BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN

MERRIWELL SERIES

Stories of Frank and Dick Merriwell

PRICE FIFTEEN CENTS

Fascinating Stories of Athletics

A half million enthusiastic followers of the Merriwell brothers will attest the unfailing interest and wholesomeness of these adventures of two lads of high ideals, who play fair with themselves, as well as with the rest of the world.

These stories are rich in fun and thrills in all branches of sports and athletics. They are extremely high in moral tone, and cannot fail to be of immense benefit to every boy who reads them.

They have the splendid quality of firing a boy’s ambition to become a good athlete, in order that he may develop into a strong, vigorous right-thinking man.

ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT

      1—Frank Merriwell’s School Days By Burt L. Standish
      2—Frank Merriwell’s Chums By Burt L. Standish
      3—Frank Merriwell’s Foes By Burt L. Standish
      4—Frank Merriwell’s Trip West By Burt L. Standish
      5—Frank Merriwell Down South By Burt L. Standish
      6—Frank Merriwell’s Bravery By Burt L. Standish
      7—Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour By Burt L. Standish
      8—Frank Merriwell in Europe By Burt L. Standish
      9—Frank Merriwell at Yale By Burt L. Standish
     10—Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield By Burt L. Standish
     11—Frank Merriwell’s Races By Burt L. Standish
     12—Frank Merriwell’s Party By Burt L. Standish
     13—Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour By Burt L. Standish
     14—Frank Merriwell’s Courage By Burt L. Standish
     15—Frank Merriwell’s Daring By Burt L. Standish
     16—Frank Merriwell’s Alarm By Burt L. Standish
     17—Frank Merriwell’s Athletes By Burt L. Standish
     18—Frank Merriwell’s Skill By Burt L. Standish
     19—Frank Merriwell’s Champions By Burt L. Standish
     20—Frank Merriwell’s Return to Yale By Burt L. Standish
     21—Frank Merriwell’s Secret By Burt L. Standish
     22—Frank Merriwell’s Danger By Burt L. Standish
     23—Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty By Burt L. Standish
     24—Frank Merriwell in Camp By Burt L. Standish
     25—Frank Merriwell’s Vacation By Burt L. Standish
     26—Frank Merriwell’s Cruise By Burt L. Standish

In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the books listed below will be issued, during the respective months, in New York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers, at a distance, promptly, on account of delays in transportation.

To Be Published in January, 1922.

     27—Frank Merriwell’s Chase By Burt L. Standish
     28—Frank Merriwell in Maine By Burt L. Standish

To Be Published in February, 1922.

     29—Frank Merriwell’s Struggle By Burt L. Standish
     30—Frank Merriwell’s First Job By Burt L. Standish

To Be Published in March, 1922.

     31—Frank Merriwell’s Opportunity By Burt L. Standish
     32—Frank Merriwell’s Hard Luck By Burt L. Standish

To Be Published in April, 1922.

     33—Frank Merriwell’s Protégé By Burt L. Standish
     34—Frank Merriwell on the Road By Burt L. Standish

To Be Published in May, 1922.

     35—Frank Merriwell’s Own Company By Burt L. Standish
     36—Frank Merriwell’s Fame By Burt L. Standish
     37—Frank Merriwell’s College Chums By Burt L. Standish

To Be Published in June, 1922.

     38—Frank Merriwell’s Problem By Burt L. Standish
     39—Frank Merriwell’s Fortune By Burt L. Standish

FRANK MERRIWELL’S NEW COMEDIAN

OR,

THE RISE OF A STAR

BY

BURT L. STANDISH

Author of the famous Merriwell Stories.

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION, PUBLISHERS

79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York

Copyright, 1899 By STREET & SMITH

Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian

(Printed in the United States of America)

All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign

languages, including the Scandinavian.

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.” He recalled the events of that first production with almost a shudder. “For Old Eli” had been a failure, a flat, appalling, stupefying failure. From the rise of the curtain everything and everybody had gone wrong; lines were forgotten, Ephraim Gallup had had stage fright, his own best situations had been marred.

How much of this was due to the lying handbills which had been scattered broadcast, asserting that he was not the real Frank Merriwell, but an impostor, a deadbeat and a thorough scoundrel, Frank could not tell. He believed that these efforts to ruin him had little effect, for when, at the close of the performance, he had made a speech from the stage, assuring the audience that he would bring his play back and give a satisfactory performance, his reception had been cordial.

But the play had failed. Parker Folansbee, his backer, had acted queerly, and Frank knew that, after the company had reached Denver, the relations between him and his backer would cease. “For Old Eli” had been well-nigh ruinous, and when they got back to Denver, Merry and his friends would be without funds.

Then the thought came to him of the prejudice expressed against a poor black cat he had allowed to travel with the company. He could not restrain a smile as he perceived that the superstitious members of the company would feel that the cat had hoodooed them. As if a cat could affect the fortunes of men!

The thought of the cat gave a pleasant turn to his reflections, and he cheered up immensely.

He had failed?

No!

He would not acknowledge failure, defeat, disaster. He would not lie down and abandon the struggle, for he was not built of such weak material.

Where was the fault? Was it in the piece, or in the way it had been played?

He realized that, although the piece was well constructed, it was not of a high, artistic character, such as must appeal by pure literary merit to the best class of theater patrons.

It could not be ranked with the best productions of Pinero, Jones, Howard, Thomas, or even Clyde Fitch. He had not written it with the hope of reaching such a level. His aim had been to make a “popular” piece, such as would appeal to the masses.

He fell to thinking over what had happened, and trying to understand the cause of it all. He did not lay the blame entirely on the actors.

It was not long before he decided that something about his play had led the spectators to expect more than they had received.

What was it they had expected?

While he was thinking of this alone in his room at the hotel, Bart Hodge, his old friend and