Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: BEN SWUNG HIS HAT AND SHOUTED, AND AT LAST CAUGHT THE NOTICE OF THE PEOPLE ON THE BANK.--P. 51.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TELEGRAPH MESSENGER BOY Or The Straight Road to Success By EDWARD S. ELLIS Author of "Down the Mississippi," "Life of Kit Carson," "Lost in the Wilds," "Red Plume," Etc. CHATTERTON-PECK COMPANY NEW YORK, N. Y. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright, 1889, by N. L. MUNRO Copyright, 1904, by THE MERSHON COMPANY ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. On a Log 1 II. The Collision 8 III. The Office Boy 16 IV. A Message in the Night 22 V. In Storm and Darkness 29 VI. "Tell Mother I Am All Right" 36 VII. A Thrilling Voyage 43 VIII. The Cipher Telegram 50 IX. The Translation 57 X. Farmer Jones 64 XI. The Value of Courtesy 71 XII. A Call 78 XIII. At the Grandin Mansion 85 XIV. The Conspiracy 93 XV. An Affray at Night 99 XVI. The Third Telegram 106 XVII. Decidedly Mixed 113 XVIII. Between Two Fires 120 XIX. Baffled! 127 XX. Watching and Waiting 134 XXI. "Lay Low!" 141 XXII. The Battle of Life 148 XXIII. Face to Face 155 XXIV. Startling Discoveries 160 XXV. In the Nick of Time 169 XXVI. Conclusion 176 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TELEGRAPH MESSENGER BOY CHAPTER I ON A LOG I made the acquaintance of Ben Mayberry under peculiar circumstances. I had charge of the Western Union's telegraph office in Damietta, where my duties were of the most exacting nature. I was kept hard at work through the winter months, and more of it crowded on me during the spring than I could manage with comfort. I strolled to the river bank one summer afternoon, and was sauntering lazily along when I noticed a young urchin, who was floating down-stream on a log, which had probably drifted thither from the lumber regions above. The boy was standing upright, with a grin of delight on his face, and he probably found more real enjoyment in floating down-stream in this style than any excursionist could obtain in a long voyage on a palace steamer.