The Strand 1911-4 Vol-XLI № 244

488 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. pleased you lately, and he seems to think that you and the others look upon him as incapable, dull—a fool, he says—and—and—he even thinks so himself now. Nothing I can say, nothing \"—she gave her interlaced hands a hopeless movement—\" will make him imagine otherwise. And it is not true—it isn't true.\" \" No, no,\" acquiesced Bickendale, some of her own eagerness in his voice—\" of course it isn't true.\" He would have perjured himself twice over for the glance she gave him of infinite grati- tude. \" He does not like business,\" went on Christine. \" He took to it for my sake. We are the only two left. There was hardly any money; but George, a boy of seventeen—I was twelve—said it must all be used to educate and clothe me, and he would not take a far- thing of it for himself, not a farthing. I went to school, and he just struggled along some- how, until by degrees he got a post here at Bickendale's with better pay ; and then he arranged that I should come home when my education was finished, instead of getting a position as music teacher. He paid out of his own salary for my music, because there was none of the other money left. And now \"—her voice broke off in a sob-^-\" he goes without lots of things to give to me. Perhaps you've noticed that he's rather shabby sometimes \" \" No.\" Bickendale pushed back his chair and rose to his feet abruptly. \" No, I have not noticed.\" \" And that is the man you all think a fool,\" said Christine, a sob in her throat. \" No,\" interposed Bickendale again ; and this time, carried completely out of himself, he took in his own the little protesting hand ; \" it is only that he has not enough grasp of business. He is a favourite with us all ; he has a thousand good points, and his heart is in the right place ; but business bewilders him. He is out of his element in an office. I have thought it more than once. He is probably clever enough in other directions.\" \" He loves the country,\" said Christine, looking mistily towards the ray of sunshine on the carpet, \" and for me he has given up all that he likes best. Sometimes I feel that I ought to take a position and set him free.\" Bickendale walked back to his desk, and stood for a moment buried in thought. He had no sisters of his own, no women-folk at all in the vast town house left to him by his father, and he felt a passionate envy of Maxwell in spite of his struggles and business ineptitude. Christine sat and watched him. The clock on the mantelshelf struck, and she stirred as if to go. Bickendale turned sud- denly and faced her, his dark brows drawn together in a frown. \" We have interests in the country.\" He spoke slowly, as if weighing some possibility in his mind. \" Perhaps your brother \" He paused again, looking astonishingly ill

HIS DEPUTY. 489 She leaned her head against the window- frame, and the surroundings outside swam in a mist. For five minutes she might give way. George was not likely to be back yet, and the lights were not turned on. She buried her face in her hands, her slender figure outlined against the pane. Someone paused in the doorway and watched her. Christine raised her head, there was a movement in the dusk. Miles Bick- endale came for- ward to where she sat and took her cold, small hand in his own. Chris- tine hoped he would not see her tears. He must never guess. She drew a long, quivering breath and tried to take her hand away. She must go on pretending to the last. In the dim light he bent closer; she could see his eyes, the face she had grown to love; it had never seemed stern or cold to her. \" You are cry- ing,\" he said, very tenderly ; \" and all this time I thought you were glad to go-\" Christine made a final effort to pretend. \" I am glad ; of course I am glad \"—but her voice broke in the saying, and the next moment she was sobbing in his arms, close to his heart. But in the midst of her happiness she presently remembered, pushing him away from her with reluctant hands. \" I can't leave George all alone,\" she said. \" I can't even tell him. He must never know. Think how much he has given up for me.\" Bickendale smiled, and took the protesting hands in his. \" He knows already, Christine. He says, in spite of all your pretence—and you pretended very well —he guessed you

Athletic Records of Men and AiVomen. HE world of athletics, into which women have entered in comparatively recent years, is one in which men have strenuously competed, not merely for centuries, but for ages. It is not to be reason- ably supposed, therefore, that in any branch of athletics the best woman can stand any real chance of deposing the best man from his pride of place. The question of interest is how far she has succeeded in approaching his achievements. This question, which is often discussed, but generally with very hazy notions as to the facts, is one which it is the object of this article to make clear (we believe for the first time) at a single glance. The table given below, and still more vividly the picture on the opposite page, show exactly what, in the different branches of athletics, the best women and the best men have respec- tively accomplished. The results are very interesting, and differ to a most surprising extent. In the case of the high vault, for example, the man is exactly twice as good as the woman, and is almost twice as good in driving the base-ball. But, on an average, his superiority is very much Ir- than this. In fact, it may be said, roughly speaking, that he is about half as good again. SPORTS. High Diving Running : 50 yards „ 75 yards „ 100 yards „ 220 yards Running High Jump j Standing High Jump Running Long Jump Standing Long Jump Walking : 1 hour Throwing 81b. Hammer Driving Base ball Vaulting Hop, Step, and Jump Golf Drive Swimming: 50 yards „ 100 yards „ 200 yards „ 300 yards ,, 15 miles Endurance : 48 miles Twenty-five miles in the sea .. Weight-lifting (two hands) ... Cycling (on road): 2,000 miles ,, „ 2,192 miles 2.600 miles Walking (road): 76 miles .... Mountain Climbing WOMEN. NAME. Miss Serene Nord Miss Fanny James Miss Helen Huck Miss Fanny James Miss Agnes Wood

ATHLETIC RECORDS OF MEN AND WOMEN. 491 AN IMAGINARY ATHLETIC GROUND—MAN AGAINST WOMAN. On this imaginary ground we have brought together, for the purpose of comparison, the records of men and women in the principal athletic sports. In the foreground, on the right, the man is swimming 4 miles t,C&4ydi. an hour, again»fc4 miles 528yds. an hour by the woman. On the left the man is jumping a height of 6ft. 5'jin., and the womatt4ft. 54in. On the road the man is walking 8, miles an hour, against 6 miles an hour bv the woman ; while the man is running at the speed of 21 miles 1,109yds. an hour against ismiles 1,196yds. by the woman. Above these the man is lifting 36611b., against 222jlb. by the woman. The man is doing a long jump of 24ft. 11 Jin., while the woman is only able to cover 14ft. s}in. In base-ball the man drives 381ft. 2}in., while the woman's record is 197ft. The man's longest golf drive is 395yds. and the woman's 252yds. The man puts the 81b. weight a distance of 67ft. 6Jin., and the woman 36ft. 7jin. The man dives from a height of 151ft. and the woman from 98ft. Finally, the man ascends to a height of 34,570ft., while the woman only reaches 23,294ft. VoL xli.-62.

THE WONDERS OF A PACK OF CARDS. By G. A. Rossetti. PACK of cards ! This is a common enough object, surely. It would tax the resources of even the ablest calculator to estimate the amount of time which has been spent by men and women in eagerly watching the varying chances of gain or loss, or maybe merely of amusement, due to the multitudinous combinations of these fifty-two pieces of coloured paste-board. But however keen the players may be, especially when a large sum of money is at slake, in their endeavours to judge correctly the chances of any particular line of play, it remains a fact that the total possible number of combinations of this comparatively small number of cards is so vast that it becomes impossible to frame a theory covering all cases, even when the attempt is aided by classifying the cases. As one instance of this, the fairly well-known fact may be men- tioned that in a game like whist or bridge, where each player receives a hand of thirteen cards, selected from the fifty-two, the total possible number of different hands which may thus be selected is greater than six hundred thousand millions. (The exact num- ber is 635,013,559,600.) This number, however, large though it may appear, becomes not merely small, but abso- lutely invisible, when compared with the total number of arrangements in which the fifty-two cards may be placed after the shuffle. To quote the whole of this number would take too much space, but it may be mentioned that it begins with 80, followed by. sixty-six other figures. It is probably a quite hopeless task to attempt to enable anyone to grasp the conception of the real meaning of such a number ; but some idea (at least, of its inconceivability) may be pre- sented by means of the following calculations. Let us suppose that two thousand millions of human beings—each supplied with a pack of cards—were to attempt actually to produce every possible arrangement of the fifty-two cards. It is further to be supposed that they work ceaselessly, without rest day or night, from year's end to year's end, at the rate of one new arrangement per second for each person during a period of one hundred thou- sand years. It should be noted that the entire population of the earth to-day is estimated to be in the neighbourhood ot one thousand six hundred millions. We are theretore assuming a number of card- shufflers about twenty-five per cent, greater than the present population of the earth. It is difficult also to grasp the meaning of one hundred thousand years. One single thousand takes us back to the remote days of King Alfred, and to go back to the birth of Christ requires less than another thousand.

THE WONDERS OF A PACK OF CARDS. 493 The hypothesis from which we start is therefore that a population one quarter more than that which now exists has spent its whole time during an interval more than fifty times the duration of the Christian era in shuffling cards at the rate of one shuffle per second, or more than thirty-one million shuffles per head in each year. In view of such figures the reader may well ask how many times the total number of arrangements will have been produced by this vast amount of sustained (though ill— directed) human effort. The answer is, not once. Mathematical calculation proves, in fact, that the number of card arrangements pro- duced under the conditions assumed will only be a minute fraction of the total possible number—a fraction so minute that it becomes necessary to devise another scheme of concrete representation in order to give an idea of its minuteness. Let it therefore be further assumed that the whole vast number of arrangements produced by the human race as above is symbolized by one drop of water. Then how much water would be required to symbolize the total number possible ? If this question is put to the reader he might well say, \" Surely a glass of water would be enough ! \" But, no. \" A bathful of water, then ? \" No. \" A large reservoir ? \" No, my friend ; you must enlarge your conceptions, or you will never reach the truth. \" The Atlantic Ocean, then ? The number of drops in that will surely be sufficient.\" But the number of drops of water in the Atlantic Ocean is not sufficient, nor will it become sufficient even when we add to the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific, and all the other oceans, seas, lakes, and, indeed, all the rest of the water on our globe. Nor would the whole earth made, from centre to surface, entirely of water, be sufficient; nor would the whole sun, similarly constituted, be sufficient. Incredible though it may seem, to obtain a volume of water containing a sufficient number of drops, it is necessary to imagine a globe of water with a diameter equal to seven thousand and twenty-five millions of miles. If the centre of such a globe is taken at the centre of the sun, then Neptune, the remotest planet in the solar system, would be immersed therein to a depth no less than seven hundred millions of miles ; in other words, such a ball of water would have a diameter about twenty-five per cent, greater than that of the whole solar system as at present known. In addition to which, remem- ber, the solar system is practically included in a flat disc, with extension in one plane only, whereas the ball to which we have been so unexpectedly led would extend not only in that plane but also, and to an equal extent, upwards and downwards from it; the rela- tion, in fact, would be that of a cricket-ball to a biscuit. After the evidence comes the summing-up.

St A STORY FOR CHILDREN. By E. NESBIT. CHAPTER VI. BEING DETECTIVES. KRSONS accustomed to the detective trade, or, on the other hand, persons who are used to keeping out of the way of detectives, no doubt find it easy to play a part and to look innocent when they are guilty, and ignorant when, of course, all is known to them. But when you are not accustomed to playing a part in a really serious adventure—not just a pretending one—you will find your work cut out for you. This was what Charles and Caroline felt. It was all very well for Charlotte to have arranged that they should help the police to look for Rupert, and the other two said cordially that it was very clever of her to have Illustrated by H. R. Millar. thought of it, and they all started together for the side- door, where the policeman was still talking to Mrs. Wil- mington. But their feet seemed somehow not to want to go that way ; they went more and more slowly, and when they were half-way to the house Caroline said :— \" I don't think I will. I don't know how. I should do something silly and give the show away. I shall say I'm too tired.\" \"You are too bad,\" said Charlotte, exas- perated. \" I go and lay all the plans and then you funk.\" \" I don't,\" said Caroline. And so anxious was she not to have to play the part of pre- tending to look for Rupert, when all the time she knew where he was, that she added, humbly, \" Don't be snarky. I'm only saying I'm not clever enough. I'm not so clever as you, that's all.\" Charlotte stamped her foot. \" Oh, all right,\" she said ; \" but for goodness' sake come on. They'll think there's something up.\" And they walked on. \" Look here,\" said Caroline, suddenly, \" I will pretend to help. It was only that I was so awfully afraid they'd find him. Only, if I disappear, you'll understand it's just because I felt sillier than T could bear. You help too, Charles. I'm sure you can, only don't pre- tend too much. I shouldn't talk except to ask questions, if I were you.\"

THE WONDERFUL GARDEN. 495 \" Right-o,\" said Charlotte, and Charles said, \" Oh, well, only if I give it away without meaning to, don't blame me.\" And by this time they were quite near the house, by whose side-door of many-coloured glass the group of talking grown-ups awaited them. Mrs. Wilmington was there with her handkerchief over her head, and William and the gardener's boy and the gardener, and a tall, stout young man with fat, red hands, who was the police. \" I can't and won't,\" Mrs. Wilmington was saying. \" The master's orders is—are— that he's not to be disturbed in the mornings on any pretence—not if the house was on fire. I couldn't face him with this vulgar tale of runaway boys. / give you leave to search for him,\" she said, in proud, refined accents. \" I'm quate competent to take that upon me, quate.\" The police turned from her to the children, who said, \" Good morning ! \"—all but Char- lotte, who had said it before. \" Good morning to you,\" said the police. \" And so you young ladies and gents is going to join the search ? And very useful you'll be,\" he added, affably, \" knowing the place and what not. Now see here,\" he went on, condescending to them in a way which, it was remarked later, was like his cheek; \" let's have a game of play, make-believe, you know. Let's pretend this runaway lad is a friend of yours \"—(a cold shiver ran down three youthful backs ; for a moment it seemed that all was discovered, but the police went on, still playfully)—\" a friend of yours, and you and him has settled to play a little game of hide-and-seek. And he's hid. Now, where,\" he ended, more affably, almost more than they could bear, \" where would you look first ? \" \" I don't know,\" said Charles, miserably. \" Oh, just anywhere,\" said Charlotte. But Caroline said slowly, \" I should look in the wood over there,\" and pointed straight to the spot where Rupert lay buried in fern and leaves. \" Right you are,\" said the police, delighted to have got a suggestion. \" Then here goes.\" Charlotte dared not look at her sister, lest her face should show her detestation of this traitorous act. Charles put his hands in his pockets to express indifference, and decided not to whistle for fear of overdoing his part. He told himself that he never would have believed it of Caro—never. And now Caroline was speaking again, looking confidingly up into the large, patron- izing face of the police. \" That's where I should look,\" she was saying, \" if we were playing hide-and-seek. But as it is You see, we've been there all the morning, and he couldn't have come into the wood without our hearing him, you know. Have you tried the other wood, beyond the garden ? And the thatched summer-house ? And the lodge that isn't used ? Over by the other gates, you know.\"

496 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. said the police. \" I'm just a-going to tell him to keep on up and down outside.\" \" Let's go and have another look at those birds' nests while we're waiting,\" said Char- lotte, with great presence of mind. And so it was through the little diamond panes of the lodge that they saw again the Murd- stone gentleman, in evening dress and an overcoat, with his tie in a crumpled state under one ear, and his face, as Charlotte said, exactly like the face of a baffled executioner. He stood talking to the police for a few moments, with the old familiar scowl that they knew so well. They felt like that about only me scowler, at know, on on sion. Then h back through the gate, and the chil- dren, when they were quite sure that he was gone, re- joined the police. \" I thought it best,\" the police explained to Wil- liam, \" to keep the gent on the outside of the place. He seems peppery- natured, and if he was to spy his boy among your glass- houses, which is where I duct my search in next, I for it but what he'd leap upon him among the glass like a fox at a duck, and do damage untold, as like as not.\" Need I tell you that Rupert was not dis- covered among the glass ? Less brisk than at its starting, the party returned to the side-door where the coloured glass was, to be met on its doorstep by Caroline, rather out of breath and very hot. She carried her sun-bonnet by its strings. \" Well ? \" said Caroline. \" We haven't found him, miss, if that's what you mean,\" said the police, taking his helmet off and wiping his face. \" I suppose you ain't seen any- thing ? \" Caroline looked nervously at the others. \" I heard some- thing,\" she said, \" in the wood over there. I went back,\" she went on, in a sort of wooden way, and now she was not looking at the

THE WONDERFUL GARDEN. 497 could hardly bear to go, yet they could still less bear to be left behind. Across the hot. sunny grass they went and into the wood; even that, though shady, was hot, and there seemed to be more flies than could possibly be needed for any useful purpose. Caroline, still carefully avoiding the eyes of the others, led the way straight to the ferny lair where they had left Rupert, the others following in helpless fury. \" Halloa ! \" said the police, \" this looks something like.\" For there the lair was—plainly to be seen— a lair and nothing else, but a lair that was deserted. \" I think we're on to him now,\" said the police. \" Which way did you say them foot- steps was, missie ? \" \" Farther on,\" said Caroline. \" I tied my handkerchief to a tree to mark the place.\" \" You never ! \" said the police, admiringly. \" Why, you deserve to be in the force, miss. It's not every constable, even, would have thought of that.\" Following Caroline and the police, pushing miserably through the bushes, that sprang back as the others passed through and tried to hit them in the face, Charlotte and Charles exchanged glances full of meaning. The whole party made a good deal of noise. \" You'd do fine for a keeper,\" said William, coming last. \"No poachers wouldn't never hear you a-coming.\" \" That your handkerchief, miss ? \" the police at the same moment asked, smartly, and pointed to a white thing that drooped from a dogwood branch; \" you identify the handkerchief ? \" \" Yes,\" said Caroline, in a stifled voice; \" and there \"—she pointed down. There were footprints, very plain and deeply-marked footprints, not very large, yet not small like a girl's. They were the footprints, beyond any doubt, of a boy. \" Now we've got him,\" said the police, for about the fifteenth time that morning, and proceeded to follow the steps, as was remarked later, like any old sleuth-hound. The tracks led them down a steep place, a sort of gorge, and ended at the tall oak fence. \" He must have escaped this way,\" said the police. \" There's another footprint here,\" said Caroline, anxiously. \" So there be,\" said the police. \" You 'ave been a 'elp, miss. I shall name you in my report.\" It was now seen that a further line of foot- prints led along the fence to a loose pale. \" This is where he got through, you may depend,\" said the police. \" I'll easy wrench another pale loose, if you want to follow on,\" said William, and, as he did so, Charlotte saw him wink, distinctly wink, at Caroline. How hateful everybody was ! Oh, poor Rupert ! Everyone got through, Charles and Char- lotte rather doubtfully looking up and down

49» THE STRAND MAGAZINE. \" If we can't be any more use,\" said Caroline, hastily, \" perhaps you wouldn't mind our going back to our dinners. They'll be getting dreadfully cold for the time of year,\" she added, a little wildly. \"There is no need to. detain you,\" said the police, \" and thanking you for your assistance, which shall be mentioned in my report. Good morning \" I know listening's wrong,\" she said; \" but when you're playing detectives the rules are different, and I should like \" \" Slip along by the pale, miss,\" said William. \" All's fair in love an' war, as the saying is.\" 'THEY WERE THE FOOTPRINTS, BEYOND ANY DOUBT, OF A BOY.\" to you.\" He blew his whistle, and they hastened back through the gap. Once through it the others refused to meet Caroline's eye. She did not seem to notice it. She slipped, and the others could not help following her. William went too. The boots of the Murdstone tutor were now heard on the road. Then came the voice of the police explaining how clever he had been in finding the footsteps, the handkerchief, and the letter. \" And you'd best read the letter,\" the police added. A brief letter-reading silence was broken by the Murdstone man, very angry indeed. \" Monstrous ! \" he said. \" And left in the public road for any stranger to see. Mon- strous ! There's not a word of truth in it.\" \" You can tell that to the magistrate,\" said the police. \" Beg pardon, sir ; I think I've cleared up this little difficulty for you 34\"

THE WONDERFUL GARDEN. 499 \" I suppose I can get a trap in the village ? \" the Murdstone man asked. \" At the Green Dragon, sir.\" \" Right,\" said Mr. Macpherson, smartly. \" Good morning.\" And he turned and walked quickly away, leaving the police planted there, as they say in France. \" Well—I'm—dished ! \" said the police, aloud, after a moment's silence, to what he supposed to be solitude. \" Not so much as tuppence to drink his blooming bad health. The stingy blighter ! He can look for his own boys after this. And I hope the young 'un gets off, so I do.\" \" Same here,\" whispered William, behind the grey oak paling. The police walked heavily away. \" Best go in to dinner,'' said William, and the four walked in silence across the park. When they got to the side-door William spoke. \" You're a fair masterpiece, Miss Caroline,\" he said ; \" that I will say.\" \" Thank you,\" said Caroline. Charles and Charlotte both felt—they owned it afterwards—almost choked by all the things they wanted to say to Caroline and couldn't, because of William. \" I say ! \" said Caroline, eagerly, as William turned away. But Charles interrupted. \" We don't mean to speak to you,\" he said. But just then Mrs. Wilmington appeared at the door, and no one could say anything further—anything that mattered, that is. She escorted the girls to their room. In her superior, ladylike way she was curious about the missing boy. Charlotte told the story briefly, while Caroline buried her hot face in a big basin of cold water and blew like a grampus. Then there was dinner, and Mrs. Wilmington stayed all through that to hear more details. When dinner was over Caroline disappeared. \" I expect she's gone away to cry,\" Char- lotte whispered to her brother. \" I say, I wish we hadn't. But we did agree we oughtn't to speak to a traitor till it was sorry. You said so yourself in the wood.\" \" It's all very beastly,\" said Charles. \" I wish it hadn't happened, upsetting every- thing.\" \" I say,\" Charlotte said, \" let's forgive her now. I expect she thought she was doing right, being like a Spartan boy or something. Caro is silly like that sometimes. Let's go and find her and forgive her, and talk it all over comfortably, the three of us.\" \" I don't mind,\" said Charles. \" Let's find her, if you like.\" But they couldn't find her. Vol. xli -63 CHAPTER VII. THE ROYAL ORDER OF THE ROSE. It was William who, when they had searched house and garden and park foi nearly an hour, greeted the two as they trailed forlornly into the stable-yard on the last wild chance of finding her there. By this time both were thoroughly sorry and

5°° THE STRAND MAGAZINE. mean. And directly I began to tell you, you said that.\" She sniffed. It was plain that she had been crying. Charles sat down. \" I'm sorry too/' he said, handsomely. \"Now let's talk about something else. Our only hope is to forget poor Rupert.\" \" I'll try to forget him,\" Charlotte said : \" but he was such a nice boy. 1 suppose you had to do it, Caro. But oh, I do wish he was back again ! \" Here Charlotte began to cry. \"Oh, don't! \" said Caroline, putting her arm round her. \" Do you mean to say you don't understand yet ? I'd no idea you could be so silly.\" \" I don't think she's silly at all,\" said Charles, loyally. \" 1 wish he was here too.\" \"He is here,\" said Caroline, in an exasperated at Caroline with his head. (That looks odd when you read it, but if you try you will find that it is quite easy to do.) \" That was her. It was all her. I'll never say anything about girls being muffs again. She absolutely ran the show. She's a brick.\" \"FROM THE TANGLED THICKET RUPERT PUT FORTH A HEAD.\" whisper—\" just behind you. We thought you might be someone else, so he hid. Come back, Rupert ; it's only them.\" And from the tangled thicket Rupert put forth a head, very rough as to his hair, which bristled with twigs and pine-needles. \" Then you didn't run away to sea ? \" \" Not much,\" Rupert answered, leaning on his elbows and showing only the head and shoulders part of him. \" But the letter said \" \" That was her,\" Rupert explained, pointing \" Oh, shut up! \" said Caroline, with hot ears. \" But what did she do ? \" \" Took them off the scent. Tell them all about it,\" said Rupert. \"No; you,\" said Caro'ine, rolling over and burrowing her nose among the roses. \" Well, it was like this. After you'd gone off I was in a blue funk, and I don't mind owning it. And when she came back I thought it was the police, and about all being lost except honour, and precious little of that. Then she explained it all to me, and I got my boots off.\" \" Explained what ? \" Charles had to ask. \" Her plan, you duffer—her glorious Sher- lock Holmes plan.\" \" You might have told us,\" Charlotte couldn't help saying. \" How could I ? All among William and the police ? \"

THE. WONDERFUL GARDEN. \" Well, go on.\" \" She'd got her pocket-book, and I wrote that letter. She thought of that too. And I gave her my hanky, and she carried my boots off in her hand, and when she got to the swampy place she put them on and made the footmarks.\" \" I stamped them in as deep as I could,\" Caroline broke in, \" and I found the fence and got out and put the letter, and simply tore back round by the lodge. Didn't you notice how hot I was ? I saw the Murdstone man, but I'd got my sun-bonnet. He was cutting the heads off nettles with his stick, like someone in the French Revolution.\" \" And she led them off the scent completely. They'd have been certain to find me here, with the fern all trampled about. She thought of that too,\" Rupert said. \" But where were you, then ? \" \" Up that tree.\" He pointed to a leafy branch. \" I saw you all go by, your police with his nose on the ground like any old hound. Not one of you looked up. She's a regular Ai first-class brick, if you ask me. And now, if you can hide me a bit here till I've written to my people and got an answer Yes, she is a brick. And I shall always stand up for it that bricks are bricks even if they're only girls.\" \" You do make such a fuss,\" said Caroline, delighted with his praise and trying not to be, and feeling it the duty of a modest heroine to turn the subject. \" And now I thought we'd be the Royal Order of the Rose. The rose is the emblem of secrecy. Two buds and a full-blown you have to wear. It's the badge.\" She chose flowers and buds from the crimson heap and presented them to the others. The needed pins she produced from the front of her pinafore. \" I've got one, too,\" said Rupert, grinning from his covert. \" A badge, I mean, and \" \" Hush ! \" whispered Charlotte. \" There's someone coming. It's William.\" \" Oh, that's all right,\" said Caroline, amazingly. \" William knows. He's one of us. He's jatRring the Royal rose, too.\" \" And he isn't going to tell ? \" Charles could hardly believe it of a grown-up. \" No, he ain't a-going to tell.\" It was William who answered, pushing through the leaves and sitting down squarely on a stump. \" I don't give away a good sport like what Miss Caroline is—not me.\" \" But when did you find out ? \" Charlotte asked. \" I had my suspicions from the first; Miss Caroline going off so artful. And then when she come back of course I knew.\" \" Why of course ? \" Charles wanted to know. \" Well, nobody except the pleece would cotton to it as a young lady like Miss Caroline would set out to give away a runaway dog as 'ad trusted her, let alone a young gentle- man.\" Charlotte and Charles never wish to feel

50 j THE STRAND MAGAZINE. nose—as far as that goes, I'm your man. More especially since I've seen your governors, teachers, pastors, and masters in that nasty white rage, with his face all twisted. I wouldn't 'and over a blind kitten to 'is tender mercies. Hut my advice is \" \" Don't! \" Caroline im- plored. \" Because really we can't, you know.\" \" Well, I must be getting along,\" said William, rising stiffly. \" I ain't talked so much since the election. And I wasn't a-going to say what you thought I was a-going to say. What I was a-going to say was, get out of this. It's all trampled, and someone's sure to notice, if it's only that Jim. You go deeper into the wood, and come night-time I'll fetch him away and bed him down all right. So long ! \" He tramped away, crunching sticks and stalks as he went. \" How glori- ous,\" Charlotte said, slowly, \" to have a real live heroine for your sister !\" \" Yes, but.\" Charles asked, anxiously, \"are you sure William will keep the secret ? \" \"I'd answer for him with my life.\" said Ruperi. \" You don't know how jolly he was when he brought nie the bread and cheese, and water in a medicine - bottle. It tasted a little of cam- phor. Awfully decent chap he is '. \" '* He can't help keeping the secret.\" line spoke with ;mDressive earnestness. \" ! COME ALONG TO THE YOCNC. I MAT IN THE TRKK AND FETCHED HIM A BITE OF SOMBTH1XC ' aro- \" He wears the Royal rose and the twrin buds, the badge of secrecy. If you wear that you simply can't betray a secret. It says so in the Language of—page thirty-seven.\" She picked up the book from under the roses, fluttered its

PERPLEXITIES. Puzzles and Solutions. By Henry E. Dudeney. 37.—THE SIXTEEN SHEEP. Here is n new puzzle with matches and counters, or coins. In the illustration the matches represent hurdles and the counters sheep. The sixteen hurdles on the out- side, and the sheep, must be regarded as immovable; the puzzle has to do entirely with the nine hurdles on the inside. It will be seen that at pre- sent these nine hurdlesenclosefour groups of 8, 3, 3, and 2 sheep. The some of the hurdles sheep. Can you do When you have POOD] fojoOoJ ooioc; farmer requires to readjust so as to enclose 6, 6, and 4 it by only replacing two hurdles i succeeded, then try to do it by replacing three hurdles ; then four, five, six, and seven in succession. Of course, the hurdles must be legitimately laid on the dotted lines, and no such tricks are allowed as leaving uncon- nected ends of hurdles, or two hurdles placed side by side, or merely making hurdles change places. In fact, the conditions are so simple that any farm labourer will understand it directly. 38.—MATE IN THREE MOVES. It would be difficult to find a prettier little chess problem in three moves, produced from such limited material as a rook and a pawn, than the one given this month, by Dr. S. Gold. The novice will probably find the task of discovering the key move quite perplexing. White plays and checkmates in three moves. BLACK. T\" n T WL: Upi n 39—A PUZZLE FOR CARD-PLAYERS. A reader of this magazine recently asked me to help him draw up a schedule for his bridge club, under 'perplexing conditions, to give during the season the greatest possible variety in the matter of partners and opponents at play. It was a specially difficult case, but I think a simpler example will be found quite an interesting puzzle. I take the comparatively easy case of twelve persons. Twelve members of a club arranged to play bridge together on eleven evenings, but lio player was ever to have the same partner twice. Can you draw up a scheme showing how they may all sit down at three tables every evening ? Call the twelve players by the first twelve letters of the alpha- bet and try to group them. I say nothing on this occa- sion about opponents ; we are only concerned with the partners. Solutions to Last Month s Puzzles.

CURIOSITIES. [We shall be glad to receive Contributions to this section, and to pay lor such as are accepted] A MODEL TRACTION ENGINE. THIS model traction engine, which is eleven inches in length and in thorough working order, was made entirely by myself from scrap brass I am an engine-driver by trade, but have had no lessons in model-making. As may, perhaps, be seen from the photograph, a great variety of things were used in making the engine, though too much space would be occupied in giving a list of them.—Mr. William Nock, 13, Rankin Street, Poulton, Cheshire. CURIOUS CONE-ANIMALS. CONES from the pine or fir tree, which are easily procurable, lend themselves very readily to the construction of curious animals. It is, of course, to the younger section of The Strand readers that such a curiosity will appeal. From the photograph it will be seen that very little ingenuity is required. The cones are joined by stripping one cone of a few of its \" leaves,\" boring a small hole in another cone, and then inserting the one into the other, with the addition of match- sticks for legs.—Mr. F. Cox, 39-, Winsford Street, Staple- ton Road, Bristol. A STRANGE MAIL-CARRIER. THE surf is generally so rough at Niua-Foou, an island in the Tongan group, that there is diffi- culty in launching a catamaran (native boat). Once a month one of the Union Steamship Company's boats passes by with the mail and slows down about a mile off the shore. Nowadays a native, regardless of sharks, swims off with the mail fixed on a pole attached to a plank, as depicted in the photograph. On the occasion when this snapshot was taken the mail contained three eggs of the malloa, a wingless bird peculiar to this and one or two other islands. The mail is hooked up by a seaman on the ship's deck and the inward mail is simul- taneously thrown overboard in a hermetically-sealed paraffin tin. This photograph, wh ch was secured from the forecastle of the T.S.S. Atua on August 28th, 1910, whilst the swimmer was approaching the bows of the vessel, was taken by Dr. Faulke, of Wellington, New Zealand. A MAGIC PYRAMID. THIS little pyramid of figures is, I think, sufficiently curious to be included in your pages. On multi- plying and adding the figures as indicated in the diagram it will be found that the answers include no other figure than the figure 1.—Miss Amy C. Jefferys, 247, Spencc Street, Winnipeg, Canada. 1 X 9 4 2 11 18 X 9 & 3 111 123 X 9 & 4 ■ 1,234 X

CURIOSITIES. CRICKET AS SHE IS PLAYED. THE accompanying picture is taken from a French translation of the adventures of the famous Raffles, and depicts that hero taking part in a \"Gentlemen and Players\" cricket match at Lord's. It will be observed that he has attired himself for the occasion in a fencer's padded jacket, a pair of football \" shorts,\" and leg-guards taken from a suit of armour, but without straps or other fastening visible, and pre- sumedly glued to his bare legs. In his hand he grasps a bat, the splice of which descends nearly to the bottom of the blade, leaving us surprised that an artist of such fancy, while he was about it, did not cause it to project an inch or two, like the spike of a bass-viol. Apparently under the impression that this implement is a golf-stick, he has \" tee'd-up\" the ball in a position to drive off. But the master-stroke is yet to come. The inscription underneath the picture informs the astonished reader that this is a representation of Raffles bowling!—Mr. J. D. Eaton Richards, 6, Painswick Lawn, Cheltenham. A REMARKABLE BIRD'S NEST. BIRDS are known to choose remarkable nesting- places, but a bird's nest on a shaft revolving at a hundred revolutions per minute is undoubtedly a novelty. The photograph given above was taken at Messrs. Gent and Co.'s (Limited) Electric Engineering Works, Leicester, and the rapidly revolving power- transmitting shaft, to which the greater.portion of the bird's nest adheres, passes across a gangway at the point illustrated. This is the third season that this remarkable bird's nest has been occupied. One of the eggs has been thrown out of the nest, and is seen lying on the girder.—Mr. Alfred E. Ball, 38, St Saviour's Road East, Leicester. SOME time ago I had a case of butterflies, but some insect ate the bodies and left the wings intact. I thereupon decided to utilize the wings by making a large butterfly of them, and send you a photograph of the result. The original is about a foot square.—Mr. Percy Cutter, 40, Lawson Villas, Priory Road, Dartford, Kent. ' I \"HE Chinaman, world-renowned for patience and ± conservatism, shows nowhere more patience and conservatism than in his manner of fishing. As his ancestors did, so does he and his ingenuity is well shown in the foregoing photograph. In certain parts of the Yangtse Valley, where canals drain the vast rice- fields, the fisherman may be observed lying on his face in a tub just big enough to hold him. His gaberdine is wrapped round his middle, and forms a cushion for chest and chin. His feet stick over the stern, and his arms, used as paddles, hang over the bows. In this position he propels himself along the banks and shallow- waters, catching his finny meal by tickling it. The muddy waters p»vent his actual \" tickling\" from being seen, but the results are very apparent. Forty or fifty fish of about four ounces in weight are often caught in an hour.—Mr. H. Giles, Barnfield, Gillingham, Kent.

THE STRAND MAGAZINE. A Farmer when ASKED THE WEIGHT OF A CERTAIN PIG. REPLIED^ \"JUST SEVEN SCORE • AND HALF HIS WEIGHT' How MUCH DID THE PIC WEIGH? kssehk?*-'' Which is the longer line, from point c to point a, or from point b to point a? When you have decided, measure them and see . PICTURE PUZZLES. WE give above two more picture puzzles by Mr. Sidney J. Miller, the Folutions of which will appear next month. Solutions to Last Month's Picture Puzzles. 4. The following were the scores : — First Match : Idlers, 72 + 12 + 60+ 24 + 48 + 36. Yokels, 6 + 66+18 + 54 + 30 + 42. Second Match: Idlers, 40 + 41+44 +32 + 31 + 28. Yokels, 38 + 37 + 34 + 46 + 47 + 50. 5. The weights are 1, 3, 9, and 27 pounds, correspond- ing to the stem, limbs, laterals, and shoots of the tree. 6. Suppose the walls razed outwardly and the 12ft. wall wheeled flush with the side wall. The straight line A to B will represent the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, the other sides of which are 59ft. and 15ft. respectively. Its length is. therefore, 6o'876ft. (say 6ojft.), and the female snail's time is consequently 60 minutes and 48 seconds. SOLUTION TO \"A MATCH PUZZLE.\" LAST month we set our readers the following puzzle: Take lifteen matches and place them as shown in the diagram, then take away three, change the posi- tion of one, and the result will be the word showing what matches are made of. Here is the solution : SOLUTION TO THE ' TOOTATOO' PROBLEM. THE solution to the pro- blem given on page 341 of last month's number, which was de- signed to illustrate the newest game in the card line, brings about a situation not pos- sible in any other game. As the five of hearts is still out in Y's hand, hearts are yet trumps. Z not having any, the moment B gets in B can run off two club tricks, which, with the

OVERSEAS EMPIRE SUPPLEMENT. THE LAND OF N1MROD. By DENIS CRANE. Author 0/ \" A Vicarious Vagabond,\" etc. I E D D Y \" ROOSEVELT'S recent big-game expedition to East Africa and the chronicle of its events in the Press stirred thousands of Englishmen's hearts to hope and envy—hope, in the case of the more prosperous, that such an adventurous holiday might some day be their own ; and envy, in the case of the ordinary man, be- cause—well, because a trip to Mars in an aeroplane, while now- adays less wildly ex- citing, seemed hardly more improbable. For every robust Englishman is at heart a hunter. Back of the shirt-frill and the pink tea, the monocle and the muffin - struggle, lies dormant but not dead the primeval instinct to catch the fish, to snare the Wild, and to bring the proud beast of the forest crashing to earth. Yet high adventure of this sort is not so unattainable as it appears, nor are the chief difficulties those that seem at first insuperable. Africa, it is true, for the man of modest means, must be ruled out. But there is Canada, where abound all those elements of risk and endurance, of solitude and thrilling expectancy, so dear to the sportsman, but Vol.xli.- 64. CAMPING ON THE MOON RIVER—THE LAST DAY SEES EVERYONE SATISFIED. where the initial preparations for a hunting trip need not be so elaborate nor so costly, and where absence from home and office— always a real deterrent to the industrious— may be reduced to a minimum. Canada has, too, the advantage of being from coast to coast a part of the Empire, so that general knowledge gained in the pursuit of sport, if less romantic than that gained by the American ex - President and Mr. Winston Churchill in Africa, is more im- mediately useful to the Britisher who realizes the import- ance of Imperial ties. In particular, such an expedition would afford him an oppor- tunity of seeing with his own eyes a coun- try that is destined to play a very prominent

5o8 THE STRAND MAGAZINE—SUPPLEMENT. West, and what are the chief items of expense ? Without attempting an exhaustive list, the big game of Canada includes the wapiti, the moose, and the caribou as perhaps the most prized ; the mountain goat, the moun- tain sheep, the big-horn (Ovis montana), and Stone's sheep — all highly-valued trophies ; and, of course, the black bear and the grizzly. Deer of various kinds are also numerous. The wolf—notably the enormous timber variety, which attains its maximum size in A SCENE IN ALGONQUIN NATIONAL PARK, WHERE SPECKLED TROUT ARE BY NO MEANS RARE. British Columbia—the puma, the lynx, and the wild cat belong to the less-sought quarry, but are unprotected and may be shot at sight. From the publications of the railways and other interested parties it might be inferred that all these beasts abound in almost every province and in every part thereof. That, however, is not so. One may travel in certain districts for days on end and see nothing more exciting than a wild duck or a gopher. On the other hand, there are hunting grounds, DUCK-SHOOTING HAS AN OVERWHELMING FASCINATION FOR SPORTSMEN. well defined in range and of huge extent, where a shot at some at least of the animals named may be counted on as a dead cer- tainty, and where those in search of fish and WOLF AND BEAR, SHOT AT PARRY SOUND. PARTRIDGES ABOUND IN THE \"HIGHLANDS OF ONTARIO.\" fowl may follow their bent until desire is satiated. Northern Quebec and Ontario offer good sport for the short-timer, but a trip to British Columbia, by far the best province for all-round sport, will well rejiay the visitor for the greater time consumed. It was in this country, at the foot of the Rockies, that the present writer met a lady who had barely recovered from an adventure with an inhabitant of the forest. Returning alone in the dusk to her hotel, she was sud- denly startled by observing ahead of her a bear, evidently just on his way to the empty preserve-cans of the local scrap-heap. Her horse took fright and bolted into the woods,

THE LAND OF NIMROD. 5o9 where its rider was in such peril of a broken It would take more than a book to describe neck that, nervous as she was, she preferred the habits and peculiarities of the various to take her chance with the bear. On species of big game here enumerated, not regaining the road, however, she was relieved to mention all the varieties of fish and fowl to find Bruin in full retreat, probably the that await the visitor's rod and gun ; hence most scared of the three. a word or two only must suffice. In this favoured province, with gun, rifle, The wapiti is an animal less familiar to or rod, one may enjoy the best of sport from the English reader than the moose (or elk) and one year's end to another ; but if the visitor the caribou (more popularly known as the is bent on securing big game, let him select reindeer). Notable for his grace and beauty, first the Cassiar country, because it is easy he frequents heavily - timbered, low-lying of access, and then if he has the time he can country, where his pursuit is somewhat UNPLEASANT CUSTOMERS TO MEET IN THE OPEN—BUFFALO IN BAMFF PARK. afterwards go in quest of other game in the Lilloet and Kootenay districts. The most moderate shot, in Cassiar, cannot fail to secure trophies that will bring him, in addition to the fun and wholesomeness of their acquisition, the lasting respect of his friends at home. In 1906, for example—I quote Mr. A. Bryan Williams, Game Warden of the Pro- vince—parties aggregating twenty-one men hunted in Cassiar and killed seventeen moose, sixty-three sheep, twenty-nine caribou, seven- teen goats, six grizzlies, eleven black bears, and several foxes, making an average of seven head of big game to each gun. The average in the following year, with a slightly larger number of sportsmen, was a little higher, and included a sixty-five-and-a-half- inch moose and a forty-one-pointer caribou. arduous. His hide makes excellent leather, but the venison is coarse and dry. The moose, a big, clumsy-looking creature, with high shoulders which give him the appearance pf perpetually walking up-hill, loves not the dense forest as does the wapiti. More open timber is his haunt, generally near the great waterways. Despite his apparent awkwardness he is a stealthy quarry, and may best be got—so say some experienced hunters—by drifting cowards nightfall on a lake or any of the broader streams. Of caribou there are several varieties, the commonest ranging the open plains, fre- quently in small herds. In appearance he reminds one of the stag. His antlers are broad, to enable him to battle with the snow. Mountain sheep are prominent among British Columbia game, while the mountain

THE STRAND MAGAZINE—SUPPLEMENT. HALF AN HOUR'S WORK GIVES GOOD RESULTS THE TEMAGAMI DISTRICT. goat is even more so, being, on account of his abundance, perhaps the easiest game to be obtained. Strange to say, that terror of a hundred stories, the grizzly—of whom the reader has doubtless been impatient to hear—is not nearly the awe-inspiring beast he is reputed to be. Seldom, it is said, does he manifest the tremendous fero- city with which he is accredited, and, being an easy mark for the rifle, his killing is not often attended with extraordinary excite- ment. The best time to hunt him is the spring, when the snows have begun to melt. At this season his fur is in prime condition, and he comes forth into the open, hungry after his long fast. The black bear is very common in British Columbia. One of his favourite foods is the salmon, which he flicks deftly with his paw out of the smaller streams. The conditions under which sport is pursued in Canada—whether it be big-game hunting, or the milder forms of salmon and trout fishing, or shooting snipe and grouse and the ubiquitous duck — are wonder- fully fascinating. Rough in many- cases and diffi- cult of access, the splendid wilds of the North and West, with their soli- tary forests, lakes, and streams, bring the sportsman face to face with Nature. He be- comes a primitive man engaged in a primitive pur- suit, all thought of the social world and its vanities being (or the time A FINK SPECIMEN OF THE ELK AT 1SANFF PARK, forgotten, and his one aim the tracking and killing of his quarry. Hence, those who have known only the trampled hunting grounds of Europe, when they visit this \" Nimrod's Paradise\" — and they are coming in increasing numbers every year—feel a sense of freedom and exhilaration they have never experienced before. Happily, the cost

Result of the Dick ens Prize Competition IN OUR FEBRUARY NUMBER. ^TpHE order of popularity in which the eighteen Dickens characters have been placed by the votes of competitors is as follows : — 1. Little Nell 7. Dora Copperfield 13. Turveydrop 2. Mark Tapley 8. Boffin 14. Steerforth 3. Betsy Trotwood 9. Toots 15. Chadband 4. Nell's Grandfather 10. Wardle 16. Sapsea 5. Mr. Dick 11. Serjeant Buzfuz 17. Ralph Nickleby 6. Jingle la. Dombey 18. Carker „ •■* The First Prize of £25 has been awarded to MISS MARY FARRAH, Westwood, Beverley, Yorkshire, who placed seven of the characters in their correct order. The Second Prize of £10 has been divided between the two following competitors, both of whom correctly placed six of the characters :— MISS L. MOSELEY, 31. Picton Street, Leek, Staffs. MISS A. C. TITTERTON, 18, Deans Gate, Leek, Staffs The Third Prize of £5 has beaii divided between the two following competitors, who each placed six of the characters in their correct order, but did not identify so many of the characters as the winners of the Second Prize :—, MISS SYBIL C. DICKER, Woodman's Collage. Banstead, Epsom. MR. QUENTIN L. TEN BROEKE, 107, Warwick Road, Earl's Court, S.W. The Ten Prizes of £1 each are awarded to the ten following competitors :— MISS FRANCES BURTON, 7, Courtenay Terrace, Paignton, Devon. MISS MARY SHIELDS, 381, Rotton Park Road, Edgbaston. MISS ELSIE WARD, Collingwood, Davenport Park, Stockport. MR. S. L. RAVENSCROFT, Villa Como, Torquay. MR. CYRIL R. WOODWARD, Cavendish Road East, The Park, Nottingham. MISS G. BROWNE, Southdiffe, Torrs Park, Ilfracombe. MISS ELLEN CHITTELL, 82. Ealine Road. South Ealing. MR. W. B. M1RRLEES, 223. West Princes Street, Glasgow. MISS MARY G. REAY, 19, Rutland Square. Edinburgh. MRS. W. J. WHITTAKER, 73, Lansdowne Road, Holland Park, W