Transcriber's Note:The advertisement that was located at the beginning of the book has been moved to the end of this e-text.
THE UPWARD AND ONWARD SERIES.
DESK AND DEBIT;
OR,
THE CATASTROPHES OF A CLERK.
By
OLIVER OPTIC,
AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," "THE ARMY AND NAVY STORIES,"
"THE WOODVILLE STORIES," "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES," "THE
STARRY FLAG SERIES," "THE LAKE-SHORE SERIES," ETC.
WITH FOURTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS.
BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.
NEW YORK:
LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGHAM.
1871.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871,
ByWILLIAM T. ADAMS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
ELECTROTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,
10 Spring Lane.
TO THE MEMORY OF
MY GOOD-NATURED AND VERSATILE YOUNG FRIEND
EDWIN A. FARWELL,
WHO, SINCE THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN, HAS PASSED AWAY FROM
THE SCENES OF EARTH, LOVED AND RESPECTED
BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM,
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
THE UPWARD AND ONWARD SERIES.
1.Field and Forest;or, The Fortunes of a Farmer.
2.Plane and Plank;or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic.
3.Desk and Debit;or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk.
IN PREPARATION:
4.Cringle and Cross-Tree;or, The Sea Swashes of a Sailor.
5.Bivouac and Battle;or, The Struggles of a Soldier.
6.Sea and Shore;or, The Tramps of a Traveller.
PREFACE.
"Desk and Debit" is the third of "The Upward and Onward Series," in which Phil Farringford appears as a clerk. The principal events of the story are located in Chicago and on Lake Michigan—the latter, perhaps, because the author finds it quite impossible to write a story without a boat, which also involves the necessity of a broad sheet of water, or a long river. In this, as in its predecessors, evil-minded characters are introduced, to show the contrast between vice and virtue; but the hero, in whom the sympathies of the reader are supposed to be centred, is still faithful to his Christian duties, still reads his Bible, and "prays without ceasing."
Young and old are injured only by the precept and example of those whom they love, respect, or admire; and the writer has no fear that his readers will love, respect, or admire Charles Whippleton or Ben Waterford, or that they will fail to condemn their errors and their