right, even if they
are down below. They might be of some assistance to us if the lions get
ugly."

"Oh!" exclaimed the little boy, but before he could say any more the
Lion coughed very fiercely, and spoke to the ex-Pirate.

"How many lions and tigers did you say there were on board of that
ship?"

"About a hundred and ten, I reckon," answered the ex-Pirate.

"One hundred and ten," repeated the Lion, slowly. "And you gathered them
all in?"

"We did. Every single one." The ex-Pirate's recklessness staggered Tommy
and the Gopher. Then the Lion growled:

[Illustration: THE EX-PIRATE JUMPED UPON THE TABLE AND FIRED.]

"That being the case, I think I shall have to gather _you_ in." And he
arose, followed by the tigers, and began to approach the ex-Pirate and
the little boy. The Gopher became so alarmed that he dropped under the
table and was never seen again. Tommy was so scared that he could not
move. But the ex-Pirate jumped upon the table, and drawing both his
pistols from his belt, aimed them at the approaching beasts and fired.

The flash, the bang, and the smoke caused Tommy to close his eyes
tightly for a second, and he felt as though his heart had leaped into
his throat.

When he opened them again he was sitting on the window-seat in his own
room, and his mother was standing in the doorway.

"You must not leave the door and the windows open at the same time,
Tommy," she was saying. "That causes a draught and makes the door slam.
Get ready for supper; it is nearly tea-time."

THE END.

[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]

The first meeting of the New York Interscholastic Athletic Association
this fall will be held this afternoon at Wilson and Kellogg's School. Of
the many questions that are to come up for discussion and settlement few
can be of greater importance than that of the formation of a National
Interscholastic Amateur Athletic Association, and I sincerely hope that
a committee will be appointed to consider the best ways and means for
carrying out the idea. I have already said all I can in favor of the
scheme, and can only repeat now, at the last moment, that the formation
of such an association will be of the greatest benefit to scholastic
track and field sports, and that if the New York association fails to
seize the opportunity it now has for making history, in its own sphere,
such a chance may never present itself again. In fact, I hear on
excellent authority that the New Engla