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14, 2 °—~CO,
oS HAPPY
DAYS 'e
‘the temperature of the air and water will
begin traveling heavenward by evapora-
tion; lower the temperature sufficiently
and it will all remain on the earth’s sur-
face, and glaciers are produced,
Figure 5 gives us a bit of natural scenery
onthe Island of Spitzbergen, @ country
where glaciers ever flourish. The peculiar
part of the picture is that it shows us what
is underneath the ice as well as on top.
eyond a certain depth water never
freezes. In our picture you can see a fish
swimming along as contentedly as though
there were no ice above him at a
This picture shows an Oeploriag party | you as
making dredgings under the frozen sea,
and it also shows us exactly what happens
in acountry where the temperature ranges
too low to permit the ice to melt.
We who live in cities and have only to go
and turn the faucet to get all the water we
want, can form but a slight idea of the
value placed on drinkable water in coun-
tries where it never rains,
‘Take, for instance, Barpt at any point
off the line of the river If you want
water to drink there you have got to carry
it with you, for none ever falls, and there
is none in the
. cap
The same in Peru and other parts of
South America, where all drinking water
has to be brought from the neighboring
mountains on mule back. Even some large
towns in that country are thus supplied.
In Europe the water conveniences-whic!
we enjoy and think nothing of are searcely
known outside one or two of the largest
cities,
Thus in Spain water is hawked about b.
carriers in the streets at so much a pail,
In most of the Duteh cities it is brought
around each day through the street canals
in boats, The refreshing glass of ice water
which here is within everybody's yeach is
in Europe almost unknown,
Briefly, without water the world could
not wag, and yet what a vast amount of
precious time some waste in complaining
of the rain which is doing for us a work
absolutely necessary to be done in order
that our 3 ver lives may be preserved,
of prambling, would it not be
better oe study the wonders of water and
learn the true nature of this 8 great gift of
nature of which you complain
ro ome
ARE YOU READING THE CREAT ** FRED
FEARNOT’? STORIES PUBLISHED IN
WORK AND WIN?
he me
(This story commenced in No. 231.)
The Boy Manager;}:'
UPS AND DOWNS OF
THEATRICAL LIFE.
y N.S. WOO
(The Young American Actor.
Author of “A Stay at Sixteen,”
man, fhe Jie Magician,” ‘* Tom
Latters,” wt Shiner, the New
: York Bootblack,” ete,
CHAPTER XI,
A SUDDEN CHALLENGE,
HURRIED examination showed Dick
that the supports of the imitation rocky
pass had been loosened, and with a delib-
erate intention to injure some one, as the
structure had been all right jist before
dark, and was | then strong enouga to hold
a dozen per:
Hurrying to nthe front of the stage, he
found Mr. Bassford, and said, excitedly :
“Delay the last scene as long as you
can, H fake up something funny wit
‘Loker’ and ‘IHally’ in front ,scene,
Williams and White will help m
“Yes, ick, Peta t's the use? The
piece is going a
“Billy Budd ae “Bot in among the new
supes, and has weakened the run at the
back, It'll fall if anyone goes on it. Get
the carpenter and fix it quick. Run
front, flat just as soon as this scene. is
‘e Tu do itr cried the stage manager,
ti
hurrying to the
The most cursory. “examination showed
him that Dick was correct, and he gave
rapid orders to the stage hands and quick-
ly spread the word that the front scene
was to be extended until he gave the sig-
nal to the scene shifters,
Don, at the front of the house, was some-
what astonished to see an extra scene run
in and to hear a lot of business that ha
not been rehearsed, and he at once came to
the conclusion that something was wrong,
ered around to the stage door he
entere quickly, and at once heard some
one
they got onto us, We'd better skip
uick,”
“What are you doing here, Budd?” the
boy manager demanded, pressing forward,
He suddenly came upon two or three
men blacked up to represent Budd as-of but.
in an instant he recognized Budd as one of
them, despite the disguise, the man’s size
and the shape of his head betraying him.
The others fled, but Budd, being cornered,
said doggedly
“Tm laying super, that’s what! One
of the fellows Dick engaged was sick and I
took his place. You don't begrudge a
fellow a chance to earn fifty cents, do you?
v m broke and need the money.”
“*No, I don’t begrudge you that, but
what were you talking about? T overheard
Icame in, ething’s wrong or
Win woulgn’ t put on that front scene.
“JT don’t know. Dick’s making a hit
and asked Bassford to jet him gag a little,
‘The other scene ain’t r
* You're lying, Budd," meried Don, seizing
the man by the throat. ‘* Come, now, what
is it? Dick Hunter is as nervous as a
schoolgirl, He’s doing that new business
to delay the piece for some reason, What
is its it; pat fiend’s work have you been up
0 1
“ Let ol” snarled Budd, trying to es-
“JT ain’t done no: thing. Let go,
boys, help or he'll do me {
t whatitisif I have to choke
it out of your veowardly throat,” cried Don,
ushing the man ahead of chim, and then
ne heard the sound of a hammer,
“What have you done?” heeried, “Been
tampering wit the scenery as you did
once before?"
“That wasn't me, it was Brace. He
wanted to spoil Polly's scene. Let go, I
tell ou! You're choking me!”
don’t care if Iam’ and Don dragged
the man along the passage till he reached
the rear of the s:
“ Here, a couple of you, take hold of this
scoundrel, What's wrong, Mr. Bassford?”
“We're fixing the run, Dick detected
* You scoundrel !” said Don, turning to
Budd, whom two strong supers now held,
** You endanger the lives of half a dozen
persons and you do more, You know very
well that an accident of that kind in a
packed house like this will be sure to cre-
vte a panic,”
“Tdidn’t loosen nothing,” said Budd.
seen by Dick and get fired,
down, on mesince he's been doing my busi-
ness.
“* You misei able hypocrite !" hissed Don,
“Are you nearly ready, Mr. Bassford?
Take this reptile away. ‘Lock him up in
the property roonk, anywhere, till we can
ttend to his ca
“ All_ready, sir.”
erying Budd was hurried away,
the first entrance, Cleat, and give Dick his
cue to close the scene,’
two or three minutes the rocky pass
scene was displayed and received great ap-
plause, the audience not being used to
much in the way of scenery, and, although
only the house stuff had been used, it had
been utilized in such a way as to. appear
new
‘As Dick was sitting on his donkey in the
wings, ready to Bo on, Don stepped to his
side and whisper
“Did you actually see Budd tampering
with the runway?”
**No, but I heard him tell some one to
look out or they would be caught. The
whole thing would have fallen if 4 had not
looked at it in time, and you know what
that would mean with a crowded house
like ours, There’d be a panic, some one
said Bassford, as the
“Ru
would be hurt, and our business here
d.” sh
would be deat
“Exactly, and I thank you, Dick, for
your rae enees in doing the right thing.”
lways want to do that, Don,”
and then Dick Mgot his cue and had to go
vine end of the act received as much ap-
plause as that of the first act had been
piven, and the vartein was raised twice in
order to let the actors bow their acknowl-
calf for hit and then Dick got a special
for himself.
When they were getting ready for the
thivd act Don went to the property room
and found Budd sitting on an old lounge,
Jooking greatl dejecte
“You're pushing the wrong fellow this
ime, Mr. Don,” he said, ‘I didn’t have
nothing to do with weakening the run,
You've got down on me, though, and you
won "t hear no explanation,”
Everything is against yo ju, Budd, You
know very well that Dick wouldn't ac-
cuse anyone without cause, He doesn’t
say that he actually saw you tampering
with the scenery, but that he did see you
under suspicious circumstances, You'll
have to explain them before I'll believe
ou. You know you've got a bad record,
and you gan’ e blame anyone for being sus-
Picious of y
* Well Y didn’ tdo this thing, anyhow,”
muttered Budd, in a surly tone, “and Til
explain it all right. Can't you give mea
ghance? I'm dead broke, and I need a job
“Till consider that later,” said Don, and
wen he left to look after matters on the
stay
At the end of the fourth act Cleat told
him that Budd had broken a small win-
dow inthe property room and had made
is escape,
“That proves his guilt,” said Don, “If
he had _ been innocent, as_he claimed, he
would have remained. Well, I am not
sorry to be unable to punish him as he de-
serves, but I trust that we won't see any
more of him,”
There was no farce that night, as ‘*Un-
cle Tom” wag quite Jong enough of itself,
and it was nearly twelve o'clock when
Don and Dick left te dark, empty theater
to return to the ho
“Business was to-night,” said
ick. . “I believe you could play this town
another week, They are calling for the
*Cabi again, and Year 2 Jot of good old
ieces_‘Fenc Spy,’ of Lyons,’
and Night’ Pein Fee are you
goin to do?
hate to squeeze a town dry on the
visit night, said Don, “but if they want
us very bad I suppose we'll have to stay.”
hy ou can put off your next date all
right
“Yes, We'll be the first show there in
months, and there’s nothing else billed,
They'll know when we get there, and we
dia ork, the business up the same as we
di
“Then I'd stay, for you're sure of a good
week here, and you'd be two or three days
working up the business in another place.”
“Yes, that’s so, d to notice that
last season when we played towns thav
were supposed to be good for only one
night, I tell you a person has got to be in
this business a long time to find out all the | a lo
different sides of it, Some companies take
alot of scenery and don't give as good a
show as a company that uses the stuff
they find in the houses on the road, and
some rely on big printing, but the good | us.
show is always recognized, no matter how 7
plain the printing is.
here's a lot of philosophy in that,”
laughed Dick, but at the next moment both
boys were startled by seeing a sudden
flash of light in front of them, and hearing
a harsh voice say
men ptew up your hands or you are dead
CHAPTER XIII
_DICK IS SUSPICIOUS.
Ir was certainly rather startling to the
two boys to have a light flash in their faces
on a Jonely street at midnight and be sud-
denly commanded to throw up their hands,
andif they had been completely incapaci-
tated by the suddenness of the affair it
o| would have been nothing strange.
Don was certainly taken aback, but he
did pot prey the summons, nor did he lose
his
Die Sas always a quick-witted fellow,
and on this occasion he proved himself
more than equal to the demands upon him.
He was blinded for an instant only by
the light, but then he acted.
At once the light went out, and there
wasa sound of breaking glas:
“Thro your hands, you villains | "
cried Dick. dashing forward, - ‘*Two
Pla, at that game,”
there were two more reports in
quick’ succession, and the sound of retreat-
ing footsteps.
e on, Don, they won't bother us
” cried Dic
* We ere @ ald ot Ret the the Pistol ?”
"laughed Dick. “It'll
and thats Sabot all, You
can’t eltblank on it for cartridges,
“* But you put out the light with it, That
was a dark lantern, wasn't it?”
“Yes, but I put t that out with a stone, I
remembered having the pistol and used it,
Then I was lucky enough to find a stone
and used that, too.”
“Tt was fortunate you did, I thought
you had i put out the light with a bullet.”
“So those fellows, whoever they
were, ond on, we mustn't loiter, or they
may come
“They intended to. rob us,no doubt, I
wonder who they w
“Budd and some “ot “his chums, I sup-
He knew youd have the cash with
you, and wante
“1 think I'll have to carry a pistol after
this, tt only for show. ht of a
weapon is often sufficient to keep robbers
at a respectful distance.”
‘They reached the hotel without further
molestation, and Dick spread the story
that they had been attacked, but had
frightened the men away after firing a
shot or two,
“That'll get around,” said Dick to Don,
when they were alone, “and he won't
troubled any more in case there are others
who intended to bother us,”
Don decided to spend another week in
the town, business being so good, and he
billed the place thoroughly early Monday
morning, announcing the plays for the
first three nights, _
&
At the post office they told him that
Brace had called for his letter on Saturday
night, and had not been seen since that
ime,
The company played out the week to
even better business than the week before,
and Don was asked to come again when
convenient.
“The townspeople made money from the
company, and printers, hotel keepers, and
tradesmen 4 generally had been patronized,
So there was not the complaint so often
heard of money being taken out of the
town by the visiting showmen.
It was growing late, but the “winter had
held off thus far and Don determined to
push right on towards the northwest, and
take his chances of being weather! ound.
He played four or five towns with vary-
ing success, sometimes merely clearing ex-
penses, and. again making much more than
that, and finally reached a town in central
Minnesota, where he expected to play
three nights and then continue with two
and three night stands till he passed the
State line,
if we can keep this up,” he said to
Dick, after the first night, “tI shall have
more than enough | to pay off that mort-
‘age when it is
“What do you hear from your father?” *
asked Di ck
“*He has not yet recovered his reason,
but mother | is in hopes that he will do so
efore I retu
“TI hope he will, and I hope you will do~
a big business, ‘There are lots of risks,
though, There is the weather and other
shows ahead of us, and change in tastes
and strikes and bad business and all that,
and then you've got an expensive company,
and a week or two of bad business means
said Don, “but a cheap com-
pany couldn’t make the stops we make,
and so couldn't do the business we do, so
the, chances are as much for as against
They had seen nothing of Budd or Brace
or three weeks, and Don was cf the
opinion that they would not again appear,
dn ’t be sure,” said Dic “Budd
may drop ou t, but Brace has got ‘a weds a
against you tnd he’ll do his best to carry it
“They were playing ing one of the old pieces
in which Dic’
second night, and Ke was in the
ith Don selling tickets at the. gallery
win low.
The gallery was full, and Dick, having
little to do, turned to ‘speak to Don, who
pei had all he could ng when a rough-
ooking man stepped up, laid down a
twenty-dollar bill and asked for two of the
best seats in the house.
“That bill is bad,” ‘said Don, quietly.
‘No, it ain't, it’s good,”
“ xe ou "IL have to | give me another, I can’t
take
“ ‘ven, you ‘Il have ter, ‘cause it’s all
right,” and the man pushed the bill for
<
ard.
eT tell you: the bill is bad and I won’t
take
oT1 ook like a feller what would pass
bad bills 2” blustered the m:
“That has nothing to do with it. Yo wll
ave to give | me another bill or I can't sell |
you a ticket.
““You will sell me a ticket and you'll
take that there ill, and the man sudden:
ly thrust a big pistol under Don’:
Dick, whom the fellow had not observed,
as he was at one. side, suddenly reached
forward and s:
“e Here, you fresh citizen, drop that and
get o
The man suddenly found himself look-
ing down the muzzle ick's property
pistol, and started back i in affri,
Dick Swept the bill to the floor end con:
wicks up_ that ques bill and don’t
bother us, Do ink we've nothing to
do but waste time on fools?”
xt!” said Don, “Ihave a few more ,
choice seats left.
The man picked up his bill, put away
his istol and said:
y, young feller, that bill, ain’t bad,
T got it rent here in this town.”
“Can't help where you got it,” said
ick, Tes bad and you know it's bad.
Now, if you don’t scoot, I'll call a con-
stable and bave you locked up.”
fellow before, Ife's fixed up like a woods-
man but he isn’t one, I dropped to him
while he was talking to you, and I kne
my bluff would fetch him, . That's great,
that roperty pistol of mine.”
ou say you have seen Sim before?”
“Yes, I'm ‘sure of it, but I can’t place
him just yet.
After the people had ceased going in and
the curtain was up, Dick went back to
dress for his part and Don was left alone.
a few minutes the man who had
created the disturbance reappeared at the
window, ands
“Say, young "felier, I'm honest, [ain't no
bad DI shover, That was the ‘only bill L
4
a oS eae
Cra aied
—
SATE Ttes ees