[Illustration: The muzzle of the rifle was turned directly toward
Frank, and the redskin was on the point of pressing the trigger.
Page 98.]
Frank Merriwell’s Brother
OR
The Greatest Triumph of All
BY
BURT L. STANDISH
AUTHOR OF
“Frank Merriwell’s School Days,” “Frank Merriwell’s Chums,”
“Frank Merriwell’s Foes,” etc.
PHILADELPHIA
DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER
604-8 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE
Copyright, 1901
By STREET & SMITH
Frank Merriwell’s Brother
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A WARM RECEPTION. 5
II. ANTON MESCAL. 20
III. THE MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE. 30
IV. THE FALSE MESSAGE. 43
V. CELEBRATION OF THE OLD GRADS. 55
VI. ANTON MESCAL STRIKES. 63
VII. THE END COMES. 74
VIII. THE MESSAGE STOLEN AGAIN. 79
IX. THE OLD INDIAN. 90
X. THE KIDNAPED GIRL. 104
XI. JUAN DELORES. 116
XII. DELORES UNMASKS. 129
XIII. THE MESSAGE RECOVERED. 139
XIV. WHAT THE MESSAGE CONTAINED. 148
XV. A REBELLIOUS SPIRIT. 153
XVI. DICK AND OLD JOE. 176
XVII. AWAKENED JEALOUSY. 189
XVIII. AN INTERRUPTED DEPARTURE. 197
XIX. READY ARRIVES. 206
XX. WINNING HIS WAY. 220
XXI. FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH. 226
XXII. CHALLENGED. 234
XXIII. DICK MERRIWELL’S NERVE. 241
XXIV. MERRY’S CHUMS. 248
XXV. THE NINE AT PRACTISE. 254
XXVI. A DESPERATE ATTEMPT. 270
XXVII. A DASTARDLY TRICK. 281
XXVIII. ON THE FIELD. 290
XXIX. HITS THAT DID NOT COUNT. 295
XXX. ONE TO NOTHING. 308
FRANK MERRIWELL’S BROTHER.
CHAPTER I.
A WARM RECEPTION.
When Frank Merriwell, in a great hurry, flung open the door of his room
and sprang in, he was little prepared for the reception that followed.
From all sides they leaped upon him, clutched him, surrounded him,
hemmed him in. There were exactly thirteen of them, and he was alone
and unarmed.
Never before had Merriwell quailed in the face of odds, but now he took
one look at them and then flung up his hands, crying:
“I surrender!”
They clutched those uplifted hands and dragged them down. They grasped
him about the body, around the neck, anywhere, everywhere. Howls of joy
arose.
“We’ve got you!” they yelled.
Then they wrenched at his hands, one after another, as if trying to
tear his arms from their sockets. Then they thumped him on the back,
the shoulders, and the chest.
On the outskirts of the attacking mob one wild-eyed fellow fought like
a demon to get at Merry.
“Got my vay oud of!” he roared, as he butted into the mob. “Break away!
Let me got ad him!”
“Git aout!” cried another, a tall, lank chap, as he put his foot
against the fat stomach of the one who was fighting to reach Merry. “Go
lay daown, gol ding ye!”
“Give me a cloob!” roared one with a strong brogue of the Ould Sod.
“It’s mesilf that’ll be afther makin’ a way here!”
Then he wedged his shoulder into the crowd and flung the others aside
till he could get in and grasp Merry’s hand.
“Ye spalpane!” he shouted. “It’s a soight fer sore oies ye are!
Begorra, Oi’m ready to die wid joy!”
“Barney Mulloy!” laughed Frank, as he wrung the hand of the honest
Irish youth. “I’m delighted!”
“Let me git in there!” rasped the tall, lank fellow. “If ye don’t make
way fer me, I’ll bet a darn good squash somebody gits bumped!”
Then he succeeded in getting hold of Merry’s free hand.
“Oh, say!” he cried; “I’m jest reddy to lay right daown and die frum
satisfaction.”
“Ephraim Gallup!” burst from Merry.
“Right off the farm, b’gosh!” chuckled Ephraim.
“Vy don’t you both gone und died alretty!” squawked the one who had
been kicked, as he came charging in and drove against Mulloy and
Gallup. “Id vould peen a goot thing der coundry vor. Yaw! I vandt to
shook Vrank Merrivell by my handt! 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. “Dear old Harry!”
There were tears in Rattleton’s eyes, and his honest face showed the
deep emotion he felt and tried to hide.
Fighting, squealing, kicking at each other, two little fellows now
plunged against Rattleton. One was red-headed and freckle-faced, while
the other had a snub nose and a cherublike face. But they seemed
trying to scratch out each other’s eyes.
“Me first!” yelled the cherub.
“I guess nit!” shrieked the one with freckles.
“Here! here! that will do!” smiled Merry, as he grasped them and pulled
them apart. “It seems to me you chaps are old enough to quit fighting
like kids.”
Then they both turned and seized his hands, which they wrung with all
the strength at their command, yelling:
“How are you, Merry? We’re glad you see us!”
“The same Stubbs and the same Griswold,” nodded Frank.
“The same Merriwell!” they returned, in unison. “Only more famous!”
“I reckon it’s my turn to shake Mr. Merriwell’s paw,” said a strong,
hearty voice, as a big, broad-shouldered youth put Bink and Danny
aside. “That’s whatever!”
“Badger, too!” Frank cried, as his hand met that of the Westerner.
“This is untold pleasure!”
“You bet it is!” nodded Buck.
“I trust you’ll not overlook me, Merriwell,” said a pleasant, soft,
well-modulated voice, as a handsome, fine-faced youth stepped in, with
an agreeable smile and a white hand outheld.
“Jack Diamond, by all that’s good!” Merriwell gasped, as he took that
hand. “Back from Europe?”
“Yes, Merriwell; back in time to see you win your final honors.”
The handsome Virginian looked handsomer than ever.
Greg Carker, Bert Dashleigh, Jim Hooker, Ralph Bingham, and Oll Packard
were the others who had crowded about Merry when he entered the room,
and they were filled with great joy because of his pleasure in meeting
those old friends of other days.
“You’ll have to have us arrested for breaking and entering, Merry,”
said Carker. “I knew these fellows were going to be here, and we
planned this little surprise. I swiped your duplicate door-key so that
I could admit them to this room.”
“I’ll forgive you, Carker, if you do not let the earthquake rumble.”
“I think,” said Greg, “that I’ll keep the earthquake suppressed till
commencement is over.”
“Do,” urged Frank.
Oliver Packard did not have much to say. He had been accepted as one of
Merry’s friends, for all of his vicious brother, Roland, the twin who
looked--or had looked in the past--exactly like him. Oliver had all the
fine instincts of a gentleman, and the conduct of Roland had worn upon
him and given him lines of care. It was now known among the students
that, since his final defeat by Merriwell, Roland was fast becoming
an inebriate, and it was said that he would not be able to finish his
medical course. Of course, this worried Oliver, but he tried to hide
his own troubles.
Hooker, once an outcast, was another who had received a warm hand-grasp
from Merriwell and had felt in his heart that he was most fortunate to
be there.
Ralph Bingham, the big sophomore, had taken part in the struggle, his
heart throbbing with satisfaction.
“There are others coming,” he now declared. “All the rest of the flock
will be here right away.”
“You mean----”
“Hodge, Ready, Gamp, Browning, and the others.”
“In that case,” said Badger, “I reckon we’d better bring forward the
reserves at once.”
“The reserves?” said Merry.
“Yes. Ladies.”
Buck flung back a portière, and then out flitted four beautiful girls,
who had been waiting for that moment.
Elsie was there, laughing with joy, her sweet face flushed, her blue
eyes like the depths of a lake-mirrored sky. The girl with Elsie put
her forward, and it was Elsie who murmured in Merry’s ear:
“Frank, we’re all so happy and so proud of you! Inza is the happiest
and proudest!”
“Inza!” exclaimed Frank, in great surprise, for he had not dreamed of
seeing her there, for she was in mourning for her father.
“Frank!”
He looked deep into her dark eyes, which gazed upon him in loving pride.
“This,” he said, restraining himself and steadying his voice, “is a
pleasure that was entirely unexpected.”
He gave Elsie his other hand.
“We rather reckoned you’d be pleased,” said Badger. “But I don’t want
you to forget that the former Miss Lee is now Mrs. Badger, and I’ll not
permit you to look at her the way you’re looking at those young ladies.”
Frank flushed and laughed, turning to the handsome, brown-eyed girl at
the side of the Westerner.
“Miss Lee--no, Mrs. Badger,” he said, “I am delighted to see you again.”
Winnie gave him her hand.
“Don’t mind Buck,” she said. “He’s jealous of everybody. He’d be
jealous of an Indian.”
“That’s whatever,” confessed the Kansan. “I allow I’m built that way,
and I can’t help it. I know I make an onery fool of myself sometimes,
but Mrs. Badger has a nice little way of forgiving me. I rather think
she likes it, to tell the truth.”
Diamond touched Frank’s arm. There was a look of deep pride on his
face, mingled with a faint smile.
“Permit me,” he said.
Merry turned.
“My wife, Mr. Merriwell,” said the Southerner.
A handsome, dark-eyed girl, somewhat resembling Inza, stood there.
“Your--your wife?” exclaimed Frank.
The girl was the sister of Dolph Reynolds, whom he had met in London.
“Yes, sir,” said Jack. “We didn’t invite you to the wedding, as it took
place rather suddenly on the other side of the pond. I hope you’ll
pardon us for the failure to notify you, but we decided to do so in
person.”
“Diamond,” said Frank heartily, as he grasped the hand of his college
comrade, “I offer you my most sincere congratulations. I think you are
a lucky dog.”
The English girl was blushing and laughing.
“You do not congratulate me,” she said. “And you know I had to make an
explanation before he would come back to me after he became jealous of
my cousin.”
“I’ll reserve my congratulations,” said Merry smilingly, “till I find
that he has made you a good husband.”
“Merriwell, I think that right mean of you!” Diamond exclaimed,
somewhat nettled. “Your words and manner are calculated to arouse
distrust and suspicion in her mind. Do you think that quite fair?”
“Perhaps not,” confessed Frank, seeing how seriously Jack took it. “Far
be it from me to arouse anything of the sort by words spoken in jest.”
The Virginian breathed easier.
“Now we’re so nicely introduced all round, let’s try to be real jappy
and holly--I mean happy and jolly,” said Harry Rattleton. “Hasn’t any
girl married me yet?”
“I see,” said Bink Stubbs, “that idiocy among the female sex is
decreasing.”
“There are ladies present,” said Harry severely, as he glared at Bink.
“Thus you are saved for the time.”
“Here!” cried Griswold, taking down a gilded horseshoe from the wall
and offering it to the other little chap. “Take it. You’re dead in
luck.”
Stubbs regarded the horseshoe doubtfully.
“Do you regard horseshoes as lucky?” he asked.
“Of course,” was the answer.
“Then,” said Bink, “the horse I bet on the last time was running
barefooted. Cluck, cluck; git ap!”
“Bah!” retorted Danny. “A clean swipe out of the comic column of some
paper. Say, who’s your favorite writer, anyhow?”
“My father.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he ever write?”
“Checks.”
“They’re off!” exclaimed Rattleton. “You can’t stop them.”
“You know you can always stop a river by damming it,” grinned Bink.
“But you can’t stop an alarm-clock that way,” chipped in Danny.
“That will do!” said Frank severely, although he was laughing inwardly.
“This occasion is not suited for such stale jokes.”
“Stale!” said Danny.
“Stale!” echoed Bink.
“And they are the very best in our repertoire,” declared the little
red-headed chap.
“Then your repertoire needs replenishing,” said Merry.
So the little jokers were repressed for the time, although they were
sure to break out again and again at the slightest provocation, or
without any provocation.
“What makes us feel real bad,” said Diamond, “is that we were unable
to get along soon enough to witness the great ball-game to-day between
Yale and Harvard. I felt sure Yale would win.”
“Merriwell won the game himself,” declared Oliver Packard, who had once
played on the nine, but whose standing as an athlete and whose chance
to take part in athletic sports had been ruined by the actions of his
brother. “It was the greatest work I ever saw.”
“Right!” agreed Carker, the socialist, also a ballplayer of no mean
caliber. “The manner in which he stopped Harvard from scoring near the
end of the game was enough to set every Yale man wild with admiration.
It was great!”
“Great!” nodded Jim Hooker.
“Magnificent!” laughed Bert Dashleigh.
“Hot stuff!” nodded Ralph Bingham.
Rattleton, Stubbs, Griswold, Gallup, Dunnerwurst, and Mulloy had
reached the field after the game began, but in the vast throng they had
been unobserved by Merry. All were profuse in their compliments for
Frank, but he cut them short.
“Every man on the nine played as if his life depended on the result,”
he declared. “They deserve just as much credit as I do.”
But not one who had seen the game would agree to that.
While they were talking, the door opened, and Bart Hodge entered,
followed by Browning, Ready, Mason, Carson, Morgan, Starbright, Gamp,
and Benson.
The principal members of the varsity nine, the ones who had been mainly
responsible for the winning of the championship, had come to that room
to gather round their captain for the last time before the parting that
might break their ranks forever.
Of course, they were surprised, and, of course, there was more
hand-shaking and introducing of Mrs. Diamond. The Virginian was
showered with congratulations.
Jack Ready stood and looked at Juliet with an expression of regretful
sadness on his face.
“It’s too bad!” he finally sighed.
“What’s too bad, Mr. Ready?” she asked, in surprise.
“That we did not meet before this hot-headed young man from the warm
and reckless South drifted across your horizon. Alas, you are no longer
a lass! It is too late, too late!”
He seemed to heave a great sob from the depths of his bosom.
“Sir!” exclaimed Diamond, “what do you mean? Are you seeking to insult
me?”
“Nay, nay, my dear old college chum,” said Ready, who really took
extreme delight in irritating Diamond. “Far be it from me to indulge in
such rudeness. Still I cannot help thinking that you would not have
stood a ghost of a show had I happened along in advance of you. I would
have dawned on her delighted vision like a ten-thousand-dollar diamond
sunburst, while you would have resembled a two-dollar rhinestone
cluster. I have no desire to cause you misery, so I shall take care
not to let her see much of me, well knowing it will lead her in
time to regret her choice of a side-partner if she often beholds my
intellectual countenance and fascinating figure.”
Juliet bit her lip and suppressed a laugh, but Diamond, knowing Ready
was guying him, felt like hitting him.
“It’s a good thing for you,” whispered the Southerner, “that the ladies
are here.”
“How?”
“If they were not, I’d give you a black eye!”
“Go ’way!” said Ready. “I think you’re horrid!”
Frank’s rooms were crowded now, and a chatter of conversation arose. Of
course, Merry was the center of interest, but he found an opportunity
to draw back and look around. These were the loyal friends he had
made--the dear friends of his school and college days. They had clung
to him through thick and thin, and he felt his heart swelling with
affection toward them all. Even Dade Morgan was included, for Morgan
had tried his best in these final college days to prove that he was
repentant for the past and ready to do anything in his power to make
atonement.
Memories of old times came rushing upon Frank in that moment. He
thought of his first meeting with Hodge at Fardale, and of the
adventures, struggles, and triumphs that followed. He thought of his
coming to Yale, of his freshman struggles, of the enemies who seemed to
rise around him as he toiled upward and onward, of the friends who were
here and who had remained firm in every change that befell him.
Oh, those grand days of toil and pleasure at Yale! He felt that he
would give much to live them all over again. But the end had come, and
now he was going out into the world--going to bid Yale farewell!
This thought brought him a feeling of unspeakable sadness. It seemed
that he was leaving the only home he knew. Home--yes, it was home for
him. In truth, he had no other. Life lay before him, and he was to set
his course toward a high goal when he received his sheepskin and turned
his back on his alma mater. But he felt that he was being parted from
the happiest portion of his life.
Then his eyes fell on the girls. Bart had found Elsie and was talking
to her, his dark face flushed, his eyes glowing. She smiled and nodded
as he was speaking.
“They are happy,” said Frank, to himself.
He did not know that at that moment Hodge was praising him to the
skies, telling what a remarkable game he had played and how he had
covered himself with glory in the battle against Harvard. He did not
know that somehow such praise was the pleasantest thing Elsie Bellwood
could hear.
He saw Inza, and she looked toward him. She smiled, and he felt his
heart throb.
Home! Yes, Yale had been his home; but now before his vision there
seemed to rise the picture of another home and he hastened to Inza’s
side.