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diff --git a/old/63537-0.txt b/old/63537-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index eac2d11..0000000 --- a/old/63537-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7932 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frank Merriwell's Fun, by Burt L Standish - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world 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. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook. - - -Title: Frank Merriwell's Fun - Fearless and True - -Author: Burt L Standish - -Release Date: October 24, 2020 [EBook #63537] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANK MERRIWELL'S FUN *** - - - - -Produced by Carol Brown, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -THE MEDAL LIBRARY - -FAMOUS COPYRIGHTED STORIES FOR BOYS, BY FAMOUS AUTHORS - - -This is an ideal line for boys of all ages. It contains juvenile -masterpieces by the most popular writers of interesting fiction for -boys. Among these may be mentioned the works of Burt L. Standish, -detailing the adventures of Frank Merriwell, the hero, of whom every -American boy has read with admiration. Frank is a truly representative -American lad, of fine character and a strong determination to do right -at any cost. Then, there are the works of Horatio Alger, Jr., whose -keen insight into the minds of the boys of our country has enabled him -to write a series of the most interesting tales ever published. This -line also contains some of the best works of Oliver Optic, another -author whose entire life was devoted to writing books that would tend -to interest and elevate our boys. - -PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK - - - To be Published During October - - 383――Frank Merriwell’s Mascot By Burt L. Standish - 382――The Yankee Middy By Oliver Optic - 381――Chums of the Prairie By St. George Rathborne - 380――Frank Merriwell’s Luck By Burt L. Standish - 379――The Young Railroader’s Wreck By Stanley Norris - - - To be Published During September - - 378――Jack Harkaway at Oxford By Bracebridge Hemyng - 377――Frank Merriwell On Top By Burt L. Standish - 376――The Rockspur Eleven By Burt L. Standish - 375――The Sailor Boy By Oliver Optic - - - To be Published During August - - 374――Frank Merriwell’s Temptation By Burt L. Standish - 373――The Young Railroader’s Flyer By Stanley Norris - 372――Campaigning with Tippecanoe By John H. Whitson - 371――Frank Merriwell’s Tricks By Burt L. Standish - - ―――――――――― - - 370――Struggling Upward By Horatio Alger, Jr. - 369――Court-Martialed By Ensign Clarke Fitch - 368――Frank Merriwell’s Generosity By Burt L. Standish - 367――Breakneck Farm By Evelyn Raymond - 366――Grit, the Young Boatman of Pine Point By Horatio Alger, Jr. - 365――Frank Merriwell’s Fun By Burt L. Standish - 364――The Young Railroader By Stanley Norris - 363――Sunset Ranch By St. George Rathborne - 362――Frank Merriwell’s Auto By Burt L. Standish - 361――My Danish Sweetheart By W. Clark Russell - 360――The Young Adventurer By Horatio Alger, Jr. - 359――Frank Merriwell’s Confidence By Burt L. Standish - 358――The Unknown Island By Matthew J. Royal - 357――Jack Harkaway Among the Pirates By Bracebridge Hemyng - 356――Frank Merriwell’s Baseball Victories By Burt L. Standish - 355――Tracked Through the Wilds By Edward S. Ellis - 354――Walter Sherwood’s Probation By Horatio Alger, Jr. - 353――A Prisoner of Morro By Ensign Clark Fitch, U.S.N. - 352――Frank Merriwell’s Double Shot By Burt L. Standish - 351――The Boys of Grand Pré School By James De Mille - 350――Joe’s Luck By Horotio Alger, Jr. - 349――The Two Scouts By Edward S. Ellis - 348――Frank Merriwell’s Duel By Burt L. Standish - 347――Jack Harkaway Afloat and Ashore By Bracebridge Hemyng - 346――Trials and Triumphs of Mark Mason By Horatio Alger, Jr. - 345――The B. O. W. C. By James De Mille - 344――Frank Merriwell on the Boulevards By Burt L. Standish - - - - -Frank Merriwell’s Fun - -OR - - -FEARLESS AND TRUE - - -BY - -BURT L. STANDISH - -AUTHOR OF - -“_The Merriwell Stories_” - - -[Illustration: Printer's Logo] - - -STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS - -79-89 SEVENTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY - - - - -Copyright, 1899 - -By STREET & SMITH - -Frank Merriwell’s Fun - - - - -FRANK MERRIWELL’S FUN. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -HOOKER. - - -“There’s Frank Merriwell and his set,” said Tilton Hull, with an -effort to appear contemptuous. - -“A nice lot of chumps they are!” exclaimed Julian Ives, speaking -loudly, as if he wished to be heard by the little group of laughing -students that was passing down the walk in front of Battell, one of -the halls at Yale. - -“Don’t nothithe them,” lisped Lew Veazie, turning his back on the -passing group. “They are verwy cheap.” - -“Be generous, be generous!” said Rupert Chickering, with clasped -hands. “We should pity them, instead of speaking of them with scorn. -They can’t help being what they are.” - -“Your campaign against Merriwell does not seem to thrive?” said Hull, -addressing Gene Skelding, who was leaning against the fence and -scowling blackly at the passing students. - -“I’m waiting,” muttered Gene. “I’ll get him yet.” - -“There are others who are waiting,” said Ives impatiently. “That -fellow Badger must have given up his ambition to down Merriwell.” - -“Don’t mention him!” cried Ollie Lord, standing on his tiptoes in an -attempt to look tall and imposing, although he was barely five feet in -height. “He insulted me! I felt like killing him on the spot!” - -“You mutht westwain your angwy pathions, deah boy,” simpered Lew. “You -thould not allow yourthelf to become dangerous.” - -The idea of Ollie becoming very dangerous was extremely ludicrous, but -nobody in the group cracked a smile. The Chickering crowd took -themselves seriously. - -“Badger,” said Ives, “is a bluff. But I did think that Bertrand -Defarge might take some of the wind out of Merriwell’s sails.” - -“Defarge got it in the neck,” muttered Skelding, “and he’s as quiet as -a sick kitten now.” - -“They say Merriwell played with him after the fashion of a cat playing -with a mouse,” spoke Ives, gently caressing his bang, which fell in a -roll over his forehead quite to his eyebrows. - -The trouble with the Frenchman was that he thought Merriwell knew -nothing at all about fencing,” declared Skelding. - -“Is there anything in the world that Merriwell knows nothing at all -about?” exclaimed Tilton Hull, looking over the top of his wonderfully -high collar despairingly. - -“Sure thing,” nodded Skelding, scowling. “His weak point will be found -some time, and then he’ll go down with a crash. Every man has a -weakness, you know.” - -“I take extheptionth!” cried Lew Veazie, with great vigor. “I weally -defy anybody to dithcover my weak point.” - -“Claret punch,” said Ollie Lord. - -“Well, you can’t thay a word,” grinned Lew. - -Merriwell and his party had passed on. Rattleton had called attention -to Chickering’s crowd, but Frank did not even deign to glance at the -group by the fence. - -“They are not worth noticing,” he said. “Don’t mind them, anybody.” - -“I’d like to eat that little runt Veazie!” exclaimed Bink Stubbs. - -“Well, he’d make you sick if you did!” returned Danny Griswold. - -“We were speaking of the money question,” grunted Browning. “Which -side of that question are you on, Jones?” - -“The outside,” answered Dismal sadly. “Haven’t received a remittance -from the governor since Jonah swallowed the whale.” - -“You’re in hard luck.” - -“Don’t mention it!” - -“Will a tenner help you out?” asked Frank. - -“Will it? Ask me!” - -“All right,” said Merry; “come up to the room. Come along, all of -you.” - -“There’s another fellow,” grunted Browning, pointing to a student who -was sitting all alone on the end of the fence in front of Durfee, “who -looks as if he might be on the outside of the money question.” - -The person referred to looked forlorn and dejected. - -“I’ve noticed him often,” said Merry. “He never seems to travel with -anybody.” - -“You mean that nobody travels with him,” said Rattleton. - -“It’s all the same. He doesn’t associate with other students.” - -“On the contrary, other students do not associate with him.” - -“I wonder why.” - -“He has a bad name,” said Griswold. - -“What is it?” - -“Hooker.” - -“You don’t mean to say that that has anything to do with the fact that -he has no associates?” - -“Well, the name seems to fit him.” - -“How?” - -“They say his father has served a term in the jug for larceny.” - -Merry was interested. - -“And is that the reason why he has no associates here?” - -“One reason.” - -“Then there are others?” - -“There is another.” - -“What’s that?” - -“His nature seems to fit his name.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“Things have a habit of disappearing when he’s round.” - -“What! Do you mean that he’s light-fingered?” - -“Well, nobody’s ever caught him yet, but he has that reputation.” - -Frank’s interest increased. - -“You say that his father has served time for larceny, and that this -poor fellow has a bad name? If nobody has caught him at anything -crooked, why should he be ostracized?” - -“Well, the fellows here don’t care about associating with anybody who -has such a father.” - -“Still, I am willing to wager,” said Merry, “that some of the sons of -wealthy men in this college are being educated with the aid of money -dishonestly acquired by their fathers. Stealing is stealing, whether -it’s done in stock manipulations or in some other manner.” - -“Yes,” grunted Browning, “but the man who can steal a hundred thousand -at a lick is called smart, while the fellow who swipes a paltry -hundred is called a fool. That’s the difference.” - -“It’s a difference in public opinion, that’s all,” declared Merry. -“One is as much a thief as the other. I have heard fellows say they’d -never touch a dollar that did not belong to them unless they could -make a big haul, and I always set such chaps down as dishonest at -heart, though they may be regarded as square and honorable. I’ve even -heard old men say, in the presence of young men, that the hungry -wretch who stole a loaf of bread deserved no pity, but that the sleek -rascal who was able to rob a bank and get out of the country did a -good job. An old man who entertains such ideas is a thorough -scoundrel, and, by his openly expressed admiration for the broad-gage -rascal, he often plants the seed of dishonesty in the heart of some -young man and ruins a career for life. I believe a man who expresses -such sentiments is no better than the thief himself, and I have -nothing but the utmost scorn and aversion for him!” - -Frank spoke warmly, for he felt strongly on that point. His sentiments -were right. - -“Anyhow,” said Rattleton, “nobody here cares to associate with a -fellow who is known to be the son of a criminal. That’s why Hooker is -an outcast.” - -“And by shunning him,” said Merry, “they may be souring his soul and -embittering his life.” - -“Well, the fellow who has anything to do with him will be regarded as -no better than he is.” - -They had passed Hooker, who looked lonesome enough. Frank’s heart was -touched by his wretched appearance. - -“And so no one has the moral courage to give him a helping hand and a -word of cheer,” said Merriwell. “I’m glad I’ve learned something about -him. Excuse me, gentlemen.” - -“Why, where are you going?” - -“I’m going back to see Hooker,” said Merry, turning square about. - -“Hold on!” exclaimed Harry. “What’s the use to――――Well, that’s just -like him!” - -“Yes,” growled Bruce, with a tired air; “you might have known he’d do -it!” - -“Well, where does my ten dollars come in?” sighed Jones. - -“You’ll have to wait for it till Merriwell gets through with Hooker,” -grinned Stubbs. - -“And then Hooker may have it,” said Griswold. “You’re up against it, -Jones.” - -“As usual,” groaned Dismal. “Wish I’d never learned how to play -poker.” - -“You haven’t,” said Bink. “That’s what ails you. You simply play the -sucker, while the other fellows play poker.” - -“It’s fate,” declared Jones, with resignation. “I’ve been studying the -lines in my hand, and I find I’m destined to be a sucker all my life.” - -“By the way,” said Stubbs, “what would you call a paper devoted to -palmistry?” - -“A hand-organ,” answered Griswold instantly. - -“You’re too smart!” sneered Bink. - -They watched till they saw Merry walk straight back to the lonely -student on the end of the fence. Frank advanced and spoke to Hooker. - -“Excuse me,” said Merry, with a pleasant smile, holding out his hand. -“I don’t believe we’ve ever met before.” - -Hooker dropped down from the fence, a look of surprise coming to his -pale face. - -“No, I believe not,” he faltered, accepting Frank’s hand hesitatingly, -as if in doubt about what was going to follow. - -“My name’s Merriwell,” said Frank. - -“You don’t have to tell me that. Every man in college knows you. My -name is Hooker――James Hooker. Perhaps,” he added, flushing, “perhaps -you have heard of me?” - -“Nothing much,” said Merry. “I saw you all alone on the fence as I -passed along with some friends. You looked rather lonesome, and I -don’t like to see anybody look that way, so I came back to jolly you -up a little, if I could.” - -“That was good of you! I appreciate it, Mr. Merriwell, I assure you, -but――but――――” - -“But what?” - -Hooker was greatly confused, but he seemed to force himself to say: - -“Perhaps you’d better make some inquiries about me before you permit -yourself to be seen with me in such a public place as this.” - -It was plain he said this with a great effort, and Frank’s sympathy -for him redoubled. - -“Why should I do that?” exclaimed Merry. “I am not in the habit of -judging my friends by the estimation made of them by others.” - -“Your friends!” - -“Yes.” - -“But――but I’m not one of your friends!” - -“Perhaps you may become one――who knows?” - -Hooker shook his head with a look of sadness. - -“That’s too much!” he declared. “No one here cares to be friendly with -me. You don’t know――――” - -“I know you were in a brown study on the fence, just now, and when a -fellow falls into a brown study, he’s likely to get blue. The blues -are bad things. Don’t be grouchy, Hooker. What you need is to be -stirred up. If I get you into a crowd of good, jolly fellows, it will -do you good.” - -A look of pleasure came to the outcast’s eyes, but it quickly faded -and died away. - -“You don’t know,” he said sadly. “They’ll tell you, now that you’ve -been seen with me. There’s Chickering pointing us out now, and calling -the attention of others to the fact that you are talking with me.” - -“Well, if you think for one moment that anything Chickering may say or -do will have the slightest influence on my future actions, you are -making a big mistake, Hooker. There is no cheaper set in college than -Chickering and his gang.” - -“But they think themselves too good to have anything to do with me.” - -“Which is a mighty good thing for you, old man! You should thank your -lucky stars.” - -“I’ve never cared to associate with them, but still it cuts a fellow -to have such chaps treat him with scorn.” - -“Don’t let it worry you, Hooker. As far as that is concerned, they -treat me with just as much scorn, and I really enjoy it.” - -Frank laughed cheerfully. - -“They can’t hurt you, but when a chap has a bad name, everybody seems -ready to believe anything evil about him, no matter what its source -may be.” - -Frank realized that this was true, and his sympathy for the outcast -grew. - -“I believe you are too sensitive, old man,” he said. “You are inclined -to draw into your shell, like a turtle. You must quit that. Come with -me to my room, and I’ll introduce you to a lot of fine fellows.” - -Hooker looked pleased, but still he seemed in doubt as to Merry’s -sincerity. - -“Do you mean it?” he asked. - -“Of course I do! Come along.” - -“It’s awfully good of you!” exclaimed Hooker, his eyes blurring a bit. -“I appreciate it, but have you asked your friends if they want to meet -me?” - -“Certainly not. My friends will be ready and glad to meet any one I -choose to introduce to them.” - -The outcast shook his head doubtfully. - -“I’m afraid not,” he said sadly. “It can’t be that you know -about――about my――father?” - -He stumbled over the final words, the hot blood surging up to his -cheeks. - -“I’ve heard,” declared Merry quietly. - -“You have?” - -“Yes.” - -“That he――that he――――” - -“I have heard all about it.” - -“And still you are willing to introduce me to your friends?” - -“Yes. I do not believe in killing a fellow for something his father -did.” - -“God bless you!” cried Hooker sincerely, his voice shaking with -emotion. “Now I am beginning to understand why you are so popular -here. It’s not simply because you are a great athlete, but it is -because you are a gentleman and have a noble heart. Let me tell you, -Mr. Merriwell, you have given me more pleasure to-day than I have felt -before for months! I thank you!” - -“You have nothing to thank me for, my dear fellow. I do not believe -you have been treated just right here at college, and I’m going to see -if the mistake can’t be remedied. I am going to get you in with my -set, and I rather think that will give you standing.” - -“I think you had better find out if they are willing to meet me. It -will be better.” - -“Nonsense! My friends are not cads!” - -“I know, but――――” - -“There are no buts about it. You must come along. We were going to my -room, and there will be a little gathering there now. Come, Hooker.” - -Frank passed his arm through that of the outcast, and thus they left -the fence and passed along the broad walk. - -“Look at them!” exclaimed Gene Skelding, who, with Chickering and the -rest of his crowd, had been watching Merriwell. “By Jove! if Merriwell -isn’t walking arm in arm with that son of a thief, I’m a liar!” - -“That’s right,” nodded Julian Ives, excitedly slapping his bang. -“Merriwell has picked up the outcast!” - -“And that,” said Lew Veazie “thows that he ith no better than that -cheap fellow Hooker.” - -“We ought to be able to spread the report,” observed Tilton Hull, with -his chin high in the air. - -“Oh, have sympathy,” said Rupert Chickering. “Merriwell is liable to -fall from his perch any time. Don’t push him.” - -“Oh, no!” grinned Skelding, with his thumbs in the armholes of his -vest, thus exposing the expanse of his gaudy shirt-bosom, “we won’t -push him――if we don’t get a chance!” - -“We ought to be able to get something on him if he associates with -Hooker,” said Ollie Lord. - -“We’ll do our best, at any rate,” nodded Ives. “We can start some -things circulating.” - -The friends who had accompanied Frank, seeing him talking earnestly -with Jim Hooker at the fence, had passed on and ascended to his room, -where they found Jack Diamond and Joe Gamp. - -“Hello!” said the Virginian. “Where’s Merriwell?” - -“We left him by the fence,” answered Rattleton. - -“What was he doing?” - -“Guess, and I’ll give you a prize.” - -“Talking football.” - -“No, talking to Jim Hooker.” - -“What?” Diamond was astonished. - -“It’s on the level,” grunted Browning, dropping on an easy chair and -producing a pipe. “That’s what Merriwell is doing.” - -“Well, why in the world should he talk to a fellow like that?” cried -Jack. - -“Ask us!” said Bink Stubbs, bringing out a package of cigarettes and -sprawling in his accustomed place on a handsome rug. - -“Why, that fellow Hooker has a jailbird for a father!” said Diamond. - -“And there is a report that he’s light-fingered himself,” said -Rattleton. - -“Gol darned if I want him around mum-mum-me!” declared Joe Gamp. “I -had a pup-pup-pup-pickpocket sus-sus-swipe a watch off me one time, -and I’ve steered clear of um ever sence.” - -“Did you know when it was done?” asked Griswold. - -“Gosh, yes! Feller held me right up with a pup-pup-pistol.” - -“What did you do?” - -“I hollered for help.” - -“What did he do?” - -“Why, he just sus-sus-said, ‘Bub-bub-bub-be calm, sir; I -dud-dud-dud-don’t need any help; I cuc-cuc-cuc-can do this job alone.’ -And he did it.” - -The manner in which Joe told this caused them to utter a shout of -laughter. When the merriment had subsided, Browning observed, as he -lighted his pipe: - -“I’m afraid Merry will have this fellow Hooker hanging round after -him, now he’s spoken to him.” - -“Well, I fight shy of pickpockets and burglars,” said Griswold. “I -don’t like ’em.” - -“What would you do,” asked Bink, “if you should open your eyes at -night and see the dark form of a burglar in your room?” - -“I’d shut my eyes again,” said Danny promptly. “Give me a cigarette.” - -“Since you’ve taken to drinking again,” declared Bink, flinging the -cigarette at Dan, “it’s never dark in your room at night, unless you -cover your nose with powder.” - -Griswold caressed his red beak. - -“That’s sunburn,” he said. “You know I’m going in for athletics of -late, and I’m outdoors a great deal.” - -“I’m going in for athletics, too,” murmured Bink. - -“Going to try the clubs?” asked Dan. - -“No; going to try rolling my own cigarettes.” - -“Haw!” snorted Griswold. “That’s hot stuff. Have you heard my latest -joke? It’s positively Shakespearian.” - -“Yes, I’ve heard it,” said Bink promptly; “but I thought it dated back -of Shakespeare.” - -“Oh, you’re too funny!” snapped Dan. “You ought to match up with Ollie -Lord. Hear what happened to him yesterday? He got his cane-head in his -mouth and couldn’t get it out.” - -“Too bad!” said Bink. “How much was it worth?” - -“I met Lord this morning,” said Jones, in his dry way. “I let him have -ten dollars last spring, and I haven’t seen it since.” - -“He must have been ill after that sad affair with his cane,” observed -Rattleton. “How was he looking, Jones?” - -“He was looking the other way when I met him,” answered Dismal. - -“Well,” grunted Browning, “you know Doctor Holmes says ‘poverty is a -cure for dyspepsia.’” - -“It may be,” nodded Dismal; “but I’d rather have the dyspepsia.” - -They made themselves quite at home till, at last, Frank appeared; but, -to their great astonishment, Merry conducted Jim Hooker into the room. - -“Fellows,” said Frank, “I have brought along a friend, to whom I wish -to introduce you.” - -Diamond hastily rose. - -“I beg your pardon, Merriwell,” he said, with icy politeness; “but, -really, I have an important engagement, and I had quite forgotten it. -I’ve lingered overtime already. See you later, you know.” - -Then he hurried out. - -“By jingoes!” cried Rattleton, “it’s time for me to meet Nash, the -tailor. He’s coming round to my room. Excuse me.” - -He hastily followed Diamond. - -“Tailor?” grunted Browning, dragging himself up with an effort. “Nash? -Hold on. I owe him a little bill. I’ll go along and settle up.” - -He followed Rattleton. - -“By gosh!” exclaimed Gamp, as if struck by a sudden thought, “I’ve -gotter go to pup-pup-plugging. I’ve wasted too much tut-tut-time -already.” - -He was the fourth one to leave the room. - -“I must have some cigarettes,” cried Bink Stubbs, scrambling up. - -“Hold on,” said Griswold; “I want some, too. I will go with you.” - -They escaped in company. Dismal Jones alone was left. Frank -Merriwell’s face had hardened, but now he said: - -“Mr. Jones, this is my friend Mr. Hooker.” - -Jones got up, but did not hold out his hand. - -“How do you do, Mr. Hooker?” he said freezingly. “I must be going. -Excuse me, gentlemen.” - -And even he departed. - -As the door closed behind Jones, Frank turned slowly and sorrowfully -to Hooker. The outcast realized the full extent of the slight put upon -him, and he was pale as chalk. Frank held out his hand. - -“My dear fellow!” he said sympathetically. - -“I told you how it would be!” cried Hooker hoarsely. “I did not wish -to come here!” - -“I beg a thousand pardons for bringing you! I did not dream for a -moment that such a thing would happen.” - -“I knew! I knew! Nobody here will have anything to do with me!” - -“But my friends――I thought my friends were different.” - -“They’re all alike!” said Hooker. “They believe me a crook, and they -shun me! Oh, God! it’s enough to drive any man to crookedness! It’s -enough to make a man hate himself and all the world!” - -Then he dropped on a chair, buried his face in his hands, and burst -into tears. Never was Frank Merriwell more wretched and disgusted than -at that moment. As he had said, he had not fancied his friends could -stoop to use Hooker so contemptuously, and their actions had filled -him with astonishment. - -“Don’t give way like this, old man! You’ll live it down in time,” he -exclaimed. - -“I don’t know,” came thickly from the outcast. “It’s a hard struggle.” - -“I will help you.” - -“You?” - -“Yes.” - -“But your friends――――” - -“Never mind them.” - -“It’s plain you’ll have to choose between them and me.” - -“I shall choose, and I’ll stand by you, Hooker!” - -The fellow lifted a tear-wet face and gazed at Frank wonderingly. - -“You do not realize what it may mean,” he said. “You do not wish to be -shunned by all your friends. I am nothing to you, and your friends are -everything.” - -“When they are in the right, they are everything; but when they are in -the wrong, like this, nothing. Don’t worry for me, Hooker. I’ll bring -them round.” - -“How can you?” - -“I’ll find a way. They shall accept you as their friend.” - -“Impossible!” - -“We shall see. But that is not all.” - -“What more?” - -“I’ll make them one and all ask your pardon for this slight to-day!” -cried Frank. “I promise you that.” - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -FRANK’S FOREBODINGS. - - -It was astonishing how soon the news that Merriwell had been seen arm -in arm with Hooker on the campus became circulated. In some way, also, -the report got around that Merry had taken the outcast to his room, -but that his set had refused to have anything to do with the student -whose father was said to be a crook. Hodge heard all about it, and he -was “steaming” when he found Merry alone in his room the next day. - -“Look here, Merriwell,” said Bart, confronting Frank, “I’ve got to say -something to you.” - -“All right,” smiled Merry, closing the book he had been studying, and -putting it aside; “say ahead.” - -“You’re making an ass of yourself!” exploded Bart roughly. - -Frank elevated his eyebrows. - -“I must say you are outspoken and far from complimentary,” he quietly -observed. - -“I don’t talk to you like this often.” - -“That’s right. If you did, I’m afraid we might not be such good -friends.” - -“But I must talk straight now, for I feel it my duty.” - -“Always do your duty, my boy. Drive ahead. What sort of a call-down -are you going to give me?” - -“You’ve been associating with that fellow Hooker.” - -“I thought that was what you were driving at. What of it?” - -“What of it? Great Scott! Do you know the fellow’s father has done -time for larceny?” - -“I’ve heard so,” was the calm answer. - -“You’ve heard so, and still you walk across the campus arm in arm with -him?” - -“Hooker cannot be held responsible for the actions of his father.” - -“A fellow with such a father is pretty sure to be shady himself.” - -“There’s nothing certain about it. He seems like an unfortunate -fellow, and I pity him.” - -Hodge made an impatient gesture. - -“That’s like you, Merriwell; but you can’t afford to associate with -him as a friend.” - -“Why?” - -“Because it will queer you.” - -“With whom?” - -“Everybody.” - -“Then I’m afraid I shall be queered.” - -“Hang it all! You don’t mean to say you are willing to give up your -best friends for this fellow?” - -“I shall not give them up. If there is any giving up, they will give -me up.” - -“Why, they say you brought him here to your room――you tried to -introduce him to some of the fellows!” - -Frank rose to his feet, and his manner of speaking showed how deeply -in earnest he was. - -“That is true,” he said, “and I was astonished to find my friends -acted like a lot of cads. I fancied I knew them better, but I was -mistaken. I had thought they were above such things, but I found I was -wrong.” - -“You had no right to attempt to introduce a fellow like Hooker without -finding out who was willing to know him!” - -“Hadn’t I? Let’s see. It was in this room――my own room――wasn’t it?” - -“Yes, but――――” - -“Hooker came here with me at my invitation.” - -“Well?” - -“When we entered, we found a number of fellows here, making themselves -at home, as I wish my friends to do.” - -“What of that?” - -“Do you think I was going to bring Hooker, a student at this college, -in here and not introduce him to those who were present? What sort of -a way would that be to treat him? Under the circumstances, there was -but one thing for me to do. I attempted to do it, and the fellows I -have called my friends insulted Hooker――yes, they insulted me, and by -the Lord Harry, they’ll have to apologize to both of us for it before -I have anything more to do with them!” - -Now, Bart Hodge knew that when Merriwell was aroused in this manner he -felt strongly on the subject, and it would be no easy matter to turn -his mind. Hodge was taken aback. He had intended to go at Merry hammer -and tongs and quickly convince him that he was making a mistake in -having anything at all to do with Jim Hooker, but now he realized that -he had a mighty task before him. - -“What?” gasped Bart. “You don’t mean――――” - -“I mean just what I have said.” - -“And you will continue to associate with Hooker, for all of his -disreputable father?” - -“I shall continue to associate with him till I am convinced that he is -not worthy of my friendship.” - -Hodge gasped at that. - -“You know there are some bad stories afloat concerning him,” he -quickly said. - -“What sort of stories?” - -“They say he is following in the tracks of his father.” - -“’they say! They say!’” impatiently exclaimed Frank. “’they say’ has -ruined many a fair reputation. It is in the mouth of every lying, -malicious gossip. It’s a manner of shunning responsibility for -slander. Don’t tell me that ’they say.’ Who says? Just what do they -say?” - -“Why,” said Bart, floundering a little, “it――it’s the――the report that -he’s light-fingered.” - -“The proof?” - -“Why, things have been missed from a number of different rooms.” - -“Is that so?” cried Frank, with fine scorn. “I don’t suppose such a -thing ever happened before Jim Hooker came to college!” - -“But circumstantial evidence――――” - -“Has hanged many an innocent man.” - -“Everything has seemed to point to Hooker as the thief,” asserted -Hodge desperately. - -“By ‘everything’ you mean what? Is there any absolute proof?” - -“Why, no, there is no positive proof. If there were, Hooker would have -been forced to get out of Yale long ago.” - -“Exactly,” nodded Frank. “Suspicion has been turned on him because of -his father. That is the plain truth. If it had not been known that his -father had done a dishonest thing, no one might have suspected him. Am -I right?” - -“Perhaps so,” confessed Bart reluctantly. - -“Don’t you know I’m right?” - -“No, I don’t know it.” - -“Well, don’t you think so?” - -“I suppose there is something in it.” - -Frank laughed shortly. - -“You squirm in order to avoid giving me a direct answer, but you must -confess that I have you cornered. Now, I want to say something more -about Jim Hooker. I have picked him up because my heart was touched -with pity by his forlorn and disconsolate appearance. I talked with -him, and I found the poor fellow felt his situation keenly. I liked -his face. I was sorry for him. I saw that a chap who was struggling -hard to get an education and become an honored and respected man might -be ruined and driven to the dogs at the very outset by being shunned -and scorned. He must have a strong determination to have withstood the -strain thus far. He may be tottering on the brink even now, and it is -possible that all he needs is the helping hand of a true friend to -keep him from going over. My hand has been held out to him, and once -Frank Merriwell has offered his hand to another he never withdraws it -till that person has proved himself thoroughly and utterly unworthy.” - -Bart knew this was true, and he felt like applauding Frank. Then came -another thought. - -“They say he associates with tough characters in the lowest dives of -the city.” - -“Again it is ’they say!’” exclaimed Frank. “Where is the proof?” - -“Well, I’ve been told that he visits the tough quarter every Saturday -night. He might be followed. Say, Merry, I dare you to follow him with -me!” - -“What! play the spy?” - -“If you have so much confidence in him, you should not hesitate. You -might be able to prove to me that he’s all right.” - -Frank seemed to meditate a moment, and then he said: - -“That’s right, Bart.” - -“And you’ll do it――you’ll follow him to-morrow night?” - -“If I am in condition after the football game――yes.” - -“It’s settled then! We’ll see where he goes, and whom he meets.” - -Saturday was a day of triumph for Yale, for she won an easy victory on -the gridiron against one of the smaller college teams. In the game -twenty-one men were used by Yale, in order to give all the better -candidates a trial, and Bart Hodge found his opportunity to show what -he could do. Hodge improved the opportunity by showing himself a -perfect tiger in the rush-line, and thus it happened that, for once, -he was in pretty good spirits when he came to Frank’s room early in -the evening. To Bart’s astonishment, he found Merry in a “grouch.” - -“What is the matter with you, Frank?” he cried. “Don’t think I ever -saw you looking this way before.” - -“I’m not feeling well,” confessed Frank. - -“You’re not looking well. What’s hit you this way? You ought to be -jolly after to-day’s work. It can’t be you are depressed because of -the game?” - -“Not exactly, and yet, to a certain extent, I am.” - -Hodge was still more surprised. - -“How is that? Everybody else is more than satisfied. It was a walkover -for Old Eli.” - -“As it should have been. This victory to-day means absolutely -nothing.” - -“We were not scored against.” - -“Nobody expected we would be.” - -“And I got a chance for a trial.” - -“I congratulate you.” - -“But you don’t seem very pleased over it,” said Bart, feeling keen -disappointment. “You have been urging me to make a try for the eleven. -But for you, I should not have done it.” - -“Believe me,” said Merry, “I am pleased. I was glad to see you tear -through their line as you did. More than that, I was glad that your -work was noticed.” - -“Was it?” eagerly. - -“Sure thing. It’s being discussed in every quarter of the campus now. -I know Birch took particular note of it, and you will stand a big show -of playing right along as a regular after this.” - -Bart’s face glowed. - -“There was a time,” he confessed, “when I fancied I did not care a rap -to play on the eleven.” - -“I know that,” nodded Frank. - -“You changed that.” - -“Did I?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well, I’m glad of it.” - -“You talked to me――you told me it was my duty to play if I could. You -told me it was my duty to do everything I could this year to help Old -Eli to victory.” - -“Do you doubt it now?” - -“No. I have begun to taste your spirit, Merriwell. Once I thought I -hated Yale, but now I know I was mistaken. I have come to feel such -love for her that I am ready to die to carry the blue to victory!” - -Frank stepped forward and grasped Bart’s hand, his face lighting up -for a moment. - -“That’s the right sort of spirit!” he cried. “It is that feeling in -the hearts of the defenders of the blue that has made Yale victorious -in the past. It is the Yale spirit!” - -“Well, I’ve got it now, all right!” Bart almost laughed. “It caught me -hard in the game to-day. I never felt before just as I did then. I was -ready to break bones or neck to advance the ball a yard. I was ready -to die if I could make a touch-down!” - -“I haven’t a doubt of it. With such material, Yale should have nothing -but a string of victories marked against her this season.” - -“Oh, we’re bound to win from start to finish.” - -“I hope we may, but I have my fears.” - -Now, this was so unusual for Frank that it was not surprising Bart was -almost dazed. - -“Look here!” exclaimed Hodge; “when I used to talk like that, you told -me my liver was out of order.” - -“And you feel like telling me so now, eh?” - -“I do.” - -“I suppose so.” - -“What ails you, anyhow?” - -“Several things. One thing is that I am not satisfied with the manner -in which the eleven is being handled.” - -“You’re not?” - -“Not by any means.” - -“Why?” - -“There is not enough head-work behind it. It takes brains to play -football, as well as brawn. We’ve got the timber, if it can be -properly handled, but no new play has been developed thus far, and -every game has been won by the old tactics of other years. Our fault -last season, as all confess, was slowness in following up after kicks. -Instead of always being under the ball when it dropped, the men who -should have been there were somewhere else.” - -“Well, surely the coachers are working to remedy that weakness.” - -“They are, and they are neglecting everything else, almost. This year -we’ll be strong where the eleven was weak last season; but it’s big -odds we are weak in some other spot, and that weakness may prove -fatal.” - -“Well, something is wrong when you get to looking on the dark side of -things!” - -“Besides that, the game we have been playing thus far is one of brute -force, and it has put our best men in hospital. Badger, Quimby, and -Pelling could not play to-day.” - -“We can get along without Badger.” - -“He’s one of the best men on the team.” - -“I don’t understand why you always say that, when he is your enemy.” - -“I say it because it is true. Only fools lie about their enemies; wise -men keep silent or speak the truth.” - -Bart nodded. - -“I guess you’re right about that, though I never thought of it that -way before. But Badger will be all right in a week.” - -“Perhaps. He hobbled out to the fence to-night with a cane. Pelling is -flat on his back, and Quimby is not much better.” - -“But I believe there are other men just as good. Look how we slashed -through ’em to-day.” - -“Twenty-one men were used, and five out of the twenty-one were -injured, more or less. How long will it take at this rate to use up -every football-player in college?” - -“Well, they can be used pretty fast.” - -“I should say so. While men are injured they cannot be progressing in -practise.” - -“But men get injured just the same everywhere. A fellow who is afraid -of being hurt a little has no business playing the game.” - -“That’s true enough. What worries me is that we are not getting a team -together and holding it.” - -“Well, how about Harvard? She shifts her men around.” - -“But not for the purpose of trying a lot of new men.” - -“Then what for?” - -“To save her old ones. She has very little important new timber on her -eleven this season, but she has all her best men from last year. She -is taking care of them, too. While Yale is shifting about and wavering -with uncertainty, Harvard is pushing straight forward with a fixed -purpose――and that purpose is to drag Old Eli in the dust again this -year.” - -“She can’t do it!” - -“I hope not.” - -“Look at what we did to-day.” - -“And look at what Harvard did to-day. She was up against a stronger -team than the one we played, and she piled up a bigger score, without -once having her goal-line in danger.” - -“That’s the report, but the papers to-morrow may prove that she didn’t -make such a wonderful showing.” - -“We get things pretty straight by wire now. I think we’ll find the -report is true enough.” - -“Are you afraid, Merriwell?” - -Frank had turned away, but he turned like a flash on Bart. - -“Not afraid,” he said, “only worried.” - -“Well, come, don’t think any more about it. You know we are going out -to-night.” - -Frank started and shrugged his shoulders. - -“You have not forgotten?” exclaimed Hodge, not understanding Merry’s -manner. “We’re going to follow Hooker, you know.” - -“Old man,” said Frank soberly, “I don’t think I’ll go.” - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE MISSING WATCH. - - -“What?” cried Bart, more than ever astonished; “you don’t think -you’ll――――Oh, come, Merriwell, what’s the matter?” - -Frank flung himself on a chair. - -“I told you before that I do not fancy this business of spying on a -fellow. I haven’t changed my mind.” - -“But you agreed to go along. You wished to convince me that Hooker was -on the square.” - -“I don’t know that I wish to convince anybody.” - -“Why――why――――” - -“Hooker was here a short time ago, and I had a talk with him.” - -“I don’t suppose you gave him a hint――――” - -Bart had started up, but Frank motioned for him to sit down. - -“Of course not!” he exclaimed. “Do you think I’d let him know that -anybody could induce me to spy upon him?” - -“I didn’t know but you might let something slip,” muttered -Bart――“something to put him on his guard.” - -“Not a word. I found him here in my room waiting for me. Why do you -suppose he came?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“It was to tell me that he had learned I was to be cut out by the best -men in college for associating with him. Now, how do you suppose he -found that out?” - -“Give it up.” - -“Some unfeeling dog must have flung it at him!” - -“Well, is this why you have decided not to follow him to-night?” - -“Hodge, that man came to me all broken up. He sat where you are -sitting now, and he told me how happy it had made him to know there -was one man at Yale who had shown friendship for him.” - -Bart moved uneasily. - -“How do you think that made me feel?” asked Frank. - -Hodge cleared his throat. - -“Oh, I suppose it made you feel slushy!” he blurted. “I can’t stand -that sort of thing myself. Why didn’t you run away?” - -“If ever a fellow seemed sincere, he did.” - -“Don’t doubt it.” - -“He confessed that he had been tempted more than once, when all the -world was against him, but in the future he should have greater -strength to resist temptation, knowing there was one who believed in -him.” - -“That’s all right,” muttered Bart, feeling that he must say something. - -“Is it all right? How would it look if I were to play the spy on him -to-night? Would it seem to him, if he knew it, that I believed in -him?” - -“Well, as――er――as Dismal Jones says, ‘By their works ye shall know -them.’ In these modern times, faith without proof is regarded as -folly. If you were to convince yourself that Hooker did not visit the -slums from any evil reason, then you would have all the more -confidence in him. A man’s actions prove what he is.” - -“You make a good argument, Hodge, but I don’t believe I’ll go, just -the same. I should feel guilty all the time I was doing it.” - -“Well,” said Bart desperately, “I’m not going to coax you!” - -“Don’t.” - -“But you may be doing Hooker harm by not going.” - -“Harm, Hodge?” - -“Yes.” - -“How?” - -“Well, I’ve told Browning and Diamond what we meant to do.” - -“You have?” - -“Sure.” - -“I’m sorry.” - -“Now, if you do not go, do you know what they’ll think?” - -“What?” - -“They’ll think you actually feared you might discover something that -would cause you to change your mind about Hooker. They’ll think that, -having picked the fellow up, you are not willing to learn the truth -about him, but are going to stick to him, anyway.” - -Frank got up and walked across the room. Bart watched him with some -anxiety. - -“If I could be sure Hooker would not know it,” muttered Merry. - -“Why should he know it?” cried Bart instantly. - -“I might go along with you for the satisfaction of teaching you a -lesson. I believe I will!” - -“Good!” - -“If such stories are afloat about Hooker, it’s time somebody -investigated. If the stories can be proved lies, it may have something -to do with giving the fellow better standing.” - -“Exactly.” - -“That being the case, it may be my work to take hold of it and show -his defamers that he is all right.” - -“Come on!” Bart sprang up. - -“All right,” said Frank, “I am going. I shall go, because I wish to be -able when a man tells a slander about Hooker to say that I know it is -not true. I have an interest in the unfortunate fellow, and I shall -take chances in helping him; but we must be very careful not to let -him catch on that he is being followed.” - -“Hurry,” urged Bart. “The evening is beginning to creep along, and we -don’t want him to get away from us.” - -Frank hustled around and got ready to go. Bart waited impatiently -while Merry searched for something. - -“What are you looking for?” asked Hodge. - -“My watch,” was the reply. - -“Can’t you find it?” - -“No.” - -“Where did you have it last?” - -“In another suit, but it’s not there.” - -“Haven’t you left it lying around?” - -“Sometimes I do.” - -Bart joined in the search. - -“It’s mighty queer,” declared Frank. - -“It is rather odd,” admitted Bart, in a singular manner. - -“It should be right here.” - -They looked almost everywhere, and at last, Frank stopped and stood -staring about in a perplexed manner. - -“That watch hasn’t any legs,” said Bart. - -“But it has a pair of hands,” twinkled Merry. - -“It couldn’t walk off on its hands.” - -“Not unless it’s suddenly developed into a circus acrobat.” - -“Somebody must have helped it.” - -“Oh, I don’t think that!” cried Frank. “I don’t believe anybody would -touch my watch.” - -“Well, I’m glad you think so,” came in a significant manner from Bart. - -There was a cloud on Frank’s brow as he looked sharply at Bart. - -“What are you driving at?” he asked. - -“Well, you have a new friend who was here a short time ago.” - -“Hooker?” - -“That’s the name.” - -“Don’t, Hodge――don’t try to put the blame on that poor fellow!” - -“All right. You may think what you like, and I’ll think――what I like.” - -“By heavens! I believe you are glad of this opportunity to put -suspicion on him! You are like other human beings, ready to kick a man -who is down!” - -“I have no sympathy with a sneak-thief!” said Bart harshly. “If Hooker -has taken your watch, he’s a dirty sneak! You are a man who has shown -friendship for him, and he steals from you! What do you think of -that?” - -“I do not believe he did it!” declared Merry, clearly and -emphatically. - -“But the circumstantial evidence.” - -“Look here, Hodge, have you forgotten that, more than once, you have -nearly been convicted of crime by circumstantial evidence, and you -were perfectly innocent on every count? You should not forget that -everybody turned against you, while I alone stood by you. You should -not forget how near you were to giving up in despair because things -looked so black against you.” - -Bart Hodge flushed crimson, for, of a sudden, he remembered that there -had been a time when his position was much like that of Jim Hooker. In -that time of trouble Frank had proved to be a firm and trusty friend. - -“You’ve not known Hooker as you knew me,” he muttered. - -Frank saw that Hodge was stirred by shame, and he instantly said, -dropping a hand on Bart’s shoulder: - -“Forgive me, old man! I didn’t mean to speak of it, but I couldn’t -help it. Let us hope that Hooker is quite as innocent as you were when -wrongfully accused. Come, we will go.” - -With considerable trouble, they were able to follow Hooker from the -campus to a Jew’s little store on a side street in a poor quarter of -the city. From a position outside the store they saw the suspected -student speak familiarly to the old Jew who kept the place, and pass -on into a little back room, disappearing from view. - -“Well,” said Frank, “it looks to me as if this is the end of our great -shadowing expedition.” - -“I wonder what he’s doing in there,” muttered Hodge, nonplused. - -“I think we’ll have to guess at it.” - -“He seemed perfectly at home.” - -“Yes.” - -“It’s plain he’s been here before.” - -“True.” - -Bart meditated, and then he said: - -“Merriwell, I have an idea.” - -“Do you wish to part with it?” - -“I believe this old Jew keeps a fence.” - -“You mean a place for receiving stolen goods?” - -“Yes.” - -“What makes you think that?” - -“Well, this is a cheap quarter of the city, and――and――――Well, I think -so.” - -“You think so because Hooker seemed quite at home there.” - -“Perhaps that is the reason.” - -“It’s a pretty slim reason.” - -“You do not believe it?” - -“Not because Hooker came here. You’ll have to show stronger evidence -than that.” - -“I suppose we might turn detectives and find out.” - -Frank shook his head. - -“That is carrying the thing farther than I care to go, old man.” - -“Well, are we going to give it up here?” - -“All we can do is wait awhile and see if anything will turn up. Now -that I have entered into this thing, I have a curiosity to see how it -will turn out.” - -So they waited, and, in less than twenty minutes, they were rewarded -by the reappearance of Hooker. They were watching through the front -window of the shop, which was none too clean, and saw the outcast come -from the back room, but both were surprised by his appearance, which -was greatly altered. - -“Great Scott!” muttered Hodge. “What’s he been doing?” - -“He’s changed his clothes,” said Frank instantly. - -“Changed them! I should say he had! Why, I hardly knew him at first.” - -“Nor I.” - -“He looks like a tough now.” - -“He looks pretty seedy,” confessed Frank. “What kind of a game is he -up to, I wonder?” - -Hooker had paused a moment to speak to the old Jew. - -“Then it is beginning to dawn on you,” said Bart triumphantly, “that -he may be up to some sort of a game?” - -“He can’t be going to a masquerade in that rig.” - -“He might be going to a poverty ball, but Hooker isn’t the sort of -chap to take in balls of any kind.” - -The shadowed student had changed his respectable clothing for a ragged -suit and a battered soft hat, which was slouched over his eyes. In -fact, his appearance had been altered by the change of clothing so -that he now seemed decidedly disreputable. - -“No, he is not going to attend a ball,” said the dazed Merriwell. “By -Jove! this affair is becoming interesting, Hodge! It can’t be that -he’s been forced to sell his clothes in order to raise some money, can -it, Hodge?” - -“Sell nothing!” exclaimed Bart. “Do you think he’d wear that sort of -rig back to college? Why, he’d be ridiculous!” - -“But some of the men who have money to burn sometimes dress almost as -bad as that.” - -“But not hardly. They do not look like toughs, and Mr. Hooker now -looks like an out-and-out tough.” - -To himself Merriwell had reluctantly confessed that the change of -clothes had made a most remarkable alteration in the appearance of the -suspected student, for he now had a sinister, evil aspect that was -awakening strange doubts and forebodings in the mind of his only -champion and defender in the college. In his heart, Frank could not -deny that Hooker now seemed like a genuine sneak and crook. It was a -regular Jekyll-and-Hyde metamorphosis. - -The old Jew seemed to be laughing in an evil fashion at the alteration -in the student, rubbing his hands, nodding his head and making -characteristic gestures. - -“Perhaps,” said Bart, as if struck by a new idea, “perhaps Hooker is -an out-and-out ruffian. Have you read in the papers how a number of -persons have been held up and robbed by a mysterious footpad on the -outskirts of the city?” - -Frank had read of it, and he was obliged to say so. More than that, a -thought of the robberies had entered his head at the very moment Bart -spoke of them. - -“Merriwell,” came eagerly from Hodge, “we may be able to clear up the -mystery of those robberies to-night!” - -“I hope not!” came huskily from Frank. - -“I know it’s rather hard on you after you had such confidence in the -fellow,” said Hodge; “but if he is a thorough scoundrel you want to -know it, don’t you?” - -“Of course.” - -“Even though it may shatter all your faith in the natural honesty of -human nature?” - -“It will not.” - -“Won’t?” - -“Not on your life! Even though I may find that I have been fooled in -this fellow, I shall not give up my firm belief that there is more -good than evil in human nature.” - -“Well, I admire you for the way you stick to your pet theory, but your -belief must get shaken up sometimes. You have a way of looking on all -men as honest till they prove themselves otherwise; I have a way of -looking on all men as dishonest till they prove themselves otherwise, -and I watch them after that, for fear they may get tired of being -honest.” - -“You’re a pessimist.” - -“Call me what you like, I’ll not get fooled as many times as you do. -You must be satisfied by this time that there is something crooked in -Hooker.” - -“I am not.” - -“Well, you’re stubborn.” - -“I’m hopeful.” - -Hodge laughed shortly. - -“But I can see that you are beginning to doubt. Your manner of -speaking shows that. What will you do, Merriwell, if we follow this -fellow and he attempts to hold up and rob some stranger?” - -“If I can get near enough,” said Frank grimly, “I shall do my best to -give Jim Hooker the worst thrashing he ever received.” - -“And afterward――will you turn him over to the police?” - -“Most assuredly.” - -“That being the case, I have a fancy that Mr. Hooker’s career in New -Haven is pretty near an end. We must not let him see us when he comes -out.” - -“Wait. I want to watch him. I am trying to make out what the old Jew -is saying to him.” - -“It looks to me as if he’s telling Hooker where to go in order to make -a strike,” said Hodge. - -And, strangely enough, that thought had occurred to Frank. Still, -Merry was not willing to give up hope that Hooker might turn out -right, after all. To be sure, the fellow’s actions were against him, -but, as yet, he had done nothing actually bad. For all that he -regretted the evident probability that Hooker was not “on the level,” -still Merry was glad now that he had consented to come with Hodge and -watch the fellow. - -“He’s coming out!” exclaimed Bart. - -They hurriedly drew back into a dark doorway. The old Jew followed -Hooker to the door, where they paused a moment, and the shopkeeper was -distinctly heard to say: - -“You vant to be careful, my young frient; you may ged indo drouple, -you know.” - -Hooker said something in a low tone, and then started off, while the -Jew turned back into the shop. - -“Come,” said Frank, “and we must be careful, too. I want to see this -thing through to the end.” - -They followed Hooker. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -MYSTERIOUS MOVES. - - -The manner of the outcast seemed changed with his clothes. Up to the -time that he entered the Jew’s shop he had not seemed suspicious, but -now he had a strange, skulking air, and he sometimes paused and looked -round, as if fearing that he was being watched. Fortunately, on every -occasion that Hooker looked back Frank and Bart were able to avoid -being seen and recognized; but this apparent suspicion on the part of -the one they were following caused Merry’s confidence in him to take -another slump. - -More and more was Frank impressed with the Jekyll-and-Hyde idea. -Somehow, Hooker seemed completely transformed. Before the change there -had been a kind of desperate independence in his manner, as if he felt -himself as good as anybody, no matter what the world might think of -him, but now he skulked and sneaked along the streets, and seemed to -avoid the gaze of those who would have looked into his face. - -“He couldn’t do anything better to draw suspicion upon himself, if he -is up to crooked work,” thought Frank. - -The quarter of the city which they now came to was the very lowest -along the water-front. The buildings were old and dirty, and saloons -were frequent. Wretched men and women were afloat on the streets, and -sailors were seen frequently. - -“This would be a fine locality for a man to be murdered in!” muttered -Bart. - -“But it doesn’t seem to me,” said Merry, “that it is just the quarter -of the city in which a footpad would seek his prey.” - -“Oh, I don’t know. There are apt to be more desperate characters here -than elsewhere.” - -“And for that very reason respectable persons whom it would pay to -hold up and rob will keep away from here.” - -“This is where sailors get drunk in the dives and are kicked out upon -the street. They must be easy victims. A man could go through their -clothes without much danger.” - -“But they are not likely to have much money after they are kicked out -upon the street.” - -Hodge knew this was true. He realized that the seafaring man would be -used well in a low dive till his money was gone, and then be kicked -out. - -“Still,” he said, “some of them must escape with money on their -persons. Many times they are drunk enough to lie down almost anywhere -and go to sleep. A sneak-thief can go through them while they are -sleeping without――――By Jove! see that! What did I tell you?” - -In a dark doorway a drunken man was curled up fast asleep. Hooker was -seen to halt suddenly and look sharply at the man. Then he approached -the inebriate. - -Frank Merriwell’s heart fluttered. What was he about to witness? In a -twinkling his fancy pictured Hooker, a student of Yale, disguising -himself in old clothes, and coming night after night to this wretched -quarter to pick the pockets of the unfortunates of the streets. - -Bart had clutched Merry’s arm, and he was pointing toward Hooker, -hoarsely and triumphantly whispering: - -“Look――watch!” - -Hooker bent over the man and seemed about to go through his clothes. -Instead of that, he pushed the sleeper’s hat back from his face. Then, -as if not satisfied, he felt in his pockets some moments, found a -match and struck it. For a single moment he held the match so the -light of the blaze fell full and fair on the face of the sleeper. -Then, with a flirt, the match was flung aside. - -“He was making sure the fellow is too drunk to make trouble when he -goes through him,” said Bart. - -“Wait!” whispered Frank. “What is he doing now? He seems trying to -awaken the man.” - -“He’s trying him to find out if he’s dead to the world,” declared -Hodge. - -“No, see――he’s shaking the man! He’s really trying to awaken him!” - -“I don’t believe it!” - -“He’s slapping his face!” - -Smack! smack! smack――the sound of Hooker’s open-handed blows on the -man’s face came plainly to their ears. - -“Well, this is a queer piece of business!” admitted Hodge. - -Frank was more mystified than ever, and now his curiosity was aroused -to an extraordinary pitch. Smack! smack! smack! Hooker continued to -apply the flat of his hand to the man’s face. - -“There is no fooling about that,” said Merriwell. “He’s really trying -to awaken the man.” - -Hooker was heard talking earnestly to the unknown, who had been -aroused in a measure by the stinging blows. He was seen to be dragging -the inebriate to his feet. - -“Well, he is getting him up!” admitted Hodge. - -Frank was relieved. A few moments before he had felt that Hooker was -about to commit an act that would irrevocably brand him as a crook and -a criminal, but nothing of the sort had happened thus far, and it -began to seem that nothing might happen. The disguised student had no -small amount of trouble in getting the man upon his feet. He had -applied heroic measures in arousing him, and the stinging blows from -his open hand had served to awaken the sleeper to a sense of his -position. Now, however, having dragged the man to his feet, Hooker was -finding it difficult to keep him from lying down again. - -“Look here, Hodge,” said Merriwell, “does it occur to you that -Hooker’s purpose may be precisely opposite that with which we have -credited him?” - -“What do you mean?” - -“Why, instead of coming here to rob the unfortunates of the street, it -may be that he comes here to give them such friendly aid as he can.” - -Hodge caught his breath, and then gave a suppressed exclamation of -scorn. - -“No,” he said decidedly, “nothing of the kind occurs to me! Don’t be -foolish enough to suggest anything of the sort, Merriwell. Hooker is -not a blooming idiot, even though he may be a crook!” - -“Well, one thing is certain, thus far we have seen him do nothing -unlawful.” - -“Not yet, but we’re hot on the scent, and you can bet your life on -that.” - -Hooker was forcing the man to walk, holding him by the arm. The -inebriate reeled drunkenly, and then came near falling down. Then, as -if losing patience, the outcast forced his new companion up against -the wall, held him there a moment, then shook him like a rag. - -“He’s bound to shake some of the rum out of the fellow,” chuckled -Frank. - -“He’ll shake it up so it’ll go to the man’s head more than ever,” -declared Bart. - -But after this shaking the stranger seemed to make a mighty effort to -brace up and walk straight, and he did remarkably well, although -Hooker still kept hold of him. Since finding this man, Hooker had -seemed to forget to be suspicious and watch behind him, so Bart and -Frank had no trouble at all in following along. - -The adventure was growing in interest for Frank. It was something new -and novel――something to break the regularity of college life. - -Another drunken man came singing along and ran into Hooker and his -companion. Straightway the man who had been singing attempted to pick -a quarrel, while Hooker tried to avoid him and pass on. The -belligerent individual, however, as soon as he saw Hooker wished to -escape trouble, proceeded to force matters, after the style of a -drunken bully. At last, thoroughly exasperated, Hooker suddenly caught -hold of the man, kicked his feet from beneath him, and let him drop to -the ground in a manner that must have given him a severe jolt. Then he -took his companion’s arm again and they went on. - -“Well,” said Frank, with satisfaction, “I rather fancy the way he did -that.” - -They were on the opposite side of the street, so they had no trouble -in passing the dazed pugilist, who had struggled to his feet and was -looking after Hooker in a bewildered manner that was rather ludicrous. -Hodge was not saying much now. Somehow, this adventure had not turned -out just as he had expected it would, and, although he did not confess -it, he was not a little puzzled by Hooker’s actions. At length Hooker -and his companion came to a corner saloon, from the interior of which -came the sound of men talking loudly and discordantly. Hooker’s -companion seemed to insist on going in there, and, after awhile, the -student consented. - -“Well,” said Hodge, “we’ve run our game into a fine hole at last!” - -“Still,” persisted Frank, “we have seen him do nothing criminal.” - -“We’ve seen him do things that are evidence that he’s up to something -crooked.” - -“Not evidence.” - -“Well, what do you want for evidence?” - -“I want evidence. Instead of doing anything criminal, Hooker picked up -a poor wretch on the street, and――――” - -“Took him into a saloon――into a low dive!” exclaimed Bart scornfully. - -“No, he did not take the man there. The man persisted in going there, -and it was plain to me that Hooker accompanied him with reluctance.” - -“Well, that was not plain to me, if it was to you. I don’t see how you -can hold onto him and pretend to think he is all right after what we -have seen. His every movement since entering the shop of that old Jew -has been that of a sneak and a crook. We have followed him to the -worst quarter of the city, and have seen him enter one of the lowest -dens in company with a drunken man. If that is the sort of chap you -choose to associate with, Frank Merriwell, I am ready to confess that -I don’t know anything at all about you.” - -Never had Bart Hodge been more in earnest, and Frank realized that his -companion was making a strong argument. Still, Merry was not -satisfied, and he refused to throw Hooker over till he learned -something more convincing against him. - -“I’ll guarantee,” said Bart, “that Hooker is in there drinking with -his dopey companion. He prefers to associate with a fellow of that -sort.” - -“I am going in and see what he is doing,” said Frank quietly. - -“And that will be a fine place to get your nut split open!” - -“I think I can take care of myself.” - -“If you go in there, I shall go with you.” - -“I prefer to go alone.” - -“And I refuse to permit it!” - -“You refuse! My dear fellow, I don’t think you will do that.” - -“All the same, I shall. Don’t think for a minute that I will permit -you to take such a risk unless I am with you. That may be a regular -robbers’ den. In fact, I am inclined to believe that it is, else -Hooker would not be going there.” - -“If we both go in there, we may attract attention. If I go in alone, I -shall do so unobtrusively.” - -“You cannot fail to attract attention if you enter that place, old -man, and you know it.” - -“Why not?” - -“Your appearance is somewhat different from the customers who -patronize this joint, I rather think.” - -“But you must remember that I have a way of making myself appear at -home almost anywhere.” - -“But you wear a ring, a scarf-pin, and you have a watch-chain in -view.” - -“I shall remove the scarf-pin, take off the ring, and button my coat -over my vest.” - -“That will not hide your clothes, and you will be conspicuous amid a -lot of sailors and bums.” - -“Still, I believe I can go in there without attracting much attention -to myself. If we go in together, we are far more likely to be noticed -by Hooker.” - -“If you were to go in there and find out that Hooker really was up to -something crooked, what would you do?” - -“Get out quietly, and give Hooker the throw-down at the first -opportunity. Never fear, Bart, if I discover that you are right about -the fellow――if I satisfy myself beyond a doubt that he is what you -believe him to be――I shall treat him as I would any other rascal.” - -“If you get into trouble, old man, you must give me the signal -instantly. I’ll be just outside here, and I’ll come in on the jump. -Will you do it?” - -“Sure thing.” - -“You promise?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well, I hate to have you go alone, but I know how set you are when -you make up your mind to a thing.” - -“Then it is settled! You will wait here?” - -“Don’t see but I’ll have to.” - -“Now you are sensible, old man. You know I have entered joints quite -as tough as this one, and I still live to tell the tale.” - -Bart had great confidence in Merry, but he had desired to be with -Frank when Hooker was discovered in some crooked or criminal act. -Frank removed his scarf-pin and ring and handed them over to Bart. -Then he buttoned his coat tightly across his breast and prepared to -enter the low saloon. - -“Remember,” said Hodge, “if you get into any trouble, just give me the -signal. I’ll be with you in a jiffy.” - -“But you must stay out unless I do give the signal.” - -“Well, I’ll stay out awhile, if I don’t hear a row going on in that -place. If I hear that, I shall get inside to see how you are faring.” - -This was all right, and so Frank walked up to the door, pushed it open -quietly, and entered. He found a lot of tough-looking men drinking in -front of a bar, behind which were two dispensers of drinks. The place -smelled of liquor. The floor was covered with sawdust, well -besprinkled with tobacco juice. Men were smoking vile-smelling pipes -and scarcely less vile-smelling cigars. It was a Saturday-night crowd, -and the most of them seemed bent on getting intoxicated. Among them -were a number of poor laboring men, who were squandering their -hard-earned money in that miserable place. - -Frank walked in as if it were not the first time he had entered the -place, sauntered up to one end of the bar, and stood there quietly. - -“What’ll yer have?” asked one of the barkeepers. - -“Beer,” answered Frank, feeling that it would not do to call for a -soft drink in that place. - -A glass of beer that was half foam was slopped out and placed before -him. He threw down the right pay for it, and the barkeeper turned his -attention to others. - -Merry had no intention of drinking that beer. At his feet was a wooden -box, two-thirds full of sawdust, which served as a cuspidor when any -one cared to use it for that purpose. Into this Merry quietly and -unobservedly turned part of the glass of beer. With the half-emptied -glass on the bar before him, he proceeded to look around, wiping his -mouth. He quickly discovered that neither Hooker nor his companion was -standing before the bar. Further inspection disclosed a back room, the -door to which stood open. In the back room were three tables, at which -men were sitting, drinking and smoking. Hooker and the man he had -picked up on the street were sitting at one of the tables. Without -trouble, Merriwell changed his position slightly, so that he was able -to watch Hooker, while he remained almost entirely concealed by -several men who were standing near. - -Jim Hooker was talking earnestly to the unfortunate man, who sat on -the opposite side of the table. He was not drinking, and Merry -observed that no drink sat before him. The other man seemed impatient, -and one of the waiters brought him something in a glass. Hooker took -the glass and smelled of it, while the waiter shrugged his shoulders -and held out his hand. Then Hooker felt in his pocket, brought out a -dime, and paid for the drink, which he shoved across to the other man. -From the appearance of the drink, Merry quickly decided that it was -some kind of a mixture intended to aid in straightening the -unfortunate inebriate up. The man took it up, tasted it, and made a -face expressive of disgust. Then Hooker urged him to drink it down -quickly. - -Of course, this was interesting to Frank. What did Hooker mean to do -with the man after sobering him off? That was a question that troubled -him some. With some trouble, the man forced himself to drink the -contents of the glass. Just as this was done, Frank saw the barkeeper -catch from off the bar the glass he had half emptied and slop the -remaining contents into a washtank beneath the bar. - -Merry understood what that meant, and he immediately ordered another -glass of beer, which was placed before him. If he was going to keep -his place at the bar, he must buy drinks often. It was Saturday night, -and any one who did not pan out well could not hold a position at that -bar. There were times when Merry felt that it would be an advantage to -smoke, and this was one of them. Had he been smoking, it would not -have seemed so peculiar for him to stand there at the bar, idly gazing -around. - -When Hooker’s companion had disposed of the drink, the outcast fell to -talking to him again in a most earnest manner. The man was surly, and -he seemed to be demanding something. Hooker seemed to argue with him, -but he persisted in his demands. After a time, Hooker felt in his -pockets and took out a little money, which he placed on the table. -This the man eagerly seized, and then it was evident that he demanded -more; but Hooker shook his head and appeared to be declaring that he -had no more. At this the man grew angry. - -“Instead of robbing his new friend,” said Frank to himself, “he is -coughing up to him.” - -At last, Hooker felt in his pocket and took out something which he had -done up in a paper. The paper he stripped off, placing the object on -the table before his companion. It was a watch and chain! - -“Heavens!” muttered Frank Merriwell, starting violently, “is that my -watch?” - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -FRANK WAVERS. - - -Merry felt his heart leap into his throat. Was it possible at last -that there was proof of Hooker’s crookedness? - -Frank almost staggered, as if he had been struck a heavy blow. The -outcast’s companion, a man of at least fifty years, eagerly grasped -the watch and chain. Then, without hesitation, Frank Merriwell started -forward and strode into that room. He was quickly at the side of the -table, and, in a hoarse voice, he demanded: - -“Let me see that watch!” - -Hooker uttered a cry of astonishment. - -“Merriwell!” he gasped, seeming to turn ashen pale. - -The other man thrust the watch and chain into his pocket. Quick as a -flash, Merry clutched him by the collar, again demanding: - -“Let me see that watch!” - -At that instant, somebody struck Merry from behind, dropping him to -the floor in a dazed condition. He saw that two of the men who had -been sitting at another table were on their feet, and one of them had -struck him down. - -“Give it ter der dude!” snarled one. - -“I’ll kick der packin’ outer him!” snarled the other, lifting his -heavy foot. - -With a cry, Jim Hooker flung himself at the man. - -“Stop!” he shouted. “You shall not harm him!” - -In a moment a free fight was taking place in that room. Merry managed -to get upon his feet, but he was attacked by Hooker’s companion and -several others. A shrill, sharp, peculiar whistle came from his lips. -It brought Bart Hodge dashing into that room. - -“Nail them, Merriwell!” shouted Hodge, his eyes flashing as he struck -right and left. - -There were eight or ten ruffians present, but they found those two -college lads lively fighters. Merriwell had been dazed by the blow he -received, but the manner in which Hodge walked into those toughs was -an inspiration, and Frank quickly woke up to the work before him. The -fight was short and sharp, and Merry and Bart made a dash to get out -of the room. The barkeepers and some of those in the other room met -them at the door. They attempted to stop them. - -“Hold on!” cried one of the barkeepers, clutching Hodge. - -“Hands off!” snarled Bart, hitting the fellow a terrible jolt on the -jaw. - -“We can’t stop now,” Merriwell almost laughed, as he upset the other -barkeeper. - -They broke through and rushed out of the place. - -“We had better get away in a hurry,” said Hodge. “This may bring the -police.” - -“If there are any police in the neighborhood,” muttered Frank. “I’d -like to see that watch!” - -“What did you say?” asked Bart. - -“Nothing.” - -“Yes, you did. You said you’d like to see something. What was it?” - -“I’ll tell you later.” - -“All right. Come on.” - -They hastily left the vicinity, getting away in safety. - -“Well, it happened just as I thought it would,” said Bart, as they -walked along. - -Frank did not speak. Hodge looked at him, and saw that Merry was -walking with downcast eyes, an expression of deep depression on his -usually cheerful face. - -“I’m sorry, Frank,” said Hodge seriously, “but you insisted on going -in there.” - -Still Frank said nothing, and Hodge kept on: - -“I told you how it would be. I suppose Hooker was furious when he -found you had followed him, and he set the gang on you?” - -“You’re wrong about that.” - -“Am I?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then how did it happen? Hooker was mixed in that fight. I’m sure he -was trying to do you up.” - -“He wasn’t.” - -“Get out! What was he in the fight for?” - -“He was helping me.” - -“Oh, come off!” - -“It’s true.” - -“You’re dreaming!” - -“No. He kept one of those ruffians from kicking me when I was down. He -attacked the man just as he was going to kick me.” - -“But how did you happen to get into the fight?” - -“I’ll tell you when we get to my room.” - -“Why not now?” persisted Bart, whose curiosity was thoroughly -awakened. “You wouldn’t let me go along with you, and so――――What was -Hooker doing in there?” - -“He was trying to straighten the other man up.” - -“How?” - -“By pouring some kind of a decoction into him.” - -“Then Hooker was drinking?” - -“No.” - -“Why――――” - -“The other man was drinking. Hooker was not touching anything.” - -“Go on. I don’t know that his not drinking makes him any better. What -happened? Go on.” - -“Hooker seemed to be talking to the other man seriously. I had a good -chance to see him. He was a man about fifty years old, and I have an -idea.” - -“About him?” - -“Yes.” - -“You think――――” - -“It is possible that this unfortunate wretch is Hooker’s father.” - -“I thought of that myself,” nodded Bart. “I wondered if it wouldn’t -occur to you. A fine father he has! He must be proud of him! A -criminal and a drunkard!” - -“Without doubt, Hooker is not proud of his father,” said Frank. “I -believe he is anything but proud of him. Have you ever heard how he -happened to get to college?” - -“There’s a story that some old aunt of his who has money is putting -him through, and that he is helping work his way. Work his way! You -can understand what that means. He is working his way with those light -fingers of his.” - -To Bart’s surprise, Merry did not protest his disbelief of this now. -He was silent and sad. - -“I believe you discovered more than you have told me while in that -saloon!” exclaimed Hodge eagerly. “I believe you are convinced of -Hooker’s guilt!” - -“Not thoroughly convinced.” - -But, by these words, Frank had as much as admitted that he was partly -convinced, and that was enough to satisfy Hodge. - -“You are weakening!” he cried; “and you would never do that if you did -not feel that the fellow was guilty. Now, Merry, I believe you can -understand how we felt when you attempted to bring this crooked chap -into our set.” - -“What bothers me,” said Frank, “is that Hooker could be known so -certainly to be crooked and still continue as a student at Yale. It is -remarkable.” - -“Without doubt, there are other fellows in college who are no better -than he, but they have not been spotted.” - -“I don’t like to think so! I don’t like to think that any man who is -living among us here, with all the refining and ennobling influences -of the old college to work for his upbuilding, can be no better than a -common sneak-thief.” - -“You must have seen Hooker rob somebody in the saloon, or you would -not admit that he is a common sneak-thief.” - -“I did not see that.” - -“Well, you saw something that came pretty near settling the matter -with you. But there are other fellows just as bad as Hooker.” - -“Name them.” - -“I do not think Rupert Chickering is much better. He makes a bluff at -being somebody, but he’s a hypocrite and a sneak.” - -“But not a thief.” - -“He doesn’t have to be.” - -“That’s true. There is no telling what he might become if placed in -Hooker’s position.” - -“Still, that does not excuse Hooker,” said Bart quickly, as if fearing -that Frank was looking for something that might be called “extenuating -circumstances.” - -“No, that does not, and still, no matter what Hooker may be, I shall -feel a pang of pity for him.” - -“That’s like you!” - -“If he is a crook, it’s because it’s in his blood.” - -“That’s it! I tell you I believe with Jack Diamond that ‘blood will -tell.’ It is his pet theory. Give a man a father with criminal -instincts, and he is bound to have crooked tendencies.” - -“But I feel that some fellows fight against such tendencies with all -their souls――and conquer! I believe some lads who are tempted to do -wrong things set their faces resolutely toward the right and never -turn back. At first the battle may be hard for them, but they grow -stronger to resist evil as they win victory after victory, till at -last the tempter has no strength to drag them from the straight and -narrow path that leads to the goal of respect, honor, and happiness.” - -“Now you’re talking like a preacher, Merriwell! I don’t like it when -you talk that way! One would think you were never tempted to do -wrong.” - -“But I have been, my friend――I have been! And let me tell you that I -escaped by a narrow margin. That is why I can understand and -sympathize with others who are tempted.” - -“Too much generosity never does them any good. I’ve known criminals to -be sympathized with till they actually came to think themselves the -ones wronged.” - -Frank nodded. - -“I haven’t a doubt of that. Nothing disgusts me so much as the people -who carry flowers to murderers. By their folly, such persons are -encouraging crime. Some other weak-minded wretch with a murderous -tendency sees foolish women and idiotic men making a fuss over a -murderer, and he longs to be fawned over and gazed upon with awe and -admiration, and straightway at the first opportunity he kills -somebody. I have sympathy with those who may be struggling to turn -back from the pathway of crime.” - -“But do you think Jim Hooker is making any such struggle?” - -“I don’t know. He may be.” - -“Well, tell me what you saw in that place, and how you came to get -into the fight.” - -Bart argued till Frank told him everything. When Merry had finished, -Hodge said: - -“That must settle it in your mind, Merriwell. The fellow was in your -room this afternoon before you came. You left the door open, and you -found him there when you returned. Your watch was gone after he -departed. You saw him turning it over to his wretched old father -to-night, and――――” - -“I am not certain yet that it was my watch. I shall make a thorough -search for my watch, and, if I cannot find it――――” - -“What then?” asked Bart eagerly. - -“I am done with Jim Hooker,” said Merry grimly. - -Together they returned to Merriwell’s room. On the campus they met -some of Frank’s friends, but he passed on with a word of greeting to -each. When they were in the room, he said: - -“Now, Hodge, for a search. You shall help me. We will look everywhere -for that watch.” - -“And have all our trouble for nothing,” declared Bart. “You’ll never -see your watch again.” - -Frank began the search. He went through his clothes in the wardrobe. -It was not there. Then he went to his dressing-case in the -sleeping-room. Bart made a pretense of hunting, but, being satisfied -in his mind that Frank had not a chance to success, it was no more -than a pretense. The watch was not in any of the drawers of the -dressing-case. High and low they searched, but without avail. - -“Now, I hope you are satisfied!” exclaimed Bart. - -Frank sat down. - -“I am,” he said. - -“You are ready to give Hooker up?” - -“Yes.” - -Hodge made a struggle to repress his triumph. All he had worked for -was accomplished. Frank Merriwell sat there, staring down at the -floor, dark, depressed, dejected. - -“Come, come!” cried Bart. “You look as if you had lost your best -friend!” - -“I feel as if to-night has seen the death of another of my youthful -confidences in human nature,” said Merry, in a dull voice. “If this -keeps up, I fear for the future.” - -“Oh, come off! Fear for the future! What are you giving us!” - -“The truth. I have seen old men who were crafty, suspicious, doubtful -of all mankind, and I have pitied them, for it has seemed to me that -they were the most miserable of human beings. If I thought I might -become like one of those I should be wretched now!” - -“Bosh! They are the limit. It’s well enough to be on one’s guard -against deception and crookedness, but you must know there is such a -thing as honesty in the world. You must know there is such a thing as -true friendship. There are your own friends――――” - -“And they fled before me when I――――” - -Frank stopped, and Hodge quickly picked him up. - -“When you attempted to introduce a crook to them. Do you wonder? You -cannot blame them.” - -Merry rose and walked slowly to the mantel, against which he leaned. - -“I suppose not,” he finally said. “They were right and I was wrong. I -shall confess my mistake to them. A little while ago I felt that the -time would come when I should be able to make them all acknowledge -that they were wrong.” - -“Is that what’s hit you so hard? Come out of it! You need not say a -word about it to any of them, and you may be sure not one of your real -friends will ever mention it to you.” - -“That is not my way. If I make a mistake, I am ready to acknowledge it -no matter how hard it may be for me. The fellow who cannot bring -himself to acknowledge a mistake makes himself miserable and gets the -reputation of being bull-headed. It is not because I must confess I -was wrong that I am feeling bad. It is because an ideal is shattered.” - -“You are sorry for Hooker, Merriwell, that’s why you feel so bad.” - -Frank was silent. - -“Think it over a little,” advised Hodge quickly. “Should you be sorry -for a fellow who could do what he has done? You picked him up an -outcast, and you attempted to bring him into your set, the best set in -college. When your friends turned their backs on him, you stood by -him. How did he reward you? He stole your watch!” - -Frank nodded slowly. - -“He did, poor devil!” - -“Poor devil! Poor nothing! He’s a cheap sneak!” - -“It is plain that he was compelled to take something to his father, -for that man surely was his father. He did not have money, and so he -felt that he was compelled to get something.” - -“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, don’t try to excuse him that way! Other things -have been stolen. It is certain now that he is the college -sneak-thief. It is evident that he takes his booty to his miserable -old father, or to this pal of his, and the one to whom he takes it -disposes of the stuff and raises the money on it. It is a combination -for crime. I do not believe he is deserving of your sympathy in the -least, and you make me sick by wasting any sympathy on him!” - -Frank was forced to confess that Bart might be right. Hodge talked to -him some time. - -“I’m tired,” said Merry, at last. “I must go to bed.” - -“Then I’ll be going.” - -“Wait a little. Wait till I undress. Let’s talk of old times, Bart――of -old times at Fardale! Let’s try to forget this! Talk to me of -something else, my friend, while I prepare for bed.” - -So Bart remained yet a little longer and talked to Frank, who slowly -began to undress. The light in the little sleeping-room was turned on, -and Bart sat by the door. Frank moved about slowly, as if weary in -every limb. It was plain to Hodge that he must pass a wretched night. - -After a time, Merry opened the bed, turning down the clothes. As he -did so, he paused and uttered a cry. Then he clutched something and -held it up, shouting: - -“Look here, Hodge!” - -“What is it?” cried Bart, starting up. - -“My watch!” exclaimed Merry joyfully. - -“Good heavens!” gasped Bart, and he sat down again in a helpless, -flabbergasted way. - -“It was there,” cried Frank, “under the pillow. I remember now that -when I changed my clothes I flung it on the bed. It must have slid -under the pillow! That’s why I could not find it.” - -Hodge was speechless. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -AN OUTCAST NO LONGER. - - -It is needless to say that neither Frank Merriwell nor Bart Hodge -related to their friends the adventure of that night. Of course, Merry -was overjoyed by the discovery of his watch just where he had left it, -and, of course, Bart was completely upset. - -“It is quite probable now,” said Frank, “that Hooker gave his own -watch to his father, when that person demanded money and he was unable -to furnish it. You must respect Hooker for the act, Hodge.” - -He pledged Bart to secrecy, and, on the following day, Merry took -pains to hunt Hooker up. Of course, Jim was confused and abashed. He -wondered how Frank had happened to be in such a quarter. Frank told -him. - -“Hooker,” he said, “I am going to tell you just what I did last night, -and then, if you are too angry to forgive me, you can tell me what you -think of me. I am heartily ashamed of the whole affair, and I ask your -pardon.” - -“Ask my pardon?” gasped Hooker. “What for?” - -“I’ll tell you,” and then Merry related the whole story, excepting -that he took all the blame on his own shoulders, never once mentioning -that Hodge had led him into the piece of detective work. - -Hooker listened to the end, his face betraying his changing emotions. - -“There,” said Frank, at last, “that’s the whole of it. Now you know -why I happened to be in that dive on the water-front. You know that, -for all of my protestations of absolute friendship, I did not trust -you fully. I am ashamed of it all, and I beg your pardon.” - -“I don’t wonder that you did not trust me,” said Hooker. “Nobody seems -to do that!” - -The words cut Frank to the quick. - -“Yet I told you that I did.” - -“Well, you wanted to make sure that I was on the level. It’s all -right. Anybody in your place would have done the same. The man that I -picked up was my father,” he went on, his face flushing and then -turning deathly pale. “He was an honest man till convicted of a crime -he never committed. When he came out of prison the brand of a criminal -was on him, and he found himself regarded with distrust by everybody. -Nobody offered him a helping hand, and he could not obtain any -position of trust. Then he took to drink and went to the bad. I don’t -believe he ever did anything very bad, but he is a fallen man now. He -cares for nothing but drink, drink, drink. At times he is ashamed of -himself and tries to do better, but it is too late. At other times, -when hard up, he becomes desperate. He has found that I am here at -Yale, and he has come here that he may be near me. At times he -threatens to come here to the campus and show himself if I do not -furnish him money. When he is in his cups, I cannot reason with him. I -have to furnish him with money. Last night I had no money. I knew he -would be expecting me Saturday night, and I knew where I might find -him. I left college in my regular clothes and changed them for a -wretched suit at the Jew’s store, so that I might be disguised when I -went there. A man who is dressed in a decent manner attracts attention -there. That was my reason for changing my clothes. As I said, I had no -money, not having received any from my aunt on Saturday, as usual. He -would not listen, and, as a last resort, in order to keep him silent, -I gave him my watch to pawn. That is all.” - -Frank grasped Hooker’s hand. - -“My dear fellow,” he cried, “you have my sympathy and admiration! If I -can help you in any way, you may depend on me!” - -“Thank you, Mr. Merriwell.” - -“Don’t call me that. You are one of my friends now, if you can forget -and forgive my suspicions. Call me Merry.” - -“All right,” said the outcast, with a bit of a smile on his face; “but -don’t call me Hookie! Let it be Jim, will you, Merry?” - -“Sure thing, Jim!” - - * * * * * - -Frank Merriwell had called together his set in his room. They had -gathered at the call, wondering what it meant. They chattered, and -joked, and speculated. Browning was the last one to come loafing in. - -“What’s this?” he asked; “a riot, or a peace conference?” - -“Make yourself comfortable, old man,” said Merry, “and I will tell -you. All are here now.” - -“Well, they’re pretty thick,” grunted Bruce. “I don’t see how a man is -going to make himself comfortable in this jam.” - -“Friends,” said Merry, taking the center of the room and looking -round, “of course, you know there is some extraordinary reason why I -have brought you here to-night. I am not going to make a long talk, -but I am coming straight to the point. There is in this college a man -who has been maligned, lied about, and disgraced. His worst enemies -are Rupert Chickering’s set. Chickering and his gang have done more -than anybody else to hurt this unfortunate student. They have put the -brand of criminal upon him and made him an outcast. The man I speak -about is Jim Hooker.” - -“I thought so!” muttered somebody. - -Frank went on: “Hooker is believed to be crooked. I saw him and took -pity on him. I brought him here to this room, and some of my friends, -who were present, fled precipitately, refusing to be introduced to -him. It cut me pretty deep, but since then I have taken pains to -investigate Hooker and his history. I am not going to tell you how I -did it, but I am going to tell you what I found out. I found out that -Jim Hooker is thoroughly honest, that his father was imprisoned for a -crime he did not commit, and other things in the poor fellow’s favor. -I have not found one thing against him. I have learned many things -that lead me to respect him highly. Now”――Frank looked at his -watch――“I have a few more words to say. I have invited Hooker to come -here at eight o’clock this evening. He will be here in ten minutes. -There is just time for all to get out who may desire. He does not know -why I wish him to be present at eight, but it is to meet my friends -who remain to be introduced to him and to treat him like a man and a -member of our set. Those who remain here will still remain my friends; -those who go――will go!” - -There was no misunderstanding Frank’s meaning. The assembled fellows -looked at each other. - -Bart Hodge stepped out. - -“Merriwell is right,” he said. “You know what I have thought of -Hooker. Well, I was with Merry when he made his investigations. I -think now that Jim Hooker is a square man, and the fellow who refuses -to meet him to-night will prove himself a cad. I shall meet him and -ask his pardon for any slur I may have cast upon him!” - -When Bart Hodge spoke like that it meant a great deal. - -“Come,” said Frank, watch in hand, “Hooker may appear any moment. -Those who wish to go had better get out right away.” - -“It seems to me,” said Harry Rattleton, looking around, “that there -are not many going out. I shall stay.” - -They all stayed, and when Jim Hooker appeared five minutes later he -received the surprise of his life. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -SENSATIONAL WORK. - - -“Yale is weakening!” - -“Brown will score!” - -“That’s hot work!” - -“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” - -The spectators were excited. The college men were wild. The rooters of -the Providence University were barking like a pack of foxes: - -“’rah, ’rah, ’rah, ’rah, ’rah, ’rah!” - -Yale was playing Brown on the gridiron of the latter team. It was near -the end of the second half. The Providence men had played like fiends, -but the sons of Old Eli were out to show what they could do, and they -had scored 18 points, while the score of their opponents could still -be designated by 0. But Brown was desperate now. Remembering its good -work against Pennsylvania, it became furious in its efforts to score -on Yale. It bucked the blue line savagely again and again, and each -time it seemed that some of the New Haven men were left disabled and -carried from the field. - -Sitting on the bleachers with the great mass of Yale rooters, Bruce -Browning groaned. - -“If this keeps up much longer,” he said, “we won’t have a man left who -is not disabled. They’re lugging a man off every minute! It’s the ruin -of the eleven!” - -“Sheep your kirt on――I mean keep your shirt on!” spluttered Harry -Rattleton. “Merriwell’s still in the game.” - -“Yes, but he’s been laid out twice, and he’s staying by sheer grit. He -may be a total wreck when the game is over.” - -“Hodge has been carried off unconscious,” said Ben Halliday, his face -white and drawn. “And they say Badger has a dislocated shoulder.” - -“Don’t mention him!” snapped Jack Diamond. “What if he has a -dislocated shoulder!” - -“He can play football.” - -“Bah! He’s treacherous! More than once he’s tried to hurt Merriwell in -the game.” - -“Still, it is strange that Merriwell himself declares Badger is one of -the best half-backs Yale ever had.” - -“Merriwell is too generous!” - -A roar went up all round the enclosed field. A double pass had been -made, and a Brown man was going clean round Yale’s end, having tricked -the defenders of the blue. If he got round, an open field lay before -him, and the Providence team would score. Roar, roar, roar――how the -sound rose to the dull autumn sky. Flags were fluttering everywhere, -while men and women were on their feet shouting at the top of their -voices. - -The Yale men sat still without breathing, watching, waiting, hoping. -Out of the tangled mass shot a man. He was so covered with dirt that -it was almost impossible to tell whether he was a Yale man or an -enemy. He went at the man with the ball like a shot out of a gun. - -“Who is it?” - -“He can’t catch him!” - -“Brown scores!” - -“It’s Thurlow, with the ball!” - -“He can run like the wind!” - -“He’s flying!” - -“So’s t’other fellow!” - -“He’s catching him!” - -“He’ll do it!” - -“He’s caught him and tackled!” - -“Thurlow’s down!” - -Then the uproar became indescribable, for a Yale man had stopped the -swift runner with the ball on the Yale fifteen-yard line. It had been -done by splendid speed, although the runner had covered the ground in -a queer, awkward, toeing-in manner. Then came the Yale cheer rolling -across the gridiron. - -Harvard had not permitted Brown to score, but Harvard had scored but -twelve points against her. Yale led by six points, if she could keep -the Providence team from making fifteen yards more before the finish. -Of course, Yale was anxious to defeat Brown by a greater score than -Harvard had done, as it would give the sons of Old Eli courage for the -coming battle with the crimson. “Battle” is the word, for surely it -was more of a battle than a game. According to fixed rules and an -established code, the two elevens fought like untamed tigers for the -mastery. - -Brown’s exultation had been temporary. While it lasted they had seemed -frantic, but now the Yale men were whooping it up. - -“Who did it?” - -“Who stopped him?” - -“What’s his name?” - -“Anybody know him?” - -“One of the substitutes, did you say?” - -“A freshman?” - -“What name?” - -“Ready――Jack Ready? Well, I propose a cheer for Jack Ready. His name -fits him. He was ready that time.” - -They cheered again and again. There were plenty of freshmen present, -and they nearly split their throats. The glory of this game was coming -to their class, for Ready had made the sensational play of the day. - -The two elevens were lined up for the final struggle. It must be -nearly time for the game to close. Brown was preparing for one more -furious onslaught. She must gain fifteen yards to score, or kick a -goal from the field. The game was on again, and Brown was bucking -Yale’s line. She made a clean gain of five yards before her first -down. Only ten yards more and Brown would have a touch-down. Her -eleven men seemed like raging fiends, ready to shed their life blood -in order to put the pigskin over the goal-line. - -“They’ll do it!” - -“It looks that way!” - -“Our team is too weak now!” - -“Too many substitutes.” - -“I’d rather give a leg than see them score!” - -The Yale men were dejected, although they were doing what they could -to cheer their men to hold fast. - -Brown men were urging their eleven on. A great crowd of the Providence -students broke out singing: - - “Baldwin, Baldwin, we’ve been thinking - What a score there’s sure to be; - Now that you are back at quarter, - Lead the team to victory. - - “Hogan, Hogan, hear the slogan - Swelling forth in ringing tones; - Show ’em how to hit the line now, - Give ’em one more dose of Jones. - - “Hersey, George and Walter Hersey, - You are sure to do your share; - Poor old Yale will get no mercy, - You must soak her now for fair.” - -The sound of that song floated across the field, and, it seemed, if -possible, to make the Providence players more terrible than ever. -Still they were held without a gain for a down. But what might happen -in another minute! It was the critical point of the game. - -Again Brown bucked. - -There was a fumble! Then came a furious mix-up. And then―――― - -Out of the midst of the tangle shot a man with the ball, carrying it -toward Brown’s goal. After him came nine panting foes, with two of the -Brown men left to recover more slowly. Now the excitement was -something tremendous. Realizing that a Yale man had secured the ball -on a fumble and was racing for another touch-down, the sons of Old Eli -stood up, climbed on each other and thundered their admiration and -applause. In the midst of all this uproar nearly fifty students, who -were together in a bunch, could be heard shrieking: - -“Merriwell! Merriwell! ’rah! ’rah! ’rah!” - -It is pretty certain that the man with the ball was recognized by -almost every college student within that enclosure. It was Frank. And -now Merriwell showed them what running really is. The manner in which -he flew over the ground was something marvelous. One Brown man made an -awful spurt to catch him. It was the fellow who had been pulled down -by Jack Ready. Merry drew away from him with apparent ease. - -“Satan can’t stop him now!” - -“It’s another touch-down!” - -“Is he running, or flying?” - -“Yell, boys――yell!” - -They could not stop him. Over the line he carried the ball, and -another touch-down was made. Then a goal was kicked, and the game was -over. - -Yale had doubled Harvard’s score against Brown. - -And in the last moments of the game Frank Merriwell had eclipsed the -sensational feat of Jack Ready and robbed the freshman of some of his -glory. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -JACK READY. - - -Bruised and battered, yet triumphant and rejoicing, the Yale players -were returning to New Haven by rail. The train was packed by the -students who had accompanied them. They were being praised and -congratulated by every one. Bart Hodge, with his head bound up, sat -quietly listening, a look of satisfaction on his face. Badger was -near, talking to some friends. He winced and showed pain when somebody -accidentally hit his right shoulder. Other men had been badly injured, -and, but for their laughter, they were a rather sorry-looking lot. But -Rattleton declared that, as long as they had won, they’d laugh if -every man of them had been killed. - -The students were singing and shaking hands with each other. - -“Poor old Harvard!” cried Parker, standing on a seat. “How bad she’ll -feel! She only made twelve points against Brown!” - -“We’ll use her just as bad when we get against her,” declared Rick -Powell. - -“If we’re not all in hospital when that time comes,” groaned an -injured player. “Those Providence fellows are devils!” - -“They seemed determined to kill somebody before the game was over,” -said Pooler. “I thought they’d do it, too.” - -“I believe you are the only man, Merriwell, who escaped without being -hurt,” said Fred Birch, with somethink like envy. - -“Think so?” smiled Frank. - -“Yes. I’ve got a wrenched knee.” - -“And I have a knocked-out shoulder,” said Badger. - -“And I a sprained ankle,” said another. - -“And I a wrenched back,” from another. - -“And Hodge has a broken head,” declared somebody, speaking for Bart. - -“And every other man but Merriwell is a cripple,” asserted Walt -Forrest. “Merriwell is the luckiest dog alive. Why, he couldn’t get -hurt! Did you ever get hurt, Merriwell?” - -For a reply, Frank held up a hand which he had been keeping out of -sight, pulling a handkerchief bandage off his wrist, which was seen -terribly swollen. There were exclamations of astonishment on all -sides. - -“Why, you didn’t say a word about it?” cried Birch. - -Frank laughed. - -“What was the good of saying anything?” he asked. “The others were -saying enough. I didn’t need to add my plaint to theirs.” - -“But you should have had that attended to, old man.” - -“I did,” said Frank. “If you other fellows hadn’t been so plastered -with linement, you’d smelled the stuff I have on this handkerchief. -The doctor told me to keep my wrist wet with it.” - -Merry took a bottle out of his pocket and poured some of its contents -on the handkerchief. Then, having restored the bottle to his pocket, -he bound the handkerchief about his wrist with remarkable ease and -skill, and without assistance. - -“Well, we are in a bad way!” cried Birch. “Is there a man who did -anything worth doing on the team to-day who was not hurt?” - -Up rose a round-faced, red-cheeked fellow. He saluted with a flourish. - -“Gentlemen,” he said, “behold me! I am the man. I’ll permit you to -touch the hem of my garment――if your hands are clean.” - -There was a shout. Men crowded forward. The one who had risen and -proclaimed himself the only uninjured player folded his arms and -struck an attitude, with his hat on the side of his head. - -“Napoleon crossing the Delaware,” he cried. “No, I mean Washington -crossing the Alps. Am I not real interesting to behold? Look at me -carefully.” - -“Well, they should put that in a cage!” exclaimed Harry Rattleton. - -“Sir, how dare you!” squawked the student. “Are you aware whom you are -undressing?” - -“Who is he?” asked several, who could not obtain a good view. - -“It’s Ready――Jack Ready, the freshman who kept Brown from scoring.” - -“He’s all right!” - -“He did a good trick!” - -“He should be tried again!” - -“He will be!” - -“Bet your life on that!” - -Still with partly folded arms, Ready made a queer little flourishing -gesture with one hand. - -“Listen,” he said; “hear the multitude murmur its admiration. -This――this is fame!” - -“Well, what do you think of that?” muttered Jack Diamond, in Frank -Merriwell’s ear. - -Frank was smiling. - -“He’s interesting,” Merry declared. - -“Interesting!” retorted Jack. “Why, he acts like a fool!” - -“Thanks,” said Ready, who seemed to have wonderfully sharp ears. “It’s -my natural way, but if you have it copyrighted for your own use, sir, -I’ll try to act differently.” - -The face of the Virginian flushed. - -“I did not speak to you, sir!” he flashed. - -“No; but you spoke of me, and I happened to hear what you said. I -don’t mind, as you’re not worth minding.” - -“You’re too fresh!” said Diamond. - -“You’re not the man to put salt on my tail,” was the instant retort. -“What did you ever do? You never made a touch-down in your life. You -can’t play football. I don’t believe you can play marbles. You should -be silent in the presence of your superiors.” - -That was too much for Jack Diamond. - -“Of all the swelled heads I ever saw, you are the biggest!” he -exclaimed. “Just because you happened to get a chance to play a few -minutes to-day, you have an idea that you are something remarkable.” - -“I divided the honors with Frank Merriwell,” said Ready. “Any fellow -with a sense of fairness will acknowledge that.” - -“Oh, go fall on yourself!” retorted Diamond. - -“I’m no contortionist, nor yet a magician,” said Ready quickly. “I -can’t fall on myself, but I may fall on you some day.” - -“Any time you like you may try it!” flared Jack, rising to his feet, -his face pale and his eyes glittering. “I’ll give you a reason now.” - -But Frank Merriwell got hold of the hot-blooded Virginian and pulled -him down. - -“Let up on this!” commanded Frank. “It’s a fine time to be picking up -trouble! We have won a great victory, and we should rejoice. Don’t -both of you be fools!” - -“All right,” said Ready; “I’ll leave that privilege to your friend, -Mr. Merriwell. I believe he has a reputation as a fire-eater. I shall -expect a challenge from him. We will meet on the field of honor――not!” - -Diamond felt like attacking Ready then and there, but Frank would not -have it. - -“He’s an insolent prig!” panted the Southerner. “He has insulted you, -Merriwell, by claiming to have divided honors with you on the field -to-day.” - -“I think I can stand it,” laughed Frank. - -Of course the victors were given a reception at the campus. There were -no bonfires, but there was plenty of shouting, singing, and -speech-making. Merriwell made a speech that aroused great enthusiasm. -He compared Yale’s record against Brown with that of Harvard. The -score seemed to indicate that the blue was far stronger than the -crimson. The time was close at hand when that point would be settled -on the gridiron, and Merry promised that Old Eli would put up a fight -that would make every Yale man thrill with joy and pride. When this -speech was over, a great crowd gathered about Frank near the fence, to -congratulate him and shake his hand. He was forced to give them his -left hand, on account of the injury to his right wrist. - -“We’re going to do just what I said, fellows,” he declared. “Harvard -is overconfident. She thinks she is absolutely sure to win, and that’s -where she’ll slip a cog this year. All we need is the right amount of -confidence and determination, and we’ll give her a splendid -trouncing.” - -“Hurrah!” cried a voice. “With you on the eleven, we’ll do the trick, -Merriwell!” - -“Three cheers for Merriwell!” - -The cheers were given. - -“Now, don’t get the idea that any one man is going to do it all,” -laughed Frank. “It will take an altogether fight, and it must be made -by every good man we can find.” - -“Ready! Ready!” cried a voice from the background. “What’s the matter -with Jack Ready?” - -“He’s all right!” shouted a score of freshmen. - -“Who are those chumps?” growled Browning. - -“A lot of freshmen,” said Halliday. “Ready is the only freshman who -has done anything worth mentioning this year, and they are making the -most of it.” - -Frank Merriwell was ready enough to acknowledge ability in another -person. - -“Ready seems to be all right,” he said immediately. “I don’t know much -about him; but I do know he kept Brown from scoring to-day, and――――” - -“I don’t know about that!” piped Danny Griswold. “I had a fine chance -to see everything. I was on Dismal Jones’ shoulders. I think Brown -would have scored for all of Jack’s work if you had not secured the -ball on a fumble, Merriwell, and broke out of that bunch like a wild -steer on the rampage. I believe you are the one who kept Brown from -scoring.” - -“Shame! shame!” cried a number of voices. “It’s an attempt to rob -Ready of the credit that is due him!” - -Then there was an uproar, but Frank quieted it. - -“No one wishes to rob Ready of the least credit,” he said. “It was -plain enough that Thurlow would have made a touch-down if Ready had -not overtaken him, tackled beautifully, and brought him to earth. Jack -Ready must have the credit of stopping that touch-down.” - -Then the freshmen whooped like Indians. - -“But hold on!” rang out the voice of Diamond. “That’s not the whole of -it. For all that Ready did, Brown would have scored had you not -secured the ball as you did. You are the one, Merriwell, who deserves -the real credit, just as Griswold says.” - -Then there came mutterings low and angry from the freshmen, swelling -louder and louder. - -“It’s a mean trick!” - -“Diamond tried to quarrel with him.” - -“Merriwell’s friends are greedy.” - -“They want him to have all the glory.” - -“He can’t rob Ready!” - -“These freshies make me sick!” said Ned Moon. “If one of them happens -to do a little something, they raise a great howl over it.” - -Other sophomores expressed themselves in a similar manner, and, before -long, there was considerable excitement. The sophs gathered swiftly, -and the freshmen saw what was coming, so they did not wait, but took -the offensive. Locking arms about each other, they made a rush to -break up the meeting, and they swept the sophomores down, after a -stout resistance. Then the freshmen, in a great body, marched about -singing and shouting. Jack Ready was found, and he was placed at their -head. Some of them caught him up and carried him around the campus. A -poetical freshman composed some doggerel, and soon it seemed that the -entire body was chanting: - - “Ready, Ready, he is heady, - He’s a peach! - He’s a hummer, he’s a comer, - As a runner, he’s a stunner―― - He’s a peach! - - “Ready, Ready, sure and steady, - He’s a bird! - He’s a rusher, he’s a crusher, - He’s a wonder――yes, by thunder, - He’s a bird!” - -Of course, the sophomores were exasperated beyond measure. For some -time the freshmen had been growing bolder and bolder, despite several -lessons administered to them by the sophomores, and they seemed to -take this occasion to show their lack of fear and their feeling of -perfect independence. Ready sat complaisantly on the shoulders of his -classmates, waving his hat on the end of a cane. It was certain that -he enjoyed his notoriety, yet he seemed to regard the whole thing from -a humorous point of view. - -“Behold great Cæsar!” he cried. “I will now give you a faithful and -lifelike representation of his entry into Rome, New York. Keep your -admiring eyes glued upon me. For this purpose I would recommend -LeFarges’ liquid glue, sold everywhere at retail for ten cents a -bottle.” - -Frank Merriwell and a group of his particular friends saw all this. - -“Isn’t it enough to make any one tired!” exclaimed Diamond. - -“I don’t know,” laughed Frank. “I believe we used to act like that -when we were freshmen.” - -“I never did!” declared the Virginian. - -“Then you missed a lot of fun,” asserted Merry. - -The sophomores had gathered in a body on the walk, blocking the -advance of the freshmen. The two classes came together with a fearful -crush. The men clung to each other, and the crowding was something -awful. Men who were in the middle were unable to breathe, and their -eyes bulged from their heads. The upper classmen looked on in placid -contemplation of the scene. They had witnessed such things before, and -had taken part in similar rushes. - -But it was the unexpected that happened. The sophomores, smarting over -their treatment of a short time before, had gathered in a body to turn -the tables on the freshmen. But the freshmen held the sidewalk, -although a few men were picked off on the outside, and the sophomores -were fairly crowded out and swept away. It was a fair-and-square -victory for the freshmen. Again and again the sophomores returned to -the attack, but they were unable to resist the freshmen that night. - -“Well, that’s like old times!” chuckled Frank. “It makes me feel just -like taking a hand, and the sophs seem to need assistance.” - -“They do,” grunted Browning. “They need it bad. The freshmen will own -the campus after this. That fellow Ready will be cock of the walk.” - -It was some time later, while Frank and his friends still lingered, -discussing the rush, that Jack Ready and some chums came up. They were -in time to hear Rattleton tell about the matter in which the sophs had -walked all over the freshmen the second year of Merriwell’s college -life. - -Ready laughed. - -“It would be a good thing for the sophomores if they had somebody like -Merriwell to help ’em out now,” he observed. - -“Well, it would be a bad thing for the freshmen if they had,” flung -back Rattleton. - -“Oh, I don’t know!” grinned Jack. “I’d enjoy it, I assure you. -Merriwell was lucky in his soph year. There is a different freshman -class now.” - -“Such conceit makes me sick!” muttered Diamond. “What he needs is to -have some of it taken out of him. You’d be just the fellow to do the -job, Frank.” - -“And I’m beginning to think I’d rather like to try it,” nodded Merry. - -“Then you’re just the man we’re looking for,” said Phil Porter. “We -have decided to give Ready a little hazing Monday night. Are you in?” - -“Sure thing,” smiled Frank. “I think I’ll enjoy it.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -MERRY CALLS ON READY. - - -Frank Merriwell and a number of friends stood outside Mrs. -Harrington’s freshman boarding-house that evening about nine o’clock. - -“That is his room,” declared Hodge, pointing to a lighted window. -“He’s up there with a gang of his friends.” - -“A rather bad time to get him out, isn’t it?” asked Danny Griswold. -“We’ll have to wait till his friends leave.” - -“We can’t afford to wait,” said Halliday. “Time is precious. We must -get him out.” - -“How?” - -“Go up in a body and capture him.” - -“There are seven of us,” said Browning. “We ought to be able to do -that.” - -“What do you say, Merriwell?” - -“Well, we might do it, and we might get into the hottest nest we ever -struck. You all ought to know what a freshman boarding-house is when -it is aroused.” - -“It’s a nest,” nodded Hodge. - -“A wasp’s nest,” agreed Griswold. “Some of us would get stung.” - -“Another thing,” said Frank, “we can’t afford to let it be generally -known that we took a hand in the hazing of a freshman. That kind of -business is left for the sophs.” - -“And the sophs left us to bring the man.” - -“Because they thought he would not suspect us, and we might be able to -inveigle him into coming without making a rumpus.” - -“I’ll go up and bring him down,” grunted Browning. “I’d rather not -tackle the job, but something must be done.” - -“Then,” said Frank, “leave the job to me.” - -“Will you do it?” - -“Yes.” - -“How?” - -“I don’t know now; but I’ll find a way. I want you to have a closed -cab here in about fifteen minutes. Get it here as soon as that, and -have the driver onto the game.” - -“We’ll do it.” - -“Now get out of sight. I’m going in.” - -They scattered, and Merry advanced up the steps and rang the -door-bell. Mrs. Harrington’s daughter appeared at the door. - -“Good evening, Miss Harrington,” said Merry, tipping his hat politely. -“Have you forgotten me?” - -“I think I have,” said the angular maiden, rather suspiciously. “Be -you a softmore?” - -“No, indeed,” answered Merry. “I am a junior.” - -“’Case if you were a softmore,” said Miss Harrington, “I should give -you warning to keep away from here. They have near pestered the -patience out of mother.” - -“I boarded here once, Miss Harrington. I am Frank Merriwell.” - -“Land! Do tell! Come right in! Mother will be delighted to see you.” - -Frank entered, and soon he was listening to the woes of Mrs. -Harrington, as related by herself. - -“Oh, Mr. Merriwell!” said the widow; “it’s not many young men there do -be nowadays like you. When you were here peace and quietness reigned -beneath this roof, but now it is quite a different story.” - -Frank concealed a smile behind his hand, as he thought of the hot -times in that house when he boarded there. Mrs. Harrington had -repeatedly told him that her boarders at that time were the worst she -had ever known. With the good lady, her last lot of boarders always -were the worst. - -“I understand,” said Frank, “that you have one fine young gentleman -stopping here.” - -“Goodness knows who it can be!” cried Mrs. Harrington. “To me they all -seem a set of ruffians. Will you listen to that?” - -Down the stairs came the sound of a freshman song, bellowed by at -least a dozen persons, each one of whom seemed trying to roar forth -the words louder than the rest. - -“They’s a lot of them up there holding some kind of a jollification -this minute,” said the widow. “It will be fortunate if they do not -break down the doors and smash the windows before they finish.” - -It was like a breath of his freshman days to Frank, and it gave him a -feeling of pleasure. - -“They seem to be lovely singers,” he said. - -“I don’t call that singing!” sniffed the boarding-house keeper. “It’s -howlin’. Did you ever hear anything like it in all your born days?” - -“I think I have,” laughed Frank. “But I was speaking to you of a fine -young gentleman who is stopping here, Mr. Jack Ready.” - -“Him!” cried the widow. “Oh, he is the very worst! I never saw his -match! He don’t do a thing but raise Cain all the time, and he’s the -worst practical joker.” - -“Is that so?” exclaimed Frank. “Now, I had supposed that he was -exceedingly quiet and refined.” - -“Why, he plays his senseless jokes on me――me, Mr. Merriwell! He has -done so repeatedly.” - -“I am surprised!” - -“I’ve threckened to turn him out of the house more than once, but he -has such a soft way of getting round me that I’ve continnered to let -him stay.” - -Frank knew what that meant. Mrs. Harrington had a way of being -pacified with a V. Whenever she rose in her majesty and asserted -herself, she could be soothed by a peace-offering in the way of a -collection taken up by one of her lodgers. - -“There has been some talk of taking Mr. Ready into the Y. M. C. A.,” -said Frank gravely. “I have called to talk matters over with him.” - -“I’m afeared you have called at a bad time. Howsoever, I’ll go up and -tell him you are here.” - -“Stay,” said Frank, “perhaps you had better permit me to go directly -to his room. If the friends with him knew my mission, they might -object.” - -This was true enough. Merry knew there was talk of taking every new -student at Yale into the Y. M. C. A., and he had simply stated that he -had called to see Ready on “business,” without explaining what sort of -business. At first Mrs. Harrington hesitated, but, as Frank was not a -sophomore, she finally consented to let him go direct to Ready’s room, -and gave him directions for finding it. The directions were quite -unnecessary, for the uproar of sounds was sufficient to guide Frank -aright. - -Having mounted two flights of stairs, Frank rapped on the door from -beyond which came the terrible uproar. His first knock was not heard, -and he almost cracked the door-panel the next time. Then somebody -inside yelled: - -“Come in!” - -Frank turned the knob, pushed open the door, and walked in. As he -stepped through the doorway, he was drenched from head to feet by a -pailful of water, which had been suspended in such a manner that the -top of the door struck the bottom of the pail and upset its contents. -There was a shout of delight from the roomful of freshmen as the water -descended on Frank. - -Then somebody threw a boxing-glove, which struck Merry fairly between -the eyes. - -“Water surprise!” punned Frank, as he drew out his handkerchief and -began to wipe his clothes. - -“It’s Merriwell!” cried several. - -“Hello, Merriwell!” said Jack Ready himself. “Has it been raining -outside?” - -“There was a heavy shower just as I came in,” retorted Frank -good-naturedly. - -The freshmen were delighted, and they showed it by laughing -uproariously. - -“If I had known you were coming I might have loaned you your -umbrella,” chuckled Ready. - -“I haven’t a doubt of it,” nodded Frank. “Somebody stole it two weeks -ago.” - -“I trust you will pardon me, but I have a fondness for silk -umbrellas,” said Jack. “I am making a collection of them.” - -Frank was perfectly good-natured. He did not seem ruffled in the least -by the ducking he had received, and the freshmen admired him for that. -The room was full of smoke. Every man present, Ready included, seemed -to be smoking like mad. - -“I wish,” observed Frank, looking round, “I had thought to bring along -a ham. I might have one cured here in a very short time.” - -They gathered about to shake his hand, but he begged to be excused on -account of his lame wrist. - -“I called to congratulate Mr. Ready on his splendid work in the Brown -game.” - -“Thank you,” said Jack, with a profound bow. “Do I not bear my honors -becomingly?” - -“Very so-so,” laughed Frank, for Ready had a queer way of saying -simple things, a way that was highly ludicrous. - -“Um-yum,” mumbled the freshman. “I am exceedingly modest, and I blush -and tremble in the calcium-light glare of publicity which has been -turned upon me of late.” - -“But there are still greater honors in store for you,” declared Frank. - -“Refuse me!” cried Jack. “I am afraid I shall be unable to stand the -severe strain.” - -“Oh, I think you’ll pull through! If you keep up the good work, you’ll -get there.” - -“Where is there?” - -“Yonder.” - -“I half suspected it,” said the freshman meditatively. “I feared that -there could not be here. ‘Alas! in this cold world of ours, the -soonest fade the fairest flowers!’ I forbid any one present to quote -that. It’s original with me, and I have it protected by copyright, -patent, and the laws of the United States and New Jersey.” - -Mentally, Frank decided that Ready was a rattle-headed fellow, with a -heart as big as his whole body, as the saying goes. The freshman had a -flighty way of jumping from one subject to another, but Merry fancied -that he could be sober enough when occasion demanded. - -“I see you have been boxing,” said Frank. “Don’t let me interrupt -you.” - -Ready caught up a pair of gloves and pulled them on. - -“I have been showing them the new uppercut,” he said. “It’s like -this.” - -He made a false swing at Frank with his right, but struck at Merry’s -face with his left. Without lifting his hands, Frank moved his head -slightly to one side, just enough to avoid the blow, and Ready’s fist -flew past his ear. - -Jack was surprised. He came back as soon as he could recover, saying: - -“I made a mistake. That was not right. It was this way.” - -Then he struck first with his right and then with his left at Frank’s -face. Even then Frank did not lift a hand, but by quickly dodging his -head he avoided both blows, without stirring out of his tracks. And -the assembled freshmen gave a shout of applause. - -“Ye gods!” cried Jack Ready. “What have I struck?” - -“Not a thing so far,” smiled Frank. “Why, you don’t seem to be much -good with the gloves!” - -“Is that so?” - -“It is.” - -“Don’t fool yourself.” - -“Not in the least.” - -“I can hit you!” - -“Think so?” - -“Of course.” - -“Think again.” - -Jack seemed to strike at Frank like a flash of lightning, but once -more he hit nothing but empty air, as Merriwell had dodged even a -little quicker than the freshman struck. The spectators uttered their -approval, some of them urging Jack to keep it up. - -“What is it?” grinned Ready, staring at Frank. “Talk about your artful -dodger! This takes the plum-pudding!” - -“It is the easiest thing in the world,” asserted Frank. - -“How do you do it?” - -“Why, I know when you are going to strike, and so I’m ready to dodge -as soon as you are ready to strike.” - -“Well, how do you know so much.” - -“I can read you,” asserted Merry smilingly. “You are like an open book -to me. Your thoughts are transmitted to my brain fully as soon as they -are formed in yours.” - -“Well, say, you are a great bluffer! I thought you had a reputation -for telling the truth.” - -“So I have.” - -“Then it’s ruined now.” - -“Oh, I guess not. I can prove what I say by standing up for one minute -without lifting a hand and letting you strike at my head. You cannot -hit me once.” - -“What will you bet?” - -“I don’t believe I will bet anything in the way of money.” - -“You don’t dare!” - -“That’s the stuff, Jack!” cried several. “Drive him into his hole!” - -“But I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” said Frank. - -“Go on.” - -“I’ll bet a pig-pack ride down-stairs and back.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“If you hit me inside of a minute, I’ll carry you down-stairs on my -back. If you do not hit me, you are to carry me down and back. What do -you say to that?” - -“Done!” cried Ready, in satisfaction, while the rest of the crowd -shouted with delight. - -“A minute is a long time,” said one. “You’ll be sure to hit him inside -of that time, Jack.” - -“Remember, that you are to strike at nothing but my head,” warned -Merry. “If you hit me anywhere else, it doesn’t count.” - -“That’s all right.” - -“And I want a space of at least six feet in which I can move about.” - -“You shall have it, and I’ll hit you inside of fifteen seconds, for -all of your clever dodging.” - -Ready was confident. It did not take long to prepare for the affair. -In a short time they were ready. One of the spectators had been chosen -as timekeeper, and he sat with his watch in his hand. Frank had -stripped off his coat, and stood in his shirt-sleeves. - -“It will be pretty warm work,” he smiled. - -“It’ll be the hottest work you ever went up against,” declared Ready. - -Then the word was given for them to start, and the peculiar match -began. - -Ready went at Frank like a flash, striking with bewildering swiftness, -and the spectators, who were aroused to a high pitch of excitement, -fairly gasped as they saw Merriwell duck, dodge, turn, twist, jump, -and avoid those blows, swiftly though they were rained at his -unprotected face. Fully half a minute passed of this work before Frank -was hit, but hit he was, at last, and a great shout went up. - -Frank paused, breathing somewhat heavier than usual, while he smiled -and bowed to Jack. - -“You did it,” he acknowledged. - -“I knew I could!” shouted Ready. “You could not keep that up a whole -minute. I don’t understand how you did it as long as you did.” - -“And now Merriwell must carry you down-stairs and back!” cried the -freshmen mirthfully. - -The very idea of a junior carrying a freshman pig-pack was enough to -fill them with merriment. - -“That is right,” said Frank. “I am beaten, and I must pay the bet.” - -He started to put on his coat. - -“Better keep it off,” was the advice he received. “You’ll find Ready -pretty heavy, and you won’t need your coat.” - -“I think I’ll put it on just the same,” said Frank. “I’m perspiring, -you know.” - -He also put on his hat, and he took out his watch and looked at it, -noting that something more than fifteen minutes had elapsed since he -entered the house. The closed cab would be waiting outside. Amid great -laughter, Ready climbed from a chair to Frank’s back, and Merry -started down-stairs with him. The freshmen flocked out to the head of -the stairs and shouted: - -“Careful, careful, my beautiful Arab steed,” warned Jack. “I know thou -art sure-footed, but there is danger.” - -“That’s right,” said Frank, as he reached the bottom of the second -flight and saw the front door swing open wide to admit a boarder. -“Even an Arab steed may run away with its master.” - -Then he bolted out through the open door, carrying Ready along to the -street, where Frank’s friends and the cab waited their arrival. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -FURIOUS FRESHMEN. - - -“Hey! hey!” cried Jack Ready, in astonishment. “You are overdoing this -thing! You are permitting your enthusiasm to run away with you.” - -“On the contrary,” said Frank, “I am permitting my enthusiasm to run -away with you. Hello, Browning!” - -“Here,” answered the big fellow. - -“Take him!” - -“Got him.” - -The cab door was standing open. Ready was snatched from Frank’s back -and bundled into the cab in a twinkling, almost before he could raise -a protest. Frank came leaping in after him. Slam! went the door. -Crack! went the whip. Away rolled the cab. - -And Ready’s friends had not even been alarmed. Now, however, the -freshman boarder, who had been knocked down when Frank bolted through -the door with his burden, and who had gathered himself up and looked -on in stupefied amazement while Ready was being bundled into the cab, -found his tongue and let out a wild cry of alarm. That cry brought a -gang of freshmen clattering and tumbling down the stairs, while it -filled Mrs. Harrington with dismay, for she had long ago learned to -recognize it as the freshman’s battle-cry when assaulted by the -dreaded “softmores.” - -“What is it, Peggy?” shouted the freshmen, as they came tumbling down -stairs, ready for the sanguine struggle. “Where is Ready?” - -“Gone!” - -“Where?” - -“Kidnaped!” - -“How?” - -“Scooped at the door!” - -“How, you fool――how?” - -They shook the bewildered witness of the kidnaping till he was more -muddled than ever. At last he managed to say: - -“Fellow came tearing down-stairs with Ready on his back.” - -“That was Merriwell!” cried the freshmen. - -“I was just coming in. Had the door open. He rushed out with Ready. -Knocked me down.” - -“Go on! go on!” was the shout. - -“Sat up and saw them fling Ready into a cab.” - -“Saw who?” came the question. - -“Don’t know. There were five or six of ’em.” - -“Did Jack fight?” - -“Started to, but he didn’t have time. They slammed him into the cab -too quick.” - -“Then――――” - -“Some of ’em went in after him. The door slammed. Some went onto top -of cab. The whip cracked. They went down the street on the jump. -That’s all.” - -A furious roar went up from the excited freshmen. - -“Tricked!” they shouted. “Frank Merriwell did it! He’s taken up -Ready’s challenge!” - -“What challenge?” asked one, who did not seem fully enlightened. - -“Why,” explained another, “Ready said he’d like to have Merriwell the -leader of the sophs. He’s said publicly that he’d like to see -Merriwell try to haze him.” - -“And now――――” - -“Merriwell has started to do it!” - -Mrs. Harrington’s “respectable boarding-house for students” was in a -fearful uproar. The excitement had brought every freshman who lodged -there into the lower hall and onto the stairs. They were all talking -to one another. Their faces looked wild and wrathful. They flourished -their fists in the air and uttered dire and awful threats. Their oaths -of vengeance were blood-curdling in the extreme. - -In an adjoining room, Mrs. Harrington herself clasped her hands and -shuddered, while her daughter was on the verge of taking refuge -beneath the haircloth sofa. The frightful things they heard made them -stop up their ears in terror. - -“The sophs are behind this!” shouted a frenzied freshman on the -stairs, his football head of fiery-red hair and his rolling eyes -making him look like an anarchist. - -“We’ll get even!” shouted another man, climbing on the shoulders of -his companions and waving his clenched fist in the air. “We’ll make -the sophs shed tears of blood!” - -“We’ll murder every soph we can catch!” thundered a fellow with a -hoarse voice. “We’ll decorate our rooms with their skins!” - -“I’ll have a door-mat made of soph scalps!” shrieked yet another. - -“Revenge! revenge! revenge!” they all howled in chorus. - -No wonder Mrs. Harrington was alarmed, even though she had known -considerable of such outbreaks on former occasions. - -“Where have they taken Ready?” snarled one man, shaking the fellow who -had witnessed the kidnaping. - -“Why, hu-hu-how dud-dud-do I kuk-kuk-know!” chattered the one who was -being shaken. - -“You saw it!” - -“Yes.” - -“You saw them bear him away!” - -“Yes, but――――” - -“Which way did they go?” - -“That way.” The frightened freshman pointed. - -“See here, fellows!” yelled the one who had elicited this information; -“while we’re raising all this row, they are carrying Ready off. We -must follow!” - -“We will!” - -“Now!” - -“We are ready!” - -“To the end!” - -“Come on!” - -Out through the door tore the leader, yelling for them to follow him, -and they came pouring after, still seething with fury, still uttering -awful threats. The cab that contained Ready and his kidnapers had -passed out of view some time before, but the leader of the freshmen -pointed down the street, crying: - -“They went that way――in a cab! We must scour the city! We must alarm -every freshman and turn him out to search! Come on! Make a hustle -now!” - -It did not take long to turn out a great gang of freshmen who were -frenziedly searching everywhere for the kidnapers and their victim. -But Ready had been carried away in a hurry, and it was no easy thing -to get track of him. - -Jack Ready was gasping when he was flung into the cab and found -himself clutched and held fast by somebody within it. - -“What――am――I――up――against?” he feebly uttered. - -He made a slight effort to break away, but a mild voice said: - -“Take my advice, sir, and be placid and calm. It will avail you -nothing to struggle, and you may damage your clothing.” - -By the time this was said, others had come piling into the cab, the -door slammed, and the horses started up with a jump. - -Ready took advantage of the sudden starting of the cab, which jerked -him over toward the man on the opposite seat. He bent down his head -and drove it with great force into that individual’s stomach, nearly -butting the fellow, out through the rear of the cab. - -“Refuse me!” said Jack apologetically. - -The person who had been butted gasped, coughed, and groaned, being -doubled up like a jack-knife. - -“You should caution your driver to start more carefully,” observed the -freshman. “Such fellows become very careless if you do not keep them -well in hand.” - -“Confound you!” gasped the one who had been butted. “You’ll have to -settle for that!” - -“Just make out your bill,” said Jack, “and I’ll pay it on the spot. I -never like to have standing accounts.” - -“You’re pretty flip, but you’ll get over it before morning.” - -“That will be sudden――even more sudden than what has lately happened. -I do not appreciate suddenness――really I do not. As you can see, I am -quite flustered.” - -“Well, you are the coolest flustered person I ever saw!” - -“Can you see me?” inquired Jack. “Dear! dear! what excellent eyes you -must have! I can hardly see a thing. Now, if I wished to hit you on -the nose, it’s very likely that I might hit you somewhere else――about -there, for instance.” - -Jack’s fist flew out, and, whether he could see or not, he planted it -fairly on the eye of the man opposite, who was Ben Halliday. Ben -uttered a howl, and struck back, but Ready dodged, and the person in -whose lap he was sitting at that moment was struck by Halliday. - -“Dut the whickens――I mean what the dickens are you doing?” squawked -this individual. - -“Refuse me,” snickered Ready. “I did not do it, I assure you. Is Mr. -Frank Merriwell present?” - -“Yes,” laughed Frank, “I’m here.” - -“Where?” - -“Here.” - -But as he said the word Frank moved suddenly to one side, and thus he -avoided the blow which Ready aimed at him. Jack’s fist struck against -something hard, and his knuckles were skinned. - -“Merriwell,” he said, “you are awfully hard. I’d like to pound you -awhile with a club, just to see if I could not mellow you up a bit.” - -“Refuse me!” said Merry, catching up Ready’s favorite expression. “I -am afraid I’d not enjoy it. How did you like your trip on the back of -a fiery Arab steed?” - -“It was excellent――as far as it went.” - -“I’m thinking you may fancy it went too far.” - -“In one direction, yes. You are a very clever person, Mr. Merriwell, -but there is such a thing as being too clever.” - -“Really?” - -“On my word of honor. What do you think you are doing?” - -“Giving you a little drive for your health.” - -“My health is very good, thank you. You are exerting yourself without -cause.” - -“Oh, I think not! You are such a jolly fresh freshman that I couldn’t -resist the temptation, don’t you know.” - -“Jolly fresh! I like that――I don’t think! I demand, sir, to know your -reason for those words!” - -“You have proved your exceeding freshness since the football-game. -Nobody ever heard of you before that game. Since then you have been -strutting about the campus like a peacock with its tail spread. You -have been crowing over yourself till it has become a trifle wearisome, -but, even at that, I should not have troubled you had you kept silent -about me.” - -“Now we are getting at facts――hard, cold, stony facts,” said Jack. -“Proceed.” - -“I do not in the least mind anything you may have said about the -game,” declared Frank; “but when you vauntingly declared that you’d -love to have me back in the sophomore class so that you could make it -interesting for me, I was touched.” - -“Not by me,” declared Ready quickly. “I had good money staked that -Brown would not score, and I shall not need to touch anybody for -another week.” - -“I was touched,” Merry repeated, “and I resolved to teach you a little -lesson free of charge. You need it. You are altogether too Ready――with -your mouth. You must learn to keep it closed. A man with his mouth -always open is liable to get bugs in his throat.” - -“Your words move me to tears,” said the freshman, sniffling. - -“You’ll be up against something besides words before long,” said -Halliday, as the cab tore round a corner and flung its occupants from -one side to the other. - -“You’ll be highly entertained before morning,” promised Rattleton. - -“Who is this other gent in the corner who keeps so persistently -silent?” inquired Ready, reaching out and poking Bart Hodge in the eye -with his forefinger, nearly gouging the optic out of Bart’s head. - -Hodge shouted forth an exclamation of pain. - -“Refuse me!” chuckled Ready, once more. “It is very difficult to judge -distances here in the dark. Besides that, the carriage lurches -violently when it is least expected.” - -“We’ll have to chain the creature, Merriwell,” said Halliday, “or -he’ll have us all used up before we arrive at our destination.” - -“What, ho!” cried Ready. “Wouldst place shackles upon me throbbing -limbs! Avaunt! base creatures, get thee gone! Attempt but to place the -weight of a finger upon me, and the fire of Jove shall strike thee -dead!” - -He flung his hands about in a reckless manner, jerked one elbow -backward and nearly knocked Rattleton’s head from his shoulders. - -“Whoop!” shouted Harry, pitching the lively freshman across the cab -and into Halliday’s arms. “Somebody else hold him awhile! I’m getting -tired of the job!” - -“Mr. Ready,” said Frank, “I trust, for your own general welfare, that -you will not cause us to resort to extremes.” - -“Oh, you wouldn’t do anything cruel when we are enjoying ourselves -like this――I know you wouldn’t! Why, this is the best time I’ve had in -a year!” - -“You’ll have a better time before we are done with you!” yelled Hodge. - -“How lovely!” squealed the freshman, apparently in a fit of intense -delight. “How good it is of you to be so thoughtful of me! I cannot -tell you how I appreciate it!” - -“Wait awhile! wait awhile!” snorted Rattleton. “You will appreciate it -a great deal more before we are through.” - -“The other gent made practically the same observation. Why not be -original in your remarks? It may cost you an effort, sir, but you’ll -cut a great deal more frost in this hot world.” - -“Oh, shut up!” shouted Halliday. “You make me sick! Give your mouth a -rest, and give us a rest.” - -“My dear boy, if you’ll stop for me to call a policeman, I’ll gladly -see that you get arrest,” chirped the irrepressible freshman. - -Somehow, Frank’s admiration for Ready was increasing. Plainly, the -fellow had plenty of nerve, but would it last him through to the end? -Frank knew it was sure to be sorely tried before the sophomores were -through with Jack. The cab was continuing on its way at a great rate -of speed, for the kidnapers knew the freshmen would raise an alarm and -start on a hunt for Ready without much delay, and it was necessary to -get the fellow under cover in short order. - -Thus far, Jack had raised no great disturbance, and it seemed that he -had decided that it was best to get what fun he could out of the -adventure, without attempting to escape. All this time, however, Ready -was simply lulling their suspicions and getting them off their guard. -He bounced about in the cab, and, whenever he could, he was feeling -for the catch to the door. - -Ready had a general good opinion of himself, and he believed he could -hold the four men who were with him in that closed carriage pretty -good play in a fight. He could strike out right and left, in a -reckless manner, without the least danger of hitting anybody but foes, -but they would be liable to thump each other unmercifully if they -attempted to return his blows. - -Jack took pains to locate Merriwell, toward whom he had the greatest -grudge. He felt that it was his sacred duty to thump Merry and thump -him “good and hard.” He had tried it once and injured his knuckles, -but he was determined not to make that kind of a slip a second time. -Lurch――the cab threw them over to one side, and there was a general -changing of seats as they scrambled back. Ready was still in their -midst. - -“Mr. Merriwell,” he called, preparing to hit out hard and swift. - -Frank was a clever ventriloquist, and he made his voice seem to come -from the opposite corner of the cab, as he asked: - -“What do you want?” - -“Will you ask the driver to please be a little more cautious?” asked -Ready. - -“Oh, don’t get nervous,” retorted Frank, still making his voice seem -to come from the farther corner. - -Now, like a flash, Ready struck into that corner, and he soaked -Halliday on the chin, shouting: - -“I’ll teach you to refuse the polite request of a gentleman!” - -The tussle that ensued in that cab cannot be described. The freshman -attempted to hurl Rattleton out through a window, and, although he did -not succeed, he broke the glass. After a time, they got him down and -sat on him to hold him. Then the cab drew up, the door was opened, and -Browning announced that they had reached their destination. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -IN THE SCARLET CHAMBER. - - -“Thank you, gents,” said Ready, as they rose from his body. “You sat -upon me so hard that I fear you have fractured my wish-bone. It seems -to be damaged.” - -“Say, will you let up on this ‘gents’ business?” grated Halliday. - -“My dear sir――my dear, dear sir!” purred the freshman; “what can you -mean?” - -“It’s all right for you to address your own class as ‘gents,’ but we -distinctly object to it!” - -“Refuse me!” murmured Jack. “I addressed you as I thought you -deserved. I could not call you gentlemen, you know.” - -“Oh, come out here and stop that wind!” grunted Browning, as he -reached into the cab, fastened on Ready, and snatched him forth. - -As the freshman was dragged out by the muscular student, he humbly -observed: - -“I am coming, sir, as fast as the law permits.” - -The moment he struck the ground they closed about him, holding fast to -his arms and collar, and he was rushed into a dark doorway so quickly -that he did not have time to get his bearings. - -“Why this unseemly haste?” he inquired. - -“Shut up!” growled Bruce, once more. - -“Indeed, sir, you are imperious, and you awe me exceedingly much,” -chirped the queer freshman. - -They forced him up a flight of stairs and along an alley. At a door -they were halted. A hollow, solemn voice demanded: - -“Who is it that thus riotously invades this quiet retreat? Speak, I -command you!” - -“Oh, Great Unknown,” said the voice of Frank Merriwell, “it is We, Us -& Co., formerly devoted and servile attendants of His Extreme -Muchness.” - -“Seek you admission to the scarlet chamber?” inquired the strange -voice. - -“We do.” - -“What bring you as a sacrifice?” - -“A freshman.” - -“Is he fat?” - -“Well, he is in excellent condition.” - -“Ye have done well. Enter.” - -The door swung open before them, and Ready was pushed in, the others -accompanying him. With a bang, the door closed, and there was a sound -like the turning of a bolt in a lock. They were now in the most -intense darkness, so they could not see each other, but several hands -kept hold of the freshman. - -“Well, this is a jolly go, I de――――” - -Ready was cut short by a hand that was pressed over his mouth, and a -voice hissed in his ear: - -“If you wish to leave this place alive, keep silent and wait!” - -“Refuse me!” murmured Jack. - -Suddenly there was a sound like thunder, and at the instant a hideous -demon face glared out before them, with eyes of fire, wide-open mouth, -fearful fanglike teeth, and a forked tongue. From the lips of this -creature seemed to come the words: - -“If there be one unworthy among you, let him confess it and accept -this last opportunity to escape with his life. All who enter will be -tested, and the unworthy shall receive no mercy.” - -“We are worthy, faithful friend,” declared Frank Merriwell. “The only -unworthy one is the freshman, who is to be offered as sacrifice on the -altar of hilarity.” - -“Do you google?” asked the fiend. - -“Whenever we cannot goggle,” soberly answered Merry. - -“For which?” - -“Because why.” - -“Is it also?” - -“It is likewise.” - -After this apparently foolish series of questions and answers the -fiery face vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and a door swung -open before them, permitting light to shine in from a room beyond, and -they were invited to advance. - -With Ready in their midst, they walked through the doorway, and a -great shout went up as they entered the chamber beyond, the walls and -ceiling of which were stained bright scarlet. The chamber was a long -room, in the midst of which was a long table, and at the table sat -more than a hundred students, nearly all of them sophomores. The table -was covered by a scarlet cloth, but on that cloth was spread a -splendid lunch, consisting of all kinds of cold meats, canned stuff, -hard bread, crackers, cheese, bottled drinks, and so forth. - -The students were dressed in an ordinary manner, much to the surprise -of Ready, who had expected to see everything on the grotesque. - -The master of ceremonies rapped on the table, crying: - -“Arise, brothers of the sacred order.” - -They stood up. - -“Salute,” directed the master. - -They saluted. - -“Mr. Merriwell,” said the master, “you have faithfully kept your -promise, and you shall be decorated with a leather medal.” - -“I thank you, most noble master,” bowed Frank. - -“We have waited patiently,” said the master. “Your places are reserved -for you.” - -On both sides of the table midway were a number of seats, being just -enough to accommodate Frank’s party and the captive freshman. In short -order they were ready to sit down, and then, at an order from the -master, all did so. - -The moment they were seated, a clatter and uproar began. A hundred -questions were fired at Frank, and the students were like a lot of -boys on a spree. No one spoke to Ready, and he looked around with -interest, keeping his surprise well concealed. This was not what he -had expected, but he did not let on that he was startled or astonished -by anything. The students fell to eating of the lunch, and it seemed -plain that some of them were pretty hungry. They joked and laughed. - -“It’s like old times to be back here,” declared Frank. “I did not know -that the order still existed.” - -“It will always exist as long as freshmen exist,” declared Ned Noon. -“It exists on freshmen.” - -Seeing all the others eating, Ready, who was feeling rather hungry -himself, reached out and took a sandwich from a pile on a plate before -him. This he lifted to his mouth, but, without a word, his neighbor on -the right took it from his hand and put it back on the plate. - -“Refuse me!” gasped Jack. “What is the matter with it?” - -No one seemed to give him any further attention. The eating went on, -amid a chatter of talk and laughter. - -Again Jack reached out and took a sandwich, lifting it to his lips, -meanwhile keeping his eye on his right-hand neighbor. The fellow on -his right did not seem to observe him. - -“Here’s where I fill my sack,” thought Jack. - -Just then the fellow on his left took the sandwich from him and again -restored it to the plate. - -“Hello!” exclaimed the freshman. “I didn’t notice you.” - -Again he captured the sandwich, determined to be on his guard for both -of them. With considerable haste he lifted it, but he did not get a -bite, for a man on the opposite side of the table reached across and -rapped him on the knuckles with a cane, so that he dropped the -sandwich. - -“Wow!” whooped Jack. “What kind of a game is this? How much do those -sandwiches cost? I’ll buy one of them!” - -The lunch continued as if they were not aware of his presence at the -table. Some one moved the sandwiches farther along, so they were not -within easy reach, but a plate of tempting-looking tarts took the -place of the sandwiches. - -“Well, hanged if they don’t mean not to let me have anything to eat!” -muttered Jack. “The mean devils! But they can’t keep it up. Here is -where I get something!” - -He grabbed a tart off the plate and thrust the whole of it into his -mouth. The tart had been piled high with what seemed to be very -tempting and delicious jelly, but Jack had barely begun to chew upon -it when he turned and ejected it from his mouth, uttering a howl of -surprise and agony. - -“Whoop!” he roared. “I’m killed! Wow! Fire! fire! My mouth――oh, my -mouth!” - -He seemed to be having convulsions. Of a sudden, all the men at the -table seemed greatly concerned over him. - -“What’s the matter?” they asked. - -“Matter?” howled Jack. “Ghost of Cæsar! that thing was red-hot! It’s -burned the lining out of my mouth!” - -“It could not be hot,” was the answer. - -“Well, it had some kind of stuff on it that was hotter than the -hottest red pepper! Woosh! Oh, my mouth! Water――give me water, or I -perish!” - -Tears were running down his checks and he was gasping for breath. -Somebody handed him what seemed to be a glass of water. He seized it -and took two big swallows. Then he flung the glass and its contents -crashing against the wall, with another howl fully as loud as the -first. - -“Gods of the Egyptians!” he almost shrieked. “What is that stuff? I’m -poisoned!” - -“Poisoned?” they cried, in apparent alarm. - -“I guess so! That stuff was bitter as the bitterest gall, and it has -puckered my mouth so I can hardly get it open to speak!” - -“Bitter――he says it was bitter!” cried one man. “Where did it come -from?” - -“I brought it from the black chamber,” answered one of the students. - -A chorus of groans and shrieks went up. - -“Then he is poisoned!” roared the master. “It is the fatal drink which -every candidate swears to take if he reveals any of the secrets of our -sacred order! Good heavens! gentlemen, this matter is serious! If that -liquid is not removed from his stomach within five minutes, he dies!” - -Jack Ready uttered a groan and dropped down on his chair, his mouth -seeming puckered and drawn up. - -“Death,” he said thickly, and with a great effort, “I shall welcome as -sweet relief! Let it come!” - -“Bring the stomach-pump!” thundered the master. - -Somebody came rushing from another room with a queer-looking -arrangement in his hands. Another fellow brought a huge bucket. A -rubber tube was thrust into Ready’s mouth, while he was held and kept -from struggling by half a dozen persons. - -“Work fast if you hope to save his life!” shouted the master. “Even -now the poison seems working upon him! He is turning black in the -face! He is about to have convulsions! If he dies, we are in an awful -scrape!” - -Everybody seemed wildly excited. They packed about the chair upon -which Ready was being held, climbing upon each other’s shoulders to -get a good look at him. - -“How fearfully pale he is about the mouth!” - -“See his eyes glare!” - -“He is frothing!” - -“The poison is griping him!” - -“By heavens! I believe he is dying!” - -These exclamations came from their lips, and they were not calculated -to soothe the feelings of the struggling freshman. Ready succeeded in -spitting out the rubber tube. - -“Let me die!” he implored. “Death will be sweet relief!” - -“He must be saved!” roared the master. “Hold him fast! Don’t let him -wiggle an eyebrow! Now insert the tube again!” - -They pried Jack’s jaws apart and thrust the tube into his mouth once -more. Then the master made a frantic gesture, and the fellow with the -pump, to which the rubber tubing was attached, began to work it, while -the bucket was held as a receptacle. Something poured from the nozzle -of the pump and spurted into the bucket. There was a rattling sound. -Slop, thud, smash――what did it mean? - -The assembled sophomores looked on with astonishment, as it seemed. - -“Remarkable!” they exclaimed. “He must have a stomach like a goat!” - -Despite his agony, Ready began to feel curious. What was happening? He -tried to look into the bucket, but he was held fast by the hair of his -head, so that he could not do so. - -In a few moments the man with the pump said: - -“It is over, gentlemen. I have drawn everything out of his stomach. I -believe it will save him!” - -Then the tube was removed from Jack’s mouth, and he was permitted to -sit up. He looked down into the bucket at his feet and blinked. It was -full of old tin cans, shoes, broken bottles, cigar stubs, bread, meat, -and water! - -“That was a frightful load for a man to carry on his stomach,” said -Frank Merriwell, who had been looking on and enjoying this frolic. - -“It was rather heavy,” murmured Jack Ready faintly; “but it’s not half -the load you have on your soul.” - -He was asked how he felt. Everybody seemed intensely solicitous about -him now. Some of them placed their hands upon his head and declared -that his temples were hot and throbbing. One tried to hold his wrist -and count the beating of his pulse. Another offered to bring one of -Doctor Bishop’s sermons and read it. - -“I hope you are enjoying yourselves!” said Jack, with a great effort, -for his mouth was still puckered and his throat tasted bitter as gall. - -“He seems to be slightly demented, poor fellow!” sighed Roger Stone. - -“But we saved his life,” said the master, “and therefore we should be -happy and rejoice exceedingly.” - -A whoop went up, and then round the chair on which the unlucky -freshman sat those rollicking jokers danced wildly and grotesquely. - -It was all over in a few moments, and the master rapped on the table, -calling for them to return to the interrupted lunch. Jack was -carefully placed in his former position at the table, and all the -delicacies of the board were heaped up before him. The jokers resumed -their feast, as if nothing had happened. They joked and laughed and -ate and drank. Jack recovered and sat up. He was game. They were -having fun at his expense, but he was not going to squeal. - -“I’d like something to eat,” he thought, “but I’m hanged if I know -what is fit to eat!” - -After a little, however, the contents of his stomach seemed to roll -over, and the sight of food began to make him feel ill. He could not -have eaten anything then had he tried, and it was with a mighty effort -that he forced himself to sit there and watch the others enjoying the -good things before them. He afterward confessed that he suffered -intensely while the rest of the lunch was going on. At last, when -everybody seemed satisfied, it appeared that the jokers observed for -the first time that he was not eating. Then they began passing him -different things, politely inquiring if he would not try this, or -that. - -“I am afraid you have not enjoyed your lunch,” said the fellow on -Jack’s right, “and we got it up expressly for you.” - -“You’re too kind!” retorted Ready, with a fearful smile. “I shall try -to remember your generosity.” - -Frank Merriwell laughed at the freshman’s woful appearance, and Jack -feebly shook his fist in return. - -“I know I owe all this to you!” he said. “I’ll get even with you -before long, see if I don’t!” - -“It’s too bad to use him so,” said Merry, as if genuinely regretful. -“I think we’d better let up now and not carry it any farther.” - -“Oh, go on!” gasped Ready. “You may as well go through with it! I’ll -not let you off any easier, Merriwell, if you stop here.” - -“Thanks! Don’t mind me. I shall not worry about you at all.” - -“You may not worry,” said Jack; “but I’m going to keep my word. I’ll -get even with you!” - -“My dear sir,” said one of the sophomores, “we cannot permit this. Mr. -Merriwell is not one of us; he is simply a guest. He shall say just -what we’ll do with you now that you have insulted him.” - -“Well,” laughed Merry, “as long as we are not going to push this thing -any farther, I propose that we let him off if he sings us a song. I -understand he is a lovely singer.” - -“A song! a song!” shouted the students. - -“Rise, Ready,” commanded the master, “and sing us a song.” - -Jack felt that the best thing he could do was to make no resistance, -so he stood up, asking: - -“What shall I sing?” - -“Anything, anything.” - -Jack began to sing an Irish song, the chorus of which was as follows: - - “Arran, go on, ye’re ownly foolin’. - Arran, go ’way, ye’re ownly t’asin’! - Arran, go on, ye’re something awful! - Begorra, Oi think ye’re moighty plazin’! - Arran, go ’way, go wid ye, go ’way, go wid ye, go ’way, go wid ye, - go on!” - -Just as he finished the chorus, the fellow across the table lifted a -siphon bottle of seltzer, aimed it at him, and sent the stream full -and fair into his mouth, knocking him backward upon his chair, amid -great applause. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -A TEST OF NERVE. - - -Jack Ready usually had something to say when anything happened, but -now he could not say a word. He choked and strangled and coughed, -while the students hammered on the table and shouted with laughter. - -“Great!” they cried; “simply great! Give us more! Hurrah! hurrah!” - -Ready continued to cough. With the table-cloth he wiped some of the -seltzer out of his eyes, but he could not speak. - -“Ha! ha! ha!” roared the students. “That was a fine climax to the -song!” - -Jack nodded grimly, and the queer expression on his face provoked -another burst of laughter. Surely he was the queerest freshman any of -those present had ever seen. The man who had squirted the seltzer -seemed to feel that he had done a very fine trick, for he screamed -with laughter, hanging onto his sides. - -On the table was a plate of salad. Of a sudden, Jack reached out, -grasped the plate, and, with a swift flirt, flung its entire contents -into the face of the man who had squirted the seltzer. - -“Refuse me!” he said, as he did the trick. - -The salad spattered over the joker’s face and shirt-bosom. He was a -spectacle. But Ready had made a mistake. He had aroused the resentment -of the sophomores, and they caught up anything in the way of food that -their hands could find, and “soaked him.” It seemed that every other -fellow at the table flung something at the freshman, and almost -everything hit him. It was impossible for him to fling something back -at them all, so he rounded up and took his pelting with a grin on his -flushed face. - -“Things seem to be coming my way,” he observed cheerfully. - -“He’s a better man than I thought he was,” said Bart Hodge to Frank. - -“I like the fellow,” acknowledged Merry. “He knows how to take a joke, -and I believe he knows how to give one.” - -“I don’t fancy he likes you much.” - -“I suppose not. He wants revenge for the manner in which I tricked him -when I got him out of his room.” - -“And he swears he will have it.” - -“All right. There have been so many dirty fellows trying to do me an -injury that it will be a relief to have an enemy of a different -class.” - -“Gents,” said Ready, as he brushed the remains of the lunch from his -person, “you do me proud. You have made me very, very happy this -evening by the warm reception you have given me. It was an unexpected -pleasure, and a great honor. In time I shall do my best to retaliate -on some other freshman――when I become a sophomore.” - -“Then you hold no hardness against us?” inquired one of the hazers. - -“Not at present, but I’d like to hold a hardness against -you――something like a good club, for instance.” - -“That would be cruel.” - -“Oh, well, I’m a cruel devil occasionally.” - -“You’re a cool devil all the time.” - -“Thanks. You have made it hot for me.” - -“Won’t you sing some more?” asked Chan Webb. “You must do something to -entertain us.” - -“Is that so? Then I’ll give you an imitation of you. I am great on -imitations.” - -With that, Ready rose once more, humped himself into a peculiar -position, drew up his face, made a queer sound with his mouth, and -gave an excellent imitation of a monkey. Indeed, he looked so much -like a huge monkey that the imitation was almost startling. - -The students roared. - -“That’s one on you, Webb!” - -“Good! good!” - -“It’s simply immense!” - -“How do you like it, Webb?” - -Webb did not like it. He scowled and tried to laugh, but showed his -anger and chagrin. - -“Oh, you’re too smart!” he sneered. “You look like the missing link, -freshie.” - -“That’s what makes it such a perfect imitation of you,” returned Jack -instantly. - -They were not getting much the best of the freshman, although they had -treated him roughly. - -“I’d like to punch his head!” muttered Webb, who was sitting quite -near Frank. - -“You would show a very nasty disposition if you did,” said Merry, at -once. “If he can stand us and hold his temper, we ought to be able to -take anything he can give.” - -“You say that now, but wait till he gets at you,” growled Webb. “He’ll -have the whole freshman class after you, see if he doesn’t. A junior -who helps haze a freshman is likely to get into hot water.” - -“Don’t let that worry you, Webb,” said Frank. - -Ready was laughing now. Addressing the fellow into whose face he had -thrown the salad, he said: - -“I hope I didn’t hurt you, old man. I am very quick at times. It was -only last week that I attempted to frighten a waiter in a restaurant -by flourishing a knife in front of his face. Unfortunately, I struck -too near the waiter’s nose and cut off the tip.” - -“What did you do then?” innocently asked the man across the table. - -“Why,” said Jack, “I gave the waiter another tip, and that made it all -right.” - -The students shouted: - -“That’s one on you, Dillingham!” - -Dillingham grinned. - -“If I could reach you, I’d give you a tip――out of your chair,” he -said. - -Frank Merriwell called some of the party around him, drawing back from -the table, and proceeded to unfold a scheme to them. They received it -with approval. When Ready did not seem to notice, two or three of them -slipped into another room, closing the door tightly behind them. - -Bruce Browning came over and offered Jack his hand. “Ready,” grunted -the big fellow, “you’re all right! I believe you have plenty of -nerve.” - -“Thanks,” said Jack. “So have you.” - -“Why?” - -“You have nerve to offer to shake hands with me.” - -“All right,” grinned Browning. “You don’t have to shake hands.” - -“Thanks,” said Ready, again. “I won’t.” - -“I do not call it nerve at all,” said Phil Porter. “He has had no fair -test of his nerve.” - -“Then I don’t care for the test,” said Ready. “I am satisfied to let -it drop where it is.” - -“But you must actually prove your nerve,” asserted Halliday. - -“That’s right! that’s right!” cried others. - -“If you say I must,” grimly spoke Jack, “I suppose that settles it. -I’m not fool enough to say I won’t. What am I to do?” - -A sudden air of mystery seemed to fall on the party. There were -strange looks and awesome whisperings. - -“He’ll die with fright,” muttered one. - -“Better find out if he has heart trouble,” whispered another. - -“You know what happened to the last freshman,” said a third. - -“It is a terrible test,” declared a fourth. - -Jack’s curiosity was aroused. - -“Gents,” he said; “pardon me for calling you gents, but it seems so -appropriate――gents, I am ready for any old thing. While you are having -fun with me, you may as well have lots of it. Go the limit, and never -mind the result.” - -“But this is a pretty severe test,” whispered Halliday. “All the same, -I believe you are a fine fellow, and I want to see you come through -with flying colors.” - -“You are so awfully good――not,” grinned Jack. - -“Oh, but I am in earnest!” solemnly said Halliday. - -“If you are ready to meet the test,” said the master solemnly, “you -must permit yourself to be blindfolded.” - -“Well, get into gear,” invited the freshman. - -Then they securely blindfolded him, Halliday hovering near all the -while. - -“Now,” said the voice of the master, whom Ready could no longer see, -“you are about to encounter a fierce and terrible monster. If you have -the courage to attack this monster and conquer him, well and good. If -you have not――the matter of nerve will be settled.” - -“How am I to fight the monster?” asked Jack. - -“With this deadly knife,” answered the master, putting something into -Jack’s hand. “Are you ready?” - -“I’m always Ready,” punned the freshman. - -Then he was led slowly forward. As they moved along, going toward the -door through which some of the members had slipped a few minutes -before, Halliday whispered in the ear of the blindfolded victim: - -“The monster you will meet is made of sheet-iron, and there’s a fellow -inside to operate it. The so-called deadly knife in your hand is -simply wood. To prove your nerve, all you have to do is attack the -monster when the bandage is removed from your eyes and strike him with -the knife. You can’t hurt him, but it will show you have plenty of -nerve, and the gang will let up on you then.” - -Ready said not a word. - -The master knocked loudly on the door at the end of the room. The -instant he did so a fearful sound came from beyond that door――a sound -like the roaring of a pack of lions. - -“It is the monster!” muttered several, seeming filled with fear. - -“Well, this is the tamest thing in the way of a nerve-shaker that I -ever struck,” thought Jack Ready. “I pity the fellow that would be -frightened like this.” - -The door opened, and the roar that followed was fiendish, indeed. Then -the freshman was pushed forward into the room, and the blindfold was -stripped from his eyes. - -He found himself face to face with a creature that seemed half -alligator and half tiger. Part of its body was covered by a scaly -substance, while its head was like a tiger’s, and its neck was hairy. -It had gorillalike arms, with long, shining claws. Its eyes gleamed -like living coals, while it was gnashing its jaws, which seemed -covered with foam, like those of a mad dog. With a snarl, it rose up -on its hind legs and sprang at Jack. - -Ready stood his ground and struck at the creature with the knife. To -his surprise, the knife seemed to penetrate the creature, which he had -expected would he covered by an iron armor, as Halliday had said. Then -there was a terrible scream, and the “monster” fell to the floor, -writhing in agony. Instantly a number of students rushed into the -chamber, apparently horrified and excited. - -Ready stood looking down in surprise at the easily vanquished -“monster.” They caught hold of him and pushed him back into the room -from which lately he had come. Somebody took the knife from his hand -and held it up. It was stained crimson to the hilt! - -“Good heavens!” gasped a pale-faced student. “We gave him a real knife -instead of the wooden one! How did it happen?” - -“Somebody must have placed a real knife in the place of the wooden -one,” said another. “You know the wooden knife was made to look -perfectly natural.” - -“This is horrible!” hoarsely groaned a third. “Who was inside the -monster?” - -“Frank Merriwell!” - -“Is he badly hurt?” - -“He is, if he got the length of this knife.” - -Jack Ready stood still, drops of perspiration starting out on his -forehead. - -“Rats!” he muttered. “It’s a part of the joke.” - -Then he pushed his way into the other room, where a lot of breathless -students were gathered about one who was stretched on the floor. The -framework of the “monster” had been partly stripped off, and Frank -Merriwell, in his shirt-sleeves, lay in the midst of the group, his -face ghastly pale. - -But what filled Jack Ready with horror was the sight of a great -crimson stain on the bosom of Merriwell’s shirt, and the crimson -seemed to be spreading around a slit in the bosom of the garment! - -“He’s dying!” whispered several. - -“He was stabbed close to the heart!” came faintly from one chap, who -then covered his face with his hands and reeled into the other room. - -Bart Hodge was supporting Frank’s head. Harry Rattleton was sobbing. -Ready turned away. Some of them grasped him. - -“What shall we do with him?” said one. - -“We’ll have to turn him over to the police,” said another. - -Ready said not a word. - -“Well, we can put him in the dissecting-chamber till we find out if -Merriwell really is dying.” - -“That’s right. He’ll be safe there.” - -They hustled him along to yet another door, yanked it open, pushed him -into a room, and closed and fastened the door. It is certain that -Ready was startled when he saw before him the luminous outlines of a -human skeleton, which seemed to stand upright, pointing an accusing -finger at him. - -He caught his breath and stared at the thing before him, feeling his -hair seem to rise on his head. He did not know that, the moment he was -safely within that room, the signal was given and Frank Merriwell, who -had seemed to be mortally wounded, sat up and laughed, while his -companions joined in the merriment. - -“If we didn’t shake his nerve that time, he must be made of iron!” -chuckled Ben Halliday. - -“It was great!” snickered Rattleton; “simply great! Why, Merry looked -so much like he was dying that I actually shed real tears!” - -“He did look like a dying person,” nodded Roger Stone. “The gash in -his shirt and the stain of red ink was a great piece of artistic -work.” - -“It’s a good thing the front of the monster was well padded,” smiled -Frank, “for Ready sunk his knife for fair.” - -“Well, he’s having a fine time in there with the skeleton now!” -grinned Ned Noon. “Say, if his hair doesn’t turn gray, he has got -nerve!” - -“He’s a pretty good sort of fellow, anyhow,” said Frank, putting on -his cuffs and coat. “He has a way about him that makes me take to him -all right.” - -“If he takes a fancy to blow about this night, he can get us into -trouble,” observed a timid sophomore. “I was for doing the job -masked.” - -“The man who blows about a little mild sport of this sort is a cad,” -asserted Mat Mullen. - -“If you call this mild sport,” said Merriwell, “what would you -designate as the other kind?” - -“He ought to be pounding on the door and yelling to get out of that -room by this time,” grinned Ned Noon. - -“Well, let’s go see if we can hear anything from him,” suggested Bart -Hodge. - -So they left the chamber of the “monster,” and stole silently to the -door of the room into which Ready had been thrust last, where they -listened at the door. - -Not a sound could they hear. - -“You don’t suppose he has fainted?” suggested one. - -“Hark!” - -“What’s that?” - -“Be still!” - -A strange sound came from within that room. - -“By the Lord Harry!” grunted Bruce Browning, in wonder, “I believe the -fellow is singing!” - -All listened: Sure enough, a sound like some one singing in a low tone -came from within the room. - -“Well, there is nerve for you!” muttered Lib Benson. “Open the door -and let the fellow out. It’s no use to fool longer with him.” - -“Wait,” directed Frank. “It’s mighty queer he is singing. Bring a -light.” - -Somebody placed a lighted lamp in Frank’s hand. He started to open the -door. As he did so, a sudden burst of laughter came from within the -room, stopping him with his hand uplifted, and causing a chill to run -along his spine. - -The students looked from one to another. Their faces were a study just -then. It is certain that the most of them appeared rather frightened. - -Frank dreaded to open the door, but he did so after a moment, and -stepped into the room with the light, while several of the others -crowded after him. - -The sight that met their gaze was startling and terrible in the -extreme. At the farther end of the small room stood the skeleton, and -just before the fleshless thing crouched Jack Ready. But the person -crouching there did not much resemble the gay and careless freshman -Frank Merriwell had kidnaped from his boarding-house that very -evening. His coat and vest had been ripped off and flung aside. The -collar of his shirt was torn open, and his hair seemed to bristle. His -eyes protruded from their sockets, while his features were contorted -in a frightful manner, and there was a froth upon his lips. This -frightful apparition flung up one hand and pointed at the horrified -students in the doorway, literally shrieking: - -“There they are! The fiends have come for me! Ha! ha! ha! They have -come to drag me down, down, down!” - -“Boys,” said Frank Merriwell, his voice far from steady, “we have -driven the poor fellow mad!” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -JACK READY’S TURN. - - -“Avaunt, foul creatures!” shrieked the freshman furiously. “I’ll not -go with ye! Have you not done enough? You have stained my hands with -human blood! You have made me do murder――murder! murder! murder!” - -The blood ran cold in their bodies as they heard him scream forth the -words. Some of them retreated precipitately. - -“Come out, fellows――come out!” they said. “He’ll do you damage! Close -the door!” - -“Out on you!” snarled Ready, leaping to his feet. “Leave me――leave me -with my only friend!” - -Then he put an arm about the skeleton, as if embracing the grisly -thing! - -Frank passed the lamp to Hodge. - -“Hold it,” he said. - -“What are you going to do?” asked Bart breathlessly. - -“I’m going to attempt to talk to the poor fellow. I may be able to -straighten him out now.” - -“Better let him alone. There’s no telling what he may do.” - -“Keep away, Merriwell!” advised several. - -Frank did not heed them. He advanced toward Ready, but, of a sudden, -it seemed that the freshman recognized Merry, and he fell into a fit -of terror that was awful to see. - -“Don’t touch me!” he screamed, cowering and shaking in every limb. -“You are the one I killed! Your blood is on my soul! Don’t touch me -with your hands!” - -“I am not dead, Ready,” said Frank, as mildly as he could, seeking to -give the fellow confidence. - -“Yes, you are!” panted the freshman. “I know, for I killed you! I -drove the knife into your heart! Oh, but I didn’t mean to do it――I -didn’t mean to! I swear I didn’t! They told me the knife was wooden! -They told me I could not hurt you! Oh, they are the ones who did it!” - -Ben Halliday groaned. - -“I’d give ten years of my life if I’d had nothing to do with this -wretched piece of business!” he said sincerely. - -The maniac dropped on his knees before Frank, his hands outstretched -in a pitiful appeal. - -“Say you forgive me!” he pleaded. “Oh, please say that! My soul will -be tortured forever and forever if you do not!” - -“There is nothing to forgive, old man,” said Frank, stepping yet -nearer. “I am not dead at all. It was nothing but a joke. Can’t you -see that I am alive?” - -Ready began crooning a song, as if singing to himself. It was a -strange, weird sound, and it gave the listeners a creepy feeling. -Frank attempted to touch him, but he leaped away, a frightful laugh -breaking from his lips. - -“Devil!” he snarled. “I know what you are! You are a devil! You are -trying to snare me! I can see your cloven hoof and your horns!” - -“Well, I feel like the devil,” said Frank, “whether I have any cloven -hoof and horns or not!” - -“You planned it all! You alone are guilty! You brought it on -yourself!” - -“I guess that’s right,” admitted Merry repentantly. “Come, old man, I -won’t hurt you. Let me talk to you. You are deceiving yourself. Nobody -has been killed.” - -“Liar!” screamed Ready. “Get thee gone! I will destroy you!” - -Then, before their eyes, he leaped at the skeleton, clutched it, tore -it to pieces, and one after another he flung the bones at them! In his -hands he seized the ghastly skull, sprang past Frank, who had not -retreated, and pursued the others from the room. Frank quickly -followed out into the banquet-chamber, and there he found the hazers -huddled at the farther end of the room, while Jack Ready was sitting -on a chair by the table and laughing till the tears actually streamed -down his face. - -“Oh, ha! ha! ha!” shouted the freshman, in a paroxysm of mirth. “Oh, I -don’t know when I have had so much fun! I don’t think I ever had so -much fun in all my life! Oh, ha! ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha! Why, you gents -are the easiest things I ever saw! Oh, ha! ha! ha!” - -Frank stopped and stood staring at Ready, who had dropped the skull of -the skeleton on the table. The freshman saw Merry, and he screamed -with mirth. - -“I said I’d get even with you!” he shouted. “I’ve done it! I am more -than even! I’ll bet I’m the first fellow in college who ever fooled -you, and I fooled you good! You’re just as soft as the rest, and -they’re mush!” - -“Say!” cried Frank. - -“What?” - -“Got a gun?” - -“No. Why?” - -“I want to commit suicide!” - -“Oh, ha! ha! ha!” shouted the freshman. “I’ll tell the whole college -of this to-morrow! I’ll have everybody laughing at you! Now I know I -never did have so much fun in all my life! This has been a perfectly -delightful evening!” - -“You’re not mad?” asked Frank. - -“Not a bit.” - -“Well, I am!” - -The way Frank said that made Ready shout once more. By this time the -others had caught on that they had been fooled, and they came down the -room slowly, looking very sheepish. - -“I always did say you sophs were a lot of guys,” said Ready, “but I -didn’t think Merriwell and his chums could be fooled so easily.” - -“Ready,” said Frank, “you can make your mark on the stage. That was -one of the finest pieces of acting I ever witnessed.” - -“Thanks,” laughed Jack. “It was a little trick.” - -“Will somebody please kick me?” grunted Bruce Browning. - -“I’d like to be nit on the hut――I mean hit on the nut!” came from -Rattleton. “Never felt so foolish in all my life!” - -“And you all look foolish enough to kick,” said Frank. “I expect I -look just as foolish. I feel worse than you chaps look, if possible. -Why, we thought we had it on him, and he turned the tables on us. Talk -about nerve!” - -“He’s got it!” they cried. - -“How did you catch on?” asked Ned Noon. - -“Catch on!” chuckled Jack. “What was there to catch onto?” - -“Well, wasn’t you fooled for a minute?” - -“Perhaps so,” confessed the freshman; “but when I came to think it -over, when I remembered how it felt when I drove the knife into your -‘monster,’ I knew I had not stabbed anybody. I knew you were soaking -me, and I got back.” - -“Fellows,” said Frank, “he’s turned the tables on us, and we can’t -squeak out of it. All we can do is grin and bear it.” - -“I’ll bear it,” said Browning; “but I’ll be blowed if I’ll grin!” - -Frank offered Ready his hand. - -“It may be a case of nerve,” he said, “but I wish you’d take it, old -man. You may say what you like about this affair, I’ll always swear -you are a man of nerve.” - -Jack accepted Merry’s hand, and then Frank called the others up. - -“Shake hands with a fellow who was clever enough to fool us all at our -own game,” he said. - -They did not refuse. - -“Say,” said Ned Noon, “if you’ll keep still about it, Ready, we’ll -blow you off to a great spread.” - -Jack shook his head. - -“I’m not to be bribed,” he said. “You brought it upon yourselves, and -you’ll have to stand the laugh.” - -“Well, you destroyed a splendid skeleton that cost us eighty dollars,” -said Roger Stone. “You ought to pay for that.” - -“Charge it to accidental loss,” advised Jack. “You’ll never get a -penny out of me for it.” - -And they did not blame him. They would have thought him a chump had he -paid anything. - -He did spread the story, and set the whole college laughing at -Merriwell and his friends. Frank took it gracefully, not once denying -the story. He showed that he could stand it when the joke was on him, -which is something most practical jokers are quite unable to do. Jack -Ready became famous through this adventure and the work he did in the -Brown football-game. While he did not assume any mock modesty, he had -a humorous way of accepting his glory, and he became popular outside -of his own class, although nothing but a freshman. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -REAL FRIENDS. - - -“Here, here, what in blazes do you think you are doing――catching -balloons? Use your hands, you chump! What are your hands made for, -anyway?” - -“You fall on the ball like a lobster! Don’t sprawl all over yourself! -Drop flat and quick! You won’t break!” - -“Well, do you call that a drop-kick? Where did you ever get the idea -that you could kick?” - -“Oh, wake up! You’re sleeping! You are the deadest man I ever saw -breathing! Come to life!” - -“You won’t do at all! It’s wasting time to fool with you!” - -A dozen different coachers were at work on the Yale football eleven -and the substitutes, and they were working the men like slaves. Each -coacher seemed to have a particular man to whom he was giving his -attention, and he was expressing himself in vigorous language. It was -an absolute relief to hear a word of praise now and then. - -“That’s better, Ridley; you’re coming.” - -“Well done, Hodge! You’ve got the idea now.” - -“That’s first-rate, Ibbson.” - -“Do it like that――do it like that, Spofford!” - -It was a scene of the greatest activity. All over the field men were -punting, running, dropping on the ball, tacking, and doing other -things required of football-players in practise. They seemed possessed -by a frenzied determination, and it mattered not how severely they -were criticized, they kept at it till told to stop. No man seemed to -get discouraged. - -Yale was working into shape for the great game with Harvard. -Thanksgiving day was at hand, and sportlovers of the country were -waiting for the great contest that was to take place on Soldiers’ -Field. In a few days the eyes of the whole nation, figuratively -speaking, would be turned on the chief gladiators of these two -representative colleges of the country. It almost seemed that already -the public at large was waiting breathlessly for the hour of battle to -arrive. - -Harvard was confident, being flushed with repeated victories, and -remembering the glorious manner in which she had trounced Yale a year -before. It was said that never had a better team represented the -Cambridge college. Already betting had begun, and Harvard was the -favorite by long odds. Old sports predicted that Harvard would win. -They demonstrated that Harvard was at least a third stronger than -Yale. Then men on the two elevens were compared man for man, and the -comparison seemed to indicate that Harvard could not lose. - -The newspapers said that Yale had one great player, and that one was -Frank Merriwell. That is, some of the papers said so; but there were -papers that persisted in declaring that Merriwell had deteriorated in -a frightful manner since his former days on the gridiron. They -declared that the year he had lost had been his ruin, as he had not -been able to get himself back to his old-time form. - -There were plenty of men at Yale who believed these papers were -right――or pretended to believe it. There were a few men at Yale who -found a way to send out reports that Merriwell was entirely out of -condition, and that he had never fully recovered from injuries -received in other games. These men took care that the reports reached -the ears of newspaper men, and they rejoiced when they saw them -published broadcast by the papers. Merriwell saw these reports and -kept still. He smiled grimly to himself, and did not take pains to -deny anything. Even his most intimate friends found it difficult to -induce him to say anything about himself. - -Frank was on the field this day, and he had been working hard with the -others. Now he was standing with some friends, enfolded in a sweater -and blanket, talking. - -“What’s your opinion of our chances with Harvard?” asked Stubbs. “I -have confidence in you. If you say we’ll win――――” - -“We’ll win――――” began Frank. - -“Hooray!” cried Bink. - -“――――if――――” - -“Oh, there’s an if!” gasped Bink. - -“――――we are not worked out of condition,” finished Frank. - -“What do you mean?” asked another man. “Do you think the fellows are -being overworked?” - -“They are being driven hard at a time when they should be handled with -the utmost care,” declared Merry. “It will make men slow to overwork -them, just as it will make spirited horses slow.” - -“But undertraining is worse.” - -“That’s all right, and it’s true enough. Still, if we are going into -the fight in the best shape, we should be handled with the utmost care -just now. I believe I have been doing too much lately, and I do not -feel at my very best.” - -That was enough to cause one member of the group to prick up his ears. -Frank had not thought he had an enemy in the bunch around him, but -there was one present who quickly found an opportunity to slip away, -his heart filled with satisfaction. It is astonishing how soon the -report spread over the field that Merriwell had said the men were -being overworked. His actual words were twisted and distorted, and -they were made to seem even more than they actually did. The word was -being passed around in a very short time that he had criticized the -management of the eleven in the plainest language. - -All unconscious of this, Frank continued to talk with his friends. He -pointed out Harvard’s weak points, and told how he believed the -crimson might be defeated. He also spoke of Yale’s strength in certain -lines, but, outside of his remark about overtraining, he did not -mention any special weakness. Observing this, one of the party made -bold to ask him pointblank where the blue was weak. - -Frank smiled, as he slowly replied: - -“If we have a weakness in our play, and I don’t say that we have, the -man who talks about it is a chump. In the past, we’ve managed to get -the report abroad that we were weak just where we were strongest. This -year such a piece of strategy has been neglected till it is too late -for such a misleading yarn to do us much good.” - -“Would you dare bet even money that Yale wins?” was fired at him. - -“I am not a betting man,” he answered. “I never bet from choice, -although I don’t like to have a fellow flourish a roll under my nose -and tell me I haven’t sand enough to cover it. However, if I bet, I -shall back Yale, not from principle or sentiment, but because I -believe she will win.” - -“Harvard says we haven’t a chance. You know there are Harvard men who -are saying Yale has seen her day.” - -“There have always been Harvard men who made such talk.” - -“That’s all right, but you must remember that she defeated us in all -lines last year.” - -“Except debating,” spoke up another. - -“Debating is outside athletics.” - -“But not outside gymnastics,” laughed Stubbs. - -“I am glad,” said an enthusiast, “that we have Merriwell back at his -old position as full-back.” - -“That’s where he belongs!” cried several. “He’s a better punter than -Birch, and he can run faster.” - -“But Birch is jealous.” - -“Stop that!” exclaimed Frank sharply. “Fred Birch is not that kind of -a man. He is a corking player, and he’d get off the team if he thought -it could be strengthened by a better man. It’s not at all certain that -I shall be played at full-back, although I have been tried there.” - -“Well, what do you think of this shifting around of the men?” - -“There has been very little shifting of late. The team is pretty well -settled down. Of course there must be shifts when men are hurt, but I -think we have some substitutes who are fully as strong as the -regulars.” - -At this moment two persons approached the group. They were Captain -Birch and Steve Lorrimer, the manager. There was a serious look on -their faces. In fact, Lorrimer seemed decidedly angry. The group -parted for him, and he stopped before Frank, with Birch slightly in -the background. - -“Look here, Merriwell,” said the manager sharply, “what is this I’ve -heard that you are saying?” - -“I don’t know, sir,” said Frank quietly. “What have you heard?” - -“Have you been saying that you thought the team was overworked so that -it was not in condition?” - -Frank’s lips came together for a moment. He saw there was a storm -rising. - -“I believe I did make some such remark,” he answered. - -“Well, you are making altogether too much talk! Why the devil did you -say it?” - -“Because it is true?” - -Lorrimer turned pale. - -“Which means that I am an ass!” he retorted. “Are you overtrained, -Merriwell?” - -“Well, I think I’ve been pushed over the mark a trifle.” - -“Very well, sir; I’ll give you a chance to recuperate. There are -plenty of good men who are not overtrained, and we shall not need you -any more this season! You are retired from the team!” - -This came like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Frank Merriwell dropped -from the eleven! Those present, with the exception of Frank himself, -seemed turned to stone by the astonishing words. Frank lifted his -eyebrows a bit, as if somewhat surprised, and then he said: - -“Very well, sir. You are the manager of the team.” - -“Perhaps,” said Lorrimer, “this will teach you not to talk so much!” - -Birch did not say a word, but turned and walked away with the manager. -Bink Stubbs dropped limply into the arms of the fellow nearest him. - -“My heart!” he gasped. “I don’t think it will stand the strain! -Merriwell dropped from the eleven! Wow!” - -Then there was excitement. They crowded about Frank, expressing -themselves freely. - -“It’s a shame!” - -“An outrage!” - -“It’s dirt!” - -“I believe it’s a put-up job!” - -“Why, Merriwell is the hope of the eleven!” - -“We can’t win without him!” - -Frank was the least ruffled among them. - -“Don’t talk foolishly, fellows,” he said. “Of course, Yale can win -without me. I’m not the whole team.” - -“Well, you are a big part of it,” asserted Stubbs. - -“I told you Birch was jealous!” cried the fellow who had made the -assertion. “He’s had Merriwell kicked off.” - -“I can’t think that,” said Frank, shaking his head. “Fred Birch would -not do it.” - -“Somebody did it.” - -“Somebody has carried the report that I said the men are being -overtrained. All right. It will not do any harm. Somebody had to say -so, for it is true. It may serve to open Lorrimer’s eyes, so he’ll not -push the fellows so hard. If it does that, I’ll have performed the -greatest possible service for the eleven, even though I am dropped.” - -“It can’t stand!” - -“Lorrimer can’t drop you that way!” - -“Why don’t you appeal?” - -“His word’s not law!” - -“Yes, you can appeal,” said Stubbs eagerly. “You must do that, -Merriwell. Lorrimer has done this thing without authority. He’ll get -called down for it if you make a fuss.” - -“I shall not make a fuss,” said Frank. “I’m not going to raise a row -just now. It might be the ruin of the eleven. It is a bad time to have -anything of the kind occur.” - -“But it’s better to raise a row than to be unjustly kicked out.” - -“Not better for Yale.” - -“Well, there will be row enough,” declared one fellow. “Wait till this -news spreads. Why, you’ll hear the worst howl ever raised.” - -“My friends will not raise any trouble,” said Frank. - -“They will, just as hard.” - -“But I object to it.” - -“That won’t make any difference.” - -Frank turned and left the field. He saw some men getting onto a car as -he came out, and he recognized two or three of them. He did not catch -that car, but he took the next one. Stubbs accompanied Merriwell. The -little fellow was exasperated, and the more he thought about it the -angrier he became. He actually swore. - -“It will all come out in the wash,” laughed Merry. - -“It’s a dirty trick!” snapped Bink. “You must know that your enemies -have been working to hurt you.” - -“Well, I have seen something of it.” - -“Sure thing. Take the newspaper stories. They’ve been saying you had a -bad knee, a lame shoulder, and all that sort of guff. Those yarns have -come from Buck Badger and Chickering’s set.” - -“How do you know they came from Badger?” - -“Badger is your enemy.” - -“But he has been keeping pretty quiet of late.” - -“He’s been waiting. How he’ll rejoice now when he knows you have been -thrown over! Oh, say, it makes me so thundering mad that I can’t keep -still!” - -Bink was rather comical in his rage. It seemed that he must be -ludicrous, no matter what he did. - -“I feel just like thrashing the ground with Buck Badger!” he declared. - -The idea of little Stubbs “thrashing the ground” with the burly -Westerner made Frank laugh outright. - -“Oh, laugh!” shouted Bink, drawing the attention of the passengers on -the car. “I don’t know what you are made of if you will laugh now!” - -“Well, I’m not going to cry. I have done my duty for Old Eli, and my -conscience is clear.” - -They left the car on arriving at the college. A group of students -hailed Frank as he appeared on the campus. It was cold weather, and -the college men were warmly dressed, so they did not mind gathering in -the open air to “talk it over.” In the group Frank saw the same men -who had boarded the car ahead of him. - -“Come here, Merriwell!” cried Puss Parker. “Is it true?” - -“Yes, it is true,” chorused the others. - -“Is what true?” asked Frank. - -“That Lorrimer has dropped you from the eleven.” - -“I think it’s true.” - -There was a shout of rage. - -“The man is a lunatic!” snarled Parker. - -“He ought to be shot!” roared Roger Stone. - -“If Harvard beats us without Merriwell being given a chance on the -team, Lorrimer ought to have a coat of tar and feathers!” declared -Phil Porter. - -“Merriwell will be on the team!” - -“Of course he will!” - -“They’ll have to take him back!” - -“Look here, old man,” said Parker to Frank, “we stick by you, and -we’ve got to do what we can to see you back onto the team. Here is my -hand.” - -He grasped Frank’s hand and shook it. The others crowded about and -shook hands with Merry, also. Every man of them expressed his -confidence in Frank and admiration for him. It stirred Merriwell and -touched his heart. - -“Boys,” he said, with genuine feeling, “it’s worth being kicked off -the eleven just to find out how stanch my real friends are!” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -WHAT THE COLLEGE THOUGHT. - - -Rattleton and Diamond came up and joined the crowd. They had heard of -Frank being dropped from the team, but neither of them would take any -stock in it till they heard it from Merry’s lips. Rattleton was wildly -excited. - -“Who’s been telling this lundering barn about you?” he cried. “No, I -mean who has been telling this blundering yarn? Of course, it is a -wretched lie! They say Lorrimer has laid you off.” - -“Well, it strikes me that the yarn is true,” said Frank. - -“True?” gasped Jack. - -“Whee jiz!” spluttered Harry. - -Then they were speechless. - -“Lorrimer is daffy,” declared Puss Parker. - -“He must have a grudge against Yale,” said Phil Porter. - -“Merriwell,” hissed Diamond, his cheeks flushed and his eyes flashing, -“are you going to stand it?” - -“I’ll have to,” said Frank. - -“Not by a blame sight! We’ll get up an indignation meeting. We can -make it mighty hot for Lorrimer. We’ll show him that he can’t carry -things with such a high hand.” - -“Don’t!” exclaimed Frank. “I wouldn’t have you do that.” - -“Why not?” - -“It would be raising a rumpus at the wrong time.” - -“How?” - -“Everything must go peaceably till the game with Harvard is over, or -Yale gets it in the neck again this year. We can’t have that.” - -“Are you willing to be a sacrifice just――――” - -“I am willing――for the good of Old Eli.” - -“But it’s not for the good of Old Eli! It means our defeat, and -anybody knows that!” - -“Oh, come off! Somebody else who can play football just as well as I -will fill my place.” - -“Lot on your knife――I mean not on your life!” exploded Harry. “They -don’t grow!” - -“That’s all foolishness,” said Frank. “There are plenty of men just as -good.” - -“Well, why don’t they make the record?” put in Diamond, his -indignation making him look handsomer than ever. “Tell us just how it -came about, Frank.” - -“Well, I suppose Lorrimer will say I was talking too much. What I said -was for the good of the eleven.” - -“What did you say?” - -“I said that the men were being overtrained, and it was making them -heavy and slow, which is the absolute truth, but a fellow on the -eleven is supposed to keep his mouth shut and play ball. That’s why I -was jumped on.” - -“There is something behind this. There was another reason for it.” - -“I don’t think so.” - -“I do!” - -“Well,” said Merry, “if it will open the eyes of Lorrimer so that -he’ll treat the men with more judgment, Yale will stand a better -chance of winning, even though I am not on the team. It is ruin to put -a lot of overworked men into a game like the one coming.” - -“If Yale wins, there will be some chumps who will swear that it was -because you were put off the team,” said Harry. “That will be a -splendid thing, now, won’t it?” - -“There always are men to say nasty things, no matter what happens,” -observed Frank. - -“Well,” said the Virginian, “if you are not on the team, I’m going to -hedge my bets.” - -“Have you been making bets?” - -“Yes.” - -“Put up much?” - -“Well, I’ve staked something, and I got odds, too. I considered it -like finding money; but now I have changed my mind.” - -“Wait!” Merriwell advised. “There will be plenty of time to hedge -before the game.” - -“Don’t fool yourself! By the time it gets abroad that you’re not going -to play, the odds will be five to one on Harvard. And it will be known -all over the country to-morrow.” - -While they were talking a poorly dressed old woman came along the -slippery sidewalk. As soon as they noticed her, some of the students -cried: - -“Here is Mother Muggs, fellows.” - -Instantly the body of the group shifted their attention to the old -woman. They began making observations about her, and she gave them a -look of rage. - -“You are a pack of young reprobates!” she cried shrilly. “You are -learning the ways of criminals and ruffians!” - -“Mother Muggs loves us――not!” laughed Parker. - -The old woman was well known to the students. She had taken a strong -aversion to them, and she did not hesitate to express herself on any -convenient occasion. Her flow of language was sharp and stinging, and -she had brought the college men to the point of guying her -unmercifully whenever occasion offered. Frank Merriwell said nothing. -He did not believe in taking part in the guying of the old woman, even -though he knew of her hatred for the students and the manner in which -she sometimes seemed to go out of her way in order to snarl at them. - -“Are you promenading for your health, Mother Muggs?” asked one -laughing fellow. - -“Or are you displaying the latest style in Parisian clothes?” said -another. - -“Dogs! vipers! whelps!” cried the old woman, shaking her fist at them. - -Then her feet flew from beneath her on the slippery walk, and she fell -with a thud that must have sorely shaken her old bones. The -thoughtless fellows laughed at the unfortunate woman, with the -exception of Merriwell. He did not laugh. Instead of that, he hurried -from the crowd to the side of Mother Muggs, who seemed to be in pain. - -“I am sorry, madam,” he said, with the utmost politeness, as he aided -her to rise, fairly lifting her to her feet, doing it as tenderly as -if she had been his own mother. “I hope you are not hurt?” - -The poor woman groaned and seemed unable to stand. She would have -fallen, but Frank Merriwell placed his arm about her and supported -her. - -“Oh, my hip!” she gasped. - -“I’m afraid you are hurt!” he cried, genuine concern in his voice. - -“What do you care?” she faintly said. - -“I do care! I’m sorry! What can I do for you?” - -“Let me alone!” - -“But you cannot stand. I must assist you. Please permit me to, madam.” - -Never before had one of those saucy college men spoken to her in such -a manner, and she was filled with wonder. - -“Arc you one of them college scamps?” she asked. - -“I am a college man,” answered Frank, “but I hope I am not a scamp.” - -“They’re all scamps! Oh, my hip!” - -“I’m afraid you cannot walk. I will call a cab to take you home.” - -“A cab! I can’t pay for a cab! I can’t ride in a cab!” - -“I will attend to the paying for it. Here, Rattleton.” - -Harry came out from the group of students, who were not laughing now, -but were looking on in wonder, which was not unmixed with shame. - -“Call a cab, Rattleton,” directed Frank. “This poor woman has hurt -herself, and she cannot walk.” - -Harry hastened away to procure a cab, with which he quickly returned. -Then Frank Merriwell actually lifted the withered old woman in his -strong arms and placed her inside the cab. She seemed almost as light -as a feather to him, and he felt his heart throb with pity for her. - -“Don’t put me in there and leave me to pay!” pleaded the woman. “I -ain’t got no money, and the driver would have me arrested.” - -“Don’t worry about that,” said Frank. “I will attend to it. Where do -you live?” - -She told him, and he gave the driver directions, after which he turned -to Rattleton, saying: - -“Come, let’s see her home, old man. Get in.” - -They both got into the cab with Mother Muggs, the door slammed, and -the cab rolled away, leaving a dozen college men staring after it, -silent, shamefaced, awed. - -They had been given a glimpse of Frank Merriwell’s heart! - -There was excitement on the campus late that frosty November -afternoon. At the fence a great crowd of men had gathered, and the -topic they were discussing was the dropping of Frank Merriwell from -the eleven. Of course, Rupert Chickering’s set was delighted. -Chickering himself, with his usual double-faced hypocrisy, pretended -to be grieved. - -“I know Merriwell does not like me,” he said; “but I am very sorry for -him, just the same. He has worked hard to get onto the eleven, and it -does seem too bad for him to be put off just before the great game of -the season, even though there may be better men.” - -“Rats!” exclaimed Gene Skelding, who did not hesitate to show his -dislike for Merry. “You know you are satisfied over it.” - -“Indeed, now!” protested Rupert, posing with his cane. “Why should I -be? If Merriwell is a good man to have on the eleven, if he could -materially assist us in defeating Harvard, I should like to see him -play, regardless of any personal spite he may hold against me.” - -“Well, I’m glad he’s got it in the neck!” laughed Julian Ives, pushing -his hat back in order to more fully expose his flowing bang. - -“And I am not breaking my heart over it,” said Tilton Hull, who seemed -to have found a collar that was even higher than the wonderfully high -ones he wore habitually. - -“He is a big, wude cwecher,” lisped Lew Veazie, “and he hath met with -hith jutht reward.” - -“It came just when we least expected it,” put in Ollie Lord, rising on -his toes, so that he might be observed. “Everything seemed going -Merriwell’s way.” - -“I wonder who will be given Merriwell’s place?” speculated Hull. - -“I have heard,” said Skelding, “that Birch will take that position, -while that freshman Ready will be taken onto the team.” - -“He’s little better than Merriwell,” declared Ives. “He has a swelled -head.” - -“That’s because he fooled Merriwell and made him the butt of a joke, -you know,” said Hull. “It was a pretty clever thing. It was lucky for -us that we were not invited to take part in the hazing of the -freshman.” - -“I should think,” said Chickering, “that they would try Badger at -full-back. He’s a great man.” - -“Don’t speak of that fellow!” snarled Skelding. “What ails you? Have -you forgotten that he has repudiated us? He won’t have a thing to do -with us now! I don’t think much more of him than I do of Frank -Merriwell!” - -“Well, I’m right glad of that!” said a voice that made them jump, and -they saw Badger standing near, regarding them with an expression of -contempt. “You’re a rank lot, and I haven’t any use for you whatever.” - -“You were glad enough to be friends with us once,” said Chickering, -with a show of resentment. “You have even borrowed money of me.” - -Badger took two steps that brought him face to face with Rupert. - -“Did I pay it?” he demanded fiercely. - -“Why――yes, of course!” exclaimed Chickering hastily. - -“Well, if you ever mention it again, I reckon I’ll have to soak you!” -came from the Westerner. “I’d hate to hit a thing like you, but there -is a limit. Keep your mouth shut!” - -“Don’t let him bully you!” cried Skelding. “He’s the kind of fellow to -pretend to hate Merriwell, but, now Merriwell has got the best of him -a few times, he’s ready to crawl round and bow down before his -conqueror.” - -“You’re a prevaricator, by the clock!” said the Kansas man promptly. -“Because I cut clear of you does not make it that I’m ready to pick up -with Merriwell. We are enemies still.” - -“You’re the one who is still,” chuckled Ollie Lord, dodging behind -Skelding. “You don’t dare open your mouth to Merriwell any more.” - -“You’re not worth noticing, you imitation of a man!” broke from -Badger. “If there is anything in the world that can make me cease to -hate Merriwell it will be because you chaps hate him so much.” - -Badger’s words had been spoken rather loudly, and now Chickering noted -that a crowd was gathering, and he began to feel that it was time to -close up. He gave the others the tip to do so, and backed out of the -crowd himself. - -Somebody asked Badger what he thought about Merriwell being dropped. - -“Say,” cried the Westerner, “whatever do you take me for? I reckon -it’s pretty generally known that I’m no friend of his. That being the -case, my opinion would not amount to shucks.” - -“He knows enough not to talk as much as Merriwell,” said somebody. - -“Who says Merriwell talks too much?” roared Bruce Browning. “He’s one -of the closest-mouthed fellows living.” - -“Well, he talked so much to-day that he got it in the neck.” - -“That’s all right. Somebody had to talk. The team is being worked to -death. Anybody that knows anything about football knows that. The men -know it, but Merriwell was the first and only one who has dared say -so.” - -“Hurrah! hurrah!” cried the students. “What’s the matter with Frank -Merriwell?” - -“He’s all right!” thundered a great chorus of voices. - -Somebody, wishing to arouse another expression of sentiment, cried: - -“What’s the matter with Steve Lorrimer?” - -Quick as a flash, Danny Griswold squealed: - -“He’s got bugs in his garret!” - -This aroused laughter and applause. All kinds of talk was made on the -campus that night. Merriwell was discussed from a hundred different -standpoints. The great majority of the students were friendly toward -him, and they were highly indignant over the manner in which he had -been treated. - -A knot of Frank’s admirers gathered and told anecdotes about him. One -of them related how, that very day, after being dropped from the -eleven, he had lifted old Mother Muggs from the slippery sidewalk and -carried her home in a cab. - -“That’s not all he did, fellows,” said a voice. - -Harry Rattleton was there. He pushed into the center of the crowd. - -“I went with him,” said Harry. “He took the old woman home and carried -her into her house in his arms, for she could not walk. He sent me for -a doctor. When I got back, he was doing his best to cheer up the old -lady and her dying daughter.” - -“Has Mother Muggs a daughter?” some one asked. - -“Yes, and it’s plain she was a stunning-looking girl once. She’s sick -in bed, and there was not a spark of fire in the house nor a bit of -food.” - -“Tough lines!” - -“You bet! But all that’s fixed now. Merriwell fixed it. He went out -and ordered coal and wood and groceries, and had them sent round in a -hurry. Then we went to another store, and he bought blankets and -quilts to put on the bed to keep the poor dying girl warm. We carried -back an armful of stuff. When we got there we found the doctor. Merry -told him to care for Mother Muggs and her daughter and forked over a -tenner in advance to pay.” - -“Well, what’s the matter with Merriwell?” cried somebody, and again -the crowd shouted: - -“He’s all right!” - -“You can bet your life he is!” said Harry proudly. “You should have -seen him building a fire in the old stove, heating a can of broth, and -then feeding the sick girl himself. Fellows, I’ve known Frank -Merriwell a long time, and I always knew he was all right; but I tell -you I watched him with amazement down in that wretched hovel. I saw -him fixing things round and making everything cheerful. I saw him -jollying up the poor girl till she laughed. He was as tender as a -woman down there, and everybody here knows that he’s strong as a lion -on the football-field. And old Mother Muggs was so astonished that all -she could say was, “Land, land, who’d ‘a’ thought it!’ He made that -old woman and her dying girl happy to-night, and he told them he’d -come again and see that they were comfortable. He’ll do it, too. They -kicked him off the eleven to-day, but I’ll bet that to-night he’s -happier than any of those who remain.” - -Harry spoke earnestly, and his words impressed the listeners. If a -single enemy of Frank Merriwell was present, he was silenced. - -“Fellows,” said Parker, “there’s a light in Merriwell’s window. He -must be in his room. Let’s go over and whoop her up under his window. -Let’s show the blockheads who are against him what we think of him!” - -“Come on!” was the cry. - -Across the campus they swept. Word was passed around about what was -going to happen, and it was a great crowd of college men that gathered -beneath Merry’s window. Then somebody roared out a proposal for three -cheers for Frank Merriwell, “the best man who ever made a touch-down.” -And what a mighty cheer it was! They thundered their applause till the -bare branches of the old elms quivered with the sound. Again and again -they cheered. - -At last the window was thrown open, and Frank appeared. What a -greeting he received! It must have made his heart thrill! It must have -made his eyes moist! - -After a time, the crowd became quiet, and Frank spoke: - -“Thank you,” he said, with a husky sound in his voice. “I don’t know -just why you are cheering like that, but――――” - -“We’re cheering for the whitest man in college and the best -football-player living!” shouted somebody. - -“That’s putting it pretty strong,” laughed Frank. - -“But not a bit too strong,” came back instantly. “They’ve put up a job -on you, Merriwell, but we won’t stand for it!” - -“No,” said Frank, “I do not think it was a job, boys. Steve Lorrimer -is a true-blue Yale man, and he wouldn’t stoop to anything like that. -Whatever he has done, I am sure he did because he believes it is for -the best interest of Old Eli.” - -“Then he’s such a chump that he isn’t fit to manage a tennis -tournament!” squealed Bink Stubbs. - -“No matter what may happen to me,” said Merry, “I shall pray for the -success of Yale, and nothing can hurt me worse than her defeat on -Thanksgiving day. If she wins, fellows, we’ll have a glorious -Thanksgiving. Good night, my friends――good night!” - -He pulled down the window and was gone, but they lingered to give him -another rousing cheer, and long after that groups of men could be seen -on the campus, discussing and denouncing the action of Lorrimer. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -LORRIMER’S MISTAKE. - - -If possible, Frank’s speech from the window of his room had made him -more popular than ever. He had not uttered a single word in -bitterness, and no honest student could doubt but he told the truth -when he said that, no matter what happened to himself, he should pray -for the success of Yale. He was utterly unselfish in his love for Old -Eli. - -The feeling against Lorrimer was not lessened by Frank’s words, -however; if anything, it was intensified. That Frank had told the -plain, unvarnished truth about the Yale men being overtrained scores -of men attested. Lorrimer was a hard master. His heart was set on the -success of the blue, but his judgment was at fault. He was a person -who did not take criticism kindly. The following morning the -newspapers of Boston and New York came out with the report that Frank -Merriwell had been dropped from the Yale eleven. Various causes were -assigned, but in no instance did a paper hit the truth. Some said he -was suffering from injuries, others claimed that he was in wretched -condition, and yet others averred that the whole case was one of -spite. - -There was rejoicing in Cambridge, for, of all men on the Yale eleven, -Merriwell had been most feared. Harvard remembered the old days when -the skill and courage of the Yale full-back had been the chief cause -of their defeat. It had seemed in the past that Merriwell was the -mascot of the Yale men. The odds against Yale went up with a bound. - -By this time Steve Lorrimer had begun to discover how popular Frank -Merriwell was. He had known of the demonstration beneath Frank’s -window on the previous night, but he regarded it as an outbreak headed -by a few of Merry’s particular friends. Now, to his surprise, he found -that he was regarded with scorn and anger by men who did not venture -to say anything openly to him. He received black looks from all sides, -and he heard mutterings of anger and disapproval. Of course, he -pretended not to notice anything like this. - -Frank was alone in his room, plugging, when Lorrimer rapped on the -door. - -“Come in,” called Merry, and the football manager entered. Frank rose -at once, exclaiming: - -“Mr. Lorrimer, this is a surprise! Have a chair.” - -Without noticing the invitation, Lorrimer began: - -“Look here, Merriwell, what do you think you are going to make out of -this business?” - -“To what do you refer, sir?” asked Frank quietly. - -“Why, kicking up all this fuss, of course.” - -“I have not kicked up any fuss, Mr. Lorrimer.” - -“You may not have done it personally, but you are at the bottom of -it,” accused Steve. - -“I think you are mistaken. But, first, I wish you to make yourself -clear. What fuss do you refer to?” - -“Why, this demonstration business.” - -“I was utterly unaware that anything like a demonstration was going to -take place till it happened. The men cheered beneath my window, and I -spoke a few words to them.” - -“Oh, I’m not talking about that!” - -“You are not?” - -“No, you know I’m not!” - -“I thought you were. It seems that I’m still in a fog.” - -“I’m talking about this demonstration coming――this indignation meeting -to be held on the campus to-night!” - -“I know nothing about it.” - -Lorrimer showed his incredulity. - -“Excuse me, Merriwell,” he said, “it is gotten up for your benefit, -but I want to tell you that it will not benefit you in the least. On -the contrary, it will hurt you.” - -“I trust, sir,” said Frank, with dignity, “that you accept my word -when I say that I know absolutely nothing about it!” - -“Then how does it come about?” - -“I can’t tell, sir.” - -The manager seemed in doubt. - -“Your friends are working it up, of course, but I supposed they had -consulted you.” - -“They have not.” - -“Well, then, let me tell you that they propose to hold a meeting on -the campus to-night to express their indignation for the treatment you -received. Of course, this is a poke at me, and I do not like it!” - -“I presume not,” said Frank dryly. “You have a way of not liking -anything that goes against you in the slightest degree, Mr. Lorrimer.” - -The manager flushed. - -“Don’t be impertinent!” he exclaimed. - -“You, sir,” flashed back Merry, “are the one who is impertinent! More -than that, you are insulting in your words and your manner!” - -Lorrimer gasped. - -“Do you dare――――” he began. - -“I dare say what I think, as you have already found out. I have wished -for an opportunity to tell you a few plain facts, and the time has -come.” - -“I don’t want to hear any of your talk!” - -Frank walked over to the door, turned the key in the lock, then took -it out and put it in his pocket. - -“I propose that you shall hear!” he spoke firmly. “You cannot leave -this room till you have heard.” - -“Confound it! do you know you are ruining your last hope of getting -back onto the eleven?” - -“All right. I fancy you may have thought that I’d be very servile and -cringing if there was a possible chance for me to get back. You made a -mistake if you thought so. I’m not built on that plan. You threw me -out, and I’m not crawling back.” - -“Don’t be too hasty!” - -“That sounds well from your lips! You were rather hasty yesterday.” - -“I did what was right.” - -“You may think so.” - -“I know it!” - -“Very well. Now I’ll do what I know is right. You dropped me because -you heard that I said the team was being overtrained.” - -“Yes.” - -“I said it, and I meant it, Lorrimer. I know you are earnest in your -desire to down Harvard, and I do not like to see you defeating -yourself.” - -“Say, will you let up on this business?” - -“Not till I am through with you――not till I have told you something -that may open your eyes enough so it will save Yale from defeat.” - -“Oh, you’re eager to save Yale from defeat, are you?” cried Steve, -with an accent of doubt and derision. - -“I am,” was the retort. “I do not care a rap whether I play on the -eleven or not if the blue defeats the crimson. If I were on the team -and thought for a minute that it could be made stronger by taking on -some other man, I’d get off.” - -“How sacrificing!” sneered Lorrimer. - -“You don’t have to believe it, but I do want you to believe one thing, -and that is that the men are being overtrained.” - -“Will you permit me to know my own business?” - -“When you do know it. When you think you know it but are mistaken you -need somebody to tell you.” - -“I’m not accustomed to taking advice from such fellows as you! Unlock -that door!” - -“Not yet. Sit down!” - -“If you do not unlock that door, I’ll strangle you!” - -Frank Merriwell laughed. He was amused by the threat. That laugh was -like a whip stroke to Lorrimer. His face grew furious, and he made a -jump at Frank, snarling: - -“Give me that key!” - -Merry was ready to meet him, for he knew how impulsive and -quick-tempered the manager was, and he had anticipated Lorrimer’s -move. They grappled, but Lorrimer did not clutch Frank’s throat. -Instead of that, he felt his wrists grasped by fingers of iron, felt -himself hurled backward like a child in the grip of a giant, felt -himself flung into a chair and pinned there. - -It was over in a twinkling, and Lorrimer was sitting helpless and -panting, while the young athlete he had attempted to tackle was coolly -and smilingly holding him quiet. - -“My dear fellow,” said Frank Merriwell, with perfect coolness, “you -should not be so violent. It is quite unnecessary. I trust you will -have the good sense to be quiet and listen now.” - -Lorrimer was quiet. - -It is probable that never till that minute had the manager of the Yale -football-team thoroughly understood the kind of a man Frank Merriwell -was. He had fancied that he understood Merriwell, but he had been -mistaken. On the training-field Frank had been one of the most -obedient workers. Never, under any circumstances, had he shown a sign -of rebellion or sulkiness, no matter how severe was the calling down -be received, and Lorrimer had come to believe that for all of Merry’s -reputation, he was a very submissive fellow when confronted by his -“superiors.” - -That was where the manager was led into an error. Merriwell was a -person who believed that it is the duty of a football-player to obey -orders like a soldier. It was his theory that the men who obeyed -unhesitatingly and without even seeming to entertain for a single -instant the fancy that they knew better than their instructors what -was the best thing to do were almost certain to become the best -players for the general good of the team. Given command of men, Frank -Merriwell would have exacted just such perfect submission and -readiness to obey. - -Lorrimer had noted that Frank never rebelled, and he had come to think -that it would be an easy thing to overawe the submissive young -athlete. That had brought him alone to Merriwell’s room, and it had -caused him to spring upon Frank. Merry released Lorrimer, and stood up -straight. - -“Don’t be foolish,” he said grimly. “I don’t want to hurt you, and you -might bring it upon yourself.” - -Wonderstruck, the manager stared at him. Frank drew up a chair and sat -down before Steve. - -“Now we can talk this over in a decent way,” he said. “I have given -you credit for one thing, Lorrimer――I have believed that you were as -earnest as any man living to defeat Harvard.” - -“I am,” muttered Steve sullenly. - -“I hope so, but you are making a fatal error. There are but a few days -left before the game. The men have been worked into the best condition -possible.” - -“Well?” - -“Now they are being worked out of condition by a gang of enthusiastic, -but deluded coachers.” - -“Perhaps you think you know more about football than Bob Wilcox, who -was quarter-back four years ago?” - -“I did not say so.” - -“Or Nate Cox, the famous captain?” - -“I did not say so.” - -“Or Corwin? or Hare? or Beecher?” - -“I did not say so.” - -“You might as well!” - -“There is where you make your mistake. Those men are in earnest, and -they are enthusiastic, but each one has his particular department, his -particular set of men to handle, and they are working to bring these -men to the acme of perfection.” - -“Well, what’s the matter with that?” - -“The matter with it is that not a single coacher seems to realize the -result of this persistent hammering on the men during these last -days.” - -“Well, if you see so much, show your wisdom.” - -“Instead of driving those men like drag-horses, they should be worked -with the utmost care just now. They should do just enough to keep -themselves in the best possible condition, without going over the -limit the least bit. If a man fails to make a perfect punt, he should -not be kept punting till he is sore and lame and tired and disgusted. -If a man makes a bad tackle, he should not be forced to tackle till -there’s not a good square breath left in his body. If a man fumbles, -he should not be forced to fall on the ball till he’s too dizzy to -stand without wabbling.” - -“Is that so?” - -“That is so! The men are being injured, instead of improved, in these -last days. They should be kept at signal-work, they should study -intricate plays, but they should not be pounded over the field till -there’s not enough energy left in them to enable them to walk straight -for a distance of ten feet. You must know, Lorrimer, that overtraining -is just as fatal as undertraining.” - -The manager did not speak. - -“While I was on the team,” pursued Frank, “my mouth was closed――to a -large extent.” - -“You got it open once too often.” - -“On the contrary, I hope I opened it just when it will do the most -good.” - -“It threw you off the team.” - -“I can stand that if the team can. I shall be satisfied if that, -together with this little talk, brings about a reform. See here, -Lorrimer, I want you to understand how earnest I am about this thing. -I want Yale to win――she must win!” - -“By that, I suppose you mean that you want to get back on the eleven?” - -“Nothing of the sort. By that I mean that I hope you will get your -eyes open and take care that these coachers do not hammer the men into -such wretched shape that they will be slow and heavy as cart-horses. -Put Birch at full-back, and give Jack Ready a trial in the line. Let -up on them in time for them to rest and come out fresh as daisies for -the game, even though it may seem that they are not perfect in their -work. Freshness, spirit, and enthusiasm will count more than absolute -perfection coupled with that tired feeling.” - -“How much do you charge for all this advice?” - -“I shall be well paid if it brings about a result.” - -“Well, have you finished?” - -“I believe that’s about all I have to say.” - -“Then how about this demonstration on the campus?” - -“I told you that I knew nothing about it.” - -“You know now.” - -“Yes.” - -“What are you gong to do?” - -“Nothing.” - -“Do you fancy it will be a good thing for you?” - -“I do not fancy anything about it.” - -“Well, it will be the worst thing that can happen. It will do you no -good, for the management will not be driven into taking you back.” - -“Isn’t it about time for you to get it through your head that I do not -care a rap whether I get back or not so long as Yale wins?” demanded -Frank, with a slight show of impatience. - -It was “about time,” but Lorrimer had come there with the idea that -Merriwell was behind the indignation-meeting movement, and it had to -be beaten out of his head. He had thought that Frank was fighting hard -to force the management to restore him to his old position, and he -disliked to give up the belief. - -“Then,” said Steve, “you will stop this indignation meeting, will -you?” - -“No.” - -“You won’t?” - -“No.” - -“That being the case, you must be in favor of it?” - -“I shall have nothing to do with it. If my friends wish to get up such -a meeting without my knowledge, I shall let them do as they like. It -will show what they think of the manner in which I was treated -yesterday.” - -“And ruin your chance of getting back onto the team.” - -“I believe I told you that I was not counting on getting back, that I -do not care a cent whether I get back or not, that my only interest is -to see Yale win.” - -Frank got up and took the key out of his pocket. Then he walked over -and unlocked the door. - -“I have had my little say,” he grimly observed, satisfaction in his -manner; “now you are at liberty to go when you like, Mr. Lorrimer.” - -Lorrimer jumped up. - -“You’re the limit!” he exclaimed. “You ought to run the whole team!” - -He strode toward the door. - -“Thank you,” laughed Frank, sitting down and picking up a book. “Think -over what I’ve said. It won’t hurt you, and I sincerely hope it may do -you some good.” - -Lorrimer yanked open the door. - -“Good day,” said Frank. - -Lorrimer strode out and slammed the door, without answering. - -And Frank resumed his plugging at the point where he had been -interrupted. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -FRANK IS HURT. - - -The indignation meeting did not take place. Directly after noon Frank -Merriwell was waited on by several members of the football committee, -who expressed regret at what had taken place, and invited and urged -him to come out for practise that afternoon, as usual. - -Merry did not show exultation over this turn of affairs, but he agreed -to be on the field. Therefore, there was no little astonishment when -he went out to practise, as usual. His enemies started in by stating -he had nerve to show up, but they were silenced by the information -that he had been urged to do so by the committee. But, instead of -being used on the regulars, Frank was placed on the first scrub, which -was very significant. - -He played with all his usual skill and enthusiasm. Two brief halves -were played, and he was captain of the scrub in the last half. While -the scrub did not score in this half, neither did the regulars, and -four times was the goal of the regulars in danger, while not once was -the fighting carried far into the territory of the scrub team. This -was in great contrast to the first half, when the regulars had scored -twenty-four points with ease. - -“It’s all through the way Merriwell handled the team,” declared more -than one. “Give him command of the regulars, and he’d drive Harvard -into the earth.” - -But there was no certainty that Merriwell would even play on the -regulars. His friends scented trickery. It is probable that Frank also -tumbled to the little game, but he said nothing. - -Back at college after practise, when Merry had taken a bath, a rub, -and donned his clothes, a number of his friends came pouring into his -room, headed by Hodge. - -“Welcome, fellows!” cried Frank. - -“Look here, Merriwell,” said Bart, “we’ve come to see about it.” - -“About what?” - -“Well, if you’re not onto the dirty trick, it’s time you dug your eyes -open!” grated Bart, in language that was expressive, though not very -elegant. - -“What trick?” asked Frank. - -“Don’t you see that you have been fooled?” - -“How?” - -“Why, about this football business.” - -“Sit down, Hodge, and explain.” - -“I won’t sit down! I can’t sit down! I’m too mad to sit down!” - -“Then stand up and explain it.” - -“I hear,” said Bart, “that Lorrimer was seen coming here to-day.” - -“Well?” - -“Did he come to see you?” - -“Yes.” - -“About what?” - -“He came to see if I’d object to the indignation meeting which he -informed me my friends were to hold this evening.” - -“Well, that’s what I call pure, unadulterated gall!” snarled Bart. - -“I considered it rather crusty,” smiled Frank. - -“What did you tell him?” - -“I told him some things I have longed to tell him for several days, -and I informed him that I should raise no objection to the indignation -meeting unless my friends sought to induce me to take part in it.” - -“Good! good! good!” cried the others. - -“That’s all right,” said Hodge; “but you were fooled later on.” - -“In what way?” - -“The committee came and invited you out to practise.” - -“Yes.” - -“You went.” - -“Yes.” - -“That’s where you were fooled, Merriwell――fooled bad.” - -“How?” - -“They did not agree to put you back onto the regular team?” - -“I did not ask them.” - -“You should. You should have informed them that you were ready for -practise any time they were ready to give you your old position.” - -“That’s what you should have done,” nodded Diamond. - -“Sure thing,” grunted Browning. - -“This getting you out to practise was nothing but a trick. It was done -to prevent the meeting from taking place. Now we can’t hold it. You -have gone onto the field, and that ruins our plan. If you had stayed -away, we’d shown those chumps something to-night that would have -opened their eyes.” - -“You let your knife――I mean, you bet your life!” exclaimed Rattleton. - -“They would have been forced to take you back. Now they can do just as -they darn please, and they’ll use you dirty! You have been fooled, -Merriwell!” - -“Well,” said Frank quietly, “it may be that you are right, Hodge; but -I do not like to think there is a personal feeling against me by the -men who are handling the team.” - -“Oh, you don’t like to think anything bad against anybody!” - -“I’d rather not.” - -“Bah! Come out of it! You were not given a chance on the regulars -to-day, and that shows how you are to be treated right along. Quit it! -Don’t go near the field again. That’s the right thing to do.” - -“On the contrary, it is the wrong thing to do. If I were to do that, -the blame of the whole affair might be thrown on me. It might be said -that I was used on the scrub just to give a substitute a fair trial on -the regulars. It might be said that they intended to take me back -immediately. If I were to stay away, and Yale should lose the game, I -might blame myself.” - -“All right!” said Hodge. “I’ve said my say, now you may do as you -like. But you have been fooled!” - -Then he went out, for he was too angry to stay there longer. - -Frank appeared on the field the following afternoon, and again he was -placed on the first scrub, which confirmed the belief of his friends -that he was not to be given a fair show. Practise began. Merriwell had -charge of the scrub, and he seemed to fill the men with such ginger as -they had never before shown. Every man of the scrub seemed to feel -that Frank had not been treated square. It seemed that they fancied -the test which was to settle the question of his restoration to the -regulars was the manner in which the scrub showed up under his -command. - -It is certain that deep down in his heart Frank was hurt, but he kept -it hidden. However, never before on the practise field had he done -such work. Within two minutes after play began the scrub scored a -touch-down through the masterly manner in which the men were handled, -and Frank touched a goal. - -This was pretty rough on the regulars, for the report would appear in -the papers the next day, and it would be claimed that the work of the -scrub had plainly demonstrated the weakness of the regulars, so, when -the ball was put into play again, the regulars started to redeem -themselves. To their astonishment, the scrub was like a stone wall. -The play was fast and furious, but the scrub refused to be tricked or -beaten down. Merriwell seemed to anticipate every play his opponents -made, and he massed the strength of his team to check and defeat it. - -Lorrimer looked on with a frown on his face. - -“This kind of work is as bad as a regular game,” he said. “It is -certain to break up the men, but the boys must get the best of the -scrub, or it will take the courage out of them.” - -So the regulars were hurled against the scrub again and again. They -tried to break the line, they tried to turn the ends, they resorted to -all sorts of stratagems, and then kicking was fallen back on. For some -time there was a beautiful duel between Captain Birch and Merriwell, -and Merriwell had the best of it in the end. - -Frank had friends enough among those who were watching the contest, -and they cheered. Of course, Lorrimer was displeased by the work of -the regulars, and Birch was no less dissatisfied. - -Then the scrub took the offensive again, and it seemed that they were -going to add another touch-down to their record before the half -closed. Merriwell seemed like a man of iron. He found opportunities to -hurl himself against the regulars, and almost always with the result -of gaining ground. - -At the fifteen-yard line of the regulars there was a terrific -struggle. Somebody was down, and then men piled up in a mass. When -this knot untangled, Merriwell was lying on the field. - -“He’s hurt!” was the cry. - -A doctor was present, and he hurried to the side of the motionless -athlete. As he bent down, Merriwell was seen to stir and partly sit -up, but he fell back with a groan. Then the doctor made a hasty -examination, while players and spectators breathlessly awaited what he -had to say. - -“What is it, doctor?” asked Birch. “How much is he hurt?” - -“He has a broken rib!” answered the doctor. - -“That ends him so far as football is concerned this year!” muttered -Buck Badger. - -Frank Merriwell had a broken rib! Imagine how the news traveled and -the excitement it created. He was carried to the hospital. - -And the regulars scored thirty-six points against the scrub in the -second half of the same practise game. - -“That shows who was backbone of the scrub,” said Pink Pooler bitterly. -“Poor old Merry!” - -The anger of Frank’s friends was fierce and terrible. They denounced -Lorrimer and the entire management of the eleven. Some of them went to -extremes in their fury over the matter. Bart Hodge was outspoken, and -he did not fear any one. There was excitement at the fence that -evening, and Hodge was in the midst of it. - -“Merriwell has been sacrified on the altar of human cussedness!” Hodge -declared. “He is the best man who ever wore a Yale uniform! By kicking -him off the eleven, Yale has thrown away her last chance for beating -Harvard.” - -For once, Harry Rattleton was not doing much talking, but he was -almost in tears. Browning whittled a stick and chewed savagely at a -shaving. Diamond was flushed and seething inwardly. No man felt the -accident more than Jim Hooker. - -“Merriwell has a heart as large as his whole body!” declared Hooker. -“Look what he did for me! If I could take his place now――――” - -“What would be the good?” sneered Hodge. “If you could take his place, -the freaks who are running the eleven would not put him back onto the -team.” - -“I shall stay away from the Harvard game,” said Ben Halliday. “I can’t -afford to have my feelings harrowed up by seeing the Cambridge gang -walk all over Yale.” - -“I have an idea that there will be an unusually small showing of Yale -men at the game,” said Parker. - -“What does Lorrimer have to say about it?” asked somebody. - -“Not a word!” cried Halliday. “What can he say? He knows he is to -blame for it all.” - -Hock Mason came up. - -“Say, fellows,” he called, “heard the latest?” - -“No! What is it?” - -“Merriwell is in his room!” - -“WHAT?” - -Fifty men shouted the word. - -“Yes, sah!” cried Mason; “he’s there. Walked upstairs alone, too.” - -With a whoop, the men rushed for Merriwell’s room. They stormed up the -stairs and came bursting in. They found Frank bolstered up on a couch. - -“Don’t mind the door,” he said, with a faint smile, as they slammed it -open and came crowding in. “Kick it down if it’s in your way, -gentlemen.” - -“Merriwell!” shouted Rattleton, catching hold of his hand. “We didn’t -expect to――――” - -“Ouch!” exclaimed Frank, with a wry face. “Drop that paw! You gave me -a yank that hurt my side then.” - -“Then it is――――” - -“Hurt? Rather.” - -“But your rib,” said Hodge breathlessly――“the doctor said it was -broken.” - -“That was what he thought, but you know his examination was rather -hasty.” - -“Then it isn’t broken?” - -“No.” - -“Hurrah! hurrah!” - -“That’s splendid! It gives me great satisfaction, but I have to tell -you that the doctors at the hospital informed me the injury was about -as bad as a broken rib.” - -Hodge’s face fell, and the others looked disappointed and concerned. - -“Then you can’t play football?” asked Rattleton. - -“They tell me that I can’t.” - -“That’s tough!” - -“But what’s the odds,” smiled Merry, “as long as they were going to -keep me in reserve. There are other men who will fill my place.” - -“There’s no other man living who can fill your place!” exclaimed Bart. - -“Thank you, old man. That’s what you think. It’s plain there are -others who do not think that way.” - -“They’re fools! We’re done for, Merriwell! We can’t beat Harvard -without you! I’ve had my say, and they can do what they like about it -so far as I am concerned. I don’t want to play.” - -“Don’t talk that way, old man! You must help Yale win! Think how I -shall wait for news of the game! If Yale is defeated again this year -I’ll be the sorest man on the campus. I’ll be sorer than I am now!” - -“That’s being loyal!” muttered Jack Diamond. “Talk about -patriotism――that’s it!” - -“It shows the kind of a heart he carries round in his bosom,” said -Rattleton, in an aside. - -“Doctors told me I must keep still,” said Frank. “Asked ’em if I -couldn’t get out to go to the game, and they shook their heads. It -will be a tough Thanksgiving for me this year.” - -“It’ll be tough for Yale,” grunted Browning. - -They talked with Frank awhile, and then, one by one and in little -groups, they drifted out. The report went abroad that Merriwell’s rib -was not broken, but that he was hurt so bad that he could not leave -his room for a week. - -“I don’t believe it,” declared Gene Skelding, at the fence. “He is -playing a game for sympathy.” - -“You’re a liar!” said Hock Mason promptly. - -Once Mason had been the bully of the freshman class. Of late, he was -so quiet that no one could have dreamed that he had ever been a -terror. Skelding knew little about Mason. - -“What do you say?” he snarled. “Do you call me a――――” - -“A liar, sah,” said the man from South Carolina. “Is that plain enough -for you to understand, sah?” - -“It is!” returned Skelding. “Take that for your insult!” - -Slap! he struck Mason with his cane. - -It was a stinging blow, and the Southerner was staggered. He came back -with remarkable suddenness, and―――― - -Crack! His fist landed between Skelding’s eyes, knocking the fellow -clean over the fence. - -“Any time, sah,” said Mason, as Gene picked himself up――“any time that -you wish to pursue this little matter farther, I shall be pleased to -accommodate you, sah.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -OFF TO THE STRUGGLE. - - -It was the morning of the day before Thanksgiving, and gloom brooded -heavily at Yale. The report of Merriwell’s injury had gone abroad, and -the odds being offered that Harvard would defeat Yale were amazing. -But what was still worse, there seemed no Yale money afloat. The -backers of the blue did not have courage to accept odds of three or -four to one. Never in the history of the college had there been such -an absolute lack of confidence. Of course, there were plenty of men -who pretended to believe that Yale would win, but they did not seem -sincere, and they were not taking any chances. - -Lorrimer declared that the eleven was the best Yale had put onto the -field in ten years. But the astonishing record of the eternally -triumphant Harvard team stared them in the face, and they knew to a -man that they were going against the hardest proposition they had ever -tackled. - -Hodge had not held a secure position on the team, and, on account of -his free talk after Merriwell’s injury, he had been dropped back with -the substitutes. It is a wonder he was not told his services could be -dispensed with entirely. Frank knew the men were preparing to take the -train for Boston. He had expected to be with them, and he had pictured -in his mind the rollicking Thanksgiving he would have. Now he was -thinking it would be the most dismal for years. - -There were steps outside, and then Steve Lorrimer came hurriedly in, -his face flushed and his eyes downcast. - -“How do you do, Mr. Lorrimer?” said Merry pleasantly. “I hope you’ll -excuse me for not rising.” - -Lorrimer closed the door carefully. - -“Merriwell,” he said, “I’ve come to beg your pardon.” - -“What?” cried Frank, astounded. - -“Yea,” said Lorrimer, “I want to beg your pardon for dropping you the -way I did. I want to tell you something, too. I never meant to drop -you entirely; I did that to teach you a lesson. It was my intention to -take you back onto the eleven for the game to-morrow.” - -“Well,” said Frank, with a faint smile, “as it has happened, your -intentions cannot be carried out.” - -“Will you accept my apology?” asked Lorrimer. “I’ll make it public if -you like.” - -“It is not necessary,” said Frank. “I accept it.” - -“I’ve tried to work the men just right so that they would be in -condition, without overworking them,” Lorrimer went on. “I have held -the coachers in check. I believe the men are all right physically; but -they are all wrong mentally.” - -“How is that?” - -“They lack courage.” - -“That’s bad.” - -“Bad! It’s going to defeat us!” - -Merriwell looked anxious. - -“I’m afraid you are right,” he said, “unless you can screw their -courage up. A team should not be too confident when it goes into a -game, but an absolute lack of confidence means ruin in a game like -this. It’s a shame. What’s the matter?” - -“You!” - -“I?” - -“Yes.” - -“How?” - -“The team needs you to brace it up and give it courage. I never -realized before how much it depended on you.” - -“Well, Lorrimer, I am awful sorry I can’t brace it up.” - -“Can’t you?” - -“Why, no! How can I?” - -“Can’t you go to Boston with us?” - -“The doctor――――” - -“I know, but victory for Yale may depend on it. If you could go with -the men――if you could appear on the field in a uniform, I believe we’d -have an even chance for victory.” - -“Do you?” - -“Sure thing.” - -Frank sat bolt upright now, his eyes gleaming and a flush in his -cheeks. - -“Lorrimer,” he said, “I’ll go!” - -The manager felt like uttering a shout, but he did not. Instead, he -held out his hand, which Frank took, saying: - -“Wiggle it carefully, old man.” - -“There’s a chance for us, Merriwell!” cried Steve. “The sight of you -will put spirit into the men. You will give them heart, and that is -what they need.” - -Frank got up. - -“I’ll be ready as soon as I can get into my clothes,” he said. “Will -you see that I have a cab to take me to the station?” - -“You bet I will!” - -“All right. You can depend on me, Lorrimer. If I knew I could help the -team win this game, I’d go to Boston if I had to be carried there on a -stretcher!” - -Lorrimer hurried down-stairs, and within thirty minutes it seemed that -the whole college knew Merriwell was going to Boston with the eleven. -It created a perfect tumult of excitement. Men who, an hour before, -had declared they were not going to see the game made a scramble to -get ready and catch the train. Of a sudden it seemed that the aspect -of things had brightened in a most wonderful manner. - -“What is he going to do?” - -That was the question hundreds asked. - -“Is he going to play?” - -Scores asked that question. - -The time approached for Merry to start for the train. He came down -from his room, escorted by his most intimate friends. Browning was -helping him downstairs. They saw a crowd was waiting outside. - -“Let me alone, Bruce!” cried Frank, who had tried to discourage the -giant from offering assistance. “This is what I’m on my feet for. Give -me a chance to make my bluff.” - -So he walked out at the head of the party, straight as an Indian, -stepping off with a brisk pace, apparently as well as ever. His -appearance created unbounded astonishment, for it had been believed -that he was entirely “done up.” - -“What’s the matter with him, anyhow?” - -“He’s a healthy-looking sick man!” - -“He’s as well as ever!” - -“Somebody has been playing a slick game!” - -These were the exclamations. One fellow cried: - -“Fellows, the cat is out! Merriwell wasn’t hurt at all! The whole -business was a fake to fool Harvard! He’s fooled her, too, and Yale -will win to-day!” - -Frank laughed outright. Everything was moving finely. - -“Talk about your clever tricks!” shouted a voice. “This beats ’em all! -Hurrah for Frank Merriwell!” - -They cheered, and Frank walked steadily through their midst to the -cab, which he entered, his grip and overcoat being tossed in after -him. Diamond, Browning, and Rattleton followed, and the cab rolled -away. - -“If we can keep it up,” said Frank, “we may change the complexion of -things.” - -All Boston seemed football crazy, for the time, at least. Blue and -crimson were the colors everywhere. At noon people began turning -toward Soldiers’ Field, that colossal rectangle where the battle was -to take place. The work of the ticket-takers began as the spectators -came dribbling in. It was a tiny rivulet at first, then a brook, then -a stream, then a river, then a rushing, roaring flood. - -Inside the seats of the stadium gradually became covered with all -sorts of wraps and all colors of ribbons. There were pretty girls in -crimson sweaters, and just as pretty ones wearing Yale blue. There -were men with flags and with their colors pinned to their coats. By -one-thirty it seemed that the great stand was filled, but there was -not the slightest decrease in the steady flow of people rolling inward -from the four corners of the field. - -The college men poured in and gathered in compact masses, Yale on the -east and Harvard on the west. They were exuberant and overflowing with -life, and they were armed with megaphones. - -It was near two o’clock, when, of a sudden, the Harvard men sent up a -long, roaring yell, that sounded like the call of a lion to battle. In -an instant, from the opposite side of the arena, the Yale bloodhounds -began to bay. The dull tramping of the oncoming host could be heard no -longer. In the midst of the uproar came the lilt of far-away songs. -The pulsing beat of a drum was borne to the ear. The megaphones blared -and roared and lapsed to silence at times. In those brief intervals -the strong wind could be heard playing amid the sea of waving pennons -with a sound like the humming bow-strings on a battle-field of old. -The blood throbbed and leaped in the veins, and the excitement and -expectancy of the hour was intoxicating. - -In front of this vast and heaving concourse was the level field of -battle, marked with white lines, like the ribs of a skeleton. - -It was exactly five minutes past two when the roaring suddenly broke -forth with fury it had not hitherto attained, and onto the field -suddenly came the gladiators who were to struggle for the supremacy. -Shaggy and lion-maned, they were armored and prepared for the terrible -battle that was impending. And all eyes were turned upon them, while -the college men stood up and waved their colors and roared and roared -again. That great mass of human beings broke out into a flutter of -crimson and blue color. Amid those men who came out thus upon the -field was one for whom the eyes of two-thirds of the college men and -football cranks within that enclosure searched. The cheering lulled, -and a Yale man shrieked: - -“There he is! There’s Frank Merriwell!” - -What a sound followed, coming from the throats of that gathering of -Yale students. It was a note of greeting, exultation, and joy! The man -on whom it seemed that their hopes centered had trotted onto the field -with the others. There was no longer a doubt but it was a trick, all -this business of Merriwell having been severely injured. The -preliminary practise began. Men fell to chasing the ball about and -falling on it. There was some signal-practise, and then: - -“The game is going to begin!” - -The two captains were seen to walk aside from the others, together -with the referee, who took a coin from his pocket and spun it in the -air. The toss fell to Yale. Birch did not hesitate. He gave Harvard -the ball and took advantage of the wind. Then the battle lines were -formed in the center, and the substitutes came down along the ropes. - -Frank Merriwell was with the substitutes. Hundreds of Yale men were -puzzled by this. They had expected to see him go onto the field, and -now, for the first time, they began to get an inkling of the real -truth――they began to suspect that he was not in condition to play. - -“What’s the matter with Merriwell?” - -“Why doesn’t he go on?” - -“What are they doing with him, anyhow?” - -“If he can play, they ought to play him!” - -“There is something wrong about this.” - -Amid the uproar could be heard these remarks coming from Yale men. - -“Hollender is going to kick off!” - -There was a hush. The Harvard full-back stepped off from the ball -lying on the turf and sized it up. He balanced himself carefully, -while the rest of the twenty-one young panthers waited with every -nerve and muscle taut. Then, with a rapid forward movement, Hollender -swung his foot against the ball, and away it sailed over the Yale -forwards like a flying bird. - -There was a rumbling rush of feet on the hard turf. Under the ball -stood Richmond, on Yale’s twenty-five yard line. He caught it fairly, -but barely had he done so when he was slapped to the ground, and two -tons of Harvard beef piled upon him. The game was fairly on, and all -present, players and spectators, felt that it was to be the greatest -game in history to date. - -Harvard, with all the experience of the past year and the record of -wonderful work thus far this season, was confident that she would give -Yale the worst trouncing she had ever received. On the other hand, -Yale was desperate and determined to win back her lost laurels. It was -amazing how those men had been cheered and encouraged by Frank -Merriwell. He had put stiffening into the back-bones of all of them, -and he had made them feel that the game belonged to them by decrees of -fate if they were willing to work for it. - -There was an untangling, and then the human tigers stood there glaring -into each other’s eyes. - -Yale’s first play was to give the ball to Badger for a plunge against -Harvard’s right wing. The stocky Western man made a gallant attempt, -but the gain was slight, for the Harvard end closed in about him and -swamped him. Ready, quivering, alert, the Harvard men were on their -mettle at the outset, and it was plain that Yale was up against a hard -proposition. - -Birch decided to try a kick from close behind the line, but one of the -rushers was called out, as if he was to run with the ball. He kicked, -but it seemed that his toe hardly touched the pigskin when those -Harvard wildcats were upon him. A big Harvard athlete partly blocked -the ball, and Jack Ready, who was well in the play, succeeded in -recovering it for Yale at the Harvard fifty-yard line. Neither -Badger’s plunge nor the attempted kick had proved a success, and the -Harvard rooters were whooping their joy. - -But Yale was undaunted, and again a kick was tried from behind the -line. Again the man was beaten down, but this time the Harvard -gladiators were too late, and the ball sailed through the air, came to -earth, and rolled out of bounds at Harvard’s fifteen-yard line. But -Harvard got possession of the leather, and there she lined up for her -first assault on the Yale line. - -Across the field rolled a great chorus of voices singing a song to -inspire the defenders of the crimson. There was scarcely a moment of -delay, and then a Harvard man was sent against Yale’s left wing, which -was regarded as weak. But Jack Ready was there, and he distinguished -himself by bringing the man with the ball to the ground without a foot -of gain. - -It was beginning to look brighter for Yale. - -“Frank Merriwell did it!” screamed Diamond in the ear of Bruce -Browning. “He put the needed courage into the men. We’re going to win -this game!” - -Browning nodded. His confidence had been restored and he was feeling -better. - -“It would have been a cinch if Merriwell had played,” he shouted back. - -But their enthusiasm and confidence received a setback when a Harvard -man was sent against the right wing of the Yale line, and, aided by -splendid interference, cut his way through and took the ball up the -field fifteen yards. It was Badger who tackled and brought the runner -to earth, the interference being unable to stop the rush of the -determined Westerner. - -Immediately following this a round-the-end play was tried, but it -resulted in no gain for Harvard. The left wing was bucked again, but -the needed five yards were not obtained on the second down. - -“We’ll hold ’em!” cried Diamond. - -Browning nodded. - -And then, by a new and surprising play, Harvard seemed to try to send -the ball round the end, but shifted with the suddenness of a flash of -lightning and hurled herself in one compact mass against Yale’s -center. It was a surprise. Yale seemed split and overwhelmed in a -twinkling. The man with the ball came through, his interferers -protecting him finely. Down the field he sped toward the Yale goal, -and the great throng of Harvard students rose up and thundered like -the bursting of a mighty storm in the tropics. - -Behind the Harvard runner came defenders of the blue. The men before -him were swept aside by the interference. It looked like a great, -sensational run for a touch-down. Yale spectators were gasping for -breath, while the Harvard crowd roared its applause and delight. Bruce -Browning was speechless; Jack Diamond was shivering as if struck by a -chill; Harry Rattleton was white as chalk. They realized that a run -through Yale’s center at this early stage of the game might totally -demoralize the Yale eleven. And the run was being made! - -If Frank Merriwell were in the game! That was the thought of many of -Merry’s particular friends and admirers. But he was not in the game, -and his best friends knew he was in no condition to go into it. - -The ball was in Yale’s territory, and it was being carried straight -and sure for her goal-line. Two men were after the runner. They were -closing in from opposite sides. One was Buck Badger and the other was -Richmond, Yale’s quarter-back. - -“Badger will do it! Badger will stop him!” - -Somebody cried out the words. Then they saw Badger blocked off and -baffled by Harvard interference. - -Yale’s thirty-yard line was reached. - -Five yards farther on the interferer who was giving his attention to -Richmond stumbled a moment. Before he could recover, the active little -Yale quarter-back went past him and flung himself like a wildcat at -the Harvard man with the ball. The tackle was accurate and well made. -The man with the ball went down, and Harvard had not scored, although -a most brilliant play had been made――a play that would be talked about -for weeks to come. - -Then it was the turn for the Yale crowd to yell, and they nearly split -their throats. There was a pile-up and an entanglement. The Harvard -man was hurt. He tried to get up and stay in the game, but when he -stood straight on his feet he reeled and fell into the arms of his -friends. Then they carried him from the field, covered with glory, but -done for, and another man took his place. - -Harvard was on her mettle now. She had broken through Yale’s center, -and the feat of the brave fellow just carried from the field was -something to put iron into the blood of his companions. - -The moment the game was on again Harvard drove hard at Yale’s center, -without resorting to strategy. It seemed that this repetition of her -recent move was unexpected, and it succeeded, for the ball was taken -to Yale’s fifteen-yard line. - -The goal was near, and Harvard was working for her life. In past years -she had produced great defensive teams, but it was plain that her team -could take the offensive this year. Yale was desperate. The advance -must be checked right here. Hard-faced and desperate, the defenders of -the blue lined up. Twice Harvard flung herself against the line, and -twice she failed to gain an inch. - -“Hold them, boys――hold them!” muttered Jack Diamond, as if his words -could reach the ears of those dirt-covered gladiators on the gridiron. - -Then a pass was tried by Harvard, and right there she fumbled. It was -Jack Ready who fell on the ball, and Yale breathed once more. Now the -lost ground must be recovered. Yale tried to send a man round -Harvard’s right end, but no gain was made. Then Derford, Yale’s left -end, was literally hurled out of a formation play for a gain of four -yards, and that was some encouragement. - -Right there three downs followed, and, as a last resort, a desperate -one, Birch kicked. The wind helped him, and he got the ball off in -splendid shape before a hand touched him. Hollender received the ball -and sent it back on the instant. This was a mistake, for Harvard lost -ground, having the wind against her, and the Yale crowd breathed a -trifle easier. But the fight was entirely in Yale territory now, and -Yale could not get the ball past center. Twice she came near -succeeding, only to slip up when success seemed within her grasp. - -Harvard was cheering her men on. - -The half was drawing to a close, and neither side had scored. Harvard -did not propose to lose her advantage. The captain called on his men -to rally, and they answered. Having the ball in their possession, they -began a series of terrific hammering at the Yale line. To the despair -of the Yale rooters the defenders of the blue seemed weakening. -Harvard made steady gains, and the ball was pushed to Yale’s -thirty-yard line once more, where there was another fearful scrimmage, -and when it was over Buck Badger was carried from the field with a -wrenched knee. - -“That settles it!” groaned Browning. “I’ve never liked that fellow, -but he’s been our mainstay to-day. We’re in the soup!” - -“I am afraid so,” said Diamond huskily. “Oh, if Frank Merriwell could -take his place!” - -A freshman by the name of Deland came out from the reserves and took -Badger’s place. The game went on, with Harvard hammering her way -forward sure as fate. Yale’s twenty-yard line was reached. Then the -crimson beat out three yards, a yard, four yards, two yards, and the -ball was “down” ten yards from Yale’s goal-line. - -“For the love of Heaven, hold it there two minutes!” prayed Jack -Diamond, looking at his watch. - -Harvard had found she could gain by driving with all her might into -Yale’s line. It was brutal sort of work, but it counted, and those -Cambridge men were there to win if it cost blood and limbs. Yale was -making a “last-ditch stand.” There did not seem to be a man on the -team who was not willing to shed any amount of gore if he could aid in -the checking of those human battering-rams. - -Slam! Harvard drove into Yale’s right end, and the “down” had not -gained a foot. Bang! Harvard rammed Yale’s center, and four yards were -made. - -Then there was a quick change of men, and two substitutes appeared in -Yale’s line. They were fresh, and they held Harvard in her next center -attack. - -“It’ll be all over in a moment!” groaned Browning. “Harvard will put -the ball over the line on her next attempt!” - -Then the referee’s whistle blew, and Yale was saved for the time, as -the first half was ended. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE LION HEART. - - -In the Yale dressing-rooms there was excitement. The men were being -hastily rubbed down. They were sore and dispirited. Some men had come -down from the pine seats. Browning and Diamond were there. - -“Our best men are crippled,” confessed Birch to Bruce. “We’ll fight to -the last gasp, and that’s all we can do.” - -“If we had Merriwell to put in now, he might brace the team up,” said -Lorrimer, in a low tone. - -Frank Merriwell was there. Browning fell on him, figuratively -speaking. - -“Merriwell,” he said, “can’t you go in? The crowd was yelling for you. -Listen! Hear ’em!” - -They listened, and to their ears came a great shout from the Yale -side: - -“Where is Merriwell? We want Merriwell!” - -Lorrimer walked up to Frank. - -“Merriwell,” he said, “if you could go into this game, you might save -the day for us. You are our only hope. Can’t you possibly do it?” - -Then, to the astonishment of every one, Frank answered: - -“Yes!” - -“You will?” gasped Lorrimer. - -“Yes!” - -Browning gave a roar of delight. He would have grasped Frank in his -arms, but Merry prevented, saying: - -“Don’t do it, old man! I can’t stand that!” - -“Well, how are you going to stand it on the field?” asked Jack -Diamond. - -“I’ll have to stand it there,” was the grim answer. - -The word was passed round that Merriwell would go in, and it was -astonishing how those men brightened up. - -“We’ll beat Harvard now!” they exclaimed joyously. “We can beat her -with Merriwell, even if he has to play on one leg!” - -“We want Merriwell!” roared the Yale crowd, while the Harvard men -taunted and jeered at them. - -Then the two teams came out to line-up for the second half, and Frank -Merriwell was with Yale. He was seen――he was recognized. It seemed -that every Yale men leaped to his feet. - -“There he is!” - -Never did a human being receive a greater ovation on the -football-field. The Yale men let the spectators in general know why -they were yelling and cheering like a lot of lunatics, and the great -throng of human beings took up the mad cheering. Everywhere the blue -was fluttering――everywhere except to the west. - -When the teams lined up, it was seen that Frank Merriwell had been -placed at full-back, while Birch was playing half in Badger’s place. -Merriwell’s intimate friends wondered that Frank dared do such a -thing. They knew it was strictly against the orders of his physician. -But there he was, ready for the fray, and it was his kick-off. This -time Yale must fight against the wind, and, judging by her record with -the wind in her favor, she was liable to fall an easy victim to -Harvard’s gladiators. - -Frank went at the ball and drove it into the air. There was a rush, -but the sphere curved out of bounds, and it was brought back for -another try. Those who witnessed the kick said it was not much like -Merriwell’s work when he was at his best. On the next attempt, -however, Frank drove off splendidly. Hollender returned the ball, and -there was some sharp volleying for a few seconds, but, with the wind -against him, Merry did not keep it up. Every time he kicked it seemed -that he was tearing a piece out of his side, but his teeth were set, -and no sound came from his lips. - -Then Yale’s left end was sent into Harvard’s center with the ball, but -the gain was slight. A double pass was tried, and it gained five yards -for the blue. Then Yale was held right there on “downs” till the ball -went to Harvard. - -Harvard immediately returned to the play that had been so successful -in the first half, bucking Yale’s center. To her surprise, the Yale -line seemed to be a wall of stone, and three downs came one after -another. Then Hollender punted to Merriwell, who made a beautiful -catch, tucked the ball under his arm and went past Harvard’s left end -like a shot. It was his first effective play, and the Yale crowd on -the benches rose and howled. He was getting up fine speed when two men -struck him on Harvard’s thirty-five-yard line and brought him down -with a terrible shock. - -Merry was hurt. He writhed in pain, seeming unable to catch his -breath. - -“By the gods! he’s knocked out so quick!” groaned Browning. - -“Wait,” advised Diamond. “It takes considerable to knock Frank -Merriwell out. He’ll play if he can stand.” - -At last Frank got up. He was seen to stagger, but recovered himself -and remained in the game. That caused the Yale men to cheer him -wildly. - -Yale was unable to make any further gain, and Frank punted out of -bounds. Then a Harvard man went round Yale’s left end for four yards. -Harvard’s left guard was injured in interfering for the runner, and -another man was substituted. In the anxiety of Yale’s right guard to -stop his fresh opponent in the line, he went past him before the ball -was put into play, and Yale was punished by having to give five yards -to Harvard. Things were beginning to come Harvard’s way again, for all -of Merriwell’s play, and she beat Yale back into her territory yard by -yard. - -It looked like Harvard’s day, for she was keeping Yale on the -defensive at least two-thirds of the time. To be sure, Yale was making -a stronger defense than she did in the first half, but the persistent -bulldog work of the crimson was bound to tell. - -Hodge had not found a single opportunity to show what he could do. Now -he was able to stop two successive attacks of the Harvard men by his -own individual efforts, and he heard a word of praise from Merriwell. -Then the ball came to Yale on a fumble, and Hodge was tried on the -line. He won seven yards and was wildly cheered by the New Haven -crowd. - -Again Harvard held Yale. The “downs” came thick and fast, and the ball -went to the crimson once more. - -Hollender punted beautifully. Merriwell took the ball and shot -forward, as if to go round Harvard’s left end in the same style as -before. As he went by Birch, he passed the ball. Birch turned and shot -toward Harvard’s right end, but the ball left his hands and passed -into those of Hodge. And Bart Hodge went into the center of Harvard’s -line with Yale interferers all around him. This had been done so -quickly that Harvard was bewildered for a moment, and again Hodge was -forced forward for a gain of about seven yards. - -“Keep it up,” said Merriwell, “and you’ll go over the line with the -ball.” - -Yale was brightening up. The spectators were wild. It was a struggle -of giants, and the man who could pick the winner was a wonder. How -those megaphones roared! But Harvard made a stand, and baffled Yale -again till she could secure possession of the ball. - -Hollender once more resorted to a punt, and this time Merriwell sent -it back. A Harvard man had it like a flash and went at Yale’s right -end, cutting through like a knife. How it happened no one seemed able -to tell, but he escaped tackler after tackler and raced down the field -to Yale’s twenty-five-yard line before he was stopped by Frank -Merriwell, who threw him like a log. - -Merry got up spitting blood himself, having cut his lips. He did not -say a word, and nobody asked him questions. There was a line-up, and -the battle went on in Yale’s territory. At times Harvard was driven -back to center, and then she would sweep Yale into her territory -again. - -“It looks as if we might keep her from scoring!” breathed Jack -Diamond, with intense satisfaction. “If we can do that, I’ll be -happy.” - -Indeed, it looked as if neither side could score. Was it to be a drawn -game? - -Harvard had the ball, and there was a scrimmage. In the midst of it -somebody scrambled, and the ball came whirling out of the mass of -human beings. Frank Merriwell had it in a twinkling, and he was off -down the field before the Harvard men knew what had happened. Every -breath Frank drew cut him like a keen knife, but he kept on at -wonderful speed. The hounds were after him, and he knew it. He bowled -one man over, dodged another, and then rushed onward. - -All Yale rose and thundered. For the first time that day it seemed -certain that Yale would make a goal. Bruce Browning shouted like a -maniac, his face turning purple as the blood rushed to his head. - -“Merriwell has done it!” he roared. “That wins this game!” - -Jack Diamond’s face was pale, save where two spots of red glowed in -his cheeks. His lips were pressed together, and he was shaking again. -Frank felt a fearful pain running through him. It seemed to stop his -wind, but it did not stop him. - -“I must do it!” he thought. - -He became blind, but still he managed to keep on his feet, and he ran -on. Had Frank been at his best he would have crossed the Harvard line -without again being touched; but he was not at his best, and Hollender -came down on him. Ten yards from Harvard’s line, Hollender tackled -Merry. - -Frank felt himself clutched, but he refused to be dragged down. He -felt hands clinging to him, and, with all the fierceness he could -summon, he strove to break away and go on. His lips were covered with -a bloody foam, and there was a frightful glare in his eyes. He -strained and strove to get a little farther, and he actually dragged -Hollender along the ground till he broke the fellow’s hold. Then he -reeled across Harvard’s line and fell. - -It was a touch-down in the last seconds of the game. There was not -even time to kick a goal, but Yale had won by a score of four to -nothing! - -He was carried from the field by his friends, who took him to a hotel -and put him to bed. A doctor came to see him and prescribed for him. -They came round his bed and told him what a noble fellow he was. - -“Don’t boys!” he begged. “You make me tired! And I’m so happy! We won, -fellows――we won the game!” - -“You won it!” cried Jack Diamond fiercely. “They can’t rob you of that -glory! They’ve tried to rob you of enough!” - -“No, no! We all did it. Think how the boys fought! It was splendid! -And that was the best eleven Harvard ever put on the field. Oh, what a -glorious Thanksgiving!” - -“But you are knocked out,” said Rattleton. “It’s too bad you can’t -enjoy it with the rest of the fellows! They own Boston to-night!” - -“Enjoy it!” exclaimed Frank, with a faint laugh. “I am enjoying it! -Never in my life have I enjoyed a Thanksgiving so much!” - -“Old man,” said Browning, “your heart is in the right place. It was -your heart that won the game to-day. If it had had one weak spot, we -could not have won.” - -“It is the heart of a lion,” said Bart Hodge. - -“Now, you’re not going to escape without some of this flattery!” -smiled Frank. “You did as much as any man on the field.” - -“I didn’t make a touch-down.” - -“Boys,” said Frank, “I’m so glad――and I’m so tired! The pain in my -side does not hurt so much since the doctor gave me the medicine. I -feel sleepy. I believe I’ll sleep awhile. Oh, what a glorious -Thanksgiving!” - -Even as he murmured the words, he seemed to fall asleep. They stole -out of the room and left him there, with Bart Hodge watching at the -bedside, like a faithful dog. - - -THE END. - - - - - MEDAL LIBRARY NO. 365 - A weekly publication devoted to good literature. - June 25, 1906. - -[Illustration: Through the Air to Fame] - -“_Just the Thing_” - -[Illustration] - -The Bound to Win Library - -All boys who read the stories published in this famous library agree -that they are “_Just the Thing_.” - -There are tales of the adventures of plucky lads in all parts of the -world, from the sunny south to the frozen north, and in every -imaginable situation. - -If you want stories that just teem with interest, boys, here is your -opportunity to get them. There are over 150 different titles to chose -from, and not a dull book among them. - -PRICE, TEN CENTS PER COPY - -For Sale by all newsdealers or sent upon receipt of price and four -cents added to cover postage. - -STREET & SMITH, NEW YORK - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -Dialect, obsolete words and misspellings were left unchanged. -Obvious printing errors, such unprinted quotation marks and final -stops, were corrected. Words and phrases in italics are surrounded -by underscores, _like this_. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Frank Merriwell's Fun, by Burt L Standish - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANK MERRIWELL'S FUN *** - -***** This file should be named 63537-0.txt or 63537-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/5/3/63537/ - -Produced by Carol Brown, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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