CHAPTER XVI. LOST--A FORTUNE.

Joe McGlory drifted back to conscience amid surroundings that were entirely new to him. He was in a white iron bed. On one side of the bed stood a woman in a white cap and apron, and on the other side was a man in black. Over the foot of the bed leaned Matt, his anxious face clearing a little as McGlory opened his eyes.

“Ah!” murmured the doctor.

“Where am I?” inquired the cowboy.

“In the emergency ward of the City Hospital,” answered the doctor.

“I’ve got about as much right here as a maverick steer in a watermelon patch. Sufferin’ sister, what a jolt!”

A smile sneaked over the doctor’s face. The nurse turned her head. Matt laughed, highly delighted.

“He’ll be all right, don’t you think so, doctor?” Matt asked.

“A lad who can come out from under the influence of a narcotic with such a flow of spirits,” averred the doctor, “is bound to be all right.”

“What’s the matter with me?” the cowboy asked.

“A couple of broken ribs.”

“I thought I’d busted something! Say, Matt!”

“What is it, Joe?”

“The last I remember I was in the office of Random & Griggs. When was that?”

“Last night.”

The cowboy turned his head so he could see the sunlight coming through the window.

“And now it’s this morning?”

“Yes.”

“When will I get out of here, doc? This afternoon?”

“If you get out of here in less than two weeks you’ll do well,” said the doctor.

“Speak to me about that!” muttered McGlory.

“It’s all right, Joe,” said Matt. “I’ll be here every day to see you.”

“Sure you will. I couldn’t stand it if you stayed away. The old runabout got me, after all!”

“You were lucky to escape as well as you did,” spoke up the doctor. “You took a long automobile ride, after you were hurt,” he added severely, “and did a number of other things that were entirely unnecessary, and which aggravated your condition.”

“Correct, doc,” grinned McGlory; “I was aggravated a whole lot, and no mistake. Where’s the hoodoo car now, Matt?”

“Billy’s got it in the garage.”

“I wonder that Billy would have it there, considering how he feels about it.”

“Billy’s not the boss of the garage, Joe,” laughed Matt. “If he was, probably he’d refuse to give the car storage.”

“Hear anything from Hempstead?”

“Well, yes. Levitt is coming along as well as can be expected.”

“I don’t think you had better talk any more, my lad,” interposed the doctor.

“I’ll die if I don’t, doc,” declared McGlory. “Give me a little more rope, can’t you?”

“A little.”

“Where’s the colonel, Matt?” went on McGlory.

“No one knows, Joe. He was ordered out of town, and I guess he’s gone, or going.”

“He played hob with me, all right. How’s the syndicate?”

“You’d feel highly complimented if you could hear what they said about you.”

“What did they say about _you_?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Sure you don’t. You never remember what’s said about you, but whenever any one tips you off concernin’ a pard you keep it right on tap. What are you going to do for the two weeks I’m laid up?”

“Just hang around and wait for you to get well, I guess,” Matt laughed.

“Don’t hike out of town, will you?”

“No; I’m going to stay right here.”

McGlory looked at the doctor.

“He’s my pard, doc,” said he. “Matt’s his label, and he’s the clear quill any way you take him.”

“You both seem to stand pretty high in each other’s estimation,” smiled the doctor.

“I’m standing higher in his than I deserve.”

“Cut that out, Joe,” said Matt.

“I’ll cut it out and paste it in my hat so I won’t forget it. It’s the best lesson I ever had, and I’m going to profit by it. Lost--a fortune! That’s me. I was promised a place on Easy Street, and here I am in the hospital.”

McGlory chuckled.

“You may have lost a fortune, Joe,” said Matt, “but you’ve won something a whole lot better.”

“I have--two busted ribs and a couple of weeks’ lay-off. Oh, I’m a lucky dog!”

“Don’t fret about the ribs or the lay-off, Joe,” counseled Matt. “If you get to worrying, you may have to stay here longer than two weeks.”

“Funny how I shut my eyes in Random & Griggs’ office,” remarked McGlory, leaping from one subject to another with the abruptness of a person whose brain is still a little befogged, “and open ’em here. That was sure a hard ride from Hempstead in. I don’t know how I managed to hang on. I reckon it was my wish to play even with the colonel that held me up.”

“The colonel got his deserts, Joe,” said Matt.

“The syndicate was next to him all the time. Our chasing in to tell what we knew didn’t make such a terrible lot of difference.”

“It put us on record, that’s all. It’s mighty important, sometimes, to let people know where you stand.”

“Correct, again. But listen. Didn’t Colonel Billings pull a gun on you, Matt, before he left the office? Seems to me I remember that.”

“He pulled a gun, Joe; but I don’t know what he intended to do with it.”

“Then I’ll put you next, pard. He intended to play even with you.”

“Or you,” answered Matt.

“Not me,” insisted Joe. “The colonel knows I haven’t got sense enough to make him much trouble. But he’s afraid of Matt King. Look out for him, pard.”

“The colonel has his orders to leave town, and----”

“That doesn’t mean that he’ll go. During the two weeks I’m holding down this nice little bed here, you keep both eyes skinned for Colonel Mark Antony Billings. He’s liable to show his hand when you’re not thinking he’s within a thousand miles of you. Pretty sudden, the colonel is. He sprang a surprise on us when we got to the Country Club and found him there to meet us instead of Joshua Griggs. That’s a sample of the way he does things, Matt. You look out for him.”

“That will do now,” said the doctor authoritatively. “You’ve talked more than you ought to.”

“When’ll you blow in here again, pard?” added McGlory, reaching out his hand.

“This afternoon.”

“That’s you. I’ve lost a fortune, pard, but I didn’t let you get away from me. We’re pards, same as per usual, and in spite of what happened at the Country Club?”

“Sure we are. That couldn’t make any difference, Joe.”

“It would have made a big difference with some fellows, but Matt King’s of a different calibre.”

“That’s what pards are for, Joe,” whispered Matt as he let go his chum’s hand, “to stand by each other.”

“Like you hung to me,” returned the cowboy, “and not the way I stood by you. Well, I’ve had my lesson, and we’ll let it go at that. _Adios!_”

Matt turned and left the ward, and the hospital. There were a lot of people in New York, but it seemed like a mighty lonesome place now that McGlory was laid up for repairs.

The colonel, being a wise man, considered it good policy to get away from New York, and head for his favorite stamping grounds in the Southwest, for neither Matt nor Joe ever saw him again.

When Joe got well Matt had found something in his favorite line of motors to engage their attention, and with such a team of hustlers to drive things, the business could not be anything but a success.

THE END.

The next number (364) will contain “Pluck Beats Luck; or, Tom Talbot’s Trials and Triumphs.” By John L. Douglas.

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THE MISSING BOATS.

Reflecting the hues of the sunset sky lay Lake Menatee like a huge mirror.

Not a ripple stirred its placid surface.

The fading sunlight lent to its crystal depths the silver of its dying glory.

While along its shores the forest like an over-reaching shield outstretched its giant arms to cast weird, fantastic figures first on the white beach, and then out, out over the transparent bosom of the waters, going farther, faster and faster, deeper and darker, until the veil of twilight concealed the beautiful scene.

In the background the rugged Adirondacks kept watch and ward over the treasures below, and on their seamed and time-scarred forehead lingered the touch of sunlight long after the shadows of gloom had robbed Lake Menatee of its beauty.

Not a living creature was to be seen to give life to the solitude of nature.

Three boats drawn up on the white sand lay side by side, or at least within a few feet of each other.

They were merely common, flat-bottom rowboats.

There was nothing remarkable about them.

The water may have reached to the stern of one, but to not more than barely touch it.

Still a close observer might have seen it move, slightly it is true, but yet a movement perceptible.

Gradually it neared the water’s edge, moved by an unseen power.

So slowly did it move that fully an hour must have passed before it had gained a foot.

Then the wind, which had died down at sunset, began to sweep across the lake.

Gently, at first, it stirred the water’s tranquil surface, as if fearful of disturbing its repose.

Anon it grew stronger.

From the mountains it mustered its powers.

The sleeping waters were awakened.

In angry waves they beat the shores.

The rising tide lent its aid to the mysterious force urging the boat into its embrace.

Thus the boat was carried more rapidly away, and yet in the next two hours’ time scarcely three feet was added to the space gone over.

It must have been past midnight, when, with a last quivering shock--a dying struggle, it seemed--and the boat swung clear from the sand.

A minute later it floated slowly away.

At this moment a crash in the thick bushes, growing a few rods from the shore, broke the calm and peaceful stillness of the night.

An instant later and the form of a man uprose from the gloom of his covert.

The moon was just peeping above the Adirondacks’ dark crest, and it was light enough in the forest for one to have seen that the man was past the prime of life, though his stalwart form had borne the burden of years without losing its erectness.

He was somewhat roughly clad, and his long hair and flowing beard were unkempt. His eyes flashed brightly, but a puzzled look rested on his sun-bronzed face. His words, that fell involuntarily from his lips, furnished the key to his thoughts.

“Waal, I hev got to believe it now. But if that don’t beat all nater, then my name an’t Jarius Bede. See the thing swim along, and there an’t been a living creetur near it since long afore sundown! I can swear to that, for I an’t let my eye off on’t in all that time. It is queer.”

As he finished his soliloquy the speaker went down to the shore, but he did not step upon the sandy beach.

“I won’t do that,” he muttered, “for like as not I should find myself in the midst of that pond afore I could say Bob Bungles.”

There was nothing to explain the mystery he had witnessed. The other boats had not moved.

“Waal, waal. I’ll trundle off hum,” concluded the mystified Jarius Bede; “but as long as I stand up I know I shall never see the beat of that!”

Throwing his gun over his shoulder, for he was armed with a long, single-barreled old queen’s arm that had evidently seen its share of service, he left the place with long, loping strides, in the direction of home.

Ever and anon he glanced uneasily back, as if expecting that he was to be followed by some mysterious foe.

“Makes a feller feel queer. Hello! the boys are looking for me, I bet. I’m glad to see that light ennyway.”

A light was indeed visible in one of the valleys, and after ten minutes’ walk he came to a rude house, or cabin, around which could be seen a few acres of cultivated ground.

It was the house of one of the few settlers who had located in that wild, out-of-the-way region.

Entering without knocking, half a dozen persons sprang to their feet to greet him.

This family consisted of Jabez Bede, brother to Jarius, his wife, three strapping sons, and a buxom daughter of eighteen.

“Why, it’s only ’Rius!” exclaimed Dame Bede, with a look of relief, as if she had feared some danger.

“But where have you been all night, Jarius?” cried Jabez. “We were gettin’ a-worrited ’bout yer.”

“Jabez, I hev made a diskivery!”

“What?” chorused the listeners in a breath.

“I told yer I shouldn’t kem back till I had l’arnt sumthin’, and I an’t, that, sure.”

“It is about Ralph, I know it is!” exclaimed Mary Bede, springing to his side with a glad look on her fair countenance. “What have you learned, uncle? Tell me, quick.”

“I can prove that he didn’t steal the boat,” was the triumphant reply.

“I knew that he didn’t. But tell us what you have learned.”

“Waal, waal, it’s cur’us, but it’s true. You know that the three boats were left down on the shore as usual. Waal, I hev been watchin’ them ever since an hour afore sundrop.”

“Why, Jarius Bede, and we here a-waitin’ and a-worritin’ ’bout yer.”

“Waal, it’s worth the time, I can tell yer.”

While Jarius Bede is telling what he has witnessed we would say that considerable excitement had been occasioned among the few settlers in that vicinity by the frequent disappearance of boats from the shores of the lake. No one could tell where they had gone, but they were as effectually lost as if the water had swallowed them up.

Finally, Mary Bede’s lover, Ralph Horn, was accused of stealing, or destroying them, which amounted to the same thing, so long as they were irretrievably lost.

We can understand now something of the eagerness with which she listened to Jarius’ story. When he had finished all were agape with wonder.

“Waal, I never!” exclaimed Jabez. “Who’d a-thought it?”

“And they will believe Ralph now?” asked Mary anxiously.

“They can’t help it, only we have got to prove it to them.”

“Yes, yes,” said her father. “How’ll we do that, ’Rius? It’s an orful story to believe.”

“Let them see fer theirselves. Guess if they hed been with me they’d a-thought somethin’ ’sides Ralph Horn was ’round movin’ that boat. But I must catch a wink of sleep now. In the mornin’ we’ll all go down and clear up the mystery.”

A few minutes later the light was extinguished, and the Bede family were in slumberland, though there may be a doubt in regard to one member. But we won’t call any names.

They were all astir early the next morning, and immediately after breakfast Jarius spread the news of his discovery.

It required no urging to get half a dozen to accompany him to the lake, besides the three Bede boys.

To the surprise even of Jarius, the boat he had seen leave the shore so mysteriously the night before was nowhere to be seen either upon the lake or on the shores.

The other two were just as they had been left.

“Let’s put one of them jest where the runaway was and then watch it.”

The idea was acted upon, and the entire party withdrew into the cover of the growth to await the result.

A long, tedious watch followed, but to the disappointment of all, as well as the chagrin of Jarius, the boat remained as motionless as a rock. Not a first move was noticed.

“Wait a leetle longer,” whispered the puzzled Jarius; “I thought I seed it wink jest a bit then.”

Half an hour passed, and still the object of their vain watch had not been seen to stir.

“It’s cur’us,” muttered the leader; “but that other took an orful long time to start. Why I was here nigh ’bout six hours all told.”

“Mebbe it has to be night for it to move,” suggested one.

Be that the case or not, they watched until noon, when they abandoned the fruitless task, and the mystery of the missing boats was more unfathomable than ever.

Some vented their disappointment upon Jarius Bede, and others were silent, not knowing what to say.

Jarius was completely dumfounded, and well he might be.

“Tan’t any use to watch longer,” growled one. “We’ve been a set of fools. The idea of a boat’s moving! Jarius is mad, and we are fools. Come, we shall be the laughing-stock of all who hear of it. I’ll bet my gun Jarius got us down here on purpose for some game. If I thought he had----” and a latent look shone in his flashing eyes.

Jarius did not reply. He had enough to think of besides. Dropping upon his knees, he looked the boat over and over, and around it. He moved it, but it lay a dead weight upon the earth.

“It’s queer,” he muttered. “I can swear to what I saw with my own eyes, but I don’t understand it.”

He had regained his feet, and was about to leave the place, when suddenly something seemed to catch his attention and hold it.

Pointing to the edge of the water a moment later, he exclaimed:

“Look there, boys! See that sand move! There’s something under it! I--I have diskivered the mystery!”

Seizing one of the boat’s paddles, Jarius quickly cleared away the sand where he had seen it move, when a large turtle was disclosed to their gaze.

Upon further search another was found buried deeper than its mate.

“Waal, waal, it’s plain as daylight now. They were under that boat and moved it! T’others were moved in the same way. But we didn’t get this one over the critters.”

“Who’d a-thought!” ejaculated his brother, while the others were speechless with amazement.

“But where do they go to?” asked one, at last.

“I’ll tell yer!” cried Jarius, as a new idea suddenly entered his head; “they drift down to the outlet and into Mad River. You know an empty boat would fare hard there; and we an’t never looked there for them.”

Mad River found its way through a narrow, rocky defile where few had ever penetrated, but an exploration into the wild region was rewarded by discovering the wrecks of two boats. Though the others were never found their disappearance was no longer a mystery.

Of course, Ralph Horn was cleared of all suspicion in the affair, and that fall there was a happy wedding at the Bede farm. We need not tell who the bride was, and we can’t tell of “the years of happiness that followed,” as story-tellers are wont to say, for it was only last week the marriage vows were spoken.

ESKIMOS TAKE TO REINDEERS.

A letter from Alaska in the New York _Sun_ recently has the following interesting facts:

Of the twenty thousand reindeer under government supervision in Alaska about two thousand are above the Arctic Circle where the climate is much more severe than in their old feeding grounds in Siberia, from which they were carried by the United States revenue cutters some years ago. The reports of the local superintendents of reindeer herds will be forwarded in this, the second mail to leave the Arctic this year. These reports will show a very small increase in the herds.

The mortality among the fawns this last year was very great, owing to the blizzards which swept over the tundras in April and May when the fawning season was on. Newly born fawns, unable to stand up in the blinding storms and help themselves to nourishment, froze to death by hundreds within ten minutes after birth. Wolves and half-wolf dogs also killed many in some of the herds.

At present the herds are kept out on the open tundra near the sea, where there is no protection from the cutting blasts. District Superintendent A. N. Evans has arranged to have the deer taken inland next spring at least as far as the foothills, where the peculiar white moss on which the creatures feed is abundant, and where there is ample protection from the winds. It is hoped that this will save the fawns and prevent the heavy loss of the present year being repeated.

An encouraging feature of the work here, far from markets and utterly shut out from any considerable contact with white men, is the fact that the native is slowly but certainly coming to recognize the great possibilities of the reindeer industry. While every effort has been made to give as many natives as possible an interest in the herds by direct ownership of some of the deer, the owners of deer are still a very small minority.

So valuable has a government apprenticeship come to be considered that it has often been the deciding factor in determining the outcome of the dusky love affairs. “When you get some reindeer I will be your wife,” says the Innuit maiden with the tattooed chin. These wise young ladies know that the ownership of deer carries with it as a usual thing three or four years of first-class government rations and piles of cloth and clothing which Uncle Sam throws about in the Arctic with a generous hand. So among the natives there is developing a sort of reindeer aristocracy quite at variance with the old democratic, communistic ideas of the others who hold no property worth while, and who have not been favored by the government.

As only a limited number can be appointed apprentices every year, and thus draw government rations, many are now trying to get deer from other natives without waiting for government favors. In this few have succeeded, for the owners, recognizing their great value, are running the price of female reindeer skyward. With the destruction of the country’s game and the rising standard of life among the natives the population will come more and more to depend upon the reindeer industry, which will doubtless develop rapidly.

Living in a savage state of society with no other domestic animal than the half-tamed malamoot dog, the process of teaching the Eskimo how to take care of deer has been slow. Severe measures have had to be resorted to in many cases to compel the natives to keep their dogs from the deer camp.

Also it has been found difficult to prevent those who have no deer from shooting the unfortunate animals that stray away from the herd. These are considered legitimate prey and until recently were hunted the same as caribou. This year, however, a great many of these stray deer have been picked up and put back into the herds which they had deserted.

It has thus been found necessary to put the native herder through a course of training. Those who get their deer directly from the government serve an apprenticeship of four years. They are bound by a written contract, the strict terms of which they cannot violate without peril of losing their annual allotment of reindeer and suffering discharge from the service.

During the first three years of their apprenticeship they receive in addition to the reindeer a generous supply of food free of charge. Cloth, clothing, traps, guns, and ammunition are also given to the fortunate apprentice, who soon becomes a person of consequence in the community. For these governmental favors the apprentice is supposed to take care of his own deer and to assist in caring for the government deer.

The work of the herder in a reindeer camp is not arduous, and seems to be especially attractive to the carefree native. Ordinarily the deer have a way of taking care of themselves that suits the native. Every day an apprentice drives the herd to some feeding ground, where they feed while the herder saunters about or hunts ptarmigan or other game near at hand.

If the moss is poor the deer may feed for six hours, at the end of which time they are driven back to the vicinity of the camp and allowed to remain there until the next feeding time, while the ease-loving servants of the government sleep or whittle fine old ivory into curios to be traded off on the ships for the tobacco which Uncle Sam overlooked in ordering the shiploads of supplies which annually find their way to the reindeer camps of Alaska.

True, there is other work to be done. Every spring along comes fawning season, and the deer herders have to stand watch day and night by turns. Now and then the long, wild note of the Arctic wolf is heard through the midwinter gloom and a constant watch must be kept by well-armed men. The repeating rifle made wolves so scarce, however, that dogs are by far the greatest source of danger.

It seems utterly impossible to train the malamoot dog to herd deer. At sight of a deer the tamest malamoot becomes as uncontrollable as though he had never known human restraint and were once more a plain wolf.

Besides guarding the herd occasionally from these dangers, there are sled deer to be trained, and every June there is a kind of round-up, when the young fawns are marked, along with all deer that have changed owners during the year. In the ear of each government deer a little aluminum button is riveted securely, but all private owners and herders have a mark which must be registered with the local superintendent and also at Washington. This mark is made by cutting the ear.

So far the native in the Far North has made almost no use of the wonderfully rich milk of the reindeer. This milk, which is as white as the Arctic snows, is at least ninety per cent. cream. In fact, it is practically all a rich, snow-white, sugary cream. It is the most nourishing milk in the world, but the government has so far supplied the camps with condensed milk, and the herders have preferred opening cans to milking deer.

Unlike the Laplander, the Eskimo does not make a pet of his favorite deer. When he wants to milk her she is lassoed and thrown down. When her legs are carefully tied with walrus skin strings and her horns are safely held by some stout friend, the process of milking begins. When the last drop is extracted the highly indignant animal is unlashed and allowed to get up and go about her business.

Sometimes a horn is knocked off or a leg broken before the struggling reindeer understands that she is to be milked and not branded or butchered. Under the circumstances the dairying feature of Arctic life is not very prominent, and the milkmaid’s song is not welcomed by the wise little animals that have undergone the torture of one milking.

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BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY

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If the boys of ten or fifteen years ago could have secured such thoroughly good adventure stories, of such great length, at five cents per copy, the =Brave and Bold Weekly=, had it been published then, would have had ten times its present large circulation. You see, in those days, stories of the quality of those now published in the =Brave and Bold Weekly= were bound in cloth covers or else published little by little in boys’ serial papers, under which circumstances each story was paid for at the rate of one dollar or more.

Now we give the boys of America the opportunity of getting the same stories and better ones for five cents. Do you not think it is a rare bargain? Just buy any one of the titles listed below and read it; you will not be without =Brave and Bold= afterward. Each story is complete in itself and has no connection whatever with any story that was published either before or after it.

We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print. You can have your newsdealer order them or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt of the price in money or postage stamps.

50--Labor’s Young Champion.

53--The Crimson Cross.

56--The Boat Club.

62--All Aboard.

65--Slow and Sure.

66--Little by Little.

67--Beyond the Frozen Seas.

69--Saved from the Gallows.

70--Checkmated by a Cadet.

73--Seared With Iron.

74--The Deuce and the King of Diamonds.

75--Now or Never.

76--Blue-Blooded Ben.

77--Checkered Trails.

78--Figures and Faith.

79--The Trevalyn Bank Puzzle.

80--The Athlete of Rossville.

81--Try Again.

82--The Mysteries of Asia.

83--The Frozen Head.

84--Dick Danforth’s Death Charm.

85--Burt Allen’s Trial.

89--The Key to the Cipher.

90--Through Thick and Thin.

91--In Russia’s Power.

92--Jonah Mudd, the Mascot of Hoodooville.

96--The Fortunes of a Foundling.

97--The Hunt for the Talisman.

98--Mystic Island.

99--Capt. Startle.

100--Julius, the Street Boy.

101--Shanghaied.

102--Luke Jepson’s Treachery.

103--Tangled Trails.

106--Fred Desmond’s Mission.

107--Tom Pinkney’s Fortune.

108--Detective Clinket’s Investigations.

109--In the Depths of the Dark Continent.

110--Barr, the Detective.

111--A Bandit of Costa Rica.

112--Dacy Dearborn’s Difficulties.

113--Ben Folsom’s Courage.

114--Daring Dick Goodloe’s Apprenticeship.

115--Bowery Bill, the Wharf Rat.

117--Col. Mysteria.

118--Electric Bob’s Sea Cat.

119--The Great Water Mystery.

120--The Electric Train in the Enchanted Valley.

122--Lester Orton’s Legacy.

123--The Luck of a Four-Leaf Clover.

124--Dandy Rex.

125--The Mad Hermit of the Swamps.

126--Fred Morden’s Rich Reward.

127--In the Wonderful Land of Hez.

128--Stonia Stedman’s Triumph.

129--The Gypsy’s Legacy.

130--The Rival Nines of Bayport.

131--The Sword Hunters.

132--Nimble Dick, the Circus Prince.

134--Dick Darrel’s Vow.

135--The Rival Reporters.

136--Nick o’ the Night.

137--The Tiger Tamer.

138--Jack Kenneth at Oxford.

139--The Young Fire Laddie.

140--Dick Oakley’s Adventures.

141--The Boy Athlete.

142--Lance and Lasso.

143--New England Nick.

144--Air-Line Luke.

145--Marmaduke, the Mustanger.

146--The Young Desert Rovers.

147--At Trigger Bar.

148--Teddy, from Taos.

149--Jigger and Ralph.

150--Milo, the Animal King.

151--Over Many Seas.

152--Messenger Max, Detective.

153--Limerick Larry.

154--Happy Hans.

155--Colorado, the Half-Breed.

156--The Black Rider.

157--Two Chums.

158--Bantam Bob.

159--“That Boy, Checkers.”

160--Bound Boy Frank.

161--The Brazos Boy.

162--Battery Bob.

163--Business Bob.

164--An Army Post Mystery.

165--The Lost Captain.

166--Never Say Die.

167--Nature’s Gentleman.

168--The African Trail.

169--The Border Scouts.

170--Secret Service Sam.

171--Double-bar Ranch.

172--Under Many Suns.

173--Moonlight Morgan.

174--The Girl Rancher.

175--The Panther Tamer.

176--On Terror Island.

177--At the Double X Ranch.

179--Warbling William.

180--Engine No. 13.

181--The Lost Chief.

182--South-paw Steve.

183--The Man of Fire.

184--On Sampan and Junk.

185--Dick Hardy’s School Scrapes.

186--Cowboy Steve.

187--Chip Conway’s White Clue.

188--Tracked Across Europe.

189--Cool Colorado.

190--Captain Mystery.

191--Silver Sallie.

192--The Ranch Raiders.

193--A Baptism of Fire.

194--The Border Nomad.

195--Mark Mallory’s Struggle.

196--A Strange Clue.

197--Ranch Rob.

198--The Electric Wizard.

199--Bob, the Shadow.

200--Young Giants of the Gridiron.

201--Dick Ellis, the Nighthawk Reporter.

202--Pete, the Breaker Boy.

203--Young Maverick, the Boy from Nowhere.

204--Tom, the Mystery Boy.

205--Footlight Phil.

206--The Sky Smugglers.

207--Bart Benner’s Mine.

208--The Young Ranchman.

209--Bart Benner’s Cowboy Days.

210--Gordon Keith in Java.

211--Ned Hawley’s Fortune.

212--Under False Colors.

213--Bags, the Boy Detective.

214--On the Pampas.

215--The Crimson Clue.

216--At the Red Horse.

217--Rifle and Rod.

218--Pards.

219--Afloat with a Circus.

220--Wide Awake.

221--The Boy Caribou Hunters.

222--Westward Ho.

223--Mark Graham.

225--“O. K.”

226--Marooned in the Ice.

227--The Young Filibuster.

228--Jack Leonard, Catcher.

229--Cadet Clyde Connor.

230--The Mark of a Thumb.

231--Set Adrift.

232--In the Land of the Slave Hunters.

233--The Boy in Black.

234--A Wonder Worker.

235--The Boys of the Mountain Inn.

236--To Unknown Lands.

237--Jocko, the Talking Monkey.

238--The Rival Nines.

239--Engineer Bob.

240--Among the Witch-doctors.

241--Dashing Tom Bexar.

242--Lion-hearted Jack.

243--In Montana’s Wilds.

244--Rivals of the Pines.

245--Roving Dick, the Chauffeur.

246--Cast Away in the Jungle.

247--The Sky Pilots.

248--A Toss-up for Luck.

249--A Madman’s Secret.

250--Lionel’s Pluck.

251--The Red Wafer.

252--The Rivals of Riverwood.

253--Jolly Jack Jolly.

254--A Jay from Maine.

255--Hank, the Hustler.

256--At War with Mars.

257--Railroad Ralph.

258--Gordon Keith, Magician.

259--Lucky-stone Dick.

260--“Git Up and Git.”

261--Up-to-date.

262--Gordon Keith’s Double.

263--The Golden Harpoon.

264--Barred Out.

265--Bob Porter’s Schooldays.

266--Gordon Keith, Whaler.

267--Chums at Grandcourt.

268--Partners Three.

269--Dick Derby’s Double.

270--Gordon Keith, Lumber-jack.

271--Money to Spend.

272--Always on Duty.

273--Walt, the Wonder-Worker.

274--Far Below the Equator.

275--Pranks and Perils.

276--Lost in the Ice.

277--Simple Simon.

278--Among the Arab Slave Raiders.

279--The Phantom Boy.

280--Round-the-World Boys.

281--Nimble Jerry, the Young Athlete.

282--Gordon Keith, Diver Detective.

283--In the Woods.

284--Track and Trestle.

285--The Prince of Grit.

286--The Road to Fez.

287--Engineer Tom.

288--Winning His Way.

289--Life-line Larry.

290--Dick Warren’s Rise.

292--Two Tattered Heroes.

293--A Slave for a Year.

294--The Gilded Boy.

295--Bicycle and Gun.

296--Ahead of the Show.

297--On the Wing.

298--The Thumb-print Clue.

299--Bootblack Bob.

300--A Mascot of Hoodooville.

301--Slam, Bang & Co.

302--Frank Bolton’s Chase.

303--In Unknown Worlds.

304--Held for Ransom.

305--Wilde & Woolley.

306--The Young Horseman.

307--Through the Air to Fame.

308--The Double-faced Mystery.

309--A Young West Pointer.

310--Merle Merton’s Schooldays.

311--Double-quick Dan.

312--Louis Stanhope’s Success.

313--Down-East Dave.

314--The Young Marooners.

315--Runaway and Rover.

316--The House of Fear.

317--Bert Chipley On Deck.

318--Compound Interest.

319--On His Mettle.

320--The Tattooed Boy.

321--Madcap Max, the Boy Adventurer.

322--Always to the Front.

323--Caught in a Trap.

324--For Big Money.

325--Muscles of Steel.

326--Gordon Keith in Zululand.

327--The Boys’ Revolt.

328--The Mystic Isle.

329--A Million a Minute.

330--Gordon Keith Under African Skies.

331--Two Chums Afloat.

332--In the Path of Duty.

333--A Bid for Fortune.

334--A Battle with Fate.

335--Three Brave Boys.

336--Archie Atwood, Champion.

337--Dick Stanhope Afloat.

338--Working His Way Upward.

339--The Fourteenth Boy.

340--Among the Nomads.

341--Bob, the Acrobat.

342--Through the Earth.

343--The Boy Chief.

344--Smart Alec.

345--Climbing Up.

346--Comrades Three.

347--A Young Snake-Charmer.

348--Checked Through to Mars.

349--Fighting the Cowards.

350--The Mud-River Boys.

351--Grit and Wit.

352--Right on Top.

353--A Clue from Nowhere.

354--Never Give Up.

355--Comrades Under Castro.

356--The Silent City.

357--Gypsy Joe.

358--From Rocks to Riches.

359--Diplomat Dave.

360--Yankee Grit.

361--The Tiger’s Claws.

362--A Taxicab Tangle.

363--A Hoodoo Machine.

364--Pluck Beats Luck.

365--Two Young Adventurers.

366--The Roustabout Boys.

=Price, Five Cents per Copy.= If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they can be obtained direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money.

=STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY=

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Transcriber’s Notes:

Punctuation has been made consistent.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.