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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frank Merriwell at Yale, by Burt L. Standish
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Frank Merriwell at Yale
+
+Author: Burt L. Standish
+
+Release Date: February 16, 2004 [EBook #11115]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANK MERRIWELL AT YALE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "He finally found himself slugged under the ear and sent
+flying over a chair."]
+
+
+
+
+FRANK MERRIWELL
+AT YALE
+
+BY
+
+BURT L STANDISH
+
+
+
+
+1903
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I--Trouble Brewing
+II--Challenged and Hazed
+III--The Blow
+IV--The Fight
+V--The Finish
+VI--A Fresh Council
+VII--A Surprise
+VIII--The "Roast" at East Rock
+IX--The Duel
+X--At Morey's
+XI--"Lambda Chi!"
+XII--Freshman Against Sophomore
+XIII--Jubilant Freshmen
+XIV--The Rush
+XV--On the Ball Field
+XVI--To Break an Enemy's Wrist
+XVII--Talking it Over
+XVIII--Merriwell and Rattleton
+XIX--Who is the Traitor?
+XX--A Hot Chase
+XXI--Roast Turkey
+XXII--A Surprise for Frank
+XXIII--The Yale Spirit
+XXIV--Gordon Expresses Himself
+XXV--The Traitor Discovered
+XXVI--The Race
+XXVII--A Change of Pitchers
+XXVIII--The Game Grows Hotter
+XXIX--The End of the Game
+XXX--Rattleton is Excited
+XXXI--What Ditson Wanted
+XXXII--Ditson is Trapped
+XXXIII--"Play Ball"
+XXXIV--A Hot Finish
+
+
+
+
+
+FRANK MERRIWELL AT YALE,
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+TROUBLE BREWING.
+
+
+  "Here's to good old Yale--drink it down!
+  Here's to good old Yale--drink it down!
+  Here's to good old Yale,
+  She's so hearty and so hale--
+  Drink it down! Drink it down! down! down!"
+
+From the open window of his rooms on York Street Frank Merriwell heard
+the distant chorus of a rollicking band of students who had been having
+a merry evening in town.
+
+Frank had passed his examinations successfully and had been admitted as
+a student at Yale. In order to accomplish this without taking a
+preparatory course at Phillips Academy, he had found it necessary to
+vigorously "brush up" the knowledge he had acquired at the Fardale
+Military Academy which was a college preparatory school.
+
+Professor Scotch, Frank's guardian, had been of great assistance to him,
+for the professor knew just about what would be required at the
+entrance examination, and he had kept the boy digging away away at the
+propositions in the First Book of Euclid, had drilled him in Caesar,
+caused him to spend weary hours over Virgil and the Iliad, and made him
+not a little weary of his Xenophon.
+
+As he passed without a condition, although he had been told again and
+again that a course at Phillips Academy was almost an absolute
+necessity, Frank was decidedly grateful to the professor.
+
+Professor Scotch's anxiety had brought him to New Haven, where he
+remained "till the agony was over," as Frank expressed it. The little
+man bubbled over with delight when he found his _protégé_ had gone
+through without a struggle.
+
+Having secured the rooms on York Street, the professor saw Frank
+comfortably settled, and then, before taking his departure, he attempted
+to give the boy some wholesome advice.
+
+"Don't try to put on many frills here the first year," he said. "You
+will find that freshmen do not cut much of a figure here. It doesn't
+make any difference what you have done or what you have been elsewhere,
+you will have to establish a record by what you do and what you become
+here. You'll find these fellows here won't care a rap if you have
+discovered the North Pole or circumnavigated the globe in--er--ah--ten
+days. It will be all the better for you if you do not let them know you
+are rich in your own name and have traveled in South America, Africa,
+Europe, and other countries. They'd think you were bragging or lying if
+you mentioned it, and--"
+
+"You know well enough that I am not given to boasting about myself,
+professor, and so you are wasting your breath," said Frank, rather
+resentfully.
+
+"Hum! ha! Don't fly off the handle--keep cool. I know you have sand, and
+you're made of the right kind of stuff; but you are the greatest hand to
+get into scrapes I ever saw, and a little advice won't do you any harm.
+You will find that in many things you cannot do just as you would like,
+so you must--"
+
+"I'll get into the game all right, so don't worry. You will remember
+that I did fairly well at Fardale, and you should not worry about me
+while I am here."
+
+"I will not. You did well at Fardale--that's right. You were the most
+popular boy in the academy; but you will find Yale is far different from
+Fardale."
+
+So the professor took his departure, and Frank was left to begin life at
+college.
+
+His roommate was a rollicking, headstrong, thoughtless young fellow from
+Ohio. Harry Rattleton was his name, and it seemed to fit him perfectly.
+He had a way of speaking rapidly and heedlessly and turning his
+expressions end for end.
+
+Frank had been able to assist Harry at examination. Harry and Frank
+were seated close to each other, and when it was all over and the two
+boys knew they had passed all right, Harry came to Frank, held out his
+hand, and said:
+
+"I believe your name is Merriwell. Mine is Rattleton and I am from Ohio.
+Merriwell, you are a brick, and I am much obliged to you. Let's room
+together. What do you say?"
+
+"I am agreeable," smiled Frank.
+
+That was the way Frank found his roommate.
+
+Harry was interested in sports and athletics, and he confided to Frank
+that he was bound to make a try for both the baseball and football
+teams. He had brought a set of boxing gloves, foils, and a number of
+sporting pictures. The foils were crossed above the mantel and the
+pictures were hung about the walls, but he insisted on putting on the
+gloves with Frank before hanging them up where they would be ornamental.
+
+"I've taken twenty lessons, old man," he said, "and I want to point you
+a few shows--I mean show you a few points. We'll practice every day, and
+I'll bet in less than ten weeks I'll have you so you'll be able to hold
+your own with any fellow of your age and weight. Ever had the gloves
+on?"
+
+"A few times," answered Frank, with a quiet smile.
+
+"That's all the better. I won't have to show you how to start in. Here,
+here--that hand goes on the other glove--I mean that glove goes on the
+other hand. That's the way. Now we're off. Left forward foot--er, left
+foot forward. Hold your guard this way. Now hit me if you can."
+
+Almost like a flash of lightning Frank's glove shot out, and he caused
+the glove to snap on Harry's nose.
+
+"Whee jiz--I mean jee whiz!" gasped the astonished boy from Ohio.
+"You're quick! But it was an accident; you can't do it again."
+
+He had scarcely uttered the words before Frank feinted and then shot in
+a sharp one under Harry's uplifted guard.
+
+"Great Scott! You do know some tricks! I'll bet you think you can box!
+Well, I'll have to drive that head out of your notion--I mean that
+notion out of your head. Look out for me now! I'm coming!"
+
+Then Harry Rattleton sailed into Frank and met with the greatest
+surprise of his life, for he found he could not touch Merriwell, and he
+was beaten and hammered and battered about the room till he finally felt
+himself slugged under the ear and sent flying over a chair, to land in a
+heap in one corner of the room. He sat up and held his gloved hand to
+his ear, which was ringing with a hundred clanging bells, while he
+stared astounded at his roommate.
+
+"Wow!" he gurgled. "What have I been up against? Are you a prize
+fighter in disguise?"
+
+That experience was enough to satisfy him that Frank Merriwell knew a
+great deal more than he did about boxing.
+
+As Frank sat by his window listening to the singing, on the evening that
+this story opens, he was wondering where Harry could be, for his
+roommate had been away since shortly after supper.
+
+Frank knew the merry singers were sophomores, the malicious and
+unrelenting foes of all freshmen. He would have given not a little had
+he been able to join them in their songs, but he knew that was not to be
+thought of for a moment.
+
+As he continued to listen, a clear tenor voice struck into that most
+beautiful of college songs when heard from a distance:
+
+  "When the matin bell is ringing,
+    U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o,
+  From my rushy pallet springing,
+    U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o,
+  Fresh as the morning light forth I sally,
+  With my sickle bright thro' the valley,
+  To my dear one gayly singing,
+    U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o."
+
+Then seven or eight strong musical young voices came in on the warbling
+chorus, and the boy at the window listened enchanted and enraptured,
+feeling the subtle charm of it all and blessing fortune that he was a
+youth and a student at Yale.
+
+The charm of the new life he had entered upon was strong, and it was
+weaving its spell about him--the spell which makes old Yale so dear to
+all who are fortunate enough to claim her as their _alma mater_. He
+continued to listen, eagerly drinking in the rest of the song as it came
+through the clear evening air:
+
+  "When the day is closing o'er us,
+    U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o,
+  And the landscape fades before us,
+    U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o,
+  When our merry men quit their mowing,
+  And along the glen horns are blowing,
+  Sweetly then we'll raise the chorus,
+    U-ra-li-o, U-ra-li-o."
+
+The warbling song died out in the distance, there was a rush of feet
+outside the door, and Harry, breathless and excited, came bursting into
+the room.
+
+"I say, old man," he cried, "what do I think?"
+
+"Really, I don't know," laughed Frank. "What do you think?"
+
+"I--I mean wh-what do you think?" spluttered Harry.
+
+"Why, I think a great many things. What's up, anyway?"
+
+"You know Diamond?"
+
+"The fellow they call Jack?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I should say so! It was his bull pup that chewed a piece out of the leg
+of my trousers. I kicked the dog downstairs, and Diamond came near
+having a fit over it. He's got a peppery temper, and he was ready to
+murder me. I reckon he thought I should have taken off my trousers and
+given them to the dog to chew."
+
+"He's a Southerner--from Virginia. He's a dangerous chap, Frank--just as
+lief eat as fight--I mean fight as eat. He's been in town to-night,
+drinking beer with the boys, and he's in a mighty ugly mood. He says you
+insulted him."
+
+"Is that so?"
+
+"It's just so, and he's going to dallenge you to a chewel--I mean
+challenge you to a duel."
+
+Frank whistled softly, elevating his brows a bit.
+
+"What sort of a duel?" he asked.
+
+"Why, a regular duel with deadly weapons. He's awfully in earnest,
+Frank, and he means to kill you if you don't apologize. All the fellows
+are backing him; they think you will not fight."
+
+"Is that so? Looking for me to show the white feather, are they? Well, I
+like that!"
+
+"But you can't fight him! I tell you he's a fire eater! I've heard that
+his father killed a man in a duel."
+
+"And that makes the son dangerous! No, Harry, I can't afford to--What's
+all that racket?"
+
+The sound of voices and of many feet ascending the stairs could be
+heard. Harry turned pale.
+
+"They're coming, Frank!" he exclaimed. "It's the whole gang, and Diamond
+is with them. He means to force you to fight or squeal!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CHALLENGED AND HAZED.
+
+
+The voices were hushed, the feet halted in the hall, and then there was
+a sharp knock on the door.
+
+Before Harry could reach the door Frank called out:
+
+"Come in."
+
+Open flew the door, and there stood the tall, straight, dark-eyed
+Southerner, with half a dozen other fellows behind him.
+
+"Mr. Merriwell," said Diamond, stiffly, "I have called to see you on a
+very important matter, sir."
+
+"Walk right in," invited Frank, rising to receive them. "Bring your
+friends in. State your business, Mr. Diamond."
+
+The party came trooping in, and Frank was not a little astonished to
+observe among them Bruce Browning, a big, strong, lazy sophomore, a
+fellow who was known to be a great hand to plan deviltry which was
+usually carried into execution by his friends. As for Browning, he was
+not given to exerting himself when he could avoid it.
+
+That a soph should associate with a party of freshmen seemed but a
+little short of marvelous, and Frank instantly scented "a job."
+Believing he had been singled out for the party to "jolly," his blood
+was up in a moment, and he resolved to show them that he was not "easy."
+
+Jack Diamond drew himself up, his eyes fastened threateningly on Frank,
+and said:
+
+"Sir, you had the impudence to kick my dog, and when I remonstrated with
+you, you insulted me. I demand an apology before these gentlemen."
+
+Frank held himself in check; he appeared as cool as an iceberg.
+
+"Sir," he said, "your confounded dog spoiled a pair of ten-dollar
+trousers for me, and I demand another pair--or satisfaction."
+
+Harry Rattleton caught his breath. Was Merriwell crazy? He started
+forward, as if to intervene, but Diamond, his eyes blazing, motioned him
+back.
+
+"Very well, sir," said the Southerner, addressing Frank, "you shall have
+all the satisfaction you desire. Mr. Ditson will represent me."
+
+Roland Ditson pressed forward. He was a loud-voiced youth who wore loud
+clothes and sported a large amount of jewelry.
+
+"Name your second, Merriwell," he said in an authoritative way. "We want
+to settle this matter as soon as possible."
+
+Frank named Harry, and the seconds conferred together.
+
+Merriwell sat down and coolly awaited the result, with his hands in his
+pockets. Diamond drew aside, his friends gathering about him. Bruce
+Browning interested himself in what was passing between Rattleton and
+Ditson, and it was plain that he was urging them to do something.
+
+After a few minutes Harry approached Frank, a troubled look on his face.
+
+"It's an outrage!" he indignantly exclaimed. "Ditson insists that it be
+a degular ruel--I mean a regular duel with rapiers. He says you gave the
+challenge, and so Diamond has the right to name the weapons. Such a
+thing can't take place!"
+
+"Oh, yes, it can," said Frank, coolly. "Accept the proposition and have
+the affair come off as soon as possible."
+
+"But, Frank, think of it! I'll bet Diamond is an expert swordsman, and
+he's just the kind of a chap to lose his head and run you through the
+body! Why, it would be dimply serrible--I mean simply terrible!"
+
+"I'll have to fight him or take water. Now, Harry, old man, you don't
+want me to show the white feather, so go back and complete the
+arrangements."
+
+"But there ought to be some other way of settling it. If you could
+fight him with your fists I know you'd beat him, but you don't stand a
+show this way."
+
+Frank looked his roommate squarely in the eye.
+
+"Go back and accept every proposition Ditson makes," he commanded, and
+Rattleton felt the influence of Merriwell's superior will.
+
+Back he went, and it did not take the seconds long, with Bruce
+Browning's aid, to settle matters. Browning said he knew a nice quiet
+place where the duel could take place without danger of interruption,
+and in a short time the entire party was on the street, following the
+lead of the big sophomore.
+
+Harry was at Frank's side and he was greatly agitated.
+
+"If you are counting on Diamond backing down you'll be dadly--I mean
+sadly disappointed," he whispered. "That fellow doesn't know what it is
+to be afraid, and he'll stand up to the end."
+
+"Keep cool," directed Frank. "He'll find there are others."
+
+Harry gave up in despair.
+
+"This is a terrible affair!" he muttered to himself. "It's likely to
+mean arrest, disgrace, imprisonment for the whole of us, if those blamed
+hot-headed fools don't kill each other!"
+
+But he decided to stand by his roommate, no matter what came.
+
+Browning led them away from the vicinity of the college buildings and
+down a dark street. At length they came to an old brick structure, in
+which not a light was to be seen. Down some slippery stone steps they
+went, and the big soph let them in by unlocking a door.
+
+It was dark inside. Browning closed and locked the door, after which he
+conducted them along a narrow passage, opened another door, and ushered
+them into a room.
+
+The smell of cigarette smoke was strong there, and Frank knew the place
+had been lately occupied by smokers.
+
+A match spluttered, and then a lamp was lighted.
+
+"Get ready for business," directed Browning. "I will bring the rapiers
+and another light."
+
+Then he vanished beyond a door that opened into another dark room.
+
+Frank looked around and saw a table, upon which were cards and empty
+beer bottles. There were chairs and some copies of illustrated sporting
+papers. The walls were bare.
+
+It was warm down there, and Frank immediately discarded his coat.
+
+Diamond was about to follow Merriwell's example, when there was a sudden
+rush of feet and the room filled in a twinkling with masked youths, who
+flung themselves on the astonished freshmen and made all but Frank a
+prisoner in a moment.
+
+Frank instantly understood that they had been trapped and he knocked
+down four of his assailants before they could bear him to the floor and
+overpower him.
+
+His hands were securely bound, and then he was lifted to his feet.
+
+"Well, fellows, that was a pretty slick trick," he half laughed, as he
+coolly looked around. "You sophs have been trying to corral a gang of us
+for a week, and with the aid of the smooth Mr. Browning you succeeded
+very finely this time."
+
+"Silence!" roared a deep voice, and a tall fellow in a scarlet Mephisto
+rig confronted Frank. "You have intruded upon forbidden ground. None but
+the chosen may enter here and escape with life."
+
+"Not one!" chorused all the masks in deep and dismal unison.
+
+Mephisto made a signal. Once more the freshmen were seized.
+
+"Away with them!" shouted the fellow in red.
+
+In another moment all but Frank had been hustled out of the room. Then
+Frank was suddenly held fast and blindfolded. He was dragged along to
+some place where the opening of another door brought to his ears the
+sound of horns and shouts of fiendish glee. He was made to mount some
+stairs and then his feet were kicked from beneath him, and he shot down
+a steep and slippery incline into the very midst of the shouting demons.
+He dropped through space and landed--in a vat of ice-cold water. Then he
+was dragged out, thumped on the head with stuffed clubs, deafened by the
+horns that bellowed in his ears, and tossed in a blanket till his head
+bumped against the ceiling. Then he was forced to crawl through a piano
+box that was filled with sawdust. He was pushed and pulled and hammered
+and thumped till he was sore in every part of his body.
+
+All through this ordeal not a word or murmur escaped his lips. His teeth
+were set, and he felt that he had rather die than utter a sound that
+betrayed pain or agitation.
+
+This seemed to infuriate his assailants. They banged him about till he
+could scarcely stand, and then, of a sudden, there was a great hush,
+while a terrible voice croaked:
+
+"Bring forth the guillotine!"
+
+There was a bustle, and then the bandage was stripped from Frank's eyes,
+he was tripped up, and a second later found himself lying helpless with
+his neck in the socket of a mock guillotine. Above him was suspended a
+huge gleaming knife that seemed to tremble, as if about to fall. At his
+side was a fellow dressed in the somber garments of an executioner.
+
+It was really a severe strain upon his nerves, but still his teeth were
+clinched, and not a sound came from his lips.
+
+"The knife is broken," whispered the mock executioner in Frank's ear,
+"so it may accidentally fall and cut you."
+
+"Have you any last message, fresh?" hoarsely whispered the mock
+executioner. "There might be a fatal accident."
+
+Frank made no reply save to wink tauntingly at the fellow.
+
+The next instant, with a nerve-breaking swish, the shining blade fell!
+
+A piece of ice was drawn across Frank's throat and a stream of warm
+water squirted down his back.
+
+It was most horribly real and awful, and for a moment it seemed that the
+knife had actually done the frightful deed.
+
+Despite his wonderful nerve, Frank gasped; but he quickly saw that the
+knife had swung aside and his head was still attached to his body.
+
+Then he forced a derisive laugh from his lips, and seemed not the least
+disturbed, much to the disgust of the assembly.
+
+"Confound him!" growled a voice, which Frank fancied he recognized as
+belonging to Browning. "There's no fun in him. Let's try another."
+
+Then Frank was lifted to his feet and assisted to don his coat.
+
+"If you want to stay and see the fun, put on a mask," directed Mephisto.
+"You must not be recognized by the other freshies."
+
+He was given a mask and he put it on as directed.
+
+A moment later the masked youths began to howl and blow horns. A door
+opened, and Diamond, blindfolded and bound, was led into the room.
+
+The young Virginian stood up haughtily, and he was seen to strain and
+struggle in an effort to free his hands.
+
+"I protest against this outrage!" he cried, angrily. "I want you to know
+that my father--"
+
+The horns and the shouts drowned his words. He was forced to mount the
+steps to a high platform, and an instant later he found himself shooting
+down a slippery incline of planed and greased boards.
+
+The racket stopped as Diamond scooted down the slippery surface. He
+dropped sprawling into the vat of icy water. Several hands caught hold
+of him, yanked him up, and thrust him down again.
+
+"Oh, somebody shall suffer for this!" gurgled the helpless freshman,
+spluttering water from his mouth.
+
+He was dragged out of the vat, and then he was forced to endure all the
+hustling, and thumping, and banging which Frank Merriwell had passed
+through. His protests seemed to fall on deaf ears.
+
+It had been reported that Diamond had declared that the sophomores would
+not dare to haze him, as his father would make it hot for them if they
+did. The report was remembered, and he was used more severely than Frank
+had been.
+
+Hazing at Yale was said to be a thing of the past, but Frank saw it was
+still carried on secretly.
+
+"Make a speech, fresh!" shouted a voice.
+
+"Speech! speech!" yelled the masked lads.
+
+Diamond was placed on a low table.
+
+For a moment he hesitated, and then he fancied he saw his opportunity to
+make a protest that would be heard.
+
+"I will make a speech," he declared. "I'll tell you young ruffians what
+I think of you and what--"
+
+Swish! a sponge that was dripping with dirty water struck him square in
+the mouth. Some of the water went down his throat, and he choked and
+strangled.
+
+The table was jerked from beneath his feet, and he fell into the waiting
+arms of the masked sophomores.
+
+"He called us ruffians! Give it to him!"
+
+Then the unfortunate freshman was used worse than ever. He was tossed in
+a blanket, given a powerful shock of electricity, deafened by the horns,
+pounded with the stuffed clubs, and hustled till there was scarcely any
+breath left in his body.
+
+Then the bandage was torn from Diamond's eyes and he was confronted by
+the guillotine, over which fresh red ink had been liberally spattered.
+The blade of the huge knife was dripping in a gory manner, and it really
+looked as if it had just completed a deadly piece of work.
+
+Despite himself, the young Virginian shivered when his eyes rested on
+the apparently blood-stained blade.
+
+"Be careful!" some one distinctly whispered. "We do not want to kill
+more than one freshman in a night."
+
+Some one else spoke of the frightful manner in which the knife had cut
+Merriwell, and then, despite his feeble struggles, Diamond was placed
+upon the instrument of torture.
+
+"The other fresh died game," muttered the executioner. "Of course we
+didn't mean to kill him, but the knife is out of order and it slipped by
+accident. We haven't time to fix it properly, but there are only about
+nine chances out of ten that it will fall again."
+
+"Oh, you fellows shall pay for this!" feebly gasped Diamond.
+
+Despite himself, although he knew how unlikely such a thing was, he
+could not help wondering if a terrible accident had really happened. If
+not, where was Merriwell. He looked around, but saw nothing of Frank,
+who was keeping in the background.
+
+And then, when his nerves had been quite unstrung, the knife fell, the
+ice and warm water were applied, and Diamond could not choke back the
+cry of horror that forced itself from his lips.
+
+A roar of laughter broke from the masked students.
+
+When Diamond was lifted to his feet he was almost too weak to stand. He
+clinched his teeth, vowing over and over to himself that he would find a
+way to square accounts.
+
+"If it takes me a year, I'll find out who the leaders in this affair
+are, and they shall suffer for it!" he thought.
+
+"Give him a chance to see the others put through the mill," said
+Mephisto, and Diamond's hands were released.
+
+The Virginian looked around, seeming irresolute for a moment. Not far
+away he saw a masked lad whose clothes were wet and bedaubed with dirt
+and sawdust.
+
+In an instant Diamond sprang toward this person and snatched the mask
+from his face.
+
+"It's Merriwell!" he triumphantly shouted, "and he has helped to haze
+me! His career at Yale will be suddenly cut short!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE BLOW.
+
+
+There was a sudden hush. The students saw that Diamond was really
+revengeful, and his words seemed to indicate that he intended to report
+any one whose identity he discovered.
+
+The Virginian was pale and he trembled with anger.
+
+"You don't mean to say that you will blow, do you?" asked one.
+
+"That's exactly what I do mean, sir!" came resolutely from the lips of
+the infuriated freshman. "I am a gentleman and the son of a gentleman,
+and I'll never stand it to be treated like a cur. Hazing is said to be
+no longer tolerated here, and an investigation is certain to follow my
+report of this affair."
+
+A little fellow stepped out.
+
+"You claim to be a gentleman," he said, distinctly, "but you will prove
+yourself a cad if you peach."
+
+"I had rather be a cad than a ruffian, sir!"
+
+"If you were a gentleman you would take your medicine like a gentleman.
+You'd never squeal."
+
+"You fellows are the ones who are squealing now, for you see you have
+been imposing on the wrong man."
+
+"Man!" shot back the little fellow, contemptuously. "There's not much
+man about a chap that blows when he is hazed a little."
+
+"A little! a little! Is this what you call a little?"
+
+"Oh, this is nothing. Think of what the poor freshies used to go through
+in the old days of Delta Kappa and Signa Epsilon. Why, sometimes a
+fellow would be roasted so his skin would smell like burned steak for a
+week."
+
+"That was when he was burned at the stake," said a chap in the
+background, and there was a universal dismal groan.
+
+"This is some of the Delta Kappa machinery here," the little fellow
+explained. "Sometimes some of the fellows come here to have a cold bot
+and hot lob. You freshies walked right in on us to-night, and we gave
+you a pleasant reception. Now, if you blow I'll guarantee you'll never
+become a soph. The fellows will do you, and do you dirty, before your
+first year is up."
+
+"Such threats do not frighten me," haughtily flung back the lad from
+Virginia. "I know this was a put-up job, and Bruce Browning was in it.
+He got us to come here. Frank Merriwell knew something about it, or he'd
+never been so ready to come. And I know you, too, Tad Horner."
+
+The little fellow fell back a step, and then, with a sudden angry
+impulse, he tore off his mask, showing a flushed, chubby, boyish face,
+from which a pair of great blue eyes flashed at Diamond.
+
+"Well, I am Tad Horner!" he cried, "and I'm not ashamed of it! If you
+want to throw me down, go ahead. It will be a low, dirty trick, and will
+show the kind of big stuff you are!"
+
+The masked lads were surprised, for Tad had never exhibited such spirit
+before. He had always seemed like a mild, shy, mother-boy sort of chap.
+He had been hazed and had cried; but he wouldn't beg and he never
+squealed. After that Browning had taken him under his wing, had fought
+his battles, and had stood by him through the freshman year. Anybody who
+was looking for trouble could find it by imposing on Horner; and
+Browning, for all of his laziness, could fight like a tiger when he was
+aroused.
+
+Some of the students clapped their hands in approbation of Tad's plain
+words, and there was a general stir. One fellow proposed that everybody
+unmask, so that all would be on a level with Horner, but the little
+fellow quickly cried:
+
+"Don't do it! You'd all be spotted, and the faculty would know who to
+investigate if anything should happen to Diamond. If I'm fired, I want
+you fellows to settle with him for me."
+
+"We'll do it--we'll do it, Tad!" cried more than twenty voices.
+
+Diamond showed his white, even teeth and laughed shortly.
+
+"Perhaps you think that will scare me," he sneered. "If so, you will
+find I am not bluffed so easily."
+
+"We are not trying to scare you," declared another of the masked
+students, "but you'll find we are in earnest if you blow."
+
+"Well, you will find I am in earnest, and I do not care for you all."
+
+The boys began to despair, for they saw that Diamond was determined and
+obstinate, and it would be no easy thing to induce him to abandon his
+intention of reporting the hazing. If he did so, Browning and Horner
+would find themselves in deep trouble, and others might become involved
+during the investigation. It was not probable that the consequences
+would be serious for Merriwell, who would be able to prove his innocence
+in the matter.
+
+What could be done?
+
+The boys fell to discussing the matter in little groups, and not a few
+expressed regret that Tad Horner had unmasked, as an alibi could have
+been arranged for him if he had not done so. Now he would be too proud
+to permit them to try anything of the sort, and he would tell the truth
+about his connection with the affair if the truth were demanded of him.
+
+"We're in a bad box," said one fellow in one of the little groups.
+"Diamond is mad enough to do as he threatens."
+
+"Sure," nodded another. "And that breaks up this joint. No more little
+lunches here--no more games of penny ante."
+
+"It's a howling shame!" exploded a third. "It makes me feel grouchy."
+
+"I move we strangle Diamond," suggested the first speaker.
+
+"It seems that that is the only way to keep his tongue still," dolefully
+groaned a tall chap. "This is a big horse on us."
+
+"That's what," sighed a boy with a face like a girl's. "The whole
+business puts me in a blue funk."
+
+Then they stood and stared silently at each other through the eyeholes
+in their masks, and not one of them was able to propose anything
+practicable.
+
+The rest of the assembled sophomores seemed in quite as bad a plight,
+and some of them were inclined to indulge in profanity, which, although
+it relieved their feelings for the moment, did not suggest any way out
+of the scrape.
+
+At this point Merriwell spoke up, addressing Diamond.
+
+"Look here, old man," he said in a friendly way, "you've only taken the
+same dose they gave me. It's nothing when you get used to it."
+
+Diamond gave him a contemptuous look, but did not speak.
+
+"Now, I don't propose to make a fuss about this little joke," Frank went
+on. "What's the use? I'm not half killed."
+
+"Perhaps you think you can hoodwink me!" cried Diamond. "Well, you
+cannot! You were in the game all the time. That's why you were so ready
+to meet me in a duel--that's why you came here."
+
+"I assure you on my word of honor that you are wrong."
+
+"Your word of honor!"
+
+"Yes, my word of honor," he calmly returned. "See--look at my clothes.
+You can tell that I have been through the mill."
+
+"You may have had them fixed that way on purpose to fool me."
+
+"Oh, you must know better than that! Be reasonable, Diamond."
+
+The Virginian made a savage gesture.
+
+"If you are so pleased to be made a laughingstock of it's nothing to
+me," he flashed. "Keep still if you want to. I'm going to tell all I
+know."
+
+"That would make a very large book--full of nice clean, blank pages,"
+said some one in the background.
+
+Frank's manner suddenly changed.
+
+"Look here, Diamond," he said, "you won't tell a thing."
+
+The Southerner caught his breath and his eyes stared.
+
+"Eh?" he muttered, surprised at the other's manner. "I won't?"
+
+"Not on your life."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because it will mean expulsion for you as well as myself if you do."
+
+Every one was listening. They gathered about the two freshmen, wondering
+not a little at Merriwell's words and manner.
+
+"Expulsion for me?" slowly repeated Diamond. "How is that?"
+
+"It's straight goods."
+
+"Explain it."
+
+"Well, I will. We came here to fight a duel, didn't we?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You admit that?"
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"That is all that's needed."
+
+"How? Why? I don't understand."
+
+"Duels are not countenanced in the North, and nothing would cause a
+fellow to be fired from Yale quicker than the knowledge that he had had
+anything to do with one while here. Do you twig?"
+
+There was a moment of silence and then a stir. A deep sigh of relief
+came from the masked lads, and some of them showed an inclination to
+cheer Merriwell.
+
+Diamond seemed nonplused for the moment. He glared at Frank, his hands
+clinched and his face pale.
+
+At last he slowly said:
+
+"A duel is something no gentleman can blow about, so if you are a
+gentleman you will have to remain silent, sir."
+
+"That's the way you Southerners look at it, but yon will excuse us
+Northerners if we do not see it in the same light. A hazing is something
+we do not blow about, but you seem determined to let out everything, for
+all that it would be a dirty thing to do. In order to even the matter,
+these fellows are sure to tell that you came here to fight a duel with
+deadly weapons, and you'll find yourself rusticating in Virginia
+directly."
+
+"'Way down in ole Virginny," softly warbled one of the delighted
+sophomores. "That's the stuff, Merry, old boy!"
+
+Diamond trembled with intense anger. He tried to speak, but his voice
+was so hoarse that his words were unintelligible. A blue line seemed to
+form around his mouth.
+
+"Merriwell's got him!" Bruce Brown lazily whispered in Tad Horner's ear.
+"See him squirm!"
+
+Tad was relieved, although he endeavored not to show it; but a satisfied
+smile crept over his rosy face, and he felt like giving Frank Merriwell
+the "glad hand."
+
+Diamond's anger got the best of him. He strode forward, looked straight
+into Frank's eyes, and panted:
+
+"I hate you, sir! I could kill you!"
+
+And then, before he realized what he was doing, he struck Merriwell a
+sharp blow on the cheek with his open hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE FIGHT.
+
+
+The blow staggered Frank. It had come so suddenly that he was quite
+unprepared for it. His face became suddenly pale, save where Diamond's
+hand had struck, and there the crimson prints of four fingers came out
+quickly, like a danger signal.
+
+With the utmost deliberation Merriwell removed his coat.
+
+"Come, sir!" he said to Diamond as he passed coat and hat to a ready
+sophomore.
+
+"I--I can't fight you that way!" protested the Virginian. "Bring the
+rapiers."
+
+"This time I claim the right to name the weapons, and they will be bare
+fists."
+
+"Right! right!" cried several voices. "You'll have to fight him that
+way, Diamond."
+
+"I will fight him!" grated Jack, furiously. "It is the prize fighter's
+way, but I'll fight him, and I will lick him!"
+
+He tore off his coat and flung it down. The boys quickly formed a ring,
+and the freshmen foes faced each other.
+
+Then the door of the room where the other freshmen were confined was
+thrust open, and Harry Rattleton excitedly cried:
+
+"Whee jiz--I mean jee whiz! what do you fellows think? Do you imagine we
+are going to stay penned in here while there is a scrap going on? Well,
+I guess not! We're coming out!"
+
+Harry came with a rush, and the other freshmen followed at his heels,
+the party having been abandoned by the sophs who had been placed on
+guard over them.
+
+"Hold on! hold on!" commanded Harry, forcing his way toward the
+fighters. "I am Merriwell's second, and I'm going to see fair play, you
+bet!"
+
+"And I am Diamond's second," said Roland Ditson. "Just give me a chance
+in the ring there."
+
+The appearance of the freshmen caused a brief delay. There was some talk
+about rules and rounds, and Diamond said:
+
+"If I must fight with my fists, I'll fight as I please. I don't know
+about your rules, and there will be but one round--that will finish it."
+
+"How does that suit you, Merriwell?" asked Tad Horner, who seemed to
+have assumed the position of referee.
+
+"I am willing that Mr. Diamond should arrange that matter to suit
+himself."
+
+"But there is to be no kicking," Tad Horner hastily put in.
+
+"Certainly not," stiffly agreed the Southerner.
+
+"All right. Shake hands."
+
+Diamond placed both hands behind his back, and Merriwell laughed.
+
+"Ready!" called Horner. "On guard! Now you're off!"
+
+Barely had the words left the little referee's lips when--top, tap,
+slap!--Merriwell had struck Diamond three light blows with his open
+hand.
+
+A gasp of astonishment came from the watching sophomores. Never had they
+seen three blows delivered in such lightning-like rapidity, but their
+ears had not fooled them, and they heard each blow distinctly.
+
+Merriwell's guard was perfect, his pose was light and professional, and
+he suddenly seemed catlike on his feet.
+
+Diamond was astonished, but only for an instant. The tapping blows
+started his blood, and he sprang toward his foe, striking out with his
+left and then with his right.
+
+Merriwell did not attempt to guard, but he dodged both blows with ease,
+and then smiled sweetly into the face of the baffled Virginian.
+
+"Oh, say!" chuckled Harry Rattleton, hugging himself in delighted
+anticipation, "just you fellows wait a minute! Diamond will think he has
+been struck by an earthquake!"
+
+Bruce Browning, himself a scientific boxer, was watching every movement
+of the two freshmen. He turned to Puss Parker at his side and said:
+
+"Merriwell handles himself like an old professional. By Jove! I believe
+there's good stuff in that fellow!"
+
+"Diamond would like to kill Merriwell," said Parker. "You can see it in
+his face and eyes."
+
+In truth there was a deadly look in the eyes of the pale-faced young
+Virginian. His lips were pressed together, and a hardening of the jaws
+told that his teeth were set. He was following Merriwell up, and the
+latter was avoiding him with ease. Plainly Diamond meant to corner the
+lad he hated and then force the fighting to a finish.
+
+The rivals were nearly of a height and they wore built much alike,
+although Frank had slightly the better chest development.
+
+Merriwell seemed to toy with Diamond, giving him several little pat-like
+blows on the breast and in the ribs. When the Virginian felt that he had
+Frank cornered he was astonished to see Merriwell slip under his arm and
+come up laughing behind him.
+
+Merriwell's laughter filled Diamond's very soul with gall and wormwood.
+
+"Wait!" he thought. "He laughs best who laughs last."
+
+"Give it to him, Frank!" urged Rattleton. "You'll get out of wind
+dodging about, and then it will not be so easy to finish him off."
+
+But Frank saw that in a scientific way Diamond was no match for him, and
+he disliked to strike the fellow. He regretted very much that the
+unfortunate affair had come about, and he felt that there could be no
+satisfaction in whipping the Southerner.
+
+Merriwell hoped to toy with Diamond till the latter should see that his
+efforts were fruitless and give up in disgust.
+
+But he did not yet recognize the kind of stuff of which John Diamond was
+built.
+
+"Come! come!" impatiently called one of the spectators. "Quit ducking
+and dodging and get into the game."
+
+"That's right! that's right!" chorused several. "This is no sport."
+
+"And it's no six-day walking match," sneered Roland Ditson. "Merriwell
+seems afraid to stand up and face Diamond."
+
+"Is that what you think?" Frank mentally exclaimed. "Well, I suppose I
+will have to hit him a few times, although it goes against my grain."
+
+A moment later he dropped his hands by his side and took a step to meet
+the Virginian. It seemed like a great opportunity for Diamond, and he
+led off straight for Frank's face, striking with his left.
+
+With a slight side movement of his head Frank avoided the blow, allowing
+his enemy's fist to pass over his shoulder. At the same time he cross
+countered with his right hand, cracking Jack a heavy one under the ear.
+
+"Hooray!" cried Harry Rattleton in delight. "That was a corker! Bet
+Sparkler saw more stars than there are in the Wilky May--I mean Milky
+Way."
+
+For a few minutes the fight was hot. Again and again Frank struck his
+enemy, but without putting his full strength into any of the blows, but
+it did not seem to have any effect on Diamond save to make him more
+fierce and determined.
+
+"The Southerner's got some sand," commented Bruce Browning.
+
+"That's right," nodded Puss Parker.
+
+"He takes punishment well for a while, at least; but I don't believe he
+will hold out much longer. I think he is the kind of a fellow to go to
+pieces in an instant."
+
+"You can't tell about that. I have a fancy that he's deceptive."
+
+None of them, save Rattleton, possibly, knew that Merriwell was
+reserving any of his strength when he struck his foe.
+
+The fellows who a short time before were the most indignant against the
+Southerner because he seemed determined to "blow" were now forced to
+admire his bulldog tenacity and sand.
+
+Merriwell had no desire to severely injure Diamond, although he had felt
+some resentment toward the fellow for forcing him into a duel with
+rapiers.
+
+To Frank it had seemed that the Virginian had no hesitation in taking
+advantage of an enemy, for Diamond must have presumed that Merriwell
+knew nothing of the art of fencing and swordplay.
+
+But for this belief, Merriwell would have been inclined to keep on and
+tire his enemy out, without striking a single blow that could leave a
+mark.
+
+But when Frank came to consider everything, he decided that it was no
+more than fair that he should give his persistent foe a certain amount
+of punishment.
+
+Again and again Frank cross countered and upper-cut Diamond, and
+gradually he came to strike harder as the Virginian forced the fighting,
+without showing signs of letting up.
+
+Bruises and swellings began to appear on Diamond's face. On one cheek
+Merriwell's knuckles cut through the skin, and the blood began to run,
+creeping down to his chin and dropping on the bosom of his white shirt.
+
+Still, from the determination and fury with which he fought, it seemed
+that Diamond was utterly unconscious that he had been struck at all.
+
+Jack did not consider how he had led Frank into a duel with rapiers
+without knowing whether the fellow he hated had ever taken a fencing
+lesson in all his life.
+
+His one thought was that, being an expert boxer himself, Merriwell had
+forced him to a fist fight, believing it would be easy to dispose of him
+that way.
+
+Diamond's hatred of Frank made him blind to the fact that he was in the
+least to blame, and filled him with a passionate belief that he could
+kill the smiling Northerner without a qualm of conscience--without a
+pang of remorse.
+
+At last, disgusted with his non-success in striking Frank at all, he
+sprang forward suddenly and grappled with him.
+
+Frank had been on the watch for that move.
+
+Then the boys saw a pretty struggle for a moment, ending with Diamond
+being lifted and dropped heavily, squarely on his back.
+
+Merriwell came down heavily on his persistent enemy.
+
+Frank fell on Jack with the hope of knocking the wind out of the fellow
+and thus bringing the fight to a close.
+
+For a few moments it seemed that he had succeeded.
+
+Frank sprang up lightly, just as Tad Horner grappled him by the hair
+with both hands and yelled: "Break away!"
+
+Roland Ditson was at Diamond's side in a twinkling.
+
+"Come, come, old man!" he whispered; "get up and get into the game
+again! Don't let them count you out!"
+
+But the Virginian was gasping for breath, and he did not seem to hear
+the words of his second.
+
+"That settles it," said Puss Parker, promptly.
+
+"Better wait and see," advised Bruce Browning. "Diamond may not give up
+when he gets his breath."
+
+"It doesn't look as if he'd ever get his breath again."
+
+Harry Rattleton was at Frank's side, swiftly saying:
+
+"Why didn't you knock him out and show the fellows what you can do? You
+monkeyed with the goat too long. He's stuffy, and you had to settle him
+sometime. It didn't make a dit of bifference whether it was first or
+last."
+
+"That's all right," smiled Frank. "He's got sand, and I hated to nail
+him hard. It seemed a shame to thump such a fellow and cover his face
+with decorations."
+
+"Shame? shame?" spluttered Harry. "Why, didn't he force you into a duel
+with rapiers, or try to? and he is an expert! Say, what's the matter
+with you? If I'd been in your place I'd gone into him tooth and nail,
+and I wouldn't have left him in the shape of anything. Have you got a
+soft spot around you somewhere, Merriwell?"
+
+"I admire sand, even if it is in an enemy."
+
+"You take the cherry pie--yes, you take the whole bakery!"
+
+Harry gazed at his roommate in wonder that was not entirely unmingled
+with pity and disgust. He could not understand Merriwell, and such
+generosity toward a persistent foe on the part of Frank seemed like
+weakness.
+
+In the meantime Ditson had been urging Diamond to get up.
+
+"They'll call the scrap finished if you don't get onto your pins in a
+jiffy," he warned. "Horner's got his watch in his hand."
+
+Still the Virginian gasped for breath and seemed unable to lift a hand.
+If ever a fellow seemed done up, it was Diamond just then.
+
+Roll Ditson ground his teeth in despair.
+
+"Oh, Merriwell will think he is cock of the walk now!" he muttered.
+"He'll crow and strut! He's laughing over it now!"
+
+"Wh-what's that?" gasped Diamond, trying to sit up.
+
+"He is laughing at you," hurriedly whispered Ditson, lying glibly. "I
+just heard him tell Rattleton that he could have knocked the stuffing
+out of you in less than a quarter of a minute. He says you'll never dare
+face him again."
+
+"Oh, he does! oh, he does!" came huskily from Diamond's lips. "Well,
+we'll see about that--we'll see!"
+
+With Ditson's aid he got upon his feet. Then his breath and his strength
+seemed to come to him in a twinkling. With a backward snap of his arm he
+flung his second away. Then uttering a hoarse cry, he rushed like a mad
+bull at the lad he hated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE FINISH.
+
+
+Diamond's recovery and the manner in which he resumed the fight caused
+general astonishment. Even Bruce Browning had come to think that the
+Virginian was "out."
+
+Frank was taken by surprise. Before he could square away to meet his
+foe, Diamond struck him a terrific blow near the temple, knocking him
+into Rattleton's arms.
+
+"Foul!" cried Harry, excitedly. "Horner hadn't given the word."
+
+"Foul! foul!" came from all sides.
+
+"There is no foul in this fight save when something is used besides
+fists," declared Merriwell as he staggered from his roommate's arms.
+"It's all right and it goes."
+
+But he found that everything seemed swimming around him, and dark spots
+were pursuing each other before his eyes. The floor seemed to heave like
+the deck of a ship at sea. He put out his hand to grasp something, and
+then he was struck again.
+
+Once more Rattleton's arms kept Frank from going down.
+
+"This is no square deal!" Harry shouted. "By the poly hoker--I mean the
+holy poker! I'll take a hand in this myself!"
+
+He would have released Merriwell and jumped into the ring, but Frank's
+strong fingers closed on his arm.
+
+"Steady, old man!" came sharply from Merriwell's lips. "I am in this yet
+awhile. If Diamond finishes me he is to be let alone. The fellow that
+lays a hand on him is no friend of mine!"
+
+"You give me cramps!" groaned Harry.
+
+Instead of aiding in finishing Frank, Diamond's second blow seemed to
+straighten him up, as if it had cleared a fog from his brain. The spots
+disappeared before his eyes and things ceased to swim around him.
+
+Into the ring to meet his foe sprang Frank, and, to the astonishment of
+everybody he still smiled.
+
+At the same time, Merriwell knew he had toyed with Diamond too long. He
+realized that the Virginian's first blow had come within a hair of
+knocking him out, and he could still hear a faint, ringing and roaring
+in his head.
+
+Frank saw that the only way he could end the fight was to finish his
+unrelenting and persistent foe.
+
+Diamond fought like an infuriated tiger. Again and again Frank's fist
+cracked on his face, and still he did not falter, but continued to
+stand up and "take his medicine."
+
+In less than a minute the Virginian was bleeding at the nose, and had
+received a blow in one of his eyes that was causing it to swell in a way
+that threatened to close it entirely.
+
+The spectators were greatly excited, and not a few of them declared it
+was the most gamey fight they had ever witnessed.
+
+The front of Diamond's shirt was stained with blood, and he presented a
+sorry aspect. His chest was heaving, but his uninjured eye glared with
+unabated fury and determination.
+
+"Will he never give up?" muttered Harry Rattleton. "He's a regular hog!
+The fellow doesn't know when he has enough."
+
+It was true Southern grit. It was the unyielding Southern spirit--the
+spirit that led the soldiers of the South to make one of the pluckiest
+struggles known in history.
+
+While the fellow's grit had won Frank's admiration, still Merriwell had
+learned that it would not do to let up. The only way out of the fight
+was to end it, and he set about trying to accomplish that with as little
+delay as possible.
+
+Once Diamond succeeded in getting in another blow, and it left a slight
+swelling over one of the other lad's eyes.
+
+But Merriwell did not seem to know that he had been hit. He soon cracked
+the Virginian upon the uninjured eye, and that began to swell. In a few
+seconds it seemed that Diamond must soon go blind.
+
+"Finish him, old man--finish him!" urged Harry.
+
+Frank was looking for the chance, but it was some time before he found
+it. It came at last, and his left landed on the jaw beneath Diamond's
+ear.
+
+Over went the Southerner, and he lay like a log where he fell.
+
+At a glance, it was evident to all that he was knocked out.
+
+The boys crowded around Merriwell, eager to congratulate him, but he
+thrust them back, saying:
+
+"It's the first time in my life I ever did a thing of which I was
+ashamed! Look after him. I'm all right."
+
+"Say!" exploded Harry Rattleton, "you make me sick! Didn't you have to
+do it?"
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+"Didn't he strike you foul twice?"
+
+"He knows nothing of rules, and we were fighting by no rules, so there
+could be no foul."
+
+"Oh, no! If he'd soaked you with a brick you'd said it was all right! I
+say, you make me sick! Wait till he gets a good chance to do you, and
+see how quick he will take it."
+
+"He'll not be to blame if he tries to get square."
+
+"Oh, go hoke your sed--I mean soak your head! I'll catch you some time
+when you are asleep and try to pound a little sense into you."
+
+"Well, take care of Diamond," ordered Merriwell. "That last one I gave
+him was a beastly thump."
+
+"Let the other fellows take care of him," said Harry. "We'll rub you
+down. You need it. Got any towels, Mr. Horner?"
+
+"Guess we can find one or two," cheerfully answered Tad. "Come on,
+Merriwell. We'll fix you up."
+
+Frank followed them into the room where the captured freshmen had been
+confined, and there they found running water, an old iron sink, a tin
+wash basin, and some towels.
+
+The visitor was stripped and given a brisk and thorough rubbing and
+sponging by Harry and Tad.
+
+Bruce Browning, with his mask still over his face, came loafing in and
+looked the stripped freshman over with a critical eye. He inspected
+Frank from all sides, poked him with his fingers, felt of his arms and
+legs, surveyed the muscles of his back and chest, and then stood off and
+took him all in at a glance.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted.
+
+Frank's delicate pink skin glowed, and he looked a perfect Apollo, with
+a splendid head poised upon a white, shapely neck. Never had he looked
+handsomer in all his life than he did at that moment, stripped to the
+buff, his brown hair frowsled, his body glowing from the rubbing.
+
+"By Jove!" cried Tad Horner, who was sometimes called Baby, "he's a Jim
+Hickey--eh, old man?"
+
+The interrogation was directed at Browning.
+
+"Humph!" grunted Bruce, and then with his hands in his pockets he loafed
+out of the room.
+
+Afterward it was reported that Browning said the freshman was the
+finest-put-up chap he had ever seen, but he didn't want to give him the
+swelled head by telling him so.
+
+By the time Merriwell was well rubbed down one of the freshmen came in
+and reported that Diamond had come around all right.
+
+"They're going to bring him in here and give him a rubbing," said the
+freshman.
+
+Frank hastened to get into his clothes, in order that Diamond might have
+a chance. Rattleton had brushed the dirt and sawdust off those clothes,
+so they looked pretty well, and Merriwell showed no traces of what he
+had passed through when he stepped out of the little room.
+
+Some of the boys were trying to induce Diamond to be rubbed down, but he
+objected, declaring he was going directly to his room. The blood had
+been washed from his face, and one or two cuts had been patched up with
+court-plaster, but his eyes were nearly closed, and he presented a
+pitiful appearance.
+
+Frank hesitated a moment, and then he stepped up to his foe, saying in a
+manner most sincere:
+
+"Old man, I am sorry this affair took place. I had the advantage,
+because I have taken boxing lessons, but you made a beautiful fight. I
+hold no hard feelings. Let's call it quits and shake."
+
+He held out his hand.
+
+Diamond's reply was to turn his back squarely on the proffered hand.
+
+An additional flush arose to Merriwell's cheeks, and he dropped his hand
+by his side, turning away without another word.
+
+A few moments later Diamond left the building, accompanied by a single
+companion, and that companion was not Roland Ditson.
+
+Ditson remained behind, and he was among those who crowded about Frank
+Merriwell and offered congratulations.
+
+"I was Diamond's second," said Roll, "but I am satisfied that the best
+man won. He is no match for you, Merriwell. I shouldn't have been his
+second, only he urged me to. I was glad to see you do him up."
+
+He got hold of Frank's hand and held on, but received no friendly
+pressure in return. When he said he was glad that Merriwell did Diamond
+up Frank looked incredulous.
+
+"As for me," said the victor, "I was sorry to have to do him up."
+
+Somewhere about the place Rattleton had found an old floral decoration
+representing a harp. He brought it forward and presented it to Frank.
+
+"Take it," he said. "You'll need it pretty soon. Your wings must be
+sprouting already!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Frank.
+
+"Why, can't you see? It's a harp."
+
+"It looks to me like a blasted lyre," said Merriwell. "You'd better give
+it to Ditson."
+
+Then everybody but Ditson laughed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A FRESH COUNCIL.
+
+
+Diamond was in a wretched condition. Hunk Collins, his roommate,
+procured two slices of fresh beefsteak, and the Virginian had them bound
+over his eyes, while his face was bathed with soothing and healing
+lotions; but nothing could soothe his bruised and battered spirit, and
+Collins said he was kept awake all night by hearing Diamond grind his
+teeth at irregular intervals.
+
+Even when he slept near morning the Southerner continued to grind his
+strong white teeth.
+
+Collins was dropping off to sleep from sheer weariness when he awoke to
+find his roommate astride him and clutching him by the throat.
+
+"This time I'll fix you!" mumbled Diamond, thickly. "I'll kill you,
+Merriwell--I'll kill you!"
+
+Then he struck feeby at Collins, who rolled over and flung him off. They
+grappled, and it was a severe struggle before Diamond was flung down on
+the bed and held.
+
+"What in thunder is the matter with you?" gasped Collins, whose hair
+was standing. "I'm not Merriwell! Have you gone daft?"
+
+"Where are we?"
+
+"Why, in our room, of course. Where did you think we were?"
+
+"I didn't know. I was dreaming."
+
+"Well, if you are going to be this way often, I'll have to take out a
+life insurance policy or quit you."
+
+"Don't mind. I'll be all right in the morning. Oh, hang the luck!"
+
+Then the passionate Southerner turned over with his face toward the
+wall. Collins smoked a cigarette to quiet his nerves, after which he got
+into bed once more. At intervals he could feel the bed shake, and he
+knew Diamond was shivering as if he had a chill.
+
+In the morning Diamond was not all right. He was ill in bed, and it was
+necessary to call a physician, although he protested against it. His
+eyes were in wretched shape, but when the doctor questioned him, he
+persisted in saying he had injured them by falling downstairs.
+
+Of course he could not appear at chapel or recitations, and he sent in
+an excuse.
+
+Then Mr. Lovejoy came around to investigate.
+
+Now, Mr. Lovejoy was most mild and lamblike in appearance, and one would
+have thought never in all his life had he indulged in anything that was
+not perfectly proper.
+
+But appearances were deceptive in the case of Mr. Lovejoy. When a
+student at Yale he had made a record, but he had been fortunate, and he
+was never detected in anything the faculty could not approve. By those
+who knew him he was regarded as a terror, and by the faculty he was
+looked on as one of the most quiet and docile students in college.
+
+When Cyrus Lovejoy became an instructor he did not forget the days when
+he had been a leader in scrapes of all sorts, and he was not inclined to
+be prying into the affairs of students under him. Not only that, but he
+could be blind to some things he accidentally discovered.
+
+So when Mr. Lovejoy reported that John Diamond's eyes, being naturally
+weak, were inflamed by too close application to his studies, especially
+in the evening, no one thought of investigating further. The doctor, it
+was said, had forbidden Diamond to attempt to study for several days,
+and had ordered him to wear a bandage over his eyes.
+
+Two or three evenings after the fight a party of freshmen gathered in
+Merriwell's room, for they were beginning to realize that Frank was
+likely to be a leader among them.
+
+"I say, fellows," cried Dan Dorman, who was sitting on the sill of the
+open window, with a cigarette clinging to his lips, "do you know what
+Diamond is doing?"
+
+"He's doing his best to cure those beautiful eyes of his," said Bandy
+Robinson.
+
+"I'm giving it to you straight that he was out to-day and went down to
+the nearest gun store," declared Dorman. "Collins says he bought a
+Winchester rifle, a shotgun, two revolvers, a bowie knife, a slungshot,
+and a set of brass knuckles."
+
+"Wo-o-oh!" groaned Dismal Jones. "Why didn't he purchase a cannon and
+start for some battlefield?"
+
+"Look out, Merry," laughed Ned Stover. "He's after your scalp."
+
+"He'll have to get a bigger outfit than that before he takes it,"
+declared Harry Rattleton.
+
+"How about it, Merry?" asked Bandy Robinson.
+
+"I'll tell you, fellows," said Frank, who was not smoking. "Diamond is
+not the fellow to give up whipped very soon. I'm dead sure to hear from
+him again."
+
+"He's a cad," growled Dismal Jones.
+
+"I think you fellows judge him rather harshly," said Frank. "He is a
+Southerner, and he looks at many things differently than we do. From his
+standpoint he seems to be right."
+
+"Well, he'll have to get those notions out of his head if he wants to
+stay in college," airily declared Dan Dorman. "Now, I came here with
+the idea of falling into the ways in vogue. Everything goes with me.
+That's the way to get along."
+
+"I am not so sure of that," Merriwell returned. "A man must have some
+individuality. If you do everything everybody wants you to, it won't be
+long before they'll not want you to do anything."
+
+"Oh, well, what's the use to be always hanging off and getting yourself
+disliked?"
+
+"One extreme is as bad as the other. Now, I make allowances for Diamond,
+and I am not inclined to believe him such a bad fellow."
+
+Harry Rattleton flung a book across the room.
+
+"Oh, you give me the flubdubs!" he exploded. "Why, that fellow hates
+you, and he means to do you some time. Still you are soft enough to say
+he's not such a bad fellow! It's disgusting!"
+
+"Time will tell," smiled Frank. "All of you fellows must admit that he
+has sand."
+
+"Oh, a kind of bulldog stick-to-it-iveness," murmured Stover.
+
+"I'll tell you one thing," said Bandy Robinson; "now that Diamond has
+not blowed, he's going to be backed by some of the leading sophs."
+
+"Eh? What makes you think so?"
+
+"Oh, I've got it straight. Browning has been to see him."
+
+"No! Why, Browning is king of the sophs!"
+
+"And he is jealous of Merriwell."
+
+"Jealous?"
+
+"Sure. He says Merry is altogether too 'soon' for a fresh, and he must
+be taken down. I tell you I've got it straight. He'll put up some kind
+of a game to enable Diamond to get square."
+
+"Well, this is rather interesting," confessed Frank, showing that he was
+aroused. "I'll have to look out for Mr. Browning."
+
+"He's a hard fellow to go against," solemnly said Dismal Jones. "He's a
+Le Boule man, and they say he may take his choice of the other big
+societies next year."
+
+"Oh, what's that amount to?"
+
+"It amounts to something here; but then he's a fighter, and he is
+authority on fighters and fighting."
+
+"He is too fat to fight."
+
+"They say he can train down in a week. He was the greatest freshman
+half-back ever known at Yale."
+
+"Half-back--Browning a half-back! Oh, say, that fellow couldn't play
+football!"
+
+"Not a great deal now, perhaps, but he could last year. He'd be on the
+regular team now, but his father swore to take him out of college if he
+didn't stop it. You see, Browning is not entirely to blame for his
+laziness. He inherits it from his father, and the old man will not
+allow him to lead in athletics, so whatever he does must be done
+secretly."
+
+Frank was interested. He wondered how a fellow like Bruce Browning could
+come to be know as "king of the sophomores," unless such a title was
+applied to him in derision. Now he began to understand that Browning was
+something more than the lazy mischief planner that he had seemed.
+
+Frank's interest in Browning grew.
+
+"And you say he is backing Diamond?"
+
+"That's the way it looks from the road."
+
+"Well, Mr. Bruce Browning may need some attention. It is he who puts the
+sophs up to their jobs on us. We ought to put up a big one on him."
+
+"That's right! that's right!"
+
+"Merry," said Jones, "set the complicated machinery of your fertile
+brain to work and see what it will bring forth."
+
+"That's right! that's right!"
+
+"I'll have to take time to think it over."
+
+"We have a few soph scalps," grinned Rattleton, pointing to a number of
+caps with which the walls were decorated, all of which had been snatched
+from the heads of sophomores. "Have the rest of you fellows done as
+well?"
+
+"I have lost two," confessed Dan Dorman. "They seem to single me out as
+easy fruit."
+
+"And haven't you made an attempt to get one in return?" asked Bandy
+Robinson.
+
+"I haven't had a good chance."
+
+"If you wait for a good chance you'll never get a scalp. You must snatch
+'em whenever you can."
+
+"By Jove!" laughed Frank, "this talk about scalps has given me an idea."
+
+"Let's have it!" exclaimed several of the boys in unison.
+
+"Not now," he said. "Wait till I have perfected it."
+
+Roll Ditson strolled in, smoking a cigarette, and said:
+
+"Hello, Merry! Hello, fellows! What's up? Council of war?"
+
+"Just that," said Dan Dorman. "Merry is perfecting a scheme to put a
+horse on Browning."
+
+"Eh? Browning? Great Scott! Is that so? He's a bad man to monkey with.
+Better let him alone, Merry."
+
+Ditson had a patronizing way that was offensive to Frank, who had given
+him numberless digs; but he was too thick to tumble or he deliberately
+refused to take Merriwell's words as they were intended.
+
+"You'll have to kick him before he knows he's not wanted," Rattleton had
+said.
+
+"Thank you for your advice," said Frank, with mild sarcasm--"thank you
+exceedingly! Perhaps you are right."
+
+"Oh, I know I am. I don't want to get the king after me, and I don't
+believe you care to have him on your trail. He is the most influential
+soph in college. Why, his name is on a table down at Morey's."
+
+Ditson looked around as if his last statement had settled the question
+of Browning's vast superiority over all sophomores.
+
+Morey's was the favorite resort of the students, and no freshman could
+enter there. It was an old frame house, with low-posted rooms, and there
+one could drink everything except beer. No beer could be had at Morey's.
+
+Morey's was headquarters for the Society of the Cup. This cup had six
+handles and was kept in a locked closet. On the cup was engraved in
+large letters the word "Velvet," which is a well-known Yale drink,
+composed of champagne and Dublin stout, a drink that is mild and soft,
+but has a terrific "kick."
+
+Besides the word "Velvet," a number of students' names were engraved on
+the cup, and no one whose name was not there could ask the proprietor to
+show the cup.
+
+The marked tables were two round tables on which names of the
+frequenters of the place had been cut in the hard wood. One table had
+been filled with six hundred and seventy-five names and was suspended
+against the wall, where it would revolve, and the other tables were fast
+filling up.
+
+Merriwell laughed at Ditson's statement.
+
+"I don't see as it is such a wonderful thing for a soph to get his name
+on one of those tables," he said. "If you had said that Browning's name
+was on the cup, it would have seemed a matter of some consequence."
+
+"It may be, for all I know. Sophs are not in the habit of telling us
+everything. Steer clear of Browning, Merry, old man."
+
+"Thanks again! You have made me so nervous that I think I will take your
+advice."
+
+"That's right, my boy--that's right," nodded Ditson, swelling with
+importance. "Always listen to your uncle, my lad, and you will never go
+wrong."
+
+The other lads seemed rather disappointed, but Merriwell said nothing
+more of his scheme to get a "horse" on Browning--that is, he said
+nothing more that night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A SURPRISE.
+
+
+It was singular how quickly Browning learned that Merriwell had
+contemplated working a job on him. It seemed an absolute certainty that
+some one of the party in Merriwell's room had gone forth and "blowed."
+Who had done so was a question.
+
+As was the most natural thing, considering his dislike for the fellow,
+Frank felt that Roll Ditson was the telltale. Of this he had no proof,
+however, and he was too just to openly condemn a man without proof.
+
+It was certain that Browning had learned all about it, for he sent word
+to Merriwell to go slow. At the same time, in all public places he
+avowed the utmost contempt and disregard for the freshman who had done
+up Diamond.
+
+"The boy is altogether too new," Browning sneered. "What he needs is
+polishing off, and he is bound to get it."
+
+Now, Frank had won admiration from the sophomores, and there were one or
+two who did not like Browning and would have given not a little to have
+seen him beaten at anything.
+
+This being the case, it is not surprising that Merriwell received an
+anonymous note warning him to keep in his room on a certain evening and
+look out for squalls.
+
+Frank knew Browning would not come alone, and he determined to be
+prepared. With this object in view, he gathered ten stout freshmen and
+had them come to his room early on the evening mentioned.
+
+The curtains were drawn closely, and the arrivals were astonished to see
+a lot of Indian toggery piled up on tables and chairs, imitation
+buckskin suits, feathered headdresses, bows, arrows, tomahawks, and so
+forth. On Merriwell's table was a full supply of Indian red grease
+paint.
+
+"Oh, say," gasped Ned Stover, his eyes bulging, "what's this--a powwow
+outfit?"
+
+"This is the result of the idea you fellows gave me when you spoke of
+capturing scalps the other evening," laughed Frank. "Select your suits,
+gentlemen, and proceed to make up."
+
+"Make up? What for?"
+
+"Just you make up, and I will tell you what for afterward."
+
+Merriwell's influence was sufficient to induce them to obey, and he
+aided them in the work.
+
+"Blate grazes--I mean great blazes!" chuckled Rattleton, as he rubbed
+the war paint on his face. "Won't we make a bloodthirsty gang of roble
+ned men--er, noble red men!"
+
+The boys aided each other, and Frank assisted them all.
+
+"Aren't you going to make up, Merry?" asked Bandy Robinson.
+
+"Not now. I am to be the decoy."
+
+"The decoy? What's in the wind, anyway?"
+
+"Well, I have it pretty straight that some sophs, led by Browning, are
+coming to take me out for an airing to-night."
+
+"Eh? Take you out?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And he means to take them in," laughed Rattleton, arranging a war
+bonnet on his head.
+
+"That's just it," nodded Frank. "If they come here, we'll be ready for
+them. If they do not come, we'll call on Mr. Browning."
+
+"I'm afraid this is rather a serious matter," said Dismal Jones.
+
+"Oh, don't begin to croak!" cried Rattleton. "Merriwell knows his
+business. Hurry up with your makeup. Can't tell how early the sophs will
+call."
+
+So the boys hastened to complete their disguise, and a decidedly
+savage-looking band they were when all was completed. Frank surveyed
+them with satisfaction.
+
+"Ah! my bold warriors!" he cried. "I am proud of you.
+To-night--to-night we deal the enemy a terrible and deadly blow."
+
+"We're ready to hear what the layout is," eagerly said Ned Stover.
+
+"Well, you are to retire to Robinson's room, which is exactly opposite
+this, and wait. I have two fellows outside to let me know when the enemy
+approaches and to take a hand in the game at the right time. When I
+whistle you are to make your way into this room if you have to break
+down the door. That's all."
+
+The boys retired to Robinson's room, where they smoked and waited with
+great impatience.
+
+Frank sat down and coolly went at his studies.
+
+Nearly an hour passed, and then there was a sound of wheels outside. The
+sound stopped before the door.
+
+A few moments later some one ascended the stairs and there came a knock
+on the door.
+
+"Come in," called Frank.
+
+The door opened, and Roll Ditson sauntered in, smoking the inevitable
+cigarette.
+
+"Hello, Merry!" he cried, looking around. "All alone?"
+
+"All alone, Ditson," yawned Frank. "It's beastly stupid but I am having
+a hard pull at my studies."
+
+"Better come out with me and get a little air. It's stuffy here."
+
+"Oh, you'll have to excuse me to-night. I don't believe I'll go out."
+
+Ditson urged, but Frank persisted in refusing. Roll stopped near a table
+and picked up a stick of grease paint.
+
+"Hello! what's this?" he exclaimed. "Aren't going into amateur
+theatricals, are you, Merry?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," smiled Frank. "I may do a turn."
+
+Ditson looked at Merriwell curiously, as if in doubt concerning his
+sincerity, but Frank simply continued to smile.
+
+"Indian red," said Roll, reading the lettering on the stick. "You don't
+mean to become a big chief, do you?"
+
+"Perhaps so."
+
+"Well, you are pretty sure to become a big chief here at Yale, old man,"
+said Ditson, with apparent earnestness. "You will be a leader here some
+day."
+
+"Think so?"
+
+"Oh, I am dead sure of it."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+Merriwell yawned again.
+
+"Oh, come on!" Ditson urged. "You're stupid from digging over those
+books. Come out and have a walk."
+
+"No."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"You'll have to excuse me to-night, Ditson."
+
+"All right. But say, I came near forgetting something. As I came in,
+there was a fellow down to the door who said he wanted to see you."
+
+"A fellow? Who was it?"
+
+"Don't know. Some of the students, I think."
+
+"Oh, if that is the case, go down and bring him up, Ditson. You can open
+the door and let him in without disturbing Mrs. Harrington."
+
+"All right," nodded Roll. "Sorry you won't come out, old fel. You'll get
+grouchy. Good-night."
+
+"Good-night."
+
+Ditson went out, and Frank heard him descending the stairs.
+
+"There'll be music in the air," muttered Merriwell as he again lay back
+in his chair, elevating his feet to the top of the table. "But the
+surprisers are liable to be surprised."
+
+He heard the front door creak. Often he wondered why Mrs. Harrington did
+not grease the hinges.
+
+Frank had good ears, and it was not long before he was sure he could
+hear rustlings and whisperings in the hall. Then one person seemed to
+ascend the stairs very slowly, but he made out that there were two or
+three others with that one, the others stepping as softly as possible.
+
+Merriwell remained cool and apparently quite unaware that anything
+unusual was taking place.
+
+The footsteps reached the head of the stairs and advanced to the door,
+on which there was a distinct knock.
+
+"Come in!" Frank once more called.
+
+The door was promptly flung open, and into the room strode a person who
+was wrapped in a big overcoat and wore a wide-brimmed hat slouched over
+his eyes. His face nearly to his eyes was covered with bushy whiskers.
+
+"Hello!" exclaimed Frank, as if surprised. "Who are you?"
+
+"'Sh!" hissed the stranger, with a warning gesture. "Are we alone?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where is your roommate?"
+
+"Out."
+
+The fellow whistled sharply, and the next minute four masked lads
+appeared at the door and leaped into the room. One of them slammed the
+door shut and the others sprang at Frank.
+
+Merriwell flung a book at the first one, and it struck the fellow's
+mask, tearing it from his face.
+
+The well-known countenance of Bruce Browning was exposed!
+
+"Good-evening, Browning!" cheerfully called the lively freshman as he
+darted behind the table. "I have been expecting a call from you."
+
+"Grab him!" directed Browning. "Get hold of him!"
+
+Frank was on the point of uttering a whistle, but it was not required,
+for the whistle that came from the lips of the disguised fellow had
+served as a signal to the painted braves.
+
+There was a bang at the door, which flew open as if assaulted by a
+catapault, and into the room poured the disguised freshmen.
+
+The Indians leaped upon the masked sophomores, and for a short time a
+very sharp struggle took place.
+
+Bruce Browning did his best to escape from the room, but three of the
+savages laid hold of him, and he was finally subdued.
+
+"Out of the house with them as soon as possible," ordered Frank. "Come
+on, two or three of you. We must nail the hack and the fellows outside."
+
+Down to the door he led the way.
+
+Mrs. Harrington came out into the hall, caught a glimpse of the painted
+faces, uttered a wild shriek of terror, and dodged back, slamming the
+door.
+
+"All ready?" said Frank as he prepared to fling open the front door.
+
+"All ready!" panted Harry Rattleton, close behind him.
+
+"Don't let anybody get away," warned Merriwell. "I will look after the
+driver."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+Creak! open swung the door, and out into the night leaped a youth who
+seemed to be hotly pursued by four painted and bloodthirsty-appearing
+redskins.
+
+The hack was standing exactly as Frank expected it would be, and he was
+on the box with the driver at two springs.
+
+"It's all right," he asserted. "We've got the fellow up there, though he
+did kick up some. A part of our gang was rigged up like Indians, and
+they nipped him all right."
+
+"It's the divil's own set ye shtudints are!" muttered the driver. "Av ye
+hurry, Oi'll sthay to take him away; but Oi'll not remain here long, fer
+it's th' cops will be down on us roight away."
+
+"We'll get away ahead of the cops, don't fear that," declared Frank.
+"They're bringing him downstairs now. We had to take two or three others
+with him; but well not bother with them long."
+
+"Arrah! th' poor freshman!" said the driver. "Oi'd not loike to be in
+his place this noight!"
+
+He was completely fooled, thinking all the time that Frank was one of
+the party he had brought there to capture the freshman.
+
+As they rushed out Frank had seen a fellow standing near the open door
+of the hack, and that fellow had promptly taken to flight at sight of
+the Indians, two of whom pursued him hotly.
+
+Frank hoped they would be able to overtake the fugitive, for if one of
+the party escaped he would report to the sophs, who were bound to make a
+big hustle to rescue their captured comrades.
+
+The disguised freshmen came downstairs, bearing their captives, who were
+swiftly thrust into the hack, which was a big, roomy, old-fashioned
+affair.
+
+As many of the freshmen as could do so piled inside and upon the hack,
+and then Frank gave the signal, the driver whipped up his horse and away
+they went.
+
+"East Rock," said Frank.
+
+"Eh?" exclaimed the driver. "Thot's not pwhere ye wur goin' in th'
+firrust place."
+
+"We have changed the programme. East Rock is where we are bound for
+now."
+
+"All roight, me b'y."
+
+The triumphant freshmen felt like shouting and singing in jubilant mood.
+Indeed, Rattleton could not refrain from "letting off steam," as he
+called it, and he gave one wild howl of triumph that made the streets
+echo:
+
+"'Umpty-eight! 'Umpty-eight!"
+
+"Break it off!" sharply commanded Frank. "Want to let the sophs know
+we're up to something?"
+
+"I don't care."
+
+"They might raise a rescue party and follow us."
+
+"But they wouldn't frop any chost--I mean chop any frost with us."
+
+"Pwhat's thot?" came suspiciously from the driver. "An' is it not
+softmores ye are yersilves?"
+
+"Of course we are," returned Harry, instantly.
+
+"Thin pwhat fer do ye yell fer 'Umpty-eight?"
+
+"Oh, it's a way we have. Don't mind it, but keep on driving if you want
+to retain your scalp, paleface. We are mighty bad Injuns!"
+
+The driver knew how to pick out the darkest and most deserted streets.
+By the time the outskirts of the city were reached the freshmen were
+bubbling over.
+
+Frank Merriwell improvised a stanza of a song, and in a few moments the
+entire band caught the words and the tune. As the hack rolled along
+toward East Rock the freshmen sang:
+
+  "We belong to good old 'Umpty-eight,
+  For she's a corker, sure as fate, sure as fate.
+    We have met the sophomores,
+    And they're feeling awful sore;
+  So hurrah for good old 'Umpty-eight! 'Umpty-eight!"
+
+"Begobs! ye're th' quarest gang av softmores Oi iver saw!" cried the
+driver. "An' it's not wan av yez Oi remimber takin' up to th' freshman's
+boording house."
+
+"We have changed," explained Ned Stover.
+
+"And it's the first change I have seen for a week," declared Harry
+Rattleton. "I'm waiting to hear from the governor."
+
+"Howld on," said the driver. "Oi want to see the mon thot hired me."
+
+He threatened to pull up, but Frank caught the whip and cracked it over
+the horses.
+
+"What do you want?" asked Merriwell.
+
+"Oi want me pay."
+
+Now, Frank knew well enough that the driver had received his pay in
+advance, but he was beginning to suspect that the party that hired him
+had come to grief, and so he was for exacting an extra payment from the
+victors.
+
+"Look here, driver," said Frank, sternly, "I want your number."
+
+"Pwhat fer?"
+
+"In case it may appear later on that you have received money at two
+separate and distinct times for doing the same piece of work."
+
+"Get oop!" yelled the driver. "It's ownly foolin' Oi wur."
+
+So the hack rolled on its way, with the happy freshmen smoking and
+singing, while the captive sophs ground their teeth and railed at the
+bitter luck.
+
+Inside the hack Dismal Jones, most hideously bedaubed, was smoking a
+cigarette and brandishing a wooden tomahawk at the same time, while he
+sat astride of Bruce Browning, who was on the floor.
+
+"This is a sad and solemn occasion, paleface," croaked Dismal. "You have
+driven the noble red man from his ancestral halls, which were the dim
+aisles of the mighty forests; you have pushed him across the plains, and
+you have tried to crowd him off the earth into the Pacific Ocean. Ugh!
+You have pursued him with deadly firearms and still more deadly fire
+water. You have been relentless in your hatred and your greed. You have
+even been so unreasonable that whenever a poor red man has secured a few
+paleface scalps as trophies to hang in his wigwam you have taken your
+trusty rifles and gone forth with great fury and shot the poor Indian
+full of hard bullets. You have done heap many things that you would not
+have done if you had not done so. But now, poor, shivering dog of a
+paleface, the injured red man has arisen at last in his might. If we are
+to perish, we are to perish; but before we perish, we will enjoy the
+gentle pleasure of roasting a few white men at the stake. Ugh! We have
+held a council of war, we have excavated the hatchet, we have smashed
+the pipe of peace to flinders, or something of the sort, and have struck
+out upon the war trail."
+
+"You act as if you had struck out," growled one of the captives.
+
+"That's because he has had a few balls," gurgled Browning. "Talk about
+being burned at the stake! That's not torture after being obliged to
+inhale his breath. My kingdom for some chloroform! Will somebody please
+hit me on the head with a trip hammer and put me out of my misery?"
+
+"Whither art thou bearing us, great chief?" asked one of the captives.
+
+"We will bare you out yonder," answered Dismal. "At the stake you shall
+stand arrayed in the garments nature provided for you."
+
+"I don't care for tea," murmured Browning--"not even for repartee."
+
+"This is worse than being roasted at the stake!" muttered a soph in a
+corner. "It is severe punishment."
+
+"Help!" cried Dismal. "Somebody take me out! I can't get ahead of these
+miserable palefaces."
+
+"You'll get a head if I ever find a good chance to give it to you,"
+declared the voice of Puss Parker from the darkness.
+
+Outside the painted savages were roaring:
+
+  "Farewell! farewell! farewell, my fairy fay!
+    Oh, I'm off to Louisiana
+    For to see my Susy Anna,
+  Singing 'Polly-wolly-woodle' all the day."
+
+And thus the captured sophomores were borne in triumph out to East Rock,
+and as they were the ones who engaged the hack, they paid for their own
+conveyance.
+
+Never before had anything like it happened at Yale. It was an event that
+was bound to go down in history as the most audacious and daring piece
+of work ever successfully carried through by freshmen in that college.
+
+And Frank Merriwell was to receive the credit of being the originator of
+the scheme and the general who carried it out successfully.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE "ROAST" AT EAST ROCK.
+
+
+A strange and remarkable scene was being enacted in the peaceable and
+civilized State of Connecticut--a scene which must have startled an
+accidental observer and caused him to fancy for a moment the hand of
+time had turned back two centuries.
+
+Near a bright fire that was burning on the ground squatted a band of
+hideously-painted fellows who seemed to be redskins, while close at
+hand, bound and helpless, were a number of palefaces, plainly the
+captives of the savages.
+
+That a council of war was taking place seemed apparent. And still the
+savages seemed waiting for something.
+
+At length, out of the darkness advanced a tall, well-built warrior, the
+trailing plumes of whose war bonnet reached quite to the ground. If
+anything, this fellow was more hideously painted than any of the others,
+and there was an air of distinction about him that proclaimed him a
+great chief.
+
+"Ugh!" he grunted. "I am here."
+
+The savages arose, and one of them said:
+
+"Fellow warriors, the mighty chief Fale-in-his-Hoce--I mean
+Hole-in-his-Face--has arrived."
+
+Then a wild yell of greeting went up to the twinkling stars, and every
+savage brandished a tomahawk, scalping knife, or some other kind of
+weapon.
+
+"Brothers," said Hole-in-his-Face, "I see that I am welcome in your
+midst, as any up-to-date country newspaper reporter would say. You have
+received me with great _éclat_--excuse my French; I was educated
+abroad--in New Jersey."
+
+"Go back to Princeton!" cried one of the captives.
+
+"Fellow warriors," continued Hole-in-his-Face, without noticing the
+interruption, "I am heap much proud to be with you on this momentous
+occasion."
+
+"Yah! yah! yah!" yelled the savages.
+
+"And now," the chief went on, "if you will proceed to squat on your
+haunches I will orate a trifle."
+
+Once more the redskins sat down on the ground, and then the late arrival
+struck an attitude and began his oration:
+
+"Warriors of my people, why are we assembled together to-night?"
+
+"Because we couldn't assemble apart," murmured a voice.
+
+"We are assembled to avenge our wrongs upon the hated paleface," the
+chief declared. "It was long ago that the proud and haughty paleface got
+the bulge on the red man, and we have not been in the game to any great
+extent since then. Every time we have held two pairs he has come in with
+one pair of sixes or a Winchester and raked the pot. He has not given us
+any kind of a show for our white alley. Whenever we seemed to be getting
+along fairly well and doing a little something, he has wrung in a cold
+deck on us and then shot us full of air holes, purely for the purpose of
+ventilation in case we objected. Warriors, we have grown tired of being
+soaked in the neck."
+
+"That's right," nodded a savage, "unless we are soaked in the neck with
+fire water."
+
+"At last," shouted the orator--"at last we have arisen in our wrath and
+our war paint and we are out for scalps. We have decided that the joy of
+the red man is fleeting. To-night a flush mantles your dark cheeks, but
+to-morrow it will be a bobtail flush. What have we to live for but
+vengeance on the white man and a little booze now and then? Nothing! Our
+squaws once were beautiful as the wild flowers of the prairie, but now
+the prize beauty of our tribe is Malt Extract Maria, whose nose is out
+of joint, whose eyes are skewed, whose teeth are covered with fine-cut
+tobacco, and who lost one of her ears last week by accidentally getting
+it into the mouth of her husband.
+
+"My brothers, we are not built to weep. It is not the way of the noble
+red man. A few more summers and we will be no more. We will have kicked
+the stuffing out of the bucket and wended our way up the golden stair.
+But before we cough up the ghost it behooves us to strike one last blow
+at the hated paleface. When we get a chance at a paleface it is our duty
+to do him, and do him bad. Are you on?
+
+"We have been successful in capturing a few of our hated foes, and they
+are bound and helpless near at hand. Shall they be fricasseed, broiled,
+fried, or made into a potpie? That is the question before the meeting,
+and I am ready to listen to others. Let us hear from Squint-eyed
+Sausageface."
+
+"It doesn't make a dit of bifference--I mean a bit of difference to me
+how I have my paleface cooked," said the one indicated as Squint-eyed
+Sausageface. "Perhaps it would be well enough to cook them at the
+stake."
+
+"I think that would be the proper mode," gravely declared another
+warrior; "for I have heard that they boast they are hot stuff. They
+should not boast in vain."
+
+"Warriors," said Hole-in-his-Face, "you have heard. What have you to
+say?"
+
+"So mote it be," came solemnly from one.
+
+"Yah! yah! yah!" yelled the others.
+
+"That settles it, as the sugar remarked to the egg dropped into the
+coffee. Prepare the torture stakes."
+
+There was a great bustle, and in a short time the stakes were prepared
+and driven into the ground, one of the savages hammering them down with
+a huge stick of wood.
+
+Then the captives were bound to the stakes and a lot of brush was
+brought and piled about their feet.
+
+Some of the sophs actually looked scared, but Browning kept up a
+continual fire of sarcastic remarks.
+
+"Ugh!" grunted Hole-in-his-Face. "This paleface talks heap much. Remove
+his outer garments, so the fire may reach his flesh without delay."
+
+Then Browning was held and his clothes were stripped off till he stood
+in his under garments, barefooted, bareheaded, and still defiant.
+
+"Oh, say!" he muttered, "won't there be an awful hour of reckoning!
+Merriwell will regret the day he came to Yale!"
+
+At this Hole-in-his-Face laughed heartily, and Browning cried:
+
+"Oh, I know you, Merriwell! You can't fool me, though you have got the
+best makeup of them all."
+
+When everything was ready, one of the savages actually touched a match
+to the various piles of brush about the feet of the unfortunate
+sophomores.
+
+As the tiny flames leaped up the painted band joined in a wild war dance
+about the stakes, flourishing their weapons and whooping as if they were
+real Indians. Some of their postures and steps were exact imitations of
+the poses and steps taken by savages in a war dance.
+
+"Say, confound you fool freshmen!" howled one of the captives. "This
+fire is getting hot! Do you really mean to roast us?"
+
+"Yah! yah! yah! Hough! hough! hough!"
+
+Round and round the stake circled the disguised freshmen, and the fire
+kept getting higher and higher.
+
+Puss Parker fell to coughing violently, having sucked down a large
+quantity of smoke. Some of the others raved and some begged. But still
+the wild dance went on.
+
+"Merciful cats!" gasped Tad Horner. "I believe they actually mean to
+roast us!"
+
+"Sure as fate!" agreed another. "They won't think to put out the fires
+till we are well cooked, if they do then!"
+
+"This is awful!" gurgled Parker. "Browning, can't you do something?"
+
+"Well, I hardly think so," confessed the king of the sophomores. "But I
+will do something if I ever get out of this alive! You hear me murmur!"
+
+"Say!" cried Tad Horner. "I can't stand this much longer. The fire is
+beginning to roast me."
+
+"It's getting warm," confessed Parker. "But it seems to keep burning
+around the outside edge."
+
+"Keep cool," advised Browning.
+
+"What's that?" yelled Horner. "Who said 'keep cool?' Oh, say! That's
+too much!"
+
+"Just look at the wood," directed the king of the sophomores. "You will
+notice that all the wood about our feet is water soaked, and there's
+only a little dry wood out around the edges. That's all that is
+burning."
+
+This they soon saw was true, and it gave them great relief, for it had
+begun to seem that the crazy freshmen actually meant to roast them.
+
+At the very moment when the uproar was at its height there came a sudden
+loud cry, like a signal, and out of the darkness rushed at least twenty
+lads.
+
+They were sophomores who had somehow followed them out there to East
+Rock, having been aroused and told of the capture of Browning and his
+mates by the soph who escaped.
+
+One fellow on a bicycle had followed them till he felt sure of their
+destination, and then he had turned back and told the others, who
+hastily secured teams and flew to the rescue.
+
+"'Umpty-seven! 'Umpty-seven! 'Rah, 'rah! 'rah!" yelled the rescuers as
+they charged upon the freshmen.
+
+"'Umpty-eight! 'Umpty-eight! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah!" howled the painted lads
+in return.
+
+Then for a few moments there was a pitched battle.
+
+The battle did not last long, for the freshmen saw they were
+outnumbered, and at a signal from their leader they broke away and took
+to their heels.
+
+By rare good luck every man was able to get away, for, not knowing
+anything about the water-soaked wood piled about the feet of the
+captives, the rescuers nearly all stopped to scatter the burning brush.
+
+"Oh, say!" grated Browning, as he was released. "But this means gore and
+bloodshed! We'll never rest till we have squared for this roast, and we
+will square with interest! Merriwell's life will be one long, lingering
+torture from this night onward!"
+
+"What's all this racket and cheering?" asked one of the rescuers.
+"Listen, fellows! By Jove! it seems to come from the place where we left
+our carriages!"
+
+"That's what it does, and it's the freshman yell," cried another. "Come
+on, fellows! If we don't get a move on we may have to walk back."
+
+They started on a run, but when they arrived at the place where the
+teams had been left not a team was there.
+
+The freshmen had captured the teams, drivers and all, together with the
+hack, and far along the road toward the city could be heard a cheering,
+singing crowd. As the disgusted and furious sophs stood and listened the
+singing and cheering grew fainter and fainter.
+
+"Fellows," said Chop Harding, "I am sorry to leave Yale, but I am
+certain to be hanged for murder. After this, whenever I see a freshman I
+shall kill him instantly."
+
+It was a doleful and weary crowd of sophs that came filing back into
+town and sneaked to their rooms that night.
+
+Of course the sophs would have given a great deal could they have kept
+the story quiet, but on the following morning it seemed that every
+student in the college knew all about it.
+
+The juniors laughed and chaffed the sophomores, who were sullen and
+sulky and who muttered much about getting even.
+
+The freshmen were jubilant. They were on top for the time, and they all
+knew they might not have long to crow, so they did all the crowing they
+could in a short time.
+
+And still nobody seemed to know just who was concerned in the affair,
+save that Merriwell and Browning must have been.
+
+When Browning was questioned he was so blankly ignorant of everything
+that it seemed as if he had slept through the whole affair. He had a way
+of turning every question off with another question, and it was soon
+discovered that no information could be obtained from him.
+
+Still it was passed from lip to lip that the great and nighty king had
+been found by the rescuers, stripped to his underclothes, and tied to a
+stake, while the smoke arose thickly around him and nearly choked him.
+
+Some one suggested that Browning's complexion seemed to have changed in
+a remarkable manner, and then the students fell to asking him if he
+really enjoyed a smoke.
+
+Browning seemed subdued; but those who knew him best were telling
+everybody to hold on and see what would happen.
+
+"This is just the beginning," they said.
+
+However, several days passed and still nothing occurred. It began to
+look as if the sophs had decided that they were outgeneraled and were
+willing to let the matter drop.
+
+Frank Merriwell was not deceived. He knew the sophs were keeping still
+in order to deceive the freshmen into a belief that there was no danger,
+and he continued to warn all his friends to "watch out."
+
+In the meantime Diamond had recovered and was in evidence among the
+freshmen. It was said that he went down to Billy's, a favorite freshman
+resort, and spent money liberally there almost every night.
+
+The result of this soon became apparent. Diamond was surrounded by a
+crowd of hangers-on who seemed to regard him as a leader. He was working
+for popularity, and he was obtaining it in a certain way.
+
+Now, Frank Merriwell was no less generous than Jack Diamond, but he
+would not drink liquor of any kind--he would not touch beer. It did not
+take him long to discover that this peculiarity caused many of the
+students to regard him with scorn. He was called the Good Templar and
+was often derisively addressed as Worthy Chief.
+
+The very ones who were first to apply the name in derision afterward
+came to call him Worthy Chief in sincere admiration.
+
+Frank went around to Billy's occasionally, and although he would not
+drink, he treated frequently, paying for anything his companions wanted
+to take, from beer to champagne.
+
+One evening Frank, Harry and Dismal Jones went into Billy's and found
+Diamond and a large crowd there. Jack had been drinking something
+stronger than lemonade, and he was holding forth to a crowd of eager
+listeners.
+
+One look at Diamond's flushed face did Merriwell take, and then he knew
+the fellow was open for anything. The high color in the cheeks of the
+Virginian was a danger signal.
+
+Merriwell and his two friends ordered drinks, Frank taking ginger ale.
+Harry and Jones lighted cigarettes.
+
+Frank examined the pictures around the walls. There were ballet dancers
+who were standing on one toe, famous trotters, painted pictures of
+celebrated fighting cocks, hunters in red coats leaping five-barred
+fences, and so forth.
+
+As he looked over the pictures he became aware that Diamond was saying
+something that was intended for his ears.
+
+"Southerners never fight with their fists," the Virginian declared.
+"They consider it brutal and beastly, and so they do not learn the
+so-called 'art.' They are able to fight with some other weapons, though.
+There is a man in this college who is trying to be a high cock of the
+walk, but he will never succeed till he shows his right by meeting me
+face to face with weapons of which I have knowledge. I have met him with
+his weapons, and if he is not a coward he will give me a show. But I
+think he is a coward and a sneak, and I--"
+
+That was more than Frank could stand. He did not pause to think that
+Diamond had been drinking and was utterly reckless, but he whirled and
+advanced till he stood squarely in front of the Virginian.
+
+"I presume, Mr. Diamond, that you are referring to me," he said, coldly
+and steadily, although he could feel the hot blood leaping in his veins.
+
+Diamond looked up insolently, inhaled a whiff of his cigarette, and then
+deliberately blew the smoke toward Frank.
+
+"Yes, sir," he said, "I presume I did refer to you. What are you going
+to do about it?"
+
+"You called me a coward and a sneak."
+
+"Exactly, sir."
+
+"If I had not already left the marks of my knuckles on you I would slap
+your face. As it is, I will simply--pull your nose!"
+
+And Frank did so, giving Diamond's nose a sharp tweak.
+
+Up to his feet leaped the Virginian, his face white with wrath. He
+picked up a glass of champagne as he arose, and then he dashed it into
+Frank's face.
+
+In a twinkling friends were between them, keeping them apart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE DUEL.
+
+
+Merriwell smiled and wiped the champagne from his face with a white silk
+handkerchief. The proprietor bustled in and threatened. Diamond quivered
+with excitement.
+
+"There will be no further trouble here," calmly said Frank. "This matter
+must be settled between us--I could see that plainly enough. It wan just
+as well to bring it to a head at once."
+
+"Lunder and thightning--I mean thunder and lightning!" panted Rattleton.
+"He won't fight you again with his fists."
+
+"I do not expect him to."
+
+"You'll have to fight with rapiers, sure!" said another.
+
+"Merriwell, you're a fool!"
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"You have fallen into his trap. He was making that talk to drive you to
+do just what you did."
+
+"Well, he may congratulate himself on his success."
+
+"Blamed if I understand you! You seem cool enough, and still you act as
+if you actually meant to meet him with deadly weapons."
+
+"I shall meet him with any kind of weapons he may name."
+
+Roll Ditson came forward.
+
+"Of course you understand that I have no feeling, Merry, old man," he
+said; "but Diamond has chosen me as his second once more, and so I can't
+refuse to serve him. It is a most unfortunate affair, but he insists
+that you fight him with rapiers."
+
+"Very well; I agree to that. Arrange the time and place with my second,
+Mr. Rattleton."
+
+Frank sat down, picked up an illustrated paper, and seemed deeply
+interested in the pictures.
+
+Ditson drew Rattleton aside.
+
+"My principal," said he, swelling with importance, "demands that this
+meeting take place at once."
+
+"Great Scott!" exploded Harry. "I object to this sort of business. It is
+outrageous! If one of them should be seriously wounded, what excuse can
+be made?"
+
+"We'll find some excuse that will go."
+
+"But what if one of them should be killed?"
+
+"I hardly think anything as serious as that will occur."
+
+"But should it, there would be an investigation, and expulsion and
+disgrace, if nothing worse, would overtake us."
+
+"Oh, well, if you are afraid, just go back and tell Mr. Merriwell to
+apologize here and now, and I think Mr. Diamond will let him off."
+
+Harry looked at Merriwell and then shook his head.
+
+"He'll never do that," he said, hoarsely. "We'll have to arrange this
+duel. There is no other way for it."
+
+Between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three blood runs hot and swift in
+the veins of a youth. It is then that he will do many wild and reckless
+things--things which will cause him to stand appalled when he considers
+them in after years.
+
+Frank believed that in order to retain his own self respect and the
+respect of his comrades he must meet Diamond and give him satisfaction
+in any manner he might designate.
+
+But there was another reason why Frank was so willing to meet the
+Virginian. Merriwell was an expert fencer. At Fardale he had been the
+champion of the school, and he had taken some lessons while traveling.
+He had thoroughly studied the trick of disarming his adversary, a trick
+which is known to every French fencing master, but is thought little of
+by them.
+
+He believed that he could repeatedly disarm Diamond.
+
+His adventures in various parts of the world had made him somewhat less
+cautious than he naturally would have been and so he trusted everything
+to his ability to get the best of the Virginian.
+
+Roland Ditson longed to force Merriwell to squeal. He did not fancy
+Frank knew anything of fencing, and he thought Merriwell would soon lose
+his nerve when he saw himself toyed with by Diamond.
+
+And Diamond had promised not to seriously wound the fellow he hated.
+
+The meeting was arranged as quietly as possible, and the freshmen who
+were to witness it slipped out of Billy's by twos and threes and strode
+away.
+
+Thirty minutes later, in a small, stuffy room, two lads, with their
+coats and vests off and their sleeves turned back, faced each other,
+rapiers in hand.
+
+"Ready, gentlemen!" called Ditson.
+
+They made ready.
+
+"On guard!"
+
+The position was assumed.
+
+Then came the command that set them at it.
+
+In less than twenty seconds the spectators, who kept back as well as
+possible, had seen something they never beheld before. They saw two
+beardless lads fighting with deadly weapons and using skill that was
+marvelous.
+
+It took Jack Diamond far less than twenty seconds to discover that
+Frank Merriwell was a swordsman of astonishing skill. He had expected to
+toy with the Northerner, but he found himself engaged with one who met
+every stroke like a professional.
+
+A great feeling of relief came over Harry Rattleton.
+
+"Whee jiz!" he muttered. "Merry is a cooler at it! I believe he's
+Diamond's match!"
+
+With Diamond astonishment gave way to fury. Was it possible that this
+fellow was to get the best of him at everything? He fought savagely, and
+Ditson turned white as a ghost when he saw the Virginian making mad
+thrusts at the breast of the lad he hated.
+
+"He's forgotten his promise--he's forgotten!" huskily whispered Ditson.
+"What if he should run Merriwell through the body?"
+
+Then came a cry of anger from Diamond and a cry of surprise and relief
+from the spectators.
+
+Frank Merriwell, with that peculiar twisting movement of his wrist, had
+torn the rapier from the Virginian's hand.
+
+The blade fell clanging to the floor, and Merriwell stepped back, with
+the point of his rapier lowered.
+
+Snarling savagely, Diamond made a catlike spring and snatched up the
+weapon he had lost.
+
+"On guard!" he cried, madly. "The end is not yet! I'll kill you or
+you'll kill me!"
+
+There was a clash of steel, and then the fight was on with more fury
+than before.
+
+Diamond was utterly reckless. He left a dozen openings where Frank could
+have run him through. But Merriwell was working to repeat the trick of a
+few seconds before.
+
+The frightened spectators were beginning to think of intervening, when
+once again Diamond was disarmed.
+
+At the same moment there came a heavy knocking at the door.
+
+One fellow, who had been on guard, ran in from a corridor and cried:
+
+"It's the faculty! Somebody has given them wind of this!"
+
+"Here! here!" called a freshman. "Follow me!"
+
+They did so, and he led them to a back window, out of which they
+clambered.
+
+Diamond was the last to get out, and just as he touched the ground
+somebody came around the corner and grabbed him.
+
+"I have one of them!" shouted a voice, which he recognized as belonging
+to one of the faculty.
+
+He struggled to break away, but could not.
+
+Then somebody dashed back to his side, caught hold of him, and with
+wonderful strength tore him from the grasp of the man.
+
+"Run!" panted Frank Merriwell's voice in his ear.
+
+And they ran away together, and in a short while were safe in their
+rooms.
+
+It turned out that it was not the faculty that had tried to get in where
+the duel was taking place, but some of the sophs. At the time he turned
+back to rescue Diamond, however, Frank had believed the Virginian was in
+the grasp of one of the professors.
+
+Merriwell was regarded as more of a wonder than ever when it became
+generally known that he had twice disarmed the Virginian in a duel with
+rapiers--or a "fencing contest," as the matter was openly spoken of by
+those who discussed it.
+
+But Bruce Browning, king of sophomores, was awaiting an opportunity to
+get at Frank.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+AT MOREY'S.
+
+
+"Say, fellows, this thing must stop!"
+
+Puss Parker banged his fist down upon the table as he made this emphatic
+declaration, the blow causing the partly emptied glass of ale to dance
+and vibrate.
+
+"Aw, say," yawned Willis Paulding, "you want to be a little cawful or
+you will slop the good stuff, don't yer know."
+
+Willis affected a drawl, had his clothes made in London, and considered
+himself "deucedly English," although he sometimes forgot himself for a
+short time and dropped his mannerisms.
+
+Tad Horner gave Paulding a look of scorn.
+
+"Come off your perch, Paul!" he invited. "You give me severe pains! Get
+onto yourself! I don't wonder Parker is excited over this matter."
+
+"Who wouldn't be excited?" exclaimed Puss. "These confounded freshmen
+have overthrown all the established customs of the college. They have
+been running things with a high hand. Why, they have really been cocks
+of the walk ever since that little affair out at East Rock."
+
+"'Sh!" cautioned Punch Swallows, a lad with fiery red hair. "Don't
+speak of that, for the love of goodness! Just think of a gang of sophs
+being captured by freshmen disguised as Indians, taken out into the
+country, tied to stakes and nearly roasted, while the freshmen dance a
+gleeful _cancan_ around them! It's awful! The mere thought of it gives
+me nervous prostration!"
+
+It was two weeks after the duel, and the five sophomores had gathered in
+the little back room at Morey's, They looked at each other and were
+silent, but their silence was very suggestive.
+
+"By Jawve!" drawled Paulding, "it is awful! I wasn't in the crowd. If I
+had been--"
+
+"You'd been roasted like the rest of us," cut in Parker.
+
+"But I'd made it warm faw some of the blooming cads."
+
+"Haven't we been doing our level best to make it warm for them?" cried
+Horner. "But no matter what we do, they see us and go us one better."
+
+"It all comes from Merriwell," asserted Swallows. "He's king of the
+freshmen, the same as Browning is king of the sophomores."
+
+"And he's a terror," nodded Horner. "He can put up more jokes than one."
+
+"And they say he can fight."
+
+"They say! Why, didn't you see him do Diamond, the fresh from Virginia?
+Oh, no. I remember you were not with us that night. Yes, he can fight,
+and he doesn't seem to be easily scared."
+
+"I think he is a blawsted upstart," said Paulding, lazily puffing at his
+cigarette. "He needs to be called down, don't yer know."
+
+"Some time when he is upstairs, call him down," suggested Horner.
+
+"Fists are not the only things that fellows can fight with," said
+Parker. "The matter has been kept quiet, but it is said to be a fact
+that Diamond forced him into a duel with rapiers, and he disarmed the
+Southerner twice, having him completely at his mercy each time."
+
+"And Diamond prides himself on being an expert with that kind of
+weapon," nodded Horner.
+
+"Why doesn't Browning do something?" asked Paulding. "It is outrageous
+faw a lot of freshies to run things this way."
+
+"Browning is in training," said Parker.
+
+"In training? What faw? Why, he is so lazy--"
+
+"He's training to get some of the flesh off him. It is my opinion that
+somebody must check Merriwell's wild career, and he is getting in
+condition to do it. You know that Browning was one of the hardest men
+who ever entered Yale. He is a natural athlete, but he's lazy, and he
+has allowed himself to become soft. Why, he knocked out Kid Lajoie, the
+professional, in a hard-glove contest of three rounds. Lajoie was easy
+fruit for him. I fancy he means to go up against this fresh duck
+Merriwell and do him. That's the only thing that will pull Merriwell off
+his perch. He doesn't mind being hazed."
+
+"Doesn't mind it!" shouted Horner. "Confound him! He always manages to
+turn the tables in some way, and hazes the parties who try to haze him."
+
+Two youths came in from the front room.
+
+"Hey, Browning! Hello, King! Come join us. You, too, Emery"--to the
+other fellow. "What'll you have, Browning?"
+
+Browning accepted a seat at the table, but waved his hand languidly as
+he declined to drink.
+
+"I'm not taking anything now," he said.
+
+"Oh, but you must! Have some ale, old man."
+
+"Excuse me, gentlemen. I tell you squarely that I am not taking anything
+just now. By and by I will be with you again. Emery will go you one.
+That's what he came in for."
+
+"That's right," declared Browning's companion. "I was out stargazing
+last night. Looked at the Long-Handled Dipper a long time, and it gave
+me an awful thirst. I've had it with me all day. Yes, mine's ale."
+
+So another round was ordered. Horner passed around the cigarettes, and
+Browning declined them. The others lighted up fresh ones.
+
+"Say," broke out Emery, suddenly, "do you know that fresh Ditson gives
+me that tired feeling?"
+
+Tad Horner grinned.
+
+"He's no good," said Tad. "He is crooked and he's a toucher. Touched me
+for a V once, and I am looking for that fiver yet. That was two years
+ago, before I came here. I knew him then."
+
+"He tried to touch us for a drink as we came along," said Browning. "I
+took him in here once, but I've been sorry ever since. He said he had
+his thirst with him just now. I told him to go sit on the fence and let
+the wind blow him off."
+
+"And he is a big bluff," asserted Emery. "The other day he was telling
+how he once sat at the table with kings and queens. I told him that I
+had--and with jacks and ten spots. Here comes the amber. My! I won't do
+a thing to it!"
+
+The waiter placed the glasses of ale before them, and Emery eagerly
+grasped his.
+
+"Here's more to-morrow," was his toast, and he seemed to toss it off at
+a single swallow.
+
+"By Jawve!" drawled Paulding. "You must be thirsty!"
+
+"I am. Have been all day, as I said before. It was hard stuff last
+night, and we went the rounds. My head needed hooping when I arose from
+my downy couch this morning."
+
+"Well, you shouldn't have gotten intoxicated, in the first place," said
+Parker.
+
+"I didn't. It was in the last place. If I'd gone home before we struck
+that joint I'd been all right."
+
+"Wow!" whooped Tad Horner. "You seem full of 'em!"
+
+"Oh, I am. I've been eating nothing but red pepper lately, and I'm hot
+stuff. Let's have another one all around."
+
+More ale was ordered.
+
+"Your neck must be dry enough to squeak, old man," said Parker,
+addressing Browning. "It doesn't seem natural for you to go thirsty.
+Won't you have just one?"
+
+"Not one," smiled Bruce, lazily. "I've got too much flesh on me now, and
+I'm trying to get some of it off."
+
+"Going to try for the football team--or what?"
+
+"Nothing of that sort--but I have a reason."
+
+"We know."
+
+"You do?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You're laying for Merriwell, and you mean to do him. I am right, am I
+not?"
+
+The king of the sophomores smiled in a lazy way, but did not reply.
+
+"That settles it," laughed Parker. "I knew I was right. Well, somebody
+must curry that young colt down and it must be done right away."
+
+Browning showed sudden animation. He looked around at the faces of his
+companions and then said:
+
+"This crowd is straight, and I am going to make a few remarks right here
+and now. I feel just like it."
+
+"Drive ahead." "Go on." "We are listening."
+
+"I am not inclined to talk this matter over publicly," said Bruce, "but
+I will say that the time is ripe to get after these confounded freshmen,
+and we must do it. I want to tell you what I found this morning. Open
+wide your ears and listen to this."
+
+His companions were quite prepared to listen.
+
+"You know I am getting up every morning and taking a stiff walk. I turn
+out at daybreak."
+
+"Good gracious!" gasped Tad Horner. "How do you do it?"
+
+"Well, I've got one of those electric alarm clocks, and I put it just as
+far away from my bed as possible."
+
+"Why is that?"
+
+"So I won't get hold of it and smash thunder out of the thing when it
+gets to going. You know it won't stop its racket till somebody stops it
+or it is run down, and it takes an hour for it to run down after it
+starts in to ring you up."
+
+"By Jawve!" drawled Paulding; "I hawdly think I'd like to have one of
+the blooming things in my room."
+
+"I don't like to have one in my room, but it is absolutely necessary
+that I do. Hartwick, my roommate, admires it!"
+
+The listeners laughed.
+
+"I should think he might," said Puss Parker. "He's got a temper with an
+edge like a cold-chisel."
+
+"Oh, yes, he admires it! I've got so I believe I should sleep right
+through the racket, but he kicks me out of bed and howls for me to
+smother the thing. So you see I am bound to get up at the proper time.
+Once I am out of bed, I stay up. The first morning after I bought the
+clock the thing went off just as it was beginning to break day. I got up
+and stopped it and then went back to bed. Hartwick growled, but we both
+went to sleep. I had been snoozing about five minutes when the clock
+broke loose once more. Hartwick was mad, you bet! I opened my eyes just
+in time to see him sit up in bed with one of his shoes in his hand.
+Whiz! Before I could stop him he flung the shoe at the clock. I made a
+wild grab just as he did so, struck his arm, and disconcerted his aim.
+The shoe flew off sideways and smashed a mirror. Hartwick said several
+things. Then I got up and stopped the clock again. I dressed and went
+out for my walk, leaving Hartwick in bed, sleeping sweetly. When I came
+back I found him, about half dressed, jumping wildly up and down in the
+middle of the bed, upon which was heaped all the bedclothes, all of
+Hartwick's clothes except those he had on, all of mine, except those I
+was wearing, and as I appeared he shrieked for me to tear down the
+window shades and pass them to him quick.
+
+"'What's the matter?' I gasped. 'Are you mad?'
+
+"'Yes, I am mad!' he howled, tearing his hair. 'I am so blamed mad that
+I don't know where I am at!'
+
+"'But what's the matter?'
+
+"'Matter! Matter! Hear it! Hear the daddly thing! It has driven me to
+the verge of insanity! I tried to stop it, but I couldn't find how it
+works. And now I am trying to stifle it! Hear it! Oh, bring me a club!
+Bring me something deadly! Bring me a gun, and I will shoot it full of
+holes!'
+
+"Then I found that I could hear my clock merrily rattling away under
+that heap of clothes. It seemed to be defying Hartwick or laughing at
+him.
+
+"I got him off the bed, pawed around till I found the clock between the
+mattresses, and then stopped it. Hartwick offered me three times what it
+was worth if I'd let him use his baseball bat on it. I told him it
+seemed to be a very willing and industrious alarm clock, and it was
+mine. I warned him to injure it at his peril. Since then I have learned
+how to stop it so it will stay stopped, but it barely commences to
+rattle at daybreak when I feel Hartwick's feet strike me in the small of
+the back, and I land sprawling on the floor. That explains how I succeed
+in getting up at daybreak."
+
+"You started in to tell us what you found this morning," said Punch
+Swallows, to Browning, lighting a fresh cigarette.
+
+"So I did, and the alarm clock ran me off the trail. Well, I got up this
+morning as usual--when Hartwick kicked me out to stop the clock. I went
+out for my walk and crossed the campus. What do you think I found?"
+
+"A diamond ring. We'll all have ale."
+
+"Oh, no, Tad, it wasn't a diamond ring. I noticed something stuck up on
+one of the trees. It was a big sheet of paper, and on it was skillfully
+lettered these words:
+
+"'Bruce Browning will wear a new set of false teeth to chapel to-morrow
+morning.'"
+
+Browning stopped and looked around. He was very proud of his even,
+regular, white teeth. They were so perfect that they might be taken for
+"store teeth" at first glance, but a second look would show they were
+natural.
+
+The sophs laughed, and Bruce looked indignant.
+
+"That caused me to look still further," he went on, "and I soon found
+another sheet upon another tree. This is what I read:
+
+"'Conundrum. Why is King Browning a great electrician? Because all his
+clothes are charged.'
+
+"By that time I felt like murdering somebody. I did take a morning walk,
+but it was in search of more stuff of the same order. I found it
+everywhere in the vicinity of the college, and some of the stuff was
+simply awful. It made me shudder. I knew who was back of it all.
+Merriwell put up the job."
+
+"But you outwitted him by getting around in time to tear down everything
+he had put up. You matched him that time."
+
+"By accident. But I must more than match him. He must be suppressed."
+
+"That's right! that's right!" cried the boys in chorus.
+
+"I know he put the advertisement for black and white cats and yellow
+dogs in the papers. My name was signed to it, and more than two hundred
+black and white cats and yellow dogs were brought me by parties anxious
+to sell them at any price. One time there were seven women with cats in
+my room, when two men came up leading dogs. The first woman had managed
+to get into the room, and while I was arguing with her, trying to
+convince her that I did not want her blamed old cat, the others found
+their way in. They opened on me altogether. Hartwick shut himself in the
+clothespress, and I could hear him laughing and gasping for breath. I
+was nearly crazy when the men sauntered in with the dogs in tow. Oh,
+say!"
+
+Browning fell over limply in his chair, as if the memory of what
+followed was too much for him.
+
+"You have had a real warm time of it," grinned Swallows.
+
+"Warm! Warm! My boy, it was warm! Two of the women were showing me their
+cats. The dogs saw the cats; the cats saw the dogs. One of the cats made
+a flying leap for a dog. The other fled, and the other dog pursued. The
+seven women shrieked all together, and the two men swore and tried to
+catch the dogs. The other cats escaped from the baskets in which they
+were confined. Warm! Say!"
+
+The king of the sophomores mopped his face with his handkerchief. He
+seemed on the verge of utter collapse.
+
+The listening lads could not entirely restrain their laughter. The
+picture Browning presented and the incident he was relating were
+altogether too ludicrous.
+
+"Talk about rackets!" he wearily continued; "we had one then and there.
+The cats yowled and the dogs howled. The women fell over each other and
+screamed blue murder. The men chased the dogs and roared blue blazes.
+And the wind blew hard!
+
+"One of the cats alighted on an old lady's head. The cat's mistress
+grabbed her and took her away. The cat had socked her claws into the old
+lady's wig, and it came off, leaving her almost as bare as a billiard
+ball. Oh, marmer!
+
+"Two of the cats fell to tearing the fur out of each other. Some of them
+walked on the ceiling, like flies, in their endeavors to get away from
+the dogs. One of them pounced on a dog's back and rode him around the
+room, as if she were a circus performer. The other dog chased a cat
+under the bed, and they were having it there. Oh, they didn't do a
+thing--not a thing!
+
+"After a while one of the men captured one of the dogs and dragged him
+toward the door. The other man saw him and made a rush for him. 'Drop
+that dawg!' he yelled. 'It's my dawg!' the other man yelled back. And
+then the other man howled, 'You're another. It's my dawg!'
+
+"Right away after that there was trouble between the owners of the dogs.
+They tried to hurt each other, and they succeeded very well. One of them
+had both eyes blacked, while the other lost two teeth, had his lips
+split and his nose knocked out of plumb. But they smashed the stuffing
+out of the furniture while they were doing it.
+
+"I climbed up on something in one corner and did my best to cheer them
+on. I sincerely hoped both would be killed. The dogs seemed to feel it
+their duty to enter into the spirit of the occasion, and they chewed
+each other more or less.
+
+"Then the police came in. I came near landing in the station house,
+along with the two men who were fighting, but they concluded not to
+pinch me. The women departed after having once more expressed their
+opinion all around concerning me.
+
+"When they were gone Hartwick came out of the clothespress. We sat down
+amid the ruins and said over some words that will not bear repetition.
+
+"That's the whole of the cat-and-dog story. I've never been able to
+prove that Merriwell put the advertisement into the paper, but it is all
+settled in my mind. It was directly after this that I went into
+training."
+
+Some of the sophs laughed and some showed indignation.
+
+"It was a very nawsty thing to do," declared Paulding.
+
+"I can't help laughing over it." chuckled Tad Horner. "But of course you
+ought to get back at Merriwell."
+
+"Well, I shall do my best."
+
+"I don't think you need to train to do that trick," said Punch
+Swallows. "A man who can knock out Kid Lajoie ought to polish off a
+freshman in a minute."
+
+"You haven't seen Merriwell fight?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I have."
+
+"He is clever?"
+
+"He is a corker. Of course I believe I can do him, but I want to do him
+easy, and that is why I am training."
+
+Another party of sophomores came in.
+
+"It is Harrison and his crowd," said Parker, "and I'm blowed if they
+haven't got Roll Ditson with them! That cad of a freshman has succeeded
+in getting in here again."
+
+"Ditson hates Merriwell, don't yer know," said Paulding. "He pretends to
+be friendly with Merry, but he's ready to do him any time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+"LAMBDA CHI!"
+
+
+Ditson had fawned around Browning a great deal since entering college,
+with the result that the king of the sophomores came to entertain a
+feeling of absolute disgust for the fellow. The very sight of Ditson
+made the "king" feel as if he would enjoy giving him a good "polishing
+off."
+
+But Bruce was no bully, although he was a leader of the sophomores. He
+had proved his ability to fight when it was necessary, but no one could
+say that he ever showed any inclination to do bodily harm to one who was
+weak and peaceable.
+
+During his freshman year Browning had originated any number of wild
+projects for sport, and he had always succeeded in carrying them through
+successfully. Thus it came about that he was called the "king," and his
+companions continued to call him that when he became a sophomore.
+
+But now there was a man in college who had fairly outwitted Browning on
+several occasions, and so it came about that the king was aroused
+against Frank Merriwell.
+
+Browning keenly felt the sting of being beaten at his own game, and he
+was obliged to confess to himself that Merriwell had accomplished the
+trick.
+
+But our hero was not inclined to let Bruce alone. He did not wait for
+the king to become aggressive; he set about keeping Bruce in hot water,
+and he succeeded very well.
+
+The other freshmen, stimulated by the example of one who was distinctly
+a leader among them, carried on such an energetic campaign against the
+sophomores that the latter found themselves almost continually on the
+defensive.
+
+Such a thing had never before been known at Yale and the sophs were
+highly indignant. They informed the freshmen that they were altogether
+too fresh. They said the freshmen were breaking a time-honored custom,
+and it must be stopped.
+
+But the triumphant freshmen kept right on, laughing in the faces of
+their angry foes.
+
+It was expected that Browning would not delay about getting back at
+Merriwell and his friends, and the admirers of the king were surprised
+when he seemed to remain inactive.
+
+Then it came out that Bruce was in training, and it was said that he was
+putting himself in condition to give Merriwell the worst licking of his
+life.
+
+Frank heard about it, but he did not seem disturbed in the least.
+Whenever any one spoke to him about it he merely smiled.
+
+Among the freshmen there were some who believed Merriwell able to hold
+his own against Browning. They were Harry Rattleton, Jack Diamond and
+one or two more.
+
+Diamond and Merriwell were not friendly, but they had ceased to be open
+enemies. For the time being the hatchet was buried, and there was peace
+between them.
+
+But the two did not become friends. Merriwell continued to assert that
+Diamond had sand, and Diamond was ready to back his judgment in saying
+that Merriwell was a match for any man in Yale.
+
+Morey's was a sophomore resort. Juniors and seniors patronized the
+place, but a freshman was not allowed there unless invited to accompany
+some of the regular frequenters of the place.
+
+Ditson was ambitious. He was not satisfied to associate with those of
+his own class, but he wanted it thought he was such a fine fellow that
+the sophomores picked him up for his company.
+
+Thus it happened that he had succeeded in getting into Morey's several
+times, but he was killing his own chances of ever having any popularity,
+although he did not know it.
+
+Browning was angry when he saw the fellow come in. He called one of the
+sophs over and said:
+
+"Say, what are you bringing it in here again for, my boy? It's been here
+too many times already."
+
+"Who--Ditson?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"We're working him."
+
+"Working him? He's working you--for the drinks."
+
+"That's all right. He's telling us what he knows about Merriwell. If
+there is anything in that fellow's history that we can use as a sore
+spot, we may be able to suppress him."
+
+"All right," scowled Browning. "Go ahead and pump the crooked sneak, but
+don't swallow his lies. I don't believe he knows anything at all about
+Merriwell."
+
+A few minutes later the soph returned and said:
+
+"I don't think he knows much about him, myself, but he says he's down at
+Billy's now--or was an hour ago. We might get a chance to Lambda Chi him
+a little."
+
+Browning seemed to arouse himself.
+
+"That's right," he agreed. "We'll go down to Billy's."
+
+The party filed out of Morey's and Browning took the lead. Ditson went
+along with them as if he was a sophomore. He seemed to feel himself
+highly honored, but Browning had hard work to choke back his absolute
+contempt for the fellow.
+
+As they went along, it was arranged that Ditson should go into Billy's
+and see if Merriwell was there. One of the sophomores should accompany
+him. If Merriwell was there and he should come out alone or in company
+with one or two others, he was to be captured. Browning had a plan that
+should be carried out if the capture was made.
+
+Ditson seemed to think he was doing something very smart and cunning in
+betraying a fellow freshman into the hands of the sophomores. He fancied
+he was making himself solid with Browning's crowd.
+
+Billy's was reached, and one of the sophs went in with Ditson, while the
+others kept out of sight nearby.
+
+After a little the soph came out and reported that Merriwell and
+Rattleton were in there. He had treated the house, but Merriwell had
+absolutely declined to take anything.
+
+"Oh, yes," nodded Browning. "They say he never drinks. That's how he
+keeps himself in such fine condition all the time. He will not smoke,
+either, and he takes his exercise regularly. He is really a remarkable
+freshie."
+
+Arrangements were then made that a cab should be brought to the corner
+near Billy's, where the driver should remain, apparently waiting for
+somebody.
+
+It was known to be quite useless to attempt to decoy Merriwell out, so
+dependence must be placed on chance. If he came out with no more than
+one or two companions his name was "mud," according to the assembled
+sophs.
+
+Arrangements were made to bind handkerchiefs over their faces to the
+eyes, so they would be partly disguised. Some of them turned their coats
+wrong side out, and some resorted to other means of disguising
+themselves.
+
+Then they waited patiently.
+
+It was not so very long before Ditson came out in a breathless hurry. He
+signaled, and they called him. As he hastened up he panted:
+
+"Merriwell is coming right out, fellows! Be ready for him!"
+
+The sophomores knew which way Frank was likely to go after leaving
+Billy's, and they lay in wait at a convenient spot.
+
+"Is he alone?" eagerly asked Puss Parker.
+
+"No."
+
+"Who is with him?"
+
+"Rattleton."
+
+"Any others?"
+
+"Not likely."
+
+"Good! Take a tumble to yourself and skip."
+
+Ditson did so.
+
+"Now, fellows," hurriedly said Browning, "be ready for a struggle.
+Remember that Merriwell is a scrapper and he is likely to resist. We
+must take him completely by surprise. Get back and lay quiet till I give
+the signal."
+
+They did as directed, and as they were in a dark corner, there was not
+much danger that they would be seen till they were ready to light on
+their game.
+
+Footsteps were heard.
+
+"Here he comes!"
+
+Browning peered out, and two figures were seen approaching.
+
+"How many?" anxiously whispered Tad Horner, quivering with anxiety.
+
+"Two. They are easy. Ready for the rush."
+
+The sophomores crouched like savage warriors in ambush.
+
+Merriwell's peculiar, pleasant laugh was heard as the two unsuspecting
+freshmen approached.
+
+Rattleton was talking, and, as usual, he was twisting his expression in
+his haste to say the things which flashed through his head.
+
+"It doesn't make a dit of bifference if we haven't proved anything
+against him, I say Ditson can't be trusted. He's got a mooked crug--I
+mean a crooked mug."
+
+"Oh, don't be too hard on the fellow till you know something for sure,"
+advised Merriwell. "I will confess that I do not like him, but--"
+
+There was a sudden rush of dark figures out of the shadows, and the two
+freshmen were clutched. Coats were flung over their heads and they were
+crashed to the ground.
+
+Although taken by surprise, both lads struggled.
+
+In the suddenness of the rush Browning had made a mistake and flung
+himself on Rattleton, while he had intended to grasp Merriwell. The coat
+being cast over the head of the lad prevented him from discovering his
+mistake.
+
+Punch Swallows and Andy Emery were devoting themselves to Merriwell, and
+it was their first impression that they had tackled Rattleton.
+
+For an instant it seemed that the trick had worked to perfection, and
+the freshmen had been made captives easily.
+
+Then came a surprise.
+
+Swallows and Emery were unable to hold their man down. He tore off the
+smothering coat and rose with them, despite all they could do. They
+cried out for help:
+
+"Give us a hand, fellows! He's like an eel! Quick!"
+
+Some of the sophs had been unable to render much assistance, and they
+now did their best to aid Swallows and Emery. In their haste to do
+something they seemed to get in the way of each other.
+
+"Well, I don't know--I don't know!" laughed a familiar voice, and the
+freshman gave Swallows a snap that lifted him off his feet and cast him
+into the stomach of another fellow, who received such a blow from
+Punch's head that the wind was knocked out of him in a moment.
+
+"We'll have to see about this," said the freshman as he cracked Emery on
+the jaw and broke his hold.
+
+"Great smoke! It's Merriwell!" gurgled Emery as he reeled back.
+
+"Onto him, fellows!" urged a soph, and Frank suddenly found six or seven
+of the crowd were at him.
+
+Just how he did it no one could tell, but he broke straight through the
+crowd and in another moment was rushing back toward Billy's, shouting:
+
+"Lambda Chi! Lambda Chi!"
+
+It was useless to try to follow him, as all quickly saw.
+
+In the meantime Rattleton had been cornered, and the disappointed sophs
+resolved to escape with him. They lifted him and made a rush for the
+cab. He was bundled in, and away went the cab.
+
+Frank rushed into Billy's and gave the alarm. He was out again in a
+very few seconds, with a crowd of excited freshmen at his heels; but
+when they came to look for the sophomores and Rattleton they found
+nothing.
+
+"Confound it!" exclaimed Frank in dismay. "How could they get him away
+so quick? I can't understand it."
+
+The freshmen searched, but they found nothing to reward them. Rattleton
+was in the toils of the enemy, and the would-be rescuers were given no
+opportunity to rescue him.
+
+Then Merriwell blamed himself for leaving his roommate at all. But
+Billy's had been so near and his chance with his many assailants had
+seemed so slim that he had done what seemed the right thing to do on the
+spur of the moment. He had not fancied that the sophomores would be able
+to get Harry away before he could arouse the freshmen and bring them to
+the rescue.
+
+"Poor Harry! I wonder what they will do with him?" Frank speculated.
+
+"Oh, they won't do a thing with him!" gurgled Bandy Robinson.
+
+"How did it happen, anyway?" asked Roland Ditson, who had joined the
+freshmen after the affair was over.
+
+He tried to appear innocent and filled with wonder and curiosity, but
+his unpopularity was apparent from the fact that nobody paid enough
+attention to him to answer his question.
+
+Frank, however, found it necessary to tell his companions all about the
+assault, and Ditson pretended to listen with interest, as if he had
+known nothing of the affair.
+
+The freshmen went back to Billy's and held a council. It was decided to
+divide into squads and make an attempt to find out where Harry had been
+taken.
+
+This was done, but it proved without result, and not far from midnight
+all the freshmen who had been there at the time of the capture, and many
+others, were again gathered at Billy's. They were quite excited over the
+affair, and it seemed that the beer they had absorbed had gone to the
+heads of some of them.
+
+In the midst of an excited discussion the door burst open, and a most
+grotesque-looking figure staggered into the room. It was a person who
+was stripped to the waist and painted and adorned like a redskin, his
+face striped with red and white and yellow, his hair stuck full of
+feathers, and his body decorated with what seemed to be tattooing.
+
+"Bive me a gear--I mean give me a beer!" gasped that fantastic
+individual. "I am nearly dead!"
+
+"It's Rattleton!" shouted the freshmen.
+
+They crowded around him.
+
+"Well, say, you are a bird!" cried Lucy Little, whose right name was
+Lewis Little.
+
+"A regular bird of paradise," chuckled Bandy Robinson.
+
+"Where are those fellows?" demanded Frank Merriwell. "Where did they
+leave you? Tell me, old man."
+
+"At the door," faintly replied Rattleton as he reached for a mug of beer
+which some one held toward him. "They took me right up to the door and
+made me come in here."
+
+"Out!" shouted Frank--"out and after them! Capture one of them if
+possible! We want to even this thing up."
+
+Out they rushed, but once more the crafty sophomores had vanished, and
+not one of them was to be found.
+
+The freshmen went back and listened to Harry's story. He told how he had
+been blindfolded and taken somewhere, he did not know where. There they
+had kept him while his friends were searching. When there was no danger
+that the freshmen would discover them, they set out to have fun with
+Rattleton.
+
+"Say, Merry, old man," said Harry, "I know Browning was the leader of
+this job, although he was disguised. They seemed to feel pretty bad
+because you got away. They got twisted--took me for you at first, and by
+the time they discovered their mistake you were knocking them around
+like tenpins. One chap insists you broke his jaw."
+
+"Well, I am glad I did that much. I didn't mean to leave you, Harry.
+Billy's was so near I thought I could get the boys out and rescue you
+before they could carry you off. I couldn't rescue you alone, so I ran
+here to stir up the fellows."
+
+"That was right. I was glad you got away. They were laying for you. They
+told me so."
+
+"Well, come back, and we'll wash this stuff off you."
+
+"I don't know as you can do it."
+
+"Eh? Why not?"
+
+"They said it was put on to stay a while. They told me we were so fond
+of playing the noble red man's part that they would fix me so I could
+play it for a week or two. Some of them advised me to use sand to scrub
+myself with if I hoped to get the paint off."
+
+"Oh, that must be all a bluff. It will come off easy enough if a little
+cocoa butter is used on it. Here, somebody run out to a drug store and
+get some cocoa butter."
+
+After they had worked about fifteen minutes they looked at each other
+in dismay, for they had scarcely been able to start the paint, and it
+become plain that cocoa butter, soap and water would not take it off.
+
+"Didn't I tell you?" murmured Harry, sorrowfully. "I'm done for! I'll
+never be able to get it off! I'll have to go out West and live with the
+Sioux! If I do I'll take along the scalps of a few sophomores!"
+
+They continued to work on him for nearly an hour, but were unable to get
+off more than a certain portion of the paint. Harry was still
+grotesquely decorated when the boys arrived at the conclusion that
+further scrubbing with the materials at hand was useless.
+
+Then Frank went out and rang up a druggist who had gone to bed, for it
+was after midnight. He told the man the sort of scrape his friend was in
+and offered the druggist inducements to give him something to remove the
+paint.
+
+The druggist said it could not be paint, but must be some sort of
+staining, and he gave Frank a preparation.
+
+Frank went back and tried the stuff on Harry. It removed a certain
+amount of the stain, but did not remove it all.
+
+At last, being thoroughly worn out, Rattleton said:
+
+"I'll give it up for to-night, fellows. Perhaps I'll be able to get the
+rest off in the morning. I'll poultice my face and neck. But you'll
+have to watch out, Frank. They say they will use you worse than this
+when they get hold of you."
+
+For the time the sophomores seemed to have the best of the game.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FRESHMAN AGAINST SOPHOMORE.
+
+
+On the following morning a large piece of cardboard Swung from the door
+of Merriwell and Rattleton's room in Mrs. Harrington's boarding house.
+On the cardboard was this inscription:
+
+  "Good-morning!
+  Have you used
+  Soap?"
+
+Harry was up at an early hour industriously scrubbing away. He succeeded
+fairly well, but despite his utmost efforts the coloring refused to come
+off entirely.
+
+And it was absolutely necessary that he should attend chapel.
+
+On their way to chapel Frank and Harry came face to face with Professor
+Such, who peered at them sharply and said:
+
+"Good-morning, gentlemen."
+
+"Good-morning, professor," returned the boys.
+
+Harry tried to keep behind Frank, so that his face would not be noticed.
+The professor was nearsighted, but he immediately noted Rattleton's
+queer actions, and he placed himself in front of the boys, adjusting
+his spectacles.
+
+"Hang his curiosity!" muttered Harry in disgust.
+
+"Eh?" said the professor, scratching his chin with one finger and
+peering keenly at Harry. "Did you speak, sir?"
+
+"Yes, sir--I mean no, sir," spluttered Harry, while Frank stepped aside
+and stood laughing silently to himself.
+
+"I thought you did. Er--what's the matter with your face, young man?"
+
+"That's the result of my last attack of chilblains," said Harry,
+desperately. "They hent to my wed--I mean they went to my head."
+
+"Eh?"
+
+The professor seemed to doubt if he had heard correctly, while Merriwell
+nearly exploded.
+
+Rattleton looked frightened when he came to think what he had said. He
+felt like taking to his heels and running for his life.
+
+"Chilblains, sir?" came severely from Professor Such. "Sir--sir, do not
+attempt to be facetious with me! You will regret it if you do!"
+
+Cold sweat started out on Harry's forehead, and he looked appealingly
+toward his companion; but Frank had turned away to conceal his
+merriment.
+
+"I--I don't think I--I understood your--your question," stammered
+Harry. "I'm a little heard of haring--I mean hard of hearing."
+
+"I asked you what was the matter with your face, sir."
+
+"Oh, my face! Ha! ha! He! he! I thought you said something about my
+pace, because I was walking so slowly. That made me fancy you were
+interested to know what ails my feet. Excuse me! I beg your pardon,
+professor!"
+
+"Hum!" coughed the professor, again scratching his chin with the tip of
+his finger, while he peered through his spectacles, plainly still
+somewhat suspicious. "It is rather remarkable that you should get things
+mixed in such a manner."
+
+"I am not feeling well, professor, not at all."
+
+And it was apparent to Frank that Harry told the truth.
+
+"You are not looking well," came somewhat sarcastically from Professor
+Such's lips. "Your countenance has a strangely mottled hue."
+
+"It comes from Injun jestion," explained Merriwell, coming to his
+roommate's relief.
+
+"Eh? From what, sir."
+
+"From indigestion," said Frank, very soberly. "He is much troubled that
+way."
+
+"Much troubled! much troubled!" exclaimed the professor, whose ear had
+been offended and who immediately turned his attention on Frank. "I
+advise you to be somewhat more choice and careful of your language,
+young man. There is a right and a wrong use of words."
+
+Just then the chapel bell clanged, and the professor exclaimed:
+
+"Bless me! we'll be late if we're not careful!"
+
+Away he hurried.
+
+Frank and Harry followed him, and as they went along Harry expressed his
+feelings forcibly and violently.
+
+"How dare you howl before me?" laughed Frank.
+
+"Excuse me," said Rattleton. "I didn't know you wanted to howl first."
+
+At chapel Harry felt that the eyes of everybody were upon him. He kept
+one hand up to his face as much as possible, but he saw the sophomores
+smiling covertly and winking among themselves. He longed to get even;
+that was his one burning ambition and desire.
+
+When the service was over the freshmen stood and bowed to the faculty as
+they passed out. They were supposed to keep bowing to the seniors,
+juniors and sophomores, but that custom had long been a dead letter at
+Yale. The freshmen had become too independent for such a thing.
+
+However, they stood and saw the upper classmen go past, and it seemed
+to poor Harry that every fellow stared at him and grinned. The sophs
+added to his misery and anger by winking at him, and Tad Horner ventured
+to go through a swift pantomime of taking a scalp.
+
+"Oh, I am liable to have yours yet," thought Harry.
+
+On their way back to their rooms Harry and Frank were greeted by all
+sorts of calls and persiflage from the sophomores, who had gathered in
+knots to watch them pass.
+
+This sort of chaffing gave Rattleton "that tired feeling," as he
+expressed it, and by the time they reached their room he was in a
+desperate mood.
+
+"I'll get even!" he vowed, fiercely. "I'll do it."
+
+"Go ahead--you can do it," laughed Frank. "You can do anybody."
+
+Then Harry flung a book at him, which Frank skillfully caught and
+returned with the utmost politeness.
+
+At breakfast Rattleton was chafed by the freshmen, and he boiled more
+than ever.
+
+"Somebody has my coat, vest, hat, shirt and undershirt," he said as he
+thought the affair over. "I had to go home in a linen duster which I got
+down to Billy's last night. I don't care so much for the clothes I lost,
+but I'd like to know who has 'em. I'd sue him!"
+
+But after breakfast an expressman appeared with a bundle for Rattleton,
+and in the bundle were the missing articles.
+
+The sophomores were jubilant, and they taunted the freshmen. They said
+the fate that had befallen Rattleton was simply a warning. It was
+nothing beside what might happen.
+
+For the time the freshmen were forced to remain silent, but they felt
+that the sophomores had not evened up matters by any means. And the
+affair would not be dropped.
+
+During the afternoon of that day it rained for at least two hours, and
+it did not clear up and let the sun out, so there was plenty of dirt and
+mud at nightfall.
+
+Then it was that Rattleton some way found out that a number of
+sophomores who dined at a club on York Street were going to attend a
+party that evening. It was to be a swell affair on Temple Street, and
+the sophs were certain to wear their dress suits.
+
+"They'll din for dresser--I mean dress for dinner," spluttered Harry as
+he was telling Frank. "It's certain they'll go directly from dinner to
+the party."
+
+"Well, what has worked its way into your head?"
+
+"A scheme."
+
+"Give it to us."
+
+"We'll be ready for 'em when they come from dinner, and we'll give 'em a
+rush. They're not likely to be in any condition to attend a party after
+we are through with them. What do you say, old man? What do you think
+of it?"
+
+"We are likely to get enough of rushing in the annual rush, but I'm with
+you if you want to carry this job through."
+
+"All right, then, we'll do it. We'll give those sophs a warm time. I
+have been grouchy all day, but I begin to feel better now."
+
+So Frank and Harry communicated the plan to their friends, and a party
+gathered in their room immediately after supper.
+
+Dismal Jones was out as a scout, and he had agreed to let them know when
+the sophomores left their club. They were inclined to take much more
+time in dining than the freshmen.
+
+Pretty soon Jones came racing up the stairs and burst into the room.
+
+"Come on, fellows!" he cried. "The sophs are leaving their club, and
+there's lots of 'em wearing dress suits. We'll have a picnic with 'em!"
+
+Dismal seldom got excited, but now he was quite aroused.
+
+The freshmen caught up their caps and hurried downstairs. They were soon
+on the street, and they hastened to meet their natural enemies.
+
+The sophomores had formed by twos, with Browning and Emery in advance.
+It was true that many of them were in dress suits, and they were not a
+little disturbed when they saw the solid body of freshmen coming swiftly
+to meet them.
+
+To pass on the right the sophomores were entitled to the inside of the
+sidewalk, and although they would have given much to avoid the
+encounter, they formed solidly and prepared to defend their rights.
+
+The freshmen also formed in a compact mass, and came on with a rush,
+keeping hard up against the wall.
+
+"Turn to the right! Turn to the right!"
+
+The sophomores uttered the cry as they hugged the wall on the inside.
+
+"Sweep 'em off! Sweep 'em off!"
+
+That was the cry that came from the determined freshmen.
+
+"Hold on! hold on!" ordered Browning. "There is a law for this!"
+
+"Then you will have to produce officers to enforce it," laughed Frank
+Merriwell.
+
+"But there is a regular time for rushing."
+
+"This is not a regular rush, so we don't mind."
+
+"But you fellows have no right to do it!"
+
+"Is that so?" was the derisive retort. "Hear the sophs squeal fellows!
+Oh, my! but this is funny!"
+
+"Stop a minute and we will argue this matter, freshies," invited
+Browning, who was thoroughly disgusted over the prospect.
+
+Then the whole crowd of freshmen roared with laughter.
+
+"Hear the baby cry!" they shouted. "He is begging! Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+Browning's face was crimson with anger and confusion.
+
+"You are an insolent lot of young ruffians!" he snapped, "and Merriwell
+is the biggest ruffian of you all!"
+
+"Back it up! back it up!"
+
+"I can!"
+
+"Why don't you?"
+
+"I will when the right time comes."
+
+"What's the matter with this for the right time?"
+
+"No! no! Turn to the right and let us pass now. We will see you again."
+
+"We see you now, and we are going to raise you the limit."
+
+The sophomores held a hurried consultation, and then Browning said:
+
+"If you fellows will wait till we go change our clothes we'll come out
+and give you as warm a time as you want."
+
+"All right, we will wait."
+
+"Then let us pass."
+
+"We'll do that, but you will have to pass on the outside."
+
+That was something the sophomores could not do without yielding to the
+freshmen, and they felt that they had rather die than yield unless
+compelled to do so.
+
+The sophomores stormed and scolded, and the freshmen, who outnumbered
+them, laughed and flung back taunts.
+
+Then the sophomores determined on a quick, sudden rush, but it happened
+that the freshmen had decided on a rush at the same moment, and the two
+bodies of lads plunged forward as if at one signal.
+
+"'Umpty-eight! 'Umpty-eight!" yelled the freshmen.
+
+"'Umpty-seven! 'Umpty-seven!" shouted the sophomores.
+
+Crash! They met!
+
+Then there occurred one of the liveliest struggles of the season up to
+that date. Each side did its best to force the other off the sidewalk,
+and for some moments they swayed and surged in one spot.
+
+At last the superior weight of the freshmen began to tell, and the
+sophomores were slowly swept backward, contending every inch.
+
+Feeling that they must be crowded to the outside, Browning gave the
+signal for them to break and make it a hand-to-hand affair. Then he
+grappled with Merriwell.
+
+Frank was ready, and he willingly left the line as the freshmen forged
+onward. He was anxious for an opportunity of seeing just what sort of
+stuff the king of the sophomores was made of, and this was his chance.
+
+Finding that they could not hold the freshmen back, the sophs had each
+singled out a man, and the contest became hand to hand.
+
+In a few moments several parties were down, and some of them rolled from
+the sidewalk into the street.
+
+Now that they had been forced to do battle, the sophs were desperate,
+and they sailed in like a lot of tigers.
+
+Rattleton found himself pitted against Andy Emery, and Emery had the
+reputation of being as full of grit as a bulldog. He was on the 'Varsity
+crew, and he had a back and shoulders which were the admiration of those
+who had seen him strip to the buff.
+
+Emery had a quick temper and a strong arm. He grappled with Harry,
+lifted him off his feet and tried to throw him, but the freshman came
+down on his feet like a cat.
+
+A second later Emery was astonished to feel his own feet flung into the
+air, and he could not help falling, but he clung to his antagonist and
+they went down together.
+
+Over and over they rolled, each striving to get on top. They were soon
+off the sidewalk and into the street.
+
+Emery was furious, for he felt that his dress suit was the same as
+ruined, and he uttered some very savage language.
+
+"That's right," chuckled Harry. "Cuss a little--it may help you."
+
+It seemed to, for Emery finally succeeded in getting astride Rattleton
+and holding him down for a few moments. He was soon pulled off by
+another freshman, and the merry war went on.
+
+Little Tad Horner was right in the hottest scrimmage, and he proved
+formidable for the freshmen, despite his size. He had a way of darting
+under them and tripping them up, then getting away before he could be
+grappled.
+
+Dismal Jones was quoting Scripture and doing his best to make himself
+felt by the sophomores. Jones was a character. His parents were
+"shouting Methodists," and they intended him for the ministry. He had a
+long, sad face, but he was full of deviltry, and it was very seldom that
+the freshmen entered into any affair against the sophomores that he was
+not on hand and interested.
+
+"Lay on and spare not!" he cried, after the style of a camp-meeting
+revivalist. "If the wicked entice thee, consent thou not. Get behind me,
+Satan! Brothers, oh, my dear brothers! it makes my heart sad and weary
+to see so much wicked strife and contention."
+
+Punch Swallows, the red-headed soph, found himself pitted against Lucy
+Little. Despite his name, Little was not a "sissy," and he was no mean
+antagonist, as Punch found out. It was nip and tuck between them, and
+neither seemed to have the best of it.
+
+Some of the sophs were able to down their men, but they were so
+outnumbered by the freshmen that they could not hold an advantage very
+long.
+
+The struggle between Browning and Merriwell waxed furious. The big
+sophomore exerted himself to his utmost, and he found that it was
+necessary that he should do so if he had any thought of holding his own
+with the freshman leader.
+
+Frank knew all the time that he was pitted against a hard man, and so
+his muscles were strained and his nerves were taut.
+
+"Now, fresh, we'll see what we can do for you," Browning said, as he
+made a mighty effort to land Frank on his back.
+
+"You are very kind," laughed Merriwell. "I will not forget your
+kindness."
+
+"You are not the only one," panted Browning. "There are others."
+
+"Are you going to the party this evening?" chuckled Frank.
+
+"Not till I have done you up, my friend with the swelled head."
+
+"Then you expect to be rather late?"
+
+"We'll see!"
+
+Frank resorted to all the tricks he knew, but Browning was familiar with
+every one of them. They gave up trying to down each other by main
+strength, and science cut quite a figure in their battle.
+
+At length Browning got Frank foul, and to his dismay the leader of the
+freshmen felt himself falling. Browning fell with him, a cry of triumph
+coming to his lips.
+
+That cry turned to an exclamation of dismay, for Merriwell seemed to
+twist about in the air, and they fell side by side on the ground. In a
+twinkling they were at it again, and over and over they went, till they
+finally stopped and got upon their feet together.
+
+"Very good thus far," laughed Merriwell. "But I see your wind will not
+hold out. I am bound to do you in the end."
+
+That was the very thing Browning feared.
+
+"Well, I don't know about that," he said as he broke Frank's grip. "This
+may settle the whole business."
+
+He struck hard and straight at Merriwell's face!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+JUBILANT FRESHMEN.
+
+
+Spat!
+
+Merriwell staggered.
+
+"Down you go!"
+
+Browning followed the freshman closely, launching out again, with the
+full expectation that the second blow would be a settler.
+
+Frank had been taken slightly off his guard, so that he had failed in
+getting away from the first blow, but he skillfully ducked the second,
+countering as the king's fist passed over his shoulder.
+
+Browning reeled backward, having received a terrific crack on the ear.
+
+If Frank had not been slightly dazed he might have followed the
+sophomore closely, but he was a bit slow in getting after Bruce.
+
+For a few seconds the boys gave an exhibition of scientific sparring
+which would have proved very interesting to their comrades if all had
+not been too busy to watch them.
+
+Frank Merriwell contiuued to laugh, and it had been said at Yale that
+he was most dangerous in an encounter when he laughed.
+
+"You came near doing it, Browning," he admitted, "but it was rather
+tricky on your part. I wasn't looking for a fight."
+
+"You will get many things you are not looking for before you have been
+at Yale much longer," returned the king.
+
+"Think so?"
+
+"Dead sure."
+
+The two lads seemed to be very evenly matched, save that Merriwell was
+the more catlike on his feet. Browning was solid, and it took a terrific
+blow to stagger him. Merriwell was plainly the more scientific. He could
+get in and away from his foe in a most successful manner, but he saw
+that in the confined limits of a ring Browning's rush would be difficult
+to escape.
+
+What the result of this encounter might have been cannot be told, for
+two freshmen suddenly appeared and gave the alarm that at least a
+hundred sophomores were coming in a body to aid their comrades.
+
+A moment later the sophs appeared, hurrying along the street toward the
+scene of the encounter.
+
+"'Umpty-seven! 'Umpty-seven! Rah! rah! 'rah!"
+
+Then the signal was given for the freshmen to break away and take to
+flight, which they promptly did.
+
+"Oh, soph--oh, my poor soph!" cried many taunting voices.
+
+"Good-evening, gentlemen!" called Bandy Robinson. "Shall I toss you down
+soap and towels?"
+
+"Say, fellows," cried Lucy Little, "don't you think it is rather warm
+out this evening?"
+
+"Hello! hello!" shouted Rattleton. "Has it been raining, or did we have
+a small shower?"
+
+Then Merriwell's beautiful baritone voice pitched the chorus of a
+familiar negro melody, in which the triumphant and delighted freshmen
+joined:
+
+  "Git erway from de window, mah love an' mah dove!
+  Git erway from de window--don't yeh heah?
+    Come eround some odder night,
+    For dere's gwine ter be er fight,
+  An' dar'll be razzers er-flyin' through de air."
+
+The sophomores retired to a safe distance and then challenged the
+freshmen to come out and fight. They called them cowards and other
+things, but the freshmen laughed and taunted them in return.
+
+"Is--er--King Browning present?" yelled a freshman, leaning out of a
+window. "If so, I'd like to inquire if he means to attend the party this
+evening."
+
+"If he does," said another freshman, "he will be able to obtain a dress
+suit down at Cohen's, price 'von tollar ber efenin' to shentlemen.'"
+
+"Oh, you wait till we get at you fresh ducks!" shouted back an angry
+sophomore. "We'll make you sweat for this!"
+
+"Go on! you're only fooling!" sang the freshmen.
+
+"We'll show you we're not fooling!" excitedly declared Punch Swallow.
+"We'll scalp a few of you!"
+
+"Ah!" cried Bandy Robinson. "He is a bad man! Methinks I can detect his
+cloven foot."
+
+"You're wrong," laughed Merriwell. "But you may have been near enough at
+some time to detect his cloven breath!"
+
+The three freshmen who were leaning out of one of the upper windows
+repeated in chorus:
+
+  "Punch, brother--punch with care,
+  Punch in the presence of the passenjair."
+
+Another freshman shouted:
+
+"Say, Swallows, give us a lock of your hair. It'll save the expense of
+gas in my room."
+
+"I'd like a lock of it, too," declared another. "I'm troubled with rats,
+and I haven't any paris green handy."
+
+"Oh, rats!" yelled twenty voices.
+
+"Hello, Parker!" cried Little. "I hear you were held up last night? Is
+it true?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Rattleton. "He'd been down to Morey's, and that was the
+way he got home."
+
+"But oh, what a difference in the morning," sang the freshmen.
+
+"Ask Rattleton if he means to join the Indians?" called a soph.
+
+"Or will he Sioux for damages?" put in another.
+
+"Oh, say!" groaned Dismal Jones. "That's the worst I ever heard! It's
+enough to give one heart failure!"
+
+"Come out and fight! Come out and fight!" urged the sophomores. "You
+don't dare to come out and fight!"
+
+"You will have to excuse us this evening, gentlemen," said Merriwell,
+suavely. "We have done our best to entertain you, and we will see you
+again at some other date."
+
+"You are certain to see me again," assented Browning. "You ran away, or
+we would have settled matters between us this evening. As it is, I am
+going to watch my opportunity to do you fairly and squarely. When I am
+done with you one of us will be beautifully licked."
+
+"And that one will not be King Bruce," declared Andy Emery.
+
+"Say! say! say!" spluttered Rattleton. "I'll go you a shot that it is!
+I'll stand you a supper for twenty at any place you'll name that
+Merriwell knocks the everlasting stuffing out of Browning."
+
+"Done!" returned Emery.
+
+"You name plime and tace--I mean time and place, and we'll be there,
+you bet!" declared Harry. "All we want is a fair deal."
+
+"You'll get that," assured Browning. "This little affair shall be
+arranged very soon."
+
+"The sooner the better. Don't delay on our account."
+
+The sophomores, seeing it was useless to linger there and be taunted by
+the freshmen, began to stroll away one by one.
+
+Up in Merriwell's room Rattleton got down his banjo and began to put it
+in tune. A merry party gathered there. One of the strings snapped, and
+as he was putting on another Harry fell to laughing.
+
+"What are you laughing at?" asked Bandy Robinson.
+
+"Down at the table to-night," explained Harry, "Merriwell was poking his
+finger into the butter. I asked him what he was doing that for, and he
+said he was only feeling its muscle."
+
+The boys who dined in the house appreciated that, and there was a
+general laugh. Then Harry adjusted the string and placed the banjo in
+tune. Pretty soon the boys were singing "Bingo," "Upidee," "Nellie Was a
+Lady," and other college songs. Every one of them seemed familiar with
+"Paddy Duffy's Cart" and its pretty chorus:
+
+  "Twinkling stars are laughing, love,
+    Laughing on you and me,
+  While your bright eyes look into mine,
+    Peeping stars they seem to be."
+
+Such glorious days and such merry nights will never come again to those
+who have known them. Here's to good old Yale!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE RUSH.
+
+
+At last the sophomores were thoroughly aroused. The freshmen had long
+been carrying things with a high hand, but the rushing of a lot of them
+who were in dress suits and bound for a swell party was the straw that
+broke the camel's back.
+
+An indignation meeting was held, and certain freshmen were placed under
+the ban.
+
+Of these Merriwell was the leader, and it was agreed that every effort
+must be made to "take the starch" out of him. That Browning intended to
+"do" Merriwell was well known, but some of the others proposed to get at
+him.
+
+"Wait," advised Bruce--"wait till I have had it out with that fellow.
+Then you may do whatever you like with him. But I feel it a solemn duty
+to settle our little affair before anybody else tackles him."
+
+The freshmen were getting their ball team in condition for the coming
+season, and they were practicing as often as possible. Frank was
+interested in the team, and it was said by those who watched him that he
+seemed to have the making of a pitcher in him. He had sharp curves and
+good control. If he had a head, they said, he was all right. But this
+was something that could not be decided till he had been tried in a
+game.
+
+Another freshman by the name of Walter Gordon seemed certain to be the
+regular pitcher of the team. He had a record, as he had shown, while
+Merriwell would say nothing about what he had done in the way of
+pitching.
+
+The students had found it extremely difficult to find out much about
+Merriwell, as he persistently avoided talking about himself. If he had
+been one of the kind of fellows who go around and brag about themselves
+and what they have done he would not have aroused so much interest; but
+the very fact that he would not talk of himself made the students
+curious to know something of his history.
+
+In a vague sort of way it became known that although he lived in simple
+style, like any freshman whose parents were not wealthy, he had a
+fortune in his own right and had traveled extensively in various parts
+of the world.
+
+Frank's silence seemed to cast an air of mystery about him, and that air
+of mystery made him all the more interesting, for the human mind is ever
+curious to peer into anything that has the flavor of a secret.
+
+The sophomores had been rushed by the freshmen, and they resolved to
+retaliate in a similar manner. On Saturday afternoons the freshmen ball
+team practiced, and Saturday was at hand. It would be an opportune time
+to meet the youngsters and make it warm for them.
+
+The affair was carefully planned, but wind of it reached the freshmen.
+As a result, the youngsters prepared for what they knew must take place.
+There could be no such thing as avoiding it, so when Saturday noon came
+they dressed themselves in their old clothes and started for the park,
+going out as much as possible in a body.
+
+When the park was reached it was found that the sophomores were there
+ahead of them. More than that, the sophs had closed and fastened the
+gate, and they proposed to hold it. They taunted the freshmen, and told
+them they would have to climb the fence if they hoped to get into the
+park.
+
+Then there was a consultation among the freshmen. "We'll have to make a
+rush," was the universal decision.
+
+Frank looked the ground over, and he decided that an ordinary rush would
+not be successful, for that was the very thing the sophomores were
+expecting. But there seemed no other way of getting into the park unless
+they climbed the fence, and not a man thought of doing such a thing as
+that.
+
+The sophomores formed in front of the gate, five deep. In the front
+rank of the sophs were Browning and two 'Varsity crew men. Bruce was in
+the middle, with the rowers on either side. The ends were two men from
+the football team.
+
+Thus the very first line of the sophomores made a formidable array, and
+it is not surprising that some of the freshmen were chicken-hearted.
+
+With assistance, Frank marshaled the freshmen, reserving a place in the
+first line for himself. While that might be considered a position of
+honor, it was the most dangerous, and every fellow there knew this rush
+was to be no baby play.
+
+For companions Merriwell selected Dismal Jones, Jack Diamond, Puss
+Parker and a big, broad-shouldered fellow by the name of Hovey.
+
+Rattleton and Robinson, together with a dozen others, were appointed as
+"scouts." It was their duty to "hook" out men from the ranks of the
+sophs and break the force of the enemy's rush as far as possible.
+
+The sophomores had likewise appointed a dozen scouts, strong, active
+fellows, every one of whom had shown ability as an athlete.
+
+The sophs prepared quickly for the rush, but it took more time to get
+the freshmen in order. In this the seniors rendered not a little
+assistance.
+
+When everything was ready the order was given, and the freshmen started
+forward. Those in the front line leaned back at a slant, and those
+behind pushed.
+
+At the same time the sophomores moved toward the freshmen, and then
+there were shouts, taunts and jeers. Each side gave its own cheer.
+
+"This is the last of the freshmen!" cried the sophomores. "We'll wipe
+them off the earth. Good-by, freshies!"
+
+"'Umpty-seven will never be heard of again," returned the freshmen.
+"They'll be angels right away."
+
+Then the two bodies came together with a frightful impact. They had
+locked their arms about each other's waists, and there they clung, while
+they pressed upon each other with all their might.
+
+For a little time they swayed and swayed. There were screams and cries
+of pain. They wavered and turned about, but still the crush continued.
+
+The scouts were getting in their work, hooking their bent arms around
+the necks of their opponents and yanking them out of the line.
+
+Before long the rush turned into a general pushing and hauling. Freshman
+pitted himself again sophomore, and a score of wrestling matches were in
+progress.
+
+Merriwell and Browning had clinched at the outset, but it was a long
+time before they could do anything but cling to each other. When they
+did have an opportunity another soph, a scout, spoiled the match by
+making a low tackle on Frank and flinging him to the ground. Browning
+came down heavily on the leader of the freshmen, but he immediately
+jumped up, crying:
+
+"That was not a square deal. Let's have it over."
+
+But the breath had been knocked out of Frank with the force of the fall,
+and he fell back twice as he struggled to arise.
+
+"Are you hurt?" asked Browning.
+
+"No," panted Frank, who could dimly see his opponent through a thick
+haze which seemed to hang before his eyes.
+
+"Then why don't you get up?"
+
+"I--I'm going to."
+
+Setting his teeth, he did so, but Rattleton caught Browning by the
+collar and flung him aside as the big soph sprang at Frank.
+
+"You are hurt, old man!" insisted Harry. "I saw the fellow when he
+tripped you. It wasn't a fair thing. You are in no condition to meet
+Browning now. Wait till you get your wind."
+
+"I must meet him!" cried Frank. "He'll say he did me up if I do not."
+
+"Then he'll lie. It's all right. You do as I say."
+
+Frank tried to resist, but Rattleton dragged him aside, being able to do
+so because Browning found himself occupied by a little freshman who
+stuffily blocked his way, declaring that Merriwell should have a show.
+
+Frank was more than disgusted by the result of the affair. He felt that
+he must have it out with Browning then and there, and he made desperate
+attempts to break from Harry. Ordinarily he would have succeeded with
+the greatest ease, but the fall had robbed him of his strength.
+
+Then came the knowledge that the freshmen had been repulsed. The
+sophomores were cheering wildly, and the unfortunate freshmen were
+downcast.
+
+"They've held us out," muttered Harry, bitterly. "It begins to look as
+if we'll have to climb over the fence if we get inside."
+
+"What's that?" cried Frank, bracing up a little. "Climb the fence? Not
+much!"
+
+"Then how'll we get in? Will you tell me that?"
+
+"We'll find a way."
+
+"Wind a fay!" spluttered Harry excitedly. "It's easy enough to say that,
+but I don't believe we can do it."
+
+"Oh, freshies! oh, you poor freshies!" tauntingly cried the victors.
+"Don't you wish you could? But you can't do it, you know!"
+
+"That remains to be seen," muttered Merriwell, brushing the hair back
+from his eyes. "I didn't think we could do it in this way. But there are
+others."
+
+"You'll be a dandy if you devise a way," declared Little.
+
+Diamond, with his coat off, his vest ripped up the back and his shirt
+torn open at the throat, was regarding the jeering sophomores with a
+fierce, sullen look. Evidently he was ready for anything. He glanced at
+Merriwell, but said nothing.
+
+Frank called the freshmen around him.
+
+"Look here, fellows," he said, "we are bound to go into that park, and
+we're going through that gate."
+
+"That sounds well," said Dismal Jones, who wore an unusually long face,
+"but I'm inclined to believe we're not in it with that crowd."
+
+"Guess again!" exclaimed Frank. "Now listen to me, and I don't want one
+of you to look around. You might arouse suspicion if you did. Close to
+the wall there lies a long stick of timber."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"We'll use it."
+
+"How?"
+
+"As a battering-ram."
+
+"To batter down the gate? Why, how are we to get to the gate?"
+
+"The timber will take us there, and it will open the gate. When I give
+the word we will rush for it, pick it up, and sail right into the sophs.
+I'll bet anything they get out of the way when they see us coming with
+that. It will take them by surprise."
+
+"'Rah! 'rah! 'rah!" yelled several of the enthusiastic freshmen.
+
+The sophomores yelled back at them in derision.
+
+"They think we are beaten now," said Diamond, whose face had lighted up
+somewhat as he listened to Merriwell's plan. "If we only can get the
+best of them that way!"
+
+"We can and we will," assured Frank. "Those who can't get hold of the
+timber may look out that they don't hook our men away from it. That is
+all."
+
+The freshmen became eager for the effort, but Frank held them back till
+he was certain they all understood just what was to be done.
+
+"Are you ready?" he finally asked.
+
+"All ready," was the eager reply.
+
+"Then go!"
+
+The sophomores were astonished to see the freshmen suddenly whirl all
+together and rush toward the wall.
+
+"They're going over! They're going over!"
+
+The sophomores shouted their satisfaction and delight, fully convinced
+that they had forced the freshmen to abandon all hope of going through
+the gate.
+
+Then came a surprise for them.
+
+The freshmen caught up the timber, and Merriwell cried:
+
+"Charge!"
+
+Like a tornado they bore down on the men near the gate, toward which the
+timber was directed.
+
+With cries of amazement the alarmed sophomores broke and scattered
+before the oncoming freshmen.
+
+Crash!
+
+The timber struck the gate, bursting it open instantly, and the
+triumphant freshmen swarmed into the park, cheering wildly.
+
+"Hurrah for 'Umpty-eight!" yelled Bandy Robinson, turning a handspring.
+"We are the boys to do 'em!"
+
+"Hurrah for Frank Merriwell!" shouted Harry Rattleton, his face beaming
+with joy. "It was his scheme that did it."
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" roared the freshmen. "'Rah! 'rah! 'rah!"
+
+Then Frank felt himself lifted to the shoulders of his enthusiastic
+admirers and carried to the home plate of the ball ground, where the
+freshmen cheered again and again.
+
+The sophomores were filled with rage and chagrin.
+
+"That was the blamedest trick I ever heard of in all my life!" declared
+Andy Emery. "We weren't looking for anything of the kind."
+
+"And we have Merriwell to thank for it!" snapped Evan Hartwick. "He's
+full of tricks as an egg is full of meat."
+
+"By Jawve!" said Willis Paulding, who had managed to keep out of harm's
+way during the entire affair. "I think somebody ought to do something to
+that fellaw--I really do, don't yer know."
+
+"Suppose you try to see what you can do with him," grinned Tad Horner.
+"You ought to be able to do something."
+
+"Aw--really you will hawve to excuse me!" exclaimed Willis in alarm. "I
+hawdly think I could match his low cunning, don't yer understand."
+
+"Oh, yes, I understand," nodded Horner, significantly. "It takes a man
+to go up against Merriwell."
+
+"I hope you don't mean to insinuate--"
+
+"Oh, no!" interrupted Tad. "I have said it."
+
+"Eh? I hawdly think I understand, don't yer know."
+
+"Think it over," advised the little soph as he turned away.
+
+It is probable that Bruce Browning was more thoroughly disgusted than
+any of his friends.
+
+"Confound it!" he thought. "If I'd stuck to that fellow and done him up
+anyway he wouldn't have been able to carry out this trick. If he is
+given any kind of a show he is bound to take advantage of it."
+
+Bruce felt like fighting.
+
+"I'm going in there and lick him," he declared. "I will settle this
+matter with Merriwell right away."
+
+But some of his friends were more cautious.
+
+"It won't do," declared Puss Parker.
+
+"Won't do?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"It might be done under cover of a rush, but a single fight between a
+soph and a fresh under such public conditions would be sure to get them
+both in trouble."
+
+"I don't care a continental! I've stood him just as long as I can! If I
+can give him a good square licking I'll stand expulsion, should it come
+to that!"
+
+They saw that Browning was too heated to pause for sober thought, and so
+they gathered close around him and forced him to listen to reason.
+
+It took no small amount of argument to induce the king to give over the
+idea of going onto the ball field and attacking Merriwell, but he was
+finally shown the folly of such a course. However, he vowed over and
+over that the settlement with Merriwell should come very soon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ON THE BALL FIELD.
+
+
+The sophomores went in to watch the freshmen practice and incidentally
+to have sport with them.
+
+Two nines had been selected, one being the regular freshman team and the
+other picked up to give them practice.
+
+As Merriwell had been given a place on the team as reserve pitcher, his
+services were not needed at first, and so he went in to twirl for the
+scrub nine.
+
+Walter Gordon went into the box for the regular team, and he expected to
+fool the irregulars with ease. He was a well-built lad, with a bang, and
+it was plain to see at a glance that he was stuck on himself. He had a
+trick of posing in the box, and he delivered the ball with a flourish.
+
+The scrub team did not have many batters, and so it came about that the
+first three men up were disposed of in one-two-three order, not one of
+them making a safe hit or reaching first.
+
+Rattleton had vainly endeavored to get upon the regular team. He had
+played pretty fast ball on a country nine, but he was somewhat out of
+practice and he had not made a first-class showing, so he had failed in
+his ambition.
+
+He went into catch for Merriwell, and they had arranged a code of
+signals beforehand, so that they were all prepared.
+
+There was no affectation about Frank's delivery, but the first man on
+the list of the regulars found Merriwell's slow drop was a hard ball to
+hit. He went after two of them before he saw what he was getting. Then
+he made up his mind that he would get under the next one and knock the
+peeling off it.
+
+He got under it all right, for instead of being a drop it was a rise,
+and the batter struck at least eighteen inches below it.
+
+"Well, say," laughed Gordon, who had been placed second on the list at
+his own request. "I'll go you something he doesn't work that on me."
+
+He was full of confidence when he walked up to the plate. The watching
+sophomores were doing their best to rattle Merriwell, and it seemed that
+he must soon get nervous, even though he did not seem to hear any of the
+jolly that was being flung at him.
+
+The very first ball seemed to be just where Gordon wanted it, and he
+swung at it with all his strength. It twisted in toward him and passed
+within two inches of his fingers.
+
+Gordon looked mildly surprised, but he was still confident that he
+would be able to hit the next one with ease. He found out his mistake
+later on when he went after an out drop and failed to come within six
+inches of it.
+
+Then it was Gordon who grew nervous. He did not fancy the idea of being
+fanned out by his rival, and he felt that he must make connections with
+the next one. He resolved to wait for a good one, and Frank fooled him
+by putting two straight ones right over the center of the plate. Gordon
+felt sure that both would be curves, and so he offered at neither of
+them. The umpire, however, who was a particular friend of Gordon, called
+them both balls. Then Gordon went after the next ball, which was a
+raise, but found nothing but empty air.
+
+The third man was easy, and he fanned, also, making three in succession.
+
+Parker punched Browning in the ribs.
+
+"Say," he observed, "I'll go you two to one that Merriwell is on the
+'Varsity team before the end of next season."
+
+"If he is alive he may be," returned the king, grimly.
+
+Our hero's pitching was a surprise to his friends, for until that day he
+had not seemed to let himself out. Even then he did not appear to be
+doing his best work, and one who watched him in a friendly way fancied
+he might do still better if forced to make the effort.
+
+Walter Gordon was filled with disgust and dismay.
+
+"He's having great luck," muttered Gordon. "Why, I don't see how I
+missed a ball I struck at. Every one was a dead easy thing, and I should
+have killed any of them."
+
+He squirmed as he heard Burn Putnam--familiarly called Old Put--the
+manager of the team, compliment Merriwell on his skillful work.
+
+"I fancy I'll be able to use you more than I thought I should at first,
+Merriwell," said Putnam. "We can tell more about that in the future."
+
+"I've got to strike that fellow out," thought Gordon as he went into the
+box.
+
+But he did not. Merriwell came first to bat in the second inning, and he
+sent a safe single into right field, deliberately placing it, as was
+evident to every ball player present.
+
+Gordon turned green with anger, and then he became nervous. To add to
+his nervousness, Merriwell obtained a lead from first and stole second
+on his delivery, getting it easily.
+
+But that was not the end of Gordon's woes, for Merriwell seemed in a
+reckless mood, and he made for third on the next pitch, getting it on a
+beautiful slide, although the catcher made an attempt to throw him out.
+
+The catcher came down scowling, and Gordon went to meet him, asking as
+he did so:
+
+"What's the matter with you? You ought to have stopped him at second and
+held him there."
+
+"I ought to have stopped him!" came derisively from the disgusted
+backstop. "I came down to ask you if this was the way you were going to
+pitch in a regular game. Why, that fellow is getting a long start on
+your delivery, and he does it every time. You've got to stop that kind
+of business."
+
+For some moments they talked, and then Gordon sulkily walked back to the
+box. He tried to catch Frank playing off third, but simply wasted time.
+Then he made a snap delivery and hit the batter, who went down to first.
+
+By this time Gordon was rattled, and he sent the next ball over the
+heart of the plate. The batter nailed it for two bags, and two men came
+home.
+
+Gordon walked out of the box and up to the bench where Old Put was
+sitting.
+
+"I am sick," he declared.
+
+He looked as if he spoke the truth.
+
+"I thought something was the matter with you," said the manager. "You're
+white as a sheet. It's folly for you to practice while you are in this
+condition."
+
+Gordon put on his sweater and then drew his coat over that. He wandered
+off by himself and sat down.
+
+"Hang that fellow Merriwell!" he whispered to himself. "I never thought
+he would bother me so much. I am beginning to hate him. He is too cool
+and easy to suit me."
+
+The practice was continued, and Merriwell showed up finely, so that Old
+Put was pleased.
+
+The sophomores quit trying to have sport with the freshmen, as it
+happened that two of the professors had wandered into the park and were
+looking on from a distance.
+
+Browning saw them.
+
+"Why are they out here?" he snapped. "Never knew 'em to come before. I
+won't even get a chance to talk to Merriwell."
+
+"Better keep away from him this afternoon," cautioned Hartwick. "He
+can't escape you, and there is plenty of time."
+
+"That's so," agreed Bruce. "But I hate to think how he is crowing to
+himself over the way the freshies got into the park. I'd like to take
+the starch out of him at once."
+
+Hartwick induced Browning to leave the park, and the departure of the
+king caused the sophomores to wander away in small groups.
+
+As a general thing they were discussing Merriwell, his position with the
+freshmen, and his pitching. Some insisted that he was not a pitcher and
+would never make one, while others were equally confident that he was
+bound to become a great twirler some day.
+
+Some of the groups discussed the antagonism between Merriwell and
+Browning, and all were confident that the king would do the freshman
+when he got himself into condition. It was not strange that they
+believed so, for they remembered how Bruce had knocked out Kid Lajoie,
+who was a professional.
+
+Browning himself proceeded directly to his rooms, where he sat himself
+down and fell to thinking. Twice had he been up against Merriwell, and
+he had found out that the leader of the freshmen was no easy thing. In
+neither struggle had he obtained an advantage through his own unaided
+efforts, and in this last affair he had felt that he was losing his
+wind, while Merriwell seemed as fresh as ever till he was thrown by a
+third party.
+
+"That's where I am not yet his match," Bruce soberly decided. "If I were
+fortunate enough to land a knockout blow with my left at the outset I'd
+finish him easily; but if he should play me and keep out of my reach he
+might get me winded so he could finally get the best of it. I must work
+off more flesh."
+
+Having arrived at this conclusion, Browning was decidedly glad that his
+friends had kept him from closing in on Merriwell and forcing a fight on
+the ball field.
+
+"Another week will do it," Bruce thought. "No matter what is said, I'll
+not meet that fellow till I am his match--till I am more than his match,
+for I must do him. If I do not my days as king of the sophs are
+numbered. I can see now that some of the fellows sympathize secretly
+with Merriwell, although they do not dare do so openly. It must be
+stopped. He may be a first-class fellow, but when he treads on my corns
+I kick."
+
+Hartwick tried to talk to Bruce, but the latter would say very little,
+and it was not long before he left the room.
+
+Browning stepped out briskly, and a stranger who saw him could not have
+believed that he had the reputation of being the laziest lad in college.
+
+In one line Bruce was thoroughly aroused, but he was neglecting his
+studies in a shameful manner, and more than once a warning voice told
+him that while he was putting himself in condition to dispose of
+Merriwell he was getting into trouble in another quarter.
+
+He did not heed that warning, however. His one thought was to retain his
+position as king of the sophomores, and in order to do that he must not
+let any freshman triumph over him.
+
+In town he went directly to a certain saloon and stopped at the bar,
+although he did not order a drink.
+
+"Is the professor in?" he asked.
+
+"I think he is," replied the barkeeper.
+
+Then Browning passed through into a back room and climbed some dirty
+stairs, finally rapping at a door.
+
+"Come in!" called a harsh voice.
+
+Bruce pushed open the door and entered. The room was quite large, but
+was not very clean. The walls were pasted over with sporting pictures
+taken from illustrated papers. There was a bed, some old chairs, one of
+which had a broken back, a center table, a cracked mirror, and two
+cuspidors. A door opened into another room beyond.
+
+Lounging in a chair, with his feet on the table beside an empty beer
+bottle and dirty glass, was a ruffianly-looking chap, who had a thick
+neck that ran straight up with the back of his head. His hair was close
+cropped and his forehead low. There was a bulldog look about his mouth
+and jaw, and his forehead was strangely narrow.
+
+The man was smoking a black, foul-smelling pipe, while the hands which
+held a pink-tinted illustrated paper were enormous, with huge knuckles
+and joints. His hand when closed looked formidable enough to knock down
+an ox.
+
+"How do you do, professor?" saluted Bruce.
+
+"Waryer," growled the man, still keeping his feet on the table. "So it's
+you, is it? Dis ain't your day."
+
+"I know it, but I decided to come around just the same. I am not
+getting the flesh off as fast as I ought."
+
+"Hey?" roared the man, letting his feet fall with a crash. "Wot's dat?
+D'yer men ter say I ain't doin' a good job wid yer? Wot der blazes!"
+
+"Oh, you are doing all right, professor, but I find I must be in
+condition sooner than I thought. My gymnasium exercise doesn't seem
+to--"
+
+"Dat gymnasium work is no good--see? I knows wot I'm givin' yer, too. I
+told yer in der first place ter stick ter me, an' I'd put yer in shape.
+It'll cost more, but--"
+
+"I don't mind that. No matter what it costs, I must be in condition to
+lick that fellow I was telling you about, and I must be in condition one
+week from to-day."
+
+"Dat's business. I'll put yer dere. An' yer know wot I told yer--I'll
+show yer a trick dat'll finish him dead sure ef de mug is gittin' de
+best of yer. It'll cost yer twenty-five extra ter learn dat trick, but
+it never fails."
+
+Browning showed sudden interest.
+
+"I had forgotten about that," he said. "What will it do?"
+
+"It'll do der bloke what ye're after, dat's wot."
+
+"Yes, but how--how?"
+
+"T'ink I'm goin' ter give der hull t'ing erway? Well, I should say nit!
+I tells yer it'll fix him, and it'll fix him so dere won't be no more
+fight in him. It'll paralyze him der first t'ing, an' he won't be no
+better dan a stiff."
+
+"How bad will it hurt him?"
+
+The man paused a moment and then added:
+
+"Well, I don't mind sayin' dat it'll break his wrist. Yer can do it de
+first crack arter I shows yer how, but it'll cost twenty-five plunks ter
+learn der trick."
+
+After a few moments of hesitation Browning drew forth his pocketbook and
+counted out twenty-five dollars.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+TO BREAK AN ENEMY'S WRIST.
+
+
+Buster Kelley was a character. Professor Kelley he called himself. He
+claimed to be a great pugilist, and he was forever telling of the men he
+had put to sleep. But he couldn't produce the papers to show for it. The
+public had to take his word, if they took anything.
+
+In fact, he had never fought a battle in his life, unless it was with a
+boy half his size. He made a bluff, and it went. The youngsters who came
+to Yale and desired to be instructed in the manly art were always
+recommended to Kelley.
+
+To give Kelley his due, he was really a fairly good boxer, and he might
+have made a decent sort of a fight if he had possessed the courage to
+accept a match and the self denial and energy to go through a regular
+course of training.
+
+But Kelley was making an easy living "catching suckers," and there was
+no real reason why he should go through the hardships of training and
+actually fighting so long as he could fool the youngsters who regarded
+him as a one-time great and shining light of the prize ring.
+
+He was too shrewd to stand up with any pupil who might get the best of
+him and permit that pupil to hammer away at him. He kept them at work on
+certain kinds of blows, so he always knew exactly what was coming. In
+this manner of training them he never betrayed just how much he really
+knew about fighting.
+
+Some of the young fellows who became Kelley's pupils were the sons of
+wealthy parents, and then it happened that the professor worked his
+little game for all there was in it. He sold them "secrets," and they
+paid dearly for what they learned. Some of the secrets were of no value
+at all, and some were actually worth knowing.
+
+It happened that he did know how to break a man's wrist in a very simple
+manner, providing he could find just the right opportunity. It was a
+simple trick, but the opportunity to practice it could seldom be found
+in a fight.
+
+Kelley's eyes, which were somewhat bleary, bulged with greed as he saw
+Browning count out the money.
+
+"It's givin' yer der trick dirt cheap--see?" said the professor. "I
+never sold it less dan twice dat ermount before. Dat's straight. I'll
+have ter make yer promise not ter tell it ter der odder chaps before I
+instructs yer."
+
+"If I buy it it is mine," said Bruce.
+
+"Come off der roof! You enters inter an' agreement wid me dat yer don't
+blow dis t'ing, ur I don't tell yer."
+
+"What if I want to tell a particular friend?"
+
+"Yer don't tell him. Dat's all. I had ter pay t'ree hunderd dollars ter
+learn dis, an' sign a 'greement dat I wouldn't give it erway. Jem Mace
+tort me dis trick w'en I sparred wid him in Liverpool. He says ter me,
+says he: 'Buster, ye're a boid, dat's wot ye are. If you knowed der
+trick of breakin' a bloke's wrist dere ain't no duffer in der woild dat
+can do yer. I'll show yer der crack fer sixty pound.' He wouldn't come
+down a little bit, an' I paid him wot he asked. Since dat time I've
+knocked roun' all over der woild, an' it's saved me life fife times. Dat
+was a cheap trick wot I got from old Jem, dat were. A dago pulled a
+knife on me oncet fer ter cut me wide open, but I broke der dago's wrist
+quicker dan yer can spit."
+
+"Well, here is your money, and now I want to know that trick."
+
+"Yer 'grees not ter tell it ter anybody?"
+
+"Yes, I agree."
+
+"Dat settles it."
+
+Kelley took the money and carefully stowed it away in his clothes.
+
+"Strip up an' git inter yer trainin' rig," he directed.
+
+Bruce went into the back room, and Buster poked himself in the ribs
+with his thumb, grinning and winking at his own reflection in the
+cracked mirror.
+
+"Oh, say! but I'm a peach!" he told himself in a confidential whisper.
+"If der college perfessers don't git arter me ergin I'll make me
+forchune right yere."
+
+Kelley had originally hung out a sign and advertised to instruct young
+gentlemen in boxing, but the faculty had made it rather warm for him,
+and it was generally supposed that he had been forced to leave New
+Haven. He had not left, but he had changed his quarters to the rooms he
+now occupied, one flight up at the back of a saloon.
+
+In a short time Bruce called that he was ready, and the professor
+leisurely strolled into the back room, where there was a punching bag, a
+striking machine, all kinds of boxing gloves, and other paraphernalia
+such as a man in Kelley's business might need.
+
+At one side of the room were several small closets, in which Kelley's
+pupils kept their training suits while they were not wearing them. The
+door of one closet was open, and Browning's street clothes were hanging
+on some hooks inside.
+
+Browning had got into trunks, stockings, and light, soft-bottomed shoes.
+He was stripped to the waist.
+
+Buster walked around the lad, inspecting him with a critical eye,
+punching here and there with his fingers, feeling of certain muscles
+and some points where there seemed to be a superabundance of flesh.
+
+"Well, say!" cried the professor. "I'd like ter know wot yer kickin'
+erbout! I never seen a feller work off fat no faster dan wot youse has,
+an' dat's on der dead. Why, w'en yer comes yere yer didn't have a muscle
+dat weren't buried in fat, an' now dey're comin' out hard all over yer.
+You'd kick ef yer wuz playin' football!"
+
+"That's all right," said Bruce, rather impatiently. "I know what I want,
+and I am paying you to give it to me. Go ahead."
+
+"Don't be so touchy," scowled Kelley. "Tackle der bag a while, an' let's
+see how yer work."
+
+Browning went at the punching bag while the professor stood by and
+called the changes. He thumped it up against the ceiling and caught it
+on the rebound thirty times in succession, first with his right and then
+with his left. Then he went at it with both hands and fairly made it
+hum. Then, at the word, with remarkable swiftness, he gave it fist and
+elbow, first right and then left. Then he did some fancy work at a
+combination hit and butt.
+
+By the time Buster called him off Browning was streaming with
+perspiration and breathing heavily.
+
+"Dat's first rate," complimented the professor. "Yer does dat like yer
+wuz a perfessional."
+
+"Great Scott!" gasped Bruce. "I'd never torture myself in this way if I
+didn't have to! It is awful!"
+
+He looked around for a chair, but Buster grinned and said:
+
+"Dat's right, set right down--nit. Youse don't do dat no more in dis
+joint. Wen I gits yer yere, yer works till yer t'rough--see? Dat's der
+way ter pull der meat off er man."
+
+"Well, what's next?"
+
+"See if yer can raise yer record anoder pound on der striker."
+
+Bruce went at the striking machine, which registered the exact number of
+pounds of force in each blow it received.
+
+"Has any one beaten me yet?" he asked.
+
+"Naw. Dere ain't nobody come within ninety pound of yer."
+
+Bruce looked satisfied, but he made up his mind to raise his record if
+possible, and he succeeded in adding twelve pounds to it.
+
+"Say!" exclaimed Buster, "if dat cove wot yer arter does you he's a
+boid!"
+
+"That's just what he is," nodded Bruce, streaming with perspiration. "He
+is a bad man to go against."
+
+"If yer ever gits at him wid dat left ye'll knock him out, sure."
+
+"He is like a panther on his feet, and I shall be in great luck if I
+find him with my left."
+
+"Yer don't want ter t'ink dat. Yer wants ter t'ink yer goin' ter find
+him anyhow. Dat's der way."
+
+"I have thought so before, and I have discovered that he is a
+wonderfully hard man to find."
+
+"Wen yer goin' ter fight him?"
+
+"I am going to try to make him meet me one week from to-day."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"I don't know yet."
+
+"Is he a squealer?"
+
+"I don't believe you could drag anything out of him with horses."
+
+"If dat's right yer might make it yere, an' it could be kept quiet. I'd
+charge a little somet'ing fer der use of der room, but dat wouldn't come
+out of eder of youse, fer we'd make der fellers pay wot come in ter see
+it."
+
+"We'll see about that," said Bruce. "But now I want to know that trick."
+
+"Oh, yes. I near fergot dat."
+
+"Well, I didn't."
+
+"Say, if yer use dat on him I don't t'ink we can have der scrap here."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"If one of dem freshies got injuries in dis place so bad it might git
+out, an' dat would fix me."
+
+"I don't intend to use it on him unless I have to. Go ahead and explain
+your trick. If it isn't straight I want my money back."
+
+"Dere won't be any money back, fer der trick is all right, all right.
+Now stan' up here an' I'll show yer how it's did."
+
+Kelley then showed Bruce how to bring the edge of his open hand down on
+the upper side of an enemy's wrist just back of the joint.
+
+"Yer wants ter snap it like dis," Buster explained, illustrating with a
+sharp, rebounding motion. "If yer strikes him right dere wid der cushion
+meat on der lower edge of yer hand an' snaps yer hand erway like dis,
+it's dead sure ter break der bone. Jes' try it on yer own wrist, but be
+careful not ter try it too hard."
+
+Bruce did as directed, and he found that he hurt himself severely,
+although he struck a very light blow.
+
+"Dat's ter trick," said Kelley, "an' it's a dandy. Don't yer ever use it
+'less yer dead sure yer wants ter break der odder feller's wrist."
+
+Then the professor called up a colored boy, who rubbed Bruce down, and
+the king of the sophomores finally departed.
+
+As he walked back toward his room in the dusk of early evening,
+Browning began to feel sorry that he had learned the trick at all.
+
+"It would be a dirty game to play on Merriwell," he muttered, "but now
+that I know it, I may get mad and do it in a huff, especially if I see
+Merriwell is getting the best of me."
+
+The more Browning thought the matter over the greater became his regret
+that he had learned the trick of breaking an opponent's wrist. For all
+that he had a strong feeling against Merriwell, he could see that the
+leader of the freshmen was square and manly, and he did not believe
+Frank would take an unfair advantage of a foe.
+
+Bruce became quite unlike his old jovial self. He was strangely downcast
+and moody, and he saw that he was fast losing prestige with those who
+had once regarded him as their leader.
+
+Hartwick, Browning's roommate, was more bitter against Merriwell.
+
+"The confounded upstart!" he would growl. "Think of his coming here and
+carrying things on with such a high hand! When we were freshmen the
+sophomores had everything their own way. They Lambda Chied us till they
+became sick of it, and all our attempts to get even proved failures. Now
+the freshmen who are following the lead of this fellow Merriwell seem to
+think that they are cocks of the walk. I tell you what it is, Bruce,
+you must do that fellow, and you must do him so he will stay done."
+
+"Oh, I don't believe he is such a bad fellow at heart, It wouldn't be
+right to injure him permanently."
+
+"Wouldn't it? Give me the chance and see if I don't fix him."
+
+Hartwick began to regard his roommate with disdain.
+
+"For goodness' sake, don't get soft," he implored. "The fellows will say
+you are chicken-hearted, and that will settle your case. You'll never
+get back to your old position if you once lose it."
+
+"I'd rather be thought chicken-hearted than hold my position by dirty
+play."
+
+Hartwick made no retort, but it was plain to see that he entertained a
+different view of a case like the one in question.
+
+Browning worked like a beaver to get himself in shape for the coming
+struggle, but he promised himself over and over that he would never do
+such a thing again. It was pride and hope that sustained him through his
+severe course of training.
+
+"No fresh mug can do youse now," Buster Kelley finally declared. "I'll
+put me dough on you, an' I'll win, too."
+
+Bruce was really in very good form, and he felt that he stood more than
+an even chance with Merriwell.
+
+He had seen the freshman fight, however, and he realized that he would
+not have a walkover.
+
+The freshmen began to think that Browning feared to meet Merriwell, and
+they openly told him as much. They taunted him to such an extent that it
+was with the utmost difficulty he held himself in check till the
+expiration of the time he had set for getting himself in condition.
+
+"What if I should see the freshman getting the best of me and should
+break his wrist?" he thought. "I might make it appear to be an accident,
+but I would know better myself. I'd get the best of Merriwell, and the
+fellows would still hail me as King Browning, but I would be ashamed of
+myself all the while."
+
+It was that thought which troubled him so much and made him appear so
+grouchy.
+
+"Browning is in a blue funk whenever he thinks of stacking up against
+the freshman," one sophomore confidentially told another. "I believe he
+has lost his nerve."
+
+"It looks that way," admitted the other.
+
+Thus it came about that Bruce's appearance led his former admirers to
+misjudge him, and he saw a growing coolness toward him.
+
+"I'll meet Merriwell on the level," he finally decided, "and I will whip
+him on the level or I'll not whip him at all."
+
+Then he instructed Hartwick to carry a challenge to Frank.
+
+"I will fight him with hard gloves," said Bruce.
+
+He had decided that with a glove on his hand he could not easily perform
+the trick of breaking his enemy's wrist in case he was seized by an
+impulse to do so.
+
+"Gloves?" cried Hartwick. "Why, man, why don't you challenge him to meet
+you with bare fists?"
+
+"Because I have decided that gloves are all right."
+
+"The fellows will say you are afraid."
+
+"Let them say so if they like," returned Bruce, but he winced a bit, as
+if a tender spot had been touched.
+
+Hartwick did his test to induce his friend to challenge Merriwell to a
+fight with bare fists, but Bruce had made up his mind and he was
+obstinate.
+
+So it came about that Hartwick carried the challenge just as Browning
+desired, and it was promptly accepted. Merriwell was not a fellow who
+sought trouble, but he knew he must meet Browning or be called a coward,
+and he did not dally. He quietly told Hartwick that any arrangements Mr.
+Browning saw fit to make would be agreeable to him. In that way he put
+Browning on his honor to give him a square deal.
+
+The matter was kept very quiet. It was decided that the match should
+come off in Kelley's back room, and a few of Merriwell's and Browning's
+friends should be invited. Bruce paid for the room and firmly "sat on"
+the professor's scheme to charge admission.
+
+"This is no prize fight," he rather warmly declared. "We are not putting
+ourselves on exhibition, like two pugilists. It is a matter of honor."
+
+"Well, if youse college chaps don't git der derndest ideas inter yer
+nuts!" muttered Kelley, who could not understand Browning's view of an
+affair of honor. "Youse takes der cream, dat's wot yer do!"
+
+On Saturday afternoon one week after the rush at the park certain
+students might have been seen to stroll, one at a time, into the saloon
+over which were the headquarters of Professor Kelley. It was three in
+the afternoon that about twenty lads were gathered in Buster's
+training-room to witness the meeting between Merriwell and Browning.
+
+Tad Horner was chosen referee.
+
+"Look here," he said before the first round, "if any man here isn't
+satisfied with my decisions, let him meet me after the match is over,
+and I will satisfy him or fight him."
+
+This was said in all earnestness, and it brought a round of applause and
+laughter.
+
+It was agreed that it should be a six-round contest, not more and no
+less, unless one side threw up the sponge or one of the men was knocked
+out.
+
+Rattleton was Frank's second, and Hartwick represented Bruce. A regular
+ring had been roped off, and the men entered from opposite sides at a
+signal. Much to his disgust, Kelley was not allowed to take any part in
+the affair.
+
+Both lads were stripped to the waist. Merriwell was clean limbed, but
+muscular, while Browning was stocky and solid. The sophomore had gotten
+rid of his superfluous flesh in a wonderful manner, and he looked to be
+a hard man to tackle.
+
+The gloves were put on, and then the rivals advanced and shook hands. An
+instant later they were at it, and the decisive struggle between them
+had begun.
+
+Their movements were so rapid that it was difficult for the eyes of the
+eager spectators to follow them. Both got in some sharp blows, and the
+round ended with a clean knock-down for Browning, who planted a terrific
+blow between Merriwell's eyes and sent the freshman to the floor.
+
+The sophs were jubilant and the freshmen were downcast. Merriwell simply
+laughed as he sat on Rattleton's knee.
+
+"Whee jiz--I mean jee whiz!" spluttered Harry. "Are you going to let
+that fellow do you. The sophs will never get over it if you do. Hear 'em
+laugh!"
+
+"Don't worry," smiled Frank. "This is the beginning. There must be an
+ending."
+
+"Do him--do him, Bruce!" fiercely whispered Hartwick in the ear of his
+principal. "It's plain enough that you can."
+
+"I think I can," said Bruce, confidently.
+
+The sophs offered three to two on Browning, and many bets were made.
+
+Then time was called and the rivals advanced once more.
+
+The second round was hotter than the first, if possible, and Merriwell
+drew first blood by giving Browning a heavy one on the nose. It ended
+with both sparring, and neither seeming to have a decided advantage.
+
+Now the freshmen were encouraged, and they expressed their confidence in
+their man. More bets were made, the sophomores still giving odds.
+
+The third round filled the freshmen with delight, for Merriwell knocked
+Browning off his feet twice, while he seemed to get no heavy blows
+himself.
+
+The sophs became quieter, and no money at odds was in sight. In fact,
+the freshmen tried to get even money, but could not.
+
+The fourth and fifth rounds were filled with good, sharp, scientific
+work, but toward the close of the fifth both men seemed a trifle groggy.
+Neither had a decided advantage.
+
+"Dat Merriwell is a boid!" declared Buster Kelley enthusiastically.
+"Why, dat chap could be der champeen of der woild if he went inter der
+business fer fair. Dat's on der level, too."
+
+Both lads were battered and bruised, and there was blood on their faces
+when they retired to their corners at the command from Horner.
+
+"He's a nut," confessed Frank. "He has given me some soakers, and he
+takes his medicine as if he liked it."
+
+"You'll finish him next round, sure," fluttered Harry. "I shall buck the
+kickit--I mean kick the bucket if you don't."
+
+"How is it?" Hartwick eagerly asked as he wiped the blood from
+Browning's face. "Can you finish him next round?"
+
+"I shall try, but I don't believe the fellow can be licked unless he is
+killed. That's what I think of him."
+
+"Didn't I hear you say you knew a trick that would do him?"
+
+"Yes, but it is not a square deal, although no referee could call it
+foul if this were a fight with bare fists. As it is, I'd have to get my
+glove off."
+
+"Do it! do it! You're a fool if you don't!"
+
+"Then I'm a fool. That man has trusted this entire affair to our honor,
+and if I can't whip him fair I won't whip him at all."
+
+"You make me sick!" sneered Hartwick.
+
+At the call the two men promptly faced each other for the final round.
+At first they were a bit wary, but then, as if by mutual agreement, they
+went at each other like tigers. Blow followed blow, but it was plain
+that one man was getting quite as much as the other. Browning got in one
+of his terrific drives, but it was not a knockout, and Merriwell had the
+sophomore up up against the rope three times.
+
+"Time! Break away!" yelled Tad Horner, forcing himself over between the
+combatants. "It's all over."
+
+"What's the decision?" shouted a dozen voices.
+
+"A draw," was the distinct answer. "I declare it an even thing between
+them."
+
+There was a moment of silence, and then, bruised and smiling, Frank
+Merriwell tore off his glove and extended his hand. Off came Browning's
+glove, and he accepted the hand of the freshman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+TALKING IT OVER.
+
+
+Before night nearly every student knew that Merriwell and Browning had
+fought a six-round, hard-glove contest to a draw, and it was generally
+said that the decision was fair. Evan Hartwick seemed to be the only
+witness of the fight who was dissatisfied. Roland Ditson had not been
+invited to see it, but he expressed a belief that Browning would prove
+the better man in a fight to a finish.
+
+Several weeks slipped by.
+
+After the glove contest Browning had very little to say about the
+freshman leader. Whenever he did say anything, it was exactly what he
+thought, and it was noted that he admitted Merriwell to be a comer.
+
+Evan Hartwick could not crush down his powerful dislike for Merriwell.
+He admitted to Bruce that he felt an almost irresistible desire to
+strike the cool freshman whenever they met.
+
+"I wouldn't advise you to do it, my boy," lazily smiled Browning, who
+was growing fat again, now that he was no longer in training. "He is a
+bad man to hit."
+
+"It depends on what he is hit with," returned Hartwick, grimly. "You
+made a fool of yourself when you failed to break his wrist, after paying
+twenty-five toadskins to learn the trick. That would have made you the
+victor."
+
+"And it would have made me feel like a contemptible sneak. I have been
+well satisfied with myself that I did not try the trick. It is a good
+thing to know, but it should be used on no one but a ruffian."
+
+"It's surprising to me how soft you're getting. This Merriwell is
+dangerous in many directions, and his career would have been stopped
+short if you had broken his wrist. He has shown that he is a baseball
+pitcher, but no man can pitch with a broken wrist. He is one of the best
+freshmen half-backs ever seen at Yale, according to the general
+acknowledgment. And now he is pulling an oar and coaching the freshmen
+crew at the same time--something never attempted before--something said
+to be impossible. Where would he be if you had broken his wrist?"
+
+"He could coach the freshmen just the same, and the very fact that he
+can do all these things makes me well satisfied that I did not fix him
+so he couldn't."
+
+"Wait! wait! What if the freshmen beat us out at Lake Saltonstall? What
+if they come out ahead of us?"
+
+"They won't."
+
+"I know the fellows are saying they will not, but I tell you this
+Merriwell is full of tricks, and there is no telling what he may do with
+the fresh crew. He is working them secretly, and our spies report that
+he seems to know his business."
+
+"Well, if he makes them winners he will deserve the credit he will
+receive. But he can't do it. No man can coach a crew and pull an oar at
+the same time. The very fact that he is attempting such a thing shows he
+isn't in the game."
+
+"Don't be so sure. They say he has a substitute who takes his place in
+the boat sometimes, and that gives him a chance to see just how the crew
+is working."
+
+"Rats! Who ever heard of such a thing! Merriwell is all right, but he
+doesn't know anything about rowing. He may think he knows, but he is
+fooling himself."
+
+"Well, we will have to wait and see about that."
+
+"I really believe you are afraid of Merriwell. Why--ha! ha! ha!--you are
+the only one who has an idea the freshmen will be in the race at all."
+
+"I know it, but few have had any idea that the freshmen could do any of
+the things they have done. They have fooled us right along, and--"
+
+"Oh, say! Give me a cigarette and let's drop it. From the way you talk I
+should say you would make a good sporting editor for a Sunday-school
+paper."
+
+"That's all right," muttered Hartwick, sulkily, as he tossed Bruce a
+package of Turkish cigarettes. "Wait and see if I am not right."
+
+After this Bruce went about telling all the sophomores what Hartwick
+thought, and urging them to "jolly him" whenever they could get a
+chance. As a result Evan was kept in hot water the most of the time, but
+he persisted in claiming that the freshmen were bound to give them a
+surprise.
+
+One evening a jolly party gathered in Browning and Hartwick's rooms.
+Cigarettes were passed around, and soon the smoke was thick enough to
+cut with a knife.
+
+"How are the eggs down where you are taking your meals now, Horner?"
+asked Puss Parker.
+
+"Oh, they are birds!" chirped little Tad, who was perched on the back of
+a chair, with his cap on the side of his head.
+
+This produced a general laugh, and Parker said:
+
+"Speaking of birds makes me think that riches hath wings. I dropped
+seventy-five in that little game last night."
+
+Punch Swallows groaned in a heartrending way.
+
+"That's nothing," he said, dolefully. "I lost a hundred and ten last
+week, and I've been broke ever since. Wired home for money, but the gov
+didn't respond. After that game all I could think of was two pairs,
+three of a kind, bobtail flushes, and so on. I made a dead flunk at
+recitations for two days. The evening after I lost my roll I was to
+attend a swell affair up on Temple Street. I was in a rocky condition,
+and I took something to brace me up, for I knew there would be pretty
+girls there, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. The memory of
+that horrible game was still with me, and whenever my mind wandered I
+was thinking of jack pots and kindred things. Well, I went to the party,
+and there were plenty of queens there, but I didn't seem to enjoy
+myself, for some reason. I fancied it possible they might smell my
+breath, and that worried me. I thought I would go off by myself, and so
+I wandered into a little room where I imagined I would be alone, but
+hanged if I didn't run into the hostess and a stack of ladies. Then,
+with my mind confused, I made a fool of myself. 'Er--er--excuse me,' I
+stammered; 'what room is this?' 'This is the anteroom, sir,' replied the
+hostess. 'What's the limit?' says I, as I fumbled in my pocket. Then I
+took a tumble to myself and chased out in a hurry. I saw the girls
+staring after me as if they thought me crazy. It was awful."
+
+"Oh, well, you mustn't mind the loss of a few dollars," said Andy Emery.
+"A man can make a fortune in this country picking up chips--if he puts
+them on the right card."
+
+"Put a little perfumery on that before you use it again, Emery,"
+grinned Tad Horner. "It's got whiskers."
+
+"I think Swallows all right, but he reminds me of a man I knew once on a
+time. I haven't seen Swallows when he had over twenty-five at a time
+since he's been here, and still he says he dropped a hundred and ten in
+one game."
+
+"How about this man you knew?" asked Parker.
+
+"He was a great fellow to stretch the long bow, and it became such a
+habit that he could not break it. He seemed to prefer a falsehood to the
+truth, even when the truth would have served him better. Well, he died
+and was buried. One day I visited the cemetery and gazed on his
+tombstone. On the top of the stone was his name and on the bottom were
+these words: 'I am not dead, but sleeping.' Now that man was lying in
+his grave, for his habit--"
+
+Parker flung a slipper at Emery, who dodged it. The slipper struck Tad
+Horner and knocked him off the back of the chair.
+
+"That's all right," said Swallows, nodding at Emery, who was laughing.
+"I'll square that the first chance I get."
+
+"Do! But when you get a roll, remember there are Others who are looking
+for you."
+
+"Drop this persiflage and come down to business," said Browning, winking
+at the others and nodding toward Hartwick, who did not seem to be
+taking any interest in what was going on. "Let's talk about the races."
+
+"Yas, by Jawve!" drawled Willis Paulding, who tried to be "deucedly
+English" in everything. "Let's talk about the races, deah boys. That's
+what interests me, don't yer know."
+
+Hartwick squirmed. He knew what was coming, and still his disposition
+was such that he could not resist a "jolly" in case the jolliers
+expressed opinions that did not agree with his own.
+
+Browning enjoyed seeing the gang get Hartwick on a string, and he was
+ever ready to aid anything of the kind along. By nature the king of
+sophomores was a practical joker. He had put up more jobs than any man
+who ever entered Yale. That was what had given him his reputation.
+
+"I understand the freshmen are rapidly coming to the front," observed
+Hod Chadwick, with apparent seriousness.
+
+"Is that right?" asked Parker. "Heard anything new?"
+
+"Why, they say this Merriwell has the genuine Oxford system."
+
+"Where'd he get it?"
+
+"He has been abroad. It is even reported that he has studied at Oxford.
+He has watched the work of the Oxford coach, and he is working the
+freshmen eight on the same lines."
+
+"That's right--that's right," nodded Hartwick, and the boys winked at
+each other.
+
+"How do you know it is right?" asked Emery. "What do you know about
+Merriwell?"
+
+"I know he has been abroad, and I have it straight that he spent
+considerable time at Oxford."
+
+"That's nothing. Any lubber might watch the work at Oxford, but what
+would that amount to?"
+
+"Merriwell is no lubber, as you fellows should know by this time."
+
+"We don't seem to know much of anything about him. Who are his parents?
+What about them?"
+
+"I hear his father was drowned in bed," murmured Tad Horner.
+
+"By Jawve!" exclaimed Willis Paulding. "How could that happen?"
+
+"There was a hole in the mattress, and he fell through into the spring,"
+gravely assured Tad.
+
+Willis nearly lost his breath.
+
+"That's all wrong," said Browning. "It's true Merriwell is no lubber.
+Why should he be? His father was a skipper."
+
+"What! A sea captain?" asked Hartwick.
+
+"No, a bank cashier. He skipped to Canada."
+
+"Wow!" whooped Tad Horner. "How that hurt! Don't do it again!"
+
+"You fellows have things twisted," asserted Parker, with apparent
+seriousness. "I have private advices that Merriwell's father is a poor
+dentist."
+
+"A poor dentist, eh?"
+
+"Yes, rather poor, but he manages to pull out."
+
+Tad Horner fell off the back of his chair and struck sprawling on the
+floor.
+
+"Water!" he gasped.
+
+"You wouldn't know it if you saw it," grinned Parker.
+
+"Without a doubt and without any fooling, Merriwell's father is dead,"
+said Hod Chadwick.
+
+"Do you know this for a fact?" asked Swallows.
+
+"Yes. It is said that he died on the field."
+
+"Then he was a soldier?"
+
+"No; a baseball umpire."
+
+"This is a very dry crowd," laughed Browning.
+
+"I should think you would say something," hinted Chadwick.
+
+"It isn't in the house. We'll go down to Morey's after supper settles
+and I'll blow."
+
+"To fizz?"
+
+"Not this evening. Ale is good enough for this crowd."
+
+"Oh, I don't suppose we can kick at that. But we were speaking about
+Merriwell and the freshman crew. How are we to escape death at their
+hands?"
+
+"Have another cigarette all around," invited Parker as he passed them.
+
+"That's too slow, but I'll take a cigarette just the same."
+
+Hartwick got up and walked about in a corner, showing nervousness. They
+urged him to sit down and take things easy. He felt like making a break
+and getting out, but he knew they would roar with laughter if he did.
+
+"You fellows are a lot of chumps!" he exclaimed, suddenly getting angry.
+"You treat this matter lightly now, but you are likely to change your
+tune after the race."
+
+The boys were well satisfied, for they saw he was getting aroused.
+
+"Oh, I don't know as we treat it so very lightly," said Emery. "We've
+got to have our fun, no matter what we may think."
+
+"But every one of you is of the opinion that we are going to have a
+cinch with the freshmen."
+
+"It does look easy."
+
+"Have they been easy thus far?"
+
+"Oh, that's different."
+
+"You will find this is different when it is all over."
+
+"Now, see here, Hartwick," said Parker; "you are the only soph who does
+not think we have a soft thing with the freshmen. What's the matter with
+you?"
+
+"Why, he wants to disagree with us, that's all," said Browning. "Why, he
+wouldn't eat anything if he thought it would agree with him. That's the
+kind of a man he is."
+
+Hartwick looked disgusted.
+
+"Keep it up! keep it up!" he cried. "But you'll find out!"
+
+"Now, see here, man," said Parker once more; "are you stuck on
+Merriwell?"
+
+Hartwick showed still greater disgust, his eyes flashing.
+
+"Stuck on him!" he cried. "Well, not any! You fellows ought to know
+that! Stuck on him! That gives me pains!"
+
+"Well, I couldn't see what ailed you unless you were."
+
+"It is because I am not stuck on him that I am so anxious to beat him,
+as you fellows ought to be able to see."
+
+"Oh, that's it? Excuse me! Well, now, how is he going to make a lot of
+lubberly freshies beat us?"
+
+"He's found some men who can pull oars all right, and he has introduced
+a few innovations that will be surprises."
+
+"How do you know so much about it?"
+
+"I have been investigating, and I am not the only one."
+
+"Well, what are his innovations?"
+
+"The Oxford oar, in the first place."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"Two to four inches longer than our oar, with a blade five and one-half
+inches wide, instead of seven inches."
+
+"For goodness' sake, what is the advantage of such an oar?"
+
+"I'll tell you. With a short course and high stroke no set of men are
+strong enough to use the old oar and go the distance without weakening.
+You must admit that."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"With the narrow blades a longer oar can be used and the leverage
+increased. That is plain enough."
+
+The boys were silent for some moments. Here was a matter they had not
+considered, and they were forced to confess that it was a point for
+discussion.
+
+"But that is not enough to enable the freshmen to win, even admitting
+the English oar to be better, which has not been proven," said Emery.
+
+"By Jawve! I am rather inclined to believe the English oar is superior,
+don't yer know," put in Willis Paulding.
+
+"That's not surprising in your case," said Emery.
+
+"That's not all Merriwell has done," declared Hartwick.
+
+"What else has he done?"
+
+"He has introduced the Oxford style of catch, finish and length of
+strokes, which means a longer swing, with more leg and body work."
+
+"Well, that will cook 'em!" cried Tad Horner. "If he has done that,
+we'll make a show of those greenies."
+
+"What reason have you for thinking anything of the sort?"
+
+"Every reason. The regular Yale stroke cannot be improved upon. That is
+beyond question."
+
+Hartwick smiled wearily.
+
+"That's what I call conceit," he said. "You don't know whether it can be
+improved upon or not."
+
+There was an outburst of protests by the boys, who believed, as almost
+every Yale man believes, that Yale methods are correct and cannot be
+improved upon. Hartwick was regarded as disloyal, and all felt like
+giving it to him hot.
+
+"A longer body swing is certain to make a difficult recovery," said
+Browning. "That is plain enough."
+
+"Not if the men are worked right and put in proper form," declared
+Hartwick. "I have been told that the English long stroke and recovery is
+very graceful and easy, and that it does not wear on a man like the
+American stroke."
+
+"By Jawve! I think that's right, don't yer know," said Paulding.
+
+"What you think doesn't count," muttered Tad Horner.
+
+"With such a stroke and swing the men are bound to recover on their
+toes," asserted Browning.
+
+"Oh, rats!" said Punch Swallows. "What does that amount to, anyway, in a
+case like this? We are talking of this tub load of freshmen as if they
+were the 'Varsity crew. What's the use? It won't make any difference
+what kind of a stroke they use. They are mighty liable to use several
+different kinds, and they won't be in it at all, my children. Let's go
+down to Morey's and oil up."
+
+"Go ahead," said Hartwick, grimly. "But you will think over what I have
+said after the race comes off."
+
+The boys put on their caps and trooped out, laughing and talking as they
+went.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MERRIWELL AND RATTLETON.
+
+
+"Harry!"
+
+"Hello!"
+
+"You've got to stop smoking those confounded cigarettes."
+
+Harry Rattleton let his feet fall with a thump from the table on which
+they had been comfortably resting and turned about to stare at
+Merriwell, his roommate. His face expressed astonishment, not unmingled
+with anger.
+
+"Will you be good enough to repeat that remark?" he said, exhaling a
+cloud of smoke and holding his roll daintily poised in his fingers.
+
+"I said that you must stop smoking cigarettes."
+
+"Well, what did you mean?"
+
+"I am in the habit of saying what I mean," was the quiet answer as Frank
+scanned the paper over which he had been pondering for some time.
+
+Harry got upon his feet, shoved one hand into his trousers pocket, and
+stared in silence for some seconds at Merriwell. That stare was most
+expressive.
+
+"Well, may I be jotally tiggered--I mean totally jiggered!" he finally
+exclaimed.
+
+"You'll be worse than that if you keep on with those things," asserted
+Frank. "You'll be totally wrecked."
+
+"This is the first time you have had the crust to deliberately tell me
+that I must do anything," growled Harry, resentfully. "And I feel free
+to say that I don't like it much. It is carrying the thing altogether
+too far. I have never told you that you must do this thing or you
+mustn't do that. I should have considered that I was beddling with
+something that was none of my misness--er--meddling with something that
+was none of my business."
+
+Frank perceived that his roommate was quite heated, so he dropped the
+paper and said:
+
+"Don't fly off the handle so quick, old man. I am speaking for your own
+good, and you should know it."
+
+"Thank you!" sarcastically.
+
+"But I am in earnest."
+
+"Really?" and Rattleton elevated his eyebrows.
+
+"Come now," said Frank, "sit down and we will talk it over."
+
+"Talk it over, eh? I don't know why we should talk over a matter that
+concerns me alone."
+
+"Your dinner did not set well. I never saw you so touchy in all my life.
+You know I am your friend, old man, and there is no reason why you
+should show such a spirit toward me."
+
+"I don't like to be told what I must do and what I mustn't by anybody.
+That's all there is about it."
+
+Harry did sit down, but he lighted a fresh cigarette.
+
+"Well, I suppose you will have your own way, but I want to explain why I
+said what I did. You know we are out to beat the sophs in the boat
+race."
+
+"Sure."
+
+"Well, in order to do it every man of us must be in the pink of
+condition. You are not drinking, and Old Put doesn't know how much you
+are smoking. If he did he would call you down or drop you. It is pretty
+certain that Gordon would take your place."
+
+"Well, I suppose you are going to tell Old Put all about it? Is that
+what you mean?"
+
+"Not exactly. But you know I have as much interest in the makeup of our
+crew as Old Put, although he is the man who really has charge of us."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"If I were to say so, you would be taken out and some one else would
+fill your place."
+
+"And would you do that?"
+
+"Not unless forced to do so. You should know, Harry, that I am ready to
+stick by you in anything--if I can."
+
+"If you can! I don't understand that--hang me, if I do! If I have a
+friend I am going to stick to him through anything, right or wrong!"
+
+"That's first rate and it is all right. If you get into any trouble, I
+fancy you will not find anybody who will stand by you any longer. But
+this matter is different. You are in training, and you are not supposed
+to smoke at all, but you get here in this room and puff away by the
+hour."
+
+"What harm does it do?"
+
+"A great deal."
+
+"Get out! It doesn't make a dit of bifference."
+
+"That's what you think, but I know better. At Fardale I had a chum who
+smoked cigarettes by the stack. He was a natural-born athlete, but he
+never seemed quite able to take the lead in anything. It was his wind. I
+talked to him, but he thought I didn't know. Finally I induced him to
+leave off smoking entirely. He did it, though it was like taking his
+teeth. It was not long before he showed an improvement in his work. The
+improvement continued and he went up to the very top. He acknowledged
+that he could not have accomplished it if he had kept on with his
+cigarettes.
+
+"Now, old man," continued Frank, coming over and putting a hand on
+Harry's shoulder in a friendly way, "I am interested in you and I want
+to see you stay on our crew. You must know that I am giving it to you
+straight."
+
+Harry was silent, gazing down at the floor, while his cigarette was
+going out, still held between his fingers.
+
+"I am going to tell you something that you do not know," Frank went on.
+"Old Put has been asking me to give Gordon more of a show. He thinks
+Gordon is a better man than you, but I know better. If you will leave
+cigarettes alone you are the man for the place. Gordon has a beautiful
+back and splendid shoulders, but he lacks heart, or I am much mistaken.
+It takes nerve to pull an oar in a race. A man has got to keep at it for
+all there is in him till he drops--and he mustn't drop till the race is
+over. That's why I want you. I am confident that you will pull your arms
+out before you give up. But you won't have the wind for the race unless
+you quit cigarettes, and quit them immediately."
+
+Harry was still silent, but his head was lower and he was biting his
+lips. The cigarette in his fingers had quite gone out.
+
+"Come now, Harry," came earnestly from Frank. "Just cut clear from the
+things. They never did any man any good, and they have taken the wind
+and nerve out of hundreds. You don't want me to keep you on the crew and
+lose the race by doing so. You don't want it said that I have been
+partial to you because you are my roommate and particular friend.
+That's what will be said if things go wrong. The fellows will declare I
+was prejudiced against Gordon, and they will not be to blame unless you
+can prove yourself the best man. I have nothing against Gordon, and I am
+bound to use him as white as I can. I have explained why I don't want
+him on the crew, and I have tried to make it clear why I'll have to let
+him come on at once, unless you drop cigarettes. How is it, my boy? What
+do you say?"
+
+Harry got up and went into the bedroom. A moment later he came out with
+a big package of cigarettes in his hands. He opened the window and flung
+them as far as possible.
+
+"There!" he cried. "By the mumping Joses--I mean the jumping Moses! I'm
+done with 'em. I'm not going to smoke them any more!"
+
+"Good boy!" laughed Frank, his face full of satisfaction. "Shake!"
+
+They clasped hands.
+
+Rat-tat-tat! A knock at the door.
+
+"Come in."
+
+The door opened and Dismal Jones, his face longer and sadder than usual,
+came slouching into the room.
+
+"Hello, Jones, old boy!" cried Frank, cheerfully. "What is troubling you
+now? You look like a funeral."
+
+"I'm mad," said Dismal in a spiritless way.
+
+"Is that what ails you? I'd never suspected it from your appearance."
+
+"Appearances are oftentimes deceitful," croaked Jones. "Whosoever is
+deceived thereby is not wise."
+
+"Well, sit down and tell us all about it," invited Frank, offering a
+chair. "My boy, it must be that you are studying too hard. You have the
+outward appearance of a greasy grind."
+
+"What's that I just told you about appearances? You are too hasty in
+your judgments. The trouble with me this evening is that I have found
+out something."
+
+"I never supposed it would trouble you like this."
+
+"Wait. You do not know what it is."
+
+"That's right. What is it?"
+
+Frank was familiar with Dismal's queer ways, and he knew it was not easy
+to tell when this son of a "shouting Methodist" was jollying and when he
+was in earnest; but now he was convinced that Jones was really serious,
+and he felt that there must be some cause for it.
+
+Harry, strangely sobered and silent, sat listening. He could not
+understand Jones, and he was on his guard, knowing how often the fellow
+turned into a farce what seemed a serious matter.
+
+Dismal locked his fingers and twiddled his thumbs. He cleared his
+throat and then said:
+
+"Merry, what would you say if I were to tell everything I could find out
+about our crew to the sophs?"
+
+"I should say you were a confounded sneak!"
+
+"Hum! I kinder thought you'd say something like that."
+
+"But you do not know too much about the crew."
+
+"I know something, and I could know more if I had a mind to. All I would
+have to do would be to play the spy a little."
+
+"Well, I suppose that is right. What about it?"
+
+"Somebody is playing the spy."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I've got it straight enough, for the sophs know all about what our crew
+is doing. They are laughing over the Oxford stroke and the English
+oars."
+
+"How do you know this?"
+
+"Heard 'em."
+
+"When?"
+
+"To-night."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"On the street. Browning and a party were going down to Morey's, and
+they were having a high old time with Hartwick, who was explaining the
+advantages of the stroke and the oars our crew has adopted."
+
+"That's not proof that somebody has played the spy. It may have slipped
+out through the carelessness of some of our men."
+
+"It may. But I don't think so. I heard Emery ask Hartwick how he knew so
+much about us."
+
+"What did Hartwick say?" Frank eagerly asked.
+
+"He said he had a nice fresh flat who thought it a fine thing to play
+the spy and blab all he found out."
+
+"Blay bluses--I mean blue blazes!" cried Harry, banging his fist down on
+the table. "That's what makes me cot under the hollar! A man who would
+do a thing like that will steal a sheep! I'd like to have the pleasure
+of thumping him a few times--just a few!"
+
+Merriwell was silent, a dark look on his face.
+
+"It will not be healthy for the spy if I catch him," he finally
+declared. "I'll make it pretty hot for him around here!"
+
+"Which would be a highly commendable action," bowed Dismal.
+
+"Have you any idea who would do such a low-down thing?" asked Harry.
+
+"Sometimes we have ideas which we do not care to express."
+
+"That's right; but in a case like this--confidentially--to us, you
+know--"
+
+"Well, if I say anything, it is to be strictly confidential."
+
+"Sure!" cried Frank and Harry in a breath.
+
+"You both give me your word for it?"
+
+"We do."
+
+"If I knew, I would not hesitate to come out openly and accuse the
+fellow," said Dismal; "but this is merely a case of suspicion, and I
+will tell you who I suspect."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+"Well, there is a certain fellow who has not been above playing into the
+hands of the sophs in the past, and it is natural for me to suspect him.
+His name is--"
+
+The door opened, and Roland Ditson came in without knocking.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+WHO IS THE TRAITOR?
+
+
+"Hello, fellows!" cried Ditson. "How are yer, Jones! I am surprised to
+see you here. Is it possible you have let up cramming long enough to
+make a call? Why, I have even heard that you had your eye on some
+classical scholarship prize as soon as this. Everybody who knows you
+says you're a regular hard-working old dig."
+
+"There are fools who know other people's business a great deal better
+than their own," said Dismal stiffly.
+
+"That's right," nodded Ditson, who made a great effort to be rakish in
+his appearance, but always appeared rather foxy instead. "But I tell you
+this matter of burning the midnight oil and grinding is not what it's
+cracked up to be. It makes a man old before his time, and it doesn't
+amount to much after he has been all through it. Goodness knows we
+freshmen have to cram hard enough to get through! I am tired of it
+already. And then we have to live outside the pale, as it were. When we
+become sophs we'll be able to give up boarding houses and live in the
+dormitories. That's what I am anxious for."
+
+"It strikes me that you are very partial to sophs," said Dismal, giving
+Roll a piercing look.
+
+Ditson was not fazed.
+
+"They're a rather clever gang of fellows," he said. "Freshmen are very
+new, as a rule. Of course there are exceptions, and--"
+
+"I suppose you consider yourself one?"
+
+"Oh, I can't tell about that. But supposing I am; by the time I become a
+soph some of the newness will have worn off."
+
+"I am not particularly impressed with any freshman who seems to think so
+much of sophomores. You ought to stay with them all the time."
+
+"Oh, I don't know. They have treated me rather well, and I have found
+the most of them easy people."
+
+"They seem to have found some freshman easy fruit. Somebody has been
+blowing to them about our crew."
+
+"I know it," was Ditson's surprising confession, "and that's why I
+dropped in here. I wanted to tell Merriwell about it."
+
+Jones gasped for breath. He was too surprised to speak for some minutes.
+
+Ditson took out a package of cigarettes, offering them first to Harry,
+who shook his head.
+
+"What?" cried Roll, amazed. "You won't smoke?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What's that mean?"
+
+"I have left off," said Harry, with an effort.
+
+"Left off? Oh, say! that's too good! You leave off!"
+
+A bit of color came to Rattleton's face, and he gave Ditson a look that
+was not exactly pleasant; but Roll was too occupied with his merriment
+to observe it.
+
+Frank was studying Ditson. He watched the fellow's every movement and
+expression.
+
+Roll knew it was useless to offer cigarettes to Merriwell or Jones, so
+he selected one from the package, kneaded it daintily, pulled a little
+tobacco from the ends, moistened the paper with his lips, and then
+lighted it with a wax match.
+
+"Say, Harry, old man, I pity you," he said, with a taunting laugh,
+looking at Harry. "I've tried it. It's no use. You'll break over before
+two days are up--yes, before one day is up. It's no use."
+
+Rattleton bit his lips.
+
+"Why, you are dying for a whiff now!" chuckled Ditson. "I know you are.
+I got along a whole day, but it was a day of the most intense torture."
+
+"There may be others with more stamina than you, Ditson," snapped
+Rattleton. "Just because you couldn't leave off a bad habit, it's no
+sign that nobody can."
+
+"Oh, I suppose not. But what's the use? Don't get hot, old man. You
+ought to know my way by this time."
+
+"I do."
+
+"What is it that you came to tell me?" asked Frank.
+
+"Eh? Oh, about the sophs. Those fellows seem to know more about our crew
+than I do."
+
+"What do they know?"
+
+"Why, they know our men are using English oars, have adopted a new
+stroke, and have done several other things. Now, those are matters on
+which I was not informed myself."
+
+"How do you know the sophs know so much?"
+
+"I've just come from Morey's. Went in there with Cressy. Fine fellow, he
+is. While I was in there Browning and his crowd wandered in. They were
+drinking ale and discussing the race. I heard what they were saying.
+Couldn't help hearing, you know. They were talking about our crew and
+the new methods you had introduced. It was mighty interesting to me, as
+I didn't know about those new methods myself."
+
+"How innocent!" muttered Jones.
+
+Ditson elevated his eyebrows.
+
+"What's that?" he demanded. "Why shouldn't I be innocent? I am not on
+the crew, and the men are training and practicing secretly. I have had
+no way of finding out what they were doing."
+
+"But some sneak has!" cried Rattleton, fiercely, "and he's been and
+blowed all he found out!"
+
+"Unless somebody on the crew has done the blowing," suggested Roll,
+exhaling a great puff of smoke. "That is barely possible, you
+understand."
+
+"Possible! No!" cried Frank. "There's not a man on the crew who would do
+such a thing!"
+
+"Oh, well, I suppose you know. But I understand there are two who are
+kept in form as substitutes. One of them thinks he should be on the
+crew. He is rather jealous of somebody who fills his place. He might be
+the one who has talked too much."
+
+"You don't mean--"
+
+"Rattleton ought to be able to guess who I mean," craftily said Ditson
+as he arose. "I'm not calling names, for I don't know anything certain.
+If I had proof--but I haven't. Never mind. You ought to know enough to
+watch a certain fellow who thinks his place is filled by a person not
+his equal. He says there is favoritism in the matter. I rather think I
+have spoken plainly enough. Wish you success, Merry, old man. Evening,
+fellows."
+
+Ditson departed.
+
+Our hero, Rattleton and Jones sat and looked at each other in grim
+silence for several minutes.
+
+"Well?"
+
+Frank broke the spell, looking keenly at Jones as he spoke.
+
+"I dunno," mumbled Dismal, falling into the manner of speaking that had
+been habitual with him from his childhood. "I dunno--hanged if I do!"
+
+"You thought you knew when you came in, my boy."
+
+"That's right; but I dunno but I was off my trolley. And still--"
+
+"Still what?"
+
+"I don't like the man I suspected, but I never thought the fellow shrewd
+enough to play a double game."
+
+"Perhaps it is because you do not like him that you suspected him."
+
+"Oh, it may be--it may be. And I don't suppose that is a square deal. I
+didn't have absolute proof."
+
+"You were going to name him when Ditson came in."
+
+"I was, but I will not call any names now. I propose to look into this
+matter somewhat. Likely it's too late to prevent the traitor from
+completing the damage, but he can be exposed. It will be some
+satisfaction to see him held up to public scorn."
+
+"That is true, Dismal, and I want you to do your best to find out who
+the man is. Make a sure thing of it. Get positive proof, if possible."
+
+"Whoever he is his sin is sure to find him out."
+
+There were footsteps on the stairs and the sound of laughing voices. The
+door burst open and several freshmen came trooping in, as if they felt
+quite at home there. Lucy Little was at their head, and his face showed
+excitement.
+
+"I say, Merriwell!" he cried, "are you out for a little sport to-night?"
+
+"That depends on what sort of sport it is."
+
+"'Sh!" said Little, mysteriously. "Close the door, uncle."
+
+A fellow by the name of Silas Blossom, who was familiarly called
+"uncle," obeyed.
+
+Little looked at Rattleton and then stared hard at Jones, who had the
+face of a parson.
+
+"I don't know about you," he said, "but I think you are all right. Even
+if you have scruples I don't believe you will blow."
+
+"Very kind!" grunted Dismal.
+
+"The rest of the gang is all right," said Little.
+
+"Then give us your scheme," spluttered Harry, whose curiosity was
+thoroughly aroused. "Don't bush around the beat--I mean beat around the
+bush."
+
+"What do you fellows say to a turkey chase?" asked Little.
+
+"A turkey chase?"
+
+"Yes. Out around West Rock way. There are plenty of old farmers who
+have good fat turkeys out that way. It is a good cool night, and we can
+capture two turkeys without trouble. Then we'll take 'em in here and
+have a roast. Are you wid us?"
+
+"Those who are not wid us are agin' us!" fiercely declared Bandy
+Robinson.
+
+"And that is dead right, me b'hoys," nodded Arthur Street, who was known
+at Yale as Easy Street, on account of his free-and-easy way.
+
+Merriwell hesitated. He was in for any kind of honest sport, but he did
+not quite fancy the idea of stealing turkeys.
+
+"Why don't we buy our turkeys at the markets?" he asked.
+
+The other lads stared at him in astonishment.
+
+"Buy them!" they shouted. "Say, are you dafty, man? Where would the fun
+come in? You know better than to propose such a thing."
+
+"Stolen fruit is ever the sweetest," quoth Uncle Blossom. "It's not many
+fellows we would take into such a scheme, but you were just the man we
+wanted, Merriwell. If we bought a turkey we wouldn't have any appetite
+for it. Now, the run out into the country and back will give us an
+appetite. One fellow will have to stay here and get the fire ready,
+while the rest of us chase turks. Come on, man--it's what you need to
+start your blood circulating."
+
+Merriwell seemed to suddenly make up his mind.
+
+"I am with you," he said as he arose. "Who stays and looks after the
+fire? We don't want anybody along that can't run."
+
+"Well, I'm no sprinter," confessed Dismal. "I'd like to go along, but
+I'm afraid I'd peg out. I'll have things ready when you show up. But
+what time will you be back?"
+
+Frank looked at his watch and then made a mental calculation.
+
+"It will be about eleven," he said.
+
+"All right."
+
+"Say, Jones," said Street, "just go down to Billy's and get a few
+bottles of beer. We'll need it to wash the turk down."
+
+"And cigars," cried Blossom. "Don't forget cigars. What would a turkey
+feast be without a smoke afterward?"
+
+Matters were soon arranged, and it was not long before five freshmen
+left Mrs. Harrington's "quiet house" for freshmen, and started along
+York Street at a brisk, steady jog.
+
+Merriwell took the lead, and the others came after him at regular
+distances. The night air was rather sharp, and there was a bright moon.
+
+Along the streets of New Haven the five freshmen ran, and those who
+observed them supposed they were some crew in training.
+
+Merriwell set a moderate pace, for he knew it was likely they would need
+all their wind on the return. There was no telling what sort of a scrape
+they might get into.
+
+Rattleton was behind, taking things as easy as possible. He filled his
+lungs with the crisp, clear air, and it made him feel like a young race
+horse, but he held himself in check.
+
+Street actually loafed along, although he managed to keep his place.
+
+"If one of us is caught, he'll be like the gangplank of a steamer,"
+called Harry as they left the main part of the city and entered the
+suburbs.
+
+"How's that?" asked Blossom.
+
+"Pulled in," chirped Rattleton. "Don't stop to throw anything this way.
+Keep right on."
+
+"They say Browning was caught swiping turks in his freshman year," said
+Lewis, "and it cost his old man a round sum to settle and keep the thing
+quiet, so Bruce wouldn't be expelled. Dad Browning has got money to
+burn."
+
+"Well, his son's a good match for him," Merriwell tossed over his
+shoulder.
+
+"A good match for him! Oh, say!" gasped Robinson, exhibiting signs of
+sudden weakness.
+
+Away they went, laughing and jesting, finally leaving the city behind
+and getting out into the country. Up hill and down dale they steadily
+jogged, covering mile after mile in a rather surprising manner.
+
+At length Merriwell called a halt, and they held a council of war.
+Blossom said he knew where they were certain to find turkeys, and so
+they gave him the lead. He confessed that there was a chance of getting
+into trouble, as the owner of the turkeys had been robbed before, and he
+might be on the watch. That simply added zest to the adventure, and
+there was not one of the party who would have consented to look
+elsewhere for their turkeys.
+
+They finally came in sight of a farmhouse that sat on the side of a
+hill. Near the house was a stable and sheds. A large orchard lay back of
+the sheds.
+
+"There," said Blossom. "That is where old Baldwin lives, and his turks
+are in one of those sheds."
+
+"Crumping jickets--I mean jumping crickets!" exclaimed Harry. "How
+bright the moon shines! If he's on the watch we can't get anywhere near
+those sheds without being seen."
+
+The boys began to realize that they were engaged in a decidedly perilous
+adventure. If one of them should be caught it would mean almost certain
+expulsion from college, besides a heavy fine if the case were carried to
+court.
+
+"We'll have to approach by way of the orchard," said Frank. "Does
+Baldwin keep a dog?"
+
+"Sure--a big half-blood bull."
+
+"That's nice. We are liable to find plenty of fun here. Every man must
+provide himself with a stout and heavy club to use on that dog in case
+of emergency. That is important. The lights are out, and it looks as if
+the farmer and his family were sleeping soundly, but, as Jones says,
+appearances are sometimes deceptive. We'll have to take our chances.
+Three of us will go through the orchard. The other two must get near the
+house in front and be ready to create a diversion in case we are
+discovered. Harry, you and Bandy take the front. You are both good
+runners. If Mr. Baldwin and his dog get after us, attract his attention
+in some manner."
+
+"And get him after us?"
+
+"That's the idea."
+
+"Jupiter! I wish I had brought a gun for that dog! Bandy, you are liable
+to have to use those crooked legs of yours in a decidedly lively manner
+before the night is over."
+
+When everything was arranged Harry and Bandy advanced along the road,
+going forward slowly, while Frank, Blossom and Little made a detour and
+came into the orchard.
+
+The hearts of the boys were in their throats, and still there was
+something about the adventure that filled them with the keenest delight.
+
+Each one had secured a club, and they were ready to give the dog a warm
+reception if he came for them.
+
+Little watched beneath a tree, while Merriwell and Blossom slipped up to
+one of the sheds which had a favorable look.
+
+In the meantime Rattleton and Robinson had got near the front of the
+house and were hiding in a ditch, waiting and listening.
+
+"I am surprised that Merriwell should agree to take a hand in this,"
+whispered Harry. "He is a queer chap--has scruples about doing certain
+things. I thought he would object to hooking out a turk."
+
+"Oh, such a thing as this isn't really stealing," protested Robinson.
+"It is different."
+
+"In our minds, but not in the mind of Farmer Baldwin, by a long shot. If
+we're caught it will be called stealing."
+
+"Oh, well, a fellow who won't do anything like this is too good for this
+world. He's got wings sprouting."
+
+"You know well enough that Merriwell is no softie," returned Harry,
+rather warmly. "He's proved that. Any man has a right to his ideas, and
+if he thinks a thing wrong he's justified in refusing to have anything
+to do with it."
+
+"Perhaps so; but Merriwell is right on the limit now."
+
+"How?"
+
+"He will not drink, he does not smoke, and I never have heard him cuss."
+
+"Does it make a fellow a man to drink and smoke and swear? I tell you
+you'll go a long distance before you find a fellow who is any more of a
+man than Frank Merriwell. I was dead lucky when I got him for a
+roommate."
+
+"You're stuck on him. I say he is all right, but he is on the limit. I
+believe the fellows would like him better if he would break over once in
+a while."
+
+"I doubt it. But it is awful still around here. I wonder where that dog
+can be? It would be a surprise if the fellows got away with the turks
+without making any noise at--"
+
+There was a sudden hubbub, a terrible squalling and squawking, the
+barking of a dog, and the report of a gun!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+A HOT CHASE.
+
+
+"My stars!" gasped Harry. "There's trouble, sure enough!"
+
+"I should remark!" palpitated Robinson. "I'll bet a dollar one of the
+fellows is full of shot!"
+
+"And somebody is in danger of being full of teeth directly. Come, this
+is our time to create a diversion."
+
+Then Harry let himself out. He whooped like a wild Indian and pranced
+right up toward the house. Robinson followed the good example, but they
+did not seem very successful in attracting attention to themselves.
+
+Two dark figures were seen scudding through the orchard, and then a man
+came out of the house, slamming the door and shouting:
+
+"Sick 'em, Tige--sick the pesky rascals! Chaw 'em up! Don't let 'em git
+erway! Take 'em, dorg!"
+
+The dog was doing his duty in the vicinity of one of the sheds, but his
+barking suddenly turned to howls of pain, and several blows were
+distinctly heard.
+
+Despite the two yelling and dancing lads in the road, the old farmer
+made for the shed, and it was seen that he had a gun in his hands.
+
+"He's going to shoot somebody!" cried Harry, wildly. "We must hake a
+tand--er--take a hand in this! Come on!"
+
+With all the speed he could command Rattleton dashed after the farmer.
+The barking of the dog had suddenly ceased, and a third dark figure was
+seen scudding through the orchard.
+
+"Stop, you pesky thief!" yelled the farmer. "If you don't stop I'll
+shoot! I'll fire ye full of lead!"
+
+Then he halted and raised his gun to his shoulder. He was quite unaware
+that Harry was now quite close upon him.
+
+When Rattleton saw the man raise the gun he swung back the hand that
+held the heavy stick. With all his strength he hurled the stick at the
+farmer.
+
+Whiz! It sped through the air and struck the man fairly between the
+shoulders. At the same instant the gun spoke, but the farmer went down
+in a heap, and his aim was spoiled.
+
+"Had to do it to save some one of the fellows from carrying off a load
+of buckshot," muttered Rattleton, who was desperate. "I don't want to
+see anybody shot to-night."
+
+He did not stop running, but he dashed straight up to the man, snatched
+up the gun, and fled onward.
+
+"Hey! hey!" cried the man, as he scrambled to his feet. "Consarn you!
+Drop that gun! Bring it back!"
+
+"Come get it!" invited Harry, with a defiant laugh.
+
+The farmer started after the boy, who led him a merry chase across the
+fields and over the fences. Harry kept just far enough ahead to lure the
+panting man on.
+
+"If I ever git my hands on ye you'll go to jail!" declared the farmer.
+"I'll learn you pesky rascals a lesson!"
+
+"Teach--not learn, uncle," Harry flung back. "You should be more careful
+about your grammar."
+
+"I believe you are one of them consarned student fellers."
+
+"You are a wonderful guesser."
+
+"If I can't ketch ye I'll report ye."
+
+When he had lead the man far enough so that he was sure the other
+fellows had plenty of start, Harry tossed aside the gun, which was an
+old muzzle-loading, single-barreled affair.
+
+The panting farmer stopped and picked up the gun, then he stood and
+shook his fist at Rattleton, who was speeding away like a deer.
+
+"Oh, I'll report ye--I will, by jee!" he vowed over and over.
+
+In the meantime Merriwell had had a most exciting adventure. He had
+found the turkey roost and had selected the biggest old gobbler of them
+all. But the gobbler was a hard customer and he showed fight, whereupon
+there was a general squawking and squalling.
+
+Clinging to his capture, Frank made a dash for the door. He tripped and
+fell, and it is certain that by falling he saved himself from carrying
+off a charge of shot, if not from death. He had tripped over a rope that
+connected with a spring gun, which was discharged, and some of the shot
+tore through his coat sleeve.
+
+Then he heard the dog, and he knew he was in for a hot time. He gave the
+old gobbler's neck a fierce wring, then dropped the turkey just in time
+to meet the dog.
+
+The creature sprang for Frank's throat, and the boy struck him with the
+club which he had brought along. The dog dropped to the ground, but
+immediately made another dash. Frank was fortunate in getting in a lick
+that stretched the animal quivering on the ground.
+
+He could hear Rattleton and Robinson whooping wildly, but he knew no
+time was to be lost in getting away, so he caugh up the gobbler and ran.
+
+Frank heard the farmer calling for him to stop, but, with Mr. Gobbler
+dangling on his back, he fled the faster.
+
+The gun spoke, but he was not touched, and he did not stop to look
+around, so he did not know how Harry had saved him.
+
+Three-quarters of an hour later the five fellows who had started out on
+the turkey chase met on the outskirts of New Haven. They came up one at
+a time, Rattleton being the last to appear. There was a general feeling
+of relief when it was found that all were there safe and sound.
+
+It was decided that they should go into the city one at a time, taking
+different routes. Frank believed he could reach the house without being
+stopped, although it would be no very easy job.
+
+He was remarkably successful until he was on York Street and close to
+Mrs. Harrington's. The street seemed clear, and he wondered where all
+the fellows could be, when of a sudden a tall form in dark clothes
+stepped right out before him. He gave a gasp, for at a glance he seemed
+to recognize one of the professors.
+
+"Young man," sternly said a familiar voice, "what have you there?"
+
+"It's Professor Grant!" thought Frank, aghast.
+
+The professor blocked his way. What could he do?
+
+Quick as a flash he swung the gobbler around and struck his challenger a
+smashing blow with it, knocking him sprawling.
+
+Then he took to his heels, still holding fast to his capture.
+
+In a moment he heard the sound of feet in pursuit, and he knew the
+outraged professor was after him.
+
+Frank's heart was in his mouth, and he felt scared for the first time
+that night. He was certain it would mean expulsion to be caught.
+
+For all of the running he had done that night, he fled like a frightened
+deer, occasionally glancing over his shoulder. He had never dreamed that
+Professor Grant was a sprinter, but the man was running at great
+speed--seemed to be gaining.
+
+"Stop, sir!" cried the pursuer. "I tell you to stop!"
+
+"Not much!" thought Frank. "I won't stop! If you catch me your wind is
+better than I think it is."
+
+He did not dare go into his house, so he dashed past, cut into another
+street, turned corner after corner, and still he found himself pursued.
+It seemed marvelous that Professor Grant could keep up such a pace.
+
+Finally the pursuer called:
+
+"Merriwell, is that you?"
+
+No answer.
+
+"I know you," declared the pursuer, and now Frank perceived that that
+voice did not sound like Professor Grant. "You are a crackajack runner.
+I wanted to give you a try to see what you could do. I'll see you
+to-morrow. Good-night."
+
+The pursuer gave up the chase.
+
+"As I live, I believe it was Pierson, manager of the ball team!"
+muttered Frank when he was sure it was no trick and he was no longer
+followed. "He looks something like Professor Grant, and he is a great
+mimic. That's just who it was."
+
+A short time later he was in his room, where a jovial party of freshmen
+was gathered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+ROAST TURKEY.
+
+
+Frank's appearance, with the turkey still in his possession, was hailed
+with shouts of delight.
+
+"We didn't know as you would get in," said Jones. "I invited some more
+of the fellows up here, as you see, and we found out that some of the
+sophs seemed to know something unusual was going on."
+
+"That's right," nodded Rattleton. "They were laying for us. Two of them
+stopped me when I reached York Street. They told me to give up what I
+had, but I didn't have anything to give up, so they let me go."
+
+Then Frank told of his adventure with a person who looked like Professor
+Grant.
+
+"That's it!" cried Little. "That was their game! They were after our
+turkey."
+
+"But how did they know we were after turkey?" asked Robinson.
+
+"They must have been told by somebody," said Street.
+
+"And that means we have a tattler among us," declared Burnham
+Putnam--Old Put--looking keenly around.
+
+The boys looked at each other suspiciously, wondering if there was one
+of the number who would carry to the sophs.
+
+To Frank's surprise he saw that Walter Gordon was there. Jack Diamond
+was also present.
+
+Frank found an opportunity to get close to Dismal and whisper in his
+ear:
+
+"Great Caesar, old man! why did you invite Gordon here?"
+
+"I did not."
+
+"Then how does he happen to be here? He didn't come without an
+invitation, I am sure of that."
+
+"He was in Billy's when I asked Put to come up. I knew you would like to
+have Put here."
+
+"That's all right."
+
+"Well, Put asked Gordon to come along before I could prevent it. Of
+course I didn't have the crust to make any objection after that."
+
+"I should say not! It's all right, but you want to remember that the
+sophs found out something was going on. Did Gordon come right along with
+you?"
+
+"No. He said he'd have to go to his room, but he showed up a few minutes
+after we arrived here."
+
+"Lots of mischief can be done in a few minutes. Did he know just what
+was going on here?"
+
+"Well, he knew somebody had gone out into the country to swipe something
+for a feast."
+
+"And it is pretty plain that the sophs became aware of the same fact.
+Here is food for reflection, Dismal."
+
+"You are right."
+
+The foragers told of their adventures in capturing the turkey, and there
+was a great deal of laughter over it. Merriwell showed how near he came
+to getting shot, and it was universally agreed that he was remarkably
+lucky.
+
+Harry told how he had bowled the old farmer over just as the man was
+about to shoot at Frank, and then he convulsed them with laughter by
+relating the capture of the gun and the chase he had led the hayseed.
+
+Robinson said he thought Harry was crazy when he rushed after the farmer
+in the way he did.
+
+"I couldn't understand what sort of a game he was up to," said Bandy,
+"and I didn't feel like following him into the jaws of the lion, so I
+held aloof. I saw him fling his club at the old duffer and saw it knock
+him down. Then, when I was sure Harry was all right, I legged it."
+
+"Farmer Baldwin's dog will have a sore head in the morning," smiled
+Frank. "The last crack I gave him stretched him quivering on the ground.
+Hope it didn't kill the brute."
+
+"Hope it didn't?" shouted Little. "I hope it did!"
+
+"But I don't want to pay for his old dog."
+
+"Pay for it! Are you dopy, daft, or what's the matter with you? Why,
+that man had a spring gun set, and it would have filled you full of shot
+if you hadn't tripped!"
+
+"He had a right to set a spring gun in his own shed to protect his
+turkey roost from marauders."
+
+The boys stared at Frank in amazement.
+
+"Say, Merriwell," said Uncle Blossom, gravely, "you're an enigma. Great
+poker! The idea of calling us marauders!"
+
+"What else were we?"
+
+"Boys, it is our duty to take him out and hold him under under the
+hose!"
+
+"Gentlemen," said Jack Diamond, who was present, "you will have a real
+lively time if you try to do it. I fully agree with Mr. Merriwell that
+the farmer had a right to protect his property."
+
+"Whe-e-ew!" whistled several lads, and then they all cried together:
+"Goodness, how the wind blows!"
+
+The boys had come to understand in a measure Diamond's chivalric nature
+and sentiments, and it did not seem strange that he should see something
+improper in stealing turkeys from a farmer; but it did appear rather
+remarkable that Merriwell should maintain such an idea after he had
+taken a hand in the game.
+
+"It must be that you chaps intend to become parsons after you leave
+college," said Walter Gordon, rather derisively.
+
+"And Merriwell would pay for the dog if he killed the beast!" exclaimed
+Uncle Blossom. "How about the turkey? I should have thought you'd paid
+for that."
+
+"I did."
+
+"What!"
+
+That word was a roar, and it seemed to leap from the lips of every lad
+in the room, with the exception of Diamond and Merriwell. The boys were
+all on their feet, and they stared at Frank with bulging eyes, as if
+they beheld a great curiosity.
+
+Merriwell simply smiled. He was quite cool and unruffled.
+
+"You--you paid--for--the--turkey!" gasped Lucy Little, as if it cost him
+a mighty effort to get the words out.
+
+"Exactly," bowed Frank.
+
+"How? When? Where?"
+
+"I pinned a five-dollar bill to the roost before I laid violent hands on
+the old gobbler. Baldwin will find it there in the morning."
+
+"Water!" panted Robinson as he flopped down on a chair. "I think I am
+going to faint!"
+
+"Oh, think of the beautiful beers that V would have paid for!" sighed
+Robinson, with a doleful shake of his head.
+
+"This is a disgrace on the famous class of 'Umpty-eight!" shouted Lewis
+Little. "We can never wipe it out!"
+
+"I fear not," said Easy Street. "It is really awful!"
+
+"And to think Merriwell should have done it. It would have served him
+right if that spring gun had filled him with shot!"
+
+"Excuse these few tears!" exclaimed Blossom, who had secretly opened a
+bottle of beer and saturated his handkerchief with the contents.
+
+He now proceeded to wring the handkerchief in a highly dramatic manner.
+
+"Go ahead," laughed Frank. "Have all the sport you like over it, but I
+feel easy in my mind."
+
+Some one proposed not to eat the turkey at all, but there was a
+dissenting shout at that. Then the bird was taken down into the cellar
+by three of them and stripped of its feathers. A pan and necessary
+dishes had been borrowed of Mrs. Harrington, and there was a roaring
+hard-wood fire in the open grate.
+
+Harry officiated as cook, and set about his duties in a manner that
+showed he was not a novice, while the other lads looked on with great
+interest, telling stories and cracking jokes.
+
+Merriwell offered to bet Robinson that woman was created before man, but
+Bandy was shy, scenting a sell. However, Frank kept at him, finally
+offering to let Robinson himself decide. At length Robinson "bit," and a
+small wager was made.
+
+"Now," cried Bandy, "go ahead and prove that woman was made before man.
+You can't do it."
+
+"That's dead easy," smiled Frank. "I know you will readily acknowledge
+that Eve was the first maid."
+
+"No, I'll be hanged if--"
+
+Then Robinson stopped short, for he saw the point, and the others were
+laughing heartily and applauding.
+
+"The first maid!" he muttered. "Oh, thunder! What a soft thing I am! You
+have won, Merriwell."
+
+The turkey began to give out a most delicious odor, and the boys snuffed
+the air with the keenest delight. How hungry they were! How jolly
+everything seemed! There was not one of the party who did not feel very
+grateful to think he was living that night.
+
+At last the turkey was done. Harry pronounced it done, and it was
+certainly browned and basted in beautiful style. It was a monster, but
+there would be none too much for that famished crowd.
+
+Frank and Blossom assisted Harry in serving. There were not enough
+plates for all, but that did not matter. They managed to get along all
+right. Some were forced to drink their beer out of the bottle, but
+nobody murmured.
+
+The turkey was white and tender, and it was certainly very well cooked.
+It had a most delicious flavor. And how good the beer was with it! How
+those fellows jollied Merriwell because he would not even taste the
+beer. And still they secretly admired him for it. He had the nerve to
+say no and stick to it, which they could not help admiring.
+
+When the turkey was all gone cigars were passed, and nearly every one
+"fired up." Then Harry and Frank got out a banjo and mandolin and gave
+the party some lively music. It was long after two o'clock, but who
+cared for that? Nobody thought of the hour. If Mrs. Harrington
+complained in the morning, she must be pacified with a peace offering.
+
+They sang "Old Man Moses," "Solomon Levi," "Bingo," and a dozen more.
+There were some fine voices among them. Finally a quartet was formed,
+consisting of Merriwell, Rattleton, Diamond and Blossom. It positively
+was a treat to hear them sing "Good-by, My Little Lady."
+
+  "The boats are pushing from the shore,
+    Good-by, my little lady!
+  With brawny arm and trusty oar,
+    Each man is up and ready;
+  I see our colors dancing
+  Where sunlit waves are glancing;
+  A fond adieu I'll say to you,
+  My lady true and fair.
+
+  "Good-by, good-by, my lady sweet!
+    Good-by, my little lady!
+  Good-by, good-by, again we'll meet,
+    So here's farewell, my lady!"
+
+Oh, those old college songs! How they linger in the memory! How the
+sound of them in after years stirs the blood and quickens the pulse! And
+never can other songs seem half so beautiful as those!
+
+It was after two when the party broke up, but it was a night long to be
+remembered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A SURPRISE FOR FRANK.
+
+
+On the following morning Merriwell arose with a headache.
+
+"The smoke was too much for me last night," he said. "It was thick
+enough to chop in this room."
+
+"And you don't know how I wanted to have a whiff with the fellows," said
+Harry, dolefully. "It was awful to see them enjoying cigars and
+cigarettes and not touch one myself!"
+
+"But you didn't," smiled Frank. "Good boy! Stick to that just as long as
+you wish to keep a place in athletics."
+
+"I don't know which is the worst, smoking or midnight suppers."
+
+"Midnight suppers are bad things, and you will observe that I seldom
+indulge in them. If I was on one of the regular teams I could not
+indulge at all. I'll not have any part in another affair like that of
+last night till after the race. From now till it is over I am going to
+live right."
+
+"Well, I'll do my best to stick with you. If you see me up to anything
+improper, just call me down."
+
+"Agreed."
+
+There was no time for a cold bath before chapel, although Frank would
+have given something to indulge in one. As it was, he dipped his head in
+cold water, opened the window wide, and filled his lungs with fresh air,
+then hustled into his clothes and rushed away, with the chapel bell
+clanging and his temples still throbbing.
+
+The whole forenoon was a drag, but he managed to get through the
+recitations fairly well. Over and over he promised himself that he would
+not indulge in another midnight feast until the time came when such
+dissipation was not likely to do him any particular harm physically.
+
+At noon as he was crossing the campus he was astonished to see Paul
+Pierson, a junior and the manager of the regular ball team, stop and
+bow. Unless it was Pierson who had pursued him on the previous night,
+Frank had never spoken a word to the fellow in his life. And this public
+recognition of a freshman on the campus by a man like Pierson was almost
+unprecedented.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Merriwell, I would like to speak with you," said Pierson in a
+manner that was not exactly unfriendly.
+
+Frank remembered that the fellow who chased him the night before had
+promised to see him again, but he had thought at the time that the man
+did not mean it. Now he wondered what in the world Pierson could want.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Merriwell, stopping and bowing respectfully.
+
+"I understand that you are something of a sprinter," said Pierson as he
+surveyed the freshman critically. "A--ah--friend of mine told me so."
+
+"Well, I don't know, but I believe I can run fairly well," replied
+Frank, with an air of modesty.
+
+"My friend is a very good judge of runners, and he says you're all
+right. In doing so he settled a point in my mind. I have been watching
+your ball playing in practice this fall, and I have arrived at the
+conclusion that you have good stuff in you if you do not get the swelled
+head. Young man, the swelled head is one of the worst things with which
+a youth can be afflicted. When he gets it for fair it is likely to be
+his ruin."
+
+Pierson addressed Frank as if he were a father speaking to a boy. Frank
+felt that the junior was patronizing to a certain extent, but the
+fellow's manner of stopping him on the campus was so remarkable that it
+more than overbalanced his air of superiority.
+
+Wondering what Pierson could be driving at, Frank kept silent and
+listened.
+
+"Now, I have a fancy," said the baseball magnate, "that you are rather
+level headed. Still, the best of them get it sometimes, and that is why
+I am warning you."
+
+Pierson spoke deliberately, still looking hard at the freshman, who
+waited quietly.
+
+"He'll come to the point if he is given time," thought Frank.
+
+"I have seen you pitch," said Pierson, "and I have watched your delivery
+and your curves. You are very good. More than that, you bat properly and
+your judgment is excellent."
+
+He paused again, as if to note what impression this praise made upon the
+other. Frank felt his cheeks grow warm, but his voice was perfectly
+steady as he said:
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+"I did not know just what you would do when it came to running till my
+friend saw you run," Pierson went on. "He says you are all right. Now,
+if you will look out for yourself and keep yourself in condition, it is
+quite possible that you may be given a trial on the regular ball team in
+the spring."
+
+Frank felt his heart give a great jump. On the regular team! Why, he had
+not dreamed of getting there the very first season. Was Pierson giving
+him a jolly?
+
+"Are you serious, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Most certainly, Mr. Merriwell," answered the junior. "I can assure you
+that you stand an excellent chance of having a trial. What the result of
+the trial is will depend entirely upon yourself."
+
+"What position, Mr. Pierson?"
+
+"Well, there is but one position that is not well filled. We've got men
+to burn for every other place. If you are tried at all, it will be in
+the box. Heffiner is the only man we have, and he can't do all the work.
+There will come times when he will be out of condition."
+
+To pitch on the regular ball team! To be given an opportunity when the
+great Heffiner proved out of condition! That was glory indeed. No wonder
+Frank Merriwell tingled with excitement in every part of his body; but
+it was a wonder that he appeared so cool and self contained.
+
+Pierson was surprised by the freshman's manner, for he had expected
+Frank to show excitement and delight.
+
+"What sort of a fellow is this?" he thought. "Does he really understand
+me, or is he a little thick?"
+
+Then he saw by Frank's fine and highly sensitive face that he could not
+be thick, and he began to perceive that the freshman had nerve. That was
+one of the great requirements for a successful pitcher.
+
+"I have spoken of this to you, Mr. Merriwell, so you may be keeping
+yourself in condition through the winter, as you will then stand all the
+better show of making a favorable impression when you are given a
+trial."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+"If I were in your place I would not make any talk about it, for
+something may happen that you will not be given a trial, in which case
+it would be very humiliating if you had publicly stated that you were to
+have a show."
+
+"You may be sure I will say nothing about it, Mr. Pierson."
+
+"That is all. Good-day, sir."
+
+"Good-day, sir."
+
+Pierson passed on, quite aware that a number of students were regarding
+him with the utmost amazement, plainly wondering that he should have
+stopped to talk with a freshman on the campus.
+
+Walter Gordon had seen the two speaking together, and he hastened to
+call the attention of some friends to it.
+
+"Look there!" he cried. "As I live, Merriwell is talking with Pierson!
+What'll you bet the fellow's not making a try to get on the regular ball
+team? Ha! ha! ha! He's got crust enough for it."
+
+"And I am not sure he hasn't the ability for it," said Easy Street.
+
+"Oh, rats!" snapped Walter. "He'd go to pieces in the first inning.
+He'll never make a pitcher in his life."
+
+"There are others," murmured Lucy Little.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE YALE SPIRIT.
+
+
+Frank went to his room with his head in a whirl. He had dreamed of
+working hard to secure a place on the freshman team, but he had not
+dreamed there was a possibility that he would be given a trial in the
+regular Yale nine during his first year in college.
+
+Merriwell knew well enough that Phillips men were given the preference
+in everything at Yale as a rule, for they had friends to pull them
+through, while the fellows who had been prepared by private tutors
+lacked such an advantage.
+
+But Frank had likewise discovered that in most cases a man was judged
+fairly at Yale, and he could become whatever he chose to make himself,
+in case he had the ability.
+
+The Phillips man might have the advantage at the start, but he could not
+hold the advantage unless he proved himself worthy. If the unknown
+student had nerve and determination he could win his way for all of the
+wire pulling of the friends of some rival who was not so capable.
+
+Frank had heard the cry which had been raised at that time that the old
+spirit of democracy was dying out at Yale, and that great changes had
+taken place there. He had heard that Yale was getting to be more like
+another college, where the swell set are strongly in evidence and the
+senior likely to be very exclusive, having but a small circle of
+speaking acquaintances.
+
+It was said that in the old days the Yale junior or senior knew
+everybody worth knowing. But this had changed. The blue-blooded
+aristocrat had appeared at Yale, and he had chosen his circle of
+acquaintances with great care. To all outward appearances, this man
+believed that outside his limited circle there was nobody at Yale worth
+knowing.
+
+Professor Scotch, Frank's guardian, had read this in certain newspaper
+articles relating to Yale, and had expressed his regret that such should
+be the case.
+
+After coming to Yale Frank kept his eyes open to see to what extent such
+a state of affairs obtained. At first it had seemed that the newspapers
+were right, but he came to see that his position as freshman did not
+give him the proper opportunity to judge.
+
+In the course of time Frank came to believe that the old spirit was
+still powerful at Yale. There were a limited number of young gentlemen
+who plainly considered themselves superior beings, and who positively
+refused to make acquaintances outside a certain limit; but those men
+held no positions in athletics, were seldom of prominence in the
+societies, and were regarded as cads by the men most worth knowing. They
+were to be pitied, not envied.
+
+At Yale the old democratic spirit still prevailed. The young men were
+drawn from different social conditions, and in their homes they kept to
+their own set; but they seemed to leave this aside, and they mingled and
+submerged their natural differences under that one broad generalization,
+"the Yale man."
+
+And Merriwell was to find that this extended even to their social life,
+their dances, their secret societies, where all who showed themselves to
+have the proper dispositions and qualifications were admitted without
+distinction of previous condition or rank in their own homes.
+
+Each class associated with itself, it is true, the members making no
+close friendships with members of other classes, with the possible
+exception of the juniors and seniors, where class feeling did not seem
+to run so high. A man might know men of other classes, but he never took
+them for chums.
+
+The democratic spirit at Yale came mainly from athletics, as Frank soon
+discovered. Every class had half a dozen teams--tennis, baseball,
+football, the crew and so on. Everybody, even the "greasy" grinds,
+seemed interested in the something, and so one or more of these
+organization had some sort of a claim on everybody.
+
+Besides this, there was the general work in the gymnasium, almost every
+member of every class appearing there at some time or other, taking
+exercise as a pastime or a necessity.
+
+The 'Varsity athletic organization drew men from every class, not
+excepting the professional and graduate schools, and, counting the
+trials and everything, brought together hundreds of men.
+
+In athletics strength and skill win, regardless of money or family; so
+it happened that the poorest man in the university stood a show of
+becoming the lion and idol of the whole body of young men.
+
+Compulsory chapel every morning brought together the entire college, and
+had its effect in making everybody acquainted with everybody else.
+
+A great fosterer of the democratic spirit was the old Yale fence, over
+the departure of which "old grads" are forever shedding bitter tears.
+The student who had not known the old fence was inclined to smile
+wearily over the expressions of regret at its loss, but still the "old
+grad" continued to insist that the fence was one of the crowning
+beauties of Yale, and that nothing can ever replace it.
+
+On the old fence men read the newspapers, crammed for recitation,
+gossiped, told stories, talked athletics, sung songs, flirted with
+passing girls, and got acquainted. Oh, yes, it was a great fosterer of
+the democratic spirit.
+
+In the promotion of this spirit the drinking places at Yale are
+important factors. At Harvard the men drink in their clubs, the most of
+which are very expensive places, and in the Boston cafés. The Yale men
+drink at Morey's, and Traeger's, and Billy's. Traeger's, where from a
+score to fifty students may be seen any afternoon or evening, is
+furnished in exact imitation of German students' drinking places. In the
+back room is heavy furniture, quaint paintings, and woodwork and
+carvings. It had a sort of subdued cathedral light, which fell softly on
+the mugs which decorated the shelves and mantel.
+
+Frank had proven that it was not necessary for a man to drink at Yale in
+order to be esteemed as a good fellow. Frank was a total abstainer, and
+his friends had found that nothing would induce him to drink or smoke.
+At first they ridiculed him, but they came to secretly admire him, and
+it is certain that his example was productive of no small amount of
+good.
+
+Frank's acquaintances declared he had a mighty nerve, for he was able to
+travel with a crowd that drank and smoked, and still refrained from
+doing either. That was something difficult for them to understand.
+
+It was apparent to everybody that Merriwell's popularity did not depend
+on his ability to absorb beer or his generosity in opening fizz. It came
+from his sterling qualities, his ability as an athlete, his natural
+magnetism, and his genial, sunny nature. Although he was refined and
+gentlemanly, there was not the least suggestion of anything soft or
+effeminate about him.
+
+It is not strange that Merriwell could scarcely believe it possible that
+Paul Pierson had been in earnest. Such a thing seemed altogether too
+good to be true.
+
+"If it's a jolly, he'll not have the satisfaction of knowing that I
+spread it," Frank decided. "Mum is the word with me, and I'll keep right
+on working for a place with the freshmen. Oh, if we can win the race at
+Saltonstall!"
+
+Frank knew that he stood well with Old Put, who was to manage the
+freshman team in the spring. If the freshman crew could defeat the
+sophs, Put would have more confidence than ever in Merriwell.
+
+Frank was thinking these things over, when Harry came in with a rush,
+slamming the door and tripping over a rug in his haste.
+
+"Say! say! say!" he spluttered, staring at Frank.
+
+"Well, what is it?"
+
+"Is it true?"
+
+"Is what true?"
+
+"I heard Paul Pierson was seen talking to you on the campus."
+
+"Well, what of that?"
+
+"Then it is true?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Gracious! Pierson was never known to thing a do--er--do a thing like
+that before!"
+
+"Is that so?"
+
+"Is it so! Why, you know it is so! Think of Pierson--the great and only
+Pierson--talking to a freshman on the campus in the middle of the day!
+Wow!"
+
+"You are excited, Harry. Sit down and cool off."
+
+"I'll sit down, but you must tell me what he was saying to you."
+
+"Must I?"
+
+"Must you? I should say yes! I am dying to know what he could be saying
+to a freshman!"
+
+Frank was troubled, for he saw his roommate's curiosity was aroused to
+the highest notch, and he knew it would be no easy thing to satisfy
+Harry without telling the truth.
+
+"Go ahead," urged Rattleton. "What did Pierson say to you?"
+
+"Oh, he said a number of things," replied Frank, awkwardly.
+
+Harry lifted his eyebrows.
+
+"Haven't a doubt of it," he returned; "but what are they?"
+
+Frank hesitated, and a cloud came to his friend's face.
+
+"You see, it is a private matter," Merriwell explained.
+
+"Oh!"
+
+There was infinite sarcasm in that ejaculation.
+
+"You know I would tell you if I could, Harry," said Frank, rising; "but
+this is a matter which I--"
+
+"Oh, you needn't trouble yourself!" Rattleton cut in, sharply. "I'll
+live just as long and be just as happy."
+
+"Now don't be angry, old man; that is foolish. You know I would tell you
+if I could do so without--"
+
+"Oh, I don't know about that! You are getting so you have secrets
+lately, and you don't seem to trust me. Say, if you think I am a sneak
+and a tattler, say so, for I want to know it. I don't care to room with
+any fellow who doesn't trust me."
+
+Harry was angry, and Frank felt very sorry.
+
+"Old man," said Merriwell, meeting Rattleton's sullen glance with a
+frank, open look, "I do trust you, and you should know it. There is no
+fellow in college I would as soon room with. Still, you should know
+there are some things a man cannot honorably tell even his chum."
+
+Harry was silent.
+
+"Perhaps there are some things about yourself or some friend that you
+would not care to tell me," Frank went on. "I am not going to be
+offended at that. It is your right to tell what you like and keep what
+you like to yourself. A thing like that should not create feeling
+between us."
+
+"But this seems different."
+
+"Does it? Well, I will explain that I told Pierson I would say nothing
+of the matter to anybody. I do not believe in lying. Do you want me to
+break my word in this case?"
+
+"No!" cried Harry. "You are all right again, Frank! You are always
+right! Don't you mind me when I get cranky. I'm a fundering thool--I
+mean a thundering fool! But I do hope Pierson is not working a jolly on
+you."
+
+"He may have tried to work a jolly on me, but he is not succeeding,"
+smiled Frank, whose face had cleared. "And the quieter I keep the
+smaller will be the chance of success, if that is his little game."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+GORDON EXPRESSES HIMSELF.
+
+
+At the first opportunity Frank had a talk with Burnham Putnam, who had
+charge of the freshman crew. He told Put all that had been learned about
+the traitor, and Burn listened with interest and growing anger.
+
+"Who do you think the traitor is?" he asked at last.
+
+"Well, there is a doubt in my mind, and I do not want to accuse
+anybody."
+
+"We have conducted our work with great secrecy."
+
+"We have that."
+
+"And I have repeatedly cautioned the men about talking."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I have warned them that it might mean the ruin of our plans."
+
+"You have."
+
+"And still everything we have done seems to be known."
+
+"That's right."
+
+"The man who has spread this matter has the very best means for
+obtaining information, as he has made no mistake."
+
+"Well, what do you think?"
+
+"The traitor may be the last man we would suspect. He must have some
+cause for playing crooked, though."
+
+"That is the way I regarded it."
+
+Old Put thought the matter over for a few moments. He finally said:
+
+"I don't want to do any man injustice, but the turn affairs have taken
+leads me to think it would be a good plan to drop our spare men entirely
+and put full dependence on a settled crew."
+
+Frank was silent, and so Putnam asked:
+
+"What do you think of that?"
+
+"I think it is a very good plan, and I approve of it."
+
+"Then it is settled. They shall be dropped at once, although it seems
+that the mischief is done now."
+
+"There may be no mischief in it, for the sophs ridicule the innovations
+introduced, and they are surer than ever that they will have a soft
+thing of it.
+
+"They have been fooled several times this fall. I am sorry we shall not
+be able to spring our innovations as a surprise, but we may give them a
+warm time just the same."
+
+That day Putnam informed the spare men that he did not think they would
+be needed any more in training, but asked them to keep in condition till
+after the race, in case anything might happen that they were wanted.
+
+Gordon was enraged immediately, for he had held on and worked through
+everything with the belief that he would finally be given a place on the
+crew.
+
+"So I am dropped, am I?" he said, bitterly. "Well, I rather think I
+understand how it comes about."
+
+Putnam did not like this, and a dark look came to his rugged face.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded, sharply.
+
+"Never mind," returned Walter, with a toss of his head. "It's no use to
+talk it over, but I know a few things."
+
+He turned as if he would go away, but Put put out a hand and stopped
+him, whirling him sharply about.
+
+"See here," said the sturdy manager of the freshman ball team and crew,
+"I want to know just what you mean, Gordon."
+
+"Oh, you do?"
+
+Walter flung to the winds all hope of getting on the crew. He sneered in
+Putnam's face.
+
+"Yes, sir, I do! You talk as if you had not been treated right."
+
+"Have I?"
+
+"I think you have, sir."
+
+"I know I have not!"
+
+Putnam was angry, and his face betrayed it.
+
+"You must prove that, Gordon!"
+
+"I can."
+
+"Do so."
+
+"I may not prove it to your satisfaction, but I can prove it just as
+hard. You have told me that I am in fine form, and I know that you have
+said I have as fine back and shoulders as may be found in the whole
+college."
+
+"I did say that," calmly acknowledged Old Put.
+
+"Well, that counts for something."
+
+"But it does not make you suitable for the crew. There is something more
+needed, as you should know. You must be able to row."
+
+"Is there a man on the crew who pulls a prettier stroke than I? Just
+answer me that, Burn Putnam?"
+
+"You do pull a pretty stroke, but I have been convinced that the men on
+the crew now will hold out, and it is not best to take you in place of
+any of them."
+
+"Who convinced you? I know! It was Merriwell! He is holding Rattleton on
+the crew simply because they are chums, and you are letting him twist
+you around his finger! Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+Gordon's laugh was sarcastic and cutting and it brought a hot flush to
+the face of Old Put.
+
+"You are insolent, Gordon!" he said. "This is an open insult!"
+
+"Is it? Well, I notice you do not deny that Merriwell has held Rattleton
+on the crew in my place."
+
+"I deny that he has held any one on the crew that is not fully capable
+of remaining there on his own merit."
+
+"That sounds first rate! Oh, well, I don't care, anyway! Your crew is
+bound to make a show of itself, and it will be beaten hands down by the
+sophs."
+
+"So that is the opinion you hold, is it?"
+
+"It is."
+
+"And I suppose you have held it all along?"
+
+"I have."
+
+"Then I have made no mistake in dropping you from the crew. You have
+quite satisfied me on that point, Gordon. No man is suitable to hold a
+place on any kind of a crew or team if he holds it in contempt and has
+no confidence in it. He will not work, and his feeling of contempt will
+communicate itself to others, thus demoralizing the whole lot of them.
+Even if he kept his contempt to himself, he is not the man to work his
+heart out in the effort to win. He thinks it is no use to kill himself,
+and he will not make his best effort at any time. It is my policy to
+drop such a man, in case I find him out, and drop him hard. Yes, I am
+quite satisfied, Gordon."
+
+Walter bit his tongue to keep back the fierce words which arose to his
+lips. He felt himself quivering with anger.
+
+"All right! all right!" he said, his voice unsteady. "I am glad you are
+satisfied! But wait till the race is over. Rattleton's glory will be
+gone then. Don't think that he will pull his heart out. A man who smokes
+as much as he does can't pull."
+
+"Smokes! Rattleton does not smoke at all. I observed him at the turkey
+roast. He absolutely refused to smoke."
+
+"Because you were present; but I know for a fact that he smokes behind
+your back, and he smokes almost constantly."
+
+"I cannot believe it. Merriwell would tell me."
+
+"Would he? Ha! ha! ha! You don't know Frank Merriwell yet, but you will
+find him out. That fellow will go to any extreme to injure me, and so it
+is not likely he would tell anything on his chum that would cause you to
+give me his place."
+
+"I am sure you do Merriwell an injustice. He is a man who does not smoke
+himself, and he would not allow his roommate to injure himself smoking.
+However, I will find out about this."
+
+"Do so; but I have found out about it already. I have certain means of
+obtaining information."
+
+"So have the sophs, and they have obtained a great deal," Putnam shot at
+Walter as he turned away.
+
+Putnam collared Merriwell at the first opportunity and demanded to know
+the truth about Rattleton's smoking.
+
+"I know you will tell me the truth, Merry," said Burnham, "and it is
+important that you should."
+
+"Some one has been telling you he is smoking?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, he is not smoking now. I had a talk with him and he swore off. He
+is not touching tobacco in any form, and I give you my word on that."
+
+"That's all I want," said Putnam, quite satisfied.
+
+After this the freshman crew took to practicing nights, and it was said
+that they worked as no crew of freshies every worked before. One night
+they ran up against the regular 'Varsity crew, and gave it a hot pull,
+but finally seemed to be beaten.
+
+The report of this brush spread abroad, and the men on the regular crew
+were rather complimentary toward the freshmen. They said the youngsters
+worked together in a most surprising way, and it was predicted that they
+would give their rivals a hard pull.
+
+The sophs were inclined to regard this as a jolly, and they continued
+confident of winning over the freshmen with the greatest ease.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE TRAITOR DISCOVERED.
+
+
+"I say, Merry," said Rattleton, the day before the race was to come off,
+"you can't guess who Gordon is chumming with lately."
+
+"I don't know as I can. Who is it?"
+
+"Ditson."
+
+"Get out!"
+
+"That's on the level."
+
+"But Ditson the same as suggested outright that Gordon was the traitor
+who had told the sophs so much."
+
+"That is true, but Gordon doesn't know it."
+
+"Well, he ought to. What do you think Ditson is doing?"
+
+"Oh, he is working Gordon, who has been drinking like a fish since Old
+Put dropped him."
+
+Frank was troubled. He did not approve of Ditson, and he feared that
+Gordon had a weak nature, so that he could be easily influenced. Walter
+had greatly taken to heart being dropped by Putnam, and he seemed
+utterly reckless and careless about himself. If he did not look out, he
+was almost sure to get into trouble and find himself "rusticated" or
+sent home for good.
+
+Merriwell could not help thinking it possible that Gordon had been
+innocent and that a mistake had been made in dropping him, as it might
+discourage him so that he would go to the bad. This worried Frank not a
+little.
+
+"I'll have to make Ditson call a halt," he said to Harry. "He must be
+told to let up on Gordon."
+
+"Now, that is dead right," nodded Harry, who was inclined to be generous
+and kindly toward the fellow who might have filled his place on the
+freshman crew. "I tell you that Ditson is a bad man, and I would not
+trust him as far as I can fling a cow by the tail."
+
+"I'll get after him at the first opportunity," promised Frank.
+
+Harry went out and had a talk with Bandy Robinson about the matter.
+Robinson admitted that he did not have much use for either Gordon or
+Ditson, but he was inclined to think Gordon the better fellow of the
+two.
+
+That night Merriwell and Rattleton retired early, but they were not
+allowed to go to sleep. Barely were they in bed before there was a knock
+on the door, and they found Robinson and one of the fellows who lived in
+the house were there.
+
+"Say," said Bandy, "Ditson and Gordon are down at Billy's, and Gordon
+has a great load on. I have told Ditson to let him alone, but was
+advised to mind my own business. Ditson is deliberately getting Gordon
+stiff."
+
+"Is that so?" cried Frank as he made a jump for his clothes. "Well, I
+think I will have a talk with Mr. Ditson."
+
+Frank and Harry dressed quickly, and away they went with Robinson and
+his companion toward Billy's.
+
+On arriving at Billy's they were told that Ditson and Gordon were in the
+little corner behind the screen. Gordon was opening champagne, and both
+fellows were pretty well intoxicated.
+
+Harry slipped up behind the screen, stood on a chair, and peered over.
+As he did so he heard Ditson say:
+
+"That's right, Walter. Merriwell rubbed dirt all over you. He is trying
+to become another king, like Browning, but you can bet I don't lose any
+opportunity to throw him down."
+
+"Throw him down! throw him down!" echoed Gordon, thickly. "That's right;
+but you can't throw him down hard enough to keep him down."
+
+"I don't know about that," declared Roll, with drunken sobriety. "If we
+were to work together, Gordon, old man, we could hurt him. As it is,
+you've helped me out wonderfully in what I've done."
+
+"Have I? How?"
+
+Harry looked around and saw Merriwell preparing to go into the corner
+behind the screen. Then Rattleton made a few violent gestures, which
+plainly told his roommate to refrain.
+
+Frank looked astonished. What could Harry be up to that he appeared so
+excited? He was motioning for Frank to come forward cautiously and join
+him.
+
+Now, Merriwell did not believe in playing the eavesdropper on any one,
+but he fancied Harry saw something he wished to show him, so he went
+forward lightly, placed another chair, got upon it, and looked over the
+screen.
+
+In the meantime Ditson was saying:
+
+"Yes, you've helped me. You know Merriwell is coaching the freshman
+crew--or has been--for the race to-morrow. Well, I don't let any chance
+go to get a jab at him."
+
+"I don't see what that has to do with my helping you," mumbled Gordon,
+vainly trying to light a cigarette with a broken match on which no
+brimstone was left.
+
+"Course yer don't," laughed Ditson, who was almost as full as his
+companion. "This isn't the first time we have been out together, eh, old
+boy?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Only we had to be quiet about it when you were on the crew--or when you
+thought you were on it."
+
+"That's right."
+
+"We have been pretty full once or twice."
+
+"I thought so when we got up the next morning."
+
+"Well, you have told me lots of things about Merriwell and what he was
+doing with the crew. You're a great talker when you're loaded."
+
+Gordon stiffened up a bit and tried to give his companion a sober stare,
+but the effort was a ludicrous failure.
+
+"Wazzyer mean?" he asked. "'Fi told you anything it was in strictest
+confidence."
+
+"Cert; but then, you know, anything to knife Merriwell."
+
+Gordon braced off, his hands on the table before him. Ditson laughed and
+went on:
+
+"Now, if we make a combine against him we can do him bad."
+
+"Wazzyer mean?" Gordon again demanded. "Mean that you repeated anything
+I tol' you in confidence when I was full?"
+
+"Not publicly," grinned Ditson. "I may have used it to injure Merriwell,
+but I was careful how I used it."
+
+Walter thumped the table with his fist, growing angry suddenly.
+
+"You're a hanged two-faced fraud!" he huskily cried. "That's jusht what
+you are, Ditson! Somebody's been telling things to the sophs. They found
+out everything. It was you! And you pumped your points out of me when I
+was full."
+
+"That didn't hurt you," Ditson hastened to declare. "It was entirely to
+hurt Merriwell, and he is our common enemy."
+
+"Don't care a continental if he is!" cried Walter. "I don't like him,
+but you have hurt me. Bet anything Merriwell and Old Put thought I had
+blowed! I didn't have any confidence in Merriwell's methods, but I
+didn't blow to the sophs! Still I was to blame for lettin' you get me
+full and pump me. And the fellows think I'm a tattler! Well, I'll be
+hanged if I don't even up with you by hammering the face off you right
+now!"
+
+Walter stood up and attempted to grasp Ditson's arm, but he was so full
+that he made a miscalculation and caught nothing but empty air. Then he
+struck across the table at Roll.
+
+"Oh, you would hit me, would you!" grated Ditson, who saw that his
+companion was much the drunker. "You would hammer my face! Well, perhaps
+I'll do some hammering myself!"
+
+Then he caught up an empty champagne bottle and swung it over his head
+as if to strike Gordon.
+
+Like a flash Merriwell's hand darted down over the top of the screen and
+snatched the bottle from Roll's grasp.
+
+A moment later Frank went around the screen and confronted the two lads,
+still holding the bottle in his hand.
+
+"I saved you from having a cracked head that time, Gordon," he said as
+he collared Ditson. "And I have found out who the traitor is. I am glad
+you are not the man. As for this thing"--he gave Ditson a shake that
+caused the fellow's teeth to click together--"he has shown to-night that
+he is a most contemptible cur! I hated to think him as dirty as he has
+shown himself to be."
+
+Frank's face was full of unutterable disgust for Ditson.
+
+Other freshmen came crowding into the corner, and Ditson saw himself
+regarded with scorn and contempt by everybody. He cowed like a whipped
+cur and whined:
+
+"I was simply fooling; it was all a jolly. I never did anything of the
+sort. I was simply trying to get Gordon on the string by telling him
+so."
+
+"Well, you got yourself on a string, and pretty well tangled up.
+Gentlemen"--turning to the freshmen present--"here is the traitor who
+has been giving our secrets away to the sophs. Both Rattleton and myself
+heard him acknowledge it. Take a good look at him, so you will know him
+in the future."
+
+"Oh, we'll know him!" cried many voices.
+
+"It's a mistake--" Roll began.
+
+"That's right," agreed Frank. "The worst mistake you ever made. At last
+you have shown just what you are, and everybody is dead onto you. Get
+out of this!"
+
+"Tar and feather him!" shouted a voice.
+
+"Let him go," advised Merriwell. "He is covered with a coating of
+disgrace that will not come off as easily as tar and feathers."
+
+Ditson sneaked away, the hisses of his classmates sounding in his ears.
+The look on his face as he rolled his eyes toward Merriwell before
+leaving the room was malicious in the extreme.
+
+Frank turned to Walter, who did not seem to know what to do.
+
+"Gordon, you have found that fellow out, which is a lucky thing for
+you," he said. "He would have ruined you. At the same time, I have found
+out that you had no hand in the sneaking work that has been going on of
+late. You were simply an unconscious and unwilling tool, and it did me
+good to see you resent it when you found out what Ditson had been
+doing."
+
+Walter tried to say something, but he choked and stammered. Then he
+muttered something about having a drink all around, but Frank assured
+him that he had taken quite enough.
+
+Rattleton and Robinson led the crowd away from the corner, and Merriwell
+had a brief talk with Gordon, Then Harry and Frank took Gordon out and
+did not leave him till he was safely in his room. As they were going
+away Walter thickly said:
+
+"Merriwell!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I want to 'pologize."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Things I've said 'bout you."
+
+"I don't know about them."
+
+"'Cause I've said 'em behind your back. Sneakin' thing to do! Merriwell,
+I'm 'shamed--I am, by thunder! I guess you're all right. Don't b'lieve
+you ever done me dirt. Is it all right, old man?"
+
+"Yes, it's all right."
+
+"Say, that makes me feel better. It does, by thunder! You're a good
+fellow, Merriwell, and I'm--I'm a fool! I talk too much! Drink too much,
+too. You don't talk and you don't drink. You're all right. Good-night,
+Merriwell."
+
+"Good-night, Gordon."
+
+When Frank retired the second time that night it was with a feeling of
+intense relief, for the perplexing problem as to the identity of the
+traitor had been settled, and he felt that he had done Gordon a good
+turn by getting him away from Ditson.
+
+And Ditson? Well, he deserved to pass a wretched night, and he did. He
+felt that he was forever disgraced at Yale, but he did not seem to
+consider it his own fault. He blamed Merriwell for it all, and his heart
+was hot with almost murderous rage. Over and over he swore that he would
+get square some way--any way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE RACE.
+
+
+The day for the race came at last--a sunny day, with the air clear and
+cold. Just the right sort of a day for the best of work.
+
+Everybody seemed bound for Lake Saltonstall. They were going out in
+carriages, hacks, coaches, on foot, by train, and in many other ways.
+The road to the lake was lined with people. The students were shouting,
+singing and blowing horns. One crowd of freshmen had a big banner, on
+which was lettered:
+
+  "'Umpty-eight, she is great,
+  She will win sure as fate."
+
+Evidently the sophomores had been informed about this banner in advance,
+for they carried one which declared:
+
+  "'Umpty-eight isn't in it,
+  She'll be beaten in a minute."
+
+How they shouted and taunted each other! How they raced along the road!
+How sure everybody was that he could pick the winner!
+
+The scene at the lake was beautiful and inspiring, for the shore was
+lined with people and there were flags and bright colors everywhere. On
+the point there was a great mob, composed mostly of students, who were
+yelling and cheering and flaunting their flags. The boats on the lake
+were well filled and gay with colors. New Haven swell society was fairly
+represented, and it certainly was an occasion to stir youthful blood.
+
+The freshman-sophomore-junior race came fourth on the list, and it was
+to be the event of the day. Strangely enough, the juniors were not
+reckoned as dangerous by either freshmen or sophomores. Between the last
+two classes was to come the real tug of war.
+
+In the boathouse the great Bob Collingwood, of the 'Varsity crew, gave
+the freshmen some advice, and they listened to him with positive awe. He
+had heard of Merriwell's attempt to introduce the English stroke, and he
+did not approve of it.
+
+After he had got through Merriwell took his men aside into another part
+of the boathouse and warned them against thinking of anything
+Collingwood had said.
+
+"He is all right when he is talking to men who use his style of oar and
+the regular American stroke, but you will be broke up sure as fate if
+you think of what he has said that disagrees with my instructions. It is
+too late now to make any change, and we must win or lose as we have
+practiced."
+
+"That's right," agreed every man.
+
+"We'll win," said Rattleton, resolutely.
+
+They could hear the cheering as the other races took place, and at last
+it came their turn. How their hearts thumped! And it was Merriwell that
+quieted their unsteady nerves with a few low, calm words, which seemed
+to give them the bracer which they needed before going into the race.
+
+'Umpty-eight yelled like a whole tribe of Indians, wildly waving flags,
+hats and handkerchiefs, as the freshman boat shot out upon the lake,
+with Merriwell at the stroke. They did not row in the buff, as the
+weather was too cold, but all wore thin white shirts, with
+"'Umpty-eight" lettered in blue on the breast.
+
+Old rowers looked the freshmen over with astonishment, for they gave the
+appearance of well-drilled amateurs, and not greenhorns. There were a
+few expressions of approval. The novel stroke was watched and
+criticised, and an old grad who was regarded as authority declared that
+the man who set the stroke for that crew was a comer, providing he was
+built of the right kind of stuff.
+
+Then came the sophs and juniors, both pulling prettily and gracefully,
+and both being cheered by their classes. The juniors were light, but
+they expected to walk away from the freshmen, as they had an expert at
+the stroke and had been coached by Collingwood.
+
+Soon the three crews lined up, and the voice of the referee was heard:
+
+"Are you ready?"
+
+Dead silence.
+
+"Go!"
+
+Away shot the boats, and the sophs took the lead directly, their short,
+snappy stroke giving the boat the required impetus in short order. The
+juniors held close on to them, while the freshmen seemed to take
+altogether too much time to get away, striking a regular, long, swinging
+stroke that seemed to be "overdone," as a jubilant sophomore spectator
+characterized it.
+
+The sophs along the shore and on the point were wild with delight. They
+danced and howled, confident of victory at the very outset. The juniors
+were enthusiastic, but not so demonstrative as the sophomores. The
+freshmen cheered, but there seemed to be disappointment in the sound.
+
+"Whoop 'er up for 'Umpty-seven!" howled the sophs. "Whoop 'er up! 'Rah!
+'rah! 'rah! This is a cinch!"
+
+"'Umpty-eight is in it; she will catch 'em in a minute," sang the
+freshmen. "She is crawling on them!"
+
+"All she can do is crawl!" yelled a soph, but his remark was drowned in
+the wild tumult of noise.
+
+"'Umpty-six is up to tricks!" shouted the juniors. "'Umpty-six, they
+are bricks! Whoop 'er up! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah!"
+
+The yelling of the freshmen became louder, for their crew was holding
+its own--was beginning to gain.
+
+"That is the best freshman crew that ever appeared at Saltonstall,"
+declared a spectator. "Every man seems to be a worker. There's no one
+shirking."
+
+"And look at the stroke oar," urged another. "That fellow is the winner!
+He is working like a veteran, and he is setting a stroke that is bound
+to tell before the race is over."
+
+This was true enough. The strong, long stroke of the freshmen kept their
+boat going steadily at high speed once it was in motion, and they
+steadily overhauled the juniors, who had fallen away from the sophs. At
+the stake the freshman crew passed the juniors, and the freshmen
+witnesses had fits.
+
+But that was not the end of the excitement. The speed of the freshman
+boat was something wonderful, and it was overhauling the sophs, despite
+the fact that they were pulling for dear life to hold the lead.
+
+And now the shouting for 'Umpty-eight was heard on every side. The sophs
+were encouraging their men to hold the advantage to the finish, but
+still the freshmen were gaining.
+
+The nose of the freshman boat crept alongside the sophs, whose faces
+wore a do-or-die look. The suspense was awful, the excitement was
+intense:
+
+Then Rattleton was heard talking:
+
+"Well, this is the greatest snap we ever struck! I wonder how the sophs
+like the Oxford stroke? Oh, my! what guys we are making of them! It
+don't make a dit of bifference how hard they pull, they're not in the
+race at all. Poor sophs! Why don't they get out and walk? They could get
+along faster."
+
+That seemed to break the sophs up, and then a great shout went up as the
+freshman boat forged into the lead. They soon led the sophs by a length,
+and crossed the line thirty feet in advance.
+
+Then Rattleton keeled over, completely done up, but supremely happy.
+
+How the freshmen spectators did cheer!
+
+"'Umpty-eight! 'Umpty-eight! Whoop 'er up! 'Rah! 'rah!' rah!"
+
+It was another great victory for the freshmen--and Frank Merriwell, and
+that night a great bonfire blazed on the campus and the students made
+merry. They blew horns, sang, cheered and had a high old time.
+
+The freshmen made the most noise, and they were very proud and
+aggressive. Never had Yale College freshmen seemed happier.
+
+"Where is Merriwell?" was the question that went around.
+
+A committee was sent to search for him, and they returned with him on
+their shoulders. He tried to get down, but he could not.
+
+Uncle Blossom climbed on a box and shouted:
+
+"Three cheers for 'Umpty-eight, the winners!"
+
+The cheers were given.
+
+Easy Street leaped on another box and yelled:
+
+"Three cheers for Frank Merriwell, the winning oar!"
+
+It seemed that the freshmen were trying to split their throats. And not
+a few juniors joined with them, showing how much admiration Merriwell
+had won outside his own class.
+
+Walter Gordon cheered with the others, but Roland Ditson stood at a
+distance, beating his heart out with rage and jealousy. He was all
+alone, for at Yale not one man was left who cared to acknowledge Ditson
+as a friend.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A CHANGE OF PITCHERS.
+
+
+"The game is lost!"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"Yale has not scored since the second inning."
+
+"That's right. She made one in the first and three in the second, and
+then comes four beautiful whitewashes. Harvard hasn't missed a trick,
+and the score is eleven to four in her favor."
+
+"Lewis, this is awful!"
+
+"Right you are, Jones. Hear those Harvard rooters whoop up! It gives me
+nervous prostration."
+
+The Yale freshmen were playing the Harvard freshmen on the grounds of
+the latter team, and quite a large delegation had come on from New Haven
+to witness the game, which was the second of the series of three
+arranged between the freshmen teams of the two colleges. The first had
+been played at New Haven, and the third was to be played on neutral
+ground.
+
+Yale had won the first game by heavy batting, the final score being
+twelve to eleven. As the regular 'Varsity nine had likewise won the
+first of their series with Harvard, the "Sons of Eli" began to think
+they had a sure thing, and those who came on from New Haven were dead
+sure in their minds that they would bring back the scalps of the Harvard
+freshmen. They said over and over that there would be no need of a third
+game to settle the matter; Yale would settle it in the second.
+
+Walter Gordon had pitched the whole of the first Harvard game. He had
+been hammered for thirteen singles, two two-baggers, and a three-bagger,
+and still Yale had pulled out, which was rather remarkable. But Walter
+had managed to keep Harvard's hits scattered, while Yale bunched their
+hits in two innings, which was just enough to give them the winning
+score.
+
+It was said that Frank Merriwell was to be given a show in the second
+game, and a large number of Yale men who were not freshmen had come on
+to see what he would do. Pierson had been particularly anxious to see
+Merriwell work, and he had taken a great deal of trouble to come on. The
+"great and only" Bob Collingwood, of the 'Varsity crew, had accompanied
+Pierson, and both were much disappointed, not to say disgusted, when Old
+Put put in Gordon and kept him in the box, despite the fact that he was
+being freely batted.
+
+"What's the matter with Putnam?" growled Pierson. "Has he got a grudge
+against Merriwell, or does he intend to lose this game anyway?"
+
+"He's asleep," said Collingwood, wearily. "He's stuck on Gordon."
+
+"He must be thick if he can't see Gordon is rapidly losing his nerve.
+Why, the fellow is liable to go to pieces at any minute and let those
+Willies run in a score that will be an absolute disgrace."
+
+"Go down and talk to him, Pierson."
+
+"Not much! I am too well known to the Harvard gang. They wouldn't do a
+thing to me--not a thing!"
+
+"Then let's get out of here. It makes me sick to hear that Harvard yell.
+I can't stand it, Pierson."
+
+"Wait. I want to see Merriwell go into the box, if they will let him at
+all. That's what I came for."
+
+"But he can't save the game now. The Yale crowd is not doing any
+batting. All Harvard has to do is to hold them down, and they scarcely
+have touched Coulter since the second inning."
+
+"That's right, but the fellow is easy, Coll. If they ever should get
+onto him--"
+
+"How can they? They are not batters."
+
+Pierson nodded.
+
+"That is true," he admitted. "They are weak with the stick. Diamond is
+the only man who seems to know how to go after a ball properly. He is
+raw, but there is mighty good stuff in that fellow. If he sticks to
+baseball he will be on the regular team before he finishes his course."
+
+"I believe Merriwell has shown up well as a batter in practice."
+
+"He certainly has."
+
+"Well, I should think Old Put would use him for his hitting, if for
+nothing else. He is needed."
+
+"It seems to me that there is a nigger in the woodpile."
+
+"You think Merriwell is held back for reasons not known?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Say, by jingoes! I am going down and talk to Putnam. If he doesn't give
+Merriwell a trial he's a chump."
+
+"Hold on."
+
+"What for? If I wait it will be too late for Merriwell to go in on the
+first of the seventh."
+
+"Perhaps Merriwell may stand on his dignity and refuse to go in at all
+at this late stage of the game."
+
+"He wouldn't be to blame if he did, for he can't win out."
+
+"Something is up. Hello! Merriwell is getting out of his sweater! I
+believe Putnam is going to send him out!"
+
+There was a great satisfaction in Pierson's voice. At last it seemed
+that he would get a chance to see Merriwell work.
+
+"Somebody ought to go down and rap Putnam on the coco with a big heavy
+club!" growled Collingwood. "He should have made the change long ago.
+The Harvard Willies have been piling up something every inning."
+
+Down on the visitors' bench Merriwell was seen to peel off, while Gordon
+was talking rather excitedly to Burnham Putnam. It seemed evident by his
+manner that he was speaking of something that did not please him very
+much.
+
+Merriwell was pulled out of his sweater, and then somebody tossed him a
+practice ball. Little Danny Griswold, the Yale shortstop, put on a
+catcher's mitt and prepared to catch for Frank.
+
+Yale was making a last desperate struggle for a score in the sixth
+inning. With one man out and a man on first, a weak batter came up. If
+the batter tried to get a hit, it looked like a great opportunity for a
+double play by Harvard.
+
+Old Put, who was in uniform, ran down to first, and sent in the coacher,
+whose place he took on the line. Then he signaled the batter to take
+one, his signal being obeyed, and it proved to be a ball.
+
+Put was a great coacher, and now he opened up in a lively way, with
+Robinson rattling away over by third. Put was not talking simply to
+rattle the pitcher; he was giving signals at the same time, and he
+signed for the man on first to go down on the next pitch, at the same
+time giving the batter the tip to make a fake swing at the ball to
+bother the catcher.
+
+This programme was carried out, and it worked, for the runner got second
+on a slide and a close decision.
+
+Then the Yale rooters opened their throats, and blue banners fluttered
+in a bunch over on the bleachers where the New Haven gang was packed
+together.
+
+"Yell, you suckers, yell!" cried Dickson, Harvard's first baseman. "It's
+the only chance you'll get."
+
+His words were drowned in the tumult and noise.
+
+Up in the grand stand there was a waving of blue flags and white
+handkerchiefs, telling that there were not a few of the fair spectators
+who sympathized with the boys from New Haven.
+
+Then the man at the bat reached first on a scratch hit and a fumble, and
+there seemed to be a small rift in the clouds which had lowered over the
+heads of the Yale freshmen so long.
+
+But the next man up promptly fouled out, and the clouds seemed to close
+in again as dark as ever.
+
+In the meantime Frank was warming up with the aid of Danny Griswold, and
+Walter Gordon sat on the bench, looking sulky and downcast.
+
+"Gordon is a regular pig," said one of the freshman players to a
+companion. "He doesn't know when he has enough."
+
+"Well, we know we have had enough of him this game," said the other,
+sourly. "If we had played a rotten fielding game Harvard would have a
+hundred now."
+
+"Well, nearly that," grinned the first speaker. "Gordon hasn't struck
+out a man."
+
+"And still he is sore because Putnam is going to put Merriwell in! I
+suppose that is natural, but--Hi, there! look a' that! Great Scott! what
+sloppy work! Did you see Newton get caught playing off second? Well,
+that gives me cramps! Come on; he's the last man, and we'll have to go
+out."
+
+So, to the delight of the Harvard crowd, Yale was whitewashed again, and
+there seemed no show for the New Haven boys to win.
+
+Walter Gordon remained on the bench, and Frank walked down into the box.
+Then came positive proof of Merriwell's popularity, for the New Haven
+spectators arose as one man, wildly waving hats and flags, and gave
+three cheers and a tiger for Frank.
+
+"That's what kills him!" exclaimed Pierson in disgust. "It is sure to
+rattle any green man."
+
+"That's right," yawned Collingwood. "It's plain we have wasted our time
+in coming here to-day."
+
+"It looks that way from the road. Why couldn't the blamed chumps keep
+still, so he could show what he is made of?"
+
+"It's ten to one he won't be able to find the plate for five minutes. I
+believe I can see him shaking from here."
+
+The Harvard crowd had never heard of Merriwell, and they regarded him
+with no little interest as he walked into the box. When the Yale
+spectators were through cheering Harvard took it up in a derisive way,
+and it certainly was enough to rattle any fellow with ordinary nerves.
+
+But Frank did not seem to hear all the howling. He paid no attention to
+the cheers of his friends or the jeers of the other party. He seemed in
+no great hurry. He made sure that every man was in position, felt of the
+pitcher's plate with his foot, kicked aside a small pebble, and then
+took any amount of time in preparing to deliver.
+
+Collingwood began to show some interest. He punched Pierson in the ribs
+with his elbow and observed:
+
+"Hanged if he acts as if he is badly rattled!"
+
+"That's so. He doesn't seem to be in a hurry," admitted Paul. "He is
+using his head at the very start, for he is giving himself time to
+become cool and steady."
+
+"He has Gibson, the best batter on the Harvard team, facing him. Gibson
+is bound to get a safe hit."
+
+"He is pretty sure to, and that is right."
+
+Merriwell knew that Nort Gibson was the heaviest and surest batter on
+the Harvard team, but he had been watching the fellow all through the
+game, trying to "get his alley." He had seen Gibson light on a drop and
+smash it fiercely, and then he had seen him get a safe hit off a rise,
+while an outcurve did not fool him at all, as he would bang it if it
+came over the plate or let it alone when it went outside.
+
+Frank's mind was made up, and he had resolved to give Gibson everything
+in close to his fingers. Then, if he did hit it, he was not liable to
+knock it very far.
+
+The first ball Merriwell delivered looked like a pretty one, and Gibson
+went after it. It was an inshoot, and the batter afterward declared it
+grazed his knuckles as it passed.
+
+"One strike!" called the umpire.
+
+"What's this! what's this!" exclaimed Collingwood, sitting up and
+rubbing his eyes. "What did he do, anyway?"
+
+"Fooled the batter with a high inshoot," replied Pierson.
+
+"Well, he doesn't seem to be so very rattled after all."
+
+"Can't tell yet. He did all right that time, but Gibson has two more
+chances. If he gets a drop or an outcurve that is within reach, he will
+kill it."
+
+Ben Halliday was catching for Yale. Rattleton, the change catcher and
+first baseman, was laid off with a bad finger. He was rooting with the
+New Haven gang.
+
+Halliday returned the ball and signaled for a rise, but Merriwell shook
+his head and took a position that meant that he wished to try the same
+thing over again. Halliday accepted, and then Frank sent the ball like a
+shot.
+
+This time it seemed a certain thing that Frank had depended on a high
+straight ball, and Gibson could not let it pass. He came near breaking
+his back trying to start the cover on the ball, but once more he fanned
+the air.
+
+"Great Jupiter!" gasped Collingwood, who was now aroused. "What did he
+do then, Pierson?"
+
+"Fooled the fellow on the same thing exactly!" chuckled Paul. "Gibson
+wasn't looking for two in the same place."
+
+Now the freshmen spectators from Yale let themselves out. They couldn't
+wait for the third strike, but they cheered, blew horns and whistles,
+and waved flags and hats.
+
+Merriwell had a trick of taking up lots of time in a busy way without
+pitching the ball while the excitement was too high, and his appearance
+seemed to indicate that he was totally deaf to all the tumult.
+
+"That's right, Merry, old boy!" yelled an enthusiastic New Haven lad.
+"Trim his whiskers with them."
+
+"Wind them around his neck, Frank!" cried Harry Rattleton. "You can do
+it!"
+
+Rattleton had the utmost confidence in his chum, and he had offered to
+bet that not one of the first three men up would get a safe hit off him.
+Sport Harris, who was always looking for a chance to risk something,
+promptly took Harry up, and each placed a "sawbuck" in the hands of
+Deacon Dunning.
+
+"I am sorry for you, Harris," laughed Rattleton after Gibson had missed
+the second time, "but he's going to use them all that way."
+
+"Wait, my boy," returned Sport, coolly. "I am inclined to think this man
+will get a hit yet."
+
+"I'll go you ten to five he doesn't."
+
+"Done!"
+
+They had no time to put up the money, for Merriwell was at work again,
+and they were eager to watch him.
+
+The very next ball was an outcurve, but it was beyond Gibson's reach and
+he calmly let it pass. Then followed a straight one that was on the
+level with the top of the batter's head, and Gibson afterward expressed
+regret that he did not try it. The third one was low and close to
+Gibson's knees.
+
+Three balls had been called in succession, and the next one settled the
+matter, for it stood three to two.
+
+"Has he gone to pieces?" anxiously asked Collingwood.
+
+"I don't think so," answered Pierson, "but he has wasted good
+opportunities trying to pull Gibson. He is in a bad place now."
+
+"You have him in a hole, Gibson," cried a voice. "The next one must be
+right over, and he can't put it there."
+
+"It looks as if you would win, Rattleton," said Harris in mild disgust.
+"Merriwell is going to give the batter his base, and so, of course, he
+will not get a hit."
+
+Harry was nettled, and quick as a flash returned:
+
+"Four balls hits for a go--I mean goes for a hit in this case."
+
+Harris laughed.
+
+"Now I have you sure," he chuckled.
+
+"In your mind, Sport, old boy."
+
+Merriwell seemed to be examining the pitcher's plate, then he looked up
+like a flash, his eyes seeming to sparkle, and with wonderful quickness
+delivered the ball.
+
+"It's an outcurve," was the thought which flashed through Gibson's mind
+as he saw the sphere had been started almost directly at him.
+
+If it was an outcurve it seemed certain to pass over the center of the
+plate, and it would not do to let it pass. It was speedy, and the
+batter was forced to make up his mind in a fraction of a second.
+
+He struck at it--and missed!
+
+"Three strikes--batter out!" called the umpire, sharply.
+
+Gibson dropped his stick in a dazed way, muttering:
+
+"Great Scott! it was a straight ball and close to my fingers!"
+
+He might have shouted the words and not been heard, for the Yale rooters
+were getting in their work for fair. They gave one great roar of
+delight, and then came the college yell, followed by the freshman cheer.
+At last they were given an opportunity to use their lungs, after having
+been comparatively silent for several innings.
+
+"Whoop 'er up for 'Umpty-eight!" howled a fellow with a heavy voice.
+"What's the matter with 'Umpty-eight?"
+
+"She's all right!" went up the hoarse roar.
+
+"What's the matter with Merriwell?"
+
+"He's all right!" again came that roar.
+
+When the shouting had subsided, Rattleton touched Harris on the shoulder
+and laughingly asked:
+
+"Do I win?"
+
+"Not yet. There are two more coming."
+
+"But I win just as hard, my boy."
+
+"Hope you do."
+
+The next Harvard batter came up, determined to do something, although
+he was a trifle uncertain. He let the first one pass and heard a strike
+called, which did not please him much. The second one was a coaxer, and
+he let that ball go by. The umpire called a ball. The third was a high
+one, but it looked good, and he tried for it. It proved to be a rise,
+and he struck under it at least a foot.
+
+Bob Collingwood was growing enthusiastic.
+
+"That Merriwell is full of tricks," he declared. "Think how he secretly
+coached the freshman crew up on the Oxford stroke last fall and won the
+race at Saltonstall. If it hadn't been for a traitor nobody would have
+known what he was doing with the crew, for he wouldn't let them practice
+at the machines."
+
+"I have had my eye on him ever since he entered Yale," confessed
+Pierson. "I have seen that he is destined to come to the front."
+
+The batter seemed angry because he had been deceived so easily, and this
+gave Frank satisfaction, for an angry man can be deceived much easier
+than one who keeps cool.
+
+Merriwell held them close in on the batter, who made four fouls in
+succession, getting angrier each moment. By this time an outdrop was the
+thing to fool him, and it worked nicely.
+
+"Three strikes and out!" called the umpire.
+
+Frank had struck out two men, and the Yale crowd could not cheer loud
+enough to express their delight.
+
+Old Put was delighted beyond measure, but he was keeping pretty still,
+for he knew what he was sure to hear if Yale did not pull the game out
+some way. He knew everybody would be asking him why he did not put
+Merriwell in the box before.
+
+Lewis Little was hugging himself with satisfaction, while Dismal Jones'
+long face actually wore something suggestive of a smile.
+
+Rattleton felt like standing on his head and kicking up his heels with
+the delight he could not express.
+
+"Oh, perhaps they will give Frank a show after this!" he thought.
+"Didn't I tell Put, the blooming idiot? It took him a long time to get
+out of his trance."
+
+Sport Harris coolly puffed away at a black cigar, seemingly perfectly
+unconcerned, like a born gambler. He had black hair and a faint line of
+a mustache. He was rather handsome in a way, but he had a pronounced
+taste for loud neckties.
+
+The next batter to come up was nervous, as could be seen at a glance. He
+did not wish to strike out, but he was far too eager to hit the ball,
+and he went after a bad one at the very start, which led him to get a
+mild call down from the bench.
+
+Then the fellow let a good one pass, which rattled him worse than ever.
+The next looked good and he swung at it.
+
+He hit it, and it went up into the air, dropping into Merriwell's hands,
+who did not have to step out of his tracks to get it.
+
+Yale had whitewashed Harvard for the first time in that game.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE GAME GROWS HOTTER.
+
+
+By the noise the Yale crowd made one might have fancied the game was
+theirs beyond a doubt.
+
+"Poor fellows!" said one languid Harvardite to an equally languid
+companion. "It's the only chawnce they have had to cheer. Do let them
+make a little noise."
+
+"Yas," said his companion, "do. It isn't at all likely they will get
+another opportunity during this game."
+
+There were cheers for Merriwell, but Frank walked to the bench and put
+on his sweater as if utterly unconscious of the excitement he had
+created. His unconcerned manner won fresh admiration for him.
+
+Old Put congratulated Frank as soon as the bench was reached.
+
+"That was great work, Merriwell. Keep it up! Keep it up!"
+
+"That kind of work will not win the game as the score stands," returned
+Frank. "Some batting must be done, and there must be some score
+getting."
+
+"You are right, and you are the second man up this inning. See what you
+can do."
+
+"If I had known I came so soon I wouldn't have put on my sweater."
+
+"Keep it on. You must not get chilly. We can't tell what may happen.
+Harder games than this have been pulled out. They lead us but five
+scores."
+
+"Blossom bats ahead of me, does he? Well, he never got a hit when one
+was wanted in all his life; but he's got a trick that is just as good,
+if he will try to work it."
+
+"Getting hit by the ball? He is clever at that. Tell him to work the
+dodge this time if he can. Get him onto first some way. We must have
+some scores, if we steal them."
+
+"I wish we might steal a few."
+
+"If I get first and Blossom is ahead of me on second, let us try the
+double steal. I may be caught at second or he may be caught at third,
+and there is a bare possibility that we'll both make our bags. At any
+rate, but one of us is liable to be caught, and if it is Blossom it will
+leave us scarcely any worse off than before. If it is myself, why,
+Blossom will be on third, we'll have one man out, and stand a good show
+of scoring once at least."
+
+Merriwell said this in a quiet manner, not at all as if he were trying
+to dictate, and Putnam made no reply. However, he spoke to Blossom, who
+was picking out his bat.
+
+"Look here, Uncle," he said, "I want you to get first base in some way.
+Do you understand?--in some way. If you can't make a hit or get it on
+balls, get hit."
+
+Blossom made a wry face.
+
+"Coulter's got speed to burn," he said, "but I'll try to get hit if he
+gives me an in, even though it kills me."
+
+"That's what I want," returned Old Put, grimly. "Never mind if it does
+kill you. We are after scores, and a life or two is of small
+consequence."
+
+"That's a pleasant way of looking at it," muttered Blossom as he
+advanced to the plate. "Here goes nothing!"
+
+The very first ball was an inshoot, and Blossom pretended to dodge and
+slip. The ball took him in the side and keeled him over instantly. He
+was given a little water, whereupon he got up and trotted down to first,
+his hand clinging to his side, but grinning a bit in a sly way.
+
+There was a brief discussion about giving Blossom a runner, but when one
+was chosen who could not run as well as he could himself, he suddenly
+found himself in condition to get along all right.
+
+Merriwell took his place at the bat, having selected a bat that was a
+trifle over regulation length, if anything.
+
+Frank saw a hole in right field, and he hoped to be able to place a hit
+right there. If he could do it, there was a chance for Blossom to get
+around to third on a single.
+
+Coulter knew nothing of Merriwell's batting, so he was forced to
+experiment on the man. He tried a drop that almost hit the plate, but
+Frank did not bite. Then Coulter sent over a high one, and still
+Merriwell refused to swing, and two balls had been called.
+
+Coulter had a trick of holding a man close on first, and so Blossom had
+not obtained lead enough to attempt to steal second.
+
+Frank felt that Coulter would make an attempt to get the next one over
+the outside or inside corner of the plate, as it would not do to have
+three balls in succession called without a single strike.
+
+Merriwell was right. Coulter sent one over the inside corner, using a
+straight ball. Still Merriwell did not offer at it, for he could not
+have placed it in the right field if he had tried.
+
+"One strike!" called the umpire.
+
+Although he seemed quite unconcerned, Sport Harris had been nettled when
+Rattleton won the ten-dollar bet, and he now said:
+
+"I will go you even money, Rattleton, that Merriwell does not get a
+hit. If he goes down on four balls the bet is off."
+
+"I'll stand you," nodded Harry, laughingly. "Why, Harris, I never
+dreamed you were such an easy mark! Merriwell is bound to get a hit."
+
+"Ha! ha!" mocked Harris. "Is that so? And he just let a good one pass
+without wiggling his bat!"
+
+"It wasn't where he wanted it."
+
+"And Coulter will not give him one where he wants it."
+
+"Coulter doesn't know anything about Merriwell's batting, and so he is
+liable to make a break at any moment."
+
+This proved right, for Coulter tried to fool Frank with an outcurve on
+the next delivery. He started the ball exactly as he had the one before
+it, to all appearances as if he meant to send another straight one over
+the inside corner. He believed Merriwell would bite at it, and he was
+right.
+
+But right there Coulter received a shock, for Merriwell leaned forward
+as he swung, assuming such a position that the ball must have hit him if
+it had been a straight one. It had a sharp, wide curve, and passed at
+least ten inches beyond the plate.
+
+Passed? Not much! Merriwell hit it, and sent a "daisy cutter" down into
+right field, exactly where he wished to place it.
+
+Down on the coach line near first little Danny Griswold had
+convulsions. He whooped like a wild Indian.
+
+"Spring, ye snails! Tear up the dust, ye sons of Eli! Two--make it two,
+Blos, old boy! Why, this game is easy now! We've just got started!
+Whoop! Whoopee!"
+
+In going over second Blossom tripped and fell heavily. When he scrambled
+to his feet he was somewhat dazed, and it was too late for him to try
+for third. He saw Halliday down by third motioning wildly for him to get
+back and hold second, but there was such a roar of voices that he could
+not hear a word the coachers were saying. However, the signals were
+enough, and he got back.
+
+Now the "Sons of Eli" were all on their feet, and they were making the
+air quiver. It was enough to inspire any man to do or die, and it is
+doubtful if there was not a man on the Yale team who did not feel at
+that moment that he was willing to lay down his life, if necessary, to
+win that game.
+
+When the shouting had subsided in a measure, Rattleton was heard to
+shout from his perch on the shoulders of a companion, to which position
+he had shinned in his excitement:
+
+"Right here is where we trick our little do, gentlemen--er--I mean we do
+our little trick. Ready to the air of 'Oh, Give Us a Drink, Bartender.'
+Let her go!"
+
+Then the Yale crowd broke into an original song, the words of which
+were:
+
+  "Oh, hammer it out, Old Eli, Old Eli,
+    As you always have, you know;
+  For it's sure that we're all behind you, behind you,
+    And we will cheer you as you go.
+  We're in the game to stay, my lads, my lads,
+    We will win it easily, too;
+  So give three cheers for old 'Umpty-eight--
+          Three cheers for the boys in blue!
+             Breka Co ax, Co ax, Co ax!
+             Breka Co ax, Co ax, Co ax!
+                  O--up! O--up!
+                   Parabaloo--
+                Yale! Yale! Yale!
+                'Rah! 'rah! 'rah!
+                      Yale!"
+
+The enthusiasm which this created was immense, and the next man walked
+up to the plate filled with determination. However, Old Put was shrewd
+enough to know the man might be too eager, and so he gave the signal for
+him to take one anyway.
+
+Coulter was decidedly nervous, as was apparent to everybody, and it
+seemed that there was a chance of getting him badly rattled. That was
+exactly what the Yale crowd was doing its best to accomplish.
+
+Merriwell crept away from first for a long lead, but it was not easy to
+get, as Coulter drove him back with sharp throws each time. Then Blossom
+came near being caught napping off second, but was given "safe" on a
+close decision.
+
+Suddenly Coulter delivered, and the batter obeyed Old Put and did not
+offer, although it was right over the heart of the plate.
+
+"One strike!" was called.
+
+Now came the time for the attempted double steal that Frank had
+suggested. Putnam decided to try it on, and he signaled for it. At the
+same time he signaled the batter to make a swing to bother the catcher,
+but not to touch the ball.
+
+Frank pretended to cling close to first, but he was watching for
+Coulter's slightest preliminary motion in the way of delivery. It came,
+and Old Put yelled from the coach line, where he had replaced Griswold:
+
+"Gear!"
+
+Frank got a beautiful start, and Blossom made a break for third. If
+Blossom had secured a lead equal to Merriwell's he would have made third
+easily. As it was, the catcher snapped the ball down with a short-arm
+throw, and Blossom was caught by a foot.
+
+Then it was Harvard's turn, and the Cambridge lads made the most of it.
+A great roar went up, and the crimson seemed to be fluttering
+everywhere.
+
+"Har-vard! Har-vard! Har-vard! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah! 'Rah! 'rah! 'rah! 'Rah!
+'rah! 'rah! Harvard!"
+
+One strike and one ball had been called on the batter, and Merriwell
+was on second, with one man out. Yale was still longing vainly for
+scores. It began to look as if they would still be held down, and
+Coulter was regaining his confidence.
+
+Frank was aware that something sensational must be done to keep Coulter
+on the string. He longed for an opportunity to steal third, but knew he
+would receive a severe call down from Old Put if he failed. Still he was
+ready to try if he found the opportunity.
+
+Frank took all the lead he could secure, going up with the shortstop
+every time the second baseman played off to fill the right field gap. He
+was so lively on his feet that he could go back ahead of the baseman
+every time, and Coulter gave up trying to catch him after two attempts.
+
+Frank took all the ground he could, and seeing the next ball was an
+outdrop he legged it for third.
+
+"Slide! slide! slide!" howled the astonished Halliday, who was still on
+the coach line at third.
+
+Frank obeyed, and he went over the ground as if he had been greased for
+the occasion. He made the steal with safety, having a second to spare.
+
+Rattleton lost his breath yelling, and the entire Yale crowd howled as
+one man. The excitement was at fever pitch.
+
+Bob Collingwood was gasping for breath, and he caught hold of Paul
+Pierson, shouting in his ear:
+
+"What do you think of that?"
+
+"Think of it?" returned Pierson. "It was a reckless piece of work, and
+Merriwell would have got fits if he'd failed."
+
+"But he didn't fail."
+
+"No; that lets him out. He is working to rattle Coulter, but he took
+desperate chances. I don't know but it's the only way to win this game."
+
+"Of course it is."
+
+"Merriwell is a wonderful runner. I found that out last fall, when I
+made up as Professor Grant and attempted to relieve him of a turkey he
+had captured somewhere out in the country. I blocked his road at the
+start, but he slugged me with the turk and then skipped. I got after
+him, and you know I can run some. Thought I was going to run him down
+easily or make him drop the bird; but I didn't do either and he got
+away. Oh, he is a sprinter, and it is plain he knows how to steal bases.
+I believe he is the best base runner on the freshman team, if he is not
+too reckless."
+
+"He is a dandy!" exclaimed Collingwood. "I have thought the fellow was
+given too much credit, but I've changed my mind. Pierson, I believe he
+is swift enough for the regular team. What do you think of it?"
+
+"I want to see more of his work before I express myself."
+
+Merriwell's steal had indeed rattled Coulter, who became so nervous that
+he sent the batter down to first on four balls.
+
+Then, with the first ball delivered to the next man up, the fellow on
+first struck out for second.
+
+Merriwell was playing off third, and pretended to make a break for home
+as the catcher made a short throw to the shortstop, who ran in behind
+Coulter, took the ball and lined it back to the plate.
+
+But Frank had whirled about and returned to third, so the play was
+wasted, and the runner reached second safely.
+
+Then there was more Yale enthusiasm, and Coulter was so broken up that
+he gave little Danny Griswold a shoulder ball right over the heart of
+the plate.
+
+Griswold "ate" high balls, as the Harvard pitcher very well knew. He did
+not fail to make connection with this one, and drove it to deep left for
+two bags, bringing in two runs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE END OF THE GAME.
+
+
+Now the New Haven crowd took their turn, and took it in earnest.
+Rattleton stood upon the shoulders of a friend, and fell off upon the
+heads of the crowd as he was cheering. He didn't mind that, for he kept
+right on cheering.
+
+"Merriwell, I believe you have broken the streak!" cried Old Put, with
+inexpressible satisfaction.
+
+"Well, I sincerely hope so," returned Frank. "I rather think we are all
+right now, but we've got a hard pull ahead of us. Harvard is still five
+in the lead, you know."
+
+"If you can hold them down--"
+
+"I am going to do my best."
+
+"If you save this game the boys won't do a thing when we get back to New
+Haven--not a thing!"
+
+The next batter flied out to shortstop, and Griswold remained on second.
+
+Now there was suspense, for Yale had two men out. A sudden hush fell on
+the field, broken only by the voices of the two coachers.
+
+Coulter had not recovered his nerve, and the next batter got a safe hit
+into right field, while Danny Griswold's short legs fairly twinkled as
+he scudded down to third and then tore up the dust in a mighty effort to
+get home on a single.
+
+Every Yale man was on his feet cheering again, and Danny certainly
+covered ground in a remarkable manner. Head first he went for the plate.
+
+The right fielder secured the ball and tried to stop Danny at the plate
+by a long throw. The throw was all right, but Griswold was making too
+much speed to be caught.
+
+The instant Old Put, who had returned to the coach line, saw that the
+fielder meant to throw home, he howled for the batter to keep right on
+for second.
+
+Griswold scored safely, and the catcher lost little time in throwing to
+second.
+
+"Slide!" howled a hundred voices.
+
+The runner obeyed, and he got in under the baseman, who had been forced
+to take a high throw.
+
+It is impossible to describe what followed. The most of the Yale
+spectators acted as if they had gone crazy, and those in sympathy with
+Harvard showed positive alarm.
+
+Two or three men got around the captain of the Harvard team and asked
+him to take out Coulter.
+
+"Put in Peck!" they urged. "They've got Coulter going, and he will lose
+the game right here if you do not change."
+
+At this the captain got angry and told them to get out. When he got
+ready to change he would do it without anybody's advice.
+
+Coulter continued to pitch, and the next batter got first on an error by
+the shortstop.
+
+"The whole team is going to pieces!" laughed Paul Pierson. "I wouldn't
+be surprised to see Old Put's boys pull the game out in this inning, for
+all that two men are out."
+
+"If they do so, Merriwell is the man who will deserve the credit," said
+Collingwood. "That is dead right."
+
+"Yes, it is right, for he restored confidence and started the work of
+rattling Coulter."
+
+"Paul," said the great man of the 'Varsity crew, "that fellow is fast
+enough for the regular team."
+
+"You said so before."
+
+"And I say so again."
+
+Now it became evident to everybody that Coulter was in a pitiful state,
+for he could not find the plate at all, and the next man went down on
+four balls, filling the bases.
+
+But that was not the end of it. The next batter got four balls, and a
+score was forced in.
+
+Then it was seen that Peck, Harvard's change pitcher, was warming up,
+and it became evident that the captain had decided to put him into the
+box.
+
+If the next Yale man had not been altogether too eager to get a hit,
+there is no telling when the inning would have stopped. He sent a
+high-fly foul straight into the air, and the catcher succeeded in
+gathering it in.
+
+The inning closed with quite a change in the score, Harvard having a
+lead of but three, where it had been seven in the lead at the end of the
+sixth.
+
+"I am afraid they will get on to Merriwell this time," said Sport
+Harris, with a shake of his head.
+
+"Hey!" squealed Rattleton, who was quivering all over. "I'll give you a
+chance to even up with me. I'll bet you twenty that Harvard doesn't
+score."
+
+"Oh, well, I'll have to stand you, just for fun," murmured Harris as he
+extracted a twenty-dollar bill from the roll it was said he always
+carried and handed it to Deacon Dunning. "Shove up your dough, Rattle."
+
+Harry covered the money promptly, and then he laughed.
+
+"This cakes the take--I mean takes the cake! I never struck such an easy
+way of making money! I say, fellows, we'll open something after the
+game, and I'll pay for it with what I win off Harris."
+
+"That will be nice," smiled Harris; "but you may not be loaded with my
+money after the game."
+
+The very first batter up, got first on an error by the second baseman
+who let an easy one go through him.
+
+"The money is beginning to look my way as soon as this," said Harris.
+
+"It is looking your way to bid you good-by," chuckled Harry, not in the
+least disturbed or anxious.
+
+Merriwell had a way of snapping his left foot out of the box for a throw
+to first, and it kept the runner hugging the bag all the time.
+
+Frank also had another trick of holding the ball in his hand and
+appearing to give his trousers a hitch, upon which he would deliver the
+ball when neither runner nor batter was expecting him to do so, and yet
+his delivery was perfectly proper.
+
+He struck the next man out, and the batter to follow hit a weak one to
+third, who stopped the runner at second.
+
+Two men were out, and still there was a man on first. Now it looked dark
+for Harvard that inning, and not a safe hit had been made off Merriwell
+thus far.
+
+The Harvard crowd was getting anxious. Was it possible that Merriwell
+would hold them down so they could not score, and Yale would yet pull
+out by good work at the bat?
+
+The captain said a few words to the next batter before the man went up
+to the plate, and Frank felt sure the fellow had been advised to take
+his time.
+
+Having made up his mind to this, Frank sent a swift straight one
+directly over, and, as he had expected, the batter let it pass, which
+caused the umpire to call a strike.
+
+Still keeping the runner hugging first, Frank seemed to start another
+ball in exactly the same manner. It was not a straight one, but it was a
+very slow drop, as the batter discovered after he had commenced to
+swing. Finding he could not recover, the fellow went after the ball with
+a scooping movement, and then did not come within several inches of it,
+greatly to the delight of the Yale crowd.
+
+"Oh, Merry has every blooming one of them on a string!" cried Rattleton.
+"He thon't do a wing to 'em--I mean he won't do a thing to 'em."
+
+The Yale men were singing songs of victory already, and the Harvard
+crowd was doing its best to keep up the courage of its team by rooting
+hard.
+
+It was a most exciting game.
+
+"The hottest game I ever saw played by freshmen," commented Collingwood.
+
+"It is a corker," confessed Pierson. "We weren't looking for anything of
+the sort a short time ago."
+
+"I should say not. Up to the time Merriwell went in it looked as if
+Harvard had a walkover."
+
+"Gordon feels bad enough about it, that is plain. He is trying to
+appear cheerful on the bench, but--"
+
+"He can't stand it any longer; he's leaving."
+
+That was right. Gordon had left the players' bench and was walking away.
+He tried to look pleased at the way things were going, but the attempt
+was a failure.
+
+"Merriwell is the luckiest fellow alive," he thought. "If I had stayed
+in another inning the game might have changed. He is pitching good ball,
+but I'm hanged if I can understand why they do not hit him. It looks
+easy."
+
+Neither could the Harvard lads thoroughly understand it, although there
+were some who realized that Merriwell was using his head, as well as
+speed and curves. And he did not use speed all the time. He had a fine
+change of pace, sandwiching in his slow balls at irregular intervals,
+but delivering them with what seemed to be exactly the same motion that
+he used on the speedy ones.
+
+The fourth batter up struck out, and again Harvard was retired without a
+score, which caused the Yale crowd to cheer so that some of the lads got
+almost black in the face.
+
+"Well! well! well!" laughed Rattleton, as Deacon Dunning passed over the
+money he had been holding. "This is like chicking perries--I mean
+picking cherries. All I have to do is to reach out and take what I
+want."
+
+"If the boys will capture the game I'll be perfectly satisfied to lose,"
+declared Harris, who did not tell the truth, however, for he was
+chagrined, although he showed not a sign of it.
+
+"How can we lose? how can we lose?" chuckled Harry. "Things are coming
+our way, as the country editor said when he was rotten-egged by the
+mob."
+
+It really seemed that Yale was out for the game at last, for they kept
+up their work at the bat, although Peck replaced Coulter in the box for
+Harvard.
+
+Merriwell had his turn with the first batter up. One man was out, and
+there was a man on second. Coulter had warned Peck against giving
+Merriwell an outcurve. At the same time, knowing Frank had batted to
+right field before, the fielders played over toward right.
+
+"So you are on to that, are you?" thought Frank. "Well, it comes full
+easier for me to crack 'em into left field if I am given an inshoot."
+
+Two strikes were called on him before he found anything that suited him.
+Harris was on the point of betting Rattleton odds that Merriwell did not
+get a hit, when Frank found what he was looking for and sent it sailing
+into left. It was not a rainbow, so it did not give the fielder time to
+get under it, although he made a sharp run for it.
+
+Then it was that Merriwell seemed to fly around the bases, while the man
+ahead of him came in and scored. At first the hit had looked like a
+two-bagger, but there seemed to be a chance of making three out of it as
+Frank reached second, and the coachers sent him along. He reached third
+ahead of the ball, and then the Yale crowd on the bleachers did their
+duty.
+
+"How do you Harvard chaps like Merriwell's style?" yelled a Yale
+enthusiast as the cheering subsided.
+
+Then there was more cheering, and the freshmen of 'Umpty-eight were
+entirely happy.
+
+The man who followed Frank promptly flied out to first, which quenched
+the enthusiasm of the Yale gang somewhat and gave Harvard's admirers an
+opportunity to make a noise.
+
+Frank longed to get in his score, which would leave Harvard with a lead
+of but one. He felt that he must get home some way.
+
+Danny Griswold came to the bat.
+
+"Get me home some way, Danny," urged Frank.
+
+The little shortstop said not a word, but there was determination in his
+eyes. He grasped his stick firmly and prayed for one of his favorite
+high balls.
+
+But Peck kept them low on Danny, who took a strike, and then was pulled
+on a bad one.
+
+With two strikes on him and only one ball, the case looked desperate
+for Danny. Still he did not lose his nerve. He did not think he could
+not hit the ball, but he made himself believe that he was bound to hit
+it. To himself he kept saying:
+
+"I'll meet it next time--I'll meet it sure."
+
+He knew the folly of trying to kill the ball in such a case, and so when
+he did swing, his only attempt was to meet it squarely. In this he
+succeeded, and he sent it over the second baseman's head, but it fell
+short of the fielder.
+
+Merriwell came home while Griswold was going down to first.
+
+And now it needed but one score for Yale to tie Harvard.
+
+The man who followed Griswold dashed all their hopes by hitting a weak
+one to short and forcing Danny out at second.
+
+Harvard cheered their men as they came in from the field.
+
+"We must make some scores this time, boys," said the Harvard captain. "A
+margin of one will never do, with those fellows hitting anything and
+everything."
+
+"That's exactly what they are doing," said Peck. "They are getting hits
+off balls they have no business to strike at."
+
+"Oh, you are having your troubles," grinned a friend.
+
+"Any one is bound to have when batters are picking them off the clouds
+or out of the dirt. It doesn't make much difference where they are."
+
+"This man Merriwell can't hold us down as he has done," asserted
+Dickson, Harvard's first baseman.
+
+"I don't know; he is pretty cagey," admitted Nort Gibson.
+
+"I believe he is the best pitcher we'll strike this season," said
+another.
+
+"Here, here, you fellows!" broke in the captain. "You are getting
+down-hearted, and that won't do. We've got this game and we are going to
+hold it; but we want to go in to clinch it right here."
+
+They didn't do much clinching, for although the first man up hit the
+ball, he got to first on an error by the third baseman, who fumbled in
+trying to pick it up.
+
+Blossom was the third baseman, and he was confused by his awkwardness,
+expecting to get a call down.
+
+"Steady, Blos, old boy!" said Frank, gently. "You are all right. The
+best of us do those things occasionally. It is nothing at all."
+
+These words relieved Blossom's feelings and made him vow that he would
+not let another ball play chase around his feet.
+
+Frank struck the next man out, and held the runner on first while he was
+doing it. The third man sent an easy pop-fly to Blossom, who got hold of
+it and clung to it for dear life.
+
+Then the runner got second on a passed ball, but he advanced no farther,
+for the following batter rolled a weak one down to Frank, who gathered
+it in and threw the man out at first.
+
+In three innings not a safe hit had been made off Merriwell, and he had
+struck out five men. No wonder his admirers cheered him wildly as he
+went to the bench.
+
+Yale started in to make some scores. The very first man up got a hit and
+stole second. The next man went to the bat with the determination to
+slug the ball, but Old Put signaled for a sacrifice, as the man was a
+good bunt hitter.
+
+The sacrifice was tried, and it worked, for the man on second got third,
+although the batter was thrown out at first.
+
+"Now we need a hit!" cried Put. "It takes one to tie and two to win. A
+hit ties the game."
+
+Rattleton offered to bet Harris two to one that Yale would win, but
+Sport declined the offer.
+
+"It's our game fast enough," he said. "You are welcome to what you have
+won off me. I am satisfied."
+
+But the game was not won. Amid the most intense excitement the next man
+fouled out.
+
+Then Peck seemed to gather himself to save the game for Harvard. He got
+some queer quirks into his delivery, and, almost before the Yale crowd
+could realize it, two strikes were called on the batter.
+
+The Yale rooters tried to rattle Peck, but they succeeded in rattling
+the batter instead, and, to their unutterable dismay and horror, he
+fanned at a third one, missed it, and--
+
+"Batter is out!" cried the umpire.
+
+Then a great roar for Harvard went up, and the dazed freshmen from New
+Haven realized they were defeated after all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+RATTLETON IS EXCITED.
+
+
+"It wasn't Merriwell's fault that the freshies didn't win," said Bob
+Collingwood to Paul Pierson as they were riding back to New Haven on the
+train that night.
+
+"Not a bit of it," agreed Pierson. "I was expecting a great deal of
+Merriwell, but I believe he is a better man than I thought he could be."
+
+"Then you have arrived at the conclusion that he is fast enough for the
+regular team?"
+
+"I rather think he is."
+
+"Will you give him a trial?"
+
+"We may. It is a bad thing for any freshman to get an exalted opinion of
+himself and his abilities, for it is likely to spoil him. I don't want
+to spoil Merriwell--"
+
+"Look here," interrupted Collingwood, impulsively. "I am inclined to
+doubt if it is an easy thing to spoil that fellow. He hasn't put on airs
+since coming to Yale, has he?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Instead of that, he has lived rather simply--far more so than most
+fellows would if they could afford anything better. He has made friends
+with everybody who appeared to be white, no matter whether their parents
+possessed boodle or were poor."
+
+"That is one secret of Merriwell's popularity. He hasn't shown signs of
+thinking himself too good to be living."
+
+"Yet I have it straight that he has a fortune in his own right, and he
+may live as swell as he likes while he is here. What do you think of
+that?"
+
+"It may be true," admitted Pierson. "He is an original sort of chap--"
+
+"But they say there isn't anything small or mean about him," put in
+Collingwood, swiftly. "He isn't living cheap for economy's sake. You
+know he doesn't drink."
+
+"Yes. I have made inquiries about his habits."
+
+"Still they say he opens wine for his friends now and then, drinking
+ginger ale, or something of that sort, while they are surrounding fizz,
+for which he settles. And he is liberal in other ways."
+
+"He is an enigma in some ways."
+
+"I have heard a wild sort of story about him, but I don't take much
+stock in it. It is the invention of some fertile brain."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Oh, a lot of trash about his having traveled all over the world, been
+captured by pirates and cannibals, fought gorillas and tigers, shot
+elephants and so forth. Of course that's all rot."
+
+"Of course. What does he say about it?"
+
+"Oh, he simply laughs at the stories. If a fellow asks him point-blank
+if they are true he tells him not to let anybody string him. He seems to
+regard the whole business as a weak sort of joke that some fellow is
+trying to work."
+
+"Without doubt that's what it is, for he's too young to have had such
+adventures. Besides that, there's no fellow modest enough to deny it if
+he had had them."
+
+"Of course there isn't."
+
+In this way that point was settled in their minds, for the time, at
+least.
+
+There was no band to welcome 'Umpty-eight back to New Haven. No crowd of
+cheering freshmen was at the station, and those who had gone on to
+Cambridge to play and to see the game got off quietly--very quietly--and
+hurried to their rooms.
+
+Merriwell was in his room ahead of Rattleton. Harry finally appeared,
+wearing a sad and doleful countenance.
+
+"What's the matter, old man?" asked Frank as Harry came in and flung his
+hat on the floor, after which he dropped upon a chair. "You do not seem
+to feel well."
+
+"I should think you would eel felegant--I mean feel elegant!" snapped
+Harry, glaring at Frank.
+
+"Oh, what's the use to be all broken up over a little thing?"
+
+"Wow! Little thing!" whooped Harry. "I'd like to know what you call a
+little thing--I would, by jee!"
+
+"You are excited, my boy. Calm down somewhat."
+
+"Oh, I am calm!" shouted Harry as he jumped up and kicked the chair
+flying into a corner. "I am perfectly calm!" he roared, tearing up and
+down the room. "I never was calmer in all my life!"
+
+"You look it!" came in an amused manner from Frank's lips. "You are so
+very calm that it is absolutely soothing and restful to the nerves to
+observe you!"
+
+Harry stopped short before Frank, thrust his hands deep into his
+pockets, hunched his shoulders, thrust his head forward, and glared
+fiercely into Merriwell's face.
+
+"There are times when it positively is a crime not to swear," he
+hoarsely said. "It seems to me that this is one of the times. If you
+will cuss a little it will relieve my feelings immensely."
+
+"Why don't you swear?" laughed Frank.
+
+"Why don't I? Poly hoker--no, holy poker! I have been swearing all the
+way from Cambridge to New Haven, and I have completely run out of
+profanity."
+
+"Well, I think you have done enough for both of us."
+
+"Oh, indeed! Well, that is hard of me! I came in here expecting to find
+you breaking the furniture, and you are as calm and serene as a summer's
+morning. I tell you, Frank, it is an awful shock! And you are the one
+who should do the most swearing. I can't understand you, hanged if I
+can!"
+
+"Well, you know there is an old saw that says it is useless to cry over
+spilled milk--"
+
+"Confound your old saws! Crying and swearing are two different things.
+Don't you ever cuss, Frank?"
+
+"Never."
+
+"Well, I'd like to know how you can help it on an occasion like this!
+That is what gets me."
+
+"Never having acquired the habit, it is very easy to get along without
+swearing, which is, beyond a doubt, the most foolish habit a man can get
+into."
+
+Rattleton held up both hands, with a look of absolute horror on his
+face.
+
+"Don't--don't preach now!" he protested. "I think the habit of swearing
+is a blessing sometimes--an absolute blessing. A man can relieve his
+feelings that way when he can't any other."
+
+"You don't seem to have succeeded in relieving your feelings much."
+
+"I don't? Well, you should have seen me when I got aboard the train! I
+was at high pressure, and there was absolute danger of an explosion. I
+just had to open the safety valve and blow off. And I find you as calm
+as a clock! Oh, Frank, it is too much--too much!" and Harry pretended to
+weep.
+
+"Go it, old man," he smiled. "You will feel better pretty soon."
+
+"I don't know whether I will or not!" snapped Harry. "It was a sheastly
+bame--I mean a beastly shame! That game was ours!"
+
+"Not quite. It came very near being ours."
+
+"It was! Why, you actually had it pulled out! You held those fellows
+down and never gave them a single safe hit! That was wonderful work!"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. They are not such great batters."
+
+"Gordon found them pretty fast. I tell you some of those fellows are
+batters--good ones, too."
+
+"Well, they didn't happen to get onto my delivery."
+
+"Happen! happen! happen! There was no happen about it. They couldn't get
+onto you. You had them at your mercy. It was wonderful pitching, and I
+can lick the gun of a son--er--son of a gun that says it wasn't!"
+
+"I had a chance to size every man up while Gordon was pitching, and that
+gave me the advantage."
+
+"That makes me tired! Of course you had time to size them up; but you
+couldn't have kept them without a hit if you hadn't been a dandy
+pitcher. Your modesty is simply sickening sometimes!"
+
+Then Harry pranced up and down the room like am infuriated tiger, almost
+gnashing his teeth and foaming at the mouth.
+
+"If I didn't think I could pitch some I wouldn't try it." said Frank,
+quietly. "But I am not fool enough to think I am the only one. There are
+others."
+
+"Well, they are not freshmen, and I'll tell you that."
+
+"I don't know about that."
+
+"I do."
+
+"All right. Have it as you like it."
+
+"And you batted like a fiend. Twice at bat and two hits--a two-bagger
+and a three-bagger."
+
+"A single and a three-bagger, if you please."
+
+"Well, what's the matter with that? Whee jiz--mean jee whiz! Could
+anybody ask for anything more? You got the three-bagger just when it was
+needed most, and you would have saved the game if you had come to the
+bat in the last inning."
+
+"You think so, but it is all guesswork. I might have struck out."
+
+"You might, but you wouldn't. Oh, merry thunder! To think that a little
+single would have tied that game, and we couldn't get it! It actually
+makes me ill at the pit of my stomach!"
+
+The expression on Harry's face seemed to indicate that he told the
+truth, for he certainly looked ill.
+
+"Don't take it to heart so, my boy," said Frank. "The poor chaps earned
+that game, and they ought to have it. We'll win the last one of the
+series, and that's all we want. Do you want to bury poor old Harvard?"
+
+"You can't bury her so deep that she won't crawl out, and you know that.
+Those fellows are decidedly soon up at Cambridge, and Yale does well to
+get all she can from them. You can't tell what will happen next game.
+They have seen you, and they may have a surprise to spring on us. If we
+pulled this game off the whole thing would be settled now."
+
+"Don't think for a moment that I underestimate Harvard. She is Yale's
+greatest rival and is bound to do us when she can.
+
+"We made a good bid for the game to-day, but it wasn't our luck to win,
+and so we may as well swallow our medicine and keep still."
+
+"It wasn't a case of luck at all," spluttered Harry. "It was sheer
+bull-headedness, that's what it was! If Put had put you in long before
+he did the game might have been saved."
+
+"He didn't like to pull Gordon out, you see."
+
+"Well, if he's running this team on sentiment, the sooner he quits the
+better it will be for the team."
+
+Frank said nothing, but he could not help feeling that Harry was right.
+Managing a ball team is purely a matter of business, and if a manager is
+afraid to hurt anybody's feelings he is a poor man for the position.
+
+"Why didn't he put you in in the first place?" asked Harry.
+
+"I don't know. I suppose he had reasons."
+
+"Oh, yes, he had reasons! And I rather think I know what they were. I am
+sure I do."
+
+"What were they?"
+
+"Didn't you expect to pitch the game from the start to-day?"
+
+"Yes, I did."
+
+"I thought so."
+
+Harry nodded, as if fully satisfied that he understood the whole matter.
+
+"Well," said Frank, a bit sharply, "you have not explained yourself. I
+am curious to know why I was not put into the box at the start."
+
+"Well, I am glad to see you show some emotion, if it is nothing more
+than curiosity. I had begun to think you would not show as much as
+that."
+
+"Naturally I am curious."
+
+"Do you know that Paul Pierson, manager of the 'Varsity team, went on to
+see this game?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why do you suppose he did so?"
+
+"Oh, he is acquainted with several Harvard fellows, and I presume he
+went to see them as much as to see the game."
+
+"He wasn't with any Harvard fellows at the game."
+
+"Well, what are you trying to get at?"
+
+"Don't be in a hurry," said Harry, who was now speaking with unusual
+calmness. "You regard Old Put as your friend?"
+
+"I always have."
+
+"But you think he didn't use you just right to-day?"
+
+"I will confess that I don't like to be used to fall back on with the
+hope that I may pull out a game somebody else has lost."
+
+Harry nodded his satisfaction.
+
+"I knew you would feel that way, unless you had suddenly grown foolish.
+It's natural and it's right. There is no reason why you shouldn't be the
+regular pitcher for our team, but still Gordon is regarded as the
+pitcher, while you are the change pitcher. Frank, there is a nigger in
+the woodpile."
+
+"You will have to make yourself clearer than that."
+
+"Putnam knew that Pierson was going to be present at the game."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Pierson didn't go on to see any Harvard friends. He couldn't afford the
+time just at this season with all he has on his hands."
+
+"Go on."
+
+"Putnam knew Pierson was not there to see any Harvard men."
+
+"Oh, take your time."
+
+Harry grinned. He was speaking with such deliberation that he did not
+once twist his words or expressions about, as he often did when excited
+and in a hurry.
+
+"That's why you wasn't put in at the start-off," he declared.
+
+"What is why? You will have to make the whole matter plainer than you
+have so far. It is hazy."
+
+"Putnam did not want Pierson to see you pitch."
+
+"He didn't? Why not?"
+
+"Because Pierson was there for that very purpose."
+
+"Get out!"
+
+"I know what I am talking about. You have kept still about it, but
+Pierson himself has let the cat out of the bag."
+
+"What cat?"
+
+"He has told--confidentially, you know--that he has thoughts of giving
+you a trial on the regular team. The parties he told repeated
+it--confidentially, you know--to others. It finally came to my ears. Old
+Put heard of it. Now, while Old Put seems to be your friend, he doesn't
+want to lose you, and he had taken every precaution to keep you in the
+background. He has made Gordon more prominent, and he has not let you
+do much pitching for Pierson to see. He permitted you to go in to-day
+because he was afraid Gordon would go all to pieces, and he knew what a
+howl would go up if he didn't do something."
+
+Frank walked up and down the room. He did not permit himself to show any
+great amount of excitement, but there was a dark look on his handsome
+face that told he was aroused. Harry saw that his roommate was stirred
+up at last.
+
+"As I have said," observed Frank, halting and speaking grimly. "I have
+regarded Burnham Putnam as my friend; but if he has done as you claim
+for the reasons you give he has not shown himself to be very friendly.
+There is likely to be an understanding between us."
+
+Rattleton nodded.
+
+"That's right," he said. "He may deny it, but I know I am not off my
+trolley. He didn't want Piersan to see you work because he was afraid
+you would show up so well that Pierson would nail you for the regular
+team."
+
+"And you think that is why I have been kept in the background so much
+since the season opened?"
+
+"I am dead sure of it."
+
+"Putnam must have a grudge against me."
+
+"No, Frank; but he has displayed selfishness in the matter. I believe
+he has considered you a better man than Gordon all along, and he wanted
+you on the team to use in case he got into a tight corner. That's why he
+didn't want Pierson to see you work. He didn't want to lose you. But he
+was forced to use you to-day, and you must have satisfied Pierson that
+you know your business."
+
+"Well, Harry, you have thrown light on dark places. To-morrow I will
+have a little talk with Put about this matter."
+
+"That's right," grinned Harry; "and Pierson is liable to have a little
+talk with you. You'll be on the regular team inside of a week."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+WHAT DITSON WANTED.
+
+
+On the following day the great topic of conversation for the class of
+'Umpty-eight was the recent ball game. Wherever the freshmen gathered
+they discussed the game and the work of Gordon and Merriwell.
+
+Gordon was a free-and-easy sort of fellow, and he had his friends and
+admirers, some of whom were set in their belief that he was far superior
+to Merriwell as a pitcher.
+
+Roland Ditson attempted to argue on two or three occasions in favor of
+Gordon, but nobody paid attention to what he said, for it was known that
+he had tried by every possible means to injure Merriwell and had been
+exposed in a contemptible piece of treachery, so that no one cared to be
+known as his friend and associate.
+
+Whenever Ditson would approach a group of lads and try to get in a few
+words he would be listened to in stony silence for some moments, and
+then the entire crowd would turn and walk away, without replying to his
+remarks or speaking to him at all.
+
+This would have driven a fellow less sensitive than Ditson to abandon
+all hope of going through Yale. Of course it cut Ditson, but he would
+grind his teeth and mutter:
+
+"Merriwell is to blame for it all, curse him! I won't let him triumph!
+The time will come when I'll get square with him! I'll have to stay here
+in order to get square, and stay here I will, no matter how I am
+treated."
+
+Since his duplicity had been made known and his classmates had turned
+against him Ditson had taken to grinding in a fierce manner, and as a
+result he had made good progress in his studies. He was determined to
+stand ahead of Merriwell in that line, at least, and it really seemed
+that he might succeed, unless Frank gave more time to his studies and
+less to athletics.
+
+This was not easy for a fellow in Merriwell's position and with his
+ardent love for all sorts of manly sports to do. He gave all the time he
+could to studies without becoming a greasy grind, but that was not as
+much as he would have liked.
+
+To Ditson's disappointment and chagrin Merriwell seemed quite unaware
+that his enemy stood ahead of him in his classes. Frank seemed to have
+quite forgotten that such a person as Roll Ditson existed.
+
+Ditson was an outcast. The fellow with whom he had roomed had left him
+shortly after his treachery was made public, and he was forced to room
+alone, as he could get no one to come in with him.
+
+Roll did not mind this so much, however. He pretended that he was far
+more exclusive than the average freshman, and he tried to imitate the
+ways of the juniors and seniors, some of whom had swell apartments.
+
+Ditson's parents were wealthy, and they furnished him with plenty of
+loose change, so that he could cut quite a dash. He had fancied that his
+money would buy plenty of friends for him. At first, before his real
+character was known, he had picked up quite a following, but he posed as
+a superior, which made him disliked by the very ones who helped him
+spend his money.
+
+He had hoped to be a leader at Yale, but, to his dismay, he found that
+he did not cut much of a figure after all, and Frank Merriwell, a fellow
+who never drank or smoked, was far more popular. Then it was that Ditson
+conceived a plot to bring Merriwell into ridicule and at the same time
+to get in with the enemies of the freshmen--the sophomores--himself.
+
+At last he had learned that at Yale a man is not judged so much by the
+money he spends and the wealth of his parents as by his own manly
+qualities.
+
+But Ditson was a sneak by nature, and he could not get over it. If he
+started out to accomplish anything in a square way, he was likely to
+fancy that it could be done with less trouble in a crooked manner, and
+his natural instinct would switch him off from the course he should have
+followed.
+
+He was not at all fond of Walter Gordon, but he liked him better than he
+did Merriwell, and it was gall and wormwood for him when he heard how
+Merriwell had replaced Gordon in the box at Cambridge and had pitched a
+marvelous game for three innings.
+
+"Oh, it's just that fellow's luck!" Roll muttered to himself. "He seems
+to be lucky in everything he does. The next thing I'll hear is that he
+is going to pitch on the 'Varsity team."
+
+He little thought that this was true, but it proved to be. That very day
+he heard some sophomores talking on the campus, and he lingered near
+enough to catch their words.
+
+"Is it actually true, Parker, that Pierson has publicly stated that
+Merriwell is fast enough for the Varsity nine?" asked Tad Horner.
+
+"That's what it is," nodded Puss Parker, "and I don't know but Pierson
+is right. I am inclined to think so."
+
+"Rot!" exclaimed Evan Hartwick, sharply. "I don't take stock in anything
+of the sort. Merriwell may make a pitcher some day, but he is raw. Why,
+he would get his eye batted out if he were to go up against Harvard on
+the regular team."
+
+"Oh, I don't know about that," said Andy Emery. "He is pretty smooth
+people. Is there anybody knows Pierson made such an observation
+concerning him?"
+
+"Yes, there is," answered Parker.
+
+"Who knows it?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Did you hear him?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"That settles it."
+
+"Yes, that settles it!" grated Roland Ditson as he walked away. "Parker
+didn't lie, and Pierson has intimated that Merriwell may be given a
+trial on the Varsity nine. If he is given a trial it will be his luck to
+succeed. He must not be given a trial. How can that be prevented?"
+
+Then Ditson set himself to devise some scheme to prevent Frank from
+obtaining a trial on the regular nine. It was not an easy thing to think
+of a plan that would not involve himself in some way, and he felt that
+it must never be known that he had anything to do with such a plot.
+
+That night Ditson might have been seen entering a certain saloon in New
+Haven, calling one of the barkeepers aside, and holding a brief
+whispered conversation with him.
+
+"Is Professor Kelley in?" asked Roll.
+
+"He is, sir," replied the barkeeper. "Do you wish to see him?"
+
+"Well--ahem!--yes, if he is alone."
+
+"I think he is alone. I do not think any of his pupils are with him at
+present, sir."
+
+"Will you be kind enough to see?" asked Ditson. "This is a personal
+matter--something I want kept quiet."
+
+The barkeeper disappeared into a back room, was gone a few minutes, and
+then returned and said:
+
+"The professor is quite alone. Will you go up, sir?"
+
+"Y-e-s," said Roll, glancing around, and then motioning for the
+barkeeper to lead the way.
+
+He was taken into a back room and shown a flight of stairs.
+
+"Knock at the door at the head of the flight," instructed the barkeeper,
+and after giving the man some money Ditson went up the stairs.
+
+"Come in!" called a harsh voice when he knocked at the door.
+
+Ditson found Kelley sitting with his feet on a table, while he smoked a
+strong-smelling cigar. There were illustrated sporting papers on the
+table, crumpled and ragged.
+
+"Well, young feller, watcher want?" demanded the man, withont removing
+his feet from the table or his hat from his head.
+
+Ditson closed the door. He was very pale and somewhat agitated.
+
+"Are we all alone?" he asked, choking a bit over the question.
+
+"Dat's wot we are," nodded the professor.
+
+"Is it a sure thing that our conversation cannot be overheard?"
+
+"Dead sure."
+
+Ditson hesitated. He seemed to find it difficult to express himself just
+as he desired.
+
+"Speak right out, chummy," said Kelley in a manner intended to be
+reassuring. "I rudder t'inks yer wants ter lick some cove, an' yer've
+come ter me ter put yer in shape ter do der job. Well, you bet yer dough
+I'm der man ter do dat. How many lessons will yer have?"
+
+"It is not that at all," declared Roll.
+
+"Not dat?" cried Kelley in surprise. "Den wot do youse want?"
+
+"Well, you see, it is like this--er, like this," faltered Roland.
+"I--I've got an enemy."
+
+"Well, ain't dat wot I said?"
+
+"But I don't want to fight him."
+
+"Oh, I sees! Yer wants some odder chap ter do de trick?"
+
+"Yes, that is it. But I want them to more than lick him."
+
+"More dan lick him? W'y, yer don't want him killed, does yer?"
+
+"No," answered Ditson, hoarsely; "but I want his right arm broken."
+
+"Hey?"
+
+Down came Buster Kelley's feet from the table, upon which his knuckles
+fell, and then he arose from the chair, standing in a crouching
+position, with his hands resting on the table, across which he glared at
+Roland Ditson.
+
+"Hey?" he squawked. "Just say dat ag'in, cully."
+
+Roll was startled, and looked as if he longed to take to his heels and
+get away as quickly as possible; but he did not run, and he forced
+himself to say:
+
+"This is a case of business, professor. I will pay liberally to have the
+job done as I want it."
+
+"An' youse wants a bloke's arm bruck?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, dis is a quare deal! If yer wanted his head bruck it wouldn't
+s'prise me; but ter want his arm bruck--jee!"
+
+"I don't care if he gets a rap on the head at the same time, but I don't
+want him killed. I want his right arm broken, and that is the job I am
+ready to pay for."
+
+Kelley straightened up somewhat, placed one hand on his hip, while the
+other rested on the table, crossed his legs, and regarded Ditson
+steadily with a stare that made Roll very nervous.
+
+"I might 'a' knowed yer didn't want ter fight him yerself," the
+professor finally said, and Ditson did not fail to detect the contempt
+in his face and voice.
+
+"No, I do not," declared Ditson, an angry flush coming to his face. "He
+is a scrapper, and I do not think I am his match in a brutal fight."
+
+"Brutal is good! An' yer wants his arm bruck? Don't propose to give him
+no show at all, eh?"
+
+"I don't care a continental what is done so long as he is fixed as I
+ask."
+
+"I s'pose ye're one of them stujent fellers?"
+
+"Yes, I am a student."
+
+"An' t'other feller is a stujent?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Dem fellers is easy."
+
+"Then you will do the job for me, will you?"
+
+"Naw!" snorted Kelley. "Not on yer nacheral! Wot d'yer take me fer? I
+don't do notting of dat kind. I've got a repertation to sustain, I has."
+
+Ditson looked disappointed.
+
+"I am willing to pay well to have the job done," he sad.
+
+"Well, yer can find somebody ter do it fer yer."
+
+"But I don't know where to find anybody, professor."
+
+Kelley sat down, relighted his cigar, restored his feet to the table,
+picked up a paper, seemed about to resume reading, and then observed:
+
+"Dis is no infermation bureau, but I s'pose I might put yer onter a cove
+dat'd do der trick fer yer if yuse come down heavy wid der stuff."
+
+"If you will I shall be ever so much obliged."
+
+"Much erbliged don't but no whiskey. Money talks, me boy."
+
+Ditson reached into his pocket and produced some money.
+
+"I will give you five dollars to tell me of a man who will do the job
+for me," he said, pulling a five-dollar bill from the roll.
+
+"Make it ten an' I goes yer," said Kelley, promptly.
+
+"Done. Here is your money."
+
+Ditson handed it over.
+
+"I'd oughter made it twenty," grumbled the pugilist. "Dis business is
+outer my line entirely, an' I don't want ter be mixed up in it at
+all--see? I has a repertation ter sustain, an' it wouldn't do fer nobody
+ter know I ever hed anyt'ing ter do wid such a job as dis."
+
+"There is no danger that anybody will ever know it," declared Ditson,
+impatiently. "I will not say anything about it."
+
+"Well, yer wants ter see dat yer don't. If yer do, I'll hunt yer up
+meself, an' I won't do a t'ing ter youse--not a t'ing!"
+
+"Save your threats and come to business. I am impatient to get away, as
+I do not care to be seen here by anybody who may drop in."
+
+"Don't care ter be seen here! I like dat--nit! Better men dan youse has
+been here, an' don't yer fergit dat!"
+
+"Oh, I don't care who has been here! You have the money. Now tell me
+where I can find the man I want."
+
+"D'yer know Plug Kirby?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, he is der feller yer wants."
+
+"Where can I find him?"
+
+"I'll give yer his address."
+
+Kelley took a stub of a pencil out of his vest pocket and wrote with
+great labor on the margin of one of the papers. This writing he tore off
+and handed to Ditson. Then, without another word, he once more restored
+his feet to the top of the table and resumed reading as if there was no
+one in the room.
+
+Ditson went out without a word. When he was gone Kelley looked over the
+top of the paper toward the door and growled:
+
+"Dat feller's no good! If he'd wanted ter fit der odder feller hisself
+I'd tole him how ter bruck der odder chap's wrist, but he ain't got der
+sand ter fight a baby. He makes me sad! I'd like ter t'ump him a soaker
+on de jaw meself."
+
+That evening Frank went out to call on some friends. He was returning to
+his rooms between ten and eleven, when, as he came to a dark corner, a
+man suddenly stepped out and said:
+
+"Give us a light, young feller."
+
+"I have none," said Frank, attempting to pass.
+
+"Den give us a match," demanded the man, blocking the road.
+
+"As I do not smoke I never carry matches."
+
+"Well, den, I s'pose I'll have ter go wit'out er light, but--you'll take
+dat!"
+
+Like a flash the man struck straight and hard at the youth's face. It
+was a wicked blow, delivered with marvelous swiftness, and must have
+knocked Frank down if it had landed.
+
+But Merriwell had suspected all along that it was not a light the man
+was after, and he had been on the watch for just such a move as was
+made. For all of the man's swiftness Frank dodged, and the blow passed
+over his shoulder.
+
+When Frank ducked he also struck out with his left, which he planted in
+the pit of the assailant's stomach.
+
+It was a heavy blow, and for a moment it rounded the man up. Before the
+ruffian could recover he received a thump under the ear that made him
+see stars and sent him sprawling.
+
+But the man had a hard head, and he hastily got upon his feet, uttering
+fierce words. He expected to see the youth in full flight, and was
+astonished to perceive that Frank had not taken to his heels.
+
+With a snarl of fury the wretch rushed at Merriwell.
+
+Frank dodged again and came up under the man's arm, giving him another
+heavy blow. Then the man turned, and they sparred for a moment.
+
+"Durned if youse ain't der liveliest kid I ever seen!" muttered the
+astonished ruffian. "Youse kin fight!"
+
+"Well, I can fight enough to take care of myself," returned the lad,
+with something like a laugh.
+
+Smack! smack! smash! Three blows in rapid succession caused the ruffian
+to reel and gasp. Then for a few moments the fight was savage and swift.
+
+It did not last long. The ruffian had been drinking, and Frank soon had
+the best of it. He ended the encounter by striking the man a regular
+knockout blow, and the fellow went down in a heap.
+
+When the ruffian recovered he was astonished to find Frank had not
+departed, but was bending over him.
+
+"How do you feel?" the boy calmly inquired.
+
+"Say, I'm all broke up!" was the feeble reply. "Are youse der feller
+wot done me?"
+
+"I presume I am."
+
+"Well, wot yer waitin' fer?"
+
+"To see how badly you are hurt. Your head struck the stones with
+frightful force when you fell."
+
+"Did it? Well, it feels dat way! Here's a lump as big as yer fist. But
+wot d'youse care?"
+
+"I didn't know but your skull was fractured."
+
+"Wot difference did dat make?"
+
+"I didn't want you to remain here and suffer with a broken head."
+
+"Didn't, eh? An' I tried ter do ye up widout givin' yer any warnin'! Dis
+is der quarest deal I ever struck! I was tryin' ter knock yer stiff an'
+den break year arm."
+
+"Break my arm?"
+
+"Dat's wot I was here fer."
+
+Frank was interested.
+
+"Then you were here on purpose to meet me?"
+
+"Sure, Mike."
+
+"But why were you going to break my arm?"
+
+"'Cause dat's wot I was paid fer, me boy."
+
+Frank caught hold of the ruffian, who had arisen to a sitting posture
+and was holding onto his head.
+
+"Paid for?" cried the boy, excitedly. "Do you mean to tell me that you
+were paid to waylay me and break my arm?"
+
+"I didn't mean ter tell yer anyt'ing, but a feller wot kin fight like
+you kin an' den stay ter see if a chap wot tried ter do him was
+hurt--dat kind of a feller oughter be told."
+
+"Then tell me--tell me all about it," urged Merriwell.
+
+"Dere ain't much ter tell. Some sneak wanted yer arm broke, an' he came
+ter me ter do der job. He paid me twenty ter lay fer youse an' fix yer.
+I was hard up an' I took der job, dough I didn't like it much. Den he
+put me onter yer, an' I follored yer ter der house where youse went dis
+evenin'. I watched till yer comes out, and den I skips roun' ter head
+yer off yere. I heads yer an' asks fer a light. Youse knows der rest
+better dan wot I does."
+
+"Well, this is decidedly interesting! So I have an enemy who wants my
+arm broken?"
+
+"Yes, yer right arm."
+
+"That would fix me so I'd never pitch any more."
+
+"Dat's wot's likely, if ye're a pitcher."
+
+"Would you know the person who hired you if you were to see him again?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"Did he give you his name?"
+
+"Dat's wot he did."
+
+"Ha! That's what I want! See here! Tell me his name, or by the gods of
+war I will see that you are arrested and shoved for this night's work!"
+
+"An' you will let me off if I tells?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Swear it."
+
+"I swear it!"
+
+"You won't make a complaint agin' me?"
+
+"I will not."
+
+"Well, den, yere's his card wot he give me.'"
+
+The ruffian fumbled in his pocket and took out a card, which he passed
+to Frank, who eagerly grasped it.
+
+"Here's a match, me boy," said the man. "I had a pocketful w'en I braced
+yer for one."
+
+He passed a match to Frank, who hastily struck it on a stone and then
+held it so that he could read the name that was engraved on the card in
+his fingers.
+
+A cry of astonishment broke from Merriwell's lips, and both card and
+match fell from his fingers to the ground.
+
+This is the name he had read upon the card:
+
+"Mr. Burnham Putnam."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+DITSON IS TRAPPED.
+
+
+"It don't make a dit of bifference, Frank!" spluttered Harry Rattleton.
+"I don't care if you have got his card! That thug lied like blazes!
+Putnam may be selfish--he may have other faults, but he never hired
+anybody to break your arm."
+
+"I cannot think he would do such a thing myself," said Frank; "but this
+Plug Kirby, as he is called, seemed honest and in earnest. He stands
+ready to identify the fellow at any time."
+
+"Then why not settle it by bringing him before Putnam this very
+afternoon? That's the way to mix the fatter--I mean fix the matter."
+
+"It is a good idea, Harry, and we will have to carry it out. I'll need
+your assistance."
+
+"You shall have it, old man."
+
+So Frank and Harry arranged to bring Putnam and his accuser together
+that afternoon, it being the day after the assault on Merriwell. Frank
+was to look out for Kirby while Harry brought Putnam along to the saloon
+over which Buster Kelley had rooms.
+
+Frank and Kirby were there in advance, and they sat down in a corner,
+where they were not likely to be observed by anybody who entered.
+
+Kirby's face was cut and scarred where he had felt Frank's hard fists,
+and the tough looked on the cool lad with genuine respect and
+admiration.
+
+"I wants yer ter understan' dat I'd never gone inter dat game if I
+hadn't been hard up an' in a bad way," he said, trying to apologize for
+himself. "T'ings have been runnin' agin' me, an' I've been on de rocks
+fer a long time, an' I didn't know how I was ter make a haul any easier
+dan by breakin' a kid's arm. It warn't no killin' matter nohow, an' so I
+took der job. I never s'pected I was ter run up agin' anyt'ing like wot
+you are. If I had, why, wild hosses wouldn't get me ter tried it."
+
+"My enemy knew enough not to meet me himself."
+
+"Dat's right, an' now I want ter git square wid him fer steerin' me up
+agin' anyt'ing of der sort. Wot yer goin' ter do wid him--break his
+neck?"
+
+"I have not decided what I shall do, but I shall not lay a hand on him."
+
+"Yer won't?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, I would if I was in your place. I'd t'ump der everlastin'
+stuffin' outer der bloke--dat's wot!"
+
+"If it is the man whose name is on the card that was given you I shall
+be sorry for him, for I have always believed him to be a white man."
+
+"An' yer'll be sorry?"
+
+"I will."
+
+"Well, ye're der funniest cove wot I ever saw. Arter ye hed knocked der
+wind outer me, ye stayed eround ter see dat I wasn't hurt too bad, w'en
+anybody else would 'a' kicked me inter der gutter an' left me. An' now
+youse say dat you'll be sorry fer der feller wot hired me ter do yer!
+I'd like ter know jes' how ye're put up."
+
+"I can't help being sorry to know that a fellow I have considered white
+and a friend is crooked and an enemy, if it is to prove that way."
+
+"Say, young feller, I likes you, durn me ef I don't! If you ever has
+anyt'ing ye wants done, jes' come ter me, an' I'll do it if I kin, an' I
+won't charge yer nottin'."
+
+"Thank you," smiled Frank; "but I do not fancy I shall have anything in
+your line. While we are talking, though, let me give you some advice.
+Turn over a new leaf and try to be on the level. You will find it the
+best policy in the long run."
+
+"I t'ink ye're right, an' I'm goin' ter try ter do it. I allus did hate
+ter work, but if I kin git any kind of a job I'm goin' ter try it once
+more. I don't know w'y it is, but jes' bein' wid youse makes me want ter
+do der square t'ing."
+
+Frank might well have felt pleased that he exercised such an influence
+over a man like Plug Kirby.
+
+The door opened and Rattleton came into the saloon, followed by Old Put
+and Dismal Jones.
+
+"Come on, Kirby," said Frank, quietly. "Here is the man we are waiting
+for."
+
+Putnam had halted near the bar, a puzzled look on his face, and Frank
+heard him say to Harry:
+
+"What in the world did you drag me in here for, old man? You know I am
+not drinking anything now, and--"
+
+"As I told you," interrupted Harry, grimly, "I brought you in to see a
+man. Here he is."
+
+Frank and the rough had come up behind Putnam, who now turned, and, with
+still greater astonishment, cried:
+
+"What--Merriwell? What in the world are you doing in this place?"
+
+"Permit me to introduce you to Mr. Plug Kirby--Mr. Burnham Putnam. Have
+you ever met the man before."
+
+Old Put drew back, staring at the ruffian in astonishment.
+
+"What in blazes is this?" he gasped. "Is it a joke?"
+
+"No joke," returned Frank, sternly. "It is a matter of business. Mr.
+Kirby, have you ever met Mr. Putnam before?"
+
+"Naw!" cried the man. "Dis ain't der cove wot come ter me ter do der
+job. Dis is anodder feller."
+
+"You are sure?" demanded Frank, with an expression of positive relief.
+"His name was on the card you gave me."
+
+"I don't care if it was, dis ain't der feller wot give der card ter me,
+not by a great big lot."
+
+"Well, I am glad of that!" cried Frank, and he grasped Putnam's hand.
+"It is a great relief."
+
+"Didn't I tell you!" almost shouted Harry.
+
+"Well, now, I want to know what all this is about," said Old Put, who
+was greatly puzzled. "I am all at sea."
+
+Without hesitation Frank explained how a person had hired Plug Kirby to
+break his arm and what the result had been; how the person who made the
+bargain had given a card on which Putnam's name was engraved. Frank took
+the card from his pocket and Putnam said it was one of his regular
+visiting cards.
+
+"Some fellow has been working on my name in order to hide his own
+identity!" cried Put, who was greatly angered. "Oh, I'd like to get hold
+of the skunk!"
+
+At this moment the door which led to the back room opened, and Roland
+Ditson, who had again visited Buster Kelley, came into the saloon. He
+started back when he saw the little group of students, but Plug Kirby
+saw his face and hoarsely exclaimed:
+
+"Dere's der mug now! Dat's der feller wot hired me an' give me der card!
+I'll swear ter dat!"
+
+Seeing there was no way out of it, Roll came forward. He was rather
+pale, but he succeeded in putting on a front.
+
+"Hello, fellows!" he cried. "What are you doing in here?"
+
+Merriwell had him by the collar in a twinkling.
+
+"Looking for you," he said, "and we have found you! So you are the chap
+who hired this man to break my arm in order to fix me so I couldn't
+pitch any more! Well, I declare I didn't think anything quite as low as
+that even of you!"
+
+Ditson protested his innocence. He even called Kirby a liar, and Frank
+was forced to keep the ruffian from hammering him. He swore it was some
+kind of a plot to injure him, and he called on the boys to know if they
+would take the word of a wretch like Kirby in preference to his.
+
+"Oh, get out!" exclaimed Putnam in disgust. "Take my advice and leave
+Yale at once. If you do not, I'll publish the whole story, and you will
+find yourself run out. Go!"
+
+Ditson sneaked away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+"PLAY BALL!'"
+
+
+Before night Merriwell received an appealing letter from Ditson, in
+which the young scapegrace protested his sorrow and entreated Frank to
+do what he could to keep the matter quiet, so he would not be forced to
+leave Yale.
+
+Ditson declared it would break his mother's heart if he failed to
+complete his course at Yale. Over and over he entreated forgiveness,
+telling how sorry he was that he had ever tried to injure Merriwell in
+any way, and declaring that, if Frank would forgive and forget, he would
+never cause him any further trouble.
+
+Frank pondered over the letter so long, and with sach a serious look on
+his face, that Harry asked him what he had struck. Then Merriwell read
+it to his roommate.
+
+"Oh, what a snizerable meak--I mean miserable sneak, that fellow is!"
+exclaimed Harry. "He goes into a dirty piece of business like this, and
+then he gets down and crawls--actually crawls!"
+
+"I have no doubt but his mother is proud of him," said Frank. "He says
+he is an only son. It is his mother, not Ditson, I am thinking about. I
+do not wish to cause her so much pain."
+
+"Oh, come off! If a fellow is such a snake as Ditson, he must get it
+from his parents on one side or the other. Perhaps his mother is not so
+good."
+
+"I do not wish to think that of any fellow's mother. I much prefer to
+think that he takes all his bad qualities from the other side of the
+house. I remember my own mother--the dearest, gentlest, sweetest woman
+in all the world! How she loved me! How proud she was of me! All the
+better part of my nature I owe to her, God bless her!"
+
+Frank spoke with deep feeling, and Rattleton was touched and silenced.
+Merriwell arose and walked the floor, and there was an expression of the
+utmost tenderness and adoration on his face--a look that brought
+something like a mist to Harry's eyes. Frank seemed to have forgotten
+his companion, and he gently murmured:
+
+"My angel mother!"
+
+That was too much for Harry, and he coughed huskily, in an attempt to
+break the spell without being rude. Frank immediately turned, and said:
+
+"I beg your pardon, old man. I forgot myself, for a moment."
+
+"Oh, don't pard my begoner--that is, begon my pard--no, I mean peg my
+bardon! Hang it all! I'm all twisted! I don't know what I am trying to
+say!"
+
+In confusion Harry got up and went to look out of the window.
+
+"Jeewhittaker! I'm glad Merry don't get this way often!" he thought.
+"Never knew him to do it before."
+
+After some moments Frank declared:
+
+"I am going to try to hush this Ditson matter up, Harry."
+
+"You are?"
+
+"Yes, for the sake of Ditson's mother. I want you to help me. We'll go
+see Putnam and Jones. If they have told anybody, we'll see the others. I
+am the one who has the greatest cause for complaint, and if I am willing
+to drop it, I am sure Putnam should be. Come on, old man. Let's not lose
+any time."
+
+"Well, I suppose you are right," admitted Harry, as he reached for his
+cap. "But there's not another person on top of the earth who could
+induce me to keep still in such a case. It is a second offense, too."
+
+So they went out together, and searched for Putnam and Jones.
+
+At first Putnam was obstinate, and utterly refused to let Ditson off;
+but Frank took him aside, and talked earnestly to him for fifteen
+minutes, finally securing his promise to keep silent. It was not
+difficult to silence Jones, and so the matter was hushed up for the
+time. Nothing was said to Ditson, who was left in suspense as to what
+course would be pursued.
+
+A day or two later came the very thing that had been anticipated and
+discussed, since the freshman game at Cambridge. Merriwell was selected
+as one of the pitchers on the 'Varsity nine, and the freshmen lost him
+from their team.
+
+Putnam came out frankly and confessed that he had feared something of
+the kind, all along, and Frank was in no mood to kick over his past
+treatment, so nothing was said on that point.
+
+In the first game against a weaker team than Harvard, Merriwell was
+tried in the box and pitched a superb game, which Yale won in a walk.
+
+Big Hugh Heffiner, the regular pitcher, whose arm was in a bad way,
+complimented Merriwell on his work, which he said was "simply great."
+
+Of course Frank felt well, as for him there was no sport he admired so
+much as baseball; but he remained the same old Merriwell, and his
+freshmen comrades could not see the least change in his manner.
+
+The second game of the series with Harvard came off within a week, but
+Frank got cold in his arm, and he was not in the best possible condition
+to go into the box. This he told Pierson, and as Heffiner had almost
+entirely recovered, Frank was left on the bench.
+
+The 'Varsity team had another pitcher, who was known as Dad Hicks. He
+was a man about twenty-eight years old, and looked even older, hence the
+nickname of Dad.
+
+This man was most erratic and could not be relied upon. Sometimes he
+would do brilliant work, and at other time children could have batted
+him all over the lot. He was used only in desperate emergencies, and
+could not be counted on in a pinch.
+
+During the whole of the second game with Harvard Frank sat on the bench,
+ready to go into the box if called on. At first it looked as if he would
+have to go in, for the Harvard boys fell upon Heffiner and pounded him
+severely for two innings. Then Hugh braced up and pitched the game
+through to the end in brilliant style, Yale winning by a score of ten to
+seven.
+
+Heffiner, however, was forced to bathe his arm in witch hazel
+frequently, and as he went toward the box for the last time he said to
+Frank with a rueful smile:
+
+"You'll have to get into shape to pitch the last game of the series with
+these chaps. My arm is the same as gone now, and I'll finish it this
+inning. We must win this game anyway, regardless of arms, so here goes."
+
+He could barely get the balls over the plate, but he used his head in a
+wonderful manner, and the slow ball proved a complete puzzle for Harvard
+after they had been batting speed all through the game, so they got but
+one safe hit off Heffiner that inning and no scores.
+
+There was a wild jubilee at Yale that night. A bonfire was built on the
+campus, and the students blew horns, sang songs, cheered for "good old
+Yale," and had a real lively time.
+
+One or two of the envious ones asked about Merriwell--why he was not
+allowed to pitch. Even Hartwick, a sophomore who had disliked Frank from
+the first, more than hinted that the freshman pitcher was being made
+sport of, and that he would not be allowed to go into the box when Yale
+was playing a team of any consequence.
+
+Jack Diamond overheard the remark, and he promptly offered to bet
+Hartwick any sum that Merriwell would pitch the next game against
+Harvard.
+
+Diamond was a freshman, and so he received a calling down from Hartwick,
+who told him he was altogether too new. But as Hartwick strolled away,
+Diamond quietly said:
+
+"I may be new, sir, but I back up any talk I make. There are others who
+do not, sir."
+
+Hartwick made no reply.
+
+As the third and final game of the series was to be played on neutral
+ground, there had been some disagreement about the location, but
+Springfield had finally been decided upon, and accepted by Yale and
+Harvard.
+
+Frank did his best to keep his arm in good condition for that game,
+something which Pierson approved. Hicks was used as much as possible in
+all other games, but Frank found it necessary to pull one or two off the
+coals for him.
+
+Heffiner had indeed used his arm up in the grand struggle to win the
+second game from Harvard--the game that it was absolutely necessary for
+Yale to secure. He tended that arm as if it were a baby, but it had been
+strained severely and it came into shape very slowly. As soon as
+possible he tried to do a little throwing every day, but it was some
+time before he could get a ball more than ten or fifteen feet.
+
+It became generally known that Merriwell would have to pitch at
+Springfield, beyond a doubt, and the greatest anxiety was felt at Yale.
+Every man had confidence in Heffiner, but it was believed by the
+majority that the freshman was still raw, and therefore was liable to
+make a wretched fizzle of it.
+
+Heffiner did not think so. He coached Merriwell almost every day, and
+his confidence in Frank increased.
+
+"The boy is all right," was all he would say about it, but that did not
+satisfy the anxious ones.
+
+During the week before the deciding game was to come off Heffiner's arm
+improved more rapidly than it had at any time before, and scores of men
+urged Pierson to put Old Reliable, as Hugh was sometimes called, into
+the box.
+
+A big crowd went up to Springfield on the day of the great game, but the
+"sons of Old Eli" were far from confident, although they were determined
+to root for their team to the last gasp.
+
+The most disquieting rumors had been afloat concerning Harvard. It was
+said her team was in a third better condition than at the opening of the
+season, when she took the first game from Yale; and it could not be
+claimed with honesty that the Yale team was apparently in any better
+shape. Although she had won the second game of the series with Harvard,
+her progress had not been satisfactory.
+
+A monster crowd had gathered to witness the deciding game. Blue and
+crimson were the prevailing colors. On the bleachers at one side of the
+grandstand sat hundreds upon hundreds of Harvard men, cheering all
+together and being answered by the hundreds of Yale men on the other
+side of the grand stand. There were plenty of ladies and citizens
+present and the scene was inspiring. A band of music served to quicken
+the blood in the veins which were already throbbing.
+
+There was short preliminary practice, and then at exactly three o'clock
+the umpire walked down behind the home plate and called: "Play ball!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+A HOT FINISH.
+
+
+Yale took the field, and as the boys in blue trotted out, the familiar
+Yale yell broke from hundreds of throats. Blue pennants were wildly
+fluttering, the band was playing a lively air, and for the moment it
+seemed as if the sympathy of the majority of the spectators was with
+Yale.
+
+But when Hinkley, Harvard's great single hitter, who always headed the
+batting list, walked out with his pet "wagon tongue," a different sound
+swept over the multitude, and the air seemed filled with crimson
+pennants.
+
+Merriwell went into the box, and the umpire broke open a pasteboard box,
+brought out a ball that was wrapped in tin foil, removed the covering,
+and tossed the snowy sphere to the freshman pitcher Yale had so
+audaciously stacked up against Harvard.
+
+Frank looked the box over, examined the rubber plate, and seemed to make
+himself familiar with every inch of the ground in his vicinity. Then he
+faced Hinkley, and a moment later delivered the first ball.
+
+Hinkley smashed it on the nose, and it was past Merriwell in a second,
+skipping along the ground and passing over second base just beyond the
+baseman's reach, although he made a good run for it.
+
+The center fielder secured the ball and returned it to second, but
+Hinkley had made a safe single off the very first ball delivered.
+
+Harvard roared, while the Yale crowd was silent.
+
+A great mob of freshmen was up from New Haven to see the game and watch
+Merriwell's work, and some of them immediately expressed disappointment
+and dismay.
+
+"Here is where Merriwell meets his Waterloo," said Sport Harris. "He'll
+be batted out before the game is fairly begun."
+
+That was quite enough to arouse Rattleton, who heard the remark.
+
+"I'll bet you ten dollars he isn't batted out at all,"' spluttered
+Harry, fiercely. "Here's my money, too!"
+
+"Make it twenty-five and I will go you," drawled Harris.
+
+"All right, I'll make it twenty-five."
+
+The money was staked.
+
+Derry, also a heavy hitter, was second on Harvard's list. Derry had a
+bat that was as long and as large as the regulations would permit, and
+as heavy as lead; yet, despite the weight of the stick, the strapping
+Vermonter handled it as if it were a feather.
+
+Frank sent up a coaxer, but Derry refused to be coaxed. The second ball
+was high, but Derry cracked it for two bags, and Hinkley got around to
+third.
+
+It began to seem as if Merriwell would be batted out in the first
+inning, and the Yale crowd looked weary and disgusted at the start.
+
+The next batter fouled out, however, and the next one sent a red-hot
+liner directly at Merriwell. There was no time to get out of the way, so
+Frank caught it, snapped the ball to third, found Hinkley off the bag,
+and retired the side without a score.
+
+This termination of the first half of the inning was so swift and
+unexpected that it took some seconds for the spectators to realize what
+had happened. When they did, however, Yale was wildly cheered.
+
+"What do you think about it now, Harris?" demanded Harry, exultantly.
+
+"I think Merriwell saved his neck by a dead lucky catch," was the
+answer. "If he had missed that ball he would have been removed within
+five minutes."
+
+Pierson, who was sitting on the bench, was looking doubtful, and he held
+a consultation with Costigan, captain of the team, as soon as the latter
+came in from third base.
+
+Costigan asked Frank how he felt, and Merriwell replied that he had
+never felt better in his life, so it was decided to let him see what he
+could do in the box the next inning.
+
+Yedding, who was in the box for Harvard, could not have been in better
+condition, and the first three Yale men to face him went out in
+one-two-three order, making the first inning a whitewash for both sides.
+
+As Merriwell went into the box the second time there were cries for
+Heffiner, who was on the bench, ready to pitch if forced to do so, for
+all of the fact that it might ruin his arm forever, so far as ball
+playing was concerned.
+
+In trying to deceive the first man up Merriwell gave him three balls in
+succession. Then he was forced to put them over. He knew the batter
+would take one or two, and so he sent two straight, swift ones directly
+over, and two strikes were called.
+
+Then came the critical moment, for the next ball pitched would settle
+the matter. Frank sent in a rise and the batter struck at it, missed it,
+and was declared out, the ball having landed with a "plunk" in the hands
+of the catcher.
+
+The next batter got first on a single, but the third man sent an easy
+one to Frank, who gathered it in, threw the runner out at second, and
+the second baseman sent the ball to first in time to retire the side on
+a double play.
+
+"You are all right, Merriwell, old man," enthusiastically declared
+Heffiner, as Frank came in to the bench. "They haven't been able to
+score off you yet, and they won't be able to touch you at all after you
+get into gear."
+
+Pierson was relieved, and Costigan looked well satisfied.
+
+"Now we must have some scores, boys," said the captain.
+
+But Yedding showed that he was out for blood, for he allowed but one
+safe hit, and again retired Yale without a score.
+
+Surely it was a hot game, and excitement was running high. Would Harvard
+be able to score the next time? That was the question everybody was
+asking.
+
+Yedding came to the bat in this inning, and Merriwell struck him out
+with ease, while not another man got a safe hit, although one got first
+on the shortstop's error.
+
+The Yale crowd cheered like Indians when Harvard was shut out for the
+third time, the freshmen seeming to yell louder than all the others.
+They originated a cry which was like this:
+
+"He is doing very well! Who? Why, Merriwell!"
+
+Merriwell was the first man up, and Yedding did his best to get square
+by striking the freshman out. In this he was successful, much to his
+satisfaction.
+
+But no man got a hit, and the third inning ended as had the others,
+neither side having made a run.
+
+The fourth opened in breathless suspense, but it was quickly over,
+neither side getting a man beyond second.
+
+It did not seem possible that this thing could continue much longer, but
+the fifth inning brought the same result, although Yale succeeded in
+getting a man to third with only one out. An attempt to sacrifice him
+home failed, and a double play was made, retiring the side.
+
+Harvard opened the sixth by batting a ball straight at Yale's shortstop,
+who played tag with it, chasing it around his feet long enough to allow
+the batter to reach first. It was not a hit, but an error for short.
+
+This seemed to break the Yale team up somewhat. The runner tried for
+second on the first ball pitched, and Yale's catcher overthrew, although
+he had plenty of time to catch the man. The runner kept on to third and
+got it on a slide.
+
+Now Harvard rejoiced. Although he had not obtained a hit, the man had
+reached third on two errors, and there was every prospect of scoring.
+
+Merriwell did not seem to lose his temper or his coolness. He took
+plenty of time to let everybody get quieted down, and then he quickly
+struck out the next man. The third man, however, managed to hit the ball
+fairly and knocked a fly into left field. It was gathered in easily,
+but the man on third held the bag till the fly was caught and made a
+desperate dash for home.
+
+The left fielder threw well, and the ball struck in the catcher's mitt.
+It did not stick, however, and the catcher lost the only opportunity to
+stop the score.
+
+Harvard had scored at last!
+
+The Harvard cheer rent the air, and crimson fluttered on all sides.
+
+Frank struck out the next man, and then Yale came to bat, resolved to do
+or die. But they did not do much. Yedding was as good as ever, and the
+fielders gathered in anything that came their way.
+
+At the end of the eighth inning the score remained one to nothing in
+Harvard's favor. It looked as if Yale would receive a shut out, and that
+was something awful to contemplate. The "sons of Old Eli" were ready to
+do anything to win a score or two.
+
+In the first half of the ninth Harvard went at it to make some more
+runs. One man got a hit, stole second, and went to third on an error
+that allowed the batter to reach first.
+
+Sport Harris had been disappointed when Merriwell continued to remain in
+the box, but now he said:
+
+"He's rattled. Here's where they kill him."
+
+But Frank proved that he was not rattled. He tricked the man on third
+into getting off the bag and then threw him out in a way that brought a
+yell of delight from Yale men. That fixed it so the next batter could
+not sacrifice with the object of letting the man on third home. Then he
+got down to business, and Harvard was whitewashed for the last time.
+
+"Oh, if Yale can score now!" muttered hundreds.
+
+The first man up flied out to center, and the next man was thrown out at
+first. That seemed to settle it. The spectators were making preparations
+to leave. The Yale bat-tender, with his face long and doleful, was
+gathering up the sticks.
+
+What's that? The next man got a safe hit, a single that placed him on
+first. Then Frank Merriwell was seen carefully selecting a bat.
+
+"Oh, if he were a heavy hitter!" groaned many voices.
+
+Yedding was confident--much too confident. He laughed in Frank's face.
+He did not think it necessary to watch the man on first closely, and so
+that man found an opportunity to steal second.
+
+Two strikes and two balls had been called. Then Yedding sent in a swift
+one to cut the inside corner. Merriwell swung at it.
+
+Crack! Bat and ball met fairly, and away sailed the sphere over the head
+of the shortstop.
+
+"Run!"
+
+That word was a roar. No need to tell Frank to run. In a moment he was
+scudding down to first, while the left fielder was going back for the
+ball which had passed beyond his reach. Frank kept on for second. There
+was so much noise he could not hear the coachers, but he saw the fielder
+had not secured the ball. He made third, and the excited coacher sent
+him home with a furious gesture.
+
+Every man, woman and child was standing. It seemed as if every one was
+shouting and waving flags, hats, or handkerchiefs. It was a moment of
+such thrilling, nerve-tingling excitement as is seldom experienced. If
+Merriwell reached home Yale won; if he failed, the score was tied, for
+the man in advance had scored.
+
+The fielder had secured the ball, he drove it to the shortstop, and
+shortstop whirled and sent it whistling home. The catcher was ready to
+stop Merriwell.
+
+"Slide!"
+
+That word Frank heard above all the commotion. He did slide. Forward he
+scooted in a cloud of dust. The catcher got the ball and put it onto
+Frank--an instant too late!
+
+A sudden silence.
+
+"Safe home!" rang the voice of the umpire.
+
+Then another roar, louder, wilder, full of unbounded joy! The Yale
+cheer! The band drowned by all the uproar! The sight of sturdy lads in
+blue, delirious with delight, hugging a dust-covered youth, lifting him
+to their shoulders, and bearing him away in triumph. Merriwell had won
+his own game, and his record was made. It was a glorious finish!
+
+"Never saw anything better," declared Harry. "Frank, you are a wonder!"
+
+"He is that!" declared several others. "Old Yale can't get along without
+him."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Frank Merriwell at Yale, by Burt L. Standish
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