“ Suddenly Browning was seen to straighten up and stare toward the slope where the benches had been placed.
“There she is,” he whispered, nodding his head in that direction.
“She! Who? What are you talking about?” demanded Jack Diamond.
“Nell Thornton! Don’t look at her right now, and all at once. But you can see her on the end of that farthest bench. The slim girl, with the cotton dress and calico sunbonnet. Heavens! I’m glad to see her, for I know now that she succeeded in pulling the wool over the eyes of that villain, Sam Turner!” ”

“ The dining-room floor had been cleared and polished, and an orchestra of musicians formed from the musical lads of Blue Cove Academy.
It was a happy night for Blue Cove. All the young folks stopping in the vicinity assembled at the hotel, and when the music struck up, the floor quickly swarmed with smiling lads and pretty lassies.
Elsie Bellwood was there, and of course Frank claimed her for the first waltz. As they glided over the floor to the soothing strains of music, Elsie felt that were she to live thousands of years, never could she be happier than she was at that moment. ”

“ Fanny Darling laughed merrily.
“Of course he is!” she cried. “Why, he isn’t in it!”
The game went forward swiftly, but Frank won the second point by “lobbying,” being able to toss the ball over the girl’s head so she could not get back to receive it.
“He’s getting desperate when he resorts to that style of play,” decided Diamond.
Fanny Darling gave a shriek of laughter.
“Oh, my goodness!” she cried. “Did you see that, girls? That’s all the way he can get a point now! He’s afraid to try a drive! Is this the mighty Frank Merriwell, of whom we have heard so much? Oh, my! oh, my!” ”

“ For an instant Diamond was stunned, and when he recovered, the spy was far away, running as if his very life depended on it.
Jack scrambled up as quickly as he could, and would have followed, but Frank called:
“Let him go! It’s useless to chase him.”
“Well, that was a fool trick of mine!” growled the Virginian, disgusted with himself. “I ought to have a leather medal!”
The boat’s crew had made a landing, and now they came toward the spot on a run. Handsome, manly young chaps, from sixteen to nineteen, they were. ”

“ Bart showed considerable agitation concerning Merry’s hands.
“I hope you will not be knocked out so you’ll be unable to go in for athletics the same as usual this fall, Merry,” said Hodge. “What would the Yale eleven do without you?”
“They would get some other man equally as good,” smiled Frank.
“They couldn’t!” cried Hodge, loyally. “That would be an impossibility!”
“It can’t be you really mean that, old man?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then you are foolish. Why, Hodge, there are hundreds of men just as good as yours truly. I know I am a good player, but I also know there are others.” ”

“ It is the baying of the hounds, the whole pack bursting into a grand swell of melody. Who would not rise early to hear such a morning chant!
The fox—there he goes! He is a red fellow, fine and large, good for many a mile. He seems to run with his legs stretched straight and his body almost touching the ground, while his brush is defiantly erect.
“This is indeed sport!” thought Frank Merriwell. ”

“ Frank joined in the burst of laughter.
“Miss Creighton has me guessing,” he confessed. “I acknowledge I fell back on what seemed my last and only resort.”
“It’s too bad to laugh like that, Fan,” protested Lucy Lake. “Just see what a gentleman he is, and how honest he is in owning up that Mabel is giving him a close game.”
“Too bad!” mocked Fanny. “Oh, I don’t know! He’s altogether too honest! Nothing seems to ruffle or disturb him. I don’t like a fellow who is so cool. I’d give anything if I could get Frank Merriwell real good and mad.” ”

“ Three other girls, two of whom were swinging in a hammock, clapped their hands and laughed.
“Do it, Mabel—do it!” eagerly urged Bessie Blossom. “My brother is forever talking about Frank Merriwell, too! Sile seems to think Mr. Merriwell is the only fellow in college.”
“Oh, he’s not the only pebble on the beach!” sang Fanny Darling, who, for half an hour, had been trying to tease Jack about Frank, and had succeeded in making the loyal fellow decidedly sour and sarcastic. “He may be able to cut some ice with men, but he’ll have to sharpen his wits when he encounters the opposite sex.” ”

“ With a waving of handkerchiefs and a fluttering of fans and umbrellas, the spectators began to cheer.
Ward Hammond and Frank Merriwell came to the surface first, with Colson and Matlock close after them. Hammond was a full yard ahead of Frank, and the latter’s friends saw that Merriwell would not have an easy task if he defeated the Glendale youth, who seemed to be able to dive and swim like a fish.
But Merriwell was not worrying over the outcome of the race. He knew that a race is not always won by a brilliant start, and that the final stretch is what tests the strength of the swimmer. ”

“ You attacked us! I have a right to defend my life!”
It was plain that Harlow was trying to convince himself that he was in the right, and, could he do so, hating Frank Merriwell as he did, it was certain that he might shoot on the slightest provocation.
Jack stood still; for the moment he knew not what to do.
“Come here, Diamond,” called Frank, sharply. “Come quick! Don’t mind that fellow! If he does any shooting, I won’t leave much of a job for the lynchers! I believe they string people up down in this State in a hurry!”
“Stand where you are, Diamond!” shouted Harlow. ”

“ Colson and Tetlow were sunburned youths of seventeen or eighteen—keen-looking, intelligent fellows, attired in outing suits.
“You’ll excuse us for the call,” begged Colson, “but you see it’s this way: We’ve got those cottages down there, with the flag flying over them, and hardly anybody in them. The cottages aren’t much to brag of in the way of looks, but they are comfortable.”
“And you want us to help you occupy them?” laughed Merriwell.
“Yes, and help us do up the Blue Mountain fellows!”
Barney Mulloy and Harry Rattleton hitched their chairs nearer. ”

“ He was gone more than twenty-four hours, but when he returned he announced that a boat would follow him shortly.
That very afternoon a handsome eight-oar shell was brought to Blue Cove, and the boys received it with cheers of delight and admiration, the Blue Cove lads cheering as loudly as the others.
“Look at them!” exclaimed Diamond, his eyes shining. “True sons of Old Virginia, every one of them! Hearts as big as buckets and souls as large as their entire bodies! Virginia, Virginia! mother of presidents and fairest spot of all our glorious country! Who would not be proud to call you home!” ”

“ Bang!—sounded the gong, and once more the game was on.
“Now play, boys!” cried Paul Stone. “We won’t waste any time. Don’t fool with it! Hit it hard!”
Fenton was on the ball, and he struck it as if an engine was back of him. The sphere flew over the grass, and Liner took his rider in hot pursuit.
Harden tried to get in at the ball, but was cleverly hustled by Kimball. It seemed plain sailing. The Meadowfairs were going at it with a rush, and it looked like a goal at once.
Another hundred feet, and then, with a clever stroke, Fenton passed the ball to the mallet of Hawley. ”

“ The spectators noticed this, and their clamor increased. One solemn-looking man jumped to the top of a tall stump and capered like a schoolboy, while a couple of Glendale’s severest old maids, whom nobody supposed could be moved to any show of emotion by such a scene, were actually seen to hug each other and shed tears.
Inch by inch, foot by foot, and yard by yard, Frank gained on his opponent and bitter enemy. His head drew alongside of Hammond’s thrashing heels, forged up to Hammond’s side, came up to Hammond’s shoulder and neck, then passed him. ”

“ As the five lads walked away to take a car, Bessie Blossom said:
“How could you be so rude to such a splendid fellow, Fan? It was just perfectly horrid of you!”
“That’s so!” chorused Lucy and Mabel. “Frank Merriwell is splendid!”
“Say, girls,” cried Fanny, “you make me weary! The trouble with Mr. Merriwell is that he is smart, and he knows it. He has been accustomed to having everybody flatter him, and it will do him good to know there are persons who do not think he is the only item in the paper. Perhaps it will reduce the size of his head so an ordinary hat will fit him.” ”

“ Bruce turned and faced her.
“Good-by!” he said, again lifting his cap.
He saw her vanish into the cabin, and once more sought the blind path that led from the cabin up the mountain.
“It will be darker than a stack of black cats before I get back to the cottages,” he growled. “What in thunder makes anybody want to live in such an out-of-the-way place as this?”
He had almost forgotten the chill which he feared was coming, but now he again drew the coat collar about his throat, and began to shiver, as he plodded on.
“That everlasting Arkansas malaria will be the death of me yet!” he groaned. ”

“ But she is queer, anyway.”
“It doesn’t strike me that she is very agreeable,” said Bart.
“If she takes a fancy, she can be awfully hateful; but she is good-hearted, and when she likes a person she would do anything in her power for him. It’s too bad she is so freakish.”
“She is just saucy enough to be amusing,” declared Frank. “I do not mind it in the least.”
“It is evident she does not know of your little bout with Mr. Hegner,” said Hodge. “She thinks he can do you.”
“Charlie told me all about it,” put in Mabel, quickly. ”

“ For three generations, the adventures of the Merriwell brothers have proven an inspiration to countless thousands of American boys.
Frank and Dick are lads of high ideals, and the examples they set in dealing with their parents, their friends, and especially their enemies, are sure to make better boys of their readers.
These stories teem with fun and adventure in all branches of sports and athletics. They are just what every red-blooded American boy wants to read—they are what he must read to develop into a manly, upright man. ”

“ At tennis Mabel Creighton was a wonder. Never had Frank seen a girl who was so light on her feet and so deft with a racket. She had actually driven him to the base line game, while she played a net game and volleyed with such bewildering skill and rapidity that it made Frank gasp for breath. ”

“ They possessed hearty appetites, and Merriwell laid down a course of diet to which he insisted that they should adhere. For Browning and Dunnerwust, this was particularly hard, as each possessed an enormous appetite, and was in the habit of satisfying it to the fullest extent whenever possible.
“When I have a chill, I can’t eat, and when I don’t have a chill, Merry won’t let me eat,” grumbled the big fellow. “Sport! Is that what you call it? Well, when I get back to Old Yale I’ll forever forswear taking part in anything that resembles sport.” ”

“ But Stone was cunning, and he gave the ball a clever sweep to right field, and away from his goal. His “forward” knew the trick, and Liner was keyed up for a race to boundary.
But Frank had seen that trick before, and he resolved to find out what sort of stuff Coffin Head was made of, now that there was a good opportunity. The pony had handled himself with such ease and skill, for all of his awkward and homely appearance, that Merry was more than delighted, and now came the supreme test. ”

“ Diamond, who was watching Hammond, saw the latter’s face darken while the pupils of the boy’s eyes seemed to contract to the size of pin points.
“That fellow is a regular devil,” thought Diamond. “I must warn Frank to look out or he’ll be waylaid and shot by him some of these fine evenings.”
Hammond drew the arrow to the head with a steady hand, but, just as he released it, his foot slipped back on the grass and the arrow was sharply deviated from the line it should have taken to reach the target. Instead of flying toward the gold, it flew toward Merriwell. ”