



Produced by David Edwards, Carol David, Richard Hulse and
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[Illustration: Oliver Resents his Step-brother's Interference.]


  ADRIFT IN THE CITY

  OR

  _OLIVER CONRAD'S PLUCKY FIGHT_


  BY

  HORATIO ALGER, JR.

  AUTHOR OF "RAGGED DICK" SERIES, "TATTERED TOM" SERIES, "LUCK AND PLUCK"
  SERIES

  THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.
  PHILADELPHIA
  CHICAGO TORONTO




  COPYRIGHT, 1895,

  BY

  PORTER & COATES.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER                                                       PAGE

       I. TWO YOUNG ENEMIES,                                       1

      II. OPEN REVOLT,                                            10

     III. THE YOUNG RIVALS,                                       18

      IV. MR. KENYON'S SECRET,                                    28

       V. MR. KENYON'S RESOLVE,                                   37

      VI. MR. KENYON'S CHANGE OF BASE,                            46

     VII. ROLAND'S DISCOMFITURE,                                  55

    VIII. A DANGEROUS LETTER,                                     64

      IX. OLIVER'S MOTHER,                                        73

       X. THE ROYAL LUNATIC,                                      82

      XI. HOW THE LETTER WAS MAILED,                              92

     XII. OLIVER'S JOURNEY,                                       97

    XIII. MR. KENYON'S PLANS FOR OLIVER,                         102

     XIV. A STORE IN THE BOWERY,                                 111

      XV. JOHN'S COURTSHIP,                                      120

     XVI. THE CONSPIRACY,                                        129

    XVII. OLIVER LOSES HIS PLACE,                                135

   XVIII. OLIVER, THE OUTCAST,                                   143

     XIX. A STRANGE ACQUAINTANCE,                                147

      XX. A TERRIBLE SITUATION,                                  156

     XXI. ROLAND IS SURPRISED,                                   165

    XXII. OLIVER ADOPTS A NEW GUARDIAN,                          175

   XXIII. MR. BUNDY IS DISAPPOINTED, AND OLIVER
            MEETS SOME FRIENDS,                                  184

    XXIV. ANOTHER CLUE,                                          193

     XXV. MAKING ARRANGEMENTS,                                   199

    XXVI. WHO RUPERT JONES WAS,                                  203

   XXVII. A STARTLING TELEGRAM,                                  208

  XXVIII. OLD NANCY'S HUT,                                       213

    XXIX. DR. FOX IN PURSUIT,                                    222

     XXX. HOW DR. FOX WAS FOOLED,                                231

    XXXI. MRS. KENYON FINDS FRIENDS,                             240

   XXXII. MR. DENTON OF CHICAGO,                                 249

  XXXIII. A MIDNIGHT ATTACK,                                     258

   XXXIV. DENTON SEES HIS VICTIMS ESCAPE,                        267

    XXXV. ON THE TRACK,                                          274

   XXXVI. DENTON IS CHECKMATED,                                  280

  XXXVII. DENTON'S LITTLE ADVENTURE IN THE CARS,                 286

 XXXVIII. THE MEETING AT LINCOLN PARK,                           296

   XXXIX. THE COMMON ENEMY,                                      305

      XL. THE THUNDERBOLT FALLS,                                 314




    ADRIFT IN THE CITY;
    OR,
    OLIVER CONRAD'S PLUCKY FIGHT.




CHAPTER I.

TWO YOUNG ENEMIES.


"Oliver, bring me that ball!" said Roland Kenyon, in a tone of command.

The speaker, a boy of sixteen, stood on the lawn before a handsome
country mansion. He had a bat in his hand, and had sent the ball far
down the street. He was fashionably dressed, and evidently felt himself
a personage of no small consequence.

The boy he addressed, Oliver Conrad, was his junior by a year--not so
tall, but broader and more thick-set, with a frank, manly face, and an
air of independence and self-reliance.

He was returning home from school, and carried two books in his hand.

Oliver was naturally obliging, but there was something he did not like
in the other's imperious tone, and his pride was touched.

"Are you speaking to me?" he demanded quietly.

"Of course I am. Is there any other Oliver about?"

"When you ask a favor, you had better be polite about it."

"Bother politeness! Go after that ball! Do you hear?" exclaimed Roland
angrily.

Oliver eyed him calmly.

"Go for it yourself," he retorted. "I don't intend to run on your
errands."

"You don't?" exclaimed Roland furiously.

"Didn't I speak plainly enough? I meant what I said."

"Go after that ball this instant!" shrieked Roland, stamping his foot;
"or I'll make you!"

"Suppose you make me do it," said Oliver contemptuously, opening the
gate, and entering the yard.

Roland had worked himself into a passion, and this made him reckless of
consequences. He threw the bat in his hand at Oliver, and if the latter
had not dodged quickly it would have seriously injured him. At the same
time Roland rushed impetuously upon the boy who had offended him by his
independence.

To say that Oliver kept calm under this aggravated attack would be
incorrect. His eyes flashed with anger. He threw his books upon the
lawn