Burt L. Standish

“ The Indian seemed incredulous.
“You fool Old Joe,” he declared.
“I am not in the habit of fooling,” Merry asserted. “I speak the truth; I want you to teach him as much as you can. I believe that no man acquires useless knowledge. It may seem that he does, but, some time during his life, he is certain to find need of it. It always has been my policy to keep my eyes and ears open and learn all that I could. I know something of Indian lore, for I am not quite the tenderfoot I look, and one of my friends was a young Indian by the name of John Swiftwing.” ”

“ Merry feared they might stampede, with the steer ridden by the boy at their head.
As the animal approached the rest of the cattle, it suddenly swerved to one side and made a half-circle. Then it partly stopped, and, seizing the opportunity, Dick slipped from its back to the ground.
Frank lashed his horse still harder, for he knew that Dick was now in the greatest peril of all. The cattle of the plains are used to the sight of mounted men, whom they respect and fear; but the spectacle of a human being on foot attracts them, first arousing their curiosity and then their rage. ”

“ Then Hodge was lowered. There was a stir. The name of Merriwell came from the lips of the historian. Instantly something remarkable took place. Merry [71] was lifted and held aloft, but every man on these benches rose to his feet. It was a tribute to Frank, and the great crowd of watching spectators caught the feeling. Up rose that mass of men and women and youths and girls in one great surge, standing for the moment to do honor to the most famous college man in the world. It was a spectacle never forgotten at Yale. ”

“ Joe, however, insisted on cooking the juicy steak cut from the slain antelope, and, though he felt that he could do it quite as well himself, Merry did not refuse the old fellow this privilege.
The smoke of their camp-fire rose in a blue column. Behind them rose the cottonwoods by the stream, and the majestic mountains towered close at hand. Soon the coffee-pot was simmering on some coals raked out from the fire, sending forth a delightful odor that gave every one a feeling of ravenous hunger. ”

“ On the ground, in a perfect paroxysm of delight, rolled Dick, from whose lips came the shrieks of elfish [154] laughter. It was two days since Frank had first met this, until then, unknown half-brother.
Wrapped in a dirty red blanket, sitting with his back against the wall of the cabin, was Old Joe Crowfoot, who calmly smoked his long-stemmed pipe, and regarded the youngster and the burro with the gravity of a stone image.
“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” shouted the boy. “Look at Billy! Kick it again, Billy! Oh, ha! ha! ha! Oh, ha! ha! ha!” ”

“ Delores nodded.
“It is a good place for a man who chooses the life of a hermit,” said Bart, “but one is out of the world here.”
“Dat not true,” said Juan. “Dis is God’s world here! Da mountain, da blue sky, da wild flower, da sweet air, da birds—it is God’s world.”
“It is beautiful!” murmured Felicia.
“But monotonous!” muttered Bart.
“Some men cannot choose,” said Juan. “I was one of dat kind. I have to make my home where I can be safe.”
“That’s different,” said Frank. ”

“ Old men commend him to the young, the young try to model after him, and even the child at its mother’s knee lisps the name of Merriwell.”
“Oh, say!” muttered Frank; “he’s putting it on too thick! I can’t stand this!”
But Billy was ready to switch now, although he had no thought of stopping. He waved his hand, and sparks flew from his glowing cigar.
“Now,” he shouted, “I want to tell you what ’Umpty-six has done for Yale. ’Umpty-six is the greatest class that ever graduated from Yale!” he declared, with another wild gesture that caused him to drop his cigar. ”

“ The windows of the New Haven House are filled with women and pretty girls who had been watching the hilarious crowd of grads across the street all the evening. This is a new and wild scene to them, and now, when they behold the ’Umpty-sixers come singing and dancing up to the fence, not a few are more than ever impressed by the fact that it is a dangerous thing to turn a Yale graduate loose on old New Haven town upon the occasion of one of his class reunions.
“’Umpty-sixers, take the fence!” goes up the cry.
There follows a rush of the old fellows, all eager to gain a place on the fence. ”

“ Inwardly Frank was well pleased about the interest Dick was taking, but he did not betray his feelings, nor did he praise the boy. Instead of praising, he sometimes criticized. However, he did not permit his criticism to savor of ridicule.
Merry well knew that some natures can be much better spurred on by criticism than by praise, and it is often the case that praise seems positively harmful to a growing boy or a developing youth. He had seen many good ball-players spoiled by praise, while few had been harmed, to his knowledge, by criticism. ”

“ It was not often Merriwell said anything like this, but just now he had been provoked to the limit, and he could not refrain.
“You don’t mean to say the kid is worth eight or ten million dollars, do you?” asked Elrich, as if incredulous.
“He will inherit something like that amount when he comes of age,” answered Merry, as he carelessly toyed with the ball he had held throughout this conversation.
A swift look passed between Elrich and the man with the gray whiskers, who stood slightly apart from the group.
“And you’re his brother?” Elrich questioned further.
“I am,” bowed Merry. ”

“ The great crowd is standing now, and from every throat goes up a shriek, a yell, or a roar, till a mighty volume of sound leaps to the sky. The players quickly get up. The ball is placed just where it was held when the Indian was brought down by the white. Then those players pack together in two close masses, facing each other, crouching, looking into one another’s eyes. ”

“ I am confident that my team can show the collegians a few points in our great national game, and I believe that as a pitcher Merriwell has been greatly overrated. Everybody with sense knows that the story that he can throw a ball that will curve both in and out before reaching the batter is perfectly ridiculous, and, in case he has sufficient courage to accept this challenge, the Reds have the utmost confidence that they can bat him out of the box before the end of the third inning. ”

“ Then Merry directed Dick to give Bruce some good straight ones, instructing the big fellow to swing to meet the ball, and not to “kill it.”
“It’s the first duty of every batter to get his eye on the ball,” said Frank. “If he stands up and slashes away with all his strength, he seldom succeeds in this. Slashing is what spoils many good men who might become skilful batters.”
Browning had a reputation as a “home-run hitter,” and no home-run hitter is ever a sure hitter. It’s the man who meets the ball cleverly and places it for singles who is the most valuable. ”

“ When the other members of Frank’s team heard about it, they all expressed satisfaction.
“Why, it’s the greatest ad we could have had!” laughed Jack Ready. “I’ll wager my loveliest pair of drop-stitch hose that we draw the biggest crowd ever seen at a ball-game in this city. And how I will surprise the populace. La! la!”
“Jiminy!” gurgled Gamp. “Th-th-th-things are beginning to git lively right off!”
“Money! money!” sighed Carker, shaking his head dolefully. “It is the root of all evil! It stirs up contention and strife! It arouses greed and envy! ”

“ The boy regarded Frank searchingly and silently [164] for some moments, and then into his dark eyes came a look of lofty scorn, as he said:
“You’re a tenderfoot!”
Frank laughed outright.
“Is that why you have taken such an aversion to me?” he exclaimed.
“That’s one thing.”
“What’s another?”
“You want to boss me.”
“Is that all?”
“I won’t be bossed by you. I won’t do as you say! Even if you are my brother, you can’t make me do just as you want to!” ”

“ At Carlisle there is a school of Indian boys, and those young Indians learn to play baseball and football. Every year the Carlisle baseball and football-teams grow stronger and more difficult to defeat. They play with all the great college teams, and they enter into the games with a certain wild joy and fierceness that make the contests seem at times like life-and-death struggles. ”

“ Once in a while a boy may be ridiculed into doing his best, but always ridicule is a last resort, for it generally does more harm than good.
Frank knew that a proud and sensitive lad like Dick could not stand ridicule, although what seemed like honest criticism would arouse his nature and lead him to persistent effort. So Merry avoided any show of ridicule when he spoke freely of Dick’s failings.
Ready would have praised the lad openly, but Merriwell took care to warn Jack against doing so. ”

“ The boy sat down and remained quiet till Merriwell laid aside the pen, smiling.
“Come here, Dick,” said Frank.
The boy rose and came to him.
Frank turned his head to look out of the window, which led the boy to look in the same direction, and he saw little Felicia still caressing the burro.
“You didn’t know Felicia cared so much for Billy, did you, Dick?” asked Merry, smiling a bit.
The boy did not answer.
“Of course you didn’t,” Frank went on; “and it’s very foolish of her. It’s silly to care so much for a homely little donkey, and she ought to be punished for it.” ”

“ Well, my boy, I want to tell you that there are a few million chaps like you who would just about give their blooming lives to be able to honestly call Frank Merriwell brother. They’d rather have him for a brother than to have the President of the United States for a father. ”

“ It was a trick to fool the Reds.”
“Can’t fool them that way.”
“Merriwell will fool them with his double-shoot.”
“Double-shoot be jiggered! No man ever threw such a thing.”
“Wait and see.”
Such was the talk on the bleachers.
“Take the field,” said Merry, and the men trotted out.
Then practise began. Two of the Denver men batted the balls out, while Bart and Frank made ready to do some warming up on the side.
The work of the Reds had been almost flawless in practise, but such could not be said of Merry’s team. They showed their want of practise, although they went after everything with a will. ”

“ Dick Merriwell, running lightly into the corridor, had been stopped by the dog, which suddenly whirled on him and drove him back several steps, seeming on the point of leaping at the lad’s throat.
For some unknown reason the dog seemed to have taken a sudden dislike to the boy, and, as he growled and showed his teeth, he looked dangerous, indeed.
Immediately on being driven back by the dog, Dick had drawn a revolver, which he held ready for use. Elrich uttered an exclamation of astonishment and anger.
“Stop Rex, Dan!” he exclaimed. “Get hold of him, Tom! He’ll chew up the kid!” ”

“ Swiftwing got under it, but again the ball bounced out of his hands. This time, however, he made a leap for it, and caught it before it fell to the ground.
“That’s what I told you!” laughed Frank. “I knew you couldn’t drop the ball, old man. It’s no use for any old ball to try to get away from you.”
He made Swiftwing believe it, and from that time on the Indian steadily improved, so that, before long, he was catching everything any one could reasonably expect him to hold. Hodge was astonished.
“How the dickens do you do it?” he asked. “You have a way of making a man do his best.” ”

“ Three times had Merriwell’s men reached third, but, by sharp work, the home team had kept them from scoring. Now, however, Morley was desperate, and he went among the men, urging them to win the game.
“You must win it!” he said. “Elrich loses five thousand and five hundred dollars if you don’t. He won’t back the team another day. We’ll have to disband.”
“We’d win if we could hit that devil in the box,” said Mahoney bitterly. “He’s the worst man we ever went up against, and we all know it now. You’ll never hear me tell anybody after this that there is no such thing as a double-shoot. ”

“ Got avay!”
“And Hans Dunnerwurst!” exclaimed Merriwell, as he grasped the outstretched, pudgy hand of the fat young Dutchman.
“Dot vos me,” nodded Hans, in delight. “How you peen, Vrankie, ain’t id? You vos glatness to seen me. Yaw!”
“You fellows give me that fired teeling—I mean that tired feeling!” declared a handsome, curly-haired youth, as he thrust Mulloy, Gallup, and Dunnerwurst aside. “Why don’t you let somebody else have a show? I want to fake his shin—I mean shake his fin!”
“It’s Harry Rattleton!” Frank ejaculated, as he returned the hearty hand-grip of the curly-haired youth. ”

“ But who ever thought that old hag was up to anything of the kind?”
“Why did she do it?” asked the druggist, as he continued to apply the lotion to Bart’s hand.
“That’s a mystery,” said Ready.
“No mystery at all,” said Hodge, at once. “It was so that I may be unable to catch in the game against the Reds. That was the trick. With a raw hand like this, I’ll be knocked out. And I know the miserable gambler who is behind the whole deal. His name is Black Elrich!” ”