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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19402-h.zip b/19402-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f6225d --- /dev/null +++ b/19402-h.zip diff --git a/19402-h/19402-h.htm b/19402-h/19402-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5ac2564 --- /dev/null +++ b/19402-h/19402-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9605 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Frank Merriwell's Reward, by Burt L. Standish + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frank Merriwell's Reward, 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's Reward + +Author: Burt L. Standish + +Release Date: September 28, 2006 [EBook #19402] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANK MERRIWELL'S REWARD *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>FRANK MERRIWELL'S REWARD</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>BURT L. STANDISH</h2> + +<p style="text-align: center;">Author of "Frank Merriwell's School Days," "Frank Merriwell's Chums," +"Frank Merriwell's Foes," etc.</p> + +<hr style="width: 35%;" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> +<b>PHILADELPHIA<br /> +DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER<br /> +604-8 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE</b> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 35%;" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> +Copyright, 1900<br /> +By STREET & SMITH +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>FRANK MERRIWELL'S REWARD.</h2> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<h4>A RUNAWAY AUTOMOBILE.</h4> + + +<p>"Li, there! Hook out!" shouted Harry Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"Hi, there! Look out!" echoed Bart Hodge, getting the words straight +which Harry had twisted.</p> + +<p>"Get out of the way, fellows!" warned Jack Diamond.</p> + +<p>"The juice that it's loaded with must be bug juice!" squealed Danny +Griswold. "It's crazy drunk!"</p> + +<p>"Tut-tut-tut-turn the cuc-crank the other way!" bellowed Joe Gamp.</p> + +<p>"This crank," said Bink Stubbs, giving Gamp a twist that spun him round +like a top.</p> + +<p>"I've always believed that more than half of these new-fangled +inventions are devices of Satan, and now I know it!" grumbled Dismal +Jones.</p> + +<p>"You'll be more certain of it than ever if you let it run over you!" +Frank Merriwell warned, stepping to the sidewalk, and drawing Dismal's +lank body quickly back from the street.</p> + +<p>"Huah! It's worse than a cranky horse!"</p> + +<p>Bruce Browning reached down, took Danny Griswold by the collar, and +placed the little fellow behind him.</p> + +<p>"Unselfishly trying to save your bacon at the expense of my own!" +Browning suavely explained, as Danny began to fume. "Do you want that +thing to step on you?"</p> + +<p>An electric hansom, which had sailed up the street in an eminently +respectable manner, had suddenly and without apparent reason begun to +act in an altogether disreputable way. It had veered round, rushed over +the crossing, and made a bee-line for the sidewalk, almost running down +a party of Frank Merriwell's friends, who were out for an afternoon +stroll on the street in the pleasant spring sunshine.</p> + +<p>The motorman, who occupied a grand-stand seat in the rear, seemed to +have lost control of the automobile. He was excitedly fumbling with his +levers, but without being able to bring the carriage to a stop.</p> + +<p>The street was crowded with people at the time, and when the electric +carriage began to cut its eccentric capers there was a rush for places +of safety, while the air was filled with excited cries and exclamations.</p> + +<p>Merriwell could see the head of a passenger, a man, through the window +of the automobile.</p> + +<p>"She's cuc-coming this way again!" shouted Gamp. "Look out, fellows!"</p> + +<p>The front tires struck the curbing with such force that the motorman was +pitched from his high seat, landing heavily on his head in the gutter.</p> + +<p>Bruce Browning was one of the first to reach him.</p> + +<p>"Give him air!" Bruce commanded, lifting the man in his arms and +stepping toward a drug-store on the corner.</p> + +<p>Some of the crowd streamed after Browning, but by far the greater number +remained to watch the antics of the automobile.</p> + +<p>The man inside was fumbling at the door and trying to get out. The +misguided auto climbed the curbing and tried to butt down the wall of a +store building.</p> + +<p>"Give it some climbin'-irons!" yelled a newsboy.</p> + +<p>The automobile, with its front wheels pressed against the wall, began to +rear up like a great black bug, determined apparently to scale the +perpendicular side of the building and enter through one of the open +windows above. As soon as he saw the motorman pitched into the gutter, +Merriwell moved toward the carriage.</p> + +<p>"Time to take a hand in this!" was his thought. "There will be more +hurt, if I don't!"</p> + +<p>He leaped to the step, but before he could mount to the high seat the +auto was butting blindly against the wall.</p> + +<p>"He's goin' ter shut off the juice!" squeaked the newsboy.</p> + +<p>What the trouble had been with the levers Merry did not know. When he +took hold of them, the hansom became manageable and obedient. He shut +off the electricity, and the front wheels dropped down from the wall. +The next moment he swung to the ground and opened the door.</p> + +<p>To his surprise, the man who emerged from the carriage was Dunstan Kirk, +the leader of the Yale ball-team.</p> + +<p>"Glad to see you!" gasped Kirk. "I couldn't get out, and I was expecting +the thing to turn over! I believe I'm not hurt."</p> + +<p>"The motorman is, though! He has been carried into the drug-store."</p> + +<p>Frank looked toward the drug-store, and saw an ambulance dash up to +convey the injured man to the hospital.</p> + +<p>"Glad you're all right!" turning again to the baseball-captain. "These +things are cranky at times. I've had some experience with one."</p> + +<p>A policeman pushed forward to take possession of the automobile until +the company could send another motorman.</p> + +<p>The ambulance dashed away, and Browning, Diamond, and Rattleton came +across the street hurriedly from the apothecary's. Bink and Danny, Gamp +and Dismal—other friends of his—were already crowding round Merriwell. +Back of them was a pushing, excited throng.</p> + +<p>"Which way did that carriage go?" Kirk demanded.</p> + +<p>"Which carriage?"</p> + +<p>"The one that was just ahead of us. I was chasing it in the automobile?"</p> + +<p>"With a driver in a green livery and a bay horse?" asked the newsboy, +who had pushed into the inner circle.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Which way did it go?"</p> + +<p>"Turned de first corner."</p> + +<p>"Let's get a cab!" said Kirk. "Come, I want you to go with me!"</p> + +<p>He caught Merriwell by the arm. A cab had drawn up near the curbing, and +toward this they moved, Merriwell reserving his questions until later.</p> + +<p>Dunstan hurriedly gave instructions to the driver, and climbed in after +Merriwell.</p> + +<p>"Now, what does this mean?" Frank demanded, as the cab started with a +lurch. "What sort of a wild-goose chase are you on?"</p> + +<p>"What made that auto-carriage do that way?"</p> + +<p>"There was something the matter with it, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"It struck me that the motorman may have been in the pay of the fellow I +was chasing."</p> + +<p>He lowered his voice, even though the rattling of hoofs and wheels and +the noises of the street rendered it wholly improbable that the driver +or any one else could hear what was spoken inside.</p> + +<p>"Frankly, Merriwell, the chap I was chasing looked like Morton Agnew! I +was in Mason & Fettig's, five or six blocks above, when some one came +into the other room and passed a counterfeit ten-dollar bill on the +proprietor. He discovered it while the fellow was going through the +door, and gave a call. I ran to the door and saw the rascal—not well, +you know, but a side glance—not much more than a flash—and I thought +he was Agnew. Of course, I couldn't swear to it. I may have been +mistaken. But to satisfy myself, I jumped into that automobile and gave +chase. He saw I was pursuing him and he sprang into a cab. I was +determined to overhaul the scamp and satisfy myself on that one point. +Perhaps I ought not to mention the name, as I am so uncertain, and I +shall not mention it to any one else."</p> + +<p>Dunstan Kirk, the athletic and capable captain of the baseball-team, had +come to admire and trust Frank Merriwell. He had seen enough to know +that Frank could be trusted in any way and in any place.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"That there is no chance now of discovering whether your suspicions were +true or false. Unless"—hesitatingly—"you should cause Agnew's arrest, +and have him taken before the man who was cheated. Or you might tell the +man your suspicions, and let him act in the matter."</p> + +<p>"I am not certain enough!" said Kirk. "It's too bad he got away! The +motorman couldn't have been in his pay?"</p> + +<p>"If so, he has received his pay!" said Merry meaningly. "He went out of +that seat on his head and struck hard. I think the motorman simply found +the hansom unmanageable, for some reason. Those carriages take freaks at +times."</p> + +<p>"And your opinion about Agnew?"</p> + +<p>"He isn't too good to do such a thing, and I have had reason to believe +lately that he is hard up. He used to hold himself up by his winnings at +cards, but he has cheated so outrageously and boldly that the students +fight pretty shy of him."</p> + +<p>"We're just wasting our time, I'm afraid!" Kirk grumbled, as the cab +rattled on down the street.</p> + +<p>"Hold on!" said Merriwell, looking through the window. "There is your +green-liveried driver and your bay horse!"</p> + +<p>Though the cab in question was standing by a curbing, Frank saw at a +glance that the horse was sweaty and showed other signs of recent fast +driving.</p> + +<p>"Empty, and the bird has flown!" he observed, as the cab they were in +stopped and they got out. "Whoever he was—Agnew, or another man—he has +had time to escape!"</p> + +<p>The green-liveried driver was questioned, but no information of value +was obtained, and when it was seen that there was no chance of settling +the question which had moved Dunstan Kirk to the pursuit, Kirk settled +with the driver of the cab that had brought them thus far, and he and +Merriwell went into the nearest restaurant.</p> + +<p>"I understand you don't smoke, or I might be tempted to order cigars," +he said, as a waiter came forward for their orders, after they had taken +seats at a table in one of the small side rooms. "I wanted to have a +talk with you about certain matters. Not about Agnew, but concerning +Buck Badger!"</p> + +<p>When the waiter had gone he continued:</p> + +<p>"I am interested in Badger's pitching. The fellow has good pitching +ability. But he is erratic. Sometimes he pitches wonderfully. Then the +very next time he will fall away down. I am convinced that what he needs +as much as anything else is the right kind of encouragement."</p> + +<p>"I consider him one of the very best of the new men who have come up +with pitching ambitions," said Merriwell. "I have noticed the things you +say."</p> + +<p>"You were kind enough some time ago to recommend him to my notice," Kirk +went on, as if feeling his way. "You would be glad to help him, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"I shall be very glad to help him, if I can, and to serve you in any +way, Kirk. But you know he doesn't like me very well. There must be a +willingness on both sides, you see—just as it takes two to make a +quarrel!"</p> + +<p>"I haven't sounded him, but I fancy he would be willing. He isn't doing +any good lately. You may have noticed that, too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>The waiter brought the things ordered, and went away again.</p> + +<p>"That <i>Crested Foam</i> affair is the cause, I fancy," Dunstan Kirk went +on, breaking a cracker and helping himself to some cheese.</p> + +<p>Frank Merriwell had thought the same, but he did not wish to say so.</p> + +<p>"He hasn't acted right since then. And by right, I mean natural, you +understand! I suppose it grinds him to know that such a fellow as Barney +Lynn could drug and rob him in that way."</p> + +<p>Merriwell flashed Dunstan Kirk a quick look. It was evident that the +captain of the Yale baseball-team did not know that Buck Badger was +intoxicated when he was lured aboard the excursion steamer, <i>Crested +Foam</i>.</p> + +<p>A similar imperfect knowledge of the true condition of affairs at that +time had been noticed by Merriwell in the conversation of others. The +newspapers in the notices of the burning of the steamer had given +attention chiefly to Lynn, merely stating briefly that Badger had been +drugged and robbed by the ex-boat-keeper.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't think it would be a pleasant reflection," Frank answered.</p> + +<p>"Very humiliating to a man of Badger's character. And it has just taken +the heart out of him. Until that time he was one of the most promising +of the new pitchers at Yale. I was expecting good things from him. Now +he seems to be nothing but a blighted 'has-been!'"</p> + +<p>Merriwell smiled.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And of all the sad words of tongue or pen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Just so," assented Kirk. "It's too bad to see a capable fellow go to +the bone pile! I don't like it. I talked with him and tried to encourage +him, but it had no permanent effect. He braced up for a little while, +and then slumped again."</p> + +<p>"At heart, Badger is very proud!" Frank explained. "He wouldn't admit +it, perhaps, even to himself. He craves popularity, too, though he +affects not to care at all for the opinions of others. It has been his +misfortune not to be popular. His disposition is against it. This has +made him very sore at times, though he has tried to conceal the fact. +Now you can see that to a man of his disposition the things that +happened on the <i>Crested Foam</i> would be tremendously depressing."</p> + +<p>The captain of the ball-team would have seen even more clearly how +depressing they were if he had known all that Merriwell knew.</p> + +<p>"Somehow, he seems to me like a man who is under the impression that he +has lost all of his friends," said Kirk. "He needs to be assured that +such is not the case—that his friends and acquaintances have no desire +to cut him. I think if that could be done he would come out of the +slough of despond and be worth something. We may need him this summer; +or a man who has his pitching ability ought to develop into something +worth while."</p> + +<p>Frank saw that Dunstan Kirk was edging toward some kind of a request.</p> + +<p>"If there is anything I can do!" he invited.</p> + +<p>"Well, as your picked nine is to play Abernathy's nine, of Hartford, on +the ball-grounds here next Saturday, I wondered if you would be willing +to let Badger pitch. It is an unheard-of sort of request to make, I +know, and it leaves me under the suspicion of wanting to see you beaten +by the Hartford fellows. But I hope you know me well enough to +understand that such cannot be the case."</p> + +<p>"Sure! I'd never thought of it, if you hadn't!"</p> + +<p>"I've thought of asking this of you for a day or two. You see, if you, +who are not particularly Badger's friend, show such a disposition to +recognize and honor his pitching abilities, it ought to brace him up!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell drummed thoughtfully on the table.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it can be done! If it will brace him up any and put him on his +feet, I shall be glad to show Badger all the consideration I can."</p> + +<p>"I was almost afraid to mention it," explained Kirk, "for I know that he +has not felt just right toward you. But if you will?"</p> + +<p>"I intended to pitch that game myself, for Abernathy's men are not the +easiest things on the planet. Of course, if Badger falls down, I should +be compelled to go into the box and do my best to save the day. And with +a fellow like Badger, that might not work well. It would be just like +him to think that I did it to humiliate him and show myself the better +pitcher! You see the possibility?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it!"</p> + +<p>There were other considerations, which Frank did not desire at the +moment to mention.</p> + +<p>"I'll have a talk with Badger, and see what I can do!" Kirk went on. +"When he was so wildly ambitious, a little while back, a word from me +might have settled it; but I suppose I shall have to show him by +argument that he ought to accept your friendly offer. You authorize me +to make that as an offer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'm willing to try to help Badger. He has good stuff in him, and, +as you say, it would be too bad for him to get into the dumps and +neglect to develop it. I can arrange it, I think, and, if he will pitch +for us Saturday, he may. With the clear understanding that I am at +liberty without question to take the pitcher's box at any time I see +fit!"</p> + +<p>"Of course!"</p> + +<p>The captain's face had brightened. He was not a partisan of Buck Badger, +nor of any man. He cared only for the recognition and development of the +best Yale players and the triumph of the Yale nine. And because he +recognized in Frank Merriwell these same unselfish qualities he had come +to him with this request.</p> + +<p>"I doubt much if Badger will accept the offer," said Frank.</p> + +<p>"I shall take the offer to him, anyway. I believe it will brighten him +to receive it, even if he refuses it. That desire for popularity which +you mentioned will, I think, make him accept. He may tell himself and +all his friends that he doesn't care for your opinion, but he does, just +the same! He can't help caring for the opinion of any man who is a +gentleman. I shall approach him carefully!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<h4>HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED.</h4> + + +<p>"Huah!" grunted Browning, opening his eyes a trifle in surprise, "don't +that jar you?"</p> + +<p>"What will Bart say?" gasped Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell doesn't have to take his orders from Hodge!" snapped Diamond. +"But, just the same, I think it's a fool sort of agreement!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell was in his room talking to some of his friends of the request +of the baseball-captain.</p> + +<p>"Hodge will be cot under the holler!" sputtered Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"My dear Rattles, don't worry about Hodge!" Diamond begged.</p> + +<p>"If you had only said to that captain, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!'" +grumbled Dismal Jones. "But, of course, you could not resist such a +temptation! When evil makes itself seem to us good, we're sure to give +way. 'Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall!'"</p> + +<p>Merriwell smiled. He liked to get the opinions of his friends, though +usually he acted on his own.</p> + +<p>"So you think it was a temptation instead of an opportunity?"</p> + +<p>"What is a temptation?" chirped Bink Stubbs.</p> + +<p>"Why, every time you grin at me that way I want to hit you in the +mouth," explained Danny. "It's a temptation I can hardly resist!"</p> + +<p>"Crush it!" yelled Bink, feinting with his fists. "If you don't, I'll +have to!"</p> + +<p>"Somebody throw those idiots out of the window!" growled Bruce, seeking +solace in his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Somebody give me a light for this cigarette first," begged Danny. "If I +must fall I want help to alight!"</p> + +<p>"Shouldn't think you'd need it!" Browning declared. "You have a light +head. It would hold you up like a balloon!"</p> + +<p>"Of course, if the captain wanted you to take on Badger and you've +promised to do it, you'll have to go ahead. I'll band sty you—I mean +I'll stand by you! I'll do my best to hold down third, no matter who is +pitching."</p> + +<p>Frank gave Rattleton a grateful look.</p> + +<p>"You're always loyal, Harry!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I suppose that all of us will have to accept it, and do the best we +can," Diamond admitted, "but I don't like it, and that's flat. None of +us has fallen in love with Buck Badger!"</p> + +<p>"We'll be bub-bub-bub-beat worse than any old drum!" grunted Gamp.</p> + +<p>"Everlastingly thumped!" wailed Danny.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I can get up enough interest to do much good on +first," grumbled Bruce, who was as little pleased as any one.</p> + +<p>"What's the use of going to the trouble of playing when you know at the +start that you're to be defeated?"</p> + +<p>"Look here, Bruce!" said Merriwell firmly. "I don't want to hear you +talk that way! We are not going to be beaten. We will wallop Abernathy's +men, and don't you worry. We can do it all right!"</p> + +<p>"Isn't that the crack team of Hartford?" demanded Diamond.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Nothing better over there, I think."</p> + +<p>"Then there will be no dead-easy business about it. They're not going to +lie down and let us walk over them, just for the purpose of stiffening +the spine of that Kansan!"</p> + +<p>Jack Diamond was disgusted with the outlook.</p> + +<p>"Have I said that they are easy?" Merriwell asked. "I only said I felt +sure we could defeat them. And we can. Badger is a good pitcher. You +know that. And if he loses his nerve, I shall very promptly take his +place. There will be no monkeying. You are the fellows that seem to be +in the notion of lying down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well play!" grunted Bruce. "We're just airing our little opinions. +I expected to see you in the box Saturday, and I'm disappointed. I +suppose that's all!"</p> + +<p>He gave a tug at his pipe and rolled over lazily on the lounge, as if +that settled it.</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll play," agreed Diamond. "But I don't like to go into the +game with Badger in the box. I don't like him. The fellow has made +himself an insufferable nuisance. I don't agree with you that he is such +a wonder. He's a very ordinary fellow, with a rich father and a swelled +head. Out West, where he came from, everybody got down on their knees to +him, and here at Yale that sort of business don't go. Nobody cares +whether his father is a cattleman or a cow-puncher. He wants to be +worshiped, and Yale isn't in the worshiping business. Consequently, he's +sore all the time!"</p> + +<p>Jack forgot that, when he arrived at Yale a few years ago, he expected +homage on account of his family and pedigree.</p> + +<p>"And I don't forget that he went aboard the <i>Crested Foam</i> blind drunk, +and made an ass of himself generally!" said Bruce, rousing again.</p> + +<p>"That's one reason Merry wants to give him a show!" said Rattleton. +"Badger has an idea that everybody who knows about it feels just as you +do, and Frank wants to show him that they don't. See?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll play, of course!" Bruce grumbled, rolling back again.</p> + +<p>"Sus-sure!" declared Gamp. "Whatever Mum-Merry says, +gug-gug-gug-gug——"</p> + +<p>"Are you trying to say goshfry?" Danny mildly asked, wetting the end of +an unlighted cigarette.</p> + +<p>"Gug-goes!" sputtered Gamp, giving Danny a kick that fairly lifted him +from the floor. "You mum-mum-mum-measly runt, I'll kuk-kill you!"</p> + +<p>"Because he's a joker, Danny thinks he is the only card in the pack!" +said Dismal.</p> + +<p>"If Merry says we can go into that game next Saturday with Badger in the +box and earth the wipe—I mean wipe the earth with those fellows from +Hartford, we can do it!" Rattleton declared emphatically. "You know he +wouldn't say such a thing if he wasn't sure of it."</p> + +<p>"There are only two absolutely sure things, death and taxes," said +Merriwell soberly. "If I put too much emphasis on my belief, I'll have +to withdraw it. I mean to say that I believe we can."</p> + +<p>"And that's about the same as saying that we can!" Rattleton asserted.</p> + +<p>"I'm only doubtful about Bart," said Dismal, like a prophet of evil.</p> + +<p>"He will never catch for Badger!" Diamond declared.</p> + +<p>"I think he will!" sputtered Rattleton. "He will see it just as we do, +after Merry talks with him. Of course, we don't any of us love Badger, +but what's the difference?"</p> + +<p>"Let 'er go!" cried Bink, holding up his hands as if they gripped a bat. +"Of course, we'll play ball!"</p> + +<p>"Of course!" said Dismal. "We'll pitch Bart out of the camp if he makes +a kick. The fellow that balks on that, when he understands it, is 'fit +for treason, stratagem, and spoil!'"</p> + +<p>Shortly after, Merriwell met Hodge on the campus, coming from the fence. +He saw at once that Bart was "steaming."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Merriwell," said Hodge, bristling with indignation. "It +surely can't be true that you're going to put Badger into the pitcher's +box next Saturday?"</p> + +<p>Frank took him by the arm and turned with him away from the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered, "I have promised to do that."</p> + +<p>Hodge's face grew black with wrath.</p> + +<p>"You've made a fool of yourself!" he roughly declared. "I wouldn't +believe it. I said it was a lie, and I threatened to thump the face off +of Donald Pike because he told it. Say, Merry, you don't really mean +it?"</p> + +<p>Frank had dropped Bart's arm, but they still walked on together. It was +easy to see that he did not like Hodge's tone and manner.</p> + +<p>"I must say you are outspoken and far from complimentary," he observed.</p> + +<p>"I know I don't talk like this to you often."</p> + +<p>"That's right. If you did, I'm afraid we might not be such good +friends."</p> + +<p>"But I must talk straight now, Merry!"</p> + +<p>"I'm willing that you shall drive ahead, but I want you to hold in your +temper. Don't let it run away with you."</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! how can I hold in my temper under such provocation?"</p> + +<p>"Simply by holding it in."</p> + +<p>"But you know how I hate Badger? You know that we're bitter enemies! You +know what I think of him!"</p> + +<p>"I think I've heard you express some sentiments along that line."</p> + +<p>"You know that he was drunk when he went aboard that excursion steamer! +And he can't pitch!"</p> + +<p>"You are wrong there!" Frank declared positively. "He can pitch."</p> + +<p>"Why, Merry, those Hartford fellows will just put it all over us. I tell +you it won't do! You must give it up!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose you know why I promised to let him pitch?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I haven't heard, but I can guess. After you'd saved him from +drowning himself, and he came to realize what everything meant, he came +licking round you, professing gratitude and friendship, and all that +sort of stuff. And you——"</p> + +<p>"See here, Hodge!" said Frank, with uncommon sternness. "I won't stand +talk like that, and you ought to know it. I'm your friend, as I've +proved many times, but I can't remain your friend if you treat me that +way. I'm ready to hear your opinions, but I won't stand abuse from you +or any other man!"</p> + +<p>"I told you a good while ago that whenever you and Badger ceased to be +enemies you would become friends!" Bart declared, somewhat softened. +"And now it has come true. You are wanting to befriend and help him now, +just as I knew you would. And after all the dirt he has done you! Why, +he's put dirt all over you a dozen times!"</p> + +<p>The memory of it caused Bart to lose his head again.</p> + +<p>"Badger is my enemy! A man who is his friend is no friend of mine! That +is flat! I don't think I can make it plainer."</p> + +<p>"You can't; it's plain enough. Badger is not my friend, but I am not his +enemy."</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me, Merriwell! You are his friend. You wouldn't ask such a +thing, if you weren't. You must know that every one of the fellows will +kick. What did you make such a fool promise for?"</p> + +<p>Merriwell's face was flushed.</p> + +<p>"You are making reckless talk, just because you are badly excited, old +man! I am sure you will be sorry as soon as you cool off. If I didn't +think so, I'd say some things that would be hot enough to take the skin +off your face! Now, listen here! I have promised Dunstan Kirk to let +Badger pitch next Saturday in that game against Hartford. Kirk thinks it +will brace Badger up a little, and perhaps it will. I am willing to help +Badger. He can pitch. We need good pitchers. Besides, I have given Kirk +my promise. I mean to keep it."</p> + +<p>Up to that moment, angry and unreasonable as he was, Bart had +half-believed that Merriwell might yet back out of his position, and +refuse to let Buck go into the box. He saw now how mistaken he had been.</p> + +<p>"And you expect me to catch for that scoundrel?" he demanded, shaking +with rage. "I tell you, Merriwell, I won't do it! I'll do any reasonable +thing you want me to do, but I won't do that! I draw the line there, +short and sharp! I won't play in a nine with Buck Badger!"</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, we'll have to get along without you!"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it, Merry?" Hodge gasped. "Do you mean that you will choose +him before me?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing of the kind, and you ought to know it. You would know it, if +you were not just blind with anger and prejudice. I am not choosing +Badger in preference to any of my friends!"</p> + +<p>"Why aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am not. There is no choosing of friends in this. I have said +Badger shall pitch in that game. That does not make him my friend, and +it ought not to drive any of my friends away. I am manager of the picked +nine, and I supposed that my friends who had known me so long would be +willing that I should have some privileges."</p> + +<p>"But when I declare I won't catch?"</p> + +<p>"You have no right to make any such declaration."</p> + +<p>"Why haven't I?"</p> + +<p>"Simply because, as my friend, you ought to be willing to aid me in this +matter. I shall not put it on any other ground."</p> + +<p>"I'll do anything for you, Merry, but that. I can't do that!"</p> + +<p>"You mean you will not do it!"</p> + +<p>"I won't do it!"</p> + +<p>"Then I shall get another catcher!"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it?"</p> + +<p>"I mean it!"</p> + +<p>Hodge seemed stunned for a moment. Then his rage boiled over.</p> + +<p>"All right, Merry!" he flashed. "If you want to favor a scoundrel like +Badger instead of me, you can do it. But I will not catch in that game. +I refuse to play on any nine with Badger! I——"</p> + +<p>"I remember to have heard you say those things before!" said Frank, +turning short about. "We will not discuss it any further, Bart. You are +a free man. You may do as you please. I shall not argue the matter with +you. Badger is going to pitch for me Saturday forenoon. Good day!"</p> + +<p>Hodge stopped and looked after him, all white and shaky, as Merriwell +walked away.</p> + +<p>Then the hot blood rushed in a tide into his dark face, and he, too, +turned and walked off, filled with smothered exclamations and raging +like a volcano.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<h4>PIKE'S LITTLE PLAN.</h4> + + +<p>Donald Pike was in a nagging mood. He walked up and down the room a few +times, finally stopping in front of his chum, Buck Badger. They had been +talking about the Saturday ball-game, and both were in bad humor.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what's the matter with you, Badger! I'm disgusted with +you!"</p> + +<p>The Westerner shifted his feet nervously, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you consider it an honor to receive that invitation from +Merriwell? I don't! I am surprised that he sent it."</p> + +<p>Badger shifted his feet again, and shrugged his thick shoulders. His +face was flushed and his eyes looked troubled.</p> + +<p>"I am, too!"</p> + +<p>"He had a motive, of course!"</p> + +<p>Badger tossed a leg over the arm of his chair, and looked out of the +window.</p> + +<p>"It has been his boast all along that he would have you in his flock by +and by! You have always sworn by all that's good and bad that you would +never become a friend of his!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not a friend of his!"</p> + +<p>Pike laughed sneeringly.</p> + +<p>"What do you call it? If I say a word against Frank Merriwell you want +to eat me up. It's come to that! You were ready to fight him any minute, +at first; now you're ready to lick the polish off his shoes, just like +the rest of those fellows."</p> + +<p>"Nothing of the kind!" Badger hotly declared.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're going to pitch for his picked team Saturday!"</p> + +<p>"Kirk asked me to."</p> + +<p>"And Merriwell sent him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!"</p> + +<p>"And they have become such friends that they're almost chums. The +fellows are beginning to say that Dunstan Kirk manages the Yale +ball-team, and Frank Merriwell manages Dunstan Kirk. They are about +right, I guess!"</p> + +<p>"I allow that I'm no nearer being Merriwell's chum than I ever was. We +could never be chums. But I'm not going to forget what he did for me on +the <i>Crested Foam</i>. He saved my life, then, Pike!"</p> + +<p>"And proposes to wind you round his fingers and drag you at his heels to +make you pay for it!"</p> + +<p>"So, when he sent me that invitation, and I talked it over with Kirk, I +thought I ought to accept it."</p> + +<p>"Don't you know that Hodge will refuse to catch?"</p> + +<p>"Don't talk about him!" Badger hissed.</p> + +<p>"He has already said that he will not catch for such a scoundrel as +you!"</p> + +<p>"Did he say that?"</p> + +<p>"He says you will lose them the game; that it's an outrage to put you +into the box, and he won't be a party to it. He says you can't pitch."</p> + +<p>"Can't I? He says that, does he?"</p> + +<p>"He says that if Frank Merriwell takes up with you, he will never speak +to him again. Anyhow, what good will it do you to pitch for Merriwell? +You'll be no nearer getting a show on the regular nine."</p> + +<p>Badger shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and showed his broad +white teeth unpleasantly. Pike was again walking up and down the room.</p> + +<p>"I'd almost be willing to become a member of Merriwell's flock just to +spite Bart Hodge. My hands just naturally go up, and I want to fight +whenever I see him. That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you two will be as chummy as the Siamese twins in less than a +month."</p> + +<p>"Never! I hate him too badly."</p> + +<p>"That's the way you were talking of Merriwell a month ago. You will come +round to it!"</p> + +<p>"Not on your life! Hodge is a different sort of fellow from Merriwell, I +allow."</p> + +<p>"And you are going to accept that invitation?"</p> + +<p>"I told you, Pike, that I have already accepted it. I'm not Merriwell's +friend, and I despise Bart Hodge; but I'm not ungrateful. Whatever other +things we learn out West, we learn to pay back favor for favor. I'd be a +dirty coyote if I refused to accept that invitation after what Merriwell +did for me. That's the way I look at it. I know that I can pitch ball. +You know it, too. I can twirl a ball just as good as Frank Merriwell, or +any other fellow in Yale, and you know that, too. I reckon I'm able to +ride my bronco alone, without Merriwell's help. I am not asking +favors—none whatever! I'm simply returning a favor already given! You +can see through that, can't you? If you can't, you're as chuckle-headed +as a prairie-dog!"</p> + +<p>"I can see that you are becoming Frank Merriwell's friend just as fast +as you can!"</p> + +<p>"You're riding away off the line, Pike! I shall never be Merry's friend +in the sense you think. But you know that he is the clean white article. +He is straight goods. I've found that out. I used to think different, +just as you do, but I've found out I was mistaken. He is a square man. +And when he sent that invitation I knew there was no underhand business +about it whatever. That's the reason I accepted it; that and because it +would have made me feel meaner than a Digger Indian if I had refused it. +I'm going to pitch for him Saturday forenoon, and I'll win that game for +him, too. Don't you let that fact escape your memory! I hope Bart Hodge +will refuse to catch. I'm afraid I couldn't resist the temptation to +throw the ball square at his head every time, if he was behind the bat. +I want him to stay out!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you're a fool!" Pike snapped, striding toward the door. "I never +thought you'd do a thing like that. You are no more like the old Badger +than a calf is like a mountain-lion. You had some fire in you once, but +you have become as soft as a ninny. The whole thing simply makes me +sick."</p> + +<p>Badger's face was red and his neck veins were swelling.</p> + +<p>"I'm not used to any such talk whatever, Pike!" he exclaimed, as Pike +hurled these sentences back at him from the doorway. "If you say +anything like that again I'll kick you down-stairs! I've taken more off +of you to-night than I ever thought I could take from any one, and I +won't stand it any longer!"</p> + +<p>"Cool off, old man!" Pike sneered. "You're making a chuckle-headed +prairie-dog out of yourself, I think. If you should kick me you would +kick the best friend you ever had. Good-by. See you later!"</p> + +<p>The Westerner did not even grunt a reply, but sat still in his chair +with his hands in his pockets, his eyes glittering, his broad teeth +showing, his neck veins protuberant and his face as red as a boiled +lobster, while Pike walked away.</p> + +<p>When Pike came back to the room Badger was gone. Pike entered with his +own key. He knew that the Westerner would likely be away a number of +hours, calling on Winnie Lee. He glanced round the room, then went to +the closet in which Badger's clothing hung.</p> + +<p>Pike was crafty in his hate. He did not intend to lose his grip of the +Kansan. He realized that he had gone almost too far. Badger would bear a +good deal from him because of what they had been to each other, but to +this there were limits. He felt that he had nearly reached the limit.</p> + +<p>"He shall not pitch ball Saturday, if I can help it!" he hissed, as he +looked over the things in the closet. "If I can work it, it will make +Hodge so hot against him that there will be a fight. And perhaps it will +turn Merriwell and his precious flock against him, too. It's risky, but +it is worth all the risk."</p> + +<p>He took out a suit of Badger's clothes, and laid it in a chair. Then he +went to a desk and selected from it some "make-up" preparations which +had been there ever since the production of the sophomore play, "A +Mountain Vendetta." Then, after locking the door, he arrayed himself in +Badger's suit, and, standing before the mirror, applied the preparations +to his face, forehead, and eyebrows.</p> + +<p>Pike had a good deal of artistic skill in such matters, and in a short +time he had darkened his face, blackened his brows and drawn certain +lines and colors, that, together with the change produced by the +clothing, made him resemble Badger in a remarkable manner. When he put +on Badger's hat the alteration seemed complete.</p> + +<p>"Of course, that wouldn't stand close inspection," he muttered. "But +there will be no close inspection. I shall look out for that. Now for +the voice!"</p> + +<p>He bunched up his shoulders to give them a thick look, cleared his +throat, and looking straight at himself in the glass, began to imitate +Badger's tones and characteristics of speech, speaking so low, however, +that there was no danger of being heard by any one who might chance to +pass.</p> + +<p>"I allow that I'm a Kansan from away beyond the Kaw, and I reckon I'm a +diamond pure without the slightest flaw! Sure! A genuine prairie-dog +from the short-grass country couldn't chatter more like a Westerner than +that. That would fool Badger himself. That's whatever! Yes, I reckon. My +daddy is a rancher, and I allow that I am great; for my home is on the +boundless plains of the wonderful Sunflower State! If I should practise, +I reckon I could become a poet!"</p> + +<p>Satisfied with his make-up and his abilities to imitate Badger's tone +and language, Donald Pike returned the unused articles to the drawer, +put away the clothing he had removed, and then sneaked down into the +campus, carrying under his coat a long, stout cord. Keeping away from +the electric lamps and other lights he slipped stealthily on until he +reached the entrance which led to the rooms occupied by Merriwell and +Hodge.</p> + +<p>Diamond and Browning came down, talking in low tones of Merry and Bart, +and from this talk, Pike, who had withdrawn into the shadows, learned +that both Hodge and Frank were out in town somewhere. This suited Pike's +plans, and when Diamond and Bruce disappeared, he crawled into the +shadow of a column and watched the path along which Hodge and Merriwell +would come on their return.</p> + +<p>"They'll not come back together, sure, unless all the stories I've heard +are lies; for they're not on speaking terms!" he reflected. "The only +thing I fear is that Hodge may not care to come to his rooms at all."</p> + +<p>The thought made him uneasy, and caused the vigil which followed to +appear torturingly long.</p> + +<p>"Ah! there he is!" he whispered, at last.</p> + +<p>Slipping across the path, he tied an end of the cord he had brought to a +post, then retreated into the shadow and tied the other end about the +column. The youth he had seen came on at a brisk walk. Pike was sure it +was Hodge. He almost ceased to breathe as the unsuspecting young fellow +approached the cord. He put himself in position for a hasty spring.</p> + +<p>Crash!</p> + +<p>The youth tripped over the string, and went down headlong, falling +heavily.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I've got you now!" Pike hissed in a low tone, imitating +Badger's voice, and at the same time leaping toward the prostrate form. +Deceived by the darkness, Donald Pike had tripped Frank Merriwell, but +he did not yet know it. With that imitation of the Westerner's speech, +he knocked Merriwell down, as the latter tried to get up.</p> + +<p>Again he struck, as Frank attempted to rise, but Merriwell dodged the +blow, and, catching Pike by the legs, threw him. Before Pike could +realize what had happened, Merriwell was on top, with his fingers at +Pike's throat.</p> + +<p>"You scoundrel!" Frank hissed. "I am tempted to give you what you +deserve for that!"</p> + +<p>But Pike was not ready to surrender, though he knew now that he had +committed a woful blunder. In fact, the knowledge that he was dealing +with Frank Merriwell aroused him to a fierce resistance. He felt that it +would simply be ruinous to be held and recognized by Merriwell, and he +began to fight like a demon to get away.</p> + +<p>He freed his hands, and struck Frank heavily in the face, at the same +time kicking with all his might. He tried to thrust his thumbs into +Frank's eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'll kill you, if you don't let me go!" he snarled.</p> + +<p>Frank had felt from the first that his assailant could not be Buck +Badger; now he recognized the voice of Donald Pike, for Pike, in his +fright and desperation, forgot to keep up the disguise.</p> + +<p>Seeing that the only way to deal with Pike was to choke him into +semi-insensibility, he caught and crushed down the flailing fists and +arms and tightened his grip on Pike's throat. Pike writhed and flounced, +kicking and struggling, but all without avail. That viselike grip grew +tighter and tighter. The pain seemed unbearable. He gurgled and choked, +and his lungs seemed to be bursting. He could not breathe, and his brain +began to reel.</p> + +<p>"Give in?" Frank asked.</p> + +<p>"Don't k-k-k-ill me!" Pike gasped, as the grip on his throat relaxed.</p> + +<p>"You deserve it, you scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>Frank took his knee from Pike's breast, removed the choking hand, and +flung Pike from him.</p> + +<p>"Now get up!" he commanded. "Get up before I am tempted to kick you +across the campus!"</p> + +<p>Pike shuffled and evaded, as his breath came back.</p> + +<p>"I thought you were Badger, and I was just playing a little joke on +you!" he whined.</p> + +<p>"Get up!" Frank exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Pike struggled up, and Merriwell jerked him toward the nearest light. He +saw the "make-up," and recognized the clothes as some he had seen on the +Kansan.</p> + +<p>"What were you up to?" he demanded, with threatening emphasis. He saw +forms moving in the campus, and he did not want to tarry with Pike.</p> + +<p>"Just a little sport!" Pike whined. He was completely crushed.</p> + +<p>"You lie, Donald Pike! You had some object. I can almost guess what it +was. You imitated Badger's voice and way of speaking, when you jumped on +me. You are wearing Badger's clothing. That make-up is intended to lead +any one who sees you into thinking you were Buck Badger. You wanted to +make me believe that Badger had assaulted me."</p> + +<p>"Just a joke!" Pike pleaded. "Merriwell, I didn't mean anything, only to +have a bit of sport. That is honest. I didn't know it was you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! That last sounds as if you meant it. I hardly think you did know +who you were tackling. I think I shall take you over to Badger's room, +and let him see you just as you are. Come along!"</p> + +<p>Pike was not anxious to be seen by the men who were crossing the campus, +so he moved along, with Frank at his side.</p> + +<p>Frank was thinking rapidly, in an effort to understand Pike's motives.</p> + +<p>"I want to know why you leaped on me in that cowardly way, and struck me +when I was down. You wouldn't have served Badger that way! And if you +wanted to have a little fun with Badger, you would not have disguised +yourself and imitated his way of speaking. That story don't go with me, +Pike!"</p> + +<p>Pike was watching for a chance to escape, intending to make a dash for +liberty at the first opportunity.</p> + +<p>"You are disguised as Badger. Badger would not assault me that way, for +Badger is a man! But you wanted to make some one think he had been +assaulted by Badger. That one must be Bart Hodge!"</p> + +<p>Pike started to run, but Frank caught him by the collar, and jerked him +back.</p> + +<p>"Don't be in a hurry, Pike! I've seen you through and through for some +time, and understand your little game of this evening."</p> + +<p>Donald Pike walked on for a time peaceably enough, but he was only +watching for an opportunity to break away. Again he fancied the +opportunity had come. But no sooner did he start than Frank tripped him, +and he fell sprawling. Before he could get up, Frank's hand was on his +collar.</p> + +<p>He made another fierce struggle as soon as he was on his feet, only to +discover that he was as helpless as a child in the hands of Frank +Merriwell. He had never dreamed that Merriwell was possessed of such +strength and skill.</p> + +<p>The shadows were heavier at this point, and Merriwell kept a grip on +Pike's collar.</p> + +<p>"See here, Pike!" he exclaimed. "If you try anything of that kind again +I shall simply knock you down. You are going with me, if I have to tie +and drag you. So you might as well come along quietly and save trouble."</p> + +<p>"I shall have you arrested for this!" Pike blustered, now that whining +and begging and fighting had failed.</p> + +<p>"Do! I think your friends would enjoy hearing the story of your +remarkable masquerade told in court. Go ahead with the proceedings, +Donald. Just now you are going with me, regardless of the after +consequences."</p> + +<p>Pike caught at a post, but Merriwell jerked him away from it, and then +hurried him rapidly on in the direction of Badger's room. Pike was sure +Badger was not in, and began to think that he might save himself bruises +and rough treatment by apparent acquiescence.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you," he finally panted, "but under protest. And I shall +make you sorry for this outrage. You have no right to treat me thus."</p> + +<p>Merriwell did not answer, but kept a hand on Pike's collar while he +conducted him up the stairs. To Pike's consternation, Buck Badger was in +the room and the door was open.</p> + +<p>Before Pike could quite make up his mind to try again to escape, +Merriwell had bundled him through the doorway.</p> + +<p>Badger scrambled up.</p> + +<p>"There is your friend!" said Merriwell, pointing a finger accusingly at +Pike, who was too confused and humiliated to speak. "He disguised +himself that way, and attacked me awhile ago near my room, thinking I +was Bart Hodge. He has found out his mistake. He wanted to make Hodge +think that you had done the dirty work, so that you and Hodge would lock +horns the first time you met, and there would be trouble again all +around the camp. He is a contemptible and cowardly puppy, and I feel +that I have soiled my hands by touching him. But I wanted you to see him +in that rig, and know him as he is."</p> + +<p>A fierce denial was on the lips of Donald Pike, but he had not the +courage to utter it. He saw that something more than denials would be +necessary to explain matters. The Westerner was as speechless as Pike, +and Merriwell turned away.</p> + +<p>"I reckon we'll have a little explanation of this, Pike!" were the words +Merry heard as he reached the head of the stairs. They were spoken in an +awesome tone of voice, and came from Badger's lips.</p> + +<p>Then the door closed with a bang, and he knew that the Kansan had barred +the way of Pike's escape from the room. The next morning Frank received +this note:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Mr. Frank Merriwell</span>: Pike and I had a settlement last night. He +tried to lie out of the thing, but I made him confess to the whole +truth. Then I kicked him down-stairs. We are not rooming together +any more whatever. <span class="smcap">Buck Badger</span>."</p></blockquote> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<h4>AT THE HOME OF WINNIE LEE.</h4> + + +<p>Frank Merriwell seemed the personification of spring as he approached +the residence of Fairfax Lee, the next afternoon. Spring is the time +when the wine of life flows warm through the veins of Nature. Its face +holds the bloom of youth and the smile of hope. Its heart is all aglow +with the joy of living. The golden summer is before it; and it has no +dead past, for the winter seems to belong to the year that has gone.</p> + +<p>A handsomer specimen of young manhood could not have been found. The +flowering spray in his buttonhole seemed part of the jaunty new suit +which so became him. He was clean-looking and energetically wholesome. +From the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was nattily neat, +yet he was as far from being dudish in appearance as it is possible for +one to be. He looked to be what he was—strong, and lithe-limbed, almost +physically perfect, with a handsome, intelligent face, hopeful, +courageous heart, and active brain.</p> + +<p>Yet many things had come to trouble him in the past twenty-four hours, +even though his bright face showed not a trace of their annoying effect. +Chief of these things, of course, was the defection of Bart Hodge. Hodge +had gone away stubbornly angry, and Merriwell had not seen him since the +moment of parting.</p> + +<p>Every member of the "flock" was hot against Hodge, and had not hesitated +to speak plainly. Hodge's rebellious spirit had rallied them round +Merriwell as one man. Browning and Diamond had even argued that he ought +not to be longer recognized as a member of Merriwell's set. The only one +who had ventured to stand up for him, aside from Merriwell himself, was +Harry Rattleton. Frank had defended him to the last, insisting that +allowances should be made for the peculiarities of Bart's disposition, +and asserting that he would be found all right in the end.</p> + +<p>Frank was thinking of all this as he drew near the home of Winnie Lee. +His intention was to call on Inza and have a talk with her about the +'Varsity boat-races at New London in June, for Inza was the "mascot" of +the Yale crew that was to meet Harvard at New London. In addition, he +expected to inform her and her friends of the arrangements made for the +ball-game with Hartford on Saturday.</p> + +<p>He looked about him after he had tripped lightly up the steps and rang +the bell. The Lee home was in a fashionable and exclusive part of New +Haven, and the spacious grounds were beginning to take on beauty and +color under the reviving influences of spring. A fountain, shot through +with rainbow hues, was spraying a marble sprite, while a rheumatic +gardener troweled round the rim of a loamy flower-bed.</p> + +<p>Winnie, who had observed Merriwell's approach, came to the door herself +to admit him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you didn't come to see me?" she asked, when he inquired for Inza.</p> + +<p>"That would be pleasant enough, but it wouldn't do to make Buck +jealous!"</p> + +<p>He laughed in his cheery way.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it would be easy to make him jealous of you now," she +answered. "And I'm so glad he is to pitch for you Saturday! I want to +thank you for that, myself. It was just like you to send such an +invitation."</p> + +<p>Merriwell's eyes dropped under her earnest look. He dared not tell her +just then that the invitation had been procured by Dunstan Kirk.</p> + +<p>"Who told you he is to pitch Saturday?"</p> + +<p>"Why, he told me so this morning himself."</p> + +<p>"And, of course, you have told Elsie and Inza?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, I want to see Inza, and have a talk with her, about the New +London races. So I think I will take a car for Mrs. Moran's."</p> + +<p>Winnie had informed him that both Inza and Elsie had gone on an errand +of mercy to the home of the grandmother of Barney Lynn.</p> + +<p>"And you won't come in, even a little while? You prefer their society to +mine, I see! I am ashamed of you, Frank Merriwell! You are not as +gallant as you used to be."</p> + +<p>Her voice was merry and her heart light.</p> + +<p>"Some other afternoon or evening I shall be glad to come in and talk you +to death. Just now I am pressed for time."</p> + +<p>"I ought to have gone down there with them," she confessed. "But it +seemed that I couldn't get away. Frank, you don't know what angels of +mercy those girls have been! Elsie found out that Mrs. Moran was +starving and dying by inches for lack of proper food and medicines, and +since then she and Inza have been down there every day, and often two or +three times a day."</p> + +<p>"I trust they don't venture after nightfall!"</p> + +<p>Frank was thinking of a fight Jack Ready had while rescuing Elsie from +the drunken ruffian, Jim Haskins.</p> + +<p>Then he thanked Winnie for her invitation, said good-by, and hurried +away to catch the first car going in the direction which he wished to +take.</p> + +<p>"I hope Badger is entirely worthy of her," he thought, his mind on +Winnie Lee. "She is a fine girl, and if he gets her he will get a prize. +Now, if they don't pass me, coming back in another car! Winnie hasn't +the least idea that Buck was intoxicated when he went aboard the +<i>Crested Foam</i>, and she shall never know it from me!"</p> + +<p>Neither of the girls heard Merriwell's gentle rap on Mrs. Moran's door, +and he pushed into the house without further ceremony, feeling sure that +they were busy in caring for the old lady or that her condition was such +that they could not leave her. Then, looking through the doorway at the +right of the corridor, his gaze fell on a pleasant sight.</p> + +<p>The girls were seated by the bed, Elsie holding one of Mrs. Moran's +wasted hands in her own warm palms, while Inza was reading to the old +woman from a little copy of the New Testament.</p> + +<p>Merriwell stopped for a moment, for his entrance had been unnoticed. +Somehow, the pathos of the scene inexpressibly touched him.</p> + +<p>"They are angels of mercy, just as Winnie said!" was his thought.</p> + +<p>Inza had an excellent reading voice, as pure and liquid as falling +water. It was a pleasure to listen to it. Frank had often heard her +read, but it seemed to him never with such expression as at that moment. +The sunlight, falling through the small west window, illuminated her +face, making it almost radiant, and touched with brighter tints Elsie's +crown of golden hair.</p> + +<p>"I wish I were a painter!" he thought. "I should like to preserve that +scene. If I could have that to hang in my room, it would be like a flash +of sunshine to look at. But no painter could do it justice. There are +certain things that can't be painted, and this is one of them."</p> + +<p>He noisily shifted his feet to call attention to his presence, and Inza +looked up. The color flooded her cheeks, and her dark eyes showed +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why, Frank!" she gasped. "How did you come to be here?"</p> + +<p>Elsie also started up.</p> + +<p>"How did you get in?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Opened the door and walked in. You were so busy you didn't hear my +knock, so I just took the liberty."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Moran stirred, and turning feebly, looked at him, her eyes showing +recognition.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to see you!" she whispered, as he advanced toward the +bed, and she stretched out one of the feeble hands. "Sometimes I think +that I am not long for this world. I should have died here, I feel sure, +if it had not been for these girls. And your other friend, Miss Winnie, +has been very good, too! I hope you are quite well, Mr. Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>"Quite well! Don't let me disturb you. Inza was reading to you. Let her +go on. I will sit here in this chair."</p> + +<p>So Inza read again, until the old woman was tired; after which the trio +left the house, and walked down to the car line, where they took a car +for the residence of the Honorable Fairfax Lee.</p> + +<p>"I went to Lee's to see you," Frank explained, "for I wanted to talk +over some details of the trip to New London and the June races. The +mascot of the crew hasn't been down to the boat-house this week. And I +wanted to invite both of you, and Winnie, to the ball-game Saturday +forenoon."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry about Bart!" Inza exclaimed. "But he will come round all +right, don't you think?"</p> + +<p>"He may not play in this game, but he will see how foolish he is, and be +heartily ashamed of it by and by."</p> + +<p>"Who is to catch for you, then?"</p> + +<p>"Jack Ready!"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you haven't seen Ready catch? He is a good one!"</p> + +<p>"You need a strong battery, Frank!" Elsie asserted.</p> + +<p>"Yes, like you and Hodge," nodded Inza. "I'm afraid Badger and Ready +will not be able to work well together. They haven't played together +before, I believe?"</p> + +<p>Inza was full of bright, snappy conversation, as they sped homeward in +the car with Merriwell. But Elsie was unusually silent.</p> + +<p>"She can't get Mrs. Moran out of her mind," Frank thought.</p> + +<p>He left them at the door, for the hour had grown so late that he felt he +could not just then spare the time to go into the house, much as he +wanted to do so. Inza and Elsie went up-stairs together. Winnie was out +or in another part of the house.</p> + +<p>Inza shrugged her shapely shoulders.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Elsie, dear?"</p> + +<p>Elsie's lips were quivering as she faced round and confronted her +friend.</p> + +<p>"You ought to know what is the matter, Inza Burrage!" she declared.</p> + +<p>"I'm not the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter," said Inza, a bit +defiantly. "How should I know?"</p> + +<p>"You do know!"</p> + +<p>"I should say that you are showing a bit of jealousy, if pressed for an +answer."</p> + +<p>"And haven't I a right to be jealous, Inza?" Elsie demanded.</p> + +<p>"Haven't I a right to talk to Frank Merriwell and be nice to him, if I +want to?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, Inza, but—well—you know——"</p> + +<p>"It seems to me, Elsie, that you came between Frank and me once! Isn't +it so? Frank cared for me before he ever did for you. You came between +us. I haven't come between you and Frank yet, but if I should do so +would it be any worse than what you did?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought that was past!" cried Elsie, flushing and trembling. "You +never understood me, Inza!"</p> + +<p>"And do you fancy for a moment that you understand me?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not; but I can see—I'm not blind!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, jealous people can see things that no one else can," laughed +Inza, with a provoking toss of her proud head.</p> + +<p>"Do you want to make me hate you forever, Inza Burrage?" Elsie cried. +"You hurt me! You are heartless!"</p> + +<p>A sudden look of deep pain shone in Inza's face, changing her manner in +a twinkling, and she turned away as if trying to conceal it.</p> + +<p>"Of course, nothing ever hurts me!" she said bitterly. "I am steel and +iron, and all that! Your heart is tender, and such things hurt you!"</p> + +<p>Elsie did not know what to say. She had tried to feel for a time that +Inza had ceased to care for Frank, and then had told herself that Inza +had no longer any right to care for him. She was beginning to realize +that questions of right and wrong cut very little figure in affairs of +the heart—that, in fact, love obeys no such laws.</p> + +<p>When Inza turned back, her face had lost its trace of pain.</p> + +<p>"Elsie," she said, "we will not quarrel about Frank, for Frank's sake. +It would distress him if he knew it. He must never know it. Promise me +that you will not say a word to him about it."</p> + +<p>"Of course I won't say anything about it," Elsie agreed. "I should fear +to, and I shouldn't want to."</p> + +<p>"Then we'll keep it to ourselves. You have discovered that I haven't +ceased to care for Frank Merriwell. Perhaps I never shall. But that is +neither here nor there."</p> + +<p>The old wave of jealousy swept across the tortured soul of Elsie +Bellwood.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you intend to win him if you can, after you have told +me that you surrender all claim on him?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't said anything of the kind. But I claim the right and +privilege of talking to him and with him as much as I please. You and he +are not engaged, even if he has seemed to prefer you. He may change his +mind, just as he did before, but remember that I'm not trying to get him +to!"</p> + +<p>"Then you do intend to try to win him?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, you must recognize the fact that Frank is the one to do the +winning. I shall never run after any man."</p> + +<p>Elsie's blue eyes flashed.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to insinuate that I would?"</p> + +<p>"I thought we weren't going to quarrel!"</p> + +<p>The look of pain came back into the dark, handsome face, and this time +Elsie saw it. A feeling of remorse began to tug at her heart.</p> + +<p>"I am not worthy of Frank Merriwell," she said softly. "I know that. But +I thought——"</p> + +<p>"You thought nothing could hurt me!"</p> + +<p>"No, not that. I thought he was to be mine, and recently that hope has +been slipping through my fingers. I can't tell you, Inza, how I have +felt."</p> + +<p>"I can understand!" said the dark-haired girl. "I have good cause to +understand!"</p> + +<p>"I know that really you are more worthy of him, Inza, than I am. I have +always thought that, when I wasn't crazy with the fear that you might +win him away from me. But I just can't surrender my claim, slender as +you think it!"</p> + +<p>"For Frank's sake," repeated Inza, "we will not quarrel about him! As +for these other questions——"</p> + +<p>Winnie's light step was heard in the hall, and the sentence died +unfinished.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3> + +<h4>HODGE'S REPENTANCE.</h4> + + +<p>Bart Hodge absented himself from class and lecture, but later that +night, after all the members of the "flock" had departed from +Merriwell's room, Bart came in. His face was flushed and feverish.</p> + +<p>"I don't care what the other fellows think, Merry!" he said, dropping +into a chair as if he felt that he had no right there. "But I do care +what you think! I went away in a huff, saying to myself that I'd never +come back until you sent for me, when I knew that you wouldn't send for +me, and that I would come back. And here I am."</p> + +<p>"How could I have sent for you, Bart?" Merry questioned. "I knew you +would feel differently when you had time to think it all over, and I +told the fellows so."</p> + +<p>"I don't care for their opinions!" Bart snarled. "I'd never come back +for any of them!"</p> + +<p>"They are my friends!"</p> + +<p>"I've been miserable ever since. I have felt like a cur as I've sneaked +round town. You needn't try to stop me! You are the truest friend I ever +had, and I've treated you like a dog. I know it, and I'm sorry for it."</p> + +<p>"I am your friend, Bart, because I understand you, and appreciate you. +The others would think as much of you as I do, if they understood you as +well. We'll not talk any more about this matter, if you're willing, but +just turn in for the night and say nothing about it."</p> + +<p>"How can you overlook a thing like that?" Hodge asked.</p> + +<p>"Because I knew all the time that your better nature condemned what you +did, and that you would by and by yield to your better nature. The man +who meets a powerful temptation and finally masters it is stronger +really than one who never is tempted. I forgave you long ago, Bart, and +would have told you so if you had come back. I was angry at the time, +but I didn't remain angry."</p> + +<p>"I've come back to tell you that I'll catch for you to-morrow—Saturday. +I swore I'd never catch for Buck Badger, but I will. I'll catch for the +Old Boy himself, if you want me to. I'm not ready to agree that he ought +to be permitted to pitch, for I hate the very sight of him; but I have +put that by, and will catch for you. It will be catching for you, you +see, Merry, and not for him. I ought to have looked at it that way +before, but I could not."</p> + +<p>"I have got Jack Ready for catcher!"</p> + +<p>Bart gasped, while his dark face seemed to get redder and hotter.</p> + +<p>"Why, he can't catch!"</p> + +<p>"Much better than you think. He is a pretty fair catcher."</p> + +<p>"And if he falls down?"</p> + +<p>"I'll put some one else in. I have two or three in mind, and have spoken +to two of them."</p> + +<p>Hodge seemed stunned.</p> + +<p>"I'm willing to catch!" he said.</p> + +<p>"You may, Bart, if I see that Ready can't do the work. If the game seems +about to be lost I'll go into the pitcher's box and you behind the bat, +and we'll pull the nine out of the hole! Eh?"</p> + +<p>Hodge's eyes brightened strangely.</p> + +<p>"We can do it, Merry! I'll be as steady as a clock. Only I'm sorry +things went the way they did and that I showed how mean I can be. I only +proved what my enemies say of me. It's too late now, but I'm ready to do +what I can to make it right."</p> + +<p>Merriwell came over and put a hand on Bart's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I understand you, Bart, and few do. I know that your friendship for me +is true blue, and that your heart is where it should be, even if your +head runs away with you. Now we'll get to bed. To-morrow we play ball, +and I want to be in condition."</p> + +<p>But Bart Hodge was not in condition to play ball, nor in condition for +anything the next day. When morning came he had a high fever, and the +doctor whom Merriwell summoned looked grave.</p> + +<p>"He has lost sleep and been exposing himself and caught cold," he said. +"It looks like a case of pneumonia. Better send him to the hospital."</p> + +<p>"Will he be better off at the hospital than here, if there is some one +here to take care of him?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't know that he will. And I was going to say that it is really +too bad to move him in his condition."</p> + +<p>"Then he will stay right here. I'll get the best nurse to be had, and +look after him all I can myself!"</p> + +<p>And Hodge, under the best of care, remained in his room, while +Merriwell's nine, with Jack Ready as catcher and Badger as pitcher, went +out to meet the team from Hartford that forenoon.</p> + +<p>A big crowd of rooters had come over from Hartford to whoop things up +for Abernathy's men. They were enthusiastic fellows, and they made a +great deal of noise. Some of them were betting men, and they flourished +their money with as much confidence as if the game were already won and +they were certain of raking in their winnings.</p> + +<p>But Yale had turned out a big crowd, too, for Merriwell was immensely +popular, and, of course, the Yale and New Haven crowd would naturally be +the larger on the home grounds.</p> + +<p>"We'll have a warm time this forenoon!" Frank observed to Jack Ready.</p> + +<p>"Torrid as the equator!" Ready answered.</p> + +<p>"How is your nerve, old man?"</p> + +<p>Ready dropped a finger to his pulse and seemed to be counting.</p> + +<p>"Steady as a clock, Merry!"</p> + +<p>"Keep it that way. There is Badger coming over for a talk with you. +We'll begin as soon as we get a little warming up."</p> + +<p>He looked at his watch and began to talk with Browning, while Ready and +Badger drew aside to confer. Merriwell could see that Badger was a bit +nervous when the game was called. There was a flush in his face and a +glitter in his eyes that told of excitement, but this seemed to +disappear as he took the clean new Spalding ball in his hands and +entered the box.</p> + +<p>In the grand stand Frank saw Inza, Elsie, and Winnie, and he lifted his +hat to them again, though he had enjoyed a long talk with them not many +minutes before. Winnie was smilingly happy. She waved her handkerchief +to Badger, and the Kansan's white teeth showed in a grim smile of +determination.</p> + +<p>"If only you and Bodge were the hattery—I mean if only you and Hodge +were the battery!" Rattleton groaned in Frank's ear.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry, Rattles! Just do your duty on third!" Merry answered. "We +are all right!"</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, Harry went away happy and confident. Browning was on +first, with Diamond on second. Danny Griswold was short-stop; while +Dismal had the right field, Bink Stubbs center, and Joe Gamp the left. +The game opened with Merriwell's men in the field.</p> + +<p>The Westerner surveyed the ground and his surroundings carefully. Then +planted his toe on the rubber plate and shot in a "twister." It curved +inward as it neared the batter, and cut the heart of the plate. The +batter had been fooled and did not swing at it.</p> + +<p>"One strike!" called the umpire.</p> + +<p>The batter, who was looking out for an out curve next, swung at it, and +fanned the air. The Yale men, and especially the sophomores, began to +shout.</p> + +<p>Badger thought it time to change to an out curve, and sent one in hot as +a Mauser bullet. But the batter was looking for out curves. He reached +for it. Crack!—away it sailed into the right field.</p> + +<p>"Go, long legs!" was screamed at Dismal Jones, who sprinted for it with +all his might.</p> + +<p>The next man of the Hartfords at the bat was the pitcher, Pink Wilson, a +fellow almost as tall and lank as Dismal Jones, with a hatchet face and +a corkscrew nose. His admirers said he got that twisted nose from +watching his own curves in delivering. He came up confident, thinking he +understood the tricks of the Kansan pretty well, and that he would be +easy. But almost before he knew it the umpire called "one strike."</p> + +<p>"That ball must have passed this side of the plate," he declared. "It +was an in, and I had to jump to get out of the way."</p> + +<p>"Don't jump at shadows!" shouted a Yale sophomore. "That ball was all +right."</p> + +<p>The umpire promptly informed Wilson that he was talking too much with +his mouth.</p> + +<p>"I'll get him the next time!" thought the lank pitcher of the Hartfords. +"He fooled me that time, but he can't do it again!"</p> + +<p>But Badger did it again. Again the sophomores began to yell. Jack Ready +tossed the ball back.</p> + +<p>Badger began to look and to feel confident, a thing that Merriwell, who +was closely watching him, did not like. This time the Westerner, after +almost bending himself double, gave his arm an eccentric movement and +shot in another curve. Wilson struck at it desperately, and fanned out.</p> + +<p>"He can't keep it up!" yelled a Hartford man, who had been wildly +hunting for bets a short time before, and who felt the need of whistling +to keep his courage up.</p> + +<p>Barrows, the center-fielder, came to the bat next. He went after the +very first one, and got it Crack! and away the ball flew again into the +right field, while the Hartford lads opened up with great vigor.</p> + +<p>It was a hit, for everybody saw that Dismal, even though he was doing +his best, could not possibly get it. Barrows raced to first, while +Tillinghast, the base-runner, took second, without trouble, but stumbled +and fell, so that it was impossible for him to make another bag on the +hit.</p> + +<p>Badger next tried his highest speed, and the batter fanned, but Ready +dropped and fumbled the ball, being unable to hold it, and came very +near letting both runners advance, although he did get the sphere down +to third in time to drive them back.</p> + +<p>Watching closely, Frank had discovered that something about Badger's +delivery bothered Ready. Badger himself saw this, and he tried a change +of pace, but the batter caught it on the handle of his "wagon-tongue," +and drove out a "scratch hit" that filled the bases.</p> + +<p>Oleson, a Swede, almost as large as Browning, came up to the plate.</p> + +<p>"And there were giants in those days," droned Jones, from his position +in the field.</p> + +<p>"How's that for the giant?" cried Oleson, as he slashed yet another down +into Dismal's territory, bringing in the first score and causing the +Hartford rooters to "open up."</p> + +<p>Jones made a beautiful throw home, which sent Barrows scrambling back to +third, which he reached barely in time to save himself, for Ready had +lined it down to that bag in short order.</p> + +<p>Frank was beginning to wonder if all the Hartford men were right-field +hitters, or was there something in Badger's pitching that caused them to +put the balls into that field? Unable to keep still, he walked down +toward first, and Browning found an opportunity to say:</p> + +<p>"We ought to have Hodge behind the bat. Badger can't use his speed, for +Ready can't hold him. Are you going to let those fellows lose this game +in the first inning, Merriwell? If you do, I'll kick myself for a week +for being chump enough to get out here and swear for nothing."</p> + +<p>"It's a handicap not to have Hodge," admitted Frank.</p> + +<p>Browning felt like saying it was a handicap not to have Frank in the +box, but, fancying he had said enough in that line, he kept still. +Badger's face took on a hard look. He motioned for Ready to come down +and advanced to meet him. A few words passed between them, while the +Hartford "fans" guyed them.</p> + +<p>This little talk seemed to bear good fruit, for the Westerner fooled the +next batter with two drops, getting two strikes called. Then he tried +"coaxers" till three balls were called on him, and again, with every +runner taking all the "lead" he dared, the excitement was at a high +pitch.</p> + +<p>Frank feared for the result.</p> + +<p>"Oh, for Hodge!" he thought. "I see now that our handicap means disaster +unless the wind changes." Ready was crouching under the bat, nervous, +but determined. Badger took his time, but put terrible speed into the +next ball, which he sent over the inner corner of the plate. The batter +struck at it, but missed clean.</p> + +<p>Plunk! the ball struck in Ready's hand. Thud! it dropped to the ground. +But the bases were filled, and the batter was out, for all that Jack had +not held the ball. He recovered it so that there was no possibility for +the man on third to get home.</p> + +<p>Now two men were out, but the bags were filled, and a long, safe hit +meant more scores for the visitors. Fleetwood, the Hartford +third-baseman, took his turn at the stick. He was a good waiter, and he +found just what he wanted, sending it safe over the short-stop, so that +two more scores came in.</p> + +<p>Badger was pale round the mouth when the next hitter stepped up to the +plate. He did not spare Ready. Jack missed the first two balls, being +unable to hold them, although he did not let them get past him. Both +were strikes, and again Badger tried to "work" the batter, though he did +not slacken his speed. Frank was anxious, for he expected to see the +freshman catcher let one of those hot ones pass him. Nothing of the kind +happened, and, after trying two balls, Buck used a sharp rise and struck +the man out.</p> + +<p>The college men on the bleachers rose up and howled, but Frank Merriwell +was gloomy at heart, though his lips smiled.</p> + +<p>"Badger is doing well," he told himself; "but Ready cannot hold him. I'm +afraid the handicap is too great. Oh, for Bart Hodge just now!"</p> + +<p>The first half of the first inning was over, but Hartford had made three +runs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + +<h4>READY STEADY.</h4> + + +<p>Merriwell saw that Ready could not catch for Buck Badger. There was such +an utter absence of anything like team-work that there seemed to be +little hope that the game could be won by Merriwell's nine if the +battery was not changed. Badger could pitch like a wonder at times, but +he rattled Ready, who, as a rule, and in regard to other matters, was as +steady as a clock. Ready simply could not do himself justice with Badger +in the box. He felt it as well as Merriwell, but he doggedly continued, +determined at all events to do his best. Ready was a fellow of infinite +pluck, and usually a fellow of infinite confidence. He would have had +confidence now, but there was not a thing to build his confidence on.</p> + +<p>Merriwell's nine scored four times before it was forced again into the +field. Frank sent Badger into the box again, after talking with him +awhile.</p> + +<p>"You rattle Ready, some way!" Frank told him. "Throw those in curves +more, and work in your dropped balls when you can. They get your out +curves."</p> + +<p>Then, before playing again, he had a few words with Ready.</p> + +<p>The first man at the bat got a hit, while the next man took first on +balls. The next man at the bat knocked a fly into the hands of Danny +Griswold, who was playing short-stop, and the base-runners came back to +their places.</p> + +<p>Then the men on bases tried to make a double steal, which was partially +successful. The fellow on second reached third, but the runner behind +him was cut off at second by a throw from Ready. Jack should have thrown +to third, but he did not. He threw low to second, and Diamond got it on +the bound, touching the runner as that individual was making a desperate +slide.</p> + +<p>Two men were out, and Frank hoped that Badger would keep the visitors +from scoring. Buck might have done so, but somehow he "crossed signals" +with Jack, the result being a passed ball that let in a score.</p> + +<p>"I'm hot stuff," chirped Ready, as he found Frank back at the bench of +the home team. "When I don't fail, I succeed."</p> + +<p>"I see you do," answered Frank dryly. "You succeeded in letting in that +run."</p> + +<p>"Our wires got crossed. Badge gave me an in when I was looking for an +out. If you'll put in a pitcher who can throw a curve, I'll surprise +you."</p> + +<p>"Does Badger rattle you?"</p> + +<p>"Refuse me! I think I rattle him."</p> + +<p>There was no time for further talk, and the game went on. Buck was +nervous, and Frank pitied him, for he could see that the Westerner might +do well with a good catcher behind the bat. Just then Merry did not know +of a man to put in Ready's place, for he could see that the Westerner's +great speed and queer delivery might be too much for any green catcher +who was not used to him.</p> + +<p>"Yes," muttered Frank, "the loss of Hodge is the handicap that will +cause us to lose the game—if we lose it."</p> + +<p>The next man got first on balls, and then the following batter lifted a +high foul. Ready got under it, and the Hartfords were retired at last.</p> + +<p>"We're done up, Merry," said Rattleton, as the men came in.</p> + +<p>"Not yet, old man," declared Frank cheerfully. "I think I'll go behind +the bat myself next inning."</p> + +<p>"Don't do it!" exclaimed Harry. "I know you can play any old position, +Merry, but your place is in the box. With you there, every man on the +team will play like a streak. Won't you go in?"</p> + +<p>"Badger——"</p> + +<p>"Can see that he is bound to lose the game if this keeps on. He's got +sense. He won't want to make such a bad record for himself."</p> + +<p>"Ready will not be able to judge the double-shoot. I can't use that."</p> + +<p>"You won't have to. You can win this game without it."</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"I do! Try it."</p> + +<p>Frank was in doubt, and he permitted Badger to pitch one more inning. +The Westerner worked hard, but it was plain he had lost confidence, and +he was not at his best. Great beads of perspiration stood out on his +face. Two men scored, despite him, and the visitors had the lead again.</p> + +<p>"I believe I'll try it in the box," Frank mentally decided. "Perhaps I +may hold Ready steady. It looks like the only show to win out."</p> + +<p>When Merriwell finally went into the box, seeing that it must be done, +Badger retired with as good grace as he could, though his dark face was +flushed.</p> + +<p>"There would be no trouble if it wasn't for Jack Ready!" he asserted. "I +can pitch all right, but the pitcher isn't the whole battery!"</p> + +<p>"Your delivery bothers him," Merriwell explained. "I believe that you +two together are capable of good work, but it will take a lot more +practise, and just now we haven't time for practise. You can pitch, +Badger, and your best is excellent; but you are irregular. But you'll +come round all right. I was talking with Dunstan Kirk about you awhile +ago, and he agrees with me. He has been closely watching you all through +the game."</p> + +<p>"I know it," Badger growled. "I've known it only too well! It has helped +to make my pitching wild at times. If he had stayed away, I think I +could have done all right all the time. But you'll find that Ready will +worry you. He'd worry anybody. The fellow simply can't catch."</p> + +<p>"But he can!" Merriwell insisted. "We'll win this game yet!"</p> + +<p>The change that came over Jack Ready's work shortly after Merriwell went +into the pitcher's box was little short of marvelous. Frank seemed to +know how to favor Ready's weak points. And this kept Ready's head steady +for other work, so that he made not another wild throw to bases.</p> + +<p>Merriwell's nine began to feel their courage rise. It put life into them +just to see Frank in the box. Stolen bases on the part of the Hartfords +stopped. The swiftness with which Merriwell struck out three batters +made the spectators gasp.</p> + +<p>From that on Ready was steady, and he and Frank worked together like a +battery team of long experience. Frank Merriwell won, in spite of his +handicap! And so the Yale rooters, and especially Merriwell's friends +and admirers, who were a host in themselves, were roaring wild as they +returned from the ball-ground. Merriwell joined Inza and Elsie, while +Badger took a car with Winnie.</p> + +<p>"I knew that everything was all right, as soon as you went into the +box!" Inza declared. "But up to that minute I was nervous. I was wanting +to shake you all the time for not taking Badger's place sooner."</p> + +<p>"I felt sorry for Badger," said Elsie. "And I felt sorry for Winnie. She +got as red as a beet when Badger left the box, but I know she didn't +blame you, Frank. She saw just how it was, and she knew you ought to +have gone in sooner, but of course she felt it."</p> + +<p>"I was afraid Ready might begin to doubt his own abilities—though +probably there is not any danger that he will ever do that! He was just +what I expected of him, though, when I pitched. And if Badger and Bart +were friends and could, or would, work together, they would make a good +battery."</p> + +<p>"You will have to coach Badger some," Inza suggested.</p> + +<p>"Yes. The captain of the ball-team wants me to. He thinks there is good +stuff in both of them, if it can only be properly developed."</p> + +<p>The three got out at a transfer station, and waited for another car.</p> + +<p>"Dere she comes!" yelled an excited youngster.</p> + +<p>The "she" he referred to was not the expected car, but the head of a +circus procession, which was parading the principal streets as an +advertisement of the performances to be given in the big tents in the +suburbs that afternoon and night.</p> + +<p>Merriwell and the girls looked in the direction indicated. The crowd at +the corner seemed to become thicker. People began to swarm out of the +doorways and stream out into the middle of the street.</p> + +<p>"And this is scholarly New Haven!" exclaimed Inza. "Wild over a circus +parade!"</p> + +<p>"We're not in the scholarly part of New Haven!" laughed Frank. "I +confess that I like to see a circus parade myself!"</p> + +<p>Inza showed evidences that she liked the same thing, for she craned her +handsome neck and stood on tiptoe to catch the first glimpse. The +nodding plumes on the heads of the horses drawing the gilded band-wagon +came into view, and at the same moment the band began to crash forth its +resonant music. Children danced and capered, heads were popped out of +second-story windows, and the pushing crowd grew denser.</p> + +<p>The band-wagon came slowly down the street in the bright spring +sunshine, followed by the performers, mounted on well-groomed horses, +some of which were beautifully mottled. There were other horses, many of +them—a few drawing chariots, driven by Amazons. Then came the funny +clown, in his little cart, with his jokes and grimaces for the children.</p> + +<p>There was another band-wagon, as gorgeous as the first, at the head of +the procession of wild-beast cages. Its music was more deafening than +that of the other. The street-cars seemed to have stopped running, owing +to the packed crowds, and Frank and his girl friends remained on the +corner curiously watching the scene.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a fractious horse jerked away from the man who had been +standing at its head holding it, and whirling short about, +half-overturned the wagon to which it was hitched and raced wildly down +the street. People scattered in every direction, several being knocked +down in the stampeding rush.</p> + +<p>The horse climbed to the sidewalk, with wheels bumping the curbing, +trying to get out of the way of some men who were seeking to stop it. +Almost before they were aware of it, horse and wagon seemed fairly on +top of Merriwell and the girls. Elsie gave a startled cry, and dashed +across the street, where the people were falling back out of the way, +with women pulling nervously and excitedly at their children.</p> + +<p>A child fell headlong, and the horse seemed about to stamp it, when +Frank, with a quick leap, picked it up from under the very feet of the +runaway, and dropped it safely at its mother's side. Then a tremendous +roar ascended. Turning, Frank saw that Inza and Elsie had disappeared. +He did not at first know the cause of the roar.</p> + +<p>The horse, veering again and wheeling sharply, had hurled the wagon +against a cage in which was confined a full-grown tiger. This was an +open cage—that is, the screening, wooden, outer shell had been removed, +showing the big beast of the jungle, with its keeper in circus costume, +seated in the center of the cage on a low stool.</p> + +<p>Against the door of this cage the bounding wagon had struck heavily—so +heavily that the lock was torn away or broken, and the cage door pulled +open. The roar that went up was a roar of alarm and fright. And it +increased in intensity when the striped beast, with nervously flicking +tail, leaped past its keeper and into the street, where it crouched, not +knowing what to do with its newly found freedom.</p> + +<p>The street was in the wildest tumult. The horses drawing the cage had +been brought to a stop by the driver. But another horse, frightened by +the din and the runaway, broke loose just at that time, and came tearing +along, with flaming eyes and distended nostrils, like a Malay running +amuck.</p> + +<p>Frank sprang toward the head of this horse, for the peril to the +stampeding people seemed great. But the animal veered and passed by, +dragging Merry a few yards by the shafts and hurling him to the ground.</p> + +<p>The sight he beheld as he scrambled up was enough to stop the beating of +his heart. Inza and Elsie had tried to again cross the street. Inza had +been knocked down by the horse, and lay unconscious, while Elsie had +been swept on in the crowd. More than that, the keeper of the tiger, who +had courageously leaped after the terrible beast with his spearlike iron +goad, hoping to be able to prod and cow it into subjection, had been +knocked flat also by the horse, his iron goad flying out of his hand and +into the street.</p> + +<p>Though Frank was some distance away, he started toward the tiger, which +had crouched and seemed about to spring on Inza. But before he could +take a step, he saw Elsie run from the crowd toward Inza and the tiger. +Her face was very white, but it was filled with the look of high courage +which inspired her. She realized the peril of any attempt she could make +to save Inza, and she boldly took the risk.</p> + +<p>A hundred voices were screaming at the big brute, which crouched with +undulating tail and open jaws; but not another person seemed to be +moving toward Elsie to render her assistance, with the exception of +Frank Merriwell.</p> + +<p>He saw the girl pick up the iron goad. Then Elsie Bellwood leaped +between the tiger and Inza. As she did so she lifted the goad. The tiger +turned its attention from Inza to Elsie, and the latter struck at it, as +if the goad were a spear.</p> + +<p>Frank Merriwell heard the click of a revolver at his side. He saw a man +shakily lifting it.</p> + +<p>"Permit me!" he gasped, and plucked it from the man's hand.</p> + +<p>The revolver went up, flashing for a moment in the sunshine. A quick, +sharp report rang out. The bullet, sent with true and steady aim, by the +hand of Frank Merriwell, ploughed through the tiger's brain, and the +beast flattened out convulsively, and began to kick and writhe in its +death agonies.</p> + +<p>Hearing the report and seeing the animal fall, Elsie's uplifted hand +fell, she swayed like a wind-blown vine, and dropped heavily down across +the form of Inza Burrage.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3> + +<h4>FRIENDS.</h4> + + +<p>The crack of the revolver and the fall of the tiger seemed to break the +spell that had held and made cowards of the throng. A dozen men leaped +toward the girls. But Merriwell reached them first. He lifted Elsie, who +had merely fallen in a faint, as he saw; and, passing her to a student +whom he recognized, he bent anxiously over Inza.</p> + +<p>There was a bruise and a fleck of blood on the upper part of her face.</p> + +<p>"Inza!" he said, lifting her tenderly and seeking to arouse her. "Are +you much hurt, Inza?"</p> + +<p>The words and tone seemed to call her back from the land of death. She +moaned feebly, and tried to put up a hand. Half-lifting her in his arms, +he looked around.</p> + +<p>"Is there a surgeon here!" he called.</p> + +<p>Elsie came back to consciousness with a shiver, and heard him call. Her +face had been very white, but it became pale as death. The sight of +Inza's bruised face and limp form upheld by Merriwell seemed to blur her +brain again. She caught at the arm of the student who was holding her, +and by a great effort kept her senses.</p> + +<p>"Is she dead, Frank?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"No!" he answered. "I don't know how much she may be hurt, though."</p> + +<p>The tiger had ceased to struggle, the crowds were writhing, a babel of +sound that was confused and confusing filled the air. The circus +procession had come to a halt, with the exception of the forward band, +which was blaring away far down the street.</p> + +<p>A doctor came out of the crowd. Other doctors proffered their services, +for Inza was not the only one who had been knocked over by the rush of +the horses. The injured tiger-keeper was picked up and bundled into an +ambulance.</p> + +<p>"Right across here!" said the doctor who had answered Merriwell's call. +Then he led the way into an apothecary's.</p> + +<p>"Nothing serious!" he announced, a minute later, when he had made his +examination. "The young lady will be all right in a day or two."</p> + +<p>He spoke of Inza, and both Merry and Elsie sent up fervent sighs of +relief.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Coming softly into the room which Elsie Bellwood occupied, Inza Burrage +saw Elsie in tears.</p> + +<p>"What is it, dear?" Inza asked, going up and putting her arms about +Elsie's neck.</p> + +<p>Except for a telltale bit of courtplaster, Inza showed no sign of the +dangerous and exciting experiences through which she had that day +passed.</p> + +<p>"Don't! don't!" Elsie pleaded, with a little shiver. "If you knew what +was in my heart you wouldn't speak to me, Inza Burrage!"</p> + +<p>"Why, dear? Why wouldn't I speak to you—you who have proved yourself +the most heroic and courageous girl in all New Haven?"</p> + +<p>"It wasn't courage half so much as it was fright. And if you knew the +thoughts I had!"</p> + +<p>Inza kissed her.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>Elsie turned on her a horrified face.</p> + +<p>"Inza, when I saw you knocked down by that horse, the awful wish came +into my heart that you might be killed. And even when I saw the tiger +about to leap on you, I couldn't drive that thought away. I have been +hating you in a way that I never thought I could hate anybody! You see, +I began to fear that you were trying to come between me and Frank; and +if you had been—killed—there—would—have—been—an—end—of—that!"</p> + +<p>"But you rushed between me and the tiger. And you fought the beast with +that goad. You, a girl, standing between me and such a terror as that! +Frank has told me all about it—about how brave you were! It was +beautiful!"</p> + +<p>"When I felt how wicked my thoughts was, there came an awful revulsion +of feeling; and then I rushed into the street, not caring if I was +killed, if I could only save you. I felt that the sacrifice of my life, +even, if it were necessary, was demanded to pay for those dreadful +thoughts. I knew the danger, Inza, but that hideous thought made me +brave."</p> + +<p>"You are naturally brave, Elsie! I feel that I owe my life to you."</p> + +<p>"And I wished you dead!" said Elsie self-reproachfully. "I can never +forget it. Wished you dead when you were knocked down and when the tiger +threatened you. Inza, it was something awful!"</p> + +<p>"It was because you love Frank!"</p> + +<p>"And you love Frank! You have confessed as much."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I do. I hardly know myself. But you have shown to-day that you +are much more worthy of him than I am. Don't worry about any of those +troubles any more."</p> + +<p>She straightened up, with the look of a renouncing queen, while her dark +eyes shone like stars.</p> + +<p>"Elsie, I will go away from here if it is necessary. I will not disturb +you and Frank."</p> + +<p>"I take back all I said the other day!" Elsie quivered. "I retract every +word. They were selfish, jealous, hateful words. They led me to +murderous thoughts—for those thoughts about you to-day were really +murderous. You shall not go away! Not unless I go away, too!"</p> + +<p>"Then we can be friends, dear!" said Inza, laying a hand softly on the +golden head. "That is what we will try to be, if you will, in spite of +everything."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Elsie assented, "though I am not worthy to be your friend."</p> + +<p>"Then we will be friends, dear!"</p> + +<p>"We are friends!" Elsie exclaimed impulsively, drawing the hand down and +kissing it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + +<h4>THE GUN CLUB.</h4> + + +<p>"Baw Jawve, it would be sport if a fellah could draw on a grouse on a +Scotch moor, don't you 'now! It would be something great to knock such a +bird into the heather. There really isn't any shooting in this country +to be compared to that, don't you 'now!"</p> + +<p>Willis Paulding drawled this in his affected style, and then swung the +handsome English Greener hammerless to his shoulder and squinted down +the barrels as if he fancied he heard the whirring of a moor cock's +wings and felt the thrill of the sportsman tingling through his veins.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with partridge and woodcock shooting in New England? +Or quail shooting in the West and South? Or duck shooting on the +Southwest coast? Or prairie-chicken and grouse shooting in the far West +and Rocky Mountains?" demanded Merriwell, who had arrived on the grounds +of the gun club with Bart Hodge and was taking his gun out of its case.</p> + +<p>Paulding flushed.</p> + +<p>"If you had ever shot grouse across the big pond, you 'now, you wouldn't +ask such a question, Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>"I have shot grouse on the other side of the big pond, and it is fine +sport, true enough. But there is just as fine shooting to be had in +America. You make me tired. You want to act like an Englishman, +Paulding, but it is an insult to the English, for your imitation is +really disgraceful. A true Englishman is very much a man!"</p> + +<p>"And Paulding is a mere thing!" snapped Hodge.</p> + +<p>"He isn't worth noticing, don't you 'now!" sneered Paulding, moving away +with the members of the Chickering set. "He is always slinging insulting +things at me. It's mere jealousy, don't you 'now, that makes him act so. +Baw Jawve, if I was as jealous as Merriwell, I'd go drown myself!"</p> + +<p>"He is always slinging insults at us in the same way!" Ollie Lord +breathlessly declared, looking as fierce as he could and lifting himself +on his tiptoes to increase his fighting height.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't let the thing worry me," purred Rupert Chickering. +"Merriwell is so spoiled by flattery that he is hardly responsible for +what he says. I never like to hold harsh feeling against any one."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to pull the wetch'eth nothe!" lisped Lew Veazie, looking quite +as fierce as Ollie Lord. "It would therve him wight if I thould walk up +to him thome day and thimply pull hith nothe!"</p> + +<p>"But he might pull yours!" Julian Ives warned. "That wouldn't be +pleasant, you know."</p> + +<p>Julian Ives, in the perfumed sanctity of Chickering's rooms, often +looked lovingly at himself and his wonderful bang in the long mirror and +dreamed the heroic things he would like to do and the revenges he would +like to carry out, but his actual courage had been at a very low ebb +ever since his humiliating experience as a member of the Eskemo dog-team +driven by the cowboy, Bill Higgins. He was likely to remember that a +long while.</p> + +<p>"They're not worth talking about—none of Merriwell's crowd!" snarled +Gene Skelding, as if anxious to change the drift of the unpleasant +conversation, for he had been given cause to fear and hate Merriwell and +his friends quite as much as any other individual who claimed the +companionship and friendship of the immaculate Rupert. "Let me see your +gun, Willis!"</p> + +<p>He took the Greener, snapped it open to see if it was loaded, then +winked at Chickering.</p> + +<p>The members of the Yale Gun Club were rapidly coming on the ground, +together with a number of noted New Haven shots and others interested in +trap shooting. Browning and Rattleton appeared, and Diamond, Dismal, and +several others of Merry's set were seen approaching.</p> + +<p>"I thought Bart Hodge was sick?" said Tilton Hull. "But I see he is out +again."</p> + +<p>"When I heard he wath thick I hoped he would never get well. He ith a +howwid cwecher! Whenever I go near him he thnapth at me like a bulldog."</p> + +<p>"As if you were a bulldog?" queried Skelding, who at times seemed to +delight in teasing certain members of this delectable set.</p> + +<p>"The idea!" exclaimed Ollie Lord indignantly, putting a hand caressingly +on Veazie's shoulder. "A bulldog! If Veazie is anything, he is like the +cunning little dog I had once. It was the darlingest little poodle! and +I simply loved it!"</p> + +<p>"Just fawncy!" sniffed Willis Paulding.</p> + +<p>But Lew Veazie seemed pleased. He put up a hand to touch the caressing +arm.</p> + +<p>"You're another, Ollie!" he beamed. "I always did like poodles!"</p> + +<p>"A pair of poodles!" said Skelding, and again winked meaningly at +Rupert, who snatched the cap from the head of Julian Ives and flung it +into the air. Skelding took a snap-shot at it as it fell.</p> + +<p>"If that cap is damaged," said Ives, smoothing his precious bang which +the brisk breeze began to flirt about, "I'll make you fellows pay for +it. That's flat!"</p> + +<p>But Julian's alarm was premature. Not a shot had touched it.</p> + +<p>The members of the Chickering set continued the delightful sport of +snatching hats and caps from each other's heads and shooting at them +with Paulding's fine English gun; but the only damage done was by the +falls the articles received, for not a shot touched any of them.</p> + +<p>"Of course, fellahs, a moor cock doesn't fly that way," Willis +drawlingly explained, in extenuation of the poor shooting. "He doesn't +go right up and down, you 'now. He has wings, don't you 'now, and flies +straight away, like a shot. I could hit a grouse without any trouble, +but this kind of shooting! The best shot in England would be bothered +with it."</p> + +<p>"We'll have a try at the clay pigeons and blackbirds soon," Chickering +comfortingly promised.</p> + +<p>"But, gwathious, I've twied them, and they're harder to hit than thethe +are! I could do better if I could only keep my eyeth open, but the +minute I begin to pull the twigger my eyeth go shut, and I can't help +it."</p> + +<p>They had turned round and were retracing their way toward Merriwell and +his friends without noticing it. Suddenly Lew Veazie jumped straight up +into the air, clapped a hand smartly against one of his legs, and began +to dance a hornpipe. At almost the same moment a shot was fired by some +one.</p> + +<p>"Thay, fellowth, I'm thyot!" he gasped, turning deathly pale. "Honeth, +thith ithn't a joke! I'm thyot! Ow! It burnth like fire!"</p> + +<p>"Where?" Ollie anxiously asked, staring at the dancing youth, and +looking quickly about to make sure that no loaded gun was pointed in his +direction. The others looked about, too.</p> + +<p>"This reckless shooting ought to be forbidden!" declared Skelding, +regardless of the fact that the shooting he and his friends had been +doing was of the most reckless character. Veazie dropped down on the +ground, and began to pull up one leg of his trousers.</p> + +<p>"It stwuck me wight here!" he gasped. "I think it must have gone thwough +my leg. I can feel the blood twickling down."</p> + +<p>Ollie went down on his knees and began to help him, and together they +soon had the injured spot revealed to their anxious eyes. They beheld a +reddish place, with a center like a pin jab, but not a drop of blood.</p> + +<p>"It was a spent shot!" said Rupert wisely. "It came from a distance. But +it was a very reckless thing to do to fire at all in this direction."</p> + +<p>"Let me take a look at it!" said Julian Ives, crowding forward and +stooping to inspect it. As he did so, he straightened up with a little +screech, and clapped a hand to his hips.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" he howled, dancing round as Veazie had done. "I'm shot, too! +Fellows, this is awful! I believe I'm killed! Who is doing this?"</p> + +<p>"Thuch weckleth thyoothing I never thaw!" groaned Veazie, though he was +much relieved to discover that he had not received a deadly hurt. +"Thomebody mutht be awwested for thith. I thouldn't be thurpwithed if it +ith one of Merriwell's fwiendth!"</p> + +<p>"Wow!" howled Julian, falling to the ground, and writhing about in his +agony. "I'm dead! I never had anything hurt me so! Wow-ow-ow!"</p> + +<p>Ollie Lord clapped a hand to his head and executed a quickstep. He +pulled off his cap and rubbed furiously, expecting to feel the blood +come away on his fingers, for he also fancied he had been shot.</p> + +<p>"Goodness!" he gasped. "Whoever is shooting this way ought to be jailed. +We will all be killed in five minutes. That tore a hole in my scalp, +sure!"</p> + +<p>Rupert Chickering, who was beginning to look grave and anxious, next +jumped up into the air, forgetting his dignity; while Willis Paulding +sat down with a suddenness that jarred the ground, and began to declaim +in a quick, nervous way and without the slightest imitation of an +English accent.</p> + +<p>Then Lew Veazie, who had been rubbing his injured leg and looking +surprisedly and dubiously about, leaped to his feet with another howl +and went dancing off from his friends.</p> + +<p>"Felloth, it ith hornets!" he shrieked, beginning to fight and slap with +his cap and his hands. "Ow! wow! They're thtinging me to death! Help me, +thomebody!"</p> + +<p>"Hornets!" shrieked Ollie Lord, leaping up and following his chum. +"Fellows, the air is full of them!"</p> + +<p>Tilton Hull began to dig fiercely at his high collar.</p> + +<p>"There is one down my neck!" he screeched.</p> + +<p>He recklessly tore the collar away and began to dig with his nails in a +wild search for the thing that had stung him, and which he fancied he +felt boring its way still farther down his back. Julian Ives took his +hand from his hip and slapped it against his breast, where a red-hot +lance seemed to have been driven with torturing suddenness. Then he +began to tear away his beautiful necktie and to recklessly rumple his +gorgeous shirt front.</p> + +<p>"This is awful!" he exclaimed. "Where are the things coming from? The +air is full of them! Wow! Another struck me in the arm!"</p> + +<p>Lew Veazie was rolling over and over. Their outcries attracted the +attention of Merriwell and his friends, and also the attention of a +number of others who had come upon the grounds.</p> + +<p>"What are those idiots up to?" grumbled Hodge, who had no patience with +the antics of the Chickering set. "They've been making fools of +themselves ever since they came out here. Awhile ago, they were +recklessly burning powder and hurling shot all round. Now they act as if +they were crazy."</p> + +<p>"Must be playing some sort of game of circus!" guessed Browning. +"They're tumbling about like acrobats—or fools!"</p> + +<p>"And howling like wild Indians!" said Danny. "I think they are playing a +Wild West."</p> + +<p>"They ought to have Bill Higgins here, then, to make the show complete," +Merriwell remarked, with a smile. "But seriously, I don't believe +they're playing anything. Those yells sound real."</p> + +<p>"Help!" howled Willis Paulding, forgetting his drawl, "We're being stung +to death!"</p> + +<p>Willis was down on the ground, soiling his beautiful trousers and +digging furiously at his head.</p> + +<p>"Hornets!" shrieked Ollie Lord, kicking about not far from Paulding.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" screeched Lew Veazie, bobbing up and down like a cork in water +when a fish is nibbling at the bait.</p> + +<p>"Take 'em off!" begged Julian Ives, neglecting his lovely bang and +scratching with great energy at the places where he had been stung.</p> + +<p>"We're in a nest of hornets, or bees, or something!" exclaimed Rupert +Chickering, becoming decidedly belligerent in his efforts to rid himself +of the stinging creatures.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to stand there and see us killed?" Skelding demanded. "I +tell you, we are being stung!"</p> + +<p>"Glad to know it!" declared Bart. "You need it. It's hopeless, though, +to expect that the hornets will sting any sense into your crowd."</p> + +<p>Merriwell started toward the screeching, dancing, jigging, fighting +youths, quickening his steps into a run, and his friends followed at his +heels. As he did so he heard the loud and discordant jangle of a cowbell +furiously shaken.</p> + +<p>A man, a woman, and a boy had come in sight, appearing from behind the +seats allotted to spectators. Evidently they had emerged but a minute +before from a strip of timber that cut off the view of a farmhouse that +was on the right of the gun club grounds and some distance away. They +were running as fast as they could, and were shouting something as they +came on. The boy, a lanky chap of fourteen or fifteen, was vigorously +shaking the bell. The man carried a large pail, and the woman swung a +roll of dirty cloth.</p> + +<p>"Hold on! hold on!" the man howled. "Jest handle 'em gently, can't ye?"</p> + +<p>The Chickering set, as well as Merriwell's friends, heard him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! we'll handle 'em gently!" snarled Skelding, slapping at one of +the stinging things and crushing it with his hand. He saw then that it +was a bee. He jerked his hand away and stuck his fingers into his mouth. +Then jumped up and began again to hop around.</p> + +<p>"It run its stinger into my finger an inch!" he growled.</p> + +<p>"Hold on! hold on!" the old man was howling.</p> + +<p>"I'm holding on!' cried Rupert, smashing away at a handful of bees which +seemed to be settling down on him all at once.</p> + +<p>"You're killing 'em!" screeched the old woman.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we're killing 'em!" Skelding answered, flailing away as if he had +gone crazy. "I'd like to kill a million in a minute! I can't kill them +fast enough! I'd like to welt 'em with a club and smash a regiment at a +blow!"</p> + +<p>Lew Veazie threw himself on the ground, drew his hat down over his head, +and began to kick and shriek.</p> + +<p>"You're jest a tantalizin' 'em!" panted the farmer. Merriwell stopped +and laughed. The whole thing was too ridiculously funny for him to do +otherwise.</p> + +<p>"They're swarmin'!" shouted the boy, rattling away with the bell as if +his life depended on it.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see they are!" howled Julian Ives. "They're swarming all over +me!"</p> + +<p>"Don't hurt 'em!" the farmer begged. He was only a few feet away, and +panting on, almost breathless.</p> + +<p>"Don't kill 'em!" whined the old woman. "They're my bees!"</p> + +<p>Her words reached Lew Veazie. For a moment the kicking legs were +stilled, though the hat was not withdrawn.</p> + +<p>"Take 'em away then, pleathe!" he begged, from under the hat. "I don't +want to hurt your beethe, but they're hurting me! Take 'em away, +pleathe!"</p> + +<p>The boy stopped his jangling bell.</p> + +<p>"They are honey bees!" he said. Then added, as if he feared this might +not be clear to the intellects of city-bred youths: "They make honey!"</p> + +<p>"I'll tantalize them!" Skelding fiercely exclaimed, striking at the bees +that were hovering round his head. "I'll treat 'em gently! Oh, yes! I'll +pick them off very tenderly and put them in your lap, old lady! I don't +think! Keep your old bees at home!"</p> + +<p>"But they're swarming!" the old farmer exclaimed. "They're going out to +hunt a new hive. We've been follerin' 'em."</p> + +<p>Then Lew Veazie began to bellow again, more frantically than ever. A +large crowd was gathering, men hurrying from all directions, Merriwell +and his friends had arrived on the scene.</p> + +<p>"Ow-wow!" Veazie shrieked. "They're worthe than ever!"</p> + +<p>For a few seconds he had not been troubled except by the stings +previously given, which pained intensely. Merriwell looked down and saw +a big bunch of bees gathering along the top of Veazie's collar at the +back.</p> + +<p>"They're killing me!" Veazie screeched, rubbing a hand into this mass +and leaping to his feet.</p> + +<p>But the pile grew. The bees seemed to drop by scores right out of the +air upon him. He started to run. The old woman began to shriek, and the +boy commenced again to jangle the bell.</p> + +<p>"You've got the queen!" howled the old man. "Jest keep still a minute! +You have got the queen!"</p> + +<p>"Is this a card-game?" drawled Browning.</p> + +<p>"Lew Veazie is the little joker this time!" droned Dismal.</p> + +<p>"That's because he is so sweet!" declared Bink. "Don't you know the boy +said these are honey bees? They're going to carry Veazie away and turn +him into honey and the honey comb."</p> + +<p>"If you talk that way I'll have to swear off on honey!" exclaimed +Browning, with a wry face.</p> + +<p>"Hold on! Jest hold on!" the farmer was begging.</p> + +<p>Veazie started to run, and the farmer reached out a hand for the purpose +of detaining him.</p> + +<p>"They ain't stingin' you!" he insisted. "Jest keep your hands down and +keep still an' they won't do a thing to you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, they won't do a thing to him!" howled Danny.</p> + +<p>Veazie dropped flat to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Jest hold on!" begged the farmer. "Jest hold on! They're lightin' round +the queen!"</p> + +<p>Then he dipped his big hand into the pail and began to ladle out the +water and drench the bees with it, while the old woman flailed with the +roll of cloth to keep them away from her, and the farmer's boy, dancing +up and down in his excitement, jangled the bell like an alarm clock.</p> + +<p>"Jest hold on!" the farmer urged, as Veazie showed signs of rolling +over. "I'll git my fingers on that there queen in a minute, and then +I'll have 'em. I wouldn't lost this swarm fer five dollars. Jest hold on +a minute!"</p> + +<p>"Veazie's queen!" some one sang out from the heart of the surging, +talking, sensation-loving throng. "I always knew you were attractive, +Veazie, but I didn't know females rushed at you in that warm way. Yes, +jest hold on a little, Veazie. We don't have a circus like this every +day, and we want to get the worth of our money."</p> + +<p>Ollie Lord, Chickering, Hull, Skelding, and the others seemed to have +been almost deserted by the bees, that were now swarming down upon the +hapless lisper, drawn there by the fact that the queen had found +lodgment somewhere on Veazie's neck.</p> + +<p>Under the influence of the farmer's commands, Veazie ceased to kick and +strike, and lay like a gasping fish while the man deluged him with +water.</p> + +<p>"Thay, I'm dwoning!" he gasped at last. "Thith ith worthe than being +thtung!"</p> + +<p>But, in truth, the deluge of cold water took away something of the fiery +pain of the stings.</p> + +<p>"Just hold on!" cried the farmer again.</p> + +<p>Then he thrust a thumb and finger down into the writhing wet mass of +bees, drew out the queen, which by its size and shape he readily +distinguished from the others, and began to rake the bees into the new, +empty pail.</p> + +<p>When he had the most of them in, the old woman threw the cloth over +them. The farmer was now down on his knees, and the bees that were still +on Veazie he began to pick off and pop into the pail as if they were +grains of gold.</p> + +<p>"I've got 'em!" he triumphantly declared. "This is my fu'st swarm this +spring. I thought the blamed things was goin' to git away, but I've got +'em. Giner'ly they light on a tree when they're swarmin', or on +somethin' green!"</p> + +<p>"That's why they struck Veazie!" some one shouted from the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Can I get up?" Veazie gasped. "I'm wetter than the thea!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, young man, an' I'm 'bliged to ye. The rest of 'em will find their +way to the queen, I guess. When these bees makes honey, if you'll come +over I'll give you a hunk."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + +<h4>SHOOTING.</h4> + + +<p>Lew Veazie was a sorry sight when he got up from the ground. The water +had converted the soil into mud, which plastered him now from head to +foot. And here and there on his face and hands were red spots made by +the bee stings.</p> + +<p>Gene Skelding was flailing at some bees that did not seem to have +discovered that the queen was captured and their rightful domicile was +the farmer's pail. There were other bees also at liberty, and one of +them, angered no doubt by the turn of events, popped a stinger into the +cuticle of Bink Stubbs.</p> + +<p>"Scatt!" shrieked Bink. "Get away from here, or I'll murder you!"</p> + +<p>Browning moved back, for a bee seemed to be making a desperate effort to +single him out as a victim. Then he stuck his pipe into his mouth, +quickly fished out some tobacco, and crammed the bowl full, and lighted +it.</p> + +<p>"Smoke 'em off!" he said. "That's a good way to fight bees."</p> + +<p>"And tobacco smoke keeps away other female critters!" laughed Danny, +trying rather vainly to imitate the peculiar quality in the farmer's +speech. "That's the reason you have never been popular with the fair. +Now there is Veazie——"</p> + +<p>"What about cigarettes?" drawled Browning, making a fog round his head. +"Don't let the kettle call the pot Blackie! The most disgusting thing +ever created is a smoker of cigarettes!"</p> + +<p>"Yah!" growled Danny, taking out a cigarette. "Lend me a match, old +man."</p> + +<p>And Browning lent him a match. Bink was rubbing earnestly at the stung +spot.</p> + +<p>"I'll never see honey again without thinking of this."</p> + +<p>"Which honey do you mean?" asked Danny. "I heard you calling a +chambermaid Honey the other evening. You must have thought her sweet!"</p> + +<p>"And I heard one of them calling you a fool the other evening. She must +have thought you an idiot."</p> + +<p>"Thomebody get me a cab!" begged Veazie, rubbing his stings and ruefully +regarding himself. "Thay, fellowth, thith ith awful! I'm a thight! Get a +cab, thomebody, and take me home. I'm thick!"</p> + +<p>"No cab here," said Skelding, who was also anxious to get away from the +joking and guying crowd. "But I see a carriage over there. Yes, two of +them."</p> + +<p>"Get a cawiage—anything!" moaned Veazie. "Take me to the hothpital, +take me to a laundwy, take me to a bath—anywhere, quick!"</p> + +<p>The exodus of Veazie and his friends was followed by the return of +Merriwell and his comrades to the traps. Hodge had not been long out of +a sick-bed, and looked thin and weak. He walked with Merriwell. The +other members of the flock had forgiven him for the rancorous and sulky +spirit which had made him refuse to catch in the ball-game against +Hartford, in which Buck Badger had pitched, but they had not forgotten +it. They were courteous, but they were not cordial, and Hodge felt it.</p> + +<p>Buck Badger came upon the ground, but without a gun. He was alone, too, +and he kept away from Merriwell's crowd. He had not learned to like +Merriwell's friends, any of them, and he detested Hodge.</p> + +<p>Having taken his gun from its case, Merriwell put it together, and +opened a box of loaded shells, which he placed on the ground. The gun +was a beautiful twelve-gage hammerless, of late design and American +manufacture, bored for trap shooting. Hodge's gun was so nearly like it +that they could scarcely be told apart.</p> + +<p>Morton Agnew and Donald Pike came on the grounds before the shooting +began. Merriwell observed that Badger affected not to notice them, but +the Westerner was plainly annoyed.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you would like to shoot!" said Merriwell, going over to Badger +with his gun. "I can let you have the use of my gun. Hodge has one just +like it, and all our other fellows have good guns. So, if you'd like to +shoot! It's all right, and as good as they make them."</p> + +<p>The Kansan was plainly pleased.</p> + +<p>"And I can let you have shells."</p> + +<p>"I'll take the gun, Merriwell," he said, balancing it in his hands and +looking it over. "But I can't let you furnish shells, when I can buy all +I want right here on the grounds. And there is no reason why you can't +shoot with it, too."</p> + +<p>"None at all, old man, only I thought likely you wouldn't want to mix in +with our crowd. I can shoot Bart's gun."</p> + +<p>Badger flushed and his face darkened. He was on the point of saying +something bitter against Hodge.</p> + +<p>"I didn't intend to shoot when I came out," he said, choking down the +angry utterance, "or I should have brought a gun. In fact, I didn't +start for this place at all. But I'm here now, and I reckon my fingers +would never get done itching if I couldn't get to pull a trigger. I used +to shoot some on the ranch, you know, and I hope I haven't lost anything +whatever of the knack. If I should beat your score now?"</p> + +<p>"You're welcome to."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'm more used to a revolver and rifle than to a shotgun, but +I allow I know a kink or two about trap shooting, just the same."</p> + +<p>The rattle and click of guns being put together, the snapping of locks, +and the chatter, made pleasant music for gun lovers, as Frank returned +to his friends.</p> + +<p>"You didn't let him have your gun?" growled Hodge.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I will shoot with yours."</p> + +<p>"You're welcome to, of course; but I shouldn't have done it."</p> + +<p>"Here goes to kill the first bird!" cried Danny, ambling out with a +repeating shotgun in his hands.</p> + +<p>"If you don't hit it first time, you can just sheep on kooting—I mean +keep on shooting!" jollied Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"I wish there was a bee round here to sting him!" sighed Bink, as Danny +faced the trap. "I'm so sore from laughing that I know I can't hit +anything."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't hit anything, anyway!" said Bruce, putting some shells +into his gun.</p> + +<p>"I can hit you!" Bink growled, lunging at him.</p> + +<p>"I meant anything small!" said Bruce, brushing aside Bink's blow as if +it had been a fly. "Shoo! Don't bother me, or I may get one of these +shells stuck."</p> + +<p>A trap was sprung, and Danny blazed away.</p> + +<p>"Missed!" said Dismal.</p> + +<p>"And Danny is our crack shot!" moaned Bink. "The papers will say +to-night that our shooting was like a lot of schoolgirls."</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Merriwell.</p> + +<p>"All misses! Yah! Watch me smash one of those blackbirds into dust."</p> + +<p>Bink went forward with much seeming confidence—and missed, too.</p> + +<p>"Of course I didn't want to take away all the courage of you fellows by +hitting the first bird," he blandly explained. "But I could have done +it."</p> + +<p>The conditions for shooting were fair, for the wind was not so strong as +it had been earlier in the day. Several shots were made, together with a +number of hits. Then Buck Badger's name was called, and he went up to +the line with Merriwell's gun. One of the boys who was manipulating the +traps sprung the middle one, and the bird shot swiftly off to the right. +It was a rather difficult target, but Badger knocked the clay bird into +dust.</p> + +<p>"A good shot!" some one called from the crowd.</p> + +<p>"It was a good shot!" Merriwell commented.</p> + +<p>Dismal Jones followed Badger, and knocked down the straightaway bird +which was sprung from the right-hand trap.</p> + +<p>"Now the earth will fall!" squeaked Bink, for Browning's name was +called, and Bruce got up lazily from the ground and walked slowly into +position. Bruce disliked a light gun, and carried a heavy ten-gage, +notwithstanding the fact that trap-shooting rules required the users of +such guns to shoot from a longer distance. He believed that the heavier +weight and heavier load more than offset this.</p> + +<p>Danny stuck his fingers into his ears as Bruce stood ready to fire the +"cannon." Then there was a thunderous report, as the clay bird flew +through the air, and was knocked to pieces by the impact of the shot.</p> + +<p>"Was it an earthquake?" asked Bink, falling back on the ground. "He'll +be wanting to shoot a Krupp gun next!"</p> + +<p>"Watch me this time!" said Danny, as he stepped into position. "It's +easier for me to do difficult things. If those traps would only throw +out a dozen birds at once, I'd show you some nice work!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you might get one out of the whole flock," said Diamond. "If it +was a very dense flock, you might get two."</p> + +<p>Ten rounds had been fired, and two birds were to be thrown now at the +same time at unknown angles.</p> + +<p>"Ready?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"Pull!" commanded Danny, throwing up his gun.</p> + +<p>The birds flew, but Danny did not shoot.</p> + +<p>"I thought one was going to jump out of the right-hand trap," he +grinned, "and it didn't."</p> + +<p>"Give him another chance," said Dismal. "He oughtn't to be forgiven for +anything, but we'll forgive him."</p> + +<p>"Spit on your hands!" some one yelled.</p> + +<p>Danny put down his gun, very deliberately spat on his hands, then took +up his gun again.</p> + +<p>"Pull!" he commanded.</p> + +<p>Two birds flew—one from the right-hand trap and one from the middle +trap. Bang! bang! Danny fired at both, but the birds sailed on and +descended in the grass.</p> + +<p>"These shells aren't any good!" he asserted, looking wonderingly into +the powder-stained barrels of the gun. "Or else this gun isn't choked +right for trap shooting. I held on both of those birds."</p> + +<p>"You mean you aren't choked right for trap shooting," said Bink, as +Danny came back.</p> + +<p>"I'll choke you!" Danny cried, hurling himself on Stubbs and gripping +him by the throat.</p> + +<p>"Stop it!" commanded Bruce, as they struggled on the grass. "If you +don't, we'll fire you out of the crowd."</p> + +<p>Jack Diamond did the best shooting this time, cleanly killing both +birds. Merriwell and others struck both birds, but Diamond made the +cleanest kill. Danny ambled out again with his repeater, and this time +brought down a bird.</p> + +<p>"Talk about easy things!" he spouted, thrusting out his chest as he +pranced back.</p> + +<p>"That's right!" howled Bink. "You're the easiest thing on the planet. +That bird was broken and all ready to fall to pieces when it left the +trap. I paid the boy to fix it for you."</p> + +<p>"You're another!" Danny declared. "I hit that bird fair and square. See +if you can do better."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to hit both!" Bink declared, and for a wonder he did.</p> + +<p>"Take me home to mommer!" squealed Danny.</p> + +<p>"Talk about shooting!" exclaimed Bink, sticking his hat on the back of +his head. "What's the matter with that, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're a wonder!" exclaimed Danny. "Accidents are bound to happen +sometimes, you know."</p> + +<p>Browning made clean misses, and Diamond got only one bird. The shooting +of most of the others was not of the best.</p> + +<p>"I suppose there isn't any way to clip the wings of those things?" +grumbled Dismal, who had missed. "They get up and get away so fast that +I can't pull on them half the time. I could hit my bird if I could find +it. But when I point my gun at it and pull the trigger, it isn't there."</p> + +<p>"Pull ahead of it," Merriwell advised.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you must use ahead work," said Bink. "If you have a head, that is +what it's for. That's the way I did, and you saw the result. I can get +'em every time now."</p> + +<p>As the shooting continued, it was seen that Badger was doing good work, +though nothing at all phenomenal. He stepped into position with an air +of confidence, fired quickly, and then stepped back. But he kept away +from Merriwell's crowd, mingling with others from Yale whom he knew.</p> + +<p>Hodge's score and the Westerner's were nearly alike. Hodge saw it and +squirmed. Then Merriwell, who had made only one miss, scored two "goose +eggs," and Badger climbed up to him.</p> + +<p>"I don't like that," Bart grumbled. "You're not doing your best, Merry. +Badger may beat you."</p> + +<p>Merriwell was cleaning out and cooling his gun—Bart's gun—which both +were using, and which had grown hot and foul from rapid firing. The +first round of twenty shots was nearing its close. Only four more shots +were to be fired in it, at two pairs of birds. Badger had to his credit +thirteen hits and three misses, and Merriwell the same.</p> + +<p>"If you should miss one of the four and Badger should hit them all you +would be beaten!" Bart urged uneasily. "And I don't want you to be +beaten by him. I'm afraid you are going to tie. I want you to beat him. +I can't stand it to have him crowing round."</p> + +<p>Merriwell smiled placidly.</p> + +<p>"Don't steam so, Hodge. It just heats you up, and makes you unhappy. If +Buck Badger should beat me, I don't see that it would make a great +difference. I haven't been shooting for a record this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Hodge. "However good your intentions may be, that +fellow will never give you honest credit for them."</p> + +<p>The shooting had recommenced, and Hodge walked back to the crowd, +plainly disgruntled.</p> + +<p>Merriwell clutched a handful of shells and went over to Badger.</p> + +<p>"Try these, Buck!" he said. "They're a good deal better than those +you've been using. I had them loaded very carefully under my own +supervision for this kind of work, and you'll find them very fine. +They're just suited to that gun, too. You have really been shooting at a +disadvantage to-day."</p> + +<p>A smile came to the dark face of the Westerner—a stern, determined sort +of smile.</p> + +<p>"Better not give them to me, perhaps, Merry. I'm going to beat you if I +can. We're tied now. If you miss, I shall get you. Better not give me +any advantages."</p> + +<p>"You can't beat me!" said Frank, looking straight into the eyes of the +Kansan.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you haven't been trying to shoot? I've been watching +you, and I allow you have been doing your level best."</p> + +<p>"You haven't watched closely, then. I threw away two shots awhile ago. I +could hardly miss them when I tried. But I'm not anxious to beat any one +to-day. I didn't come out here to make a record."</p> + +<p>Badger flushed.</p> + +<p>"All right. Throw away another shot and I'll beat you."</p> + +<p>"I'll not throw away another, and you can't beat me, though you may tie +me."</p> + +<p>He was smiling and good-humored, and the Kansan tried to be.</p> + +<p>Badger took the next two straight, and Merriwell did the same.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid he is going to tie you!" grumbled Hodge.</p> + +<p>"What's the score?" asked Rattleton, roused to the fact that Badger and +Merriwell were now really shooting against each other.</p> + +<p>"Toodness, a guy—I mean, goodness, a tie! Don't let him beat you, +anyway, Merry!"</p> + +<p>"That comes from being too good-natured," growled Hodge. "He wouldn't be +anywhere near you, if you'd tried."</p> + +<p>Twice again both brought down their birds. Only a pair was left now to +each. Every member of the gun club present, together with those who, +like Badger, were being permitted to shoot through the favor of members, +and all the spectators, as well, knew now that Badger and Merriwell had +finally pitted themselves against each other in a friendly shooting +contest, with the chances in favor of a tie.</p> + +<p>Hodge was hardly able to breathe, and Harry Rattleton was fidgeting +uneasily. The spectators craned their necks as Badger, whose trial came +first, walked into position with an air of easy confidence, that dark, +determined smile disfiguring his face.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid your chances are gone, Merriwell!" droned Dismal Jones. "'We +never miss the water till the well runs dry.'"</p> + +<p>"Keep still," grunted Browning, "or you'll make me nervous!"</p> + +<p>"I wish somebody would make Badger nervous!" wailed Bink.</p> + +<p>"Sing out that a queen bee is coming for him!" urged Danny, in an +undertone.</p> + +<p>"Keep still!" said Merriwell.</p> + +<p>Badger balanced his gun, called "Pull!" and threw it into position as +the birds sprang from the trap.</p> + +<p>A deafening explosion followed. The gun was torn to pieces and Badger +was hurled backward to the ground.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<h4>BADGER'S CHALLENGE.</h4> + + +<p>Merriwell and others sprang toward him to offer their aid. Frank could +hardly believe what he had seen and heard. He feared Badger was +seriously or fatally injured, but was relieved before he reached the +Kansan to see the latter rise unsteadily to his feet.</p> + +<p>Badger looked dazedly about, then down at his numbed left hand and arm. +They felt dead, and he could hardly lift them. But he saw they were not +mangled.</p> + +<p>"I hope you are not hurt!" Frank exclaimed.</p> + +<p>The blood rushed in a great wave into the Westerner's dark face, and he +gave Frank a strange look.</p> + +<p>"Your gun has gone to pieces!" he said gruffly.</p> + +<p>"But I hope you are not hurt. There are other guns. I don't understand +how it happened."</p> + +<p>There was a suspicious light in Badger's eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'll not be able to beat you," he said. "I don't know that I can shoot +again, and it's a wonder, I reckon, that my arm wasn't torn off."</p> + +<p>He turned toward the exploded gun. The stock was uninjured and the lock +mechanism, but the muzzle end of the right barrel was split open and a +section blown out of it.</p> + +<p>"You didn't get mud or anything of that kind in the muzzle?" Merriwell +questioned, anxiously examining the ruined weapon. "That will sometimes +make a gun explode."</p> + +<p>"None whatever!" Badger grumbled, nursing his numbed hand and arm, while +a crowd gathered round him and Merriwell, asking excited and eager +questions. "Do you think I'm fool enough to do a thing like that?"</p> + +<p>Frank plucked at Rattleton's arm.</p> + +<p>"Take charge of that box of shells," he said, in an undertone. "Don't +let any one touch them. The box from which I took the shells for Badger! +I'm afraid the shells in it have been tampered with."</p> + +<p>"Agnew!" Rattleton gasped. "He's somewhere on the grounds, you know, and +he was right up here awhile ago!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. It may be. We can tell better later. Just now, take +charge of that box. No more shells must be used out of it, nor out of +any others of mine."</p> + +<p>"All right!" Rattleton promised, and moved quickly away.</p> + +<p>"How is your hand and arm?" Merriwell asked, again addressing Badger.</p> + +<p>"Well, I allow it's good enough to do some more shooting!" Badger +snarled, giving Hodge a suspicious glance. "You didn't beat me! I missed +that bird; but the gun blew up was the reason. I'll shoot you those two, +yet; but I'd rather try you ten birds straight—ten double rises, just +the kind we were shooting at. I reckon we'd better settle this thing +square!"</p> + +<p>There was something very unpleasant in his tone and manner. Hodge saw +the glance, heard the words, and could hardly resist the temptation to +walk up and knock him down.</p> + +<p>"The scoundrel!" he hissed to Browning. "What is he driving at? Does he +mean that Merry hasn't given him a fair deal, or that he had the gun +explode in some way to keep from being tied by him, or beaten? Perhaps +he is hinting crooked work against me! If he does, I'll punch his head, +sure. Frank is a fool to stand such stuff."</p> + +<p>Merriwell showed a slight trace of annoyance. He took Badger by the arm +and they walked aside together. A dozen men were examining the gun, and +a score more were craning their necks to get a look at it, while all +sorts of excited conjectures and comments filled the air.</p> + +<p>"See here, Badger," said Merriwell, somewhat sternly. "You think Hodge +may be responsible for that accident. He isn't—no more than I am! You +either had mud in the gun——"</p> + +<p>"Or something was the matter with the shells!"</p> + +<p>"Exactly. That is what I was going to say, if you had let me finish the +sentence. No more shells will be used out of that box. They may have +been tampered with, but not by Hodge. I know Hodge! He wouldn't do such +a thing."</p> + +<p>"I reckon that he is none too good for that, if he had a chance!"</p> + +<p>"Hodge is my friend."</p> + +<p>"I don't care if he is your friend a dozen times over. That might have +killed me, or crippled me for life!"</p> + +<p>"If those shells were tampered with, it was done for my benefit, Badger, +and not for yours. Hodge wouldn't put in shells that would endanger me. +I gave you those shells out of my own box."</p> + +<p>"And Hodge was talking to you, and knew what you meant to do. He could +have juggled a fixed-up shell on you."</p> + +<p>"We won't talk about it!" said Merriwell, turning away.</p> + +<p>"I've a right to think what I please," Badger grumbled, following him. +"He thinks you can beat me shooting. He was afraid I would. I can beat +you, and I'd like to do it, to spite Bart Hodge."</p> + +<p>"I don't think you are in any condition to do more shooting."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm all right!" Badger rather snappishly declared, his heart hot +against Hodge. "Don't let anything of that kind worry you, Merriwell. I +want to shoot at ten double rises against you—ten double rises at +unknown angles. You've declared that you haven't tried to shoot. I dare +you to give me this trial. The numbness is going out of my arm, and it +will soon be all right. And I warn you not to throw away any shots!"</p> + +<p>They were near the excited crowd.</p> + +<p>"All right, Buckrum!" Merriwell answered. "I'll try you, if you're so +anxious!"</p> + +<p>"We'll buy shells here. And that gun——"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you think there was something the matter with the gun?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll buy you another gun!" growled Badger.</p> + +<p>Frank flushed.</p> + +<p>"The impudence of the fellow!" grunted Browning, who overheard the +remark. Hodge, who was standing near Browning, heard it, too.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd hit him, Merry!" he panted.</p> + +<p>"No doubt you'd like to do that," said Badger. "But I'd advise you not +to try."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Badger and I are going to shoot at ten double birds," said Frank, +pretending not to notice these things. "I will use your gun, Bart."</p> + +<p>"And Badger may use mine," said a sophomore, who was one of Badger's +friends, and had been one of Merriwell's enemies. "But for goodness +sake, don't use any more dynamite shells!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell saw that Morton Agnew had come up and was looking earnestly at +Badger and at the ruined gun.</p> + +<p>"I wonder that Badger doesn't remember that you slipped a 'fixed' +cartridge into a gun for him once," was Frank's thought. "You are at the +bottom of this, and your villainy has gone far enough. When I come to +strike you I shall strike hard!"</p> + +<p>The shattered gun still furnished attraction for many, and Agnew pushed +forward to get a close look at it, and to ask questions. Rattleton came +up to Merriwell with the box of loaded shells.</p> + +<p>"They are not all just alike, Merry!" he declared. "I have been looking +them over. See!"</p> + +<p>He took up three of the shells and exhibited them to Frank. A casual +glance would show no difference between them and the other shells in the +box. But a close inspection showed that the brass did not go up quite so +high on the paper.</p> + +<p>"I am sure that all the shells in the box were just alike," said Merry. +"Those were slipped in there. Keep them safe."</p> + +<p>"But what if they blow me up?" Rattleton gasped. "I'm afraid of the +things. Some of the fellows are saying there was dynamite in the shell +that tore up the gun!"</p> + +<p>"There is no danger, I think. Take care of them, and see that the other +boxes are not tampered with. Watch Morton Agnew."</p> + +<p>"Let your bife I'll watch him! And he has been watching me! I caught him +at it awhile ago!"</p> + +<p>"I think Agnew fixed up some shells to kill or maim me," said Frank. "No +doubt he would give a great deal to get the unused ones away. Look out +for him."</p> + +<p>Then Merriwell went back to the crowd, where Badger was exhibiting his +benumbed arm and hand, and explaining how it felt to have a gun burst in +one's fingers.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready?" he asked. "I am."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Frank answered.</p> + +<p>It was strange how the fellows on the shooting-grounds ranged themselves +into two companies—the supporters of Merriwell in one knot and the +supporters of the Kansan in the other. It was as if an invisible hand +had gone through the crowd and separated Merriwell's friends from his +foes. About Badger gathered Walter Gordan, Bertrand Defarge, Morton +Agnew, Gil Cowles, Mat Mullen, Lib Benson, Newt Billings, Chan Webb, and +more of the same sort, a number of them now Merriwell's pretended +friends, but all at heart his enemies. While about Merriwell swarmed his +friends tried and true, with Hodge, Browning, Diamond, Rattleton, Gamp, +Bink, and Dismal close to his person.</p> + +<p>"Don't monkey with him," urged Bart, as Merriwell sent Danny and Bink +away for some shells and began to wipe out Bart's gun in readiness for +the shooting-contest. "Don't throw away any shots. Show those cads what +you can do. A lot of them are beginning to think that Badger is really a +better man than you are. If he defeats you——"</p> + +<p>"He'll never defeat Merriwell!" asserted Rattleton. "Come off the dump!"</p> + +<p>"Of course he can't!" added Diamond.</p> + +<p>"There are no dead-sure things," droned Dismal. "I've been enticed into +squandering good dollars on several dead-sure things. I've got more +sense and less dollars."</p> + +<p>"Wait and see!" sputtered Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"Who is to shoot first?" Badger asked, walking toward Merriwell's crowd.</p> + +<p>Badger had noticed the character of the fellows who had gathered round +him, and he was nettled. On the outskirts he even saw the face of Donald +Pike—once his friend, now hated by him as a foe.</p> + +<p>"Suit yourself," Merriwell answered.</p> + +<p>"We'll flip a coin," said Badger.</p> + +<p>One of the sophomores drew out a half-dollar and twirled it in the air.</p> + +<p>"I'll take heads!" said Merry.</p> + +<p>But the head of the coin fell downward, and Badger, taking the gun given +him, walked out to the line and faced the traps.</p> + +<p>"We will have no signaling," he said, turning round and facing +Merriwell's crowd. "As we step up here, let the traps be sprung, and +we'll shoot at the birds, whether ready or not."</p> + +<p>He was supremely confident in his own abilities.</p> + +<p>"All right. Any way to suit you. Go ahead!"</p> + +<p>Before Badger could turn back, he heard the sound made by the traps +springing. Two birds shot out, one toward the right and the other +straight away.</p> + +<p>Bang! bang! Badger wheeled and fired quickly, and made a clean kill of +both birds. There was a skirmish fire of clapping hands in the circle of +his admirers.</p> + +<p>"Fine work!" Merriwell admitted, as he stepped into place with Bart's +gun.</p> + +<p>He stood with his gun down until the birds were hurled from the traps, +then, with a couple of quick snapshots, smashed them to pieces.</p> + +<p>"Whoop-e-ee-ee!" squealed Danny Griswold, turning a handspring. "This +soft snap can shoot a little!"</p> + +<p>Again the Westerner made a clean kill of two birds. Frank followed him +and did the same.</p> + +<p>Five times more the Kansan did this, and Merriwell duplicated the +performance. The antagonistic crowds ceased to whoop and shout their +exclamations of pleasure. The thing was becoming interesting. It began +to seem that Badger and Merriwell would again tie. Then Badger, becoming +overconfident, missed a bird. He stepped back, with a look of chagrin on +his face.</p> + +<p>Frank stepped forward, pitched up his gun as the birds were thrown—and +missed one! Merriwell missed with the left barrel of his gun, and Badger +had missed with the left barrel.</p> + +<p>"Now you're monkeying!" Hodge grumbled, as Merriwell retired into the +circle of his friends. "Don't do it, Merry! What did you do that for? +You could have made the whole string straight, without a single +goose-egg!"</p> + +<p>Badger's dark, heavy face was flushed as he advanced again into +position. He felt, like Hodge, that Merriwell had purposely missed that +second bird, and it annoyed and angered him. This was the worst possible +thing that could have happened to him, for when he fired he again missed +a bird.</p> + +<p>"Don't imitate him again!" Hodge implored.</p> + +<p>And Merriwell did not. He made a clean kill of both birds.</p> + +<p>"Only two more birds apiece, and Merry one ahead!" squealed Bink, vainly +tiptoeing to see as well as those who were taller.</p> + +<p>"You want to see Merry do him up?" said Bruce. "You little runt, I'll +take pity on you!"</p> + +<p>"Me, too!" squeaked Danny.</p> + +<p>With little apparent exertion of strength, Browning hoisted the little +fellows to his shoulders, thus elevating them above the heads of others, +where they sat in great glee, squealing and laughing, Danny on the young +giant's right shoulder and Bink on his left, as Badger walked out to +shoot at his last two birds.</p> + +<p>Again the Westerner killed his birds.</p> + +<p>"Now, if Merry misses one, it will be another tie!" grunted Bart.</p> + +<p>"Stop hawking through your tat—I mean——Oh, I don't know what I mean! +But just keep still!" Rattleton almost breathlessly begged. "Merry is +all right!"</p> + +<p>And Rattleton's confidence was justified. Merry fired, with the same +result.</p> + +<p>"Pulverized 'em!" howled Bink.</p> + +<p>"Smashed 'em into bug-dust!" squealed Danny.</p> + +<p>"Bub-bub-beat Badger again!" sputtered Gamp.</p> + +<p>A cheer of gratification went up from the circle of Frank's friends. +Merriwell motioned to Rattleton to bring him some shells.</p> + +<p>"Bring me Danny's gun, too!" he called; and Harry ran out to him with a +box of shells that he knew were reliable and with Griswold's repeating +shotgun.</p> + +<p>"All three traps at once!" said Merriwell to the trap manipulators.</p> + +<p>Three birds flew at the same moment of time.</p> + +<p>Bang! bang! bang!</p> + +<p>Badger in his best shooting at two birds had never made cleaner kills. +The clay birds seemed to vanish in puffs of dust at the crack of the +gun. Merriwell put down Danny's repeater, and took up Bart's gun.</p> + +<p>"Three birds again!" he commanded, as he dropped in the two shells and +closed the breech with a click.</p> + +<p>Almost before the words were out of his mouth, the birds were thrown.</p> + +<p>Bang! bang! bang!</p> + +<p>He killed the left and center birds with the two loads in the gun; then +reloaded and killed the third bird before it could touch the ground!</p> + +<p>Badger's face grew redder. There was a wild clapping of hands, joined in +by many who were in Badger's crowd.</p> + +<p>"Whoop-ee-e-ee!" squealed Danny, wildly waving his cap. "Who says we +can't shoot?"</p> + +<p>They had been shooting at a rise of twenty-five yards. Merriwell stepped +back five yards, thus increasing the distance to thirty. He loaded his +gun and held an extra shell in his left hand. Then he turned his back on +the traps.</p> + +<p>"Pull when you want to?" he called.</p> + +<p>The manipulators of the traps seemed to desire to test him. There was an +exasperating delay and some questions; then the traps were sprung with +startling suddenness.</p> + +<p>Merriwell's quick ear was alert. He wheeled as if on a pivot, killed the +left bird and the right one. Then dropped in another shell with a +slowness that set Bart Hodge wild, and killed the third bird, which had +gone off at a difficult tangent, at a distance of at least sixty yards!</p> + +<p>"Come on!" grated Defarge, almost beside himself with anger and +disappointment. "The devil can't beat him! Let's get out of here!"</p> + +<p>"Right!" said Pike, also turning wrathfully away. Badger seemed turned +to a statue.</p> + +<p>Then again the unexpected happened. A sophomore, who was known to be an +intimate friend of Morton Agnew, by seeming accident fired off a gun +with which he had been monkeying. Agnew, who had, unnoticed, wormed his +way into Merriwell's crowd during the excitement of the +shooting-contest, fell to the ground with a cry, as if shot, knocking +Harry Rattleton over as he did so.</p> + +<p>The shells which Harry had been so carefully guarding were scattered on +the ground, and seemed likely to be stepped on and lost in the +excitement that followed.</p> + +<p>Agnew flounced and threshed about, crying out that he was shot. He was +anxiously lifted up, and on his face was seen a drop of blood, which had +come from a cut recently made.</p> + +<p>"One shot went in right there!" he cried. "I think there are others! Get +me into a carriage quick!"</p> + +<p>A half-dozen young fellows ran for the nearest carriage, toward which +Agnew was conducted as rapidly as possible. Harry Rattleton seemed +dazed, and began to look about on the ground as the crowd thinned out +there, Merriwell hurried to him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he anxiously asked.</p> + +<p>"The shells were knocked out of my hands!" gasped Rattleton. "And not +half of them seem to be here!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell's look became anxious. He stooped down with Harry and began to +gather up the shells.</p> + +<p>"A shrewd trick, but it didn't work!" he exclaimed, holding up a +cartridge. "Here is one of those that were fixed for me, anyway. And now +I know that Agnew did it, and that he intended to kill me!"</p> + +<p>The other shells which Agnew had prepared were gone, having been +gathered up in the midst of the tumult and excitement and cleverly +slipped by Agnew into his pockets.</p> + +<p>"Who fired that shot?" Merriwell asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know!"</p> + +<p>Others were gathering round.</p> + +<p>"He tried to kill me, Harry, and I shall strike back. And when I strike +I shall strike in a way to make the stroke felt!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<h4>FRANK PREVENTS TROUBLE.</h4> + + +<p>Badger's belief that Hodge had juggled the shell which exploded in the +gun was not very strong when he left the grounds of the gun club, but +his hatred of Hodge was not in any degree lessened thereby. Only by a +supreme exercise of will-power had he been able to keep himself from +rushing upon Bart when the latter made his bitter comments to Merry.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell is all right, but Hodge isn't even a piece of a man!" he +growled, as he made his way home, his thoughts in a chaotic state. "I +shall have to punch his head for him. Merry wouldn't have beat me +shooting if I had taken my own gun along! I reckon I was a fool for +going into the thing. Hodge isn't any too good to slip that shell in on +Merry! And if he didn't do it, who did? And I'd like to know what was in +it? That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>Bart's feelings against the Westerner were quite as bitter. He almost +hated the ground on which Badger's shadow fell. It seemed unlikely that +Frank could ever reconcile these two antagonistic characters.</p> + +<p>Bart was sore also about the way Frank's friends were treating him. Nor +was the feeling lessened by his own inner conviction that he had dealt +rather shabbily with one who had been as true a friend to him as Merry +had been, and that the other members of the "flock" had good grounds for +looking on him with disfavor.</p> + +<p>"I shall never crawl on my knees for the friendship and good-will of any +of them!" was his thought, as he turned a corner on his way to the +lighted campus, on the evening of the second day after the shooting. +"And as for Badger——"</p> + +<p>He ran violently against a man and was hurled backward. The man was +Badger.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that?" the Westerner demanded, for he, also, had +been almost knocked from his feet, and he, too, had been feeding his hot +anger with inflammatory thoughts against Bart. "You did that on +purpose!"</p> + +<p>Hodge lunged at the Kansan's face. But the blow did not fall. The fist +was knocked down, and a strong grasp on his shoulder turned him +half-round.</p> + +<p>"Stop this!" came sternly from Frank Merriwell, who was also on his way +to the campus.</p> + +<p>"Let me get at him!" Bart panted, trying to wrench away. "He ran into me +and tried to knock me down just now. I can't stand it! I won't stand +it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, let him come on!" the Westerner grated. "I've been aching for a +crack at him for a month! I'll polish him off in short order, if you +will just let him come on! He thinks because he knocked me out once that +he can do it again!"</p> + +<p>"If you fellows are determined to fight, I'll arrange for you to get at +each other some time, but you are not going to fight here, and that is +flat!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, let it go!" said Bart, with intense bitterness and disgust. +"I'll not trouble him here. But if we ever do come up against each +other, I'll hammer the life out of him!"</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt you'd kill me if you could!" the Kansan sneered. "I +rather think you tried it the other day."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" Bart demanded, again bristling. "Do you mean the +shell that blew up the gun?"</p> + +<p>"It's strange you can guess so easy!" Badger insinuated.</p> + +<p>"See here, Badger," said Frank, who had stepped between the +belligerents. "You insult me when you intimate that Bart knew anything +about that shell. That shell was slipped into my box by Morton Agnew. I +have discovered enough already to convince me of that. I saw him do +something to-day, too, which puts a big club into my hand!"</p> + +<p>Badger's face changed, but he would not admit that he might be wrong in +laying the dastardly deed at the door of Bart Hodge.</p> + +<p>"When you've got the proof, I'll look at it," he doubtingly remarked, +turning about.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't talk to him!" Hodge growled. "I wouldn't waste words on him."</p> + +<p>"I'll hammer your face for this some day!" Badger panted, turning back.</p> + +<p>"It's right here, ready for the hammering whenever you get ready to try +it!" Hodge snapped, and then moved away with Merriwell. Seeing that they +were heading toward the campus, the Westerner went now in a different +direction.</p> + +<p>"I don't know why I should let Merriwell come in and interfere in that +way," he grumbled. "I allow that it really was none of his affair. But I +permitted him to order me to stand back, and I stood back. Of course, +I'm under obligations to him, and all that, and he said good words to +Winnie for me when I seemed to need them—but, hang it all! he isn't my +boss! Who made him my master? It's all right for him to lead Hodge +around by the nose that way, but——"</p> + +<p>"Hello!" came in an inquiring voice, and Badger, looking up, saw Morton +Agnew. The Westerner's face took on an unpleasant look, and he did not +answer the hail.</p> + +<p>"Don't be surly!" said Agnew, coming boldly on.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" snapped the Kansan.</p> + +<p>Then the thought came to him that it would be a good idea to treat Agnew +with some consideration, for thereby it might be possible to get the +inside facts about the shell that ripped the gun open and came so near +mangling his arm.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" he asked again, toning down his gruffness.</p> + +<p>"I know we're not friends," said Agnew, with the suavity of a confidence +man, "but that is no reason why we should always remain foes. I saw you +here, and you looked lonesome. I'm a rather lonesome bird myself +to-night, so I whistled to you."</p> + +<p>"I allow you've the most gall of any man I ever saw!" was Badger's +thought.</p> + +<p>Aloud, he said:</p> + +<p>"We'll go down this way, then. Did I look lonesome? Well, I wasn't +feeling any lonesome, I can tell you—none whatever!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you object to my company?" drawing back.</p> + +<p>Badger knew that this was a piece of acting, and he wanted to crack +Agnew on the jaw for it. But he held himself in check. Really Badger +seemed to be gaining some self-control—a thing that was entirely +foreign to him when he first knew Merriwell. He was enabled to hold +himself in by the intense desire he felt to discover if Agnew slipped +the "fixed" shell into the box. That was an important point just then.</p> + +<p>"Come along!" the Westerner grunted. "You said that you were lonesome, +if I am not. I'm not so hoggish as to want to run away from a man who +thinks he can get good out of my company."</p> + +<p>"I like to hear you talk that way," said Agnew, linking his arm in the +Kansan's.</p> + +<p>The touch made Badger's flesh creep, but he held this feeling in check, +too.</p> + +<p>"Here's a saloon!" said Agnew, after they had walked a considerable +distance without saying anything of moment. "Let's go in. We can talk in +there. I never like to chatter much on the street."</p> + +<p>Looking up, Badger saw that they were in front of a well-known resort, +which he had entered more than once, but of which he had recently fought +shy. Winnie's face rose reproachfully before him as he stopped and +looked at the entrance. It almost drove him back.</p> + +<p>"We can talk better inside," Agnew urged.</p> + +<p>The Westerner glanced hesitatingly up and down the street.</p> + +<p>"All right," he agreed, again feeling a fierce desire to get at whatever +knowledge Agnew possessed about the exploding shell.</p> + +<p>The proprietor nodded familiarly toward him as he walked in.</p> + +<p>"Glad to see you. Nice evening!"</p> + +<p>Badger, who was not good at acting what he did not feel, mumbled a +reply.</p> + +<p>"Have something?" suggested Morton, moving up to the bar.</p> + +<p>Badger pushed Agnew's arm away and turned toward a side room.</p> + +<p>"No! I don't need a drink to talk."</p> + +<p>"It greases a fellow's tongue," said Morton, with one of his persuasive +smiles. "You won't have anything?" as a waiter appeared.</p> + +<p>"Not to-night."</p> + +<p>"Some whisky," said Agnew, and the waiter went away, returning shortly +with a bottle and some glasses.</p> + +<p>"Some cards!" said Agnew, and the waiter brought two unopened packs.</p> + +<p>The Westerner's brow grew black. He fancied he saw through Agnew's +little game. He believed that Agnew, who was a card-sharp, hoped to get +him to talking, then to drinking, and finally into a game, and fleece +him out of what money he had. Agnew's funds were low, and he was +probably ready for any expedient.</p> + +<p>"We can talk better over a game," Agnew urged, deftly opening a pack.</p> + +<p>The Kansan pushed back. His blood was boiling. He could hold in no +longer.</p> + +<p>"I allow you're a big fool, Agnew, if you think you can do me up in that +way!" he hotly declared. "I've been told that you tried to kill me the +other day. Do you want to rob me, because you failed in that?"</p> + +<p>Agnew grew white.</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?" he gasped. "Tried to kill you? What +nonsense is that? I don't know what you mean."</p> + +<p>However, there was a certain tell-tale shrinking in his manner which +Badger could not fail to notice. It convinced the Westerner that +Merriwell was on the right track, and his anger burned into deep rage.</p> + +<p>"I can see from your manner that you did. Agnew, you've got the heart of +a wolf! That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>Agnew was truly playing a game, but it was not a card-game. He had +learned to hate Badger. To strike the Westerner pleased him now almost +as well as a stroke against Merriwell. He dropped the cards and pushed +back, as if he feared the Kansan would leap at his throat.</p> + +<p>"Wh-what do you mean?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"On the gun-club grounds!" said Badger, rising from the table. "You +slipped some dynamite shells into Merriwell's box, and I got one of +them. It came near tearing my hand and arm to pieces, and it might have +killed me. No thanks to you that it didn't. Your intentions were good +enough."</p> + +<p>Agnew began to bluster, but in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"I'm not used to being accused of such things. How do you know there was +anything the matter with the shell? Are you hunting for trouble?"</p> + +<p>"That was the trick of an Apache, Agnew!"</p> + +<p>"Don't let the proprietor hear you," Agnew begged, and his voice was +again as smooth as silk. "What is the use of rowing? I say that I did +nothing of the kind, and you're a fool for thinking so. Whoever hinted +that to you lied."</p> + +<p>"I allow you might as well say that I lied!"</p> + +<p>Agnew pushed toward the wall and put his hands into his pockets. Badger, +thinking he meant to draw a weapon, gave him no further time, but leaped +on him across the table with the rush of a cyclone. Agnew went down +under that rush, but he clutched the Westerner, and began to struggle, +at the same time sending up a sharp call for help. In a moment the +proprietor and the bartender were on the scene.</p> + +<p>"None of this!" cried the proprietor, grabbing Badger by the shoulders, +and, with the bartender's assistance, bodily dragging him off the +threshing, writhing form of Agnew. Morton did not seem in any hurry to +be released or rescued, however, and hung to Badger's coat and vest with +the tenacity of the under dog that fails to appreciate the fact that it +is overmatched.</p> + +<p>"No fighting in here!" panted the proprietor. "This ain't no +boxing-club! See! I'm glad to have gents come in and make themselves to +home, but I can't allow any fighting!"</p> + +<p>Agnew slid toward the door, seeming anxious to escape. The next moment +he was out in the barroom, and then he vanished into the street.</p> + +<p>"I'll pay for the damages," said Badger, choking down his wrath. "He +went to draw a gun on me, and I jumped on him, that's all. A man is a +fool to let another get the drop on him, and I allow I don't intend to. +You bet I don't. I'll see him again, and when I do I reckon we'll have a +settlement."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<h4>AGNEW'S TRICK.</h4> + + +<p>When the Westerner saw Agnew again they were in one of the college +lecture-rooms and an examination was in progress. Of course, they did +not speak to each other. Badger believed that Agnew had kept away from +him since their warlike encounter of the night before. The fact that +Agnew was also a sophomore had long been a disturbing thought to the +Westerner. Badger had class pride. He sometimes declared that he was a +sophomore of the sophomores, but there were a number of sophomores with +whom he could not and would not mix.</p> + +<p>His seat was now close to the one occupied by Agnew, though somewhat in +front of it, and he had the unpleasant feeling that a hole was being +bored through the back of his head by Agnew's eyes. When the conductor +of the examination looked down that way Badger could not tell whether +the professor's gaze was fixed on him or on Agnew. Professor Barton had +fiercely penetrating eyes, anyway, and the peculiar manner in which he +looked at students in the classroom had always been especially +irritating to the Kansan.</p> + +<p>Printed questions were used, and Badger found some of them pretty hard.</p> + +<p>"I wish Barton wouldn't look me through and through!" he muttered, +noticing again and again that the professor's eyes were fixed on him. +"It makes me feel like a cat under the paw of a mouse, or a calf watched +by a coyote. I allow there are things pleasanter than Barton's eyes."</p> + +<p>But Barton continued to look down that way.</p> + +<p>"Is he watching me, or is he watching Agnew?" Badger grumbled, as he dug +away at the work cut out for him. "Hanged if I can tell. Perhaps it's +just a way he has. Maybe every poor devil in the room is feeling just as +I do. Whoever got up these questions must have lain awake of nights +trying to see how hard he could make them. I reckon the chances are +about two to one that I'll flunk."</p> + +<p>In an interval when Barton's attention was turned in another direction, +Morton Agnew crumpled a piece of paper, and, with a deft toss, which he +made sure was not seen by any one, he threw it beneath Badger's desk. +Badger did not know it was there, but the keen eyes of Barton saw it as +soon as they were again turned in that direction.</p> + +<p>Now, Barton was really not watching Buck Badger, but he was watching +Morton Agnew. Slips of the printed questions had been stolen by some +member of the sophomore class the day previous, and Agnew was suspected +of the theft. That was why the keen eyes of the professor were so +constantly turned toward that part of the room. He hoped to discover +some evidence of Agnew's guilt, if, indeed, Agnew was guilty, as was +believed.</p> + +<p>When his eyes fell on the piece of paper which Morton had tossed so +cleverly beneath Badger's desk, he knew in an instant that it had not +been there a moment before. The natural conclusion was, therefore, that +the Kansan had dropped it.</p> + +<p>Its discovery was very suggestive. He began to watch Badger as well as +Agnew. In a little while Badger saw the paper also, and stooped to pick +it up.</p> + +<p>"I will take that piece of paper!" came in the calm, even voice of the +professor, as the Westerner's fingers closed on the crumpled slip.</p> + +<p>Badger, who had intended to open it, wondering what it contained, and +vaguely thinking it might be a note which some member of the class had +tried to get to him, flushed in a manner to arouse the professor's +suspicions. He was almost tempted to tear it open and possess himself of +its contents, but Barton was moving toward him, with his eyes glued on +the paper.</p> + +<p>"I will take that piece of paper," the professor repeated, and Badger +reluctantly gave it to him.</p> + +<p>Agnew looked down at his work to veil the look of triumph that had come +into his face. Badger anxiously watched Barton as he opened the slip and +glanced it over.</p> + +<p>"That is your handwriting, I believe?" in an ominous voice.</p> + +<p>He held it for Badger to read, and, to the Kansan's intense +astonishment, he saw that the paper was scribbled over with answers to +the questions used in the examination, and that the handwriting seemed +to be his own. He was so bewildered he could not say a word. Answers +were there to only a part of the questions, however.</p> + +<p>There was a strange look on Barton's bearded face. He had seen Badger +fishing in his right vest pocket for a stub of a pencil awhile before. +He thought, as he remembered this, that it was the left pocket of the +vest.</p> + +<p>"What is in that left pocket of your vest?" he asked, in a voice that +fairly made Badger jump.</p> + +<p>Barton believed the slip he held in his fingers had come from that left +pocket, and he thought it possible more like it might be concealed +there.</p> + +<p>"Not a thing!" said the Westerner, the angry flush in his face extending +to the roots of his dark hair, for he was not accustomed to being spoken +to in that suspicious tone, and it enraged him.</p> + +<p>"Will you see if there is not?" Barton asked, striving to maintain his +calm, though his suspicions were growing. Badger confidently thrust in +his fingers and—drew out a slip of paper like the others, which was +also scribbled over with answers to questions!</p> + +<p>He could not have regarded it with more surprise and bewilderment if it +had been a snake. Barton took it from his shaking fingers, and saw that +the handwriting seemed to be the same.</p> + +<p>This exciting dialogue was beginning to attract attention, and many eyes +were turned in that direction, which made the Kansan get even redder in +the face. Badger thrust a hand into one of the upper pockets of his vest +and drew out another paper of the same kind.</p> + +<p>"What does this mean?" he growled.</p> + +<p>He dived frantically into other pockets. He knew that his position was +one hard to explain away, but, with a sort of recklessness, he was +determined to know if there were more papers of that kind anywhere about +him. He could not imagine how they came there, and the rather wild idea +occurred to him that he might have scribbled them over that way in his +sleep, for the coming examination had disturbed him and made his nights +a bit restless.</p> + +<p>There were no other incriminating slips.</p> + +<p>"I should like to know what it means myself," said Barton.</p> + +<p>He looked sternly at Agnew, but the latter had now obtained control of +his countenance, and met the professor's suspicious look with an air of +innocent confidence. Agnew felt safe. The paper he had crumpled and +thrown under Badger's desk was the only one he had secreted about him. +So he knew that even if a search was forced, nothing of an incriminating +character could be discovered on him.</p> + +<p>"I think I have put you in a mighty tight box, Mr. Buck Badger!" was his +gloating thought.</p> + +<p>And again that look of triumph returned with such force that he could +hide it only by lowering his eyes, and did not raise them throughout the +rest of the hour.</p> + +<p>That evening, while Morton Agnew was amusing himself with a game of +solitaire, and chuckling with glee over the clever manner in which he +had put Buck Badger in a "box," a rap sounded on the door of his room +that made him jump.</p> + +<p>"Come in!" he said.</p> + +<p>And Frank Merriwell walked in!</p> + +<p>Agnew half-rose out of his chair.</p> + +<p>"Sit down!" Merriwell urged, closing the door behind him.</p> + +<p>Then he turned the key in the lock and dropped the key into his pocket.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that?" starting to his feet in an agitated way.</p> + +<p>"Sit down!" Frank again commanded, in a smooth, quiet tone, which, +however, sounded very ominous. Agnew looked toward the closed window, +and then dropped limply into the chair.</p> + +<p>"It's two stories down, and a hard pavement below that window. I'd +advise you, Agnew, not to pitch yourself out of that on your head. It +would probably give the undertaker a job."</p> + +<p>Agnew pushed the cards about, without knowing what he did, and stared at +Merriwell, his face white and his eyes anxious. He was afraid of +Merriwell. Of all the men at Yale, Merriwell was the one he most feared. +And his heart told him that there was something serious back of this +unexpected call.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to find you in," said Frank, "for I want to have a talk with +you. I will take this chair, with your leave. You won't mind if I come +to the point at once?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you're driving at, and I think you must be drunk or +luny to come into a fellow's room and lock him in! If you have an idea +that there is anything funny about this, I'm pleased to tell you that +there isn't."</p> + +<p>"I was afraid you might be so uncivil as to desert me. I shall not try +to take anything away with me but a bit of your writing. You're a good +penman, Agnew, and I shall want a sample, after we've had a friendly +chat."</p> + +<p>The cold sweat came out on Agnew's brow.</p> + +<p>"I don't intend to beat about the bush at all. It is not needed. You +know what I think of you, for I've given you abundant opportunity. Twice +within my knowledge you have tried to murder me—once when you slipped a +ball cartridge into Badger's musket in 'A Mountain Vendetta,' hoping and +believing that I would be killed, and again on the grounds of the gun +club, when you slipped some prepared shells into my box, thinking I +would get hold of one of them, and that I would be killed by the +explosion of my gun!"</p> + +<p>Agnew's face grew as white as writing-paper. He opened his lips to +reply, but Frank went on:</p> + +<p>"Of course, you are ready to deny these things. But I have some proofs. +You thought you could get all the 'fixed' shells when you knocked +Rattleton over in the crowd, pretending you were shot. But one of them +you failed to get. I have had its contents analyzed by one of the +professors of chemistry, and he says that in place of powder, the shell +contained a sort of gun-cotton, and that he does not see why the gun was +not torn into splinters."</p> + +<p>"This——"</p> + +<p>"Just keep still, Agnew, until I am through! I have found the dealer of +whom you purchased those shells, and I have found the dealer of whom you +procured that gun-cotton!"</p> + +<p>Again Agnew opened his mouth to protest. He had stopped pushing the +cards about.</p> + +<p>"Once you tried to ruin my right arm by injecting into it a preparation +that would produce atrophy of the muscles. I can produce evidence of +that, too!"</p> + +<p>"It's a lie!" Agnew finally gasped. "There is not a word of truth in +these accusations!"</p> + +<p>"I have been accumulating evidence against you for some time. You have +struck at me and at my friends time and again. It is my time to strike +now, and I shall strike hard."</p> + +<p>The dangerous smile which friends and enemies alike had come to know so +well rested on Merriwell's face. Agnew had seen it there before, and the +sight of it made him shiver.</p> + +<p>"Badger used that shell—or one of the shells, and only chance saved him +from being killed or maimed for life. Not satisfied with that, you +struck at him to-day again."</p> + +<p>"You're crazy, Merriwell! There is not a word of truth in any of these +things. You have fancied them all, and, because you do not like me, you +are determined to ruin me."</p> + +<p>"You have ruined yourself, Agnew. I have given you chance after chance +to reform and change about. You get worse. You are a disgrace to +humanity, to say nothing of Yale College. You struck at Badger to-day, +as I said.</p> + +<p>"I know all about it. Professor Barton fancies that he caught Badger +cribbing in to-day's examination. The matter has already gone to the +faculty. Badger will go out of Yale as sure as the sun rises if things +are permitted to go on. I propose to see that they do not go on. No +scoundrel like you, Agnew, shall treat a friend of mine in that way."</p> + +<p>"So he has become your friend, has he?"</p> + +<p>"No man shall treat one of my foes in that way, if I can help it!"</p> + +<p>Agnew attempted a skeptical sneer, but it was a failure. He was shaking +like a chilled and nervous dog.</p> + +<p>"I have had a talk with Badger. He couldn't understand how the papers +got into his pockets. But I knew as soon as he told me of your encounter +in that saloon last night, for I had seen the slips purporting to be in +his handwriting, and I knew they were forged, and I was sure you were +the forger!"</p> + +<p>"Quite a Sherlock Holmes!" said Agnew. "This is a very interesting +little romance. The only trouble is that, like most romances, there +isn't a word of truth in it."</p> + +<p>"You are the man who stole the printed question slips. You wanted them +for your own use, so that you might not fail in this examination. When +you knew what they were, and had prepared answers, you planned to use +them to throw Badger down, hoping that if the theft of the slips were +discovered the blow would fall on Badger."</p> + +<p>"You're away off, Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>But Frank went remorselessly on:</p> + +<p>"Last night, in the saloon, during that fight, which was of your own +seeking, you contrived to put those forged answers, in imitation of +Badger's handwriting, into his pockets, where Professor Barton found +them to-day. You are a forger, Agnew, and you have lately been passing +counterfeit money!"</p> + +<p>"Not a word of truth in any of this!" Agnew shakily declared.</p> + +<p>"Some of these things I might find difficulty in proving, though I am as +sure of them as that you are sitting there. But of other things I have +the proof. Now, I am going to give you your choice: Write at my +dictation a confession that will clear Badger of the charge of stealing +the question slips and using those answers, or I shall take steps at +once which will land you in the penitentiary!"</p> + +<p>Agnew grew sick and blind.</p> + +<p>"I can't do what you say!" he begged. "My God, Merriwell, even if the +things were true—which I deny—I couldn't do it! It would disgrace me +forever!"</p> + +<p>"The faculty and professors are not anxious to bring odium on the good +name of Yale. Your confession, I am sure, will not be made public. You +ought to have thought of the disgrace when you were doing those +dastardly, cowardly things! It is too late now."</p> + +<p>"But I can't!" Agnew wailed. He had ceased to deny his guilt.</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Frank, his lips tightening firmly. "I shall clear +Badger without this. I wanted to give you a last chance. I, too, am +anxious that the good name of Yale shall not be smirched by publishing +to the world the downfall and disgrace of a Yale student. But I shall +not withhold my hand longer."</p> + +<p>He pushed back his chair, and the look on his face was so terrible that +it robbed the trembling wretch of his fictitious courage.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" begged Agnew. "If I do what you say, you'll give me time to get +out of town?"</p> + +<p>"I shall not move against you at all. I shall simply turn the confession +over to the faculty, and so clear Badger."</p> + +<p>Again Agnew hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Here are paper and ink on your table!"</p> + +<p>The sweat was standing in drops on the brow of the card-sharp.</p> + +<p>"I'll do it simply because I must!" he doggedly declared. "It is an +outrage. I do not admit any of these other charges, but I did put those +things in Badger's pockets, and I took the questions to help me out in +the examination. Those are the only things I am willing to confess."</p> + +<p>"They are all I ask you to confess."</p> + +<p>With trembling fingers, Agnew drew pen and paper toward him. And then, +at Merriwell's dictation, he wrote a complete confession of the wrong he +had done Badger.</p> + +<p>"That is all right!" Merry admitted, when he had looked it over.</p> + +<p>He arose from the chair, folded the paper, and put it in a pocket.</p> + +<p>"Get out of New Haven as quick as you can. I shall give this to the +faculty in the morning. Good-by!"</p> + +<p>He unlocked the door, with his face turned toward Agnew, let himself +into the hall, and was gone.</p> + +<p>Forbearance and mercy had ceased to be a virtue, and Frank Merriwell's +hand was lifted to strike and crush a dastardly foe.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h3> + +<h4>COWARDICE OF THE CHICKERING SET.</h4> + + +<p>Merriwell encountered Hodge in the campus, informed him of what he had +done, and together they started down-town. By and by they took a +street-car, and, getting out at a familiar corner, found themselves in +front of a group of Merriwell's friends.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me if I walk on!" said Bart.</p> + +<p>"No, you are going with me!"</p> + +<p>"My room is preferred to my company with those fellows!"</p> + +<p>They had not yet been seen by Merry's friends, who were grouped on the +sidewalk about Jack Ready, who was talking and gesticulating in his +inimitable way.</p> + +<p>"Now don't get sulky, Bart!" Frank commanded. "Those fellows are my +friends."</p> + +<p>"They don't like me. I've seen it, Merry. When I think of some things +they have said, it makes me hot even against you."</p> + +<p>"Do you want to turn me against you, Bart? That is a good way to do it."</p> + +<p>"I don't care! I shall never snivel round those fellows!" Bart snarled. +"I'm your friend, Merry! That's enough, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"You take a poor way to show your friendship, Hodge! You vex me +sometimes. Now, look here! The 'flock' can be together but a little +while longer. The last of June is approaching fast, and that brings +commencement. Diamond, Rattleton, Browning, Gamp, Dismal, Danny, Bink, +and a lot more will leave Yale forever in June."</p> + +<p>The reflection touched Bart's fiery heart.</p> + +<p>"All right," he said. "Go ahead!" and walked after Merriwell.</p> + +<p>Willis Paulding, the Anglomaniac, passed them, going in the direction of +the large hotel across the way.</p> + +<p>"Mud on the bloon—I mean blood on the moon!" exclaimed Rattleton, as +Bart and Merry came up.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" Frank asked.</p> + +<p>"Paulding and the Chickering set are up—there!" said Danny, pointing to +some upper windows of the hotel. "They are having a big feed to-night."</p> + +<p>"Drinking tea and smoking cigarettes," explained Bruce.</p> + +<p>"I've invited every fellow here to attend that banquet with me," Ready +jovially declared. "But not a soul will accept the invitation. They +fancy their heads aren't hard enough for that kind of drinking!"</p> + +<p>"Bub-bub-better get an invitation yourself fuf-first!" Gamp stuttered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I circulate everywhere, like first-class currency. Want to go up +and take a peep with me, Merriwell? I'd give a V any time to hear one of +those fellows respond to a toast! Come along. What d'ye say? I'll be the +pilot."</p> + +<p>But Merriwell was no more in the mood for such an escapade than the +other members of the "flock." Thereupon, Ready skipped across the street +himself and disappeared within the hotel.</p> + +<p>Merriwell and his friends walked down the street, and in the course of +half an hour returned to that corner. Then they saw Ready at one of the +upper windows, looking down at them. He had a big piece of cake in one +hand and a glass of wine or tea in the other.</p> + +<p>"Come up to the feast!" he bellowed. "Great fun!"</p> + +<p>But Merriwell had his eyes fixed elsewhere. Suddenly he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"That hotel is on fire!" He had observed a tongue of flame leaping from +a window.</p> + +<p>He started across the street, but before he had taken a dozen steps the +fire-alarm bell sounded. A few of the people in the hotel seemed to be +awaking to the fact that the building was on fire. Merry's friends +joined him, and they stood near the center of the street, looking up at +the fire and discussing the matter. Then Ready was seen again at the +window, staring about in a bewildered way, as if he contemplated leaping +to the street below.</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose the fire could cut him off so soon?" Merry anxiously +queried.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't seem likely," Diamond answered. "But, of course, no one can +tell. The Chickering set are up there yet!"</p> + +<p>A crowd was collecting, and Merry's friends were thinking of going on +across the street, when the arrival of a clanging fire-engine drove them +back to the corner from which they had started.</p> + +<p>It could now be seen that even in that brief space of time the fire was +rapidly spreading. The blaze first seen had increased in size, and +flames were now issuing from other windows on that floor. The fire +seemed to be in the third story. Luckily, the hotel stood on a corner, +away from other buildings.</p> + +<p>People were now pouring in a stream from the exits. Merriwell looked +again toward the window where Ready had been seen.</p> + +<p>"Ready will come right across here as soon as he gets down," he said. "I +suppose he is all right, but the fire is on that floor!"</p> + +<p>But Ready did not appear. Other fire-engines arrived and began their +work. Firemen swarmed everywhere. But the fire increased in intensity in +spite of this fight against it. The hotel appeared to have emptied +itself of its occupants.</p> + +<p>And still Jack Ready did not come. Willis Paulding stumbled across the +street, white and shaky. His hair and eyebrows were singed, his +Lunnon-made clothes were wet and limp, and he was terribly frightened.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell," he gasped, "Jack Ready is up there!"</p> + +<p>Merry started. A fear that such might be the case had been growing on +him.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Paulding forgot his English drawl in his fright and excitement.</p> + +<p>"I saw him!" he admitted. "He was trying to get Lew Veazie down the +stairs when he fell. Veazie had been drinking a little, and couldn't +help himself."</p> + +<p>"And where is Veazie?"</p> + +<p>"He is down on the street somewhere."</p> + +<p>"And you ran away and left Ready, after he had injured himself while +trying to aid you!"</p> + +<p>Paulding dropped his head.</p> + +<p>"The fire was right on us, and we——"</p> + +<p>"Where did he fall?"</p> + +<p>"On the center stairway leading from the third story," said Paulding, +shivering under Merry's rebuke.</p> + +<p>"Fellows, I am going up there after Jack Ready," said Frank calmly.</p> + +<p>"You'll go at the risk of your life!" shouted Browning.</p> + +<p>But Frank was already half-way across the street. The fire had spread +with astonishing rapidity. Some combustible material in the second story +had exploded with great force, and this had seemed to scatter the fire. +The entire second story was on fire now, as well as the one above it.</p> + +<p>Frank vanished in the crowd, which was retreating through fear that the +walls were about to fall. Other fire-engines had come up. The people who +fell back from the dangerous vicinity crowded on the Yale men who had +looked so anxiously after Merriwell as he hastened to the aid of the +imperiled freshman. Willis Paulding, feeling Merriwell's rebuke, and +stung by a feeling of his own cowardice, had slipped away.</p> + +<p>"I don't like that," Hodge grumbled, looking at the spot where Frank had +vanished.</p> + +<p>"I've seen things myself that I like better!" grunted Browning.</p> + +<p>"You can bet your life that Merry will go wherever a friend is in +danger!" said Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"Or a foe, either!" added Diamond.</p> + +<p>"Fuf-fellows, I'm worried abub bub-bout this!" stuttered Joe Gamp.</p> + +<p>"I'd feel easier a good deal if we had all stayed home to-night!" droned +Dismal.</p> + +<p>For once, neither Danny nor Bink had any comment to offer, funny or +otherwise. A feeling that something awful was about to happen stilled +their chatter.</p> + +<p>Then all started, leaping as if they had been shot at, and pushed back +into the retreating and startled crowd. A furnace or something of the +kind had given way in the basement with a thunderous report. A great gap +showed in one of the walls, and the wall itself seemed on the point of +toppling down.</p> + +<p>"Sounded like a siege-gun!" chirped a well-known voice. "Fellows, I'm +glad I wasn't in there then! Had the greatest time you ever saw—narrow +escape and all that; but here I am again, with my stomach filled with +cake and my head intoxicated with tea. All right side up, you see!"</p> + +<p>The speaker was Jack Ready!</p> + +<p>"Where is Merriwell?" Bart asked.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell?" and Ready looked round. "Refuse me, but I supposed he was +the center of this intellectual group! Yes, where is Merriwell?"</p> + +<p>"He went up there after you—to get you out of the fire!" exclaimed +Bink, in great excitement.</p> + +<p>"You haven't sus-sus-seen him?" demanded Gamp.</p> + +<p>Some firemen planted a ladder against the swaying wall, as if to brace +it, and a group came round the corner dragging a huge muddy hose, which +they intended to train on another part of the hotel. But, so far, the +fire had baffled all their efforts.</p> + +<p>"Did he go up there?" Ready gasped.</p> + +<p>"Sure!" said Danny. "He is up there now."</p> + +<p>Ready's round, red-apple cheeks grew white.</p> + +<p>"If he is up there now, he'll never come out!"</p> + +<p>Bart stared at the shaking wall and the flaming windows—at the smoke +clouds rolling from the doorways. The hotel had become a furnace. Then +he stepped out, with a determined look on his dark face. Ready +understood the meaning of that look.</p> + +<p>"You'll go to your death if you try it!" he declared. "It is hotter than +ten ovens, and some timbers fell from the second floor as I came out. If +I hadn't rolled under the stairway when I fell, and thus had protection, +I should have been cooked alive."</p> + +<p>But if Hodge heard the warning, he did not heed it. He pushed aside +Ready's detaining hand and ran quickly across the street. They saw him +reach the first smoke-filled doorway, and then he was swallowed up in +the smoke. The other members of Merriwell's flock stood still, with +shaking limbs and anxiously beating hearts.</p> + +<p>"They will both be killed!" gasped Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"Sure!" groaned Dismal.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe we shall ever see Hodge again!" Ready declared, and his +cheeks grew even whiter.</p> + +<p>Bruce moved as if he, too, thought of rushing into the flames. Diamond's +hand was laid on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute. No use risking any more lives! Bart can do that, if any +one can!"</p> + +<p>Browning felt that this was true, and fell back with a groan, while a +bit of suspicious moisture shone in his eyes. The walls were in such a +state that the firemen now began to disconnect the hose and to get the +engines away. They warned back the crowd, and policemen began to shout +orders and to enforce them with batons.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, what was Bart Hodge doing, and what had befallen Frank +Merriwell? Hodge was sure that Frank had made his way to the stairway +where Willis Paulding had said Jack Ready had fallen. It was the center +stairway leading from the third story.</p> + +<p>Hodge had not much difficulty in passing through the hotel office, for, +after the dash through the doorway, he found the smoke not so dense. It +seemed to be sucked into the doorway, and the clerk's desk and vicinity +were comparatively free of it. The room was deserted, and there were +everywhere evidences of a hasty leave-taking.</p> + +<p>Bart ran first to the elevator, thinking he might be able to use that, +but the door appeared to be warped, and he could not get it open easily. +He did not know whether the elevator was in running condition, and much +doubted it, because of the explosion in the basement. Therefore, not +wishing to lose any time, he jumped for the nearest stairway, as soon as +he felt that no help could be had from the elevator, and climbed as fast +as he could toward the second story.</p> + +<p>This stairway was filled with smoke, and he felt the heat increase as he +ascended, but he still had no trouble, except from the smoke. But when +he reached the second floor his heart almost failed. The stairway on +which Jack Ready had fallen, and the only stairway Bart could see, was +wrapped in flames, which writhed and twined like serpents. The heat, +too, was intense.</p> + +<p>Bending close to the floor, to escape the smoke and heat as much as +possible, Bart groped about, looking everywhere for Merriwell, thinking +he might have fallen there. He saw him nowhere, and called loudly. But +no sound came back except the roar of the fire. It even drowned all the +noises of the street. But not for a moment did he think of turning back, +though he knew how awful the danger would be if he tried to go up that +burning stairway. He cast about for some sort of protection. A flimsy +curtain of cotton material was stretched across a doorway. This Hodge +pulled down and wrapped round his head, protecting his hands with it +also as well as he could. Then he measured the stairway and its +direction with a quick glance, and made a wild dash for the fire.</p> + +<p>He went up the stairway at a run, with his clothes scorching and the +protecting cotton cloth bursting into flame. It was a desperate spurt, +but Hodge went through the fire, and with a bound threw himself beyond +it, and felt, rather than knew, that he was in some kind of hall, where +the fire was not so bad. He pulled aside the flaming cloth, pitched it +from him, put up his scorching hands to shield his eyes, and looked +about.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>The cry was one of joy.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>This time the exclamation held the tone of fear and dread. Frank +Merriwell was lying in this space, which Bart saw now to be a wide +corridor. Frank seemed unconscious. He was lying close against the wall, +with his arms doubled over his head. Near him was a piece of timber +which had fallen from the floor above. Other pieces of timbers seemed +about to fall from the same place. This one, as Bart saw at a glance, +had struck Merriwell down.</p> + +<p>Bart's heart almost stopped beating when the thought came to him that +perhaps Frank was dead. He leaped toward him, with a bound, uttering +that cry of "Merriwell!" as he did so.</p> + +<p>"Frank! Frank!" he cried. "Frank, are you much hurt?"</p> + +<p>The roaring of the fire in the stairway sounded louder, than ever. Its +noise was like that of a raging furnace. Bart's hands were scorched, but +he did not feel the pain of the burns. Another piece of timber dropped +from the floor above within a foot of where he stood. Others seemed +about to fall. There was fire all round him, and the whole corridor +seemed on the point of leaping into flame.</p> + +<p>Hodge lifted Merry's unconscious form and faced the fire. A groan came +from Merriwell's lips. Bart looked into the white face and saw a bloody +lump on the side of Merry's head. That face appealed to him as if for +protection from the fire.</p> + +<p>In spite of his many faults, Bart Hodge held for Frank Merriwell the +love of a strong and manly heart. Frank was the one true and faithful +friend who had always stood by him—the one friend who always understood +him—the one friend who was every ready to defend him. And Hodge would +have laid down his life for Merriwell!</p> + +<p>He saw that if he dashed through the fire with Merriwell, that face, so +strong and manly and true, would be horribly disfigured. He did not +think of his own so much as of Merriwell's. Yet he felt that if he got +out of the building with his burden he would have to make haste. There +were doors along the corridor, and he knew that they opened into rooms. +He put Merriwell down, and finding the first door locked, kicked it in +with his foot.</p> + +<p>The room was full of smoke, but the fire had not yet entered it. Hodge +hastily tore from the bed a big double blanket, and retreated with it +into the corridor. This blanket he wound round Merriwell's face and +shoulders and hands; then lifted Frank again, protecting himself with +the folds of the blanket as well as he could as he did so. Thus dragging +Merriwell, he stumbled toward the hell of fire that roared in the +stairway.</p> + +<p>There was a jarring sound, and for a moment it seemed that the whole +building was tumbling down round his ears. A section of the rear wall +had fallen outward, and the part of the hotel containing the kitchen was +a burning wreck. Bart hardly heard the sound, so absorbed was he in the +task before him. He did not feel Merriwell's weight—in fact, his +strength seemed to be as great as Browning's.</p> + +<p>"Frank!" he cried, in his heart—"Frank, my dearest friend, if I can't +carry you out, we'll die together!"</p> + +<p>The fire in the stairway had greatly increased. But Hodge did not +hesitate. Wrapping the blanket closer about Merriwell and himself, he +rushed, with seeming recklessness, but with a boldness that was really +the highest form of courage, into that raging cauldron of fire, and +descended with the steady celerity of one who sees every foot of the way +and has no thrill of fear.</p> + +<p>The blanket crisped and cracked and smoked into flame as the fiery waves +beat against it. Bart seemed to be breathing liquid flame. But the thick +bulk of the blanket shielding Merriwell's face and hands kept them from +the searing fire.</p> + +<p>Half-fainting, but victorious, Bart Hodge reeled out of the hotel, +bearing Merriwell in his arms. A great cheer went up from the excited +crowd, for, somehow, the information had spread that a daring attempt to +rescue a friend was being made by one of the college students.</p> + +<p>Merriwell's flock dived through the thick smoke and carried both Hodge +and Merriwell to a place of security. And even as they did so the +tottering side wall, that had so long been swaying, fell, and the shell +of the burning hotel collapsed like a house of cards.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The next morning Danny Griswold bounced into Merriwell's room. Hodge was +there. He and Frank were talking about the fire and congratulating +themselves that neither had received bad burns and that Merry's injury +was not serious.</p> + +<p>"News!" exclaimed Danny. "Morton Agnew left New Haven last night."</p> + +<p>"I knew he would," said Frank. "He knows I am going to give his +confession to the faculty this morning, and he would not want to stay +here a minute after that. Yale will never see him again."</p> + +<p>"Good thing for Yale!" Hodge grunted.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> + +<h4>A WILD NIGHT.</h4> + + +<p>A wild lot of sophomores and freshmen were celebrating the beginning of +"secret-society week," by marching round the campus at night in +lock-step style, singing rousing college songs. They danced in and out +of the dormitories, wildly cheered every building they passed, while the +classes bellowed forth their "Omega Lambda Chi."</p> + +<p>Down by the fence by Durfee's, on the campus, in the gymnasium, at +Traeger's and Morey's and Jackson's, and wherever Yale men congregated, +almost the sole topic of conversation was of who would go to "Bones," +"Keys," and "Wolf's Head."</p> + +<p>The air of mystery surrounding membership in these senior societies, the +honor which their membership confers, and the fact that but a few men, +comparatively, out of any junior class can be elected to them, create an +absorbing interest.</p> + +<p>Skull and Bones, or "Bones," as it is popularly called, is the +wealthiest and most respected. Then follows Scrolls and Keys, or "Keys," +with Wolf's Head third in order of distinction. The names are taken from +the society pins. Each of these societies has a handsome and costly +club-house, whose secrets are no more to be arrived at than are those of +the sphinx and the pyramids.</p> + +<p>Conjectures as to what society would get the most prominent members of +the junior class had engrossed a good deal of thought for several weeks. +Each society takes in fifteen members, or forty-five in all, out of the +two hundred and fifty or more men that usually compose the junior class. +As every junior is anxious to become a member, the feverish interest +with which the subject is regarded by the juniors may be imagined. This +interest had gradually spread throughout the college. Now the subject +suddenly leaped to such importance that it overshadowed the ball-game +which Yale was to play against Princeton, and the coming boat-race at +New London, in which the phenomenally popular Inza Burrage was to be the +mascot of the Yale crew.</p> + +<p>Class spirit, that wildly jovial night, seemed to melt the sophomores +into a fraternizing, loving brotherhood, where discord was unknown, even +though the class contained such opposite elements as Buck Badger, Jim +Hooker, Donald Pike, Pink Pooler, the Chickering set, Porter, Cowles, +Mullen, Benson, Billings, Webb, and others. Though these might join in +class dances and marches, and howl themselves hoarse in honor of the +sophomores and of Yale, some of them could no more unite in any true +sense than oil and water.</p> + +<p>The campus was brilliantly illuminated. Powerful calcium and electric +lights bored holes through the darkness, turning night into day. All the +windows of all the dormitories which face the campus were crowded with +students and with women.</p> + +<p>Three of these windows held Frank Merriwell's friends. Frank was there, +with Inza, Elsie, and Winnie, together with Mrs. Hodge and Inza's +invalid father, Bernard Burrage.</p> + +<p>"As in life, the good and the evil mingle," sighed Dismal Jones, as his +eyes fell on Jim Hooker and other honorable sophomores who were marching +in close proximity to the Chickering set. "The wheat grows up with the +tares, and the result is an everlasting bobbery."</p> + +<p>"There will be tears in your wardrobe if you don't quit walking on me!" +squeaked Bink Stubbs.</p> + +<p>"Climb up on a chair," advised Danny, who had already taken his own +advice, and was thus able to look down into the campus without +stretching his neck until he was in danger of converting himself into a +dromedary. "It's just great!"</p> + +<p>"Can't be anything great for me that holds that Chickering crowd!" +Browning grumbled.</p> + +<p>"Isn't the campus beautiful!" was Inza's enthusiastic exclamation.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, beautiful, for the fresh, tender green of the elms was +brought out with marvelous distinctness by the brilliant lights.</p> + +<p>"They're kuk-kuk-kicking up an awful dud-dud-dud-dust!" stuttered Gamp, +pushing forward for a better view.</p> + +<p>"Dust assume to crowd in front of me, base varlet?" questioned Bruce. +"I'll forgive you if you'll just take off your tall head and hold it +under your arm!"</p> + +<p>"I s'pose naow you think that's a joke!" said Gamp.</p> + +<p>"It's more than a dust, fellows," said Merriwell. "There is a fight on!"</p> + +<p>Certain of the sophomores had bunched together under one of the elms, +and seemed to be struggling, as if in a contest.</p> + +<p>"It looks as though they might be playing football," suggested Elsie.</p> + +<p>Winnie Lee leaned anxiously out of the window, for in the center of that +knot she had seen Buck Badger. She had eagerly searched for him in the +procession, and had but found him when that indication of a wrangle came +to disturb her.</p> + +<p>The procession seemed to be breaking up and concentrating beneath and +around the elm where that struggle was taking place. Far in front a +number of students were bellowing their "Omega Lambda Chi," but the +others had ceased to sing.</p> + +<p>"See how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" said Dismal.</p> + +<p>And Dismal was right. The beginning of that scramble was trivial enough. +But the trouble which it kindled was destined to outlive the moment and +seriously affect the life and fortunes of at least one of the +participants. Jones was merely grumbling one of his proverbs, without +dreaming how appropriate the words really were.</p> + +<p>Donald Pike had been nagging and tormenting the Chickering set. He had +bumped his toes against Ollie Lord's high-heeled shoes. In the lock-step +walk he had put his hands crushingly on Tilton Hull's high choker +collar. He had pitched against and torn Gene Skelding's flaring necktie. +And he had even dared to knock off Julitan Ives' hat and disarrange his +lovely bang.</p> + +<p>At last, in his exuberance, he seized a handful of clammy soil that was +almost the consistency of mud, and playfully tossed it at Lew Veazie. It +missed Veazie, and, by an infortuitous fate, took Buck Badger smack in +the eye. Badger, who had seen Pike's antics, clapped a hand to his eye +with a grunt of pain and astonishment.</p> + +<p>"You scoundrel!" he bellowed. Then he lunged at Pike, with a startling +suddenness that took Donald quite off his guard and threw him headlong.</p> + +<p>Badger believed that Pike had thrown the mud into his eye purposely. +There had been bad feeling between them, and even worse, for some time, +and the gap separating them seemed to be growing wider all the while. +Each had said exasperating and belittling things of the other, and a +wall of hate had been built up where once there had been a bond of +strong friendship. The pain in Badger's eye was excruciating, and it +rendered him for a little while absolutely reckless. Fortunately, it +also rendered him incapable of inflicting on his former friend the +punishment which his rage dictated.</p> + +<p>For a short time affairs were exciting enough. Sophomores and freshmen +deserted the procession and leaped for the elm where the crowd was +quickly gathering. Badger threw himself on Pike, after the latter was +down, and would have proceeded to pound his face, without doubt, but +that his arms were caught and held.</p> + +<p>It was all over within less than two minutes. Some of the Westerner's +friends held him back and began to talk some sense into him, while +Pike's friends drew him out and away.</p> + +<p>"I reckon this isn't the end of it!" snarled Badger, flinging the words +at Pike. "There will be a beautiful settlement of this, remember."</p> + +<p>Then he hobbled blindly out of the crowd with some acquaintances, to +have his smarting eye attended to, while the procession reformed, and +the rollicking students began again to shout their "Omega Lambda Chi."</p> + +<p>The "beautiful settlement" came at a late hour that night. Badger +encountered Pike while the latter was on his way to his room. The +Kansan's eye still pained him, and his rage was hot. As soon as he saw +Pike he stepped across the walk and took him by the nose.</p> + +<p>"That's the way I treat such skunks as you!" he hissed, flinging Pike +from him after offering him that deadly insult. "I want to warn you to +keep out of my way after this. If you don't, I'll treat you just as I +would a rattler!"</p> + +<p>"You mean you will kill me!" snarled Pike, rushing at the Kansan in a +fit of blind rage.</p> + +<p>But he was no match for Badger, who flung him off with surprising ease, +and then held him at bay and at arm's length by a clutch on his throat.</p> + +<p>"I've a notion to choke the breath out of you!" said Badger. "Don't +tempt me too far, or I might forget myself and do it. You know that I've +got a red-hot, cantankerous temper when I get started. Now go! Git! If +you don't, I'll lift you with my shoe. And keep out of my way, unless +you want trouble!"</p> + +<p>He pushed Pike from him with stinging scorn.</p> + +<p>"I'll go!" said Pike. "But I'll pay you for to-night's work! See if I +don't! You'll find out that there are more ways of fighting than with +fists. You may wish that you had killed me, before you get through with +it!"</p> + +<p>"What does the scoundrel mean by that?" the Westerner questioned, +staring at Pike as the latter hurried away. "I reckon he is mean enough +to do anything. Well, he had better have a care!"</p> + +<p>He was soon destined to feel the effects of Pike's threat in a manner +more crushing than any knock-down, physical blow which Pike could have +delivered.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h3> + +<h4>PIKE AND BADGER.</h4> + + +<p>The next evening, which was Tuesday evening, while the societies were +hilariously enjoying their annual calcium-light procession, Donald Pike +took a car and hastened to the home of the Honorable Fairfax Lee. He had +tarried in the campus long enough to be sure that Winnie Lee was again +enjoying the processional festivities from one of the dormitory windows.</p> + +<p>"Nobody will know whether I am in that procession or not," he muttered, +as he started toward Lee's. "And if they do know, what is the +difference? I'm under no obligation to be there, and I can say that I +had a headache, or anything else I want to, if I choose to take the +trouble to account for my absence."</p> + +<p>To Pike's great satisfaction, he found Fairfax Lee at home; and when he +told the servant that he had an important communication to make, he was +invited into the waiting-room, and finally was ushered into the presence +of Mr. Lee.</p> + +<p>The facing of Mr. Lee in this manner, even though he could claim +disinterested motives, rather phased even the blunted spirit of Donald +Pike. If he had dared to, he would have committed his story to writing, +and so brought it to Lee's attention. But things that are written often +have an unpleasant way of reappearing, to the discomfiture and undoing +of the writer, and Pike's caution warned him against such risks. Words +merely spoken, he assured himself, can be denied, if that becomes +afterward necessary. Written words, undestroyed, cannot be so easily +escaped.</p> + +<p>"Anything I can do for you?" Mr. Lee queried, when Pike hesitated. "You +have a communication, I believe?"</p> + +<p>Donald pulled himself together, and the opening sentences of what he +intended to say came back to him. He had thought these out with care, +and they seemed very fine and even humanitarian.</p> + +<p>"I want you to know at the outset, Mr. Lee, that in coming to you with +the information I bear I am wholly disinterested. But the truth is due +you. No one else seems to have had the courage to tell you, and I +shall."</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee began to look interested.</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," he said, "and I thank you in advance for your +favor."</p> + +<p>This was so auspicious a beginning that Pike's courage rose.</p> + +<p>"I want to have a frank talk with you about a certain young Yale +man—Mr. Buck Badger. You must have noticed that he is very devoted in +his attentions to your daughter?"</p> + +<p>There was no reply to this, though Pike halted, in the expectation that +there would be one.</p> + +<p>"I am well acquainted with Badger. In fact, until very recently, he was +my roommate, and we were good friends. Perhaps when I tell you that he +is not a fit man to associate with your daughter, you may think I am led +by the fact that Badger and I are not now the friends we were once. But +it is not so. We are not friends simply because his baseness became so +apparent to me that I could no longer associate with him.</p> + +<p>"I have thought this thing over for a good while, Mr. Lee, and as an +honorable man, I did not think I ought to remain silent and see things +go on as they are. You love your daughter, Mr. Lee?"</p> + +<p>This last was rather an effective shot, for Fairfax Lee loved Winnie +devotedly.</p> + +<p>"All this is very unpleasant, Mr. Pike, but I am ready to hear what you +have to say. I am free to confess that you rather surprise me."</p> + +<p>"Your daughter is an admirable young lady, Mr. Lee. And though I cannot +say that she and I are more than the merest acquaintances, I thought it +a shame that matters should go on as they are without a word from me to +you, to let you see what your daughter is walking into. Or what she +would walk into, if she should ever be so unfortunate as to marry Buck +Badger!"</p> + +<p>Donald Pike had at last contrived to get into his tones and manner a +sympathetic element that, while it was veriest hypocricy, was very +effective.</p> + +<p>"My daughter is not married to Mr. Badger yet!" said Lee, somewhat +bluntly, a frown on his usually pleasant face, for his position was far +from agreeable.</p> + +<p>"And I hope she may never be."</p> + +<p>"You fail to specify," Lee reminded. "You make only vague charges."</p> + +<p>"There are many things," said Pike, coming to the point now with great +boldness, "but I shall name only one. Buck Badger is a drunkard."</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee seemed astonished, and the frown on his face deepened.</p> + +<p>"He is the worst type of drunkard. Not a man who drinks steadily, but +one of those who indulge now and then in crazy, drunken debauches. For +weeks, even months, he may not touch a drop of liquor. Then he will go +on a spree. You can verify this, I am sure, by inquiries carefully made +among the students. More than once he has been known to be on a drunk. +He was drunk when he went aboard the excursion steamer, <i>Crested Foam</i>, +when she was burned in the bay."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"It is true, Mr. Lee, every word of it. Your daughter and a good many +others think he was drugged by the boat-keeper, Barney Lynn, and lured +on the steamer for the purpose of robbery. But when he met Lynn he was +already raving blind drunk, and Lynn merely took advantage of his +helpless condition. You can know that this is true if you will call or +send a man to the saloon of Joe Connelly. He went to Connelly's that +night—or rather, the evening before—filled himself up on the vilest +decoctions, and went out from there as drunk as a fool. He has been +there before many times. Connelly knows him well."</p> + +<p>All this was so circumstantial that Fairfax Lee was alarmed and moved. +He knew that Connelly's was one of the worst dens of the city, and he +felt sure that unless there was something in the story Pike would not +give names in this way. He resolved to learn the whole truth about the +matter.</p> + +<p>"If what you say is true, Buck Badger is not fit to associate with any +girl," he asserted.</p> + +<p>"Especially not with a girl as innocent and unsuspecting as your +daughter, Mr. Lee. I have seen that for a good while, and it has been a +fight with my conscience to keep from coming here with this story. I +couldn't delay it longer. I trust you see that I can have no hope of +gain, and nothing but right motives in bringing you this story—which +you will find fully substantiated by a course of inquiry."</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee was flushed and silent.</p> + +<p>"All of Badger's friends, or most of them, I am sure, know that he was +drunk, and not drugged, when he went aboard the <i>Crested Foam</i>. Some of +them might admit this knowledge."</p> + +<p>"You are a sophomore?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Badger is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And you were recently his friend and roommate?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I have your card, which I will put by for reference. I presume, if I +call on you, you will be willing to repeat anywhere what you have said +to me here?"</p> + +<p>This was unexpected, and Pike hesitated.</p> + +<p>"I don't care to get myself into trouble with Badger. He is of the +bulldog, pugilistic type, and the first thing he would do would be to +assault me like the bully he is. I have given you the warning. You can +get all the proof you want. Probably you would never have heard of this +until too late, if I had not voluntarily brought you the story."</p> + +<p>"You are right," Lee admitted. "Perhaps that would be asking too much."</p> + +<p>"I have struck the blow, Badger," Donald Pike muttered, as he left the +handsome home of the Lees. "You will find it more of a knock-down, I +fancy, than if I had hit you between the eyes with my fist. Nobody ever +walks roughshod over Don Pike and gets off without suffering for it. You +will hear something drop pretty soon."</p> + +<p>And so, chuckling, he took his way to the street-car line, and returned +to the campus and the Yale jollification.</p> + +<p>The Kansan had accompanied Winnie Lee home that evening, as usual. The +hour was late, and he did not enter the house, but kissed her good-night +at the gate.</p> + +<p>"Good-night and pleasant dreams, sweetheart!" he said as he turned to +go.</p> + +<p>His heart was light, for he and Winnie had enjoyed a long and loving +talk on the way home, and throughout the evening there had been no +untoward incident to mar his pleasure. He had noticed Donald Pike's +absence, and had been glad of it, but he merely supposed Pike kept away +because of the row of the previous evening. If there are such things as +premonitions of coming trouble, certainly they did not distress Badger +that night. Winnie was also in a happy frame of mind as she tripped +lightly up the steps and entered the house.</p> + +<p>Inza and Elsie had returned some time before. As she had expected, they +had retired to their rooms. She was surprised, however, to find her +father waiting for her in the sitting-room, which was brightly lighted. +As she came into the room, she saw something ominous in his face. She +thought she was to be lectured for remaining out so late.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Winnie," he said. "I want to have a talk with you."</p> + +<p>His voice was even more ominous than his face. She came and sat down by +his side, when she had removed her hat. He put his hand on her head and +drew her toward him.</p> + +<p>"Did Mr. Badger come home with you, Winnie?" he asked, and his voice was +slightly tremulous.</p> + +<p>"Yes, father. I know I stayed a little late, but it was so hard to get +away while so much was going on. I don't know when I have had so +pleasant an evening. And besides, it was hard for Buck to get away, and +we had arranged for him to come home with me. The festivities had not +ended when we left."</p> + +<p>"Buck Badger must never come home with you again!" he said, with a +firmness and suddenness that took all the color out of her cheeks, and +seemed to take all the breath out of her body. She sat still, as if +frozen by the statement, while a scared look filled her eyes. Then she +partly roused herself.</p> + +<p>"What—why do you say that?"</p> + +<p>"I have learned that he is not fit to associate with you—is not fit to +associate with any girl!"</p> + +<p>"What have you heard, father?" she demanded, in a trembling voice. "I +know that whatever it is, it isn't true, for Buck is fit to associate +with any girl!"</p> + +<p>She half-expected him to refer to the fracas of the evening before in +the campus.</p> + +<p>"If there is one thing on which I am determined, it is that my daughter +shall never marry a drunkard!"</p> + +<p>"Buck isn't a drunkard!"</p> + +<p>"He was drunk when he was taken aboard the <i>Crested Foam</i> by that +boatman, Barney Lynn."</p> + +<p>"No, father!"</p> + +<p>"You think not, of course. You think he was drugged."</p> + +<p>"He was drugged. Lynn drugged him. He was not drunk, and he had not been +drinking. Who has been telling you such things? I am sure it cannot be +any one who has any honor."</p> + +<p>"It was some one who felt it to be his duty to warn me of the fact that +my daughter is in danger of marrying a drunkard. I thank him for it."</p> + +<p>"But, father, you would not take the unsupported word of any one, would +you? I know that Buck has touched liquor at times, just as nearly all +the college men do, but he is not a drunkard, and he is not even a +drinking man. And he is now strictly temperate. He told me so himself, +that he has taken a pledge with himself never to touch anything of the +kind again. And Mr. Merriwell—you know that Mr. Merriwell wouldn't +befriend and favor him as he is doing now if Buck were a drunkard."</p> + +<p>"But I know, Winnie, dear!" Lee firmly, yet kindly, insisted.</p> + +<p>"And I know, father! Barney Lynn confessed to me that he drugged Buck; +but he said nothing about Buck being intoxicated, which he would have +done, wouldn't he, if Buck had really been intoxicated when he met +Lynn?"</p> + +<p>The girl was quick and alert. She understood that some desperate attempt +to separate her from the man she loved had been made, and she did not +intend that it should succeed without an effort against it on her part.</p> + +<p>"Who told you this—lie, father?"</p> + +<p>"I wish it was a lie!" Lee groaned.</p> + +<p>"It is!"</p> + +<p>"I have just come from Connelly's saloon, down in one of the worst parts +of the city. I was told to go there and I would find the evidence I +wanted. I went; and I have just returned. Badger was at Connelly's the +night before the <i>Crested Foam</i> excursion. It is an all-night +resort—though it professes, I believe, to close at midnight. Badger +left there at about two or three o'clock, blindly intoxicated. He was +simply reeling drunk. He must have gone from there to the wharf, and +there he fell into the hands of Barney Lynn, who drugged him for his +money. This is true, Winnie. There isn't the slightest doubt about it. I +wish it were all a terrible mistake, but it isn't. And that was not the +first time that Badges had reeled out of Connelly's far into the night, +drunk. He is given to just such drunken debauches."</p> + +<p>Winnie Lee's heart seemed to have turned to lead in her bosom. She was +cold from head to feet, except that in her cheeks bright spots burned. +Her father looked at her with anguished eyes. He noted the pallor and +the hectic spots.</p> + +<p>"Winnie, I can't let you throw yourself away on such a fellow as Buck +Badger! You must put him out of your thoughts. He is unworthy of you. I +thought he was an honorable young man, and now I find I was mistaken. I +shall make further inquiries, but those I have made to-night are enough +to condemn him. You must not see him again, and you must have nothing +further to do with him. I want you to tell him just what I have said—or +I shall tell him myself, and give him a piece of my mind in the +bargain."</p> + +<p>Winnie knew that she was trembling as with an ague, but she tried to +hold her emotions in check that she might fight for herself and for +Buck. Everything was at stake now, she felt, for she loved Badger with +an absorbing love.</p> + +<p>"You have simply been deceived, father," she insisted. "I know it. Like +many Yale men, Buck has been a little wild at times. He knows it and +acknowledges it But as for that night and that excursion, that isn't +true, I don't care who told you. Buck has a good many enemies, and some +of them have come to you with this story. Tell me who told you, in the +first place."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be right just now for me to give his name. And it is not +needed. Connelly admitted that Badger had been there often, and had gone +from there drunk the night before the steamer excursion. He remembered +it, because the story of the fire and of Lynn's death, and the drugging +of Badger, was in the papers, and he could not forget the time. I wish +it wasn't true, Winnie; but it is true. It will be hard, perhaps, for +you to give him up, but better that than for him to make you unhappy, as +he is sure to do."</p> + +<p>"Hard!" she mentally cried. "It will kill me!"</p> + +<p>He looked at her pathetically, yet with decision and firmness.</p> + +<p>"Make up your mind that he is unworthy. I will bring you more proofs, if +necessary. But I, first of all, lay on you my commands. You must not see +him again, except to tell him that he cannot call again, and that you +cannot be anything to each other hereafter but the merest +acquaintances."</p> + +<p>Man of affairs and of the world as he was, Fairfax Lee had not yet +learned that love cannot be made to come and go at will. If the little +god is blind, he is also stubborn, and has a way of his own.</p> + +<p>"I can't, father!" Winnie begged. "You must not ask it of me."</p> + +<p>"What? You would not continue to go with him, knowing what I have told +you? You would not permit a drunkard to pay you attentions, or a man who +is in the habit of going on wild debauches?"</p> + +<p>"No. But Buck is not that kind of a man. You have simply been deceived."</p> + +<p>"I have given my orders," said Lee, with a sternness he seldom used in +speaking to Winnie. "I expect that they will be obeyed. It is useless to +argue the matter. Buck Badger must not come into this house. I will +write him a note to that effect, myself. You shall not see him again! I +shall tell him in plain words just what I have learned, and that this +house and your company are forbidden to him."</p> + +<p>"But, father——"</p> + +<p>"We will not talk any more about it. You are stubborn to-night. You will +think better of it in the morning. No one—no one, Winnie, loves you as +I do! I have given you every advantage. You shall not throw yourself +away on any one."</p> + +<p>He got up, as if to end the interview.</p> + +<p>The room and its belongings seemed swinging wildly round in a crazy +dance before the eyes of Winnie Lee. She grasped at her chair for +support. She seemed unable to lift herself. In her heart there was only +one cry—one wild cry: "Buck! Buck! Buck!"</p> + +<p>By a great effort, she at last arose from her chair. Her father saw the +marblelike pallor of her face, and, touched by this sign of distress, he +came over, put his arms about her and kissed her. Her cheek, against +which he pressed his lips, seemed cold as ice.</p> + +<p>"Don't be foolish, dear!" he pleaded. "You shouldn't grieve over a man +who is so manifestly unworthy of you. You know that I love you, and that +I haven't said these things to give you pain, but because it is my duty +as your father. Now, good night, dear."</p> + +<p>"Good night!" she said, as if in a dream, and blindly walked toward the +door.</p> + +<p>In her room, she threw herself across her bed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall I do?" she moaned. "Buck! Buck! Buck! Who has told such +terrible lies on you, dear?"</p> + +<p>And so she lay there, moaning out a grief that was too great for tears.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h3> + +<h4>THE BLOW FALLS.</h4> + + +<p>The next afternoon the Westerner received this note, which was delivered +at his room by a boy, who went away before Badger had a chance to +question him:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Mr. Buck Badger</span>: Certain facts have come to my knowledge which +show that you are not the man I supposed you to be. I find that you +are not only a drinking man, but that you often become grossly +intoxicated, and that you were so when lured aboard the <i>Crested +Foam</i> by Barney Lynn. Under these circumstances, you cannot expect +that I will longer permit your attentions to my daughter. I ask +you, therefore, not to try to see her again, and not again to call +at my house, where you are most unwelcome. If there is any spark of +manhood or gentlemanliness left in you, you will respect my wishes +and commands in this matter. Yours,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Fairfax Lee</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Kansan stared at the paper as if he could not believe his eyes, +while a flush of hot displeasure crept into his dark face.</p> + +<p>"Who has been telling him that?" he growled, jamming the note down on +his table, and then picking it up to read again. "I'll break the neck of +the man that did that. 'Not try to see her again?' Well, I don't think! +I allow I shall see her every chance I get, and whenever I choose, and +I'd like to tell Lee so. Why, what——"</p> + +<p>He got up from the table and began to walk back and forth like a caged +tiger. He was sure that some enemy had struck at him in this way. +Suddenly he halted, and the pupils of his eyes contracted.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he snarled. "I reckon that was the work of Don Pike. He said he'd +strike me in a way that would be worse than if he hit me with his fist, +and this is what he meant! Well, I'll settle with you, Pike, for that, +and don't you ever forget it! You won't forget, either, I allow, when +I'm through with you. That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>He crumpled up the note, hastily stuck it into a pocket, jammed his hat +on his head, and left his room hurriedly, locking the door. He did not +stop in the campus. It was filled with Yale fellows, and the fence in +front of Durfee Hall was crowded. He saw here and there men whom he knew +well, and who nodded to him. He hardly took time to return the +greetings.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with Badger now?" rumbled Browning. "He is charging +along like a blind bull at a fence."</p> + +<p>"Why do you ever notice what the fellow does at all?" Bart Hodge +grumbled.</p> + +<p>"Well, even cranks are interesting," said Dismal Jones, also looking +curiously after Badger.</p> + +<p>"Curiosities likewise," remarked Danny Griswold, puffing at his +cigarette. "And since our dear Merry has just about adopted this wild +bull from the plain, my interest in him as a curiosity has increased."</p> + +<p>"As a guess, I should say he is hunting somebody to fight," said +Diamond.</p> + +<p>"Then he will be accommodated in mighty short order," Browning +prophesied. "I never yet saw a fellow go after trouble and return +without finding what he sought. Mr. Badger is not the only fellow who +goes pawing round with his hair standing and blood in his eye."</p> + +<p>"Speaking from experience, Browning?" mildly inquired Bink Stubbs, +scratching a match to light a cigarette. "You have gone in search of +trouble a few times, to my knowledge."</p> + +<p>"And you're searching for it now!" grunted Browning, giving the little +fellow a warning look.</p> + +<p>All unaware of the fact that his rapid transit across the campus had +occasioned unusual comment, Badger hurried on, and finally entered a car +which took him to the office of Fairfax Lee.</p> + +<p>"Is Mr. Lee in?" he asked of the clerk in the outer room.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Will you give him my card, please, and tell him I should like to see +him a few minutes?"</p> + +<p>The clerk took the card and disappeared. He was back immediately.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Lee says that he cannot see you, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Did he say that he is engaged?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. He does not care to see you!"</p> + +<p>The Westerner's dark face burned, and he bit his lip to keep the hot +words from rushing out in a torrent. He stood for a moment, hesitating. +But a door separated him, he believed, from Mr. Lee. He was almost ready +to push open that door and confront Lee and demand an explanation of the +letter forbidding him to see Winnie again. But he got the better of +himself, and walked out of the office.</p> + +<p>"If he thinks he can bluff me out, or freeze me out, he don't know me!" +he grated, as he turned away. "I shall see Winnie as often as I can. +Hanged if I don't go up there right now!"</p> + +<p>With the Kansan, to think was to act. And in a few minutes he was in +another car speeding toward the home of the Lees.</p> + +<p>"If I don't get to see her, perhaps I can find out something about this +mess from Inza or Elsie. They may be able to clear away the mystery. I +allow I never was in so horrible a snarl in my life. But I'll punch +Pike's head for this, and don't you forget it! That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>But the Westerner met quite as chilling a reception at Lee's home as at +the office. The servant who met him at the door had received her +instructions.</p> + +<p>"You are not to be admitted to the house," she said sharply.</p> + +<p>"Is Miss Lee in?" he persisted.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Is that true, or is it one of the society lies which declares that a +lady is out when she is in?" he bluntly demanded.</p> + +<p>To this there was no answer. The servant began to close the door. Badger +stopped this by taking hold of the knob.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" asked the girl, who was somewhat frightened by the +Westerner's violent manner.</p> + +<p>"I want to see Miss Winnie Lee."</p> + +<p>"She is not at home."</p> + +<p>"Then I want to see Miss Inza Burrage."</p> + +<p>"She is not in."</p> + +<p>"Then I should like to see Miss Elsie Bellwood."</p> + +<p>"She is not in."</p> + +<p>Badger suddenly changed his tactics. Bluster would not do, he saw. He +put his hand into a pocket and drew out a five-dollar note, which he +held up alluringly.</p> + +<p>"If you will take a note for me to Miss Lee, I will give you this five +dollars."</p> + +<p>The servant shook her head and again tried to close the door.</p> + +<p>"If you will take a note to either Miss Burrage or Miss Bellwood, I will +give you the five dollars."</p> + +<p>Once more the servant sought to close the door.</p> + +<p>"I have my orders, Mr. Badger. I cannot afford to lose my place for five +dollars or fifty dollars. And I wouldn't do what you ask, anyway. If you +do not let me close the door, I shall call for help."</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Badger gruffly, releasing the door. "But I will see +those young ladies, just the same."</p> + +<p>To accomplish this he remained in the vicinity of the house until long +after nightfall. But he was wholly unrewarded for his vigil, and at +last, distressed, humiliated, and angry, he took a car for the college +grounds, raging like a lion against Donald Pike. Even an enemy of Badger +must have pitied him that night.</p> + +<p>The campus was filled with Yale men and their friends, and there were +excitement and sport, fun and laughter, music and merriment galore. But +Badger could enjoy none of it. He had no thought for anything but Winnie +Lee and the treatment he had received from her father. He wondered if +she were at home, and was half of the opinion that Lee had spirited her +out of the city. His disappointment in not seeing either Elsie or Inza +was bitter, for somehow he felt that if he could see them they would be +willing to help him.</p> + +<p>With this feeling, he now began to look for Merriwell and his friends, +but they were not to be found. He went to Merry's room, and then from +room to room, even venturing finally to knock on Hodge's door. Later he +learned that Hodge and Merry had called at the home of Fairfax Lee, +after he had given over his vigil, and had been cordially admitted, and +had accompanied Inza and Elsie to a banquet, which was attended by the +whole Merriwell set.</p> + +<p>The Westerner was more successful in his search for Merriwell the next +day, though he did not get a chance to speak to Frank until the +afternoon.</p> + +<p>Badger was looking haggard and distressed as he came up to Merry. They +were in the campus, and Yale's famous "slapping" ceremony was soon to +begin. The campus was filling with men, and the members of the junior +class were out in full force, for out of that junior class, by the +"slapping" process, forty-five men were to be selected as members of +"Bones," "Keys," and Wolf's Head.</p> + +<p>"I looked everywhere for you last night," said Badger; and Frank told +him of the banquet.</p> + +<p>"Let's go somewhere where we can talk," the Westerner invited, not +relishing the throngs. "The air in here chokes me."</p> + +<p>Merry took him by the arm, and they pushed out of the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Now, what it is?" Frank asked.</p> + +<p>Badger could have made a long story of it, but he cut it down to narrow +limits, acquainting Merriwell, in as few words as possible, with the +trouble that had come upon him. Frank looked grave.</p> + +<p>"This is serious, Badger," he said, not caring to conceal from the +Kansan his true feelings concerning it. "But I'm ready to help you in +any way I can."</p> + +<p>"My fool jealousy was at the bottom of the whole thing!" Badger +admitted. "Just because I was jealous of Hodge, I went on that drunk and +let Barney Lynn fool me into going aboard the boat and in drugging me. +Jealousy and whisky. That's what did it."</p> + +<p>"I think you are right there."</p> + +<p>"But, of course, Don Pike is the fellow that peached. And I'll smash his +face for it! I allow that everything would have gone on as smooth as +silk but for that."</p> + +<p>"Now, what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"Hanged if I know, Merriwell! I'll be driven to something desperate, +soon. Tell me what the girls said about it."</p> + +<p>"I don't think they knew anything about it. They reported that Winnie +had been sick in her room, and the doctor had instructed that they were +not to see her or disturb her."</p> + +<p>"Is she in the house, then?"</p> + +<p>"I can't tell. She may be, and she may not be. One thing is sure, Buck. +Her father is not going to let you see her again. And that makes me +think it possible he has spirited her out of the city. If she is in the +house, the pretense that she is sick cannot be kept up long."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," said the Kansan dubiously. "I allow that +likely she is sick. The thing has almost sent me to bed, and the effect +on her might be as bad."</p> + +<p>"Worse, probably."</p> + +<p>"If she is sick in that house, I'm going to see her, if I have to fight +my way in."</p> + +<p>"And be arrested. No, that's not the way, Badger. I'll see Elsie and +Inza this evening, and we'll find out something definite."</p> + +<p>"You have helped me before in this matter, Merry!" the Kansan gratefully +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"And am ready to do so again. I feel more certain now than I did then +that Winnie is not in danger of throwing herself away on you. Pardon me +for speaking so plainly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's all right!" the Westerner admitted, though his face colored. +"I used to be a dog when I boozed round, and that's what Fairfax Lee has +against me now, of course. He thinks I am the same. But I've sworn off +on the stuff, and you know it."</p> + +<p>"I'll have a talk with the girls, and well see then how the land lays, +and what can be done."</p> + +<p>"It will be a favor—the biggest favor, I reckon, that any man ever +received."</p> + +<p>A number of voices were shooting Merriwell's name in the campus.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to go, I allow," said the Westerner, gripping Merriwell's +hand. "But the first news you get send it to me. Don't stop for expense, +or anything else. Send it along—cab, telephone, telegraph, special +messenger, or a dozen, if there's danger one may not reach me—anything, +just so you whoop the news to me. I'll be walking barefooted on cactus +spines every minute from now until you make some kind of a report."</p> + +<p>Merriwell returned to the campus, where Yale tradition was gathering the +members of the junior class back of the fence, near Durfee Hall.</p> + +<p>The ceremony of "slapping" is peculiar in many respects. No official +announcement is made of the fact that this formal and queer manner of +announcing elections to the senior societies is enacted. No announcement +of the coming event is given to the public. The members of the junior +class are not notified by any one that they are expected to appear on +that spot by the fence at a certain time to be ready to be "slapped," if +they have been lucky enough to be chosen for membership in the great +senior societies. Nevertheless, the entire junior class, with half the +college, and hundreds of spectators from the city, gather there on the +third Thursday afternoon in May, between the hours of four and six +o'clock, and witness or participate in the spectacle.</p> + +<p>"Slates" had been made up weeks before, and shrewd guesses given as to +who would be chosen to this society and to that, though it was all mere +guesswork. Nearly every one had agreed, however, that Merriwell would go +to "Bones," as the leading society is called, and that "Bones" would be +glad to get him, and would be receiving an honor as well as conferring +one. Buck Badger, restless as a wolf, stood back and gloomily watched +this gathering, and heard the buzz of talk and conjecture without really +comprehending a word. Often he was not aware that he saw the things that +were transpiring directly under his eyes.</p> + +<p>But at length he aroused himself. Elsie and Inza had suddenly come +within the range of his vision, and the sight of them stirred him out of +his moody trance. He moved in their direction, but before he could come +up with them, to his great disappointment, the pushing crowd swallowed +them. Then he went in search of Merriwell, whom he found without +trouble, for Merriwell was with the expectant juniors.</p> + +<p>"Which way did they go?" Frank asked.</p> + +<p>"Toward that building—I mean in that direction. But I lost them in the +crowd."</p> + +<p>"I thought they might come down this afternoon! Winnie wasn't with +them?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Frank was about to start away to find the girls, if he could, and +question them in the interest of Badger and Winnie, but at that moment +he was approached by Jack Diamond, one of the seniors.</p> + +<p>Diamond walked up to Merriwell with all the dignity of the Great Mogul +of Kuddyhuddy, and gave him a resounding slap on the back. Diamond +belonged to "Bones," and the slap was a notification that the society +had chosen Merriwell.</p> + +<p>"I can't go now, Badger," said Frank, a bit regretfully.</p> + +<p>Then he left the campus for his room, as each man slapped is expected to +do, followed by Diamond, where he was notified formally of his election +and told to appear for initiation at the society hall on Friday evening.</p> + +<p>Of what that initiation consists no one not a member ever knows, and no +member will ever tell. Its mysteries are more impenetrable than Free +Masonry.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h3> + +<h4>BUCK AND WINNIE.</h4> + + +<p>Shortly after nightfall, Badger started again for the residence of +Fairfax Lee. He had no definite plans, but rather blindly hoped +something might turn up to favor him. He confessed to himself that he +was "all gone to pieces," but he had no desire to go into some liquor +den and load up with bad whisky, as he was once accustomed to do when +trouble or disappointment struck him.</p> + +<p>"It was red-eye that got me into this, I reckon, and I'll let the stuff +alone hereafter. I've promised to, and I will, no matter what comes. +That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>And when Buck Badger put his foot down he usually put it down hard.</p> + +<p>"I'd feel better if I could only meet Don Pike and swell up his eyes for +him," he continued to growl. "But the coward has sloped."</p> + +<p>It did, indeed, seem that Pike was making an effort to keep out of the +way of the Westerner. The very sight of the Lee home quickened Badger's +heart-beats. He felt that he would give anything to know if Winnie was +in the house, or had been spirited away.</p> + +<p>"Like enough, her father has locked her in her room! But there ain't any +keys whatever that are made strong enough to keep me from seeing her. +I'll do it sooner or later."</p> + +<p>Fortune favored the Westerner—fortune and his sweetheart, Winnie Lee. +Winnie was as wildly anxious to see Buck as he was to see her. She had +been locked in her room for stubbornness in refusing to promise never to +see Badger again, and the other girls had been told that she was ill and +could not be seen. They knew better now, for Winnie had finally bribed +and coaxed one of the servants to tell them the truth. They had not +known it long, but long enough for Inza—indignant as she was brave, and +brave as she was indignant—to send to Winnie a note, signed by herself +and Elsie, assuring the unhappy girl of their sympathy and firm +friendship. And that note was wrapped round a door-key which fitted +Winnie's door, which the servant was bribed to carry.</p> + +<p>So it came about that shortly after nightfall Winnie let herself out of +her room, and creeping down some familiar halls and stairways, emerged +into the grounds surrounding the house. Then she turned toward the +street. She did not know what she meant to do, only she had a feeling +that Buck was somewhere in the vicinity trying to find an opportunity to +speak to her. She had felt sure that he would not abandon the attempt to +communicate with her. She had on her jacket, with a scarf thrown over +her head. She felt that she would not be easily recognized.</p> + +<p>She stopped as she drew near the corner which gave a view down the +street. There was a stir beyond the wall. The next instant a form came +flying over the fence.</p> + +<p>"Winnie!"</p> + +<p>"Buck!"</p> + +<p>It was Badger!</p> + +<p>"I have been crazy to see you!" he whispered, clasping her tightly in +his arms. "I knew it wasn't your fault that I did not get to see you. +Have they had you locked up?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, fervently returning the kiss. "I just got out of +the room. Somehow, I felt that you were down here, and I slipped down as +soon as I could."</p> + +<p>"I knew you were true as steel," he fervently declared. "Nothing +whatever could ever have made me believe otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Did father write to you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He told me never to come here again, and that I must not try to +see you. I came to the house, and the servant said you were not in, and +would not admit me even when I asked for Elsie and Inza. I have had an +awful time."</p> + +<p>"I have nearly died!" she confessed. "Oh, it has simply been terrible! I +thought once I was going crazy. Father does not understand how he has +tortured me, or he would not do it, I know. He cannot realize what it +means. He simply thinks I am still a child, and that I ought to submit +to him in this matter, as I have always done in all other things."</p> + +<p>"You are old enough now to have a mind of your own, I allow!"</p> + +<p>"And he has heard such awful stories about you, Buck. Just terrible +things."</p> + +<p>That deep rage against Donald Pike struggled again in the heart of the +Kansan.</p> + +<p>"I think I know who told him. What were the things, anyway?"</p> + +<p>He said this with a great dread, for he already knew.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knew you were not guilty, Buck! Never fancy for a moment that I +thought you guilty. I told him you were innocent. I knew that it +couldn't be true that you were"—she sobbed—"drunk when you went aboard +the <i>Crested Foam</i>."</p> + +<p>Badger winced as if stabbed. The dying boat-keeper, Barney Lynn, +confessed to drugging Badger, but did not tell Winnie that Badger was +drunk at the time. The Westerner knew this, and had been, as he had +admitted to Merriwell, just coward enough to be glad that Lynn did not +tell Winnie the whole truth. Now, as the sweat of a great inward +struggle came out on his face, he wished he had been courageous enough +to inform her of the real facts, instead of sheltering himself behind +that palatial confession of the boat-keeper. It was a virtual falsehood +that was coming home to him in a most unpleasant manner.</p> + +<p>"I have stood up for you, Buck, against everything that father could +say," Winnie artlessly and innocently continued. "When he insisted that +you were drunk at the time, I told him I knew it was not so; and I have +stood by it. He thinks he has discovered proofs from a saloon-keeper +named Connelly, who keeps a vile resort somewhere down in the worst part +of New Haven. Connelly says you were intoxicated at his house that +night. But I told father that the same fellow who gave him the +information against you in the first place must have hired Connelly to +say that. A man who will sell liquor will lie, you know, Buck!"</p> + +<p>Badger was violently trembling, but Winnie, in the ecstatic joy of +meeting him, did not notice it. There was a tempest in the Kansan's +soul. Winnie's sweet and trusting faith in him filled him with an +anguishing shame. Could he tell her now that he was drunk that +night—that all the things said against him by Connelly and that unknown +informant were true? Would she not turn against him if he did? Would she +not despise him? Would not her love be obliterated? Badger felt as if +the ground were reeling under his feet.</p> + +<p>Once he was about to give away to the evil impulses that were fighting +against him. But he did not. At last, as she chattered on, so strongly +asserting her faith in his innocence, he caught her convulsively to him.</p> + +<p>"Winnie!" he gasped, and his voice was so hoarse and unnatural that she +was startled. "My God! Winnie, don't say those things! I know that when +I confess the truth to you you will feel that I am the biggest scoundrel +that ever walked. But I must tell you. I was a coward and a fool, I +reckon, for not telling you before. But I just couldn't, Winnie! But +those things are true! I was drunk that night—I was at Connelly's—I +was——"</p> + +<p>Her form seemed to grow rigid in his arms.</p> + +<p>"I must tell you the truth now, if it kills me!" he continued, almost +gasping out the words. "And if you cast me off, I believe it will kill +me! But it seems to me that I'd rather die than to have you think me +innocent when I am guilty. I could never stand it in the world. I'm a +dog, I allow! I'm not fit to associate with you whatever—not in the +least! Your father is right about that. I see it now, though I didn't +before. But, Winnie, I love you, and I love you! That is all I can say. +I allow I haven't a right to say that now, but I must say it. You won't +cast me off for this? You will give me another show? Before God, I +haven't touched the stuff since that night! Not a drop! And I'll never +touch it again!"</p> + +<p>"Buck," she whispered, at last, "I wish you had told me that at the very +first."</p> + +<p>"And you wouldn't have spoken to me again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Buck, I should have spoken to you again. I should have been very +sorry, Buck. I should have grieved over it, as I do now. But I should +have loved you just the same, Buck."</p> + +<p>"Then you do love me? You do not intend to tell me to go and never speak +to you again?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you understand a girl's heart any better than that, Buck? She +never casts a man off for such things, if she truly loves him—though, +perhaps, she ought to! Love isn't a thing of the head, but of the heart. +I love you, Buck, and I am very sorry!"</p> + +<p>He held her as if he meant never to let her go, and she submitted to his +crushing caress.</p> + +<p>"You are true—true—true as steel!" he exultantly cried.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, or you will be heard, dear! We are right by the house, +remember."</p> + +<p>"Is your father in?"</p> + +<p>"No, but he may return at any time. It would be terrible if he should +discover us here."</p> + +<p>"What are we to do?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know. I haven't had time to think. What you have confessed +has so upset me that I seem to know nothing else. I can't think of +anything else. You see, Buck, I can't tell father any more that you were +not—drunk that night!"</p> + +<p>The hated word seemed to choke her.</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"And what shall I say to him?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon that is entirely too much for me."</p> + +<p>"But I will stand up for you all I can!"</p> + +<p>"I allow that you are an angel!" he enthusiastically declared.</p> + +<p>"You have a low conception of angels. I can't imagine one meeting a man +in this surreptitious fashion. Really, Buck, when you come to think of +it, it is almost as bad as—as—what you did at Connelly's, you know!"</p> + +<p>"Not on your life, it isn't! It's the thing I knew you would do—and +there isn't any truer or better girl whatever on this earth!"</p> + +<p>"I am glad you think so, Buck."</p> + +<p>The Westerner was trembling as much now with delight and pleasure as he +had before been trembling with apprehension. The fear that Winnie would +cast him off when she knew the truth about the <i>Crested Foam</i> affair, +that had so distressed him, had given place to a deep satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"It would be dreadful if father should discover us here. I am really +getting scared!" she continued.</p> + +<p>"I reckon that there isn't any other place whatever where we can go?" he +anxiously asked.</p> + +<p>"No. But we can stand and talk here a little while. Then I shall have to +hurry back into the house before my absence is noticed. One of the +servants I can trust to help me, but, I am afraid, not the others."</p> + +<p>"And Elsie and Inza?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course, all they can. They have just heard about the trouble I +have been having. They thought I was sick. I don't know what they can +do."</p> + +<p>"Carry notes," Badger suggested.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Oh, they will do what they can! They sent me a key that fits the +door of my room. And they are coming up to see me to-night and +to-morrow, they said in their note, in spite of the prohibition. But, of +course, they will have to be careful. Father is very set when he makes +up his mind to do anything, and he is very stern at times, though he +loves me. He thinks he is doing the thing that he ought to do, and that +he is really keeping me from throwing myself away——"</p> + +<p>"On a drunkard!" said the Westerner bitterly.</p> + +<p>"But you don't drink now, Buck! And you never were a drunkard!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I oughtn't to blame him any whatever!" he grumbled.</p> + +<p>"His intentions are good, but it is going to make it hard for us, for, +of course, I do not mean to give you up, if he keeps on ordering me to +do so from now until the day of——"</p> + +<p>"Our marriage!"</p> + +<p>She laughed.</p> + +<p>"I was going to say the day of my death!"</p> + +<p>"I allow that the day of our marriage sounds a good deal better."</p> + +<p>"I think it does myself," she admitted, and the Kansan took this as an +excuse to kiss her again.</p> + +<p>"We'll pull out of this snarl in some way," he hopefully declared. "I +don't know just how, but we'll plan something."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm afraid of father!" and she shivered.</p> + +<p>"I don't see just how we are to get round the old man's objections +myself at this moment, but something may come our way. If we can +continue to meet, I reckon we can plan something."</p> + +<p>"We can meet to-morrow evening right here."</p> + +<p>"Good. That's all right."</p> + +<p>"And many more nights, if we are not discovered. I'll be as nice to +father as I can, and perhaps he will not dream I am such a disobedient +thing, after all. But I do hate to deceive him! I never did before in my +life, and it strikes me as something awful. He doesn't dream that I +would do such a thing."</p> + +<p>"I think he does, or he wouldn't have locked you in. If he had trusted +you, there would have been no need of that."</p> + +<p>"True," she admitted.</p> + +<p>"And I shall be a living lie, just as you were, Buck, when you made me +think I knew all about that <i>Crested Foam</i> affair. So you see I am not +much better than you were, if any. But you will never deceive me about +anything again, will you, Buck?"</p> + +<p>"Never!" the Kansan asserted.</p> + +<p>"And if you should find out who told father?"</p> + +<p>"I'll punch his head."</p> + +<p>"And get into more trouble? You mustn't!"</p> + +<p>"I know who it was. Don Pike did that, I'm certain, and if I don't pay +him for it, I allow it will be because I don't get a chance."</p> + +<p>"Don't get into more trouble!" she begged.</p> + +<p>"There won't be any trouble—for me!"</p> + +<p>Her fear of discovery was so great that she would not remain out long, +but crept back into the house and up to her room. Badger, however, +lingered, staring up at the house and vainly endeavoring to think of +some plan which would enable them to overcome the violent objections of +Mr. Lee.</p> + +<p>"I allow I am in a hole," he grumbled. "But as long as Winnie has no +notion of throwing me over, I shall not let any coyote weakness get the +better of me! Not on your life!"</p> + +<p>He was about to leap the fence and make his way back to the campus, when +he saw a man sneak into the yard and drop down behind some shrubbery not +far from the front door. He could not make out the man's face and form +because of the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Mighty queer, that is!" thought the Westerner, staring at the spot +where the man had disappeared. "He don't act as if he intended to try to +rustle the ranch. I reckon I'll wait a bit."</p> + +<p>Badger had not long to wait. Fairfax Lee came down the walk from the +street scarcely a minute later.</p> + +<p>"If this wasn't New Haven, in the great and cultivated East, I should +say the fellow is laying for Lee with a gun, or a lariat!"</p> + +<p>As Lee came down the path, the man appeared from behind the shrubbery, +as if he had just returned from a visit to one of the side doors, and +placed himself in front of the politician. Lee stopped in a hesitating +way, and it was clear to Badger that he was afraid of this intruder.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" Lee demanded. The man advanced a step, with a +threatening whine.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't see me at your office, and I have come here, Lee. When are +you going to get me that appointment?"</p> + +<p>Lee was one of New Haven's prominent politicians.</p> + +<p>"I have told you that I can't do anything for you, Gaston!" he declared.</p> + +<p>"But you said before the election that you'd git me a job!"</p> + +<p>"I said nothing of the kind!"</p> + +<p>"That's a lie!" the man addressed as Gaston fiercely asserted. "You +wouldn't see me at the office, so I've come here, and I want justice +done. You have been turning me away every day. I was right so long as I +could hustle votes for you, and now I'm dirt!"</p> + +<p>"You are simply a lunatic."</p> + +<p>"And you mean to put me in an asylum?" the man hissed.</p> + +<p>"That is the appointment I'll get for you, Gaston, if you trouble me."</p> + +<p>"I'll kill you!" Gaston snarled, drawing a knife. "That's what I have +made up my mind to do to you!"</p> + +<p>"Stand aside, sir, and let me pass!" Lee commanded, though his voice was +shaky. "I shall have you arrested if you——"</p> + +<p>For reply, the man leaped at Lee with a snarl like that of an enraged +dog.</p> + +<p>"Loony as a locoed cowboy!" thought Badger. He was on the point of +rushing to Lee's assistance. But there was no need. Lee, who was light +on his feet, avoided the rush and ran for a side door, through which he +escaped into the house, leaving Gaston to rave and mutter, and at last +retreat into the street and hurry away.</p> + +<p>Not until the man had disappeared did the Westerner leave the grounds. +Then he leaped the fence, and hurried back to the campus. Here a large +number of students were rollicking in the somewhat wild and reckless +student fashion, to their own great delight and the amusement of +hundreds of spectators.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3> + +<h4>FUN IN THE CAMPUS.</h4> + + +<p>Under an elm in front of Durfee some students were gathering "fruit." +They began by collecting it from members of the Chickering set. Of all +the men in the college, the Chickering set were the most unpopular with +their fellow students. Their silliness and superciliousness were so +unbounded as to be disgusting to all sensible men. From the immaculate +Rupert, with his patent-leather shoes and shining tile, down to the +cowardly little lisper, Lew Veazie, they were alike detested. Hence it +came about that when Rupert Chickering appeared under the famous "fruit" +tree wearing a more than ordinarily gorgeous shirt, the cry of "Fruit!" +was immediately raised.</p> + +<p>Rupert uttered an exclamation of dismay and turned to run. He had heard +that cry before. But he only hastened what he sought to evade. A foot +outstretched for the purpose tripped him, and brought him sprawling to +the ground. Before he could rise, one of the laughing students was upon +him.</p> + +<p>"See here!" he exclaimed, "I'll have you know that I will not submit to +any such outrage! I know you, and I shall report you to the faculty!"</p> + +<p>He tried to fight off the youth who held him, but a dozen other men +rushed to this youth's assistance. Then a wild-eyed fellow produced a +shining pocket-knife and slowly and exasperatingly opened its sharpest +blade.</p> + +<p>"Help!" Rupert squawked.</p> + +<p>The knife was flourished in the air, and the tag on the lower end of +Rupert's shirt-bosom was deftly amputated.</p> + +<p>"Fruit!" was again shouted, and a dash was made for Gene Skelding, who, +as usual, wore a rainbow shirt that outshone Joseph's "coat of many +colors."</p> + +<p>"Help!" Skelding howled.</p> + +<p>But a score of hands outstretched to grasp him, and he, too, went down, +screeching lustily. Another knife flashed and another shirt-tag was +neatly severed.</p> + +<p>Lew Veazie, who had been with Rupert and Gene, started to run, deeming +discretion the better part of valor. But he took only a step when he, +too, went down. And again an amputating knife did its work. As soon as a +shirt-tag was cut off, the amputator, flourishing it on the blade of his +knife, like an Indian flaunting a scalp-lock, made a dash for the elm, +where it was pinned up as a trophy.</p> + +<p>Then it was found that a "taste" for shirt-tags had been created by this +exciting bit of experience, and other men, who had been loudly laughing +and cheering over the discomfiture of Chickering and his inane friends, +found themselves suddenly on the ground, with wicked-looking knives +flashing before their eyes, and their shirts being mutilated by the +pressure of keen knife-blades.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this "fun," Buck Badger arrived on the campus from his +stolen interview with Winnie Lee. Though his face wore a perplexed +expression, it had lost its gloom. There might be trouble for him in the +future, but Winnie's words had for the present driven the blackest of +the shadows out of his heart. The desire uppermost in his mind just then +was to meet and whip Donald Pike. He had sworn to himself that he would +do that the first thing, and he meant to keep the oath.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, reaching the elms of the campus at this exciting moment, +he was willing to cease temporarily his search for Pike and view the +fruit-gathering. It would be rare sport, provided, of course, that his +own shirt was not forced to yield "fruit."</p> + +<p>To prevent this, and that he might see better, he grasped a low-hanging +limb and swung up into one of the elms.</p> + +<p>"Fruit!" was being shouted everywhere, and the indications were that +scores of trophies would adorn the old elm the next morning, if some +stop was not put to the thing by the college authorities, which was not +likely. "Society week" is expected to be noisy, and things are winked at +which on ordinary occasions would bring reprimands.</p> + +<p>Another person had invaded the branches of the elm but a minute before +the ascent of the Westerner. That other person was Donald Pike, who +looked down now on the man he felt instinctively to be his mortal foe +with a little shiver of dread. More than once Pike had regretted making +that revelation to Fairfax Lee, for the chances that discovery would +come and that Badger would fiercely summon him to answer, seemed very +great, when he gave himself time to reflect. And he feared Badger.</p> + +<p>All might have gone well on this evening with Pike, however, if his fear +of discovery had not made him try to climb farther up the tree. The +Kansan heard the low scraping sound, in spite of the din in the campus, +and glanced upward, and when he did so he saw and recognized the man he +was looking for. A calcium-light was sending its rays through the higher +branches, and Pike's white, scared face was as plainly revealed to +Badger as if the two were facing each other in a lighted room.</p> + +<p>The hate which Badger had been nursing swelled to the point of bursting. +He forgot the search for "fruit," in which he had been interested, +seeing only the enemy whom he had sworn to whip as soon as they met.</p> + +<p>As yet they had not met; but Badger, blinded by his intense anger, +decided that the meeting should come without delay, even if the place +was a tree-top; and he began to climb up the trunk and boughs of the +tree toward Donald. Pike looked about in a despairing way. The distance +to the ground seemed dishearteningly great. His first impulse, +therefore, was to climb still higher, and this he began to do.</p> + +<p>But, recollecting the tenacity of Badger's purpose in whatever the +Kansan was engaged, he felt sure that he would be pursued into the very +top of the tree and shaken to the ground. Therefore, he hastily crawled +out over a horizontal limb, whose drooping ends dipped toward the earth. +If driven to the worst, he felt that he could drop from one of those +drooping ends without serious injury.</p> + +<p>With a howl of rage, Badger climbed on after the frightened youth, and +pursued him out on the horizontal limb.</p> + +<p>But there were to be other actors in this little overhead drama. A +couple of cats, chancing to be in the campus when the students invaded +it, had run up this identical elm, and had crouched in wild-eyed fear on +that same bough, watching the wild orgies of the students. They had +probably been there for a considerable period, not daring to descend +while that howling, dancing mob held the grounds. Perhaps they even +fancied that those yells and ear-splitting squeals were directed against +them. They must have thought so when Don Pike crawled out on the limb +toward them, followed by Buck Badger.</p> + +<p>The cats looked about, meowing anxiously. There was no other bough near +which they could gain by a leap. And as Pike, looking back and gasping +with fright, crawled straight on toward them, the cat that was farthest +out on the end of the limb launched itself through the air in a +desperate leap for the ground.</p> + +<p>There was no cleared space in which it could alight, and it struck Bink +Stubbs on the top of the head, jamming his hat down over his eyes and +hurling him backward.</p> + +<p>"Dog my cuc-cuc-cuc-cats!" stuttered Joe Gamp, looking up in +open-mouthed wonder.</p> + +<p>"The sky is raining cats!" whooped Danny.</p> + +<p>"Somebody amputate its tail!" yelled a student.</p> + +<p>"Cut off its shirt-tab!" shouted another.</p> + +<p>Bink and Danny, Gamp and all the others of Merriwell's friends who +chanced to be grouped there, had already suffered the amputation of +their shirt-tabs, and having no further fear on that point, were +hilariously anxious that not a shirt-tab should be worn by a Yale man +that night. The "fruit" on the tree at Durfee was increasing in quantity +and variety at a prodigious rate.</p> + +<p>"A dollar apiece for its ears!" some one else screeched.</p> + +<p>But the cat was too agile for the hands that were reached out to stop +its flight. It whisked under the legs of the students and was out and +away like a shot.</p> + +<p>"Been up there watching the performance!" some one sung out.</p> + +<p>"Gug-gug-goshfry! There's a man up there!" Joe Gamp howled, as his eyes +fell on Donald Pike. "It will be raining mum-mum-men, as well as +cuc-cuc-cuc-cats, next thing! Ahaw! ahaw! ahaw!"</p> + +<p>As his lips flew open to their widest extent to emit this roar, the +other cat sailed downward out of the tree and struck him squarely in the +mouth. He tumbled backward with a roar, which, however, was not at all +hilarious, and began to dig sputteringly at his tongue and lips, which +were liberally coated with cat hair.</p> + +<p>"More cats!" said Dismal. "I'd as soon have the frogs of Egypt, as to +have the trees showering down cats."</p> + +<p>"How do you like cat diet, Gamp?" screeched Bink, who did not relish the +way he had been laughed at.</p> + +<p>"I'll die-it, if one of 'em hits me!" Dismal solemnly asserted.</p> + +<p>"Look out!" a student warningly yelled. "The man is coming, too!"</p> + +<p>Everybody beneath the limb fell back out of the way, pushing against +those behind, many being hurled down and trodden on. Then Donald Pike, +sprawled out like one of the cats, came sailing down out of the tree. +His teeth were fairly chattering. He believed that Badger was right at +his heels, with hands reached out to seize him. Fortunately, he was not +injured by the desperate leap.</p> + +<p>"Fruit!" was yelled by a dozen voices, and the throng pressed together +again to lay hold on him.</p> + +<p>But Don Pike's terror gave him the strength of a giant. He hurled aside +those who sought to detain him, and leaped through the crowd and away. +The next instant the Kansan dropped out of the tree, swinging for a +moment by one of the drooping branches, to break the force of the fall, +and alighting on the ground with ease and lightness.</p> + +<p>"Fruit!"</p> + +<p>The Westerner could not escape, for the students had closed in again, +and he was literally ringed in.</p> + +<p>"Fruit! fruit!" was yelled on all sides.</p> + +<p>Twenty men threw themselves on the Kansan. He tried to hurl them off, +and did succeed in flinging some of them aside. This enabled him to gain +his feet.</p> + +<p>"Let go!" he snarled.</p> + +<p>"Fruit! fruit!" was being chorused.</p> + +<p>Again the hands and arms closed on him.</p> + +<p>"Let me go, I say! I want to overtake that fellow!"</p> + +<p>Only a few near him understood his words. The majority thought he was +merely showing a vigorous protest against the threatened loss of his +shirt-tab, and they had no sympathy with anything of that kind, for they +had suffered the same humiliation, and were naturally determined to +inflict the same thing on every student they could lay their hands on.</p> + +<p>"Let go!" Badger shrieked, white with wrath, lunging with his hard right +fist.</p> + +<p>It struck a student in the face and hurled him crashingly backward. But +the next moment the fist and arm were caught and held.</p> + +<p>Then began a fierce struggle for the mastery. Time and again the +Westerner, whose strength was great, hurled off the men who sought to +hold him down. Twice he got on his feet, merely to be tripped and thrown +again. Not until he was almost beaten and choked into insensibility were +his assailants able to rip open his vest.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, Badger wore a soft silk shirt which had no tab, but on this +night he had on a white shirt, whose tab was amputated by a dexterous +thrust as soon as the vest was pulled open. Then he was permitted to +rise to his feet, reeling, sick, blind with rage and humiliation and a +sense of baffled hate.</p> + +<p>But his chief thought still was of Donald Pike.</p> + +<p>"Which way did he go?" he panted, as soon as he could get his breath.</p> + +<p>"Well, your High-Muchness, the cats scattered and the man made himself +scarce!" was the scoffing answer, given by the student who had felt the +terrible force of Badger's fist. "Perhaps there is another man up in the +elm who can tell you!"</p> + +<p>Badger did not wait for further nagging, and, as no hands were now +extended to oppose him, he made as hasty an exit as he could from the +midst of the shouting, laughing, howling throng.</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" he thought. "I hope that neither Inza, nor Elsie, nor any of +my friends, saw that from the dormitory windows!"</p> + +<p>Even in the midst of his rage against Pike, Badger was cut to the quick +by this thought, for he was filled with a foolish pride.</p> + +<p>"I'll thump Pike a few extra for that!" he snarled, as he got out of the +crowd. His pulse was at fever-heat, and his face as hot as flame. He did +not feel the bruises and blows which had been showered on him.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I'll not get close to him again for a week!" he grumbled. "Why +couldn't those ruffians attend to their own affairs and let me attend to +mine? I allow that it was none of their business whatever! This is my +trail, and I wasn't interfering none with their range. Confound the +luck! But when I do meet him I'll make him pay for it!"</p> + +<p>But the Westerner was mistaken in one portion of his surmise. He met +Pike, or rather ran against him, at the first building he turned.</p> + +<p>Donald had ventured back to see what had happened to his pursuer, and +was looking at the shouting tumult in the campus, and did not observe +Badger, who came along the walk close to the wall. The Kansan recognized +Pike first, and leaped at him with a snarl like that of an enraged +panther, and as he leaped he struck a blinding blow.</p> + +<p>It knocked Donald backward, but it did not fall fairly enough to inflict +serious injury. The next moment Badger was on him, and had him by the +throat.</p> + +<p>"By heavens! I've a notion to kill you right here!" he hissed, his +fingers closing on Pike's throat.</p> + +<p>"Don't!" Pike pleaded, gasping out the appeal.</p> + +<p>"You told Fairfax Lee that I was drunk when I went on the <i>Crested +Foam</i>. You scoundrel! You ruffian! You sneaking coyote!"</p> + +<p>His fingers tightened with every exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Don't kill me!" Pike begged wheezingly. "I'll go to him and take it all +back!"</p> + +<p>"Then you did tell him? I allow I ought to kick you clean out of your +hide, you onery varmint!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer, and Donald Pike, apparently ceasing to breathe, +fell back as limp as a rag.</p> + +<p>A bit of reason began to glimmer into the brain of the Westerner. Though +he had asserted that he would almost kill Pike, he did not really intend +to do anything of the kind. He merely meant to inflict a punishment +which should be in a measure commensurate with the wrong which Pike had +committed against him. But the Kansan's great rage, combined with his +humiliating experience in the campus, which had still further inflamed +him, had driven him to more than ordinary recklessness. He had been +fairly insane. The fire began to go out of Badger's eyes when Pike did +not stir and seemed not to breathe.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I squeezed a bit too hard!" Badger muttered, regarding the +unconscious youth with some degree of anxiety. "Well, I was wild enough +to choke his heart out!"</p> + +<p>He stooped over Pike and saw the livid finger-marks on the throat. Still +Pike did not stir, and the Westerner's anxiety correspondingly grew. He +put a hand on Pike's left breast, and failed to locate the heart-beats. +At last, after an alarming interval, Pike gasped, to Badger's intense +relief.</p> + +<p>"I allow I'd better let it go at this," he reflected. "I don't want to +kill the skunk, though if any man whatever deserved to be murdered, he +does. But I don't want anything of that kind against me. As Merry has +told me, I've got an awful temper when it gets started. I shall have to +watch myself against that, same as against red-eye!"</p> + +<p>Pike gasped again, and then his breathing came at increasingly frequent +intervals. The students were wildly howling in and around the campus, +but Badger scarcely heard them. He was thinking only of Pike.</p> + +<p>"This may keep him in his room a few days," he muttered.</p> + +<p>"If it does no more than that, I don't care. He deserved that much. But +he's got to keep clear of me, or I can't be responsible for the +consequences. I'll tell him so as soon as he comes to himself and knows +what has happened."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h3> + +<h4>A CRUSHING BLOW.</h4> + + +<p>Buck Badger stared at a letter in a familiar handwriting which had come +to his room in the afternoon mail. He had delivered to Donald Pike that +threatening talk the night before, when Pike came back to the land of +sentient things after that awful choking.</p> + +<p>The infliction of this punishment on Pike, and the feeling that Winnie +would stand by him in spite of everything, had so satisfied the +Westerner that he had been in an uncommonly comfortable frame of mind, +in spite of the fact that the powerful opposition of Fairfax Lee was yet +to be overcome. With Winnie true, and time and youth in their favor, +there seemed no good reason why he should be in the dumps.</p> + +<p>But the letter at which he now gazed with starting eyes and anguished +face! It was from Winnie herself, and what it said was enough to make +the Kansan's brain reel:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Mr. Buck Badger</span>: Father knows that we met last night, and he is +much displeased, as he has a right to be. I am very sorry I said to +you the things I did, for we can never be anything more to each +other. I have had time to think more clearly since I saw you, and +this is my decision. It will do no good to talk it over, for this +is final. Therefore, if you are a gentleman, you will not try to +see me again. I return to you by express your ring and the things +you have given me.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Winnie Lee</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"I can't understand it!" he gasped, as he recalled her words of the +evening before. "Yet she wrote it. There isn't any doubt whatever of +that. I wish there were, but I know that handwriting too well."</p> + +<p>He read it over again and again, as if searching out some other meaning. +It seemed so impossible. Yet there it was. He got up and began to pace +round the room, stopping almost every time he passed the table to take +another look at the letter.</p> + +<p>"Thrown over!" he groaned. "And after all we've been to each other! I +allow she couldn't stand up against her father. How in thunder did he +find out that we met last night? Some onery, spying Piute of a servant, +I reckon. Well, I seem to be rounded up now, and Winnie's given me the +branding-iron with her own white hand."</p> + +<p>He mopped the sweat from his face.</p> + +<p>"I won't accept it! That's whatever! She says that if I'm a gentleman, +I'll not try to see her again. Glad I ain't a gentleman! Glad I'm a +man—and I allow a man is a good deal bigger than a gentleman! I s'pose +a gentleman would sit down and twiddle his fingers, and do nothing. +Well, I ain't built that way! Not on your life! I'm going to see her +again, whether she wants to see me or not. I'll see her, if I have to +fight my way into that house! That's whatever!"</p> + +<p>He gave his breast a thump, as if he fancied he was striking at an +enemy. His face was red and his neck veins stood out like cords. His +heavy shoulders were thrown back, and his broad white teeth gleamed in a +determined fashion.</p> + +<p>"I'll find out just why she changed her mind so suddenly. Of course, it +was her father's work. He has kept her under his thumb so long that she +has come to the conclusion that she has to mind him in this, too! He +thinks I'm not good enough for her, I allow! Well, I ain't—no man on +earth is good enough for her—but I'm just as good as Fairfax Lee, any +day in the week! Hanged if I don't tell him so, too!</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll walk into his office, if I have to knock over that clerk to +do it, and I'll tell him what I think of him, if I'm arrested for it +next minute. In this beastly East, instead of meeting a man and fighting +him, the first thing a fellow thinks of, if he has a word with another, +is to call in the police. But I'm not afraid of the New Haven police!"</p> + +<p>Badger's heart seethed like a volcano.</p> + +<p>"See her! Well, I reckon! I'll see her if I die for it! I'll see her, +even if she refuses to speak to me! I'm going to find out what's at the +bottom of this!"</p> + +<p>While the Westerner was thus storming, an expressman came with the +little package containing the ring and the trinkets which Badger had +given to Winnie. It contained no note, but the address was in Winnie's +handwriting.</p> + +<p>Badger tore the package open almost before the expressman was out of the +room. A lump came into his throat as he looked at the ring. He +remembered so distinctly the time he gave it to her and all the words +then said. It seemed impossible that she had returned it now in this +curt manner.</p> + +<p>"I'll ask her to take it back!" he muttered. He dropped the ring into a +pocket of the suit he was wearing, that he might be sure to have it with +him when he met her—for that he would meet her in some way or other he +was firmly resolved.</p> + +<p>"Her father has driven her into this. It's not her wish, I know. But she +is so good and dutiful that she may stick by this decision, to please +him. I allow that there is where the trouble is going to come. But I +won't give her up! Not unless she tells me positively with her own lips +that everything is ended."</p> + +<p>Badger now did something which he would never have dreamed of doing a +short time before. Even the thought of it would have been greeted with +scorn. He carefully put the letter in an inner pocket, put away the +trinkets which Winnie had returned, and set out to find Frank Merriwell. +The act did not even strike him as incongruous.</p> + +<p>"Inza and Elsie will do anything for Merriwell! He can go in and out of +Lee's house as he wants to. I allow he will be glad to help me in this +thing, if he can. The trail looks to be so confoundedly tangled that a +bit of help in ciphering it out will be mighty welcome just now!"</p> + +<p>He scowled as he crossed the campus and remembered the unpleasant +experience of the previous night. The tree in front of Durfee still bore +a large quantity of "fruit." The tab of Badger's shirt was there.</p> + +<p>"Come over here and pick out your property!" shouted a student who was +standing in a group near the tree.</p> + +<p>Badger strode on without a word, for he was in no humor for +pleasantries.</p> + +<p>"Fruit!" squealed Danny Griswold.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, my pretty maid?" Bink Stubbs sang from his perch +on the fence.</p> + +<p>"Going to hunt up those cats," said the Westerner, with sarcastic scorn. +"I hear their kittens squawling for them!"</p> + +<p>Danny fell over against Bink.</p> + +<p>"A joke from Badger!" he murmured. "Somebody fan me!"</p> + +<p>"I'll fan you!" grunted Bink, who was not pleased with the Kansan's +retort, pushing Danny roughly from him.</p> + +<p>"Do!" begged Danny. "That took my breath. What will happen next?"</p> + +<p>Badger swung on at a swift, nervous pace, and mounted to Frank's room.</p> + +<p>"Come in!" Frank sung out, as the Kansan's knuckles hammered on the +door.</p> + +<p>He was rather surprised to see Badger at that hour. But he put away the +book he had been studying, and pushed out a chair.</p> + +<p>"Take a seat!" he invited.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you'll think it's mighty funny that I should come to you for +advice and help?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no! It's a way my friends have. And they know that I am always +ready to do whatever I can for them."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's about Winnie!" said Badger bluntly. Whereupon, in a few +words, he told his story.</p> + +<p>"That rather stumps me, Badger," Frank admitted. "I think, though, that +the straight way is the best. If you're willing, I will see Lee in your +behalf. I shall have to admit to him that you were intoxicated at that +time, but I'll try to make him see that you are pretty straight goods, +for all of that. Perhaps a few words from one who knows you will be +helpful."</p> + +<p>"If you will, Merry, I can't ever thank you enough. It will be about as +big a favor, I allow, as one man ever did for another, and I sha'n't +forget it."</p> + +<p>Merriwell looked at his watch.</p> + +<p>"I can't go to his office this afternoon, but I'll see him at his house +to-night. I may be late getting there, but I'll try to time it to be +there when he gets home from his club."</p> + +<p>Badger went away as if walking on air. He could hardly think of anything +else throughout the remainder of the day, and night found him in the +vicinity of the Lee home, even though he had a feeling that Merriwell +would prefer he should keep away from there until the result of the +promised interview was known.</p> + +<p>"I wish Merry would hurry," he thought, as he finally advanced to the +fence, drawn there by his intense desire to be near to Winnie. "I'll +speak to him before he goes in, and ask him to come right out as soon as +possible with the news."</p> + +<p>As he stood thus by the fence, a light step sounded, and, looking over, +he recognized in the dim light the form of Winnie Lee. He was by her +side at a bound.</p> + +<p>"You must not stand by that note!" he pleadingly began. "I allow that +you will see, when you think of it, that it isn't right by me!"</p> + +<p>He did not attempt to touch her or stoop toward her. She had, in writing +that letter, forbidden familiarities. Their relations toward each other +were unchanged. He remembered the ring in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Buck! you silly fellow! Don't you know that I didn't mean to cast you +off?"</p> + +<p>"But the note?" he gasped. "It was in your handwriting? And the ring? +You sent back the ring!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I wrote the letter because father commanded me to write it, and I +sent back the ring for the same reason. You ought to have known that!"</p> + +<p>The change in his feelings was so great and sudden that he could hardly +repress a shout.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I'm the biggest idiot unhung!" he confessed, as he took her in +his arms. "But when I saw that the writing was yours, I fancied your +father had by threats, or in some way, induced you to change your mind, +and that you really thought, in duty to him, you ought not to see me any +more. Say, I'm too happy to think! I'm——"</p> + +<p>"You are just a silly fellow!"</p> + +<p>"You never shot straighter! I'm a roaring idiot!"</p> + +<p>He kissed her and held her face toward the light in a rather vain effort +to see its outline.</p> + +<p>"I've been crazier since I got that note than any locoed cowboy that +ever tore up the ranges. I've simply been wild!"</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry, Buck. Yet I think I must have suffered as much. Last +night father obtained from me a confession that I had met you in the +grounds here. He asked me if I had met you, and my confused looks made +my denials useless. Then he ordered me to write that note and to send +back the ring. He mailed them himself. And he made me promise that I +wouldn't meet you again. But when I made it, I realized that I couldn't +keep it."</p> + +<p>"You're an angel!"</p> + +<p>"I never heard that angels were disobedient."</p> + +<p>"Some of them."</p> + +<p>"And they were punished for it. Oh, Buck, I hope we will never regret +this—that there will be no punishment for this!"</p> + +<p>"There won't be!" he grimly declared.</p> + +<p>"Father is gone," she said. "Out of the city!"</p> + +<p>"And I wanted Merry to see him here this evening," in a tone of regret, +"Merry is to have a talk with him and try to get him to see that I am +not such a soaking Piute as I've been painted!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, too, Buck—though I was glad."</p> + +<p>"Glad?"</p> + +<p>"I intended to ask you into the house. Is it very wrong?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so!" he whispered, joy and triumph in his voice. "Where +you lead I will follow. By and by I hope we will walk abreast."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h3> + +<h4>INTO A TRAP.</h4> + + +<p>When Buck and Winnie walked into the house, they walked into a trap, +though the laying of a trap for them was not contemplated by Mr. Lee.</p> + +<p>Encountering none of the servants, Winnie conducted Badger into the +parlor.</p> + +<p>"Merriwell will be here soon, I allow."</p> + +<p>"We're not afraid of Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>"Only thinking that you and I want to have this meeting all to +ourselves. Then the servant that shows Merriwell up, if one does, may +see us, and I calculate that I ain't hankering to meet up with any of +your servants on this trip. None whatever!"</p> + +<p>But Winnie was not disturbed.</p> + +<p>"Father is going over to Hartford to-night on business," she laughed, +laying aside the scarf and jacket. "I heard him say to the cook that he +wouldn't return before to-morrow."</p> + +<p>There was a certain exultant defiance in Badger's bearing that made him, +in spite of his bulky, heavy shoulders and modern clothing, somewhat +resemble some ancient knight ready to do battle for his "ladye fair." +Winnie Lee observed it, and was pleased. The Westerner's devotion was so +true that she felt rather proud of it And, indeed, Badger, in spite of +his many faults, failings, and weaknesses, had some admirable traits of +character.</p> + +<p>All at once Winnie heard footsteps approaching the door of the parlor. +She thought the steps were those of a servant, and blamed herself for +not closing the door. Then a familiar form appeared in the doorway, and +her cheeks grew white. Buck Badger looked up at the same moment, and his +dark face flushed.</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee had changed his mind about going to Hartford! He had +returned home, let himself into the house, and walked up-stairs. Seeing +the light in the parlor, he had approached the door.</p> + +<p>He was as much astonished as the lovers. For a moment not a word was +spoken. Winnie seemed about to swoon, and Badger put a hand on her +shoulder, as if to support her. Then Mr. Lee broke the silence, and +stepped into the room.</p> + +<p>"What is the meaning of this disobedience?" he sternly demanded, +speaking to Winnie.</p> + +<p>She staggered to her feet, trembling before him. Badger sprang up, erect +and defiant.</p> + +<p>"I thought you promised me that you would never meet him again?"</p> + +<p>She did not answer.</p> + +<p>He turned with flashing eyes on the Westerner.</p> + +<p>"And I forbade you the house, sir!"</p> + +<p>Badger wanted to take him by the throat.</p> + +<p>"See here, Mr. Lee!" he said, in a voice that demanded a hearing. "I +know you told me that I wasn't welcome in this house, and I reckon I +know full well that I am not welcome. But that's no sign that I am going +to stay out of it, as long as it shelters your daughter!"</p> + +<p>"Winnie, you will go to your room!"</p> + +<p>He advanced toward her, and she drew away from Badger. But she did not +go toward the door. Her father stepped to her side.</p> + +<p>"There is the door!" Lee commanded, addressing the Kansan.</p> + +<p>"I see it," said Badger. "You don't need to show it to me!"</p> + +<p>"Will you go out of it? Will you leave this house?" Fairfax Lee was +panting with rage. "Get out of this room!" he cried.</p> + +<p>Badger straightened his thick shoulders, and his broad, white teeth +gleamed unpleasantly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Lee, you are Winnie's father, and because of that I shall pay no +attention to your insults; but I tell you now, that you may understand +it, that I love your daughter and intend to marry her!"</p> + +<p>"By heavens, you never shall!"</p> + +<p>"It may be a long trail, Mr. Lee, but there will be a home-coming at the +end of it. I shall see her as often as I can, and I shall write to her +when I can, and I shall marry her! I have promised to, and I'll do it!"</p> + +<p>"Never speak to my daughter again!" Mr. Lee thundered, pointing Badger +to the door.</p> + +<p>"Good night, Winnie," said the Kansan, as he passed out. "There will be +better days by and by."</p> + +<p>Then he fairly reeled down the stairway, sick and giddy and almost +gasping, yet shaking with rage against Fairfax Lee.</p> + +<p>Badger waited in the vicinity of the house in a fever of impatience +until Merriwell appeared. Though a more inauspicious time, seemingly, +could not have been found, he had strong confidence in Frank's ability +to aid him. It was a feeling which was invariably produced in the hearts +of all.</p> + +<p>He met Merriwell at some distance from the Lee residence, and drew him +away for a talk, in which he acquainted him with what had taken place. +Then Frank went on into the house, and the Westerner recommenced his +vigil.</p> + +<p>The interview which shortly followed between Frank and Mr. Lee was of an +interesting and important character. Fortunately, Fairfax Lee had a very +high opinion of Frank Merriwell. Otherwise he would not have heard him +at all in behalf of Badger. Even as it was, he at first listened with +nervous impatience, unwilling to believe that anything could be +presented in the Westerner's behalf.</p> + +<p>Merriwell went over the whole ground with great candor and frankness. He +admitted that Badger was intoxicated when lured aboard the <i>Crested +Foam</i>. But he asserted his belief that the Kansan was all right at +heart. He laid stress also on the fact, which was now clearly understood +by Fairfax Lee, that Winnie loved the Kansan; and he insisted that the +latter had no real taste for liquor, but was driven into his debauch by +a fit of jealousy.</p> + +<p>"I will think over this," Lee promised. "As you say, I have no desire to +be unjust; still less do I wish to be harsh beyond what is necessary. I +once thought well of Badger. I can't say more now. His actions have +seemed to me very low and very dishonorable."</p> + +<p>The long interview ended with this. But Merriwell, not realizing that +Badger was still waiting for him in wild anxiety, made a call on Inza +and Elsie, which was so pleasant that it was much more protracted than +he had intended it should be, and the hour grew late.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, other things were hurrying events to a climax. Fairfax +Lee had hastened home that night in fear of his life. Bill Gaston, once +a useful political worker, who had been driven insane by his failure to +secure an appointment he craved, and who the day before had been locked +up for threatening Lee's life, had escaped and was at large. That the +man was crazy there could be no doubt, and that he would shoot Lee on +sight seemed just as certain.</p> + +<p>Buck Badger, wandering like a restless spirit in the vicinity of the +house, saw a man leap the fence and sneak toward a rear entrance. The +man's general appearance and crouching attitude were like those of the +crazed office-seeker whom Buck had once seen threatening Lee in that +very place.</p> + +<p>"After Lee again!" was Badger's conclusion. "I reckon I'd better camp on +his trail. He said he would kill Lee, and that must be what he is up +to!"</p> + +<p>Thereupon, Badger also leaped the fence and slipped through the shadows +in the direction taken by the man he supposed to be Gaston.</p> + +<p>"Eh! what does that mean?"</p> + +<p>Badger stopped stock-still. He saw several men beneath a window, which +they had forced open. One man was being helped through.</p> + +<p>"Can't be a band of assassins, I allow? More likely a lot of burglars +trying to crack the crib."</p> + +<p>The Westerner was right in his guess. These were not friends of Bill +Gaston bent on assassination, but housebreakers, whose cupidity had been +aroused by the fact, which had chanced to come to their knowledge, that +a diamond brooch worth ten thousand dollars had recently been taken from +the Lee residence. A crib which held such valuables seemed to them a +good one to rip open, and they had obtained information that Fairfax Lee +was expected to be away from home that night. They had found that most +of the servants were out, too, and because of this it appeared safer to +make the raid at an early hour, before the servants returned.</p> + +<p>Badger stood in indecision in the shadows, wondering what course he +ought to pursue. Before he could make up his mind, the first burglar had +disappeared, and a second was being helped through the window. Two of +the burglars—there were four or five of them, as Badger could see—were +to wait outside, while their pals on the inside made their search for +valuables.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there came a cry for help from within the house, followed by +the sounds of a struggle. Fairfax Lee, unable to sleep and wandering as +restlessly about within the house as the Westerner had upon the outside, +had come unexpectedly upon the first burglar at the upper landing of the +rear stairway. The burglar looked so marvelously like the crazy +office-hunter, Bill Gaston, that Lee believed him to be Gaston, and that +Gaston had invaded the house for purposes of assassination.</p> + +<p>Though Lee had dreaded a meeting with Gaston, and would have gone far +out of his way to avoid anything of the kind, he was by no means a +coward. He expected a shot from Gaston's pistol, and to prevent this, he +hurled himself on the burglar with a suddenness and boldness that took +the latter by surprise.</p> + +<p>The cry for help did not come from the lips of Fairfax Lee, but from +those of the burglar. Badger, however, fancied that the call had come +from Lee. Without waiting to consider the danger, or to ask himself how +he was to account for his presence in the grounds and in the house, Buck +Badger ran toward the open window.</p> + +<p>As he did so, he saw two of the other burglars leap through. They were +going to the assistance of their pal. Then a shot sounded.</p> + +<p>Badger crossed the intervening distance at a sprinting pace, and found +himself suddenly confronted by the burglar who was still on guard at the +window. A pistol gleamed in the dim light. Badger knocked it aside, +struck the man a blow that would have felled an ox, and went through the +window with a flying leap that took him to the foot of the stairway.</p> + +<p>He saw the two burglars on the stairs near the top. One held a +dark-lantern and the other a heavy jimmy. Above, the sounds of the fight +continued, and the burglar attacked by Lee was still bawling for help.</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee felt that he was fighting for his life, and he still +believed that he was fighting Bill Gaston. He did not hear the burglars +on the stairs. He was trying to get the supposed Bill Gaston by the +throat and choke him into subjection. The burglar's shot, fired almost +pointblank at Lee, had done him no injury, and now the weapon was on the +floor.</p> + +<p>"Help!" bellowed the burglar.</p> + +<p>He got his throat free, but he could not throw off those clutching +hands. Visions of striped clothing and prison officials loomed before +him, for he had once done time. His anxious ears heard what Lee did +not—the calls of the ruffians who were hurrying to his assistance—and +he fought like a tiger.</p> + +<p>Buck Badger went up the stairway in quick leaps. If the burglars heard +him, they must have fancied he was the guard left at the window, for +they did not look round. But before the Kansan could reach the upper +landing, the three scoundrels were on Lee.</p> + +<p>"Clip him on der head!" one of them growled. "Don't use yer barker—too +much noise! Hit him wid der jimmy. All der cops in New Haven will be in +dis crib in a minute!"</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee was still putting up a stiff fight, and the jimmy flashed in +the air. Before it could descend, Buck Badger flung himself into the +midst of them, with the impetuous leap of a mountain-lion. The man with +the uplifted jimmy went down before a blow from the Kansan's fist, and +the other was hurled aside. The burglar that Lee had been fighting tore +himself loose and turned toward Badger and the stairway. Then the +Westerner heard the ominous click of a revolver. These burglars, like +all of their craft, were ready to do murder if it seemed necessary.</p> + +<p>Lee tripped the burglar with the revolver, and the shot went into the +floor. The other burglar was coming up the stairway with tremendous +leaps. The house seemed to be arousing. Badger heard a woman scream.</p> + +<p>"Kill him!" was panted by one of the villains.</p> + +<p>Then the jimmy descended, and though the Westerner tried to knock the +blow aside, his arm was beaten down, and the jimmy fell on his head with +crushing force. Badger's head seemed to split open under that blow, and +a blur of blood and mistiness followed. He felt himself reeling and +sinking, with his feet slipping on the stairway, toward which he had +fallen. Then he dropped like an ox in the shambles.</p> + +<p>But before complete unconsciousness came, he heard the shout of a +well-known voice—the voice of Frank Merriwell!</p> + +<p>Merriwell came upon the scene from a corridor, having been drawn by the +calls and the pistol-shots, and with marvelous quickness and certainty +grasped the whole intent of what he beheld.</p> + +<p>Fairfax Lee struck aside the revolver that was pointed at Frank, and +again began to call for help. The next instant Merriwell was in the +thick of the fight. Though no man could have understood his peril more +perfectly, there was at that moment in Merriwell's heart a wild thrill +of joy. He laughed as he struck at the nearest ruffian—a laugh that +sounded strangely out of place.</p> + +<p>The blow fell with crushing force, and the ruffian tumbled backward +against the wall. Before Merriwell could turn, two of the other three +ruffians were on his back. One had drawn a knife and the other had the +jimmy. The remaining burglar was on the stairs, and was lifting a +revolver. Merriwell lunged toward him, and the man, instead of firing, +lost his footing, and went tumbling down the steps.</p> + +<p>Inasmuch as he had a revolver, he seemed the most dangerous, and Frank +leaped after him, dragging with him the scoundrels who were trying to +strike him from behind. But the terrible fall knocked the breath out of +the burglar, and he slid helplessly on down the stairway, letting the +revolver go bumping and clattering to the floor below. Merriwell wheeled +with lightning quickness to meet the man with the threatening jimmy.</p> + +<p>Badger seemed to be slipping down the stairway, also. Then Frank saw him +lift himself and try to stagger to his feet. Without taking further note +of this, Merriwell promptly closed with the other burglar on the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Shoot him, Bill!" the fellow cried, to his pal above.</p> + +<p>But that worthy, believing that "he who fights and runs away may live to +fight another day," was making tracks for the nearest window, intending +to leap to the ground.</p> + +<p>The burglar who had closed with Frank, endeavored to trip him, with the +result that he was himself shot over Frank's head, and went to the +bottom of the stairs at a flying leap, bowling over his pals, who were +trying to get on their feet and pull themselves together. Merriwell +caught the stairway rail, down which he slid almost as quickly. His hand +closed on the revolver which had fallen to the floor; and, with it +cocked and leveled, he wheeled, facing the men, who, swearing horribly, +were again trying to gain their feet.</p> + +<p>"Surrender!" he sharply called.</p> + +<p>The answer was an oath.</p> + +<p>"Surrender, or by the gods of war I'll drop you one and all right where +you are! Up with your paws!"</p> + +<p>They knew he meant it, and there was no escape. The next moment the +three burglars at the foot of the stairs put up their hands in token of +submission.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Badger sat in his room. His bandaged head ached painfully, but in his +heart there was a glow of pleasure. The surgeon had told him that he +would be all right in a day or two, and he had just received a note from +Winnie Lee.</p> + +<p>"Dear Buck," it read, "I have had a long talk with father. He says that +both you and Merriwell fought like heroes, and that your prompt +appearance on the scene no doubt saved his life. In spite of this, +though, he is not willing that I shall receive calls from you. But I can +see that his opposition is not nearly so strong as it was, and I have +hopes that it will soon disappear altogether. Father says that the +burglars which Merriwell captured will no doubt be sent to State's +prison. Thank Frank for me for his great favor in speaking to father for +you, as he did—for I can see that father's change toward you is due +more to Frank's talk than to your fight, brave as that was. I will meet +you as often as I can, Buck, and I will send you a note every day. And +we will be true to each other always, in spite of father's opposition. +Your sweetheart, <span class="smcap">Winnie</span>."</p> + +<p>"There never was any girl truer!" muttered the Kansan, as he read and +reread the note. "That's whatever! She is true as steel! But," he +continued, "how can I thank Merriwell for his part in the affair? He +pulled me through, all right, and there's no mistaking that fact."</p> + +<p>Hardly had he uttered these words, than a knock came at the door. "Come +in," said Buck—and in walked Frank himself!</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad to see you," said Buck, "and that's whatever! I want to +know how I can thank you for what you've done for me in this affair, in +going to Winnie's father in the way you did."</p> + +<p>A gleam came into Frank's eyes as he sat there, and a smile played on +his lips.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow," he said finally, "I don't want any reward from you or +any one else for what I do, by way of helping them out. I do the best I +can in that respect—the same as you or anyone else would do—and that's +reward enough for me—a clear conscience! Thanks, all the same, Buck."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h3> + +<h4>BAD NEWS.</h4> + + +<p>So sunshine follows storm!</p> + +<p>It was a jolly party aboard the <i>Merry Seas</i>, as she bowled along on her +way from New Haven to New York. It was composed of Frank Merriwell and a +number of his intimate friends; and wherever Frank and his friends were, +Dull Care usually hid his agued face and gave place to smiling Pleasure.</p> + +<p>"That grumbling old boatman at the New Haven wharf was a liar!" groaned +Dismal Jones, as if it were a grief that he had not found the boatman's +unpleasant prognostications true.</p> + +<p>"What did he say?" asked Danny Griswold, who had been prancing the deck +like a diminutive admiral, stopping now and blowing a cloud of cigarette +smoke from his nostrils.</p> + +<p>"He said that a smoker of cigarettes is always a measly runt!" grunted +Bruce Browning, from the big chair in which he had ensconced himself +almost as soon as he came aboard, and which he had hardly left since.</p> + +<p>"You're another!" said Danny. "He didn't say anything of the kind."</p> + +<p>"He was a poet," said Dismal, "and he threw his comment into rime. I was +taken in by him, I suppose, because he seemed to be half-way quoting +Scripture:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'The Pharisees were hypocrites,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the <i>Merry Seas</i> is a ship o' fits!'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"A ship o' fits? Nothing eccentric about this steamer, so far as I can +see!"</p> + +<p>"Except Danny Griswold!" exclaimed Bink Stubbs. "He is enough to give +anything fits."</p> + +<p>"Something your tailor is never able to give you!" Danny retorted.</p> + +<p>"Sit down!" growled Browning. "You are shutting out the view!"</p> + +<p>"What view?" Danny demanded.</p> + +<p>"The view of the steamer's funnel. I'd rather look at that. It can smoke +and keep still—and you can't."</p> + +<p>Inza and Elsie came along, accompanied by Merriwell and Bart Hodge. +Winnie Lee, who was at present under her father's displeasure for her +persistence in continuing to encourage Buck Badger, was not aboard, but +Amy May was a member of the party. At the moment, she was conversing +gaily with Bernard Burrage, Inza's semi-invalid father, on the +forward-deck.</p> + +<p>"We're going to have a fog!" said Merriwell, speaking to Bruce and those +near. "I have been hoping it would hold off until we reach New York, but +it isn't going to."</p> + +<p>"I'd rather be in a ship that has fits now and then, than to be stuck in +a fog-bank!" Bink declared. "I guess that New Haven boatman was a +prophet, after all."</p> + +<p>The <i>Merry Seas</i> was a steamer running on a somewhat irregular schedule +to New Haven and New London, and back to the great metropolis by the sea +route along the ocean side of Long Island, touching at one or two Long +Island points.</p> + +<p>Merriwell's friends had decided on a steamer voyage to New York and back +as a change from the usual work and athletics at Yale. Not that they +were tired of either. But nothing of signal importance was on the +program to detain them in New Haven, and they were away, therefore, for +this short trip by boat.</p> + +<p>The ordinary Sound route between New Haven and New York was familiar +ground to every member of the party, and something new was desired. +Hence they had taken the <i>Merry Seas</i>, which had steamed to New London, +and out to sea between Block Island and Montauk Point, and had then laid +her course down the Long Island coast for New York harbor.</p> + +<p>Inza laughed at Bink's lugubrious declaration. Gamp was laughing, too.</p> + +<p>"If we get stuck in a fog, we can have Joe Gamp yell a few times for us. +That will do for a fog-horn."</p> + +<p>"Then the <i>Merry Seas</i> will have fits, sure enough!" said Bink.</p> + +<p>Gamp looked serious.</p> + +<p>"Well, honest, now, that dud-dud-don't sus-sound so funny to mum-me as +it dud-does to you. Owned a cuc-cuc-carf once, that was pup-prancing +raound in the med-der pup-pup-pasture, and I gug-got so tickled that I +just sus-set daown and hollered. Goshfry! you wouldn't believe it, +bub-bub-but that cuc-carf fell over dead's a stun wall!"</p> + +<p>"Gave it heart-disease, of course!" Bink gravely observed. "Not to be +wondered at."</p> + +<p>"I'm just tut-tut-telling this story as a warning tut-to you!" Joe +solemnly observed. "The hoss dud-dud-doctor said that the pup-poor +thing's head was weak. Sus-so when we get into a fuf-fog and I begug-gin +to holler, bub-bub-better pup-put cotton into your ears, Binky!"</p> + +<p>Stubbs fell back into Danny's arms.</p> + +<p>"Ar-r-r-r!" he gurgled. "I've got 'em now. Fits!"</p> + +<p>"I'll give you fits, if you don't stop tumbling over against me!" Danny +howled, giving Bink a push that landed him in Browning's lap. Everybody +laughed, and Merriwell and his companions walked on round the steamer's +rail.</p> + +<p>"It hurts me to think that I must separate soon from all those jolly +fellows!" Merry observed, in a saddened voice. "But commencement is +rushing this way at railroad speed, and most of them will go out of Yale +then forever."</p> + +<p>"We'll not get blue about it until we have to," said Elsie, though the +thought had saddened her more than once.</p> + +<p>"Just see how the fog is coming down!" Inza observed.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" cried Hodge, "another vessel!"</p> + +<p>A steamer hove into view through the thickening mist. The boats began to +sound their whistles.</p> + +<p>"A sort of Flying Dutchman!" remarked Merriwell, and, indeed, the +passing steamer did seem more a phantasm of the fog than a real vessel +carrying living, breathing people. The <i>Merry Seas</i> sounded her whistle +at frequent intervals as she pushed on into the fog, and for some time +after the steamer had vanished her hoarse whistle could also be heard.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" cried Browning, who had been lazily looking over some late New +York papers.</p> + +<p>The tone and the change in his manner told that he had come on a +startling piece of news.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Diamond asked.</p> + +<p>"Maybe only the same name!" said Browning, and then read this paragraph +from the telegraphic columns:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A young Irishman named Barney Mulloy was attacked and killed by +hoboes near Sea Cove, on the coast not far from Sandy Hook, +yesterday morning. The object of the tramps was doubtless robbery, +as Mulloy is known to have had a considerable sum of money on his +person."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Browning looked up questioningly.</p> + +<p>"Likely another fellow, though!" he said.</p> + +<p>"By Jove! I'm afraid not!" exclaimed Frank, who had hastily taken the +paper from Bruce, and was staring in consternation at the fateful item.</p> + +<p>"There may be a hundred Barney Mulloys!" said Rattleton.</p> + +<p>Frank shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I had a letter from him a few days ago, and he was then stopping at Sea +Cove. He was making money, too!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell felt stunned. Barney Mulloy had been one of his dearest +friends, faithful and honest, kind-hearted and true, jolly and hopeful. +Through all of his hilarious experiences at Fardale, Frank had not a +stancher adherent. And now Barney was dead, slain by a lot of miserable +tramps! Tears of honest grief and indignation came into Frank's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Barney Mulloy dead?" exclaimed Inza, coming up at that moment and +hearing the news.</p> + +<p>"What?" cried Elsie.</p> + +<p>"Report in the <i>Herald</i>," Frank answered. "Killed yesterday by hoboes, +somewhere below Sandy Hook."</p> + +<p>Bad news spreads as if by magic. In a little while the other members of +the party, having read the story for themselves or heard of it from +others, gathered round Merriwell.</p> + +<p>"Well, he was an honest boy," said Hodge, a noticeable tremor in his +voice.</p> + +<p>"A better-hearted lad never lived!" Merriwell asserted.</p> + +<p>Frank's mind went back to Fardale, and, grieved as he was, he could +again hear the yells of Barney Mulloy and Hans Dunnerwust, when they +crawled into bed with the lobsters, which they thought were centipedes. +It had been one of the funniest incidents of the Fardale days, for both +thought they were poisoned by the bites of the creatures, and that they +would surely die. The whole thing had been a practical joke, in which +Frank had played a prominent part. And now Barney, the mischievous, the +loyal, the reckless, was dead!</p> + +<p>"I can hardly believe it!" Merry declared. "It doesn't seem possible. +But there is one thing! I shall spend some money in having those hoboes +hunted down and punished for their crime."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could have happened along there about the time they jumped on +him!" growled Hodge, and the light in his dark face showed that he would +have done his best to make it hot for the hoboes if he could have put +his hands on them. "Barney had the right kind of stuff in him."</p> + +<p>This depressing bit of news took all the merriment and life out of the +little party. And, as the steamer wallowed on through the increasing +fog, the world seemed suddenly to have become wrapped in gloom.</p> + +<p>"Wish we'd stayed in New Haven!" grunted Browning. "I'll have to smoke +faster to keep warm, or go below."</p> + +<p>"And I wish we were in New York," said Bink. "There is something there +to warm up the blood."</p> + +<p>Danny looked at him.</p> + +<p>"Drinks? Likely the captain has a private bottle tucked away somewhere +that he will give you a nip out of."</p> + +<p>"Life, I mean. Pulsing streets, swarms of people, theaters, +hand-organs——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, a monkey is usually lost away from a hand-organ!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose that is why you always seem so lonesome! When Merry is sad, +we all are—grumpy! New York would help to lift us out of the dumps."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h3> + +<h4>ADRIFT IN THE ATLANTIC.</h4> + + +<p>"So thick you might cut it with a knife!"</p> + +<p>Captain Darien, who had walked forward and joined the group of +Merriwell's friends, looked off into the wall of gloom as he said this. +The <i>Merry Seas</i> was mournfully blowing her whistle, and others were +continually heard. The steamer was nearing New York harbor.</p> + +<p>"Will you try to run in, captain?" Frank asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh I think we can make it. I don't like to anchor out here all night. I +have a pretty good idea of just where we are."</p> + +<p>"The fog may lift before night."</p> + +<p>The captain looked at his watch, and saw that it indicated nearly three +o'clock.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not. And likely it will be no better in the morning. I shall +try to go in."</p> + +<p>A fog-siren somewhere on the invisible shore was sending out its +unearthly blasts. Then a whistle seemed to cut the gloom right ahead, +and a big black shape loomed through the murk. The <i>Merry Seas</i> sounded +her warning, and the helm was jammed hard a-starboard. Another shriek +came from the phantom that had seemed to rise right out of the sea. With +that shriek, she also swung off.</p> + +<p>"I thought we were in for a collision!" said Frank, breathing more +freely. "It will be a squeak as it is."</p> + +<p>Elsie had nervously clutched him by the arm. All were moving back from +the dangerous vicinity toward the other rail.</p> + +<p>"A tug!" said Bart, who was standing near Merriwell.</p> + +<p>The tug, which was a large one, seemed now fairly on top of them. In +size, it was as large or larger than the <i>Merry Seas</i>. A collision of +the two vessels would be a serious thing.</p> + +<p>"We're going to strike, or scrape!" Frank warned, taking Inza and Elsie +each by an arm. "Brace for it!"</p> + +<p>Orders were being given, and the whistles were hoarsely blowing. Both +vessels were still falling off. Some one on the tug bellowed frantically +through a big trumpet.</p> + +<p>"What was that?" Inza asked.</p> + +<p>"Tows!" said Frank. "Something about tows!"</p> + +<p>The tug and the steamer did not strike, though they grazed each other so +closely that a collision seemed unavoidable. Then there was more +bellowing through trumpets and more whistling, and Frank felt the <i>Merry +Seas</i> tremble under him as her engines were reversed. He knew not what +to expect.</p> + +<p>Crash!</p> + +<p>The big tug, <i>Gladiator</i>, had a string of heavily laden barges in tow. +Into one of these barges, in spite of every effort to prevent it, the +bow of the <i>Merry Seas</i> crashed with terrible force. It was as if a +horse should rush headlong against a stone wall.</p> + +<p>The shock was terrific. Merriwell heard a sound of smashing timbers and +snapping iron. He was pitched violently from his feet as the bow of the +<i>Merry Seas</i> was forced downward by the collision. He felt himself +flying through the air. Then he struck the water, and went down, down, +down!</p> + +<p>But Frank did not lose consciousness. And as he came to the surface, he +supported himself by a gentle motion of his hands and feet, and tried to +look about. He knew how great was his peril. But his thoughts were not +wholly of himself. He thought of Inza and Elsie, of Hodge and his other +friends. What had befallen them? Had they, too, been hurled into the sea +by that awful shock? If so, there could be little doubt that some of +them, if not all, would be drowned.</p> + +<p>He shouted for assistance, and heard a hoarse whistle not far away. He +could see nothing, for the fog was as impenetrable as a blanket He began +to swim toward the sound. He could not tell whether the whistle was that +of the tug or the <i>Merry Seas</i> or of some other vessel. Again he sent up +a call for help. The water was cold and his clothing heavy. He was +thinking of trying to get out of his shoes and outer coat, when he heard +a human cry not far away.</p> + +<p>"Help! help!" some one called.</p> + +<p>"Help! help!" Frank shouted.</p> + +<p>But instead of swimming on, he turned in the direction of the cry. It +indicated a human being in distress and peril, and he felt that he might +be able to save a life.</p> + +<p>"Help!" came the cry again.</p> + +<p>The voice was so choked and thick, and there was such a rush of water in +his ears that Merry could not tell much about it, yet it seemed +familiar. It was near at hand, too; and, sending back an answering call, +Frank swam straight toward it.</p> + +<p>"Help!" was shouted, right at hand now, for the voice seemed to be +drifting toward him.</p> + +<p>"Where are you?"</p> + +<p>For answer, Merriwell received a heavy blow on the head and breast from +a piece of timber. He went under with a cry, his head ringing and his +senses reeling.</p> + +<p>The next thing he knew, he was stretched out on some sort of raft, and +some one was holding him there by sheer force. His feet and legs were +trailing through the water. The whistle of the steamer or tug sounded +again, but farther away.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Merry? How are you feeling?"</p> + +<p>It was a familiar voice, though thick and husky—the voice of Bart +Hodge.</p> + +<p>It steadied Merriwell's reeling brain. He took hold of the boards and +sought to draw himself still higher on them.</p> + +<p>"That you, Hodge?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I thought that was you, Merry. How are you?"</p> + +<p>"Soaked. But I guess I am all right. Something hit me on the head and +shoulders, and I went under. I was swimming this way. Heard somebody +call."</p> + +<p>"I called, and you were struck by this drift. I heard you, and felt the +shock when you struck. I reached out and got hold of you—and here you +are?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, here—and where is that?"</p> + +<p>"In the Atlantic, somewhere off New York. I doubt if the captain knew."</p> + +<p>"What became of the rest of the crowd?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know. That collision threw me clean over the rail. I fell near +these boards. I don't know but they came from the barge. When I came up, +I bumped against them, and then hung on and began to call for help."</p> + +<p>There was a moment of silence. Both were listening. Whistles could be +heard here and there. Off to the left somewhere they fancied they heard +a voice calling, but whether it came from the deck of a vessel or from +some unfortunate in the water they could not determine. Near and far the +whistles of steamers and tugs were hoarsely bellowing.</p> + +<p>"With so many vessels around, we ought to be picked up soon," said +Hodge.</p> + +<p>"We would be, if any one could see anything. But a boat would have to +run right over us to find us. Hark! wasn't that rowlocks?"</p> + +<p>Again they listened. The sound of oars was certainly heard.</p> + +<p>Clug-clank, clug-clank, clug-clank.</p> + +<p>"Let us call together," said Merry. "Now! As loud as you can."</p> + +<p>Both shouted with all their might. For an instant they fancied the boat +was coming toward them, and they shouted again. But it was almost +impossible to determine the direction of sound. They could not +themselves be sure of the direction of the boat. The "clug-clank" grew +fainter and fainter.</p> + +<p>"We're bound to be picked up soon," Merriwell cheerily declared. "We +must be right in the track of vessels. We'd be picked up right away if +it wasn't for this beastly fog."</p> + +<p>Hodge was silent.</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose has become of the others? They were right with us, +you know, when we went over!"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid to think about it," said Frank, with a shudder, which was +not caused by the chill of the water.</p> + +<p>"I can't help thinking about it!"</p> + +<p>"Nor I. But I'm hoping we were the only ones that went overboard. We +must try to believe that, Bart, until we cannot believe it any longer."</p> + +<p>Hodge was silent.</p> + +<p>"And as for ourselves!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wasn't thinking of ourselves," said Bart. "We can hang on here a +good while, I think. I suppose we're being carried out to sea, though!"</p> + +<p>"Not much doubt of that, I guess. But we've pulled through worse scrapes +together, Bart!"</p> + +<p>"That's right, Merry! And we'll pull through this. Are you up high +enough on the boards? Let me help you! You can't be feeling very strong +after that blow."</p> + +<p>Merriwell drew himself higher out of the water, and found that the heavy +board supported his weight.</p> + +<p>"If only the fog would clear now! I hear a whistle away off there."</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose the <i>Merry Seas</i> was sunk?" Hodge asked.</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't think so until I have to. I think the barge got much the +worst of it. The steamer seemed to cut it right in two."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we can get up higher on these boards."</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking of that myself," Hodge answered.</p> + +<p>The two friends had locked hands across the narrow space that separated +them. Now, by Merriwell first helping Bart and then Bart returning the +favor, they managed to get up higher out of the water, and were +gratified to find that the boards were sufficiently buoyant to sustain +them.</p> + +<p>For fifteen or twenty minutes they had thus drifted on, talking and +conjecturing, listening at intervals, and now and then sending up a loud +call. The fog-siren on the shore was still screeching, and the whistles +of vessels were now and then heard. But about them was that impenetrable +gray wall of fog.</p> + +<p>Having secured an easier position, Frank fumbled with his chilled +fingers for his watch, which he finally drew out. It was wet, of course, +but, to his surprise, was still merrily ticking away. By holding it near +his eyes the time could be told.</p> + +<p>"About half an hour, I judge, since the collision."</p> + +<p>"No more than that? Seems to me it has been a half a day."</p> + +<p>Again there was silence.</p> + +<p>"I should think a vessel would anchor, instead of trying to go on in +such a fog as this!" Bart snarled.</p> + +<p>The memory of the disaster was beginning to make him bitter against the +captain.</p> + +<p>"They do, usually. The captain thought he could make his way in, that is +all!"</p> + +<p>"And I'm afraid some of our friends have gone to the bottom as a result +of it. We seem in a good way to investigate Davy Jones' locker +ourselves!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to believe that our friends are all right. It can't be +possible that both the tug and the steamer sank. The tug wasn't really +in the collision, you know. She would be able to take off every one from +the steamer, no doubt, even if the steamer was so injured that she could +not float. The thing I most fear is that some of them may have been +hurled overboard, just as we were, and were not lucky enough to find +anything to sustain them. But I shall not believe anything of the kind +as long as I can hope that it isn't so."</p> + +<p>But for Merriwell, Hodge would have been very despondent, especially as +the long hours of the afternoon began to wear on and no boat came near +them, and their frequent cries seemed to remain unheard; but Frank's +hopefulness and cheerful optimism were not without good effect on the +mind of his friend, and they were even able at times to talk with some +degree of mental comfort.</p> + +<p>Frank was sure that they were steadily drifting out to sea. He believed, +from the change in the apparent direction of the fog-siren, that they +were moving down the coast toward Sandy Hook. But they were evidently +floating farther out to sea, for the sounds of the siren were fainter +and farther away.</p> + +<p>"I believe the fog is going to lighten."</p> + +<p>Merriwell lifted himself and strained his eyes through the gloom. A +suggestion of a breeze had fanned him.</p> + +<p>"If the wind gets up, the fog may be driven away," he said.</p> + +<p>"And the wind will kick up a sea!" suggested Bart.</p> + +<p>"But if the fog lifts, we will probably be seen by some vessel!"</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt that a gentle breeze was beginning to blow.</p> + +<p>"Sure enough, the fog is thinning!" Bart cried joyfully. "But I don't +hear any more whistles."</p> + +<p>"Hark! there one sounded."</p> + +<p>"Miles away!"</p> + +<p>"Wait till the fog rises. Perhaps there are others."</p> + +<p>Anxiously they watched the gray wall. The wind died away, and once or +twice it seemed that the fog was growing denser, instead of lightening. +But by and by the sunlight seemed to permeate it. It appeared to become +thinner. Then, like a great curtain uplifted, it for a little while +swung upward from the face of the heaving sea. All around were the green +rollers, rising and falling with an oily swell.</p> + +<p>Hodge uttered an exclamation of gratification.</p> + +<p>"Look!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell looked in the direction indicated. Not a fourth of a mile away +a dingy fishing-sloop was bobbing along, with her dirty mainsail and jib +set, yet seeming to catch no breeze. Both Merry and Hodge forgot their +discomfort, forgot their chilled and benumbed condition, and, lifting +themselves as high as they could, shouted for assistance.</p> + +<p>There must have been some breeze in the dingy sails, for the vessel was +moving athwart the line of their progress, and they were being carried +along by the tide.</p> + +<p>"Shout again!" said Merriwell, and again they lifted their voices +together.</p> + +<p>In another direction a steamer could be seen, but those on the steamer +evidently did not see the sufferers on the raft.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe there is a soul on the sloop!" Bart declared, in a +despairing way.</p> + +<p>"Well, if she keeps on her course, we'll get so near that perhaps we can +swim to her and climb on board."</p> + +<p>But Bart was wrong. Hardly had he made the declaration, when a man +appeared on deck, accompanied by a shaggy dog.</p> + +<p>Merriwell and Hodge renewed their cries to attract his attention. But +the man gave them absolutely no heed. Once they fancied that the dog +turned his nose in their direction.</p> + +<p>"He don't want to see us," Bart growled. "We are near enough for him to +hear! I——"</p> + +<p>His sentence was interrupted by a young lady who rushed suddenly on deck +from the "cuddy" or cabin. A scream issued from her lips as she +appeared, and immediately a second man came into view, from whom she +seemed to be fleeing.</p> + +<p>"My God! Inza Burrage!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell fairly shouted the words.</p> + +<p>Inza did not see the raft and her friends. She appeared to see only the +shaggy-bearded fellow, who now stood grimly looking at her.</p> + +<p>"She's going to jump overboard!" cried Hodge, so excited that he almost +fell off the raft.</p> + +<p>Merriwell shouted with all his might. Inza turned and saw the raft. She +uttered another piercing cry, stretched out her hands, and seemed again +about to leap into the sea.</p> + +<p>Instead of heeding the cry sent up by Merriwell, Inza's pursuer leaped +at her to prevent her from jumping over the rail; and, then, bearing her +in his strong arms, deliberately carried her back into the cuddy.</p> + +<p>Merriwell and Hodge shouted, yelled, screamed. The one man on the deck +paid not the slightest attention to their cries.</p> + +<p>"He refuses to hear us!" said Hodge.</p> + +<p>The other man appeared, and they called again. One of the men went to +the tiller, and the course of the sloop was changed.</p> + +<p>"They are going to pretend that they did not see us," Frank exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Hold to the raft, Hodge! Stay by it!"</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" Hodge demanded.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to swim to that sloop!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3> + +<h4>THE MYSTERY OF THE FISHING-SLOOP.</h4> + + +<p>"Stay with the raft," Merriwell again commanded.</p> + +<p>"But I want to go with you! You will need help!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I may have to return to the raft. I can't find it if you leave +it."</p> + +<p>"We can get on that vessel. And perhaps, if you go alone, you will be +killed."</p> + +<p>Merriwell was as anxious and almost as much excited, but he kept his +head.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that the sloop is moving on the new tack. She may be +going faster than I can swim. Stay on the raft!"</p> + +<p>As he gave this last command, he slipped out of his heavy, soaked outer +coat, quickly removed his shoes, and, pushing these articles to Hodge, +let himself into the sea, and began to swim toward the dingy +fishing-sloop. Hodge did not again shout, for he saw that Merriwell's +plan was to swim to the sloop, climb aboard of it, and by a sudden +attack overwhelm the men.</p> + +<p>"He's crazy!" Hodge grated. "They will see him, and they will simply +knock him back into the sea. They act as if they were lunatics—or +drunk! Why don't they look this way?"</p> + +<p>It was indeed singular, but neither of the men seemed to have noticed +the raft or heard the cries that came from it. Merriwell was a splendid +swimmer, and in spite of his chilled condition and his hampering +clothing, he moved through the water almost like a fish.</p> + +<p>"Of course I couldn't have kept up with him!" Bart grumbled. "But I +could have done my best. He can't overpower both of those men alone."</p> + +<p>He held tightly to the shoes and the coat, and looked longingly after +the swimmer, turning his eyes often to the sloop, that now, under the +influence of a light breeze, was going along in a surprising fashion.</p> + +<p>"And how did Inza come to be aboard of that sloop?"</p> + +<p>Bart had not time to think of this before, but now the answer came +quickly enough. Inza's clothing had clung to her, as she rushed on the +deck, showing that her skirts were weighted with water. No doubt, she, +too, had been hurled into the sea by the collision of the steamer with +the barge, and this fishing-boat had in some manner picked her up.</p> + +<p>"It's very queer, though, the way that fellow acted! She was afraid of +him. But she is below, and he is now on deck. Likely enough he has her +shut up in the cabin."</p> + +<p>He beheld Merriwell lift himself slightly out of the water and send out +a ringing call. But the men on deck did not stir. And the sloop sailed +on.</p> + +<p>"The scoundrels!" Bart hissed, through his white teeth. "I should like +to knock their heads together. They refuse to hear him. They are +carrying Inza away, and they do not intend that any one shall come +aboard. And this within the very shadows of New York City!"</p> + +<p>The sloop heeled over under the breeze and increased her speed. +Merriwell was palpably losing ground. Bart heard him call again and +again, with the same result, and then Bart also lifted his voice.</p> + +<p>The result was the same. The sloop moved straight on. At last he saw +Merriwell turn about and swim again toward the raft, when it became +evident that he could not overtake the sloop.</p> + +<p>"That is enough to kill Merry!" he thought sympathizingly. "And Inza saw +us, too! I wonder what she thinks?"</p> + +<p>Slowly and with seeming weariness Merriwell came back toward the raft. +Bart lifted himself as high as he could to mark the spot where the raft +lay tossing. When lifted on the crest of a wave, Merriwell came plainly +in sight; but when either Frank or the raft slipped down the glassy +surface of those big, green rollers, he seemed to sink into the sea.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid he is going to have a hard pull! He must be tired out."</p> + +<p>He shook his fist at the sloop. It was growing smaller and smaller. A +haze was again creeping over the sea.</p> + +<p>"My God! What if the fog should settle down again and keep Merry from +finding the raft?"</p> + +<p>Bart shuddered at the thought. But Merriwell was so strong a swimmer +that Bart's hopes rose again almost immediately. There were indications +that the fog was once more descending, but Merriwell was now swimming +straight toward the raft with a bold, firm stroke, and with considerable +speed.</p> + +<p>"Right here, old man!" Bart encouragingly called.</p> + +<p>"I'm coming!" Merriwell shouted, and his tones did not show exhausting +fatigue.</p> + +<p>Then he swam up to the raft, and Bart helped him to climb upon it.</p> + +<p>"What was the matter with those scoundrels?"</p> + +<p>"Deaf!"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Deaf as posts, both of them!" Merriwell explained, resting on the +boards and panting from his exertions. "They didn't look this way simply +because they didn't hear us. I'm sure of that, from the way they acted. +I began to think so when I told you to hang to the raft. I believed that +if I could overtake the sloop, and could climb aboard and make myself +known, or knock them down, as my intention was, I could then release +Inza and sail the sloop over here and get you. But I couldn't swim fast +enough."</p> + +<p>"You went through the water like a fish!"</p> + +<p>"But the sloop went faster. If that breeze hadn't sprung up, I think I +could have made it."</p> + +<p>"And what are they doing with Inza?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. But I'm glad of one thing. She isn't dead."</p> + +<p>"Deaf!" muttered Bart. "Deaf as posts! Well, that does make the thing a +bit clearer."</p> + +<p>The reaction from the tremendous exertions which Merriwell had put forth +made itself felt now. The excitement having passed, he felt almost +exhausted. He climbed up as high as he could on the boards, and Bart, +who was terribly benumbed and chilled from long exposure to the cold +water, held him thus while he rested.</p> + +<p>"It was too much for you, old man!" he said consolingly.</p> + +<p>"I had to try it!" was Merriwell's answer.</p> + +<p>"The fog is shutting down again," said Bart.</p> + +<p>"But it won't stay down. The sea looked red out toward the west. I think +it will clear away to-night."</p> + +<p>He was in no mood to say more. And the raft drifted on, while the gray +fog settled round them, and its chill and gloominess seemed to go to +their very hearts.</p> + +<p>But as Merriwell had predicted, the fog lifted again, and at the end of +another hour of an experience as terrible as either had ever been called +to undergo, the gray bank again swung up toward the sky. The sun was +sinking redly into the sea, and night was at hand—and what night might +mean in their weakened and chilled condition, adrift on the great ocean +toward which they seemed to be so resistlessly borne, they dared not +think.</p> + +<p>"The sloop!" Bart cried, rousing himself.</p> + +<p>Merriwell lifted himself and looked. It was the sloop, sure enough. A +little to the southward of east, with its dingy sails furled and their +bulging shapes turned to great lumps of gold, with the mast standing out +in dark tracery against the red skyline, lay the fishing-sloop.</p> + +<p>"It's the same!" Merry exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Sure! There can't be any doubt about it."</p> + +<p>"And she has cast anchor."</p> + +<p>"What does that mean?"</p> + +<p>"She is a fishing-sloop, and I've an idea we must be on the +fishing-grounds off the Jersey or New York coast. There is no other +explanation. She is out here on a fishing-trip."</p> + +<p>"And Inza?"</p> + +<p>"We'll have to wait for her to clear that mystery away."</p> + +<p>"What will we do? If those fellows are deaf, there is no use in +shouting."</p> + +<p>"We are drifting toward her, you see. We'll be alongside before dark, if +this continues."</p> + +<p>"Then we'll get on board of her!"</p> + +<p>"And we'll find out a few things, if we have to knock those fellows on +the head."</p> + +<p>The thought was so exhilarating that the warm blood was again driven +through their veins, and the numbness seemed in a measure to go out of +their chilled bodies. Nothing is so reviving as hope. And hope was +theirs again. The raft drifted so slowly and Bart was so eager that he +wanted to leap into the sea and swim to the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Let us save our strength," was Merriwell's advice. "We are going +straight there. We will probably need all the strength we have."</p> + +<p>"I see only one man. He is pottering about near the cabin."</p> + +<p>"The other is aboard somewhere. And you noticed that dog? If he puts up +a fight, too, I've an idea that he will be worse than either of the +men."</p> + +<p>The progress of the little raft was tantalizingly slow, but it moved +steadily, and after the sun had set and while the darkness was gathering +on that great expanse of water, it swung close in under the stern of the +sloop. Not a sound was heard aboard of her as she lazily lifted and +rolled on the heaving swell.</p> + +<p>Frank took his shoes in one hand, but thought it not well to burden +himself with the extra coat.</p> + +<p>"Now!" he whispered. "Let the raft go. We can cut that boat loose if we +have to trust to the sea again. Follow me!"</p> + +<p>Then he slipped silently into the sea, Hodge imitating his example. +Softly swimming round to the bow, Frank got hold of a chain that ran +down from the bowsprit.</p> + +<p>"Here," he softly whispered. "Lay hold of this, and come right up after +me."</p> + +<p>"I'll be there!" Hodge whispered back.</p> + +<p>Then, hampered by the shoes, Merry climbed slowly aboard, and Bart swung +up after him. Together they dropped to the deck, and crouched low, with +the water running in rivulets from their clothing.</p> + +<p>Frank felt softly about, and his hands fell on a club-like maul which +fishermen use for stunning the large fish they catch. There was nothing +else near in the shape of a weapon. He passed the maul to Bart, and +clutched one of the shoes as a club in his right hand.</p> + +<p>"Good luck!" he softly whispered. "How are you?"</p> + +<p>Hodge was chilled to the bone, and his teeth were fairly chattering.</p> + +<p>"I'm all right. A bit chilly, but I guess things will be warm enough for +me in a few minutes. I'm ready. Go on!"</p> + +<p>A dark form was standing beside the cuddy. But for his certainty that +the men were deaf, or nearly so, Merriwell would not have indulged in +even this whispered conversation. He crept now toward this man, with +Hodge crawling at his heels, and when near enough, leaped on the man +with a sudden and disconcerting pounce.</p> + +<p>Though the surprise must have been great, the man, who was large and +strong, wheeled round to resist the attack, and the large dog, which had +before been seen, sprang up from the deck and flew at Merriwell's +throat. The ready club in the hands of Bart Hodge tumbled the dog over +with a howl, and Merry and the big fisherman began to struggle in the +growing darkness for the mastery.</p> + +<p>To and fro on the deck they reeled. The dog leaped up again and tried to +come to the assistance of its master, but turned upon Hodge when he +struck at it again with the maul. Its eyes seemed balls of green fire in +the gloom, and the hoarse growl that came from deep down in its throat +was anything but pleasant to hear.</p> + +<p>But Bart Hodge met its onset with a stout heart, raining his blows with +such swiftness and precision that it dropped to the deck. Then he +hurried to the assistance of Merriwell. But Frank was already the +victor. Though the man had the strength of an ox, he had not Merriwell's +science and skill in fighting, and Frank had not only knocked the breath +out of him, but had hurled him to the deck.</p> + +<p>"That rope, Bart! It is right here. I tripped over it. Tie him!"</p> + +<p>A cry followed this—a cry from Inza. She rushed out of the cuddy door, +and after her sprang a man with a lighted lantern.</p> + +<p>Hodge faced toward this man, intending to fell him with the club.</p> + +<p>"Frank! Frank!" Inza cried. "I knew you would come, Frank!"</p> + +<p>Then she noticed the uplifted club.</p> + +<p>"Don't strike him, Bart!"</p> + +<p>She threw herself between Hodge and the man with the lantern. Merriwell +was still holding down the man he had conquered.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" he questioned, looking up and trying to read Inza's +meaning by the light of the lantern.</p> + +<p>"The men are deaf!" said Inza. "They rescued me from a piece of boat, to +which I clung after the collision!"</p> + +<p>The man with the lantern seemed about to spring upon Frank in spite of +Hodge's threatening club. Inza touched him on the arm.</p> + +<p>"Friends!" she screamed, in an endeavor to make him hear.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3> + +<h4>INZA'S STORY.</h4> + + +<p>The man did not hear Inza, but he felt the touch, and, turning quickly +about, caught something of her meaning in her manner. The deaf are +wonderfully quick in such things. He made a horrible grimace and pointed +at Merriwell. Again she laid a hand restrainingly on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Let the man up, Frank," she urged. "The fellows are harmless enough, +but they are as deaf as adders!"</p> + +<p>"Look out for the dog!" Frank warned.</p> + +<p>The dog, which had crawled away in a seemingly dying condition, had +struggled again to its feet and appeared to be meditating another attack +on Hodge.</p> + +<p>"I've got an eye on him," Hodge called back. "Look out for your man!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell released the fellow he had overthrown, and the man climbed +dazedly and sullenly to his feet. Inza hurried toward him, shrieking and +making motions with her hands. The man did not understand her. It began +to seem that both of them contemplated an attack on Bart and Merry.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute!" she cried. "Don't strike them, Frank, Bart, if you can +help it!"</p> + +<p>"I think I'm awake," growled Hodge, as if he wanted to pinch himself to +make sure of it.</p> + +<p>The scene was certainly a strange one—as strange as if taken from a +comic opera. The fishing-sloop rocking on the long swell, the dog cowed +and uncertain, one deaf man doubtingly flashing the lantern in the face +of Bart Hodge, and the other swaying unsteadily on his feet, as if he +contemplated making a blind rush at Merriwell. In less than a minute +Inza reappeared from the cuddy. She held in her hand a piece of paper on +which she had hastily written some explanatory sentences. This she +thrust beneath the nose of the man who held the lantern.</p> + +<p>The effect was magical. The lantern came down, something that sounded +like an attempt at words gurgled in his throat, and he made a signal to +the other fisherman, whose attitude also changed instantly.</p> + +<p>"It's all right now!" Inza laughed, though the laugh sounded a bit +hysterical.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad that it is!" said Merriwell. "But an explanation would +be comfortable."</p> + +<p>"These men rescued me from the piece of broken boat to which I was +clinging," Inza hastily explained. "I was knocked overboard by the +collision. They are fishermen, and are now anchored on their +fishing-grounds."</p> + +<p>"So I see. But what about one of them chasing you, when you ran out of +the cuddy this afternoon? You tried to jump overboard!"</p> + +<p>"The men both thought me deranged by what I had passed through, and I +suppose I may have acted strange. I saw you and Bart on the raft, and I +tried to make the men see you. But they thought I was going to jump +overboard, and I was carried bodily into the cuddy and locked in. I +didn't know at the time that they could read writing, or I should have +tried that; though I was kept locked in the cuddy so long that it would +have done no good!"</p> + +<p>Then she began to motion to the men; and one of the fellows came toward +Bart in a sheepish way and held out a hand. Bart hesitated about taking +it, fearing a trick; but the man's intentions were honest. Having made +this advance, the way to an understanding was so fully paved that within +less than ten minutes thereafter both Frank and Hodge, having wrung out +their clothing in a contracted place below deck, were warming themselves +and trying to get dry by the cuddy stove, while Inza was rattling on +with the story of her adventures.</p> + +<p>"I really don't know yet whether I am awake or dreaming!" said Bart. +"This about knocks everything I have ever seen!"</p> + +<p>"Just fishermen," said Inza. "They would have picked you up, no doubt, +if they had seen you—they couldn't hear you; or if I had been able to +make them see you. It must have been an hour or more after that when I +found that they had writing-material in the little desk over there, and +I wrote them a note. But the fog was so thick then that it was no use +for them to make a search."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't they run back to New York with you?"</p> + +<p>"Simply because they thought they had done their duty by me, and that it +would pay them better to come out to the fishing-grounds and take me in +on their return. I promised them money, but——"</p> + +<p>She laughingly held up a little purse.</p> + +<p>"I had just ten cents in that, and you see I couldn't convince them of +the fabulous wealth of my father and my friends by exhibiting that. They +said they would take me when they went in, and I could not get anything +else out of them."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps a little money—as much or more than they can make out of this +fishing-trip—will induce them to take us right in. That is, as soon as +the wind rises. We're not only anchored, but we're becalmed now."</p> + +<p>Frank was thinking of Elsie and of the others who had been on the <i>Merry +Seas</i>. His heart was aching with anxiety. Bart and Inza were scarcely +less distressed.</p> + +<p>The cabin or "cuddy," which had been surrendered to them by the +fishermen who were now outside, was a diminutive place, smelling +unpleasantly of fish and burnt grease. On two sides were bunks. Near the +center was the rusty stove about which the three friends were gathered. +Its heat caused their wet clothing to emit a cloud of steam. At one side +was the writing-desk, fashioned by clumsy hands, and scattered about was +a miscellaneous assortment of odds and ends, consisting of sea-boots and +oilskin coats, nets, and fishing-tackle.</p> + +<p>"Not a ladies' parlor," Inza admitted, glancing about "But I tell you I +was glad to get into it."</p> + +<p>"And you don't know anything about the people on the <i>Merry Seas</i>?" +Frank asked.</p> + +<p>A look of pain swept across the dark, handsome face.</p> + +<p>"Not a thing! I am worried to death about all of them, especially +father. But I hope for the best. If any others went overboard, the tug +was right there to pick them up, and we can believe, until we know +otherwise, that it did. We have been so very fortunate ourselves!"</p> + + +<p>"More than fortunate!" Merry observed, with a thankful heart. "Now, if +we can only get to the city without delay! Call in the fishermen and +perhaps an offer of money can do something. If not, we can capture the +sloop and take it in ourselves!"</p> + +<p>"But there is no breeze," Bart reminded.</p> + +<p>"That is so. But call in the fishermen. We may get some opinions out of +them."</p> + +<p>Jabez and Peleg Slocum, the deaf-mute owners of the fishing-sloop <i>Sarah +Jane</i>, of Sea Cove, New Jersey, were what one might call "queer ducks"; +a thing not so much to be wondered at when the fact that they had been +deaf and dumb from infancy is taken into consideration, with the further +fact that the greater part of their fifty odd years had been spent in +the lonely and precarious calling of Atlantic fishermen. They were rough +and gnarled and cross-grained, like the sloop whose deck they trod; yet, +in spite of all, like that same sloop, they had some good qualities.</p> + +<p>To them fishing was the end and aim of existence. Hence, as soon as +Merriwell, with the aid of pencil and paper, began to talk of being +taken straight to New York, the fishermen shook their heads. They had +work to do out there on the fishing-banks. It was probable they reasoned +that it was not their fault that these young people had fallen in their +way. They had dutifully rescued them from watery graves—or, in the case +of Hodge and Merriwell—had permitted them to rescue themselves. And +thus, whatever obligation they may have been under as fellow human +beings had been fully discharged. They did not want Merriwell's +money—and they certainly did not desire to run to New York. It was not +their habit to visit New York. Sea Cove was their home, and, whenever +they pulled up their rusty anchor for a run from the banks, they +returned to Sea Cove invariably, unless blown out of their latitude by a +storm, as sometimes happened.</p> + +<p>Finally one of them wrote:</p> + +<p>"See in morning."</p> + +<p>"And now we'll have something to eat!" Inza declared. "Both of you are +famished. You are getting thawed out and dry, and if your stomachs are +strong enough to stand the odor of things, I'll go ahead and get some +supper for you. I know where everything is in the—what do you call +it?—locker? Peleg, that's the taller one, showed me."</p> + +<p>"Peleg must be sweet on you," remarked Frank, laughing.</p> + +<p>She picked up a "spider" and shook it at him.</p> + +<p>"Don't trouble the cook, Mr. Merriwell, if you expect to get anything to +eat!"</p> + +<p>"I was just going to remark that I admired his taste. He is a man of +most excellent judgment!"</p> + +<p>"How is your taste, Mr. Hodge?" Inza calmly queried. "Do you think you +can eat fish?"</p> + +<p>"I could eat a whale. I'll gobble up this fish-basket pretty soon if you +don't hurry and serve something."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Fish-baskets on toast. There are fish in a box back there. +And there are crackers in this box. And over there I found some pretty +nice canned goods."</p> + +<p>Merriwell smiled. Inza's manner was like a break of sunshine.</p> + +<p>"Your talk makes me simply ravenous."</p> + +<p>That they were ravenous they showed when they fell to on the supper +which Inza prepared as best she could from the materials available. +There were many things that might have been improved. They might have +gone out on the deck, for one thing, but the wet fog had come down +again, with a chill that went to the bones—a chill that was simply +horrible to Frank and Bart in the damp condition in which their clothing +still remained.</p> + +<p>The fishermen did not seem to mind the fog, however, but walked the deck +and smoked, garbed in oilskins and sou'westers. They talked, too, by +signaling to each other with their hands. Merry, Hodge, and Inza sat up +until a late hour, going over and over again all the points of the day's +experience, with the many conjectures and unanswerable questions which +grew out of it.</p> + +<p>The fact that the sloop belonged in Sea Cove, the village near which, +according to the newspaper report, Barney Mulloy was killed, was a +matter of intense interest, even though the fishermen could in no wise +enlighten them on the subject of Barney's murder. Frank continued to +hope that a breeze would spring up, and that he could induce the +Slocums, by a liberal money offer, to set him and his friends ashore at +the nearest point without delay. In the event of a refusal, the +temptation to take the vessel in himself would have been strong, but he +knew that such a course would hardly do in these modern days. It smacked +too much of piracy. Money was the lever he hoped to use, and when the +breeze came he intended to make the lever sufficiently strong to move +even these placid souls.</p> + +<p>But the breeze did not come. The fog seemed to grow thicker and damper. +At length weariness overcame the whole party. Then Inza was left in full +possession of the cuddy, while Hodge and Frank crept into a narrow +sleeping-place forward which Jabez Slocum pointed out to them. As for +the fishermen themselves, they seemed content to stretch out under a +tarpaulin on deck; and the <i>Sarah Jane</i>, with lights set to show her +position, though they could not have been seen a dozen feet distant, +rocked sleepily in the fog at the end of her cable.</p> + +<p>When morning dawned, the fog rolled away under the influence of a +brilliant sun, showing an attractive sight. Other fishing-boats, big and +little, were rising and falling on the swell. To the northward a +steamer, outward bound, trailed from her triple funnels banners of black +smoke. From the southward a "fruiter," as the vessels bringing fruit +from the West Indies are called, came bravely up the coast. There were +other vessels—schooners, barks, sloops, and the coast itself was +visible as a blue line. Finally, one of the Slocum brothers came to +Merriwell and held out a scrap of paper. Frank glanced at it, and read, +in an almost illegible scrawl: "Sea Cove."</p> + +<p>"They will take us to Sea Cove!" Inza explained.</p> + +<p>"New York City," Merry wrote.</p> + +<p>The deaf-mate shook his head and again pointed to the name "Sea Cove."</p> + +<p>"What's the odds?" said Bart. "There is a railway there, and no doubt +boats running to New York. And then it will give us an opportunity to +investigate the murder of poor Barney a little. By to-night we can be in +New York, if all goes well!"</p> + +<p>"Put us aboard the fruiter or some steamer," Frank again wrote.</p> + +<p>But the man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It is Sea Cove or nothing," said Inza. "And he would be glad, I think, +to have it nothing."</p> + +<p>"Sea Cove it is, then," Frank agreed.</p> + +<p>But the promise was productive of no immediate good. There was no +breeze, and, as the <i>Sarah Jane</i> was on the shallow banks, far out of +the route of the steamers, there was nothing to do but to cultivate +patience and wait. At Frank's urging, Peleg set a signal from the +masthead, but it drew no vessel near them.</p> + +<p>The Slocums seemed glad that they were not to be called on to sail at +once for land, and they proceeded to get out long hand-lines and fish +over the sides of the sloop. Wherever they went they were followed by +their dog, that limped from the blows Bart had given it. The dog would +not make friends with the newcomers, but showed its teeth in a +threatening way whenever Bart or Frank came near. Finally Merriwell and +his friends also engaged in the fishing to kill time, and with +considerable success. Thus the day wore wearily along until well into +the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"A breeze!" Frank gleefully exclaimed at last, holding up a hand. "The +wind is coming! I feel that if this old boat doesn't get a move on soon, +I shall have to jump overboard and swim ashore."</p> + +<p>"Well, I should hope you would take me on your back!" Inza observed, her +voice thrilled with the thought that the long-expected breeze was +actually coming. "I'm as frantic as any one can be to put foot on land +and learn what has happened to our friends and to father!"</p> + +<p>The Slocums were ready to go home now, and as the breeze rapidly +increased in strength and gave evidence of having come to stay, they +speedily got the <i>Sarah Jane</i> under way, with the help of Frank and +Bart, and stood off for the Jersey shore. Frank was now perfectly +willing that they should run to Sea Cove direct, for a little thought +and some questions put to the Slocums had shown him that he could reach +New York from there by wire, and by rail from a point near-by, and he +could take a little time to investigate the Barney Mulloy affair.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h3> + +<h4>THE GHOST OF BARNEY MULLOY.</h4> + + +<p>"Another calm!" Bart growled, in disgust. Night was approaching, and the +<i>Sarah Jane</i> lay becalmed a mile from shore and nearly ten miles from +Sea Cove. The shore, high and sandy, was plainly visible, with pretty +cottages among some trees a short distance back from the edge of the +water. The Slocums had a good glass, which brought all this out with +much distinctness.</p> + +<p>"If we could just draw the land near enough with that glass to jump +ashore!" Inza sighed.</p> + +<p>"I've a plan almost as good," said Frank.</p> + +<p>This plan was to have the Slocums set them ashore in the dory. By a +little questioning in writing, they learned from the fishermen that the +group of cottages was Glen Springs, and that there was a +telegraph-office there and a daily visit by a small steamer from New +York, but no railway. This increased their anxiety to be set ashore at +Glen Springs, for by putting themselves in telegraphic communication +with New York they could ascertain without delay of the fate of the +<i>Merry Seas</i> and of her passengers.</p> + +<p>For a small financial consideration the Slocums were willing to put +Merriwell and his friends ashore in the dory; which was done by Peleg, +who pulled a good, strong stroke, and sent the clumsy boat through the +water at a surprising rate of speed.</p> + +<p>"Attack the telegraph-office first," Inza suggested. A telegram to New +York brought this answer:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<i>Merry Seas</i> towed in considerably injured. Missing are Frank +Merriwell, Bart Hodge, Inza Burrage. Other passengers landed +safely. Bernard Burrage at Hotel Imperial."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Bart threw up his cap. Merriwell was writing another message, directed +to Bernard Burrage, assuring him of the safety of Inza and asking that +this fact and the fact that he and Bart were also safe be communicated +at once to their friends at the hotel and elsewhere.</p> + +<p>"That will fix things up all right," he remarked, as the operator began +to click off the message. "Of course, we can't know all the particulars +until later; but it is enough to know that none of our friends are lost, +and to be able to let them know that we are all right."</p> + +<p>"You bet!" Bart cried. "This is great! I was mighty anxious, I tell +you."</p> + +<p>"And I was simply crazy!" Inza exclaimed.</p> + +<p>The relief to their feelings was so great that the hardships of their +recent experience seemed to be at once forgotten, and they became almost +happy. They could not be quite happy, for the news of the murder of +Barney Mulloy still cast its shadow.</p> + +<p>"When does the next boat leave for New York?" Frank asked of the +operator.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow noon."</p> + +<p>"We can drive through to Sea Cove?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And when does a train leave Sea Cove?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow at six-forty-five and ten-thirty."</p> + +<p>As they were very tired, it was decided, therefore, that they would +remain in Glen Springs until early the next morning, when they would +drive to Sea Cove, make inquiries there about Barney, and take the +ten-thirty train. The hotel at Glen Springs was small, but it looked +clean and inviting.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about the murder of a young Irishman named Barney +Mulloy, by tramps near Sea Cove, day before yesterday?" Merry inquired.</p> + +<p>"Only what the papers said," was the operator's answer.</p> + +<p>"And no one else in the village can tell us?"</p> + +<p>"I think not."</p> + +<p>The hotel was in the suburbs, having a view of the sea, and was really a +summer hotel more than anything else. It had very few guests as yet. +From it a number of messages were sent to New York and received from +there by our friends that evening—messages from Elsie and Mr. Burrage, +and from other members of the party that had been on the <i>Merry Seas</i>.</p> + +<p>Though fairly tired out by his exhausting experiences, from which the +long hours on the fishing-sloop had not enabled him to recuperate, Frank +Merriwell was not able to sleep until a late hour. His thoughts were of +Barney Mulloy. In memory he traveled the round of the Fardale days. The +death of Mulloy in that terrible manner had upset him more than he had +realized. He had not felt it so much during his exciting experiences and +while weighted down with anxiety concerning the fate of the <i>Merry +Seas</i>.</p> + +<p>"I just can't sleep!" he muttered, seating himself at last by a window +and looking out toward the sea, along a greensward on which the +moonlight fell lovingly. "Poor Barney! Perhaps I ought to have gone on +to Sea Cove and begun my investigations at once. But Inza was so tired. +She has held up bravely, dear girl, through it all, but this evening she +looked ready to drop. I felt that we ought not to go on until she was +rested. She will sleep well now, since she knows that her father is +safe."</p> + +<p>Something dark moved among the shadows, and a familiar form approached. +Merriwell started up with a low cry:</p> + +<p>"Barney Mulloy!"</p> + +<p>He saw the young Irishman as plainly as he had ever seen him. The face, +though, was white and bloodless. The ghostly figure moved with a heavy +step, coming straight up the walk toward the building. Frank sat rooted +to his chair. In the shadow of the piazza the figure seemed to turn, and +was then lost to view. Merriwell threw up the window.</p> + +<p>"Barney!" he softly called. "Barney—Barney Mulloy!"</p> + +<p>The only answer that came back was a slow and heavy tread, that seemed +to come from a corridor opening out upon the walk along which Barney had +come.</p> + +<p>Tramp, tramp, tramp!</p> + +<p>The footsteps sounded with great distinctness. Merriwell threw open the +door of his room leading out into this corridor. The light of the lamp +flooded the corridor, and he was able to view it from end to end. He +could have sworn that the footsteps were just beyond his door. But the +corridor was absolutely empty. And the footsteps had ceased.</p> + +<p>Frank whistled softly to himself. He was not superstitious, but this was +rather shaking to the nerves. He hurried back to the window and looked +out upon the walk and down the moon-lighted sward. No sound came, save +the dashing of the surf. He leaped through the open window and proceeded +to inspect the grounds in that vicinity. The ghostly form had vanished.</p> + +<p>"Hodge!" he called. "Hodge! Come out here."</p> + +<p>Hodge, who occupied an adjacent room, and who had been asleep, threw up +a window and looked out.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "As soon as I can slip into my clothes. What is it, +Merry?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Frank confessed. "I wish I did know."</p> + +<p>"Of course, there are no such things as ghosts," he declared, when Bart +joined him. "But if ever a man saw one, I did just now—the ghost of +Barney Mulloy!"</p> + +<p>Hodge stared at his friend as if wondering if Frank's mind was not +affected.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Just what I have said to you. I saw an apparition that resembled Barney +Mulloy. And I not only saw it, but I heard it. It came right along here, +and turned in there, and then I heard it in the corridor. I threw open +the corridor door before any one could have got out of there, and the +corridor was empty!"</p> + +<p>"You must have been dreaming!"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it, Bart. I hadn't gone to bed. I haven't been even a bit +sleepy. I was sitting at my window, and I saw it as plainly as I see +you."</p> + +<p>"You certainly must have been dreaming, Merry!" Bart insisted. "Have you +looked all about?"</p> + +<p>"Everywhere."</p> + +<p>Bart walked over to the door which opened from the corridor on the lawn. +It was not locked.</p> + +<p>"It couldn't have been Barney, of course; but whoever it was went +through here into the corridor."</p> + +<p>"And how did he get out of the corridor?"</p> + +<p>"Walked on through into the office."</p> + +<p>"The office is closed. The landlord and all the servants retired long +ago."</p> + +<p>"Well, it couldn't have been a ghost!"</p> + +<p>"I am wondering if it could have been Barney himself?"</p> + +<p>"He was—attacked near Sea Cove, not here!"</p> + +<p>"I am going to rout out the landlord," Merriwell declared. "Perhaps he +can throw some light on the subject."</p> + +<p>"He told you, when you inquired, that he had heard nothing except what +was in the papers."</p> + +<p>"But he may be able to help us to clear away this mystery."</p> + +<p>When summoned, the landlord came down into the little office looking +very sleepy, very stupid, and somewhat angry. Merriwell told what he had +seen and heard, and repeated the newspaper story about the murder of +Barney.</p> + +<p>"Well, that was at Sea Cove," was the answer. "Ghosts always come back +to the place where the person was killed. Why should it come here? I +don't like this. If you tell it, it will give my house a bad name. No +one wants to board in a haunted house, and it will ruin my summer's +business."</p> + +<p>"But I thought you might help us to an explanation," Frank insisted.</p> + +<p>The sleepy and stupid look had passed away. The landlord had once been a +seafaring man, and he was a bit superstitious. Still, he was not willing +to acknowledge that Frank had beheld something supernatural. He would +not deny its possibility, but repeated over and over his belief that +ghosts always return to the place of the murder and to no other place, +and that the repetition of the story would drive away his summer +boarders.</p> + +<p>"I tell him he was just dreaming," said Bart.</p> + +<p>"Sure!" with a look of relief. "Of course, he was dreaming. There's been +nobody in Glen Springs looking like the chap you describe, and I'm sure +that nobody has been walking in that corridor, 'less it was burglars."</p> + +<p>So Frank went back to his room, accompanied by Bart. He knew that he had +not been asleep, though, and he felt sure that he had really seen and +heard something, and was not the victim of a hallucination. Merriwell +sat down again by the open window, and Bart dropped into a chair by his +side.</p> + +<p>"If the thing comes again, we'll capture it!" said Hodge. "Somebody may +be playing ghost, just to scare us. I have heard——"</p> + +<p>He did not complete the sentence, for he really heard something at the +moment that stilled the words on his lips and drove the blood out of his +face.</p> + +<p>Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp!</p> + +<p>The sounds came unmistakably from the corridor.</p> + +<p>"There it is again!" Frank exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Bart leaped toward the door and quickly threw it open. The lamplight +again streamed out into the corridor. But the sounds had ceased, and the +corridor was empty. Hodge stared down the corridor in stupid +bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"Of all the strange things!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"That is the strangest!" Merriwell added. "You heard it for yourself +then!"</p> + +<p>Bart walked out into the corridor, peered out of doors through the glass +set in the side door, and opened the door leading into the deserted +office. There was nothing to be seen. When he came back, his face was +beaded with moisture.</p> + +<p>"Merry, I wish you'd tell me the meaning of that!"</p> + +<p>"I wish you would tell me, Bart! You thought I was dreaming, or fancied +that I saw and heard something. You see now that you were mistaken."</p> + +<p>"Unless I am dreaming myself!"</p> + +<p>"You are perfectly wide-awake, Hodge, and so am I! There is a mystery +here."</p> + +<p>"Never knew anything like it," mopping his face. "Whew! It brings the +cold sweat out on me!"</p> + +<p>He dropped down into the chair by the window, leaving the corridor door +open. Nothing further was heard.</p> + +<p>"Ghosts don't like a bright light!" Merry reminded, smiling grimly. Bart +got up, closed the door, and sat down again.</p> + +<p>Then his hair seemed to stand upright on his head. Out of the shadow of +the building, near one of the angles, walked the ghostly form which +Merriwell had beheld. Hodge was unable to speak at first. Merry noticed +his manner and the look in his staring eyes, and sprang to the window. +As he did so, the ghostly form vanished into the shadow, and again those +steps were heard in the corridor.</p> + +<p>"If Barney is dead, that was his spirit, sure enough!" Hodge whispered, +in an awed way.</p> + +<p>Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp!</p> + +<p>The steps echoed in the corridor. Even Merriwell's stout heart was +assailed by a feeling that was like superstitious dread.</p> + +<p>"It looked just like him!"</p> + +<p>"The very picture of him, only white-faced, as if he had just come out +of the grave!"</p> + +<p>Tramp, tramp, tramp! sounded the steps in the corridor.</p> + +<p>"Open the door, Merry, for God's sake!" Hodge gasped, as if the words +choked him. "See if there isn't something in the corridor! There must +be!"</p> + +<p>Merriwell stepped to the door and flung it open. Instantly the sounds +ceased.</p> + +<p>"Somebody is playing a joke on us, I believe!" Bart declared, and anger +came to drive out the superstitious feeling that had shaken him. "I'm +going to take a look round the house myself, and if I find anybody——"</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you!" Merry exclaimed, and both leaped through the open +window.</p> + +<p>They circled round the house, looked down the paths and out over the +sward on which the moonlight fell, but not a form could they see.</p> + +<p>"Give it up!" Hodge admitted. "I don't know what to think."</p> + +<p>They came back to the window, and again they heard the footsteps in the +corridor. Hodge went through the window at a flying leap and hurled open +the corridor door, only to again find silence and blankness.</p> + +<p>"The place is haunted!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"But there are no such things as ghosts!"</p> + +<p>"I know it. Of course, there can't be—that's what I have always +believed. I have always fancied that stories of ghosts were lies and +foolishness, and I'm not ready to back water on that belief. But I can't +understand this business."</p> + +<p>"Nor I."</p> + +<p>"Shall we call the landlord again?"</p> + +<p>"What good will it do?"</p> + +<p>"Shall we wake Inza?"</p> + +<p>"And rob her of her rest and fill her with anxiety? No, let her sleep. +She needs it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I shall not be able to sleep any more to-night."</p> + +<p>"And it looked just like Barney!" Frank declared.</p> + +<p>"His very image!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3> + +<h4>THE PHANTOM AGAIN.</h4> + + +<p>Both Merriwell and Hodge were so sure they had seen something that they +again let themselves out through the window and made a search of the +grounds. The result was the same. Not a moving form was to be seen. But +as they returned toward the room, they once more heard those mysterious +footsteps.</p> + +<p>"Stop!"</p> + +<p>Frank laid a hand on Bart's arm, and both stood still and listened.</p> + +<p>"Where does that seem to be?"</p> + +<p>"Merry, that's coming from your room! The thing is in your room!"</p> + +<p>Hodge's voice shook, in spite of himself.</p> + +<p>Frank dashed toward the open window. But before he could reach it, the +sounds ceased. When he looked in, the room was empty. The light was +shining, and the door leading to the corridor was closed.</p> + +<p>"No one could have got out of that room without our knowing it!" +Merriwell whispered. Hodge had reached his side, and both were staring +into the room.</p> + +<p>"Of course not. The thing is impossible."</p> + +<p>"And yet those footsteps sounded right here."</p> + +<p>"Let's go in and take another look into the corridor."</p> + +<p>For answer Merry drew Bart back into the shadows by the window.</p> + +<p>"Keep still right here a little while. Perhaps the—the thing will +return. If some one is playing us a trick, we may capture him."</p> + +<p>"I should like to lay my hands on the villain!" Bart hissed. Though they +stood there in utter silence for five minutes, the sounds did not come +again.</p> + +<p>"Of course, there is some rational explanation of this," Merriwell +declared, as they again approached the window. "There must be! It is the +wildest nonsense to think otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Well, I wish that rational explanation would hurry this way. I'm ready +for it, old man! This thing is shaking my nerves all to pieces."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know you were troubled with nerves! Nerves are for hysterical +girls and old women!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I've got 'em now! as the drunken man said when he began to see +snakes. I haven't any doubt about it."</p> + +<p>Hodge so seldom indulged in a joke, that Merry looked surprised. They +had reentered the room, and he glanced at his friend in wonder.</p> + +<p>"Likely that—thing will begin to walk again pretty soon," said Frank, +after they had remained another minute or so in a listening attitude. +"You sit here and watch by this window, while I slip into the corridor."</p> + +<p>Hodge obediently dropped into the chair, and Merriwell let himself into +the corridor. He closed the door after him, so that if any one +approached or entered the corridor that person could not see him, and +began his vigil.</p> + +<p>The silence was so great that he could hear his watch ticking away in +his pocket. It seemed strange that it should run after its salt-water +ducking, but he reasoned that probably the works were not touched by the +salt water. His clothing had dried long ago, but he felt the need of a +change. However, he had taken a bath since reaching the hotel, and so +was in a measure comfortable.</p> + +<p>There was a great deal to think of as he stood there in the gloom, but +the minutes dragged along like weeks. This sort of vigil was rather +nerve-trying. He was sure, now that he had time to think about it, that +some very little thing might account for the mystery. He began to think +that the footsteps had probably been made by some servant or by a +somnambulist. Sounds are very deceptive as to direction, as he more than +once had discovered. The footsteps might have been at some distance from +the corridor.</p> + +<p>"But that doesn't explain what I saw and what Bart saw!" he muttered. "I +might have thought my eyes deceived me, but Bart saw it, too. That was +either Barney Mulloy, or some one who looks marvelously like him. If it +was really Barney, then the poor fellow is not dead! I sincerely hope we +shall find out that he was not killed. Perhaps the entire newspaper +report was based on a mistake. The papers are full of errors."</p> + +<p>The sounds did not come again, and when it seemed almost useless to wait +longer for them, he returned to the room, where he found Bart watching +silently by the window.</p> + +<p>"Seen anything?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No. Heard anything?"</p> + +<p>"Not a thing."</p> + +<p>"I didn't suppose you had, or I should have heard it, too."</p> + +<p>"It will probably not reappear to-night."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm not in love with ghosts, but I have been wild to have the +thing pass along that walk again. It wouldn't get away from me this +time! I've planned just what to do."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I can reach that walk in three jumps from this window, and it would +take a lively ghost to get away from me. I was going right out there the +first glimpse I got of it."</p> + +<p>"Then you're not afraid of ghosts?" laughed Frank, for there was +something amusing in his companion's manner.</p> + +<p>"I might be, Merry, if there were any. But I've been thinking as I sat +here. I know I saw something, and that something was a man. He didn't +look so strong but that I could tumble him over easy enough. That was my +plan, and then we could see who it is. It couldn't have been Barney, for +all it looked so much like him."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he saw the ghostly figure again, but much farther away. Its +face was turned toward the window, and the moonlight revealed it +plainly. Beyond all question, it was the face of Barney Mulloy!</p> + +<p>Bart went through the open window at a bound.</p> + +<p>"Barney!" he called. "Barney Mulloy!"</p> + +<p>The mysterious figure drew quickly back into the shrubbery and +disappeared. Merriwell sprang through the open window after Hodge, and +together they raced to the point where the figure had been seen. When +they got there they could discover nothing.</p> + +<p>"That was Barney Mulloy!" Merriwell asserted.</p> + +<p>"Sure!"</p> + +<p>"And he isn't dead!"</p> + +<p>"Barney or his spirit!"</p> + +<p>"It was Barney."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he stop when I called to him?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. There is a mystery here."</p> + +<p>"Biggest one I ever struck, Merry! It knocks me silly."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3> + +<h4>MERRIWELL'S FRIENDS.</h4> + + +<p>The time was well on toward morning before Merriwell and Hodge turned in +to try to get some sleep. No more mysterious sounds or ghostly +appearances had been heard or seen. The sun was scarcely up when they +were aroused by a trampling of feet and the sounds of well-known voices +in the corridor. A rap fell on Merry's door.</p> + +<p>"Arise, ye sleepers, and wake—I mean, awake, ye sleepers, and rise!" +shouted Harry Rattleton.</p> + +<p>"Come out here and let me pull you out of bed!" grunted Bruce Browning.</p> + +<p>"He is sleeping like the sleeper in the sleeper which runs over the +sleeper and does not awaken the sleeper in the sleeper which——"</p> + +<p>"You give us that sleepy feeling yourself, Danny!" Bink Stubbs grumbled.</p> + +<p>Merry tumbled out of bed, unlocked the door, and thrust his head into +the corridor. Before him were Bruce and Diamond, Rattleton and Dismal +Jones, Bink and Danny, and through the half-open door leading into the +office he also caught a glimpse of Elsie Bellwood and Bernard Burrage.</p> + +<p>"Glad to see you!" he cried. "Where did you tumble from?"</p> + +<p>Bart had his door open now, and began to ask questions.</p> + +<p>"I'll be out in a minute," Frank promised, and began to dress with the +speed of a lightning-change artist. A little later Merriwell's entire +party gathered in the hotel office, for Inza had been awakened and +joined them.</p> + +<p>Mutual explanations flew thick and fast. Merriwell's friends, after +being taken to New York, had shortly fallen in with a party of Yale +students, mostly seniors, who had come down from New Haven on the +steamer <i>Richard Peck</i>, and were on their way to view the new government +fortifications at Sandy Hook, by special permission of General Merritt, +commander of the Department of the East. This permission had been +obtained by Lieutenant Andrew Bell, of the First United States +Artillery, who had recently been detailed by the secretary of war as +professor of military science in Yale College.</p> + +<p>Merriwell's friends had been invited to join this company of students, +that they might the more quickly reach their friends, and had been +brought to Sandy Hook by the government steamer <i>General Meigs</i>. From +Sandy Hook the steamer's large steam-launch had hurried them on to Glen +Springs.</p> + +<p>"And now you are going right back with us to Sandy Hook!" Elsie +enthusiastically exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a silence fell on the jolly party, occasioned by the shadow +that came over the face of Frank Merriwell.</p> + +<p>"I can't go until we have settled the mystery of Barney Mulloy," he +declared; and then gave a hurried account of what he and Bart had seen +and heard.</p> + +<p>"I hoped you wouldn't say nothin' about that!" grumbled the landlord, +who had been until then an interested listener.</p> + +<p>Up to that moment he had seemed pleased, though nervous, for it +gratified him to have guests who were of sufficient importance to be +brought to Glen Springs by the launch of a government steamer.</p> + +<p>"This must be all nonsense, you know!" he declared. "And I can't have +any such reports go out about my house. If it gits the reputation of +being ha'nted, then good-by business. I won't have a guest set foot in +the doorway all summer. I know these people who claim not to be +superstitious. They ain't superstitious so long as other people sees +things, but they git confoundedly so soon's they begin to see things +themselves."</p> + +<p>"You have seen things at sea that puzzled you?" Merry asked, knowing +that he was making a center shot.</p> + +<p>"Who said that I'd ever been to sea? And s'pose I have? I ain't worried +people to death about it and broke up another man's business. There +ain't a thing in this. This ain't out at sea, ye know!"</p> + +<p>The landlord seemed to have the peculiar feeling that only ghosts that +sailed or walked the briny deep were worthy of consideration.</p> + +<p>"Explain it, then!" Merriwell demanded. "You can make us feel that +nothing strange happened last night if you will explain the thing."</p> + +<p>"You was just dopey!" the captain argued. "Your nerves was shook up from +bein' in the water so long, and the skeer of the collision."</p> + +<p>Though there seemed no use to make an investigation, Merriwell began one +immediately. He felt sure that Barney Mulloy was somewhere in Glen +Springs.</p> + +<p>"I know that I saw him!" was his persistent declaration.</p> + +<p>"And heard him walk!" added Hodge. "I can swear to it."</p> + +<p>"Yes. And though the thing is so strange, it makes me feel better, for I +am sure now that Barney is not dead."</p> + +<p>"But he looked like a ghost!" Bart admitted. "I'm with you, though, to +the end in this thing. We'll go to the bottom of it."</p> + +<p>Questioning the people of the village yielded no better results. +Everybody agreed that no person answering to the description of Barney +Mulloy had been in Glen Springs. Some of them were even more nervous and +indignant than the landlord, for almost the sole remunerative business +of these people was the keeping of summer boarders, and they feared that +gruesome reports about the place would drive guests away.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hodge and I are coming back here to-night," Merriwell said to the +landlord. "Perhaps we shall bring some of these friends with us. It +seems useless to continue the investigation now, and I want, besides, to +ask some questions at Sea Cove. The launch is all ready to return to +Sandy Hook, and the officer in command says that his orders require him +to return there without further delay. But we will come back to-night."</p> + +<p>The landlord's face did not give the proposition an eager welcome, +though one of his business tenets was never to turn a guest away.</p> + +<p>So the launch steamed away to Sandy Hook, leaving Glen Springs and its +strange and unsolved puzzle behind.</p> + +<p>Frank only partly enjoyed the trip.</p> + +<p>But for that seemingly impenetrable mystery, the trip to Sandy Hook, +with the visit of inspection which followed, would have been jolly. +However, there was so much to be happy and thankful for, anyway, that +the spirits of the party partook largely of the brightness of the day.</p> + +<p>The run of the speedy launch up the coast was pleasant, and at Sandy +Hook they found their fellow students awaiting them, and were given a +right royal welcome by Captain Isaac Heath, the officer in charge of the +proving-grounds.</p> + +<p>"Say, fellows, this is great!" Danny warbled, as Captain Heath escorted +them to where the big guns were. "I always did like big guns!"</p> + +<p>"You're such a big gun yourself!" sneered Bink, under his breath.</p> + +<p>"Binky, if my brain caliber required no more than a number five hat, as +yours does, I'd sing low about big guns!"</p> + +<p>"Number five hat? Why——"</p> + +<p>"This ten-inch breech-loading rifle takes a charge of one hundred and +ten pounds of Dupont smokeless powder and a projectile weighing five +hundred and seventy-five pounds," Captain Heath was explaining, as they +stopped in front of the big seacoast defender.</p> + +<p>"Say, they're going to fire it!" Bink gasped.</p> + +<p>"Of course, you idiot! Did you think it was going to fire them?"</p> + +<p>"Better stand on your tiptoes and stick cotton into your ears," Browning +warned, as the big gun was quickly made ready for hurling its terrible +projectile.</p> + +<p>"Wh-what if the dinged old thing should bub-bub-burst?" Gamp anxiously +asked.</p> + +<p>"We should have to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Ask of the winds, that far around!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With fragments strewed the sea!'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>was Danny's comforting answer.</p> + +<p>Dismal and Rattleton retreated a step or two, as did Elsie Bellwood. But +Inza stood her ground as bravely as Merriwell himself.</p> + +<p>Then, before more could be said, the big cannon boomed forth its volume +of deafening sound, making the very walls shake. Danny tumbled backward, +then picked himself up and felt over his person very carefully.</p> + +<p>"Am I all here?" he anxiously queried.</p> + +<p>All watched the direction in which the huge shot had been fired, but it +fell miles away. Merriwell and a few others, provided with strong +glasses, saw it drop into the sea. The captain was talking again.</p> + +<p>"The instruments record an initial velocity of one thousand feet per +second, with a pressure of twenty-four thousand pounds."</p> + +<p>"I've been under greater pressure than that," Danny chirped.</p> + +<p>"When you were shot?" Bink asked. "All guns, big and little, are under +pressure when they are shot."</p> + +<p>"I'll put your throat under pressure when we get away from here!" Bink +threatened.</p> + +<p>"This is a twelve-inch rifle, loaded with one hundred and thirty pounds +of powder and a projectile of the same weight as the first."</p> + +<p>The party had moved to a new point, and Captain Heath was again talking. +Other guns were fired, after the discharge of this one; the last shot +being sent from a twelve-inch rifle with a charge of four hundred and +seventy-five pounds of Dupont brown prismatic powder and a projectile +weighing one thousand pounds.</p> + +<p>The roar, the jar, and the vibration were like that of a miniature +earthquake. Captain Heath's calm voice was heard again, after a short +silence.</p> + +<p>"The velocity was two thousand and eighty-eight feet per second, and the +pressure four thousand pounds. This pressure is ten thousand pounds too +high. The powder is too quick, and will be condemned."</p> + +<p>After this there was an examination of the guns and carriages, with a +lecture by Lieutenant Bell; an examination of the gun-lift battery and +the hydraulic lifts, and the wonderful Buffington-Crozier +disappearing-carriages, and a look over the site of the new artillery +post to be known as Fort Hancock. Then luncheon was served.</p> + +<p>In spite of the many interesting things which he had seen and to which +he had listened, Merriwell could not get his thoughts away from Barney +Mulloy. He had already obtained consent for the party to be taken on the +launch to Sea Cove and Glen Springs at once, after luncheon. Thinking of +these things and with his head full of the plans for discovering the +secret of the happenings at Glen Springs, he walked round the works +again, viewing the emplacements and the big guns, but with his thoughts +far enough away from the things on which his eyes rested.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he was attracted by a cry. It seemed to come from the air, and +it made him think of the apparition and the ghostly footsteps. But when +he glanced up he saw Danny Griswold's head protruding from the muzzle of +a large coast-defense cannon. Merriwell was astonished, though such a +piece of recklessness was just like Danny. It was not that Frank feared +any peril to Danny from the gun, but the officers and gunners would be +indignant, no doubt, if they caught the little joker playing +hide-and-seek in that way with one of their pets.</p> + +<p>"I'll give him a scare," he thought. "He is getting altogether too +fresh."</p> + +<p>"Danny Griswold, that gun is loaded, and they are going to fire it!" +Merry cried, with well-simulated fear.</p> + +<p>Danny's red head came farther out, like the head of a tortoise issuing +from its shell.</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose I shall be able to get out of here!" Danny chirped. "I +can't do it, unless I am shot out. I slipped in here easy enough, but +I've grown, I guess, for I can't slip back."</p> + +<p>"How did you get in there, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"Climbed in."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you will have to climb out."</p> + +<p>A gunner came hurrying upon the scene.</p> + +<p>"Wh-what?" he sputtered.</p> + +<p>"Our little friend is in need of assistance. If he gets out of there he +will never play cannon-ball again."</p> + +<p>"If you will just fire me!" Danny begged, not a bit abashed.</p> + +<p>The gunner was not at all willing that Danny's plight should be +discovered by an officer, so he quickly went to Danny's assistance, and +"fired" him by bodily pulling him out of the cannon.</p> + +<p>"Thanks!" chirped the little joker, as he dropped to the ground. "Bink +says that I'm a small-caliber projectile, but I was quite big enough for +that cannon. Say, do you fire men every day?"</p> + +<p>The gunner could not suppress a grin.</p> + +<p>"Men? Well, you're likely to get fired, young feller, if you monkey +round these guns!" he declared.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3> + +<h4>THE MYSTERY CLEARED AWAY.</h4> + + +<p>What news was obtainable at Sea Cove about Barney Mulloy was important, +though somewhat unsatisfactory. Barney had been attacked by tramps and +badly hurt, but not killed, though at first the report of his death had +gone out. One of the tramps had been nearly killed in the fight, and +Mulloy had disappeared.</p> + +<p>"What became of him? Where did he go?" were Merriwell's questions.</p> + +<p>"We didn't pay much attention to it," was the answer given by +Merriwell's Sea Cove informant. "Likely he walked off, or went away on +the boat or train. Easy enough to get out of this place."</p> + +<p>With this meager information, Frank and his friends hurried back on the +launch to Glen Springs.</p> + +<p>"He isn't dead!" was Merry's cheerful declaration. "That must have been +Barney that Bart and I saw."</p> + +<p>"But the walking?" Hodge dubiously questioned.</p> + +<p>"And why should he be in hiding?" Diamond demanded.</p> + +<p>"Some men love darkness, because their deeds are evil," Dismal droned.</p> + +<p>"Well, you may be sure that Barney's deeds were not evil," said Frank, +"Barney is straight, and true blue."</p> + +<p>Night was at hand when the launch cast anchor in the shallow harbor in +front of Glen Springs and sent a boat ashore with Merry and the friends +he had chosen for the vigil of the coming hours of darkness. The +landlord of the little hotel was not pleased that they had returned for +the purpose of capturing the "ghost," though he was beginning, as he +confessed, to feel "creepy" about it himself.</p> + +<p>"I was intendin' to set up and watch for it, if you hadn't come," he +finally admitted.</p> + +<p>No one answering to Barney's description had been seen in Glen Springs +through the day. In fact, no stranger whatever had been seen in the +place from the time the launch went away until it returned.</p> + +<p>"It's mighty curious," Bart grimly observed.</p> + +<p>"I have a feeling that we will learn to-night just what it is," said +Merriwell.</p> + +<p>Frank occupied his old room, and sat at the window with Hodge, while +Diamond, Rattleton, and Bruce remained in the office. The doors leading +to the corridor were at first closed. Merry looked at his watch after +the lights were put out in the part of the building occupied by the +landlord and his family.</p> + +<p>"It ought to be coming around again pretty soon," Bart remarked, finding +it impossible to escape a queer, uneasy feeling, anxious as he was to +see the specter, and determined as he was to effect its capture if it +again appeared.</p> + +<p>As he said it, the sounds of those mysterious steps were again heard in +the corridor, and they heard the occupants of the office fling open the +door.</p> + +<p>"You weren't walking in here?" Diamond demanded.</p> + +<p>"Not on your life!" Bart answered.</p> + +<p>"But we heard some one!"</p> + +<p>"Of course you did, and so did we. And we heard it last night!"</p> + +<p>Rattleton and Bruce came on through into Merriwell's room.</p> + +<p>"Scrate Gott, this is enough to turn a man's hair white!" Rattleton +sputtered.</p> + +<p>"Did you think we were just jollying you about this?" Bart sharply +asked.</p> + +<p>"No, but——"</p> + +<p>"You're likely to see the thing, as well as hear it," Hodge asserted.</p> + +<p>The landlord, who had not retired, though making a pretense of so doing, +tumbled down in much excitement, in response to Rattleton's summons.</p> + +<p>"Did you see it, boys?" he gasped.</p> + +<p>His face was white, and he was trembling. All the assumed bravery had +gone out of him.</p> + +<p>"Only heard it walking there in the hall," Frank answered.</p> + +<p>The landlord gave a jump. He had forgotten that he was standing by the +corridor door.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you can't see anything!" Frank reminded. "That's the trouble. We +can hear the thing walking, but we can't see anything. Close the door, +and we may be able to hear it again."</p> + +<p>"Don't! don't!" the landlord pleaded.</p> + +<p>"But I want you to hear it. Perhaps you can tell us what it is."</p> + +<p>"There is never anything in the corridor," the landlord declared. "I +can't set here if you shut that door."</p> + +<p>"There he is again!" said Hodge, in the voice of one who expects to +behold the supernatural and inexplicable and has steeled himself against +unpleasant sensations. "There he comes! Barney, as sure as guns!"</p> + +<p>The landlord dropped limply into a chair, and stared out through the +open window in the direction indicated by Hodge's pointing finger. The +others grouped round Merriwell and Bart.</p> + +<p>"You see it?" Frank whispered.</p> + +<p>"Let me out of this!" the landlord gurgled, though no hand was +restraining him. "Booh-h-h! Let me out of this. Ah-h-h-h-h! It's a +ghost, sure enough! Don't you see that white cloth on its head—a bloody +white cloth?"</p> + +<p>He seemed about to tumble over in a fit.</p> + +<p>"He's coming this way!" Merry whispered. "Just keep still now, all of +you!"</p> + +<p>Rattleton seemed about to bolt from the place, though the others were +bravely standing their ground.</p> + +<p>"No ghost there!" said Browning. "That's a live man."</p> + +<p>"It's Barney," Merry declared. "He is not dead. His head is tied up."</p> + +<p>"But what makes the—him sneak along in that way?" Rattleton gasped. +"Whee-giz, it makes my blood run cold! Ugh!"</p> + +<p>"Just keep still, and we shall soon find out!" Frank sharply commanded, +in a whisper.</p> + +<p>The ghostly figure came slowly up the walk. Nearer and nearer it drew, +walking as if it did not fear discovery at that late hour.</p> + +<p>"There is another!" Rattleton whispered.</p> + +<p>The figure of a woman came into view, hurrying rapidly along the path +after Mulloy, and seeming to be in pursuit of him, though he appeared +not to know it.</p> + +<p>"Now!" Merry whispered. "Ready, Hodge—now!"</p> + +<p>He leaped through the window, with Bart at his side. The ghostly figure +was but a few yards away. Before it could turn in the direction of the +sound they were half-way across the intervening space.</p> + +<p>"Barney! Mulloy!" Frank called.</p> + +<p>The figure uttered a cry, and started to run. But Frank's pace was too +swift. Almost in the next instant his hand fell on the shoulder of the +specter.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know me, Barney? I'm Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>The figure ceased its struggles.</p> + +<p>"Hurroo! Is it yez for thrue, Merriwell? I t'ought it wor an officer +thryin' to arrist me."</p> + +<p>"Break loose and run, ye fool!" was squealed in a high, feminine voice. +"Run, Barney, dear—run!"</p> + +<p>"Niver!" Barney declared. "Niver will I run from a fri'nd loike +Merriwell!"</p> + +<p>"But you'll be put in jail! You'll be hung!" the woman shrieked, in a +vain effort to stampede the Irish lad. "Them fellers is officers."</p> + +<p>Bart had pushed up, so that Mulloy could recognize him.</p> + +<p>"Save me frum her, Frankie!" Barney pleaded. "Woo-oo! Begorra! She's +crazier than wildcats!"</p> + +<p>Then he whispered:</p> + +<p>"The ould sinner wants to marry me. Think av thot! She's been hoidin' me +frum the officers fer matrimoonial poorpuses. Take me away from her, +Frankie, darlint! Oi've kilt a thramp, and I'm in peril av bein' hoong +for it; but I'd rather be hoong than to marry such a cat as thot! Bad +cess to her!"</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, the poor fellow is out of his head!" the woman purred, +modulating that shrieking voice. "His head has been hurt, and he don't +know nothin' that he's talkin' 'bout."</p> + +<p>Barney clung to Merriwell and Hodge as if he feared the woman would drag +him bodily away from these friends.</p> + +<p>"Oi suppose thot she may be able to foorce me into marryin' her," he +moaned. "Oi kilt a thramp, and Oi wor hidin' frum the officers—may the +divil floy away wid thim—and Oi sneaked intil her house, d'ye moind, +and hid me loike a fool under her bed. The crayther had been lookin' +under thot bed for forty years to foind a man! And whin she let her ould +oyes loight on me, she pulled me out av there; an' she's been kapin' me +and scarin' me intil fits and hoidin' me from the officers iver +since—and, bad cess to her, nixt wake she wor goin' to marry me."</p> + +<p>"Why did you sneak round the hotel and along the paths in that queer +way?" Frank asked, after the vinegary-visaged and matrimonially inclined +female had departed in despair and disgust, and he had Barney alone. +"That still puzzles me. We heard that you had been killed by those +tramps, and you looked and acted enough like a ghost to be one!"</p> + +<p>"A ghost, is it?" said Barney, glancing about as if he did not like even +the thought. "Thot ould witch wor kapin' me hid away from the officers +in thot wee bit av a house roight behind the three over there, and all +the ixercoise Oi could git wor whin Oi could shlip out av noights and +walk round and swally a brith av fresh air. Oi t'ought Oi had kilt the +thramp and thot the officers wor watchin' for me! Thot ould divil hilped +me to believe thot hersilf! So whin Oi heard yez call, av coorse Oi +worn't goin' to sthop and be arristed. A ghost, is it? Oi'm thinkin' +thot yez'd be crapin' round, too, if yez t'ought thot a rope wor riddy +to toighten about the neck av yez!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Haw! haw! haw!"</p> + +<p>The roars did not proceed from Joe Gamp, but from the landlord of the +hotel. Now that Barney was found to be real flesh and blood, and not a +spirit, the landlord had entered more heartily into the search for the +mysterious source of the strange footsteps. He had been willing that the +doors opening into the corridors should be closed—for only when the +corridor was darkened could the ghostly sounds be heard.</p> + +<p>As soon as the "footsteps" came again he threw open the door and +chucklingly led the way out through a side room into a shedlike +structure that came up against the corridor wall.</p> + +<p>"There is your ha'nt!" he roared, pointing down into a pen in the shed. +"There is your ha'nt! A gol-derned old sea-turtle! Haw! haw! haw! Ho! +ho! ho! He! he! he!"</p> + +<p>The turtle was a monster in size.</p> + +<p>"But—I don't see!" said Merriwell. "This doesn't explain."</p> + +<p>The landlord hopped into the pen and flipped the huge turtle over on its +back against the wall. Thereupon it began to kick out with its great +flippers, striking them against the corridor wall and making the sounds +which had seemed to be footsteps. Merriwell looked round.</p> + +<p>"I see!" he admitted. "The light from the lighted corridor came through +that transom."</p> + +<p>"Jest so!" said the landlord. "Whenever your light shined in here it +scart the turtle, and it quit kickin'. It's always trying to climb out +of the pen and falling over on its back; and when it tips over near the +wall and strikes with them flippers, it makes that sound. If it ain't +near the wall, of course it don't strike nothin' to make the sound. And, +of course, soon's it can turn itself back—which it can't sometimes for +hours—it quits kickin' out."</p> + +<p>"And yez tuk me for thot thing and thot thing for me, and aitch av us +knew nothing about it, and it wasn't ayther av us!" chuckled Barney.</p> + +<p>"Just so!" said Merriwell. "And right glad I am to understand it, and to +know that you are living!"</p> + +<p>"And Oi niver wor gladder to see anybody in my loife! The soight av yez +makes me well. And Bart, me jewel! Yez are as foine a laddie as iver +lived! Give me the touch av yer hand ag'in!"</p> + +<p>And so the mystery was solved, and Barney escaped, be it said, +heartwhole and body free—while Frank and his friends returned to the +city.</p> + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>"BEST OF ALL BOYS' BOOKS"</h3> + +<h3>THE FAMOUS</h3> +<h2>Frank Merriwell Stories</h2> + +<h4>By BURT L. STANDISH</h4> + +<p>No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like +the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell +Stories.</p> + +<p>There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, as +portrayed by the author, is a jolly, whole-souled, honest, courageous +American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad +habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary +for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell's +example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow.</p> + +<h4><i>Twenty-four volumes ready</i></h4> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> +Frank Merriwell's School Days<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Chums<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Foes<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Trip West<br /> +Frank Merriwell Down South<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Bravery<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Races<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield<br /> +Frank Merriwell at Yale<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Courage<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Daring<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Skill<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Champions<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Return to Yale<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Secret<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Loyalty<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Reward<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Faith<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Victories<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Power<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Set-Back<br /> +Frank Merriwell's False Friend<br /> +Frank Merriwell's Brother +</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;">For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by +the publisher.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><b>DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia</b></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Frank Merriwell's Reward, by Burt L. 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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's Reward + +Author: Burt L. Standish + +Release Date: September 28, 2006 [EBook #19402] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANK MERRIWELL'S REWARD *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +FRANK MERRIWELL'S REWARD + +BY + +BURT L. STANDISH + +Author of "Frank Merriwell's School Days," "Frank Merriwell's Chums," +"Frank Merriwell's Foes," etc. + + + +PHILADELPHIA +DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER +604-8 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE + +Copyright, 1900 +By STREET & SMITH + + + +FRANK MERRIWELL'S REWARD. + +CHAPTER I. + +A RUNAWAY AUTOMOBILE. + + +"Li, there! Hook out!" shouted Harry Rattleton. + +"Hi, there! Look out!" echoed Bart Hodge, getting the words straight +which Harry had twisted. + +"Get out of the way, fellows!" warned Jack Diamond. + +"The juice that it's loaded with must be bug juice!" squealed Danny +Griswold. "It's crazy drunk!" + +"Tut-tut-tut-turn the cuc-crank the other way!" bellowed Joe Gamp. + +"This crank," said Bink Stubbs, giving Gamp a twist that spun him round +like a top. + +"I've always believed that more than half of these new-fangled +inventions are devices of Satan, and now I know it!" grumbled Dismal +Jones. + +"You'll be more certain of it than ever if you let it run over you!" +Frank Merriwell warned, stepping to the sidewalk, and drawing Dismal's +lank body quickly back from the street. + +"Huah! It's worse than a cranky horse!" + +Bruce Browning reached down, took Danny Griswold by the collar, and +placed the little fellow behind him. + +"Unselfishly trying to save your bacon at the expense of my own!" +Browning suavely explained, as Danny began to fume. "Do you want that +thing to step on you?" + +An electric hansom, which had sailed up the street in an eminently +respectable manner, had suddenly and without apparent reason begun to +act in an altogether disreputable way. It had veered round, rushed over +the crossing, and made a bee-line for the sidewalk, almost running down +a party of Frank Merriwell's friends, who were out for an afternoon +stroll on the street in the pleasant spring sunshine. + +The motorman, who occupied a grand-stand seat in the rear, seemed to +have lost control of the automobile. He was excitedly fumbling with his +levers, but without being able to bring the carriage to a stop. + +The street was crowded with people at the time, and when the electric +carriage began to cut its eccentric capers there was a rush for places +of safety, while the air was filled with excited cries and exclamations. + +Merriwell could see the head of a passenger, a man, through the window +of the automobile. + +"She's cuc-coming this way again!" shouted Gamp. "Look out, fellows!" + +The front tires struck the curbing with such force that the motorman was +pitched from his high seat, landing heavily on his head in the gutter. + +Bruce Browning was one of the first to reach him. + +"Give him air!" Bruce commanded, lifting the man in his arms and +stepping toward a drug-store on the corner. + +Some of the crowd streamed after Browning, but by far the greater number +remained to watch the antics of the automobile. + +The man inside was fumbling at the door and trying to get out. The +misguided auto climbed the curbing and tried to butt down the wall of a +store building. + +"Give it some climbin'-irons!" yelled a newsboy. + +The automobile, with its front wheels pressed against the wall, began to +rear up like a great black bug, determined apparently to scale the +perpendicular side of the building and enter through one of the open +windows above. As soon as he saw the motorman pitched into the gutter, +Merriwell moved toward the carriage. + +"Time to take a hand in this!" was his thought. "There will be more +hurt, if I don't!" + +He leaped to the step, but before he could mount to the high seat the +auto was butting blindly against the wall. + +"He's goin' ter shut off the juice!" squeaked the newsboy. + +What the trouble had been with the levers Merry did not know. When he +took hold of them, the hansom became manageable and obedient. He shut +off the electricity, and the front wheels dropped down from the wall. +The next moment he swung to the ground and opened the door. + +To his surprise, the man who emerged from the carriage was Dunstan Kirk, +the leader of the Yale ball-team. + +"Glad to see you!" gasped Kirk. "I couldn't get out, and I was expecting +the thing to turn over! I believe I'm not hurt." + +"The motorman is, though! He has been carried into the drug-store." + +Frank looked toward the drug-store, and saw an ambulance dash up to +convey the injured man to the hospital. + +"Glad you're all right!" turning again to the baseball-captain. "These +things are cranky at times. I've had some experience with one." + +A policeman pushed forward to take possession of the automobile until +the company could send another motorman. + +The ambulance dashed away, and Browning, Diamond, and Rattleton came +across the street hurriedly from the apothecary's. Bink and Danny, Gamp +and Dismal--other friends of his--were already crowding round Merriwell. +Back of them was a pushing, excited throng. + +"Which way did that carriage go?" Kirk demanded. + +"Which carriage?" + +"The one that was just ahead of us. I was chasing it in the automobile?" + +"With a driver in a green livery and a bay horse?" asked the newsboy, +who had pushed into the inner circle. + +"Yes. Which way did it go?" + +"Turned de first corner." + +"Let's get a cab!" said Kirk. "Come, I want you to go with me!" + +He caught Merriwell by the arm. A cab had drawn up near the curbing, and +toward this they moved, Merriwell reserving his questions until later. + +Dunstan hurriedly gave instructions to the driver, and climbed in after +Merriwell. + +"Now, what does this mean?" Frank demanded, as the cab started with a +lurch. "What sort of a wild-goose chase are you on?" + +"What made that auto-carriage do that way?" + +"There was something the matter with it, I suppose." + +"It struck me that the motorman may have been in the pay of the fellow I +was chasing." + +He lowered his voice, even though the rattling of hoofs and wheels and +the noises of the street rendered it wholly improbable that the driver +or any one else could hear what was spoken inside. + +"Frankly, Merriwell, the chap I was chasing looked like Morton Agnew! I +was in Mason & Fettig's, five or six blocks above, when some one came +into the other room and passed a counterfeit ten-dollar bill on the +proprietor. He discovered it while the fellow was going through the +door, and gave a call. I ran to the door and saw the rascal--not well, +you know, but a side glance--not much more than a flash--and I thought +he was Agnew. Of course, I couldn't swear to it. I may have been +mistaken. But to satisfy myself, I jumped into that automobile and gave +chase. He saw I was pursuing him and he sprang into a cab. I was +determined to overhaul the scamp and satisfy myself on that one point. +Perhaps I ought not to mention the name, as I am so uncertain, and I +shall not mention it to any one else." + +Dunstan Kirk, the athletic and capable captain of the baseball-team, had +come to admire and trust Frank Merriwell. He had seen enough to know +that Frank could be trusted in any way and in any place. + +"What do you think of it?" he asked. + +"That there is no chance now of discovering whether your suspicions were +true or false. Unless"--hesitatingly--"you should cause Agnew's arrest, +and have him taken before the man who was cheated. Or you might tell the +man your suspicions, and let him act in the matter." + +"I am not certain enough!" said Kirk. "It's too bad he got away! The +motorman couldn't have been in his pay?" + +"If so, he has received his pay!" said Merry meaningly. "He went out of +that seat on his head and struck hard. I think the motorman simply found +the hansom unmanageable, for some reason. Those carriages take freaks at +times." + +"And your opinion about Agnew?" + +"He isn't too good to do such a thing, and I have had reason to believe +lately that he is hard up. He used to hold himself up by his winnings at +cards, but he has cheated so outrageously and boldly that the students +fight pretty shy of him." + +"We're just wasting our time, I'm afraid!" Kirk grumbled, as the cab +rattled on down the street. + +"Hold on!" said Merriwell, looking through the window. "There is your +green-liveried driver and your bay horse!" + +Though the cab in question was standing by a curbing, Frank saw at a +glance that the horse was sweaty and showed other signs of recent fast +driving. + +"Empty, and the bird has flown!" he observed, as the cab they were in +stopped and they got out. "Whoever he was--Agnew, or another man--he has +had time to escape!" + +The green-liveried driver was questioned, but no information of value +was obtained, and when it was seen that there was no chance of settling +the question which had moved Dunstan Kirk to the pursuit, Kirk settled +with the driver of the cab that had brought them thus far, and he and +Merriwell went into the nearest restaurant. + +"I understand you don't smoke, or I might be tempted to order cigars," +he said, as a waiter came forward for their orders, after they had taken +seats at a table in one of the small side rooms. "I wanted to have a +talk with you about certain matters. Not about Agnew, but concerning +Buck Badger!" + +When the waiter had gone he continued: + +"I am interested in Badger's pitching. The fellow has good pitching +ability. But he is erratic. Sometimes he pitches wonderfully. Then the +very next time he will fall away down. I am convinced that what he needs +as much as anything else is the right kind of encouragement." + +"I consider him one of the very best of the new men who have come up +with pitching ambitions," said Merriwell. "I have noticed the things you +say." + +"You were kind enough some time ago to recommend him to my notice," Kirk +went on, as if feeling his way. "You would be glad to help him, +perhaps." + +"I shall be very glad to help him, if I can, and to serve you in any +way, Kirk. But you know he doesn't like me very well. There must be a +willingness on both sides, you see--just as it takes two to make a +quarrel!" + +"I haven't sounded him, but I fancy he would be willing. He isn't doing +any good lately. You may have noticed that, too?" + +"Yes." + +The waiter brought the things ordered, and went away again. + +"That _Crested Foam_ affair is the cause, I fancy," Dunstan Kirk went +on, breaking a cracker and helping himself to some cheese. + +Frank Merriwell had thought the same, but he did not wish to say so. + +"He hasn't acted right since then. And by right, I mean natural, you +understand! I suppose it grinds him to know that such a fellow as Barney +Lynn could drug and rob him in that way." + +Merriwell flashed Dunstan Kirk a quick look. It was evident that the +captain of the Yale baseball-team did not know that Buck Badger was +intoxicated when he was lured aboard the excursion steamer, _Crested +Foam_. + +A similar imperfect knowledge of the true condition of affairs at that +time had been noticed by Merriwell in the conversation of others. The +newspapers in the notices of the burning of the steamer had given +attention chiefly to Lynn, merely stating briefly that Badger had been +drugged and robbed by the ex-boat-keeper. + +"I shouldn't think it would be a pleasant reflection," Frank answered. + +"Very humiliating to a man of Badger's character. And it has just taken +the heart out of him. Until that time he was one of the most promising +of the new pitchers at Yale. I was expecting good things from him. Now +he seems to be nothing but a blighted 'has-been!'" + +Merriwell smiled. + + "And of all the sad words of tongue or pen, + The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" + +"Just so," assented Kirk. "It's too bad to see a capable fellow go to +the bone pile! I don't like it. I talked with him and tried to encourage +him, but it had no permanent effect. He braced up for a little while, +and then slumped again." + +"At heart, Badger is very proud!" Frank explained. "He wouldn't admit +it, perhaps, even to himself. He craves popularity, too, though he +affects not to care at all for the opinions of others. It has been his +misfortune not to be popular. His disposition is against it. This has +made him very sore at times, though he has tried to conceal the fact. +Now you can see that to a man of his disposition the things that +happened on the _Crested Foam_ would be tremendously depressing." + +The captain of the ball-team would have seen even more clearly how +depressing they were if he had known all that Merriwell knew. + +"Somehow, he seems to me like a man who is under the impression that he +has lost all of his friends," said Kirk. "He needs to be assured that +such is not the case--that his friends and acquaintances have no desire +to cut him. I think if that could be done he would come out of the +slough of despond and be worth something. We may need him this summer; +or a man who has his pitching ability ought to develop into something +worth while." + +Frank saw that Dunstan Kirk was edging toward some kind of a request. + +"If there is anything I can do!" he invited. + +"Well, as your picked nine is to play Abernathy's nine, of Hartford, on +the ball-grounds here next Saturday, I wondered if you would be willing +to let Badger pitch. It is an unheard-of sort of request to make, I +know, and it leaves me under the suspicion of wanting to see you beaten +by the Hartford fellows. But I hope you know me well enough to +understand that such cannot be the case." + +"Sure! I'd never thought of it, if you hadn't!" + +"I've thought of asking this of you for a day or two. You see, if you, +who are not particularly Badger's friend, show such a disposition to +recognize and honor his pitching abilities, it ought to brace him up!" + +Merriwell drummed thoughtfully on the table. + +"Perhaps it can be done! If it will brace him up any and put him on his +feet, I shall be glad to show Badger all the consideration I can." + +"I was almost afraid to mention it," explained Kirk, "for I know that he +has not felt just right toward you. But if you will?" + +"I intended to pitch that game myself, for Abernathy's men are not the +easiest things on the planet. Of course, if Badger falls down, I should +be compelled to go into the box and do my best to save the day. And with +a fellow like Badger, that might not work well. It would be just like +him to think that I did it to humiliate him and show myself the better +pitcher! You see the possibility?" + +"Yes, I see it!" + +There were other considerations, which Frank did not desire at the +moment to mention. + +"I'll have a talk with Badger, and see what I can do!" Kirk went on. +"When he was so wildly ambitious, a little while back, a word from me +might have settled it; but I suppose I shall have to show him by +argument that he ought to accept your friendly offer. You authorize me +to make that as an offer?" + +"Yes. I'm willing to try to help Badger. He has good stuff in him, and, +as you say, it would be too bad for him to get into the dumps and +neglect to develop it. I can arrange it, I think, and, if he will pitch +for us Saturday, he may. With the clear understanding that I am at +liberty without question to take the pitcher's box at any time I see +fit!" + +"Of course!" + +The captain's face had brightened. He was not a partisan of Buck Badger, +nor of any man. He cared only for the recognition and development of the +best Yale players and the triumph of the Yale nine. And because he +recognized in Frank Merriwell these same unselfish qualities he had come +to him with this request. + +"I doubt much if Badger will accept the offer," said Frank. + +"I shall take the offer to him, anyway. I believe it will brighten him +to receive it, even if he refuses it. That desire for popularity which +you mentioned will, I think, make him accept. He may tell himself and +all his friends that he doesn't care for your opinion, but he does, just +the same! He can't help caring for the opinion of any man who is a +gentleman. I shall approach him carefully!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED. + + +"Huah!" grunted Browning, opening his eyes a trifle in surprise, "don't +that jar you?" + +"What will Bart say?" gasped Rattleton. + +"Merriwell doesn't have to take his orders from Hodge!" snapped Diamond. +"But, just the same, I think it's a fool sort of agreement!" + +Merriwell was in his room talking to some of his friends of the request +of the baseball-captain. + +"Hodge will be cot under the holler!" sputtered Rattleton. + +"My dear Rattles, don't worry about Hodge!" Diamond begged. + +"If you had only said to that captain, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!'" +grumbled Dismal Jones. "But, of course, you could not resist such a +temptation! When evil makes itself seem to us good, we're sure to give +way. 'Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall!'" + +Merriwell smiled. He liked to get the opinions of his friends, though +usually he acted on his own. + +"So you think it was a temptation instead of an opportunity?" + +"What is a temptation?" chirped Bink Stubbs. + +"Why, every time you grin at me that way I want to hit you in the +mouth," explained Danny. "It's a temptation I can hardly resist!" + +"Crush it!" yelled Bink, feinting with his fists. "If you don't, I'll +have to!" + +"Somebody throw those idiots out of the window!" growled Bruce, seeking +solace in his pipe. + +"Somebody give me a light for this cigarette first," begged Danny. "If I +must fall I want help to alight!" + +"Shouldn't think you'd need it!" Browning declared. "You have a light +head. It would hold you up like a balloon!" + +"Of course, if the captain wanted you to take on Badger and you've +promised to do it, you'll have to go ahead. I'll band sty you--I mean +I'll stand by you! I'll do my best to hold down third, no matter who is +pitching." + +Frank gave Rattleton a grateful look. + +"You're always loyal, Harry!" + +"Oh, I suppose that all of us will have to accept it, and do the best we +can," Diamond admitted, "but I don't like it, and that's flat. None of +us has fallen in love with Buck Badger!" + +"We'll be bub-bub-bub-beat worse than any old drum!" grunted Gamp. + +"Everlastingly thumped!" wailed Danny. + +"I don't know that I can get up enough interest to do much good on +first," grumbled Bruce, who was as little pleased as any one. + +"What's the use of going to the trouble of playing when you know at the +start that you're to be defeated?" + +"Look here, Bruce!" said Merriwell firmly. "I don't want to hear you +talk that way! We are not going to be beaten. We will wallop Abernathy's +men, and don't you worry. We can do it all right!" + +"Isn't that the crack team of Hartford?" demanded Diamond. + +"Yes. Nothing better over there, I think." + +"Then there will be no dead-easy business about it. They're not going to +lie down and let us walk over them, just for the purpose of stiffening +the spine of that Kansan!" + +Jack Diamond was disgusted with the outlook. + +"Have I said that they are easy?" Merriwell asked. "I only said I felt +sure we could defeat them. And we can. Badger is a good pitcher. You +know that. And if he loses his nerve, I shall very promptly take his +place. There will be no monkeying. You are the fellows that seem to be +in the notion of lying down." + +"Oh, well play!" grunted Bruce. "We're just airing our little opinions. +I expected to see you in the box Saturday, and I'm disappointed. I +suppose that's all!" + +He gave a tug at his pipe and rolled over lazily on the lounge, as if +that settled it. + +"Of course we'll play," agreed Diamond. "But I don't like to go into the +game with Badger in the box. I don't like him. The fellow has made +himself an insufferable nuisance. I don't agree with you that he is such +a wonder. He's a very ordinary fellow, with a rich father and a swelled +head. Out West, where he came from, everybody got down on their knees to +him, and here at Yale that sort of business don't go. Nobody cares +whether his father is a cattleman or a cow-puncher. He wants to be +worshiped, and Yale isn't in the worshiping business. Consequently, he's +sore all the time!" + +Jack forgot that, when he arrived at Yale a few years ago, he expected +homage on account of his family and pedigree. + +"And I don't forget that he went aboard the _Crested Foam_ blind drunk, +and made an ass of himself generally!" said Bruce, rousing again. + +"That's one reason Merry wants to give him a show!" said Rattleton. +"Badger has an idea that everybody who knows about it feels just as you +do, and Frank wants to show him that they don't. See?" + +"Oh, we'll play, of course!" Bruce grumbled, rolling back again. + +"Sus-sure!" declared Gamp. "Whatever Mum-Merry says, +gug-gug-gug-gug----" + +"Are you trying to say goshfry?" Danny mildly asked, wetting the end of +an unlighted cigarette. + +"Gug-goes!" sputtered Gamp, giving Danny a kick that fairly lifted him +from the floor. "You mum-mum-mum-measly runt, I'll kuk-kill you!" + +"Because he's a joker, Danny thinks he is the only card in the pack!" +said Dismal. + +"If Merry says we can go into that game next Saturday with Badger in the +box and earth the wipe--I mean wipe the earth with those fellows from +Hartford, we can do it!" Rattleton declared emphatically. "You know he +wouldn't say such a thing if he wasn't sure of it." + +"There are only two absolutely sure things, death and taxes," said +Merriwell soberly. "If I put too much emphasis on my belief, I'll have +to withdraw it. I mean to say that I believe we can." + +"And that's about the same as saying that we can!" Rattleton asserted. + +"I'm only doubtful about Bart," said Dismal, like a prophet of evil. + +"He will never catch for Badger!" Diamond declared. + +"I think he will!" sputtered Rattleton. "He will see it just as we do, +after Merry talks with him. Of course, we don't any of us love Badger, +but what's the difference?" + +"Let 'er go!" cried Bink, holding up his hands as if they gripped a bat. +"Of course, we'll play ball!" + +"Of course!" said Dismal. "We'll pitch Bart out of the camp if he makes +a kick. The fellow that balks on that, when he understands it, is 'fit +for treason, stratagem, and spoil!'" + +Shortly after, Merriwell met Hodge on the campus, coming from the fence. +He saw at once that Bart was "steaming." + +"Look here, Merriwell," said Hodge, bristling with indignation. "It +surely can't be true that you're going to put Badger into the pitcher's +box next Saturday?" + +Frank took him by the arm and turned with him away from the crowd. + +"Yes," he answered, "I have promised to do that." + +Hodge's face grew black with wrath. + +"You've made a fool of yourself!" he roughly declared. "I wouldn't +believe it. I said it was a lie, and I threatened to thump the face off +of Donald Pike because he told it. Say, Merry, you don't really mean +it?" + +Frank had dropped Bart's arm, but they still walked on together. It was +easy to see that he did not like Hodge's tone and manner. + +"I must say you are outspoken and far from complimentary," he observed. + +"I know I don't talk like this to you often." + +"That's right. If you did, I'm afraid we might not be such good +friends." + +"But I must talk straight now, Merry!" + +"I'm willing that you shall drive ahead, but I want you to hold in your +temper. Don't let it run away with you." + +"Great Scott! how can I hold in my temper under such provocation?" + +"Simply by holding it in." + +"But you know how I hate Badger? You know that we're bitter enemies! You +know what I think of him!" + +"I think I've heard you express some sentiments along that line." + +"You know that he was drunk when he went aboard that excursion steamer! +And he can't pitch!" + +"You are wrong there!" Frank declared positively. "He can pitch." + +"Why, Merry, those Hartford fellows will just put it all over us. I tell +you it won't do! You must give it up!" + +"I suppose you know why I promised to let him pitch?" + +"Well, I haven't heard, but I can guess. After you'd saved him from +drowning himself, and he came to realize what everything meant, he came +licking round you, professing gratitude and friendship, and all that +sort of stuff. And you----" + +"See here, Hodge!" said Frank, with uncommon sternness. "I won't stand +talk like that, and you ought to know it. I'm your friend, as I've +proved many times, but I can't remain your friend if you treat me that +way. I'm ready to hear your opinions, but I won't stand abuse from you +or any other man!" + +"I told you a good while ago that whenever you and Badger ceased to be +enemies you would become friends!" Bart declared, somewhat softened. +"And now it has come true. You are wanting to befriend and help him now, +just as I knew you would. And after all the dirt he has done you! Why, +he's put dirt all over you a dozen times!" + +The memory of it caused Bart to lose his head again. + +"Badger is my enemy! A man who is his friend is no friend of mine! That +is flat! I don't think I can make it plainer." + +"You can't; it's plain enough. Badger is not my friend, but I am not his +enemy." + +"Don't tell me, Merriwell! You are his friend. You wouldn't ask such a +thing, if you weren't. You must know that every one of the fellows will +kick. What did you make such a fool promise for?" + +Merriwell's face was flushed. + +"You are making reckless talk, just because you are badly excited, old +man! I am sure you will be sorry as soon as you cool off. If I didn't +think so, I'd say some things that would be hot enough to take the skin +off your face! Now, listen here! I have promised Dunstan Kirk to let +Badger pitch next Saturday in that game against Hartford. Kirk thinks it +will brace Badger up a little, and perhaps it will. I am willing to help +Badger. He can pitch. We need good pitchers. Besides, I have given Kirk +my promise. I mean to keep it." + +Up to that moment, angry and unreasonable as he was, Bart had +half-believed that Merriwell might yet back out of his position, and +refuse to let Buck go into the box. He saw now how mistaken he had been. + +"And you expect me to catch for that scoundrel?" he demanded, shaking +with rage. "I tell you, Merriwell, I won't do it! I'll do any reasonable +thing you want me to do, but I won't do that! I draw the line there, +short and sharp! I won't play in a nine with Buck Badger!" + +"Very well, then, we'll have to get along without you!" + +"Do you mean it, Merry?" Hodge gasped. "Do you mean that you will choose +him before me?" + +"Nothing of the kind, and you ought to know it. You would know it, if +you were not just blind with anger and prejudice. I am not choosing +Badger in preference to any of my friends!" + +"Why aren't you?" + +"Because I am not. There is no choosing of friends in this. I have said +Badger shall pitch in that game. That does not make him my friend, and +it ought not to drive any of my friends away. I am manager of the picked +nine, and I supposed that my friends who had known me so long would be +willing that I should have some privileges." + +"But when I declare I won't catch?" + +"You have no right to make any such declaration." + +"Why haven't I?" + +"Simply because, as my friend, you ought to be willing to aid me in this +matter. I shall not put it on any other ground." + +"I'll do anything for you, Merry, but that. I can't do that!" + +"You mean you will not do it!" + +"I won't do it!" + +"Then I shall get another catcher!" + +"Do you mean it?" + +"I mean it!" + +Hodge seemed stunned for a moment. Then his rage boiled over. + +"All right, Merry!" he flashed. "If you want to favor a scoundrel like +Badger instead of me, you can do it. But I will not catch in that game. +I refuse to play on any nine with Badger! I----" + +"I remember to have heard you say those things before!" said Frank, +turning short about. "We will not discuss it any further, Bart. You are +a free man. You may do as you please. I shall not argue the matter with +you. Badger is going to pitch for me Saturday forenoon. Good day!" + +Hodge stopped and looked after him, all white and shaky, as Merriwell +walked away. + +Then the hot blood rushed in a tide into his dark face, and he, too, +turned and walked off, filled with smothered exclamations and raging +like a volcano. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PIKE'S LITTLE PLAN. + + +Donald Pike was in a nagging mood. He walked up and down the room a few +times, finally stopping in front of his chum, Buck Badger. They had been +talking about the Saturday ball-game, and both were in bad humor. + +"I don't know what's the matter with you, Badger! I'm disgusted with +you!" + +The Westerner shifted his feet nervously, but said nothing. + +"Perhaps you consider it an honor to receive that invitation from +Merriwell? I don't! I am surprised that he sent it." + +Badger shifted his feet again, and shrugged his thick shoulders. His +face was flushed and his eyes looked troubled. + +"I am, too!" + +"He had a motive, of course!" + +Badger tossed a leg over the arm of his chair, and looked out of the +window. + +"It has been his boast all along that he would have you in his flock by +and by! You have always sworn by all that's good and bad that you would +never become a friend of his!" + +"I'm not a friend of his!" + +Pike laughed sneeringly. + +"What do you call it? If I say a word against Frank Merriwell you want +to eat me up. It's come to that! You were ready to fight him any minute, +at first; now you're ready to lick the polish off his shoes, just like +the rest of those fellows." + +"Nothing of the kind!" Badger hotly declared. + +"Well, you're going to pitch for his picked team Saturday!" + +"Kirk asked me to." + +"And Merriwell sent him?" + +"Yes!" + +"And they have become such friends that they're almost chums. The +fellows are beginning to say that Dunstan Kirk manages the Yale +ball-team, and Frank Merriwell manages Dunstan Kirk. They are about +right, I guess!" + +"I allow that I'm no nearer being Merriwell's chum than I ever was. We +could never be chums. But I'm not going to forget what he did for me on +the _Crested Foam_. He saved my life, then, Pike!" + +"And proposes to wind you round his fingers and drag you at his heels to +make you pay for it!" + +"So, when he sent me that invitation, and I talked it over with Kirk, I +thought I ought to accept it." + +"Don't you know that Hodge will refuse to catch?" + +"Don't talk about him!" Badger hissed. + +"He has already said that he will not catch for such a scoundrel as +you!" + +"Did he say that?" + +"He says you will lose them the game; that it's an outrage to put you +into the box, and he won't be a party to it. He says you can't pitch." + +"Can't I? He says that, does he?" + +"He says that if Frank Merriwell takes up with you, he will never speak +to him again. Anyhow, what good will it do you to pitch for Merriwell? +You'll be no nearer getting a show on the regular nine." + +Badger shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and showed his broad +white teeth unpleasantly. Pike was again walking up and down the room. + +"I'd almost be willing to become a member of Merriwell's flock just to +spite Bart Hodge. My hands just naturally go up, and I want to fight +whenever I see him. That's whatever!" + +"Oh, you two will be as chummy as the Siamese twins in less than a +month." + +"Never! I hate him too badly." + +"That's the way you were talking of Merriwell a month ago. You will come +round to it!" + +"Not on your life! Hodge is a different sort of fellow from Merriwell, I +allow." + +"And you are going to accept that invitation?" + +"I told you, Pike, that I have already accepted it. I'm not Merriwell's +friend, and I despise Bart Hodge; but I'm not ungrateful. Whatever other +things we learn out West, we learn to pay back favor for favor. I'd be a +dirty coyote if I refused to accept that invitation after what Merriwell +did for me. That's the way I look at it. I know that I can pitch ball. +You know it, too. I can twirl a ball just as good as Frank Merriwell, or +any other fellow in Yale, and you know that, too. I reckon I'm able to +ride my bronco alone, without Merriwell's help. I am not asking +favors--none whatever! I'm simply returning a favor already given! You +can see through that, can't you? If you can't, you're as chuckle-headed +as a prairie-dog!" + +"I can see that you are becoming Frank Merriwell's friend just as fast +as you can!" + +"You're riding away off the line, Pike! I shall never be Merry's friend +in the sense you think. But you know that he is the clean white article. +He is straight goods. I've found that out. I used to think different, +just as you do, but I've found out I was mistaken. He is a square man. +And when he sent that invitation I knew there was no underhand business +about it whatever. That's the reason I accepted it; that and because it +would have made me feel meaner than a Digger Indian if I had refused it. +I'm going to pitch for him Saturday forenoon, and I'll win that game for +him, too. Don't you let that fact escape your memory! I hope Bart Hodge +will refuse to catch. I'm afraid I couldn't resist the temptation to +throw the ball square at his head every time, if he was behind the bat. +I want him to stay out!" + +"Well, you're a fool!" Pike snapped, striding toward the door. "I never +thought you'd do a thing like that. You are no more like the old Badger +than a calf is like a mountain-lion. You had some fire in you once, but +you have become as soft as a ninny. The whole thing simply makes me +sick." + +Badger's face was red and his neck veins were swelling. + +"I'm not used to any such talk whatever, Pike!" he exclaimed, as Pike +hurled these sentences back at him from the doorway. "If you say +anything like that again I'll kick you down-stairs! I've taken more off +of you to-night than I ever thought I could take from any one, and I +won't stand it any longer!" + +"Cool off, old man!" Pike sneered. "You're making a chuckle-headed +prairie-dog out of yourself, I think. If you should kick me you would +kick the best friend you ever had. Good-by. See you later!" + +The Westerner did not even grunt a reply, but sat still in his chair +with his hands in his pockets, his eyes glittering, his broad teeth +showing, his neck veins protuberant and his face as red as a boiled +lobster, while Pike walked away. + +When Pike came back to the room Badger was gone. Pike entered with his +own key. He knew that the Westerner would likely be away a number of +hours, calling on Winnie Lee. He glanced round the room, then went to +the closet in which Badger's clothing hung. + +Pike was crafty in his hate. He did not intend to lose his grip of the +Kansan. He realized that he had gone almost too far. Badger would bear a +good deal from him because of what they had been to each other, but to +this there were limits. He felt that he had nearly reached the limit. + +"He shall not pitch ball Saturday, if I can help it!" he hissed, as he +looked over the things in the closet. "If I can work it, it will make +Hodge so hot against him that there will be a fight. And perhaps it will +turn Merriwell and his precious flock against him, too. It's risky, but +it is worth all the risk." + +He took out a suit of Badger's clothes, and laid it in a chair. Then he +went to a desk and selected from it some "make-up" preparations which +had been there ever since the production of the sophomore play, "A +Mountain Vendetta." Then, after locking the door, he arrayed himself in +Badger's suit, and, standing before the mirror, applied the preparations +to his face, forehead, and eyebrows. + +Pike had a good deal of artistic skill in such matters, and in a short +time he had darkened his face, blackened his brows and drawn certain +lines and colors, that, together with the change produced by the +clothing, made him resemble Badger in a remarkable manner. When he put +on Badger's hat the alteration seemed complete. + +"Of course, that wouldn't stand close inspection," he muttered. "But +there will be no close inspection. I shall look out for that. Now for +the voice!" + +He bunched up his shoulders to give them a thick look, cleared his +throat, and looking straight at himself in the glass, began to imitate +Badger's tones and characteristics of speech, speaking so low, however, +that there was no danger of being heard by any one who might chance to +pass. + +"I allow that I'm a Kansan from away beyond the Kaw, and I reckon I'm a +diamond pure without the slightest flaw! Sure! A genuine prairie-dog +from the short-grass country couldn't chatter more like a Westerner than +that. That would fool Badger himself. That's whatever! Yes, I reckon. My +daddy is a rancher, and I allow that I am great; for my home is on the +boundless plains of the wonderful Sunflower State! If I should practise, +I reckon I could become a poet!" + +Satisfied with his make-up and his abilities to imitate Badger's tone +and language, Donald Pike returned the unused articles to the drawer, +put away the clothing he had removed, and then sneaked down into the +campus, carrying under his coat a long, stout cord. Keeping away from +the electric lamps and other lights he slipped stealthily on until he +reached the entrance which led to the rooms occupied by Merriwell and +Hodge. + +Diamond and Browning came down, talking in low tones of Merry and Bart, +and from this talk, Pike, who had withdrawn into the shadows, learned +that both Hodge and Frank were out in town somewhere. This suited Pike's +plans, and when Diamond and Bruce disappeared, he crawled into the +shadow of a column and watched the path along which Hodge and Merriwell +would come on their return. + +"They'll not come back together, sure, unless all the stories I've heard +are lies; for they're not on speaking terms!" he reflected. "The only +thing I fear is that Hodge may not care to come to his rooms at all." + +The thought made him uneasy, and caused the vigil which followed to +appear torturingly long. + +"Ah! there he is!" he whispered, at last. + +Slipping across the path, he tied an end of the cord he had brought to a +post, then retreated into the shadow and tied the other end about the +column. The youth he had seen came on at a brisk walk. Pike was sure it +was Hodge. He almost ceased to breathe as the unsuspecting young fellow +approached the cord. He put himself in position for a hasty spring. + +Crash! + +The youth tripped over the string, and went down headlong, falling +heavily. + +"I reckon I've got you now!" Pike hissed in a low tone, imitating +Badger's voice, and at the same time leaping toward the prostrate form. +Deceived by the darkness, Donald Pike had tripped Frank Merriwell, but +he did not yet know it. With that imitation of the Westerner's speech, +he knocked Merriwell down, as the latter tried to get up. + +Again he struck, as Frank attempted to rise, but Merriwell dodged the +blow, and, catching Pike by the legs, threw him. Before Pike could +realize what had happened, Merriwell was on top, with his fingers at +Pike's throat. + +"You scoundrel!" Frank hissed. "I am tempted to give you what you +deserve for that!" + +But Pike was not ready to surrender, though he knew now that he had +committed a woful blunder. In fact, the knowledge that he was dealing +with Frank Merriwell aroused him to a fierce resistance. He felt that it +would simply be ruinous to be held and recognized by Merriwell, and he +began to fight like a demon to get away. + +He freed his hands, and struck Frank heavily in the face, at the same +time kicking with all his might. He tried to thrust his thumbs into +Frank's eyes. + +"I'll kill you, if you don't let me go!" he snarled. + +Frank had felt from the first that his assailant could not be Buck +Badger; now he recognized the voice of Donald Pike, for Pike, in his +fright and desperation, forgot to keep up the disguise. + +Seeing that the only way to deal with Pike was to choke him into +semi-insensibility, he caught and crushed down the flailing fists and +arms and tightened his grip on Pike's throat. Pike writhed and flounced, +kicking and struggling, but all without avail. That viselike grip grew +tighter and tighter. The pain seemed unbearable. He gurgled and choked, +and his lungs seemed to be bursting. He could not breathe, and his brain +began to reel. + +"Give in?" Frank asked. + +"Don't k-k-k-ill me!" Pike gasped, as the grip on his throat relaxed. + +"You deserve it, you scoundrel!" + +Frank took his knee from Pike's breast, removed the choking hand, and +flung Pike from him. + +"Now get up!" he commanded. "Get up before I am tempted to kick you +across the campus!" + +Pike shuffled and evaded, as his breath came back. + +"I thought you were Badger, and I was just playing a little joke on +you!" he whined. + +"Get up!" Frank exclaimed. + +Pike struggled up, and Merriwell jerked him toward the nearest light. He +saw the "make-up," and recognized the clothes as some he had seen on the +Kansan. + +"What were you up to?" he demanded, with threatening emphasis. He saw +forms moving in the campus, and he did not want to tarry with Pike. + +"Just a little sport!" Pike whined. He was completely crushed. + +"You lie, Donald Pike! You had some object. I can almost guess what it +was. You imitated Badger's voice and way of speaking, when you jumped on +me. You are wearing Badger's clothing. That make-up is intended to lead +any one who sees you into thinking you were Buck Badger. You wanted to +make me believe that Badger had assaulted me." + +"Just a joke!" Pike pleaded. "Merriwell, I didn't mean anything, only to +have a bit of sport. That is honest. I didn't know it was you." + +"Ah! That last sounds as if you meant it. I hardly think you did know +who you were tackling. I think I shall take you over to Badger's room, +and let him see you just as you are. Come along!" + +Pike was not anxious to be seen by the men who were crossing the campus, +so he moved along, with Frank at his side. + +Frank was thinking rapidly, in an effort to understand Pike's motives. + +"I want to know why you leaped on me in that cowardly way, and struck me +when I was down. You wouldn't have served Badger that way! And if you +wanted to have a little fun with Badger, you would not have disguised +yourself and imitated his way of speaking. That story don't go with me, +Pike!" + +Pike was watching for a chance to escape, intending to make a dash for +liberty at the first opportunity. + +"You are disguised as Badger. Badger would not assault me that way, for +Badger is a man! But you wanted to make some one think he had been +assaulted by Badger. That one must be Bart Hodge!" + +Pike started to run, but Frank caught him by the collar, and jerked him +back. + +"Don't be in a hurry, Pike! I've seen you through and through for some +time, and understand your little game of this evening." + +Donald Pike walked on for a time peaceably enough, but he was only +watching for an opportunity to break away. Again he fancied the +opportunity had come. But no sooner did he start than Frank tripped him, +and he fell sprawling. Before he could get up, Frank's hand was on his +collar. + +He made another fierce struggle as soon as he was on his feet, only to +discover that he was as helpless as a child in the hands of Frank +Merriwell. He had never dreamed that Merriwell was possessed of such +strength and skill. + +The shadows were heavier at this point, and Merriwell kept a grip on +Pike's collar. + +"See here, Pike!" he exclaimed. "If you try anything of that kind again +I shall simply knock you down. You are going with me, if I have to tie +and drag you. So you might as well come along quietly and save trouble." + +"I shall have you arrested for this!" Pike blustered, now that whining +and begging and fighting had failed. + +"Do! I think your friends would enjoy hearing the story of your +remarkable masquerade told in court. Go ahead with the proceedings, +Donald. Just now you are going with me, regardless of the after +consequences." + +Pike caught at a post, but Merriwell jerked him away from it, and then +hurried him rapidly on in the direction of Badger's room. Pike was sure +Badger was not in, and began to think that he might save himself bruises +and rough treatment by apparent acquiescence. + +"I will go with you," he finally panted, "but under protest. And I shall +make you sorry for this outrage. You have no right to treat me thus." + +Merriwell did not answer, but kept a hand on Pike's collar while he +conducted him up the stairs. To Pike's consternation, Buck Badger was in +the room and the door was open. + +Before Pike could quite make up his mind to try again to escape, +Merriwell had bundled him through the doorway. + +Badger scrambled up. + +"There is your friend!" said Merriwell, pointing a finger accusingly at +Pike, who was too confused and humiliated to speak. "He disguised +himself that way, and attacked me awhile ago near my room, thinking I +was Bart Hodge. He has found out his mistake. He wanted to make Hodge +think that you had done the dirty work, so that you and Hodge would lock +horns the first time you met, and there would be trouble again all +around the camp. He is a contemptible and cowardly puppy, and I feel +that I have soiled my hands by touching him. But I wanted you to see him +in that rig, and know him as he is." + +A fierce denial was on the lips of Donald Pike, but he had not the +courage to utter it. He saw that something more than denials would be +necessary to explain matters. The Westerner was as speechless as Pike, +and Merriwell turned away. + +"I reckon we'll have a little explanation of this, Pike!" were the words +Merry heard as he reached the head of the stairs. They were spoken in an +awesome tone of voice, and came from Badger's lips. + +Then the door closed with a bang, and he knew that the Kansan had barred +the way of Pike's escape from the room. The next morning Frank received +this note: + + "MR. FRANK MERRIWELL: Pike and I had a settlement last night. He + tried to lie out of the thing, but I made him confess to the whole + truth. Then I kicked him down-stairs. We are not rooming together + any more whatever. BUCK BADGER." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AT THE HOME OF WINNIE LEE. + + +Frank Merriwell seemed the personification of spring as he approached +the residence of Fairfax Lee, the next afternoon. Spring is the time +when the wine of life flows warm through the veins of Nature. Its face +holds the bloom of youth and the smile of hope. Its heart is all aglow +with the joy of living. The golden summer is before it; and it has no +dead past, for the winter seems to belong to the year that has gone. + +A handsomer specimen of young manhood could not have been found. The +flowering spray in his buttonhole seemed part of the jaunty new suit +which so became him. He was clean-looking and energetically wholesome. +From the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was nattily neat, +yet he was as far from being dudish in appearance as it is possible for +one to be. He looked to be what he was--strong, and lithe-limbed, almost +physically perfect, with a handsome, intelligent face, hopeful, +courageous heart, and active brain. + +Yet many things had come to trouble him in the past twenty-four hours, +even though his bright face showed not a trace of their annoying effect. +Chief of these things, of course, was the defection of Bart Hodge. Hodge +had gone away stubbornly angry, and Merriwell had not seen him since the +moment of parting. + +Every member of the "flock" was hot against Hodge, and had not hesitated +to speak plainly. Hodge's rebellious spirit had rallied them round +Merriwell as one man. Browning and Diamond had even argued that he ought +not to be longer recognized as a member of Merriwell's set. The only one +who had ventured to stand up for him, aside from Merriwell himself, was +Harry Rattleton. Frank had defended him to the last, insisting that +allowances should be made for the peculiarities of Bart's disposition, +and asserting that he would be found all right in the end. + +Frank was thinking of all this as he drew near the home of Winnie Lee. +His intention was to call on Inza and have a talk with her about the +'Varsity boat-races at New London in June, for Inza was the "mascot" of +the Yale crew that was to meet Harvard at New London. In addition, he +expected to inform her and her friends of the arrangements made for the +ball-game with Hartford on Saturday. + +He looked about him after he had tripped lightly up the steps and rang +the bell. The Lee home was in a fashionable and exclusive part of New +Haven, and the spacious grounds were beginning to take on beauty and +color under the reviving influences of spring. A fountain, shot through +with rainbow hues, was spraying a marble sprite, while a rheumatic +gardener troweled round the rim of a loamy flower-bed. + +Winnie, who had observed Merriwell's approach, came to the door herself +to admit him. + +"Oh, you didn't come to see me?" she asked, when he inquired for Inza. + +"That would be pleasant enough, but it wouldn't do to make Buck +jealous!" + +He laughed in his cheery way. + +"I don't think it would be easy to make him jealous of you now," she +answered. "And I'm so glad he is to pitch for you Saturday! I want to +thank you for that, myself. It was just like you to send such an +invitation." + +Merriwell's eyes dropped under her earnest look. He dared not tell her +just then that the invitation had been procured by Dunstan Kirk. + +"Who told you he is to pitch Saturday?" + +"Why, he told me so this morning himself." + +"And, of course, you have told Elsie and Inza?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I want to see Inza, and have a talk with her, about the New +London races. So I think I will take a car for Mrs. Moran's." + +Winnie had informed him that both Inza and Elsie had gone on an errand +of mercy to the home of the grandmother of Barney Lynn. + +"And you won't come in, even a little while? You prefer their society to +mine, I see! I am ashamed of you, Frank Merriwell! You are not as +gallant as you used to be." + +Her voice was merry and her heart light. + +"Some other afternoon or evening I shall be glad to come in and talk you +to death. Just now I am pressed for time." + +"I ought to have gone down there with them," she confessed. "But it +seemed that I couldn't get away. Frank, you don't know what angels of +mercy those girls have been! Elsie found out that Mrs. Moran was +starving and dying by inches for lack of proper food and medicines, and +since then she and Inza have been down there every day, and often two or +three times a day." + +"I trust they don't venture after nightfall!" + +Frank was thinking of a fight Jack Ready had while rescuing Elsie from +the drunken ruffian, Jim Haskins. + +Then he thanked Winnie for her invitation, said good-by, and hurried +away to catch the first car going in the direction which he wished to +take. + +"I hope Badger is entirely worthy of her," he thought, his mind on +Winnie Lee. "She is a fine girl, and if he gets her he will get a prize. +Now, if they don't pass me, coming back in another car! Winnie hasn't +the least idea that Buck was intoxicated when he went aboard the +_Crested Foam_, and she shall never know it from me!" + +Neither of the girls heard Merriwell's gentle rap on Mrs. Moran's door, +and he pushed into the house without further ceremony, feeling sure that +they were busy in caring for the old lady or that her condition was such +that they could not leave her. Then, looking through the doorway at the +right of the corridor, his gaze fell on a pleasant sight. + +The girls were seated by the bed, Elsie holding one of Mrs. Moran's +wasted hands in her own warm palms, while Inza was reading to the old +woman from a little copy of the New Testament. + +Merriwell stopped for a moment, for his entrance had been unnoticed. +Somehow, the pathos of the scene inexpressibly touched him. + +"They are angels of mercy, just as Winnie said!" was his thought. + +Inza had an excellent reading voice, as pure and liquid as falling +water. It was a pleasure to listen to it. Frank had often heard her +read, but it seemed to him never with such expression as at that moment. +The sunlight, falling through the small west window, illuminated her +face, making it almost radiant, and touched with brighter tints Elsie's +crown of golden hair. + +"I wish I were a painter!" he thought. "I should like to preserve that +scene. If I could have that to hang in my room, it would be like a flash +of sunshine to look at. But no painter could do it justice. There are +certain things that can't be painted, and this is one of them." + +He noisily shifted his feet to call attention to his presence, and Inza +looked up. The color flooded her cheeks, and her dark eyes showed +surprise. + +"Why, Frank!" she gasped. "How did you come to be here?" + +Elsie also started up. + +"How did you get in?" she asked. + +"Opened the door and walked in. You were so busy you didn't hear my +knock, so I just took the liberty." + +Mrs. Moran stirred, and turning feebly, looked at him, her eyes showing +recognition. + +"I am very glad to see you!" she whispered, as he advanced toward the +bed, and she stretched out one of the feeble hands. "Sometimes I think +that I am not long for this world. I should have died here, I feel sure, +if it had not been for these girls. And your other friend, Miss Winnie, +has been very good, too! I hope you are quite well, Mr. Merriwell!" + +"Quite well! Don't let me disturb you. Inza was reading to you. Let her +go on. I will sit here in this chair." + +So Inza read again, until the old woman was tired; after which the trio +left the house, and walked down to the car line, where they took a car +for the residence of the Honorable Fairfax Lee. + +"I went to Lee's to see you," Frank explained, "for I wanted to talk +over some details of the trip to New London and the June races. The +mascot of the crew hasn't been down to the boat-house this week. And I +wanted to invite both of you, and Winnie, to the ball-game Saturday +forenoon." + +"I am sorry about Bart!" Inza exclaimed. "But he will come round all +right, don't you think?" + +"He may not play in this game, but he will see how foolish he is, and be +heartily ashamed of it by and by." + +"Who is to catch for you, then?" + +"Jack Ready!" + +"What?" + +"Perhaps you haven't seen Ready catch? He is a good one!" + +"You need a strong battery, Frank!" Elsie asserted. + +"Yes, like you and Hodge," nodded Inza. "I'm afraid Badger and Ready +will not be able to work well together. They haven't played together +before, I believe?" + +Inza was full of bright, snappy conversation, as they sped homeward in +the car with Merriwell. But Elsie was unusually silent. + +"She can't get Mrs. Moran out of her mind," Frank thought. + +He left them at the door, for the hour had grown so late that he felt he +could not just then spare the time to go into the house, much as he +wanted to do so. Inza and Elsie went up-stairs together. Winnie was out +or in another part of the house. + +Inza shrugged her shapely shoulders. + +"What is the matter, Elsie, dear?" + +Elsie's lips were quivering as she faced round and confronted her +friend. + +"You ought to know what is the matter, Inza Burrage!" she declared. + +"I'm not the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter," said Inza, a bit +defiantly. "How should I know?" + +"You do know!" + +"I should say that you are showing a bit of jealousy, if pressed for an +answer." + +"And haven't I a right to be jealous, Inza?" Elsie demanded. + +"Haven't I a right to talk to Frank Merriwell and be nice to him, if I +want to?" + +"Of course, Inza, but--well--you know----" + +"It seems to me, Elsie, that you came between Frank and me once! Isn't +it so? Frank cared for me before he ever did for you. You came between +us. I haven't come between you and Frank yet, but if I should do so +would it be any worse than what you did?" + +"Oh, I thought that was past!" cried Elsie, flushing and trembling. "You +never understood me, Inza!" + +"And do you fancy for a moment that you understand me?" + +"Perhaps not; but I can see--I'm not blind!" + +"Oh, yes, jealous people can see things that no one else can," laughed +Inza, with a provoking toss of her proud head. + +"Do you want to make me hate you forever, Inza Burrage?" Elsie cried. +"You hurt me! You are heartless!" + +A sudden look of deep pain shone in Inza's face, changing her manner in +a twinkling, and she turned away as if trying to conceal it. + +"Of course, nothing ever hurts me!" she said bitterly. "I am steel and +iron, and all that! Your heart is tender, and such things hurt you!" + +Elsie did not know what to say. She had tried to feel for a time that +Inza had ceased to care for Frank, and then had told herself that Inza +had no longer any right to care for him. She was beginning to realize +that questions of right and wrong cut very little figure in affairs of +the heart--that, in fact, love obeys no such laws. + +When Inza turned back, her face had lost its trace of pain. + +"Elsie," she said, "we will not quarrel about Frank, for Frank's sake. +It would distress him if he knew it. He must never know it. Promise me +that you will not say a word to him about it." + +"Of course I won't say anything about it," Elsie agreed. "I should fear +to, and I shouldn't want to." + +"Then we'll keep it to ourselves. You have discovered that I haven't +ceased to care for Frank Merriwell. Perhaps I never shall. But that is +neither here nor there." + +The old wave of jealousy swept across the tortured soul of Elsie +Bellwood. + +"Do you mean that you intend to win him if you can, after you have told +me that you surrender all claim on him?" + +"I haven't said anything of the kind. But I claim the right and +privilege of talking to him and with him as much as I please. You and he +are not engaged, even if he has seemed to prefer you. He may change his +mind, just as he did before, but remember that I'm not trying to get him +to!" + +"Then you do intend to try to win him?" + +"My dear, you must recognize the fact that Frank is the one to do the +winning. I shall never run after any man." + +Elsie's blue eyes flashed. + +"Do you mean to insinuate that I would?" + +"I thought we weren't going to quarrel!" + +The look of pain came back into the dark, handsome face, and this time +Elsie saw it. A feeling of remorse began to tug at her heart. + +"I am not worthy of Frank Merriwell," she said softly. "I know that. But +I thought----" + +"You thought nothing could hurt me!" + +"No, not that. I thought he was to be mine, and recently that hope has +been slipping through my fingers. I can't tell you, Inza, how I have +felt." + +"I can understand!" said the dark-haired girl. "I have good cause to +understand!" + +"I know that really you are more worthy of him, Inza, than I am. I have +always thought that, when I wasn't crazy with the fear that you might +win him away from me. But I just can't surrender my claim, slender as +you think it!" + +"For Frank's sake," repeated Inza, "we will not quarrel about him! As +for these other questions----" + +Winnie's light step was heard in the hall, and the sentence died +unfinished. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HODGE'S REPENTANCE. + + +Bart Hodge absented himself from class and lecture, but later that +night, after all the members of the "flock" had departed from +Merriwell's room, Bart came in. His face was flushed and feverish. + +"I don't care what the other fellows think, Merry!" he said, dropping +into a chair as if he felt that he had no right there. "But I do care +what you think! I went away in a huff, saying to myself that I'd never +come back until you sent for me, when I knew that you wouldn't send for +me, and that I would come back. And here I am." + +"How could I have sent for you, Bart?" Merry questioned. "I knew you +would feel differently when you had time to think it all over, and I +told the fellows so." + +"I don't care for their opinions!" Bart snarled. "I'd never come back +for any of them!" + +"They are my friends!" + +"I've been miserable ever since. I have felt like a cur as I've sneaked +round town. You needn't try to stop me! You are the truest friend I ever +had, and I've treated you like a dog. I know it, and I'm sorry for it." + +"I am your friend, Bart, because I understand you, and appreciate you. +The others would think as much of you as I do, if they understood you as +well. We'll not talk any more about this matter, if you're willing, but +just turn in for the night and say nothing about it." + +"How can you overlook a thing like that?" Hodge asked. + +"Because I knew all the time that your better nature condemned what you +did, and that you would by and by yield to your better nature. The man +who meets a powerful temptation and finally masters it is stronger +really than one who never is tempted. I forgave you long ago, Bart, and +would have told you so if you had come back. I was angry at the time, +but I didn't remain angry." + +"I've come back to tell you that I'll catch for you to-morrow--Saturday. +I swore I'd never catch for Buck Badger, but I will. I'll catch for the +Old Boy himself, if you want me to. I'm not ready to agree that he ought +to be permitted to pitch, for I hate the very sight of him; but I have +put that by, and will catch for you. It will be catching for you, you +see, Merry, and not for him. I ought to have looked at it that way +before, but I could not." + +"I have got Jack Ready for catcher!" + +Bart gasped, while his dark face seemed to get redder and hotter. + +"Why, he can't catch!" + +"Much better than you think. He is a pretty fair catcher." + +"And if he falls down?" + +"I'll put some one else in. I have two or three in mind, and have spoken +to two of them." + +Hodge seemed stunned. + +"I'm willing to catch!" he said. + +"You may, Bart, if I see that Ready can't do the work. If the game seems +about to be lost I'll go into the pitcher's box and you behind the bat, +and we'll pull the nine out of the hole! Eh?" + +Hodge's eyes brightened strangely. + +"We can do it, Merry! I'll be as steady as a clock. Only I'm sorry +things went the way they did and that I showed how mean I can be. I only +proved what my enemies say of me. It's too late now, but I'm ready to do +what I can to make it right." + +Merriwell came over and put a hand on Bart's shoulder. + +"I understand you, Bart, and few do. I know that your friendship for me +is true blue, and that your heart is where it should be, even if your +head runs away with you. Now we'll get to bed. To-morrow we play ball, +and I want to be in condition." + +But Bart Hodge was not in condition to play ball, nor in condition for +anything the next day. When morning came he had a high fever, and the +doctor whom Merriwell summoned looked grave. + +"He has lost sleep and been exposing himself and caught cold," he said. +"It looks like a case of pneumonia. Better send him to the hospital." + +"Will he be better off at the hospital than here, if there is some one +here to take care of him?" + +"No, I don't know that he will. And I was going to say that it is really +too bad to move him in his condition." + +"Then he will stay right here. I'll get the best nurse to be had, and +look after him all I can myself!" + +And Hodge, under the best of care, remained in his room, while +Merriwell's nine, with Jack Ready as catcher and Badger as pitcher, went +out to meet the team from Hartford that forenoon. + +A big crowd of rooters had come over from Hartford to whoop things up +for Abernathy's men. They were enthusiastic fellows, and they made a +great deal of noise. Some of them were betting men, and they flourished +their money with as much confidence as if the game were already won and +they were certain of raking in their winnings. + +But Yale had turned out a big crowd, too, for Merriwell was immensely +popular, and, of course, the Yale and New Haven crowd would naturally be +the larger on the home grounds. + +"We'll have a warm time this forenoon!" Frank observed to Jack Ready. + +"Torrid as the equator!" Ready answered. + +"How is your nerve, old man?" + +Ready dropped a finger to his pulse and seemed to be counting. + +"Steady as a clock, Merry!" + +"Keep it that way. There is Badger coming over for a talk with you. +We'll begin as soon as we get a little warming up." + +He looked at his watch and began to talk with Browning, while Ready and +Badger drew aside to confer. Merriwell could see that Badger was a bit +nervous when the game was called. There was a flush in his face and a +glitter in his eyes that told of excitement, but this seemed to +disappear as he took the clean new Spalding ball in his hands and +entered the box. + +In the grand stand Frank saw Inza, Elsie, and Winnie, and he lifted his +hat to them again, though he had enjoyed a long talk with them not many +minutes before. Winnie was smilingly happy. She waved her handkerchief +to Badger, and the Kansan's white teeth showed in a grim smile of +determination. + +"If only you and Bodge were the hattery--I mean if only you and Hodge +were the battery!" Rattleton groaned in Frank's ear. + +"Don't worry, Rattles! Just do your duty on third!" Merry answered. "We +are all right!" + +Thus encouraged, Harry went away happy and confident. Browning was on +first, with Diamond on second. Danny Griswold was short-stop; while +Dismal had the right field, Bink Stubbs center, and Joe Gamp the left. +The game opened with Merriwell's men in the field. + +The Westerner surveyed the ground and his surroundings carefully. Then +planted his toe on the rubber plate and shot in a "twister." It curved +inward as it neared the batter, and cut the heart of the plate. The +batter had been fooled and did not swing at it. + +"One strike!" called the umpire. + +The batter, who was looking out for an out curve next, swung at it, and +fanned the air. The Yale men, and especially the sophomores, began to +shout. + +Badger thought it time to change to an out curve, and sent one in hot as +a Mauser bullet. But the batter was looking for out curves. He reached +for it. Crack!--away it sailed into the right field. + +"Go, long legs!" was screamed at Dismal Jones, who sprinted for it with +all his might. + +The next man of the Hartfords at the bat was the pitcher, Pink Wilson, a +fellow almost as tall and lank as Dismal Jones, with a hatchet face and +a corkscrew nose. His admirers said he got that twisted nose from +watching his own curves in delivering. He came up confident, thinking he +understood the tricks of the Kansan pretty well, and that he would be +easy. But almost before he knew it the umpire called "one strike." + +"That ball must have passed this side of the plate," he declared. "It +was an in, and I had to jump to get out of the way." + +"Don't jump at shadows!" shouted a Yale sophomore. "That ball was all +right." + +The umpire promptly informed Wilson that he was talking too much with +his mouth. + +"I'll get him the next time!" thought the lank pitcher of the Hartfords. +"He fooled me that time, but he can't do it again!" + +But Badger did it again. Again the sophomores began to yell. Jack Ready +tossed the ball back. + +Badger began to look and to feel confident, a thing that Merriwell, who +was closely watching him, did not like. This time the Westerner, after +almost bending himself double, gave his arm an eccentric movement and +shot in another curve. Wilson struck at it desperately, and fanned out. + +"He can't keep it up!" yelled a Hartford man, who had been wildly +hunting for bets a short time before, and who felt the need of whistling +to keep his courage up. + +Barrows, the center-fielder, came to the bat next. He went after the +very first one, and got it Crack! and away the ball flew again into the +right field, while the Hartford lads opened up with great vigor. + +It was a hit, for everybody saw that Dismal, even though he was doing +his best, could not possibly get it. Barrows raced to first, while +Tillinghast, the base-runner, took second, without trouble, but stumbled +and fell, so that it was impossible for him to make another bag on the +hit. + +Badger next tried his highest speed, and the batter fanned, but Ready +dropped and fumbled the ball, being unable to hold it, and came very +near letting both runners advance, although he did get the sphere down +to third in time to drive them back. + +Watching closely, Frank had discovered that something about Badger's +delivery bothered Ready. Badger himself saw this, and he tried a change +of pace, but the batter caught it on the handle of his "wagon-tongue," +and drove out a "scratch hit" that filled the bases. + +Oleson, a Swede, almost as large as Browning, came up to the plate. + +"And there were giants in those days," droned Jones, from his position +in the field. + +"How's that for the giant?" cried Oleson, as he slashed yet another down +into Dismal's territory, bringing in the first score and causing the +Hartford rooters to "open up." + +Jones made a beautiful throw home, which sent Barrows scrambling back to +third, which he reached barely in time to save himself, for Ready had +lined it down to that bag in short order. + +Frank was beginning to wonder if all the Hartford men were right-field +hitters, or was there something in Badger's pitching that caused them to +put the balls into that field? Unable to keep still, he walked down +toward first, and Browning found an opportunity to say: + +"We ought to have Hodge behind the bat. Badger can't use his speed, for +Ready can't hold him. Are you going to let those fellows lose this game +in the first inning, Merriwell? If you do, I'll kick myself for a week +for being chump enough to get out here and swear for nothing." + +"It's a handicap not to have Hodge," admitted Frank. + +Browning felt like saying it was a handicap not to have Frank in the +box, but, fancying he had said enough in that line, he kept still. +Badger's face took on a hard look. He motioned for Ready to come down +and advanced to meet him. A few words passed between them, while the +Hartford "fans" guyed them. + +This little talk seemed to bear good fruit, for the Westerner fooled the +next batter with two drops, getting two strikes called. Then he tried +"coaxers" till three balls were called on him, and again, with every +runner taking all the "lead" he dared, the excitement was at a high +pitch. + +Frank feared for the result. + +"Oh, for Hodge!" he thought. "I see now that our handicap means disaster +unless the wind changes." Ready was crouching under the bat, nervous, +but determined. Badger took his time, but put terrible speed into the +next ball, which he sent over the inner corner of the plate. The batter +struck at it, but missed clean. + +Plunk! the ball struck in Ready's hand. Thud! it dropped to the ground. +But the bases were filled, and the batter was out, for all that Jack had +not held the ball. He recovered it so that there was no possibility for +the man on third to get home. + +Now two men were out, but the bags were filled, and a long, safe hit +meant more scores for the visitors. Fleetwood, the Hartford +third-baseman, took his turn at the stick. He was a good waiter, and he +found just what he wanted, sending it safe over the short-stop, so that +two more scores came in. + +Badger was pale round the mouth when the next hitter stepped up to the +plate. He did not spare Ready. Jack missed the first two balls, being +unable to hold them, although he did not let them get past him. Both +were strikes, and again Badger tried to "work" the batter, though he did +not slacken his speed. Frank was anxious, for he expected to see the +freshman catcher let one of those hot ones pass him. Nothing of the kind +happened, and, after trying two balls, Buck used a sharp rise and struck +the man out. + +The college men on the bleachers rose up and howled, but Frank Merriwell +was gloomy at heart, though his lips smiled. + +"Badger is doing well," he told himself; "but Ready cannot hold him. I'm +afraid the handicap is too great. Oh, for Bart Hodge just now!" + +The first half of the first inning was over, but Hartford had made three +runs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +READY STEADY. + + +Merriwell saw that Ready could not catch for Buck Badger. There was such +an utter absence of anything like team-work that there seemed to be +little hope that the game could be won by Merriwell's nine if the +battery was not changed. Badger could pitch like a wonder at times, but +he rattled Ready, who, as a rule, and in regard to other matters, was as +steady as a clock. Ready simply could not do himself justice with Badger +in the box. He felt it as well as Merriwell, but he doggedly continued, +determined at all events to do his best. Ready was a fellow of infinite +pluck, and usually a fellow of infinite confidence. He would have had +confidence now, but there was not a thing to build his confidence on. + +Merriwell's nine scored four times before it was forced again into the +field. Frank sent Badger into the box again, after talking with him +awhile. + +"You rattle Ready, some way!" Frank told him. "Throw those in curves +more, and work in your dropped balls when you can. They get your out +curves." + +Then, before playing again, he had a few words with Ready. + +The first man at the bat got a hit, while the next man took first on +balls. The next man at the bat knocked a fly into the hands of Danny +Griswold, who was playing short-stop, and the base-runners came back to +their places. + +Then the men on bases tried to make a double steal, which was partially +successful. The fellow on second reached third, but the runner behind +him was cut off at second by a throw from Ready. Jack should have thrown +to third, but he did not. He threw low to second, and Diamond got it on +the bound, touching the runner as that individual was making a desperate +slide. + +Two men were out, and Frank hoped that Badger would keep the visitors +from scoring. Buck might have done so, but somehow he "crossed signals" +with Jack, the result being a passed ball that let in a score. + +"I'm hot stuff," chirped Ready, as he found Frank back at the bench of +the home team. "When I don't fail, I succeed." + +"I see you do," answered Frank dryly. "You succeeded in letting in that +run." + +"Our wires got crossed. Badge gave me an in when I was looking for an +out. If you'll put in a pitcher who can throw a curve, I'll surprise +you." + +"Does Badger rattle you?" + +"Refuse me! I think I rattle him." + +There was no time for further talk, and the game went on. Buck was +nervous, and Frank pitied him, for he could see that the Westerner might +do well with a good catcher behind the bat. Just then Merry did not know +of a man to put in Ready's place, for he could see that the Westerner's +great speed and queer delivery might be too much for any green catcher +who was not used to him. + +"Yes," muttered Frank, "the loss of Hodge is the handicap that will +cause us to lose the game--if we lose it." + +The next man got first on balls, and then the following batter lifted a +high foul. Ready got under it, and the Hartfords were retired at last. + +"We're done up, Merry," said Rattleton, as the men came in. + +"Not yet, old man," declared Frank cheerfully. "I think I'll go behind +the bat myself next inning." + +"Don't do it!" exclaimed Harry. "I know you can play any old position, +Merry, but your place is in the box. With you there, every man on the +team will play like a streak. Won't you go in?" + +"Badger----" + +"Can see that he is bound to lose the game if this keeps on. He's got +sense. He won't want to make such a bad record for himself." + +"Ready will not be able to judge the double-shoot. I can't use that." + +"You won't have to. You can win this game without it." + +"I don't know." + +"I do! Try it." + +Frank was in doubt, and he permitted Badger to pitch one more inning. +The Westerner worked hard, but it was plain he had lost confidence, and +he was not at his best. Great beads of perspiration stood out on his +face. Two men scored, despite him, and the visitors had the lead again. + +"I believe I'll try it in the box," Frank mentally decided. "Perhaps I +may hold Ready steady. It looks like the only show to win out." + +When Merriwell finally went into the box, seeing that it must be done, +Badger retired with as good grace as he could, though his dark face was +flushed. + +"There would be no trouble if it wasn't for Jack Ready!" he asserted. "I +can pitch all right, but the pitcher isn't the whole battery!" + +"Your delivery bothers him," Merriwell explained. "I believe that you +two together are capable of good work, but it will take a lot more +practise, and just now we haven't time for practise. You can pitch, +Badger, and your best is excellent; but you are irregular. But you'll +come round all right. I was talking with Dunstan Kirk about you awhile +ago, and he agrees with me. He has been closely watching you all through +the game." + +"I know it," Badger growled. "I've known it only too well! It has helped +to make my pitching wild at times. If he had stayed away, I think I +could have done all right all the time. But you'll find that Ready will +worry you. He'd worry anybody. The fellow simply can't catch." + +"But he can!" Merriwell insisted. "We'll win this game yet!" + +The change that came over Jack Ready's work shortly after Merriwell went +into the pitcher's box was little short of marvelous. Frank seemed to +know how to favor Ready's weak points. And this kept Ready's head steady +for other work, so that he made not another wild throw to bases. + +Merriwell's nine began to feel their courage rise. It put life into them +just to see Frank in the box. Stolen bases on the part of the Hartfords +stopped. The swiftness with which Merriwell struck out three batters +made the spectators gasp. + +From that on Ready was steady, and he and Frank worked together like a +battery team of long experience. Frank Merriwell won, in spite of his +handicap! And so the Yale rooters, and especially Merriwell's friends +and admirers, who were a host in themselves, were roaring wild as they +returned from the ball-ground. Merriwell joined Inza and Elsie, while +Badger took a car with Winnie. + +"I knew that everything was all right, as soon as you went into the +box!" Inza declared. "But up to that minute I was nervous. I was wanting +to shake you all the time for not taking Badger's place sooner." + +"I felt sorry for Badger," said Elsie. "And I felt sorry for Winnie. She +got as red as a beet when Badger left the box, but I know she didn't +blame you, Frank. She saw just how it was, and she knew you ought to +have gone in sooner, but of course she felt it." + +"I was afraid Ready might begin to doubt his own abilities--though +probably there is not any danger that he will ever do that! He was just +what I expected of him, though, when I pitched. And if Badger and Bart +were friends and could, or would, work together, they would make a good +battery." + +"You will have to coach Badger some," Inza suggested. + +"Yes. The captain of the ball-team wants me to. He thinks there is good +stuff in both of them, if it can only be properly developed." + +The three got out at a transfer station, and waited for another car. + +"Dere she comes!" yelled an excited youngster. + +The "she" he referred to was not the expected car, but the head of a +circus procession, which was parading the principal streets as an +advertisement of the performances to be given in the big tents in the +suburbs that afternoon and night. + +Merriwell and the girls looked in the direction indicated. The crowd at +the corner seemed to become thicker. People began to swarm out of the +doorways and stream out into the middle of the street. + +"And this is scholarly New Haven!" exclaimed Inza. "Wild over a circus +parade!" + +"We're not in the scholarly part of New Haven!" laughed Frank. "I +confess that I like to see a circus parade myself!" + +Inza showed evidences that she liked the same thing, for she craned her +handsome neck and stood on tiptoe to catch the first glimpse. The +nodding plumes on the heads of the horses drawing the gilded band-wagon +came into view, and at the same moment the band began to crash forth its +resonant music. Children danced and capered, heads were popped out of +second-story windows, and the pushing crowd grew denser. + +The band-wagon came slowly down the street in the bright spring +sunshine, followed by the performers, mounted on well-groomed horses, +some of which were beautifully mottled. There were other horses, many of +them--a few drawing chariots, driven by Amazons. Then came the funny +clown, in his little cart, with his jokes and grimaces for the children. + +There was another band-wagon, as gorgeous as the first, at the head of +the procession of wild-beast cages. Its music was more deafening than +that of the other. The street-cars seemed to have stopped running, owing +to the packed crowds, and Frank and his girl friends remained on the +corner curiously watching the scene. + +Suddenly a fractious horse jerked away from the man who had been +standing at its head holding it, and whirling short about, +half-overturned the wagon to which it was hitched and raced wildly down +the street. People scattered in every direction, several being knocked +down in the stampeding rush. + +The horse climbed to the sidewalk, with wheels bumping the curbing, +trying to get out of the way of some men who were seeking to stop it. +Almost before they were aware of it, horse and wagon seemed fairly on +top of Merriwell and the girls. Elsie gave a startled cry, and dashed +across the street, where the people were falling back out of the way, +with women pulling nervously and excitedly at their children. + +A child fell headlong, and the horse seemed about to stamp it, when +Frank, with a quick leap, picked it up from under the very feet of the +runaway, and dropped it safely at its mother's side. Then a tremendous +roar ascended. Turning, Frank saw that Inza and Elsie had disappeared. +He did not at first know the cause of the roar. + +The horse, veering again and wheeling sharply, had hurled the wagon +against a cage in which was confined a full-grown tiger. This was an +open cage--that is, the screening, wooden, outer shell had been removed, +showing the big beast of the jungle, with its keeper in circus costume, +seated in the center of the cage on a low stool. + +Against the door of this cage the bounding wagon had struck heavily--so +heavily that the lock was torn away or broken, and the cage door pulled +open. The roar that went up was a roar of alarm and fright. And it +increased in intensity when the striped beast, with nervously flicking +tail, leaped past its keeper and into the street, where it crouched, not +knowing what to do with its newly found freedom. + +The street was in the wildest tumult. The horses drawing the cage had +been brought to a stop by the driver. But another horse, frightened by +the din and the runaway, broke loose just at that time, and came tearing +along, with flaming eyes and distended nostrils, like a Malay running +amuck. + +Frank sprang toward the head of this horse, for the peril to the +stampeding people seemed great. But the animal veered and passed by, +dragging Merry a few yards by the shafts and hurling him to the ground. + +The sight he beheld as he scrambled up was enough to stop the beating of +his heart. Inza and Elsie had tried to again cross the street. Inza had +been knocked down by the horse, and lay unconscious, while Elsie had +been swept on in the crowd. More than that, the keeper of the tiger, who +had courageously leaped after the terrible beast with his spearlike iron +goad, hoping to be able to prod and cow it into subjection, had been +knocked flat also by the horse, his iron goad flying out of his hand and +into the street. + +Though Frank was some distance away, he started toward the tiger, which +had crouched and seemed about to spring on Inza. But before he could +take a step, he saw Elsie run from the crowd toward Inza and the tiger. +Her face was very white, but it was filled with the look of high courage +which inspired her. She realized the peril of any attempt she could make +to save Inza, and she boldly took the risk. + +A hundred voices were screaming at the big brute, which crouched with +undulating tail and open jaws; but not another person seemed to be +moving toward Elsie to render her assistance, with the exception of +Frank Merriwell. + +He saw the girl pick up the iron goad. Then Elsie Bellwood leaped +between the tiger and Inza. As she did so she lifted the goad. The tiger +turned its attention from Inza to Elsie, and the latter struck at it, as +if the goad were a spear. + +Frank Merriwell heard the click of a revolver at his side. He saw a man +shakily lifting it. + +"Permit me!" he gasped, and plucked it from the man's hand. + +The revolver went up, flashing for a moment in the sunshine. A quick, +sharp report rang out. The bullet, sent with true and steady aim, by the +hand of Frank Merriwell, ploughed through the tiger's brain, and the +beast flattened out convulsively, and began to kick and writhe in its +death agonies. + +Hearing the report and seeing the animal fall, Elsie's uplifted hand +fell, she swayed like a wind-blown vine, and dropped heavily down across +the form of Inza Burrage. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +FRIENDS. + + +The crack of the revolver and the fall of the tiger seemed to break the +spell that had held and made cowards of the throng. A dozen men leaped +toward the girls. But Merriwell reached them first. He lifted Elsie, who +had merely fallen in a faint, as he saw; and, passing her to a student +whom he recognized, he bent anxiously over Inza. + +There was a bruise and a fleck of blood on the upper part of her face. + +"Inza!" he said, lifting her tenderly and seeking to arouse her. "Are +you much hurt, Inza?" + +The words and tone seemed to call her back from the land of death. She +moaned feebly, and tried to put up a hand. Half-lifting her in his arms, +he looked around. + +"Is there a surgeon here!" he called. + +Elsie came back to consciousness with a shiver, and heard him call. Her +face had been very white, but it became pale as death. The sight of +Inza's bruised face and limp form upheld by Merriwell seemed to blur her +brain again. She caught at the arm of the student who was holding her, +and by a great effort kept her senses. + +"Is she dead, Frank?" she whispered. + +"No!" he answered. "I don't know how much she may be hurt, though." + +The tiger had ceased to struggle, the crowds were writhing, a babel of +sound that was confused and confusing filled the air. The circus +procession had come to a halt, with the exception of the forward band, +which was blaring away far down the street. + +A doctor came out of the crowd. Other doctors proffered their services, +for Inza was not the only one who had been knocked over by the rush of +the horses. The injured tiger-keeper was picked up and bundled into an +ambulance. + +"Right across here!" said the doctor who had answered Merriwell's call. +Then he led the way into an apothecary's. + +"Nothing serious!" he announced, a minute later, when he had made his +examination. "The young lady will be all right in a day or two." + +He spoke of Inza, and both Merry and Elsie sent up fervent sighs of +relief. + + * * * * * + +Coming softly into the room which Elsie Bellwood occupied, Inza Burrage +saw Elsie in tears. + +"What is it, dear?" Inza asked, going up and putting her arms about +Elsie's neck. + +Except for a telltale bit of courtplaster, Inza showed no sign of the +dangerous and exciting experiences through which she had that day +passed. + +"Don't! don't!" Elsie pleaded, with a little shiver. "If you knew what +was in my heart you wouldn't speak to me, Inza Burrage!" + +"Why, dear? Why wouldn't I speak to you--you who have proved yourself +the most heroic and courageous girl in all New Haven?" + +"It wasn't courage half so much as it was fright. And if you knew the +thoughts I had!" + +Inza kissed her. + +"What?" + +Elsie turned on her a horrified face. + +"Inza, when I saw you knocked down by that horse, the awful wish came +into my heart that you might be killed. And even when I saw the tiger +about to leap on you, I couldn't drive that thought away. I have been +hating you in a way that I never thought I could hate anybody! You see, +I began to fear that you were trying to come between me and Frank; and +if you had been--killed--there--would--have--been--an--end--of--that!" + +"But you rushed between me and the tiger. And you fought the beast with +that goad. You, a girl, standing between me and such a terror as that! +Frank has told me all about it--about how brave you were! It was +beautiful!" + +"When I felt how wicked my thoughts was, there came an awful revulsion +of feeling; and then I rushed into the street, not caring if I was +killed, if I could only save you. I felt that the sacrifice of my life, +even, if it were necessary, was demanded to pay for those dreadful +thoughts. I knew the danger, Inza, but that hideous thought made me +brave." + +"You are naturally brave, Elsie! I feel that I owe my life to you." + +"And I wished you dead!" said Elsie self-reproachfully. "I can never +forget it. Wished you dead when you were knocked down and when the tiger +threatened you. Inza, it was something awful!" + +"It was because you love Frank!" + +"And you love Frank! You have confessed as much." + +"Perhaps I do. I hardly know myself. But you have shown to-day that you +are much more worthy of him than I am. Don't worry about any of those +troubles any more." + +She straightened up, with the look of a renouncing queen, while her dark +eyes shone like stars. + +"Elsie, I will go away from here if it is necessary. I will not disturb +you and Frank." + +"I take back all I said the other day!" Elsie quivered. "I retract every +word. They were selfish, jealous, hateful words. They led me to +murderous thoughts--for those thoughts about you to-day were really +murderous. You shall not go away! Not unless I go away, too!" + +"Then we can be friends, dear!" said Inza, laying a hand softly on the +golden head. "That is what we will try to be, if you will, in spite of +everything." + +"Yes," Elsie assented, "though I am not worthy to be your friend." + +"Then we will be friends, dear!" + +"We are friends!" Elsie exclaimed impulsively, drawing the hand down and +kissing it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE GUN CLUB. + + +"Baw Jawve, it would be sport if a fellah could draw on a grouse on a +Scotch moor, don't you 'now! It would be something great to knock such a +bird into the heather. There really isn't any shooting in this country +to be compared to that, don't you 'now!" + +Willis Paulding drawled this in his affected style, and then swung the +handsome English Greener hammerless to his shoulder and squinted down +the barrels as if he fancied he heard the whirring of a moor cock's +wings and felt the thrill of the sportsman tingling through his veins. + +"What's the matter with partridge and woodcock shooting in New England? +Or quail shooting in the West and South? Or duck shooting on the +Southwest coast? Or prairie-chicken and grouse shooting in the far West +and Rocky Mountains?" demanded Merriwell, who had arrived on the grounds +of the gun club with Bart Hodge and was taking his gun out of its case. + +Paulding flushed. + +"If you had ever shot grouse across the big pond, you 'now, you wouldn't +ask such a question, Merriwell!" + +"I have shot grouse on the other side of the big pond, and it is fine +sport, true enough. But there is just as fine shooting to be had in +America. You make me tired. You want to act like an Englishman, +Paulding, but it is an insult to the English, for your imitation is +really disgraceful. A true Englishman is very much a man!" + +"And Paulding is a mere thing!" snapped Hodge. + +"He isn't worth noticing, don't you 'now!" sneered Paulding, moving away +with the members of the Chickering set. "He is always slinging insulting +things at me. It's mere jealousy, don't you 'now, that makes him act so. +Baw Jawve, if I was as jealous as Merriwell, I'd go drown myself!" + +"He is always slinging insults at us in the same way!" Ollie Lord +breathlessly declared, looking as fierce as he could and lifting himself +on his tiptoes to increase his fighting height. + +"I wouldn't let the thing worry me," purred Rupert Chickering. +"Merriwell is so spoiled by flattery that he is hardly responsible for +what he says. I never like to hold harsh feeling against any one." + +"I'd like to pull the wetch'eth nothe!" lisped Lew Veazie, looking quite +as fierce as Ollie Lord. "It would therve him wight if I thould walk up +to him thome day and thimply pull hith nothe!" + +"But he might pull yours!" Julian Ives warned. "That wouldn't be +pleasant, you know." + +Julian Ives, in the perfumed sanctity of Chickering's rooms, often +looked lovingly at himself and his wonderful bang in the long mirror and +dreamed the heroic things he would like to do and the revenges he would +like to carry out, but his actual courage had been at a very low ebb +ever since his humiliating experience as a member of the Eskemo dog-team +driven by the cowboy, Bill Higgins. He was likely to remember that a +long while. + +"They're not worth talking about--none of Merriwell's crowd!" snarled +Gene Skelding, as if anxious to change the drift of the unpleasant +conversation, for he had been given cause to fear and hate Merriwell and +his friends quite as much as any other individual who claimed the +companionship and friendship of the immaculate Rupert. "Let me see your +gun, Willis!" + +He took the Greener, snapped it open to see if it was loaded, then +winked at Chickering. + +The members of the Yale Gun Club were rapidly coming on the ground, +together with a number of noted New Haven shots and others interested in +trap shooting. Browning and Rattleton appeared, and Diamond, Dismal, and +several others of Merry's set were seen approaching. + +"I thought Bart Hodge was sick?" said Tilton Hull. "But I see he is out +again." + +"When I heard he wath thick I hoped he would never get well. He ith a +howwid cwecher! Whenever I go near him he thnapth at me like a bulldog." + +"As if you were a bulldog?" queried Skelding, who at times seemed to +delight in teasing certain members of this delectable set. + +"The idea!" exclaimed Ollie Lord indignantly, putting a hand caressingly +on Veazie's shoulder. "A bulldog! If Veazie is anything, he is like the +cunning little dog I had once. It was the darlingest little poodle! and +I simply loved it!" + +"Just fawncy!" sniffed Willis Paulding. + +But Lew Veazie seemed pleased. He put up a hand to touch the caressing +arm. + +"You're another, Ollie!" he beamed. "I always did like poodles!" + +"A pair of poodles!" said Skelding, and again winked meaningly at +Rupert, who snatched the cap from the head of Julian Ives and flung it +into the air. Skelding took a snap-shot at it as it fell. + +"If that cap is damaged," said Ives, smoothing his precious bang which +the brisk breeze began to flirt about, "I'll make you fellows pay for +it. That's flat!" + +But Julian's alarm was premature. Not a shot had touched it. + +The members of the Chickering set continued the delightful sport of +snatching hats and caps from each other's heads and shooting at them +with Paulding's fine English gun; but the only damage done was by the +falls the articles received, for not a shot touched any of them. + +"Of course, fellahs, a moor cock doesn't fly that way," Willis +drawlingly explained, in extenuation of the poor shooting. "He doesn't +go right up and down, you 'now. He has wings, don't you 'now, and flies +straight away, like a shot. I could hit a grouse without any trouble, +but this kind of shooting! The best shot in England would be bothered +with it." + +"We'll have a try at the clay pigeons and blackbirds soon," Chickering +comfortingly promised. + +"But, gwathious, I've twied them, and they're harder to hit than thethe +are! I could do better if I could only keep my eyeth open, but the +minute I begin to pull the twigger my eyeth go shut, and I can't help +it." + +They had turned round and were retracing their way toward Merriwell and +his friends without noticing it. Suddenly Lew Veazie jumped straight up +into the air, clapped a hand smartly against one of his legs, and began +to dance a hornpipe. At almost the same moment a shot was fired by some +one. + +"Thay, fellowth, I'm thyot!" he gasped, turning deathly pale. "Honeth, +thith ithn't a joke! I'm thyot! Ow! It burnth like fire!" + +"Where?" Ollie anxiously asked, staring at the dancing youth, and +looking quickly about to make sure that no loaded gun was pointed in his +direction. The others looked about, too. + +"This reckless shooting ought to be forbidden!" declared Skelding, +regardless of the fact that the shooting he and his friends had been +doing was of the most reckless character. Veazie dropped down on the +ground, and began to pull up one leg of his trousers. + +"It stwuck me wight here!" he gasped. "I think it must have gone thwough +my leg. I can feel the blood twickling down." + +Ollie went down on his knees and began to help him, and together they +soon had the injured spot revealed to their anxious eyes. They beheld a +reddish place, with a center like a pin jab, but not a drop of blood. + +"It was a spent shot!" said Rupert wisely. "It came from a distance. But +it was a very reckless thing to do to fire at all in this direction." + +"Let me take a look at it!" said Julian Ives, crowding forward and +stooping to inspect it. As he did so, he straightened up with a little +screech, and clapped a hand to his hips. + +"Wow!" he howled, dancing round as Veazie had done. "I'm shot, too! +Fellows, this is awful! I believe I'm killed! Who is doing this?" + +"Thuch weckleth thyoothing I never thaw!" groaned Veazie, though he was +much relieved to discover that he had not received a deadly hurt. +"Thomebody mutht be awwested for thith. I thouldn't be thurpwithed if it +ith one of Merriwell's fwiendth!" + +"Wow!" howled Julian, falling to the ground, and writhing about in his +agony. "I'm dead! I never had anything hurt me so! Wow-ow-ow!" + +Ollie Lord clapped a hand to his head and executed a quickstep. He +pulled off his cap and rubbed furiously, expecting to feel the blood +come away on his fingers, for he also fancied he had been shot. + +"Goodness!" he gasped. "Whoever is shooting this way ought to be jailed. +We will all be killed in five minutes. That tore a hole in my scalp, +sure!" + +Rupert Chickering, who was beginning to look grave and anxious, next +jumped up into the air, forgetting his dignity; while Willis Paulding +sat down with a suddenness that jarred the ground, and began to declaim +in a quick, nervous way and without the slightest imitation of an +English accent. + +Then Lew Veazie, who had been rubbing his injured leg and looking +surprisedly and dubiously about, leaped to his feet with another howl +and went dancing off from his friends. + +"Felloth, it ith hornets!" he shrieked, beginning to fight and slap with +his cap and his hands. "Ow! wow! They're thtinging me to death! Help me, +thomebody!" + +"Hornets!" shrieked Ollie Lord, leaping up and following his chum. +"Fellows, the air is full of them!" + +Tilton Hull began to dig fiercely at his high collar. + +"There is one down my neck!" he screeched. + +He recklessly tore the collar away and began to dig with his nails in a +wild search for the thing that had stung him, and which he fancied he +felt boring its way still farther down his back. Julian Ives took his +hand from his hip and slapped it against his breast, where a red-hot +lance seemed to have been driven with torturing suddenness. Then he +began to tear away his beautiful necktie and to recklessly rumple his +gorgeous shirt front. + +"This is awful!" he exclaimed. "Where are the things coming from? The +air is full of them! Wow! Another struck me in the arm!" + +Lew Veazie was rolling over and over. Their outcries attracted the +attention of Merriwell and his friends, and also the attention of a +number of others who had come upon the grounds. + +"What are those idiots up to?" grumbled Hodge, who had no patience with +the antics of the Chickering set. "They've been making fools of +themselves ever since they came out here. Awhile ago, they were +recklessly burning powder and hurling shot all round. Now they act as if +they were crazy." + +"Must be playing some sort of game of circus!" guessed Browning. +"They're tumbling about like acrobats--or fools!" + +"And howling like wild Indians!" said Danny. "I think they are playing a +Wild West." + +"They ought to have Bill Higgins here, then, to make the show complete," +Merriwell remarked, with a smile. "But seriously, I don't believe +they're playing anything. Those yells sound real." + +"Help!" howled Willis Paulding, forgetting his drawl, "We're being stung +to death!" + +Willis was down on the ground, soiling his beautiful trousers and +digging furiously at his head. + +"Hornets!" shrieked Ollie Lord, kicking about not far from Paulding. + +"Wow!" screeched Lew Veazie, bobbing up and down like a cork in water +when a fish is nibbling at the bait. + +"Take 'em off!" begged Julian Ives, neglecting his lovely bang and +scratching with great energy at the places where he had been stung. + +"We're in a nest of hornets, or bees, or something!" exclaimed Rupert +Chickering, becoming decidedly belligerent in his efforts to rid himself +of the stinging creatures. + +"Are you going to stand there and see us killed?" Skelding demanded. "I +tell you, we are being stung!" + +"Glad to know it!" declared Bart. "You need it. It's hopeless, though, +to expect that the hornets will sting any sense into your crowd." + +Merriwell started toward the screeching, dancing, jigging, fighting +youths, quickening his steps into a run, and his friends followed at his +heels. As he did so he heard the loud and discordant jangle of a cowbell +furiously shaken. + +A man, a woman, and a boy had come in sight, appearing from behind the +seats allotted to spectators. Evidently they had emerged but a minute +before from a strip of timber that cut off the view of a farmhouse that +was on the right of the gun club grounds and some distance away. They +were running as fast as they could, and were shouting something as they +came on. The boy, a lanky chap of fourteen or fifteen, was vigorously +shaking the bell. The man carried a large pail, and the woman swung a +roll of dirty cloth. + +"Hold on! hold on!" the man howled. "Jest handle 'em gently, can't ye?" + +The Chickering set, as well as Merriwell's friends, heard him. + +"Oh, yes! we'll handle 'em gently!" snarled Skelding, slapping at one of +the stinging things and crushing it with his hand. He saw then that it +was a bee. He jerked his hand away and stuck his fingers into his mouth. +Then jumped up and began again to hop around. + +"It run its stinger into my finger an inch!" he growled. + +"Hold on! hold on!" the old man was howling. + +"I'm holding on!' cried Rupert, smashing away at a handful of bees which +seemed to be settling down on him all at once. + +"You're killing 'em!" screeched the old woman. + +"Yes, we're killing 'em!" Skelding answered, flailing away as if he had +gone crazy. "I'd like to kill a million in a minute! I can't kill them +fast enough! I'd like to welt 'em with a club and smash a regiment at a +blow!" + +Lew Veazie threw himself on the ground, drew his hat down over his head, +and began to kick and shriek. + +"You're jest a tantalizin' 'em!" panted the farmer. Merriwell stopped +and laughed. The whole thing was too ridiculously funny for him to do +otherwise. + +"They're swarmin'!" shouted the boy, rattling away with the bell as if +his life depended on it. + +"Yes, I see they are!" howled Julian Ives. "They're swarming all over +me!" + +"Don't hurt 'em!" the farmer begged. He was only a few feet away, and +panting on, almost breathless. + +"Don't kill 'em!" whined the old woman. "They're my bees!" + +Her words reached Lew Veazie. For a moment the kicking legs were +stilled, though the hat was not withdrawn. + +"Take 'em away then, pleathe!" he begged, from under the hat. "I don't +want to hurt your beethe, but they're hurting me! Take 'em away, +pleathe!" + +The boy stopped his jangling bell. + +"They are honey bees!" he said. Then added, as if he feared this might +not be clear to the intellects of city-bred youths: "They make honey!" + +"I'll tantalize them!" Skelding fiercely exclaimed, striking at the bees +that were hovering round his head. "I'll treat 'em gently! Oh, yes! I'll +pick them off very tenderly and put them in your lap, old lady! I don't +think! Keep your old bees at home!" + +"But they're swarming!" the old farmer exclaimed. "They're going out to +hunt a new hive. We've been follerin' 'em." + +Then Lew Veazie began to bellow again, more frantically than ever. A +large crowd was gathering, men hurrying from all directions, Merriwell +and his friends had arrived on the scene. + +"Ow-wow!" Veazie shrieked. "They're worthe than ever!" + +For a few seconds he had not been troubled except by the stings +previously given, which pained intensely. Merriwell looked down and saw +a big bunch of bees gathering along the top of Veazie's collar at the +back. + +"They're killing me!" Veazie screeched, rubbing a hand into this mass +and leaping to his feet. + +But the pile grew. The bees seemed to drop by scores right out of the +air upon him. He started to run. The old woman began to shriek, and the +boy commenced again to jangle the bell. + +"You've got the queen!" howled the old man. "Jest keep still a minute! +You have got the queen!" + +"Is this a card-game?" drawled Browning. + +"Lew Veazie is the little joker this time!" droned Dismal. + +"That's because he is so sweet!" declared Bink. "Don't you know the boy +said these are honey bees? They're going to carry Veazie away and turn +him into honey and the honey comb." + +"If you talk that way I'll have to swear off on honey!" exclaimed +Browning, with a wry face. + +"Hold on! Jest hold on!" the farmer was begging. + +Veazie started to run, and the farmer reached out a hand for the purpose +of detaining him. + +"They ain't stingin' you!" he insisted. "Jest keep your hands down and +keep still an' they won't do a thing to you!" + +"Oh, they won't do a thing to him!" howled Danny. + +Veazie dropped flat to the ground. + +"Jest hold on!" begged the farmer. "Jest hold on! They're lightin' round +the queen!" + +Then he dipped his big hand into the pail and began to ladle out the +water and drench the bees with it, while the old woman flailed with the +roll of cloth to keep them away from her, and the farmer's boy, dancing +up and down in his excitement, jangled the bell like an alarm clock. + +"Jest hold on!" the farmer urged, as Veazie showed signs of rolling +over. "I'll git my fingers on that there queen in a minute, and then +I'll have 'em. I wouldn't lost this swarm fer five dollars. Jest hold on +a minute!" + +"Veazie's queen!" some one sang out from the heart of the surging, +talking, sensation-loving throng. "I always knew you were attractive, +Veazie, but I didn't know females rushed at you in that warm way. Yes, +jest hold on a little, Veazie. We don't have a circus like this every +day, and we want to get the worth of our money." + +Ollie Lord, Chickering, Hull, Skelding, and the others seemed to have +been almost deserted by the bees, that were now swarming down upon the +hapless lisper, drawn there by the fact that the queen had found +lodgment somewhere on Veazie's neck. + +Under the influence of the farmer's commands, Veazie ceased to kick and +strike, and lay like a gasping fish while the man deluged him with +water. + +"Thay, I'm dwoning!" he gasped at last. "Thith ith worthe than being +thtung!" + +But, in truth, the deluge of cold water took away something of the fiery +pain of the stings. + +"Just hold on!" cried the farmer again. + +Then he thrust a thumb and finger down into the writhing wet mass of +bees, drew out the queen, which by its size and shape he readily +distinguished from the others, and began to rake the bees into the new, +empty pail. + +When he had the most of them in, the old woman threw the cloth over +them. The farmer was now down on his knees, and the bees that were still +on Veazie he began to pick off and pop into the pail as if they were +grains of gold. + +"I've got 'em!" he triumphantly declared. "This is my fu'st swarm this +spring. I thought the blamed things was goin' to git away, but I've got +'em. Giner'ly they light on a tree when they're swarmin', or on +somethin' green!" + +"That's why they struck Veazie!" some one shouted from the crowd. + +"Can I get up?" Veazie gasped. "I'm wetter than the thea!" + +"Yes, young man, an' I'm 'bliged to ye. The rest of 'em will find their +way to the queen, I guess. When these bees makes honey, if you'll come +over I'll give you a hunk." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +SHOOTING. + + +Lew Veazie was a sorry sight when he got up from the ground. The water +had converted the soil into mud, which plastered him now from head to +foot. And here and there on his face and hands were red spots made by +the bee stings. + +Gene Skelding was flailing at some bees that did not seem to have +discovered that the queen was captured and their rightful domicile was +the farmer's pail. There were other bees also at liberty, and one of +them, angered no doubt by the turn of events, popped a stinger into the +cuticle of Bink Stubbs. + +"Scatt!" shrieked Bink. "Get away from here, or I'll murder you!" + +Browning moved back, for a bee seemed to be making a desperate effort to +single him out as a victim. Then he stuck his pipe into his mouth, +quickly fished out some tobacco, and crammed the bowl full, and lighted +it. + +"Smoke 'em off!" he said. "That's a good way to fight bees." + +"And tobacco smoke keeps away other female critters!" laughed Danny, +trying rather vainly to imitate the peculiar quality in the farmer's +speech. "That's the reason you have never been popular with the fair. +Now there is Veazie----" + +"What about cigarettes?" drawled Browning, making a fog round his head. +"Don't let the kettle call the pot Blackie! The most disgusting thing +ever created is a smoker of cigarettes!" + +"Yah!" growled Danny, taking out a cigarette. "Lend me a match, old +man." + +And Browning lent him a match. Bink was rubbing earnestly at the stung +spot. + +"I'll never see honey again without thinking of this." + +"Which honey do you mean?" asked Danny. "I heard you calling a +chambermaid Honey the other evening. You must have thought her sweet!" + +"And I heard one of them calling you a fool the other evening. She must +have thought you an idiot." + +"Thomebody get me a cab!" begged Veazie, rubbing his stings and ruefully +regarding himself. "Thay, fellowth, thith ith awful! I'm a thight! Get a +cab, thomebody, and take me home. I'm thick!" + +"No cab here," said Skelding, who was also anxious to get away from the +joking and guying crowd. "But I see a carriage over there. Yes, two of +them." + +"Get a cawiage--anything!" moaned Veazie. "Take me to the hothpital, +take me to a laundwy, take me to a bath--anywhere, quick!" + +The exodus of Veazie and his friends was followed by the return of +Merriwell and his comrades to the traps. Hodge had not been long out of +a sick-bed, and looked thin and weak. He walked with Merriwell. The +other members of the flock had forgiven him for the rancorous and sulky +spirit which had made him refuse to catch in the ball-game against +Hartford, in which Buck Badger had pitched, but they had not forgotten +it. They were courteous, but they were not cordial, and Hodge felt it. + +Buck Badger came upon the ground, but without a gun. He was alone, too, +and he kept away from Merriwell's crowd. He had not learned to like +Merriwell's friends, any of them, and he detested Hodge. + +Having taken his gun from its case, Merriwell put it together, and +opened a box of loaded shells, which he placed on the ground. The gun +was a beautiful twelve-gage hammerless, of late design and American +manufacture, bored for trap shooting. Hodge's gun was so nearly like it +that they could scarcely be told apart. + +Morton Agnew and Donald Pike came on the grounds before the shooting +began. Merriwell observed that Badger affected not to notice them, but +the Westerner was plainly annoyed. + +"Perhaps you would like to shoot!" said Merriwell, going over to Badger +with his gun. "I can let you have the use of my gun. Hodge has one just +like it, and all our other fellows have good guns. So, if you'd like to +shoot! It's all right, and as good as they make them." + +The Kansan was plainly pleased. + +"And I can let you have shells." + +"I'll take the gun, Merriwell," he said, balancing it in his hands and +looking it over. "But I can't let you furnish shells, when I can buy all +I want right here on the grounds. And there is no reason why you can't +shoot with it, too." + +"None at all, old man, only I thought likely you wouldn't want to mix in +with our crowd. I can shoot Bart's gun." + +Badger flushed and his face darkened. He was on the point of saying +something bitter against Hodge. + +"I didn't intend to shoot when I came out," he said, choking down the +angry utterance, "or I should have brought a gun. In fact, I didn't +start for this place at all. But I'm here now, and I reckon my fingers +would never get done itching if I couldn't get to pull a trigger. I used +to shoot some on the ranch, you know, and I hope I haven't lost anything +whatever of the knack. If I should beat your score now?" + +"You're welcome to." + +"Of course I'm more used to a revolver and rifle than to a shotgun, but +I allow I know a kink or two about trap shooting, just the same." + +The rattle and click of guns being put together, the snapping of locks, +and the chatter, made pleasant music for gun lovers, as Frank returned +to his friends. + +"You didn't let him have your gun?" growled Hodge. + +"Yes; I will shoot with yours." + +"You're welcome to, of course; but I shouldn't have done it." + +"Here goes to kill the first bird!" cried Danny, ambling out with a +repeating shotgun in his hands. + +"If you don't hit it first time, you can just sheep on kooting--I mean +keep on shooting!" jollied Rattleton. + +"I wish there was a bee round here to sting him!" sighed Bink, as Danny +faced the trap. "I'm so sore from laughing that I know I can't hit +anything." + +"You couldn't hit anything, anyway!" said Bruce, putting some shells +into his gun. + +"I can hit you!" Bink growled, lunging at him. + +"I meant anything small!" said Bruce, brushing aside Bink's blow as if +it had been a fly. "Shoo! Don't bother me, or I may get one of these +shells stuck." + +A trap was sprung, and Danny blazed away. + +"Missed!" said Dismal. + +"And Danny is our crack shot!" moaned Bink. "The papers will say +to-night that our shooting was like a lot of schoolgirls." + +"How?" asked Merriwell. + +"All misses! Yah! Watch me smash one of those blackbirds into dust." + +Bink went forward with much seeming confidence--and missed, too. + +"Of course I didn't want to take away all the courage of you fellows by +hitting the first bird," he blandly explained. "But I could have done +it." + +The conditions for shooting were fair, for the wind was not so strong as +it had been earlier in the day. Several shots were made, together with a +number of hits. Then Buck Badger's name was called, and he went up to +the line with Merriwell's gun. One of the boys who was manipulating the +traps sprung the middle one, and the bird shot swiftly off to the right. +It was a rather difficult target, but Badger knocked the clay bird into +dust. + +"A good shot!" some one called from the crowd. + +"It was a good shot!" Merriwell commented. + +Dismal Jones followed Badger, and knocked down the straightaway bird +which was sprung from the right-hand trap. + +"Now the earth will fall!" squeaked Bink, for Browning's name was +called, and Bruce got up lazily from the ground and walked slowly into +position. Bruce disliked a light gun, and carried a heavy ten-gage, +notwithstanding the fact that trap-shooting rules required the users of +such guns to shoot from a longer distance. He believed that the heavier +weight and heavier load more than offset this. + +Danny stuck his fingers into his ears as Bruce stood ready to fire the +"cannon." Then there was a thunderous report, as the clay bird flew +through the air, and was knocked to pieces by the impact of the shot. + +"Was it an earthquake?" asked Bink, falling back on the ground. "He'll +be wanting to shoot a Krupp gun next!" + +"Watch me this time!" said Danny, as he stepped into position. "It's +easier for me to do difficult things. If those traps would only throw +out a dozen birds at once, I'd show you some nice work!" + +"Yes, you might get one out of the whole flock," said Diamond. "If it +was a very dense flock, you might get two." + +Ten rounds had been fired, and two birds were to be thrown now at the +same time at unknown angles. + +"Ready?" asked the boy. + +"Pull!" commanded Danny, throwing up his gun. + +The birds flew, but Danny did not shoot. + +"I thought one was going to jump out of the right-hand trap," he +grinned, "and it didn't." + +"Give him another chance," said Dismal. "He oughtn't to be forgiven for +anything, but we'll forgive him." + +"Spit on your hands!" some one yelled. + +Danny put down his gun, very deliberately spat on his hands, then took +up his gun again. + +"Pull!" he commanded. + +Two birds flew--one from the right-hand trap and one from the middle +trap. Bang! bang! Danny fired at both, but the birds sailed on and +descended in the grass. + +"These shells aren't any good!" he asserted, looking wonderingly into +the powder-stained barrels of the gun. "Or else this gun isn't choked +right for trap shooting. I held on both of those birds." + +"You mean you aren't choked right for trap shooting," said Bink, as +Danny came back. + +"I'll choke you!" Danny cried, hurling himself on Stubbs and gripping +him by the throat. + +"Stop it!" commanded Bruce, as they struggled on the grass. "If you +don't, we'll fire you out of the crowd." + +Jack Diamond did the best shooting this time, cleanly killing both +birds. Merriwell and others struck both birds, but Diamond made the +cleanest kill. Danny ambled out again with his repeater, and this time +brought down a bird. + +"Talk about easy things!" he spouted, thrusting out his chest as he +pranced back. + +"That's right!" howled Bink. "You're the easiest thing on the planet. +That bird was broken and all ready to fall to pieces when it left the +trap. I paid the boy to fix it for you." + +"You're another!" Danny declared. "I hit that bird fair and square. See +if you can do better." + +"I'm going to hit both!" Bink declared, and for a wonder he did. + +"Take me home to mommer!" squealed Danny. + +"Talk about shooting!" exclaimed Bink, sticking his hat on the back of +his head. "What's the matter with that, eh?" + +"Oh, you're a wonder!" exclaimed Danny. "Accidents are bound to happen +sometimes, you know." + +Browning made clean misses, and Diamond got only one bird. The shooting +of most of the others was not of the best. + +"I suppose there isn't any way to clip the wings of those things?" +grumbled Dismal, who had missed. "They get up and get away so fast that +I can't pull on them half the time. I could hit my bird if I could find +it. But when I point my gun at it and pull the trigger, it isn't there." + +"Pull ahead of it," Merriwell advised. + +"Yes, you must use ahead work," said Bink. "If you have a head, that is +what it's for. That's the way I did, and you saw the result. I can get +'em every time now." + +As the shooting continued, it was seen that Badger was doing good work, +though nothing at all phenomenal. He stepped into position with an air +of confidence, fired quickly, and then stepped back. But he kept away +from Merriwell's crowd, mingling with others from Yale whom he knew. + +Hodge's score and the Westerner's were nearly alike. Hodge saw it and +squirmed. Then Merriwell, who had made only one miss, scored two "goose +eggs," and Badger climbed up to him. + +"I don't like that," Bart grumbled. "You're not doing your best, Merry. +Badger may beat you." + +Merriwell was cleaning out and cooling his gun--Bart's gun--which both +were using, and which had grown hot and foul from rapid firing. The +first round of twenty shots was nearing its close. Only four more shots +were to be fired in it, at two pairs of birds. Badger had to his credit +thirteen hits and three misses, and Merriwell the same. + +"If you should miss one of the four and Badger should hit them all you +would be beaten!" Bart urged uneasily. "And I don't want you to be +beaten by him. I'm afraid you are going to tie. I want you to beat him. +I can't stand it to have him crowing round." + +Merriwell smiled placidly. + +"Don't steam so, Hodge. It just heats you up, and makes you unhappy. If +Buck Badger should beat me, I don't see that it would make a great +difference. I haven't been shooting for a record this afternoon." + +"All right," said Hodge. "However good your intentions may be, that +fellow will never give you honest credit for them." + +The shooting had recommenced, and Hodge walked back to the crowd, +plainly disgruntled. + +Merriwell clutched a handful of shells and went over to Badger. + +"Try these, Buck!" he said. "They're a good deal better than those +you've been using. I had them loaded very carefully under my own +supervision for this kind of work, and you'll find them very fine. +They're just suited to that gun, too. You have really been shooting at a +disadvantage to-day." + +A smile came to the dark face of the Westerner--a stern, determined sort +of smile. + +"Better not give them to me, perhaps, Merry. I'm going to beat you if I +can. We're tied now. If you miss, I shall get you. Better not give me +any advantages." + +"You can't beat me!" said Frank, looking straight into the eyes of the +Kansan. + +"Do you mean that you haven't been trying to shoot? I've been watching +you, and I allow you have been doing your level best." + +"You haven't watched closely, then. I threw away two shots awhile ago. I +could hardly miss them when I tried. But I'm not anxious to beat any one +to-day. I didn't come out here to make a record." + +Badger flushed. + +"All right. Throw away another shot and I'll beat you." + +"I'll not throw away another, and you can't beat me, though you may tie +me." + +He was smiling and good-humored, and the Kansan tried to be. + +Badger took the next two straight, and Merriwell did the same. + +"I'm afraid he is going to tie you!" grumbled Hodge. + +"What's the score?" asked Rattleton, roused to the fact that Badger and +Merriwell were now really shooting against each other. + +"Toodness, a guy--I mean, goodness, a tie! Don't let him beat you, +anyway, Merry!" + +"That comes from being too good-natured," growled Hodge. "He wouldn't be +anywhere near you, if you'd tried." + +Twice again both brought down their birds. Only a pair was left now to +each. Every member of the gun club present, together with those who, +like Badger, were being permitted to shoot through the favor of members, +and all the spectators, as well, knew now that Badger and Merriwell had +finally pitted themselves against each other in a friendly shooting +contest, with the chances in favor of a tie. + +Hodge was hardly able to breathe, and Harry Rattleton was fidgeting +uneasily. The spectators craned their necks as Badger, whose trial came +first, walked into position with an air of easy confidence, that dark, +determined smile disfiguring his face. + +"I'm afraid your chances are gone, Merriwell!" droned Dismal Jones. "'We +never miss the water till the well runs dry.'" + +"Keep still," grunted Browning, "or you'll make me nervous!" + +"I wish somebody would make Badger nervous!" wailed Bink. + +"Sing out that a queen bee is coming for him!" urged Danny, in an +undertone. + +"Keep still!" said Merriwell. + +Badger balanced his gun, called "Pull!" and threw it into position as +the birds sprang from the trap. + +A deafening explosion followed. The gun was torn to pieces and Badger +was hurled backward to the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +BADGER'S CHALLENGE. + + +Merriwell and others sprang toward him to offer their aid. Frank could +hardly believe what he had seen and heard. He feared Badger was +seriously or fatally injured, but was relieved before he reached the +Kansan to see the latter rise unsteadily to his feet. + +Badger looked dazedly about, then down at his numbed left hand and arm. +They felt dead, and he could hardly lift them. But he saw they were not +mangled. + +"I hope you are not hurt!" Frank exclaimed. + +The blood rushed in a great wave into the Westerner's dark face, and he +gave Frank a strange look. + +"Your gun has gone to pieces!" he said gruffly. + +"But I hope you are not hurt. There are other guns. I don't understand +how it happened." + +There was a suspicious light in Badger's eyes. + +"I'll not be able to beat you," he said. "I don't know that I can shoot +again, and it's a wonder, I reckon, that my arm wasn't torn off." + +He turned toward the exploded gun. The stock was uninjured and the lock +mechanism, but the muzzle end of the right barrel was split open and a +section blown out of it. + +"You didn't get mud or anything of that kind in the muzzle?" Merriwell +questioned, anxiously examining the ruined weapon. "That will sometimes +make a gun explode." + +"None whatever!" Badger grumbled, nursing his numbed hand and arm, while +a crowd gathered round him and Merriwell, asking excited and eager +questions. "Do you think I'm fool enough to do a thing like that?" + +Frank plucked at Rattleton's arm. + +"Take charge of that box of shells," he said, in an undertone. "Don't +let any one touch them. The box from which I took the shells for Badger! +I'm afraid the shells in it have been tampered with." + +"Agnew!" Rattleton gasped. "He's somewhere on the grounds, you know, and +he was right up here awhile ago!" + +"I don't know. It may be. We can tell better later. Just now, take +charge of that box. No more shells must be used out of it, nor out of +any others of mine." + +"All right!" Rattleton promised, and moved quickly away. + +"How is your hand and arm?" Merriwell asked, again addressing Badger. + +"Well, I allow it's good enough to do some more shooting!" Badger +snarled, giving Hodge a suspicious glance. "You didn't beat me! I missed +that bird; but the gun blew up was the reason. I'll shoot you those two, +yet; but I'd rather try you ten birds straight--ten double rises, just +the kind we were shooting at. I reckon we'd better settle this thing +square!" + +There was something very unpleasant in his tone and manner. Hodge saw +the glance, heard the words, and could hardly resist the temptation to +walk up and knock him down. + +"The scoundrel!" he hissed to Browning. "What is he driving at? Does he +mean that Merry hasn't given him a fair deal, or that he had the gun +explode in some way to keep from being tied by him, or beaten? Perhaps +he is hinting crooked work against me! If he does, I'll punch his head, +sure. Frank is a fool to stand such stuff." + +Merriwell showed a slight trace of annoyance. He took Badger by the arm +and they walked aside together. A dozen men were examining the gun, and +a score more were craning their necks to get a look at it, while all +sorts of excited conjectures and comments filled the air. + +"See here, Badger," said Merriwell, somewhat sternly. "You think Hodge +may be responsible for that accident. He isn't--no more than I am! You +either had mud in the gun----" + +"Or something was the matter with the shells!" + +"Exactly. That is what I was going to say, if you had let me finish the +sentence. No more shells will be used out of that box. They may have +been tampered with, but not by Hodge. I know Hodge! He wouldn't do such +a thing." + +"I reckon that he is none too good for that, if he had a chance!" + +"Hodge is my friend." + +"I don't care if he is your friend a dozen times over. That might have +killed me, or crippled me for life!" + +"If those shells were tampered with, it was done for my benefit, Badger, +and not for yours. Hodge wouldn't put in shells that would endanger me. +I gave you those shells out of my own box." + +"And Hodge was talking to you, and knew what you meant to do. He could +have juggled a fixed-up shell on you." + +"We won't talk about it!" said Merriwell, turning away. + +"I've a right to think what I please," Badger grumbled, following him. +"He thinks you can beat me shooting. He was afraid I would. I can beat +you, and I'd like to do it, to spite Bart Hodge." + +"I don't think you are in any condition to do more shooting." + +"Oh, I'm all right!" Badger rather snappishly declared, his heart hot +against Hodge. "Don't let anything of that kind worry you, Merriwell. I +want to shoot at ten double rises against you--ten double rises at +unknown angles. You've declared that you haven't tried to shoot. I dare +you to give me this trial. The numbness is going out of my arm, and it +will soon be all right. And I warn you not to throw away any shots!" + +They were near the excited crowd. + +"All right, Buckrum!" Merriwell answered. "I'll try you, if you're so +anxious!" + +"We'll buy shells here. And that gun----" + +"Perhaps you think there was something the matter with the gun?" + +"Oh, I'll buy you another gun!" growled Badger. + +Frank flushed. + +"The impudence of the fellow!" grunted Browning, who overheard the +remark. Hodge, who was standing near Browning, heard it, too. + +"I wish you'd hit him, Merry!" he panted. + +"No doubt you'd like to do that," said Badger. "But I'd advise you not +to try." + +"Mr. Badger and I are going to shoot at ten double birds," said Frank, +pretending not to notice these things. "I will use your gun, Bart." + +"And Badger may use mine," said a sophomore, who was one of Badger's +friends, and had been one of Merriwell's enemies. "But for goodness +sake, don't use any more dynamite shells!" + +Merriwell saw that Morton Agnew had come up and was looking earnestly at +Badger and at the ruined gun. + +"I wonder that Badger doesn't remember that you slipped a 'fixed' +cartridge into a gun for him once," was Frank's thought. "You are at the +bottom of this, and your villainy has gone far enough. When I come to +strike you I shall strike hard!" + +The shattered gun still furnished attraction for many, and Agnew pushed +forward to get a close look at it, and to ask questions. Rattleton came +up to Merriwell with the box of loaded shells. + +"They are not all just alike, Merry!" he declared. "I have been looking +them over. See!" + +He took up three of the shells and exhibited them to Frank. A casual +glance would show no difference between them and the other shells in the +box. But a close inspection showed that the brass did not go up quite so +high on the paper. + +"I am sure that all the shells in the box were just alike," said Merry. +"Those were slipped in there. Keep them safe." + +"But what if they blow me up?" Rattleton gasped. "I'm afraid of the +things. Some of the fellows are saying there was dynamite in the shell +that tore up the gun!" + +"There is no danger, I think. Take care of them, and see that the other +boxes are not tampered with. Watch Morton Agnew." + +"Let your bife I'll watch him! And he has been watching me! I caught him +at it awhile ago!" + +"I think Agnew fixed up some shells to kill or maim me," said Frank. "No +doubt he would give a great deal to get the unused ones away. Look out +for him." + +Then Merriwell went back to the crowd, where Badger was exhibiting his +benumbed arm and hand, and explaining how it felt to have a gun burst in +one's fingers. + +"Are you ready?" he asked. "I am." + +"Yes," Frank answered. + +It was strange how the fellows on the shooting-grounds ranged themselves +into two companies--the supporters of Merriwell in one knot and the +supporters of the Kansan in the other. It was as if an invisible hand +had gone through the crowd and separated Merriwell's friends from his +foes. About Badger gathered Walter Gordan, Bertrand Defarge, Morton +Agnew, Gil Cowles, Mat Mullen, Lib Benson, Newt Billings, Chan Webb, and +more of the same sort, a number of them now Merriwell's pretended +friends, but all at heart his enemies. While about Merriwell swarmed his +friends tried and true, with Hodge, Browning, Diamond, Rattleton, Gamp, +Bink, and Dismal close to his person. + +"Don't monkey with him," urged Bart, as Merriwell sent Danny and Bink +away for some shells and began to wipe out Bart's gun in readiness for +the shooting-contest. "Don't throw away any shots. Show those cads what +you can do. A lot of them are beginning to think that Badger is really a +better man than you are. If he defeats you----" + +"He'll never defeat Merriwell!" asserted Rattleton. "Come off the dump!" + +"Of course he can't!" added Diamond. + +"There are no dead-sure things," droned Dismal. "I've been enticed into +squandering good dollars on several dead-sure things. I've got more +sense and less dollars." + +"Wait and see!" sputtered Rattleton. + +"Who is to shoot first?" Badger asked, walking toward Merriwell's crowd. + +Badger had noticed the character of the fellows who had gathered round +him, and he was nettled. On the outskirts he even saw the face of Donald +Pike--once his friend, now hated by him as a foe. + +"Suit yourself," Merriwell answered. + +"We'll flip a coin," said Badger. + +One of the sophomores drew out a half-dollar and twirled it in the air. + +"I'll take heads!" said Merry. + +But the head of the coin fell downward, and Badger, taking the gun given +him, walked out to the line and faced the traps. + +"We will have no signaling," he said, turning round and facing +Merriwell's crowd. "As we step up here, let the traps be sprung, and +we'll shoot at the birds, whether ready or not." + +He was supremely confident in his own abilities. + +"All right. Any way to suit you. Go ahead!" + +Before Badger could turn back, he heard the sound made by the traps +springing. Two birds shot out, one toward the right and the other +straight away. + +Bang! bang! Badger wheeled and fired quickly, and made a clean kill of +both birds. There was a skirmish fire of clapping hands in the circle of +his admirers. + +"Fine work!" Merriwell admitted, as he stepped into place with Bart's +gun. + +He stood with his gun down until the birds were hurled from the traps, +then, with a couple of quick snapshots, smashed them to pieces. + +"Whoop-e-ee-ee!" squealed Danny Griswold, turning a handspring. "This +soft snap can shoot a little!" + +Again the Westerner made a clean kill of two birds. Frank followed him +and did the same. + +Five times more the Kansan did this, and Merriwell duplicated the +performance. The antagonistic crowds ceased to whoop and shout their +exclamations of pleasure. The thing was becoming interesting. It began +to seem that Badger and Merriwell would again tie. Then Badger, becoming +overconfident, missed a bird. He stepped back, with a look of chagrin on +his face. + +Frank stepped forward, pitched up his gun as the birds were thrown--and +missed one! Merriwell missed with the left barrel of his gun, and Badger +had missed with the left barrel. + +"Now you're monkeying!" Hodge grumbled, as Merriwell retired into the +circle of his friends. "Don't do it, Merry! What did you do that for? +You could have made the whole string straight, without a single +goose-egg!" + +Badger's dark, heavy face was flushed as he advanced again into +position. He felt, like Hodge, that Merriwell had purposely missed that +second bird, and it annoyed and angered him. This was the worst possible +thing that could have happened to him, for when he fired he again missed +a bird. + +"Don't imitate him again!" Hodge implored. + +And Merriwell did not. He made a clean kill of both birds. + +"Only two more birds apiece, and Merry one ahead!" squealed Bink, vainly +tiptoeing to see as well as those who were taller. + +"You want to see Merry do him up?" said Bruce. "You little runt, I'll +take pity on you!" + +"Me, too!" squeaked Danny. + +With little apparent exertion of strength, Browning hoisted the little +fellows to his shoulders, thus elevating them above the heads of others, +where they sat in great glee, squealing and laughing, Danny on the young +giant's right shoulder and Bink on his left, as Badger walked out to +shoot at his last two birds. + +Again the Westerner killed his birds. + +"Now, if Merry misses one, it will be another tie!" grunted Bart. + +"Stop hawking through your tat--I mean----Oh, I don't know what I mean! +But just keep still!" Rattleton almost breathlessly begged. "Merry is +all right!" + +And Rattleton's confidence was justified. Merry fired, with the same +result. + +"Pulverized 'em!" howled Bink. + +"Smashed 'em into bug-dust!" squealed Danny. + +"Bub-bub-beat Badger again!" sputtered Gamp. + +A cheer of gratification went up from the circle of Frank's friends. +Merriwell motioned to Rattleton to bring him some shells. + +"Bring me Danny's gun, too!" he called; and Harry ran out to him with a +box of shells that he knew were reliable and with Griswold's repeating +shotgun. + +"All three traps at once!" said Merriwell to the trap manipulators. + +Three birds flew at the same moment of time. + +Bang! bang! bang! + +Badger in his best shooting at two birds had never made cleaner kills. +The clay birds seemed to vanish in puffs of dust at the crack of the +gun. Merriwell put down Danny's repeater, and took up Bart's gun. + +"Three birds again!" he commanded, as he dropped in the two shells and +closed the breech with a click. + +Almost before the words were out of his mouth, the birds were thrown. + +Bang! bang! bang! + +He killed the left and center birds with the two loads in the gun; then +reloaded and killed the third bird before it could touch the ground! + +Badger's face grew redder. There was a wild clapping of hands, joined in +by many who were in Badger's crowd. + +"Whoop-ee-e-ee!" squealed Danny, wildly waving his cap. "Who says we +can't shoot?" + +They had been shooting at a rise of twenty-five yards. Merriwell stepped +back five yards, thus increasing the distance to thirty. He loaded his +gun and held an extra shell in his left hand. Then he turned his back on +the traps. + +"Pull when you want to?" he called. + +The manipulators of the traps seemed to desire to test him. There was an +exasperating delay and some questions; then the traps were sprung with +startling suddenness. + +Merriwell's quick ear was alert. He wheeled as if on a pivot, killed the +left bird and the right one. Then dropped in another shell with a +slowness that set Bart Hodge wild, and killed the third bird, which had +gone off at a difficult tangent, at a distance of at least sixty yards! + +"Come on!" grated Defarge, almost beside himself with anger and +disappointment. "The devil can't beat him! Let's get out of here!" + +"Right!" said Pike, also turning wrathfully away. Badger seemed turned +to a statue. + +Then again the unexpected happened. A sophomore, who was known to be an +intimate friend of Morton Agnew, by seeming accident fired off a gun +with which he had been monkeying. Agnew, who had, unnoticed, wormed his +way into Merriwell's crowd during the excitement of the +shooting-contest, fell to the ground with a cry, as if shot, knocking +Harry Rattleton over as he did so. + +The shells which Harry had been so carefully guarding were scattered on +the ground, and seemed likely to be stepped on and lost in the +excitement that followed. + +Agnew flounced and threshed about, crying out that he was shot. He was +anxiously lifted up, and on his face was seen a drop of blood, which had +come from a cut recently made. + +"One shot went in right there!" he cried. "I think there are others! Get +me into a carriage quick!" + +A half-dozen young fellows ran for the nearest carriage, toward which +Agnew was conducted as rapidly as possible. Harry Rattleton seemed +dazed, and began to look about on the ground as the crowd thinned out +there, Merriwell hurried to him. + +"What's the matter?" he anxiously asked. + +"The shells were knocked out of my hands!" gasped Rattleton. "And not +half of them seem to be here!" + +Merriwell's look became anxious. He stooped down with Harry and began to +gather up the shells. + +"A shrewd trick, but it didn't work!" he exclaimed, holding up a +cartridge. "Here is one of those that were fixed for me, anyway. And now +I know that Agnew did it, and that he intended to kill me!" + +The other shells which Agnew had prepared were gone, having been +gathered up in the midst of the tumult and excitement and cleverly +slipped by Agnew into his pockets. + +"Who fired that shot?" Merriwell asked. + +"I don't know!" + +Others were gathering round. + +"He tried to kill me, Harry, and I shall strike back. And when I strike +I shall strike in a way to make the stroke felt!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +FRANK PREVENTS TROUBLE. + + +Badger's belief that Hodge had juggled the shell which exploded in the +gun was not very strong when he left the grounds of the gun club, but +his hatred of Hodge was not in any degree lessened thereby. Only by a +supreme exercise of will-power had he been able to keep himself from +rushing upon Bart when the latter made his bitter comments to Merry. + +"Merriwell is all right, but Hodge isn't even a piece of a man!" he +growled, as he made his way home, his thoughts in a chaotic state. "I +shall have to punch his head for him. Merry wouldn't have beat me +shooting if I had taken my own gun along! I reckon I was a fool for +going into the thing. Hodge isn't any too good to slip that shell in on +Merry! And if he didn't do it, who did? And I'd like to know what was in +it? That's whatever!" + +Bart's feelings against the Westerner were quite as bitter. He almost +hated the ground on which Badger's shadow fell. It seemed unlikely that +Frank could ever reconcile these two antagonistic characters. + +Bart was sore also about the way Frank's friends were treating him. Nor +was the feeling lessened by his own inner conviction that he had dealt +rather shabbily with one who had been as true a friend to him as Merry +had been, and that the other members of the "flock" had good grounds for +looking on him with disfavor. + +"I shall never crawl on my knees for the friendship and good-will of any +of them!" was his thought, as he turned a corner on his way to the +lighted campus, on the evening of the second day after the shooting. +"And as for Badger----" + +He ran violently against a man and was hurled backward. The man was +Badger. + +"What do you mean by that?" the Westerner demanded, for he, also, had +been almost knocked from his feet, and he, too, had been feeding his hot +anger with inflammatory thoughts against Bart. "You did that on +purpose!" + +Hodge lunged at the Kansan's face. But the blow did not fall. The fist +was knocked down, and a strong grasp on his shoulder turned him +half-round. + +"Stop this!" came sternly from Frank Merriwell, who was also on his way +to the campus. + +"Let me get at him!" Bart panted, trying to wrench away. "He ran into me +and tried to knock me down just now. I can't stand it! I won't stand +it!" + +"Oh, let him come on!" the Westerner grated. "I've been aching for a +crack at him for a month! I'll polish him off in short order, if you +will just let him come on! He thinks because he knocked me out once that +he can do it again!" + +"If you fellows are determined to fight, I'll arrange for you to get at +each other some time, but you are not going to fight here, and that is +flat!" + +"Oh, well, let it go!" said Bart, with intense bitterness and disgust. +"I'll not trouble him here. But if we ever do come up against each +other, I'll hammer the life out of him!" + +"I don't doubt you'd kill me if you could!" the Kansan sneered. "I +rather think you tried it the other day." + +"What do you mean?" Bart demanded, again bristling. "Do you mean the +shell that blew up the gun?" + +"It's strange you can guess so easy!" Badger insinuated. + +"See here, Badger," said Frank, who had stepped between the +belligerents. "You insult me when you intimate that Bart knew anything +about that shell. That shell was slipped into my box by Morton Agnew. I +have discovered enough already to convince me of that. I saw him do +something to-day, too, which puts a big club into my hand!" + +Badger's face changed, but he would not admit that he might be wrong in +laying the dastardly deed at the door of Bart Hodge. + +"When you've got the proof, I'll look at it," he doubtingly remarked, +turning about. + +"Oh, don't talk to him!" Hodge growled. "I wouldn't waste words on him." + +"I'll hammer your face for this some day!" Badger panted, turning back. + +"It's right here, ready for the hammering whenever you get ready to try +it!" Hodge snapped, and then moved away with Merriwell. Seeing that they +were heading toward the campus, the Westerner went now in a different +direction. + +"I don't know why I should let Merriwell come in and interfere in that +way," he grumbled. "I allow that it really was none of his affair. But I +permitted him to order me to stand back, and I stood back. Of course, +I'm under obligations to him, and all that, and he said good words to +Winnie for me when I seemed to need them--but, hang it all! he isn't my +boss! Who made him my master? It's all right for him to lead Hodge +around by the nose that way, but----" + +"Hello!" came in an inquiring voice, and Badger, looking up, saw Morton +Agnew. The Westerner's face took on an unpleasant look, and he did not +answer the hail. + +"Don't be surly!" said Agnew, coming boldly on. + +"What do you want?" snapped the Kansan. + +Then the thought came to him that it would be a good idea to treat Agnew +with some consideration, for thereby it might be possible to get the +inside facts about the shell that ripped the gun open and came so near +mangling his arm. + +"What do you want?" he asked again, toning down his gruffness. + +"I know we're not friends," said Agnew, with the suavity of a confidence +man, "but that is no reason why we should always remain foes. I saw you +here, and you looked lonesome. I'm a rather lonesome bird myself +to-night, so I whistled to you." + +"I allow you've the most gall of any man I ever saw!" was Badger's +thought. + +Aloud, he said: + +"We'll go down this way, then. Did I look lonesome? Well, I wasn't +feeling any lonesome, I can tell you--none whatever!" + +"Perhaps you object to my company?" drawing back. + +Badger knew that this was a piece of acting, and he wanted to crack +Agnew on the jaw for it. But he held himself in check. Really Badger +seemed to be gaining some self-control--a thing that was entirely +foreign to him when he first knew Merriwell. He was enabled to hold +himself in by the intense desire he felt to discover if Agnew slipped +the "fixed" shell into the box. That was an important point just then. + +"Come along!" the Westerner grunted. "You said that you were lonesome, +if I am not. I'm not so hoggish as to want to run away from a man who +thinks he can get good out of my company." + +"I like to hear you talk that way," said Agnew, linking his arm in the +Kansan's. + +The touch made Badger's flesh creep, but he held this feeling in check, +too. + +"Here's a saloon!" said Agnew, after they had walked a considerable +distance without saying anything of moment. "Let's go in. We can talk in +there. I never like to chatter much on the street." + +Looking up, Badger saw that they were in front of a well-known resort, +which he had entered more than once, but of which he had recently fought +shy. Winnie's face rose reproachfully before him as he stopped and +looked at the entrance. It almost drove him back. + +"We can talk better inside," Agnew urged. + +The Westerner glanced hesitatingly up and down the street. + +"All right," he agreed, again feeling a fierce desire to get at whatever +knowledge Agnew possessed about the exploding shell. + +The proprietor nodded familiarly toward him as he walked in. + +"Glad to see you. Nice evening!" + +Badger, who was not good at acting what he did not feel, mumbled a +reply. + +"Have something?" suggested Morton, moving up to the bar. + +Badger pushed Agnew's arm away and turned toward a side room. + +"No! I don't need a drink to talk." + +"It greases a fellow's tongue," said Morton, with one of his persuasive +smiles. "You won't have anything?" as a waiter appeared. + +"Not to-night." + +"Some whisky," said Agnew, and the waiter went away, returning shortly +with a bottle and some glasses. + +"Some cards!" said Agnew, and the waiter brought two unopened packs. + +The Westerner's brow grew black. He fancied he saw through Agnew's +little game. He believed that Agnew, who was a card-sharp, hoped to get +him to talking, then to drinking, and finally into a game, and fleece +him out of what money he had. Agnew's funds were low, and he was +probably ready for any expedient. + +"We can talk better over a game," Agnew urged, deftly opening a pack. + +The Kansan pushed back. His blood was boiling. He could hold in no +longer. + +"I allow you're a big fool, Agnew, if you think you can do me up in that +way!" he hotly declared. "I've been told that you tried to kill me the +other day. Do you want to rob me, because you failed in that?" + +Agnew grew white. + +"What are you talking about?" he gasped. "Tried to kill you? What +nonsense is that? I don't know what you mean." + +However, there was a certain tell-tale shrinking in his manner which +Badger could not fail to notice. It convinced the Westerner that +Merriwell was on the right track, and his anger burned into deep rage. + +"I can see from your manner that you did. Agnew, you've got the heart of +a wolf! That's whatever!" + +Agnew was truly playing a game, but it was not a card-game. He had +learned to hate Badger. To strike the Westerner pleased him now almost +as well as a stroke against Merriwell. He dropped the cards and pushed +back, as if he feared the Kansan would leap at his throat. + +"Wh-what do you mean?" he demanded. + +"On the gun-club grounds!" said Badger, rising from the table. "You +slipped some dynamite shells into Merriwell's box, and I got one of +them. It came near tearing my hand and arm to pieces, and it might have +killed me. No thanks to you that it didn't. Your intentions were good +enough." + +Agnew began to bluster, but in a low tone. + +"I'm not used to being accused of such things. How do you know there was +anything the matter with the shell? Are you hunting for trouble?" + +"That was the trick of an Apache, Agnew!" + +"Don't let the proprietor hear you," Agnew begged, and his voice was +again as smooth as silk. "What is the use of rowing? I say that I did +nothing of the kind, and you're a fool for thinking so. Whoever hinted +that to you lied." + +"I allow you might as well say that I lied!" + +Agnew pushed toward the wall and put his hands into his pockets. Badger, +thinking he meant to draw a weapon, gave him no further time, but leaped +on him across the table with the rush of a cyclone. Agnew went down +under that rush, but he clutched the Westerner, and began to struggle, +at the same time sending up a sharp call for help. In a moment the +proprietor and the bartender were on the scene. + +"None of this!" cried the proprietor, grabbing Badger by the shoulders, +and, with the bartender's assistance, bodily dragging him off the +threshing, writhing form of Agnew. Morton did not seem in any hurry to +be released or rescued, however, and hung to Badger's coat and vest with +the tenacity of the under dog that fails to appreciate the fact that it +is overmatched. + +"No fighting in here!" panted the proprietor. "This ain't no +boxing-club! See! I'm glad to have gents come in and make themselves to +home, but I can't allow any fighting!" + +Agnew slid toward the door, seeming anxious to escape. The next moment +he was out in the barroom, and then he vanished into the street. + +"I'll pay for the damages," said Badger, choking down his wrath. "He +went to draw a gun on me, and I jumped on him, that's all. A man is a +fool to let another get the drop on him, and I allow I don't intend to. +You bet I don't. I'll see him again, and when I do I reckon we'll have a +settlement." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +AGNEW'S TRICK. + + +When the Westerner saw Agnew again they were in one of the college +lecture-rooms and an examination was in progress. Of course, they did +not speak to each other. Badger believed that Agnew had kept away from +him since their warlike encounter of the night before. The fact that +Agnew was also a sophomore had long been a disturbing thought to the +Westerner. Badger had class pride. He sometimes declared that he was a +sophomore of the sophomores, but there were a number of sophomores with +whom he could not and would not mix. + +His seat was now close to the one occupied by Agnew, though somewhat in +front of it, and he had the unpleasant feeling that a hole was being +bored through the back of his head by Agnew's eyes. When the conductor +of the examination looked down that way Badger could not tell whether +the professor's gaze was fixed on him or on Agnew. Professor Barton had +fiercely penetrating eyes, anyway, and the peculiar manner in which he +looked at students in the classroom had always been especially +irritating to the Kansan. + +Printed questions were used, and Badger found some of them pretty hard. + +"I wish Barton wouldn't look me through and through!" he muttered, +noticing again and again that the professor's eyes were fixed on him. +"It makes me feel like a cat under the paw of a mouse, or a calf watched +by a coyote. I allow there are things pleasanter than Barton's eyes." + +But Barton continued to look down that way. + +"Is he watching me, or is he watching Agnew?" Badger grumbled, as he dug +away at the work cut out for him. "Hanged if I can tell. Perhaps it's +just a way he has. Maybe every poor devil in the room is feeling just as +I do. Whoever got up these questions must have lain awake of nights +trying to see how hard he could make them. I reckon the chances are +about two to one that I'll flunk." + +In an interval when Barton's attention was turned in another direction, +Morton Agnew crumpled a piece of paper, and, with a deft toss, which he +made sure was not seen by any one, he threw it beneath Badger's desk. +Badger did not know it was there, but the keen eyes of Barton saw it as +soon as they were again turned in that direction. + +Now, Barton was really not watching Buck Badger, but he was watching +Morton Agnew. Slips of the printed questions had been stolen by some +member of the sophomore class the day previous, and Agnew was suspected +of the theft. That was why the keen eyes of the professor were so +constantly turned toward that part of the room. He hoped to discover +some evidence of Agnew's guilt, if, indeed, Agnew was guilty, as was +believed. + +When his eyes fell on the piece of paper which Morton had tossed so +cleverly beneath Badger's desk, he knew in an instant that it had not +been there a moment before. The natural conclusion was, therefore, that +the Kansan had dropped it. + +Its discovery was very suggestive. He began to watch Badger as well as +Agnew. In a little while Badger saw the paper also, and stooped to pick +it up. + +"I will take that piece of paper!" came in the calm, even voice of the +professor, as the Westerner's fingers closed on the crumpled slip. + +Badger, who had intended to open it, wondering what it contained, and +vaguely thinking it might be a note which some member of the class had +tried to get to him, flushed in a manner to arouse the professor's +suspicions. He was almost tempted to tear it open and possess himself of +its contents, but Barton was moving toward him, with his eyes glued on +the paper. + +"I will take that piece of paper," the professor repeated, and Badger +reluctantly gave it to him. + +Agnew looked down at his work to veil the look of triumph that had come +into his face. Badger anxiously watched Barton as he opened the slip and +glanced it over. + +"That is your handwriting, I believe?" in an ominous voice. + +He held it for Badger to read, and, to the Kansan's intense +astonishment, he saw that the paper was scribbled over with answers to +the questions used in the examination, and that the handwriting seemed +to be his own. He was so bewildered he could not say a word. Answers +were there to only a part of the questions, however. + +There was a strange look on Barton's bearded face. He had seen Badger +fishing in his right vest pocket for a stub of a pencil awhile before. +He thought, as he remembered this, that it was the left pocket of the +vest. + +"What is in that left pocket of your vest?" he asked, in a voice that +fairly made Badger jump. + +Barton believed the slip he held in his fingers had come from that left +pocket, and he thought it possible more like it might be concealed +there. + +"Not a thing!" said the Westerner, the angry flush in his face extending +to the roots of his dark hair, for he was not accustomed to being spoken +to in that suspicious tone, and it enraged him. + +"Will you see if there is not?" Barton asked, striving to maintain his +calm, though his suspicions were growing. Badger confidently thrust in +his fingers and--drew out a slip of paper like the others, which was +also scribbled over with answers to questions! + +He could not have regarded it with more surprise and bewilderment if it +had been a snake. Barton took it from his shaking fingers, and saw that +the handwriting seemed to be the same. + +This exciting dialogue was beginning to attract attention, and many eyes +were turned in that direction, which made the Kansan get even redder in +the face. Badger thrust a hand into one of the upper pockets of his vest +and drew out another paper of the same kind. + +"What does this mean?" he growled. + +He dived frantically into other pockets. He knew that his position was +one hard to explain away, but, with a sort of recklessness, he was +determined to know if there were more papers of that kind anywhere about +him. He could not imagine how they came there, and the rather wild idea +occurred to him that he might have scribbled them over that way in his +sleep, for the coming examination had disturbed him and made his nights +a bit restless. + +There were no other incriminating slips. + +"I should like to know what it means myself," said Barton. + +He looked sternly at Agnew, but the latter had now obtained control of +his countenance, and met the professor's suspicious look with an air of +innocent confidence. Agnew felt safe. The paper he had crumpled and +thrown under Badger's desk was the only one he had secreted about him. +So he knew that even if a search was forced, nothing of an incriminating +character could be discovered on him. + +"I think I have put you in a mighty tight box, Mr. Buck Badger!" was his +gloating thought. + +And again that look of triumph returned with such force that he could +hide it only by lowering his eyes, and did not raise them throughout the +rest of the hour. + +That evening, while Morton Agnew was amusing himself with a game of +solitaire, and chuckling with glee over the clever manner in which he +had put Buck Badger in a "box," a rap sounded on the door of his room +that made him jump. + +"Come in!" he said. + +And Frank Merriwell walked in! + +Agnew half-rose out of his chair. + +"Sit down!" Merriwell urged, closing the door behind him. + +Then he turned the key in the lock and dropped the key into his pocket. + +"What do you mean by that?" starting to his feet in an agitated way. + +"Sit down!" Frank again commanded, in a smooth, quiet tone, which, +however, sounded very ominous. Agnew looked toward the closed window, +and then dropped limply into the chair. + +"It's two stories down, and a hard pavement below that window. I'd +advise you, Agnew, not to pitch yourself out of that on your head. It +would probably give the undertaker a job." + +Agnew pushed the cards about, without knowing what he did, and stared at +Merriwell, his face white and his eyes anxious. He was afraid of +Merriwell. Of all the men at Yale, Merriwell was the one he most feared. +And his heart told him that there was something serious back of this +unexpected call. + +"I'm glad to find you in," said Frank, "for I want to have a talk with +you. I will take this chair, with your leave. You won't mind if I come +to the point at once?" + +"I don't know what you're driving at, and I think you must be drunk or +luny to come into a fellow's room and lock him in! If you have an idea +that there is anything funny about this, I'm pleased to tell you that +there isn't." + +"I was afraid you might be so uncivil as to desert me. I shall not try +to take anything away with me but a bit of your writing. You're a good +penman, Agnew, and I shall want a sample, after we've had a friendly +chat." + +The cold sweat came out on Agnew's brow. + +"I don't intend to beat about the bush at all. It is not needed. You +know what I think of you, for I've given you abundant opportunity. Twice +within my knowledge you have tried to murder me--once when you slipped a +ball cartridge into Badger's musket in 'A Mountain Vendetta,' hoping and +believing that I would be killed, and again on the grounds of the gun +club, when you slipped some prepared shells into my box, thinking I +would get hold of one of them, and that I would be killed by the +explosion of my gun!" + +Agnew's face grew as white as writing-paper. He opened his lips to +reply, but Frank went on: + +"Of course, you are ready to deny these things. But I have some proofs. +You thought you could get all the 'fixed' shells when you knocked +Rattleton over in the crowd, pretending you were shot. But one of them +you failed to get. I have had its contents analyzed by one of the +professors of chemistry, and he says that in place of powder, the shell +contained a sort of gun-cotton, and that he does not see why the gun was +not torn into splinters." + +"This----" + +"Just keep still, Agnew, until I am through! I have found the dealer of +whom you purchased those shells, and I have found the dealer of whom you +procured that gun-cotton!" + +Again Agnew opened his mouth to protest. He had stopped pushing the +cards about. + +"Once you tried to ruin my right arm by injecting into it a preparation +that would produce atrophy of the muscles. I can produce evidence of +that, too!" + +"It's a lie!" Agnew finally gasped. "There is not a word of truth in +these accusations!" + +"I have been accumulating evidence against you for some time. You have +struck at me and at my friends time and again. It is my time to strike +now, and I shall strike hard." + +The dangerous smile which friends and enemies alike had come to know so +well rested on Merriwell's face. Agnew had seen it there before, and the +sight of it made him shiver. + +"Badger used that shell--or one of the shells, and only chance saved him +from being killed or maimed for life. Not satisfied with that, you +struck at him to-day again." + +"You're crazy, Merriwell! There is not a word of truth in any of these +things. You have fancied them all, and, because you do not like me, you +are determined to ruin me." + +"You have ruined yourself, Agnew. I have given you chance after chance +to reform and change about. You get worse. You are a disgrace to +humanity, to say nothing of Yale College. You struck at Badger to-day, +as I said. + +"I know all about it. Professor Barton fancies that he caught Badger +cribbing in to-day's examination. The matter has already gone to the +faculty. Badger will go out of Yale as sure as the sun rises if things +are permitted to go on. I propose to see that they do not go on. No +scoundrel like you, Agnew, shall treat a friend of mine in that way." + +"So he has become your friend, has he?" + +"No man shall treat one of my foes in that way, if I can help it!" + +Agnew attempted a skeptical sneer, but it was a failure. He was shaking +like a chilled and nervous dog. + +"I have had a talk with Badger. He couldn't understand how the papers +got into his pockets. But I knew as soon as he told me of your encounter +in that saloon last night, for I had seen the slips purporting to be in +his handwriting, and I knew they were forged, and I was sure you were +the forger!" + +"Quite a Sherlock Holmes!" said Agnew. "This is a very interesting +little romance. The only trouble is that, like most romances, there +isn't a word of truth in it." + +"You are the man who stole the printed question slips. You wanted them +for your own use, so that you might not fail in this examination. When +you knew what they were, and had prepared answers, you planned to use +them to throw Badger down, hoping that if the theft of the slips were +discovered the blow would fall on Badger." + +"You're away off, Merriwell!" + +But Frank went remorselessly on: + +"Last night, in the saloon, during that fight, which was of your own +seeking, you contrived to put those forged answers, in imitation of +Badger's handwriting, into his pockets, where Professor Barton found +them to-day. You are a forger, Agnew, and you have lately been passing +counterfeit money!" + +"Not a word of truth in any of this!" Agnew shakily declared. + +"Some of these things I might find difficulty in proving, though I am as +sure of them as that you are sitting there. But of other things I have +the proof. Now, I am going to give you your choice: Write at my +dictation a confession that will clear Badger of the charge of stealing +the question slips and using those answers, or I shall take steps at +once which will land you in the penitentiary!" + +Agnew grew sick and blind. + +"I can't do what you say!" he begged. "My God, Merriwell, even if the +things were true--which I deny--I couldn't do it! It would disgrace me +forever!" + +"The faculty and professors are not anxious to bring odium on the good +name of Yale. Your confession, I am sure, will not be made public. You +ought to have thought of the disgrace when you were doing those +dastardly, cowardly things! It is too late now." + +"But I can't!" Agnew wailed. He had ceased to deny his guilt. + +"All right!" said Frank, his lips tightening firmly. "I shall clear +Badger without this. I wanted to give you a last chance. I, too, am +anxious that the good name of Yale shall not be smirched by publishing +to the world the downfall and disgrace of a Yale student. But I shall +not withhold my hand longer." + +He pushed back his chair, and the look on his face was so terrible that +it robbed the trembling wretch of his fictitious courage. + +"Wait!" begged Agnew. "If I do what you say, you'll give me time to get +out of town?" + +"I shall not move against you at all. I shall simply turn the confession +over to the faculty, and so clear Badger." + +Again Agnew hesitated. + +"Here are paper and ink on your table!" + +The sweat was standing in drops on the brow of the card-sharp. + +"I'll do it simply because I must!" he doggedly declared. "It is an +outrage. I do not admit any of these other charges, but I did put those +things in Badger's pockets, and I took the questions to help me out in +the examination. Those are the only things I am willing to confess." + +"They are all I ask you to confess." + +With trembling fingers, Agnew drew pen and paper toward him. And then, +at Merriwell's dictation, he wrote a complete confession of the wrong he +had done Badger. + +"That is all right!" Merry admitted, when he had looked it over. + +He arose from the chair, folded the paper, and put it in a pocket. + +"Get out of New Haven as quick as you can. I shall give this to the +faculty in the morning. Good-by!" + +He unlocked the door, with his face turned toward Agnew, let himself +into the hall, and was gone. + +Forbearance and mercy had ceased to be a virtue, and Frank Merriwell's +hand was lifted to strike and crush a dastardly foe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +COWARDICE OF THE CHICKERING SET. + + +Merriwell encountered Hodge in the campus, informed him of what he had +done, and together they started down-town. By and by they took a +street-car, and, getting out at a familiar corner, found themselves in +front of a group of Merriwell's friends. + +"Excuse me if I walk on!" said Bart. + +"No, you are going with me!" + +"My room is preferred to my company with those fellows!" + +They had not yet been seen by Merry's friends, who were grouped on the +sidewalk about Jack Ready, who was talking and gesticulating in his +inimitable way. + +"Now don't get sulky, Bart!" Frank commanded. "Those fellows are my +friends." + +"They don't like me. I've seen it, Merry. When I think of some things +they have said, it makes me hot even against you." + +"Do you want to turn me against you, Bart? That is a good way to do it." + +"I don't care! I shall never snivel round those fellows!" Bart snarled. +"I'm your friend, Merry! That's enough, isn't it?" + +"You take a poor way to show your friendship, Hodge! You vex me +sometimes. Now, look here! The 'flock' can be together but a little +while longer. The last of June is approaching fast, and that brings +commencement. Diamond, Rattleton, Browning, Gamp, Dismal, Danny, Bink, +and a lot more will leave Yale forever in June." + +The reflection touched Bart's fiery heart. + +"All right," he said. "Go ahead!" and walked after Merriwell. + +Willis Paulding, the Anglomaniac, passed them, going in the direction of +the large hotel across the way. + +"Mud on the bloon--I mean blood on the moon!" exclaimed Rattleton, as +Bart and Merry came up. + +"What's up?" Frank asked. + +"Paulding and the Chickering set are up--there!" said Danny, pointing to +some upper windows of the hotel. "They are having a big feed to-night." + +"Drinking tea and smoking cigarettes," explained Bruce. + +"I've invited every fellow here to attend that banquet with me," Ready +jovially declared. "But not a soul will accept the invitation. They +fancy their heads aren't hard enough for that kind of drinking!" + +"Bub-bub-better get an invitation yourself fuf-first!" Gamp stuttered. + +"Oh, I circulate everywhere, like first-class currency. Want to go up +and take a peep with me, Merriwell? I'd give a V any time to hear one of +those fellows respond to a toast! Come along. What d'ye say? I'll be the +pilot." + +But Merriwell was no more in the mood for such an escapade than the +other members of the "flock." Thereupon, Ready skipped across the street +himself and disappeared within the hotel. + +Merriwell and his friends walked down the street, and in the course of +half an hour returned to that corner. Then they saw Ready at one of the +upper windows, looking down at them. He had a big piece of cake in one +hand and a glass of wine or tea in the other. + +"Come up to the feast!" he bellowed. "Great fun!" + +But Merriwell had his eyes fixed elsewhere. Suddenly he exclaimed: + +"That hotel is on fire!" He had observed a tongue of flame leaping from +a window. + +He started across the street, but before he had taken a dozen steps the +fire-alarm bell sounded. A few of the people in the hotel seemed to be +awaking to the fact that the building was on fire. Merry's friends +joined him, and they stood near the center of the street, looking up at +the fire and discussing the matter. Then Ready was seen again at the +window, staring about in a bewildered way, as if he contemplated leaping +to the street below. + +"Do you suppose the fire could cut him off so soon?" Merry anxiously +queried. + +"It doesn't seem likely," Diamond answered. "But, of course, no one can +tell. The Chickering set are up there yet!" + +A crowd was collecting, and Merry's friends were thinking of going on +across the street, when the arrival of a clanging fire-engine drove them +back to the corner from which they had started. + +It could now be seen that even in that brief space of time the fire was +rapidly spreading. The blaze first seen had increased in size, and +flames were now issuing from other windows on that floor. The fire +seemed to be in the third story. Luckily, the hotel stood on a corner, +away from other buildings. + +People were now pouring in a stream from the exits. Merriwell looked +again toward the window where Ready had been seen. + +"Ready will come right across here as soon as he gets down," he said. "I +suppose he is all right, but the fire is on that floor!" + +But Ready did not appear. Other fire-engines arrived and began their +work. Firemen swarmed everywhere. But the fire increased in intensity in +spite of this fight against it. The hotel appeared to have emptied +itself of its occupants. + +And still Jack Ready did not come. Willis Paulding stumbled across the +street, white and shaky. His hair and eyebrows were singed, his +Lunnon-made clothes were wet and limp, and he was terribly frightened. + +"Merriwell," he gasped, "Jack Ready is up there!" + +Merry started. A fear that such might be the case had been growing on +him. + +"How do you know?" he asked. + +Paulding forgot his English drawl in his fright and excitement. + +"I saw him!" he admitted. "He was trying to get Lew Veazie down the +stairs when he fell. Veazie had been drinking a little, and couldn't +help himself." + +"And where is Veazie?" + +"He is down on the street somewhere." + +"And you ran away and left Ready, after he had injured himself while +trying to aid you!" + +Paulding dropped his head. + +"The fire was right on us, and we----" + +"Where did he fall?" + +"On the center stairway leading from the third story," said Paulding, +shivering under Merry's rebuke. + +"Fellows, I am going up there after Jack Ready," said Frank calmly. + +"You'll go at the risk of your life!" shouted Browning. + +But Frank was already half-way across the street. The fire had spread +with astonishing rapidity. Some combustible material in the second story +had exploded with great force, and this had seemed to scatter the fire. +The entire second story was on fire now, as well as the one above it. + +Frank vanished in the crowd, which was retreating through fear that the +walls were about to fall. Other fire-engines had come up. The people who +fell back from the dangerous vicinity crowded on the Yale men who had +looked so anxiously after Merriwell as he hastened to the aid of the +imperiled freshman. Willis Paulding, feeling Merriwell's rebuke, and +stung by a feeling of his own cowardice, had slipped away. + +"I don't like that," Hodge grumbled, looking at the spot where Frank had +vanished. + +"I've seen things myself that I like better!" grunted Browning. + +"You can bet your life that Merry will go wherever a friend is in +danger!" said Rattleton. + +"Or a foe, either!" added Diamond. + +"Fuf-fellows, I'm worried abub bub-bout this!" stuttered Joe Gamp. + +"I'd feel easier a good deal if we had all stayed home to-night!" droned +Dismal. + +For once, neither Danny nor Bink had any comment to offer, funny or +otherwise. A feeling that something awful was about to happen stilled +their chatter. + +Then all started, leaping as if they had been shot at, and pushed back +into the retreating and startled crowd. A furnace or something of the +kind had given way in the basement with a thunderous report. A great gap +showed in one of the walls, and the wall itself seemed on the point of +toppling down. + +"Sounded like a siege-gun!" chirped a well-known voice. "Fellows, I'm +glad I wasn't in there then! Had the greatest time you ever saw--narrow +escape and all that; but here I am again, with my stomach filled with +cake and my head intoxicated with tea. All right side up, you see!" + +The speaker was Jack Ready! + +"Where is Merriwell?" Bart asked. + +"Merriwell?" and Ready looked round. "Refuse me, but I supposed he was +the center of this intellectual group! Yes, where is Merriwell?" + +"He went up there after you--to get you out of the fire!" exclaimed +Bink, in great excitement. + +"You haven't sus-sus-seen him?" demanded Gamp. + +Some firemen planted a ladder against the swaying wall, as if to brace +it, and a group came round the corner dragging a huge muddy hose, which +they intended to train on another part of the hotel. But, so far, the +fire had baffled all their efforts. + +"Did he go up there?" Ready gasped. + +"Sure!" said Danny. "He is up there now." + +Ready's round, red-apple cheeks grew white. + +"If he is up there now, he'll never come out!" + +Bart stared at the shaking wall and the flaming windows--at the smoke +clouds rolling from the doorways. The hotel had become a furnace. Then +he stepped out, with a determined look on his dark face. Ready +understood the meaning of that look. + +"You'll go to your death if you try it!" he declared. "It is hotter than +ten ovens, and some timbers fell from the second floor as I came out. If +I hadn't rolled under the stairway when I fell, and thus had protection, +I should have been cooked alive." + +But if Hodge heard the warning, he did not heed it. He pushed aside +Ready's detaining hand and ran quickly across the street. They saw him +reach the first smoke-filled doorway, and then he was swallowed up in +the smoke. The other members of Merriwell's flock stood still, with +shaking limbs and anxiously beating hearts. + +"They will both be killed!" gasped Rattleton. + +"Sure!" groaned Dismal. + +"I don't believe we shall ever see Hodge again!" Ready declared, and his +cheeks grew even whiter. + +Bruce moved as if he, too, thought of rushing into the flames. Diamond's +hand was laid on his shoulder. + +"Wait a minute. No use risking any more lives! Bart can do that, if any +one can!" + +Browning felt that this was true, and fell back with a groan, while a +bit of suspicious moisture shone in his eyes. The walls were in such a +state that the firemen now began to disconnect the hose and to get the +engines away. They warned back the crowd, and policemen began to shout +orders and to enforce them with batons. + +In the meantime, what was Bart Hodge doing, and what had befallen Frank +Merriwell? Hodge was sure that Frank had made his way to the stairway +where Willis Paulding had said Jack Ready had fallen. It was the center +stairway leading from the third story. + +Hodge had not much difficulty in passing through the hotel office, for, +after the dash through the doorway, he found the smoke not so dense. It +seemed to be sucked into the doorway, and the clerk's desk and vicinity +were comparatively free of it. The room was deserted, and there were +everywhere evidences of a hasty leave-taking. + +Bart ran first to the elevator, thinking he might be able to use that, +but the door appeared to be warped, and he could not get it open easily. +He did not know whether the elevator was in running condition, and much +doubted it, because of the explosion in the basement. Therefore, not +wishing to lose any time, he jumped for the nearest stairway, as soon as +he felt that no help could be had from the elevator, and climbed as fast +as he could toward the second story. + +This stairway was filled with smoke, and he felt the heat increase as he +ascended, but he still had no trouble, except from the smoke. But when +he reached the second floor his heart almost failed. The stairway on +which Jack Ready had fallen, and the only stairway Bart could see, was +wrapped in flames, which writhed and twined like serpents. The heat, +too, was intense. + +Bending close to the floor, to escape the smoke and heat as much as +possible, Bart groped about, looking everywhere for Merriwell, thinking +he might have fallen there. He saw him nowhere, and called loudly. But +no sound came back except the roar of the fire. It even drowned all the +noises of the street. But not for a moment did he think of turning back, +though he knew how awful the danger would be if he tried to go up that +burning stairway. He cast about for some sort of protection. A flimsy +curtain of cotton material was stretched across a doorway. This Hodge +pulled down and wrapped round his head, protecting his hands with it +also as well as he could. Then he measured the stairway and its +direction with a quick glance, and made a wild dash for the fire. + +He went up the stairway at a run, with his clothes scorching and the +protecting cotton cloth bursting into flame. It was a desperate spurt, +but Hodge went through the fire, and with a bound threw himself beyond +it, and felt, rather than knew, that he was in some kind of hall, where +the fire was not so bad. He pulled aside the flaming cloth, pitched it +from him, put up his scorching hands to shield his eyes, and looked +about. + +"Merriwell!" + +The cry was one of joy. + +"Merriwell!" + +This time the exclamation held the tone of fear and dread. Frank +Merriwell was lying in this space, which Bart saw now to be a wide +corridor. Frank seemed unconscious. He was lying close against the wall, +with his arms doubled over his head. Near him was a piece of timber +which had fallen from the floor above. Other pieces of timbers seemed +about to fall from the same place. This one, as Bart saw at a glance, +had struck Merriwell down. + +Bart's heart almost stopped beating when the thought came to him that +perhaps Frank was dead. He leaped toward him, with a bound, uttering +that cry of "Merriwell!" as he did so. + +"Frank! Frank!" he cried. "Frank, are you much hurt?" + +The roaring of the fire in the stairway sounded louder, than ever. Its +noise was like that of a raging furnace. Bart's hands were scorched, but +he did not feel the pain of the burns. Another piece of timber dropped +from the floor above within a foot of where he stood. Others seemed +about to fall. There was fire all round him, and the whole corridor +seemed on the point of leaping into flame. + +Hodge lifted Merry's unconscious form and faced the fire. A groan came +from Merriwell's lips. Bart looked into the white face and saw a bloody +lump on the side of Merry's head. That face appealed to him as if for +protection from the fire. + +In spite of his many faults, Bart Hodge held for Frank Merriwell the +love of a strong and manly heart. Frank was the one true and faithful +friend who had always stood by him--the one friend who always understood +him--the one friend who was every ready to defend him. And Hodge would +have laid down his life for Merriwell! + +He saw that if he dashed through the fire with Merriwell, that face, so +strong and manly and true, would be horribly disfigured. He did not +think of his own so much as of Merriwell's. Yet he felt that if he got +out of the building with his burden he would have to make haste. There +were doors along the corridor, and he knew that they opened into rooms. +He put Merriwell down, and finding the first door locked, kicked it in +with his foot. + +The room was full of smoke, but the fire had not yet entered it. Hodge +hastily tore from the bed a big double blanket, and retreated with it +into the corridor. This blanket he wound round Merriwell's face and +shoulders and hands; then lifted Frank again, protecting himself with +the folds of the blanket as well as he could as he did so. Thus dragging +Merriwell, he stumbled toward the hell of fire that roared in the +stairway. + +There was a jarring sound, and for a moment it seemed that the whole +building was tumbling down round his ears. A section of the rear wall +had fallen outward, and the part of the hotel containing the kitchen was +a burning wreck. Bart hardly heard the sound, so absorbed was he in the +task before him. He did not feel Merriwell's weight--in fact, his +strength seemed to be as great as Browning's. + +"Frank!" he cried, in his heart--"Frank, my dearest friend, if I can't +carry you out, we'll die together!" + +The fire in the stairway had greatly increased. But Hodge did not +hesitate. Wrapping the blanket closer about Merriwell and himself, he +rushed, with seeming recklessness, but with a boldness that was really +the highest form of courage, into that raging cauldron of fire, and +descended with the steady celerity of one who sees every foot of the way +and has no thrill of fear. + +The blanket crisped and cracked and smoked into flame as the fiery waves +beat against it. Bart seemed to be breathing liquid flame. But the thick +bulk of the blanket shielding Merriwell's face and hands kept them from +the searing fire. + +Half-fainting, but victorious, Bart Hodge reeled out of the hotel, +bearing Merriwell in his arms. A great cheer went up from the excited +crowd, for, somehow, the information had spread that a daring attempt to +rescue a friend was being made by one of the college students. + +Merriwell's flock dived through the thick smoke and carried both Hodge +and Merriwell to a place of security. And even as they did so the +tottering side wall, that had so long been swaying, fell, and the shell +of the burning hotel collapsed like a house of cards. + + * * * * * + +The next morning Danny Griswold bounced into Merriwell's room. Hodge was +there. He and Frank were talking about the fire and congratulating +themselves that neither had received bad burns and that Merry's injury +was not serious. + +"News!" exclaimed Danny. "Morton Agnew left New Haven last night." + +"I knew he would," said Frank. "He knows I am going to give his +confession to the faculty this morning, and he would not want to stay +here a minute after that. Yale will never see him again." + +"Good thing for Yale!" Hodge grunted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A WILD NIGHT. + + +A wild lot of sophomores and freshmen were celebrating the beginning of +"secret-society week," by marching round the campus at night in +lock-step style, singing rousing college songs. They danced in and out +of the dormitories, wildly cheered every building they passed, while the +classes bellowed forth their "Omega Lambda Chi." + +Down by the fence by Durfee's, on the campus, in the gymnasium, at +Traeger's and Morey's and Jackson's, and wherever Yale men congregated, +almost the sole topic of conversation was of who would go to "Bones," +"Keys," and "Wolf's Head." + +The air of mystery surrounding membership in these senior societies, the +honor which their membership confers, and the fact that but a few men, +comparatively, out of any junior class can be elected to them, create an +absorbing interest. + +Skull and Bones, or "Bones," as it is popularly called, is the +wealthiest and most respected. Then follows Scrolls and Keys, or "Keys," +with Wolf's Head third in order of distinction. The names are taken from +the society pins. Each of these societies has a handsome and costly +club-house, whose secrets are no more to be arrived at than are those of +the sphinx and the pyramids. + +Conjectures as to what society would get the most prominent members of +the junior class had engrossed a good deal of thought for several weeks. +Each society takes in fifteen members, or forty-five in all, out of the +two hundred and fifty or more men that usually compose the junior class. +As every junior is anxious to become a member, the feverish interest +with which the subject is regarded by the juniors may be imagined. This +interest had gradually spread throughout the college. Now the subject +suddenly leaped to such importance that it overshadowed the ball-game +which Yale was to play against Princeton, and the coming boat-race at +New London, in which the phenomenally popular Inza Burrage was to be the +mascot of the Yale crew. + +Class spirit, that wildly jovial night, seemed to melt the sophomores +into a fraternizing, loving brotherhood, where discord was unknown, even +though the class contained such opposite elements as Buck Badger, Jim +Hooker, Donald Pike, Pink Pooler, the Chickering set, Porter, Cowles, +Mullen, Benson, Billings, Webb, and others. Though these might join in +class dances and marches, and howl themselves hoarse in honor of the +sophomores and of Yale, some of them could no more unite in any true +sense than oil and water. + +The campus was brilliantly illuminated. Powerful calcium and electric +lights bored holes through the darkness, turning night into day. All the +windows of all the dormitories which face the campus were crowded with +students and with women. + +Three of these windows held Frank Merriwell's friends. Frank was there, +with Inza, Elsie, and Winnie, together with Mrs. Hodge and Inza's +invalid father, Bernard Burrage. + +"As in life, the good and the evil mingle," sighed Dismal Jones, as his +eyes fell on Jim Hooker and other honorable sophomores who were marching +in close proximity to the Chickering set. "The wheat grows up with the +tares, and the result is an everlasting bobbery." + +"There will be tears in your wardrobe if you don't quit walking on me!" +squeaked Bink Stubbs. + +"Climb up on a chair," advised Danny, who had already taken his own +advice, and was thus able to look down into the campus without +stretching his neck until he was in danger of converting himself into a +dromedary. "It's just great!" + +"Can't be anything great for me that holds that Chickering crowd!" +Browning grumbled. + +"Isn't the campus beautiful!" was Inza's enthusiastic exclamation. + +It was, indeed, beautiful, for the fresh, tender green of the elms was +brought out with marvelous distinctness by the brilliant lights. + +"They're kuk-kuk-kicking up an awful dud-dud-dud-dust!" stuttered Gamp, +pushing forward for a better view. + +"Dust assume to crowd in front of me, base varlet?" questioned Bruce. +"I'll forgive you if you'll just take off your tall head and hold it +under your arm!" + +"I s'pose naow you think that's a joke!" said Gamp. + +"It's more than a dust, fellows," said Merriwell. "There is a fight on!" + +Certain of the sophomores had bunched together under one of the elms, +and seemed to be struggling, as if in a contest. + +"It looks as though they might be playing football," suggested Elsie. + +Winnie Lee leaned anxiously out of the window, for in the center of that +knot she had seen Buck Badger. She had eagerly searched for him in the +procession, and had but found him when that indication of a wrangle came +to disturb her. + +The procession seemed to be breaking up and concentrating beneath and +around the elm where that struggle was taking place. Far in front a +number of students were bellowing their "Omega Lambda Chi," but the +others had ceased to sing. + +"See how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" said Dismal. + +And Dismal was right. The beginning of that scramble was trivial enough. +But the trouble which it kindled was destined to outlive the moment and +seriously affect the life and fortunes of at least one of the +participants. Jones was merely grumbling one of his proverbs, without +dreaming how appropriate the words really were. + +Donald Pike had been nagging and tormenting the Chickering set. He had +bumped his toes against Ollie Lord's high-heeled shoes. In the lock-step +walk he had put his hands crushingly on Tilton Hull's high choker +collar. He had pitched against and torn Gene Skelding's flaring necktie. +And he had even dared to knock off Julitan Ives' hat and disarrange his +lovely bang. + +At last, in his exuberance, he seized a handful of clammy soil that was +almost the consistency of mud, and playfully tossed it at Lew Veazie. It +missed Veazie, and, by an infortuitous fate, took Buck Badger smack in +the eye. Badger, who had seen Pike's antics, clapped a hand to his eye +with a grunt of pain and astonishment. + +"You scoundrel!" he bellowed. Then he lunged at Pike, with a startling +suddenness that took Donald quite off his guard and threw him headlong. + +Badger believed that Pike had thrown the mud into his eye purposely. +There had been bad feeling between them, and even worse, for some time, +and the gap separating them seemed to be growing wider all the while. +Each had said exasperating and belittling things of the other, and a +wall of hate had been built up where once there had been a bond of +strong friendship. The pain in Badger's eye was excruciating, and it +rendered him for a little while absolutely reckless. Fortunately, it +also rendered him incapable of inflicting on his former friend the +punishment which his rage dictated. + +For a short time affairs were exciting enough. Sophomores and freshmen +deserted the procession and leaped for the elm where the crowd was +quickly gathering. Badger threw himself on Pike, after the latter was +down, and would have proceeded to pound his face, without doubt, but +that his arms were caught and held. + +It was all over within less than two minutes. Some of the Westerner's +friends held him back and began to talk some sense into him, while +Pike's friends drew him out and away. + +"I reckon this isn't the end of it!" snarled Badger, flinging the words +at Pike. "There will be a beautiful settlement of this, remember." + +Then he hobbled blindly out of the crowd with some acquaintances, to +have his smarting eye attended to, while the procession reformed, and +the rollicking students began again to shout their "Omega Lambda Chi." + +The "beautiful settlement" came at a late hour that night. Badger +encountered Pike while the latter was on his way to his room. The +Kansan's eye still pained him, and his rage was hot. As soon as he saw +Pike he stepped across the walk and took him by the nose. + +"That's the way I treat such skunks as you!" he hissed, flinging Pike +from him after offering him that deadly insult. "I want to warn you to +keep out of my way after this. If you don't, I'll treat you just as I +would a rattler!" + +"You mean you will kill me!" snarled Pike, rushing at the Kansan in a +fit of blind rage. + +But he was no match for Badger, who flung him off with surprising ease, +and then held him at bay and at arm's length by a clutch on his throat. + +"I've a notion to choke the breath out of you!" said Badger. "Don't +tempt me too far, or I might forget myself and do it. You know that I've +got a red-hot, cantankerous temper when I get started. Now go! Git! If +you don't, I'll lift you with my shoe. And keep out of my way, unless +you want trouble!" + +He pushed Pike from him with stinging scorn. + +"I'll go!" said Pike. "But I'll pay you for to-night's work! See if I +don't! You'll find out that there are more ways of fighting than with +fists. You may wish that you had killed me, before you get through with +it!" + +"What does the scoundrel mean by that?" the Westerner questioned, +staring at Pike as the latter hurried away. "I reckon he is mean enough +to do anything. Well, he had better have a care!" + +He was soon destined to feel the effects of Pike's threat in a manner +more crushing than any knock-down, physical blow which Pike could have +delivered. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +PIKE AND BADGER. + + +The next evening, which was Tuesday evening, while the societies were +hilariously enjoying their annual calcium-light procession, Donald Pike +took a car and hastened to the home of the Honorable Fairfax Lee. He had +tarried in the campus long enough to be sure that Winnie Lee was again +enjoying the processional festivities from one of the dormitory windows. + +"Nobody will know whether I am in that procession or not," he muttered, +as he started toward Lee's. "And if they do know, what is the +difference? I'm under no obligation to be there, and I can say that I +had a headache, or anything else I want to, if I choose to take the +trouble to account for my absence." + +To Pike's great satisfaction, he found Fairfax Lee at home; and when he +told the servant that he had an important communication to make, he was +invited into the waiting-room, and finally was ushered into the presence +of Mr. Lee. + +The facing of Mr. Lee in this manner, even though he could claim +disinterested motives, rather phased even the blunted spirit of Donald +Pike. If he had dared to, he would have committed his story to writing, +and so brought it to Lee's attention. But things that are written often +have an unpleasant way of reappearing, to the discomfiture and undoing +of the writer, and Pike's caution warned him against such risks. Words +merely spoken, he assured himself, can be denied, if that becomes +afterward necessary. Written words, undestroyed, cannot be so easily +escaped. + +"Anything I can do for you?" Mr. Lee queried, when Pike hesitated. "You +have a communication, I believe?" + +Donald pulled himself together, and the opening sentences of what he +intended to say came back to him. He had thought these out with care, +and they seemed very fine and even humanitarian. + +"I want you to know at the outset, Mr. Lee, that in coming to you with +the information I bear I am wholly disinterested. But the truth is due +you. No one else seems to have had the courage to tell you, and I +shall." + +Fairfax Lee began to look interested. + +"You are very kind," he said, "and I thank you in advance for your +favor." + +This was so auspicious a beginning that Pike's courage rose. + +"I want to have a frank talk with you about a certain young Yale +man--Mr. Buck Badger. You must have noticed that he is very devoted in +his attentions to your daughter?" + +There was no reply to this, though Pike halted, in the expectation that +there would be one. + +"I am well acquainted with Badger. In fact, until very recently, he was +my roommate, and we were good friends. Perhaps when I tell you that he +is not a fit man to associate with your daughter, you may think I am led +by the fact that Badger and I are not now the friends we were once. But +it is not so. We are not friends simply because his baseness became so +apparent to me that I could no longer associate with him. + +"I have thought this thing over for a good while, Mr. Lee, and as an +honorable man, I did not think I ought to remain silent and see things +go on as they are. You love your daughter, Mr. Lee?" + +This last was rather an effective shot, for Fairfax Lee loved Winnie +devotedly. + +"All this is very unpleasant, Mr. Pike, but I am ready to hear what you +have to say. I am free to confess that you rather surprise me." + +"Your daughter is an admirable young lady, Mr. Lee. And though I cannot +say that she and I are more than the merest acquaintances, I thought it +a shame that matters should go on as they are without a word from me to +you, to let you see what your daughter is walking into. Or what she +would walk into, if she should ever be so unfortunate as to marry Buck +Badger!" + +Donald Pike had at last contrived to get into his tones and manner a +sympathetic element that, while it was veriest hypocricy, was very +effective. + +"My daughter is not married to Mr. Badger yet!" said Lee, somewhat +bluntly, a frown on his usually pleasant face, for his position was far +from agreeable. + +"And I hope she may never be." + +"You fail to specify," Lee reminded. "You make only vague charges." + +"There are many things," said Pike, coming to the point now with great +boldness, "but I shall name only one. Buck Badger is a drunkard." + +Fairfax Lee seemed astonished, and the frown on his face deepened. + +"He is the worst type of drunkard. Not a man who drinks steadily, but +one of those who indulge now and then in crazy, drunken debauches. For +weeks, even months, he may not touch a drop of liquor. Then he will go +on a spree. You can verify this, I am sure, by inquiries carefully made +among the students. More than once he has been known to be on a drunk. +He was drunk when he went aboard the excursion steamer, _Crested Foam_, +when she was burned in the bay." + +"What?" + +"It is true, Mr. Lee, every word of it. Your daughter and a good many +others think he was drugged by the boat-keeper, Barney Lynn, and lured +on the steamer for the purpose of robbery. But when he met Lynn he was +already raving blind drunk, and Lynn merely took advantage of his +helpless condition. You can know that this is true if you will call or +send a man to the saloon of Joe Connelly. He went to Connelly's that +night--or rather, the evening before--filled himself up on the vilest +decoctions, and went out from there as drunk as a fool. He has been +there before many times. Connelly knows him well." + +All this was so circumstantial that Fairfax Lee was alarmed and moved. +He knew that Connelly's was one of the worst dens of the city, and he +felt sure that unless there was something in the story Pike would not +give names in this way. He resolved to learn the whole truth about the +matter. + +"If what you say is true, Buck Badger is not fit to associate with any +girl," he asserted. + +"Especially not with a girl as innocent and unsuspecting as your +daughter, Mr. Lee. I have seen that for a good while, and it has been a +fight with my conscience to keep from coming here with this story. I +couldn't delay it longer. I trust you see that I can have no hope of +gain, and nothing but right motives in bringing you this story--which +you will find fully substantiated by a course of inquiry." + +Fairfax Lee was flushed and silent. + +"All of Badger's friends, or most of them, I am sure, know that he was +drunk, and not drugged, when he went aboard the _Crested Foam_. Some of +them might admit this knowledge." + +"You are a sophomore?" + +"Yes." + +"And Mr. Badger is?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And you were recently his friend and roommate?" + +"Yes." + +"I have your card, which I will put by for reference. I presume, if I +call on you, you will be willing to repeat anywhere what you have said +to me here?" + +This was unexpected, and Pike hesitated. + +"I don't care to get myself into trouble with Badger. He is of the +bulldog, pugilistic type, and the first thing he would do would be to +assault me like the bully he is. I have given you the warning. You can +get all the proof you want. Probably you would never have heard of this +until too late, if I had not voluntarily brought you the story." + +"You are right," Lee admitted. "Perhaps that would be asking too much." + +"I have struck the blow, Badger," Donald Pike muttered, as he left the +handsome home of the Lees. "You will find it more of a knock-down, I +fancy, than if I had hit you between the eyes with my fist. Nobody ever +walks roughshod over Don Pike and gets off without suffering for it. You +will hear something drop pretty soon." + +And so, chuckling, he took his way to the street-car line, and returned +to the campus and the Yale jollification. + +The Kansan had accompanied Winnie Lee home that evening, as usual. The +hour was late, and he did not enter the house, but kissed her good-night +at the gate. + +"Good-night and pleasant dreams, sweetheart!" he said as he turned to +go. + +His heart was light, for he and Winnie had enjoyed a long and loving +talk on the way home, and throughout the evening there had been no +untoward incident to mar his pleasure. He had noticed Donald Pike's +absence, and had been glad of it, but he merely supposed Pike kept away +because of the row of the previous evening. If there are such things as +premonitions of coming trouble, certainly they did not distress Badger +that night. Winnie was also in a happy frame of mind as she tripped +lightly up the steps and entered the house. + +Inza and Elsie had returned some time before. As she had expected, they +had retired to their rooms. She was surprised, however, to find her +father waiting for her in the sitting-room, which was brightly lighted. +As she came into the room, she saw something ominous in his face. She +thought she was to be lectured for remaining out so late. + +"Sit down, Winnie," he said. "I want to have a talk with you." + +His voice was even more ominous than his face. She came and sat down by +his side, when she had removed her hat. He put his hand on her head and +drew her toward him. + +"Did Mr. Badger come home with you, Winnie?" he asked, and his voice was +slightly tremulous. + +"Yes, father. I know I stayed a little late, but it was so hard to get +away while so much was going on. I don't know when I have had so +pleasant an evening. And besides, it was hard for Buck to get away, and +we had arranged for him to come home with me. The festivities had not +ended when we left." + +"Buck Badger must never come home with you again!" he said, with a +firmness and suddenness that took all the color out of her cheeks, and +seemed to take all the breath out of her body. She sat still, as if +frozen by the statement, while a scared look filled her eyes. Then she +partly roused herself. + +"What--why do you say that?" + +"I have learned that he is not fit to associate with you--is not fit to +associate with any girl!" + +"What have you heard, father?" she demanded, in a trembling voice. "I +know that whatever it is, it isn't true, for Buck is fit to associate +with any girl!" + +She half-expected him to refer to the fracas of the evening before in +the campus. + +"If there is one thing on which I am determined, it is that my daughter +shall never marry a drunkard!" + +"Buck isn't a drunkard!" + +"He was drunk when he was taken aboard the _Crested Foam_ by that +boatman, Barney Lynn." + +"No, father!" + +"You think not, of course. You think he was drugged." + +"He was drugged. Lynn drugged him. He was not drunk, and he had not been +drinking. Who has been telling you such things? I am sure it cannot be +any one who has any honor." + +"It was some one who felt it to be his duty to warn me of the fact that +my daughter is in danger of marrying a drunkard. I thank him for it." + +"But, father, you would not take the unsupported word of any one, would +you? I know that Buck has touched liquor at times, just as nearly all +the college men do, but he is not a drunkard, and he is not even a +drinking man. And he is now strictly temperate. He told me so himself, +that he has taken a pledge with himself never to touch anything of the +kind again. And Mr. Merriwell--you know that Mr. Merriwell wouldn't +befriend and favor him as he is doing now if Buck were a drunkard." + +"But I know, Winnie, dear!" Lee firmly, yet kindly, insisted. + +"And I know, father! Barney Lynn confessed to me that he drugged Buck; +but he said nothing about Buck being intoxicated, which he would have +done, wouldn't he, if Buck had really been intoxicated when he met +Lynn?" + +The girl was quick and alert. She understood that some desperate attempt +to separate her from the man she loved had been made, and she did not +intend that it should succeed without an effort against it on her part. + +"Who told you this--lie, father?" + +"I wish it was a lie!" Lee groaned. + +"It is!" + +"I have just come from Connelly's saloon, down in one of the worst parts +of the city. I was told to go there and I would find the evidence I +wanted. I went; and I have just returned. Badger was at Connelly's the +night before the _Crested Foam_ excursion. It is an all-night +resort--though it professes, I believe, to close at midnight. Badger +left there at about two or three o'clock, blindly intoxicated. He was +simply reeling drunk. He must have gone from there to the wharf, and +there he fell into the hands of Barney Lynn, who drugged him for his +money. This is true, Winnie. There isn't the slightest doubt about it. I +wish it were all a terrible mistake, but it isn't. And that was not the +first time that Badges had reeled out of Connelly's far into the night, +drunk. He is given to just such drunken debauches." + +Winnie Lee's heart seemed to have turned to lead in her bosom. She was +cold from head to feet, except that in her cheeks bright spots burned. +Her father looked at her with anguished eyes. He noted the pallor and +the hectic spots. + +"Winnie, I can't let you throw yourself away on such a fellow as Buck +Badger! You must put him out of your thoughts. He is unworthy of you. I +thought he was an honorable young man, and now I find I was mistaken. I +shall make further inquiries, but those I have made to-night are enough +to condemn him. You must not see him again, and you must have nothing +further to do with him. I want you to tell him just what I have said--or +I shall tell him myself, and give him a piece of my mind in the +bargain." + +Winnie knew that she was trembling as with an ague, but she tried to +hold her emotions in check that she might fight for herself and for +Buck. Everything was at stake now, she felt, for she loved Badger with +an absorbing love. + +"You have simply been deceived, father," she insisted. "I know it. Like +many Yale men, Buck has been a little wild at times. He knows it and +acknowledges it But as for that night and that excursion, that isn't +true, I don't care who told you. Buck has a good many enemies, and some +of them have come to you with this story. Tell me who told you, in the +first place." + +"It wouldn't be right just now for me to give his name. And it is not +needed. Connelly admitted that Badger had been there often, and had gone +from there drunk the night before the steamer excursion. He remembered +it, because the story of the fire and of Lynn's death, and the drugging +of Badger, was in the papers, and he could not forget the time. I wish +it wasn't true, Winnie; but it is true. It will be hard, perhaps, for +you to give him up, but better that than for him to make you unhappy, as +he is sure to do." + +"Hard!" she mentally cried. "It will kill me!" + +He looked at her pathetically, yet with decision and firmness. + +"Make up your mind that he is unworthy. I will bring you more proofs, if +necessary. But I, first of all, lay on you my commands. You must not see +him again, except to tell him that he cannot call again, and that you +cannot be anything to each other hereafter but the merest +acquaintances." + +Man of affairs and of the world as he was, Fairfax Lee had not yet +learned that love cannot be made to come and go at will. If the little +god is blind, he is also stubborn, and has a way of his own. + +"I can't, father!" Winnie begged. "You must not ask it of me." + +"What? You would not continue to go with him, knowing what I have told +you? You would not permit a drunkard to pay you attentions, or a man who +is in the habit of going on wild debauches?" + +"No. But Buck is not that kind of a man. You have simply been deceived." + +"I have given my orders," said Lee, with a sternness he seldom used in +speaking to Winnie. "I expect that they will be obeyed. It is useless to +argue the matter. Buck Badger must not come into this house. I will +write him a note to that effect, myself. You shall not see him again! I +shall tell him in plain words just what I have learned, and that this +house and your company are forbidden to him." + +"But, father----" + +"We will not talk any more about it. You are stubborn to-night. You will +think better of it in the morning. No one--no one, Winnie, loves you as +I do! I have given you every advantage. You shall not throw yourself +away on any one." + +He got up, as if to end the interview. + +The room and its belongings seemed swinging wildly round in a crazy +dance before the eyes of Winnie Lee. She grasped at her chair for +support. She seemed unable to lift herself. In her heart there was only +one cry--one wild cry: "Buck! Buck! Buck!" + +By a great effort, she at last arose from her chair. Her father saw the +marblelike pallor of her face, and, touched by this sign of distress, he +came over, put his arms about her and kissed her. Her cheek, against +which he pressed his lips, seemed cold as ice. + +"Don't be foolish, dear!" he pleaded. "You shouldn't grieve over a man +who is so manifestly unworthy of you. You know that I love you, and that +I haven't said these things to give you pain, but because it is my duty +as your father. Now, good night, dear." + +"Good night!" she said, as if in a dream, and blindly walked toward the +door. + +In her room, she threw herself across her bed. + +"Oh, what shall I do?" she moaned. "Buck! Buck! Buck! Who has told such +terrible lies on you, dear?" + +And so she lay there, moaning out a grief that was too great for tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE BLOW FALLS. + + +The next afternoon the Westerner received this note, which was delivered +at his room by a boy, who went away before Badger had a chance to +question him: + + "MR. BUCK BADGER: Certain facts have come to my knowledge which + show that you are not the man I supposed you to be. I find that you + are not only a drinking man, but that you often become grossly + intoxicated, and that you were so when lured aboard the _Crested + Foam_ by Barney Lynn. Under these circumstances, you cannot expect + that I will longer permit your attentions to my daughter. I ask + you, therefore, not to try to see her again, and not again to call + at my house, where you are most unwelcome. If there is any spark of + manhood or gentlemanliness left in you, you will respect my wishes + and commands in this matter. Yours, + + "FAIRFAX LEE." + +The Kansan stared at the paper as if he could not believe his eyes, +while a flush of hot displeasure crept into his dark face. + +"Who has been telling him that?" he growled, jamming the note down on +his table, and then picking it up to read again. "I'll break the neck of +the man that did that. 'Not try to see her again?' Well, I don't think! +I allow I shall see her every chance I get, and whenever I choose, and +I'd like to tell Lee so. Why, what----" + +He got up from the table and began to walk back and forth like a caged +tiger. He was sure that some enemy had struck at him in this way. +Suddenly he halted, and the pupils of his eyes contracted. + +"Ah!" he snarled. "I reckon that was the work of Don Pike. He said he'd +strike me in a way that would be worse than if he hit me with his fist, +and this is what he meant! Well, I'll settle with you, Pike, for that, +and don't you ever forget it! You won't forget, either, I allow, when +I'm through with you. That's whatever!" + +He crumpled up the note, hastily stuck it into a pocket, jammed his hat +on his head, and left his room hurriedly, locking the door. He did not +stop in the campus. It was filled with Yale fellows, and the fence in +front of Durfee Hall was crowded. He saw here and there men whom he knew +well, and who nodded to him. He hardly took time to return the +greetings. + +"What's the matter with Badger now?" rumbled Browning. "He is charging +along like a blind bull at a fence." + +"Why do you ever notice what the fellow does at all?" Bart Hodge +grumbled. + +"Well, even cranks are interesting," said Dismal Jones, also looking +curiously after Badger. + +"Curiosities likewise," remarked Danny Griswold, puffing at his +cigarette. "And since our dear Merry has just about adopted this wild +bull from the plain, my interest in him as a curiosity has increased." + +"As a guess, I should say he is hunting somebody to fight," said +Diamond. + +"Then he will be accommodated in mighty short order," Browning +prophesied. "I never yet saw a fellow go after trouble and return +without finding what he sought. Mr. Badger is not the only fellow who +goes pawing round with his hair standing and blood in his eye." + +"Speaking from experience, Browning?" mildly inquired Bink Stubbs, +scratching a match to light a cigarette. "You have gone in search of +trouble a few times, to my knowledge." + +"And you're searching for it now!" grunted Browning, giving the little +fellow a warning look. + +All unaware of the fact that his rapid transit across the campus had +occasioned unusual comment, Badger hurried on, and finally entered a car +which took him to the office of Fairfax Lee. + +"Is Mr. Lee in?" he asked of the clerk in the outer room. + +"Yes." + +"Will you give him my card, please, and tell him I should like to see +him a few minutes?" + +The clerk took the card and disappeared. He was back immediately. + +"Mr. Lee says that he cannot see you, sir!" + +"Did he say that he is engaged?" + +"No, sir. He does not care to see you!" + +The Westerner's dark face burned, and he bit his lip to keep the hot +words from rushing out in a torrent. He stood for a moment, hesitating. +But a door separated him, he believed, from Mr. Lee. He was almost ready +to push open that door and confront Lee and demand an explanation of the +letter forbidding him to see Winnie again. But he got the better of +himself, and walked out of the office. + +"If he thinks he can bluff me out, or freeze me out, he don't know me!" +he grated, as he turned away. "I shall see Winnie as often as I can. +Hanged if I don't go up there right now!" + +With the Kansan, to think was to act. And in a few minutes he was in +another car speeding toward the home of the Lees. + +"If I don't get to see her, perhaps I can find out something about this +mess from Inza or Elsie. They may be able to clear away the mystery. I +allow I never was in so horrible a snarl in my life. But I'll punch +Pike's head for this, and don't you forget it! That's whatever!" + +But the Westerner met quite as chilling a reception at Lee's home as at +the office. The servant who met him at the door had received her +instructions. + +"You are not to be admitted to the house," she said sharply. + +"Is Miss Lee in?" he persisted. + +"No." + +"Is that true, or is it one of the society lies which declares that a +lady is out when she is in?" he bluntly demanded. + +To this there was no answer. The servant began to close the door. Badger +stopped this by taking hold of the knob. + +"What do you want?" asked the girl, who was somewhat frightened by the +Westerner's violent manner. + +"I want to see Miss Winnie Lee." + +"She is not at home." + +"Then I want to see Miss Inza Burrage." + +"She is not in." + +"Then I should like to see Miss Elsie Bellwood." + +"She is not in." + +Badger suddenly changed his tactics. Bluster would not do, he saw. He +put his hand into a pocket and drew out a five-dollar note, which he +held up alluringly. + +"If you will take a note for me to Miss Lee, I will give you this five +dollars." + +The servant shook her head and again tried to close the door. + +"If you will take a note to either Miss Burrage or Miss Bellwood, I will +give you the five dollars." + +Once more the servant sought to close the door. + +"I have my orders, Mr. Badger. I cannot afford to lose my place for five +dollars or fifty dollars. And I wouldn't do what you ask, anyway. If you +do not let me close the door, I shall call for help." + +"All right!" said Badger gruffly, releasing the door. "But I will see +those young ladies, just the same." + +To accomplish this he remained in the vicinity of the house until long +after nightfall. But he was wholly unrewarded for his vigil, and at +last, distressed, humiliated, and angry, he took a car for the college +grounds, raging like a lion against Donald Pike. Even an enemy of Badger +must have pitied him that night. + +The campus was filled with Yale men and their friends, and there were +excitement and sport, fun and laughter, music and merriment galore. But +Badger could enjoy none of it. He had no thought for anything but Winnie +Lee and the treatment he had received from her father. He wondered if +she were at home, and was half of the opinion that Lee had spirited her +out of the city. His disappointment in not seeing either Elsie or Inza +was bitter, for somehow he felt that if he could see them they would be +willing to help him. + +With this feeling, he now began to look for Merriwell and his friends, +but they were not to be found. He went to Merry's room, and then from +room to room, even venturing finally to knock on Hodge's door. Later he +learned that Hodge and Merry had called at the home of Fairfax Lee, +after he had given over his vigil, and had been cordially admitted, and +had accompanied Inza and Elsie to a banquet, which was attended by the +whole Merriwell set. + +The Westerner was more successful in his search for Merriwell the next +day, though he did not get a chance to speak to Frank until the +afternoon. + +Badger was looking haggard and distressed as he came up to Merry. They +were in the campus, and Yale's famous "slapping" ceremony was soon to +begin. The campus was filling with men, and the members of the junior +class were out in full force, for out of that junior class, by the +"slapping" process, forty-five men were to be selected as members of +"Bones," "Keys," and Wolf's Head. + +"I looked everywhere for you last night," said Badger; and Frank told +him of the banquet. + +"Let's go somewhere where we can talk," the Westerner invited, not +relishing the throngs. "The air in here chokes me." + +Merry took him by the arm, and they pushed out of the crowd. + +"Now, what it is?" Frank asked. + +Badger could have made a long story of it, but he cut it down to narrow +limits, acquainting Merriwell, in as few words as possible, with the +trouble that had come upon him. Frank looked grave. + +"This is serious, Badger," he said, not caring to conceal from the +Kansan his true feelings concerning it. "But I'm ready to help you in +any way I can." + +"My fool jealousy was at the bottom of the whole thing!" Badger +admitted. "Just because I was jealous of Hodge, I went on that drunk and +let Barney Lynn fool me into going aboard the boat and in drugging me. +Jealousy and whisky. That's what did it." + +"I think you are right there." + +"But, of course, Don Pike is the fellow that peached. And I'll smash his +face for it! I allow that everything would have gone on as smooth as +silk but for that." + +"Now, what are you going to do?" + +"Hanged if I know, Merriwell! I'll be driven to something desperate, +soon. Tell me what the girls said about it." + +"I don't think they knew anything about it. They reported that Winnie +had been sick in her room, and the doctor had instructed that they were +not to see her or disturb her." + +"Is she in the house, then?" + +"I can't tell. She may be, and she may not be. One thing is sure, Buck. +Her father is not going to let you see her again. And that makes me +think it possible he has spirited her out of the city. If she is in the +house, the pretense that she is sick cannot be kept up long." + +"I don't know about that," said the Kansan dubiously. "I allow that +likely she is sick. The thing has almost sent me to bed, and the effect +on her might be as bad." + +"Worse, probably." + +"If she is sick in that house, I'm going to see her, if I have to fight +my way in." + +"And be arrested. No, that's not the way, Badger. I'll see Elsie and +Inza this evening, and we'll find out something definite." + +"You have helped me before in this matter, Merry!" the Kansan gratefully +exclaimed. + +"And am ready to do so again. I feel more certain now than I did then +that Winnie is not in danger of throwing herself away on you. Pardon me +for speaking so plainly." + +"Oh, it's all right!" the Westerner admitted, though his face colored. +"I used to be a dog when I boozed round, and that's what Fairfax Lee has +against me now, of course. He thinks I am the same. But I've sworn off +on the stuff, and you know it." + +"I'll have a talk with the girls, and well see then how the land lays, +and what can be done." + +"It will be a favor--the biggest favor, I reckon, that any man ever +received." + +A number of voices were shooting Merriwell's name in the campus. + +"You'll have to go, I allow," said the Westerner, gripping Merriwell's +hand. "But the first news you get send it to me. Don't stop for expense, +or anything else. Send it along--cab, telephone, telegraph, special +messenger, or a dozen, if there's danger one may not reach me--anything, +just so you whoop the news to me. I'll be walking barefooted on cactus +spines every minute from now until you make some kind of a report." + +Merriwell returned to the campus, where Yale tradition was gathering the +members of the junior class back of the fence, near Durfee Hall. + +The ceremony of "slapping" is peculiar in many respects. No official +announcement is made of the fact that this formal and queer manner of +announcing elections to the senior societies is enacted. No announcement +of the coming event is given to the public. The members of the junior +class are not notified by any one that they are expected to appear on +that spot by the fence at a certain time to be ready to be "slapped," if +they have been lucky enough to be chosen for membership in the great +senior societies. Nevertheless, the entire junior class, with half the +college, and hundreds of spectators from the city, gather there on the +third Thursday afternoon in May, between the hours of four and six +o'clock, and witness or participate in the spectacle. + +"Slates" had been made up weeks before, and shrewd guesses given as to +who would be chosen to this society and to that, though it was all mere +guesswork. Nearly every one had agreed, however, that Merriwell would go +to "Bones," as the leading society is called, and that "Bones" would be +glad to get him, and would be receiving an honor as well as conferring +one. Buck Badger, restless as a wolf, stood back and gloomily watched +this gathering, and heard the buzz of talk and conjecture without really +comprehending a word. Often he was not aware that he saw the things that +were transpiring directly under his eyes. + +But at length he aroused himself. Elsie and Inza had suddenly come +within the range of his vision, and the sight of them stirred him out of +his moody trance. He moved in their direction, but before he could come +up with them, to his great disappointment, the pushing crowd swallowed +them. Then he went in search of Merriwell, whom he found without +trouble, for Merriwell was with the expectant juniors. + +"Which way did they go?" Frank asked. + +"Toward that building--I mean in that direction. But I lost them in the +crowd." + +"I thought they might come down this afternoon! Winnie wasn't with +them?" + +"No." + +Frank was about to start away to find the girls, if he could, and +question them in the interest of Badger and Winnie, but at that moment +he was approached by Jack Diamond, one of the seniors. + +Diamond walked up to Merriwell with all the dignity of the Great Mogul +of Kuddyhuddy, and gave him a resounding slap on the back. Diamond +belonged to "Bones," and the slap was a notification that the society +had chosen Merriwell. + +"I can't go now, Badger," said Frank, a bit regretfully. + +Then he left the campus for his room, as each man slapped is expected to +do, followed by Diamond, where he was notified formally of his election +and told to appear for initiation at the society hall on Friday evening. + +Of what that initiation consists no one not a member ever knows, and no +member will ever tell. Its mysteries are more impenetrable than Free +Masonry. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BUCK AND WINNIE. + + +Shortly after nightfall, Badger started again for the residence of +Fairfax Lee. He had no definite plans, but rather blindly hoped +something might turn up to favor him. He confessed to himself that he +was "all gone to pieces," but he had no desire to go into some liquor +den and load up with bad whisky, as he was once accustomed to do when +trouble or disappointment struck him. + +"It was red-eye that got me into this, I reckon, and I'll let the stuff +alone hereafter. I've promised to, and I will, no matter what comes. +That's whatever!" + +And when Buck Badger put his foot down he usually put it down hard. + +"I'd feel better if I could only meet Don Pike and swell up his eyes for +him," he continued to growl. "But the coward has sloped." + +It did, indeed, seem that Pike was making an effort to keep out of the +way of the Westerner. The very sight of the Lee home quickened Badger's +heart-beats. He felt that he would give anything to know if Winnie was +in the house, or had been spirited away. + +"Like enough, her father has locked her in her room! But there ain't any +keys whatever that are made strong enough to keep me from seeing her. +I'll do it sooner or later." + +Fortune favored the Westerner--fortune and his sweetheart, Winnie Lee. +Winnie was as wildly anxious to see Buck as he was to see her. She had +been locked in her room for stubbornness in refusing to promise never to +see Badger again, and the other girls had been told that she was ill and +could not be seen. They knew better now, for Winnie had finally bribed +and coaxed one of the servants to tell them the truth. They had not +known it long, but long enough for Inza--indignant as she was brave, and +brave as she was indignant--to send to Winnie a note, signed by herself +and Elsie, assuring the unhappy girl of their sympathy and firm +friendship. And that note was wrapped round a door-key which fitted +Winnie's door, which the servant was bribed to carry. + +So it came about that shortly after nightfall Winnie let herself out of +her room, and creeping down some familiar halls and stairways, emerged +into the grounds surrounding the house. Then she turned toward the +street. She did not know what she meant to do, only she had a feeling +that Buck was somewhere in the vicinity trying to find an opportunity to +speak to her. She had felt sure that he would not abandon the attempt to +communicate with her. She had on her jacket, with a scarf thrown over +her head. She felt that she would not be easily recognized. + +She stopped as she drew near the corner which gave a view down the +street. There was a stir beyond the wall. The next instant a form came +flying over the fence. + +"Winnie!" + +"Buck!" + +It was Badger! + +"I have been crazy to see you!" he whispered, clasping her tightly in +his arms. "I knew it wasn't your fault that I did not get to see you. +Have they had you locked up?" + +"Yes," she answered, fervently returning the kiss. "I just got out of +the room. Somehow, I felt that you were down here, and I slipped down as +soon as I could." + +"I knew you were true as steel," he fervently declared. "Nothing +whatever could ever have made me believe otherwise." + +"Did father write to you?" + +"Yes. He told me never to come here again, and that I must not try to +see you. I came to the house, and the servant said you were not in, and +would not admit me even when I asked for Elsie and Inza. I have had an +awful time." + +"I have nearly died!" she confessed. "Oh, it has simply been terrible! I +thought once I was going crazy. Father does not understand how he has +tortured me, or he would not do it, I know. He cannot realize what it +means. He simply thinks I am still a child, and that I ought to submit +to him in this matter, as I have always done in all other things." + +"You are old enough now to have a mind of your own, I allow!" + +"And he has heard such awful stories about you, Buck. Just terrible +things." + +That deep rage against Donald Pike struggled again in the heart of the +Kansan. + +"I think I know who told him. What were the things, anyway?" + +He said this with a great dread, for he already knew. + +"Oh, I knew you were not guilty, Buck! Never fancy for a moment that I +thought you guilty. I told him you were innocent. I knew that it +couldn't be true that you were"--she sobbed--"drunk when you went aboard +the _Crested Foam_." + +Badger winced as if stabbed. The dying boat-keeper, Barney Lynn, +confessed to drugging Badger, but did not tell Winnie that Badger was +drunk at the time. The Westerner knew this, and had been, as he had +admitted to Merriwell, just coward enough to be glad that Lynn did not +tell Winnie the whole truth. Now, as the sweat of a great inward +struggle came out on his face, he wished he had been courageous enough +to inform her of the real facts, instead of sheltering himself behind +that palatial confession of the boat-keeper. It was a virtual falsehood +that was coming home to him in a most unpleasant manner. + +"I have stood up for you, Buck, against everything that father could +say," Winnie artlessly and innocently continued. "When he insisted that +you were drunk at the time, I told him I knew it was not so; and I have +stood by it. He thinks he has discovered proofs from a saloon-keeper +named Connelly, who keeps a vile resort somewhere down in the worst part +of New Haven. Connelly says you were intoxicated at his house that +night. But I told father that the same fellow who gave him the +information against you in the first place must have hired Connelly to +say that. A man who will sell liquor will lie, you know, Buck!" + +Badger was violently trembling, but Winnie, in the ecstatic joy of +meeting him, did not notice it. There was a tempest in the Kansan's +soul. Winnie's sweet and trusting faith in him filled him with an +anguishing shame. Could he tell her now that he was drunk that +night--that all the things said against him by Connelly and that unknown +informant were true? Would she not turn against him if he did? Would she +not despise him? Would not her love be obliterated? Badger felt as if +the ground were reeling under his feet. + +Once he was about to give away to the evil impulses that were fighting +against him. But he did not. At last, as she chattered on, so strongly +asserting her faith in his innocence, he caught her convulsively to him. + +"Winnie!" he gasped, and his voice was so hoarse and unnatural that she +was startled. "My God! Winnie, don't say those things! I know that when +I confess the truth to you you will feel that I am the biggest scoundrel +that ever walked. But I must tell you. I was a coward and a fool, I +reckon, for not telling you before. But I just couldn't, Winnie! But +those things are true! I was drunk that night--I was at Connelly's--I +was----" + +Her form seemed to grow rigid in his arms. + +"I must tell you the truth now, if it kills me!" he continued, almost +gasping out the words. "And if you cast me off, I believe it will kill +me! But it seems to me that I'd rather die than to have you think me +innocent when I am guilty. I could never stand it in the world. I'm a +dog, I allow! I'm not fit to associate with you whatever--not in the +least! Your father is right about that. I see it now, though I didn't +before. But, Winnie, I love you, and I love you! That is all I can say. +I allow I haven't a right to say that now, but I must say it. You won't +cast me off for this? You will give me another show? Before God, I +haven't touched the stuff since that night! Not a drop! And I'll never +touch it again!" + +"Buck," she whispered, at last, "I wish you had told me that at the very +first." + +"And you wouldn't have spoken to me again?" + +"Yes, Buck, I should have spoken to you again. I should have been very +sorry, Buck. I should have grieved over it, as I do now. But I should +have loved you just the same, Buck." + +"Then you do love me? You do not intend to tell me to go and never speak +to you again?" + +"Don't you understand a girl's heart any better than that, Buck? She +never casts a man off for such things, if she truly loves him--though, +perhaps, she ought to! Love isn't a thing of the head, but of the heart. +I love you, Buck, and I am very sorry!" + +He held her as if he meant never to let her go, and she submitted to his +crushing caress. + +"You are true--true--true as steel!" he exultantly cried. + +"Be careful, or you will be heard, dear! We are right by the house, +remember." + +"Is your father in?" + +"No, but he may return at any time. It would be terrible if he should +discover us here." + +"What are we to do?" he asked. + +"Oh, I don't know. I haven't had time to think. What you have confessed +has so upset me that I seem to know nothing else. I can't think of +anything else. You see, Buck, I can't tell father any more that you were +not--drunk that night!" + +The hated word seemed to choke her. + +"No!" + +"And what shall I say to him?" + +"I reckon that is entirely too much for me." + +"But I will stand up for you all I can!" + +"I allow that you are an angel!" he enthusiastically declared. + +"You have a low conception of angels. I can't imagine one meeting a man +in this surreptitious fashion. Really, Buck, when you come to think of +it, it is almost as bad as--as--what you did at Connelly's, you know!" + +"Not on your life, it isn't! It's the thing I knew you would do--and +there isn't any truer or better girl whatever on this earth!" + +"I am glad you think so, Buck." + +The Westerner was trembling as much now with delight and pleasure as he +had before been trembling with apprehension. The fear that Winnie would +cast him off when she knew the truth about the _Crested Foam_ affair, +that had so distressed him, had given place to a deep satisfaction. + +"It would be dreadful if father should discover us here. I am really +getting scared!" she continued. + +"I reckon that there isn't any other place whatever where we can go?" he +anxiously asked. + +"No. But we can stand and talk here a little while. Then I shall have to +hurry back into the house before my absence is noticed. One of the +servants I can trust to help me, but, I am afraid, not the others." + +"And Elsie and Inza?" + +"Yes, of course, all they can. They have just heard about the trouble I +have been having. They thought I was sick. I don't know what they can +do." + +"Carry notes," Badger suggested. + +"Yes. Oh, they will do what they can! They sent me a key that fits the +door of my room. And they are coming up to see me to-night and +to-morrow, they said in their note, in spite of the prohibition. But, of +course, they will have to be careful. Father is very set when he makes +up his mind to do anything, and he is very stern at times, though he +loves me. He thinks he is doing the thing that he ought to do, and that +he is really keeping me from throwing myself away----" + +"On a drunkard!" said the Westerner bitterly. + +"But you don't drink now, Buck! And you never were a drunkard!" + +"Perhaps I oughtn't to blame him any whatever!" he grumbled. + +"His intentions are good, but it is going to make it hard for us, for, +of course, I do not mean to give you up, if he keeps on ordering me to +do so from now until the day of----" + +"Our marriage!" + +She laughed. + +"I was going to say the day of my death!" + +"I allow that the day of our marriage sounds a good deal better." + +"I think it does myself," she admitted, and the Kansan took this as an +excuse to kiss her again. + +"We'll pull out of this snarl in some way," he hopefully declared. "I +don't know just how, but we'll plan something." + +"Oh, I'm afraid of father!" and she shivered. + +"I don't see just how we are to get round the old man's objections +myself at this moment, but something may come our way. If we can +continue to meet, I reckon we can plan something." + +"We can meet to-morrow evening right here." + +"Good. That's all right." + +"And many more nights, if we are not discovered. I'll be as nice to +father as I can, and perhaps he will not dream I am such a disobedient +thing, after all. But I do hate to deceive him! I never did before in my +life, and it strikes me as something awful. He doesn't dream that I +would do such a thing." + +"I think he does, or he wouldn't have locked you in. If he had trusted +you, there would have been no need of that." + +"True," she admitted. + +"And I shall be a living lie, just as you were, Buck, when you made me +think I knew all about that _Crested Foam_ affair. So you see I am not +much better than you were, if any. But you will never deceive me about +anything again, will you, Buck?" + +"Never!" the Kansan asserted. + +"And if you should find out who told father?" + +"I'll punch his head." + +"And get into more trouble? You mustn't!" + +"I know who it was. Don Pike did that, I'm certain, and if I don't pay +him for it, I allow it will be because I don't get a chance." + +"Don't get into more trouble!" she begged. + +"There won't be any trouble--for me!" + +Her fear of discovery was so great that she would not remain out long, +but crept back into the house and up to her room. Badger, however, +lingered, staring up at the house and vainly endeavoring to think of +some plan which would enable them to overcome the violent objections of +Mr. Lee. + +"I allow I am in a hole," he grumbled. "But as long as Winnie has no +notion of throwing me over, I shall not let any coyote weakness get the +better of me! Not on your life!" + +He was about to leap the fence and make his way back to the campus, when +he saw a man sneak into the yard and drop down behind some shrubbery not +far from the front door. He could not make out the man's face and form +because of the darkness. + +"Mighty queer, that is!" thought the Westerner, staring at the spot +where the man had disappeared. "He don't act as if he intended to try to +rustle the ranch. I reckon I'll wait a bit." + +Badger had not long to wait. Fairfax Lee came down the walk from the +street scarcely a minute later. + +"If this wasn't New Haven, in the great and cultivated East, I should +say the fellow is laying for Lee with a gun, or a lariat!" + +As Lee came down the path, the man appeared from behind the shrubbery, +as if he had just returned from a visit to one of the side doors, and +placed himself in front of the politician. Lee stopped in a hesitating +way, and it was clear to Badger that he was afraid of this intruder. + +"What are you doing here?" Lee demanded. The man advanced a step, with a +threatening whine. + +"You wouldn't see me at your office, and I have come here, Lee. When are +you going to get me that appointment?" + +Lee was one of New Haven's prominent politicians. + +"I have told you that I can't do anything for you, Gaston!" he declared. + +"But you said before the election that you'd git me a job!" + +"I said nothing of the kind!" + +"That's a lie!" the man addressed as Gaston fiercely asserted. "You +wouldn't see me at the office, so I've come here, and I want justice +done. You have been turning me away every day. I was right so long as I +could hustle votes for you, and now I'm dirt!" + +"You are simply a lunatic." + +"And you mean to put me in an asylum?" the man hissed. + +"That is the appointment I'll get for you, Gaston, if you trouble me." + +"I'll kill you!" Gaston snarled, drawing a knife. "That's what I have +made up my mind to do to you!" + +"Stand aside, sir, and let me pass!" Lee commanded, though his voice was +shaky. "I shall have you arrested if you----" + +For reply, the man leaped at Lee with a snarl like that of an enraged +dog. + +"Loony as a locoed cowboy!" thought Badger. He was on the point of +rushing to Lee's assistance. But there was no need. Lee, who was light +on his feet, avoided the rush and ran for a side door, through which he +escaped into the house, leaving Gaston to rave and mutter, and at last +retreat into the street and hurry away. + +Not until the man had disappeared did the Westerner leave the grounds. +Then he leaped the fence, and hurried back to the campus. Here a large +number of students were rollicking in the somewhat wild and reckless +student fashion, to their own great delight and the amusement of +hundreds of spectators. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FUN IN THE CAMPUS. + + +Under an elm in front of Durfee some students were gathering "fruit." +They began by collecting it from members of the Chickering set. Of all +the men in the college, the Chickering set were the most unpopular with +their fellow students. Their silliness and superciliousness were so +unbounded as to be disgusting to all sensible men. From the immaculate +Rupert, with his patent-leather shoes and shining tile, down to the +cowardly little lisper, Lew Veazie, they were alike detested. Hence it +came about that when Rupert Chickering appeared under the famous "fruit" +tree wearing a more than ordinarily gorgeous shirt, the cry of "Fruit!" +was immediately raised. + +Rupert uttered an exclamation of dismay and turned to run. He had heard +that cry before. But he only hastened what he sought to evade. A foot +outstretched for the purpose tripped him, and brought him sprawling to +the ground. Before he could rise, one of the laughing students was upon +him. + +"See here!" he exclaimed, "I'll have you know that I will not submit to +any such outrage! I know you, and I shall report you to the faculty!" + +He tried to fight off the youth who held him, but a dozen other men +rushed to this youth's assistance. Then a wild-eyed fellow produced a +shining pocket-knife and slowly and exasperatingly opened its sharpest +blade. + +"Help!" Rupert squawked. + +The knife was flourished in the air, and the tag on the lower end of +Rupert's shirt-bosom was deftly amputated. + +"Fruit!" was again shouted, and a dash was made for Gene Skelding, who, +as usual, wore a rainbow shirt that outshone Joseph's "coat of many +colors." + +"Help!" Skelding howled. + +But a score of hands outstretched to grasp him, and he, too, went down, +screeching lustily. Another knife flashed and another shirt-tag was +neatly severed. + +Lew Veazie, who had been with Rupert and Gene, started to run, deeming +discretion the better part of valor. But he took only a step when he, +too, went down. And again an amputating knife did its work. As soon as a +shirt-tag was cut off, the amputator, flourishing it on the blade of his +knife, like an Indian flaunting a scalp-lock, made a dash for the elm, +where it was pinned up as a trophy. + +Then it was found that a "taste" for shirt-tags had been created by this +exciting bit of experience, and other men, who had been loudly laughing +and cheering over the discomfiture of Chickering and his inane friends, +found themselves suddenly on the ground, with wicked-looking knives +flashing before their eyes, and their shirts being mutilated by the +pressure of keen knife-blades. + +In the midst of this "fun," Buck Badger arrived on the campus from his +stolen interview with Winnie Lee. Though his face wore a perplexed +expression, it had lost its gloom. There might be trouble for him in the +future, but Winnie's words had for the present driven the blackest of +the shadows out of his heart. The desire uppermost in his mind just then +was to meet and whip Donald Pike. He had sworn to himself that he would +do that the first thing, and he meant to keep the oath. + +Nevertheless, reaching the elms of the campus at this exciting moment, +he was willing to cease temporarily his search for Pike and view the +fruit-gathering. It would be rare sport, provided, of course, that his +own shirt was not forced to yield "fruit." + +To prevent this, and that he might see better, he grasped a low-hanging +limb and swung up into one of the elms. + +"Fruit!" was being shouted everywhere, and the indications were that +scores of trophies would adorn the old elm the next morning, if some +stop was not put to the thing by the college authorities, which was not +likely. "Society week" is expected to be noisy, and things are winked at +which on ordinary occasions would bring reprimands. + +Another person had invaded the branches of the elm but a minute before +the ascent of the Westerner. That other person was Donald Pike, who +looked down now on the man he felt instinctively to be his mortal foe +with a little shiver of dread. More than once Pike had regretted making +that revelation to Fairfax Lee, for the chances that discovery would +come and that Badger would fiercely summon him to answer, seemed very +great, when he gave himself time to reflect. And he feared Badger. + +All might have gone well on this evening with Pike, however, if his fear +of discovery had not made him try to climb farther up the tree. The +Kansan heard the low scraping sound, in spite of the din in the campus, +and glanced upward, and when he did so he saw and recognized the man he +was looking for. A calcium-light was sending its rays through the higher +branches, and Pike's white, scared face was as plainly revealed to +Badger as if the two were facing each other in a lighted room. + +The hate which Badger had been nursing swelled to the point of bursting. +He forgot the search for "fruit," in which he had been interested, +seeing only the enemy whom he had sworn to whip as soon as they met. + +As yet they had not met; but Badger, blinded by his intense anger, +decided that the meeting should come without delay, even if the place +was a tree-top; and he began to climb up the trunk and boughs of the +tree toward Donald. Pike looked about in a despairing way. The distance +to the ground seemed dishearteningly great. His first impulse, +therefore, was to climb still higher, and this he began to do. + +But, recollecting the tenacity of Badger's purpose in whatever the +Kansan was engaged, he felt sure that he would be pursued into the very +top of the tree and shaken to the ground. Therefore, he hastily crawled +out over a horizontal limb, whose drooping ends dipped toward the earth. +If driven to the worst, he felt that he could drop from one of those +drooping ends without serious injury. + +With a howl of rage, Badger climbed on after the frightened youth, and +pursued him out on the horizontal limb. + +But there were to be other actors in this little overhead drama. A +couple of cats, chancing to be in the campus when the students invaded +it, had run up this identical elm, and had crouched in wild-eyed fear on +that same bough, watching the wild orgies of the students. They had +probably been there for a considerable period, not daring to descend +while that howling, dancing mob held the grounds. Perhaps they even +fancied that those yells and ear-splitting squeals were directed against +them. They must have thought so when Don Pike crawled out on the limb +toward them, followed by Buck Badger. + +The cats looked about, meowing anxiously. There was no other bough near +which they could gain by a leap. And as Pike, looking back and gasping +with fright, crawled straight on toward them, the cat that was farthest +out on the end of the limb launched itself through the air in a +desperate leap for the ground. + +There was no cleared space in which it could alight, and it struck Bink +Stubbs on the top of the head, jamming his hat down over his eyes and +hurling him backward. + +"Dog my cuc-cuc-cuc-cats!" stuttered Joe Gamp, looking up in +open-mouthed wonder. + +"The sky is raining cats!" whooped Danny. + +"Somebody amputate its tail!" yelled a student. + +"Cut off its shirt-tab!" shouted another. + +Bink and Danny, Gamp and all the others of Merriwell's friends who +chanced to be grouped there, had already suffered the amputation of +their shirt-tabs, and having no further fear on that point, were +hilariously anxious that not a shirt-tab should be worn by a Yale man +that night. The "fruit" on the tree at Durfee was increasing in quantity +and variety at a prodigious rate. + +"A dollar apiece for its ears!" some one else screeched. + +But the cat was too agile for the hands that were reached out to stop +its flight. It whisked under the legs of the students and was out and +away like a shot. + +"Been up there watching the performance!" some one sung out. + +"Gug-gug-goshfry! There's a man up there!" Joe Gamp howled, as his eyes +fell on Donald Pike. "It will be raining mum-mum-men, as well as +cuc-cuc-cuc-cats, next thing! Ahaw! ahaw! ahaw!" + +As his lips flew open to their widest extent to emit this roar, the +other cat sailed downward out of the tree and struck him squarely in the +mouth. He tumbled backward with a roar, which, however, was not at all +hilarious, and began to dig sputteringly at his tongue and lips, which +were liberally coated with cat hair. + +"More cats!" said Dismal. "I'd as soon have the frogs of Egypt, as to +have the trees showering down cats." + +"How do you like cat diet, Gamp?" screeched Bink, who did not relish the +way he had been laughed at. + +"I'll die-it, if one of 'em hits me!" Dismal solemnly asserted. + +"Look out!" a student warningly yelled. "The man is coming, too!" + +Everybody beneath the limb fell back out of the way, pushing against +those behind, many being hurled down and trodden on. Then Donald Pike, +sprawled out like one of the cats, came sailing down out of the tree. +His teeth were fairly chattering. He believed that Badger was right at +his heels, with hands reached out to seize him. Fortunately, he was not +injured by the desperate leap. + +"Fruit!" was yelled by a dozen voices, and the throng pressed together +again to lay hold on him. + +But Don Pike's terror gave him the strength of a giant. He hurled aside +those who sought to detain him, and leaped through the crowd and away. +The next instant the Kansan dropped out of the tree, swinging for a +moment by one of the drooping branches, to break the force of the fall, +and alighting on the ground with ease and lightness. + +"Fruit!" + +The Westerner could not escape, for the students had closed in again, +and he was literally ringed in. + +"Fruit! fruit!" was yelled on all sides. + +Twenty men threw themselves on the Kansan. He tried to hurl them off, +and did succeed in flinging some of them aside. This enabled him to gain +his feet. + +"Let go!" he snarled. + +"Fruit! fruit!" was being chorused. + +Again the hands and arms closed on him. + +"Let me go, I say! I want to overtake that fellow!" + +Only a few near him understood his words. The majority thought he was +merely showing a vigorous protest against the threatened loss of his +shirt-tab, and they had no sympathy with anything of that kind, for they +had suffered the same humiliation, and were naturally determined to +inflict the same thing on every student they could lay their hands on. + +"Let go!" Badger shrieked, white with wrath, lunging with his hard right +fist. + +It struck a student in the face and hurled him crashingly backward. But +the next moment the fist and arm were caught and held. + +Then began a fierce struggle for the mastery. Time and again the +Westerner, whose strength was great, hurled off the men who sought to +hold him down. Twice he got on his feet, merely to be tripped and thrown +again. Not until he was almost beaten and choked into insensibility were +his assailants able to rip open his vest. + +Ordinarily, Badger wore a soft silk shirt which had no tab, but on this +night he had on a white shirt, whose tab was amputated by a dexterous +thrust as soon as the vest was pulled open. Then he was permitted to +rise to his feet, reeling, sick, blind with rage and humiliation and a +sense of baffled hate. + +But his chief thought still was of Donald Pike. + +"Which way did he go?" he panted, as soon as he could get his breath. + +"Well, your High-Muchness, the cats scattered and the man made himself +scarce!" was the scoffing answer, given by the student who had felt the +terrible force of Badger's fist. "Perhaps there is another man up in the +elm who can tell you!" + +Badger did not wait for further nagging, and, as no hands were now +extended to oppose him, he made as hasty an exit as he could from the +midst of the shouting, laughing, howling throng. + +"Heavens!" he thought. "I hope that neither Inza, nor Elsie, nor any of +my friends, saw that from the dormitory windows!" + +Even in the midst of his rage against Pike, Badger was cut to the quick +by this thought, for he was filled with a foolish pride. + +"I'll thump Pike a few extra for that!" he snarled, as he got out of the +crowd. His pulse was at fever-heat, and his face as hot as flame. He did +not feel the bruises and blows which had been showered on him. + +"I reckon I'll not get close to him again for a week!" he grumbled. "Why +couldn't those ruffians attend to their own affairs and let me attend to +mine? I allow that it was none of their business whatever! This is my +trail, and I wasn't interfering none with their range. Confound the +luck! But when I do meet him I'll make him pay for it!" + +But the Westerner was mistaken in one portion of his surmise. He met +Pike, or rather ran against him, at the first building he turned. + +Donald had ventured back to see what had happened to his pursuer, and +was looking at the shouting tumult in the campus, and did not observe +Badger, who came along the walk close to the wall. The Kansan recognized +Pike first, and leaped at him with a snarl like that of an enraged +panther, and as he leaped he struck a blinding blow. + +It knocked Donald backward, but it did not fall fairly enough to inflict +serious injury. The next moment Badger was on him, and had him by the +throat. + +"By heavens! I've a notion to kill you right here!" he hissed, his +fingers closing on Pike's throat. + +"Don't!" Pike pleaded, gasping out the appeal. + +"You told Fairfax Lee that I was drunk when I went on the _Crested +Foam_. You scoundrel! You ruffian! You sneaking coyote!" + +His fingers tightened with every exclamation. + +"Don't kill me!" Pike begged wheezingly. "I'll go to him and take it all +back!" + +"Then you did tell him? I allow I ought to kick you clean out of your +hide, you onery varmint!" + +There was no answer, and Donald Pike, apparently ceasing to breathe, +fell back as limp as a rag. + +A bit of reason began to glimmer into the brain of the Westerner. Though +he had asserted that he would almost kill Pike, he did not really intend +to do anything of the kind. He merely meant to inflict a punishment +which should be in a measure commensurate with the wrong which Pike had +committed against him. But the Kansan's great rage, combined with his +humiliating experience in the campus, which had still further inflamed +him, had driven him to more than ordinary recklessness. He had been +fairly insane. The fire began to go out of Badger's eyes when Pike did +not stir and seemed not to breathe. + +"I reckon I squeezed a bit too hard!" Badger muttered, regarding the +unconscious youth with some degree of anxiety. "Well, I was wild enough +to choke his heart out!" + +He stooped over Pike and saw the livid finger-marks on the throat. Still +Pike did not stir, and the Westerner's anxiety correspondingly grew. He +put a hand on Pike's left breast, and failed to locate the heart-beats. +At last, after an alarming interval, Pike gasped, to Badger's intense +relief. + +"I allow I'd better let it go at this," he reflected. "I don't want to +kill the skunk, though if any man whatever deserved to be murdered, he +does. But I don't want anything of that kind against me. As Merry has +told me, I've got an awful temper when it gets started. I shall have to +watch myself against that, same as against red-eye!" + +Pike gasped again, and then his breathing came at increasingly frequent +intervals. The students were wildly howling in and around the campus, +but Badger scarcely heard them. He was thinking only of Pike. + +"This may keep him in his room a few days," he muttered. + +"If it does no more than that, I don't care. He deserved that much. But +he's got to keep clear of me, or I can't be responsible for the +consequences. I'll tell him so as soon as he comes to himself and knows +what has happened." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +A CRUSHING BLOW. + + +Buck Badger stared at a letter in a familiar handwriting which had come +to his room in the afternoon mail. He had delivered to Donald Pike that +threatening talk the night before, when Pike came back to the land of +sentient things after that awful choking. + +The infliction of this punishment on Pike, and the feeling that Winnie +would stand by him in spite of everything, had so satisfied the +Westerner that he had been in an uncommonly comfortable frame of mind, +in spite of the fact that the powerful opposition of Fairfax Lee was yet +to be overcome. With Winnie true, and time and youth in their favor, +there seemed no good reason why he should be in the dumps. + +But the letter at which he now gazed with starting eyes and anguished +face! It was from Winnie herself, and what it said was enough to make +the Kansan's brain reel: + + "MR. BUCK BADGER: Father knows that we met last night, and he is + much displeased, as he has a right to be. I am very sorry I said to + you the things I did, for we can never be anything more to each + other. I have had time to think more clearly since I saw you, and + this is my decision. It will do no good to talk it over, for this + is final. Therefore, if you are a gentleman, you will not try to + see me again. I return to you by express your ring and the things + you have given me. + + "WINNIE LEE." + +"I can't understand it!" he gasped, as he recalled her words of the +evening before. "Yet she wrote it. There isn't any doubt whatever of +that. I wish there were, but I know that handwriting too well." + +He read it over again and again, as if searching out some other meaning. +It seemed so impossible. Yet there it was. He got up and began to pace +round the room, stopping almost every time he passed the table to take +another look at the letter. + +"Thrown over!" he groaned. "And after all we've been to each other! I +allow she couldn't stand up against her father. How in thunder did he +find out that we met last night? Some onery, spying Piute of a servant, +I reckon. Well, I seem to be rounded up now, and Winnie's given me the +branding-iron with her own white hand." + +He mopped the sweat from his face. + +"I won't accept it! That's whatever! She says that if I'm a gentleman, +I'll not try to see her again. Glad I ain't a gentleman! Glad I'm a +man--and I allow a man is a good deal bigger than a gentleman! I s'pose +a gentleman would sit down and twiddle his fingers, and do nothing. +Well, I ain't built that way! Not on your life! I'm going to see her +again, whether she wants to see me or not. I'll see her, if I have to +fight my way into that house! That's whatever!" + +He gave his breast a thump, as if he fancied he was striking at an +enemy. His face was red and his neck veins stood out like cords. His +heavy shoulders were thrown back, and his broad white teeth gleamed in a +determined fashion. + +"I'll find out just why she changed her mind so suddenly. Of course, it +was her father's work. He has kept her under his thumb so long that she +has come to the conclusion that she has to mind him in this, too! He +thinks I'm not good enough for her, I allow! Well, I ain't--no man on +earth is good enough for her--but I'm just as good as Fairfax Lee, any +day in the week! Hanged if I don't tell him so, too! + +"Yes, I'll walk into his office, if I have to knock over that clerk to +do it, and I'll tell him what I think of him, if I'm arrested for it +next minute. In this beastly East, instead of meeting a man and fighting +him, the first thing a fellow thinks of, if he has a word with another, +is to call in the police. But I'm not afraid of the New Haven police!" + +Badger's heart seethed like a volcano. + +"See her! Well, I reckon! I'll see her if I die for it! I'll see her, +even if she refuses to speak to me! I'm going to find out what's at the +bottom of this!" + +While the Westerner was thus storming, an expressman came with the +little package containing the ring and the trinkets which Badger had +given to Winnie. It contained no note, but the address was in Winnie's +handwriting. + +Badger tore the package open almost before the expressman was out of the +room. A lump came into his throat as he looked at the ring. He +remembered so distinctly the time he gave it to her and all the words +then said. It seemed impossible that she had returned it now in this +curt manner. + +"I'll ask her to take it back!" he muttered. He dropped the ring into a +pocket of the suit he was wearing, that he might be sure to have it with +him when he met her--for that he would meet her in some way or other he +was firmly resolved. + +"Her father has driven her into this. It's not her wish, I know. But she +is so good and dutiful that she may stick by this decision, to please +him. I allow that there is where the trouble is going to come. But I +won't give her up! Not unless she tells me positively with her own lips +that everything is ended." + +Badger now did something which he would never have dreamed of doing a +short time before. Even the thought of it would have been greeted with +scorn. He carefully put the letter in an inner pocket, put away the +trinkets which Winnie had returned, and set out to find Frank Merriwell. +The act did not even strike him as incongruous. + +"Inza and Elsie will do anything for Merriwell! He can go in and out of +Lee's house as he wants to. I allow he will be glad to help me in this +thing, if he can. The trail looks to be so confoundedly tangled that a +bit of help in ciphering it out will be mighty welcome just now!" + +He scowled as he crossed the campus and remembered the unpleasant +experience of the previous night. The tree in front of Durfee still bore +a large quantity of "fruit." The tab of Badger's shirt was there. + +"Come over here and pick out your property!" shouted a student who was +standing in a group near the tree. + +Badger strode on without a word, for he was in no humor for +pleasantries. + +"Fruit!" squealed Danny Griswold. + +"Where are you going, my pretty maid?" Bink Stubbs sang from his perch +on the fence. + +"Going to hunt up those cats," said the Westerner, with sarcastic scorn. +"I hear their kittens squawling for them!" + +Danny fell over against Bink. + +"A joke from Badger!" he murmured. "Somebody fan me!" + +"I'll fan you!" grunted Bink, who was not pleased with the Kansan's +retort, pushing Danny roughly from him. + +"Do!" begged Danny. "That took my breath. What will happen next?" + +Badger swung on at a swift, nervous pace, and mounted to Frank's room. + +"Come in!" Frank sung out, as the Kansan's knuckles hammered on the +door. + +He was rather surprised to see Badger at that hour. But he put away the +book he had been studying, and pushed out a chair. + +"Take a seat!" he invited. + +"I reckon you'll think it's mighty funny that I should come to you for +advice and help?" + +"Why, no! It's a way my friends have. And they know that I am always +ready to do whatever I can for them." + +"Well, it's about Winnie!" said Badger bluntly. Whereupon, in a few +words, he told his story. + +"That rather stumps me, Badger," Frank admitted. "I think, though, that +the straight way is the best. If you're willing, I will see Lee in your +behalf. I shall have to admit to him that you were intoxicated at that +time, but I'll try to make him see that you are pretty straight goods, +for all of that. Perhaps a few words from one who knows you will be +helpful." + +"If you will, Merry, I can't ever thank you enough. It will be about as +big a favor, I allow, as one man ever did for another, and I sha'n't +forget it." + +Merriwell looked at his watch. + +"I can't go to his office this afternoon, but I'll see him at his house +to-night. I may be late getting there, but I'll try to time it to be +there when he gets home from his club." + +Badger went away as if walking on air. He could hardly think of anything +else throughout the remainder of the day, and night found him in the +vicinity of the Lee home, even though he had a feeling that Merriwell +would prefer he should keep away from there until the result of the +promised interview was known. + +"I wish Merry would hurry," he thought, as he finally advanced to the +fence, drawn there by his intense desire to be near to Winnie. "I'll +speak to him before he goes in, and ask him to come right out as soon as +possible with the news." + +As he stood thus by the fence, a light step sounded, and, looking over, +he recognized in the dim light the form of Winnie Lee. He was by her +side at a bound. + +"You must not stand by that note!" he pleadingly began. "I allow that +you will see, when you think of it, that it isn't right by me!" + +He did not attempt to touch her or stoop toward her. She had, in writing +that letter, forbidden familiarities. Their relations toward each other +were unchanged. He remembered the ring in his pocket. + +"Buck! you silly fellow! Don't you know that I didn't mean to cast you +off?" + +"But the note?" he gasped. "It was in your handwriting? And the ring? +You sent back the ring!" + +"Yes, I wrote the letter because father commanded me to write it, and I +sent back the ring for the same reason. You ought to have known that!" + +The change in his feelings was so great and sudden that he could hardly +repress a shout. + +"I reckon I'm the biggest idiot unhung!" he confessed, as he took her in +his arms. "But when I saw that the writing was yours, I fancied your +father had by threats, or in some way, induced you to change your mind, +and that you really thought, in duty to him, you ought not to see me any +more. Say, I'm too happy to think! I'm----" + +"You are just a silly fellow!" + +"You never shot straighter! I'm a roaring idiot!" + +He kissed her and held her face toward the light in a rather vain effort +to see its outline. + +"I've been crazier since I got that note than any locoed cowboy that +ever tore up the ranges. I've simply been wild!" + +"I am very sorry, Buck. Yet I think I must have suffered as much. Last +night father obtained from me a confession that I had met you in the +grounds here. He asked me if I had met you, and my confused looks made +my denials useless. Then he ordered me to write that note and to send +back the ring. He mailed them himself. And he made me promise that I +wouldn't meet you again. But when I made it, I realized that I couldn't +keep it." + +"You're an angel!" + +"I never heard that angels were disobedient." + +"Some of them." + +"And they were punished for it. Oh, Buck, I hope we will never regret +this--that there will be no punishment for this!" + +"There won't be!" he grimly declared. + +"Father is gone," she said. "Out of the city!" + +"And I wanted Merry to see him here this evening," in a tone of regret, +"Merry is to have a talk with him and try to get him to see that I am +not such a soaking Piute as I've been painted!" + +"I'm sorry, too, Buck--though I was glad." + +"Glad?" + +"I intended to ask you into the house. Is it very wrong?" + +"I don't think so!" he whispered, joy and triumph in his voice. "Where +you lead I will follow. By and by I hope we will walk abreast." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +INTO A TRAP. + + +When Buck and Winnie walked into the house, they walked into a trap, +though the laying of a trap for them was not contemplated by Mr. Lee. + +Encountering none of the servants, Winnie conducted Badger into the +parlor. + +"Merriwell will be here soon, I allow." + +"We're not afraid of Merriwell!" + +"Only thinking that you and I want to have this meeting all to +ourselves. Then the servant that shows Merriwell up, if one does, may +see us, and I calculate that I ain't hankering to meet up with any of +your servants on this trip. None whatever!" + +But Winnie was not disturbed. + +"Father is going over to Hartford to-night on business," she laughed, +laying aside the scarf and jacket. "I heard him say to the cook that he +wouldn't return before to-morrow." + +There was a certain exultant defiance in Badger's bearing that made him, +in spite of his bulky, heavy shoulders and modern clothing, somewhat +resemble some ancient knight ready to do battle for his "ladye fair." +Winnie Lee observed it, and was pleased. The Westerner's devotion was so +true that she felt rather proud of it And, indeed, Badger, in spite of +his many faults, failings, and weaknesses, had some admirable traits of +character. + +All at once Winnie heard footsteps approaching the door of the parlor. +She thought the steps were those of a servant, and blamed herself for +not closing the door. Then a familiar form appeared in the doorway, and +her cheeks grew white. Buck Badger looked up at the same moment, and his +dark face flushed. + +Fairfax Lee had changed his mind about going to Hartford! He had +returned home, let himself into the house, and walked up-stairs. Seeing +the light in the parlor, he had approached the door. + +He was as much astonished as the lovers. For a moment not a word was +spoken. Winnie seemed about to swoon, and Badger put a hand on her +shoulder, as if to support her. Then Mr. Lee broke the silence, and +stepped into the room. + +"What is the meaning of this disobedience?" he sternly demanded, +speaking to Winnie. + +She staggered to her feet, trembling before him. Badger sprang up, erect +and defiant. + +"I thought you promised me that you would never meet him again?" + +She did not answer. + +He turned with flashing eyes on the Westerner. + +"And I forbade you the house, sir!" + +Badger wanted to take him by the throat. + +"See here, Mr. Lee!" he said, in a voice that demanded a hearing. "I +know you told me that I wasn't welcome in this house, and I reckon I +know full well that I am not welcome. But that's no sign that I am going +to stay out of it, as long as it shelters your daughter!" + +"Winnie, you will go to your room!" + +He advanced toward her, and she drew away from Badger. But she did not +go toward the door. Her father stepped to her side. + +"There is the door!" Lee commanded, addressing the Kansan. + +"I see it," said Badger. "You don't need to show it to me!" + +"Will you go out of it? Will you leave this house?" Fairfax Lee was +panting with rage. "Get out of this room!" he cried. + +Badger straightened his thick shoulders, and his broad, white teeth +gleamed unpleasantly. + +"Mr. Lee, you are Winnie's father, and because of that I shall pay no +attention to your insults; but I tell you now, that you may understand +it, that I love your daughter and intend to marry her!" + +"By heavens, you never shall!" + +"It may be a long trail, Mr. Lee, but there will be a home-coming at the +end of it. I shall see her as often as I can, and I shall write to her +when I can, and I shall marry her! I have promised to, and I'll do it!" + +"Never speak to my daughter again!" Mr. Lee thundered, pointing Badger +to the door. + +"Good night, Winnie," said the Kansan, as he passed out. "There will be +better days by and by." + +Then he fairly reeled down the stairway, sick and giddy and almost +gasping, yet shaking with rage against Fairfax Lee. + +Badger waited in the vicinity of the house in a fever of impatience +until Merriwell appeared. Though a more inauspicious time, seemingly, +could not have been found, he had strong confidence in Frank's ability +to aid him. It was a feeling which was invariably produced in the hearts +of all. + +He met Merriwell at some distance from the Lee residence, and drew him +away for a talk, in which he acquainted him with what had taken place. +Then Frank went on into the house, and the Westerner recommenced his +vigil. + +The interview which shortly followed between Frank and Mr. Lee was of an +interesting and important character. Fortunately, Fairfax Lee had a very +high opinion of Frank Merriwell. Otherwise he would not have heard him +at all in behalf of Badger. Even as it was, he at first listened with +nervous impatience, unwilling to believe that anything could be +presented in the Westerner's behalf. + +Merriwell went over the whole ground with great candor and frankness. He +admitted that Badger was intoxicated when lured aboard the _Crested +Foam_. But he asserted his belief that the Kansan was all right at +heart. He laid stress also on the fact, which was now clearly understood +by Fairfax Lee, that Winnie loved the Kansan; and he insisted that the +latter had no real taste for liquor, but was driven into his debauch by +a fit of jealousy. + +"I will think over this," Lee promised. "As you say, I have no desire to +be unjust; still less do I wish to be harsh beyond what is necessary. I +once thought well of Badger. I can't say more now. His actions have +seemed to me very low and very dishonorable." + +The long interview ended with this. But Merriwell, not realizing that +Badger was still waiting for him in wild anxiety, made a call on Inza +and Elsie, which was so pleasant that it was much more protracted than +he had intended it should be, and the hour grew late. + +In the meantime, other things were hurrying events to a climax. Fairfax +Lee had hastened home that night in fear of his life. Bill Gaston, once +a useful political worker, who had been driven insane by his failure to +secure an appointment he craved, and who the day before had been locked +up for threatening Lee's life, had escaped and was at large. That the +man was crazy there could be no doubt, and that he would shoot Lee on +sight seemed just as certain. + +Buck Badger, wandering like a restless spirit in the vicinity of the +house, saw a man leap the fence and sneak toward a rear entrance. The +man's general appearance and crouching attitude were like those of the +crazed office-seeker whom Buck had once seen threatening Lee in that +very place. + +"After Lee again!" was Badger's conclusion. "I reckon I'd better camp on +his trail. He said he would kill Lee, and that must be what he is up +to!" + +Thereupon, Badger also leaped the fence and slipped through the shadows +in the direction taken by the man he supposed to be Gaston. + +"Eh! what does that mean?" + +Badger stopped stock-still. He saw several men beneath a window, which +they had forced open. One man was being helped through. + +"Can't be a band of assassins, I allow? More likely a lot of burglars +trying to crack the crib." + +The Westerner was right in his guess. These were not friends of Bill +Gaston bent on assassination, but housebreakers, whose cupidity had been +aroused by the fact, which had chanced to come to their knowledge, that +a diamond brooch worth ten thousand dollars had recently been taken from +the Lee residence. A crib which held such valuables seemed to them a +good one to rip open, and they had obtained information that Fairfax Lee +was expected to be away from home that night. They had found that most +of the servants were out, too, and because of this it appeared safer to +make the raid at an early hour, before the servants returned. + +Badger stood in indecision in the shadows, wondering what course he +ought to pursue. Before he could make up his mind, the first burglar had +disappeared, and a second was being helped through the window. Two of +the burglars--there were four or five of them, as Badger could see--were +to wait outside, while their pals on the inside made their search for +valuables. + +Suddenly there came a cry for help from within the house, followed by +the sounds of a struggle. Fairfax Lee, unable to sleep and wandering as +restlessly about within the house as the Westerner had upon the outside, +had come unexpectedly upon the first burglar at the upper landing of the +rear stairway. The burglar looked so marvelously like the crazy +office-hunter, Bill Gaston, that Lee believed him to be Gaston, and that +Gaston had invaded the house for purposes of assassination. + +Though Lee had dreaded a meeting with Gaston, and would have gone far +out of his way to avoid anything of the kind, he was by no means a +coward. He expected a shot from Gaston's pistol, and to prevent this, he +hurled himself on the burglar with a suddenness and boldness that took +the latter by surprise. + +The cry for help did not come from the lips of Fairfax Lee, but from +those of the burglar. Badger, however, fancied that the call had come +from Lee. Without waiting to consider the danger, or to ask himself how +he was to account for his presence in the grounds and in the house, Buck +Badger ran toward the open window. + +As he did so, he saw two of the other burglars leap through. They were +going to the assistance of their pal. Then a shot sounded. + +Badger crossed the intervening distance at a sprinting pace, and found +himself suddenly confronted by the burglar who was still on guard at the +window. A pistol gleamed in the dim light. Badger knocked it aside, +struck the man a blow that would have felled an ox, and went through the +window with a flying leap that took him to the foot of the stairway. + +He saw the two burglars on the stairs near the top. One held a +dark-lantern and the other a heavy jimmy. Above, the sounds of the fight +continued, and the burglar attacked by Lee was still bawling for help. + +Fairfax Lee felt that he was fighting for his life, and he still +believed that he was fighting Bill Gaston. He did not hear the burglars +on the stairs. He was trying to get the supposed Bill Gaston by the +throat and choke him into subjection. The burglar's shot, fired almost +pointblank at Lee, had done him no injury, and now the weapon was on the +floor. + +"Help!" bellowed the burglar. + +He got his throat free, but he could not throw off those clutching +hands. Visions of striped clothing and prison officials loomed before +him, for he had once done time. His anxious ears heard what Lee did +not--the calls of the ruffians who were hurrying to his assistance--and +he fought like a tiger. + +Buck Badger went up the stairway in quick leaps. If the burglars heard +him, they must have fancied he was the guard left at the window, for +they did not look round. But before the Kansan could reach the upper +landing, the three scoundrels were on Lee. + +"Clip him on der head!" one of them growled. "Don't use yer barker--too +much noise! Hit him wid der jimmy. All der cops in New Haven will be in +dis crib in a minute!" + +Fairfax Lee was still putting up a stiff fight, and the jimmy flashed in +the air. Before it could descend, Buck Badger flung himself into the +midst of them, with the impetuous leap of a mountain-lion. The man with +the uplifted jimmy went down before a blow from the Kansan's fist, and +the other was hurled aside. The burglar that Lee had been fighting tore +himself loose and turned toward Badger and the stairway. Then the +Westerner heard the ominous click of a revolver. These burglars, like +all of their craft, were ready to do murder if it seemed necessary. + +Lee tripped the burglar with the revolver, and the shot went into the +floor. The other burglar was coming up the stairway with tremendous +leaps. The house seemed to be arousing. Badger heard a woman scream. + +"Kill him!" was panted by one of the villains. + +Then the jimmy descended, and though the Westerner tried to knock the +blow aside, his arm was beaten down, and the jimmy fell on his head with +crushing force. Badger's head seemed to split open under that blow, and +a blur of blood and mistiness followed. He felt himself reeling and +sinking, with his feet slipping on the stairway, toward which he had +fallen. Then he dropped like an ox in the shambles. + +But before complete unconsciousness came, he heard the shout of a +well-known voice--the voice of Frank Merriwell! + +Merriwell came upon the scene from a corridor, having been drawn by the +calls and the pistol-shots, and with marvelous quickness and certainty +grasped the whole intent of what he beheld. + +Fairfax Lee struck aside the revolver that was pointed at Frank, and +again began to call for help. The next instant Merriwell was in the +thick of the fight. Though no man could have understood his peril more +perfectly, there was at that moment in Merriwell's heart a wild thrill +of joy. He laughed as he struck at the nearest ruffian--a laugh that +sounded strangely out of place. + +The blow fell with crushing force, and the ruffian tumbled backward +against the wall. Before Merriwell could turn, two of the other three +ruffians were on his back. One had drawn a knife and the other had the +jimmy. The remaining burglar was on the stairs, and was lifting a +revolver. Merriwell lunged toward him, and the man, instead of firing, +lost his footing, and went tumbling down the steps. + +Inasmuch as he had a revolver, he seemed the most dangerous, and Frank +leaped after him, dragging with him the scoundrels who were trying to +strike him from behind. But the terrible fall knocked the breath out of +the burglar, and he slid helplessly on down the stairway, letting the +revolver go bumping and clattering to the floor below. Merriwell wheeled +with lightning quickness to meet the man with the threatening jimmy. + +Badger seemed to be slipping down the stairway, also. Then Frank saw him +lift himself and try to stagger to his feet. Without taking further note +of this, Merriwell promptly closed with the other burglar on the stairs. + +"Shoot him, Bill!" the fellow cried, to his pal above. + +But that worthy, believing that "he who fights and runs away may live to +fight another day," was making tracks for the nearest window, intending +to leap to the ground. + +The burglar who had closed with Frank, endeavored to trip him, with the +result that he was himself shot over Frank's head, and went to the +bottom of the stairs at a flying leap, bowling over his pals, who were +trying to get on their feet and pull themselves together. Merriwell +caught the stairway rail, down which he slid almost as quickly. His hand +closed on the revolver which had fallen to the floor; and, with it +cocked and leveled, he wheeled, facing the men, who, swearing horribly, +were again trying to gain their feet. + +"Surrender!" he sharply called. + +The answer was an oath. + +"Surrender, or by the gods of war I'll drop you one and all right where +you are! Up with your paws!" + +They knew he meant it, and there was no escape. The next moment the +three burglars at the foot of the stairs put up their hands in token of +submission. + + * * * * * + +Badger sat in his room. His bandaged head ached painfully, but in his +heart there was a glow of pleasure. The surgeon had told him that he +would be all right in a day or two, and he had just received a note from +Winnie Lee. + +"Dear Buck," it read, "I have had a long talk with father. He says that +both you and Merriwell fought like heroes, and that your prompt +appearance on the scene no doubt saved his life. In spite of this, +though, he is not willing that I shall receive calls from you. But I can +see that his opposition is not nearly so strong as it was, and I have +hopes that it will soon disappear altogether. Father says that the +burglars which Merriwell captured will no doubt be sent to State's +prison. Thank Frank for me for his great favor in speaking to father for +you, as he did--for I can see that father's change toward you is due +more to Frank's talk than to your fight, brave as that was. I will meet +you as often as I can, Buck, and I will send you a note every day. And +we will be true to each other always, in spite of father's opposition. +Your sweetheart, WINNIE." + +"There never was any girl truer!" muttered the Kansan, as he read and +reread the note. "That's whatever! She is true as steel! But," he +continued, "how can I thank Merriwell for his part in the affair? He +pulled me through, all right, and there's no mistaking that fact." + +Hardly had he uttered these words, than a knock came at the door. "Come +in," said Buck--and in walked Frank himself! + +"Well, I'm glad to see you," said Buck, "and that's whatever! I want to +know how I can thank you for what you've done for me in this affair, in +going to Winnie's father in the way you did." + +A gleam came into Frank's eyes as he sat there, and a smile played on +his lips. + +"My dear fellow," he said finally, "I don't want any reward from you or +any one else for what I do, by way of helping them out. I do the best I +can in that respect--the same as you or anyone else would do--and that's +reward enough for me--a clear conscience! Thanks, all the same, Buck." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +BAD NEWS. + + +So sunshine follows storm! + +It was a jolly party aboard the _Merry Seas_, as she bowled along on her +way from New Haven to New York. It was composed of Frank Merriwell and a +number of his intimate friends; and wherever Frank and his friends were, +Dull Care usually hid his agued face and gave place to smiling Pleasure. + +"That grumbling old boatman at the New Haven wharf was a liar!" groaned +Dismal Jones, as if it were a grief that he had not found the boatman's +unpleasant prognostications true. + +"What did he say?" asked Danny Griswold, who had been prancing the deck +like a diminutive admiral, stopping now and blowing a cloud of cigarette +smoke from his nostrils. + +"He said that a smoker of cigarettes is always a measly runt!" grunted +Bruce Browning, from the big chair in which he had ensconced himself +almost as soon as he came aboard, and which he had hardly left since. + +"You're another!" said Danny. "He didn't say anything of the kind." + +"He was a poet," said Dismal, "and he threw his comment into rime. I was +taken in by him, I suppose, because he seemed to be half-way quoting +Scripture: + + "'The Pharisees were hypocrites, + And the _Merry Seas_ is a ship o' fits!'" + +"A ship o' fits? Nothing eccentric about this steamer, so far as I can +see!" + +"Except Danny Griswold!" exclaimed Bink Stubbs. "He is enough to give +anything fits." + +"Something your tailor is never able to give you!" Danny retorted. + +"Sit down!" growled Browning. "You are shutting out the view!" + +"What view?" Danny demanded. + +"The view of the steamer's funnel. I'd rather look at that. It can smoke +and keep still--and you can't." + +Inza and Elsie came along, accompanied by Merriwell and Bart Hodge. +Winnie Lee, who was at present under her father's displeasure for her +persistence in continuing to encourage Buck Badger, was not aboard, but +Amy May was a member of the party. At the moment, she was conversing +gaily with Bernard Burrage, Inza's semi-invalid father, on the +forward-deck. + +"We're going to have a fog!" said Merriwell, speaking to Bruce and those +near. "I have been hoping it would hold off until we reach New York, but +it isn't going to." + +"I'd rather be in a ship that has fits now and then, than to be stuck in +a fog-bank!" Bink declared. "I guess that New Haven boatman was a +prophet, after all." + +The _Merry Seas_ was a steamer running on a somewhat irregular schedule +to New Haven and New London, and back to the great metropolis by the sea +route along the ocean side of Long Island, touching at one or two Long +Island points. + +Merriwell's friends had decided on a steamer voyage to New York and back +as a change from the usual work and athletics at Yale. Not that they +were tired of either. But nothing of signal importance was on the +program to detain them in New Haven, and they were away, therefore, for +this short trip by boat. + +The ordinary Sound route between New Haven and New York was familiar +ground to every member of the party, and something new was desired. +Hence they had taken the _Merry Seas_, which had steamed to New London, +and out to sea between Block Island and Montauk Point, and had then laid +her course down the Long Island coast for New York harbor. + +Inza laughed at Bink's lugubrious declaration. Gamp was laughing, too. + +"If we get stuck in a fog, we can have Joe Gamp yell a few times for us. +That will do for a fog-horn." + +"Then the _Merry Seas_ will have fits, sure enough!" said Bink. + +Gamp looked serious. + +"Well, honest, now, that dud-dud-don't sus-sound so funny to mum-me as +it dud-does to you. Owned a cuc-cuc-carf once, that was pup-prancing +raound in the med-der pup-pup-pasture, and I gug-got so tickled that I +just sus-set daown and hollered. Goshfry! you wouldn't believe it, +bub-bub-but that cuc-carf fell over dead's a stun wall!" + +"Gave it heart-disease, of course!" Bink gravely observed. "Not to be +wondered at." + +"I'm just tut-tut-telling this story as a warning tut-to you!" Joe +solemnly observed. "The hoss dud-dud-doctor said that the pup-poor +thing's head was weak. Sus-so when we get into a fuf-fog and I begug-gin +to holler, bub-bub-better pup-put cotton into your ears, Binky!" + +Stubbs fell back into Danny's arms. + +"Ar-r-r-r!" he gurgled. "I've got 'em now. Fits!" + +"I'll give you fits, if you don't stop tumbling over against me!" Danny +howled, giving Bink a push that landed him in Browning's lap. Everybody +laughed, and Merriwell and his companions walked on round the steamer's +rail. + +"It hurts me to think that I must separate soon from all those jolly +fellows!" Merry observed, in a saddened voice. "But commencement is +rushing this way at railroad speed, and most of them will go out of Yale +then forever." + +"We'll not get blue about it until we have to," said Elsie, though the +thought had saddened her more than once. + +"Just see how the fog is coming down!" Inza observed. + +"Hello!" cried Hodge, "another vessel!" + +A steamer hove into view through the thickening mist. The boats began to +sound their whistles. + +"A sort of Flying Dutchman!" remarked Merriwell, and, indeed, the +passing steamer did seem more a phantasm of the fog than a real vessel +carrying living, breathing people. The _Merry Seas_ sounded her whistle +at frequent intervals as she pushed on into the fog, and for some time +after the steamer had vanished her hoarse whistle could also be heard. + +"Hello!" cried Browning, who had been lazily looking over some late New +York papers. + +The tone and the change in his manner told that he had come on a +startling piece of news. + +"What is it?" Diamond asked. + +"Maybe only the same name!" said Browning, and then read this paragraph +from the telegraphic columns: + + "A young Irishman named Barney Mulloy was attacked and killed by + hoboes near Sea Cove, on the coast not far from Sandy Hook, + yesterday morning. The object of the tramps was doubtless robbery, + as Mulloy is known to have had a considerable sum of money on his + person." + +Browning looked up questioningly. + +"Likely another fellow, though!" he said. + +"By Jove! I'm afraid not!" exclaimed Frank, who had hastily taken the +paper from Bruce, and was staring in consternation at the fateful item. + +"There may be a hundred Barney Mulloys!" said Rattleton. + +Frank shook his head. + +"I had a letter from him a few days ago, and he was then stopping at Sea +Cove. He was making money, too!" + +Merriwell felt stunned. Barney Mulloy had been one of his dearest +friends, faithful and honest, kind-hearted and true, jolly and hopeful. +Through all of his hilarious experiences at Fardale, Frank had not a +stancher adherent. And now Barney was dead, slain by a lot of miserable +tramps! Tears of honest grief and indignation came into Frank's eyes. + +"Barney Mulloy dead?" exclaimed Inza, coming up at that moment and +hearing the news. + +"What?" cried Elsie. + +"Report in the _Herald_," Frank answered. "Killed yesterday by hoboes, +somewhere below Sandy Hook." + +Bad news spreads as if by magic. In a little while the other members of +the party, having read the story for themselves or heard of it from +others, gathered round Merriwell. + +"Well, he was an honest boy," said Hodge, a noticeable tremor in his +voice. + +"A better-hearted lad never lived!" Merriwell asserted. + +Frank's mind went back to Fardale, and, grieved as he was, he could +again hear the yells of Barney Mulloy and Hans Dunnerwust, when they +crawled into bed with the lobsters, which they thought were centipedes. +It had been one of the funniest incidents of the Fardale days, for both +thought they were poisoned by the bites of the creatures, and that they +would surely die. The whole thing had been a practical joke, in which +Frank had played a prominent part. And now Barney, the mischievous, the +loyal, the reckless, was dead! + +"I can hardly believe it!" Merry declared. "It doesn't seem possible. +But there is one thing! I shall spend some money in having those hoboes +hunted down and punished for their crime." + +"I wish I could have happened along there about the time they jumped on +him!" growled Hodge, and the light in his dark face showed that he would +have done his best to make it hot for the hoboes if he could have put +his hands on them. "Barney had the right kind of stuff in him." + +This depressing bit of news took all the merriment and life out of the +little party. And, as the steamer wallowed on through the increasing +fog, the world seemed suddenly to have become wrapped in gloom. + +"Wish we'd stayed in New Haven!" grunted Browning. "I'll have to smoke +faster to keep warm, or go below." + +"And I wish we were in New York," said Bink. "There is something there +to warm up the blood." + +Danny looked at him. + +"Drinks? Likely the captain has a private bottle tucked away somewhere +that he will give you a nip out of." + +"Life, I mean. Pulsing streets, swarms of people, theaters, +hand-organs----" + +"Oh, yes, a monkey is usually lost away from a hand-organ!" + +"I suppose that is why you always seem so lonesome! When Merry is sad, +we all are--grumpy! New York would help to lift us out of the dumps." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +ADRIFT IN THE ATLANTIC. + + +"So thick you might cut it with a knife!" + +Captain Darien, who had walked forward and joined the group of +Merriwell's friends, looked off into the wall of gloom as he said this. +The _Merry Seas_ was mournfully blowing her whistle, and others were +continually heard. The steamer was nearing New York harbor. + +"Will you try to run in, captain?" Frank asked. + +"Oh I think we can make it. I don't like to anchor out here all night. I +have a pretty good idea of just where we are." + +"The fog may lift before night." + +The captain looked at his watch, and saw that it indicated nearly three +o'clock. + +"I'm afraid not. And likely it will be no better in the morning. I shall +try to go in." + +A fog-siren somewhere on the invisible shore was sending out its +unearthly blasts. Then a whistle seemed to cut the gloom right ahead, +and a big black shape loomed through the murk. The _Merry Seas_ sounded +her warning, and the helm was jammed hard a-starboard. Another shriek +came from the phantom that had seemed to rise right out of the sea. With +that shriek, she also swung off. + +"I thought we were in for a collision!" said Frank, breathing more +freely. "It will be a squeak as it is." + +Elsie had nervously clutched him by the arm. All were moving back from +the dangerous vicinity toward the other rail. + +"A tug!" said Bart, who was standing near Merriwell. + +The tug, which was a large one, seemed now fairly on top of them. In +size, it was as large or larger than the _Merry Seas_. A collision of +the two vessels would be a serious thing. + +"We're going to strike, or scrape!" Frank warned, taking Inza and Elsie +each by an arm. "Brace for it!" + +Orders were being given, and the whistles were hoarsely blowing. Both +vessels were still falling off. Some one on the tug bellowed frantically +through a big trumpet. + +"What was that?" Inza asked. + +"Tows!" said Frank. "Something about tows!" + +The tug and the steamer did not strike, though they grazed each other so +closely that a collision seemed unavoidable. Then there was more +bellowing through trumpets and more whistling, and Frank felt the _Merry +Seas_ tremble under him as her engines were reversed. He knew not what +to expect. + +Crash! + +The big tug, _Gladiator_, had a string of heavily laden barges in tow. +Into one of these barges, in spite of every effort to prevent it, the +bow of the _Merry Seas_ crashed with terrible force. It was as if a +horse should rush headlong against a stone wall. + +The shock was terrific. Merriwell heard a sound of smashing timbers and +snapping iron. He was pitched violently from his feet as the bow of the +_Merry Seas_ was forced downward by the collision. He felt himself +flying through the air. Then he struck the water, and went down, down, +down! + +But Frank did not lose consciousness. And as he came to the surface, he +supported himself by a gentle motion of his hands and feet, and tried to +look about. He knew how great was his peril. But his thoughts were not +wholly of himself. He thought of Inza and Elsie, of Hodge and his other +friends. What had befallen them? Had they, too, been hurled into the sea +by that awful shock? If so, there could be little doubt that some of +them, if not all, would be drowned. + +He shouted for assistance, and heard a hoarse whistle not far away. He +could see nothing, for the fog was as impenetrable as a blanket He began +to swim toward the sound. He could not tell whether the whistle was that +of the tug or the _Merry Seas_ or of some other vessel. Again he sent up +a call for help. The water was cold and his clothing heavy. He was +thinking of trying to get out of his shoes and outer coat, when he heard +a human cry not far away. + +"Help! help!" some one called. + +"Help! help!" Frank shouted. + +But instead of swimming on, he turned in the direction of the cry. It +indicated a human being in distress and peril, and he felt that he might +be able to save a life. + +"Help!" came the cry again. + +The voice was so choked and thick, and there was such a rush of water in +his ears that Merry could not tell much about it, yet it seemed +familiar. It was near at hand, too; and, sending back an answering call, +Frank swam straight toward it. + +"Help!" was shouted, right at hand now, for the voice seemed to be +drifting toward him. + +"Where are you?" + +For answer, Merriwell received a heavy blow on the head and breast from +a piece of timber. He went under with a cry, his head ringing and his +senses reeling. + +The next thing he knew, he was stretched out on some sort of raft, and +some one was holding him there by sheer force. His feet and legs were +trailing through the water. The whistle of the steamer or tug sounded +again, but farther away. + +"Is that you, Merry? How are you feeling?" + +It was a familiar voice, though thick and husky--the voice of Bart +Hodge. + +It steadied Merriwell's reeling brain. He took hold of the boards and +sought to draw himself still higher on them. + +"That you, Hodge?" + +"Yes. I thought that was you, Merry. How are you?" + +"Soaked. But I guess I am all right. Something hit me on the head and +shoulders, and I went under. I was swimming this way. Heard somebody +call." + +"I called, and you were struck by this drift. I heard you, and felt the +shock when you struck. I reached out and got hold of you--and here you +are?" + +"Yes, here--and where is that?" + +"In the Atlantic, somewhere off New York. I doubt if the captain knew." + +"What became of the rest of the crowd?" + +"Don't know. That collision threw me clean over the rail. I fell near +these boards. I don't know but they came from the barge. When I came up, +I bumped against them, and then hung on and began to call for help." + +There was a moment of silence. Both were listening. Whistles could be +heard here and there. Off to the left somewhere they fancied they heard +a voice calling, but whether it came from the deck of a vessel or from +some unfortunate in the water they could not determine. Near and far the +whistles of steamers and tugs were hoarsely bellowing. + +"With so many vessels around, we ought to be picked up soon," said +Hodge. + +"We would be, if any one could see anything. But a boat would have to +run right over us to find us. Hark! wasn't that rowlocks?" + +Again they listened. The sound of oars was certainly heard. + +Clug-clank, clug-clank, clug-clank. + +"Let us call together," said Merry. "Now! As loud as you can." + +Both shouted with all their might. For an instant they fancied the boat +was coming toward them, and they shouted again. But it was almost +impossible to determine the direction of sound. They could not +themselves be sure of the direction of the boat. The "clug-clank" grew +fainter and fainter. + +"We're bound to be picked up soon," Merriwell cheerily declared. "We +must be right in the track of vessels. We'd be picked up right away if +it wasn't for this beastly fog." + +Hodge was silent. + +"What do you suppose has become of the others? They were right with us, +you know, when we went over!" + +"I'm afraid to think about it," said Frank, with a shudder, which was +not caused by the chill of the water. + +"I can't help thinking about it!" + +"Nor I. But I'm hoping we were the only ones that went overboard. We +must try to believe that, Bart, until we cannot believe it any longer." + +Hodge was silent. + +"And as for ourselves!" + +"Oh, I wasn't thinking of ourselves," said Bart. "We can hang on here a +good while, I think. I suppose we're being carried out to sea, though!" + +"Not much doubt of that, I guess. But we've pulled through worse scrapes +together, Bart!" + +"That's right, Merry! And we'll pull through this. Are you up high +enough on the boards? Let me help you! You can't be feeling very strong +after that blow." + +Merriwell drew himself higher out of the water, and found that the heavy +board supported his weight. + +"If only the fog would clear now! I hear a whistle away off there." + +"Do you suppose the _Merry Seas_ was sunk?" Hodge asked. + +"I sha'n't think so until I have to. I think the barge got much the +worst of it. The steamer seemed to cut it right in two." + +"Perhaps we can get up higher on these boards." + +"I've been thinking of that myself," Hodge answered. + +The two friends had locked hands across the narrow space that separated +them. Now, by Merriwell first helping Bart and then Bart returning the +favor, they managed to get up higher out of the water, and were +gratified to find that the boards were sufficiently buoyant to sustain +them. + +For fifteen or twenty minutes they had thus drifted on, talking and +conjecturing, listening at intervals, and now and then sending up a loud +call. The fog-siren on the shore was still screeching, and the whistles +of vessels were now and then heard. But about them was that impenetrable +gray wall of fog. + +Having secured an easier position, Frank fumbled with his chilled +fingers for his watch, which he finally drew out. It was wet, of course, +but, to his surprise, was still merrily ticking away. By holding it near +his eyes the time could be told. + +"About half an hour, I judge, since the collision." + +"No more than that? Seems to me it has been a half a day." + +Again there was silence. + +"I should think a vessel would anchor, instead of trying to go on in +such a fog as this!" Bart snarled. + +The memory of the disaster was beginning to make him bitter against the +captain. + +"They do, usually. The captain thought he could make his way in, that is +all!" + +"And I'm afraid some of our friends have gone to the bottom as a result +of it. We seem in a good way to investigate Davy Jones' locker +ourselves!" + +"I'm going to believe that our friends are all right. It can't be +possible that both the tug and the steamer sank. The tug wasn't really +in the collision, you know. She would be able to take off every one from +the steamer, no doubt, even if the steamer was so injured that she could +not float. The thing I most fear is that some of them may have been +hurled overboard, just as we were, and were not lucky enough to find +anything to sustain them. But I shall not believe anything of the kind +as long as I can hope that it isn't so." + +But for Merriwell, Hodge would have been very despondent, especially as +the long hours of the afternoon began to wear on and no boat came near +them, and their frequent cries seemed to remain unheard; but Frank's +hopefulness and cheerful optimism were not without good effect on the +mind of his friend, and they were even able at times to talk with some +degree of mental comfort. + +Frank was sure that they were steadily drifting out to sea. He believed, +from the change in the apparent direction of the fog-siren, that they +were moving down the coast toward Sandy Hook. But they were evidently +floating farther out to sea, for the sounds of the siren were fainter +and farther away. + +"I believe the fog is going to lighten." + +Merriwell lifted himself and strained his eyes through the gloom. A +suggestion of a breeze had fanned him. + +"If the wind gets up, the fog may be driven away," he said. + +"And the wind will kick up a sea!" suggested Bart. + +"But if the fog lifts, we will probably be seen by some vessel!" + +There could be no doubt that a gentle breeze was beginning to blow. + +"Sure enough, the fog is thinning!" Bart cried joyfully. "But I don't +hear any more whistles." + +"Hark! there one sounded." + +"Miles away!" + +"Wait till the fog rises. Perhaps there are others." + +Anxiously they watched the gray wall. The wind died away, and once or +twice it seemed that the fog was growing denser, instead of lightening. +But by and by the sunlight seemed to permeate it. It appeared to become +thinner. Then, like a great curtain uplifted, it for a little while +swung upward from the face of the heaving sea. All around were the green +rollers, rising and falling with an oily swell. + +Hodge uttered an exclamation of gratification. + +"Look!" + +Merriwell looked in the direction indicated. Not a fourth of a mile away +a dingy fishing-sloop was bobbing along, with her dirty mainsail and jib +set, yet seeming to catch no breeze. Both Merry and Hodge forgot their +discomfort, forgot their chilled and benumbed condition, and, lifting +themselves as high as they could, shouted for assistance. + +There must have been some breeze in the dingy sails, for the vessel was +moving athwart the line of their progress, and they were being carried +along by the tide. + +"Shout again!" said Merriwell, and again they lifted their voices +together. + +In another direction a steamer could be seen, but those on the steamer +evidently did not see the sufferers on the raft. + +"I don't believe there is a soul on the sloop!" Bart declared, in a +despairing way. + +"Well, if she keeps on her course, we'll get so near that perhaps we can +swim to her and climb on board." + +But Bart was wrong. Hardly had he made the declaration, when a man +appeared on deck, accompanied by a shaggy dog. + +Merriwell and Hodge renewed their cries to attract his attention. But +the man gave them absolutely no heed. Once they fancied that the dog +turned his nose in their direction. + +"He don't want to see us," Bart growled. "We are near enough for him to +hear! I----" + +His sentence was interrupted by a young lady who rushed suddenly on deck +from the "cuddy" or cabin. A scream issued from her lips as she +appeared, and immediately a second man came into view, from whom she +seemed to be fleeing. + +"My God! Inza Burrage!" + +Merriwell fairly shouted the words. + +Inza did not see the raft and her friends. She appeared to see only the +shaggy-bearded fellow, who now stood grimly looking at her. + +"She's going to jump overboard!" cried Hodge, so excited that he almost +fell off the raft. + +Merriwell shouted with all his might. Inza turned and saw the raft. She +uttered another piercing cry, stretched out her hands, and seemed again +about to leap into the sea. + +Instead of heeding the cry sent up by Merriwell, Inza's pursuer leaped +at her to prevent her from jumping over the rail; and, then, bearing her +in his strong arms, deliberately carried her back into the cuddy. + +Merriwell and Hodge shouted, yelled, screamed. The one man on the deck +paid not the slightest attention to their cries. + +"He refuses to hear us!" said Hodge. + +The other man appeared, and they called again. One of the men went to +the tiller, and the course of the sloop was changed. + +"They are going to pretend that they did not see us," Frank exclaimed. + +"Hold to the raft, Hodge! Stay by it!" + +"What are you going to do?" Hodge demanded. + +"I'm going to swim to that sloop!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE MYSTERY OF THE FISHING-SLOOP. + + +"Stay with the raft," Merriwell again commanded. + +"But I want to go with you! You will need help!" + +"Perhaps I may have to return to the raft. I can't find it if you leave +it." + +"We can get on that vessel. And perhaps, if you go alone, you will be +killed." + +Merriwell was as anxious and almost as much excited, but he kept his +head. + +"Don't you see that the sloop is moving on the new tack. She may be +going faster than I can swim. Stay on the raft!" + +As he gave this last command, he slipped out of his heavy, soaked outer +coat, quickly removed his shoes, and, pushing these articles to Hodge, +let himself into the sea, and began to swim toward the dingy +fishing-sloop. Hodge did not again shout, for he saw that Merriwell's +plan was to swim to the sloop, climb aboard of it, and by a sudden +attack overwhelm the men. + +"He's crazy!" Hodge grated. "They will see him, and they will simply +knock him back into the sea. They act as if they were lunatics--or +drunk! Why don't they look this way?" + +It was indeed singular, but neither of the men seemed to have noticed +the raft or heard the cries that came from it. Merriwell was a splendid +swimmer, and in spite of his chilled condition and his hampering +clothing, he moved through the water almost like a fish. + +"Of course I couldn't have kept up with him!" Bart grumbled. "But I +could have done my best. He can't overpower both of those men alone." + +He held tightly to the shoes and the coat, and looked longingly after +the swimmer, turning his eyes often to the sloop, that now, under the +influence of a light breeze, was going along in a surprising fashion. + +"And how did Inza come to be aboard of that sloop?" + +Bart had not time to think of this before, but now the answer came +quickly enough. Inza's clothing had clung to her, as she rushed on the +deck, showing that her skirts were weighted with water. No doubt, she, +too, had been hurled into the sea by the collision of the steamer with +the barge, and this fishing-boat had in some manner picked her up. + +"It's very queer, though, the way that fellow acted! She was afraid of +him. But she is below, and he is now on deck. Likely enough he has her +shut up in the cabin." + +He beheld Merriwell lift himself slightly out of the water and send out +a ringing call. But the men on deck did not stir. And the sloop sailed +on. + +"The scoundrels!" Bart hissed, through his white teeth. "I should like +to knock their heads together. They refuse to hear him. They are +carrying Inza away, and they do not intend that any one shall come +aboard. And this within the very shadows of New York City!" + +The sloop heeled over under the breeze and increased her speed. +Merriwell was palpably losing ground. Bart heard him call again and +again, with the same result, and then Bart also lifted his voice. + +The result was the same. The sloop moved straight on. At last he saw +Merriwell turn about and swim again toward the raft, when it became +evident that he could not overtake the sloop. + +"That is enough to kill Merry!" he thought sympathizingly. "And Inza saw +us, too! I wonder what she thinks?" + +Slowly and with seeming weariness Merriwell came back toward the raft. +Bart lifted himself as high as he could to mark the spot where the raft +lay tossing. When lifted on the crest of a wave, Merriwell came plainly +in sight; but when either Frank or the raft slipped down the glassy +surface of those big, green rollers, he seemed to sink into the sea. + +"I'm afraid he is going to have a hard pull! He must be tired out." + +He shook his fist at the sloop. It was growing smaller and smaller. A +haze was again creeping over the sea. + +"My God! What if the fog should settle down again and keep Merry from +finding the raft?" + +Bart shuddered at the thought. But Merriwell was so strong a swimmer +that Bart's hopes rose again almost immediately. There were indications +that the fog was once more descending, but Merriwell was now swimming +straight toward the raft with a bold, firm stroke, and with considerable +speed. + +"Right here, old man!" Bart encouragingly called. + +"I'm coming!" Merriwell shouted, and his tones did not show exhausting +fatigue. + +Then he swam up to the raft, and Bart helped him to climb upon it. + +"What was the matter with those scoundrels?" + +"Deaf!" + +"What?" + +"Deaf as posts, both of them!" Merriwell explained, resting on the +boards and panting from his exertions. "They didn't look this way simply +because they didn't hear us. I'm sure of that, from the way they acted. +I began to think so when I told you to hang to the raft. I believed that +if I could overtake the sloop, and could climb aboard and make myself +known, or knock them down, as my intention was, I could then release +Inza and sail the sloop over here and get you. But I couldn't swim fast +enough." + +"You went through the water like a fish!" + +"But the sloop went faster. If that breeze hadn't sprung up, I think I +could have made it." + +"And what are they doing with Inza?" + +"I don't know. But I'm glad of one thing. She isn't dead." + +"Deaf!" muttered Bart. "Deaf as posts! Well, that does make the thing a +bit clearer." + +The reaction from the tremendous exertions which Merriwell had put forth +made itself felt now. The excitement having passed, he felt almost +exhausted. He climbed up as high as he could on the boards, and Bart, +who was terribly benumbed and chilled from long exposure to the cold +water, held him thus while he rested. + +"It was too much for you, old man!" he said consolingly. + +"I had to try it!" was Merriwell's answer. + +"The fog is shutting down again," said Bart. + +"But it won't stay down. The sea looked red out toward the west. I think +it will clear away to-night." + +He was in no mood to say more. And the raft drifted on, while the gray +fog settled round them, and its chill and gloominess seemed to go to +their very hearts. + +But as Merriwell had predicted, the fog lifted again, and at the end of +another hour of an experience as terrible as either had ever been called +to undergo, the gray bank again swung up toward the sky. The sun was +sinking redly into the sea, and night was at hand--and what night might +mean in their weakened and chilled condition, adrift on the great ocean +toward which they seemed to be so resistlessly borne, they dared not +think. + +"The sloop!" Bart cried, rousing himself. + +Merriwell lifted himself and looked. It was the sloop, sure enough. A +little to the southward of east, with its dingy sails furled and their +bulging shapes turned to great lumps of gold, with the mast standing out +in dark tracery against the red skyline, lay the fishing-sloop. + +"It's the same!" Merry exclaimed. + +"Sure! There can't be any doubt about it." + +"And she has cast anchor." + +"What does that mean?" + +"She is a fishing-sloop, and I've an idea we must be on the +fishing-grounds off the Jersey or New York coast. There is no other +explanation. She is out here on a fishing-trip." + +"And Inza?" + +"We'll have to wait for her to clear that mystery away." + +"What will we do? If those fellows are deaf, there is no use in +shouting." + +"We are drifting toward her, you see. We'll be alongside before dark, if +this continues." + +"Then we'll get on board of her!" + +"And we'll find out a few things, if we have to knock those fellows on +the head." + +The thought was so exhilarating that the warm blood was again driven +through their veins, and the numbness seemed in a measure to go out of +their chilled bodies. Nothing is so reviving as hope. And hope was +theirs again. The raft drifted so slowly and Bart was so eager that he +wanted to leap into the sea and swim to the vessel. + +"Let us save our strength," was Merriwell's advice. "We are going +straight there. We will probably need all the strength we have." + +"I see only one man. He is pottering about near the cabin." + +"The other is aboard somewhere. And you noticed that dog? If he puts up +a fight, too, I've an idea that he will be worse than either of the +men." + +The progress of the little raft was tantalizingly slow, but it moved +steadily, and after the sun had set and while the darkness was gathering +on that great expanse of water, it swung close in under the stern of the +sloop. Not a sound was heard aboard of her as she lazily lifted and +rolled on the heaving swell. + +Frank took his shoes in one hand, but thought it not well to burden +himself with the extra coat. + +"Now!" he whispered. "Let the raft go. We can cut that boat loose if we +have to trust to the sea again. Follow me!" + +Then he slipped silently into the sea, Hodge imitating his example. +Softly swimming round to the bow, Frank got hold of a chain that ran +down from the bowsprit. + +"Here," he softly whispered. "Lay hold of this, and come right up after +me." + +"I'll be there!" Hodge whispered back. + +Then, hampered by the shoes, Merry climbed slowly aboard, and Bart swung +up after him. Together they dropped to the deck, and crouched low, with +the water running in rivulets from their clothing. + +Frank felt softly about, and his hands fell on a club-like maul which +fishermen use for stunning the large fish they catch. There was nothing +else near in the shape of a weapon. He passed the maul to Bart, and +clutched one of the shoes as a club in his right hand. + +"Good luck!" he softly whispered. "How are you?" + +Hodge was chilled to the bone, and his teeth were fairly chattering. + +"I'm all right. A bit chilly, but I guess things will be warm enough for +me in a few minutes. I'm ready. Go on!" + +A dark form was standing beside the cuddy. But for his certainty that +the men were deaf, or nearly so, Merriwell would not have indulged in +even this whispered conversation. He crept now toward this man, with +Hodge crawling at his heels, and when near enough, leaped on the man +with a sudden and disconcerting pounce. + +Though the surprise must have been great, the man, who was large and +strong, wheeled round to resist the attack, and the large dog, which had +before been seen, sprang up from the deck and flew at Merriwell's +throat. The ready club in the hands of Bart Hodge tumbled the dog over +with a howl, and Merry and the big fisherman began to struggle in the +growing darkness for the mastery. + +To and fro on the deck they reeled. The dog leaped up again and tried to +come to the assistance of its master, but turned upon Hodge when he +struck at it again with the maul. Its eyes seemed balls of green fire in +the gloom, and the hoarse growl that came from deep down in its throat +was anything but pleasant to hear. + +But Bart Hodge met its onset with a stout heart, raining his blows with +such swiftness and precision that it dropped to the deck. Then he +hurried to the assistance of Merriwell. But Frank was already the +victor. Though the man had the strength of an ox, he had not Merriwell's +science and skill in fighting, and Frank had not only knocked the breath +out of him, but had hurled him to the deck. + +"That rope, Bart! It is right here. I tripped over it. Tie him!" + +A cry followed this--a cry from Inza. She rushed out of the cuddy door, +and after her sprang a man with a lighted lantern. + +Hodge faced toward this man, intending to fell him with the club. + +"Frank! Frank!" Inza cried. "I knew you would come, Frank!" + +Then she noticed the uplifted club. + +"Don't strike him, Bart!" + +She threw herself between Hodge and the man with the lantern. Merriwell +was still holding down the man he had conquered. + +"What is it?" he questioned, looking up and trying to read Inza's +meaning by the light of the lantern. + +"The men are deaf!" said Inza. "They rescued me from a piece of boat, to +which I clung after the collision!" + +The man with the lantern seemed about to spring upon Frank in spite of +Hodge's threatening club. Inza touched him on the arm. + +"Friends!" she screamed, in an endeavor to make him hear. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +INZA'S STORY. + + +The man did not hear Inza, but he felt the touch, and, turning quickly +about, caught something of her meaning in her manner. The deaf are +wonderfully quick in such things. He made a horrible grimace and pointed +at Merriwell. Again she laid a hand restrainingly on his shoulder. + +"Let the man up, Frank," she urged. "The fellows are harmless enough, +but they are as deaf as adders!" + +"Look out for the dog!" Frank warned. + +The dog, which had crawled away in a seemingly dying condition, had +struggled again to its feet and appeared to be meditating another attack +on Hodge. + +"I've got an eye on him," Hodge called back. "Look out for your man!" + +Merriwell released the fellow he had overthrown, and the man climbed +dazedly and sullenly to his feet. Inza hurried toward him, shrieking and +making motions with her hands. The man did not understand her. It began +to seem that both of them contemplated an attack on Bart and Merry. + +"Wait a minute!" she cried. "Don't strike them, Frank, Bart, if you can +help it!" + +"I think I'm awake," growled Hodge, as if he wanted to pinch himself to +make sure of it. + +The scene was certainly a strange one--as strange as if taken from a +comic opera. The fishing-sloop rocking on the long swell, the dog cowed +and uncertain, one deaf man doubtingly flashing the lantern in the face +of Bart Hodge, and the other swaying unsteadily on his feet, as if he +contemplated making a blind rush at Merriwell. In less than a minute +Inza reappeared from the cuddy. She held in her hand a piece of paper on +which she had hastily written some explanatory sentences. This she +thrust beneath the nose of the man who held the lantern. + +The effect was magical. The lantern came down, something that sounded +like an attempt at words gurgled in his throat, and he made a signal to +the other fisherman, whose attitude also changed instantly. + +"It's all right now!" Inza laughed, though the laugh sounded a bit +hysterical. + +"Well, I'm glad that it is!" said Merriwell. "But an explanation would +be comfortable." + +"These men rescued me from the piece of broken boat to which I was +clinging," Inza hastily explained. "I was knocked overboard by the +collision. They are fishermen, and are now anchored on their +fishing-grounds." + +"So I see. But what about one of them chasing you, when you ran out of +the cuddy this afternoon? You tried to jump overboard!" + +"The men both thought me deranged by what I had passed through, and I +suppose I may have acted strange. I saw you and Bart on the raft, and I +tried to make the men see you. But they thought I was going to jump +overboard, and I was carried bodily into the cuddy and locked in. I +didn't know at the time that they could read writing, or I should have +tried that; though I was kept locked in the cuddy so long that it would +have done no good!" + +Then she began to motion to the men; and one of the fellows came toward +Bart in a sheepish way and held out a hand. Bart hesitated about taking +it, fearing a trick; but the man's intentions were honest. Having made +this advance, the way to an understanding was so fully paved that within +less than ten minutes thereafter both Frank and Hodge, having wrung out +their clothing in a contracted place below deck, were warming themselves +and trying to get dry by the cuddy stove, while Inza was rattling on +with the story of her adventures. + +"I really don't know yet whether I am awake or dreaming!" said Bart. +"This about knocks everything I have ever seen!" + +"Just fishermen," said Inza. "They would have picked you up, no doubt, +if they had seen you--they couldn't hear you; or if I had been able to +make them see you. It must have been an hour or more after that when I +found that they had writing-material in the little desk over there, and +I wrote them a note. But the fog was so thick then that it was no use +for them to make a search." + +"Why didn't they run back to New York with you?" + +"Simply because they thought they had done their duty by me, and that it +would pay them better to come out to the fishing-grounds and take me in +on their return. I promised them money, but----" + +She laughingly held up a little purse. + +"I had just ten cents in that, and you see I couldn't convince them of +the fabulous wealth of my father and my friends by exhibiting that. They +said they would take me when they went in, and I could not get anything +else out of them." + +"Perhaps a little money--as much or more than they can make out of this +fishing-trip--will induce them to take us right in. That is, as soon as +the wind rises. We're not only anchored, but we're becalmed now." + +Frank was thinking of Elsie and of the others who had been on the _Merry +Seas_. His heart was aching with anxiety. Bart and Inza were scarcely +less distressed. + +The cabin or "cuddy," which had been surrendered to them by the +fishermen who were now outside, was a diminutive place, smelling +unpleasantly of fish and burnt grease. On two sides were bunks. Near the +center was the rusty stove about which the three friends were gathered. +Its heat caused their wet clothing to emit a cloud of steam. At one side +was the writing-desk, fashioned by clumsy hands, and scattered about was +a miscellaneous assortment of odds and ends, consisting of sea-boots and +oilskin coats, nets, and fishing-tackle. + +"Not a ladies' parlor," Inza admitted, glancing about "But I tell you I +was glad to get into it." + +"And you don't know anything about the people on the _Merry Seas_?" +Frank asked. + +A look of pain swept across the dark, handsome face. + +"Not a thing! I am worried to death about all of them, especially +father. But I hope for the best. If any others went overboard, the tug +was right there to pick them up, and we can believe, until we know +otherwise, that it did. We have been so very fortunate ourselves!" + + +"More than fortunate!" Merry observed, with a thankful heart. "Now, if +we can only get to the city without delay! Call in the fishermen and +perhaps an offer of money can do something. If not, we can capture the +sloop and take it in ourselves!" + +"But there is no breeze," Bart reminded. + +"That is so. But call in the fishermen. We may get some opinions out of +them." + +Jabez and Peleg Slocum, the deaf-mute owners of the fishing-sloop _Sarah +Jane_, of Sea Cove, New Jersey, were what one might call "queer ducks"; +a thing not so much to be wondered at when the fact that they had been +deaf and dumb from infancy is taken into consideration, with the further +fact that the greater part of their fifty odd years had been spent in +the lonely and precarious calling of Atlantic fishermen. They were rough +and gnarled and cross-grained, like the sloop whose deck they trod; yet, +in spite of all, like that same sloop, they had some good qualities. + +To them fishing was the end and aim of existence. Hence, as soon as +Merriwell, with the aid of pencil and paper, began to talk of being +taken straight to New York, the fishermen shook their heads. They had +work to do out there on the fishing-banks. It was probable they reasoned +that it was not their fault that these young people had fallen in their +way. They had dutifully rescued them from watery graves--or, in the case +of Hodge and Merriwell--had permitted them to rescue themselves. And +thus, whatever obligation they may have been under as fellow human +beings had been fully discharged. They did not want Merriwell's +money--and they certainly did not desire to run to New York. It was not +their habit to visit New York. Sea Cove was their home, and, whenever +they pulled up their rusty anchor for a run from the banks, they +returned to Sea Cove invariably, unless blown out of their latitude by a +storm, as sometimes happened. + +Finally one of them wrote: + +"See in morning." + +"And now we'll have something to eat!" Inza declared. "Both of you are +famished. You are getting thawed out and dry, and if your stomachs are +strong enough to stand the odor of things, I'll go ahead and get some +supper for you. I know where everything is in the--what do you call +it?--locker? Peleg, that's the taller one, showed me." + +"Peleg must be sweet on you," remarked Frank, laughing. + +She picked up a "spider" and shook it at him. + +"Don't trouble the cook, Mr. Merriwell, if you expect to get anything to +eat!" + +"I was just going to remark that I admired his taste. He is a man of +most excellent judgment!" + +"How is your taste, Mr. Hodge?" Inza calmly queried. "Do you think you +can eat fish?" + +"I could eat a whale. I'll gobble up this fish-basket pretty soon if you +don't hurry and serve something." + +"Very well. Fish-baskets on toast. There are fish in a box back there. +And there are crackers in this box. And over there I found some pretty +nice canned goods." + +Merriwell smiled. Inza's manner was like a break of sunshine. + +"Your talk makes me simply ravenous." + +That they were ravenous they showed when they fell to on the supper +which Inza prepared as best she could from the materials available. +There were many things that might have been improved. They might have +gone out on the deck, for one thing, but the wet fog had come down +again, with a chill that went to the bones--a chill that was simply +horrible to Frank and Bart in the damp condition in which their clothing +still remained. + +The fishermen did not seem to mind the fog, however, but walked the deck +and smoked, garbed in oilskins and sou'westers. They talked, too, by +signaling to each other with their hands. Merry, Hodge, and Inza sat up +until a late hour, going over and over again all the points of the day's +experience, with the many conjectures and unanswerable questions which +grew out of it. + +The fact that the sloop belonged in Sea Cove, the village near which, +according to the newspaper report, Barney Mulloy was killed, was a +matter of intense interest, even though the fishermen could in no wise +enlighten them on the subject of Barney's murder. Frank continued to +hope that a breeze would spring up, and that he could induce the +Slocums, by a liberal money offer, to set him and his friends ashore at +the nearest point without delay. In the event of a refusal, the +temptation to take the vessel in himself would have been strong, but he +knew that such a course would hardly do in these modern days. It smacked +too much of piracy. Money was the lever he hoped to use, and when the +breeze came he intended to make the lever sufficiently strong to move +even these placid souls. + +But the breeze did not come. The fog seemed to grow thicker and damper. +At length weariness overcame the whole party. Then Inza was left in full +possession of the cuddy, while Hodge and Frank crept into a narrow +sleeping-place forward which Jabez Slocum pointed out to them. As for +the fishermen themselves, they seemed content to stretch out under a +tarpaulin on deck; and the _Sarah Jane_, with lights set to show her +position, though they could not have been seen a dozen feet distant, +rocked sleepily in the fog at the end of her cable. + +When morning dawned, the fog rolled away under the influence of a +brilliant sun, showing an attractive sight. Other fishing-boats, big and +little, were rising and falling on the swell. To the northward a +steamer, outward bound, trailed from her triple funnels banners of black +smoke. From the southward a "fruiter," as the vessels bringing fruit +from the West Indies are called, came bravely up the coast. There were +other vessels--schooners, barks, sloops, and the coast itself was +visible as a blue line. Finally, one of the Slocum brothers came to +Merriwell and held out a scrap of paper. Frank glanced at it, and read, +in an almost illegible scrawl: "Sea Cove." + +"They will take us to Sea Cove!" Inza explained. + +"New York City," Merry wrote. + +The deaf-mate shook his head and again pointed to the name "Sea Cove." + +"What's the odds?" said Bart. "There is a railway there, and no doubt +boats running to New York. And then it will give us an opportunity to +investigate the murder of poor Barney a little. By to-night we can be in +New York, if all goes well!" + +"Put us aboard the fruiter or some steamer," Frank again wrote. + +But the man shook his head. + +"It is Sea Cove or nothing," said Inza. "And he would be glad, I think, +to have it nothing." + +"Sea Cove it is, then," Frank agreed. + +But the promise was productive of no immediate good. There was no +breeze, and, as the _Sarah Jane_ was on the shallow banks, far out of +the route of the steamers, there was nothing to do but to cultivate +patience and wait. At Frank's urging, Peleg set a signal from the +masthead, but it drew no vessel near them. + +The Slocums seemed glad that they were not to be called on to sail at +once for land, and they proceeded to get out long hand-lines and fish +over the sides of the sloop. Wherever they went they were followed by +their dog, that limped from the blows Bart had given it. The dog would +not make friends with the newcomers, but showed its teeth in a +threatening way whenever Bart or Frank came near. Finally Merriwell and +his friends also engaged in the fishing to kill time, and with +considerable success. Thus the day wore wearily along until well into +the afternoon. + +"A breeze!" Frank gleefully exclaimed at last, holding up a hand. "The +wind is coming! I feel that if this old boat doesn't get a move on soon, +I shall have to jump overboard and swim ashore." + +"Well, I should hope you would take me on your back!" Inza observed, her +voice thrilled with the thought that the long-expected breeze was +actually coming. "I'm as frantic as any one can be to put foot on land +and learn what has happened to our friends and to father!" + +The Slocums were ready to go home now, and as the breeze rapidly +increased in strength and gave evidence of having come to stay, they +speedily got the _Sarah Jane_ under way, with the help of Frank and +Bart, and stood off for the Jersey shore. Frank was now perfectly +willing that they should run to Sea Cove direct, for a little thought +and some questions put to the Slocums had shown him that he could reach +New York from there by wire, and by rail from a point near-by, and he +could take a little time to investigate the Barney Mulloy affair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE GHOST OF BARNEY MULLOY. + + +"Another calm!" Bart growled, in disgust. Night was approaching, and the +_Sarah Jane_ lay becalmed a mile from shore and nearly ten miles from +Sea Cove. The shore, high and sandy, was plainly visible, with pretty +cottages among some trees a short distance back from the edge of the +water. The Slocums had a good glass, which brought all this out with +much distinctness. + +"If we could just draw the land near enough with that glass to jump +ashore!" Inza sighed. + +"I've a plan almost as good," said Frank. + +This plan was to have the Slocums set them ashore in the dory. By a +little questioning in writing, they learned from the fishermen that the +group of cottages was Glen Springs, and that there was a +telegraph-office there and a daily visit by a small steamer from New +York, but no railway. This increased their anxiety to be set ashore at +Glen Springs, for by putting themselves in telegraphic communication +with New York they could ascertain without delay of the fate of the +_Merry Seas_ and of her passengers. + +For a small financial consideration the Slocums were willing to put +Merriwell and his friends ashore in the dory; which was done by Peleg, +who pulled a good, strong stroke, and sent the clumsy boat through the +water at a surprising rate of speed. + +"Attack the telegraph-office first," Inza suggested. A telegram to New +York brought this answer: + + "_Merry Seas_ towed in considerably injured. Missing are Frank + Merriwell, Bart Hodge, Inza Burrage. Other passengers landed + safely. Bernard Burrage at Hotel Imperial." + +Bart threw up his cap. Merriwell was writing another message, directed +to Bernard Burrage, assuring him of the safety of Inza and asking that +this fact and the fact that he and Bart were also safe be communicated +at once to their friends at the hotel and elsewhere. + +"That will fix things up all right," he remarked, as the operator began +to click off the message. "Of course, we can't know all the particulars +until later; but it is enough to know that none of our friends are lost, +and to be able to let them know that we are all right." + +"You bet!" Bart cried. "This is great! I was mighty anxious, I tell +you." + +"And I was simply crazy!" Inza exclaimed. + +The relief to their feelings was so great that the hardships of their +recent experience seemed to be at once forgotten, and they became almost +happy. They could not be quite happy, for the news of the murder of +Barney Mulloy still cast its shadow. + +"When does the next boat leave for New York?" Frank asked of the +operator. + +"To-morrow noon." + +"We can drive through to Sea Cove?" + +"Yes." + +"And when does a train leave Sea Cove?" + +"To-morrow at six-forty-five and ten-thirty." + +As they were very tired, it was decided, therefore, that they would +remain in Glen Springs until early the next morning, when they would +drive to Sea Cove, make inquiries there about Barney, and take the +ten-thirty train. The hotel at Glen Springs was small, but it looked +clean and inviting. + +"What do you know about the murder of a young Irishman named Barney +Mulloy, by tramps near Sea Cove, day before yesterday?" Merry inquired. + +"Only what the papers said," was the operator's answer. + +"And no one else in the village can tell us?" + +"I think not." + +The hotel was in the suburbs, having a view of the sea, and was really a +summer hotel more than anything else. It had very few guests as yet. +From it a number of messages were sent to New York and received from +there by our friends that evening--messages from Elsie and Mr. Burrage, +and from other members of the party that had been on the _Merry Seas_. + +Though fairly tired out by his exhausting experiences, from which the +long hours on the fishing-sloop had not enabled him to recuperate, Frank +Merriwell was not able to sleep until a late hour. His thoughts were of +Barney Mulloy. In memory he traveled the round of the Fardale days. The +death of Mulloy in that terrible manner had upset him more than he had +realized. He had not felt it so much during his exciting experiences and +while weighted down with anxiety concerning the fate of the _Merry +Seas_. + +"I just can't sleep!" he muttered, seating himself at last by a window +and looking out toward the sea, along a greensward on which the +moonlight fell lovingly. "Poor Barney! Perhaps I ought to have gone on +to Sea Cove and begun my investigations at once. But Inza was so tired. +She has held up bravely, dear girl, through it all, but this evening she +looked ready to drop. I felt that we ought not to go on until she was +rested. She will sleep well now, since she knows that her father is +safe." + +Something dark moved among the shadows, and a familiar form approached. +Merriwell started up with a low cry: + +"Barney Mulloy!" + +He saw the young Irishman as plainly as he had ever seen him. The face, +though, was white and bloodless. The ghostly figure moved with a heavy +step, coming straight up the walk toward the building. Frank sat rooted +to his chair. In the shadow of the piazza the figure seemed to turn, and +was then lost to view. Merriwell threw up the window. + +"Barney!" he softly called. "Barney--Barney Mulloy!" + +The only answer that came back was a slow and heavy tread, that seemed +to come from a corridor opening out upon the walk along which Barney had +come. + +Tramp, tramp, tramp! + +The footsteps sounded with great distinctness. Merriwell threw open the +door of his room leading out into this corridor. The light of the lamp +flooded the corridor, and he was able to view it from end to end. He +could have sworn that the footsteps were just beyond his door. But the +corridor was absolutely empty. And the footsteps had ceased. + +Frank whistled softly to himself. He was not superstitious, but this was +rather shaking to the nerves. He hurried back to the window and looked +out upon the walk and down the moon-lighted sward. No sound came, save +the dashing of the surf. He leaped through the open window and proceeded +to inspect the grounds in that vicinity. The ghostly form had vanished. + +"Hodge!" he called. "Hodge! Come out here." + +Hodge, who occupied an adjacent room, and who had been asleep, threw up +a window and looked out. + +"Yes," he said. "As soon as I can slip into my clothes. What is it, +Merry?" + +"I don't know," Frank confessed. "I wish I did know." + +"Of course, there are no such things as ghosts," he declared, when Bart +joined him. "But if ever a man saw one, I did just now--the ghost of +Barney Mulloy!" + +Hodge stared at his friend as if wondering if Frank's mind was not +affected. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Just what I have said to you. I saw an apparition that resembled Barney +Mulloy. And I not only saw it, but I heard it. It came right along here, +and turned in there, and then I heard it in the corridor. I threw open +the corridor door before any one could have got out of there, and the +corridor was empty!" + +"You must have been dreaming!" + +"Not a bit of it, Bart. I hadn't gone to bed. I haven't been even a bit +sleepy. I was sitting at my window, and I saw it as plainly as I see +you." + +"You certainly must have been dreaming, Merry!" Bart insisted. "Have you +looked all about?" + +"Everywhere." + +Bart walked over to the door which opened from the corridor on the lawn. +It was not locked. + +"It couldn't have been Barney, of course; but whoever it was went +through here into the corridor." + +"And how did he get out of the corridor?" + +"Walked on through into the office." + +"The office is closed. The landlord and all the servants retired long +ago." + +"Well, it couldn't have been a ghost!" + +"I am wondering if it could have been Barney himself?" + +"He was--attacked near Sea Cove, not here!" + +"I am going to rout out the landlord," Merriwell declared. "Perhaps he +can throw some light on the subject." + +"He told you, when you inquired, that he had heard nothing except what +was in the papers." + +"But he may be able to help us to clear away this mystery." + +When summoned, the landlord came down into the little office looking +very sleepy, very stupid, and somewhat angry. Merriwell told what he had +seen and heard, and repeated the newspaper story about the murder of +Barney. + +"Well, that was at Sea Cove," was the answer. "Ghosts always come back +to the place where the person was killed. Why should it come here? I +don't like this. If you tell it, it will give my house a bad name. No +one wants to board in a haunted house, and it will ruin my summer's +business." + +"But I thought you might help us to an explanation," Frank insisted. + +The sleepy and stupid look had passed away. The landlord had once been a +seafaring man, and he was a bit superstitious. Still, he was not willing +to acknowledge that Frank had beheld something supernatural. He would +not deny its possibility, but repeated over and over his belief that +ghosts always return to the place of the murder and to no other place, +and that the repetition of the story would drive away his summer +boarders. + +"I tell him he was just dreaming," said Bart. + +"Sure!" with a look of relief. "Of course, he was dreaming. There's been +nobody in Glen Springs looking like the chap you describe, and I'm sure +that nobody has been walking in that corridor, 'less it was burglars." + +So Frank went back to his room, accompanied by Bart. He knew that he had +not been asleep, though, and he felt sure that he had really seen and +heard something, and was not the victim of a hallucination. Merriwell +sat down again by the open window, and Bart dropped into a chair by his +side. + +"If the thing comes again, we'll capture it!" said Hodge. "Somebody may +be playing ghost, just to scare us. I have heard----" + +He did not complete the sentence, for he really heard something at the +moment that stilled the words on his lips and drove the blood out of his +face. + +Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp! + +The sounds came unmistakably from the corridor. + +"There it is again!" Frank exclaimed. + +Bart leaped toward the door and quickly threw it open. The lamplight +again streamed out into the corridor. But the sounds had ceased, and the +corridor was empty. Hodge stared down the corridor in stupid +bewilderment. + +"Of all the strange things!" he gasped. + +"That is the strangest!" Merriwell added. "You heard it for yourself +then!" + +Bart walked out into the corridor, peered out of doors through the glass +set in the side door, and opened the door leading into the deserted +office. There was nothing to be seen. When he came back, his face was +beaded with moisture. + +"Merry, I wish you'd tell me the meaning of that!" + +"I wish you would tell me, Bart! You thought I was dreaming, or fancied +that I saw and heard something. You see now that you were mistaken." + +"Unless I am dreaming myself!" + +"You are perfectly wide-awake, Hodge, and so am I! There is a mystery +here." + +"Never knew anything like it," mopping his face. "Whew! It brings the +cold sweat out on me!" + +He dropped down into the chair by the window, leaving the corridor door +open. Nothing further was heard. + +"Ghosts don't like a bright light!" Merry reminded, smiling grimly. Bart +got up, closed the door, and sat down again. + +Then his hair seemed to stand upright on his head. Out of the shadow of +the building, near one of the angles, walked the ghostly form which +Merriwell had beheld. Hodge was unable to speak at first. Merry noticed +his manner and the look in his staring eyes, and sprang to the window. +As he did so, the ghostly form vanished into the shadow, and again those +steps were heard in the corridor. + +"If Barney is dead, that was his spirit, sure enough!" Hodge whispered, +in an awed way. + +Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp! + +The steps echoed in the corridor. Even Merriwell's stout heart was +assailed by a feeling that was like superstitious dread. + +"It looked just like him!" + +"The very picture of him, only white-faced, as if he had just come out +of the grave!" + +Tramp, tramp, tramp! sounded the steps in the corridor. + +"Open the door, Merry, for God's sake!" Hodge gasped, as if the words +choked him. "See if there isn't something in the corridor! There must +be!" + +Merriwell stepped to the door and flung it open. Instantly the sounds +ceased. + +"Somebody is playing a joke on us, I believe!" Bart declared, and anger +came to drive out the superstitious feeling that had shaken him. "I'm +going to take a look round the house myself, and if I find anybody----" + +"I'll go with you!" Merry exclaimed, and both leaped through the open +window. + +They circled round the house, looked down the paths and out over the +sward on which the moonlight fell, but not a form could they see. + +"Give it up!" Hodge admitted. "I don't know what to think." + +They came back to the window, and again they heard the footsteps in the +corridor. Hodge went through the window at a flying leap and hurled open +the corridor door, only to again find silence and blankness. + +"The place is haunted!" he exclaimed. + +"But there are no such things as ghosts!" + +"I know it. Of course, there can't be--that's what I have always +believed. I have always fancied that stories of ghosts were lies and +foolishness, and I'm not ready to back water on that belief. But I can't +understand this business." + +"Nor I." + +"Shall we call the landlord again?" + +"What good will it do?" + +"Shall we wake Inza?" + +"And rob her of her rest and fill her with anxiety? No, let her sleep. +She needs it." + +"Well, I shall not be able to sleep any more to-night." + +"And it looked just like Barney!" Frank declared. + +"His very image!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE PHANTOM AGAIN. + + +Both Merriwell and Hodge were so sure they had seen something that they +again let themselves out through the window and made a search of the +grounds. The result was the same. Not a moving form was to be seen. But +as they returned toward the room, they once more heard those mysterious +footsteps. + +"Stop!" + +Frank laid a hand on Bart's arm, and both stood still and listened. + +"Where does that seem to be?" + +"Merry, that's coming from your room! The thing is in your room!" + +Hodge's voice shook, in spite of himself. + +Frank dashed toward the open window. But before he could reach it, the +sounds ceased. When he looked in, the room was empty. The light was +shining, and the door leading to the corridor was closed. + +"No one could have got out of that room without our knowing it!" +Merriwell whispered. Hodge had reached his side, and both were staring +into the room. + +"Of course not. The thing is impossible." + +"And yet those footsteps sounded right here." + +"Let's go in and take another look into the corridor." + +For answer Merry drew Bart back into the shadows by the window. + +"Keep still right here a little while. Perhaps the--the thing will +return. If some one is playing us a trick, we may capture him." + +"I should like to lay my hands on the villain!" Bart hissed. Though they +stood there in utter silence for five minutes, the sounds did not come +again. + +"Of course, there is some rational explanation of this," Merriwell +declared, as they again approached the window. "There must be! It is the +wildest nonsense to think otherwise." + +"Well, I wish that rational explanation would hurry this way. I'm ready +for it, old man! This thing is shaking my nerves all to pieces." + +"I didn't know you were troubled with nerves! Nerves are for hysterical +girls and old women!" + +"Well, I've got 'em now! as the drunken man said when he began to see +snakes. I haven't any doubt about it." + +Hodge so seldom indulged in a joke, that Merry looked surprised. They +had reentered the room, and he glanced at his friend in wonder. + +"Likely that--thing will begin to walk again pretty soon," said Frank, +after they had remained another minute or so in a listening attitude. +"You sit here and watch by this window, while I slip into the corridor." + +Hodge obediently dropped into the chair, and Merriwell let himself into +the corridor. He closed the door after him, so that if any one +approached or entered the corridor that person could not see him, and +began his vigil. + +The silence was so great that he could hear his watch ticking away in +his pocket. It seemed strange that it should run after its salt-water +ducking, but he reasoned that probably the works were not touched by the +salt water. His clothing had dried long ago, but he felt the need of a +change. However, he had taken a bath since reaching the hotel, and so +was in a measure comfortable. + +There was a great deal to think of as he stood there in the gloom, but +the minutes dragged along like weeks. This sort of vigil was rather +nerve-trying. He was sure, now that he had time to think about it, that +some very little thing might account for the mystery. He began to think +that the footsteps had probably been made by some servant or by a +somnambulist. Sounds are very deceptive as to direction, as he more than +once had discovered. The footsteps might have been at some distance from +the corridor. + +"But that doesn't explain what I saw and what Bart saw!" he muttered. "I +might have thought my eyes deceived me, but Bart saw it, too. That was +either Barney Mulloy, or some one who looks marvelously like him. If it +was really Barney, then the poor fellow is not dead! I sincerely hope we +shall find out that he was not killed. Perhaps the entire newspaper +report was based on a mistake. The papers are full of errors." + +The sounds did not come again, and when it seemed almost useless to wait +longer for them, he returned to the room, where he found Bart watching +silently by the window. + +"Seen anything?" he asked. + +"No. Heard anything?" + +"Not a thing." + +"I didn't suppose you had, or I should have heard it, too." + +"It will probably not reappear to-night." + +"Well, I'm not in love with ghosts, but I have been wild to have the +thing pass along that walk again. It wouldn't get away from me this +time! I've planned just what to do." + +"What?" + +"I can reach that walk in three jumps from this window, and it would +take a lively ghost to get away from me. I was going right out there the +first glimpse I got of it." + +"Then you're not afraid of ghosts?" laughed Frank, for there was +something amusing in his companion's manner. + +"I might be, Merry, if there were any. But I've been thinking as I sat +here. I know I saw something, and that something was a man. He didn't +look so strong but that I could tumble him over easy enough. That was my +plan, and then we could see who it is. It couldn't have been Barney, for +all it looked so much like him." + +As he spoke, he saw the ghostly figure again, but much farther away. Its +face was turned toward the window, and the moonlight revealed it +plainly. Beyond all question, it was the face of Barney Mulloy! + +Bart went through the open window at a bound. + +"Barney!" he called. "Barney Mulloy!" + +The mysterious figure drew quickly back into the shrubbery and +disappeared. Merriwell sprang through the open window after Hodge, and +together they raced to the point where the figure had been seen. When +they got there they could discover nothing. + +"That was Barney Mulloy!" Merriwell asserted. + +"Sure!" + +"And he isn't dead!" + +"Barney or his spirit!" + +"It was Barney." + +"Why didn't he stop when I called to him?" + +"I don't know. There is a mystery here." + +"Biggest one I ever struck, Merry! It knocks me silly." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +MERRIWELL'S FRIENDS. + + +The time was well on toward morning before Merriwell and Hodge turned in +to try to get some sleep. No more mysterious sounds or ghostly +appearances had been heard or seen. The sun was scarcely up when they +were aroused by a trampling of feet and the sounds of well-known voices +in the corridor. A rap fell on Merry's door. + +"Arise, ye sleepers, and wake--I mean, awake, ye sleepers, and rise!" +shouted Harry Rattleton. + +"Come out here and let me pull you out of bed!" grunted Bruce Browning. + +"He is sleeping like the sleeper in the sleeper which runs over the +sleeper and does not awaken the sleeper in the sleeper which----" + +"You give us that sleepy feeling yourself, Danny!" Bink Stubbs grumbled. + +Merry tumbled out of bed, unlocked the door, and thrust his head into +the corridor. Before him were Bruce and Diamond, Rattleton and Dismal +Jones, Bink and Danny, and through the half-open door leading into the +office he also caught a glimpse of Elsie Bellwood and Bernard Burrage. + +"Glad to see you!" he cried. "Where did you tumble from?" + +Bart had his door open now, and began to ask questions. + +"I'll be out in a minute," Frank promised, and began to dress with the +speed of a lightning-change artist. A little later Merriwell's entire +party gathered in the hotel office, for Inza had been awakened and +joined them. + +Mutual explanations flew thick and fast. Merriwell's friends, after +being taken to New York, had shortly fallen in with a party of Yale +students, mostly seniors, who had come down from New Haven on the +steamer _Richard Peck_, and were on their way to view the new government +fortifications at Sandy Hook, by special permission of General Merritt, +commander of the Department of the East. This permission had been +obtained by Lieutenant Andrew Bell, of the First United States +Artillery, who had recently been detailed by the secretary of war as +professor of military science in Yale College. + +Merriwell's friends had been invited to join this company of students, +that they might the more quickly reach their friends, and had been +brought to Sandy Hook by the government steamer _General Meigs_. From +Sandy Hook the steamer's large steam-launch had hurried them on to Glen +Springs. + +"And now you are going right back with us to Sandy Hook!" Elsie +enthusiastically exclaimed. + +Suddenly a silence fell on the jolly party, occasioned by the shadow +that came over the face of Frank Merriwell. + +"I can't go until we have settled the mystery of Barney Mulloy," he +declared; and then gave a hurried account of what he and Bart had seen +and heard. + +"I hoped you wouldn't say nothin' about that!" grumbled the landlord, +who had been until then an interested listener. + +Up to that moment he had seemed pleased, though nervous, for it +gratified him to have guests who were of sufficient importance to be +brought to Glen Springs by the launch of a government steamer. + +"This must be all nonsense, you know!" he declared. "And I can't have +any such reports go out about my house. If it gits the reputation of +being ha'nted, then good-by business. I won't have a guest set foot in +the doorway all summer. I know these people who claim not to be +superstitious. They ain't superstitious so long as other people sees +things, but they git confoundedly so soon's they begin to see things +themselves." + +"You have seen things at sea that puzzled you?" Merry asked, knowing +that he was making a center shot. + +"Who said that I'd ever been to sea? And s'pose I have? I ain't worried +people to death about it and broke up another man's business. There +ain't a thing in this. This ain't out at sea, ye know!" + +The landlord seemed to have the peculiar feeling that only ghosts that +sailed or walked the briny deep were worthy of consideration. + +"Explain it, then!" Merriwell demanded. "You can make us feel that +nothing strange happened last night if you will explain the thing." + +"You was just dopey!" the captain argued. "Your nerves was shook up from +bein' in the water so long, and the skeer of the collision." + +Though there seemed no use to make an investigation, Merriwell began one +immediately. He felt sure that Barney Mulloy was somewhere in Glen +Springs. + +"I know that I saw him!" was his persistent declaration. + +"And heard him walk!" added Hodge. "I can swear to it." + +"Yes. And though the thing is so strange, it makes me feel better, for I +am sure now that Barney is not dead." + +"But he looked like a ghost!" Bart admitted. "I'm with you, though, to +the end in this thing. We'll go to the bottom of it." + +Questioning the people of the village yielded no better results. +Everybody agreed that no person answering to the description of Barney +Mulloy had been in Glen Springs. Some of them were even more nervous and +indignant than the landlord, for almost the sole remunerative business +of these people was the keeping of summer boarders, and they feared that +gruesome reports about the place would drive guests away. + +"Mr. Hodge and I are coming back here to-night," Merriwell said to the +landlord. "Perhaps we shall bring some of these friends with us. It +seems useless to continue the investigation now, and I want, besides, to +ask some questions at Sea Cove. The launch is all ready to return to +Sandy Hook, and the officer in command says that his orders require him +to return there without further delay. But we will come back to-night." + +The landlord's face did not give the proposition an eager welcome, +though one of his business tenets was never to turn a guest away. + +So the launch steamed away to Sandy Hook, leaving Glen Springs and its +strange and unsolved puzzle behind. + +Frank only partly enjoyed the trip. + +But for that seemingly impenetrable mystery, the trip to Sandy Hook, +with the visit of inspection which followed, would have been jolly. +However, there was so much to be happy and thankful for, anyway, that +the spirits of the party partook largely of the brightness of the day. + +The run of the speedy launch up the coast was pleasant, and at Sandy +Hook they found their fellow students awaiting them, and were given a +right royal welcome by Captain Isaac Heath, the officer in charge of the +proving-grounds. + +"Say, fellows, this is great!" Danny warbled, as Captain Heath escorted +them to where the big guns were. "I always did like big guns!" + +"You're such a big gun yourself!" sneered Bink, under his breath. + +"Binky, if my brain caliber required no more than a number five hat, as +yours does, I'd sing low about big guns!" + +"Number five hat? Why----" + +"This ten-inch breech-loading rifle takes a charge of one hundred and +ten pounds of Dupont smokeless powder and a projectile weighing five +hundred and seventy-five pounds," Captain Heath was explaining, as they +stopped in front of the big seacoast defender. + +"Say, they're going to fire it!" Bink gasped. + +"Of course, you idiot! Did you think it was going to fire them?" + +"Better stand on your tiptoes and stick cotton into your ears," Browning +warned, as the big gun was quickly made ready for hurling its terrible +projectile. + +"Wh-what if the dinged old thing should bub-bub-burst?" Gamp anxiously +asked. + +"We should have to + + "'Ask of the winds, that far around! + With fragments strewed the sea!'" + +was Danny's comforting answer. + +Dismal and Rattleton retreated a step or two, as did Elsie Bellwood. But +Inza stood her ground as bravely as Merriwell himself. + +Then, before more could be said, the big cannon boomed forth its volume +of deafening sound, making the very walls shake. Danny tumbled backward, +then picked himself up and felt over his person very carefully. + +"Am I all here?" he anxiously queried. + +All watched the direction in which the huge shot had been fired, but it +fell miles away. Merriwell and a few others, provided with strong +glasses, saw it drop into the sea. The captain was talking again. + +"The instruments record an initial velocity of one thousand feet per +second, with a pressure of twenty-four thousand pounds." + +"I've been under greater pressure than that," Danny chirped. + +"When you were shot?" Bink asked. "All guns, big and little, are under +pressure when they are shot." + +"I'll put your throat under pressure when we get away from here!" Bink +threatened. + +"This is a twelve-inch rifle, loaded with one hundred and thirty pounds +of powder and a projectile of the same weight as the first." + +The party had moved to a new point, and Captain Heath was again talking. +Other guns were fired, after the discharge of this one; the last shot +being sent from a twelve-inch rifle with a charge of four hundred and +seventy-five pounds of Dupont brown prismatic powder and a projectile +weighing one thousand pounds. + +The roar, the jar, and the vibration were like that of a miniature +earthquake. Captain Heath's calm voice was heard again, after a short +silence. + +"The velocity was two thousand and eighty-eight feet per second, and the +pressure four thousand pounds. This pressure is ten thousand pounds too +high. The powder is too quick, and will be condemned." + +After this there was an examination of the guns and carriages, with a +lecture by Lieutenant Bell; an examination of the gun-lift battery and +the hydraulic lifts, and the wonderful Buffington-Crozier +disappearing-carriages, and a look over the site of the new artillery +post to be known as Fort Hancock. Then luncheon was served. + +In spite of the many interesting things which he had seen and to which +he had listened, Merriwell could not get his thoughts away from Barney +Mulloy. He had already obtained consent for the party to be taken on the +launch to Sea Cove and Glen Springs at once, after luncheon. Thinking of +these things and with his head full of the plans for discovering the +secret of the happenings at Glen Springs, he walked round the works +again, viewing the emplacements and the big guns, but with his thoughts +far enough away from the things on which his eyes rested. + +Suddenly he was attracted by a cry. It seemed to come from the air, and +it made him think of the apparition and the ghostly footsteps. But when +he glanced up he saw Danny Griswold's head protruding from the muzzle of +a large coast-defense cannon. Merriwell was astonished, though such a +piece of recklessness was just like Danny. It was not that Frank feared +any peril to Danny from the gun, but the officers and gunners would be +indignant, no doubt, if they caught the little joker playing +hide-and-seek in that way with one of their pets. + +"I'll give him a scare," he thought. "He is getting altogether too +fresh." + +"Danny Griswold, that gun is loaded, and they are going to fire it!" +Merry cried, with well-simulated fear. + +Danny's red head came farther out, like the head of a tortoise issuing +from its shell. + +"Then I suppose I shall be able to get out of here!" Danny chirped. "I +can't do it, unless I am shot out. I slipped in here easy enough, but +I've grown, I guess, for I can't slip back." + +"How did you get in there, anyway?" + +"Climbed in." + +"I'm afraid you will have to climb out." + +A gunner came hurrying upon the scene. + +"Wh-what?" he sputtered. + +"Our little friend is in need of assistance. If he gets out of there he +will never play cannon-ball again." + +"If you will just fire me!" Danny begged, not a bit abashed. + +The gunner was not at all willing that Danny's plight should be +discovered by an officer, so he quickly went to Danny's assistance, and +"fired" him by bodily pulling him out of the cannon. + +"Thanks!" chirped the little joker, as he dropped to the ground. "Bink +says that I'm a small-caliber projectile, but I was quite big enough for +that cannon. Say, do you fire men every day?" + +The gunner could not suppress a grin. + +"Men? Well, you're likely to get fired, young feller, if you monkey +round these guns!" he declared. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE MYSTERY CLEARED AWAY. + + +What news was obtainable at Sea Cove about Barney Mulloy was important, +though somewhat unsatisfactory. Barney had been attacked by tramps and +badly hurt, but not killed, though at first the report of his death had +gone out. One of the tramps had been nearly killed in the fight, and +Mulloy had disappeared. + +"What became of him? Where did he go?" were Merriwell's questions. + +"We didn't pay much attention to it," was the answer given by +Merriwell's Sea Cove informant. "Likely he walked off, or went away on +the boat or train. Easy enough to get out of this place." + +With this meager information, Frank and his friends hurried back on the +launch to Glen Springs. + +"He isn't dead!" was Merry's cheerful declaration. "That must have been +Barney that Bart and I saw." + +"But the walking?" Hodge dubiously questioned. + +"And why should he be in hiding?" Diamond demanded. + +"Some men love darkness, because their deeds are evil," Dismal droned. + +"Well, you may be sure that Barney's deeds were not evil," said Frank, +"Barney is straight, and true blue." + +Night was at hand when the launch cast anchor in the shallow harbor in +front of Glen Springs and sent a boat ashore with Merry and the friends +he had chosen for the vigil of the coming hours of darkness. The +landlord of the little hotel was not pleased that they had returned for +the purpose of capturing the "ghost," though he was beginning, as he +confessed, to feel "creepy" about it himself. + +"I was intendin' to set up and watch for it, if you hadn't come," he +finally admitted. + +No one answering to Barney's description had been seen in Glen Springs +through the day. In fact, no stranger whatever had been seen in the +place from the time the launch went away until it returned. + +"It's mighty curious," Bart grimly observed. + +"I have a feeling that we will learn to-night just what it is," said +Merriwell. + +Frank occupied his old room, and sat at the window with Hodge, while +Diamond, Rattleton, and Bruce remained in the office. The doors leading +to the corridor were at first closed. Merry looked at his watch after +the lights were put out in the part of the building occupied by the +landlord and his family. + +"It ought to be coming around again pretty soon," Bart remarked, finding +it impossible to escape a queer, uneasy feeling, anxious as he was to +see the specter, and determined as he was to effect its capture if it +again appeared. + +As he said it, the sounds of those mysterious steps were again heard in +the corridor, and they heard the occupants of the office fling open the +door. + +"You weren't walking in here?" Diamond demanded. + +"Not on your life!" Bart answered. + +"But we heard some one!" + +"Of course you did, and so did we. And we heard it last night!" + +Rattleton and Bruce came on through into Merriwell's room. + +"Scrate Gott, this is enough to turn a man's hair white!" Rattleton +sputtered. + +"Did you think we were just jollying you about this?" Bart sharply +asked. + +"No, but----" + +"You're likely to see the thing, as well as hear it," Hodge asserted. + +The landlord, who had not retired, though making a pretense of so doing, +tumbled down in much excitement, in response to Rattleton's summons. + +"Did you see it, boys?" he gasped. + +His face was white, and he was trembling. All the assumed bravery had +gone out of him. + +"Only heard it walking there in the hall," Frank answered. + +The landlord gave a jump. He had forgotten that he was standing by the +corridor door. + +"Oh, you can't see anything!" Frank reminded. "That's the trouble. We +can hear the thing walking, but we can't see anything. Close the door, +and we may be able to hear it again." + +"Don't! don't!" the landlord pleaded. + +"But I want you to hear it. Perhaps you can tell us what it is." + +"There is never anything in the corridor," the landlord declared. "I +can't set here if you shut that door." + +"There he is again!" said Hodge, in the voice of one who expects to +behold the supernatural and inexplicable and has steeled himself against +unpleasant sensations. "There he comes! Barney, as sure as guns!" + +The landlord dropped limply into a chair, and stared out through the +open window in the direction indicated by Hodge's pointing finger. The +others grouped round Merriwell and Bart. + +"You see it?" Frank whispered. + +"Let me out of this!" the landlord gurgled, though no hand was +restraining him. "Booh-h-h! Let me out of this. Ah-h-h-h-h! It's a +ghost, sure enough! Don't you see that white cloth on its head--a bloody +white cloth?" + +He seemed about to tumble over in a fit. + +"He's coming this way!" Merry whispered. "Just keep still now, all of +you!" + +Rattleton seemed about to bolt from the place, though the others were +bravely standing their ground. + +"No ghost there!" said Browning. "That's a live man." + +"It's Barney," Merry declared. "He is not dead. His head is tied up." + +"But what makes the--him sneak along in that way?" Rattleton gasped. +"Whee-giz, it makes my blood run cold! Ugh!" + +"Just keep still, and we shall soon find out!" Frank sharply commanded, +in a whisper. + +The ghostly figure came slowly up the walk. Nearer and nearer it drew, +walking as if it did not fear discovery at that late hour. + +"There is another!" Rattleton whispered. + +The figure of a woman came into view, hurrying rapidly along the path +after Mulloy, and seeming to be in pursuit of him, though he appeared +not to know it. + +"Now!" Merry whispered. "Ready, Hodge--now!" + +He leaped through the window, with Bart at his side. The ghostly figure +was but a few yards away. Before it could turn in the direction of the +sound they were half-way across the intervening space. + +"Barney! Mulloy!" Frank called. + +The figure uttered a cry, and started to run. But Frank's pace was too +swift. Almost in the next instant his hand fell on the shoulder of the +specter. + +"Don't you know me, Barney? I'm Merriwell!" + +The figure ceased its struggles. + +"Hurroo! Is it yez for thrue, Merriwell? I t'ought it wor an officer +thryin' to arrist me." + +"Break loose and run, ye fool!" was squealed in a high, feminine voice. +"Run, Barney, dear--run!" + +"Niver!" Barney declared. "Niver will I run from a fri'nd loike +Merriwell!" + +"But you'll be put in jail! You'll be hung!" the woman shrieked, in a +vain effort to stampede the Irish lad. "Them fellers is officers." + +Bart had pushed up, so that Mulloy could recognize him. + +"Save me frum her, Frankie!" Barney pleaded. "Woo-oo! Begorra! She's +crazier than wildcats!" + +Then he whispered: + +"The ould sinner wants to marry me. Think av thot! She's been hoidin' me +frum the officers fer matrimoonial poorpuses. Take me away from her, +Frankie, darlint! Oi've kilt a thramp, and I'm in peril av bein' hoong +for it; but I'd rather be hoong than to marry such a cat as thot! Bad +cess to her!" + +"Gentlemen, the poor fellow is out of his head!" the woman purred, +modulating that shrieking voice. "His head has been hurt, and he don't +know nothin' that he's talkin' 'bout." + +Barney clung to Merriwell and Hodge as if he feared the woman would drag +him bodily away from these friends. + +"Oi suppose thot she may be able to foorce me into marryin' her," he +moaned. "Oi kilt a thramp, and Oi wor hidin' frum the officers--may the +divil floy away wid thim--and Oi sneaked intil her house, d'ye moind, +and hid me loike a fool under her bed. The crayther had been lookin' +under thot bed for forty years to foind a man! And whin she let her ould +oyes loight on me, she pulled me out av there; an' she's been kapin' me +and scarin' me intil fits and hoidin' me from the officers iver +since--and, bad cess to her, nixt wake she wor goin' to marry me." + +"Why did you sneak round the hotel and along the paths in that queer +way?" Frank asked, after the vinegary-visaged and matrimonially inclined +female had departed in despair and disgust, and he had Barney alone. +"That still puzzles me. We heard that you had been killed by those +tramps, and you looked and acted enough like a ghost to be one!" + +"A ghost, is it?" said Barney, glancing about as if he did not like even +the thought. "Thot ould witch wor kapin' me hid away from the officers +in thot wee bit av a house roight behind the three over there, and all +the ixercoise Oi could git wor whin Oi could shlip out av noights and +walk round and swally a brith av fresh air. Oi t'ought Oi had kilt the +thramp and thot the officers wor watchin' for me! Thot ould divil hilped +me to believe thot hersilf! So whin Oi heard yez call, av coorse Oi +worn't goin' to sthop and be arristed. A ghost, is it? Oi'm thinkin' +thot yez'd be crapin' round, too, if yez t'ought thot a rope wor riddy +to toighten about the neck av yez!" + + * * * * * + +"Haw! haw! haw!" + +The roars did not proceed from Joe Gamp, but from the landlord of the +hotel. Now that Barney was found to be real flesh and blood, and not a +spirit, the landlord had entered more heartily into the search for the +mysterious source of the strange footsteps. He had been willing that the +doors opening into the corridors should be closed--for only when the +corridor was darkened could the ghostly sounds be heard. + +As soon as the "footsteps" came again he threw open the door and +chucklingly led the way out through a side room into a shedlike +structure that came up against the corridor wall. + +"There is your ha'nt!" he roared, pointing down into a pen in the shed. +"There is your ha'nt! A gol-derned old sea-turtle! Haw! haw! haw! Ho! +ho! ho! He! he! he!" + +The turtle was a monster in size. + +"But--I don't see!" said Merriwell. "This doesn't explain." + +The landlord hopped into the pen and flipped the huge turtle over on its +back against the wall. Thereupon it began to kick out with its great +flippers, striking them against the corridor wall and making the sounds +which had seemed to be footsteps. Merriwell looked round. + +"I see!" he admitted. "The light from the lighted corridor came through +that transom." + +"Jest so!" said the landlord. "Whenever your light shined in here it +scart the turtle, and it quit kickin'. It's always trying to climb out +of the pen and falling over on its back; and when it tips over near the +wall and strikes with them flippers, it makes that sound. If it ain't +near the wall, of course it don't strike nothin' to make the sound. And, +of course, soon's it can turn itself back--which it can't sometimes for +hours--it quits kickin' out." + +"And yez tuk me for thot thing and thot thing for me, and aitch av us +knew nothing about it, and it wasn't ayther av us!" chuckled Barney. + +"Just so!" said Merriwell. "And right glad I am to understand it, and to +know that you are living!" + +"And Oi niver wor gladder to see anybody in my loife! The soight av yez +makes me well. And Bart, me jewel! Yez are as foine a laddie as iver +lived! Give me the touch av yer hand ag'in!" + +And so the mystery was solved, and Barney escaped, be it said, +heartwhole and body free--while Frank and his friends returned to the +city. + +THE END. + + + + +"BEST OF ALL BOYS' BOOKS" + +THE FAMOUS Frank Merriwell Stories + +By BURT L. STANDISH + +No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like +the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell +Stories. + +There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, as +portrayed by the author, is a jolly, whole-souled, honest, courageous +American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad +habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary +for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell's +example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. + +_Twenty-four volumes ready_ + + +Frank Merriwell's School Days Frank Merriwell's Skill +Frank Merriwell's Chums Frank Merriwell's Champions +Frank Merriwell's Foes Frank Merriwell's Return to Yale +Frank Merriwell's Trip West Frank Merriwell's Secret +Frank Merriwell Down South Frank Merriwell's Loyalty +Frank Merriwell's Bravery Frank Merriwell's Reward +Frank Merriwell's Races Frank Merriwell's Faith +Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour Frank Merriwell's Victories +Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield Frank Merriwell's Power +Frank Merriwell at Yale Frank Merriwell's Set-Back +Frank Merriwell's Courage Frank Merriwell's False Friend +Frank Merriwell's Daring Frank Merriwell's Brother + + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by +the publisher + +DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Frank Merriwell's Reward, by Burt L. 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