Tip Top Weekly No. 118: Frank Merriwell, Engine Wiper — page 21: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

‘TIP TOP WEEKLY. _ : 16. “OO; know thot, but he'll hate yez jist th’ soame, an it’s th’. -Givvil he is at toimes.’? — ‘*Well, I can’t help it if he does hate _ine. I was set to work on this engine, and I propose to do the job.” Larry nodded approvingly. ““Oi don’t pelave yer afraid av th’ -divvil hisself, but it’s well enough to kape yer ole open.”” ‘That's right. How about Old Slugs?’ _ “Hes been quiet as a lainb ivver since yedid him oop. Thot wura foine job, Mr. Merriwell, but it won’t be thot way wid Hicks?”? “No ??? ‘‘Nivver. He'll not attimpt to foight yez on th’ square.’’ ‘Will he fight?” ‘tHe may be afther stroiking yez whin ye’re not lookin’.’’ ‘Such foes are the most dangerous.’ ‘“‘Thot they are, me b’y, An, av all suspicions are thrue, ye’d not be th’ firrust wan Joe Hicks has hit in th’ back.” “(How is that?” ‘Sh! It’s divvil a bit any body loikes to say it around here, au’ ye must kape shtill thot Oi said a wurrud.”’ “Tm, dumb.” : "Ay old Joe wur not a foine ingineer, he’d not hold his job a day, fer there do be times whin he st’ames op wid phwhis- : ky, an’ they have to put a marn in his place. Anybody ilse would lose his job. Old Joe is docked or laid off, at th’ wurrust. An’ whin he has pwhisky i in, he’s th’ ould imp an’ all.” Larry looked about, as if making sure there was no one near enough to hear, _— ‘and then taking a seat on the pilot, and biting off a huge chew of tobaceo from a | black plug, he went on: “It wura year ago old Joe got in his wurrest schrape. It wur thirty days thot cost him, besides th’ tone he wtr in. jail.” “So he got into jail 3 ?? ‘Vis. bP) ‘What for?’ , ‘Th? firrust charge wur fer bein’ droonk an’ disorderly, but thot came near not bein’ th’? wurrust av it. It wur WAR BUTTONS. AND GAUGES FREE—SEE PAGE = - ward. thought he did something wurruse thin thot.” Again the young Irishman looked all around, and his manner showed that he was fearful that other ears than those of Frank Merriwell should hear his words. “There wur a murther in th’ case!” — whispered Larry. ‘A murder??? nepeated Frank, growing | interested. *¢ 9Sh! Nivver a man spakes av it here in th’ place. Hicks were sane wid aimarn ina tought parrut av th’ city. Th’ uixt marnin’? th’ marn wur found dead. He had been hit on th’ head wid a shtone, an’ his skull wur not hard enoough to shtand th’ crack at all, at all.” ‘And they suspected that Hicks did it??? ‘“*Be aisy, be aisy! nade against him.” ‘But not proven ?’’ . “Nivver a bit. He got out av it wid th’? aid av an alibi, av yez know what thoat is, divvil a bit do Oi.”’ ‘Why, he must have proved that he was in anotlier locality at the time: the murder was committed.’’ ‘Thot’s it! that’s it! he escaped.”? Th’ charge wur Thot’s th’ way “Well, if he prowed that, he was all right. ?? | | ‘SAv he proved it! Well, he samed to prove it. Anyhow, it wur enough to get | him off”? ‘Of course it is pretty tough to be charged with murder, but many an inno- cent inan has been accused of the crime.’ Larry nodded and turned the quid in his niouth. ‘An’ minny a marn thot wur not inno- cent as got off widout bein’ poonished. It have. been talked since thin thot old Jae’s alibi would not hold warther.”’ “Tf that is true, why wasn’t it dis- covered in the first place ?”’ “Tt wur fixed fer him thin, an’ th’ weak point not discovered till afther- Even thin it wur not found by anybody thot cared to get mixed in it at all, at all; but thim thot know say it’s more thin aven old Joe tapped th’ un- lucky devvil on th’? head. O1 warneted to tell yez, so ye’d know th’ Eoind av a. coostomer ye wur d’aling wid.” SOMMIGIOO SS CO in