Burt L. Standish

“ The palpitant, swaying crowd, those in front pushed forward by those behind; the baseball players round the edges of the cleared space, bracing to hold the mob back almost by main strength; human beings climbing on other human beings to get a momentary glimpse of the fighters; men and boys jammed in a dense mass on the bleachers, and still more of them clinging like monkeys to the bending limbs of the tree—and every face ablaze with the primitive passion of mankind, the savage zest of battle, the barbarous joy of witnessing a sanguinary struggle between two of their specie. ”

“ Do you want me, ghost?”
“Come in, Worthington!” called Frank.
The man entered hesitatingly and stood near the table, never taking his eyes from Merry’s face for a moment.
“What you command, ghost, I must obey,” he said. “You own me, body and soul. Ha! ha! body and soul! But I have no soul! I bartered it with a wretch who deceived me! I was an honest man before that! Perhaps you don’t believe me, but I swear I was. You must believe me! It’s a terrible thing to be owned by a ghost who has no confidence in you. But why should my ghost have confidence! ”

“ As they entered the brilliantly lighted room and followed the waiter who preceded them to a table, Frank suddenly caught a full-length reflection of his companion in a mirror. All in a twinkling he knew she was wondrously beautiful and striking in appearance. Before that he had known she was pretty, even beautiful, but not till that moment had he realized the full extent of her beauty. She had a carriage that was graceful and queenly, a figure that Venus herself might envy, a finely shaped head, an abundance of dark hair and a complexion that all the arts of make-up could not imitate. ”

“ From this viewpoint the jam looked much more serious and far-reaching than from below. It seemed like some huge abatis bristling with spikes, and holding in place a vast expanse of tumbled timber piled up and mingled together in inextricable confusion. A greenhorn, unused to lumbering conditions, would have said at once that no human power could possibly break up this terrific tangle. Bainbridge’s practiced eye, ranging swiftly from right to left, and back again to the breast of the jam, saw instantly that affairs were serious indeed, but far from being hopeless. ”

“ I don’t care for Barbara, June—that is, not as you mean. Don’t you believe me? Did I ever tell you a lie in my life? You’re the girl I care for more than all others in the world. Can’t you trust me? What’s the matter? You’re crying!”
“Oh, I’m all we-wet, and fuf-feel just per-perfectly horrid!” sobbed June.
“And you think I’m a two-faced scoundrel?”
“No-no I don’t. I tried to think that, but now I know I was fuf-foolish. I’m ashamed of myself, Dick. I can’t help crying, and I haven’t even got a dry handkerchief to wipe my eyes with.” ”

“ Frank felt that it was useless to shout for help. Long before any one on the veranda could answer the cry and reach the spot, the encounter would be over and one or the other would be victorious.
The moon was well up by this time, and its bright light fell full upon the two men battling for their very lives at the brink of that frightful precipice. All around them the world appeared calm, and still, and at peace. They alone of all human creatures, it seemed, were aroused by beastlike passions, seeking to destroy each other. ”

“ Away toward the ledges by the harbor mouth some gulls skimmed the waves, uttering harsh and melancholy cries. Overhead a few vapory clouds were tinted with pink and edged with burnished gold.
Don gave little heed to his surroundings as he sat there in the ledge, staring down at the restless water that ran green and foamy over the broken rocks, but the expression on his mobile face indicated that the battle within him was waxing fiercer. ”

“ Quickly leaning toward Barney, Frank whispered:
"He must be humored; don't anger him."
The man, although he could not have heard the words, noted that something was said, and he cried:
"Why do you whisper together. Would you betray me? Is there no one in the wide world I can trust?"
"Betray you?" said Frank. "To whom can we betray you? You have us in your power, and you can betray us to the Danites, if you choose. You need not fear that we shall betray you." ”

“ That dog of a gringo, Frank Merriwell, caused it all! He thinks me dead and out of his path forever. I am alive, and I swear to make Merriwell suffer even as I have suffered! I'll not kill him at one blow, but I'll rob him of all he holds dear, his sweetheart, his beauty, his strength, his wealth, and then I will find a way to destroy him at last!
"This is the oath of Porfias del Norte!" ”

“ Without pausing an instant in his rush, Bainbridge drew his revolver and fired twice in the air. Then he broke the stillness with a cry of fire from his powerful lungs—a cry which might almost have raised the dead.
The gates were wide open, and, as he raced through into the inclosure, he almost collided with a shadowy figure, bent over, and running with long, agile strides. The pistol was still in Bob’s hand, and, without a moment of hesitation, he sent it crashing square in the middle of the unknown’s forehead, dropping the fellow like a log. ”

“ Merry was smiling slightly—that old, self-confident smile which spelled danger had the Clippers but seen it. Before Carson could retreat, Chip stepped out and followed up his first blow with two swift punches from right and left. The big fellow was sent reeling back headlong into his own men.
Meanwhile, Clancy and Billy Mac had not been idle. Taking advantage of their opponents’ momentary confusion, they had immediately carried the battle into the enemy’s camp. Every head was that of a foe, and they struck out with amazing carelessness as to whether they hurt any one. ”

“ Frank knew he could have no more unscrupulous and deadly enemy than Emile Durant, who seemed to have become an anarchist because he knew it would afford him an opportunity to glut his thirst for bloodshed, destruction and ruin.
Frank had ever fancied that, to a certain extent, anarchists were governed by a mistaken and distorted belief that they were patriots whose mission it was to slaughter and destroy the rich and powerful and overturn the existing governments, in order that the poor, the weak and the oppressed might be given a fair and even show in the world. ”

“ Paula Benjamin was startled.
"Oh, you musn't be too hard on him!" she said. "You know how much Jack loves Harvard, and how crazy he is for Harvard to beat Yale in this game. I was almost as crazy myself, and that is why I wanted you to ask Mr. Merriwell not to play."
"I shall never trust him again," whispered Inza, hoarsely—"never! He has broken his promise to me."
"It is certain he loves Yale as dearly as Jack loves Harvard. He may think it is his duty to break his word for the sake of Yale."
"I don't care! I don't care! I do hope Harvard will beat!" ”

“ Nothing stirs the entire soul with a sense of the beautiful like the sound of a distant song floating over the silvered bosom of a peaceful bay or lake on a moonlight night in midsummer. Hodge and Diamond, who were rowing the boat, rested on their oars, and the four lads listened a long time. ”

“ Running before the wind the Jolly Sport was a wonder. She flew like a bird.
“What are you going to do, Merry?” shouted Rattleton, in amazement.
“I am going to try to get back to the Thimbles before it is pitch dark.”
“It can’t be done!” declared Diamond.
“It’s our only show. The night is going to be blacker than a stack of black cats. We’ll be run down here on the sound, or the seas will swamp us. We can’t make New Haven against this wind. It is utterly impossible.”
The others felt that Frank was right. ”

“ I’ve been despising Merriwell because he kept Tucker on the team. I must acknowledge that you and Lynch fooled me, all right. I’m sorry to learn that Tucker was not the traitor.”
“I didn’t want to be a traitor,” said Wolfe. “Do you wonder I’m sore on Mike Lynch? I tell you I love baseball. I’m not playing, and Lynch is to blame for it. Now he suddenly has a spasm of virtue, and it looks as if he might get a chance to play on the team himself. Think I’m going to stand for that? Not on your life! Say, I’m going to make a howl. I’m going to rip up things generally.” ”

“ We are all united under one flag, the most beautiful of all flags—the Star Spangled Banner! We are all citizens of one country, the greatest and grandest the sun ever shone upon! We should be ready at any time to lay down our lives for our flag and our country."
Diamond's eyes flashed, and it seemed that the noble look on Frank Merriwell's face was reflected in Jack's. His blood was stirred by the grandest of all emotions—patriotism. Looking at the Virginian at that moment, no one could for an instant doubt his courage and his loyalty. ”

“ I will always be afraid of the darkness! In the darkness or in the light, there is no rest for me—no rest! Did you hear that voice? Do you hear? It accuses me of murder! I am haunted! My God! Haunted, haunted!”
With this heartbroken cry he sank on his knees and crept toward Frank.
“You’re the ghost that haunts me!” he exclaimed. “It is my punishment! I must always be near you, and you must haunt me forever!”
Merry touched him gently.
“Get up, Worthington,” he said regretfully. “Your punishment has been too much. Look at me. Look me straight in the eyes, Worthington. I am not dead. ”

“ The fearsome sound of the wailing whistle brought people running to windows to behold a sight no one in Greenbush had ever expected to see—Judge Wiggin driving an automobile! To say that he was driving it more than borders on hyperbole; it would be far closer to the truth to state that it was driving him—frantic! He was not habitually a profane man, but he possessed a broad vocabulary of vigorous expletives of a more or less impious nature; and it must be admitted that the language he addressed to that motor car would have shocked a parson. ”

“ That smoke was pouring into the room in clouds now. The single tongue of flame had bred a score, casting a lurid light over the place, and driving black despair into the half-conscious brain of the hopeless victim. ”

“ Frank laughed.
"It's seldom you speak like this, professor," he said. "You must be in love with the South."
"I am a Northerner, but I think the South very beautiful, and I admire the people of the South more than I can tell. I do not know as they are naturally more gentle and kind-hearted than Northerners, but they are certainly more courteous and chivalrous, despite their quick tempers and more passionate dispositions. Northerners are too brusque. If they ask pardon for rudeness, they do it as if they regretted the breath spent in uttering the words. ”

“ It is as inevitable as the sinking of yonder sun to-night and its rise again to-morrow. With a prophetic eye I look into the future and behold the day when labor shall have its rights. That day is coming as surely as the sun continues to rise in the east. The iron hand of Capital would hold it back, but that cruel iron hand cannot, Joshua-like, stay the course of the sun nor stem the tide of human progress. ”

“ But in these prosaic, modern times men have little chance to become heroes. Now I feel that I, Zenas Gunn—had I been given the opportunity—might have become a great leader, a great hero, and my name might have lived in history. I’ve always regretted the fact that I was born too late to take part in any of the great struggles for human liberty. I am naturally a fighter. I think that old rascal, Barnaby Gooch, found out that I possessed the courage of a lion and the ability to fight like blazes. ”

“ The final words came like a sigh, and, looking into the face of the sick man, Frank saw the seal of the Destroyer there. Then Merry knew that the time had come for a mortal being to face the Great Creator. Like the lamplight that faded in the day dawn the human flame was growing dimmer in the dawn of Eternity. ”

“ I would weep and tear my hair, and offer Señorita Inza my sympathy and consolation. I would tell her how grand and noble I thought the poor youth and how deeply I regretted his untimely death.”
“Say, you’re the limit!” growled Hagan. “Better be careful, man. Murder will out, you know.”
“Not always—not when cleverly done,” retorted Del Norte. “Thousands of murders have remained a mystery for all time. It’s only the fools and bunglers who are caught. They are in the vast majority, and therefore it comes that most people believe murder can’t be concealed. ”

“ For a time there was nothing heard but the br-r-r-r-r of the automobile, as it took the straight road before it like a racer under Frank’s manipulation. He had an inner feeling that Inza’s keen eyes had seen and perceived the truth, and that his father was in the greatest peril of his life.
The feeling that makes a cat love to toy with a mouse which is helpless in its power and half-unconscious filled the soul of Dion Santenel.
“If Frank Merriwell should learn that I am here he could not reach me, unless he has the wings of a bird!” ”

“ WORSE THAN A WILD HORSE.
ANNOYED and amazed by the inexplicable and cantankerous behavior of the automobile, Nathan Wiggin was, at the same time, aroused to resentment and wrath. The confounded thing was acting exactly like a wild, viciously ugly, unbroken colt. Immediately the judge's fighting blood rose. He was stirred by the tingling joy of contest; it throbbed in every vein of his body. Still holding the throttle wide open with one foot, he planted the other on the brake, and sawed at the wheel. ”

“ As the disguised unknown did not speak, Merry went on:
“The strongest evidence of your unbalanced state of mind is the ill-chosen attire you are wearing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you not dressed in the garments of your sex?”
“Sir?”
“You are not a woman,” declared Frank, coolly; “but a man in the garments of a woman. Your disguise is altogether too thin. It would not deceive anybody who looked you over closely. You are——”
Frank got no further. With a cry of anger, the disguised unknown sprang at him, grappled with him, panted in his ear:
“You are altogether too sharp, Frank Merriwell! ”

“ Why have you stopped me when we were so near the lake.”
“There is no lake.”
“Are you blind? All of us could see the lake! It is near—very near!”
“I tell you, Jack, there is no lake.”
“You lie!”
“You have been crazed by what you fancied was water. Some time you will ask my pardon for your words.”
“You will ask my pardon for stopping me in this manner, Frank Merriwell! You did it because I was the first to discover the lake! You were jealous! You did not wish me to reach it first! I know you! You want to be the leader in everything.” ”

“ As a matter of fact, they took less time than usual, for something of Bainbridge’s intense eagerness for speed seemed to have made itself felt.
All morning Bob worked like a Trojan getting the drive out into the Katahdin River. He did not storm and swear at his men, as many bosses do. Instead he had a way of jollying them along in a manner which might sound superficially like fun, but which held more than an undercurrent of seriousness. He treated them as human beings, not as if they were slaves from whom every last atom of work was to be extracted. ”

“ Frank fully understood how desperate and almost hopeless his situation must be. At first he wondered that he had not been killed outright, and then he came to believe that Ali Mustaf and Ben Ahmet had hated him so that they had thrown him into the dark underground place to perish by inches in order that he might suffer wretchedly. And then it was possible that they had believed him dead when they cast him in there.
For all of the boy’s gloomy thoughts, he found his strength returning, and strength brought hope. He would not give up as long as life and energy were left in his body. ”

“ In the home of old Enos Dugan on that lonely island of Grand Lake was a handsome rosewood piano of the very best make, and the music old Dugan’s daughter could conjure from the instrument was the wonder and comment from Vanceborough to Houlton. She could play wild dance tunes that set the feet of all hearers to shuffling, or she could draw from the polished box sad, sweet melodies which brought the unbidden tear welling to the eye. Then, again, she could make the piano thunder and roar with the wild music of Wagner till all the forest rumbled and boomed and shuddered with the sound. ”

“ The catcher got the ball and put it onto Frank—an instant too late!
A sudden silence.
"Safe home!" rang the voice of the umpire.
Then another roar, louder, wilder, full of unbounded joy! The Yale cheer! The band drowned by all the uproar! The sight of sturdy lads in blue, delirious with delight, hugging a dust-covered youth, lifting him to their shoulders, and bearing him away in triumph. Merriwell had won his own game, and his record was made. It was a glorious finish!
"Never saw anything better," declared Harry. "Frank, you are a wonder!" ”

“ Frank was nervous. It was not the first time he had been on an engine, for he had sought the friendship of the engineers, and had found opportunities to ride about the switches and watch the work, but never yet had he flung a shovel of coal in at a furnace door. He had watched and studied, feeling sure that his time would come, and all his life it had been his way to pick up all the knowledge he could obtain, knowing that almost anything a man learns comes of practical use some time.
Open came the furnace door and Merry gave a glance at the glowing heap within. ”

“ Justice to one and all of this great human family should be our motto. Unfortunately for me I was not born of the masses, as the royal knights of labor are now called by the American aristocrats of boodle. By birth I was supposed to be exalted above the lower strata of humanity. My parents were wealthy. My father gave me an education to be a slave driver over the common people. His blood runs in my veins, but my heart is not of his heart. ”

“ On Maiden Cliff, standing out against the sky, they saw the white cross that marks the spot where a beautiful girl fell to her death on the cruel rocks below. At times the winding road seemed to lead directly into the lake that they could see shimmering through the trees. It was one of the most beautiful drives Merriwell had ever taken.
They turned about finally and came back by the way of Lake City, a charming collection of cottages assembled at one of the most picturesque spots to be found around the island-dotted lake. ”

“ A wild mob of screaming, cheering, horn-tooting students was there.
It was evening, and the Yale lads had come down to the station with torches, prepared to give the eleven such a reception as no other football team had ever met.
When the train drew into the station, the band was hammering away at a blood-stirring tune. When the train stopped, the great crowd of young men and boys presented a perfect sea of upturned faces beneath the flaring light of the torches. Blue was everywhere. It was Yale's great day, and all New Haven wore the color. ”