Frank Merriwell Down South

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Merriwell Down South, by Burt L. Standish

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Title: Frank Merriwell Down South
Author: Burt L. Standish
Release Date: August 29, 2007 [EBook #22424]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: "'What's that!' howled the little professor, dancing about in his night robe." (See page 109)]
Frank Merriwell Down South
BY
BURT L. STANDISH
AUTHOR OF "Frank Merriwell's School-Days," "Frank Merriwell's Chums," "Frank Merriwell's Foes," etc.
PHILADELPHIA DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER 610 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE
Copyright, 1903 By STREET & SMITH
Frank Merriwell Down South

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I--A Wonderful Story 7 II--Gone 13 III--Held for Ransom 19 IV--Unmasked 27 V--Kidnaped 31 VI--Carried into the Mountains 37 VII--The Camp in the Desert 42 VIII--The Treasure Seeker 46 IX--The Professor's Escape 51 X--The Stranger 57 XI--The Awakening Volcano 62 XII--Doom of the Silver Palace 68 XIII--A Stampede in a City 75 XIV--The Hot Blood of Youth 80 XV--Mystery of the Flower Queen 85 XVI--Professor Scotch Feels Ill 90 XVII--Led into a Trap 95 XVIII--Barney on Hand 100 XIX--A Humble Apology 106 XX--The Professor's Courage 111 XXI--Frank's Bold Move 116 XXII--The Queen is Found 121 XXIII--Fighting Lads 127 XXIV--End of the Search 132 XXV--The Mysterious Canoe 138 XXVI--Still More Mysterious 144 XXVII--In the Everglades 149 XXVIII--The Hut on the Island 155 XXIX--A Wild Night in the Swamp 160 XXX--Frank's Shot 165 XXXI--Young in Years Only 170 XXXII--A Mysterious Transformation 177 XXXIII--Gage Takes a Turn 181 XXXIV--A Fearful Fate 186 XXXV--The Serpent Vine 192 XXXVI--Right or Wrong 196 XXXVII--Frank's Mercy 200 XXXVIII--In the Mountains Again 206 XXXIX--Frank and Kate 212 XL--A Jealous Lover 218 XLI--Facing Death 222 XLII--Muriel 228 XLIII--Saved! 240 XLIV--Frank's Suspicion 248 XLV--The Greatest Peril 257 XLVI--The Mystery of Muriel 263
[Transcriber's Note: The following list of illustrations has been created for this electronic edition. Some illustrations have been moved to positions closer to their appearance in the text.]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"'What's that!' howled the little professor, dancing about in his night robe." (See page 109)
"Frank began shooting, and his first bullet brought down one of the ponies of the pursuers." (See page 14)
"The white canoe had stopped, and was lying calmly on the inky surface of the shadowed water." (See page 147)
"Kate grasped the assailant by the collar, and with astonishing strength, pulled him off the prostrate lad." (See page 218)

Frank Merriwell Down South.
CHAPTER I.
A WONDERFUL STORY.
"It is in the heart of the Sierra Madre range, one hundred and twenty-five miles west of Zacatecas," said the dying man. "Across the blue chasm you can see its towers and turrets glistening in the sunshine. It is like a beautiful dream--dazzling, astounding, grand!"
"He wanders in his mind," softly declared Professor Scotch. "Poor fellow! His brain was turned and he was brought to his death by his fruitless search for the mythical Silver Palace."
The man who lay on a bed of grass in one corner of the wretched adobe hut turned a reproachful look on the little professor.
"You are wrong," he asserted, in a voice that seemed to have gained strength for the moment. "I am not deranged--I am not deceived by an hallucination. With my eyes I have seen the wonderful Silver Palace--yes, more than that, I have stood within the palace and beheld the marvelous treasures which it contains."
The professor turned away to hide the look on his face, but Frank Merriwell, deeply interested, bent over the unfortunate man, asking:
"By what route can this wonderful palace be reached?"
"There is no route. Between us and the Silver Palace lie waterless deserts, great mountains, and, at last, a yawning chasm, miles in width, miles in depth. This chasm extends entirely round the broad plateau on which the wonderful palace stands like a dazzling dream. The bottom of the chasm is hidden by mists which assume fantastic forms, and whirl and sway and dash forward and backward, like battling armies. Indians fear the place; Mexicans hold it in superstitious horror. It is said that these mist-like forms are the ghosts of warriors dead and gone, a wonderful people who built the Silver Palace in the days of Cortez--built it where the Spaniard could not reach and despoil it."
Despite his doubts, the professor was listening with strong interest to this remarkable tale.
The fourth person in the hut was the Dutch boy, Hans Dunnerwust, who sat on the ground, his back against the wall, his jaw dropped and his eyes bulging. Occasionally, as he listened to the words of the dying man, he would mutter:
"Chimminy Gristmas!"
For several weeks Frank Merriwell, our hero, Hans,