Larry Barlow's ambition: or, The adventures of a young fireman

About this book

"Larry Barlow's Ambition" by Edward Stratemeyer is an adventure novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Larry Barlow, a plucky orphaned machinist and volunteer fireman whose dream is to join the New York City Fire Department, balancing daring rescues with an invention of a powerful extension ladder and a budding mystery tied to his late father’s lost elevator patent and a girl he saves, Mary Vern. Expect brisk firefighting action, urban scrapes, and an undercurrent of intrigue as Larry tries to turn ambition into honorable service.

At the start, Larry builds a model for a steel extension ladder, loses his machinist job after a run‑in with a bully, and makes a brief trip to New York where he’s thrilled by a fire run and overhears two men hinting at exploiting his missing father’s elevator invention. Back home he leads volunteers at a hotel blaze, rescues Mary Vern from a smoke-choked upper floor, and survives a dramatic leap into a net; her grateful father gives him an introduction to a fire commissioner. In the city, Larry is nearly drowned during a warehouse flood before being pulled out, secures entry into the fire department’s school of instruction, and finds a modest flat for himself and his sister. Meanwhile he defends a newsboy from a street bully, eavesdrops on a schemer (Martin Pollox) plotting around the elevator patent and name-drops Richard Vern—who is then reported killed—endures a waterfront ambush by local toughs, escapes a misguided arrest, and finally begins formal training before unexpectedly meeting Mary again in New York.