Frank Merriwell

“ FRANK MERRIWELL’S NEW COMEDIAN
CHAPTER I.—“NEVER SAY DIE!”
It is not a pleasant experience to wake up on a beautiful morning to the realization that one has failed. There seems a relentless irony in nature herself that the day that dawns on a night when our glittering hopes have become dead, dull ashes of despair and ruin should be bright and warm with the sun’s genial rays.
So Frank Merriwell felt this fine morning in Puelbo, Colorado. The night before, with high hopes, he had produced his new play, “For Old Eli.” ”

“ All the windows of all the dormitories which face the campus were crowded with students and with women.
Three of these windows held Frank Merriwell's friends. Frank was there, with Inza, Elsie, and Winnie, together with Mrs. Hodge and Inza's invalid father, Bernard Burrage.
"As in life, the good and the evil mingle," sighed Dismal Jones, as his eyes fell on Jim Hooker and other honorable sophomores who were marching in close proximity to the Chickering set. "The wheat grows up with the tares, and the result is an everlasting bobbery." ”

“ Oh, how the Yale men shrieked, and screamed, and roared! They were like human beings gone mad. They were crazed with their admiration for the man who had done that trick. They longed to take him in their arms, to bear him on their shoulders, to do him every honor.
Gloriously had Frank Merriwell won back his lost prestige! Let a man breathe a slur against him now and there would be a hundred ready to knock that man down.
When the mass untangled Merriwell was seen lifted to his feet. He stood up, wavering a bit, supported by Forrest, who had an arm around Frank's body. ”

“ It was composed of Frank Merriwell and a number of his intimate friends; and wherever Frank and his friends were, Dull Care usually hid his agued face and gave place to smiling Pleasure.
"That grumbling old boatman at the New Haven wharf was a liar!" groaned Dismal Jones, as if it were a grief that he had not found the boatman's unpleasant prognostications true.
"What did he say?" asked Danny Griswold, who had been prancing the deck like a diminutive admiral, stopping now and blowing a cloud of cigarette smoke from his nostrils.
"He said that a smoker of cigarettes is always a measly runt!" ”

“ 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.” ”

“ When this order was filled, he calmly drank the lemon-seltzer, paid for it, rose to his feet, pulled on his gloves, and left Morey's with an air of combined nonchalance and dignity.
He was his own master once more. He had been insulted by fellows he formerly believed friends, but he was still Frank Merriwell. He felt within himself that he was a man and the equal of the best of them. Some day they should be ashamed when they remembered their act. ”

“ Frank laughed.
“It’s easier than I thought,” he said.
“That broncho was trained to buck,” said Indian Charlie, speaking loudly enough for Frank to hear. “He isn’t much like a natural bucker. The tenderfoot couldn’t stay on the back of a natural bucker a second.”
Again Frank laughed, and it was far more expressive than words. That laugh distinctly said that the foreman of the Lone Star was making a fool of himself.
Bart Hodge was angry.
“I’ll bet Frank Merriwell can ride any broncho on this ranch!” he cried, addressing no one in particular. ”

“ It put life into them just to see Frank in the box. Stolen bases on the part of the Hartfords stopped. The swiftness with which Merriwell struck out three batters made the spectators gasp.
From that on Ready was steady, and he and Frank worked together like a battery team of long experience. Frank Merriwell won, in spite of his handicap! And so the Yale rooters, and especially Merriwell's friends and admirers, who were a host in themselves, were roaring wild as they returned from the ball-ground. Merriwell joined Inza and Elsie, while Badger took a car with Winnie. ”

“ Frank Merriwell was determined to give a performance of his revised play in Denver for advertising purposes. He had the utmost confidence in “True Blue,” as he had rechristened the piece, but the report of his failure in Puelbo had spread afar in dramatic circles, being carried broadcast by the Eastern dramatic papers, and managers were shy of booking the revised version.
Some time before, after receiving the fortune from the Carson City Bank, Merry had made a fair and equal division, sending checks for their share to Browning, Diamond and Rattleton. ”

“ Let's call him Frank Hodge Merriwell. The initials are the same as your own. Bart will be pleased, and to me the baby will be little Frank."
"Fine!" laughed Merry, in great satisfaction. "That is settled. That shall be his name. Hello, there, Frank Merriwell, the younger! I'll make an [Pg 8] athlete of you, you rascal! I'll give you such advantages to start with as I never had myself."
"No matter what you give him, no matter what you do for him," murmured the happy mother, "he can never become a better or nobler man than his father." ”

“ At the open upper window of the ranch the sad-faced, pretty girl watched and waited till Frank Merriwell came riding back over the prairie.
“Here he comes!” she whispered. “He is handsome—so handsome! He is the first man I have seen who could be compared with Lawton.”
Kent Carson had heard of Frank’s departure on Wildfire, the bucking broncho. He found it difficult to believe that his guest had really ridden away on the animal, and he was on hand, together with Bart and Ephraim, when Merry came riding back. ”

“ No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell Stories. There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, as portrayed by the author, is a jolly whole-souled, honest, courageous American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell's example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. ”

“ FRANK FINDS HIMSELF PURSUED. Frank Merriwell had been detained in New York far longer than he intended when he left New Haven, and even now he felt a reluctance to go back, though it seemed that an unseen power was drawing him.
He had been able to rescue Inza from great peril, he had protected her father from probable arrest, had been in time to hold back Jack Diamond from a reckless plunge into dissipation caused by the coldness of Juliet Reynolds, and had saved young Collins, a stranger, from disgrace and suicide. ”

“ An instant later Indian Charlie was stretched upon the veranda.
“I beg your pardon for doing such a thing in your presence, ladies,” came quietly from Merriwell’s lips; “but I was forced into it. As he may make further trouble I beg you to retire.”
“No!” palpitated Inza. “I shall stay here.”
“Me, too,” said Miss Abigail. “Goodness sakes! what dreadful things men are!”
“Shall I sit on him and hold him down, Frank?” yawned Browning, who did not seem in the least disturbed.
“No, let him alone. He——”
With a leap like a wild creature the man came to his feet. There was a demon in his eyes. ”

“ Frank Merriwell," was his answer.
Flemming was suspicious.
"Why should you hate Merriwell?" he asked.
"Because he kicked me," was the fierce reply. [Pg 249]
"He kicked you? Then you are the man he fired out of the boathouse? I heard about that little affair."
"I am the man."
"You should have known better than to try to bribe Merriwell to throw any sort of game or race to Harvard. That chap is so honest that he has wings sprouting under his clothes. He said you pushed a thousand dollars at him?" ”

“ I can’t say more, Merriwell; but I mean that—I mean it! You were my best friend. I’ve had time to think the old days here at Yale all over and over a hundred times, and I allow I’ve come to see things in their right light. I was an onery coyote, but you were my friend, and you kept me from going to the dogs. You gave me Winnie,” he whispered, “the best and truest little wife a man ever had! I can never repay you for that, Frank!”
“Don’t talk about paying for anything,” said Merriwell. “I am paid a thousand times for anything I did for you by seeing your happiness, old man. ”

“ I have not seen her in a long time, and I have seen many other girls, for some of whom I have had more than a passing fancy.”
“It is certain that some of them have had more than a passing fancy for you, Frank,” laughed Harry.
Merriwell did not smile.
“Harry,” he said, gravely, “my thoughts are now of Inza alone. All other girls are forgotten. She always had the utmost confidence in me. She trusted me, and she believed I could do anything. If she knew I were in San Francisco she would find a way to appeal to me for aid. ”

“ Some way, he always proposes everything, and then the rest fall in like a flock of sheep following their leader. We’re not celebrating Merriwell’s victories, but the victories of Yale. Yet the fellows are already calling them ‘Frank Merriwell’s Entertainments.’”
“You’re warm!”
“I’m hot as a cake of ice!”
“I think I’ve seen you in that frame of mind before!” commented Dade, with the utmost coolness.
“Another thing I don’t like, and which I should think you wouldn’t like, is the way he has of pushing Starbright forward. He seems determined to make Starbright the king of the freshmen.” ”

“ I have him now, and he is mine. From this night he shall do my bidding. And he is the trusted friend and companion of Frank Merriwell! Ah! through him I will strike Merriwell, even as I promised to strike him. I told him I would ruin his beauty. Through this friend of his I will accomplish the deed. Here I have a vial of vitriol. I always carry several vials of poison with me. This one I will place in this chap's pocket, and with it he shall do my command. ”

“ Everywhere they are beginning to work regularly to make themselves stronger and handsomer and better. It’s a great thing, Merriwell, to know that you are doing this for the youth of the land.”
As of old, Frank was unable to keep the warm color from mounting to his face.
“I fear you are giving me altogether too much credit,” he protested.
“Not if all reports are true. Inza tells me there are ‘Frank Merriwell Athletic Clubs’ everywhere, the members of which are bound together by pledges that compel them to do each day a certain amount of work to make themselves physically perfect.” ”

“ 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.” ”

“ THE FIRST FORENOON.
The following morning Frank Merriwell appeared at the roundhouse in overalls and jumper, ready for work. His working clothes were new and clean, in contrast to the clothes of the other wipers, who stared at him, grinned and made comments on his “dudish” appearance. Although Frank could hear nearly every word spoken, he paid not the slightest attention to anything the men said.92 He was there to work, and he waited for the foreman to appear and tell him what he was to do.
“He’ll leave quick,” declared one of the wipers. ”

“ Then Frank’s amazement and wonder was complete, for he was grasped and hugged by the arms of a fat boy who was laughing all over his fat, jolly face, and that boy was Hans Dunnerwust, who, with Mulloy, had known him at Fardale Academy when all were students there.
“Hans! Why, where—how——”
But Frank was given no time for questions, as an angry crowd was pressing about them, and they were in danger.
Merriwell lifted his voice, crying:
“Every American in the place should stand by us! My friend struck the Chinaman because he saw him draw a knife, and the blow was delivered in self-defense.” ”

“ They might escape if——"
"They shall escape!"
Out flashed a knife in Frank Merriwell's hand, and, with one sweeping slash, he severed the strong rope that held the tugging, tossing balloon to the earth. Away shot [Pg 71] the balloon, a cry of amazement and horror breaking from the lips of the professor and Hans.
"Mein gootness!" gasped the Dutch boy. "Vot vos happened?"
"I'll tell you," groaned the professor. "The balloon could not carry all four of us, and Frank Merriwell, like the noble, generous, hot-headed, foolish boy he is, refused to leave Bushnell. ”

“ Then, quick as a flash, the young Yale athlete grasped him by the collar, lifted him, gave him a whirl and swept the faro-table clean with his body.
As Herrick dropped off at the other end of the table, Merriwell quietly grasped Madison’s arm, speaking calmly:
“Take the advice of one who would be your friend; play no more in this place. Remember the young fellow who tried to blow a hole in his head, a short time ago.”
Madison turned pale.
Men had leaped up as Charley Herrick was flung across the faro-table. Servants rushed forward. Frowning faces surrounded Frank Merriwell. ”