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[Illustration: The Merriwell Series No. 137 Frank Merriwell's Son By
Burt L. Standish]


Frank Merriwell's Son

OR,

A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK

BY

BURT L. STANDISH

Author of the famous MERRIWELL STORIES.

[Illustration]


STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York

Copyright, 1906
By STREET & SMITH
Frank Merriwell's Son

(Printed in the United States of America)

All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian.




TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.          A NEW LIFE.
CHAPTER II.         THE BIRTHMARK.
CHAPTER III.        ON THE VERANDA.
CHAPTER IV.         A MAID OF MYSTERY.
CHAPTER V.          THE SURPRISE.
CHAPTER VI.         THE FACE IN THE WATCH.
CHAPTER VII.        A BLACK SAMSON.
CHAPTER VIII.       THE SUBSTITUTES.
CHAPTER IX.         SPARKFAIR'S HIT.
CHAPTER X.          A MOONLIGHT MEETING.
CHAPTER XI.         THE TRUTH.
CHAPTER XII.        A HEART LAID BARE.
CHAPTER XIII.       THE PLEDGE OF FAITH.
CHAPTER XIV.        THE SIGNAL FOR SILENCE.
CHAPTER XV.         KIDNAPED!
CHAPTER XVI.        FOR THE SAKE OF OLD DAYS.
CHAPTER XVII.       A CALL TO THE "FLOCK."
CHAPTER XVIII.      A MAN OF THE PEOPLE.
CHAPTER XIX.        AN INTRUDER.
CHAPTER XX.         OLD FRIENDS EN ROUTE.
CHAPTER XXI.        AT MERRY HOME.
CHAPTER XXII.       ANOTHER PILGRIM.
CHAPTER XXIII.      IN THE NOOK.
CHAPTER XXIV.       ON THE CLIFF.
CHAPTER XXV.        A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
CHAPTER XXVI.       A LIVELY GAME.
CHAPTER XXVII.      MURILLO'S FAREWELL.
CHAPTER XXVIII.     A COMPACT.
CHAPTER XXIX.       THE PROOF.
CHAPTER XXX.        THE EDUCATED HORSE.
CHAPTER XXXI.       A CHALLENGE.
CHAPTER XXXII.      A HARD PROPOSITION.
CHAPTER XXXIII.     THE VOICE OF THE TEMPTER.
CHAPTER XXXIV.      A TROUBLED MIND.
CHAPTER XXXV.       REMORSE.
CHAPTER XXXVI.      A FRIEND WORTH HAVING.
CHAPTER XXXVII.     A PROTEST.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.    A CONFESSION.
CHAPTER XXXIX.      JOLTS FOR BULLIES.
CHAPTER XL.         A DETERMINED FRONT.
CHAPTER XLI.        THE HOUR AND THE MAN.




FRANK MERRIWELL'S SON.

CHAPTER I.

A NEW LIFE.


Lizette, the French nurse, came softly and lightly down the stairs and
found Frank Merriwell pacing the library floor, while Bart Hodge and
Elsie Bellwood talked to him soothingly.

"Madame will see you now, saire," said the nurse, with a little curtsy.
"Ze doctaire he is gone now some time. Madame she is comforterbill. She
say she see you--alone."

Frank was all eagerness to go. He bounded up the stairs, two at a time,
scarcely heeding the white-capped nurse, who hurried after him, softly
calling:

"Not on ze rush, saire. You make ze rush, you gif madame ze start."

"That's so," muttered Merry, checking himself at the head of the stairs
and waiting for the cautious nurse. "Lizette, lead the way."

The girl, stepping softly as a cat, gently opened a door for him, thus
revealing a chamber where the light was softened by drawn window shades.
Within that chamber Mrs. Merriwell reclined amid the snowy pillows of a
broad bed.

"Ze mastaire is here, madame," said the nurse, as Frank entered.

In a moment Merry was bending over his wife.

Something small and pink, in a soft white garment, nestled on her arm.
It uttered a weak little cry--the cry of a new life in the great
seething world--which was sweet music to the pale woman on the bed and
the anxious man who bent over her.

"Oh, Frank," murmured Inza, "he's calling to you! He knows his father
has come."

Merriwell kissed her lightly, softly, tenderly. Then, with that
indescribable light in his eyes, he gazed long and fondly at the babe.

"It's a boy, Inza!" he murmured. "Just as you wished!"

"Just as I wished for your sake, Frank," she said. "I knew you wanted a
son. This is the happiest moment of my life, for I have given him to
you."

"A son!" exclaimed Frank softly, as he straightened up and threw his
splendid shoulders back. "Why, think of it, Inza, I'm a father--and you
are the dearest, sweetest, handsomest, noblest little mother in all the
world!"

The nurse ventured to speak.

"Madame is so well! Madame is so strong! It is wonderful! It is grand!"

"You've been very good, Lizette," said Inza. "We'll not forget it."

The nurse retired to the far end of the room, where she stood with her
back toward the bed, pretending to inspect and admire a Donatello upon
the wall.

Frank took the chair beside the bed and found Inza's hand, which he
clasped in a firm but gentle grasp.

"What shall we name him?" he asked.

"Why, haven't you decided on a name, dear?"

"Without consulting you? Do you think I would do such a thing, Inza?"

"The name that pleases you will please me," she declared. "What shall it
be, my husband?"

"Why not the name of my most faithful friend? Why not call him Bartley
Hodge Merriwell?"

"If that satisfies you, he shall be called by that name."

Somehow Frank fancied he detected a touch of disappointment in her
voice.

"But you, sweetheart--haven't you a suggestion to make?"

"If you would like me to make one."

"You know I would, Inza."

"Then let Hodge be his middle name. 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 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."

Frank kissed her again.




CHAPTER II.

THE BIRTHMARK.


"Where are Bart and Elsie, Frank?" asked Inza.

"They're in the library."

"I want them to come up. Tell Lizette to call them."

The soft-footed nurse flitted from the room, and a few moments later
Elsie Bellwood and Bart Hodge appeared. Hodge followed Elsie with an air
of reluctance and confusion, which caused Inza to smile.

In a moment the golden-haired girl was bending over the bed, caressing
her bosom friend, and murmuring soft words of affection.

"You're such a brave, brave woman, Inza!" she exclaimed. "Oh, you make
me feel like a coward!"

"Come here, Hodge," urged Frank, drawing his friend round to the other
side of the bed. "Here's the boy. Here he is--Frank Hodge Merriwell."

"Frank Hodge Merriwell?" echoed Bart, fumbling for Merry's hand and
grasping it with an almost savage grip. "You've given him my name?"

"We did it--both of us together, old man."

"Merry, I--I don't know what--to say," stammered Bartley. "You've
completely upset me. It's the greatest honor----"

"There, there," smiled Frank, "don't splutter and mumble like that, old
fellow. You don't have to say a word. Just make a bow to the new-born
king."

Elsie was not one to gush, but, with clasped hands and flushed face, she
expressed her admiration for the child.

"You ought to feel proud, Bart," she said. "You ought to feel almost as
proud as Frank."

"Proud?" laughed Hodge. "Why, I--I---- My chest has expanded three
inches in the last thirty seconds. Proud? I'll bet my hat won't fit me!
He's a star, the little rascal!"

"He has ze star on his left shouldaire," said Lizette. "Shall I show it,
madame? Shall I show zem ze beautiful mark?"

"Please do," said Inza.

The nurse loosened the child's clothes and exposed the small, shapely
shoulder. There, at the very base of the arm, was a small, perfectly
formed pink, five-cornered star.

"I was right!" cried Hodge. "There's been a wonderful addition to the
universe! A new star has risen!"

"It's a birthmark," said Frank.

"Oh, isn't it very strange!" breathed Elsie. "It gives me a
superstitious feeling of awe. It seems to me that he is marked by fate
to be something grand and wonderful."

"It was so good of you, Elsie, to come to me when I wanted you,"
breathed Inza. "And Hodge--he traveled so far."

"Oh, everything is coming as smoothly as possible at the mines,"
declared Bart. "There's a first-class foreman at both the Queen Mystery
and the San Pablo. I could leave as well as not, and the old trains
couldn't run fast enough to bring me here after I received the wire from
Frank, saying that Elsie would be here. You bet I was glad to shake the
alkali dust out of my clothes."

"You've done great things for me at the mines, Bart," said Merry.
"Everything now seems to be going right for me everywhere in the world.
The Central Sonora Railroad is practically completed, and the San Pablo
is paying enormously. But these are not things to speak of on an
occasion like this."

After a few minutes Bart and Elsie retired, the nurse took the baby, and
Frank lingered a while longer at the side of his wife.

On returning to the library, Elsie stood at one of the large windows and
looked out upon the grounds and across the broad road toward the
handsome buildings of Farnham Hall. There was a strange expression of
mingled happiness and regret on her fair face. Something like a mist
filled her eyes.

Hodge came up behind her and put his arms round her.

"A penny for your thoughts, Elsie," he said.

"I don't think I could express them in words," she confessed. "Do you
think me a jealous person, Bart?"

"Jealous?" he exclaimed. "Far from it!"

"But I am--I'm jealous. I'm dying of envy."

"You--you jealous--of whom?"

"Inza. Look how all the best things of life have come to her. She has a
grand husband, who is doing a magnificent and noble work. Look at those
splendid buildings. Every one acknowledges now that Frank has done and
is doing more for the upbuilding and the uplifting of American boys than
any person has ever before done in all history. Inza is his wife, and
they have a son."

Bart's arms dropped at his sides, and he turned away.

In surprise, Elsie turned and saw him move from her. In a moment she had
him by the arm.

"What is it, Bart?" she exclaimed, in dismay.

He shook his head, seeming unable to speak.

"Tell me what it is. Tell me what I did to hurt you," she commanded.

He faced her again, looking deep into her blue eyes.

"You called up the past, Elsie," he said, in a low tone. "I can't forget
that once I thought Frank loved you--and you loved him. You've confessed
a feeling of jealousy toward Inza."

"Oh, no, no, no!" she said quickly. "You didn't understand me,
Bart--truly you didn't! It was not the sort of jealousy you mean. I'm
not jealous of her because she is Frank's wife--never! never!"

He seemed puzzled.

"Then what did you mean--what did you mean?" he asked.

"Why, can't you understand? Can't you see how it is? Fortune or fate, or
whatever you may call it, has been against me--against us, Bart. Have
you forgotten how we planned on a double wedding? Have you
forgotten----"

"Forgotten?" cried Hodge. "I should say not! It was the bitterest
disappointment of my life! You know I urged you, Elsie--I used every
persuasion in my power."

"But I could not consent. I was an invalid, and I feared my health would
never return."

"It has returned, little sweetheart. You're well again. You're stronger
and handsomer than ever before in all your life. You put me off then,
but you can't do it now! I won't let you!"

"You mean that----"

"I mean that when I left Mexico I made a resolve--I swore an oath. If I
go back there--if Frank wants me to go--you will go with me."

"Bart!"

"You must go with me," he repeated.

"Must?"

"I have said it. Look here, Elsie, I know you're not jealous of Inza
because Merry is rich."

"Oh, no, no!"

"As a rule, I have told you everything, my girl, but I now confess that
there is one thing that I have not told you. I have a secret."

"A secret from me?"

"Yes, a secret from you. You heard Frank state how well the San Pablo is
paying. You heard him say that I had been faithful in my work for him.
Perhaps you do not know that ere we entered into an agreement by which I
took charge of his two mines and acted as overseer for both of
them--perhaps you do not know that we nearly quarreled."

Elsie looked astounded.

"Nearly quarreled?" she exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Why, how could you?"

"Because he insisted on a certain condition in our agreement. Because he
insisted that, after a lapse of time and at the completion of the
Mexican railroad, I should accept a third interest in the San Pablo
Mine. I fought against it. I told him it was not right. I even
threatened to quit and have nothing to do with the work he wished me to
perform. He was inexorable, unyielding. I pointed out that my service
was not worth what he offered. I showed him that he could get
experienced and expert men to do the work for an infinitesimal part of
what he proposed to give me. He asserted that he was not giving me this
merely for my labor, but on account of past favors and things I had done
for him which could not be paid for in money. Even though I did not
permit him to force me into consenting to take this share of his mine, I
finally remained and did my best. I arrived in Bloomfield three days
ago. The day I reached here he placed a paper in my hands. That paper
makes me one-third owner of the San Pablo. I'm rich, Elsie. The future
is assured for me and for you. That very day I went to the town clerk
and had another paper made out. Here it is."

He took a document from his pocket, opened it, and placed it in her
hands.

"Why--why, what----" faltered Elsie.

"It's a marriage license," said Bart. "I've made all arrangements, and
to-morrow, God willing, you and I will be made man and wife."

It was even as Hodge had said. On the morrow, at her request, they were
married in Inza's chamber.




CHAPTER III.

ON THE VERANDA.


It was a beautiful sunny morning some three weeks later.

Inza and Elsie sat on the broad veranda of Merry Home, while Lizette,
the nurse, trundled the baby up and down beneath the shady trees on the
broad lawn.

Over at the east of Farnham Hall a group of laborers, among whom were
fully twenty of the Farnham boys, were completing the foundations for
Merriwell's new manual-training school building.

A glimpse of the distant athletic ground showed a number of boys hard at
work on the track and the baseball field.

There was a look of serene happiness on Inza's face, while Elsie was
positively rosy. After chatting a while, they sat some moments in
silence, busy with their own thoughts. Finally their eyes met, and Inza
laughed.

"No one would ever dream now that you were at one time determined to be
an invalid, Elsie," she said.

"Determined to be?" exclaimed Elsie. "