Produced by Mark C. Orton, Linda McKeown, Barbara Tozier and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT [Illustration: I'm in for some of the severest drubbings of my life] THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT Being a Record of the Adventures of a Live American Young Man _By GEORGE RANDOLPH CHESTER_ AUTHOR OF "Get Rich Quick Wallingford," "The Cash Intrigue," Etc. WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG AND F. R. GRUGER _A. L. BURT COMPANY_ _Publishers New York_ COPYRIGHT 1908 THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY COPYRIGHT 1909 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY JUNE DEDICATION To the Handicapped Sons of Able Fathers, and the Handicapped Fathers of Able Sons, with Sympathy for each, and a Smile for both THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT CHAPTER I BOBBY MAKES SOME IMPORTANT PREPARATIONS FOR A COMMERCIAL LIFE "I am profoundly convinced that my son is a fool," read the will of old John Burnit. "I am, however, also convinced that I allowed him to become so by too much absorption in my own affairs and too little in his, and, therefore, his being a fool is hereditary; consequently, I feel it my duty, first, to give him a fair trial at making his own way, and second, to place the balance of my fortune in such trust that he can not starve. The trusteeship is already created and the details are nobody's present business. My son Robert will take over the John Burnit Store and personally conduct it, as his only resource, without further question as to what else I may have left behind me. This is my last will and testament." That is how cheerful Bobby Burnit, with no thought heretofore above healthy amusements and Agnes Elliston, suddenly became a business man, after having been raised to become the idle heir to about three million. Of course, having no kith nor kin in all this wide world, he went immediately to consult Agnes. It is quite likely that if he had been supplied with dozens of uncles and aunts he would have gone first to Agnes anyhow, having a mighty regard for her keen judgment, even though her clear gaze rested now and then all too critically upon himself. Just as he came whirling up the avenue he saw Nick Allstyne's white car, several blocks ahead of him, stop at her door, and a figure which he knew must be Nick jump out and trip up the steps. Almost immediately the figure came down again, much more slowly, and climbed into the car, which whizzed away.