When Titans Drive

With muscles tense and legs spread wide apart, Bob Bainbridge found himself crouching in the middle of the office shanty. It was yet dark, and in his ears still seemed to sound the dull, rumbling detonation which had made him leap from the bunk before he was even half awake. For a second the stillness was absolute. Then from the other side of the small room came a hoarse, shaking whisper: «Bobby! What the dickens was that?» The young man drew a long breath, and an instant later the flame of a match split the darkness. «Don't know, John,» he answered, hastily lighting a candle. «It sounded a lot like—dynamite!»

This book is an example of an American 'dime novel' the rough equivalent of Britain's 'Penny Dreadful'. Burt L Standish was the pen name of William George «Gilbert» Patten ( 1866 – 1945)

The book starts with school boy Harry, who lives in a fashionable part of the city, playing his friend Tom Haggarty, who does not, in a game of chess and beating him soundly, leaving Tom feeling dejected and stupid. Harry is criticized by his mother and Uncle for playing only with not very good players, but Harry feels unmoved and brushes off this questioning of his principles.This book was written in 1877.