Frank Merriwell's Son; Or, A Chip Off the Old Block

by Burt L. Standish

"Determined to be?" exclaimed Elsie. "Why do you use that word, Inza?"

"Why, you remember that I laughed at you—you remember I told you a hundred times that you would be well and strong again."

"Yes, you were most encouraging, Inza, and I'll never forget how faithfully you stuck by me. Still, there were reasons why I feared for my future health."

"Silly reasons."

"Oh, no, Inza; not silly. You can't call them that. You know my mother was never strong, and she finally became a chronic invalid."

"But your father——"

"Oh, he was a rugged man."

"You know it's said that girls generally take after their fathers and boys after their mothers."

"But in my case it was different. A thousand times my father told me how much I looked like my mother. I had a picture of her, and I could see I was becoming more and more like her every day."

"You're a person who worries, Elsie. When things are not going just right you give yourself over to fears for the future. I have absolute courage and faith."