Larry Barlow's ambition : $b or, The adventures of a young fireman
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2025-11-10 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77209 |
Description
L'espionne by Ernest Daudet is a novel written in the late 19th century. From the opening provided, it reads like an action‑and‑mystery adventure following Larry Barlow, a gutsy young machinist and volunteer fireman whose bravery and inventiveness thrust him into dangerous city fires and a murky puzzle tied to his missing father’s elevator patent and a wealthy girl he rescues. The tone blends fast-moving rescues, civic heroism, and a slow-brewing intrigue around crime and inheritance. The opening of the story introduces Larry, a nineteen-year-old orphan machinist in Ferryville, who builds an extension ladder and dreams of joining New York’s fire department. Fired after a shop quarrel, he goes to the city, witnesses a big blaze, overhears two suspicious men discussing his vanished father’s patent, and then saves Mary Vern from a hotel fire with a dramatic leap into a net, gaining a powerful recommendation. He refuses payment, moves to a modest flat with his sister, befriends a newsboy, and while chasing patent clues overhears “Check” Sluggers and Martin Pollox scheming, then narrowly survives being trapped by a sudden flood in a warehouse cellar during another fire. He passes the department exams and enters training, but local bullies attack and dump him in the river; he escapes, dodges a trumped‑up arrest, and later meets Mary again after her father’s sudden death abroad. These chapters set up his courage and ingenuity, and the twin threads of firefighting exploits and a deepening mystery. (This is an automatically generated summary.)