Читать книгу Frank Merriwell's Marriage; Or, Inza's Happiest Day - Burt L. Standish - Страница 7

Table of Contents

Frank was a bit disappointed by the failure of his friends to reach the Elm Tree Inn that noon.

Grafter lunched with Merry and Hodge. They chatted pleasantly throughout the meal. The shot putter noted everything that Frank ate.

“Do you conform to a rigid diet?” he asked.

“Not exactly, although I do not eat the things I know are not good for me.”

“Can you outline a diet that is proper for all athletes in training?”

“I might outline one that would be proper for most athletes, yet not for all. I have found by experience that human stomachs vary, and it is an old saw that ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison.’ Still there are some rules that apply to every one. Certain things must not be touched by the fellow who proposes to become an athlete.”

“For instance?”

“Tobacco, liquor, coffee.”

“Don’t you think a man may take a small drink with beneficial effect at times?”

“Never when in health.”

“When not in health——”

“He’s not fit to take part in athletic contests. Liquor may be used as a medicine when prescribed by a doctor who knows his business.”

“How about the theory that liquor in moderate quantity is a food? You know that’s the assertion of the most advanced doctors of the present day.”

Frank nodded and smiled.

“It may be a food,” he admitted; “but it is a most dangerous one. The person who uses it as a food must acquire an appetite for it. Half a pint of liquor a day might not seem to harm a strong and rugged man until he acquired the appetite and desire for it. In the end it might ruin him. It is something that cannot be tampered with. It should be let alone by all healthy persons.”

“What’s the secret of your remarkable success in becoming the champion amateur athlete of America, Mr. Merriwell?”

Again Frank smiled.

“Am I the champion of America?”

“So called by almost every one.”

“Well, there is no great secret about my success. In the first place I began young. I have been working for years to make myself perfect physically without overdoing and breaking down. It’s a delicate thing to know just how much hard work will be beneficial for one, for overdoing invariably weakens. I have been temperate, and I’ve tried to live properly. I have no vices that can weaken me. Petty vices are the ruin of hundreds of would-be athletes. I enjoy life thoroughly without seeking enjoyment in forbidden paths. All the while I have been training my body I’ve trained my mind also.

“Mind and body must work together. The chap who wishes to become a champion must be earnest, sincere, and determined. He must never slight his work. He must always keep himself keyed up to the finest possible point. The moment he grows careless or negligent he begins to slump and go backward. He must have unwavering confidence in himself. It’s hard for a youngster to be confident in himself without showing conceit, and then every one wants to kick him. But there is such a thing as absolute and perfect self-confidence without conceit.”

Grafter seemed a trifle disappointed.

“Have you told me your secret?” he asked.

“I informed you that there was no secret about it. The secret of success is generally hard work. Veterans will tell you so.”

“But some fellows seem to succeed without working.”

“No man has made great success in this world without working; but you know for many men work is play. The boy who enjoys work is certain to be a winner.”

Grafter shook his head.

“I’m afraid,” he confessed, “that I’ll never be much of a winner at anything, for I do not enjoy work.”

“Learn to enjoy it.”

“How can I?”

“Put your heart into it. Get interested. That’s the trick. Never do a thing with the simple desire to get it done quickly, but with the determination to get it done well.”

“That’s good advice, I reckon,” admitted Grafter; “but can you tell me how it is that you happen to be an all-round champion, yet able to defeat fellows who have made a special effort to excel in one particular line?”

“I have told you the whole secret. Other fellows may have been content to perfect themselves in one or two lines; I have tried to become perfect in many lines. Some things I like better than others. If I attempt a thing that I do not like very well, I work at it all the harder. If I find some other fellow who can do it better than I, then I set out to do it better than he can, and I never stop until I succeed. Even then, I generally find still another chap who is my superior and keep on trying to beat him.”

“But you were specially adapted to become a great athlete. You were athletic when a boy?”

“I made myself so. I was something of a weakling when born. My mother expected me to die. I remember hearing her say it was a shame I could not grow up to be strong and rugged. She even fancied I might have lung trouble.”

“It doesn’t seem possible!” cried Grafter, surveying Merry’s sturdy figure.

“When I became old enough to think, I resolved that I would be strong. I sought to learn how to make myself strong. I discovered the way. Do you know it is a fact that almost all great athletes and strong men have been weak children?”

“I did not know.”

“It’s true.”

“But it almost seems that you must hypnotize your opponents in matches. How is it that you defeat them time after time when they appear to have the advantage, the same as you did Manton to-day?”

“I grasp the opportunity.”

“The opportunity? Why——”

“In almost everything there comes an opening, or opportunity, that may be seized with advantage. It came to-day when Manton failed to make his seventh straight strike. I always watch the other fellow to see when he weakens. At that point I try to put forth my best efforts. If he slumps and I succeed, he may lose his nerve. All through life a man must be ready to grasp the opportunity.”

“And that,” cried Grafter, as if his eyes had suddenly been opened, “is the secret of his success!”