I EX 
 
 FRANK 
 MERHWELL'S 
 FAITH 
 
 5URT L 
 STAN DISH
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 EDWIN CORLE 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 JEAN CORLE
 
 Then Merriwell went over the side of the shell, clearing it well, find coming 
 to the surface almost instantly, shouted : 
 
 " You can win yet ! Pull, fellows ! Pull ! " 
 
 (Sec pnge 79)
 
 FRANK MERRIWELL'S 
 FAITH 
 
 BY 
 
 BURT L. STANDISH 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "Frank Merriwell's School Days," "Frank Merriwell's Chums," 
 "Frank Merriwell's Foes," etc.
 
 y STREET it SMITH 
 Frank Merriwell'* Fai* 
 
 AH rights reserved, including that of translation tnt foreign language*, 
 including the Scandinavian.
 
 FRANK MERRIWELL'S FA1TR 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN TRAINING AT NEW LONDON. 
 
 To one in whose veins runs the good red blood of 
 youth, few things are prettier or more attractive than 
 a boat's crew of strong, athletic, lithe-limbed university 
 men speeding their cranky shell, their bodies bending, 
 and the oars rising and falling with machinelike pre- 
 cision. 
 
 Such was the sight beheld by Frank Merriwell, as 
 he stood on the float and looked out across the shining 
 water at the boat which was shooting toward him with 
 splendid speed. 
 
 The waves were dashing against and gurgling rouna 
 the boat, and out where the boat sped they were run- 
 ning high enough to fling a jet of spray now and then 
 over a rower. 
 
 "The men are getting into fine form !" thought Mer- 
 riwell, as he watched the work of the crew. "But they, 
 will need to do their best to beat Harvard this year! 
 I fancy the race will be for blood." 
 
 Reports of the training and skill of the Harvard 
 crew were not lacking at Yale. It was known that
 
 6 In Training at New London. 
 
 for months the Harvard men had been working like 
 galley-slaves to put themselves in condition for the 
 boat-race at New London. But Yale had been work- 
 ing as hard or harder. No toil had been spared by the 
 Yale eight to prepare themselves for their great battle 
 against the Crimson. 
 
 Frank felt a thrill of pride as he watched the rowers. 
 They were handsome, manly fellows, with brown, 
 muscular bodies, clothed only in sleeveless shirts, short 
 trunks, and heavy, loose-fitting socks. The little cox- 
 swain who so deftly guided the shell and encouraged 
 the crew with his words was not prouder of them than 
 was Frank Merriwell. 
 
 On one person in the shell Frank's eyes were fixed 
 with more earnestness and pleasure than on any other. 
 That was Jack Diamond, who by pure merit had won 
 the important position of stroke for the varsity eight. 
 The supple grace which concealed the tremendous 
 power which Diamond threw into his stroke appealed 
 strongly to Merriwell's sense of beauty. Diamond had 
 indeed developed into a fine oarsman, and the perfect 
 rhythmic sense which made him a skilled musician 
 made his stroke as unvarying and regular as the beat 
 of a pendulum. 
 
 The voice of the coxswain came musically across 
 the water : 
 
 "All together! all together! Now! now!" keeping 
 time to Diamond's stroke.
 
 In Training at New London. 7 
 
 The sunshine flashed like silver on the dripping 
 blades, while here and there the waves frothed silvery 
 white along their plashing crests. But for the breeze 
 which ruffled the water, the day was perfect, and the 
 sky was an azure-blue. 
 
 The varsity eight were now at New London, and 
 had taken up quarters at Gale's Ferry, on the Thames. 
 The Harvard eight were also at New London, but 
 some distance down the river. 
 
 The training and practise must go on, but the col- 
 lege examinations could not be skipped for that, and a 
 proctor had been sent down from Yale to supervise the 
 examinations of the crew. The examinations and the 
 training together made hard work, but the picked eight 
 were standing up to this double duty in a manly way. 
 
 "I don't believe Harvard can get together eight men 
 who can beat them. That shell is simply flying, and 
 they move like one man. Diamond is a splendid 
 stroke." 
 
 It made Merry's heart warm to feel this. Then he 
 thought of Inza, as he always did when he beheld the 
 crew at their oars. 
 
 "To be the mascot of a crew like that is worth while! 
 The crew is worthy of the mascot, and the mascot is 
 worthy of the crew." 
 
 Merriwell had run down from New Haven on this 
 afternoon to witness the work of the crew, and was to 
 return that night. New Haven was pulsing with en-
 
 S In Training at New London. 
 
 thusiasm for the Blue, but he had found New London 
 very much divided between the Blue and the Crimson. 
 In New London he had also encountered Paul Rains, 
 and Rains was a Harvard enthusiast. 
 
 "The scalp of Yale will swing at the belt of Har- 
 vard this year!" Rains had declared, and Rains evi- 
 dently believed it. 
 
 There were many others in New London who were 
 just as confident that Harvard would win the race. 
 More than that, Frank had discovered that the betting 
 men of New London were favoring Harvard. 
 
 The betting fraternity usually has a keen scent for 
 the strength and weakness of competing crews and 
 teams, as Frank knew, and the knowledge which he 
 had gained of their attitude made him watch the work 
 of the crew with a keener eye than common. 
 
 If there was any apparent weakness he wanted to 
 see it, so that he might suggest its correction to the 
 coach. But though he earnestly searched, he saw so 
 little to criticize that his confidence of success grew. 
 With leaps like a greyhound, the shell drew near the 
 float, then glided alongside of it. Scarcely a minute 
 later the crew were on the float and were lifting the 
 shell from the water. 
 
 When the shell had been housed, the crew rubbed 
 down, and Jack reappeared in his ordinary clothing, 
 the Virginian came straight up to Merriwell, his fine 
 face flushed with pleasure.
 
 In Training at New London. 9 
 
 "Glad to see you down here, Merry!" extending a 
 hand. "Of course, you're loaded down with all the 
 news of Yale? I didn't know that any one could so 
 miss the old quadrangle and the crowds and the fence! 
 We're hard at work here, and the fellows are a lively 
 lot, but for all that I've felt like Crusoe on his island !" 
 
 Frank stepped into an ordinary rowboat that was 
 bobbing against the float. The coach came walking 1 
 from the boat-house toward them. 
 
 "No objections if we row out along the course?'* 
 Frank asked. 
 
 "None at all, Merriwell! You saw the work just 
 now?" 
 
 "Yes, it was splendid. I suppose Harvard is sha- 
 ding into fine shape, too?" 
 
 "But they can't beat us!" the coach beamingly de- 
 clared. 
 
 "You're making a good stroke, Diamond!" Frank 
 remarked, when he and Jack were afloat, with Frank 
 at the oars. 
 
 Diamond's tanned face brightened. 
 
 "Glad you think so, Merry ! I'm resolved that if we 
 don't win the -race it won't be because I didn't do my 
 best. How are the fellows feeling about it ?" 
 
 "Yale and all New Haven are sure we will win! I 
 think so myself, but we must not become too confident, 
 you know! I think I never saw a shell go over the 
 water more smoothly than yours did just now."
 
 io In Training at New London. 
 
 "And the river might be smoother!" 
 
 "Yes, and it may be just like this, or worse, on the 
 day of the race !" 
 
 Then, seeing that Jack was anxious for the college 
 gossip and news, Merriwell gave him a running ac- 
 count of such things as he knew would be of interest. 
 
 "This Robinson Crusoe work down here has set me 
 to thinking more than ever!" said Diamond, with a 
 grave face. 
 
 "It must be good, then, if it makes people think f 
 I've heard it argued that college sports have just the 
 opposite effect." 
 
 Though Merriwell smiled, Jack did not. 
 
 "It has brought home to me more strongly than 
 ever what it will mean to be separated from the men 
 who have been my friends at Yale for four long 
 years !" 
 
 Frank's face also grew sober. The thought was 
 not pleasant, though recently he had often been forced 
 to entertain it. These were the closing days of June, 
 the final examinations were under way, and commence- 
 ment was at hand. Then the seniors would go away 
 from Yale, never to return again as students, with the 
 exception of the few who would take post-graduate 
 courses. The hand of fate was soon to hurl the seniors 
 out into the field of the world as a sower broadcasts 
 his grain, where their qualities would be tested, and it 
 would become known whether they were merely weeds
 
 In Training at New London. n 
 
 or wheat. Those latter days of June were indeed seri- 
 ous days, but the anxiety of the examinations and 
 training, the plans for vacations and home-going, and 
 the thousand distractions that come to a student aV such 
 a time kept many from realizing what commencement 
 really meant. 
 
 "We can always be friends, Jack!" said Merriwell, 
 resting on his oars as he looked into the serious face 
 of his friend that friend whom he had learned to love 
 as a brother. "The Yale friendships need never be 
 broken!" 
 
 "Of course, we will always be friends, and I shall 
 always think of the time at Yale as the happiest of my 
 life, and shall value the old Yale friendships more 
 than any other. But it's the separation!" 
 
 Perhaps it was a dash of salt spray that reddened 
 Diamond's eyes, and that same salt spray seemed to 
 thicken his voice when he spoke again. 
 
 "If Yale loses to Harvard, it won't be because the 
 stroke doesn't put into the race every ounce of strength 
 he has!" 
 
 The subject had suddenly changed, and Jack was 
 again talking of the crew. 
 
 "We are sure of you!" said Merriwell, who knew 
 that Jack Diamond, the splendid Virginian, could be 
 depended on to pull his heart out, if necessary, to win 
 the New London boat-race for Yale. 
 
 The breeze died at the approach of evening and the
 
 12 In Training at New London. 
 
 waters became smoother, while the whitecaps vanished 
 from the harbor. Diamond looked at his watch. The 
 time had sped more rapidly than either he or Merri- 
 well had dreamed. 
 
 "We must be getting back. I'll have the proctor 
 and the coach both after me. They stick as close to a 
 Bellow as bad luck!" 
 
 There was a white sickle of a moon in the sky, and 
 another in the water of the Thames, but foggy clouds 
 soon swung in from the Sound and blotted out both. 
 Almost before Jack and Frank were aware of it, the 
 river began to grow dark. 
 
 "I'll take the oars now!" said Diamond. "You 
 must be getting tired." 
 
 Merriwell was not tired, but he permitted Diamond 
 to take the oars, and the rowboat was turned toward 
 the float and the boat-house. Diamond feathered the 
 oars so neatly and pulled with such a clean and beauti- 
 ful stroke that Frank found pleasure in watching him. 
 But the increasing darkness soon marred this pleasure. 
 A fog-bank was chasing the clouds up the river and 
 making its presence felt. 
 
 "Can you find the boat-house?" Frank asked. 
 
 "I don't know, but I think so. If we listen we're 
 likely to hear some of the fellows there. We can't see 
 their light, but some of them will bellow through the 
 megaphone, or shout to guide us." 
 
 There was not much talking after that, for each
 
 In Training at New London. 13 
 
 anxiously listened for any sounds that might direct 
 them. Diamond stopped rowing at intervals, and at 
 all times endeavored to subdue the thump of the oars 
 in the rowlocks. 
 
 "Boat coming!" he said, as he stopped and poised 
 the oars and left the boat drift on. 
 
 "Can't be any of the crew?" Merriwell inquired. 
 
 "No, I don't think so." 
 
 "They're not making much more noise than you 
 were!" 
 
 "Perhaps they're listening for some sound to guide 
 them !" 
 
 "If they come near enough we'll hail them !" 
 
 "Rains went down the river to-day in a rowboat 
 with two fellows," said Diamond. "I thought they 
 were probably trying to get a look at the work of the 
 Harvard crew." 
 
 Without any particular reason, he spoke in low 
 ^ones. He fairly stiffened on the thwart as he fin- 
 ished the sentence. 
 
 "Rains " 
 
 The other boat was much nearer than Jack had 
 thought, and -this seemed almost to come in answer to 
 what he had said. The sentence which seemed to begin 
 with Rains' name died away, however, in indistin- 
 guishable words, and again the thud and thump of the 
 rowlocks drowned the talk in the other boat. 
 
 Merriwell always disapproved of eavesdropping, but
 
 14 In Training at New London. 
 
 he could not scold Diamond when the latter let his 
 boat drift and strained his ears to catch what further 
 was being said. 
 
 "I'm ashamed of that!" Jack admitted, when the 
 boat had passed on and he again dipped his oars. "But 
 when they said 'Rains' I felt sure it was something 
 that Yale ought to know, and I listened. It wasn't 
 honorable, I suppose!" 
 
 "Rains is betting against Yale in New London," 
 said Frank. "I heard that among the first things when 
 I struck the place. He is sure that Harvard is going to 
 win, and he is backing up his belief with the hard 
 cash!" 
 
 "Perhaps something of that kind was what the fel- 
 lows in the boat were talking about. Likely they're 
 sporting men, who have been out trying to study the 
 work of Yale and Harvard, and were talking of 
 Rains' bets." 
 
 "That seems very probable." 
 
 Again Jack stopped rowing. 
 
 "The megaphone! Can it be from the float? 
 Doesn't seem to come from the right direction." 
 
 "It's from the float, I think," Merry answered, and 
 Diamond, who had unknowingly been pulling diag- 
 onally across the river, pulled now toward the Sound, 
 sending the boat on with such speed that the float was 
 soon reached. 
 
 As Merriwell returned to the station to take the
 
 Jn Training at New London. 15 
 
 train for New London and New Haven he continued 
 to think of what he and Jack had heard in the boat. 
 Suddenly he stopped, with the queer sensation of one 
 who feels that he has been blunderingly oversuspicious. 
 
 "Rains? Why, to be sure! What a guy I am! 
 Those fellows were probably talking about the 
 weather. They may have been fishermen. They may 
 have said, 'If it rains we'll do so and so.' And be- 
 cause we were thinking of Paul Rains we supposed 
 they were thinking of him, too ! I guess I'd better go 
 out somewhere and kick myself ! I'll have to write to 
 Jack about that." 
 
 Notwithstanding this very satisfactory explanation, 
 Merriwell had not been seated in the station long when 
 he heard that word again in the same voice which had 
 sounded in the boat on the river. Some men were sit- 
 ting out behind the station close up against the wall, 
 talking in subdued tones. But Frank was so convinced 
 that they were conversing about the weather that he 
 did not pay much attention to them nor try to move 
 away. 
 
 Then these words came to him : 
 
 "Justin Lake is steering the syndicate, I think. 
 Rains is betting free. Oh, there can't be any doubt 
 that we'll throw Yale and that means about $50,000 
 to be divided among us. We've got three plans, and 
 one or the other will do the trick." 
 
 Though Merriwell was opposed to eavesdropping,
 
 16 In Training at New London. 
 
 he felt that here was something he ought to know. It 
 revealed the fact that certain men were in a plot to 
 bring about the defeat of Yale in the interest of a 
 gambling syndicate. It was his duty to defeat that if 
 he could. There came a warning from one of the men 
 to the speaker, and the tones were instantly subdued. 
 But Merriwell heard these words : 
 
 "Mascot." "Syndicate." "Great scheme." "Bound 
 to do the trick." "Can't fail." "Paralyze the 
 stroke." 
 
 The words did not reach him in any connected way. 
 
 "I'm going to see who those fellows are!" 
 
 As he rose he heard them get up. Then he heard 
 the scratching of a match. 
 
 "Most time!" 
 
 This evidently referred to the time of the train's 
 departure. 
 
 Merriwell moved toward the door for the purpose 
 of getting a look at the men who had been talking 
 behind the station. As he did so he heard them talk- 
 ing again. They were walking round the station, and 
 soon were in the circle of light streaming from the 
 ticket-seller's window. 
 
 There were three of them, and as soon as his eyes 
 fell on them Frank set them down as professional 
 sport* and betting men. The one revealed by his voice 
 as the man who had spoken of Rains in the boat and 
 again behind the station was clad in loud plaids, and a
 
 In Training at New London. 17 
 
 big diamond glittered in his shirt-front. One of his 
 companions wore a silk tile, a gaudy vest, and patent 
 leather shoes, and the other had somewhat the look of 
 a pugilist, and swung a heavy cane. They stared un- 
 pleasantly at Frank as they beheld him, and their man- 
 ner showed they did not know he was in the station, 
 and were not at all pleased with his presence. 
 
 Merriwell vacated the waiting-room and walked out 
 on the platform. From what he had heard, the "syndi- 
 cate" was aiming blows at the mascot and at the 
 stroke Inza and Jack Diamond. It seemed plain 
 that Paul Rains and Justin Lake were members of 
 the syndicate. Yet these men did not know all about 
 the syndicate's plans, apparently, for they seemed not 
 to be sure that Lake was "steering it." 
 
 "Lake is a dangerous fellow ! He is the possessor 
 of 'abundant money and no scruples. Rains has plenty 
 of money now, too. He can be quite unscrupulous at 
 times. But I shouldn't have thought he would lend 
 himself to such a scheme !" 
 
 The more Frank thought of the possible danger to 
 Inza and to Jack Diamond the more it seemed his duty 
 to learn all he" could concerning the plans .of these 
 men, and he walked round behind the station, thinking 
 that other scraps of conversation might float to him. 
 
 "That's Frank Merriwell!" he was astonished to 
 hear one of the men say. "We've got to look out foe 
 him."
 
 l8 Jn Training at New London. 
 
 "If he comes nosing round, I'll open his head with 
 this club!" 
 
 "Couldn't buy him into the thing?" 
 
 "Might as well think of buying the coach!" 
 
 "Hope he didn't hear anything." 
 
 "Where is he now ?" 
 
 "If we could only buy him into the thing! The 
 stroke is his friend, and we'd have a dead-sure thing." 
 
 "Wouldn't do to speak to him. Ruin the whole 
 business. Dead-sure thing now ! Trust to Lake !" 
 
 They moved away, and Frank walked on round the 
 station.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOKERS ALL. 
 
 "The next time I select my parents I shall pick out 
 millionaires. This thing of limping through the world 
 with a crippled purse isn't as funny as it might be!" 
 
 This was Danny's comment, after Merriwell had 
 told the story of what he had heard, and had spoken 
 of Justin Lake's connection with the "syndicate." 
 
 "Thinking of Lake's yacht?" asked Bruce. "It's 
 great !" 
 
 "Greg Carker has something better than a yacht,'* 
 Bink declared. 
 
 "How is that?" Carker queried. 
 
 "He has a revenue cutter that is a regular clipper !*' 
 
 "Nothing of the kind !" said Greg. 
 
 "I mean the scissors with which you clip off your 
 coupons." 
 
 "It mum-makes me worried abub-about the mascot 1" 
 stuttered Gamp. 
 
 "Because she looks as pretty as a yacht when she 
 sails down the street?" questioned Harry Rattleton. 
 
 "Thinking about that sus-sus-syn " 
 
 "What sin?" Bruce drawled. 
 
 "The masc-ought to be able to take care of herself !" 
 Danny chirped.
 
 20 Jokers All 
 
 "When a yacht sails " 
 
 "You've seen a yacht sale?" cut in Danny. 
 
 "Yes, and I've seen a cake walk !" said Rattleton. 
 
 "And a cracker box, and a worm fence, and a board 
 slide, and a tobacco twist," chirped Bink. "Oh, yes. 
 we've seen every old thing!" 
 
 "Everything except common sense in your chatter !" 
 groaned Dismal. 
 
 "Awhile ago I asked Bink to bring my watch down 
 from my room," said Carker, smiling. 
 
 "And, of course, he brought it?" Merry asked. 
 
 "No, the rascal ! He said if I'd wait awhile it would 
 run down !" 
 
 "You scoundrel, I had that joke patented!" Danny 
 howled, scowling severely at Bink. 
 
 "You two fellows are like the man I read about, who 
 was born in Brooklyn and afterward moved to New 
 York !" Bruce grumbled. 
 
 "How was that ?" Bink queried. 
 
 "Simply going from bad to worse !" 
 
 "Yah !" taking out a cigarette. "Give me a match !" 
 
 "I'm your match !" Danny boasted. 
 
 "Oh, your head is fiery enough! But it doesn't 
 need to be scratched to make it light." 
 
 All were in Merriwell's room. 
 
 "If this keeps up I shall have to do like the trees," 
 Frank declared.
 
 Jokers All. 21 
 
 "Put out the green things?" 
 
 "Leave!" 
 
 "And if it keeps up I shall have to whip Bink 
 Stnbbs," said Danny. 
 
 "Your great reputation as a fighter is spreading!" 
 sniffed Bink. "Man at the post-office told me he wants 
 to hire you." 
 
 "For what?" 
 
 "To lick stamps !" 
 
 "I don't see how you fellows can enjoy this sort of 
 chatter!" Greg Carker grumbled. "This world is a 
 serious place, and the news that Merriwell has brought 
 is serious news. Why can't you sober down once?" 
 
 "As the temperance orator said to the drunkard!" 
 piped Bink. 
 
 Carker faced toward Merriwell with a shrug of dis- 
 gust. 
 
 "We can never expect anything but trouble to come 
 out of these outcasts!" he earnestly declared. "The 
 whole thing is wrong, and a wrong tree is known by 
 its fruits as certainly as a good one." 
 
 "We'll pick out the right kind of trees to sit under 
 when we go on our vacation !" Danny mumbled. 
 
 "Then they will be chestnut-trees!" said Dismal. 
 "Those are the kind for you and Bink." 
 
 "And a spruce will do for you !" Bink retorted. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because it's ever-green I"
 
 22 Jokers All. 
 
 "The whole system of contests is wrong!" insisted 
 Carker, who, though he was rich, was a pronounced 
 socialist. "If we win, the other crew is beaten ; and if 
 they win, we are beaten. There is heartache and dis- 
 appointment somewhere. These things must all be 
 done away with before the era of the true brotherhood 
 of man can come into existence. When the world is a 
 great cooperative institution, and every man's gains 
 and losses are just the same, then there will be no 
 temptation drawing men to organize gambling syndi- 
 cates to throw a boat-race, for there will be nothing to 
 be lost by one set of men and won by another. You 
 can see how evil the tree must be when it can yield 
 such fruits!" 
 
 Danny sighed wearily. 
 
 "Which would you rather be, Rockefeller, or his 
 coachman?" Bink queried. 
 
 "There will be no such distinctions when civilization 
 becomes a cooperative brotherhood. To answer your 
 question : I shouldn't want to be either Rockefeller or 
 his coachman." 
 
 "One million is enough for you, eh?" 
 
 "I think ten thousand would make me happy !" said 
 Joe Hooker, who up to that time had said nothing. 
 
 Carker gave Hooker a strange look. 
 
 "I'm surprised to hear you say that, Hooker. I've 
 really been envying you. Think what it means not to 
 have a lot of wealth to worry about ! You are alwavs
 
 Jokers All. 23 
 
 afraid you may lose some of it, or that some invest- 
 ment will fail or bank cashier run away. You are en- 
 cumbered with business cares beyond anything most 
 men dream of. A poor man has none of that! He 
 doesn't have to see lawyers and have suits " 
 
 "I think I should be glad to have a few suits !" said 
 Hooker, with a meaning glance at his worn clothing. 
 
 Danny gave a yell. 
 
 "That would suit me !" chirped Bink. "I've always 
 wanted to be arrayed like the grass of the fields, 
 which " 
 
 "Oh, you're verdant enough now !" Danny asserted? 
 
 "I went to church once/' said Bruce. 
 
 "You astonish me !" Bink interrupted. 
 
 "Went to church once," Bruce repeated, "and the 
 choir was singing that anthem about the lilies. You 
 know how it goes? Pretty! The bass bellowed like 
 the heaving sea, 'Solomon in all his glory was not ar- 
 rayed!' Then the tenor sang, 'Was not arrayed!' 
 And the alto came in, 'Was not arrayed!' Then the 
 soprano climbed up into the top of the choir gallery 
 and squealed, . 'Was not arrayed!' After which they 
 all howled together, 'Was not arrayed!' Just then a 
 drummer from Kalamazoo who was sitting behind me 
 bent forward and whispered, as the choir gripped its 
 breath for a new start, 'Let's take up a collection and 
 get Solomon some clothing !' "
 
 24 Jokers All. 
 
 "It's of no use to try to talk sense to men who 
 haven't enough sense " 
 
 "My trouble exactly," said Hooker. "I haven't 
 enough cents !" 
 
 "You haven't enough sense to be serious. You 
 laugh at me now, but just as sure as socialism doesn't 
 have it;; way, there will come such an earthquake as the 
 world has never dreamed of." 
 
 "You might hasten that leveling process a little bit," 
 said Hooker. "If you are to divide up with me, I'll 
 transfer some of my experience with poverty for some 
 of your hard cash. That ought to hasten the dawn of 
 *he millennium for me !" 
 
 Carker turned on Hooker with a look that was al- 
 most envious. 
 
 "Hooker, to do a thing of that kind would be a 
 crime! You don't know how happy you are in your 
 present condition. The poor man who has enough to 
 satisfy his wants is the happiest man in the world. If 
 you had ten thousand dollars you would want a hun- 
 dred thousand, and then a million, and then a hundred 
 millions! If there is a man in Yale whom I have 
 ^nvied, Hooker, that man is you!" 
 
 Notwithstanding that he had joked lightly with the 
 jokers, Frank Merriwell's thoughts were serious 
 enough when his friends took their departure, and he 
 began a mental survey of recent events. 
 
 He had given much thought to the words he had
 
 Jokers All. 25 
 
 heard while on his trip from the headquarters of the 
 boat crew at Gale's Ferry, and he had been forced to 
 the belief that a great conspiracy was on foot to defeat 
 Yale in the interest of a gambling syndicate. The 
 men whose conversation he had partially overheard 
 were of a type who would not stop at anything to gain 
 their ends, and experience had shown him that Justin 
 Lake was quite as unscrupulous. 
 
 "There is one thing, and only one thing, to be done 
 before the race. I must find out just what is back of 
 that talk, who the dangerous men are, and what their 
 scheme is. I shall have to speak to Inza about it, too, 
 so that she may be on her guard. If she was not thor- 
 oughly brave and courageous, I shouldn't dare to do 
 that. But she will need to be on her guard. The 
 syndicate will strike at her in some way, and it will 
 also strike at Jack. I must write him a letter." 
 
 Thereupon Merriwell got out his writing-materials 
 and penned a letter to Diamond, warning Jack of the 
 dangers he feared, and giving him a description of 
 the men he had seen and heard at the station. When 
 he had this finished, Merriwell went down and dropped 
 it into the nearest letter-box. As he turned to go back 
 he encountered Hodge. 
 
 "Just making my way to your room with a bit 01 
 news," said Bart. "Rains is in town !" 
 
 "He has run over from New London, then ?" 
 
 "Yes. I saw him down by Traeger's awhile ago.
 
 26 Jokers AH. 
 
 He is offering bets on Harvard. He seems to be dead 
 sure that the Crimson will take the whole bakeshop 
 this time." 
 
 "I shall try to get a talk with him if he stays," said 
 Frank. 
 
 "Looks as if he were in that syndicate?" 
 
 Three men were coming up the walk. Merriwell 
 plucked Bart by the arm. 
 
 "Get a good look at those fellows as they go by, 
 without appearing to do so. They are the three I 
 overheard talking." 
 
 The three men came slowly on. They appeared to 
 oe closely scanning their surroundings and making a 
 study of the buildings. When they beheld the two 
 youths, they stopped this and hurried on. 
 
 "Something suspicious about that!" said Hodge. 
 "Looks to me as if they are preparing for some kind 
 of a raid. Perhaps they're planning to kidnap you, 
 Merry!" 
 
 "Why should they want to do that ? I'm not one of 
 the crew. If Diamond roomed up there, I should agree 
 with you. But Diamond is at Gale's Ferry." 
 
 "I shall know them when I see them again !' v 
 growled Hodge, as if he desired to take the rascals by 
 the throat and summarily punish them for venturing 
 near the campus and the college buildings at night. 
 "They're here and Rains is here. We'll see Justin 
 Lake next !"
 
 Jokers All. 27 
 
 They did see Justin Lake the very next morning. 
 He was walking with Paul Rains, too. Rains and 
 Lake passed Merriwell and Hodge on the street some 
 distance from the campus. 
 
 "Hello!" called Rains. "Glad to see you!" 
 
 Then he excused himself to Lake, who passed on, 
 and came over as if for a talk with Merriwell and 
 Hodge. 
 
 "I suppose you know that fellow ?" Hodge growled. 
 
 "Justin Lake ? Yes, glad to say I do. Leading New 
 York family, you know. Lake's got a barrel of 
 money." 
 
 Since he had come into possession of "money to 
 burn," Paul Rains had been making a great effort to 
 break into the society of moneyed people, and he was 
 evidently proud of his acquaintance with Lake. 
 
 "He's a scoundrel!" said Hodge. 
 
 Rains laughed. 
 
 "If Merriwell had said that, now, I shouldn't have 
 been surprised. Lake was telling me of the way he 
 tried to get Frank and some others out of the way, so 
 that California would be sure to beat Yale, and he 
 would be a big bet winner. But the thing didn't 
 work." 
 
 "Bart is right. Lake is a scoundrel." 
 
 "We have been talking of the chances in the coming 
 boat-race," Rains placidly went on. "I'm willing to
 
 28 Jokers All. 
 
 lay money on the Crimson, and Lake is doing the 
 same. But, of course, we expect to win honorably !" 
 
 "Don't know so well about that!" Bart snarled. 
 
 Hodge was not in a pleasant humor, and he did not 
 like Rains. He would have welcomed an excuse to 
 "thump Rains a few" at almost any time. 
 
 "Oh, there won't be any need to try trickery to beat 
 Yale this year ! Yale has not any show whatever. I've 
 closely studied the thing. Of course, my sympathies 
 are naturally with Harvard, but I haven't let that blind 
 me. Harvard has the better crew, the better method, 
 the better coach." 
 
 Merriwell was not talking much, but he was closely 
 watching every word spoken by Rains, in the hope 
 that if Rains were in the syndicate, or knew anything 
 about it, that fact would leak out. But as far as any 
 such knowledge was concerned, Rains seemed as guilt- 
 less as can be imagined. 
 
 "Just a deep game of his," said Hodge, as Rains 
 went on. "Rains is in that syndicate, sure as fate!" 
 
 After walking a short distance, he turned and 
 gripped Merriwell by the arm and pointed down the 
 street. 
 
 "There is the proof of it !" 
 
 Rains had rejoined Justin Lake, and the two were 
 walking away with the trio of scamps seen by Merri- 
 well at Gale's Ferry.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MOVEMENTS AT CALEBS FERRY. 
 
 Jack Diamond was strolling on the shore late in the 
 evening, when the letter written by Merriwell was de- 
 livered to him by one of the boat's crew. 
 
 "Same fellows !" he gasped, as he read the letter. 
 
 A few minutes before he had seen the three men 
 mentioned and described by Merriwell. They were 
 then also strolling near the river. During the after- 
 noon Jack had seen them in a boat, and it was believed 
 that they were watching the work of the Yale and 
 Harvard crews. 
 
 "Tell the fellows that I will return by and by," said 
 Diamond, speaking to Wilson, who had brought the 
 letter and who was No. 4 of the boat's crew. "There 
 are some things I want to look after up here." 
 
 The "things" Jack had taken a sudden notion to look 
 after were the three men mentioned by Merriwell. 
 Jack did not approve of eavesdropping any more than 
 Merriwell did, but when the welfare of his friends 
 seemed to be involved in a plot of villains he did not 
 consider that it was eavesdropping to try to gain 
 knowledge of that plot. 
 
 Though the men had disappeared, Jack followed on 
 in the direction they had taken, and finally discovered
 
 }o Movements at Gale's Ferry. 
 
 them seated in a secluded hollow near the path. They 
 seemed to be talking and smoking. 
 
 Believing he had not been seen, Diamond dropped 
 into some bushes, and when the darkness was heavy 
 enough to conceal his movements he continued quietly 
 on along the path. He knew that to thus dog these men 
 was a perilous business. They wanted to strike at the 
 man who pulled the stroke-oar, and Jack felt that they 
 would probably welcome such an opportunity as would 
 be afforded by the darkness and the isolated character 
 of the place. Hence he redoubled his efforts to keep his 
 presence and movements concealed. 
 
 When almost opposite the grassy hollow, he heard 
 the men rising as if to leave. Again Diamond dropped 
 down, sure that his form in the darkness could not be 
 distinguished from the black shadows. 
 
 "If we steal the mascot " 
 
 Though Diamond could understand no more, these 
 words were enough to fill him with anxiety, for they 
 seemed to portend some great danger to Inza. 
 
 "I must get a letter to Merriwell as quick as I can !" 
 
 He rose and softly followed the men. They had 
 evidently continued along that path, but he was not 
 able to come up with them again. He was moving 
 with the greatest caution, and as they were not forced 
 to move thus slowly he believed they had distanced 
 him. 
 
 By and by Diamond turned back.
 
 Movements at Gale's Ferry. 31 
 
 "They will not bother round here any more to- 
 night! I'll write to Frank at once, and get the letter 
 out in the first mail to-morrow." 
 
 But Jack Diamond was deceived. The men had not 
 left the place. 
 
 An hour later they were at the water's edge, seated 
 in a rowboat, which they pushed out into the river. 
 One of the men rowed and another steered, and the 
 boat's bow was turned in the direction of the Yale 
 boat-house and float, of whose position they seemed 
 as well assured as if the night were bright and moonli* 
 instead of dark and foggy. 
 
 The oarsman rowed cautiously, and by and by 
 the men ceased altogether to talk. And in silence 
 the boat drew up at the float. A light was shining to 
 show the float's position, though the fog had not en- 
 abled them to see this until they were near. In spite 
 of this, one of the men left the boat, and, going to the 
 boat-house, he took some wax out of his pockets, and 
 with much care and skill secured an impression of the 
 lock. 
 
 "No trouble to get in there when we're ready!" he 
 whispered, as he- came back to the boat and entered it. 
 
 "If only the night will be dark enough! Wish we 
 could do the job to-night !" 
 
 This was growled in low tones by the man who 
 wore the shiny silk tile. 
 
 "More than one string to the bow!" was the an-
 
 32 Movements at Gale's Ferry. 
 
 swer, as the boat was softly shoved away. "If we slip 
 up on this, we won't slip up on all." 
 
 "You bet we won't fail!" chimed in the oarsman. 
 ''There's too much boodle back of this for it to fail. 
 If we do the handwork as well as Lake does the head- 
 work, the thing is a sure winner." 
 
 "Oh, we'll do our part!" 
 
 "Sure !" said the man of the silk hat, who was now 
 steering. "Not so much talk and more work. Give 
 way there!" 
 
 The rower dipped the oars, and the boat softly 
 glided away. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that appearances were 
 against Paul Rains, Frank Merriwell was reluctant to 
 believe that he was concerned in the plot against Yale. 
 If the plot succeeded, Rains would profit by it, of 
 course. But so would Harvard. And Frank knew 
 that no Harvard man had any knowledge of the con- 
 spiracy. 
 
 Merriwell's discovery of the existence of a "syndi- 
 cate" was the one thing that promised to defeat the 
 plans of the conspirators. But the evidence was still 
 hazy, and it continued to be exasperatingly so almost 
 up to the time of the race. 
 
 The words heard by Diamond, indicating the char- 
 acter of the danger to Inza, the mascot of the crew, 
 caused Frank not only to warn Inza, but to throw 
 around her so many safeguards that it seemed impos-
 
 Movements at Gale's Ferry. 33 
 
 sible for the scamps to carry out this part of their 
 plot. 
 
 "If Inza should be spirited away at the last moment, 
 it would have a bad effect on the crew," Merriwell 
 admitted to his friends. 
 
 "Why, they are not superstitious children!" said 
 Bruce. 
 
 "We are all just a little superstitious!" 
 
 "Nothing of that kind would ever affect me !" Bruce 
 lazily drawled. 
 
 "Then, why didn't you buy that opal ring that you 
 so much admired the other day ? You told the jeweler 
 that you liked it, but that you wouldn't take it because 
 opals were said to be unlucky." 
 
 "I didn't say that I believed they were unlucky, did 
 I?" 
 
 "No, but you let the beliefs of other people influence 
 you, and you wouldn't take the ring. Just so it will 
 be with the crew. They really don't believe in the in- 
 fluence of mascots, but it will affect them if the mascot 
 should strangely disappear. But I was thinking of 
 Inza more than of the crew. Whether the crew be- 
 lieve in anything of the kind or not, those betting men 
 do. Nearly all gamblers and betting men are super- 
 stitious. They no doubt think that if the mascot could 
 be spirited away their chances of winning would be 
 greatly increased by that fact alone. And for that 
 reason they will try to kidnap Inza,"
 
 34 Movements at Gale's Ferry. 
 
 'Take her away on Justin's yacht ?" asked Bruce. 
 
 "I only wish I knew what their plans are." 
 
 Merriwell was having this talk with his friends the 
 night before the boat-race. Every possible precaution 
 seemed to have been taken. Faithful Yale men were 
 guarding the Lee residence, where the mascot was 
 staying. Faithful men were watching that no harm 
 came to Diamond or any member of the crew. 
 
 Nevertheless, at that moment, the three men whose 
 mysterious actions and words have been to some ex- 
 tent chronicled were dropping down to the boat-house 
 in the rowboat, shielded by the darkness. A better 
 night for their purpose could not have been found, and 
 no member of the boat's crew dreamed of the blow th>at 
 was about to be struck. 
 
 The float and the boat-house were gained without 
 discovery. In fact, so careful had the three men been 
 in their movements that afternoon and night that no 
 one knew they were near Gale's Ferry or anywhere in 
 the vicinity of the river and boat-house. 
 
 The man who had taken the wax impression of the 
 lock of the boat-house door was now prepared with a 
 key. He had also an oar that seemed the exact coun- 
 terpart of the oars used by the Yale crew. With these 
 he disappeared in the darkness, for the lantern at the 
 float gave out not enough light to make great his 
 danger of discovery. When he returned to the boat 
 he seemed to carry the same oar he had taken with
 
 Movements at Gale's Ferry. 35 
 
 him. It was not the same, however, but it was Jack 
 Diamond's oar. 
 
 He was careful to make no noise as he reentered the 
 boat with this oar, and the boat was then pulled swiftly 
 and silently away, for the oars were muffled, and made 
 no sound in the oar-locks. 
 
 The men did not return to the point from which 
 they had come, but disembarked in a small, wooded 
 cove, disappearing in the woods, and soon after enter- 
 ing a tumble-down house which sat so far back from 
 the river that its presence was undreamed of by most 
 people who fancied themselves quite familiar with the 
 river and its shores. 
 
 Here a lantern was lighted, and the man with the 
 silk hat produced a tiny, thin-bladed saw and deftly 
 sawed into the oar. 
 
 "No trouble about sawing into wood," he remarked, 
 in a grim sort of way. "I've sawed through iron in 
 my time ! Last time I was in hock I sawed through an 
 iron bar that was nigh about as big as this oar." 
 
 He was very careful in his work and sawed into the 
 oar only a little "way just enough to weaken it. Then 
 he produced some sort of material resembling putty, 
 only it was of the same color as the oar, and worked a 
 portion of it into the cut. After that he used a color- 
 ing liquid. When done, he surveyed his work by the 
 light of the lantern.
 
 "No matter which oar the stroke gets he'll be liable 
 Co break it !" one of the men remarked. 
 
 "If he pulls hard enough! This oar will stand a 
 heavy strain now. But if the race is tight, as it prob- 
 ably will be, the stroke will lay back on that oar with 
 all his might and it will go! It's sure to knock the 
 crew out!" 
 
 "But if they break it in practise in the morning?" 
 
 "We've another string to pull, Reddy ! Don't worry ! 
 If it's broke, it'll be broke. But I don't believe the 
 stroke will pull hard enough in any practise rowin' to 
 break this. I want him to break it when the race 
 comes." 
 
 Having "fixed" the oar to their satisfaction, the men 
 returned to the river and to the boat, and again rowed 
 to the float and the boat-house. 
 
 There the other oar, which had also been "fixed," 
 and which had been left to deceive any one vrho might 
 chance to enter the boat-house, was brought away, and 
 Diamond's oar, apparently not changed in the least, 
 was left in its usual place. 
 
 There was some practise rowing on the river the 
 next morning the morning of the great race but 
 sharp as were Diamond's eyes, he did not discover that 
 the ear had been tampered with, and the oar did not 
 break. The crew returned to the float, with the ap- 
 proval of the coach, who had followed them in a 
 launch, bellowing at them through his megaphone.
 
 Movements at Gale's Ferry. 37 
 
 The little coxswain was pleased, too. The crew had 
 never seemed to row in finer form. He was especially 
 satisfied with the work of the stroke, and was liberal 
 in his words of approval to Diamond. 
 
 "If Harvard defeats us to-day, it will be because she 
 has the best crew she has ever put on the Thames," 
 said the coach, speaking to the captain. 
 
 Harvard's crew pulled over the course that morn- 
 ing, closely watched by their competitors. But Har- 
 vard evidently did not do her best, and the fact that 
 watches were held on the time was of no material ad- 
 vantage to Yale. 
 
 "If. Harvard does no better than that!" said Dia- 
 mond. 
 
 "Harvard will do a great deal better than that," 
 said the coach. "Harvard can beat that time easy 
 enough, but I think we can beat Harvard without any 
 trouble!" 
 
 But when the coach made this statement he knew 
 nothing of the rascally work of men who cared 
 nothing for the races, but were resolved to throw the 
 race to Harvard in the interest of the bets which had 
 been so heavily laid on the success of the Crimson. If 
 the coach had known, he would have trembled for the 
 fate of the Blue.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TREACHERY f 
 
 Yale woke in a fever of excitement on the morning 
 of the great boat-race. That is, a portion of Yale 
 awoke. Another portion had not gone to sleep. In- ' 
 deed, there was not any too much sleeping during those 
 last days of excitement that were crowded into com- 
 mencement week. Commencement week was prac- 
 tically ended. Yet there was one more great event to 
 stir the blood of Yale. That was the boat-race at New 
 London, and every one was going. 
 
 "Glad I've something to take my mind off my troub- 
 le!" said Bruce Browning, strolling into Merriwell's 
 room, where several members of the flock were assem- 
 bled. 
 
 Browning did not appear to be very much troubled, 
 for he was placidly pulling at his pipe. Yet Brown- 
 ing, who ought to have graduated with the other mem- 
 bers of the senior class, had failed in the examinatkms 
 and been turned back a year. Having loafed into the 
 room, Browning lazily inquired when the train foK 
 New London would be ready, then lazily loafed out 
 again. 
 
 "That fellow will never graduate!" said Dismal. 
 "He's just too lazy to study. Another year at Yale,
 
 Treachery ! 39 
 
 when really the fellow ought to have gone out a year 
 agoT 
 
 "I don't think it's troubling him much, though," 
 said Bart. 
 
 "Dud-dud-don't anything tut-tut-troubles him!" 
 stuttered Gamp. 
 
 "Just so he gets enough rest !" said Jim Hooker. 
 
 "That fellow!" said Rattleton, straightening up, 
 for he had been stooping over a chair tying a bundle. 
 "That fellow ! He failed on purpose I mean he failed 
 purposely. He didn't want to graduate couldn't have 
 been hired to graduate!" 
 
 ''Why?" asked Diamond. 
 
 "Because he wants to stay here another year with 
 Merry!" 
 
 "Gug-gug-gug-goshf ry ! Dud-do you s'pose so?" 
 
 "Do I suppose so? I know it. Troubled? That 
 fellow is as happy as a clam at high tide." 
 
 "And as lazy," grunted Bart. 
 
 New Haven seemed to be quite as much excited as 
 .Yale. The college blue was seen everywhere, in flags 
 and streamers and ribbons, in buttons and badges and 
 hatbands. The excursion-train at the station was 
 packed with Yale enthusiasts long before the time for 
 its departure, and from almost every window there 
 fluttered the familiar blue. 
 
 In a coach set apart for college men, Merriwell had 
 by previous arrangement secured seats for himself and
 
 4O Treachery ! 
 
 friends, including Elsie and Inza, who was to go to 
 New London as the mascot of the Yale crew. 
 
 "If the girls aren't careful they will be late!" said 
 Rattleton, as he looked at his watch on arriving at the 
 station, and saw that the time for the train to leave 
 was near at hand. 
 
 Merriwell had been thinking the same. 
 
 "Girls are always slow about such things I" growled 
 Bart. 
 
 "Well, I don't want this train to go without the 
 mascot!" Diamond remarked. 
 
 Jack Ready had been sent to the house with a car- 
 riage to bring the girls down to the station. 
 
 "There they come!" cried Rattleton, as he saw the 
 carriage approaching. "Now we're all right!" 
 
 Ready stepped out of the carriage and assisted Elsie 
 to the ground. It was seen that she was much excited, 
 and Ready seemed to have lost his usual assurance. 
 Seeing that the carriage did not contain Inza, Merri- 
 well and the others hurried forward. 
 
 "The masc-ought to be here!" chirped Ready, with 
 assumed levity. "But she isn't. And you may take 
 my head for a football if I know where she is !" 
 
 "The servants say she received a telegram and left 
 the house more than an hour ago," Elsie explained. 
 "I was out at the time, but I can't understand why she 
 didn't write me a note. We haven't the least idea what
 
 Treachery ! 41 
 
 has become of her. I was trying to hope that she was 
 here." 
 
 Merriwell looked at his watch and saw that the train 
 would start within less than two minutes. 
 
 "Who will stay here and make a search for Inza?" 
 he asked. 
 
 Every member of the flock volunteered. 
 
 "I want to stay myself. But I must go through to 
 New London and Gale's Ferry to see that everything 1 
 is right there. The scoundrels have struck at Inza! 
 The next blow will be at Jack. Bart and Harry will 
 remain here and begin a search for Inza. If you can 
 find her in time, charter an engine and bring her 
 through !" 
 
 The departure of the train was being announced. 
 
 "Perhaps you'd better get Dirk to help you. Good- 
 by. We must go now." 
 
 The discovery that Inza was missing cast a feeling 
 of gloom over the flock. Merriwell did not believe 
 that Inza would be harmed in any way, for he fancied 
 that behind this was the clever hand of Justin Lake, 
 and Lake was too shrewd a fellow to entangle himself 
 very deeply in. the meshes of the law. The chances 
 were that some crafty trick had been used to draw her 
 away, and that she would be detained by deceit rather 
 than by force. None was more distressed and anxious 
 than Elsie. 
 
 "We'll keep this from the crew as long as we can,"
 
 42 Treachery ! 
 
 Frank warned. "We'll say nothing about it to any 
 one. If Bart and Harry succeed, they will get her to 
 Gale's Ferry in time, and no one but ourselves need to 
 know what has been done until after the race." 
 
 It was a two hours' trip to the Thames, and those 
 two hours were filled with anxiety for Merriwell. He 
 sent a telegram to Jack, warning him to be on his 
 guard, without informing him that Inza had disap- 
 peared. 
 
 But the crushing crowd that filled the cars was jovial 
 and happy. It believed implicitly that Yale would win. 
 It sang, it shouted, it waved flags and banners, and it 
 told innumerable stories. It talked, too, of the gaieties 
 of commencement week and of the solemnities of grad- 
 uation. 
 
 At New London the blue hue of everything became 
 streaked and spotted with the Harvard crimson. New 
 London was filled with Harvard adherents. A Har- 
 vard train was there, and in that train everything 
 seemed to take on the Harvard hue. Crimson flags 
 and hats, crimson ribbons, buttons, and shirt-waists. 
 
 "I'd rather belong to the Blue," said a pretty girl, 
 conversing with another pretty girl in blue. "It looks 
 so much cooler ! Those girls over there look as if they 
 would melt in those hot, crimson things !" 
 
 "But if you want to paint a town red, crimson is 
 Just the thing!" remarked a pale young man with a 
 crimson necktie, standing near the girl who had spo-
 
 Treachery I 43 
 
 ken. "If Harvard wins, everything will be crimson 
 to-night. Fireworks, bonfires, rockets all those 
 things lend themselves to the jolly crimson color at 
 such a time !" 
 
 "But Harvard isn't going to win!" declared the 
 girl. 
 
 "Perhaps not!" the young man admitted, crushed 
 by this confident rejoinder. 
 
 The sun beat down with fury as the steaming crowd 
 sought to find something cool to eat and drink before 
 hurrying over to the observation-cars. Merriwell went 
 to the telegraph office, hoping for a word from Bart 
 and Rattleton, or from Diamond. Nothing had come* 
 He knew by this that Inza had not been found, for in 
 that case Bart would have wired him at New London. 
 
 "We will win this race!" he declared, as he set his 
 teeth in grim determination. "Inza was to have gone 
 on the referee's boat, right behind the crews, and of 
 course the crew is bound to know she isn't there. But 
 they're sensible fellows, with an infinite lot of pluck. 
 This won't throw them though, of course, I wish the 
 mascot were here! Now, if Jack only watches to see 
 that he keeps out of danger! I can't imagine what 
 they can do to him !" 
 
 Merriwell's certainty that Yale would win in spite 
 of anything the opposition could do served in a large 
 measure to restore the confidence of his friends. So, 
 though thev were anxious about Inza, when they went
 
 44 Treachery! 
 
 over to the observation-cars for the run to the racing- 
 isvaters, they were in a much better frame of mind con- 
 cerning the outcome than they had been. 
 
 The observation-train in motion resembled a long, 
 moving grand stand. It consisted chiefly of flat-cars, on 
 which seats rose in tiers, facing toward the river ; and 
 its purpose was to run along the shore from the start- 
 ing-point to the place of finish, keeping even pace with 
 the contesting boats, thus enabling all who were fortu- 
 nate enough to have seats to view the entire boat-race. 
 There was a great scramble for seats, and those who 
 had not secured them in advance found it almost im- 
 possible to obtain them now. 
 
 The train started at last with a jerk, and the people 
 on the cars began to yell. They were away for the 
 boat-race, and they were wild. Some of the cars of 
 this moving grand stand were solid masses of blue, 
 others masses of crimson. On other cars the blue and 
 the crimson were mixed together in dire confusion. 
 Often in a car there would be an area of blue, showing 
 where Yale sympathizers were bunched together, and 
 near-by a bunch of crimson, outlining a knot of the 
 friends of Harvard. Everywhere blue and crimson 
 parasols were waving, blue and crimson handkerchiefs 
 were flying, blue and crimson ribbons were fluttering, 
 blue and crimson flags were streaming in the breeze. 
 
 Merriwell's party was not in one of the grand-stand 
 cars, but in an ordinary coach near the head of the
 
 Treachery ! 45 
 
 train. In another ordinary coach ahead of that rode 
 a number of the friends and stanch adherents of Har- 
 vard. The shouts for Yale from one car were flung 
 back from the other with cries for the rival crew. In 
 one of the grand-stand cars a group of young ladies 
 in crimson shirt-waists were singing "Fair Harvard." 
 
 Merriwell was not paying much attention to these 
 things, for his mind was given to thoughts of Inza 
 and in trying to determine the particular line in which 
 danger would come to Jack Diamond. He hardly 
 heard the jests and quips of his friends, and replied in 
 monotones and short sentences when addressed. Elsie 
 was much distressed, and could think of nothing but 
 Inza and wonder what had befallen her. At length 
 Merriwell rose from his seat and strolled through the 
 car. By and by he left the car to enter the one for- 
 ward. As he did so, he came on a sight that staggered 
 him. 
 
 On the platform of the forward car Jack Diamond 
 was struggling fiercely in the grip of a rough-looking 
 man, who seemed determined to hurl him under the 
 train. 
 
 How did Diamond come to be there? Merriwell 
 could not guess, and he had not time to inquire. The 
 man with whom Jack was struggling looked as rough 
 and coarse as a tramp, but when Merriwell saw his 
 face he recognized him as one of the three conspirators 
 he had seen at Gale's Ferrv and in New Haven. The
 
 46 Treachery ! 
 
 man had, by a change of clothing, almost completely 
 altered his appearance. 
 
 The fellow held Diamond by the throat and was 
 pushing him back against the railing. He was a 
 stronger and heavier man than Jack. Nevertheless, 
 the Virginian was making a tremendous fight, and 
 struggling to break the choking grip of his antagonist. 
 
 The train was not running at high speed, but there 
 were some curves along the river, and it was jerking 
 round these in a way that threatened to pitch both 
 Jack and the man under the cars. 
 
 "Help!" Diamond called, when he saw Frank. With 
 a spring, Frank placed himself at Diamond's side. The 
 door was banged shut by the swing of the train, and 
 the three were there between the cars engaged in what 
 seemed a life-and-death struggle. 
 
 The cars were not vestibuled, and at a sharp turn 
 Merriwell was flung outward so suddenly that he only 
 saved himself from being pitched from the train by 
 grasping the railing. Jack was clinging also to the 
 railing with one hand and trying to beat the man off 
 by heavy blows with the other. 
 
 "I'll kill ye both !" the man snarled, swinging heav- 
 ily at Merriwell, with a blow which, had it landed 
 fairly, would have knocked Frank into a state of in- 
 sensibility. 
 
 Frank cleverly dodged it, and came back with such a
 
 Treachery ! 47 
 
 jolting lick that the man's grip of Diamond's throat 
 was shaken loose. 
 
 A heavy ale-bottle came out of the man's pocket, 
 flashing like a drawn weapon, and descended with 
 crushing force on Diamond's head. 
 
 Jack staggered and blindly put up his hands, and 
 would have tumbled between the cars, but for Merri- 
 well's outstretched hand, which caught and saved him 
 from a fatal fall. Then Diamond pitched heavily over 
 on the platform of the car and lay in a heap. 
 
 "Curse you !" the man snarled, again lifting the ale- 
 bottle and striking at Merriwell. 
 
 Frank was hampered, for he had put out a foot 
 to keep Jack from the peril of a fall down the car- 
 steps. But he warded off the blow from the bottle, 
 and, catching hold of it, tore it from the hands of the 
 man and flung it from the car. 
 
 "Curse ye !" the man grated again, lunging this time 
 with his fist. The engine whistle screeched, showing 
 that the train was approaching a crossing. The roar 
 of the train had kept the sounds of the struggle from 
 being heard. 
 
 Merriwell knocked aside this blow, but the man 
 came at him again so fiercely that Frank was forced 
 to remove the foot from Diamond's side and fight for 
 his life. 
 
 T.he combat that followed was of a desperate char-
 
 48 Treachery ! 
 
 acter. The man seemed to realize that he was fighting 
 for his liberty, if not for his life, and he closed on Mer- 
 riwell with a bearlike hug, to escape the blows which 
 Frank began to rain in his face. Merriwell felt the 
 breath almost squeezed from his body under that tre- 
 mendous pressure. The man had a grip of iron ! 
 
 "Curse ye, I'll kill ye!" the man panted, as he and 
 Merriwell waved to and fro between the bouncing 
 cars. 
 
 The man swayed toward the left, and Merriwell 
 tried to trip him, but failed, and again they staggered 
 back and forth, each moment in danger of tumbling 
 from the cars to their death. 
 
 "I'll kill ye!" the man hissed, tightening that ter- 
 rible pressure. 
 
 Again Merriwell tried that tripping trick. This 
 time he succeeded. The man not only fell, but he shot 
 over the railing of the car and seemed about to fall 
 between the cars to the track. As he fell he uttered a 
 cry of alarm, which changed into a shriek. But his 
 fall was almost instantly checked, for Merriwell 
 caught him as he descended and held him thus with his 
 muscular right hand. 
 
 The man had swung outward as he fell. Now, as 
 his body dropped downward, it was pinched between 
 the cars, but still upheld by Merriwell's ironlike grip. 
 The horror written in the man's face as he looked up- 
 ward into the eyes of his foe cannot be pictured. It
 
 Treachery ! 49 
 
 was the despairing expression of one who expects to 
 be instantly ground to pieces. 
 
 But Merriwell's iron hold was not broken. The 
 color began to come back into the man's white face. 
 
 "Save me!" he panted. 
 
 "I ought to let you go!" Merriwell hissed. 
 
 Then that dangerous laugh came to his lips. "You 
 scoundrel ! It would serve you right if I should drop 
 you between the cars and let the train do its worst!'* 
 
 The words were panted, rather than spoken. 
 
 "Save me!" the man begged. 
 
 "You have killed Diamond!" 
 
 "Save me!" 
 
 "You tried to kill me!" 
 
 The wretch gurgled his appeal, while his eyes rolled 
 wildly. He was being painfully pinched between the 
 swaying cars, and he felt that his end had come. 
 
 "You and your pals have lured Inza away ! Where 
 is she? Will you tell me? Will you tell the truth 
 about that conspiracy, if I save you ? Quick !" 
 
 "Y-es !" the man gurgled. 
 
 Merriwell trfed to lift him up. But he could not. 
 
 "Save me! Oh, save me!" the wretch wailed. 
 "Save me!" 
 
 But it began to seem that it was not in Merri- 
 well's power to save him. The man's big body could 
 not be drawn up between the cars, for the cars came
 
 5O Treachery! 
 
 too near together, and Frank's strength was not suffi- 
 cient to swing the man bodily outward and so release 
 him. 
 
 Twice Merriwell put forth every ounce of strength 
 x in an effort to do this, and failed. He called for help, 
 but the whistle was screeching again and no one heard 
 him. Still, he did not despair, and he did not let go 
 his hold. Again he called for help when the scream of 
 the whistle ceased. Jack's senseless body seemed 
 about to slip down the steps and bounce to the ground. 
 
 Merriwell was about to call again, when Browning 
 stumbled through the doorway. He had come forward 
 looking for Frank, but had not heard the call. In- 
 stantly he took in the situation, and as quickly his 
 look changed. With a bound, he crossed the inter- 
 vening distance. 
 
 "Just a minute ! Hang on to him, Merry !" 
 
 Bruce was not one to lose his head. Diamond's 
 peril looked to be greater than that of the man whom 
 Merriwell was holding, for Jack seemed about to 
 bound off the platform. Bruce grasped Jack and drew 
 him up to a safer place, noting as he did so that Dia- 
 mond seemed to be stirring into life a thing which 
 had probably helped him to slip toward the steps. 
 
 Bruce turned from Diamond and came to Merri- 
 well's assistance. His big, strong hands went down; 
 and, taking the man by the shoulders, he swung him 
 outward and upward almost as easily as if the man
 
 Treachery! 51 
 
 had been a child. The rascal was white and shaking, 
 but he staggered at once to his feet. 
 
 "Look out for Jack!" Merriwell cautioned, moving 
 to lay a hand on the man's shoulder. "We are to have 
 an explanation out of this fellow!" 
 
 The man stumbled backward as if to escape that 
 outstretched hand and fell from the train! Merri- 
 well saw him strike the embankment and roll down 
 into the ditch, but whether he was seriously injured 
 or not he could not tell. 
 
 The whistle screeched again, and the train began to 
 reduce its speed. Browning was helping Diamond to 
 his feet, and Jack was opening his eyes. A trickle of 
 blood had run down from under his hair and stained 
 his face. The ale-bottle had delivered a terrible blow. 
 
 "We'll get him back there into the car!" said Brown- 
 ing. "He needs attention. How did this happen? 
 And who was that scoundrel? We ought to have 
 let him go under the train 1" 
 
 The sight of the injury received by Diamond 
 brought this bloodthirsty speech to Brace's lips. 
 Browning picked Jack up in his strong arms and bore 
 him tenderly into their car, Merriwell opening 1 the 
 door to let him through. Their appearance created 
 a sensation. Several sprang up to help Bruce, and two 
 car seats were quickly turned into a cushioned lounge. 
 Everybody was asking questions. 
 
 Merriwell hastened away to ascertain if a surgeon
 
 52 Treachery I 
 
 could be had on the train and to report the fall of the 
 man to the conductor. He did not want the man to 
 escape, feeling that by threats and questions the whole 
 secret of the conspiracy against Yale could be laid 
 bare.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A GLOOMY OUTLOOK. 
 
 "That was what brought me!" said Diamond, ta- 
 king a telegram from a pocket and handing it to Bruce. 
 
 The train had stopped. It had reached the end of 
 its journey shortly after the man stumbled backward 
 from the train. Jack had been taken from the car 
 and was now resting quietly under a big awning be- 
 side the track. His head was bandaged, and it ached 
 furiously. The skin had been lain open, but the skull 
 had not been fractured, though the blow from the ale- 
 bottle had seemed to fall heavily enough to break the 
 head of an ox. 
 
 This was the telegram: 
 
 "Meet me at New London. Important. 
 
 "MERRY." 
 
 It was addressed to Diamond, and it ha3 been sent 
 from New Haven. 
 
 Elsie was wetting a cloth to apply to Jack's head. 
 Bruce passed the telegram over to her. 
 
 "I'm sure Merriwell never sent that," said Bruce. 
 "He would have spoken of it if he had. If he had 
 expected Jack to meet him at New London he would 
 have said something about it. It's a fraud !"
 
 54 A Gloomy Outlook. 
 
 Jack Ready looked at it. 
 
 "The fellow who sent that was immensely clever, f 
 fancy it would be hard to make a case of forgery out 
 of it. It isn't signed with Merriwell's name, you see. 
 If we could find the very man who sent it, he could 
 find a hole in that big enough to slip through. I 
 thought all the cleverness was in Yale, but I see that it 
 isn't!" 
 
 "There won't be any left there when you leave col- 
 lege!" said Danny. 
 
 "But I shall be spared to Yale for three whole years 
 yet. When this cheering fact was made known to the 
 faculty yesterday they passed a vote of congratula-; 
 tion." 
 
 "I showed that telegram to the captain and the 
 coach, and they said that I would have time to meet 
 Merry at New London, if I came right back on the 
 observation-car," Diamond explained. 
 
 Dismal looked dolefully down his nose. 
 
 "But you won't be able to row ! You will not be fi> 
 to sit in a boat and pull an oar for a week!" 
 
 "And that was what the fellows planned just to 
 knock me out!" 
 
 Diamond was looking quite as serious as Dismal. 
 None of the party was in a jocular mood. Even Bink 
 and Danny were as solemn as a pair of little screech 
 owls. Once or twice they tried to raise a laugh, but 
 their spirits were not equal to it. They felt that with
 
 A Gloomy Outlook. 55 
 
 the mascot gone, and Diamond, the stroke, unable to 
 put hand to oar, the chances of Yale were very wobbly, 
 to say the least. 
 
 "I couldn't find you people at New London, the 
 crush was so great. And I couldn't get a seat, for all 
 the seats had been taken in advance. So I climbed on 
 the engine, and learning, after the train started, that 
 your party was in one of the closed cars, I made my 
 way back over the tender and through the cars. When 
 I started to pass to your car, that villain assaulted me. 
 I don't know whether he wanted to throw me under 
 the car or not, but he was determined to beat and 
 choke me half to death. I think he was stealing a 
 ride, I guess I should have gone under the car all 
 right, if Merry hadn't appeared." 
 
 "The fellow had been following you !" said Dismal. 
 "No doubt about that, I guess. The wicked triumph 
 and flourish like a green bay-tree !" 
 
 "And bounce down embankments like rolling 
 stones!" said Ready. "Glad I'm not wicked I" 
 
 "I'm just worried to death about Inza!" Elsie ex- 
 claimed. A messenger boy appeared with a telegram 
 for Merriwell." 
 
 "He's coming right there!" said Dismal, pointing 
 down the track with his long forefinger. 
 
 Merriwell had gone back with Gamp and some 
 of the trainmen to ascertain what had become of the 
 trampish-looking fellow who had fallen from the train.
 
 56 A Gloomy Outlook. 
 
 They had not found him. But in the spot where Mer- 
 riwell half-expected to come on his crushed and man- 
 gled body, they discovered bloody marks on the soil, 
 which showed that the man had been injured. Though 
 the indications were that his injuries were serious, he 
 had been able to crawl away and conceal himself so 
 that he could not be found. Merriwell was much 
 disappointed, for he had hoped if the man were living 
 and conscious that the story of the conspiracy against 
 the Yale boat crew could be obtained from him in its 
 entirety. 
 
 Jack Ready hurried to Frank with the telegram. 
 
 "From Bart," said Merriwell, as he tore it open 
 and looked at it. " 'No trace. Making no headway. 
 Dirk puzzled.' That boat-race will have to go on 
 vithout the mascot and without the stroke!" 
 
 "And that means defeat!" said Ready. 
 
 "No. We will win, anyway. We must win ! These 
 scoundrels shall not triumph!" 
 
 A look of admiration came into Ready's round face. 
 
 "Whatever Merry says gug-gug-goes !" stuttered 
 Gamp, with beaming countenance. "We're gug-gug- 
 gug-going to b-bub-beat 'em, anyhow!" 
 
 "Determination is the war balloon that lifts us to 
 the top of the kopje. If you say it can be done, Mer- 
 riwell, I'm bound to believe you. But it has seemed 
 to me that we're up against something tougher than 
 a Boer laager!"
 
 A Gloomy Outlook. 57 
 
 "If we only had some lager!" murmured Dismal, 
 who had joined them. 
 
 "I suppose you'd take it in the nek ?" Ready ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 "You'd take it any way you could get it!" Dismal 
 retorted. 
 
 "Sir, I am a temperance advocate. But you can 
 bet there's always a hot time when the Boer is in the* 
 laager and the lager's in the nek! For further par- 
 ticulars, ask the British!" 
 
 "We must beat those fellows!" Merriwell again 
 declared. "We can do it anyway, and we will ! How 
 is Jack?" 
 
 He was walking on again. 
 
 "Jack is a Diamond of the purest water ! He would 
 try to pull that stroke-oar though he can hardly hold 
 his head up; but the doctor said it would be suicidal 
 1 for him to attempt it, and I've braced up the doctor's 
 opinion with one of my own to the same effect. Yes, 
 Diamond got it in the neck and unless you've some 
 beautiful plan to pull us out of the hole the boat's crew 
 will get it in the same place. But I'm tying to you, 
 Merriwell, tying to you as the tin-can said to the 
 tail of the dog when it was under the manipulations of 
 the small boy's fingers. No offense when I compare 
 you to a dog there are various kinds of dogs !" 
 
 "Looks as if we're knocked out now!" said Bruce,
 
 58 A Gloomy Outlook. 
 
 as he loafed out to meet Merriwell, concealing his 
 deep anxiety under a placid show of indifference. 
 
 "Not a bit of it! Take a brace, Bruce! We must 
 win against those fellows. We can do it yet, and we 
 must !" 
 
 "I'm willing!" said Bruce. "Just show us how!" 
 
 What had become of Inza Burrage, the Mascot of 
 the Crew? 
 
 A telegram had come to her, purporting to be f rom 
 her father. It was sent from a small village beyond 
 New Haven, whither Bernard Burrage had gone the 
 day before on a visit to some friends. This was the 
 telegram : 
 
 "Your father stricken down with shock. Come at 
 once. SUSAN ANSELM." 
 
 Susan Anselm was the wife of the man whom Ber- 
 nard Burrage had gone to visit. Burrage had long 
 been an invalid, and something of the kind that now 
 seemed to have befallen him had been at times much 
 feared by Inza. She did not stop to question the 
 genuineness of the telegram. Elsie had gone out into 
 the city, and Winnie was away with Buck Badger, her 
 husband, on a short wedding trip. 
 
 Wildly anxious to hasten to the bedside of her 
 lather, Inza had written a note to Elsie, which she
 
 Gloomy Outlook. 59 
 
 4 
 
 left on her table, explaining everything and telling 
 Elsie to hurry the news to Frank. Then she had 
 hastily thrown a few things into a little traveling-bag! 
 and had left the house, hurrying at once to the station 
 to take the first train which would rush her to her 
 
 father's bedside. If that note had been received, much 
 
 \ 
 
 anxiety would have been spared her friends, but it was 
 not received. The butler, who had assisted Justin Lake 
 on another occasion, contrived to get the note and 
 destroy it, and Elsie was deprived of all knowledge x 
 of Inza's plans. 
 
 On arriving in the village and hastening to th ^ 
 home of her friend, Inza found that she had been de- .; 
 ceived. Her father was in his usual health, and was ; 
 immensely surprised when he learned why she had 
 come. 
 
 Inza's quick wit saw through the trick at once. 
 
 "They have side-tracked the mascot out here !" said 
 Burrage, laughing. 
 
 "But she isn't going to stay side-tracked !" Inza de- 
 clared. "There is a train back for New London sooa. 
 I believe I shall have time to catch that observation- 
 car yet !" 
 
 Thereupon she kissed her father good-by and har- 
 ried back to the station to catch the train for New 
 London. Before the train came in she found time 
 to send a telegram to Frank in New Haven. 
 
 When the train pulled into New London, the olv
 
 fo A Gloomy Outlook. 
 
 servation-car had pulled out. She was in despair. 
 The boat-race would begin near Gale's Ferry on the 
 river almost as soon as the observation-car reached 
 there. She knew that. 
 
 "If I were a millionaire!" she sighed, as she stoed 
 in the New London waiting-room and racked her brain 
 for a plan. "If I were a millionaire I'd hire a special 
 train to take me up the river; but being only a com- 
 mon mortal, I shall have to wait for the next train 
 or walk! I wonder if Frank received that tele- 
 gram ?" 
 
 She had hoped that Frank would have some one at 
 the station to meet her, or that he would be there 
 himself. 
 
 "He didn't get the telegram, I know, and he has 
 now gone on in the observation-train. Oh, dear ! what 
 shall I do? I think I'll send him another telegram!" 
 
 Merriwell had not received the telegram, for he 
 had left New Haven. However, it was taken to his 
 room for delivery, and there fell into the hands of Bart 
 Hodge and Harry Rattleton. 
 
 "It's strictly against my principles to pry into peo- 
 ple's mail or telegraph matter," said Hodge, after he 
 had receipted in Merriwell's name for the message, a 
 thing that any member of the flock was privileged to 
 do when a telegram came for one of the number in his 
 absence. "It's against my principles, but I feel, some 
 way, that Merry ought to know what is in this, Prob-
 
 A Gloomy Outlook. 61 
 
 ably it is so important that we ought to resend it tfll 
 him at once." 
 
 Rattleton had the same feeling, and after discussing 
 the matter and becoming more and more convinced 
 that under the circumstances this was what they ought 
 to do, Bart opened the message and found that it was 
 from Inza. 
 
 "Whoop!" shouted Rattleton. "And she is on her 
 way to New London ! We'd better trake a rain take 
 a train for New London, too, as soon as we can." 
 
 "And forward this right on to Merry!" 
 
 Thereupon they hastened to the station, rewired the 
 message and found a train leaving for New London. 
 It was a regular train, and not an excursion-train, 
 however. 
 
 "Oh, if I were a millionaire!" Inza sighed, as she 
 walked up and down the waiting-room, after sending 
 that last message to Frank, and wildly wondering how 
 she could get on to Gale's Ferry. "I must get up 
 there before the race begins." 
 
 Going to an official, she questioned as to the de- 
 parture of other trains for the scene of the boat- 
 race. No others were going soon. A train had rolltd 
 into the station, but it gave her no hope. 
 
 "It must be almost time for the race to begin!" 
 she thought, as she looked at her tiny watch. "And 
 the mascot is here, when she ought to be there! U 
 I could only hear from Frank! I must get up there,
 
 62 A Gloomy Outlook. 
 
 somehow! I'll see that official again. Perhaps the 
 distance isn't so great but that I can get there in a 
 carriage or cab. Why didn't I think of that before? 
 I must get up there before that race begins!" 
 
 Frank's iron determination seemed to be reproduced 
 in Inza's character. In truth, his unbending wiH and 
 unconquerable energy, which had so often plucked vic- 
 tory out of the jaws of defeat had been so impressed 
 on all of his friends that difficulties which would bring 
 despair to others only stimulated them to greater ac- 
 tivity. 
 
 As she turned about for the purpose of again con- 
 sulting the official, a small hand-car, of the spidery 
 kind known as a railroad velocipede, was wheeled out 
 of a shed at the side of the station and placed on the 
 track. It was a mere framework of a car, with three 
 light, iron-bound wooden wheels, intended to be run 
 at a high rate of speed. Inza turned toward this 
 car, wondering if it would not furnish the means she 
 sought. 
 
 "Would it be possible to hire this car and some 
 one to take me up the railway to the boat-race?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "Already hired!" said the man who had brought 
 it out of the shed, and who did not seem pleased. 
 "Something I never knew to be done before, too! 
 ain't built for an observation-train !" 
 
 Inza's heart sank.
 
 A Gloomy Outlook. 63 
 
 "Is there another here?" she anxiously questioned, 
 
 "No, miss!" 
 
 "Could I get there in a carriage and ' 
 
 "Whoop!" 
 
 ^ 
 
 A familiar shout sounded almost in her ears. She 
 turned and saw Harry Rattleton and Bart Hodge. 
 Harry's face was beaming with delight. 
 
 "The mascot !" he screeched. "Whoop f We'll beat 
 'em yet!" 
 
 The man looked at Harry as if he fancied he had 
 gone crazy ; for Harry was not only whooping, he was 
 dancing about like a lunatic. A smile also rested on 
 the dark face of Bart Hodge. 
 
 "We knew you were on your way!" he said. "We 
 received the message you sent to Merry. He's on 
 the bservation-train." 
 
 "Been hunting for you all over New Haven," Rat- 
 tleton explained. "Couldn't find you, and here you 
 are. Now we'll hit the track!" 
 
 "Can't three ride on this car!" the man grumbled, 
 seeing that it was the intention of these young men 
 to take Inza on the car with them. 
 
 "If we had time we would try to get an engine!'* j 
 said Hodge. "But it will take time to do that, and we 
 might fail in getting one, after all. We've hired this 
 and we'll have to try to get through on it." 
 
 Rattleton was looking at the little car with sobered 
 face.
 
 64 A Gloomy Outlook, 
 
 "Say!" he suddenly exclaimed. "That thing- will 
 
 go a good deal faster with only two on it. I'll stay 
 
 behind, Bart, and get through the best way I can, 
 
 while you take Inza. That will be better ! I can howl 
 
 * for you and wish you success!" 
 
 "And miss seeing the race?" 
 
 Rattleton's face was very grave. 
 
 "That's all right, Hodge. You can pull that thing 
 through faster than I can. There isn't room for three. 
 I'd give a million dollars to see that race, but I'll stay, 
 just the same. We want to win, you know, and we've 
 got to get the mascot there! I'm willing to stay! 
 Just so Yale wins ! Tumble on there, and I'll give you 
 a shove!" 
 
 "It's too bad!" said Inza. 
 
 "That's all right !" Harry cried. "No time for talk ! 
 No time for argument! If you're going, you must 
 go!" 
 
 All knew that this was true. 
 
 "Just get there, Hodge! That's all! You can 
 doit!" 
 
 Hodge dropped to the seat and put his hands and 
 feet on the levers. Inza took the one seat forward. 
 There was literally no room for another passenger. 
 
 Harry Rattleton gave the velocipede a push and sent 
 it spinning along the rails. Hodge began to pull and 
 push on the levers and the speed of the spidery car 
 increased.
 
 A Gloomy Outlook. 65 
 
 "You must get there, old man! Get there! You 
 can make it! Now, drive her! Drive her!" 
 
 The little car shot away from the station and up 
 the track, with Rattleton unselfishly waving his hat 
 and yelling his encouragement. 
 
 The last words that floated to them from him was 
 the old yell that had so often thundered over the 
 waters. 
 
 "Hooray for the Mascot of the Crew!" 
 
 "We'll get there!" Inza exclaimed, looking again at 
 her tiny watch, while her bright eyes sparkled. 
 
 "Sure!" said Bart, with grim determination, while 
 the levers seemed to fly. "We've got to get there !"
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 YALE AGAINST HARVARD. 
 
 Che time set for the boat-race was almost at hand. 
 For hours steamers from New Haven, New York, 
 and Boston, crowded with spectators, had been arri- 
 ving and slowly working their way to favorable points 
 on the river. Steam and sailing yachts, with red and 
 blue* streamers flying, plowed the waters, maneuver- 
 ing for good positions. Smaller boats skipped about 
 like water-bugs. 
 
 The long observation-trains from New London were 
 drawn up opposite the starting-line. 
 
 With bandaged head and pale face, Jack Diamond 
 sat in the observation-train with Elsie and other 
 friends, looking out upon the Thames. 
 
 "Take my opera-glass," said Elsie. 
 
 Jak twk the glass, adjusted it, and looked at the 
 lYale boat-house and float 
 
 "It makes me sick to think that I can't be there!" 
 
 "If you cuc-cuc-could have taken the mum-mum- 
 mascot's pup-place!" stuttered Gamp mournfully, ad- 
 dressing Elsie. 
 
 "But Frank didn't think it best, you know! He 
 hasn't given up the hope that she will come yet."
 
 Yale Against Harvard. 67 
 
 "Tut-tut-too late now !" Gamp declared. 
 
 Bruce was walking up and down the aisle. 
 
 "Merry says we mustn't give up, but everything 
 looks pretty blue!" he grumbled. 
 
 "The Yale blue!" chirped Danny. 
 
 "Wish it were the Yale blue!" moaned Dismal. 
 
 "Thought you never worried about anything ?" Bink 
 flung at Bruce. 
 
 "I never said so!" Bruce flung back. 
 
 "He isn't worrying, he's just wondering!" Danny 
 explained. 
 
 A boy came into the car with a jump and put a 
 note into the hands of Diamond, whom he singled out 
 by his bandaged head. It was from Merriwell. 
 
 "I have been chosen to take Jack's place as stroke. 
 Harvard isn't ready cracked oar, I believe, and we 
 have agreed to hold back the race twenty minutes. I 
 still have hopes of Inza. Telegram rewired at New 
 Haven says she is on the way. Bart and Harry are 
 also on the way somewhere. Keep your courage up. 
 The crew still full of hope. We will win this race yet. 
 Haven't time to write more. Tell Bruce to be ready. 
 
 "MERRY/' 
 
 Jack read this aloud to the throng that crowded 
 round him. A little cheer went up. Bruce made his 
 way out of the car and went to a single-seated buggy 
 which was drawn up near with a driver in the seat. 
 
 "I guess you fellows won't find any need of this,"
 
 68 Yale Against Harvard. 
 
 the driver remarked, with a smile, as he flicked at a 
 fly that was troubling the horse. 
 
 "Dunno!" Bruce admitted. "Merry thinks so!" 
 
 "I bub-bet Yale was gug-glad enough to hold bub- 
 back the race tut-twenty minutes !" Gamp mumbled. 
 
 If Joe could have read the heart of Frank Merri- 
 well at that moment he would have known how glad 
 one member of the Yale crew was that the race was 
 being delayed. Merriwell had intended to make a 
 fight for time, when the request for a delay came over 
 from the Harvard crew. Some of the Yale men be- 
 gan to grumble. 
 
 "But it's just what we want!" Frank had assured 
 them. "I believe that Inza will get here. This twenty 
 minutes is all in our favor !" 
 
 The Yale men would have scouted the idea that they 
 were superstitious; yet they would have felt relieved 
 if they could have been assured of the coming of the 
 mascot of the crew in time. Merry's words encour- 
 aged them, and the reply was sent to Harvard that 
 the request for a delay of twenty minutes had been 
 granted. 
 
 "We'll make it, if she doesn't come!" Merriwell 
 declared, as the minutes dragged their slow length 
 along. "But I want her to see us win the race. I 
 wouldn't have her miss it for anything!" 
 
 There was a noticeable stir at the Harvard position 
 across the river.
 
 Yale Against Harvard 69 
 
 "I think they're getting ready to launch their boat !" 
 one of the men observed. "Time's about up. Glad 
 we haven't any broken oars to trouble us. That's a 
 worse hoodoo than the loss of the mascot." 
 
 The Yale oars, the shell, everything, had been care- 
 fully scanned and examined, and the treacherous work 
 of the man who had sawn into the oar of the stroke 
 and weakened it had not been discovered. 
 
 "Some excitement up there at the train!" one of 
 the crew remarked. 
 
 "Oh, they've been wild ever since they came!" was 
 the answer. 
 
 Merriwell took a glass and trained it on the observa- 
 tion-car. His face changed. 
 
 "Fellows!" he exclaimed, taking the glass from his 
 eyes. "I believe the mascot has come !" 
 
 How his voice thrilled! But the joy that thrilled 
 him was not greater than that in the usually placid 
 breast of Bruce Browning, as he bodily lifted Inza to a 
 seat in the waiting buggy and bounded in at her side. 
 
 Bart Hodge had won the race ! How the Yale crew- 
 yelled! Their mascot had arrived. 
 
 "Right up here!" said the captain of the launch, 
 as he assisted Inza aboard. 
 
 "And you, too !" he said, grasping Browning by the 
 shoulder. 
 
 Bruce had not expected to go on the referee's launch, 
 though he was glad enough to do so. A place had
 
 ?o Yale Against Harvard. 
 
 been assigned to Inza, and now Bruce was to go, too, 
 through the favor of the captain. 
 
 There was no time for protests, if any one cared 
 to make them. There were a number of people on 
 the launch, some wearing the crimson of Harvard and 
 others the blue of Yale. For the main part, these 
 were officials representing the two crews. 
 
 The Yale crew yelled again and again when Inza 
 stepped to the side of the launch and fluttered her 
 handkerchief in their direction. Bruce was at her 
 side. 
 
 "Bart was almost exhausted/' she said. "But the 
 noble fellow wouldn't admit it nor let me help him. 
 He came like the wind! I don't believe a railroad 
 velocipede was ever sent at such speed before. On 
 some of the curves I thought sure it was going off 
 the track! But Bart brought me through on time." 
 
 "None grittier!" Bruce admitted. "Sorry Rattles 
 couldn't come!" 
 
 The Harvard men were in their shell and moving 
 toward the starting-line. The crimson was fluttering 
 everywhere, and the Harvard sympathizers were howl- 
 ing themselves hoarse. 
 
 Then the Yale crew were seen carrying their shell 
 out on the float. What a pleasing thing it was to see 
 them in their light racing-suits of blue, as they raised 
 the shell with a dexterous swing above their heads and 
 laid it gracefully upon the water. Inza's handkerchief
 
 Yale Against Harvard 71 
 
 fluttered again as she noticed Merriwell. What a 
 handsome fellow he was, truly! He seemed a demi- 
 god of the sea. 
 
 The crew stepped gingerly into the cranky shell, 
 oars were adjusted, and the boat moved away from 
 the float. 
 
 "Frank is a splendid stroke!" Inza exclaimed. 
 
 "You bet !" Bruce grunted. 
 
 "And see how finely they pull together! How 
 straight their backs are! And how they come for- 
 ward together, so smoothly, as if they were only one 
 man!" 
 
 "We've a big show to win this race!" Bruce de- 
 clared. 
 
 "We're sure to win it, Bruce! The mascot is here, 
 and Frank is the stroke I We can't lose it !" 
 
 "Accidents sometimes happen!" grumbled Bruce. 
 He did not know of the weakened oar of the stroke, 
 and he did not mean this as a prophecy. 
 
 Both boats were moving to the starting-point. The 
 referee's launch began to swing round to get into posi- 
 tion. The friends of Yale afloat and ashore were 
 trying to drown the yells of the adherents of the 
 Cambridge college. Flags were shooting up and down 
 the halyards of some of the yachts. Some of the 
 smaller boats laden with spectators began to move 
 nearer to the racing-waters. 
 
 As the Yale and Harvard shells came up to the
 
 72 Yale Against Harvard. 
 
 starting-point, the cheers broke forth again. The 
 referee's launch was moving toward the boats as they 
 backed up to the line. The two shells, held by their 
 sterns, were allowed to swing down the current. The 
 oars were lifted and swung back together and remained 
 poised over the stream. The crucial moment had 
 come the race was ready to begin ! 
 
 Inza's eyes were fixed on the Yale crew and espe- 
 cially on Frank Merriwell. 
 
 "It isn't the mascot!" she thought. "I am glad 
 to be their mascot the mascot of such a noble crew. 
 But success will come through Frank, not through the 
 mascot !" 
 
 The wild cheering on the river and on shore partial- 
 ly subsided. Inza plainly heard the question of the 
 starter, and the answer: 
 
 "Are you ready ?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 "Go!" 
 
 The sixteen shining, dripping oars dipped as one 
 blade; sixteen muscular fellows straightened back on 
 the sliding seats ; and the two shells, representing Har- 
 vard and Yale, leaped from the starting-line, as if en- 
 dowed with life. 
 
 And were they not endowed with life ? The sixteen 
 men who propelled them were filled and thrilled with 
 the strong, rich life of youth. Every fiber of their 
 beings tingled with the exultant quiver of that strange,
 
 Yale Against Harvard. 73 
 
 indefinable thing which we call life, and whose ab- 
 sence is death. 
 
 Side by side the shells shot away, the blue and crim- 
 son lines of men swaying backward and forward with 
 machinelike motion, while the oars flashed and glinted 
 and dripped silver. 
 
 The yells on the vessels and on the shore were re- 
 newed. A hoarse bellowing came from the observa- 
 tion-trains, which were also beginning to move, three- 
 fourths of a mile distant from the racing boats. The 
 powerful steam-launch of the referee swung in behind 
 the shells, and away all went, in wild excitement. 
 
 For a moment Inza turned her opera-glass on the 
 train which held her friends. She fancied she saw 
 Elsie's face at one of the windows of the closed car, 
 and fluttered her handkerchief. Elsie had a glass 
 trained on the launch, and the flutter of her hand- 
 kerchief came as a signal that she saw Inza. 
 
 "They can see everything!" was Inza's joyous 
 thought. "I wish they were here, though I But I wish 
 more than all that Harry Rattleton could see this race ! 
 The faithful fellow deserves to see it! But he will 
 be as happy aS the happiest if we win. And we will 
 win, of course! With Frank as stroke, we are sure 
 to win!" 
 
 "Our fellows are going along in fine shape, but 
 the Harvard men are doing about as well !" 
 
 Bruce Browning was speaking. The shells
 
 74 Vale Against Harvard. 
 
 to be flying along side by side. Neither had obtained 
 an advantage at the start, and neither was now lead- 
 ing. 
 
 "It will be a close race!" said the referee. 
 
 "Very close!" added the captain. 
 
 "Harvard is increasing its stroke!" announced a 
 man who was studying the dial of a watch. "They've 
 already gone up two strokes to the minute/' 
 
 "Beginning to spurt!" said another. 
 
 "By George! gaining, too!" cried a Harvard sym- 
 pathizer, as was shown by the ribbons on his coat. 
 "Mighty hard to beat Harvard!" 
 
 "Mighty hard to beat Yale!" said Bruce. 
 
 "With Frank a member of the crew!" was Inza's 
 thought. 
 
 She heard the comments, though her eyes were 
 fixed on the Yale crew. She had passed the glass to 
 Browning. The launch was plunging on so rapidly 
 that it was keeping well up with the racing boats, 
 though not near enough to interfere in any way. NOAV 
 and then Inza was sure that she saw Merriwell glance 
 up toward her. His position as stroke brought him 
 nearer the launch than any other man in the Yale boat 
 except the coxswain. 
 
 Whenever any of the crew seemed to look toward 
 her or toward the launch, Inza waved her handker- 
 chief encouragingly, proud and happy in the fact that
 
 Yale Against Harvard. 75 
 
 she was there to help them as much as she could by her 
 presence. 
 
 "Yale's stroke moves as steady as a clock !" the man 
 was saying who held the watch. "He hasn't varied 
 the fraction of a second !" 
 
 "Merriwell!" said another. "Their regular stroke 
 got knocked out in a fight with a tramp ! Said to be 
 about the best oarsman in Yale." 
 
 "You bet!" answered Bruce, with swelling enthusi- 
 asm. "Merriwell is a whole boat crew himself !"
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE BROKEN OAR. 
 
 The wind commenced to breeze up, and the water, 
 which had been as smooth as a mill pond, began to 
 roughen. Yet the racing-shells moved on as steadily as 
 before, slicing through the waves like chopping knives. 
 
 "Yale is increasing the stroke!" said the man with 
 the watch. Harvard had gained a trifle, but Yale was 
 recovering this. 
 
 How beautiful it all was! The flash of the oars 
 just before the catch, the clean finish, the sway of the 
 bodies! It was the poetry of motion. And how 
 bright, too! for the vessels were gaudy with flags and 
 streamers, the observation-trains' dense masses of crim- 
 son and blue everything a flutter of color! All 
 rimmed in by the green of the shore; while beneath 
 and behind and before, the Thames rippled and plashed 
 and threw up fringes of foamy lace along the crest of 
 the waves. 
 
 But it was not quiet; for men bellowed themselves 
 hoarse, and whistles screeched, and students yelled and 
 sang. 
 
 "Yale's stroke has pulled up to thirty-four!" said 
 the man with the watch. Yale had recovered the dis- 
 tance lost. The mile flag had been past. A fourth
 
 The Broken Oar. 77 
 
 of the race was done, and the boats were still almost 
 side by side. 
 
 "Yale is in the lead!" said Bruce. "Hurrah for 
 Merriwell!" 
 
 The men in blue continued to gain, until they were 
 a boat's length ahead. Then Harvard began again 
 to spurt. The lead of the Yale boat was decreased 
 to half a length. Those on the referee's launch could 
 plainly hear the Yale and Harvard coxswains encour- 
 aging their men. The two-mile flag was passed, with 
 Yale still in the lead. Yale's stroke had dropped back 
 to thirty-one, but the shell was maintaining the lead. 
 
 The three-mile flag was passed. Harvard was 
 hanging to Yale with grim determination. Harvard 
 was spurting again, too. The half-length lead seemed 
 about to be lost. Some of the oarsmen were seen to 
 be painfully laboring. The pace had been terrific, and 
 the crews so evenly matched that the outcome was in 
 great doubt. 
 
 "Yale increasing stroke again!" announced the 
 watch holder. 
 
 The stroke went up to thirty-four. Inza could see 
 that Merriwell -was dipping deep and strong, though 
 with rhythmic regularity. She fluttered her handker- 
 chief encouragingly. 
 
 "Pulling ahead!" gasped Bruce, who had seemed to 
 be holding his breath for almost a minute. "Got 'em, 
 I believe ! Yale's going ahead !"
 
 78 The Broken Oar. 
 
 A great bellowing like distant thunder rolled across 
 from the observation-trains. 
 
 "Pull!" Yale's coxswain was heard urging. "Pull. 
 Break your backs ! Pull ! All together ! Now ! now !" 
 
 "Gaining!" Bruce cried, becoming fairly shaky in 
 his unwonted excitement. Yale was a boat's length 
 ahead, and still gaining. Soon she was two boat 
 lengths ahead! 
 
 "We win !" said Bruce. "We win!" 
 
 "Hello !" cried the referee. "Something is the mat- 
 ter!" 
 
 Truly, something was the matter. Merriwell's oar 
 had snapped short off, and the blade was trailing in 
 the water, impeding the progress of the Yale boat. 
 The water spurted over the motionless oar. 
 
 "Beat!" groaned a Yale man. 
 
 "With victory in sight with victory won!" 
 
 "We are not beaten!" Inza excitedly exclaimed. 
 
 Merriwell was reaching out and unlocking his row- 
 lock to set the oar free, that it might no longer im- 
 pede the progress of the shell. 
 
 The seven oars in the Yale shell were still rising and 
 falling, and the little coxswain's voice rose in encour- 
 agement. But Yale's chances seemed to be gone. The 
 Harvard boat was decreasing the distance rapidly. Its 
 bow oar passed the stern of the Yale boat. Foot by 
 foot it pulled up, though Yale's crippled crew were 
 making a dauntless effort
 
 The Broken Oar. 79 
 
 Merriwell succeeded in freeing the dragging oar and 
 threw the two pieces into the river. He saw the cut 
 and knew that treachery had been at work, but he 
 could not hold on to the oar even to use it as evi- 
 dence. 
 
 Suddenly he rose upright in his place. 
 
 "He's going to leap overboard!" Inza fairly 
 shrieked. 
 
 "That's all right! That's the stuff!" cried Bruce. 
 
 Merriwell was indeed preparing to spring from thft 
 shell. He saw that the seven oarsmen might still 
 have a chance to defeat Harvard if the Yale shell were 
 freed of the superfluous and useless weight of his 
 body. 
 
 "Yes, he's going over !" a Yale man exclaimed. "I 
 suppose he can swim all right?" 
 
 Bruce had moved with an agility that was simply 
 wonderful, and was going over the side of the launch, 
 suspended by a rope snubbed round a cleat and held 
 for him by a Yale sympathizer. He saw that he could 
 probably help Merriwell, after Frank plunged into the 
 river. 
 
 Then Merriwell went over the side of the shell, 
 clearing it well, and coming to the surface almost in- 
 stantly, shouted: 
 
 "You can win yet! Pull, fellows! Pull!" 
 
 The launch was almost upon him. But, as the light- 
 ened Yale V>at leaped on, Browning, swinging down
 
 8o The Broken Oar. 
 
 from the launch, reached out a hand to his friend and 
 drew him half out of the water, and out of danger. 
 
 The Yale boat was holding its own "against the 
 Crimson, and again men were howling like lunatics. 
 The finishing-line was just ahead. The line was 
 crossed, with Yale a half-length in advance. 
 
 Then the cannons boomed and the blue fluttered vic- 
 toriously. 
 
 Over on the observation-train the members of Mer- 
 liwell's flock and their friends were wildly cheering. 
 Gamp was stuttering his joy, and Danny and Bink 
 seemed to want to stand on their heads in the aisle of 
 the swaying car. The train slowed down almost to a 
 stop, immediately after the signal flags had announced 
 the victory of Yale. 
 
 "I'll dream of this for a week !" shouted Danny. 
 
 "And I'll seam of it all drummer I mean I'll dream 
 of it all summer!" 
 
 Harry Rattleton had climbed up the steps and 
 bounded into the car. 
 
 "Just got here on another train, fellows!" he ex- 
 claimed, while his honest face shone with delight. 
 "But I saw the end of the race ! It was great ! Hoo- 
 ray for Yale!" 
 
 The train came to a stop, and Bart Hodge walked 
 to the door. On the platform he encountered Paul
 
 The Broken Oar. 81 
 
 Rains, whose coat was fairly covered with crimson 
 flags and ribbons. 
 
 "I've heard about that conspiracy!" Rains said, as 
 soon as he saw Bart. "And one of your friends had 
 the gall to tell me that I was in it. But I wasn't! I 
 knew nothing at all about it. I put my money on 
 Harvard simply because I didn't believe that Yale 
 could beat her. But I did not do any dirt." 
 
 "Is that straight?" Bart asked. 
 
 "You needn't believe it, if you don't want to ! But 
 I'd like Merriwell to know that I had nothing to do 
 with it!" 
 
 Bart saw that Rains was speaking the truth. 
 
 "But Lake did!" 
 
 "Perhaps!" 
 
 "And Lake has again been beaten by Merriwell !*'
 
 CHAPTER VIH. 
 
 IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 
 
 The boat-race had constituted a magnificent climax 
 to the term's successful record in sport, and the college 
 men had gone to their various homes in the highest of 
 spirits. Some had gone West; some South some to 
 the Adirondacks. Let us take a peep at some of these 
 sturdy Yale supporters, enjoying their well-deserved 
 rest ; a number of Frank Merriwell's party being there, 
 bent on pleasure. 
 
 "Carry this up for you ?" 
 
 "You cuc-cuc-can't lift it !" 
 
 The scene was the platform of the station of Wa- 
 beek, in the Adirondacks, and the first speaker was a 
 young fellow who did a little of everything, from log- 
 ging in the winter to acting as guide to tourist parties 
 in the summer. The other speaker was Joe Gamp. 
 Gathered about Gamp were members of Frank Mer- 
 riwell's party. The train which had brought them had 
 just steamed away, and Merriwell and Hodge were 
 inside the station talking to the ticket-seller. 
 
 The carriages and trunk teams from the Wabeek 
 Hotel, which was distant from the place a mile or so 
 back in the mountains, had not arrived; and Ben Ro- 
 mine, the young man mentioned, feeling very strong
 
 In the Adirondacks. 83 
 
 from the effects of a few drinks which he had taken, 
 had offered to carry the heaviest trunk to the hotel. 
 Romine was thick-set and muscular, with gnarled and 
 knotty hands and a neck like a tree. 
 
 "There are gold bricks in that, young man!" Jack 
 Ready airily declared. "It would take an elephant to 
 lift it!" 
 
 "I'm elefunt enough to lift it and carry it to the 
 Wabeek. If there are any gold bricks in it an' you'll 
 gimme the chance, I'll carry it out o' the county !" 
 
 "I dud-dud-don't believe you cue-can lift one end 
 of it, young feller!" Gamp solemnly declared. 
 
 "Certainly he can !" Bink Stubbs asserted. "I could 
 lift that thing myself, if I'd a little strengthening 
 plaster inwardly applied." 
 
 "Sure!" chirped Danny Griswold. "I wouldn't 
 make any job at all of lifting that, if I were strong 
 enough !" 
 
 "Hoist it up and I'll make a picture of you !" urged 
 Greg Carker, taking up his camera. "We'll call the 
 picture, 'The Elephant of the Adirondacks and his 
 Little Trunk!'" 
 
 "Anything in it?" asked Romine, with a grin. 
 
 "Gold bricks, I told you!" said Ready. 
 
 "There's where Carker carries his wealth," chirped 
 Bink. 
 
 '"Anything in it for me? That's what I mean." 
 
 "Is there anything in it for him. Greg?" Ready
 
 84 In the Adirondacks. 
 
 blandly asked. "I really don't know just what is in it, 
 aside from the gold bricks!" 
 
 Having discovered that the trunk was Carker's,, 
 Romine turned to him. 
 
 "Anything in it for me?" he asked of Carker. 
 
 Greg looked bored. 
 
 "What is it worth, young feller, if I h'ist that thing 
 to my shoulders? Enough to make it interestin', you 
 know! No use liftin' for you. I feel's if I could 
 throw the danged thing over the station. Feel strong's 
 a moose this mornin'! Fine air we've got up here 
 finest manufactured! You fellers'll have muscles like 
 hosses in a month, 'f you stay up here. What's it 
 worth, governor, if I h'ist it?" 
 
 "I don't care whether you hoist it or not? What 
 good will that do me?" 
 
 Though Greg Carker was the prospective heir of 
 millions, he never threw away any money foolishly, ex- 
 cept on himself. Now and then, for his own gratifi- 
 cation, he could "burn money" as recklessly as any 
 man who ever struck Yale. But these periods were 
 remarkable for being few and far between, as well 
 as for the recklessness with which Greg then flung 
 around his cash. Greg was said by his friends to be 
 "near" ; but he insisted, in the lectures which he some- 
 times distributed with a more lavish hand than he did 
 his wealth, that economy was the road to riches and 
 only fools walked in any other highway. Hence he
 
 In the Adirondacks. 85 
 
 did not intend to give anything to Romine for doing 
 so foolish and unnecessary a thing as lifting the heavy 
 trunk. Greg Carker was a socialist, but a socialist 
 who took care that if there was any distribution of 
 wealth to the toiling masses it was the wealth of some 
 one else which was distributed. 
 
 Romine was chewing gum ; so that, whether talking 
 or not, his jaws were industriously working. 
 
 "Thought maybe you'd like to see me do the strong- 
 man act. Oh, I'm feelin' soople this mornin' ! Some- 
 thing in the atmosphere I s'pose. Greatest air up here 
 you ever see." 
 
 "Air is invisible," corrected Carker, glad to get 
 Romine on another string. 
 
 "You bet it ain't invisible up here on a frost) 
 mornin' in the winter. Can see a man's breath then. 
 a mile away." 
 
 "And some other times I presume that a man's 
 breath might be smelt a mile away?" queried Ready, 
 who did not fancy Romine's appearance. 
 
 "Sure !" Bink warbled. "Strong enough sometimes 
 to lift that trunk by itself!" 
 
 "Nobody's making any insinurwations ?" asked Ro- 
 mine, glaring around. "That mightn't be healthy, 
 even if this is a healthy country !" 
 
 "Certainly not," said Danny. "Mr. Romine has 
 simply been talking about the strength of a man, not 
 the strength of his breath."
 
 86 In the Adirondacks. 
 
 Romine seemed hardly to know whether to take this 
 as an offense or as another fling at his slightly intoxi- 
 cated condition. He concluded to accept it as friendly, 
 after looking the little joker over. 
 
 "Shake!" he said, giving Danny's hand an awful 
 squeeze. "There ain't nothin' out of the way about 
 you but your hair, and hanged if I ain't seen some 
 that's redder!" 
 
 Greg Carker was breathing more freely. The sub- 
 ject seemed to have been successfully changed. But 
 suddenly Romine came back to it. 
 
 "Any gent got something that asks me to do liftin* 
 or any old thing? I'm feelin' good this mornin', and 
 I'm out fer dust!" 
 
 "You'll git a-plenty of it as soon as the wind kick*" 
 up !" remarked a bystander. 
 
 "Gold-dust, I mean!" 
 
 "There's a man who can outlift you, or throw you 
 down, or beat you at any old thing!" Bink declared, 
 pointing to Joe Gamp. 
 
 "Nun-nothin' of the kind!" Joe declared. "I cuc- 
 cuc-can't lift nothin' !" 
 
 "That cornstalk?" sniffed Romine, sizing up Gamp. 
 "I can throw him down and not half try. Why, I can 
 put that thing onto his back with my hands tied !" 
 
 A queer gleam came into Joe's eyes. 
 
 "Why, he is one of the champion wrestlers of Yale I'* 
 Danny insisted.
 
 In the Adirondacks. 87 
 
 "And he lifted a heavy mortgage on a New Hamp* y 
 shire farm last year !" Ready chipped in. "They said- 
 it was a heavier thing to move than the ledges." 
 
 "That thing?" sniffed Romine. "You don't mean 
 to say that thing has ever been to Yale? I've seen 
 Yale myself!" 
 
 "Graduate?" demanded Harry Rattleton. 
 
 "Graddiated in the physical branches. Walked into 
 the gymnasium and walked out again. I left New 
 Haven last year." 
 
 "I knew you did!" said Ready. Romine looked 
 at him keenly and suspiciously. 
 
 "How did you know anything about it?" 
 
 "Why I knew you left it. It's there yet ! You didn't 
 take it away with you!" 
 
 Romine seemed immensely relieved. He grinned, 
 then forced a laugh. 
 
 "Ho ! ho ! ho ! That's a good un. Didn't know I'd 
 struck into a ringful of funny clowns, but I see I 
 have!" 
 
 "Tell you wh-what!" said Gamp, who seemed to 
 have been closely studying the thick-necked, muscular 
 woodsman. "I cuc-cuc-cuc-can pup-pup-put you on 
 your bub-back and not half try." 
 
 Romine stared at Gamp as if he could not believe 
 his ears. 
 
 "Gamp didn't just walk into the gymnasium and 
 walk out again !" Bink declared. "He took a thorough
 
 88 In the Adirondacks. 
 
 course, and then had a lot of extra lessons from Bus- 
 ter Kelley, the pugilist." 
 
 Romine's eyes opened wider. 
 
 "I know Buster Kelley," he admitted. "Great man." 
 
 "Cuc-cuc-can put you on your bub-bub-bub " 
 
 "On your little spinal column, he means!" said 
 Bink. "He's often taken that way just before he gets 
 dangerous. It's a bad sign when he stutters." 
 
 Romine's champing jaws worked even faster. 
 
 "On your bub-bub-back !" said Joe, coming again. 
 
 "Nothin' of the kind!" asserted Romine, throwing 
 his hat on the ground. "I'll throw you quicker'n a 
 wink." 
 
 "When the gladiator of the Adirondacks meets the 
 wrestler of Yale " 
 
 "You'll think they arena row!" punned Ready, in- 
 terrupting Bink. 
 
 Danny seemed about to fall in a fit. 
 
 "Are in a row!" he gasped. "Somebody fan me! 
 To be hit by a pun like that!" 
 
 "It's worse than being in a row!" squealed Bink. 
 "Danny, my friend Ready is intruding on our ex- 
 clusive territory. We'll sue him for breach of copy- 
 right!" 
 
 Romine looked round, not understanding this chaff, 
 while his jaws worked furiously. He half-fancied 
 jokes were being cast at him.
 
 In the Adirondacks. 89 
 
 "I'll throw you quicker'n a wink!" he repeated, 
 again facing Joe Gamp. "Shed yer togs !" 
 
 "Yes, throw off your linen!" 
 
 "Shed your stripes, as the snake said to the con- 
 vict!" 
 
 "I would shed " 
 
 "Oh, don't tell us about the wood-shed !" 
 
 A half-dozen seemed talking at once. Joe calmly 
 put his hat on a truck and deliberately peeled off his 
 coat. 
 
 "I'm gug-gug-going to throw you!" he declared. 
 "I've heard as mum-mum-much of this as I cuc-cuc- 
 cuc-can stand!" 
 
 Ben Romine quickly threw off his coat and piled it 
 on top of Joe Gamp's. Then he stood with hands 
 down and fists clenched, while his jaws worked like 
 a steam chopping-block. Merriwell's party, with the 
 loungers about the station, gathered in a little ring 
 about Gamp and Romine. 
 
 "I'm coming fer ye!" Romine howled, while the 
 veins in his bull neck seemed to swell. 
 
 "Cuc-cuc-cuc-come on!" Joe invited. 
 
 The stuttering appeared to result from a nervous 
 chattering of the teeth, and the gawky New Hamp- 
 shire boy seemed really about to bolt from the spot. 
 But Gamp had no such intentions. 
 
 Romine bent his knees and squatted, then sprang 
 up with a wonderful bound and launched himself at
 
 90 In the Adirondacks. 
 
 Joe. It was like the uncoiling of some thick-bodied 
 serpent when it strikes; but Gamp was ready for the 
 woodsman. His long arms appeared to welcome Ro- 
 mine to their embrace, then closed in a bearlike hug. 
 The next moment the two youths were struggling and 
 swaying back and forth, each straining every nerve to 
 throw the other. 
 
 It was plain that for all the disparity in their looks, 
 Gamp and Romine were very evenly matched. Gamp 
 was possessed of immense strength, even though his 
 appearance might not suggest it. His long arms were 
 muscular, and his legs were as strong as mountain 
 saplings. Romine was short, with a bulldog courage 
 and with bunchy muscles that stood out in knots and 
 ridges all over his body. 
 
 No one was more surprised than Romine. He had 
 made the mistake made by many men in thinking that 
 his particular build of body gives more strength than 
 any other. And Gamp was not finding his task easy. 
 Romine tried to get under Gamp and lift him bodily 
 from the floor, while Joe sought to draw Romine up in 
 that bearlike hug and hurl him off the platform. 
 
 So they strained and swayed and struggled to and 
 fro over the boards. Twice Romine seemed about to 
 lift Gamp from the platform, but Joe's feet did not 
 rise. Gamp had profited by the lessons given in the 
 Yale gymnasium and was not an opponent to be de- 
 spised,
 
 In the Adirondacks. 91 
 
 "I got ye now !" Romine panted, as he doubled his 
 back and caught Gamp round the hips. It appeared 
 to be the movement for which Gamp was waiting. 
 He also stooped forward. Then he straightened up, 
 lifting Romine clear of the boards. Up, up, Romine 
 went, his feet flailing the air. A cry of surprise came 
 from some of the spectators. Then, with marvelous 
 quickness, Romine shot over Gamp's head and came 
 down sprawling in the dust of the road by the plat- 
 form. Fortunately his fall was partly broken by the 
 dusty bed and by a heap of weather-worn tanbark 
 which was moldering to decay beside the station. 
 
 The jolting fall and the surprise of his defeat al- 
 most sobered Romine, but it angered him, and this 
 was not decreased by the guying laugh that was sent 
 up by some of the bystanders. 
 
 At that instant Frank Merriwell and Bart Hodge 
 came out of the station, drawn by the noise of the 
 struggle and the excited cries. Romine half-rose in 
 the dust, while a wicked glare came into his eyes. 
 Gamp was standing looking down at him, as if won- 
 dering himself how the thing had been done. 
 
 Suddenly Romine took from his mouth the mass of 
 gum he had been chewing and flung it at Gamp's 
 head. 
 
 "Take that I" he snarled. 
 
 Spat!
 
 92 In the Adirondacks. 
 
 Gamp dodged, and the flying gum struck Franlc 
 Merriwell just over the eye. 
 
 Romine leaped up with a look of fear. 
 
 "Beg pardon! All a mistake!" he said, while his 
 face whitened under the tan. 
 
 Merriwell removed the mass of gum. 
 
 "Better be a bit careful!" he said grimly, for his 
 eye pained him and he was not at all pleased to have 
 anything of that kind hurled into his face. "I 
 don't " 
 
 Romine was moving toward his coat and hat. 
 
 "Just recklected that I promised to meet a man at 
 the hotel! Ought to have been there half an hour 
 ago." 
 
 He slouchily picked up the articles. He was breath- 
 ing heavily, and his face seemed now of a sickly yel- 
 low. 
 
 "See you some other time!" he flung at Gamp. 
 
 "Got to go, or I'd like to have't out with ye now !" 
 
 Then he pulled his hat into his eyes, slung his coat 
 over an arm, and turned quickly into the road lead- 
 ing toward the Wabeek Hotel. 
 
 "Must have been afraid you'd take some of that tan- 
 bark and tan his hide for him!" gasped Danny. 
 
 "It fairly paralyzed him when he saw that he had 
 hit you instead of Gamp!" asserted Rattleton to 
 Frank. "Never saw chuch a sange such a change 
 ia anx onel"
 
 In the Adirondacks. 93 
 
 "It scared him, I tell you, as the little fellow said 
 of the can he tied to the dog's tail ! It made him go 
 sailing!" observed Bink. 
 
 "Felt that he was up against the real thing!" re- 
 marked Carker. 
 
 "Oh, he knew that, when he tut-tut-tut-tackled me) 1 * 
 stuttered Gamp, beaming all over, as he put on his 
 coat and hat. 
 
 "There was some other reason," said Frank, as hft 
 thoughtfully watched Romine disappearing down thf 
 road. "It wasn't because he threw that gum into 
 my eye, nor because he was afraid of me on that ac- 
 count. Nothing of the kind, I feel sure. He didn'l 
 know I was here until I came out of the station. I've 
 seen that fellow before, and he has seen me, and foe 
 some reason he fears me. I believe that I have seen 
 him in New Haven." 
 
 "He said he had been to New Haven!" informed 
 Danny. 
 
 "That's it, then. He has some reason for being 
 afraid of me. I wonder what it can be?" 
 
 "Here comes the stage," Rattleton announced, point- 
 ing to a dust cloud. "Now we'll get down to that old 
 hotel." 
 
 All were glad to know that the stage which was to 
 take them was coming. It drew up in a few minutes, 
 with a flourish of the driver's whip a regular moun- 
 tain stage-coach, with seats outside and in.
 
 94 In the Adirondacks. 
 
 "Wish I had taken a picture of Gamp and that fel- 
 low just as Gamp .threw him!" said Carker, as he 
 climbed to one of the outside seats, swinging his 
 camera. 
 
 "Why didn't you try for it ?" Merriwell asked. 
 
 "For the same reason that I didn't," said Ready, 
 who also had a camera. "The match was so interest- 
 ing that no one could think of a camera in the same 
 breath. That's the trouble with taking snap-shots. At 
 the moment of interest your interest is so great that 
 you let your interest in that make you forget your in- 
 terest in " 
 
 The stage started with a lurch, and Ready was al- 
 most piled on his head. He came down heavily across 
 Bink's knees. 
 
 "I object to having interest heaped on me in that 
 way, as the debtor said to the note-holder!" squeaked 
 Bink, throwing him back. "Sit on your own knees! 
 It will be more interest-ing for me!" 
 
 "One of us ought to have waited and got a shot 
 at this stage, with its load of dome-browed and intel- 
 lectual passengers!" said Carker, though the bored 
 look he nearly always wore did not leave his face. But 
 the driver cracked his whip, the stage gave another 
 lurch, and all were away for the Wabeek Hotel, leav- 
 ing the trunks and other luggage to be brought up 
 later. 
 
 Merriwell looked for Ben Romine as the stage
 
 In the Adirondacks. 95 
 
 swung and swayed along the woodland road, but Ro- 
 mine had strangely disappeared. If he had kept to the 
 road, the stage must have passed him; but it did not 
 pass him, unless he was hiding in the timber near-by. 
 "For some reason the fellow is afraid of me!" was 
 Frank's thought. "I wonder what it can be?"
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SOME GUESTS OF THE WABEEK. 
 
 The Wabeek was a handsome house, charmingly 
 situated, and enjoying a liberal patronage in the sum- 
 mer season. Back of it rose 4he picturesque Trinity 
 Peaks, sometimes called the Three Sisters. In front 
 was Wabeek Lake, a beautiful sheet of water and one 
 of the chief attractions of the place. Bart Hodge 
 caught at Merriwell's sleeve as the stage drew up in 
 front of the hoteL 
 
 "Look here!" Bart whispered, m a surprised voice, 
 "do you see who that is?" 
 
 Merriwell looked. In one of the comfortable chairs 
 that were plentifully distributed about the wide piazzas 
 was a young man whom both Frank and Hodge had 
 good cause to remember. 
 
 "Herbert Hammerswell !" Bart exclaimed. "If I'd 
 thought he'd be here, I'd voted to go some place else. 
 He's a dirty sneak, and he always makes trouble 
 when he's around !" 
 
 Young Hammerswell, who was a dudish-looking 
 youth, with hair parted in the middle and carrying a 
 cane, suddenly became aware of the fact that he had 
 become an object of interest to the passengers in the 
 stage. His face changed its appearance quite as much
 
 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 97 
 
 as Ben Romine's had done when Ben saw whose eye 
 the gum had struck. He rose hastily from the chair 
 and turned toward the nearest doorway, through which 
 he vanished. When he was beyond the sight of the 
 people in the stage he stopped, and suddenly became 
 aware that he was trembling. 
 
 "Merriwell's crowd!" he grumbled. 
 
 Then his manner changed. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Frank Merriwdl and his friends will 
 be sorry before they get away from the Wabeek that 
 they've again run foul of Herbert Hammerswdl. I'd 
 like to get even with that fellow, and I never was in 
 such a position to do it. I've got the wherewith now 
 to make a fight whenever it's necessary. Of course, 
 they recognized me, and no doubt they'll think it funny 
 that I should get out that way. They'll think I'm 
 afraid of them! Well, that's all right, too! They'll 
 know better by and by. I'll watch for some chance 
 or other to do Merriwell up, and if a chance doesn't 
 come, I'll make one !" 
 
 With this mental declaration, Hammerswell moved 
 away and went to another part of the house. He 
 wanted to have time to think, and desired to keep 
 away from Merriwell's friends until he mentally pulled 
 himself together and determined on some line of ac- 
 tion or on some method of possible revenge. 
 
 "Yes, that was Hammerswell!" grunted Bart, as 
 he swung down from the coach. "If he comes fool-
 
 98 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 
 
 ing around me, he'll get hurt, too. I haven't any use 
 for that fellow." 
 
 "Probably he'll clear out like Romine did-!" said 
 Danny. "He scooted as soon as he saw Frank. What 
 sort of an influence is it you are wielding this season, 
 Merry, that makes people speed away on the wings 
 of the wind as soon as they see you ? Never heard of 
 any such hypnotism as that!" 
 
 "Romine did seem to want to get away from me," 
 Frank admitted. "I've been asking myself what his 
 reason was, but I don't know." 
 
 Merriwell's party were not long in discovering that 
 the Wabeek Hotel held other persons whom they as 
 little expected to see there as Herbert Hammerswell. 
 One of these was Dunstan Kirk, who had been the 
 captain of the Yale nine, and had taken part in the 
 great game of ball which Yale played against Prince- 
 ton not long before. 
 
 Merriwell saw Kirk crossing the piazza and made 
 his presence known. 
 
 "Why, hello, Kirk!" he exclaimed, in his kindly 
 fashion, getting up and extending his hand. "Glad to 
 see you, though I had no idea you were here ! How 
 does it happen?" 
 
 Kirk was equally surprised, but he was not pleased. 
 There was one thing which happened in practise on 
 the Yale field shortly before college closed that had 
 "stuck in his crop," and he was not likely soon to
 
 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 99 
 
 forget it. Though he and Merriwell had been friends, 
 that thing had brought on a coolness in his feelings for 
 Frank. 
 
 Kirk was really a great batter, and Frank had sorely 
 wounded his pride by striking him out before the 
 great crowd of students assembled to witness the prac- 
 tise work. Kirk could not forget it. 
 
 "Glad to see you!" he said; but his handclasp was 
 languid and his tone did not show pleasure. 
 
 "We just arrived," Merry volunteered, as they 
 dropped into seats. "We're out for some fun and 
 sport in the Adirondacks." 
 
 He looked inquiringly at Kirk, who was in base- 
 ball costume. 
 
 "Vacation time, you know !" Frank went on. "There 
 are nine of us in the party, and we call ourselves an 
 athletic team. We believe that we can play ball." 
 
 Again he glanced at Dunstan's costume. The Yale 
 captain flushed a little, still thinking of the strike-out 
 incident, which he was likely to remember a long time. 
 
 "There are nine of us up here, too," he said, "and 
 we fancy that we can play ball! You know some of 
 them, Merriwell. They are all ball-players. There's 
 Curringer!" 
 
 "Oh, Curringer ? The Princeton pitcher ! Glad he's 
 here. He is a great pitcher." 
 
 Kirk flushed again at this mention of Princeton, 
 though the mention in this connection was unavoid-
 
 ioo Some Guests of the Wabeek. 
 
 able, as Kirk knew. Curringer had pitched against 
 Merriwell, and the game had really been a pitcher's 
 battle. 
 
 "And Gait is with us !" 
 
 Gait was the Princeton catcher, he and Curringer 
 having been the Princeton battery. 
 
 "Then, there is Wadkins, our short-stop." 
 
 "Princeton shows up strong," was Merriwell's com- 
 ment. "You couldn't find much better men anywhere. 
 But Yale is well represented. Wadkins is a clever 
 man in his position." 
 
 "Yes, they're all right!" admitted Kirk, who had 
 a captain's pride in good ball-men. "They're good 
 stuff." 
 
 "Then we have Severing, a Harvard man, for cen- 
 ter-fielder." 
 
 "Severing is all right." 
 
 "And Putnam, of Dartmouth descendant of Old 
 Put, you know is with us, too. He's a 'south-paw* 
 man, but he's great on first." 
 
 "Hope to meet these fellows soon." 
 
 "They're all here in the hotel somewhere. Be round 
 by and by. We have a college nine picked men, you 
 understand! We think we can play ball!" 
 
 This was said with a certain emphasis which showed 
 that in Kirk's mind there was no doubt that the nine 
 of college men that had been got together and were 
 now at the Wabeek ready to meet anything worthy of
 
 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 101 
 
 their mettle on the diamond could hardly be beaten in 
 the great national game by any nine from anywhere 
 outside of the strictly professional field. And really, 
 in Kirk's belief, there were few professional nines 
 that could down this nine of which he was proud to be 
 a member. 
 
 "And you ?" he said inquiringly. "You said some- 
 thing about a team?" 
 
 "A lot of college fellows, special friends of mine, 
 out for our summer vacation. We left Yale two days 
 ago, after some preliminaries and a good deal of study 
 as to where we ought to go. We're out for a good 
 time more than anything else; and to Yale men that 
 necessarily means some form of athletics. There are 
 nine of us, as I said, and we believe we can play some 
 ball, though we are not just dying to meet everything 
 in the country. Still, I am sure we can play ball." 
 
 Kirk was wondering who the players on this nine 
 were. 
 
 "Friends of yours, you say?" 
 
 "Oh, you know most of them all of them, I think. 
 HThere are Hodge and Browning and Rattleton and 
 Jack Ready. Greg Carker is with us ; so is Joe Gamp, 
 and Bink Stubbs, and Danny Griswold." 
 
 A doubting look that was almost scornful came to 
 Kirk's face. 
 
 "Yes, you've nine men there, counting yourself, but 
 I shouldn't call them ball-players. Hodg-e and Brown-
 
 IO2 Some Guests of "the Wabeek. 
 
 ing will do, though Hodge has too uncertain a tem- 
 per, and the hot weather will take all the baseball fever 
 out of Browning." 
 
 "They told us it never gets hot up here!" Frank 
 laughed. "It never gets hot at a summer resort, you 
 know?" 
 
 "Well, that is, hardly ever!" 
 
 "So Bruce is all right, you see!" 
 
 "He'll be all right on these piazzas and in these 
 easy chairs. You'll never get him to do any work on 
 the diamond." 
 
 "Which shows that you don't know Bruce as well 
 as I do." 
 
 "And as for the rest of them " 
 
 Kirk waved his hand meaningly. 
 
 "No good?" 
 
 "Not in it, Merriwell!" 
 
 "We're not out especially as a ball-team," Frank 
 corrected. "Still, I believe we can play ball. Some 
 of the fellows are camera cranks, and they want to 
 take pictures; others just have the fever of the woods 
 in their veins, and I think I must count myself among 
 that number. We just want to get away from the 
 cities and from books and all such things for awhile 
 and have a good time, and that means a quiet, pleas- 
 ant trip. Playing ball isn't quiet, but for us it's pleas- 
 ant. We don't know just where we will turn up before 
 the summer ends, but our team "
 
 Some Guests of the WafceeR. 103 
 
 "An athletic team I believe you called it? Any 
 particular name?" 
 
 "The fellows call themselves Frank MerriweH's Ath- 
 letic Team," said Frank, with modesty and dignity. 
 "It was of their own select-ion. Any other name, or 
 no name at all, would have done as well, I suppose." 
 
 A look that was almost a sneer, and which did not 
 escape Frank's notice, chased itself like a shadow 
 across Kirk's face. It was gone almost as soon as it 
 came. 
 
 "A very good name, I should say. I must see some 
 of the fellows and tell them of your arrival. It will 
 stir their sluggish blood a little. They have been here 
 only two days, but long enough for them to begin to 
 feel lazy." 
 
 "Awhile ago I saw a fellow here named Herbert 
 Hammerswell," said Frank; "he is not with your 
 party ?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "I didn't know. He might be into a thing of that 
 kind, though not as a member of your team, for he 
 is not a college man, I think. He has plenty of money, 
 so that he can* do pretty much as he fancies, since his 
 father died I read in a newspaper of his father's 
 death." 
 
 "Don't know him !" said Kirk. 
 
 Then he hastened away for the purpose of telling the 
 baseball nine of which he was captain and manager ofi
 
 104 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 
 
 the arrival of Frank Merriwell's Athletic Team, whicH 
 he evidently looked upon with some scorn. 
 
 Bart Hodge came up and took the chair vacated by; 
 Kirk. 
 
 "I'm sorry that Hammerswell is here," he declared, 
 with a show of displeasure and uneasiness. "You 
 know the dirt he did, or tried to do, last summer. I 
 wish he was somewhere else just now!" 
 
 "So do I," Frank admitted. "We'll have to keep 
 our eyes open, that's all!" 
 
 "He will do anything, that fellow! He's a scoun- 
 drel from the ground up. I'll bet a dollar he's hatch- 
 ing up some scheme this very minute. It is just like 
 him. He'll make trouble for us before we get out of 
 here; see if he doesn't!" 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell had come into a consider- 
 able property since the death of his father, the Honor- 
 able Artemus Hammerswell, and he was using it with 
 a liberal hand. He had servants and horses and 
 hounds, with a yacht on the sea and a hunting-lodge 
 in the hills. He seemed to feel that the amount he had 
 inherited was so great that it could not be dissipated, a 
 folly of which better young men than Herbert Ham- 
 merswell have been guilty. 
 
 "If there is a fellow on the earth that I simply hate, 
 it is Frank Merriwell !" Hammerswell was saying to 
 himself, as he strolled through some timber back oi 
 the Wabeek the next day.
 
 borne Guests of the Wabeek. 105 
 
 He had a camera slung at his shoulder, with which 
 he had been taking snap-shots at various objects in 
 his walk. Hammerswell had developed into some- 
 thing of a faddist in the field of amateur photography 
 and was able to do creditable work. 
 
 All at once he came to an uncertain stop while his 
 face paled and his hands shook. What seemed to be 
 a dead man was lying in the path directly in front 
 of him. 
 
 "Dan Romine !" he gasped. "Dead as a hammer, I 
 guess. How did that happen? Couldn't have 
 been " 
 
 He stopped and glanced furtively about. 
 
 "Some of Merriwell's friends had trouble with Dan 
 yesterday. It was that tall, awkward fellow they call 
 Gamp, I think, and Merriwell was in a rage, they said, 
 because Dan threw that gum into his face. It made 
 Merriwell simply fierce. Can that account " 
 
 He stepped forward and took a look at the face. 
 
 "Just been done !" he said. "Perhaps the fellow isn't 
 dead, after all." 
 
 Blood was trickling from Dan Romine's nostrils. 
 Herbert stoope'd over Romine, shook him, decided that 
 if he wasn't dead, he was little better than a dead 
 man, and again glanced about. Suddenly his face 
 changed, and the camera came off his shoulders. 
 
 "I'll just get a snap-shot of him as he lies there." 
 
 With that, he stepped back a proper distance, leveled
 
 lo6 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 
 
 the camera, steadied it a moment, and pressed the 
 button. This he repeated several times. 
 
 "I think I'd ought to hurry on and report this! If 
 it wasn't for getting blood on my hands and clothes 
 I'd find out for certain if he is dead. I should like to 
 know how it happened." 
 
 Then Hammerswell, with heartless callousness, 
 walked on down the path, leaving Dan Romine lying 
 there, without trying to aid him. Down the path 
 farther, at the other edge of the woods and nearer the 
 lake, was a rustic cottage that Hammerswell had never 
 chanced on in the few days he had been at the Wabeek. 
 
 Within the cottage at that moment were a number 
 of Merriwell's friends, who had returned from a ram- 
 ble along the shores of Wabeek Lake and were stop- 
 ping there for a brief rest. As they rested they talked 
 of the University Nine, as the nine under the manage- 
 ment of Dunstan Kirk called themselves. 
 
 "Kirk simply thinks those fellows can earth the 
 wipe I mean, wipe the earth with us," Rattleton 
 rather excitedly exclaimed. "I want Merry to send 
 them a challenge. We'll be able to show them a trick 
 or two." 
 
 "Trouble with Kirk is, that Merry struck him out in 
 a way to turn his head," said Bruce. "It's turned it, 
 I guess." 
 
 "He says you can't play ball!" reminded Jack 
 Ready.
 
 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 107 
 
 "Don't want to play ball," Bruce grunted; "but I'd 
 forego my own inclination to help wallop those fel- 
 lows." 
 
 "With Merry and Bart as the battery, we can ever- 
 lastingly do 'em up!" Danny declared. "See me hit 
 'em! Whack! Three-bagger! Run, you sinners, 
 run ! We ought to have Dismal to howl for us once in 
 awhile." 
 
 "We'll all howl when you hit a three-bagger !" 
 
 "Get your throats into form, then, for I'll do it the 
 first game that we play. I've been practising at night 
 while you fellows have been asleep. I can hit the " 
 
 "Atmosphere every time !" Bink scornfully declared. 
 
 "Oh, if I couldn't play ball any better than you, I'd 
 go away and hide my diminished head!" squealed 
 Danny. 
 
 "If you had any modesty you would do that any 
 way!" Bink retorted. "But we'll likely be troubled 
 with you all summer!" 
 
 "They have some mighty good players," said Bart, 
 returning to the subject of the Wabeek nine. "They 
 won't be easy, but I believe we could do them." 
 
 "Only my well-known and excessive modesty keeps 
 me from declaring that I know we can do them !" said 
 Jack &eady. "When I was a little boy one of my 
 good old aunties taught me that self-praise is half- 
 scandal. Hence, when I have a chance to throw bou-
 
 io8 some Guests of the Wabeek. 
 
 quets at myself, I refrain. I really think that we art 
 the real thing, but I'd die before saying so." 
 
 Bruce seemed to arouse himself. He had been 
 standing near a small open window of rustic work, 
 glancing lazily through the woods. 
 
 "What in thunder is that fellow up to now?" he 
 drawled, with the least bit of excitement manifest. 
 "That's what I'd like to know?" 
 
 "Who?" asked Rattleton, hopping up. 
 
 Bart also arose and looked in the direction indicated. 
 
 "That's Herbert Hammerswell !" he snarled. 
 
 "Taking a picture of this cottage !" declared Ready. 
 "Apparently he doesn't know that there is more beauty; 
 upon its inside than upon its outside." 
 
 "Perhaps he is trying to photograph you through 
 the walls with an X-ray?" suggested Carker. 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell was only a few yards distant, 
 half -concealed in some bushes, and apparently trying 
 to get a view of the cottage for photographic pur- 
 poses. 
 
 "Don't care about making his acquaintance," grum- 
 bled Bart. "Knew the scoundrel too well last year!" 
 
 "Well, he's coming no, he's going!" 
 
 Hammerswell was withdrawing into the bushes, 
 as if for the purpose of moving away. 
 
 "Got his X-ray and is satisfied !" said Carker. "And 
 we're satisfied. From what I've heard- I don't think I
 
 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 109 
 
 care anything about cultivating his acquaintance my- 
 self." 
 
 Bruce dropped down into his chair again and looked 
 out of the door. He was not much interested in young 1 
 Hammerswell. In fact, the day promised to be hot, 
 and Bruce was keeping as quiet as he could. 
 
 "Hello! here comes Merriwell. Got a snake, I de- 
 clare!" 
 
 Frank Merriwell appeared in the doorway of the 
 cottage as Bruce spoke, holding up an ugly-looking 
 serpent which he had a moment before despatched with 
 a club. 
 
 "Great snakes!" chirped Bink. "Who'd have 
 thought of serpents in such a place?" 
 
 "They were in the Garden of Eden, you know," 
 Carker reminded. "The world is full of them." 
 
 "You're speaking of two-legged ones, now!" said 
 Danny. 
 
 "Yes. The heartless plutocrats and bond-holders 
 and moneyed classes, to say nothing of the trusts, 
 which are squeezing the life out of the people. A 
 snake like the one Merry has is an innocent thing com- 
 pared with the other kind. If the people fail to grap- 
 ple resolutely with the trust octopus, it will simply 
 strangle the life out of them. But I believe that the 
 people will arouse yet to their danger, and that the 
 wealthy oligarchy which has this country by the throat 
 will be throttled. And when the people arouse, there
 
 no some Guests of the Wabeek. 
 
 will be an awful earthquake. The French Revolution 
 will be outdone, unless the ruling- and wealthy classes 
 are wise enough to bow gracefully to the inevitable." 
 
 The boys were accustomed to Carker, so they paid 
 little attention to his talk. 
 
 "Where'd you get him?" asked Hodge, speaking to 
 Merriwell and pointing at the snake. 
 
 "Right out there." 
 
 "Great advertisement for a summer hotel !" grunted 
 Browning. "Put that in the papers and the Wabeek 
 won't have a dozen women as guests this summer." 
 
 "And that would break your heart." 
 
 "That's what Bruce came down here for," warbled 
 Danny. "Of course he is an adore " 
 
 "There's a-door, too!" Browning growled. "I'll 
 pitch you through the hole that the carpenter left if 
 you don't stop that chatter. Merry hasn't told us 
 where he got the snake?" 
 
 "Right out there," Merriwell repeated. "He was 
 crawling down the path when I saw him, and batted 
 him in the back." 
 
 "Ought to have saved him for right-fielder in place 
 of Griswold," said Bink. "He'd get around faster." 
 
 "Hah !" Danny snorted. "You think you're a crack- 
 ajack, just because Merry is going to let you play 
 short-stop. When things are moving you'll tie your- 
 self into more knots than any ribbon snake that ever 
 knotted."
 
 Some Guests of the Wabeek. 1 1 1 
 
 "I will knot !" Bink snorted. "And I will knot take 
 such stuff from you. If you'll prance over here I'll 
 put some knots on your head that will be a puzzle to 
 a phrenologist." 
 
 "Oh, yes, you're wonderfully brave." 
 
 "I'm as brave as you are !" 
 
 "Just come over here!" Danny begged. 
 
 Bink made a rush, but stopped with a howl, for 
 Merriwell gave the snake a toss in their direction to 
 keep them apart and the clammy thing dropped down 
 on Bink's neck. 
 
 "Wow!" he screeched, falling to the floor. "Wow! 
 Take it off!" 
 
 "Oh, you're a brave man!" sneered Danny. 
 
 But the words were scarcely out of his mouth when 
 Bink, made desperate by that clammy feeling, caught 
 the snake by the tail and gave it a toss. It went 
 straight up into the air, and seemed about to fall upon 
 Danny, who, with a screech rushed backward and 
 knocked Joe Gamp rolling to the floor. 
 
 When the snake fell Merriwell kicked it out of 
 doors. 
 
 "Of course you're a brave man !" scouted Bink. "I'd 
 go off and hide somewhere. Afraid of a dead snake!'*
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A MYSTERY. 
 
 When Merriwell and his friends returned to the 
 Wabeek they found the guests in a state of excite- 
 ment. Herbert Hammerswell had come in and re- 
 ported that he had found Dan Romine either dead or 
 dying in the path in the woods. 
 
 "I wondered where Dan could be all this time?" 
 said the hotel proprietor, whose name was Dimmick. 
 "Dan has been staying here pretty close for several 
 days. He has been sleeping in the barn every night 
 for a week. Last night he wasn't in the barn, and I 
 didn't see him around here all day yesterday. No- 
 body seems to have seen him since he went up to the 
 station." 
 
 Hammerswell gave Frank Merriwell a meaning and 
 malignant look. That look said as plainly as words: 
 
 "I rather think that Frank Merriwell could tell the 
 secret of this mysterious disappearance, and who it 
 was that struck Romine down." 
 
 Aloud he said : 
 
 "From the looks of things, I think Romine was 
 struck down with a club. There was a gash in his 
 head which seemed to have been made with a club.
 
 A Mystery. 113 
 
 And I think it was done some time ago perhaps 
 yesterday." 
 
 Hammerswell was getting into deep water. He was 
 so anxious to frame and fit a theory that would 
 some way involve Frank Merriwell that he forgot cau- r 
 tion. But it was sometimes difficult for Hammerswell 
 to tell the truth, even when telling the truth seemed 
 easier and safer than telling a lie. 
 
 "We'll go along with you," said Merriwell. 
 
 Some of the hotel servants hastily appeared with 
 a sort of stretcher, and the party, consisting of nearly 
 all the guests of the hotel, set out for the place where 
 Hammerswell had come on Romine. When they got 
 there Romine had disappeared. 
 
 No one was more astonished than Herbert Ham- 
 merswell. And again he looked at Merriwell in that 
 suspicious, searching way. It came to him that per- 
 haps Merriwell had dragged the body of Romine 
 away and concealed it. Of course, if Frank had done 
 that, it would be pretty good evidence that he did not 
 want the body seen, and this would very suggestively 
 indicate that he was really the one who had done the 
 bloody deed. There had been trouble between Romine 
 and a member of Merriwell's party, and Romine had 
 angered Frank by throwing that gum into his eyes ! 
 
 Hammerswell's head fairly swam as all these beauti- 
 ful theories and possibilities crowded through it. The 
 surprise occasioned by the disappearance of Romine,
 
 114 A Mystery. 
 
 whom nearly every one expected to find lying mur- 
 dered in the path, had not passed away, when Frank 
 Merriwell was more astonished than words can ex- 
 press to behold the bushes separate and John Swift- 
 wing, the Carlisle Indian student, stand in the open- 
 ing, ringed in by a frame of green. 
 
 Swiftwing never looked handsomer nor more ath- 
 letic, though his civilized clothing hid much of the 
 beauty of his symmetry. He had the complexion and 
 face of an Indian, with the grace and strength of one 
 of the old fighting gods. Merriwell had not seen him 
 since those eventful days at the far-away peublo of 
 Taos, where Swiftwing for a brief time had 'been his 
 red rival. 
 
 "John Swiftwing!" he exclaimed. 
 
 "So you remember me!" said Swiftwing, stepping 
 out of the frame of green and coming forward. "I 
 did not know but you had forgotten me." 
 
 There was a tinge of bitterness in his words. 
 
 "On the contrary, I have thought of you often and 
 am glad to see you," 
 
 Merriwell cordially took Swiftwing's hand. He 
 would have asked some questions. 
 
 "We're in a puzzle here, John !" said the proprietor. 
 "We expected to find Romine dead out here, and we 
 find nothing. Mr. Hammerswell saw him here awhile 
 ago." 
 
 "He was lying right there !" Herbert exclaimed. "I
 
 A Mystery. 115 
 
 saw him. Somebody must have carried the body 
 away." 
 
 Again he glanced at Merriwell, but no one seemed 
 to take note of this. Swiftwing's face changed. 
 
 "Romine?" he asked. 
 
 "It was Romine, I am quite sure!" Hammerswell 
 insisted. "I " 
 
 He was about to say that he had taken some photo- 
 graphs of Romine as he lay in the path, but something 
 checked the words. Swiftwing stooped over the spot 
 which Herbert pointed out. 
 
 "I'm a Pueblo and my people are not good at such 
 things as are some Indians," he said. "Now an 
 Apache! But my people have been tillers of the soil 
 as long as any one can remember, and they, like the 
 white men, have largely lost the power of trailing. But 
 I can see blood on the ground here." 
 
 He pointed out the blood which still dampened the 
 soil. 
 
 "That was done not long ago !" he muttered, as he 
 hunted about, trying to find further evidence. "He 
 was dead, you say?" 
 
 He turned to Herbert. 
 
 "I I thought so!" Herbert faltered, remembering 
 that it was not safe to be too positive, since this indi- 
 cated that the deed was of recent occurrence. 
 
 "Then he couldn't have walked awav l"
 
 n6 A Mystery. 
 
 "Somebody carried him away, I think!" said Harn- 
 merswell fiercely. 
 
 "Of course, if he couldn't walk!" and Swiftwing's 
 voice held a note that Herbert did not like to hear. 
 
 "We'll have to make a thorough search of the 
 woods!" advised Dimmick. "If he has been dragged 
 away, probably we'll find him. But I can't understand 
 this thing, and I don't like it." 
 
 Herbert was wildly hoping that Romine's body 
 would be found in some out-of-the-way nook, and that 
 in some manner evidence pointing toward Merriwell 
 as the guilty party could be manufactured or found. 
 He even began to wish that he had thought of it and 
 had himself dragged Romine away. 
 
 "But some one might have seen me and laid it to 
 me!" he mentally gasped, as soon as the thought had 
 passed through his evil, scheming brain. "That 
 wouldn't have done, you know ! I want the thing laid 
 to Merriwell, not to me !" 
 
 The search was carried on at first in a harum- 
 scarum way, but soon a more organized and thorough 
 search was instituted, which, under the direction of 
 Frank Merriwell, covered all the woodland and lake- 
 shore in the vicinity. 
 
 But Romine, living or dead, could not be found. A 
 sneaking, crafty, almost triumphant look was in the 
 face of Herbert Hammerswell when the searching 
 parties announced their failure.
 
 A Mystery. 117 
 
 "I can make things come my way," he muttered, 
 "and I guess I will !" 
 
 Having reached this satisfactory conclusion, Her- 
 bert Hammerswell crept back into the woods as dark- 
 ness was falling, and going to a spot with which he 
 seemed familiar he took up from a small clump of 
 bushes a heavy, broken, clublike bough and carried it 
 farther into the timber, where he cast it into a mass 
 of thick undergrowth. 
 
 After he had discovered Romine lying in the path, 
 and had taken the snap-shot near the cottage tem- 
 porarily occupied by Merriwell's friends, Hammers- 
 well had returned to the point in the path where Ro- 
 mine lay. The bough which he now cast away he had 
 found at that time lying near Romine, and had borne 
 it to the small clump and cast it there, just as he now 
 cast it into the thicker mass of undergrowth. 
 
 "They'll not find that!" he muttered, breathing 
 more freely when the clublike bit of wood was safely 
 hidden. "I'm going to pin things down on Merrivvell 
 sure. I never had him in such a trap. I believe I have 
 evidence that will convict him of murder. And when 
 I strike, I will strike harder than that club did !" 
 
 Herbert crept back to the hotel as quietly as he had 
 crept away, but he was much longer in making his 
 return trip, and the woods and hills and lake had 
 grown quite dark. As he reentered the Wabeek and
 
 Ii8 A Mystery. 
 
 slipped along the corridor on the second floor he heard 
 Merriwell's name mentioned. 
 
 This was enough to make him stop and bend in a 
 listening attitude. Some of the college men, members 
 of the University Nine, were in a room talking. Her- 
 bert was so anxious to know what they were saying 
 about Merriwell that he slipped into an adjoining 
 room, which chanced to be empty and open. The room 
 was dark as a pocket, and he half-feared he might 
 stumble against some one in the darkness, but he soon 
 convinced himself that he was alone. 
 
 "I believe the people here are beginning to suspect 
 Merriwell of that !" Hammerswell thought, as he bent 
 again in a listening attitude. "Perhaps I'll hear some- 
 thing that will help me." 
 
 "Equal to farce-comedy!" Dunstan Kirk was say- 
 ing. "Did you see their ball-suits? I got a look at 
 some of them. Hodge and Browning and some others 
 were out on the diamond tossing the ball around 
 awhile to-day. Blue suits, with a Yale Y ! Think of 
 it!" 
 
 "I suppose they will make people think they are a 
 regular college team," said Curringer sneeringly. 
 "What right have they to put on such togs ?" 
 
 "That's what I should like to know. It is simply to 
 gain notoriety. Can't be any other reason. I wonder 
 they didn't call themselves the Yale team."
 
 A Mystery. 119 
 
 "They would hardly dare to do that," said Wad- 
 kins, the regular Yale short-stop. 
 
 "I don't suppose they would do it if they could," 
 said Curringer. "They are all Merriwell worshipers-, 
 and, of course, they would be bound to ring in Merri- 
 well's name some way. Frank Merriwell's Athletic 
 Team!" 
 
 "Don't sound bad!" remarked Putnam, of Dart- 
 mouth. 
 
 "Well, I've sent them a challenge," Kirk announced. 
 
 The listener in the other room could hear a rustling 1 , 
 as if the men were moving in their seats, or drawing 
 together because of increased interest. 
 
 "Good!" 
 
 "They won't accept it." 
 
 "We'll put it all over them if they do." 
 
 "That aggregation ! I'm almost surprised that you 
 should do such a thing, Kirk." 
 
 "You were away, Wadkins, when we talked it over. 
 The others were in favor of it." 
 
 "Those fellows can't play ball. Merriwell's a fool 
 for holding out the idea that they can. They are sim- 
 ply a collection of freaks. Did you ever see such an 
 assortment of wonders?" 
 
 "Sort of happy family !" drawled a voice. 
 
 "Just so," said another. "Browning would do for 
 the elephant and Gamp for the giraffe, and those little 
 fellows would do for the monkeys."
 
 I2O A Mystery. 
 
 "The idea of that layout playing ball!" 
 
 "It does seem a sort of condescension to challenge 
 them !" Kirk admitted. 
 
 "Simply lowering the University Nine to go against 
 that mob! We've got together some of the best men 
 from leading colleges, while Merriwell has a handful 
 of his friends!" 
 
 "And such friends!" 
 
 "Merriwell is all right in his way, but " 
 
 "You haven't heard from the challenge?" 
 
 "No. I ought to have it soon." 
 
 "Taking time to think it over !" 
 
 Hammerswell, with his ear against the partition 
 wall, did not hear much that promised to assist him in 
 his schemes, but it warmed his heart to know there 
 were other men who seemed to have a very poor 
 opinion of Frank Merriwell and his friends. 
 
 "College men, too!" he muttered. "Men from the 
 leading colleges ball-players and athletes!" 
 
 Hammerswell failed to reflect that a man may have 
 enemies and still be honorable, of stainless character 
 and very much a man. Sometimes a man's enemies 
 say as much for his good qualities as the friends he 
 gathers round him. 
 
 "All their sympathy will be against Merriwell, and 
 that will help me. of course. I believe they'd be ready 
 to move against him now if the opportunity came !"
 
 A Mystery. 121 
 
 Herbert was so busily engaged in his eavesdropping 
 that he failed to hear footsteps that were coming down 
 the hall until they were almost opposite the door. He 
 turned round with sudden anxiety, which changed to a 
 chill as the footsteps advanced to the door of the room 
 he occupied. He wanted to make a wild dash for the 
 hall, whose light he could see through the opening, but 
 the newcomers stopped right in the doorway, thus 
 blocking his chances. 
 
 "It's those college men," he heard a voice say. 
 
 Dunstan Kirk and his friends seemed to be vacating 
 the room they had used. Hammerswell was agitated. 
 He was near a corner which held some coat-hooks, and 
 not knowing what else to do he crept softly into this 
 corner, and while the noise made by the retiring Yale 
 men covered his movements he drew a coat in front 
 of him. 
 
 "Perhaps I can get a chance to make a break !" he 
 thought. "I can pull this coat down and hide my face 
 with it when I run. They won't know who I am." 
 
 But these reflections did not relieve his anxiety, and 
 when the two men came through the doorway and 
 seemed to his -excited mind to be advancing straight 
 toward him his alarm became great. The gas was 
 lighted with a blinding flash which seemed to pene- 
 trate through the sheltering coat and cut away every 
 shielding thread. He felt himself to be trembling so 
 violently that the coat appeared to shake.
 
 122 A Mystery. 
 
 "Talking about Merriwell !" said a voice, as the door 
 was closed. 
 
 The speaker was John Swiftwing, the Pueblo In- 
 dian. Chairs seemed to be moved out, and the Indian 
 spoke again. 
 
 "I've as good a right to be a gentleman as Merriwell 
 has, and I'm going to be to-night. What do you think 
 of the room ?" 
 
 The room was handsomely furnished and overlooked 
 the lake. 
 
 "Great stuff! Boss!" 
 
 Hammerswell knew that the first speaker was Swift- 
 wing, whom he had several times seen, and the voice 
 of the second speaker told that he was a white man, 
 though not of the higher grades. 
 
 "Just as good a right to be a gentleman as he has, 
 and so I took this room for to-night. I'm a gentleman 
 to-night, and a white man, so far as money can make 
 me one!" 
 
 There was a sort of bitter, defiant scorn in the words 
 and tone that seemed to burn the tongue that uttered 
 them. 
 
 "Pretty hard to make a gentleman out o' me, though 
 I'm white enough. That is I would be white if it 
 wasn't for the wind and the sun. If a feller tramps 
 through these mountains as I have, he can't be white." 
 
 "And as I have!"
 
 A Mystery. 123 
 
 "Ain't any better er more faithful guide in these 
 mountains than you are, John Swiftwing !" 
 
 "That's so, Totten. I can be a woodsman, and that 
 is as near as any man can come to being neither Indian, 
 nor white. A woodsman, a guide and a nothing !" 
 
 "No use flinging clubs at the house you live in/* 
 growled Totten, who did not like this sort of talk. 
 
 "That's the way you look at it, Si. But well, you 
 can't understand what I would say so what's the 
 use?" 
 
 "What you goin' to say ?" questioned Totten, some- 
 what touched by this outburst. 
 
 "You're a white man, and you can't understand. 
 .When I saw Merriwell I felt as the rattlesnake feels 
 when the road-runner hems it in." 
 
 "How's that?" 
 
 "The road-runner is a bird, you know. When it 
 finds a sleeping rattlesnake, it rings it in with cactus 
 spines and wakes it. The helplessness of the snake 
 throws it into such a rage that it bites itself and dies. 
 That's the story. When I saw Merriwell I felt that I 
 wanted to sneak away somewhere like a poisoned rat 
 and die. But I" braced myself. I said to myself that 
 I am as good a man as Merriwell or any of his friends, 
 even if I am an Indian. And so I went to the pro- 
 prietor and offered him enough money to induce him 
 to let me have this room to-night one of the best in 
 the hotel. Money will do anything, Si except make
 
 124 A Mystery. 
 
 an Indian a white man. The trouble with me is that 
 I'm neither an Indian nor a white man !" 
 
 This was said with such fierce emphasis, though the 
 tone was low, that Herbert Hammerswell shivered in 
 his hiding-place. 
 
 "Heavens! I wish I war out of this!" Herbert 
 mentally moaned. 
 
 Still, he was pleased to know that another man at 
 the Wabeek seemed to hate Frank Merriwell, and, even 
 though he was trembling with fear and anxiety, he 
 could but wonder if this might not in some way be 
 used to Merriwell's undoing in the scheme which he 
 had evolved for Frank's overthrow. 
 
 "My room!" exclaimed Swiftwing, surveying it 
 "Money is a great thing." 
 
 "B'lieve I'd ruther have a good eddication!" 
 "Bah ! I thought so once. When you have gained 
 an education, what does it amount to ? Educated 
 brains are simply a drug on the market. You can buy 
 brains for less than the pay of an Adirondack guide." 
 
 He rose from his chair, crossed the room, and hung 
 his hat not far from the corner in which Hammerswell 
 was tremblingly hiding. 
 
 "My hat-peg for to-night ! Mine, for as long as I 
 'have the wherewith to pay for it. Even my red In- 
 dian blood didn't close this establishment against me 
 simply because I paid the double price the proprietor 
 asked, and because the season so far has not brought
 
 A Mystery. 125 
 
 him the number of guests he wants. A little later and 
 even money wouldn't let me in here. For I am simply 
 'that Indian,' John Swiftwing, the Adirondack guide." 
 
 "How'd y'ever happen to be a guide up here, any- 
 way? You ain't a York State Indian." 
 
 "No, I'm a Pueblo. I don't like to talk about the 
 thing, so I've never told you, Si, even though we have 
 tramped and camped and slept together. I was trying 
 to forget it. I could never forget it with Merriwett 
 near me. 
 
 "I am an Indian, a Pueblo, but I was educated at 
 the Carlisle school the college for Indians, you know ! 
 I was one of their best football-players and a good 
 baseball-player. I played against Merriwell, who was 
 on the Yale eleven. Later I met him at my home, the 
 pueblo of Taos, in New Mexico. He and some of his 
 friends were there to witness the dances and races and 
 ceremonies of St. Geronimo's day. With his party 
 was a beautiful girl. I can't tell you, Si, how hand- 
 some she looked to me, with her bright eyes and dark 
 hair. I thought she loved me. I threw her across a 
 horse while the races were going on, for I thought she 
 would be glad to fly with me. I was pursued by Mer- 
 riwell and a company, who were raging for my blood. 
 But they could not have taken her away from me. I 
 knew places in those mountains to which they could 
 never have come. But I found that she didn't love 
 me. Her bright glances, her sweet smiles, her almost
 
 126 A Mystery. 
 
 loving looks, had been given to me simply" he seemed 
 to choke "simply because she adraired my fine form 
 and my abilities as an athlete ! I called her the White 
 Dove my White Dove ; but I did not want the White 
 Dove after that. If I had not been spoiled by the 
 white man's education and the white man's books, I 
 should have held her and made her my wife. But I 
 permitted her to go. I took her to meet Merriwell, 
 who was pursuing me with a rifle lifted to shoot me 
 through the heart. I let her go. My heart turned 
 to water. I was not an Indian, though I had heard 
 Merriwell's friends scornfully call me one. 
 
 "When I returned to my people and they discovered 
 what I had done learned the whole story, they 
 scorned me, as I knew they would. They already dis- 
 liked me because I had been to the white man's school, 
 Now they hated me because I had a white man's heart. 
 They called me a white man. I was neither a white 
 man nor an Indian, Si Totten. Just a thing despised 
 by the white men and scorned by the red. A man 
 born with a red heart, which was spoiled in the vain 
 attempt to make it white. I left the pueblo, and I 
 have never seen it since. I wandered about until finally 
 I found this place up here. A guide of the Adiron- 
 dacks is as near to being neither white man nor Indian 
 as it is possible to be. I became a guide of the Adiron- 
 dacks. To-night, and, if I take a notion, for a week, I 
 shall be a white man so far as monev can make me
 
 A Mystery. 127 
 
 one. Then I shall go into the woods again, and try 
 to forget all this." 
 
 Si Totten seemed dazed by what he had heard. The 
 silence became so great that Herbert Hammerswell 
 almost feared they would hear his suppressed breath- 
 ing. 
 
 "And who was this handsome girl ?" Totten asked. 
 "This girl that looked at you in a way to make you 
 think that she loved ye? You've never seen her 
 sence?" 
 
 "No, I've never seen her since. I don't want to see 
 her. Her name was Inza Burrage 1"
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE EAVESDROPPER EXPOSED. 
 
 "You've had a talk with Merriwell, I s'pose?" Tot- 
 ten went on. 
 
 "No; I've kept away from him. I heard that he 
 was inquiring for me. The fellow who told me 
 thought Merriwell wanted to have a talk with me about 
 Romine, but I knew better. So I have kept away." 
 
 "Sing'lar thing about Romine," said Totten. "Well 
 and hearty yisterday. Dead as a nail to-day. Must 
 have been murdered! What's become of the body? 
 Frum the story that dude told he was deader'n a nail. 
 But dudes don't know much !" 
 
 "If I could find the one who struck Romine down !" 
 
 This was from John Swiftwing, and was said in a 
 terrible way. Hammerswell's heart leaped with pleas- 
 ure when he heard it, yet there was such fierceness in 
 it that he also shivered. 
 
 "Romine and I have tramped the hills together, as 
 well as you have," said Totten. 
 
 "I'm not through with this thing yet!" the Indian 
 declared. "If Romine was murdered, I'm going to 
 find his murderer." 
 
 Hammerswell's heart again glowed with delight
 
 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 129 
 
 "Oh, I've put together some evidence for you, red- 
 skin!" was his exultant thought. 
 
 For the moment he almost forgot that he was hi- 
 ding in that corner, in deadly fear of discovery. Tha 
 next words brought the thought back : 
 
 "That dude, as you call him, lied! I don't under- 
 stand the thing, Totten, but I know that much. You 
 saw the blood. It was fresh, and that showed that 
 Romine had been struck down there not long before." 
 
 "Dudes don't know much!" Totten again sneered. 
 "Perhaps Romine jest dragged himself away?" 
 
 "Yes, he may have dragged himself away and 
 dropped down somewhere and died. I've thought ofi 
 that. Either that, or he was dragged away." 
 
 "Who would V done it?" 
 
 "That's what I intend to find out !" 
 
 "I've got some evidence for you!" thought Ham- 
 merswell. 
 
 He had slightly shifted the coat, so that now he 
 was able to peer through a small opening between the 
 body of the coat and one of the sleeves. Suddenly 
 his blood seeme.d to freeze in his veins. The eyes o ; 
 the Indian youth appeared to be fixed on him. The 
 conversation stopped. Si Totten turned round in his 
 chair and sent his gaze in the same direction. 
 
 With a pantherlike motion Swiftwing rose from his 
 seat. For a moment he stood staring at the point 
 where Herbert Hammerswell was concealed. Ham-
 
 ' 130 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 
 
 merswell's brain was whirling, and he felt that he 
 would fall to the floor in spite of his efforts to stand 
 erect. He was sure that the coat was swaying and that 
 his breathing could be heard. He held his breath, and 
 his heart thumped so loudly that it appeared impossible 
 ' that the men in the room could fail to hear it. 
 
 Swiftwing stood thus but a moment, yet to Ham- 
 merswell the interval of agonizing suspense was long. 
 Then the Indian took a step forward. He walked 
 toward the corner where the coats hung. Hammers- 
 well wanted to cry out in horror. His little cowardly 
 soul seemed shriveling into nothingness. He could 
 hardly repress a shriek. With a springy leap the In- 
 dian crossed the intervening space, caught the shield- 
 ing coat, drew it aside, and revealed the white, scared 
 face of Herbert Hammerswell. 
 
 "What does this mean?" he hissed, in an awful 
 Voice. "Why are you hiding there?" 
 
 "The dude!" Si Totten gasped. 
 
 "What does this mean?" John Swiftwing ques- 
 tioned, in that dreadful voice. 
 "Iah I " 
 
 The red guide caught Herbert by the collar and 
 jerked him out into the room, then pushed him vio- 
 lently toward a chair. 
 
 "What does this mean ?" he fiercely demanded. "No 
 lying ! What were you up to ?"
 
 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 131 
 
 "It was an accident!" Herbert shiveringly pleaded. 
 "That's the truth. Just an accident." 
 
 "How did you accidentally happen to hide 
 there?" 
 
 "I I came into the room thinking it was my my 
 room; and th-then you c-came in and and I 
 couldn't get out; and I " 
 
 Swiftwing glared at him suspiciously. 
 
 "I think you're lying!" 
 
 Hammerswell was trying hard to get back his nerve. 
 
 "That's the truth!" he chattered. "I was startled 
 when I found it wasn't my my room, and I slipped 
 in there. You scared me. I I thought you would 
 soon go out and " 
 
 "Don't come in here again !" threatened the young 
 Indian. 
 
 Hammerswell was edging toward the door. 
 
 "I won't !" he stammered. "I I I " 
 
 He began to feel that, after all, his excuse was very 
 flimsy. The door was just before him. 
 
 "I I I won't !" he chattered, and dived through 
 the doorway. 
 
 "D'y'ever?" gasped Totten. "Must have come in 
 nere to rob ye!" 
 
 "Hardly!" said the other. "He has more money 
 now than he knows what to do with." 
 
 "May have just been an accident, then?"
 
 132 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 
 
 "But I don't think so. His whole manner told that 
 he was lying." 
 
 "What was we sayin' that he could have wanted tc> 
 hear?" 
 
 "It doesn't seem likely that it could have been any- 
 thing. He couldn't have known even that we were 
 coming up to the room together !" 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell was shaking and gasping as 
 he fled down the hall. 
 
 "Heavens!" he choked. "I never had a closer 
 squeak. That fellow looked as if he wanted to murder 
 me. But if I could arouse him against Merriwell it 
 would be just the thing. He would simply be a terror 
 if he turned against any one, and I could see that he 
 doesn't like Merriwell even a little bit. That was a 
 funny story he told about that girl, Inza ! I shall cul- 
 tivate his acquaintance if he'll let me, though I feel 
 as if I could never stand it to look at him again. If 
 he gets the idea that Merriwell killed Romine ! Phew ! 
 wouldn't he make it hot for Merriwell ! Shouldn't be 
 surprised if he killed him. Indians are awful things. 
 See how he looked at me ! Yes, he'd kill him !" 
 
 Toiling away in his room in the Wabeek, the next 
 day, Herbert Hammerswell looked proudly and tri- 
 umphantly now and then at some photographs over 
 which he was working. They appeared to please him 
 very much.
 
 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 133 
 
 "A professional couldn't do it better!" he mentally 
 declared. "That is simply great work." 
 
 Finally he took up one of the photographs, slipped 
 it into a pocket of his coat, and left the room. His 
 room was on the same floor as that occupied by Dun- 
 stan Kirk, the captain and manager of the University 
 Nine, and toward Kirk's room he hurried. He was 
 rather pleased than otherwise when he found that Kirk 
 was not alone. In the room were Curringer, the 
 pitcher, and Gait, the catcher of the Wabeek ball-team, 
 which delighted in being known as the "University 
 Nine." 
 
 "I don't think you fellows have any higher opinion 
 of Frank Merriwell than I have," said Hammerswell, 
 daintily seating himself in the chair which Kirk pointed 
 out to him. "If I am right, you will not be surprised 
 when I show you this picture. I confess that I am 
 afraid of the fellow; which will explain to you why I 
 have held this thing back. I didn't know couldn't 
 tell, of course whether I had a film that really showed 
 anything or not until I developed it. And I was afraid 
 to venture my unsupported statement. Merriwell has 
 such a lot of heelers with him! That's all those fel- 
 lows are ! Simply his heelers !" 
 
 Kirk and his companions looked somewhat sur- 
 prised, for they had no idea what was in the mind of 
 Hammerswell. Herbert tried to make 3 furtive study 
 of their faces.
 
 134 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 
 
 "This will explain everything!" he said, as he held 
 out a small photograph. Kirk looked at it and stared 
 at it in amazement Hammerswell arose also and 
 looked at it. The others gathered at Kirk's side. Ex- 
 clamations of astonishment came from all of them. 
 
 The photograph showed Frank Merriwell bending 
 over the prostrate and seemingly insensible form of 
 Dan Romine and striking at his head with a club! 
 
 "What do you think of it?" Herbert triumphantly 
 asked. 
 
 "It seems impossible to believe it!" said Kirk. 
 
 "I don't know what to think !" Curringer admitted. 
 "That's Merriwell, sure !" 
 
 "Can't be any doubt about that !" said Gait. 
 
 "And he's pounding Romine's head!" Curringer 
 added. 
 
 "Hitting to kill !" declared Gait. 
 
 "And it's a photograph !" said Kirk. 
 
 "You took this?" Curringer demanded, turning to 
 Hammerswell. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You ought to have told of it sooner I" 
 
 "I explained to you why I didn't !" 
 
 "And you saw it?" 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell assumed a defiant look. 
 
 "How could I take it without seeing it ? Of course, 
 1 saw it. I wanted to make sure that the negative 
 could be developed before making any charges."
 
 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 135 
 
 "What are you going to do about it?" asked Gait. 
 
 "I shall have him arrested. Don't you think I ought 
 to?" 
 
 "That's the only thing to be done." 
 
 "If it is done right away it will spoil our ball-game/* 
 said Curringer. "Besides, for all of your old picture, 
 I don't like to think such a thing of Merriwell." 
 
 "Has he accepted your challenge?" Herbert ques- 
 tioned, pretending not to notice the real significance of 
 Curringer's words. 
 
 He flushed, fearing he had said too much. Then it 
 occurred to him that the news of the ball-game was 
 probably all over the hotel, only he had been too much 
 interested in producing that photograph for it to reach 
 him in the ordinary channels. 
 
 "Yes ; and their team is to meet ours this afternoon 
 on the ground by the lake/' 
 
 "Oh, you'll do them up easily enough!" Hammers' 
 well declared. 
 
 "When is this arrest to be made ?" Kirk asked. 
 
 "Well, come to think of it, if I get word to the 
 sheriff right away, he will probably get here some time 
 this afternoon. Not till after the ball-game probably. 
 It's some distance. I can telephone from here, but he 
 will have to drive across the country." 
 
 "I don't know whether our team will want to meet 
 a team whose captain and manager can do such a thing 
 as that !" said Kirk, who seemed wonderfully ready tor
 
 136 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 
 
 believe Merry guilty. "I never would have thought it 
 of Merriwell, though there have been some things re- 
 cently to make me dislike the fellow. We used to be 
 friends. It seems impossible now that he could do it." 
 
 "Oh, he would do anything!" Herbert asserted. "I 
 know him well altogether too well !" 
 
 "I don't feel that I want to pitch against such a fel- 
 low, either," said Curringer, beginning to waver. "It 
 would be like tarring my fingers." 
 
 "Tell you what would be great," said Herbert craft- 
 ily. "If you fellows could just lay it all over him and 
 his crowd in the ball-game, and I could have the sheriff 
 come right up on top of that and arrest him for this 
 affair ! It would paralyze him !" 
 
 There were possibilities in this to appeal to any one's 
 dramatic instincts. Whatever they had thought of 
 Merriwell before, the photograph showed that he had 
 not hesitated to brutally strike an insensible and help- 
 less fellow-creature. 
 
 "If we refuse to meet them now, they will simply 
 believe that we have backed down through fear, for, of 
 course, we wouldn't dare to say anything about this 
 evidence until after the arrest." 
 
 Kirk was studying the picture as he talked. 
 
 "I'm in favor of going right ahead and playing 1 
 them," said Curringer. "I'd like to go up against 
 Merriwell again, anyway, in the pitcher's box. He 
 thinks he is the one and only!"
 
 The Eavesdropper Exposed. 137 
 
 "That's right. Go right ahead and play them, and 
 then let the sheriff come in and do his work. You'll 
 do them up first, and the other will come in to knock 
 them out completely. They've been worshiping Mer- 
 riwell, and they'll find that their golden image is made 
 of clay." 
 
 HammersweH's face was shining with the possibili- 
 ties this offered. ', 
 
 "I want to meet Hodge," said Gait, the catcher. "He 
 thinks he is great stuff, but I want to prove to him that 
 I can catch a few !" 
 
 "Yes, that's what we'll do!" said Kirk. 
 
 Hammers well went down from the room, chuckling 1 
 in glee. On the piazza he met John Swiftwing, who 
 had put aside his woodsman's clothing and was neatly 
 and becomingly attired in a summer outing-suit. He 
 had just come from a long walk with Frank Merriwell, 
 which had warmed his better impulses and taken somf 
 of the bitterness out of his heart. 
 
 "I want to show you this photograph," said Ham- 
 merswell. "Come out here to the end of the piazza, 
 where we will npt be interrupted. It's something you 
 will be astonished to see." 
 
 Swiftwing's dark face became darker when he 
 looked on that picture. 
 
 "Where did you get this ?" he asked. 
 
 "I took it myself."
 
 Something in the tone and manner made the Indian 
 youth give Hammerswell a searching look. 
 
 "May I keep it?" John asked, after a close scrutiny 
 of the photograph. 
 
 "No," said Hammerswell, nervously and quickly 
 drawing it away. 
 
 The Indian gave him another searching look. 
 
 "That simply shows that Merriwell beat Romine in 
 the head with a club," he said. "It doesn't prove mur- 
 der. Even your testimony" and he gave Hammers- 
 well another queer glance "wouldn't prove that. The 
 body must be found. I am going to find that body !" 
 
 He turned and left Herbert shivering on the piazza 
 and disappeared in the direction of his room. Ten 
 minutes later Swiftwing left the Wabeek clothed in his 
 woodsman's garb.
 
 CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 DUNSTAN KIRK'S CONFIDENCE. 
 
 As Dunstan Kirk and his men went down to the 
 ball-field by the lakeside that afternoon he was proud 
 of the University Nine and confident of their ability to 
 wipe up the earth with MerriweH's athletic team. 
 
 Merriwell's men were already on the field, and the 
 grand stand was filling with guests of the hotel and 
 with people from the surrounding country. Numbers 
 had also come over in carriages and stages from the 
 Twin Mountain House and from the big hotels at Lake 
 Karney. 
 
 The sympathy of the crowd seemed to be with tht 
 University men, and they were greeted on their arrival 
 with enthusiastic cheering. Merriwell smilingly met 
 Kirk and held out his hand, which Kirk took in a cold 
 way. 
 
 "You have a good team," said Frank, looking ad- 
 miringly and without envy at the handsome fellows of 
 the University Nine. 
 
 "I rather think you made a big mistake in accepting 
 that challenge," said Kirk. "But the way you talked, 
 I felt that you were really inviting a challenge.'* 
 
 "All right," was the quiet answer, "if I've made a
 
 140 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 mistake, I'll take my medicine. But we are going to 
 try to win this game." 
 
 "I don't see how you can. have any confidence in the 
 crowd you have. They aren't ball-players; that's the 
 trouble." 
 
 "Three of us were on the Yale nine. We have the 
 Yale battery, Hodge and myself; and Browning 
 played first for Yale." 
 
 "But three men don't constitute a nine!" 
 
 All the time Kirk was feeling that he was lowering 
 himself by talking to a man who was to be arrested 
 soon on the terrible charge of murder. He had not 
 told this to the members of his team, but it was known, 
 of course, to Gait and Wadkins, whose feelings to- 
 ward Merriwell were like those of their captain. 
 
 "We have nine men !" Merriwell declared. 
 
 "And I have nine ball-players, picked men from 
 leading colleges. You can't hope to beat them!" 
 
 "It's a good thing to be satisfied with your team, 
 Kirk." 
 
 "Then you are not satisfied with your team ?" 
 
 "I didn't say that. Of course, I know that not all of 
 my men are crack ball-players. But you will find that 
 they're not sticks. You may beat us." 
 
 "Sure to!" 
 
 "But we shall try to make you work to do it. There 
 is many a slip, you know, and a game is never won or 
 lost till it's done. This one hasn't begun yet ?"
 
 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 141 
 
 ""Well, I want you to make some kind of a decent 
 showing," said Kirk. "There wouldn't be anything in 
 it for us if you fellows were all lobsters. Of course, I 
 know what you can do, Merriwell. If there were nine 
 nen of you who could play as you can, it would be a 
 different thing." 
 
 Kirk's baseball instincts overcame for the moment 
 his suddenly acquired prejudice against Merriwell. He 
 could not forget nor overlook the fact that Frank Mer- 
 riwell was the best all-round ball-player and athlete ii? 
 Yale. 
 
 "It's really too bad," he thought, as he moved away, 
 ''that Merriwell is to be arrested on that awful charge, 
 even though the evidence shows that he is guilty. He 
 must have done the thing when he was in a great rage. 
 The fellow insulted him in the first place by throwing 
 that gum into his eye, and afterward they have had 
 words in the woods, and Merriwell in his anger has 
 simply done a thing that will send him to State's 
 prison, if not worse. I wouldn't be in his shoes for the 
 world. But it's too bad. He really is the best ball- 
 player ever in Yale. If his men could approach him 
 we wouldn't be" able to beat them, probably, though 
 my men are all of the best. But with the mob which 
 he calls his nine, he hasn't a ghost of a chance." 
 
 "What was Kirk talking about?" asked Bart, who 
 had come up and was speaking with Frank after 
 Kirk's departure.
 
 142 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 "Oh, he thinks we aren't in it He admits that you 
 and I and Bruce can play ball, but he just laughs at the 
 rest of our fellows." 
 
 "I wish, myself, that Diamond were here!" said 
 Hodge. 
 
 "Yes, it is too bad that he had to go home and 
 oouldn't be with us this trip. Diamond is a fine fel- 
 low. But he isn't here." 
 
 "I don't doubt about Carker !" Hodge dubiously ad- 
 mitted. "He always looks so bored about everything! 
 I saw him a minute ago, and he looked as if he were 
 simply dead of ennui. I don't know whether he will 
 wake up or not." 
 
 "Languidly thinking about the earthquake that's 
 coming, I suppose," laughed Frank. 
 
 "Probably." 
 
 "But we are all right, Bart. Don't let it trouble 
 you a minute. Of course, we shall have to fight if we 
 win, and in any event our margin of victory is not 
 likely to be great. But we're all right. We'll give 
 those fellows some work that will surprise them. It's 
 never well to be too confident, but our men are not so 
 slow as they look. They think Gamp can't play, but 
 Gamp is all right in his place and can fill it as well as 
 any man we could get." 
 
 "Gamp is all right." 
 
 "And so are the others, with a couple of exceptions, 
 probably. Oh, we're all right, Bart!"
 
 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 143 
 
 Before the opening of the game Merriwell made it a 
 point to have a talk with each man of his team and to 
 encourage them all he could with the assurance that 
 they would be able to do good work and to put up a 
 stiff game, even if they were to meet some of the crack 
 players of the great colleges. 
 
 The crowd grew greater and greater. More car- 
 riages and hacks arrived, and the grand stand and 
 grounds filled up. The news that a great college team 
 was to play another team of college men had spread 
 throughout the surrounding country, and the people 
 were pouring into the grounds of the Wabeek Hotel 
 to see it. The proprietor was pleased, and went round 
 rubbing his hands and chuckling, for he was anxious 
 that something should be done to make people forget, 
 in a measure, the terrible event of the previous day 
 the discovery of murder down on the Wabeek grounds. 
 
 "Lookout!" 
 
 A little steamer had come puffing up the lake with 
 a load of passengers for the ball-grounds, and when 
 just opposite the landing had sent forth from its 
 whistle a piercing shriek. A team hitched to a car- 
 riage wheeled short around at this, half-overturning 
 the vehicle, and started to dash across the ground. 
 Frank Merriwell sprang to their heads, but was 
 knocked almost from his feet by a young man on a 
 bicycle, who seemed trying to get out of the way, and 
 the next moment he was under the horses' feet
 
 144 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 A cry of alarm went up, for many thought Merri- 
 well would be killed. The wheels seemed to pass over 
 him. Then the team raced on up the slope, scattering 
 terror and sending people scampering to places of 
 safety. Bart Hodge was at Merry's side almost in- 
 stantly. 
 
 "Hurt, old man?" he gasped, lifting his friend. 
 "Much hurt?" 
 
 Merriwell arose and -shook the dust from his cloth- 
 ing. An excited crowd was gathering. Hodge sawi 
 that the face of his friend looked unnaturally white. 
 
 "You're hurt !" he declared. 
 
 "Might have been hurt, you mean?" and Frank 
 laughed. "That was a close call !" 
 
 Hodge took his arm to support him, and they 
 walked aside together, for already the crowd, ob- 
 serving that Merriwell was not killed, was giving its 
 attention to the runaway. 
 
 "Hammerswell did that !" Bart hissed. "I saw him 
 strike you with his wheel, and he did it purposely." 
 
 "I saw it, too, but too late to save myself." 
 
 "I'll smash that fellow's face in, the first chance I 
 get ! The scoundrel ! To do a thing like that ! But 
 as soon as I saw him here I knew he would do all the 
 dirt he could. For a minute you looked as white as a 
 sheet, and I thought you were badly hurt." 
 
 "Knocked my wrist out !" 
 
 "What? You don't mean it!"
 
 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 "Just so. I don't know whether a wheel passed 
 over it or I fell with it twisted. But it's in bad shape." 
 
 "And you can't pitch?" 
 
 Hodge's face bore a terrible look. If he could have 
 put his hands on Herbert Hammerswell at that mo- 
 ment he would have given the rascal a terrible drub- 
 bing. 
 
 "I c.vVt pitch the double shoot. But I can pitch !" 
 
 Merriwell was feeling of his injured right wrist and 
 moving it from side to side. 
 
 "The pain is going out of it, and it is not much 
 hurt that is, not seriously hurt, I think. I can pitch. 
 I must pitch !" 
 
 "Oh, let the old game go ! Put in somebody else." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "There isn't anybody to put in, that's a fact." 
 
 "Except John Swiftwing, and he isn't here. He is 
 a football-player, but he can play baseball, too ; but he 
 isn't here." 
 
 "Perhaps he is on the grounds !" 
 
 "No, I heard some one say that he had left for the 
 woods. I'm sorry about that, too, for I wanted to 
 
 have another talk" with him." 
 
 / 
 
 "The horses have been stopped. Nobody hurt!" 
 announced Danny Griswold. 
 
 "Except Merry!" growled Hodge. "His wrist is 
 knocked out." 
 
 The words were heard, and the news that the pitcher
 
 146 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 of the athletic team had been injured and could not 
 pitch went traveling over the ball-field. Several of 
 Merry's flock gathered round him and asked about it. 
 
 "I'm going to pitch!" he said. "My wrist is hurt, 
 and it feels lame. I can't use the double shoot ; that's 
 all." 
 
 "Then we're done up !" Browning groaned. 
 
 "They'll put it all over us !" said Rattleton. 
 
 "Take a brace, you fellows !" Merriwell commanded. 
 "I'm not crying, am I ? We will try to win this game, 
 and we've a big chance to do it, if we try." 
 
 Kirk and Curringer, having heard the story, came 
 over. 
 
 "Knocked out, eh?" said Kirk. 
 
 "Fm sorry, for a fact," said Curringer. "I wanted 
 to have another battle with you in the pitcher's box." 
 
 "Oh, I shall pitch!" 
 
 "But your wrist is hurt." 
 
 "Not enough to keep me from pitching." 
 
 "Just a bluff!" said Curringer to Kirk, as they 
 walked away together. "He is afraid I will down him 
 in the work to-day, and he will use that for an excuse 
 *o explain his defeat." 
 
 "His wrist didn't seem to be injured," Kirk ad- 
 mitted. "He may be telling that to make us think he 
 will be easy." 
 
 "Just an anchor to windward," insisted Curringer. 
 "Making a soft spot to fall on, that's all !"
 
 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 147 
 
 After a ten minutes' brisk warming-up practise for 
 each side, and with the preliminaries all arranged, the 
 game was called, and the University Nine went to the 
 bat. The excitement over the runaway was almost 
 forgotten, and the grand stand and grounds were filled 
 with an eager, talking throng. 
 
 Merriwell caught the handsome white ball which 
 the umpire tossed to him and proceeded to rub it with 
 dirt. 
 
 As he glanced round to make sure that his men were 
 in their places, a breathless hush fell on the spectators. 
 Merry was in the box and Hodge behind the bat. 
 Browning was on first, Rattleton on second, and Jack 
 Ready on third. Stubbs was short-stop, and Danny 
 Griswold was in right field. In the left field was Greg 
 Carker, and in center Joe Gamp, the long-legged New 
 Hampshire youth. 
 
 Wadkins, the University short-stop, was first at the 
 bat. He was a small man, who did not give the im- 
 pression that he was a great batter, yet at the first 
 swing he cracked out a two-base-hit. 
 
 Hodge groaned. He saw that Frank was not start- 
 ing off in his usual form. Gait, of Princeton, the 
 University catcher, next went to the bat, and two balls 
 were promptly called. Wadkins was watching for a 
 chance to steal third. 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell, because of his wealth and the 
 lavish way in which he flung his money, had a number
 
 148 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 of admirers and pretended friends among the guests 
 of the Wabeek, and he had gathered some of these 
 round him in the grand stand, from which point they 
 were viewing the game. Herbert had telephoned the 
 sheriff, and knew that the latter was now on his way 
 to the Wabeek to place Merriwell under arrest, and his 
 little soul was filled with exultation. 
 
 "Three balls !" called the umpire. 
 
 "Oh, that fellow can't pitch, and he knows it !" Her- 
 bert sneered. "That story about his injured wrist was 
 all a bluff. I understand that he says I struck him 
 with my bicycle and knocked him under the carriage. 
 That's a lie. I know the fellow, and you can't rely on 
 anything he says. To hear him talk, you'd think him 
 the greatest pitcher in the country. But it's pure guff ! 
 He can't pitch apples into a barrel !" 
 
 "Four balls !" called the umpire, and Gait went trot- 
 ting down to first. It did seem that Herbert was right. 
 
 Severing, of Harvard, the center-fielder, came to the 
 bat. Wadkins, on second, was still trying to steal 
 third, closely watched by Bart Hodge. On the second 
 pitched ball, Wadkins made a dash, running like the 
 wind. But Hodge had his eye on him, and with a 
 lightning throw sent the ball down to third. 
 
 "Slide!" yelled the coach. 
 
 Wadkins threw himself forward in a cloud of dust. 
 
 Plunk ! The ball struck in the hands of Jack Ready, 
 iwho instantly touched the runner.
 
 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence." 149 
 
 "Out, third !" said the umpire. 
 
 There was a flutter of excitement in the grand stand 
 and some cheering over Hodge's beautiful throw and 
 the prompt manner in which the third-baseman put 
 the ball on the runner. 
 
 Then Severing got a hit a pretty hit which took 
 him to first and took Gait from first to third. Putnam, 
 of Dartmouth, the University's first-baseman, came to 
 the bat, and on the first pitched ball Severing tried to 
 steal second, but Hodge promptly lined the ball to 
 Rattleton and cut him off. And Gait had stumbled in 
 his start from third, so that he was forced back by a 
 return throw from Harry. 
 
 Whatever might be thought of the pitching of Frank 
 Merriwell and the spectators were beginning to guy 
 it the University men saw that they could not steal 
 much on Hodge. 
 
 Then Putnam got a hit, which brought Gait home 
 from third and gave the University Nine a score. 
 
 "Is this the great Yale pitcher?" Curringer laughed, 
 as he stepped to the bat. 
 
 "Oh, it's his ivrist, you know !" said Lew Mason, of 
 Brown. 
 
 "Take him out of the box. He ain't got no license 
 to pitch !" some yelled in the crowd. 
 
 "Our friend Merriwell seems to be in a hole," said 
 Kirk, secretly delighted with the poor work that Frank 
 was doing. It was poor work, and it did not seem to
 
 150 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 
 
 get better. Three balls were called on him, and then 
 Curringer lined one down to short-stop. Bink Stubbs, 
 who seemed to have gone to sleep, suddenly woke up 
 and tried to get the ball. But he simply fell on it, as if 
 it were a football, and by the time he got up with the 
 ball in his hands, ready to throw, Curringer was cm 
 first and Putnam on second. 
 
 "Frank Merriwell's athletic team !" laughed Ogle, a 
 Harvard man. "This is a great aggregation !" 
 
 "And they say they can play ball!" commented 
 Mason. 
 
 "Too easy to be interesting," said Perkins, who was 
 from the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mason went to the bat next and had one strike ana 
 two balls called. The base-runners were not so wildlyi 
 anxious to steal bases since their experience with 
 Hodge. Frank tried to pitch an in curve, which Mason 
 promptly lined into some scrubby bushes and all 
 three men came in, making a total of four scores. 
 
 There was some wild cheering from the vicinity oc- 
 cupied by Hammerswell and his friends and a general 
 clapping of hands. Merriwell walked out of the box, 
 after beckoning to Hodge, and the two met and began 
 to talk. 
 
 "Going to fix up the switch so that the signals won't 
 get crossed all the time !" 
 
 "Tell the captain to get a new pitcher!" 
 
 "Put somebody else in the box!"
 
 Dunstan Kirk's Confidence. 151 
 
 From various points came guying cries, as Merry 
 and Hodge consulted, while the members of the ath- 
 letic team, pained and humiliated by Frank's evident 
 failure, wondered what Merry and Hodge were talk- 
 ing about. 
 
 The talk lasted but a few moments. Then Hodge 
 went into the pitcher's box and Frank Merriwell 
 walked behind the bat. 
 
 "Batted him out of the box !" said Curringer, fling- 
 ing up his cap. 
 
 And a roar of triumph went up from the throats of 
 the University men. They continued to laugh, for 
 Hodge's first was wild. Perkins, who was at the bat, 
 connected with the next one, but sent up a terrifically 
 high foul. It did not seem possible that Merriwell could 
 get under it, though he was making a desperate run. 
 But he did get under it, gathered it in, and retired the 
 side.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FRANK ARRESTED. 
 
 The University men went into the field hilarious, 
 feeling that they had a snap. Curringer, in the pitch- 
 er's box, was jubilant. He fancied the game was al- 
 ready won. With this jubilant feeling, he planted his 
 toe on the plate and sent in the first ball. 
 
 "One ball !" called the umpire. 
 
 Curringer pulled himself together with a jerk, and 
 proceeded to strike out Ready, who was first at the bat. 
 
 Gamp came next, and after one strike had been 
 called on him he drove a swift one into the hands of 
 Wadkins, the short-stop, who held it. Then Curringer 
 struck out Browning, and the side was retired without 
 even having seen first base. The University men were 
 howling. 
 
 "Don't you wish you had a pitcher like that?" 
 squalled Perkins. "That's the way we do the busi- 
 ness." 
 
 "Oh, we won't let any of Merriwell's hinky-dinky 
 players see first !" yelled Gait. 
 
 Merriwell now went back into the pitcher's box, 
 and Hodge took his old place as catcher. 
 
 "Yes, we've got 'em!" thought Kirk, who was the 
 first man up in that inning. "Those other fellows
 
 Frank Arrested. 153 
 
 have toyed with Merriwell, and I'll raise thunder with 
 him, sure!" 
 
 Kirk was accounted a certain hitter. He felt con- 
 fident that he could handle Merriwell as he pleased. 
 The first was a ball, and he did not swing at it. 
 
 Then, with bewildering swiftness, and in a manner 
 to make Kirk's head swim, Merriwell struck him out 
 
 Kirk almost gasped as he turned about: 
 
 "And he did not use the double shoot!" 
 
 Ogle, of Harvard, was the next man up, and was 
 struck out with equal promptness. 
 
 Danny and Bink began to dance. Gamp's "Haw- 
 haw!" floated across the field. Ready began to chirp 
 on third. Then came Wadkins, the head of the bat- 
 ting-list, and he went out the same way, and Merri- 
 well's team came in from the field yelling. 
 
 "Oh, don't you wish you had a pitcher like that?" 
 Rattleton retorted, grinning into Perkins' face. "Cur- 
 ringer never saw the day that he could pitch with Mer- 
 riwell when Frank is all right !" 
 
 Greg Carker, who usually wore a bored, tired feel- 
 ing, even in times of excitement, came to the bat ac- 
 tually smiling, and after two strikes and one ball had 
 been called he got a beautiful three-base hit off Cur- 
 ringer, which made the University pitcher growl like a 
 bear. 
 
 "How about none of Merriwell's men getting to sec
 
 154 Frank Arrested. 
 
 first base?" shrieked Danny Griswold, as he pranced 
 to the bat. 
 
 "Carker, you're a lulu!" shouted "Sink. 
 
 "Nobody will do that again," thought Curringer, as 
 he faced the batter, and it seemed that he might be able 
 to make good this mental boast, for two strikes and 
 one ball were called on Danny. Then Danny got one 
 that suited him, and, to the astonishment even of his 
 friends, he hit a safe long fly that was apparently out 
 of the reach of the center-fielder. 
 
 Jack Ready, who was coaching, sent Carker from 
 third for home, feeling sure that the center-fielder 
 could not get the ball. But Severing, the fielder, one 
 of Harvard's best men, made a wonderful run and a 
 splendid catch, and quickly sent the ball to Wadkins, 
 the short-stop, who was playing back a little. W?d- 
 kins lined it to third before Carker could get back. 
 
 Carker was out and Griswold was out. A storm of 
 applause came from the grand stand and the field. 
 This was pretty playing, and the crowd appreciated it. 
 
 "Oh, we'll do 'em up!" thought Curringer, smiling 
 his relief. 
 
 He seemed to get right into gear after this, and 
 struck out Rattleton so swiftly that Rattles felt dazed. 
 
 There was some exceptionally fine playing after that 
 by both teams for a number of innings, but without 
 changing the result. Merriwell's wrist seemed to have 
 recovered to a great extent, and he and Curringer did
 
 Frank Arrested. 155 
 
 some really excellent pitching. But neither side made" 
 a run, though each got men as far as third. Once the 
 University team got a man as far as third, with no men 
 out, but Merriwell kept them from scoring. As the 
 Universities came to the bat in the beginning of the 
 eighth inning it surely seemed that they had a cinch, 
 and that Merriwell's nine was certain to lose. 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell was in high glee. Still, he 
 seemed uneasy, and kept turning his eyes down the 
 stretch of yellow road visible from the grand stand. 
 Suddenly his face flushed and his eyes brightened, A 
 man, whom he instinctively knew to be the sheriff, 
 turned a bend of the road and trotted his horse toward 
 the ball-grounds. 
 
 "I only wish that the game was ended and these 
 fellows had them surely beaten ! But they have them 
 beaten now. There can't be any doubt of that. Now, 
 Frank Merriwell, my revenge has come !" 
 
 Merriwell and Hodge were talking, and Merriwell 
 was ready to go into the pitcher's box when the sheriff 
 dismounted, asked some questions and came walking 
 across the diamond. Merriwell paid no heed and 
 lifted his arm to send in the ball. He was stopped by 
 the sheriff's words : 
 
 "Frank Merriwell, I arrest you for the murder of 
 BenRomine!" 
 
 Frank was never more surprised in his life. And 
 the surprise extended to nearly all within hearing. A
 
 156 Frank Arrested 
 
 crowd surged toward the sheriff and his prisoner. The 
 people in the grand stand began to stir. 
 
 "I don't understand this I" Frank declared, in aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 "For the murder of Ben Romine!" the sheriff re- 
 peated, taking out a legal-looking document. "Ben 
 Romine 1" 
 
 "Is here!" 
 
 The sheriff turned round. Before him was Ben 
 Romine, whom he knew well, accompanied by John 
 Swiftwing. The sheriff retreated a step, and there 
 was a general shrinking back, as if the beholders 
 fancied they saw a spirit. 
 
 "Never was murdered at all !" said Romine. "A deaa 
 limb fell from a tree, knocked me on the head and 
 about killed me, but that fellow never had nothing to 
 do with it !" 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell was getting out of the granct 
 stand, with shaky limbs and white face. 
 
 "I come to and went away. I had reasons that is, 
 business took me away; and I come back, because 
 Swiftwing said I must help this feller, who was about 
 to be 'rested for killin' me ! And that's all !" 
 
 "Where is the young feller who brought the charge 
 against this man?" the sheriff asked. "He had a 
 photograph which he said proved it. I'd like to see 
 him." 
 
 But Herbert Hammerswell could not be found.
 
 Frank Arrested. 157 
 
 "Play ball !" said the umpire. 
 
 The sheriff was looking for Herbert Hammerswell, 
 and the excitement on the grounds was subsiding. 
 Merriwell was again in the pitcher's box, apparently 
 as calm as if nothing had happened. 
 
 The time which had elapsed since the injury to hi:> 
 wrist was now in Merriwell's favor. The wrist was 
 not as good as it ought to have been for him to do his 
 best work, but he believed he could now use the double 
 shoot, and more than ordinary work seemed needed 
 if his athletic team was to defeat the boastful Uni- 
 versity. He signaled Hodge that he would use the 
 double shoot, and then showed something of how he 
 could pitch when in condition by striking out two men. 
 
 "Haw-haw !" came Gamp's laugh from far down in 
 the center field. The third man got a hit and batted 
 the ball straight into Frank's hands. The side was 
 out! 
 
 Again the men came in from the field, yelling ana 
 wildly enthusiastic. The recent attempt to arrest 
 Frank had thrown them into a fever of excitement. 
 They were ready to stand up for him, to talk for him, 
 and to fight for him. Now they would have taken him 
 on their shoulders and joined in a triumphal proces- 
 sion. 
 
 "The game isn't won, fellows !" was all he said, as 
 they gathered to congratulate him. 
 
 This was true, for, with the exception of this natural
 
 158 Frank Arrested 
 
 feeling in favor of Merriwell, there was as yet nothing 1 
 on which to build hope that the athletic team could 
 win the game. Nor did Gamp's work help it, for 
 Gamp, who came first to the bat, was struck out. It 
 really began to look like the same old thing ! 
 
 Browning got a safe hit. Carker came next, and 
 Carker had been slashing at everything. But now 
 Merriwell had warned him to wait, take everything he 
 could, and so try to get his base on balls. 
 
 Carker proved a good waiter, after being thus ad- 
 monished. The bored feeling never left his face, nor 
 was there any sign of exultation as ball after ball was 
 called. Nor was he at all hilarious when the umpire 
 called "Four balls !" and he went to first. 
 
 In spite of the fact that Danny had knocked a ball 
 into center field, Curringer regarded Griswold as 
 "easy," and the little fellow was next at the bat. That 
 had been something of an accident, and Curringer 
 knew it. 
 
 "Right there!" Danny chirped, putting up his bai. 
 "Give me one right there, and I'll knock the cover off 
 it!" 
 
 The ball did not come "right there," but, to the 
 astonishment of himself and everybody, Danny 
 smashed it in great shape, getting a three-base hit, 
 bringing in both Browning and Carker and putting 
 himself on third. 
 
 Rattleton was next, and he came up nervous and
 
 Frank Arrested. 159 
 
 excited. He fancied that things were coming Merri- 
 well's way again. He was too excited, and as a result 
 Curringer fanned him out. 
 
 Gait, the catcher, after this strike-out, threw the ball 
 down to Curringer. Curringer rather carelessly stuck 
 out his hand to catch it. It struck his hand, and 
 bounded off to one side, in the diamond. Danny Gris- 
 wold, who had been crazy for a "steal," went for home 
 like a shot. Curringer jumped for the ball, got it, 
 and threw it for home. 
 
 "Slide!" yelled the coacher, and Danny slid home 
 in a cloud of dust, bringing in the third tally for Mf;r- 
 riwell and sending the hearts of Kirk's men into their 
 mouths. 
 
 Bink Stubbs pranced up to the bat. 
 
 "Watch me!" he called. "No little red-headed runt 
 can do better than me ! I'll make a home run !" 
 
 He threw back his chest, swung at the balls, and 
 fanned out. Merry's side was retired when only one 
 score was needed to tie the game. 
 
 "A home run/' snorted Danny. "Better run home 
 to your mother! I'm the only real thing, with my 
 signature blown in the bottle !" 
 
 The excitement climbed up to fever pitch among the 
 spectators as the University Nine came to the bat in 
 \ he first half of the ninth inning. The University men 
 now had scored four runs, which they had not in-
 
 l6o Frank Arrested. 
 
 creased since the first inning, while Merriwell's tean? 
 had made three. 
 
 Hodge did not want Frank to make further use or 
 the double shoot, fearing it would injure his wrist, but 
 Frank believed he could safely use it still to a limited 
 extent, and he was determined to hold down the Uni- 
 versities now if it lay in his power. 
 
 He never pitched better. He had a beautiful de- 
 livery, without many fancy flourishes, but every move 
 counted, and three men fruitlessly punctured the at- 
 mosphere, and the side was retired. 
 
 Hodge was the first man up in the last half of the 
 ninth inning, and in spite of Curringer's desperate ef- 
 fort to duplicate Merriwell's performance Bart got a 
 safe hit. 
 
 Merriwell was next at the bat, and Curringer 
 pulled himself together for his best work, resolved to 
 strike Frank out But Frank was cautious. He 
 seemed to be waiting for the kind of ball he liked. 
 Two strikes were called on him and two balls. Then, 
 as Merriwell lifted the bat 4 an unseen rifle cracked in 
 the woods, and the bat fell from his numbed fingers, 
 \vhile he staggered backward as if about to fall. The 
 bat had been hit by a bullet. 
 
 Men poured from the grounds, racing toward the 
 point where the shot had sounded, while women 
 screamed, and some of them fainted. Everything was 
 in a tumult. Hodge and Browning and others leaped
 
 Frank Arrested. 161 
 
 to Frank's side, and their joy was great when they 
 knew that Merry had not been touched at all. 
 
 "Hammerswell did that !" said Hodge. "He wanted 
 to kill you, because his scheme to have you arrested 
 for murder failed. I feel sure of it!" 
 
 No one was found in the woods, which was not 
 strange, as the woods extended along the lake for a 
 considerable distance and back toward the mountains, 
 furnishing many hiding-places. The woods also came 
 up to the hotel on one side. 
 
 While the excitement was still at its height, Herbert 
 Hammerswell coolly sauntered upon the ground and 
 asked what the "row" was about. He had come from 
 the hotel. But cool as he seemed to be, he slipped 
 away again when he saw Hodge and Merriwell look- 
 ing toward him, as he fancied, hurrying back to his 
 room. 
 
 "Will we never get this game played?" said Rattle* 
 ton. 
 
 "We'll never get along with anything while that 
 scoundrel is here !" growled Hodge. 
 
 Merriwell said nothing. He was thinking. He be- 
 lieved in thinking before acting. 
 
 Again the nines took their positions, somewhat 
 wildly wondering what would happen next. No one, 
 except some of Frank's friends, harbored the thought 
 that a deliberate attempt had been made to assassinate
 
 Frank Arrested. 
 
 him, the general belief being that some one in the 
 woods had fired a shot at some small animal or at a 
 target, and that the shot had been incautiously directed 
 toward the diamond. The supposition was that the 
 rifleman, discovering this, had fled in fear. 
 
 Many of the ladies and a few of the men left the 
 grounds. They did not care to be longer in the range 
 of possible bullets which some reckless hunter was 
 oeppering away at small game in the timber. 
 
 Nevertheless, the teams had reentered the field ana 
 proposed to finish the game. Curringer seemed cool 
 enough, and he resolved that he would strike Frank 
 out. Two strikes had been called and two balls. 
 
 But Curringer was counting without his host. The 
 next pitched ball Frank hit with terrific force. It flew 
 high above the diamond, and on, and on. 
 
 "Into the lake!" was yelled. "It's gone into the 
 lake!" 
 
 Not since there had been a diamond at Wabeek had 
 such a thing occurred. 
 
 Gamp's "Haw-haw !" rose in a mighty outburst. 
 
 "Gug-gug-get a bub-bub-bub-boat and gug-go fish- 
 ing for it !" he howled. 
 
 "Hooray!" Rattleton was screeching, as Merriwell 
 flew along the lines of the bases. "Come home, 
 Frank!" 
 
 "Yee-e-e !" squealed Bink, throwing his cap into the 
 air. "Oh, we're dead easy! Wee-e-e!"
 
 Frank Arrested. 
 
 Frank's hit was a home run, and it brought in 
 Hodge, making a total of five scores. 
 It won the game! 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell could not be found at the 
 Wabeek, though he had momentarily shown himself 
 on the ball-grounds, to prove that he could not have 
 done the shooting. The rifle with which he fired the 
 shot he carried away with him and threw into the 
 lake, with the cartridges that belonged to it. He also 
 demolished and threw into the lake the negatives from 
 which he had made the photograph, and destroyed the 
 phptograph. 
 
 He felt that this was the only safe course. He had 
 made the photograph from two others one the picture 
 of Ben Romine lying insensible in the path, the other 
 a snap-shot he had obtained of Frank Merriwell pound- 
 ing the head of a snake with a club. By cleverly 
 uniting these and getting a negative from them a new 
 photograph was produced, which showed Merriwell 
 striking Romine* instead of the snake. On his second 
 visit to the spot where Romine was felled, Herbert had 
 observed and carried away the broken clublike bough 
 which struck Romine down. 
 
 As for Romine's mysterious disappearance, when 
 he saw Frank at the station, he wildly fancied that
 
 1 64 Frank Arrested. 
 
 Frank was a detective come to arrest him for some 
 evil deed done in New Haven. Romine had lived a 
 crooked life in the famous college town, and once, 
 when dodging the police and in terror of arrest, he 
 had seen Frank talking with Selton Dirk, the detect- 
 tive. Hence his natural inference that Frank was a 
 detective. 
 
 Swiftwing's keen eyes and the answers given by 
 Hammerswell had led him into the belief that the 
 photograph shown him by Herbert had been "fixed." 
 If this were true and Romine not dead, he fancied that 
 Romine might be found at a certain camp in the woods. 
 He found Romine there, and by assuring him that 
 Frank was not a detective, but greatly in need to be 
 saved from unjust arrest, he induced the woodsman to 
 return with him to the Wabeek. 
 
 Having destroyed the evidence of his guilt, Ham- 
 merswell's plan was to keep away from the hotel for aj 
 short time and profess on his return that he had been 
 on a camping-trip. 
 
 "And I'll keep out of the way of the sheriff!" he 
 muttered, looking into the lake where the articles had 
 been cast. "There is no evidence against me that can 
 seriously harm me not a thing; and I'm safe. I 
 failed in this, but I'll come back at Merriwell again. 
 If he thinks he is rid of Herbert Hammerswell he is 
 mistaken. Even if he should have me arrested now, 
 what could he do? Not a thing. And I've got
 
 Frank Arrested. 165 
 
 enough money to hire lawyers and buy up judges and 
 juries, if necessary!" 
 And so he believed. 
 
 After the ball-game Merriwell met John Swiftwing 
 on the hotel piazza. 
 
 "You are a noble fellow, Swiftwing !" he said, when 
 he had heard the story of the Indian youth. "We 
 want you to go with us on this summer trip. You 
 are a good pitcher, and the work to-day shows that we 
 should have another pitcher. Will you go?" 
 
 Swiftwing's dark face brightened. It seemed good, 
 after all, to be again spoken to in this way. He 
 thought a moment, then returned Merriwell's honest 
 hand-pressure. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "I will go *
 
 CHAPTER XIW 
 
 IN THE WOODS- 
 
 "Light is the breeze in the tree-tops astir, 
 Fragrant the breath of the hemlock and fir, 
 Bright is the sky as the eyes that we love, 
 Swetter the brook-song than note of the dove-** 
 
 Deep in the woods, 
 
 Deep in the woods." 
 
 A group of youths were sitting in front of a big 
 wall tent, which had been pitched under the shade of 
 some trees on the shore of a beautiful lake in the 
 heart of the Great North Woods. Behind them rose a 
 spur of the blue Adirondacks, visible through an open- 
 ing in the trees. In front, the lake rippled on a rocky 
 shore. Farther out its waters ran in heavier waves, 
 and beyond these, and far enough away to be misty 
 and romantic, rose timbered islands and mountainous 
 woodlands. Here and there the white cottages of 
 summer residents peeped at the lake through green 
 vistas, like coy maidens trying to behold their mirrored 
 beauty in the crystal depths. 
 
 The words of the song, sung by Frank Merriwell, 
 Jack Ready, and Greg Carker, whose voices blended 
 harmoniously, floated softly and sweetly out over the 
 lake. 
 
 "Fellows, this is what I call comfort!" said Brucft 
 Browning, who was reclining lazily, with his back
 
 In the Woods. 167 
 
 against a tree, pulling reflectively at his pipe. "I 
 don't think I shall ever want to go back to Yale. 
 What's the use? I can't ever get my sheepskin, any- 
 way." 
 
 "You'd get it, all right, if you'd study for it," said 
 Carker. 
 
 "Too hard work to study," Bruce grumbled, shift- 
 uig into an easier position. "What's the use?" 
 
 Merriwell laughed. 
 
 "I feel about as indolent as Browning. The drowsi- 
 ness and laziness of the woods get into one's blood. 
 tThis morning I don't want to do anything but sit here." 
 
 "And sing," said Ready. "Tune 'er up again! I 
 don't want to do anything but twang my lyre." 
 
 "Enough to make a seagull sing," grunted Bruce. 
 
 "Why don't you sing, then?" 
 
 "Oh, I'm not a seagull." 
 
 "I saw a fellow twang your lyre, once," declared 
 Bink Stubbs, speaking to Ready. 
 
 "How was that?" 
 
 "He said, 'You're a liar !' and then he hit you." 
 
 "You're another!" Ready flung back. "Tune 'er 
 up again ! 'Deep in the woods ! Deep in the woods !' " 
 
 "Bowers of beauty and vistas so fair; 
 Far, far behind us each sorrow and care! 
 Lighter our thoughts than the branches that swing, 
 Joyous our hearts as the birds on the wing 
 
 Deep in the woods, 
 
 Deep in the woods."
 
 168 In the Woods. 
 
 "It dud-dud-don't always mum-make a feller feel 
 happy to bub-bub-be deep in the woods," said Gamp, 
 with a mournfully reminiscent note in his voice. "Sus- 
 sometimes it's worse than bub-being dud-dud-deep in 
 debt." 
 
 "Couldn't be worse than that," chirped Read^. 
 "I've had harrowing experiences with my dear, old 
 uncle. And last term Morey came near publicly wri- 
 ting my name up on his black list. That almost curled 
 my hair." 
 
 "Went bub-bub-blue berrying one sus-summer, 
 Gamp continued, as if he had not heard this. "Gug* 
 got lost in the woods and stayed out tut-tut-two nights. 
 Sus-second night out I fuf-fell in with a cuc-cuc-cuc- 
 crazy feller, who thought he was the gug-gug-gug- 
 grandfather of an Old Town Indian, and he tut-tut- 
 tut-tried to scu-scalp me! Mum-mum-my hair cue- 
 curled!" 
 
 Danny Griswold "turned his lyre" and began to 
 sing: 
 
 "Bored by mosquitoes and bitten by fleas, 
 Sitting in ant-beds while taking our ease; 
 Snakes for our playmates and gnats for our fare-* 
 Tell me, oh, tell me! who wouldn't be there? 
 
 Deep in the woods, 
 
 Deep in the woods." 
 
 Gregory Carker glanced uneasily around. 
 "Do you suppose there are any snakes here?" he 
 anxiously asked.
 
 In the Woods. 169 
 
 "Never an Eden without a snake,'* said Bart Hodge. 
 
 "The snake of this Eden is Herbert Hammerswell," 
 declared Harry Rattleton. 
 
 "Oh, he's cut out," said Bink. 
 
 "As they said about the fellow when another man 
 took his best girl from him," added Danny. 
 
 "I'll believe it when I know it," Bart grumbled. 
 "That rascal will stay around here as long as he thinks 
 he can injure us. I know the scoundrel." 
 
 Browning began to stir and a look of annoyance 
 came into his face. Suddenly he hopped to his feet, 
 as if he had never dreamed of being lazy, and began 
 to claw at a leg of his trousers. 
 
 "Talk about snakes ! Ants are eating me up !" 
 
 "Gug-gug-goshf ry ! They're on me, too!" howled 
 Gamp, beating at his shoulders, and then thrusting a 
 hand down the back of his neck. Bruce dropped on 
 his knees and began a search for the ant that was 
 gnawing at his leg, while Gamp proceeded to dig at 
 his neck and to dance an awkward hornpipe. Danny 
 rolled over on his back and laughed till the tears came 
 into his eyes. 
 
 "Oh, it isn't so funny!" snarled Bruce. 
 
 Danny's laughter came to a sudden end when a big 
 black spider that had been trailing its web down from 
 a tree dropped upon his nose. 
 
 "Wow!" he howled, leaping to his feet. "Spiders! 
 That's worse than eating gnats."
 
 iyo In the Woods. 
 
 Having expelled the ant, Bruce found another easy 
 spot to rest on, and again stretched out in a lazy atti- 
 tude, humorously watching Joe Gamp, whose antics 
 still continued. 
 
 "Let's bo goating I mean, let's go boating!" Rat- 
 tleton suggested, when Gamp subsided. 
 
 "What's the use?" Bruce asked. 
 
 "What's the use of anything?" Bart Hodge retorted. 
 
 "No use at all," said Browning. "I'm happy, if 
 the ants will let me alone. Go boating ? What's the 
 use?" 
 
 Merriwell laughed. 
 
 "Browning's philosophy makes me think of a picture 
 I saw in a store on Hanover Street the last time 1 
 was in Boston. It was a grinning skull, crowned with 
 laurel leaves, and under it the pessimistic question* 
 'What's the use?'" 
 
 "Painted in a fit of despair by some poor devil or 
 an artist," suggested Carker. "I don't wonder. What 
 is the use, anyway? That's what we come to at last. 
 Whether we wear the laurel crown of fame or dig 
 dirt in the streets, that's what we must come to." 
 
 "Life is its own compensation," said Frank. "To 
 win the love of friends and to stand by them, to do 
 your best in whatever you undertake, and to kick repi- 
 ning to the dogs these are the things that make life 
 worth while. Whoever does that will not be a cheer- 
 less pessimist."
 
 IrTthe Woods. 171 
 
 The warm sunshine was bringing 1 out an army of 
 ants, and they became so pugnacious and ravenous that 
 the little party under the trees was broken up and 
 scattered, some going down to the edge of the lake. 
 
 "I deny that I'm a pessimist," said Carker, walk- 
 ing up and down in front of the tent the larger tent, 
 for there were two. "It isn't pessimistic to look facts 
 in the face. Life is all very well to the man born with 
 a gold spoon in his mouth." 
 
 "Like yourself," suggested Rattleton. 
 
 "But to the man who is born poor, who works from 
 dawn to dark for miserable pay, who is half-fed, and 
 half-clothed, and half-starved! All this stuff about 
 equality and freedom, the inalienable rights of man, 
 our glorious American privileges, and all that is well 
 enough for office-hunting politicians to fire off as pyro- 
 technics on the Fourth of July and in political cam- 
 paigns, but I don't see that it does any one else any 
 good." 
 
 He was addressing himself to Merriwell. Bart 
 Hodge was bending over a camp-fire, earnestly study- 
 ing the condition of something that was simmering and 
 stewing in the pot that was swung above the fire. 
 
 "I used to go crazy about the American flag.'* 
 
 "When you were a boy ?" said Rattleton. 
 
 "Yes in the dim long-ago, when I was a boy, and 
 didn't know any better. But I've got over that. I'm 
 a patriot, I want you to understand. This country is
 
 172 In the Woods. 
 
 treating me well. But I don't see anything for tht 
 poor man to enthuse over." 
 
 Whenever Greg Carker struck this string he be* 
 came interested and even excited. At all other times 
 his face wore a bored expression. 
 
 "There is just as good a chance for a poor boy to- 
 day as there ever was," Frank asserted. "Most of 
 the men of the past half-century who have made great 
 names and fortunes for themselves were born poor, 
 many of them in want and obscurity and without op- 
 portunities. They made men of themselves because 
 they had brains, ambition, and energy." 
 
 "But conditions have changed." 
 
 "Conditions have somewhat changed. But men 
 have not changed human nature has not changed. 
 The opportunity for the poor boy is as great to-day 
 as it has ever been ; and the men who will be the men 
 of the next half-century are in a large measure the 
 boys who are now poor and often discouraged the* 
 boys of the farm and the streets, of the shops and the 
 stores. The poor boys who are honest and true. The 
 poor boys who want to be somebody in the world, and 
 are determined that in spite of their conditions they 
 will." 
 
 "You ought to take the stump in behalf of the down- 
 trodden and impoverished," said Carker. "That is 
 quite like a Fourth of July oration." 
 
 "It is truel"
 
 In the Woods. 
 
 Suddenly Merriwell and the others began to laugh. 
 Carker thought they were laughing at him, and it 
 angered him. But they were laughing because a goat 
 had suddenly walked from behind the tent and, an- 
 gered by Carker's excited gestures, had thrown itself 
 into a pugilistic attitude. 
 
 "You fellows always laugh as if you hadn't any 
 brains in your heads!" Carker grumbled. "That's right 
 * laugh if you want to! You may laugh as much as 
 you please, but the earthquake is coming." 
 
 Truly it was. The goat had lowered its head. 
 
 "Yes, I think the earthquake is coming!" Frank 
 admitted, much to Carker's astonishment. 
 
 "Ba-a-a-a!" went the goat; and as it did so, it 
 "lifted" Carker, sending him rolling on the grass. He 
 grasped a club, as he jumped up in a rage, and dashed 
 at the goat as if he wanted to beat its horns off. 
 
 "Go-at !" yelled Rattleton, as the animal ran toward 
 the shore, with Carker in pursuit. "Go-at, Carker* 
 But I'll bet five dollars you don't catch him !" 
 
 "Is that Frank Merriwell ? If it is, we'll help him 
 catch the goat."- 
 
 A half-dozen boys had dropped down the lake in 
 a boat from the Lake View Hotel and had come 
 ashore. They were eager, bright-faced fellows, and 
 they looked earnestly at Carker as he vainly chased 
 along.
 
 174 1 the Woods. 
 
 "No, that's Keg Grarker Greg Carker. That's 
 Merriwell with Hodge." 
 
 Rattleton pointed to Merriwell, who was walking 
 toward the lake with Bart. The boys stared with 
 gasping breath. 
 
 "That's Merriwell!" one of them whispered. "I 
 never expected to see him. Greatest baseball pitcher 
 in the world. Say, do you go around with him all the 
 time?" 
 
 Rattleton laughed, although he was pleased. It 
 was impossible for the boys to admire Frank more 
 than he did. 
 
 "A good deal of the time," he answered. 
 
 "Can't nobody bat that feller out of the box?" said 
 one of the other boys. "Them Wabeek fellers found 
 out a thing er two t'other day. Gee, wouldn't I like 
 to go around with him! Say, if I was a man, I'd 
 oay a thousand dollars a day for that!" 
 
 He looked admiringly at Rattleton, who seemed b> 
 reason of companionship to have received some of 
 Merriwell's glory. 
 
 "If his wrist hadn't been lame, wouldn't one of 
 'em touched first base?" declared another. "Most 
 broke his wrist when the carriage run over it. That 
 sneak Hammerswell done that." 
 
 "Do you know Hammerswell?" Harry inquired. 
 
 "He's stayin' at the Lake View now. We fellers 
 hate him, for what he done to Merriweli."
 
 In the Woods. 175 
 
 w And he called me Sonny!" chirped another. 
 
 "Don't any of the people up there like him, 'ceptin* 
 Delancy Livingston, and he's a fool." 
 
 "Some of 'em says he tried to shoot Merriwell, but 
 he says he didn't. Hammerswell would do most any- 
 thing, though, I b'lieve." 
 
 They followed Merriwell down to the shore, keeping 
 at first at a respectful distance, but drawing nearer as 
 their courage increased. 
 
 "Where did you ever hear of Merriwell?" Harry 
 asked, as one of them came near him again. The boy 
 looked at Rattleton in amazement. 
 
 "Hear o' him? Why, there ain't a boy in the 
 United States ain't heard of him ! We've heard of the 
 rest of you, too, but we boys is swearin' by Merriwell. 
 Is he goin' to play some more baseball?" 
 
 "I don't know. I expect so." 
 
 "Wish't he'd play the Wabeeks again. I'd like to 
 see him knock the spots out of 'em. Didn't git to see 
 t'other game. Me an' Jimmy was fishin' that day. 
 But if we'd knowed that Merriwell was at the Wa- 
 beek playin' baseball, all the fish in the lake could 'a* 
 died, for all of us ! Wish't he'd play 'em again." 
 
 "Perhaps he will." 
 
 "There comes Hammerswell down the lake with 
 Delancy's sister," one of them announced. 
 
 Merriwell's friends by the lake-shore had already 
 discovered that Herbert Hammerswell was near. [They
 
 176 In the Woods. 
 
 had seen him come to the boat-house and landing with 
 a very pretty girl, and get out a sailboat, which both 
 entered. 
 
 "I knew the scoundrel hadn't left," Hodge was 
 growling. "He will stay in the neighborhood as long 
 as we do. I'm going to thump him the first time I get 
 near him." 
 
 "Don't want to soil my hands with him," drawled 
 Bruce. "But I feel that I'd like to kick him. I didn't 
 think he'd stay around here." 
 
 Frank and others came up, and all stood under some 
 trees, the boys crowding closer and listening with all 
 their ears. 
 
 "That's Delancy Livingston's sister," one of them 
 volunteered, proud to be able to give Merriwell some 
 information. "Hammerswell is her reg'lar. She's 
 goin' to marry him, I guess." 
 
 For the first time Frank observed the admiring 
 glances of the boys and heard their whispered com- 
 ments. He flushed like a schoolgirl. 
 
 "Who is Delancy Livingston?" Bruce asked, look- 
 ing at the boat. 
 
 "He's a dude stayin' at the Lake View." 
 
 "Hammerswell doesn't know how to handle a boat," 
 Hodge growled. "The breeze is getting up, too. He'll 
 turn it over. She's a fool to go sailing with such a 
 fellow." 
 
 "He and Delancy are chums, you see, and Delancy
 
 In the Woods. 177 
 
 is her brother," explained another boy. "I s'pose 
 that's why she's sweet on him. She's goin' to marry 
 him." 
 
 "I can't admire her taste," said Greg. "Screw loose 
 in her head if she takes to him." f 
 
 "Sore of obliquity of mental vision," chirped Ready. 
 "A bit color-blind in the intellect." 
 
 "Simply a lack of sense!" growled Bart. 
 
 "Mighty pretty girl," said Bink, folding his arms 
 and posing. "I'd smile at her, if she'd look this way." 
 
 The boat was drawing near, for the landing was 
 not distant, and the boat was coming straight dowr 
 the shore. 
 
 "She'd be a fool if she looked at you," Danny de- 
 clared. "If she wants to see something sweet, le* 
 her cast her admiring glances hitherward!" 
 
 "Something soft, you mean!" squeaked Bink. 
 
 The party sat down under the trees, with the boys 
 junched together near them and talking to Rattle- 
 ton when they had a chance. Frank saw that the girl 
 was remarkably pretty, and he could not understand 
 how a girl such as she seemed to be could enjoy the 
 company of Herbert Hammerswell, to say nothing of 
 receiving attentions from him. 
 
 It was soon apparent that Hammerswell was aware 
 of the proximity of Merriwell's party and that he 
 had known it before he came to the landing. He 
 came close inshore, as if in bravado, though only two
 
 178 In the Woods, 
 
 days before he had sought to bring about Frank's ar- 
 rest on a trumped-up charge of murder, and, having 
 failed in this, had shot at Frank with a rifle from the 
 depths of the woods while in a rage, the ball striking 
 Merriwell's bat and tearing it from his hands. When 
 he was able to see the party plainly he called the girl's 
 attention, as was shown by his motions and by the 
 glance she sent shoreward. 
 
 "She saw me!" exclaimed Bink. "I'm going right 
 over to the Lake View and get acquainted as soon as 
 she comes back." 
 
 "She was looking at me!" Danny asserted. "Say," 
 turning to one of the boys, "is this Delancy wealthy?" 
 
 "Got more money 'n he knows what to do with." 
 
 "He might give some of it to Carker to distribute 
 to the poor !" Bart growled, under his breath. 
 
 Hammerswell knew that he was safe out there in 
 the sailboat, and, because of this, he insolently stared 
 at the group under the trees as the boat swept by. 
 
 "I'd choke him if I had my hands on him!" said 
 Bart. "Merriwell, are you going to let that matter end 
 as it is? If you don't whip him for what he did to 
 you, I will." 
 
 "I think we'll have a settlement," was Frank's sig- 
 nificant answer. "I hoped the fellow had got out of 
 the country." 
 
 The girl did not again look toward the shore, and 
 Merriwell's party did not stare at the boat. Bart
 
 In the Woods. 179 
 
 Hodge, however, flashed Herbert Hammerswell a 
 glance of hate. Soon the boat passed from sight round 
 a bend. 
 
 "If I'd been a man I'd 'a' whipped Hammerswell 
 yesterday when he said that Frank Merriwell was a 
 big stiff!" one of the boys was heard to whisper to 
 another. 
 
 "Oh, he's jist mad 'cause the Wabeeks got licked," 
 the other answered, with a sniff of disgust. "I heard 
 him tell one o' the men that he bet money on the Wa- 
 beeks. Wish't Merriwell would play 'em again. It 
 would make him sicker at the stummick than ever!'* 
 
 "That double shoot is what paralyzes 'em. He can 
 make the ball cut all kinds of riggers in the air. My 
 brother Bob says 't he can pitch the ball one way 
 and then pitch it another, and that the two lines will 
 make a reg'lar figger eight!" 
 
 The boys did not intend that their conversation 
 should be overheard. Bruce laughed, and Merriwell, 
 getting somewhat red in the face, arose for a stroll 
 along the lake. "Too much fame for me !" he said, as 
 he walked away with Bart and Rattleton, closely 
 watched by the admiring youngsters. 
 
 "What else can you expect?" asked Rattleton. 
 "Nearly every one has heard of your pitching!" 
 
 "It's slightly embarrassing, to say the least. I 
 think I'd prefer not to be quite so famous. I'm glad 
 to have the boys like me, but it makes a fellow feel
 
 i8o In the Woods. 
 
 queer to be pointed out and stared at as if he were a 
 camel in a circus parade." 
 
 "We're going in the direction taken by the boat/* 1 
 said Hodge, stopping. 
 
 "What's the odds?" queried Rattleton. "Hammers- 
 well doesn't own the lake." 
 
 "I think if I'd known he was at the Lake View 
 I'd have pitched the camp somewhere else. It's an- 
 noying to know that such a cad and sneak is in the 
 neighborhood," Merriwell declared. 
 
 "Such a scoundrel!" panted Hodge. 
 
 They strolled along very leisurely, and some min- 
 utes elapsed before they rounded the wooded bend. 
 They saw the boat again as they came out in full view 
 of the lake. Hammerswell had sailed down a short dis- 
 tance and was coming back. 
 
 "He wants to tantalize us by sailing back and forth 
 in front of our camp !" snarled Hodge. 
 
 "It certainly begins to look that way," Merry ad- 
 mitted. 
 
 "He feels safe as long as he is out there, and he 
 knows we won't go up to the hotel and thrash him!" 
 
 "He isn't so very safe!" panted Rattleton. "Whee- 
 giz ! Did you see that ? 'Bost turned the moat over 
 'most turned the boat over !" 
 
 The wind had perceptibly freshened, the waves were 
 running high enough to throw white-caps, and neas
 
 In the Woods. 181 
 
 the shore, where the boat was, the rocks seemed to 
 hurl them back in a confused and broken mass. 
 
 Hammerswell, in trying to change the boat's course, 
 had let the mainsail and jib fill with a quick jerk 
 and had not put up the helm, and the boat had almost 
 gone over. The girl was seen to leap excitedly to her 
 feet. Hammerswell made another awkward effort. 
 The boom came back with a slashing swing, knocking 
 the girl overboard. 
 
 "Whee-giz!" again gasped Rattleton. "Did you 
 jee that ?" 
 
 Merriwell did not say anything, but began to run 
 with all his might for the rocky point nearest to the 
 boat. And as he ran he threw off his coat
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LUCY LIVINGSTON, 
 
 Bart Hodge was close at Frank Merriwell's Heels, 
 and he was a good runner, but not so good as Merri- 
 well. Rattleton followed at his best pace, as soon as 
 he could recover from his astonishment. The girl was 
 not to be seen when Frank gained the point. Ham- 
 merswell was frightened, and was throwing the helm 
 back and forth in a frantic effort to secure his own 
 safety, but he evidently had lost his head. 
 
 Without taking time to remove his shoes, Frank 
 leaped into the water and began to swim rapidly to- 
 ward the spot where the girl had disappeared. Hodge 
 had thrown off his coat and now imitated Merri- 
 well's example, following almost in his friend's wake. 
 When Rattleton gained the point Frank was half-way 
 to the boat. He saw the girl come to the surface, 
 throw up her hands, and disappear again. But as she 
 went down she caught hold of a rope near the bow- 
 sprit and seemed to draw herself up. 
 
 Rattleton was greatly excited. 
 
 "If she can mang on a hinite hang on a minute > 
 Merry will save her ! No, there she's gone !" 
 
 The honest fellow groaned as he saw the girl's head 
 go beneath the waves. Hammerswell had again tried
 
 Lucy Livingston. i8> 
 
 to change the boat's course, and had shifted the helm 
 so suddenly and let the sails fill so quickly that the 
 rope to which the girl was clinging with drowning grip 
 had been torn from her fingers. 
 
 But the delay had brought Merriwell much nearer. 
 He saw the streaming hair disappear, and he dived in 
 the same instant. To the excited mind of Harry 
 Rattleton, Frank was under the water a long time. Yet 
 Hodge had gained but a little distance when Frank 
 came up near the tossing, yawing boat, and when he 
 came up he held the girl. 
 
 "Whoop!" Rattleton screeched, dancing about on 
 the rocks. "Whoop! He's got her!" 
 
 He ran as far down to the water's edge as he could 
 and looked anxiously about to ascertain if he could 
 do anything to aid his friends. Hodge was swim- 
 ming on with firm and rapid strokes. 
 
 "There never was another fellow like Merriwell!" 
 Harry exclaimed, while his heart warmed with delight. 
 Then he sent up a yell that was both a call for help 
 and a shout of triumph. He saw Frank swim to the 
 boat, holding the girl's head well up out of the water, 
 saw him grasp the boat's side, and heard him ask 
 Hammerswell for help. Then he saw the coward lift 
 the long oar that lay in the bottom of the boat and 
 strike at Frank with it. 
 
 "Keep away!" Hammerswell shouted. "You'll up- 
 set the boat! Keep away, I tell you I"
 
 1 84 Lucy Livingston. 
 
 But Hodge was soon alongside. Rattleton's shout 
 had been heard at the camp, and the boys and the 
 members of Merriwell's party were coming at head- 
 long speed, assured that something was wrong. Rat- 
 tleton was wildly dancing up and down the rocks. 
 
 "You scoundrel!" Hodge sputtered, as he lifted 
 himself at the boat's stern and swung himself upward 
 with a muscular grip. "I'll throw you into the lake !" 
 
 "You'll upset the boat!" Hammerswell shrieked. 
 'Keep off, I say!" 
 
 Then he lifted the oar and struck at Bart. Hodge 
 grasped it and hung on, while Hammerswell, jerking 
 and flouncing backward, in an effort to get the oar 
 free, almost drew him into the boat. The next mo- 
 ment Hodge was in the boat. Then, with clothes 
 streaming water, and with his face working with rage, 
 he threw himself on Hammerswell, tore the oar from 
 his hands, and seemed on the point of pitching the 
 cowardly rascal overboard. 
 
 Suddenly he remembered that Frank Merriwell and 
 the girl needed help, and he turned to them, leaving 
 Hammerswell gasping and frightened and crouching 
 on his knees near the bow. Merriwell had clung to 
 the side of the boat, holding the girl's head and shoul- 
 ders above the waves. 
 
 "I need help," he said, as Bart appeared. "That 
 fellow "
 
 Lucy Livingston. 185 
 
 "I'll settle with him! Here, let me get hold of herJ 
 That's right. Now!" 
 
 Hodge grasped the girl's arms and shoulders and 
 slowly drew her into the boat. Then Merriwell swam 
 round to the stern and quickly climbed in. 
 
 Hodge had laid the girl down. She was unconscious 
 and seemed dead. Hammerswell was still crouching 
 where Hodge had left him, and was shaking as with 
 an ague. Once or twice he half-rose, as if he thought 
 of leaping overboard and swimming ashore, but the 
 water frightened him and he drew back. 
 
 "Look after the boat," Merriwell commanded, be- 
 ginning the work of resuscitating the half-drowned 
 girl, and with such success, too, that in a very few 
 minutes the girl showed signs of returning anima- 
 tion. 
 
 Hodge soon had the boat under control and headed 
 
 it toward the landing. Hammerswell seemed half in 
 
 5 a faint. Merriwell's friends and the boys from the 
 
 big hotel were walking and running excitedly along 
 
 the shore. 
 
 Once or twice Bart glanced at Herbert Hammers- 
 well in a way. to make the scoundrel's teeth chatter, 
 but for the most part he gave his attention to work- 
 ing the boat and to watching the successful efforts of 
 his friends. 
 
 The boat went along briskly under the influence of 
 <be freshening breeze. In any but the most unskilful
 
 1 86 Lucy Livingston. 
 
 hands it was a good, safe vessel. And the boys and 
 youths on the shore gave expression to their excite- 
 ment and pleasure in cries and shouts and whoops. 
 Suddenly it occurred to Rattleton, who had been wildly 
 anxious to help, that there was something he could do. 
 
 "Going for a carriage!" he exclaimed, and started 
 on a run for the Lake View Hotel, accompanied by 
 the largest of the boys, who sprinted along at his side 
 in lively fashion. 
 
 "Ugh!" Hammerswell exclaimed, as the water 
 which had been collecting in the boat from the wet 
 clothing sloshed toward him. "Ugh! I'll get my 
 knees wet!" 
 
 Whereupon he scrambled up and gingerly tried to 
 hold his bright tan shoes out of the water. 
 
 The coats thrown off by Hodge and Frank had been 
 picked up, and two of the boys were quarreling as to 
 which of them should carry Merriwell's. 
 
 Frank continued his efforts to revive the girl, ana 
 by the time the boat reached the landing she had re- 
 gained her senses, though physically so weak she 
 could not hold up her head. As soon as the boat 
 touched, Herbert Hammerswell made a sprint for the 
 float and then ran toward the hotel as if his life de- 
 pended on it. 
 
 "Going for a doctor !" he called back, thinking that 
 it might be well to have a convenient excuse to ac- 
 count for this show of cowardice.
 
 Lucy Livingston. 187 
 
 As Frank lifted the girl, Bruce took her in his strong 
 arms and bore her across the float to the shore. Frank 
 followed, as did Hodge as soon as he had secured the 
 boat. Browning motioned to some of his friends, and 
 soon a comfortable bed of coats was prepared under 
 the nearest tree, upon which the girl was deposited. 
 
 Her strength had so much returned by this time 
 that she was able to look around her. 
 
 "I want to thank you for saving my life; and you, 
 too!" she whispered, speaking to Merriwell and 
 Hodge, whose soaked clothing pointed out her res- 
 cuers. "The boom knocked me over !" 
 
 "Did it injure you in any way?" Merriwell anx- 
 iously asked. 
 
 "I I think not," was her weak answer. Then her 
 head fell back on the pillow of coats. 
 
 In spite of her drenched condition and the unnatural 
 whiteness of her face, it was easy to see that she 
 was a very pretty girl, seventeen or eighteen years old. 
 Her hair was brown, her eyes blue, and her features 
 revealed intelligence as well as beauty. 
 
 Bruce looked off toward the Lake View, the white 
 towers of which. rose from a natural grove near the 
 water. 
 
 "The carriage will be here soon. Rattles has had 
 time to get there." 
 
 "I wish I could have laid hands on Hammerswell I" 
 said Bart.
 
 1 88 Lucy Livingston. 
 
 "You and Bart ought to change clothes, Merriwell," 
 Carker advised. 
 
 As she heard the name, a surge of color came into 
 the girl's face. She looked earnestly at Merriwell, 
 then at Bart. 
 
 "Could I have a few words with you ?" was her sur- 
 prising request, addressed to Frank. 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 The others drew aside instantly. 
 
 "You won't punish Mr. Hammerswell for what he 
 did the other day?" she begged. 
 
 "He's a coward," said Frank. "He refused to help 
 you when the boom knocked you into the water, and 
 iwhen Hodge and I swam out to you he tried to beat 
 us away from the boat with the oar, fearing we might 
 Overturn it. He would have let you drown." 
 
 "I ask this for the sake of my father," she begged. 
 "I can't explain more now. For the sake of my 
 father." 
 
 Merriwell hesitated. Perhaps she was not Ham- 
 flierswell's sweetheart did not care anything for him? 
 [Perhaps there was a reason far below the surface that 
 made her accept his attentions? These thoughts, like 
 questions, flashed on Frank. 
 
 "For the sake of my father!" she implored. It was 
 impossible to resist her pleading look. 
 
 "For vour sake and your father's, we will not
 
 Lucy Livingston. 189 
 
 trouble Herbert Hammerswell, if he does not further 
 trouble us." 
 
 "And your friend, the one who spoke now, the one 
 called Bart, can you promise that for him ?** 
 
 "Yes," said Frank. 
 
 "My name is Lucy Livingston." 
 
 "And mine, Frank Merriwell." 
 
 She looked at him so earnestly and trustingly that 
 he colored. 
 
 "I can't explain now. Perhaps some time. But I 
 thank you, Mr. Merriwell, from the depths of my 
 heart. This isn't merely the whim of a girl." 
 
 She was silent a moment. A pinkish tint came into 
 her white cheeks, and again she looked at Merriwell. 
 
 "Will you think it very strange if I make another) 
 Bequest? You will not, I hope." 
 
 "I shall be happy to serve you in any way," Frank 
 answered, bowing politely in his soaked and drip- 
 ping clothing. 
 
 The tint in her cheeks grew brighter. 
 
 "I want you to pitch against the Wabeek nine again 
 and beat them." 
 
 "It would be impossible to promise that, for it might 
 be an impossible thing to do." 
 
 "Oh, I am sure you can," she insisted. 
 
 "My wrist is in a bad condition." 
 
 She glanced anxiously at the wrist, and her face , 
 showed disappointment.
 
 190 Lucy Livingston. 
 
 "If only you could," she urged. "Perhaps your 
 wrist will be much better in a day or two. Oh, if 
 you could." 
 
 "My wrist is in very bad shape. I should be glad 
 to please you in this, and " 
 
 "Carriage coming!" yelled one of the boys.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 MOVING PICTURES. 
 
 An hour later, when Merriwell and the original] 
 members of his Athletic Team were lounging and talk- ; 
 ing at the camp, John Swiftwing, the Pueblo Indian 
 and Adirondack guide, who had been recently added to 
 the membership, appeared in their midst. Behind him 
 came Ben Romine, of whose murder Merriwell had 
 been accused by Hammerswell. Romine was drag- 
 ging Hammerswell by the collar. 
 
 "I've got the skunk!" he grated. "I found him 
 sneakin' round in the trees over there. He tried to 
 run when he seen me, but he didn't run fur. I've 
 got him !" 
 
 Hodge sprang to his feet with a black look on his 
 face. Merriwell and some of the others also leaped up. 
 
 "I brought him over here fer you to thump the stuf- 
 fin' out o' him," said Romine, shaking Hammerswell 
 as a terrier shakes a rat. 
 
 There was a patter of feet and a dudish youth 
 burst into view. 
 
 "Help!" bawled Hammerswell, who seemed to fear; 
 that he was about to be killed. The dude came to an 
 irresolute halt, stuck an eyeglass into his eye, and 
 owlishly stared at the group of excited youths.
 
 192 ' .Moving Pictures. 
 
 "Aw! what's the row?" he asked. 
 
 "They're going to murder me, Delancy!" Ham- 
 tnerswell exclaimed. 
 
 "Aw! they wouldn't, you know." 
 
 "Let him go," said Frank, giving Herbert a look 
 of scorn. Romine glanced at Merriwell in surprise. 
 Delancy Livingston was so unlike his sister that Mer- 
 riwell's friends could but regard him with astonish- 
 ment. He was sickly and sallow, with whitish eyes 
 and wispy hair. That his intelligence was not great 
 could be seen by his slanting forehead and protuberant 
 brows. He was dressed in a loud golf-suit. 
 
 "Could hear that suit a mile," whispered Bink. 
 
 "A good mate for Hammerswell," Danny whis- 
 pered back. "I don't think I want to marry his sis- 
 ter." 
 
 "Ain't you goin' to thump him ?" Romine demanded, 
 still with his hand on Herbert's collar. 
 
 "Let him go!" said Frank. 
 
 Romine withdrew his hand, and Hammerswell 
 hopped behind Delancy Livingston for protection. 
 
 "Goin' t' let men shoot at ye 'thout doing anything 
 to 'em about it?" Romine disgustedly demanded. 
 
 Merriwell had informed his friends of the request 
 Of Lucy Livingston, but in spite of this Hodge ad- 
 vanced as if he meant to punish Hammerswell. 
 
 "Hit him, Delancy!" Hammerswell exclaimed. 
 
 "Aw 1" said Delancy, staring at Hodge through his
 
 Moving Pictures. 193 
 
 monocle and swinging his cane as if it were a golf 
 club. 
 
 "I never shot at him!" Hammerswell asserted. 
 
 "You're a liar !" Romine snarled. 
 
 "Luck him into the chake chuck him into the 
 lake!" Rattleton suggested. 
 
 "Yes, give him a lesson in swimming," drawled 
 Bruce. "He hasn't had those clothes wet this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 "And those tan shoes need a bath !" howled Bink. 
 
 "You won't dare do anything of the kind!" said 
 Hammerswell, dodging behind Delancy. "You'll get 
 yourselves into a whole mess of trouble if you try it. 
 Hit them, Delancy, if they come this way !" 
 
 "Aw! they're just joking, don't you know!" 
 
 "I think I'd like a photograph of this," said Carker, 
 with an amused smile, as he ducked into the tent. 
 
 "Don't you dare!" cried Hammerswell. "I'll sue 
 you for damages." 
 
 Greg Carker reappeared with his camera. 
 
 "Don't you dare!" Hammerswell warned, dodging 
 behind the dude.^ "If you do, I'll make it hot for 
 you ! I've got money and I'll make you suffer if you 
 do that." 
 
 "He doesn't like to think of photographs," sneered 
 Hodge, still acting as if uncertain whether or not to 
 hammer Herbert's sneaking visage. 
 
 "We'll get a series of moving pictures and go on
 
 r 194 Moving Pictures. 
 
 the road with," drawled Bruce. "It will draw better 
 than the Corbett-Jeffries fight." 
 
 "Photographs make him weak in the knees," said 
 Danny. "What did you do with that other photo- 
 graph, Herbert?" 
 
 "Yes, that's what we want to know?" queried 
 Hodge. "The one you showed to Swiftwing?" 
 
 Hammerswell, in preparing to make his charge of 
 the murder of Ben Romine against Merriwell had 
 combined two pictures: one of Romine lying in a 
 woodland path stricken down by a bough that had 
 fallen from a tree; the other picture of Merriwell 
 pounding the head of a snake with a club. The new 
 picture, formed by cunningly joining these, had shown 
 Merriwell pounding Ben Romine on the head with 
 the club. 
 
 "That was just a joke, you know !" said Hammers- 
 well. 
 
 "Then you don't deny that you had such a photo- 
 graph?" Frank questioned. 
 
 "He doesn't dare to deny it," Swiftwing declared. 
 
 "I was just trying to see if I could fool anybody 
 with that," Hammerswell brazenly asserted. "It was 
 all a bit of fun, you know. I didn't mean anything 
 by it." 
 
 "But you sent word to the sheriff and had him ar- 
 rest me on a charge of murder, and all on the strength 
 of the evidence furnished by that photograph."
 
 Moving Pictures. 195 
 
 As Merriwell said this he gave Hammerswell a 
 look that made him shiver. 
 
 "Hit him, Delancy, if he comes this way." 
 
 "Aw," said Delancy, flourishing his cane and staring 
 at Merriwell. "Don't you dare to strike the man who 
 is to marry my sister!" 
 
 "I'm getting the moving pictures all right!" cried 
 Carker, who was industriously manipulating his 
 camera. 
 
 "What about that business?" Merriwell asked, his 
 eyes still fixed on his enemy. 
 
 Again Hammerswell assumed a brazen look. 
 
 "I was betting on the Wabeeks, and I wanted to win 
 my bet. I wanted to have you arrested and pulled 
 out of the box, and then I thought perhaps I could 
 win." 
 
 It was a clever lie. 
 
 "You're a liar!" snarled Hodge. "And if I was 
 Merriwell, I'd thump you, anyhow." 
 
 Herbert ducked down behind Delancy, as if he ex- 
 pected Hodge to make a lunge at him. 
 
 "Aw! that was all a joke, don't you know," purred 
 Delancy. "Herbert has told me all about it. He 
 fooled you and he fooled the sheriff. Deuced clevaw, 
 don't you know." 
 
 "More pictures!" laughed Carker, the bored look- 
 having gone out of his face. "I'm afraid I'll have ta 
 get some more film."
 
 196 Moving Pictures. 
 
 Bruce looked at him with an amused smile. 
 
 "This is life?" 
 
 "This is life, yes ! This is worth while ! Take that 
 pose again, Delancy, do!" 
 
 "I'd like to have a little earthquake with it," grum- 
 bled Bart. "I think it would be more interesting." 
 
 "Hit him, Delancy," said Hammerswell, again 
 dodging. 
 
 "There are more days coming," growled Bart, in 
 a threatening tone. 
 
 "When you go up against him let me know, and 
 I'll get another series to add to this," laughed Carker. 
 
 Jack Ready had produced his camera and was also 
 taking snap-shots. 
 
 "We'll go on the road together," he declared to 
 Carker. "We'll label the combination, 'The Great 
 Hammerswell and His Patent Body Protector/ ' 
 
 "Mum-mum-makes me think of a she billy-goat pup- 
 pup-protecting her lamb," put in Gamp. "A-haw- 
 haw!" 
 
 "If you'll come over here I'll hit you with this, don't 
 you know," Delancy threatened, shaking his cane at 
 the lank New Hampshire youth. 
 
 "You cuc-cuc-can't spell Cain until you're Abel." 
 
 "I'll sue this whole outfit for this outrage," Ham* 
 merswell fumed, glaring at the camera fiends. 
 
 He began to retreat, seeing that no hands were in-
 
 Moving Pictures. 197 
 
 terposed to prevent him, being wildly anxious to get 
 away. 
 
 "Knock their heads off if they follow us, Delancy." 
 
 "Aw," said Delancy. "They won't dare to, don't 
 you know." 
 
 Again he flourished the cane at Gamp. Merriwell 
 seemed to have recovered from his anger, and was 
 apparently as much amused as Carker and Ready. 
 
 "I'd hit him one," growled Hodge. "Let me do it 
 for you, Merry." 
 
 "And break my promise?" 
 
 Herbert heard the words, and they filled his heart 
 with relief. He wheeled about and ran, slowly fol- 
 lowed by Delancy Livingston, who now and then 
 turned and shook his cane at the group. 
 
 Dan Romine had disappeared, though no one ob- 
 served it but John Swiftwing. The open way of re- 
 treat led toward the lake-shore, and Romine had ob- 
 served this. 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell swung round the corner of 
 rocks and then again came into view. As he did so 
 Romine rose up beside the path, caught him by the 
 waist and shoulders, and, with a powerful swing, 
 threw him bodily into the lake. Herbert went through 
 the air with a cry and disappeared in the lake with 
 a resounding splash. Delancy swung his cane and 
 bounded forward. The group at the camp started for 
 the shore.
 
 198 Moving Pictures. 
 
 They halted half-way down. Hammerswell came 
 to the surface, blowing the water from his mouth and 
 puffing like a porpoise. He could not swim much, but 
 he began to paddle to the shore. 
 
 "Aw!" Delancy was heard to exclaim. Then he 
 stepped to the edge of the water and held out his 
 cane. Herbert wildly grasped it and the dude gin- 
 gerly pulled him out of the lake. 
 
 "Let me give him a football kick," begged John 
 Swiftwing, looking savagely at the dripping, hatless 
 figure. 
 
 "I'll sue you for this outrage !" Hammerswell cried, 
 shaking his fist at the group. 
 
 "Go 'long, or I'll kick you into tan-bark!" threat- 
 ened Romine. 
 
 Delancy made a desperate effort to retain his dig- 
 nity. He fitted his eyeglass and stared at the guying 
 group, then retreated, following Herbert and swinging 
 his cane. And as they went, Merry's friends, led by 
 big Bruce Browning, swung their caps and uttered a 
 wild shout. 
 
 "Well," said Frank quietly ; "now that's settled let's 
 talk over something worth while the coming match." 
 
 They settled down to earnestly discussing their fu- 
 ture prospects of defeat and victory. And, while they 
 were doing so, the Wabeek team the "University 
 Nine," they called themselves were discussing the fu- 
 ture game also.
 
 Moving Pictures. 199 
 
 "We simply didn't get into gear somehow," Tip 
 Curringer, the Princeton pitcher was saying. "I'm 
 not a bit afraid of Merriwell in the box on ordinary 
 occasions. But luck was simply dead against us. 
 There is such a thing as luck, you know. In poker 
 the cards will all run one way sometimes, and you 
 can't tell why it is." 
 
 "I remember a time when the cards all ran to the 
 other fellow," said Wadkins, the short-stop, who be- 
 longed to Yale. "The other fellow was working a 
 hold-out" 
 
 He smiled grimly. 
 
 "Oh, I think there was no cheating in the game the 
 other day," Dunstan Kirk, captain and manager, also 
 a Yale man, commented. "I should have seen it if 
 there had been." 
 
 "Well, there were several places in which a stiff 
 kick against the decisions of the umpire would have 
 been just the thing, I'm thinking. If I had been cap- 
 tain I should have kicked. Such things are sometimes 
 enough to win or lose a game." 
 
 "That's right," added Severing, of Harvard. "Up 
 to the very end of the game we had them beaten. 
 Those scores at the close did the business for us." 
 
 "Why at the beginning of the eighth inning I was 
 dead sure we would win," asserted Mason, also of 
 Harvard. "I would have bet money that we couldn't 
 lose if we tried."
 
 20O Moving Pictures. 
 
 "Merriwell had been fooling us with that pretense 
 of a lame wrist," growled Curringer, who did not like 
 the way Merriwell had defeated him in clever work in 
 the box. 
 
 "I'm beginning to think, myself, that is a very con- 
 venient thing," admitted Kirk, who had been the cap- 
 tain of the Yale nine, and was, therefore, well ac- 
 quainted with Frank. 
 
 "I think I'll go into the business of nursing a sore 
 wrist. It's a sort of mascot idea," growled Cur- 
 ringer. 
 
 "You may be sure that I should have made a kick 
 if there had been any grounds for one. But you see, 
 even though it is possible there were a few times when 
 a kick might have been in order, I saw no need of it. 
 Why, I thought we weren't in any danger. Merri- 
 well's men weren't doing anything. Everything was 
 coming our way." 
 
 "But you can't tell," grumbled Wadkins. "When- 
 ever there is a chance to kick, kick anyway." 
 
 "As captain and manager, I shall never make a 
 kick unless I see that I am right. What's an um- 
 pire for?" 
 
 Kirk had some good traits. One of them was the 
 feeling that honor ruled, or should rule, among col- 
 lege players and teams. He would not permit a dis- 
 honorable thing, if he knew of it. 
 
 "Oh, it was simply dead luck," said Perkins, of the
 
 Moving Pictures. 201 
 
 University of Pennsylvania. "There is no other way 
 to account for it." 
 
 "I saw Hammerswell this morning," said Gait, a 
 Princeton man. 
 
 "He was betting on us, and he says he cooked up a 
 story to get Merriwell out of the box so that he could 
 win," explained Mason, of Brown. 
 
 "He's a liar!" declared Kirk. "I haven't any use 
 for that fellow. I believe that he fired that shot from 
 the woods, even if he does deny it. If not, why did 
 he sneak his things away from this hotel and go over 
 to the Lake View ?" 
 
 "Easy enough to account for that," answered Ma- 
 son. "He was afraid that Merriwell or some mem- 
 ber of his set would whip him for bringing the sheriff 
 to make the arrest. And I suppose they would." 
 
 "I hope they will," declared Kirk. 
 
 "Thought you were against Merriwell?" growled 
 Wadkins, getting up and going to the window of the 
 hotel looking out over the lake. "I guess you think 
 as much of him as you ever did. I say, play them 
 again. Make tfiem play us. They'll not want to, for 
 they would like to stop while they're safe. But force 
 them into another game." 
 
 "I'm in favor of playing them again," said Kirk. 
 "I'd be as glad to meet them again as any one." 
 
 "So would I," Curringer declared, "I know Frank
 
 202 Moving Pictures. 
 
 Merriwell can't beat me pitching. I know it. I want 
 another chance to prove it." 
 
 "And I think I'd like to show Mr. Bart Hodge that 
 he is not the only grass-blade on the diamond," said 
 Gait, who felt that he was a much better catcher than 
 Hodge. 
 
 "If I can't do better work at short than that little 
 rat of a Bink Stubbs, I'll eat my hat," growled Wad- 
 kins. 
 
 "That's what grinds me, fellows," Kirk admitted. 
 "To be beaten by a regular college nine wouldn't be so 
 bad. Or to be defeated by a nine that had anything 
 like the strength of ours. But such a conglomeration 
 as that ! Such a hodge-podge ! It makes me sick !" 
 
 "I've been decidedly weary," admitted Curringer. 
 
 "Such an aggregation of freaks!" added Severing. 
 
 "Any village team ought to beat them. I tell you, 
 fellows, I can't understand it. It must have been sim- 
 ply blind luck." This from Allen Ogle, of Harvard, 
 the right-fielder. 
 
 "Let's send them another challenge," cried Gait. 
 
 "That's the stuff!" 
 
 "Force them to give us satisfaction." 
 
 "Make them meet us." 
 
 "It was simply a case of dead luck that may not hap- 
 pen again in a year. Demand another game !" 
 
 A half-dozen were talking at once. Dunstan Kirk 
 Smiled with evident pleasure.
 
 Moving Pictures. 203 
 
 "Fellows, I know that we can beat them. The game 
 the other day shows it. We had them just as good as 
 beaten, when Merriwell's lucky hit at the very end of 
 the game gave them two scores. Griswold made tv;o 
 lucky hits, one of them a three-bagger ; a thing I never 
 knew the fellow to do before. He couldn't do it again 
 in a thousand times. As Curringer says, it was blind 
 luck. We had them beaten out of sight, but they 
 struck a streak in the eighth and ninth innings and won 
 out. I'm in favor of challenging them." 
 
 "And we'll make them play !" said Gait. 
 
 "You bet!" cried Wadkins. 
 
 "Sore wrists don't go !" growled Curringer. 
 
 "If they won't play us, we'll know that they're afraid 
 to try it over," asserted Wadkins. 
 
 "Well, if they back down," said Mason, "we can 
 use it as proof of what we claim that they won by 
 pure luck, and that they know it and are fearful of 
 putting the thing to a test. We can do that, and the 
 claim of a lame wrist will be seen through by the 
 people. As Curringer says, it's convenient at times for 
 an important pitcher to have a lame wrist." 
 
 "And force 'them to play right away. Demand an 
 early game!" Curringer begged. "Will you deliver 
 the challenge in person? I'd like to go with you, if 
 you do." 
 
 "Then it's agreed that we're to send a challenge?" 
 
 "Yes," every one shouted.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HOW THE CHALLENGE WAS RECEIVED. 
 
 Bruce Browning was lying on his back, staring up 
 at the sky through the green branches at one side of 
 the largest tent, when Kirk and Curringer came over 
 from Wabeek with the challenge. He lazily roused 
 himself when they appeared. 
 
 "Where is Merriwell?" Kirk asked. 
 
 "In the tent there. Bathing his wrist, I think." 
 
 Browning sat up and stared at them as they went to 
 the tent door. 
 
 "I'll bet it's a challenge !" he grunted. "Who wants 
 to play baseball out here in the woods? But Merry 
 won't do it, for his wrist isn't fit. Some fellows aren't 
 satisfied unless they're exercising themselves to death 
 all the time!" 
 
 . He groaned; then, hearing Kirk speak to Merri- 
 well, he slowly got up from the ground and lounged 
 round to the tent door. 
 
 "Come in," Frank was inviting. 
 
 Hodge was in the tent with him, and had been rub- 
 bing some liniment into Merriwell's lame wrist, which 
 was swollen and painful. 
 
 Kirk and Curringer accepted the invitation. Kirk 
 held out a paper as he entered.
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 205 
 
 "We want to play you fellows again," he explained. 
 "We think that you beat us by a lucky streak instead 
 of good playing, and we want to prove it by meeting 
 you again and defeating you." 
 
 Frank flushed, but merely laughed, as he pointed 
 them to some camp-stools and dropped upon one him- 
 self. Hodge was annoyed and irritated. Browning 
 lounged into the tent and also dropped upon a camp- 
 chair. Before answering, Merry opened the written 
 sheet and looked it over. It was a challenge in due 
 form. He passed it to Hodge. 
 
 "I should like to accept that But you see this 
 wrist." 
 
 He held it out 
 
 "I hurt it in that game. I shouldn't have pitched 
 at all, to tell the truth, after that accident. The wheels 
 passed over my wrist, I feel sure." 
 
 "We can do you fellows, just the same!" Hodge 
 snarled. "If Merry had half a wrist, we could do 
 you." 
 
 Kirk looked doubtful, and Curringer perceptibly 
 sneered. Danny and Jack Ready, who had been ta- 
 king a siesta in a hammock not far away, came in. 
 
 "They want us to play them again," Frank ex- 
 plained, taking the challenge from Bart and passing it 
 to Ready, who read it, with Danny looking on. 
 
 "I'm ready," Danny chirped.
 
 ao6 How the Challenge Was Received. 
 
 "That's my name, too," said Jack. "I'm always 
 Ready." 
 
 "But I'm not," Frank declared. 
 
 "Of course, you're not afraid to meet us?" Kirk 
 queried, while Curringer gave the lame wrist a ques- 
 tioning look. 
 
 "Not on your life, we ain't!" said Rattleton, com- 
 ing in. " Whee-giz ! why should we be afraid to meet 
 you?" 
 
 " 'Willing to mum-meet you any tut-time and place/ 
 as the feller sus-said to his best gug-girl," stuttered 
 Joe Gamp, who had followed Rattleton. 
 
 " 'Just dying to meet you, dear/ as his best girl 
 said to the feller," Danny chattered, addressing Kirk. 
 " 'The memory of the last time is precious to me.' ' 
 
 " 'And it will be a warm time when we do meet/ 
 as they both said to each other," Jack Ready chirped. 
 " 'The time goes slow, my darling ; the time goes 
 slow. I wish it might be this afternoon/ ' 
 
 Curringer gave the chatterers a glance of contempt. 
 
 "Talk never wins a game," he growled. 
 
 "That must be why you never win, then," Danny 
 asserted, not at all abashed. 
 
 "We want to know if you will meet us if you ac- 
 cept or reject the challenge." 
 
 "I suppose there will be time given to think it 
 over?" asked Bruce, looking anxiously at Frank's 
 wrist. "I'm not ready to meet anything, myself. It's
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 207 
 
 a shame to waste these glorious days stewing on a 
 diamond. Still " 
 
 "I can't pitch," was Frank's positive assertion, "or, 
 rather, I won't, which amounts to the same thing." 
 
 "I wanted to get at you again," said Curringer. 
 "You claim to be a better man in the box than I am. 
 You " 
 
 "I claim nothing of the kind, Curringer." 
 
 "Don't you say that you're about the best pitcher 
 on the planet ?" 
 
 "I do not." 
 
 "I've heard the claim made." 
 
 "Not by me, Curringer." 
 
 "But you've claimed that you can put it all over 
 me, as a pitcher." 
 
 "Nothing of the kind." 
 
 "Well, you're friends have claimed it." 
 
 "That's quite a different thing. I'm not respon- 
 sible for what my friends think and say. You must 
 see that yourself." 
 
 "You can't pitch in the same class. You can't pitch 
 a little bit, compared to Merriwell, when his wrist is all 
 right," Hodge hotly asserted. "You know it, too. 
 *And so does Kirk." 
 
 Curringer flushed redly. 
 
 "I wasn't talking to you," he said. 
 
 "Well, I was talking to you ! You came down here 
 urith this challenge when you knew that Merry was
 
 2o8 How the Challenge Was Received 
 
 in no condition. You knew it the other day. You 
 knew that he ought not to have pitched that game, for 
 you saw the accident. I see through your little game, 
 Curringer ! You want to make us refuse to accept this 
 challenge, and then go out and crow over us." 
 
 Curringer rose to his feet. His face was flaming. 
 
 "I don't allow any man to talk that way to me," 
 he declared. 
 
 "Help it, then!" 
 
 Hodge got on his feet also. His face was as black 
 as a thunder-cloud. 
 
 "I'll say what I think, Curringer, to you or any 
 other, man. This is low-down, dirty business. That's 
 my opinion of it, and my opinion of you is that " 
 
 "No quarreling," Frank sharply commanded. 
 
 Bart turned on him with a look of disgust. 
 
 "Why, can't you see through the thing, Merry? 
 If you can't, you couldn't see a hole in a ladder. It's 
 a sneaking, contemptible trick." 
 
 "Are you saying those things to me?" demanded 
 Curringer. 
 
 "Yes, to you ! To you ! And I stand ready to back 
 them up, too." 
 
 Merriwell got on his feet. 
 
 "This must stop!" he said sharply. "There will be 
 no quarreling or fighting in this tent or on these 
 grounds. That's sharp !" 
 
 Hodge drew back. His fists had been clenched, and
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 209 
 
 he had seemed ready to hurl himself on the man he was 
 addressing. 
 
 "There are other places," said Curringer. 
 
 "You bet there are ! And I am willing to meet you 
 wherever and whenever you say." 
 
 "As her best feller said to his best girl," chirped 
 
 "We'll not quarrel," said Kirk. "We didn't come 
 flere to quarrel. I understand that John Swiftwing is 
 now one of your pitchers? Put him into the box, if 
 your wrist is too bad." 
 
 "Swiftwing is out of practise," Merriwell was forced 
 to answer. "He has been up here a good while, act- 
 ing as guide. He must have time to get into shape 
 lor good work." 
 
 Curringer sneered again. Hodge had retreated, 
 and Curringer was again sitting on the camp-chair. 
 His sneer said as well as words that this was another 
 very convenient excuse. Bruce had dropped lazily 
 back on a cot, but he kept his eyes fixed on Curringer. 
 
 "If he should try any monkey business here, I'd 
 rike to pitch him. out of the tent neck and heels." 
 
 "I'll tell you what we'll do," said Merriwell, who 
 nad been doing some rapid thinking, and before whose 
 mental gaze the sweet face of Lucy Livingston bright- 
 ened. "If you'll give us two days, we'll meet you." 
 
 "Whoop! That's the stuff!" shouted Rattleton. 
 The lazy look went out of Browning's eyes.
 
 2io How the Challenge Was Received. 
 
 "Oh, it will be a warm time, day after to-morrow," 
 said Ready. 
 
 "I don't know how my wrist will be by that time; 
 but, if I can't pitch, we'll risk it with Swiftwing." 
 
 "That will be satisfactory," said Kirk. 
 
 But Curringer did not look happy. It did seem 
 that he had hoped that the challenge would not be ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 "Oh, the wrist will be well, no doubt," he said, in 
 a tone that brought the black look again into Hodge's 
 face. 
 
 "Another thing," said Merriwell calmly. "Two 
 days is a long time to wait. You have challenged us, 
 and we have accepted. I now challenge you!" 
 
 Kirk opened his eyes in surprise, and every one grew 
 breathless. 
 
 "I challenge you to a series of water sports, the 
 contests to be here on the lake, at any suitable place. 
 Fix the time, but I should like to have it to-morrow, 
 the day before the ball-game." 
 
 Kirk was annoyed. He looked uneasily at Cur- 
 ringer, who seemed no more pleased than his captain. 
 
 "I can't accept that right off," Kirk was forced 
 to say. "You must give us time to think about it. I 
 don't know whether we're in condition." 
 
 "But you would force us into a ball-game when you 
 know that we're not in condition!" cried Bart.
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 211 
 
 "We don't pretend to be anything but a ball-team," 
 protested Curringer. 
 
 "And we are only a ball-team," said Merriwell. 
 
 "We'll have to have time," said Kirk. "And, 
 really " 
 
 "You're as much in condition as we are. My lame 
 wrist will be a handicap there, too. And we've not 
 been practising in that line at all. You seemed so 
 anxious for something, I thought we might be able 
 to give you occupation while waiting for the ball- 
 game." 
 
 "This is wholly unexpected," Kirk protested. 
 
 "Meet us or back down. That is the way you came 
 at us with your challenge." 
 
 Kirk fidgeted and Curringer's face grew redder. 
 
 "We'll let you know this evening," Kirk promised, 
 rising and anxious to go. He and Curringer re- 
 treated, covered with confusion and filled with uncer- 
 tainty. 
 
 An hour later a note was brought in, notifying 
 Frank Merriwell that the challenge was accepted. 
 
 Accordingly, on the day appointed, an immense 
 crowd had gathered on the shore, not far from the 
 Lake View Hotel. The rocky slopes, which here rose 
 precipitously, were black with a swarming mass of hu- 
 manity trying to get comfortable and desirable seats 
 overlooking the water.
 
 212 How the Challenge Was Received. 
 
 Behind the bluff on the landward side, toward Mer- 
 fiweH's camp, dressing-tents were pitched. On the 
 flatter slope toward the Lake View were rows of long 
 seats of boards, with camp-chairs, stools, blocks of 
 wood, stones and boulders, and everything else almost 
 that could be used for a seat, and these seats were 
 already filled. 
 
 "I don't know where all the people came from, I'm 
 sure," said Lucy Livingston, speaking to Frank. 
 
 Crowds had come from across the lake, and for 
 more than two hours they had been arriving in car- 
 riages and buggies and on foot, for the news, of the 
 contest had spread throughout all the region in that 
 short time. The telephones had helped much to dis- 
 eminate it, and the fact that the sports were to be 
 unique in some cases aided in drawing a crowd. 
 
 The boys from the Lake View were there, with their 
 numbers increased to a score. They had a big blue 
 flag, with a large white "Y" on it, which they frantic- 
 ally waved whenever there was the least excuse, and 
 they were also supplied with horns and whistles with 
 which to assist in proclaiming the fact that they were 
 champions of Merriwell. 
 
 Frank had been reintroduced to Lucy Livingston 
 by the wife of the proprietor of the Lake View. He 
 found her a much prettier girl than he had thought. 
 She seemed to have recovered entirely, and her cheeks, 
 which had been so white when he saw her before,
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 213 
 
 glowed with health. The hair that had seemed a lovely 
 brown even when wet and stringy, was now a very 
 crown of glory. She was dressed becomingly and 
 wore a cool-looking straw hat and a shirt-waist. 
 
 "Our first meeting was under rather trying circum- 
 stances," she confessed, as she looked out at Danny, 
 amid the blare of the horns, the impatient rattle of bells 
 and the talk of the great crowd. "I suppose Delancy 
 told you how very grateful I am for what you did? 
 It makes me shudder to think what would have hap 
 pened if you hadn't been there." 
 
 "Don't think about it, then," Merriwell suggested. 
 
 "But I must think about it. And I want to tell you 
 again, as I did in the note I sent by Delancy, that I 
 can never thank you enough." 
 
 Frank cleverly evaded the necessity of informing 
 her that he had never received the note, and soon they 
 were talking as gaily and unreservedly as if they had 
 known each other for years, instead of hours. 
 
 Yet there was nothing bold or forward in the man- 
 ner of Lucy Livingston. She was simply a girl who 
 was deeply conscious of the obligation she was under 
 and who honestly admitted to herself that she liked 
 Frank Merriwell. 
 
 "Merry is the luckiest dog alive," grunted Bruce, 
 speaking to Hodge. "Half the girls he meets are just 
 cracked over him."
 
 214 How the Challenge Was Received. 
 
 Hodge grumbled something in a jealous tone, then 
 added : 
 
 "Think I should be myself, if I were a girl." 
 
 Frank was thinking of the request she had made 
 on behalf of her father. As he looked at her, he felt 
 quite sure that she could not like Herbert Hammers- 
 well ; yet he had found the opinion current that Ham- 
 mersweH's attentions were being accepted by her, and 
 it was further rumored that they were engaged. He 
 and Delancy were nearly always together, and when 
 Herbert was not with Delancy he was with Delancy's 
 sister. Frank had seen her walking with him in the 
 grounds of the hotel and on the borders of the lake. 
 The whole thing was strange and mystifying. 
 
 "I'm so glad that you challenged those Wabeek 
 men for this contest," said Lucy. "If you had heard 
 them talk ! They came over to the Lake View yester- 
 day before they sent the baseball challenge. Your men 
 were simply an aggregation, a group of monstrosities, 
 freaks, and I don't know what else. Some of them 
 seemed to be quite decent, but the others were so loudly 
 boastful -that I was just crazy to have you accept their 
 challenge. Of course, you will win. I told Delancy 
 so, and that he must not bet anything on the other 
 team." 
 
 Merriwell knew, though, that both Hammerswell 
 and young Livingston were laying bets on the Wa-
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 215 
 
 beek men. The crowd was cheering Danny as he pad- 
 dled the boat around by kicking out with his feet. 
 
 "Wee-e-e!" he yelled. "If you want to see a fish 
 go through the water, put your optics on me. Don't 
 cast all your eyes on the boat at once, though, for the 
 weight of them might sink it. It wouldn't hold up 
 more'n a ton of apples or eyes." 
 
 Another boat pushed out from the shore. In the 
 stern sat Allen Ogle, attired like Danny, though the 
 colors were different and the Yale "Y" was not on his 
 breast. 
 
 "Honest" Bill Mattock, the proprietor of the Twin 
 Mountain House, was the starter, and he now stepped 
 down the rocks to the edge of the lake, pistol in hand. 
 
 All of the contests were to be for points. 
 
 "Ready!" squealed Danny. 
 
 "Right here," said Ready, lifting his cap. 
 
 "I mean, I am ready.'* 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 Bang! 
 
 Mattock's pistol spoke, and the crowd began to yell 
 as Danny and Ogle, paddling solely with their feet, 
 which they were forced to use both for steering and 
 propulsion, clumsily attempted to drive the boats 
 through the water toward the line stretched from shore 
 to anchor boat, a score of yards away. 
 
 "Go it, Red-head!" yelled the proprietor of the Lake 
 View. "Ogle is beating you!"
 
 2i6 How the Challenge Was Received. 
 
 "If you call me names, I'll paddle the boat across 
 the rocks into your best parlor !" Danny flung back. 
 
 His bare feet and legs were flashing like the paddle- 
 blades of a stern-wheeler. But the boat made little 
 progress. Indeed, Olge was moving slowly, though he 
 was distancing Danny. 
 
 Then Danny stretched his short legs farther over 
 the stern, and the boat began to crawl up on Ogle's. 
 Faster went his flying legs. Ogle's boat showed a 
 strange disposition to turn round, for his right leg was 
 much stronger than his left, and it diverged quite a 
 distance from the direct line before the yells of a 
 coacher on shore drew his attention to it. Before he 
 could recover what he had thus lost Danny was even 
 with him. 
 
 Danny's feet were churning the water at a wonderful 
 rate, and he was gaining. The boys on the rocks 
 waved their flag and screeched and rattled their bells. 
 
 But the Wabeek men had many friends. Indeed, the 
 sympathy of full half the people seemed to be with the 
 so-called "University Nine." The feeling of rivalry 
 was seen to be intense. Dimmick, the proprietor of the 
 Wabeek, with all of his friends and adherents, were 
 followers of Kirk and the University men, chiefly be- 
 cause Merriwell's party had left the Wabeek and set up 
 a camp in the woods. On the other hand, the people 
 of the Lake View, a rival house, were wildly enthu- 
 siastic over Merriwell's team, on account of the rescue
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 217 
 
 of Lucy Livingston. The boys were with Merriwell 
 because he was Merriwell, whom they knew to be all 
 that a manly, vigorous young fellow should be. 
 
 The face of one big ledge was almost covered with 
 Wabeek adherents, who howled and laughed whenever 
 Ogle was ahead and groaned when he fell behind. 
 Danny was two yards in advance, with the goal-line 
 near, when his boat also took a freak. His right leg 
 had become tired and was weakened in consequence. 
 Before he knew it his boat was moving off at a tan- 
 gent. 
 
 Ogle was coming more rapidly than ever, though 
 his speed was still as slow as that of a man who tries 
 to walk in a bag, and before Danny could get his boat 
 back the Wabeek contestant passed him and crossed 
 the goal-line, and won. 
 
 A terrific din went up from the Wabeek sympa- 
 thizers. The bells and horns and whistles of the Mer- 
 riwell boys were silent, while the Wabeek admirers 
 laughed and whooped until they made the rocks re- 
 sound. At one side, on a prominent projection, Her- 
 bert Hammerswell and Delancy Livingston stood and 
 swung their caps in delight. Lucy Livingston saw 
 them, and a shade of pain and annoyance passed over 
 her face. 
 
 "Two points for the Wabeeks," was the announce- 
 ment. 
 
 "A bad start makes a good ending, I've heard,"
 
 2i 8 How the Challenge Was Received. 
 
 Lucy said to Merriwell. "You will defeat them, I 
 know, even if you did lose that." 
 
 Danny and Ogle began to paddle back again, using 
 oars which had been in the boats, and Merriwell, ex- 
 cusing himself, hastened toward the dressing-tents, fol- 
 lowed by his men. Having discovered the station of 
 Merriwell's team, the boys, with their flag, came across 
 and took a position near. 
 
 "That wasn't no fair deal, anyway," one of them 
 was declaring. "Danny's legs was too short for that. 
 Wat made Merry put him into that? Why didn't 
 he take that long-legged feller?" 
 
 "Gamp?" 
 
 "Yes; why didn't he take him?" 
 
 "Merriwell's all right," asserted a third. "He's 
 goin' t' do these things up." 
 
 When Frank appeared he was accompanied by 
 eight men, making a total of nine, counting John 
 Swiftwing, the Pueblo. All were in swimming-suits. 
 
 Dunstan Kirk appeared from another dressing-tent, 
 also with eight men. Merriwell had asked to put 
 the Indian into the contest, and Kirk had chosen a 
 powerful woodsman named John Jackson, who was 
 noted throughout the region as a wonderful swimmer 
 and diver, and was to contest for points and honors 
 with Swiftwing. Jackson, in the suit which had been 
 furnished him, was a noble specimen of physical man- 
 hood. He was long of limb, and while wonderfully
 
 How the Challenge Was Received. 219 
 
 muscled, was not gnarled and knotted in development, 
 as was Ben Romine. Danny and Allen Ogle were not 
 to take part in the contest now about to take place, 
 for it was presumed that they would be too tired to be 
 of much use to either team. 
 
 "A swimming tug-of-war," announced Mattock, as 
 the contesting teams entered the water, and he walked 
 down the rocks with his pistol.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WATER SPORTS. 
 
 "I want you to watch John Jackson," Swiftwing 
 whispered to Merriwell. "He will injure me if he can. 
 We had a quarrel last year over a party that each of 
 us wanted to take into the woods, and he afterward 
 tried to hit me with a club on account of it. All 
 the bad men are not Indians." 
 
 Merriwell flashed a glance at the muscular young 
 woodsman, and saw him give Swiftwing a look of 
 deadly hate. Then he saw Herbert Hammerswell 
 wildly cheering Jackson. 
 
 "There is some understanding between those two 
 rascals," was his conclusion. "It wouldn't surprise 
 me to learn that Hammerswell has influenced Kirk 
 in some way to put Jackson on the team. If he at- 
 tempts to do dirt to Swiftwing, he will get hurt." 
 
 A long cable was being taken out in a boat. Round 
 the middle of it was tied a white cloth. This cloth 
 was to be placed directly under the starting-line, and 
 the two teams were to pull against each other on the 
 cable until one or the other was pulled across the start- 
 ing-line. The contest was much the same as a boat 
 tug-of-war, except that the pulling was to be done 
 by swimmers instead of boats.
 
 Water Sports. 221 
 
 As the teams waded and swam out to their places, 
 Merriwell drew near to Dunstan Kirk. 
 
 "Where did you pick up Jackson ?" he asked. "He 
 is a powerful fellow." 
 
 "Better than your Indian, I think. Hammersweli 
 recommended him to the proprietor of the Wabeek. 
 But I took him on my own judgment, after I had seen 
 him. He is a wonderful swimmer, they say, and any 
 one can see that he's as strong as a moose. If he 
 don't put it all over your Indian, I miss my guess." 
 
 "A splendidly muscled fellow," Merriwell admitted. 
 "But I am willing to put Swiftwing against him." 
 
 He had satisfied himself that his guess was true. 
 Hammersweli had been instrumental in getting Jack- 
 son placed on the Wabeek team, and between them 
 there was some under-handed understanding. 
 
 "I'll just keep my eye on the fellow," Frank thought, 
 as he swam easily along at the head of his men. 
 
 By the time the swimmers were in their places on 
 each side of the starting-line the cable was in posi- 
 tion. Not all of the men of both teams were good 
 swimmers. Merriwell had some fine swimmers, of 
 which he was Himself the best, and some poor ones, 
 of which Greg Carker was, perhaps, the poorest. Ma- 
 son, of Brown, was about as poor as Carker, and al- 
 together the teams seemed very evenly matched. The 
 best swimmer of the Athletic Team, next to Merri- 
 well, was John Swiftwing, the Pueblo.
 
 222 Water Sports. 
 
 "What's the matter with Merriwell?" one of tHe 
 boys yelled in a shrill voice. 
 
 And immediately the roar went up from a hundred 
 throats : 
 
 "He's all right." 
 
 As the swimmers had hold of the rope in readiness 
 for the signal, Merriwell looked shoreward. Lucy 
 Livingston was seated in the midst of a group of 
 young women and girls, who seemed to be chaperoned 
 by the wife of the Lake View proprietor. The group 
 caught that shoreward glance, and an answering flut- 
 ter of white handkerchiefs made Frank think of a 
 bower of white blossoms swayed by a fitful breeze. 
 He lifted a hand in acknowledgment. 
 
 "All the girls in the Great North Woods will be 
 stuck on Merriwell soon," grunted Bruce. 
 
 "I should think it would be Bart," whispered Ready, 
 who was near the big fellow. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "He's the catcher, you know." 
 
 Bang! 
 
 Mattock's pistol flashed, and the tug-of-war was 
 on. At the first surge the powerful pull of John Jack- 
 son drew the white line toward the Wabeek side more 
 than a foot. But Swiftwing drew it back. Then the 
 battle began. 
 
 As there were nine men pulling in each team, four 
 were on each side of the rope, with the captains in the
 
 Water Sports. 223 
 
 lead at the ends. Kirk was a splendid swimmer, so 
 that in arranging for the disposition of the men he 
 had been perfectly willing to take the lead at the end 
 of his half of the rope, in opposition to Merriwell. 
 The other swimmers were disposed to suit the notions 
 of the captains, Merriwell had put Swiftwing next the 
 starting-line, and Kirk had balanced Swiftwing with 
 John Jackson on the opposite side. The man next 
 Swiftwing on Merry's team, on the other side of the 
 rope, was Bruce Browning, who could pull in the water 
 like a team of horses. The men next, on opposite sides 
 of the rope, were Hodge and Rattleton. Then came 
 Ready and Gamp, Stubbs and Carker, and Merriwell 
 in the lead. Curringer was pulling with Jackson, 
 against Browning and Swiftwing. 
 
 "Pull, fellows ! Pull 'em out of the lake !" shouted 
 Danny, who stood on the shore, coaching and en- 
 couraging. 
 
 "Get 'em back again! Get 'em back!" yelled Allen 
 Ogle to the Wabeek men. "You can do it! There, 
 you're coming! Get 'em back!" 
 
 Only one hand could be used in swimming, as the 
 other was on the rope. The white line was again 
 moving to the Wabeek side. It crossed the line. One 
 yard two yards. The Wabeek adherents began to 
 yell. 
 
 "Now you're hitting them!" yelled Ogle. "Keep 
 'em coming!"
 
 224 Water Sports. 
 
 "Take a brace !" Danny screeched. "Get a move on 
 you, you snails!" 
 
 Swiftwing said something to Browning. Then the 
 two together made a mighty effort, and the white line 
 moved back. 
 
 "All together, now!" called Merriwell, also putting 
 forth all his tremendous strength. Carker and Bink 
 were growing weak. They were not equal to any 
 very long strain in the water. But Kirk's poorest 
 swimmers were likewise growing weak. The line con- 
 tinued to move toward Merriwell's side. The boys 
 waved their flag and screeched and made a furious 
 clamor with bells and horns, while the white handker- 
 chiefs of the girls grouped around Lucy Livingston 
 fluttered. 
 
 Suddenly John Jackson, who seemed already to be 
 exerting the strength of ten men, roused himself for 
 a final and mighty effort. 
 
 "Pull!" he sputtered, blowing back the waves from 
 his mouth in a spray. "Every tiger of you, pull! 
 Now!" 
 
 The white line jumped back a foot. It again crossed 
 the starting-line. 
 
 "Pull!" cried Jackson. "Pull, ye terriers, pull!" 
 
 He did not waste further breath, for breath was 
 precious, but, swimming low and deep, sweeping the 
 water backward with his free hand, he seemed to have 
 the strength and power of a small tug. In spite of
 
 Water Sports. 225 
 
 everything that Browning and Swiftwing could do, 
 aided by the others, the white line moved toward the 
 Wabeek side. 
 
 The Wabeek sympathizers were roaring. Once 
 more Merriwell, Browning, and Swiftwing the 
 strongest swimmers in Merry's team gathered them- 
 selves, and for a moment stopped the progress of the 
 white line; but only for a moment. Jackson threw 
 himself forward like a sea-horse, and again the white 
 line moved to the Wabeek side. 
 
 It was really a splendid exhibition for those on 
 shore the powerful strokes and tremendous strength 
 of Jackson, the young giant of the North Woods. He 
 was simply a wonder in such a contest. 
 
 The Wabeek men on the ledges stood up and roared 
 again and again as the cable was drawn to the Wa- 
 beek side and Kirk's team won. 
 
 "Ten points for the Wabeeks," was the announce- 
 ment. "Total for the Wabeeks, twelve points." 
 
 "And we haven't a thing," said Lucy Livingston to 
 the bevy of pretty girls about her. "Not a thing. I 
 feel sorry for Merriwell." 
 
 The big "Y" flag was trailing in the dust, the horns 
 and the bells were still and the boys on the slope did 
 not utter a word, but the Wabeek sympathizers they 
 seemed to want to pull the sky down. 
 
 One little fellow, who had been glumly sitting with
 
 226 Water Sports. 
 
 his chin in his hands and his hands on his knees, finally 
 lifted his head and called to the roarers : 
 
 "Merriwell's all right, and don't ye fergit it! He 
 couldn't do the whole thing by hisself!" 
 
 After a long rest, Browning and Jackson came from 
 their tents in swimming-suits. The other members of 
 the teams had temporarily donned their usual clothing. 
 
 As Jackson and Browning walked toward the water, 
 side by side, a comparison of the men was easy. Both 
 men were about the same age. Browning was a bit 
 fleshier and his skin was whiter. Jackson looked to be 
 more powerful about the shoulders. The greatest 
 contrast, however, was in the faces of the two men. 
 Bruce's features had a placid, easy, even lazy look. 
 Jackson's face was hard and stern. 
 
 "As a man, Bruce is worth a hundred of him," Mer- 
 riwell thought. 
 
 The clamor on the shore and on the ledges again 
 rose, and the boys ceased to grumble and argue. Mer- 
 riwell and some friends walked down on a point of 
 rocks, as did Kirk and other members of the Wabeek 
 nine. From this point a good view could be had of the 
 water, which at that point was crystal-clear. The 
 rocks and sand showed plainly. 
 
 A boat well laden with stones was towed out by 
 another boat and sunk. It lay in the crystal-clear 
 water, eight or ten feet below the surface, and plainly 
 visible to large numbers of the spectators.
 
 Water Sports. 227 
 
 "A novel test," Mattock announced. "The one who 
 gets that boat to the surface in the shortest time will 
 win five points. He may do it in his own way." 
 
 There was a scampering for better viewpoints, and 
 some men climbed a rocky pinnacle that looked sheer 
 down into the water. 
 
 Browning and Jackson stood together at the water's 
 edge. 
 
 "Are you ready, Jackson ?" called Mattock. 
 
 Jackson bent forward and nodded. The pistol 
 spoke, and he dived instantly. He could be seen when 
 under the water almost as plainly as when on shore. 
 He first tried to lift the boat, then began to take out 
 the stones. He worked with lightning speed, for it is 
 impossible for any one to remain long under water, 
 especially when exerting himself. He lifted again, 
 and brought the boat to the surface. 
 
 "Ten seconds!" said Mattock. 
 
 The same stones were then laboriously fished up and 
 heaped in the boat, which was sunk again on the same 
 spot. A hundred watches were now out and necks 
 were being strained. 
 
 "Can't be done in quicker time than that," Ham- 
 merswell was heard to say. 
 
 "Aw! that was deuced speedy, don't you know," 
 drawled Delancy. Merriwell looked up and saw that 
 both were on the rocky point, almost above his head. 
 'Hammerswell gave him a look of defiant hate.
 
 228 Water Sports. 
 
 "Are you ready, Browning?" Mattock asked, hold- 
 ing his watch in one hand and the pistol in the other. 
 
 "Ready!" said Bruce. 
 
 Bang! 
 
 Bruce dived like a fish. He did not stop to remove 
 a single stone; but, bending over the boat, he swung 
 upward with all his mighty strength, and the boat caine 
 to the surface. 
 
 "Five seconds!" said Mattock, in a tone of amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 The friends of MerriweH's team felt that their time 
 had come at last. They simply howled. The boys 
 waved the big "Y" flag and screeched, and then added 
 to the universal din by tooting the horns and whistles 
 and ringing the bells. 
 
 "Hurrah for Browning!" yelled Rattleton, swinging 
 his cap. 
 
 Again the yell broke out. 
 
 "Man, what are your muscles made of?" Mattock 
 asked, clearly showing his surprise. 
 
 "Meat," drawled Bruce, as he came dripping to the 
 shore. 
 
 And no one was more astonished than John Jack- 
 son. He had felt that he could beat Bruce at any 
 feat of strength, simply because he seemed to outpull 
 him in the water. 
 
 "Five points for the Merriwells," Mattock an- 
 nounced.
 
 Water Sports. 229 
 
 "Five points. Oh, we're coming up!" said Carker. 
 "If we had seven more we'd be even-Steven !" 
 
 "I wonder how many points they'd give me if I'd 
 lift that boat ?" Bink swaggeringly asked. 
 
 "A million," said Merriwell. 
 
 "Then I guess I'll lift it and win the game. Have 
 them sink it again for me, will you?" 
 
 After a rest, Swiftwing and Jackson came from the 
 dressing-tents ready to engage in another contest. 
 The wind had begun to blow in fitful gusts and storm- 
 clouds had appeared. One cloud in the southwest be- 
 gan to look dark and threatening. Merriwell studied 
 it anxiously. 
 
 "I'm afraid we're not to finish these contests," he 
 said, speaking to Kirk. 
 
 "I've been noticing that cloud for some time," re- 
 plied Kirk. "I don't believe we can get through. 
 There may be time, though. If not, we'll have to call 
 the thing off." 
 
 "No need of that. We'll simply finish them in the 
 morning." 
 
 Hammerswell was near. He heard the words with 
 wild joy. He had seen the clouds and he had talked 
 with John Jackson. 
 
 "Oh, if it will only go over till to-morrow!" he 
 grated. "I haven't been able to do a thing to-day. 
 Neither has Jackson. We're too closely watched. But 
 if the diving: goes over until to-morrow! I wouldn't;
 
 230 Water Sports. 
 
 have thought of it but for Jackson and the thing Mer- 
 riwell said awhile ago to Kirk. If the thing goes 
 over till to-morrow, I can fix Merriwell." 
 
 His face had so vindicative a look that he turned 
 it from the crowds and stared out over the water, with- 
 out seeing anything, however, but merely to conceal 
 that look. A boat had been anchored two hundred 
 yards out in the lake. Swiftwing and Jackson were 
 rowed out to this boat, which they entered. Then 
 each stood on a thwart, facing toward the shore. 
 
 "A swimming-race between Swiftwing and Jack- 
 son!" Mattock announced. "They will swim from 
 the boat to this line drawn between these two boats 
 here by the shore, the first passing under the line to 
 win ten points." 
 
 Then he stood up, and, facing toward the boat, lifted 
 his pistol. The moment the pistol flashed the swim- 
 mers sprang into the water. Jackson came up farther 
 from the boat than the Pueblo, and began to swim 
 shoreward with a powerful, steady stroke. He seemed 
 to go through the water like an amphibious creature. 
 But Swiftwing was soon close at his heels, perhaps two 
 yards behind him, not more. 
 
 The Wabeek men began to shout again. They 
 were sure of Jackson's swimming abilities, after the 
 exhibition he had given. But their shouting seemed 
 premature. Swiftwing began slowly to gain on his 
 competitor. When fifty yards had been covered his
 
 Water Sports. 
 
 head was at Jackson's shoulders. At the half-way 
 point he passed Jackson. At the one hundred and fifty- 
 yard point more than half his body was ahead of Jack- 
 son. 
 
 Then he was seen to give a sudden flounce and to 
 lose headway. Jackson spurted on. Swiftwing tried 
 to recover the lost distance, but could not, and Jack- 
 son came in winner. 
 
 "The Wabeeks ten points twenty-two in all!" was 
 the announcement. 
 
 While the cheering was at its height Merriwell 
 stepped toward Swiftwing. He knew that something 
 treacherous had happened. And as Swiftwing came 
 out of the water his right leg was seen to be bleeding. 
 
 "He stabbed me!" he hissed. 
 
 Jackson heard the words and turned back. 
 
 "What's that ?" he demanded, with a fierce scowl. 
 
 "You struck me with a knife," said Swiftwing. 
 
 "Let's be sure of it," Merry advised, and Swift- 
 wing, crushing down his heart of fire with Indian 
 stolidity, walked composedly to the dressing-tent. 
 
 A shallow gash an inch long was seen in his leg, 
 below the knee. 
 
 Kirk hastened to the tent. 
 
 "Jackson says that he did not touch Swiftwing," 
 he declared. "Swiftwing must have struck something 
 a piece of drift, perhaps. Such a thing could easily 
 happen."
 
 232 Water Sports. 
 
 He was anxious not to lose the ten points, but still 
 did not wish them if gained unfairly. Merriwell 
 looked again at the cut. He saw how difficult it would 
 be to prove that it had been made with a knife. Still, 
 he had been expecting treachery from Jackson ever 
 since he knew that Hammerswell had been instru- 
 mental in getting the woodsman on the Wabeek team. 
 
 "I shall find out the truth of this," he quietly said. 
 "Tell Jackson so, will you. Any man who strikes at 
 one of my men strikes at me. This is my quarrel just 
 as much as it is Swiftwing's. Tell Jackson so, and tell 
 him that there will be a settlement with him, just as 
 sure as I find that he is guilty." 
 
 The thunder bellowed. The storm was coming, and 
 the spectators began hurriedly to leave the grounds.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A MURDEROUS PLOT* 
 
 The proprietor of the Lake View gave a suppef 
 that night, to which the members of Merriwell's Ath- 
 letic Team were invited. Lucy Livingston was there, 
 of course, and Frank found an opportunity to engage 
 her in conversation. She seemed as happy as a re- 
 leased bird. Her bright eyes sparkled, her laugh 
 was infectious, and she was altogether charming. 
 
 "You can't imagine what makes me so happy to- 
 night?" she queried. 
 
 "Because the Wabeek men beat us on points to-day, 
 I suppose," was his roguish answer. 
 
 "They will not beat you to-morrow. You can beat 
 them yet !" 
 
 "If we win everything. There are only two things 
 more : another swimming-match and the high dive." 
 
 "I have been made happy by a letter I received this 
 evening from father." 
 
 "I remember -that you mentioned your father." 
 
 "And you remember that I asked you not to punish 
 Herbert Hammerswell, for my father's sake. You 
 thought it a queer request, and it was. But it wasn't 
 a mere whim. Father has been telling me for some 
 time that he has been under great financial obligations
 
 234 A Murderous Plot. 
 
 to Mr. Hammerswell, and that he wished me to treat 
 him nicely and do all that I could to make matters 
 pleasant for him. I have done so, though I have hated 
 the very sight of him." 
 
 "I thought you were engaged to be married to 
 him," Frank teasingly quizzed. 
 
 "Well, I wasn't. Though it wasn't his fault. But 
 about that letter. Father has been threatened with a 
 mortgage which Hammerswell held, and instead of 
 being under obligations to him, as he told me, he was 
 simply afraid of him. That debt has been paid; and 
 now I can be myself again, regardless of Herbert 
 Hammerswell !" 
 
 "So that is the solution of the riddle?" 
 
 "Very simple, isn't it ? But it has lifted a mountain 
 for me. If I can only get Delancy to give up his 
 company, now!" 
 
 "Which you never can," Merriwell thought, "for 
 he is another rascal like Hammerswell !" 
 
 The proof of this was being furnished at that mo- 
 ment, though neither of the speakers dreamed so. 
 Hammerswell and Delancy had early withdrawn from 
 the company gathered at the Lake View. The storm 
 had passed, and they were out on the lake-shore. 
 With them were two other men, one of whom was 
 John Jackson. The other was a drunken, disreputable 
 fellow named Pike Conner. Hammerswell and Liv- 
 ingston had never met Conner before, and that he
 
 A Murderous Plot. 235 
 
 might not recognize them should he meet with them 
 again they talked in thickened voices and wore masks 
 made of handkerchiefs. 
 
 The strength of four men was necessary to per- 
 form the black deed contemplated, and Hammerswell 
 had liberally paid Jackson for his services and for 
 the services of another safe man he was to bring with 
 him. This "safe" man was Conner. 
 
 "Right here is where Merriwell will make his great 
 dive !" said Hammerswell, not able to conceal the sneer 
 of hate. "He will dive from the top of that high bluff 
 into this deep water. I heard him talking about ifc 
 this afternoon; and this evening when he came out 
 here to locate the place with that Indian I sneaked 
 after him and heard what they said." 
 
 "And that redskin thinks I jabbed a knife into his 
 leg!" growled Jackson. "He cut his leg with some- 
 thin', and then tried to lay it onto me to explain how 
 he got beat. I'll beat his head in !" 
 
 "Perhaps you did cut it?" suggested Hammerswell. 
 
 "Less talk of that kind you git off the better fer you 
 and this business !" warned Jackson. 
 
 Hammerswell collapsed like a closing jack-knife. 
 
 "The hole is right here. I've been here before, and 
 it's so deep and dark that no one can see anything on 
 the bottom. Now where is that stump?" 
 
 For answer, Jackson led the way a short distance
 
 236 A Murderous Plot. 
 
 along the shore and pointed out a tree stump that was 
 almost wholly submerged. 
 
 "It's water-soaked and heavy as iron," he said. 
 "When it goes down it will stay. We'll have to carry 
 it there, and through the water, too, so's not to leave 
 any sign. Take hold, there, Conner." 
 
 Conner took hold, as did Hammerswell and De- 
 lancy Livingston, though the latter grumbled through 
 his mask that he did not like to get all wet and muddy. 
 
 "Take holt, all o' ye!" Jackson snarled. "Conner 
 and me can't do all the lifting." 
 
 The soaked tree trunk was a heavy load for them, 
 but after much struggling and straining they moved 
 it across the intervening space and succeeded in sinking 
 it in the spot which Herbert had pointed out. 
 
 "That's O. K. !" he gleefully exclaimed, when the 
 work was done. "When Frank Merriwell makes that 
 high dive he will go smash into that!" 
 
 Even Jackson seemed to shudder at the cold-blood- 
 edness of the plot against Merriwell. 
 
 "I wouldn't go down there for a hundred dollars! 
 Ain't no one else li'ble to, I s'pose ?" 
 
 "Not unless it's the Indian." 
 
 "I'd give a million dollars, if I had it, if he would !" 
 snarled Jackson. 
 
 "If they should want some one to compete against 
 them, I'll pay you a hundred dollars to jump off there," 
 said Hammerswell. "You know where the stump is*
 
 A Murderous Plot 837 
 
 an3 you could avoid it. That would draw Merriwell 
 on, and he would go smash into it!" 
 
 "I'll do it!" Jackson hoarsely promised. 
 
 Then the cowardly quartet, having done their work, 
 crept away. 
 
 The crowd was not so great the next morning, but 
 it was roaring wild. Frank Merriwell had entered a 
 protest against the swimming-race won by Jackson; 
 the protest had been allowed, and the race had been 
 swam over. And it was handsomely won by Swift- 
 wing, in spite of the fact that his leg was somewhat 
 stiff from the knife cut Jackskon had strenuously de- 
 nied that he had struck at Swiftwing with a knife, but 
 Merriwell had told him flatly that he lied, and that 
 the knife had been concealed in the trunks he wore, 
 and Jackson's manner had confirmed Merriwell in the 
 belief. More than that, Merriwell intended to have 
 Jackson arrested as soon as the contests were finished. 
 With this race to the credit of Merriwell's team, the 
 score was now fifteen to twelve in favor of the Merri- 
 wells. 
 
 Then Merriwell went in and won the swimming-race 
 in which he was pitted against Dunstan Kirk, and won 
 it more handsomely even than Swiftwing had won 
 his. The score became twenty-five to twelve. Danny; 
 and Bink fairly screamed with delight, and Rattle- 
 ton's tongue became so twisted he could hardly talk, 
 while the boyish supporters of Merriwell filled the air
 
 A Murderous Plot. 
 
 with such deafening braying of the horns that all 
 other sounds were almost drowned. 
 
 The last thing on the list of contests was the high 
 dive. Hammerswell chewed his tongue in a very 
 anguish of hate and mortification, but, with fiendish 
 gloating, he was still biding his time. He hated Mer- 
 riwell that morning more than he had ever hated 
 him before. Lucy Livingston had suddenly changed 
 in her manner, now treating him with cold disdain, 
 and he attributed this change to Merriwell. 
 
 "Wait till he dives ! Wait till he dives !" he mentally; 
 panted. 
 
 Hammerswell came to Jackson. 
 
 "I have just heard them talking. You are to dive 
 against Swiftwing. Merriwell doesn't want Swift- 
 flying to dive from that highest point. He says it is 
 too high. I want you to insist on that spot, though, 
 for the stump is there. It will be one hundred dol- 
 lars in your pocket if you do. Swiftwing is going to 
 back out, I can see, and Merriwell will be the one to 
 dive against you. It's working round to that. You 
 will know where to- leap to avoid the stump, and Mer- 
 riwell will dive straight into it. A hundred dollars 1" 
 
 "Lift it a little!" said Jackson dubiously. 
 
 Hammerswell grew desperate. 
 
 "Two hundred!" he whispered. "Work the thing, 
 and I'll give you two hundred 1" 
 
 "How much down?"
 
 A Murderous Plot 239 
 
 They were in a place secure from observation, and 
 Hammerswell took out his purse and gave Jackson a 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 "There! Go for the other hundred, and you shall 
 have it!" 
 
 "Correct ! I'll git it. If Swiftwing dives, I'll have 
 my revenge, and if Merriwell dives you'll have yours. 
 I'll make 'em do it." 
 
 A little later Dunstan Kirk came to Frank. 
 
 "Jackson insists that the dive be made from the 
 point first agreed on." 
 
 "All right," Frank answered. "If Swiftwing 
 doesn't care to try it, I may take his place I suppose?" 
 
 "Yes; any of your men." 
 
 "The dive will be made, Kirk. Tell Jackson to 
 get ready." 
 
 The points to be given for the high dive were 
 twenty; so that, as the score now stood, the winner of 
 the high dive would win victory for his team. Not 
 only the fact of diving from this perilous projection, 
 but the manner of the dive, the quickness of the re- 
 appearance out of the water and other things were to i 
 be considered by the judges in making their award. 
 
 Merriwell went to the dressing-tents, where he 
 found Swiftwing getting ready. 
 
 "I'll make the dive," was Swiftwing's grim declara- 
 tion. "I can dive from any point that Jackson can.'*
 
 240 A Murderous Plot. 
 
 "You're a courageous fellow, Swiftwing, and a more 
 beautiful swimmer never went through water !" 
 
 Then Merriwell went into another tent and put on 
 his swimming-suit, to be ready for an emergency, or to 
 take Swiftwing's place if necessary. When he came 
 out Kirk appeared from another tent similarly clad. 
 The four swimmers, accompanied by a few friends, 
 proceeded to the top of the high, rocky bluff, cheered 
 by their sympathizers. Out in the lake was a boat 
 manned by skilful hands, ready to pick up any diver 
 who should show signs of exhaustion when he rose 
 from the water. Farther out was a small lake steamer, 
 black with spectators. 
 
 A deathless hush fell on the throng when the divers 
 came out into view on the top of the bluff. 
 
 "My time has come!" Hammerswell was panting. 
 "I know Merriwell, and he will make that dive sure. 
 My time has come!" 
 
 Jackson, who was to dive first, walked out upon the 
 extreme point of rock and looked down into the water. 
 He fancied he could see the water-logged stump, with 
 its roots thrust upward like spears, ready to impale 
 him. He grew sick and giddy. The thought that he 
 might make a miss in his calculation, or that a current 
 of wind might strike him and pull him aside and im- 
 pale him on the roots, fairly froze the blood in his 
 veins. His head became giddy. He grew blind, and 
 felt as if he were about to pitch from the bluff.
 
 A Murderous Plot. 241 
 
 "I can't do it!" he gasped, reeling back from the 
 point. "I can't do it !" 
 
 "You insisted on this place !" said Frank sharply. 
 
 "I give in. I can't do it!" 
 
 Swiftwing stepped past Merriwell and out to the 
 point. 
 
 "I can do it!" he hissed, giving Jackson a look of 
 scorn and hate. 
 
 Then, before Merriwell could interfere, he sprang 
 into the air and shot downward, head first, with his ex- 
 tended hands thrust out before in diver fashion. He 
 had looked like a brown wood-god as he stood for 
 that brief moment on the bluff handsome as a Greek 
 Apollo in form, with head erect, chest expanded and 
 eyes flashing, the thin swimming-suit, with the white 
 "Y" on the breast, revealing instead of hiding his 
 magnificent form. 
 
 When he shot downward he looked even more at- 
 tractive, and the feat was, besides, thrilling. The 
 throng seemed to gasp for breath. Carker, below, 
 coolly leveled his camera and took a snap-shot of the 
 swiftly descending figure a thing almost as difficult 
 as to take a picture of a lightning flash. 
 
 Frank Merriwell was on the extreme point of the 
 bluff before Swiftwing struck the water. He saw him 
 disappear without a splash, cleanly and smoothly. A 
 prettier dive was never made. Then he waited for 
 him to appear.
 
 242 A Murderous Plot 
 
 But Swiftwing did not come to the surface. The 
 moments passed. A restless, bellowing sound came 
 ifrom the spectators, who were standing up now, lifted 
 gs if by some invisible power. 
 
 "Something is wrong !" Merriwell whispered. Then, 
 Ivithout a moment's hesitation, he put his hands to- 
 gether above his head, leaped from the bluff head first, 
 and sped to the aid of Swiftwing. 
 
 "Killed ! Killed !" Hammerswell was gasping, while 
 his face was ashy white and his heart seemed to have 
 stopped beating. 
 
 But Frank Merriwell, feeling that Swiftwing had 
 struck against something, had leaped to one side to 
 avoid that danger spot. He went into the water with 
 the easy, gliding motion of a downward-thrust spear, 
 and the spectators again grew breathless. They felt 
 that some terrible tragedy was being enacted before 
 them. 
 
 As soon as he touched bottom Frank swam towar'd 
 the point where he knew Swiftwing had vanished. His 
 hands came in contact with the stump, the roots of 
 which he dimly saw straggling out before him like 
 the arms of an octopus. He knew that deadly treach- 
 ery had been at work. He had previously examined 
 that bottom, and no stump had been there. He ex- 
 pected to find Swiftwing dead. Wedged fast amid the 
 Iroots, he found Swiftwing. 
 
 thejj killed you, Swiftwing? 1 was his
 
 A Murderous Plot 243 
 
 thought. "This is the work of Jackson! I ought to 
 have had this place inspected this morning. This is my 
 fault!" 
 
 He let his hands slide quickly over Swiftwing's body, 
 and found that the Pueblo's head and shoulders had 
 been driven between two roots, which had closed 
 against him and now held him fast. The picture of the 
 terrible struggle which Swiftwing had probably made 
 rose before his mental vision. Then he felt Swift- 
 wing's form quiver under his fingers. Swiftwing was 
 not dead! 
 
 Merriwell began to work with savage energy, though 
 without undue excitement. Already his ears were 
 ringing and cracking, and the pressure on his lungs 
 was becoming unbearable. He took hold of the clasp- 
 ing roots and pulled. They gave, but did not break. 
 The pressure on his lungs grew greater, and his ears 
 snapped as if the drums were collapsing. His head 
 began to feel queer. 
 
 Again he pulled and surged. His lungs felt as if 
 they were bursting. A sense of giddiness and faintness 
 was taking possession of him. His head seemed ready 
 to fly open. 
 
 "My God !" was his thought, "I must save him ! It 
 was all my fault!" 
 
 The realization seemed to give him the strength of 
 ten men. He tore the roots asunder, pulled the body 
 of Swiftwing from their embrace^ and, with the Indian
 
 244 A Murderous Plot. 
 
 in his arms, gave a downward kick on the bottom of 
 the lake with his feet and shot toward the surface. 
 
 "A thousand dollars!" grated Jackson. "A thou- 
 sand dollars right in my fist, or I blow the whole thing. 
 Merriwell's got a warrant out fer me, and I'm goin* 
 into the woods. But I'll tell jist what you had to do 
 with it 'fore I go, if you don't cough up the dough !" 
 
 He was speaking to Hammerswell in the darkness 
 back of the Lake View, where he had met Hammers- 
 well to receive the remainder of his pay. 
 
 "I haven't a thousand!" Hammerswell begged, 
 "And no one was killed, anyway! Merriwell saved 
 the Indian and found the stump." 
 
 " 'Course ! That's why I slide. A thousand, on 
 the whole thing goes to the public. I ain't got no time 
 to monkey. I've writ a letter which I'll give to oc 
 send to the proprietor of the Lake View. Here it is. 
 Is it worth a thousand dollars to you ?" 
 
 He held it up, and Hammerswell desperately tried 
 to snatch it. 
 
 "No ye don't!" 
 
 "Let me read it !" 
 
 "No ye don't!" 
 
 "I haven't a thousand with me." 
 
 "All right, then ! It goes to the Lake View and I'm 
 off for the woods !"
 
 A Murderous Plot. 245 
 
 "Make it leas!" 
 
 "A thousand er nothin' ! And no time to monkey!" 
 
 Herbert Hammerswell paid it. 
 
 ******* 
 
 "Whoop!" howled Bink, turning a handspring and 
 then standing on his head. "We beat 'em in the water 
 sports, and to-morrow we'll knock their eyes out in 
 that ball-game!" 
 
 "Sure!" agreed Rattleton. "Can't anything beat 
 MerriwdU"
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AT THE CAMP. 
 
 "Hammerswell made those fellows hand over the 
 cash," said Greg Carker, speaking to Merriwell and 
 a group of the Athletic Team, who sat or stood in front 
 of the big wall tent at Merriwell's camp in the early 
 morning after the water-sports contests. "One of 
 them swiped it off the table when he sKv they were 
 beaten and tried to run with it, but Hammerswell 
 stopped him. I didn't think he had the sand." 
 
 "Oh, it wasn't Hammerswell !" Hodge contradicted. 
 "He hasn't the courage of a rabbit I heard it was 
 Delancy Livingston." 
 
 "Yes, it was Delancy who made them cough up the 
 dough," said Danny. 
 
 "He and Ham will knead the dough, if they buck 
 against Merriwell and me!' grandiloquently declared 
 Bink Stubbs. 
 
 "You've got putty in your head!" snapped Danny, 
 secretly wishing that he had made the pun. 
 
 "Who were they?" Merriwell asked. 
 
 "Some bloods from New York," answered Carker. 
 "Hammerswell and Delancy got them into a poker- 
 game at Lake View and skinned them out of an aw-
 
 At the Camp. 247 
 
 ful roll. I don't know how much, but the report is 
 that it was up in the thousands." 
 
 "When the 'University Nine' comes up against us 
 this afternoon they'll knead the dough that some of 
 them are again betting!'' chirped Ready. 
 
 "They'll wed the twine-press I mean tread the 
 wine-press!" crowed Rattleton. 
 
 "They'll sweat blood!" grimly declared Browning. 
 
 "I'd agree with you, if Merry was going to pitch," 
 said Hodge. "But his wrist is knocked out. With 
 Swiftwing in the box, things look different." 
 
 "Swiftwing will do," Frank declared. "I have 
 watched him closely in his practise work since he came 
 into the team. He can pitch pretty well." 
 
 "You bet he can!" squealed Bink. "We'll just 
 knock the eye out of that Wabeek team !" 
 
 The picture was so satisfying that Bink exultantly 
 turned a somersault and stood on his head, with one 
 foot waving triumphantly. 
 
 "Talking about the courage of a rabbit," laughed 
 Jack Ready, his red-apple cheeks redder from the 
 effects of his morning plunge in the lake, "Bink makes 
 me think of a festive bunny kicking round in the jubi- 
 lant dawn." 
 
 "Practising for acrobatic work as sHort-stop," said 
 Bink, still standing on his head and flourishing his 
 foot "This is the way I shall do when a grass-cutting
 
 248 At the Camp. 
 
 grounder comes my way. Simply up-end and take it 
 in! See?" 
 
 "Take it in with your open mouth?" asked Brown- 
 ing, who was lying on the ground, feeling too lazy 
 to stand up when it was not absolutely necessary. 
 
 "Any old way!" squealed Bink. "It doesn't matter 
 how I up-end and take it in, if I take it in !" 
 
 "All your brains will run out of your ears, if you 
 try to make stump speeches standing on your head!" 
 Carker warned. 
 
 "No brains to run out !" Bruce drawled. 
 
 "Come down, Binkey, dear!" begged Danny. "We 
 see that you can do it! 
 
 "You're like the little rabbit, 
 Who had a foolish habit 
 
 Of standing on his head to speak a piece> 
 Till his teacher said: 'Now, Bunny, 
 Such conduct isn't funny, 
 
 And really these performances must cease!'" 
 
 Bink gave his leg a last flourish and came down. 
 
 "Where did you steal that from?" he demanded, 
 sitting up and looking very red in the face. 
 
 "Bunny, you're as read as an old book!" chirped 
 Ready. 
 
 "You can't claim it/' Danny squeaked. "I stole it 
 from a man who had brains." 
 
 "I've got one for you," said Bink, his eye catching 
 the ghostly white face of the moon over the lake, which
 
 At the 'Camp. 249 
 
 the sunlight had not yet driven into obscurity. "Why- 
 does the man in the moon never get married ?" 
 
 "Oh, that's easy ! He stays up so late that no sen- 
 sible woman will have him." 
 
 "Sensible has nothing to do with it." 1 
 
 "Insensible woman, then!" 
 
 "He lul-looks too tut-tut-tarnal sick for any woman 
 to lul-like !" stuttered Joe Gamp. 
 
 "He's too much of a high-roller," guessed Jack 
 Ready. 
 
 "Wrong! All wrong!" 
 
 "Then tell us, Danny, dear!" drawled Bruce. 
 
 "He only makes a quarter a week, and he gets full 
 every month." 
 
 "That's enough to make me stand on my head 
 again!" gasped Bink. "You must have some new, 
 sharp files in your joke-shop. Comic newspaper-files, 
 I mean!" 
 
 "Had horse-radish and razors for my breakfast/* 
 
 "Horse-radish?" 
 
 "Yes ; it was sharp. So were the razors." 
 
 "Kill him!" groaned Bruce, rolling lazily over 9n 
 his back. "Fire him off the team." 
 
 "You fellows seem to think that we'll down the 
 Wabeeks without any trouble this afternoon," said 
 Hodge. "I don't. It isn't going to be a little bit 
 easy. Swiftwing can't pitch with Curringer. I've 
 watched him, too."
 
 250 At the Camp. 
 
 "Oh, you're just jealous of Swiftwing!" Bruce 
 drawled. Whereupon Hodge's dark face grew pur- 
 plish-red. 
 
 "Maybe you think talk like that is pleasant, but it 
 isn't. It makes me tired. If you can't say anything 
 with sense, I'll thank you to keep still." 
 
 "Always when you jab a fellow in a raw spot he 
 squirms !" 
 
 Hodge was on the verge of an explosion. Merri- 
 well gave him a look and he got up and walked fu- 
 mingly away. 
 
 "You oughtn't dig at Hodge that way, when you 
 know how touchy he is !" 
 
 "Thunderation, Merry! Can't the fellow take a 
 joke? But I hit dead center. His actions show it/' 
 
 "Well, Lucy is pretty enough to get stuck on," said 
 Bink. "I'd get stuck on her myself, if she'd only 
 look at me." 
 
 * "Wouldn't anybody get stuck on a runt like you/* 
 declared Danny. 
 
 "Brother, give me a cigarette!" Bink begged, imi- 
 tating the manner of Lew Veazie. 
 
 Danny gave him the cigarette. 
 
 "Do you suppose that Swiftwing has tumbled in 
 love with Lucy Livingston?" Carker seriously asked. 
 
 "Do you suppose that Lucy Livingston has tumbled 
 in love with Swiftwing?" chirped Ready.
 
 At the Camp. 251 
 
 i 
 
 "Well, the Indian has been giving her some mighty; 
 soft sheep's-eye glances," Bink asserted, striking a 
 match to light his cigarette. "And if she isn't in love 
 with him, then looks are deceiving." 
 
 "He did look like a forest king yesterday," Ready 
 averred. "Did you ever see such a picture as he made 
 when he stood on top of the bluff before making the 
 dive? I got a snap-shot of that." 
 
 "And while making the dive?" said Carker. "I got 
 a snap-shot of that." 
 
 "But he's an Indian," said Danny. 
 
 "And 'all the good Indians are dud-dud-dead P " 
 Gamp quoted. 
 
 Merriwell arose and walked after Hodge. He had 
 seen what was fermenting between Bart and Swift- 
 wing. He did not believe that Hodge had really fallen 
 in love with Lucy Livingston, but he felt that he could 
 not blame him if he had, for Lucy was an uncommonly 
 pretty girl. On the other hand the girl's evident ad- 
 miration for John Swiftwing, the handsome, stalwart, 
 almost physically prfect Pueblo, had been almost un- 
 disguised. At first her fancy had been for Merriwell, 
 but Swiftwing's performance and the physical perfec- 
 tion he exhibited at the water-sports contests had vron 
 her girlish eye. 
 
 "I don't know as I can blame her," Frank thought, 
 as he walked swiftly on in the direction taken by
 
 252 At the Camp. 
 
 Bart. "But he is an Indian. He is educated, it is true, 
 and dressed like a white " 
 
 He sought to check the thought. He did not desire 
 even in thought to wrong the Pueblo, whom he liked 
 and admired. Yet he could not forget his experiences 
 with Swiftwing at the pueblo of Taos, when the young 
 redskin had been smitten by the beauty of Inza 
 Burrage and had carried her away on a fleet horse, 
 (thinking she returned his love. 
 
 "I don't know that I should be sorry if Bart should 
 really fall in love with Lucy Livingston !" he thought. 
 "There isn't any girl too good or too handsome for 
 Hodge, even if he is quick-tempered and obstinate. He 
 is true as steel. Browning ought not to have flung 
 that at him. He has taken a fancy to the girl, and, of 
 course, all the fellows see it, but that's not the way to 
 handle Hodge. I'm afraid there's going to be trouble 
 between him and Swiftwing. It would be just like 
 Bart to refuse to catch, if Swiftwing pitches." 
 
 The ball-game between Merriwell's Athletic Team 
 and the "University" or Wabeek Nine was not to be 
 called until two o'clock, but long before that hour 
 people began to arrive on the grounds at the Wabeek 
 Hotel, where the game was to be played. Dimmick, 
 the proprietor, was an up-to-date man, and on his 
 grounds there was a small, but attractive grand stand 
 and bleachers of semi-rustic work, and a fence to keep 
 the spectators from crowding the diamond. As a re-
 
 At the Camp. 
 
 suit, some good ball-playing was often to be seen at 
 the Wabeek, which had become rather noted as the ball- 
 players' hotel. 
 
 All of the neighboring hotels sent heavy contingents 
 of spectators that day; and the crowd constantly in- 
 creased, until it was seen that no previous contest be- 
 tween the Athletic Team and the Wabeeks had ex- 
 cited such interest. This was largely due, of course, 
 to the dramatic incidents of the water-sports contests 
 as well as to the fact that the people now knew that the 
 playing would be worth going a long distance to wit- 
 ness. 
 
 Shortly after noon the boys from the Lake View 
 came over with their flag showing the white Y on a 
 blue field, and with their horns and bells and whistles, 
 determined to make a lively racket. They were Mer- 
 riwell partisans, and they were joined by all the boys 
 on the grounds, including even those from the Wa- 
 beek Hotel. 
 
 "We'll whoop 'er up fer Merry this afternoon, and 
 don't yer forget it!" Frank heard them say, as he 
 walked past them. 
 
 "Say, he ain't goin' t' pitch !" one of them gasped. 
 "Heard a feller tellin' Mattock so." 
 
 "De double-shoot's bu'sted his wrist !" said another. 
 
 They looked admiringly after Merriwell as he 
 walked on. 
 
 "What's that?". a man inquired.
 
 254 At the Camp. 
 
 "Bu'sted his wrist wid de double-shoot!" explained 
 the boy. "Wen he played de odder game. See?" 
 
 "The double-shoot?" 
 
 The boy looked at him in amazement. 
 
 "Ain't ye heard nuttin' 'bout Merriwell's double- 
 shoot?" 
 
 "No!" 
 
 "Huh!" 
 
 Then he turned to the boys. 
 
 "He's a reg'lar Rip Van Winkle. Been asleep fer 
 twenty years. Ain't heerd o' Merriwell's doubles 
 shoot!" 
 
 "Swiftwing's goin' t' pitch. There he comes !" 
 
 Swift wing passed and flashed a glance at Lucy 
 Livingston, who had taken a seat in the grand stand. 
 She saw the look and flushed. But it was apparent 
 that she was not sorry to attract the admiration of the 
 Pueblo, and her eyes followed him admiringly as he 
 walked over to Merriwell and began to talk with him. 
 
 Bart Hodge had come back with Merriwell after a 
 long walk in the woods, ready to put on the catcher's 
 mask and do his level best against the Wabeeks, in 
 spite of the fact that his heart was seething against 
 the Indian, whose face he had a wild desire to ham- 
 mer in. 
 
 "It will grind me to catch for him, but I'll do it !" he 
 had promised Merriwell. 
 
 Still the crowd grew, until it seemed impossible that
 
 At the Camp. 255 
 
 so many people could have been found in that part of 
 the Adirondacks, even though it was a popular summer 
 resort section of the Great North Woods. Hammers- 
 well and Delancy Livingston came over, and also took 
 seats in the grand stand. They were in a cheerful 
 frame of mind, for they had not only won a big amount 
 of money in the poker-game from the New York 
 bloods but they were confident that Merriwell's team 
 would be beaten. 
 
 They agreed in their opinions with Kirk and others 
 of the Wabeek nine that the first game had been won 
 by a streak of pure luck. When the game was analyzed 
 it did seem so. Until the very last, everything was 
 going to the Wabeeks, when a sudden turn brought 
 Merry's men out on the winning side. 
 
 Curringer, of Princeton, the Wabeek pitcher, was 
 really glad, however, that he did not have to meet 
 Merriwell. He believed that the previous game had 
 been won by dead luck, but he knew that Merriwell was 
 a pitcher of undisputed ability, and he knew nothing 
 in favor of the ability of Swiftwing. 
 
 "Oh, that Indian will be dead easy!" he had de- 
 clared to Kirk. 
 
 "We're bound to do them this time!" Wadkins 
 had asserted, in supreme confidence. "Most of his men 
 are nothing but lobsters. Really, I am surprised that 
 Merriwell ever took such a crowd with him!" 
 
 This was the universal opinion of the Wabeek men.
 
 2>6 At the Camp. 
 
 all of whom were members of college nines and ball- 
 players of experience and ability. They did not see 
 as yet that Frank Merriwell had the rare faculty of 
 fine generalship and the supreme ability to take in- 
 congruous elements and melt them into a harmonious 
 whole. Without this ability in its leader Merriwell's 
 Athletic Team would have been a weak combination 
 and might have gone to pieces in short order. 
 
 The preliminary warming-up practise drew cries 
 of admiration from the spectators, who seemed about 
 equally divided in sympathy between the two teams. 
 The work of John Swiftwing was an unknown quan- 
 tity, and this, with the fact that he was an Indian, drew 
 to him a great deal of attention. 
 
 In this practise work Frank watched him closely, en- 
 deavoring to strengthen him where it was seen to be 
 needed. 
 
 At two o'clock precisely, with the lake attractively 
 ruffling its bosom, under the bluest of summer skies, 
 with the weather just warm enough for fine ball-play- 
 ing, the game between the Merriwells and the Wa- 
 beeks was called, with the boys waving their flag and 
 dinning away and the crowd in the grand stand and 
 on the grounds buzzing like a swarm of bees. 
 
 "Here is where we do you !" laughed Curringer, as 
 he walked toward the pitcher's box, speaking to Mer- 
 jiwell, who was on his way to the benches. 
 
 "Anything to bet on it?" asked Rattleton, overhear-
 
 At the Camp. 257 
 
 ing the boast. "If you have, grets see the leen let's 
 see the green !" 
 
 "That's a fool's argument," snapped Curringer. "II 
 a fellow offers to bet a lot of money, that's a dead sure 
 sign that he knows all about it. I'm not betting, but 
 I wouldn't be afraid to bet you anything you can 
 name." 
 
 The impatient crowd was beginning to howl. Cur- 
 ringer walked on toward the box, for the Merriwells 
 were to be first at the bat, and Gait, of Princeton, the 
 Wabeek catcher, stepped behind the home plate. The 
 basemen and fielders took their positions. The horns 
 ceased and the crowd become silent in anxious ex* 
 pectation. 
 
 "Play ball !" said the umpire.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 SOME GOOD WORK. 
 
 In spite of their boasts, the Athletic Team was not 
 as confident as if Frank Merriwell had been the pitcher. 
 Swiftwing could pitch, no doubt, but he was not Mer- 
 riwell. Bart Hodge was glum and sore and filled with 
 forebodings. 
 
 "If only you were going into the box, Merry, I'd 
 know we could win!" he had said, speaking to Frank 
 just before Frank took his seat on the benches. "As 
 it is, I'm not so sure. But, of course, you can't, with 
 your wrist in that awful shape! But it's a terrible 
 handicap. Still, I'll do my best. I promised you 
 that I would, and I will !" 
 
 "That's right, Hodge," Frank had answered. "I 
 know that you can be depended on to do all you can 
 to-day. But I feel sure that Swiftwing will do better 
 work than you think." 
 
 "I don't dare to say anything, Merry, for the other 
 fellows will think I'm just wildly jealous of the fellow ! 
 The idea! Why, that girl wouldn't look at him twice, 
 He's an Indian !" 
 
 Swiftwing was passing and heard this, and he gave 
 Bart a look of hate and scorn. 
 
 "Just an Indian!" Swiftwing was bitterly thinking,
 
 Some Good Work. 259 
 
 as he stood with Merriwell's men afterward and 
 glanced toward the crowd, hoping to see Lucy Living- 
 ston. "And the Pueblos say I am just a white man. I 
 am nothing! But I will show Bart Hodge that I can 
 pitch!" 
 
 Merriwell had changed the order of his batting-list, 
 and Jack Ready came first to the plate, swinging two 
 bats to make one feel lighter. He cast the extra bat 
 away and faced the pitcher. 
 
 "You see the man on that steamer out there?" he 
 chirped. "I'm going to put the ball right into his 
 hands." 
 
 The steamer was half a mile away. 
 
 "Knock the eye out of the man in the moon!" 
 squealed Bink. 
 
 "Thanks for the suggestion, I will !" 
 
 The ball came whistling from the hand of Cur- 
 ringer, who was in his best trim. Ready struck at it, 
 and missed. 
 
 "One puncture in the ozone!" gasped Ready, as if 
 he could not understand it. 
 
 "You'll knock the air so full of holes that we can't 
 breathe it," some one guyed. 
 
 Ready thought he would wait till he got a ball that 
 suited him. The next ball was over the plate, but the 
 curve did not look right. 
 
 "Two strikes !" called the umpire.
 
 *6o Some Good Work. 
 
 Ready gripped the bat tighter, and swung at th 
 next, which he saw was also coming over the plate. 
 
 Plunk! 
 
 "Three strikes, out !" 
 
 Jack looked bewildered. 
 
 "Why, it's easy !" Curringer laughed. 
 
 The Wabeek rooters began to howl. 
 
 "I guess my eyes are twisted," said Ready, stepping 
 aside. "I hit the ball, I know, but it went through the 
 bat!" 
 
 Gamp came up awkwardly. In the opinion of Cur- 
 ringer and others of the Wabeeks, he was one of the 
 "lobsters." 
 
 "Gug-going to knock the cuc-cuc-cover off it!" 
 Gamp grinned. 
 
 But he was not confident. Curringer gave the New 
 Hampshire lad a wide curve, thinking he would strike 
 at it. 
 
 "No, ye don't !" Gamp muttered. 
 
 "One ball!" 
 
 The next was an in curve, and Gamp missed. Cur- 
 ringer signaled Gait, the catcher, and sent in a slow 
 drop. Gamp belted it and sent up a high infield fly, 
 but it was taken in by Wadkins, the short-stop; and 
 Gamp was out. 
 
 The boys sat in glum silence, while a tremendous 
 din was being made by the Wabeek sympathizers. 
 Even the flag seemed to droop.
 
 Some Good Work. 261 
 
 Browning, who was third on the batting-list, came 
 up looking too lazy to walk, but he was not boasting. 
 Curringer tried him with an out curve, which cut the 
 corner of the plate, but Bruce did not try for it. Then 
 Curringer sent in a drop, which Browning let go by. 
 
 "Two strikes!" cried the umpire; and Curringer's 
 grin could be seen in the grand stand. 
 
 The Wabeeks were howling again. Then Bruce 
 knocked a straight drive into the left field, and 
 sprinted. It was wonderful to see the big fellow run. 
 All the sleepiness and laziness had vanished. He sim- 
 ply tore over the ground. The boys were yelling like 
 Indians, and the Merriwell sympathizers were screech- 
 ing. Perkins, of Princeton, the left-fielder, made a 
 desperate effort to get the ball, but failed; and, with 
 everybody roaring, Browning raced wildly on to sec- 
 ond. 
 
 Bart Hodge came to the bat, looking grim and de- 
 termined. Browning began to play off second for a 
 lead, closely watched by Curringer. The first pitched 
 ball was a strike, though Bart did not swing at it. With 
 the next, Bart put a beautiful single into the right 
 field, and Bruce, who had a good lead off second, 
 sprinted again, running like a race-horse. Merriwell, 
 who had gone out to coach him, shouted for him to go 
 home, and he went for the home plate like the wind. 
 
 "Slide!" Merriwell yelled, and Bruce threw his ira-
 
 262 Some Good Work." 
 
 mense form forward in a terrific slide, and scored, as 
 the ball struck in the hands of Gait, the catcher. 
 
 Bruce's remarkable performance set the Merriwell 
 men wild again, and the din made by the boys was 
 something unearthly. One score had been made, with 
 two men out, and Bart had taken first. 
 
 Curringer was sore. The grin had disappeared from 
 his face. 
 
 "That giant can run like a rabbit!" he was grum- 
 bling. "And I didn't think Hodge could get that ball. 
 But they'll not do it again, you bet !" 
 
 Merriwell set Ready to coach at third, and went 
 down toward first to coach Hodge. The boys screeched 
 like Sioux as Swiftwing came to the bat. 
 
 "Get a good lead off first !" said Merry to Bart. 
 
 He was standing with his left side toward the home 
 plate, and put his left hand on his hip. This was a 
 signal to Swiftwing to wait and give Hodge a chance 
 to steal second. 
 
 "That redskin can't hit me/' thought Curringer, and 
 put a ball over the plate. 
 
 He was watching Hodge, and so was Gait. Gait 
 and Curringer were the Princeton battery, and they 
 did good team-work. When the ball came back from 
 Gait, Curringer threw it over to first, to show Hodge 
 that it would not be safe to try to steal. The ball came 
 back to him, and as Hodge began to play off he threw 
 it again.
 
 Some Good Work. 263 
 
 "Just let him keep throwing," Frank advised. "He'll 
 throw wild by and by." 
 
 Then Curringer suddenly delivered the ball to the 
 bat, and Merriwell instantly demanded judgment on a 
 "balk." 
 
 "Curringer 's foot was not on the pitcher's plate, and 
 he did not properly face the batter !" he declared. 
 
 There was a storm of protest from the Wabeeks, 
 and a buzz in the grand stand, but Merriwell insisted 
 on his point, and the umpire declared a balk, which 
 gave Hodge second and Swift wing first. 
 
 Curringer was frothing mad. 
 
 "That was a clean steal!" he growled. "I know 
 that my toe was on the plate." 
 
 When Rattleton came to the bat Curringer was so 
 wild with rage that he gave him a swift one right over, 
 and Rattleton drove it as hot as a Mauser bullet 
 straight through Wadkins' hands into the left field. 
 Rattleton jumped for first, while the base-runners 
 fairly flew. 
 
 Everybody began to howl. 
 
 "Go home !"' Ready yelled, as Bart passed third. 
 "Go home ! They can't get you. Go home !" 
 
 The left-fielder threw to third to cut off Swiftwing, 
 but Swiftwing was safe on third, and Hodge had 
 scored. 
 
 "Why, it's easy!" laughed Merriwell to the furious 
 pitcher.
 
 264 Some Good Work. 
 
 Carker, who came to the bat next, was anxious to 
 get a safe hit also. Curringer saw that his anger had 
 led him into a bit of foolishness, and he tried to get 
 into form. He begaa to pitch corner-cutters. He was 
 just shaving the plate, and soon two balls were called 
 on him. 
 
 If Carker had been content to wait, he probably 
 would have got to first on balls, but because Rattleton 
 had made a hit he wanted to do the same. 
 
 "When I pull myself together, you can't hit me!" 
 thought Curringer, and he gave Carker two strikes. 
 Then three balls were called. 
 
 The next ball looked to Carker to be "easy," and he 
 swung at it and fanned out I 
 
 The side was out, with two scores to its credit. 
 
 John Swiftwing went into the box with a face as 
 impassive as that of the Sphinx. The Adirondack 
 people, who had known him only as a guide, wondered 
 to see him there. They did not believe that he could 
 pitch, and were astonished that Merriwell should take 
 any chances with him in that place. Nor did the Wa- 
 beeks believe that Swiftwing's pitching would greatly 
 endanger their chances of winning the game. Hodge 
 was feeling blue, in spite of fhe fact that the Merri- 
 wells had made two scores. He was fearful of Swift- 
 wing's ability, and he hated him, besides. 
 
 "Looking up into the grand stand, where he thinks 
 Lucy is!" Hodge growled to himself, as he saw the
 
 Some Good Work. 265 
 
 Indian give a swift glance in that direction. "I'll have 
 to hit him yet, for his insolence. I'm sorry Merry put 
 him on the team. If I'd had my will, I'd find some 
 means to postpone this game for a week, if necessary, 
 to let Merry's wrist get in condition." 
 
 Wadkins, the short-stop, was the first man at the 
 bat, and he came up with a great deal of confidence. 
 
 "Now we'll see the short-stop knock the cover off 
 the old thing!" chattered Rattleton from second. "I 
 mean we'll see the shop-stort no, the top-short no, 
 
 the short-stop Oh, I don't know what I mean 
 
 but we'll see him do it !" 
 
 Swiftwing began to pitch, but his beginning did not 
 impress the Wabeeks or the spectators. He seemed 
 to be merely monkeying along, but very quickly had 
 two strikes and three balls called. 
 
 "Just wait, Wadkins !" advised Kirk. "He can't put 
 the next one over the plate." 
 
 He said it loud enough for Swiftwing to hear. The 
 Indian seemed not to hear it, however. But, with ter- 
 rific speed, he sent the next ball straight over the 
 Dlate, and the batter was out. 
 
 Kirk looked dazed, and Wadkins' jaw dropped. 
 Neither had anticipated such a thing. The grand 
 stand buzzed with admiration for the pitcher, seeming 
 to wake all at once to the fact that here was pitching- 
 timber. 
 
 Swiftwing had that impassive Indian look on his
 
 266 Some Good Work. 
 
 dark face. Once Bart saw him give a quick and al- 
 most unnoticeable glance toward the grand stand, 
 which made Hodge grind his teeth. 
 
 "He wants to know that she saw him do that!" he 
 grated. "Of course she saw him, and of course she is 
 waving her handkerchief like all possessed ! But I'd die 
 before I'd look and give Swiftwing or any one else an 
 opportunity to say I cared." 
 
 Gait was next at the bat. He did not like the way 
 the last ball came, and he determined to be careful. 
 
 The first pitched ball was an out curve, just out of 
 reach. But Gait was crafty and did not strike. 
 
 "One ball !" called the umpire. 
 
 The next ball from Swiftwing's brown fingers gave 
 an in shoot close to the batter's knuckles. Gait thought 
 he could get a hit, and he fouled it. The pitcher fol- 
 lowed this with a swift, straight ball close to Gait's 
 shoulders. Gait struck at it. 
 
 "One strike !" called the umpire. 
 
 Then Swiftwing tried a drop, not knowing that Gait 
 was a drop-striker. Drops suited Gait so well that he 
 was said to be one of those fellows who "eat" drops. 
 Gait lifted the ball over the second-baseman's head. 
 Rattleton tried to get back of it, but failed, and the 
 ball dropped short of Gamp, the center-fielder, who 
 was racing toward it. It was a safe hit, and Gait 
 smiled jubilantly from first, while the Wabeek rooters 
 turned up again.
 
 Some Good Work. 267 
 
 Gait began to play off as Severing- came to the bat 
 Hodge was watching him, and so was Swiftwing. 
 The coach began to chatter. On the second pitched 
 ball Severing swung at it without any intention of hit- 
 ting it, and with a flourish of the bat to bewilder Hodge 
 and bother him in throwing to second, for which 
 Gait was racing. But Bart Hodge was not so easily 
 bothered. As soon as the ball was in his hands he 
 threw it with lightning speed to Rattleton, on second, 
 and Rattles deftly pinned the runner on the slide. 
 
 "Out, second !" declared the umpire. There was a 
 smart fire of hand-clapping, while a group of Merri- 
 well rooters sent up a roaring yell. 
 
 Then Swiftwing sent in a swift rise, which Severing 
 struck at. 
 
 "Two strikes !" said the umpire. 
 
 "Don't be fooled by those things!" Kirk yelled to 
 Severing. "Let them alone. They're too high!" 
 
 The next ball sent in by the Indian pitcher was ap- 
 parently a straight ball at the right height. Severing 
 swung at it in great confidence, but it was not a straight 
 ball ; it was a drop. 
 
 "Three strikes !" 
 
 Pandemonium broke loose among the Merriwell 
 sympathizers. The side was out, and the Wabeeks had 
 not made a score. 
 
 "Dis is de way de lobsters do ye !" yelled an urchin. 
 "You fellers ain't in it! See?"
 
 268 Some Good Work. 
 
 The boys grouped around the Yale flag were screech- 
 ing. 
 
 "Come off ther dump!" one of them howled. 
 "What's the matter wid Swiftwing now?" 
 
 It was heard high up in the grand stand. 
 
 "Swiftwing! He's all right!" came back in a deaf- 
 ening bray. 
 
 Bart Hodge could not resist the temptation to look, 
 and he saw Lucy Livingston standing up, wildly wa- 
 ving her handkerchief, while a score of pretty girls 
 grouped round her were doing the same. 
 
 "Crazy over that Indian!" he grunted. "Just 
 crazy !" 
 
 Swiftwing's eyes were shining very brightly as he 
 came in, and his chest was heaving, though that may 
 have been the result of his recent exertions. But to 
 the eyes of Bart Hodge, who saw him glance in Lucy's 
 direction, this was evidence that Swiftwing was ex- 
 ultantly conscious that Lucy and the other girls were 
 pinnacling him as a hero. 
 
 "That w*s all right!" Frank said, speaking 'to 
 Hodge. Hodge did not say anything as Frank passed 
 on to repeat his congratulations to the Indian pitcher. 
 
 "You learned more than football at Carlisle, Swift- 
 wing!" he said. "That was all right. I knew how 
 you used to play football, and I was sure that when 
 put to the test you could pitch !" 
 
 "What's the use ?" asked the Pueblo, with a wave of
 
 Some Good Work. 269 
 
 the hand that made Merriwell think of the stories he 
 had read of Indian oratory. 
 
 "What's the use? Why, that was good work! 
 Keep that up, and we are sure to win !" 
 
 "I mean what does it benefit me? I can be nothing- 
 but an Indian among white men, and nothing but a 
 white man among Indians. Bart Hodge called me an 
 Indian awhile ago! And 'all the good Indians are 
 dead !' It is useless for an Indian to try to be a white 
 man, and the little training I got at Carlisle spoiled 
 me for being an Indian. But I suppose it's all right. 
 God made the white man and the Indian different. The 
 mistake was in the white man coming to this country. 
 He should have remained away ; or, when he came, he 
 should have killed all the Indians, since it was impos- 
 sible for the Indians to kill the superior white race !" 
 
 This last clause was said in an indescribably bitter 
 and scornful way. 
 
 "But the people are admiring your work," Frank 
 persisted, feeling that there was something of truth in 
 Swiftwing's declarations. "Hear them still howling! 
 They have simply gone crazy over it. I want to con- 
 gratulate you, Swiftwing." 
 
 "What's the use?" again with that wave of the hand. 
 "What does it all amount to? They would howl the 
 same way over a race-horse that had made a good run, 
 or over a bulldog that was able to bite a little harder 
 than the other bulldog. But the horse and the bulldog
 
 270 Some Good Work. 
 
 would still be in their eyes horse and bulldog 1 . The 
 very people who are howling would probably make a 
 kick if I should have a room next theirs, or eat at the 
 table with them. The white men own the world, and 
 they have even shaped the religion which tells us about 
 the other world. I think if there is any other world 
 there must be a separate place for Indians. And if I 
 should ever get there, where would be my place? I 
 am neither a white man nor an Indian! What's the 
 use?" 
 
 Frank would have said more, but Swiftwing passed 
 on, as if he did not want to hear more, while Frank 
 looked after him with regret. 
 
 "The open flattery of those girls isn't salve enough 
 to heal the old wound," he thought. "Yet I have seen 
 him looking at Lucy Livingston in a strange way! 
 Cam it be possible that he is in love with her, and know- 
 ing that, because he is an Indian, he may never hope 
 to approach her as a lover, causes him to feel this way ? 
 He seemed different the other day. She is doing him 
 and herself a wrong by her present course. I hope no 
 harm will come of it !" 
 
 Nevertheless, he felt uneasy and disturbed as he 
 waHced over and began to talk to Bruce and Bart. 
 
 "Did you see those crazy girls?" Bruce yawningly 
 asked. "Regular lunatics over that Indian!" 
 
 Merriwell glanced round. 
 
 "Be careful, Bruce ! Swiftwing went by then, and !
 
 Some Good Work. 271 
 
 think he heard you. He heard something of that kind 
 from Bart, and it has made him bitter. I don't want 
 him to hear any more. I feel sorry for him myself." 
 
 "Oh, don't trouble about him !" growled Bart. "He 
 likes flattery, and he is getting it in large and liberal 
 doses this afternoon." 
 
 The boys were heard yelling : 
 
 "Merriwell knows the kind o' thing to put into the 
 box ! This Indian waryer is a corker ! You Wabeeks 
 is feelin' sore, ain't ye?" 
 
 "I want to compliment you on your throw, Bart. 
 That was wonderfully quick and fine work." 
 
 Hodge's dark face brightened. Praise from Frank 
 was always pleasant to him. 
 
 "I didn't intend to let that fellow steal second, if I 
 could help it !" 
 
 Then Merriwell passed on to tell Rattleton that in 
 catching and holding Bart's wonderful throw and put- 
 ting the ball on the man he had covered the second 
 base with glory. 
 
 "Oh, we'll do 'em, Merry! We'll rave 'em on the 
 hun have 'em 6n the run in a little while. If we can 
 get two more scores in this inning, we can shut them 
 out, maybe." 
 
 "We must try for it," said Frank ; and then walked 
 on to talk to other members of the nine and encourage 
 them in their work.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 CONFIDENT CURRINGER. 
 
 In the first half of the second inning Bink Stubbs 
 came first to the bat. The little fellow walked up with 
 the proud air of a conquering hero or a peacock. 
 
 "See me knock its eye out!" he gurgled, as Cur- 
 ringer turned to send in the first ball. 
 
 "Put it inter de lake!" yelled a boy near. 
 
 "I'm going to do that very thing, but as I'm not 
 boastful I wanted to surprise you. What made you 
 give it away ? Now, we do 'em ! See me !" 
 
 But the ball went wide of the plate, and Stubbs did 
 not strike at it. 
 
 "I'm not hunting for *balls,' but for hits!" he 
 howled, shaking his bat. "There's a hole near the end 
 of this bat. See if you can put it through the hole." 
 
 Curringer put it "through the hole," and Bink 
 fanned. 
 
 "That was one of my little surprises, but I'll get you 
 next time!" 
 
 Crack ! 
 
 He did get the next one, drove it straight into the 
 hands of the first-baseman and was out. 
 
 "Of course, you can't expect anything from that 
 boastful runt!" said Griswold. takine the bat. "There
 
 Confident Curringer. 373 
 
 are always holes in any bat that he uses, and when he 
 manages to hit the ball he can't get it beyond the dia- 
 mond. If you want to see batting that is batting, 
 fasten your eagle eyes on me!" 
 
 "And you'll see the most insufferable mouth- 
 stretcher in the country!" Bink sneered. "If you'd 
 hold your mouth once in a while perhaps you could 
 think better." 
 
 "Nothing could ever make you think better! Your 
 think-tank is full of water. Go buy some brains !" 
 
 "And lend 'em to you? I guess not! I've got a 
 sufficiency. Pay out your own money for your neces- 
 saries !" 
 
 "If I can't do any better than you, I'll eat my bat !" 
 
 "Then you're sure to die of indigestion !" 
 
 Curringer threw the ball, and Danny missed it. 
 
 "Whenever you take up a bat it becomes a regular 
 sieve. Any old thing could pitch a ball that you 
 couldn't get." 
 
 "Oh, shut up!" Danny howled. "You'd make an 
 iron post nervous. Now I get this one, and take sec- 
 ond!" 
 
 Curringer put the ball over the plate. 
 
 Crack ! 
 
 Danny drove it straight into the hands of the third- 
 baseman and he was out. Curringer was grinning 
 again. He began to feel sure that, after all, the "lob- 
 sters" were dead easy. The fact that two of the Mer-
 
 274 Confident Curringer. 
 
 dwells were out and no score made in this inning set 
 the Wabeek rooters to roaring again. 
 
 "Get a braee on ye !" one of the boys yelled to Jack 
 Ready, who was next on the batting-list. "You fel- 
 lers ain't doin' nuttin'! Two or free can't do all de 
 work ! Knock de cover off n it I" 
 
 Ready looked the bat over very carefully, as if he 
 were searching for holes. 
 
 "When I swing at it cover and all will disappear !" 
 
 It was Ready's hyperbolic way. If he knew that he 
 was bound to fail, it would be just like him to say that 
 he was "hot stuff/' in ridicule of his own abilities. 
 
 "Here's where I bat you out of the box, Curringer ! 
 Send in a corkscrew twist! I just eat corkscrews. 
 But I haven't had any lately, for the price of iron is up, 
 and now I'm hungry! Yes, I'll take a corkscrew 
 and a bottle of something good, to make the corkscrew 
 worth while! Send 'em in." 
 
 Curringer was grinning. 
 
 "Here is a double-twisted corkscrew, with a bow- 
 knot in its tail !" yelled one of the boys, as Curringer 
 put up his hand. 
 
 Ready hit the ball and sent up a long fly into the 
 center field and sprinted for first. But Severing, the 
 center-fielder, got under it and neatly gathered it in. 
 
 Jack Ready was out, and the side was out. The 
 rooters of the Wabeeks were wild, and the Wabeek
 
 Confident Curringer. 275 
 
 nine came in from the field in a most cheerful and 
 optimistic frame of mind. Curringer was exultant. 
 
 "Oh, ye needn't stick yer nose into de air!" a boy 
 scornfully yelled at him. "You didn't strike out any- 
 thing ner nuttin' !" 
 
 "They was hittin' you, all right!" yelled another. 
 " 'Twas field-work that done it, not you !" 
 
 Curringer gave the youthful group an angry glance, 
 and they continued to guy him, ending up with de- 
 risive blasts from the horns. 
 
 But the Wabeek sympathizers continued to yell for 
 him and for the fielders who had caught out the men, 
 and this took away something of the sting planted by 
 the gibes of the boys. 
 
 Swiftwing went into the box again, amid an out- 
 burst of applause. Putnam, of Dartmouth, a left- 
 handed batter, came to the bat first. He was a clean- 
 looking fellow and a good player, and he was said to be 
 a descendant of "Old Put/' of Revolutionary fame. 
 He turned his right side toward Swiftwing as he got 
 ready to strike, and held his bat in an easy and con- 
 fident manner. 
 
 "See de Indian strike him out !" one of the irrepres- 
 sible small boys yelled. Swiftwing gave him a black 
 look, which made Merriwell know that in spite of his 
 calm appearance the heart of the Pueblo youth was 
 boiling like a volcano. 
 
 The speed with which he sent in the ball was some-
 
 276 Confident Curringer. 
 
 thing terrific. It was simply great. It went straight 
 over the plate and had no curve. Putnam struck at it, 
 but as he swung, the ball went plunk in the hands of 
 Hodge. 
 
 A howl of satisfaction arose from the Merriwell 
 rooters, and the crowd along the fences hammered the 
 railing and yelled. 
 
 The Indian pitcher next tried to send in a corner- 
 cutter, but it missed the plate, and one ball was called. 
 He tried this again, and another ball was called. 
 
 Put was very wary, and hoped to get a base on balls. 
 Then Swiftwing sent in another straight ball with such 
 wonderful speed that, though Putnam belted at it, it 
 was really past his bat before he swung. 
 
 "Two strikes!" called the umpire. And again the 
 Merriwell rooters opened. 
 
 "I'll get you next time!" Putnam mentally gritted. 
 Again the Indian pitcher sent in one of those hot balls, 
 and Putnam, prepared for it, struck it fairly on the 
 trade-mark and drove it into center field. 
 
 In an instant Frank saw that it was going far over 
 'Gamp's head. 
 
 "Back, Gamp back!" he shouted. Putnam was a 
 pretty and speedy runner, and he seemed fairly to fly 
 down toward first. He crossed the bag and made for 
 second as if his feet were winged. 
 
 A great roar broke out. The Wabeek sympathizers 
 along the fence danced and hammered the railing and
 
 Confident Currlnger. 277 
 
 shrieked. The coachers were yelling at Putnam and 
 telling him to go on, though their voices were drowned 
 in the babel that now became deafening. 
 
 Merriwell's heart sank, for he saw that Gamp would 
 not be able to get the ball. 
 
 "A safe drive for four bags!" laughed Kirk, and it 
 seemed that he was right. Bart Hodge was fuming, 
 while Rattleton. on second, was dancing about like a 
 lunatic, so nervously anxious that he could not stand 
 still. Browning, on first, alone was placid, though his 
 eyes were on Gamp, who had turned and was making 
 a great run to get under the ball, though the thing 
 seemed impossible. 
 
 Gamp glanced over his shoulder and saw the ball 
 coming and made a wonderful leap in the air to get it. 
 It touched his fingers and made a great jump from 
 them, going straight on. Putnam crossed second base 
 and flew toward third. Over by third the coacher, un- 
 able to make himself heard, was making frantic ges- 
 tures. Gamp's long legs took him after the ball as 
 swiftly as possible. It struck the ground, bounced, 
 and raced away from him. 
 
 "Oh, he can't get it !" 
 
 "He can't get it in if he does!" 
 
 "A four-bagger, sure!" 
 
 The ball bounded into some bushes, and Gamp 
 plunged in after it, and seemed to be digging round in 
 a frantic endeavor to find it. The spectators were
 
 278 Confident Curringer. 
 
 howling. Some were shrieking with laughter. It was 
 very funny to see that awkward New Hampshire lad 
 chasing the ball as if it were a greased pig, and now 
 digging after it as if it were a rabbit in a hole and he a 
 frantic terrier. They were sure now, if they had not 
 known it before, that the lank fellow in the center field 
 could not play ball. He was one of the lobsters ! He 
 was a giraffe of Merriwell's menagerie. 
 
 In his frantic efforts to dig the ball out of the 
 bushes Gamp seemed to fall all over himself. The 
 coacher near third was laughing as Putnam crossed 
 that bag and started for home. 
 
 "It's a score, Put !" he yelled. 
 
 And Putnam, seeing and hearing the frantic Wa- 
 beeks, was also sure that it was a score. The ball, he 
 knew, was somewhere in deep center lost, probably 
 and he did not need to run his legs off. Still, he came 
 on at a good gait. Curringer was grinning. 
 
 "This will break that Indian's heart!" some one 
 shrieked. "He'll stop shooting rifle-bullets. He won't 
 dare to try that again." 
 
 "They're onto him now, and they'll bat him out of 
 the box!" 
 
 Every one supposed, of course, that Gamp, if he 
 found the ball, must throw to Rattleton, on second; 
 whereupon Rattleton would be compelled to catch the 
 ball, turn and throw it home. The thing couldn't be 
 done ! Putnam might as well walk in. He was in no
 
 Confident Curringer. 279 
 
 danger. And Putnam thought the same, for the coach- 
 ers had stopped shouting to him, and he saw Cur- 
 ringer's triumphant grin. 
 
 Then Gamp came out of the bushes as if shot by a 
 cannon, and as he came he gathered himself for a 
 throw. Then, with all his immense strength, he sent 
 the ball. 
 
 What was the fool thinking about? That was the 
 thought. For he had thrown toward the home plate, 
 too high entirely for Rattleton to get it. But the ball 
 did not really rise high in the air. At no time was it 
 more than fifteen feet from the ground. It whizzed 
 for home, and with such speed that it could hardly be 
 seen. 
 
 A hush came over the spectators. That throw of it- 
 self, it it did not accomplish anything and they did 
 not believe that it could was something superb. The 
 coachers saw the ball whistling along with a speed that 
 seemed to increase as it flew over the head of Rattle- 
 ton. Hodge was standing two feet from home plate, 
 and somewhat to one side toward third, his eyes on 
 the ball, and ready for it. 
 
 Suddenly the coacher near third awoke to danger. 
 
 "Slide!" he shrieked to Putnam. "Slide slide !" 
 
 Then the other coacher shrieked : 
 
 "Slide, you idiot! Slide!" 
 
 The astonished and bewildered runner threw himself 
 forward, as he heard something go whizzing by it
 
 280 Confident Curringer. 
 
 could not be the ball ! and stretched out his hands for 
 the plate. As he did so he heard a plunk and felt a 
 thump on the back. 
 
 "Man out !" shouted the umpire, who could not him- 
 self remain cool. 
 
 Putnam felt that there must be a mistake felt too 
 dazed to rise. Out? When he was safe? It couldn't 
 be! 
 
 But the bleachers and grand stand and the spectators 
 everywhere were roaring roaring. Even the Wabeek 
 sympathizers seemed joining in. What was the mat- 
 ter ? He was out ? It couldn't be ! Yes, he was out ! 
 He blinked blindly as he got up. Yet it seemed im- 
 possible. Out? What kind of a thrower was that 
 long-legged, awkward center-fielder, anyway? 
 
 And he heard the shout from the boys ; 
 
 "Wot's de matter wid long-legs ?" 
 
 And then a wild howl : 
 
 "He's all right!" 
 
 Then another boy yelled: 
 
 "Use Pears' soap !" 
 
 "Pears' soap ?" Putnam stammered, dazed and dizzy. 
 "What does he mean ?" 
 
 A man near, who had been whooping and screeching 
 a moment before, interpreted the slang for him, and 
 grinned with delight. 
 
 ".That's another way of saying, 'Get off the earth !' "
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SWIFTWING TURNED DOWN. 
 
 Mason, of Brown, the center-fielder, was next on 
 the batting-list. He was nervous, but cautious, and 
 Swiftwing, trying corner-cutters again, gave him a 
 base on balls. 
 
 Feeling sure that he could throw corner-cutters, 
 Swiftwing tried them again, and two balls were called 
 on him. His heart began to rage, for it was evident 
 that in this style of pitching the umpire would rule 
 against him. He knew that one which had been called 
 a "ball" was a "strike." 
 
 Mason, on first, was still cautious and afraid to try 
 to steal second, remembering Hodge's wonderful throw 
 in the first inning. 
 
 "Three balls !" called the umpire. 
 
 "Dat umpire has a bum eye !" yelled a boy. 
 
 Seeing that he would be compelled to put the ball 
 over the center of the plate, the Indian pitcher sent in 
 a swift one. Perkins, who was at bat, hit one down to 
 first base, which Bruce should have handled without 
 trouble. But the big fellow seemed to have fallen 
 asleep, and the ball got through him. If he had han- 
 dled it, Bruce might have made a double-play, putting 
 the battei out and cutting off Mason by a throw to
 
 282 Swiftwing Turned Down. 
 
 second. Instead, he let the ball get away from him, 
 and Mason passed second and went to third. Swift- 
 wing was fuming, though his face was unreadable. 
 
 "What's the use of pitching, with such work as 
 that?" 
 
 The Wabeeks were regaining courage and yelling 
 again. As Mason took third all their courage came 
 back. Only one man out, and a man now on first and 
 third, it seemed the Wabeek nine ought to bring in a 
 score. Ogle, of Harvard, the right-fielder, came con- 
 fidently to the bat. 
 
 On the first pitched ball Perkins tried to steal sec- 
 ond, sure that Hodge would not dare to throw to sec- 
 ond for fear of letting Mason home from third. But 
 he was mistaken. Hodge threw low and straight and 
 swift, and Rattleton, who was expecting it, caught the 
 ball and instantly sent it back, without trying to put it 
 on the base-runner, with the intention of cutting off 
 Mason, who was racing for home. There was a mo- 
 ment of breathless silence, and a roar when it was seen 
 that Hodge had stopped the man and put him out at 
 the home plate. 
 
 Then Perkins, who had foolishly stopped and danced 
 about between first and second, was caught in a plunge 
 for the latter bag by yet another quick short-arm throw 
 from Hodge, setting the crowd wild. 
 
 "Three men out ! Side out !" yelled the boys, fran- 
 tically waving their flag as the Merriwells came in
 
 Swiftwing Turned Down. 283 
 
 from the field. "How's that for the lobsters? How 
 was that for a double-play?" 
 
 In the first of the third inning Gamp came to the 
 bat, and, after a strike, drove one with crushing force 
 against Curringer's shins. Curringer was already 
 mad, and this made him madder, so that he fairly raved 
 as he danced about, unable to keep Gamp from taking 
 first. 
 
 As Browning came up, Curringer was not only mad 
 clean through, but he was nervous, for he remembered 
 Bruce's two-bagger in the first inning, and did not 
 want it repeated. In trying to prevent it, he gave 
 Browning a base on balls. 
 
 Then Hodge came to the bat. Frank, who had gone 
 down toward first, signaled him to sacrifice. Hodge 
 saw the signal with a grunt of dislike, for he was 
 anxious to lace out the ball, but he crowded down his 
 desire and sacrificed, and, while he was being thrown 
 out at first, Browning went to second and Gamp to 
 third. 
 
 Swiftwing came to the bat amid the admiring cries 
 of the boys, and prank signaled him to hit the ball out. 
 He did not swing until two balls and two strikes had 
 been called, then lined a terrifically long fly into center. 
 
 "Hold your bases !" Frank shouted, for he believed 
 that the ball would be caught. Severing, who was 
 racing for it, got under it and gathered it in. The mo- 
 ment it dropped into his hands the runners leaped
 
 284 Swiiiwmg Turned Down. 
 
 from the bases, Gamp flying for home and Bruce 
 sprinting for third, amid roars of applause. Severing 
 was no such thrower as Joe Gamp, and he was com- 
 pelled to send the ball to Kirk, on second base, and 
 Gamp scored, amid another yell of approval, while 
 Kirk threw to third to catch Browning. 
 
 It was a wild throw, and, in a perfect pendemonium 
 of howls and shouts, Bruce came home, making an- 
 other score. There were now four scores to the credit 
 of the Athletic Team, and Curringer's nervousness in- 
 creased. He began to see that he had underrated 
 "Merriwell's Menagerie." They were not lobsters, but 
 men who could play ball. 
 
 He tried to control his shaking nerves as Rattleton 
 
 came to the bat, making a desperate effort ; and he suc- 
 
 i 
 ceeded so well that he quickly struck out Rattleton, 
 
 and retired the side. 
 
 Swiftwing was also eating out his hot Indian heart 
 as he went into the box, for he had heard more cutting 
 talk. As a consequence, Ogle, who was first up, batted 
 the first pitched ball toward short-stop. Bink fumbled 
 it, and Ogle took first on the error. 
 
 "You'd better use Pears' soap !" yelled Danny, from 
 right field, for Danny was jealous of Bink, thinking 
 that he himself ought to have been assigned to the 
 position of short-stop. 
 
 Then Kirk lifted a fly into right field, and Danny 
 dropped it Danny chased it round his feet, got hold
 
 Swift wing Turned Down. 285 
 
 f it and threw to second, but the runner was there 
 before the ball. It was another error, and Bink came 
 back at Griswold with some hot talk that made the 
 little red-headed right-fielder threaten to come across 
 and spread Stubbs' nose all over his face. 
 
 Swiftwing was discouraged. 
 
 "What's the use?" he was thinking. "I can't do 
 anything with such fielding!" 
 
 Compelled to cut the heart of the plate or have 
 "balls" called on him, the Indian pitcher sent in an- 
 other swift one, and Curringer, who was again at the 
 bat, got a pretty single, which took Kirk from first to 
 third and brought Ogle home from second. 
 
 The Wabeek supporters were howling again, while 
 Swift wing's disgust and rage grew. 
 
 "Here's where we've got 'em!" Severing yelled. 
 "Here's where they go to pieces ! We'll bat him out of 
 the box!" 
 
 Curringer did not dare to try to steal second on 
 Hodge, even though Kirk was on third, for he had a 
 wholesome fear of Bart's throwing. And this was re- 
 markable and showed how much he feared Hodge, for 
 in such a case the runner at first nearly always tries to 
 steal. 
 
 Though Swiftwing's face was still calm, his nerves 
 were on fire, and, after one strike, Wadkins put a two- 
 bagger into the left field, on which Kirk came home
 
 286 Swiftwing Turned Down. 
 
 and made another score, while Curringer went to third, 
 in spite of all that Carker could do. 
 
 And still no one was out. 
 
 "Here's where we do you !" Curringer grinned. 
 
 "Here's where we bat your Injun out of the box!" 
 cried another. 
 
 "Get a wooden, cigar-store Indian and set him to 
 pitching!" some one howled from the bleachers. "He's 
 no good !" 
 
 "Take him out of the box! Anything can hit him!" 
 
 The fickle crowd, which had so applauded the Pueblo 
 but a little while before, was turning against him. 
 Swiftwing glanced toward the grand stand, and Lucy 
 Livingston fluttered her handkerchief encouragingly. 
 
 Gait took up the bat and promptly got a long single, 
 which brought in Curringer from third and Wadkins 
 from second, making two scores. 
 
 The scores now stood four for the Athletic Team and 
 four for the Wabeek nine. And still not a man of the 
 Wabeeks was out. The cries against Swiftwing were 
 rising into a storm of indignation. 
 
 "Just an Indian." His hot heart boiled. "If the 
 righting bulldog doesn't always bite hard, his white 
 owners promptly kick him!" and the thought caused 
 his nerves to thrill strangely. 
 
 Severing walked into position, swinging the bat and 
 smiling confidently. One ball and one strike were 
 called ; then, with a terrific stroke, he drove a three-
 
 Swiftwing Turned Down. 287 
 
 bagger into the right field, and while Danny was cha- 
 sing it Gait made the round of the bases and scored. 
 
 Hodge, who had been all along fuming against 
 Swiftwing, with his anger constantly rising, was ready 
 to tear off his mask and refuse to play any longer. All 
 the other members of the ' team were also stewing. 
 Even Browning was droning his disgust from first, 
 while Rattleton danced about on second, unable to 
 stand still. The team was becoming all torn up the 
 back, and there seemed not a ghost of a chance of 
 winning the game. Merriwell saw it, and, while he 
 was sorry for Swiftwing, he was determined that the 
 iWabeeks should not win. 
 
 For a moment he looked at his swollen wrist, 
 pinched and worked it; then he walked out into the 
 diamond, spoke a few words to the Pueblo and took 
 the ball. Swiftwing's face did not change, although 
 his dark eyes were glittering. 
 
 "Hear them yell at the Indian !" he muttered. "Yes, 
 I'm an Indian, and I might as well stay Indian and 
 play Indian. What's the use?" 
 
 Frank heard Kim and would have said something, 
 but Swiftwing walked away. 
 
 "This is all right, fellows!" Curringer was heard 
 saying. "This is the man with the lame wrist ! We'll 
 bat him out of the box in no time ! He'll be easier than 
 the Indian." 
 
 Bart Hodge looked toward the grand stand and saw;
 
 288 Swiftwing Turned Down. 
 
 Lucy Livingston descend from it as if she meant to go 
 toward Swiftwing. 
 
 "That makes me sick!" he growled. "She'll go to 
 him and talk with him and make him think that he's a 
 hero, after all!" 
 
 Then Bart looked toward Frank, whom he was glad 
 to see in the box, but about whose wrist he was anx- 
 ious. 
 
 "Merry ought not to try to pitch! But maybe he 
 can, if he'll let the double-shoot alone. If he tries 
 that, I shall raise a kick." 
 
 The other members of the team were brightening 
 wonderfully, though they, too, were fearful that Frank 
 could not pitch and ought not to try. Putnam loafed 
 up to the plate with a laugh and faced Merriwell. 
 
 "\\Vre ready to do you, too !" he shouted. 
 
 Frank promptly sent in a double-shoot. 
 
 "One strike!" called the umpire. 
 
 Hodge vigorously and protestingly shook his head. 
 A swift ball straight over the plate came next. Put 
 struck at this, and fanned. 
 
 "Two strikes!" 
 
 The batter began to feel dizzy and wabbly. What 
 kind of pitching was this, anyway, from a man with a 
 lame wrist? Once more the double-shoot twisted 
 across the plate. Putnam, seeing it was a strike, 
 swung at it, and again missed. 
 
 "Three strikes, out!"
 
 Swiftwing Turned Down. 289 
 
 The smile had faded from old Put's face, and now 
 fai* jaw dropped, while Merriwell sympathizers sent up 
 a wild yell. The boys screeched and whistled, rang 
 their bells, and blew their horns, swishing the flag so 
 violently that there seemed danger that it would be 
 jerked into ribbons. 
 
 Hodge walked down into the diamond and put his 
 protest into words : 
 
 "You must stop that, Merry. Better lose the game 
 than ruin your wrist! You know how it was this 
 morning !" 
 
 "Don't worry, Hodge! We're here to win this 
 game, and we'll win it !" 
 
 Protests were useless, and Hodge walked back, feel- 
 ing, however, that Merry was a better judge of such 
 things than he could possibly be, and with an increased 
 admiration, if that were possible, for the captain of the 
 nine his long-tried friend and comrade, Frank Merri- 
 well. 
 
 "I'll do my part," he determinedly gritted, while a 
 look that was almost fierce came to his dark face ; "and 
 if Frank can stand that business, we'll do up this crow- 
 ing crowd in short order !" 
 
 Mason was next up, and Frank tried him with 
 straight balls, in an effort to save his wrist as much as 
 possible. But Mason, having seen Putnam so quickly 
 done up, was wary. Two strikes and three balls were 
 called. Then Frank gave him one that looked to be an
 
 290 Swiltwing Turned Down. 
 
 easy out curve, but it twisted in the other direction as 
 it neared the plate, and he fanned out. 
 
 Perkins, amid a din that was unearthly, took a bat 
 and advanced to the plate. 
 
 "De feller dat said he never heard of de double-shoot 
 is seem' it now !" yelled a boy. "Oh, dese things can't 
 hit ye!" 
 
 Perkins looked uneasy. He knew of that double- 
 shoot, and had seen its work before. But Frank did 
 not try it first, and two strikes were called. He was 
 sending the balls straight over the plate with a speed 
 as great as that of Swiftwing. He felt that he would 
 swing at the next one, and, for fear he might get it, 
 Frank sent in an in curve which changed to an out as 
 the batter struck at it. 
 
 Plunk! 
 
 The side was out, and the spectators were going 
 crazy. Frank left the diamond and sought for Swift- 
 wing. He could not find the Pueblo, nor did any one 
 seem to know what had become of him. He looked up 
 into the grand stand and saw that Lucy Livingston 
 was also missing. 
 
 "She promised to come right back, but she hasn't 
 done it !" he heard one of the girls in the group say, 
 and knew they were speaking of Lucy. 
 
 A strange foreboding that he would not put into 
 words and refused to harbor even in his
 
 Swiftwing Turned Down. 291 
 
 came to him. He heard Hodge talking about Swift- 
 wing, but did not want to listen to what Hodge was 
 saying, and looked at Curringer, who was going into 
 the box, while the other members of the Wabeek nine 
 were taking their places. 
 
 Curringer had steadied himself and began to pitch 
 with wonderful nerve and self-control. He had never 
 seemed to do so well, and Frank saw that it was to be 
 a pitcher's battle. 
 
 "How's your wrist?" asked Hodge, looking anx- 
 iously at it. 
 
 "It might be better. But don't let that trouble you. 
 [We're going to win this game !" 
 
 Curringer in this inning came up against the tail-end 
 of Merriwell's batting-list, and so had comparatively 
 easy work. After two strikes had been called on him, 
 Carker, who was first up, flied out to the first-baseman. 
 Bink and Danny, who came next in order, were struck 
 out with a bewildering swiftness that made their little 
 heads swim. 
 
 Ogle was the first batter to face Merriwell, and, 
 though he did not like the way Merriwell had been 
 striking men out, he came up with a grin, for he 
 thought he knew something of the kinks of that double- 
 shoot. But Ogle went out on three strikes from three 
 pitched balls that came at him in such an erratic way 
 that he was not able to touch them, and he was quickly 
 followed by Kirk and Curringeir.
 
 292 Swiftwing Turned Down. 
 
 "I'll do you fellows up the same way," thought 
 Wabeek pitcher, as he walked.toward the box. 
 
 But he did not. Ready singled into the right field, 
 after two strikes had been called on him, and was fol- 
 lowed by Gamp with another single that gave Ready; 
 third. Then Gamp stole second when Bruce came to 
 the bat. Bruce, after one ball and two strikes, knocked 
 one into Severing's hands, and Curringer, getting the 
 ball quickly from Severing, put Ready out at the home 
 plate. Then a fly from Hodge into the hands of the 
 first-baseman retired the side without a score. And 
 the score still stood five for the Wabeeks to four for 
 the Merriwells. 
 
 The spectators went wild when Merriwell repeated 
 his previous performance and struck out in succession 
 the three men who faced him. 
 
 "He's the stuff!" the boys were yelling. 
 
 It required a nerve of iron to do this, for Merriwell's 
 wrist was horribly painful. But he intended to win 
 this game, as he had told Hodge, and, though the 
 wrench to his wrist was sometimes enough to bring a 
 cry from the lips of any other man, he only smiled as 
 man after man went out and gave no sign. 
 
 Merriwell was first at the bat now, taking Swift- 
 wing's place, and, though Curringer tried to fool him 
 with drops and curves, Frank waited until he received 
 a ball that suited him and sent a grounder past the 
 short-stop and gained first.
 
 Swift wing Turned Down. 293 
 
 Rattleton followed him at the bat, and, though close- 
 ly watched by both Curringer and Gait, Frank made a 
 steal for second on the second pitched ball. Gait 
 promptly lined it down to Kirk, who was on second, 
 but Frank threw himself forward in a desperate slide 
 and had his hand on the bag a trifle before the ball 
 struck in Kirk's hands. 
 
 "Out !" the Wabeeks were yelling. 
 
 "Safe, second!" said the umpire. 
 
 But Frank was not able to get away from second. 
 He was narrowly watched. Rattleton and Carker 
 struck out, and Bink knocked a fly into the hands of 
 the third-baseman. 
 
 A fierce pitcher's battle between Merrtwell and Cur- 
 ringer followed this, each doing such exceptionally fine 
 work that the crowd went wildly mad, shouting and 
 shrieking like maniacs, and no score was made by 
 either side until the first half of the ninth inning, when 
 Merriwell's team was again at the bat. Merriwell's 
 wrist was getting worse and worse. He had never 
 'done finer work, though under such a disadvantage 
 and in such pain. But his nerve of iron still sus- 
 tained him, and he seemed in as fine condition in this 
 opening of the ninth inning as at any time during the 
 game. 
 
 Gamp came up first. 
 
 "I'll strike you out, you farmer, in short order f"
 
 294 Swiftwing Turned Down. 
 
 thought Curringer, for he had been doing that thing 
 right along. And he struck Gamp out. 
 
 But he was more afraid of Bruce, for Bruce had a 
 way of driving balls that was enough to make any; 
 pitcher nervous. Rather than have Browning get a 
 chance to drive out a two-bagger or a three-bagger, 
 Curringer deliberately gave him his base on balls. 
 
 Hodge came next and put up a high infield fly, which 
 was collected by the first-baseman ; and two men were 
 out. 
 
 Merriwell took the bat in place of Swiftwing. Cur- 
 ringer was still in fine fettle and supremely confident. 
 He grinned as Frank walked into position. 
 
 "I'll bet you a hundred dollars that you can't knock: 
 another ball into the lake, as you did in the otheii 
 game !" 
 
 Frank looked at the lake. This distance was long, 
 but he had done it once, and what has been done may 
 be done again. Still, he did not answer Curringer's 
 taunt. 
 
 "I'd be willing to bet you a hundred dollars that you 
 can't hit me!" Curringer laughed, after the first ball 
 had been sent in and was called a strike. 
 
 Then two balls were called, and still Frank patiently 
 waited for one that he liked. When it came it was an 
 out curve, and, catching it on the end of his "wagon- 
 tongue," he drove it into the lake. 
 
 Bruce, playing off first in readiness, now fairly flew,
 
 Swiftwing Turned Down. 295 
 
 while Frank went blythely down to first, and on around 
 to second, third and home, closely following Brown- 
 ing in. Two scores had been added to the Merriwells' 
 list, which now stood six in their favor to five for the 
 Wabeeks. 
 
 The boys howled, Rattleton reversed his words and 
 sentences, so that his talk seemed gibberish, while Bink 
 and Danny fairly hugged each other. 
 
 "Ain't he hot stuff!" one of the boys was heard 
 shrilly piping. 
 
 Curringer felt sick and looked white round the 
 mouth, but he managed to strike out Rattleton and put 
 out the side.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A NERVE OF IRON. 
 
 As Merriwell went into the box in the last half ol 
 the ninth inning, both nines as well as the spectators 
 knew that the tug of war had now come. 
 
 Kirk came up first, looking grim and determined, 
 but Merriwell struck him out with balls -that came even 
 more swiftly than any ever thrown by John Swiftwing. 
 
 Curringer was next, and he forced a grin to his 
 face as he stepped into position. He was not only a 
 good pitcher, but a good batter, and the best ball- 
 player in the Wabeek nine. Frank respected his abili- 
 ties, and he had been forced mentally to admit that he 
 had never come up against Merriwell's equal. After 
 one ball and two strikes, Curringer got one of Merri- 
 well's straight balls and lined it down to short-stop. It 
 came so hot that Bink dropped it, and Curringer took 
 first. 
 
 When Wadkins came to the bat Curringer began to 
 play off toward second, and on the first pitched ball he 
 made a desperate run. The coacher was shrieking and 
 the crowd roaring as Hodge lined the ball down to 
 Rattleton, and Curringer threw himself in a great slide. 
 
 "Out !" came from hundreds of throats. 
 
 But the umpire favored Curringer and called il 
 "Safe!"
 
 A Nerve of Iron. 297 
 
 "Now, if luck favors us," Curringer was thinking, 
 as he again began to play off, "we'll tie that score, 
 anyway ! I hope Wadkins will belt it into the lake !" 
 
 Wadkins was a good and hard hitter, and Curringer 
 really expected something from him now. The ex- 
 citement was feverish, as "One ball!" "One strike!" 
 "Two strikes!" were called. 
 
 Then Frank signaled to Hodge and sent in the 
 double-shoot, and struck out Wadkins. Curringer 
 fumed, while the spectators howled hoarsely. 
 
 Gait, who came next, was also a good batter, and 
 Curringer, closely watched by Frank, kept playing off 
 for a good lead, while the coachers at first and third 
 kept up a continual chatter in the hope of rattling the 
 pitcher. 
 
 After one ball and one strike, Frank gave Gait a low 
 drop, which he did not think he could get, and the 
 batter lifted a long fly into the left field. The coachers 
 became frantic, the crowd bellowed, and Curringer 
 made a dash for third. Carker did not get well under 
 the ball and dropped it. The coachers shrieked to 
 Curringer to go home, which he did, and the score 
 was tied. 
 
 The Athletic Team felt blue as they heard the yells of 
 the Wabeek rooters, and Hodge was fairly sick with 
 disappointment. 
 
 "Oh, if that had only been Joe Gamp!" he groaned. 
 He had thought the game won. But Merriwell seemed
 
 298 A Nerve of Iron. 
 
 still confident, and smiled placidly, while his wrist 
 throbbed as it had never throbbed before. 
 
 "We will do them yet !" was his thought. "We will 
 do them yet!" 
 
 Gait was on first, and the next man up was Sever- 
 ing, whom Frank promptly struck out with the dottble- 
 shoot. And the side was out. Curringer's grin had 
 something determined about it as he now went into the 
 box, and he showed the stuff that was in him by 
 quickly striking out Carker. 
 
 Then Stubbs came up, with a bored look on his face. 
 Curringer nearly always expected him to be easy, but 
 was often surprised. But everything seemed going on 
 in the old way, for two strikes were quickly called, and 
 the bored look lingered. Then Bink's eyes suddenly 
 flashed, as he saw a ball coming that he thought he 
 could hit. He did hit it, sending it far out into deep 
 center and into the very bunch of bushes which Joe 
 Gamp had seemed trying to tear up just before making 
 his great throw. 
 
 Severing was after the ball like a race-horse, but he 
 did not find it readily, and when he threw he was 
 forced to throw to the pitcher, instead of home. In 
 the meantime Stubbs was going round the bases like a 
 runaway automobile, while the coachers were shriek- 
 ing and howling, and the spectators, with throats 
 grown sore by over-exercise, were hoarsely bellowing. 
 
 Before Curringer could get the ball hom* *mlc
 
 A Nerve of Iron. 299 
 
 scored, amid a perfect tempest of noise. The crew of 
 the little steamer out in the lake had also witnessed the 
 performance, and the screech of the steamer's whistle 
 added to the unearthly din. The grin was going 1 from 
 Curringer's face, and he again looked sick, but he 
 pulled himself together with iron determination, and 
 quickly struck out Danny and Ready. 
 
 The second half of the tenth inning began with a 
 score of seven to six in favor of the Athletic Team. 
 
 "We've one score in the lead, and we will keep it!" 
 Frank determinedly thought, even though his wrist 
 seemed weak and failing, and jumped with pain. 
 
 It was the nerve of iron ! 
 
 "Don't swing until you're pretty sure!" Kirk whis<- 
 pered to Severing, as the batter went to the bat. Sev- 
 ering could never be sure, for every pitched ball, and 
 there were only three of them, was a double-shoot. 
 
 "Three strikes, out !" said the umpire, and Severing 
 threw down the bat in disgust. 
 
 "The devil can't hit him !" he growled. 
 
 "Well, I hope I'm not the devil, but I'm going to 
 try !" said Putnam, as he took the bat. 
 
 But old Put went out on three pitched balls, each of 
 which was the double-shoot. The Atheltic Team was 
 filled with joy, the boys were screeching, and again 
 the crowd was bellowing. 
 
 Mason came up, looking pale and anxious, but reso*
 
 3oo A Nerve of Iron. 
 
 lute. The ball whistled over the plate, and he did nofr 
 strike. 
 
 "One strike !" said the umpire. 
 
 Then Frank gave him an out curve that changed to 
 an in close to the bat. Mason did not swing. He 
 knew that he was not to get any "easy" balls, but he 
 did hope he could get something that would give him 
 at least a chance. 
 
 'Two strikes!" 
 
 Again Frank's arm went up, while the crowd grew 
 as still as death. Not even a boy piped a note. The 
 whole vast throng seemed to be holding its breath. 
 Even the face of the umpire was shining and flushed. 
 The ball came across the plate, and Mason swung at it, 
 feeling that it was his last chance. It was an in curve, 
 changing to an out. 
 
 Plunk! 
 
 Bart Hodge had the ball. 
 
 "Three strikes, out !" the umpire fairly shouted. 
 
 Then the ball-field went mad. Curringer walked 
 down toward the pitcher's box as the Athletic Team 
 came whooping from the field. His air was deferen- 
 tial and admiring. He extended his hand. 
 
 "Merriwell," he frankly confessed, "I have never 
 met your equal. I never expect to see such pitching, 
 unless I see you again in such a fight as this. You 
 are the greatest baseball-pitcher in the United States !" 
 
 Kirk was crowding forward with words of praise,
 
 A Nerve of Iron. 301 
 
 with others of the Wabeeks, while baseball enthusiasts 
 by the score began to fight their way toward Frank, 
 eager to touch the hand that had done such wonderful 
 work. 
 
 "Yale will be glad, when she hears of this!" Kirk 
 declared, and his face, too, shone with enthusiasm. 
 "Merriwell, you're all right !" 
 
 It was the end of the greatest ball-game ever played 
 in the Adirondacks. 
 
 Scarcely had the enthusiasm subsided when the 
 proprietor of the Lake View hurried up to Frank 
 and excitedly whispered: 
 
 "I'm sure that Indian has carried off Lucy Living- 
 ston!" 
 
 It was staggering news. Bart Hodge heard it, and 
 his face flamed with wrath. 
 
 "I've been expecting something of the kind!" he 
 declared. "I have felt it all day. Merry, we must trjj 
 to rescue her !" 
 
 "Certainly, Hodge, if " 
 
 "No ifs about it!" Hodge furiously burst out. "1 
 know that it's true. The red scoundrel. I'll " 
 
 "I really think it is true, Merriwell," said the pro- 
 prietor. "She went out to talk to him after he was 
 taken from the pitcher's box. I think, she meant only 
 to say something that would make his failure in the 
 box seem less painful to him. They walked away to- 
 gether in that direction; and neither has been seen
 
 302 A Nerve of Iron. 
 
 since. My wife was the first to take the alarm; and 
 we have been making a search. I've found a place 
 where a struggle occurred and this !" 
 
 He held up a torn piece of the dress which Lucy had 
 worn that day. 
 
 "Delancy is wild, and he charges it all to you for 
 having the Indian on your team. She would not have 
 noticed him as a guide, but she is crazy over athletes 
 and men of that stamp." 
 
 Hodge started toward the timber pointed out. 
 
 "What do you mean to do ?" Merriwell asked. 
 
 "I'm going to take a look, and I'm going to find 
 ffohn Swiftwing!" 
 
 The tone was terrible. 
 
 "I'll go with you," said Frank, looking troubled. 
 
 "Oh, I know it's so !" Hodge panted, as they hurried 
 along together. "That's just the way he did with 
 Inza, you'll remember." 
 
 "But he surrendered Inza." 
 
 "When he was pursued and he knew he could not 
 escape, yes! How do you know that he would have 
 done it otherwise? He's an Indian, and the Indian 
 blood is there!" 
 
 Frank thought of Swiftwing's words as he walked 
 from the box : 
 
 "I am an Indian, and I might as well play Indian !" 
 
 Merriwell had a foreboding of trouble, but he did 
 not think the trouble would come in this shape. The
 
 A Nerve of Iron, 303 
 
 Lake View proprietor hastened after them, after 
 speaking some words to a man who had come out 
 with him. He called to Merriwell, and Frank and 
 Hodge stopped to wait for him to overtake them. 
 Then the three went on to the spot where a struggle 
 was supposed to have occurred, and where the torn 
 piece of dress had been found. Merriwell glanced at 
 Hodge and listened to his words. He did not remem- 
 ber to have seen Hodge in a greater rage. 
 
 "Perhaps Bart has been more interested in that girl 
 than I believed!" was his thought. 
 
 "Right here !" said their guide, leading them round 
 a point which concealed them from the hotel and base- 
 ball-grounds. 
 
 "She must have screamed, of course !" the man con- 
 tinued. "But the people on the ball-grounds were 
 howling so it couldn't have been heard, no matter what 
 an outcry she might have made." 
 
 He was anxious and troubled, for he was not only 
 an honest man and solicitous for the welfare of the 
 guests of his house, but he had taken a strong and 
 fatherly liking far sweet-faced Lucy Livingston. 
 
 "Where is Delancy?" Merriwell asked, as he be- 
 gan to look the ground carefully over. 
 
 "Out with a searching-party. Two parties are 
 already out, and another is going. There will be 
 others in the woods soon. We'll run the fellow down, 
 and "
 
 304 A Nerve of Iron. 
 
 He did not complete the sentence, but the break was 
 more eloquent than words. 
 
 "He will be lynched?" 
 
 "Or shot on sight!" 
 
 "See here!" Bart cried. "Look at that, Merry!" 
 
 It was the imprint of the toe of a little boot, such 
 i one as Lucy had worn. 
 
 "And this!" said Frank, picking up another torn 
 piece of the dress that he had seen Lucy wear. 
 
 "And I'd swear that print was made by Swiftwing's 
 shoe!" growled Bart. 
 
 The soil held an imprint of a pitcher's shoe, the 
 toe-plate having made a distinct impression. 
 
 "Yes, Swif twing wore that shoe !" 
 
 "I'm going back to the house and see about those 
 other parties that are going out !" said the Lake View 
 oroprietor ; and hurried away without further words. 
 
 Merriwell knew that in a little while the news of 
 the abduction of Lucy Livingston by John Swift- 
 wing would be in every mouth, and that the woods and 
 hills would be filled with armed bodies of men hunting 
 him down as they would have hunted down a rabid 
 dog or a wolf. And he knew that, when overtaken, 
 Swiftwing would be given scant chance to say whether 
 he was innocent or guilty. 
 
 He began to search for a trail leading from the 
 place, though beyond the clump of bushes and the tim- 
 ber belt the soil was hard and ledgy and the chances
 
 A Nerve of Iron. 305 
 
 of discovering anything were not good. Hodge fol- 
 lowed him, looking everywhere for indications of the 
 direction taken by Swiftwing. 
 
 They passed over the brow of a hill, and there found 
 a broken twig, which seemed to have been snapped off 
 in a struggle similar to the one whose indications they 
 had so closely examined. 
 
 "There's a path just beyond there, where I stumbled 
 into the other day," said Frank. "It leads to a cabin 
 down under the edge of the mountain!" 
 
 Hodge leaped past him in the direction indicated, 
 and Merriwell followed. Of course, he could not 
 know that any further indications would be found in 
 the path or at that cabin, though there was a possibility 
 that Swiftwing might have taken the girl there. 
 
 The path wound here and there through the woods, 
 which were tangled and difficult, dipping now under 
 the brow of a cliff and then scaling a ledgy hill, lead- 
 ing on and on toward the heart of the Great North 
 Woods. But no indications that Lucy or Swiftwing 
 had passed that way were discoverable. 
 
 "The cabin is just below here!'' said Frank, when 
 they stopped at length near the crest of a hill. 
 
 Their surroundings were the wildest imaginable. 
 Hills that were almost mountains rose near them, and 
 the rocky surface was cut up with deep gullies and dry 
 water-courses.
 
 306 A Nerve of Iron. 
 
 "The wolf would make for a hole like this !" Hodge 
 panted. 
 
 "Only that it is too near the hotels ! Still, we can't 
 be absolutely sure that Swiftwing is guilty. I want 
 you to remember that, Bart, if we should chance to 
 come on him. Don't do anything rash !" 
 
 "Merry, you make me tired! You make me sick! 
 [You will try to stand up for that fellow! That 
 scoundrel ! If I come on him, I'll simply hammer him 
 to pieces !" 
 
 "It's always well to be sure!" 
 
 "I am sure!" 
 
 "You can't be sure, on this evidence. If Swiftwing 
 is guilty, he deserves no mercy, and he will receive 
 none from me !" 
 
 "He is guilty. I knew it as soon as the Lake View 
 man spoke. Of course, he's guilty! He's simply a 
 dog!" 
 
 He started on. 
 
 "Wait! There are two paths to that cabin. One 
 lies across here toward that bluff. The other goes 
 through that belt of trees. You take the first and I'll 
 take the second. It will increase our chances of seeing 
 him, if he should be there!" 
 
 Bart leaped along the path toward the bluff before 
 the words were fairly out of Frank's mouth ; and, see- 
 ing how he was hurrying, Merriwell took the other 
 path and hastened on, too.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A TERRIFIC COMBAT. 
 
 The path taken by Merriwell was the shortest, and 
 he arrived at the cabin first, only to find it empty. A 
 minute later Hodge burst into view, wildly excited. 
 
 "Swiftwing! There he goes!" Bart whispered. 
 "He has taken the alarm and is cutting out." 
 
 Merriwell looked in the direction pointed out and 
 saw the head of the Pueblo disappear some distance 
 away in the bushes. 
 
 "But the girl?" 
 
 "Come on!" Hodge snarled, and leaped away like 
 an unleashed greyhound. Merriwell followed Hodge, 
 but the latter dived into some undergrowth to take 
 a short cut, and when Frank gained the spot where he 
 had vanished the only trace of his friend was a rustling 
 of low boughs some distance ahead. 
 
 Bart was wildly anxious to overtake Swiftwing and 
 dashed on without Merriwell, soon finding himself 
 alone. But he continued straight on toward the point 
 where he had seen the Indian; and there discovered 
 a dim and almost undefined path leading along a bush- 
 grown hillside. 
 
 He followed this as rapidly as he could. It soon 
 vanished altogether, but still Hodge Dressed on. taking
 
 308 A Terrific Combat. 
 
 the general direction, hoping every moment that he 
 would be able to overtake the man he was so fiercely 
 pursuing. 
 
 "When I do come on him, I'll make him tell where 
 the girl is mighty quick!" he kept growling. "I 
 don't believe she is with him, he is traveling so fast!" 
 
 Then Hodge turned a rocky headland and came 
 upon a scene that set him wild. A cabin stood in a 
 cleft of the rocks, on the edge of a bluff a hunter's 
 cabin and out of it reeled Lucy Livingston, closely 
 followed by John Jackson, Pike Conner, and two other 
 rough-looking men, all of them woodsmen or guides. 
 
 As she reeled out of the cabin in an effort to get 
 away from her pursuers, Lucy Livingston gave a 
 scream. Her clothing was torn and her manner fran- 
 tic. 
 
 "You hounds!" Hodge yelled, as he made a mad 
 dash for the cabin, feeling that these men were either 
 Swiftwing's confederates, or that she had escaped from 
 the Pueblo only to fall into their power. "Back, you 
 dogs!" 
 
 Lucy heard the words and imploringly ran to- 
 ward him. 
 
 She was light of foot, and fear gave her speed. But 
 Jackson, the gigantic athlete of the Great North 
 Woods, was close after her, with Pike Conner and 
 the others at his heels.
 
 A Terrific Combat , 309 
 
 "Save me ! save me !" Lucy pleaded, as she reached 
 Hodge's side. 
 
 Bart put her tenderly behind him. 
 
 "I will, or die trying!" he gritted, as he resolutely 
 confronted Jackson. 
 
 "What's this to you ?" Jackson howled. "I'll smash 
 you!" 
 
 He flew at Hodge as if he would hurl him over 
 the bluff which yawned frightfully near, but received 
 at blow squarely between the eyes that knocked him 
 backward against Conner. In another moment Con- 
 ner came at Bart with the rush of a savage dog, only 
 to reel back in the same way. 
 
 "Down with him !" Jackson commanded, recovering 
 and again springing toward the defiant youth. 
 
 "Run for it!" said Hodge to the girl. "I'll hold 
 them back." He stood squarely in the narrow path, 
 courageously facing the four men, each of whom was 
 larger than he. 
 
 The narrowness of the path was an advantage to 
 Bart, for it kept the men from leaping all together 
 upon him. It was wide enough for two, however, and 
 three might have crowded along it. 
 
 In spite of Hodge's command, Lucy stood, or, 
 rather, crouched, like one dazed, with her hands 
 clasped and her face as white as marble. Jackson 
 flung himself at Bart, with a sledge-hammer blow.
 
 Jio A Terrific Combat 
 
 which the dauntless youth knocked aside. Then the 
 iron fist again found the woodman's face. 
 
 The fight that followed was terrific in its fury. 
 Again and again Hodge knocked down the men who 
 came at him, receiving and returning blows with 
 lightning swiftness, all four of the men pushing to- 
 ward him and hammering at him. Twice Jackson 
 went down, and Conner's nose poured a stream of 
 blood. One of the other men was almost knocked 
 from the bluff and only saved himself by catching at 
 a projecting rock. 
 
 Bart brought into play all the skill he had gained 
 at Yale; and, stilling his heart and throbbing nerves, 
 he fought with a coolness and effectiveness that was 
 simply marvelous. But a single youth, even though 
 that youth was Bart Hodge, could not stand up long 
 before such men as Jackson and his friends; and a 
 blow from Jackson's fist finally sent him reeling and 
 senseless into the path. 
 
 Lucy gave a scream and ran toward Bart when she 
 saw him fall, apparently forgetful of herself and 
 anxious only for the noble fellow who had so gal- 
 lantly sought to defend her. 
 
 "Throw him over the bluff!" snarled Conner, look- 
 ing like a fiend with his clothing covered with blood. 
 
 "That's right!" Jackson howled, beside himself 
 with rage and pain. "Over with him!" 
 
 "You shall not!" Lucy screamed, th:?"''"^ herself
 
 A Terrific Combat. 311 
 
 upon Bart's unconscious form and clasping 1 him as 
 if she would protect him with her weak hands. "You 
 shall not!" 
 
 "Won't we !" Jackson hoarsely laughed. 
 
 He reached forward to tear her from her position, 
 while his face writhed with vindictive triumph. 
 
 The bushes rustled and a light step sounded, as a 
 form sprang swiftly along the path. 
 
 "Back, you wolves!" 
 
 It was the voice of John Swiftwing. 
 
 "I have searched for you and I have found you!" 
 Swiftwing hissed, as he swung at the head of Jack- 
 son, while his black eyes burned like coals of fire. 
 
 The smallest of the men, who had been sitting up 
 and ruefully nursing sundry bruises and cuts on his 
 face when the Pueblo appeared, scrambled to his feet 
 and ran back toward the cabin for the purpose of se- 
 curing a revolver which had been left there on a table. 
 
 Lucy screamed and protectingly clung to Hodge as 
 she saw Swiftwing. 
 
 "You fool !" Jackson howled, evading the blow and 
 striking back at the Indian youth. "I'll kill you !" 
 
 "Pitch him over the bluff!" yelled Conner, coming 1 
 to his chief's assistance. The other woodsman also 
 jumped at Swiftwing and sought to strike him with 
 a club on which his hands had fallen when he went 
 down that last time under Bart's hammering fists. 
 
 But Swiftwing had not forgotten the training he
 
 } 12 A Terrific Combat 
 
 had received at Carlisle. Football and baseball ancl 
 athletics had hardened his muscles and given them 
 skill, and his life since in the woods and under the 
 open sky had strung his frame on sinews of steel. 
 
 Duckingly avoiding Jackson's sledge-hammer blow, 
 he planted his right in Conner's bleeding face, and 
 with his left doubled up the third man with a terrific 
 punch in the abdomen, which hurled him back on 
 the rocks and sent the club flying from the ledge. 
 
 The missed blow threw Jackson forward on his 
 face ; and before he could recover, Conner lunged over 
 him, bloody and frantic, trying to hit the Pueblo. 
 
 "Take that!" he screeched, fairly screaming the 
 words. 
 
 "And that!" hissed Swiftwing, coming again with 
 that terrible left and lifting Conner from the rocks 
 with a blow in the eye. 
 
 Conner went down like a collapsing house. But 
 Jackson had gathered himself and again swung at 
 the Indian. His blow missed, and he then gathered 
 Swiftwing round the waist in a furious attempt to lift 
 him from his feet and throw him from the bluff into 
 the rocky brook-bed far below. 
 
 The Pueblo could not shake off that hold, and the 
 combatants began to weave and stagger to and fro 
 on the edge of the abyss, each exerting all his strength 
 and skill to hurl the other from the rocks. 
 
 Lucv Livingston crouched in the path, wild-eyed
 
 A Terrific Combat. 313 
 
 and panting, with dry throat and speechless lips, 
 filled with an awful horror. It seemed to her that 
 Hodge was dead, and she instantly expected to see 
 the Pueblo hurled over to his destruction. Twice she 
 staggered to her feet, as if she would rush into the 
 combat to the assistance of the Indian youth, but each 
 time her strength and courage failed and she sank 
 down moaning. 
 
 The man who had gone for the revolver came run- 
 ning along the path, and the woodsman who had been 
 knocked out with the blow in the abdomen writhingly 
 sought to get on his feet. But Conner sat dully on 
 the rocks with hands on his eye and seemed not to 
 know what was taking place. 
 
 And the while Swiftwing and Jackson were strug- 
 gling fiercely for the mastery. Neither spoke a word, 
 but their heavy breathing and the tread of their feet 
 as they reeled to and fro had an awful sound to the 
 girl who crouched beside the unconscious form of 
 Bart Hodge as if frozen in fear. 
 
 At last Swiftwing got Jackson by the throat and 
 began to push him toward the edge of the precipice. 
 Jackson gurgled and struggled in vain. Back, back, 
 he went, inch by inch. Then the Pueblo gathered 
 himself for a mighty effort, and with a hiss that 
 sounded as deadly as the warning of a viper, he lifted 
 the big woodsman. 
 
 A howl of fear went up from Jackson's throat
 
 314 A Terrific Combat. 
 
 Crush crush ! 
 
 The butt of the revolver came down on Swiftwmg*s 
 head, followed by a blow in the ear from the fist of 
 the other woodsman. 
 
 And John Swiftwing sank down as senseless as 
 Bart Hodge! John Swiftwing, who had never har- 
 bored a thought of carrying Lucy away; but, having 
 heard her scream, had hurried back to her, found the 
 signs of the struggle and of the abduction, and had 
 dashed in pursuit 
 
 The sight of the Pueblo stricken down in that way 
 loosed the tongue of Lucy Livingston. She leaped 
 up with a cry and started to run, but the woodsman 
 with the revolver caught her by the arm and drew 
 her back. Jackson dropped dangerously near the edge 
 of the abyss. 
 
 "Shall we heave 'em over?" one of the woodsmen 
 demanded, giving the Pueblo a kick. "Dead men tell 
 no tales!" 
 
 The words brought Conner out of his queer men- 
 tal state. He looked up, a frightful object, with his 
 closing eye and bleeding face. 
 
 "No!" he hoarsely gasped. "Dead men hang peo- 
 ple!" 
 
 A minute before he was ready to hurl these foes to 
 their death ; now the shadow of the hangman's noose 
 caused him to pause and shudderingly draw back.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MERRIWELL TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 "What did we do it fer?" snapped Jackson, as if 
 wishing to unburden himself, though no question had 
 been asked him. 
 
 "Money!" 
 
 Bart Hodge had returned to consciousness in the 
 mountain path, after being bound and subjected to 
 
 ill-treatment and indignities, though he had not re- 
 gained the land of sentient things so quickly as Swift- 
 wing. Both were now at the cabin tied and held as 
 close prisoners. Lucy was there also, and, though 
 she was not bound, she was closely watched and dared 
 not approach either Hodge or the Pueblo. 
 
 Swift wing was once more outwardly composed 
 and Sphinxlike, his brown face and black eyes show- 
 ing nothing of the volcanic torrent that had flowed 
 lavalike through his veins that day. Hodge was 
 also still, though his face was shadowed with resent- 
 ful impatience arid hate. He did not yet understand 
 the situation, and the looks he gave the Pueblo were 
 full of questioning and a sort of maddened wonder. 
 Why was Swiftwing bound? 
 
 "You won't get any money by keeping me tied up 
 here like a bundle of hay !" growled Hodge.
 
 316 Merriwell to the Rescue. 
 
 "More likely to than if we let you go!" grinned 
 Jackson. 
 
 Conner nursed his battered nose and sore eye, squat- 
 ting on a camp-stool and smoking a black pipe. One 
 of the other woodsmen reclined on a cot of pine 
 needles and hemlock boughs in a corner cursing over 
 a half-broken ringer. The other sat moodily fingering 
 the revolver in the cabin door. Jackson was the only 
 One who had any desire to talk. 
 
 "Who are you expecting to get pay from for our 
 release ?" 
 
 "Nobody!" 
 
 "Who is the money coming from, then?" 
 
 "Delancy Livingston and Hammerswell fer the re- 
 lease of her!" nodding his head toward the corner in 
 which sat Lucy. "We're after some of that boodle 
 they got t'other night from the New York bloods in 
 that big card-game. We weren't big enough swin- 
 dlers to beat it out of 'em at poker" here Jackson 
 grinned again "so we thought we'd git it in a more 
 honester way. We grabbed the girl when we had a 
 chance and wan't no one lookin', and we've sent a 
 note to Delancy tellin' him to cough up two thousand 
 dollars of that wad and we'll send her back! You 
 thought you was smart, mixin' into the thing, and 
 you got yer head broke!" 
 
 "I'll break your head as soon as I get a chance." 
 
 "Thank ye fer your good wishes^"
 
 Merriwell to the Rescue. 317 
 
 He was silent a moment. 
 
 "If no answer comes from that note, we'll send 
 t'other one; and if none comes from that we'll heave 
 the girl over one of these bluffs and jump the coun- 
 try. This is business ! We are goin' to have some of 
 that money. So, I guess it was a good thing that you 
 and the Indian come along. You'll do f er messengers !" 
 
 He seemed to want to get Bart to talk, but Bart 
 kept silent, moodily thinking and planning. 
 
 "Of course, when we let you go to send word, we'll 
 shift quarters. Ain't fools enough to stay here after 
 that! Goin' to move any way in another hour!" 
 
 There was no reply to this, and Jackson again be- 
 came silent. The woodsman in the doorway clicked 
 round the cylinder of the revolver and pointed the 
 weapon at an imaginary foe out on a point of rocks. 
 The rising wind swayed the branches of the tree that 
 overhung the cabin, seeming to give the roof a thump 
 now and then and a scraping sound that made Swift- 
 wing glance upward. 
 
 "Where's Merriwell?" Jackson suddenly asked. 
 
 "He's here!" 
 
 A form dropped down from the roof upon the mad 
 in the doorway and tore the revolver from his fingers* 
 The man tumbled backward with a howl, and Frank' 
 Merriwell arose in the doorway and leveled the re- 
 volver at Jackson's broad breast. Conner sprang up
 
 318 Merriwell to the Rescue. 
 
 and seemed about to plunge through the little window 
 at the back. 
 
 "Shoot him down, fellows, if he comes through 
 the window!" Fr^nk shouted. 
 
 There wai a clicking of rifle locks back of the cabin 
 and the words: 
 
 "Let 'em come ! We're ready for them !" 
 
 "Surrender!" said Merriwell, still covering Jack- 
 son. "You can't get away!" 
 
 Lucy rose up with a scream. Bart Hodge's face 
 shone with joy and delight. Swiftwing's eyes bright- 
 ened. Conner drew back from the window with a 
 deep curse and turned to the door. 
 
 "Take care of Jackson and I'll take care of the 
 other fellow," a voice seemed to say at Merriwell's 
 back. "I'll plug him if he jumps for the door!" 
 
 Frank laughed. 
 
 "It's no use, Conner! The jig is upf We've run 
 you down, and you'll surrender if you're wise. If 
 not, we'll simply shoot you down like dogs. Sur- 
 render!" 
 
 This last was to Jackson, whose eyes were rolling, 
 for he believed that the house was surrounded by 
 armed men. 
 
 "Surrender, or I'll put a bullet through you, Jack- 
 son! Hands up!" 
 
 Jackson's face was white and his mouth oozed
 
 Merriwell to the Rescue. 319 
 
 foam. The sweat broke out on his forehead. But 
 his hands went up. 
 
 "I surrender!" he gurgled. 
 
 Again Merriwell laughed, that dangerous, deadly 
 laugh which friends and foes had learned to know. 
 
 "Untie Hodge!" he said to Lucy, turning the re- 
 volver on Conner. She jumped to the task, though 
 trembling, and began to cast off Bart's bonds. 
 
 "Shoot the first man that makes a break to get out 
 of the house!" Frank called. 
 
 And the answer came back : 
 
 "Let them come! We're ready for them!" 
 
 With Lucy's assistance, Hodge fairly tore himself 
 out of his bonds. 
 
 "Now tie them up!" was Merry's next order, this 
 time to Hodge. 
 
 The cords were ready, some of them removed from 
 his own person and others taken from Swiftwing's 
 hands and feet, and with these Hodge made the ras- 
 cals fast, while Lucy sought for other pieces of rope 
 and rawhide, and found them. In less than two min- 
 utes the abductors of Lucy Livingston, who had 
 thought to hold her for ransom and secure a goodly 
 sum of money from Delancy and Hammerswell, were 
 Frank Merriwell's prisoners. 
 
 "Where are the others?" Jackson asked, as silence 
 reigned out-of-doors, while he lay against the wall, 
 bound and helpless.
 
 320 Merriwell to the Rescud 
 
 Merriwell pointed to himself. 
 
 "Here!" 
 
 Jackson's eyes rolled, and he writhed till it seemed 
 that he would snap his cords. 
 
 "Do you mean there ain't any other men out there?" 
 
 "None at all, Jackson! That was one of my little 
 ventriloquial tricks. The whole force is here be- 
 fore you. But you'll not get away, now!" 
 
 Nor did they; for Merriwell, with Hodge and 
 Swiftwing, accompanied by Lucy Livingston, 
 marched the scoundrels back to the Wabeek, and 
 there turned them over to the sheriff of the county to 
 be held in prison for trial on a charge of abduction 
 for ransom. 
 
 "Merriwell, you're all right!" Kirk repeated, again 
 coming forward and taking Frank by the hand. "You 
 can do more than pitch baseball! You're all right, 
 and I'm proud to be numbered among your friends!" 
 
 THE END.
 
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 Frank Merriwell Down South Frank Merriwell's Loyalty 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Bravery Frank Merriwell's Reward 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Races Frank Merriwell's Faith 
 Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour Frank Merriwell's Victories 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield Frank Merriwell's Power 
 
 Frank Merriwell at-Yale Frank Merriwell's Set-Back 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Courage Frank Merriwell's False Friend 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Daring Frank Merriwell's Brother 
 
 Illustrated, cloth binding-, 5O cents per volume 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 
 by the publisher 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia 
 
 (i)
 
 THE MOTOR POWER SERIES 
 
 Donald Grayson's Famous 
 Motor Stories for Boys ^ 
 
 Mr. Grayson is an accomplished writer of up-to-the- 
 minute juvenile stories which are eagerly read by 
 modern American lads. 
 
 In his new series, his characters have exciting adven- 
 tures with every kind of motor-driven machines motor 
 cycles, automobiles, aeroplanes and submarines. 
 
 You may readily see what a vast field for adventures 
 Mr. Grayson has chosen. 
 
 Now Ready 
 
 BOB STEELE'S MOTOR CYCLE 
 
 BOB STEELE ON HIGH GEAR 
 
 BOB STEELE FROM AUTO TO AIRSHIP 
 
 BOB STEELE AFLOAT IN THE CLOUDS 
 
 BOB STEELE'S SUBMARINE CRUISE 
 
 BOB STEELE IN STRANGE WATERS 
 
 BOB STEELE'S MOTOR BOAT 
 
 BOB STEELE'S WINNING RACE 
 
 BOB STEELE'S NEW AEROPLANE 
 
 BOB STEELE'S LAST FLIGHT 
 
 Illustrated, cloth hi tiding, 5O cents per volume 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 
 by the publisher 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia 
 
 (2)
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 RECEIVED 
 
 AUG271986 

 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 034 443 2