Frank Merriwell's Chase; Or, Exciting Times Afloat — Background and Themes

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In Category - Exploration Survival Adventure Tales

Authors: Standish, Burt L., 1866-1945 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2020 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Adventure stories; Dime novels; Merriwell, Frank (Fictitious character) -- Juvenile fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 55,047

Reading time 240 min

Text sections 28

This digital edition of Frank Merriwell's Chase; Or, Exciting Times Afloat — Background and Themes is described by source-level measurements including 55,047 words, 4 hr estimated reading time, and 28 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 12.4 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Adventure stories,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #63483

In this 1898 dime novel, Frank Merriwell and his friends cruise the Maine coast, facing a violent ambush. The excerpt reveals a pattern of interrupted banter, sudden physical struggle, and a revolver that misfires, highlighting the tension between casual adventure and genuine peril.

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
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Edition quality

File: pg63483

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chts anchored in the harbor, her anchor went over and her sails came down smoothly. Then Frank got into the small boat, and Diamond and Hodge rowed him over to the wharf where the cyclists awaited him. They gathered around him as he came up the step onto the wharf, and the one who had hailed the yacht grasped him by the hand, saying:

“You are Mr. Merriwell, I presume?”

“That is my name,” smiled Frank.

“Mr. Merriwell, I am delighted to know you. We are all delighted. My name is Dustan—Howard Dustan. These gentlemen are members of the Belfast Bicycle Club. We heard you were coming. There was a Camden man on the _City of Bangor_, which passed you on its way here from Searsport, and he reported that you were headed this way. It didn’t take long to get the boys together when they learned that Frank Merriwell was coming in here. Let me introduce them to you.”

So Frank was introduced to each of the lads in gray as they came forward.

“Gentlemen,” he laughed, in his charming way, “I assure you this is an unexpected pleasure. It will be a long time before I shall forget my reception in Belfast. I am glad to know you all.”

“And we are glad you did not slight us by skipping Belfast,” said Mart Woodock. “We heard you were in Camden and Rockland, but, as you left there more than a week ago, we thought you were not coming to Belfast. You will find just as good people here as there are in the State of Maine.”

“I haven’t a doubt of it,” bowed Merry; “and I am charmed with the people of Maine. It is my first visit this way, but I am sure it will not be my last.”

Then he uttered a sudden exclamation of surprise and sprang toward the door of the freighthouse.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

MERRIWELL MEETS HIS FOE.

All were surprised by Merriwell’s sudden move.

Frank had seen a person appear in the open door of the freight house, look at him, and then dodge back. Although he obtained but a glimpse of this person, Merry fancied he knew him.

Into the doorway he sprang, and looked around. On every hand were boxes and barrels and piles of freight, but no one was to be seen. The opposite door was standing open.

“Must have dodged out that way,” muttered Frank, and he darted toward the door.

But when he reached the door, he looked in vain for the person he fancied he had seen.

“My eyes may have fooled me,” he said.

He had been followed by several of the cyclists, and they were staring at him in amazement. He saw that he must make some explanation, or they would think him deranged.

“It’s all right,” he laughed. “I fancied I saw a person that I know. He appeared there in the doorway, and then retreated into the building. I may have been mistaken.”

“You must have been,” said Mart Woodock.

“Come out and meet the girls,” said Howard Dustan. “They are waiting to be introduced.”

So Merry was escorted into the presence of the girls and introduced to each one in turn.

“We had begun to believe you were not coming to Belfast at all, Mr. Merriwell,” said a vivacious little blond named Mabel Mitshef, but called “Mabel Mischief” by her friends.

“I came near missing Belfast,” acknowledged Frank; “but, after going to Bar Harbor, I learned something about this place that made it seem very attractive to me, and so I decided to come here. Already I am satisfied that the stories I heard about Belfast are true.”

“My!” cried Mabel. “You make me curious. I wonder what stories you could have heard?”

“Well,” smiled Frank, “I heard that Belfast had the prettiest girls of any place on the Maine coast.”

This threw the girls into confusion, but Mabel had sufficient presence of mind to say:

“If you came here because of those stories, I hope you will not be disappointed, Mr. Merriwell.”

“If the girls I have already seen fairly represent the fair sex of Belfast, I am sure I shall not,” bowed Frank.

Frank’s back was turned toward the freight house door, so he did not see the hateful eyes which peered out at him. The owner of those eyes drew back in a moment, muttering:

“Yes, it is Merriwell—curse him! I dodged him just in time. He would have seen me if I hadn’t hidden amid those boxes. He must not see me now.”

Continue Reading →

From its first chapter, Frank Merriwell's Chase establishes a rhythm of light banter that is abruptly broken by physical violence. The opening scene at Belfast mixes sightseeing commentary—Hans mispronouncing the city's name, Frank joking about an advertising board—with a quick shift to irritation among the friends. This pattern of casual talk giving way to conflict recurs later when a peaceful cove becomes the site of a two-on-one fight. The narrative voice moves between descriptive passages of the harbor and clipped, breathless action lines, creating a tonal contrast that defines the excerpt.

Dialogue as a Marker of Character and Tension

The excerpt uses dialogue to distinguish the four companions quickly. Hans Dunnerwust speaks in a broad Dutch dialect, with phrases like “Das vas Pelvast” and “I don’d vant no sarsbarillas,” which provides comic relief. Jack Diamond, in contrast, uses clipped, irritated speech: “You make me weary, Hans.” Frank Merriwell’s lines are calm and commanding, even under threat—he “half laughed” while grappling. This vocal variety sets up a group dynamic where humor and friction coexist, but the real tension emerges when the unknown assailants speak only in growls and commands. The shift from the friends’ verbal sparring to the enemies’ terse threats marks the story’s pivot from social adventure to survival.

The Mechanics of a Desperate Struggle

The fight sequence is built on specific physical details rather than broad strokes. Frank uses wrestling tricks, breaks holds, and waits for his opponent to exhaust himself. The revolver misfires once before firing skyward, and the struggle for its possession becomes a central object of the scene. The narrator notes that Frank “felt that to lose it meant sure death,” grounding the stakes in a tangible weapon. The fight is not one-sided: Frank is struck with a stone, sees stars, and is dragged down. The inclusion of a second attacker arriving with the line “I’ve fixed t’other feller” implies off-page violence, widening the threat beyond the immediate brawl.

Setting as a Stage for Sudden Danger

The Maine coast setting is initially described in picturesque terms: Belfast “is built on a slope, and is embowered in trees,” with shipyards and a busy harbor. Yet this peaceful backdrop is where the ambush occurs. The cove, mentioned only as the location of a splash, becomes the site of Bart Hodge’s presumed death. The contrast between the idyllic view and the violent action is sharp. The narrative does not linger on the setting during the fight; instead, it uses brief references—a stone, the water, the revolver—to keep the focus on physical action. This technique makes the environment feel like a neutral space that can turn hostile without warning.

Readers should note that the excerpt provides only the opening and a later fight scene, leaving the full plot—including the nature of the chase and the fate of Bart Hodge—unknown. The story’s appeal lies in its rapid shifts between group banter and brutal confrontation, a structure common to dime-novel serials. Pay attention to how the author balances the characters’ distinct voices with the demands of continuous action.

There's something about that old revolver misfiring in the Maine fog—the way peril teeters on the edge of farce—that stays with me. Frank's near-miss feels both dated and uncomfortably real. The same tension hums through The long trail: A story of African adventure — Inside the Classic, where the wildness isn't just scenery but a quiet threat. I still think of both now and then, like old friends whose stories I didn't quite finish.