Frank Merriwell’s First Job
OR
AT THE FOOT OF THE LADDER
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. A BLOW BY FATE 5
II. FAREWELL TO YALE 11
III. ON THE WAY HOME 16
IV. THE REWARD OF WRONGDOING 23
V. THE MAN WHO WORKED THE WIRES 28
VI. THE SETTING OF THE SUN 34
VII. PHANTOM FINGERS 40
VIII. UNWELCOME VISITORS 46
IX. CAPTURED BY WHITECAPS 52
X. COWARDLY WORK 57
XI. FRANK’S STRANGE FRIEND 63
XII. FOR HIS ENEMY 69
XIII. THE BULLY OF THE ROUNDHOUSE 75
XIV. THE BULLY MEETS HIS MATCH 80
XV. STRIKING A JOB 86
XVI. THE FIRST FORENOON 91
XVII. THE STREET MUSICIANS 97
XVIII. UPLIFTED HEARTS 103
XIX. AN ANGRY ENGINEER 109
XX. SOME POINTS ABOUT HICKS 115
XXI. FRANK DISCOVERS A BREAK 120
XXII. THE INTERRUPTED SUPPER 126
XXIII. AN UNWELCOME RELATION 132
XXIV. FRANK EXACTS A PROMISE 137
XXV. ON A SWITCH ENGINE 143
XXVI. CAPTURING A WILD ENGINE 148
XXVII. FRANK’S FRIENDS 154
XXVIII. FIRING A FREIGHT ENGINE 160
XXIX. THE FIGHT ON THE ENGINE 165
XXX. MERRIWELL’S GENEROSITY 171
XXXI. AN UNGRATEFUL MAN 177
XXXII. ON THE STAIRS 182
XXXIII. UNDER THE CRUST OF A HUMAN HEART 188
XXXIV. THE REVELATION OF A SECRET 193
XXXV. THE LITTLE PILOT 200
XXXVI. “ON TIME, AT LAST!” 206
Frank Merriwell’s First Job
OR
AT THE FOOT OF THE LADDER
_By BURT L. STANDISH_
_Author of_ “Frank Merriwell’s School Days,” “Frank
Merriwell’s Chums,” “Frank Merriwell’s Foes,”
“Frank Merriwell’s Trip West,” etc.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS
238 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK CITY
Copyright, 1898
By STREET & SMITH
Frank Merriwell’s First Job
FRANK MERRIWELL’S FIRST JOB.
CHAPTER I.
A BLOW BY FATE.
Biff--thump!
“Oh, what a soaker!”
“Go at him, Rattleton!”
“Don’t let him knock you up against the door like that.”
Biff! biff!--thump!
“There you go again!”
“Oh, jose your claw--I mean close your jaw!” panted Harry Rattleton, as
he ducked and escaped a left-hand swing from Frank Merriwell, with whom
he was boxing in the room of the latter at Yale. “You fellows are not
in this!”
“You’re not in it, either,” lazily laughed Bruce Browning, who was half
sitting, half reclining on the couch, watching the boxing bout and
smoking a pipe at the same time.
“Well, you weren’t such a much when you got up against Merriwell that
time you tried to do him,” snapped Rattleton, backing out as Frank
slowly followed him up.
“That’s ancient history,” declared the big fellow. “But Merriwell found
me a pretty warm baby!”
“Get up and try him now!” cried Harry. “I’ll bet he’ll bang you all
over the room before you touch him.”
“Thanks!” grinned Bruce. “I’ve quit the ring. I’m not looking for
pugilistic glory any more.”
“Stand up to him, Rattleton,” advised Diamond. “You do too much running
away.”
“Oh, you know!” flung back Rattleton. “You’ve had your turn, too, and
you wasn’t so good.”
“You can’t do anything with him if you don’t try to hit him,” said Bart
Hodge, who was sitting astride a chair in the corner.
“More thanks! If you’ll put the gloves on, I’ll guarantee you will
not hit him any oftener than I have. I believe he gave you a dose of
medicine once on a time. I’m the only fellow in the room who hasn’t
been punched in earnest by him. You chaps are good talkers, but---- No
you don’t.”
Then he went under Frank’s arm like a cat, giving Merry a sharp jab in
the ribs.
“Keep it up.”
“Well, that wasn’t so worse!” yawned Browning.
But Frank whirled swiftly and followed Harry, sparring for an opening,
which he quickly got.
Biff! biff!--bang!
“Oh, my!” gurgled Harry. “That last one was on the nose! She’s
beginning to bleed! I’m knocked out!”
He flung off the boxing gloves and got out his handkerchief in a hurry,
for the blow on his nose had started the blood.
“Didn’t mean to hit you hard enough for that, Rattles,” said Frank,
apologetically.
“Don’t mention it,” grinned Rattleton. “It’s nothing much. I don’t mind
a little thing like that.”
Frank took off his gloves and hung the set up, after which he quickly
set the room in order.
Rattleton’s nose bled very little, and he soon recovered.
“It seems to me you are worse than ever since your trip into Maine,
Merriwell,” said Harry. “You’ll be a swift one on the football team
this fall.”
“I shall not give much time to football,” Frank declared.
“No?” shouted Rattleton, Diamond and Hodge.
“Is that so?” grunted Browning. “You talked like that last fall, and
you know what came of it. You had to get into gear in order to save Old
Eli from being thrown down.”
Merriwell nodded.
“I know all about that; but it seems to me that I have done my part in
the way of upholding the honor of Old Eli, and there should be somebody
to fill my place by this time.”
“Why do you want anybody to fill your place?” asked Hodge.
“The time has come for me to study. Fooling must be dropped.”
“The time has come for you to ease up on your studies,” said Diamond.
“You know the first year or two are the hardest in college.”
“Yes; but I have some ambitions for class honors. I have managed to
scrub right along so far, but I’ve got to make a change.”
Browning straightened up a little.
“I don’t think you can do it, Merriwell,” he said, seriously. “You have
made a record as an athlete, and you will be expected to stand by it.
Your attempt last year should convince you that you can’t make such a
rank change. You stand well with the professors, and you will pull out
near the head of your class, anyway. What’s the use to look for too
much?”
“I am beginning to realize what is ahead of me, gentlemen,” came
soberly from Frank. “My mother is dead, my father is--I know not where.
Although I am generally supposed to be independently rich, I have but
a small fortune, which was left me by my uncle. I can’t live on that
and do nothing; I wouldn’t if I could. I must go out into the world
and hustle. Thus far I have not even decided what I will do when it
is necessary for me to go to work. Most fellows have this all settled
before they go to college. Thus far with me, for the most part, life
has been a holiday. Now I realize that it must be something different
in the future. I have not got a foolish notion in my head that as soon
as I leave college and go out into the world large city newspapers
will eagerly offer me editorial positions, bankers will be yearning to
take me into their banks, and large salaries for short hours will be
thrust at me on every side. In most things influence counts, and it is
a fact that the man with a pull and a fair stock of brains generally
gets ahead of the man with no pull and heavy brain power. I shall have
no pull; but in its place I hope to use considerable push. If I do not
land on top in time it will not be my fault.”
“You’ve been struck with one of your serious spells, that’s what’s the
matter with you!” cried Rattleton. “Don’t get worried. You’ve had lots
of sport this summer. Wish I might have taken that trip into Maine.
Next summer----”
“Who can tell what next summer may bring?” said Frank, in a manner that
added to the astonishment of his friends. “Before that time some great
change may alter all our plans.”
There was a rap on the door.
“Come,” called Frank.
The door opened.
“Lettah, sah,” said the colored man who thrust his head in at the door.
Frank took it, and the colored man disappeared.
“It’s from Prof. Scotch,” he said, and then he laid it on the table.
Prof. Scotch was Frank’s old teacher and guardian.
Three times Frank walked up and down the room. He paused and looked
around. It was a pleasant, well-furnished room. There were handsome
pictures on the walls, there were foils, boxing gloves, tennis rackets
and so forth. There also were strange curios from many lands, all
gathered by Frank himself.
This room was like home to Frank. He loved it for its associations.
Some day he must leave it, but what pleasant memories of his college
days he would carry away.
Watching him his friends saw the strange expression on his face, and
they knew not what to make of the change in him. He stopped by the
table and picked up the letter.
“Excuse me while I read it, please,” he said.
“Of course,” they cried.
Then he tore it open and read it. They saw his face grow pale and his
hand tremble, while his breast heaved. He read to the end, and then he
lifted his eyes to his friends.
“What is it?” cried Bart Hodge, in apprehension. “Bad news, Merry?”
“Fellows,” said Frank, hoarsely, “my career at Yale is ended! I am
ruined!”
They leaped to their feet.
“Ruined?” gasped Diamond. “What do you mean?”
“My fortune is lost! Prof. Scotch, my guardian, has speculated with my
money, and lost every dollar! I am a beggar!”