i v a t e .
SEPOY : 2nd GURKHAS.
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 16/17
HoUf to Improve at the Association Game. 03
distance. When ever the chance comes to
you on a wet ground and you see a clear
passa ge, let go for all yo u are wor th ; bu t
on dry grounds, and, in fact, at all times
when the ball is not actual ly ve ry s lippery ,
watch your chance and be careful that y o u
are in the best position to shoot.
I have frequently seen matche s in which
the forward play, althou gh cle ver, has not
been of that style which is valuable to a side
wanting to win. It is not at all un co mm on
to see players indulge in tri ck y passes to s uch
an extent that after the ball has been in
their possession for quite a lo ng period ver y
little headwa y has been made, and I wa nt
yo u to resist tho temptation to act in this
OUR Empire' s Defenders are more num erou s
than most of us imagine, and the Mother
Country has onl y an opp ortu nit y of guessing
at their numbers and variety when jubilees
and coronations c r o wd Lon don wi th Colonials.
The Indian army musters a quarter of a
million men ; Canad a has an ac tiv e milit ia
of over 00,000 and a reserve of ove r a million ;
Australia has just begun compulsory military
training which has alrea dy yield ed an ar my
of about 80,000; Ne w Zealand has also
compulsory militar y servic e, and in eve ry
colony and depend ency i t has been tho ught
j necessary to have a force of som e sort, w hose
I numbers appear to be kno wn only local ly ,
; but are much larger than would be supposed,1
and in a fe w year s will be large r still.
Th e subjec t is an imp ort ant and interesting
one, not only to India n and Colonia l readers,
but to all those in this country, and we feel
sure our colou red plate, specially dra wn for
the " B.O.P.," will be warmly welcomed . T o
have given a picture of ever y regime nt, as
we have sometimes been asked to do ,, is
evide ntly impos sible , but here we hav e a
good representative group —those of the
Indian army being conspicuo us by their
handsome uniforms.
Dealin g with these first, we hav e a s on ar,
that is, a troope r, of the Queen 's Own Cor ps
of Cuides (Lumsd en' s) in drab wit h scarlet
cloth facings, a mos t distingui shed regime nt
of both cavalry and infantry whose colour s
bear the cypher of Queen Victoria within
the Garter, and no fewer than ten honours—
" Punjab : Mooltan ; Goo je rat ; De lh i: Ali
Masjid ; Kabul, 1879; Afghanistan, 1878-
80 ; Chitral ; Punj ab Front ier ; Malak and "—that are eloquent of its history. Close
to him, also with white and blue turban,
is a sowar of the o ld 2nd Madra s Lanc ers,
now the 27th Light Caval ry, in Fren ch gre y
with buff facings, a corps with a long recor d,
the most prominent features of which, as
shown on its roll of ho no ur, were the " Car n-
atic, Sholinghur, Mysore , Sering apata m, and
Burma 1885-87 "—the Carnatic datin g as
far back a« ,747, that is before Lord Olive
obtained his first commission. A lso on the
plate, in the right-hand corner, is a sowar of
the old 2nd Bo mb ay Lance rs, now the 32n d
Lancers, in blue with white facings.
Below the Madras ma n is a sepo y, or, as
it is now ( ' . j fashion to spell it, a sipahi, that
is, one of tl»_ ank and file of a nativ e regim ent
in British pay, the regiment in this case being
the 129th Duke of Conn augh t's O wn Balu chis,
formerly the 29th Bombay Infantry, the
uniform being green with red trousers and
scarlet facings. Th e " Persia ; Res hir e ;
Bushi re; a r v> os h- ab ; Kandah ar, 1880 ;
. z-bot
ill-back
man ner . It is in the fron t rank that quick
rushes are of no small va lue ; there are so
many who rather ove rdo trickiness, and,
somehow, do not seize the chan ce of rush
ing dow n the g rou nd when it is offered them.
Afghanis tan, 187 8-8 0; Egyp t , 1882 ; Tel -
el- Kebi r," on its colo urs tell the ta le of its
lengthy service and re cord that it was one of
the regiments despatc hed from India to
Egypt to help Lord Wolse ley in the war
with Arabi.
Seate d at the Baluch i's feet is a havil dar.
that is, a sergeant, of the 3 8th Do gra s, the
ol d 38th Bengal Infantry, in scarlet with
y e l l o w facings. A l s o in scarlet, but with green
facings, is one of the 15th Ludh ian a Sikhs.
Yea rs ago these were the 15th Beng al
Infantry, and, as shown by the honour s
on the ir colo urs— " China, 1860-62 : Ahm ad
K h e l ; Kandahar , 188 0; Afghanis tan.
1878-80 ; Suakin, 1885 ; Tofre k ; Chitral ;
Punja b Frontier ; Tirah "—th ey saw service
under Sir Hope Grant at the capture of
Pekin.
Kneel ing in fron t o f hi m is a sepoy" of the
2nd King Edward' s Own Gurkha Rifles
(the Sirmoor Rifles) in dark green with
scarlet facings and the cheq uer ca p-ban d
sugges tive of a Scott ish origin. Thi s famous
hard-fighting regiment has the plume of the
Prince of Wale s and the Ro ya l and Imperia l
cypher on i ts colours, the honou rs being
" Bhurtpore ; A l i w a l ; Sobraon ; Del hi ;
Kab ul, 1879 ; Kan dah ar, 1880 ; Afgha nista n.
1 8 7 8 - 8 0 ; P unj ab F ron t i e r ; and T i r ah ; "
in all of whi ch it was wel l to th e fore , par
t icularly in Combermere' s terrible storming
of Bhurtpore on January 18, 1826, where no
fewer than 4000 of the e nem y met the ir
death. Ne xt but one to the righ t we hav e
the well-known y e l l o w uni form of the 1st
Duke of Yor k' s Own Lancers (Skinner 's
Horse) , late 1st Bengal Lancers, who werealso at Bhurtp ore , an d who se ho nou r roll also
includes " Candahar, 1842; Afghanis tan,
1870-80 ; and Eekin, 1900 ."
Anot her ol d corps , recognisable at once
by the uniform, is the We st India Regi ment ,
originally the Carolina Blac k Corp s, with
an hon our roll of " Dom inic a ; Martinique,
1809 ; Gua deloupe , 1810 ; Asha ntee ; W est
Africa , 1887,1892-3-4; S ier ra Leone , 1898;"
though it has figured in no fewer than twenty-
four campai gns, beginning with that of
Savannah in 1779. Ano the r is the King 's
Ow n Malta Regime nt of Mili t ia, which be gan
its career in 1800. Th e othe r Maltese regi
men t o n the plate is the Ro ya l Malta Ar tille ry,
which saw service in Egy pt in 188 2, and is
remar kable for four of its com pan ies being
liable fo r du ty on ly in Malta while the regi
ment , as a regim ent, is liable, like all ot her
Ro y a l Artil lery, for service everywhere.
West Africa is represe nted b y the Sierra
Leone Ro ya l Garrison Arti l lery, which
ranges with the local batteries of Hong Kong
and Sing apore, and also by the Northern
Nigeria Regi ment , which consists of a bat tery
of artillery, t wo batt alio ns of infant ry and a
battalion of mou nted infantry. Sout hAi .ic a
has four repres entati ves, the old Cap e
Mounted Rifles, wh ic h use d to hav e field
guns, the Dur ban Lig ht In fan t ry , th e Nata l
Carbiniers and the Cape T o w n Highlanders.
Canada has also i ts Highl and regime nt,
tho ugh it is not sho wn in the plate, the
regiments chosen being the 2nd Canadian
Milit ia, the Ro ya l Canadian Hussarsv
n dthe Roy al Canadian Dragoons.
Our smallest dom ini on is represe nted i. _ a
s mar t troop er of the Ne w Zealan d Mounter
Infantry, but Australia furnishes ha lf i
dozen examp les in khaki, two each fr̂ niVic tor ia , South Australia and New Soutl
Wales , the regiments being the Victoriai
Range rs and the Victor ia Moun ted Infantry
the South Australia Mounted Infantry an ,
the Sout h Australia Lanc ers, bo th of who o
wear the helme t, and the N ew South Wale,,
Lancers and the Ne w South Wale s Moun ted
Rifles. Besides the Wes t India Regilnent,
whose headquarters are in Jam aica , bufcwhich
is as well known in Africa as in the island?
of the Gulf, our ol dest co Whial gr ou p 1
represented by exa mples of two regim e... ̂
from Trinidad, the Light Hor se and the Light
Infantry.
» ¥ *OUR
PRIZE COMPETITION
AWARDS.
[THIRTY- FOURTH A N N U A L SERIES.—1912.]
(Continued from p. 82 3 of last Volume.)
No. 6.—Mixed Team of Crickett as selected
by our readers, to Play thf u orld.
Prize Bat Winner.
D. A. FOSTER, Ivy House, Emsworth, B&ats.For this competit ion 196 of ou» readers entered ,
and the following was the team th-̂ y selected : Faulkner,
174; Hob bs, 163 ; Foster, 161 ; Fry, 155 ; Ramo s.
130 ; Macartn ey, 123 ; Bardsley, 119 ; Warner, 98 ;Rhodes , 92 ; Tru mper, 87 ; Sp ooner, 79.
No one succeeded in getting the whole team correct,but 29 competitors tied with 9 each. A ballot wan
accordingly take n an d D. A. Foster came out t he
winner. We print the names of the 28 others :—A. W.
Pegler, Landore; Herbert Phipps, G-oodmayes:It. Kullmann, Herm an Rivere, S. Blackmor , CM ?.
Pengilley, Russell Hud son and M. Baker, V";
ncht.vtei ;
Sydney Strothard, Har rogate; Herbert lo . lin,,'.
Gainsboro' ; M. E. Wontner, Heathgat e;:
'ric S J
Lane, El tham ; E." W. Foster, Ems worth; M . E-
Foster, Emsworth ; C. 0. Scott, Wvla m-on -Tyn e0. E . Collier, Stafford ; L. G. E. lumber, S o u t h s ^
J. B . Mahony, Norwich ; F. Sheldrick, London ; FT.T
Robertson, London ; R. L . Pyne, De vonp ort: A. W
King, Brighton ; W. Thorn and C. Thorn, Dollis Hill:
T. Bibby, Preston; Alec Hood, Manchester; H .
Domi ng, Cheshire ; T . Raines, Stirling.
[W e have used the ballot to determine the first six
out of this large number, and a consolation prize if a
" Boy's Own " Knife has been sent to each of the si ?
No 7— Pen-and-ink Sketch : " The Cricket
Enthusiast, and the Slacker."
Prise Bat Wimier.
H E N R Y WRIGHT, 8 Acclom Street, Hartlepool.
Consolation Prizes.
" Boy's Own " Knife :
B E R N A R D W . H A N D L E Y , Shaw Hil. , loehd ale;
N. E . ELLIS , 72 Christchurch Road, South nd-on-Sea ;
J. H . FLETCHER, 291 Navarino Mansions, Dalston Lane,
Hackney, N. E.
Hon. Mention.
A. S. H . DICKINSON, 42 Crystal Palace Park Road;
Sydenham, S.E.
No. 8.—Best Cricket Story.
Prize Pat Winner.
H. LEON ARD COURT, 71 Avondale Road. Denmark
Park, S.E .Consolation Prize.
CHARLES EDWARD QUINN, 144 Railto i oad, Hem e
Hill, S.E.
Hon. Mention.
GEORGE ALLARD, Moresh Villa, Crov-i Hill, Tippet
Norwood; H A R O L D DORNING, " Kinlo a," 25 vV'est-
gate, Hale, Cheshire.
S
* * *TYPES O P OUR EMPIRE'S DEFENDERS.
(See Coloured Plate with Monthly Part.)
8/9/2019 Boys Own Paper 26th October 1912
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-26th-october-1912 17/17
64 The "Boy's Otvn Paper.
ORBCSPODBCDCC
K. B.—We arc glad to hear that your Sectional Canoe,
built from directions given in the *' B.O.P.," has
turned out " a great success." So many readers
from all over the world have written us to a similar
effect.
B. L.—The " B.O.P." Annual is published at 8s. inhandsome cloth, and at 9s. 6d. with gilt edges.
M. M. W. (Staffs).—Write to Marconi House, Strand,
London, W.O., for particulars. Yo u would have to
lmdergo a course of training before being appointed
to a vessel as an operator.
E. W . (Dunedin, N . Z.).—As readers of the " B.O.P."
may like to see a picture of your sectional canoe
covered with canvas, we will reproduce the photo
graph in an early issue. We are glad that you found
the directions so useful.
C. A . HARRIS.—Here are the titles of the colouredplates to which you refer, with the dates when they
appeared:—" Our Main Line Express Engines,"December part, 1899 ; " Our Lightning Expresses,"
December, 1910 ; " Express Engines of the World,"
December, 1908; " Royal Sovereign," December,
1903. The publishers will send any part that you
may require if it is still in print. " Every Boy's
Book erf Railways" (published by the Religious
Tract Society) has many plates of engines.
O. E . S. (Lower Edmonton).—We cannot accede to
your request, though we sympathise with you in yourloss. Cannot you find some other hob by of interest,
which would no t entail much expense ?
THOMAS LlGHTFOOT.—Your letter is very cheering.
Tell us how you like the new volume just com
mencing, with its serials and other features. W e are
always glad to have the criticism of readers.
PHILATELIST.—Do not be persuaded against your will.
There is a great deal of sense in what a prominent
collector says: " My advice to young collectors is.
regard all real stamps as worth attention, cut your
self off from none, thus leaving yourself free to obtain
and study all as opportunity admits, and think
and speak of none as rubbish because they are cheap
and plentiful. Th e specialist's stamps are few in
.number and here to-d ay and gone to-morrow. Th e
general collector's stamps become part and parcel of himself and he cannot imagine himself without them.
He looks on them with pleasure, not for what they
will bring, but for what they are, and perhaps stillmore for what they have been to him.''
H. M. C. (Winnipeg).—Thank you for sending the
postcard showing the first engine that ran west of the
Red River. W e would rather see photographs of
your own taking, however. Wh y not take asnapshot of the ruins of " Old Fort Garry," forinstance ? A view of Main Street in the winter
months would be a striking picture.
SMALL and POOXA.—There is no special exercise to berecommended, but breathing and leg and arm drill
all tend to development.
W. D. C . and A. J. M.—It is not a simple matter tobecome an aviator. Complete tuition at a school of
flying would cost anything up to 1*75, How much
money an aviator would make afterwards woulddepend on his skill and reputation . We shall prob
ably be having an article on this subject very soon.
CURIOUS.—The mongoose of India, the plucky little
animal that kills the cobra and other snakes, has notperfect immunity from the venom of the snakes, bu t
its immunity is greater than that of other animals.
It takes a dose of cobra venom twenty times greater
to kill it than to kill a rabbit. It is the quickness
with which the mongoose avoids the snake's blow
and leaps on its enemy that enables it to become
the victor in the fight. It s sharp teeth quickly put
the snake out of action.
A . B. A L L E N (Manchester).—The adhesive postagestamp first made its appearance in Great Britain in
1840. This was followed by a stamp from Brazil in
1843. It was not until 1847 that Am erica issued its
lirst regular postage stamp, although a provisional
issue made its appearance in 1845 . Other countries
soon followed, among them France in 1849, Spain
in 1850, Italy in 1851, and Germany in 1852.
H A R O L D . — Y o u r other questions are answered in this
issue. German ten pfennig, face value only. Your
coins, unless in extra fine condition, are worth littlemore than face value.
J O U R N A L I S M.—Ma n y well-known newspaper men in
London began their careers on provincial papers.
It would be well for you to take the opportunity that
offers and enter the office to gain a few years'experience.
J. B. S.—Three pounds is the average weight of an
ostrich egg, and its contents are equal to those of
about twenty-four hens' eggs.
I N Q U I R E R .—I t was an eminent French writer who once
referred to the lobster as " the Cardinal of the Seas."
You should know what a lobster looks like before it
is boiled.
CHARLES M.—The exercises should be done slowly and
quietly, without imposing any undue strain on the
arms. Breathe naturally and evenly all "the time.
To fling your arms about like a windmill is
misdirected energy.
A. B. T. (Hertford).-—We are considering the question
of another serial by the writer you mention.
DRILL.—For particulars of the Royal North-West
Mounted Police of Canada apply to the Com
missioner, R.N.W.M.P. , Regina, Saskatchewan.
The pay is not very high. The mounted police of
the Australian states receive a higher rate of pay.
NEW READER.—The " assembling " method of catehing
moths was dealt with in an article in the August part.
SPECIAL EXTRA
Christmas number.W i t h th e next ( D E C E M B E R ) Monthly Part of the " B . O . P . "will be issued th e Special C H R I S T M A S N U M B E R , price od.In addition to splendid C O L O U R E D P L A T E S it will offer ahost of attractions, among th e numerous articles and stories
being th e following :—
Th e Proof of the Pudding. A ChristmasPlay. By A R G Y L L S A X B Y , M . A .
Th e N o v i ce of Shaston. B Y W . J .H A W K E S .
Prederoy's Sword. By J O H N L E A .
A N i g h t at an Ol d In n. By H. P.
H O B D E S (Illustrate*!).
H o w to Mak e a T o b o g g a n . By G. P .M O O N (Illustrated).
In th e Abbev Ruins. A Ghost Story.B Y H . A . WOOLLEY.
Old - Time Christmas Customs. B yT. M I C H A E L P O P E .
Seasonable Puz zles and Parlour Trick s.
By M ORL EY ADAM S (Illustrated).
Plot and Counterplot.
M y First
B. O. P . '
Christmas StoryBy ADRIAN L E I G H .
By D . A. POCOCK.
th e
Th e Wizard at the Breakfast Table.
By G E O . F R A X K L A N D .
Cryptography.
(Illustrated).
Th e Hunt i ng of " Sleeping Feet.'Indian Story. By OLAK BAKER.
Santa Claus inN E N D IC K .
Alpine Gold.(IllustralM).
By H . F .
Trouble. By V . R.
By SEROOMBE GitTPFIN-
Il lustrations by P. \X. BURTON, J . JKLLIOOB, E . B L A I K X E Y , & C .
No reader of the "B.O.P." should fall to secure a copy of this special
extra issue-, which is crammed full of seasonable stories, articles, and
Illustrations. -To prevent disappointment It is advisable to
Ready
November 25th. O RDE R E A R L Y . *rice 6d.
REOT